Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

2063 ABL PLAYOFFS

Four teams entered the ring to punch it out for the championship, as per usual.

The 89-73 Boston Titans won the CL North by a single game. They did so scoring the second-most runs with the most homers in the CL, despite having the second-lowest batting average and stealing basically no bases. Their pitching allowed the third-fewest runs for a +122 run differential, and their defense was one of the best in the league. Jason Brenize (20-6, 1.98 ERA) just narrowly missed another Triple Crown on the hill, and Eddie Marcotte (.277, 43 HR, 110 RBI) made all the pitchers in the league cry. They had two more players with 25 homers apiece: Manny Rubin (.246, 25 HR, 83 RBI) and Nick Nye (.295, 25 HR, 87 RBI) chipping in. Boston had no injuries to complain about.

Opposite them were the 95-67 Thunder, who had also won their division by a single game. They had the pitching to match the Titans’, allowing the second-lowest number of runs, and had the best bullpen ERA. They had a +112 run differential over the course of the season. They were also not stealing bases, and they had also not been very good with the sticks, posting the fourth-fewest runs scored, and they were below average in every major offensive category. Aaron Harris (15-11, 2.62 ERA) and Jerry Washington (10-10, 2.49 ERA) led the rotation, while the offense was held together by … wellllll… the Thunder had dropped like flies late in the season, and has lost Ian Stone (the only player to hit double digit homers for Oklahoma City), Danny Garcia, Ryan Spehar, Cory Oldfield, and Mark Younce. They were likely to run out a couple of 23-year-old players on the infield, Justin Savalli and Felix Gomez, that had 72 major league at-bats between them.

The 105-57 Dallas Stars not only finished with the best record in the league, but also trounced the FL West by a whopping 25 games. They ranked first in runs scored, first in runs allowed, and only showed blips in defense and home runs. They were batting .295 *as a team*. They had a +317 run differential, which was pretty menacing in itself. Triple Crown winner Alex Quevedo (20-4, 2.17 ERA) and Ray “Crabman” Walker (20-6, 2.88 ERA) led the rotation, from which Ian Peters was the only meaningful loss for the postseason, and in the lineup they had a pile of .300 hitters, led all in all by Tyler Wharton (.336, 26 HR, 126 RBI).

On the other side of the FLCS were the 100-62 Blue Sox, who had won the FL East by seven games with a +93 run differential on the #3 offense and #2 pitching in the Federal League. Yeah, it was a HUGE gap to the Stars. They led the FL in home runs, and they had the second-best rotation to the Stars’. They had injury issues, though, including starter Josh Rivera (15-6, 3.45 ERA), who might be able to return for a hypothetical World Series, and no fewer than four outfielders including Tony Roman, Fernando Aracena, and Sean McLaughlin, leaving them with career rejects to man the green expanse for the FLCS. From what offense remained, Austin Gordon (.351, 35 HR, 99 RBI), Kris DiPrimio (.325, 19 HR, 82 RBI), and David Johnson (.312, 25 HR, 81 RBI) were still a strong middle of the order, though.

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Numbers: for the Thunder, they tied the Raccoons with a record 24 playoff appearances. The Titans made their 20th October round of baseball, while the Blue Sox were in the playoffs for the 18th time and the Stars for the 15th time.

For titles, the Titans had the most championships to begin with, having already won the league ten times. The Blue Sox had six titles, the Stars had four, and the Thunder had three.

The Thunder and Titans had three times in the CLCS before, all inside of just four years in 2001, 2002, and 2004. The Titans won all of these series, and each time also took the trophy off the FL pennant winners.

The Stars and Blue Sox also ran into each other clustered, four times in the 1980s. The Stars won those meetings in 1983 and 1988, and the Blue Sox won the 1986 and 1987 FLCS meetings, and in each of these cases the FL champions also won the World Series. They met twice more in 2005 and 2062 (last season), both series being won by the Sox, who then lost in the World Series.

For potential World Series matchups, the Titans had faced the Blue Sox in the World Series in 1998 and 2002, and won both World Series, but never met the Stars in the World Series. The Thunder never encountered either of the two FLCS teams in the World Series.

The most recent championship for each team came in 2058 (Sox), 2053 (Thunder), 2048 (Stars), and 2036 (Titans).

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2063 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

NAS @ DAL … 4-3 … (Blue Sox lead 1-0) … NAS Kris DiPrimio 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI;

DiPrimio’s 2-run triple in the ninth inning flips the score around and gives the Blue Sox a late win in the FLCS opener.

NAS @ DAL … 7-8 … (series tied 1-1) … NAS Austin Gordon 4-5, HR, 3 RBI; NAS Kris DiPrimio 3-5; NAS Morgan Lathers (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Tommy Pritchard 3-4, 2B, RBI;
BOS @ OCT … 8-2 … (Titans lead 1-0) … BOS Manny Rubin 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

BOS @ OCT … 7-1 … (Titans lead 2-0) … BOS Jorge Arviso 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; BOS Andy Lee 2-4, HR, RBI; BOS Ken Sowell 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; OCT Steve Preston 2-3, BB, 2B;

DAL @ NAS … 3-2 … (Stars lead 2-1) … DAL Chad Pritchett 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; DAL Ray Walker 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

DAL @ NAS … 6-4 … (Stars lead 3-1) … DAL Tommy Pritchard 3-5, RBI; DAL Chris D’Alessandro 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; NAS Jon Alade 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;
OCT @ BOS … 0-5 … (Titans lead 3-0) … BOS Manny Rubin 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; BOS Jayden Craddock 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-0);

DAL @ NAS … 10-5 … (Stars win 4-1) …
OCT @ BOS … 1-4 … (Titans win 4-0) … OCT Felix Gomez 2-4, 2B, RBI; BOS Manny Rubin 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; BOS Andy Lee 2-4, 2B, RBI; BOS Will Glaude 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

The Stars return the favor on the Blue Sox from the series opener, flipping the score in the ninth inning. They just do it grander, scoring an 8-spot to erase a 3-run deficit on the Blue Sox to eliminate them from the playoffs.

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The Stars roughed up the Blue Sox in the FLCS, although they had suffered a back injury on Chad Pritchett (.275, 16 HR, 85 RBI), who was on the World Series roster, but listed as day-to-day. Their run differential dwarved the Titans’, who still had no injuries, but who also had only had to contend with a very diminished Titans roster in the CLCS, which they admittedly swept in impressively with 24-6 runs in their favor.

It didn’t look like the cards were in Boston’s favor though…

2063 WORLD SERIES

BOS @ DAL … 5-10 … (Stars lead 1-0) … BOS Eddie Marcotte 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; DAL Xavier Reyes 2-3, BB, RBI; DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, 3 RBI; DAL Roberto Almanza 3-5, RBI; DAL Chris D’Alessandro 4-4, 4 RBI;

The Stars score in each of the first six innings in a comprehensive beatdown of Titans pitching, which entered the game led by Jason Brenize (1-1, 7.00 ERA), who gets slapped for five runs in three-plus innings.

BOS @ DAL … 5-3 … (series tied 1-1) … BOS Manny Rubin 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; BOS Andy Lee 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Tyler Wharton 3-4, RBI;

DAL @ BOS … 5-7 … (Titans lead 2-1) … DAL Andy Yocum 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; DAL Tommy Pritchard 2-4, HR, RBI; BOS Eddie Marcotte 2-4, 2B, RBI; BOS Jorge Arviso 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; BOS Ken Sowell 2-4, 2 RBI;

DAL @ BOS … 7-4 … (series tied 2-2) … DAL Tyler Wharton 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 1-2, 3 BB; DAL Roberto Almanza 4-4, RBI; BOS Eddie Marcotte 3-4; BOS Jorge Arviso 3-4;

All runs in this game scored in the first five innings, with the Stars again breaking up a Boston starter, Will Glaude (1-1, 4.50 ERA) for six runs in three innings.

DAL @ BOS … 1-6 … (Titans lead 3-2) … DAL Andy Yocum 3-4, 3B; BOS Steve Humphries 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; BOS Nick Nye 2-4, 2B, RBI; BOS Jason Brenize 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2-1) and 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI;

Brenize (2-1, 4.50 ERA) returns with a vengeance in seven strong innings in the crucial Game 5 against the Stars, while the Titans plate three runs in the first inning and never look back.

BOS @ DAL … 3-2 … (Titans win 4-2) … BOS Manny Rubin 2-4, HR, RBI; DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, 2 RBI;

Offense is kind of scarce, with a run for the Titans in the second inning before Boston’s Mike Bell (3-0, 2.66 ERA) gives it back with a two-run fifth, the runs scoring on a 2-out single by Tyler Wharton (.386, 1 HR, 10 RBI). The Titans come back immediately with a run in the sixth to tie the game before Manny Rubin (.462, 6 HR, 12 RBI) hits his *sixth* home run of the playoffs off “Crabman” Walker (1-1, 2.35 ERA) in the top of the seventh to decide the series and bring down the curtains on baseball for the year.

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2063 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Boston Titans
(11th title)

[Westheim]

The Titans winning the championship wasn’t so bad after all. In case we had gotten a little lazy around here, that gave us fresh motivation to spit in our paws and ******* start rolling that rock back up the mountain now! We were pretty far away from a championship after all right now…

Adam Valdes saw the need for resources, although I hadn’t even managed to spend all of last year’s $64M budget, so now I’d get to try with a $66M budget. Maybe throw it at some 38-year-olds and then release them? The increase kept the Raccoons ranked ninth among the 24 teams.

Top 5: Crusaders ($80M), Thunder ($79M), Stars ($75M), Knights, Buffaloes, Titans (all $74M)
Bottom 5: Loggers ($43M), Cyclones ($41M), Wolves ($40M), Falcons ($39M), Aces ($36.5M)

The missing CL North teams were ranked t-13th (IND, $59M) and 15th (VAN, $57M), so we remained third in the division.

While the average budget went us this year, by a healthy $1.3M to $59.7M, the median budget was now $60.5M, which was actually down $1M from last season.

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It would be a winter of saying goodbyes though, and the first goodbye was with Lonzo, who had set a new mark for career stolen bases with 752, but after 18 pro seasons and 2,002 ABL games and amidst overall degrading fortunes called it quits. For leading a “career” list of the league winding up its 87th season, he had made a paltry $15M from his Raccoons contracts. Thankfully the shoe company Nice had picked him up years ago and was using him as a vehicle to market running shoes to Dominicans, where they were now called “lonzos”.

And that’s how new words are made, boys!

There were six free agents to talk about besides the departed shortstop, three of which were position players, including fellow middle infielders Jim White and Nick Fowler, and since they were both of advanced age and the Raccoons should really use this point in time to get younger again, neither of whom would be buggered to come back. Malik Crumble was a free agent, had begged for a new deal repeatedly during the season, and was willing to play for pennies on the dollar just to stay employed. His situation was complicated and intertwined with other outfielders on the roster that were an issue for one reason or another, and we’d come back to him later.

Three relievers were also on the list. Matt Walters had fallen apart well before his time and we were kinda grateful that that contract was done. The others were Mike Pohlmann and Jimmy Ding(er)man. They might yet get an offer, although I struggled to see how they were answers to the question who the **** was gonna close games next year given the complete implosion of Josh Carlisle at the end of the year.

There were four salary arbitration cases, all position players. Marcos Arellano was a super 2 case that continued to get no respect from anywhere in the league despite a season-and-a-half of fair success behind the dish for the Critters. Was an upgrade in the cards? Sure. Was I keen on getting offered some run-down 35-year-old backstop by last-place FL teams every other week? No. I hope those last-place FL teams will take note at some point.

Also on the list was Jon Bean, who continued to be an answer to a question nobody dared asking, but given the exodus of players on the infield might yet again wind up with another contract tendered to him for no good reason at all. The others were outfielders Jack Kozak and Ben Morris, and both of them were very … weird cases.

Kozak had played in 144 games this season, but had failed to log enough PA’s to qualify for rate statistics (not that his .244 average begged for comparison). He had hit another 16 dingers, though, second-best on the team somehow. He had started out as a bit of a trade toss-in from L.A. what felt like three rebuilds ago, and had originally been a first baseman that gradually warmed to the idea of playing leftfield. He wasn’t that great in center, though, which was unfortunately where he had played over 350 innings this year to quite rough reviews.

The reason why Kozak was winding up playing center so much was funnily enough our centerfielder Ben Morris. Here was the thing. (puts both frontpaws on the desk and takes a deep breath) Ben Morris from age 22 to 24 (2060 to 2062) posted OPS+ values of 119, 107, and 126. He also never managed to stay on the field in those seasons and only once scratched enough PA to qualify for rate stats (in ’61). In the last two years, he has managed to rack up SEVEN injuries requiring DL-isation. SEVEN. It’s like he’s playing murderball against a team swinging heavy chains and halberds at him! There’s everything in there, too: back, back, knee, knee, thumb, wrist, and knee again. For some guys it’s muscles, or they have a particularly troublesome groin or whatever. (Cristiano snickers in the corner) With Morris it’s everything. His entire skeleton seems hellbent of separating into individual pieces. He’s a ticking time bomb. The Raccoons need to find another solution in center (and it’s not gonna be Kozak). In ’63 Morris made it into just 92 games with his four different injuries. AND he can’t bloody hit left-handed pitchers. We’re just *constantly* planning around this guy, and especially his absences. And he’s only *25*…!

Doesn’t mean he’s not gonna be tendered a contract. But we don’t see him remaining employed beyond his team control years, which would be 2064 and 2065.

The pitching staff needs, besides burning the whole bullpen to the ground, not a whole lot. We have five capable (most of the time) starters assembled. It’s just that our pen was actually tragic for most of the season and has been for a couple of years.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons ultimately went and non-tendered Jon Bean, who was even worse a hitter than at first glance you’d suspect. I mean, I don’t know how he kept hugging the bench for so long, but even without seeing a left-handed pitcher more than twice in his life, he still managed to run up (or down?) a .580 career OPS in over 1,000 plate appearances. The Raccoons needed excellence, not just attendance. He was gonna be gone.

And then it was about extending 1-year offers to the remaining arbitration candidates and reaching out the old grabby paws for some infield and relief solutions (primarily, not saying an All Star catcher wouldn’t help). The infield was especially “interesting” in all the wrong ways. Once the free agents-to-be would depart, we would be left with Joel Starr (and his backup, Kozak) at first base, Rich Monck at wherever we cared to stuff him, and maybe Vic Morales at third base, but please consider that Morales had posted a 71 OPS+, hitting .237 with two homers in half a season’s worth of at-bats, and that he had been constant clownshoes in the field. Not sure what more seasoning in AAA was gonna do to that, but it was *very* likely that he’d start the 2064 season with the Alley Cats.

So in theory the Raccoons needed four infielders. There were also no in-house solutions to the problem, since our AAA team right now really wasn’t pushing forward major talent. But hey, Armando Suriel was still hanging around there, and he only just turned 29…

By the end of October, all remaining arbitration cases had signed; Jack Kozak got $560k, Marcos Arellano got $525k, and Ben Morris signed for $1.4M and a $100k bonus for making 500 plate appearances, so in short he signed for $1.4M. Apart from that, the scratching and clawing started early.

On the side, pitching coach Jeff Fike retired and the Raccoons were snubbed by their preferred choice, Jessie Bell, the Blue Sox’ pitching coach for a while, who instead became manager for the AA Arlington Rattlers. We eventually went in and promoted AAA pitching coach Antonio Valentin to the position, after he had coached in our minor league system for a decade. He was already 68, so hardly a long-term solution.

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October 25 – The Raccoons acquire 29-year-old SP/MR Mike Hall (37-38, 4.19 ERA) from the Blue Sox for OF Felix Ayala (.221, 3 HR, 26 RBI).
October 28 – The Raccoons go out and acquire 33-year-old C Bruce Burkart (.254, 70 HR, 370 RBI) in a trade for OF/1B Tony Gonzalez (.272, 4 HR, 19 RBI).
October 29 – The Titans acquire OF/1B Bobby Ellwood (.272, 10 HR, 211 RBI) from the Rebels in exchange for #194 prospect SP Jay Perrin.
November 3 – 35-year-old RF/LF Eric Whitlow (.249, 143 HR, 689 RBI) becomes a Thunder for the third time after being acquired from the Gold Sox in a trade for 31-yr old OF Bobby Fish (.270, 38 HR, 246 RBI) and the #11 prospect 1B John Myers, who was in double-A this past season.

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Ayala, who was gonna be 27 in May, was nothing special on defense and had never hit in his appearances in the majors, which included over 200 PA two years ago. He was still enough to win ourselves another reclamation project in the left-handed Hall from Coos Bay in coastal Oregon. A former #161 pick by the Thunder, Hall had done the merry-go-round with the Thunder, Condors, and Blue Sox before going back to the Thunder and then back to the Sox in various minor deals. This past season he had posted a 5.13 ERA in long relief, but with a .353 BABIP occurring behind him. The year before had been the dramatic opposite, a 1.91 ERA with a .222 BABIP. If we could give him some sort of normalcy, he might actually function like a major leaguer.

The Burkart acquisition was the bigger one and actually brought in a new primary catcher, with Arellano sliding into the backup role. Hey, I said, give the guy some respect – not 450 at-bats a year. We would have liked to keep Tony Gonzalez around, despite his no-show in 27 games this season, but if his vague promise (at soon-to-be 26) was enough to get Burkart in, then so be it! Burkart, who had another $11.8M over three years on his contract (although that included a $4M team option for ’66, which would be his age 35 season), was always scouted badly, and then somehow went out and hit anyway. Yes, he was gonna find double plays, and no, he wasn’t gonna pepper 20 home runs, but he was giving you an honest at-bat every time, and he had a penchant to walk more often than he struck out. Given his lack of speed, he’d do that behind the meat of the order, but at least he could offer somebody some protection in the #5/#6 are of the lineup.

None of our six free agents received an offer (in some cases relating to their impression that their performance merited 5-year deals), and in addition to that Jon Bean attained free agency in mid-November. A couple of minor leaguers also elected free agency, the only one of note being Brad Loveless, the former Nick Brown memorial pick that had put together a 3.34 ERA in 71 games as lefty reliever for the Critters, despite walking 6.5/9 in those 64.2 innings.

In a perhaps unpopular move, the Raccoons also released some previously retired-but-not numbers back into circulation, including #4 (Maldo), #6 (Matt Waters), and #22 (Wheats). However, #9 was now on the shelf for Lonzo, and we had not given out #42 (Matt Nunley) for many decades and should maybe just ******* go ahead and make it official.

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2063 ABL AWARD WINNERS

Players of the Year: PIT C Nick Dingman (.324, 44 HR, 116 RBI) and BOS LF/CF Eddie Marcotte (.277, 43 HR, 110 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: DAL SP Alex Quevedo (20-4, 2.17 ERA) and BOS SP Jason Brenize (20-6, 1.98 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: PIT 3B/SS Brian Robinson (.311, 6 HR, 44 RBI) and ATL UT Carlos Fumero (.324, 1 HR, 50 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: WAS CL Justin Round (10-3, 2.57 ERA, 42 SV) and BOS CL Tyler Gleason (4-1, 1.58 ERA, 17 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P LAP Scott Evans – C PIT Nick Dingman – 1B TOP Mario Delgadillo – 2B RIC Robby Cox – 3B DAL Xavier Reyes – SS SAL Jeff Buss – LF LAP Jesus Espinoza – CF DAL Tyler Wharton – RF NAS Austin Gordon
Platinum Sticks (CL): P ATL Hironobu Hanzawa – C BOS Jorge Arviso – 1B OCT Ian Stone – 2B SFB Armando Montoya – 3B LVA Alex Alfaro – SS MIL Fidel Carrera – LF SFB Grant Anker – CF BOS Eddie Marcotte – RF CHA Joe Washington
Gold Gloves (FL): P PIT Joe Napier – C PIT Nick Dingman – 1B DEN Bill Joyner – 2B SAC Justin Finnegan – 3B SFW Ben Wilken – SS RIC Jason Turner – LF LAP Jesus Espinoza – CF DAL Tyler Wharton – RF TOP Joey Christopher
Gold Gloves (CL): P NYC Erik Lee – C OCT Steve Preston – 1B VAN Jose Campos – 2B TIJ Franklin Serrano – 3B VAN Steven Spalding – SS MIL Fidel Carrera – LF BOS Steve Humphries – CF CHA Mike Pinault – RF TIJ Mario Asencio

Among these, Joyner and Round obtained free agency for the winter, but were type A free agents (as were division rivals Roger Pritchard, Matt Kilday, and Matt McLaren, and former Critter “Tipsy Bobby” Herrera), and the Raccoons had ended up with the bloody #13 pick again and I would probably not be able to get over myself.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons embarked on a search for middle infielders that could hit and field, and that didn’t involve triggering any of my safewords like a type A free agent (Matt Kilday, Willie Acosta, Jeff Buss) or another guy well beyond age 30 (Acosta, again, and Zach Suggs, Ryan Spehar, Ken Sowell, Jim White). This left surprisingly little wiggling room. Longtime Aces infielder Miguel Veguilla barely got passing grades in almost every category here, being a 32-year-old type B free agent with a history of hitting .270/.330/.370. He had two Gold Gloves, but those had come in his 20s, and his 20s were over and would never come back.

Okay, how many boxes does Matt Kilday *really* tick? 27 years old (by Opening Day), two batting titles, a stolen base title, two Platinum Sticks, but no Gold Gloves. Four straight seasons of playing 149+ games, posting a 121 OPS+ or better, stealing 48+ bases, leading the league in hits (thrice), doubles (once), and triples (thrice). He was a good shortstop, lacking a bit of arm strength; at second base he was an utter beast.

The drawbacks were the aforementioned type A compensation, costing us a #13 pick in favor of the Indians, the rumored demand of a contract worth $70M (!!), and the simple fact that was a bit of a ****, regularly listing all the offenses committed by his teammates when asked in postgame interviews about why they hadn’t been able to get this particular game into the win column. Yeeeeah…..

Looking for a second baseman rather than a shortstop opened up a return of Paul Labonte, who had turned into an actual hitter in four seasons in Nashville after doing nothing in particular for the Raccoons. He was gonna be 29 on Opening Day. Apart from that you were probably looking at trying to swing a trade. Anybody wanna grab into our mixed bag of relievers and see what they can pull out …!?

There were budget solutions for sure if you could ice them away from their team, f.e. Topeka’s INF/LF Alex Rodriguez, who had played two full seasons of basically batting league average. He had the ability to steal bases and was drawing lots of walks, and he had batted second for most of the year for them. Looking around what else we had, he might even bat leadoff here. The Buffos didn’t seem particularly amenable to trade him though.

In the meantime the international free agents also entered the market. The Raccoons put in bids for two Japanese players entering the league, another scrappy right-handed reliever in Tetsu Kurihara (the more the merrier!), and a defensive wizard on the infield named Yukio Aoki, who unfortunately had left his twig in Japan and wasn’t expect to hit anything much. Both of these were 26 years old and expected to sign for significantly less than Matt Kilday’s $70M asking price.

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November 14 – The Wolves send OF Jim Whitman (.243, 9 HR, 127 RBI) to the Pacifics for INF Roberto Alfaro (.157, 1 HR, 18 RBI) and a prospect.
November 16 – The Knights acquire 3B/2B Ralph Lange (.252, 32 HR, 172 RBI) from the Blue Sox in a trade for 2B/OF Rafael Roldan (.243, 18 HR, 106 RBI) and #191 prospect MR Chris Mathews.
November 20 – The Buffaloes announce the addition of former Wolves INF/RF/LF Jeff Buss (.281, 103 HR, 612 RBI), with the 32-year-old receiving a 4-year, $26.4M contract.
November 21 – Topeka also signs up ex-NYC 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.290, 264 HR, 1,234 RBI), who gets a 2-year, $10.4M deal ahead of his age 38 season.
November 24 – The Capitals bring in 37-year-old ex-SAC SS/3B Zach Suggs (.300, 337 HR, 1,384 RBI), who signs a 2-year, $12.6M contract.
November 24 – Journeyman left-hander SP Roger Pritchard (55-50, 3.69 ERA, 2 SV), who pitched to a 2.90 ERA for the Canadiens last season, settles for a 2-yr, $5.68M deal with the Indians.

[Westheim]

Before long, Matt Kilday was off the table and I could stop being tempted to blow the #13 pick at him. The Knights were even kind enough to take him out of the division.

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November 25 – The Knights sign ex-IND INF Matt Kilday (.309, 14 HR, 434 RBI) to a 6-year, $48.6M contract. Kilday had 350 career stolen bases at age 26.
November 27 – The Raccoons sign Japanese free agent INF/LF/RF Yukio Aoki, age 26, to a $600k contract.
November 27 – Pittsburgh signs ex-POR LF/CF Malik Crumble (.273, 66 HR, 272 RBI) to a 2-yr, $3.84M deal.
November 28 – The Condors bring 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.288, 106 HR, 684 RBI) back to the CL South after two years with Washington. The 34-year-old three-time CL Player of the Year gets a 2-year, $10.2M contract.
November 28 – Atlanta also signs former Crusaders catcher Matt McLaren (.279, 243 HR, 903 RBI) to a $10.6M deal over two years.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 15 players are selected that were not protected on 40-man rosters. The Knights make four of those selections. The Raccoons select INF Max Peck (.345, 0 HR, 3 RBI), age 28, from the Condors.
December 2 – The Knights acquire 36-yr old SP Brian Fuqua (70-83, 4.04 ERA) from the Warriors for INF/LF/RF Omar Lira (.294, 47 HR, 435 RBI) and a prospect.
December 3 – Boston inks 1B Bill Joyner (.325, 157 HR, 826 RBI), formerly of the Gold Sox, to a 2-yr, $14.2M contract.
December 3 – The Knights keep piling up players with the addition of former Blue Sox 2B/SS Paul Labonte (.278, 27 HR, 299 RBI) on a 3-yr, $6.72M contract.
December 3 – Atlanta also sends C Marco Nieto (.316, 44 HR, 478 RBI) to the Crusaders in exchange for MR Cory Leonard (19-19, 4.08 ERA, 36 SV) and a prospect.
December 5 – Cincinnati sends SP Tom Delaney (38-38, 3.49 ERA) to the Warriors for 1B/3B Andy Hafner (.270, 0 HR, 11 RBI), who has under 100 at-bats at age 32, and a prospect.
December 7 – San Francisco acquires SP Goffredo Merlin (45-37, 3.98 ERA) from the Rebels in exchange for two prospects.

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Aoki’s foremost quality will be defense, with any hitting coming as a bonus. I am rather hesitant to go into the new season with him as starting shortstop but at the current point we’re also struggling to get a better player lined up. But for the time being, having a middle infielder on the right side of 30 was gonna be a blast.

Not to cut off Rich Monck here, who was likely to move to second base, since finding one middle infielder was hard enough right now, let alone two. That would allow Vic Morales back to third base to start the year, and to give making a 30 errors in a season an honest effort. So Aoki was likely gonna be on the roster, and perhaps even the starting shortstop. Not that he’d even reach Yoshi Yamada fame, a former no-hit Raccoons shortstop that won the CL stolen base title in his only full season in the league before being axed for not hitting (and yet he still stole bags like crazy).

For other middle infielders, the Gold Sox were actively trying to part with Korean Je-ju Seul, but he came off a horrendous season and I wasn’t interested. In the meantime we picked Max Peck in the Rule 5 draft, adding another right-handed nothing bat for the middle infield tussle.

Nothing else going on otherwise, although we were poking around a free agent or two and dangling a certain injury-prone outfielder to lukewarm reception by the other 23 teams… except for a new Hall of Fame ballot!

[Westheim]

The Raccoons struggled through December with a bunch of disappointments. We showed interest in the Stars’ former closer Jon Dominguez, and Dominguez showed interest in a 3-yr, $18M contract – for a CLOSER. In other words, a hundred grand per inning. I gasped for air and wandered on.

In the middle of the month, the Buffaloes offered us middle infielder Oscar Aredondo, who was … capable but surely nothing special and might hit league average in OPS, but he also might not. For that, all they wanted was Angel Alba or pitching prospect Nick Walla, or a combo of a veteran reliever like McDaniel and another prospect. We smiled and passed.

(looks at Honeypaws) Is it me? Am I getting too picky? – I know! But I just can’t find that perfect match! – Maybe you’re right, maybe it doesn’t have to be perfect. Sometimes good is good enough. Oh Honeypaws! (squeezes Honeypaws) What would I do without your sage advice!?

(tired look from Cristiano Carmona)

There was a conversation with a team that shall not be named for a left-side infielder of theirs, but the conversation quickly turned to Alba and 18-year-old single-A Aussie pitcher Glen Vankrimpen and then got *really* frosty.

+++

December 13 – The Raccoons sign another Japanese free agent, spending $6M on a 3-year contract for right-handed MR Tetsu Kurihara.
December 14 – Portland acquires 30-yr old SP Jarod Morris (33-34, 4.16 ERA) from the Indians in a one-for-one deal for 29-yr old C Cortez Chavez (.188, 1 HR, 15 RBI).
December 15 – The Buffaloes sign ex-WAS CL Justin Round (60-36, 2.68 ERA, 259 SV) to a $5.7M contract for just the 2064 season.
December 16 – The Capitals sign up 27-yr old former Stars CL Jon Dominguez (28-28, 3.21 ERA, 142 SV) to a 3-yr, $17.6M deal.
December 18 – Former Capitals SP Bobby “Tipsy” Herrera (82-64, 3.29 ERA) signs a 2-yr, $13.8M contract with the Scorpions.
December 20 – Ex-BOS 1B Manny Rubin (.252, 139 HR, 544 RBI) gets a 2-yr, $5.12M deal from the Gold Sox.
December 24 – The Thunder ink a 4-yr, $8.48M deal with ex-Aces infielder Miguel Veguilla (.281, 84 HR, 555 RBI).
December 26 – The Coons announce the addition of 32-year-old former Condors OF Elmer Maldonado (.281, 62 HR, 431 RBI) on a $1.75M contract for 2064.
December 28 – Los Angeles adds 34-year-old ex-SFB SP Nick Robinson (142-93, 3.28 ERA) with a 2-yr, $6M contract.
December 29 – After 11 years away, 40-year-old former Condors SP Kodai Koga (214-205, 3.71 ERA) returns to the Knights on a bold 2-yr, $11.2M contract.

+++

It will be hard for Kurihara-san to become Portland’s favorite-ever Tetsu, but there’s no harm in trying. He had a befuddling changeup, but lacked the velocity to realistically get anywhere near that semi-vacant closer’s job that might end up with Juan Carrillo in the new season. With his signing the Raccoons had ten relievers on the extended roster and still suffered from a fuzzy back end.

Musings on the Morris deal mostly revolved on how badly his stock had crashed in 2063 that you could get him for a fourth-string catcher that had never and would never hit at the major league level, and Morris wasn’t even making a lot of dosh that the Indians would clear off their books either. We didn’t really know what to do with Morris – who had fallen into garbage relief territory late this past season after posting a very credible 12-5, 3.77 ERA line in ’62 – either, but for now hogging ever more pitchers seemed more clever than doing absolutely nothing while we still couldn’t piece a middle infield together.

We went after Elmer Maldonado mostly with the thought in mind that Ben Morris might be gone at some point this winter, but it looks like six DL stints in two seasons (seven if we had bothered in that final week of ’63) renders you damaged goods in the eyes of all teams and not just yours. He was a slightly toxic character, but could pick it in the outfield and was batting league average – if you kept him away from left-handed pitching, which was why his addition only made real sense if you subtracted Ben Morris at the same time.

And then we ran into the opportunity to subtract.

+++

December 29 – The Raccoons and Warriors strike a 6-player deal that sends 26-yr old CL Jon McGinley (25-27, 3.04 ERA, 138 SV) and 24-yr old INF Pablo Novelo (no stats) to Portland in exchange for 26-yr old OF Ben Morris (.268, 27 HR, 149 RBI), 30-yr old CL Josh Carlisle (25-28, 3.17 ERA, 108 SV), AA prospects OF Santos Baca and SP Brian Moraski, and $1.8M in cash.

+++

I am not even sure how that one happened. I was pouring over a list of defensive shortstops again, and out of despair went for those that didn’t even have major league stats, just optimistic scouting reports, which is how we found Novelo, who would turn 25 in January and who had batted league average in AAA so far. So he wasn’t gonna set the world on fire with the stick, but he could at least hit a little bit. Things escalated from there with the addition of McGinley, who would be 27 on Opening Day, but had four years’ experience closing already, which meant he had already fleeced the perpetually cash-strapped Warriors for an extension through 2067 that was gonna cost under $10M, but still made the Warriors’ accountant weep.

Somehow I managed to introduce our two problem children into that deal, but then had to sweeten it with prospects, but also managed to step around the ranked ones. I declare a W to finish the year!

Novelo technically wasn’t on the 40-man roster at this point, but it was extremely likely that he would get there by April.

I wasn’t *happy* to trade Morris, but I also wasn’t happy when he was on the DL all the time. His subtraction and Lonzo’s retirement now left the current extended roster with just 167 career steals, more than half of which had just been shipped in with Elmer Maldonado (90). After that, Marco Campos’ 24 steals came second on the team ahead of a pair of 17s posted by perpetual Todd Oley and … uh … Joel Starr?

There were only 13 position players on the extended roster at the end of the year, and this included Scott Lawson as third catcher, Max Peck as Rule 5 pick, another shortstop with no stats in Yukio Aoki, a clumsy third baseman that I wasn’t so sure about anymore in Vic Morales, and perpetual Todd Oley. It wasn’t like there was no room for improvement anymore!

The assortment of 16 pitchers was a right mess though. Besides the five in the rotation (Alba, Applegate, Elling, Fox, Riddle, in alphabetical order), we now had a revised back end in McGinley, Carrillo, and McDaniel, a veteran middle man in Mike Hall, Japanese import Kurihara, highly valued prospect Jesse Dover, veteran swingman Jarod Morris, and a whole host of misfits in J.J. Sensabaugh, Freddy Castillo, Rich Read, and Hachiro Yokoyama. Of these 11, the two Scots, Hall, Castillo, and Yokoyama were left-handed.

Finally, one more deal signed by a former Critter: Kelly Konecny got 2-yr, $2.32M from the Miners.

[Westheim]

The Coons were trying to get a left-handed or switch-hitting bat to pair with Vic Morales at third base in January, but didn’t really get anywhere. Alberto Bonilla of the Wolves, or Chris Sullivan of the Loggers, or Eric Frasher of the Condors (who was really expensive for – like everybody in this list – hitting at or below league average) all had the problem that they had a greedy team behind them that wanted Angel Alba or something in return.

Free agents were quite picked thin at this point (minus a certain Nick Fowler), but the Coons wanted to continue with the rejuvenation on the infield that had taken place this offseason. Joel Starr, age 31, was the senior citizen among the infield personnel right now, and we’d like to keep it that way.

What was readily available was Dallas’ Ricardo Vargas, who somehow made over $4M a year for not being particularly good except for one random 130 OPS+ season a couple seasons back. Vargas, also 31, was a switch-hitter, and the Stars were very willing to part with him. But there were almost $14M left on that contract and I was not thrilled. His splits were even, but his power was against left-handed pitching, which would not be his part in that unholy platoon.

Alright, if a third baseman is not in the cards… do we kick Vic Morales back to AAA (or the bench) and leave Rich Monck at third base, and instead look for something left-handed for the middle infield? The Warriors at this time offered Juan Mena, but all they wanted was to take our pitching staff apart, or prospect Glen Vankrimpen.

+++

January 1 – The Aces trade INF Sean Karch (.226, 0 HR, 16 RBI) to the Miners for INF/CF/RF Wally Leggett (.271, 5 HR, 64 RBI).
January 5 – The Condors acquire RF/LF John Kaniewski (.276, 171 HR, 825 RBI), coming off five years with the Warriors, for $3.24M over two years.
January 11 – The Capitals sign ex-ATL SP Jose Villegas (37-53, 4.08 ERA) to a 4-yr, $25.4M contract.
January 12 – Ex-LAP RF/LF/1B Jesus Martinez (.256, 105 HR, 433 RBI) signs a 2-yr, $5.4M deal with the Knights.
January 14 – The Gold Sox get OF/1B Vince Goll (.255, 15 HR, 126 RBI) from the Rebels for two prospects, including #11 1B John Myers, who is traded for the second time this offseason.
January 17 – The Knights send 3B/SS/LF/RF J.P. Gallo (.238, 22 HR, 143 RBI) and a prospect to the Scorpions for SP Danny Ortiz (33-23, 3.93 ERA).

+++

Other Raccoons of the past with new future paychecks: Duarte Damasceno got $4.16M over three years from the damn Elks; Jim White joined the Indians for $610k;

+++

2064 HALL OF FAME VOTING

The Hall of Fame added one new member in 2064, with Dominican 1B Alejandro Ramos getting selected off the first ballot. Ramos, a pricey $840k July IFA signing in 2038, spent most of his 16-year career with the Blue Sox, tacking on three years with the Capitals at the end. Taking a few years to kick into gear, he eventually hit 20+ home runs eight times, including seven years in a row starting with his age 27 season. He also hit for a solid average and drew tons of walks in his career, leading the FL in walks four times, including in his final season, while leading in slugging only once in 2052, when he won the FL Player of the Year award at age 32. He got four Platinum Sticks and three Gold Gloves at first base, and made four All Star Games. For his career he batted .279/.413/.442 with 2,319 hits, 303 homers, and 1,176 RBI. Notably, he drew 180 more walks than he struck out in his career, 1,848 free passes to 1,668 whiffs.

Full results:

1B Alejandro Ramos – 1st – 78.2 – INDUCTED
3B Ronnie Thompson – 3rd – 70.1
LF Eddie Moreno – 1st – 41.0
LF Danny Rivera – 1st – 34.3
CL Mike Lynn – 1st – 30.6
SP Jason Wheatley – 2nd – 16.2
SP Matt Sealock – 4th – 13.7
CF Sandy Castillo – 1st – 12.2
CL Ross Mitchell – 1st – 9.2
1B Manny Liberos – 1st – 8.9
3B Jose Rivas – 2nd – 8.5
CL Trent O’Sullivan – 1st – 7.7
SP Dave Hils – 2nd – 6.6
SS Ryan Cox – 3rd – 6.3
SP Brian Buttress – 5th – 5.2
3B Jesus Burgos – 3rd – 5.2
2B Lance Harrison – 1st – 4.8 – DROPPED
RF Juan Benavides – 5th – 4.8 – DROPPED
3B Prince Gates – 1st – 3.7 – DROPPED
CL Dale Mrazek – 1st – 3.3 – DROPPED
2B Matt Waters – 1st – 3.3 – DROPPED
CL Kevin Daley – 2nd – 2.6 – DROPPED
SP David Barel – 2nd – 2.2 – DROPPED
C Julio Diaz – 3rd – 2.2 – DROPPED
SP Brian Jackson – 1st – 1.5 – DROPPED

[Westheim]

It was February, the new schedule was out, and the Raccoons still didn’t have an infield that looked like it could pour itself a cup of water – outside Joel Starr and Rich Monck of course. There were four more jobs on that infield that needed filling.

And so far we still only had a clumsy third baseman, a Japanese import, a Rule 5er, and potentially the other youngster we had picked up from the Warriors but not added to the actual extended roster. That was a total of 73 ABL games of hitting .248 with two homers – all on Vic Morales – and 27 RBI. Max Peck was chipping in three of those.

There were more talks with the Wolves for switch-hitter Alberto Bonilla, but they were after Alba or Morales, and I was not biting.

So that was that. The Raccoons blundered into the new season with no infield to speak of. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

+++

February 6 – The Thunder bring back 35-year-old ex-SFB SP Mike Chartrand (112-114, 4.10 ERA) on a 2-yr, $7.76M contract.
February 6 – The Loggers deal infielder Chris Sullivan (.262, 16 HR, 184 RBI) to the Rebels for 2B/SS Devin Willoughby (.257, 7 HR, 51 RBI).
February 21 – The Thunder deal OF J.D. Johnson (.276, 16 HR, 72 RBI) to the Warriors for LF/CF Rick Miles (.265, 25 HR, 195 RBI).
February 24 – Former Gold Sox outfielder Jose Consuegra (.296, 29 HR, 288 RBI) joins the Thunder on a 2-yr, $6.88M deal.
March 17 – The Capitals throw $7.2M over three years at ex-NAS/POR MR Jimmy Dingman (32-46, 3.95 ERA, 107 SV).
March 28 – Washington also adds former Indians LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield (.274, 107 HR, 574 RBI) for $6.8M over two years.

+++

Trent Brassfield was still lingering on the free agent market when training camp began in March. I was tempted to offer him a 1-year deal (but no more!) but he already was mulling several multi-year offers.

Days before the season was slated to begin, the Thunder – in win now mode – went after Angel Alba again, offering bit-part infielder Daniel Richardson (not to be confused with the Daniel Richardson that did a wholly unremarkable season with the Decade of Darkness Raccoons). Not sure why we would trade Alba for another right-handed ham-and-egger when we already had three of them on the roster…

Cont(r)act details for former Critters: Mike Pohlmann got 2-yr, $4.56M from the Gold Sox; the damn Elks signed Ken Sowell for $2.44M; the Knights got Hyun-soo Bak for 2-yr, $2.64M; Mike Lane signed for $590k with the Stars; the Miners got Nick Fowler for $520k; Ricky Herrera went to the Titans for $496k; Reynaldo Bravo signed for the Gold Sox for $480k; Phil Baker went to Sacramento for $3.52M; the damn Elks signed Raffy de la Cruz for $570k; Boston added Dave Blackshire for $490k; the Loggers inked Juan Ojeda for $620k;

[Westheim]

2064 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2063 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions;

SP Angel Alba, 27, B:R, T:R (12-12, 3.75 ERA | 30-29, 3.62 ERA) – posted roughly the same stats as in his alleged breakout season in 2062 last year, with the exception of leading the league in homers allowed (ouch) and that one even coming with a 50-point regression in BABIP behind him, so things were guaranteed to get rough. Somehow he made it to start on Opening Day. No, nothing on this roster is going to make any sense.
SP Tyler Riddle, 32, B:L, T:L (12-6, 3.60 ERA | 95-62, 2.98 ERA, 2 SV) – foremost riddled with injuries, this veteran southpaw has missed the equivalent of a full season across his last three years as a Brownshirt, and at this point we’re not exactly yearning to extend his deal that is expiring after the season. The changeup still plays – for about 15 to 25 starts a year…
SP Josh Elling, 29, B:R, T:R (11-12, 4.03 ERA | 66-77, 3.61 ERA) – okay, he wasn’t *terrible* by most measuring sticks, except that he makes $7M annually after being signed off an 18-5 season with Sacramento. Allowed the most homers outside of his rookie season and seemed generally luckless whenever he got near the baseball.
SP Chance Fox, 29, B:L, T:L (10-10, 3.54 ERA | 65-54, 3.70 ERA) – at this point, you’re delulu to hope that Fox will ever turn it around and become the star that we hoped for when we took him #3 in the draft 11 years ago. He is a very competent mid-rotation starter that just happens to insist to get it on the snout really hard at least once a month.
SP Jeff Applegate, 24, B:L, T:L (4-5, 3.07 ERA | 4-5, 3.07 ERA) – highly rated prospect replaced the luckless John Bollinger early in the season, then couldn’t get a W for what felt like months. Walked too many, didn’t strike out enough, but there were glimpses of a very competent pitcher there.

SP/MR Jarod Morris *, 30, B:R, T:R (4-10, 5.19 ERA | 33-34, 4.16 ERA) – this three-pitch right-hander went 12-5 as starter for the Indians just two years ago, but fell on hard times last year and could be acquired on the cheap this winter. There is no room in the rotation for him just yet, so he’ll pitch long relief to begin the season, but remember the Riddle on the crossword puzzle page in the Sunday edition of the Agitator: “What’s Tyler hurting of now?”
MR Mike Hall *, 30, B:L, T:L (2-2, 5.13 ERA | 37-38, 4.19 ERA) – lefty groundballer with four pitches still reeling from getting beaten up on a .353 BABIP last year and arrived in Portland from the faithless Blue Sox for a spare outfielder.
MR Jesse Dover, 22, B:R, T:R (0-0, 2.25 ERA, 1 SV | 0-0, 2.25 ERA, 1 SV) – the Raccoons two years ago were taken enough by Dover’s fastball and slider that they took him with the #19 pick in the draft. He arrived for a up of coffee late last season and pitched well enough that his inclusion on the Opening Day roster was never discussed all that much afterwards.
MR Tetsu Kurihara *, 26, B:S, T:R (no stats) – free agent signed out of Japan that has been advertised with a killer changeup. I’ll believe it when I see it in action.
SU Juan Carrillo, 32, B:R, T:R (3-3, 1.48 ERA, 1 SV | 45-20, 3.40 ERA, 14 SV) – this curveball-throwing right-hander had his best-ever season with the Raccoons in 2063 if measured by WAR. That was also his first season on a 3-year deal in Portland.
SU Isaac McDaniel, 31, B:R, T:L (2-2, 1.10 ERA, 1 SV | 4-4, 1.79 ERA, 2 SV) – arrived in a trade from the Knights last winter and basically replicated his numbers from Atlanta in Portland, except that he cut the ERA in half. For a late bloomer that debuted at 28 in the majors, he’s been quite decent indeed!
CL Jon McGinley *, 27, B:L, T:L (5-8, 2.57 ERA, 34 SV | 25-27, 3.04 ERA, 138 SV) – the Raccoons landed a four-year closer (from a dismal team like the Warriors, admittedly) in trade this winter, and the guy had not even turned 27 by then! McGinley was a groundball-inducing sinkerballer, so his K/9 were not exceeding nine, but he was surely glad he arrived on the Raccoons *after* they trimmed their array of well-over-30 infielders.

C Bruce Burkart *, 33, B:R, T:R (.304, 6 HR, 39 RBI | .254, 70 HR, 370 RBI) – The Raccoons traded for an established catcher with three years left on his contract by bringing in Burkart from the Caps. He has steadily posted above-average offense, and he is still sharp behind the dish.
C Marcos Arellano, 27, B:R, T:R (.267, 7 HR, 47 RBI | .267, 9 HR, 73 RBI) – Arellano mostly tries to curry favor with his defense, and was somewhat lackluster on offense in his first season as the primary catcher. The addition of Burkart replaces him in that role.

1B Joel Starr, 31, B:L, T:L (.276, 13 HR, 52 RBI | .282, 94 HR, 400 RBI) – although we’d still wish for more power from our first baseman with basically a retirement contract on the books, at least he’s posted steady above-average production for the last couple of season. He also puts out 30+ doubles and triples each year and can scoop the odd base.
3B/2B/SS Rich Monck, 27, B:L, T:R (.294, 36 HR, 113 RBI | .292, 117 HR, 382 RBI) – nobody *really* knew how Monck wound up with the Raccoons from Cincy last February, but the Raccoons sure found use for a 37-homer stick in the cleanup spot. And he even held up in his first Portland season! Posted a career-high RBI mark on a team that couldn’t score for anything, and was juggled around three different positions, sometimes on three different days, but should find more comfort at second base this year.
3B/2B/SS/RF Victor Morales, 22, B:R, T:R (.237, 2 HR, 24 RBI | .237, 2 HR, 24 RBI) – probably underdone for a starter’s role at third base, and he made a metric **** ton of errors in half his season in ’63, all while posting a really pathetic .607 OPS. That he’s in there on Opening Day is probably the biggest spotlight on our failed offseason.
2B/SS/3B/LF/RF Yukio Aoki *, 27, B:L, T:R (no stats) – exceptionally skilled with the glove, but he was a casual hitter even in Japan, and I am not sure how that’s gonna translate to the ABL…
3B/2B/SS Max Peck *, 28, B:R, T:R (played in minors | .345, 0 HR, 3 RBI) – Rule 5 acquisition from the Condors with some cups of coffee in the early 2060s; solid on defense, and no track record of hitting.
2B/SS/3B Pablo Novelo *, 25, B:R, T:R (no stats) – another one on the pile of defensively skilled, young-ish middle infielders with no track record of hitting the baseball, this one having been acquired from the Warriors.

LF/1B/CF Jack Kozak, 29, B:R, T:R (.244, 16 HR, 57 RBI | .241, 36 HR, 129 RBI) – one day we’ll figure out what to do with this casually-fielding, oddly speedy, serial strikeout, with or without his power outbursts. One day.
LF/RF/CF Elmer Maldonado *, 32, B:L, T:L (.266, 5 HR, 35 RBI | .281, 62 HR, 431 RBI) – single-season rental off the free agent market that will probably get the majority of the time in centerfield, despite being the oldest of the three starting outfielders. He can still range around and pick it, and more so than Kozak and Corral, but should get spotted by Campos against lefty pitching.
RF/LF Jose Corral, 23, B:L, T:L (.291, 10 HR, 52 RBI | .269, 12 HR, 79 RBI) – went into last season with a bunch of doubts attached to him, but ended up posting an .806 OPS with *some* power – admittedly while being held away from left-handed pitching with the zeal normally reserved for the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody expects him to hit 25 homers any time soon, but if he can continue to post 3.4 WAR as the meat side of a rightfield platoon of some sort, that should keep him a job for a while.
LF/RF/CF Marco Campos, 25, B:R, T:R (.256, 1 HR, 20 RBI | .260, 1 HR, 22 RBI) – quirky defensive outfielder with speed and the promise of hitting eventually, Campos was acquired for Trent Brassfield and a few failed pitchers two Julies ago and then featured as a September call-up before spending all year on the roster in 2063, but you could have been forgiven for never noticing him trudging along to a .628 OPS as fourth/fifth outfielder / southpaw-facing replacement for Ben Morris or Jose Corral. Another one of those positions that could have been upgraded. Unlike what we printed in our media guide last year, his name is not Mario.
RF/LF/CF Todd Oley, 31, B:L, T:L (.260, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .288, 2 HR, 47 RBI) – look… we know.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Freddy Castillo, 27, B:L, T:L (1-2, 5.08 ERA | 5-7, 4.41 ERA) – optioned to AAA; failed as a starter in ’62, and was inefficient as long reliever in ’63.
MR Hachiro Yokoyama, 29, B:L, T:L (1-1, 5.56 ERA | 1-1, 5.56 ERA) – optioned to AAA; was signed out of Japan last season but his slider didn’t do much in either AAA (where he also started games) or the majors (where he only relieved, and badly).
MR Rich Read, 26, B:R, T:R (0-0, 4.02 ERA | 2-2, 4.11 ERA, 1 SV) – waived and DFA’ed; his stuff has not played in the majors across a number of short-term assignments, but I have a hunch he’s gonna be claimed off waivers.
MR J.J. Sensabaugh, 31, B:R, T:R (1-1, 5.15 ERA | 12-11, 4.77 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; the failed starter that somehow comes back from his quad-A gig in St. Pete each and every year hoped to make the roster as a long man, but we know better than to *plan* on giving him the baseball. It just happens. Again and again and again.
C Scott Lawson, 27, B:R, T:R (.219, 2 HR, 16 RBI | .219, 2 HR, 16 RBI) – optioned to AAA; survived his Rule 5 season despite posting a frightful .535 OPS; defensively gifted, but can’t hit a lick.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or had his body donated for science this offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P
(Vs. LHP: CF Kozak – LF/RF Campos – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – RF Corral (Aoki? Oley? Really??) – SS Novelo (Peck) – P)

Neither Corral nor Kozak is a brilliant pick as leadoff man, and we don’t really have enough right-handed outfielders to go around, despite an abundance of good-for-nothing right-handed infielders.

What *is* Todd Oley doing on the roster, anyway??

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

BNN was not impressed by the Raccoons’ offseason, giving us a -0.5 WAR score for our efforts. Of course, no WAR will be gained from piling up listless infielders that didn’t play in the majors last year. We gained about 2 WAR from the Caps deal for Burkart, but lost almost as much from sending Ben Morris to the Warriors for a new closer (maybe this one will work!).

There was some subtraction through free agency going on as well, with Jim White costing 2.1 WAR, as did Malik Crumble.

Top 5: Miners (+7.2), Warriors (+7.0), Titans (+6.2), Knights (+6.0), Buffaloes (+3.7)
Bottom 5: Indians (-3.3), Thunder (-3.8), Pacifics (-6.6), Wolves (-7.7), Rebels (-9.2)

The remaining CL North teams came in 12th (NYC, -1.1), 13th (MIL, -1.2), and 18th (VAN, -2.5).

PREDICTION TIME:

Last time in this space I predicted a slight improvement to 83 wins and they made an even slighter improvement to 81 wins instead, blowing a first half that saw them get to 17 games over .500 in the process.

This time I have no illusions. The rotation is fine, we have some very good hitters in Monck, Starr, and … uh… Corral? … but the bullpen is an unmitigated disaster, the left side of the infield is a joke, and we somehow ended up with perpetual Todd Oley on the Opening Day roster.

This team might actually lose 87 games.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

The Coons slipped from 6th to 11th in the prospect rankings, although this had absolutely to do with migration to the majors for some of our top 100 youths: both #54 Vic Morales and #95 Jeff Applegate well out-played their service time allowance to remain a prospect. They had been two of the five top 100 youngsters last year, with eight total in the top 200.

This year we had seven ranked prospects, five of them in the top 100, and three even in the top 50:

13th (-4) – ML CL Jesse Dover, 22 – 2062 first-round pick by Raccoons
29th (-10) – AAA CL John Nesbitt, 25 – 2061 first-round pick by Buffaloes, acquired with Tony Gonzalez for Joey Christopher, Ken Sowell
48th (new) – ML INF Pablo Novelo, 25 – 2060 first-round pick by Warriors, acquired with Jon McGinley for Ben Morris, Josh Carlisle, Brian Moraski, Santos Baca, and $1.8M cash
62nd (new) – A SP Glen Vankrimpen, 18 – 2062 international free agent signed by Raccoons
84th (-67) – AAA LF/1B/RF Malcolm Spicer, 19 – 2061 scouting discovery by Thunder, acquired for Nick Nye, Adam Middleton
102nd (new) – AAA SP Nick Walla, 23 – 2059 second-round pick by Raccoons
158th (new) – A CL Daniel Lopez, 19 – 2061 international free agent signed by Raccoons

The top 10 for the franchise were completed by AA 2B Ryan Bonner (2061 supp. round pick that was #193 last year), INT SP Antonio Pacheco (2063 July IFA signing), and AAA 1B Alex Vargas (2058 second-rounder by us, with a brief Rule 5-inspired majors appearance for the Wolves last year).

That left last year’s #136 Fred Sheets and #198 Joel Tapia to slide out of the top 200. Both were still in the organization, sitting 14th and 11th, respectively, in the franchise ranks.

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (new) – TOP AAA CL Allan Bergerud, 22
2nd (-1) – MIL AA RF/LF Carlos Dominguez, 20
3rd (+23) – OCT AA SS/2B Jose Palominos, 21
4th (new) – LAP A SP Zach Haluska, 19
5th (0) – CIN ML MR Kyle Houck, 23

6th (new) – SFB AA LF/RF Ian Streng, 23
7th (-4) – IND AA 1B Alex Mendez, 22
8th (new) – ATL AA C Justin Hart, 21
9th (-2) – CIN ML MR Marc Timmons, 22
10th (new) – RIC A OF Juan Licona, 18

Bergerud had been the #14 pick in the previous year’s draft, 12 spots behind the #2 pick Haluska, and four spots behind #10 selection Streng. Hart had been the #4 pick in the draft, and Licona had been taken #7.

Timmons had been traded twice this winter, going from the Rebs to the Wolves to the Cyclones and making it onto the Opening Day roster with fellow top 10 prospect Kyle Houck as his team- and penmate.

This left six players from last year’s top 10 that were no longer in that exclusive circle. Some experienced a slight readjustment of their evaluation, like former #2 prospect, NYC AAA CL Dave Hyman, slipped 20 spots to #22. Aces AAA OF/1B Jorge Caceres went down 12 spots to #18. Blue Sox A SP Jorge Sanchez struggled with injury and only made 20 starts last year, being handed down four spots from #8 to #12. The same downwards trend by four spots was experienced by the Coons’ CL Jesse Dover (to #13) and OCT AAA SP Matt Chumley (to #14).

Last year’s #4 prospect John Faughnan was on the Opening Day roster, but tore his rotator cuff in May after 13 appearances and was still not back on the mound (Houck and Timmons were hoping for more luck for themselves).

Next: first pitch.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Crusaders (0-0) – April 8-9, 2064

We opened the season with a 2-week homestand, but only two games in the first series against the Crusaders, who were gearing up for another run at the division title, while the Raccoons hoped for as little embarrassment as possible. The Crusaders had handled the Raccoons rather well in 2063, beating them 12 out of 18 games, but that still wasn’t enough to beat the Titans to the division title.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (0-0) vs. Ben Seiter (0-0)
Tyler Riddle (0-0) vs. Erik Lee (0-0)

The Crusaders brought up a pair of right-handers here.

Game 1
NYC: CF Box – RF A. Romero – C M. Nieto – SS O. Sanchez – 2B Onelas – 1B Cline – 3B V. Velez – LF Alade – P Seiter
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Alba

Bryant Box made his ABL debut by leading off, four years after being taken #15 in the 2060 draft. He was 21 years old and singled to right on the first pitch offered by Angel Alba, but was stranded when Alex Romero, Marco Nieto, and Omar Sanchez were retired in order. The Raccoons had to wait until the second inning for a base hit and runner, when Rich Monck singled and was immediately doubled up by Bruce Burkart’s grounder to Sanchez. Seiter would face the minimum the first time through, but then walked Jack Kozak in the bottom 4th of a scoreless game and gave up a double to left to Joel Starr. Monck’s pop to short and a K to Burkart left both of those in scoring position, though, and the game remained scoreless. The Crusaders also got a 1-out walk and then a double in the top 5th; Vic Velez drew the walk and Jon Alade doubled to right, but Seiter struck out. Box then popped out to Vic Morales.

Top 6th, and the New Yorkers loaded the bases. Alex Romero reached on an error by Monck, Sanchez legged out an infield single, and once Marcos Onelas drew a 1-out walk, the bases were full. Jake Cline popped out and Velez whiffed to waste that opportunity. Alba allowed a single to Seiter in the seventh, but kept him on base, too; however, he reached 100 pitches right there and was removed after seven shutout innings and without his team scratching out a run for him. Carrillo replaced him and got the Crusaders in order in the eighth inning, before Elmer Maldonado led off the bottom of the eighth with a single to center, his first hit as a Raccoon and the third hit off Seiter in this game. The Raccoons yearned for a run and called a hit-and-run. Morales flailed and missed, but Nieto’s throw bounced and got over Onelas’ glove and Maldonado not only took second base, but scurried to third base with nobody out. He then scored on a wild 1-2 pitch by Seiter. Todd Oley (sigh!) had a pinch-hit single in Carrillo’s spot, but was left on base. The Raccoons then unwrapped their new closer, Jon McGinley, who immediately gave up two singles to Cline and Velez in the ninth before getting a double play from Jon Alade, moving the tying run to third base. Backup catcher Byron Duncan pinch-hit for Seiter, doubled to center, and this game was tied … (sigh!!!) …

The Raccoons had nothing going in the ninth and made it to extra innings right on Opening Day. Monck made another error behind Jesse Dover in the tenth inning, in which Yukio Aoki hit a 2-out double off Jason Rhodes, but Marcos Arellano grounded out behind him and the game continued with Jarod Morris taking the ball for Portland. Alade and Aaron Walker reached against him in the 11th, but were left on the corners after a pair of pop outs by Steven Heiden and Jesus Alvarez. The Raccoons then scratched out another chance, and a fat one at that, in the bottom 11th when Kody Mello walked Corral leading off, and then gave up a double to Jack Kozak, putting the winning run at third with nobody out and the meat of the order coming up. And none of the 3-4-5 hitters would be able to end the game! …however, that was because a passed ball charged to Nieto two Mello pitches later already brought in Corral with the winning run before Joel Starr could do any damage. 2-1 Blighters. Starr 2-4, 2B; Oley (PH) 1-1; Alba 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K;

Two runs, no RBI’s. Strong start!

Game 2
NYC: CF Box – RF A. Romero – 2B Onelas – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Cline – C B. Duncan – 3B V. Velez – LF Zeiher – P E. Lee
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Riddle

Alex Romero hit a double in the first but was left on base, while Corral drew a leadoff walk off Lee and Kozak hit a homer to left for some RBI’s for the team. Starr and Monck also walked then, Burkart singled to fill the bases, but the Coons only got a Maldonado sac fly after that before Morales and Aoki made ineffective outs, leaving a pair on base with a 3-0 lead. Lee was not having the best of days with control. He would offer walked to Morales and Riddle (with two outs!) in the fourth, which led to an RBI single for Corral and a 2-run double by Kozak, and then Lee’s dismissal from the game.

No such issues with Riddle, who pitched seven fine shutout innings despite a few doubles given up early on. He allowed only four hits total to the Crusaders, and only one of those in the last three frames he pitched. Mike Hall had a scoreless eighth, while the Crusaders’ Pedro Mendoza walked pinch-hitters Pablo Novelo and Todd Oley in the bottom 8th, but Corral grounded out to leave them on base. Cline and Duncan reached base against Tetsu Kurihara in his first Raccoons outing, but Velez’ grounder to Novelo at short ended the game. 6-0 Raccoons. Kozak 2-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

Waiver claims

While Raccoons pitchers J.J. Sensabaugh and Rich Read passed through waivers untouched to begin the season, the Raccoons claimed a pair of outfielders off waivers by the damn Elks, of all teams, bringing in 26-year-old LF/CF Rafael Valencia and 27-year-old UT Randy Tallent, both of whom had been on the Elks’ shuttle to and from AAA Drummondville repeatedly for several years. Both were batting right-handed.

Tallent was a .199 batter in 297 at-bats in the majors and versatility was his main claim to fame, even though the only positions he excelled at were the outfield corners. Valencia was hitting .241 in 286 at-bats over three years and was mostly a leftfielder.

The Raccoons returned Max Peck, who had not appeared in any of the first two games, to the Condors, and tossed Todd Oley (batting a thousand!) on the waiver wire once again to make room on the roster.

Raccoons (2-0) vs. Condors (1-2) – April 11-13, 2064

The Condors had lost two of three low-scoring games to the Falcons to begin the season and both teams tied for ninth in runs scored after a couple of days back at the office. The Coons had only allowed one run so far, though. The Condors had won last year’s season series, 5-4, after eight years of Raccoons dominance in the matchup.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (0-0) vs. Vince Ellison (0-0)
Chance Fox (0-0) vs. Dan Beare (0-0)
Jeff Applegate (0-0) vs. Brett Bebout (0-1, 4.50 ERA)

There were only right-handed pitchers in the Condors rotation.

Game 1
TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – RF Asencio – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – LF S. Moore – CF Alf. Mendez – P Ellison
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – P Elling

To say that the offense was slow in the Friday opener would have been an understatement. After neither team did much of anything for four innings I dozed off with my head on Slappy’s shoulder and was only rudely awaken again when the crowd roared for Joel Starr’s RBI double to drive home Jack Kozak for the game’s first run in the bottom 6th. It was the sixth hit of the game (five for the Coons), the first for extra bases, and suddenly I was paying attention again. Rich Monck added an RBI single to right, 2-0, Burkart hit a soft single, and then Elmer Maldonado pummeled an Ellison fastball for a 2-out, 3-run homer! Well, that went quickly!

The shutout bid then died on a solo homer by Casey Ramsey with two outs in the seventh, but Elling remained around and bunted Novelo to second base after his leadoff single in the bottom of the same frame. Right-hander Carlos Rodriguez then walked the bags full with Corral and Kozak, struck out Starr, but gave up a 2-out, 2-run single to Monck that extended the lead to 7-1. Valencia made his Coons debut batting for Burkart, but made for an easy groundout before staying in the game in leftfield, with Arellano taking over catching what Elling had to offer. Hits by Alf Mendez and Marco Asencio gave the Condors another run in the eighth, but Elling hunkered down and would retire another four Condors after that to pitch a complete-game 6-hitter…! 7-2 Raccoons. Kozak 2-3, BB; Starr 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Monck 3-4, 3 RBI; Novelo 2-4; Elling 9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (1-0);

That night, the 3-0 Raccoons and the Warriors, who were also on 3-0 with a rainout, were the only undefeated teams in baseball, and a stark reminder that you can’t win a division title in April.

The Condors intended to skip Dan Beare for now and go back to Opening Day starter Brett Bebout, who would be going on regular rest on Saturday, but rain washed out the Saturday contest anyway and we got a double header scheduled for Sunday. The Warriors went to 4-0 that day, though.

However, the weather remained iffy on Sunday, and it was highly unclear how many games we would actually get in before the Condors had to leave town.

Game 2
TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – LF Alf. Mendez – RF Kaniewski – C Brann – 3B Frasher – SS C. Ramsey – CF Cardwell – 1B McIntyre – P Bebout
POR: RF Corral – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Valencia – 3B Novelo – SS Aoki – P Fox

Fox, finally getting a Chance to pitch, got gobsmacked for four runs in the first inning, which he kinda brought on himself by walking Alf Mendez and John Kaniewski and then melting down from there with three hits allowed to Mike Brann (RBI double), Ramsey (2-run double), and Chad Cardwell (RBI single). He issued another walk in the second, and continued to fester on the mound through to the fourth inning without giving up another run before he was forcibly removed from the contest by a 50-minute rain delay, which made a second game on Sunday unlikely already.

Bebout had thrown 42 pitches in three perfect innings before the delay and continued after it, only giving up a runner on Monck’s leadoff double to left-center in the bottom 5th. Behind Monck there were three strikeouts around a 2-out walk drawn by Novelo, and nobody scored.

Jarod Morris pitched four shutout innings in rain-soaked relief of Chance Fox, keeping the score at 4-0. He was hit for when Novelo singled and Aoki reached on Willie Acosta’s error to begin the bottom 8th, but Elmer Maldonado, Corral, and Kozak made soggy outs in order and the Raccoons failed to score. Instead the Condors tore up Kurihara in the ninth on a 2-out, 2-run triple by Alf Mendez. 6-0 Condors. Monck 2-4, 2B; Novelo 1-2, BB; Morris 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K;

The second game of the double-header was indeed not going to be played with the rain only picking up late in the first game and we’d have this one postponed to later in the season.

The Warriors also lost on Sunday, so nobody went into Week 2 undefeated.

Raccoons (3-1) vs. Knights (3-4) – April 14-16, 2064

The Raccoons emerged from the first week of the season with the fewest games played, while the Knights were one of four teams successfully getting seven games in. They led the CL in runs scored, which you had to take with a grain of salt at this point, and had given up the third-most runs. They were tops in stolen bases, but their defense had been rated rather disparagingly early on. They had won six of nine games against the Coons last season.

Projected matchups:
Jeff Applegate (0-0) vs. Brian Fuqua (0-0, 6.00 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD
Tyler Riddle (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (2-0, 3.21 ERA)

Two righties, and then there was the issue of the middle game. In turn this would be ex-Coon and right-hander Jose Rosa (0-0, 0.00 ERA), but he had left his first start with back issues and it was unclear whether he would be able to take this start.

Game 1
ATL: SS Kilday – RF J. Martinez – CF J. Evans – 2B Fumero – 3B Lange – C McLaren – LF Andon – 1B A. Vasquez – P Fuqua
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Applegate

The skies still looked like they were up to no good on Monday, but the game began on time, and Applegate scattered hits right away. Jake Evans doubled in the first and was left on base, and Ralph Lange hit a leadoff double in the second and was thrown out trying to extend it to a triple by Kozak, who then also got on base ahead of Joel Starr in the bottom 3rd, and Starr bopped his first homer of the year to give the Raccoons a 2-0 lead.

Applegate made that score stand up with dominant middle innings; after the Knights had four hits in the first three frames, they had none in the middle set of innings, and only Jesus Martinez, an ex-Coon back in the CL after years in L.A., drew a walk from Applegate. The Raccoons were not producing much of value either in this time, so when Carlos Fumero hit a leadoff single in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 21 games we were certainly alert. Fumero eventually stole second base, then scored on a 2-out throwing error by Vic Morales… Tristan Waker grounded out to Aoki to keep the tying run on base at least… This was the last inning for Applegate, who became the third Raccoons pitcher to not allow an earned run in his season debut, with Valencia reaching on Matt Kilday’s error with two outs in his spot in the bottom 7th. Ex-Coon David Concha grounded out Corral to short to keep him from scoring.

Isaac McDaniel then became the last player on the roster to make his season debut in the top 8th, striking out Johnny Parker before allowing a single to the speedster Kilday. Dover replaced him, struck out Martinez and got a groundout from Evans to end the inning. McGinley then successfully converted his second chance at a Raccoons save. 2-1 Critters. Starr 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Monck 2-4; Applegate 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-0);

Jose Rosa was declared good to go by the Atlanta staff on Tuesday then.

Game 2
ATL: 2B Kilday – RF J. Evans – C McLaren – CF Fumero – SS Labonte – LF J. Martinez – 3B B. Snyder – 1B A. Vasquez – P Rosa
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – 3B Tallent – P Alba

Alba walked Kilday to begin the game on Tuesday, but Evans hit into a double play. However, Matt McLaren homered to center and Fumero singled and stole second base again before the inning finally ended with Paul Labonte, another ex-Coon in Georgian exile, struck out. The Knights tacked on a run in the second on hits by Martinez and Alex Vasquez. The Coons were awake for a change, though, and while I was reaching for the bottle of Capt’n Coma in the bottom 2nd, they scored a run on doubles by Burkart and the rookie Novelo, while Randy Tallent was hit by a Rosa pitch. Alba bunted the runners over for the second out of the inning, and Jose Corral came up clutch and hit a score-flipping 2-run single through the hole between Vasquez and Kilday, sending Portland up 3-2. Kozak then grounded out to end the inning, though.

The third was uneventful, but in the fourth Alba ran into trouble. Labonte singled and he walked the bags full against the 7-8 batter with one out. Rosa gave himself the lead with a 2-run single to center, and Alba just kept crashing from there, allowing another run on Kilday’s single and then plated a sixth run with a wild pitch before being quietly disposed of between innings.

The Raccoons looked deflated while Kurihara put in a scoreless inning and Mike Hall pitched five outs before having the one runner he put on base (Evans) be waved around to score in the seventh by Carrillo allowing a single to Fumero and throwing another run-scoring wild pitch, 7-3. Labonte then grounded out but Martinez homered off Carrillo to lead off the eighth, as the Knights piled it on. In between the Coons had squandered a pair of runners in the bottom 7th, then drew leadoff walks with Morales and Starr in the bottom 8th against Rosa, before Monck blundered into a double play. Burkart got a 2-out RBI with a single to right, but that was all to the inning. And the game. 8-4 Knights. Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Burkart 2-4, 2B, RBI; Novelo 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Morris 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Game 3
ATL: SS Kilday – RF J. Martinez – CF J. Evans – 2B Fumero – 3B Lange – C McLaren – LF Garmon – 1B A. Vasquez – P Koga
POR: RF Corral – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Valencia – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Riddle

The first runners in the game were Lange and McLaren drawing walks off Riddle in the second inning, but Corey Garmon hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. The Knights had a pair on base again in the fourth, with Evans (who forced out Martinez with a grounder) and Fumero being erased when Ralph Lange found that 6-4-3 double play to rumble into. In between the Raccoons had found an Aoki single and … nothing else, really. Starr was about five feet short of a homer in the bottom 4th, but in the box score it was just another F7.

No score through five, the Raccoons got a leadoff single from Riddle in the bottom 6th and Corral followed up with a single to center. Koga lost Kozak in a full count to fill the bases with nobody out for the so far kinda lackluster middle of the order. Koga walking in a run with four straight balls to Starr sure helped with taking a 1-0 lead, though! Monck hit a **** grounder for a force at home, though, but Koga plated Kozak with a wild pitch then. Arellano and Valencia were then both ahead in the count before popping out on the infield and leaving a pair in scoring position…

Riddle dragged that 2-0 lead into the eighth where he walked McLaren leading off, but then got another double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Garmon. Vasquez also grounded out to Monck to get Riddle through eight with a 1-hitter. Kozak then thumped a homer on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 8th to extend the lead to 3-0. Koga went on, allowed a double to Monck, intentionally walked Maldonado when he batted for Arellano, and gave up another run on a pinch-hit single by Burkart. Campos pinch-hit and walked, and Aoki poked an RBI single against Josh Clem. Riddle batted for himself to take a shot at a shutout even though he was already at 97 pitches, but for now accidentally hit another 2-run single. Clem walked Corral, but Kozak then grounded out to leave the bases loaded. The shutout didn’t happen; Riddle got Waker to ground out, but then allowed two singles to Kilday and Martinez and was lifted. Carrillo came in and cleaned up behind him, though. 7-0 Critters! Burkart (PH) 1-1, RBI; Aoki 2-4, RBI; Riddle 8.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (2-0) and 2-3, 2 RBI;

In other news

April 9 – SFW OF Alex Barnes (.600, 1 HR, 4 RBI), the 2062 FL Rookie of the Year, will miss at least two weeks with torn ligaments in his thumb.
April 13 – ATL UT Carlos Fumero (.323, 0 HR, 6 RBI) continues a hitting streak from 2063 to this year and with a second-inning single in a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens extends it to 20 games.
April 13 – Senior citizen LAP 3B Steve Dilly (.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI), who was 40 years old, was down with a strained hammy and would miss six weeks on the DL.
April 14 – TOP SP Sean Sweeton (0-0, 2.51 ERA) would miss up to two months with a triceps strain.
April 14 – The Crusaders beat the Thunder, 8-7 in 15 innings. Both teams score a run each in the 13th and 14th innings before New York breaks through for good in the 15th. NYC 3B/2B/CF Victor Velez (.480, 1 HR, 6 RBI) has four hits and four RBI with a homer in this game.
April 14 – Indy beats the Aces, 11-5 in 12 innings with a commanding 6-run top of the 12th.
April 15 – Blue Sox OF/1B Tony Roman (.393, 1 HR, 6 RBI) would miss the rest of the month with shoulder tendinitis.
April 15 – The Stars find themselves down 9-3 to the Capitals at the seventh-inning stretch, but rally with two runs in the seventh and seven runs in the eighth to beat Washington, 12-9.
April 16 – The Loggers lose 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.306, 0 HR, 3 RBI) to a sprained ankle; the 23-year-old will be on the DL for a month at least.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.462, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: BOS OF Steve Humphries (.520, 2 HR, 10 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

A 5-2 start with a rainout and lots of question marks. Yeah, we have the fewest runs allowed in the CL, but we have also played the fewest games. Also, the team batting average right now is a rather atrocious .221… Time to bang the “it’s early!” drum!

The rained-out game against the Condors was a bit tricky to make up because the Condors were not scheduled to return to Portland at all this year – the other two series to be played were both scheduled for Tijuana. The make-up game was crammed into the schedule on May 12, a common off day on Monday. That day had been the only off day for the Coons between April 28 and May 29, so we’d now have to play 30 straight games without respite.

Maud, can you dial up League HQ? I have screaming to do.

We have yet to face a lefty starter, by the way. One of those years!

Nothing bad happened to Todd Oley on the waiver wire, just like the last 17 times.

We will have one more home series, four games against the first-place Titans. After that it will be right off to a 2-week road trip starting in Milwaukee and Charlotte. Vegas and New York are also scheduled for that zig-zaggy trip. Starting with the Aces series, the Raccoons will then have their 30-day spell without a day off.

Fun Fact: With the retirement of Lonzo after last season, Alex Vasquez re-assumes the position of active career stolen base leader.

We saw the 38-year-old with the Knights just now. He stole only three bases last year, but he might yet go up a few spots in the career table, for which we’ll list the top 10 here and some other notable active players (active players listed in bold):

1st – Lorenzo “Lonzo” Lavorano – 752
2nd – Pablo Sanchez – 721 (HOF)
3rd – Enrique “Cosmo” Trevino – 708 (HOF)
4th – Guillermo Obando – 686 (HOF)
5th – Alberto “Berto” Ramos – 677 (HOF)
6th – Alex Vasquez – 669
7th – Omar Sanchez – 625
8th – Rich de Luna – 570
9th – Danny Ceballos – 534
10th – Chris Navarro – 516
…
22nd – Xavier Reyes – 435
29th – Chad Pritchett – 412
44th – Matt Kilday – 354

Kilday is only 27 years old, and he might reasonably get to half of Lonzo’s career total by the summer.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (5-2) vs. Titans (7-2) – April 17-20, 2064

The Raccoons would have to contend with the Titans for four games – besides the weather – to conclude this first homestand of the season, the set starting on Thursday. Boston was third in runs scored and second in runs allowed and in fact had scored twice as many runs as they had conceded so far. Oh well, it’s early! Nobody believes the Raccoons to play at .714 pace for the year either! We had lost consecutive season series to the Titans, 10-8 in 2063.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (1-0, 2.00 ERA) vs. Matt Taylor (0-0, 14.73 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (1-0, 1.20 ERA)
Jeff Applegate (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (1-1, 1.80 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (2-0, 3.00 ERA)

Incredibly, still no left-handed pitcher anywhere near making a start against the Critters this year.

Juan Carrillo came down with a cold ahead of the opener and was perhaps best bypassed to prevent him from snoddering on the baseball.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS Spehar – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – C Arviso – RF A. Lee – 1B Ellwood – 3B Blackshire – P M. Taylor
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Elling

Eddie Marcotte drew a walk, but that was all that Elling allowed in the first three innings of the game. The Raccoons drew blanks for two innings against Taylor until Vic Morales found his first base hit of 2064 with a leadoff single to right in the bottom 3rd. Corral also got on base with two outs, and then Jack Kozak brawled a huge 3-run homer to give Portland the lead! (high-fives with Slappy) Maybe that’s how we use him – doing damage to the other team! Cristiano, take notes!

Joel Starr also reached base in the bottom 3rd before being left on base by Rich Monck, but Bruce Burkart and Elmer Maldonado then hit singles through the left side to begin the bottom 4th and Taylor lost Morales on balls, three on and nobody out being the result. It didn’t get much better with a bases-loaded walk to Yukio Aoki, but Elling popped out and Corral whiffed for two outs after that. Kozak, however, was out for more blood and dished a 2-run single to left. That was all for Taylor, who was yanked after six runs in 3.2 innings for Alex Diaz to get a groundout from Starr to end the inning. Jorge Arviso’s leadoff double and two productive outs then gave Boston a run in the top 5th against Elling, who then lost cohesion and put two more runners on base in each of the sixth and seventh innings. McDaniel replaced him with Arviso and Andy Lee on base, two outs, and left-handed Bill Joyner batting for Diaz in the seventh, got a grounder to Aoki, and that brought the 6-1 score to stretch time. Bottom 7th, Corral reached base against Gabe Hill, who was then taken very deep by Rich Monck with two outs for Monck’s first homer of ’64.

Between ineffective outings by Kurihara and Hall in the eighth, the Titans then loaded the bases with Steve Humphries, Ryan Spehar, and Arviso before Hall finally got Lee to pop out to Monck and strand a full set of runners. Hall continued to suck in the ninth with a Bobby Ellwood leadoff single, a four-pitch walk to Dave Blackshire, and an RBI single allowed to PH John Rosenstiel. The Raccoons brought out Jesse Dover, who was no better. Humphries singled to fill the bases before Spehar and Marcotte made outs in full counts. Nick Nye then hit an RBI single, and Arviso drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs. By now the tying run was appearing in the ******* box. McGinley came into what had been a 7-run game to face the lefty Lee, was instead met by the right-handed Sandy Moreno (formerly of Gold Sox fame), but got a fly out to Corral to end the bloody ballgame. 8-4 Raccoons. Kozak 2-4, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Burkart 2-4; Maldonado 2-4; Elling 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (2-0);

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – SS Spehar – 3B Blackshire – P Brenize
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Tallent – SS Aoki – P Fox

While I was still discussing with Honeypaws how we were gonna beat Brenize, Chance Fox walked the bases full in the first inning before Joyner popped out to Aoki to strand all the runners. It wouldn’t get one bit better from there; in the third inning he walked Ellwood and Marcotte, then nailed Nick Nye, filling the bases again, this time with nobody out. He walked in a run, balked in a run, and at some point Ryan Spehar also hit an RBI single to give Boston a 3-0 lead.

While that was going on, Brenize was in firm control of the Coons through three innings, but then stumbled a bit in the fourth inning, allowing a single to Starr, nicking Monck, and then seeing Maldonado reach on an infield single, which made it three on and one out for … uh, Randy Tallent and Yukio Aoki, and you would be well justified to just head for the nearest beer vendor at that point. However, both drove in a run as Tallent singled up the middle and Aoki at least stayed out of the double play on a grounder to Nye, narrowing the score to 3-2. Valencia then batted for the unhinged Fox, but struck out to leave guys on the corners.

Three scoreless innings in relief by Jarod Morris then passed the time, although the Coons didn’t get a scoring opportunity against Brenize again until there were two outs in the bottom 7th and Corral and Kozak hit singles. Starr flew out to right to pass on it, though. It was still 3-2 in the bottom 8th after a scoreless inning by Dover, and now Monck and Burkart *began* the inning with singles. Maldonado flew out, Tallent struck out, and it looked like Brenize would escape trouble again, but then Aoki stretched a fly to right-center away from Ellwood’s reach and the thing dinked in for a game-tying RBI double…!! The Titans yanked Brenize, who now only had a chance to lose the game, and Roberto Navarro would face the pinch-hitting Arellano with a pair in scoring position, but he flew out to Ellwood on the first pitch.

McDaniel retired the 2-3-4 batters in order in the top 9th, but Navarro matched that feat and the game went to extra innings. In turn, the Titans had three singles in the tenth inning; Arviso got a hit off McDaniel, and Kurihara allowed hits to Rosenstiel and Lee, loading the bases with one out. Trevor Niemiec then struck out, and Steve Humphries’ fly to right was easily caught by Corral, preventing the Titans from scoring. The Raccoons still didn’t get on base in their half of the tenth and Kurihara pitched another inning in the 11th. Hopes were low for that having been “it” when the Raccoons rocked up the 7-8-9 batters against Nick Leigh in the bottom of the 11th, but Leigh right away threw up a gift to Tallent, who thundered the baseball for 435 feet to end the ballgame…!! 4-3 Furballs!! Starr 2-5, 2B; Tallent 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Morris 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Kurihara 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Randy ******* Tallent!!

What is going on???

Game 3
BOS: SS Spehar – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – 1B Joyner – LF A. Lee – C S. Moreno – 3B Blackshire – P M. Bell
POR: RF Corral – CF Campos – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Valencia – C Arellano – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – P Applegate

Applejuice walked two and got a double play grounder from Nye to Novelo in the first on Saturday, and then nothing else really happened for a while. Spehar doubled in the third, but was left on base, and Applegate struck out five in three innings while also skyrocketing his pitch count already. The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead with their first hit of the game, a Joel Starr homer to right in the bottom 4th, although Monck then also singled, advanced on Valencia’s groundout, and scored on another single by Marcos Arellano, the catcher’s first hit of the year. The Titans got Blackshire on base with a leadoff walk in the top 5th and maneuvered him around to score – a wild pitch by Appyjuice sure helped – and so narrowed the score to 2-1 again, and the Coons’ starter had already thrown over 90 pitches…

The Titans then knocked him out one way or another in the sixth, which Nye opened with a double to right-center. Joyner immediately singled home that tying runner, and Lee’s groundout was followed by a drawn-out walk issued to Sandy Moreno. Carrillo was well enough to pitch again, but gave up singles to Blackshire *and* Bell to bring the go-ahead run across for Boston. Spehar and Ellwood then popped out to leave the bases loaded.

And then the Raccoons simply ran out of pitching altogether. Too many extra innings, too many short starts, too much ineffective relief, the latest version being thrown up there by Mike Hall, two got two outs in the seventh, then had to come back out for the eighth, but retired only one of six batters he faced, leadoff man Moreno flying out. Blackshire reached on a Morales error (…), Rosenstiel and Spehar singled, Ellwood drew a bases-loaded walk, and Marcotte hit another RBI single. Already much-abused Jarod Morris got mishandled even worse coming in here and struck out both Niemiec – who had replaced Nick Nye, who had been drilled out of the game some dorky relievers ago – and Joyner to escape the inning.

Mind-bogglingly, the Coons were still close in this game, the score being 5-2 before Corral doubled in the bottom 8th and then was singled home by Tallent pinch-hitting for a hit- and listless Campos. Starr flew out to deep left before McGinley got the ball for an “it has to be done” outing. He got three outs in eight pitches, which was so out of order compared to the last eight innings that I almost choked on my third bowl of donuts. Nick Leigh got the ball for Boston in the bottom 9th and Monck flew out to deep left as well. Maldonado singled, bringing up the tying run, but Arellano popped out easily. Bruce Burkart batted for Morales and hit a 2-out single, while Aoki batted for Novelo for the platoon advantage, emptying the bench in the process. He struck out. 5-3 Titans. Tallent (PH) 1-1, RBI; Burkart (PH) 1-1;

Relief was still hard to come by for the series finale. The Raccoons absolutely needed a good long outing from Angel Alba.

Game 4
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 1B Joyner – 2B Niemiec – C Arviso – RF A. Lee – SS Spehar – CF Ellwood – 3B Blackshire – P Craddock
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – 3B Morales – P Alba

Early returns were mixed, as Alba gave up three singles and needed over 40 pitches to get through three innings, which was not really the pitches/innings rate we had been hoping for. The Raccoons at least got the early lead on a second-inning solo homer by Elmer Maldonado. The Titans then got singles from Arviso, Lee, and Ellwood all in the fourth inning to load the bases, but Blackshire then spanked the ball into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play to keep them off the board. That old pitch count on Alba was over 60 now, though.

Maybe offensive reinforcement could take my mind off things, and Monck singled and Burkart homered for a 3-0 lead in the bottom 4th. Aoki was nicked and stole his first base in the same inning, but the Titans then walked Morales intentionally with two outs and Alba struck out. Angel retired the Titans in order in the fifth, but needed two full counts to do it… He got outs from Niemiec and Arviso on three pitches total to begin the sixth, and then **** hit the fan at full speed. Lee walked, Spehar singled, Ellwood walked, Blackshire singled in two, and Craddock doubled home two more to flip the score to 4-3 Boston. Pitch count stopped mattering at this point.

The Coons went to the pen and dug out McDaniel, who faced three lefty hitters inside the first four Titans he faced. Those three ended up getting a single (Joyner), a walk (Arviso), and a 3-run homer (Lee). Absolutely ******* useless. He continued to **** around and allowed another three Titans on base for a fourth run to score as well, and the game was outta paw by then anyway, except that Morales and Campos began the bottom 7th with a single and double, respectively. Corral hit an RBI single, Starr hit a sac fly, and the Raccoons were back at 8-5 before Monck grounded out. Kurihara held up in the eighth and the Raccoons got Tallent and Aoki to the corners with one out against Gabe Hill in the bottom 8th. Morales as the tying run would face righty Zach Johnson, ran a full count, and singled to right, 8-6. Campos flew out to Lee, and Corral with two outs and facing southpaw Sansao Tyson fell to 0-2 before making contact, also flying to deep right. And that ******* thing was getting longer and longer! And it wrapped around the foul pole for a 3-run homer…!!! Unbelievable!! – Kozak grounded out, sending McGinley out for the ninth with a skinny 1-run lead. Ellwood, Blackshire, and Moreno went down in order, with two strikeouts. 9-8 Furballs!! Corral 3-5, HR, 4 RBI; Monck 2-4; Maldonado 2-3, HR, RBI; Morales 2-3, BB, RBI;

Before the Raccoons upended the Titans and their silly 5-run lead, Pablo Novelo was getting ready in the pen for garbage relief.

Raccoons (8-3) @ Loggers (6-6) – April 22-24, 2064

After the series on cocaine against the Titans the Raccoons had a much needed day off before they headed out to Milwaukee to play the Loggers for three games – and they’d even meet their first left-handed starter of the year, huzzah! The Loggers, who fought the Raccoons to a 9-9 draw across last season, were .500 with the third-most runs scored, but also the most runs allowed in the league so far. They had a -4 run differential (Coons: +14), and their bullpen was pushing an ERA of six. They already had regulars Cesar Ramirez and Jonathan Merrill on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (1-0, 4.76 ERA)
Josh Elling (2-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (2-0, 2.31 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-1, 7.88 ERA) vs. Hironobu Hanzawa (0-1, 9.82 ERA)

Espinosa was said southpaw. What a novel experience!

Game 1
POR: CF Kozak – LF Campos – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – 3B Morales – RF Tallent – SS Novelo – P Riddle
MIL: LF Franks – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Arcos – SS Reber – P T. Espinosa

The Raccoons failed to score from Joel Starr’s leadoff double in the second inning, but the Loggers picked Riddle apart for his first earned runs of the season in the bottom 2nd, loading the bases on two walks and a single before another infield single by Kyle Reber brought in Tommy Guitreau and Tony Espinosa plated Danny Miller with a sac fly for a 2-0 lead. Scott Franks then struck out to end the inning. Riddle then singled and Kozak walked to begin the top 3rd, but it was crickets after that and the pair were also stranded on base. Starr hit another leadoff double to begin the fourth, and this time was at least brought around to score on groundouts by Morales and Tallent. The Loggers’ answer was as simple as it was depressing, getting their own leadoff double from Miller in the bottom 4th before Riddle gave up a single to Roberto Arcos, walked Reber, and then was raked for a grand slam by Espinosa.

The Raccoons answered with three in the fifth to cut the gap to 6-4, as Campos walked and then Monck, Burkart, Morales, and Tallent chipped four singles to gobble three runs together, RBI’s going to the last three in that list. Riddle however only dunced the first two Loggers to bat in the fifth inning on base and then was yanked for the very much abused Jarod Morris, who conceded a run but at least got out of the ******* inning.

Loggers right-hander Jesus Hinojosa then blundered in the seventh inning, nicking Burkart and serving up a homer to Joel Starr, which narrowed the score to 7-6. Unfortunately that was as close as the Raccoons were gonna get in this one, with Jose Soto, Alex Cruzado, and Vincent Hernandez shutting down the shenanigans thereafter. Starr had another single in the ninth in a 4-hit day, but was left on base with the tying run. 7-6 Loggers. Starr 4-5, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1; Morris 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

90 feet short of a cycle!

And some non-retarded pitching short of a win.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – 3B Morales – P Elling
MIL: LF Franks – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Arcos – SS Reber – P Pizzichini

Tommy Guitreau hit a double in the second for Milwaukee and the Raccoons hit into a pair of double plays with Burkart and Morales in the early going in an attempt to get “Pizza” Pizzichini through three inning on the minimum amount of batters faced, but then Elling singled. Next, Pizza walked all of the next three Raccoons to show up, which forced Elling home to score the game’s first run, and then Monck added a 2-out, 2-run single before Burkart flew out. Not to worry about the Loggers, though, because Elling had his own 2-out stroke in the bottom 3rd, walking Scott Franks and giving up hits to Dave Wright and Fidel Carrera to concede a run before Dave Robles grounded out. After an uneventful fourth inning, Jack Kozak would restore a 3-run lead with a solo homer in the fifth, 4-1. Monck doubled the inning after, but overran second base and was tagged out after realizing his mistake and trying to get back to second base. Meanwhile the Loggers hit into double plays in the fifth and sixth innings, and Franks was also caught stealing in between.

Elling still managed to fudge the game away with a walk to Tommy Guitreau, a Miller single, and another walk to Arcos to begin the bottom 7th. Juan Carrillo replaced him and gave up a pinch-hit grand slam to David Milian on the first pitch he threw. Thinking about it, he was more useful to the team with the flu.

Top 8th, and between Randy Birnbaum allowing leadoff singles to Kozak and Starr, and a balk by Francisco Leyba, the Loggers put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position for nobody out, but Monck was then retired on a comebacker to Leyba. Cruzado replaced Leyba, but Burkart singled to center and plated both runners to flip the score back to Portland, 6-5. Maldonado walked and Rafael Valencia found a pinch-hit single, but Arellano grounded out haplessly to leave everybody stranded. The Portlanders then pieced the eighth together between Hall and Dover, and without major accidents apart from a Robles single off the latter. McGinley then axed the Loggers in six pitches in the ninth inning to even the series. 6-5 Coons. Kozak 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Monck 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Valencia (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – 3B Morales – P Fox
MIL: LF Franks – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Arcos – SS Reber – P Hanzawa

Was Chance Fox fixed? Nah. He still ran long counts against everybody, was taken deep by Roberto Arcos for a solo homer in the second, and allowed a leadoff single to Hanzawa in the third, but at least he looked like he might actually see the fifth inning for once. The Raccoons after a slow start also found some groove in the fourth inning and after Starr and Maldonado went to the corners, Arellano’s 1-out double tied the game. Aoki’s dying wheezer on the infield was far enough away from any defender for an RBI infield single and a 2-1 lead, and when Aoki took off to steal second base, Guitreau made a terrible throw behind the hustling Carrera and into centerfield, allowing Arellano to score and Aoki to reach third base. Vic Morales upped the score to 4-1 with a single to right, then was bunted to second. Corral walked, and Kozak ended Hanzawa’s tenure with a 2-run triple into the rightfield corner, 6-1. Starr then went to the fence, but into the rushing Arcos’ mitten to end the inning against Ricky Pippin. Immediately after his return to the mound Fox then put Robles on base and had himself taken very deep by Guitreau, which reduced the score to 6-3…

Bright sides, Fox lasted six innings without allowing another run and instead scored one himself in the top 6th with his own 2-out single, which was followed by Corral with a double and Kozak’s RBI single to right. Kozak was then picked off first base to end the inning. Top 7th, the lefty Leyba walked Starr and Monck, then gave up an RBI double to Maldonado, 8-3. A balk made it 9-3, and a walk to Arellano made it Randy Birnbaum replacing him. Aoki brought in the tenth run with a sac fly to Arcos, and Pablo Novelo singled home a run as pinch-hitter for Fox with two outs. Up 11-3, the Raccoons then removed Kozak and Monck for some intermittent rest. That was before Kurihara was flogged for two runs in the bottom 7th, but the Loggers gave an unearned run back in the top 8th; with Maldonado and Arellano on the corners and two outs, Miller butchered Aoki’s grounder to allow Maldonado to score. Morales then whiffed. This was the last time a runner was in scoring position in another wild game, of which the Raccoons had now played a whole string. 12-5 Furballs. Corral 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Kozak 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Tallent (PH) 1-1; Starr 2-4, 2 BB; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, RBI; Arellano 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-2, RBI;

Raccoons (10-4) @ Falcons (8-8) – April 25-27, 2064

After the Loggers’ “anything goes” pitching staff, the Raccoons were now up against the stingiest staff in the CL, at least in the league’s third week of play this year. The Falcons were on the short side for offense instead, ranking ninth in runs scored, with a +4 run differential. They had the lowest OBP in the league (.284!), but were making some ground with power and perhaps bunching their three-and-a-half runners per game into a single inning. We had a 6-year winning streak against the Falcons in the season series, with consecutive 7-2 seasons in our favor.

Projected matchups:
Jeff Applegate (1-1, 2.19 ERA) vs. Ernie Gomes (0-1, 3.21 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-1, 5.29 ERA) vs. Levi Harre (1-1, 3.98 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (2-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. Ivan Rodriguez (1-1, 6.75 ERA)

No southpaw once again, but I was reliably informed they still existed.

Rain also still existed and washed out the opener on Friday, with a double-header scheduled for Saturday.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Campos – SS Aoki – 3B Tallent – P Applegate
CHA: SS Schmidt – RF Padgett – C O. Matos – 1B Washington – 3B Healey – 2B Duhe – LF Nakamura – CF Fountain – P Harre

The Raccoons’ 3-4-5 batters reached base in the first inning on a walk and two errors by John Schmidt and Oscar Matos, but with Campos’ groundout nobody scored anyway. Instead Schmidt singled and Matos homered to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead in the bottom 1st. Levi Harre then walked three Coons in the second inning, which was just enough for us to scratch out a run with Kozak’s RBI single, but then left the bases loaded. Burkart drew another walk but was picked off first base in the third inning, and then a Tallent error put Matos on base and Joe Washington and Jared Duhe walked against Applegate to fill the bases. Natsu Nakamura singled home two unearned runs before Elijah Fountain grounded out to end the inning. What a ******* mess. Again.

The Coons had the bases loaded again in the fifth inning when Harre added another two walks to a tally of now seven after a Kozak single. Monck and Burkart joined him on base, and Marco Campos was batting with one out. We had to settle for a sac fly and Aoki grounding out to Jared Duh- … no, the ball got past Washington and went into the dugout. Third Falcons error of the game, and the Raccoons got their third run. The Falcons buggered out of the inning with an intentional walk and erasing Applegate as the Coons left the bases loaded again, now down 4-3… at least until Nakamura drove in another run against the wholly ineffective Applegate in the bottom 5th, after Matos singled and Duhe drew another walk. Fountain popped out to Monck to strand a pair of Falcons on base.

After a comparatively quiet sixth inning, the Raccoons got Campos and Aoki on base to begin the seventh against righty Brendan Rodgers. The pair reached scoring position with a double steal. Tallent’s fly was caught and held him to a sacrifice, 5-4, but Elmer Maldonado pinch-hit for the woeful Applegate and doubled home Aoki with the tying run, but that was it for the inning. Corral drew a walk, but then right-hander Alberto de Lon retired Starr and Monck.

Finally even at five runs per side, the Raccoons’ ******* useless bullpen struck again. McDaniel was in first, and gave up three runs in the bottom 7th on a Rick Healey homer, a Duhe single, and another homer by PH Adan Yniguez. Dover replaced him and was no ******* better, loading the bases with the first three batters he faced, a Fountain double and two walks, and then right away a 2-run single by Cody Padgett. Kurihara allowed another hit and walk but no runs in the eighth. 10-5 Falcons. Kozak 2-6, RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1, 2B;

CAN ANYBODY HERE THROW A ******* BASEBALL???

Also, while it felt like the Raccoons’ staff walked 20 batters in this game, it was actually just six. The Raccoons *drew* 13 walks, but that didn’t get us ******* anywhere, did it???

And, hey, best news, there’s another game in 30 minutes!!

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – C Arellano – P Alba
CHA: SS Schmidt – RF Padgett – 3B Healey – 1B Washington – 2B Duhe – LF Nakamura – C Ayon – CF Fountain – P E. Gomes

Things continued to go ***** as Alba allowed a single to Cody Pagett and then right away a 2-run homer to Joe Washington in the first inning. The Critters scattered a few hits in the early innings, then loaded the bases again with a Monck walk, Maldonado single, and another walk to Morales in the top 4th. Novelo batted with one out, and lobbed an RBI single over the head of Healey to get the Raccoons on the board. Two full-count strikeouts against the battery then left the bases loaded. Corral was also left on base after he drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, and in fact never left first base.

While Alba held the Falcons to three hits in five innings, the Raccoons somehow made it to the corners with Morales and Novelo and one out in the sixth. Arellano hit a quick bouncer that got underneath Healey’s glove for an RBI single, tying the game. After Alba’s bunt, Corral grounded out rather poorly, and the game remained tied at two… for about five minutes until Washington doubled and was driven in by Jared Duhe in the bottom 6th…

At about that time it also started to rain again and the skies progressively darkened with thick clouds. The Raccoons didn’t do anything in the seventh inning, and Alba soldiered on in the rain that got worse and worse and completed seven innings – for a complete-game loss once the game went to a rain delay in the top 8th and was called two hours later. 3-2 Falcons. Morales 1-2, BB; Novelo 2-3, RBI; Arellano 2-3, RBI;

The weather would remain dodgy on Sunday.

Game 3
POR: 3B Tallent – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – RF Maldonado – LF Valencia – SS Aoki – P Riddle
CHA: SS Schmidt – RF Padgett – C O. Matos – 1B Washington – 2B Duhe – LF Nakamura – 3B T. Taylor – CF Fountain – P I. Rodriguez

The Coons had to find a new spot for Jack Kozak, who hit a homer in the first inning after which Starr and Monck drew walked, Maldonado got plunked, and nobody could find another base hit to drive any of those three in for more runs. John Schmidt singled, stole second, and scored on Matos’ single to make up the deficit with little effort in the bottom 1st. Aoki would single to begin the top 2nd and stole second base as well, then came around to score on another Riddle single for a new 2-1 lead. Kozak then hit another homer to left – AFTER Tallent bumbled into a double play… and then Starr and Monck got on base again and Burkart popped out foul to squander everything…

The Falcons narrowed the score to 3-2 with an unearned run in the bottom 4th. Tallent made an error at the hot corner, putting Duhe on base after Washington had already doubled with one out. Nakamura fanned, but Trent Taylor brought in a run with a 2-out single before Fountain grounded out. Top 5th, and the Raccoons had some more unlikely offense from the bottom of the order when Valencia hit a wallbanger double with two outs and nobody on base. Aoki was bypassed intentionally but Riddle hit another RBI single, 4-2, before Tallent popped out. Starr and Monck then were on base as a pair for the third time in the sixth inning. This time Burkart crashed into an inning-ending double play, 4-6-3.

Y’know, enjoy the little things, like Riddle holding up kinda well despite some defensive shenanigans and another double he gave up to Jared Duhe in the bottom 6th, but he managed to pitch around that. He would go seven innings on 102 pitches before his spot led off the top 8th against righty Sam Turner, who had replaced an injured Alberto de Lon in the previous inning. Campos grounded out in Riddle’s spot after which Turner walked Tallent and Kozak. Starr then masterfully did the Burkart and also blissfully hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3.

Three relievers in the bottom 8th then barely managed to not blow a 4-2 lead. Carrillo put Matos on base, McDaniel – useless to the n-th degree – allowed an RBI double to Duhe, and Jarod Morris was used outside of garbage relief to get the third out from PH Yniguez just in time. Top 9th, Burkart singled and was forced out by Maldonado, and Valencia was nailed on base, but Aoki grounded out to squander another pair of runners, so a 4-3 lead was given to McGinley in the bottom 9th. Again, the opposition went in order and in just eight pitches, salvaging one game in Charlotte. 4-3 Raccoons. Kozak 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Aoki 2-4, BB; Riddle 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (3-1) and 2-3, 2 RBI;

In other news

April 17 – The Indians’ SP Kelly Whitney (0-1, 3.86 ERA) pitches a complete-game 1-hitter against the Crusaders, but that one hit is an RBI single by NYC C Marco Nieto (.160, 0 HR, 1 RBI) that wins the 1-0 ballgame for New York.
April 19 – ATL UT Carlos Fumero (.327, 0 HR, 7 RBI) runs his hitting streak to 25 games with a pair of singles in a 16-inning, 4-3 win against the Condors. One of the hits comes in regulation, the other in overtime.
April 19 – The Rebels beat the Blue Sox, 11-6 in 12 innings, with a decisive breakthrough in the final inning. RIC OF Jeremy Jenkins (.277, 3 HR, 9 RBI) drives in five runs on a homer and a double in this game.
April 20 – CIN INF Jorge Munoz (.200, 1 HR, 3 RBI) will be out for a month with a case of shoulder inflammation.
April 21 – CIN SP Luis Palacios (3-0, 1.64 ERA) is assumed to be lost for the season after a comeback line drive smacks him in the knee, breaking his kneecap.
April 21 – The Wolves rout the Gold Sox, 15-4. SAL C Ben Newman (.395, 4 HR, 21 RBI) drives in six runs on three hits including a homer and a bases-clearing double.
April 22 – ATL SP Kodai Koga (3-1, 3.23 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Bayhawks to claim a 7-0 win at 40 years old.
April 23 – The hitting streak of the Knights UT Carlos Fumero (.302, 0 HR, 11 RBI) ends after 27 games with an 0-for-4 in a 6-5 win against the Bayhawks.
April 25 – Aces 3B/1B Alex Alfaro (.378, 0 HR, 5 RBI) would miss up to a month with a broken foot.
April 25 – The Bayhawks beat the Indians, 6-2, in a rain-shortened 7-inning game.
April 26 – The Pacifics make five errors in a 9-2 loss to the Blue Sox, rendering all but one of Nashville’s runs unearned. Three errors alone are made by LAP OF Jim Whitman (.250, 0 HR, 0 RBI).
April 27 – SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (4-1, 3.23 ERA) takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Cyclones, but loses it on a leadoff single by CIN INF Jordan Hernandez (.313, 1 HR, 12 RBI) and is lifted from the game. SFW CL Lorenzo Lucatero (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 SV) surrenders the run but nails down the 4-1 save.
April 27 – Dallas’ star CF Tyler Wharton (.417, 3 HR, 21 RBI) has hit in 20 straight games after knocking out two singles in a 6-1 win against the Rebels. The streak includes the last two games of the 2063 season.

FL Player of the Week (2): NAS RF Austin Gordon (.463, 3 HR, 9 RBI), dealing .520 (13-25) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): MIL SS/2B Fidel Carrera (.375, 4 HR, 15 RBI), slapping .522 (12-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.386, 7 HR, 25 RBI), thundering .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): TIJ SS Casey Ramsey (.328, 4 HR, 16 RBI), swatting .500 (10-20) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The pen remains a mess, but we always knew that. The offense is… quirky? Jack Kozak leads the CL in homers in any case and might outgrow the #2 spot right now. Only the Warriors’ Miguel Medina has more home runs so far (7).

Batting .195 and on pace for 50 stolen bases is Yukio Aoki, almost 60 years after Yoshi Yamada won the CL stolen base title in the same vein in his only full season before even the Decade of Darkness Raccoons couldn’t stomach his act anymore. Apart from that the team has yet to show much pace.

We have another six games on the road here with Vegas and New York. All that after an off day on Monday, which will be our last off day for a month thanks to that May 12 make-up date with the Condors.

Fun Fact: During Lonzo’s 15-year career with the Raccoons, the team only twice hit more home runs than it stole bases.

The first of those was in 2053 (134 HR, 128 SB), and the second was last year with Lonzo not up to snuff anymore (120 HR, 108 SB). In every other year stolen bases topped home runs, save for a tie in 2059 – the year where Lonzo only played 21 games due to injury. He also missed 48 games in ’53 with injuries.

This year it looks like homers will have the upper paw unless Aoki starts actually hitting and taking the shortstop job full-time.

[Westheim]

I shall briefly rise from a food coma (Christmas orgies traditionally start on the 24th in Germany) to bring you the little striped beasts of glory. Or something. I feel heavy and I can't think and breathing is hard.

Burp.

+++

Raccoons (11-6) @ Aces (7-11) – April 29-May 1, 2064

The somehow-first-place Raccoons went to Vegas to start their 30-day string without a day off with three games against the Aces, who sat fifth in the South with the fourth-fewest runs scored and fourth-most runs allowed. Veteran Alex Alfaro had just gone to the DL for them, which wasn’t gonna help them with their three home runs hit on the year so far – fewest among all ABL teams. The Coons had won the season series last year, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (2-0, 2.91 ERA) vs. Matthew May (1-2, 2.63 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-1, 6.43 ERA) vs. Dan Graham (1-1, 5.73 ERA)
Jeff Applegate (1-1, 2.95 ERA) vs. Tim Henderson (1-0, 3.12 ERA)

The Raccoons would get two left-handed starters to end the month of April, or twice as many as they had seen so far.

Game 1
POR: CF Kozak – RF Campos – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – 3B Morales – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – P Elling
LVA: LF Lorenzo – SS Leggett – CF Jad. Wilson – RF K. Hummel – 1B D. Williams – 2B M. Roberts – C Wheat – 3B C. Pena – P May

Tom Wheat wasted no time and hit the Aces’ fourth home run of the year, a 2-piece with Mike Roberts on base after a 1-out walk in the bottom 2nd, so there was that. Elling walked a batter in each of the first three innings, then had a nice fourth against the 6-7-8 batters before entirely falling apart in the fifth, in which the Aces wrapped him up for four hits, starting with Victor Lorenzo and continuing with Wally Leggett’s RBI double and Jaden Wilson’s RBI single, and eventually three runs. In between the Coons had scored a run when Monck doubled home Marco Campos in the top of the fourth, but at the end of five, the Raccoons were down 5-1.

It got a little better in the sixth when Campos singled to left and Joel Starr cracked a 2-run homer off May to cut the gap in half. Elling turned in another inning before Hall did the seventh. Vic Lorenzo got on base, but was caught stealing. Kurihara was then thrown into the bottom 8th, but didn’t fare so well. Ken Hummel walked, Dustin Williams singled, and Mike Roberts socked a 3-run homer to left, which was already the fifth Aces homer of the season. Almost as if they had been waiting for us! The Raccoons scratched out a ninth-inning run after Bruce Burkart struck a leadoff triple against Willie Mendoza, and scored on a groundout, but that would be that. 8-4 Aces. Novelo 2-4, 2B;

No second southpaw on Wednesday; instead Tim Henderson was moved up. Henderson was a 23-year-old right-hander that had pitched some out of the pen in 2063, but was now making his third career start. But if the Aces can hit homers off this pitching staff, Henderson can probably also throw a shutout…

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Fox
LVA: C Wheat – SS Leggett – RF K. Hummel – 1B D. Williams – CF Jad. Wilson – 2B M. Roberts – LF Marazzo – 3B C. Pena – P T. Henderson

Henderson started off with two walks to Corral and Kozak, but Starr hit into a double play and Monck left Corral on base as well, before making an error in the bottom of the inning by dropping Dustin Williams’ 2-out pop fly. This moved runners to the corners and prompted a flimsy Fox to throw a wild pitch and give the Aces a 1-0 lead before Wilson added another single. Roberts flew out to Maldonado to end the inning. The Coons had their first two batters on base again in the top 2nd, this time with Burkart reaching when Williams couldn’t contain a throw by Cesar Pena, and Maldonado on a single. Morales K’ed, Aoki walked, and Fox nicely fed a grounder into a 6-4-3 double play. Instead Nate Marazzo’s leadoff double and Henderson’s RBI single (…) extended the Aces’ lead to 2-0 in the same inning. Starr hit into the team’s third double play in the third inning, but in the fourth Burkart drew a walk and Maldonado and Aoki singles score him, while a wild pitch with two outs to Fox brought in Maldonado with the tying run. Fox then whiffed.

Tom Wheat homered to left to re-establish a 3-2 lead for the Aces in the bottom 4th, so the Aces had now whacked as many homers in a game-and-a-half as they had in three weeks before. In turn Jose Corral drew a leadoff walk in the top 5th but was doubled off by Jack Kozak grounding to Leggett at short. (browses threw the card deck he’s been given) Why’s there SEVENTEEN Twos and Threes in this deck, and not ONE King???

Fox pitched six innings for two earned runs, which I was tempted to chalk off as a moral victory (even though he left on the 3-2 hook), and Carrillo and Morris added scoreless innings after that, but the Raccoons struggled to get the offense going again. Suddenly we found ourselves in the ninth inning, still a run down against Curt Carter, who got straight measly groundouts from Burkart, Maldonado, and Arellano to end the game. 3-2 Aces. Maldonado 2-4; Aoki 1-2, BB, RBI;

The Raccoons then saw left-hander Dan Graham on Thursday, the first of May, after losing to May in April. What?

Why is baseball so complicated?

Game 3
POR: CF Kozak – RF Campos – 2B Monck – LF Valencia – 1B Starr – C Arellano – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – P Applegate
LVA: LF Lorenzo – SS Leggett – RF K. Hummel – 1B D. Williams – CF Jad. Wilson – 2B M. Roberts – C Wheat – 3B C. Pena – P D. Graham

Monck found a double play in the first inning, so things were still puttering along nicely in the new month, although Dustin Williams matched the feat after Applegate nailed Leggett and walked Hummel in the bottom 1st. Hummel would do better the next time he was up, hitting an RBI single with two on and two out in the bottom 3rd. That was the first run of the game, and Jaden Wilson added another one right away. Roberts walked, and Tom Wheat cranked a grand slam to explode the score to 6-0. Applecore allowed two more singles to Pena and Graham before getting shanked and Jarod Morris’ tour of abuse continued by ending the dismal inning with a first-pitch grounder from Lorenzo to Monck.

Morris pitched just seven outs, though, creating traffic in both the fourth and fifth innings. The Aces didn’t score in the fourth, but they got an unearned run singled home by none other than Graham in the bottom 5th; Joel Starr had made an error leading up to the shambolic 2-out knock by the opposing pitcher that made it 7-0. And the Coons? They scattered four hits in the most inefficient way possible in the first five innings, then got singles from Monck to start the top 6th, and Starr with one out. Arellano doubled home Monck, but the pair in scoring position was then stranded when Morales fanned and Novelo flew out to Wilson. An inning later Tom Wheat got his fifth RBI of the game converting Mike Roberts’ triple off Mike Hall into a run with a well-placed groundout, and Hall was battered for another run on three hits in the eighth inning as the Raccoons got not only swept but comprehensively routed. 9-1 Aces. Kozak 2-4; Monck 2-4;

The Titans reclaimed first place on this day.

Raccoons (11-9) @ Crusaders (9-12) – May 2-4, 2064

The Crusaders, who had lost two games to the Raccoons to start the season, had somehow found their way into last place in the division by now, scoring the third-fewest runs and allowing about an average number for a -4 run differential. I didn’t see yet why they wouldn’t continue the exercise of turning the Raccoons inside out here.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (0-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (2-2, 4.44 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (3-1, 2.73 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (2-2, 2.52 ERA)
Josh Elling (2-1, 3.90 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (2-2, 2.25 ERA)

No, not very Crusaders starter was 2-2 entering the series, only those three. They were all right-handed, though.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – SS Aoki – P Alba
NYC: CF Box – 3B V. Velez – C M. Nieto – SS O. Sanchez – 2B Onelas – 1B Cline – RF Jes. Alvarez – LF Alade – P Kozloski

There was no meaningful offense early on Friday, although Burkart found another double play to fail into in the second inning after Monck got on, while Monck then made an error in the third inning, but that didn’t lead anywhere for the Crusaders either. The fourth inning began with soft singles by Starr and Monck, but Burkart then hit a sharp RBI double to left to break the silence on the scoreboard. Despite a pair in scoring position and nobody out, however, the Raccoons would not score another run as Maldonado whiffed, Novelo lined out, Aoki didn’t get a chance, and Alba also got wasted on fastballs.

The lead didn’t last; while Alba had five shutout innings and was generally doing rather well, Vic Velez got him with a stray homer in the bottom 6th to tie the score at one. The seventh was uneventful, while in the eighth the Coons got Kozak on base, and then off base when Starr hit into a double play. Alba was still going, but allowed singles to Velez and Marco Nieto, then walked Omar Sanchez, leaving with three on and nobody out. Kurihara allowed a sac fly to Marcos Onelas, and a single to Jake Cline that loaded the bases again. Exit that bum and enter another one, McDaniel giving up a 2-run single to Byron Duncan before Jon Alade grounded into a double play, keeping the Crusaders to three runs. Monck hit a leadoff double against Jason Rhodes in the ninth inning – but Rhodes then kept him stranded by executing the next three batters in line. 4-1 Crusaders. Monck 3-4, 2B; Aoki 1-2, BB;

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – 3B Tallent – P Riddle
NYC: CF Box – 2B Jes. Alvarez – 1B Cline – SS O. Sanchez – C B. Duncan – 3B V. Velez – RF Heiden – LF Zeiher – P Seiter

Seiter struck out five Coons the first time through while Riddle got only one K and allowed three hits, including a leadoff bloop single to Seiter in the bottom 3rd, although he was doubled up on Bryant Box’ sharp grounder to Monck (after Box had singled and been doubled up by Jesus Alvarez in the first inning).

The Raccoons got the paw up in the fourth when Starr reached on an error and two outs later Elmer Maldonado socked a homer to right, but the 2-0 lead was cut right in half on a Duncan double and Velez’ RBI single in the bottom of the inning, both with two outs. Velez then made a diving catch to spear a potential 2-out RBI double by Kozak in the top 5th. Another Monck error then put Sean Zeiher on base to begin the bottom 5th. Seiter bunted and Box grounded out, but the Crusaders then got the unearned tying run with a single through the left side by Alvarez; and then the lead when Cline tripled into the right-center gap. Riddle then fought through two long counts, walking Sanchez before getting Duncan to pop out, and was done after five eventually soggy innings.

After a quiet sixth the Coons got a leadoff single from Tallent in the eighth inning, then left him wasted on first base with three miserable outs against Seiter. In turn, Dover’s leadoff walk to Alvarez and a pinch-hit double by Alex Romero gave New York an insurance run in the bottom 7th. The Raccoons never got another base runner against Seiter, who went eight innings and whiffed up nine Critters, and then Rhodes. 4-2 Crusaders. Maldonado 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Only one run on Riddle was earned, which didn’t do a lot to soften the fall of a 5-game losing streak and an ongoing 1-7 stretch.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Valencia – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Elling
NYC: 3B V. Velez – RF A. Romero – C M. Nieto – SS O. Sanchez – 2B Onelas – 1B Cline – CF Jes. Alvarez – LF Alade – P Musgrave

New York failed to score in the bottom 1st after Elling walked the bags full with the 2-3-4 batters, Onelas hitting a comebacker for Elling to force out Romero at home, while Cline flew out to right. They still took a 1-0 lead in the second after a leadoff single hit by Alvarez, who advanced to third base on outs made by Alade and Musgrave, and then scored on a wild pitch charged to Arellano…

An infield single for Elling and a Corral double to left then gave the Raccoons runners in scoring position with nobody out again. Kozak hit a long fly to right that was caught by Romero, but was good for the tying run at least, but Starr whiffed and Monck flew out to Alade, who later reclaimed a 2-1 lead for New York with a leadoff jack in the fourth.

Elling was done after five soggy innings, but suddenly got a potential W attached when Musgrave allowed a leadoff single to Kozak and a 2-run homer to Starr in the sixth inning, making it a 3-2 Coons game. Monck walked after that and scored on a Valencia double into the leftfield corner, 4-2, before Vic Morales converted Valencia with a single through the right side. This knocked out Musgrave after 5.1 innings, with Pedro Mendoza preventing the Raccoons from tacking on further.

One of the three runs the Raccoons were up by was frittered by Kurihara in the bottom 6th with a leadoff walk to Cline, who was brought in with two outs by PH Steven Heiden’s single, but McDaniel had a clean seventh for a change. Dover got two outs in the eighth while allowing a single to Cline. With Alade up the Raccoons made a double switch (Tallent for Morales) to a very bored Jon McGinley for a 4-out save. Alade came within 15 feet of taking him deep to tie the game, but Campos in rightfield made the pick on the edge of the warning track. Campos, batting ninth after an even earlier double switch, was also on base in the ninth with a single off Rafael Mendoza, stole second before Tallent walked in the #1 spot, and while Kozak struck out, Starr found an RBI single in his heart and stick. Mendoza walked Monck before being replaced with Kody Mello, who kept the bags full with an Arellano groundout. McGinley then had another really quick ninth inning to end the 5-game losing streak. 6-3 Raccoons. Starr 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Morales 3-4, RBI; Campos (PH) 1-1, BB;

In other news

April 28 – VAN SP Carlos Torres (2-2, 4.94 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Bayhawks to claim a 4-0 win.
April 29 – Cincinnati sends RF/LF Matt Ewig (.237, 1 HR, 4 RBI) to the Condors for 2B/SS Franklin Serrano (.300, 0 HR, 0 RBI) and a prospect.
April 30 – SAC RF Will Buras (.256, 1 HR, 7 RBI) will miss the rest of the season with a ruptured UCL.
April 30 – The hitting streak of Dallas’ CF Tyler Wharton (.393, 3 HR, 21 RBI) ends at 22 games with an 0-for-4 in a 9-2 win against the Buffaloes.
April 30 – ATL SP Danny Ortiz (4-0, 2.19 ERA) allows just one hit to MIL LF/CF Roberto Arcos (.250, 1 HR, 4 RBI), but walks six Loggers and leaves in the seventh inning for the Knights pen to finish out a combined 1-hitter for an 8-0 victory.
May 2 – Pacifics OF Tony Garcia (.356, 1 HR, 9 RBI) has put together a 20-game hitting streak with a 2-run double in a 5-4 win against the Gold Sox.
May 3 – Wolves SP Ben Peterson (2-2, 3.55 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Warriors for a 5-0 win.
May 3 – DEN INF/LF Willie de Leon (.333, 0 HR, 11 RBI) has his own 20-game hitting streak after a sixth-inning single in a 4-3 loss to the Pacifics.
May 3 – The Miners beat the Capitals, 14-4, scoring 12 unanswered runs at one point. Miners LF/RF Randy Hummel (.234, 2 HR, 13 RBI) leads the team with six RBI on three hits, including a homer.
May 4 – In hitting streak news, the one by LAP OF Tony Garcia (.347, 1 HR, 9 RBI) ends at 21 games with a dry day in a 4-2 loss to the Gold Sox while Denver’s de Leon reaches the same mark in this game.

FL Player of the Week: DEN RF/CF Chris Lauterbach (.378, 3 HR, 15 RBI), batting .500 (11-22) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ RF/LF John Kaniewski (.270, 5 HR, 9 RBI), bopping .333 (7-21) with 4 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.359, 7 HR, 25 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN 1B Jose Campos (.346, 7 HR, 13 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: SFW SP Alex Dominguez (5-0, 1.88 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Jason Brenize (3-0, 1.17 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/RF/1B Brady Terrell (.311, 0 HR, 6 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.313, 2 HR, 12 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Well, that week washed the starry-eyed look from everybody’s faces, huh? I see some even have rather pale stripes right now!

The bullpen is useless, so when the rotation picks an off week, it’s bound to lead to icky results. Couple that with an offense that is spotty at best, and useless throughout for days on end sometimes. I kinda saw it coming.

The Raccoons crawl home now for just a 4-game set with the Indians before going back out to Topeka for the weekend. We will then go home for seven games, have a trip to Elk City, and stop over at home AGAIN to play the Baybirds before going out on a trip to the East Coast – and only THEN we’ll get another day off. Holy macaroni, this is gonna be a month full of baseball buttsex on this little team…!!

Cristiano, there’s no reason to giggle here!

Fun Fact: The Crusaders haven’t finished last in the North since 2039.

I don’t think this will be their year, either. Not as long as they have games with the Coons left!

For the curious, performances *since* the Crusaders last came last:

POR – 4 rings, once last (2052)
NYC – 2 rings
BOS – 1 ring, 5 times last
IND – 1 ring, 7 times last
MIL – 1 ring, 8 times last
VAN – 3 times last

Note that the Elks’ last ring came in 2038 so just before that rather arbitrary cut-off.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-11) vs. Indians (12-13) – May 5-8, 2064

Indy sat eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed, with a -9 run differential (Critters: +1), and came in for a 4-game series as the Raccoons slogged through their monthlong ordeal without an off day. The Indians were almost offensively average in every major statistic. SP Blake Sparks was still on the DL from a Tommy John procedure he had in ’63, but apart from that they had no injuries to complain about.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. Roger Pritchard (0-1, 4.55 ERA)
Jeff Applegate (1-2, 5.14 ERA) vs. Justin DeRose (1-2, 3.94 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-3, 4.94 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (1-2, 5.76 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (3-2, 2.59 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (3-1, 4.01 ERA)

A southpaw, three right-handers, including two former Critters, and the lingering question whether anybody on this roster knew how to play the bloody game.

Rich Monck had a day off to begin the week.

Game 1
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 2B J. White – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – 3B M. Martin – RF Lovins – LF G. Lujan – SS Cirelli – P R. Pritchard
POR: CF Kozak – RF Campos – 1B Starr – C Burkart – LF Valencia – 3B Morales – 2B Tallent – SS Novelo – P Fox

Pritchard walked three Coons in the first inning, but we only got one run when Bruce Burkart doubled home Marco Campos. After that Valencia and Morales also reached, but Randy Tallent grounded out to strand a full set. Another run came in the bottom 2nd when Novelo and Foxie Brown went to the corners with hits and Kozak bowled into a double play, but Novelo at least came home from third base. Campos then singled and was caught stealing to end the inning. The 2-0 lead was then thrown into the bin over the next two innings; Pritchard drove in Guillermo Lujan with a double to left in the third inning, and Alex Gomez took Fox deep to left in the fourth to get the teams even again.

Overall, Fox pitched quite tolerable through five innings, but then exploded in the sixth – again. Eddy Ramirez’ leadoff single, Jim White getting nicked, and Danny Starwalt coming back from 0-2 to draw a walk loaded the bases with nobody out and it was depression from there with Alex Gomez’ 2-run single and RBI singles by Lujan and Cirelli with two outs. The result was a 6-2 deficit that an inept offense could not possibly fix, regardless of the amount of scoreless relief that would be put up there by Kurihara (4 outs) and Mike Hall (5 outs). The Coons did not have a single base hit after the 4-run blow-up. 6-2 Indians. Burkart 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Game 2
IND: CF E. Ramirez – RF B. Johnston – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – 3B M. Martin – LF McInnis – 2B J. White – SS G. Lujan – P DeRose
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Applegate

DeRose seamlessly found back to his former Raccoons Ballpark success by giving up jacks to Corral and Monck in the first inning, the latter finding Starr on base for a quick 3-0 lead. But right in the next inning the Raccoons frittered away a leadoff double by Applegate and I immediately began waiting for the inevitable collapse. Another run was added in the third inning, though, when Aoki batted with one out and Burkart and Morales on the corners and grounded to White well enough that the Indians only got an out on Morales at second base and Burkart scored from third, 4-0. Similarly, Rich Monck found himself in a corners, one out situation in the fourth inning and grounded out to Lujan to get Kozak in with an unearned run from third base. Burkart then popped out, leaving Starr at second base.

The Indians had no base hits in four innings, but Matt McInnis took Appyjuice deep to right to start the top 5th to wipe that no-hitter off the board. It was the innocent-enough beginning of another blowout inning, but at least I had seen it coming, not that that made it hurt less. After the homer, White walked and Lujan singled. PH Steve Thompson grounded out to move the runners into scoring position. Ramirez’ RBI single and a wild pitch then scored the runners before Bryan Johnston drew another walk, Danny Starwalt singled, and Alex Gomez hit a ball over Elmer Maldonado’s head for a score-flattening, 2-run double. (buries face in paws)

Even at five, and with Jarod Morris being hustled out there again to see whether we could make his arm fall off soon, the Raccoons came up against Melvin Guerra in the bottom 6th. Novelo drew a walk in the #9 spot, having entered in a double switch with Morris, and after Corral whiffed, Kozak hit a single to right-center that Ramirez and Johnston between them “you take it – no YOU take it” played into extra bases, bringing up Starr with a pair in scoring position. He hit a 1-1 pop behind short that looked like another piss poor out, but Lujan going up ended up dropping the ball and the Raccoons got the go-ahead run to score that way. Monck’s long drive to right then wasn’t long enough for three, but for a sac fly at least, 7-5. Starr was left on base, same for Morales and Novelo and their pair of singles in the bottom 7th.

Top 8th, and with just seven pitches Juan Carrillo loaded the bases with two singles by Gomez and McInnis and nicking Matt Martin in between – and nobody out. Vinny Atencio batted for White at this point, which prompted a move to McDaniel, who rung up two lefty pinch-hitters in Atencio and Chris Lovins, but in between allowed an RBI single to the equally left-handed Lujan. Up by one with two out and three on, the Raccoons made another move to have Jesse Dover face Eddy Ramirez, resulting in a full count and eventually a 2-run single through the hole between Novelo and Morales… (screams into pillow) … then, in the bottom of the same inning, three different Indians pitchers loaded the bases with Kozak, Monck, and Burkart until Jeff Caldwell faced Elmer Maldonado with one out. He grounded out to first, allowing the tying run to score again, getting even at eight, before Vic Morales plainly whiffed.

Dover finished regulation with the 8-8 tie intact, but the Coons only got Novelo on base and he was caught stealing in the bottom 9th, sending the game into overtime where Jon McGinley struck out the side in the tenth inning, including the pitcher Caldwell since the Indians were outta sticks (while the Coons were soon outta arms). After the Raccoons’ 2-3-4 made embarrassing outs against Caldwell in the bottom 10th, Eddy Ramirez took McGinley deep in the 11th to break the tie. Cody Kleidon saved the game for Indy then with another 1-2-3 inning. 9-8 Indians. Corral 2-6, HR, RBI; Monck 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Morales 3-6; Novelo 1-2, BB;

Slappy, I think we’ll need to organize some One-Eyed Jack’s soon. This Capt’n Coma barely mulls the pain of watching them.

Game 3
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 1B Starwalt – LF Lovins – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – SS J. White – P Pichardo
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Alba

Ramirez’ leadoff triple and a sharp groundout by Martin gave the Indians a near-instant 1-0 lead on Wednesday, and they seemed to be making obnoxiously loud contact off Alba overall. After a few rough early innings he seemed to settle in though, and struck out five in as many frames while keeping the score close, although he did that for a team that had no base knocks against Pichardo through five. Pichardo struck out four and once struck Monck with a breaking ball for the Critters’ only base runner.

Top 6th, and an Aoki error put Martin on base to begin the inning. Atencio promptly doubled for a pair in scoring position with nobody out before Alba reached back, struck out Starwalt, and then got infield pops from Lovins and Johnston to stall the Indians’ attempt to tack on. The following inning, *another* Aoki error, this time for two bases, and a pinch-hit single by Alex Gomez in place of Ramirez brought a second Indians run across. Martin hit another 2-out single before Alba got out of the inning. Pichardo meanwhile had not put anybody on base since nicking Monck, but walked Starr and Burkart in the seventh. However, Maldonado flew out to Johnston in right to keep them on base. Alba needed over 100 pitches through seven and was replaced with Mike Hall, who immediately ****** another run onto the board, allowing three singles in the top 8th, two to lefty hitters. Vic Morales then drew a leadoff walk off Pichardo, but was doubled off by Aoki, who was having some sorta game. Tallent grounded out in Hall’s place to complete eight. Pichardo, on 92 pitches, was then up against the top of the order in the ninth, but lost the no-hitter to Jose Corral, who lobbed a single over the head of Mike Weber. Pichardo still faced Kozak, who flew out, then yielded for Kleidon against the pair of left-handed thumpers. Kleidon nicked Starr on base, bringing up Monck as the tying run, but he popped out. Burkart’s scratch single loaded the bases. Marco Campos then pinch-hit for Maldonado and with the tying runs all assembled on base, swatted away at the first pitch by Kleidon; the zinger went past Martin at third base and up the line and into the corner! Corral scored! Starr scored! Burkart was waved around and scored! Tied ballgame!!?? Better yet, after the Indians changed pitchers to Bob West, Morales drove home Campos with a walkoff single…! 4-3 Blighters! Campos (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

So, Cristiano? Any smug opinions about how they pulled that one outta their tush?

Nope, nobody saw that one coming!

Kozak and Morales got days off on Thursday.

Game 4
IND: CF E. Ramirez – RF B. Johnston – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – 3B M. Martin – LF McInnis – 2B J. White – SS G. Lujan – P Carreno
POR: RF Corral – LF Campos – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – 3B Tallent – SS Aoki – P Riddle

The Raccoons had three singles and no runs the first time through, while the Indians loaded the bases with Lujan, Ramirez, and Johnston in the third inning and got the 1-0 lead on Starwalt’s sac fly to center before Riddle struck out Alex Gomez. Riddle bled two more singles by McInnis and Jim White in the fourth, but then struck out the 8-9 batters to escape. Ramirez and Johnston only hit more singles to begin the fifth, though, and a wild pitch and Starwalt’s sac fly to right gave Indy a 2-0 lead, both on their first-sacker’s sac flies.

After the three early singles off Carreno, the Coons had nothing the second time through until Carreno walked Starr with one out in the bottom 6th. Monck singled, sending Starr to third base, and when Maldonado grounded to short he managed to beat the throw to first base to stay out of the double play, allowing Starr to score and narrow the score to 2-1. Arellano singled to center after that, but Tallent had a liner being caught on a headlong dive by Eddy Ramirez to end the inning. That run was back on the board real quick, too, as the Indians got a pinch-hit single from Steve Thompson to knock out Riddle in the seventh, and then Kurihara was ***** again, allowed another single to Johnston, and then plated Riddle’s run with a wild pitch. Nothing came of doubles by Valencia in the bottom 7th and Martin in the top 8th (off McDaniel). Ernesto Rios and Bob West then retired the remaining Raccoons in order in the last two innings. 3-1 Indians. Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Arellano 2-4; Valencia (PH) 1-2, 2B;

Arf.

Raccoons (13-14) @ Buffaloes (16-13) – May 9-11, 2064

The Raccoons arrived in Topeka without Angel Alba, who had developed a flu by Thursday evening and was not scheduled to pitch in the series anyway, and so was left at home before he could spread the plague to everybody. Meeting up with them were the Buffaloes, who had a narrow lead in the FL East despite a -4 run differential and at-best average performance in most major statistics (bit like the 2063 Coons!), and that wasn’t even beginning to cut with their 4.81 starters’ ERA. These teams hadn’t met in *seven* years, and the Raccoons had not won a series from the Buffos for *20* years…!

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (3-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Ben Karst (1-2, 5.93 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-3, 6.23 ERA) vs. Pablo Lara (1-4, 7.76 ERA)
Jeff Applegate (1-2, 5.81 ERA) vs. Scott Carroll (1-2, 5.96 ERA)

The Buffos brought up their three worst starters by ERA, but only one of their three southpaws (Lara).

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – C Burkart – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – P Elling
TOP: CF Ambriz – 2B A. Rodriguez – RF Austin – 3B A. de los Santos – 1B M. Delgadillo – SS Buss – LF Branch – C Reyna – P Karst

Jose Ambriz hit a leadoff double in the first inning, but was thrown out trying to steal third base before an Aubrey Austin single to left-center would likely have scored him from second. The Coons were hitless the first time through, although Karst walked the bags full with Morales, Corral, and Burkart in the third inning, but then got Joel Starr to pop out to Alex de los Santos in foul ground… That was before the Buffos scored three unearned runs in the bottom 3rd. With two outs, Ambriz singled and Alex Rodriguez reached on an error by Morales. Aubrey Austin’s double and de los Santos’ single then ran up the tally on the scoreboard before Mario Delgadillo was out on a comebacker to Elling. When Kozak and Maldonado then found the first hits for the Critters in the top 4th, a pair of 1-out single, Morales also found our first double play of the series to kill the inning. In the fifth, Corral walked and Burkart doubled with two outs, but Starr struck out…..

The Coons then poured out five singles in the sixth inning, knocking out Karst partway through, and I know what you’re asking with your big black begging googly eyes; well, yes, but did they *score*? Yes, they scored two runs, Morales and Elling hitting RBI singles to plate Monck and Kozak, respectively, before Corral hit another single to fill the bags and Burkart popped out to short to leave on a full set in a 3-2 game. Against Justin Cullum in the seventh, another three singles by Monck, Maldonado, and Morales – the 3M? – brought in the tying run. Aoki then batted for an 0-for-3 Novelo against the right-hander and found a hole on the right side to fit another RBI single through and take the lead after merely 13 hits (12 singles) of trying. Elling, who still had pitches to go, then hit the hardest ball in a while, but flew out to Tommy Branch in deep left to end the inning.

Elling completed eight innings without allowing another run or more drama, while the Raccoons were silent in the eighth, but then put out more singles against Bill Hernandez in the ninth inning as Monck and Kozak dropped soft hits to begin the inning. Elmer Maldonado fired a streak over the second base bag then for an RBI single, 5-3. The remaining runners reached scoring position and Morales was walked intentionally, but Aoki then hit a comebacker for an out at the plate. Marcos Arellano batted for Elling and hit a pinch-hit sac fly, and Corral dropped another RBI single with two outs. Burkart raked an RBI double off new pitcher Joe Toth before Campos batted for an 0-5 Joel Starr and made the last out. Jesse Dover then ended the game in three batters. 8-3 Coons. Corral 3-5, BB, RBI; Burkart 2-5, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Monck 3-5; Kozak 3-5; Maldonado 3-5, RBI; Morales 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Aoki (PH) 1-2, RBI; Elling 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (4-1) and 1-3, RBI;

18 base hits! Besides Burkart’s pair of doubles, all were singles.

Joel Starr had Saturday off, not only because of the 0-for-5 while everybody went out having fun, but also because we were up against a lefty and the opportunity was good.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – CF Campos – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 3B Morales – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – P Fox
TOP: CF Ambriz – 2B A. Rodriguez – RF Austin – 3B A. de los Santos – SS Buss – LF Branch – 1B M. Delgadillo – C Reyna – P P. Lara

Hopes were modest for Fox facing a nearly all-right-handed lineup (minus Delgadillo and the pitcher) amid his monthlong struggles, but at least he held up long enough for the Raccoons to score the game’s first run in the third inning when Corral singled home Novelo, who had singled, been bunted over, and had advanced on a wild pitch. Campos then found a double play… Fox had two strikeouts against a hit and no walks through three, and while Aubrey Austin hit a double off him in the fourth, Fox kept him on base. Austin drew a leadoff walk his next time up, by which time we were in the bottom of the seventh, advanced on a groundout by de los Santos and then stinkingly scored on a Branch single to center with two outs. This tied the game at one; neither team had more than three base hits to show for on this Saturday.

That’s when Rafael Valencia and Pablo Novelo unwrapped the doubles, hitting a pair of them off Lara in the eighth to give the Raccoons and Foxie Brown a new 2-1 lead. Lusting for blood, the Coons sent Joel Starr to pinch-hit, but he grounded out, and Corral popped out to third base to keep Novelo stranded right there. Carrillo struck out the first two batters in the eighth inning before Jose Ambriz hit a ball over the wall with two outs – but on the bounce, and it only counted for a double! …until he scored after all when Corral then clunkered Rodriguez’ fly to right into an error, two bases, and the tying run. Corral caught the next rocket hit by Austin, but I was already plotting his demise in a stampede at that point…

Scoreless efforts by Kurihara and Buffos closer Justin Round in the ninth sent the game to extras, with Round adding another scoreless inning in the tenth. The Raccoons went to Jarod Morris, who probably wondered how many more innings he had to throw with a flat zero ERA before he’d get a whiff at starting over any of the dimwits currently employed. He got around a single in the bottom 10th to keep the game going. Bill Hernandez was up for the 11th and retired Novelo, behind him Randy Tallent was playing third base after some pinch-hitting and stuff, and who hit a 1-out single, then stole second base before Corral drove him in with a 2-out single to right-center. After Campos found another double play to stab it into, McGinley came out for the bottom 11th. The pesky Austin drew another 2-out walk, but de los Santos’ groundout ended the game and gave the Coons their first series win over the Buffos in decades. 3-2 Critters! Corral 3-5, 2 RBI; Tallent 1-1; Fox 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

Rafael Valencia (.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI) wound up on the waiver wire after this game to make room for … sigh… Todd Oley, who was hitting .279 in AAA at least…

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – C Burkart – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Applegate
TOP: CF Ambriz – 2B A. Rodriguez – RF Austin – 3B A. de los Santos – SS Buss – LF Branch – 1B M. Delgadillo – C Reyna – P S. Carroll

Scott Carroll walked Corral and departed with an injury, so that was that. The Buffos had to patch together nine innings with their pen now and started that exercise with Brett Lillis jr., an 8-year Critter, eight years removed, who gave up a 2-run homer to Joel Starr to potentially pin a tough-**** loss on Carroll, although against Applegate, Aubrey Austin already added a run to the scoreboard when he was doubled home by Alex de los Santos in the bottom 1st. In turn, Maldonado hit a leadoff single and scored on an Aoki triple into the corner in the top 2nd, 3-1. Applegate whiffed and Corral grounded out to abstain from scoring Aoki.

Bottom 3rd and Carroll got hope when Applegate walked leadoff batters Danny Hernandez and Jose Ambriz. Rodriguez flew out to Maldonado, who then threw away the ball that Austin singled on with one out. A run scored, 3-2, and the back runners reached scoring position. However, de los Santos’ pop and Buss’ fly out left the Buffos short again. Top 4th, Morales and Aoki were on base to start the inning, but Applegate bunted into a ****** out at third base and the Raccoons didn’t score. Same inning, Applegate offered another leadoff walk to Tommy Branch, then a 3-2 single to Delgadillo. Branch hurt himself sliding into third base and was replaced with another former Critter, Joey Christopher, but the Buffos had them on the corners with nobody out. Reyna singled to tie the game, Oscar Aredondo hit another single, and while Ambriz popped out on the infield, Rodriguez’ fly to right was deep enough to get the go-ahead run home. Corral also threw *that* ball away and the trail runners advanced into scoring position, both scoring on another single to right by Aubrey Austin, at which point it was 6-3 Buffaloes and bedtime for Applecore.

Morris took over pitching duties and Joel Starr shortened the score to 6-4 with a homer in the fifth, but Morris then fumbled an earned run on the board in return after 21 innings in mostly garbage relief without giving up an earned run to begin the season. Corral and Burkart produced another run with a pair of 2-out doubles off Justin Cullum in the sixth, 7-5, but a soft Starr single only moved Burkart to third base and Monck’s fly to right was caught by Austin to end the inning.

The Coons stirred again in the eighth when Bill Hernandez allowed singles to all of Todd Oley (sigh!), Corral, and Burkart, with one down. This time Starr grounded into an inning-ending double play…! Justin Round then retired Monck to begin the ninth before Kozak singled and Maldonado drew a walk to put the tying runs on base again. A shy single by Morales stuffed the bases, and Aoki poked a bouncer through between Jeff Buss and Alex Rodriguez to drive in a run and narrow the score to 7-6. Campos batted for the pitcher Kurihara, but before he could drive in the tying run, a wild pitch already plated Maldonado with it, leveling the score at seven apiece. Campos then grounded out poorly to keep the runners in scoring position pinned, but Corral got them home with a 2-out, 2-run single, breaking up Round in the process. Joe Toth had to find a way out of the inning, while the Raccoons handed a 9-7 lead to McGinley, who loaded the bases inside four batters in the bottom 9th as de los Santos doubled, Buss walked, and Delgadillo hit a 1-out single. Oh boy. Reyna singled in a run on a 3-2 pitch before Toth was a free out – the Buffos were entirely out of reserves. Ambriz ended the game – by also striking out. 9-8 Critters. Corral 3-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Burkart 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Starr 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; Kozak 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Maldonado 3-4, BB; Morales 2-5; Aoki 2-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1; Morris 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

May 5 – PIT C Nick Dingman (.277, 5 HR, 12 RBI), the twice-defending FL home run champion, will have a harder time taking the power crown this year, since he’ll miss the next six weeks with a strained hammy.
May 5 – The Warriors beat the Pacifics, 10-6 in 15 innings. L.A. leads the game 6-0 through seven innings before blowing the lead in the last two innings and ends the game with eight goose eggs on offense.
May 6 – The hitting streak of DEN INF/LF Willie de Leon (.325, 0 HR, 11 RBI) ends after 21 games with a hitless appearance in a 5-3 win against the Stars.
May 7 – TOP 1B/LF/RF Aubrey Austin (.362, 3 HR, 15 RBI) reaches 2,500 career hits at 38 years old, going 3-for-4 in a 7-3 win against Richmond. Austin, who is hitting .291 with 267 homers and 1,249 RBI for his career, gets the milestone with a single off RIC MR Jesus Ordonez (0-0, 3.97 ERA).
May 7 – Cincy will be without RF/1B/LF John MacDonnell (.294, 2 HR, 4 RBI) for a month due to a case of shoulder tendinitis.
May 8 – SAC RF/LF Juan de Luna (.219, 3 HR, 4 RBI) calls it quits on a 16-inning game against the Wolves with a walkoff homer that gives the Scorpions a 4-3 win.
May 9 – BOS SP Jason Brenize (4-0, 0.98 ERA) 2-hits the Wolves in a 7-0 shutout, whiffing eight.
May 9 – The Bayhawks take a big hit with elbow tendinitis putting 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.294, 7 HR, 18 RBI) on the DL for up to two months. To add insult to injury, the same day the Bayhawks blow a 9-3 lead against the Gold Sox in the last two innings for a 10-9 loss.
May 10 – SFB SP Jon Mendosa (1-3, 7.67 ERA) is diagnosed with a flayed flexor tendon in his elbow and is expected to miss a full year on the sidelines.

FL Player of the Week: CIN OF Melvin Avila (.337, 2 HR, 19 RBI), batting .652 (15-23) with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR RF/LF Jose Corral (.284, 2 HR, 13 RBI), hitting .414 (12-29) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Jose Corral stole on there, or he’s lucky that D doesn’t count for the Player of the Week award. But fine. (puts the sock with the bar of soap in it away) Good boy! (pats Jose Corral, whose whiskers jiggle excitedly)

Jeff Applegate will not travel to Portland with the team because Morris needs to start and Fox handed in a nice start now and it only got worse for Applecore. Yes it took us a while to make changes to this highly irritating roster, but they’re coming now.

The Raccoons are currently fourth in homers in the CL with 22 bombs, but have only 11 stolen bases, which is second from the bottom, and just one bag ahead of the bottom-dwelling Thunder. What a weird looking game after the last few decades, where we always had some speedster or other (and sometimes several) on duty.

And then all the not-hitting…!

The drums keep on beating for the Raccoons – another 17 games want to be played before a day off. We will spend the next two weeks in the Northwest, hosting the dismal make-up game with the Condors on Monday, then regularly scheduled sets against the Pacifics and Loggers, before heading to Elk City for four games and hosting the Bayhawks on the following weekend before heading out East again.

Funnily enough the Condors won a day off on Sunday with a rainout in Cincy, so they had time to recuperate on the way in – but then have to go back to Cincy in June ahead of an already-rain-induced double header in Oklahoma City. That would have been their last off day before the All Star Game, so they’ll now play *39* games in *38* days without a day off.

Fun Fact: Jarod Morris (2-0, 0.38 ERA) is only six innings short of qualifying for the ERA title.

And he’d win it! Eat your heart out, Jason Brenize (0.98 ERA)!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (16-14) vs. Condors (12-16) – May 12, 2064

This unholy make-up game for a rainout in April pitted us against the third-worst offense and the worst bullpen in the league. Before we could get to that, however, we had to climb over Brett Bebout (4-2, 1.60 ERA). He would face Angel Alba (0-3, 4.26 ERA) in a matchup of right-handers. The first two games played this year had been split.

The Coons of course came in with another roster move, optioning Jeff Applegate (1-2, 6.90 ERA) to St. Petersburg, moving Jarod Morris to the rotation, and bringing up John Nesbitt’s 2.19 ERA from the Alley Cats.

TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – CF Asencio – C Brann – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – LF Kaniewski – 3B Frasher – SS C. Ramsey – P Bebout
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Alba

The Raccoons had the bases loaded with a chance to blow it as early as the first inning as Bebout walked Kozak and Monck around an infield single by Starr, all with one out. Arellano and Morales would come up with an RBI single each, while Maldonado whiffed and Aoki grounded out, although Maldonado would drive in Starr with a 2-out single two innings later. Angel Alba was perfect the first time through the Condors’ order, striking out a pawful, but then was taken deep to right by Willie Acosta right away to begin the fourth inning, but got a bit of revenge with a leadoff double of his own in the bottom 4th. Corral singled him to third, and he scored on Kozak’s sac fly to make it 4-1. A Rich Monck homer added a run in the fifth, but Andy Metz also got Alba for another solo job half an inning later. Alba still struck out five more Condors in the middle innings. He’d get one more in the seventh for 11 on the day, but that would be all for him, needing 108 pitches to reach the stretch. Nesbitt then made his season debut in the eighth and right away drilled Acosta and allowed a single to Marco Asencio, and Corral overran that ball for extra bases for the Condors. However, runners on second and third and nobody out, Nesbitt struck out Mike Brann, and then McDaniel came in and handled Metz with a pop and Matt Ewig with a groundout, keeping the runners pinned. For the ninth and our 3-run lead we went to Jesse Dover, since McGinley was not available after throwing 47 pitches across the last two games. Dover retired the 6-7-8 batters in order with a strikeout. 5-2 Coons. Corral 2-5; Starr 2-4, 2B; Morales 2-3, BB, RBI; Aoki 2-4; Alba 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, W (1-3) and 1-3, 2B;

Second career save for Jesse Dover, who also got one last September.

Raccoons (17-14) vs. Pacifics (17-14) – May 13-15, 2064

In on schedule were the Pacifists, who scored the fewest runs in the Federal League (just under four per game), but they also only gave up the fourth-fewest runs. It still made for a rather unhealthy -17 run differential despite being three games over .500. They were bottoms in OBP, but were stealing the second-most bags and had quite a bit of power, too. Regulars Steve Dilly and Rich Cabrera were on the DL though, and Jesus Espinoza was day-to-day.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (3-3, 2.89 ERA) vs. Francisco Tello (1-1, 2.67 ERA)
Josh Elling (4-1, 3.10 ERA) vs. Ivan Torres (1-4, 7.96 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-3, 5.18 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (3-1, 1.79 ERA)

Those were all right-handers; with their day off on Monday untainted by make-up shenanigans, the Pacifics could also skip Torres and bring Steve Evans (1-3, 5.67 ERA) in, but we would not get to see the only lefty and ex-Coon in the bunch, Nick Robinson (2-1, 3.38 ERA).

Game 1
LAP: CF T. Garcia – 2B B. Ortega – LF J. Espinoza – 1B A. Olivares – RF Abel – C Kelbaugh – SS Sweeney – 3B Marchek – P Tello
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Oley – SS Aoki – 3B Tallent – P Riddle

Riddle was up against nothing but right-handers and switch-hitters, and gave up two sharp singles to Tony Garcia and Jesus Espinoza right away in the first inning, but got around the runners. The Coons had a Kozak single and a double play hit into by Starr in the first inning, but then rushed Tello for six hits – all singles – in the bottom 2nd. Monck and Burkart started with singles, Aoki hit a 1-out RBI single, Tallent singled home a pair, and scored himself on Riddle’s groundout and a wild pitch for the fourth and final run of the inning. Corral and Kozak hit two more singles, but Starr grounded out. Monck and Burkart found yet more hits in the inning after and while Oley lined out, Aoki’s groundout extended the lead to 5-0. Tallent grounded out to leave Burkart in scoring position.

After that, Milt Cantrell shut down the Coons in garbage relief, but the Pacifics also didn’t get anything worthwhile off Riddle anymore in the middle innings. Cantrell was undone in the bottom 6th by an Alejandro Olivares error that put Starr on base in addition to Kozak with one out. Rich Monck then singled home Kozak, 6-0, before Burkart was doubled up, the third Critters double play in the game. Instead, the Pacifics finally got a hold of Riddle in the seventh; Pete Kelbaugh singled, and Jesse Sweeney homered to left-center for two L.A. runs. Carrillo had a fine eighth inning before Mike Hall got the ball for the ninth inning – still against a sea of right-handed hitters. Sweeney hit a 1-out single, and Joe Marchek’s grounder to short that could have ended the inning was farted on by Aoki and instead the Pacifics had a second base runner with one out. Tyler Watson pinch-hit, and Hall struck out the lefty, then was replaced with Dover against Tony Garcia, and Dover got a second straight save on a single pitch, Garcia grounding out to Monck to end the game. 6-2 Critters. Corral 2-5; Kozak 2-3, BB; Monck 4-4, RBI; Burkart 2-4, 2B; Oley 2-4; Tallent 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-3);

Joel Starr needed a day off, it seemed, with all the double plays and what all.

Game 2
LAP: CF T. Garcia – 2B B. Ortega – 1B A. Olivares – LF J. Espinoza – C Kelbaugh – RF Whitman – SS J. Villarreal – 3B Marchek – P I. Torres
POR: RF Corral – 1B Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – LF Campos – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – P Elling

The weather promised to be iffy on Wednesday, so better grab a lead quick, boys! Corral singled, Kozak singled, and Burkart drew a walk to put the first three Coons on base on Wednesday. Monck’s grounder to Bernie Ortega became a force out at second base, but scored Corral with the first run of the game, and Elmer Maldonado singled in Kozak right afterwards, but Campos then found a double play to hit into. Elling got around a Kelbaugh double in the second, but in the third inning walked Marchek and allowed a single to Torres before throwing a wild pitch and conceding both runs on groundouts by Garcia and Ortega to fumble away the 2-0 lead. Neat.

The next 2-spot was the Critters’, and it came on the first career homer by Pablo Novelo in the bottom 4th, hit with one out and Morales on base against Torres, who was then removed from the game for left-hander Evan Alvey. Elling responded by raking a triple into the gap and scored on Corral’s sac fly to center, 5-2. While it drizzled on and off a bit, the Raccoons added another run in the fifth with Monck and Morales singles against Alvey. Meanwhile, Elling after his rough third inning had buckled down and carried a 3-hitter to the stretch, and still batted for himself in the bottom 7th, striking out with Campos and Morales in scoring position and one out. Corral came through, though, hitting a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single off righty Jose Salazar to extend the lead to 8-2. Elling would complete another inning, finishing eight strong on 103 pitches, before we gave a 6-run lead to Tetsu Kurihara to try and blow it up in the ninth inning. He gave up two walks, two hits, and a run in the inning before the Pacifics managed to have Kelbaugh thrown out at the plate from second base to run themselves out of the game on Jorge Villarreal’s 2-out single to left… 8-3 Raccoons. Corral 3-3, BB, 3 RBI; Kozak 2-5; Morales 3-3, BB, RBI; Elling 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (5-1) and 1-4, 3B;

Suddenly, six wins in a row!

The Pacifics acquired middle infielder Oscar Aredondo (.412, 0 HR, 2 RBI) from the Buffos for the reliever Jose Salazar (0-0, 4.43 ERA, 1 SV) and #53 prospect 2B/SS Jose Ortiz. Aredondo had been on the table to be traded to the Coons this past winter, but had gotten only 17 at-bats so far with Topeka.

Game 3
LAP: CF T. Garcia – SS Aredondo – LF J. Espinoza – 1B A. Olivares – RF Abel – C Kelbaugh – 2B Sweeney – 3B J. Villarreal – P Luera
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Fox

Fox hit Espinoza in the first, but the Raccoons got the first run on the board when Monck doubled to center with Corral (also drilled) and Kozak on base and thus put the Critters up 1-0. Starr flicked a single to left on a 3-2 pitch, getting in Kozak, but Monck had to stop at third base on the shallow ball and in deference to Gold Glover Jesus Espinoza. He remained on base once Maldonado lined out to Aredondo and Morales grounded out to the same new arrival in L.A., keeping the lead at 2-0. The Pacifics then right away scored a run in the second inning as Kevin Abel singled off Fox and was doubled home by Sweeney. Fox struggled through the innings with limited success and was taken deep to right by Kelbaugh in the fourth inning to get this game tied at two as well.

The Raccoons left pairs on base in the third and fourth innings before Burkart, Starr, and Maldonado all got on against Luera in the bottom 5th, but with two outs and Vic Morales coming up. Morales fell to 0-2, but then dug out a low breaking ball and flung it over Sweeney’s glove for a 2-run single and a new 4-2 lead…! Aoki’s groundout ended the inning then. Fox was nearly taken deep by Abel in the sixth, but Kozak picked the ball off the fence, and when Fox’ spot was up to lead off the bottom 6th, we went for the pinch-hitter, although Campos and Corral and Kozak made outs in order against Evan Alvey in the bottom 6th. McDaniel then pitched a scoreless seventh before a Jorge Villarreal error and an infield single put two runners on base in the bottom 7th, only for Elmer Maldonado to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Things remained tight, as Aredondo hit a leadoff single against Carrillo in the eighth, but was then doubled up by Espinoza shooting a ball at Monck on the bounce for a room service 4-6-3. The Pacifics then hit two more singles before Kelbaugh struck out to leave the tying runs on base. In turn, Oley and Aoki hit singles and went to the corners in the bottom 8th before Allen Tinsley struck out Tallent and Corral and got Kozak to ground out to Villarreal. Oley remained in leftfield after the inning, and the Raccoons brought in McGinley, who was right away met with a huge homer by Sweeney that cut the lead to 4-3. The next two batters struck out, but Tony Garcia drew a walk and Aredondo hit a fly to deep left where Oley chased it back to the fence, leapt at the fence – and took it off the top of the wall to end the game!! 4-3 Critters! Starr 3-4, RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1;

Seven in a row!

Raccoons (20-14) vs. Loggers (16-18) – May 16-18, 2064

The Coons had struggled against the Loggers – sometimes inexplicably – for years, and had just two season series wins against them in the last decade. 2063 had seen the teams end up tied at nine after 18 contests. This year they ranked third in runs scored, but gave up the most runs and a -18 run differential (Portland: +15). They were leading the league in homers, but were bottoms in starters’ ERA and had the second-worst defense. They were still without Cesar Ramirez. The Coons had a 2-1 edge in the season series so far.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (2-0, 0.38 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (3-2, 3.97 ERA)
Angel Alba (1-3, 4.00 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (4-2, 4.07 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (4-3, 2.84 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (3-1, 3.76 ERA)

Espinosa was the only left-hander in this set.

Game 1
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – RF D. Wright – 3B D. Miller – SS Reber – P L. Wilson
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Morris

The Jarod Morris era of starting for the Raccoons started with a scoreless first, but then he was taken deep to right by Fidel Carrera in the second inning. Rich Monck matched the leadoff jack in the second thing to tie the game again, at least until hits by Kyle Reber, who stole a base, and Scott Franks put the Loggers up 2-1 in the third again. The Coons had left two on base in the bottom 2nd, but started their half of the third with the 1-2-3 all reaching base and bringing up Monck in a slam spot. Wilson ran a full count against Monck before throwing one in the dirt that was hard to hit over the fence, so Monck let it go and instead pushed in the tying run with a bases-loaded walk. Maldonado popped out, Arellano popped out, and Morales flew out to right to choke on the inning then.

Aoki’s leadoff single saw him gain a free base before Morris even bunted in the bottom 4th when Wilson made a bad pickoff throw that got away from Dave Robles and sent Aoki to second base. Morris then hit a soft single that put guys on the corners with nobody out. Maybe this time! Yes, Aoki was brought in by Corral – with a double play grounder… Reber then hit a leadoff double to left in the fifth, advanced on Wilson’s groundout, but was crucially prevented from scoring when Franks grounded out poorly and was eventually left on base by Jonathan Merrill, keeping the Coons ahead by the narrow score of 3-2… until Tommy Guitreau took Morris deep to centerfield in the sixth and we were even again.

The Loggers took a 4-3 lead in the seventh on another homer off Morris, who lost the sparkle rapidly. That homer was hit by … (deep sigh) … Larry Wilson. (unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma) … Oh, the humanity! Campos batted for Morris for no gains to begin the bottom 7th, but the Raccoons got Kozak and Starr on base with two outs. Wilson was still in and trying to get Monck out, which had not reliably worked all game long and didn’t now either. He fell behind 3-1 on the count, then 6-4 in the game when he fed Monck a fat one and Monck didn’t miss it, brawling it over the fence in right for a score-flipping 3-run homer!! Huzzah!!

Of course, we now had to involve the bullpen, which immediately released the dogs. Nesbitt got the ball this time, struck out Robles, and then allowed a single to Carrera, walked Guitreau, and allowed an RBI double to Dave Wright. Exit that one, enter Carrillo for Danny Miller, who lined out to Marco Campos in centerfield. Guitreau went for home plate as the tying run – but was thrown out with a hammer by Campos! That ended the inning and preserved a 6-5 lead!

And then McGinley blew it, and forcefully so. David Milian’s pinch-hit double to lead off and a pinch-hit single by J.P. Jack put runners on the corners to begin the ninth inning, and Scott Franks tied the game with a sac fly. Robles going yard put the Loggers on top by two, and Vincent Hernandez held the Raccoons short in the bottom of the ninth… 8-6 Loggers. Monck 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI;

Monck and Corral had to get a day off on Saturday against the only left-hander anywhere in sight.

Game 2
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – RF D. Wright – 3B D. Miller – SS Reber – P T. Espinosa
POR: SS Novelo – LF Kozak – C Burkart – 1B Starr – 3B Morales – CF Maldonado – 2B Tallent – RF Campos – P Alba

Franks and Robles reached the corners against Alba in the first inning, but were left on with a K to Guitreau, while the Raccoons were offered free passes to Kozak and Burkart, and after Starr grounded out, Morales singled home both with a 2-out hit to center. The Loggers answered with three singles and a run off Alba in the second, but Espinosa couldn’t find the zone at times. He nailed Kozak to begin the bottom 3rd, then walked Burkart right away. Starr flew out on a 3-1, Morales also flew out, and then Maldonado drew a 2-out walk. Tallent struck out to leave everybody stranded, and then the hamster wheel began anew in the bottom 4th with a leadoff walk to Campos. He took off to steal second and reached third base when Guitreau’s throw stretched past Reber at second base. Alba hit a comebacker to keep him there, Novelo popped out like a fool, and then Kozak FINALLY got a run home with a single to center, 3-1…! And then Kozak was caught stealing.

At least Carrera also got caught stealing in the sixth, so at least that evened out, and after the rough start to the game Alba settled down in the middle innings and allowed only two base hits from the fourth to the sixth, but his pitch count was up to 88 through six. The Loggers were kind enough to making three easy outs in the seventh, so Alba at least got to the stretch before his spot led off the bottom 7th and he was batted for with Corral against right-hander Jesus Hinojosa. Corral singled, but Novelo was robbed in the gap by Scott Franks, and the next two batters made outs on the infield. McDaniel got rid of the 2-3-4 batters in the eighth, and then we arrived in the same spot as on Monday again, with McGinley having thrown 44 pitches in two days and us needing a closer, and here was Jesse Dover again. Guitreau whiffed, and Wright and Miller both grounded out to end the game. 3-1 Coons. Kozak 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1; Alba 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (2-3) and 1-2;

Game 3
MIL: LF Franks – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Merrill – SS Reber – P Pizzichini
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Riddle

The Loggers got the leadoff man on base in each of the early innings of the game as Franks singled and stole his 15th base before being left on in the first; Guitreau singled and was forced out before the second inning fizzled out, and “Pizza” hit a double to right and was joined on base by Dave Wright on a 1-out walk before being caught off base on Fidel Carrera’s liner to Aoki and was doubled off rather unceremoniously to end that inning. The Coons didn’t reach base until Riddle hit a 2-out double in the bottom 3rd, but Corral whiffed.

Starr, Monck, and Maldonado all hit singles to slowly load the bases in the fourth inning against the Loggers’ tasty right-hander, but there were already two outs when Vic Morales stepped in. he came through again, however, and hit a 2-run single to right-center in a full count. Aoki tried to follow up with a fly to deep right, but Wright went back and caught that one to keep a pair on base. Leadoff hits by Merrill and Reber and a throwing error by Corral then right away gave a run back to the Loggers in the fifth, 2-1. Robles chucked a leadoff double in the sixth (so that was five outta six for leadoff men reaching base for Milwaukee here), but was stranded on three poor outs; however, Riddle was chewed up by that point and would not return for the seventh.

Bottom 6th, and the controversy: Rich Monck reached base on a Carrera error, then stole a very confused base when Bruce Burkart held up on a hit-and-run with the stick in the zone and ticklingly close to the baseball. The Loggers claimed he made contact, which would make it a foul ball and force Monck back to first base, but the umpires saw no such thing and the stolen base stood. Ten minutes of discussions and reviews were ultimately a waste of time since Vic Morales’ first homer of the season with two outs would score him from wherever, and extended the lead to 4-1. The Coons then got four outs from Nesbitt and two from Mike Hall to get through the next two innings, both without putting a runner on base. Bottom 8th, Monck led off the inning with a single of righty Jose Soto, who walked the bags full with Burkart and Maldonado then. Morales, who had all the Coons’ RBI’s in the game, choked by hitting into a curiosity 5-2-3 double play – no runs scoring on that ************ – and Todd Oley, batting for Aoki grounded out … but Carrera’s second error of the game was a poor throw to Robles, who was pulled off the base, and Oley reached after all, while Burkart scored from third base. Arellano pinch-hit and found an RBI single through the left side, but Novelo batted for Corral and rolled out to Reber. Kurihara then got the 5-run lead and got three outs without another circus breaking out. 6-1 Critters. Monck 2-4; Morales 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

May 12 – TOP SP Scott Carroll (1-2, 5.96 ERA) will miss a full year for Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL.
May 12 – The Crusaders beat the Warriors, 2-1 in 14 innings.
May 13 – New York again narrowly beats the Warriors with a walkoff, and in the truest sense, with SFW MR Josh Carlisle (1-2, 4.50 ERA) offering four walks to the Crusaders in the bottom 9th to walk in the only run of the 1-0 game.
May 14 – The Thunder acquire INF/RF/LF Alberto Bonilla (.273, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and a prospect from the Wolves for C Steve Preston (.287, 1 HR, 11 RBI).
May 14 – The Capitals score in every inning but one in a 17-1 thrashing of the Canadiens.
May 14 – The Scorpions win 2-1 against the Indians, all runs only scoring in the 10th inning.
May 16 – OCT INF Miguel Veguilla (.309, 3 HR, 32 RBI) is expected to miss time until the All Star Game with a broken thumb.
May 17 – The Bayhawks and Knights brawl not once, but twice in an 8-3 Atlanta win. Atlanta SP Brian Fuqua (2-2, 4.83 ERA) and UT Carlos Fumero (.306, 2 HR, 20 RBI) as well as San Fran MR Hector Montenegro (0-0, 2.35 ERA) and 3B/1B Dan Sandoval (.234, 4 HR, 17 RBI) are all ejected and given hefty suspensions, with a lofty *15* games for Fumero for hitting an opposing player with a bat.
May 18 – Dallas’ 23-year-old INF Adam Yocum (.340, 0 HR, 28 RBI) breaks his leg on an awkward slide into a base and is expected to miss three months.
May 18 – Indy acquires corner outfielder Nick Vaughn (.264, 4 HR, 18 RBI) from the Rebels for three prospects, including #156 SP Leo Garcia and #164 C Willie Romero.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.395, 11 HR, 39 RBI), bashing .400 (10-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.333, 5 HR, 21 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Yay, Rich Monck!! He had a slow start last year too, so maybe the warmer weather is required to really get him going. Still needs to hit 31 homers to match last year’s tally!

Strong 6-1 week and that stupid unnecessary loss on Friday was really stupid and unnecessary, but you could probably replace half that pen with random kids from the street and you wouldn’t notice any difference in the results for a couple of weeks. Jesse Dover showed some prowess though this week and saved three games with McGinley unavailable and/or wrong-pawed for the spot. Is Dover the future closer? Right now he’s whiffing 7.8 per nine innings, so he’s got stuff to work on before we can get excited.

On the other paw the Raccoons are ranking third in runs scored in the CL right now. If only it could stay that way a bit longer!

Ten more games before we get a day off. The next four are in Elk City, then we’re at home against the Baybirds on the weekend, and then it’s off to the East. The schedule will then lighten up in June, but the travel might be getting even more stupider with four cross-country flights inside of 14 days, but we’ll whine more about that when we get there.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons last finished in the top 3 in runs scored in the Continental League in 2047.

That’s 16 years, in case you ran out of claws to count that on.

There was a narrow miss in 2053, when we came fourth, three runs behind the third-place Knights. Apart from that, mostly misery. And in 2047, we were just *barely* third, now three runs ahead of those same fourth-place Knights. The last convincing offensive result would be all the way back in 2044, when the team scored the second-most runs, nine behind the damn Elks for most, and 53 ahead of the fourth-place Bayhawks.

Both 2044 and 2047 were title years. Ah, the good old days of the Manny Fernandez, Jesus Maldonado, Matt Waters etc. Raccoons…! Every regular on that 2044 team – minus Arturo Carreno – had an OPS+ over 100! And three-and-a-half (Derek Baskins played a lot, but much of it off the bench) of them had an OPS+ over 140, the full-timers being Maldonado, Bryce Toohey, and Sal Ayala.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (22-15) @ Canadiens (16-20) – May 19-22, 2064

The big, dumb Elks were scoring the fewest runs in the CL, a paltry 3.2 markers per game. That was nothing a rather average rotation and a leaky pen could help with and they had already racked up a -40 run differential. The Raccoons should probably pounce on that, and do better than last year in the season series, when it ended up split nine games a side.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (5-1, 2.96 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (2-3, 5.79 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-3, 4.85 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (3-3, 4.54 ERA)
Jarod Morris (2-0, 1.45 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (2-3, 2.80 ERA)
Angel Alba (2-3, 3.63 ERA) vs. Carson Miller (3-4, 3.24 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the left-hander in this group.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF E. Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Elling
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – RF B. Campbell – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – CF Atkins – SS Sowell – C A. Maldonado – 3B Spalding – P C. Torres

Torres struck out the first two Raccoons batters, but conceded a first-inning run after all after Starr doubled and Monck singled him home, both with liners to left. The Elks then got a double from Alex Castillo and a single from Brent Campbell to get to the corners with nobody out. Campbell was caught stealing, Elling nicked Chet Whetstine with a 1-2 pitch, and then Jose Campos hit into a 1-6-3 double play anyway. That was certainly ONE way to not score any runs. Both Maldonados – Elmer for Portland and Alex for Elk City – then hit a solo homer in the second inning, which was certainly a noteworthy occurrence; and Starr and Monck did that double-single for a run again in the third inning to go up 3-1. More singles by Burkart and Elmer Maldonado then loaded the bases with one out, but Vic Morales bungled the chance by hitting into a double play. More things occurred twice in this game; another duplication occurred in the bottom 5th when the Elks again had runners on the corners after Torres doubled (…) and Campbell singled, but again Campbell was caught stealing. This time a K to Whetstine ended the inning.

The Raccoons then broke up the score in the sixth; Morales hit a leadoff single but Aoki made a poor out and he only reached second base on Elling’s bunt before Corral walked. Kozak hit an RBI single to center, Starr singled softly to left, and with the bases loaded Monck struck a 2-run double to center. Mike Perez replaced Torres and got Burkart out on a liner to Campbell to keep the score at 6-1, but the Elks then slapped Elling around for four singles and two runs in the bottom of the same inning, preventing him from getting any further in the game. The Raccoons then pieced innings together with Carrillo, Hall, and Dover before McGinley saved the game in the ninth inning after a leadoff walk to Steven Spalding. Rich Monck had a single in the eighth inning to extend himself to 5-for-5 on the day, but the offense didn’t bring him back around for a chance at a sixth hit, the last Critter to bat being Randy Tallent in the #1 spot in the top of the ninth. 6-3 Raccoons. Starr 3-5, 2 2B; Monck 5-5, 2B, 4 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, HR, RBI; Morales 3-4, 2B;

Game 2
POR: SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – C Arellano – RF Tallent – CF M. Campos – P Fox
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C Varner – RF B. Campbell – 1B J. Campos – CF Atkins – SS Sowell – LF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P Fitzgibbon

Monck struck out in the first inning and that was the signal for a dismal game through five innings, with the Raccoons amounting to two hits against Fitzgibbon and no runs, while Chance Fox was taken deep by Jose Campos in the second inning (Marco Campos did not respond in kind) and was generally putrid and behind in most counts, walking a bunch of Elks and conceding another run in the third inning. Down 2-0, the Raccoons had leadoff singles by Novelo and Kozak in the top 6th before Monck struck out again. Morales’ single loaded the bases for Starr, who popped out, and Arellano, who grounded out to second. Tallent and Campos were then leaked on base by Fitzgibbon to begin the seventh. Fox bunted the two runners into scoring position – the tying runs, too! – and now the Coons came through with a Novelo single to left-center and a Kozak single to left that Roberto Lozada overran for an extra base for the new runners, but the old runners one by one scored on the singles anyway, and now Monck was back in the box with runners on second and third and one out. Just wasn’t his day, though, and he grounded out to first base, keeping the runners pinned. Starr’s groundout left the go-ahead runs stranded. Fox got one more out in the bottom 7th before offering a fifth walk in the game to Steve Varner and being yanked. Kurihara got an out before being met the lefty PH Whetstine and McDaniel would take care of that one to end the inning.

The Raccoons then took advantage of another Lozada error to take the lead in the eighth. Ex-Coon Ryan Sullivan was pitching and put Starr on base with a leadoff walk. Arellano grounded out to move him to second and Elmer Maldonado batted for Tallent against the righty, singling to make it corners for the Coons. Marco Campos batted for himself for some reason with his .170 clip, and flew out to Lozada in left. Starr went for home, Lozada’s throw was into the shrubbery somewhere, and the run scored easily, with Maldonado up to second, where he was left by a pinch-hitting Jose Corral flying out to right. Dover then put a pair on base in the bottom 8th before escaping with a K to Kenny Graves. McGinley 1-2-3’ed the Elks’ 1-2-3 in the bottom 9th to grab the W. 3-2 Furballs! Novelo 2-4, BB, RBI; Kozak 3-5, RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF E. Maldonado – C Burkart – SS Aoki – P Morris
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C A. Maldonado – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – CF Atkins – SS Sowell – RF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P Nielsen

The Critters had a quick start on Wednesday as Corral singled, Kozak tripled, and Starr singled again for a brisk 2-0 lead before the 4-5-6 batters all made outs. The Elks responded in the second inning with a double by Rick Atkins, a game-tying homer for Lozada, a Spalding single, a bunt by Nielsen, and a go-ahead RBI single for Alex Castillo to take a 3-2 lead themselves, though. Morris had to stalk around another leadoff double in the third inning, then got the lead back when the Critters rallied in the fourth with leadoff singles for Burkart and Aoki, who he bunted into scoring position before they scored one by one on a Corral single to right and a Kozak double to center, 4-3. Starr’s grounder added another run, but Monck flew out to Whetstine to end the inning. Morris, however, still couldn’t keep his **** together and was bombed for a 3-run homer by Alex Castillo in the same inning after already fooling Spalding and PH Brent Campbell on base. After another near-homer that chased Elmer Maldonado to the fence off the other Maldonado’s bat, Morris was yanked. John Nesbitt struck out Whetstine to get out of the inning, but was then exploded for one run in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth inning by the damn Elks, who suddenly found their sticks and were not susceptible to anybody’s previous silly charm. The Raccoons had a chance for a late rally came in the seventh with leadoff his for Monck and Morales, but Maldonado jammed into a double play and nobody scored in the inning. Rich Monck’s ninth-inning homer off Raffy de la Cruz was then both bitter and late. 10-7 Canadiens. Corral 3-5, RBI; Kozak 4-4, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 3-5; Burkart 2-4;

Man, the glitter is coming off Jarod Morris *real* fast, huh…!?

For now the Raccoons made two roster moves and sent John Nesbitt (0-0, 10.38 ERA) and Marco Campos (.170, 0 HR, 5 RBI) to AAA. It would not get better though, because their replacements were 28-year-old Paul Barton and the just recently departed Rafael Valencia.

Valencia was right away penned into the lineup for a start on Thursday as Jack Kozak was a tad sore and given a day off since we still had another seven games to play before some respite – except that it poured it down on Thursday and the series finale was postponed. The Raccoons won a day off after 23 consecutive games. Kozak was the only Raccoon to play in all games this year (but had not started all of them).

Raccoons (24-16) vs. Bayhawks (17-24) – May 23-25, 2064

Uncharacteristically refreshed, the Raccoons would host a 3-game weekend set against the Bayhawks on the way eastwards. San Francisco was sixth in runs scored, but bottoms in runs allowed, with a -40 run differential and over 5.1 runs per game allowed. Ridiculously, by ERA they had the worst rotation and the best bullpen in the CL. With Mark Jacobs, Jon Mendosa, Steve Watson, and foremost Armando Montoya they had a pile of significant injuries as well. The Coons had taken the last two season series, 5-4 in 2063.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (2-3, 3.63 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (1-1, 5.91 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (5-3, 2.68 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (3-4, 4.88 ERA)
Josh Elling (6-1, 3.13 ERA) vs. Trevor Justesen (0-6, 6.85 ERA)

Only right-handers; their only southpaw starter was Jacobs and he had a bad back.

Game 4
SFB: C L. Marquez – 1B Seidman – 3B Anker – LF Navarre – CF Laws – SS D. Cox – RF Echols – 2B Barre – P Egley
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF E. Maldonado – C Burkart – SS Novelo – P Alba

An error by Dustin Cox and a pair of 2-out singles by Monck and Morales helped the Raccoons to score an early unearned run in the first inning on Friday, and Alba did his best to keep the team ahead in the early innings, allowing just one base hit to the Baybirds. Bottom 3rd, and with Corral on first and nobody out, Kozak narrowly missed a homer to right, hitting a double off the top of the wall to put a pair in scoring position. Egley walked Starr to set up a deadly three on, nobody out trap. Monck rolled a shy RBI single, but Morales whiffed, Maldonado hit a sac fly, and Burkart grounded out, keeping the Raccoons to two runs (better than nothing!) and a 3-0 lead.

The Bayhawks answered with three on and nobody out of their own with leadoff singles for Grant Anker and Nate Navarre in the fourth and then a walk drawn by Scott Laws in a full count. Cox’ sac fly got them on the board, but Jonathan Echols’ shallow fly and Tristan Barre’s pop on the infield kept the remaining runners on base. Alba then struck out three in the fifth inning, but also allowed singles to Lorenzo Marquez and old Crusaders catcher Mike Seidman to create intermittent drama. Laws was then nicked on base to begin the sixth, but didn’t make it off first base before three outs were made.

The Coons then tacked on in the bottom 6th with Burkart and Novelo reaching base with one out. Alba swung, but flew out, and instead Corral got a run home with a 2-out single. Of course he would have brought in two if Novelo woulda been in scoring pos- … but that was spilled milk now. Kozak hit another fly to deep right, but this was caught on the warning track by Echols, ending the inning. The Coons left another pair on base in the seventh, while a Navarre single and Laws getting plunked *again* put two on base for the Bayhawks in the eighth. Alba survived a Cox fly to deep left that was caught by Valencia (who had earlier batted for Maldonado) for the second out, then was lifted for McDaniel against the left-handed Echols, who still singled home a run, 4-2. Barre then grounded out to Morales to end the inning. Three infield grounders off McGinley ended the game in the ninth, although Seidman did hit another 2-out single with a blooper over the head of Monck. 4-2 Coons. Corral 2-3, BB, RBI; Monck 3-4, RBI; Alba 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-3);

Game 2
SFB: RF Paez – C Eaton – 3B Anker – LF Navarre – CF Laws – 1B Seidman – SS D. Cox – 2B Barre – P Chalmers
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Novelo – P Riddle

Luck was a factor on Saturday, because the Bayhawks whizzed five hits past Riddle’s fuzzy ears in the first three innings, but never managed to score a run with them, as they left one runner on base in the first and pairs in the next two innings. The Raccoons instead got a pair of 2-run homers by Morales in the second and Starr in the third inning (Monck and Corral being the collaterals on base, respectively), and then Riddle hit a sac fly himself with Arellano doubling, advancing on Novelo’s grounder, and coming home on the pitcher’s fly to centerfield in the bottom 4th for a 5-0 lead. Everything was going a bit too smooth, so Monck then hit into a double play the inning after. Navarre was on base for San Fran in the sixth, but caught stealing; he was the only Baybirds runner in the middle innings.

Jason Posey was pitching for San Francisco in the bottom 6th and gave up leadoff doubles to Morales (down the leftfield line) and Maldonado (off the fence), extending the Critters’ lead to 6-0. Maldonado then had to stand around for a while as Arellano popped out, Novelo walked, and Riddle struck out. Corral drove him in with a 2-out single. Roberto Mendez replaced Posey, but gave up another run on a Kozak single before Joel Starr absolutely BARRELLED a ball outta here. 430 feet to dead center and still flying!!

Up 11-0, the Raccoons used the chance and mothballed Kozak, Starr, and Monck after six innings for some extra recuperation after the long string of games. Riddle went into the eighth before stalling with two outs and Todd Eaton and Grant Anker reaching base. Barton was double-switched into the game with Valencia, and got Navarre to fly out to right to a sliding Jose Corral. He then put the first two batters in the ninth on base himself, but got a double play from the 39-year-old Seidman and Cox grounded out to Aoki at second base. 11-0 Furballs!! Kozak 2-4, RBI; Starr 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Monck 2-3, BB; Morales 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, W (6-3) and 1-2, RBI;

This rout and a Boston loss to the Aces tied those two teams for first place in the North on Saturday night – virtually, since we had played two fewer games.

Grant Anker (.307, 3 HR, 22 RBI) then ended up on the DL on Sunday and the Baybirds were very mum about the reasons for it, but he was seen at the team hotel with a cast on his right hand and Slappy found a big new dent in a locker in the visitors’ clubhouse, so I was connecting the dots at my leisure here. This pretty much buried the Bayhawks’ season.

Game 3
SFB: CF Laws – 1B Seidman – RF Paez – LF Navarre – 3B Echols – SS D. Cox – C L. Marquez – 2B Barre – P Justesen
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – CF Oley – SS Aoki – P Elling

The Coons had two walks in the first inning, but also a Starr-crossed double play and didn’t score, but then got Burkart (forced out by Todd Oley) and Aoki on base in the bottom 2nd. Elling bunted them over and Corral came through with a single past a diving Barre for the game’s first two runs. Kozak flew out, and in the third Starr and Monck opened with singles to left, but Morales hit into a fielder’s choice and Burkart rumbled into a double play, 6-4-3, altogether. While the Bayhawks had no shortage of runners again in the early innings against Elling, they frittered three hits and a walk before getting buzzed again in the bottom 4th. Aoki got on base with a single and gained another 90 feet when the ball rolled under Juan Paez’ glove for an error. Elling then promptly singled him home from second base, and Corral went yard two pitches later for a 5-0 lead. Kozak then missed on another long fly.

Justesen was gone after five innings, while Elling lumbered on with a shutout, though not without issues. However, it was the Coons that kept scoring, like in the sixth, when Corral singled home Oley with two outs. Kozak then lined out hard to Echols. Elling then looked for a bit like he’d finish the shutout before he lost both Paez to a single and Navarre to a walk in full counts with two outs in the eighth inning. Echols made a meek out then, but now he was almost at 100 pitches. He did bat for himself and made the last out in the bottom 8th, though. Dustin Cox grounded out to begin the ninth, and Lorenzo Marquez lined out softly to Aoki. The shutout was completed with Barre’s grounder to Ao- … oooh-aaah, he threw it away. Game continues. Todd Eaton pinch-hit, singled, and Laws singled home the unearned run, and only then did Elling get the last out from Seidman… 6-1 Raccoons. Corral 4-4, HR, 5 RBI; Burkart 2-4; Elling 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (7-1) and 1-3, RBI;

Naughty Aoki! Very naughty!

In other news

May 19 – NAS 1B Kris DiPrimio (.322, 8 HR, 34 RBI) has two hits, including a grand slam, and drives in six runs in the Blue Sox’ 14-2 rout of the Miners.
May 20 – Dallas CF Tyler Wharton (.416, 14 HR, 47 RBI) wallops three home runs, including a grand slam, and drives in seven runs in an 8-5 win against the Warriors. It is the Stars’ first 3-homer game since Tylor Cecil went yard three times against Sacramento in 2049.
May 20 – Boston SP Jayden Craddock (4-2, 2.97 ERA) is going to miss three months with rotator cuff inflammation.
May 21 – The Rebs send INF Javier Ochoa (.260, 0 HR, 6 RBI) to the Scorpions for two prospects.
May 23 – The last-place Crusaders axe their manager David Montero just 39 games into the new season. Montero managed them for six seasons and change, with a championship in ’60.
May 23 – The Indians fire off a 10-run rally in the eighth inning to beat the Knights, 13-9.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.426, 14 HR, 52 RBI), beasting it at .636 (14-22) with 3 HR, 13 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.374, 6 HR, 28 RBI), slapping .600 (15-25) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Good week! 5-1 with a rainout and a silly blown shutout on Sunday. But we brushed the Baybirds aside and beat the Canadiens well enough. We’re now on a hilarious 14-2 run!

Rich Monck might not be near the top of the leaderboard in homers right now (but hit one at least this week), but he’s currently tops of the CL batting race! He leads Nick Nye of Boston by 11 points, and also has a 12-game hitting streak – besides consecutive Player of the Week honors!

The postponed game in Elk City will be made up in a double header on August 7 squat in the middle of a string of 16 games without a day off, but we’ll cry over that when we get there…

Oklahoma and Atlanta road trip coming up next week, followed by a home week against the Falcons and Crusaders.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have not had a batting champ in over 30 years.

Alberto “Berto” Ramos batted .315 and narrowly held off Atlanta’s Adam Avakian in 2033 to win the CL batting title, 31 years ago already.

Other fuzzy winners:

2017 – “Cookie” Carmona (.344)
1995 – David Brewer (.359)
1989 – Tetsu Osanai (.355)
1988 – Tetsu Osanai (.350)
1986 – Tetsu Osanai (.346)

Both Big Tetsu and David Brewer won at least one batting title with the damn Elks before repeating the feat with the Critters. Osanai won one, Brewer two.

[Westheim]

Can 2025 be a Year of the Ring-Eyed Rats!? (c)Questdog, wherever he is

Only one way to find out!

+++

Raccoons (27-16) @ Thunder (23-20) – May 26-28, 2064

It was a bit of ho-hum in Oklahoma City, with a lot of rather average and mediocre rankings for the team. The Thunder were eighth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed. They had problems on defense and were bottoms in runs scored. The offense was wholly unremarkable. Two infielders (Miguel Veguilla, Daniel Richardson) were on the DL. The Raccoons had won five of nine games against the Thunder the past season.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (2-3, 4.57 ERA) vs. Aaron Harris (1-2, 3.58 ERA)
Jarod Morris (2-1, 2.86 ERA) vs. Joe Napier (1-3, 3.76 ERA)
Angel Alba (3-3, 3.47 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (3-4, 3.70 ERA)

We’d draw three right-handers here ahead of an off day on Thursday.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – P Fox
OCT: C L. Miranda – LF Ramires – 1B I. Stone – RF Whitlow – SS McNeal – 2B F. Gomez – CF R. Miles – 3B Bonilla – P Aa. Harris

Offense was absent in this single Monday night game in the league. The Raccoons had a Maldonado single (and him doubled off by Novelo right away) through three innings and brought up the minimum, while Fox walked two (but Alberto Bonilla was caught stealing), but did not allow early base hits. It continued like that until Rick Miles rolled a 2-out single up the middle in the bottom 5th and stole second base, but Fox then struck out Bonilla to strand him there. The Coons didn’t get another runner until the seventh against Harris, who was by no means overpowering (4 K at the stretch), when Jack Kozak drew a walk, but was left on base. Instead, Fox fell apart in the bottom of that inning. Ian Stone singled, Eric Whitlow tripled, and Burkart bumbled a slow grounder by Josh McNeal to bring two runs on the board against Fox. The Raccoons had a single in the eighth, the Thunder had two singles against Kurihara in the same frame, but nobody scored. Harris was still going against the top of the order in the ninth inning, but Corral knocked him out with a leadoff single and righty Brian Doster took the hill. Kozak struck out, but Starr singled and Monck walked to fill the bases. Vic Morales hit a sac fly to Bill Ramires, but Burkart grounded out to short and that was that. 2-1 Thunder. Fox 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (2-4);

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – SS Aoki – P Morris
OCT: SS Curiel – 1B I. Stone – RF Whitlow – C L. Miranda – 3B Bonilla – LF D. Garcia – 2B J. Caballero – CF F. Gomez – P Napier

The Coons scored first, getting in an unearned run in the top 2nd on Tuesday as Monck doubled to begin the inning, but was still on third base with two outs when Ernesto Curiel bungled Pablo Novelo’s grounder for a run-scoring error. Don’t you worry about the Thunder, though, because the Raccoons had them covered. Morris had struck out two in the first inning, but began the bottom 2nd with eight straight balls to Luis Miranda and Alberto Bonilla before Danny Garcia rolled a shy single to fill the bags with nobody out. Jorge Caballero flew out to shallow left for no gains, but Felix Gomez stayed out of a double play on a grounder to short, bringing in the tying run. He then stole second and Burkart threw the ball away, allowing Bonilla to score, and when Joe Napier then flew to Elmer Maldonado in center, Maldonado dropped that clunker for another run-scoring error. Mind, that just was TWO run-scoring errors while the ******* opposing pitcher was batting WITH TWO OUTS.

A great calmness then descended over the ballpark and nothing exciting happened for several innings. The Raccoons had left the sticks in Portland and the Thunder were just waiting for another chance, e.g. the pitcher batting with two outs and a pair in scoring position, as happened in the bottom 6th. Morris willingly gave up another 2-run single in that situation and was purged soon after. Paul Barton pitched two messy but scoreless innings in relief after him while the Raccoons amounted to a grand total of four hits against Napier and Kevin Mowery in the game, the other three coming bunched together as straight 2-out singles by Corral, Kozak, and Starr in the eighth inning. Starr drove in a run, but Monck lined out to Jorge Caballero as the tying run, and that was the ballgame. 5-2 Thunder.

Oh boy.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – LF Valencia – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Alba
OCT: LF Consuegra – 1B I. Stone – 2B Ramires – C L. Miranda – 3B Bonilla – SS Curiel – RF D. Garcia – CF R. Miles – P J. Washington

Jerry Washington lasted three outs or seven batters and then left with an injury just after Marcos Arellano singled home Vic Morales and his leadoff double. In between Washington had drilled Valencia in an apparent display of arm malfunction, but the Thunder checked him out, left him in, and then checked him out again after the run scored and collected him after all. Lefty Jason Bair took the ball, struck out Aoki, Alba, and Corral in order, and that was that. He was hit for with Eric Whitlow after the Thunder loaded the bases with two outs against Alba in the bottom 2nd. Whitlow failed – but only after Alba balked in the tying run. One of those series…

Right-hander Juan Juarez fell behind right away in the top 3rd when he allowed straight singles to Kozak, Starr, and Monck. Morales flew out to right, but four balls to Rafael Valencia filled the bases for Arellano, who hit a sac fly before Aoki whiffed again. Alba with a 3-1 lead pitched in a lot of terrible counts in the third and fourth innings to escalate his pitch count before having a 5-pitch fifth inning, and didn’t allow a run anywhere in that stretch, so maybe we could still grab a W on our way outta here…?

By the sixth, Mike Chartrand was biding time for the Thunder and gave up a leadoff double to Arellano into the leftfield corner. Aoki made it strike three for the third time, but Alba singled to left-center to get his battery mate home, 4-1, but himself was left on base. He would drag his tush through two more innings for seven in total, which was decent enough, and then was hit for anyway in the eighth inning. The Raccoons offense went off for a snooze in the late innings, but at least Mike Hall and Jon McGinley were up to snuff and held the Thunder off the board in the eighth and ninth. 4-1 Raccoons. Oley (PH) 1-1; Kozak 2-5; Morales 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Arellano 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (4-3) and 1-3, RBI;

What a brisk and comatose series. All three games clocked in at well under three hours, with the third one the longest at 2:45.

Raccoons (28-18) @ Knights (29-19) – May 30-June 1, 2064

Battle of the first-place teams – the Knights were two games up in the South on Friday morning while the Coons were virtually tied with the Titans again. Atlanta had the #1 offense in the CL and a .272 team batting average, while they were also struggling with a leaky back end and the fourth-most runs allowed. Still made for a neat +52 run differential just behind the first quarterpost, though. The Coons, who were up 2-1 on the Knights this year, had a +38 run differential coming in. The Knights were missing outfielder Jesus Martinez on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (6-3, 2.33 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (6-0, 2.35 ERA)
Josh Elling (7-1, 2.69 ERA) vs. Jay Phillips (2-3, 3.63 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-4, 4.30 ERA) vs. Brian Fuqua (2-3, 5.82 ERA)

Another set of only right-handers here. Phillips was a 25-year-old Washingtonian and Rule 5 pick and rookie who was making his eighth career start. He had been drafted from the Pacifics and was struggling with the walks a bit, and was perhaps not the best fit on a contending team.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – CF Maldonado – C Burkart – P Riddle
ATL: 2B Kilday – CF J. Parker – RF J. Evans – 3B Lange – C McLaren – SS Andon – LF Garmon – 1B Ovalle – P D. Ortiz

The Raccoons did not accidentally wake up on the way to Atlanta and went in order against undefeated Danny Ortiz in the first three innings, which was not the way to make Danny Ortiz un-undefeated. At least Atlanta also only hit one ball out of the infield on a Matt McLaren single the first time through against Riddle. The Raccoons went down 12-for-12 in the fourth, but the Knights not so much, as they put their first one, two, three, four, FIVE batters on base against Riddle. Jake Evans walked, and then Ralph Lange singled, McLaren singled, Sal Andon doubled, and Corey Garmon drew another walk. Overall the Knights would score three runs in the inning.

While Vic Morales singled finally after 13 Raccoons went up and down in the fifth inning, the Knights got another run on a walk drawn by Matt Kilday and a Johnny Parker double, then Evans’ sac fly in the bottom 5th, which was also the inning after which they got rid of Riddle, who needed nearly 100 pitches on his imploding way there. Ortiz then allowed a leadoff double to Burkart in the top 6th. Rafael Valencia singled, and Corral hit a sac fly, 4-1, but the inning then fell apart, and the Knights beat that run right back out of Kurihara. The Coons never found a groove, but Sal Andon grooved a silly Barton pitch over the fence for a tack-on run in the eighth inning. Jose Corral answered with a home run off Ortiz entering the ninth inning, but that was about it; Ortiz finished a complete-game 5-hitter. 6-2 Knights.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF Oley – C Arellano – SS Tallent – P Elling
ATL: 2B Kilday – RF J. Evans – C McLaren – 1B Ovalle – SS Labonte – CF J. Parker – LF Andon – 3B Lange – P J. Phillips

The Coons put their first two batters on on Saturday before Starr fanned and Monck hit into a double play, but then got a 1-0 lead in the second again on straight singles by their 6-7-8 batters; Randy Tallent singling home Todd Oley – oh gloria! The inning dragged on some more and Corral got a 2-out RBI single to plate Arellano before Kozak walked and Starr struck out again. That seemed to be *it* then for offense as the next few innings were rather dry. At least Elling dragged a no-hitter into the fifth inning before a 2-out triple by Parker and Andon’s RBI single over the head of Tallent not only took that away, but also the shutout, and the score was 2-1 through five.

Phillips walked Vic Morales to begin the top 6th and the lead runner dashed to third base on a single to right-center by Oley. From runners on the corners and nobody out, the bottom of the order barely got a run home on Tallent’s sac fly; Arellano popped out on the infield and Elling grounded out to Ralph Lange at third base. The Knights then took one deep breath and swept all that carefully built 3-1 lead away in the bottom 6th … and then some. Brendan Snyder pinch-hit for Phillips and singled through the right side, and a pair of RBI doubles by Kilday and McLaren got the teams even at three before ex-Coon Paul Labonte (…) hit a 2-out, 2-strike RBI single that put Atlanta up 4-3. Elling finished the inning, but was done, while a throwing error by Ovalle put Corral on second base as the tying run with nobody out in the top 7th. Kozak grounded out. Starr popped out. Monck – FINALLY got something done and singled up the middle to tie the game with the unearned run…! He was then promptly left on, while Jesse Dover handled the Knights’ bottom of the order in the home half of the seventh.

Top 8th then, and lefty David Concha put Oley on base with an infield single. Arellano flew out, and Tallent flew out … of the bloody ballpark with a huge homer to left! That broke the 4-4 tie, and the Raccoons then got a chance to pile on when the Knights sent Ben Lussier, but he retired Valencia and Corral to end the inning. The Knights had an infields single off a lefty pitcher (Hall) of their own when McLaren got on base with two outs in the bottom 8th, but Ovalle struck out to end the inning. Rich Monck instead took Hyun-soo Bak deep in the ninth for a 3-run lead, but McGinley retired the side in order after that anyway. 7-4 Critters. Kozak 1-2, 3 BB; Monck 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Oley 3-5; Tallent 2-3, HR, 4 RBI;

That was the first game this week where the team didn’t appear dead from the waist up for the entirety of the proceedings. Progress? Please?

It was also the last game of the month of May, and June would begin with the Sunday rubber game.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 1B Kozak – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Burkart – LF Valencia – SS Aoki – P Fox
ATL: 2B Kilday – CF Garmon – RF J. Evans – 3B Lange – LF K. Fisher – C McLaren – SS Andon – 1B Ovalle – P Fuqua

Chance Fox had his ********* start yet and lasted only four outs. Jake Evans and Ralph Lange scratched out a first-inning run for Atlanta with a pair of 2-out hits, and then in the second inning he basically retired nobody anymore. McLaren was hit by the pitch, Andon walked, Ovalle singled, and Fuqua struck out. That was the last out he recorded before it went on single, walk, walk, single, walk, and exit stage right. McDaniel replaced him, got beaten around for another four runs and a 10-0 Knights score, and I began to pack my **** because this game was ******* over.

The Knights lost Ralph Lange to injury on a bad slide – Snyder replaced him – but the Raccoons lost all basic decency even when Jack Kozak singled home a pair of runs in the third inning of this rout-in-progress. Aoki singled home another run in the fourth while Paul Barton pitched erratic long relief and the Knights suffered another injury when Pedro Ovalle pulled something on a sixth-inning double, when they were still up 10-3. Kurihara and Carrillo would continue with scoreless relief afterwards, but the offense remained at a safe distance from the Knights pitchers Fuqua, and whoever followed him afterwards until Pablo Novelo opened the ninth with a pinch-hit triple off Concha and was plated by Corral. Kozak then romped a homer to left. That still left the team short by a slam, and they would remain short by a slam… 10-6 Knights. Kozak 3-5, HR, 4 RBI; Aoki 2-4, RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 3B; Barton 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K;

In other news

May 27 – TOP 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.327, 5 HR, 26 RBI) might miss six weeks with an oblique strain.
May 27 – NAS INF/LF/RF Adam Peltier (.290, 3 HR, 33 RBI) hits a home run for the only tally in a 1-0 win against the Wolves.
May 30 – Indians LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.265, 5 HR, 22 RBI) will miss a month due to a sprained wrist.
June 1 – It takes 14 innings to settle a 2-1 game the Scorpions eventually win against the Miners.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B Jared McLaughlin (.323, 3 HR, 21 RBI), hitting .542 (13-24) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA LF/RF Ken Hummel (.310, 8 HR, 35 RBI), bashing .409 (9-22) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.426, 14 HR, 53 RBI), swatting .453 with 11 HR, 32 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR INF Rich Monck (.359, 7 HR, 31 RBI), swinging .387 with 6 HR, 23 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Josh Rivera (9-1, 2.49 ERA), going 5-1 with a 2.52 ERA, 39 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: POR SP Josh Elling (7-1, 2.97 ERA), an unbeaten 5-0 with a 2.36 ERA, 37 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN OF Melvin Avila (.321, 3 HR, 22 RBI), poking .413 with 2 HR, 12 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB OF/1B/3B Nate Navarre (.272, 5 HR, 23 RBI), plinking .317 with 5 HR, 21 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Our string of brown-clothed Players of the Week ended this week with a parade of meh in the box score (the team batted .229 as a whole) and the only starting pitcher that went twice is currently getting treated for bruises from the beatings he has taken…

There’s probably no trouble for anybody to make up a list of ten players on this roster that could be axed tomorrow and on lasting damage would result from it. And that would very much include Chance Fox (1.1 IP, 9 ER on Sunday).

For now we can bask in two monthly awards after three straight weekly awards, but the writing is still on the wall for the team and it’s glowing ever brighter.

Is there any help in AAA? (sharply draws in air between his teeth) The Alley Cats are 17-34, please draw your own conclusions. The best hope for help there would be Mike Rybarczyk, a former 12th-rounder we once got from the Crusaders with Nick Fowler for Kelly Konecny. He’s a 24-year-old shortstop hitting .346, and he is good at the glovework, but beyond that…

After this woeful week we’ll have a homestand against the Falcons and Crusaders starting on Monday.

Fun Fact: Our rotation is now third-worst by ERA in the CL again.

The much maligned bullpen is second? (looks up from report) Cristiano, I want you to see Luis Silva and take a drug test.

[Westheim]

2064 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

After sifting through the draft pool for the upcoming young players auction, we were left wondering what an oddball year it was once again. We selected 111 players for the annual shortlist, and it was one of those rare moments in time where the number of pitchers almost (but not quite) matched the number of position players: 53 pitchers, 55 batters, and three two-ways, although none of those three were the level of exciting that would get them three paragraphs in this section and their shirtless posing picture from the college yearbook becoming Cristiano’s desktop background.

Even when it came to the most exciting of those 111 players, most of them were starting pitchers (and I could have crammed in another five of those if I had wanted to). Which brings us seamlessly to the hotlist of a dozen or so of the most interesting talents on offer (*high schoolers):

SP Brian Roberts (15/12/13) * – BNN #8
SP John Robinson (13/15/9) * – BNN #5
SP Garrett Brandt (12/14/12) *
SP Josh Morris (12/12/14) *
SP Billy Thompson (12/14/11) – BNN #1

CL Shamar King (14/12/12)

C Andrew Farlow (13/14/13) *

INF Koji Hatakeyama (14/3/10) *
1B Keith Bevilacqua (10/13/16)
INF Brian Hills (10/12/15) *

OF Fernando Cruz (12/14/14)
OF Chris Tuck (13/11/12) – BNN #2

Hatakeyama was technically a Japanese citizen although his parents had moved to the US for work when he was 3 years old and he had grown up in the US school system. Hills was odd because he didn’t show up on anybody’s smug analysis of top draft picks (including Cristiano’s), but our scouting department seemed to love him.

There was something to be said about drafting a first-round catcher that could be ready in a couple of years, too!

Kind reminder now that the Raccoons only had the #13 pick and beggars, choosers, yada yada.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (29-20) vs. Falcons (26-24) – June 2-4, 2064

The Falcons had taken two out of three games from the Raccoons earlier in the season and now arrived with a 5-game winning streak. They were sixth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +19 run differential. The rotation had a better ERA than the bullpen, they led the CL in stolen bases, but they were third from the bottom in home runs.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (2-2, 3.32 ERA) vs. Levi Harre (3-3, 3.07 ERA)
Angel Alba (4-3, 3.24 ERA) vs. John Marshell (3-1, 3.15 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (6-4, 2.71 ERA) vs. Ivan Rodriguez (3-5, 4.55 ERA)

Hey look, a left-hander (Marshell)! Sh-sh, no no. Don’t make a noise. Don’t scare him or he’ll fly away…!

Game 1
CHA: SS Schmidt – CF Geiger – LF Nakamura – 1B Washington – RF Padgett – C Ayon – 2B Duhe – 3B Fountain – P Harre
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Oley – SS Novelo – P Morris

Six consecutive Raccoons from Morales to Novelo would not put the ball in play the first time through. Three struck out, two were hit by pitches offered by Levi Harre, and Bruce Burkart drew an innocent little walk; and Jarod Morris grounded out to John Schmidt to leave the bases loaded. At least Morris didn’t have music played on his face by the other team immediately and in fact lined up zeroes, while scattering singles. It didn’t get dicey for him until the fifth inning, when Danny Ayon (who was forced out by Jared Duhe) and Elijah Fountain both hit singles and were bunted into scoring position by Harre with two outs, but John Schmidt then grounded out to Monck. The Coons had only two hits at that point, and as many double plays hit into, but then took the lead on a Kozak homer to left in the bottom 5th, 1-0. The Falcons then made three first-pitch outs with Dan Geiger, Natsu Nakamura, and Joe Washington in the sixth inning, while the Raccoons bemoaned a long fly to left by Monck that was caught for an out, but then Burkart singled and scored on a long gap double by Joel Starr, who was left on by the bottom of the order. Another scoring opportunity developed with Corral drawing a leadoff walk and Kozak doubling to knock out Harre in the bottom 7th. Sam Turner replaced Harre, inheriting the pair in scoring position, struck out Morales, walked Monck intentionally, but then gave up Harre’s runners on a 2-run double to left smacked by Burkart. Starr got another intentional walk, and Oley got on base when Joe Washington bungled his grounder for a run-scoring error. Novelo struck out, but Morris singled in two with a ball through the right side, the final markers in a 5-run outburst. That wasn’t all of the Jarod Morris show; he retired the Falcons in order in the eighth and then entered the ninth with a leadoff walk to Nakamura, who was however quickly doubled up by Washington. Cody Padgett popped out to Joel Starr, and that was a shutout…! 7-0 Furballs! Kozak 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Burkart 3-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Starr 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Morris 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (3-2) and 1-4, 2 RBI;

That was the first career shutout in 96 starts for Jarod Morris!

What a ******* box of chocolates that guy was…

Game 2
CHA: SS Schmidt – CF Geiger – LF Nakamura – 1B Washington – RF Padgett – C Ayon – 2B Duhe – 3B Fountain – P Marshell
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – CF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – LF Valencia – RF Tallent – P Alba

The Falcons unpacked a 5-spot (two earned) of their own in the second inning. After Alba struck out three around a Nakamura single in the first inning, the second didn’t go so well. Cody Padgett singled, Ayon hit an infield single, and Duhe’s comebacker was taken to Novelo by Alba, but Novelo dropped it and the Coons got no outs, instead having the bases loaded now. Alba struck out Elijah Fountain, but then gave up a bases-clearing double to the opposing pitcher, at which point the prosecution could just as well rest. Geiger socked a 2-out, 2-run homer to cap off the inning. Duhe would hit another 3-run homer, all earned, against Alba in the third inning, and that was that for the Coons’ starter on Tuesday.

Long relief by Mike Hall went just as smoothly as he soon gave up another solo homer to Geiger in the fourth, at which point we were down 9-0. The Coons didn’t have a ******* base hit until Monck bounced a single in the bottom of the fourth, and Tallent hit a solo homer off Marshell in the fifth. That was already the second-to-last base hit for the Critters in this abortion of a game. Hall and Barton both pitched two innings of garbage relief, and Dover and McDaniel added singleton innings at the end, McDaniel managing to give up another run, but emotionally we were beyond counting by then. 10-1 Falcons. Tallent 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Barton 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

All the starters seem to be consistently inconsistent now… except for Foxie Brown, who gets consistently on the snout.

Game 3
CHA: LF Nakamura – RF Padgett – C O. Matos – 2B Duhe – 3B Healey – 1B Washington – SS T. Taylor – CF Fountain – P I. Rodriguez
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Oley – SS Novelo – P Riddle

Nakamura doubled and scored on a Duhe single with two outs in the first inning, so the Raccoons started the rubber game already trailing again. However, Morales and Monck hit first-inning singles with two outs, advanced on a wild pitch, and after a “fine, take it” walk to Burkart, Joel Starr singled in a pair and flipped the score with a low zipper past a diving Duhe. Rodriguez then walked Oley and gave up another RBI single to Novelo before Riddle grounded out to leave three on.

Both teams found a double play to hit into in the second inning; for the Coons it came off Monck’s stick, and Monck then also made an error to put Nakamura on base against Riddle in the third inning. Worse, with two outs another error by Morales also added Oscar Matos, and they were now doubly-unearned on the corners, with the little pest Duhe batting. The count ran full before Duhe hit a looper to shallow left, but Kozak rushed in and snatched it knee-high to end the inning. He even held on to it, all the way to the infield! Bottom 3rd, the Coons hit into another double play, 3-U, when Novelo lined out to Washington with Starr on second, Oley at first, and Oley specially not anywhere near first when Washington caught that liner and tapped the bag. This ended the inning.

Top 4th, and Riddle, the dumb ****, would allow leadoff singles to Rick Healey and Joe Washington, which was one thing, but then balked them on, walked Trent Taylor, got Fountain with a comebacker for a force out at home, and then gave up another ******* bases-clearing double to the ******* opposing pitcher.

The Falcons were still up 4-3 when Riddle was disposed of for a pinch-hitter in the bottom 6th, which came along with Rodriguez’ departure after drilling Novelo to begin the inning. Elmer Maldonado would have batted for Rodriguez, but with lefty Jason Stine coming in, the Raccoons sent Rafael Valencia instead. He grounded out, with the tying run going to second, but Corral popped out on the infield. Thankfully Kozak was still around and struck a game-tying double to center, evening the score at four. Morales’ groundout to third base kept it that way through six.

It didn’t stay tied at four for long. Carrillo got the ball for the seventh, got John Schmidt on a groundout in the #1 spot, and then gave up a double to Padgett, an RBI single to Matos and another single to Duhe before being yanked for McDaniel, who allowed an RBI single to Healey, walked Adan Yniguez, and then was shanked without having retired ******* anybody. Dover then oversaw the rest of the meltdown; he allowed an RBI single to Taylor, walked in a run against Fountain, and conceded another run on a pinch-hit groundout by Geiger. Schmidt drew another walk before Padgett left three aboard with a fly to Corral. Hey, look, another 5-run inning! (opens bottle of Capt’n Coma) The game then swamped along, with Kurihara and McGinley picking up the bits and pieces left over, and the Falcons still led 9-4 entering the bottom 9th, which began with Morales and Monck singles off Manny Gutierrez. Burkart then raked a 2-run triple, and suddenly this was a save situation that went to a different righty, Brendan Rodgers. He walked Starr, bringing up Oley as the tying run, who hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice to Schmidt. Another walk put Novelo on base, but Maldonado popped out. Corral drew a 2-out walk, filling the bags for … uh… McGinley? Ya. Maldonado had earlier pinch-hit (for a single) and then stayed in the ostensibly lost game over Kozak. Gee, what a move! At this point the choice was really between Arellano, Aoki, and Tallent. We went with the randy talent, who took one off his elbow to force in another run, 9-8. And then Morales grounded out. 9-8 Falcons. Kozak 2-5, 2B, RBI; Morales 2-6; Monck 3-5, 2B; Burkart 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-2;

(sour look)

Raccoons (30-22) vs. Crusaders (22-29) – June 6-8, 2064

After a day off to lick wounds, the Raccoons hosted the oddly uncompetitive Crusaders for a 3-game set. We were so far up 3-2 in the season series, and hoped to stay afloat against the league’s worst offense, but they were also allowing only the second-fewest runs and had a relatively modest -14 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (7-1, 2.97 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (5-4, 2.69 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-5, 5.70 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (4-4, 4.26 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-2, 2.72 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (3-6, 3.97 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here. The only notable injury to the Crusaders was outfielder Jon Alade, nursing a sprained 39-year-old elbow.

Game 1
NYC: CF Box – 3B V. Velez – C M. Nieto – SS O. Sanchez – LF Cline – 1B C. Boyd – RF Zeiher – 2B Jes. Alvarez – P Seiter
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – P Elling

Another day, another hole to sit in, as Elling walked Omar Sanchez to lead off the second inning, gave up a single to Jake Cline that Kozak then botched for extra bases, but after a K to Casey Boyd and a walk to Sean Zeiher (hitting under .190!), the bases were full anyway. Jesus Alvarez singled home a run, and a wild pitch scored another before Elling failed his way out of the inning with a K to Seiter and a groundout to Monck from Bryant Box. Another BB then did anything but BB, as Bruce Burkart homered to left in the bottom 2nd to cut the gap to 2-1. The third was calm, but the Crusaders threatened with another pair of singles in the fourth. Elling, who drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd before being doubled off by Corral, also struck out six New Yorkers in four innings, while Morales drew another leadoff walk in the Coons’ half of the fourth. Monck singled, and Burkart hit another long fly, but this was caught by Box in center. Morales jiggled to third base though with the tying run, from where he scored on Starr’s grounder to Jesus Alvarez, which was also botched for an error, so the Raccoons had a pair on base still, but Maldonado and Novelo only made meek outs and the game remained tied.

Elling then was on base again with a leadoff single in the bottom 5th, but was forced out by Corral, who really didn’t have his most helpful day. Seiter then uncharacteristically walked the bags full, bringing up Monck with the sacks packed. He challenged him – and was beaten for about 420 feet worth of a GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!! Tee-hee!!

Seiter was gone with that, but Elling only made it through six innings either, allowing another run in the process with Omar Sanchez doubling, stealing third, and scoring on a sac fly for a 6-3 score. Carrillo had a scoreless seventh in a bid to recover brownie points (and access to the brownie jar) before Morales singled in the bottom of the inning and Rich Monck raked another homer off Curt Rosato to tack on a pair of runs! That turned out to be enough of a cushion to go to bed and survive pitching from Kurihara and Hall, the latter allowing an unearned run in the ninth inning, although Starr and Valencia also dared to chip in errors there… 8-4 Raccoons. Morales 1-2, 2 BB; Monck 3-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Burkart 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 2B;

Extra brownies for Rich Monck!!

He had a whole day to eat them on Saturday, because the weather turned out ***** and no game was being played that day. We had a double header scheduled for Sunday.

Given that this put Fox and the volatile Morris on the same day, the Raccoons made preparations and flew in two extra arms from AAA to be on standby. One was John Nesbitt, and the other was left-hander Sandy Pineda, who was making the transition from reasonably big prospect to failed starter at this point and had a 4.66 ERA in 58 innings this year, but could probably absorb a few blows in a rout if needed. He was not on the 40-man roster. The Raccoons had gotten him along with Applecore and the outfielder Kyle Pisciotti in the Tipsy Bobby / Nick Robinson / Angel Perez trade to the Caps two years ago.

The Crusaders switched their starters around, sending Musgrave first, but the Coons – against usual procedure – stuck with Fox as the wonkier candidate since regrettably Foxie was so horrible this year that another beating might send him to AAA and open a roster spot for a garbage reliever anyway.

Game 2
NYC: CF Box – LF A. Romero – 2B Onelas – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Cline – C B. Duncan – 3B V. Velez – RF Jes. Alvarez – P Musgrave
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – LF Tallent – P Fox

Marcos Onelas singled off Fox in the first, but he struck out two and nothing bad happened. Corral opened with a single for the Raccoons, Starr walked, and a wild pitch put a pair in scoring position for Rich Monck to drive home with a double to right that bounced fair by mere inches before getting to the corner. Byron Duncan singled for New York in the second, but the Raccoons were the team that scored again, with a Tallent single and stolen base and then Corral’s 2-out RBI single.

Fox was fine until the fourth when the Crusaders stopped being content with one runner per inning and instead Onelas led off with a double, Sanchez singled, Cline’s grounder scored a run, and Vic Velez’ double scored another with two outs. Alvarez hit an infield single before Musgrave went down fanning in a 3-2 game. A 2-out double by Onelas and Sanchez’ RBI single then tied the score in the fifth, and that was nine hits off Fox’ pelt. Fox went six innings without a single 1-2-3 in it before being chased by a 45-minute rain delay that didn’t bode well for getting in two full games on the day. Both starters were in fact out after that, with Musgrave departing in the middle of the bottom 6th with Maldonado on base. Pedro Mendoza then walked the bags full with Tallent, Kozak, and two outs, before Pablo Novelo batted for a 3-for-3 Corral against the left-hander. The ploy worked, Novelo striped a 2-run single past a diving Sanchez, and the Raccoons took a new 5-3 lead. Morales added an RBI single, and the Crusaders added a new pitcher to the box score when Rafael Mendoza replaced Pedro Mendoza. Starr’s grounder to Sanchez was bungled for an error, presenting Monck with the bases loaded, which was not a great idea right now. Mendoza got him to 0-2, then got one in Monck’s wheelhouse, and – BAM!! – GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

TWO IN A WEEK!!!

That was also the last action in the game for Monck, who departed in a bit of a shuffle that saw no fewer than five defensive positions recast for the seventh inning in a bid to get more than three outs from Mike Hall. We got in fact six outs from him before he was hit for in the #4 spot in the eighth inning. This was after Kozak singled home Maldonado for a tack-on run in the seventh, but the Coons went in order in the eighth, and New York had no rally left. 11-3 Furballs! Corral 3-3, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-2, 2 RBI; Monck 3-4, HR, 2B, 6 RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-1, BB, RBI; Hall 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Don’t touch Rich Monck – you will get third-degree burns.

No roster moves were made between the games and Chance Fox would not be banished to AAA as a nearly 30-year-old bad example for others… this week.

Game 3
NYC: CF Box – LF A. Romero – C M. Nieto – SS O. Sanchez – 1B C. Boyd – 3B V. Velez – LF Zeiher – 2B Jes. Alvarez – P Kozloski
POR: RF Corral – 1B Kozak – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Oley – SS Novelo – LF Valencia – P Morris

Monck stole a base in the second inning, but was left on, which was sort of criminal by the rest of the team, and instead the Crusaders put three runs on Morris in the third inning. Jesus Alvarez singled and was caught stealing before Kozloski singled, Box singled, Marco Nieto walked, and then with two outs Sanchez drew a bases-loaded walk on nine pitches before Corey Boyd doubled home two with Sanchez thrown out at the plate to end the inning. At least Morris also got on base with a leadoff walk offered by Kozloski. Corral singled and Kozak hit an RBI double to get Portland on the board, 3-1 with the tying runs in scoring position and nobody out. Just get Monck up, somehow! Morales could not contain himself and plated a run with a groundout, but then Kozloski actually struck out Monck (stunned expression) and Burkart to get out of the inning.

Morris lasted just five innings, throwing 101 pitches to make it that far, after which Barton collected five outs, but also got hopelessly stuck in the seventh, allowing a run and packing the bases with Crusaders and two down. Dover replaced him (along with Tallent for Morales) in a double switch), struck out PH Jake Cline in Velez’ spot, and that at least ended the inning with the score a manageable 4-2 (but 10-3 in hits). The Coons had the tying runs in scoring position again in the bottom 7th, but only with two outs and in unearned fashion; after Valencia legged out an infield single, Tallent reached on a 2-base throwing error by Sanchez. Corral whiffed, though, and that was the inning. Jesus Alvarez was on base for New York against Dover in the eighth, but was caught stealing.

Rich Monck then crushed another homer in the bottom 8th – but it was a solo job and left the Coons still trailing by a run. Burkart then doubled, but went into second with too much momentum, couldn’t hold on to the base, and was tagged out behind it. McDaniel held the Crusaders away from tacking on in the ninth, while the Crusaders put up Rhodes against the formidable … uh… Oley, Novelo, and Valencia? After two groundouts, Aoki batted for Valencia, struck out, and that ended the fun for the day. 4-3 Crusaders.

In other news

June 2 – Vegas infielder Cesar Pena (.288, 1 HR, 20 RBI) will be out for six weeks after suffering a strained hamstring.
June 3 – The Bayhawks score in every inning but one in a 14-6 takedown of the Indians.
June 3 – The Cyclones beat the Warriors, 4-3 in 14 innings. The score goes to 3-3 by the third inning before both teams line up ten consecutive zeroes.
June 4 – SFB RF/LF Juan Paez (.302, 2 HR, 18 RBI) is expected to be out for a month to recover from a herniated disc.
June 5 – The Titans fire off consecutive 7-run innings in a 17-2 obliteration of the Knights. Despite this, nobody on the blue time drives in more runs than 1B Bill Joyner (.317, 7 HR, 30 RBI), who plates four runners.
June 6 – Denver ekes out L.A., 3-2 in 15 innings. The Gold Sox score two in the first inning and then take 14 frames to score another run.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 3B/SS Alex de los Santos (.329, 6 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.368, 11 HR, 44 RBI), attacking for a .478 (11-23) clip with 4 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Rich Monck was ridonkulous in the Crusaders series, going 7-for-12 with four homers and 13 RBI. He drove in *nobody* against the Falcons (but went 4-for-11). He got a walk, stole a base, and struck out but once (on Sunday in a bad spot) this week. Monck leads the CL in batting average and slugging now, is just behind Fidel Carrera for OPS, and is t-3rd in homers, two behind Carrera and one behind Eddie Marcotte, who we’ll see up close and personal next week.

Friday’s win over the Crusaders was the 7,400th regular season W for the Raccoons in franchise history.

I think we need pitching help. A centerfielder that can hit something also wouldn’t be so bad.

The Raccoons now head for a crucial 4-game series in Boston and then we’ll be back home for a set with the Wolves, only to right away embark for Cincinnati afterwards. These schedulers!

Fun Fact: 54 years ago today, New York’s Gabriel Ortiz hit three homers to take down the Raccoons.

And he’s not the only Crusader from that era to hit three homers on a June 8, the other being Martin Ortiz, doing the deed against the Elks in 2015.

The important thing about Ortiz’ three homers in 2010 is however that in *that* season the Raccoons at least came out on top in the end, after years of trying and after “Keith Ayers out at home” became a thing.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (32-23) @ Titans (34-23) – June 9-12, 2064

Well, here was a kinda important series. The Raccoons had taken three of four games from the Titans so far this year and would take the lead in the division by winning another three of four in Boston now (although nothing good ever happens in Boston, keep that in mind!). The Titans ranked second in runs scored and first in runs allowed after about a third of the season, so they looked like they were for real. Their run differential was +72, well ahead of the Coons’ +41.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (4-4, 3.75 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (6-3, 1.57 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (6-4, 3.00 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (1-1, 3.74 ERA)
Josh Elling (8-1, 3.09 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (2-5, 4.67 ERA)
Chance Fox (3-5, 5.58 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (9-1, 2.40 ERA)

No left-hander to see here; also none of starter Jayden Craddock and infielder Ryan Spehar, both on the DL. Steve Humphries was dealing with a sore hip.

The Coons in turn had played a double header on Sunday, so Thursday was a bit of a trouble spot for starters. Fox had thrown 95 pitches, still fewer than Jarod Morris. There was a real chance to actually see a spot starter there.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – SS Novelo – CF Maldonado – P Alba
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 1B Joyner – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – SS Blackshire – P Brenize

Brenize started like a fire engine with a few strikeouts, while Alba allowed singles to Humphries and Bill Joyner to begin the game, although Eddie Marcotte would hit into an inning-ending double play. In the second inning the Titans loaded the bases on Jorge Arviso’s single and free passes to Andy Lee and Dave Blackshire with two outs before Brenize popped out on a 3-1 pitch and Alba got a good yelling-at from the pitching coach before striking out Humphries. It didn’t get any better with him going forward; Eddie Marcotte got him for a solo homer in the third inning, and Joyner whacked a 3-piece off him in the fourth to establish a lead that really firm considering that the Raccoons at that point where hitless with 8 K against Brenize. Vic Morales singled in the fifth, but the team could not even score after Elmer Maldonado hit a leadoff double in the sixth. Walks to Monck and Novelo with another Morales single in between gave the Coons the bases loaded in the seventh against Brenize, but he struck out Maldonado, his 11th K in the game, to choke that threat. The Titans instead brutalized Kurihara for three runs on four hits (and inside ten pitches) to put the game away in the bottom 7th. Brenize would go seven and two thirds with a full dozen strikeouts, and Nick Leigh and Roberto Navarro finished the team shutout. 7-0 Titans. Monck 1-2, 2 BB; Morales 2-4; Aoki (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Riddle
BOS: LF S. Humphries – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – 1B Ellwood – SS Blackshire – P T. Castellanos

Boston wasted no time exploiting a four-pitch walk to Humphries and a Jorge Arviso single that sent him to third base to get an early 1-0 lead on a run-scoring groundout. Humphries drew another walk when he was up the next time, but then didn’t get off first base, while the Raccoons again had no base hits the first time through the order, and only two shy singles the second time through the order, not getting anywhere near a run. Riddle kept getting singles hit off him, but the Titans found double plays to hit into in the fourth and fifth innings to help him out. Marcotte then hit another solo homer in the bottom 6th, an inning in which the Titans eventually loaded the bases through little more than a whiff of luck and their silly charm, getting Diego Mendoza on with Aoki’s error, Andy Lee on an infield single, and Bobby Ellwood on another dumb ball four. Dave Blackshire struck out and Kozak caught a Castellanos fly to keep them from scoring, though. When the Coons got Morales on with a single and Maldonado on a Nye error, Arellano right away rumbled into a double play to end the top 7th, though… Aoki and Valencia then hit leadoff singles in the eighth, and Corral jammed into a double play. Kozak singled home Aoki, 2-1, and Starr hit another single, and we could have tied it by now, but … no, and Monck popped out to shallow center to leave the Coons with one run from four hits in the top 8th.

Bottom 8th, Jesse Dover came on and got a grounder from Nye to Morales, but Morales ****** that ball for an error, and Dover then waved for Luis Silva’s attention and left the game with “a dead arm”, whatever that was gonna mean going forwards… Mike Hall got a double play ball from Mendoza after that and struck out Lee, with lefty Tyler Gleason seeing the Titans in the ninth. Bruce Burkart came close to a game-tying pinch-hit homer, but the bloody thing died in the hip-addled Humphries’ glove on the warning track and the Raccoons went in order. 2-1 Titans. Morales 2-4; Aoki 1-2, BB; Valencia (PH) 1-1;

Messy game. Three runs, three errors, three double plays hit into by each team.

The word on Dover was that he might be good again by the weekend, so he remained on the roster, but of course this didn’t bode well for Thursday’s already existing pinch point. In fact, by Wednesday morning we decided to vacate Jeff Applegate from his scheduled start in AAA and instead bring him up for a spot start on Thursday, pushing Fox to the Wolves series. Just had to find a roster spot now.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – LF Tallent – P Elling
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 1B Joyner – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – RF Ellwood – SS Blackshire – P Glaude

Things went kinda well at first until Will Glaude slapped a leadoff double through Morales in the bottom 3rd and was brought in to score on two groundouts by Humphries and Joyner. The Coons then got leadoff singles from Monck and Burkart in the fourth and a Maldonado grounder to place both in scoring position, and finally got a lead in the bloody series when Pablo Novelo found the gap with a drive to left-center that fell and rolled for a 2-run double…! Worthless outs by Tallent and Elling left Novelo on base, though, and in the fifth inning Elling offered leadoff free passes to Ellwood and Blackshire like an idiot. Glaude’s bunt advanced them, and the Titans tied the game on Humphries’ sac fly. Joyner grounded out to Starr, keeping the score tied at two at the completion of five innings.

Offensive incompetence continued unabated in the sixth inning, in which Burkart socked a leadoff double and was left rotting on second base by Maldonado (infield pop), Novelo (whiff), and Elling (whiff) after an intentional free pass to Tallent. Instead, Arviso took Elling deep to give Boston a 3-2 lead in the inning, which was also Elling’s last. Glaude was still going, putting on Morales with balls and Starr with a single and one out before a passed ball moved them to scoring position. The Titans chose not to walk Monck intentionally, and Monck chose to fall in line with the useless bunch and grounded out to Mendoza, preventing Morales from going home. Burkart was up to the challenge though and bashed a 2-out, 3-run homer to left, flipping the score back to 5-3 Coons!

Up by two, the Raccoons had McDaniel slog through the seventh inning putting Blakshire and Humphries on base, but retiring all the lefty sticks he actually met, before Carrillo struck out the 3-4-5 batters in order in the eighth, setting up McGinley. Jose Corral homered to right off Nick Leigh to begin the ninth, 6-3, but the insurance was not required as McGinley retired the Titans in order as well. Morales 2-4, BB, 2B; Starr 1-2, BB; Monck 2-5; Burkart 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Elling 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (9-1);

The Coons then sent Rafael Valencia (.169, 0 HR, 1 RBI) to AAA to make room for Jeff Applegate (1-2, 6.90 ERA) to take the spot start. Valencia had been a ninth-inning defensive replacement for Morales (Tallent moving posts) in Wednesday’s win.

Game 4
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – LF Kozak – CF Oley – SS Aoki – P Applegate
BOS: LF S. Humphries – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – SS Blackshire – P M. Bell

Arviso singled, Marcotte tripled, and Nye’s groundout already made it 2-0 in the bottom 1st on Thursday. I had not expected a lot from Applecore, but this was a bit too soon even for low expectations… He walked a pair in the third inning before being bailed out on a 5-4-3 double play started by Morales, and he walked two more Titans in the fifth inning before Marcotte left them on base with a groundout to Aoki. That was four walks against no strikeouts through five. For the Raccoons, it was the other way round, as they whiffed seven times against Bell through five innings, had no walks, and only three hits for no runs. Bell struck out two more in the sixth and then Kozak in the seventh to get to double digit whiffs for the day right at the stretch.

Applecore went into the seventh, but it didn’t end well. He offered another walk to Blackshire, then threw away Bell’s bunt for two bases. Humphries’ RBI groundout and Arviso’s RBI double doubled the score to 4-0, and ended Applecore’s tenure on the hill. Kurihara picked up the pieces for the last outs from there, while Bell went into the ninth inning, but ran out of steam after 25 outs, 11 of them K’s. Gleason finished off the Critters. 4-0 Titans.

Applegate (1-3, 6.14 ERA) was not retained for further service after this game and returned to AAA. The Raccoons returned an outfielder instead, but not Marco Campos, who had just gone on the DL with a strained hammy. The temptation was there to debut Malcolm Spicer, who was 20 years old and hitting .302/.350/.385 in St. Pete, and guilty of the terrible sin of being a powerless contact hitter in a power position, his limited range confined him to the outfield corners or first base – but he did have a strong throwing arm. We had nipped him from the Thunder in the Nick Nye trade some years back and he had been ranked as high as #17 in the prospect rankings.

Well, what other options were there besides other underdone prospects that were hitting a lot less for the awful Alley Cats? The only other option that was not completely foolish was Jorge Moreno, still lingering around down there as a warm body in the broadest sense. He was 27 and relegated to benchwarming, having gotten just 14 at-bats on the year so far. He had hit .225/.250/.239 in 38 games with the ’62 Coons.

And yet, he was called up anyway.

Raccoons (33-26) vs. Wolves (20-38) – June 13-15, 2064

The Wolves had the worst batting average and the fewest runs scored in the FL. They were last in homers, had even fewer stolen bases, and had the second-worst starter’s ERA despite having the best defense in the rankings. They had a bunch of guys on the DL, but the only notable one was probably outfielder Javier Acuna, who led them in homers with six. We had won two of three games from the Wolves last year.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (3-5, 5.58 ERA) vs. Ben Peterson (3-6, 4.50 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-3, 2.96 ERA) vs. Aaron Sciuto (3-6, 5.69 ERA)
Angel Alba (4-5, 3.93 ERA) vs. Ian Lowry (3-8, 3.69 ERA)

Two southpaws were up to face the Raccoons to begin the series. No Southpaw Sunday, though. Aw.

Game 1
SAL: SS S. Ochoa – 2B Park – C Preston – LF Grulke – CF B. Davidson – RF Anaya – 1B C. Santiago – 3B R. Rivas – P B. Peterson
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – RF Tallent – LF Maldonado – CF Moreno – P Fox

The Raccoons blitzkrieged Ben Peterson for five runs in the first inning, all coming on a pair of homers by Kozak (with Morales on base) and Maldonado (with Monck and Burkart waiting). A Novelo triple and Kozak’s RBI single made it 6-0 in the second inning, and now we just needed Chance Fox to have a basically decent start and write down that W. He didn’t allow any extra-base hits, just two singles, in the first three innings, then drew a walk off Danny Cano in the bottom 3rd to fill the bags behind Tallent and Moreno. Vic Morales then socked a 2-run double, and Novelo made it 9-0 with a groundout. Kozak struck out against new pitcher Josh Doyle.

The middle innings as a whole were uneventful with neither team scoring a run. The Wolves then got on the board in the seventh with Kyle Grulke’s leadoff double and a 2-out RBI single by Cesar Santiago, but overall Foxie Brown had done very well against an admittedly awful team. He finished eight innings in the game, but then was hauled in after 104 pitches. Ivan Anaya took Paul Barton deep in the ninth for a last-out run. 9-2 Coons! Morales 2-3, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Aoki (PH) 1-1; Kozak 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Moreno 2-3, BB; Fox 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (4-5);

Game 2
SAL: RF Derbyshire – 2B Park – C Preston – LF Grulke – CF B. Davidson – SS S. Ochoa – 1B Radcliffe – 3B R. Rivas – P Sciuto
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – C Arellano – RF Corral – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – CF Moreno – P Morris

Myung-joo Park and Steve Preston singled, Grulke doubled, and with a sac fly by Bill Davidson, the Wolves took a 2-0 lead against a yet-again whackable Jarod Morris, who ****** up even worse in the second inning, which began with a Steve Radcliffe single before he walked Rico Rivas and fudged Sciuto’s bunt in an attempt to get the lead runner Radcliffe at third base. Instead he got nobody and the bases were loaded with nobody out. After a comebacker by Palmiro Derbyshire (sic!) was taken for an out at home, Morris drilled Park to force in a run, and it was 4-0 after Preston’s sac fly to left. Yikes.

The Critters made up a run on three singles in the bottom 2nd, but Morris failed that run right back on the board in the top 3rd, then lingered like a bad smell through five innings before being hit for in the bottom 5th. Moreno and Maldonado had back-to-back doubles to shorten the score to 5-2, and Kozak drove in Maldonado for another run, but after another Starr hit the inning fizzled out with the Raccoons still two runs short of getting even. That was before Tetsu Kurihara got paws on the ball and gave up a Park double and Preston homer in the sixth inning, 7-3. Kurihara gave up a leadoff single to Radcliffe in the seventh before departing and watching Mike Hall fail that run across home plate. Barton would pitch two scoreless garbage innings at the end while the Raccoons had a few chances in the seventh and eighth, but both times hit into a double play and didn’t score another run, let alone half a dozen to turn the game around. 8-3 Wolves. Arellano 3-4; Moreno 2-4, 2B, RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Barton 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

More roster shuffling!

Woeful Tetsu Kurihara (3-0, 5.08 ERA) was optioned to AAA to free up a roster spot perhaps better used on Rich Read. Maybe the fourth time is the charm?

Jarod Morris might have gotten the axe as well, but his next turn aligned with an off day next Thursday, which would keep him out of sight for long enough to by anger to simmer down again, maybe. Besides, replacement starters were really not growing on the trees in AAA…

In the end the shuffles were for the furry tush because bad weather moved in on Sunday and it rained all day.

In other news

June 10 – The Loggers acquire reliever Aiden Shaw (1-3, 4.85 ERA, 2 SV) from the Pacifics for two prospects, #68 1B Alberto Salas and #113 3B/SS Sergio Perada.
June 11 – PIT SP Coby Strutz (7-4, 2.67 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Buffaloes for a 7-0 win.
June 11 – Dallas 3B/SS/LF Xavier Reyes (.356, 1 HR, 37 RBI) finds a single in a 7-3 win against the Wolves to extend a hitting streak to 20 games.
June 12 – Aces OF Jaden Wilson (.300, 4 HR, 27 RBI) is expected to be out until late July with a strained hammy.
June 12 – The hitting streak of Dallas’ Xavier Reyes (.353, 1 HR, 37 RBI) lasts hardly 24 hours as the Wolves lose 6-0 to the Stars on Thursday, but at least hold Reyes dry for the duration of the contest.
June 13 – The Miners beat the Condors, 9-8 in 14 innings. Both teams previously scored three runs in the 11th inning before the Miners come through with a singleton run in the top of the 14th inning.
June 14 – The Buffaloes beat the Indians, 6-5 in 17 innings. TOP OF Tommy Branch (.221, 5 HR, 35 RBI) goes 0-for-8 with a golden sombrero.
June 14 – The Bayhawks run over the Capitals, 16-1, despite no San Francisco player getting more than three hits or RBI’s.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.415, 17 HR, 68 RBI), hitting .353 (12-34) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.341, 17 HR, 61 RBI), smashing .423 (11-26) with 4 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well, this could have gone better. Lost the series in Boston (quite forcefully) and then split a rain-deduced pair at home with the Wolves. Foxie Brown held up against one of the worst teams in the league, but Jarod Morris decidedly didn’t. The Coons need a starter, and several relievers, badly. And that doesn’t even bring us to sticks…

Sunday’s rainout will be made up in July on the first Monday after the All Star Game, just when the Raccoons through travel would become less silly. This game now slides in between series in Milwaukee and Indy.

The Coons play the Cyclones and damn Elks next week.

Fun Fact: Dallas’ Tyler Wharton is not only hitting well above .400, but also driving in more than a run per game.

Wharton was at .415, 17 HR, 68 RBI through 63 games so far, which was in line for a triple crown, although he was only tied in homers with Zach Suggs on the Capitals. He was leading his teammate Tommy Pritchard by 34 points in the batting race. In fact, the first three were all Stars, third-place being Xavier Reyes.

For his career, the 26-year-old Wharton had already grabbed two Player of the Year awards, three Platinum Stick, and five Gold Gloves. Having made his debut as a September call-up at age 19, he was already in his eighth ABL season, although he didn’t break out until his second full go at it in 2059, then lost most of his age 22 season to injury. In 2061 and 2062 he already claimed two batting titles and both times also led the league in slugging. He led the FL in RBI in ’63, but so far has not won any home run titles.

Currently he’s hitting .324/.401/.510 for his career, with 1,071 base hits, 131 homers, 581 RBI, and 139 stolen bases for good measure.

[Westheim]

2064 AMATEUR DRAFT

I wasn’t in town anyway for Sunday’s rainout since there was a draft waiting to be bungled. The Coons had the 13th pick in every round and hoped to get some goodies with it. Some ABL ready pitching maybe? No? Aw.

Here again the hotlist compiled from the total of 111 players scouted by us for the shortlist (*high schoolers):

SP Brian Roberts (15/12/13) * – BNN #8
SP John Robinson (13/15/9) * – BNN #5
SP Garrett Brandt (12/14/12) *
SP Josh Morris (12/12/14) *
SP Billy Thompson (12/14/11) – BNN #1

CL Shamar King (14/12/12)

C Andrew Farlow (13/14/13) *

INF Koji Hatakeyama (14/3/10) *
1B Keith Bevilacqua (10/13/16)
INF Brian Hills (10/12/15) *

OF Fernando Cruz (12/14/14)
OF Chris Tuck (13/11/12) – BNN #2

There were 12 of these hotlist players, but the chances that they would all go in the first 12 picks were not that high, given how often we managed to completely **** the bed and draft some useless crap in the first round. It had to come from *somewhere*!

The Cyclones had the first overall pick and used to take on Fernando Cruz. The Wolves then went with another outfielder, Ricky Jurado. The Falcons had the #3 pick and spent it on John Robinson. Another starting pitcher went #4 to the Miners as they selected Brian Roberts. The Aces then made Hatakeyama the #5 pick, followed by Chris Tuck going #6 to the Gold Sox. The Bayhawks took Billy Thompson with the #7 pick – but that was the last hotlist pick before the Raccoons got their chance, and which left power-hitting catcher Andrew Farlow available as well as a bunch of interesting starting pitchers. Those were all high-schoolers, though, and would not be able to help the Raccoons for years and years. And no, the Critters just couldn’t resist the thrill of a slugging catcher coming up through the system. Andrew Farlow it was for the #13 pick!

Nobody else was taken off that hotlist until the Capitals came around and scooped Josh Morris with the #20 pick. After that Garrett Brandt went #23 to the Blue Sox. Keith Bevilacqua hung around until the Indians took him with the #34 pick in the supplemental round, and then it took another 14 picks to #48 before the Falcons selected Shamar King. That still left Brian Hills dangling – and he fell all the way to the Raccoons’ second-round selection. Now what? Obviously the other teams had no interest in him. Were we that far off again? Scramble and pick somebody else now? No. We prepared for months for this, maybe for once, just one time, all the other teams are wrong!

An odd thing occurred in that the shortlist ran out except for one defensively challenged catcher (what-are-you-gonna-do shrug) between the Raccoons’ 10th and 11th round picks. Now we were not going to draft a catcher in the 11th round, but said catcher hung around for the 12th round, too. Fine, we’ll take him.

No, normally there’s still a bunch of ho-hum infielders hanging around the shortlist by our last two picks, or catchers and/of first basemen when we *really* already drafted enough of those in recent memory.

+++

2064 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#13) – C Andrew Farlow, 17, from Memphis, TN – built like a brick, dumb as a brick, but could also hit harder than a brick and rake for both average and power; no speed and middling defense, but chicks dig scars and I dig homers.
Round 2 (#58) – INF Brian Hills, 19, from New York, NY – defensively agile infielder with some speed and with a very patient approach to the plate and some pop that could be a nice fit for the #2 hole down the road, unless we ever find out why almost every other team had a chance to draft him and didn’t.
Round 3 (#82) – SP Harrison Hunt, 18, from Pleak, TX – this young southpaw is apparently so dumb that he can’t tell the his own six pitches apart, he just throws them; and hard… and with some really promising stuff potential.
Round 4 (#106) – CL Mike Davis, 21, from New York, NY – there are control issues with this right-hander, but there is also a very promising sinker/slider combo.
Round 5 (#130) – INF/LF Jacob Davis, 21, from Manalapan Township, NJ – very versatile defensive infielder with a contact/eye bat, but not a lot of speed; with a good throwing arm probably best suited for the left side of the infield.
Round 6 (#154) – SP Jesse James, 19, from San Benito, TX – there’s probably a few puns to be made with this name, but first he has to figure out his five-pitch mix and get more command into that right-handed pistol of his.
Round 7 (#178) – 1B Bob Scarce, 20, from Aurora, CO – defensive disaster in the making, but he can whack the ball a bit; also draws walks, but with his lack of pace you’d prefer if he hit the ball in a way that gives him infinite time around the bases.
Round 8 (#202) – LF/RF Scott Cole, 17, from Queens, NY – not much to see on defense and speed, but he has some power and also fits that contact/eye profile of an on-base guy (with, again, no speed).
Round 9 (#226) – MR Josh Powell, 22, from Long Lake, IL – not a bad fastball/splitter combo on this left-hander, but at his age he’s unlikely to add a useful third pitch going forwards *and* shake his iffy control
Round 10 (#250) – 2B/SS Danny Lukes, 18, from Sabattus, ME – light-hitting defensive middle infielder with a bit of speed, but he doesn’t look like he could hit his way out of a burning cardboard box to safe his life…
Round 11 (#274) – SP Tom Roane, 18, from Brooklyn, NY – this year’s Nick Brown Memorial Pick has a cutter/slider combo going and what he calls a “changeup” but mostly gets hit.
Round 12 (#298) – C Jonathan Parfet, 20, from Los Angeles, CA – defensively challenged and there would be an effort made to maybe convert him into a first baseman instead, but he also doesn’t hit for any power at all…
Round 13 (#322) – 3B/RF/1B Jayden Felder, 18, from Plant City, FL – very intelligent, maybe has a future in a front office.

+++

All new draft picks were assigned to single-A Aumsville and of course some purges were also going on, including, but not limited to, the following players:

With the Alley Cats suffocating to a 19-44 record on Draft Day there was little doubt that all the longtime failures on that team could go by now, if some sort of replacement was available in Ham Lake. From AAA we axed pitchers Daniel Benitez (2057 IFA signing for $240k), who had gone for an 8.56 ERA in some appearances for the Raccoons in the last two years, Brett Cotton (2057 first-rounder), who was building his BB/9 and shrinking his K/9 every year in Ham Lake, and Warren Tyler (2061 seventh-rounder), as well as outfielder Kyle Pisciotti, who had been acquired with Applecore and Sandy Pineda in that recently mentioned Tipsy Bobby et al. trade to the Capitals in 2062, and since then had not done anything but turn 26.

Benitez and Cotton had been on the 40-man roster, so we also got to wire them $213k each immediately.

Further down the system we released pitchers Evan Woodall (2062, 9th round) and Fred Sheets (2062, 13th round); as well as position players C Bobby Lund (2062, 8th round), C Nick McDaniel (2062, 12th round), and UT Dave Bale (2061, 10th round);

And again, this does not include scouting discoveries and garbage heap pickups that the cat dragged in between drafts.