We Got Wood - 40.13 - Rough Start for Lumberjacks

[7teen]

Epectations might have been high for Portland heading into it's inaugural season. Sure, we all dream that a new collection of guys can instantly gel together and become a unit and surprise the baseball world and be instant contenders. But the reality of it is, it's not that easy. Taking cast-offs from other teams and expecting to be a contender just isn't realistic. And through 5 games of the 2040 season, the Portland Lumberjacks are finding out that winning is hard. The team is yet to do it.

Cold Start to Opening Day
The Lumberjacks kicked of the season in Wilson's old town of Madison and things didn't go well. On a 39 degree April day, the Lumberjacks watched the Wolves score a run in 4 of the first 5 innings and never look back. Lumberjacks General Manager was seen leaving his box seats after the 5th inning. Wilson commented after the game, saying "it was just too damn cold here today. I'm think we'll be competitive. It's just day 1, and damn, who turned off the heat in the boxes today?" Wilson denied leaving because of his team's poor play. No one from Madison commented on whether Wilson's lack of heat accusations were true or not. The Wolves lost the game 9-1. Fans in Madison did give Jon Mick a standing ovation in his first At-bat. He grounded out to shortstop later in the AB.

Home Not So Sweet
After going 0-2 in Madison to kick off the season, Portland hoped a return to Oregon would get them kick-started. Just under 25,000 fans showed up for the home opener of the Lumberjacks who faced Hawaii. Portland gave the fans something to cheer about early as the club jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 4 innings. But the Tropics recovered quickly. Hawaii scored 3 times in the 5th to tie the game, then took the lead for good with 3 in the 7th inning. An 8-run 9th inning again saw GM Chris Wilson exit his box seats. Wilson commented after the game that "his team's play had nothing to do with him leaving. I knew it was our home opener and there would be a lot of things to take care of after the game, like talk to the press. We're confident we will compete and win a game soon."

Marathon Game Causes two more losses
Upset over higher ticket prices than expected, only 9,373 fans showed up for the Lumberjacks' second home game against Hawaii. The under 10,00 crowd who did pay go their monies worth and then some! After falling behind 7-2 early in the game, Portland came back and scored 4 in the 4th and another run in the 6th to tie the game. The game stayed tied through regulation. Extra innings would be needed. When Hawaii scored in the 17th inning, most of the small crowd that stayed left. They'd miss out on the Lumberjacks tying the game back up in the 17th. Unfortunately for the few that stuck around on a Thursday night, the Lumberjacks fell short in the 19th inning when Mike Campbell hit a HR that decided the outcome.

The long drawn out affair likely cost the Lumberjacks the following night. Without closer Luis Ortega available (he threw 2 innings the night before and 12 disastrous pitches the previous day) the Lumberjacks had to call on Matsuo Yamamoto to try and secure Portland's first win in franchise history. Up 4-3 heading to the 9th inning, Yamamoto allowed a single to lead off the inning. The single was promptly followed by a 2-run blast off the bat of LaFitte. Yamamoto retired the rest of the side in order. Despite a 2-out single by Kim in the bottom of the 9th, Portland could not mount a comeback.

[bschr682]

Rough start.