[Westheim]

Ned Ray was sent in first against the Knights, but did not get out of a 4-run fifth inning. Luckily, the Raccoons mounted a 5-run sixth inning themselves and won 7-4. Ben Simon was 3-5 and still left four on base. Clutch has been his problem since the league started play. Ned Ray’s performance was a concern. Four starts in, he was 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA but this did not account for six unearned runs he also had let score. This was no surprise, but the #4 starter was the area that needed to be addressed next in improving the roster.

Jorge Romero took the loss in game 2 against Atlanta after surrendering a grand slam in the second inning. Raccoons lost 6-1, and then took a 5-0 loss in the rubber game as they were two-hit by the Knights. The game was 2-0 after eight, but Vazquez was slapped around for the second time this season and allowed three more.

We still led the CL North with an 11-7 record, but the Indians, Crusaders, and even the Loggers were all within two games. Next up were the 9-10 Oklahoma City Thunder, against whom we had struggled so hard in 1977 with a 2-7 record. They were not putting up big numbers offensively, so the series really could go either way.

But first it went one away, Oklahoma’s. The Raccoons again were shut out on three hits this time and went under in an 8-0 bashing. The Raccoons stuttered past the Thunder the next day, winning 1-0, and it took a solo shot by the catcher Darryl Maloney to score that one. The team had six hits this time, which made a 3-game average of .33 runs and 3.66 hits. Miserable! Jorge Romero blew a 4-1 lead in the rubber game, allowing the Thunder to tie it in the seventh. Still 4-4 into the bottom seventh, Raffaele Antuofermo walked the bases loaded with Raccoons with no outs. Hoyt Cook came in for Wally Gaston and struck out. Jose Flores grounded into a play to throw out Greg Swift at home. Two outs, before Ed Sullivan rolled a ball up the middle that just so happened to get through between the middle infielders, scoring Dolder from third and winning the game 5-4.

We had an off day before hitting the road and were at 13-8, on equal footing for first place with the Crusaders. And surprise, surprise, while I was enjoying the radio broadcast of the Crusaders game in Las Vegas (3-0 New York eventually), I was handed a note that Wyatt Johnston had left for me. He didn’t want to be traded away anymore. He wanted to stay. Look who wants to play for a winner. Well, we’ll try to get something done. I had thought that Jesse Jeffries could mayyyyybe replace him eventually for a year or two, but he was batting way below .200 at the moment.

But first we had business with the 9-13 Titans. Just as the Raccoons had dropped from their 7-0 start, the Titans had rallied from their 0-6 opening. We opened with a 2-1 win. Christopher Powell held the Titans to two hits in 7.1 innings, but they made a run of it in the eighth that tied the game. Sánz batted in the winning run in the top 9th and Hatfield got his eighth save, leading the majors. Berrios was up next, but had a hard time getting anybody out, and left after 3.2 innings after giving up eight hits, two walks, and five runs. The Raccoons’ offensive slump continued, and a 2-run homer by Sánz was all the offense they put up in the 5-2 loss. To finish the series, Ned Ray dropped three early, but the Raccoons won on a 4-run fifth inning and a 9-pitch 1-2-3 bottom 9th by Hatfield.

The Raccoons entered May with a 15-9 record, half a game ahead of the Indians in the CL North. The strangest thing? We were 86-87 in runs – we were the new Indians! (shocked and in horror!) Well, the Indians were 85-86, so we were in fact very much alike. The problem with the Raccoons was that most players had a lower batting average than last year, and by as many as 40 points. Sullivan and Johnston had started especially slow and Sullivan and Simon had not yet homered at all in 1978.

May opened in Vancouver and the first game was another blow. The Raccoons lost 6-5 in ten innings and also lost Ed Sullivan to an ankle injury for a few days to a week. Following that horrible day, Christopher Powell (3-2; ERA just about three) went against Marcos Ramos (0-4; ERA of almost six). One of them went seven frames of 2-hit ball, the other was chased in the fifth and saddled with seven runs. The other was Powell, of course. Raccoons were beaten 8-0. The Canadiens completed the sweep with a 5-4 walk off win in the last game.

Horrible offense, and starting pitching with ERAs shooting upwards sharply – this had the potential to become a disaster. Still, the defense is carrying the team. Offense is down to 96 runs in 27 games (just over 3.5 R/G, 11th in the CL and 23rd overall, just over half of what the leading Dallas Stars had set up: 166 runs so far for the Texans.

I really don’t know what to do about it at the moment. Just about everybody has fallen into a hole compared to last season, we score even less, and STILL lead the division!? What!?

If somebody has a rational explanation for this, I’d be happy to hear it.

In other news:
April 22 – Capitals CF Jesse Whiteaway has a 20-game hit streak going.
April 23 – Whiteaway is cooled by the Wolves, halting his streak at 20.
April 26 – The Titans lose their big bat Shawn Gilmore for the season with a ruptured medial collateral ligament.
April 29 – Milwaukee’s Francois Dédé combines for a grand slam and six hits in a 12-2 win over Vancouver.
April 30 – David McCann, owner of the Topeka Buffaloes, passes away. His son Walt becomes caretaker of all club operations.

Next: interleague at Warriors’, then home series against Capitals, Indians, Loggers, and Condors.