[Westheim]

1985 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1984 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 24, B:L, T:L (20-8, 3.15 ERA | 55-26, 2.97 ERA) – tied for the CL lead in wins, split between the Canadiens and Raccoons; is a workhorse at a very young age, pitching 240+ innings for three straight years, and we may want to be a little easier on him this season; racks up high K numbers.
SP Christopher Powell, 36, B:L, T:R (8-8, 3.35 ERA | 97-94, 3.26 ERA) – long ball prone, but rock solid most of the time, although there are signs of fading by now. He has not posted a winning record for back-to-back seasons, and also was injured last September, missing the last four or five starts.
SP Logan Evans, 29, B:L, T:L (6-6, 3.66 ERA | 67-57, 3.30 ERA) – missed a few months due to injury and had his worst season since 1980, with ill control continuing to plague him.
SP Vicente Ruíz, 30, B:R, T:R (14-7, 3.38 ERA | 87-88, 3.88 ERA) – was signed as free agent last May, when the rotation was being torn to pieces. He was mostly a pleasant surprise, despite some lapses and completely ineffective starts.
SP Charles Young, 27, B:R, T:R (6-10, 4.24 ERA | 14-16, 3.52 ERA) – knuckleballer with a ton of potential, but at times his control is completely awful.

MU Carlos Moran, 29, B:S, T:R (3-3, 1.99 ERA, 1 SV | 19-30, 3.66 ERA, 3 SV) – keeps coming back again and again with good outings in the second half of last season, but at times he can’t get anybody out.
MR Jim Carter *, 24, B:L, T:L (rookie) – rule 5 draft pick from the Rebels, he has killer stuff at his disposal, but of course has never pitched in the majors.
MR Justin Neubauer, 26, B:L, T:L (2-2, 2.89 ERA | 2-2, 2.91 ERA) – returned to the team when the other lefty relievers were unreliable and awful; has very low stamina but is good to get out that one or two key hitters.
MR Jason White, 26, B:R, T:R (3-6, 3.57 ERA, 1 SV | 9-11, 3.47 ERA, 3 SV) – could not repeat his strong 1983 performance, but keeps getting good to strong results, but also is not both lapse- and home run-proof.
SU Richard Cunningham, 25, B:R, T:R (5-4, 2.92 ERA, 3 SV | 13-11, 2.52 ERA, 11 SV) – fireballer with even splits, who struggled in the first half in ’84, possibly due to overuse; very reliable most of the time.
SU Wally Gaston, 28, B:R, T:R (9-5, 3.54 ERA, 4 SV | 36-36, 2.95 ERA, 88 SV) – great stuff, bad control, he had a bad second half in ’84, but everybody likes Big Wally. He also is the last remaining Raccoon from the 1977 season opener.
CL Grant West, 28, B:L, T:L (2-2, 1.63 ERA, 39 SV | 14-2, 1.69 ERA, 132 SV) – nickname “Demon”, says it all. Ultra-reliable, he is the first Coon to reach 100 SV.

C Sam Dadswell, 24, B:L, T:R (.278, 17 HR, 70 RBI | .280, 23 HR, 115 RBI) – acquired at the deadline from the Thunder, his sophomore season could be a sign of things to come; good batter, good catcher, leader-type, he could become a key piece to the Coons for many years.
C Andy Reed, 25, B:R, T:R (.400, 1 HR, 2 RBI | .400, 1 HR, 2 RBI) – September call-up with only 10 AB last year, he has enough trust to take over as backup catcher.

1B Matt Workman, 29, B:L, T:L (.250, 13 HR, 77 RBI | .275, 47 HR, 248 RBI) – has started every game for two straight seasons, although his last season was a bit slower than those before; his defense remains troubled sometimes.
1B/2B/SS/3B Winston Thompson, 31, B:L, T:R (.264, 2 HR, 26 RBI | .262, 5 HR, 63 RBI) – has turned out to be the Coons’ biggest steal in years and has firmly entrenched himself at 2B, also spent quite some time as leadoff batter by now with a career .366 OBP.
SS/2B Victor Castillo, 22, B:R, T:R (.248, 2 HR, 14 RBI | .257, 2 HR, 17 RBI) – stellar defense shortstop with solid plate performance, he came up in mid-1984, after being acquired from the Blue Sox two years ago; serious challenger to start at short permanently.
3B Cameron Green, 28, B:R, T:R (.243, 9 HR, 73 RBI | .239, 36 HR, 218 RBI) – his struggles continue, despite this he is a fan favorite, although he’s piling up errors and K’s. But people also like three-legged puppies.
1B/3B/SS/2B/RF/CF Steve Walker, 25, B:R, T:R (.256, 7 HR, 55 RBI | .263, 20 HR, 195 RBI) – strong all-rounder with plenty of abilities, he will play either short or third most of the time.
1B/SS/3B Edgardo Gonzalez, 31, B:S, T:R (.198, 1 HR, 12 RBI | .230, 3 HR, 142 RBI) – keeps bouncing back to play backup this season.

LF/RF Daniel Hall, 29, B:R, T:R (.287, 29 HR, 102 RBI | .273, 111 HR, 434 RBI) – starter in leftfield, he has range, speed, a contact bat, and power – and in 1984 put up personal bests almost all over the board, including a few Raccoons records like single season homers; is a phenomenal contributor as long as he is healthy, which has always been his problem.
1B/3B/RF/LF Mark Dawson, 31, B:R, T:R (.212, 22 HR, 85 RBI | .247, 165 HR, 726 RBI) – the ABL’s all-time home run leader going into the season, he struggled to bat for average last season with his worst AVG ever; his tendency to goes deep still scored a ton of runs, but he needs to pick it up a bit.
RF/LF/CF Armando Sanchez *, 30, B:L, T:L (.242, 12 HR, 59 RBI | .290, 100 HR, 582 RBI) – signed as free agent, was with the Wolves since 1977. 1984 was his worst season in memory, he is usually capable of batting .275+, and the package includes good fielding and speed. Is the Raccoons’ 8,048th bid to land a star CF.
RF/CF/LF Ricardo Gonzalez *, 25, B:L, T:L (.263, 14 HR, 82 RBI | .252, 30 HR, 215 RBI) – traded for with the Bayhawks this winter, he will play backup or start right whenever Dawson plays elsewhere.
LF/CF/RF Rodrigo Lucero, 34, B:R, T:R (.254, 1 HR, 9 RBI | .233, 12 HR, 112 RBI) – signed as free agent late in 1984, he has good speed and fielding, but never was a plate performer.

No Raccoon regular has ever batted over .300 – STILL.

Opening day lineup:
Vs. RHP: 2B Thompson – C Dadswell – CF Sanchez – LF Hall – RF Dawson – 1B Workman – 3B Green – SS Walker – P
Vs. LHP: SS Castillo – 2B Thompson – CF Sanchez – LF Hall – RF Dawson – 1B Workman – C Dadswell – 3B Walker – P

The Raccoons have added only +1.5 WAR this offseason, tying for 5th overall.

Top 5: Miners (+6.7), Condors (+5.7), Buffaloes (+3.0), Canadiens (+2.2), Raccoons and Aces (+1.5 each)
Bottom 5: Falcons (-5.6), Rebels (-6.0), Loggers (-6.2), Indians (-11.4), Thunder (-12.2)

PREDICTION TIME:

Obviously, last season was a nightmare. The 1983 pennant-winning team had been improved in many’s eyes, but failed miserably and dipped below .500 again. This year, there has not been that much improvement compared to September 30, but there’s one name on the roster that was only with the team for two months: Sam Dadswell; he could easily be the glue necessary to produce a winning team again.

Will Daniel Hall repeat his great season? Will Mark Dawson rebound to a great season? Corner infield performance will also be crucial, at the plate and in the field. And of course, the pitching. The rotation was the number 1 reason the 1984 team fell way short of any realistic goals. Ruíz patched up the most glaring hole last year, and Saito should give up a solid anchor, which Kinji Kan was not in his post-POTY season. Young is a weak link in the #5 spot, but Carlos Gonzalez is waiting at AAA for any weakness to blink up to join the big league team.

That makes a few very important and very good players that were only here for a few months last year. Looking at the Canadiens, they have not been lazy. Prediction: the Coons will finish 2nd, with 85 to 90 wins, but safely behind the Canadiens, if their pitching holds up to perform as strong as it has for a few years now. Their hurlers break down? We sniff a chance.

We will start the season facing the Loggers.