[Westheim]

Raccoons (46-29) vs. Condors (43-32)

Logan Evans surrendered a 2-piece to Miguel Fuentes, the Condors’ catcher, in the top 2nd of the series opener, but we faced “Barbwire” Douglas here, who had been socked more than once by the Coons while with the Loggers. He got socked in the second inning right away with five runs for the Furballs (four were earned). Kelly Weber added an RBI single in the third and Douglas was out after four innings. Dawson added a 2-run home run in the bottom 5th for a 8-2 win. Logan Evans meanwhile was everything but ace and was lucky more than once for great defense behind him. He also loaded bags in the sixth with one out, but then got two slow and easy grounders to get out of the inning. Evans went seven frames, Moran covered the other two, and the Coons took an 8-2 win. Sanchez 2-4, BB, RBI; Flores 3-4, 2B; Dawson 4-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

The best news? The Canadiens lost 2-1 in Atlanta, which was the first loss for “Mauler” Correa this season, and this moved the Raccoons to No.1 in the CL North, just in time for the end of June!

The Furballs scored in three of the first four innings to give Vicente Ruíz a 4-1 lead through four. Ricardo Gonzalez dropped pitcher Jose Macias’ lazy flyer to right to lead off the top 5th, which eventually became an unearned run. Preston O’Day hit a 3-run homer off Ruíz in the sixth and the inning became worse when Ruíz put on two more and Jones could not get the third out in relief. Two more runs scored. Down 8-4, the Raccoons got one more chance in the bottom 9th. Two on with one out, “Wacky” Booth came in to face Mark Dawson. Dawson slowly grounded to third, where Mauro Fernandez never got a proper grip on the ball and threw it away. One run in, two in scoring position, Tetsu Osanai up next. He went into the deep right corner – but Jake Martin made an amazing catch on what became a sac fly. The crowd had been on it’s feet, but with Gustavo Flores up and two out, sat down again. Flores was hit by Booth, and that put the tying run on base, but Steve Walker grounded out. 8-6 Condors. Barrios 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Walker 2-5;

The Knights walked off in the ninth against the Canadiens, 3-2, to keep the Raccoons atop the CL North.

Kisho Saito sucked terribly in his outing in game 3. He surrendered 10 hits, 3 home runs, seven runs, three walks in 4+ innings. It seems like I have to reschedule extra whippings. Armando Sanchez hit a 2-piece in the bottom 5th, but even that made it only a 7-3 deficit. They had one more chance in the eighth, scoring one, before the Condors brought in Booth, who struck out Miranda with the bases loaded. Raccoons lost, 7-4, on six hits. Sanchez 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Flores (PH) 1-1, RBI; Powell 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

We dropped back to second place and faced a pitching issue here.

Raccoons (47-31) vs. Crusaders (38-40)

The Crusaders were rallying and the Raccoons were crumbling, going more or less .500 recently. This was an important 4-game set, our last series before facing the Canadiens for four in Vancouver.

The opener saw Carlos Gonzalez struggle with control. The Raccoons had little offense on top of that, only scoring to start innings, as Dawson and Ricardo Gonzalez belted leadoff jacks in the fourth and fifth. Carlos Gonzalez was still pitching in the eighth, but the 2-1 lead got away from him violently and he was on the hook for a 3-2 loss when leaving. He remained there. 3-2 Crusaders. Barrios 3-4;

This was both our 100th all time loss against the Crusaders, as well as the end to Gonzalez’ undefeated streak.

Tetsu Osanai hit an RBI double in the bottom 1st to a) get his team 1-0 ahead, and b) complete his second 20-game hitting streak of the season. The Coons added single runs the next two frames as well, but Wade gave two back with a home run to ex-Coon catcher Enrique Sanchez. Wade wobbled through six with a 4-3 lead. Jones was tasked with a lefty to start the top 7th – four balls. Cunningham cleaned house after him. The Raccoons got two in scoring position with nobody out after two misplays by veteran LF Dan Younger in the bottom 7th. Dawson walked to fill the bags for Osanai, who was already 3-3 with 3 RBI on the day, but flew out here, scoring Barrios from third on a sac fly. The Coons scored one more in the eighth, and Grant West saved it. 6-3 Coons. Barrios 4-5, 2B; Sanchez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Osanai 3-4, 2B, 4 RBI; Weber 2-4, 3B; Quintanilla (PH) 1-1;

Logan Evans surrendered two runs in a messy first inning in game 3. Osanai restored the tie with a massive home run to right in the bottom 1st, 2-2. From there it was six shutout innings for both starters. Evans was pinch hit for to no effect in the bottom 7th, while Gary Nixon remained in to start the eighth for New York. That was not the best strategy, although Dimian Barrios socking a leadoff jack was pretty unforeseeable. Grant West made it tense in the ninth, walking Enrique Sanchez to lead off, then surrendering a single, but then got a K and a double play and saved the 3-2 win for Wally Gaston. Osanai 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Miranda 2-3;

Game 4 was more than just ugly. Ruíz was battered for six runs in the first two innings, yet five of them were unearned after stupid errors by Quintanilla in the first and Osanai in the second inning. This was with the foul rat Hisanobu Higuchi on the mound, once more, so it stung twice as hard. The foul rat shut out the Raccoons through six and even then it took Gustavo Quintanilla’s maiden major league home run to put something on the board. If there was a highlight in this terrible game, this was it, and Cunningham striking out the side in the top 9th. The hideously filthy rat also had held Osanai hitless, going to break his streak. In the bottom 9th, Mark Dawson was up with nobody on and two down. He popped to right, where Pedro Villa dropped the ball – and Osanai came up once more. HOME RUN TO CENTER!!! While this was great for the hitting streak, and didn’t help the team one inch. Raccoons lost, 8-4. Sanchez 3-4, BB, 2B;

Sam Dadswell was activated from the DL for the next series, sending Odwin Garza, who batted below .182 with 3 RBI, back to AAA.

Raccoons (48-33) @ Canadiens (49-31)

This is where things count. Everybody has to stop blowing – now. This will be the first of two 4-game sets this month, and if we get swept here, we can start to sell in preparation for the deadline. By the way, at the start of this season it looks like we will face all righties in this series: Campbell, Smith, Fa, and Correa. They combine for a 37-15 record and neither’s ERA starts with a number higher than 2. Campbell to tie us down, Smith to ram matches under our toenails, Fa to throw boiling oil over us, and then the “Mauler” to finally mercifully smash our furry heads with a sledgehammer.

The voices in my head…

Game 1. The Canadiens went first, scoring two with three consecutive 2-out hits in the bottom 3rd, starting with the highly annoying Raúl Herrera. They blew the game open in the seventh with five runs against Saito and Powell, then whacked Gaston in the eighth. The Raccoons offense? Did nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Raccoons were 3-hit, Tetsu Osanai’s hitting streak was over, and the Canadiens danced into the clubhouse after a 10-0 pounding over the Furballs.

Winston Thompson also came off the DL for game 2, and we sent .184 batter Orlando Lantán, indefinite draft bust, to AAA. Thompson was not put into the lineup for now.

How to beat the Raccoons? Put Raúl Herrera in the lineup, #1, he will single and then swipe two bags during the next plate appearance. Sam Dadswell was unable to even come close to nail him TWICE in the first inning and he promptly scored on Manuel Flores’ grounder. Art Garrett then hit a 2-out single, then stole second, his first bag of the season, against a helpless Dadswell. Garrett scored on the next single. Three singles for two runs, way to go. Ricardo Gonzalez, who was in right as the ineffective outfielder du jour, then reached Bill Smith for a 2-bomb in the top 2nd to get that shame at least tied up, and Osanai and Dawson drove in runs in the third for a 4-2 lead. That lead was tested in earnest in the bottom 4th. Carlos Gonzalez got two quick outs, before they piled up on the bags, with a walk, hit batter, and a single. Bill Smith was yanked right there for pinch hitter Brian Adams, an experienced coonskinner. Gonzalez got him to 2-2 and then struck him out to leave the bags loaded. Top 6th: Mark Dawson reached on a 2-base throwing error to lead off, before the Canadiens walked Walker, who was erased on a fielder’s choice when Kelly Weber grounded to second. Ricardo Gonzalez walked, which made Carlos Gonzalez face Carlos Lozano with one out and the bases loaded in the 4-2 game. Now, Gonzalez can do many things besides pitching. He can bat some, he can run some, and he has a skilled eye, and here he drew a HUGE bases loaded walk. Next, Dimian Barrios grounded into a double play. Carlos Gonzalez (I may start calling him Cargo for convenience) went seven with 100 pitches, before handing over to Cunningham and West, who only faced six batters, and K’ed three. 5-2 Raccoons to crawl back into the series. Sanchez 3-5; Osanai 2-5, RBI; R. Gonzalez 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; C. Gonzalez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (13-3);

Tia Fa walked the first two Coons to come up in game 3, but Barrios unfortunately was caught stealing before Sanchez got his fourth ball. That cost a run eventually, as Dawson and Osanai both sent doubles to deep right behind them. The Raccoons went up 2-0. The obnoxious Herrera hit a 3-run home run off Scott Wade to obliterate that lead in the bottom 2nd. That’s where the scoring stopped for a long time, with neither team getting a chance until the seventh, where the Canadiens loaded the bags and got one run in against Wade to make it 4-2. The Raccoons tried to counter in the top 8th after being 5-hit that far. Dawson drew a leadoff walk and Osanai singled to right. Walker was 0-3 on the day and here we entered Winston Thompson to fight righty Luis Cruz on the mound. He grounded into a picture perfect double play. Kelly Weber scored Dawson from third with a single, but that was it. Wade pitched a perfect eighth and the Canadiens sent out Gerard Marquis to end it. He walked Ricardo Gonzalez on four straight and we sniffed a chance. Wade was up next, but he was actually a bad bunter and we brought in Dadswell as pinch hitter (Flores had started the game). He walked on five pitches. Dimian Barrios couldn’t lay the bunt down at 0-0, and neither at 0-1, then flew out. Armando Sanchez sent a hobbler past the left side of the mound and I flinched, but the defenders couldn’t get two, they couldn’t even get one, as everybody was safe – and the big guys up. Mark Dawson was a notorious double play hitter, though. C’mon, Mark, gimme at least one! He grounded, and the Canadiens got the force at home. Down 4-3, bases loaded, Osanai up with two out. A zipper got through on the right side!! Dadswell scored, but Sanchez was held at third with RF Brian Adams quick to the ball. Thompson struck out, but we had bought time. In the bottom 9th, Wally Gaston walked Herrera on a full count, and we could have packed up right there. Herrera on first and nobody out. Cecil Ward was next and drilled at Wally’s first pitch, but Dawson was right there to catch it and turn the double play!! The 10th was uneventful, but the Raccoons squeezed the go-ahead run in in the 11th. Sanchez reached on another infield single, stole second, then dashed home on a 2-out single by Osanai, who went to second. Grant West walked the leadoff batter, Miguel Guzman, in the bottom 11th, then got two outs, but Guzman went to second. And Herrera was up. 2-4 with a homer and three ribbies on the day, we didn’t chance it and went to Cecil Ward instead. Ward fouled off the first two pitches, then looked at a borderline ball. West glanced for a while, then focused, then STRUCK HIM OUT!! 5-4 Raccoons. Barrios 2-5, BB; Sanchez 2-4, 2 BB; Osanai 4-6, 2B, 4 RBI; Cunningham 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (5-0);

Game 4, winner leads the division. Logan Evans (7-5, 2.52 ERA) had to face the “Mauler”, Juan Correa (10-2, 1.90 ERA). With both Cunningham and West unavailable after pitching consecutive days, we were looking at a recently wobbly Wally Gaston to potentially close the game, and a 4+ runs win was not in the cards, so we faced another extremely difficult game here.

The game started as pitchers’ duel. Correa was perfect through ten batters, before surrendering a 1-out single to Barrios (who was moved to #2 for Sanchez as leadoff). Dadswell also singled, but Osanai’s shot to deep center was not deep enough and caught. Dawson sent a grounder past SS Art Garrett to score Barrios, 1-0. Garrett countered with a solo shot off Evans in the bottom of the inning and the game was very quickly very tied. After a scoreless fifth, Barrios got on in the sixth, but nothing came out of it. In the bottom 6th, Vicente Ramirez led off with an infield single and that was the beginning of the end. Evans balked with one out and Ramirez at second and that took even the intentional walk away with #8 Shimpei Iwamoto already up. Iwamoto lined a 3-1 pitch to deep left and the Canadiens scored two in the inning. Evans left in the seventh with two on (Bentley wiggled out there) after giving up 11 hits in 6.2 innings, and that was way too much to stand a chance against Correa, who had only surrendered one hit outside of the fourth, and not a single walk, so far. Kelly Weber led off with a single in the eighth, but he was left on as well. A home run off Bentley and a walk by Powell to Herrera, who deserved every bit of hating, added two more runs for Vancouver and they won 5-1. Barrios 2-4; Dadswell 2-4; Dawson 2-4, RBI; this only omits Kelly Weber’s single…

So, we split the series, but everybody saw pretty clearly, who was boss in the CL North. The Raccoons weren’t.

Raccoons (50-35) @ Titans (44-43)

Dawson and Walker were rested in the first game of the series. The Coons took a 2-0 lead in the third after three walks by John Fowler loaded them up. Vicente Ruíz pitched six frames of 2-hit ball before jamming badly in the seventh, still only 2-0 ahead. Manny Mora hit a 2-run triple against Wally Gaston to tie the game. There, the Raccoons still only had two hits themselves against Fowler, one of those 6+ ERA pitchers this team loved to lose against. Gaston walked two in the bottom 8th and Bentley surrendered a 3-run home run to Isto Grönholm to give Gaston not only a BS, but also an L. 5-2 Titans, three hits for the Raccoons.

Carlos Miranda went 0-4 in the game and, batting .180, was demoted to St. Petersburg, from where we called up 1B/2B Darren Campbell, who had gone 2-21 for the Coons last year.

The non-hitting Raccoons remained around in the next game. They only scored the go-ahead run in the second with the help of an error on Quintanilla’s 2-out grounder that brought in Dawson from third. Kisho Saito’s struggles continued, as he created jams every other inning – always to escape just barely. So, the game was 1-0 Coons through six, but again we only had three hits so far. Two down in the bottom 7th, Mark Dawson briefly turned into Cam Green with pitcher Jose Garza at bat. Garza grounded to third and Dawson threw it past Osanai. Eduardo German then sent a vicious flyer to right, but Quintanilla managed to catch it. Bullet dodged. But I was desperate for an insurance run, and when Osanai drew a 1-out walk in the top 8th, I made a (for me) very rare move and brought Lucero as pinch-runner. It didn’t work. Saito pitched a perfect eighth and remained in for the bottom 9th, with the 5-6-7 guys up and his last few innings had been good. The Titans went down 1-2-3, and the Coons won 1-0 with four hits on an unearned run! Sanchez 2-5; Dawson 2-2, BB; Saito 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7-8);

This was the fifth shutout for Saito, and his second with the Raccoons. His first with us had come last year against Tijuana, a 2-hitter. It was also his first complete game of the year, and in fact the first time he had gone past the seventh since May, pretty much illustrating his struggles this year.

One more game ‘til everything breaks, or at least the schedule for three days. With Carlos Gonzalez getting nominated for the All Star Game, we scratched him from the lineup for the rubber game to avoid possible consequences we would not appreciate. Scott Wade started on short rest, but hey, major league baseball is no pony farm.

Besides, all our long guys were well rested to enter early, if necessary. The Coons scored one run in the first, then another one when Kelly Weber homered in the second. The Raccoons matched their hit total from the first two games by the third inning in this one. After three, the Raccoons led 6-0. Wade’s command was never there during his outing, but he did get a key strikeout on Mashwanis in the bottom 5th with two on and two out, on a full count. He was gone after allowing a run in the sixth after going to 3-ball counts repeatedly. All players going to the All Star game (see below) were removed by the seventh inning with the Coons leading 8-1. What could possibly happen? (hear a violin screeching intensely here) Nothing happened, although Moran could not pitch the 3-inning save I envisioned, struggling with control a bit. Cunningham and Powell also entered the game, and the Raccoons won 9-1. Thompson 1-1; Dawson 3-5, 2 2B; Walker 1-2, 3 BB; Weber 2-5, HR, RBI; Quintanilla 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Campbell (PH) 1-2, RBI;

1986 All Star Game

The Raccoons sent five players: SP Carlos Gonzalez, CL Grant West, 1B Tetsu Osanai, INF Dimian Barrios, and OF Armando Sanchez. The latter one really surprised me since he didn’t even have enough AB’s to qualify for the batting title, but at the same time he hit .340, so … well. The Canadiens also sent five, including three SP’s to tie for the lead in the CL. The FL was a bit more spread out with the Miners, Blue Sox, Buffaloes, and Stars all sending four players. Jack Pennington (NAS), Cam Green (PIT), Enrique Sanchez (NYC) and Alex White (SFW) all went to the game.

The Continental League walks off 3-2 in the ninth after entering the inning trailing. Armando Sanchez drove in the game winning run as pinch hitter. Dimian Barrios entered as replacement and went 0-1 with an intentional walk (right in front of Sanchez in the bottom 9th). Tetsu Osanai started at first and went the distance, going 1-4 with a solo jack. Grant West pitched a scoreless inning, Carlos Gonzalez did not appear.

We can thus rebuild our rotation with Evans leading Gonzalez, Saito, Wade, and Ruíz for the second half.

In other news

July 1 – LAP Hunter Frazier is most likely out for the rest of the season, suffering from ulnar nerve irritation. The 36-yr old went 6-9 with a 3.84 ERA this year.
July 4 – VAN 2B Melvin Greene (.332, 3 HR, 29 RBI) is out for about a month with a broken finger.
July 8 – Division rivals trade as the Indians acquire utility man Alvin Sutphen (.212 in 84 AB this year) from the Loggers for minor league SP Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”. [That one amuses me.]
July 8 – SAC INF Hector Atilano (.348, 6 HR, 53 RBI) is not done with being amazing at age 35. He complete a 20-game hitting streak with an impressive 4-4 day, including a 2-run triple. The Scorpions still lost 10-7 to the Stars.
July 9 – The Miners lose outfielder Xiao-wei Li (.289, 1 HR, 33 RBI) for a month due to a broken finger.
July 9 – As the Gold Sox beat the Wolves 5-1, DEN 3B Claudio Rojas (.321, 0 HR, 27 RBI) also hits safely for the 20th consecutive game.
July 11 – Ralph Nixon is out with a herniated disc and will miss a month. The Miners should not be surprised. That man is 40 and mostly worked up by now. Nixon is batting .309 in limited exposure with the Knights and Miners this year.
July 13 – Just in time for the All Star Game, Hector Atilano’s hitting streak ends at 24 games in a 5-3 loss to Sioux Falls. In more bad news for the Scorpions, outfielder Larry Marshall (.241, 8 HR, 37 RBI) is hurt during stretching before their game and is out for the month with a strained rib cage muscle.
July 14 – From the category “Trades nobody understands”: Oklahoma City sends SP Ray Shaw (9-7, 3.12 ERA) to Nashville to get 1B Hector Roman, who has a total of 19 AB in the majors this year, spending most of the time at AAA.

Complaints and stuff

Jose Munoz, an infielder with the Raccoons’ A level affiliate, was A level Player of the Week going .500 with 2 HR, 9 RBI.

Daniel Hall came off the DL on the last game day before the All Star break. This created a pinch for me. Sanchez and Gonzalez were off limits and there was no question that Hall belonged to the roster. That left Weber, who produced well, Quintanilla, who produced surprisingly well, and Lucero – who didn’t. He had been great in a backup/defensive role the last two years, but not so this year. He was batting .183. He was 35, in a contract year and not compensation eligible and with the young talent knocking on the door, his time was over. He was waived and designated for assignment, cleared waivers, then waived his 10/5 rights and accepted demotion to AAA.

We have played 88 games this season. Daniel Hall has already missed 50. Uh-oh. Yes, he’s under contract for seven more seasons (incl. the vesting option for ‘93). Stop asking those unpretty questions.

The offense has been slow so far in July with only one game with more than six runs scored (the last one) and less than four on average. We’re still second in runs scored.

With the deadline coming up, the Raccoons will certainly be buyers, if anything. But: we can’t take on any salary (since we’re over-budget), and if there’s need for improvement, then it is in the rotation. Starting pitchers won’t come cheap.

Zero hour? The Canadiens come to town for four. We will go to the road after that, playing Indy and Oklahoma before returning home against the Bayhawks and Knights, with the latter series already taking place in August.