[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-20) vs. Condors (30-17)

The Condors were a run machine – 233 of them so far, which was almost 40% more than what the Furballs had put up so far.

The Condors also went ahead in game 1, in the top 2nd on – who could’ve guessed it – a passed ball by Sam Dadswell that advanced a runner to score on the next single. Woody Roberts was perfect through three, but allowed three singles in the bottom 4th, where the Coons scored one run to cut a 2-0 gap in half. But the 1987 Logan Evans was nowhere near the class of the Logan Evans of the last five years. He coughed up five runs in 6.2 innings and the Raccoons trailed 5-1 after seven. The Raccoons mounted a bit of offense in the bottom 8th. Sanchez and Thompson both got on, and León hit a PH RBI double in place of Quintanilla. Osanai came to the plate, representing the tying run. He sent a soaring high liner into center, JUST OVER CF Preston O’Day for a 2-run double. Dadswell struck out, but Dawson hit another double to tie the game. Dimian Barrios came out to pinch hit for the Condors in the ninth, he batted .164 in 55 AB, and Tim Moss grounded him to first. Osanai became the match winner in the bottom 9th, hitting a 2-out single over the infield, which Armando Sanchez used to dash home from second for a 6-5 walkoff win. Sanchez 1-2, 3 BB; León (PH) 2-2, 2B, RBI; Osanai 3-5, 2B, 4 RBI;

Middle game: Carlos Gonzalez had really bad control and NO stuff. The Condors took an early 3-0 lead, while the Raccoons didn’t get a hit until the bottom 3rd, but Sergio Martinez was then thrown out stealing. The Coons scored two in the bottom 5th with a León triple and a Sanchez double, but Gonzalez had given up four by then. They loaded the bases in the bottom 6th with one out, when the often erratic John Douglas (former Logger) walked Dadswell to add to Hall and Dawson already on the bags. León came up, and another triple would have come in very handy, but León grounded into a double play. There was no more meaningful offense after that, the Raccoons just silently went down. 5-2 Condors. Thompson 2-3, BB; S. Martinez 2-3, RBI;

Condors starter Gary Simmons drilled two Coons in the first inning, but they were still not able to score. The Condors had three singles in the top 2nd, followed by an RBI walk to Clifton Greenan given up by Kisho Saito. Simmons then mercifully grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Raccoons turned the table with two runs in the bottom 3rd, on an RBI single by Osanai and a grounder by Hall. Nightmare unfolded then in the top 4th. Chad Fisher’s leadoff triple but the Coons and especially Saito in a bad spot from the get-go. He got one grounder to third that held the runner, but he scored on the next grounder and Osanai dropped Dawson’s throw for an error. Next play, a grounder to Saito, throw to second – into centerfield, another error. Simmons came up and grounded to first, Osanai to Thompson – OVER Thompson, another error. The Condors scored four unearned runs in the inning, which was more than enough to win the game. Armando Sanchez hit a solo jack, but that was it. 5-3 Condors, 10-4 in hits, and 4-0 Raccoons as far as errors were concerned. Sanchez 2-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Cunningham 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Interlude: trade

We did dump some junk into other people’s yards on May 31, trading OF Ricardo Gonzalez to the Falcons for minor leaguers SP Kiyomitsu Sano and MR Jake Pitts.

Sano is no good, won’t make the majors, ever, and the same goes for Pitts, but I got rid of the million bucks or so still left on Gonzalez’ contract. Gonzalez was hitting sub .200 even at AAA and I had no patience to endure that for much longer anyway. Nothing lost, little gained. Let’s move on.

Raccoons (26-22) vs. Aces (21-28)

The Aces were weak-batting and had the worst rotation in the league.

There were strange things about Scott Wade, really. Many of them crystallized early in the first game. He jammed right out of the gate, barely getting a grounder to end the inning with the bases loaded and no damage done. The Raccoons scored one and left two on in the first, and the same in the second. Wade was supposed to bunt in that second inning, but got León forced at third – Wade can not lay down a sac bunt for his life without causing carnage! After an RBI single by Steve Walker in the bottom 3rd with one out, Wade came up again with the bags loaded and still one out. Nowhere to put a bunt down to. Swing away. He hit a double over the centerfielder Angelo Cardenas, scoring two. After that early barrage and 5-0 lead, Aces starter Luis De Jesus retired the next nine Coons over 3.0 innings. Wade allowed a run in the sixth, then gave up two 2-out walks in the seventh. One runner scored against Tim Moss, but the Coons were still 5-2 ahead. Daniel Hall broke it up further again, with a 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 8th, sitting Grant West down in the pen. Instead Miguel Martinez came in and sat down the last three Aces. 7-2 Raccoons! Hall 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 4-5; Dawson 2-4, RBI; Walker 1-2, 2 BB, RBI;

The Raccoons took an early 1-0 lead on a Dawson double in the first inning of the middle game, but then started hitting altogether against Ron Dillon, who came in with an 8.27 ERA. While Vicente Ruíz delivered five scoreless innings, he was hit decisively in the sixth and knocked out with two on in a 1-1 game. The Aces ended up scoring four runs in the inning. They scored another four runs against a helpless bullpen in the seventh. The Raccoons? They were just lying there, waiting for death to happen. They scored three runs in the eighth because of walks, errors, and misplays, but lost 8-4. Osanai 2-4, RBI; Dawson 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Walker 2-3, BB, RBI; Weber (PH) 1-2 – this includes all the hits the team had.

Logan Evans no-hit the Aces the first time through the lineup, but the Coons didn’t do anything either in the first three innings. Things then grew hideous in the top 4th. Tadashi Kan broke up the no-hitter with a 1-out single. On the next play, Mark Allen grounded to short, where Chong hurled to Thompson, who threw to first – then held his side and was walked off the field. Sam Dadswell put something up on the board with a 2-run homer in the bottom 4th, but by now my thoughts were elsewhere almost entirely. Evans blistered through the game at a torrid pace, 2-hitting the Aces through eight. With a 4-0 lead, he was left in, and quickly removed the first two guys. Then Mark Allen singled. Ira Houston singled, playable by Chong, but the play was not made. Lowell Allen singled and suddenly the tying run came to the plate, and Grant West came into the game. He got Craig Knapp to ground out. 4-1 Raccoons. Dadswell 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Evans 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (3-3);

Losing Winston Thompson will tear another hole in a porous lineup. He was not diagnosed on the same day, neither on the following off-day.

Wally Gaston was able to return to some form of mound, recovering from the removal of bone spurs in his elbow, and was sent to a rehab assignment at AAA.

Raccoons (28-23) @ Loggers (20-33)

Carlos Gonzalez was the only Coons starter with less than three wins now (and ironically had the best ERA among them), and was roughly greeted by Cisco Banda with a 2-run homer in the bottom 2nd of the opener. A throwing error by Gustavo Flores plated another, unearned, run in the third. Mark Dawson’s 2-run homer thus was not able to tie the game in the top 4th, and the Loggers added another run after a successful base steal in the bottom 4th. Gonzalez was knocked out, putting the first four men on in the bottom 5th, and things deteriorated only more with Moss and Campbell on the mound. The Loggers scored six runs in the inning alone, distancing the Raccoons, 10-2, which eventually was also the final score.

This team can’t get anything done. They can’t even … not even look not-horrible against the horrible Loggers.

The Raccoons put up two runs in the first frame of the middle game against Judd Montgomery before being silenced. Three consecutive extra base hits tied the game in the bottom 4th, with Kisho Saito looking everything but good. Montgomery retired fifteen Coons in a row in the middle innings, while Saito struggled to hold the tie through seven. Saito was then pinch hit for with Hall in the top 8th, but Hall didn’t get to make contact, since Montgomery hit him with the pitch. Hall then made for third as Sanchez hit a 1-out single. Sergio Martinez was up, who had been the last guy to reach base before Montgomery’s streak began in the third inning. He sent a glove-seeking grounder to short, but the Loggers couldn’t pull off the double play and Hall scored the go-ahead run from third. A great catch from León in the bottom 8th prohibited Cunningham from blowing the lead, and West entered with the 3-2 lead in the bottom 9th. He struck out the first two, then popped up Charlie Justin to end the game. 3-2 Raccoons on only five hits. Sanchez 2-4, 2B; S. Martinez 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-3); West 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (14);

Game 3: after another three scoreless frames to start a game, Kelly Weber tripled in Daniel Hall with two down in the top 4th for a 1-0 lead. Catcher Luis Gonzalez, more known for his cannon arm, tied the game with a leadoff homer off Scott Wade in the fifth. The Raccoons gave Wade another lead, 2-1, in the top 6th. Bottom 6th: Edgardo Garza came up first – home run. Osanai doubled in a run in the seventh, and Wade – this time got the leadoff batter, then allowed a single and nicked the next batter and was yanked. David Jones came in to face lefties, but the Loggers sent righty PH Felipe Hernandez. Jones still prevailed, getting two groundball outs to hold on to the lead. The Coons finally got something going in the top 8th, with a 2-run triple by Sanchez, who was then scored by Martinez, 6-2. Campbell and Bentley held on from there and the score remained 6-2. Sanchez 2-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; S. Martinez 2-5, RBI; Osanai 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Weber 2-3, 3B, 2 RBI; Wade 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-5);

The bad news broke the same day: Winston Thompson had suffered an oblique strain and will be out roughly until the All Star break, a month from now. At least we had a halfway decent replacement in Dani Perez, who was called up from AAA to split time with Sergio Martinez and Yong-chan Chong.

In other news

May 30 – Nashville’s hotshot Antonio Rodriguez (.374, 0 HR, 31 RBI) will miss over a month with an oblique strain, possibly up until the All Star Game, which is a shame, since he could easily have been nominated for the Federal League.
June 4 – Young Loggers MR Michael Brown (4.07 ERA in 17 G) will miss over a year with a torn UCL.

Complaints and stuff

It’s a very, very strange season. They are playing the most horrible ball (and for two full months now) since they started leaving the basement, so basically since 1982 or 1983. While our ’82 record was 75-87, it was noticeable trend upwards from the gruesome first five seasons. Of course in 1983, we went to the Big Show. Yet, they are only 1.5 games behind first place. It’s puzzling in the highest degree.

What’s the difference? What doesn’t work anymore? It’s hard to tell in some places. Logan Evans f.e. is the only starter remaining from 1982. Of course the backend of the pen has been in place since then (that’s a LONG time!), but those three are clearly at their worst in those six seasons. Things get easier when you get to the position players. Hall and Dawson do not produce. While we finally have a very good centerfielder (or several very good outfielders whom we can shift back and forth), Daniel Hall and Mark Dawson are unable to bat even a flat .200 and show no power either. This is a trend now. One bad year – happens. Two bad years – happens. But both have had several bad years since 1983. And this is their worst. Add incapable catching to that and we have most faults of the team nailed down.

What to do? I don’t know. I really don’t. The team is 1.5 games behind the Indians for the division lead, and they are so utterly un-fun to watch.

The Nashville Blue Sox have claimed Orlando Lantán, our 1981 top draft pick. May they grow eternally happy with him.

We may soon place more people on waivers. Gustavo Flores is too terrible to stay with. Once Wally Gaston returns, we need to get rid of either Miguel Martinez (rule 5 pick) or Dirk Campbell (out of options and acquired on waivers in the first place). I’m also not happy with Quintanilla, but he has options, and León, who has 10/5 rights.

Rights! Whoever gave those suckers RIGHTS!! Most of them can’t even find their right thumb!

Next: interesting 3-set in Indy, then interleague with the Blue Sox and Stars. The draft will take place during the Stars series.