[Westheim]

Vern Kinnear had torn a hamstring in the last game in Boston, and was put on the 15-day DL. He should be back late in the month. Meanwhile we called up outfielder Chih-tui Jin from AAA, the 165th overall pick (by us) in the 1988 draft. He was a switch hitter with neat batting stats, although he didn’t hit for much power. He was as far as I could be bothered to remember the first Taiwanese-born player to take the field for the Furballs.

Daniel Hall notified me on the way outta Boston that he was keen on an extension. Hum. Well, Dan. Let’s see if you can out-hit your weight. Which gets more and more difficult with that ass of yours getting bigger every day.

Raccoons (13-11) @ Canadiens (16-8) – May 3-5, 1993

The Canadiens had surpassed the Titans in having the top offense in the Continental League while we had been in business in Boston, so things weren’t going to get any easier any time soon. We would also face the meat of their rotation.

Vernon Robertson seemed to have been around forever (and had debuted with the Canadiens in 1984) and had a neat start to his season with a 2.45 ERA and 2-1 record. He surrendered Neil Reece’s first home run of the season in the first inning, counting for two after Hall had walked. Kisho Saito started for us and again was whacked early – four runs in the first. Oh just why… Saito surrendered another run in the third – singles were falling in everywhere. Zero hard contact, just tons of rollers and bloopers nobody got to (and an error by Osanai). Down 5-2, Salazar, Hall, and Reece loaded the bags with no outs in the top 6th. Higgins hit an RBI single, and Moreno and Vinson managed productive RBI groundouts that tied the game. Osanai was put on intentionally for whatever reason, bringing up Saito. O-Mo pinch-hit for him but grounded out. The groin was still not right, but a semi-healthy O-Mo on first was better than Osanai in a tied game. Bottom 8th. Lagarde issued a leadoff walk to Carlos Quintela, who instantly set out to steal. Vinson’s throw was into center field, and once Quintela scored, the Raccoons were doomed. 6-5 Canadiens. Reece 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Martinez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Jin made his debut as a pinch-hitter for Proctor in the eighth, but grounded out. Ben O’Morrissey’s 16-game hitting streak ended with an 0-2 day. And the headaches were becoming more and more intense.

Game 2. Jason Turner was perfect the first time through the Canadiens, while the Coons left them on the corners twice in the first three frames. Top 4th, Rodriguez and Osanai led off with a walk and a single. Turner was supposed to bunt them over, looked very bad, then swung at a 2-2 pitch and grounded into a double play. A loud scream came from the Raccoons dugout, before Bobby Quinn sent a bloop into shallow right that we probably didn’t deserve at this point, but it was an RBI single. Walks to Salazar and Hall loaded the bases before Reece grounded out. Turner gave up two hits in the fourth, but the Canadiens didn’t score. The Coons removed pitcher Dave Beck from the game in the fifth with only one run on eight hits conceded. The Coons scored two runs from 12 hits through six innings while Turner had so far been quite good. He allowed two singles to start the bottom 6th, before the bottom fell out after a Moreno error. The Canadiens went on to score three unearned runs in the inning. Top 7th. Bases loaded with one out, Quinn grounded to short, 6-4-3.

******* ******* ****!!!!

3-2 Canadiens. Quinn 2-5, RBI; Hall 2-4, BB; Rodriguez 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Vinson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Osanai 4-4; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (2-3);

Raccoons had 15 hits. Canadiens six. POR player LOB: 27; POR team LOB: 17. I’m gonna ******* kill you all…

Things were to get better now. Mark Allen returned from the DL, which enabled us to send Matt Duncan into the desert without water and without a trail of bread crumbs to lead him back home. But if we lose another game on some dumb ****’s error, I will certainly go completely berserk.

Salazar got a day off (Higgins played short), as both O-Mo and “Icon” returned to the starting lineup. Chih-tui Jin made his debut in the starting nine, too. Probably for the first time, the Raccoons fielded four switch hitters (Higgins, Allen, Vinson, Jin). Scott Wade allowed the two first batters to get on in the first, second (four even), and third innings. The Canadiens raped him for six runs. Yet, he didn’t lose the game. Down 6-0, the Coons scored a run in the fourth, then had the bases loaded in the sixth with one out and Osanai at the plate, a recipe for a double play if there was one. Osanai hurled one deep to right center, and when the defense couldn’t dig it out, it became a bases-clearing double. Daniel Miller – of all people – batted in Osanai with a single and an error by the defense. That still made only a 6-5 game – behind the Canadiens. Top 8th, Vinson got on to lead off, and with two outs was on third and Salazar on first after entering as pinch-hitter. Higgins was at the plate and fell 0-2 behind against Dave Moore, then singled to left and the game was tied. Could we – no, O-Mo grounded out. The Canadiens left the winning run on third base in the bottom 9th, sending the game to overtime, and again left the winning run on third in the 10th, where the Raccoons lost Albert Matthews to injury and had to throw in Grant West. Both teams left two men on in the 11th. Two on, no outs, West bunted into a double play in the top 12th, then lost the game in the bottom of the inning. 7-6 Canadiens. Reece 2-4, 2 BB; Vinson 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Jin 2-5, BB; Miller 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K; Martinez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

May 4 – SFW 1B Claude Martin (.394, 3 HR, 10 RBI) goes 6-7 in a 13-inning win of the Warriors over the Pacifics. Martin is the 22nd player to have a 6-hit game in the ABL, and the first since Alejandro Olvera in 1990 to do so. The Warriors previously celebrated a 6-hit game through Chris “Missing” Lynch’s bat in 1979, then also beating the Pacifics.
May 4 – IND OF R.J. Stinton (.288, 2 HR, 4 RBI) seems to be out for the year with a broken knee.

Complaints and stuff

I may not be around for some time.