[Westheim]

Here comes Draft week. The Draft may have delayed this update, since I didn’t feel like spending three hours on that the last few days.

Raccoons (40-22) @ Rebels (33-29) – June 12-14, 1995

The Rebels’ record was kind of camouflaging how good their team really was. They were 2nd in runs scored in the FL, and 1st in runs allowed. This would be a tough cookie to chew for the Furballs. The Rebels had maybe the most dangerous hitter in baseball at this point in their lineup, RF Raúl Vázquez, who stood at 16 homers already.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (4-1, 3.31 ERA) vs. Henry Selph (5-4, 3.23 ERA)
Robert Vázquez (5-2, 3.82 ERA) vs. Edgar Rey (5-4, 3.75 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-5, 4.07 ERA) vs. Harry Griggs (7-6, 3.50 ERA)

Miguel Lopez was perhaps the worst-hitting pitcher in our rotation, just barely getting over .110 lifetime at the plate, but he set an exclamation mark in the series opener with a 2-out, 3-run homer off Selph that put up the first three runs in the game. Royce Green oomphed a massive 2-run shot in the third, but Lopez was merely human, too, and in the bottom 4th Raúl Vázquez (told you!) and Antonio Diaz hit back-to-back solo home runs off Lopez, cutting our lead to 5-2. All runs had been scored with the long ball so far. Lopez went only six after ill control early on, but kept the Rebels from further scoring shenanigans. We scratched out an extra run in the top 9th, eliminating the need to have a “closer”. So we brought Lagarde, who promptly walked two batters. Salazar would bail out the team by starting a game-ending double play eventually. 6-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, BB, RBI; Kinnear 3-4; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Lopez 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-1) and 1-2, HR, 3 RBI; West 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Home runs remained a topic in the middle game, despite the Rebels resting Raúl Vázquez against his former team mate at the Indians, Robert Vázquez. A 2-out solo home run by Robert Carney put the Rebels ahead in the bottom 4th. The Coons had left five men on in the first three frames, four of them in scoring position. We also had the bags full with no outs in the top 5th and the meat of the lineup coming up. This time they cashed in: Neil Reece floated a shy fly into shallow right, where it dinked in for a 2-run single, and Royce Green added a run. Rain set in in Richmond when the Coons added two in the top 5th, and the game was shortly interrupted in the bottom 6th, but it was enough to throw Vázquez out of sync and he conceded a run before being removed from the game. We were up 6-2 in the bottom 7th when I sent in Campoy, who gave up a homer and a double and retired nobody. With the #9 spot due to lead off the eighth for us, Vela and Rodriguez entered in a double switch here. Vela conceded Campoy’s run, but got out of the frame still up 6-4. Yet, we were already knee deep in the bullpen misery again. Martinez got two out in the bottom 8th, then loaded the bases. With switch-hitter Dana McDaniel pinch-hitting for the Rebels in this spot, we still wanted a right-hander to pitch to him, but not Martinez, yet that meant going to De La Rosa. McDaniel shot a grounder up the first base line, but Higgins made the play for the final out of the eighth. Hoping for Gabby to finish it quickly in the ninth, we were left disappointed. The Rebels put two on with one out. Antonio Gutierrez grounded out to O-Mo, but the only play was to first base, putting the tying runs in scoring position and Carney in the batter’s box. On a 1-2 pitch, Carney knocked in the tying runs, and the game went to extra innings. In the top 10th, O-Mo made an 0-5 day less miserable with a 2-out RBI single, which again posed the question who would close with a 1-run lead in the bottom 10th. Burnett came in. With two out and nobody on, Raúl Vázquez was brought out to pinch-hit and walked against Burnett, and then Brad Brown singled to left. Vázquez went to third. Lefty Gabriel Cruz was up for Burnett to retire. Cruz singled to left, tying run comes home, and we play on. Jackie Lagarde again was thrown into a game. He would walk three batters in 1.1 innings before Cruz walked off the Rebels with a 2-run homer in the 12th. 9-7 Rebels. Brewer 5-7; Higgins 2-4, 2 BB; Reece 5-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Green 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Vázquez 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K;

We all need our scapegoats. I found mine. Lagarde, De La Rosa, West, and our new addition, Campoy, they are ruining game after game after game.

I went after them with the axe after this game. Lagarde was to be demoted first, but he had the balls to refuse demotion. The axe then hit De La Rosa, who had no protective rights. Demoted alongside him was Jose Rodriguez, and we added Marvin Ingall again, plus a new catcher in Ron McDonald.

Game 3. Scott Wade better be good. He wasn’t. The Rebels put four runs on him in the first inning, in which he expended 41 pitches, so this game was out of the window in an instant. Or was it? The Coons put three runs on Harry Griggs in the third, and Wade dragged himself through six innings on 115 pitches, allowing only one more run. Down 5-3 after six, a wonderful thing happened in that our designated wrecking balls for this game, Campoy and Miller, did not allow a runner past first base. At the same time, Griggs threw 140 pitches going eight, and the Coons didn’t progress past first base, either. 5-3 Rebels. Brewer 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Kinnear 2-4;

Oh well.

The draft took place on our off day on Thursday. See the results in a separate post, thanks.

Raccoons (41-24) @ Loggers (36-30) – June 16-18, 1995

The Loggers were continuing to be about average, with their rotation in the top 3 of the league, and we had ailing bullpens in common. Theirs ailed a little bit less, though.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (8-1, 2.93 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (7-5, 2.27 ERA)
Jason Turner (7-2, 3.30 ERA) vs. Rafael Garcia (5-6, 5.32 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-1, 3.29 ERA) vs. Jorge Casas (3-5, 3.81 ERA)

Left-handed aces up in the opener, and from the beginning it was a duel with very unequal halves. The Loggers were up by a run for most of the game, first 1-0, then 2-1, against Saito, who gave up lots of singles and struck out only three batters. By contrast, Garcia mowed down Raccoons like a maniac, finishing with nine strikeouts in eight innings, and hardly ever stumbled after loading the bags in the first (but the Raccoons didn’t score). Saito went into the seventh, where Cristo Ramirez, the only lefty in the Loggers’ lineup, put him to rest with a home run that bloomed the score to 5-1. We were done right there. Of course we got stellar relief in this game. 5-1 Loggers. Brewer 4-5, 3 2B; Reece 3-4, RBI; Martinez 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Saito gave up 12 hits in 7.1 innings, which is a lot, but of these nine were singles, some of which sneaked through the holes in the infield, and one bunt base hit he couldn’t dig out on which MIL Jerry Fletcher reached first. Fletcher tried the stunt thrice, and Saito made the two other plays. Still, Saito is hitting a valley here. Getting no support from a 2-man lineup doesn’t help either. And OF COURSE Martinez struck out the final four Loggers in the game.

Royce Green got a day off in game 2. His hacking was getting more and more wild at this point.

David Brewer led off game 2 with a double, then left the game with back stiffness. Ingall replaced him and scored on a Reece single to get Jason Turner a quick 1-0 lead. Two frames later, Neil Reece powered an offering from Rafael Garcia out of left for a 2-run homer and became the Coons’ first batter to double digit dingers on the season. Turner no-hit the Loggers through five, before it was pitcher Rafael Garcia who led off the bottom 6th with a single to left. Still, Turner was 2-hitting the Loggers through seven? Complete game shutout maybe? Way to go. Izumo Sasaki doubled off the wall to lead off the bottom 8th, and then Augusto Garza hit a pinch-hit home run to soil Turner’s day and knock him from the game. In a 5-2 game, the closer of the day was supposed to be Daniel Miller after a string of solid games. Struck out Bob Grant, struck out Jose Perez, and got Drake Evans in a 1-2 count to ground out to Ingall. 5-2 Coons. Brewer 1-1, 2B; Salazar 3-5, 2B; Reece 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B, RBI; Jin 2-3, BB; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (8-2);

David Brewer is listed as DTD with his back stiffness. He will be kept out of the Sunday game here, and we will see to what happens after that. We do not have an off day on Monday, instead going straight home to play the Indians.

Game 3. Royce Green was very upset to having watched the last game from outside, where Reece had gone double digit deep, and used his first chance to tie him with a 2-run homer that gave us a 2-0 lead in the top 2nd. Miguel Lopez didn’t hold on to that lead, loaded the bags in the bottom 2nd, and Jerry Fletcher tied the game with a 2-out, 2-run double. He managed to get more horrible in the third, surrendering a double, a triple, a walk, and a wild pitch for three runs. The opposing pitcher Jorge Casas would hit an RBI double off Lopez to knock him out in the fifth. Casas was not too good on the mound himself, but everybody seemed to be able to walk over our staff with ease. We were down 6-4 after six, and got our leadoff batters, Quinn and Higgins, on in the seventh. Casas was still in there, which might be a mistake by the Loggers. Salazar popped out, but Reece singled to right to load the bags. Still, no reliever for Milwaukee against O-Mo. He hit a sac fly. Casas went on to walk Green, and now they relieved him, bringing in Pedro Cruz to face Baldivía. Baldy flew out to center… Campoy gave the run right back in the bottom 7th. We got another chance in the top 9th, when a 1-out single by Salazar brought the tying run up in Neil Reece against John Bennett. But Bennett put a K on Reece and O-Mo grounded out to end the day. 7-5 Loggers. Reece 2-5, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B, RBI; Green 3-3, BB, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI;

In other news

June 14 – The Scorpions’ 22-year old SP Steve Rogers (8-2, 2.12 ERA) will have to miss a start or two with a tender elbow.
June 16 – CIN LF/RF Michael Root (.298, 4 HR, 31 RBI) smokes his 2,000th career base hit in a 10-9 over the Rebels. Root, 33, the first overall pick in the 1982 draft by the Knights, and 4-time Hitter of the Year (1984-85, 1989-90), hits a 7th-inning single off Randy Rakes for the milestone.
June 16 – WAS OF Dale Cleveland (.261, 6 HR, 25 RBI) is out for the season with a torn posterior cruciate ligament.
June 17 – NAS RF/CF Orlando Mendoza (.286, 1 HR, 14 RBI) is also out for this season, having suffered a torn labrum.
June 17 – 39-year old veteran SS/2B Eddy Bailey (.250, 1 HR, 21 RBI) and a minor leaguer are sent to Cincinnati by the Wolves to acquire MR Gilberto Salazar (1-0, 0.92 ERA, 1 SV in 29.1 IP)

Complaints and stuff

Scored 27, allowed 30 runs. Another dreadful week for Raccoons pitching. The rotation was no exception this time around. But our rotation is still 1st in the league, the bullpen is close to becoming last (11th now), although we still hold an .4 ERA advantage over the miserable Condors pen there.

Lagarde will have to be dealt with. He is unbelievably terrible, that ERA ain’t even telling it all. His contract will be up after this season, so no huge money involved. Still, no team wants a piece of him, unless for AAA scrubs. Yes, I posted him for offers, right after that game in Richmond he lost, where he ended up in hitter counts in all but one AB, where he got to 2-2 and couldn’t seal the deal.

Struggles elsewhere on the roster notwithstanding, after game 2 in Milwaukee the Raccoons stuffed the top 3 of the CL batting race entirely with their own. O-Mo (.355) led Salazar (.353) and the ailing Brewer (.346)! They held their iron grip on the top 3 on Sunday, too, despite Brewer being idle.

Neil Reece batted .500 this week (though only 12-28 for the weekly honors week), but the guy who was really hot this week plays for San Francisco. 35-year old Roberto Rodriguez batted .682!! That’s 15-22 and that’s totally awesome.