[Westheim]

Originally Posted by edtheguy

Coach of the year material there!

You just read on. You will understand.

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Raccoons (83-56) @ Canadiens (62-77) – September 8-10, 1995

Whenever we cross the 49th, I have a bad feeling. Usually, my feeling will be justified shortly. The Canadiens can be average all they want, they will find some exploit to humiliate us.

Vern Kinnear will not be available for this matchup, which is unfortunate enough, and he may also still miss some games in the following all-important 4-game set in Milwaukee.

Projected matchups:
Jason Turner (17-6, 2.83 ERA) vs. John Collins (8-12, 5.62 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (14-5, 3.19 ERA) vs. Arnold McCray (8-15, 3.82 ERA)
Antonio Donis (0-0, 11.25 ERA) vs. Orlando Blanco (3-5, 3.46 ERA)

The Canadiens’ franchise record for strikeouts in one game was 12. John Collins tied it in the sixth inning of this game. The Raccoons were in swinging mood, and didn’t hit an awful lot, yet when they hit something, they hit it forcefully, and so while Collins was on the verge of setting a new franchise (and possibly league) record, he actually trailed in the game, 4-1, mainly due to home runs hit by Vinson in the second and Jin in the fourth. Unfortunately for Collins, he did not get another strikeout in the game. Turner made the final out in the sixth on a groundout, and Brewer and Salazar also put the ball in play in the top 7th. A walk to Reece ended his day, still tied for the franchise record. This game was made even more remarkable by Jason Turner also throwing in an odd performance. He went seven innings, exhausting himself with ill control, but also struck out nine batters and only allowed a single hit, an RBI single to Michael McFarland in the fourth. While the bullpen wobbled some, it held on. 5-1 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, HR, RBI; Jin 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Turnet 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (18-6);

Who held the record of 12 K’s in a game for the Canadiens before this game, now being joined by John Collins? It is a group of four pitchers: Bill Smith (1984), Raimundo Beato (1988), Manny Ramos, and Arnold McCray (both 1992). Of course we know “Pooky” Beato, and Bill Smith was the pitcher who famously picked the Stars when we made him the exact same contract offer almost ten years ago.

I am still not over that, and probably will never be.

Middle game. O-Mo had the day off. Offense was low on either side and the Canadiens were the first to score, when they chained up four singles off Miguel Lopez in the bottom 4th. The Raccoons responded with loading the bags in the top 5th, and with one out Vinson whiffed and Ingall grounded out. In the top 6th we had Jin on first with one out. Lopez bunted, and the catcher Julio Castillo threw the bunt away. The go-ahead runs moved into scoring position with David Brewer coming to bat. Brewer had three singles on the day, but grounded out this time. It was still enough to score the tying run in Jin, but Lopez was left on when Salazar popped out to short. We left the bags full in the seventh, and not only I was getting more aggressive. Brewer on first and one out in the top 8th, we called a hit-and-run, and Salazar took that same pitch to deep right for a double, and Brewer scored easily the go-ahead run. Salazar was brought in to score by Reece and Green, and we were up by two. Mike Dye failed to blow the save, and we won. 3-1 Coons. Brewer 4-5, RBI; Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Green 2-4, BB, RBI; Ingall 2-5; Higgins 2-4, BB; Lopez 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (15-5);

*15* hits in this game, and Salazar’s go-ahead RBI double was the only one that was not a single! Accordingly, we left 15 men on base. Woof.

I wanted David Brewer and Neil Reece fresh and ready in the upcoming Milwaukee series, so both spent game 3 chewing sunflower seeds on the bench. Newton was hard enough to get into a game.

The final game in Canada had its share of heroes. One was Newton, who drove in a run and threw out at home the only serious attempt of the Canadiens to score in the first five innings. The other was Donis. Through five, he pitched the most dominant you could possibly pitch. Forest Hartley hit a solo shot off him in the sixth, and we seemed to have him in there for two long, as Castillo 2-shot him in the seventh, soling an otherwise great line. Royce Green in turn, who had whiffed a lot recently, came through when the latter home run off Donis cut our lead to 5-3 through seven. Two on, two out, two balls, two strikes, Green singled to right to score two, and that removed the game from the Canadiens’ reach for good. 7-3 Raccoons. Higgins 2-4, BB; Ingall 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Green 2-5, 3 RBI; Salazar (PH) 1-1; Donis 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, RBI [first major league win!]; Lagarde 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Neil Reece was Player of the Week in the CL for the week ending with the Canadiens series, going 14-26 with 2 HR and 6 RBI.

With the sweep of the Canadiens on the weekend we moved to 172-170 all time against them. HOW SWEET THE TASTE!!

The sweet any sweep is, the sweeter was the fact that our chasers stumbled. The Titans won two of three against the Crusaders and slid to five back. Meanwhile, the Loggers split four at home against the Indians and fell to 5 1/2 back. And we will go to Woodstown next.

Raccoons (86-56) @ Loggers (81-62) – September 11-14, 1995

Beforehand, bad news for Vern Kinnear: his elbow sprain did not become better, and he would not be available for this series. That smelled. You would have wanted another powerful left-handed bat against the strong right-handed part of the Loggers’ rotation. That rotation ranked 2nd in the league, and the offense had the 2nd-highest batting average, scoring the fourth-most runs.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (10-9, 3.21 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (16-7, 2.53 ERA)
Robert Vàzquez (12-6, 3.62 ERA) vs. Davis Sims (14-6, 3.39 ERA)
Kisho Saito (10-9, 3.26 ERA) vs. Jorge Casas (13-10, 3.73 ERA)
Jason Turner (18-6, 2.78 ERA) vs. Rafael Garcia (11-14, 4.63 ERA)

Split this series, and we are in good shape in this division. Win the series, three out of four, and you possibly have only the Titans to worry about with 16 to play.

Wade and Martin Garcia battled fiercely in the opener of the 4-game set. The Coons got up 1-0 early with an RBI triple by O-Mo in the top 1st, and either pitcher prevented scoring chances through four. In the top 5th, Wade led off with a walk and was eventually just barely scored. He would then give up the first hard hit of the day for the Loggers, a 1-out double by Jose Perez, in the bottom 5th and could not keep Perez from scoring. Miguel Vela drove him in. Still up 2-1, Vinson led off with a triple in the seventh. That brought up Wade, and while this was a big spot and we needed the run, Wade was dealing well, and would not come out. He was sent batting, and walked again. While Brewer made an out, Chih-tui Jin got Vinson in, but Reece ended the inning with a double play. And of course, Wade came apart in the bottom 7th. Leadoff doubles by Bob Grant and Drake Evans sent him packing, the tying run on second base. Martinez allowed Evans to score after throwing a wild pitch and then not striking out the side, and all was for nought. In the bottom 8th, the go-ahead run for the Loggers was on third base, and with two out, Vinson allowed a passed ball. Lost game. 4-3 Loggers. Jin 2-4, RBI;

Vinson was benched. At best forever.

If you happened to tune into the second game in the few markets it was on TV, and you were a coonskin cap wearer, you were likely to switch over to the All In the Family rerun pretty soon. The first eight batters Robert Vázquez faced all reached base. Seven safely, and one on an error. The Loggers jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first, and Vázquez was loaded with three more runs on batters he put on and that Day Grandridge allowed to score on a 2-out, 3-run triple by Gates Golunski. Davis Sims tossed a 4-hit shutout when he left with an injury in the seventh inning, and only an error got the Raccoons started in the top 8th. Then we put on our first five men in the inning, The Loggers bullpen was rapidly disintegrating. Matt Higgins had led off the inning batting for Grandridge, and actually appeared at the plate yet again. Four runs in, three men on, he grounded out, and the rally was over. 9-4 Loggers. Brewer 2-5, 3B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4; Grandridge 4.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

At least now we know who’ll be dropped into the bullpen.

Not that game 3 and Kisho Saito on the mound turned out any less horrible. Before everybody had sat down, the Raccoons were behind 4-0, because the Loggers were hitting balls all over the place and Saito failed to punch out anybody. Plus, the Raccoons again showed zero offense. Through six, Casas tossed a friggin’ one-hitter, and when the Coons got a pair into scoring position in the top 7th, Quinn, batting for Rodriguez, struck out to end the inning. Reece and Green left runners in scoring position in the eighth. Top 9th, down 5-0. O-Mo singled, and Raul Perez then walked Salazar and Baldy. Closer John Bennett came in with no outs and the tying run in the on-deck circle. Lagarde was hit for with Ingall, who flew out to left, and into foul ground, too. McDonald flew out to center. Brewer whiffed. 5-1 Loggers.

Yeah.

Jason Turner was probably the sharpest tool we still had lying around, and he went in the last game. Jose Perez hit a leadoff home run for the Loggers off the sharpest ball of gum in Portland. Higgins’ 2-out single put him into a position to steal second and score on Bobby Quinn’s double to left to tie the game in the top 2nd, but Turner seamlessly fit into the mold cast by the rabid starters we had thrown up the last few days. He was hit all over the place. The only differences were slightly better defense turning a pair of double plays early, and some residual stuff for a K here or there. That still left the offense as miserable as the last two days. Still tied in the sixth, Reece walked to start the inning. He tried to gain a base the dirty way, but was thrown out. Two pitches later, Royce Green homered to dead center. In return, Turner gave up not one, not two, but three runs in the bottom 6th, and when the seventh started, Perez singled his way on, and Turner threw away Miguel Vela’s grounder, and the Loggers put up another 3-spot in the inning. 7-2 Loggers. Brewer 3-4;

The Titans swept the Indians in a 4-game set.

In other news

September 10 – SFW CF John Hensley (.280, 18 HR, 75 RBI) enters the history books with a 6-hit performance in a 12-6 thumping of the Pacifics at the hands of the Warriors. Hensley drives in four with four singles, a double, and a 3-run homer. This is the 26th 6-hit performance in ABL history, and the third time a Warrior has done it (Chris Lynch, 1979; Claude Martin, 1993). All three of the Warriors’ 6-hitters have done it against the Pacifics!
September 11 – The Aces fall to the Falcons, 6-5, but Las Vegas’ Javier Vargas has an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 25 games.
September 12 – Reversed luck: the Aces jump on the Falcons, 11-5, but Vargas is left with no hits and has his streak end at 25 games.
September 13 – Milwaukee suffers terrible blows with injuries to SP Davis Sims (15-6, 3.27 ERA) and OF/1B Jerry Fletcher (.303, 2 HR, 48 RBI). Sims has a fracture in his elbow, and Fletcher a fractured foot. Neither will be back this season.
September 14 – DAL INF Rodrigo Morales (.295, 10 HR, 67 RBI) is out for the year with a knee sprain.
September 14 – Recurring back spasms also end the season of CHA 2B/SS Adam Kent (.259, 13 HR, 50 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

Nah, there was certainly no manipulation going on here. No baseballs were doctored in the course of this last series, where the opposition out-hit us 45-23.

Left to play: Bayhawks and Falcons from the CL South, Titans, Indians, Crusaders from our division. Not that it matters. They would lose a 3-game set against the Multnomah Junior High School for the Physically Handicapped softball team. (eyes turn to red glowing slits) Vinson wouldn't be able to throw out 12-year old in a wheelchair stealing third base ...!

Like I said. I knew during that first Loggers game in Portland that we would not make it. Blowing a 5-game lead in six days sounds like a challenge, but they’re gonna make it. This here, the perfect collapse.

All those tears could have been spent so much better.