The last time we finished behind the Canadiens was in 1990, when they won the division, nine games ahead of the Raccoons, who finished second. In the 13 seasons prior to that, the much resented Northern Smelly Elks beat the Raccoons ten times in the final division standings, every year except 1983, 1987, and 1989 – which includes the two times we won the division before 1990, and that 1987 season where we fell one game short of the Indians, while the Canadiens mysteriously finished 66-96 after winning on average 100 games the previous three years.
They have not been ahead of us for six seasons, and I still hate them with every fibre of my body.
Now for something different, something I found out in the office today when I was supposed to do some actual work so my bosses could bill their clients, but I cared for about our beloved Critters.
So, I was skipping through the Furry Annals, as I privately call this collection of memories. I would like to take you back to December of 1992. Two months earlier, Grant West sat down the last Capital to clinch the Raccoons’ first championship. There, we made a trade that was supposed to push us even further ahead.
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Originally Posted by Westheim
I came across […] Vancouver’s David Brewer, but the Canadiens were in no mood to even discuss my fiendish proposals for their 25-year old .370ish batter and excellent defender still under team control, despite me throwing in three players from the active roster and asking them to pick a fourth to get talks started.
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Of course we didn’t acquire Brewer that season, but signed him two harsh Oregon winters later as a free agent for TONS OF MONEY.
Instead, in 1992, we acquired someone from the Salem Wolves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Westheim
December 9 – The Raccoons and Wolves strike a deal that sees the Raccoons acquiring 2B/3B/1B Mark “Icon” Allen (.290, 179 HR, 754 RBI) and [a] minor leaguer […], while the Wolves add to their pitching with SP Robert Vázquez (102-61, 2.89 ERA) and MR Roberto Carrillo (38-28, 3.29 ERA, 39 SV).
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Yeah, and that one worked out great, didn’t it. Allen struggled to bat .200 in two years in Portland and was not signed by any team this season. However, who was that minor leaguer?
Added more as an afterthough, he was the main prize, and he is now more and more emerging as a key player on this team. He struck my eye just a week earlier heading into the rule 5 draft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Westheim
I also was not intending to take anybody in the rule 5 draft.
There was one infielder in the draft who was interesting, the Wolves’ Marvin Ingall, but ultimately he was batting .257 in AAA, how much can he bat in the majors?
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That trade? It was always the right move. I just had to sink $1.6M into Mark Allen to get an incredibly serviceable infielder on board. Depending on how other things fall into place, Marvin Ingall could be the leadoff man next season for the Raccoons. Him or Luke Newton.
However, in order for Luke Newton to bat leadoff every day, with Neil Reece set in stone and Stephen Buell playing an incredibly cost-effective wingman, we must re-sign neither Royce Green, nor Vern Kinnear.
(cue dramatic music)