[Westheim]

Raccoons (8-4) vs. Loggers (9-3) – April 21-23, 1998

Despite batting .301 as a team, a mark that topped the CL, the Loggers had only scored 52 runs (9th). On the other hand, their pitching rivalled only the Coons’, allowing 31 runs in 12 games, including an 0.35 ERA mark out of the bullpen.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (2-0, 0.60 ERA) vs. Davis Sims (1-0, 4.15 ERA)
Randy Farley (1-0, 2.53 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (2-0, 1.71 ERA)
Jose Rivera (1-0, 1.20 ERA) vs. Rafael Garcia (1-0, 3.00 ERA)

It is true. We always play both the Garciaces in every series. Fabulous.

Game 1
MIL: CF Fletcher – 3B Nakayama – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – C L. Ramirez – 2B J. Perez – 1B D. Evans – SS M. Jones – P Sims
POR: 2B Ingall – RF Newton – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Buell – SS Guerin – 3B Crowe – C Guerrero – P M. Lopez

Disgusting Bakile Hiwalani brought the Loggers ahead early with an RBI single in the first, in which Lopez was much adrift. The Raccoons looked bad for only two innings before a walk by Crowe and Guerrero reaching on an error presented a scoring chance in the third inning. Ingall took control of our team home run leaderboard with a sound shot out of right, and the Coons were 3-1 on the upswing. Unfortuantely, Lopez was no good, allowed the game to be tied through Drake Evans’ 2-run home run in the fourth, and was then defeated for good by Davis Sims’ 2-out RBI single in the sixth. Mike Jones’ throwing error put the go-ahead runs in scoring position for the Coons in the bottom 6th, but Guerrero grounded out poorly. The Raccoons drew nine walks, but couldn’t get anybody across. A throwing error by Guerrero helped the Loggers to increase their booty in the eighth off innocent Miller and less innocent Santana. 6-3 Loggers. Ingall 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Tamburrino 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Marvin Ingall was the only reason we didn’t get no-hit. No other Raccoon had an H. 39 PA, 2 H, 9 BB, 5 K, 10 LOB. Ingall also has a 12-game hitting streak.

Game 2
MIL: CF Fletcher – SS B. Hernandez – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – C L. Ramirez – 2B J. Perez – 1B D. Evans – 3B M. Jones – P M. Garcia
POR: 2B Ingall – SS Guerin – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B Crowe – C Turner – LF Buell – RF Villegas – P Farley

Farley didn’t allow a hit through three innings, then was rattled by Bartolo Hernandez hitting an unlikely home run leading off the fourth. Worthy of every bit of hatred, Hiwalani doubled under Crowe’s glove to score Ramirez, 2-0 in no time. Stephen Buell’s stray homer (which finally gave him an RBI after 38 AB without one) in the fifth inning only made this a close game at a superficial glance. Martin Garcia was sawing the Raccoons in half with ease. Up 3-1, he left after eight innings, having fanned nine. Ricardo Medina came into the game, drilled Guerin, and Reece singled to put the tying runs on base. Wedemeyer grounded into a fielder’s choice to Reece’s detriment, but with runners on the corners, Crowe singled to left, 3-2. Two on, one out, Kent hit for Turner, grounded to right – and PAST Jose Perez! Weeds stomped around third and made it home far ahead of the throw, and we were tied! Crowe singled, and then, with the bags full - …….. Villegas struck out and Newton rolled on to second, and we got to play extra innings again. But thankfully, this one didn’t take long. Scott Wade walked Jerry Fletcher to start the 10th, Ramirez doubled him in, and Medina whiffed Ingall and Guerin, before Reece grounded out in the bottom half. 4-3 Loggers. Kent (PH) 1-1, RBI; Buell 2-4, HR, RBI; Farley 7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K;

Game 3
MIL: CF Fletcher – 1B D. Evans – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – C L. Ramirez – 2B J. Perez – SS Nakayama – 3B M. Jones – P R. Garcia
POR: 3B Crowe – 2B Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Buell – RF Villegas – SS Guerin – C Turner – P Rivera

The Raccoons filled the bags in the bottom 1st before Villegas fouled out for the inning to conclude scorelessly. That was about it for them. Jose Rivera did what he could to save himself, and despite walking three Loggers in the sixth he managed to pitch seven shutout innings, and was not rewarded other than avoiding the loss. Donis appeared to start the eighth, walked pinch-hitter Ricardo Rivera, walked Cristo Ramirez, gave Bakile Hiwalani a belt, and then left with no outs collected, leaving everybody to expect him to absorb a – well-deserved! – loss, although Tamburrino and Reece held the damage to one run. Bottom 9th, Raymond Léger pitched. Villegas led off with a single, but then Guerin popped out. Kent hit for Turner and grounded out, moving Villegas to second base. Steve Caddock, batting a frightening .071/.188/.259 appeared as a pinch-hitter for Gabby De La Rosa, worked a 3-1 count and then foolishly took his big swing. Except that there was nothing foolish about it. Léger threw right down Broadway, Caddock hammered into the poor ball and the despiseful Bakile Hiwalani ran after it in vain as the shot dinked in two feet behind the left field wall. Three seconds of stunned silence later, the park burst into cheers as the Brownshirts erupted from their dugout to mob walkoff hero Caddock. 2-1 Raccoons!! Newton (PH) 1-1; Caddock (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Rivera 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 2 K;

Steve Caddock’s second career homer raises his 99-AB career slash line to a much healthier .141/.250/.232; like they say, it gets easier in your second one hundred at-bats.

Raccoons (9-6) vs. Condors (11-5) – April 24-26, 1998

Here came the ex-Coons to town, with O’Morrissey, and Brewer, and the gods only knew whom else. This was the team that was the odds-on favorite to win it all for this year. Their rotation was a bit shaky so far (5.13 ERA, 10th in CL), but that was nothing that couldn’t be cured by a weekend trip to Portland. They led the league with 86 runs scored already.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (1-1, 0.38 ERA) vs. Bastyao Caixinha (1-2, 5.32 ERA)
Manuel Movonda (1-1, 2.05 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (0-0, 5.65 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (2-1, 2.18 ERA) vs. Harry Griggs (2-0, 5.32 ERA)

Game 1
TIJ: 2B Brewer – C F. Jackson – RF Wales – LF Horn – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Galindo – CF L. Maldonado – SS Gorden – P Caixinha
POR: 2B Ingall – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – LF Buell – 1B Utting – C Turner – SS Guerin – RF Villegas – P Saito

Nothing new in the Pacific Northwest. Kisho Saito through six innings held on to a 4-hit shutout, and himself had 50% of his team’s hits. No Coon had reached third base so far. After a leadoff walk to Crowe in the bottom 7th, Reece’s fly to deep center was intercepted by Luis Maldonado, and the Raccoons put two on, but still didn’t reach third base. Two line drive singles that dinked in in front of onrushing defenders put runners on the corners with two down in the top 8th. O’Morrissey was up to bat next, and I knew how this was going to end. One rip later, two runs were in, and this was how things were going at the Willamette. 3-1 Condors. Utting 2-4; Newton (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (1-2) and 1-2;

Marvin Ingall’s hitting streak found its end here, after 14 games of excellent bat work.

The Inepticoons successfully reached last place in runs scored (51 in 16 games, or 3.2 R/G) with this shameful display of … ineptness. Kisho Saito was not amused, the Queen was not amused, and I was throwing a tantrum in my office until the XXL baseball I furiously launched from my fists of anger bounced off the plexiglass windows and struck be unconscious at around 1:30a.m.

Game 2
TIJ: SS Boyle – 2B Brewer – RF Wales – LF Horn – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Galindo – C Vinson – CF Gorden – P J. Maldonado
POR: 3B Crowe – CF Newton – 2B Ingall – 1B Wedemeyer – C Turner – LF Kent – SS Guerin – RF Villegas – P Movonda

Movonda started the game in stellar fashion, striking out six in the first four innings, and a world of support … from Werner Turner’s leadoff homer in the second inning. Yeah, that was all, and the opposing pitcher’s RBI double with two down in the fifth thus tied the game back together. The Raccoons, a team completely lacking any dangerous hitter at this point, had to rely on the occasional long ball to get anything done, and Liam Wedemeyer came up with a rocket of a line drive home run in the seventh inning. We actually managed another run on a Movonda sac fly in the eighth, and yes, I was going to bring him back out for the ninth. Movonda had allowed three hits and had fanned eight so far, and he didn’t look like he was going to explode in another inning. In succession, he struck out David Brewer, struck out Dale Wales, and struck out Martin Horn! 3-1 Raccoons! Movonda 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, W (2-1);

Game 3
TIJ: 2B Brewer – C F. Jackson – RF Wales – LF Horn – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Galindo – CF L. Maldonado – SS Gorden – P Griggs
POR: 2B Ingall – LF Newton – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – C Turner – 3B Utting – SS Caddock – RF Villegas – P M. Lopez

Werner Turner again plated the first run of the game, and even earlier than the day before, and then even TWO runs, with a 2-out, 2-run single that just by a hair bounced away from Rory Gorden and into shallow left center. What a rush of offense!! While Lopez was wild, but the Condors didn’t convert, Wedemeyer hit a homer in the fourth, 3-0, but the Coons had Caddock and the fourth run thrown out at home by Luis Maldonado, who made a good play on Villegas’ 2-out double and ended the inning. A terrible Lopez was finally knocked up for two runs in the fifth inning, as the Condors reminded everybody in attendance that they were actually playing for first place and had the means to do it. While we removed Lopez before he could burn the house down, and actually scratched out single runs in the sixth and seventh, the bullpen still had to hold on to that 4-2, then 5-2 lead. Miller pitched a perfect eighth, but Wade made it a bit more prickly in the ninth. After striking out Maldonado, Gorden singled against him. With two out, Gorden was on second, and Brewer slung a high fly ball to deep left. Stephen Buell charged after it and made a launching grab – ballgame! 5-2 Raccoons. Wedemeyer 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Buell (PH) 1-1;

In other news

April 21 – LVA SP Rafael Barbosa (2-0, 0.69 ERA) fans 11 and allows only three hits in a 6-0 shutout over the Thunder.
April 22 – Season in danger for L.A.’s hope, SP Jonathan Dumont (2-1, 3.06 ERA). The 22-yr old has a torn labrum and could miss the whole year with that.

Complaints and stuff

3.3 R/G. The pitching won’t hold up forever! The last time we were in the 3.3 R/G region? That was 1981. A full 3.2 R/G for a 65-97 finish. Huzzah. Good times ahead.