[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-24) vs. Condors (29-21) – June 1-3, 1998

The Condors were going fairly strong this season, but they were struggling badly with their rotation, which ranked 10th in the CL. In return, their bullpen was 2nd, and their mark of 207 runs scored put them 5th in the league.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (1-7, 3.09 ERA) vs. Juan Lara (3-4, 6.05 ERA)
Manuel Movonda (3-4, 2.82 ERA) vs. Arnold Ralph (2-3, 4.41 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-6, 3.82 ERA) vs. Woody Roberts (2-3, 4.86 ERA)

We get three right-handers and we will have the Thursday after this series off. We will be subjected to 20 straight days without an off day after that.

Game 1
TIJ: 2B Brewer – C F. Jackson – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Horn – SS Gorden – 1B Galindo – RF L. Maldonado – CF A. Rodriguez – P J. Lara
POR: SS Guerin – RF Newton – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – 1B Michel – LF Parker – 2B Caddock – C McDonald – P Saito

Saito was not pitching very effective, expending himself for 111 tosses through six innings in this start, and while the Condors crowded him twice, including in the sixth, he did not allow any runs, which was always a good strategy to not lose a game. That still didn’t make him a winner. Juan Lara allowed one hit through five inning, and Saito was hit for leading off the bottom 6th, which saw the Raccoons load the bags with two out, and then Michel struck out. The bullpen imploded as soon as Saito was out of the game, starting with Dave Beck and continuing with Daniel Miller, Gabby De La Rosa, and Kelly Fairchild. 3-0 Condors. Crowe 1-2, 2 BB; Saito 6.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K;

Dave Beck was a Raccoon for 11 days now. 6 G, 4 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 11 ER for a 24.75 ERA. You know what? That’s enough. So, the Raccoons designated him for assignment the same night. Get that sucker outta here!!

We recalled Fred Carlton from AAA, but in all honesty, two things are a possibility here: a) I don’t give a crap about the relief corps on this orphanage ablaze here, and b) if all left-handers keep walking left-handed batters, I can use right-handers anyway.

Game 2
TIJ: 2B Brewer – RF L. Maldonado – SS Boyle – LF Horn – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – 1B Solís – CF Gorden – P Ralph
POR: SS Guerin – LF Newton – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – RF Brady – 1B Utting – C Turner – 2B Caddock – P Movonda

For some early excitement, Clyde Brady climbed the fence to rob Ben O’Morrissey of a homer in the second inning. In bad news, that still put the Condors 1-0 ahead, since Horn scored on the sac fly. Horn had been hit by Movonda, had stolen second, and advanced to third on Turner’s wild throw to second. The Raccoons tied the game in the third. In the fifth, Guerin reached on O’Morrissey’s error to start the inning. The hit-and-run was on, and Guerin went to third as Newton singled up the middle. Runners on the corners, no out, the Coons got only one run on a Crowe single as Reece and Brady struck out. The Coons were leaving them on in droves again, while the Condors didn’t get on at all. They actually got a second base runner on a walk to Luis Maldonado, but apart from that, the Colombian Beauty was keeping his dishes empty. Two down in the top 8th, with the attendance slightly antsy, Rory Gorden hit a poor grounder that didn’t get far. He dashed for first, Turner shot up from behind the plate and sent a rocket to first – OUT! On 109 pitches, Movonda came back out in the 2-1 game for the ninth, still having allowed only two base runners. Jesus Galindo lifted a calm fly to right and to Brady. That brought up David Brewer, who extorted a walk from Movonda. Luis Maldonado grounded an 0-1 pitch back to Movonda, who went to second with it to get the lead runner. That brought up Bruce Boyle, and the count ran full, and HE worked a walk. Movonda was visibly running out of steam. He would have one more chance with Martin Horn as he tried to keep this in place. Horn was eager to swing, missed once, then hit the 1-1 offering. Horn, who had just cycled the previous week, launched a big shot to deep left. Is he gonna …!? Luke Newton was after that flyer, reached up, and nabbed in on the run!! WE HAVE A NO-HITTER!!!!!

WE HAVE A NO-HITTER!!!

THE COLOMBIAN BEAUTY HAS NO-HIT THE RUFFLED FLAMINGOS!!!

2-1 Raccoons. Guerin 2-4; Newton 2-3, BB, RBI; Crowe 2-3, BB, RBI; Movonda 9.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (4-4);

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

This is the 22nd no-hitter in ABL history, and for the very first time, the no-hitting pitcher has conceded a run in the effort, albeit an unearned one. The Colombian Beauty joins Juan Berrios (1977) and Jason Turner (1989) as No-No-Coons.

All hail Movonda! Whooooooo-(raises hands)-ooahhhh, MOVONDA!!! Where can we take out this flush of euphoria? Let’s ignore the fact that the ship almost went down due to insufficient offense! Which team can we batter into submission tomorrow? Oh, those same Condors again.

Game 3
TIJ: 2B Boyle – C F. Jackson – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Horn – SS Golden – RF L. Maldonado – 1B Brewer – CF A. Rodriguez – P Roberts
POR: SS Guerin – LF Newton – CF Reece – 1B Michel – RF Brady – C Turner – 3B Utting – 2B Caddock – P M. Lopez

In a massacre, Miguel Lopez registered six outs while being sledgehammered for ten hits and eight runs, the last two given up by Fairchild, who was also raped with bats, and the Condors led 11-0 after the top 3rd. It was probably futile at this point to go into detail about the Raccoons’ hitting fortunes. Let’s just say that even a 5-run sixth inning for the Raccoons failed to spark any excitement, and that we also got some ******ed relieving again from Donis, who took over from Miller, who failed to get through his second inning, with two down and the bags full and wild pitched and walked two runs in. 15-6 Condors. Reece 2-6, RBI; Utting 2-5, 2B, RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1, RBI;

More euphoria: The Rebels have claimed the sucker Dave Beck. I will have to write them a thank you card or send some chocolates, I think.

Also: Stephen Buell started a rehab assignment in AAA after coming off the DL to rebound from the separated shoulder. If all goes well, he should be here on Sunday or early next week.

Raccoons (26-26) vs. Indians (22-32) – June 5-7, 1998

Despite batting a lowly .245 as a team, the Indians were scoring runs, ranking 6th with 233 taps on home plate. Their rotation however was abysmal, ranking 11th with a 5.20 ERA in the Continental League. We were 5-1 against them this year, so maybe we could bungle ourselves back to a winning record here – however, then it was up to Farley and Rivera, since the team had proven not to win any Saito starts under any circumstances.

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (7-1, 2.24 ERA) vs. Dan George (4-4, 3.56 ERA)
Jose Rivera (3-1, 2.89 ERA) vs. Nick Jacobson (2-3, 5.65 ERA)
Kisho Saito (1-7, 2.84 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (1-7, 7.55 ERA)

If you could take a moment of your precious time to marvel at the ERA numbers of the third matchup. (marvels) Thank you for your time.

Game 1
IND: 3B Whaley – 2B M. Carter – C Cicalina – 1B M. Brown – CF J. Thompson – LF Fisher – RF Paredes – SS Chevalier – P George
POR: SS Guerin – LF Newton – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – 1B Michel – C Turner – 2B Utting – RF Villegas – P Farley

In his first start since being named Pitcher of the Month for May, Randy Farley got stomped. First, the very undistinguished Matt Whaley clubbed a 2-out, 3-run homer in the second inning, and then Jim Thompson upped the score with a 2-piece in the third inning. Yes, that’s our new gem! In murky weather and the occasional light drizzle, Farley didn’t get through the fifth and left on a 5-3 hook. The Indians however were playing mildly horrible in the field. Bottom 7th, Utting reached leading off when Matt Whaley botched the pickup on his harmless grounder. Utting moved to second on a passed ball on Urbano Cicalina (with two wild pitches on George in the game), and then Martin Carter made an error that allowed Clyde Brady, who hit for Tamburrino, to reach. That brought up Guerin with nobody out, and Guerin shocked the attendance with a massive 3-run homer to left center! That gave the Coons a lead. De La Rosa struck out Cicalina in the eighth, before Donis put on Brown, but retired the next two batters. Scott Wade came out with the 6-5 lead, and two grounders to Guerin and a fly to Reece did it. 6-5 Raccoons. Guerin 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Turner 2-4, RBI; Tamburrino 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-0);

That W was entirely on the Indians, who made three errors, including two in the crucial seventh, and Dan George threw the two wild ones, plus the passed ball on Cicalina. We will take it anyway.

Game 2
IND: LF G. Flores – 2B M. Carter – C Cicalina – 1B M. Brown – CF J. Thompson – RF Spinelli – 3B Whaley – SS Chevalier – P Jacobson
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Michel – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – C Turner – RF Brady – 2B McLaughlin – LF Parker – P Rivera

The offense got going instantly, as Cicalina homered off Rivera in the top 1st, but Neil Reece set the score straight with a 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning, plus the Coons added another run after a Crowe single, Turner double, and Brady groundout. Rivera struggled early in the contest, giving up lots of hard contact, but the outfielders took care of everything that wasn’t too deep, and the Indians didn’t score again against him. Turner drove in Crowe with a double in the fifth, putting us up 4-1, and Rivera went seven innings of 2-hit ball to put himself into position for a deserved win. The 3-run gap was untouched after Werner Turner’s solo home run in the seventh was countered by Carlos Paredes’ pinch-hit home run off Daniel Miller in the eighth. But Wade in the ninth put the lead to a real test. He walked the leadoff man, Matt Brown, then walked Enéas Spinelli with one out, and threw a wild pitch to bring them into scoring position. A Whaley single scored a run, and at this point the pitching coach went out to inquest into Wade’s well-being. Wade was assuring, and got a a run-scoring groundout from Chevalier, and Tadashi Kan popped out to Newton in left. 5-4 Raccoons. Guerin 2-4, BB, 2B; Turner 3-4, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Brady 2-4, RBI; Rivera 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (4-1);

Game 3
IND: LF G. Flores – RF Spinelli – C Cicalina – CF J. Thompson – 2B M. Carter – 3B Whaley – 1B T. Thompson – SS Chevalier – P Alba
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Michel – 3B Crowe – LF Parker – C Turner – 2B Caddock – P Saito

As was to be expected, facing a 7.55 ERA pitcher, scoring was a pain for the Raccoons. They went down silently through three innings, then botched together an unearned run in the fourth when Brady reached on an error by Chevalier, and ultimately Parker hit a can’t-get-me 2-out bloop single into shallow right to plate him from third. Saito sat down the first 15 Indians that dared to step in at the plate before Terence Thompson singled to left to lead off the sixth. Thompson got as far as third base after a Flores single, but didn’t score. Parker provided some more offense with a 2-out, 2-run double in the sixth, and Saito continued to click off batters. In the eighth, Terence Thompson lined hard right at Saito, with the ball making a bee-line for the area between Saito’s eyes, except that Saito got the glove up and caught the heater before it could knock him out. The Indians were still on the outside looking in through eight, and Saito – on just 85 pitches – came back out for the ninth with a 3-0 lead, and faced Tadashi Kan as pinch-hitter to get started. Kan worked a walk, before Gilberto Flores flew out to the warning track in center. That set the tone for the rest of the game. Spinelli also flew out to Reece, but not as deep, and then Cicalina sent a big fly to deep center, where Reece had to stretch those old bones some more, but made that catch as well. It was a shutout! 3-0 Raccoons! Parker 3-3, 2B, 3 RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-7);

SAITOOOO!!! A week short of his 38th birthday, Kisho has pitched his 19th big league shutout (20 if including playoffs), and 49th career complete game. He plans to do that every fifth day now to get that record straightened out. Saito was reported to have kissed Parker after the game, but whether that’s true, I don’t know…

Next, odd scheduling will have us play four in NY, before we head back home to play the Wolves, and then go back onto the road for ten more road games all over two countries. Well, if you so please.

Raccoons (29-26) @ Crusaders (24-31) – June 8-11, 1998

Although it sounds unlikely, we had passed the Crusaders in terms of runs scored the last week. THEY were now in the cellar with 202 runs to our (can I hear some drums?) 203. Their young rotation was performing well, and ranked 6th overall in the league, while they were 7th in runs allowed.

They also had no injuries at this point, while we were still without Wedemeyer and Ingall (on the DL), but Stephen Buell was due to come back by Tuesday or so. I was just not sure whom to demote at this point.

Projected matchups:
Manuel Movonda (4-4, 2.50 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (3-6, 3.40 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-7, 4.83 ERA) vs. Cipriano Miranda (4-3, 4.56 ERA)
Randy Farley (7-1, 2.71 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (6-5, 2.67 ERA)
Jose Rivera (4-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (5-4, 4.00 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – CF Newton – 3B Crowe – 1B Michel – RF Brady – 2B McLaughlin – LF Parker – C McDonald – P Movonda
NYC: 2B Rigg – C Clemente – LF A. Johnson – 1B Berry – RF Latham – 3B J. Ramirez – SS J. Vega – CF Olvera – P R. Gonzalez

The Colombian Beauty’s no-hit bid lasted only one batter this time, before Antonio Clemente doubled to left. The Raccoons sucked badly at the plate, taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth on some shoddy fielding by Ed Rigg that led to a 2-out RBI infield single for Clyde Brady. That was all, and once Movonda hiccupped in the sixth, there was no way to save him. The Crusaders took the lead on Avery Johnson’s 2-out homer, and Movonda allowed three more hits before being removed. Donis struck out Olvera and Gonzalez to escape the jam down 3-1. The Coons swung at pitches in vain until with two out in the eighth an error by Vega put Guerin on second base. From there, the Coons cobbled a run together, but John Hatt killed the rally with the go-ahead runs on base by getting Samy Michel to ground out. Brady singled to lead off the ninth against Hatt, and McLaughlin bunted him over. Parker struck out, and Turner, hitting for McDonald, flew out to center. 3-2 Crusaders. Brady 3-4, RBI;

It was go time, as Buell was coming back onto the roster. In the end, although he dug out Saito on Sunday, it was Chris Parker who was demoted. In 63 AB, he had hit .238/.262/.270 with 13 K and no dingers. I had expected a lot more from him. Newton and Villegas however had also been seriously considered for demotion.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – C Turner – 2B Caddock – 1B Utting – P M. Lopez
NYC: LF Lyons – C Escobedo – RF A. Johnson – 1B T. Mullins – CF Latham – 3B J. Ramirez – 2B Rigg – SS J. Vega – P Miranda

The Raccoons squeezed out a few single runs in the early innings, with a Reece sac fly cashing in Guerin in the first, a big Brady home run in the third, and Lopez himself breaking a 0-21 futility run with a 2-out RBI single up the middle in the fourth. Lopez shut out the Crusaders inning by inning, until he ran into Ed Rigg, who smashed a 2-run homer off him in the eighth. That cut the lead to 3-2, and De La Rosa replaced him and finished the eighth. In the ninth, Scott Wade struck out Avery Johnson, and then gave up two huge flies to deep center to the next two batters. Thankfully, we had Neil Reece out there. 3-2 Raccoons. Guerin 2-5, 2B; Lopez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (5-7) and 2-3, RBI;

For the first time in ages, at least eight of our starters each had a hit in this game. The exception was Neil Reece, who went 0-2 with two walks and that sac fly, that technically won the game just as much as his two catches in the ninth. Besides, he can’t do as many things wrong as would be necessary to make me stop loving him.

(dances and wiggles off, singing) Toooo-gether for-eeeever …

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Michel – CF Reece – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – 2B Caddock – C Turner – RF Villegas – P Farley
NYC: 2B Rigg – C Clemente – LF A. Johnson – 1B Berry – RF Latham – 3B J. Ramirez – SS J. Vega – CF Olvera – P F. Garza

Farley in June was not Farley in May, as he continued to struggle in this start. The Crusaders put two runs on him in the first, and the Raccoons were … physically present, but more like a sleeping cat, not like a roaring tiger eating up pitchers exposed on mounds. A leadoff double by Farley in the sixth led to our first run, but nothing more, and Farley gave that run right back with a solo homer to Mark Berry in the bottom of the inning to trail 3-1. Once Farley was removed after six innings, the offense died completely. We had the leadoff man on in the ninth with Buell, and that was it already with Hatt saving this one. 3-1 Crusaders. Turner 2-4;

3-2, 3-2, 3-1 … would you have guessed that these are the two most piss poor offensive teams in the league if I hadn’t told you before? By the way, all time this was our 1,700th loss.

Game 4
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – 2B Caddock – 1B Utting – C McDonald – P Rivera
NYC: 2B Rigg – C Clemente – LF A. Johnson – 1B Berry – RF Latham – SS J. Vega – 3B Delgado – CF P. Jenkins – P Sandoval

Rivera was solid, holding the Crusaders to an early run, and then kept them in reach, despite loading the bags in the sixth and only escaping thanks to a fine play by Guerin on Lorenzo Delgado’s grounder, for a team that once more collectively left one of their own out on the mound to die. They had two hits through six frames, and probably needed a few errors to get them going. Or maybe a dink? Reece led off the seventh with a bloop that dropped into no man’s land for a single, and that would certainly get - … ah, stop kidding. Buell struck out, Crowe struck out, Caddock rolled one to Vega. It went like that all game long. Sandoval almost fell asleep pitching a 4-hit shutout. 1-0 Crusaders. Villegas (PH) 1-1; Rivera 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, L (4-2);

I’m confused. Boys, Saito’s turn is TOMORROW.

Whoah, this offense. Back to 12th place now (209 runs to the Crusaders’ 210), I had filled some bricks into an old potato bag, yet by the time I entered the lockers after the game to take some swings, everybody had fled already. Yes, I am too cool for socks ‘n soap.

Raccoons (30-29) vs. Wolves (33-27) – June 12-14, 1998

Some things were suggesting that the Wolves were fake, and let’s start with their -16 run differential, the fact that they were scoring runs, but were doing it with black magic, apparently, since their offense was 9th in batting average in the Federal League and no other stat suggested that they got their runs naturally. Their 9th-ranked pitching staff consisted of a merely okay rotation and a still escalating radioactive explosion they called bullpen, which was 11th in the FL with a 4.46 ERA.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (2-7, 2.54 ERA) vs. Alonso Lopez (4-4, 4.18 ERA)
Manuel Movonda (4-5, 2.66 ERA) vs. Seiichi Sugiyama (2-3, 4.57 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-7, 4.61 ERA) vs. Jose Cervantes (2-1, 1.42 ERA)

Cervantes was our seventh round pick in the 1992 draft. He was released two years ago for being awful in AA. Since then, he’s 4-7 with a 5.32 ERA for the Wolves in 14 starts in the Bigs. All three starters we are scheduled to face are right-handers.

Game 1
SAL: 3B Quintero – C M. Castillo – RF MacGruder – SS Liu – LF V. Hernandez – CF D. Edwards – 1B J. Lopez – 2B Metting – P A. Lopez
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – LF Buell – C Turner – 1B Michel – 2B Caddock – 3B Utting – P Saito

Master Kisho appeared to shovel his own grave early on. He plunked Castillo in the first, but the Wolves made nothing of that, yet when Saito put the two leadoff men on base in the second, and then retired the next two, that brought up Alonso Lopez, and the Coons were again bitten by the opposing pitcher with a 2-out RBI single to left. Saito then got Quintero. Bottom 2nd, Michel was on first with two out, but didn’t score on Utting’s double. Saito had to bat, and worked a walk against Lopez. That loaded the bases with two down for Guerin, who better plated someone here. Guerin turned into a 1-1 pitch and sent a fly ball to deep center, and it carried, and carried, and Drew Edwards at one point stopped running. OUTTA HERE, GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMM!!!! Unfortunately, that didn’t fix whatever was wrong with Saito. He drilled Castillo AND MacGruder to start the third inning, and the Wolves got a run back. Thankfully, Alonso Lopez was coming apart even more hurriedly, issued a single to Reece, then walked Buell and Michel in the bottom 3rd. Bases loaded, another grand slam might have been asked a bit much from Steve Caddock, but we warmly welcomed his 2-run single into left, and that was it for Lopez. Grizzled veteran and longtime starter John Douglas replaced him, and proceeded by walking Utting, which gave Saito the bases full with one out. However, both Saito and Guerin popped out foul to end the inning. We added an unearned run in the fourth on a Kuang Liu throwing error plating a run with two down, and Saito nursed that 7-2 lead through six. He faced leadoff man Jeremiah Mullins in the seventh, but when Mullins reached with an infield single, Saito was removed. It had not been his game, and Miguel Castillo surely wouldn’t take a third HBP from Saito. Up 8-2 through seven, I put in Kelly Fairchild for the eighth, which was a lot like asking for it. He promptly hit Kuang Liu with a pitch – our fourth HBP in the game… The Wolves sure enough loaded them up against Fairchild with two down, and once lefty Jesus Flores appeared as pinch-hitter, Donis came out of the pen, and got a grounder to escape the jam. Miller pitched a less complicated ninth to get the W in Saito’s column. 8-2 Raccoons. Guerin 1-5, HR, 4 RBI; Reece 2-5; Buell 2-3, BB; Caddock 2-4, 2 RBI; Utting 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;

So that’s more runs in this Saito start than in all of the last (4-game!) set, where Saito was NOT pitching. Things are getting more complicated here, it seems. You can’t even count on them botching it up anymore!

After this game, Samy Michel was demoted back to St. Petersburg. He had gone 4-38 since May 31, which was very unfortunate after he had romped over opposing pitching the first two weeks after his callup. However, 4-38 was pitiful, even on this team. Jai Utting was on the roster anyway, so we could just as well use him at first. Liam Wedemeyer was estimated as another week or so away at this point, and it probably was not a bad idea to have Utting collect a few more AB. McLaughlin might also get a few more chances now. We added outfielder Jason Kent at this point, who was OPS’ing just over .900 in AAA. Basically, we had no infielders left on the 40-man roster that weren’t already here. Also, Luke Newton and Clyde Brady had some experience playing first base in the minors, so it was not that we were playing *that* shorthanded on the infield.

Game 2
SAL: 3B Quintero – C M. Castillo – RF MacGruder – 2B J. Cruz – CF D. Edwards – SS Liu – 1B Metting – LF J. Flores – P Sugiyama
POR: RF Brady – LF Newton – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – C Turner – SS Caddock – 1B Utting – 2B McLaughlin – P Movonda

The middle game became somewhat of a nailbiter since while neither pitcher was very brilliant, neither team was able to chain offense together to bring one of those runners in. In the fifth for example, McLaughlin was hit leading off, bunted to second by Movonda, and then Brady walked. Newton got Brady forced with a groundout, sending McLaughlin to third, and then Reece grounded hard to third, but Roberto Quintero made the play. It was like that in this game. Bottom 6th, still scoreless, Crowe walked, and Turner hit a double. The runners were in scoring position with one out for Jai Utting, who made sound contact – and it flew outta here. Utting put the Coons up 3-0 with his first dinger of the year. Movonda was dealing out there, too, struck out ELEVEN through eight innings, but his spot to bat came up in the bottom 8th with two down and two on. Only up 3-0 and with an elevated pitch count, we did not take the risk. Buell hit for him, flew out to center, but then came Wade and retired the side in order in the ninth. 3-0 Raccoons. Caddock 2-3, BB; Utting 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Movonda 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K, W (5-5) and 1-2;

The Colombian Beauty fell one whiff short of the franchise record of 12 K’s, jointly held by Steven Berry and Kisho Saito. 11 strikeouts in a game are still very good: five pitchers have achieved 11 K’s a total of nine times for us: Logan Evans and Antonio Donis did it once each, Movonda and Jason Turner did it twice, and Kisho Saito three times.

Game 3
SAL: 3B Quintero – C M. Castillo – RF MacGruder – 1B J. Cruz – SS Liu – LF V. Hernandez – 2B Metting – CF D. Edwards – P Cervantes
POR: SS Guerin – RF Kent – CF Reece – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – C Turner – 2B Caddock – 1B Utting – P M. Lopez

More of the same in game 3, which is meant to read: no offense from either team. Except that the weather was moist and it was drizzling. Typical Oregonian summer. Through five innings all of Oregon totaled one hit (Metting with a single in the third). Cervantes was thus still pitching a no-hitter when he came up to bat leadoff in the sixth. He drilled a Lopez offering to deep left, Buell didn’t get it, it fell in for a double, but Cervantes appeared to have pulled something turning first base. The trainer came out and Cervantes limped off the field. To make things worse, the Wolves didn’t score the run, and the game remained nuthin’-nuthin’. The Wolves even failed to score after a 1-out triple by Liu in the seventh, while the Coons were STILL H-less. Bottom 7th, Ricardo Huerta took over from Kilian Carrier in relief of the no-hit bid. He walked Reece, Crowe, and Turner to load them up with one out. Caddock grounded into a double play, first and second. Top 8th, leadoff triple by Drew Edwards, and Miguel Lopez finally lost the marbles, and wild pitched him home. De La Rosa and Carlton pitched in the inning as Lopez was removed, and now the Coons were 1-0 down and still hitless. Jai Utting grounded out against James Jenkins, before John Douglas came in and got Clyde Brady out. The count on Guerin ran full, and then he hit one to the left side, and between Liu and Pedro Barrón – GONE the no-hitter! That still didn’t stop the losing effort. McLaughlin lined out to first in place of Kent. Still down 1-0 into the bottom 9th, Neil Reece led off against Nick Lee, the fifth reliever of the day. Reece once more showed why he was the New Franchise. His leadoff jack tied the game. Lee had trouble throwing strikes unless he threw right down the middle. Buell sent one to deep right, but MacGruder intercepted it. Crowe walked, bringing up Turner. He grounded hard to third, and threw Barrón, it rolled all the way to the wall, as Crowe was cutting around the bases with huge steps, rushed home, and the throw back in didn’t arrive at the plate until Crowe was safe, into the dugout, had been cuddled, and everybody was in the clubhouse to celebrate a cherished sweep of the Oregon Brawl. 2-1 Raccoons!! Reece 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Turner 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Lopez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K;

This was the 12th regular season Oregon Brawl. We swept the affair for the third time after 1984 and 1988. We are 20-16 overall against the Wolves.

Trade

Already on Tuesday – but not reported for insignificance – the Raccoons and Canadiens struck a deal. The Raccoons send C Mario Guerrero to the Canadiens for 22-yr old AAA SP Paco Martinez, who is not considered a hot prospect.

This removes $125k salary due from our books, and was worth every cent of it.

In other news

June 9 – CIN SP Raúl Chavez (2-4, 6.38 ERA) sparkles with a 3-hit shutout over the Buffaloes in an 11-0 Cyclones blowout.
June 9 – BOS C/1B Julio Silva (.382, 3 HR, 26 RBI) goes 5-5 in a 13-6 romp of the Titans over the Loggers, and misses the cycle by the double.
June 10 – The trading season has started! The Aces acquire 33-yr old 1B Mauro Granados (.261, 8 HR, 35 RBI), who already was a Las Vegan from 1987 to 1990, by sending 34-yr old C Pedro Lozano (.302, 0 HR, 7 RBI) to Denver.
June 13 – VAN SP Manuel Hernandez (2-5, 6.38 ERA) spins a 3-hitter as the Canadiens prevail against the Blue Sox, 1-0.

Complaints and stuff

1,000 posts! Wooot!!!

(coughs) Back to serious seriousness now.

MOVONDA!!!! Still thrilled about that no-hitter! Come on here, Colombian Beauty, and let me cuddle you!! (Movonda resists, strikes me down with a flower vase, flees, and locks himself in the bathroom)

…

Marvin Ingall dropped off the batting average leaderboard after the Indians series due to losing eligibility. He led the batting title race at that point. I am sulking.

Kisho Saito wants a new contract, and to be honest, I don’t see a reason why he shouldn’t get one. However, we have to be extremely cautious when it comes to the length of said contract. We might even offer him two years, but under no circumstances should he be signed for longer than that – at least right now. I would also hate to offer more than $1M that will be 39 next June, but it will come down to negotiating I guess. We have only $6.8M lined up in salary for next year (this year: $9.1M), with Movonda, Wade, Turner, and Tamburrino the other free agents.

To be precise, we have only FIVE contracts in place to post-team control players for next season. Those are Reece, Lopez, Ingall, De La Rosa, and Miller. These alone combine for $2.8M. There would well be room for a $1M deal for Saito. Then, we don’t know whether we can bring Movonda back. Also, Ralph Ford is 3-6 with a 4.23 ERA in AAA, but a .323 BABIP suggests it is not all his fault. Still, right now he does not seem like he will be ready this September or next April, and we are in no hurry with him. He won’t turn 21 until next month.

As we’re talking about prospects, Dan Nordahl is 1-2 with 11 SV and a 4.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in AA. The numbers look awful, but the most awful number is a .488 BABIP. FOUR-EIGHTY-EIGHT!! Do they teach fielding at all in Ham Lake!?

We will play in Cincy on Monday, but the main event on Monday is certainly the draft. I am hot on that.

…

Another look at our ranks in the league, four weeks post the May 17 stats. The rank in parenthesis is for the rank the team held on May 17, with the current June 14 rank in front of it.

Raccoons offense ranks through June 14
AVG – .246 – 10th (10th)
OBP – .313 – 11th (11th)
SLG – .361 – 8th (8th)
OPS – .674 – 11th (10th)
R – 222 – 12th (12th)
H – 529 – 10th (8th)
XBH – 147 – t-8th (9th)
HR – 45 – 1st (t-1st)
BB – 198 – 11th (11th)
K – 357 – 4th (4th)
SB – 23 – t-9th (9th)

Raccoons pitching ranks through June 14
ERA – 3.23 – 1st (1st)
SP ERA – 2.92 – 1st (1st)
RP ERA – 4.08 – 9th (8th)
R – 230 – 2nd (2nd)
H – 491 – 1st (1st)
OBAVG – .237 – 1st (1st)
BABIP – .270 – 1st (1st)
HR – 38 – 9th (6th)
BB – 205 – 4th (4th)
SO – 358 – 10th (9th)

Nope. Not getting better at the plate. Also, the balls started to fly a lot more in Portland the last month.