[Westheim]

Raccoons (24-46) vs. Loggers (41-26) – June 21-23, 1999

Our easily flammable pitching corps, still containing Esteban Flores with a hurt Manuel Martinez in limbo, was to face the #1 offense in the Continental League, a mix that was bound to cause some heartaches. Their pitching staff was average, but when you’ve got a +55 run differential in mid-June you’re doing something right.

Projected matchups:
Jose Rivera (5-5, 3.24 ERA) vs. Davis Sims (6-3, 5.47 ERA)
Randy Farley (5-6, 3.26 ERA) vs. Tim Butler (4-3, 3.49 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (3-0, 4.24 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (11-2, 1.56 ERA)

That’s no typo with Garcia. Poor Kelly.

Game 1
MIL: SS B. Hernandez – C L. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B J. Cruz – 2B Morales – CF M. Jones – RF Sanders – 1B D. Evans – P Sims
POR: 2B Ingall – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – LF Buell – C Branch – P Rivera

Cesar Gonzalez’ 12th dinger of the year put the Coons ahead in the bottom 2nd. They went on to load the bags with no outs, and then Branch struck out, Rivera hit a soft fly to Sanders, and Ingall grounded back to the mound – and beat Sims to first! Brady flew out to Jones at the warning track, though, to keep the lead at 2-0. The next inning they left two on, and in the fourth Reece hit into his second double play on the day, with one out and the bags full, and the fifth saw them leave two more runners on base. Rivera had not allowed a hit so far, but walked Sanders to start the sixth and then Drake Evans singled up the middle. Sims bunted into a force at third base, and Hernandez and Ramirez grounded out to keep Rivera alive in the 2-0 team. In the sixth, a Gonzalez sac fly with the bags full scored Ingall and ACTUALLY put a RUN on the BOARD – before Crowe struck out. Rodrigo Morales hit a grounder to Guerin with two out in the seventh and while he legged it out to be safe at first, he pulled something in the process and had to leave the game. Jones made the final out in the seventh. Rivera was then not hit for with Buell on third and two down in the bottom 7th and struck out. Sanders hit a leadoff single the next frame, but was doubled up when backup catcher Miguel Vela grounded to Guerin. Rivera was left in the game for the ninth, having given up only five runners so far. It was a 3-0 lead and Scott Wade was old, and had never quite been Grant West at any age. Bartolo Hernandez and John Shea grounded out easily, but that brought up certified coonskinner Bakile Hiwalani as the final out. He mauled Rivera’s 100th pitch of the game into deep left. Buell had played deep in anticipation of something hard and fast gettin’ there quickly, but would the park hold it? Yes, and so did Buell – a shutout! 3-0 Coons! Ingall 2-4, BB, RBI; Reece 2-5, 2B; Guerin 2-4; Buell 2-4; Rivera 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (6-5) and 1-4;

Rivera turns in his fifth career shutout (sixth CG) in his 83rd start in the Bigs. It’s his second SHO this year, following a 7-hitter also at home against those Loggers in May. He got 15 groundball outs this time, which together with his barely 4 K/9 indicate what we have here: a younger Scott Wade, but damn, is he effective!

Game 2
MIL: SS B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – LF Hiwalani – 3B J. Cruz – 2B Morales – C L. Ramirez – RF Sanders – 1B D. Evans – P Butler
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Crowe – C Castillo – LF Parker – 2B Caddock – P Farley

Farley gave up a run in the first, so no shutout in the middle game. Well, for the Coons at least. They had a prime chance in the bottom 3rd with two men in scoring position and one out, but both Reece and Gonzalez struck out against Butler. The Coons looked a bit lost, until it was the man for the surprise stray homers to tie the game: Steve Caddock’s leadoff jack brought the score to 1-1 in the fifth. Farley singled, and then Guerin zinged a liner into deep center, past Jerry Fletcher. Guerin legged it out for a triple while the dazzled Loggers failed to try to make a play on Farley, who barely arrived at home alive with the go-ahead run. Brady’s grounder was only slowly played by Butler and Brady beat it out to first, with Guerin staying put, waiting to be singled in by Reece. While Gonzalez flew out, Crowe got on to load the bags. Castillo doubled to right, 5-1, before Parker’s RBI single removed Butler for Raymond Léger, who threw an 0-2 pitch wildly past Leon Ramirez to plate Castillo. It took another run, eight in total, for the Loggers to get three outs when Brady struck out. Whoah! Farley went seven, allowing a solo shot to Ramirez in the seventh, before leaving the game. The game would end with Chris Parker throwing out Michael Sanders at home. 9-2 Furballs! Guerin 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Brady 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Michel 1-1, RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-6) and 2-2, BB;

We finally got a diagnosis for Manuel Martinez, and it wasn’t pretty. He’d miss another two months with a torn meniscus. That means the DL, obviously. By now I had decided to skip Flores’ turn in the rotation with a conveniently placed off day on Thursday. We called up Bob Joly on Wednesday morning, but Joly had started a game for St. Pete only on Monday, so he wouldn’t be available until the weekend anyway. If Flores had any options, he’d be out already, but maybe you can use him in long relief?

Game 3
MIL: SS B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B J. Cruz – 2B Morales – C L. Ramirez – 1B D. Evans – P M. Garcia
POR: 2B Ingall – SS Guerin – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Crowe – LF Buell – RF Brady – C Castillo – P Fairchild

Garcia led the league in all triple crown categories, coming in with 120 strikeouts in June! He went to work immediately, but a Clyde Brady leadoff triple in the bottom 3rd made him stumble. While Castillo grounded out, Brady scored, and the Coons led 1-0. Not for long, though: Rodrigo Morales, still week on the feet with a slight injury, took Fairchild deep for two runs the very next inning. However, rotten luck was on Garcia this day. Guerin led off with a single in the bottom 4th, and the Coons would get infield singles from Reece and Buell before Brady singled to center, re-taking the lead, 3-2 in the inning. But there still would be no sweep for the Raccoons, nor a loss for Garcia. Two down in the fifth, Fairchild failed to retire anybody. Two on, Cristo Ramirez singled in the tying run, and the Hiwalani, held short the whole series so far, broke out with a 3-run homer. It was a close affair regardless in the end. Two errors by Jorge Cruz late in the game allowed the Coons to plate two unearned runs and get back to 6-5, but they starved Gonzalez on second base in the eighth, and Ricardo Medina pitched a perfect ninth to spare his team the embarrassment of getting swept in Portland. 6-5 Loggers. Reece 2-4; Brady 2-2, 3B, RBI; Lagarde 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

After this series, Luke Newton came back from his hamstring strain, making Jason Kent expendable, and we also divested ourselves of a struggling Samy Michel. We called up 26-year old 1B/2B George Morris, a left-handed batter, our fifth round pick from the 1995 draft. He wouldn’t get us anywhere, but Michel was overwhelmed by pitching right now, and now it was Morris’ time to prove that he’d be overwhelmed as well. He was on the 40-man roster anyway.

Raccoons (26-47) @ Aces (34-37) – June 25-27, 1999

The Aces were ranking 7th in both runs allowed and scored, with a -12 run differential. Their offense was leaning towards the big hit, and was 11th in OBP, with their pitching also long ball prone, with their cozy ballpark also a factor in this. Apart from that, they were thoroughly average.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (2-8, 4.71 ERA) vs. Carlos Guillén (2-4, 3.21 ERA)
Jose Rivera (6-5, 2.94 ERA) vs. Alfredo Rios (0-0, 7.50 ERA)
Randy Farley (6-6, 3.21 ERA) vs. Jou Hara (7-5, 2.88 ERA)

All pairings match hands, so we get another left-hander up front, and two right-handers after that.

Game 1
POR: 2B Ingall – SS Guerin – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Crowe – RF Brady – LF Buell – C Branch – P Saito
LVA: CF Cote – C Manuel – 3B J. Vargas – RF R. Green – LF Hartley – 1B Granados – 2B Bell – SS Williamson – P Guillén

With runners on the corners and one out, the Coons failed in both of the first two innings. First, Gonzalez hit into a double play, then Branch struck out and left it to Saito to foul out to the catcher. Saito also walked the line of pain from the get-go, and gave up a run in the third for failing to keep Guillén off base leading off. He would strike him out to end the fourth with Ron Williamson on third base, though, keeping this a 1-0 deficit. The Aces removed Guillén after six shutout innings for a pinch-hitter with two on, two out in the bottom 6th, but Saito popped up Enrico Pinto. Saito went seven, still behind 1-0, and I was getting the meat cleaver ready to bludgeon whomever I would be able to grab. The eighth was scoreless, and the Aces sent Charlie Deacon in the ninth. He walked Guerin, and Guerin stole second base on the first pitch to Reece. Reece grounded out, though, and Gonzalez flew out to right. Guerin tagged to go to third – and was thrown out. 1-0 Aces. Reece 2-4; Saito 7.0 IP, 11 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, L (2-9);

That’s two 1-0 losses for Saito in a row. Saito is pissed. So am I.

Game 2
POR: 2B Ingall – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Branch – P Rivera
LVA: SS Pinto – CF Hartley – 1B J. Vargas – RF R. Green – C Manuel – 3B Combes – LF McCormick – 2B Bell – P A. Rios

With Ingall on, Brady wisely removed him on a double play before Reece hit a line drive homer to left off the 21-year old Rios. Watch out, Aces. The Suckoons are in town. You can’t lose this if you’re cautious. Between another double play in the second, and five runners left on between the third and fourth, the Coons left a zillion chances to impale Rios unused, and thus only a highlight reel catch by Brady on a Manuel fly to deep right kept the 1-0 lead in place in the bottom 4th. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, because the Aces tied the score the next inning regardless after a leadoff double by Bernard Combes. Top 6th, bases loaded, one out for Rivera, whom I didn’t want to hit for, and so he hit into a double play. They left on two in the seventh, and didn’t even get on in the eighth, and then the Aces sent Tzu-jao Ban into a 1-1 tie in the ninth. George Morris debuted as pinch-hitter for Rivera to lead off, grounded out, and so did Ingall and Brady. Miller’s scoreless bottom 9th sent us to extras, where Ban whiffed Reece before he walked Gonzalez. Caddock hit for an 0-4 Crowe, and doubled over Royce Green in right! Gonzalez was waved home when we suddenly realized that it wasn’t a smart idea with Green in ri- and he’s already out.

(whacks head against wall repeatedly)

Oh, well, still only two out with Caddock on second and Guerin up, so still no chance to score because Caddock is slow and Guerin hits only singles, and HOLY CRAP, Guerin to deep left, deeeep – GONE!!!! 3-1 Raccoons. Reece 3-5, HR, RBI; Caddock (PH) 1-1, 2B; Guerin 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Rivera 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

I will not fail to mention the 12 LOB by the Suckoons, surprise home run off a certified pushover pitcher or not.

I also don’t know what’s it with Caddock, who can’t hit his own weight, but when he gets a hit once a blue moon, it’s always a big one.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – C Branch – 2B Morris – LF Buell – RF Newton – P Farley
LVA: 3B Combes – CF Hartley – 1B J. Vargas – RF R. Green – LF Encarnación – C Manuel – SS Williamson – 2B Bell – P Hara

Royce Green’s signature move accounted for two runs in the first off Farley, but in a sudden twist those runs were reclaimed by Luke Newton(!) with a 2-run homer of his own in the second inning. Farley however was knocked around pretty good early on, surrendering seven hits for four runs in the first three innings. The Coons were entirely hapless. Suddenly it was the ninth, they still trailed 4-2 after whiffing nine times against Jou Hara, and now faced Deacon again. Gonzalez’ leadoff walk brought the tying run up, but Branch and Morris both struck out despite countering the right-hander Deacon. Brady singled to left. Crowe hit for Newton and struck out. 4-2 Aces. Guerin 2-4; Brady (PH) 1-1; Joly 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 24 – TOP INF Jesus Garcia (.259, 4 HR, 31 RBI) is bound to miss six weeks with a fractured finger.
June 24 – The Canadiens acquire backup LF/RF Jesus Maldonado (.279, 1 HR, 11 RBI in 68 AB) from the Falcons for SP Manuel Hernandez (0-8, 3.86 ERA).
June 25 – LAP LF/RF Anibal Rodriguez (.299, 15 HR, 57 RBI) joins the 2,000 hits club. The 33-year old 1984 first round draft pick, who has spent his whole career with L.A. and is a career .283/.333/.445 batter with 264 HR (6th all time) and 1,037 RBI, hits a seventh inning, 2-run single off Jorge Reyes in a 7-2 win over the Rebels.
June 25 – TIJ SP Juan Lara (4-2, 4.03 ERA) is heading towards Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL.
June 26 – A hamstring strain claims OCT INF Bob Grant (.291, 7 HR, 44 RBI) for at least three weeks.

Complaints and stuff

Comparison between Jose Rivera and Scott Wade through their age 26 seasons (while Rivera debuted two years before Wade, he has also lost more than half of two seasons to injuries already, while Wade didn’t hit the DL until he was 32):
Rivera: 86 G, 84 GS, 36-23, 2.91 ERA, 3.4 BB/9, 4.2 K/9
Wade: 100 G, 99 GS, 42-28, 3.15 ERA, 2.3 BB/9, 4.5 K/9
The comparison largely holds up. Wade has never walked more than 54 batters (in his age 25 season, in 217 IP), while Rivera’s main issue lies there. If you walk batters at a slightly increased rate, you better have the ability to strike out some guys. Wade’s ERA is still worse partly because of a higher HR/9 rate, 0.66 to 0.53.

Extending Kisho Saito was a grave mistake. Not because he’s terrible. His April was, true, but the whole pitching staff was bound for execution in April. No. The fact that he’s 2-9, won’t make it to 250, and will easily break through 200 losses, all of that is ruining all the fun for me. He’s been here forever. Now the baseball gods ruin his lifetime achievements. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it so badly. And it will continue for another 50 starts.

I noticed that I keep typing Miguel Martinez rather than Manuel Martinez. Basically, I can’t memorize names, like, ever, and I can’t keep all those Hispanics apart in my head. We also have a Paco Martinez and a Juan Martinez in the minors in addition to Chubby Martinez. We’ll be last this year anyway, let’s fool around some and call them all up!