[Westheim]

In four of their last five games, the Raccoons pitching staff has been raped for ten or more runs. The collapse is well in progress, and its speed is accelerating.

Raccoons (27-46) @ Knights (28-47) – June 26-28, 2000

Last place shootouts taking place in Georgia in late June, with the Knights besting only the Raccoons in runs allowed, but at least had an average offense, which scored the fifth-most runs in the Continental League.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (2-8, 4.69 ERA) vs. John Collins (5-7, 5.16 ERA)
Randy Farley (6-5, 3.50 ERA) vs. Larry Cutts (4-5, 4.46 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-9, 5.78 ERA) vs. Tynan Howard (3-9, 5.24 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – RF Brady – C Mata – 3B Michel – LF Parker – CF Newton – P Ford
ATL: CF Alonso – 2B Palacios – LF Ware – 1B Tinker – RF W. Taylor – 3B J. Morales – C McDonald – SS Pena – P J. Collins

The Raccoons scored a run in the first, and Martin upped that with a monstrous 3-run home run in the third inning for a 4-0 lead. It looked pretty good, but then came the bottom 4th. Stephen Ware reached on an error by Newton, before Ford walked Bill Tinker and issued a wild pitch. Three straight hits later, the game was tied, and still no outs in the inning. Somehow, the Coons then wiggled out of that, and Mata brought in Brady in the fifth for a renewed lead. In the seventh, Clyde Brady had to leave the game after tweaking his knee, while Ford got stuck and was removed after a walk to Ware. Meeks got out of the inning, the Raccoons up 6-4, a lead they nursed into the bottom 9th, when we had little choice but to give the ball to Antonio Donis, but he got Pena, struck out Gerardo Rios, and Ingall made a nice play on Alonso. 6-4 Raccoons. Guerin 4-4, BB, 3B, RBI; Parker 2-4, BB, 2B; Crowe (PH) 1-1;

Brady had a knee sprain, rendering him unavailable for the rest of the week, which was a problem for us with only four outfielders on the roster. He was not DL’ed. We were hoping for both Richardson and Reece becoming available by the weekend. Well, hope is peculiar thing.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – 2B Ingall – LF Gonzalez – RF Parker – C Mata – 3B Crowe – CF Newton – P Farley
ATL: 2B Palacios – C J. Johnson – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 3B J. Morales – RF Alonso – 1B Chapman – SS Pena – P Cutts

The Raccoons got early power again in the middle game. After Farley fell 1-0 behind in the bottom 1st, struggling with his control, Newton doubled in a pair in the top 2nd to flip the score. In the third, the unlikely spark came in form of a 3-run homer by Cesar Gonzalez, his first in … possibly years. The Knights at 5-1 were not out of this however, and a Crowe error in the bottom 4th led to two unearned runs, doubled in by Bill Tinker. The Knights had their bullpen now in the game with Cutts removed, and Donald Sims loaded the bases with no outs in the top 5th. Parker and Mata singled home runs, and we got another one on a groundout this time, 8-3, and in the sixth, Gonzalez hit another home run, collecting Ingall, to make it 10-3! Offense?? What the heck was going on!? Farley covered 6.1 innings in 120 pitches, which was not exactly great length, but we were up by seven as Blanco came in to face left-handers, collecting five outs quickly. The Knights did not mount a counterattack. 11-3 Raccoons! Martin 2-6, 2B; Ingall 2-3, 2 BB; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Parker 3-5, 2B, RBI; Newton 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Caddock (PH) 1-1; Farley 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7-5); Blanco 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

One day after getting on base five times, Conceicao Guerin struck out five times. (speechless) He ties an ABL record held by about two dozen other players. Will Taylor and Cristo Ramirez had also run up a disgraceful five strikeouts in a game this season.

Samy Michel spent all night up after this game, vomiting intensely. He was out with a stomach virus, shortening our bench to three players.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – LF Gonzalez – C Mata – RF Parker – 3B Crowe – CF Newton – P Lopez
ATL: CF Alonso – 2B Palacios – LF Ware – 1B Tinker – RF W. Taylor – 3B J. Morales – C J. Johnson – SS Pena – P Howard

The Raccoons didn’t really carry their momentum into the game. Lopez misfielded a bunt in the third inning, not getting any out, and the Knights loaded the bags after that, plating two runs eventually. The Raccoons didn’t get anywhere until the fifth, when Mata hit a leadoff jack. The Coons got two more on, but a timely
double play hit into by Crowe had them out of the inning quickly. Mata would be in the thick of it again in the seventh, when he hit a quite surprising triple and was driven in by Parker, tying the game. The Coons loaded them up including Lopez, who loaded the bases with a walk drawn off Howard as we did not hit for him – he was going quite well, with three hits allowed so far in this game. Ingall’s leadoff triple in the eighth gave us a prime chance to take the lead, and while Gonzalez was walked intentionally after Martin made the first out, Mata managed to score Ingall on an infield single. Lopez looked like he could at least pitch another inning, but in his efforts was derailed by a Guerin error in the bottom 8th that put the leadoff man Tony Pena on board, and the Knights brought him in to score and re-tie the score at three. Miller got us into extra innings and also pitched the tenth which was led off by Albert Matthews with an infield single(!!), but we got out of it. The top 11th was to be led off by Julio Mata, who was a double removed from the cycle and still facing Matthews, who had already 2.2 innings on the odometer. Matthews walked him. Mata would however score on a 2-out single by Newton, starting from second base against Chris Chapman’s poor arm in right field. Donis was thrown in for another save attempt, and it was a wild ride, with Alonso and Chapman on base, one out, and two drives to deep left, which Gonzalez somehow managed to intercept. 4-3 Furballs! Mata 3-4, BB, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Parker 2-5, 2B, RBI; Lopez 8.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K; Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-3);

As surprising as that may be, we have already claimed the season series against the Knights, 5-1 at this point. That’s not too bad. The Knights are the team we are worst against all time in the Continental League, now with a 96-117 (.451) record.

Trade

The Raccoons had designated Nuno Andresen for assignment five days earlier, after which the 37-yr old infielder found no claimants. Andresen refused assignment to St. Petersburg, so we had find some place to dump him to. The Condors were the only team faintly interested in his services and we quickly worked out a deal for a no-hope minor league pitcher, with the hook that that pitcher was on the 40-man roster and costing money.

We thus acquired 23-yr old right hander Cesar Miranda, who went undrafted in the 1994 amateur draft, was then signed as undrafted free agent and released (twice), and had since bounced from system to system in trades three times. Vince sees nothing in him, and we will likely dump him at the end of the season to make room on the 40-man roster in anticipation of the December 1 rule 5 draft.

Raccoons (30-46) @ Indians (33-45) – June 29-July 2, 2000

We would have to claim the series to break even with the Indians, but let’s take it step by step. The Indians were in itself not terrible, posting about average numbers in most categories.

Projected matchups:
Bob Joly (2-3, 6.15 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (4-6, 4.07 ERA)
Scott Wade (2-6, 4.79 ERA) vs. Anthony Mosher (2-11, 4.99 ERA)
Ralph Ford (3-8, 4.64 ERA) vs. Steve Holcomb (4-8, 4.67 ERA)
Randy Farley (7-5, 3.36 ERA) vs. David Rios (2-5, 5.73 ERA)

Ex-Coon Mosher was the only southpaw among these.

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – LF Gonzalez – C Mata – RF Parker – 3B Crowe – CF Newton – P Joly
IND: SS Matthews – RF Alston – 1B M. Brown – LF D. Lopez – C Paraz – 2B J. Garcia – 3B Whaley – CF Fisher – P Alba

A towering home run by Matt Brown in the first inning seemed to indicate that Bob Joly’s appearance in the series opener would be a short one, and the Raccoons would be duly routed. That wasn’t quite the case, though. The Raccoons managed to tie the game on a sac fly in the third, and when Joly fell behind again, had Alba kindly throw a run-scoring, game-tying wild pitch in the fifth. The Indians didn’t get anything done off Joly in the middle innings, while the Raccoons, sparked by a 2-run single by Chris Parker, moved to a 5-2 lead after six. Joly was hit for – to no effect – with two out in the eighth, when Caddock flew deep to center, but not sufficiently deep enough and left two runners stranded. Meeks and Diaz got the eighth over with, before Donis struck out Lopez and Paraz in the ninth, and was one strike away from ending the game, when Cicalina doubled to center. Matt Whaley grounded to the mound, and arrived at first right with Donis’ throw. It was a bang-bang play, but not quite a tie according to the first base umpire. Whaley was out, and the Raccoons had lined up a spectacular 4-game winning streak. 5-2 Coons. Guerin 2-5, RBI; Crowe 2-4; Newton 2-3, BB, 2B; Joly 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (3-3);

Daniel Richardson came off the DL in time for the Friday game, making Jason Kent’s stay in Portland end. His .154 bat returned to St. Petersburg. Neil Reece is not that far off, I have been assured, and Clyde Brady did some running with the sore knee this morning and might be able to go on Saturday.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – 2B Ingall – LF Gonzalez – RF Parker – C Mata – 3B Crowe – CF Newton – P Wade
IND: 3B Whaley – SS Chevalier – 1B M. Brown – LF D. Lopez – C Paraz – 2B J. Garcia – RF Quintela – CF Maguey – P Mosher

Another day, another first inning moonshot from Brown. This one counted for two, and this time it wouldn’t get better for Wade, who was easily hittable and bailed out by saving double plays the next two innings. The once brown-clad, but outcast Mosher dominated the Raccoons, struck out five the first time through the lineup, and also drove in a run off a largely hapless Scott Wade in the fourth inning. The Indians were up 4-0 after four, and 5-1 after five, before Mosher began to melt down, giving up three hits and two wild pitches to plate three runs for the Raccoons in the top 6th. Wade left on the hook, but in the eighth the Raccoons loaded them up against Iemitsu Rin, with Newton coming to bat with one out. Double play. What are you looking for in Portland – happy ends? Better look elsewhere. Tomas Maguey took Dan Epps deep in the eighth en route to killing our monstrous 4-game winning streak. 6-4 Indians. Guerin 2-5, RBI; Ingall 2-4; Parker 3-4, 2B; Mata 2-4, 2B, RBI;

We deemed Dan Epps’ presence no longer necessary to stay afloat, which might not might not be influenced by his 13.50 ERA, and sent him packing to the swamps. Whom could we call up? Martinez? Nordahl? The other Martinez? The other Diaz? Grandma?

(spins the Wheel of Fortune)

(lands on BANKRUPTCY)

Well, let’s try Manuel Martinez anyway.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – C Mata – RF Brady – LF Richardson – 2B Ingall – CF Newton – 3B Caddock – P Ford
IND: SS Matthews – RF Alston – C Cicalina – 1B D. Lopez – LF Quintela – 3B Whaley – 2B J. Garcia – CF Maguey – P Holcomb

The Raccoons generated a run on four singles in the first, but Ralph Ford’s control was fuzzy once again, and we were expecting an explosion any minute. In the second and fourth innings, he was lucky enough to encounter Holcomb with two on to get a crucial second out en route to escape a jam. Something else eventually got the better of him – an injury. No idea what it was, but he gave the pain signal to the trainer and left the game up 3-0 in the fifth inning. The Indians left the bags full against Elliott Meeks. The Coons got a leadoff single by Caddock in the top 7th and Parker and Martin drew walks on checked swings in full counts to load them up. Unfortunately, a Mata sac fly was all that came out of that situation and the Indians began to hollow out our bullpen with two runs in the bottom of the inning, bringing the score to 4-2. Caddock and Parker struck out to leave a pair in scoring position in the eighth, and in the ninth Guerin and Martin went down quickly. Michel then hit for Mata and singled. Gonzalez hit for Blanco in the #4 slot, and whacked a single as well. Richardson doubled, plating both of them, but our efforts would end after a walk to Ingall where all our efforts ended, at Newton’s spot in the order. Still, up 6-2, we tried our luck with Fairchild in the bottom 9th, which only worked out because of nifty grabs by Guerin and Newton. 6-2 Coons. Martin 2-4, 2B; Michel (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Richardson 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Ingall 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Meeks 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (4-1);

Oh what the heck is going to be wrong with Ralphie now?? Can’t we get a break??

Meanwhile the trainers recommended a short rehab assignment for Neil Reece in St. Petersburg, and he flew down late at night on Saturday to be available on Sunday. We expect him back before the All Star game, which is only ten days removed from us.

Game 4
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – LF Richardson – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – CF Parker – 3B Crowe – C Jackson – P Farley
IND: SS Matthews – RF Alston – 1B M. Brown – LF D. Lopez – C Paraz – 2B J. Garcia – 3B Chevalier – CF Valdez – P Lawrence

24-year old Nate Lawrence from Radnor Township, PA made his season debut in this game after a recent callup, replacing David Rios. He had had two starts in 1999 and was yet to be defeated by a big league team. Both teams’ rightfielders exchanged 2-run homers in the first inning, but when Brady drove in another run in the third, the 3-2 lead held up for a bit longer. Crowe’s throwing error on a Lawrence grounder in the fifth almost doomed Farley’s efforts, but he got Brown to ground out to Ingall to exit the frame with runners on the corners. The Coons got an unearned run along the way, 4-2, before Farley walked Brown in the bottom 8th, and with David Lopez coming up, that was too close for comfort. Meeks came out and got a grounder to force out the lead runner, then walked Paraz. With the tying runs on base, Donis was brought in to face Jesus Garcia, and his first pitch was wild to advance the runners, before Garcia eventually walked to load them up. Cicalina hit for Chevalier and hacked a grounder to Guerin for a comparably easy exit to the inning. Lawrence pitched into the ninth before Martin took him deep for a 5-2 score. The Coons loaded them up, but Alston caught Parker’s fly to deep right to end the frame, but Alston would also make the final out in the contest, also on a fly to right. 5-2 Raccoons! Martin 2-5, HR, RBI; Richardson 2-4, BB, 2B; Brady 3-3, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Farley 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (8-5); Donis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, SV (15);

Nothing against Scott Wade or Ralph Ford, but Randy Farley is really the ONLY guy I look forward to see pitching every five days…

Ralph Ford’s injury turned out to be a mildly strained back muscle and he *might* even be available to pitch on his last turn before the All Star game. PHEW!!

Raccoons (33-47) vs. Canadiens (42-39) – July 3-6, 2000

The Elks over .500 were bad news. I mean, they can do whatever they want. They can even finish ahead of the Raccoons, as long as both have losing records. But them winning and us losing, it stings. They were posting above-average numbers in runs scored (4th) and runs allowed (5th), and that posed the worrying question whether they were on the upswing after not taking place in the division race since 1994. During their most recent period of strength them and us finished 1-2 in the division five straight years, with the Raccoons taking precedence four times between 1989 and 1993.

Projected starters:
Miguel Lopez (4-9, 5.44 ERA) vs. Jose Dominguez (8-4, 3.75 ERA)
Bob Joly (3-3, 5.33 ERA) vs. Daniel Dickerson (3-6, 5.79 ERA)
Scott Wade (2-7, 4.95 ERA) vs. Jose Marquez (6-8, 4.08 ERA)
TBD vs. Joe Hollow (8-8, 3.39 ERA)

Game 1
VAN: SS B. Butler – C Clemente – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – 2B H. Henry – LF P. Taylor – CF J. Durán – 3B Shaw – P Dominguez
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – LF Richardson – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – CF Parker – C Mata – 3B Michel – P Lopez

The Elks carried the opener not on their own hitting prowess, but because the Raccoons proved unable to field for once. Oh, and unable to hit of course. The Canadiens led 2-1 early, with one run on Michel and a catastrophic throwing error. The Raccoons would leave the bases loaded in both the second and sixth innings, which was going to bit them eventually, but it was also a Mata throwing error that plated two more unearned runs for the Canadiens in the top 7th. Lopez left the game with two stab wounds in the back after this inning, and Fairchild certainly tried to, but failed to explode the score by giving five hits and a walk away in two innings of work – yet the Canadiens didn’t score. Neither did the Raccoons. 4-1 Canadiens. Lopez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, L (4-10);

Miguel Lopez’ once charming career record is closing in on zero, as he has crashed to 73-59 by now.

Game 2
VAN: 2B B. Butler – LF J. Durán – 1B Valenzuela – CF Ledesma – 3B Sutton – C Clemente – RF MacKey – SS Shaw – P Dickerson
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – LF Parker – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – 3B Gonzalez – C Mata – CF Newton – P Joly

Butler singled, Durán took one into the back, and Valenzuela set the score straight with a long one, 3-0 Canadiens before most patrons had reached their seats. When Joly allowed a leadoff single to Shaw in the second and then threw Dickerson’s bunt away, I blacked out and didn’t even get to remove him with the stage hook we stored in the dugout. The game was long out of hand then. The Raccoons failed to do anything with Daniel Dickerson’s corner-spotting not-so-fast fastballs, and got knotted up over seven shutout innings, trailing 7-0. It wasn’t until Raymond Léger replaced Dickerson in the eighth that Brady got a run in, and the Raccoons were crowding him pretty badly in the bottom 9th. In a 7-2 game, bases loaded, two down, Parker grounded to Butler, who misfielded the ball and all runners were safe. 7-3, Brady up, the Elks sent in their closer Juan Bello, whose first pitch Brady popped up in foul ground to end the game. 7-3 Canadiens. Martin 3-5, RBI; Crowe (PH) 1-1; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K;

Yeah well. The Elks seem to be so much better than the Critters. They also smell so much more. (looks offended)

Game 3
VAN: 2B B. Butler – LF J. Durán – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – 3B Sutton – CF MacKey – C D. Davis – SS Shaw – P Marquez
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – 3B Crowe – RF Brady – LF Gonzalez – C Mata – CF Parker – 2B Michel – P Wade

Backup catcher Doug Davis, batting one for ten on the year, was Scott Wade’s anchor in the early game, as he twice got a relieving out from him, in the second and fourth, to keep the Canadiens off the board. The same innings had their bottoms opened with Mata doubles off the wall in center, but only the second opportunity was cashed in on. After Marquez drilled Parker, Michel failed, but Wade hit a double off the wall as well! Driving in the first run of the game, Wade held at third when Guerin singled to make it 2-0. Martin walked, and Brady would eventually single home a pair to make it 4-0. Wade was letting up, allowed a run in the fifth, but was able to escape the sixth by getting Davis to reliably ground out. The Coons were struggling to get another safety run home, and instead had Mike Crowe picked off second base to ruin a well-going seventh inning. Wade eventually yielded to Diaz with the left-hander Sutton up in the eighth, with two down. Diaz provided NO relief, loaded the bags, and Meeks came in to face Wade’s friend Davis. One lineout later, I was able to exhale again, the blue color slowly leaving my face. Donis pitched a so-so ninth, which was just so enough. 4-1 Raccoons. Brady 2-3, 2 RBI; Mata 2-4, 2 2B; Wade 7.2 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (3-7) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

We added Neil Reece to the roster in time for the last game in the series. This came at the expense of Samy Michel, whose bat never was anything special and still wasn’t.

Game 4
VAN: SS B. Butler – C Clemente – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – 2B H. Henry – LF P. Taylor – CF J. Durán – 3B Sutton – P Hollow
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – CF Reece – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – 3B Crowe – LF Richardson – C Jackson – P Ford

Ford was plainly horrible. He walked three in the first inning, fell 2-0 behind, and continued along that route. Down 3-0, Neil Reece got the crowd exited with a solo home run in the bottom 3rd, but excitement was short-lived in Portland these days and usually dissipated in favor of faces buried in palms, which in this game was the case as soon as Ralph Ford reappeared in the top innings and threw another few wide ones. Ford struck out seven, but walked five, and was removed for Newton to pinch-hit in the bottom 5th. Not that that had any positive effect. With both sides hacking frantically the entire game, the Raccoons were running up the strikeouts a little ahead of the Canadiens (who whiffed twice each against Martinez and Miller for 11 K in total), and the bottom 8th saw Joe Hollow both match the Canadiens’ franchise record for strikeouts in a game with 12 – and then set a new one by whiffing Albert Martin. He was hit for in the ninth, leaving the 3-1 lead to Enrico Gonzalez, who didn’t strike out anybody, but also didn’t allow anybody on base. 3-1 Canadiens.

Raccoons (34-50) @ Loggers (49-37) – July 7-9, 2000

The Loggers were scoring runs at a frantic pace, with 494 counters on the board for them after 86 games. Bakile Hiwalani was closing in on 100 RBI at this very moment. Unless the planets would align strangely for the Raccoons, we didn’t figure to steal a sizeable amount of wins here.

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (8-5, 3.30 ERA) vs. Davis Sims (4-4, 6.63 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-10, 5.12 ERA) vs. John Woodard (7-4, 4.21 ERA)
Bob Joly (3-4, 5.40 ERA) vs. Roberto Herrera (9-6, 4.40 ERA)

Game 1
POR: LF Parker – 1B Martin – CF Reece – RF Brady – 3B Gonzalez – 2B Ingall – C Mata – SS Caddock – P Farley
MIL: SS B. Hernandez – C L. Ramirez – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 1B J. Cruz – CF Fletcher – 3B J. Perez – 2B Baker – P Sims

Hiwalani’s 83rd RBI of the season came right in the first inning on a 1-out RBI single. While Ingall put the score back even with a leadoff homer in the top 2nd, the Raccoons didn’t score after loading the bases in the same inning. Both pitchers wobbled considerably before the Raccoons broke the tie first, with Mata doubling in Reece and Gonzalez in the fifth. The bottom of the inning saw Leon Ramirez take Farley deep then, halving the gap to 3-2, before Cristo Ramirez doubled. Although it was not very late in this game, Hiwalani was not pitched to, and instead Cruz grounded out to Caddock. Sims was removed when the first Coon reached base in the sixth, but Bubba Cannon walked Reece to push Martin to second, and they would both score on Gonzalez’ 2-out double. 5-2 for Farley, who nevertheless was bowled over in the bottom 7th when Román Reyes and Bartolo Hernandez both reached, and Farley was gone after a Leon Ramirez sac fly. 5-3, runner on first, one out, Cristo Ramirez up, and Hiwalani looming. Sounded like a recipe for disaster, but the situation de-escalated fairly easily when Blanco popped up Ramirez, and then Miller didn’t even resolve his AB with Hiwalani, because Mata threw out a cocky Hernandez trying to make it to second base. When they found themselves back to work in the bottom 8th, Hiwalani grounded out, and Miller pitched a perfect inning. The score remained 5-3 into Donis’ shift, which started with Perez flying out to right, but Arthur Baker homered, cutting it to 5-4. Miguel Vela grounded out, before Bartolo Hernandez flew deep to center, with Reece in pursuit – and he got it! 5-4 Furballs! Parker 2-4, BB; Miller 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

All our starters in this game had at least one hit, and we had “only” 10 in total despite that. However, a win is a win is a win, and Farley is now at 9-5, a record that is not too shabby for a staff’s assumed ace. Also, after being virtually tied with the Indians for fifth all week, their 7-3 loss in New York lifted us to sole possession of fifth place.

Game 2
POR: LF Parker – 1B Martin – CF Reece – RF Brady – 3B Gonzalez – SS Guerin – C Jackson – 2B Caddock – P Lopez
MIL: RF C. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 1B J. Cruz – 3B R. Morales – CF Fletcher – C L. Ramirez – 2B J. Perez – P Woodard

Woodard struck out the side in the first, before the second opened with flies that off the bat looked like homers from both Brady and Gonzalez – and would have been in Portland – but they turned out to be a double and an out, respectively. Guerin still drove in Brady, 1-0, but Cristo Ramirez equalized with a 2-out RBI double in the bottom 3rd. A borderline mental manager sent Brady and Gonzalez on a double steal in the top 4th that actually worked out, and both were scored on freakish base hits by Jackson and Caddock, 3-1. While all seemed quite well initially, it soon wasn’t, because Neil Reece left the game after the fourth inning with a new injury, this time it was the back that was aching. After that, I retreated to some dark corner to cut myself, to see if I could still feel anything. In my absence, the Loggers loaded them up in the bottom 6th against Lopez, who found something in his arm to strike out Cruz and Morales to escape a potentially fatal jam. The Loggers led off the seventh with the tying runs in scoring position and no outs, regardless, this time knocking out Lopez. Meeks effectively blew up Lopez’ line by showing no class whatsoever and giving up two hits and a walk, and when Gonzalez hit a 2-shot in the top 8th, Meeks almost managed to blow that lead as well, allowing another run to score. Donis came into the bottom 9th up 5-4, and got Cristo Ramirez and Hernandez out. That brought up Hiwalani. Nah. We will rather have Cruz go deep and end this horrible nightmare quickly. Cruz grounded out. 5-4 Raccoons. Brady 2-4, 2B;

Neil Reece? N-Neil R-Reece? I feel like I’ve been struck with a morning star…

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – CF Parker – 3B Crowe – C Mata – LF Richardson – P Joly
MIL: SS B. Hernandez – 3B R. Morales – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 1B J. Cruz – CF Fletcher – C L. Ramirez – 2B Baker – P Herrera

With my red, swollen eyes I witnessed the Raccoons ramming a pike right through Roberto Herrera in the first, plating four on a 2-run double by Parker and a 3-run homer by Crowe, leaving Herrera, who was bleeding profusely, in the next inning to tumble in front of nothing less than the "Pumhart von Steyr", just as Clyde Brady was lighting the fuse: 3-run home run Brady, Herrera’s remains blasted all over the park, and the Raccoons ahead by eight. The Loggers were constantly crowing Bob Joly through seven innings, and never landed a definite blow. They came closest to scoring when Chris Parker threw out a runner at the plate. Joly, completely hapless on his own, was dug out by the defense again and again and again. At least that was better than Fairchild’s effort, which consisted of walking a sufficient amount of batters to cause damage to his own team, which was what happened in the eighth. The Raccoons were almost entirely silenced as soon as they had shattered Herrera with their medieval toys and didn’t score the rest of the way. 8-3 Raccoons. Brady 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Richardson 2-4, 3B, 2B; Joly 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, W (4-4) and 1-3;

In other news

June 26 – Oklahoma’s Bob Grant goes 0-3 in a 5-2 loss to the Loggers, ending his hitting streak at 20 games.
June 29 – DAL 1B/3B Salvador Mendez (.344, 0 HR, 24 RBI) hitting streak ends at 28 games as he goes 0-4 in a 5-1 Stars win over the Pacifics.
June 30 – OCT 3B Sonny Reece (.315, 8 HR, 54 RBI) sizzles in a 9-0 romp over the Falcons, going 5-5 with 5 RBI and falls a homer short of the cycle.
July 1 – The Titans agree to a 3-year extension with 25-year old INF Daniel Silva (.269, 1 HR, 28 RBI), who will earn $4M as part of the deal.
July 2 – WAS LF/RF Jesus Rivera (.369, 16 HR, 67 RBI) has a season for the ages and a Triple Crown campaign interrupted harshly by a strained quad, which will require rest for the month of July at least.
July 6 – TIJ SP Terry Murphy (6-5, 4.33 ERA) is out for the year after being diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
July 8 – OCT OF Joey Humphrey (.363, 5 HR, 24 RBI) has hit in 20 straight games after contributing an RBI double in the Thunder’s 5-2 win over the Aces.
July 9 – Humphrey exits the headlines as soon as he had made them, going hitless in the Thunder’s 3-2 win over Las Vegas, and ending his streak at 20 games.

Complaints and stuff

At some point, Luke Newton’s pathetic bat made his presence in the lineup expendable even at the cost of reduced defense with Chris Parker in centerfield. Consider this the end of Luke Newton’s career. We will look into shipping this .225/.310/.321 career bat (just short of 1,300 AB) out of here on the most efficient way. You know, if having him bat .180/.263/.275 in 200+ AB is the BEST you can do with that lineup spot, you might as well play your grandma in center. You have forfeited your ambitions for better than last place already!

And Parker was fairly good in the recent weeks. With Brady almost OPS’ing .800, the Brewer trade looks better again than last year at this point, when both the outfielders in the deal were relegated into reduced roles, and we only had Farley to admire.

Albert Martin was the CL Rookie of the Month for June, hitting .311 with 3 HR and 14 RBI. His OBP was .373, actually making it a pretty decent idea to have him bat second in front of Reece, Brady, and whomever else could stand on his own legs at various times.

During the Canadiens series at home, we were quite active. Two players had received extension offers before we had left town the last time, and back home we got two signatures:

We agreed to a contract extension with Orlando Blanco, who signed a 2-yr, $450k deal. He will be 34 on July 28, but he is pitching well enough so far to make me belief we actually have found some reliable southpaw for the bullpen, which the Raccoons haven’t had since… phew… Ken Burnett?

The second player to agree to an extension was Daniel Miller. He signed a 3-yr, $1.05M contract, with the last year ($370k) having a team option and a $75k buyout. I don’t think he is done yet (he’s only 32), but the option should protect us a bit better.

With Blanco, Miller, Donis, and maybe Meeks (I have to make up my mind on that) as experienced options, we have three relief slots to be filled by youngsters. Nordahl and Manuel Martinez are obvious and the most likely options. The lack of a strong long relief option among the group might send Meeks away. Too bad Andrew Schaefer didn’t work out, he could have been the long man. Fairchild is no longer a viable option, even for a last place team.

What else? Ah. Right. All Star rosters were released – the Raccoons will not send anybody. No surprise there.

What else? Oh. Yeah. Neil Reece was diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back and this time he could be out for the season, having amassed a grand total of 64 at-bats.

La vida no es bueno.

(sits on the floor, fires up Bertie Higgins’ Key Largo on max volume) WE HAD IT ALL. (rocks slowly back and forth) JUST LIKE BOGIE AND BACALL. (clutches Neil Reece’s 2000 POPPS card against his chest and weeps furiously)