[Westheim]

Raccoons (47-70) vs. Capitals (61-56) – August 15-17, 2000

Despite their mediocre record, the Capitals were still in the running for a playoff spot, trailing the Blue Sox by only four games coming in. They had lost four games in a row, though. Their strengths were with offense, in which they ranked third in the Federal League, while their pitching at times would fall apart, giving them a -10 run differential, with the fifth-most runs allowed. Their bullpen was especially porous, ranking 10th in the FL. However, the Raccoons were considerable worse in every aspect…

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (11-8, 3.45 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (10-6, 5.00 ERA)
Ralph Ford (6-12, 4.34 ERA) vs. Chad Wright (7-6, 3.88 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-12, 5.13 ERA) vs. Takeru Sato (9-9, 3.22 ERA)

We know Robertson, but I am not sure whether we have played against the 26-year old right-hander Wright and the 27-year old southpaw Sato before.

Game 1
WAS: SS J. Lopez – 3B R. Gonzalez – CF V. Sanchez – LF J. Rivera – RF Calzado – 1B C. Solís – C W. Turner – 2B McFarland – P Robertson
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – CF Parker – LF Richardson – C Jackson – P Farley

The attendance got treated to a pitcher’s duel in the series opener. Robertson and Farley traded goose eggs through five innings, with Farley not even giving up a hit through six. The big question was whether Farley could get any support in his bid, and the answer would turn out to be affirmative, even if he didn’t get much to work with. However, Daniel Sharp put up a 1 for the Raccoons with a home run in the bottom 6th. Farley was back out for the seventh, got Ramiro Gonzalez, before Victorino Sanchez grounded to the right side, far to Ingall’s left. Ingall launched after it, barely got a glove at it, scrambled up and – didn’t make a throw. Sanchez was safe already. Solís singled to start the eighth, but Turner – always the killer when it came to offense – hit into a double play. Robertson went eight, whiffing nine, and Farley went back out for the ninth (remember how good our closer is) on 99 pitches and facing PH Tony Diaz to start the frame. Farley got to 1-2, then had one get away and hit Diaz. Tying run on base, we began to sweat. Jose Lopez came up and hit a hard shot to short, bouncing once as it hit the warning track. Guerin refused to be eaten up by hit, smothered it, lobbed to Ingall, and they turned the double play. That left Ramiro Gonzalez to bother about, and he grounded out to Guerin as well. 1-0 Coons! Sharp 1-4, HR, RBI; Ingall 2-3; Farley 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12-8) and 1-3;

RANDY!!!! I LOVE THIS KID!! After his fifth career shutout and tenth complete game in 88 starts, Randy also reaches 12 on the year, and is one win away from his career best (13-13 in 1999).

Also: DANIEL SHARP!!

We gave Paco Martinez the callup. He had started the same day, pitching seven innings of 2-run ball in a 5-2 win for St. Pete.

Game 2
WAS: 2B T. Diaz – 3B R. Gonzalez – CF V. Sanchez – SS J. Lopez – LF J. Rivera – 1B C. Solís – RF McFarland – C W. Turner – P Wright
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Brady – LF Parker – 2B Ingall – C Mata – CF Kent – P Ford

The Raccoons scored three runs in the first inning when Wright looked like he wouldn’t go very deep, but then settled into a groove quickly. Ford went the other way, not allowing a hit through to the third, but then quickly coming apart with control issues. The Capitals drew four walks off him in five innings, and tied the game in the fifth. Ford struck out six in six innings, but could not get back in line for a W, and needed 117 pitches for six frames. The Coons were locked out of the game by Wright entirely after the first inning. While Blanco and Reyes pitched scoreless innings, Donis fell to a leadoff double by Tony Diaz in the ninth. Diaz came around to score, while Jesus Longoria replaced Wright. He walked Martin to start the bottom 9th, who was run for by Newton. Brady and Parker both made outs, moving Newton to third. Now we needed an Ingall single, but we got a pop to shallow right that Vonne Calzado caught leisurely. 4-3 Capitals. Martin 2-3, BB;

Sigh. Would have been nice to pick up an actual hit at some point in the ninth. The last of our five singles came in the third inning.

Game 3
WAS: 2B T. Diaz – 3B R. Gonzalez – CF V. Sanchez – SS J. Lopez – LF J. Rivera – 1B C. Solís – RF McFarland – C J. Rivera – P Sato
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – CF Parker – C Mata – LF Richardson – P M. Lopez

Another game in which the music started to play mostly on the silent keys – neither team got a hit until Guerin’s 2-out single in the bottom 3rd that led to nothing at all. The Capitals had two hits in the fourth, didn’t score, and the Coons lined up three singles in the bottom 4th to go up 1-0 before Lopez flew out to leave the bases loaded. But Sato began to lose it. The Coons loaded the bags once more in the fifth, and then Parker drew a 2-out walk in a full count to push home Guerin with a run, and Mata singled home a pair on a grounder that Lopez missed by fractions of an inch. The Capitals didn’t know how to break up Lopez, not even when Guerin made a critical error in the sixth that put a runner on third. Bottom 7th, Pancho Padilla appeared in relief for the Capitals, and loaded the bases quickly with walks to Brady and Parker and sandwiched between those a toss into Ingall’s thigh. Padilla would not retire anybody as the game got out of hand for the Capitals: Mata singled home another pair, 6-0, and then Richardson hit an RBI single, which prompted an appearance from Alonso Villegas. When the Capitals actually did get to Lopez he was smashed into pieces instantly: four hard hits in the top 8th knocked him from the game. Nordahl allowed a runner left on by Lopez to score, and the Capitals got back within slam range. Having just blown a huge lead a few days earlier in Sacramento, we got nervous. Like the fall of the Roman Empire, it began innocently enough. Nordahl continued to pitch and sat down the first two in the ninth. Then Diaz reached on an error by Sharp. And then Gonzalez reached on an error – by Sharp. The poor kid was out there on the field and looked like he was about to cry. The slammers came up, and I was not in the mood to have Nordahl pitch to left-hander Victorino Sanchez and his 1.028 OPS. Blanco came in – and struck him out. 7-3 Raccoons. Guerin 3-4, BB, 2B; Brady 2-4, BB; Mata 2-4, 4 RBI; Lopez 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (6-12);

Always walking the edge, this team. Daniel Sharp, who had given his best Cameron Green impressions in the ninth, kept looking for holes in his glove in the locker room, sitting sadly on the bench in front of his locker until Scotty gave him a hug finally…

Raccoons (49-71) @ Indians (48-73) – August 18-20, 2000

Yay, last place playoffs! The teams were about equally abysmal, with the Indians having a clear edge on the pitching side, ranking 7th in runs allowed, with 66 runs allowed less than the Raccoons. However, ugly remains ugly no matter how often you paint it green.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (5-10, 4.74 ERA) vs. Steve Holcomb (7-13, 3.97 ERA)
Paco Martinez (0-2, 4.19 ERA) vs. Chris Frazier (0-1, 8.59 ERA)
Randy Farley (12-8, 3.26 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (6-10, 3.76 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Brady – LF Parker – C Mata – 2B Caddock – CF Newton – P Wade
IND: SS Montray – RF Alston – 1B M. Brown – LF D. Lopez – C Paraz – 2B J. Garcia – 3B Whaley – CF Fisher – P Holcomb

Although Matt Brown hit into a double play in the bottom 1st, he still did damage against his first big league team, plating Phil Montray from third base. Holcomb was perfect through four before he issued walks to Brady and Parker to start the fifth inning in the 1-0 game. Mata singled up the middle, breaking up the no-hitter, too, and enabling Brady to score from second base to tie the score. After Caddock grounded out, the Indians elected to walk Newton intentionally to face Wade with one out, which was begging for it to backfire for them, but Wade lined out and Guerin couldn’t get the ball onto the ground either. Bases loaded, one out in the top 6th, Mata hit to Whaley and into a double play. Wade continued to survive despite an error by Brady in the bottom 7th, and kept the game tied, hoping for offense, after his last start had ended in disaster when the team blew the 7-2 lead in Sacramento. Guerin got on in the eighth, leading off, and stole second base. Sharp came back from 0-2 to a full count against reliever Paul Maxwell, who came in to face him, and after making three hard outs before, Sharp hit a high bloop to shallow center – and THAT one fell in. Guerin had to hold at third, but we had nobody out – and we didn’t score anybody, either. Martin struck out, Brady lined out, Parker walked, and Mata grounded to second. Nope! No win for Wade! Better luck next life, Scotty. Wade pitched a scoreless eighth. Caddock and Richardson made outs before Michel hit for Wade against reliever Momsilo Plavsic and drew a walk. Guerin also walked, bringing up Sharp. C’mon Danny, show us what you’re made of! Apparently, he was made out of groundouts to first. Although Elliott Meeks tried hard to issue four walks in the bottom 9th, he was ultimately unsuccessful and two teams who had bored the attendance to death by combining for six hits over nine innings went on to play even more awful baseball, but not for long. Dan Nordahl had another horrible outing, walking two, before Ron Alston ended a dire presentation with a double off the wall. 2-1 Indians. Wade 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

The Uttercoons had ten walks, three hits, one run, a dozen left on base. Short-hand definition of two crap teams playing each other.

It got even better. Elliott Meeks had gone to the clubhouse after his crappy performance in the bottom 9th. Neil Reece, who was with the team on the weekend, followed him after Meeks kicked a bag of baseballs (precisely twice his trade value) in the dugout on the way to the tunnel under the stands. By the team the rest of the team arrived in the clubhouse after Dan Nordahl’s own uninspired appearance in the bottom 10th they saw Reece administer to Meeks with a once-white towel after Meeks had cut his hand trying to demolish his locker and … the floor was a mess.

Meeks is out for the season, says the medical staff. The 40-man roster was full. With Neil Reece not expected back before mid-September, more like 75 days after getting hurt for the third time this year, he was moved to the 60-day DL to free up space to add Andrew Schaefer back to the 25- and 40-man rosters. Not that Schaefer had been any good in AAA. But we were paying him one way or another anyway…

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – RF Brady – 1B Michel – 2B Ingall – C Mata – CF Newton – P P. Martinez
IND: SS Matthews – LF Quintela – C Cicalina – 1B D. Lopez – RF Alston – 3B Whaley – 2B Montray – CF Maguey – P Frazier

After three more snoozer innings, the Coons plated two thanks to a Michel double, mostly, in the top 4th. The Indians came right back with another RBI double by Alston. The Coons would hit five hard shots to left center or center off Frazier in the fifth then. The outfielders snagged only two, and the other three became doubles and a pair of runs. Martinez, who was pitching on short rest, began to give up hard contact by the sixth and was removed in a 5-1 game with one out and a man on. While Reyes upon entering gave up more hard contact, at least we found takers with gloves in the field for those. The Coons managed to leave bushels of runners on again in the late innings, and we were just waiting for the inevitable Indians comeback. Schaefer out in the eighth was probably begging for it, but he pitched a scoreless inning. Still up by four, Daniel Miller appeared in the bottom 9th, didn’t get in front of a single batter, but somehow escaped with two men on. 5-1 Raccoons. Sharp 4-5, 2B; Newton 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI;

(Somehow, I always want to type Walter Alston with this Indians guy…)

By now we have at least staved off the prospect of dropping to last place this weekend. Yay.

And next we are hoping for Randy Farley (unconquered in 21 consecutive innings) to treat us to another gem.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – LF Parker – C Jackson – CF Newton – P Farley
IND: SS Montray – RF Alston – 1B M. Brown – LF D. Lopez – C Paraz – 2B J. Garcia – 3B Whaley – CF Maguey – P Alba

The Randy Show almost ended in the first inning after Montray walked and Ron Alston hit an infield single. Key to escape was a K to Lopez and Montray got starved at third base. The Coons scored a run in the second and two in the third, with a Brady triple being very helpful in the latter instance. Farley again struggled with the three left-handed batters atop the Indians lineup and again put a pair on in the bottom 3rd, but AGAIN struck out Lopez and this time also Paraz to exit the inning, up 3-0. Problems arose when Matt Whaley hit an infield single in the bottom 4th. Maguey also got on, and the two were in scoring position with two down and Montray reappearing in the box. Farley got him to ground out to Ingall, advancing still unscored upon. But the left-handers continued to give him trouble. In the fifth, both Alston and Brown reached. Lopez flew out, advancing Alston to third with one out. When Jose Paraz walked, loading the bags, vanity went out of the window. Screw scoreless innings, keep the lead in one piece! Garcia’s sac fly killed off the streak, and Whaley plated another run, 3-2. Farley was removed in the bottom 6th after Carlos Quintela led off with a pinch-hit single. Diaz was to face the top of the order, and blew the lead in record time. Sharp made another error in the bottom 7th that put the go-ahead run on second base with no outs, but Daniel Miller navigated out of the inning with the score still knotted at three. The Coons almost lost in the ninth after Reyes had issued two walks and was almost taken out by a Sam Fisher grounder, but managed to make the play to first to go to extras. Top 11th: Reyes – although a sucker – was intended to be used for another inning, since this would potentially take another ten innings. When Newton made an out to get the frame started, Reyes batted, and hit a double. Guerin grounded out, moving him to third, and then Sharp came up, 0-5 one day removed from his 4-hit day. Sharp grounded to third, and Whaley – botched the play. Reyes scored, Sharp was safe on an error. Now we still left Reyes in with a 4-3 lead. He was to face right-handers, and Donis sucked either way. Schaefer and Nordahl were the only options left in the pen. Reyes came through, only allowing a soft single to Garcia with two down. 4-3 Coons! Brady 2-5, 3B, RBI; Ingall 2-4, BB, RBI; Reyes 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K, W (3-2) and 1-1, 2B;

In other news

August 17 – SFB Tony Hamlyn (13-7, 2.90 ERA) 1-hits the Pacifics in a 4-0 shutout. Anibal Rodriguez (who had hit his 300th home run last week) has the offending hit, a fourth inning single.
August 19 – VAN OF Luis Arroyo (.274, 15 HR, 75 RBI) is out for the year with a torn labrum.
August 20 – The Blue Sox trade 1B Roberto Vargas (.292, 4 HR, 65 RBI) to the Warriors, along with a minor leaguer, for OF Alberto Flores (.329, 1 HR, 26 RBI in 173 AB).

Complaints and stuff

The evil Indians finally climbed Mount Randy after 25 innings, Sharp had his moments this week, and Ford can't find the zone, but I will say it here and now, and in ten years’ time we will know whether I have been right:

Farley. Ford. Martin. Sharp. These four. These four will win us a World Series.