[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Please give us an update on his progress in a few years.

I'll do my best, but you know my recent track record.

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Max Heart came off the DL in time for the series against the Titans. Manny Gabriel was sent back to St. Pete rather than McLaughlin, since the latter had no options left and we could not afford to lose marginal AAA talent right now. It’s that bad. We will start after the draft with a weekend series against the dominant Titans, so that ten under .500 team is soon going to be thirteen under .500 …

Raccoons (28-38) vs. Titans (48-19) – June 15-17, 2001

It’s hard to find a chink in the armor of those Titans, who are 2nd in offense, and a commanding 1st in defense in the Continental League. Their 3.1 R/A per game are otherworldly (not just compared to the Raccoons), and their rotation is virtually unbreakable – or it has been. SP Sergio Gonzalez has recently gone to the DL, opening a hole for Bryce Hildred to crawl out of. Yeah, that guy…

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (4-5, 4.57 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (5-1, 1.78 ERA)
Ralph Ford (4-5, 3.29 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (0-0)
Randy Farley (1-4, 5.72 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (6-8, 4.25 ERA)

Randy has been pushed to Sunday to get that calf an extra day to heal. It’s pointless to skip him, but he is now slotted down to #3 in the order. Also, Jesus Palacios comes in with a 12-game hitting streak.

Guess what: Vern Kinnear is back in the CL North! The Titans claimed him off waivers by the Knights earlier this week.

Game 1
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B D. Mendez – P J. Sanchez
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – P Bean

The call of the day was pitching, and it was some good pitching delivered. Both starters were holding the opposing batters very short, and interestingly it was Carl Bean who held his batters shorter. While Ramiro Cavazos put a run on the board with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd, and the team as a whole put ten hits (nine singles, though) up against Sanchez, Bean didn’t allow anything through seven innings except for three weak hits. In the bottom 6th the Raccoons had had a big chance to add some runs with the bags full after three singles, but Mark Thomas grounded out and they didn’t score. It was still 1-0 with two out in the top 8th when Vern Kinnear came out to pinch-hit and drew a walk from Bean, the first walk on the day. This was tricky though, since they immediately replaced Vern with Luis Alonso to run, and Daniel Silva was due to bat. Silva, the prolific coonskinner, was a left-handed batter, too, so it put us into a predicament with Carl Bean on 103 pitches. But he could probably deal with one more batter, and then the Titans would have reliever Ramiro Román in the #2 hole and send a hitter anyway. Silva grounded out to Palacios. The Coons left on two again in the bottom 8th, and that left the score at 1-0, the Coons up 12-3 in hits. With our closer situation being slightly complicated, and Bean still pitching a shutout, why not stick with him? The Titans sent right-hander Andres Manuel as pinch-hitter to lead off the inning. A soft grounder got through Martin, who had not been pulled for defense, but Mark Austin hit straight into a double play. That left it to Gonzalo Munoz to do something, and hitting a double was well enough. Desperate for a strikeout, I went to Manuel Martinez (!) to face Josh Thomas, a switch-hitter, and Thomas popped the first pitch he saw to shallow left – but no problem for Parker, who ended the game with a two-handed grab. 1-0 Raccoons! Cavazos 3-4, HR, RBI; Palacios 2-4; Sharp 2-4; Parker 2-4; Bean 8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (5-5);

20 years later, I still haven’t learned to manage a bullpen, but somehow it worked out this time.

Game 2
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 2B D. Mendez – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF Garrison – C Manuel – SS H. Ramirez – 1B Walker – P Hildred
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – SS Heart – P Ford

That this would not be Ralph Ford’s day became clear early in the second inning, when he walked three, but the Titans were still not scoring. While the Coons got a run after a Palacios double and Thomas single in the bottom 2nd, Ford was about to be slaughtered in the third. He walked Alonso, hit Mendez, and then Austin singled up the middle. Three on, no outs, the damage was limited to the tying run because Reece threw out Mendez at home on a Rudy Garrison single, but the fourth inning brought an improvement for the Titans. After a leadoff infield single by Hector Ramirez, they systematically destroyed Ford, aided greatly in their endeavor by a terrible misplay by the useless numbnut we had in leftfield, and Ford failed to retire anything or anybody, being loaded for four more runs, 5-1, and didn’t even manage to finish the inning before he was removed and mercy-killed. Not that our bullpen was any less flammable. After Max Heart provided an unexpected rally spark with a 2-run home run in the fifth inning, getting the Coons back to 5-3, Bob Joly was trusted with the ball and over the next two innings was trashed for three runs. The game was basically over right there. In the top 8th, Scott Wade would balk home an unearned run after a Martin error, but who was counting the opposing team’s runs anyway in this park? And that was even before Marcos Bruno got raped for another 4-run inning in the ninth. The Titans out-hit us only 15-13, but the result was markedly more diverse. 13-5 Titans. Cavazos 2-5, RBI; Sharp 2-5; Palacios 3-4, BB, 2B; Thomas 3-4, 2 RBI; Heart 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

And no, we have yet to improve from that dastardly horrible 5.2 runs allowed per game. I wonder why that is. We have such great pitching.

Interlude: trade

Bob Joly was yanked to hell after this game, and Elliott Meeks – anybody remember Elliott Meeks? – was added to the roster. He had spent the last ten days in DFA limbo, refusing an assignment to St. Pete, and had not been claimed either.

I had no interest in his services anymore, however, and we shopped him overnight. The Warriors were the only team answering.

On Sunday, the Raccoons announced that they had flipped Meeks for 21-year old AA SP John Simpson, who had been a supplemental round pick just last year and had pitched a 3-hit shutout in A ball just 11 days earlier, before he had gotten his intestines torn out in his first AA start of the season, allowing nine runs in 3.2 innings (sounds like a Ford or Miranda start, to be honest). Vince gives Simpson a chance, once we get his six vaguely distinguishable pitches sorted out.

Dan Epps joined the Coons from AAA.

Raccoons (28-38) vs. Titans (48-19) – June 15-17, 2001

Game 3
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B D. Mendez – P Bautista
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C M. Thomas – P Farley

The Titans first scored a pair in the top 2nd, and then continued to humiliate a useless pitcher, three months ago the sole hope this team had had, now filed away in the cabinet labeled “Issues”. Two hits, two walks, a Palacios error, and the Titans were up 4-0, with the Raccoons being credited with zero runs and five left on base after two innings. Albert Martin plated himself and Reece with a home run in the bottom 3rd, before Guerin was left on third after a 1-out triple. It didn’t matter anyway, since Farley was charged with another two runs in the fourth. Dan Epps made his season debut in the sixth, but only for a short while. Facing four batters, he gave up three runs on two dingers. Daniel Miller replaced him, surrendering the third consecutive home run to Josh Thomas. Shame continued even beyond that, f.e. in the eighth, when Juan Diaz gave up a home run and three walks – and most of that to left-handers. Scott Wade offered no relief either. This particular rout turned out even more routing than yesterday’s. 15-4 Titans. Cavazos 2-4; Reece 3-4, BB; Guerin 2-5, 3B; Thomas 2-4, BB; Heart (PH) 1-2, RBI;

Palacios’ hitting streak is over.

Total runs in this series: Titans 28, Raccoons 10
Total hits in this series: Titans 38, Raccoons 39
Something’s off here. (yells into the sky) YOU LOT UP THERE HAVING FUN???

Raccoons (29-40) @ Indians (32-36) – June 18-20, 2001

Much contrasting with the Titans, the Indains were second-to-last in runs scored with the most pathetic batting average (.235) in the CL. That probably means the Coons can stay under 20 runs in this 3-game set, but they also have some really solid pitching, with their 283 runs allowed ranking third-lowest.

Projected matchups:
Cipriano Miranda (2-7, 4.69 ERA) vs. Junior Diaz (1-6, 6.61 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-5, 6.20 ERA) vs. Ben Carlson (3-5, 5.40 ERA)
Carl Bean (5-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (9-4, 3.03 ERA)

We are lucky in that we get the soft, fatty part of their rotation and not Manuel Alba or Anthony Mosher, who both have Park-ish ERAs (but not winning records). Yet, all right-handers for the second consecutive series, which with the demise of Clyde Brady is not necessarily something the Raccoons are looking forward to.

Game 1
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Flores – C Fifield – P Miranda
IND: 2B Montray – SS M. Jones – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – CF J. Valdez – RF Lugo – P J. Diaz

Fifield set the Coons on top with a 2-out bloop single in the top 2nd, plating Palacios from third. The Indians didn’t amount to much in the early innings, but crowded Miranda with runners on the corners with one out in the bottom 3rd. Reece made a catch on Phil Montray’s fly to shallow center, keeping the runners pinned, and Mike Jones fouled out to Sharp. Sharp was one of three Coons along with Palacios and Martin to send flies to deep, deep center in the fifth. Valdez snagged two of those, but Sharp’s went out, also collecting Cavazos to make it 3-0. Sharp also drove in the next run in the seventh, an RBI double cashing in Miranda, who was holding the Indians to one hit so far. He issued a few walks, though, like on four balls to David Lopez, leading off the bottom 7th. Lopez stole a base, but the Indians lineup failed to produce anything helpful, even with Miranda pitching, and even with two more 3-ball counts in their favor. After leaving another man in scoring position in the eighth, the Indians were still looking for something countable in the ninth. Miranda kept going despite facing the 3-4-5 batters. Paraz grounded out harmlessly, as did Lopez, and although Miranda’s speed was dropping, he still managed to whiff Ron Alston to end the game! 5-0 Furballs! Cavazos 3-5, 2B; Sharp 3-5, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Miranda 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K, W (3-7) and 1-4;

Whhooooww Miiiii-randa!! This was – really! – his first career shutout! He made 150 starts for the Crusaders before this season, finished only five of those, and never was unscored upon. But it doesn’t make him a great pitcher, still. Well, even Bob Joly tossed a no-hitter once…

Mike Jones actually fouled out to Daniel Sharp three times in this game, twice for the final out with a runner in scoring position. Talk about consistency!

Game 2
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P M. Lopez
IND: RF J. Valdez – LF Quintela – 3B D. Lopez – 2B Matthews – 1B J. Garcia – CF Maguey – C Abrams – SS M. Jones – P Carlson

Carlson was bowled over early with a 2-out, 3-run homer off Albert Martin’s bat in the first inning. That didn’t make Lopez any better however, and the Indians managed to score two in the bottom 2nd, while leaving two men in scoring position. The Indians loaded them up in the bottom 3rd on two hits and Maguey getting plunked, but Brian Abrams grounded out to Sharp before anybody scored. The Raccoons were still ahead by a run, but this one could easily snap against them with Lopez being utterly incapable, which also showed in him plunking Carlson in the bottom 4th. That led to a situation where the Indians had two on and two out, with Lopez batting. He shot a fly to deep left and SOMEHOW Cavazos made that play. Some much needed relief came in Palacios’ 16th home run of the season, collecting Reece, in the top 5th, giving Lopez that 3-run lead back. While the Indians didn’t put anybody on the next two innings, Carlos Quintela would eventually hit a single off Lopez in the seventh, signaling that work was over for him today. Daniel Miller finished the inning, but not without a walk to Matthews. Another insurance run was hard to come by with a Raccoon being thrown out on the basepaths by Abrams in consecutive innings, before Guerin stole his 17th, yet still was left on base in the eighth. In the ninth, with Nordahl getting ready, Lorenzo Martinez walked the first two batters he faced, Parker and Cavazos (who had struck out in all three previous AB’s). Could we get someone home? Sharp flew out, but Reece worked a full count walk, forcing out Martinez for closer (!) Arthur Joplin. The left-hander allowed one run to score on Palacios’ groundout, which made us keep Nordahl in the stable. Instead Manuel Martinez came out to face the right-handed top of the Indians lineup. Valdez struck out, Quintela walked. Lopez then grounded to Guerin – who messed up. Two on, one out. Oh noes! And NOW Nordahl came in, but I had a hunch… No, it worked out. Both Matthews and Garcia grounded out to Palacios, and this one did not get away late. 6-2 Raccoons! Martin 2-5, HR, 3 RBI;

That’s Danny’s first actual save as a nominated closer. He had one in some oddball contest last year, but this is the first time he nailed it down while holding the job of the … naildown guy.

Can we nail down the Indians for three?

Game 3
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Thomas – P Bean
IND: 2B Montray – CF J. Valdez – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – SS Matthews – RF Lugo – P Park

After not hitting a lick against the most terrible pitchers in the terrible rotation we carried around, the Indians instantly jumped on Carl Bean in this Wednesday contest. Bean was roughed up for three runs on two walks and three hits, including two doubles, in the first inning. By contrast, Chang-se Park faced the minimum through three innings, and didn’t get anybody into scoring position until the sixth! That was the case after a bloop and a walk, bringing up Reece with two on and two out, but he grounded out to Montray. The Raccoons were fighting a lost battle, and didn’t score until the seventh when Guerin at first forced out Martin, but then stole second base and scored on Parker’s single. Park whiffed Thomas to end the inning then. Through six, Bean had only been held in the game by the defense, but Jose Lugo eventually took that out of the equation with a solo shot in the bottom 7th that restored the old 3-run gap and also sent Bean to bed. However, Park was not through this one yet. Two out in the top 8th, Sharp and Reece both hit singles. That brought up Palacios with two down, and he still led the Continental League in long balls. The Indians did not replace Park with a lefty, so could Palacios possibly …? Well, he kept the line going! His single up the middle scored Sharp, 4-2, and he represented the tying run on first base. Martin up, still no left-hander, and this was begging for a backlash! Martin fell behind, fought back to 2-2, then made contact, a hard line to left, OVER Matthews, and Alston couldn’t cut it off! It went into the gap, as Reece circled around the bases, and Palacios was waved around third and sent home AND HE WAS SAFE!!! HALLELUJAH!!! Guerin popped out, but we had a brand new ballgame on our hands now! And in the bottom 8th, we had that brand new ballgame escalate rapidly. Bruno retired Abrams, but walked Lopez, prompting a move to Diaz to face Alston. He got a grounder to short from him, but Guerin made another inexplicable error, and the Indians were in business with two on and one out. Diaz walked Garcia, and between all those Daniels in the pen, we picked Miller to face Matthews. After a ball, Matthews grounded back to the mound, and Miller pounced on it, fired home – OUT – and Thomas to first – OUT, TOO!!!! Somehow, Chang-se Park was still in the game when the top 9th came around, although Parker led off. And how he led off – he tripled! C’mon! Score that sucker!! Flores struck out. Heart struck out. Cavazos walked, and Sharp – struck out. AND PARK WAS STILL PITCHING. And Miller never retired anybody in the bottom 9th … and this is how things go with this team… 5-4 Indians. Reece 2-4; Palacios 2-4, RBI; Parker 3-4, 3B, RBI;

In other news

June 14 – ATL SP Tony Hamlyn (10-3, 2.28 ERA) 3-hits the Knights in an 8-0 walkover.
June 15 – DAL SP Kenny Frye (7-3, 3.65 ERA) is out for the year with a severe case of shoulder inflammation.
June 15 – Oklahoma will have to make do without energetic OF Joey Humphrey (.361, 4 HR, 27 RBI) for the next three weeks, as the 30-year old has suffered a sprained wrist.
June 15 – Sacramento’s David Castillo faces three months on the shelf with a forearm strain. It’s not his season anyway, since a 3.57 ERA has only been good enough for a 3-8 record for him.
June 17 – MIL SP Vernon Robertson (9-6, 3.59 ERA) spins seven innings of 3-hit, shutout ball in an 8-0 win over the Indians to grab his 200th major league win. Robertson, 38, spent most of his career in the CL North with the Canadiens and Indians, before going to Washington for four years. He had been the Canadiens’ first round pick in the 1982 draft.

Complaints and stuff

So, I really wanted to get back to the proper weekly cycle but after that last game I … just can’t … -.-

Nick Brown, that former 293th overall pick, who missed about all of the 2000 season with a ruptured UCL, restarted in AA when he came off the DL this April. He’s long back to AAA. Here’s his numbers this year:
AA: 5 GS, 4-0, 2.16 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 18 BB, 39 K
AAA: 7 GS, 5-2, 2.30 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 17 BB, 70 K
Problem is, while he has amazing stuff, his control is blech, and Vince rates him 20/12/6 right now, with a potential 20/13/10, but he’s 23 already, how much better will he get? His profile is below. I still think it’s time to shake up that numbening rotation…

You may know or you may not (most likely not), but in general, bears are extinct in Germany, but there are a few in Italy and Austria. A number of years ago, one bear migrated into Bavaria from there, wreaking havoc along the way in the sheep and chicken population, which he found tasty. As things go in Germany, he was almost instantly allowed to be shot (which soon happened) while being labeled a [/i]Problembär[/i] (problem bear or issue bear), occasionally also Schadbär (damaging bear) in a way only the German language can create new words on the fly. That bear by the way was named Bruno, but as far as I know there is no relation to Marcos Bruno.

Now, centuries ago, explorers and biologists categorized raccoons as a member of the family of bears, and they got incorrectly named Waschbären in German (literally: washing bear). While we have long realized that they in fact aren’t proper bears (or cats, or dogs, or good at baseball), the wrong German name has stuck with them.

And now I will actually come to the bottom line here! (Geez, finally) I think I have come up with a new word for this team. Let’s discuss the Issuecoons.

They have issues. Oh, they sure have. Let’s focus on the rotation for a moment. It’s awful! I though Farley and Ford would be strongpoints, but they are everything but. I also thought that both would run up strikeouts, which they are not. I though Ralph Ford could be an excellent #3, which he is not. It’s actually worse with Ford. You never know what you get! He can whiff a dozen on Monday, and on Saturday he can’t find the strike zone even with three coaches marking the catcher’s glove with laser pointers! It’s infuriating! We knew that Lopez was wrecked even before this season, and Miranda has been nothing but spotty until that shutout he spun. While they have even a better ERA as a group than that Demonic Bullpen of a Thousand Tears, they are clearly not up to the basics of the job description. Like, come to the park before lunch, don’t suck when 20,000 are watching, and be nice to Chad no matter where he’s passed out sniffing yesterday’s socks.

Oh my. Ladies and gentlemen, the Issuecoons!