[Westheim]

Raccoons (64-85) vs. Bayhawks (84-65) – September 17-19, 2001

The Bayhawks had been eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday, so they were guaranteed to be mad. The Raccoons have managed to win just one of six games from San Fran this season, and are not projected to do an awful lot against the fifth-best offensive and third-best defensive team in the CL, and that team has won five straight games.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (10-13, 3.74 ERA) vs. Jorge Chapa (7-4, 3.69 ERA)
Randy Farley (7-10, 4.54 ERA) vs. Ricardo Sanchez (13-10, 3.35 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (7-13, 4.13 ERA) vs. Harry Selph (16-11, 2.80 ERA)

Both Cavazos (back) and Torrez (welt near the wrist) were DTD and didn’t look like they’d see action in this series.

Game 1
SFB: RF Javier – LF Walls – CF Black – 3B B. Hall – C G. Ortíz – SS J. Perez – 1B I. Navarro – 2B Bulco – P Chapa
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – LF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 2B M. Ramirez – RF Flores – P Ford

Ralph Ford was full of crap from the start, surrendering a 2-run home run to Luke Black in the first, two runs in the second, and finally another 2-run home run to Bob Hall in the fourth. Four innings, eight hits, three walks, six runs. Things like that had to be expected with the subhuman staff the Raccoons were forced to employ. The more amazing thing was that Ford was not loaded with the loss for his incompetent showing. The Raccoons had already plated three runs in the bottom 2nd, and added another pair in the fifth, both times with an RBI triple being involved in the inning, first by Ramirez, and then by Guerin. In the bottom 7th the game was already tied and there were runners on the corners with one out for an 0-3 Neil Reece, who lifted a fly to center. Black made the catch, but Jorge Defrese was sent from third base and scored. After Daniel Miller somehow brought the 7-6 lead through the eighth, we didn’t have Nordahl available, who had been used in Saturday’s blowout and then Sunday’s actual save. Manuel Martinez was selected to face the 4-5-6 batters and retired them in order with a pair of strikeouts. 7-6 Raccoons. Guerin 2-3, 3B, RBI; Martin 2-4, 2B; Flores 2-3, 2 2B, RBI; Joly 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

All good things…: Neil Reece fell dry, ending a 14-game hitting streak, and Conceicao Guerin’s season and bid for the stolen base title ended with a quad strain.

Game 2
SFB: RF Javier – LF Walls – 1B Carroll – 2B B. Hall – C G. Ortíz – CF A. Marquez – 3B Bulco – SS J. Perez – P R. Sanchez
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Brady – LF Roberson – SS M. Ramirez – C Mata – P Farley

When Kisho Saito was Ford’s or Farley’s age, being spotted four or five runs early was enough to let you lean back and enjoy. The opposition would not be coming back – ever. In the first inning of the middle game, the Raccoons’ left-handed batters loaded the bases before Chris Roberson rammed a bases-clearing double off the centerfield wall and went on to score on a Ramirez double. Palacios homered the next inning, and that was a 5-run lead for Farley. After three scoreless, but not amazing innings, Farley began to surrender nothing but hard contact. Some fell in, some didn't, and with two out in the fifth it was 5-2 and the tying runs were on base for Bob Hall. The pitching coach went out, reminded Farley that the bases were full and the guys in the red-and-white shirts were the bad ones, and Farley’s first pitch to Hall was wild. Hall lined out to Palacios eventually, but once the sixth commenced, the tying runs were in scoring position in the blink of an eye with an Ortíz single and a Marquez double. Farley was removed from the game and thrown from the top of the grandstands, while Marcos Bruno wiggled out of the jam with only the lead run scoring. The Raccoons hung onto that 5-4 lead by the barest thread, with the bases being loaded in the top 8th and only another nifty play by Palacios saving the score. The Raccoons loaded the bags in the bottom 8th with one out. Desperate for a good result, we gave a bat to Cavazos to hit for Juan Diaz in the #9 slot. He flew to left, just barely enough for a sac fly. 6-4, Sharp batting, and he launched the relieving bomb, a 3-run homer that just managed to escape the yard in left center. 9-4 Raccoons. Sharp 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Palacios 3-4, BB, HR, RBI;

It’s difficult to know what Daniel Sharp really is. He’s not a nifty third baseman. He’s not a leadoff hitter. He’s not a base stealer. He’s not a cleanup guy. What the heck is Daniel Sharp?

Game 3
SFB: RF Javier – LF Walls – 1B Carroll – 3B Foster – CF A. Marquez – 2B I. Navarro – C McDaniel – SS J. Perez – P Selph
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – RF Brady – LF Roberson – SS M. Ramirez – 1B Heart – C Mata – P Miranda

Miranda went up against the game’s most recent no-hitter author, and a pitchers’ duel broke out. Neither team did anything even closely resembling hitting for six innings, with both Miranda and Selph spinning 2-hit shutouts, and not walking anybody either. When Jesse Foster hit a 1-out double off the right center wall in the top 7th it woke up quite a few thousand people at the park. Marquez singled, putting runners on the corners, by far the biggest threat of the whole game. Navarro’s groundout left the runners pinned, and Miranda then came back to punch out Dana McDaniel and keep the shutout going. The Coons got a 1-out double off their own by Brady, and the game’s first walk was intentional and to Roberson. Ramirez grounded out, advancing the runners, and Al Martin hit for .197 non-threat Max Heart. He sent a soft grounder to Ismael Navarro at second base, which Navarro lobbed to Carroll – who couldn’t catch it! The ball bounced into the dugout, and the Raccoons had two runs out of the blue. There was no reason for euphoria, though. Jose Perez doubled to start the eighth and then scored on Sharp’s 18th error of the season. Before anyone knew it, the Bayhawks had the tying and go-ahead runs on the corners and Martinez replaced Miranda, but gave up the game-tying single to Dave Carroll. Diaz came in to face Marquez, but the Bayhawks brought Luke Black to hit. Diaz’ first pitch was wild, too, and so was the third. And the fourth.

And the fourth.

Unfathomable.

The Bayhawks took a 4-2 lead with Selph still dealing in the bottom 8th, which was probably a mistake. The pitchers’ ether had been disturbed. Diaz, the abominable piece of ****, had torn the stuff continuum. Selph put a man on, then Palacios put him down with his second homer of the series, tying the score. The game went to extras, when Palacios was on third with one out and Brady batting. Reece was on first, so a double play was a likely outcome, but Brady lifted one out to left. It kept travelling and went deeper than at first thought. Tom Walls made the catch at the warning track, but that still enable Palacios to casually come home with the winning run. 5-4 Raccoons. Reece 3-5; Brady 2-4, 2B, RBI; Kent (PH) 1-1; Miranda 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K;

Three wild pitches IN ONE AT-BAT. Now I have seen everything. Diaz is the most unable, inept [here came more insults which have been redacted, thankfully] that has ever disgraced this brown-as-poo uniform, and we have a log of 326 players, 300 of which were most horrendous most of the time!

Gah!!

And still, they swept a team that would still be in playoff contention if the Thunder weren’t so damn good.

Baseball. Sometimes, you just can’t understand it. You just can’t.

Raccoons (67-85) @ Indians (70-82) – September 21-23, 2001

In theory, we can make a move for third place against the offensively inept Indians, with their second-worst offense in the CL, scoring 3.7 runs per game. We are 8-7 against them this year, and lost the season series only once since 1990.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.27 ERA) vs. Junior Diaz (6-16, 5.06 ERA)
Carl Bean (9-13, 4.52 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (14-13, 3.30 ERA)
Ralph Ford (10-13, 3.96 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (11-17, 4.13 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – SS M. Ramirez – C Defrese – P M. Lopez
IND: CF Maguey – SS Matthews – C Paraz – LF D. Lopez – RF J. Valdez – 3B Whaley – 2B M. Jones – 1B J. Clark – P J. Diaz

The first start for Lopez in about a month was nothing to look back to. The Indians were up 3-0 after the first two innings, having scored one run themselves, with the other two counters being gifted to them equally divided between a Sharp error and a Lopez balk. Lopez left in the seventh, with Bruno conceding another run for him. The Raccoons had not done anything in seven innings, scattering five hits and three walks to achieve shutout status. The bottom came out of the bullpen in the bottom 8th between Bruno, Perez, and Joly, while the Raccoons took good care to not accidentally score. 6-0 Indians. Sharp 2-5;

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Torrez – C Thomas – SS McLaughlin – P Bean
IND: 2B Montray – SS M. Jones – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – CF J. Valdez – RF Lugo – P Park

Phil Montray tripled off Bean and scored on a single by Art Stevens (Jones had left with an injury in the top 1st) – and Carl Bean is trailing again! Amazing! How does he do that!? Bean’s bunt in the third inning was fielded to second by Chang-se Park, but McLaughlin beat out the throw and the Raccoons had a pair on with nobody out, a situation that Daniel Sharp favorably advanced with an RBI double, and Palacios and Reece would bring home two more runs, 3-1. There was not all that much going on for the next few innings. Certainly no Raccoons on base. Light rain visited the park during the sixth and seventh innings, but then moved on to a happier place, and Bean was still out there after seven. In the top 8th, Palacios got on to lead off, and then the supposed battery hacked itself out in quick succession. Bottom 8th, Art Stevens got on as the first man up, before Jose Paraz ended Bean’s hopes and dreams with a home run to center. Once Juan Diaz made an appearance that brought the Indians close to winning the game, Scott Wade struck out Juan Valdez to escape this eighth inning of hells, and also pitched the ninth starving Jose Lugo on third base and bring extra innings upon us. The Coons had two on in the tenth when Neil Reece double-played them out of that chance, and Bob Joly started the bottom of the frame with a walk to Paraz, and quickly loaded the bases with two more walks. Well, there was no point in bringing in actual pitcher NOW. Jesus Garcia drew the fourth walk to walk off the Indians. 4-3 Indians. Sharp 3-5, 2B, RBI; Wade 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Joly and Diaz. I made an appointment with a specialist for them.

That man is a tanner.

Game 3
POR: LF Torrez – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – RF Brady – 1B Martin – 3B M. Ramirez – SS Gabriel – C Mata – P Ford
IND: SS A. Stevens – 2B J. Ramirez – LF D. Lopez – RF J. Valdez – CF Maguey – C P. Fernandez – 3B A. Garcia – 1B J. Clark – P Alba

With the Raccoons leaving a few runners in scoring position early, the Indians used double power to take a 2-0 lead with solo shots by Art Stevens and David Lopez in the third inning. One run came back on an Al Martin homer in the top 4th, and when Mata led off the fifth with a double, things looked good, yet he was left on third base. In the bottom 5th, Palacios dropped a pop by the pitcher Alba, which didn’t turn into a run, and when Palacios made ANOTHER error in the next inning, Ford couldn’t bear it anymore and scored the Indians’ third run with a wild pitch. In the seventh, the Coons had nobody on with two down, and why hit for Ford now when there’s no hope? Ford chopped his second freak hit of the day, and then Edgardo Torrez finally logged a hit in his 12th career plate appearance, a single up the middle. Palacios then grounded to Ramirez, whose throw to first went wide and into the Indians’ dugout, spilling a few bats and balls. That awarded the Raccoons a run, and put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position for Neil Reece. Beloved Neil singled up the middle past a launching Ramirez, and that plated two runs! Even Reece was scored after two more singles – a fine example of 2-out terror! Ford now had to pitch with a lead, freaked out again, and Marcos Bruno ended the seventh for him. Then Daniel Miller failed to deal with the eighth, putting two on with two out. Dan Nordahl came on right here, went to 2-2 on pinch-hitter Jose Paraz, before the catcher grounded a ball back to him. Nordahl picked it, threw to first – or more past it. Now the Indians were laughing, plating one run and putting the go-ahead runs in scoring position. Jesus Garcia walked before Phil Montray flew out to Torrez in left. The Raccoons got two runs off the Indians’ bullpen in the ninth with Brady and Ramirez driving them home, giving Nordahl a comfy 3-run cushion for the bottom 9th, which was led off by Stevens. Nordahl went to 2-2 on all batters he faced in the inning, including strikeouts to Stevens and Ramirez, before David Lopez grounded out to McLaughlin at short. 7-4 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Brady 2-5, 2B, RBI; Martin 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Ford 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (11-13) and 2-3;

Danny Nordahl might be a pitcher with potential (carefully worded), and even a fast runner, but oh my god is he giving me headaches…

In other news

September 23 – Going down to the wire with the Titans, the Loggers lose RF/LF Cristo Ramirez (.303, 2 HR, 61 RBI) to a partially torn labrum. Ramirez is out for the rest of the year.

Complaints and stuff

So, fourth place looks like it will be a lock for us this season. However, it will be a fourth place owed to the weakness of others rather than the strengths of ourselves.

We have shut down Nick Brown completely for the year (barring most unforeseeable circumstances). He was awful in his last start, but has also tossed 180 innings this year while missing most of April recovering from a ruptured UCL suffered in May 2000. We’ll need him next year, no need to use him up this year. He pitched to a .351 BABIP during his first sniff at the majors, so that 1.44 WHIP should be taken with a grain of salt. He pitched 41.2 innings here, allowing 41 hits and 19 walks against 50 strikeouts. The only thing bothering me heavily is the seven home runs allowed. This might stem from a lack of movement. 99-101 mph is awesome, but sometimes it won’t help.

Andrew Schaefer’s season stats for San Francisco: 5-1, 65 IP, 2.34 ERA, 24 BB, 75 K. Why do I even give a ****?

We’re running up on conclusion of the ABL’s 25th season, so it’s a time to reminisce.

Franchise leaders in hits collected (total career hits if different):
1st – Daniel Hall – 1,886
2nd – Neil Reece – 1,680
3rd – Tetsu Osanai – 1,548 (2,069)
4th – Mark Dawson – 1,313 (1,913)
5th – Ben O’Morrissey – 1,180 (1,945)
6th – Jorge Salazar – 1,142 (2,137)
7th – Matt Higgins – 961 (972)
8th – David Vinson – 871 (1,193)
9th – Marvin Ingall – 799 (919)
10th – Conceicao Guerin – 774

Concie kicked Pedro Sánz, a part of the abysmal early Coons, from the top 10 just over two weeks ago. Now he’s injured.

Franchise leaders in strikeouts (total career K’s if different):
1st – Kisho Saito – 2,322 (2,800)
2nd – Scott Wade – 1,417
3rd – Logan Evans – 1,022 (1,237)
4th – Jason Turner – 997 (1,399)
5th – Miguel Lopez – 927
6th – Christopher Powell – 774 (837)
7th – Wally Gaston – 684
8th – Grant West – 673
9th – Juan Martinez – 511 (556)
10th – Randy Farley – 505

The top 6 are starters (or were for most of their careers), while the next 6 were relievers before Randyboy started axing through them. He has already passed Richard Cunningham, Daniel Miller, and Jackie Lagarde this season.

25 years of ABL baseball, that’s also 25 years of Raccoons baseball. Maybe we might want to think about nominating a team of the quarter century, maybe even a full roster, five starters, seven relievers, two catchers, six infielders, five outfielders – if we can find that many players that have not annoyed us too much for the past generation. If you have any suggestions, a full roster or a partial one, submit them please.