[Westheim]

Raccoons (24-14) @ Titans (29-8) – May 17-20, 2004

There were a few things the Titans didn’t do well. Like, sleeping with the lights on, and making pizza. In pretty much everything else they led the league, including allowing ridiculously few runs, 109 runs total in 37 games. The Raccoons were likely to get distanced a bit more in the division in this matchups.

Projected matchups:
Felipe Garcia (2-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. Jorge Chapa (3-2, 2.45 ERA)
Nick Brown (5-1, 3.48 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (4-2, 3.93 ERA)
Randy Farley (2-3, 3.04 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (7-1, 2.25 ERA)
Ralph Ford (2-2, 3.96 ERA) vs. Joe Mann (7-0, 1.66 ERA)

One year (1993?) we had Kisho Saito and Scott Wade start out a combined 25-1 or so. Hildred and Mann are on a good way.

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – CF Torrez – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – LF Reece – 2B Ingall – RF King – C Thomas – P F. Garcia
BOS: LF Elizondo – 1B Matsumoto – RF G. Munoz – C L. Lopez – 2B Austin – CF Garrison – 3B V. Flores – SS D. Silva – P Chapa

The first inning was enough to long for a 4-game forfeit and move on. Guerin singled, Torrez singled, Sharp grounded into a double play, and they didn’t score. In the bottom 1st, Elizondo walked, with Matsumoto singling, and then a wild pitch, a King error, and three more hits went on to plate four runs for the Titans in blitz fashion. Second inning, walk to Elizondo, walk to Munoz, another error by King on Luis Lopez’ single, and another run on the board. The Raccoons at least bested them in double plays hit into, three in three innings, and errors made, three in three innings. For the first time in league history, a division was claimed on May 17, as the Titans axed down Garcia for nine runs, another towering home run by Christian Greenman off Dan Nordahl, and reliever Nick Lee whiffing six over two innings. They euthanized the Raccoons in a wild rout. 11-4 Titans. Guerin 3-4, 2B; Torrez 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Moreno 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

How depressing.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – CF Torrez – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – LF Reece – RF Brady – C Thomas – 2B M. Ramirez – P Brown
BOS: 3B V. Flores – 1B Matsumoto – RF Greenman – 2B Austin – CF Garrison – SS H. Ramirez – LF Bryant – C F. Diéguez – P O’Halloran

Old guard O’Halloran was surprisingly porous to start the second contest, with four hits off him in the first (which nevertheless amounted to only one run and three men stranded), and then a 2-out RBI triple by Eddie Torrez in the second inning, after which Torrez scored when Greenman dropped Sharp’s fly to right. That made it 3-0 as Brown started well and allowed only a single the first time through the order. In the top 5th the Coons got a prime chance when Torrez was already on base and Sharp’s grounder to short was lost in translation by Ramirez. Oh well, thought Martin, and hit into the double play instead, and O’Halloran overpowered Neil Reece for an inning-ending strikeout. After O’Halloran came to bat with two out and Ramirez on second base, singled, but Ramirez held, in the bottom 5th, that inning ended with Vic Flores popping out to right. Top 6th, Brown came up with two out and Brady on second base, and he doubled, driving in the run. The extra score was taken away from him swiftly however when Greenman homered in the bottom of the inning, making it 4-1. Sharp was picked off the bases in the seventh, which cost a run when Al Martin’s double was rendered moot by Reece again ending the frame in favor of O’Halloran. Bryant reached on an error by our Ramirez in the bottom 7th but was gunned down stealing by Thomas. The next inning a 2-out infield single by Matsumoto brought up the annoying Greenman again, and he whacked a ball to deep center – but Torrez made it there in time. Brown was hit for in the ninth, but Beairsto whiffed, and we managed to squeeze in another double play, but this time Marcos Bruno saved the day without much fuss. 4-1 Coons. Torrez 3-5, 3B, RBI; Brown 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-1) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

Okay, we’re back even. Maybe Ford could steal one. He had been better than Farley recently. But even just a split would be like a win for us.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Torrez – 1B Martin – C Ledesma – 2B Ingall – 3B M. Ramirez – LF Beairsto – P Farley
BOS: LF Elizondo – 1B Matsumoto – RF G. Munoz – C L. Lopez – CF Garrison – 3B V. Flores – 2B H. Ramirez – SS D. Silva – P Hildred

Randy Farley led all of our starters with a .250 average against Hildred, which was reason for concern already, and then there was the question whether he would ever face him. After an Elizondo single to start the bottom 1st, Farley walked three batters, and the damage was limited to one run only for Martin actually starting to turn a double play. For the umpteenth time in the series, an error by an outfielder plated a run, tying the score in the top 2nd when Elizondo dropped Ramirez’ fly to plate Martin from third base. But while Hildred struck out Farley to end the inning with two Coons on base, the bottom of the inning saw Hildred double off Farley to break the tie, one of three doubles plus change in the inning. Like on Monday, a pre-dominantly left-handed Titans lineup tore a mediocre Raccoons starter wide open, as the score was 4-1 after two. But we weren’t dead quite yet. To start the fourth for the Coons, Martin singled, and Ledesma and Ingall also got on base. Then Ramirez singled to left, and the ball went through Elizondo’s wickets, as he pulled a King for his second error of the night. Two runs scored, and the go-ahead runs were in scoring position with no outs. Beairsto was put on intentionally, but then Farley drew Hildred a nose and chopped a single to right – tied game, bases loaded, no outs. A Guerin sac fly and a Torrez RBI double knocked out Hildred and had the Coons ahead 6-4. After all that frenzy the game calmed down a bit. No more scoring through six, which was also the end for Farley after 109 adventurous pitches. For the Titans, Roger Hahn pitched very well in long relief, but in the eighth had put Beairsto and Guerin on the corners with one out. Brady laid down a perfect bunt as both runners were in motion on the suicide squeeze, and Matsumoto’s only play was on Brady, 7-4. Bottom 9th, Bruno time. The most disgusting Daniel Silva doubled to right, and then Bruno walked part-time player David Brewer. Elizondo increased the amount of hate his own team’s fans felt by hitting into a double play that left Silva on third with two out. Bruno continued to make things interesting however, and hit Matsumoto with a 2-2 pitch. Gonzalo Munoz went to 2-2 as well, but then grounded out to Sheehan at second base. 7-4 Raccoons. Martin 2-5, 2B; Ingall 2-5; Ramirez 2-4, 3 RBI;

Whoah, whoah! Uprising in the making? The Coons take two of the first three in Boston? Will wonders ever cease?

Game 4
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Torrez – 1B Martin – C Ledesma – 2B Ingall – 3B M. Ramirez – LF Beairsto – P Ford
BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B Matsumoto – LF G. Munoz – RF Greenman – 2B Austin – CF Garrison – 3B V. Flores – C F. Diéguez – P Mann

Whenever the Coons had a scoring opportunity, Ford came up with two down and struck out. It was no shame to strike out against Joe Mann, and there was also probably a reason that Mann was undefeated in the latter part of May. Ford matched Mann’s pace of shutout ball through five, but he never retired the acidic pest that was Silva, who walked in the first, and then had the first two hits off Ford in his next two at-bats. The latter was a double with one out in the sixth, and this time he was brought around when Martin couldn’t come up with Masaaki Matsumoto’s bouncer to right. The Titans got a second run, again driven in by Matsumoto, in the eighth, and Mann handed his eight shutout innings over to deadly closer John Bennett, whose 3.10 ERA hinted at not all having gone smooth for him this year, but the Coons seemed to be a minor impediment for him, as he struck out Guerin and Brady, before Torrez got the hopes up with a single to left. Martin drove a ball to the warning track in left, but Munoz made the play. 2-0 Titans. Brady 2-4; Ford 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (2-3);

Well, we could have done so much worse here. A split in this series is actually better than expected. Remember that we have won all of 13 games the last THREE years combined against this team. Starting out 2-2 ain’t bad.

Raccoons (26-16) @ Aces (18-24) – May 21-23, 2004

From the best pitching staff to the worst, the Aces had given up 199 runs so far to rank bottoms in the CL. They also plated runs frequently, 177 so far, but the abysmal pitching hindered them quite a bit. Their bullpen ranked worst in the CL as well, and had a higher ERA (by the fifth of a run) than their rotation.

Projected matchups:
Edgar Amador (5-0, 2.98 ERA) vs. Antonio Sanchez (0-1, 0.00 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (2-4, 5.66 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (5-4, 3.34 ERA)
Nick Brown (6-1, 3.18 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (5-4, 3.53 ERA)

That’s three right-handers, but I will give Al Martin a day off in the opener anyway, to have Amador pitch with the best defense behind him. That entails Sharpie at first, and Ramirez getting the third consecutive start at third.

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Sharp – CF Torrez – RF Brady – C Ledesma – LF Beairsto – 3B M. Ramirez – 2B Sheehan – P Amador
LVA: RF Covington – 1B J. Vargas – 2B O. Torres – SS Nichols – LF Messinger – 3B Warrain – CF P. Flores – C L. Paredes – P A. Sanchez

Martin Covington doubled through Sharp and Ramirez’s capital error on Javier Vargas’ grounder plated the first run of the game in no time, with Martin on the bench probably wondering what he was doing there, while **** was stewing on the field, and the Aces took a 3-0 lead in a hurry. All were unearned. Amador had the Coons’ first hit, a leadoff double in the third, and that was followed by Concie’s first homer of the year to cut the deficit to 3-2, while this was pretty much confirmation that sick hexes were in effect over the ballpark. And just when we thought, all might end well, another error by Ramirez blew out a potential double play and soon led to a 3-run homer by Inaki-Luki Warrain, which pretty much wrote off Amador’s Undefeated label. Amador left in the fifth with a 6-2, two thirds unearned, deficit. The Coons scratched out a run in the sixth, almost had the score balloon further in the Aces’ favor on shoddy defense by Ledesma and Nordahl, who made an error, in the bottom 7th, but then Eddie Torrez led off the top 8th with a jack off the guy we couldn’t get, Nobu Matsui. But Matsui retired the next three, and in turn the bottom fell out of our own bullpen. 8-4 Aces. Guerin 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Martin (PH) 1-1;

Well, so much for my actual plans and managing talents. Like running Nordahl for Martin in the 12th inning and then having Bruno man first base. I may well be the biggest dork around me.

No. No, I’m not. I’m beyond doubts.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Torrez – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Beairsto – 2B Ingall – C Thomas – P F. Garcia
LVA: RF Covington – 1B J. Vargas – 2B O. Torres – SS Nichols – LF Messinger – CF Talamante – 3B Hitchcock – C L. Paredes – P Sandoval

Danny Sharp’s 2-out, 2-run double in the first gave Garcia some early support as he tried to come back from a pair of ghastly outings. His first run through the Aces’ lineup was certainly a success, allowing no base runners and whiffing four batters. Covington hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but was left on base. On base was something the Raccoons were not past the first inning, and soon enough the game turned for the worse. A dreaded leadoff walk to Forest Messinger got the Aces going in the fifth. Hitchcock singled him in and Garcia faced the pitcher Sandoval with two out, but gave up a score-flipping home run. Not all was lost yet, though. Reece hit for Garcia in the seventh and took one to the ribs. Guerin singled, and Torrez drove them both in with a single after Brady had grounded out. That put Garcia, who had only allowed three hits for three runs, in line for the win again, but that win was endangered mightily. Sharp made an error in the seventh that created a commotion on the base paths for Corkum, who wound out of that. In the eighth, Pedro Flores’ pinch-hit double off Manuel Martinez spelled doom, but he never moved off second base. Marcos Bruno however was perfect in the ninth. 4-3 Coons. Brady 2-5; Sharp 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Ingall 2-4, 2B;

Martinez reported a tweak in his side after tossing the eighth, and was diagnosed with a mild oblique strain that will hinder him for the next week.

C’mon boys, take this series. We don’t want to lose to the Aces after splitting with the Titans! Good news is, we have the best guy available for the job ready to go.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Torrez – 1B Martin – LF Reece – 3B Sharp – C Ledesma – 2B Sheehan – P Brown
LVA: CF Talamante – 3B Warrain – SS Nichols – 1B J. Vargas – RF P. Flores – 2B Hitchcock – LF Covington – C Washington – P Alba

There were four guys in our lineup with .333 or better history against Alba, two of those with 40+ AB (Brady and Martin). Ironically it was Brown who lacked his best stuff, and the Raccoons didn’t make good contact, except for the second inning in which Sharp doubled to center and was brought around to score on a Ledesma single. But in the bottom 3rd Brown already had a maddening inning with a leadoff single by the pitcher, and with two out he drilled Nichols, which led to a Javier Vargas RBI single and a tied game. While Brown got better in the middle innings, the rest of the team did not. They had two men in scoring position with one out in the fourth, but Ledesma grounded out to first to keep the runners pinned, Sheehan wasn’t pitched to, and Brown rolled out. In the sixth, Reece hit a leadoff single, and Sharp couldn’t get a bunt onto the ground, and things went downhill from there. Brown hit a leadoff single in the seventh, and finally something sparked. Guerin singled, and after Brady struck out Torrez lined a double into the corner, scoring both runners (Guerin close to pushing Brown over the plate). Bottom 7th, suddenly trouble after a 2-out walk to Rusty Washington. Lou Jenkins hit for Alba and was drilled by Brown, who appeared to lose it, then recovered to strike out Carlos Talamante to end the frame. Brown was removed after a walk in the eighth with somebody else thrown into the 3-1 game, and that one was Ricardo Huerta, who had seen the lightest use this week. His second pitch to Javier Vargas netted a grounder to Sharp, who started the inning-ending double play. The Coons got Brady on to start the ninth, but Torrez hit into a double play right away. Bottom 9th, Marcos Bruno at work, facing Flores first. Flores hit a single up the middle, before Forest Messinger popped out to center, and Martin Covington grounded to Bruno, who only got the lead runner, though. Rusty Washington got hold of an 0-2 pitch and fired a racing grounder to the left side, but Sharp made a wonderful play and got the out at second base to seal a winning week for the Furballs! 3-1 Coons!! Torrez 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Reece 2-4; Brown 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (7-1) and 1-3;

In other news

May 18 – IND MR Jeff Hodge (1-0, 3.00 ERA in 8 G) will miss a full year, having to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL.
May 19 – The Capitals send 29-year old MR Arturo Ramirez (0-1, 1.14 ERA, 1 SV) to the Falcons in exchange for four prospects, with the most interesting transfer being a 20-year old reliever in A ball, Gabriel Caro.
May 20 – The Loggers’ ambitions to get back into the CL North race receive a severe dash when SP Martin Garcia (5-2, 2.67 ERA) sprains an ankle. He might be out until the All Star Game.
May 22 – TOP 1B/3B Jerry Henry (.357, 4 HR, 12 RBI) has the day of his life, as the utility man HITS FOR THE CYCLE in a 12-3 win of the Buffaloes over the Pacifics. In addition to the four hits he also drives in seven runs and scores three times himself! The 33rd cycle in ABL history is the first one for the Buffaloes franchise, who previously had not had a no-hitter, either. This only leaves the Scorpions, Capitals, and Canadiens as teams without either a no-hitter or a cycle. A cycle was hit by a Jerry on a May 22 once before, in 1999, when Jerry Fletcher did the honors for the Loggers.
May 23 – VAN SP Cal Holbrook (3-3, 3.27 ERA) is out for the season with bone chips in his elbow.

Complaints and stuff

The Coons started the week third in the power rankings, and we ended them in fourth.

The air is getting thinner for Beairsto, though. He shows zero at the plate. His defense is better than Reece’s, but even Reece occasionally has a pair of singles… Beairsto has nothing. .160 might be mildly tolerable when you hit 20 dingers. But not if you are on a pace for three.