[Westheim]

Raccoons (9-10) @ Condors (6-13) – April 26-28, 2005

The problem of the Condors was pitching, and it was a big one. They had in just three weeks run up a -48 run differential, with the worst run-avoidance program in the Continental League. They were seventh in runs scored.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (3-0, 2.13 ERA) vs. Kelvin Yates (0-2, 7.29 ERA)
Edgar Amador (1-3, 4.84 ERA) vs. Curt Powell (3-1, 6.93 ERA)
Ralph Ford (0-1, 3.67 ERA) vs. Jose Aguilar (1-3, 5.66 ERA)

That’s all right-handers, and with our abundance of left-handers to stuff the lineup with, this should play into our hands.

Game 1
POR: LF Fernandez – RF Brady – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – CF Torrez – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Brown
TIJ: CF R. Perez – 3B N. Chavez – RF Luxton – C Cicalina – 1B Reya – SS B. Boyle – LF J. Thomas – 2B McGreary – P Yates

If there was a point to just throw in the towel and walk away, it was this game. This Tuesday night game at the plate of the worst team in the league.

Brown started off well, but was victimized by Daniel Sharp’s ****ty defense in the second inning. Bruce Boyle hit a 2-out triple into the gap in right center, which happens, but when Brown got a friendly grounder from Josh Thomas to third base, Sharp completely blew it and the run scored. Meanwhile, Yates and his 7+ ERA retired the first ten Raccoons until Brady walked in the top 4th, and Sharp quickly got him wound up in a double play. The bottom 4th however was the true soul crusher. Brown got Cicalina and Reya on the corners with a single, balk, and another single, with no outs. Then he struck out Boyle and Thomas. And then McGreary singled, which is, well, too bad, but now the pitcher came up and – doubled over Brady into the corner in right, and the score was blown out to 4-0, then 5-0 when Ramón Perez singled him home. It didn’t matter that Clyde Brady turned the play of the decade in the bottom 5th, when with Cicalina on first, Luis Reya doubled to right, Brady fired the ball home to kill off Cicalina, and Bobby Wood went to third where Reya was heading to get the third out of the inning there, our usual household 9-2-5 double play. The Coons managed ONE single (Fernandez’) in the time they made 26 outs, until Miguel Ramirez killed the Condors’ shutout with a pinch-hit 2-run triple, which was entirely useless in the bigger context. 6-2 Condors. Ramirez (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI;

To be fair, Yates led the Continental League in strikeouts the last two years. But other teams managed to hit him, too! The Coons can’t hit anybody.

The Coons could not steal candy from a three-year old.

Game 2
POR: 1B Sharp – LF Brady – 3B M. Ramirez – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – CF Torrez – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Amador
TIJ: SS B. Boyle – C Cicalina – LF R. Perez – CF Luxton – RF J. Thomas – 1B B. Román – 3B Simon – 2B McGreary – P Powell

Brady made it back-to-back games for outfield assists, bringing the crusher down on Ramón Perez at home plate in the sixth inning. That kept the game scoreless through six, with the Critters having stranded two in the first, three in the second, and another two in the fourth. The Fat Cat had given up a leadoff double to Boyle, and then hardly anything in hits, but four walks through six. The scoring drought was broken the next inning with a pinch-hit 2-out homer by Nelson Chavez, and the Raccoons simply never scored, unable to press a clutch hit in between their dozen strikeouts, nine of which came against Powell in seven innings. 1-0 Condors. Amador 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, L (1-4);

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – CF Fernandez – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – C Cooks – P Ford
TIJ: CF R. Perez – LF Bayle – RF Luxton – C Cicalina – 1B Reya – SS B. Boyle – 3B N. Chavez – 2B McGreary – P Aguilar

Wholly inept offense continued for the road team, while the Condors were unfortunate enough to get leadoff singles in the second and third innings, and then hit into 6-4-3 double-outs both times, which allowed Ford to face the minimum through three innings. He walked Perez to start the fourth, and Jimmy Bayle tripled the run home with a proper swing, then scored when Ford balked right after Sharp retired Robbie Luxton on a launching grab. At that point, down 2-0, the Coons were hitless. Fernandez drew a leadoff walk in the top 5th, and then the Double Yoshis delivered double hits, first a Yamada single, then an RBI double from Nomura. The Condors walked Cooks intentionally, which was a strange move with a .118 batter, to load them up with no outs, and then Ford struck out, Sharp struck out, Brady walked, and Greenman – struck out. At least the bottom 6th ended with Luxton nailed at home by Greenman on Cicalina’s double, which gave the the Condors an out at home in every game of the series. The Coons had their first two batters on in the sixth, after which they died, and in the eighth, when Fernandez hit into a double play. In a ninth inning that stretched like gum, Nomura drew a leadoff walk from Brian Patrick, was bunted over by Cooks, advanced on a wild pitch, before Torrez failed in a PH appearance, but then Sharp singled to left to get us on top. Angel Casas retired the side in order in the ninth to take at least one win from an outright dismal series. 3-2 Critters. Martin 2-4, 2B;

THOSE starters, and this team managed 13 hits and five runs – IN THE ENTIRE SERIES.

April, and I am already screaming and plotting how to make them all magically disappear. Why not to Topeka?

Raccoons (9-10) vs. Canadiens (12-9) – April 29-May 1, 2005

The Canadiens looked healthy early on, third in runs scored, and fourth in runs allowed, after a month of action. The Raccoons looked morbidly awful and terminally horrible. The Elks lead the season series 2-1 after beating us during Opening Week.

Projected matchups:
Felipe Garcia (1-1, 2.93 ERA) vs. Juichi Fujita (2-1, 2.45 ERA)
Ben Carlson (0-2, 4.00 ERA) vs. Cal Holbrook (2-0, 5.06 ERA)
Nick Brown (3-1, 2.87 ERA) vs. Scott Spears (3-1, 4.45 ERA)

An entire week of right-handers. The dice are falling strangely this year.

Game 1
VAN: CF E. Garcia – SS Nakayama – 1B Harmon – 2B Dobson – 3B Phillips – LF Wheaton – RF J. Gonzalez – C F. Diéguez – P Fujita
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – CF Torrez – C Wood – P F. Garcia

Jim Phillips hit his first home run of the season in the first inning, having it count for three and the Coons sat in an early hole which amounted roughly to their overall daily production. But they didn’t die silently: Sharp got on in the third, and Brady homered, to take the team lead with three, and get us back into a 3-2 game. Then, top 4th, Phillips doubled, Jose Gonzalez homered, and it was 5-2. And THEN they died silently. Garcia went seven without spilling any more, and Rockburn, Moreno, and Bruno finished the game from there, but with this offense, there was nothing to win. Both Yoshis were left on third base in the remainder of the game, and no Raccoon crossed home again. 5-2 Canadiens. Brady 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-4, 2B; Ramirez (PH) 1-1;

Cal Holbrook was skipped from the rotation by the Elks and would not face us.

Game 2
VAN: CF E. Garcia – SS Nakayama – 2B Dobson – RF Calzado – LF Wheaton – 1B Rodgers – 3B Rivas – C F. Diéguez – P Holbrook
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Fernandez – RF Brady – 1B Martin – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – CF Torrez – C Wood – P Carlson

In a stunner, the Raccoons took a rousing 1-0 lead in the first inning, on a Brady double and a Martin single, and they didn’t immediately blow it. In fact, Carlson struck out three in a row early on and was not threatened in the first three innings, but the Elks loaded the bags in the fourth with a hit-by-pitch, a single, and a walk, before Edgardo Fernandez utterly robbed Alex Rivas of a bases-clearing double with a sprawling catch in the gap in left center, ending the inning, and the fifth ended with a K to Jerry Dobson with two Elks stranded. The Coons yet had to follow up Martin’s RBI single with anything. A Calzado single and Wheaton double put two runners in scoring position to start the top 6th, and Carlson was not going to recover from that. Both runs scored, it started to rain, and once Carlson retired Spears to start the seventh inning, the game went to delay, never to resume. 2-1 Canadiens. Martin 1-2, RBI; Carlson 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (0-3);

We had three hits against Scott Spears, and … well. There, I did it. I bit a piece off my clutched fist.

Game 3
VAN: CF E. Garcia – LF Trinidad – 1B Harmon – 2B Dobson – SS Nakayama – RF Wheaton – 3B Phillips – C F. Diéguez – P R. Taylor
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – CF Fernandez – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Brown

First man up, Enrique Garcia was drilled by Brown, and Henry Harmon hit his first homer of the season for a quick 2-0 deficit, as Brownie Day was witnessed to run off the road and down a cliff by a paltry Sunday crowd. Rod Taylor (2-2, 3.30 ERA) hadn’t thrown a pitch yet and had already won. While Brown had good innings, like whiffing the side in the third inning, and getting two strikeouts in to end the fifth after Diéguez had led off with a double through Martin and being bunted to third, but overall he was not the dominant guy from the first four starts. And the Coons sucked, which was a problem, too. They loaded the bases on a generous walk to Brady, a cheap single, and some more dumb luck, but scored only one run in the bottom 1st, and then were entirely awful. They didn’t get another hit until the fifth, when Wood hit a leadoff single, but Brown got him written off with a bad bunt which Taylor played to second for a force. Sharp made a poor out, but then Brady doubled to right and Brown would not stop running and scored the tying run. Clyde would be left on by Greenman, and the score remained tied at two. Henry Harmon drew a leadoff walk in the top 6th and then Dobson ALMOST went yard, with Greenman making the pick right at the top of the wall in right. Brown got a visit from the pitching coach, then struck out Haruki Nakayama and Dave Wheaton, and struck out the side in the seventh. When Bobby Wood hit a 1-out double in the bottom of the inning, Ramirez hit for Brown, flew out, Wood to third, and then Matt King was undusted to hit for a startlingly overwhelmed Daniel Sharp. And that inning ended on a foul pop. Marcos Bruno, hardly used recently with ONE batter faced all week, held the Elks down for two innings to give the Coons a chance for their fourth walkoff in just nine home games this season. Taylor was still pitching in the ninth, and got the second-worst possible result from Yoshi Yamada’s plate appearance that started the inning. Yamada drilled a 1-1 offering to right center, it fell between the fielders, and Yamada scooted to third base with a triple.

GODDAMN, SCORE HIM!!!!

Then Nomura grounded out to short, and Yamada had to hold on the hard grounder. Wood walked. Ramirez whiffed. Torrez hit for Bruno with left-hander Juan Santana coming on to counter him, and sure enough we went to extras. After two innings of crying profusely, the bottom 12th already gave the Coons another chance as their offense, obviously living in the fast lane, was humming after a leadoff single by Ramirez. Law Rockburn had already pitched two innings, and was now used to bunt Ramirez to second, from where he could score on a Brady single. Alas, Brady never got a ball to hit and instead was used as a potential double play goat by the Elks, but then Pedro Alvarado’s first pitch to Christian Greenman was wild and Ramirez was at third, and Brady at second. Next intentional walk, loading them up for Al Martin. Martin didn’t fare well against the righty Alvarado, whiffing, and Fernandez lined out to Dobson. Huerta then pitched the top 13th, and when Yamada smacked a single to right off Cal Holbrook, the righty evicted from the start in the middle game, Pedro Hurtado, a catcher by trade, overran the ball and Yamada ended up at second base on the error. After an intentional walk to Nomura, Wood and Ramirez struck out, leaving Huerta with a bat in his hands. Only Sheehan and Cooks on the bench – go Richie. Huerta jabbed Holbrook’s first pitch into play, it picked up speed as it bounced off the back side of the mound, under a diving Holbrook, and then was last seen escaping the converging middle infielders. Yoshi-Y was well safe at home. 3-2 Coons. Brady 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Yamada 2-6, 3B; Wood 2-5, 2B; Brown 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K; Bruno 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Rockburn 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Huerta 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and 1-1, RBI;

In other news

9-year old Danny Martin from Rosewood is looking for his cat Tuffy, who’s been missing since Thursday. Tuffy is a tomcat, three years old, black, with white paws, and loves to steal the family dog’s food.

Complaints and stuff

Lineup for Monday: Yamada – Amador – Brady – Greenman – Brown – Huerta – Garcia – Ford – Wood … well, somebody’s gotta catch.

The level of non-hitting shown by the team is jaw-dropping. The offense can’t do anything. We got some sparks from Brady and Greenman, some speed whenever Yamada accidentally gets on, which didn’t happen a lot this week, and really nothing else. Sharp started strong, and now hacks, hacks, and hacks. Martin is last year’s Martin, and last year’s Martin was unpleasant. Torrez has been completely dissolved in sucker’s acid. Has anybody seen Yoshi Nomura lately?

The most worrying really is Sharp. He’s an automatic strikeout. In his previous full seasons he had between 76 and 109 strikeouts. He is at 30 already. The OPS is soundly the worst of his career. And he has made five mostly dumb errors already. The base running blunders have toned down. But that ties in to the strikeouts.

All of this is a crying shame, because the team actually has a winning team’s pitching staff, despite some holes (Carlson, anyone?). Even Kichida has not been outrageously bad. Moreno has been, though.

How has our offseason booty fared in the minors so far? We already talked about how Mays has gotten hurt. Adrian Quebell’s OPS is .822 in AAA, but with only one homer. Ryan Miller is struggling to a .673 OPS in Ham Lake, which is certainly not great. Tim Bell is starting for Ham Lake, and has been dipped into boiling oil to a 8.18 ERA so far.