[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-58) @ Titans (53-38) – July 19-21, 2005

The Titans were wondering what was going wrong this year, scoring the most runs and allowing the fourth-least runs, and still were running after the Canadiens at the All Star Game. But the Elks lost on Monday, moving these two teams into a virtual tie as we commenced our series on Tuesday. We are 3-6 against them this season, and we haven’t been better than 6-12 against them in four years.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (7-5, 2.77 ERA) vs. Ray Conner (6-6, 3.89 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (3-7, 4.14 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (7-6, 4.21 ERA)
Ralph Ford (3-6, 4.32 ERA) vs. Joe Mann (9-6, 4.50 ERA)

By the way, did you know that Ray Conner, who’s nothing special with just 16 career wins at age 30, was once a sixth round pick by the Coons in 1993? He became a minor league free agent without registering on our radar and fought his way through the Falcons and Indians organizations to get up with the dominant team of the 2000’s.

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Sheehan – CF Fernandez – RF Brady – 1B Martin – 2B Ingram – LF Beairsto – C Wood – P Brown
BOS: 3B Matsumoto – SS M. Austin – LF Brulhart – RF G. Munoz – 2B Metting – CF Garrison – 1B Frazier – C R. Rivera – P Conner

The Coons had a Sheehan single, Fernandez double, and a Brady sac fly to score a run in the first, but that was nothing against the bottom of the inning. Matsumoto led off with a double on an 0-2 pitch. Brown then walked Austin, and Brulhart singled to left, loading the bases. Gonzalo Munoz grounded back to the mound, where Brown picked the ball niftily, went home for the first out and Bob Wood played to first for the second out on the double play. And then Brown walked Kurt Metting. Garrison came up – and struck out. Still 1-0 Coons! Even more amazing, the whole affair took just 19 pitches to develop and conclude. It wouldn’t get better for Brownie this time, however. By the third inning, he had walked four, and struck out none except Rudy Garrison. Bottom 5th, Conner singled off Brown, and he walked another batter before Jim Brulhart hit into a relieving double play. Then it was 2-0 Coons after they had been donated a run in the top of the same inning, when Sheehan’s grounder rolled far enough away from a clumsy Ricardo Rivera to allow Bob Wood to scamper home from third base with two outs. When Wood was up again, he sent a drive to deep right that Munoz caught, but hurt himself and left the game. Brownie was hit for in the top 7th, and despite incredibly awful command did not allow a run through six. Rockburn then pitched the seventh, and Moreno and Bruno split the eighth for us, allowing no runs. Angel Casas came on in the ninth – still two-zip – and Garrison led off with a single past Al Martin. Luis Lopez hit for Toby Frazier, but into the teeth of the defense for a double play. And then Angel inexplicably walked Rivera on four pitches, which gave Hector Ramirez a chance to pinch-hit, and resulted in a drive to deep center – but also a catch by Fernandez. 2-0 Brownies!! Sheehan 2-3, BB, RBI; Fernandez 2-4, 2 2B; Wood 1-2, BB; Brown 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 4 K, W (8-5);

We turned three double plays, two of which helped out Brown in critical situations. HOW he surrendered no runs in this game, I can’t explain. This is as borderline a post game dispatch mention as I’ll make.

Vince, at this point, labels five of our batters as cold. We know that all 13 are cold, but five are about to die to exposure: Ramirez, Martin, Ingram, Torrez, and Yamada;

Game 2
POR: 1B Sharp – 2B Sheehan – CF Fernandez – RF Brady – LF Beairsto – C Wood – SS Yamada – 3B Ingram – P F. Garcia
BOS: CF Garrison – SS M. Austin – RF W. Taylor – LF Brulhart – C L. Lopez – 2B Metting – 3B Matsumoto – 1B Frazier – P O’Halloran

After Brownie had survived more by miracle than skill in the opener, Garcia was just romped. While the Titans again lacked the last final knock, they put two on him in the second inning, and got him out with one out in the sixth inning, after O’Halloran had singled to left, with three runs on Garcia. The Coons had rediscovered their knack for double plays. Garcia, adding insult to ineptness, bunted into a double play in the third, and they hit into another one with Fernandez in the fourth, with Brady and Beairsto reaching base after that – all for naught. Sheehan’s double in the sixth eventually did lead to a run, and in the seventh Martin had a pinch-hit single off O’Halloran, and then Sharp hit into a double play. The score got out of hand against Kaz Kichida in the bottom 7th, who logged one out against four hits and three runs. O’Halloran went for a complete game effort. Wood was on base in the ninth, but got forced on Yamada’s grounder. One out to collect, Yamada put on a show by thieving his way to third base, then was left there when Dave Wheaton struck out. 6-1 Titans. Sheehan 2-3, BB, 2B; Beairsto 2-4, 2B; Wood 2-4; Martin (PH) 1-1;

Yoshi Yamada is trying to run away from Las Vegas’ Martin Covington. His two steals get him to 32, while Covington has reached 29 by now. Ramón Perez on the Condors is a distant third with 25, and in the Federal League the leader, SFW Earl Clark, only has 22. Also, Yamada already ties for fourth for most steals by a Coon in a season. Matt Higgins also had 32 in ’89, and Ken Clark reached that mark eight years earlier, setting the franchise mark then, that was broken in ’87 by Armando Sanchez, who finished with 33, now tying for second with the Concie’s 33 in 2001. The only season a Coon was better than 33 steals was Matt Higgins’ 1993 campaign, when he swiped 42 bags. At the rate Yamada is going at, even while his OBP is utter ****, he should get to 42 easily this year. He is also already 10th in steals in franchise history!

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – CF Fernandez – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Beairsto – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – C L. Ramirez – P Ford
BOS: 3B Matsumoto – SS M. Austin – LF Brulhart – RF W. Taylor – 2B Metting – CF Garrison – 1B Frazier – C R. Rivera – P Hildred

Ineptness continued as Bryce Hildred (9-5, 4.50 ERA) took the mound. Ford was knocked on for three runs in the second inning, including a Ricardo Rivera home run for something you don’t see every day, or any day. Ford also bunted into a force play, and when we had Nomura and Ramirez hit singles to start the top 5th, and we very reluctantly expected Ford bunting into a triple play. Instead, Hildred mishandled the bunt, threw it away, a run scored, 3-1, and the tying runs were in scoring position with nobody out. But Coons will be Coons. Sharp struck out, Fernandez popped out, Brady walked, and Martin flew out more or less harmlessly to Brulhart in leftfield. Brulhart was front and center again in the bottom of the inning, pairing up with Will Taylor to hit back-to-back home runs off a completely overburdened Ralph Ford. The Raccoons put the Yoshis in scoring position in the sixth, and left them on again, and two on with no outs in the seventh resulted in Brady lining out right to Frazier, and Martin grounding into a room service 4-6-3 double wipeout. Both teams got a run by Leon Ramirez in the eighth inning, first an RBI triple in the top half, then a passed ball to conceded a runner from third base in the bottom. In the top 9th, the Coons loaded the bases on Manuel Martinez and Ramiro Román to get the tying run to the plate in Eddie Torrez – and here came a game-ending double play. 6-2 Titans. Yamada 2-4, 2B; Nomura 2-4; Ramirez 3-4, 3B, RBI;

We made a move after this game, demoting Eddie Torrez and bringing up Bob Mays, who had just turned 22, and whom we had acquired in the trade of Conceicao Guerin to the Falcons this March. He’s a left-hander perfectly suited for duty in rightfield, with a powerful arm. His power is considerable, but he won’t draw many walks and will strike out frequently.

In Coons terms, by the time Greenman comes off the DL in two weeks or so, Mays will have batted .160 with two RBI’s and 21 strikeouts.

Raccoons (36-60) @ Condors (43-53) – July 22-24, 2005

And here comes a matchup between the two teams in the league that just weren’t scoring anything. The Coons ranked bottom with 315 runs scored. The Condors were the second-worst team – with 62 more runs in the bank! Yes, we are that bad. Our pitching was a bit better, but SIXTY-TWO!! We’re last by … SIXTY-TWO!!

Projected matchups:
Ben Carlson (2-7, 3.60 ERA) vs. Jeremiah Bowman (2-5, 4.70 ERA)
Tim Webster (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Román Escobedo (4-4, 3.33 ERA)
Nick Brown (8-5, 2.65 ERA) vs. Brian Patrick (1-5, 5.67 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Yamada – LF Brady – 1B Martin – CF Wheaton – RF Mays – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Carlson
TIJ: SS McGreary – LF MacGruder – CF R. Perez – RF J. Thomas – 2B B. Boyle – 3B N. Chavez – 1B Heathershaw – C L. Fernandez – P Bowman

Danny Sharp hit a leadoff double, scored, and it was not going to last with Carlson on the mound: the Condors tied the game in the bottom 2nd after flunking out in the first. In the bottom 4th the Condors had Nelson Chavez and Bradley Heathershaw on the corners with no outs. Heathershaw went on a 1-2 pitch, Fernandez struck out, and Heathershaw was out at second on Wood’s throw. Never mind, however, since Bowman singled to center, scoring Chavez anyway to make it 2-1 for the ruffled birds. No Raccoon even got on base until Sharp hit a 1-out single in the sixth. Those 62 runs had come from somewhere! Carlson pitched into the seventh, but got very much not out of it, although Ed Bryan held the Condors short in the inning, and the score remained 2-1. It was a close game, if you were willing to ignore the blatant inability of the Coons to reach base. Bryan was still in for the eighth, where Ramón Perez reached on an infield single, and then Paco Estrada pinch-hit for Josh Thomas and went well deep to left center. 4-1 Condors. Sharp 2-4, 2B;

We had three hits. We also had no walks. The only Raccoon that wasn’t dead on contact was Al Martin, who managed a single.

Bob Mays had nothing at the plate in his debut, but already has an assist, nailing a Condor at third base.

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Sheehan – CF E. Fernandez – LF Brady – 1B Martin – C L. Ramirez – RF Mays – 2B Ingram – P Webster
TIJ: LF B. Miller – 1B Cambria – CF R. Perez – 2B B. Boyle – RF J. Thomas – 3B N. Chavez – SS Heathershaw – C L. Fernandez – P Escobedo

Brady brought in a run with a groundout in the first again before Tim Webster violently exploded in the bottom of the inning, allowing four hits, three of those doubles, and the Condors scored twice, and had the third run axed down at home plate by Edgardo Fernandez. Top 2nd, the bases were loaded with no outs after a few walks and an infield single, bringing up Webster, who came through with a liner over the head of Heathershaw, flipping the score back to 3-2 for the furry woodland creatures. Escobedo was beaten up for five runs total in the first three innings, but Webster’s stuff came and went and he was by no means out of the weather. The Condors got another run off him in the fifth, but ultimately failed when it counted. In the top 6th, Brad Sheehan came up lame after an RBI double that scored Sharp, 6-3, and had to leave the game with Yamada coming in. Bruno handled the seventh, and Moreno issued a leadoff walk in the eighth before striking out the side. The Coons missed a chance in the top 9th to tack on when Wheaton hit for Moreno, but left runners on the corners. But we had Angel coming up, what was the worst that could happen? Nothing, as it turned out. After Moreno whiffed three, Angel did, too, and this one remained in the Coons’ hands for Tim Webster’s first career win. 6-3 Raccoons. Sheehan 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Fernandez 3-3, 3B, RBI; Ramirez 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Ingram 2-4;

Sheehan has a sore hamstring. There’s no point in DL’ing him, but he will be out for a few days.

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Yamada – CF Wheaton – 1B Martin – RF Mays – LF Beairsto – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Brown
TIJ: 3B N. Chavez – 1B Cambria – CF R. Perez – 2B B. Boyle – RF J. Thomas – SS McGreary – LF B. Román – C L. Fernandez – P Patrick

The Coons took the lead in the top 1st again, this time on Bob Mays’ first career hit, an RBI single to plate Sharp with two out in the inning. Beairsto popped out foul, but then hammered down Nelson Chavez at home to end the bottom 1st before harm could be done to Brownie. Brown then lined up in the row of starting pitchers that couldn’t get a bunt down, hitting into a force in the second inning that got Yoshi Nomura erased, but he then scored on an unlikely triple by Danny Sharp, 2-0. The Raccoons added another run, unearned, in the third inning, but you couldn’t take your eyes off the fact that Brownie had his second horrible start of the week. The Condors had five hits off him in the first two innings, didn’t score, and in the outfield Bob Mays made a few great catches to keep them steady. In the fifth the Condors loaded them up but just about when it seemed Brownie would buckle and collapse, he struck out Bruce Boyle to end the inning. Josh Thomas unleashed a leadoff home run in the bottom 6th, but Brown would sit down another six Condors after that as he worked his way through seven. Ed Bryan pitched a scoreless eighth, while Brian Patrick, who had been romped early in the contest, was still in the game! He fell an out shy of a complete game: Dave Wheaton’s 2-out single in the top 9th moved Clyde Brady to third base, and they went to the pen to keep it close with Al Martin up next. Al Martin, who had not gone deep since the times of Moses, and duly grounded out against reliever Tom Watkins, who was not even a left-hander. Angel Casas had another 1-2-3 ninth, and the Coons had achieved a rare .500 week. 3-1 Brownies! Martin 2-5, 2B; Brady (PH) 1-1; Brown 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (9-5);

In other news

July 18 – DEN SP Andres Gamez (8-8, 3.91 ERA) will miss the rest of July and all of August with a thumb sprain.
July 22 – A new 20-game hitting streak is in the headlines as NYC LF/RF Stanton “Clockwork” Martin (.295, 10 HR, 44 RBI) has reached the mark with a hit in a 6-4 loss to the Bayhawks.
July 23 – 21-year old southpaw SAC SP Jorge Gine (0-0, 2.35 ERA) has to put his major league career on hold after four starts, having to undergo Tommy John surgery, which should cost him a year to recover from.
July 23 – Another loss for the Crusaders in San Francisco, 4-1, and this time Stanton Martin’s hitting streak went with it, ending at 20 games.
July 24 – The Falcons lose SP Alfredo Collazo (5-1, 5.22 ERA) for the rest of the season due to shoulder inflammation.

Complaints and stuff

We mentioned Yoshi-Y and his afterburners earlier. Who are the franchise top 10 in stolen bases?

1st Matt Higgins – 220
2nd Conceicao Guerin – 191
3rd Daniel Hall – 99
4th Armando Sanchez – 78
5th Ben O’Morrissey – 63
6th Ken Clark – 57
7th Stephen Buell – 46
8th Luke Newton – 41
9th Jose Flores – 37
10th Yoshi Yamada – 34

For all the years he played here, Neil Reece only stole 17 bases, and his success rate was 45%. Honorary mention to Clyde Brady, who’s 12th with 25 bags pilfered – in eight years.

… and I am TRYING to trade, but I can’t get ANYBODY. Nobody’s trading with the Raccoons. Nobody likes the Raccoons. Everybody hates the Raccoons.

Confession time: with our outfield struggles, I tried to trade for Neil Reece, so that he could somehow log his 2,000th career hit before his legs would give out for good. The Pacifics, in a 1-for-1 trade, insist on Nick Brown. Nobody else will do.

Well, **** the Pacifics. I think they’re going trying to get back on me for the Osanai trade 12 years ago.

And trading Brownie (not only for Reece, but in general) is out of question. He’s the only plaything that’s still remotely fun ‘round here. Plus, we just signed him to a *relatively* team-friendly 5-year deal. I don’t quite know what we’re saving him for, but …

Talent in the Raccoons farm system by stars as ranked by Vince:

5.0 – 0
4.5 – 1 (Miller)
4.0 – 2 (Lucas, Quebell)
3.5 – 0
3.0 – 3 (Amador, Riddle, Trevino)
2.5 – 3
2.0 – 11
< 2 – 88

This includes the international complex, where the only interesting player is a 17-year old Dominican shortstop named Willie Cordero, who might get promoted to Aumsville soon-ish.