[Westheim]

It’s the third week of the season and Nick Brown could be 5-0 by Sunday.

Raccoons (8-4) vs. Titans (4-9) – April 17-19, 2006

Before anyone gets excited, the Titans were bottom scrapers in mid-April before and still won the division. So far, their pitching had been atrocious, with 73 runs allowed in 13 games, which worked out to 5.6 R/A. They had only scored 51 times themselves, 7th in the league, but that’s only one run less than the Raccoons.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (3-0, 2.40 ERA) vs. Ray Conner (0-2, 9.45 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (1-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. Mauro Castro (1-0, 3.94 ERA)
Edgar Amador (0-1, 7.94 ERA) vs. Jorge Chapa (1-2, 4.00 ERA)

We will use our off day on Thursday to switch Ford and Fairchild, so that Fairchild will go in between our two left-handers from here on.

The Titans are still without Jim Brulhart (and will be for another three months), while we carry a dead guy on the roster in Eddie Fernandez, who has yet to be diagnosed any more precisely than having a boo-boo.

This also gives us a *significant* overhang of left-handed batters against left-handed starters. And we haven’t talked about the centerfielder with no experience yet.

Game 1
BOS: CF Garrison – 1B Heffer – C Rosa – 2B Metting – 3B M. Austin – SS Nichols – RF Arroyo – LF Walls – P Conner
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – C Wood – RF Mays – CF Crespo – 2B Nomura – P Brown

Sometimes death comes swiftly and is totally not expected to strike.

After Brownie had mowed down the first bunch of Titans that strayed to the plate, Rudy Garrison hit an innocent enough 2-out single up the middle in the top 3rd. Dave Heffer singled, and Freddy Rosa(!) singled, which already made it 1-0 Titans. Brown walked Metting, and the count was full on Mark Austin when he fouled out right next to the batter’s box to leave three men on the bases. Everybody knew that Brown would have walked him eventually. A clean inning later, Quebell hit a single in the bottom 4th that was followed by a lesson in why 37-year olds make bad outfielders. Bob Wood fired a fly to deep right, that not only eluded venerable Luis Arroyo, but also eluded him for long enough to become an RBI triple. Bob Mays’ fly to center was deep enough to have Wood beat Garrison’s arm, 2-1 Coons, and then a sudden assault by ex-Titan J.C. Crespo on ex-Coons draft pick Ray Conner made it 3-1, and also marked Crespo’s first career home run. Brownie was touchable however, like with a gargantuan home run by Rudy Garrison in the top 5th that cut us back to 3-2. But that shot was nothing to the butchering the Titans and especially Ray Conner suffered in the bottom of the same inning, comparable in scope perhaps only to the Polish Partitions. What started innocently enough with a walk drawn by Danny Sharp and could have ended with Brian Nichols had thrown Flores’ double play grounder past Kurt Metting, had a wild pitch added to it by Conner before all hinges fell off. Brady singled up the middle, plating both runners, and became the first Raccoon with 10 RBI on the year. Quebell got on, Wood hit a sac fly, Mays made the second out, but Crespo doubled and Nomura walked to bring up Brownie and complete a run through the lineup. Brown fired a line through Dave Heffer into the deepest, darkest corner in rightfield, and now we’re on those 37-year old outfielders again. Brownie slid in at third base, had a 2-out, 2-run triple, and Conner was dragged from the game a broken man, loaded with TEN runs after Vic Flores singled off John Bennett, who had already walked Sharp. Brady flew out to left, finally ending the destruction, but a 10-2 lead was not going to get away from the Raccoons anymore. Much the contrary, John Bennett, a deadly reliever a few years back, allowed two more runs in the sixth inning. 12-2 Brownies!!! Sharp 2-3, 2 BB; Quebell 3-5, 2B; Crespo 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (4-0) and 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI; Moreno 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Woot!! Also: Brownie is the first pitcher with four wins in the ABL, although we might have to chalk up 25% of that to circumstances.

Game 2
BOS: 3B M. Austin – C Rosa – CF Garrison – RF G. Munoz – 2B Metting – SS H. Ramirez – 1B L. Lopez – LF Walls – P M. Castro
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – SS Flores – CF Crespo – C Bowen – P Watanabe

Watanabe thought he was still tossing batting practice and surrendered a steady supply of ostrich eggs that were splattered all over the place with line drives for singles and a number of doubles. The Titans left plenty of runners stranded, one or more in each of the first five innings, and somehow scored only three runs from their nine hits off Watanabe, whose job was done in the sixth. However, the Raccoons were held hitless until with two outs in the fifth, when Crespo dumped a blooper into shallow left for a single. We got another runner in the sixth, stranded him, two in the seventh, stranded them – we just couldn’t get to Castro. The Titans scored a run off Adam Riddle in the eighth, but the Raccoons were shut out on four hits by Mauro Castro. 4-0 Titans.

We fell into a tie for first with the Indians (not that it is important…). Rosa and Garrison are both tough outs, batting .400+ into the third week of the season…

Game 3
BOS: 3B M. Austin – C Rosa – CF Garrison – RF G. Munoz – SS Nichols – 2B Metting – 1B A. Martin – LF Walls – P Chapa
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – C Wood – RF Mays – CF Crespo – 2B Nomura – P Amador

Al Martin was batting .154, but drove in the Titans’ first run with an RBI single in the second inning off a luckless Amador, who allowed four hits in the first two innings, all soft singles. Bad luck soon enough turned into “you didn’t leave THAT hanging THERE!?”, and Amador was chucked for ten hits and somehow only three runs over six innings, with a pair of runners left in scoring position twice by the Titans, once after a magnificent, body-selling catch by Clyde Brady in left, which ended the third. While the Raccoons got scoreless relief from Bryan, Rockburn, Moreno, and Kichida, the Titans’ Jorge Chapa refused to be molested by the puny Critters and allowed them scarcely anything, and the only Raccoon with an extra base hit in the game would be – ironically – Amador. Chapa went seven, and Risto Mäkelä and Manuel Martinez kept that door firmly shut. 3-0 Titans. Crespo 1-2, BB;

Um, if anyone hasn’t been counting … since socking Ray Conner for double digits on Monday we have already put up 20 scoreless innings. Oops.

More bad news were on the way with Eddie Fernandez definitely having an oblique strain diagnosed once our medical staff returned from golfing in Key Biscayne…

We have money for that??

Anyway, Fernandez was out for another good month, and that made our makeshift solution with Crespo in center somewhat untenable. In these difficult times, we made a quirky move and promoted OF Santiago Trevino from double-A. Trevino, 23, is an excellent defensive centerfielder, and has speed, but will likely not bat anything worthwhile. He hit .343/.343/.371 in nine games in double-AA this year, with no homers, but hit 16 the previous (full) season. He has spent all the time since being taken in the second round of the 2003 draft in AA, never progressing. Until now. He bats left-handed, further unbalancing our roster, and he’s butt ugly and has to wear a paper bag with two eye holes over his head during games so as to not invoke mass vomiting.

Raccoons (9-6) @ Aces (8-7) – April 21-23, 2006

We were still in a tie for first place after our off day (now with the Elks, yuck), while the Aces were already 3 1/2 out in the South. They had scored 77 runs (3rd in CL), and allowed 73 (t-8th), with both their rotation and bullpen ranking in the bottom half of the league. They had also been swept by the Falcons as we came in, including a 15-7 flailing on Thursday, so maybe that bullpen was still crying and ready to be conquered.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (2-0, 4.42 ERA) vs. Jim Pennington (2-1, 5.23 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (0-0, 1.54 ERA) vs. Bob Bowden (2-0, 3.27 ERA)
Nick Brown (4-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. David Estrada (1-2, 6.00 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – SS Flores – RF J. Rodriguez – C Wood – CF Trevino – P Ford
LVA: SS Vieitas – 3B Warrain – 2B O. Torres – C T. Turner – RF R. Garcia – LF Messinger – CF F. Rivera – 1B Breach – P Pennington

The Raccoons continued to run up their scoreless innings streak, which was already at 23 when the Aces rattled Ford’s cage in the bottom 3rd. Jim Pennington led off with a double, which was bad enough, and after getting two outs, Ralph would issue his third walk of the day to Oliver Torres. Tom Turner fired a double into deep left that plated Pennington, but Brady threw out Torres at home plate to end the inning trailing only 1-0. Pennington was struggling with control just as well, drilling Vic Flores the first time through, and hit Clyde Brady in the wrist in the fourth inning. Brady was grinning in pain, but stayed in the game, but we had something coming for THEIR leftfielder, as Ford got one in on Forest Messinger. The Aces didn’t score then, and neither in the next inning when they had the bases loaded, but Ricardo Garcia popped out to Flores to keep three men on. The Coons FINALLY got something on the board in their 26th inning post-John Bennett, when Sharp and Nomura led off with singles in the sixth, and while Brady was denied a double by Garcia, Flores would chip an RBI single up the right field line before we left runners on the corners. Bottom 6th, enter Messinger, who was determined as he stepped in and hit a leadoff homer off Ford to get the Aces right back ahead. Ford got stuck in the bottom 7th and left Rockburn with two men on base, but Rockburn whiffed Turner and got Garcia to fly out to right. Still down 2-1, Brady’s leadoff single in the eighth didn’t lead anywhere in particular, and when Bob Wood led off with a single off closer Leonard Williamson in the ninth, Trevino’s bunt got him forced at second base, and the Raccoons went down without much fuss for the third straight game. 2-1 Aces. Sharp 3-5; Wood 4-4;

That sad loss had us drop to third, with the Elks leading the division. Bah.

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – RF Mays – SS Flores – 1B Quebell – C Wood – CF Trevino – P Fairchild
LVA: LF Covington – 1B Breach – 2B O. Torres – C T. Turner – CF Messinger – RF R. Garcia – 3B F. Soto – SS Vieitas – P Bowden

Bob Bowden had the first inning from hell, with a Nomura single, wild pitch, Brady walk, and then his own throwing error on Mays’ potential inning-ender eventually cascading into a Flores sac fly and then three straight RBI singles for an early 4-0 lead for the Coons. This also included Santiago Trevino’s first career hit.

And then came Kelly Fairchild. Martin Covington homered, and Fairchild gave up three more hits, two sharp, to donate half our lead for a good cause. And while Bowden appeared to reel himself in, Fairchild didn’t and Forest Messinger’s leadoff jack in the third inning already tied the game at four. But, surprise, Bowden was still prone to sucking. A funny double by Nomura was key to helping the Furballs to two runs in the fourth, and then in the fifth everybody was allowed hard contact by Bowden. He appeared to get out of the inning when Bob Mays lifted a soft fly to center, but Messinger had it glance off his glove for another two runs to score and the Raccoons took a 9-4 lead. Bowden was gone, but would Fairchild manage to cover five? Answer: yes, he would, even six, but it was all the defense’s merit. The Aces used Manny Silva to pitch in long relief, who got into the eighth before allowing singles to Quebell and Wood. Up came Trevino, who already had three hits on the day and now lined a double into leftfield to get the Raccoons to double digits, 10-4. The Aces failed to puncture our bullpen again, while we got one more run in the ninth. 11-4 Coons. Nomura 4-5, 2 2B, RBI; Flores 2-5, 2 RBI; Quebell 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; Wood 3-6, RBI; Trevino 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Riddle 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

More good(!) news: Angel Casas was activated from the DL before Sunday’s game. He had healed that calf quicker than anybody had anticipated originally! Adam Riddle went back to AAA.

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – C Wood – RF Crespo – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – P Brown
LVA: LF Covington – 3B Warrain – 2B O. Torres – C T. Turner – RF R. Garcia – CF Messinger – SS F. Soto – 1B Breach – P D. Estrada

Brownie tagged early – specifically Martin Covington’s elbow. Covington came around to score, 1-0 Aces in the first, but an unearned run put the game even in the top 2nd, Trevino singling in Quebell. The Raccoons failed to do much at all offensively, and Brown didn’t have that thing that put him above mere mortals and struggled to get hitters removed with two strikes. A 2-strike leadoff double by Forest Messinger spelled trouble in the fifth and Francisco Soto scored him soon enough with an RBI single up the middle that eluded Yoshi-N. A leadoff single by Sharp and 1-out walk by Brady weren’t enough to score in the sixth, but maybe Crespo’s leadoff double in the seventh would get the Furballs moving? Nah, the 7-8-9 batters went down without much of a noise. Brown made it through seven hardly scratched, but the offense had to pick him up now. Sharp led off the eighth with another single and was run for by Yoshi Yamada, who was thrown out stealing, and in the bottom 8th the roof came down when Brown hit another batter and Oliver Torres would get a 2-out single to drive him in. Top 9th, Leonard Williamson – no chance. 3-1 Aces. Sharp 3-4; Searcy (PH) 1-1; Brown 7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (4-1);

We had nine hits to their five. We need to check Brownie for stab wounds, especially in his back.

In other news

April 17 – Denver’s Jose Lopez (.385, 2 HR, 16 RBI) has his hitting streak killed by the Wolves after 23 games.
April 17 – The Indians deal 3B/1B Robbie Harris (.216, 3 HR, 5 RBI) along with a non-prospect catcher to the Condors for RF/LF Bill Miller (.245, 1 HR, 3 RBI).
April 21 – In a 14-0 drubbing the Knights receive at the hands of the Canadiens, VAN SP Juichi Fujita (3-0, 2.03 ERA) holds them to three hits.
April 21 – WAS INF Adriano Lulli (.333, 0 HR, 8 RBI) has chained together a 20-game hitting streak.
April 22 – Streak no more: Lulli goes 0-for-4 in the Capitals’ 2-1 win over Salem, ending his streak at 20 games.

Complaints and stuff

Well, the five wins for Brownie didn’t come together (for which I won’t blame Brownie), but he could reach his first little milestone on the way to greatness next weekend in a start vs. the Loggers. If he whiffs at least two (and he should, save for an earthquake, or worse, an injury), he will get to 1,000 strikeouts for his career at 28 years and 142 days of age. He has struck out 228 on average over the last four years: 3,000 K’s could well be attainable for him.

This might be the time to reprint the all-time strikeout leaders for this beaten-up franchise:

1st – Kisho Saito – 2,322
2nd – Scott Wade – 1,417
3rd – Logan Evans – 1,022
4th – Nick Brown – 998
5th – Jason Turner – 997
6th – Miguel Lopez – 934
7th – Ralph Ford – 900
8th – Randy Farley – 862
9th – Christopher Powell – 774
10th – Wally Gaston – 684

No other current Raccoon has even half Wally’s strikeouts. AAA Felipe Garcia has 341.

Note: I fudged up and didn't take the roster shot until after progressing to Monday, which is why all relievers are rested and Greenman is back on instead of Rodriguez, who went an unremarkable .125/.125/.125 in 8 AB, with 2 K.