[Westheim]

Raccoons (80-55) vs. Loggers (52-84) – September 8-11, 2008

Penultimate series with the dead Loggers this season, whom we had drummed 9-2 so far, and despite four more weeks to the season, their magic number to even fifth place in the division was down to eight. They weren’t doing anything particularly well. Aside from squishing out the last drops of blood from Martin Garcia’s arm, the roster was quite hopeless and they faced a few more hard years. Right now, they ranked in the bottom 3 in runs scored and runs allowed in the league.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (8-8, 4.03 ERA) vs. A.J. Bartels (1-4, 5.26 ERA)
Brendan Teasdale (0-0, 8.44 ERA) vs. Roy Thomas (6-11, 4.53 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (8-9, 3.32 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (9-10, 2.97 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (17-4, 1.85 ERA) vs. Fernando Cruz (7-14, 5.11 ERA)

That’s two right-handed starters, then two left-handed ones. This series opens an 11-game homestand on which we also see the Elks and Crusaders. At some point I want to slide Kelvin Yates into the rotation for another start or two before the year is out, too…

Game 1
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS T. Johnson – RF Hiwalani – LF T. Austin – C Baca – 1B K. Scott – 3B S. Johnson – 2B M. Clark – P Bartels
POR: 1B Quebell – SS Barrón – LF Alston – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – P Ja. Cruz

Occasionally, old and almost blind Bakile Hiwalani could still smash one, giving the Loggers a 1-0 lead in the first with a solo jack, his 15th of the season while batting .245, after Cruz had struck out the first two batters of the game. The Duke’s 26th smack would tie the score to start the bottom 2nd and the Raccoons loaded the bases with 2-out singles by Nomura, Trevino, and even Cruz, before Quebell’s liner to right was sucked up Hiwalani. Extra bases continued to do damage in the third, however, when Black hit a double, and Martinez and Bowen both improved on that with a base each, establishing a 4-1 lead. Cruz, who had been infuriating for five months now, saw no need to stop and found a way to allow a 2-out RBI single to Bartels in the fifth and another jack to Hiwalani in the sixth that got the Loggers back within one. Both pitchers were done after six. Dave Walk took over for the Loggers, and the righty found himself in trouble after a leadoff walk to Barrón in the bottom 7th. The Duke singled to left before Martinez’ grounder to short was misplaced by Tom Johnson to load the bases with one out. Bowen needed no written invitation and hit a hard grounder up the middle with no chance for the middle infielders, plating two runs, 6-3. Looking for a right-handed pitcher (with Richardson used already) to deal with the 2-3-4 batters in the Loggers order I ill-advisedly grabbed Kichida, who promptly allowed a walk to Hiwalani and an RBI double to Tim Austin. Until Donald Sims had finally restored order, the Loggers had made up the two runs and reduced the Coons’ lead to one. Angel Casas sat down the first two without much effort in the ninth and had J.R. Richardson a strike away from a golden sombrero when the centerfielder hit a ball to left center, but that was no issue with Alston out there, either. 6-5 Raccoons. Black 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Nomura 1-2, 2 BB;

Talking about bombs, the race is led by Charlotte’s Jose Lopez with 29. Ron Alston has 27, the Duke has 26 now (tying with SFB David Lopez), which completes the top 3.

Angel saved his 40th game this season, and the 160th of his career. Only 362 more to go to tie Grant West!

Game 2
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS T. Johnson – RF Hiwalani – LF T. Austin – C Baca – 3B Tolwith – 1B Lewis – 2B M. Clark – P R. Thomas
POR: 1B Quebell – SS Barrón – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – C Esquivel – P Teasdale

While Ricardo Martinez let a 2-run homer fly in the second inning, Teasdale was perfect the first time through the order until Richardson reached on an infield single to just that same Martinez in a case of “too clumsy” and not in the sense of one of those kitten videos Chad kept sending me. After a walk to Johnson, Hiwalani’s grounder couldn’t be turned for two, and a run scored on the following groundout before Martinez was also defeated by Baca’s grounder that whizzed through his zip code for an RBI single to left that also tied the game. Despite this, Teasdale appeared to be moving right along until the Loggers out of the blue double-bombed him in the seventh inning. Austin’s and Baca’s shots put them 4-2 ahead, since the home teams’ efforts had not amounted to more than two hits since the second inning, and they would not make any significant gains in their last three innings, either. 4-2 Loggers. Quebell 2-3, BB; Kichida 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Yeah, Quebell’s single in the fifth inning was the final twich of the tail in this one…

Also, I have made up my mind regarding Yates, who gets a start on Thursday. Jong-hoo gets shoved into the weekend series with the Elks. We could then arrange for Brenda to not face the Crusaders by skipping him. I mean, not that it matters ANY at this point, at nine games back. Even if we’d sweep them (ha-ha) we would still be five games out with 17 or 18 to play. But we could then field Baldwin, Yates, Umberger, and Brown in the Crusaders series.

Game 3
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – 3B Tolwith – RF Hiwalani – LF T. Austin – 2B M. Clark – SS T. Johnson – 1B S. Johnson – C J. Reyes – P M. Garcia
POR: 1B Quebell – CF Fletcher – 3B R. Martinez – RF Black – C Bowen – SS Barrón – LF Jo. Cruz – 2B J. Gutierrez – P Baldwin

Loading up on right-handed Jose’s for this game had no immediate positive effect on production, but looking for an off day for Ron Alston in this long stretch of games this game was the most obvious date. Neither team did much for three innings, but Craig Bowen would liven up a pitchers’ duel with a home run in the fourth that gave the Raccoons a 1-0 edge. Especially Baldwin, who pitched like he was on Speed, and through five inning was no-hitting the Loggers with nine strikeouts. That wasn’t sounding much like our Colin Baldwin, and things turned sour in a hurry in the sixth. Martin Garcia broke up the no-hitter himself with a clean single to right before Baldwin nicked Richardson. Cruz couldn’t play Tolwith’s bloop to shallow left in time to prevent Garcia from scoring from second base to tie the score. Both pitchers left after seven innings with a no-decision. Rockburn took over for the Critters, creating the nifty chance for his ninth win, but this team just would not get going with the bats …! It was in the bottom 9th that they even reached as far as second base when Melvin Pollack hit a 1-out double. That brought up Manuel Gutierrez, who could hardly be hit for after a double switch since he now held down shortstop for the departed Barrón. He grounded out, moving Pollack to third base, but ultimately he would have gotten there anyway on Quebell getting smacked and Fletcher working a full count walk off Enrique Fernandez. Ricardo Martinez was up with two outs and three on, fell to two strikes and I saw that hungry expression in his eyes. Fernandez saw it, too. Whether or not Fernandez actually intended to throw a ball right into those lusting eyes will remain unknown, but in any case he ended the game when he struck down Martinez with his fourth pitch of the at-bat. 2-1 Raccoons. Bowen 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Barrón 2-3, BB; Pollack 1-2, 2B; Baldwin 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K;

Rather than Rockburn getting his ninth win, Marcos Bruno got his eighth, which is something, too. Moreover, Bruno, who struck out the side in the top 9th, is eight-and-SQUID.

Next, Kel Yates will get his first start again, exactly one month after his last, one of the losses in the infamous 4-game sweep to the Crusaders we suffered in August. His last few relief outings had not been all bad.

“Not all bad” – pretty good standard for a wannabe playoff team.

Game 4
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS T. Johnson – RF Hiwalani – LF T. Austin – C Baca – 3B Tolwith – 1B K. Scott – 2B M. Clark – P F. Cruz
POR: CF Fletcher – 3B R. Martinez – LF Alston – RF Black – C Bowen – 1B Pruitt – SS Barrón – 2B Pollack – P Yates

A rare Barrón error gave the Loggers an extra out in the first inning and Yates kept toiling around with them long enough for them to turn the advantage into the first run of the game. The puzzled Coons hit into double plays twice in the first four innings while Yates struck out eight, but also allowed a home run to Tim Austin to fall 2-0 behind, and he struck out a dozen over six innings, and still could not get any support! Fernando Cruz was certainly not the cream of the pitching crop in this league, but in the bottom 6th he sat down Martinez, Alston, and Black in order so effortlessly that it didn’t forecast a happy ending. The Loggers wound another run from Yates’ hands with a pair of singles in the seventh inning and the Raccoons looked dead before they suddenly had the tying run at the plate. Cruz had walked Bowen, and Barrón had singled to right to bring up Pollack, with nine homers in 251 AB, up with one out. But Pollack struck out, leading to Quebell hitting for Yates and working a walk. Jerry Fletcher batted with the bases loaded, and hit the perfect ball, a ****ty blooper that appeared to hang before suddenly dumping in and bouncing away from Hiwalani and Richardson in ultimate screwing fashion. Fletcher’s double cleared the bases, tied the game, and next he scored the go-ahead run on Martinez’ single to left. Alston made the third out, finally for the Loggers, but that allowed the Duke to hit another leadoff homer in the next inning. Angel Casas in the ninth pitched with two men on and two outs to Hiwalani and stripped the old man down in three pitches. 5-3 Raccoons. Fletcher 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Yates 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 K, W (10-7);

Our deficit to the Crusaders is now eight games after they lost two of three to the Indians.

Raccoons (83-56) vs. Canadiens (80-59) – September 12-14, 2008

Close the door, it smells outside!! This was the last series of the year with the Elks, with the Raccoons trailing 7-8 in the season series, still an improvement from last year’s 4-14 killer. Overall, we are nine under .500 against them. They come in with the third-best run production and also third-best run prevention, with rotation and bullpen both ranking fourth in ERA.

Projected matchups:
Jong-hoo Umberger (17-4, 1.85 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (16-9, 3.24 ERA)
Nick Brown (13-9, 3.54 ERA) vs. David Peterson (13-6, 3.45 ERA)
Javier Cruz (9-8, 4.05 ERA) vs. Scott Spears (11-12, 4.28 ERA)

We will get three right-handers from the Elks here.

Game 1
VAN: CF Holland – RF E. Garcia – 1B T. Ramos – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – C G. Ortíz – LF F. Jones – 2B Rodgers – P R. Taylor
POR: 1B Quebell – SS Barrón – LF Alston – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – P Umberger

This was a stare-down between the league’s ERA leader and strikeout leader. Jong-hoo got three grounders to right in the top 1st, and after Quebell made another quick out, Barrón hit a single. Alston grounded to right, where Tony Ramos got charged with a tough error when he couldn’t corral the ball that took an evil bounce on the dirt. It was all good for the Raccoons, though. The Duke now took care of a quick lead, ripping a 3-run home run! No team wanted to give Umberger a 3-run lead, but Ross Holland managed to beat the Duke’s range for a 2-out RBI double in the top 3rd to get at least one run back for a short time. Ron Alston homered in the bottom of the inning to get back to the 3-run gap.

But well, sometimes things just should not be. Umberger walked Ramos at the start of the fourth inning, then had Suzuki reach on an infield single to third base. Gary Rice emptied his bowels over Jong-hoo’s ERA with a crushing 2-run triple, and there was still no out in the inning. When Rice scored on Freddie Jones’ fly out to right, Umberger’s ERA crossed the “2” mark and left the home crowd blinking in disbelief (me included). Jong-hoo was staked another lead by Bowen’s homer off Taylor (who whiffed six but was otherwise porous) in the bottom 4th, somehow stalked through the fifth inning unharmed, and somewhere in between there was also a 60-minute rain delay because it was Friday in Portland.

The Raccoons added on in the sixth inning against their former den mate Bill Corkum, although death crept up slowly to Corkum. Two outs, nobody on, Trevino doubled into right. Fletcher hit for Rockburn and walked, and then Corkum would allow three straight RBI singles to Quebell, Barrón (both to center), and Alston (to right). Tommy Briggs finally replaced Corkum and sniffed out the Duke to end the inning at 8-4 Blighters.

But what would baseball be without swift comebacks and Ed Bryan getting his snout pierced? He faced five batters in the seventh inning, four of them left-handers, and four of them landed base hits, which had two runs in and the tying runs on the corners with one out and Suzuki batting. With Bruno unavailable, Richardson was picked form the pen, got Suzuki to foul out, but the constant crotch pain Rice ripped a single to right to plate another run, and Gabriel Ortíz’ drive to center ALMOST went out, but was caught by Trevino at the wall. Never mind the breath of relief, Donald Sims managed to allow a leadoff jack to Freddie Jones in the eighth to bust the lead for good. Tied at eight, we were down to the least credentialed guy in the pen in the ninth inning, hapless Dan Parker, with the Elks sending as first man a pinch-hitter, Bob Mays (.192, 1 HR, 1 RBI in 26 AB). Bobo grounded out hard to Barrón, and somehow Parker registered three quick outs without killing anybody. Too bad three outs weren’t enough, since the Raccoons’ best efforts in the bottom 9th were the Duke getting hit by a Jose Escobar pitch. Parker blew out in the top 10th and loaded the bases before getting yanked for Kichida, which came close to forfeiting the game right away. The Elks scored the go-ahead run on a sac fly before Kaz struck out Holland to end the inning. The Coons got Trevino on with a 1-out single in the bottom 10th, only for Esquivel to roll into two. 9-8 Canadiens. Barrón 2-5, RBI; Alston 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Black 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Trevino 2-5, 2B;

Left-handed relievers are a fickle thing, and ours need some fine-tuning, I think. I need to have Slappy find the big meat cleaver.

The big shot put the Duke at 100 RBI for the season.

Game 2
VAN: CF Holland – RF E. Garcia – C G. Ortíz – 1B T. Ramos – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – 2B Palmer – LF F. Jones – P D. Peterson
POR: 1B Quebell – SS Barrón – LF Alston – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – P Brown

Brown struck out the first four batters he faced, creating some sort of false security. After the first seven went down harmlessly, Freddie Jones yanked a ball out of center to get the Elks 1-0 on top, and things escalated from there. A single by the pitcher, a walk, and a Quebell error loaded the bases for Tony Ramos with two outs, but Ramos struck out. Martinez was also never shy about making an error, misfielding Rice’s grounder in the next inning. Michael Palmer singled right away, but Jones popped out to shallow left and Brown struck out the opposing pitcher, who of course gave the Raccoons fits, to end that inning. Ortíz hit a solo home run in the fifth, while all the Raccoons managed was a 2-out triple by Martinez that didn’t lead anywhere nice. Bottom 6th, finally a chance: Barrón and Alston got going by singling into almost the same spot in shallow left center, unreachable by anybody. That gave the Duke the tying runs to play with, but all he put together was the first of three consecutive strikeouts. Brown was hit for in the bottom 7th after a good outing, yet unrewarded, sitting in a 2-0 hole with Trevino on first base and one out. Pruitt pinch-hit and looped a ball into the right corner for an RBI double. Suddenly, an opening. Suddenly, it was gone. Quebell popped out to nowhere in particular, and Barrón grounded out to Palmer. The home team’s futility found it’s crowning top in the ninth inning, when between Rockburn, Bryan, Richardson, and Martinez’ holey glove the team cocked up four runs for the Elks. 6-1 Canadiens. Pruitt (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, L (13-10) and 2-2;

(calmly breaks between seven and nineteen sleeping pills out of a blister)

No, no, it’s okay. It’s just that I’m going to see pictures all night if I don’t up significantly on my normal dose of five. The demons won’t shut up otherwise.

Game 3
VAN: CF Holland – LF F. Jones – 1B T. Ramos – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – C G. Ortíz – RF Mays – 2B Palmer – P Pegler
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – LF Alston – RF Black – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – C Esquivel – SS M. Gutierrez – P Ja. Cruz

We faced Simon Pegler (8-14, 4.49 ERA) in this game. Cruz botched up two runs in the first inning that the Duke swipingly pulled right back with his 29th homer of the year. Tony Ramos went deep off Cruz to give the Elks a 3-2 lead in the third, but the Duke would tie that one up as well, plating Martinez with a 1-out single to center. Nomura doubled after that, providing a sterling chance to take a lead for ourselves. But first, some rain. And some more. And some tarp. And we’re gonna wait for an hour. Maybe two.

When play resumed, the Elks would make two errors to give the Coons two runs and a 5-3 lead, with Cássio Boda taking over for Cruz after the lengthy rain delay, but only made it into the sixth before getting stuck hopelessly. Three straight hits routed him from the game with the score down to 5-4, and two runners in scoring position with one out. Sims came on and got a strikeout and a groundout to maintain the lead. But you just know that you have to accept all the losses and all the defeats and all the shame, when you bring on Marcos Bruno in the seventh, Jones and Ramos are down two strikes and somehow snip singles, and then he walks Suzuki. And with no outs. The Elks didn’t get more than the tying run out of this unfortunate scenario, but the tying run is always the worst run. Clueless Kichida allowed the next-worst run, the go-ahead run, in the eighth inning, two hits, two walks, and not a glimpse of spine. Manuel Gutierrez singled off Ralph Davis in the bottom 8th and was on third base with one out after Quebell’s single. Pruitt hit for Martinez with new pitcher Bill Corkum appearing. While he almost rolled into two, he just barely arrived at first base to allow Gutierrez to score the tying run. Alston walked, Corkum threw a wild pitch, then walked the Duke. Bases loaded for Yoshi, he grounded out harmlessly to Palmer. A Jeff MacGruder error unexpectedly gave the Coons a chance to walk off in the ninth when it put the winning run in Fletcher on third base with two outs and Quebell batting. Corkum was still in the game (and on his own had finished the inning alright), but now was beaten by Quebell for a bouncer up the middle that escaped into center, Fletcher crossing home. 7-6 Coons. Quebell 2-5, BB, RBI; Alston 2-4, BB; Black 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Trevino 2-5, RBI; Gutierrez 2-5, RBI;

At least the nasty smell should vanish now. Ugh!

In other news

September 10 – The Stars lose OF Cesar Morán (.303, 15 HR, 77 RBI) down the stretch to a strained rib cage muscle, but the 28-year old should be ready in time for the playoffs.
September 11 – TOP SP Paul Kirkland (8-10, 4.49 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in a 6-0 shutout.
September 13 – NAS 1B/2B Georg Spinu (.318, 9 HR, 52 RBI) will have to watch for two weeks after sustaining a mild shoulder strain.

Complaints and stuff

We have another interesting leftfielder in AAA in Jerry Saenz, who might have been another callup option, maybe … but he has fractured his thumb and that’s done.

The Alley Cats went 89-55 this year to win their division and will play the Elks’ affiliate Drummondville Beatles in the first round of the playoffs. Our other teams got certificates of participation, Ham Lake even finished rock bottom.

FRANCHISE LEADERS: VANCOUVER CANADIENS

WINS
1st – Robbie Campbell – 172
2nd – Juichi Fujita – 100
3rd – Vernon Robertson – 93
4th – Jose Salgado – 86
5th – Jose Dominguez – 84

STRIKEOUTS
1st – Robbie Campbell – 1,895
2nd – Jose Dominguez – 1,047
3rd – Juichi Fujita – 1,039
4th – John Collins – 979
5th – Rod Taylor – 953

HITS
1st – Salvador Mendez – 1,358
2nd – Raúl Solís – 1,140
3rd – David Brewer – 1,086
4th – Miguel Guzmán – 1,050
5th – Eddy Bailey – 1,047

HOME RUNS
1st – Miguel Guzmán – 154
2nd – Luis Arroyo – 95
3rd – Iván Gutierrez – 93
4th – Raúl Solís – 90
5th – Tony Velasquez – 89

STOLEN BASES
1st – Raúl Solís – 237
2nd – Melvin Greene – 172
3rd – Ramón Gonzalez – 146
4th – Arthur Simon – 118
5th – Eddy Bailey – 104

Miguel Guzmán (1977-90) is the only batter in their history to spend more than nine years in Elk City, except for Roland Moore, who racked up ten seasons with them, but not consecutively. Everybody is leaving town at the first opportunity. See David Brewer, for example. Their batting leaders mostly had their time in the 80s and 90s. The Elks haven’t been renowned for hitting in a while. They had a bit more consistency with their pitching in recent years, with Taylor and Fujita having been there for a numbers of years, but before that Daniel Dickerson also jumped the ship. Robbie Campbell (1980-91) is the longest-tenured Elk other than Guzmán.