[Westheim]

Raccoons (32-25) vs. Indians (29-26) – June 6-9, 2011

The Indians had a +6 run differential, scoring the third-most runs in the Continental League, while their pitching was thoroughly average. Actually, an Indians squad that ranks in the top 3 in runs scored? Go home, ABL, you’re drunk. We had split a 4-game set already this season, so the season series was at 2-2.

Projected matchups:
Bill Conway (4-3, 3.09 ERA) vs. Jimmy Sjogren (1-1, 6.08 ERA)
Nick Brown (6-3, 3.34 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (5-3, 3.35 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (5-3, 2.56 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (0-1, 18.90 ERA)
Gil McDonald (3-5, 3.36 ERA) vs. Brad Osborne (3-1, 4.81 ERA)

However, there were top 3 pitching staff and top 3 pitching staffs. The Indians might have a top 3 pitching staff, but most of it was on the DL. Román Escobedo had had hit most decent year in like forever – DL! Curtis Tobiit was, well, Curtis Tobitt – DL! There were a few more guys on their DL, including Ryan Miller, a.k.a. 33% of the asking price for Ron Alston in 2008.

We weren’t quite sure yet about the exact order of their pitchers, since Tristan Broun, a rookie, had been skipped midweek and would slide in somewhere in the series. Sjogren and Broun are left-handed pitchers.

Game 1
IND: 1B Tsung – SS Luján – C Paraz – LF Graham – 2B Butler – CF Luxton – RF Phillip – 3B Phillips – P Sjogren
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Morales – RF Ayers – 1B Quebell – 2B Palmer – C Owens – SS Howell – P Conway

The game started right out as a mess. Jon Merritt martinezed a ball in the first inning, but Conway got out of that early trouble with a pair of strikeouts to Jose Paraz and Dave Graham, but things got worse in the second. Bob Butler and Robbie Luxton hit singles off Conway to start the frame, Keith Ayers made a throwing error, and Butler would score. Two innings, two errors, who dares to be the next goat? Owens’ paw shot up so high that he clanked it against the ceiling of the dugout and sprained his thumb, and he had to be replaced by Craig Bowen right away, in the bottom of the second inning. Castro joined the line of goofs by getting caught stealing in the bottom of the third, just before Merritt and Morales singled, which would have been plenty to score Castro, but … no. If not for a wild pitch by Sjogren with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom 4th, the Raccoons probably never would have scored. Castro then grounded out to leave two men in scoring position. Before that, Conway had struck out. Not that I was blaming Bill Conway for striking out in a critical spot, but I WAS blaming him for allowing a leadoff single to Sjogren right in the next inning, and on an 0-2 pitch as well, then sucking continuously to allow two more hits and a run and fall right behind again, 2-1.

Sjogren had his own issues, walked six in seven innings, but of course the Raccoons were inherently inept and wouldn’t ever dare getting a hit with a pile of fuzzballs on base already. A single to Morales, a walk to Ayers, a pitch right into Quebell, bases loaded with two outs in the bottom 7th, and Palmer flew out to left. Dave Graham homered off Luis Beltran in the eighth inning, and Jose Morales’ dinger with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Salvadaro Soure came with nobody on base and was entirely meaningless. 3-2 Indians. Morales 3-5, HR, RBI; Owens 1-1, 2B; Conway 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, L (4-4);

This is a ****ing **** homestand, no way to talk it into a nice sugar cake.

To start this week, Travis Owens was put on the DL with the thumb sprain. This looks like one of those things that at first don’t look so serious, but sometimes can take months to get back right, so we don’t expect him back before the All Star break. Tom McNeela was called up to play injury replacement. He batted .295/.333/.432 for the 2009 Coons (in 51 AB), and has a very similar slash this season in AAA (almost 100 AB). Problem is, he’s a left-handed batter, which is awful enough for us. But the 40-man roster is full and there was no point in bringing another catcher onto the payroll that we didn’t want to use anyway. By the way, McNeela has just turned 23 in April, so there’s still hope.

But when has hope not been dashed?

Game 2
IND: 1B Tsung – SS Luján – LF Graham – 2B Butler – RF Brady – 3B Phillips – C R. Speed – CF Luxton – P Broun
POR: 3B Merritt – SS Palmer – CF White – LF Morales – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – 1B M. Gutierrez – P Brown

Nope, Brown was no good. He walked Mun-wah Tsung at the start of the game, and while Antonio Luján hit into a double play, he spent the majority of the early innings behind in the count, and not just a bit behind in that old count. Richard Speed hit a single to plate Bob Butler in the second inning, but Keith Ayers hammered a homer off Tristan Broun (who must have had his given name misspelled on his birth certificate, right?) to tie the score again at one. Brownie didn’t strike out anybody until he faced Broun, and did I mention that the weather was mucky and we got 20-minute rain delay in the fourth? Not yet, huh? Well, now I did. And did I mention that Brown walked Broun in the fifth, and then issued another walk, and just barely got out of the inning without getting his pants set on fire? Now I did. And his pitch count was already at 100, and it was all so horrible. He used 101 pitches through six, hadn’t pitched in a way that screamed out that hard to see more of him, and the lineup couldn’t give a **** to score a second run, either. Instead, the Indians were given basically a free run when Robbie Luxton reached on catcher’s interference, moved to second on a walk Huerta issued to Santiago Guerra, to third on a grounder, and across home on a wild pitch. To say that Huerta and Bowen were not on the same page in this at-bat would be the wildest understatement. Huerta was holding a book in the middle of a public library in Portland and was going over pitches, while Huerta was standing in the middle of Kyrgyzstan, had his mitt on his head, a claw shoved in each ear, and was screaming LALALALALALALALALA. And I don’t even know where the rest of the team was… 2-1 Indians.

(tries to hold back the tears)

In GOOD news, Matt Pruitt came off the DL and rejoined the roster. Pat White was sent back to AAA.

Game 3
IND: 1B Tsung – SS Luján – C Paraz – LF Graham – 2B Butler – CF Luxton – RF Phillip – 3B Phillips – P Weise
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – RF Taylor – 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – SS Palmer – C McNeela – P Umberger

Jose Paraz homered in the first, the Indians went up 1-0, and the Raccoons were surely doomed to lose this game as well. Well, not quite yet. Castro got on to start their half of the first, and slowly but surely the Raccoons grew more numerous on the base paths. Pruitt singled, sending runners to the corners, and then Taylor singled to right, Castro scored, Pruitt went to third, Clint Phillip tried to throw him out, but capitally airmailed the throw and Pruitt scored while Jim Phillips scampered after that ball. Quebell then drove in Taylor, 3-1 after one.

Of course, in life, nothing is forever, and that is also true for leads after the first inning. Umberger worked quite hard to get it blown, and while he didn’t retire any of the 3-4-5 batters the first time through the order, he didn’t get any of them the second time either, and Bob Butler singled home Paraz with a run in the top 3rd, cutting the gap back to 3-2. Paraz had drawn a 2-out walk, and things had spiraled out of control from there.

The Coons upped to 5-2 with a 2-piece by Quebell in the bottom of the inning before Umberger could to more harm, but he didn’t get a strikeout until Santiago Guerra batted for Weise with two down in the fourth, and he never got to manage the middle of the order, which cost another run in the sixth, Luxton driving in Butler. Tsung hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but Luján kindly hit into another double play, and then we swiftly chased Umberger to the showers and entrusted the 5-3 lead to Luis Beltran for, well, hopefully only one batter, and indeed Paraz grounded out. The lead was blown still, just an inning later, by Thrasher and Huerta. The former walked an unretired Butler and allowed a double off the fence to Luxton before the latter was dumb/lucky enough to get a poor grounder from Richard Speed that kept the runners in scoring position, then still allowed the game tying single to Jim Phillips on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. Tommy Ward issued a leadoff walk in the top 9th in the 5-5 game, then Luján, Indy’s Quebell it seemed, hit into a double play again, his third in the set. Paraz struck out, and then Jon Merritt opened the bottom 9th with a single to left against Helio Maggessi, since apparently we had worn out their closer.

Needless to say that four left-handed pitcher coming after that, each making a mountain of money, were unable to get the winning run even into proximity of home plate, and we got to play extras. While Ward didn’t explode for another inning, the Coons had the leadoff man on again against Tommy Briggs, when Michael Palmer singled, then got himself caught stealing by Jose Paraz, who, if he would have any less of an arm behind the dish, would qualify for benefits for the disabled. Briggs walked McNeela, who at that point just held still after making a calamitous out four times in the game, and Morales had already pinch-hit in the eighth and was still batting in the #9 slot, but grounded out, moving up McNeela into second base with two outs and batting for Tommy Ward was going to be Craig Bowen, the Glorious Gladiator with the Golden Stick, slugging percentage actually approaching .300; Briggs threw a wild pitch to move McNeela to third, and Bowen held still and took the walk, bringing up Merritt, who walked on four pitches to load them up, but Matt Pruitt was caught with his head in a cake and hadn’t actually paid ANY ATTENTION WHATSOEVER, repeatedly poked, and flew out to right. Paraz homered off Angel Casas in the 11th, and the middle of the order didn’t give a ****. 6-5 Indians. Castro 2-5; Taylor 2-6, RBI; Quebell 5-6, HR, 3 RBI; Palmer 2-5; Morales (PH) 1-2; Ward 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

The wise man said that as long as you have a shelter, good health, and one good friend, you are not suffering.

The wise man never saw the Raccoons play, though.

Plus, I don’t have any friends.

Game 4
IND: 1B Tsung – SS Luján – LF Graham – 2B Butler – CF Luxton – RF Phillip – C R. Speed – 3B Phillips – P Osborne
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Morales – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – 3B M. Gutierrez – C Bowen – P McDonald

On Thursday, Mun-wah Tsung roped Gil McDonald’s third pitch of the game for a line drive homer to right, causing me stop worrying and enjoy the foodstuff in the VIP lounge. Yoshi Nomura would hit a leadoff double in the bottom 2nd, but bringing in a runner from second base with nobody out was too much asked from any part of this lineup, and the 6-7-8 guys in particular. So when Gil McDonald hit a game-tying leadoff jack in the third inning, not only did he help himself like nobody else could, he also put the entire lineup to shame with one big rip. Castro reached on an infield single, stole second, but … alas … Quebell hit a high, but well short F8, Pruitt hit a high and even shorter F7 and Morales was bored, poked, grounded out, then scurried back to the dugout for Scattles or some other chocolate ****.

To anybody’s surprise, Craig Bowen would put the Coons on top in the fourth, dishing a 2-run homer with two outs. Simple maths dictate that if you just keep flailing hard for long enough, you will eventually hit one deep, and apparently this was that *one*. Tomas Castro would hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth, and while I was chewing on half a pig inside a loaf of bread – because that’s what we’re serving the good people! – at the big window of the lounge that went from top to bottom of the room – just like in my office – and waited for a whiff, a pop, and a yawn, Quebell, Pruitt, and Morales actually each hit singles. That gave the Critters a 4-1 lead, bases loaded, and nobody out, at least until Nomura hit a grounder to Butler for a forceout at home. But Howell managed to split the outfielders with a liner into left center, plated two with a double, and we held a commanding 6-1 lead. They would add one more run later, and McDonald would last longer than the delicious pig when he made it through seven and a third, leaving after a walk to Clyde Brady, who was batting .357 and still didn’t get playing time. Beltran replaced the starter to pitch to Tsung, and damn sure gave up another homer. There was no comeback in the cards for the Indians, however, and the Raccoons salvaged the final game of the set. 7-3 Raccoons. Castro 2-5, 2B; Morales 2-4; Nomura 2-4, 2 2B; Gutierrez 2-4; McDonald 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (4-5) and 1-4, HR, RBI;

Mmmmm, pig.

Raccoons (33-28) vs. Warriors (28-33) – June 10-12, 2011

This rotten homestand (3-7 and counting) was going to finish with the Warriors, whom the Raccoons were historically bad against (.417), but we had actually only met three times past 2000, with the Raccoons losing the first two series by two of three games each in 2006 and 2008, then won two of three in 2009. These Warriors here were fairly average in terms of scoring runs, and that in almost all categories, plating the fifth-most counters in the Federal League. Their pitching was laden with issues, though, with the second-worst rotation (5.21 ERA) and the third-most runs allowed in the FL. How far the horrendous defense was factoring into that high starters’ ERA was something we’d like to see up close.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (4-5, 3.50 ERA) vs. Paul Kirkland (2-7, 6.22 ERA)
Bill Conway (4-4, 3.07 ERA) vs. Jair Mauceri (4-6, 8.37 ERA)
Nick Brown (6-3, 3.20 ERA) vs. Bruce Morrison (4-6, 5.38 ERA)

Looks like we will get the three worst of their guys (and 7-5, 2.93 ERA Ken Harris is the only good guy among them, but he pitched Thursday, so, yay, lucky us), all right-handers, which will continuing to fail like the Raccoons have for … the entire season, really... that much more despairing.

Game 1
SFW: RF Bayle – C Eaton – 2B O. Torres – LF Gross – 1B B. Thomas – CF Luna – SS Irvin – 3B J. Pena – P Kirkland
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – RF Morales – 1B Quebell – SS Palmer – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – P Baldwin

Baldwin was shaky from the start. Jimmy Bayle hit a deep drive to start the game, but didn’t quite tsung one to start the game, and Castro made the catch. Baldwin issued a leadoff walk to Gil Gross in the top 2nd, and Palmer blew a double play grounder for an error, but somehow the Warriors left their two men on despite Baldwin not showing anything in terms of stuff, yet while he was wheezing audibly, Kirkland had his gong rung forcefully in the bottom of the second. Morales and Quebell hit back-to-back doubles to start the frame, and Yoshi Nomura upped to 3-0 with a really big and long homer to left. When the Warriors did get on the board in the fourth then, the run was unearned. Pruitt had dropped Pat Eaton’s fly to left that started the inning, and Baldwin allowed a single to Oliver Torres right away and didn’t get out in time despite a double play hit into by Gross. Baldwin made up for his shortcomings on the mound with the stick, driving in a run with a 2-out single in the bottom of the same inning. Bowen was thrown out going first-to-third on the play, ending the inning, but the Coons had already plated Morales on a Palmer single before that and were up 5-1.

By the fifth we faced ex-Coon Matt Cash with an ERA soundly over seven, and Pruitt almost ran it higher, but didn’t quite get all of a 2-1 pitch and was caught on the track by Bayle. The luckiest bastard on earth was still Baldwin anyway, who pitched seven innings of not having much, and got FOUR double plays turned by his infielders to keep the Warriors short. Pat Slayton came into the game in the eighth and immediately made a mess, allowing a pinch-hit single to old bone Dan Morris, then another one to Bayle that also undressed Morales in rightfield, who didn’t know whether he wanted to play it on a hop or on the fly, and ultimately had to pull the ball out of his large intestine while even the slothful Morris scored from first base. For what it was worth, it ultimately set up Angel Casas for a 10-pitch, 2 K save. 5-2 Coons. Morales 3-4, 2B; Quebell 2-4, RBI; Baldwin 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-5) and 1-3, RBI;

Both Warriors runs were unearned in this game. Ironically, while defense held Baldwin, who rarely pitched in good pitcher’s counts, together with the four double plays, they also made three errors in the game…

Game 2
SFW: RF Bayle – C Eaton – 2B O. Torres – LF Gross – 3B J. Wilson – 1B B. Thomas – CF Luna – SS Irvin – P Mauceri
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – CF Morales – RF Taylor – SS Palmer – 2B Nomura – C McNeela – P Conway

Speaking of errors, Bill Conway made one of the throwing sort on Bayle’s grounder that started this middle game, then drilled Eaton. Just as soon as the Warriors were in business, Oliver Torres hit into a double play and Gil Gross struck out. Two were on again in the top 2nd, when Jeremiah Irvin hit a fly to right. Logan Taylor caught that one, Bill Thomas was tagging to get to third base, but was thrown out by Taylor. Another double play was turned in the third against the Warriors, while the Coons were hitless against the regularly ravaged Mauceri, and a pair of 2-out singles and a wild pitch did Conway in for a run in the fourth inning.

The Coons finally got something done in the fourth, though. Merritt led off with a double, and singles by Pruitt and Morales tied the score and put runners on the corners with nobody out. Taylor drew a walk in a very long at-bat, loading the sacks, and the Coons took a lead on Palmer’s sac fly. Yoshi singled home Morales, a clean line to left. The Coons still had runners on the corners with two outs and up 3-1, with Conway batting. He was down 1-2 to Mauceri and flailed over a breaking ball by Mauceri that not only dove under Conway’s stick, but also vanished between Eaton’s legs. A whole lot of paws sprung in motion while Eaton hustled after the roller, which made it all the way to the backstop. Conway hustled up the line, Taylor came down the third base line like a rocket, and the Warriors tried to get him, but he beat out Mauceri’s clumsy tag and the fourth run scored. Quebell walked, but Merritt popped out to end the inning, and Conway immediately tried to blow the lead. He allowed an infield single to Mauceri, another single, and then somebody (Taylor) made another error… and two runs scored……

The Coons remained up 4-3 through another messy inning by Conway, then had Palmer and McNeela on the corners with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Keith Ayers batted for Conway, who had done enough damage for a day, but Ayers hit straight into a double play. With Slayton going in the top 7th, Taylor made ANOTHER error to put Eaton on base with two outs. Thrasher replaced Slayton against the left-handed Torres, walked him, then struck out Gross to end another mess.

It was funny how things repeated themselves this week. Rightfielders making stupid errors, and Bowen getting thrown out trying to go first-to-third. That happened again in the bottom of the eighth here. He initially batted against Bartolo Ortíz, hitting for Huerta. McNeela was on first, moved up on a wild pitch, and Bowen ultimately walked. Quebell singled to right, McNeela scored, and Bowen was nabbed. In the end, the insurance run didn’t factor into the decision. Angel Casas needed 23 pitches this time, but still struck out two to end the game without the Warriors mounting a threat. 5-3 Critters. Pruitt 2-3, BB; Palmer 1-2, BB; McNeela 2-4;

Game 3
SFW: RF Bayle – C Eaton – 2B O. Torres – 1B B. Thomas – CF Luna – LF A. Chavez – SS J. Wilson – 3B J. Pena – P B. Morrison
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – RF Morales – 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Bowen – P Brown

Nobody quite knew what it was with Brown, who ran two 3-ball counts in the first inning, walked a pair, and got out of that mess when Quebell turned a double play all by himself on a liner. In the second, he struck out the side, throwing only three balls in total. In the third, another leadoff walk to Juan Pena, then another one to Eaton. Through three innings, he had four walks, four strikeouts, no hits allowed, and a 1-0 lead on a massive homer by Craig Bowen that went well over the top of the right foul pole and was judged fair by a group of shrugging umpires. The no-hitter didn’t last long. Bill Thomas hit a leadoff double in the fourth, and soon scored on a Chavez single. Pena was walked intentionally to bring up Morrison with two outs, who hit a low pop to shallow left that potentially was going to lead to disaster, but Pruitt made a headlong snag to at least maintain a tie.

But the way Brown was pitching … that was not what aces were doing, and there was also no length to be gained out of him, so he wasn’t even in the “serviceable” category right now. He just so made it through six innings this time around, and again was finished in a 1-1 tie after the Raccoons had stranded pairs of runners in the fourth and fifth innings, while Quebell, Nomura, and Howell went down in order in the bottom of the sixth.

The tie was handed to Josh Gibson in the seventh. Jeremiah Irvin singled, and then Pena homered. It didn’t get better. Bayle and Eaton got on, and Tommy Ward entered the game that was by now a sure loss. He walked Torres, then got an inning-ending double play ball hit sharply to Howell by Bill Thomas. Bottom 7th, Logan Taylor and Tomas Castro hit singles with one down. Merritt flew out to deep center, and Pruitt hopped out to second. AND NOBODY SCORED AGAIN. Yoshi was left in scoring position in the eighth. Nobody reached to be left on in the ninth at all. 3-1 Warriors. Castro 2-5, 2B; Nomura 2-4; Taylor (PH) 1-1; Brown 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K and 1-2; Beltran 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 9 – The Bayhawks trade INF Ken Rodgers (.259, 2 HR, 15 RBI) to the Blue Sox for 2B Todd Moultrie (.341, 0 HR, 13 RBI).
June 10 – Tijuana’s SP Ted Scott (4-7, 3.46 ERA) shuts out the Wolves on three hits. The Condors win 5-0.

Complaints and stuff

By Wednesday, I had to console myself by taking Honeypaws to bed with me, lest I would not be able to go to sleep. That was a completely catastrophic homestand, 5-8, and this is not a playoff team. Look at Morales and then ask yourself where this team would be without him.

I feel like we could spend another 20 million dollars and still couldn’t dig out a run when we really needed it. Or … runner on second, nobody out. This team ain’t scoring him … three out of four times.

The Casa Brown is by now something I consider permanent, and that will never go away. Every summer, he just completely stinks now. He’s always amazing in April, so-so in May, and in June he completely falls apart. It gets better by August. Maybe he should try his paw at winter ball?

Next week, Blue Sox and Titans. A good team might be able to rack up a few wins there, but I'm not holding my breath. Also: draft.

Apologies to Clint Phillip, whom I robbed of an L for years, and only noticed it when the Indians stuck him next to Jim Phillips, also with a pair of L’s. Poor Clint. Next life, get born to people named Smith, then that won’t happen.