Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I don't see or remember the contract. How much, and for how long? If he makes "star" salary, I would say keep him for a couple more seasons. At "superstar" salary, your money might be better spent elsewhere, although that probably also makes him hard to trade.

He signed an 8-yr, $3.55M contract a few years back. His guaranteed salary goes from $420 to $500 from next season to 1992, and 1993 is a $600k team option. (Currently, $1M and beyond is reserved for absolute superstars)

But now that I look at his contract again - you know what's also in there? A no-trade clause that I totally forgot about.

[Westheim]

November (and a snippet of December):

November 3 – The Raccoons acquire MR Nate Goodman, 30, who has almost 9 K/9 for his career, and a prospect from the Gold Sox for OF Kelly Weber, a career .253 hitter.
November 4 – Pitcher Alejandro Venegas and 3B Mark Dawson are awarded Gold Gloves. For Venegas it is the first award, for Dawson number four. He has won three consecutive Gold Gloves at third base now.
November 5 – CIN 1B Joey Jones (.311, 17 HR, 93 RBI at age 28) and IND OF R.J. Stinton (.314, 10 HR, 91 RBI) are Rookies of the Year.
November 7 – Cy Young Awards go to: NAS Salvador Fierro (20-7, 2.25 ERA) and IND Jesse Carver (21-10, 2.58 ERA).
November 8 – The batting title winners also take home MVP honors: WAS OF Jeffery Brown (.362, 28 HR, 109 RBI) and POR 1B Tetsu Osanai (.350, 25 HR, 109 RBI) are selected. It’s the second MVP for Tetsu Osanai.
November 12 – BIG NEWS!! The Stars trade *Gabriel Cruz* (.305, 206 HR, 849 RBI at age 31) to the *Blue Sox* for MR Norio Hayashi (2.88 ERA in 283 G) and prospect Julio Santos, who is not highly ranked by either OSA or our scouts. The Stars franchise has just gone down the drain!
November 12 – The Aces send 1B Gilberto Alaniz (.261 with 38 HR) to Sioux Falls for SP Jose Murillo (81-112, 3.94 ERA).
November 13 – Swarms of locusts attack the Dallas area after the trade of Gabriel Cruz.
November 15 – Arbitration hearings: five of the Raccoons’ six players are awarded the offer of the team; the only exception is Sam Dadswell, who is awarded $500k. The team offered $400k.
November 18 – The sun does not rise all day over Dallas.
November 21 – The Thunder trade veteran outfielder Guy King (.278, 89 HR, 626 RBI lifetime), aged 33, to Topeka for C Kyle Douglas (.261, 74 HR, 634 RBI), also aged 33, and a prospect.
November 26 – Ex-NAS INF Mike Grimes (.307 with no power in his career) becomes the first highly ranked free agent to sign. The Rebels will shell out $4.56M over six years for him.
November 30 – Oklahoma sends OF Scott Strong, aged 25 and a .283 hitter, to Topeka for SP Miguel Martinez (4-4, 3.38 ERA after making his debut this year) in a 4-player deal. This switches an ex-Coon (Martinez) for a player I would have loved to draft.
December 1 – At age 37, Hector Atilano squeezes out another $1.71M for two years from the Condors. Atilano is 41 hits away from hitting 2,000.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 19 players are taken, including former slugger Engjell Vulaj (by the Warriors from the Buffaloes), who is only a shell these days. The Raccoons select SP Steven Berry from the Thunder organization.
December 2 – The Rebels add ex-Miner SP Craig Hansen (119-78, 3.08 ERA) for 6-yr, $5.1M and ex-Star SP Jake Wallace (101-77, 3.63 ERA) for 4-yr, $2.84M. If there are things such as aggressive off-season campaigns, this is one.
December 2 – The Stars add free agent RF Ryan Dickerson, an ex-Titan, for 2-yr, $1.3M. Dickerson is a .276 hitter with little power and can never replace Gabriel Cruz.

The Gabriel Cruz trade? Wow! Wow! That is such an awful trade for the Stars! Wow!! I just can’t grasp it!! :-O

The Stars and also the Miners imploded further through free agency, each losing in excess of 20 WAR in total, with the bulk coming from pairs of SP’s reaching free agency for both teams. Although our round 1 pick is protected for the 1989 draft (picking 11th), I don’t think we will aggressively go after a top free agent starter.

Who is available as well? Andres Ramirez. I pondered over him or Hall as first pick in the 1977 draft, and he then fell to the Warriors when the Raccoons took Daniel Hall. He’s a lefty closer, and we already have a lefty closer. Next topic.

In the end, there was not much to think about the Goodman/Weber deal. The pen was a terrible mess. It will be better now (it could not grow any worse). Weber was a defensive rock, but would not have been able to defeat Glenn Johnston, who still has more upside to him.

Steven Berry was a round 4 pick of the Cyclones in 1979 and has bounced around and was released a few times since then. Richard Steward is very high on him. He has five pitches, all useful. His major league experience encompasses two relief appearances. He fits the #4/5 area in the rotation well.

We had upwards of $1M of money free to spend after November 17, when free agents filed. That included the contracts of Ishizaki and Dawson on the books, almost another $1.5M. I am already working on getting Itchy out. It was not meant to be. The Condors have a right-handed reliever, young with killer stuff (not quite a Cunningham, but close), that I’m digging. Problem is, right now they are so deep into hunting free agents (like Hector Atilano, whom they signed on the day of the rule 5 draft) that they can not absorb Itchy’s salary for 1989, and I have to a) wait and see it come apart or b) take on dead weight to dump it elsewhere. The dead weight might be outfielder Sean Bergeron (due $620k each for two more years) to cover the $410k gap in the Condors’ budget. Bergeron was a good guy a few years ago, but doesn’t fit the team I’m building.

[Questdog]

If you love a guy, then stick with him.....it's more fun to watch players you love play than some random names you got over the winter.......

[Westheim]

Here comes December, with some detailed insights into select players.

December 3 – The Raccoons trade LF/RF Yoshinobu Ishizaki, with a career OBP of .446, to Tijuana for MR Jackie Lagarde, 25, and prospect SP/MR Qi-zhen Geng, 18.
December 7 – The Gold Sox add free agent 1B Juan Rivera, formerly with the Pacifics, for $3.12M over four years. The 30-year old Rivera is a .306 hitter with 86 home runs, but missed more than half of last year with hip problems.
December 8 – The Knights deal 2B Pat Graham, 30 and a career .287 hitter with a knack for extra base hits, to Sioux Falls for MR Jean-Francois Ferrand, a 30-yr old right hander who only recently reached the major leagues.
December 8 – The Titans add pitching in form of veteran Gary Hill (103-104, 3.80 ERA) and a prospect, sending OF/3B Bob Arnold, a 27-yr old doubles hitter, to Topeka.
December 8 – In turn the Buffaloes acquire Raul Chavez from the Wolves, intending to use him and his 2.18 career ERA as their new closer, in exchange for OF Phil Burnett, hitting .256 for his career.
December 8 – Doubles danger 1B Alberto Villanueva is acquired by the Indians along with a prospect, as they send MR Juan Cardenas (3.72 ERA in 130 G) over to San Francisco.
December 10 – The Indians sign free agent OF Alex White, 34, to a 2-yr, $1.32M contract. He has 1,828 career hits, but had an injury-marred season in ’88. White is of course infamous in Portland, for picking the year he spent with the Coons (1983) as his anti-year.
December 10 – The Rebels acquire keystone catcher Donnie Nichols and pitching prospect Carl Caldwell from Denver for SP Lazaro Alba (17-17, 4.42), who himself has only just outgrown prospect status.
December 11 – The Portland Raccoons and CL Grant West announce a 5-yr, $2.625M contract extension. West has a career 1.81 ERA with 288 SV.
December 21 – The Cyclones add SP Ricardo Torres (90-70, 3.56 ERA), age 29, and a workhorse for the pen in MR Seung-ook Yi, 33, who has a 2.51 ERA and 868 K in 848 IP. Both left the Miners as free agents, and will make $2.92M over four years and $1.056M over three years, respectively.
December 22 – The Blue Sox acquire 3B Tony Oliva, a modest .245 hitter, from the Capitals for MR Jose Amador (4.02 ERA).
December 25 – The Raccoons flip 1B/3B Joe Jackson, 24, for the Falcons’ INF/OF Justin Reader, 25.
December 25 – The Cyclones still have money left and add 33-yr old INF Claudio Rojas and his 2,308 career hits (leads all other players by almost 200) with a $1.71M over three years contract.
December 25 – Ex-DEN OF Shoichi Fujino (.269 with decent power) signs with the Knights for 4-yr, $2.26M.
December 28 – Closer Domingo Rivera, 28, finds a new home in Washington. He was with the Buffaloes the last two years, has a 1.96 ERA and 241 SV, and will make $1.2M over two years.
December 28 – The Miners sign ex-OCT SP Wilson Cordova (64-64, 3.78 ERA) to a 6-yr, $3.72M deal.
December 31 – The Raccoons send INF Juan Ramirez to the Miners for two prospects.
January 1 – The Knights sign OF Seitaro Ogawa, who played a great losing-end World Series with the Condors last year, to a $900k deal over two years. He is a .248 hitter with 79 career homers.

I managed to crash fan interest by dealing Itchy. Well, things go that way. All the time. We’re down to 78, which is a 15-point reduction or so since the end of last season. Signing the extension with Grant West got it back to 81. Grant will remain a Coon through his age 37 season. $525k/y is a bit less than what some closers take in, but he wanted to stay bad enough to take it – not that we rasied our voices, this was our first offer to him – and BNN rates him 13th among closers.

Well, I disagree with that ranking. He is not listed on the career ERA leaderboard, since he misses the minimum innings requirement (526 IP required, 478.2 IP actual), but IF he met it with his current career ERA … he would rank second!

After unexpectedly dealing Kelly Weber, we now have an opening in the outfield. Any addition has to play center, where now only Johnston is lined up. Bill Stevens could fill the hole out of AAA. At 28, he can show again, what he has. It has never been enough before. We also have Neil Reece and Randy Powers available as centerfielders at AAA, but I want to save those for later.

Mark Dawson likes it in Portland – so much that he continues to exercise his 10/5 rights. I may have been able to acquire Nashville’s Antonio Rodriguez, a high-OBP, speedy, great defense centerfielder at age 24 for him, but … didn’t work. Dawson will be in his last contract year in 1989. He is currently ranked a type A free agent (but Armando Sanchez was too, so expect Dawson to hit .211 with four homers and a broken leg this year).

Knowing that Mark Dawson will be here another year (which *really* could be worse, I mean, he *is* the all-time home run leader and routinely drives in a hundred!), we can restructure our plans for the infield. Dawson will play at third base often, and some games in right. Depending on how he hits (.210 or .260), he will play more or less games. Higgins has room in the middle infield. O’Morrissey will get a lot of time trying to learn second base, and he will learn it right where the fire burns. We have that guy with the generic Hispanic name I won’t remember until July [looks it up] Gonzalez to play short a lot. That leaves a space for someone who has to play both middle infield positions at least decently. Carlos Miranda fits that description and he’s already here. A left-hander would be neat, but those are not easy to come by. Juan Ramirez would do, but he’s 32 and I want more younger players.

I saw no use for Joe Jackson, once hyped as the next thing, whose ratings have gone from a potential 20/13/16 to about half of that. He plays only the corners and does not fit the job description for our sixth man. He was accordingly traded away for Justin Reader, an ideal backup player batting .266 with no power, but he plays every position well enough to make him valuable.

I had a trade lined up sending Juan Ramirez to the Miners for SS/3B Lorenzo Ocasio, who is 23 and a better hitter than Reader, but Ocasio doesn’t play second base very well. Then again, I consider Ocasio inferior to O’Morrissey, so if he go through the pain to install a youngster at second that has hardly ever played there, then we go with what we have already, and that is O’Morrissey. The Miners *had* an interest in him, so I looked for ways to get a few minor league players with potential from them. I found a pair at the AA level, 1B Orlando Alvarado and INF Elmer Hawley. We will probably never hear from them again.

And Dawson – his career OPS+ is 105, which goes to show what a worthless stat it is. He has a .244/.303/.424 stat line. His .797 OPS last season is actually a career best! However, he has 1,658 career hits, 253 HR, and 1,081 RBI. He will reach 2,000 hits (but not as a Coon) if he plays till age 37. This is a premium offensive player, who (and this stat randomly was churned out by BNN just this month) is second all-time in total bases (2,876; seven behind Hector Atilano), and his OPS+ basically says “yeah, well, decent” … add to that Gold Glove defense. Add on top of that gold standard health. I mean, he’s had a few sprains and strains over the last decade, but was on the DL like … twice? (Of course, Osanai has played in every game (and *started* every game!) since we got him from Vancouver) If anything, his ability to hit into double plays drives me mad. He has 278 GIDP in his career. If you combine Daniel Hall’s and Tetsu Osanai’s numbers, you get over 8,600 AB’s to Dawson’s 6,782. Hall and Osanai combine for only 189 double plays hit into!

Yeah, Tetsu starts every game, he never needs any rest, he just keeps going and going and going and going and – oh dear lord, he’s one of those Japanese killer robots!! (cries out in panic and runs)

By the time the season starts, we should be down to seven players aged 30 or older, including Logan Evans, who will come back in early-to-mid April, it seems: Evans, Campbell, West, Goodman, Dawson, Hall, and Osanai.

What else? Sam Dadswell came down with food poisoning over Christmas.

Fín.

[Westheim]

January 6 – The Condors and CL Jon Butler agree to a 1-yr, $440k extension of Butler’s contract for the 1990 season. Butler (332 SV, 2.06 ERA) will be 43 when that contract ends.
January 9 – The Bayhawks deal INF Alfonso Torres, 25 and a .292 hitter, to Oklahoma City, getting 32-yr old SP Ramon Vargas (22-27, 4.07 ERA) and an outfield prospect.
January 10 – The Indians try to improve their struggling offense by inking ex-SAC 1B Francisco Lopez (.313, 148 HR, 824 RBI at age 29) for 3-yr, $2.07M – should work out for them.
January 10 – Ex-LVA Robert Sawyer (56-48, 3.91 ERA) signs with Oklahoma for 1-yr, $264k.
January 22 – The Gold Sox add a premier reliever in Andres Ramirez, their new closer, who has 336 SV with a 2.59 ERA for his career, mostly with the Warriors. He will earn $700k for one year.
January 26 – The Raccoons acquire 22-year old OF Jeff Martin (.274 in 285 AB) from the Pacifics in exchange for SP Alejandro Venegas (14-20, 4.29 ERA) and MR Emerson MacDonald (5.08 ERA in 39 G).
January 27 – The Indians sign INF Mitsuzaku Ohara, 34, to a 3-yr, $1.56M contract. Ohara, an international free agent before the 1983 season, is a .261 hitter with little in terms of power.
February 1 – The Miners sign 33-yr old OF Armando Sanchez to a 3-yr, $1.68M contract, giving the Raccoons a supplemental round pick for 1989. Sanchez has 1,825 career hits, 146 home runs, and a .367 OBP.
February 2 – Veteran SP Eduardo Jimenez (138-169, 3.92 ERA) signs with Los Angeles for 3-yr, $1.4M.
February 3 – It’s been some time that MR Gary Simmons was a Coon, and now he’s back in the division, signing a 3-yr, $898k contract with the Canadiens. Simmons has a 3.46 career ERA in 402 games (64 starts).
February 8 – SP Billy Robinson, 33, settles on the Rebels for 3-yr, $1.45M. Robinson is 154-105 with a 3.19 ERA and was with the Thunder in 1988.
February 9 – The Rebels also add MR Marvin Newton for 3-yr, $1.65M. Newton is a strong reliever with a 3.32 career ERA in 538 games and has 63 saves, but is vastly overpaid at this rate.
February 9 – The Raccoons claim 21-yr old MR Alonso Villegas off waivers by the Blue Sox.
February 10 – CL Domingo Alonso (313 SV, 2.46 ERA) signs with the Thunder for 1-yr, $484k.
February 13 – CL Juan Miranda (247 SV, 3.33 ERA) joins the Cyclones for 1-yr, $476k.
February 17 – Supplies on relievers are running low, as the Aces ink MR Chris Nelson, who owns a 2.41 career ERA and 112 SV. He will make $282k for one year.
March 5 – The Gold Sox add OF Tom McDonald, who is .284, 113 HR, 704 RBI in his career with the Knights, for 2-yr, $852k.
March 7 – The Raccoons sign free agent SP Carlos Reyes (79-91, 3.84 ERA) to a 1-yr, $230k deal. Reyes spent most of his career with the Wolves, but was with the Capitals late in 1988.

On January 9, we got news from the medical staff that Logan Evans would not be ready for Opening Day under any circumstances. Head trainer Michael Dempsey gave his ETA as up to three months, but he will get the full rehab assignment on top of that, so could join as late as early-to-mid May. For the rotation that meant that we had Saito, Wade, … and then? Berry of course, our rule 5 pick. Then we have Gonzalez, Venegas, and Ackerman still around. We should piece it together. Would Ackerman clear waivers? I started to explore trades.

I eventually found something while looking for an outfielder. The one I wanted turned out to be the Pacifics’ Jeff Martin. They looked for all kind of pitching. I started by offering Jason Bentley, they didn’t bite. I offered Emerson MacDonald, they still didn’t bite. I offered MacDonald and Jerry Ackerman, they didn’t bite, but showed interest in Venegas, who thus got outta Portland. Martin bats left-handed, which gives us three lefties in the outfield. The question is whether I want to go with Quintanilla, and I think overall he is a bit weak as the second righty. Bill Stevens is still in my eye, although he’s 28 and has never cut it. It will come down to these two, I guess. Apart from that, we’re largely set as far as position players are concerned. I will look for help for the rotation. Carlos Gonzalez in his 1988 form is nothing I want to suffer through again.

In February, we were slated to begin the year with Gonzalez, Ackerman, and Berry in our rotation. I mean, we weren't going to compete this year, but this may be begging for 95+ losses… I want to stay at least remotely close to the 78-84 mark of last season.

The Reyes signing is perfect. He's a type B free agent, comes rather cheap, his career ERA is about the league average and his record has suffered from the Wolves never having a decent team. Carlos Reyes should hold the fort to give Jason Turner a bit more time. He is 29 and decent throughout. Not overwhelming, but not a punching bag. I don’t know whether we will try and keep him after this season. Depends on how everybody's pitching, not just him.

Once Logan Evans comes back in May, there will be a squeeze play on in the rotation. Carlos Gonzalez better get his act together. Ackerman will be waived when the season starts.

It’s March 7, less than a month to go until the season starts.

[Westheim]

March 22 – The Raccoons trade AAA MR Francisco Trujillo to the Gold Sox for AAA SP Carlos De los Angeles.
March 28 – The Bayhawks add SS/3B John Harris, a career .289 hitter for 1-yr, $304k.

That was it for the winter.

------

1989 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1988 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 28, B:L, T:L (14-12, 3.19 ERA | 105-78, 3.07 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine, although there were some concerns about his constitution at the end of last season.
SP Scott Wade, 26, B:R, T:R (12-6, 2.98 ERA | 42-28, 3.15 ERA) – very consistent starter, mostly turning in 2-run games, and can go into the eighth and beyond with little difficulties; somebody to build on.
SP Carlos Reyes *, 29, B:R, T:R (10-12, 3.99 ERA | 79-91, 3.84 ERA) – free agent signing, spent most of his career with Salem and the last few months of ’88 with the Capitals; decent throughout, but considered a placeholder for than anything else.
SP Carlos Gonzalez, 26, B:R, T:R (5-14, 5.35 ERA | 33-39, 3.87 ERA) – constantly injured, and last year was massively beaten by the opposition; is in danger of being axed.
SP Steven Berry *, 27, B:R, T:R (did not play | 0-0, 0.00 ERA) – rule 5 pick from Oklahoma City, should be a decent guy; his major league experience is limited to 2.1 innings.

MR Juan Martinez, 22, B:R, T:R (1-1, 3.35 ERA | 5-3, 3.32 ERA, 1 SV) – struggled early in the season, rebounded in the second half in a semi-setup role; appears to be good enough for 7th/8th inning roles, but could also be used as long man.
MR Ken Burnett, 26, B:L, T:L (0-2, 24.00 ERA | 1-2, 10.97 ERA) – things really are not as bad as they seem. He has only 10.2 IP overall in his career and has all the tools necessary to become a solid reliever.
MR Jason Bentley, 27, B:R, T:R (1-2, 4.62 ERA, 1 SV | 4-8, 3.70 ERA, 3 SV) – had a horrible start to his season and never really recovered; can punch out key people or have the game blown open.
MR Jackie Lagarde *, 25, B:R, T:R (2-0, 2.09 ERA, 1 SV | 2-0, 2.09 ERA, 1 SV) – added from the Condors; great stuff, maybe not a new Richard Cunningham, but expected to be a strong 7th inning guy, and maybe more down the road.
SU Dirk Campbell, 34, B:R, T:R (5-3, 3.31 ERA | 16-15, 3.96 ERA, 2 SV) – in a terrible bullpen last season, Campbell was one of the few bright spots; in fact, apart from Grant West he was the only reliever not traded, demoted, or released over the course of the season.
SU Nate Goodman *, 31, B:L, T:L (0-3, 2.95 ERA, 2 SV | 40-45, 2.87 ERA, 54 SV) – elite, experienced reliever to solidify the bullpen from the left side; 602 career games for Atlanta and Denver, all but one in relief.
CL Grant West, 32, B:L, T:L (3-4, 2.51 ERA, 34 SV | 27-11, 1.81 ERA, 288 SV) – nickname “Demon”, says it all. Ultra-reliable, a true killer. That line has not changed in a few years, and although he had his worst ever ERA in 1988, he *is* a machine.

C Sam Dadswell, 28, B:L, T:R (.280, 14 HR, 65 RBI | .270, 77 HR, 357 RBI) – has improved a lot on defense last year, and also raised his offensive output; with this a trying year, he will face David Vinson in battle for the future primary spot.
C David Vinson, 23, B:R, T:R (.248, 2 HR, 10 RBI | .248, 2 HR, 10 RBI) – made his debut last year and was the clear backup, but some ascert him a bigger future than every catcher the Raccoons have ever had.

1B Tetsu Osanai, 30, B:L, T:L (.350, 25 HR, 109 RBI | .328, 144 HR, 658 RBI) – offensive monster with a big punch; won his second batting title and MVP last season; has started 564 consecutive games for the Raccoons at first base – every single one since being acquired from Vancouver.
1B/3B/RF/LF Mark Dawson, 35, B:R, T:R (.259, 31 HR, 115 RBI | .244, 253 HR, 1,081 RBI) – #1 on the all-time home run and RBI leaderboards; three consecutive Gold Gloves at third base; refused a trade this winter, and will be in the last year of his contract; awesome player, who contributed a lot to the team, but who should appear here for the last time.
1B/3B/2B/SS Matt Higgins, 24, B:S, T:R (.178, 0 HR, 0 RBI | .178, 0 HR, 0 RBI) – acquired from the Stars for Richard Cunningham last July, his current stats tell little about the potential he possesses; his OBP was already at .339 last year, and he should build greatly from there.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 23, B:R, T:R (.375, 1 HR, 3 RBI | .375, 1 HR, 3 RBI) – also acquired last season; appeared in six games at the end of the season; much to like about his swing, which leaves pitchers ducking; we will try to accommodate him at second base.
1B/3B/SS/2B Antonio Gonzalez *, 26, B:R, T:R (.256, 3 HR, 44 RBI | .247, 16 HR, 148 RBI) – acquired from the Blue Sox, will mostly play shortstop; good versatile player with mostly defensive upside.
1B/3B/2B/RF/SS/LF/CF Justin Reader *, 25, B:R, T:R (.262, 0 HR, 24 RBI | .266, 0 HR, 45 RBI) – acquired from the Falcons; good contact and potentially high OBP, with in turn zero power; plays every position well; he will still have to fight for playing time.

LF/RF Daniel Hall, 33, B:R, T:R (.255, 13 HR, 62 RBI | .263, 152 HR, 621 RBI) – pretty complete player, first ever Coons draft pick; has always been compromised by nagging injuries and in the last years long droughts at the plate; a leader nevertheless.
CF/RF/LF Glenn Johnston, 22, B:L, T:R (.263, 3 HR, 30 RBI | .263, 3 HR, 30 RBI) – most likely used in center, also a pretty complete player at a young age with the exception of somewhat lacking power; debuted last season.
LF/CF/RF Jeff Martin *, 22, B:L, T:L (.274, 5 HR, 22 RBI | .274, 5 HR, 22 RBI) – also made his debut for the Pacifics last year; good defense with a contact/gap bat; primary use may be in center.
RF/LF Gustavo Quintanilla, 25, B:R, T:R (.212, 1 HR, 13 RBI | .227, 5 HR, 44 RBI) – very strong defense, with a bat that does not help too much and makes him prone to be replaced from AAA.
LF/RF/1B Daniel Dumont, 23, B:L, T:L (.252, 1 HR, 21 RBI | .252, 1 HR, 21 RBI) – will start in a platoon in right with Quintanilla; weakest defense among outfielders, but his bat should break through; one of three outfielders that debuted last season.

On disabled list:
SP Logan Evans, 33, B:L, T:L (6-7, 3.33 ERA | 118-89, 3.10 ERA) – was decent with the occasional outburst of ill control, before going down to radial nerve compression; will go to rehab at AAA in April.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: 2B Higgins – CF Johnston – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – 3B Dawson – C Dadswell – RF Dumont – SS Gonzalez
Vs. LHP: 2B O’Morrissey – SS Higgins – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – 3B Dawson – C Vinson – CF Johnston – RF Quintanilla

We gained 1.1 WAR this off season, placing us 9th among the 24 teams overall.

Top 5: Rebels (+10.9), Cyclones (+9.4), Indians (+9.4), Knights (+5.9), Pacifics (+3.0)
Bottom 5: Canadiens (-7.1), Loggers (-8.2), Scorpions (-8.8), Miners (-16.2), Stars (-19.5)

PREDICTION TIME:

This will be a year where we will look less at the record and more about how our young players mature individually and collectively. We can only hope we’re not skinned day in and day out.

It’s hard to make an estimate. The bullpen is shored up, and our youngsters have all the talent they need to succeed. We should be on the road back to the top already. The Raccoons will finish 79-83, just below .500.

Player development:

Our minor league system ranks 1st overall after taking on a massive amount of talent lately, and despite some of the guys that were ranked last year not being ranked anymore (Dumont, Johnston for call-ups or other reasons):

19th – AAA CF Neil Reece, 22 – 1984 first round pick by Buffaloes, acquired last year for David Jones and others
22nd – ML 1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 23 – 1987 first round pick by Cyclones, acquired last year for Ed King and Dani Perez
26th – A LF Luis Maldonado, 19, international discovery by Richard Steward
33rd – ML INF Matt Higgins, 24, 1985 first round pick by Stars, acquired last year for Richard Cunningham and others
37th (+13) – AAA SP Luis Herrera, 21 – 1985 third round pick by the Miners, acquired in trade three years ago
41st (+140) – AA SP Miguel Lopez, 20 – international discovery by the Warriors, acquired last winter for Manuel Paredes and Odwin Garza
45th (-17) – AAA CL Albert Matthews, 19 – 1987 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
61st – AA MR Alonso Villegas, 21 – international discovery by Crusaders, claimed off waivers from Blue Sox this winter
85th – AAA SP Kiyomitsu Sano, 23 – 1983 third round pick by Pacifics, acquired two years ago from Falcons for Ricardo Gonzalez
88th (+25) – AA OF Vern Kinnear, 20 – international discovery by Nathan Bruce
93rd – AAA OF Randy Powers, 23 – 1983 supplemental round pick by Capitals, acquired this winter for Billy Mitchell
162nd – AA 1B Orlando Alvarado, 22 – 1985 supplemental round pick by Miners, acquired this winter for Juan Ramirez and cash
173rd – AAA 1B Vincente Rodriguez, 24 – 1985 round 3 pick by the Raccoons

Note the amount of trades to get these guys.

Next: first pitch!

[Westheim]

Apparently, the game can't wait to screw me over.

Logan Evans was declared healed at the end of March, but could not be moved to a rehab assignment, for the game nagging at me that the season at AAA had not started yet. Now the regular season starts, and the following three things clash:

a) can't move Evans to rehab at AAA
b) can't leave Evans at AAA for the season to start
c) don't want to put him on major league roster

Now I'm stuck ...

Great.

[Questdog]

If he is healed, why don't you want him on the ML roster?......

[Westheim]

He's been healthy for like three days and I wanted him to get loose at AAA.

(Of course he also has 10/5 rights and won't accept an assignment to AAA that is not rehab-related)

[Questdog]

Well, just stick him in long relief for a game or two.....(in game terms, I think it only takes one pitch to erase whatever rust has built up)

[Westheim]

After getting over yesterday's enragement, my mind has cleared (a bit; it's never fully clear) and the following moves will be made:

- activate SP Logan Evans as 13th pitcher
- demote OF Daniel Dumont (he goes rather than Quintanilla, since the latter is on his *last* option year and Dumont has two options remaining, plus this way I retain two lefties and two righties in the outfield)
- give Evans about two relief outings
- use 6-man rotation for two turns
- axe weakest starter not named Saito, recall Dumont, everything to normal *

* by this point, Daniel Hall should have popped out his back again, so Dumont will already be back before this point, if everything goes "normal"

No, I'm not bitter.

[Westheim]

With Dumont having been demoted due to the game not doing what I expected it to do (as always), both center fielders, Johnston and Martin, will get ample playing time early on. Martin is a weak right fielder compared to Johnston, so he will play center.

We start with a 2-week homestand.

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Canadiens (0-0)

The season opener pitted Kisho Saito against Raimundo Beato. Saito struck out his first batter of the season and ten in total, and Tetsu Osanai homered in his first AB of the season, but that was not enough for the Raccoons. Saito also scattered eight hits and three runs through six innings, and Osanai’s solo shot was all they had, trailing 3-1 after the top 6th. They also drew more walks than hits off Beato and loaded the bags in the bottom 6th on two walks and a single. With two out, Saito was up, but removed for O’Morrissey to pinch hit. He lined an RBI single to right, but Higgins then grounded out to end the inning. The offense just refused to pick up where the pitching fell short (properly retelling the first 12 years of this endeavor) and the Raccoons lost, 4-3. A. Gonzalez 2-4; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Two hands full of K’s by K-isho Saito were not enough in the opener. Oh, well, we’ll see.

Game 2 was Scott Wade’s. The Coons put O’Morrissey and Johnston on in the bottom 1st, then popped out twice and Dawson was retired on a great catch by LF Kevin Gilmore. Wade surrendered a 2-run homer in the second, and things looked bleak with Tia Fa on the mound retiring nine straight after the first two men got on. But then: down 3-0, Hall collected his first hit of the year in the bottom 4th. Osanai tripled him in, and Dawson blooped into short left for an RBI single. Dadswell’s walk put Dawson on second, where he ran himself out, when Gonzalez lined out to center. But Martin and Wade got on and with two out and the bags full, O’Morrissey came up and drilled the ball to center for a bases-clearing triple (which made for two triples in one inning). Wade held on to the 5-3 lead through six, and Logan Evans pitched a scoreless seventh in his first appearance back from the DL. Hall drove in Johnston in the seventh for an extra run, and the pen held on well enough to save a 6-4 win. O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Hall 2-4, RBI; Higgins (PH) 1-2;

We have successfully claimed LF/RF Bobby Quinn off waivers from the Capitals. Quinn is 24, is a contact batter with some pop, bats right-handed, and may quickly replace Gustavo Quintanilla. He is yet to be assigned, since I want to give Quintanilla some AB’s first.

Meanwhile, the Falcons claimed Jerry Ackerman, who is thus no longer with the Raccoons.

Raccoons (1-1) vs. Knights (1-2)

Carlos Reyes made his Raccoons debut in the opener of the series, facing Old Rival Kiyohira Sasaki. His first batter was Seitaro Ogawa, who homered to right. Michael Root also homered in the first inning. Good start with your new team, Carlos. Root hit another homer in the third, which was already his fifth dinger on the season! Meanwhile, the first three Coons all reached base in the game, but they still only scored once in the bottom 1st, and then didn’t reach base at all until the sixth, where they put three on with no outs. Hall scored a run with a grounder, but was out himself at first, and Osanai hit a sac fly, but they still left the inning trailing 4-3. Matt Higgins was the tying run in the bottom 8th, trying to come home on a Johnston single with two out, but was thrown out at the plate. Bottom 9th, still down 4-3, here come the youngsters: Gonzalez started a rally with a pinch-hit 1-out single. Reader singled, O’Morrissey walked. Bases loaded, one out, Higgins – grounded to second and Gonzalez was forced out at home. Two down, Daniel Hall stepping in. SINGLE TO LEFT!! O’Morrissey was held at third, but the game was tied off reliever Clifford Beatty. Osanai was next – SINGLE TO RIGHT!! Game 3 of the season, and the first walk-off win for the Raccoons! 5-4 Raccoons! Bentley picked up the W in relief. Hall 2-5, 2 RBI; Osanai 1-2, BB, 3 RBI; A. Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Reader (PH) 2-3; Burnett 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Between games, Gustavo Quintanilla was sent to AAA, and Bobby Quinn was assigned to the major league roster. He was to start in right the same day in game 2 of the series.

Game 2 was also the anticipated season debut for Carlos Gonzalez. He’s gone all the way from 16-3 to 5-14 in two years, and has been constantly injured along the way. He fell behind 1-0 early, which the Coons tied in the third. But Michael Root eventually came back with a man on base and hit #6 (in game #5) for a 3-1 Knights lead. Quinn countered that with a 2-run homer of his own in the bottom 4th. Gonzalez was out of a tied game by the sixth, leaving two men on. Evans came in and loaded the bases with a single, before Dawson made a sterling play to start an inning-ending double play and keep the game tied. The top 7th started with an error by Osanai, then an error by Dawson. Logan Evans had a gotta-be-kidding-me look on the mound. Next up was Michael Root – double play, and they got out of the inning, but Evans put three on in the eighth. The first bullpen splintering of the season was in high gear already. Campbell came in, allowed two runs, and then Martinez came in, and allowed two runs to score, and then a 3-run homer to Root. The Coons were destroyed, 10-3. O’Morrissey 2-5; Dawson 2-5, RBI; Johnston 2-3; Quinn 1-1, 3 BB, HR, 2 RBI;

Game 3, and Steven Berry made his Raccoons debut. To everybody’s surprise, he looked about the best of all Coons starters the first time through the rotation. He gave up a run in the second, but then more or less had control over the Knights, while Sam Dadswell’s 2-run homer in the bottom 2nd gave him a lead. Most of all, he managed to contain Root more than anybody else so far. But even Berry, the first Coons starter to pitch into the seventh this season, fell – in the seventh. An Eddy Bailey double did him in, and the game was tied. Then Seitaro Ogawa homered and Berry was in for the loss. 4-2 Knights. The Coons had only four hits, as “Mauler” Correa went eight frames. Burnett 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Raccoons (2-3) vs. Aces (2-5)

The Aces rotation had been whacked to a 7.71 ERA tune so far this season, which made the Raccoons own starters ERA (4.80) almost ace-worthy in comparison.

Kisho Saito was off, that much was clear quickly in game 2, as he was whacked for two homers, three runs, in the second inning already. Although he struck out seven, he looked very bad on the mound. Pitching into the seventh was also not a good idea, as he put two on, who promptly scored against Jackie Lagarde. Saito was gotten off the hook in the bottom 8th with a GRAND SLAM by Osanai, his second homer on the day, tying the game at 5-5. Matt Higgins was denied a double in the ninth that possibly would have been a walk off hit on a great play by CF Ira Houston, and the game went to extra innings. The Coons left Osanai at third in the bottom 10th, then saw Ken Burnett chewed up in the top 11th with a walk, a hit, a wild pitch, and a 2-run single by Dominic Johnson. The Raccoons out-hit the Aces 12-8, but lost, 7-5. Hall 2-5; Osanai 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI; A. Gonzalez 2-4, BB;

Game 2, bottom 1st, scoreless game, play-by-play: O’Morrissey strikes out, Johnston singles to center; Johnston advances to second on errant pickoff by pitcher Jou Hara; Hall singles to left, Johnston to third; Osanai flies out to left; Dawson pops to short center, off the glove of SS Michael McFarland, Johnston scores, Hall to second; Quinn homers to center; Dadswell homers to right; Higgins flies out – five unearned runs on two very stupid errors! Hara went on to walk Wade, Johnston, and Hall on four pitches each in the bottom 2nd, but only one run came about. Up 7-0, Wade got into trouble in the middle innings. The Aces set out to steal three times between the fourth and fifth, and Dadswell twice failed to even grab the ball. He nailed the third runner, though. Two runs scored in the fourth for the Aces. Bobby Quinn hit a solo home run in the bottom 7th. That boy has power! Wade pitched into the eighth, but when he put two on, was removed. Goodman quelled the threat. Campbell allowed a run in the ninth, but the Raccoons prevailed, 8-3. Johnston 2-4, BB; Quinn 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Dadswell 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Wade 7.1 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2-0) and 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI;

Reyes was up in game 3. He was taken deep right away and the Raccoons were making a run at getting shut out, being unable to do anything against Luis De Jesus, who had surrendered eight runs in 4.1 innings in his first start of the year. Mark Dawson and David Vinson, both batting sub-.200, doubled and homered, respectively, in the bottom 7th to cut a 4-0 deficit in half. But the offense sputtered, and that was all they could muster. 4-2 Aces. Johnston 2-4; Quinn 2-4, 2 2B;

Raccoons (3-5) vs. Titans (5-4)

This was a 4-game set. Reliever Juan Martinez was DTD with conjunctivitis for most if not all of the series.

Carlos Gonzalez had it smashed to him, being rapped for six runs (five earned) in four innings in the opener. He just had nothing, the defense didn’t help him, and the Titans were glad to meet him for sure. Logan Evans came into the game in the fifth, but things didn’t get better, as he was taken deep by Kelly Carpenter. Bottom 5th, the Raccoons loaded the bags with nobody out. They scored but one run, on a Dawson sac fly, and remained down 7-3 at that point. They again had the bags full, with one out, in the bottom 6th. Daniel Hall forced a walk and a run in, but that was again all they got. That wasn’t even their last chance, but they blew all of them. 7-5 Titans. Johnston 2-3, BB, RBI; Osanai 2-5, HR, RBI; Dadswell 3-5; Martin (PH) 1-1;

Game 2 saw Steven Berry socked a 3-run homer by Ernesto Ruíz in the second inning. They were truly flying all around the Coons’ fluffy ears early in the season. Berry was down 3-0, while the Raccoons weren’t even able to get a hit off Jorge Valdes until the fifth. They never found into the game, trailed 4-0 after seven, and had a messy ninth inning, finally falling down 6-0. Dadswell 2-3;

In game 3, a first inning 2-run homer by Osanai didn’t help Kisho Saito a bit. Up 3-1 in the third, he was whacked, and whacked, and whacked, and removed. One out, four runs across, and two men on … Another Osanai homer in the bottom 3rd, the Raccoons still trailed 6-4. Jackie Lagarde was out in long relief (not his intended role), and did a better job than anybody but Osanai on the team. Lagarde was eventually chased by rain rather than the Titans. A pinch hit single by Jeff Martin scored a run in the sixth to tie the game, 6-6. Daniel Hall gave the Coons a long-desired lead with his first home run of the year in the seventh. Campbell, Goodman, and West gritted their teeth, and held on. 7-6 Coons. Hall 3-4, HR, RBI; Osanai 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Martin (PH) 1-2, RBI; Lagarde 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K and 1-1; Campbell 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

Game 4 had Scott Wade and John Fowler. Both of them were perfect into the third. Fowler first broke up Wade’s bid with a single into right, which didn’t transpire into more, before Wade grounded to third with one out and Higgins on first. 3B Chad Fisher’s throw was too wide and went out of play. Johnston came up with an infield single, scoring Higgins from third. Wade also scored, sacrificed in by O’Morrissey. In the game, Fowler would go 3-3 off Wade, somehow, nobody knew how he did it exactly, and Wade also had a hit off Fowler, adding up to a third of the hits landed as long as both were in the game. Wade crumbled a bit in the seventh, surrendering a homer to Kelly Carpenter. The game was 3-2 Coons then, before Higgins started a rally with a leadoff infield single in the bottom 7th. With one out, Hall found the bases loaded – GRAND SLAM TO RIGHT!! Justin Reader played short in the game and converted a vicious liner off the bat of Zahid Mashwanis into a double play, nailing a runner from first. 7-2 Raccoons! Johnston 2-4, RBI; Hall 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI; Higgins 3-4; Wade 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (3-0) and 1-2;

In other news

April 4 – SP Bastyao Caixinha was tabbed as Opening Day starter for the Falcons, but exited in the fourth inning with pain in his shoulder. He will miss about four months with shoulder inflammation.
April 4 – RIC RF Manuel Doval (.429, 1 HR, 1 RBI) carried over an 18-game hitting streak from 1988, and has used the first two games of the season well to extend it to 20 games. Exactly the same is true for Indy’s 1988 Rookie of the Year R.J. Stinton (.286, 0 HR, 1 RBI).
April 5 – Doval continues his streak, but Stinton’s ends at 20 games as he is held 0-2 by the Crusaders.
April 7 – 37-yr old Jeremiah Carrell (.600, 0 HR, 1 RBI) has fractured his elbow and will miss most of the season. He is in the second-to-last year of his contract with the Condors.
April 7 – The Aces’ slugger Claudio Garcia (.278, 1 HR, 2 RBI) will miss two weeks with an intercostal strain.
April 9 – PIT CF Jesus Rodriguez (.429, 1 HR, 4 RBI) will miss a month with a strained rib cage muscle.
April 10 – Manuel Doval’s hitting streak soars to 25 games with a 2-hit day in a 10-3 win of the Rebels over the Scorpions. In the same game, Richmond’s CF Gary Lang (.417, 1 HR, 9 RBI) hits for the 11th CYCLE in ABL history!
April 10 – And that’s not even the biggest news! Pittsburgh’s Wilson Cordova (2-0, 1.59 ERA) pitches a true gem, NO-HITTING the Pacifics in a 4-0 Miners win! It is the ninth no-hitter in ABL history, the first since 1987 (Ray Shaw of the Blue Sox), and the first time that a cycle and a no-hitter have occurred on THE SAME DAY.
April 14 – The Indians’ Angelo Duarte (.200, 1 HR, 4 RBI) is out for the month with a foot contusion.
April 15 – IND RF Raúl Vazquez (.191, 0 HR, 4 RBI) spent the day on his farm, fell off his tractor, and sprained his ankle. He will also miss two weeks. Vazquez batted .272 with 28 dingers last season.

Complaints and stuff

Our team BABIP? .315, which is rather high, I’ve been told. Kisho Saito’s? FOUR-FORTYSEVEN!! That third inning in his third start? Basically all singles, one, and another one, and another one, and two more…

That’s a point where you just have to accept, okay, the game hates me, it won’t ever change.

Or you can track your defense and look for the leak. One obvious hole is Ben O’Morrissey on second base with a .872 EFF and -1.5 ZR, but both Gonzalez and Higgins have been not too effective at short, and Mark Dawson is not on Gold Glove level either so far. Both Hall and Quinn also have improvable defensive ratings. It’s early, but if it gets guys torn up on singles, it is an issue.

Another issue: home runs. The Raccoons have hit 14 (leading the league) and allowed *16* (also leading the league)! Getting on base has been an issue, with the team ranking 10th in the league.

Jerry Ackerman was in our system since 1981, after being acquired from the Canadiens with two other guys (neither worth mentioning) for AAA LF Nicolas Castillo, who hit 52 homers in 1980. Now, how has Castillo faired after the trade? Not good. He never became a full time player. He appeared in 167 games for the Canadiens 1981-82, hitting 13 dingers, then ended up with Salem, and was out of the majors by 1984. He has since retired. So, we still got the much better end with Ackerman, who was 27-33 with a 4.38 ERA over his major league career, which encompassed time 1982-84 and 1987-88. He was a full time starter in 1982 only, when he won a career high 11 games. Well, he still can set marks with the Falcons.

And who’s that Bobby Quinn chick, you ask? Well, there. OSA ranks him a bit higher, 16/10/10. His major league track record however foreshadows that he won’t slug .800 forever. He still was the 10th overall pick in the 1982 draft, where we took Alejandro Lopez, whom we traded to the Blue Sox for Raúl Herrera, but that’s a long story and I’m short on tissues.

Next, 2-week road trip: Crusaders, Falcons, Bayhawks, and Canadiens;

[Westheim]

Feature: Where are they now??

Let’s take another look at those long-forgotten Coons that have been plucked semi-randomly from the batting register.

1B Hoyt Cook
Hoyt Cook was a first baseman of those horrible Raccoons, from 1977 to 1981. He was stuck behind Wyatt Johnston early on, and then Johnston close in on the big four-oh, and Cook got his chance, he failed. He was shipped off to Dallas for pitcher Todd Raines (another one of those … guys) before the 1982 season, but was claimed off waivers by the Indians when the season began. He was traded or claimed a few more times. His last major league exposure came with the Buffaloes in 1986, but he appeared in only 12 games. Overall he is .243 with 28 HR and 207 RBI, with most of the glitter having already come in Portland. He currently is with the Aces’ AAA affiliate, trying to make a comeback once more at age 35.

SP Yoelbi Maurinha
Maurinha, who was with the Raccoons 1982-83, exited the system just as he entered it, as a waiver claim. The Condors took him when he was struck off the 40-man roster in 1985, but he never resurfaced in the major leagues and retired after 1988 season at the age of 35. His major league exposure was limited to 24 games with the Canadiens (1978-80) and 41 with the Raccoons.
Career stats: 65 G, 36 GS, 9-22, 4.00 ERA, +5.5 WAR

INF Davis Rigsby
A late signing just before the 1984 season, Rigsby did little to endanger the reigning middle infield combo of Steve Walker and Winston Thompson. He appeared in only 77 games, batting an indifferent .239 with two homers and was not retained after the season. The Loggers signed him to a deal for 1985, but he again only played a partial season, and was not retained after batting .237 for the Loggers (even for the Loggers, that was bad). He went unsigned the next one and a half years and retired in early 1987, at the age of 34.
Career stats: .257/.332/.376, 66 HR, 486 RBI, +6.6 WAR

OF Gustavo Zuniga
One of many, who went through the Raccoons’ revolving door in center field around 1980, turned a few laps in there, and were kicked out. In Zuniga’s case the problem was him batting .122 in 1980, his second season here. He was traded to New York for a nobody the next winter, and made all of 16 games for the Crusaders the next two years. Injuries ate him up in 1983, and he retired a year later, aged 31. He holds the distinction of coming last in the All-time Alphabet of Raccoons.
Career stats: .227/.291/.340, 12 HR, 71 RBI, -1.3 WAR

CL Ben Green
Meant to be the closer for the Raccoons in 1977, he was unable to get the job done and was not given another contract after being superseded by Wally Gaston. Green went on to pitch with other teams, but was only twice installed as closer, with the 1978 Pacifics and 1980 Indians, and saved 49 games for the latter team. He was used rather indifferently after that, with a problematic K/BB ratio and then a shoulder injury in 1983, while with the Buffaloes, further hurting him. He saw time with the 1984 Bayhawks, then retired at age 36. His season in Portland was by far his worst.
Career stats: 336 G, 24-27, 96 SV, 2.45 ERA, +5.2 WAR

If anybody has some interest in other ex-Furballs, I can look into those, too. Except for Alex White. Alex White is off limits. (fleshes teeth)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (5-7) @ Crusaders (7-5)

The Crusaders ahead of the Raccoons? We’re in trouble.

The series opener marked the first start by Logan Evans this season. His control initially was off by a good margin and he couldn’t remove batters on 2-strike counts, costing him two runs in the bottom 2nd, but he got better in the middle innings. A leadoff double by Pedro Villa in the sixth promised to spell trouble, but Evans got a grounder to Dawson and then punched out his last two batters to exit with a quality start at least, yet still down 3-1: Bobby Quinn had led off the top 4th with a massive homer to left. That was all their offensive output. The tying runs were on base in the ninth, but Dadswell grounded into an inning-ending double play. 3-1 Crusaders. Bentley 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Middle game, Carlos Reyes vs. Carlos Guillen. Here, the bottom 2nd again saw the Crusaders get ahead. Lorenzo Gomez set out to steal second with one out, and while Dadswell’s throw was good, Justin Reader dropped it. Gomez was safe and scored on the next play, a single by Dwight Reynolds to right. In all, the Crusaders stole five bases off Dadswell in the first four innings, and Reyes came completely unglued in the bottom 4th, where the Crusaders drew three consecutive walks and scored four in total. Guillen was ace enough to dominate the weakling Raccoons for eight shutout frames, and the Crusaders won 5-0. The Coons had six hits. Reader 2-4;

Ben O’Morrissey started at third base in the game, but left in the seventh inning with back tightness and is DTD.

Game 3. Carlos Gonzalez was awful to the max. Four walks in the first two innings (and then an intentional one to Pedro Villa), and no sign of any ability to speak of. Then, out of the blue, he struck out the side in the third, and in the next inning, he was off again. Gonzalez was yanked in the fifth, already way over 100 pitches, after scoring the Crusaders’ third run with a wild pitch. It continued in that manner. Goodman balked in an inherited runner in the seventh, and the Raccoons were wholly awful at the plate. If anything, the highlight of the game was Daniel Hall throwing out a runner at the plate from left field to end the bottom 7th. Top 9th: Hall doubled, and Osanai and Dawson drew walks. Down 4-0, the tying run came to the plate. Jeff Martin’s RBI grounder was all they got. 4-1 Crusaders, the Raccoons were 4-hit, for 15 hits in the series in total. Hall 2-4, 2 2B;

What a nightmare.

Raccoons (5-10) @ Falcons (8-8)

The Falcons were average throughout so far, and with Coonskinners Jonah Frank, Scott Spivey, Keith Lake, and Alfonso Aranda all on the team, the so far thoroughly-sub-average Raccoons were in for a challenge.

Two walks and an infield hit by Daniel Hall loaded the bags in the top 1st of the opener before most of the fans had sat down. The Raccoons put up a 4-spot mostly thanks to Sam Dadswell’s 2-out bases-clearing triple. Dadswell would come up twice more in the game with two down and three on – both times he struck out. Antonio Gonzalez was quick at hand with an error in the bottom 1st that scored an unearned run. Steven Berry had all reason to be nervous in his third start. He made an error himself in the third with a 5-2 lead that prolonged the inning to put three on with two out. Berry struck out catcher Salvador Valle to escape the jam. Strong days by Johnston, Hall, Osanai and others ate up starter Lorenzo Angel quickly, and by the sixth, we looked at Jerry Ackerman on the mound. Osanai slashed him in half with a 3-run homer in the top 7th, by when the Raccoons led 11-3. Berry didn’t need that much run support, going seven innings. In a blowout game, Daniel Hall came up with two out and nobody on in the top 8th. Was it significant? Yes! Hall was 5-5 in the game, only one hit away from a 6-hit day, something the Coons had not had in 11 years! Gary Simmons (not the ex-Coon, but the ex-Logger) left one over the plate, and Hall hit it out into deep right, Keith Lake after hit, jumping – COULDN’T GET IT!! It dropped in, bounced off the wall, and Hall had a double and a 6-HITTER!! The Raccoons completed the blowout, 12-4, over the Falcons. Hall 6-6, 3 2B, RBI, Osanai 4-6, HR, 5 RBI; Dawson 2-5, BB; Berry 7.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (1-2);

I may have squeaked like a happy piglet on Hall’s sterling outing! He is the second Raccoon ever to have six hits in a game. Freddy Lopez (who remembers him at all?) had a 6-hit day in 1977 in a blowout against the Loggers. It is the 18th overall 6-hit game in ABL history, the first since 1987, when ATL Fred Rodgers and NYC Stephen Walton did it within a week of each other in June. The Falcons have been touched with three 6-hit games, tying the Loggers for most overall. (The Raccoons have never allowed anybody to have six hits in a game; if I walk someone intentionally, it’s that 5-5 guy with two dingers and seven RBI on the board)

On a more despairing note (out with the enthusiasm!), Steven Berry is the first Coons starter to get a W this season that is not named Scott Wade.

Saito and his .447 BABIP were tested in the middle game. His 8.79 ERA made for an interesting game, coupled with Mike Rivers’ 8.76 mark. While the Raccoons left two on in the first when Dawson grounded out, Saito was whacked early for three runs, and four in total over six innings (all the while continuing to pile up K’s). The Coons were shortchanged by Rivers through six, before finally mustering two runs on line drive doubles by Reader and Johnston in the seventh. Hall homered to lead off the eighth, and Osanai got on (off Ackerman, a friendship developing there), but was left on. Reader led off the ninth with a single to left, representing the tying run. He went out to steal with O’Morrissey at the plate, and Kyae-sung Park threw the ball way past second base, allowing Reader to go to third, and with O’Morrissey still at the plate, closer Ricardo Medina threw a 2-1 pitch wildly and Reader scored to tie the game. The game remained tied, but Dirk Campbell put the leadoff man on in the bottom 9th. West came in. Aranda hit a 2-out single to right, but the runner Juan Barranco stopped at third. Jose Rivera flew out to Hall and we had extra innings. The Coons left a runner on third in the 11th, and again in the 12th, before three things happened in the bottom 12: Ken Burnett came in, pitched to Jonah Frank, who hit a walk off home run, and then Burnett was in pain. 5-4 Falcons. Johnston 2-6, 2 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5, BB; Dadswell 2-5, 2B; Reader 2-5, 2B, RBI; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

The Raccoons dropped to last place with this loss. Burnett was diagnosed with a partial tear of his labrum and would be out for three months at least. He went to the 60-day DL and Gustavo Quintanilla was called up.

Scott Wade and Joe Ellis also had similar ERA’s for the rubber game, a bit below 3 and much more consumer-friendly. The game accordingly was scoreless until the fourth, when O’Morrissey in his first start since his back issues, playing at third for the anemic Dawson, did something home run mogul Dawson used to do: hit one out. In this case it was a 2-out, 2-run piece that gave Wade a lead. But Wade couldn’t hold on to it: to start the bottom 4th, the Falcons walked, lined into right, lined into right again, and walked, and a double play started by Justin Reader and a K to Ellis held the damage to two runs. The sixth saw an Osanai 2-run double, and the bottom 6th started like the bottom 4th, with a walk to Jose Rivera. Then Paul Raymond had a hit, and then Wade was gone. Goodman retired two lefties, but Martinez surrendered two liners – but Quintanilla caught the latter, having just come on in a double switch with Martinez. Up 4-3, the Raccoons were reeling now with an abused pen. Some offense was needed, and they scored two on 2-out hits by Dadswell and Hall in the seventh, and loaded the bags with two out in the eighth, but Glenn Johnston flew out. The Falcons got a run off Bentley in the eighth, for a 6-4 score. West allowed a runner to get to third in the bottom 9th, and faced Aranda with two down. Behind the righty Aranda was the weaker switch hitter Rivera, but West was strong early on in the season and went after Aranda, who grounded an 0-2 pitch to O’Morrissey, who converted for the final out. 6-4 Coons. Dadswell 2-4, RBI; Hall 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Quintanilla 0-0, 2 BB;

Despite a bad start here, Scott Wade is now 4-0 with a 3.42 ERA. The latter mark is not very good, but he leads the CL in wins, and only TOP Arnold McCray ties his mark in the FL.

Raccoons (7-11) @ Bayhawks (9-9)

Although the Coons took the lead in the top 1st on an unearned run, a misplay by Jeff Martin in center escalated the bottom 1st into two runs against Logan Evans. O’Morrissey hit a leadoff homer in the fourth that then gave the Coons a 3-2 lead, but Carlos Castro’s leadoff triple in the bottom 4th made the game fall back into a tie all too quickly. Evans had nothing, surrendering 10 hits in 5.1 innings and left with two on base. Berry came in with an ailing pen, and the lead runner scored on a sac fly. Quinn and Reader had extra base hits in the sixth to get Evans off the hook, before they left the bags full. Berry in turn pitched into the eighth before leaving with an injury. A runner left on by Berry scored against Goodman, getting the Bayhawks up. Closer William Henderson struck out Gonzalez, struck out Higgins, struck out Dadswell in the ninth. 5-4 Bayhawks. O’Morrissey 2-4, HR, RBI; Quinn 2-4, 3B, 2B; Reader 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

The Furballs roughed up Bayhawks starter Vicente Ortiz for five runs through the second inning in the middle game. The Coons and Carlos Reyes led 6-1 after seven, and Reyes tried to pitch into the eighth, which didn’t end well. Two runs in, two out, runner on first, Lagarde came in, but surrendered two soaring liners for hits. Collapse mode was on. Higgins barely got to a hobbler to make the final out with the lead down to 6-5 and two in scoring position. Grant West entered in the ninth and surrendered nothing but line drives. Bayhawks walked off, 7-6. Johnston 3-5, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5; Osanai 2-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, RBI; Quinn 2-4, 2 RBI;

12 hits allowed in the first game, 17 in the middle game. They have surrendered 184 hits in total, the BABIP is .337.

Berry was out for a month with a sore elbow. He went to the DL, but nobody was called up before game 3, basically because I messed up.

The Coons put up another 3-spot in the first inning in the last game at the Bay. The Hawks residing there immediately came back with a 5-spot in the bottom 1st against Carlos Gonzalez. That boy… he went on to K three over the next two frames, then walked the bags full in the fourth. 99 pitches, 3.2 innings. That was his ticket outta Portland. Before that, Jackie Lagarde came in to surrender two singles and all runners scored. The Raccoons managed exactly three hits past the first inning and were smothered, 9-4. Osanai 2-4, RBI; Higgins (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Roster moves

There are approximately two-thousand things that don’t work out here. The following issues were addressed while the team went back north: pitching, fielding, and hitting;

- SP Carlos Gonzalez (0-3, 9.35 ERA) was designated for assignment (out of options as he was)
- 1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey was demoted to AAA to play more second base; having him learn it in the majors was a terrible idea in the first place
- SP Jason Turner (2-1, 0.60 ERA in 4 GS at AAA) was called up to stay here
- MR Yasushi Suto (0-1, 5.06 ERA in 6 G at AAA) was called up to fill a hole
- INF Carlos Miranda (.354, 3 HR, 9 RBI in 14 G at AAA) was called up as infield backup

Turner goes into the #5 spot for now, more due to him fitting in there in order of days pitched rather than performance. The team is a mess anyway, it doesn’t matter who’s on the mound.

Raccoons (7-14) @ Canadiens (10-11)

Can we please catch a break? We were 1-1 when the Canadiens left town in early April. By now, we’re nowhere near that. This 7-14 team feels like a 4-17 team. Without Scott Wade, it would BE a 4-17 team.

Before Wade came Saito in the opener. He faced Robbie Campbell, who no-hit the Coons into the fourth. Then, Johnston singled, and Martin doubled. It was only a Daniel Hall sac fly, but the Coons got on the board first (not that it helped them, usually). Top 7th: still up 1-0, the Coons hit the balls hard, but Hall flew out to start the inning. Osanai lined into short right. Dawson came up and finally smothered one, his first homer of the season! Still in the same inning, Justin Reader was on second, having stolen it, with two out. Matt Higgins was inspired by Dawson’s veteran leadership and also hit his first dinger of the year, 5-0. The balls were flying now, and Art Garrett took Saito deep for two runs in the bottom 7th. Top 8th: Hall got on, and stole second. Osanai was put on intentionally by Vancouver, and Dawson hit ANOTHER ONE out! The Coons scored two more on their way to a clear win. Bentley allowed a run after a leadoff double by Rafael Solís in the ninth, but the Coons won convincingly, 10-3. Johnston 2-5, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Higgins 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-1) and 1-4;

Mark Dawson hit .170 with five ribs through the first 21 games. Now he has two dingers in one game – usually that signals a 2-week hot streak of batting .400/.450/.900 with seven homers and 20 RBI coming in. His season needs it, and the team needs it even more.

Game 2, and it was bitterly cold, 40 degrees, as Scott Wade went out against Raimundo Beato, who had been stabbed to a 7.03 ERA so far. Wade led off the top 3rd with a double himself, and eventually the Coons scored two unearned runs: Wade on a passed ball, and then Bobby Quinn on an error. Wade 2-hit the Canadiens through five, but then was slapped in the sixth with two homers and he just barely held on to a 4-3 lead. Bottom 8th, still 4-3. Goodman had already put two men on with one out, and was 3-0 on lefty David Brewer. The youngster reached at the fourth pitch and grounded for a force play at second. Campbell then came in and struck out Melvin Greene, who led the league with a .467 average (but narrowly didn’t qualify). Talk about a hot month there. Bullet dodged, the game moved to the ninth, and West was back to rock solid and punched out two for a quick bottom 9th. 4-3 Raccoons. Osanai 2-4; Higgins 2-4;

Mark Dawson hit a solo homer in the top 4th to tie the third game at one. Logan Evans pitched well, but didn’t get any more support, and was defeated in the bottom 7th when Dadswell couldn’t keep Greene from stealing third, and although Evans struck out Orlando Salazar for the second out, youngster David Brewer pinch hit for an RBI single up the middle to get the Canadiens ahead. They remained there, winning 3-1. Dawson 2-4, HR, RBI; Dadswell 3-4; Evans 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (0-3);

Carlos Gonzalez cleared waivers (quelle surprise) and was assigned to AAA to work on his … stuff?

Raccoons (9-15) vs. Indians (14-11)

We went home just for a 4-game set against the Indians as May came around the corner already, before interleague play would be upon us on the banks of the Potomac out east.

The opener was Reyes’ start. He got some 2-out support by Osanai and Dawson in the bottom 3rd, making it a 3-1 game through three. Osanai had another 2-out RBI single in the fifth. Reyes had trouble removing guys with two strikes, surrendered a 2-strike homer to Raúl Vazquez and left with two out in the seventh for Nate Goodman to punch out Francisco Lopez, who represented the tying run. Hall homered in the bottom 7th to restore the 3-run lead, and the Coons won 5-2, despite being out-hit 10-6. Johnston 1-2, 2 BB; Hall 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2 RBI; Reyes 6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-2);

Carlos Reyes won his first game as a Raccoon, and West saved the game around a full count walk. That was his first walk of the season. He had not walked a batter all of April (but had pitched only 8.1 innings due to the team sucking the air out of the closer’s job).

The second game was the season debut for Jason Turner. First, attention shifted more to Pepe Acevedo, who nailed the Coons to the ground the first time through the order, until Osanai broke up the no-hit bid in the fourth, where the Raccoons scored two. They were still held to two hits by Acevedo until the sixth, where Dawson hit a solo homer and Quinn a 2-run homer. But by then, the focus was long on Turner, who pitched the true gem in this game. He had walked the first batter up, Jorge Salazar, in the first, and allowed a single to Mitsuzuka Ohara in the second – and then pitched perfect ball until walking Ohara in the eighth! He went to three full counts in the eighth, but still had enough gas to finish the game, tossing what became a 2-hit shutout, and the Raccoons won 5-0! Osanai 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Vinson 2-4; Turner 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

Of course this was not Turner’s big league debut, he made eight starts last year, but it was still an impressive and unexpected sparkler uncovered here. Turner tossed his first complete game in the Bigs, and thus also his first shutout. Going 3-3 with a 5.23 ERA last year, he also shaved .9 runs off that career ERA.

Game 3, and another gem was worked on, this time by Robert Vazquez for the Indians, whose 4.80 ERA told a few things about how he coped with the lowered mound. He held them hitless early on, and while he walked three, and once brushed Hall, the Coons hit into three double plays in the first four innings in an effort of efficient self-destruction. Not that Kisho Saito was not strong, he held the Indians off the R column on the scoreboard, but Vazquez had a no-hitter through five. He struck out Miranda to start the sixth, bringing up Saito. And what did he do? He singled up the middle. Vazquez gave him “the look”, before he proceeded to get out of the inning. Saito went eight innings of shutout ball, fanning nine, before he sat down for a high pitch count, and got a no-decision. Vazquez went nine, pitching a 2-hitter, but his team didn’t score either, and the game went into overtime. There, it ended quickly. Osanai singled off Jim Durden to start the bottom 10th, and then Dawson sent the fans home happy with a massive 2-run homer to center. 2-0 Coons!! Dawson 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K and 1-2; Suto 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

Saito would have been able to pitch the ninth, I guess. But he was out of gas at the end of last season and I want to take it a bit easier on him this season. And it still worked out without him. With this game down, Vazquez and Saito led the CL with 40 and 36 K’s, respectively.

One more for the sweep, and with Wade up, what could possibly happen? First of all, Daniel Hall got a day off, having played every inning since Opening Day. Quinn was in left and Quintanilla in right, both at their best positions. The Coons got an unearned run in early in the first inning. The top of the lineup continued to do damage with Quinn, Higgins, Dawson, and Osanai producing for two runs in the third, and three in the fourth. Yoritoki Ohwada did his best to keep the game in reach with a 2-run homer in the fifth, and Osanai failing to control a grounder past him in the sixth added another run for the Indians, 6-3. Wade exited after a scoreless seventh, still 6-3 ahead. Both teams put up mild threats in the eighth – but neither scored anymore. The many left-handers the Indians had were annihilated once Goodman and West got into the mix. 6-3 Coons. Quinn 2-4, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4; Quintanilla 1-2, BB;

FOUR GAME SWEEP – WHOOOOO!!!

In other news

April 18 – Richmond’s Manuel Doval (.412, 2 HR, 9 RBI) reaches the 30-game mark with his hitting streak.
April 19 – RIC SP Cesar Sanchez (0-2, 12.15 ERA) had been bugged by his shoulder since the spring, now he’s out with shoulder inflammation and will miss most of the season. He was 10-7 with a 3.70 ERA last season.
April 22 – IND OF R.J. Stinton (.213, 2 HR, 8 RBI) goes down to an intercostal strain. The young hotshot will miss about five weeks.
April 23 – Manuel Doval (.375, 3 HR, 10 RBI) is now at 35 games with his hitting streak with a 2nd inning single against the Wolves. The Rebels win 6-5.
April 24 – While Daniel Hall is infamously snuffed for Player of the Week honors in favor of VAN Rafael Solís, MIL 1B Isto Grönholm (.246, 2 HR, 7 RBI) will miss several months with a hamstring strain.
April 25 – The Pacifics found Manuel Doval’s number. They leave the streaking Rebel ice cold, ending his streak at 35 games. This ranks 3rd all time in the ABL. Claudio Rojas owns hitting streaks of 47 and 40 games.
April 30 – Denver’s SP Wilson Martinez (2-2, 4.63 ERA), who started 36 games both of the last two seasons, won’t do so this season. The 31-year old has ruptured a finger tendon and won’t be back until August.
May 3 – First, Dallas CF Xiao-wei Li (.209, 0 HR, 12 RBI) was struggling with the bat, now he’s broken a finger. Li will miss about six weeks. He batted .323 last year.

Complaints and stuff

Nate Goodman notified me that he considered himself a closer. Nate… just get off my back, and I’ll let you live. Maybe.

Scott Wade is the only 6-game winner in the sport right now. PIT Wilson Cordova (Mr. No-no) has five, nobody else has more than four. Wade had ample run support, though: the Coons scored 6.17 runs in the games he started. He has not made a start allowing one run or less this season.

Mark Dawson before the Canadiens series: .169/.200/.197, 0 HR, 5 RBI
Mark Dawson since then: .285/.310/.821 (8 H: 3x1B, 5xHR), 5 HR, 12 RBI

Rafael Solís went 12-22 with 2 HR and 6 RBI and was POTW. Daniel Hall the same week was 10-25 with 2 HR and 7 RBI and has a 6-hit game and is snuffed. I’m enraged. 6-hit games should count for something. Solís isn’t even an everyday player. (By the way: cyclist Gary Lang didn’t win POTW the week before, either, after a .333, 1 HR, 10 RBI week; neither did no-hitting Wilson Cordova)

And that BABIP kept rising and rising (and O’Morrissey didn’t play much at second base for an ailing back on the road trip, and when he played, much was on third base, with Dawson preparing for retirement). It got as high as .334 and then started dropping again right around where Dawson found his pop.

Are things connected?

Are they conspiring?

Are we being watched?

(hurries out)

[Questdog]

Very nice to see teacher's pet Danny Hall having a good year after a few not so good ones (basically, since he became a rich man, he has cruised)......Tet-SUUUU!!!!!!! is on a heck of an RBI pace.....and we need some in depth profiles of these two new Coon heroes: Jason Turner and Bobby Quinn....what were their childhoods like and are they available talent for the fine young ladies of Portland or have they already been claimed?.....and, more importantly, are they emerging new stars in the Oregon sky or are they just passing comets?.....inquiring minds want to know!....

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

teacher's pet Danny Hall

Had he been traded and 6-hit the opposition someplace else, I would have jumped out of the window instantly.

Which isn't as bad as it sounds, the window here is about three feet above the ground.

Originally Posted by Questdog

and we need some in depth profiles of these two new Coon heroes: Jason Turner

Jason was born and brought up in rural Pennsylvania. He's a dog owner, getting his first dog for his sixth birthday. He named him "Nixon", but it is unknown whether he was inspired by the baseball player Ralph Nixon or the US president. As a teenager, he rooted for the Pittsburgh Miners.

He was the 3rd overall pick in the 1983 amateur draft, when the Atlanta Knights selected him out of high school. The Raccoons acquired him on July 30, 1987 in a 5-player deal that among others sent SP Vicente Ruíz and INF Steve Walker to Atlanta.

He possesses four pitches that he mixes well. He likes to go out of the strike zone to fool hitters, who are not alway fooled. He should be a challenger for pitching awards for many years to come.

Personally, Jason works hard on his pitches, and is often among the first guys at the park on game days. However, he is sometimes too concerned with himself - not in a negative way - but he finds it hard to fit in. This has been plagueing him since kindergarten, when he wanted to play with the red car, but another kid named Billy was already playing with it, and Jason was too shy to ask whether he could play along with him.

Originally Posted by Questdog

and Bobby Quinn

Bobby is a Big City kid, having grown up in New York City, where he was voted most popular kid on the block three straight years between 1972 and 1974.

The 10th overall pick in the 1982 amateur draft, and selected by the Washington Capitals, charismatic Bobby conquered "the village by the Potomac" by storm. The Capials however were not too thrilled with his offensive output and put him on waivers at the start of the 1988 season, from where he was claimed by the Portland Raccoons.

Bobby can do a lot of things, but can't do anything too well, a theme stretching back to high school, where he regularly was a student collecting mostly B's. He can hit for a few doubles and homers along the way and can steal some bases, too. His defense is good, but not great - you get the point.

Bobby easily becomes part of any group and is thus well integrated in the club house. On off days, you can bet his downtown Portland appartment overlooking the Willamette River to be the setting of a grand party.

---

Stats on the profiles below may hint at players' performance in the series against the Capitals that has already been played out. Study at your own discretion.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (13-15) @ Capitals (21-8)

The Capitals had fueled their early run with the most brutal offense in the league, scoring 6.5 runs per game! The three starters we were to face were a combined 10-0 on the season. And the Raccoons staff was shivering. Bobby Quinn was facing his former team mates.

The opener had veteran Greg O’Brien pitching for the Capitals, his ERA a hair over four, and the Coons hurt him early, and hurt him often, with two in the first, two in the fourth, and two in the fifth, the latter with a Daniel Hall homer that chased O’Brien. While the Raccoons offense was motoring, Logan Evans was knocked up by the Capitals in the fifth and seventh. A 2-run triple by Clement Clark chased him and he was saddled with five runs in total, but the Furballs’ own offensive output was enough to give Evans his first W of the season, despite an outing that derailed badly at the end. 10-5 Raccoons. Quinn 2-4, BB, RBI; Higgins 3-5, RBI; Osanai 2-5, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Johnston 2-5, 2B; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

The Coons didn’t get a hit until the fourth in the middle game, but then took the lead right there, driven in by Dawson, 1-0. Carlos Reyes looked good on the mound, but left in the fourth inning with an injury. Four singles off Juan Martinez tied the game in the fifth. The Capitals consistently put their leadoff men on, slowly but surely eating up the Raccoons bullpen. The Coons got the tying run to the plate in the ninth with a few defensive indifferences by the Capitals, and closer Domingo Rivera balked at one point, but the Raccoons were unable to seal the deal and lost, 4-2. Johnston 2-5; Higgins 2-4, BB; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1;

Rubber game: the Coons went up 2-0 in the first, but couldn’t ride out the Turner Train this time, as the youngster gave up two runs in the bottom 4th. Johnston’s solo homer in the fifth got Turner back into the lead, but he only went six, through which the Coons led 4-2. Opposing pitcher Buddy Hamilton twice made the final out against Turner with the bags full. Hamilton then filled up the pond with nobody up in the eighth. They scored only one run, Quintanilla with an RBI groundout pinch hitting in the #9 hole. Grant West surrendered a 2-run homer to Jose Madrid in the ninth, but it was just enough to hang on to a 5-4 win. Johnston 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5, 2B; Dawson 2-5, RBI;

We dodged a bullet on Monday, an off day on the way back home, when trainer Michael Dempsey informed us that Carlos Reyes had merely a sore forearm and would miss only one start. He was officially DTD, but Dempsey recommended not to start him. We had Yasushi Suto here, who could make a spot start, or we could turn to Jose Fernandez at AAA, who had been AAA Pitcher of the Month, but he was not on the 40-man roster and I wasn’t thrilled by the idea of putting a 3.15 ERA, 1.15 K/BB guy on for just one start. So, most likely Suto it was.

Raccoons (15-16) vs. Stars (18-13)

Here come the World Champions. The re-surging Raccoons have every reason to be worried, albeit the king of sluggers, Gabriel Cruz being traded away to Nashville this winter. Which is still puzzling the nation. The Stars also came in with the worst rotation in the Federal League, carrying the burden of a 5.93 ERA.

David Vinson batted leadoff in the opener for his .357 OBP so far, although he possessed no speed at all. He worked only partially well in there, he reached base twice in the game, on an intentional walk and when hit by a pitch from veteran Bill Smith. Osanai’s solo homer in the bottom 2nd got the Coons ahead and the Stars had trouble making good contact on Kisho Saito. Just when one thought that a special gem might be in the works, Pete Ross bunted for a base hit in the third to kill a no-hit bid in the early stages. The Stars managed only three more hits (two by the always pesky Raúl Herrera) against Saito, who breezed through the middle innings and through nine for a 4-0 shutout. Higgins 2-3, BB, RBI; Dawson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (2-1);

This is the 9th career shutout for Kisho Saito, his first complete game this year (total: 27). Six of those shutouts came with the Raccoons.

Scott Wade did not pitch a shutout in the middle game. The Stars put on their leadoff man in almost every inning, but the damage was still limited. The Coons trailed 2-1 in the bottom 5th with one out and two on, when Wade came to bat. He missed an 0-1 pitch trying to bunt, before resorting to trying to land a hit. He got back to 2-2 against Jorge Rosa, then lined a double into the left field corner, tying the game with the RBI hit. Higgins hit an RBI groundout for a 3-2 lead. For Wade, infield singles were also one of the themes of the day. The Stars laid down two, both times ending up scoring. Wade went seven, allowing three runs, but saving a fourth when a liner off the bat of pinch hitter Jerry Phelps found it’s way right into his glove. By then, the Coons led 5-3. West walked Herrera to start the ninth, and the Stars added an infield single, but West still pitched a scoreless inning. 5-3 Raccoons. Miranda 2-3, RBI;

Scott Wade is now 7-0 in seven games! Also, Daniel Hall was ejected in this game after being struck out to start the bottom 8th. Hall thought the pitch was out of the plate, the umpire didn’t think so, and when Hall sniped back once more, Hall was out of the plate.

Unfortunately, Logan Evans was nowhere near a W in the last game. He walked in a run in the first, then threw away pitcher Neil Ford’s bunt in the second, costing two more runs eventually. The Stars became a bit hyperactive, swinging at everything from there, and Evans was able to go six innings with a lot of infield groundouts (SS Justin Reader’s glove was worn off heavily in this game), allowing four runs (two earned), trailing 4-1. Osanai and Hall tried to spark a late rally in the eighth with two doubles to start the frame, but Hall was left on third, and the pen allowed a run in the ninth. The Stars entered the bottom 9th leading 5-2, and that meant that fans in Portland got to see Richard Cunningham for the first time since he was traded last July. He sat the Coons down in order, including K’s on Martin and Johnston. Fans were cheering mildly and were glad he only entered once in the series. 5-2 Stars. Osanai 2-4, 2B; Quinn 2-3, 2B; Bentley 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (17-17) vs. Crusaders (20-14)

Somehow, the Crusaders led the CL North. They hadn’t finished with a winning record since 1980 (82-80, 3rd place) and apparently were on a mission.

Yasushi Suto made a spot start in the series opener for the ailing Carlos Reyes, who would join the bullpen as emergency option for the series. Suto did a decent job, pitching into the seventh, but he allowed two homers to Pedro Villa and Juan Nunez and trailed 3-2 when he left. Jackie Lagarde got the final out with the bags full in the seventh. Like the day before, the Coons had two doubles in the eighth (Osanai, Quinn), but left the latter batter on third base. This time, they at least tied the game. Grant West allowed a run in the top 9th, though and we headed for the bottom 9th trailing. Gonzalez led off with a single, but was left … on third. 4-3 Crusaders. Higgins 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-3, 2B; Quinn 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B, RBI;

The Crusaders lost SP Gary Nixon early in the middle game to injury. Not that it helped the Raccoons much. In a 1-1 tie, Osanai grounded into an inning-ending double play in the bottom 3rd, before Jason Turner came unglued in the fourth. A bloop single was followed by two 4-pitch walks and then a double over CF Glenn Johnston. The Crusaders took a 4-1 lead, and held it through to the end, despite the Raccoons out-hitting them 9-6, but they also managed to hit themselves out of any chances. Dadswell 2-4;

Here we stepped in and sent Jeff Martin to AAA. He hit an anemic .149 and was of no general use due to his inferior defense to Glenn Johnston. Bill Stevens (who is out of options) was called up. At age 28, here’s his last chance.

Could Kisho Saito throw a stop on the Crusaders (not that they had raped pitchers so far)? Saito and Andrade engaged in a pitchers’ duel, with neither team mounting a serious threat until the sixth, when the Crusaders got two men in scoring position, but then made the final out to Johnston in center. Bottom 7th, and Quinn led off with a double. Dawson singled and Dadswell hit one to center, flying, flying further, OUTTA HERE!! Saito went eight shutout frames, but with a complete game in his last start, and already over 100 pitches here, he was not brought out for the ninth. A Higgins triple and subsequent score on a Hall groundout took the save opportunity away from Grant West, although he almost would have come into the game with Juan Martinez struggling to get the third out in the ninth. Bobby Quinn threw out a Crusader at the plate before any damage could be done. 4-0 Raccoons. Quinn 2-4, 2B; Dadswell 2-3, HR, 3 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, W (3-1);

In other news

May 5 – SAL OF Dale Cleveland (.329, 4 HR, 19 RBI) is out for the season with a broken kneecap.
May 11 – LVA Miguel Sanchez (2-3, 4.84 ERA) tosses a 2-hitter against the Capitals, as the Aces win 3-0.
May 12 – IND Bob Harris (3-2, 2.70 ERA) puts a spell on the Loggers, throwing a 3-hitter in a 4-0 win.
May 13 – CIN INF Claudio Rojas (.346, 0 HR, 8 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak after two singles in a 2-1 win over Washington. Rojas owns the longest hitting streak all time at 47 games.
May 14 – The budding streak ends quickly, as Rojas goes dry in a 4-0 loss to the Capitals.

Complaints and stuff

Hall and Dawson aren’t hitting anything for a week now. Osanai has the occasional outburst, but doesn’t produce steadily, and accordingly, the whole team doesn’t produce an awful lot of runs. They have scored 4.3 R/G in May, but haven’t scored more than five in over a week. Not scoring more than five is not very profitable in the long run especially if your pitching staff has holes in it. Now, starting pitching has been fairly solid (as has the pen, however little used) the last few series …

Which gets us to our 1-5 record against the Crusaders this year. I mean … how …!?

O’Morrissey has trouble hitting now at AAA. As have the outfield options Reece and Powers. And, heck, even Marcos Costello. Daniel Dumont meanwhile has struggled and is now hurt and sporting a cast for his fractured thumb.

Next up are the lame-duck Loggers for four, of which the Raccoons will certainly manage to lose at least three. Then: four CL South opponents all around the Pacific coast: vs. OCT, @ TIJ, @ LVA, vs. CHA;

[Westheim]

Raccoons (18-19) @ Loggers (12-24)

Four games with the worst team in the league – every reason to feel worried. The Loggers ranked last in offense and second-to-last in pitching in the CL, with their bullpen especially bad (6.14 ERA, 12th).

Scott Wade and Judd Montgomery dueled effectively in the opener. The Raccoons were puzzled completely by Montgomery’s arsenal and had one hit through six, in the bottom of which inning Wade gave up a run on two doubles. Hall led off the seventh with a single just between the middle infielders Pepe Martinez and Jim Stein. Osanai was clipped and erased on a fielder’s choice when Dawson grounded. Next was Gonzalez. He launched a huge shot to deep center, and while it missed the wall, it still fell in. Hall scored and Dawson was sent home from first. The Loggers tried to make the play at home, couldn’t, and Gonzalez went to third. He was still there with Quintanilla on first and two out when Wade’s turn came up, and he was pinch hit for with Bobby Quinn. Montgomery was shaken, threw a wild pitch to score Gonzalez, and Quinn then singled in Quintanilla for a 4-run seventh. Gonzalez brought in Hall in back-to-back innings with an eighth inning RBI single and when Dadswell hit a 3-run homer, the rout was on. 8-1 Furballs! Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Dadswell 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1, RBI; Wade 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (8-0); Bentley 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

So, Scotty remains perfect with that late burst of offense. Of course, Gonzalez had the key hits here. Reader had more playing time recently, but is cold recently and Gonzalez will now start most games at short.

Game 2 was contested among lefties with Logan Evans and Neil Stewart going. The Coons led 1-0 after the top 1st, and the first batter Evans faced, CF Emilio Román, doubled down the line – then stretched it and was thrown out at third by Quinn. Neither pitcher had good control, Evans wasn’t getting ahead in the count, and Stewart deflated in the third, where he walked four and the Coons added three singles for another 4-run inning that removed Stewart and gave Evans a 6-1 lead. The longtime Coon pitched into the seventh with two runs across (but a few Gold Glove plays all over the field helped big time), before giving way to the pen. The Raccoons again won handily, 9-2 on 17 hits, including eight for extra bases. Higgins 3-5, BB, 2 2B; Stevens 3-6, 2B, RBI; Osanai 3-4, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Vinson 3-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Suto 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

The Coons again got an (unearned) run in the top 1st in game 3. From there, Carlos Reyes kept the Loggers from making hard contact very well. Anibal Guerra did the same for the Coons, until a seventh inning homer by Antonio Gonzalez (who thus homered in back-to-back games) made it 2-0, and the Coons scored two unearned runs after that when the defense couldn’t get Reyes at first with two already down. Reyes fell to a homer by C Santiago Rodriguez in the seventh, but was still on a great pace. Through six, he held a 10 pitches per inning rate and with the Coons scoring two in the top 9th to move the game out of save range, Reyes went back out for the ninth – and completed the game. 6-1 Raccoons. Higgins 3-5, 2B, RBI; Johnston 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Osanai 3-4; Reyes 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-2);

We made a roster move prior to game 4: Carlos Miranda was demoted and Ben O’Morrissey recalled. O’Morrissey played third for the not-hitting Dawson (and Stevens left for the not-hitting Hall).

Game 4. The second inning already saw the Loggers fall apart. With two out, the Coons had a runner on second and pitcher Jason Turner batting – and from there they STILL scored five runs. Turner hit an infield single, then they added a walk, a single, and another walk, and then scored two on an error, when CF Adam Woodward dropped Osanai’s blooper, and then another run on a single, sending ten men to the plate. Turner struggled a bit to complete 2-strike at-bats early on, and surrendered two runs in the bottom 2nd, which the Coons got back in the fourth. Two singles up the middle and a double into the left corner scored two for the Loggers again as Turner was reeling in the fifth, but the Coons again managed to mirror that right away in the top 6th – and added another run to make it 10-4. While Turner’s line of six frames and four runs didn’t look too good, he still struck out nine, so he has all the tools he needs. They added a few more late for a 13-4 thumping of the Loggers. Higgins 3-5, BB, RBI; Johnston 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; Osanai 3-5, BB, RBI; Reader (PH) 1-1, RBI; Dadswell 4-6, RBI;

That 4-game sweep suddenly vaulted the Raccoons into contention for the CL North crown (not that I will get fooled here, the Loggers are a miserable bunch), and the aggregate score of 36-8 is – I’m sure without checking – the most severe bashing the Coons have ever dealt to an opponent in a 4-game set. And all of that without production from Hall and Dawson, who each had just one hit in the entire series!

Raccoons (22-19) vs. Thunder (20-22)

The Oklahoma rotation was not the best, and carried a 4.89 ERA, but with Kevin Williams and Domingo León, their two best starters would be up in the first two games in the series.

Kisho Saito, who had been unfortunate enough not to pitch in Milwaukee, struck out the side in the top 1st in the opener and still surrendered a run, but a 3-run second with lots of small ball turned the game around. Matt Higgins had a big 2-out, 2-run double in the sixth to make it 5-1. Saito went seven without surrendering any more ugly stuff. The Coons crumbled in the ninth, as Martinez put the first two men on. Goodman got an out, but a run scored, and West then came in. He struck out two, but in between Jeff Wagner (one of those guys that kill you time and again) hit an RBI triple. 5-3 Coons. Vinson 3-4, RBI; Stevens 2-4, 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (4-1);

If the Coons win the middle game, they will have painted a whole week green! They are also only half a game out of the division lead.

The Coons stormed out of the gate, 3-0 after two innings against León. Wade was not unhittable, though, and a few grounders through the seams cost a run in the fourth, but it could as well have cost O’Morrissey, who collided with Marc Shaw at third base. Both were knocked over, but instead, Shaw was hurt and left the game. The Thunder scored one run in the inning. Things collapsed in the fifth. Alfonso Torres led off with a single just past Higgins. León bunted and Wade tried to get the out at second, but didn’t. Jeff Wagner bunted and Wade tried to get the out at third – and didn’t! Bases loaded, nobody out. This time, Wade was toast. Tom Nicks took a 2-2 pitch into the stands in left for a grand slam. But the Furballs came right back in the bottom 5th with hits by Johnston and Hall. Osanai doubled to center and then O’Morrissey and Stevens made productive outs to first tie the game and then get ahead again. Jeff Wagner led off the seventh with a single and moved to second when Nicks grounded out. With left-handers up, Nate Goodman relieved Wade. The Thunder countered with righty Hector Román to pinch hit. He lined hard into left, Hall came on AND CAUGHT IT!! The next batter flew out to Stevens in center and Wade remained in line for a W. There were three more lefties up for the eighth and Goodman remained in there, getting two out, but Sandro Delgado then singled up the middle. Lagarde came on and got the final out (but not without walking Torres). Lagarde remained in the game for the ninth. Wagner grounded to Osanai. Nicks popped out to Higgins. Joseph Day pinch hit and hit one to right center – caught by Johnston! COONS WIN IT!! 6-5 Raccoons!! Johnston 2-4, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Goodman 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Lagarde 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, SV (1);

The Raccoons have not lost in a week! Isn’t life beautiful!?

Steven Berry came off the DL for the last game in the series. He would pitch out of the pen for a bit. Gustavo Quintanilla was demoted until we would decide whom to move out of the bullpen.

The Thunder scored first in the last game, with Wagner starting it with a bunt base hit. He was brought around to score, 1-0, and Logan Evans was too out of whack to get through a nasty fourth. With two on and nobody out (bad enough), pitcher Vicente Torres bunted and Evans couldn’t make a play. Next, Wagner drew a bases loaded walk for the first of three more runs. Torres in turn was perfect against the Coons through three, through four, through five. The Thunder put the rout on in the sixth, knocking out Evans by putting two on with one out, then raping Martinez, who failed to retire a batter in the four he faced. A pinch-hit double by Bill Stevens broke up the perfect game of Torres in the sixth, but the winning streak was over, the Thunder lit up Berry and Goodman in the eighth for five more and won 14-1. Stevens (PH) 2-2, 2B; Torres went the distance with a 5-hitter.

Way to ruin a week. To hell with enthusiasm!

And with life.

In other news

May 15 – The Aces’ ace Claudio Garcia (.310, 2 HR, 12 RBI) is hurt in the weight room and will miss about two weeks with a strained achilles tendon.
May 20 – The Condors lose 6-5 to the Loggers. Hector Atilano hits an eighth inning single off Judd Montgomery for his 2,000th career hit! The 38-year old is only the fourth player to reach this mark.
May 20 – TOP SP Jorge Ramos (3-2, 3.54 ERA) will be out for up to a year. The 23-year old talent has a stretched elbow ligament.
May 21 – LVA Miguel Sanchez (4-3, 3.98 ERA) tosses a 3-hitter against the Indians. It is the 38-year old’s 16th shutout, breaking a tie with Joe Ellis for fourth place all time. David Burke (35), Juan Correa (19), and Alex Miranda (18) lead the category. Chris Powell’s 10 SHO still tie for 9th.

Complaints and stuff

Logan Evans has completely lost it. Tetsu Osanai has an 11-game hitting streak. Who else has anything? The Coons had a half game deficit to first, but now have fallen back.

Oh yeah, Antonio Gonzalez went 11-24 with 3 HR and 9 RBI this week and was CL Player of the Week. Yay!

I will probably next look at the draft pool and analyze that.

[Westheim]

What’s to like about the 1989 amateur draft pool? Some of everything. The following players have been noted down as preferred targets of the Raccoons scouting department:

SP Garrett Danton (18/19/13)
SP Eduardo Salazar (12/14/18)
SP Joe Mann (12/19/13)

MR Gabriel De La Rosa (19/19/14)
CL Roberto Delgado (18/18/16)
MR Brody Burrell (20/16/10)

C Luis Moran (18/5/13; good catching abilities)

1B Jim Cutler (19/16/14)
INF Tom McAndrew (20/3/12)

RF/LF Roman Reyes (20/19/18)
LF/RF Connor Starr (14/13/16)

The Raccoons pick 11th in every round, plus 9th of 39 in the supplemental round. It’s safe that one of the players above will fall to us. Danton looks stud, but will be gone, perhaps 1st overall. Superhuman outfielders have never brought much luck to us after Daniel Hall. I like Cutler, who combines massive slugging with actually decent defense at first, Salazar, who has a wonderful combo of everything you like about starting pitchers, and De La Rosa, a future closer. Moran and McAndrew are the weakest among these, but should still make future everyday players.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (24-20) @ Condors (23-21)

Both teams had an eye on the leader in their division.

Carlos Reyes pitched a very fine game in the opener, where pitchers did the most damage on either side of the pitch. Up 2-0, Reyes allowed an RBI single to opponent John Douglas in the third, before he drove in two with a 2-out bases-loaded single himself in the sixth. A double by Cesar Baez in the eighth got him in trouble, but Jackie Lagarde put out the fire, and West pitched a quick ninth. 4-2 Raccoons. Higgins 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-5; Reader 2-4; Reyes 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, W (3-2) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

In the middle game Jason Turner took a no-hitter into the sixth, before Cipriano Ortega hit a bloop single to short left. By then, the Coons led 3-0. Turner collapsed then, surrendered hit after hit, and the Condors tied the game, and loaded the bases. Lagarde fell behind as the Condors logged a 7-hit, 5-run inning. Those were the only hits the Condors had in the entire game. The Raccoons in turn left runners on third base three times, and lost 5-3. Johnston 2-5, 2 2B; Higgins 2-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 2B; Campbell 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

It stings. Why do these monster innings just keep on happening??

Kisho Saito and Jose Macias exchanged zeroes early in the rubber game. The Coons had Osanai and Hall in scoring position in the fifth with nobody down – and hadn’t scored but for a wild pitch by Macias with two down and Saito at the plate. Shimpei Iwamoto immediately reversed the score with a 2-run homer in the bottom 5th. Hall’s leadoff walk in the seventh and some small ball followed by a Vinson lobber just over 2B Juan Valentin with two down tied the game. Saito was lifted for O’Morrissey to pinch hit with Vinson on first, but the youngster struck out and Saito didn’t get a decision. The Condors hit five singles in the eighth, the first three off Bentley, who didn’t retire anybody. The Raccoons had the tying runs on base in the ninth with one out, but Vinson struck out and Johnston popped out. Naturally. 4-2 Condors. Hall 2-3, BB, 2B;

Raccoons (25-22) @ Aces (24-24)

Tetsu Osanai carried a 14-game hitting streak, while Scott Wade still had that 9-0 record from his first nine starts of the year, and he was due up first in the series. Also, the Raccoons were not looking at a left-handed pitcher in either this or the next series.

Wade went seven innings, allowing a total of three runners – unfortunately including a fourth inning homer to Ira Houston. The Coons struggled just as well at the plate, and only had two hits through seven against oldie Miguel Sanchez, who gave away the tying run in the sixth with a wild pitch for Johnston to come in to score. Wade still had gas left after seven, but led off the top 8th at the plate and was removed for Quinn, who struck out. Johnston flew out danger-free, before Higgins drew a walk and advanced to second on another wild pitch by Sanchez. Hall doubled him in to get Wade in line for W #10. Dadswell added an insurance run in the ninth and West held the Aces to a pair of 2’s – they had four base runners in the entire game. 3-1 Raccoons. Dadswell 2-4, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (10-0);

Wade’s streak was allowed to live, but Osanai’s ended after an 0-4 day. Wade’s W-guarantee. (sings) Ten-oh, Wa-ade, aaa-ya-yayay, you’re so cap-ti-vating …!

Middle game. The Aces countered a first inning 2-run single by Osanai with a leadoff homer by Manuel Guzman off Logan Evans. They tore up Evans in the third, with a bases-clearing double by Lowell Allen making it 5-2 Aces and knocking out Evans, who had absolutely nothing. Suto was beaten up next and didn’t get past the fifth, down 7-2. Bentley was bludgeoned with two homers in the sixth and the Raccoons were rolled over once more, 9-2 Aces. Hall 1-2, BB, 2B; Quinn 1-1, 2B; Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The rubber game was 2-2 through three. With two down in the top 4th, Carlos Reyes had a man on third and grounded to 1B Vicente Ramírez, who bobbled the ball for the go-ahead run to score. The Coons loaded the bases, but Hall struck out on a nasty splitter by Jou Hara. Ramírez redeemed himself with a 2-out RBI single in the sixth, tying the game again off Reyes. Our starter kept going, but the Aces had RF Paul Dundee on second with two down and “Icon” Allen up. He was a swich-hitter, as was Ira Houston behind him, but Allen was weaker against right-handers, as opposed to Houston. With righty Reyes still up, we opted not to walk Allen, one of the most feared sluggers in the game. He flew out to Stevens in center. In the bottom 10th of a 3-3 game, Lagarde was in his second frame. “Icon” Allen singled, Houston doubled, and Allen made for home, but was thrown out. Houston was on third with one out. Grant West came in, struck out Angelo Cardenas and got a grounder to Higgins to end the inning. Top 12th: Johnston’s leadoff double was followed by Higgins walking. Now Hall was up. We considered bunting, but that would have the Aces put on Tetsuuuu intentionally and then Dawson would hit into a double play. So Hall was to swing and the runners go on contact. Unfortunately, Hall grounded out and now first base was open and Osanai was walked. Vinson pinch hit for Dawson, but fouled out, but thankfully Dadswell hit a 2-run double into left. West was sent out again with left-handers to come up in the inning, including Houston and if anybody got on, Cardenas would be the tying run. It was Allen, who got on, and was on third when Cardenas came up, but he grounded out to Higgins. 5-3 Coons in 12 innings. Johnston 2-5, BB, 2B; Higgins 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Osanai 2-4, BB, RBI; Reader 2-3, BB; West 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-2);

The Coons had now snail-paced again to within half a game of the Crusaders. MR Yasushi Suto was optioned to AAA, and we called up Jeff Martin again, who batted .315 in AAA.

Raccoons (27-23) vs. Falcons (24-26)

Martin was right away starting in center in the series opener back home in Portland and logged hits in his first two AB’s. The first was a 2-out double and Turner left him on, but the second was a bases-loaded RBI single for the Coons taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Jason Turner was mostly good, but walked in the tying run in the top 6th with two down, giving the latter of back-to-back walks to Keith Lake (coonskinner for life). Turner was left with the no-decision after yielding to a pinch hitter (Quinn) to no effect in the bottom 6th. From there, the Coons paraded in relievers in a futile attempt to hold the Falcons down. A 2-out RBI single between Higgins and Osanai hit by Alfonso Aranda lost them the game. 2-1 Falcons. O’Morrissey 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4; Martin 3-4, 2B, RBI; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K;

Leadoff walks were a theme in the middle game. Saito put the leadoff man on in the first two innings (one scored), but got support from Osanai with a 2-run homer in the first, and then Dadswell drew a leadoff walk in a bottom 2nd that quickly escalated away from Charlotte starter Julio Rodriguez. A 3-run homer by Higgins that made it 7-1 chased him without ever collecting an out in the second. Jerry Ackerman came in and was quickly burnt by Hall with a 2-run homer. Osanai was the eighth man up and made the first out in the inning. When it was over for the Falcons, the Coons led 9-1. Ackerman allowed three more runs in the third, but two were unearned, in a game that was out of hand completely now. Meanwhile, Saito didn’t throw a very good game – while he struck out six, he also walked three (plus one intentionally) and balked in a run in the fourth, and just barely fulfilled the requirements for a quality start with six frames, three runs against. The Falcons scored three more against Berry in the ninth, but the Coons prevailed 13-6. Higgins 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-3, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5;

The same day, the Crusaders’ rally against the Condors fell just short, and the Condors won 5-4. What did this do? It moved the Raccoons into first place in the CL North!

And with Wade to pitch the rubber game, what could go wrong?

Wade’s opponent was Manuel “Bam Bam” Movonda (who woulda-coulda-shoulda been a Coon, but …) and well – Wade had huge trouble in the first two innings, with Stevens making a heroic catch to end the inning with the bags full. The Coons led 2-0 since the first, until Hall made it 3-0 with a solo shot. Wade pitched into the sixth, but a 43-minute rain delay interrupted and held him to 68 pitches. Bentley continued and we hoped to have him pitch the seventh, too, so when Stevens was on first (and stole second) with two out in the bottom 6th, Bentley was sent to bat. He doubled to the base of the wall in right center, and the Falcons fell apart in their entirety in a 2-hit, 2-walk, 2-error, 1-balk, 5-run inning. But Falcons fans didn’t have to worry, since Bentley and Campbell became unglued in the top 7th, too, and allowed three runs to get back to Charlotte. But Goodman and West threw the stop on the Falcons from there, and the Raccoons won 8-3. Johnston 2-4, BB; Hall 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 3-4, 2B, 4 RBI; Wade 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (11-0);

Wade still perfect!! All hail the king!! Not even rain can stop him!! He’s gonna go 34-0!!

Or 12-15.

Raccoons (29-24) vs. Canadiens (26-25)

Those Canadiens yet again. Can’t they move to another division? Or to another sport?

Logan Evans was up for the opener, but was quickly torched for four runs in the second. The game didn’t get any less unenjoyable for the home crowd from here. The Coons left runners on in terrifying numbers and still crawled back in to 5-3 down through seven. Lagarde came in and hit the first two men in the eighth – both scored. 7-3 Canadiens. Dadswell 2-4, 2B; Martin 2-3, BB, 2B;

Starting pitching didn’t necessarily get better in the middle game. Reyes went six, spent all day behind in the count, gave up nine hits, but was fortunate enough to encounter Vernon Robertson, the opposing pitcher, with the bags full and two down twice and Robertson both times made outs (outfielders’ heroics notwithstanding). Reyes left in a 1-1 tie. The Raccoons offense was hapless and completely unable to mount any threat. A 2-out flyer to left dropped in in the top 9th and went under Daniel Hall’s glove and the Canadiens scored a runner from second. The Coons left the tying run on base themselves and lost 2-1. Quinn 3-4, RBI;

This loss also cost the division lead. ****ing Canadiens. I hate that team. I just hate that team.

Turner up in game 3 to save whatever there was left so save. Higgins and Osanai both homered in the bottom 1st, and while Turner no-hit the Canadiens the first time through the lineup, they battered him a good bit in the fourth and tied the game. Soon, control also went away from Turner, and after walking five and falling behind 4-3 he got the hook in the sixth. In the seventh, the Canadiens loaded the bags with nobody out against Bentley. Martinez sat the next three men down without allowing a run. While the Coons trailed only by a run, it felt like ten at that point, though. Dawson pinch hit for a single for Martinez with one out in the bottom 7th. Johnston walked and Higgins singled. Bases loaded, Hall up: he flew out, but Dawson scored to tie the game. Osanai flew out and left two on. The Raccoons lost it again in the ninth. 5-4 Canadiens.

Canadiens.

In other news

May 24 – NAS Luis Guzman (4-4, 3.48 ERA) 2-hits the Warriors in a lopsided 12-0 rout.
May 26 – CIN SP Ricardo Torres (3-7, 5.86 ERA) 2-hits the Wolves in a 6-0 win, which may or may start a turnaround to his season.
May 26 – MIL LF/RF Jim Wood (.370, 0 HR, 10 RBI) missed the team flight and was later listed as unavailable for a few days. Rumors say he slipped on a banana peel at the airport.
May 27 – The Crusaders are dealt a terrible blow with news that their ace SP Travis Newton (8-1, 2.65 ERA) is out for the season with a torn flexor tendon. Newton ranked second to Scott Wade in W’s in the Continental League.
May 28 – Indians sophomore R.J. Stinton came just off the DL and is right back on with a knee sprain for a month. Last year’s CL ROTY is just batting .206 in 18 games this season.
May 29 – Salem’s Terry Murphy (5-4, 2.89 ERA) dominates the Rebels in a 7-0 shutout, allowing only three hits.
May 30 – Cincy’s MR Seung-ook Yi (1-0, 1 SV, 5.28 ERA) struggled with his pitching all year long and is now out with shoulder inflammation until September. Yi was a closer for the last six seasons with a high water mark of 3.41 in ERA (PIT, 1985).
May 31 – SFW 2B Pat Graham (.332, 2 HR, 16 RBI) has a 3-hit day against the Cyclones, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.
June 2 – The Scorpions are already reeling heavily again, and now they lose Tommy Norton (.378, 2 HR, 22 RBI) to a hamstring injury for about three weeks.
June 2 – BOS INF Chad Fisher (.289, 5 HR, 23 RBI) will miss time until mid-July with a strained ACL.
June 3 – Sioux Falls’ Bruce Cannon, 37, announces his retirement after suffering a concussion. In his 13-season career, Cannon collected 2,072 base hits, and retires with a .294/.363/.335 line. He was on the 1981 Indians that won the World Series.
June 4 – TOP Arnold McCray (6-3, 3.51 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels as the Buffaloes win 4-0.

Complaints and stuff

And how could this not have happened? Scott Wade was the CL Pitcher of the Month for May 1989, going 6-0 with a 2.56 ERA and 23 K in 38.2 IP! Yay!! All hail Wade!!

And then there is Mark Dawson, who isn’t getting anything done – at all. He had that one hot week, and apart from that he’s batting like .130 and starting to strike out a lot now.

Meanwhile, I’m constantly getting ****ed by the same players and the same teams over and over and over again. It’s no fun. I mean, it’s no wonder. This is a bad team with gaping holes after all. But … still. The Canadiens have pounced on the Raccoons for years like the year we were nose-to-nose at the All Star break (1986? Gotta look that up, but I'm too depressed now) and they swept not one, but TWO 4-game sets from us and winning the division by a mile, and I am SICK of it!! I HATE that team! I HATE THAT TEAM!!