Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-27) vs. Canadiens (40-36)

We were in exactly the right condition to face the Canadiens, who were eager to slash our lead from ten games to six. And they had a good chance to succeed with the Inepticoons not scoring at all.

The first run of the opener went to the Canadiens in the third. Scott Wade had been unable to retire pitcher Robbie Campbell, and his team mates brought Campbell around to score. The Raccoons tied the score on an entirely unearned run in the fifth, when Higgins was hit by Campbell, then stole second as Javier Salcido threw the ball errantly to the outfield and allowed Higgins to advance to third, from where he scored on a Flores sac fly. Wade pitched into the eighth, where his last scheduled batter, switch hitter Raul Solis, homered off him to break the tie. The same inning, Matt Higgins was bowled over by Yoshinobu Ishizaki at second base and had to leave the game. The Coons entered the bottom 9th down 2-1, and Reece was to lead off. He was 0-3 on the day, and fell to 2-2 against Alejandro Lopez. He made contact on the next pitch, sending it up the middle. Solis got there but had to take an extra step turning around – and then it was too late to throw. Reece was safe with an infield single, the hitting streak lived on. He was still left on base. 2-1 Canadiens. Salazar 2-4; Wade 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, L (8-6);

Neil Reece’s hitting streak lived on, but Matt Higgins’ hamstring didn’t. Our only speed threat ended up on the DL with a strained hamstring and would miss about three weeks. Problem here, we didn’t even have a spare infielder (who would bat more than a buck fiddy here) with Elmer Hawley and Terry Miller injured. Jeff Martin got a call up and we’d see from here. Signing a free agent scrub was not out of the picture as we only had two middle infielders available now.

The Portland Botchball Club players cobbled together a run in the second inning of game 2, again a sac fly and not an actual clutch hit, as Sabre enabled Osanai to score here. Bottom 3rd, 0-1 Reece stepped in with one out against Vicente Torres and clobbered a pitch into the seats. Streaks extended, lead extended, 2-0. The same inning, with Quinn on first and two down, Osanai struck out on a questionable pitch, then went to work on the umpire. More than a decade in the States, Osanai’s English was still intelligible, but the umpire seemed to hear something and tossed him. Now, the Coons still led 2-0 and – oh, Steven Berry took the mound for the fourth inning, put four straight Canadiens on and then surrendered a grand slam to Solis. Well, the Coons now TRAILED 5-2, and – ah, screw it. Fast forward through three runs given up by Carrillo in the seventh into the bottom 9th. The Canadiens led 8-2 and were looking forward to dinner. Sabre and Brown got on to start the inning, chasing starter Torres. Arnold pinch hit in the #9 hole and legged out an infield single to be safe, then went to the clubhouse, also being sore. Flores pinch-ran for him, emptying the bench. Bases loaded, nobody out, the tying run putting on batting gloves in the dugout. Reece walked on four straight. Salazar singled up the middle. Now 8-4, Quinn came to the plate, gloves on. He struck out. Alejandro Lopez scored a run with a wild pitch, then O-Mo singled to score another. Vinson singled, another run scored. 8-7 Canadiens, one out, runners on the corners, Gonzalez to the plate. He walked, bases loaded, the park staring in disbelief. Who had switched out their team between innings!? Sabre had to be brought back from the clubhouse, where he reportedly had already snatched a cold one before being brought back. He lined out into center, but O-Mo tagged and tied the game. Matt Brown for the – groundout. There were the Coons again. Extra innings, oh joy. Cordero pitched the top 10th, but had to bat to start the bottom half, because, well the bench was empty. He was the only guy not to strike out. Everybody ready for an anticlimactic ending? In the bottom 12th and the game still tied 8-8, Sabre made a quick out, and Brown made a quick and poor out. That brought up Martinez, and well, he would have to pitch another inning, unless he socked one of Jamel Teissier. The 1-1 pitch, big contact, soaring, going deep, DEEP TO CENTER, OH – DEAR – GOD – IT IS – GOOOONNNEEE!!!

(here be a dramatic pause)

9-8 Raccoons. Salazar 2-5, RBI; Osanai 1-2; Sabre 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Arnold (PH) 1-1; Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Burnett 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Martinez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (1-1) and 1-1, HR, RBI;

(shakes head in disbelief)

Now, can we please carry over some momentum?

Game 3 was Saito against fellow southpaw Vernon Robertson. Saito’s first pitch was taken out of center by Carlos Quintela. Oh well, let’s come from behind again. Gonzalez tied the score in the second on Sabre’s 2-out single, dashing through the stop sign at third to score. Sabre still got booked for an after-game scolding for launching at a 3-0 pitch in the fourth with a runner on first and two down. Sabre grounded out and that would Saito have batting leadoff in the fifth. That’s a no-no. Vinson was right there next in line. The Canadiens had a man on first with two out in the top 6th, and the Coons led 2-1. Art Garrett slammed the ball into the ground right in front of the plate, and Vinson threw it away, putting two Canadiens in scoring position. Saito was thrown off balance and surrendered a 2-run double to Solis to turn the game inside out. For once, a pitcher was not left on the hook he didn’t deserve to be on in the first place, but it took an error by Garrett to scored the tying run in the eighth. The Coons still had two men on for O-Mo here, but he flew out, and Gonzalez grounded out. One more wasted chance, we could stop counting to make things easier. Lagarde held the Canadiens in a tie, and the Coons just had to hit a knock or two in the bottom 9th off Lance Parsons. Sabre – out. Johnston – out. Reece – walked on a questionable 3-2 pitch. Salazar – deep to center, base of the wall, REECE MAKING THE TURN AT THIRD BASE, THROW COMES IN – NOT IN TIME!!!!

4-3 Raccoons. Salazar 3-5, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (4-2);

Neil Reece extended his hitting streak to 29 with a single, but seems to run out of steam a bit.

One more, could the Raccoons actually win a so extremely important series? Reece got to 30 right away with a single in the first, and the Coons led 3-0 through four. Quinn had hit an RBI triple in the third and had been scored by an Osanai sac fly, and they had added one in the fourth. In the top 5th, Turner got in serious trouble with two doubles by Salcido and Fred Rodgers to start the frame, but managed to starve Rodgers on base to hold a 3-1 lead. Turner however became unglued now and surrendered four hits to tie the game in the sixth. Time for the offense to move, and the moment I said it, Vinson, Osanai and all outfielders moved to the concession stands. Turner left after that cringing sixth with a no-decision. It would have been hard to get a W anyway, because the bullpen gave up two on the way to the ninth. Was another miracle comeback in the books? With one out, Reece reached on an error and was forced when Salazar grounded to second. Quinn singled to put the tying runs on base for Osanai, who had not had an important hit the whole month – and didn’t start with being clutch on June 30. He grounded to first. 5-3 Canadiens. Reece 2-5; Quinn 2-5, 3B, RBI; Johnston 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

In other news

June 27 – SAL CL Domingo Alonso (2-4, 1.62 ERA, 23 SV) holds the Warriors at bay to save a 5-2 game, logging the 400th save of his career.
June 29 – WAS SP Ramon Ortiz (8-3, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Buffaloes in a 4-0 win.
June 29 – DAL LF/CF Xiao-wei Li (.332, 0 HR, 29 RBI) reaches 20 games of hitting with a single in a 4-2 loss to Los Angeles.
July 1 – LVA OF Seitaro Ogawa (.266, 8 HR, 35 RBI) is out for the year with a strained hip muscle.

Complaints and stuff

I think that’s the first ever walkoff home run hit by a relief pitcher that I have ever seen. It was quite the hair-raising series overall.

We have an offer out there for 30-year old INF Alberto Reyes, currently a free agent, to patch up our infield with Higgins out of action. He’s a .263 batter that won’t win games for you offensively, but will hold an infield together well, playing all four positions exceptionally well. He just has to sign that damn contract.

Neil Reece was shunned for Batter of the Month in the CL for Preston O’Day, who swatted nine homers. Nobody’s appreciating small ball these days.

We’ll be on the road in Milwaukee and New York before the All Star break. They probably look easy on paper, but this is a) baseball and b) a team that can’t buy a run at most times.

[Westheim]

The upcoming 7-game road trip – ending at the All Star break for the Raccoons to scatter to their homes, maybe minus Kisho Saito and Jason Turner – could help us a big deal to … hold our ground? A 10-game lead was comforting, but slowly and surely the offense had to pick it up. Instantly.

And Neil Reece still had that 30-game hitting streak going. He already tied for 5th place on the all time streakiest streaks list, and should he go until the break, he’d jump to third, trailing only Claudio Rojas. Twice.

Raccoons (53-29) @ Loggers (31-51)

We had four in Milwaukee to get us going.

The top 1st of the opener saw Quinn, Osanai, O’Morrissey, and Vinson chain together four 2-out singles to take a 3-0 lead. We had Vazquez on the mound, and he was struggling badly, with the Loggers crowding him every inning, but they only scored one run through three. The stuff was there for Vazquez, but the control was very bad this time out. Top 4th, Reece came up hitless with Gonzalez on second base and one out. Reece lined into deep left and managed to get it past Gates Golunski – run scored, streak extended. Vazquez meanwhile got a lot better after the fourth and then axed down the Loggers in fast manner, logging seven innings along the way. The bullpen (Miller, Burnett, West) went from there with only two more Loggers reaching base. 4-1 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Quinn 2-4; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Brown (PH) 1-1; Vazquez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (11-2);

Individually, they left 30 men on base, and the team LOB was 16. Not quite the numbers I want to see there. NOT BLOODY QUITE.

Bob Arnold was diagnosed (finally…) with a strained Achilles tendon. He will hit the DL for about three weeks. We needed a middle infielder and we called up Matt Duncan from AAA as long as Alberto Reyes was contemplating over whether he could be bothered to wear a coonskin cap.

Duncan, 24, was a 1987 supplemental round pick by the Warriors. We had acquired him in 1989 from the Capitals, sending over 1B Orlando Alvarado. He can defend all around the infield. He can do little else. He is already on the 40-man roster, which is his main perk. But Salazar and Gonzalez need rest, too. They’re human. I was told.

Game 2. We loaded our lineup with left-handed scrubs Brown, Martin, and Duncan against Judd Montgomery, who was living every former hotshot’s nightmare: everybody knew his stuff and he was burdened under a 5.15 ERA. Before any scrub ever grabbed a bat, Neil Reece took charge of things, socking a leadoff jack. I LOVE THAT BOY!! Things went downhill a bit from here. David Vinson hit a leadoff double in the second inning, but made an awkward step on first base on the way there and then hobbled off the field with the trainer. In came Flores, the lineup looked like a joke more and more. The Loggers made it 2-1 in the bottom 2nd, the Coons came back to turn it to 4-2 in the top 3rd, and 5-2 in the fourth. More lead was better here, since Scott Wade was a bit shaky, too. We had the bases loaded in the sixth with one out, and Quinn walked a run in, followed by an RBI groundout by Osanai. The Loggers were still threatening and Wade was saved by a close and questionable call in favor of the Coons at first base that ended the bottom 6th. Key moment to put the game away in the top 7th: the Coons had men on first and second, one out, and Wade batting. The runners were sent in a run-and-hit, and Wade made contact, getting a groundball through 1B Drake Evans for a 2-run double. Wade was then scored by Salazar. Wade went eight with the help of the defense and umpires, and the Coons won the game stomping: 13-2!! Reece 2-6, HR, 2 RBI; Salazar 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; Vinson 1-1, 2B; Duncan 2-5, 2B; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wade 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (9-6) and 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Neil Reece is to 32, and now also qualifies for the batting race. At .373 he trails VAN 2B David Brewer by 11 points. Brewer missed time early in the season and also just recently has appeared on the boards.

We scored double digit runs for only the third time this season, and for the first time since May 31 (12 against NYC), and the 13 are also the most this season.

David Vinson was out with a sore knee. The outlook was not bad, he would miss only three days or so. Still, we needed a catcher. Matt Brown was sent to AAA, and we called up Alarico Violante.

Game 3, and what comes after every barrage? A duel of usually pathetic, but suddenly electric pitchers. Steven Berry and Rafael Garcia dropped both just five hits between them through seven innings, and no runs. Worst of all: Neil Reece was dry going into the eighth. Martin pinch hit and walked for Berry with one out, bringing up Reece. He grounded into a fielder’s choice, and barring a barrage in the ninth or extra innings, his streak was over. He certainly had to hope for the former as Johnston got on and Quinn doubled both in. No, you don’t hope for your team to blow a lead, and I was sure Neil didn’t either. Well, they still tried. Emilio Roman’s leadoff triple off Martinez in the bottom 8th spelled trouble, but while the run scored, the 2-1 lead held up. Top 9th: Reece would come on no earlier than sixth in the inning. Two on, two out, Reece was in the on-deck circle, hoping for his chance, but first Jeff Martin had to get on. Nope, with the left Diego Guzman dealing, we called for Ennio Sabre to pinch hit. He popped out. That was it. Grant West made quick work of the Loggers in the ninth. That was the saddest 2-1 win we had had in a while. Quinn 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Berry 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (5-7);

Neil Reece’s streak of 32 games now ranks 5th all time in the ABL.

Game 4. Sweeping time? Kisho Saito was up, facing consistently inconsistent Scott Murphy. Reece got a day off (he deserved it), and Violante was to catch. Struggling slugger 3B Jesus Jimenez, who historically had Kisho Saito’s number, took him deep for two runs right in the first inning. Thankfully, Murphy was too wild to stay untouched and walked three in the second inning, with two singles by O-Mo and Salazar in there for a 4-run inning. Unthankfully, the Raccoons were ripping at junk all game long, and Saito was not in top form, as the lead ran away from him through the fifth, 4-4, and he got a no-decision after six innings. Bottom 8th, still tied, Carrillo put the first man on. Jim Stein bunted in front of the plate, and Violante threw the ball past first base. Two men in scoring position against Carrillo. And what did Carrillo do? Punched out one, punched out two, punched out three. Awesome! We eventually went into overtime after Duncan left runners on the corners in the top 9th. Bottom 10th, Duane Smith led off with a single off Cordero. Grady Young’s bunt was played aggressively by O-Mo, forcing Smith. Young set out to steal, and Flores, having replaced Violante, threw the ball into the outfield. Young went to third. One out. Stein rolled out so that Young had to hold. Two outs. Lefty Cristo Ramirez, batting .344 came up, behind him was Jimenez, hitting .180. We called for Ramirez to be put on and for Cordero to go after Jimenez. He grounded out. Gates Golunski was then on third base with nobody out in the 11th after a walk to him and a double to German Roldan. And the Coons survived THAT! Now, can we have some offense? Remember how Juan Martinez had homered to walk off in the 12th against the Canadiens? Well, he led off the top 12th here, with the bench empty. And again he hit a soaring fly ball to center, OFF THE WALL FOR A DOUBLE!! Duncan singled, Martinez to third, and – O’Morrissey and Salazar made very poor outs. Runners in scoring position for Quinn, a grounder to Jimenez, BUT HE HAD NO PLAY!! Martinez scored, as everybody was safe. Flores struck out (Osanai was long gone) and now one run had to be enough for Martinez (we did not go to West, since he was the last man left in the pen and we only had a 1-run lead). Martinez sat the Loggers down, 1-2-3. YES!! 5-4 Furballs! Salazar 2-6, RBI; Johnston 0-2, 3 BB; Reece (PH) 1-1; Duncan (PH) 1-2; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K; Martinez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-1) and 1-1, 2B;

Alarico Violante, out of options, was waived with Vinson ready again. Matt Brown was recalled.

By the way, we have a new hitting streak: Jorge Salazar, 12 games in a row.

Raccoons (57-29) @ Crusaders (31-55)

Neil Reece got the Raccoons rolling with a solo homer in the third inning and they scored all of three runs before stopping. Jason Turner had bouts of wildness in an otherwise good game, but then we left him in for too long: the Crusaders loaded the bags with a single and two walks in the bottom 8th, and there was only one out. Jackie Lagarde had to keep Turner’s otherwise good start together against Antonio Esquivel. 1-0 pitch on the ground, 6-4-3, PHEW!! West had a 1-2-3 inning. 3-0 Coons! Reece 2-5, HR, RBI; Salazar 3-4, BB; Johnston 2-4, 2B; Turner 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (10-5) and 1-3, RBI; Lagarde 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

INF Alberto Reyes signed on for 1-yr, $124k that night, and was placed on the active roster. Matt Duncan, batting 4-13 with 5 K, was demoted to AAA.

Reyes started in the middle game of the Crusaders series that night, playing second and batting seventh. After three scoreless innings, it was doubles galore at the park, the teams scoring back and forth, 2-0 Coons, 2-1, 4-1, 4-3 in quick succession through five. Vinson, bumped to eighth in the lineup, tripled with one out in the sixth. Pinch hit for Vazquez? No, he has 11 RBI’s, let him swing. He hurled Luis Andrade’s offering into shallow center, with Dale Hunter racing in, but he couldn’t get it – RBI single for Vazquez, and after a Reece double Vazquez scored on a groundout. 6-3, and the Coons made it four consecutive multi-run innings in the seventh, plating two. Reece had two in scoring position then, coming up with two down. WHAT A BOMB!!! THREE-RUN HOMER FOR REECE!!! The demolition was complete, another run in the eighth changed nothing anymore. The Raccoons crushed the Crusaders, 12-3. Except for Tetsu Osanai, all starters had multi-hit games. Reece 2-6, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Salazar 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-5, BB, RBI; O’Morrissey 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-5, RBI; Reyes 2-4, BB, RBI; Vinson 2-4, BB, 3B, 2B, RBI; Vazquez 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (12-2) and 2-3, 2B, RBI; Miller 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Could we finish the road trip 7-0? That’d be swell. Wade got the ball, and Reece got the day off so he would come back with proper rest after the break. Martin played left, and Johnston center, like once earlier this week. The game was again scoreless through three with Wade leaving a lot of Crusaders on base, before the Coons got bases loaded, no outs in the fourth. Martin hit a run-scoring double play and the second run scored on a wild pitch, but we take everything we get. A Douglas Donaldson homer and Mauro Fernandez RBI triple would tie the game off Wade in the sixth, though. Wade did not get #10, being pinch hit for in the top 7th, but O-Mo double played the Furballs out of the inning. That was the middle one of three DP’s the Coons hit in regulation, and the game into extra innings. In the top 10th, O-Mo’s 1-out triple gave us a good chance, bringing up Salazar. And what did he do? He had a clutch hit, an RBI double! Two walks loaded the bags, but then they stopped clutching. Meh. West had to save it without cushion. He put two men on, but ended the game with a K to Esquivel. 3-2 Coons! Salazar 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 1-2, 3B; Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Clutch hits! That’s all new!! Perfect road trip!!! We’re on a roll!!!!

In other news

July 4 – SAC INF Rodrigo Morales (.299, 4 HR, 34 RBI) will miss two months with a partially torn labrum.
July 5 – The Gold Sox whip the Stars to a 7-2 tune and also shut down Xiao-wei Li and his 24-game hitting streak, holding him 0-3.
July 6 – TIJ SP John Douglas (9-7, 3.76 ERA) may be out for the season with a herniated disc.

Complaints and stuff

We will have four All Stars, and none of them are surprises, really: SP Kisho Saito, SP Jason Turner, SP Robert Vazquez, and LF/CF Neil Reece. Grant West seems to have been right at the borderline when I look at the closers in the game, and I thought Bobby Quinn might have a chance, but his numbers are dwarved by the other outfielders selected.

Alberto Reyes was auto-assigned #2 on the uniform. That had to be changed (to #42). Nobody can wear #2. Why? That’s our Question of the Day! (answer tomorrow or whenever…)

Matt Duncan is such an unimportant figure, I didn’t realize until later in the week that he had made a cameo with the Raccoons last year already. Well, he’s been a .218 hitter prior to his call-up, in 220 AB between three different teams. He’s that much of a game winner.

Alarico Violante was claimed by the Rebels and is gone. Well, we have more catchers. He's no revelation.

By the way, you may have noticed and shame of you if you didn’t, but I can’t get the ‘ things on the vowels properly once again. Time for a new laptop. But first a paycheck. Please.

[Westheim]

The Crusaders got rid of their manager Scott Davis during the break, but I don’t feel responsible. That team had lost a kazillion games before the Coons infested the Big Apple and tore down their park.

All Star Game

The Continental League beat the Federal League, 6-2, just down the road in Salem. Vazquez, Turner, and Saito were used one after the other in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Saito was the only one to surrender a run. Neil Reece was used as pinch-hitter, but did not produce anything.

Raccoons (60-29) vs. Loggers (32-57)

Kisho Saito started the opener of the series after pitching two days earlier in Salem, but he looked fine to me. Maybe if we’d use him only for five innings, nothing bad would happen. Oh, the bad things that happened. Gates Golunski and Cristo Ramirez were dealing tons of damage to Saito in his five innings, and the Loggers led 4-2 after five. Saito also struck out eight, but it was of no use. Of course, the Raccoons had already left seven men on through four, and made it eight in the fifth, six of which had been in scoring position. After Cordero surrendered a run in the ninth, we entered the bottom of the inning down by three. Reece led off with a homer off closer Diego Guzman. Salazar walked, and the tying run came to the plate. Quinn grounded to short, where only Charlie Justin’s botched pickup prevented a double play. Winning run now: Tetsu Osanai. He had not hit a home run since June 1. So why start now? He grounded out and the runners moved up. O-Mo to the rescue! He fell 1-2 behind against Guzman, then grounded to left and past Justin – both runners scored, the game was tied! Carrillo was brought in for extra innings, to pitch as long as it lasted. It lasted one inning. Carrillo was tagged for two by the Loggers and the Raccoons had no second comeback. 7-5 Loggers. Osanai 3-5, 2B; Reyes 2-5, 2B, RBI; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Jason Turner was awful in game 2. He walked the first three Loggers coming to the plate, and could thank Salazar that he only fell 1-0 behind for Salazar making a great grab with one out in the inning. He was able to bounce back from the early awfulness and go six and a third innings, fanning six, and at least was not in the hook, for O’Morrissey tying the game in the third inning. A W was however not in the books for Turner, who left for Burnett with left-handers coming up, and even without that the steady drizzle over Coon City became a short, but intense downpour forcing a 31 minute delay in the same inning. Top 8th, Lagarde in. He drilled Jesus Jimenez to get started, and Jim Stein hit an infield single. Drake Evans bunted the runners over. Uh-oh. Lagarde glared angrily at Emilio Roman, who was up next. He struck out Roman on a 3-2 count, and did the same with Duane Smith. The Coons pieced together the go-ahead run with three singles in the eighth, Reyes landing the one that had meaning on the board, and then handed their newfound 2-1 lead to Grant West. 1-2-3, deal done. 2-1 Coons. Osanai 3-4;

This SV was not just a SV: it was #400 for our hometown boy, Grant West! (opens celebratory Red Bull) Granny is the fifth player to reach that mark, trailing Andres Ramirez (444), Jon Butler (408), Rick Evans (405), and Domingo Alonso (401). Currently, Scott Clements is the only guy within a year’s worth of saves of 400, but he is currently unemployed.

This was also the sixth win of the year for Jackie Lagarde, of course all out of the pen. Steven Berry has five. (looks grimly) Lagarde is used in very-high-leverage situations, just like in this game, a tied game in the eighth, and at times it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. In 1989, he went 0-5 with a 2.08 ERA, because it kinda worked, but never really quite.

Jorge Salazar’s streak is alive and well, and he is at 17 games right now.

Game 3. Vazquez was whacked for four runs in the first inning, and added a fifth (then unearned) in the second. How did the Raccoons plot to come back from that early deficit? A 2-run homer by Vinson in the bottom 2nd looked promising, and they cut the deficit to 5-3 in the third, but always lacked that extra hit or base runner to score big. Double plays didn’t help a rally, either. They got their chance in the bottom 4th. Vinson walked in the #8 slot, and Vazquez’ bunt was thrown errantly by Santiago Rodriguez. The tying runs were in scoring position. Reece hit a sac fly, and then Salazar struck out and Quinn lined out. Oh, greatness. You know greatness, when you see it. This wasn’t. And now that the Raccoons were almost back, Vazquez resorted to getting pummeled again. Golunski drove in a run, getting Vazquez to the showers, and when Martinez entered, Roldan socked a 2-run homer off him. Reece left the bags full in the bottom 5th, and they had the tying run at the plate in the bottom 7th, Gonzalez pinch-hitting for Miller in an 8-5 game. With one out, Gonzalez grounded poorly, but an error on Justin loaded the bases. Reece again. Up the middle and through, 8-6! And then they blew it again, Salazar and Quinn not getting good wood on the ball. They had the tying run at the plate in the eighth, and didn’t score. And they had him at the plate after a 2-out Reece single in the ninth. Salazar was still hitless, but first rain halted the game for an hour. When Salazar stepped back in, he was plunked. Unless Quinn found a way to score two, his hitting streak was over. He grounded to Justin, who forced Salazar. 8-6 Loggers. Reece 4-5, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-6; Osanai 2-2, 3 BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Vinson 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Individual LOB: 32; Team LOB: 16;

The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game 4, but the Loggers took it back to Scott Wade pretty quickly when Young and Jimenez socked home runs for a 3-1 lead in the third. Wade went seven, trailed 4-1, and the Raccoons had a single hit against 10-game loser Rafael Garcia. That was when an error and two walks loaded the bases for them with one out in the bottom 7th. Too bad Flores was up, who was just doing damage to his own team. Johnston pinch-hit for him, but flew out, Osanai tagged and scored, but it wasn’t helping **** in the bigger context. Vinson pinch-hit for Wade, and doubled past Golunski, but it wasn’t enough to score both runners. One run down, two outs, two runs in scoring position, Reece against Garcia. The 1-1 pitch was lobbed into shallow right by Reece, just fair. Reece turned first base trying to draw the throw. Martin scored, and Vinson was slow, but coming, and the Loggers fired to second, where Reece was out by a mile, as Vinson came in – the second base umpire brought up the fist, check the home plate umpire – SAFE!! Wade was in line for his 10th win now, if the pen could hold the 5-4 lead. Burnett had nothing better to do than putting two men on with one out in the eighth. Lagarde replaced him and collected one out, with the tying run going to third. With lefty Cristo Ramirez up, West was brought in and Osanai replaced by somebody who could field a taco. Ramirez forced a walk off West, and Jimenez came to the plate, still batting under .200 but rallying thanks to coonclubbing. He jabbed at the first pitch and hit high, but not very far, and foul on top of that. O’Morrissey snatched it and the Loggers left them loaded, and were retired in order in the ninth. 5-4 Coons, and boy, was it close. Reece 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Vinson (PH) 1-1, RBI; West 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (30);

We had four hits. Not bad if you score five runs with them. The Loggers had 12. Only dumb luck helped us prevent a series loss. To out-last our next opponent, we’d actually need some actual ability.

Raccoons (62-31) vs. Indians (48-44)

Up 13 1/2 games, I took nothing for granted.

Former Knights Paul Connolly quickly put Steven Berry on the receiving end in the opener, hitting a 2-out, 2-run double in the first. For such a terrible start, Berry settled in nicely, holding the Indians to four hits and their two runs over seven innings, but the problem lay on the other side of the space between mound and batter’s box. No Raccoon reached third base. Ever. They were of utmost inability in the game, which was over in a breeze thanks to zero threats from Furballville. 3-0 Indians. Quinn 2-4; Johnston 2-4; Martin (PH) 1-1; Berry 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (5-8) and 1-2;

In this hostile environment for hometown pitchers, Kisho Saito drew the dubious honor to pitch game 2. The Indians burned him for five singles and three runs in the first inning. Saito would only allow three more hits and an unearned run (blame Vinson) through the sixth before he was pinch hit for. Up until then, the Raccoons had had one (1) hit aginst Jesus Lopez. Johnston and Salazar got on in that bottom 6th, but nothing came about it. While the Indians had a pretty lame offense, the Raccoons were so thoroughly paralyzed, they needed to be ventilated, for they couldn’t breathe on their own. Their only run was at least half on RF Jose Miranda’s misplay in the seventh. 4-1 Indians. Salazar 2-4; Gonzalez 2-3; Johnston (PH) 1-1;

Unless Turner could pitch a shutout, chances for a win were dire in game 3. I had seen nothing warranting optimism in the first two games. Well, Turner was well on the road of doing his part, throwing electric thunder at the batters, striking out seven through four innings of scoreless ball. The Raccoons … well, Carlos Guillen had no-hit them once, and he was not on no-hit course, but also too much man for him. Matt Brown had a leadoff single in the sixth (hit #2 for the team). Turner bunted him over and the Indians put Reece on intentionally. Reyes was batting second in this game and was up next and took a walk on a close call on a 3-2 pitch. One out, bases loaded. Quinn popped out. Oh noo-oo-o-oo….. Osanai. His last clutch hit had been some time ago. He took Guillen’s 0-1 offering into the gap in right, and PAST Jake Martin for a bases-clearing triple! FINALLY!!! Osanai would only score on an error, but a 4-0 lead should have been sufficient here. Well, Turner became unglued the second he took the mound and put the first two men on. A heroic catch by Quinn, a K to Enrique Velazquez, and a good grab by Gonzalez at short held the shutout together, but his pitch count was now at 102 and with two innings to go, the SHO was far away. He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, but needed seven pitches to remove Angelo Duarte for a strikeout. Osanai moved the game away with a 2-run homer in the eighth, his first dinger in seven weeks, and Brown and Turner himself added two runs. Turner came back out for the ninth, 115 pitches in. The first sign of trouble, he’d get the hook. He got Forest Hartley on one pitch, Victor Cornett on four, and Jake Martin came up. The pitching coach paid Turner a visit and he assured him, he had another batter in him. Martin knocked at the first pitch from Turner and flew out to Johnston in left. Turner was mobbed on the mound. 8-0 Raccoons. Osanai 2-4, HR, 3B, 5 RBI; Johnston 2-4; Turner 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K, W (11-5) and 1-2, RBI;

In other news

July 11 – CHA SP Bastyao Caixinha (10-10, 3.19 ERA) tosses a 1-hitter against the Condors, taking a 3-0 win. Cesar Baez’ fourth inning single saves the Condors humiliation.
July 11 – RIC OF Manuel Doval (.327, 15 HR, 50 RBI) will miss six weeks with a sports hernia.
July 12 – IND LF/RF Raul Vazquez (.292, 12 HR, 49 RBI) will miss six weeks with a separated shoulder after making wall contact on a defensive play.
July 17 – RIC OF/1B Gabriel Cruz (.291, 14 HR, 48 RBI) joins fellow slugger Doval on the DL, suffering a torn thumb ligament. He will miss about a month.

Complaints and stuff

Let’s do this in two lists.

Upsides:
+ Jason Turner is a great kid (only 26) and may win 200 games, he’s electric and fascinating and wonderful and all that stuff
+ Bullpen ERA: 2.03, first in the CL
+ Daniel Miller’s big league career, which should be long and prosperous, has started with 15.1 scoreless innings
+ Grant West is 30/30 in SV/SVO
+ What we lack in abilities, we tend to make up in dumb luck occasionally

Downsides (only the most glaring ones):
= No. Clutch. Hitting. Sometimes no hitting at all. And our average is not even so bad. We have a team slash line of .272/.339/.380, ranking 3rd/4th/4th in the CL. Somehow, that doesn’t translate in lots of runs for six weeks now.
= No home run power. Dawson is gone. Hall is on the shelf. Vinson is struggling (more below). Osanai went seven weeks without a homer. Osanai, Quinn, and REECE are tying for the team lead with eight apiece. We have 48 for the year. The team is not suited for it’s own ballpark.
= 1990 David Vinson: 118 G, .279/.387/.525, 21 HR, 77 RBI, 155 OPS+, 4 E, .994 PCT, -4.5 ZR, 6 PB, 26.4 CS%
= 1991 David Vinson: 87 G, .233/.354/.371, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 104 OPS+, 5 E, .991 PCT, -8.0 ZR, 10 PB, 18.4 CS%
= Even Flores posts better defensive numbers, and his offense ain’t far off.
= Matt Brown is hitting as much as Mark Dawson, if for less money. Demotion is very near, as it is for Martin and Sabre. If we had replacements ready.
= Daniel Hall. It had to be said.

Why can’t Alberto Reyes wear #2? That was Christopher Powell’s number. Hah. Old Chris. I still think about him. When will the Coons officially retire the first numbers? I don’t know. So far the #2 is out of circulation.

[Questdog]

What the heck is goin' on in Washington?.......785!?

[Westheim]

I wanted to elaborate on this, but I think the roster speaks for itself.

They rank 1st in *every* pitching category but walks allowed (a shameful 2nd), and rank top 3 in all batting categories except home runs (5th) and stolen bases (6th). Archie Dye has been mentioned a few times this season. The rest of the team is just as awesometastic.

[Orcin]

Their record would be good if they hadn't had such a crappy April.

[Westheim]

Matt Higgins came off the DL on the off day following our home stand and was assigned for a short rehab stint at AAA to get off the rust.

Raccoons (63-33) @ Knights (43-52)

Guessing what had befallen the once strong Knights was not that easy. Somehow, their team didn’t work at all.

Although the Knights crowded Robert Vazquez early on in the opener, they only put one run on him, which O’Morrissey tied already with an RBI single in the second. The Coons then took Jesse Carver apart in the fourth, scoring four runs as they took the lead. A 4-run lead didn’t mean the Raccoons had this one banked, however. Vazquez had a bad start and barely got through six, with 12 base runners against him, but the Knights only scored three, and we led 6-3 through six. The Raccoons broke the game open with a 4-run ninth before Daniel Miller had his perfect ERA broken up in the bottom 9th, loading the bags with one out and conceding two runs. 10-5 Raccoons. Reece 2-6, RBI; Salazar 3-6, 3B, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Reyes 2-5; O’Morrissey 4-5, 2 2B, RBI;

The middle game saw the Raccoons gain a 3-0 lead for Scott Wade quickly, but they also lost something quickly, as Bobby Quinn hurt himself while running the bases and had to leave the game. That spelled trouble. Michael Root homered off Wade in the fourth, 3-1, for his 20th dinger of the season. With Quinn out and Sabre in, the Raccoons lineup managed 32 home runs combined at that point. Wow, poor. Sabre didn’t bring much to the plate, but at least he threw out David Harris at home, ending the fifth still up 3-1. The Raccoons failed to add on runs and Anthony Hopper hit a 2-run home run off Wade in the seventh to tie the game. That left Wade with a no-decision. In the top 9th, Johnston doubled with one out. In a close play at second base, he somehow slammed his knee on the bag sliding in, and left the game limping. We emptied our bench trying to get that run in – didn’t work. Pinch-runner Jeff Martin was left on third base. Cordero never recorded an out in the bottom 9th, although the Knights only got started with an O’Morrissey error. They walked off with two hits after that, 4-3 Knights. The Raccoons had only six hits, and only two past the third inning. Reece 2-4, 2B; Quinn 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI;

Bobby Quinn is out with hamstring tendinitis and will head to the DL. Two weeks should be enough, but that could suck the remaining energy outta the middle of the lineup. To be honest, we don’t have anybody to play there now …! Glenn Johnston was listed DTD for about three days. Bob Arnold was ready to come off the DL just in time for game 3, but Quinn and Arnold can hardly be compared.

There was not much left of the powerful quintuplets of last season. Dawson gone, Hall and Quinn out, Osanai and Vinson struggling. O’Morrissey-Osanai-Vinson in the middle of the lineup had better sound last year.

Game 3 had Berry and that was never good news. With the deadline racing in, we were looking for an upgrade. With briefly-a-Coon Robert Sawyer on the mound for Atlanta, more bad things were brewing. In a scoreless game, the Coons loaded the bags in the fourth – and left them that way. The Knights also loaded the bases in the bottom 4th, and slimed Berry for three runs. An error got the Raccoons going in the top 5th, allowing Sabre to reach. Reece got on, and with one out Reyes, O’Morrissey, and Osanai all had RBI base hits to tie the game. Vinson could do more damage, and grounded perilously close to 2B Manuel Guzman, but Guzman didn’t get it, and O’Morrissey scored from second. Five straight Coons had reached, and then, finally, Salazar hit into that long-awaited double play. Berry loaded the bags with one out in the bottom 5th and was yanked. Anthony Hopper flew out to left, Michael Root tagged, went for home, and was thrown out. Inning over, Coons still up 4-3. A bloop hit by Alberto Reyes extended that lead to 6-3 in the sixth. We got awesome long relief from Burnett and that was supplemented by strong showings from Lagarde and West down the stretch. 6-3 Raccoons. Reece 2-5; Reyes 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey 3-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Burnett 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-1);

Heading to Charlotte, Matt Higgins was recalled and Matt Brown sent to AAA.

Raccoons (65-34) @ Falcons (39-58)

Kisho Saito and Manuel Movonda exchanged zeros in the opener until the Falcons got a liner up the middle, a full count walk and a home run all together to start the bottom 6th, branding Saito with a 3-0 deficit. Top 7th: after Sabre made an out, Saito, Reece, and Salazar all singled to put the tying runs on base with one out. O’Morrissey lined over 2B Gunnar Austin and the outfielders couldn’t cut off that blazer as it headed to the wall – O-Mo tied the game with a 3-run triple. Osanai and Vinson walked to reload the bags. Matt Higgins’ 2-run single to left downed Movonda. Martin rolled a single into right, before Sabre made also the second out in the inning, a K by the hands of Matt Rankin. Saito was *now* pinch-hit for to extend the lead, but Johnston struck out. What did the bullpen do to that 5-3 lead? Martinez put the first two men in the seventh on. Cordero was not really helpful, and Lagarde finally held the damage to one run. Because I could not trust anybody else, he also pitched the eighth, and West completed the win, as the Coons scrambled but held on to a 5-4 win. Salazar 2-4, BB; O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B, 3 RBI; Vinson 2-4, BB; Higgins 2-5, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Jolly Jason (need a better nickname) appeared for game 2, facing Orlando Blanco, whose record (5-11) and ERA (3.77) were suggesting that he was deserving of a better offense just as Turner. The Raccoons didn’t necessarily storm out of the gates but posted a run every other inning through five to lead 3-0, and Bob Arnold hit a home run to make it 4-0 in the sixth. Meanwhile, Jason Turner was dealing – and the Falcons were onlookers. He was perfect through five, through six, and carried the perfecto through 20 outs, before Djordje Nedic took a full count walk in the seventh. Billy Mitchell, that guy traded away for Timeless Tetsu, then ended the no-hit bid with a single. Turner became undone, walking the bases full. Jose Rivera hit a grand slam. Jason Turner went eight, allowing four base runners, and four runs. I CAN’T ****ING BELIEVE IT. Burnett came in to pitch the ninth. His own error put the winning run on base, and he added another runner. Daniel Miller came in and Juan Barranco, who had homered for three off Saito the day before, homered for three off Miller. 7-4 Falcons. I CAN’T ****ING BELIEVE IT.

****! ****! ****!!!

The Raccoons barraged early, leading 5-0 through three, in game 3. Vazquez gradually gave runs away, leaving up 6-3 after seven. Martinez and Cordero almost blew it again, West saved the day. 6-3 Coons. I could hardly see it, my eyes still swollen from all the crying the night before. Osanai 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 18 – The Capitals add 1B Jesus Herrera in a trade with the Falcons. Herrera has hit 44 homers in AAA this season. The Capitals part with OF Augusto Garza (.333, 5 HR, 35 RBI).
July 18 – LVA OF Claudio Garcia (.244, 5 HR, 25 RBI) is out for the season with a broken elbow. The 28-year old remains riddled with injuries.
July 18 – LAP OF Lucio Hernandez (.357, 9 HR, 57 RBI) will miss four weeks with a quad strain. Hernandez leads the Federal League batting title race.
July 19 – VAN 2B David Brewer (.398, 4 HR, 47 RBI) is injured yet again and will miss four weeks with a sprained ankle. This could actually put the Canadiens to bed in the CL North.
July 20 – This has not been BOS SP Santiago Perez’ (3-7, 3.15 ERA) season. First he received no run support, and then he tore his back muscle. He is out for the season.
July 22 – DAL SP Antonio “Woody” Lopez (5-9, 4.82 ERA) will be sidelined for the next year due to a torn rotator cuff. Something was boiling here, since he just could not perform at all after winning 16 games between Sioux Falls and Portland last year.
July 22 – The Crusaders lose 1B/2B Antonio Esquivel (.270, 4 HR, 38 RBI), one of the few guys to give their roster credibility, to a herniated disc. Whether Esquivel will come back this season, is up in the air.
July 23 – Another ex-Coon down the drain to the DL: Boston’s 3B Cameron Green (.276, 7 HR, 49 RBI) is out for the year with a broken knee.
July 25 – Nashville sends OF/1B Alejandro Lopez (.245, 16 HR, 49 RBI) to the Condors for 1B Mauro Granados, who has not even appeared in the majors this year, and both players are in their mid-20s.

Complaints and stuff

I hate the entire universe. I just hate it. I hate everything.

[Westheim]

We have a rather weak outfield at the moment. With the deadline encroaching on us fast, I was trying to get a trade done. The trading block held outfielder Raúl Castillo, 29, who was batting .341 in just 82 AB for the Blue Sox. Castillo had been a cornerstone of the Crusaders since 1985 – which in itself doesn’t say a lot, since the Crusaders have not been close to contention since even before that. He was a career .272 batter though, with considerable doubles among his 817 career hits.

Problem was, the Blue Sox knew that he *had* value, they just had much better outfielders readily available and didn’t play him.

Raccoons (67-35) vs. Thunder (54-46)

In game 1, both starters, Scott Wade and Bob MacGruder, where roughed up pretty good early on, with the game 4-4 after three innings. Wade struggled mightily with the six lefties thrown at him, but couldn’t control right-handed SS Jose Sanchez either in a bad outing. An RBI double by Osanai in the fourth got Wade a 5-4 lead and he managed to wobble through the fifth with two runners on to get in line for the W, and Reece improved his chances with a solo shot in the sixth. Burnett came in with plenty o’ lefties around in the top 7th. He faced two of them, resulting in one run in and the tying run to go to second base. Cordero and Lagarde struck out the side between them to escape the mess. These two, plus West, delivered an awesome bullpen showing, as they collected nine outs with seven strikeouts, and only Lagarde allowed a base runner in the eighth. That was good enough to hold on to the tight lead, and the Raccoons won, 6-5. Reece 2-5, HR, RBI; Salazar 2-4, BB; Osanai 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, RBI; Johnston 2-4; Cordero 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Lagarde 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; West 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (34);

Neil Reece now, on July 26, leads the Raccoons in home runs with nine. Go figure a thing or two about our offense.

If Wade had had a not-so-good outing in the opener, Berry in game 2 was ready to be taken to the butcher, allowing three runs in the first and another in the second. Good defensive plays had him go four, but he was pinch hit for in the bottom 4th. Down 4-1, the Coons had two on and two out, but Alberto Reyes made the final out. The Thunder built their lead to 5-1 and the Raccoons looked more or less beaten in the bottom 8th, but O-Mo and Osanai led off with hits and were in scoring position. A wild pitch scored O-Mo, and Johnston reached on an infield single. Osanai held, but was driven in by Vinson with one out. The tying runs were on base now for Bob Arnold, who singled over Sanchez to load the bases. Martin came up in the #9 hole. He grounded to first base, but it got past a launching Pepe Padilla and rolled all the way to the wall – and slowly. Martin emptied the bags with a triple and the Coons were ahead! Salazar ended the 6-run rush with an RBI single, scoring Martin. Now we sent Grant West, who had been ridden hard the last few days. Pepe Padilla’s leadoff triple on the first pitch spelled trouble. Vonne Calzado got a single through on the right side and the tying run was on base with nobody out. West recollected and punched out slugger Will Jackson and Dave Browne, then got Hector Roman to ground out. 7-6 Coons! O’Morrissey 3-5, 3B; Osanai 2-3, BB, 2B; Arnold 3-4, RBI; Martin 1-2, 3B, 3 RBI;

Kisho Saito tried to nail down the sweep in game 3, but at times struggled with his control, especially in the third inning, where he even walked Kevin Williams, the opposing pitcher. Still, Saito was dominant over the Thunder, and lined up zeros. Unfortunately, Williams did just the same, as the Raccoons were unable to get to him. When they got the chance in the fifth with two men in scoring position and one out, both Reyes and O’Morrissey grounded out poorly. Saito’s control issues meant that although he was pitching a 2-hitter through seven innings, his pitch count was already at 107, and he was pinch hit for in the bottom 7th. Higgins grounded out for him, moving Sabre, who had walked, to second. Reece was the last chance for Saito to grab a W. He drilled the ball to left – and OUTTA HERE!! That 2-0 lead stood through eight, and now West was really unavailable after pitching four of the last five days. Lagarde had pitched the eighth, and at least two left-handers were up, and we turned to Cordero. Padilla led off with a bunt base hit, and Haruki Nakayama singled to left. Oh, yeah, things are rolling. Browne fouled out to Vinson, but now Will Jackson and his 18 dingers came up. Cordero removed him with a K – but didn’t. Vinson was ruled interfering with Jackson (which replay showed he in fact did) and the bases were loaded for Vonne Calzado. Cordero struck him out, bringing up right-hander Hector Roman. And we made a change, and went to Juan Martinez, who hadn’t pitched in the series so far. 0-2, Roman singled under O’Morrissey’s glove and one run scored. Milo Carpenter came up, a left-hander, but Burnett was not an option here. He had been awful recently. Martinez had to get him. Or could we use West? The pitching coach said no. So it was Martinez against Carpenter, and Martinez again got to two strikes, and then Carpenter made contact. High, higher, but behind the plate. Vinson caught it, game over. 2-1 Raccoons! Phew!! Reece 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B; Saito 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (14-4);

That’s a whole series worth of 1-run wins. That’s not a streak that will hold forever.

Interlude: trade

The Raccoons and Blue Sox struck a trade late that Sunday night. Portland received OF Raúl Castillo, a 29-year old career .272 hitter, while Nashville got LF/RF Ennio Sabre and AAA SP Dennis Fried.

Sabre batted .169 for us and was a terrible disappointment. Hadn’t I been able to sneak him into a trade, he would have been designated for assignment in the very near future. Fried is 22, and had a promising 13-start stint with the Raccoons last year, but slumped badly this season, even being demoted to the AA level earlier in the season. He’s one of a small group of pitchers all scouted with 2/4 stars we have, all around his age. Shedding one of them may be necessary at times.

Castillo makes $420k both this and next year, so it may be necessary to get rid of him this winter with our payroll exploding due to arbitration eligibility reached by a number of our young hotshots.

Castillo flew straight to Tijuana from Dallas, where the Blue Sox had been playing, that night to be available for our opener against the Condors.

Raccoons (70-35) @ Condors (62-43)

This was a battle of division leaders, and maybe forecasting an eventual league championship series. The Condors had wiped the floor with the Raccoons so far this season, drumming us to a 5-1 record. The Condors were in fact the only CL team to have a winning record against the Raccoons this year, and only the Cyclones had beaten us (2-1) in interleague play.

Castillo started in the opener, batting sixth and playing in right, with Johnston over to left. Jason Turner dueled with Woody Roberts, and both were pitching most magnificiently, and the zeros lined up quickly on the scoreboard. Turner struck out starting the top 8th, but Reece reached on an error by SS Cipriano Ortega, and then Salazar doubled to right. Now we had two runners in scoring position and the two O’s coming up. O’Morrissey grounded to the mound, pinning down the runners, and Osanai flew out. Bruce Boyle then led off the bottom 8th with a double, and HE was brought in to score against Turner. Career saves leader Andres Ramirez began to warm up in the pen to enter in the ninth, and all hopes could be abandoned right there. 1-0 Condors. Salazar 2-4, 2B; Turner 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, L (11-6)

Jason Turner (1.98 ERA) and me (2.25 APG*) have a lot in common. We’ve been dealing with a bucket full of crap in RISP situations all year long.

*APG: aneurysms per game

Game 2, now 1-6 against the Condors. Those Condors continued to behave like vultures and picked the best pieces out of Robert Vázquez right in the first (3-run) inning. The Raccoons temporarily made it a close game in the top 4th, cutting a 4-0 deficit in half, but Vázquez gave a run right back. The Coons got the tying run to the plate in the seventh, down 5-2 with one out, after Vinson had drawn a leadoff walk and Johnston had delivered a pinch-hit double. Reece and Salazar made outs, and nobody scored. They got the tying run to the plate in the eighth with two outs and in the ninth with one out, but let’s not get lost in details. 6-4 Condors. Osanai 2-4; Castillo 2-4, RBI; Vinson 1-2, BB, 3 RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-2, 2B;

Bucket full of crap is too generous a description for their clutch hitting.

We made roster moves after the game: Daniel Miller and Jeff Martin were sent back to AAA, and we called up Matt Brown and Miguel Lopez.

Lopez, a starting pitcher, was 23, Cuban, and 11-6 with a 4.33 ERA. He had come over from the Warriors in 1988 along with David Vinson, when we sent over Manuel Paredes (now a strong starter in his own right) and catching bust Odwin Garza. Lopez was penciled in to make his debut in Berry’s place in the rotation, and Berry would be moved to the pen for long relief duties.

And now, game 3, and the attempt to march out of Tijuana with the head up high, having reached a respectable 2-7 record. Scott Wade was responsible for that, facing Carlos Lopez, who had just been acquired by the Condors from the Blue Sox. Bruce Boyle gifted the Coons an early 1-0 lead when he dropped Osanai’s pop-up following a 2-out triple by O’Morrissey in the first. Castillo made a great catch banging into the wall in right field to end the bottom 2nd, and the bang was too hard – he left the game injured. Preston O’Day hit his 26th dinger of the year off Wade to tie the game in the fourth, but the Coons got back to a 2-1 lead in the fifth, and Bob Arnold, entering as replacement for Castillo, hit a 2-run homer in the sixth. Wade settled in nicely and went eight with no further damage to him. Up by four, West was kept in the stables and Burnett sent out for the bottom 9th. He pitched around a Salazar error to bring the game home. 5-1 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 3B, RBI; Wade 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (12-6);

Even with Castillo hurting himself in his third game with the team, we made no further moves on this July 31. If more things go wrong in the outfield, we’ll turn to prospect Vern Kinnear (.306, 18 HR, 64 RBI in AAA in just 92 games).

Raccoons (71-37) vs. Titans (55-54)

The Titans were scratching and biting (not yet stomping and crushing, but trying to get there) to post a winning record for the first time ever. Sorry, the Raccoons will try to spoil this. We’d play four to start a short 7-game home stand with the Loggers coming to town later.

Miguel Lopez made his major league debut facing average-y Doug Morrow. Before any excitement about the youngster could creep up, Raccoons fans had to see another cornerstone of the team hobbling off the field: Jorge Salazar twisted his ankle in the first inning and was out of business. Reece hit another leadoff jack in the bottom 1st, but an error by Brown (giving O-Mo a day off) and ill control by Lopez brought in the tying run in the third. But the Raccoons came back in the bottom 4th, with Osanai homering to start the frame, and the Coons loading them up with nobody out. Brown singled in two runs (with an added throwing error), and Lopez got his first RBI grounding out. Equipped with a 5-1 lead, he was in a good spot, but ill control was eating – more feasting – on him. The Titans actually did not get a HIT off him until the fifth, but by then he had walked a full handful. He ended up going 5.1 innings, walking seven. Cordero came in, and the next three Titans reached base, bringing in three runs. Great job of relief, really. Martinez got the pitching staff out there alive with a K to Gary Lang, then surrendered a game-tying home run to Salvador Vargas leading off the seventh. Carrillo fell to a Chad Fisher home run, and then an unearned run on the infield’s third error of the day. The Coons hit three straight 2-out singles in the bottom 9th, getting Osanai to the plate with the winning run on first base. He singled up the middle, but only one run scored, and they still trailed by one. Vinson came up and barely made contact with a 3-2 pitch from Jesus Cortez, and as barely the ball got over 2B Juan Valentin’s glove and dipped into shallow right. O’Morrissey scored, and Johnston dashed around third and got home – WALKOFF!! Five straight 2-out singles for the win! 8-7 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1; Johnston 2-5; Osanai 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, 2B; Brown 2-4, 2 RBI;

Salazar was diagnosed with a sprained ankle and will be on the shelf for two to three weeks. Running out of players here. So, while Salazar hit the DL, the roster became ever thinner. Castillo was out as well and not even diagnosed yet. Jeff Martin was summoned back to the majors.

Kisho Saito had another good 7-frame outing in game 2, scattering seven hits and one run. The Raccoons left a runner in scoring position in the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, but NOT in the sixth, because they double played themselves out of that inning before ever getting into scoring position. They remained shut out into the seventh, where Reyes and Arnold were on the corners with no outs. Saito was pinch hit for here, but Martin’s poor grounder kept Reyes at third, and the best Reece could manage was a sac fly getting Saito off the hook. Another good outing – WASTED. Cordero was saddled with the loss after a walk in the eighth that Lagarde could not contain. The offense continued to pick their noses. 3-1 Titans. Osanai 3-4, 2B; Arnold 2-4; Saito 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K and 1-1;

Berry pitched an awful ninth here, loading the bags and only escaping on a pop up. And if that inept hitting is not going to kill us through September, it will for sure in October.

Game 3. Could the offense give Jason Turner some love? Well, the Titans’ did, squeezing a run across against Turner in the second. The Raccoons got their first chance in the fourth, two men in scoring position with one out, and Reyes and Martin balked at the opportunity. Nobody scored. Bottom 5th, Turner tried to start the offense with a 1-out single. With two out, Turner was joined on the bags by Johnston and then O’Morrissey singled, but not deep enough for Turner to score. Bases loaded for Osanai, and he did the best he could do: wait until Cesar Sanchez throws it wide four times. The walk forced in Turner with the tying run. Vinson went to a full count – and walked as well. No clutch hits? Take clutch walks! Reyes walked next, before Martin grounded out to end the frame. Bottom 7th: bases loaded, nobody out, Vinson grounded to third, where a horrible misplay by Jack Burbidge scored two runs. What could have (and should have) been a double play, instead was the start signal for a 6-run inning getting Turner to the safe side, and our young star sped through the last innings for a complete game 4-hitter. 9-1 Furballs. Johnston 3-5, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB; Osanai 2-4, BB, RBI; Vinson 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Reyes 2-4, BB, RBI; Higgins (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Turner 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (12-6) and 1-4;

In time for the series finale, we got Bobby Quinn back from the DL, giving the middle of our lineup much more credibility. Jeff Martin was demoted to AAA, while we were still waiting on a diagnosis on Raúl Castillo.

We’d need another win to take the series from Boston, and that job would fall to Vázquez. We knew his opponent very well: ex-Coon Carlos Gonzalez, who was putting up a credible year: 10-8, 3.79 ERA, after all the injuries that had ravaged him in Portland. Both pitched quite well, with the Coons drawing a 3-0 lead over the course of six innings, including Osanai’s 10th homer of the year. Yes, it’s August. Vázquez was ultimately knocked out by none other than Gonzalez – with a solo home run in the eighth. It was Gonzalez’ fifth home run in the big leagues, more than some of the Raccoons’ infielders could muster. Lagarde and West held the game together for Vázquez. 3-1 Raccoons, as both teams were limited to five hits apiece. Osanai 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Vázquez 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (15-4);

In other news

July 28 – CIN 1B/3B Jesus Galindo (.237, 4 HR, 34 RBI) is out with a concussion. Recovery is expected to take at least nine months.
July 29 – The Wolves’ aspirations are dealt a terrible blow with the news that 2B/3B Mark “Icon” Allen (.288, 26 HR, 85 RBI) is out for the season with a broken elbow.
August 1 – SAL Terry Murphy (9-9, 4.24 ERA) 2-hits the Stars in a 2-0 win as both teams are battling over second place in the FL West.

Complaints and stuff

Raúl Castillo went 2-9 with an RBI for the Raccoons after the trade with the Blue Sox. We got news that he’s out for the season with – a concussion. Seems to be the newest fad. Well, we received lots of help here. Thank you. I hate this game.

Everybody please get their prayers for the Bayhawks aligned. If we make the playoffs, the Condors will sweep us outta the CLCS in zero time. Still, most of our starters are racing through the innings rapidly and both Saito and Turner may hit 200 in early September, which I don’t find too thrilling.

Who would have thought that Robert Vázquez would tie for the CL lead in wins in early August (with TIJ Woody Roberts)? I knew he was underscouted, but 15-4 is quite the revelation.

Here is to hoping that Tetsuuuuu will get his act together. This update, he was 18-39 with 2 HR and 7 RBI, also including five doubles. He has taken a harsh downgrade in his scouting report, though. He was rated 17/14/9 two years ago by Richard Steward. Anderson has him 14/10/9 now. OSA has him 14/12/7.

LF/RF Alfonso Rojas was named the A level batter of the month for July, going .333 with 8 HR and 28 RBI. So far, Rojas, 21, had not really lit up the prospect billboards, but the Blue Sox asked for him in the Castillo trade, so we may be on to something with him. We dug him out in Venezuela in 1989.

Daniel Hall’s ETA is three weeks. (blinks) Here’s to hoping.

[Westheim]

I didn’t see that in time for the last update, but Tetsu Osanai has successfully logged 1,000 consecutive starts at first base for the Raccoons with that final Titans game. That’s something. Now Tetsu, look to getting to 25 homers for this season. Pronto.

You may have seen it on the roster page in the last update, but Miguel Lopez has chosen to come down with the flu and won’t be able to take his turn in the rotation. Well, he could. But I fear sneeze-induced balks, so he won’t start. Berry will get the call.

Also, the concussed short-term Coon Raúl Castillo was replaced on the roster with Jeff Martin, who was collecting miles back and forth between Oregon and Florida. Injuries are becoming more and more of a problem. Across our system, we have 12 players on the DL and contrary to most times, 75% of them were position players. Outfielders were getting more scarce every day.

Raccoons (74-38) vs. Loggers (42-70)

Locked in a fierce battle for fifth place with the Crusaders, the Loggers were not be taken lightly. We led them 10-2 so far this season. Still, this team could not take anybody lightly.

Before Berry came Wade’s start, so chances for game 1 were more or less good, give or take a bunch of replacement level players in the lineup. The Loggers opened with a 3-spot, but of those two were on makeshift shortstop Alberto Reyes and his incredibly inept throw into the dugout on a play. Still, Wade surrendered two triples in the inning, so it could become a long night. It wasn’t a long outing however for Scott Murphy, who went for the Loggers. He faced eight batters, of which eight reached base, three hits, four walks, and an error, for six runs when he was chased. Wade sacrificed a run in before James Jenkins got control of the situation, but that situation was an early 7-3 Coons lead. While Wade lasted seven innings with little to no threats to the 4-run lead, the Coons excelled just as well at the plate to keep it a 4-run lead, leaving two men on three times over the next five innings, and they never scored, and Neil Reece also would have remained unscored after a leadoff triple in the eighth if not for a wild pitch by Cameron Butler. Instead, they left Johnston rotting at third base. 8-3 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, BB, 3B; Osanai 2-4, BB, 2B; Wade 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (13-6); Martinez 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (3);

Cordero is on the brink of exileation as well. He put the two men on that Martinez cleaned up in the eighth, which is why Martinez got a save: the tying run was in the on-deck circle already.

Neil Reece passed a slumping Vonne Calzado in the batting title race, his .348 mark now topping the Continental League (but this is still with .390 batter David Brewer of the Canadiens on the shelf and sub-sufficient AB’s).

Game 2, and Berry. Reece got a day off, and Vinson, too. The Loggers did handle Berry well – a bit too well for my taste. Berry went 3+ innings, allowed ten hits, and was charged with seven runs. That was a bit too much. Gustavo Flores chose the wrong game for his 2-run homer – the first for him this season – in a 3-run second inning that could only briefly mask the fact that the Raccoons had sent a bag of crap to the mound. Now they sent Carrillo, who went three scoreless. The Coons tried to close up, but only got to 7-4 through six. Then Johnston and Higgins went to the corners with 1-out singles in the bottom 7th, and Quinn came to the plate as the tying run. He fouled out, and while Osanai singled in Johnston, the Coons again left their plates full. As we were now just barely in reach, Cordero allowed singles to all three batters he faced in the top 8th. Lagarde came in served up a pinch-hit grand slam to German Roldan. 11-5 Loggers. Johnston 2-5, 2B; Higgins 3-5, 2 2B; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

If Matt Brown hadn’t replaced Osanai at first base in the eighth, Grady Young might have joined the 6-hits-in-a-game club. 5-5, he lined off Lagarde, but Brown was agile enough to turn that into a double play.

Appropriate actions were taken the same day. Steven Berry (5-9, 4.88 ERA) was designated for assignment. I’m sick of his face. We added Albert Matthews to the team, who had been straightened out in AAA. We also tried to demote Antonio Cordero, but he refused. Carlos De Los Angeles would have been called up to act as left-handed long man. That did not come together. But my finger’s on the trigger. If I fired Mark Dawson, who was a Coon for ten years, I won’t shy back from exterminating a journeyman southpaw that can’t get anybody out anymore and whose BB/9, WHIP, and ERA had become a disgrace over the last month.

By the way, these past two days, three more minor league position players, including this year’s second round pick Pat Parker, have been felled by injuries. It’s getting increasingly ridiculous.

Kisho Saito got the task to stop the romping Loggers, and hope for some support. The support wasn’t really there. The Raccoons filled the bags with no outs in the bottom 2nd, before Vinson and Reyes struck out. Saito tried to land something, but flew out. Aah… Matt Higgins’ RBI triple and scoring on the hands of Osanai then actually did give Saito a 2-0 lead in the third. Saito scattered hits left and right, but maintained control, even if P Davis Sims’ double in the fifth led to a run. The Coons loaded them up in the bottom 5th with one out, and this time managed to score two. Saito went eight, maybe a bit two long, partly indicated by a 2-out 7th inning home run by backup catcher and fearsome .188 batter Santiago Rodriguez. Still, the Coons broke up the Loggers for good in the bottom 7th, scoring four, and won 8-3 for the second time in the series. Reece 2-5; Higgins 2-5, 3B, RBI; Quinn 2-4; Osanai 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 3-4, RBI; Arnold 1-2, 2 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (15-4);

The Stars were quick to claim Steven Berry off waivers. May they find eternal happiness with him.

Raccoons (76-39) @ Wolves (58-57)

The Wolves tried to get back into the playoff race in the FL West, but lacked quite a few things for that, like pitching, and hitting, too.

After a quick first inning in the opener, Jason Turner soon found himself adrift. Les Harper homered off him in the second, and the Wolves had them full in the bottom 3rd until Harper hit into a inning-ending double play that was nicely turned by Osanai. In an uncharacteristically bad start, Turner walked five across six innings, and trailed 2-0. Of course, the Raccoons did nothing, absolutely nothing, to bail him out. Top 9th: Terry Murphy was still working on a 3-hit shutout with the Coons down 2-0. Osanai led off with a double. Murphy remained in there, walked O’Morrissey, but Johnston killed the game with a double play. Vinson popped out to finish another game to forget. 2-0 Wolves. Reece 3-4;

That’s at least three, possibly four games now that 12-7 Turner has lost because this cheap litter of rabid rodents is what it is. R/G this season overall: 4.53; R/G in games started by Jason Turner: 4.00; this includes three 9-run blowouts and ten games of two runs of support or less, in which he is 1-7. Great job, guys. Everybody except Neil Reece was summoned for extra beatings after the game.

I couldn’t have been *less* surprised to see the Raccoons score five runs in the first three frames of game 2. Oh, yeah, Flores hit another homer in the fourth, 6-1. Vázquez was as good as you expect a 15-game winner to be, at least for six innings. The Wolves ate him up in the seventh with a 3-run homer by Carlos Romero. Thankfully, the offense was humming – as always – as the Raccoons ran away with an 11-5 victory. Reyes 3-5, RBI; Osanai 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Quinn 2-5, 2B, RBI; Arnold 2-5, 2 RBI; Flores 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Matthews 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 3. Wade was not pitching too badly, but the Wolves were focused and converted their RISP situations for a run in the second, and then for two unearned runs following an error in the fourth. The error had been on Brown, getting a start at third base. That was to be his last start for the Raccoons, as we got his ticket to St. Petersburg booked as the park sung “Take me out to the ballgame” later on. Wade was pinch hit for in the seventh, down 4-0 after a Mark Williams homer. Matt “Useless” Brown walked with one out. O-Mo pinch hit for Wade and singled. Reece blooped a double into left, scoring both runners when the ball bounced away from LF Roman Reyes. Higgins doubled. Tying run in scoring position with one out. Of course they left him on. Burnett entered the bottom 7th. Three batters faced him, three runs scored with a 3-run homer by Harper. 7-3 Wolves. Reece 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4; Vinson 2-3, BB; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1;

In other news

August 5 – OCT SP Bob MacGruder (9-9, 3.92 ERA) shines with a 2-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over the Knights.
August 6 – ATL SP Glenn Ryan (4-10, 4.15 ERA) will miss a month with a strained rotator cuff.

Complaints and stuff

Vázquez now leads the CL in wins with 16. Out of curiosity I checked his run support. Grab something. 6.25!! His record is massively fake, and Jolly Jason gets ****ed out of every W he deserves. I also checked Kisho Saito and Scott Wade, who both get 4.79 runs of support per start. Poor Jason.

Huwaah! (pulls hair)

Apart from that, currently budding hitting streaks on the team have a 12-game string by Tetsu Osanai (he also raised his average by a ton over the last three weeks or so) and 11 games by Neil Reece.

Brown, that molding nut, will be demoted before the next series. If I just had any spare infielders to call up at AAA.

I'm also encountering a problem with AAA SP Roberto Gonzalez who was on the 60-day DL and just healed off. I can't put him back to AAA for my life but through a rehab assignment. He never was on the major league roster EVER.

[Questdog]

Any player on the 60-day DL is considered in the major leagues........

[Westheim]

That's a pointless rule in dire need of abolishment. At some point I seem to a have needed that extra spot on the 40-man roster this year and moved him to the 60-day DL.

Oh, well, this will fix itself. It's August. He can "rehab" in AAA for 30 days, by when it will be September. Then he can be "recalled" and instantly demoted.

The high-level finesse that is roster management continues to elude me time and again. I still think that I have come some way with baseball the last three years. Three years ago I didn't know how many players were on a roster. OR in a lineup.

---

By the way, I realize that I am doing quite a lot of whining here for a team playing .650 ball, far and ahead the best record any of my times has ever had this deep in a season. Unless my rotation suddenly decides to quit and become a boyband somewhere between here and September, this team is bound to win 100+ games.

Much of my frustration stems from emotional attachment I have developed with several of my players, albeit particular ones. Daniel Hall is the most prominent example. Most of the others are pitchers, and I am attached to Kisho Saito, Jason Turner, and Scott Wade all alike. Christopher Powell was such a player, the first reliable starter we ever had, and he had that one electric season with the <1.00 WHIP and several very good ones.

You want your favorite players to achieve great results. Dan The Man driving in a hundred in '84 was a fantastic thrill. Scott Wade winning 21 games in '89 was a great experience.

Our offense is just above average in runs scored in the league at this point, with just over 4.5 runs per game. That's not all that terrible! For comparison, the 1983 Coons, the first to make the playoffs, only scored 4.1 runs per game and those nine days over Christmas and the New Year this last winter were the greatest blast I can remember.

But the offense repeatedly betrays my darlings, foremost Jason Turner. And if the offense doesn't, the defense does, costing him two W's early this season. Turner could have easily won 20 games this year with just a tad more run support and one or two fielding earthquakes less.

I'd be thrilled to see Turner win 20 games! I doesn't come together this year, since he probably won't have enough starts left, since I will try to stretch out my rotation as far as possible once we clinch the CL North. The Osanais and Vinsons and Arnolds are betraying my darling, and it drives me so extremely mad at times.

So, I should enjoy my .650 team, instead I'm pulling the spoiled brat. I should shut my face more often.

---

Random stat #1: Alberto Reyes on his Raccoons debut became the 200th player to done a brown uniform.

Random stat #2: the Raccoons' overall pythagorean record is now 1,200-1,186 and just over .500. Unfortunately, we were double digits below our expected record three times in our early years (so: inept AND unlucky) and the actual record is 1,170-1,216. But we're getting there.

Random note #3: the team will lose a key part or two after this season, as the preliminary budget shows $7.4M in salaries for next year - WITHOUT to-be-free-agents Jorge Salazar ($650k), Bob Arnold ($423k), Roberto Carrillo ($300k), Antonio Cordero ($225k), Gustavo Flores ($125k), and Alberto Reyes ($124k), in total about $1.85M. That makes for at least $9.25M in salaries (including at this point five arbitration cases: Turner, Higgins, Johnston, Lagarde, and Burnett) and with about $4.5M in operating expenses we're already very close to our $14.3M budget.

[Westheim]

We sent Matt Brown back to AAA and recalled Matt Duncan. Lots of Matts on the infield, and they’re mostly interchangeable – and ineffective.

Raccoons (77-41) vs. Buffaloes (47-71)

The Buffaloes were not scoring lots of runs, and were taking a pounding for it in the offensively more outpouring Federal League. They ranked 11th in runs scored, and didn’t have the exceptional pitching to compensate for it.

Matt Higgins had hit 15 home runs between the last two seasons – but none this year in 360 AB’s. He corrected that mistake with a first inning solo homer for an early 1-0 lead in support of young Miguel Lopez, who tried to bounce back from his 7-walk start almost two weeks ago, but was at best partially successful. While the Raccoons didn’t add any offense, and while Lopez held the 1-0 through four, the Buffaloes tied it in the fifth, and then took advantage of Lopez’ harmless stuff and errors by Quinn and O’Morrissey in the sixth to plate four runs (three unearned). Quinn and Osanai chained together doubles for one run in the sixth. Down 5-2, the Raccoons had two on with no out in the seventh, and didn’t score. Vinson came up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom 8th, and managed to double to left and score two runs. With the go-ahead runs on base, we threw in two pinch hitters (Arnold, Reyes) and achieved zero. 5-4 Buffaloes. Higgins 2-5, HR, RBI; Quinn 2-5, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-3, BB, 2B; Martin (PH) 1-1;

Back-to-back home runs by Roberto Guevara and Hector Gonzalez in the third inning plated three for Topeka against Kisho Saito, who compensated for the humiliation with a home run of his own, leading off the bottom 3rd. Still, that was a 3-1 deficit, and who knew how many games the Raccoons would take to make that up. It took them until the fourth in the end, when they plated two to tie the game. Hector Gonzalez got on base on a misplay by Osanai in the top 5th, and when Edgardo Garza doubled after him, Gonzalez made for home, but was thrown out by Neil Reece. Saito was eventually pinch hit for in the bottom 6th, but Reyes made the final out for him and Saito was left with a no-decision. As the bullpens took over, the last bit of offense was suffocated for both teams. West appeared in the ninth, and when that was not enough to conclude the affair, in the tenth as well. O-Mo was left on second in the bottom 10th, and that enabled Burnett to blow it in the 11th and take a 4-3 loss. Osanai 2-4, BB; Vinson 2-5, RBI; West 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Kisho Saito hit his first home run since 1982, then for the Canadiens.

Could Jason Turner a) throw a stop on the Buffaloes, and b) get at least one run of support? The second question was answered first, with Bobby Quinn mashing a 2-run homer in the first inning to get Jason into the lead. Turner turned out to be dealin’. He ran into trouble exactly once, in the fifth inning, when the Buffaloes got all those little dice falling their way on what usually becomes a big inning. With two out, C Pedro Lozano lined a 2-2 pitch over Matt Higgins for a single. A pitch by Turner just barely grazed pitcher Toru Fujita (who made a start for the Coons in 1989) for an HBP. 3B Will Rood walked. Bases loaded – but Turner stayed in control and struck out Manny Mora to escape. With the Raccoons coughing up two more runs, Turner had enough security to go very deep into the game – and finished it without assistance. 4-0 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, RBI; Quinn 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Turner 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (13-7);

This is the sixth career shutout for Turner, and the second this season. He had four SHO’s in ’89, including that no-hitter. (smiles and stares into an uncertain distance). On the other hand, the game ended Tetsu Osanai’s hitting streak at 14 games after he went 0-4.

This was our first series loss against the Buffaloes since the 70s! This is disturbing!

Raccoons (78-43) vs. Canadiens (65-55)

The Canadiens had lost two of three against the Capitals, so the gap remained at 12 1/2 games. This was to be our second-to-last meeting of the season. We would play four in Pest City in the final week of the season, and if I had any word in it, the division would be sealed by then.

Neil Reece was rested in game 1 of the 3-set. Vázquez was sent pitching, and it wasn’t pretty. The Canadiens had the best offense in the league, and by the time you had blinked twice, they led 4-0 in the third. The Coons got two back in the bottom 3rd, but left the bases loaded against Vicente Torres. Bottom 4th: Martin and Duncan reached and Vázquez bunted them into scoring position. O-Mo grounded out, scoring Martin, but Johnston struck out and the Raccoons continued to trail into the top 6th. After not walking a batter through five, Vázquez walked the bases full with one out in that inning and was removed with the pitcher coming to bat. Albert Matthews did nothing to improve the situation and allowed two runs to score. With the Raccoons being harmless beyond imagination, I hoped that at least Carrillo could end the game, but he couldn’t and the Canadiens piled on even more. 8-3 Canadiens. O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B, RBI; Quinn 2-4, RBI;

Game 2 saw Tetsu Osanai put up three with a long ball in the bottom 1st for Scott Wade. It became apparent very quickly though that Wade was to be struggling in the game. The Canadiens went into deep counts routinely, eating him up steadily. A leadoff walk to #8 batter Carlos Gonsales in the third ended up costing Wade immensely when Raúl Solís homered with one out and Gonsales and Solís would again conspire to get Wade out of the game later on, also tying the affair 3-3. Wade got a no-decision and the Raccoons found themselves unable to mount offense until the bottom 8th. With two down we were already entertaining the thought of having to play fifteen frames once more, when suddenly Matt Higgins – after not going deep all year – hit his second long ball of the home stand to put the Raccoons on top again. Grant West got into one of those increasingly rare save situations. The Canadiens hit two balls hard, but both were caught by Johnston and Reece, respectively, and the Coons held on for a 4-3 win. Higgins 2-4, HR, RBI; Osanai 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; Lagarde 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (7-2);

For the rubber game we had to sent Miguel Lopez against veteran Tia Fa. Lopez fared well, holding the Canadiens down for three innings – until torrid rain appeared to end his start prematurely. It actually only lasted a short time and once play resumed about 45 minutes later, Neil Reece resumed his AB in a 2-2 count, and mashed a 2-run go-ahead homer off Fa. Both starters continued to go – Lopez hadn’t allowed a hit yet. Gonsales ended the bid in the sixth with a leadoff single and the Canadiens quickly put two on, sending Lopez home. Martinez at least held Lopez’ bid for his first big league win upright, ending the inning with a strikeout-runner-thrown-out-at-second combo with Vinson who nailed Carlos Quintela stealing, and in the bottom of the inning the Furballs added two runs with massive 2-error support by the Pests. Cordero appeared for the top 7th with the simple task of getting lefty .400 batter David Brewer out. He went to 3-0 before Brewer foolishly ripped at the fourth pitch and flew out to Reece. Apart from Cordero’s continued wildness, the bullpen did well and completed the shutout of the Pests, earning Miguel Lopez his first win with the big boys! 4-0 Coons. Reece 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4; Duncan 1-2, BB, RBI; Flores (PH) 1-1; Lopez 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-1);

In other news

August 13 – LAP SP Greg Cain (15-6, 3.20 ERA) shines in a 6-0 win over the Aces, pitching a 2-hit shutout. Cain has now won 15 games for three straight years.
August 13 – RIC OF/1B Gabriel Cruz (.290, 14 HR, 48 RBI) hit a sixth inning single against the Crusaders, bringing a hitting streak to 20 games. The Rebels still get culled, 11-3.
August 16 – A pair of singles in an 8-6 loss to the Loggers still nets BOS LF/RF Hjalmar Flygt (.327, 5 HR, 53 RBI) a 20-game hitting streak.
August 17 – The Blue Sox chill Gabriel Cruz’ streak at 23 games, while the Loggers drowned 8-0 against the Titans, but shut out Flygt, ending his streak at 20 games.

Complaints and stuff

Jorge Salazar and Daniel Hall are expected to come off the DL during the second week of our home stand. Salazar will rejoin the Raccoons, while Hall will rehab at AAA. Unless his brain elects to pop some time between now and Thursday or so.

Good pitching can carry you some way, and it’s good we have it, since the good batting has become lost in May and not been found since. We scored either three or four runs for seven straight games. August started promising with a few 8- and 9-run games against the Titans and Loggers, but since then, we have regressed again and are now at still-okay 4.75 R/G for the month. But that’s – even with strong pitching – barely enough for a winning record for August (9-7) and certainly won’t be enough should we face the Condors in October. Let alone the Capitals.

Indians and Aces at home. Knights and Titans on the road. September will hit on the last day in Boston.

[Westheim]

The top 3 teams in the CL North have by now played more or less .500 ball for about a month or so. Nobody was really going anywhere. After distancing the Canadiens for another game on the weekend, we’d have the Indians in town starting Tuesday.

Jorge Salazar was cleared to come off the DL on our off day while waiting for the Indians to come to town. He rejoined the 25-man roster and Matt Duncan went to AAA ball.

Raccoons (80-44) vs. Indians (65-59)

In what was early on a comedy of errors (two by Indy, one by Coon City), the Raccoons took an early 4-0 lead after three innings in game 1. Two runs were unearned, two home runs. Reece had led off with one and O’Morrissey had gone deep in the third. Kisho Saito was breezing in rapid speed through 23 outs, before he suddenly became locked up. The Indians had five straight hits, including an inside-the-park home run, putting three runs on Saito out of the blue, making a 5-0 game awfully close. What looked like a 90-pitch shutout five minutes earlier, became an early exit. Matthews ended the inning, and West collected three outs in the ninth, but in the end, the W tasted kinda sour. 5-3 Coons. O’Morrissey 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 7.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (16-4);

That was really a strange game from Saito. He had a 4-hitter through seven, put two away, then ran up the five hits including the inside-the-park home run. He only struck out one. But the first 23 outs, the Indians had hardly made any hard contact against him. 12 flyball outs had been collected, but almost half of them had been pop ups on the infield. Huh. Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him.

Game 2 was Jolly Jason’s start. It was a nightmare. Starting with a Gonzalez error, Turner walked the next two batters and the bases were loaded with nobody out in the whole game. 3-1 on Victor Cornett, Cornett offered and grounded into a double play, but the Indians still scored two unearned runs in the inning. The Raccoons came back with three runs in the bottom 1st, but left the bags full when Turner struck out in a full count against Jesus Lopez. Top 2nd, Turner allowed a leadoff single, threw a wild pitch, walked the next guy, and then misfielded Lopez’ bunt for a 2-base throwing error and the Indians added three unearned runs. Something definitely was amiss here. The Coons loaded the bags with nobody out in the bottom 3rd. Gustavo Flores hit a 2-run double here, which tied up the game. Now, do you let your struggling pitcher hit? We did, as we wanted another look at him in the fourth. Turner grounded out and Reece and Reyes made outs, stranding the runners. Turner walked the leadoff man in the fourth, then surrendered an RBI double. That was enough, he was gone. The runner scored against Carrillo and the Raccoons trailed 7-5. They loaded the bags in the bottom 4th, again with no outs. Arnold’s RBI groundout and Flores’ 2-out RBI single tied the game again. The Coons took an 8-7 lead in the fifth, but Ken Burnett couldn’t hold onto it. Cordero loaded the bags in the eighth and had somebody else pick up his trash. The tie held up, and in the bottom 8th, Flores singled in the go-ahead run after twice tying the game with hits. Grant West did his job again in another 1-2-3 ninth. 9-8 Raccoons in an incredibly messy game with teams totaling three errors and 15 walks. Reyes 2-5; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5, RBI; Quinn 4-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Flores 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI;

Jason Turner threw 69 pitches, 33 for strikes. Of his 20 batters, 12 reached (two on errors). He surrendered seven runs (five unearned). It was not only his worst start of the year, it was the worst start of the century (and the Coons had had some…).

For better news, Daniel Hall joined our AAA team for a rehab assignment!

So, with two starters having startling outings, what could #3 do? Both defensive formations had obviously been screamed at in the morning and the game was much more tidy, and there was no scoring until David Vinson’s 2-out RBI double in the bottom 4th. Vinson scored on a Salazar single and the Coons were up 2-0 behind Robert Vazquez, who was dealing well against the Indians. Osanai doubled in another run of support in the eighth. With West having been out two games in a row and Vazquez not obviously in need of relief, he remained in there. Plus the first two guys up in the ninth were left-handers. Three soft grounders later, the game was in the books. 3-0 Coons! Reece 2-4; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Vazquez 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W (17-5) and 1-3;

This is the sixth career shutout for Vazquez, and his second this year and for the Coons.

The Canadiens won two of three against the Titans, growing our lead to 14 1/2 games, and the magic number is now 22.

Raccoons (83-44) vs. Aces (60-67)

The series opened with Scott Wade facing Jou Hara, who at 10-14 and a 3.58 ERA was probably also wondering whether he could be traded somewhere where his team would score runs for him. Hara came up in the top 2nd with two down and the bases loaded, and while Wade went to 2-2 on him, Hara then singled into right. Coupled with Manuel Gomez’ subsequent 2-run single, that put Wade 3-0 down early on. The Coons made up two in the third, and Wade found Johnston on first base with one out in the fourth. His bunt was perfectly played by Hara and Johnston was forced out at second base. Reece singled up the middle and Wade went to second. Had Johnston been on second, he might have tied the game. In any case, Salazar came to bat and drilled a shot into the depths of center field for a 2-run triple, turning the game around. Jou Hara was destroyed by an RBI single by Quinn and a homer by Tetsu Osanai that made it a 7-3 game. The next inning, Wade again found Johnston on first with two out, and another Japanese pitcher on the mound in Hidekazu Oyama. This time, Wade ripped and doubled in Johnston. Up 9-3, the Coons looked to be comfortable in the eighth, but things tend to unfold sometimes. Matthews put two on, Burnett got an out, but loaded the bags. Lagarde came in and a grounder to short by Lowell Allen seemed to end the inning, but Higgins dropped Salazar’s throw. Lagarde then drilled Didier Bourges, and Scott Spivey singled – three runs in, 9-6, bases loaded. Tom Stephens, a lefty came out to pinch hit, and we brought in Grant West. Three pitches later, West was out of the inning, and went on to punch out two more in the ninth in another perfect outing. 9-6 Raccoons. Reece 3-4; Salazar 4-4, BB, 3B, 4 RBI; Osanai 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Johnston 3-3, BB, 2B; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (14-7) and 1-3, 2B, RBI; West 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (40);

In his last seven outings, Grant West has collected 25 outs, while allowing only one hit and one walk. That’s almost mean. Oh, wait, he’s the “Demon”. Then it’s okay.

Bourges drilled a leadoff jack off Miguel Lopez in the middle game. The Coons had their first two men (Reece and O-Mo) in scoring position with nobody out in the bottom 1st, but managed only a Bobby Quinn sac fly to tie the game. Top 3rd, Bourges led off the inning – with another home run. 2-1 Aces, but where did that catcher’s power suddenly come from!? Wherever it came from, the Coons tied it again in the bottom of the inning before Vinson left two on. Top 5th, Bourges was the first man up once more. He hit the first pitch right back to Lopez this time and was retired. The Aces weren’t exactly crying – they chained together three straight singles to score a run, and Bobby Quinn left the game that inning with an injury. Johnston replaced him and in his first AB tied the game with an RBI single. Coming and going in this game. Lopez didn’t get a decision leaving after six, and Osanai put the Raccoons on the road to going instead of coming with an error in the seventh that led to two unearned runs eventually. But we weren’t gone yet, and instead came back in the eighth with a 2-run double by Reyes with two down, re-tying the game. Lagarde pitched two innings as we went into overtime. Osanai walked against Oyama to start the bottom 10th and we brought in Antonio Gonzalez to run for him. Vinson grounded out, but Gonzalez safely made it to second base. Salazar was next and lined through 3B Michael McFarland for a double, sending the Raccoons off walk off winners! 6-5 Coons. Reece 3-5; O’Morrissey 2-5; Osanai 2-4, BB, RBI; Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reyes 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (8-2);

Best news on Bobby Quinn, who only suffered a mild hamstring strain and wanted to play in game 3, but we sat him still. He was due an off day anyway and we had a tough road trip coming up, too.

Game 3 was Saito against 13-11 Jose Murillo. O-Mo, subbing for Quinn in the #3 hole, showed early muscle with a 2-run homer in the bottom 1st. Saito was not on top of the world from the start this time. In a nightmarish third inning, the Aces gathered a single and two walks before Bourges (who was center of everything in this series) was hit by Saito for a run to score. Saito still got out of the mess and held a 3-1 lead through six, but the Aces hit into three hard outs in that sixth inning, and Saito needed 101 pitches to get that far. Burnett came in for the seventh and instantly set out to blow the lead. He walked Edward Carter with one out, Carter then stole second and advanced to third on Vinson’s wild throw. Allen doubled to right, and the tying run was in scoring position. Matthews surrendered two straight singles to blow Saito’s W, and the Raccoons fell behind in the eighth. Carrillo had put a runner on third with two out and with left-hander Carter up, I had thought Cordero could get an out here. Well, wrong. Also, the Raccoons whiffed themselves quickly out of the last two innings and lost, 4-3. Salazar 2-3; Osanai 2-4; Reyes (PH) 1-1;

This ends a 7-game winning streak. The Canadiens took two of three against the Knights, and that keeps the distance where it is, but drops the magic number to 19.

In other news

August 20 – MIL Judd Montgomery (12-11, 4.36 ERA) 3-hits the Crusaders in an 8-0 rout.
August 20 – ATL 3B Luis Barrera (.242, 7 HR, 52 RBI) could be out for the season with an abdominal muscle tear.
August 23 – SFB OF Dave Burton (.340, 9 HR, 74 RBI) has suffered torn ankle ligaments and will be out for the remainder of the regular season, which will deal a severe blow to the Bayhawks’ ambitions in the CL South.
August 24 – IND OF/1B R.J. Stinton (.272, 4 HR, 41 RBI) will miss up to two weeks with a sprained ankle.

Complaints and stuff

Well, I had a crap day. Spent ten hours in the Mines of Mindlessness, got soaking wet on the way home, the MLB.tv player absolutely refuses to run, and my piece of **** called laptop won’t allow me to properly type V´´azquez once again. And THEN my favorite pitchers get pointlessly clobbered. And it’s just Wednesday.

Robert Vazquez tied Woody Roberts for the CL lead in wins with 17 with his game 3 win over the Indians, his previous employers. He won 18 games in ’88 for them, then with a much better 2.11 ERA. He still didn’t win POTY that year, beaten by his team mate Jesse Carver, who won 21 games with a 2.58 ERA. Well, make of it what you want.

Grant West has his best season ever at age 34. After having his ERA rise from the high 1’s through the mid-80s (and a 1.33 mark in ’85), that mark became mid 2’s and a 3.10 the last three years. It was definitely NOT old age. His ERA and ERA+ so far would be career bests, and it has not been a shabby career with 411 SV and a 1.93 ERA.

How has Daniel Hall been doing in rehab? More so-so. He’s 3-18 with two doubles and an RBI in five games.

Random weird fact #1: what do have Kisho Saito and Robert Vazquez in common apart from being left-handed studs in the Coons rotation? Both were CL ROTY’s for division rivals of us, Saito in 1982 with Vancouver, and Vazquez in 1985 with Indy.

Random weird fact #2: the Blue Sox had the FL POTY for four straight years now – but the awards were won by four different pitchers! Chris Lacy (20-11, 2.60 ERA in 1988), Salvador Fierro (20-7, 2.25 ERA in 1989), Luis Guzman (18-10, 2.39 ERA in 1990), and Carlos Lopez (22-6, 2.99 ERA in 1991);

Random weird fact #3: in 15 ABL seasons, we have gone either 4-5 or 5-4 against the Aces 11 times. Thanks to some sub-stellar showings in the early seasons (oh wonder…) we’re 63-72 overall against them, but of the last nine seasons, four have been decided 5-4 by the Aces, four the other way, and we took an outrageous six games from them in ’87.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (85-45) @ Knights (61-68)

What had become of the Knights, was anybody’s guess. There was not one answer to this. The whole team had not worked out, kinda like the 1988 Coons (those that were forcefully broken up at the deadline).

The series started with a duel of stud pitchers, as Jason Turner faced off with Carlos Asquabal, the K-ing of the Continental League for quite some time now. At age 31, he had 1,750 K’s to his name starting the opener. Both pitchers entered with 13-7 records. The Raccoons were up 1-0 in the third inning when they had Turner and Higgins on the corners with one out. With Quinn batting, we wanted Higgins to steal second base, and Turner was also strolling far from the bag. Quinn swung at the next pitch from Asquabal, slamming the ball onto the ground. Frantic scrambling between and around the bags ensued and the Knights tried to get Turner, who made for home, but made it safely – everybody was safe! Osanai and O’Morrissey then wasted two on, one out, and Vinson cost an unearned run with a passed ball in the bottom 3rd. The little things, the little things. After those early runs for a 2-1 lead, the pitchers exchanged eggs for three frames, before Turner baffled Asquabal with a double (his second H on the day) in the top 7th. With two out, Higgins doubled Turner home, and then scored himself when Bobby Quinn’s liner glanced off Eddy Bailey’s glove at short, which was scored a hit. Now they ate Asquabal up, as Osanai and O-Mo came up with RBI hits as well, and they scored four hits with two out here. The Knights got one run off Turner in the seventh, but that was it. The bullpen took over after that and shut them out. 6-2 Coons! All our starters logged at least one hit, 12 in total. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Arnold 2-4, RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (14-7) and 2-2, 2B;

Jorge Salazar has a 13-game hitting streak going.

In game 2, the Knights scored the first run in the bottom 3rd, following an errant throw on a stolen base attempt by Vinson, who was now costing more runs that he produced. The Coons tied it in the fifth (and Vinson left two on making the final out). Robert Vazquez put two in scoring position with two out in the bottom 6th. Right-hander Hubert Citti was put on intentionally and the Knights pinch hit for Jesse Carver, the pitcher, with Eugene Long, a lefty. He knocked Vazquez out with a bases-clearing double. Burnett allowed Long to score and the Raccoons were down low, blinking up to the Knights from a 5-1 deficit. Vinson was pinch hit for actually with two on and two out in the seventh, but Quinn (who had a day off) grounded out to short. Flores as Vinson’s replacement wasn’t any less awful as the first Knight up in the bottom 7th, Manuel Guzman, was punched out by Carrillo, only for Flores to drop the ball and Guzman safely making it to first. Carrillo filled the bags, but escaped. The Knights this time staved off the Coons in the last innings. 5-1 Knights. Salazar 1-2, 3 BB; Osanai 2-5; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Martin 0-1, 3 BB; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

So far we had been able to negate the Knights’ biggest threat, Michael Root, who was 1-8 in the series. Now he was to face lefty-susceptible Scott Wade in the rubber game. How dangerous was Root? He had as many home runs this year as the top 2 Coons combined: 26;

We faced Pat Cherry in the third game, who had managed to pitch to a 1.55 ERA and still post a 1-2 record in four starts. Both pitchers dueled in a scoreless affair and while Wade held Root oh-for, he eventually fell to another left-hander, catcher Jack Jackson, who hit a solo home run in the bottom 6th. Wade was pinch hit for in the seventh with two on and one out. Reyes singled for him, loading the bags, but Reece’s RBI groundout was all they managed and Wade was no-decisioned. The Knights left the bases full in the eighth against Burnett and Lagarde, and Lagarde would have gotten the game to extra innings if not for a fielding mishap by Neil Reece that put the leadoff man in the ninth, Eugene Long, on second instead of first on his single, and the Knights moved him over with outs twice, and walked off. 2-1 Knights. Quinn 2-4; Reyes (PH) 2-2; Wade 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

The walkoff killed Salazar’s hitting streak at 14 games.

The Canadiens dropped two of three in Charlotte, and the gap remains at 14 1/2 games. Magic number: 16!

Raccoons (86-47) @ Titans (66-68)

This was a 4-game series, and while the Titans had been eliminated a few days ago, they still tried to turn their first ever winning record.

In a 1-1 game in the top 2nd of the opener, Miguel Lopez came to the plate with nobody out and Arnold and Vinson on base. His bad bunt got Arnold forced at third base and it eventually cost the Raccoons a run, and they left the bases loaded after a Reece single, and the Titans took a 3-1 lead in the bottom 2nd. Lopez was not stellar at all, and did survive the fifth, settled with nine hits, two walks, and five runs. The Raccoons trailed 5-1 and at best made a pathetic attempt impression of a rally in the late innings. When they actually did get the tying run to the plate in the top 9th with two down, O’Morrissey flew out harmlessly. 6-3 Titans. Reece 4-5, 2B; Osanai 2-5, RBI; Arnold 2-4; Vinson 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Matthews 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

(dramatic outburst) A kingdom for some offense! [a horse gallops past in the background]

Game 2 was Saito’s next start and Kisho was plunked by Bernard Lepore leading off the third inning. In a scoreless game, the Coons loaded the bags with Reece and Salazar and nobody out. They balked again at the opportunity and Quinn’s sac fly was the only run-scoring event in the inning. The punishment came instantly and poor Kisho was the one suffering again. With one out in the bottom 3rd, Osanai made an error, and with two out, Salazar couldn’t hold on to a grounder that hit off his glove. CF Gary Lang then hit a thoroughly unearned 3-run homer off Saito. The ineptitude continued at the plate as well, with Salazar being stranded after a 1-out triple in the fifth. Saito, who had to make a lot of pitches because of the team of douchebags around him in the field, surrendered one earned run over six innings, taking over 100 pitches, and was pinch hit for in the top 7th. The offense was determined to have Kisho die on the hook. Top 9th, down 4-2, Higgins grounded to first to lead off the inning. Jack Burbidge fumbled the grounder and Higgins was safe. Whether his team mates wanted it or not, the tying run came to the plate. Salazar hit a 1-out single, and Quinn had every chance to tie the game, but instead dawsoned the Raccoons out of the game with a 4-6-3 grounder. 4-2 Titans. Salazar 2-3, 2 BB, 3B; Johnston (PH) 1-1; Arnold 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (16-5);

Game 3. Turner faced Carlos Gonzalez. Yeah, that guy. The first three Coons in the game all reached base. After that, Osanai made an out, but a run scored, yet they tore down Gonzalez steadily in the inning, sending ten men to the plate and scored five runs. Jason Turner hit an RBI single before he ever took the mound, and a 5-0 lead should go a long way for win #15 for Jolly Jason. Well, for starters, it began to rain in the third inning. Gonzalez ended up breaking up an infant no-hit bid and came around to score in the bottom 3rd. Turner crumbled a bit in the middle innings, but held on (and the lead was big enough), despite being soaked wet by on-and-off rain. He went seven innings of 2-run ball and was comfortably ahead after a 2-run double by Antonio Gonzalez in the top 7th. The bullpen struggled badly in the bottom 8th, where Lagarde didn’t end the Titans’ threat until the tying run came to the plate in a 7-3 game, but Lagarde was able to add a quick 1-2-3 ninth and salvage at least one from the series. 7-3 Coons. Reece 2-5; O’Morrissey 2-5, RBI; Johnston 2-3, 2 BB; Turner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (15-7) and 1-3, RBI;

This ended the month of August, and rosters expanded for game 4. With our AAA team in serious playoff contention, we didn’t dip in there just yet, with one exception. Daniel Hall was added back to our roster.

Hall had hit .308 with 3 HR and 9 RBI after a slow start to his rehab, and it may just be AAA, but he slugged .641 over 39 AB off pitchers about half his age after missing over three months with a concussion.

All roar “Dan The Man!!” now. I demand it!

Game 4. Hall started in left, replacing a collection of outfielders struggling to a varying degree. The Raccoons managed to kill any chance to score effectively, collecting a CS, a GIDP and several pop ups early on in addition to Quinn leaving two men on twice in the first four innings alone. Vazquez then fell to a 2-run homer by Serafim Laborinhos, who had just been called up, and who hit his maiden big league bang here. The Raccoons scored a run on a wild pitch in the fifth, before Osanai left two on. In place of Vazquez, you had to become really aggressive. He had a real chance to win 20 this year, and the team kept forking him over. Vazquez then surrendered another 2-run homer to pinch hitter Danny Nichols in the seventh and was out of the game. The team didn’t actually put some offense together until they were four behind, and with the way they were playing, it was long hopeless by then. 5-3 Titans. Salazar 2-5; Osanai 2-3, RBI;

The Canadiens sucked much less in their series down the coast in New York, winning two of three. Our lead is down to 13 games and the magic number has not moved much and is 14 now.

In other news

August 31 – MIL Judd Montgomery (13-12, 4.07 ERA) 3-hits the Indians, as the Loggers win 5-0.

Complaints and stuff

I won’t go into much detail about how infuriated I am in respect to the hitting on display this week. They could have won as much as five games with a single clutch hit here or there. Instead, they dropped five, and that’s not gonna get it done. The Canadiens are not dead yet, and the Condors will be a no-contest if the Canadiens suffocate before we do.

Bad news: AAA SP Eduardo Salazar, our top pick in the 1989 draft, is out for the season to have bone chips removed from his elbow. Meh.

That walkoff loss puts our streak of consecutive losing seasons against the Knights at five. While we have not lost more than six in any of those five years, it still stinks. We have our worst record against any CL opponent against the … right, Knights: 53-82 (.393), which includes an 0-9 season that didn’t even come pre-1983, but in 1985.

Dan The Man was 1-3 with a walk in his first game back.

[Questdog]

.....but instead dawsoned the Raccoons out of the game with a 4-6-3 grounder....

[blazertaz13]

I have to ask what has been placed in the water in our nation's capital? I do expect a good run to end the season which will hopefully continue into the post season.

[Westheim]

With the Capitals on pace to win 115 or more games this season (record: 107-55 by the 1986 Stars), even the renowned sports magazine Sports Illuminated has researched into this in their August edition. They came to the conclusion that it might be a combo of healthy nutrition including salad and fruits combined with actual practice before the game.

When asked about their pre-game program by the same magazine, the Raccoons' Bobby Quinn and Ben O'Morrissey were rather dismissive about the Capitals' alleged secret weapons. They could not elaborate further during that short interview in a suburbian Portland McDonalds, since they each still had to vulture down their tablet full of BigMacs with their game only one hour away.

---

I already feel sorry for the Continental League champions come mid-October.

[Westheim]

We were entering a patchy section of the schedule, with hosting the Crusaders, then flying to Milwaukee, and then returning home immediately for the last proper home stand of the season. Not that we don’t hold out hope for more home games in October. The next four teams the Raccoons would face all had at best .500 records, so reducing that magic number to zero was expected over the next two weeks.

Raccoons (87-50) vs. Crusaders (52-84)

We were 11-1 against the Crusaders this season and I had no intentions of letting that run get away now. This was a 3-game set and they were the final team with another series after that on our schedule.

Game 1 saw Scott Wade rolled over for four runs in the third inning. Had Salazar and Reyes been able to turn a double play half way through, it could have stayed 2-0, but they didn’t. Reyes wasn’t able to do much of anything, which became more and more clear. The Raccoons were 1-hit by 14-game loser Hector Lara through four, before a key 2-out, 2-run single by Reece got them moving in the fifth. Wade still left on the hook after six innings, trailing 4-3. The Raccoons left the tying run on third base in the seventh, and again on second base in the eighth. Abysmal clutch hitting and lame fielding, once again. 4-3 Crusaders. Reece 2-3, 2 RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 2. I became more and more convinced that Miguel Lopez was one of those pitchers that couldn’t do anything right. He walked men continuously in his sixth big league start, allowed a hit to pitcher John Woodard followed by a home run with two down, and bunted into a force of the runner – all in the span of five innings. He trailed 3-0 when he got Flores forced out. Reece and Salazar came up with singles, and Lopez scored on the latter. Daniel Hall had not gotten a big hit since his return from Headache Town, and was next. Dale Hunter, the centerfielder, ran after Hall’s shot in vain, but to no avail, it was – GONE!! Hall gave Lopez a 4-3 lead, and came up again the next inning after Lopez, Reece, and Salazar had reached base in order, scoring Lopez once more. This time, Hall only got junk and walked, and the danger of putting Hall on base for these Raccoons was always that Osanai was not far behind. He didn’t hit for a lot of power, but racked up hits nevertheless, and here he landed a 2-run single. Once the bullpen took over for Lopez, the Crusaders looked very pale at the plate, and the lead held up well. 7-3 Coons. Reece 3-5; Salazar 4-5, 2 RBI; Hall 1-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Osanai 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Flores 2-4; Burnett 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The Crusaders opened the rubber game with three scratch hits and a walk in the first inning, landing three runs on Kisho Saito. Oh, the madness. The raging madness! The game continued as usual. Saito batted in a run (which was his night job, apparently) and then watched as the Raccoons left the bases loaded in the bottom 2nd. We lost Neil Reece to an undiagnosed injury in the third. Bottom 3rd, Raimundo Beato became undone completely, walking four and throwing a wild pitch as three runs scored, but Salazar still jabbed at a 2-0 pitch and grounded out, leaving the bags full. Beato threw another run-scoring wild pitch in the fourth, which was good for the Raccoons, who wouldn’t have scored otherwise. While entrusting Saito with a 2-run lead was normally not worth the worries, he managed to allow two home runs in the fifth and the game was re-tied. Bottom 5th, Beato still reeling, and the Raccoons tagged him for two more (three in total) with 2-out base hits by Hall, Osanai, and O’Morrissey. Saito managed a catastro-free sixth then. The Crusaders got the tying runs all on base in the eighth before Lagarde rescued his less fortunate predecessors on the mound with K’s to two of the three Crusaders he faced. Grant West actually got a save opportunity for the first time in – a long time… (courtesy to the Raccoons leaving Hall on third with no outs in the seventh). West delivered quickly. 8-5 Coons. Reece 2-2; Quinn 2-3, BB; Osanai 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-5, RBI; Johnston 2-3, 2 BB;

Losing Neil Reece for the rest of the season would be a truly horrifying development. At .353 he currently leads the CL in batting, and .372 David Brewer won’t generate enough PA’s to qualify due to injuries, it seems. Laugh at me, but I can’t find PA’s tracked anywhere for individual players. However, manually calculating, it *seems* that he has about 510 for the year.

Backup outfielder to batting title – how swell would that be!?

The Canadiens took three of four against the Loggers.
Raccoons lead by: 12 1/2
Magic number: 11
Wins for franchise record: 7

Raccoons (89-51) @ Loggers (56-84)

We got the news quickly, and they were mixed with trending upwards (a teeny bit): Neil Reece was diagnosed with wrist tendinitis. While that meant a trip to the DL (and a giant hole in the lineup, forcing us to replace 6.1 WAR), two weeks would be enough to heal him, and he would be available for the last week of the regular season and the playoffs. Salazar and O’Morrissey were tapped for leadoff duties now.

Our AAA (and A) team(s) were still playoff bound, so we didn’t call up anybody for the moment and played with a 25-man roster. Heck, due to injuries, our AAA roster had only 25 players!

Game 1 in Milwaukee saw Turner trying to keep his stellar ERA. Too bad that he continued a recent trend of very bad control (in time for October of course…) and let a 1-0 lead get away in the bottom 1st, when Jesus Jimenez tagged him for two with a single. Turner did what Raccoons pitchers did best and helped himself at the plate in the second with a 2-out single, then scored along with Jeff Martin on a Salazar double to take the lead back. Martin had a 2-out, bases-loaded, 2-run single in the third, Turner also singled in a run and the offense was a-rolling. With an RBI single in the fifth, Salazar then became a contender for a special game, as that was his fourth hit on the day. He came up again (in a 10-3 rout) in the seventh with two down and nobody on, and singled up the middle. Oh, if the Coons could just bat around once more! Before that could happen, Cordero had another bloke outing, loading the bags with completely incapable pitching, before Matthews held the damage to one run, but then conceded another in the eighth. Top 9th, 7-8-9 guys batting, and one had to reach to get Salazar to the plate again. Martin got on with one out, Reyes pinch-hit for Matthews, and – double play. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Burnett was unable to finish a game with a 5-run lead and loaded the bags in the bottom 9th. West to the rescue. He rescued. 10-5 Raccoons. Salazar 5-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5; Johnston 2-5, 2B, RBI; Martin 4-4, HR, 3 RBI;

I may have broken some furniture when Reyes double-played Salazar out of a potential 6-hit game. It’s always the same with this team. If we could have had one less double play or one hit more or – it’s always the same. “Just one hit” cost us a World Series two years ago, and it cost Jorge Salazar a place in Eternity.

Daniel Hall meanwhile has delivered the game-winning RBI in three straight games.

Game 2. Scoring opened in the top 1st with a 2-run homer by Dan The Man. It would have been beautiful (four GWRBI in a row maybe?) hadn’t Vazquez blown it in the bottom 1st with a 2-shot by Cristo Ramirez. Vazquez faced pitcher Davis Sims with two down and a runner on third in the bottom 4th. Sims singled, and the Loggers took the lead. Gates Golunski’s 2-run homer upped it to 5-2 in the fifth and Vazquez would not get any closer to win #18 here in this game. The Raccoons let a few chances get away from them in the latter half of the game. The ninth: down 5-3, Martin pinch-hit for reliever Martinez with Arnold on first and no outs. His grounder to third was intercepted by 3B Chun-mei Ling and Arnold forced out. Salazar made an out, before O-Mo plunked a double onto the right field line and Martin scored. Hall to the plate. He could still get four GWRBI’s with a round-tripper here. Kent Battle’s 1-0 pitch was swung at – SWUNG AT AND BELTED!! DEEP TO LEFT, DEEP, DEEP, G-O-N-E!!!! I don’t believe it!! The Coons took the lead on Hall’s second ripper of the day! And it still wasn’t meant to be. Grant West blew his first save all year after a leadoff double by Drake Evans and then a double by Jimenez. The Raccoons left the go-ahead run on third with one out in the tenth. Lagarde came in for the bottom 10th. Jim Stein drew a leadoff walk, and then Santiago Rodriguez sent a perfect double play grounder to Salazar – except that Salazar lost it. Salazar 2-5, BB; Hall 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Osanai 2-4, BB; Gonzalez 2-5; Arnold 2-4, BB; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

They were obviously intent on blowing the playoffs. All but Dan The Man.

Game 3. Opposing 5-11 Ray Burnett, the Raccoons left the bags loaded in the first and Scott Wade fell 1-0 behind in the bottom of the inning. Burnett was issuing walks about 50% more often than he did strike people out, so patience was the key, and the Coons learned that by the third inning, where a few leadoff walks, a 3-run homer by Higgins, and a scratch hit by Wade got them four runs. And then they left the bags loaded, and they left Hall on second with no outs in the fourth, and they left Vinson and Wade in scoring position with one out in the fifth. And it came as it always did then, as the Loggers teamed up against Scott Wade and chugged four 2-out hits, one of each variety, off him for four runs in the bottom 5th. That was already the game. The Raccoons never even as much as threatened anymore. 5-4 Loggers. O’Morrissey 2-5; Hall 2-4, BB; Higgins 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Vinson 2-4, BB;

Thankfully, the Canadiens ended up losing a tightly contested series to the Indians, two games to one.
Raccoons lead by: 12 1/2
Magic number: 8
Wins for franchise record: 6

In other news

Raccoons GM hits DL with persisting headaches over scruffy stretch play.

Complaints and stuff

I vaguely remember visiting the clubhouse after that final loss and asking politely: “HOW DARE YOU HAIRY MISCARRIAGES DARE SUCK LIKE THAT!!?!??” They should have won every game in this week, but errors and/or complete incompetence with runners on third base prevented that from happening. The only way they are going to make the playoffs is for the Canadiens to actually blow it themselves.

Add to that a week where we didn’t get a single outing by our SP’s worth mentioning above. Combined they went 3-2 with 29 ER in 35.0 innings. That’s a 7.45 ERA if you’re calculating at home. The Condors are very much looking forward to playing the Capitals, I can tell you that.

How does Daniel Hall’s career chase for milestones look like? Not good. 2,000 hits are out of the picture after missing almost four months this year. He would need to collect just over 400 more and with only two years remaining on his contract and at age 36 that doesn’t look like it’s bound to happen. But 200 homers and 1,000 RBI’s are very possible still, with 192 HR and 912 RBI in the books at this point. He’s also three steals shy of 100, although I don’t know whether his head belongs in the general vicinity of shortstops’ knees at this point.

In any case, he’s 10-28 with 3 HR and 9 RBI since his return from St. Petersburg. Of course that was not enough to win Player of the Week, but the only other Coon not sucking my heart out this week, did: Jorge Salazar! Going 14-29 with no home runs, but 7 RBI did the trick.

The Condors and Bayhawks actually engaged in a trade on September 6! While this was a minor deal, how can those two bulldogs fighting over just one bone actually help each other now!? I’m stunned!

Should I find something against the headaches, some bigger update tomorrow. By the way, we'll be in Vancouver in the final week of the season. Wouldn't it be a thrill not to have clinched by then?

[Westheim]

We had Monday off, which was the day of the A level season, where our team, the Aumsville Beagles, won their division to advance to the playoffs against the Norfolk Expos (the Bayhawks affiliate). The St. Petersburg Alley Cats (AAA) beat Albuquerque to clinch their division with four to go.

Raccoons (90-53) vs. Titans (72-72)

Both our Miguel Lopez and the Titans’ Cesar Sanchez managed to achieve an undesirable feat in the game: both threw a wild pitch for the go-ahead run to score; Sanchez’ wild one got the Coons 2-1 ahead in the bottom 2nd, while Lopez was unable to hold on and then gave the Titans a freebie in the top 5th to make it a 3-2 Titans game. The Raccoons would leave the tying run in scoring position in both the fifth and the sixth, and then the Titans moved away uncatchable by scoring a run in the top 7th (Cordero had a hand in there again). Bottom 8th. Down 4-2, the first two Coons reached in Salazar and Higgins. Hall was caught out looking at a borderline 3-2 pitch before Osanai loaded the bases with a walk. O-Mo flailed, and Quinn rolled out to short. Nobody scored. Bottom 9th: Vinson walked to start the frame and Jesus Cortez would now face the tying run in Glenn Johnston, whose power from the last years had vanished with only one dinger this season. But he singled, and the Coons were in business for the fifth consecutive inning. Reyes pinch-hit for Carrillo and struck out, before Salazar singled up the middle to load the bags. Higgins to the plate. He grounded a 3-1 pitch to 2B Joey Tucker. Four, to six, to three. 4-2 Titans. Johnston 4-4, 2 2B, RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

If they continue at this pace, we don’t need to worry about the Condors in the playoffs. This offense would lose to a Miracle League team.

And with our starters producing nothing but runs at this point, we needed another reliever, and Daniel Miller was called up from AAA. With the AA season over, they got another arm from there.

Game 2. Daniel Hall got the day off, Arnold was in. Kisho Saito pitched, fell 1-0 behind, but Matt Higgins drilled an offering by Luis De Jesus for a 3-piece in the bottom 3rd. That 3-1 lead was pulverized when Gary Lang, who had homered in game 1 off Miguel Lopez, homered in game 2 off Saito for two in the fourth right away. Sigh. David Vinson led off the bottom 4th with a home run then. They were certainly flying well today. Well, it was not the start of starts for Kisho Saito, but he settled in eventually and went eight innings of 3-run ball, also conserving the bullpen. That bullpen created a mess once it was allowed to enter. The Coons had added a few runs on Kinji Kan in the eighth and led 7-3 into the ninth. Matthews put two on and the game appeared to get away. Grant West was brought in to collect the final out from SS Ricardo Vargas. 7-3 Coons. Salazar 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Johnston 2-4, 2B; Reyes (PH) 1-1; Saito 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (18-5) and 1-2;

It was Jason Turner vs. Carlos Gonzalez for the rubber game. The Raccoons trailed 1-0 in the top 4th with a runner on second, when Gonzalez came up with two out and doubled off Turner. That was about the deciding moment in the game, especially with Alejandro Espinoza following up with another double. Turner was not sharp, not commanding his stuff, and took a beating. Bottom 4th, and now Gonzalez’ command eluded him as he walked three in the inning and allowed a hit to Osanai. One run in, the bases were loaded for Arnold with one out, but he popped out. That brought up Turner and he flew out on a 3-1 pitch. Turner went back out for the fifth, but didn’t survive it. Two across, two in scoring position, two down, Gonzalez to the plate. Get that sucker out, NOW!! Gonzalez singled between Salazar and O’Morrissey and both runs scored. 7-1 Titans. Hall drove in Higgins in the bottom 5th but the inning appeared over after that, but O’Morrissey’s grounder was mishandled by George Waller and the Raccoons got extra life. They scored two more (unearned) runs and loaded the bases, bringing up the #9 spot. Bobby Quinn on an off day was called upon to lay Gonzalez to bed. He got a grounder through 2B Juan Valentin and two runs scored. Salazar then grounded out, but the rally continued in the sixth against Kan, and O-Mo drove in Hall with two down to tie the game, and saddled Kan with two more in the seventh, Salazar driving in the go-ahead run this time around. And now, with a 9-7 lead, everything went south again in an instant. Miller and Lagarde blew it in the top 8th, with Lagarde surrendering a 3-run double to Shotaro Ono with two out. 10-9 down. I can’t even … fathom … how … Bottom 9th: Arnold drew a leadoff walk. Martin struck out in the pitcher’s spot. Salazar walked. Now, can we get the big bats to the plate and produce, please? Higgins flew deep to left – but was out. Two down, Hall, 2-2, deep to center, caught, out, over. 10-9 Titans. Arnold 2-3;

Jason Turner allowed seven runs, all earned in 4.2 innings, shooting up his ERA from 2.01 to 2.27. Yeah, well, why shouldn’t everything go to ****ing hell now!? And especially against master ****head Gonzalez. I have come to hate him so passionately.

We also ended a 5-year streak of beating the Titans over our 18-game set by losing that final game.

The Canadiens continued to play as bad as the Raccoons, losing three of four at home against the inept Crusaders.
Raccoons lead by: 13
Magic number: 4
Wins for franchise record: 5

Raccoons (91-55) vs. Falcons (57-89)

As everything was disintegrating in Coon City, we faced the worst team in the Continental League for three. Everything goes, I guess.

Falcons starter Luis Herrera (ex-rule 5 pick from our organization) left in the fourth with an injury of the opener. Then, the game was tied 1-1 and two men on with Robert Vazquez batting. Vazquez singled and the Raccoons would score the go-ahead run in the inning, putting Herrera up for an L. He wouldn’t remain on the hook, though. A Quinn error plated the tying run in the sixth, after a Hall error had scored the first run for the Falcons in the third, earlier. The Falcons’ Ed Davis was quick to get himself onto the hook. Vinson tripled leading off the bottom 6th, and before the Coons ever had a chance to botch it, Davis threw a wild pitch to score him himself. This time, Vazquez managed to blow the lead himself and was left with a no-decision after eight frames in a 3-3 game. Juan Martinez struck out five, facing seven, following Vazquez and kept the Raccoons in the game as it hit double-digit innings. Higgins drew a 1-out walk in the bottom 10th. With Vinson at the plate, he stole second, and then Vinson doubled into the gap to walk off the Coons and end the suffering. 4-3 Coons. Salazar 2-5, RBI; Vinson 3-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston 3-3, BB; Vazquez 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-1);

The Canadiens out-lasted the Aces in Las Vegas, winning 3-0.

Game 2 saw Scott Wade surrender a leadoff home run to Christian Dunphy. Oh, great, here we go again. Wade surrendered lots and lots of hard hit balls, and the Falcons piled up doubles and runs quickly. He fell behind 3-0 quickly, before the Raccoons battered Bastyao Caixinha in the bottom 4th for three runs, before O’Morrissey left two in scoring position with one of those 0-0 pop ups. Neither team managed to score anything else as long as Wade was pitching and he got a no-decision. Burnett entered for the eighth, surrendered a double, and when Matthews entered with the runner on third and one out, he threw one pitch to score that runner on a Stan Potvin single. Cordero allowed a run in the ninth (because why not…). Then Johnston got on base to start the bottom 9th, bringing the tying run to the plate. And then Johnston fell asleep and was picked off. And on the very next pitch, Salazar hit a pinch-hit home run. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? O’Morrissey and Hall singled their way on with two out, and Osanai came up, 0-4, with three strikeouts. Why not make it four? 5-4 Falcons. Higgins 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Quinn 3-4; Flores 2-3, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-1; Salazar (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

The Canadiens lost in Las Vegas, 8-6. Apart from them losing as many games as the Raccoons, everything is going wrong at this point. EVERYTHING.

Rubber game against the beaten dog of the league. Miguel Lopez went against Luis Velez, two beaten and defeated left-handers. Quinn gave the Coons a 1-0 lead in the first with a 2-out RBI single, but it didn’t last long, a throwing error by Flores (starting back-to-back games) helped the Falcons to tie it in the second, and Dunphy homered again in the third. We resorted to running aggressively around the bags to confuse the Falcons whenever we got runners, and with Higgins and O-Mo on base rather frequently, that worked actually well. The Coons scored three in the fifth, turning the game in their favor, 4-3, and Higgins and O-Mo got on in the sixth. Higgins had already stolen second base for the second time, and they then successfully executed a double steal. Hall, at the plate, was put on intentionally, and with nobody out, the Raccoons managed one run, an Osanai sac fly. With a 5-3 lead through six, you couldn’t trust Lopez, and once there was a man on with one out and right-hander Joe Jackson up, you couldn’t trust him even more. (You probably couldn’t trust him folding a piece of paper without cutting off one of his own arms…) Martinez got out of the inning, but not before making it interesting with a 2-out balk. Then came Lagarde and you couldn’t trust him anymore, either. Two out, one on, Dunphy came up, and homered, and tied the game. Nothing was working out anymore.

Through eight, we were tied at five. The Canadiens fell 5-4 behind the Aces in the bottom 8th there. If we could pull out a win and the Aces would not blow their lead, our magic number would cut to zero.

Burnett clicked off the top 9th, and Ricardo Medina had to be overcome to win in regulation – we had beaten him in the opener. Quinn struck out, but a misplay by Emmanuele Bedeschi in right gave Antonio Gonzalez a 1-out double. Salazar pinch hit for Arnold for his lefty bat. The Falcons didn’t mess with him and put him on. Flores lined out, and Reyes struck out, and we went into overtime.

The Canadiens came back in the top 9th.

SS Jeffrey Booker led off the top 10th with a triple off Daniel Miller, and scored on a 1-out sac fly. Higgins struck out to start the bottom 10th. O’Morrissey hit an infield single that Joe Jackson couldn’t pull out, making Daniel Hall the winning run. Behind him, Osanai had long been removed for defense and Jeff Martin was in the #4 hole. So Dan The Man had to make his AB count. He struck out. Martin rolled up the middle with two down. Quinn grounded out. 6-5 Falcons. Higgins 2-5, BB; O’Morrissey 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5, BB; Osanai 2-3, 2 RBI; Martin 1-1; Gonzalez 3-5, 2B;

The Canadiens lost in the 12th, 7-6, losing two of three to the Aces. There was the one team that was playing more awful than the Raccoons.
Raccoons lead by: 13
Magic number: 1
Wins for franchise record: 4

Quick view to the minor league playoffs: the Beagles (A) won their first two games against the Expos, then lost the next two. The deciding game 5 will be Tuesday, game 2 of our next series. The Alley Cats (AAA) won their opener against the Drummondville Beetles.

On personal achievements, see below.

Raccoons (92-57) vs. Bayhawks (87-62)

The Bayhawks were one behind the Condors, coming in. This series at this point now gave them a stellar chance to wing past the Condors before Thursday.

Kisho Saito was still on a quest for 20, and for this had to survive Wilbert Rodgers. Well, that didn’t work. In a 1-1 game, Rodgers hit a leadoff triple off Saito in the fifth. Like said before, nothing was working out anymore. Everything was going to hell. The Bayhawks scored two for a 3-1 lead. That was already more than enough. The Raccoons managed all of three hits in the entire game. 4-1 Bayhawks. Quinn 2-4, 2B, RBI;

The Condors defeated the Canadiens, 7-6, in their opener. This clinches the CL North for the Raccoons.

I have never ever been less enthusiastic after clinching a playoff spot with any of my teams.

The story of Jason Turner’s continued deconstruction was written forth with another ugly chapter in game 2. Turner surrendered four hits, three doubles, and three runs in the first inning, instantly setting the Raccoons’ course to losing. Twice in the game, the Raccoons had the bases loaded with two out, in the first and in the sixth. Quinn and Gonzalez were the respective batters. Both flew deep to right, deeeeep, both were caught by Steve Cobb. Things were just going like that and Turner ended up trailing 4-1. They had two on with one out in the seventh, which was ended by Osanai with a double play. Nothing was to come about. 5-2 Bayhawks. Quinn 2-4; Vinson 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

In more stellar news, Robert Vazquez twisted his ankle that night, while doing nothing, basically. He is out for the rest of the regular season and whether he will be available in the CLCS is questionable. We had to scramble to find somebody to make his start THE NEXT DAY. OH THE JOY.

We hurriedly called up Roberto Gonzalez from AAA to make a scratch start. He had been demoted to the bullpen for the Alley Cats’ postseason. The 23-year old righty, a former 10th round pick(!) by the Stars, would make his big league debut.

Game 3. Gonzalez held the fort surprisingly well early on, allowing one hit through four innings. The Raccoons didn’t score either, of course. Gonzalez then became his own worst enemy in the fifth. He scored runs for the Bayhawks with a balk, a bases-loaded HBP, and a bases-loaded walk. In the sixth, P Pepe Martinez hit a 2-out RBI double off Gonzalez, who was obviously no major league material, walking five in addition to all the other junk he surrendered. The bullpen held the Bayhawks at bay once replacing Gonzalez and the Raccoons scratched off two runs in the sixth and seventh and entered the bottom 9th trailing 4-2 against lefty William Henderson. Arnold led off with a pinch-hit double in place of Salazar. Higgins singled and they were on the corners with no outs. Hall’s RBI fielder’s choice was not going to help things a lot then. Still, Osanai came to the plate as the winning run, and he struck out. Quinn grounded out to Henderson. 4-3 Bayhawks. Arnold (PH) 1-1, 2B; Higgins 2-5; Johnston 1-2, BB, 2B; Martin (PH) 1-1, 2B;

A 2-7 home stand will get your spirits up. Oh boy.

In other news

September 9 – SFW 2B Pat Graham logs his 2,000th career base hit in a 12-4 thumping over Sacramento with a third inning single against Miguel Rosado.
September 9 – DAL LF/RF Sakutaro Ine (.387, 12 HR, 72 RBI) is out for the season with a partially torn labrum, holding him to 362 AB this season.
September 11 – The Canadiens lose LF/RF Kevin Gilmore (.307, 5 HR, 49 RBI) to a broken elbow. He should be back in time for next season.
September 12 – The Blue Sox lose against the Miners at home, 3-2, and have to wait for the Capitals-Rebels game to conclude, which goes into extra innings scoreless. The Capitals put two up in the top 10th and win, 2-0, and thereby clinch the FL East for the second time, and in back-to-back years.
September 14 – SFB SP Chris O’Keefe (17-8, 2.63 ERA) turns in a 2-hitter in a 1-0 win over the Indians.
September 15 – The Pacifics live off a 7-run second inning in Washington, holding off the Capitals in a 7-5 win, which clinches the FL West for them. They will make their third playoff appearance after 1981 and 1982 after posting a losing record (80-82) last year.

Complaints and stuff

This one has to be repeated for emphasis: I have never ever been less enthusiastic after clinching a playoff spot with any of my teams. This week I wrote about how this was a .650 team after all and so on. Well, screw it. They’re massively tanking. Whoever will wait for us in the CLCS will walk over this collection of … I can’t come up with a proper noun here.

The collection has lost 16 of their last 23 games. What more to say?

It’s the fourth time my team will make the playoffs (three times with the Raccoons, once with a 2008 Mets game in PureSim) and the first time that the endeavor won’t end with a World Series loss. It will end earlier.

They’re also tanking themselves out of a new franchise best record. 100+ wins had been within most easy reach.

Glenn Johnston out of nothing won the CL Player of the Week award for the most recent week, batting 12-20 with no homers and 3 RBI. I didn’t even have him on the radar and he started only four games. Yay, Glenny!

Kisho Saito has now won 100 games with the Raccoons, and also lost his 100th game overall (combined with his time in Canadiens-land) for a nice 150-100, 3.04 ERA career.

The Beagles (A level) clawed through their LCS to face the Scorpions’ affiliate Farmington Cosmos for the title. The Alley Cats (AAA) have lost two of their first three against the Beetles and face elimination now.

Everything’s going to hell.

[Questdog]

Reece will be back soon and he will bring some kindling to fire the troops!....