Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (17-13) vs. Warriors (18-14)

The Warriors led a tight FL West with six teams sitting right on top of each other. They led the division despite a -4 run differential: huge offense, poor pitching. Their bullpen ranked last and was especially weak. Still, their 157 runs scored bested the Raccoons by more than 10%.

Game 1 had Kisho Saito and Bill Smith. The game was scoreless when Saito was at the plate in the bottom 3rd, with one out and Vinson at first base. Smith had him 0-2, but Saito hit a double to right, and the Coons were in business. Salazar and Reece had RBI singles, and Kinnear hit a grounder to the right side that 2B Pat Graham got to, but couldn’t make into an out. Daniel Hall had all his platters full to feast on and drilled a 1-1 pitch to deep left. He narrowly missed a grand slam, but it still was a 3-run double. This got us to the pen early and we had the bases loaded in the bottom 5th with one out. Paul Towns had just hit Daniel Hall to load the bags, and now through a wild pitch in an attempt to get them empty again, and Salazar scored, the first of two the Coons put on in the fifth. Meanwhile, Master Kisho was pitching a very clean and almost unexciting game. The Warriors twice put men on the corners, in the first and eighth, but never scored against him. He entered the ninth and struck out Roland Moore, but Iwamoto, just in for defense, lost the ball and Moore reached first base. A single by Eneas Spinelli got Saito out of the game then. And as Martinez came in, everything fell apart. He allowed two singles, then threw a wild pitch. Two in, two in scoring position, nobody out! Nelson came in, and with one out allowed an RBI single. Send for West! He got the second out, and Pat Graham was to fly out, but Kinnear dropped the ball. The tying run came to the plate in SS Esteban Areizaga. He singled through Salazar and both runners on scored. Moore came back up and sent a racing grounder to first – Quinn got it, Quinn made it to the bag, game over.

Oh, bloody hell.

7-6 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-3, BB, RBI; Hall 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (2-3) and 2-4, 2B;

Kinnear sat in game 2. Young boy’s gotta learn about keeping his concentration up until umpires have brought up the first 27 times. Hall was in left, and Quinn in right. This game saw another pitcher defeating the other single-handedly. The Warriors had two in scoring position with two out in the second against Jason Turner. We walked the #8 batter Jose Gomes to get to the pitcher, Manuel Paredes. Turner allowed a 3-run double in a 2-2 count. Hall belted a homer in the bottom 2nd, cutting the lead to 3-1, but that remained the Coons only hit until the fifth. Osanai and Vinson were on with two out, and Turner was removed for Johnston to pinch hit. Johnston hit a high hopper to second base, which Rafael Herrera mishandled and the bases were loaded. Reece walked to force in a run, and Salazar lined the ball hard, but into ex-Coon Cameron Green’s glove at third base. Matthews barely starved a runner on third in the top 6th, and then O’Morrissey hit a leadoff triple in the bottom 6th. That should tie the game. Hall lopped to shallow left, but Gustavo Quintanilla (another ex-Coon) made a fine play to pick the ball two feet above the grass. Higgins then came through with a single to right and the game was tied. It didn’t remain tied for long. Lagarde was terrible and allowed two runs with no control over his stuff and was saddled with the loss when the Coons could not scratch together anything else. 5-3 Warriors. Osanai 2-3, BB;

They can’t get a streak going. They just can’t.

Vazquez fell behind early, 2-0, in the top 2nd in the rubber game. Neil Reece would tie the score again with a big 2-run homer in the third, but Vazquez immediately gave two back. Like Saito and Turner earlier in the series, he spent his time in 3-ball counts and while Saito had controlled himself right there, Vazquez was wild. He could consider himself lucky that he was a decent hitter, nailing a pitch from Anibal Guerra for a 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 4th. Game tied again. And then he walked the first two men in the top 5th, and that was enough, as I personally battered him into the showers. One run scored against Carrillo, and later the Warriors stuffed Matthews for three runs, and made it a rout in the eighth against Martinez. 10-5 Warriors. O’Morrissey 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI;

So, basically good hitting beats up on crap pitching. We demoted Albert Matthews, his 5.56 ERA and his abysmal control (5/8 K/BB) to AAA. Ismael Juarez was designated for assignment. Daniel Miller and Matt Brown were called up. Juarez was quickly claimed by these same Warriors here, and this was fine by me, otherwise he would have been released sooner rather than later.

Raccoons (18-15) @ Titans (19-16)

For a change, the Coons took a 1-0 lead in the first of the opener, Kinnear sacrificing in Reece. Their RISP performance in the game was dreadful, and Scott Wade was left to fend for himself, which worked so-so until RF Matt Smith’s solo shot in the sixth finally tied up the game. Wade was pinch hit for in the eighth, but with the dismal plate performance put up by the Portlandians, had no hopes of getting back to a W. Top 9th. Kinnear and Hall got on. Nobody out, the Titans couldn’t turn a double play on Bobby Quinn’s grounder. They put on Vinson intentionally for whatever reason, maybe his fearsome .185 average, to go after Matt Brown, who had doubled already in the game, and now singled up the middle. Kinnear scored to break up the tie. O-Mo with a pinch hit single and Higgins with a sac fly scored two more. Grant West put two men on in the bottom 9th, but worked around the jam to save a 4-1 win. Kinnear 2-3, RBI; Brown 2-4, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K;

This was Wade’s 200th career start (202 games total). He’s 93-57 with a 3.30 ERA, so who says you need three pitches to start successfully?

Game 2. Home runs by Vern Kinnear and Boston’s Jack Burbidge made it 2-1 Furballs after the first. Salvador Vargas tied the game with a leadoff homer in the bottom 2nd. That’s how things are going, and Beato was surrendering a lot of solid contact. Bottom 5th: Beato had two out, a runner at third, and a 3-2 lead to defend, with Alejandro Espinoza at the plate. In a 1-2 count, a high pitch got away from Iwamoto, and Shotaro Ono scored to tie the game. Beato drilled Espinoza with the next pitch, surrendered a single, walked a batter, and then fell to a 3-run double by Vargas. It was the end for the entire battery. Burnett and Vinson came into the game. The Coons loaded the bags in the top 6th, before Johnston pinch hit into the final out and nobody scored. In the eighth, O’Morrissey was thrown out at the plate, and Quinn left two on. It was horrible. 7-3 Titans. O’Morrissey 3-3, BB, 2 2B; Vinson 1-1, BB;

It was over for Shimpei Iwamoto. Three passed balls in 80 innings, all costing runs, a .871 EFF, and batting .111 – you can do that elsewhere. He was waived and designated for assignment. 23-year old Jose Rodriguez was called up from AAA. He had been penciled in as backup at one point during the winter, but then we inked Iwamoto. Big mistake. I have made a few recently. Rodriguez had been signed by the Canadiens in Venezuela in 1986, but had been released and picked up by the Raccoons a year later. He would make his debut right away in game 3.

A 2-run single by Hall gave Kisho Saito an early lead in the rubber game. He surrendered a home run in the first, but led 3-1 in the bottom 4th. George Waller singled through Higgins. Hjalmar Flygt singled through Osanai. Danny Nichols bombed the Raccoons into submission. They led the Titans 9-4 in hits at that point, and trailed 4-3. Reece was ejected after fanning to leave two on, upon which he channeled his energy at the umpire instead of at the balls thrown at him. Vargas also homered off Saito, who surrendered six runs in six innings. The Titans had three home runs, the Raccoons had three double plays. The Raccoons out-hit them 14-9, and lost 6-4. Reece 2-3; Hall 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, HR, RBI; Salazar 2-4; Rodriguez 2-4; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Six home runs surrendered by starting pitching in the series, against a team that hit TEN HOME RUNS THE ENTIRE SEASON. How much more can you get screwed over???

On roster news, the Pacifics claimed Shimpei Iwamoto (we sent a bag of baseballs down along with that sucker), and we signed INF/LF Marihito Ohayashi, who was introduced in the complaints section last time. Ohayashi was added to the roster in place of Matt Brown.

Raccoons (19-17) @ Crusaders (14-23)

The Crusaders ranked close to the bottom in both hitting and pitching. Awful was probably a good word to characterize them. Awful was a fantastic word to describe the Inepticoons.

Game 1. Ohayashi made his Raccoons debut at second base. Jason Turner held the Crusaders hitless for the first two innings, then surrendered the first hit to pitcher John Woodard, and four more hits followed without any outs registered in the bottom 3rd. The Crusaders scored five runs. Turner also surrendered six runs and was gone after five innings. The game was basically over after that fourth. The Raccoons were nothing even vaguely resembling a threat in the game. 6-1 Crusaders. Kinnear 2-4, BB, 2B; Osanai 3-4, 2B;

The lineup was juggled almost daily in a vain attempt to generate anything.

Robert Vazquez and Hector Lara entered with identical 4.12 ERA’s into game 2. O’Morrissey reached on a throwing error in the top 1st and was singled in by Hall. That was an actual 1-0 lead! With the way Vazquez was surrendering line drives in a scoreless bottom 1st however, a crooked number was soon to appear in the bottom column on the scoreboard. An Osanai error cost the tying run in the bottom 2nd. Top 3rd, singles by Kinnear, O-Mo, and Higgins brought up Hall with nobody out. While he got a run in, he also grounded into a 3-4-3 rally killer. O-Mo and Higgins were pacing the offense with a few doubles in the game, and by the fifth, the Crusaders’ pitching fell apart. The Coons made it 5-1 in the fifth, and 9-2 in the sixth. Suddenly the Raccoons even got the hits they didn’t deserve, like a 2-out, 2-run bloop by Osanai into shallow right center in the seventh, which made the score 12-2 already. That was the final score, with the Crusaders not staging a rally. In fact, the Raccoons left another full dozen on in a 12-2 romp. O’Morrissey 4-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Higgins 3-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 4-5, BB, 2 RBI; Osanai 3-4, 4 RBI; Vazquez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (5-2) and 2-4, 2 2B;

Osanai tried to get mercy with an RBI single with two down in the third in the game, but I was beyond mercy. Nobody’s safe by now, not even a tank with 1,067 consecutive starts. But 4-RBI games tend to give you another chance.

Another rubber game. The Coons were not good at those recently. It was May 21, and we faced our first lefty in the month, Jorge Ramon (1-3, 7.55 ERA). Meanwhile, we sent Scott Wade, who quietly had sneaked into third place in ERA in the Continental League with a 2.33 mark. Ramon with his stellar send-him-to-the-mines ERA was perfect through three, through four, through four and a third before Osanai finally cracked a double. He was not brought in to score, of course, and when Wade fell to a solo home run by Ruben Melendez, he trailed 1-0. Agony was creeping up again. Top 8th: Jose Rodriguez opened with a scratch single, bringing Wade to the plate. He whiffed twice on the bunt, then came back to walk. Two on, nobody out, and Reece singled to center to load them up for O-Mo, who grounded into a force at home. Higgins blooped to right – and it fell in just in front of Alfonso Rojas, the game was tied. Now Hall – any rip will make me happy. He grounded to 3B Martin Limon, who tapped the base, then went to first with the throw, but Hall beat it out, and Reece scored the go-ahead run. Osanai went to a full count, then singled to center. With the speedy Higgins set in motion, he scored easily. Wade sat down the Crusaders in order in the eighth, and West got up for the ninth, but wouldn’t enter it. Wade was pinch-hit for, and with two out, Salazar pinch-hit for Reece for a left-hander to bat, and drilled a 2-run homer that made it 5-1. Lagarde instead completed the game. 5-1 Coons. Salazar (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5; Higgins 2-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Rodriguez 2-4, 2B; Wade 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (3-2) and 1-2, BB;

In other news

May 11 – TIJ OF Manuel Doval (.272, 4 HR, 19 RBI) will be out for a month with an ankle sprain.
May 15 – The Topeka Buffaloes issue a statement that their owner Dave Burton had passed away earlier in the week. His on Dave jr. has taken over the reigns. Junior is described as lenient and charitable.
May 15 – MIL RF Cristo Ramirez (.346, 1 HR, 11 RBI) will miss up to six weeks with back spasms.
May 15 – OCT SP Bob MacGruder (4-1, 1.99 ERA) tosses a 2-hit shutout, beating the Bayhawks 7-0.
May 18 – A hamstring strain puts IND OF Tomas Maguey (.342, 1 HR, 21 RBI) on the shelf for about three weeks.

Complaints and stuff

That’s enough crying for today. If you’re watching the Rays-Red Sox game right now, I feel like Matt Moore. He had that “Gotta be kiddin’ me” look. More than once.

Hall has slowed down, Salazar also a bit. We still get good production from the group encompassing Hall, Kinnear, Reece, O-Mo, Higgins, and Salazar, and even Osanai is still raising his AVG, but shows zero power. Catching is an issue and recently the pitching has been a huge problem with most starters being roughed up once during this stretch.

It’s still frustrating. The team is not working out at all. The offense has potential, and we have a +28 run differential, but they waste it on blowouts and then lose scores of close games. Things went better in that regard last year. That’s why we were first then and not now.

[Questdog]

The Inepticoons!

Love that one.....

[MarkCuban]

Originally Posted by Westheim

It’s still frustrating. The team is not working out at all. The offense has potential, and we have a +28 run differential, but they waste it on blowouts and then lose scores of close games. Things went better in that regard last year. That’s why we were first then and not now.

I'd normally recommend firing a manager but I think personell may be turned off. It worked well for Otto Orcin this season.

[Westheim]

Personnel is on, however since I'm playing out my games, the manager won't have as much effect. I guess. Regardless, our manager has excellent to legendary ratings, and there is nothing even remotely comparable available.

---

Spent quite some time trying to come up with what was going so horribly wrong all the time. Was it really just bad luck? We were two below our Pythagorean record, with a +32 run differential. Or was I doing something wrong? Something substantial. Not just my daily basic mistake of leaving bed.

Raccoons (21-18) vs. Knights (17-23)

The Knights were about average in most categories and actually had a +3 run differential despite being six games under. That means they have had even more rotten, molded luck than the Raccoons. There can’t be two teams with bad luck in a game.

We sent “Pooky” for the opener against ace Carlos Asquabal (4-4, 3.34 ERA). The Knights tagged Beato early with four singles for two runs in the top 1st and we were going in the direction of not-funny again. Or maybe not? Reece singled to start the bottom 1st and with one out, Higgins doubled. Hall came to the plate and tied the game with a 2-run double to right center. Yes it would. Beato lasted only nine outs, during which the Knights whacked him every which way for six runs. Not that the Raccoons didn’t get their chances. In the seventh, down 6-3, Daniel Hall came to the plate with runners on the corners and two out. On a 1-1 pitch, Asquabal hit him, which loaded the bases. O’Morrissey then flew out to end the inning? Intentional? Faces in the dugout looked grim for sure. Against Mike Dye in the ninth, a 1-out infield single by Hall put two men on and brought O-Mo to the plate as the tying run. Dye was a right-hander, and only right-hander Hawley remained on the bench and was needed to bat for pitcher Martinez in the next spot, so O-Mo had to make himself useful, but popped out. Hawley batted for Martinez and blooped one into short right, scoring a run. Bobby Quinn, batting all of .149, stepped in as the winning run – and grounded out poorly. 7-5 Knights. Higgins 3-5, 2B; Hall 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Hawley (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ohayashi (PH) 1-1, 2B; Johnston (PH) 1-1; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Positive: our pinch hitters went .600 in the game. Negative: everything else; this includes allowing Atlanta’s Clement Clark to hit in the 20th straight game.

I don’t know how we can continue working with David Vinson and Bobby Quinn and still maintain our playoff aspirations. Quinn has no options, but Vinson has. Then we could alternate two AAA catchers in the Bigs, yay. The daily lineup juggles continue, it seems.

Game 2. Singles by himself and Salazar put Daniel Hall at third base with nobody out in the bottom 2nd. He didn’t score as O’Morrissey popped up, Osanai whiffed, and Rodriguez gingerly flew out. The Knights were less choosy. After a Manuel Guzman leadoff triple in the fourth, they not only scored him, but C Jack Jackson made it 3-0 with a 2-out, 2-run homer off Kisho Saito, who again didn’t have his game with him. The Raccoons were dominating in other categories, including double play hit into (3, Higgins, Hall, and Osanai), runners thrown out (1, Kinnear stretching a single), and runners picked off (1, Reece). With that kind of genius, it was hard to win a game. Saito was left out to die, going seven innings with the three runs surrendered, and the Coons went down 4-1 to the Knights. Kinnear 2-3, BB, 2B; Reece 2-4, RBI; Hall 2-4; Salazar 2-4;

The Raccoons have five guys batting between .310 and .330 in their lineup, and can’t pull any runs outta beneath their fuzzy tails. I can’t believe it. Can’t. Believe it.

Struggling studs met in game 3, as Jason Turner faced off against Glenn Ryan, who had a winning record at 4-3, but with a 5.62 ERA. Turner batted in the bottom 2nd with the bags full and two out and zinged a single into shallow left to score the first run of the game. O’Morrissey (leadoff man du jour) and Salazar then both added on with 2-RBI hits to give Turner a 5-0 lead. There were still a few things standing between Turner and a W, and besides nine red-and-white-clad Knights, it was primarily the bad weather, which forced a 22-minute delay in the bottom 4th when Turner was actually batting. Top 5th: Turner collected two quick outs, then allowed two singles, obviously running out of steam. Michael Root came to the plate, and the pitching coach came out to the mound. Turner assured he could retire Root, and got him to ground out to Osanai. That was his last man in the game and the pen took over the 5-0 lead. The offense resorted to flailing and failing after the second inning rush, until the eighth, when a wild pitch by Jerome Vogler with Quinn pinch-hitting for Chris Nelson at the plate started another rally. Both Quinn and later Reece landed 2-run extra base this, a double and a triple, respectively, in deep right in the inning, extending the led by four runs. West pitched the final inning in a 9-0 win. Salazar 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Reece 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4; Quinn (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Turner 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (3-4) and 2-2, 2B, RBI;

Raccoons (22-20) @ Bayhawks (29-16)

This could get hard on the rotation. And I mean ours. The Bayhawks so far have racked up 288 runs scored, on pace for over 1,000! Their pitching was rock solid, and that was well explaining why they had the best record in the Continental League. We were looking at dropping below .500 at the Bay, that was how bad it looked for us.

We sent Robert Vazquez in game 1 and hoped for his by now almost proverbial dumb luck, complete with double offense, being able to carry the day. He faced Chris O’Keefe, with a 5.79 ERA somewhat of a weak link in the Bayhawks’ rotation, and O’Keefe surrendered three runs in the first inning, including a 2-run triple by Dan The Man. Them old bones were still running well! Too bad that in the second he made the final out with the bags full. That laid our offense to rest for the game, and Vazquez was on his own, and he was not well alone out there. He allowed two leadoff singles each in the fourth and fifth and despite a double play hit into by the Coastalbirds in each inning, they scored a run each time around to trail 3-2. Vazquez’ day ended after six innings when rain doused the park and it’s inhabitants. Matt Higgins came up with a 2-out, 2-run single with the bases loaded in the top 7th to breathe new life into our lead, which was tested in the bottom 8th. Jackie Lagarde had stalled a runner on third put on by Burnett in the previous inning, now collected two outs, then put two men on. Despite the next man, Tim Benson, being a right-hander, we called on Grant West, who surrendered a liner, but O-Mo caught it. West then also put two on in the bottom 9th, but got a grounder to Salazar for the second out, and then punched out Dave Burton to seal the deal. 5-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-3, 2 BB; O’Morrissey 2-5; Vazquez 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (6-2); West 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (8);

Reece and Higgins got a day off for Johnston and Ohayashi in the middle game. Scott Wade was pitching, coming in with the second-best ERA in the CL behind Tijuana’s Woody Roberts and tied with Las Vegas’ Jou Hara at 2.15. The Bayhawks fielded 21-year old Venezuelan rookie sensation Ricardo Sanchez (6-0, 2.72 ERA), who yet had to lose a game in the majors. One of those track records would probably get soiled. The Coons had a chance to do damage early, but Osanai grounded into a inning-ending double play with the bags full in the first. Burton drove in a run for the Bayhawks in the bottom 2nd, as Wade was wild and couldn’t locate his pitches, with four walks in the first four innings. The Bayhawks loaded them up in the bottom 4th, but didn’t score. The top 5th saw Wade hit a line drive single, followed by a Salazar double with one out. O’Morrissey’s groundout scored Wade, and with two down, Kinnear doubled to deep right to get the Coons’ noses into the wind. After his very shaky first four innings, Wade then turned it around 180% and sat down nine in a row through seven. Chris Nelson came on for two left-handers in the eight, and put them on the corners, nobody out. Lagarde came in and struck out ex-Coon Antonio Gonzalez, but Mike Powys’ 3-0 line drive – while caught by Johnston in center – tied the game. Lagarde was not to blame. He struck out five in three innings as we went to overtime. He got in line for a W when in the top 11th, Jose Rodriguez hit a 2-out RBI double that bounced over the sliding Steve Cobb, scoring Bobby Quinn. Grant West came out and lost cohesion again. Pedro Villa almost hit one out to start the bottom 11th, but Neil Reece (in after a multitude of switches) picked it off the top of the fence. With two out and a runner on first, West then drilled Burton, putting the winning run on base. Mound conference. Three pitches later, Roberto Rodriguez hobbled out to Salazar, ballgame. 3-2 Raccoons. Kinnear 2-5, 2B, RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Rodriguez 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K and 1-3; Lagarde 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-2);

Neither Sanchez, nor Wade had their numbers ruined here. Sanchez remains undefeated, and Wade actuall shaved a tenth of a run off his ERA. So … (confusedly) are we actually gonna sweep them?

If so, it was on “Pooky” in the final game, in which Vern Kinnear got a day off and Quinn played. Rodriguez made back-to-back starts in place of the anemic Vinson. Quinn justified his start early on with a 2-run homer off Wilson Moreno. They immediately stopped all offensive activities here. Beato didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, when things developed rapidly and four straight Bayhawks reached base, and Moreno tied the game with an RBI single through Osanai. Burton’s RBI groundout got the Coastalbirds ahead, 3-2. Kinnear, pinch-hitting for Beato, and Salazar left the tying run at third base in the top 7th. Miller surrendered a 2-shot to light-hitting catcher Jose Ortiz in the bottom of the inning to throw the sweep outta the window. The ninth, with William Henderson trying to close it out. The Furballs brought the tying run to the plate in no time, when down by three, Osanai and Quinn opened the frame with doubles. Rodriguez singled to left, putting the tying runs on the corners. Vinson struck out. Salazar lobbed out. O’Morrissey flew deep, but out to Burton. 5-3 Bayhawks. Quinn 3-4, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI;

Still sweepless in ’92. And that’s not even the worst news. Neil Reece left the game in the eighth inning with an oblique strain. He will be out for about three weeks. OH JOY!

In other news

May 22 – ATL OF Clement Clark (.360, 3 HR, 14 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak lined up with a 3-5 day against the Raccoons.
May 26 – IND 2B/3B Angelo Duarte (.293, 3 HR, 20 RBI) is out for the season with a ruptured medial collateral ligament. The same injury has also befallen the Canadiens’s utility man Kevin Gilmore, who is also out for the year – both news were announced on the same day.
May 27 – NAS SP Joe Ellis (5-3, 4.53 ERA) is out for the season with a torn rotator cuff. Whether this will be the final goodbye for the 40-year old winner of 188 games will have to be seen.
May 28 – A seventh-inning single extends Atlanta’s Clement Clark’s hitting streak to 25 games, as the Knights fall 6-4 to the Crusaders. Clark is now batting .357 with 3 HR and 15 RBI.

Complaints and stuff

In AAA, 21-year old LF/CF Winston Witter had a 14-29, 0 HR, 7 RBI week to receive the AAA Player of the Week award. Witter is certainly making a name for himself, batting .351 so far this season, but his huge drawback is his poor defense. He basically can’t field for his life.

The injury to Reece of course takes another chunk out of the Raccoons, offensively as defensively. Johnston will play center at almost the same level, so that’s not an issue, but he is batting .200, and that is the issue. Finding a slugging centerfielder ain’t easy, sure, but … (sigh).

[Questdog]

you gotta figure out a way to get Tetsu off that crack....it's gonna kill him....

[Westheim]

With Neil Reece headed to the disabled list, we recalled Jeff Martin from AAA. Martin had outright killed AAA pitching since being demoted, batting 28-68 (.412), with 16 walks on top of that for an insane .523 OBP.

Raccoons (24-21) vs. Condors (30-17)

While their batting average was only middling, the Condors made up with some extra base power, ranking 3rd in runs scored in the CL. They were second to the Raccoons in runs allowed, so things could become close in this 3-game set.

Kisho Saito, who couldn’t get any run support anyway, faced off against Woody Roberts, who merely had a 1.30 ERA going for himself. Once again, Kisho, I am very sorry, but you will lose today. The Raccoons put two men on in each of the first three innings against Unwoundable Woody, and never scored. Saito matched the pace until Andres Manuel tripled in Alejandro Lopez in the fifth to break the scoreless tie, and Hall left the tying run on third in the bottom of the inning. Bottom 6th, again two on, and two out, with Saito coming up. Martin pinch hit for him against the right-hander Roberts, and doubled to right to score the tying run. Jorge Salazar now could get Saito in line for a W, but fanned, and Saito was left with a no-decision. O’Morrissey made an error on the first play in the top 7th and the run came around to score. Great job, Benny. Extra slappings after the game for you. O’Morrissey tried to redeem himself and walked to start the bottom 7th. Kinnear’s infield single set up Hall, who blooped the first pitch from Roberts into short center. O-Mo turned around third and went home, Roberts cut off CF Preston O’Day’s throw and tried to get Kinnear at third, but the youngster was safe! Tied game, two on, no out for Osanai. He grounded to the left side, looking like a double play, but SS Cesar Baez got a bad jump on it and missed it! Osanai ended up with an RBI single and the Coons were ahead. Unfortunately, after a Johnston walk, Vinson and Quinn left the bags full. Lagarde, though tired, came in for a 1-2-3 eighth, Osanai added a 2-out RBI single for an insurance run in the bottom 8th, and then we turned to Grant West. Higgins made a sparkling play on Baez’ grounder to start the inning, and made two more plays for the three outs in the inning. 4-2 Coons, a scratch-and-claw win! Kinnear 2-4, BB; Hall 2-5, RBI; Osanai 3-5, 2 RBI; Martin (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K;

Daniel Hall re-tied San Fran’s Pedro Perez for the league lead in RBI’s with 39.

In an attempt to get Jeff Martin some AB’s, we started him in center, which in absence of Reece, was the second-best choice defensively, and by a clear margin. Still, I wanted to see more from him, while Glenn Johnston was unable to break through the .200 barrier.

No matter the offense, Jason Turner was trashed in due time in the middle game. Alejandro Lopez and Tadanobu Sakaguchi came up with 2-run homers in the first two innings, and O’Day hit a solo shot in the third, putting the Coons down 5-2 quickly. It was the strangest of games – once more – for Turner, who also struck out nine batters at a relatively rapid pace, but still was whacked well. The Coons were 6-4 behind when he left the game in the sixth. Two on, one out, O’Morrissey’s single up the middle scored Johnston from second. Suddenly even a W was in reach for Turner, if Kinnear or Hall would come through. Neither did, as Kinnear flew out, and Hall walked, shifting responsibility to Osanai. He lined into right, Sakaguchi came on, but had to stop and play it on a hop, the tying run came in. The Condors replaced starter John Douglas with Makoto Kogawa, a right-hander to face Jeff Martin. He popped out. Kinnear drove in O’Morrissey in the eighth then for a 7-6 lead. Grant West had been ridden quite hard in the last few days with four outings of 16 pitches or more in six days, and we had Daniel Miller in. They said he had closer potential. Go ahead, kid, show me. We still had Martinez in the pen warming up. Paul Theobald’s double and him advancing to third on the next play made us go to Martinez. We needed a K to Juan Carlos Sanchez. But Martinez couldn’t deliver, Sanchez flew out to Hall, but Theobald tagged up and scored. Game tied again. Carrillo was put in for extra innings and pitched two scoreless innings before Dan The Man walked to start the bottom 11th. Hall got the Go sign with Osanai batting, and went, as Osanai fired a shot to the gap in right center – IT FALLS IN, HALL … around third, THROW BACK IN … IS … LATE!!! WALKOFF WIN!!! 8-7 Raccoons. Salazar 2-6, 2B, RBI; Kinnear 2-6, 2 2B, RBI; Hall 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Osanai 4-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Vinson 3-5, 3B; Burnett 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Marihito Ohayashi was injured on a play and is not diagnosed yet.

Could be finally get a sweep here at the end of May? Against the lefty Jose Macias (4-6, 3.89 ERA), Quinn and Rodriguez started over Kinnear and Vinson. Macias pitched to exactly one batter, O-Mo, before leaving with pain. Carlos Gonzales replaced him, more of a setup/closer type, but only for two outs. Could we take the pen apart quickly? The Condors sent in Jerry Ackerman for the second inning, who had bounced from team to team since being cut from the Raccoons for good in ’88. He made his season debut, but puzzled the Coons until the fourth, when Hall came through with an RBI single. Osanai doubled, putting two in scoring position with one out, but both Quinn and Johnston were struck out by Ackerman. Rodriguez upped to 2-0 with his first big league homer in the fifth, and also got the next RBI, drawing a 2-out bases-loaded walk in the sixth. Robert Vazquez, who had pitched six shutout innings, was pinch-hit for here with Kinnear, who popped harmlessly to third. Daniel Miller struck out the side in the seventh. Nelson pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. West got two quick outs in the ninth, surrendered a single to Manuel, but then got Kuang Liu for the final out. 3-0 Coons. Salazar 2-4, 2B; Osanai 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Rodriguez 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Vazquez 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (7-2);

NO LONGER SWEEPLESS IN PORTLAND!! We also got to within 1.5 games of the slumping Indians. Canadiens and Titans are both 2.5 behind us.

Raccoons (27-21) vs. Aces (20-29)

June started with very bad news, as Marihito Ohayashi has been diagnosed with elbow inflammation that will sideline him for two to three months. Well, back to the drawing board as far as middle infielders are concerned. For the moment, we recalled Matt Brown, who was everything but a middle infielder. Or a big league hitter.

As if things weren’t generally bad enough, Scott Wade, 2nd in the CL in ERA, was torched for eight hits, seven for extra bases, and five runs in just two innings in the series opener. So much for any momentum the team was carrying. Manuel Movonda was overpowering the Raccoons, who had a Higgins single (and saw him caught stealing) in the second inning, and nothing else for … long. They were still 1-hit in the seventh, down 7-0, when Movonda walked Kinnear, hit Hall, and walked Osanai with one out. Higgins whiffed, and Johnston lined out softly to SS Manuel Gomez. The game was of course long lost anyway. A 3-run homer by Daniel Hall in the bottom 9th was merely cosmetic in soiling Movonda’s line. With one out, Higgins doubled. Johnston was nicked by David Carr. Vinson singled into right, scoring Higgins, and now it was 7-4, two on, one out, tying run in Matt Brown coming to the plate. He lined out, and Salazar grounded out. 7-4 Aces. Higgins 2-4, 2B;

That drubbing to Wade leaves Daniel Hall as the last Raccoon in a meaningful position on any leaderboard, as he’s now leading the CL in RBI’s with 44.

Game 2 became an unexpected duel between Raimundo Beato and Jorge Rivera, whose ERA’s added up to more than 11 going into the game. There was no offense until David Vinson hit a 2-out homer in the bottom 5th, 1-0 Coons, and it was only the fourth hit of the game for both offenses combined. The score remained there through seven. Beato failed to make a play on Marc Leach’s grounder leading off the top 8th and Leach was safe. While Rivera’s bad bunt forced Leach out, Rivera advanced on the subsequent groundout. Beato then walked Michael McFarland and that was the curtain call for him, as we went to Chris Nelson to face lefty Ed Carter. Salazar converted his hissing grounder into the third out. Rivera also let up in the bottom 8th. Vinson singled to right, and was balked to second. Brown grounded out and advanced Vinson to third with one out. Salazar singled him in and ultimately the Coons added another run with a Hall sac fly. West sat down the Aces in order to save the game. 3-0 Raccoons. Vinson 2-3, HR, RBI; Beato 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (4-4);

With the way things were going back and forth with pitching performances, we could probably expect Master Kisho to be socked badly in the rubber game. Catcher Jose Rodriguez batted third against lefty Carlos Guillen, and Hawley gave Salazar a day off at short. The Coons took the lead in the first, 1-0, on an unearned run to be blamed on catcher Alberto Duran, who threw away a bouncer by Hall right in front of the plate. Kisho was perfect the first time through the lineup, but the bid was soon broken up by Lowell Allen with a 1-out single in the fourth. It was a game of errors then, as the Coons led 4-0 after four, but all but one run were unearned. Hawley made an error in the top 5th, but a nifty catch by Hall in left held the shutout together. That bid remained intact through eight, but a leadoff homer by Tadashi Kan ruined that one as well in the ninth. We were only three ahead, but Kisho had only needed 81 pitches that far. Had it been a fluke? 4-1 ahead, he would get another batter. Allen popped out. Another one – punched out McFarland. Well, only one left – punched out Manny Espinosa! 4-1 Raccoons. Higgins 2-4, 2B; Saito 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (3-5);

In other news

May 31 – The Blue Sox report that their 1B Mauro Granados has suffered another setback trying to recover from a concussion, which at first didn’t seem severe. The 27-year old Costa Rican is a career .273 hitter with 43 home runs in 1,414 AB.
May 31 – 35-year old VAN CL Jamel Teissier (1-2, 1.69 ERA, 13 SV) preserves a 3-2 lead against the Falcons, notching his 300th career save.
June 2 – It’s a good day for hitting streaks: ATL Clement Clark’s streak hits 30 games with a pair of RBI singles in a 14-10 win over the Canadiens. Also, VAN 1B Salvador Mendez (.377, 0 HR, 21 RBI) has three hits in the same game to make it to 20 games of hitting, and LAP SS/3B Mike McCain (.312, 2 HR, 25 RBI) singles twice in a 4-2 win of the Pacifics over the Cyclones to complete a 20-game hitting streak as well.
June 3 – Clement Clark triples in a 9-7 win of the Knights over the Canadiens, getting his streak to 31 games.

Complaints and stuff

Dan The Man has smashed through the 200 HR barrier, and leads the league in RBI. Well, he’s batting .300 in a sea of .300 batters. We actually have six of them (give or take a few points below), the only things missing are clutch hitting and power hitting from certain Japanese players. Well, and two more positions in the lineup. And those numbers are with a healthy Neil Reece. Which he is not right now.

But Dannyboy, while going hard on 37, could have a very fine year, if he can a) stay on the field and b) stay away from the K. It’s the first time since ’84 that his BB/K numbers are remotely close to 1. It’s the first time since ’84 that he’s on the way to 100 RBI’s. And the .296 average would be a career best.

Things still look bad for career milestones. He would need back-to-back 198-hit seasons to make it to 2,000 until next September, which may not be in the books at all. Even in ’84, he had only 166 hits, so he would have to shatter his career bests here. 1,000 RBI’s don’t look good either. He’d have to average 92.5 in this and next year, which he hasn’t done since – yes – ’84 (102). It entails staying healthy, which – exactly, ’84. He’s still three bags shy of 100 SB. He’s stolen three the last two years combined. Oh, I would so love for him to get at least one of those numbers nailed down. 200 homers are sure a great achievement – remember, that this is a powerless league, and that Daniel ranks *5th* in career home runs now! Francisco Lopez is nine behind and only 32, so he will pass him eventually, but after that it will be a few years for anybody to catch up to the two-double-oh. WAS Jeffery Brown could be it, in two to three years maybe, he’s 15th and 48 dingers shy. A lot of the players between Lopez and Brown are retired or close to it, including ex-Coons Armando Sanchez (12th, free agent) and Ben Simon (13th, retired). Mark “Icon” Allen is also in that group, but he’s struggling with injuries.

I have another waiver claim going for an infielder, Mauro Morales of the Wolves, superb middle infield, good corner infield and left field defense, plus emergency center field, but a meager hitter, with a career high water mark of .283 in 1989, then split between Denver and Salem. He has played very little this year, and would fit very well into the utility role for us. He’s 28 and will be a free agent in the fall.

[Westheim]

We successfully claimed INF/LF Mauro Morales from the Wolves on the day following the Aces series, an off day, before the team would head to Milwaukee. Morales, 28, is a career .250 batter with five homers and 283 RBI in 3,151 AB. His career OPS+ is 79. And yes, I think he’s gonna help us as much as Matt Duncan or some other slacker. Matt Brown was sent back to AAA as Morales was added to the 25-man roster.

Raccoons (29-22) @ Loggers (19-34)

Their offense wasn’t much to begin with and they had surrendered the most runs in the league. The Loggers continued their perpetual embarrassing ways in the CL North. Yet, while they ranked 10th in runs scored, the Raccoons were 8th, so things were not as rosy for us as they seemed. Even the Loggers had to be scored upon first before winning these games.

The Loggers were scored upon in the first inning of the opener, two on struggling Rafael Garcia (3-5, 5.40 ERA). The Coons then drew advantage of innate inabilities after a leadoff HBP to Osanai in the top 4th. A Higgins single went just past 2B Jim Stein, and Johnston and Vinson hit infield singles that didn’t even reach past the dirt. Even Jason Turner singled, but ultimately the Coons only scored three after bases loaded, nobody out, and Vinson’s and Turner’s singles for a 5-0 lead. Turner didn’t allow a hit until the bottom 4th, but then was battered by Jose Perez with a 2-run homer. The Coons got those back instantly in the top 5th, but the Loggers were much more efficient with the runners they had. Turner allowed six of them, and they scored three runs in six innings. The Raccoons piled up almost 20 base runners, and had to bring in Grant West in the eighth to preserve a 7-3 lead with two on and two out. West sat down four in a row to end the game. 7-3 Coons. O’Morrissey 4-5; Higgins 3-4, RBI; Johnston 2-5; Vinson 3-4, 2B, RBI; West 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (13);

Despite a so-so outing and being pinch-hit for in the sixth (Quinn made the final out and left two on), Turner got back to 4-4, which sardonically makes Master Kisho at this point the only starter to have a losing record.

Morales made his Raccoons debut in game 2, starting at short in place of Salazar. O’Morrissey’s leadoff jack made it 1-0 Coons instantly, and O-Mo would drive in Robert Vazquez after the pitcher had tripled in the third, 2-0. Vazquez struggled a bit with control early on, but settled in by the third inning. O’Morrissey meanwhile was a bit on fire, and a double in the fifth left him only a triple shy of the cycle, but he grounded out in the sixth with Morales on third to end the inning. Still, that would give him another chance in the ninth at the latest. Meanwhile the Coons led 4-0 although the Loggers had a base runner each inning. Sooner or later it had to go wrong, and it went wrong in the bottom 6th with a 2-shot by Gates Golunski. While the Coons left two on every inning from the fifth to the seventh, the Loggers still threatened, bringing the tying run to the plate in the bottom 7th, but Vazquez prevailed. Bottom 8th, Lagarde came in, put two on, then gave up a game-tying double to Armando Fernandez. Yeah. Great. O-Mo fanned in the ninth, but extra innings got him another chance in the 11th with Rodriguez on first. He singled to right, and a 2-out walk by Kinnear gave Hall a game-winning opportunity. He flew deep to left, but Golunski caught it. Daniel Miller put runners on the corners with two out in the bottom 11th, then struck out Jim Stein. But since the Raccoons were so incredibly bad at everything, they wouldn’t score past the 11th, either, and Miller lost the game in the 13th on three straight singles. 5-4 Loggers. O’Morrissey 4-6, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 2-5, RBI; Rodriguez (PH) 2-2; Vazquez 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

We faced a 6.08 ERA pitcher in the rubber game, Martin Garcia. Scott Wade’s ERA wasn’t half that, but he had been shredded the last time out. Accordingly, the Coons led 3-2 after the first inning. While they added on two more in the next two innings, the question was whether Wade would live long enough to qualify for a win, since he gave up lots of sound contact. Somehow, the defense held the damage to two runs through six, but Wade put another man on in the seventh and was yanked. The run scored against the bullpen. Both teams added a run in the eighth for a 7-4 score, and after messy bullpen work in the last two innings, Grant West performed a 1-2-3 ninth to save the game with ease. 7-4 Coons. O’Morrissey 3-5; Higgins 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Rodriguez 3-5, 2 RBI; Quinn 1-2, BB; Salazar 1-2;

Raccoons (31-23) @ Indians (34-23)

This was for the division (yet a sweep was unlikely, so it was more about closing up). They were strong overall, and boosted a very powerful offense, besting the Coons by 48 runs this early in the season.

We skipped the struggling Raimundo Beato in the rotation and went to Kisho Saito for game 1. The Raccoons drew first blood of a hopelessly wild Albert Villa in the first inning and saddled him with five runs right away. Villa would surrender six walks, five hits, and six runs in just three innings of work. Once the Indians sent Jorge Mora in for long relief, however, the Raccoons offense dried up. He went 4+ innings, but put on the first two men in the eighth. Vinson’s line drive was turned into a double play by Mario Haider, and the inning fell apart instantly. Daniel Hall also lined into a hard luck out in the ninth and the Raccoons never scored after the second inning. Thankfully, Kisho Saito was dealin’ and the Indians had only one serious threat up in the entire game, but O-Mo started a double play with a nifty grab. Saito’s control was a bit off in the middle innings, but he bounced back to finish the game unaided, and even contributed two ribbies in that first inning rush. 6-0 Raccoons. Hall 2-4, RBI; Higgins 2-4, BB, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K, W (4-5) and 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

This is Kisho’s 13th career shutout, of which now ten have come with the Coons. It is SHO #2 for him this year, marking the first multiple-shutout year for him since 1988.

Fortunes pretty much reversed early on the next day. Jason Turner’s two leadoff walks in the bottom 2nd became two runs, including one batted in by pitcher Jesus Lopez. Top 4th, two on, two out. Morales singled to right and Osanai was waved around third – and scored. The runners moved up, and the Indians then put on Jeff Martin to force Turner to bat – but Lopez first threw a wild one, scoring Bobby Quinn with the tying run. Turner popped out, then barely stalled a runner at third base in the bottom 4th. Top 5th, Hall had O-Mo on first with one out. Down 1-2, Lopez threw another one missing a mile, this time off Hall’s buttocks. That pushed O-Mo to second, from where Osanai scored him with a single up the middle. Lopez then hit Quinn. The bases were loaded and the Raccoons dugout became highly unruly, yelling at Lopez. With Tomas Maguey on second and one out, Raul Vazquez came to bat for the Indians in the bottom 5th – and happened to be nicked. Warnings were issued right here by the umpires. Again, the tying run was barely stopped on third base when O’Morrissey made a great play for the final out. Top 6th, the Coons’ batters gripping their bats a bit tighter than usual. Martin’s leadoff double got something going, as Turner moved him over to third. O-Mo was walked intentionally, but Rodriguez (batting second because why not) singled to left. Higgins grounded out, placing two in scoring position for Hall with two down. 2-2. Grounder up the middle – THROUGH!! O’Morrissey scored and Rodriguez was waved home and was SAFE!! Up 6-2, what could happen? Turner happened. Luis Gonzalez and Vincente Rodriguez both singled their way on in the bottom 6th, nobody out. Jose Martinez flew out to Quinn, but Gonzalez tagged and went home, taking out Jose Rodriguez in a close play. Both players were shaken, but continued. The Indians scored two, and the game was close again at 6-4, and made it 6-5 in the bottom 7th with a Paul Connolly homer off Carrillo. Lagarde almost was toppled, but Bobby Quinn held on to the lead. Hall was grazed by a tight pitch from Eddie Jackson in the top 8th, and himself barely noticed it, but was awarded first base. No ejection. The air was electric, still. Too electric for Morales, whose error to start the bottom 8th put the tying run on base. Two on, two out, Raul Vazquez was due up, a 11-homer lefty. If that was not the time for Grant West, it would never come. Vazquez took a called strike one, then fouled off and watched another one. West tried to get him with junk, and Vazquez fouled off two more. Then, a fastball, STRIKES HIM OUT!!! Jim Durden pitched the ninth for the Indians – and the Raccoons made him bite the dust with three 2-out RBI hits! GO COONS!!! West walked one in the bottom 9th, but the game was not in danger anymore. The Coons chewed through the Indians in a crackling battle for the division lead – and came out atop, 9-5 Furballs!! O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Rodriguez 2-6, 2 RBI; Hall 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Morales 2-5, RBI; Salazar (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B, RBI; West 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (15);

THANK THE HEAVENS THAT WE HAVE GRANT WEST ON OUR SIDE!!

Game 3 was for the sweep, pitting Robert Vazquez against Arthur Young, who also issued two leadoff walks in the game, but Hall’s RBI groundout was all the Coons mounted in the first. Rain was looming and started in the top 4th. The Coons still led 1-0, but Victor Cornett’s leadoff homer in the bottom 4th tied it up, and a minute later the game was put into a delay by intensifying rain for a while. When Vazquez returned, Paul Connolly socked him for a go-ahead homer. The Indians didn’t bring back Young for the fifth and tried to hold their 2-1 lead with the bullpen. Hall got on in the sixth, but K’s by Osanai and Johnston left him on third. Top 8th, still down by a measly run. Morales got on with one out with a hit through the seam on the left, and after a poor out by Vinson, Quinn came up with an infield single. Runners on the corners, two down for Johnston, and that hadn’t worked against a right-hander, it wouldn’t work against left-handed career saves leader Andres Ramirez. Rodriguez pinch-hit for him and grounded out. Jake Martin hit another home run off Carrillo in the bottom 8th, that was it. Kinnear reached on an error in the ninth, but this time Jim Durden held up. 3-1 Indians. Quinn 2-4; Martinez 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Division leaders for a day. Bwah.

In other news

June 4 – The Cyclones hold L.A.’s Mike McCain hitless in a 6-1 win over the Pacifics, ending his hitting streak at 21 games.
June 6 – The Titans cream the Canadiens, 11-0, and also hold Salvador Mendez dry, ending his hitting streak at 22 games.
June 7 – NO-HITTER! The Indians’ Larry Davis (6-3, 2.92 ERA) befuddles the helpless Crusaders all day long, while the offense does it’s grisly work, smacking the Crusaders 11-0, while Davis does not allow a hit, and walks only one. The offending walk is drawn by Sean Bergeron in the second inning. It is the 15th no-hitter in ABL history, and the second for the Indians (Salah Brunet, 1977), while the Crusaders are no-hit for the first time. It is also the seventh no-hitter in June, including Brunet’s as well as those of Roger Weaver (RIC) and Eric Edmonstone (NYC, both 1984), Carlos Guillen (NYC, 1985), Rafael Espinoza (1989, and Chris O’Keefe (both SFB, 1991).
June 8 – While the Knights hack through the Bayhawks, Clement Clark (.343, 3 HR, 20 RBI) extends his hitting streak to 35 games with a first-inning single.
June 9 – The Bayhawks get to Clement Clark, hold him 0-3 and end his hitting streak at 35 games. They still lose to Atlanta, 5-4. Clark ties Manuel Doval for the 3rd-longest hitting streak in ABL history. Claudio Rojas’ marks of 47 and 40 games remain untouched.
June 10 – SFB INF Roberto Rodriguez (.241, 1 HR, 34 RBI) sprains his ankle in an on-base collision and will miss up to a month.
June 11 – LAP OF Lucio Hernandez (.352, 6 HR, 41 RBI) can’t stay healthy this year. He will now miss two weeks with a strained rib cage muscle.

Complaints and stuff

Woulda been great to hold on there. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

[Westheim]

Just a short service announcement: the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated; I'm just a bit stuck here with a mental aversion against picking through the draft pool, which combined uncomfortably enough with high workload and other games draining enough time away from me to stall this for ten days now. We should continue in short time. Certainly less than another ten days.

[blazertaz13]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Just a short service announcement: the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated; I'm just a bit stuck here with a mental aversion against picking through the draft pool, which combined uncomfortably enough with high workload and other games draining enough time away from me to stall this for ten days now. We should continue in short time. Certainly less than another ten days.

I have to ask now, what other game endeavors have taken you away from the 'Coons? I may need to check them out, since they have taken away from my daily reading schedule.

I am glad to see that you are still alive and kick though.

[Westheim]

There are quite a few gems in the draft pool for the 1992 class of draftees. There’s a rich collection of pitchers, headlined by SP’s Rafael Barbosa (12/20/16), Carl Bean (12/12/14), Clinton Kennedy (17/13/13), and Anibal Sandoval (11/16/15). There are also quite a few high quality relievers included, most notably Colin Dunlap (20/17/18).

There are many suitable catchers, although no monster batters among them. Most strong batters have defensive inabilities to soil them, like 3B/2B Mark Hall (15/13/12) and C/1B Luis Lopez (12/14/18). Not as bad in the field should be 2B Terry Sullivan (15/13/15) and 3B Mike Crowe (16/12/18).

The absolute best player in the pool? OF Luke Newton (18/6/19), with 20 GAP, 19 /K, strong defense, and lots of speed.

The Raccoons pick 22nd in the first (and every other) round and will not pick any of those cherries. We also have two picks in the 37-pick supplemental round.

Originally Posted by blazertaz13

I have to ask now, what other game endeavors have taken you away from the 'Coons?

I've been playing Civilization IV on and off for years, but mostly it was World of Tanks that sucked me dry. Blame the guy at work who infected me with that latter virus. And no, I have no more success at any of those games than I have here with the Portlandians.

[Westheim]

RACCOONS DRAFT HISTORY (as of June 11, 1992)

Players in bold = players currently in the Coons' system (majors or minors).
Players underlined = active major leaguers or players that have played in the majors this season.
Listed are the first five rounds from every draft, plus meaningful drafts from later rounds. Meaningful approximates players that played for the Furballs in the majors, or went on to careers worth mentioning elsewhere.

1977

Round 1 - LF/RF Daniel Hall – Franchise poster boy! Slowed down my slews of injuries, he still ranks as one of five players with 200+ home runs in ABL history with 202 (5th). Has held the left field job for 13 years.
Round 2 - SP Jose Garcia – retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - 1B Matt Workman – Retired. Played 595 games at 1B for the Raccoons, including 404 straight starts before being traded with prospects for Tetsu Osanai. Never landed another job in the starting lineup elsewhere, and last appeared with the Wolves in 1988. Career stats: .271/.327/.390, 61 HR, 327 RBI in his career.
Round 4 - MR Miguel Bojorquez – Retired. Appeared in 39 games for the Raccoons between 1980 and 1985, before being claimed on waivers by the Blue Sox. Bounced around in the Federal League as a third-string lefty reliever until 1990. Career stats: 147 G, 11-7, 2 SV, 4.93 ERA
Round 5 - SP/MR Jorge Rodriguez – Retired. Was traded before the '83 season and has been with Boston in '83, L.A. in '85, and Oklahoma in ‘87. Career stats: 67 G, 0-2, 1 SV, 7.02 ERA.
Round 7 - MR Jason White – who was traded after the 1985 season for Marcos Costello, and has not pitched in the majors since ’86 (MIL). 264 career games with a 4.14 ERA.
All others from this year are retired.

1978

Round 1 - MR Richard Cunningham – Nasty right-handed setup man with a career WHIP of 1.16 so far and over 9 K/9 in 732 games. Was traded to the Stars in the 1988 fire sale.
Round 2 - MR Gary Simmons – Was beaten up as a starter with the Raccoons in 1980-81, and was traded to Nashville after the 1982 season. The Blue Sox and later the Knights use him as reliever exclusively, and he has found his niche there. With the Knights since 1987. 578 G (64 GS) with a 3.42 ERA.
Round 3 - 1B Johnny Snow – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - MR Marvin Large – 14 years as a professional player, never pitched in the majors, currently in the Loggers system.
Round 5 - C Eric Gregory – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 7 - LF/RF Fernando Perez – Retired. Had four hits in 26 AB’s for the Coons between 1982 and 1984, was claimed by the Pacifics in 1985, but never appeared in the majors again.
All others from this year are retired.

1979

Round 1 - MR Grant West – Local boy from Portland, is the Raccoons' closer for more than a decade. Has a 1.90 ERA and 432 SV (t-2nd all time). He's outright nasty to hitters, even righties.
Round 2 - SP Pepe Acevedo – Was shipped off to Cincinnati in the Jack Pennington trade before the 1981 season, and was in the majors for the Cyclones and Indians between 1984 and 1989 with a 43-37 record and 3.80 ERA, but has not appeared in the Bigs since.
Round 3 - MR Fletcher Kelley – Not the best of righty relievers, but often good, he was traded to Nashville in the Raúl Herrera trade, where he's won two rings. Bounced between teams after 1987 and has not appeared in the Majors after 1990. Has appeared in 415 games in the majors, he is currently in the Cincy system.
Round 4 - LF/RF Gary Carter – Retired. Had nine AB’s for the 1983 Coons, going hitless. Never played anywhere else.
Round 5 - C Dave Stewart – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - MR Gilberto Soto – Retired. Pitched for the 1984-85 Coons. 59 G, 4-2, 1 SV, 4.81 ERA.
All others from this year are retired.

1980

Round 1 - SP Carlos Gonzalez – Riddled by injuries, he has not become the star pitcher he was projected to be. Shipped out after 1989, he pitched two years for the Titans and is now a free agent. 48-57 with a 3.91 ERA.
Round 3 - SP Ray Willis – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - 1B/2B Darren Campbell – Retired. Only had 86 AB’s for the Raccoons from 1985 to 1987 and never played for another big league team. Career stats: .209/.253/.244 with 0 HR, 7 RBI.
Round 5 - LF Jose Perez – Retired. Was taken by the Scorpions in the 1984 rule 5 draft and played for them from 1985 to 1987. Career stats: .221/.297/.277 with 1 HR, 20 RBI.
All others from this year are retired.

1981

Round 1 - 3B/2B Orlando Lantán – Retired. Hurt his knee shortly after being drafted and spent short stints with the Coons in 1985 and 1986, after which he was claimed off waivers by the Blue Sox, but never played for any other team. Career stats: .200/.261/.248 with 1 HR, 10 RBI.
Round 2 - C Greg Thornburg – Retired. Great defense, but never much of a batter. Had his 15 minutes of fame with the 1986 Aces, getting four AB’s with a double.
Round 3 - OF Kelly Weber – Retired. Backup outfielder 1984-1988, was traded to the Gold Sox for 1989, but only appeared in six games for them. Career stats: .251/.298/.320 with 5 HR, 112 RBI.
Round 4 - MR Pedro Vazquez – right-handed fireballer with severe control issues, he has made 61 appearances for the Raccoons since 1986 with a 3.87 ERA. Is with our AAA team.
Round 5 - CL Emerson MacDonald – has 100 appearances between Portland, Los Angeles, and Indy in the Bigs with a 3.96 ERA; currently with the Indians’ AAA team.
Round 7 - C Andy Reed – Retired. Had limited exposure with the Raccoons and Dallas as backup catcher. Career stats: .267/.341/.371 with 2 HR, 9 RBI.
All others from this year are retired.

1982

Round 1 - LF/RF Alejandro Lopez – Fearing a bust, we shipped him off in an 8-player deal with the Blue Sox in 1985. Has become an outfielder, although he keeps sliding back into bench roles, first with the Blue Sox and now with the Condors. .256 hitter with 62 home runs.
Supp. Round - INF Carlos Miranda - Versatile infielder, who was with the Coons from ’85 to ’89, batting .234 in 266 AB. Free agent.
Supp. Round - OF Matt Olson – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Jason Bentley – Mainstay in the Raccoons bullpen from 1985 until a dismal 1989 season through him out of the majors. Free agent with a 4.01 ERA in 238 games.
Round 3 - C Odwin Garza – The Aruban appeared for the 1986 and 1987 Raccoons with mixed success. Had a few games with the Warriors in 1988 and 1990. Career .222 batter and currently a free agent.
Round 4 - 1B Mariano Duarte – In our system through 1988, but only made the Bigs with the Thunder in 1989 and then for one at-bat in 1991. Career .288 batter in 52 AB.
Round 5 - RF/LF Paul Blake – Retired. Only appeared for the 1986 Raccoons. Career stats: .220/.265/.308 with 1 HR, 5 RBI.
All others from this year are retired.

1983

Round 1 - SP Scott Wade – Solid installment in the Raccoons rotations for several years now after debuting in 1985. 95-58 with a 3.30 ERA, and doesn’t feel like stopping.
Supp. Round - C Miguel Carrasco – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF Wilson Martinez – free agent, never appeared in the majors.
Round 8 - 1B/3B Jose Lopez – was released in 1985 and bounced around before making his debut for the 1991 Knights, going 2-18 at the plate.

1984

Round 1 - MR Juan Santos – Shipped out for the in Portland short-lived Jose Sanchez after 1987, he didn’t make his debut until 1989 with the Scorpions. Has not appeared after 1990. 5.23 ERA in 64 games.
Supp. Round - 1B Billy Mitchell – Traded after the 1988 season, in which he was a September call-up, being blocked by Tetsu Osanai. Has appeared for the Capitals and Falcons, and currently starts at first for the latter. Has 56 homers and a .885 OPS.
Round 2 - OF Hector Medina – free agent, never appeared in the majors.
Round 3 - RF Jose Correa – free agent, never appeared in the majors.
Round 4 - MR Jorge Cavazos – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF/RF Jose Vega – free agent, never appeared in the majors.

1985

Round 1 - 1B/3B Joe Jackson – debuted in 1988, but was traded to the Falcons after that season for Justin Reader. Is a regular starter for them since 1990, but the projected power has never materialized with only 13 dingers for him in 1,266 AB’s.
Supp. Round - 1B Gabriel Ramirez – traded to Cincy after ’86 for Glenn Johnston, which has paid off for the Coons, since Ramirez has yet to appear in the majors.
Round 2 - MR Jose Mendoza – free agent, never appeared in the majors.
Round 3 - LF/RF Antonio Morín – in A ball for the Gold Sox, no big league experience.
Round 4 - 1B/2B Dennis Gray – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP/MR Gerald Hickman – released in 1991, never appeared in the majors.
Round 5 - 3B/2B Bartolo Ayala – currently in the Crusaders organization, no big league experience.
Round 6 - MR Mike Shaw – appeared in 37 games for the 1986 and 1988 Coons, logging a 5.40 ERA. Currently in the Warriors organization.

1986

Round 1 - SP Miguel Martinez – was included in the deal for Neil Reece in the 1988 sales, which was another big W for the Coons. Has made appearances for the 1988 Buffaloes and 1989-91 Thunder, but those amount to 22 games (13 starts) with a 3.05 ERA. Still in the Thunder organization.
Round 2 - SP/MR Eugene Scott – weak reliever stuck in AA ball.
Round 3 - 1B Vincente Rodriguez – part of the deal for Jorge Salazar before the 1990 season, he has since appeared in 145 games for the Indians with a .272 average, but only ten homers.
Round 4 - RF/INF Ben Nash – in AAA, may make the majors at one point as a utility infielder.
Round 5 - MR Keith Jefferson – average reliever in AAA, and with the way we are loaded in the pen, he will probably not appear for the Raccoons.

1987

Round 1 - 2B/3B Hector Gonzalez – Gobbled up all of nine AB’s in AA ball before tearing his labrum, missing the rest of his rookie season. Since being included in the Neil Reece deal in the 1988 sales, he has made the majors with the Buffaloes, batting .254.
Supp. Round - MR Albert Matthews – Debuted in 1989 and even fought his way into the setup role, before inexplicably exploding this year. He was demoted back to AAA, but should come back on the strength of his track record, a 2.76 ERA in 153 games.
Round 2 - C Bob Armstrong – primarily a defensive catcher, he has fought his way up to AAA.
Round 3 - INF/LF/CF Terry Miller – defensive wizard on the brink of a call-up last year. This year batting .193 in AAA.
Round 4 - SP Dennis Fried – appeared in 16 games for the Coons in 1990, before being included in the ill-fated Raul Castillo deal in 1991 (Castillo only played in three games for Portland due to injury). The Blue Sox have used him primarily as a reliever in 1991-92. 4.04 ERA in 29 appearances.
Round 5 - MR Walter Weber – released in 1989, currently in the Bayhawks system.

1988

Round 1 - LF Edgar Morris – struggled as 17/18-year old in A ball, but is now batting .333 in AA, and would be in AAA already if not for injuries.
Round 2 - INF Steve Caddock – can’t bat for his life, stuck in A ball.
Round 3 - MR John Smith – southpaw with some chance at a bullpen job, currently in AAA.
Round 4 - C Freddy Lambert – his exceptional catching abilities are suffering from an inability to hit more than his weight in AA ball.
Round 5 - LF/RF Chih-tui Jin – moved to AAA this year, where he’s batting .274, but fanning much too often.

Somebody, I think, wanted to be informed of 10th-round pick Sterling Burns’ progress. Well, there hasn’t been any. He’s sucking the air out of his roster spot in A ball. Still.

1989

Round 1 - SP Eduardo Salazar – currently 6-2 with a 3.40 ERA in AAA, and he might be ready for the majors, if we just had a spot for him in the rotation. Has had his share of injuries already, though.
Supp. Round - CL Gabriel De La Rosa – doing a great job closing games in AAA, with a 2.81 ERA. He’s a right-hander, which limits his call-up chances.
Round 2 - 1B Ruben De La Rosa – No enthusiasm here. While the power is here (14 HR in AA this year), most everything else is not.
Round 3 - OF/1B Rodrigo Correa – was released in 1991 for being awful in A ball, has since been taken on by the Miners and is batting .171 in AA for them.
Round 4 - SP Brendon Bell – his 3-9 record and 4.76 in AA ball this year may not be indicative of his final performance. He’s only 20 and has some time.
Round 5 - MR Rafael Vazquez – still in A ball, where he has been superseded by younger guys and only appeared seven times this year.

1990 (note: this was the first draft over 12 rounds)

Round 1 - MR Daniel Miller – Shot through the minor leagues to make his debut in 1991, which he started with 15(?) innings without an earned run allowed. By now, after 31 games, his ERA is a much more pedestrian 3.32, but he could become a setup man or closer down the road.
Supp. Round - SS/2B Jayson Kelley – struggling to bat .200 in AA, which negates any good defensive abilities he has.
Supp. Round - C Marcos Lozano – another guy failing to bat .200 in AA. His catching also leaves things to be desired.
Round 2 - MR Leon Wright – the potential is here, definitely, but so far he is suffering from terrible control and is still in A ball.
Round 2 - LF/CF Francisco Reyes – another potential bust, batting .228 in AA ball, without any power to speak of.
Round 3 - SP António Donís – scouts are raving about his stuff, but his control has to be ironed out. He’s currently walking more than five per nine innings in AA ball, assembling a 4.68 ERA.
Round 4 - 1B Mark Logan – power has vanished, batting in the low .200’s in A ball.
Round 5 - 1B/2B/LF Michael Martin – 30% of his hits this year in AA ball have been over the fence. Bad news: he’s batting .195.

1991

Round 1 - SP Gerárdo Ramirez – dominated A ball in ’91, but was whacked in AA. Back in A, he is crafting a solid year so far with a 3.44 ERA. At age 21, he still has a chance.
Supp. Round - LF/RF Paco Martinez – took a violent ratings drop, but is batting .287 in AA ball. Development could go either way, but might go so without home run power.
Round 2 - 2B Pat Parker – batting .253 in AA ball, progress points upwards, a bit at least.
Round 2 - INF Michael Lloyd – was recently promoted to AAA after killing AA pitching with an .850 OPS despite lacking any home run power.
Round 3 - MR Fred Carlton – stuff is there, control is not, resulting in a 6.23 ERA in AA.
Round 4 - 1B Steve Stevens – is basically blind at the plate, and while he has doubles power and OPS’ing .788 in A ball, he has also 36% strikeout ratio.
Round 5 - MR Pancho Padilla – decent work so far in A ball, although his 4.23 ERA this year is too high.

---

This took literally hours to assemble. The last edition was from before the 1988 draft.

It also shows that while I grabbed into the dirt with Lantán, six of my first seven first-round picks have become either stars with Portland (Hall, Cunningham, West, Wade) or at least semi-competent players (Gonzalez), even if only elsewhere (Lopez). The next three drafts (1984-86) have turned out to be terrible.

Another notable thing is that I have traded away many of my top picks from the years after 1986, while bringing in key players who were then often just prospects themselves, but have clicked phenomenally, like Glenn Johnston and Neil Reece.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-24) vs. Blue Sox (30-29)

The Blue Sox might have been only a hair over .500 coming in, but they were 3rd in both runs scored and runs allowed in the Federal League, and had the best rotation over there, so caution was the call of the day. To make things more difficult, Grant West came down with the flu and was sneezing all over the bullpen.

Chris Lacy was the black sheep in the rotation and was up for game 1 with his 5.23 ERA, facing Scott Wade and his 2.68 mark. The two faced each other in the bottom 2nd. With the bases loaded, Vinson had just whiffed for the second out, bringing up Wade, who was patient with the junk Lacy fed him and took four balls, forcing in the first run of the game. Wade was not very sharp in going 6.1 innings on 109 pitches, and the offense was not very productive, only adding an unearned run for a 2-0 lead in the third. Daniel Miller came in to face Orlando Mendoza in the top 7th and surrendered a home run. Well, Wade could have done that, too. Nelson was hit with an RBI triple by Mauro Granados in the eighth and the lead was gone, Wade would not get a W. As Nelson was yanked, Lagarde faced the task to keep Granados at third with no outs, but couldn’t do it. The Blue Sox took a 3-2 lead on a sac fly. Salazar led off the bottom 9th with a double against Lorenzo Flores. O’Morrissey came up and singled into right, and the speedy Salazar came home to tie the game. An infield single by Kinnear put Hall into position to end it with any hit, and nobody out. He lined hard into right, but into an out. Osanai flailed three times on three pitches. Higgins then took a 1-0 pitch up the middle and between the infielders. O’Morrissey around third, coming home, HE’S SAFE!! 4-3 Raccoons in walkoff fashion! Kinnear 3-5, 2B; Higgins 3-5, 2 RBI; Wade 6.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K and 0-1, 2 BB, RBI; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, W (3-2);

The Indians fell to Cincy, 6-1, and the Raccoons were back in first place. Wade moved closer to the CL lead in ERA behind Woody Roberts and Jou Hara, but what always happens to a Coon with a stellar ERA? He gets no run support. Wade remains 4-3. But if that was the Blue Sox’ worst guy, I didn’t want to see their best.

First we got to see a known face in ex-Coon Dennis Fried, who had started the year in AAA, but had now made two starts for two wins and a 1.69 ERA. We offered “Pooky”, who was socked for three runs in the first inning, and it got little better beyond that. Nashville’s makeshift shortstop Manny Valdez made two errors in the bottom 4th that closed a 5-1 deficit to 5-3, but the Raccoons still looked rather hopeless, especially since Raimundo Beato was just awful, allowing two more runs in the sixth. Valdez would make four errors in the game, and cost his team another run, but the Coons still were unable to produce. They had the tying run at the plate in the bottom 8th, but Higgins double-played them out of there, and that was followed by a 5-run top 9th, in which Carrillo and Nelson were torn up badly. 12-4 Blue Sox. O’Morrissey 2-5, RBI; Martin 2-4, 2B;

The bullpen, which was considered the strongest part of this team, is becoming more and more of a burden … We also fell back out of the lead in the CL North.

The rubber game. Kisho Saito was perfect through three, but surrendered a leadoff single to Jin-yong Kim in the top 4th. Kim tried to score with two out on a Horace Henry single, going from second, but Vern Kinnear threw him out by a mile at home. After Higgins and Osanai both left Kinnear and Hall in scoring position in the bottom 4th, Saito fell to an RBI triple and subsequent sac fly by Russ Cote and Manny Valdez, respectively. Osanai left two more on in the sixth. His time was running out at a rapid pace. Saito was further betrayed by Vinson, who allowed a run to score on a passed ball, and later failed to catch a third strike. Bottom 9th, down 3-1. A 1-out bloop single by Higgins brought Osanai to the dish with the chance to tie it. The Indians had lost, so a win would get the Coons back into first. Osanai could go a long way and tie it, but he didn’t and made an out. Martin pinch-hit for Vinson and reached only on an error. Glenn Johnston came to the plate, batting a buck ninety-five, and had the chance to end it. One way or the other, maybe the other. Xiao-shuang Sa fed him junk, a wide one, then two borderline pitches fouled off, then one in the dirt. The fifth pitch of the at-bat was low, but knocked by Johnston. What a shot!! Out to center!! Up! Up! UP AND AWAY SHE GOES!!!! GLENN JOHNSTON 3-RUN WALKOFF HOME RUN – I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!

Ahem. 4-3 Raccoons. Higgins 2-3, BB, RBI; Johnston 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K;

Raccoons (35-25) @ Gold Sox (28-34)

28-34 was bad enough for last place in a middling FL West, with the Gold Sox only eight out of the lead in mid-June. However, they had both trouble scoring runs and their rotation was frighteningly bad. The Raccoons had not scored more than seven runs in a game the whole month (last winning 8-7 against the Condors on May 30), so maybe this was the time to up the oomph?

We got Neil Reece back from the DL and he did not go on rehab, but returned straight to center field in Denver. Jeff Martin bit the dust. Johnston’s walkoff heroics were rewarded with a start in right, getting Daniel Hall, who was to turn 37 later this month, a day off. The draft was on the night of the first game as well (see separate post).

In a scoreless game, the Coons lost Jorge Salazar in the third inning when the shortstop tweaked something in his shoulder. Jason Turner was perfect through three innings, but the game was scoreless that far. The Coons then loaded the bags in the top 4th with nobody out. Osanai to the plate. A Joe Lane jr. pitch down the middle, a swing, a bang, a shot – A GRAND SLAM!!! That was only his second homer of the year, but he certainly made it count here, breaking a scoreless tie. Turner’s bid ended in the fourth, as the Gold Sox got a run off him with a bloop RBI single. Our long-time former catcher Sam Dadswell added with an RBI triple in the fifth, but the Coons pulled away again to 6-2 in the sixth. Turner allowed only three hits while pitching into the eighth, but when he left for Burnett with a man on first and one out, Burnett balked and wild pitched the run in. Nevertheless, the Coons held on, and won 7-3. Salazar 1-2; Reece 3-4; Higgins 2-3, BB; Osanai 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; Hall (PH) 1-1, 3B; Turner 7.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (6-4);

Salazar had merely a tender shoulder and was DTD for a few days. He would be left out of the lineup for the rest of the series, Mauro Morales taking over.

Game 2. Daniel Hall opened the scoring with a leadoff jack in the top 2nd, his 10th of the year. Up 2-0, Robert Vazquez almost lost it in the fourth, putting four men on and barely leaving the bags loaded with a 2-1 lead. Osanai made it back-to-back home run days with a solo shot in the sixth, 3-1. Despite a few chances, like runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, the offense failed to score more, and it came down to the pen after Vazquez was done after six innings. Carrillo and Lagarde held the Gold Sox at bay, handing it over to West, who struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning on his return from the Pits of the Coughing Death. 3-1 Raccoons. Reece 2-5; Vázquez 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (8-3) and 1-2;

Our postseason nightmare Kiyohira Sasaki started game 3 for the Gold Sox. Wade fell behind 2-1 in the first, and Osanai, who had driven in the run in the first, whiffed to end the third with Reece on third base. Daniel Hall had tied the game with a sac fly before that. Sasaki was given a double whammy by Reece and Hall in the top 5th, when the Furballs outfielders went deep back-to-back to give Wade a 4-2 lead. In the bottom 6th, an O’Morrissey error unfortunately jump-started the Gold Sox. They added two 2-out singles, scoring a run, and had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with Sam Dadswell coming up. First base was open and he was put on. Wade had to beat SS Arthur Baker, and grounded him out to short. Wade went seven, clinging on to that 4-3 lead. Bottom 8th, Lagarde got an out and put the tying run on. Hall had a fly ball spill out of his glove for an error, putting the winning run on, too. That, Tim Eichler, had been Nelson’s only batter. Carrillo came in to face pinch-hitter Alex Gonzalez and walked him on four pitches. Dadswell up. Grant West was brought into a game he possibly wouldn’t be able to save. In a 7-pitch at-bat and a full count, he punched out Dadswell and now also had to retire Baker to get out of the jam. That count also ran full, but Baker drew a walk and Wade lost another W. West punched out Tom Oliver, but the damage was done (and had been done before). The game went to extra innings, the first two of which were pitched by Miller. The Raccoons were invisible at the plate until Higgins led off the 12th with a double. Miguel Quintero balked him to third with nobody out. Reece sacrificed him in, and we pinch-hit for Miller, so we brought our last well-rested reliever, Ken Burnett, for the bottom 12th. Leadoff man Dale Wales got on, but Burnett starved him at second base. 5-4 Coons. Higgins 4-6, 2 2B; Reece 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Morales 2-5; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-1);

In other news

June 12 – 20-yr old CHA SS/2B Juan Barrón (.313, 0 HR, 26 RBI) is out for at least this season after suffering a fractured eye socket after getting into a fight at a Little League game.
June 14 – IND OF Tomas Maguey (.329, 1 HR, 23 RBI) is out for three weeks with shoulder tendinitis.
June 15 – The Wolves’ 22-year old SP Ramón Sotelo (3-5, 3.56 ERA) 3-hits the Bayhawks in a 4-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

Curse that bullpen!! Can’t you give Scotty the wins he deserves!!?? God!!!

AA 1B/3B/RF Egbert van den Bosch (.306, 8 HR, 32 RBI) was Player of the Week down there with a torrid 11-20, 4 HR, 16 RBI performance.

I don't know whether that's a problem here, but ever since I read "The Book", I barely bunt with my pitchers, especially those hitting decently like Saito and Wade. The Raccoons are bottom-of-the-paws last in sac hits with *8*. That can't be the sole reason for our inability to score, right?

Daniel Hall continues to lead the CL in RBI's and also in Isolated Power. Whatever that is.

[Westheim]

1992 AMATEUR DRAFT

The Raccoons had the 22nd pick in every round and two picks of 37 in the supplemental round. With about ten players topping our hotlist, we had an outside chance to get one.

Those players were SP Rafael Barbosa (12/20/16), SP Carl Bean (12/12/14), SP Clinton Kennedy (17/13/13), SP Anibal Sandoval (11/16/15), and MR Colin Dunlap (20/17/18) on the mound side, and 3B/2B Mark Hall (15/13/12), C/1B Luis Lopez (12/14/18), 2B Terry Sullivan (15/13/15), 3B Mike Crowe (16/12/18), and OF Luke Newton (18/6/19) on the plate side.

The Pittsburgh Miners had the first overall pick and selected SP Terry Wilson. He had been on our list, but only sixth or so among starting pitchers. Also on that list, but taken before our first pick, the guy ranking tops for classy names, SP Chang-bum O, who was taken 12th by the Stars. By the time our pick rolled around we were left choosing between SP Clinton Kennedy and OF Luke Newton. Six outfielders had been taken, but Newton, whom we had thought to top them all, remained? Hah. OSA wasn’t thinking much of Newton, but how much was I thinking of OSA?

1992 Portland Raccoons Draft Class

Round 1 (#22) – OF Luke Newton, 22, from Berthierville, Canada – great contact abilities, speed, range, defense, could be an elite leadoff hitter
Supp. Round (#43) – SP Clinton Kennedy, 20, from Dawson, GA – elite stuff, his nasty changeup potentially making him a front-end-of-rotation guy
Supp. Round (#57) – 3B Mike Crowe, 21, from Cleveland Heights, OH – projects as an elite slugger with enough of a glove to not hurt his team
Round 2 (#83) – 1B/LF/RF/3B Mark Kowalchuk, 18, from Cobourg, Canada – his only position of value may be first base, and whether his power will be enough? He’s certainly shown gap power so far, and he also has speed
Round 3 (#107) – SP Kokei Kondo, 21, from Sapporo, Japan – throws four pitches, all with great location, but lacks speed and real biting movement so far; as a left-hander, he could still become a reliever?`
Round 4 (#131) – C Jorge Chávez, 22, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – excellent defensive catcher, bat will have to pick up
Round 5 (#155) – RF/CF Joseph MacKellachie, 21, from Delray Beach, FL – agile runner and defender with a bat perhaps steady enough for a #2 spot in the lineup
Round 6 (#179) – C David Thompson, 17, from Middletown, NY – bat is not all bad, but since his catching abilities are only average, he will have to do the more with the stick, and so far has not shown any home run capabilities
Round 7 (#203) – SP Jose Cervantes, 20, from Jovellanos, Cuba – four pitches, slow fastball, much to work on here
Round 8 (#227) – LF/RF/1B Robinson Gonzalez, 20, from Valencia, Venezuela – speed and defense are there, now we have to slap that habit to swing at junk out of him
Round 9 (#251) – SP Raúl Flores, 21, from Puerto Plata, Dom. Rep. – not very impressive repertoire, he may have a hard time to impress anybody
Round 10 (#275) – CL Santiago Saucedo, 20, from Burbank, CA – left-hander with a nice circle change; might not close major league games
Round 11 (#299) – MR Alejandro Luna, 21, from San Francisco de Macoris, Dom. Rep. – has a curveball and his own glove
Round 12 (#323) – SP Jason Edgar, 17, from Chinle, AZ – four poor pitches, poor guy, looked so sorry among the leftovers we took him on

All players reported to A ball. Even Newton can use a little basic training. Especially since OSA was not fond of him. And 21 other teams. If he’s batting .184 in A ball, we’ll know why.

[Questdog]

Isolated Power = Slugging Average - Batting Average

It is meant to show how much power a guy has. Not extremely useful in evaluating a player's usefulness.

Nice to see Tetsu triple his home run output on the season in 2 games. Hope this means he's found the stroke again.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Not extremely useful in evaluating a player's usefulness.

Ah. Yeah, it is not that useful.

As long as Dan The Man leads in something.

Even if it would be just heart stickers *somebody* (whistles innocently) keeps putting on his locker.

Originally Posted by Questdog

Nice to see Tetsu triple his home run output on the season in 2 games. Hope this means he's found the stroke again.

Yeah, we're all hoping for that.

That international free agent we grabbed this winter, 1B Esteban Baldivia, is shredding AAA pitching.

(cue dramatic music) Dam-dam-daaah.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Westheim

That international free agent we grabbed this winter, 1B Esteban Baldivia, is shredding AAA pitching.

(cue dramatic music) Dam-dam-daaah.

Well, at least if Tetsu is muscled out of a job, it's by a fella with a cool name.....

[Westheim]

Baldivia is .333 with 8 HR and 40 RBI in AAA as of the end of this update. Just one series. It was bad enough.

Raccoons (38-25) vs. Crusaders (25-40)

The Crusaders didn’t score, and while their rotation was mid-pack, their bullpen had a horrendous 5.41 ERA attached to it. Taking advantage of this sorry collection of souls was imperative. We’d play four.

The Crusaders struck first in the opener, their pitcher John Woodard tagging our pitcher Raimundo Beato with a 2-out RBI double in the top 2nd. While the Raccoons got the game tied back up in the bottom 2nd, they would leave seven men on over the next three innings, scoring only once after a leadoff triple by Hall in the fifth, and then only with a sac fly by Vinson with the bags full. That had to be punished, and was in the seventh, where Beato got two out, then put two on. Martinez allowed the tying run to score. Bottom 7th, Hall led off with a double, and O’Morrissey singled. Runners on the corners, no out, Osanai up, and what used to mean three runs in the inning, was another sac fly with a close play at the plate. Up 3-2, Martinez put the first two men on in the top 8th. Miller came in and got Victor Martinez to ground into a double play, but on third was now pinch runner Dan Joyner, ready to dash home at the slightest provocation. Miller went to work on catcher Ruben Melendez and struck him out in a full count. With our pen and especially Grant West reeling from the 12-inning game in Denver the day before, we called on Burnett to save another one. He got the save, although it meant some acrobatic defense from Glenn Johnston in right on Diego Rodriguez’ flyer to start the frame. 3-2 Coons. Reece 2-5; Hall 3-4, 3B, 2 2B; O’Morrissey 3-4, 2B; Osanai 1-2, BB, 2 RBI;

Another tooth-to-nail win (that was given to Martinez for almost blowing TWO leads… strange game this is). The bullpen was aching badly, and we needed a strong outing, preferably eight innings, from Kisho Saito in game 2.

David Ramirez, the 26th overall pick from the 1989 amateur draft, made his debut in Portland as SP for the Crusaders in game 2. He gave up a run in the first, but Melendez tied the game with a shot off Saito in the third. The Raccoons left men on in droves. Top 5th, Saito issuing a leadoff walk to Raúl Castillo (yeah, that one). That alone would have been half bad, but he followed it up with a bad throw on the next grounder. Two on, no outs, he barely was able to stall the Crusaders on second and third to keep the tie tied up. Top 7th, leadoff walk to Sean Bergeron. Osanai mishandled Castillo’s grounder, and then Saito fell to Joyner’s RBI double. From here, he struck out Melendez, Benjamin Butler, and Diego Rodriguez in succession – and still was on the losing end of affairs. Saito did his job, went eight, fanning ten, and ended up defeated by the most agonizingly bad team in baseball. The awful Crusaders pen sat down the Coons in order, and the first thing the first reliever we sent in did, was Lagarde being taken deep by Castillo. 3-1 Crusaders. Reece 3-4; Hall 2-4; Rodriguez 2-4; Kinnear (PH) 1-1; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, L (4-6);

I ****ing can’t believe it. What the ****ing hell does Kisho have to do for A ****ING WIN AROUND HERE??? HIT THREE HOME RUNS???

All 13 batters were sent to bed without candy and also were told no stories before sleep. This even included Daniel Hall, who had an 11-game hitting streak.

I mean, it’s not like I hadn’t seen it coming. They have sucked at the plate for so long now, it was obvious they’d play dead with Saito up, because they know it hurts me the most. Average run support for Kisho this year: 3.5 R/G. In his last five starts (40 IP!) he has allowed seven runs, six earned. SEVEN! His record? Merely 2-1. Way to go.

Game 3 was more of the same. They got a 1-0 lead in the first, but left two men on. They left the bags full in the second, AND also in the third. Kinnear had made the final out in the second, and came up with the bags full and one out in the sixth, still in a 1-0 game thanks to gritty pitching by Jason Turner. Kinnear flew into the corner in deep left, and Benjamin Butler caught that one, too … Rodriguez tagged and scored, but … HOW can it BE??? Bad control at times (although he walked only one with two down in the seventh, the obnoxious Butler) prohibited Turner from going past the seventh. Bottom 7th. O’Morrissey walked to start the frame, and then Higgins singled. O-Mo went for third, the Crusaders tried to get him there, but he was safe, and the speedy Higgins moved up. Osanai was put on intentionally to get to Jose Rodriguez, but with righty John Hatt replacing starter Hector Lara on the mound for the Crusaders, we countered with our only left-hander on the bench, Glenn Johnston, as a pinch hitter. He struck out. Quinn pinch hit for Turner. And struck out. Salazar grounded out.

AAAAHHHH!!!!!

Top 8th, Nelson pitching for Portland. Jesus Morales doubled, and Alfonso Rojas tried to, but Reece barely made the play. Enough seen, bring Martinez! He surrendered an RBI single to Pete Thompson that blinked off Salazar’s glove, and another single to Douglas Donaldson. I was yelling manically in the bullpen and tearing at the railing. Lagarde was brought in to face Victor Martinez, who shot a rocket grounder to right – but Higgins got to hit, 4-6-3, out of the inning. Thank goodness for my throat and the ears of everybody in and around the dugout, Neil Reece drilled a solo home run in the bottom 8th. West had a run to spare in the top 9th, but didn’t need it, as he sat down the Crusaders in order, getting the final out by punching out “I hate him” Butler. 3-1 Coons. Reece 3-5, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-5; Osanai 2-3, BB, 2B; Rodriguez 1-2, BB; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-4);

Game 4 went a little differently. The Coons half-heartedly took advantage of two terrible fielding errors in the bottom 2nd to score four runs, but then still left the bags full. The score was upped to 6-0 in the fourth – another run scoring on an error and one on a wild pitch. Robert Vazquez covered 4.1 innings of no-hit ball, then exploded fantastically for three runs on three hits and a walk in the very same fifth inning. After that he was fine again, but there, for five minutes, he threw balls like a six-year old. The Raccoons were absent at the plate before they actually did some damage in the eighth, scoring four on an overwhelmed New York bullpen, and won 10-3. The six runs against starter Gary Nixon, however, were all unearned. Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-5, 3 RBI; Hawley (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales 2-4, RBI; Vinson 3-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Vazquez 7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (9-3);

In other news

June 18 – The Scorpions trade SP Carlos Reyes (7-3, 3.57 ERA) to the Capitals for C Arturo Aguilar (.218, 3 HR, 15 RBI). Whatever made them do that, remains a mystery.
June 20 – CHA LF/RF Jose Madrid (.318, 3 HR, 35 RBI) will miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb.

Complaints and stuff

The Monday morning edition of the Portland Agitator will report a 45% increase of prescriptions for heart ailments during this weekend series. No, there are no connections to this here.

Apart from Daniel Hall’s 13-game hitting streak, Neil Reece was named Player of the Week, going 16-27 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Yay!

But never mind those two. If I imagine the Raccoons playing a *good* team right now, I am filled with much foreboding. Like the Roman, I see the river Tiber foaming with much blood.

Oh yeah, the Titans are next.

[Westheim]

We go onto a 2-week road trip out east, which includes both of our two closest competitors. With the way the offense is not working, this could well be a very depressing trip.

Raccoons (41-26) @ Titans (38-32)

Scott Wade started this 3-game series against the struggling Luis De Jesus (5.50 ERA), but De Jesus had no-hit the Thunder two years ago, so he ought to have some nice qualities. Both teams got a run early, and then, in the top 4th, Daniel Hall homered a fair bit over the wall in dead center field, which was 434 feet in the Titans’ park, to make it 2-1. A tack-on run or two would have been neat, but didn’t materialize, and a leadoff triple by Hjalmar Flygt spelled death for Wade’s lead, which evaporated with a Salvador Vargas single. Being strong didn’t help Wade a lick, he got another no-decision, and the game headed into extras. Vinson led off the top 10th with a double, and was on third with two outs, from where he scored on a Neil Reece Texas leaguer into shallow left. Kinnear walked, and Hall banged a double off the wall to score Reece. O’Morrissey singled up the middle, and both runners scored. Suddenly – offense! Up 6-2, we left Daniel Miller in the game, who had collected the last two outs in the ninth, but he put the first two Titans on in the tenth. Grant West was brought in, and loaded the bags with a single, but then collected the three outs we needed – Miller’s runners still scored on groundouts. 6-4 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, BB; Hall 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Burnett 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; West 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (18);

Doubles by Hall and Higgins gave Raimundo Beato a 1-0 lead in the top 2nd of game 2, and in the third, the Coons ate up Titans SP Santiago Perez. Our first three men reached base, and all three were brought in to score. Top 4th, we had the bases loaded with two down. Hall went into a full count, then walked, forcing in the fifth run of the game, and he was the first of three Raccoons to reach base here, as Higgins and Osanai collected RBI singles, 7-0. With Beato pitching, you were never sure what you’d get, but this time he was strong, and was about to complete seven shutout innings before he was whacked by Matt Smith for a solo home run. Smith would have been his last batter. He still finished the inning by getting out SS George Waller. It would be Waller in the ninth to bring the Titans back into the game, as the bullpen again couldn’t finish it on time. Carrillo put two in scoring position with one out, and Waller doubled them in, cutting into a 7-1 lead. Burnett came in and sat down the last two batters. 7-3 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, BB; Kinnear 2-4, 2 RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Osanai 2-5, RBI; Beato 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-5) and 2-4;

Now give six runs to Saito, and we’ll be more than fine.

Oh, well. Saito left two in scoring position in the first, then fell to a Waller home run, and two runs overall, in the third. Before that, Salazar had been caught way off first when Higgins had lined out to 1B Juan Valentin in the top 3rd. The next Raccoons base runner was Daniel Hall, singling to start the seventh. O-Mo came up and doubled, and the tying runs were in scoring position with no out. Osanai failed again (and at everything) with a lazy grounder at the third base line, and the runners had to hold. Vinson was hit by a pitch, leaving Johnston exposed to Willie Young’s stuff. He grounded out, scoring Hall, but Reece came in as pinch-hitter for Saito and struck out. Oh, greatness. It was right there. Greatness. There came more of it: Carrillo gave up a 2-out triple in the bottom 7th, then had the guts to throw a wild pitch. GREATNESS. Salazar got on to start the top 8th, and was forced out on a Higgins grounder. Kinnear came up and flew a ball past Alejandro Espinoza for 1-out RBI triple. Hall could tie it now, but walked. O’Morrissey did get the game tied up with a sac fly to center. Extra innings once more, where the Raccoons failed to mount meaningful offense again. The Titans were looking to end the game in the 11th with a runner on third, but Daniel Miller wiggled out of his own mess. Salazar and Higgins got on to start the top 12th. At first, Kinnear was supposed to bunt them over, but flailed, and then was told to hit: he doubled to right and the tie was broken. Hall and Rodriguez had RBI singles, and with two out, Johnston found two on and tripled past Espinoza, who had dé-já vús out there in right. Behind him, Miller batted for himself, since our bench was empty, and singled in Johnston. A collapsing Titans pen allowed six runs in the top 12th. And then Miller loaded the bags with no out in the bottom 12th. Oh not …! While Juan Martinez in coming in would save the game, he didn’t do so until AFTER walking in a run on four pitches. 9-5 Raccoons. Salazar 3-5, 2 BB; Kinnear 2-5, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 2-5, BB, RBI; Rodriguez 1-2, RBI; Johnston 3-6, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

If Kisho Saito finally snapped and brought his finely crafted sword to work one day for a clubhouse massacre, I would not only understand it, I would encourage it. I’d lock the windows.

However long it took them to outscore slow Titans, they swept them, and with the Canadiens taking two from the Indians, we now had a sound 5-game lead. Daniel Hall’s hitting streak is to 16 games.

Raccoons (44-26) @ Thunder (35-37)

The Thunder were struggling to keep the scoreboard clean, not only with the pitching, which was not that bad, and the rotation even ranking 6th, but also with defense. They were at the bottom end of the pile in many defensive categories, leading them to rank second-to-last in the CL in runs allowed with 360, which was 104 more than the league-leading Raccoons had conceded.

Jason Turner came to bat before he threw a pitch in the opener, as OCT starter Juan Torres was wickedly wild, walking three and hitting Hall (on Dan The Man’s 37th birthday) in the opener, allowing four runs to score, one of them batted in by Turner. But despite Torres continuing his wild ways into the sixth inning, he did not get saddled with any more runs. The Raccoons only got on the board once more, with a 2-out RBI single by Hall in the ninth. Jason Turner was outright electric and had no problems in mowing down the Thunder in this game, going the distance for a shutout: 5-0 Raccoons! Hall 2-4, RBI; Turner 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (8-4) and 1-3, BB, RBI;

This was Jason Turner’s eighth career shutout, and the second this season. Way to go, Jolly Jason! :-)

Game 2. The Coons went up 2-0 in the top 3rd on a wild pitch on Manuel Garza and a passed ball on Fernando Gonzales. The Raccoons were wholly unable to otherwise get to Garza. Robert Vázquez was dealing for four innings, then put the two leadoff men on in the bottom 5th and collapsed from there, the Thunder tying up the game the same inning, 2-2. Vázquez did get through the seventh in the tied game, putting the go-ahead run on with a bad throw to Osanai himself. Martinez came in to face the next batter, but the runner was gunned down trying to steal by Vinson before that AB resolved. No offense continued into extra innings. A 1-out walk to Vinson in the top 10th prompted us to send Quinn to pinch-run with Lagarde at the plate. Lagarade failed to bunt him over. In a 1-1 count, we then went to a hit-and-run, but Lagarde – while making contact – narrowly hit it foul. He eventually hit into a double play, and then lost the game in the bottom 10th after a leadoff walk to the much-hateworthy Jeff Wagner. 3-2 Thunder. Salazar 2-4;

Hall extended his streak to 19 games at the first opportunity in game 3 with a 1-out RBI double that also put two in scoring position in the top 1st. Osanai and Morales both struck out. Greatness. Right there. The only truly great Raccoon in this game was Scott Wade, who while not being flawless held the Thunder off the scoreboard through six. Top 7th, Hall found Wade, who had singled, and Salazar on second and first with two down. He dropped a double into deep left, from which it hopped out over the wall – which was too bad, since Salazar might have had scored from first, but had to hold on the ground rule double. But Osanai at one point had to come through, and did so here, with a 2-out, 2-run single to right. Up 4-0, Wade looked safe, and even hit a 2-out triple in the top 8th, but wasn’t scored by Salazar, who was retired by Jeff Wagner, that rat. After Jason Turner had gone the distance two days ago, Scott Wade followed suit, shutting out the Thunder in the process. 4-0 Raccoons! Reece 2-5; Hall 2-3, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Wade 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (5-3) and 2-4, 3B;

Raccoons (46-27) @ Knights (40-35)

We opened the series against Jim Harrington, who was inexplicably 1-9 with a 5.62 ERA after more than a decade as a reliable starter. Like Jason Turner a few days ago, Raimundo Beato batted before ever pitching in the game, as the Raccoons put five runs on Harrington in the first inning, although three were unearned after an error by SS Tony Diaz. Daniel Hall batted in the first run for back-to-back days. Harrington was pinch-hit for in the second inning already. Beato’s outing was not without struggles either: he allowed a run in the first, and then loaded the bags in the fourth, before emerging unscathed because O-Mo made a nifty play. The Coons left five runners on between the fifth and sixth innings, getting only a run from a Quinn sac fly. Up 6-1, Nelson surrendered a leadoff single in the bottom 9th, and a Higgins error created a bad spot with two on and no outs, but Nelson struck out PH Jack Jackson and Martinez got the final two outs in the game. 6-1 Coons. Reece 2-5; Hall 3-4, BB, RBI; Osanai 2-5; Quinn 2-3, BB, RBI; Beato 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (6-5) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

And that’s a 20-game hitting streak for Daniel Hall!! Hall-le-lujah!!

Game 2, second inning. The Raccoons had runners on the corners with one out, but Morales struck out and Osanai was then caught napping at first and was picked off. The Knights responded with a run in the bottom 2nd. Of course, Saito was pitching, so a 1-0 deficit was not miraculous. Turned out, Saito didn’t necessarily have it that day. A leadoff walk to Jack Jackson had pitcher Jesse Carver bunt Jackson over, and from there Saito threw not one, but two wild pitches to score Jackson in the third inning. O-Mo re-tied the game with a 2-run shot in the top 4th (Hall was the runner collected). Carver hit Vinson in the thumb in the fifth inning, and the Coons catcher had to come out, which would almost certainly spell roster calamities in short time. Hall was on base again for O-Mo in the top 6th, and while O-Mo went a good way again, he didn’t hit it out, but it was enough for a double to center. Two in scoring position, no outs. The Knights put Osanai on intentionally, and here I brought Johnston to bat for Morales. Johnston struck out, but Rodriguez, replacing Vinson, came through for a 2-run single. Saito became much better after the fourth and had a few very quick innings, going eight frames in total. West got something to save, and did so 1-2-3. 5-2 Furballs! Reece 2-5, 2B; Hall 3-5, 2 2B; O’Morrissey 3-3, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Rodriguez 2-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (5-6);

David Vinson would be out for a week with a thumb contusion. That’s a problem, because we need a catcher. We had to waive Elmer Hawley, because nobody with options was expendable and to be honest, Hawley was no big league player anyway. Catcher Bob Armstrong was called up from AAA. Armstrong was our second-round pick in the 1987 draft. He’s nothing special, but we need somebody with a mask.

Game 3, and in stepped Jason Turner, recently accoladed again (see below). He faced Carlos Asquabal, who was 9-5 despite a 3.89 ERA (slightly above league average). O’Morrissey led off with a triple in the game, before Reece and Higgins made poor outs to stall him. Dan The Man came up, 2-2 against Asquabal, but the fifth pitch of the at-bat was a single to right. DAN THE MAN!!! 1-0 Coons. The lead didn’t hold up long, a Morales error helped the Knights to tie the game in the bottom 1st, the run being unearned. Both starters lost a few more feathers early on, and the Coons led 3-2 from the third inning on, but both teams missed scoring chances in both the third and the fourth. Asquabal and Turner then met head-to-head in the top 5th. Osanai on second, Quinn on first, two out, Asquabal threw a wild pitch to advance the runners, then put two strikes on Turner, and then hung one that Turner took to left for a 2-run single! O-Mo’s infield single brought up Neil Reece. Asquabal to Reece – SOCKED!! DRILLED!! LONG – WAY – GONE!!! Carlos Asquabal, one of the most dominating starters of the last five plus years – SHATTERED by the Raccoons for eight runs in five innings! Turner went six innings after two errors (the other by Osanai) causing extra work and stress on him. The Raccoons were comfortably ahead, and the win was only tainted by Daniel Miller’s inability to complete the ninth inning, him allowing two runs. 9-4 Raccoons! O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B; Reece 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Osanai 2-5, 2 RBI; Rodriguez 2-5; Quinn 2-5; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (9-4) and 2-3, 2 RBI; Nelson 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

We’re now 4-2 against Atlanta. If we can win one game in the last series against them, we will take the season series for the first time since 1986(!), which sounds desirable.

In other news

June 23 – VAN 2B David Brewer (.395, 6 HR, 51 RBI) first collects two singles in a game against the Indians, which brings his hitting streak to 20 games, then has to come out of the game with a tight hamstring. The Canadiens prevail to win 9-6.
June 25 – SFW INF Esteban Areizaga (.289, 5 HR, 40 RBI) has suffered an oblique strain and will be out for three weeks.
June 26 – WAS CL Domingo Rivera (3-2, 2.10 ERA, 17 SV) may be out for the season with a ruptured finger tendon. Will the 32-year old’s injury derail the Capitals train?
June 28 – 21-year old MIL OF/1B Jerry Fletcher (.386, 0 HR, 15 RBI) manufactures himself a 20-game hitting streak with a sixth inning single in a 1-0 win over Atlanta.
June 28 – BOS SP Santiago Perez (7-8, 4.35 ERA) 3-hits the Falcons in a 4-0 win. Yes, that’s the Perez the Raccoons have just torn up.
June 30 – Not distracted by the nagging hamstring, Vancouver’s David Brewer has run up a 25-game hitting streak, getting the job done early with a first-inning single in his team’s 7-2 win over Tijuana.

Complaints and stuff

Daniel Hall Superstar!! Hitting streak!! Home runs!! Clutch hits!! I’m constantly wetting my pants with all the giddy happiness!!! At age 37 he’s having the summer of his life. It is so sweet, I think I’m gonna cry :-) :-)

More great news: Jason Turner was named the Pitcher of the Month in the Continental League for June (which ended with game 2 in Atlanta), going 5-0 with a 2.52 ERA in his five starts. That’s some pitching!

That was a very good road trip so far, close to being fantastic, but we have four in Indy left. However, unless we get swept, we still hold a 6-game lead, which doesn’t evaporate that easily. And here we’re the best team in baseball!

So, let’s here some more Hall-le-lujah!

[Questdog]

Hall-le-lujah!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (49-27) @ Indians (42-36)

A 4-game struggle for the division lead was upon us. Well, we held the lead anyway, but the Indians would be able to half our 8-game lead by sweeping us. That had to be avoided. A split series would not be that bad. We would have the Canadiens and Loggers after this before the All Star break, the former series obviously bearing more weight. We would however not have another day off before the break, so we would try to give everybody some rest along the way.

The Indians basically maintained a one-man offense at this point, with Raúl Vázquez hitting .368 with 19 homers just short of the half-way point.

Robert Vázquez pitched in the opener and soon was burned by his namesake and former team mate Raúl Vázquez with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd that broke a scoreless tie. Our Vázquez was shaken so badly, he gave up another homer to C Victor Cornett right away. Cornett’s next at-bat sent both Robert Vázquez and the game to bed, a 2-run homer in the fifth to make it 4-0. The Raccoons had nothing going, not even Daniel Hall, who along with Neil Reece had pushed the team the last two weeks. Hall was hitless when facing Raúl Perez with one out in the eighth and walked, ending his 22-game hitting streak. Osanai forced out Hall with his grounder, before Rodriguez doubled to center. Down 5-1, the Coons brought the tying run to the on-deck circle, while the Indians brought Jim Durden, and we brought Salazar to pinch-hit for Morales – which worked with a 2-out, 2-run double to left. Quinn came up and grounded past 3B Pedro Fierros for an RBI single. The Indians tried to get Salazar at home, failed, and Quinn moved to second. Kinnear made the final out, pinch-hitting for Carrillo. Still 5-4 down to start the ninth, one Coons had to get on to give Hall another plate appearance, but Andres Ramirez, the all-time saves leader, sat them down in order with two K’s. 5-4 Indians. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2B; Rodriguez 2-4, 2B; Salazar (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-4, RBI;

Daniel Miller was returned to AAA after the game. He faced two batters, didn’t retire anyone, surrendered a double, a wild pitch, and a walk, and was loaded with a run bloating his ERA to 7.02. We did not call up Albert Matthews, who was not so well at this point, but rather the well-known Pedro Vázquez, who had a 1.66 ERA. Vázquez had no options left, so he had to make this one count.

We sent Scott Wade into game 2, and it would be interesting to see his 2.26 ERA compete with Raúl Vázquez’ 20 home runs. Reece and Kinnear hit RBI doubles in the top 1st, so Wade had the lead he needed, 2-0, but a leadoff triple by Tomas Maguey led to a run in the bottom 1st soon enough. The Raccoons had runners on the corners with no outs in the top 4th, but didn’t score when Higgins lined out and Rodriguez hit into a double play. Wade faced Raúl Vázquez to lead off the bottom 6th in the 2-1 game, but why pull him this early, he was solid on the mound. Vázquez singled to left, but was then caught stealing by Rodriguez. Wade completed seven, before we gambled and pinch-hit for him leading off the top 8th. Johnston grounded out for him, but Salazar doubled off starter Larry Davis. Kinnear’s 2-out single got Hall up, hitless in the series, but he drilled a double to deep right now, scoring Salazar. O-Mo popped out to end the inning, and the Coons again left two in scoring position –without scoring – in the ninth. West came in for the bottom 9th and was taken deep by Raúl Vázquez. Uh-oh. But West sat down the next three Indians and still saved the game, 3-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-5, 2B; Kinnear 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (6-3);

Our 50th win of the year also moved the Titans into second place in the division, but they were still 7 1/2 back. Scott Wade meanwhile moved into the league lead in ERA with a 2.20 mark, ahead of Las Vegas’ Carlos Guillén (2.28). Fourth: Kisho Saito, who was due in game 4.

But before game 4 the baseball Gods dictated that game 3 had to be played, which meant Beato, which in turn meant things could well go either way. Daniel Hall’s 2-out RBI double gave Beato a 1-0 lead in the first, and Beato held on well. Neil Reece upped to 3-0 with a 2-run jack in the fifth. Bottom 6th, Vázquez subdued another Coons hurler with an RBI double. Nobody out, the tying run came up for the Indians, but Beato held on and stalled Vázquez on third base. Nelson put a man on in the seventh that Pedro Vázquez (big family, it seems…) allowed to score. The first batter he faced in the majors this season was Tomas Maguey, and he hit an RBI double. Great. The Coons got a run in the top 8th, 4-2, and Burnett entered to face Raúl Vázquez, who led off the bottom 8th – with a homer. Oh, goodness. Somehow, Lagarde got out of the inning, and we again got a run in the top 9th. West in, and Raúl Vázquez was only due up in the bottom 9th if things would go really wrong. They didn’t, West went 1-2-3. 5-3 Coons! Salazar 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Morales 1-1, 2B; Beato 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (7-5);

Bob Armstrong was catching Beato here and had his first big league hit in the fourth, a 2-out single from which nothing came about.

Now: Kisho time. He faced Albert Villa (3-6, 5.77 ERA). Saito was not sharp, throwing a wild pitch early and then plunked Fierros to start the bottom 3rd. Scoreless game, runners on the corners, two out, he faced Vázquez, who singled up the middle. Higgins got to it, but had no play. The Indians led 1-0, Saito nicked Cornett and then barely escaped the inning with a grounder from Paul Connolly to Salazar. The Coons so far had crowded, but not hurt Villa, hitting into two double plays and leaving a throng of runners on base. Top 5th, Osanai led off with a single and Rodriguez doubled. Nobody out, but Saito up, and he struck out. Salazar did K as well, and Reece had to get things done. He squeezed a single past Connolly at short – tied game. Things then came apart in the bottom 6th. Saito walked Mario Haider, before Carlos Sanchez reached on an error by Saito. Jose Rodriguez’ passed ball moved them up, before Saito hit Fierros – three HBP’s in one game. Villa came to bat, and Saito threw a wild pitch – all things were blowing up, and Saito was chased after allowing three unearned runs. Saito took the loss, and this time he deserved it. 4-1 Indians. Reece 2-4, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4; Quinn 1-2, 2B, 2 BB; Carrillo 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

We got a split series, but why am I tasting such a bitter sting in my mouth?

Raccoons (51-29) vs. Canadiens (43-38)

Everybody’s favourite team was in town again, and they would play the Canadiens, who deserved every bit of hostility one could muster. They were running a lot, so our catchers would be tested, and their rotation had been beleaguered recently, ranking second-to-last in the Continental League. We’d play four.

Hall-le-lujah! resounded in the park in the second inning of the opener, when Daniel Hall opened the scoring with a solo jack off Vernon Robertson. The third inning was not Jason Turner’s. A leadoff walk led to a run in the top half, tying the game back up, and then he hit a double to lead off the bottom 3rd, but was too greedy and thrown out at third base, which cost another run, this time offensively, when Ben O’Morrissey’s following double remained meaningless. Both teams flailed helplessly throughout the middle innings, until O-Mo tattooed Robertson with two out in the seventh and homered to give Turner a 2-1 lead. The Canadiens put runners on the corners in the top 8th with one out. Turner struck out Carlos Quintela, but then the Canadiens brought Yoshinobu Ishizaki to pinch-hit and we brought Ken Burnett to match him. Itchy singled through Mauro Morales and the game was tied again. Bottom 9th. Kinnear pinch-hit for Rodriguez, but grounded out. Higgins pinch-hit for the agonizing Morales (0-3, 3 K) and would have grounded out, hadn’t 1B Salvador Mendez committed his 12th error of the year, a throw into the stands. Higgins on second, a single does. With righty Jamel Teissier pitching, lefty Glenn Johnston pinch-hit for Juan Martinez. He flew far, but out, to LF Luis Arroyo. Higgins moved to third. O-Mo fell behind 1-2 against Teissier, before he made contact, a lobber over SS Raúl Solís – it fell in!! Higgins came home, and the Coons mobbed O-Mo at first base after his walkoff hit. 3-2 Coons! O’Morrissey 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-2, 2 BB, 2B; Turner 7.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K and 1-3, 2B;

David Vinson was declared healthy the next day, which meant he could start game 2 and Bob Armstrong’s presence was no longer required. He was sent back to St. Petersburg and we got us Matt Brown back, who was hitting .373 with 15 dingers in AAA.

The Canadiens didn’t run out .400 batting David Brewer in the second game against Robert Vázquez, which could only be good. Vázquez – after Turner’s failure the day before – tried to become the first Coon to ten wins this year, and got early support from Hall with a crackling 3-run homer in the first inning. DAN THE MAN!!! Vázquez almost choked on the Canadiens in more innings than he had clean ones and was worked up by the sixth – but the Canadiens remained shutout, stranding runners left and right. A 1-out walk to C Phil Hill in the sixth ended his day. The Canadiens got on the board against Carrillo, 3-1 after the top 6th. Higgins hit an RBI triple in the bottom 6th, but was left on with one out when both Brown and Salazar lined into outs. Nelson put two on in the top 7th, but Lagarde bailed the team out, and also pitched the eighth. Grant West notched another save, 4-1 Coons. Kinnear 1-2, 2 BB; Hall 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The Coons were out-hit 11-7 here, but still somehow held on. Vázquez notched W #10.

Game 3 was a day of rest for Daniel Hall, whose 37-year old bones couldn’t go 20 days in a row. Bobby Quinn, who was coming alive, happily filled in. In Hall’s absence, Vern Kinnear also filled in as far as first-inning home run duties were concerned, raking Randy Rakes for a 2-run homer. Home runs by Art Garrett and Neil Reece made it 3-1 in the third. Bottom 4th: Higgins singled his way on with one out. He had stolen a base in the second, and did so again against Rakes and Hill. Vinson walked, bringing up Wade. I called a hit-and-run to shake things up and see if the Canadiens would crumble. They crumbled. Wade swung through Rakes’ pitch, but Hill threw wildly past third base trying to get Higgins instead of the slow Vinson. Higgins scored, and Vinson went to third. Wade then scored Vinson with a sac fly, 5-1. Scott Wade went well until he slammed into a wall in the seventh. The Canadiens tagged him for two runs and had two on, and Brewer up. Burnett replaced Wade and got to 0-2 on Brewer, before the young star lined into center. Reece came on – HE’S GOT IT!!! The Canadiens closed to 5-4 in the eighth against Lagarde, and things became even more tense. West was called upon in the ninth, but blew it when Carlos Gonsales homered off the foul pole to start the inning. Ugh. There was a happy end, just not for Scott Wade: Matt Higgins sent the fans home smiling with a walkoff home run in the tenth inning. 6-5 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, BB; Kinnear 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 3-4, BB, HR, RBI;

Neil Reece was rested in game 4. Hall was back in the game, as Beato went after Arnold McCray, who already had 99 K’s (and K’ed Salazar as first Coon up to make it a hundred), but was 7-9. Those two shut down the offense. Through seven innings, Beato allowed five hits, and McCray only three, and no runs were scored. Beato also went 1-2-3 in the eighth, reaching 100 pitches. Vinson and Johnston drew 1-out walks off McCray in the bottom 8th, and Beato was hit for by Reece, but Reece popped out and Salazar flew out. Still scoreless. Nelson pitched a scoreless ninth – one knock to walk off, and McCray was still in there. Higgins led off and drilled a ball to deep left – but no back-to-back walkoff homers for him, Arroyo caught it just short of the fence. Hall got on, but that was it, extra innings again. The Canadiens had two hits to right off Martinez to start the top 10th and one run scored after Burnett came in. Too bad. 6-7-8 up against Teissier in the bottom half. Osanai singled, Vinson to deep left – PAST ARROYO, A DOUBLE!! The winning runs moved into scoring position with nobody out! Johnston had to at least ground out to right now. He instead grounded to left – BETWEEN THE FIELDERS, THROUGH INTO LEFT!!! The slow Vinson had to be held at third, but the winning run was mere 90 feet away now. Quinn hit for Burnett, and any long ball would do. 1-0 pitch, contact, high to left – Arroyo got it, but Vinson tagged and could jog home, but still made a dash, arms spread wide, and screaming – WALKOFF WIN!!! 2-1 Coons! Hall 2-4; Quinn (PH) 0-0, RBI; Beato 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K;

SWEPT THOSE CANADIENS!!!!

Raccoons (55-29) @ Loggers (31-55)

So far, we hadn’t clicked against the Loggers this year. We were 5-3, true, but we were *only* 5-3. This rugged collection of wannabes had to be taken care of more properly.

O’Morrissey needed some rest and sat game 1, which was started by Kisho Saito, so it was always a close call who would be taken care of. The Loggers sent Tim Butler, who was 2-7 with a 7.12 ERA. They really did not have anybody better. In the second inning, Tetsu Osanai and Emilio Román exchanged solo home runs for a 1-1 score, but Butler was overcome soon with a 3-run homer by Dan The Man in the third, and Osanai drove in another runner, Morales, who had replaced Higgins. Matt Higgins had hit a double behind Hall, but on turning second and stopping abruptly had somehow gotten his foot misaligned. While this was worrying, nothing could be done about it now, and we could watch Saito pitch. He still was not the dominant Kisho everybody loved (except opposing teams) but he was not as terrible as in his last start, and held the Loggers to the Román homer over seven innings. The Loggers never threatened past the second inning. 7-1 Furballs. Reece 2-5; Osanai 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-7) and 1-2, BB;

Good news on Matt Higgins’ foot: the hoof turned out to be merely sore, and amputation was not necessary. He was held out of game 2, though. By the way, Jerry Fletcher, who by here sported a 30-game hitting streak, did not appear in the opener, but batted leadoff in game 2.

Through five, the Raccoons looked more than just lost against Davis Sims, who struck out eight during those five innings. Jason Turner fell 3-0 behind in the third and fourth. Fortunes began to reverse in the top 6th. Salazar got one, Reece got on, Kinnear came up with an RBI single. Still nobody out, go-ahead run at the plate in Daniel Hall, but this time he blew it with a double play. Reece remained on third with two down, and O’Morrissey replaced him there after a searing line drive triple. Osanai grounded out then. Turner remained on the hook as he left in the seventh, and remained there when Neil Reece was thrown out at the plate after a 2-out single by Hall. Following that, Burnett and Lagarde were shredded for four runs in the bottom 8th. 7-2 Loggers. Reece 2-4, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-4, 3B, RBI;

Like I said, we look very bad against the Loggers.

Daniel Hall’s 2-out RBI single in the top 1st of the rubber game was mitigated quickly by Gates Golunski’s leadoff home run off Robert Vázquez in the bottom 1st. The Raccoons were unable to mount offense and the Loggers took a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Ill control by starter Rafael Garcia with two 1-out walks that filled the bases gave the Furballs a chance in the seventh, but .202 batter David Vinson had to get it done. He didn’t, grounding out, but at least 3B Bob Grant’s only play was to first and the tying run scored. PH Vern Kinnear walked in place of Vázquez, and Salazar also came up with three runners on, but lined out. The Loggers left runners in scoring position in both the seventh and ninth and we went into overtime. Hall and Johnston left Reece on third in the top 10th – inadequate offense was really dragging things out. Jackie Lagarde pitched three innings of relief in extra innings only to see Vinson strike out to end the top 13th with the bags full. Kinnear was on third with one out in the 14th and was left there, and the Loggers walked off against Grant West in the bottom of the inning. 3-2 Loggers. Salazar 2-6, BB, 2B; Hall 2-6, BB, 2B, RBI; Brown (PH) 1-2, BB; Lagarde 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

I see. They used up all their offense in the first week of the month. Of course. Why can’t be brush aside those pesky Loggers!?

All Star Game

The Raccoons placed four players on the Continental League’s All Star roster (number of appearances, previous seasons): Kisho Saito (6; 1982-84, 1989, 1991), Scott Wade (2; 1989), Ben O’Morrissey (1), and Daniel Hall (3; 1982, 1984). Where the hell was Neil Reece??

The Bayhawks were the only other team sending four representatives. The Capitals and Wolves loaded the FL roster with five players each.

The Continental League beats the Federal League, 3-2. Wade pitches a scoreless inning, while Saito is laden with an unearned run (he knows that from someplace). Hall starts in right, going 1-3, and O’Morrissey starts at second(!), plays the whole game, and is on base four times, 2-3 with two walks, but never scores.

In other news

July 2 – The Loggers give up once more and trade INF Jesus Jimenez (.240, 2 HR, 18 RBI, but normally good for 20 HR and 90 RBI) to the Condors for MR Raúl Ramirez and middling prospect 1B Luis Barrios.
July 2 – The Crusaders end VAN David Brewer’s 26-game hitting streak the same day Daniel Hall’s streak ends.
July 4 – While the hitting streak of Milwaukee hotshot Jerry Fletcher soars to 25 games with a 1-4 day against the Titans, the Gold Sox’ OF/1B Erwin Hooper (.288, 4 HR, 23 RBI) also goes 1-4, in a 7-2 loss to the Warriors, completing a 20-game hitting streak.
July 5 – LVA INF/RF Michael McFarland (.331, 2 HR, 38 RBI) is out for a month with a torn meniscus.
July 5 – The Gold Sox get back at the Warriors, beating them 4-1, but Hooper is defeated, 0-4, and has his 20-game hitting streak end.
July 6 – The Scorpions beat the Gold Sox, 6-0. Attention is centered on 37-year old SAC SP Billy Robinson (6-7, 3.04 ERA), who pitches eight innings of 4-hit ball to claim his 200th career win. Incredibly, he is only the second pitcher ever to reach the mark, after – of course – the great Juan “Mauler” Correa, who notched 272 W’s.
July 6 – The Loggers and Condors deal again, with the Loggers sending CL James Jenkins (0-7, 4.05 ERA, 15 SV) for two prospects. What exactly the Condors want to do with Jenkins, is mysterious.
July 9 – Are the Indians giving up!? SS/2B Paul Connolly (.259, 5 HR, 44 RBI) is traded to Salem for SP Neil Stewart 8-10, 4.39 ERA) and two prospects, including 21-yr old CL Brian Morris.
July 9 – The Loggers’ Jerry Fletcher (.389, 0 HR, 19 RBI) continues to stun with a 2-hit day in a 6-4 defeat of his team to the Indians. This brings his hitting streak to 30 games.
July 10 – SFB SP Pepe Martinez (7-4, 4.40 ERA) is out for the year with shoulder soreness.
July 11 – Jerry Fletcher goes 0-3 against the Raccoons, ending his 30-game hitting streak. The same day, SFB SS/3B Mike Powys (.288, 9 HR, 51 RBI) hits three singles in a 6-4 Bayhawks win over the Condors, bringing his own hitting streak to 20 games.
July 12 – Powys’ streak is quickly extinguished by the Condors, who hold him 0-4.

Complaints and stuff

Fun fact: Kisho Saito, Jason Turner, and Scott Wade are the only pitchers to toss multiple shutouts this season – in all of the ABL!

Because I have pawned him big time the last one and a half years, I feel obliged to mention this: David Vinson has gotten back into controlling the running game! He is now 16 for 49 in nailing runners, which is much more respectable than what he has done last year.

We started the year 52 below .500 all time, record-wise. Before snoozing off against the Loggers, we had already cut that deficit in half, but now are 27 below again. We’ll be in Vancouver after the break and will face the Titans at home after that. That lead looks fine now, but if the offense regresses again after a nice stretch recently, then we will find ourselves in trouble by the end of the month.