Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Questdog]

I hope you are taking the necessary precautions to insure that any urine samples asked for by the league from Danny Hall will be clean......

Unbelievable the way he has snapped out of a multi-year decline at age 37!

Get Hall's dietician to talk to Osanai.....who looks more and more like Matt Workman every day....except Workman came with a glove included....

I also got a question: where's Itchy these days?......really one of the biggest disappointments for me that his 'Coon career was cut so short.....

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

I hope you are taking the necessary precautions to insure that any urine samples asked for by the league from Danny Hall will be clean......

Whenever we're in Portland, Dan The Man brings his son to the clubhouse and - Yes, Timmy? Why're you're dancing up and down like that? Oh. You drank your six glasses of apple juice? Here's your cup.

Originally Posted by Questdog

Unbelievable the way he has snapped out of a multi-year decline at age 37!

I can't stop dancing up and down for *that* reason. If only there weren't those two things he's been well known for to contract them annually: a 2-month batting slump and a back ailment of some sort - neither of which have kicked in so far in '92.

Originally Posted by Questdog

Get Hall's dietician to talk to Osanai.....who looks more and more like Matt Workman every day....except Workman came with a glove included....

Yeah, that .800 OPS is a bit removed from him at this point. If it weren't for that 1,137 consecutive starts streak ........

But Esteban Baldivia has slumped a wee bit recently in AAA, powerwise. Calling up at this point is not going to help a lot. And Matt Brown, who killed AAA pitching just as well, continues his derp ways up here in Oregon.

Originally Posted by Questdog

I also got a question: where's Itchy these days?......really one of the biggest disappointments for me that his 'Coon career was cut so short.....

He's with the Canadiens (of all folks) and is used frequently as a pinch hitter. He may have been mentioned in the most recent series.

1992 Itchy: 61 G, 95 AB, 0 HR, 9 RBI, .316/.441/.389 - yes, they use him as pinch-hitter behind Carlos Quintela, who is clearly inferior to him in every way imaginable. They pay $880k for Itchy as luxury pinch-hitter.

But if you look at his stats, his 1988 campaign in Portland, cut short by injury, started his decline. He regularly topped 4.0 WAR before that. He posted a 0.0 WAR with us, and since then in 1989-92 combined for the Condors and Canadiens has posted a *total* of 2.5 WAR.

I'm not one to judge.

Since I know that I make the most dumb decisions

Well, he was just one of those come-in-and-get-hurt outfielders. Look at Cisco Banda. Look at Raúl Castillo. It's happened to us frequently. If he wouldn't have gotten hurt, maybe the 1988 Coons would have dragged less, and maybe we wouldn't have been so far behind in July. Then it's no firesale, and then we don't have the following players on our roster now:

Neil Reece (TOP for David Jones (ret.), Hector Gonzalez (became above-average infielder), Miguel Martinez (busted prospect))
Matt Higgins (DAL for Richard Cunningham (starting to decline), Sergio Martinez and Andy Reed (both retired out of frustration))
Ben O'Morrissey and
Ken Burnett (both in the same deal with CIN for Ed King (ret.) and Dani Perez (still can't stay in the majors due to his bat))
Jackie Lagarde (TIJ for Itchy himself after the season ended; also received Qi-zhen Geng)

Maybe things turned out for the better?

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Yeah, that .800 OPS is a bit removed from him at this point. If it weren't for that 1,137 consecutive starts streak ........

But Esteban Baldivia has slumped a wee bit recently in AAA, powerwise. Calling up at this point is not going to help a lot. And Matt Brown, who killed AAA pitching just as well, continues his derp ways up here in Oregon.

Oh, I love Tetsu by this point and would not be happy to see him go, even if it would be obviously better for the team.

Of course, you realize that just as in Baltimore during Cal Ripken slumps, some in Portland have been blaming the streak for his problems. I find it ridiculous: unless you are a pitcher, you really don't expend a whole lot of energy during the course of a game except on rare occasions when you hit 4 triples and make 7 diving catches of over-your-head drives.....

Catchers don't expend much more energy than anyone else, but they do suffer a fair amount of abuse to their bodies. Just the squatting alone is tough on the legs....

[Westheim]

I did some numbers juggling with my rotation and found something striking me was highly odd with Scott Wade (who is an oddity of nature anyway as a 97-58 starter with two pitches). While I have routinely observed that he gets whacked by left-handed batting, this isn’t even true (at least this year).

Scott Wade vs. LHB: 222 AB, .221/.276/.320, 2 HR, 19 RBI
Scott Wade vs. RHB: 221 AB, .253/.297/.357, 3 HR, 17 RBI

I don’t even know what to make of this? Even more odd:

Innings 1-3: 196 AB, .286/.335/.413, 3 HR, 20 RBI
Innings 4-6: 184 AB, .201/.245/.293, 2 HR, 14 RBI
Innings 7-9: 63 AB, .190/.227/.238, 0 HR, 2 RBI

Isn’t it supposed to be the other way round? Kisho Saito’s innings splits look similar to that (but not that pronounced), but all other starters have their worst numbers in the last third of the game. Granted, they will only pitch past the sixth if they have a good day, but still? I admit I never paid much intention to those splits (or splits that go beyond left-right). I don’t know what’s going on.

---

We had a small problem regarding our rotation after the All Star game. We had gone with Saito – Turner – Vázquez – Wade – Beato so far, with Vázquez pitching the final game before the break and Saito and Wade pitching in the All Star contest itself. Neither was 100% two days later. I didn’t want to start with Beato necessarily, and Vázquez would pitch on three days’ rest, which made me send in Turner on four days’ rest. This actually means that Saito will lose a start. (I’m not one preaching innings limits like they’re the revelation, but I do watch them, and Kisho is already at 127.2 innings for the year, so maybe it’s for the better?)

Raccoons (56-31) @ Canadiens (46-42)

Jason Turner faced Arnold McCray in the opener of the 4-game set, and surrendered eight singles in the first four innings, falling behind 2-1. A single by Osanai and double by Vinson put the go-ahead runs in scoring position to start the top 5th. Turner came to bat, and while his pitching was not good today, he bounced a single into shallow left to tie the game. Salazar’s sac fly got us a 3-2 lead, but Turner was whacked on in the bottom 5th and a 2-run homer by Luis Arroyo got him behind again. The Coons tied the game back in the sixth and Turner was pinch-hit for there, too. Pedro Vázquez in the bottom 6th had nothing better to do than to give the Canadiens another lead, 5-4. The Coons left the bases full in the seventh, and had the bases loaded in the eighth with no outs, and then barely managed to tie the game with a sac fly off Reece’s bat, then left two more on in the ninth in a tied game. Nelson allowed a double to David Brewer with one out in the ninth and Lagarde failed to keep him on. The Canadiens walked off, 6-5. Higgins 2-5; Osanai 3-5, RBI; Vinson 3-5, 2B;

Daniel Hall was 0-4 with 3 K. The slump is here. Winter is coming. I feel it.

In a duel of left-handers in game 2, Robert Vázquez washed a 1-0 lead down the drain in the bottom 2nd with a 2-out, 2-run single to the opposing pitcher Vernon Robertson. Vázquez surrendered two solo home runs after that, while the Raccoons had nothing going as long as Robertson was in the game. They got a run in the seventh, 4-2, but left runners on the corners in both the seventh and the eighth, and that was that. 4-2 Canadiens. Salazar 2-4; Quinn 2-4; Rodriguez 3-3, 2 2B, RBI;

Could Scott Wade throw a stop on the Canadiens? And bat him enough runs to win? Um, well. No. He was 1-0 behind after the first, and in fact scored the tying run himself on a wild pitch by Manny Ramos in the third. Top 5th, two on with one out for Hall, he hurled a ball deep to right, but Carlos Quintela caught it, and Higgins popping out ended that inning. Wade batted for himself in the sixth with two down and Glenn Johnston on second, but grounded out. The 1-1 tie refused to be broken. Raúl Solís’ throwing error put Jorge Salazar on second with no outs in the top 7th. O-Mo walked, Kinnear K’ed, Hall K’ed, and Higgins grounded out. Top 8th: 1-out single by Vinson, then a double by Johnston. Wade was pinch-hit for this time with Neil Reece, who was out to give Johnston a start. He was not pitched to. Salazar then grounded up the middle, SS Art Garrett collected it, stepped on second, throw to first – LATE!! Close call, but the Coons had the lead. O-Mo had the chance to expand th- who am I kidding, he flew out. Burnett faced three men in the bottom 8th, all three reached base, two scored. Top 9th. Kinnear got on, Hall popped out. Higgins was hit, and Matt Brown managed a single to center. Bases loaded, one out. Vinson against Jamel Teissier. He flew out to right, which tied the game, but when Teissier fanned Johnston, the game was TIED.

Bottom 9th. There was something in the air and it wasn’t just that Canadian air I didn’t cope with well. Chris Nelson was still in from the eighth and allowed a single to Antonio Rodriguez. Jose Hernandez grounded out and Rodriguez moved up to second. Juan Martinez entered to face Art Garrett, who singled to right. Daniel Hall raced in, picked it up, and unleashed a blast home to get Rodriguez, who turned third for home. Hall lost balance and bit the grass, Vinson took in the throw already in motion into the runner, limbs tangling at the plate, and the umpire – BRINGS THE FIST!! The runner was OUT, and Hall was still on the ground, groaning. The back was acting out. He had to leave the game. The Canadiens instead walked off in the tenth, 4-3. Salazar 2-6, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B; Brown 1-1; Vinson 2-4, RBI; Johnston 2-4, BB; Wade 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

Team LOB in game 3: 15; team LOB for series so far: 35;

Here I had a sore throat from all the screaming and crying. Some Canadian reporter caught me on photo coming out of a drugstore where I had shopped for something against the drilling headaches, and the Portland Agitator got hold of the photo, sardonically asking whether I had run out of Kleenex or whether I had visited the alchemist to turn our laming offense into gold instead – Tetsu Osanai’s weight in gold would still hardly command his remaining due salary.

As if sneering and derision weren’t enough, the report on Daniel Hall was not so great (set aside his 1-13 batting in the series) with back spasms going to severely limit him for up to two weeks. He would be able to play, but not well. Since he was already pretty much overwhelmed defensively in right and a limping Daniel Hall was also inferior to a healthy Vern Kinnear 15 years his junior in left, we had to put him on the disabled list after all, but he remained on the roster for game 4, after which we would return home.

Oh, the agony.

Raimundo Beato in game 4 fell behind 2-0 in the first, before the offense rallied for once, scoring a run in the second, and four in the third inning off Vicente Torres, who kindly helped out with a balk. Did it help our fortunes? Nope. Arroyo tattooed Beato with a 3-run homer in the bottom 3rd to tie the game. The Canadiens still didn’t appear intent to sweep us. While they removed the ineffective Torres after four, they let Royce Frye take a pounding in the fifth. Frye had ill command, and surrendered two runs, but these were in fact unearned after an Art Garrett error. Up 7-5, Beato got the chance to position himself for the W, but one man on in the bottom 5th and he’d get the hook – he didn’t make it. Salvador Mendez singled his way on with one out. Nelson came in to face Brewer, who lobbed the ball into short center, but Reece came on and made a WON-DER-FUL catch just off the top of the grass, and we got out still up 7-5. Calamity started again in the bottom 7th, Martinez’ second on the mound, with a Salazar error. The Canadiens filled the bags with one out and the butchers Brewer and Arroyo up. For a second, I had the crazy idea of having Grant West pitch for eight outs, but then went with Burnett. Brewer fell 1-2 behind to Burnett, who threw him another wicked one, Brewer holding up. Vinson was up like a shot, pointing to the third base ump, and he home plate official asked him for his opinion. Up came the fist – OUT!! Oh, two outs, oh gooood, we’re gonna be fine. Burnett went 1-2 on Arroyo, too, who then made contact into center, but right to Reece. THAT’S MY BOY!!! Glenn Johnston led off the eighth against Joaquin Bastos. Down 1-2, Johnston met the next pitch with his bat – soaring shot and OUTTA THERE, all the way to the Pacific!! 8-5, we’re gonna be fine! Lagarde retired the Canadiens 1-2-3 in the bottom 8th, and West did so in the ninth. 8-5 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-4, HR, RBI; Burnett 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 3-0 IR/S;

In other news

July 16 – The Bayhawks trade 26-yr old LF/RF Steve Cobb (.302, 7 HR, 49 RBI) to the Blue Sox for 1B Mauro Granados (.228, 9 HR, 36 RBI) and a prospect.
July 19 – TOP 1B/RF Edgardo Garza (.353, 9 HR, 46 RBI) hits the disabled list with back spasm, which will take up to six weeks to heal.
July 19 – TIJ OF Manuel Doval (.278, 11 HR, 46 RBI) will be out for up to a month with a strained hamstring.

Complaints and stuff

That was an exhausting series and ought to be all for today.

Like I mentioned before, Daniel Hall through the All Star break lacked a batting slump and a back injury. While 1-13 only barely qualifies as slump, the back injury is here. I will go slam my head against the wall, then call up Jeff Martin, or maybe some other slacker.

[Westheim]

We were to start a 2-week homestand – one which Daniel Hall would for the most part sit on the bench. We decided against putting him on the DL when team trainer Michael Dempsey opined that he could play pain free a week from now. That meant playing the Titans and Bayhawks a half man short, since Hall was at best available to pinch hit. But if it was only a week, there was no use for Hall on the DL. I trusted Dempsey on this one. He’s been Mr. Bones for the Raccoons for 12 years, he knows every back condition there can possibly be thanks to Dan The Man.

Raccoons (57-34) vs. Titans (50-44) – July 21-23, 1992

Neil Reece would bat cleanup in Hall’s absence, behind Salazar, O-Mo, and Kinnear. Higgins 5th looked awkward, but you want him ahead of Osanai, who’s clogging up the bases. Quinn would be a better alternative at 5th, but not against righties, he still whiffs too often. We’d face all right handers in the 3-set against the Titans.

While Kisho Saito was dealing poison in the first game, the Raccoons barely managed two runs through six innings, one of them unearned. Saito came apart in the top 7th, allowing a home run to start the frame (1B Danny Nichols the culprit), then allowed a single to Salvador Vargas. The Titans replaced Vargas with Alejandro Espinoza to pinch-run, and he stole two bags off Saito and Vinson before tying the game on a run-scoring double play. Thankfully, O-Mo had Saito covered, launching a 2-run homer in the bottom 7th. Grant West in the ninth had to work around a leadoff walk to Hjalmar Flygt, but the runner never got into scoring position. 4-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4; O’Morrissey 4-4, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (7-7);

Well, boys, and this Sunday, we’ll give Kisho a WINNING record. You hear me? A WINNING RECORD.

Game 2 saw Jason Turner whacked around badly in the first inning. He surrendered hits to the first five batters, resulting in four runs in the inning. Turner would pitch 2-hit ball the next four innings until he was pinch-hit for, but how was that to help the Raccoons offense? When Turner left, we were down 4-1, 3-hit by Luis De Jesús, who came in with an ERA well north of 5. De Jesús went eight innings, despite the Coons having the tying run at the plate in the sixth and seventh innings. They never scored, but our bullpen broke up, with Nelson and Carrillo being saddled with a total of four runs in the last two innings. 8-1 Titans. Salazar 2-4; P. Vázquez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Game 3, more of the same. Robert Vázquez was socked for four runs before he could ever record an out. What was going on?? Vázquez loaded the bags in the second with one out, then walked Nichols, who had hit a 3-run homer in the first. Vázquez was dragged out of the game to be beaten to death, and we had to use Ken Burnett in long relief, since I didn’t want to use Lagarde in the second inning and the other candidates for the job had been torched the day before. Burnett allowed all the runners on base to score, and needless to say, there was no comeback for this offense from eight runs down. In the best scenario, the massacre would end right here. That was not to say that the Raccoons didn’t score: they put four runs on Willie Young in the bottom 2nd. But with the bases loaded and one out, Neil Reece struck out and Higgins lined out to short. Little happened through the sixth, with Young and Burnett axing down the lineups. In the bottom 7th, still down 8-4, O-Mo singled to lead off. He moved up a base on a wild pitch. Then Kinnear reached on a Nichols error, and then Young threw another wild one to score O-Mo. 8-5, runner on second, nobody out, any more presents to receive? Nope, and the Raccoons didn’t get a hit from just their own power. Titans held on, 8-6. Salazar 3-4, BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-5, 3 RBI; Vinson (PH) 1-1; Burnett 4.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and 1-2;

Things are going great, obviously.

Raccoons (58-36) vs. Falcons (38-56) – July 24-26, 1992

The true test. Could we beat a team with as little pitching as the Falcons had? They ranked 10th in runs allowed in the CL, and last in starters’ ERA. They had just lost their most respectable starting pitcher for the year. Score, boys, score.

The Falcons could offer Carlos Castro (0-2, 13.50 ERA) for the series opener. He was na-na-na-nineteen. The first-inning massacres continued in Portland, this time with Scott Wade, who walked three and allowed two hits in a 2-run first. The Raccoons were remarkably toothless against a boy without any facial hair and a poor arsenal AND terrible control. They got one run in the second, then nothing. Bottom 4th, down 2-1. Quinn got on, and Rodriguez doubled, but Quinn was held at third. With two out, Osanai was put on intentionally to bring Wade to the plate (Osanai batting eighth against the lefty). Wade grabbed his favorite bat, went out there, looked back at the dugout, pointed with the bat, and shouted “It goes like that!”. Then he took Castro’s second pitch over the left center field fence for a GRAAAAAND SLAAAAM!!! Okay, that was almost unfair to the hairless boy. Quinn knocked him out in the fifth with an RBI single, 6-2. Wade’s remaining outing was nothing to drool about, as he went six innings and was bailed out in the sixth by 3B Ben O’Morrissey converting a line drive into a double play on the runner from first, but he had helped himself enough in many’s eyes. Osanai made it 8-2 with a 2-run shot in the bottom 6th to move the game out of reach for the Falcons. 9-3 Coons! Quinn 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Salazar 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wade 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, W (7-3) and 1-2, HR, 4 RBI;

This was the first home run of Scott Wade’s career, but that’s what you have to do if your team sucks at the plate. At this point, all our SP’s have at least seven wins. Those with the best ERA’s, Saito (2.46) and Wade (2.28) have the least (7), and the guy with the worst ERA, Vázquez (3.99), has the most (10). Strange game this is.

The Coons led 2-0 after the third in game 2, but Beato had it slide away in the fourth. He ended up with a no-decision when he was pinch-hit for in a 2-2 game in the bottom 6th, but Daniel Hall made the final out instead of scoring Glenn Johnston from second. To start the bottom 7th, Salazar singled through 2B Adam Kent, and O’Morrissey doubled through ex-Coon 3B Joe Jackson. Kinnear came up clutch behind them and doubled to left, giving the Coons a lead, but they did not follow up on it, Osanai eventually double-playing them out of the inning. Lagarde had gotten two outs in the seventh, but was whacked in the eighth. Burnett had to be sent into the fray with two on, no outs, and no run to spare anymore. Burnett responded with a balk. Jackson scored Jose Madrid on a sac fly then, and we were tied once more. The Falcons would break up Pedro Vázquez in the 11th inning, loading him with four runs. 8-4 Falcons. Salazar 2-5, BB; O’Morrissey 2-5, BB, 2B; Kinnear 2-5, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-4, BB, 2B; Beato 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K;

This marked the end of Pedro Vázquez’ Raccoons career. The 29-year old was designated for assignment and we recalled Daniel Miller, since Albert Matthews had just gotten hurt in AAA.

Rubber game with Saito. Remember boys, we will make sure that Kisho comes out with a winning record today. Remember? REMEMBER?

Kisho allowed four hits and a run in the first, so things were pointing south quickly. Jorge Mora (3-12, 4.88 ERA) had to be overcome – the senior generation was still able to recollect his better times. This game belonged to the new Mora, who was 35, and pitched like it. Vern Kinnear knocked a 3-run homer as the third man up for the Furballs in the game. But for Kisho, it was one of those days. He was wild, and still hittable. Much the same was true for Mora, and they both were beaten up. Mora left first, pinch-hit for with Billy Mitchell (another ex-Coon) in the fourth, and Mitchell mauled Saito with a 2-run homer that halved a 5-1 lead. Kisho managed to add a happy tune to a six-frame outing by K’ing his last batter, 2B Ramón Garza, then still up 5-3. Hall pinch-hit for Saito in the bottom 6th, and was 0-3 on these occasions on the homestand. Osanai and Quinn were in scoring position with one out, but Hall grounded slowly to left, the runners had to hold – but Hall was safe at first, since the Falcons couldn’t make a play. The Coons still didn’t score, and neither did they in the seventh with two on, no outs, and a Higgins double play. Top 8th, Burnett came in, faced two men, walked both, and left in discomfort. With a ruined bullpen, West had to pitch six outs to save this one, with the tying runs already on. Jackson grounded to third, where O-Mo made a play to first, and West struck out Djordje Nedic. That brought up Christian Dunphy, a .304 batting right-hander, and we used the open base to stow him away. West went after .198 batter Garza, and Garza fouled out. PHEW!!! After Alejandro Moreno flew to deep right, but to Quinn, to start the ninth, West struck out the last two. YES!!! 5-3 Coons. Salazar 2-5, 3B; Kinnear 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Reece 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4; Hall (PH) 1-1; West 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, SV (25);

Jorge Salazar has a 12-game hitting streak going.

The Canadiens are closing up fast now, only 5 1/2 behind. They were 10 behind early in the month.

On roster news, the Wolves claimed Pedro Vázquez, which is fine. Ken Burnett was diagnosed with a mildly herniated disc and will be DTD for a week, leaving us a man short again. Matt Brown was demoted to AAA for an extra arm in Carlos De Los Angeles, an easily hittable AAA starter, who was rotting in our system for some time now. Aged 27, we had acquired him in 1989 from the Gold Sox for fellow pitcher Francisco Trujillo, who was by now out of the game.

Raccoons (60-37) vs. Bayhawks (61-39) – July 28-30, 1992

The Bayhawks were an offensive powerhouse, outscoring us by 117 runs so far. This could become scary especially with the way Turner and Vázquez, up first and second in the series, had behaved themselves in their last starts. For better or worse, Daniel Hall was back in the lineup, hopefully it was for better. In him (75 RBI) and RF Pedro Perez (73 RBI) the CL’s leading run producers were meeting.

Dan The Man got the better start into the series by a wide margin. Perez killed the Bayhawks’ first inning with a double play in game 1, while Daniel Hall burned SP Wilson Moreno with a 3-run homer. The joy didn’t live long. Jason Turner managed to give up five straight singles to begin the third inning, and the Bayhawks took a 4-3 lead, and made it 5-3 the next inning. Neil Reece unloaded a 2-shot to tie it in the bottom 4th, but Turner served up a leadoff home run to Perez in the fifth. Two good starters, ravaged. Bottom 6th: Salazar and O’Morrissey had 1-out line drive singles to left. Reece blooped a single into short center between converging defenders, bringing up Daniel Hall with a prime chance to turn a 6-5 deficit into a lead – and Hall singled up the middle, scoring two! Kinnear scored Reece with a single, 8-6. That was also the score after seven. Juan Martinez came in, surrendered a homer to Mike Powys, and then a triple to Antonio Gonzalez. Pepe Padilla’s grounder was short and held Gonzalez, and Martinez struck out Pedro Villa. Neil Reece held on to the 8-7 lead with an amazing catch on the run on Roberto Rodriguez’ flyer. As Grant West entered the ninth, he threw six straight balls before Perez popped up his seventh offering with a runner on first. West then reversed his track record and struck out the next two batters. PHEW!! 8-7 Raccoons! Salazar 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 3-5, 2B; Reece 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, HR, 5 RBI; Kinnear 3-5, RBI;

That was an extremely intense game after I had already leaned back when Hall had gotten us up 3-0 and Turner had fanned three in the first two frames. Phew!

Game 2. An Osanai error got the Bayhawks going in the second, where they score four runs, all unearned, capped by a 3-run homer by Pedro Villa. The Raccoons had to deal with 22-year old Ricardo Sanchez (12-2, 3.10 ERA) and were pretty much overmatched. A Hall triple and Kinnear double produced one run in the fourth, before Sanchez became wild in the sixth, nicking Salazar and then walking O-Mo and Reece. Sanchez exited, while Hall batted with the bases loaded and no outs against Luciano Parrilla, who had been the losing pitcher of record the day before. Hall ended a battle with a walk, forcing in a run, and Kinnear was put out at first, scoring another run. Higgins walked, reloading the bases. Osanai grounded to short for what could have been a 6-4-3 rally killer, but SS Ruben Durán bobbled the ball and the tying run scored. Parrilla was still in there against Vinson, but was toasted by now. Vinson walked, forcing in the go-ahead run in Dan The Man. Rodriguez pinch-hit for Vázquez, but ended the inning with a double play. Four runs on zero hits. Don’t see that every day. Miller almost blew the lead in the seventh, but Martinez got out. Top 9th, still 5-4. West put the leadoff man on again, then forced the lead runner with a nifty play on a grounder. Two out, Antonio Gonzalez grounded to first. Osanai had been replaced by Quinn, but Quinn too was too unwieldy to make a play and the Bayhawks had runners on the corners as Hall had to bring the grounder-turned-single back in. Roberto Rodriguez grounded to the mound, and West converted it for the final out. 5-4 Coons! PHEW!!! Kinnear 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The Bayhawks sent their weak link in the rotation, Wilbert Rodgers, for game 3. Wade was drilled first, a solo jack by Roberto Rodriguez in the third. The Coons struggled against Rodgers, and Wade himself twice left two men on, before we were putting our first two men on in the bottom 5th. Reece lined out hard to short, but Hall walked and loaded them up. Kinnear never got a good pitch to hit and instead let Rodgers beat himself, as he drew a walk to tie the game. Osanai tried to hit into a double play, but the Bayhawks only got one out, a run scored, and we were up 2-1 for like four minutes before the Bayhawks tied the game, 2-2, and CF Pepe Padilla homered off Wade to make it 3-2 in the seventh. He was taken off the hook in the eighth with kind help of the Bayhawks who drilled Morales, and we managed to bring him around and score him with a 2-out RBI single by Salazar. Daniel Miller pitched in the ninth. Two out, runner on third, lefty Pedro Perez to bat, two more lefties after that. We had only Carlos De Los Angeles available among left-handers, and I didn’t want a no-stuff guy pitching to run machine Perez. This was Miller’s job all the way. Perez homered, Furballs lost, 5-3. Salazar 2-4, BB, RBI; Morales 2-3;

Daniel Miller after two appearances was sent back to St. Petersburg. We called up Qi-zhen Geng for the first time since 1990. He has 13 big league appearances so far, with a 2.76 ERA.

Raccoons (62-38) vs. Aces (45-57) – July 31-August 2, 1992

Lame offense, weak rotation. After scoring 16 runs on the much better Bayhawks, I was hoping for another seris win (and maybe a wee bit more) here, although we would face the ace of Aces, Carlos Guillén and his 2.19 ERA in the series, presumably in game 2 against Kisho Saito (because he never faces a bad pitcher, and when he does, the bad pitcher has the day of his life).

The scouting report was inaccurate, Guillén went in game 1 against Raimundo Beato, who fell behind in the second on a Javier Vargas home run. Balls were flying well recently here – if only for the other teams. After Beato drew a 2-out walk to load the bags in the bottom 2nd, O-Mo grounded out, but the Aces also left them full in the third. Yet the Raccoons were easily more unable to score. Bottom 6th, still down 1-0, Hall led off with a double, but was thrown out going for three after a stumble around second base. Rodriguez ended up killing the inning with runners on the corners and a double play. Beato left after seven and on the hook. Tetsu Osanai would FINALLY produce a run with a 1-out RBI double in the bottom 8th, scoring Reece. Johnston and Quinn left two men in scoring position in the inning. The agony (20 hits combined in a 1-1 game in regulation) spilled over into everybody’s dinner reservations. Lagarde pitched the ninth and the tenth, and twice watched his team mates flail. Roberto Carrillo even hit a double in the bottom 11th and remained unscored when Vinson struck out. He did not remain unbeaten, though. Claudio Garcia homered off him in the top 12th. In a bad caricature of a baseball game, the Aces even had to play SP Jou Hara at short in the bottom 12th after an injury to SS Jamal Howard. With one run, the tying runs were on for Hall, who doubled to left, scoring Higgins. Tying run at third, winning run at second, Salazar up. Liner to short – PAST a helpless Jou Hara, and Reece scored. Tied game. Morales could walk us off, he grounded to Lowell Allen at second base, Allen through home to get Hall, but the tag was late, and the Coons walked off indeed! 4-3 Raccoons. Reece 3-6, 2B; Hall 3-6, 2 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Morales 3-5, BB, RBI; Beato 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

Kisho Saito faced a struggling Manuel Movonda in the middle game. But as things went, Saito was not sharp, fell 3-0 behind early, including a home run (again…), and Movonda was perfect through four until a leadoff double by Hall in the bottom 5th. Hall was brought in to score, but that didn’t help three runs down. Vinson was responsible for the Aces adding a run in the seventh with a throwing error on a stolen base attempt, the runner going to third and scoring on the next play. Vinson tried to redeem himself with a 2-run home run in the bottom 8th, but the Raccons were still trailing, 4-3, and I was still foaming from the mouth. Vinson failed to catch strike three form Geng to Robinson Gutierrez in the ninth, and didn’t catch him stealing either. A nifty pick by Higgins for a double play bailed Geng out. O-Mo took Saito off the hook with a leadoff jack off Vicente Rúbio in the bottom 9th. Extras once more. Geng put a man on, and Grant West didn’t cope well with being thrown in here, allowing three singles. Salazar didn’t look good on one of them. 5-4 Aces. Osanai 2-4;

Boy, was David Vinson annoying the crap out of me. So much talent, so much misery coming off these hands.

Jason Turner started the rubber game. He had not won a game in a month. The Raccoons gave him a solid base for a W here, scoring five runs in the first inning of Rafael Espinoza, admittedly aided greatly by two Las Vegas errors that made all the runs unearned. But the early onslaught continued until the Raccoons led 9-1 after three. The game was in the bag right there. Turner went six with a few shaky moments, and the bullpen was a bit more shaky. Carrillo allowed the daily homer to the opposition, but the Coons still won, 10-2. Salazar 2-5; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Reece 3-5, RBI; Rodriguez 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-5; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (10-6);

In other news

July 22 – The Bayhawks lose OF Dave Burton (.320, 9 HR, 45 RBI) to a strained hamstring. He may be out for two months or even the rest of the season.
July 24 – CHA SP Robbie Campbell (6-8, 3.92 ERA) will miss up to a full year with a damaged elbow ligament.
July 26 – SFW SP Bill Smith (8-9, 3.91 ERA) is out for the year. The 34-yr old has bone chips in his elbow.
July 29 – VAN 2B David Brewer (.399, 7 HR, 66 RBI) will be out for two weeks with a foot contusion.
July 30 – The Wolves trade 31-yr old 1B/2B Mark Williams (.325, 0 HR, 38 RBI) to Las Vegas, receiving 1B Marcinek Wodaj (.198, 6 HR, 15 RBI) and a prospect from the Aces.
August 1 – A groin injury will sideline VAN 1B Salvador Mendez (.378, 0 HR, 46 RBI) for six weeks.

Complaints and stuff

Our manager, trainer, hitting coach, and pitching coach were all in contract years. All should be re-signed, especially manager Chad Klein, who took over in 1984, the year after our first World Series loss. While it took us a few years to get back to the Show, he’s been a wild success story for us, forming a persistent winner from the ragdoll crew that stumbled into the World Series in ’83. I won’t say a few good trades (and a few more bad ones) weren’t part of the story. (looks arrogantly)

So, Klein is in his ninth year in Portland, and I mentioned trainer Michael Dempsey, who’s been here for 12 1/2 years and counting. Hitting coach Hollis Case has only been part of the crew for 5 1/2 years, but he’s the only one among the group with a ring (Stars, 1983, ahem). And they have in common that they all three instantly signed the 4-year extensions we offered them, at about 15% raises. Pitching coach Pat Henderson, only brought in this year, signed a 2-year extension a few days after receiving his offer. It’s okay, Pat, you’re new here, nobody knows you anyway.

The trade deadline passed without any activity by us. I had a trade developed with the Scorpions, dealing lefty Chris Nelson, who was annoying me incredibly, for INF Alfonso Torres. Torres would replace Morales, who would be banished to far, far away. But I had no real option for a left-handed reliever in the minors, and thus didn’t pull the trigger.

Grant West may go down as my second-best draft pick after Daniel Hall (well, imagine a slightly less fragile Hall and what he could have done in his career). I wondered: we picked him with the fourth overall pick in the 1979 draft. Who were the top 3 draftees and what has become of them?
1st pick: Gold Sox select SP Wilson Martinez, a career sock, 144-131, 3.32 ERA, currently on the shelf after Tommy John surgery
2nd pick: Miners select SP Leland Lewis, a career Miner, 199-164, 3.32 ERA, *never* injured!
3rd pick: Condors select SP Pedro Romero, pitched for TIJ, ATL, BOS; 47-68, 4.52 ERA, retired at age 29 due to zero interest in his services
Was a neat draft for pitchers, it seems. Lewis is an elite starter, and Martinez is not far below him. Both could have piled up rings with good teams. As it stands, Martinez won one with the Gold Sox in the brief period of glory, in 1985.

The Condors showed humor at the trade deadline, offering Ira Houston for our Juan Martinez. Houston is in the second year of a 5-yr, $4.25M contract. He broke his leg in the first week of the season and has just started rehab. Yeah, I can’t wait to add him. (chuckles) No, he’s a great outfielder when healthy, but I have a starting outfield (Kinnear, Reece, Hall) that wreaks havoc already. Johnston and Quinn have shown what they can do before and will return there. Right, Glenn? Right, Bobby? RIGHT??

[Westheim]

Raccoons (64-39) @ Thunder (49-54) – August 3-5, 1992

A bad bullpen had helped the Thunder to 513 runs allowed at the start of August, so they were not exactly hard to score on.

The Raccoons had it all in game 1. They hit holes into the air in clutch situations, their fielding was abysmal, and their starter was awful. Robert Vázquez and the rest of the band were down 5-2 after three innings. Vázquez was yanked, and things turned for the better. O’Morrissey hit a 2-piece in the fourth, and Hall scored on a Higgins sac fly to tie the game in the fifth, and O-Mo was warm now – he hit another 2-shot in the sixth to give the Coons a lead. Meanwhile the Raccoons bullpen offered six incredibly strong innings, with only six runners put on base by the Thunder. The last of those was 1B Jesus Herrera with two out in the ninth, a double over Reece in center. Grant West struck out Will Jackson (.263, 15 HR, 73 RBI) to end the game. 7-5 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Hall 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Kinnear 2-4, BB; Geng 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, W (1-1);

In game 2, Scott Wade was scored upon in the first inning, with Kinnear axing down another runner at the plate to end the frame. Oklahoma’s Bob MacGruder faced the minimum through three innings. Wade was stellar after that first inning – and didn’t get a lick of support. MacGruder, a sometimes erratic little-stuff pitcher, gave the offense fits, 3-hitting them through seven. Hall was left on third base in the fourth inning. Vinson walked to lead off the eighth. Wade bunted him to second, and here Morales replaced him as pinch-runner with Salazar batting. It worked wonders: Salazar lined into shallow center, and Morales out-ran Jeff Wagner’s arm in center by a mile to tie the game. O-Mo grounded into a force play, but was safe at first. Reece singled to the gap in left center, O-Mo went to third, Will Jackson’s throw to third – safe! And Reece safe at second! Eighth inning, tied game, two out, two in scoring position – enter Daniel Hall. The Thunder pitched to him – and he punished them with a 2-run single into shallow left center. DAN THE MAN!!! The next three batters, Kinnear, Higgins, and Osanai, all got one, and that meant that Mauro Morales, who had pinch-run for Vinson, actually came to bat here. He singled through 1B Marc Shaw, two runs scored – a 6-run frame, finally!! Scott Wade went eight frames, claiming his eighth win – FINALLY. De Los Angeles pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, 6-1 Raccoons. Hall 1-3, BB, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-3, BB, RBI; Morales (PR) 1-1, 2 RBI; Wade 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (8-3);

I have no way to check, but I’m quite sure that this is the first time that a pinch runner has logged a hit for the Coons in the same inning he entered the game as a runner. Also: DAN THE MAN!!!

In a scoreless game, the Coons loaded the bags in the top 4th with nobody out, but Hall whiffed and Quinn’s groundout scored the only run in the inning. Well, Dan can’t always come up clutch. Though it’d be nice. Vonne Calzado took Raimundo Beato deep in the bottom 4th to tie the game again. The Coons gave Beato a 3-2 lead when we pinch-hit for him in the top 6th, but Kinnear flew out to end that inning with two on. Bottom 7th, Nelson collected the first out (four total for him on the day), before Juan Martinez came in for two righties, and both reached base. Ken Burnett stalled them and kept the 3-2 lead together. So far, so good, but when the eighth started, Burnett surrendered a single to Calzado and a double to Jackson, and both runs scored against Jackie Lagarde. That one cost the sweep, 4-3 Thunder. Morales 2-4, RBI; Nelson 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

That’s back-to-back games without an extra-base hit for the Raccoons.

Raccoons (66-40) @ Crusaders (43-65) – August 6-9, 1992

We’d play four games in New York, and I wanted to test something out. The opener would be started by Carlos De Los Angeles. We also had to send one pitcher away to get down to 12 again, and it really was between De Los Angeles and Qi-zhen Geng. I also arranged for the everyday players to get off days during this series. We were in a long stretch of games, and I wanted everybody fresh for the Canadiens series afterwards. Reece was rested in game 1, and I scheduled Hall for game 2, and O’Morrissey for game 3. Higgins would be rested in game 4, most likely. Tetsu Osanai was far from playing nine innings every day, sometimes being pulled for defense in the sixth, so he was less of a concern.

Dan The Man got off to a good start in the opener, plunking the foul pole his first time up for a 2-run homer. De Los Angeles was creamed by the opposing pitcher Hector Lara with a 2-out, 3-run double on a 1-2 count in the second, and the Coons started to trail. De Los Angeles, though additionally sabotaged by two errors on Salazar and O’Morrissey, was awful in his first big league start, and was yanked in the fourth inning, 6-3 behind. Geng was the next guy blown up, recording only one out and allowing four runners, and all four scored with Carrillo being equally ineffective after Geng. Accompanied by agonizing RISP performance, the Raccoons were dealt a major drubbing by a last place team, despite a 2-out, 3-run home run by Vern Kinnear in the ninth: 10-6 Crusaders. Vinson (PH) 1-1; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Kinnear 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Hall 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, 2B;

Carlos De Los Angeles was demoted to AAA and Matt Brown recalled for game 2, and Daniel Hall was rested as planned. Reece batted cleanup, but it seems like I was actively sabotaging Kisho Saito for game 2.

Hall here, Reece there, Jorge Salazar hit a leadoff home run off Gary Nixon in game 2. We batted through the lineup in the first inning, scoring three runs. Nixon was out of the game the next inning, with the Coons pulling 6-0 ahead. Saito breezed through three, before he hit Victor Martinez with two out in the fourth. Suddenly, the Crusaders had the bases loaded, but then Ruben Melendez grounded to Saito’s feet and the inning ended. Kinnear nailed a runner at home in the fifth. The runner was Ramon Pena, who pitched four innings in relief for the Crusaders and held the Coons to two hits – both by Saito! Kisho Saito meanwhile loaded the bags again in the bottom 6th, and a throwing error by O’Morrissey opened the gates. Suddenly there were three runs in, one out, and two in scoring position. Saito got a pop up from Nate Stabler, two out. Pete Thompson drilled a shot into the gap in left center, which was bound to sco- REECE CAUGHT IT!! The whole ballpark – including Saito – blinked in disbelief. Saito’s two hits off Pena turned out to be our only hits past the third inning. Holy … The bullpen held on as Lagarde pitched two and West the ninth. 6-3 Raccoons. Salazar 2-5, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Kinnear 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Neil Reece … HE don’t win a Gold Glove this year, there will be hell to pay, dear ABL!

We tore up another Crusaders starter, 3-13 Luis Andrade, early on in game 3. The first three Coons reached base. Hall lined out hard, but the next three guys all brought in a run one way or another. 3-0, still bases loaded, one out, and Matt Brown came up, giving O-Mo a day off. He was batting 7-40 this year, but finally came through with a single to right, scoring Higgins. Heck, Jason Turner stroked an RBI single to center! Andrade did not survive the inning, surrendering four hits and four walks for one out, and was charged with nine runs, shooting his ERA way over six, and the Coons didn’t stop there, Higgins hitting a 3-run double before Osanai struck out to end it. 15 men came to the plate, 11 runs scored. Turner entered the game over half an hour after the first pitch. Things didn’t stop just there. Kinnear homered for two runs in the third, and Brown scored Vinson in the fourth to make it 14-1. Yes, fourteen to one. The Crusaders had already staged a rally in the bottom 2nd with a solo home run by Victor Martinez. Turner would lose a few more feathers on a 2-run home run by LF Pat Jenkins along the way to seven innings and his 100th K of the year, but up by double-digits, it didn’t really matter that much. In the end, the Raccoons hacked the Crusaders to pieces along to a 17-3 tune. Kinnear 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Reece 2-4; Higgins 2-3, BB, 2B, 5 RBI; Osanai 2-5, RBI; Vinson 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Brown 2-4, 3 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (11-6) and 1-4, RBI; Geng 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K;

Offense! Shock!

The Crusaders sent rookie David Ramirez into game 4. He was 4-3 despite a 1.36 ERA after eight starts, which also told you some about this team. The obnoxious Benjamin Butler opened scoring with a solo roundtripper off Robert Vázquez in the second, but the Furballs took a 2-1 lead on Jose Rodriguez’ 2-out, 2-run single in the fourth. Vázquez couldn’t hold on to the 2-1 lead however and was whacked for four hits and two runs in the bottom 6th, which Juan Martinez finished for him. Top 7th, Reece drew a walk off a tiring Ramirez, who was then replaced, but replacement Xavier Herrera aggravated the situation by nicking Daniel Hall. Quinn whiffed, but Osanai came through with an RBI single. Tied game, neither starter got a decision, and scoreless bullpen work forced the game into overtime, where Salazar left two in scoring position in the top 10th, and Victor Martinez homered off Roberto Carrillo to walk off the Crusaders, 5-3. Morales 2-5; Rodriguez 3-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Kinnear (PH) 1-1; Brown (PH) 1-1; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The more frequent appearance of the home run ball in the other team’s half of the box score is becoming more worrying. We rank dead last in home runs allowed (76), having hit only 71 dingers ourselves. It’s not only a home ballpark issue, as you can see the things are flyin’ outta other ballparks just as well.

Raccoons (68-42) @ Canadiens (61-50) – August 10-13, 1992

The Canadiens had more or less matched us day by day for the last week. With as deep as we were into the season, we could be confident by tying this 4-game series. They were 7 1/2 back, with the Titans 8 1/2 behind, and keeping the gap where it was certainly wouldn’t be too wrong. The Canadiens lacked David Brewer and Salvador Mendez, the two leaders in the batting race, due to injuries, although the former was expected back any day.

Scott Wade went out against Arnold McCray to get things movin’ in the series. Daniel Hall drilled a solo home run to lead off the top 2nd, 1-0 Coons. The pitchers were dealing quite well, but Wade was bruised in the fifth. Two leadoff doubles tied the game, and Yoshinobu Ishizaki came up with a 2-out RBI single to give his team a lead. Top 6th, Salazar on second with one out, O-Mo grounded to short, but 1B Carlos Guzmán dropped Art Garrett’s throw. They were on the corners for Reece, and he came through with a single into right. Hall double played the Coons out of the inning then. Tied game, bottom 7th, the slow Carlos Gonsales on second with one out. Wade flew Raúl Solís leisurely to Kinnear in left, now had to face Ishizaki. The pitching coach checked on him, and he apparently was sure he had everything he needed to get Itchy out. Ishizaki grounded in front of the plate, Vinson to Osanai, inning over. Wade didn’t get a decision once again, and the pen had to sort things out, while McCray went the distance of nine innings – but we went into overtime again. The Raccoons had Kinnear on third in the top 10th, but left him out there to die. Top 11th, Brown got on, before Salazar and O-Mo whiffed against Jamel Teissier. Reece walked, bringing up Hall. He too fell to a 2-strike count, then took a rip. High! Deep! GONE!!! West needed seven pitches to save his 30th game of the year. 5-2 Raccoons! Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Hall 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Brown 1-2; Wade 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

I can’t say it often enough. DAN THE MAN!!! I ambushed him in the locker room and gave him a bear hug. His towel slipped off. Who cares! DAN THE MAN!!!

Johnston made a start over Reece in game 2. We were not projected to see a left-handed starter from the Canadiens, and at some point I had to use his left-handed bat. Ruben Prado made his season debut for the Canadiens in game 2, and his previous track record had showed more mixed success: 18-25 with a 4.97 ERA; the Coons got two unearned runs off him in the top 2nd, but “Pooky” suffered from ill control and loaded the bags with no out in the bottom 2nd. Prado hit for a sac fly, and a Bob Edwards single tied the game. Hall would nail Phil Hill going first-to-third on that play, though, and they got out of the inning. Beato was yanked when he put on the first two men in the fifth. Burnett scored Prado, whose single had started it, with a wild pitch, 3-2 Canadiens. Top 6th, bases loaded, no out. Tetsu Osanai took a 3-1 pitch from Prado into shallow center to tie the game again. They scored two more before Matt Brown pinch hit into a double play. Arf. Geng then almost threw it away, walking two of the three men he faced in the bottom 6th. Lagarde got out of there with one run scoring, although he had a hard time throwing strikes either. In the seventh he was behind in the count on the first two men, Itchy singling to left. Guzmán then swung thrice over Lagarde’s offerings. Two down, Lagarde picked off Itchy at first to escape. The game was then broken open in the next inning with four runs for the Coons, including a 3-run home run by Kinnear. 10-4 Furballs! Hall 2-4, BB; Osanai 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Lagarde picking up Geng’s trash and picking off Ishizaki – the former two were acquired by us FOR Itchy four years ago. It’s a small world.

It would a get bigger for Geng though, who got a chance to see a different climate in Florida starting Wednesday. Daniel Miller was called back once more.

Game 3. Kisho Saito struck out five the first time through the Canadiens’ lineup, but also allowed three singles along the way. Neil Reece gave him a lead in the fourth with a solo homer, and in the fifth, Higgins, Osanai, and Vinson singled to load the bags with no out, but Saito was up. He struck out, Salazar flew out softly, but O’Morrissey came up with an RBI single. Reece flew out to deep right. Up 2-0, a throwing error by Vinson cost us a run in the fifth. Top 6th: Hall singled, Kinnear walked, Higgins singled. Bases loaded, no outs. Oh, come on, boys. Rip one! Nope, no hits again, but Vinson drew a 1-out walk and Saito added a sac fly, 4-1. Saito was pinch-hit for in the eighth, and sat down with a 5-1 lead only to see the bullpen fork it up pretty good in the bottom 8th. Miller issued a leadoff walk and almost surrendered a homer (Kinnear got it short of the wall) and was removed for Martinez, who allowed three hits for three runs to score. I can’t ……. Teissier struck out the side in the top 9th, and West entered for the bottom half, striking out Carlos Gonsales, having Raúl Solís ground out to short, and popping up Alfonso Morán. PHEW!! 5-4 Raccoons. Kinnear 2-3, BB; Higgins 2-4; Vinson 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (10-7)

My nerves are worn thin by Vinson’s defense. VERY thin. He has OPTIONS. Won’t say no more. But he has OPTIONS.

Also, the Titans dropped two in New York so far, which combined with our three wins north of the border give us a 10 1/2 game lead at this point. Great stuff!

The Canadiens got back 2B David Brewer in time for game 4 and he singled in the first, leading up to a 3-run home run by Guzmán that shoved Jason Turner into a hole. But the team had Turner covered early on, tying the game back in the top 2nd, including a 2-run homer by Jose Rodriguez. That didn’t help Turner with his pitching, though. Bottom 2nd, two in scoring position with two out. With first base open, do you pitch to Brewer, batting .400 flat, or Luis Arroyo, with 18 homers, both being left-handers? We walked Brewer to face Arroyo, if only for the force plays on every base. Arroyo drove in two, and Turner was yanked when he put two on in the third. Nelson struck out Solís to strand them. The Coons would take Turner off the hook in the fifth with a PH RBI single by Glenn Johnston and the tying run scoring on an error by Art Garrett. When Reece singled to right to score Johnston, the Canadiens yanked their starter, luckless Randy Rakes, as well. Rakes and Turner had collected a total of 21 outs in the game. We tacked on a run in the sixth, while Roberto Carrillo did some amazing work in relief, covering three innings in just 20 pitches! Bottom 9th, still up by two. Grant West went to full counts on both Brewer and Arroyo, walking the former, but fanning the latter. He also struck out Guzmán, but then Antonio Rodriguez doubled to left, and the Canadiens had the tying runs in scoring position. West against Garrett, the open base not utilized with an equally good hitter in catcher Phil Hill after Garrett. Garrett singled up the middle, and the runs scored. Extra innings. The Raccoons scored two in the top 10th. West remained in there with the bullpen battered quite a bit. One man got on. Two men got on. Three men got on. Brewer drove in the first run. Bases loaded, no outs. Nobody to go to but Miller or a tired Burnett. The tired Burnett it was. The tying run scored, loading West with four runs total, and the game continued. I didn’t trust Miller a lick, and Burnett remained in for the 11th – and was beaten. 10-9 Canadiens. Salazar 4-5, BB, RBI; Hall 2-5, BB, 2B; Higgins 2-6; Osanai 3-4, RBI; Rodriguez 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-1, RBI; Quinn 1-2, 2B; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

What a stinking and shameful loss. Well, if they hadn’t left a dozen on base again, then - … argh!!

What had gone wrong with Grant West? I have no clue. He had surrendered five earned runs all year, those stinking Canadiens made it nine. And then Turner… That loss came about so bitter, it ruined the whole series.

In other news

August 3 – WAS 2B Hector Atilano (.339, 7 HR, 52 RBI) had to turn 41 years old to record his 2,500th career base hit, but he has done it. He notches the milestone with a leadoff double in the fourth inning against the Warriors’ Aaron Anderson. The Capitals win the game 9-3. Atilano is the second player to reach the mark and is now 83 hits behind the retired Claudio Rojas, but time could run out for Atilano, who has no contract for next season.
August 3 – CIN SP Mark Burt (2-7, 3.77 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout, 3-0 against the Gold Sox. Here’s to turning around his season.
August 6 – Pittsburgh’s Leland Lewis (9-11, 4.07 ERA) tosses seven shutout innings as the Miners beat the Blue Sox, 2-0. Lewis notches his 200th career win, having spent all of his career with the Miners.
August 7 – NAS LF/RF Tommy Norton (.328, 5 HR, 57 RBI) will miss five weeks with a broken foot.
August 12 – Season over for two Federal League pitchers: PIT SP David Castillo (5-9, 4.90 ERA) has bone chips in his elbow, while TOP SP Neil Ford (8-11, 3.57 ERA) has a bone spur in his elbow.
August 12 – CHA SP Francisco Vidrio (6-7, 3.86 ERA) 2-hits the Condors in an 11-0 mow-down.
August 13 – OCT SP Kevin Williams (8-10, 4.61 ERA) is out for the year with shoulder inflammation.
August 13 – LAP OF Lucio Hernandez (.348, 8 HR, 54 RBI) goes down to injury once more. He may miss the rest of August with a sprained ankle.

Complaints and stuff

Vern Kinnear barraged pretty well on opposing pitchers in the first week of the road trip, going 11-25 (.440) with 3 HR and 9 RBI, which earned him Player of the Week honors. :-)

We’re counting down on a milestone for Tetsu Osanai, who is closing in on 2,000 career hits and should reach them at the end of August. He has 20 to go.

Our top pick from this year’s draft, Luke Newton, has torn a finger tendon and is out for his rookie season, having batted .236 with no homers and 8 RBI in 38 games. As we are on hopeless cases: anybody remember Marihito Ohayashi? He was the first attempt to add an infielder, then got hurt instantly. He’s ready for a rehab assignment. Not that anybody wants him back.

[Westheim]

Ever seen a walkoff HBP? Prepare yourself!

Raccoons (71-43) @ Scorpions (54-62) – August 14-16, 1992

The Scorpions had a 5-game winning streak going (while the Coons weren’t exactly shabby with a .667 record over the last 2 1/2 weeks), but their offense was pitiful, ranking last in the FL in runs scored with 446 runs (almost 20% less than the Furballs). They had very competent pitching, ranking top 3 in runs allowed, starters’ ERA, and bullpen ERA. They were not hitting any home runs, their team leader Jesus Galindo having a grand total of ten dingers.

I gave a start to Matt Brown, playing third, in the opener, with Robert Vázquez facing Miguel Rosado (4-4, 3.98 ERA). Things got very wrong very early. Brown made an error on the very first play, and Matt Higgins twisted his ankle in the first inning. After the third, the Scorpions were already up 4-1. Vázquez was beyond awful in this start, his resume including three hit batters. He was removed after drilling CF Manny Ocampo to lead off the bottom 5th. We brought in Miller, which was like forfeiting the game with his 7.71 ERA. I didn’t even know what had gone wrong with this boy. But Miller surprised everybody with three quick innings of 1-hit ball. Meanwhile the Raccoons, who had had the bags full with Vázquez making the final out once early on, had the bags full for Daniel Hall with two out in the seventh again. Hall grounded up the middle, but 2B Rory Gorden got to it and converted it for an out. Add a few double plays, and the Raccoons scored one run from their 11 hits, going down 4-1 to the Scorpions. Kinnear 2-5, 2B; Reece 2-4, RBI; Osanai 2-4; Morales 3-4; Miller 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

For bad news, Matt Higgins will miss a month with an ankle sprain. Now, he may not be the biggest offensive force we have, but he’s our only serious threat on the bases, his 21 stolen sacks ranking t-2nd in the Continental League. Higgins had to be placed on the DL, with a callup given to Matt Duncan, who had gone 1-18 very early in the season, leading to him being shunned all the way to Florida. There, he batted .272, so we could not expect huge heroics from him now, either. If I wanted or not, Mauro Morales would make most starts at second base for a month.

The old hack Billy Robinson was up in game 2, and his 1992 track record best showed the Scorpions’ offensive struggles: 7-12 with a 3.14 ERA. Well, it was not like Scott Wade got any run support either. The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the second after a Morales triple and subsequent wild pitch by Robinson, but the 37-year old redeemed himself quickly with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom half of the inning. Wade didn’t look good early on, missing the strike zone more often than not. Wade trailed 2-1 into the bottom 5th, then shoveled the bags full with a single to Cal Smith, a plunk to Adam Warren, and a walk to Arturo Aguilar. No outs. The Scorpions scored two to lead 4-1. The Raccoons didn’t remotely touch Robinson until the seventh. Hall’s leadoff walk was cashed in on by Kinnear with an RBI triple that was banging off the wall in right center. Kinnear was left on third base as in succession Morales, Osanai, and Rodriguez popped out into shallow outfield regions. O’Morrissey killed the eighth with a double play. Things were just going that way. Wade battled through seven innings with ten hits and four runs against him and had nobody to pick him up, as the Raccoons were held to five hits. 4-2 Scorpions. Kinnear 2-4, 3B, RBI;

Somebody please come through? The Canadiens had won their first two in Denver and were closing in on us!

Ben O’Morrissey was dropped to sixth in the lineup for game 3 and responded with a bases-loaded grounder for the final out in the top 1st of game 3. Raimundo Beato ended the second inning with a double play, then struck out to end the fourth in which David Castillo (9-9, 3.44 ERA) had issued three walks. The game remained scoreless. At least Beato had been perfect on the mound so far, but Aguilar ended that in the bottom 4th with a 2-out double. Add to that an infield single, and then a wild pitch. I can’t … I just can’t …….. Top 5th: Reece had a 1-out infield single, followed by walks to Kinnear and Hall. Osanai ground balled to second, but at least Hall was too quick to make a play at second and the tying run came in to score, too. O’Mo with two in scoring position and two outs was not going to be productive at this point. He flew out to deep left, but … it was an out. The third time up, Beato came through then, an RBI double in the sixth, and kept the 2-1 lead together with a gutsy performance over seven frames of 4-hit ball. Top 9th, still 2-1. Salazar got on leading off, then was thrown out trying to steal. The Coons looked done offensively until Jesse Miles hit Kinnear with two out. That brought up Hall, who was hitless in the series (although he had three walks). He lined into center, where Adam Warren tried to make a great play, instead of playing it safe. It punished him, as he missed the ball completely for an RBI double. Osanai doubled in Hall, and West sat down the side in order in the bottom 9th. 4-1 Raccoons. Reece 2-5; Vinson 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Beato 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (8-5);

That was not the offensive display of a team that can win it all… At least the Canadiens lost their last game in Denver, so we only lost one game to them. Still, we lost a series to the Scorpions for the first time since 1982!

Raccoons (72-45) vs. Capitals (72-45) – August 18-20, 1992

Things certainly weren’t going to get any easier now. Great offense for the Capitals, great pitching, although the bullpen had a few holes – but you had to get there first. After the Capitals we had three more dangerous teams to play, including the Titans, before facing the CL’s pushover teams in order starting August 31 in Charlotte. We also weren’t done with the Bayhawks yet, who had just trumped both us and the Capitals for the best record in the league (73-45).

Kisho Saito was sent in there first, and Diego Rodriguez’ leadoff home run sent things down the ugly way. Saito gave up hard contact four times in the first, but Ramón Ortíz (12-6, 2.84 ERA) wasn’t dominant either: Neil Reece tagged him for a 2-run home run in the bottom 1st. Saito struck out the side in the second, but a throwing error by O’Morrissey not only re-tied the game in the third, but threw Saito off balance and the Capitals scored four unearned runs in the inning. We looked done, down 5-2. In the bottom 5th, the Coons scored a run, but with two on, Reece and Hall both flew into deep center, just short of the wall, and Rodriguez caught them both. Osanai had a leadoff walk in the sixth, bringing up Quinn, in only for Ortíz being a lefty. Quinn shocked everybody, even Raccoons fans, with a 2-run homer that tied the game. Through seven, in a tied game, Kisho Saito was at 101 pitches. Slugger Gabriel Rivera, a left-hander, led off the eighth. We sent Saito back out. Rivera grounded out on the first pitch, and Saito only allowed a soft single to Ennio Sabre in the inning. Now give him some support, boys! Quinn hit a double, but nothing came of it. Saito, 108 pitches. Lefties up. Go, Kisho, go. He sat down the side in order, and now was REALLY done. SCORE!!! Kinnear pinch-hit for Saito in the bottom 9th, shoving a single into shallow center. O-Mo bunted him over. Salazar and Reece were up in the hope for an RBI single. Salazar walked, Reece flew out gingerly, and Hall whiffed. Kisho Saito had pitched a complete game that was not complete. Osanai, despite being the leadoff man, was now singled out for defense. West entered the top 10th, sat down the site in order, but the Coons went out quickly as much. Nelson surrendered a leadoff triple to Hidehira Nakamura in the top 12th. Nakamura scored eventually, and the Coons were on the losing edge until Reece homered off Jeff Hodge in the bottom 12th. Nobody out, Hall walked. Run-and-hit, Matt Brown whiffed, but Hall was safe at second. Boys. Score. I mean it. They didn’t. Hall starved at second base. After using three arms the last three innings, we now sent in Carrillo to end it one way or another. Bottom 13th, Kinnear and O’Morrissey led off with singles. The Capitals brought Armando Dávila, a lefty, but even with Salazar up, we had no right-handers left on the bench. So, Salazar bunted the runners over for Reece, who was walked. Hall, bases loaded, one out. He struck out. Brown up, oh no! Brown took a sorry hack at Dávila’s first pitch. The third pitch of the at-bat was in – too far in. Brown was nicked. It was a walkoff hit-by-pitch! Stunned silence for a moment, then cheers. 7-6 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-5; Salazar 2-5, BB, RBI; Reece 2-6, BB, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Quinn 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Kinnear (PH) 3-3; Saito 9.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K;

Daniel Hall is clearly entering his annual struggle, whiffing at an increased rate and not getting the clutch hits anymore that he had all year. We’re clearly doomed.

Saito (2.39 ERA) has now overtaken Wade (2.44) for being the starter with the smallest ERA (and possibly least run support, can’t check, the numbers make me cry) on the Coons. They rank 2nd and 3rd in the CL, behind Las Vegas’ Carlos Guillén (2.00).

Game 2 had Jason Turner, who was more so-so recently. While Neil Reece continued his apparent ownage of Capitals pitchers with a solo home run off Parker Montgomery (9-6, 3.30 ERA), Turner looked awfully good on the mound, despite some high-ball counts early on. The Capitals came out ripping – and whiffing. Turner had 6 K’s through five innings together with a 4-0 lead. Turner didn’t allow a base runner through five innings before issuing a walk to Nuno Andresen leading off the sixth. Jeffery Brown then broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the seventh. (Turner had tossed 95 pitches through six – highly doubtful he would have made it through nine alive.) Darren Allison added another single, but the Coons caught Brown in a run-down and tagged him out at third. Still, Turner somehow looked gassed and with more lefties coming up, Burnett came in. Turner still got a standing ovation from the crowd. Burnett got Rivera to ground into a double play, settling the seventh. 3B Manny Valdez homered off Burnett in the eighth, though. The Capitals suffered from a battered pen and sent starter Carlos Reyes in for the eighth in the hope for a quick end to the game – but they were wrong. Aided by an error by Reyes himself, the Raccoons came out a-swingin’ and ravaged the former Furball for five runs, including a 3-run double by Kinnear. The Capitals did get two runs off Miller in the ninth, though. 9-3 Coons! Reece 4-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Kinnear 2-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-3, BB, RBI; Duncan 3-4, 2B, RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Turner 6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (12-6);

The Canadiens were swept at home by now (having their off day after their interleague week as opposed to the Coons, who had had it in between series) and trailed now by 11 games. YES!!

After Vázquez fell behind 1-0 in the first of the final game of the series, the Coons left the bags full in the first two innings without ever scoring, and the evening continued exactly that way for them. Vázquez surrendered three runs in seven innings of work, including a solo home run, a run where the runner had reached on Vinson’s interference, and one with a balk. Wild assortment of inabilities here, and while the bullpen pitched two scoreless to hold the Capitals, the offense produced zero things worth mentioning. Fittingly, they left Hall on third base to end the game. 3-0 Capitals. Reece 2-4, BB; Vinson 1-2, 2 BB;

In other news

August 15 – CHA LF/RF Jose Madrid (.321, 3 HR, 47 RBI) has suffered an oblique strain and will be disabled for about three weeks.

Complaints and stuff

That loss to the Capitals marks our first time being shutout since the Buffaloes sat us down 4-0 in the last game of that series. Wait, when did we play the Buffaloes!? It was on May 10. So, that was quite the decent streak, but it is over now. By the way, we haven’t shut out an opponent for a chunk of time, too. The last time it happened was twice in a series against Oklahoma City, on June 26 and 28. We had four shutouts in the month of June alone, but none since then. Part of that is sometimes spotty fielding.

During interleague play, Dallas’ Marcos Costello had a 5-hit game, missing the cycle by the home run. If you remember, he was with the Raccoons very shortly in the late 80s before being traded for catcher Alarico Violante, who never made an impact here. Costello batted .310 with the Stars the last two years, but is struggling this season. Maybe he’s turned it around now?

Stuff you don’t see about Neil Reece below: .984 FPCT, 2.65 RF, +14.1 ZR, 1.082 EFF; total of +4.6 WAR. Compared to Daniel Hall, who is batting for 47.2 VORP, he outlasts him because of Hall playing right two thirds of the time this season to find a place to play for Vern Kinnear. Hall receives -0.4 WAR from defense, having him range at +4.3 WAR in total. Hall is a Gold Glover (1987) but that was in left field.

Hall’s offense is crumbling away. He was retired a few times on hard contact this week, and hit two doubles, but he whiffed a lot and he made a lot of poor contact. That’s called regression towards the mean, I fear. :-(

As far as Neil Reece goes, of the three hitting prospects we acquired in July 1988, back then I ranked him lowest of all three. The other two are of course O-Mo and Higgins. By now I think Reece is the best of them by a substantial margin, but they all have their own are of excellence on the field. Reece is awesome in every category except for speed. They all have double-digit home run power, they can all hit for high average (Higgins just refuses to show it), and O-Mo and Higgins have good and great speed, respectively. All three have excellent defense at their positions. THANK GOODNESS WE WERE SO BAD IN 1988!!!

To be fair, these guys were not A level prospects. All of them were in AAA at the time of us picking them up, and by then their potential was extremely obvious. It was merely a question of having the guts to axe down that 1988 team which had fallen just one game short of the playoffs a year before. Our track record since then speaks for itself. Despite offensive woes from time to time.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (74-46) @ Indians (61-60) – August 21-23, 1992

The Indians had collapsed badly in June and July and were by all means far out of it. They performed similar to the Raccoons: strong pitching, sometimes stuttering offense. They had Raúl Vázquez and his 31 homers, though. Oh, he’s batting three-fiddy, too.

Game 1. Scott Wade surrendered two hits and a run in the bottom 1st, but Matt Duncan – of all people – homered in the second inning to tie the game. Indy’s Larry Davis came under even more pressure in the third due to bad control. The Raccoons loaded the bases with one out, before Osanai hit an RBI single and O’Mo drew an RBI walk. Duncan ended it with a double play ball. Successive errors by 3B Bob Arnold in the fifth plated two more runs for the Furballs. Still up 5-1, things turned against Wade in the eighth. The Indians scored a run and had a runner on second when Vázquez – so far 0-3 with a K against Wade – came up. We’re not taking that risk. He was put on, but Tomas Maguey followed with an infield single and now Wade was toasted. Lagarde came in to dig him out. He surrendered a home run to Mamoru Sato. A 5-run inning killed Wade’s day and ERA. 6-5 Indians. Salazar 2-4, BB; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI;

While I oversaw Lagarde being singled out for an extra spanking, I glanced over the box score once more. Bob Arnold never even touched third base – defensively – while in Portland. I knew why. He is NOT a third baseman! The Titans thought otherwise and the Indians think otherwise, too, and I have no clue why.

The Raccoons sent 11 men to the plate in the first inning of the middle game, scoring five runs. Indians starter Kazuyuki Ando left in the middle of the barrage with an apparent injury. Neil Reece twice left the bases loaded early in the game, then got picked off first when he led off the sixth with a single. Great stuff, Neil. Highlights for the rest of the game were limited to Daniel Hall throwing out Sato at first in the seventh, which eventually saved a run, because “Pooky” after six strong frames loaded the bags in a 5-1 game. Burnett came in and punched out Jake Martin, then got Luis Gonzalez on a grounder to short. Burnett was left in specifically to retire Vázquez in the eighth. This required the retirement of Bob Arnold – check – but Vázquez homered to right. At least Grant West flashed a 6-pitch ninth inning. 5-2 Coons. Salazar 2-4, BB, RBI; Vinson 3-4; Beato 6.1 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (9-5) and 2-3, RBI;

Neil Reece had a LOB of 7 and was punished by having to clean my personal toilet. I had chili burgers for lunch.

Daniel Hall showed that he was still alive with an RBI single that made it 2-0 in the top 1st of the rubber game. Kisho Saito faced lefty Arthur Young who was 6-9 with little run support. Saito gave up lots of contact however and the Indians re-tied the game by the third inning on a homer by light-hitting 3B Pedro Fierros and then four singles. Maguey was on second base with two down in the bottom 5th and Vázquez came to the plate. Lefty on lefty. And Master Kisho had to retire him as one of the ABL’s premier pitchers. Kisho got him to 0-2, before Vázquez sent a lazy grounder to Morales at second base. It was a terrible battle, but Saito got through six, holding the 2-2 tie. But … again no run support for a W for him, except if the Coons could get moving in the top 7th and – who’m I kiddin’? No-decision for Kisho, once again. Carrillo put two on in the bottom 7th and Burnett this time sniffed out Vázquez to end the inning. Top 8th: Kinnear pinch-hit for Burnett and walked. He was held at third on an O’Morrissey double, no outs, two in scoring position. Salazar flew out to shallow left, Reece lined out to second, and Hall grounded out. Nobody scored. Lagarde pitched the eighth and ninth, in the latter facing Vázquez with two down and two out. Easy call, put him on, go after C Victor Cornett, a right-hander. Cornett struck out, extra innings again (seems like we go 16 in all Kisho starts now…). Lagarde was done, Carrillo had already been used, so we went to Daniel Miller with a right-handed-laden lineup. Miller worked hard to end the game in time for Married … with Children on TV, but when Sixto Moreno tried to stretch a 1-out double, Quinn threw him out at third. The Indians returned favors on Neil Reece in the top 11th. Despite shaking like a 20-story building during an earthquake, Miller managed to go three innings without losing the game. He still missed Al mock Marcy. When Neil Reece hit a 1-out single in the 14th, it was only the Coons seventh hit on the night – a shocking display of offensive inability. Matt Brown had just entered in a double switch removing Osanai for defense, but he also trumped him offensively with a follow-up double. Quinn came up – you better be could, Bob. Mr. Bob lined out to second. RAAAHH!!! Martinez had pitched the 13th and now came up, so Vinson came in as a pinch hitter. Raúl Perez quickly had him 1-2, and a K was coming this way. No, Davey made contact this time. Uh-oh, that one is quite long! And high! THREE-RUN HOME RUN!!! West made an end to the misery. 5-2 Coons!! Salazar 2-6, 2B; Reece 2-4, 2B, RBI; Brown 1-1, 2B; Vinson (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K; Miller 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K;

From the #4 slot down, our starters went 2-28 in this game, Hall and Quinn having single hits. That’s … agony.

Raccoons (76-47) vs. Titans (67-58) – August 25-27, 1992

The Titans were now the second-place team, ten games off the pace. As long as we’re not getting swept, everything is fine. Besides the ego thing I have going on, that thing has a scratch or two at times. And a hole in it.

Jason Turner’s 12 wins led the team, which was kind of poor for a .600+ team with sub-3 ERA guys on the roster. Turner walked the first two batters up in game 1, surrendered a single, and had the bags full with no outs. He popped up the next three and escaped unharmed. Except for ego. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 1st on a single, error, and hit batter – with no outs. Hall managed only an RBI groundout, and an O-Mo sac fly made it 2-0. Turner was easily awful. He walked five in the first four innings, and threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the fourth. A Salazar error opened the fifth and Turner never retired another batter. George Waller’s 3-run home run turned the tables on the Raccoons, who now trailed 4-3, but only shortly. Neil Reece hit an RBI triple in the bottom 5th and scored on Hall’s sac fly, 5-4 Furballs. The Titans beat up Carrillo and Martinez in the seventh: 6-5 Titans. Back and forth here! In the bottom 7th, Hall came up with the bags full and one out. That used to mean another swing around on the scoreboard. Now it was a double play. Vinson and Quinn left two on in the eighth. Salazar’s leadoff double in the ninth gave them another chance to tie or win it. Salazar was left on third base. 6-5 Titans. Salazar 3-3, 2 BB; Reece 3-5, 3B, RBI; Osanai 2-4; Nelson 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Eight walks issued, 24 men left on base individually. That game stunk like a dead cat in the summer sun. And Daniel Hall managed to plunge his AVG to .300 in two weeks. Meeeh…

Santiago Perez was lit up quickly in game 2 then, but he helped a good deal by hitting Kinnear, issuing a few walks, balking, and throwing a wild pitch. Six runs across, ample support for Robert “Lucky” Vázquez. But was Vázquez interested in a close game? The first guy he faced after the Perez massacre, Salvador Vargas, homered. But Vázquez settled in then and pitched a very good game. The Coons added a run in the fourth, 7-1, and Hall came up once more with the bags full and one out. Oh, dear baseball gods, you know I don’t ask for much …! Hall struck out, and O-Mo popped out to short. When Reece and Kinnear hit back-to-back homers off Dylan Grant in the eighth, Hall followed that up with a K. Vázquez pitched a complete game, 9-1 Furballs! Reece 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Kinnear 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B, RBI; Vinson 2-4, RBI; Vázquez 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (12-8) and 2-3, RBI;

(slams head against the doorframe) Hall went 0-5 with 3 K and with overall terribleness attached to him, and dropped to .296 – all done. He won’t even break his record of 102 RBI’s from 1984. He has 98 now. And only six weeks to play. All my dreams – shattered!

There still was a rubber game to play, Scott Wade getting the call. The first batter he faced, Matt Smith, reached on an uncaught third strike – and that was on Rodriguez, not even Vinson. Oh, greatness. Smith scored, 1-0 Titans. Gnn-ngnaahh!! (grips a bat with chew marks) Hall actually came up with an RBI single in the bottom 1st, but Osanai left two on when he whiffed. The Raccoons left runners in scoring position in EACH of the first five innings, four times on third base, sometimes on second and third. Wade paid for it, as usual, when Hjalmar Flygt homered off him in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie. Wade was pinch-hit for in the sixth, after a Duncan double, but Brown struck out for him. Salazar got on with a walk. Reece flew to deep center, but into an out. Runners on the corners, two out for Kinnear. Grounder up the middle, 2B Juan Valentin hauling it in, but tumbled a bit and had to double clutch – and that had Kinnear safe at first and a run in. Down 4-3, two on, two out. And Hall. (cringes) He lined out to Waller at short. Still down 4-3 into the bottom 9th. Kinnear, Hall, O-Mo up. Groundout, groundout, walk. Vinson pinch-hit for Miller in the #6 spot and was clobbered by closer Javier Navarro. Quinn pinch-hit for an 0-4 Rodriguez and rolled out to short. 4-3 Titans. Salazar 3-4, BB, 2B; Reece 3-5, RBI; Duncan 2-4, 2B; Nelson 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Team LOB: 13; Individual LOB: 25 – how the hell can that be!? Blowout win in game 2 or not – that was a crunching series. They could have easily swept the Titans with a pair of clutch hits!

Raccoons (77-49) vs. Knights (61-65) – August 28-30, 1992

Did we need to shake things up? Daniel Hall had batted cleanup most of the year. Was it better to put Reece there and drop Hall to somewhere where he can’t do as much damage – to his own team? O-Mo could bat second again. That was not so bad an idea. Hall fell to #5 in the lineup for the time being and Reece moved down to the cleanup spot.

The Knights offered a heavily left-handed lineup in the opener against “Pooky” and took a 1-0 lead in the top 2nd. Hall doubled to lead off the bottom 2nd … and was left on. Here we go again. “Pooky” did what he could, but was 2-0 behind after four. He converted a bad Glenn Ryan bunt for an out at third base in the top 5th, keeping the Knights from adding a run there. Ryan gave the Raccoons nothing but bad grades until the bottom 5th when O’Morrissey hit a whammy RBI double off the wall in center and advanced to third on the Knights’ awkward attempt on a play at the plate. He was the tying run with one out. While Vern Kinnear didn’t come up with a clutch hit (how should he?), he grounded out in such fashion that O-Mo could score to tie the game. Yay, success! More success in the bottom 6th! Duncan had Hall and Osanai on base with one out and hit a DOUBLE, and somebody SCORED!! HOW UNHEARD OF!!! Glenn Johnston pinch-hit for Beato and hit an RBI single before Salazar ended the inning with a double play. In came Ken Burnett, surrendering a home run to the first guy he faced, 3B Luis Barrera. Oh greatness……. Bottom 7th: Reece hit a 2-out triple, bringing up Hall. He jabbed at the first pitch, rolling it past Barrera into shallow left – an RBI single! Hall was then picked off first. (… silencio …) West came in for the ninth, up by two. He put the first two on, then got a double play, then faced Jack Jackson, who took his first pitch to deep left – into Kinnear’s glove. 5-3 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-4, 3B; Hall 2-3, 2B, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-1, RBI; Brown (PH) 1-1, 2B; Beato 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (10-5);

After this thriller, I had no fingernails left. And that’s 100 RBI’s now for Dan The Man. I would have been screaming louder about it two weeks ago. But he’s batting 8-63 over the last two weeks, which can be described as anemic.

Sending Kisho Saito into the mess in game 2 was probably cruel. The team didn’t help him a bit, as the Knights scored one in the first, but another Salazar error helped plate them two more in the third. Saito went six, struck out nine, but was behind 4-0, and the Knights’ Jesse Carver gave the Raccoons not the slightest chance through six. Chris Nelson sealed the loss for Saito by allowing a 3-run home run to Michael Root in the seventh. The seventh was also when Carver started crumbling. The Coons closed in to 7-3, bases loaded, two out, Neil Reece up. Groundout to short. In the bottom 8th an error by SS Tony Diaz loaded the bases with the Coons – AGAIN. One out, Quinn pinch-hit for Martinez, who had walked the bases full the previous half-inning. Aaaand, a lazy fly out. Salazar with two out grounded between the mound, second, and third base, and while the Coons ran in circles, Barrera couldn’t make any play. A run scored, and O-Mo came up – and walked! Two in, we were a single away from tying the game! Groundout. 8-5 Knights. Salazar 2-5, 2 RBI; Kinnear 2-5; Reece 2-5; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Morales 2-4;

Team LOB: 11; Individual LOB: 24; I can’t stop screaming in agony. That’s their usual World Series performance, and it is no less torturing in August. One more at home. Nobody will care if I cry in public in *Charlotte*.

Neil Reece drove in a run in the first of game 3. The next two innings, Turner and Hall each hit into killing double plays. We then lost a run in the fourth because Osanai absolutely needed to try and stretch a double – yeah, right, great stuff here again. After five, the Coons had eight hits and a fragile 1-0 lead against Jim Harrington, who had come in an 18-game loser. Bottom 6th: singles by Reece, Hall, and Osanai loaded the bags with no outs. And they ended it there again. At least they made productive outs, an RBI groundout by Vinson and a sac fly by Duncan. The Knights got a run off Turner in the seventh, then put the tying runs on in the eighth. Burnett had to keep things in order. A third runner reached on Salazar’s third error in a week, and up came Michael Root. Great. 1-2, he shot a grounder to right, and Osanai made the play! Throw to second – OUT! – throw back – SAFE! NOOOO!!! Barrera grounded out then, but the lead was down to 3-2, but – lo and behold! – we finally got a big hit in the bottom 8th, a 2-run homer by Vinson. West didn’t need it, pitching a scoreless ninth. 5-2 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B; Reece 3-4, RBI; Hall 3-4; Osanai 2-4, 2B; Vinson 2-3, HR, 3 RBI; Duncan 2-3, RBI; Turner 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (13-6);

We had 15 hits here, too. Lots of singles, no clutch performance (Vinson and Reece specifically excluded).

In other news

August 25 – NAS SP Chris Lacy (7-11, 4.60 ERA) churns out fire against the Rebels, 1-hitting them in a 4-0 shutout. Olívio Franklin has the Rebels’ only hit, a third-inning single.
August 28 – CHA SP Francisco Vidrio (9-7, 3.44 ERA) narrowly misses history with a 1-hitter against the Crusaders, as the Falcons win 3-0. Victor Martinez had a leadoff single in the second inning.
August 29 – Milwaukee’s 2B/SS Jim Stein (.320, 3 HR, 69 RBI) enters the history books despite his team losing 8-7 to Oklahoma City. Stein HITS FOR THE CYCLE in a 4-4 performance, the 16th such event in ABL history. It is the second cycle in Loggers history (Emilio Román, 1989) and the second consecutive time the team of the cycling player loses the game. It is the first cycle for a player on the home team since 1979! The last player to cycle at home was, ironically, the Thunder’s Jonah Frank.

Complaints and stuff

(groans)

At least we won the season series from Atlanta, 6-3, for the first time since ’86.

Oh, and the following: Neil Reece was Player of the Week for the Titans/Knights series, batting 13-28 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. He also has a 13-game hitting streak going. Will he be the sweetheart once Daniel Hall retires?

[Westheim]

There was an important question heading into September: did we want Albert Matthews or Daniel Miller available for the postseason roster? Matthews unfortunately had returned to the AAA team a few days ago instead of lingering on the DL until September 1, so the decision had to be made now. There is no issue with Matt Higgins in this regard, who is still a week away from returning and we will be able to pick between Matt Brown and Matt Duncan – or even Marihito Ohayashi, who was on a “rehab” stowaway stint at AAA – for the sixth infield spot.

Matthews had regularly given up several runs in an inning in AAA. In his first game back from the DL on August 29, he had pitched 3.1 innings with a run allowed for the win. I will have to butcher the AAA manager for having a recently-injured reliever pitch three innings his first time back.

Miller in turn had sparkled last year, but this year gloomed along to a 5.79 ERA. Both were young, both were the future – neither made himself quite loveable so far. It was the eighth spot in the bullpen in the postseason. Which would possibly get axed for another position player. Miller was here, Miller would stay.

Raccoons (79-50) @ Falcons (53-76) – August 31-September 2, 1992

The Falcons’ pitching staff was receiving regular drubbings, nicely fitting in with them having the second-worst record in baseball. Daniel Hall had a day off in the series opener (Johnston played with left-handers scheduled for the Falcons in games 2 and 3, so that was his only chance of being remotely useful). Our magic number starting this series was 23.

Johnston made himself increasingly unpopular with an error in the second inning that scored an unearned run for the Falcons, 1-0. Charlotte’s Lorenzo Ángel, as unremarkable as SP’s go, no-hit the Coons the first time through the order, but then gave a leadoff triple to Kinnear in the fourth, and Kinnear scored on Osanai’s groundout. The Coons took a lead in the fifth: Johnston’s leadoff walk and stolen base, and Salazar’s 1-out single but runners on the corners. O-Mo doubled, Kinnear doubled, Reece singled – four runs scored. We left the bases loaded, but Robert Vázquez was now up 5-1. We had another 4-run inning in the seventh, which already looked like a dying cause after bases loaded and no outs. In that situation, Vinson whiffed and Morales popped out, but Johnston came through with a 2-run double, the Falcons brought in the next run with a wild pitch and then Vázquez singled up the middle to score Johnston. Vázquez pitched into the ninth, but two scratch singles and a walk to Billy Mitchell (16 HR) loaded the bags with one out and he left. Salazar made quite the play on a Joe Jackson liner and Martinez then struck out Jeffrey Booker to end the game. 10-1 Raccoons (16-5 hits)! Brown (PH) 1-1; Kinnear 4-5, BB, 3B, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-5, RBI; Vinson 2-4, BB; Johnston 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Vázquez 8.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, W (13-8) and 1-5, RBI;

Carlos Guillén of the Aces gave up five earned runs for the second time in a row on this day, shooting his ERA to 2.55 and leaving Kisho Saito in the CL ERA lead. More good news for the Coons and specifically Vern Kinnear for August below.

We only called up two players on September 1 (but more may follow): Marihito Ohayashi, who at the worst was taking AB’s away at AAA and was thus called up to warm the bench here, and Qi-zhen Geng.

The Falcons sent Kent Cahill, 28, who made his big league debut, against Scott Wade. Cahill held up for two innings, then committed a throwing error on a grounder by Kinnear that converted could have been an inning-ending double play, but instead the Coons went on to score two in the inning. Meanwhile Wade pitched at a blistering pace – four innings in 29 pitches! That paced let up after that, but both starters pitched impressively. Cahill never surrendered an earned run, whiffing six over seven innings. Wade aced through eight, still up 2-0. He batted for himself in the top 9th, which was also scoreless and we left Grant West in the stable to start the bottom 9th. Wade got the first out from Jackson, then walked Adam Kent. Left-handers up. 2B Dave Dixon was first, and he had zero power. He singled to right, and that was it for Wade. Grant West came in now, with trouble already brewing. West never retired anybody. Single, hit batter, walk, single. 3-2 Falcons. O’Morrissey 2-4, RBI; Reece 2-3, BB, RBI; Johnston 2-3, BB; Wade 8.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K;

[I messed up here, not realizing that the Falcons had changed up their rotation on September 1. Cahill was a right-hander and I accidentally left Daniel Hall out of the lineup when I adjusted the vs.LHP lineup. I basically ran out Johnston again. And catastrophically mismanaged the bullpen. If you don’t check everything on every day, some trouble always comes your way. That’s intended to rhyme. Plus, I suck.]

Game 3 saw Raimundo Beato being jumped on early for two runs in the first. The Raccoons were shut down by Francisco Vidrio, managing two hits through five frames. In the bottom 5th, Beato surrendered a 2-run homer to that “zero power” batter Dave Dixon. 4-0 down, we looked done – and were: 5-1 Falcons. Vidrio didn’t let up until the eighth, when we got our only run. Only six hits, and Hall left two on in that eighth. Reece 3-4;

Neil Reece continues to play one-man offense, extending his hitting streak to 16 games.

Raccoons (80-52) @ Crusaders (52-81) – September 4-6, 1992

Now for the worst team in baseball. Chances obviously weren’t in our favor. Maybe our pitching would hold up to the Crusaders’ anemic 3.6 R/G offense, though.

With Kisho Saito starting game 1 against a sorry team without any chance at turning it around so soon, there were endless possibilities for stuff going wrong – usually exempting Kisho Saito’s performance, except for this time. Well, through four, both team hurled two homers. The Coons led 4-2 thanks to Kinnear and Reece doing it for two runs twice. Saito was tagged by C Ruben Meléndez and 2B Benjamin “Obnoxious” Butler for solo shots. An RBI triple by Kinnear widened the gap in the fifth, and Reece singled Kinnear in, 6-2. Saito settled in after that and pitched three more innings, not allowing a hit there. He turned it over to Carrillo for the eighth, who surrendered only one batter, but walked three. Lagarde dug out of there with only one run across on Victor Martinez’ groundout. We entered Grant West again. He fell behind to the first two batters, one of whom reached, but then got the last two outs including a game-ending K to Dan Joyner. 6-3 Raccoons. Kinnear 2-4, BB, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Reece 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Hall 2-4; Saito 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (11-8);

Tetsu Osanai’s achievements were acknowledged in the eighth inning of this game. He hit a double of Xavier Herrera – his 2,000th big league hit! Even though we were on the road, the Crusaders were glad to be able to cheer about anything, so they cheered for the first baseman of a team that played in the same division as them, but not in the same class. (In fact, the Raccoons and Crusaders have never ever even remotely competed for anything in ABL history. They won their three division titles long before the Raccoons were ever meaningful, and have not been meaningful since 1983.) Additional info: of the 2,000 hits Tetsu has collected, 1,483 have come with the Raccoons, and 517 with the Canadiens.

Also, Neil Reece is virtually unsurrenderable at this point. He tied Dan The Man for the team lead in home runs with 19, while Dan’s still chasing after these elusive 102nd and 103rd RBI’s to tie and break his personal single season records.

O’Morrissey homered in the first inning of game 2 for an early 1-0 lead for Jason Turner. Turner inexplicably threw pitcher Hector Lara four wide and low ones in the bottom 3rd. It was the Crusaders’ first base runner on the day, and soon became their first run when Alfonso Rojas doubled him in. Tied game. Turner surrendered two runs in the bottom 5th, and the Raccoons had to come from behind. They did so in the sixth. Kinnear was on second with two down when Hall singled to left. Kinnear was sent home and was safe in a play at the plate, and Hall moved up to second. Osanai singled, runners on the corners. Jose Rodriguez came up, struggling mightily recently, but now doubled in Hall – tied game again. Duncan was put on to get to Turner, who singled up the middle to support his own cause. Salazar then left the bags full, up 4-3. Turner was yanked when he put the first two men on in the bottom 6th. Although Chris Nelson gave up hard contact twice, he held the runners from scoring, Salazar and Kinnear making nice plays. Neil Reece came up with one out and a runner on first in the top 7th. He was 0-3 with 3 K’s on the day (unsurrenderable!) and jabbed at John Hatt’s 3-0 pitch. He singled through to left. Phew! The Coons scored a run that Martinez would immediately concede again once “America The Beautiful” was sung at the park. Lagarde then blew a 6-4 lead in the bottom 8th, with another Salazar error as additional point of anger. Now, the Raccoons still won, 7-6, on a Rodriguez home run in the ninth, and West saved it 1-2-3, but that was not a display of strong pitching – or clutch hitting: the Coons out-hit the Crusaders 17-9. O’Morrissey 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kinnear 4-5, 2B; Osanai 3-4, RBI; Rodriguez 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Daniel Hall tied his RBI mark from 1984 with the single that scored Kinnear in the sixth.

We dropped Salazar from leadoff duties after a string of bad starts at the plate and in the field. He got a day off on the last day in NYC. Duncan played short, and Ohayashi could make himself useful for a day at second base. Maybe. O-Mo batted leadoff in game 3.

Daniel Hall batted third and broke his old RBI record with an RBI double in the first inning. DAN THE MAN!! The Raccoons scored two unearned runs in the inning. The Coons again left scores of runners on, while Robert Vázquez surrendered plenty of solid contact. Douglas Donaldson homered in the fourth, making it a 2-1 game, while the defense prevented worse for the moment, but Vázquez ran himself out of the game in the sixth, putting two on again. Martinez failed to hold them on and the Crusaders took a 3-2 lead while having substantially less hits than the Raccoons. Again. Neil Reece extended his hitting streak to 19 games with an infield single leading off the seventh. He was left on. Top 8th, still down 3-2. O-Mo and Kinnear got on with two out, which left Hall to put things right against rookie lefty Dan Barnes. Barnes issued another walk, bringing up Reece. He singled to left, tying the game, as Kinnear was sent home, but thrown out. Osanai (0-3, 3 K) didn’t come to the plate in the eighth. Ohayashi committed an error in the bottom 8th, almost plating the go-ahead run for the Crusaders. Osanai walked to start the ninth and was replaced with Bobby Quinn to run for him, but the Raccoons starved him at third base with a double-whiff by Rodriguez and Ohayashi. The latter was again the focus of my scorn in the bottom 9th. “Obnoxious” Butler singled right through him to walk off the Crusaders – with two outs. 4-3 Crusaders. O’Morrissey 3-5; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Vinson 2-5, 2B, RBI;

Get. Mary. Out. Of. My. Eyes. (whispers) Now.

We have not swept a series since July (4-set at home against the Canadiens) and we can’t break out of our .500 dullness even when playing pushover teams. Things are obviously going fantastic. They had an individual LOB of 29 (!!) in the last game, and a team LOB of 15!!

What a destitute and godforsaken bunch …

Meanwhile the Canadiens have closed in to 7 1/2 games with a crucial 3-game set up next week.

In other news

September 1 – The season could be over for SFW 3B Cameron Green (.263, 10 HR, 58 RBI), who has strained a rib cage muscle.
September 2 – The Canadiens will have to compete down the stretch without 1B/2B/3B Raúl Solís (.251, 10 HR, 67 RBI), whose season is over with a broken elbow.

Complaints and stuff

Vern Kinnear collected the CL’s Batter Trophy for August! He went .373 with 5 HR and *23* RBI! To be honest, I would have thought Neil Reece had bigger chances, but with 23 ribbies Kinnear certainly lit it up. Since Kinnear is still considered a rookie, and there are no devastating young pitchers dishin’ it out this year, he also cashed in on the Rookie Trophy for August. Oh, joy! :-)

Apart from that, these high-LOB games continue, as do the .500 doldrums. We are 24-22 since the All Star game, and have neither won nor lost more than three in a row during that stretch. The team just can’t get going. What are 10-run games for if they lose the next two by 4-3 and 5-4 scored and leave two dozen on base!? This for one is not an issue with mismanaging (which I have done enough of this week) but just plain ugliness in RISP situations. Which I can’t prove with numbers, since the game does a good job of masking RISP batting. One would have to manually add up various batting splits on player basis, then build a team average.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (82-53) vs. Loggers (56-80) – September 7-10, 1992

Sprint to the finish line or more humiliation? Everything was possible as we got ourselves ready for four games with the Loggers, which started an 11-game home stand. We were scheduled to see four right-handers in the series. At the same time the Canadiens and Titans would play three in Vancouver as the Titans were slowly tumbling out of the race.

Neil Reece extended his hitting streak to 20 games in due time in the opener with a 2-out RBI single off Scott Murphy in the first. Hall drove in Reece to make it 2-0 for Scott Wade early. Wade was magnificient through three, but the Loggers hit five singles off him in the fourth, cutting a 4-0 lead to 4-3. The Loggers’ rookie sensation Jerry Fletcher dished out a leadoff double in the fifth, but Wade got through the lefties in the lineup to keep Fletcher and the tying run from scoring. Scott Murphy was a bit of an anomaly – when have you ever seen a guy with 115+ walks, a scratch over 100 K’s, with a .410 team, that has a 13-9 record? – and tried to keep the tide from rising, but Kinnear homered off him in the fifth and Wade batted for an RBI groundout, scoring Osanai in the sixth, 6-3. Wade meanwhile didn’t strikeout anybody in the game, going seven innings, but apart from that nasty third-inning spill, held up nicely. In fact, the Raccoons’ staff offered only one strikeout the entire game: Grant West punching out C Duane Smith to end the game. 6-3 Coons. Kinnear 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Reece 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 2-4, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, W (9-5);

The Canadiens rode Ruben Prado on eight shutout innings to beat the Titans 4-0. Matt Higgins came off the DL and was added to the roster again in time for game 2.

Raimundo Beato was clobbered by the Loggers to the tune of five runs in the first inning of game 2. That didn’t mean the game was over, especially with the Loggers pitching Tim Butler (3-12, 7.31 ERA), but was certainly an indicator for whom would be dropped from the rotation come October. Beato put two men on in the fourth and was yanked, but Nelson waved them both in. Another guy to drop. The Loggers were up 8-1 after that top 4th and now this game looked done, with Butler striking out scores of Raccoons, 8 K through seven, and he got Brown to start the eighth. The Raccoons then loaded the bags with one out and Reece up. C’mon, Neil, at least soil his line! Reece lined out and Hall flew out. In one of their most shameful displays of incompetence in recent times, the Raccoons were downed here. 8-1 Loggers. Kinnear 1-1, BB; Duncan (PH) 1-1; Miller 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The game got even more **** down the line with Vern Kinnear hurting himself on a defensive play. We dodged a bullet there: he had a mild shoulder strain and would be sidelined for only a few days. With Kinnear out, Hall batted in the #3 hole ahead of Reece, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games with one of the Coons’ five singles.

Forget September 8, bring on September 9. Can’t get worse. Game 3 featured Kisho Saito, who got a 2-0 lead (after bases loaded, no outs) in the first inning. Top 4th: Jerry Fletcher and Bob Grant singled their ways on. Saito got one out, before they pulled off a double steal unimpeded by Vinson. The next grounder came O’Morrissey’s way, and he capitally threw it away to tie the game. Gilberto Martinez, who reached on that error, was brought in to score on a terrible bloop hit by Armando Fernandez and Master Kisho was trailing and drowning in a sea of crap not of his own making. To make things worse, he would then surrender a 3-run home run to pitcher Davis Sims in the sixth. That was the end. The Raccoons did not get a hit in a RISP situations all game (their two runs scoring on groundouts) and left six on base after the Sims home run. Saito took the loss, 6-2 Loggers. Salazar 2-5; O’Morrissey 2-5; Osanai 2-3, 2B;

Rapid collapse in progress. The Canadiens swept the Titans.

Game 4. Turner surrendered two runs on a leadoff walk and a Raúl Rodriguez triple in the first inning. The Loggers made it 3-0 in the fourth, three runs on three hits, while the Raccoons were … largely hard to describe without profanities. With the help of a Vinson home run they came back to 3-2 in the sixth, but that was on eight hits, compared to the Loggers’ three. The Loggers got themselves a spare run with a Rodriguez 2-out RBI single in the eighth. Four hits – four runs. Unbelievable. Higgins walked to lead off the bottom 8th. Osanai grounded into a dou- oops, no, António Díaz threw it away. Two on, no outs for Vinson. A walk. DOWN BY TWO. BASES LOADED. NOBODY OUT. DEAR GOD, I SWEAR I’M GONNA KILL YOU ALL. Quinn struck out. Johnston hit a sac fly. Salazar flew out. GODDAMNIT, HOLY $§@%&&!!! The Loggers were barely held from scoring in the ninth. Bottom 9th, Raúl Ramirez against O’Morrissey, Hall, Reece. They don’t score, I’m gonna snap. O’Morrissey swung at 3-0 and grounded out. Moron! You moron!! Henceforth thou shalt be known as Moron O’Moronsey!! Hall was plunked. Reece grounded out, moving Hall to second. Higgins grounded out. 4-3 Loggers. Salazar 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-4;

Between games 3 and 4, David Vinson came up with two men on four times. He struck out thrice and walked once, twice ending an inning. That’s the kind of hitting we have here. His home run came with less than two on.

When the groundskeepers were down with picking up the various trash left around, including all my hopes and dreams, their crew chief found me in the dugout, having slapped my head against the wall for three and a half hours. He was kind enough to drive me home, but not kind enough to suffocate me with my pillow.

Raccoons (83-56) vs. Canadiens (78-61) – September 11-13, 1992

We’re five ahead. We’d play three. And we’re toast.

Moron O’Moronsey was benched because that was as much as I could do in my helpless fury without doing more damage, and Brown got a start in the series opener. We’d enter with the back of our rotation, too, so chances were good for the first series sweep (for better or worse) for this team in just over two months.

Game 1. Carlos Quintela hit a leadoff home run. That was where things going, to hell. The Canadiens singled three times in the fourth with nobody out, and scored two. Arnold McCray was perfect through three, then walked Salazar, who was immediately doubled up by Higgins. Daniel Hall homered after that, and what was it for? Down 3-1, 2-hit by McCray after five, Duncan pinch-hit for Robert Vázquez in the bottom 6th, leading off. He singled up the middle. Salazar walked on an extreme borderline pitch in a full count. Two on, no outs. Higgins flew out, Hall walked. Reece came up, hitting streak already extended to 24. Bloop to left, Luis Arroyo coming in, but he was not going to get it. Duncan scored, Salazar came around third, no play at the plate, they tried to get Hall going to third, tag, SAFE!! Tied game, two on for Osanai. He flew out to center, Hall tagged and scored. The Coons led 4-3. In the bottom 8th, O’Mo was allowed to pinch-hit for Jackie Lagarde, who had followed Burnett in pitching a scoreless inning, with one out and Reece on first. He got Reece forced out, then was picked off to end the inning. Call the butcher, I’ve got some stock for him. Grant West had no margin for error in the ninth. The Canadiens sent “Itchy” Ishizaki to lead off as pinch hitter. He was the first of three soft outs in the inning. 4-3 Raccoons, and on only five hits. Hall 1-3, BB, HR, RBI; Reece 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Duncan (PH) 1-1;

Those three mentioned above constituted ALL of our offense! Neil Reece’s bloop to left was the whole game. Basically, that’s how we lost two to Milwaukee. It’s only just to get one back.

Make it two.

Responsible for that would be Scott Wade. Quintela again made himself unlikeable in Portland with a home run to start the scoring, then in the third inning. Wade fell behind 2-0 in the fourth. O’Moronsey tried to make himself likeable again with a solo shot in the bottom 4th, 2-1. Johnston singled his way on to lead off the fifth, then saw Rodriguez and Duncan whiff. Wade came up and doubled up left! Salazar could make himself useful and at least single to tie it, but grounded to short. And hadn’t it been for Art Garrett’s throwing error scoring the tying run, I would have strangled Salazar the second he returned to the dugout. O’Moronsey came up now and battled with Manny Ramos to reach a full count, then hurled a grounder to third base. IT GETS THROUGH BOB EDWARDS!!! Wade scored easily, and as Salazar was set in motion on the 3-2 count, he too scored on O’Morrissey’s double!! But this game was far from over. Garrett led off the top 7th with a home run off Wade. Edwards got on and was moved to third with two down and Quintela up. He had homered twice already in the series. Was it better to walk him and get *Nelson* (Burnett was tired) to face lefty Carlos Guzmán? Guzmán was batting .319, so it was by no means an easy call. Wade was left in to face Quintela, got him to 2-2, but then Quintela unleashed a driller into deep left. Daniel Hall on his horse, hurling his 37-year old body at hit – AND HE CAUGHT IT!!!! The park was shaking, everybody jumping up and down. We would face three lefties in the eighth, Wade was pinch-hit for in the bottom 7th, I had no trust in Nelson, and West had a so-so recent track record and I didn’t want to overextend my luck by having him collect six. Jackie Lagarde seemed to be the best bet here. He went to 3-0 on Guzmán, but the batter jabbed at the fourth pitch and grounded out to Brown, who was in for defense at first. Reece made a bear of a play on a liner by David Brewer. Then game Arroyo, 20 homers on that guy. He was put on intentionally to get to righty António Rodriguez, but he singled. Uh-oh. “Itchy” came on as pinch-hitter, but he grounded out to end the inning. Phew. The eighth saw Hall homer and Reece extend his streak at the last chance. Up 5-3, West entered. The leadoff man, Edwards got on with a single that danced through Brown, while laughing madly. Uh-oh. Alfonso Morán would drive him in, and with two outs stood at third base. Guzmán up. 2-2 pitch, shot into left, old Daniel Hall scooting after it on his electric wheelchair – AND HE CAUGHT THAT ONE TOO!!! HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, WE WON IT!!!

Ahem. 5-4 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Hall 1-4, HR, RBI, 2 AACYWBSCMSTGT*; Duncan 1-2, BB; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (10-5) and 1-2, 2B;

*Absolutely Amazing Catches You Wouldn’t Believe Somebody Can Make, Saving The Game, Too. – I’m still thinking of a more convenient moniker for it. Something like YEEHAH!! or so?

Wow. They were JUST SO grinding through the Canadiens. JUST BARELY SO. Could they make it three JUST BARELY SO wins here? That would possibly slam the door on the division race, getting the gap back to eight. If so, Beato had to do it.

Salazar – O’Morrissey – Hall – Reece – Osanai – Duncan – Quinn – Vinson – Beato. These nine tried to set the division (largely) straight for the year in game 3. António Rodriguez’ 3-run homer off Beato in the first was not a good sign for things to come. The Raccoons first got on the board in the third with a 2-out RBI infield single by O’Morrissey, scoring Beato. “Pooky” went seven, dodging a bullet in the fifth with two in scoring position, allowing only five hits, and that Rodriguez home run was a big thorn in his side. The Coons still trailed 3-1 after the top 7th, not having had much pop. Ruben Prado had 4-hit the Coons this far and quickly retired Reece (still 0-for in this game) and Osanai. Then Duncan singled to left. Then Quinn singled to left. Vinson walked. We needed someone to hit for Beato anyway, a lefty to counter the righty Prado. This was our one chance. We went to Vern Kinnear, still a bit sore in the shoulder, but good to hit here. Vern Kinnear’s chance to hit himself right into the middle of all the hearts in Portland. He lined out to center. Nelson with a leadoff walk then allowed another run in the top 8th, and the Raccoons never got another man up there. 5-1 Canadiens. Salazar 2-4, 2B;

Reece’s hitting streak ended, and Nelson is a useless bag of crap.

In other news

September 11 – MIL RF/LF Cristo Ramirez (.342, 3 HR, 33 RBI) is out for the season with back spasms.

Complaints and stuff

Choking all week long, we went 3-4. We got out of there with not one, but two black eyes. Things are far from over in this division, and the way they are now, they won’t be able to stink up to the Bayhawks.

[Westheim]

We called up SP Jose Fernandez prior to the start of the Crusaders series and handed him the first start right away, since he hadn’t pitched in four days. The AAA team still tried to get into the playoffs, but they still had four solid starters there and didn’t need more for the postseason. Fernandez was 14-10 with a 2.77 ERA. He was here to absorb some starts and keep our established starters fresh. He was only the sixth SP we used all season. Fernandez had made starts for us the last three years, totaling 15 starts with a 4-4 record and 4.75 ERA. He was the type of player that was a borderline major league player that would be a #4 or #5 for the Logg- … for a sub-.500 team, but had no place on the Raccoons.

Raccoons (85-57) vs. Crusaders (56-86) – September 14-17, 1992

Apart from Fernandez starting and pushing back Saito, Turner, and Vázquez in this series, we had Vern Kinnear back in left and batting third, and Hall bumped down to fifth again. We came in with a magic number of 15 and a lead of six games over the Canadiens.

Neil Reece cut down a runner at the plate in the second inning of the opener, but Fernandez still fell 1-0 behind here. Matt Higgins picked him up with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, but Fernandez came apart further in the third. Runner on third, two out, he first walked two, then surrendered a bases-clearing double to Ruben Meléndez. Despite Kinnear also throwing out a runner at the plate, Fernandez was yanked in the fifth after having issued five walks and a welt to LF Pat Jenkins. Fernandez was charged with six runs, as Miller let his runners score, but deserved every one of it. The Raccoons, down by four, loaded the bags in the bottom 5th with two out for Reece (with the kind help of a Douglas Donaldson error that was). Reece popped out, and it was game over from there. The Coons had Higgins and Osanai in scoring position in the bottom 9th with nobody out. Vinson was hit by a pitch, tying run coming to the plate. PH Matt Brown K’ed, Salazar grounded out, scoring Higgins, and O’Morrissey grounded out to end the game. 6-3 Crusaders. Salazar 2-5, RBI; Higgins 3-3, BB, HR, RBI; Geng 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Great decision to pitch Fernandez.

Game 2 saw the Raccoons bat through the order in the bottom 1st, scoring five runs for Kisho Saito. Notably, both Reece and Hall whiffed with runners on the corners before the party really began. O-Mo made it 6-0 with a solo home run in the second, and that looked like a comfortable lead with Master Kisho dealin’. Bottom 7th, O-Mo, Kinnear, and Reece hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to extend the lead to 8-0 with one out. Daniel Hall came up, chuckled about “these kids!”, then unloaded for a 2-run home run to dead center. New York’s Wilson Perez hit Matt Higgins with the very first pitch after the homer, and Higgins, despite being restrained by catcher Meléndez, broke free and charged at the mound, bat still in hand. The benches cleared and it was ugly for a minute. Perez and Higgins were both tossed from the game. Saito batted for himself in the bottom 8th after 2-hitting the Crusaders along the way, singled, but was left on third. He then put two on to start the ninth, a single by Dan Joyner and his own fielding error on Dale Hunter’s grounder. He assured the pitching coach he could do it and surrendered the next two batters, Donaldson and Horace Simpson, on first-pitch pop ups. That left Meléndez, who had a track record of hurting the Raccoons this year. Saito struck him out in a full count. 10-0 Raccoons! O’Morrissey 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Kinnear 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 1-2, BB, RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12-9) and 1-4;

Having your stud throw 121 pitches in a complete game shutout probably doesn’t constitute saving him for the postseason. Whatever, Kisho Saito threw his third shutout of the year, and the 14th of his career. Plus, his teammates had something to hug and cuddle as the curtain fell, and that was important at some point, too.

Matt Higgins was handed a 3-game suspension (as was Wilson Perez) for his role in the brawl after Dan The Man had made it 10-0.

What else to watch? Indy’s Raúl Vázquez hit his 38th homer of the year in a 3-2 loss to the Titans. He is chasing hard after Michael Root’s single season home run record of 41, since there are still almost three weeks to play.

Hall batted cleanup again in game 3 against lefty David Ramirez with Salazar dropping to 5th. Morales played for the suspended Higgins. The Coons took a 2-0 lead in the bottom 2nd with a pair of sac flies by Jose Rodriguez and Tetsu Osanai. Shoddy defense by Osanai and Morales caused quite a bit of traffic for Jason Turner, who had two men on in three of the first five innings, but didn’t allow any runs. Turner then dug his one hole with two 1-out walks in the seventh and was replaced with Burnett. He surrendered an RBI double to Pat Jenkins. Martinez came in and struck out Diego Rodriguez and was left in to face the left-handed Martin Limón, who popped out foul on the first pitch. Phew, the 2-1 lead survived. We got two on in the bottom 7th with two out. Vinson pinch-hit for Martinez and slapped John Hatt’s first pitch into the ground in front of home plate. Despite Vinson being out by a mile at first base, Meléndez threw the ball past 1B Benjamin Butler for a 2-base error, scoring a run for the Coons. Jackie Lagarde walked the leadoff man in the eighth, but Butler grounded into a double play and we escaped once more. West closed it out, 3-1 Raccoons, as we had only five hits, but gutsy pitching. Salazar 2-4, 2B; Morales 2-3;

We needed to win game 4 as well to finish the homestand with at least a winning record (which ain’t much if you play 8 of 11 against doormat teams). Vázquez got the ball, Neil Reece got a day off, as Johnston played in center, and with lefty Jorge Ramón going, we also put in Ohayashi for Salazar to keep the lefty bats at three (plus Vázquez, who didn’t count). Vázquez was perfect the first time through the lineup, while the Coons got solo runs in the first and second innings. The wheels came off in the fourth, with a Joyner bloop single, an error by O’Morrissey, and a clean RBI single by Donaldson. Vázquez struck out Butler, before Meléndez grounded up the middle. Ohayashi got to hit, threw to Morales, who was taken out by Donaldson with a brutal slide – but Donaldson was the one that got hurt and had to leave the game. Vázquez escaped the jam with a grounder to short by Diego Rodriguez, then converted Ramón’s bunt in the fifth for an inning-ending double play. The Crusaders put runners on the corners in a 3-1 game in the sixth, but Ohayashi bailed Vázquez out with a nifty play on Meléndez. In the bottom 8th, the Furballs left the bases loaded. With two in scoring position, Duncan whiffed in place of Lagarde, O-Mo was walked intentionally, and then Morales struck out and Kinnear hit it hard, but into an out. Grant West got two quick outs in the ninth, before Rodriguez hit a single, and Rojas scored him with a double. West refocused and struck out Dale Hunter to end the game, 3-2 Coons. Hall 3-3, BB; Osanai 3-4, 2B, RBI; Ohayashi 2-4, 3B; Vázquez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (15-8);

The Canadiens took three of four in Milwaukee, resulting in a dead race at the top of the CL North for this midweek series.
Lead over VAN: 6.0 games (was 6.0)
Magic number: 11 (down 4)

Raccoons (88-58) @ Bayhawks (89-57) – September 18-20, 1992

Unless we would completely fork ourselves down the stretch, this was our playoff opponent. Given the way things were going, they would also have home field advantage. Their offense had churned out 821 runs so far (Raccoons: 704), first in the CL by a sound margin, while covering average starting pitching. We had the least runs allowed in the CL, so we’d see how those things would mesh. We hadn’t won four in a row in ages, and to do so, we would have to climb over 17-5 Ricardo Sanchez in the opener, which didn’t sound all that likely.

We had a prime chance to score in the top 2nd of the first game with runners on second and third and one out after a Reece single and Hall hip implant. Osanai and Vinson whiffed us out of there instantly. Sanchez batted in his own lead with a 2-out RBI single off Scott Wade and that was that. The Coons loaded them up in the top 3rd for Reece with one out, but Reece lined to 1B Mauro Granados for a double play, and Sanchez and Wade traded goose eggs through seven. Salazar led off the eighth with a single, and O’Morrissey walked. Come on, at least take Wade off the hook, he doesn’t deserve that loss. Kinnear forced out O-Mo at second, but Reece came through with a game-tying single, also chasing Sanchez from the game. To be honest, he didn’t deserve the loss either, and Hall and Higgins made sure he didn’t get it. Wade also left the game, which was tied 1-1 after eight. Inevitably, the game went to extra innings. Qi-zhen Geng pitched a scoreless 10th, but put the first two batters on in the 11th. Burnett walked Granados on a 3-2 pitch, and Mike Powys walked his team off with a sac fly (which would have ended the inning if Granados had been punched out). 2-1 Bayhawks. Reece 2-5, RBI; Brown 1-2; Wade 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

So, strong pitching beats strong hitting, but mediocre hitting needs to be hit over the head. Our AAA team made the playoffs and would play the Albion Vanquishers (the Rebels’ affiliate) in the first round.

Neil Reece got the Coons ahead with a solo homer in the top 2nd in game 2. Nobody foresaw though, what Beato did in the bottom 3rd. He walked FIVE. He couldn’t walk anymore since he was carted off before the inning concluded. Juan Martinez got the final out from Powys, and we “only” trailed 2-1. Top 5th: Osanai led off with a walk off Wilson Moreno. Rodriguez singled, and Brown pinch-hit for Martinez, singling up the middle. Bases loaded, no outs. Salazar struck out in a full count, reaching low, but then Moreno walked O’Morrissey to tie the game. At least it’s not limited to my roster… at least that! Kinnear struck out, but Reece came through with a single to center. 3-2. Hall up, who had nothing but looked awful in this series so far, but he was patient and drew another RBI walk. Higgins and Osanai hit RBI singles, knocking Moreno out, before Rodriguez whiffed against Derek Wolfe. 6-2 up, now we need five more frames from the pen (Osanai was pulled for defense right here). The Bayhawks came back by hitting four singles off Carrillo in the bottom 5th, of which three didn’t even reach the outfield. Kinnear made a great grab in left to end the inning once Miller came in. 6-4. Burnett pitched the seventh, and since I wanted him in the eighth, even hit a single in the top 8th (only to be erased in a double play…) Burnett retired the first two, then put two on (another infield single here) in the bottom 8th. Bring West! But before West escaped the jam, he first walked the bags full. He then hit the leadoff batter, Pedro Perez in the ninth. Uh-gah!! It took him a wild pitch and a walk to Powys before he struck out Antonio Gonzalez to end the game. 6-4 Coons. Reece 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, RBI; Osanai 1-2, BB, RBI; Rodriguez 2-4; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (7-1); Miller 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K; Burnett 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K and 1-1; West 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, SV (44);

Fernandez got the start in game 3, and Daniel Hall got a day off, putting Johnston in right. The Coons set fire to Jose Ramos in the first inning, scoring four on a 2-shot by Kinnear and a 2-run double by Osanai, and they extended their lead to 7-1 by the third. Now, could Fernandez be trusted with a 6-run lead? Well, if nothing else, he punched out Pedro Perez with a man on to end the fifth, still 7-2 ahead, and the offense raised the stakes to 10-2 in the sixth with an RBI double by Reece and two sac flies by Higgins and Osanai. And then everything came up tails again. Fernandez faced four men in the sixth, all reached base (with some Osanai defense helping them). As Nelson came in, the key play perhaps came up. Pepe Padilla flew out to Kinnear in left. Powys started from third, and Kinnear threw him out at home, and Nelson ended the frame still up by six. Which should be comfortable to cover in three innings. The Coons even extended their lead, including a pinch-hit home run by Hall in the ninth, to 12-4, before Carrillo came in and put the first four men on in the bottom 9th. Lagarde came in and Higgins threw away a grounder. Oh come on. Lagarde then would retire the next three. 12-6 Coons. O’Morrissey 1-3, 3 BB; Kinnear 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Reece 3-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 1-3, 2B, 4 RBI; Hall (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Whoah, that was close and by no means always a pleasure, but we survived the Bayhawks in pretty good shape. The Canadiens continue to match our pace, taking two of three in Las Vegas.
Lead over VAN: 6.0 games (was 6.0)
Magic number: 8 (down 3)

In other news

September 14 – The Scorpions acquire 1B Bill Mosley (.300, 14 HR, 94 RBI) from the Miners, sending over SP Miguel Rosado (6-5, 4.05 ERA) and a prospect. Both Mosley and Rosado are in the mid-20s.

Complaints and stuff

The Capitals are two games away from clinching with two weeks left. Our division remains the closest, although now it takes a big spill for a team to lose first place. IND Raúl Vázquez has 40 dingers already and seems like smashing right through Michael Root’s record of 41 in a season. Pedro Perez is a distant second with 25. Third? Dan The Man! He has 23, and is second to Vázquez in RBI (116). West leads in saves, Saito in ERA. Lots of things look bright. Why are my fingers shaking!?

We have the Condors, Titans, Indians, and Loggers left to play. The Canadiens play the Falcons, Indians, Crusaders, and Titans. The difference is marginal at best.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (90-59) @ Condors (83-66) – September 21-23, 1992

The Condors were still hoping to get back into the CL South division race against the Bayhawks, but for this they had to walk over the Raccoons’ corpses. Something we didn’t necessarily actively endorse.

Or maybe we did actively endorse it. Kisho Saito was torn apart instantly in game 1, where with two out in the bottom 1st he issued two walks and three hits. The Condors took a 4-0 lead. They made it 6-0 in the second inning, and a hopelessly ineffective Saito was removed for a pinch-hitter in the third inning. That didn’t stop the Condors from stomping, though, as Qi-zhen Geng was loaded with two runs in the third. Despite the drubbing done to Saito and Geng, the Raccoons still – at least nominally – played in the game, and while Condors starter Robbie Dadswell had been perfect through three innings, he was shaken up badly in the fifth inning, where the Coons put up five runs on their own, including a 2-out, 3-run homer by Vern Kinnear. The glimmer of hope this offered was extremely short-lived, though. Geng surrendered two more in the bottom 5th, and the Condors moved up and away and won, 10-6. Daniel Hall’s solo home run (#24) was all the offense the Furballs could afford past the fifth inning. Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Kinnear 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

The blowup cost Kisho Saito the league lead in ERA, as his ballooned to 2.63, while LVA Carlos Guillén stood at 2.48. Also, the Canadiens (behind 8.1 innings of 3-hit ball by Arnold McCray) romped over the Falcons, 9-0, and moved to within five games.

The Condors took a first-inning lead again in the middle game, this time one run off Jason Turner. Turner would lead off the top 3rd with a single. Salazar singled, and O’Morrissey tied the game with an RBI double. Prime chance to take a sound lead, and Kinnear came through with a 3-run homer to right center, 4-1. Despite a 6-1 lead, Turner became stuck in the sixth and was whacked. Two runs in, two men on, two out, a ravaged bullpen, Daniel Miller had to retire Tadanobu Sakaguchi, who grounded out on the first pitch from Miller, but Miller continued his inconsistencies in the seventh inning, being loaded with a run. Ken Burnett – far from being rested from his last extended outing – came in for a string of batters in the seventh and eighth and prevented further damage. Grant West walked two in the bottom 9th, then surrendered a double to Preston O’Day, putting the tying runs in scoring position. Alejandro Lopez grounded right to Matt Duncan to end the game. 7-5 Raccoons. Salazar 2-5, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B, RBI; Kinnear 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Duncan 2-5, RBI; Rodriguez 2-4, RBI; Osanai 2-4, HR, RBI; Burnett 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K and 1-1;

What a mighty crumble was going on here… The Canadiens walked off against the Falcons in extra innings, 3-2 in the 11th, to keep the gap at five.

Game 3 offered Woody Roberts, who was 17-7 with a 2.77 ERA and probably a tough nut to crack thus. The Coons still put two on him with a Neil Reece single in the first inning. Robert Vázquez was shaking a ton, loading the bags in the first before escaping, and also running into trouble in the third, where Vinson started a double play on the Condors that got him out. With two out in the top 4th, the bases loaded, and Vázquez at the plate, CF Denis Galante misplayed Vázquez’ bloop into center and it went past him for a bases-clearing triple! 5-0 ahead, Vázquez still would not qualify for the win. He left in the fifth inning with tightness in his left shoulder. Yes! More strain on the bullpen! But for what it was, the Raccoons bullpen handled the situation spectacularly well, as Nelson, Carrillo, and Miller held up the shutout, and the Raccoons took the series with a 6-0 win. Salazar 2-4, BB; Reece 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Vázquez 4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-2, 3B, 3 RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

A rally by the Canadiens against the Falcons came up short in the ninth, and they lost 4-3.
Games ahead: 6.0 over VAN (was 6.0)
Magic number: 5 (was 8)

Robert Vázquez was diagnosed with mild shoulder inflammation. He might miss his next start, but he should be available for the playoffs or a start at the end of the season. We’d see how things would go into the final week. If we clinch by next week, we don’t need to rush him out there.

The Alley Cats, our AAA team, had been washed out of the playoffs in due time, so we could add two more arms to our deflating pitching staff: Albert Matthews came back up, and brought Miguel Lopez with him to make a start or even two (with Vázquez lingering) down the stretch. Lopez had been 15-6 with a 2.64 ERA this year in AAA. He had made ten starts for the Coons last year, going 4-3 with a 3.36 ERA. He was a hot candidate for a spot in the rotation for next year. At age 24 he certainly isn’t too young. (But he’s Cuban, he could as well be 19 or 38 …)

Raccoons (92-60) @ Titans (77-76) – September 25-27, 1992

The standard recipe against the Titans remained the same: score on them, much, often, early, as much as possible. They will do the same with you.

Scott Wade answered the call in the first game. The Coons gave him a 2-0 lead in the second, and Matt Brown, who spelled O’Morrissey at third base, hit his first big league home run (in 138 AB) in the fourth to make it 3-0. The Raccoons tried to mount more offense in the sixth. With Kinnear on second base, Daniel Hall was hit by a pitch from Willie Young, his 15th HBP of the year. Next, Matt Brown grounded to second, where 2B Juan Valentin and Hall tumbled over each other and Hall had to leave the game with an injury. Wade pitched magnificently through six, before the Titans shoved two doubles through Matt Brown to knock him from the game in the seventh. A Salazar error led to two unearned runs in the eighth as the Titans crept back into a game where they had been 6-0 behind. West retired the first two in the ninth, then was taken deep by RF Matt Smith. West hit the next batter, then allowed a single to Jose Martinez, who extended a 14-game hitting streak at the last opportunity. Hjalmar Flygt came up. He ended the game with a 2-run double over Bobby Quinn in right. 7-6 Titans. Salazar 3-5, 2B, RBI; Brown 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Wade 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K;

And they let Scott Wade die again.

The Canadiens dropped a 3-2 lead against the Indians in the eighth and lost 4-3. With Hall out, we added Jeff Martin to the roster.

Salazar balked on a harmless popup with two out in the bottom 1st the next day. That one cost Raimundo Beato three runs, and Salazar was well on the way to get shipped out to Somalia. Beato would go six innings, surrendered only the three unearned runs, and was half the offense the team had with an RBI single in the fifth inning. That obviously doesn’t add up to a win, and the Raccoons lost, 3-2. Salazar 3-4, RBI; Kinnear 2-4, 2B;

In contrast to the Decimaticoons, the Canadiens did come back in the ninth and scored three en route to a 3-2 walkoff win over the Indians.

Game 3 saw Miguel Lopez come out for his season debut. Duncan (who got more starts at second with Higgins among the strugglers) drove in Osanai in the second for a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile Lopez was dealing, setting down batter after batter after batter. He was perfect through four innings before he walked Chad Fisher in the fifth. Fisher was barely stopped at third base to keep the 1-0 lead together. Two on, two out in the top 6th, Duncan grounded to SS Ricardo Vargas, who dropped the ball when he wanted to throw to first base. Bases loaded for Lopez, but he grounded out. C Eric Davis reached base on a 2-base throwing error by O’Morrissey to lead off the Titans’ sixth. It was the beginning of the end for Lopez’ no-hit bid, which was blown up by Raúl Mendez with an RBI double, also tying the game. Vinson left the bags full in the top 7th. Through seven, the game was tied 1-1, with the Raccoons leading 9-3 in hits. Top 8th, Johnston walked. Duncan hit an infield single that Vargas couldn’t pull out. And if nothing else works, you have to hope your opponents are even more terrible. Lopez laid down a bunt, and Davis threw wildly past Mendez at first for a 2-base throwing error, scoring Johnston. One sac fly was all the Coons could muster here. Lopez came back for the eighth, but faced only Flygt, who singled to right. Lagarde came in with the tying run at the plate. Lagarde, as erratic and wild as they come, got an out, then went to full counts on the next three batters. He walked Mendez, but punched out Jose Martinez and Matt Smith to end the frame. Grant West came in again with a 2-run lead in the ninth. He sat the Titans down, 1-2-3. 3-1 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Johnston 2-4, BB; Duncan 3-5, RBI; Lopez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

The Canadiens fell 9-3 to the Indians, with their starter Manny Ramos blown up early.
Games ahead: 6.0 over VAN (was 6.0)
Magic number: 2 (was 5)

In other news

September 23 – The Capitals defeat the Scorpions at home, 11-6, to secure their spot in the playoffs. It is the Capitals’ third appearance, all consecutive, and they are defending back-to-back champions. At 94-57 they will fall way short of their 113 wins the last season, though.
September 26 – The Bayhawks stave off a late rally by the Thunder and win 10-7, which has them clinch the CL South for the second year in a row. It will be their third playoff appearance overall.
September 27 – At the tender age of 22, TIJ INF Bruce Boyle (.266, 9 HR, 52 RBI) HITS FOR THE CYCLE in a 4-1 win over the Knights, contributing two RBI’s to the effort in a 4-4 game. It is the 17th cycle in ABL history, and the second for the Condors (Thomas Martin, 1988). The Knights have witnessed three cycles now, all since 1989 (POR Mark Dawson, 1989; OCT Tyler Burch, 1990), but have never have a player cycle for them.

Complaints and stuff

Daniel Hall (.295, 24 HR, 111 RBI) has a herniated disc in his back and his out for the season. That’s it. We are completely and hopelessly doomed. Everything that happens from here on out doesn’t matter anymore. Everything’s come up tails for good. Game over.

[Questdog]

Gonna be hard to blow that lead, but if you do, it will at least be a memorable season.....

If you don't, I have a feeling it will be a memorable post-season (for good reasons). Looking for Vern Kinnear to bust out all over.....

[Westheim]

A few numbers before the final week commences.

1. Our magic number is 2. Things will have to go much more wrong than missing Daniel Hall in the playoffs for this to derail. Think satellite-falls-out-of-space-right-onto-your-house wrong. With the Canadiens dropping as many games as the Raccoons, things should be over in due time as far as the division was concerned. We still had to survive, though. Daniel Hall had not survived. The recent troubles of Kisho Saito, Grant West, Ben O’Morrissey, Matt Higgins and others to lesser extents however don’t spell particulary promising going into October.

2. We are 93-62. If we can put up a winning week here, we will break last year’s franchise record of 96 wins in a season. Doesn’t look like the odds are more than 50:50 at this point. Probably less. The bullpen has been porous, the LOB’s have been high, starters have been whacked. We can just as well end up 93-69.

3. We will play with the desolate Loggers on the final weekend of the year. Unless we take the 3-set, we will post a losing record against them. Also, I was utterly convinced this was a road series right until it actually started. Don’t know why I was mistaken that way. We will be at home the entire week.

Raccoons (93-62) vs. Indians (80-75) – September 28-October 1, 1992

We’d play four. We pushed back Kisho Saito and everybody else for a day to pitch Jose Fernandez in game 1. If we elect to skip Robert Vázquez (or have to), I don’t want to be forced to pitch Saito in a meaningless game against Milwaukee. So, we will start with Fernandez, add Saito and Turner and maybe Vázquez in this series, or maybe Wade, and then face Milwaukee likely with Beato and a combo of rookies. The Indians were scheduled to throw three left-handed starters at us. Plus a left-handed batter in Raúl Vázquez, who had broken Michael Root’s home run record and now stood at 42 dingers.

With lefty Arthur Young up in game 1, Salazar was rested, which meant leading off with a struggling O-Mo, followed by Morales, who played short. The Indians weren’t prepared for Fernandez, it seemed, as they didn’t get a hit off him until the fifth, with the Coons then up 2-0, which they extended to 3-0 in the sixth, where Higgins scored on an Osanai single after stealing second beforehand. It was his first stolen base in some time. Fernandez pitched into the eighth, where he became stuck. Martinez came in, allowed a run to score, loaded the bags, and then barely escaped. West once more retired the first two batters in the ninth before he ran into trouble, putting on Dennis Meehan. Cecilio Riano came up and flew to deep left, but Kinnear got there in time. 3-1 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 2B; Kinnear 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Reece 2-4, 2B, RBI; Fernandez 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, W (2-1);

The Canadiens came back from a 5-2 deficit in New York, eventually winning 9-6. This puts our magic number at a sleek 1. Grant West’s 47th SV of the year breaks a personal record established in 1983 and matched in 1991 – both playoff years for the Coons.

Kisho Saito’s final regular season start pitted him against Kazuyuki Ando, the only right-hander we could expect to face here. The Raccoons were down a run early on, first 1-0, then 2-1, with Saito lacking his most biting stuff, but scraping by well enough. He just needed offense. Oddly enough, he started the needed rush on Ando himself, with a 1-out walk in the bottom 5th. Salazar doubled, and while O’Morrissey flew out to center, this allowed Saito to tag and score. Kinnear came up and unleashed another bomb to deep right for two runs, 4-2 Coons. At this point, the game in New York was 4-4 in the fourth. Saito removed the first two in the top 6th, before Victor Cornett lined a tad bit over the jumping Matt Higgins, maybe by an inch. Rich Tracy doubled and Saito was unable to remove Mario Haider in a 1-2 count. Haider grounded between third and short, and while Salazar got to it, he couldn’t make a play, and Haider’s grounder became an RBI infield single. Tying run at third base, Sixto Moreno up, we went for a righty with punchout capability, which was Juan Martinez. He failed in every aspect of his job description by allowing Moreno to single into right. Now this game was tied 4-4, too. Bottom 6th, aided by an error by the Indians, we loaded the bags with one out, and Ando held us to a sac fly by Glenn Johnston. We were up 5-4 through seven, and the Canadiens scored four on the Crusaders in the sixth, so we better do our own job to put an end to things. Miller, Burnett, and Lagarde held the Indians away in the seventh and eighth innings. We didn’t go to Grant West, who was out of whack and not in shape to go three days in a row. Qi-zhen Geng got the call to make himself useful and retired the side in order. 5-4 Raccoons. Higgins 3-4, 3B;

Players and coaches flocked out of the dugout and bullpen for celebrations as soon as Mamoru Sato’s pop up was caught by Jorge Salazar for the final out of the game – the Raccoons will appear in the postseason for the fourth time in franchise history!!

This was also Qi-zhen Geng’s first career save in his 27th appearance. He is 22 and battling hard for a spot on the roster next April.

All games were meaningless from here on out except for one case or another of vanity and pursuit of milestones or the like. Jason Turner f.e. entered game 3 trying to match his career-high 16 wins from last season. Cornett hit a 2-run home run in the first, but errors by Moreno and Bob Arnold in the bottom 1st helped the Coons plate three runs to turn the game immediately. Holding that 3-2 lead was a tough task for the Raccoons defense, since Turner gave up plenty of solid contact that often came just a small distance short of the fences. An insurance run (unearned again) in the fourth was welcome, but no sign of relief. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 5th with the help of yet another Indians error, but Bobby Quinn’s double play grounder killed the inning and we got only one more (also unearned) run. Turner was then knocked out in the sixth on three straight soft 1-out singles. One run in, the tying runs were on the bases, and Daniel Miller just barely escaped there with two grounders to O’Morrissey. Neil Reece then made the gap more comfortable with a 2-run homer in the bottom 6th, 7-3. The bullpen held up well enough (although Albert Matthews was taken deep by Cornett) and the Coons made something out of a total of five errors by the Indians, who played like it was 1892. 8-4 Raccoons. Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-5, RBI; Rodriguez 2-3, BB; Johnston (PH) 1-1; Miller 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

One more to go for a new franchise record for W’s. Jason Turner tied his record of 16 W’s in a season. Also, we tied the Bayhawks in the struggle for home field advantage in the CLCS and are only one behind the Capitals.

Robert Vázquez wanted to go in game 4, but we pushed him back one day to start in Milwaukee. Scott Wade got the call at home. Neil Reece got a day off to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Neil Stewart was totally out of whack for the Indians, issuing five walks in the first inning en route to a 4-0 lead for the Furballs. Scott Wade 1-hit the Indians through five, although that one hit was another Cornett bomb, and led 6-1 in the sixth, when another all-those-bloops-falling in inning almost derailed his efforts. The Indians scored two on four singles, making it a 6-3 game. Once Wade was out, Carrillo hit TWO batters in the eighth to bring the tying run to the plate in Bob Arnold, but Jackie Lagarde grounded him out. West pitched a quick ninth to nail down a sweep over the Indians, 6-3 Raccoons. Osanai 2-3, BB; Quinn 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (11-5);

New franchise record for wi-hins! Now let’s make it a hundred. The current 5-game winning streak matches our longest of the year.

Raccoons (97-62) vs. Loggers (66-93) – October 2-4, 1992

We came in 7-8 against the Loggers this year, which was a strange thing given their harmless approach to the game. I blame a combo of bad hitting, bad pitching, bad fielding, and most of all bad luck. Time to set this straight and win a hundred. Robert Vázquez started the opener of the final weekend series of the year, with Beato and Lopez scheduled the rest of the way. O’Morrissey got another day off in game 1, with Kinnear scheduled for an off day in game 2.

Both Vázquez and Scott Murphy were wild in game 1, but initially only the Loggers took advantage, leading 3-1 after three innings. Murphy walked two more and loaded the bags in the bottom 4th. One run scored for the Coons on a Quinn single, but then Vázquez came up with one out and the team down 3-2. Glenn Johnston pinch-hit for him and hit into the third Coons double play of the night. Hng-ggaahh!! Carrillo and Matthews pitched the next three frames, holding the Loggers where they were, while the offense had yet to pick it up. Vinson singled to start the bottom 7th, and Duncan hit a PH double. Go-ahead runs in scoring position, have at it, boys. Salazar hit a game-tying sac fly, moving Duncan to third, from where he scored on Higgins’ sac fly. Not as neat as an actual clutch hit, but at least effective. We got an insurance run on a groundout in the eighth and West saved the deal. 5-3 Coons. Quinn 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Duncan (PH) 1-1, 2B; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

The bullpen pitched five innings, fanning ten Loggers there. That’s either a good pen or a bad lineup. Probably both. Grant West is now one save away from a nifty fifty. By the way, he has no chance to match Derek Wolfe’s single-season record of 53, put up in ’86 with the Stars. That was the only year Wolfe was actually a closer!

We’re now up by one over the Bayhawks for home field advantage and tie the Capitals for the best mark overall.

If “Pooky” could find it at all possible not to take the loss in game 2, we would finish the year with a rotation full of winning record pitchers. The awful battery of Beato and Vinson botched up four runs between them in the first inning, going a long way to deny us that all-W’s rotation as well as 100 wins on the year. The Loggers had their own can’t-do-good pitcher on the mound in Martin Garcia, who came in with 150 walks on the year. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 2nd with no outs, but Jeff Martin in due time double played us out of there. Beato wobbled into the fourth and there left with some form of pain in his arm. Garcia, who walked three for every two K’s he dished out, in this game was magnificent, of course, fanning six and walking one over five innings. But then came the sixth and the Coons finally began to take his off-plate junk. They loaded the bags with two out. Duncan pinch-hit for Matthews and took a walk to cut the gap to one run. Salazar came up – and was drilled! A game-tying HBP, putting O’Morrissey in position to do damage. He grounded out. Matt Brown left two in scoring position in the seventh. Top 9th, the Loggers had two on with one out. The runners took off for a double steal and Vinson looked very bad on it. The runners were safe, leaving Juan Martinez in a precarious situation. He had to keep the ball close to home now, and struck out Jerry Fletcher. Next was Raúl Rodriguez – and Martinez struck him out! Escaped! Now the Coons had a chance to walk off. O’Morrissey led off the bottom 9th with a walk. Higgins grounded to first, but Drake Evans missed the pickup and both runners were safe. Reece grounded to P Raúl Ramirez very poorly. Ramirez’ play on it was even more poor and Reece ended up with an infield single. Bases loaded, nobody out. Johnston up. He was patient and worked a walkoff walk! 5-4 Coons! Reece 2-2, 3 BB, 2B; Osanai 2-3; Johnston 1-1, BB, RBI; Quinn 2-4, RBI; Miller 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Martinez 2.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (9-1);

We got bad news from the doctors as far as Raimundo Beato was concerned. He is out for the year with shoulder inflammation, which eliminates a question that had crept up the last few weeks, about whether to drop him or Vázquez from the rotation going into the playoffs.

One more, boys. One more to win a hundred. That’d be swell. Unfortunately, it was on hardly controllable rookie Miguel Lopez to get us there. Offensively, we ran out our best suit. That came back to hurt us early on. Neil Reece came up lame during the third inning and left the game. It looked like the hamstring, and that meant trouble. Everything came up rather meaningless from here. The Coons led 3-0, while Lopez was dishing it out with plenty of hot sauce, but also plenty of hits allowed. The Loggers came back to 3-2 in the fifth. Up 4-2, Lopez loaded the bags in the seventh, which removed him from the game. Lagarde allowed all those runners to score, the Loggers took a 5-4 lead, and held it to the finish. Reece 2-2, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI;

The diagnosis on Neil Reece is not a good one: hamstring strain, he’s done for this year.

In other news

September 28 – Mark “Icon” Allen bats the Wolves into the postseason with a 2-out RBI double in the top 12th in Sacramento. The Wolves win 6-5 against the Scorpions, clinching the FL West. It will be their second postseason appearance after their 1989 title campaign.
September 29 – SAL SP Terry Murphy (20-9, 3.44 ERA) 3-hits the Scorpions in a 5-0 win.
October 1 – TOP RF/1B/LF Edgardo Garza (.328, 10 HR, 55 RBI) has his offseason start a few days early with an elbow sprain sidelining him in the final week of the year.
October 1 – VAN SP Arnold McCray (15-11, 2.95 ERA) 3-hits the Crusaders in a 5-0 win for the Canadiens.
October 3 – 21-year old PIT CL Roberto Delgado (7-6, 2.38 ERA, 16 SV) has torn the flexor tendon in his elbow and will be out for nine months.

Complaints and stuff

Vern Kinnear got another Rookie of the Month award in his final month of eligibility, going .326 with 7 HR and 19 RBI for the Raccoons in September. We’ll see who will get the annual Rookie title in the CL. Milwaukee’s Jerry Fletcher has a strong case, too, but while most of their numbers are comparable, Kinnear vastly outdoes Fletcher in raw power, having eight times as many home runs (16-2), and Fletcher’s glove is also not quite as good as Kinnear’s, although he has committed only one error all year (Kinnear has six). Well, things could go either way. I’m sure, Kinnear will be cheated out in some way.

Beato out. Hall out. Reece out. I absolutely can’t believe it. That means an outfield composed of Kinnear, Johnston, and Quinn. We don’t even have playoff roster eligible outfielders beyond that, and Jeff Martin is a useless piece of ****. They won’t even score ten runs in the CLCS.

This one can’t be fixed.

Everything is broken.

I am disgusted.

[Questdog]

I admit that without Hall and Reece the offense is not quite as scary looking, but Quinn and Johnston may still have it in them to give a little....

I still think Vern Kinnear is going to carry the team on his back and Testu will get so jealous that he will match hie season's home run total in the playoffs.....

Plus the pitching can carry the day if they want....

[Westheim]

We’re not the only ones hurt by injuries going into the postseason. The Wolves lost their closer Domingo Alonso down the stretch. In contrast to the Coons’ Reece, Hall, and Beato, he won’t even be ready for Opening Day with severe shoulder inflammation.

Finding outfielders was quite a task, since *none* past the three surviving ones from August 31 (Kinnear, Johnston, Quinn) were eligible for the playoffs. Morales can play a little left. Ohayashi (who was stowed away for rehab on August 31) can play a little right. If everything else fails, Matt Duncan can play either wing without getting himself killed. That’s about it. There’s no CF backup to Glenn Johnston unless we can fit Jeff Martin onto the roster.

Luckily (considering the point of view) Raimundo Beato got hurt. This only leaves 24 eligible players, and we were able to add Jeff Martin for free. The other three eligible players left on the active roster are pitchers (Lopez, Geng, Matthews) and were not even considered. So we at least had a thin scratch of depth adding a guy who barely out-hit his weight of 170 lbs this season.

---

1992 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (99-63) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (98-64)

This will be a rematch from last season, but with home field advantage (which the Bayhawks then clinched by beating the Condors in a game #163) switched up the coast.

You still have to wonder what the Raccoons can actually do in this series, despite tying the mighty Capitals for the best record in the league. They have lost their most potent bats to injury, lost a pitcher to injury, and the supposed stronghold atop the rotation, Kisho Saito, wobbled scarily in September. The injuries to Neil Reece (.340, 21 HR, 90 RBI) and Daniel Hall (.295, 24 HR, 111 RBI) cuts deep into the Furballs’ flesh, shearing off nice slices of meat. And a lot of hair. Their starting outfield – while great defensively – will consist of an admittedly hot ROTY contender in Vern Kinnear, and two guys who had rotten seasons start-to-finish after great success in previous years, and who have posted negative WAR values this year, in Glenn Johnston (-0.2) and Bobby Quinn (-0.5).

The struggles to Tetsu Osanai are well documented. Kinnear’s and Ben O’Morrissey’s bats remain the only powerful ones in the lineup, and once you place the serviceable middle infielders Matt Higgins and Jorge Salazar, you quickly run out of steam at the #5 slot. Osanai struggled all year. Vinson struggled all year. Their outfield is a mess.

The Raccoons’ upsides are the #1 pitching and defense in the league, which despite an injury to Raimundo Beato is not compromised. Last year, their staff turned three consecutive shutouts against the Bayhawks, but they don’t appear locked in enough this year.

Plus, the Bayhawks come in with the #1 offense in the Continental League. They have an array of fearsome left-handed outfielders like Pedro Perez (.309, 25 HR, 111 RBI) combined well with right-handed, high-OBP infielders like Mike Powys (.284/.404/.449, 18 HR, 102 RBI) and Roberto Rodriguez (.264/.393/.354, 2 HR, 66 RBI).

While the Bayhawks had a bullpen around CL William Henderson (6-5, 2.91 ERA, 38 SV) that rivaled the Raccoons’, their rotation can be considered their weakest part, as the average ERA of their four starters in this series will be 4.32 – some margin above league average. But you need offense to cut into that.

The Bayhawks have one significant injury in Pedro Villa (.288, 9 HR, 81 RBI), who is out with a herniated disc in his neck, plus SP Pepe Martinez and their backup catcher Jose Ortiz. Their actual backup catcher, Miguel Amaya, had 2 AB this season.

Most analysts agree that the Bayhawks will carry the series in five games due to the vastly superior offense. Only a minority points to the Raccoons’ 6-3 carrying of the head-to-head series this year.

1992 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (99-63) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (98-64)

Game 1 – Kisho Saito (12-10, 2.73 ERA) vs. Chris O’Keefe (11-16, 5.00 ERA)

We only expect to face right-handers in this series. I have struggled to find a lineup that can be competitive, and then came up with SS Salazar – 2B Higgins – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Kinnear – RF Quinn – 1B Osanai – C Vinson – CF Johnston; Quinn bats ahead of Osanai to keep the latter’s and Kinnear’s lefty bats separated. Plus, Osanai had no power in his stick anyway this season. Whatever their struggles, if they can’t defeat O’Keefe, it will be a quick series.

The Bayhawks struck first, getting to Kisho Saito for a run in the first inning, driven in by Pedro Perez. He was the guy to control, and as a left-hander, Saito had been expected to excel at the job description. He didn’t.

The Raccoons got their first sniff at a chance to score in the bottom 3rd. Matt Higgins walked with one down, then stole second against O’Keefe at catcher Didier Bourges. Higgins got as far as third base, but Kinnear grounded out to leave him there.

1B Jorge Gonzalez homered to lead off the top 5th, making this a 2-0 game. For the wrong team of course. Saito had settled in well, allowing only one hit from the second through fourth innings, and punching out five, but Gonzalez got one right down broadway and didn’t miss it. Saito then bunted into a double play in the bottom 5th, after which Salazar hit an infield single, but with two down … Higgins flew deep to right center, but Perez caught it with ease. Good defender, too, this kid. I wonder how in the world he could drop to the second round in the 1988 draft (where the Rebels picked him 74th overall).

Top 6th. A walk, a single, a groundout at least well placed plated the third run for the Bayhawks, while the Raccoons looked increasingly lost against O’Keefe, whose 1.50 WHIP didn’t exactly come through here. Maybe in the bottom 6th? O-Mo managed a sharp single to shallow center, and with one out Quinn placed a double just fair into deep left. Osanai grounded to short, at least scoring a run, but Quinn was left on when Vinson grounded out to first. Antonio Gonzalez then put the game away with a 2-run homer in the seventh, which ended Saito’s day.

The game was basically over there. The Raccoons bullpen allowed only one more baserunner (Nelson walking Perez in the eighth), and the Raccoons offense was drawn a nose by O’Keefe, who went eight innings with ease.

Bayhawks 5, Raccoons 1 – Salazar 2-3, BB; Carrillo 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The Capitals outlasted the Wolves, but just barely, in game 1 of the FLCS, which waged back and forth in the middle innings, before the Capitals held on to a 5-4 win. Salem’s SP Cory Dufour left with an injury early on, which would turn out as bone chips in his elbow. A timely return for Opening Day is questionable.

Game 2 – Jason Turner (16-7, 3.82 ERA) vs. Wilbert Rodgers (11-9, 5.05 ERA)

Our lineup remained the same, with the Bayhawks – confident after their rather easy game 1 win – moved their young ace Ricardo Sanchez back to the first game in SanFran. They sent Wilbert Rodgers, another pushover on paper, with a 1.79 WHIP and a dramatic proneness to walk people all over the place.

After a blitz top 1st by Turner, Rodgers sat down Salazar and Higgins in the bottom 1st, before starting to walk people. Two walks and a single later, Osanai came up with the bags crowded and two down. He grounded out. Same situation an inning later, this time with O’Morrissey at the plate, and this time fans saw a soft flyout to Perez in right. Two innings, six left on base, no runs.

It was OBVIOUS - … it was even CRYSTAL-CLEAR … that HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE things had to happen in the top 3rd. They were begging for it. With two out, Turner allowed a single to #2 CF Dave Burton, innocent enough. Then he walked Perez. And then LF Manny Espinosa blooped a ball into shallow right that Bobby Quinn took an eternity to get to. Both runners scored, and the Bayhawks were up, 2-0. Quinn would greatly add to his value in the bottom 3rd, double-playing the Coons outta there, too.

Bottom 5th, a leadoff double by Salazar. Higgins’ groundout moved him to third with one out, from where he had a first-class view of Ben O’Morrissey fouling out and Kinnear grounding out to short. No runs, nada.

Turner loaded the bags in the top 6th with two out. The Bayhawks removed the wonky Rodgers, who had walked five and still not surrendered a run, to pinch-hit with left-hander Pepe Padilla, who was a good contact hitter, and despite whiffing eight so far, Turner had given up plenty of contact, too. And four walks. Burnett came in, struck out Padilla, and we were theoretically still in this.

Osanai hit a single in the bottom 6th, then though about making it a double and was thrown out. We still got two on with two out against Luciano Parrilla. Matt Brown pinch-hit for Burnett here but flew out gingerly.

Miller and Nelson loaded the bags in the top 7th, but Martinez came in to strike out Powys for the final out. The bottom 7th had Higgins hit a 1-out double, but a poor out by O’Morrissey brought up Kinnear with two down. The Bayhawks stayed with the right-hander Parrilla – and paid for it. Kinnear unleashed a shot heard all the way to Australia, far over Dave Burton in center and OUTTA HERE!! The game was tied.

After an uneventful eighth, Grant West appeared for the top 9th, which after the right-hander Rodriguez had four lefties scheduled, but West left over two of those, ending the inning with a K to Perez. Unfortunately the bottom 9th was led off by Brown, in for 1B defense. Morales hit for him to counter lefty William Henderson, but struck out. Salazar hit a double. A well-placed single wins the game. Higgins took a 1-0 pitch to left and past Powys, but Espinosa got to it so quick that Salazar had to hold at third base.

O’Morrissey came up with one out. Any long ball does here, but you can’t reach for anything. Henderson’s 1-0 pitch was to O-Mo’s liking and he dished a liner to right – nobody would get to it, a walkoff single by Ben O’Morrissey!!!

Raccoons 3, Bayhawks 2 (series tied 1-1) – Salazar 2-5, 2 2B; Higgins 2-4, BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 1-4, BB, RBI; Kinnear 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; West 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

The Capitals pounced on Salem’s Rafael Serrano in the fourth inning of game 2 at the Potomac, scoring five en route to a sound 6-2 win. They lead the series, 2-0.

[Westheim]

1992 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (99-63) @ San Francisco Bayhawks (98-64)

Game 3 – Robert Vázquez (15-8, 3.51 ERA) vs. Ricardo Sanchez (19-5, 3.23 ERA)

Sanchez was among the very top of the crop of hot young pitchers in the ABL. At 22, he had already put up a 19-win season. What more do you want? He had allowed six home runs all season. That was a tough guy to chew through.

The first three innings were quite the snoozer. Vázquez faced the minimum, Sanchez one more than that. No hard outs, no athletic plays, just poor contact, and lots of *that*.

Then came the fourth. Higgins grounded out, and Sanchez then followed that with a K to O’Morrissey. Then he looked into the dugout, shaking his head. The trainer and manager hustled out and as it became clear that Sanchez was hurting and couldn’t go no more, silence paralyzed the park.

Unfortunately for Portland, the Bayhawks instantly rallied around their fallen comrade. Vázquez was blitzed quicker for five hits and three runs in the bottom 4th than we could get anybody up in the pen.

No such rally was forthcoming from the Raccoons. They kept being 1-hit through six, before a 2-out triple by Bobby Quinn in the seventh at least opened a chance to take away from the 3-0 deficit. Tetsu Osanai flew out to Burton in left center to throw that chance away.

Carrillo then threw the game away for good in the bottom 7th. He walked the leadoff batter, Jorge Gonzalez, then hit Padilla, then threw a wild one. One run scored when Burton grounded out against Carrillo, and Lagarde was unjustly victimized by a freak one-in-a-hundredthousand bloop single into shallow center and let the other run score as well.

The Raccoons scored after a leadoff triple by Vinson in the eighth, and Vinson plated Kinnear after the Australian’s leadoff double in the ninth, but that remained their sole output on the day. Morales whiffed for the final out against Henderson, representing the tying run in the ninth.

Bayhawks 5, Raccoons 2 (Bayhawks lead 2-1) – Vinson 2-3, BB, 3B, RBI; Johnston 3-4, RBI;

Joshua Bernard is eaten up by the Capitals in the ninth in Salem, blowing a 6-5 lead for the Wolves. Domingo Rivera then holds on to the Capitals’ 7-6 lead in the bottom of the inning, and the Capitals extend their lead to 3-0 in the series.

Game 4 – Scott Wade (11-5, 2.76 ERA) vs. Wilson Moreno (17-12, 3.98 ERA)

Wade didn’t get any run support all year. That’s not a good sign. We revamped the lineup. Quinn was out, and Martin played center with Johnston in right. Johnston was bumped up to fifth in the lineup, followed by Vinson, Osanai, and Martin. Screw left-handed bats next to each other. O’Morrissey was the last right-hander remaining in the lineup.

Higgins was thrown out stealing in the first inning, a sign of bad things to come. He had gone 24/29 in the regular season. In contrast to that, Dave Burton stole second base in the bottom 1st, ruining Vinson’s perfect 2/2 score in the playoffs. Nothing came of that, either, and the next two innings were uneventful except for a beautiful line drive catch by Matt Higgins.

With no outs and two on, Kinnear struck out in the top 4th, which was the key AB here for Moreno, who then surrendered Johnston and Vinson in turn, and nobody scored. In the bottom of the inning, a Jeff Martin pickup error almost led to a run for SanFran, eventually putting a runner on third with two down. Powys was retired on a great play by Kinnear to end the inning.

While Scott Wade was not exactly dominating and was helped a bit by double plays turned around him in both the fifth and the sixth, he held the Bayhawks at bay. Bad pun. That was nothing compared to Moreno’s effort, who 1-hit the Raccoons through six.

The second hit Moreno surrendered was a 1-out single to Vinson in the top 7th. Kinnear had walked before and went first-to-third. Osanai was up, batting 1-12 in the series. Nope. Not gonna happen. I called on Matt Duncan. That’s right, a replacement player batting for a millionaire in the CLCS, in a tied game.

3-1 count, resulting in a double play. I probably deserved that.

Two out in the bottom 7th, the Bayhawks loaded the bases against Wade, who had walked Mauro Granados, then punched out two, then surrendered two singles. Roberto Rodriguez was up, a right-hander. The manager went out there, but left the ball to Wade.

This AB could be the whole series. If Wade crumbled here, we were doomed. Rodriguez lifted the ball to shallow left center, Kinnear came on, and caught it. The game remained tied.

After a leadoff double by Martin (and with four left-handers due up next), Wade was pinch hit for with Matt Brown, who struck out. With two down, Martin and Higgins were on the corners. O’Morrissey had to come through here. He had come through in game 2. And he came through here!! He grounded over third base into left and the ball rolled all the way to the fence, not only scoring Martin, but also Higgins!! 2-0 Raccoons!!

Burnett pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, leaving it to Grant West to deal with Granados, Powys, and Antonio Gonzalez in the ninth. Granados got on with a single. West struck out Powys, and Gonzalez grounded out, bringing up Bourges. He shot a liner into deep right, but Johnston was man enough to hurl himself at it. Unlike the 1989 World Series, where Johnston played right and committed an error that plated the eventual winning run for the Wolves, he held on to the hissing shot this time – the series was tied again! (And this despite the Coons behind held to *four* hits)

Raccoons 2, Bayhawks 0 (series tied) – O’Morrissey 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-0); Burnett 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; West 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1);

Salem’s Terry Murphy gets only two runs of support as well in a shutout bid against the Capitals. He runs out of steam in the ninth, but Bernard this time is there to end the game, and the Wolves win 2-0 behind Murphy’s gutsy 8.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W performance. The Wolves will have to win three more.

Game 5 – Kisho Saito vs. Chris O’Keefe

We needed a gutsy outing here from Master Kisho. Plus, we needed O’Keefe to be properly shredded this time around. Boys, I want to see his intestines smeared all over the mound. And their clubhouse.

After a peaceful first inning, David Vinson drew a leadoff walk in the second. To much astonishment, Osanai and Martin, the two guys from the to-be-shot pile at the bottom of the order, followed that up with RBI hits, Osanai even with a triple(!!) for a quick 2-0 lead.

A bit of insurance would be nice while we watched Saito puzzling the Bayhawks in the early game. He looked much better than in his last few starts for sure and held the Bayhawks to one hit through four innings.

The top 5th had Salazar reach with two outs. Higgins grounded to second, but Roberto Rodriguez misfielded the ball and everybody was safe. O’Morrissey came up and hit a giggling flare over the infielders on the left side that fell into shallow left. Salazar dashed through third base and scored. O’Keefe then plunked Kinnear (Vern’s second HBP in the Bay Area games), loading them up. Johnston could put the game away, and when he eventually settled for a full count walk, that at least pushed another run in. Vinson then grounded out, 4-0.

The Bayhawks would take a run off that lead with a solo home run by Powys in the bottom 5th, though, to make it 4-1.

Higgins was thrown out stealing again in the seventh, and it may have cost a run there, with a 2-out double by Kinnear then going to waste. Then the bottom 7th, where the Bayhawks started to get those lucky base hits again. They loaded the bases with one out against Saito, with Jorge Gonzalez up, who had homered already in the series. But I was confident that Saito had enough to escape here. Plus, they had O’Keefe up next and probably wouldn’t let him bat anyway, so better take on Gonzalez and then react with the proper reliever (Burnett or Martinez) to the pinch-hitter.

Gonzalez flew deep to center, but Martin caught that one (he had missed the leadoff base hit by Pedro Perez), and held Gonzalez to a sac fly. Now the Bayhawks came up with Mauro Granados, a left-hander against Saito. They were clearly teasing me into letting Kisho in the game. He was at 99 pitches, far from done, but had struck out only one all day. Go to Burnett? Or let Kisho do it like ACES do it?

Go ACE.

The ACE fell behind 3-1 on Granados before the Costa Rican thought he would get one to dish deep. He did get one to make contact to, but it was high, messing up Granados as he jabbed at it, and he ended up with a very high, but rather short fly out to Martin in shallow center. PHEW!!!

Saito was pinch-hit for with Duncan in the eighth (to no effect) and got his cuddles from everybody in the dugout. Now, turn it to the pen. Burnett got the first out (Burton), then was replaced with Lagarde for Antonio Gonzalez and Roberto Rodriguez. He got both of them out.

A string of 2-out base hits plated two insurance runs for the Raccoons in the top ninth, so that they led 6-2. Lagarde had been pinch-hit for, but there were left-handers (Perez…) up to start the bottom 9th. This was not the time to either go to Nelson or fool around. Bring on the Demon!

Sat down Perez, sat down Espinosa, sat down Powys.

Raccoons 6, Bayhawks 2 (Raccoons lead 3-2) – Higgins 3-5; Kinnear 2-3, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Martin 2-4, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, W (1-1);

The Wolves stay alive end send the FLCS back to the Potomac with a 10-0 blowout against the Capitals.

[Westheim]

Games 6 and 7 (if there is one) as usual split into separate posts.

1992 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (99-63) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (98-64)

Game 6 – Jason Turner vs. Ricardo Sanchez

As had to be expected, with them facing elimination, the Bayhawks went back to their young ace, whose injury in game 3 had turned out to be mere soreness in the forearm which had pretty much gone away overnight, to pitch him on three days’ rest, probably with a short leash. Wouldn’t it be too heavy on those 22-year old shoulders?

Matt Higgins committed an error on the very first play of the game, leading to an unearned run for the Bayhawks in the first, with them even leaving the bags full.

Turner struggled with the left-handers here in game 6. Perez doubled in the third, and Granados came through with a 2-out RBI single to make it 2-0 in favor of the Bayhawks. Don’t let them run away, boys!

O’Morrissey had runners on the corners (Martin, Salazar) with two out in the bottom 3rd. He had not batted for too much so far, but had still had a big share in our three wins in the series. Here, Sanchez drilled him with a 1-1 pitch, loading the bags for Vern Kinnear. Sanchez failed to locate his stuff well, and was punished with a bases-clearing double to deep center! Whoosh!! – the game swung around! 3-2 Coons!

Johnston fouled out to end the third, but they again came up well in the fourth. Vinson walked, Osanai singled, Martin shoved a double through 3B Antonio Gonzalez to score Vinson, and still nobody out! But starting with Turner, the Coons made three unproductive outs, missed the chance to knock out Sanchez, and “only” led 4-2 after four.

Turner had to face the left-handers again in the fifth. Perez walked with two down and Espinosa doubled, spelling big trouble. Either Granados (batting .500 in the series) or the right-handed slugger Powys (with a homer already) had to be pitched to. Neither situation was too thrilling. Don’t put on too many guys especially for Powys, who had drilled almost 20 during the year. Turner had to pitch to Granados, and Granados took him deep. Bayhawks were up again, 5-4.

That missed chance in the fourth was gonna hurt.

Sanchez allowed nothing the next two innings, and we still trailed 5-4 through seven. Nelson and Lagarde combined to strike out the side in the eighth. We need a run!! Better two!!

In the bottom 8th Vinson walked with two down. Osanai singled up the middle, putting Martin into the pressure cooker against Lawrence Bentley, who replaced Sanchez. Bentley had already been scored upon four times in the series, and walked Martin to load the bases. Alex Byrd replaced him and we pinch-hit for Lagarde with Matt Duncan. He stabbed at the first pitch and grounded out pathetically.

Miller put two on in the top 9th, which started to escalate. Burnett got an out from Burton, but the runners moved into scoring position. We walked Pedro Perez intentionally, but Burnett then also walked Espinosa, forcing in a run.

The Coons would have to make up at least two runs in the bottom 9th. Salazar and Higgins made two quick outs. O’Morrissey grounded to third, but Gonzalez’ throw was wide and O-Mo safe at first. Kinnear would do well to hit it out right here. He certainly tried, but struck out.

Bayhawks 6, Raccoons 4 (series tied 3-3) – O’Morrissey 2-4; Kinnear 1-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Osanai 3-4; Martin 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;

In the Federal League, the spook is over. The Capitals skinned the Wolves, 9-0, in game 6 to advance to their third consecutive World Series.

[Westheim]

1992 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (99-63) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (98-64)

Game 7 – Robert Vázquez vs. Wilbert Rodgers

As far as starters were concerned, we certainly had an advantage here with Rodgers’ 5.05 ERA (although that hadn’t hurt him a ton in game 2) and Vázquez always getting the most run support. The latter was probably key to the game. Run support. Plenty of that, please. Only once have the Raccoons played a game 7: we beat the Knights over the long run in the 1989 CLCS.

Vázquez, with no margin for error, quickly put two on in the top 1st, but then struck out both Espinosa and Powys.

The noisy crowd – the house was choking full – saw Osanai and Martin single their way on with two down in the bottom 2nd. Vázquez lobbed a single into shallow left, but there was no way for the immobile Osanai to score. Rodgers and Salazar went to a full count, before Salazar made contact and dinked a single into center. 1-0 Coons. Full count to Higgins, and a walk! 2-0 Coons. O’Morrissey grounded then out, much to the dismay of the attendees.

That was probably all that Vázquez would get here, but Rodgers was far from sharp and one wondered why he wasn’t removed. He allowed eight runners in the first three innings (shame on the Coons for scoring only two). With one out in the bottom 4th, Rodgers walked the bags full, and still was not removed. O-Mo then sent a perfect DP grounder to Powys, who was Gold Glove caliber shortstop. But that one got away from him. Everybody was safe, 3-0. When Rodgers walked Kinnear to push in a run, 4-0, the Bayhawks made the chance, presumably too late. With a Johnston single and a Vinson sac fly, the Coons moved 6-0 ahead after four.

Obviously, this was Vázquez’ to lose. He immediately embarked on that quest. When the Bayhawks sent Fernando Gallegos to pinch-hit for reliever Alex Ramos in the top 5th, it was Gallegos’ first appearance of the series. His 2-run homer moved the Bayhawks back into slam range. With two on in the bottom 6th, Vinson flew deep to center, but Burton made him the final out.

Still 6-2. Vázquez’ leash was certainly short into the seventh, and a leadoff walk to Powys ended his day. Lagarde took over, and barely managed to stall Powys at third base. Six outs left. For the eighth, Rodriguez and Brown replaced Vinson and Osanai for defense.

Miller retired the first two guys in the eighth. The next was Perez, but he was put on intentionally. Nelson then walked Espinosa. Pressure mounting. Martinez came in to face Powys – STRUCK HIM OUT!!

The crowd was chanting frantically by now, and the Coons were three outs away from the World Series. They went down quickly in the bottom 8th.

Martinez started the ninth with the right-hander Antonio Gonzalez up. He flew out to right. More noise. Grant West was warming up, but so far Martinez looked like he was man enough to do this. Granados was up next, batting .438 in the series, and left-handed so. Granados hurled a grounder to right, but Brown – useless at the plate, but great with the glove – cut it off and tossed it to the hustling Martinez IN TIME!!

Jorge Gonzalez was to be the final out in the game, if things were going according to the crowd. The noise was deafening. And then Martinez walked him. The manager immediately came out and signaled for West. His man was Pepe Padilla, and the pinch hitter lined into shallow left. Two on, two out. Didier Bourges up. Bourges grounded a 1-0 pitch up the diamond, past the mound, well into the range of Jorge Salazar, who made the play to Brown and Bourges was OUT BY A MILE!!

WORLD SERIES, BABY!!!

Raccoons 6, Bayhawks 2 (Raccoons win 4-3) – Johnston 2-5, RBI; Martin 2-3, BB; Vázquez 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-1); Martinez 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

For whatever reason, we will have home field advantage in the World Series (we were tied with 99-63 records). This will obviously be a rematch of last year's affair, the first time this will happen in ABL history.

Will the Continental League win it's first title in NINE years?

---

Daniel Hall has an injury time of two days left (which makes for a WAY quicker recovery than initially stated), but won't be ready to be added to the roster between series. I asked over in the general boards as well, but is it possible to add him after the World Series starts if I leave a spot open for him? Since obviously I can't remove him from the DL before he is healed?

[Questdog]

Not sure and no way to run tests in v13, since I recently removed it from my hard drive. Not sure why I thought I needed the space, as I have 1.17 terabytes free and a second hard drive sitting empty with a terabyte of space on it......

You SHOULD be able to by the MLB rules and if the game won't let you, I can give you easy directions for circumventing its obstinacy....

Congratulations on another World Series!

There is a on old Japanese proverb that Mrs. Osanai, Tetsu's okaasan, taught me that says the third time is the charm......