Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (92-67) vs. Titans (93-66) – September 29-October 1, 1996

Enough has been talked about the Titans. And the Raccoons. We are 9-6 against them this season, but we are also 6-11 in our last 17 games. Which has led us into where we are now, being forced to win three times against the Titans while they’re here, either in three or four games.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (10-11, 3.63 ERA) vs. Chris O’Keefe (17-9, 3.97 ERA)
Jason Turner (19-7, 2.74 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (12-9, 4.01 ERA)
Robert Vázquez (13-7, 3.70 ERA) vs. Francisco Vidrio (11-10, 4.11 ERA)

Saito has not won any start since July 17, entailing an 0-8 record in 12 games. The team lost ALL OF THOSE GAMES, minus the last one in Indy. If you need darker numbers to lead up a series, be free to be creative, but you will fight an uphill battle. The Portland Agitator in any case welcomed the Titans in the Friday morning issue by congratulating them to their first ever playoffs.

Game 1 started with Daniel Silva (the newest pest in the division) hitting an infield single to Salazar at short, stealing second not remotely challenged by either Saito or Vinson, and scoring on a Jimmy Erickson single under Brewer’s glove. No outs, down 1-0. And it continued that way, the Titans plating four runs in the first inning. And it was over right there. The Raccoons didn’t get a hit until the fourth, a Salazar single leading off, but O’Morrissey managed to run us out of the inning with a 3-0 count lineout. Salazar also produced our second hit of the day, a 1-out double in the sixth, that put him and Brewer in scoring position. Last chance, need a big hit. Reece popped out to short, O’Morrissey flew out to center. That was it. Chris O’Keefe continued the humiliation inflicted on the brown-capped dorks for the last few weeks with a 2-hitter, cursing only for Salazar being in the lineup. 5-0 Titans. Salazar 2-4, 2B;

I knew it from the start. Whether we can at least give Jason Turner that 20th victory? The list of 20-game winners on the Raccoons is easy to memorize. Scott Wade won 21 games in 1989. That’s it.

A throwing error by Luis Lopez put Reece on second base with two out in the bottom 1st of Turner’s game. Unforeseeable, the Raccoons plated three runs, all unearned, with four straight hits reeled off by O’Morrissey, Green, Salazar, and Quinn. Even more unforeseeable, the Raccoons sent 12 men to the plate in the second inning, scoring EIGHT runs, all earned, on the luckless O’Halloran and reliever Jared Poole. Up 11-0, looks comfy, right? The park was cheering (relax guys, they have to win three games…), and Turner went back out after coming to bat twice in the inning. We were up 14-0 after three, while Turner showed signs of melting, walking three consecutive batters in the top 4th. In the shabbiest #20 you will ever see somewhere, Turner was booked with three runs eventually, on six walks and four hits (two homers), while not even getting through the sixth inning. Not that he could have endangered this win in any way. 16-3 Raccoons. Brewer 2-4, 3 BB, 3B, 4 RBI; Ingall 2-5; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Green 4-4, 2 BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Salazar 4-5, BB, 2 RBI; Quinn 3-6, 3 RBI; McDonald 2-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

So, Wade now has to share the title of 20-game winners for the Raccoons with somebody. And of course Kisho Saito was also a 20-game winner as a Raccoon, but won more than half of those games with the Canadiens in the year he was traded over here.

That leaves two must-win games, with our offense probably clocking in somewhere between 2 and 23 hits, the marks from the first two games. If we could tie them up and force a game #163, we possibly had Miguel Lopez in the wings to start that one, and would have to pitch Donis, the struggling rookie.

The Titans scratched Vidrio and instead threw 20-game winner Doug Morrow at us, with his 3.49 ERA. The Raccoons stormed out of the gates again, with walks to Brewer, who stole second, and Salazar. After Reece grounded out, O-Mo singled them both in and eventually scored on an error. Vázquez was shaking, however, and required extensive assistance from the defense. This time, Kinnear made most of the strong plays. The Titans left runners on third base in the third and fifth innings, and had a killing double play in the fourth, holding them shut out for the time being. The Coons had only two hits past their rush in the bottom 1st, again casting serious doubt on their overall offensive prowess, through eight innings. We were still up 3-0. Vázquez was still unharmed, but would face three right-handers. Daniel Miller had warmed up in the bottom 8th, and would enter at the first sign of trouble, but for now Vázquez would be allowed to continue handling a 3-0 lead. A leadoff walk to Jimmy Erickson fell within the definition of trouble, and Miller entered. He got two outs, then surrendered a single to Manuel Chavez, and the tying run came to the plate. It would have been Morrow, but he was obviously replaced by switch-hitter Josh Thomas. Miller walked him. That brought up the highly annoying Daniel Silva, and Ken Burnett came in to face the left-hander. Burnett had surrendered a grand slam not even a week removed. Here, Silva was content with an RBI single. It was melting away. Luis Alonso drew a walk off Burnett, forcing in another run, 3-2. Jose Martinez came up, another lefty. Martinez fell to 2-2, the popped a ball into shallow center, into no man’s land. Reece came on, came on, WARPED IN AND GOT IT!! 3-2 Reece, err, Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (14-7);

We were out-hit 10-4 in this one. Good that I value defense so highly.

Curiously enough, the ABL scheduled the tie breaker game in BOSTON, so we had to board a plane to fly cross country for no reason. No, there were no fights on the plane. All Titans were sitting on the left, all Raccoons on the right, and were forbidden to make eye contact.

Raccoons (94-68) @ Titans (94-68) – October 2, 1996

We had Miguel Lopez ready to go, while the Titans now sent in Vidrio, who had been removed from game 3 to get Morrow in to pitch. By the way, Morrow had pitched on regular rest, so there was no particular mistake in that regard made by the Titans.

The Titans’ park was steaming at game time. The Titans had never made the playoffs. The Raccoons were booed every time they were even close to the baseball. This included Miguel Lopez warming up before the game. And their mood did not get much better early in the game. Ingall and Reece hit singles in the first inning, bringing up Royce Green with one out. Green ended a 2-week home run drought for the entire team(!!) with a ringing 3-shot to deep left, and business was on. The Titans loaded the bags with a Silva double and two walks in the bottom 1st, but could not score on Lopez. Little happened until the fourth, when O-Mo got on with a single. He stole second base, which was a nice thing when Vinson singled with two down and O-Mo was sent home, arriving a hair before the ball. 4-0. Reece and Green scratched out another run in the fifth, while Lopez managed to stall a Titan on third base in the bottom 5th by striking out the last two batters. Were we going somewhere? Well, we got seven shutout innings from Lopez, who could not go further due to the odd walk here and there, and had to patch up six outs with our pen, while being up by five. No wait, six. Jin scored O-Mo with a sac fly in the top 8th. Six outs to collect for postseason #6. West came in, but walked Jose Martinez before retiring Luis Lopez. De La Rosa replaced him with right-handers up. On the way out of the eighth, he surrendered a pair of RBI doubles to Enéas Spinelli and Kozue Shimizu. Kevin Rhodes pitched the ninth for the Titans and scored us a run on a wild pitch. Three outs to get with a 5-run lead. Sounds doable. Martinez got the ball, struck out Thomas and Silva, and then - … put two men on. Burnett came in for Luis Lopez. 1-2 pitch, Lopez grounded to third, O-Mo to first, Ingall got it. Ballgame! 7-2 Raccoons!!! Ingall 2-5; Green 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Vinson 2-4, BB, RBI; Lopez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K, W (16-5);

In other news

September 30 – PIT OF/1B Alfonso Rojas (.318, 8 HR, 56 RBI) joins the circle of players who have collected six hits in a game. Rojas has the advantage of the Miners-Cyclones game going 15 innings, with two of his six singles coming in overtime. Nevertheless, it counts, as the Miners win, 7-6. This is the 27th time a batter logs six hits in a game, and the first time a Miner did it since Rich Johnson in 1977 had the first ever 6-hit day in the ABL.
October 1 – The Thunder complete a 3-game sweep of the Bayhawks to make the playoffs on the final day of the season. And no, for once it was not Sonny Reece belting in the winning run. The Thunder will make their fifth playoff appearance and their second consecutive as the 1994 champions.

Complaints and stuff

Wow. Just wow. How they managed to wiggle through that third game in Portland remains mysterious. I was fully expecting the ninth to become Hiroshima – a giant blowup with fallout poisoning the park for years to come. None of that happened, and I still can not believe it.

Playoff tickets are in the mail.

[Questdog]

Congrats! Awesome finish!

I knew your optimism would infect the whole club and pull them through!....

[Westheim]

1995 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-68) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (86-76)

With the 1992 and 1993 champions Raccoons and 1994 champions Thunder, the last three ABL titles are concentrated into this series. Both teams just squeezed past their opponents in the final game of the regular season, which meant 163 games for the Raccoons, to get here. We could have had a Bayhawks-Titans faceoff just as well, although both the Raccoons and the Thunder led their divisions for most of the year.

Looking at the numbers, the Raccoons at first appear to be the heavy favorites for this series. They led the Continental League in almost all offensive categories but runs scored (2nd), extra base hits (3rd), and stolen bases (9th), while also having the top spot in runs allowed, starter’s ERA, and BABIP. The only major issues were a messy bullpen and BY FAR the most home runs allowed in the league. On paper, offense, starting pitching, and defense, they have it all.

However, the Raccoons badly faltered after shooting to about 25 games over .500 by June, dropping game after game by August, and lost 12 of their last 21 games in September, which also meant fighting past the Titans from behind, which they somehow did. Their ace, Kisho Saito, has completely lost it, and the bullpen has it’s moments, while on a bad day (or in a bad week) the offense will neither homer nor ever have a single in a RISP situation. In turn, the Raccoons are not hit too hard by injuries, missing only INF Matt Higgins, more of a utility player, and fallen-out-of-favor CL Mike Dye to injuries.

In contrast, the Thunder’s problems can be well defined. They had a good pitching staff and defense, ranking consistently in the upper half of the Continental League. However, note that “upper half” does not mean “top 3”. The only top 3 category of their staff is strikeouts, which they piled up 1,037 of. Their batting was thoroughly average, though. However, the Thunder did not intensely blow up in the last two months of the season.

The Thunder have two players on the DL, too, SP Kevin Williams and MR Ramón Campoy, both of whom they acquired mid-season, with Campoy ironically coming over from the Raccoons.

Making an educated guess is harder than ever with these two teams. In May, the Raccoons would have creamed the Thunder eight times out of ten. By now, the chances are about even, although the Raccoons’ better rotation could give them that extra notch forward. Raccoons in six.

---

With Higgins injured, we only had 24 players eligible for the playoffs, and had a free addition. We only had 11 pitchers on the roster, plus 13 position players, with SP Antonio Donis, MR Day Grandridge, MR Tim Mallandain, C Jose Rodriguez, and INF Matt Duncan available. We already had five starters on the roster, so Donis was out. We only had five infielders, but Duncan had batted .000 in his callup, and was out. I didn’t see a valid reason to carry three catchers if none of them had good career PH stats, so Rodriguez was out. Which left us with the two relievers, and in the pinch, I went with the lefty Mallandain, whom I despised, but he had put up a few good long relief outings late in the year. You just can not pitch him in a spot where an out is actually important. We also still had Bobby Quinn as a potential first baseman, so the infield should be fine.

Setting the rotation was more of an issue. Alternating lefties and righties, Turner and Wade were set, and they were also the two most consistent performers late in the year. This left Saito, Vázquez, and Lopez. While Saito had been abysmal for a while, he was still considered the ace. Vázquez had been dropped out of the rotation for Donis in September, and he would be dropped out here to be another left-handed backup.

So, we had Turner, Wade, Saito, and Lopez. Lopez had pitched the tie breaker game and was thus not available for the first two games in Portland. Vázquez had pitched game #162, but was dropped to the pen anyway. Turner had been the last guy to go before that, and before that Saito. Wade was most rested.

Pitching guys on regular rest would have Saito and Turner leading off the series. Did I want to have Saito on the mound twice? As much as it hurts, no. But if I wanted Saito to pitch at most once, he had to pitch game 4, and Lopez game 2, which was not possible. So, Saito had to pitch in Portland, but would pitch game 2. Turner would have to pitch on three days’ rest, and so we tapped Scott Wade to start the series. If Saito blew up in game 2, Vázquez could still start game 6, if there was one.

GO SCOTTY!!

Game 1 – Scott Wade (11-11, 3.38 ERA) vs. Manuel Garza (7-15, 4.38 ERA)

OCT: SS J. Sanchez – C Guidry – LF Calzado – 3B S. Reece – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B Browne – RF Barnes – CF Hardy – P Garza
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF N. Reece – RF Green – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Baldivía – C Vinson – P Wade

From Calzado to Hardy, the Thunder put up six left-handers against Scott Wade, and they battered him from the start, when Calzado doubled and Sonny Reece singled him in in the top 1st. The Thunder left runners on the corners in the top 2nd without scoring.

Meanwhile the Raccoons watched Garza retiring them one after another. Garza was perfect through three, perfect through four, perfect through five …

The bottom beneath Wade then opened up in the sixth inning. Reece singled, Ramirez walked, and Browne was hit by Wade with the first pitch. That was also his last one, since there were no outs in the inning. Grant West came in, and while he did not put any more runners on base, he allowed Reece and Ramirez to score on sacrifice hits, putting the Thunder up 3-0, which with the way Garza was pitching was not very promising for our chances.

In a satanic twist of irony it was Grant West, who was sent to bat in the sixth, to have him for another inning, who broke up the bid with a bouncer up the middle and into center field. Brewer doubled to right and Salazar singled up the middle to score two runs.

That also changed the plan for West, who was replaced by Miller with the right-hander leading off the inning. 3-2 was much closer than 3-0. He sat down two, and Burnett got the final out in the seventh.

The Thunder would have two bloop singles against Burnett in the eighth, prompting us to go to De La Rosa, who got right-handed PH Tashiro Ikeda for the second out, but no left-handed PH Joey Jones, who doubled off the wall in dead center and both runners scored.

We got the tying run up in the bottom 8th, when Vinson walked and Jin, hitting for De La Rosa, was hit by the pitch from Lou Corbett. Brewer – with one out – popped out, and that had Salazar still being countered by the southpaw Corbett, so Ingall hit for him. The Thunder countered with righty Jose Chavez, Ingall struck out, and we were buried.

Thunder 5, Raccoons 2 (Thunder lead 1-0)

We had three hits. Our three through six batters went 0-15 with zero walks. This is going somewhere. In the FL, the Scorpions shut out the Miners, 4-0, behind SP Steve Rogers, negating a 4-hit day by PIT INF Pedro Hernandez.

Game 2 – Kisho Saito (10-12, 3.70 ERA) vs. Jon Robinson (12-9, 3.57 ERA)

OCT: SS J. Sanchez – LF Browne – RF Calzado – 3B S. Reece – 1B H. Ramirez – C Ikeda – CF Hardy – 2B De Jesus – P Robinson
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF N. Reece – RF Green – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Quinn – 1B Baldivía – C Vinson – P Saito

Game 2 was contested between southpaws, but the Thunder still had a left-handed-leaning lineup, because their roster was just composed that way. Including the pitcher Robinson, who batted right-handed, Saito would face four righties in the starting nine.

Saito’s control was not there, and he walked Sanchez to start the game, but Sanchez was thrown out stealing by Vinson soon. However, through two, Saito had already two walks on his ledger, and many ill counts in total. Yet, the game was still scoreless, when Bobby Quinn hit a double in the bottom 2nd. Baldivía grounded out, moving him to third with two out, but Vinson could not get the ball past Sanchez at short, and Quinn was left on.

Manuel De Jesus led off the third with a triple to deep right, and when Robinson lifted the ball to center, Reece had little trouble catching it, but neither had De Jesus with tagging and scoring, and we were behind again, 1-0.

We left Ingall in scoring position in the bottom 3rd, but in turn the Thunder left two on when Hardy flew out to Reece in the top 4th. O-Mo singled in the bottom 4th, the first hit by a big boy in the series, and Quinn came up and again doubled. O-Mo scored, tying the game, but Quinn once more was stranded at third base.

Another triple, by Hector Ramirez, put Saito in again in the sixth. Ramirez scored on an Ikeda double past Quinn, and the Thunder held a 2-1 lead. Saito completed the seventh inning without further incidents and the deficit really could not be blamed on him.

It was the offense’s job to plate two now. With Ingall at first and two out, Reece flew to deep center in the bottom 7th, but into an out when Hardy made a play out there. And when we had another man on in the bottom 8th, and brought Kinnear to hit for Baldivía, Chavez came in again and put Kinnear away to end the inning.

Daniel Miller surrendered a run in the ninth, which was as good as game over. Jimmy Morey entered to close this one. Vinson led off with a walk, and Brewer singled with one out to put the tying runs on base. Ingall then singled through Ramirez into right – bases loaded, one out, Reece and Green coming up. Reece grounded out to short, and while Sanchez failed to start the double play, they got the second out. We needed a big hit from Green now. We NEED this. Morey struck him out.

Thunder 3, Raccoons 2 (Thunder lead series 2-0) – Brewer 2-5; Ingall 2-4, BB, 2B; Quinn 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (0-1);

Yeah well, no offense to be had. In the bottom 9th, you need that big knock, that double or whatever, but this team is not getting it. It is consistently not getting it for months now, and facing elimination in four games now is a direct result of that. Pitching had nothing to do with these two losses.

The Scorpions’ Joaquin Bastos blew the save against the Miners in the ninth and ended up losing, 5-4 Miners, which ties the FLCS at one.

[Westheim]

1995 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-68) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (86-76)

Game 3 – Jason Turner (20-7, 2.79 ERA) vs. Makoto Kogawa (15-11, 3.31 ERA)

POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF N. Reece – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Kinnear – RF Green – 1B Quinn – C Vinson – P Turner
OCT: SS H. Sanchez – C Guidry – LF Calzado – 3B S. Reece – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B Browne – RF Barnes – CF Hardy – P Kogawa

We have must-win games ahead of us now. Turner, who was 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA in his postseason career, had to shut down those six left-handed batters the Thunder rolled up in a lineup identical to the one that won over Scott Wade and the bullpen in the opener.

Sanchez and Guidry hit doubles off Turner before I got back from the concession stand, and when the veteran Dave Browne brought home Guidry with a 2-out single we were down 2-0 and already things looked more than grim.

Turner didn’t see daylight past the second inning. Hardy singled to lead off, moved up on Kogawa’s bunt, and then Sanchez and Guidry AGAIN hit back-to-back doubles. Turner walked Calzado and Ramirez, and was yanked for Vázquez. Browne flew out to Green, but we were now down 4-0, and the Thunder fans were having a World Series party already.

And why shouldn’t they? Kogawa walked Vinson in the third, but nothing came of that, and we had nobody on in the fourth and O-Mo hit a liner to deep left center that was buzzing with corkscrews and chainsaws. Vonne Calzado made a leaping, diving catch, picking the ball less than half a foot off the grass. If your team has plays like that made on, you can book the flight home a day earlier.

The bottom of the fifth sealed the deal. With two out and two on, Bruce Hardy hit a single, on which the Thunder waved home Sonny Reece, who beat Vinson’s tag by two and a half hairs. Next, Kogawa singled to right, scoring another run, and Sanchez homered off Vázquez. That was a 9-0 game, and was feeling like it. And Guidry singled off Martinez. And Calzado singled off Martinez. And Reece impaled Martinez with the second 2-out, 3-run homer of the game.

Starting with the bottom 6th, Mallandain was in to soak up the innings from here. It didn’t matter anyway. Mallandain allowed a double to Browne, and then scored him with CONSECUTIVE WILD PITCHES. Mallandain was sucking in excess of soaking up three innings and had to be relieved in the seventh. By that time, we had also lost Neil Reece to an injury.

I retreated to somewhere remote and silent to have a little cry.

Thunder 18, Raccoons 3 (Thunder lead 3-0) – Brewer 2-4; Kinnear 2-4, 2B;

Reece had jammed his thumb sliding into second base in the top 7th, and had torn ligaments. He would miss the rest of the season, which was probably a single game. Still, he looked heartbroken when we got him from the hospital with his hand and wrist in a brace that night. What a spirit. What a fighter. You will never be let go, Neil, you are my boy.

The rest of the suckers….

The Scorpions beat the Miners, 5-4, in extra innings to take a 2-1 lead in that series. Former Indian R.J. Stinton drove in the winning run.

Game 4 – Miguel Lopez (16-5, 3.12 ERA) vs. Raimundo Beato (15-15, 4.06 ERA)

POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – 1B Ingall – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Kinnear – RF Green – CF Newton – C McDonald – P M. Lopez
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – LF Browne – RF Calzado – 3B S. Reece – 1B H. Ramirez – C Ikeda – CF Hardy – 2B De Jesus – P Beato

We are done. Best Lopez can do is making a good impression by going seven. We also said Hi to “Pooky”. Hi “Pooky”.

To anybody’s surprise, “Pooky” was shredded in the first inning. He put the first three Raccoons on, and then O-Mo doubled in a pair, and Green hit a 3-run homer. Up 5-0, we were looking at staying here for game 5 (with the flight back to Oregon booked for tonight) …

But not so quick. Browne homered off Lopez in the first, 5-1, and in the bottom 2nd, the Thunder had a man on with two out and Beato batting. Joey Jones replaced him, walked, and then Sanchez hit a 3-run homer for back-to-back games, cutting our once-sizeable lead to 5-4.

Sonny Reece had a single in the bottom 3rd, and Lopez walked Ikeda with two down. That brought up Hardy, a left-hander, so I figured Lopez would complete the inning. Well, no. HARDY homered, and the Thunder now led 7-5.

The Raccoons were defeated. In the top 6th, Jin batted for Miller, was hit, and got himself picked off one pitch before Brewer singled to right. With two out, Salazar then grounded out. In the bottom of the inning, Hardy homered again, this time off Martinez, to make it 8-5.

Top 7th. Ingall singled, O-Mo walked, Kinnear singled, no outs, tying runs on against Andy Castle. Green batted in a run with a single, but K’s to Newton and Quinn ran us out of the inning before we ran the Thunder out of their lead, and a McDonald groundout only meant we got to 8-7. But every inning also has a bottom half. West appeared, and Sanchez got on with a bloop single nobody went after aggressively enough. Sanchez stole two bases before scoring on a double play.

Top 9th, down 9-7, Jimmy Morey in, O-Mo, Kinnear, Green to bat. O-Mo struck out in a full count, Kinnear hit an infield single, Green walked. That brought up Newton, and the bench was thin. Newton flew out to left, the runners held. McDonald was hit for with Vinson. Vinson grounded out to first.

Thunder 9, Raccoons 7 (Thunder win 4-0) – Brewer 2-5; Salazar 2-5; Kinnear 3-5; Green 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI; Miller 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

I feel numb.

[Westheim]

Nobody since Rodney King had been beaten up so brutally as the Raccoons had been in the 1995 CLCS. Outscored 35-14, the Thunder had enjoyed a nice walk in the park, while Portland was stunned. The Agitator, as usual, was raging and calling for heads to be chopped off, and no players were included in their wishlist. While I was mulling my fate in my buttoned-up apartment, sitting on the bed, and clawing into a pillow, slowly rocking back and forth, the playoffs continued, with three teams for the time being.

For completeness, let’s review the FLCS in entirety.

Miners @ Scorpions … 0-4 … (Scorpions lead 1-0) … PIT Pedro Hernandez 4-5, 2B;

Miners @ Scorpions … 5-4 … (series tied 1-1) … PIT Bob Hall 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; SAC R.J. Stinton 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Scorpions blow ninth inning lead

Scorpions @ Miners … 5-4 (10) … (Scorpions lead 2-1)

Scorpions @ Miners … 4-3 … (Scorpions lead 3-1) … Miners blow 3-2 lead in the ninth

Scorpions @ Miners … 5-3 … (Scorpions win 4-1) … SAC SP Joe Mann leaves after one inning, down 2-0, with a blister, but the bullpen nails down the Miners; SAC MR Leon Walker 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W;

And down to two. For the fourth year in a row, the title will be claimed by a team west of the Mississippi.

1995 WORLD SERIES

The Thunder have been discussed before. Not much peaks, but above average in most important categories. Good cohesion, though.

The Scorpions were one of the best teams in the ABL, with a 839-run offense in the regular season, mostly working on high AVG/OBP rather than home runs. The Scorpions were in the top 2 in the FL in all batting categories but XBH (3rd), HR (7th) and BB (7th). The pitching staff was a more mixed back, having given up the fourth-least runs in the FL, with an excellent bullpen and good defense improving results. The only category their staff ranked in the bottom half were walks given up (7th).

Their offense could post a lineup with no batter batting less than .278, and having an OBP less than .344.

However, the Scorpions lacked two key players in 2B German Roldán, who had missed most of the year with a broken kneecap, and SP David Castillo, who had amassed 13 wins in 20 starts before tearing his labrum.

It wasn’t more than a good guess, but the Scorpions seemed to have a lead of one and a half claws over the Thunder, and might take the series in seven games.


Thunder @ Scorpions … 6-11 … (Scorpions lead 1-0) … SAC Bill Mosley 3-4, BB, HR, 2 2B, RBI; SAC Sam Green 3-5, 2 RBI;

Thunder @ Scorpions … 2-3 … (Scorpions lead 2-0) … SAC Sam Green 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI;

Scorpions @ Thunder … 6-5 (10) … (Scorpions lead 3-0) … SAC Jared O’Molony 4-5, 2 2B; SAC R.J. Stinton 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

Scorpions @ Thunder … 1-2 … (Scorpions lead 3-1) … OCT SP Raimundo Beato 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W;

Scorpions @ Thunder … 10-6 … (Scorpions win 4-1) … OCT Sonny Reece 3-5, HR, 4 RBI; SAC Jared O’Molony 4-5, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI; SAC Martin Horn 3-5, BB, HR, 3B, RBI;

1995 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Sacramento Scorpions
(2nd title)

I still feel numb.

[Orcin]

Bleh... swept. That has a Raccoon-like feel to it. It makes the off-season even more interesting though. There's always some hesitation to tinker with a club that just won something. No problem blowing up a team that just got swept.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Bleh... swept. That has a Raccoon-like feel to it. It makes the off-season even more interesting though. There's always some hesitation to tinker with a club that just won something. No problem blowing up a team that just got swept.

Actually this is totally unlike anything the Raccoons have ever done. Previously, we were 5-0 in CLCS encounters. This is the first time the CL South winner kicked us out of the playoffs.

Meh.

----

October 3 – CIN 1B Jose Nava (.369, 10 HR, 70 RBI) and POR 1B/2B David Brewer (.359, 7 HR, 53 RBI) are the respective leagues’ batting champions.
October 11 – New York Crusaders owner Tim Terry passes away. Ownership falls to his son Tim Terry jr., who is rumored to be more charitable in spending money than his late father had been, who had run the team on a shoestring budget for more than a decade. The younger Terry was heard saying that you can’t get rich in New York without spending some first.
October 18 – The ABL selects the inaugural Hall of Famers! SP Juan “Mauler” Correa (272-117, 2.44 ERA) will be inducted as a Scorpion, while INF Alfonso Aranda (.311, 108 HR, 884 RBI) enters the Hall as an Indian.
October 18 – Portland’s own Grant West announces his retirement. The 38-year old West, the fourth overall pick by the Raccoons in the 1979 draft, stated his inability to recover his former elite stuff as reason for hanging up the glove. West amassed a 43-34 record, 2.12 ERA, and 522 saves (2nd all time behind Andres Ramirez) in a 16-year major league career and 905 appearances. In his whole career, he was never put on the disabled list.

Grant West’s retirement takes out that last connection we had with the 1983 pennant winning team. He was the last member of that 1983 team to stay with us, and in fact pitchers Jerry Ackerman and Richard Cunningham are now the last two active players from that team. We should do a reunion for the 15th anniversary, I think. West made four All Star teams (1983-86) and was Pitcher of the Month once, in June 1983. His 522 saves, which included a decade of utter eliteness throughout the 80s, came us just under $5M over the years.

After Daniel Hall, another stab into my heart.

Shall I be honest? I still miss “Old Chris” Powell.

Last year, our $15.5M budget ranked 15th in the league and we had to squeeze to fit everything in. We will get a slight raise this season to $15.955M, which will have us 13th in the league. The Capitals ($22M), Condors ($21.5M), and Stars ($19.7M) have the most bucks, the Falcons ($14.2M), Blue Sox ($13.9M), and Crusaders ($12.3M) have the least.

We will start the offseason by looking at our arbitration and free agent cases as well as at our salary composition as a whole.

Five players are slated for salary arbitration (with service time YY.DDD):
SP Miguel Lopez (16-5, 3.12 ERA) 3.073
MR Daniel Miller (4-0, 2.26 ERA, 6 SV) 3.144
C Jose Rodriguez (.114/.192/.171) 3.075
LF Vern Kinnear (.259/.367/.415) 4.008
OF Royce Green (.295/.398/.509) 4.019

Four players are bound for free agency unless we approach them:
SP Robert Vázquez (14-7, 3.59 ERA) – type B
MR Jackie Lagarde (4-4, 3.95 ERA) – no comp.
CL Mike Dye (1-5, 2.52 ERA, 33 SV) – type B
LF/RF Bobby Quinn (.279/.357/.357) – no comp.

Lopez, Miller, Kinnear, and Green will be retained, no question. Lopez had made the minimum so far, and was estimated at $346k, Miller at $156k, Kinnear $460k (up almost a hundred grand from last year), and Green $433k. I was going to offer the estimate for Kinnear, but $480k for Green, whom I consider the much better batter. Lopez will be offered $360k, and Miller $160k. Rodriguez will not get an offer.

Likewise, Mike Dye will not be made a contract offer, but will be offered arbitration to retain the compensation. Vázquez was decent last season, but we have to look at our salary as a whole before we can estimate what we can offer for him. I fear that he could ask for as much as 6-yr, $6M.

I long had soft spots for Jackie Lagarde and Bobby Quinn. Lagarde came apart horribly last season, with being barely decent at season’s end. I do not think that we will make an offer to him. Quinn could easily stay, but we have a few prospects, who could fill a backup spot (it would take some balls to get between Kinnear, Reece, and Green), and having a rookie there opens up salary elsewhere, since Quinn might demand $400k per year or more.

The following is our salary structure before last season (excluding everybody on a minimum contract):

1B/2B David Brewer - $1.4M ($9M through 2000)
INF Jorge Salazar - $900k ($1.8M through 1996)
SP Kisho Saito - $900k ($3.8M through 1998)
OF Neil Reece - $750k ($5.8M through 2000)
SP Jason Turner - $525k ($1.075M through 1996)
-
3B/1B Ben O’Morrissey - $500k ($1.05M through 1996)
OF Royce Green - $413k (will be arbitration eligible) *
C David Vinson - $400k ($1.275M through 1997)
LF Vern Kinnear - $360k (will be arbitration eligible) *
MR Jackie Lagarde - $300k (will be free agent) #
-
MR Grant West - $300k (will be free agent) #
SP Robert Vázquez - $300k (will be free agent) #
MR Juan Martinez - $275k ($550k through 1996)
LF/RF Bobby Quinn - $260k (will be free agent) #
MR Ken Burnett - $250k ($500k through 1996)
-
SP Scott Wade - $240k ($500k through 1996)
INF Matt Higgins - $233k ($700k through 1997)
C Jose Rodriguez - $150k (will be arbitration eligible) *
MR Albert Matthews - $149k (will be arbitration eligible) *
MR Daniel Miller - $149k (will be arbitration eligible) *

* Service times (y.d): Matthews (4.012), Green (3.019), Kinnear (3.008), Miller (2.144), Rodriguez (2.142)

Note that we never paid Albert Matthews, who was lost on waivers at the start of the season.

Assuming we will get everybody for their arbitration estimates, and throwing out everybody bound for free agency, including Rodriguez, it will look like this for 1996:

1B/2B David Brewer - $1.4M ($7.6M through 2000)
INF Jorge Salazar - $900k (will be free agent) #
SP Kisho Saito - $900k ($2.9M through 1998)
OF Neil Reece - $850k ($5.05M through 2000)
SP Jason Turner - $550k (will be free agent) #
-
3B/1B Ben O’Morrissey - $550k (will be free agent) #
OF Royce Green - $480k (will be arbitration eligible) *
LF Vern Kinnear - $460k (will be arbitration eligible) *
C David Vinson - $425k ($875k through 1997)
SP Miguel Lopez - $360k (will be arbitration eligible) *
-
MR Juan Martinez - $275k (will be free agent) #
SP Scott Wade - $260k (will be free agent) #
MR Ken Burnett - $250k (will be free agent) #
INF Matt Higgins - $233k ($467k through 1997)
MR Daniel Miller - $160k (will be arbitration eligible) *

* Service times (y.d): Green (4.019), Kinnear (4.008), Miller (3.144), Lopez (3.073)

Two observations: yes, the breakup of this great crew is coming after next season. No way we can retain so many free agents. Bear in mind that the 1997 group will also include Kinnear and Green.

Second observation, this already binds a tad over $8M of our budget. Almost $1.6M more are bound up for our managerial staffs, and we had less than $2.9M in scouting and development last season, which I considered not enough, I want to bump both sectors by a quarter million. Then there are about 20 players with minimum contracts around. Add another $2M for that. If you add up all of that, you arrive at a figure of $15M, including enlarged S&D budgets. Now remember our budget and we have less than a million to spend.

That sounds hard.

So, maybe our best bet is to let Vázquez go and put Donis in the rotation. Saves a metric crap ton of money. Luke Newton could be the fifth outfielder, or Kevin Savary. A more radical idea is to have Ingall as the daily shortstop and trade Salazar (I know, 10/5 rights…).

Salazar, Turner, O-Mo, Martinez, Wade, Burnett. 1996 may be the last chance of the Raccoons to move something for a few years.

[pjh5165]

hopefully this group has another good run left before they're forced to split up. heartbreaker this year with the sweep.

[Westheim]

Odd fact: Daniel Miller walked 16 batters in 56 innings in 1994, while pitching to a 1.45 WHIP and 6.43 ERA. This season, he doubled his walks to 33 in 63.2 innings, but pitched to a 1.15 WHIP and 2.26 ERA. Strange game this is.

I will tell you what is even stranger. I consider Miller a candidate for the closer’s job.

His career numbers don’t look like much, but he has a really mean slider that is hardly hittable. As long as that slider works, you have to try to go for his 98mph fastball. Vince Guerra however thinks otherwise, not seeing him even in an eighth inning role.

As a matter of fact, we will have to procure closing services from inside the organization. Money will prevent us from going after a closer on the free agent market, since we really only have enough bucks to chase after one player. And I want to improve the offense.

The areas where I will try to get something done are first base and catcher. Baldivía and Vinson both were about the weakest links we put into our lineup last season. Vinson’s defense has been annoying for some years now, and he will never reproduce that rousing 1990 season. Baldivía just lacks the power I want from the position. That will not change, either. I hate to waste a backup spot for a first baseman, so we will have to see whether we can trade him and something extra for a slugger, preferably a left-hander. I have an eye on Denver’s Liam Wedemeyer, but the Gold Sox, frankly, would be nuts to give him up.

But the Aces gave up Royce Green, too, so …

October 19 – The Raccoons and Buffaloes strike a deal that sends AAA CL Tony Vela, 25, to Topeka for C Nori Kondo, 29. Kondo is a career .257 batter with excellent defensive skills.
October 23 – The Crusaders acquire 25-yr old RF/LF Avery Johnson (.268, 60 HR, 265 RBI) from the Gold Sox for 26-yr old MR Xavier Herrera (12-7, 2.28 ERA, 2 SV).
October 27 – 30-yr old OF Tadanobu Sakaguchi is traded from the Warriors to the Indians for Australian outfield prospect Baden Speed, 20. Sakaguchi is a career .280 batter with 70 homers and 405 RBI.
October 28 – Someone’s rebuilding: the Warriors trade veteran MR Luciano Parrilla (50-46, 2.75 ERA, 48 SV) to the Falcons for two prospects, including #46 prospect RF/LF Tony Velasquez.
October 29 – Raccoons are left unrewarded with Gold Gloves, while the Bayhawks claw up four for C Didier Bourges, 2B Pete Thompson, 3B Roberto Rodriguez, and LF Roberto Guevara.
October 30 – TOP C Carlos Ramos (.290, 11 HR, 64 RBI) and TIJ 1B/3B Jose Morales (.286, 2 HR, 50 RBI) are Rookies of the Year.
October 31 – LAP SP Angel Romero (22-10, 2.45 ERA) and IND SP Neil Stewart (24-4, 2.89 ERA) are Pitchers of the Year.
November 1 – Batters of the Year are announced: CIN LF/RF Dan Morris (.352, 41 HR, 117 RBI) and POR 1B/2B David Brewer (.359, 7 HR, 53 RBI) are rewarded.

Batter of the Year, hoo-hoo-hoo!! That million and a half bucks didn’t go to waste after all!

Tony Vela pitched to a 6+ ERA in AAA, plus a 1-7 record. Whatever is wrong with him, I have enough places to work on. He was not an option to throw back into the bullpen after this dismal 1995 season he had. Yet, at the moment, we had only four relievers lined up for next season: Miller, De La Rosa, Burnett, and Martinez. Grant West had retired, Jackie Lagarde was bound for free agency, and Mike Dye was so too, although technically he was on the DL at this point anyway. Grandridge and Mallandain had already proven not to be big league caliber relievers (not even mopping up), and were not included in the plans for the future.

Looking at my AAA team, the outlook was dire. There was nobody there who could survive the big leagues, really, nobody. I would have a hard time finding anybody for the mop-up role. The only option was maybe Cesar Salcido (who had a sour cup of coffee in the Bigs with us in 1994) as a left-handed specialist. That was it. We needed at least two relievers from the open market or through trades. As late as three years ago, our system was spilling relievers left and right.

But the farm lay barren, and deserted.

I also threw in a waiver claim for Topeka’s Steve Galloway, a right-handed reliever, in early November, but our claim was superseded by the Thunder. Those Thunder… (bites a chunk out of the desk)

Back to Kondo, he easily filled the backup spot to Vinson. Or could he fill more? He had only managed OPS scores of .641 and .679 in his last two seasons, both clearly beneath the league average, but Vinson’s .683 last year certainly had not been a revelation equivalent to the Ten Commandments in magnitude.

Now about Baldivía. He doesn’t even hit double digit dingers. I want more from a first baseman. I have glanced at Denver’s Liam Wedemeyer, and we would probably have to trade half the team to obtain him. Another option would be to move O-Mo to first and put Mike Crowe on third base. Crowe hit 19 home runs in 252 triple-A AB’s this season. Why only so few AB’s you ask? Well, he broke his knee and has been in a cast for a few months now.

Probably not the best plan right now, huh?

Next: salary arbitrations, free agents file.

--

Milestone report says that the Rebels’ Gabriel Cruz has retired. Cruz, 38, hangs up the bat as the all time home run leader with 318. Mark Dawson is still second with 304, but Michael Root is breathing down on him with 302, and so Root is the active career home run leader now, and with a decent 1996 he should overtake Cruz, too. Root is only 34, so the 400-train has not sailed yet.

Who is still fourth with 223 dingers, but probably not for very much longer? Daniel Hall.

Ah, I miss Daniel Hall.

Daniel Haaaaaaall … (cries)

[Westheim]

Salary arbitration did not go well. While our offers for Miller ($160k) and Green ($480k) were chosen by the arbitrator, Kinnear ($485k) and Lopez ($412.5k) got their demands and we would pay out an additional $77,500 to them now. I don’t quite grasp why Kinnear is awarded more money than Green. Green hits for more average, power, has more speed and range, and is a better fielder. Is Vern Kinnear’s nose that much prettier?

I don’t know. Our budgetary struggles won’t get much easier. Robert Vázquez and Mike Dye did not go to arbitration, will be free agents and compensation eligible, so Antonio Donis will be in our rotation next season, and we will see how that goes, and we have to steal a closer somewhere.

November 11 – The Knights surprisingly flip 33-yr old CL Matt Sims (66-59, 2.39 ERA, 315 SV) to the Gold Sox for 31-yr old 1B/2B Manuel Guzman (.274, 42 HR, 402 RBI) and a prospect.
November 13 – Not even one month after the Scorpions won the World Series for the second time, Sacramento is in mourning over the death of owner Dave Brown. The funeral will be tomorrow. Brown’s oldest son Jung-hyun Brown will take over the team. Brown is said to be a demanding economizer.
November 14 – The Rebels claim INF Matt Duncan off waivers by the Raccoons.
November 17 – The Gold Sox and Raccoons complete a major trade that sends 26-yr old 1B Liam Wedemeyer (.288, 72 HR, 251 RBI) and 28-yr old MR Tzu-jao Ban (8-9, 3.14 ERA, 14 SV) to Portland, while the return trip to Colorado will be made by 27-yr old 1B Esteban Baldivía (.284, 18 HR, 135 RBI) and 25-yr old OF Chih-tui Jin (.273, 7 HR, 60 RBI).
November 19 – The Capitals add career saves leader CL Andres Ramirez (71-92, 2.62 ERA, 588 SV) for 3-yr, $2.01M. Ramirez is 35 and shows no signs of letting up.
November 20 – The Wolves take on 35-yr old 1B Antonio Esquivel (.281, 126 HR, 825 RBI) from the Aces in exchange for 28-yr old MR Gilberto Salazar (6-0, 2.52 ERA, 1 SV). Esquivel missed a lot of time last season with injuries and is due $780k in the final year of his contract.
November 23 – Veteran 2B/SS Paul Connolly, 35, and a .271 batter with 117 homers and 104 triples in his career, signs a 2-yr, $1.54M contract with the Cyclones. He was with the Wolves the last three years.

Now, about the Gold Sox trade, calm down. We are all excited over here. We flipped first basemen and Taiwanese players, but there is more to it than that. On the downside, Wedemeyer is a worse defender than Baldivía, we took on some salary with Ban, and I hated losing Jin, who would be a good starter on most other team.

However, the upgrades should be able to outweigh these downgrades by a ton. Wedemeyer is a power booster, hitting 31 homers last season (almost doubling any single Raccoon), which should come in handy in our cozy, tiny park. Of course his swing comes with holes and he has racked up as many as 140 K’s in a season. He has some speed, not enough to steal a lot of bases, but enough to not ground into a daily double play, which drove me crazy with Baldivía. Either first baseman is still on the minimum this season. Ban in turn partially plugs the gaps in our bullpen, and he has been very solid in a 5-year career. His stuff is evil, with a screaming 99mph heater and a knuckle curve that is about unhittable, and he is striking out ten per nine innings. He is one candidate for the closer job.

There is one more thing to Wedemeyer that is a plus in context with the rest of the team. Baldivía is a right-hander, and we had a lot of those the last one or two years. Wedemeyer bats left-handed, creating a much better balanced lineup against right-handers for us. And it WILL be a fearsome lineup. Currently, it looks like Ben O’Morrissey or Vern Kinnear might bat SEVENTH, that is how ridiculously well-stuffed our lineup is now. I can get over Vinson’s shenanigans at the plate batting eighth with our one-through-seventh guys, which may look like this against right-handers: Brewer – Salazar – Reece – Wedemeyer – Green – Kinnear – O’Morrissey – Vinson – P; look at that and tell me you are not impressed!

Of course, we now have to find two backup outfielders, and I am not too thrilled with what we have in store in St. Petersburg. Well, Luke Newton might end up as one the backups, playing all three positions very well. The other spot … we may want to look at the free agent market for that one.

We have upgraded the first base spot (significantly!) and without using any money for that. That was one big target for this offseason. The rotation is set, catching and infield are set. We will be able to fiddle backup outfield and the bullpen together somehow, right? We have about $600k available.

It is late November, and the rule 5 draft will be upon us in a few days.

One more bright spot in the Wedemeyer trade: we now have two Aussies, with Wedemeyer hailing from Hervey Bay, Queensland, and FINALLY somebody on the team can understand Cranbourne, Victoria’s Vern Kinnear!

[Questdog]

Hard to not like anyone who wears #14.....

Are you sure the Racoons have a cozy park? It seems to me that most players have forgotten to bring their power attachments when they relocate to Portland....

[Westheim]

Last year was a poor power season for us. We only hit 105 dingers. Yet, that still led the Continental League.

Raccoons Ballpark is the third-most power-friendly park in the Continental League. It's just over 320 ft down either line, and especially right field is quite shallow with 340 ft in middle right. The only parks with smaller confines in the CL are the Aces' (very slightly at the lines and in left), and the Canadiens' (315 ft down the lines). The only park in the FL that is even remotely comparable to this triplet is the Stars'. They play in a permanently closed dome, and on turf, and all offensive numbers are completely out of whack there. Pitchers hate to go there.

Like I said before, this league can't be compared to MLB power-wise. The 1989 Raccoons, which had Tetsu Osanai, Mark Dawson, Sam Dadswell, and Daniel Hall go full steam, hit 153 home runs. This is - by far!! - the record for any team in either league in ABL history. The closest I found is 138 for the '85 Coons and on other teams, 127 by the 1993 Pacifics.

There are a few teams in the ABL that have never - never! - hit 100 home runs in a season. The Raccoons, since 1982, when we stopped sucking so outrageously, have failed to hit 100 homers in a season only three times. Four seasons by individual Critters rank in the top 12 for single season home runs (1988 Mark Dawson, 1986 & 1989 Tetsu Osanai, 1994 Royce Green).

So, yes, I am sure that this park is very power friendly. Of course I try to pick my batters accordingly.

[Westheim]

Preparing for the rule 5 draft was not that hard. Our farm did not hold a lot of boys that absolutely positively had to be nailed in place. Going in, we had only 33 players on the expanded roster.

We added 3B Mike Crowe (the one with the broken kneecap), who was on the DL, but did not add double borderline (so, unlikely to succeed in a callup) SP Luis Martinez (AAA) and CL Raúl Mejía (AA). Mejía would miss all of next season to a torn rotator cuff, and you never know what will be left of him after that, so I highly doubt any team would be dumb enough to pick him up. We added AAA MR Pancho Padilla and AA SP Esteban Flores. That was it. Even Flores was double borderline, too, to be honest.

So, four spots open on the 40-man roster at this point. We need an outfielder, and at least one reliever from outside. Would the rule 5 draft hold something for *us*? We had never had any permanent luck with our picks, sometimes not even short term luck.

December 1 – Ex-RIC SP Harry Griggs (118-83, 3.39 ERA) signs a 4-yr, $4.4M deal with the Condors, which makes the 28-yr old one of the top 10 earners in the sport starting this season.
December 1 – 31-yr old LF/RF Jean-Claude Monnier (.267, 64 HR, 336 RBI), who has never had more than 397 AB in a season, signs a 5-yr, $4.46M contract with the Stars. Monnier was last with the Crusaders.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 27 players are claimed in the process of the draft. The Raccoons lose SP Luis Martinez to the Cyclones and MR Jaime Feliz to the Scorpions.

Well, I forked up.

December 3 – Ex-RIC SP Russ “Papa” Ewing (65-54, 3.38 ERA) signs a 7-yr, $5.88M contract with the Cyclones.
December 10 – The Warriors grab RF/LF Djordje Nedic (.302, 62 HR, 419 RBI). The 28-yr old ex-Falcon will make $4.42M over the next five years.
December 12 – At age 35, former Bayhawk INF Roberto Rodriguez (.292, 36 HR, 784 RBI) gets another big pay day from the Miners, signing a 3-yr, $3.33M contract.
December 14 – Last year’s CL Pitcher of the Year, 32-yr old SP Neil Stewart (175-146, 3.28 ERA) cashes in big, with a 4-yr, $4.64M contract from the Warriors.
December 14 – 34-yr old SP Arnold McCray (159-148, 3.25 ERA) joins the Thunder on a 2-yr, $1.86M contract. McCray was with the Canadiens since 1992.
December 15 – At age 25, SP Aaron Anderson (80-69, 3.89 ERA) is already a free agent, and the former Warrior gets a 3-yr, $3.25M contract from the Thunder.
December 15 – The Canadiens ink ex-SAC 1B Bill Mosley (.282, 125 HR, 588 RBI) to a 3-yr, $2.31M contract.
December 17 – The Raccoons sign former Titan OF Alejandro Espinoza (.253, 17 HR, 204 RBI) for 2-yr, $500k.
December 17 – Ex-NAS C Antonio Escobedo (.293, 32 HR, 190 RBI) joins the Falcons for 2-yr, $1.14M.
December 18 – More money is shelled out as the Capitals strike and sign ex-OCT RF/LF Vonne Calzado (.339, 50 HR, 385 RBI). The 28-yr old will earn $6.1M over five years.
December 24 – New home for ex-OCT SP Makoto Kogawa (69-63, 3.94 ERA), who signs for 6-yr, $5.64M with the Gold Sox.
December 30 – Ex-DEN CL Cory Maupin (22-21, 2.86 ERA, 124 SV) signs a 1-yr, $472k contract with the Scorpions.
January 2 – Denver also grabs RF/LF Salvador Vargas (.296, 87 HR, 692 RBI). The 33-yr old signs a 3-yr, $2.73M deal.

Espinoza will be a backup, and he is capable of playing all three positions well. His strengths are blistering speed, a refusal to strike out, and a great arm and good range in the field. He won’t hit .300 and won’t hit many home runs, but that won’t be for what he is going to be employed anyway. And is not like we will need a 5-star free agent in the outfield, because our starting outfield is fearsome enough with Kinnear, Reece, and Green. We need good backup, and Espinoza, 26, is that. Him and Newton are sufficient, I’d say.

So, that left only the bullpen to fix. Money constraints will have us be confident that Vinson can stink less as the starting catcher than he did last year.

It is now January 10. I reached out to a veteran righty before Christmas and he has not come back to us yet. (No it is not Jackie Lagarde)

I have to stop here and do some thinking because we received a trade proposal from the Wolves. They want Marvin Ingall, and they offer 36-yr old ex-closer Rick Evans, who will make a bloated 750 grand this season in the final year of his contract, plus a 22-yr old closer prospect in Ricardo Huerta.

I don’t want no piece of Evans, much less of his contract. Evans was a prime closer, but he had two rough years in Salem now, and we have enough pitchers, who have had rough years. But Huerta is a very interesting guy. Whether he can be a top notch big league closer remains to be seen, but he has a good cause. He was an EIGHTH round draft pick by the Titans in ’92, and since then has done grueling things to minor league hitters. One issue with him is movement, he gives up his share of home runs, and that would be amplified in Portland for sure. Can we get Huerta for less? I don’t even talk about not trading Ingall, but can we get something else in place of Evans that will not burst open our 1996 budget?

[Westheim]

After some thinking, I rejected the Wolves’ proposal. I want no piece of Rick Evans at this point, and I also don’t want to give up Marvin Ingall. Ingall is a very good fielder all around the infield. Jorge Salazar will leave us after this season. We will need a shortstop. I have my eyes on Ingall here.

January 13 – The Stars add SP Manny Ramos (57-68, 4.39 ERA), who spent his time with the Canadiens so far, and now will make $3.36M over four years.
January 14 – The Raccoons sign ex-WAS MR Andres Otero (23-19, 3.24 ERA, 32 SV) for 2-yr, $700k.
January 14 – Veteran SP Robbie Campbell (213-150, 3.23 ERA) at age 36 returns to the CL North by joining the Indians for 2-yr, $1.72M.
January 16 – The Wolves unload 36-yr old MR Rick Evans (67-73, 2.99 ERA, 495 SV) to the Rebels for 25-yr old 1B Jorge Cruz (.250, 5 HR, 27 RBI in 208 AB) and highly touted pitching prospect Tom Watkins, 19.
January 28 – Former Star SP Jorge Rosa (142-101, 3.62 ERA) heads for Pittsburgh, where the Miners will pay him $3.16M over four years for his services.
February 1 – Ex-BOS SP Chris O’Keefe (107-111, 4.06 ERA) is joining the Rebels on a 4-yr, $3M deal.

Otero was that veteran right-hander I talked about. He is a very good 7th/8th inning guy, and should fit well into that bullpen of ours.

[Westheim]

February 4 – 32-yr old Vicente Rúbio (54-54, 2.42 ERA, 218 SV), the Aces’ former closer, inks for 3-yr, $2.28M with the Rebels.
February 7 – The Rebels also add ex-Coon SP Robert Vázquez (136-87, 3.10 ERA), signing him for 2-yr, $1.13M. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick.
February 7 – Veteran SP Manuel Garza (113-111, 3.69 ERA) is headed to Cincy, with the Cyclones giving him $1.68M over two years.
February 7 – The Blue Sox take on OF Jesus Arias (.247, 128 HR, 577 RBI) for 2-yr, $1.13M. Arias is a former Warrior.
February 10 – The Raccoons flip AAA INF Ben Nash (.083 in 12 AB) to the Crusaders for 22-year old SP/MR Iván Costa (1-1, 6.91 ERA in 3 G).
February 10 – The Warriors add a new closer in Ricardo Medina (52-54, 2.65 ERA, 241 SV) on a 2-yr, $1.02M contract. Medina spent the last year with Salem.
February 13 – 36-yr old CF/LF Xiao-wei Li (.285, 43 HR, 741 RBI) returns to the Miners, for whom he played 1985-1987, on a 3-yr, $2.6M deal.
February 13 – At age 27, ex-VAN INF/LF Raúl Solís (.276, 90 HR, 446 RBI) signs a 6-yr, $5.5M contract with the Buffaloes.
February 16 – 30-yr old CL Juan Gomez (22-29, 2.88 ERA, 96 SV) gets a 3-yr, $1.56M contract from the Falcons after spending his career with their rivals, the Knights.
February 21 – The Falcons sign ex-POR CL Mike Dye (66-91, 3.17 ERA, 414 SV) to a 1-yr, $201k deal. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick.
February 22 – The always injury-prone SP Glenn Ryan (69-77, 4.51 ERA), a former Knight, ends up in Vancouver, getting a 1-yr, $307k contract.
February 28 – Ex-PIT INF Pedro Hernandez (.277, 52 HR, 531 RBI) signs with the Bayhawks. The 31-year old receives a 3-yr, $1.83M contract.
March 4 – The Thunder flip SP Raimundo Beato (147-133, 3.68 ERA) and a prospect to the Aces for OF Lucio Hernandez (.312, 87 HR, 615 RBI).
March 17 – The Crusaders nip 28-yr old Larry Wilson (.278, 21 HR, 304 RBI), who plays every position but catcher, for 3-yr, $1.434M. Looks like overpaying.

Solís is one of those players you are glad when they are out of your division. I am pretty sure half his home runs came off Kisho Saito over the years.

In turn, while we had some bad luck with our compensation eligible free agents being left over in recent years, both were signed this time, Vázquez by the Rebels on February 7, and Mike Dye on February 21 by the Falcons.

Jackie Lagarde and Bobby Quinn were unsigned as of the end of February. Both were asking for $1.5M total contract values, Lagarde over four, Quinn over TWO years. Of course they were not going to get that. Lagarde would have gotten MORE only one year earlier, but his 1995 was hellacious, and Bobby Quinn ain’t worth three quarters of a million per season.

The Canadiens have been bled dry by free agency this year, losing their best two SP’s in McCray and Ramos, perhaps their best position player in Solís, and a few other pieces. They managed to sign very little in return. Can’t say I’m crying.

But the Canadiens eventually picked up Jackie Lagarde, for 3-yr, $724k. Sounds fair. Now I fully expect him to return to form and soil us for three years. Good for him, not so for us? Quinn would sign with the Titans in late March for $366k for one year.

Meanwhile I was still searching for a right-handed reliever. I waited all of February on Nesto Martinez to come around and to Portland, but there was a whole slew of West Coast teams in the mix and he all played one against each other and I dropped out when he refused to sign for $642k over two years (he signed with the Pacifics in early March). I then went forward to Holden Gorman, who spent quite a few years of his 10-year career with the Titans and the Canadiens. He is not setup material, but we need somebody for the 6th/7th, too. However, Gorman also was a virgin with many suitors and knew how to drive up the prize and we dropped out on March 19 at $240k.

I gave up looking there. In a way, I conceded defeat before the first pitch of the year. Day Grandridge was given the final roster spot, and we would come to regret it doubtlessly.

[Westheim]

Turns out I can not even count my relievers correctly. I had seven all along. No need to ruin everything with Grandridge.

I am very sorry that I am such a fail, and I will doubtlessly manage this team to a 49-113 record this season.

[Westheim]

1996 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1995 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 35, B:L, T:L (10-12, 3.70 ERA | 195-145, 3.15 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine doing his job at the top of the rotation, entering his 12th full season with the Raccoons. Last year should have been the year to notch #200, but after reaching an 8-0 record, everything came apart massively. Did not win any of his last 14 starts (including the ill-fated CLCS).
SP Jason Turner, 30, B:R, T:R (20-7, 2.79 ERA | 95-60, 3.39 ERA) – had his best season on record, including becoming the second Raccoon to win 20 games in one season after Scott Wade in 1989. If he can keep up his 1995 form, he could win 20 again.
SP Miguel Lopez, 27, B:S, T:L (16-5, 3.12 ERA | 43-22, 3.10 ERA) – his killer stuff had him set a career high in strikeouts (169) last season, rebounding nicely from a shoulder woes-laden 1994. If you can have him as your #3, you are truly blessed.
SP Scott Wade, 33, B:R, T:R (11-11, 3.38 ERA | 135-87, 3.36 ERA) – has won 10 games or more for 10 consecutive years. Control pitcher who can totally dominate a lineup despite merely decent stuff. Not bad a career for somebody with only two pitches.
SP Antonio Donis, 23, B:L, T:L (1-3, 7.43 ERA | 1-3, 7.43 ERA) – September callup last season, which ran less than great, but we have great confidence in this kid and his stuff.

MR Juan Martinez, 29, B:R, T:R (3-3, 2.35 ERA, 6 SV | 36-22, 2.67 ERA, 20 SV) – very good stuff and strong control, who can also close games in emergencies. Enters his 10th season with the Raccoons!
MR Tzu-jao Ban *, 28, B:R, T:R (0-0, 2.14 ERA, 2 SV | 8-9, 3.14 ERA, 2 SV) – acquired from the Gold Sox in the Wedemeyer trade, Ban is a solid 7th/8th inning guy with a career K/BB of almost 4.
MR Cesar Salcido, 24, B:L, T:L (did not play | 0-0, 6.55 ERA) – takes over Grant West’s roster spot. I would rather have a 39-yr old Portlander than Salcido, whose cup of coffee in 1994 was horrendous for sure.
MR Andres Otero *, 34, B:R, T:R (1-3, 4.50 ERA, 3 SV | 23-19, 3.24 ERA, 32 SV) – has a nasty slider, although his strikeout rates have been a bit down in recent years. Very dependable and serviceable reliever with a long and solid track record, including two rings with the Capitals’ dynasty of the early 90s.
SU Ken Burnett, 33, B:L, T:L (5-3, 3.38 ERA, 5 SV | 27-19, 3.34 ERA, 8 SV) – very serviceable left-hander that can do just about everything from closing out games in emergencies to long relief. Mainstay in the bullpen, on the Opening Day roster for the eighth year now.
SU Gabriel De La Rosa, 25, B:R, T:R (1-3, 3.86 ERA, 17 SV | 11-5, 2.11 ERA, 18 SV) – despite amazing stuff, he failed as the closer at the start of last year, setting in motion a merry-go-round of failures for us in the ninth inning. He will be used out of a setup role this season.
CL Daniel Miller, 27, B:S, T:R (4-0, 2.26 ERA, 6 SV | 17-9, 3.69 ERA, 8 SV) – controversially, Daniel Miller has been named the new Raccoons closer after we paraded all kinds of people through the role last year. Will he be overwhelmed in this role?

C David Vinson, 30, B:S, T:R (.229, 9 HR, 52 RBI | .247, 69 HR, 355 RBI) – progressively gets worse every year at the plate, and his defensive work has never been something to drool excessively about. He will be the weakest link in the lineup this season.
C Nori Kondo *, 30, B:R, T:R (.241, 0 HR, 10 RBI | .257, 10 HR, 101 RBI) – career backup catcher, acquired from the Buffaloes.

1B Liam Wedemeyer *, 26, B:L, T:L (.287, 31 HR, 96 RBI | .288, 72 HR, 251 RBI) – acquired from the Gold Sox together with Tzu-jao Ban for our former 1B Esteban Baldivía and Chih-tui Jin, Wedemeyer projects to be a prolific slugger that will have CL pitching shiver in fear. His defense is not helping his own team’s efforts, though.
1B/2B David Brewer, 28, B:L, T:R (.359, 7 HR, 53 RBI | .348, 53 HR, 522 RBI) – last season’s Hitter of the Year paid back every nickel we paid them from his $9M deal, and he is still the top earner in the league this season. Brewer combines elite on-base ability, great defense, and some speed into a wonderful overall package that makes him a powerful force on the top of every lineup. Yes, I am drooling, and so should you.
SS/3B/2B/1B Jorge Salazar, 35, B:L, T:R (.296, 0 HR, 55 RBI | .285, 21 HR, 557 RBI) – did not regress one little bit last season, holding down a firm grip on that #2 slot in the batting order, combining good OBP with very good defense at short.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 30, B:R, T:R (.289, 12 HR, 72 RBI | .280, 71 HR, 422 RBI) – started last year white hot, then got hurt, and regressed towards his mean. His defense remains strong despite many errors (regularly approaching or exceeding 20 on the year).
1B/3B/2B/SS Matt Higgins, 31, B:S, T:R (.245, 6 HR, 48 RBI | .258, 36 HR, 367 RBI) – had one of the worst seasons of his career, and will remain a utility guy, but he at least stole his 200th base last season, and his 206 total rank 20th all time.
1B/2B/3B/SS Marvin Ingall, 27, B:R, T:R (.313, 6 HR, 31 RBI | .296, 6 HR, 38 RBI) – utility infielder longing to be much more than that and with Salazar’s contract up after this year, a spot will be for grabs in our infield permanently in 1997.

LF Vern Kinnear, 27, B:L, T:R (.259, 13 HR, 62 RBI | .271, 47 HR, 256 RBI) – again missed over 30 games due to health issues, and also was not as terrific at the plate, but he has the left field spot nailed down hard.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 29, B:R, T:R (.306, 15 HR, 79 RBI | .325, 80 HR, 395 RBI) – fantastic defense in center, fantastic at the plate – you can’t help yourself but love him. Injuries big and small keep on catching up with him, though.
LF/CF/RF Royce Green, 26, B:R, T:R (.295, 16 HR, 79 RBI | .278, 90 HR, 314 RBI) – missed over 50 games due to injury, and failed to repeat his most impressive 1995 season partly due to that, but matching 38 homers is a hard task even when perfectly healthy. Starting in right field, he also gives you defense and a bit of speed on the bases.
LF/CF/RF Alejandro Espinoza *, 26, B:S, T:R (.242, 6 HR, 54 RBI | .253, 17 HR, 204 RBI) – added as a free agent, former Titan, Espinoza gives a team good backup defense and also blistering speed as a pinch runner.
LF/RF/CF Luke Newton, 24, B:S, T:R (.244, 1 HR, 20 RBI | .244, 1 HR, 20 RBI) – made his debut last season and got 131 AB in a number of callups. He will be the second backup to our slugging three.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement: None.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – P Saito
Vs. LHP: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Salazar – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – P Saito

We gained 2.7 WAR this offseason, 1.6 of which come in the Wedemeyer trade with the Gold Sox.

Top 5: Condors (+6.4), Cyclones (+5.7), Miners (+4.3), Raccoons (+2.7), Blue Sox (+1.9)
Bottom 5: Scorpions (-5.2), Bayhawks (-6.2), Knights (-6.5), Canadiens (-6.9), Wolves (-9.1)

PREDICTION TIME:

My predictions are usually off these days. While we did take the division last season, it was not a walk in the park (which it is never when you play 163 games to get there), and also Kisho Saito did not get to #200 basically due to not winning a game past July 17.

This team is stuffed offensively, but only as long as nobody gets hurt. The backups don’t stink up to our first suit. The bullpen could be the cause for more trouble than last year, when it caused a ton of trouble already. Will Kisho Saito come back? Will Donis kick in? Will the rest of the rotation trudge right along?

Many questions surround this team, which is most likely the final year of a dynasty that has been oppressing the CL North and won the division five out of the last seven years. Budgetary reasons will keep us from keeping the group together for longer. Would be great to win a third title with them.

But with the bullpen and the weak backups, it will be a tough fight.

The Raccoons will finish 91-71, mostly on offense, and will just barely squeeze their way into the postseason, where everything goes.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Little remains of our youth system that was top of the league five years ago. Curiously, we still are ranked fourth overall by BNN, although the players they rank high, I have my doubts on…

Last year, we had nine players in the top 200, none of whom became ineligible, but some of them still dropped off the list.

6th (-2) – ML SP Antonio Donis, 23 – 1990 third round pick by the Raccoons
43rd (+36) – AAA SS Conceicao Guerin, 22 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
45th (0) – AAA LF Stephen Buell, 20 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
60th (+42) – AAA 3B Mike Crowe, 25 – 1992 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
74th (new) – AA 1B/2B Samy Michel, 19 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
81st (-8) – AA LF/RF George Wood, 20 – 1994 first round pick by the Raccoons
129th (new) – AA SP Jose Cervantes, 24 – 1992 seventh round pick by the Raccoons
157th (-69) – AAA SP Jose Rivera, 23 – international discovery by the Condors, acquired in 1989 for Stephen Hall

17-year old SP Juan Bello, signed out of Puerto Rico last year by the Canadiens, is ranked the #1 prospect in the country.

Next: first pitch!

--

Daniel Hall officially retired this winter. My heart is cold and empty.

[Honorable_Pawn]

I really like your style. Very nice work. It's so much to start over at the beginning. It looks like you will keep this running for awhile so maybe I'll just pick up from here.

One bit of advice:

Stop being so darn optimistic!!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) @ Loggers (0-0) – April 2-3, 1996

Let’s get this rolling.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (0-0) vs. Martin Garcia (0-0)
Jason Turner (0-0) vs. Davis Sims (0-0)

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Salazar – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – P Saito
MIL: CF Fletcher – 2B J. Perez – RF C. Ramirez – SS Grant – 3B Rush – LF Golunski – C M. Vela – 1B Chevalier – P M. Garcia

Against the left-hander Garcia, I still had all my top lefties in the lineup. It was Opening Day. They belonged there. Garcia had been waiting for them all winter, it seemed. Through three innings, he struck out six, and we could not have been much worse. Saito also trailed 1-0 through three innings, but we actually managed to get on the board in the fourth, when Green singled home O-Mo with two down. Yet Saito found trouble in the bottom 4th. With Vela on first and two out, he hit Garcia with a pitch, then surrendered an RBI single to Jerry Fletcher, and in the fifth Ramirez hit a leadoff homer, Grant doubled, and Grant scored on an error by Vinson. Down 4-1 and with Garcia dealing as he was, we were about done. Saito went six, Ban pitched a clean seventh in his Coons debut, and we were still down by two with two out in the eighth. There, we sent Ingall to bat for Kinnear, and he walked. That chased Garcia, and Raymond Léger walked Vinson. Espinoza batted for Ban, walked, and that brought up Brewer, and he singled to right, but it was not enough for the slow Vinson to score, so we were still down 4-3, and O-Mo flew out. Juan Martinez held the Loggers where they were in the eighth, and John Bennett faced the perceived kill zone for enemy pitching, in Reece, Wedemeyer, and Green in the ninth. The first two made quick outs. Green singled, Salazar walked, Ingall struck out. 4-3 Loggers. O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Green 2-5, RBI; Vinson 2-2, 2 BB, 2B;

Much to improve from here.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – P Turner
MIL: CF Fletcher – LF McGuire – RF C. Ramirez – SS Grant – 1B Evans – 3B J. Perez – C L. Ramirez – 2B Chevalier – P Sims

Both teams scored single runs in the first and the second innings for an early 2-2 score, as neither pitcher seemed to really have it. Sims also seemed to have it even less than Turner. With two on and two out in the third, he walked O-Mo, and then walked Vinson to push the go-ahead run home. While Turner grounded out, two nifty grabs by Kinnear in the bottom 3rd prevented him from blowing three leads in as many innings. Instead, he blew it in the fourth, with a 2-out RBI double to Fletcher. Both sides left three men stranded in the fifth, but the Raccoons broke out by the sixth, in which they knocked out Sims and stormed 8-3 ahead on a 3-run homer by Vinson. Turner set out to blow the lead instantly, putting the first three Loggers he faced in the sixth all on base. Burnett came in to face Cristo Ramirez, walked him to force in a run, then yielded for De La Rosa, who somehow – SOMEHOW – managed to get three ground ball outs without anyone scoring. Martinez entered the game with an 8-4 lead in the eighth, and again the bases were loaded with no outs soon. Newcoon Andres Otero was thrown into that fire, and the Loggers scored a pair before grounding themselves out of the inning. Without any more run support, Daniel Miller came into a game as the designated closer for the first times, facing Jamal Chevalier, Gates Golunski, and Jerry Fletcher. The first two grounded into our infield vacuum cleaners, but Fletcher just would not make an out and walked. Miller also walked McGuire, but Cristo Ramirez grounded out to Higgins, who was on first for defense. 8-6 Raccoons. Brewer 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Salazar 3-6; Reece 3-5, BB, 2B; Green 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Vinson 1-2, 3 BB, HR, 4 RBI; De La Rosa 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (1-1) vs. Thunder (1-2) – April 5-7, 1996

I could have gone another few months (years…) without seeing the Thunder again, but schedule cruelty pits us against them right away in the first week of the season. Ah, the pain. I was planning to skip Donis right away at the start of the season.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (0-0) vs. Lou Corbett (0-0)
Scott Wade (0-0) vs. Millard Wilson (0-0)
Kisho Saito (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. Aaron Anderson (0-1, 1.29 ERA)

Game 1
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – RF Barnes – 3B S. Reece – 2B H. Ramirez – CF L. Hernandez – LF Browne – 1B Ikeda – C Guidry – P Corbett
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF N. Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – P M. Lopez

The Raccoons went ahead 2-0 quickly with a solo home run by O-Mo in the first, and a Vinson sac fly in the second inning. Lopez had dominated the Thunder the first time through the lineup, but got it socked the second come around, surrendering two runs to tie the game in the top 3rd, and it was Neil Reece and a most awesome play on the run against Dave Browne’s flyer to deep center that kept the game at least tied. Nothing happened for three innings, before the top 7th was led off by Rob Guidry with a mighty blast to left, and we trailed again. Felt about like the CLCS. We left the tying run in Brewer on third base in the bottom 7th, but Royce Green took Lopez off the hook with a leadoff jack in the bottom 8th, tying the game at three. Green also held the tie in place in the top 9th, making a bear of a play to end the inning on a roaring fly ball off the bat of Bruce Hardy, saving Dan Miller’s butt with a runner on second. The Thunder also brought their closer in the ninth, Jimmy Morey, so everybody went to get another beer, because this one would go on. Tzu-jao Ban pitched a clean 10th, but ran himself into trouble in the 11th. Two out, runners on the corners, De La Rosa came in and got a slow grounder to first from Guidry – which Wedemeyer missed. The lead run scored, and the game would end with Guidry throwing out Espinoza at second base. 4-3 Thunder.

That’s right. Nobody in this rut of a game was worth being mentioned in the post-game dispatch.

Also, Wedemeyer not only has not defended his position well, he is also in a 1-15 hell to start this season. Oh, yeah, the trades I do.

Game 2
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – CF L. Hernandez – 3B S. Reece – 1B H. Ramirez – RF Barnes – 2B Browne – C Ikeda – LF Preston – P M. Wilson
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF N. Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – P Wade

The Thunder lineup had contained six left-handers the day before against our lefty Lopez, and they mounted six again against righty Scott Wade, who reacted highly allergic to all the batters in the wrong box and had frequent traffic on the bases against him. But the Thunder failed to score in the first three innings, and in the bottom 3rd we had Liam Wedemeyer make the first loud sound of his Raccoons career (other than “strrrrrike threeeee!!”) with an RBI double that scored the first run of the game in person of Jorge Salazar. The Raccoons then had a pair in scoring position, but Green, Kinnear, and O’Morrissey failed to score any of them. The bottom 5th had Wedemeyer homer to right, and we then had a pair in scoring position with two out. The Thunder elected to walk Vinson intentionally, and were punished for that when Scott Wade singled to left to score a pair, and we took a 4-0 lead. On the mound, he went seven innings, relying extensively on the defense, and struck only the final batter he faced, pinch-hitter Travis Shaw. Brewer drove in a pair in the bottom 7th, and up 6-0 everything looked great. But then Otero and Burnett put on Sanchez and Hernandez to start the eighth. However, a timely double play started by Marvin Ingall (now at second for Brewer) got us out of their before any damage could escalate into a loss. All worries were thrown overboard in the bottom 8th, when we easily doubled the score on a collapsing Thunder bullpen. The first seven Raccoons reached base in the inning and we scored six runs in total, three of those on bases-loaded walks, before Royce Green hit an inning-ending grounder for a double play. 12-0 Raccoons!! Brewer 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Kondo (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Wedemeyer 2-3, 3 BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Green 2-6, 2 2B; Kinnear 1-2, 3 BB; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K, W (1-0) and 1-2, 2 RBI;

THAT … was SWEET!!

So, Wedemeyer might not bat oh-sixty the whole year, which is nice. We were firing on all cylinders in this game for sure. But … no … well, I know it is early, but we are 2-2 with 26 runs scored and 14 against. You would like to … no, let’s play a few more before we complain.

Game 3
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – 1B Shaw – 3B S. Reece – 2B H. Ramirez – CF L. Hernandez – LF Browne – RF Barnes – C Guidry – P Anderson
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF N. Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – 3B Higgins – C Kondo – P Saito

No, Kondo and Saito were not paired for racial reasons in this game. I wanted to give Nori Kondo a start somewhere in the first week, though, and it is already Sunday.

Through five innings, it was a good old pitchers’ duel at the park, with no score, and only three hits scattered for either side. The top 6th came and Saito found a hard spot in the Thunder lineup. Jose Sanchez led off by squeezing a 1-2 pitch through Higgins at third base. Shaw made an out, but Sonny Reece walked. Then, Sanchez tried to steal third base – and Kondo hammered him out with a picture perfect throw, and Saito got through the inning unharmed. Then Browne singled to lead off the top 7th and was replaced by PR Dan Preston. Barnes grounded out, moving up Preston to second with one out. Saito’s count on Guidry ran full, but then he punched him out. The Thunder left Anderson in there to bat for himself, and he rolled out to Higgins. At 115 pitches, Saito was done, and hoped for that one run he needed, but we went out in order in the bottom 7th, and Saito remained winless in ’96. The Thunder left Sanchez on third base in the top 8th. In turn, Kondo led off the bottom 8th with a single. Burnett, who had finished the top 8th, bunted him over. The Thunder walked Brewer, then had Salazar single to left to load the bags. One out, any long fly ball from Neil Reece will do. Anderson’s second pitch to Reece was to his liking and he took it into shallow left for a single that scored two! Miller sat down the side in order in the ninth. Win! 2-0 Coons!! Salazar 3-4, 2B; Reece 2-4, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K;

In other news

April 1 – No joke: the Rebels top the Buffaloes on Opening Day, 4-3, with 32-yr old CL Lawson Steward taking care of the ninth for the Rebels. Steward, who was the 20th overall pick in the 1984 draft and debuted in the major leagues the same year, notches his 400th career save, all for Richmond, and doesn’t look like stopping soon.
April 3 – NO-HITTER! IND SP Dan George lost 17 games last season, but bursts into the spotlight in his season debut this year by no-hitting the Crusaders in a 3-0 Indians win! While George walked six batters, nobody ever got to him with the bat. This is the 18th no-hitter in ABL history, and the first since Angel Romero’s in 1994. It is the third no-hitter for the Indians (Salah Brunet, 1977; Larry Davis, 1992), who lead all teams with that number. The Crusaders are no-hit for the second time. Interestingly, the other time they were zeroed out was during Davis’ no-hit feat three years ago. This is also the earliest no-hitter in league history, beating out Pittsburgh’s Wilson Cordova no-hitting the Pacifics on April 10 in 1989.
April 6 – TOP SP Ricardo Contreras (1-1, 0.56 ERA) 1-hits the Wolves in a 7-0 Buffaloes triumph. Pinch-hitter Miguel Castillo broke up Contreras’ perfect game bid leading off the ninth inning. No other batter reached base. There still has never been a perfect game in the ABL.

Complaints and stuff

It’s early, but I saw a few things I could like already. The offense should be the beast I hoped it to be. Never mind Wedemeyer not outhitting his weight at this point, we are only five games in. But we had a very dense lineup with lots of guys who can hit .300 or go deep regularly, and most of them can do both. Citing stats is a bit wonky at this point since most other teams have played 20% more games, and so we rank 10th with our 50 hits. But the start of the season, while not a rousing success, has been very promising.

Note the Scorpions are the worst team in baseball by a substantial amount. Way to defend a title!

Yeah, it’s early.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (3-2) vs. Condors (3-4) – April 8-10, 1996

The Condors came in with the lowest batting average in the Continental League (.219), and average pitching. I use to state that it is early, and will do so again here, just to cover me in case we get rolled up in this 3-set.

Projected matchups:
Jason Turner (1-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Sergio Gonzalez (0-1, 3.38 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Juan Lara (1-0, 1.23 ERA)
Scott Wade (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Daniel Perez (0-1, 11.12 ERA)

The projection held three right-handers going for the Condors, but we were so far slated Vernon Robertson for the first game of the Indians series coming after that. Since I planned on continuing to rest David Brewer at least once a week, I planned to do that against Robertson.

Game 1
TIJ: 1B Morales – RF E. Garza – 2B Boyle – LF O’Day – 3B J. Garcia – CF Leyva – C Jackson – SS Liang – P S. Gonzalez
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – LF Newton – P Turner

The team scored two runs in the bottom 1st for Jason Turner, who allowed one hit in the first three innings, before he suddenly imploded in the fourth, allowing four hits and two walks for three runs to score. The final run came in on a 4-pitch, 2-out walk to the pitcher Gonzalez. And Turner continued to throw it all away, with three straight singles leading off the top 5th. De La Rosa replaced him, gave up a single to Jesus Garcia, before a Salazar error plated another run. The Raccoons were going down in force against the worst-hitting team in the Continental League. Just see, how it early it is. The Condors put three more on the board in the fifth, and we only got one back in the bottom 5th. We were still down 6-3 in the bottom 8th when Vinson got on, and then Newton hit a 1-out triple off Sergio Gonzalez. Ingall grounded out in the pitcher’s spot, but Brewer singled up the middle to get on base as the tying run. Ex-Coon Roberto Carrillo flew out Salazar to left. In the ninth, we faced Eddie Jackson, not your prototypical closer, against Reece, Wedemeyer, and Green. Only Wedemeyer got on, with a walk, and O-Mo grounded out after that. 6-5 Condors. Wedemeyer 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Green 2-4, BB, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, RBI; Kinnear (PH) 1-1, 2B; Ban 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Game 2
TIJ: LF G. Flores – 1B Morales – CF Theobald – 2B Boyle – 3B J. Garcia – C Manuel – RF O’Day – SS Liang – P Lara
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B O’Morrissey – SS Higgins – C Vinson – P M. Lopez

Miguel Lopez was still pitching a perfect game in the fifth inning, up 2-0 after Higgins drove in a pair in the bottom 4th, when he issued a 2-out full count walk to Andres Manuel. Preston O’Day popped out after that, so through five the Condors were hitless, but Gilberto Flores broke up that bid with a 2-out single in the top 6th. Morales then walked, bringing up Paul Theobald, who fired a shot to very deep center, where Neil Reece made on of those plays that are the foundation of my red hot love for him. Lopez was still nursing a shutout, and I was still hoping for another run or two for insurance. Lopez drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 7th, and with two out, Reece walked, and Wedemeyer singled to load them up. By now, Jose Maldonado had relieved Juan Lara, and surrendered an RBI single to Green, and then had O-Mo empty the bases with a 3-run double. Up by six, the W looked all but secured. Lopez then surrendered two singles in the top 9th, and had only one out. In that situation, Jesus Garcia grounded out to left, and Edgardo Garza came out to pinch-hit, a left-hander. Lopez got him 1-2, and then Garza singled up the middle and scored both runners. Bummer. 6-2 Raccoons. Kinnear 2-5, 2B; Wedemeyer 3-4, 2B; O’Morrissey 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Lopez 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

Maybe, just maybe, I should have collected Lopez with two men on. But I really dig shutouts for my boys. I blame this one on me more than anything else, be ashamed and disgusted on myself, and we will move on.

Game 3
TIJ: CF Theobald – RF E. Garza – 2B Boyle – LF O’Day – 3B J. Garcia – C Manuel – 1B Morales – SS Liang – P D. Perez
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – CF Newton – C Vinson – P Wade

The Raccoons left pairs of runners on base in three of the first four innings against Daniel Perez, who walked everything that had a pulse, and never scored. Perez was at the plate with two out and one on in the fifth against Wade, and singled to left, which opened the gates on Wade’s day, as the Condors broke out to score three runs in the inning. Wade served up two more runs in the next inning, and we still had to tag Perez for more than a few walks. It took the guys until the bottom 6th to get on the board, then with Vern Kinnear’s first home run of the year, of the 2-run variety. The team just again woke up very late. Wedemeyer led off the bottom 8th, down 5-2, with a single, then stole second base. Green doubled him in. But Green was left on third base in the inning, and we were still down by two into the bottom 9th, and double played us out of the game with a grounder by Salazar to Liang. 5-3 Condors. Brewer 3-5; Green 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Many missed opportunities in these games, I tell you. We could have won all three games easily. Especially the last one stinks, because Perez was horrendously bad and we just kept leaving runners on (11 in total), plus a pair of double plays turned against us. Clutch hitting has certainly not been our case of beer so far.

Raccoons (4-4) vs. Indians (6-3) – April 11-14, 1996

So far, the Indians were again that low-score machine they had been in the 80s, and then again for the last few seasons. Their rotation ranked second in the CL, and their batting average was 11th, but we had just had a team with a low batting average in here and they mobbed the floor with us.

Projected matchups:
Antonio Donis (0-0) vs. Vernon Robertson (0-1, 3.29 ERA)
Kisho Saito (0-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. Robbie Campbell (0-0, 3.77 ERA)
Jason Turner (1-1, 8.00 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (1-1, 3.86 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (1-0, 2.81 ERA) vs. Dan George (1-1, 1.17 ERA)

The Indians throw two grizzled veterans at us, then follow up with two youngsters. Dan George no-hit the Crusaders in his first start of the season. Also, Donis makes his season debut only now. Hope for the best, but brace for the worst.

Game 1
IND: CF Maguey – 2B Duarte – 3B Brown – 1B Ayala – LF Maldonado – RF Sakaguchi – C Sato – SS J. Martinez – P Robertson
POR: SS Ingall – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Higgins – LF Espinoza – C Kondo – P Donis

I really loaded up on right-handers in this game against Robertson, leaving only Wedemeyer in, and we did not actually have four right- or switch-hitters among our infielders anyway. Neil Reece got the Coons up in time with a first inning 2-run home run. Unfortunately, Donis was horrible. He made it through three innings somehow, then was blown up in the fourth with four runs on three hits and three walks, two of the latter with the bases full and to the bottom third of the lineup. The Raccoons came back in the bottom 4th, tying the game, but by the time Royce Green reached on an uncaught third strike and scored on an Espinoza double in the sixth, Donis was long headed for the showers. Now with a 5-4 lead, Tzu-jao Ban gave us two strong innings, and Burnett and De La Rosa got us through eight. In the bottom half of that inning, Green doubled with two down. Higgins was hitless on the day and against righty Fernando Pena I went to Brewer. Pena walked Brewer, and Espinoza grounded out, leaving it to Miller. He walked a batter, but got through the inning! 5-4 Critters. O’Morrissey 2-4; Green 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Ban 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Antonio Donis’ wild ride is best summed up as five frames, four runs, three hits, six walks, and six punchouts. This is an issue. He has amazing stuff, but his control is a mess, and that also aggravates the fact that his stamina is quite low for a starter. He won’t go much past 90-100 pitches anyway, but the way he is going in his (short) big league career, with both 22 hits and 22 walks in 28 innings, he is making it hard on himself. And on me, too! If he walks six every start, the pen has to take over in the sixth at best. We will have to watch this one closely.

Game 2
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 3B Brown – 1B Ayala – LF Maldonado – RF Sakaguchi – 2B Duarte – SS J. Martinez – P Campbell
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – P Saito

Master Kisho was winless in ’96, and Royce Green set out to change that with a 3-run homer in the first inning against the veteran Robbie Campbell. One run got away from Saito in the top 3rd, when catcher Urbano Cicalina lobbed a 2-out RBI single into shallow left, but the bottom 3rd was led off by Wedemeyer with a home run to restore the 3-run lead. Saito did not allow a lot through five, then had the singles fall into all impossible places again in the sixth. The bags were full with the tying runs with one out. Saito struck out Angelo Duarte in that spot, but Jose Martinez singled into left, scoring one run, before Campbell flew out. And it was just like it was not meant to be: to lead off the top 7th, Salazar threw away Tomas Maguey’s grounder and the tying run came to the plate with no outs. With one out, Matt Brown (yeah, that one) singled home Maguey, and Saito was replaced with Otero, and he got two groundouts to escape the inning, up 4-3. Top 8th, Sakaguchi singled off Otero, and then Duarte reached safely against Burnett on a drag bunt that Wedemeyer couldn’t pull out beneath his own tail, but was scored a single. De La Rosa came in, the third pitcher of the inning, and the Indians brought switch-hitter Carlos Paredes for the shortstop Martinez. Paredes flew out to Reece, moving up Sakaguchi to third base, but when Dane Thompson hit for Campbell, he grounded to Salazar and into a double play that saved Saito’s W for another frame. Daniel Miller had also pitched in the last loss to the Condors and was not available, so Juan Martinez was thrown in to close the game. He got two quick outs, then nailed Matt Brown. Ship be sinki- no, he got Ayala. 4-3 Furballs! Wedemeyer 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Green 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Saito 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

I saw this game go up in a puff of smoke about three times. Saito’s line is not all that great, but he had to pitch around two errors (Brewer also made one), and I found it a good start. Not great, but good.

Game 3
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 3B Brown – 1B Ayala – 2B Duarte – RF Maldonado – LF L. Gonzalez – SS J. Martinez – P Park
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – CF Newton – C Vinson – P Turner

Jason Turner came out with control that was just crap. He had three walks, with a wild pitch in between, in the first inning alone, and the Indians failed to score somehow. Vern Kinnear hit a 3-run homer in the bottom 2nd that got us ahead. Turner gave a run back in the third, still with ill control. We got that run back with a Newton sac fly in the bottom 4th, while in the same inning, the Indians lost 22-yr old Chang-se Park to injury, but the health scales swung right back in the next inning when Jorge Salazar was hurt on a throw. Turner somehow managed to go six innings without being tarred and feathered, then was replaced with Reece to bat in the bottom 6th with two out and the bags full. Reece, hitting .217 so far, hit a howling 2-run double to deep center before Brewer whiffed. We were now up 6-1. Otero, Salcido, and Martinez held the Indians at bay the rest of the way. 6-1 Coons. Green 1-2, 2 BB; Newton 2-3, RBI; Reece (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Otero 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

News on Jorge Salazar came quickly, and they were good news. The back pain that had forced him out of this game were only some mild back spasms and he was listed DTD for a few days only. I still hate to field an ailing shortstop, so Higgins and Ingall would play the next few days instead of Salazar.

This was also the second day in short time that Neil Reece was not in the starting nine. He is in an early slump now, and the backup outfielders did not get much time in the field and at the plate so far this season, so I used that opportunity there.

Game 4
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 3B Brown – 1B Ayala – LF Maldonado – RF Sakaguchi – 2B Duarte – SS J. Martinez – P Mills
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – SS Higgins – C Kondo – P M. Lopez

We did not face Dan George, but rather 34-yr old Kerry Mills (0-2, 9.28 ERA), whom the Indians had just claimed off waivers by the Warriors. Mills only made his 35th career big league appearance in this game, after debuting in 1988.

Scoring started like in every other game in the series, with a Coons homer, this time a solo shot by O-Mo in the first inning. But while the Coons scored single runs in each of the first three innings, Miguel Lopez soon ran into the early big inning that was a common theme for our starters recently, and we were tied at three after five frames. Mills left the game with an injury in the sixth inning, and Fernando Pena pitched. With one out, we had men on the corners and Lopez up. We had him bat, and Pena hit him, loading the bags. I may not forget that so quickly. Pena struck out Brewer, walked O-Mo for the go-ahead run, then struck out Reece to end the inning. Lopez went seven and struck out eight, leaving with a 4-3 lead. Royce Green upped to 5-3 with a solo shot in the bottom 7th. Top 8th: De La Rosa appeared and immediately walked Tomas Maguey, who was then forced out on a grounder by Urbano Cicalina. Salcido came in to face the lefty Matt Brown, and walked him on four pitches. Ban then replaced the useless Salcido, drilled Ayala, and we collectively fell to a Luis Maldonado grand slam. Not that this game was over. Down by two, the first three Coons all reached base in the bottom 8th, with Reece bringing in a run with a single. But Wedemeyer was flown to left by southpaw Tony Simpson, and Royce Green hit into a double play. The Indians were glad to throw Jim Durden at us in the ninth inning, and he nailed us into the ground. 7-6 Indians. O’Morrissey 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Green 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kinnear 3-4, BB, 2B; Higgins 2-5; Lopez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K;

Tzu-jao Ban had pitched very well so far, but here he hit two batters (one in the eighth, one in the ninth), and served up a game-losing grand slam.

Raccoons (7-5) vs. Titans (5-8) – April 15-17, 1996

The Titans rotation so far had been bombed mercilessly to a 6.94 ERA tune, which also had the team rank last in runs allowed, 83 runs compared to the Raccoons’ CL-best 42 runs. Their above-average offense had failed to keep up. Former Raccoon Bobby Quinn was batting .239 with one homer and six RBI for them. However, we would not face their 36-year old and seemingly wrecked Francisco Vidrio (0-3, 20.26 ERA).

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (1-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (0-0, 3.78 ERA)
Antonio Donis (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Albert Zarate (0-2, 5.91 ERA)
Kisho Saito (1-1, 2.79 ERA) vs. Doug Morrow (1-1, 3.80 ERA)

Game 1
BOS: SS Silva – 1B Quinn – CF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 3B Burbidge – RF Thomas – LF R. Reyes – 2B Elliott – P Bautista
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – SS Ingall – P Wade

The innings breezed past in the series opener. Both Wade and Bautista were in control of the opposing lineup, despite a hard ball here and there. There was no score through four, through five, through six … Desperate times called for desperate measures, and the Titans were desperate enough for that first. Daniel Silva, the most recent coonskinner to emerge in our division, hit a 1-out double off Wade in the top 8th. Then Silva tried to steal third base, and Vinson got him. Bobby Quinn singled, and that brought up Jose Martinez, batting .434, and he was a left-hander. But I was confident in Wade, and he got a grounder to short from Martinez to get out of the eighth. Wade then led off the bottom 8th with a bloop single to center. Brewer forced him out with a grounder. After O-Mo flew out to deep center, Reece flew there, too, but not into an out. Martinez could not get his flyer, which fell in for an RBI double and finally something appeared on the board. Wedemeyer left Reece on, and so do you keep Wade in the game? We were to face two switch-hitters and a lefty in the top 9th, and Ken Burnett had not been very sharp so far, and instead of Miller we could use Wade just as well. It had worked so far. Luis Lopez grounded out easily to second, Jack Burbidge grounded out easily to short, and Wade erased Josh Thomas with a heater. 1-0 Raccoons!!! Reece 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wade 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-1) and 1-3;

Scott Wade!! This was his 9th career shutout and his 14th complete game. He had three SHO (4 CG) last year. God, I love this kid!! (Well, that kid will be 34 this month, but you know what I mean)

This was also the first time this year we did not score at least two runs (and we scored exactly two runs only once, and won that game against the Thunder), so we are not shut out yet. Not even with Saito pitching.

Ah it is such a pleasure to win these tooth-to-nail games. Scottyyy!!

Game 2
BOS: SS Silva – 2B Carter – CF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – RF Thomas – LF Haider – 1B Elliott – 3B J. Ramirez – P Zarate
POR: 2B Brewer – 1B Higgins – CF Reece – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Green – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – SS Ingall – P Donis

Donis walked the first batter he faced, Daniel Silva, before getting out of the inning. The Raccoons scored a pair of runs on a few walks and singles in the bottom 1st, but were too greedy and had Royce Green thrown out at home by Josh Thomas to end the inning. XBH’s by Green and Kinnear made it 3-0 in the third, while Donis after the leadoff walk to Silva did not issue another double-B until the sixth, and with only three hits and no runs allowed. Donis failed to retire anybody in the seventh, though. Three up, three on, and a 5-0 lead (Ingall had homered in the bottom 6th for a pair of runs) became 5-1 and the tying run in the on-deck circle with no outs. Martinez and Burnett managed to wiggle out of there with only one more run in for the Titans. De La Rosa bridged the game to Miller, still up 5-2, and Miller got a groundout from Jose Ramirez before punching out two left-handers in Burbidge and Silva to end the game. 5-2 Bandits! Brewer 2-4; Kinnear 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, RBI; Ingall 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Donis 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

Donis’ start is on the very bottom end for being mentioned in the postgame dispatch, but he was very good through six and then is just came apart for him. One run was unearned due to an Ingall error. His stuff is legit, and the control was okay in this game.

Game 3
BOS: SS Silva – LF Quinn – CF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – RF Thomas – 2B Carter – 1B L. Martin – 3B Elliott – P Morrow
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Salazar – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Kinnear – C Kondo – P Saito

The pest Daniel Silva got on leading off the game, and Saito was unfortunate enough to balk in the inning, which eventually helped Silva to score in the inning. The Raccoons failed to get to Morrow early, but Neil Reece tied the game with a solo shot in the fourth inning. Saito went seven innings on five hits, and was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom 7th of a 1-1 game, which in some ways was like game 1 in that not a lot came together against strong starters. In the bottom 7th, Morrow walked Kinnear with one out, and then Espinoza hit for Kondo, and also walked. Vinson struck out in place of Saito, but Morrow walked Brewer to load all sacks. Salazar came up, nicely countering Morrow, battled through eight pitches in the at-bat, and drew the fourth walk of the inning, pushing home Kinnear for the go-ahead run. Reece took a 3-1 pitch into shallow center to score a pair, and the Titans still didn’t remove a battered Morrow, because they hadn’t gotten anyone up for a long time. Wedemeyer grounded out, but we led 4-1, and handed that to the pen. Top 8th, Ban struck out Bobby Quinn, before Salcido came in against Martinez, got him out, but then surrendered a MONSTROUS home run to Luis Lopez. Thomas also got on against Salcido, before De La Rosa came in and sat down Martin Carter. We got the run right back in the bottom 8th with Higgins singling and Espinoza doubling him in with two out. De La Rosa remained in the game for the ninth, where Laurent Martin got on to lead off the frame, but was removed in a double play and the Titans did not come back. 5-2 Coons! Reece 4-4, HR, 3 RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (2-1); De La Rosa 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (1);

In other news

April 9 – The Indians’ bullpen mainstay Tim Hess (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will miss two months with a hamstring strain. Hess, in his 12th big league season, has spent all but one and a half of them with the Indians.
April 12 – DEN RF/LF Salvador Vargas (.429, 1 HR, 11 RBI) at the very last second logs a ninth inning single in a 4-2 Gold Sox loss to the Pacifics to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. The streak dates back to last season, when Vargas was still a member of the Wolves!
April 14 – Vargas’ hitting streak ends at 20 already, as he goes 0-4 in a 2-1 loss to the Pacifics after sitting in the Saturday game.
April 14 – The Wolves lose 26-yr old SP Ramón Sotelo (0-2, 7.62 ERA) to shoulder inflammation for at least four months.
April 16 – OCT SP Lou Corbett (2-0, 2.84 ERA) shines in an 11-0 blowout of the Thunder over the Bayhawks, as he tosses a 3-hit shutout in only his third start of the year.

Complaints and stuff

A good stretch, with solid pitching, a shutout, and the offense producing sufficiently to keep us right atop the division, a half game back of the Loggers. In fact, we are first in ALL pitching categories, minus walks (6th) and strikeouts (7th), and we were last in strikeouts after the first week, so this is AWESOME and still getting better. The offense is 1st or 2nd in most categories, except for AVG (5th), hits (6th), walks (4th), strikeouts (6th), and stolen bases (8th). Couple high OBP with many home runs and you get an offense that is one run short of scoring 5 R/G. And I mean, just look at our three starting outfielders. Wow! Now wait for Wedemeyer to come around and the rest of the division can go home.

Or maybe Reece breaks a leg, Kinnear breaks an arm, and Green is caught injecting orange juice, and we go down in flames.

This week, I claimed MR Steve Galloway on waivers from the Canadiens. On the last day of his waiver period, the Falcons swooped in with a superior claim and took them. If you want to remember (I don’t want to, but I do), we already claimed Galloway when he was on waivers from the Buffaloes last November, and then the Canadiens jumped over us. So that’s us being booted out of a good young right-hander twice in six months now.