[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

You are not in last place! You are only 2 games off the lead! You have money now.

Raccoon life is good!

The Raccoons dipped to last again on one occasion during the last two weeks, but see below.

By the way, all that money has been spent to get Nixon, Hermundo and the others on board and to improve our development program. We can not sign anything expensive anymore.

More about Raccoon life below. It's troubled, with Hawks and Falcons waiting for you everywhere. And sometimes a Logger.

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Gary Simmons, just called up, was thrown right into the fray to start for Powell, who was laboring his shoulder. Simmons starting had worked oh so not well last year, and - … Simmons committed two errors, walked in two runs, balked, and allowed ten hits before being pulled to be shot and buried beneath the clubhouse. The moron was sent right back to AAA. Raccoons lost 5-3, all runs on Simmons, after a late rally in the eighth fell short.

A new face came up to Portland, righty reliever Paul Cooper. He had spent the last three years at the AAA level and was … well, he was not worse than O’Rearden or Baker, so why not… (note the level of enthusiasm I have about my players) … Cooper made his debut in the middle game against the Indians, pitching a perfect eighth with a K, but again in a losing effort. Berrios had gone against Brunet, but neither was in no-hitter form. Berrios walked six(!) for a 3/15 K/BB ratio(!!) and was saddled with all the runs in the 3-1 loss.

Game 3 saw Logan Evans go eight innings with 3 H, 3 BB, 8 K, but received a no-decision leaving in a 1-1 tie. Bill Craig held it together and the Raccoons walked off in the tenth when Hermundo scored from first on a Nixon double with two out.

Next were the Oklahoma City Thunder (by the way, would you believe that I did not know that was a NBA team until accidentally stumbling over it in the Wikipedia three weeks ago?), whose 96 runs scored led the Continental League. We had a stunning 8-19 record against them since the ABL started play, tied with two other CL South teams, the Knights and the Falcons. Only the Crusaders (15-42) and Rebels (0-3) had held the Raccoons shorter.

Jorge Romero did a stellar job to open the series, going eight frames and took the 2-1 win. Gaston got save #4. But of course there was another crack in the picture, as Ben Cox was injured on a play and would miss six weeks with a hamstring strain. Henderson got in to start in LF. We tried something new in letting catcher Bocci bat from the leadoff spot. His .235 average didn’t seem much, but he walked enough for a .333 OBP. Simon moved to #5, switching spots with Sánz. The former was homerless with a .262 average, while Sánz had shot out of the gate to .354, 2 HR, 12 RBI line.

Bocci gave a very rude welcome to Ken O’Hoey, who made his majors debut for the Thunder, by slamming a home run to right center, his first for the Raccoons, to lead off the first. Bocci went 4-5 with the home run and 3 RBI in the game, which the Raccoons won 5-2. Christopher Powell surrendered a home run to cleanup Luis Lopez and things briefly derailed in a top 7th with two errors by the Raccoons, but overall Powell had things almost under control. His K’s were still way low, though.

All for nought. Berrios was wrecked in the first inning by the Thunder in game 3, allowing Luis Lopez to grand slam the Raccoons into submission before he ever recorded an out. The Raccoons never scored, while Berrios struggled through six innings, allowing all runs in the 6-0 loss. He was 0-4 with a 6.05 ERA now and actions had to be considered.

More problems. With Cox and Hall down, I now had four outfielders, three of which couldn’t hit a ball. There was also not really a replacement in AAA, except maybe for Ken Clark. He was 24 and had played at AAA since ’77, consistently raising his average. I had no choice, I couldn’t go with four outfielders for three more weeks and wait for Hall to come off the DL. Clark filled the last spot on the 40-man roster.

Logan Evans lost game 1 against the Knights on errors and the rain that chased him in the fifth. After a 53 minute delay Bill Craig blew the 2-2 game open, allowing three straight runners, but Evans was saddled with the loss in the 4-2 defeat. The Raccoons won game 2, 6-5, but neither Romero, who went 7.1 innings, nor closer Gaston, who allowed two runs, his first this season, had good outings. Bocci was 3-4 with an RBI, and Ken Clark had his first plate appearance, pinch hitting in the bottom 8th, drawing a walk, but he was stranded there. Romero was 4-1 now, leading the CL in wins, tied with OCT Ralph Hoyles.

Rubber game. Powell and Fernando Vigil engaged in a pitcher’s duel. The Raccoons led 1-0 early and Powell was two outs away from a 2-hit shutout, when Claudio Moreno took him deep to tie the game. With closer Jon Butler in for the Knights, the Raccoons didn’t see land until the 11th, when Dan Williams retired the first two Raccoons, but then walked Nixon and Sánz. Simon slashed one to left through the hole and Nixon dashed for the plate, clobbering into catcher Rod Fields and JUST beat out the throw, sending the Raccoons off with a 2-1 win!

That ended a 10-12 April, but the high note was the 5-2 stretch at the end of it. Now going against the last place Crusaders (what a downfall!), we’d use the off day before the series to make a small move. We’d skip Juan Berrios’ turn in the rotation to send Evans, Romero, and Powell against the Crusaders. Berrios would make an appearance out of the pen, trying to right him on a shorter assignment. Of course this would have to take place in the first game at best.

The Crusaders were 7-14. They always had had superb offense and average pitching, now they had average offense and struggled with their hurlers. Both rotation and pen ranked among the two worst in the league in ERA (compare that to the Raccoons’ 3rd place in starter’s and 5th in bullpen’s ERA; yes, we were last in offense).

So, Logan Evans went after Eric Edmonstone. Evans was rocked for six runs over four plus innings. Berrios came. He surrendered six more getting one out, including a grand slam. Raccoons lost 13-0 after that 10-run fifth inning, and landed only three hits.

I will let that sink for a while.

Romero again had trouble to find the strike zone and it ended in one bad inning that plated three. The game went to extra innings, where the Crusaders scored two against Justice in the top 10th. Johnston, who had doubled to lead off the bottom 9th but had not been scored, bashed one to right center for a 2-run double to tie it up once more. The Raccoons walked off when Nixon was hit by the pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom 11th, winning 6-5 for the team’s 200th ABL win. Johnston was 3-5 with the home run that tied the game at 3-3 first, and the double that tied it once again, and 3 RBI. Sánz was also still hot with a 3-4 day, hitting .337 now. Nixon was cooling off, after going .400 far into April, he was now down to .333. The rubber game had Powell in there, going against Bernard Lepore. Powell lost the pitchers duel, surrendering the lone run of the game in the seventh, Raccoons lost 1-0, lacking offense almost completely.

In other news:
April 24 – Juan Medine (.424, 4 HR, 20 RBI) suffers a strained hamstring. The Rebels will sorely miss his offense for about three weeks.
April 26 – Defensive shortstop Eddy Baily of the Canadiens goes down to a torn hamstring and will miss about a month.
April 30 – Capitals LF Chad White (.333, 0 HR, 7 RBI) is out four months with a torn abdominal muscle.
May 3 – Elbow tendinitis will sideline Oklahoma City’s ace Ralph Hoyles (5-0, 1.91 ERA) for at least six weeks.

We’re 74-95 in runs, which is again less than 3 R/G. Which stinks given all the money I shoved down people’s throats to pick up the offense. If you look at the pitchers’ WHIP stats you’ll notice that they are quite low across the board (except for Berrios, who’s a different topic). The Raccoons have a tendency this year to have that one awful inning that wrecks everything. Well, 3.8 RA/G isn’t bad, but coupled with the low offense it creates a losing record.

Berrios is of course well out of whack. He has options, and he is 29, but has no 10/5 rights. He *could* be sent to the minors. The issue? Nobody is here to call up. My AAA starters have posted these numbers: Orlando Gomez 2-2 with 4.54 ERA; John Hyde 1-1 with 5.14 ERA; Jose Nieves 0-4 with 6.75 ERA; and finally Roman Ocasio, who failed even at failing in the majors last year: 1-3 with a whooping 9.73 ERA!!

The only option would be Simmons, how sweet. Berrios will get a few more starts, whether he wants it or not, whether I want it or not.

The Raccoons will hit the road for the Loggers (4) and then interleague play with the Miners, will return home for only the Pacfics, and then embark on a 2-week road trip for the Indians, Titans (4), Aces, and Falcons.

By the way, Daniel Hall won't be back until the latter part of May on the 2-week road trip. Isn't it pathetic that I'm looking forward to the return of a .000 hitter? I still hope he will come around. He has power and speed, he needs to pick up his average and fielding.