[Westheim]

Carlos Gonzalez is the #4 prospect in the league, just like last year. Despite picking early for years in the draft, the Raccoons only have two more prospects in the Top 200, #149 SP Todd Raines (acquired via trade this winter!) and #200 SP Harvey Hardin. Orlando Lantán, our first round pick last year, is not ranked. He only played 13 games in A ball before breaking his knee.

99 players were waived on the start of the season. There were numerous former Raccoons among them, including Hoyt Cook, Roman Ocasio, and a few more. There was one guy in particular that I took a keen interest in: Pedro Hermundo had been waived by the Cyclones. I claimed him, but eventually he was also claimed by the Indianapolis Indians, who acquired him (which seems strange to me).

And with that, we jump right into the mess!

Raccoons (0-0) @ Loggers (0-0)

This was just a 2-game series to start the season. Christopher Powell faced the Loggers’ Gary Simmons (ours was at AAA). The Loggers’ 3-4-5 lefty trio got to Powell in the first inning and the Loggers took a 1-0 lead. Ralph Nixon turned it around with a 2-run homer in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth. Up 3-1, Powell left in the bottom 8th after a strong 5-hit outing to start the season. Enrique Sanchez hit a 2-run double in the top 9th that put the game in the bag, while McCullough pitched a perfect bottom 9th. Raccoons won 5-1, although they had only six hits.

Logan Evans on the contrary faced an all-righty lineup in the second game. Evans had control issues after the winter and the Loggers went ahead on a wild pitch in the bottom 2nd. The Raccoons again turned the game in the top 4th. Borjón scored two with his first hit for the Raccoons and was himself scored by Pedro Sánz. Borjón batted in two more with a 2-out single in the top 5th, the Raccoons led 6-2. But there was still Logan Evans, who had trouble to throw strikes. He loaded the bags with nobody out in the bottom 5th, then got out with only one run across. He was removed after 5.2 innings with 7 H, 4 BB, 0 K – not his best game. Cooper and Gaston performed well, but Grant West allowed a run in his first save of the year. Still, the Raccoons won 6-4 and led the CL North.

The Raccoons now returned home for a 2-week home stint, were we would face both the Thunder and Indians, division champions from last year.

Raccoons (2-0) vs. Thunder (3-0)

A 2-run bomb by Ramón Borjón was part of a 3-run first in game 1. Jorge Romero mostly cruised through seven shutout innings and only in the top 9th did the Raccoons hurlers get into trouble after Cunningham had walked two. A run scored, but West saved a 4-1 victory. Daniel Hall is the only Raccoons hitter without a hit, going 0-8 at the plate, but he has four walks and scored a run, so we did not accidentally lock him up in the clubhouse or so. He will come around. Hopefully.

At 3-0, this made the Raccoons the only unbeaten team in the league. Have we been there before? If so, it has never ended well.

Game 2 saw Carlos Moran against Mario Garcia – that’s the international free agent we signed and traded to the Thunder for Enrique Sanchez. Garcia kept the Raccoons silent the first time through the lineup, while Pedro Marroquin (Sanchez’ replacement at catcher for Oklahoma) homered off Moran in the top 4th to make it 1-0 Thunder. Daniel Hall broke the hitless spell with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the inning. Steve Walker’s sac fly in the bottom 5th got the Raccoons ahead and they won 3-1 with strong pitching. Hall was 2-3 with the home run and 2 RBI.

While Walker scored the winning run in that second game, he was not hitting a lot and was dropped from #1 to #8 in the lineup. Daniel Hall was moved to leadoff and Workman to #2.

Jerry Ackerman made his debut in the last game of the series. He faced eight right-handed batters while the rest of the Raccoons faced ace Ralph Hoyles. Ackerman got a good bashing with a 4-run second inning, including a 2-run homer – by Hoyles! Ackerman completed six innings, but Hoyles shut down the Raccoons offense effortlessly. All the Raccoons managed were to wreck his 2-hitter in the bottom 9th, when Hall doubled to left and Dawson scored him with a single with two out. Thunder won, 4-1.

Raccoons (4-1) vs. Condors (5-2)

Rain chased the starters in the fourth inning, when the Raccoons trailed 1-0. Daniel Hall’s sharp double up the left foul line in the bottom 5th got Christopher Powell off the hook, scoring two runs for a 2-1 lead. Both teams ended up with 11 hits each in the game, but the Raccoons made much more of them, winning 7-2 after a 4-run bottom 7th, where we also whacked the well known Roman Ocasio around a bit, who appeared in relief for the Condors. Tony Lopez got the win for pitching the fifth after Powell’s departure due to the rain.

Logan Evans walked the first batter in game 2, but then got his act together. Borjón launched a moonshot in the bottom 2nd for a 1-0 lead and Evans helped himself with a solo shot to right in the bottom 5th, 2-0. It was Evans’ first home run of his career. He also no-hit the Condors through five, but the bid was broken up in the sixth. Evans left after seven with one hit, but four walks against him. Grant West surrendered a leadoff homer in the top 9th to 1B Wayne Baxter, but then retired the Condors in order for a 2-1 win. Only seven hits were landed in the whole game, with the Raccoons up 5-2, and all runs were solo home runs.

A Steve Walker error and a misplay by Daniel Hall plated three unearned runs in the first inning for the Condors. Jorge Romero entered the game as the only eligible pitcher with a 0.00 ERA, and it survived the carnage, but that ended in the sixth, when the first three Condors all hit safely against Romero and chased him. Richard Cunningham struck out four while covering the sixth and seventh innings, but the Raccoons offense was paralyzed and again only landed five hits. They lost 4-0 to the Condors.

Raccoons (6-2) vs. Indians (4-5)

The season had undoubtedly started well for the team, but this was the first true test: a 4-game set against the Indians. Their pitching was not there yet, but they led the division in offense with 40 runs scored. The Raccoons were 10th, with 28, but led in pitching, with only 18 runs against. Both Pedro Hermundo and Hoyt Cook were part of the 1982 Indians, both claimed off waivers just a week earlier.

Carlos Moran and Billy Robinson exchanged zeros in game 1 and both left with a no-decision in a scoreless game that went to extra innings. Eric McCullough [I have a terrible time typing that name…] entered in the 10th and retired the Indians in order, before the Raccoons came to bat. With two down, McCullough drew a walk, followed by a scratch single by Steve Walker. Daniel Hall lined an arrow to right that fell in and McCullough scored from second as the Raccoons walked off, 1-0, in that bottom 10th.

The next day we faced Miguel Sanchez, 1981 MVP and winner of game 7 of the World Series, and he shut down the Raccoons offense completely. Ackerman surrendered two runs in seven innings, plus Kelley gave up a leadoff homer to Bruce Cannon in the top 8th. Sanchez left after the eighth and Joseph Meyer took the mound. Pedro Sánz singled to lead off the bottom 9th, followed by a long RBI triple by Matt Workman. Spencer Dicks drew a walk, but Meyer got the next two Raccoons out. With two down, Daniel Hall had runners on the corners, and took a big swipe at the first pitch, but missed. Then Meyer drilled him in the thigh. Hall had to be removed from the game, but the bags were full for Ramón Borjón. He took two balls, before ripping away at the third pitch, dashing it *just* over the right field wall, for a WALK OFF GRAND SLAM!! WHOOO!!! Raccoons won 5-3, and nobody, neither Indians nor Raccoons fans, players, and staff alike, could believe it. Borjón was now t-2nd in homers and t-1st in RBI in the CL, while hitting sub-.180.

Hall had suffered a bad bruise on the thigh and would miss a few games. The trainer described him as day-to-day for about four days. Eduardo Guerrero got his chance to start a few games now, starting with game 3 of the Indians series. He only had one at-bat so far, and had scored a run, replacing Hall as pinch-runner in that bottom 9th the day before. Game 3 started with a leadoff home run by Esteban Hernandez off Chris Powell, who struggled a bit in this game. The Indians had seven hits against him through five innings, but scored only that one run. Nixon had gotten the Raccoons ahead with a 2-run double in the bottom 3rd, and the Raccoons scored three runs on two hits and three walks in the bottom 5th. Guerrero had a 2-run single. Powell left after seven after giving up eight hits and his first walk of the season (to Marvin Roy), but only that one run. Paul Cooper surrendered two hits to lead off the top 8th, and Cunningham limited the damage, only one run scored on a groundout. Grant West struck out the side in the top 9th and saved the 5-2 win! Workman was 3-4 with a double.

Logan Evans surrendered three runs in the top 1st of the final game. The Raccoons chipped away at that lead with single runs in the first and fourth innings. In the fourth the Indians also lost their starter Jose Perez to an injury and David Carr (normally more the closer type) came in, but Nixon still tied up the game with a sac fly to deep left that scored Steve Walker, who had been plunked by Carr to start the inning. Logan Evans got behind again in the top 6th and was removed. The Raccoons still trailed 4-3 into the bottom 9th, when we saw Joseph Meyer again. Steve Walker singled to lead off, but this time the Raccoons did not come back against Meyer and lost 4-3. Walker went 4-4 at the plate, shooting his average over .300

Raccoons (9-3) vs. Titans (3-10)

The Titans had the worst offense in the league and their pitching was not warmed up yet, either. John Fowler was their game 1 starter and he still controlled the Raccoons. While Jorge Romero gave up a 3-spot in the fifth inning, Fowler 2-hit the Raccoons through six, but they came back in the bottom 7th: they scored *nine* runs in that inning! After Borjón started with a groundout, Nixon singled. Green walked and Dawson singled to load the bases. Wyatt Johnston pinch hit for an RBI single, followed by Sanchez, who drew an RBI walk. With the pitcher’s spot up, Daniel Hall came out for a 2-run pinch hit single. Steve Walker flew out, before Matt Workman cleaned up with a 3-run bomb to right. Borjón walked and Nixon homered for two more, Green walked, before Dawson grounded out. 13 Raccoons marched to the plate. The Titans were crushed and the Raccoons won by that 9-3 score.

SS Joaquin Sanchez took Carlos Moran deep in the first inning the next day. The Raccoons took their time to get warm once again. With two out and the bases clear things suddenly got away from Titans starter Roberto Sanchez. Walk, error, walk, walk, and the game was tied. Borjón flew out to end the inning, narrowly missing the fence in right. Moran pitched into the ninth before giving way to Grant West. The Raccoons trailed 3-2 heading to the bottom 9th and loaded the bags with one out, but couldn’t score and lost. Steve Walker flew out to end the game – he had hit a home run in the eighth.

The rubber game saw all runs scored in the fourth inning. Ackerman got behind 1-0, but Mark Dawson’s 2-run double got the Raccoons ahead and they held on to it. Grant West pitched around a leadoff infield single to Matthew Beck in the top 9th to save the game. Cameron Green was 2-3 and scored one of the runs.

In other news:
April 9 – Blue Sox CF Raul Herrera goes 5-7 in a true nail biter, a 11-9 win of his team in Los Angeles. Herrera hits a grand slam and only missed out on a cycle because he lacked a double.
April 9 – Buffaloes closer Javier Caballero is out for four months with a torn labrum.
April 16 – In one big sweep, the Cyclones lose their middle infielders: SS Claudio Rojas is out of commission for three months with a broken hand. A consistent .320+ hitter, he will be missed by the last place Cincinnati team. A hip injury will put out 2B Julio Martinez for at least three months as well. The Cyclones signed him as a free agent this winter, and he started to hit .344 in the first week of the season.
April 16 – Falcons ace Joe Ellis and Thunder outfielder Troy Scott (former Raccoon of course) take swings at each other after Ellis drilled Scott with a pitch. Both are tossed and suspended for eight games.
April 22 – Warriors 3B Luis Barrera is out two weeks with knee tendinitis. Barrera hit .326 with 16 HR and 97 RBI last year, and has put up a .311, 2 HR, 10 RBI so far this year.

I certainly did not expect a start like that. However, the situation is highly treacherous. The team is 5th in runs scored, and is not last all throughout the offensive categories (sans homers and walks) like the last years. But some of those batting averages are … battering. Ramón Borjón is in the top 5 in the CL in home runs and RBIs and is batting *.151*! Since Guerrero utterly failed at replacing Daniel Hall, he doesn’t threaten for centerfield either. Dawson, Sánz, Hall, Nixon are all way down from last year. Like last season, the team has shot out of the gates solely on pitching. Logan Evans’ 3.57 ERA mark is worst on the staff. I think the WHIP numbers tell it all. The pitchers have thoroughly dominated opposing batters: 34 runs allowed speaks volumes. In total, the Raccoons have scored 3.67 R/G and allowed only 2.27 R/G. That amount of defensive effectiveness can and will not hold up for a season (maybe not even a month).

So, the batting is still bad, although less bad than last year. But I didn’t shove all that money down Borjón’s throat for him to bat .151, that much may be clear.

Well, anyway. The team will hit the road for Las Vegas and Charlotte next week. It looks like we could miss both Joe Ellis and “Mauler” Correa in the latter series, both of whom have slaughtered CL batting so far. We will then face the Loggers and Canadiens at home before the first week of interleague play.