[Westheim]

Raccoons (60-69) @ Falcons (83-46)

This series was certainly nothing I was looking forward to. The Falcons were radiating hot, and were 6.5 games better than anybody else in baseball. And what could I bring to the table? My 3-4-5 guys from the rotation.

Jerry Ackerman was up against Kent Doyle in game 1. Doyle had given away 16 runs in his last three starts. At first the Raccoons didn’t seem like they could stick it to him with four quick innings. Gonzalez then hit an RBI triple for a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Ackerman struck out for the first one down in the inning. Next was Cameron Green and they intentionally walked him. Why did they do that!? Workman also drew a walk and Hall popped out, but somehow the intentional walk to Green gave the Raccoons an extra at bat in the inning. Dawson walked to force in a run, before Ramón Borjón slapped a grand slam to right. 6-0 Raccoons! Ackerman gave away two in the bottom 5th, then the top 6th: Gonzalez singled and was bunted over by Ackerman. And they intentionally walked Cam Green again!? Workman drew another walk, and the Raccoons scored two in the inning. The game ended with a 9-3 win for the Raccoons, who drew nine hits and nine walks. Green 1-2, 3 BB; Workman 2-3, 2 BB; Walker 2-4;

The Falcons took their anger to Jorge Romero the next day and slapped him for eight runs (seven earned) in less than five innings. The Raccoons took an early lead with a 2-run shot by Workman in the first, but overall Falcons starter Jorge Mora (0.99 WHIP) was too much for them. Falcons won, 8-3.

That brought up Juan “Mauler” Correa. And at 23-4 and a 1.70 ERA you are glad every time you miss him, but the came up in game 3. At 31, he was as deadly as ever. With Yoelbi Maurinha going for the Raccoons, you better you better you didn’t bet on them.

Maurinha struck out the side in the first, but between K’s, a Matt Workman error plated an unearned run. That was it already, the Raccoons never had a chance against Correa and lost 3-0.

While that series in the end didn’t fall the Raccoons’ way (a win in game 3 would have had them win the season series against Charlotte the first time ever!), they didn’t play too bad in it. If they could carry that form into September… all those if’s and when’s …

We called up four players for September to expand our roster to 29: MR Jason White, 2B/3B Angel Costa, OF Ben Cox were well known to followers by now. New was SP Hisanobu Higuchi, whom we acquired in the Fernando Gonzalez/Daughtery trade with the Rebels in July. He gave me another left arm and I would try and give him two starts or so, most likely in place of Ackerman.

Raccoons (61-71) @ Crusaders (60-73)

This was again for last place. Or rather not *for* last place. The Raccoons had four of those bronze pumpkins on their mantelpiece already. All very close to each other. This was a 3-game set, but within one week’s time after that we’d start to play four more in Portland. The season series stood 7-4 against the Raccoons.

Game 1 and Powell was looking to break the poor 14 wins that still stood as the most a Raccoons pitcher has ever had in a season. It was certainly a good opportunity, facing Bernard Lepore, who walked almost five over nine. But it was not meant to be. The Raccoons out-hit the Crusaders 10-6, but never scored. Powell took a stinging 1-0 loss. Of all people it was Lepore to single in the fifth and come around to score. That one … that one was hurting a ton. Sanchez 3-4;

There was no scoring through five in game 2, until Hall socked a 2-run homer. Evans left with the lead also got his 14th win, which was put in danger by the pen in all of the last three innings. West had to pitch around a throwing error by Mark Dawson (rare enough) to save the 5-2 win.

Ackerman started the rubber game and surrendered a grand slam in the bottom 2nd. The Raccoons spent the rest of the game trying to rally from there. Down 4-3, Wally Gaston pitched the bottom 8th, loaded the bags with nobody out, then removed three guys without anybody scoring, because I was already thinking, what the heck. The 6-7-8 guys were up in the ninth, and what could happen anyway? Nothing, they lost 4-3. Dawson hit HR #19 to stay atop the CL HR race (one ahead of Ace Chris Lynch).

Well, that was a poor series. That 9-3 run before this week must have been a fluke. Oh wonder, when did they ever run .750 over two weeks? I must have held the box scores upside down.

Raccoons (62-73) vs. Loggers (63-73)

The Raccoons were fifth, the Loggers fourth in the CL North, with the Crusaders now half a game behind. This was a 4-game set, which would help anybody if split in half.

Romero was perfect through three in game 1. Then came the fourth, and he surrendered three. That nailed the loss, as the Raccoons failed to get anything up in the game and lost 3-1.

Game 2. The Crusaders hadn’t played the day before and now the Raccoons tied for last. Time to get a W here. The task was Maurinha’s, while we dropped Borjón to #7 in the lineup since he was slumping a bit too much to bat fifth. Maurinha’s opponent was 28-yr old Francisco Gonzalez, who made his second majors appearance and first start there. You guys don’t win that, you won’t get your bedtime candy! (swings bat)

The Raccoons scored two in the second in game 2, but it should have been three, yet Walker was caught stealing for the first out. Sanchez hit that 2-run double. Maurinha worked with a slim 2-1 lead, but the Loggers tied off him in the seventh. The Raccoons hadn’t gone anywhere up to there, but Hall hit a 2-run shot in the bottom 7th to get the Raccoons ahead again. For the second outing of Grant West in a row, Dawson committed a critical error, but West got around it again and saved the 4-2 win. Borjón 3-4, 2B;

The last two games would see Powell and Evans make both a run for that so far elusive #15.

The Raccoons put up three in the bottom 1st for Powell, who surrendered quite a few hits early on. Dawson socked homer #20 in the fourth to make it 4-1. Then the rain came, on and off. This helped the Raccoons in the bottom 5th, when Cipriano Crespo slipped and missed a Mark Dawson grounder that would have been an inning-ending double play if executed properly. Instead, two more runs scored in the inning. Powell went seven, fanning five with eight hits against him, and the Raccoons put the game away with a 6-run bottom 7th, including a 3-run blast by Hall. Hisanobu Higuchi became the first Japanese player to pitch for the Raccoons with two scoreless frames, and Christopher Powell became the first Raccoons pitcher to win 15 contests in a single season! The Raccoons chopped up the Loggers 13-1 in this one. Workman 4-4, BB; Hall 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Dawson, 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Walker 1-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Powell 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K and 1-3, 2B;

The team scored first in game 4, in a controversial way. Workman flew out to left with one out and the bags full. Borjón tagged and drilled over catcher Hokichi Endo, who was injured and didn’t even get the out. Evans 1-hit the Loggers through six, but everything came crashing down in the seventh with four runs on four hits against Evans and Cunningham. 4-2 Loggers. Series split, which doesn’t help us a bit.

Raccoons (64-75) vs. Canadiens (84-55)

With the Canadiens and their strong starters next, all hope could safely be abandoned. We had another 10 games in a row after this one to compete in and I planned to give rest to all the starters in this series. Workman and Sanchez were rested in game 1.

The Raccoons scored first in that game, but an error by Gonzalez plated two in the third, and the Canadiens added two more in the fourth. Down 4-1, the Raccoons looked like toast, because they had absolutely nothing going. Dicks and Green reached base in the bottom 9th and with the Raccoons down to their last out they were then suddenly doubled in by Daniel Hall. Mark Dawson dinked one into shallow left and Hall raced home and suddenly the game was tied. It would have been truly great to win that game coming from behind like that – but it was not meant to be. Kelley and Cunningham were rocked in the tenth and the Raccoons lost, 7-4. Gonzalez 3-5, 3B;

New day, new game, with Sánz and Bowling in to rest Dawson and Walker. Again, the Raccoons scored first, in the first, on back-to-back RBI doubles by Borjón and Gonzalez. Testu Osanai took Jorge Romero deep in the fourth to half the lead, but Green and Hall bashed long balls to make it 5-1 Raccoons through seven. The game almost got out of hand in the top 9th with Wally Gaston on the mound. A leadoff walk and two hits scored a runner, before Grant West came in to end it. 5-2 Raccoons.

Rubber game. Sánz and Bowling remained in, this time for Green and Gonzalez with Dawson playing 3B. Hall told me he was not tired at all, and Borjón had been rested earlier in this string of games and didn’t need bench time either. Maurinha pitched against Victor Underwood. It didn’t really matter if we won this game – the next series was the one we had to take.

Maurinha pitched six fine innings. A 4-spot in the bottom 4th got him off an early 1-0 hook, but he walked the first two batters in the top 7th and was removed. Fletcher Kelley, loser in the first game, struck out Carlos Martinez on a full count to regain control and the Canadiens left the inning without plating one. Matt Workman responded with a 2-run homer to make it 6-1. But the Canadiens were far from dead. Ramon Gonzalez took Justin Neubauer deep for three in the eighth. Cunningham and West regained control and West got the save in a 6-4 win. The Raccoons had only three hits, five walks, and an error by Eddy Bailey to work with, but most of it happened in the fourth, where they scored four.

Wow! That was a surprise to take the series from the almost-champs of the CL North! I wonder if we could have swept if I just - … no, it was necessary to rest them now to have everybody available for the next 4-game set:

Raccoons (66-76) vs. Crusaders (84-55)

To start the 4-game series, Christopher Powell logged win #16 this season. He went seven innings and was in mild danger a few times, but allowed only one run. The Raccoons had led 2-0 after the first already, and added a few more in the later innings for a 5-1 win. Green 2-3, BB; Sánz (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Ben Browning’s leadoff triple got Logan Evans behind in game 2, but the Raccoons scored twice in the bottom 1st, and when Browning came up again with the bags full and two out in the top 2nd, Evans struck him out. But that was it for him already. Heavy rain forced a 98-minute delay in the third and chased the starters. Moran came in for long relief and went four innings. The Crusaders tied the game up in the third after Evans had been washed away, but from there the Raccoons ravished Crusaders pitching and scored eight runs through to the sixth for a 10-2 lead, including a homer by Workman, and a 3-run triple by Jayson Bowling. Moran left and the rest of the pen pieced the game together, but took a major beating in the eighth with four runs against a hapless Kelley and a hit batsmen by Gaston that loaded the bags with nobody out. But the Raccoons were glowing so hot, the radiated with a thick white aura, and slapped another six runs into the Crusaders’ face for a 16-6 rout. Green 1-3, 2 BB; Workman 3-4, BB, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI (missed the cycle by a single!); Dawson 3-6, HR (#21), 4 RBI; Borjón 0-2, 4 BB (tying a Raccoons record), 2 RBI; Walker 4-6, RBI; Sanchez 2-5, 2 RBI; Bowling (PH) 1-2, 3B, 3 RBI; Moran 1-2, 2B and 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Hisanobu Higuchi got the start over Ackerman in game 3. He faced fellow lefty Eric Edmonstone. Higuchi’s first inning in his first start: 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 2 WP, 4 R. I was close to killing him right there, and did so in the third, when he wrecked the game for good. There came Ackerman out of the pen, but the two runners on scored as well and the Raccoons trailed 8-2. Dawson went on to sock HR #22, and while the Raccoons constantly chipped away at the Crusaders’ lead, they didn’t make it. They lost, 9-8. Uh, it was stinging. Green 3-5; Workman 2-5, 2B; Sanchez 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI;

Both teams lost their leftfielders early in game 4. Jorge Romero nailed Pete Charles with the pitch, while Daniel Hall was injured while sliding into second base. He left with an undiagnosed injury. Shock!! I blacked out there for a second or two and Pedro Sánz held me, while Jayson Bowling waved fresh air at me with a towel, but I didn’t come back to my senses until the sixth inning. Hall down, oh no, can’t be, not again!! The Raccoons led 3-0 after five, I was told, with Romero 1-hitting the Crusaders and contributing an RBI double himself, while Green and Dawson had gone yard. Romero scored another runner with a grounder in the bottom 6th. He was en route to a 2-hitter, but could not get through the ninth. With West already in a runner scored from full bags and one out, but West saved the 4-1 win.

In other news

August 30 – Knights RF Engjell Vulaj (.349, 6 HR, 48 RBI) is on a particularly hot streak, with hits in 20 straight games after two hits in a 4-3 win over the Indians.
September 4 – The Aces dry up Vulaj’s source of hits; he goes 0-3 and his streak ends at 23. To add to the pain, the Knights lose 7-4. Vulaj’s streak is the second-longest of the season after CHA Michael Watson’s 30-game streak. Only three players reached 20 this season, all in the CL South.
September 5 – The Wolves are in a tight pennant race, but they will have to continue without closer Vern Hesketh. The 28-yr old has a torn flexor tendon and could also miss the start of the 1983 season.
September 5 – A back injury ends the season of CF Gabriel Cruz. The Stars slugger has gone .344 with 22 HR and 113 RBI in 1982, his first full season in the majors.
September 8 – More pain: Topeka RF Ross Bradbury is out for the season with a broken kneecap after a .309, 5 HR, 55 RBI year.
September 14 – End of the season with a broken hand for Scorpions outfielder Larry Marshall (.323, 22 HR, 96 RBI), who was tied with the also injured Gabriel Cruz for the home run lead in the FL. He won’t be able for the playoff either, should Sacramento get there.
September 14 – Loggers RF Edgardo Garza hits a 2-run single in the eighth to a) sink the Canadiens 10-8, and b) bring his hitting streak to 20 games.

Complaints and stuff

Matt Workman went .316 with six homers and 19 RBI in August to claim for the third time Rookie of the Month honors. In fact, he was that good, he won Hitter of the Month for the Continental League!

In more honorable news, Daniel Hall was the CL’s Player of the Week for September 6-12 (that’s the Loggers and Canadiens series) going 9-26 (.346) with 3 HR, 8 RBI. If he’s out for the season, it will take a huge chunk out of my lineup.

BNN also reported on September 13 that Jerry Ackerman ranked third in WHIP among rookie starting pitchers in the ABL. Bad news: there were only three qualifying starters. =) But his 1.44 WHIP is not too bad. He trails VAN Kisho Saito (whom who I could have traded for but didn’t) and OCT Mario Garcia (whom who I signed but traded away). I have a knack for this!

By the way, who are five teams in the ABL that have never turned a winning record? Gold Sox, Titans, Loggers, Raccoons, Aces are the correct answers. The Aces and Gold Sox have already hit 81 losses this year.

And who are the teams that have always turned a winning record? Cyclones, Scorpions, and Indians. And that list could get a lot shorter this year. The Rebels have 81-81 as worst season and have thus never had a losing season.

Paul Cooper signed a 2-yr, $200k total contract. He would have been arbitration eligible with a $99k estimate.

I also looked at my roster – which is not so bad! They are drifting between eight and ten below their Pythagorean record, so this should actually be a winning team. The good news: all core players on this team are either under contract, or arbitration-eligible, or under club control for two more seasons, with two exceptions. One is Ralph Nixon, who will be 37 next year, with the biggest bucks in his DL pocket. The other is Wally Gaston, who was signed at bargain before the ’81 season through ‘83. Gaston, 26, has always had and will always have control issues, but he mows down batters at a 9 K/9 rate over his career, and gets a load of slow ground balls. His ERA+ both this year and over his career is 135. He is (most of the time of course, he’s still a Raccoon) a rock where you need one.

We need to do something to keep him.

Please note I don’t make this statement about Nixon.