[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-49) vs. Titans (53-69)

The series started with a pitchers’ duel between our Charles Young and Luis Cruz. Both were rock solid and traded zeros until the sixth, when the Raccoons squeezed in a run on a single by Matt Workman, which dropped inches in front of RF Ryan Dickerson’s glove. That was it. 1-0 Raccoons. Smith 2-3, BB, 2B; Hall 2-4; Young 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K;

Kinji Kan led the majors in ERA (2.04) at this point. Young was not a qualifying pitcher, since he had started 1983 at AAA (since some bozo had signed Shayne Nealon…) and didn’t have the innings, but his 2.10 ERA would rank next in line.

Burton Taylor went on his rehab assignment to AAA. I plan to give him four or five outings there, then recall him.

Game 2 pitted Jerry Ackerman against a strong Virgil Arnold, who puzzled the Raccoons through the first five frames. Ackerman surrendered two in the third inning, but was otherwise solid. The Raccoons got to Arnold in the sixth and tied the score, 2-2. With the bags full, Winston Thompson lined into short left, but the liner was heroically caught by Matthew Beck for the third out – much the opposite of the Workman single the day before. The team brought Ackerman in line for the W with two more runs in the seventh (and Hall was thrown out by Beck at the plate) to make it 4-2, but Danny Latham hit a 2-run shot off Wally Gaston to tie the game again in the top 9th. Jason White surrendered three runs in the 10th, Raccoons lost, 7-4 Titans. A. White 2-4, BB; Workman 2-4, BB, RBI;

Poor offense continued into the last game as well. Powell was again the hard luck loser, as the Raccoons only managed five runs. 3-2 Titans. Dawson 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Sanchez 2-4, 2B;

Since the Canadiens also lost two of three to Indy, the gap remained at 7.5 games. Magic number: 32

Raccoons (73-51) @ Crusaders (58-66)

Two runs in the first were enough to start this series. Logan Evans pitched eight strong innings, and although the offense was cold throughout the lineup at the moment, it was enough to beat the Crusaders 4-1 in the opener. Thompson 2-3, BB; Dicks (PH) 1-1, 2B; Evans 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (13); West 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (35); Grant West now made a serious run for the saves title in the CL. The leader there? New York’s Rick Evans with 36.

Kinji Kan got a 2-0 lead in the first and retired Crusaders constantly. By going scoreless through four, he pushed his ERA to 1.99 and carried that through a scary fifth, with runners on second and third and only one out. Kan even helped himself with a 2-out RBI single in the sixth, 3-0, but had another scary inning in the seventh, with two in scoring position and two down. Alex White made an AWESOME catch of a line drive in deep right to keep the Crusaders off the board, then put the game away with a 3-run homer in the top 8th – apparently. But Carlos Moran was beaten for two in the bottom 8th. Jason White bailed out of there, and Kelley pitched a messy ninth. 6-2 Raccoons. Smith 4-5, 2B; Dawson 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Kan 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K and 1-3, RBI;

That was Carlos Moran’s last botched game. He was banished and we recalled Burton Taylor early. He had made only one outing, but a good one. He’ll be fine.

Kinji Kan in turned lowered his ERA to 1.96 with this outing. He’s chased by OCT Ralph Hoyles (2.09), and VAN Robbie Campbell is a distant third with 2.37 right now. Nobody in the Federal League is even below 2.50;

The Raccoons completed the sweep the next day with an equally awesome performance by Charles Young, who was in danger only once in the game. Daniel Hall’s first inning 2-run homer was already all the offense needed, but Dawson also homered later for #20 (although he was long dumped in the home run race by last year’s co-champ Chris Lynch). The Raccoons won 5-1. Smith 2-5; Dawson 2-5, HR, RBI; Dicks 2-5, 2B; Workman 2-5; Young 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K and 1-2, RBI; Young’s ERA now? 1.96!

The Canadiens took two against Boston and the gap grew to 8.5 games. Magic number: 28

Now for the true test.

Raccoons (76-51) vs. Thunder (74-52)

The Thunder had just been swept by the Aces to close their advantage to just 3.5 games – so they undoubtedly were pretty angry. Poor ‘Coons.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of skipping Jerry Ackerman, so Kinji Kan would pitch game 3 of the series, but then skipped the idea instead. After an off day on September 1 we will play 17 straight and I want everybody to be properly rested, which might be more important in the long run down the stretch.

Ackerman faced Hunter Frazier (6-14, 3.96 ERA), who was already the worst piece of the entire Thunder staff. The Raccoons burned him properly with one run in the first, then with five (albeit unearned) runs in the second. Ackerman cruised from there and easily logged the W, but the pen had problems again in the ninth. Burton Taylor allowed two unearned runs (Workman dropped a ball), but the Raccoons won 8-4. A. White 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Smith 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Hall 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Bowling 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Ackerman 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K and 2-3, RBI;

Not skipping Ackerman now meant that poor Chris Powell faced the next superstar, feared Ralph Hoyles (14-7, 2.09 ERA). Both were old veterans of the game at 34 and 36 years of age, respectively.

The evil Thunder also put up a lineup led off by seven lefties against Powell, who surrendered a home run to Leonardo Costa in the first inning. Powell bounced back with a game-tying RBI single in the second. An error by Jayson Bowling then created a precarious top 4th, where the Thunder filled the bags with two down – Powell struck out .338 batter Alfonso Aranda (the only righty in the #8 spot) to get out of there, but a leadoff triple by Marc Shaw in the top 6th did him in. Shaw scored and the Raccoons were 2-1 behind. They put the first two men on in the bottom 6th, but Thompson lined into a double play. Bowling was walked intentionally to get to Powell and I sent out Cam Green to pinch hit. He lined into left and the not-too-quick Matt Workman raced through the stop sign at third – AND SCORED!! Alex White flew out and Powell got a no-decision. Fletcher Kelley led off the top 7th by walking Hoyles – and was promptly removed to be shot outside in the parking lot. Hoyles came around to score and there was no more offense till the bottom 9th. Alex White grounded out to lead off, on a 3-0 count. One more to shoot. Then Smith and Hall reached on scratch singles. Is there life in Raccoonland? Seung-ook Yi (a bear of a closer) was hurt on the 2-1 pitch to Mark Dawson, a single under the glove of Aranda – but it ended there. Workman flew out, and Sanchez grounded out, and the Raccoons lost, 3-2. Smith 3-5; Hall 2-5, 2B; Sanchez 2-5;

Game 3 was also for the season series against Oklahoma City. We played without Alex White, because I can be pretty mad sometimes. The Raccoons still scored two in the first after a leadoff triple by Chris Smith. Evans gave one back in the second and we led 2-1 in the third, where Bowling and Workman executed a triple play! Alfonso Aranda shot a liner up the middle, Bowling made a sprawling catch and caught the runners way off the bags, stepped on second and zinged to first. Bottom 3rd. Mark Dawson hit a 3-run homer with nobody out and when Bowling came up, he found two on as well. What the heck, Jayson thought, I’ll just hit for three as well – and did. 8-1 Raccoons after three. But this was far from over. Matt Workman made a throwing error for two runs in the fourth, and two more crossed the plate in the fifth. Logan Evans was chased away in the sixth, where the Thunder scored two again on him, and then beat up Richard Cunningham too and led 9-8. The Thunder led off the seventh with a grounder between Cunningham’s legs, which he picked up, but then dropped – and now all dams broke. They crushed our pen for six runs in the inning.

As the Raccoons lay dying, it was over. Mark Dawson hit another 3-run homer in the bottom 8th, but hardly anybody witnessed it. The fans already were leaving. If that was what we were looking at in the League Championship series, then good night.

16-11 Thunder. One of the most amazing destructions of recent memory, they scored 15 straight runs in five innings, aided by three errors, which made seven runs unearned. Hall 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Dawson 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Workman 4-5; Sanchez 2-5, RBI;

I was pretty depressed after this series.

The Canadiens also dropped two, and the gap remained at 8.5 games. Magic number: 25

Raccoons (77-53) vs. Bayhawks (53-77)

Kinji Kan was not as sharp as recently in this game and the Bayhawks led 2-0 early. Bowling tied the game with a long single in the fourth and Kan himself brought in another run with a groundout. Mark Dawson upped to 5-2 with a 2-run shot in the fifth, #23. Kan left 5-3 ahead, and while a run scored against David Jones, the pen held on and the Raccoons won 6-4. Thompson 2-4; Sanchez 3-4, 2B; Green 3-4, 2B; Bowling 2-4, 2 RBI;

Game 2 was another shameful example of no offensive punch. The Raccoons were 5-hit by 6+ ERA and 15-game loser Harvey Hardin through eight innings. Charles Young had given up two in the first and took the 3-2 loss. He had had a pretty wild night, giving away six walks and fanning eight. Hall 4-5;

Jerry Ackerman was then rolled up for four runs in the first inning and then left with a sore hamstring. White and Jones pitched in long relief, and then Grant West was shot down in the ninth for four runs. 11-2 Bayhawks.

In other news

August 21 – LVA SP Antonio Lopez (15-10, 3.94 ERA) tosses a 2-hitter against the Atlanta Knights.
August 23 – Tijuana’s SP Jim Harrington is out for the season with a sore shoulder. He was in the race for most wins at 14-9, 3.55 ERA.
August 23 – The Indians beat the Loggers 3-0, as Jesse Carver (8-14, 2.90 ERA) tosses a 3-hitter.
August 26 – Scorpions slugger Hector Atilano (.336, 7 HR, 68 RBI) bangs his shoulder in an on base collision and is out for up to a month, possibly eliminating him from the batting title race in the Federal League.
August 27 – The Condors lose two more pitchers! SP Woody Roberts (12-9, 3.57 ERA) has torn his triceps and is out for the season. Also game over in ’83 for closer Domingo Rivera: a strained oblique puts him on the shelf for the season after posting a 1.70 ERA and 32 SV.
August 27 – The Knights surprisingly crash the Canadiens in a 20-9 clobbering. 1B Hector Roman is man of the day with six hits, including three doubles, for four RBI’s. It’s the second 6-hit game in the CL in 18 days, and the second in franchise history for the Bayhawks after Mike White in 1979.
August 27 – SFB SS Claudio Rojas (.331, 1 HR, 14 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak going.

Complaints and stuff

That was a horrible way there to end the month of August. The Canadiens took their series against the Falcons and came to 7.5 games back. Magic number: 23

The offense continues to fail. In that condition we don’t even have to think about facing the Thunder. We’d have no chance. Our pitching is probably equally strong, but they have a bunch of punchers that would win the series in no time.

The 4-1 over New York left Logan Evans with 13 wins, which was then only two off the CL lead. Who led the majors at that point? The Warriors’ David Castillo with 18. The name was come up exactly once before. He was included in the trade that brought on Spencer Dicks and Steve Walker prior to last season, and they specifically asked for him in addition to Ken Clark (who’s long been chased away there). He was collecting dust at my AA team and I sent him away in a heartbeat. The trades I do …

THE TRADES I DO …! (facepalm)

As we are already on Steve Walker… he would have been arbitration eligible this season and we made a move here to buy out his arbitration years and the first year of free agency with a 4-yr, $550k contract, which starts at a modest $100k next season, which was his estimate, but is rather cheap for a solid hitter with his great fielding capabilities – he plays six positions after all.

I still need to shave money somewhere.

The sweep over New York also meant two other things: for the first time the Raccoons took the season series against the Crusaders (then 10-5), and they also eclipsed last year’s W’s with that 76th win of the season – best season ever, but we’ve known that already for some time.

We were 17-11 in August. The latest crumble however is worrisome though…

Next is a series of 17 straight games: we’ll play three in Milwaukee and four in Vancouver(!!), then have a home week against the Indians and Loggers, and then briefly head to Tijuana for three.

Below is the already expanded roster. I added Carlos Moran to eat innings, plus Ivan Diaz as extra arm. Diaz was on the 1981 team, where he collected an ERA of 12+, and is only there to eat some more innings. He has no options and I don’t care whether somebody takes him. Should there be a shortage of arms beyond that, I’d call up Justin Neubauer again as extra lefty.

Extra position players were hard to come by. Fernando Perez and Brandon Roland, our two most often used extras during this season, were both injured and out for the season. We called up outfielder Gary Carter and 1B/3B Roy Rollins as extra bats. Rollins was placed on the 40-man roster for this, but he has some trade value after all, although he plays exactly those positions where I don’t need anybody necessarily. Furthermore, Steve Walker was activated from the DL after recovering from his broken hand (did you know that hospitals don’t carry cast in Raccoon brown? Not even in Portland?).