[Westheim]

Raccoons (78-55) @ Loggers (54-79)

Steve Walker, just returned from the DL, was nailed by a pitch from Stanton Coleman in the top 6th of the opener of the series, and it took some effort to keep him from ripping Coleman’s head right off. (Coleman’s a former Raccoon, of course) There, the Raccoons led 5-1, runners scored by Dawson and Workman, while Chris Powell had surrendered his usual home run. Then he surrendered a second one to September call-up Hokichi Endo and was removed. Grant West ended up giving another run in the 5-3 win – which was another worrisome development. Hall 2-4; Dawson 2-4, 2 RBI; Workman 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Roy Rollins fouled out in his first major league at-bat.

Logan Evans pitched a messy middle game, ending with two runners on in five of his six innings. He still left with a 3-1 lead, somehow. The Raccoons logged 13 hits in this game and added to the lead in the late innings, taking a convincing 7-1 win. A. White 4-4, 2 BB, 2B; Smith 3-6, 2B; Hall 1-2, 3 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Walker 2-5; Rollins (PH) 1-2;

Mark Dawson put the Raccoons ahead in the last game of the set with a solo shot in the second inning, getting him to 100 RBI. Off the top of my head, I can not remember a Raccoon driving in a hundred before him. Kinji Kan mowed down the Loggers, going 4.2 innings of no-hit ball and covered the first five innings with 40 pitches. He steamrolled through to the ninth, but there succumbed to a triple by Marvin Mills breaking up the shutout. Grant West ended the game, 3-2 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Dawson 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Kan 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 2-3;

That was a BIG sweep, especially since the Canadiens dropped their series in New York. Lead is at 9.5 games, magic number is 18 now!

Raccoons (81-55) @ Canadiens (71-64)

Bold statement: we tie this series, it’s close to over for the CL North.

It had to start with Charles Young, who let the first four Canadiens he faced all on base – a heroic play by Mark Dawson limited the damage to one run. Matt Workman tied it with a leadoff homer in the top 2nd. But Young’s control was way off in this game and Mark Dawson’s 2-run homer (#25) in the top 6th also only tied the game, 3-3, and Young left in the tied game. Alex White led off the seventh with grounding a 3-0 pitch to 2B Shawn Gilmore, who threw it away – which was all that saved White from getting tarred and feathered. He scored on a sac fly by Dawson, getting the Raccoons up 4-3, which they held on to. Jason White, Burton Taylor, Richard Cunningham, and Grant West all pitched scoreless innings in relief. Hall 3-3, 2 BB;

That was win #82 this season, the Raccoons had their first winning record in history. It had taken them only seven long and painful years.

Jerry Ackerman was skipped and the start taken by Carlos Moran in game 2, which would probably end badly, but Ackerman was still sore. But Moran (2-2, 5.40 ERA) went up against a guy (Vicente Ortiz, 1-3, 6.56 ERA) with an even worse collection of stats, so the game possibly could go either way.

Boy, did this game go one way rather than the other. Moran gave up five runs in 1.1 innings and was shredded to pieces immediately. The Raccoons lost 8-0, as Ortiz pitched a 4-hitter. I have hardly ever screamed that much during a game.

Christopher Powell pitched six innings of 2-hit ball in game 3, with a 3-0 lead, then suddenly collapsed with two homers in the seventh and the game was tied. Wally Gaston was rapped for two more in the eighth and the Raccoons lost, 5-3.

The Furballs again pieced single runs together for a 3-0 lead in the final game. Logan Evans was his usual self: wild. He managed to walk the bases full in the bottom 7th, with two down. ‘nuff seen. Cunningham came out to go after switch hitter Santiago Gonzalez, but the Canadiens countered with power lefty Tetsu Osanai, who launched a 3-1 pitch into deeeep center – Chris Smith picked it off the top of the fence. The pen then worked hard to blow up the 5-0 lead in the bottom 8th, but the Canadiens scored only three runs on Diaz (2) and Jason White. Grant West logged SV #40, 5-3 Raccoons. Smith 2-5, 3B; Walker 3-4; Bowling 2-4;

Series split, mission accomplished, although it surely was not pretty. We already clinched the season series against Vancouver, at 10-5. The lead of course remains at 9.5 games, but the magic number is now only 14, with 22 games left.

Raccoons (83-57) vs. Indians (70-70)

For the series opener, the Indians mounted a sole .255+ batter, infielder Gabe Taylor. They had stellar pitching, but their offense was poor beyond imagination. Something that to a certain degree still was true for the Raccoons.

They had sufficient punch in the first game, providing six runs to go with Kinji Kan’s 6-hit shutout, who nevertheless gave two triples to Esteban Hernandez (which tied a major league record). Raccoons won, 6-0. A. White 2-4, BB, RBI; Smith 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-4, BB; Kan 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K and 2-2; Kan tied for the CL lead with his 16th win of the season.

That seemed to be all the offense for a 3-game series. They had nothing going in the next game. The lone Raccoons run scored on a wild pitch, and later a wild pitch by David Jones scored the winning run for the Indians, who took the middle game, 3-1.

The rubber game took place in really ugly weather. Jerry Ackerman’s performance was equally bad. The six innings he started, the leadoff batter got on base five times, and scored four times. That was too much for the Raccoons batters, who were puzzled, first by Billy Robinson, then by the awesome pen, and the team lost, 4-3. Green 2-5, HR, RBI; Hall 2-4; Dawson 1-2, 2 BB; Workman 2-4, RBI; J. White 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

The Canadiens swept the Loggers to creep to within 7.5 games of the Raccoons. Magic number: 13; next up for the Raccoons, those Loggers.

Raccoons (84-59) vs. Loggers (56-86)

Fortunes turned against the Raccoons with force in the second inning of the 4-set’s opener. Steve Walker left there with an undiagnosed injury after an awkward throw to second base, and next thing you know Chris Powell serves up a 2-run homer to Arnold Payton. Daniel Hall twice made poor outs with two down and the bags loaded, but he wasn’t the only one blacking out with runners on, Dawson and Bowling also left two on to end other innings. Powell looked like the hard luck loser ONCE AGAIN, as the Raccoons entered the bottom 9th trailing 4-2. All of a sudden it clicked. Hall, Dawson, Workman, and Sanchez all had hits to start the inning, tying up the score and putting two on with nobody out. But of course they stopped there. Alex White made an embarrassing out with the bags full and the game went into overtime. Stanton Coleman walked three in the bottom 11th, the Raccoons didn’t score. They lost 5-4 in the 13th inning.

That was one of those terrible, will-breaking games… Steve Walker had “only” suffered a sprained finger and was out for a week.

Logan Evans’ unhealthy wildness continued in game 2. But the Loggers’ Santiago Salazar left with an injury in the first inning and the pen collapsed spectacularly in the sixth, with the Raccoons pushing six runners over the plate for a 12-3 lead. Evans had been yanked already in the top 6th after a run-scoring wild pitch. Moran pitched three scoreless innings in relief, and the Raccoons won 13-3. Only one of their 17 hits was for extra bases. A. White 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5; Workman 3-5, RBI; Sanchez 4-5, RBI; Bowling 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; Moran 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

The Loggers scored first off Kinji Kan in game 3, but the Raccoons made four unearned runs on two errors in the bottom 3rd to lead 4-1. The Raccoons never scored an earned run in the entire game, and somehow still wound up winners, 5-3. Dicks 2-4, RBI; Thompson 2-4; Kinji Kan won #17 this season, and Grant West saved #41 – both CL bests. West shared his with ATL Jon Butler.

Charles Young had another messy first inning with three walks and a run across. He settled in after that and went seven frames, while the Raccoons had to go all out to even give him two runs, which they did in the bottom 7th. They only had five hits in the game, but strong appearances by Cunningham and West closed out the game, 2-1 Raccoons.

The Canadiens put up another sweep of the Crusaders, and are now 6.5 games behind. Magic number: 10 (with 15 to play)

Raccoons (87-60) @ Condors (75-71)

Mark Dawson and Daniel Hall were left out of the lineup for some rest, they were the only players who had been pushed down the latest stretch and had not had an off day. Everybody was going to have a day off after this series. Of course, this was seriously limiting the offensive capabilities of the team, with Ramón Borjón and Cameron Green on the field.

But whether they would have made any difference on the first game in Tijuana – questionable. Jerry Ackerman was taken deep three times in less than three innings, getting the ‘Coons 5-1 down. Moran was beaten for four, and Kelley for three more in the 12-6 blowout. Hard to say whether Hall and Dawson would have made a big difference, both pinch hit, but only Dawson had a single. A. White 2-5, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI; Workman 2-4, BB, RBI; Díaz 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The Raccoons then pulled off their first double steal of the season (on September 17) to start game 2. Walks to Alex White and Thompson put them in a good position. Hall promptly singled in White and after a walk to Dawson, Workman hit a 2-run double and Sanchez a 2-run triple. 5-0 Raccoons. That was more than enough for Christopher Powell, who pitched a 3-hitter as the Raccoons won 6-0. A. White 2-4, BB; Workman 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Powell 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Powell needed only 88 pitches for his 8th shutout, the first of this season. He had 3-hit the Condors once before, on August 30, 1981. It also ended an awful streak of six games in which he had surrendered at least one home run, including two in each of hit last three starts. Fittingly, this highlight was achieved in his 250th major league start. Three weeks until the playoffs and Chris Powell is BACK!

The same day, the Canadiens were smothered 15-1 by the Aces, which ended an 8-game winning streak.

The last game of the series saw a 3-spot put on the Condors’ Mike Moore in the second. Logan Evans was wild again and walked five in six innings, but held on to a 3-1 lead. Dawson homered (#26) in the seventh for an extra run and the Raccoons won 4-2. A. White 2-4, BB; Workman 2-4; Thompson 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 1 – Salem 2B Ralph Nixon, 37, is out with a strained hamstring, probably until the end of the month. Nixon is batting .306 with the Wolves – a mark never achieved in three years in Portland.
September 2 – Another one down, as the Condors lose their third starter in less than two weeks, as Carlos Castro (7-12, 3.67 ERA) succumbs to a sore shoulder and is out for 1983.
September 2 – San Francisco’s Claudio Rojas brings his hitting streak to 25 games.
September 4 – A rotten season continues for SAC OF Larry Marshall, who is out for two weeks with a knee sprain. Injuries have limited him to 243 AB this season.
September 7 – Claudio Rojas keeps hitting, hitting a single in the seventh against the Thunder to bring his streak to 30 games.
September 9 – Season over for CIN INF Jeremiah Carrell (.320, 1 HR, 38 RBI), who is out with a strained hamstring. Plagued by injuries, he only got 256 AB this season.
September 10 – SFB SP Jose Gonzalez (10-13, 3.58 ERA) is out for the season with a strained hamstring, suffered in a 2-0 win over the Aces. In the same game, Claudio Rojas hits a first inning single to extend his hitting streak to 32 games.
September 10 – Falcons ace Juan “Mauler” Correa (16-10, 2.90 ERA) tops the Condors with a 3-hit shutout. The Falcons win 3-0.
September 13 – The Bayhawks beat the Knights 4-0 on a 4-hitter by Harvey Hardin, and Rojas hits two singles to get the streak to 35 games.
September 16 – Topeka’s George Lynch (.313, 6 HR, 71 RBI) is out for the season with a concussion.
September 16 – SFW SP Randy Rakes (6-10, 5.04 ERA) 2-hits the Blue Sox in a 6-0 win.
September 16 – Claudio Rojas goes 3-3 in a 1-0 win over the Loggers before being removed in a double switch, and his hitting streak soars to 38 games.
September 18 – Rojas singles twice in a 5-4 loss to Milwaukee. The Bayhawks infielder has now a hitting streak of 40 games to his credit.
September 19 – The Bayhawks lose SP Harry Petzinger for a full year due to a damaged elbow ligament. Petzinger went 14-9 with a 3.60 ERA in his rookie season.
September 19 – SFW RF Rafael Lopez (.303, 8 HR, 83 RBI) is out for the season with a bad ankle sprain. His son raced into him with a scooter.
September 19 – Rojas’ streak reaches 41 games with a single in a 5-2 win against the Indians.

Complaints and stuff

Nathan Bruce, our head scout, discovered a 20-yr old player in Panama. Dani Perez is a middle infielder with somewhat questionable defense, but his hitting looks much more promising. He is somewhat of a very raw diamond and will take a couple of years to be transformed into a piece worth considering for the major leagues.

By the way, with Mark Dawson breaking the 100-RBI barrier – no Raccoon has ever done that before. He shattered Ben Simon’s mark of 94 back in 1979.

I tried to negotiate a contract for 1984 with outfielder Chris Smith, but his demands are outright outrageous. He wants 3 years and $1.6M, which I can’t squeeze into the budget. It would have been hard to get in $200k. So, Smith is bound to become a free agent. He may be compensation eligible.

Logan Evans and Kinji Kan share the CL lead for wins with 17. Both have two more starts and could tie or surpass the Raccoons record that Christopher Powell set to 18 last year. Grant West leads the CL in saves with 43 now. Mark Dawson is two behind Las Vegas’ Chris Lynch in home runs. Logan Evans has won his last ten decisions, he is unbeaten for 16 straight starts.

We lead the Canadiens by six games (including our off day, where they made up their game behind) and the magic number is 7 now. We have another home stint against the Aces, Crusaders, and Titans. Then we will have to face the Canadiens in Vancouver.

The playoff races lack any excitement… of course everybody's still waiting for that collapse...