[Westheim]

Raccoons (61-59) @ Indians (55-66)

So far this season, the Furballs were 4-7 against the Indians, largely puzzled and mostly clueless how to solve their pitching, scoring more than three runs in only two of the contests.

Christopher Powell was up first and surrendered three home runs – IN THE FIRST INNING. Oh, what to do with him? I’m getting shivers by imagining that we will have to play him at least another season. He added a fourth long ball in the third inning, up into which the Raccoons hadn’t even touched first base – not even Osanai. All nine outs made by Powell had been K’s or flyballs. In fact, Powell didn’t pitch for an out at first until the SIXTH. But Hall, Lucero, and Gonzalez all got their workouts. Daniel Hall also unloaded a 2-piece in the fourth to break up the drought. For some time, that was the Coons’ only hit. They finished with four hits in a 5-2 loss. Osanai 2-4;

That evening, we called up SP Scott Wade at the expense of MR Gilberto Soto. Our 1983 first round pick, sixth overall, out of Notre Dame (there’s ONE college, whose name I recognize!), would not pitch the next day’s game, though, since he wasn’t fully rested. That start went to Moran, with Wade being slotted in for game 3, giving all starters some extra breathing time. Equipped with a nasty slider, Wade was to make opponents fear his turn in the rotation. That was the plan at least.

Moran leaned back and enjoyed to start his game. The Coons led off with singles by Thompson and Gonzalez. Hall walked. Osanai went deep for a grand slam. Starter Chris Gardner was torn up quickly, with Thompson, Gonzalez, and Hall again loading the bases with nobody out in the second. Osanai forced a walk this time. That was all they scored in the second since Gonzalez managed to get thrown out on a sac fly. Then the Coons stopped hitting completely. A Castillo error scored two for the Indians in the bottom 6th to cut into the 5-0 lead. Ricardo Gonzalez restored breathing room with a 2-run homer in the eighth and the Raccoons won 7-3 behind Moran, who went 6.2 innings. Thompson 2-4, BB; R. Gonzalez 4-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 1-2, 3 BB; Osanai 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 5 RBI;

Then came Scott “Gobbler” Wade’s big day, the day he had worked for all his life (well, most of it), it was August 18, 1985 in Indianapolis, against Joe Brown (11-10, 2.45 ERA). Wade was glowing with enthusiasm, coming off an 11-game stretch in AAA, where he had surrendered more than two earned runs only twice (yet had gone 3-3 due to bad run support), and the baseball world, with 12,962 fans at the park and Raccoons management in particular, was watching him.

They saw one pitcher getting shelled for five home runs, seven runs in total, over the course of just over six innings. That pitcher’s team didn’t do anything at the plate, kept in check by the opposing pitcher.

The 12,962 fans were dismayed, the Raccoons management opened a good bottle of champagne after the game, for the pitcher getting torn up was Brown, and Wade pitched seven in his debut, allowing a single run after two infield singles in the fifth. All Raccoons starters had at least one hit. R. Gonzalez 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-5; Dadswell 2-5; Sanchez 3-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Green 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Walker 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Weber (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0); Grant West pitched a 6-pitch ninth inning in the 13-2 blowout.

ALL CELEBRATE, WE HAVE A PITCHER!!

Raccoons (63-60) vs. Titans (64-61)

The Titans had torn up the Raccoons so far this season, going 9-3 against them, and they were on a roll, winning eight straight games going into the series. Uh-oh.

Kisho Saito (7-14, 3.05 ERA) and Kinji Kan (5-13, 4.30 ERA) matched up to open the series. The Raccoons didn’t get a hit of 1983 Pitcher of the Year and 1984 Bust of the Year Kan until the fifth inning, when Green singled on a hit-and-run with Sanchez on first. Steve Walker’s double play grounder was flubbed by Barry Miller and Sanchez scored. The game was still 1-0 Coons in the top 7th, with one out and Barry Miller on second. Kan came to the plate and made a really bad bunt right to Saito, who made it into an out at third. Saito was forced out of the game in the eighth after a double by catcher Carlos Gonsales. Cunningham came in to face slugger Isto Grönholm, and although first base was open, pitched to him (I hate putting the winning run on base). He struck him out on three pitches, but Juan Valentín singled to right and the game was tied with two out in the eighth. The game ended up going to overtime. Steve Walker led off the bottom 10th with a walk and was bunted over by Bentley. Walker made third on a passed ball to Gonsales on the 0-0 pitch to Thompson, who was then put on intentionally. The Coons filled the bag with a walk to Hall, but Osanai rolled out to miss the chance and end the inning. Bottom 11th: Dadswell drilled one over the head of CF Ryan Dickerson for a leadoff triple. He did not score. The 13th: 1-out double by Dadswell, followed by a Sanchez single, which brought up Wally Gaston, who was removed for Gustavo Flores to pinch-hit. He struck out. Raccoons management gazed in disbelief. Steve Walker came up, fighting against a cold streak. SINGLE TO RIGHT!! The Coons FINALLY walked off, 2-1 in the 13th. R. Gonzalez 2-6; Hall 2-5, BB; Dadswell 2-5, 3B, 2B;

Mark Dawson came off the DL for game 2, and was actually inserted to play third instead of Green or Miranda.

Seven shutout innings by Vicente Ruíz alone weren’t enough for him to get in line for a W in the middle game – he needed to drive in the go-ahead run himself in the bottom 5th, part of a 2-run inning. Lucero homered in the sixth to make it 3-0. Once Ruíz was out of the game, the dam broke. White, Bentley, and Cunningham combined for two runs and the bags full in the eighth. Grant West escaped with a mile high pop out to Lucero in center, but the Titans pushed the tying run over the plate with two out in the ninth. Bottom 9th: Lucero struck out, while Sanchez doubled in the pitcher’s spot. Thompson walked and both ran in a run-and-hit, with Walker at the plate – and Steve missed the call and looked proficiently, but completely out of place at a fastball! Fortunately, defense was not Carlos Gonsales’ strongest suit and Sanchez was safe at third in what became a double steal. Now, Walker had a 1-0 count, one out and runners in scoring position. Come on, Steve, be a hero! He couldn’t, because they walked him. Osanai grounded into a double play. Moran lost it in the 11th, 4-3 Titans. Thompson 3-4, BB, RBI; Lucero 3-5, HR, RBI; Sanchez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Ruíz 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

Of course the Raccoons found a way to lose the series – in the most awful fashion. They left FOURTEEN runners on base in the rubber game, scoring only three in the eighth, when it was way too late. Evans had surrendered three runs (one unearned) and the pen had been broken up after that. Titans won, 7-3. The only inning the Raccoons did not reach base was the ninth. Dadswell 2-5;

Raccoons (64-62) vs. Knights (72-54)

A destitute collection of super-sized rodents against the leaders of the CL South and their glowing red offense, which had already scored 685 runs through 126 games (5.43 R/G), painting the Raccoons’ 519 (4.12 R/G) a cold, lifeless white in comparison – this was to end badly. And the Knights had yet to lose against those rodents this season.

Good news: Powell did not surrender a single home run. Bad news: he still took the loss. Kyle Owens, 39, annihilated the Raccoons in solitary style, holding them to five hits through eight innings, and going 3-3 at the plate against Powell. The Knights won 4-1, with the Coons run unearned, across with two out in the ninth on an error. Hall 2-4; Osanai 2-4; all six hits were singles…

A balk scored the go-ahead run for the Raccoons in the first inning of game 2. Wade no-hit the Knights through three, then was bashed for three in the fourth. Sanchez’ 2-run shot in the bottom 4th tied the game again, but Wade quickly gave it away again. Bentley was raped some more in the ninth. In Tetsu Osanai, 0-4 on the day, the tying run came to the plate with two out in the bottom 9th. He hobbled out to second. 7-4 Knights. Thompson 2-5; Hall 3-5, RBI; Sanchez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Green (PH) 1-2;

Things didn’t improve an inch in the last game. Saito took loss #15 as the Raccoons were unable to mount any offense and their pitchers were slugged into submission. They lost 5-2. Osanai 2-4; Hall 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

Atlanta 9. Portland 0.

In other news

August 20 – CHA William Williams (5-5, 3.52 ERA) shines in a 1-hitter over the Aces, while the Falcons’ offense takes care to produce an 11-0 blowout.
August 21 – Nashville’s Jack Pennington (15-8, 2.07 ERA) at age 35 still has it, and 3-hits the Rebels in a 3-0 win.
August 21 – Pittsburgh also sees a 3-hitter, by David Burke (17-6, 2.27 ERA) in a 2-0 win over Topeka.
August 25 – The Falcons’ Gilbert Dougan (.292, 14 HR, 67 RBI) is out with a shoulder injury and could miss the rest of the season.

Complaints and stuff

The original goal was to win 85 to 90 games and take second place in the division. At the start of play in Indy, they held second place (by a half game), yet the upper end of the win range was safely out of reach already, requiring .700+ play down the stretch.

With this latest stretch, they have sufficiently blown every chance at second place, too. They will also not finish with a winning record AGAIN. No offense, 2.5 R/G over the last two series. Even before that, it was spotty. The week before they had 5.83 R/G, but still lost three games with two, one, and no runs scored, respectively. The week before that? 4.14 R/G, reached only on 11 on the Scorpions in the last game of that series. They never had more than four in any other game that week.

Offense. Has always been the bane, will always be. That, and pitching.

This might explain why they are 153 below .500 for their existence.

Quiz: when was the last time the Coons went 0-9 against a CL South team? And the last time they went 9-0 against them?