[Westheim]

Beware, long update coming, had countless hours to waste today.

Raccoons (38-28) vs. Loggers (20-45)

The Loggers ranked last in so many categories, offensively as defensively, it was impossible to list them all. While their pitching staff was terrible, they didn’t surrender a lot of home runs. This was a 3-game set to start a 6-game home stand (Crusaders coming in, too), before we’d hit the road making our way to July. And, yeah, the Raccoons carried an 8-game winning streak, while the Loggers had lost seven of nine (beating the Scorpions twice at home).

In the opener, both pitchers were perfect through three innings. An error by António Gonzalez in the top 4th was a signal that things were to go wrong now. Kisho Saito then nicked a batter and finally surrendered an RBI double. Now the Coons had to hit against Judd Montgomery – and couldn’t! Montgomery was perfect through 17 batters, then grazed Saito ever so slightly with a pitch. Hit batter, gone the perfecto, but the no-hitter was alive. Osanai was retired on a great play to end the seventh. Dawson led off the bottom 8th, and looped a ball over 2B Pepe Martinez, and it fell in. Gone the no-no. Dumont got on and Saito would have come up with two out, but we needed offense and he was on 111 pitches already. Quinn singled to right, and the slow-footed Dawson jogged around third against the powerful arm of RF Cristo Ramírez. Montgomery cut off the throw to get Dumont at third, and the game was tied. We pieced the ninth together with three relievers, then flipped back to the top of the order for the bottom 9th, but nobody got on. Osanai walked to start the bottom 10th and we rarely use pinch-runners, but here we did. O’Morrissey came in, made a move to second, and was thrown out. Dumont and Reader got on with one out in the bottom 11th. Johnston flew to deep left, but into an out. Higgins lined to center, but Dumont had to hold at third. Bases loaded, two out, Hall up, he went to a full count, then lined into right for a walkoff RBI single. 2-1 Coons! West earned the W, collecting the final out in the 11th. Quinn (PH) 1-1, RBI; Reader 1-1; Saito 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Martinez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

PHEW!! Montgomery almost threw us a curve here. More like a nasty splitter even. Thank goodness Saito was dealing, too. Nine wins in a row now!

Scott Wade auditioned for #13 in the middle game, but fell behind 1-0 in the top 1st. The Coons countered with two in the bottom 1st, and led 3-1 in the bottom 4th. Two on, one out, Wade came to bat. He twice missed the bunt to 0-2, then bunted to the left of the mound, and the Loggers threw the ball away, scoring a run instantly, and it became a 3-run inning eventually, and could have been more if Hall had not been retired on a really great snag by Jim Stein, who played second base. Wade struck out six in his outing, more than usual, but had problems with the left-handers again and surrendered two homers. He then struck out Santiago Rodriguez, which would have ended the sixth with a runner on base, but Vinson dropped and lost the ball and Rodriguez reached on the uncaught third strike. The Loggers now sent left-hander Adam Woodward to pinch-hit, and Wade was lifted, before more damage was done. Goodman retired him. The Coons led 8-4 so far, and Quinn homered in the bottom 6th to make it 9-4, and the Raccoons eventually won 11-4. Higgins 3-3, BB, 3B, RBI; Johnston 3-5, 3 RBI; Osanai 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Quinn 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Vinson 4-5, 2B, RBI; Dawson (PH) 1-1, RBI;

So, Wade is now 13-0, but his last few starts have not been as magnificient, and he’s been living off his offense a lot lately. He actually has the *worst* ERA in the rotation now. I’m also catching myself giving him a break like here in the sixth trying to preserve the streak. The good or achievements of the One should not take precedent over those of the Many.

Game 3, and the Coons had the bags full and nobody out in the bottom 2nd. Scott Murphy then struck out Dadswell, Quinn, and Berry to end the inning. Gonzalez made another costly error in the fourth, again causing a run to score, and Berry threw a wild pitch to score another one. Down 2-0, the Coons looked pretty much lost to a dominating Murphy. Down 3-0 in the seventh, Osanai drew a leadoff walk, and things got moving. Two more Coons got on and Osanai scored, bringing up Dadswell, who sent a huge looping double to the base of the center field wall. Gonzalez tried to score from first, the Loggers sought to get the out at home – SAFE!! And the game was tied. Johnston brought in Dadswell for a 4-3 lead. Berry had been pinch hit for, and the pen took over, and had one of those collapses. A pinch-hit 3-run homer by Emilion Román off Goodman (who had entered to face a lefty in the spot) turned the game around instantly again. Bottom 9th, Dadswell walked to start things off. Martin walked as well, and O’Morrissey singled up the middle. The winning runs were on, and nobody out – but they didn’t cash in. Only one run scored, and the winning streak ended, 6-5 Loggers. Dawson 2-3, BB, 2B; Martin 0-0, 2 BB; Berry 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; Martinez 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

And there were casualties. Bobby Quinn had left the game halfway through and was DTD with back spasms. Nate Goodman in turn complained about elbow soreness after the game, and it was bad enough that he had to hit the DL, but the minimum time should do. Still, our two least awful left-handed relievers (apart from Grant West) were now on the disabled list, and we put Travis Brown back on the 40-man roster and added him to the big league club in time for the next series against the New Yorkians.

Raccoons (40-29) vs. Crusaders (35-34)

The Raccoons never scored an earned run the entire first game of this series – but made the most of three errors the Crusaders made between the third and fourth innings, and scored four times there. Carlos Reyes was strong, scattering a few hits in shutout ball, and the bullpen held on without troubles. 4-0 Raccoons. Johnston 2-5, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-3, BB, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Dumont 2-3, BB; Reyes 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-2); Bentley 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Middle game, and this time the Raccoons made the errors and fell 3-0 behind early on. Turner was not bad, but not great, and was pinch hit for in the fifth, but Dumont grounded into a double play to end that inning with the Coons still down 3-1. Logan Evans came in to pitch in relief, his first outing since going out of the rotation, 13 days ago. He pitched three innings, walked four, and balked in a run in the sixth. The Coons would also score on a balk in the ninth, but by then it was too late for a comeback and they struck out twice to end the game after that. 4-2 Crusaders. Johnston 2-4, 2B, RBI; Dadswell (PH) 1-1, 3B; Martin 2-4, 2 2B;

Young exiled Cuban Hector Lara went for the Crusaders in the rubber game, and he was quite a break-in, with a 2.03 ERA through his first five starts. Lara fought with Saito tooth to nail, and the Furballs took a lead twice, but the Crusaders tied it back up right away both times. Bottom 6th, Dumont and Vinson got on. Saito failed to bunt, then took a 1-2 pitch into short right to load the bases with nobody out. Johnston singled up the middle (which left him a homer shy of the cycle at that point) for a run. Higgins grounded to force Vinson at home, before Daniel Hall GRAND SLAMMED to left and the party was on in the park! The inning continued with two more runs for seven in total and a 9-2 lead. Johnston led off the seventh and needed a deep one for the cycle, but his flyer to left missed the fence by at least 30 feet for a double. Saito pitched seven, he had gas to go, but he was already over 100 innings for the year and we didn’t want to burn him out more than necessary. The Raccoons won handily, 10-2. Johnston 4-5, 3B, 2 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5, HR, 5 RBI; Dumont 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Vinson 2-4; Saito 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-1), and 1-4;

This was our 100th win against the Crusaders all time, the last of the CL North team we reached that mark against.

Raccoons (42-30) @ Knights (40-32)

The Knights were in a 3-way tie for the CL South with the Condors and Bayhawks. We were looking at Asquabal, Sasaki, and Ryan to pitch, so our offense would be put to the test in the series, and the defense would be anyway. The Raccoons had scored 363 runs so far – the Knights were the only CL team to top them, with 365.

Carlos Asquabal was also the only CL pitcher with triple-digit K’s so far (105), and fanned five in the game, but trailed when he left after six. The Raccoons took a 3-0 lead in the early innings, but the many left-handers got to Scott Wade eventually. They manufactured a run in the fifth and of course Michael Root, who led the league in dingers, hit one off Wade, too, in the sixth. Wade went seven still 3-2 ahead, and Jackie Lagarde faced three lefties, Sakutaro Ine, Root, and Luis Barrera, in the eighth. That was a tough bunch, and I didn’t even trust Travis Brown to get *one* of them, let alone three. I also didn’t want to pitch Grant West for six outs here. So, Lagarde pitched to Ine, who grounded the first pitch to Gonzalez, who threw it away. BAM!! With Ine at second, Root was not pitched to. Barrera lined to Osanai for the first out. Lagarde punched out Shoichi Fujino, then walked Joreao Paulos. Bases loaded, the catcher Jack Jackson up. Lagarde struck him out. Bottom 9th, still up 3-2. Grant West walked Bob Goyer, then walked Eddy Bailey! Panic mode! The next play forced Goyer at third, but now Ine was back up, but West matched that part of the lineup. Ine grounded to the mound, and West threw to second for the out. Antonio Gonzalez collided with runner Mario Rodriguez and had to leave the game. Still an out to collect and Root up. Second base was open and Root was put on to go after Barrera. West went to 0-2 on Barrera, who made contact on the third pitch, a zipper to Higgins, picked, thrown, OUT!! WHOAH!! 3-2 Raccoons!! Hall 2-4, BB; Osanai 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (14-0);

Gonzalez might hit .320-something, but his defense enrages me! He’s made four errors in the last week! Well, to add injury to insult, his collision at second base hurt him, and he will be out for a month with an intercostal strain. For the moment, Carlos Miranda was called up.

Game 2 was lots of zeros to start between Berry and Kiyohira Sasaki. Reader hit an RBI double in the top 5th to break up the offensive drought, but then made an error in the bottom 5th that got the Knights started. With two down and three on, and the game 1-1 tied, Berry faced Root – and walked him. Dawson tied the game with a solo shot in the top 7th, but it got away again in the bottom 7th. Berry went eight, still, then had to watch the top 9th from the outside. Johnston doubled to put the tying run 180 feet away with nobody out. Reader intended to bunt him to third, but the Knights couldn’t come up with it and everybody was safe. Dadswell grounded out. Dumont popped out in Berry’s spot. Higgins flew out to Root. Raccoons lost, 3-2. Johnston 2-4, 2B; Reader 3-4, 2B, RBI;

So far, the two best teams in the CL in scoring runs hadn’t scored many runs in the series. Maybe in the rubber match?

Up 2-0, Reyes ran into trouble in the bottom 3rd with a leadoff single by pitcher Glenn Ryan, then another single by ageless hit machine Eddy Bailey. Reyes then had two in scoring position with one out and that left-handed battery up. Ine scored Ryan with a sac fly. Root was put on intentionally, and Barrera was nicked, before the Coons got the final out with a grounder to Higgins. Bottom 5th, a 3-1 lead for the Raccoons, but the Knights ate Reyes up now. Fujino tied the game with two out. Jackson was put on to get to Ryan, who was 2-2 on the day, so what were the chances? He hit a 2-run double over Johnston in center, and Reyes was toasted. The Coons had the bases loaded in the seventh, but only scored once and stayed 5-4 behind. Martinez was beated in the eighth and the Raccoons lost 7-4. Dumont 3-3, BB, 2B; Dadswell 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Martin (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Wow, what a devastating offense, especially if you are armed only with right-handers and a dull peach in Travis Brown. The Furballs clawed as deep into their flesh as possible, but it wasn’t enough to win the series.

Raccoons (43-32) @ Thunder (36-39)

The opener saw the Thunder lead off with a bunt base hit by Mr. Obnoxious, Jeff Wagner, but it was the Raccoons to commit crimes in the second, beating up starter Domingo León. Six hits, six runs, scored in pairs with homers by O’Morrissey and Hall and a double by Johnston. Once Sam Dadswell hit a 3-run home run in the fifth, the rout was on. Jason Turner was strong, keeping the damage to a minimum in eight frames of work. The Raccoons pounced on the Thunder, and won 13-1. Johnston 2-6, 2B, 4 RBI; Higgins 2-6, 3B; Osanai 2-5, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Dadswell 4-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Reader 3-5, 2B; Turner 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (6-3);

The Coons now united the best record in the Continental League with the best offense and the best defense, all in one hand.

We scored two in the top 1st in the middle game, but two line drives into the wrong spots tied the game again in the bottom 2nd with Saito pitching. Osanai homered in the third, 3-2. The Thunder tried to keep their bullpen right back where they were, in the pen, but starter Vicente Torres was erratic, walking seven in the game, and was dissected in the sixth, where the Raccoons scored seven. They followed that up with a seventh inning where they had both a 3-run triple by Tetsu Osanai and a 3-run homer by Daniel Dumont. The Raccoons destroyed the Thunder to the tune of 16 runs, and this was masking pretty well that the pitching staff was lit up in the game. Saito went six and allowed four runs, and the bullpen delivered one of it’s trademark spills in a 6-run bottom 9th on Campbell and Bentley. The Raccoons still won, 16-10. Johnston 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, RBI; Osanai 3-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 6 RBI; Dawson 0-1, 4 BB, RBI; Dumont 3-5, HR, 3B, 5 RBI; Reader 2-5, RBI;

Tetsu Osanai missed the cycle by a single. Daniel Dumont missed the cycle by a double. We now have 401 runs in 77 games. The 1981 Raccoons scored 519 runs the entire season!

Game 3. Both teams didn’t get a hit until the third. The Raccoons got moving in the fourth, loading the bags with nobody out. Dawson’s sac fly got a run onto the board, and they kept hitting, and aided by two Oklahoma City errors, put up another 6-spot. And the Thunder just could not catch a break. Scott Wade walked the leadoff man in the bottom 5th. C Kyle Douglas sent a liner up the middle and Higgins CAUGHT it – and punched out the runner coming from first. The Thunder were boiling with frustration, and visibly so. When Wade struck out Adam Warren to end the seventh inning, Warren barked at the home plate umpire and was tossed. Wade went into the ninth, got the first out, before Tom Nicks had a hit. The next batter, Dave Browne, popped to second, and Higgins dropped the ball, and Wade balked in Nicks before throwing another pitch, getting him out before he could complete a shutout. Grant West surrendered two hits for two more runs to score, but the Raccoons won, 6-3. Higgins 2-5, RBI; Hall 2-5; Dadswell 3-3, BB; Wade 8.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (15-0) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Wade is 15-0!! Unbelievable!!

Raccoons (46-32) @ Titans (39-40)

A 4-game set was to end that road trip. Right now, everybody but the Loggers was either 7.0 or 7.5 games behind the Coons.

Tetsu Osanai took care of getting the team a good start. When Johnston tripled to start the game, Higgins and Hall both struck out, but Osanai singled for the runner to score, and drove in another run in the third. That was already all the offense! Osanai was never retired, Berry went eight innings, and West closed it. 2-0 Raccoons. Osanai 2-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Berry 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (2-4);

Kinji Kan was up in game #2, and kept puzzling the Raccoons as he had done so often before. The Titans scored a run in the second, and the Coons twice left the tying run on third in the next few innings, before finally breaking through in the sixth. Hall walked, Osanai singled, Dawson doubled, and the game was tied, and nobody out. The Raccoons batted round the horn, plating five in the inning, also knocking out Kan. Everything then went to hell in the eighth. Reyes allowed another run, 5-2, and was removed. Brown came in to face lefties, two of two reached base. Lagarde entered to help out, but was tripled off by Alejandro Espinoza. Lagarde looked grim, shoveled himself a trench to fight out of, and struck out the next two guys to escape with a 5-4 lead. The Coons had two on in the ninth, but managed to blow the chance with poor baserunning on a hit and run that got Osanai nailed at second, while Dawson struck out. The Titans had all-right-handers up for the ninth, and West had pitched the last two days – Lagarde remained in the game, and retired the side! 5-4 Raccoons! Johnston 1-2, 3 BB, 2B; Osanai 2-4, BB; Miranda 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Reyes 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7-3) and 1-3, 2B, RBI; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (2);

Here we made a move with the left-handers in the Titans lineup killing us again. Logan Evans got the start for game 3, while Kisho Saito remained slotted in for game 4. Turner would pitch again once back home.

Although the Titans lost slugger Hjalmar Flygt in the first inning of game 3 when he slid into second base awkwardly, they still scored a run off Evans, who was erratic and not really a big help in any endeavor. The Coons had to help him with offense, and put up a 4-spot in the top 2nd. In the third, they put three men on, then struck out thrice. In turn, the Titans tied the game in the fourth. Evans remained a wreck. Osanai homered in the top 5th, and when Evans put two on in the bottom 5th, he was yanked. Martinez got the final out in the inning, a harmless bouncer to Higgins. The Titans tied the game, still, in the eighth off Campbell, then had the winning run on third in the ninth inning, but were retired by Higgins on a great play. Extra innings, and Johnston had the day off, but came in to pinch hit in the 11th, sending a 1-out double into deep left, and Dumont scored him. West entered for the bottom 11th – but was defeated. Manny Mora hit a 2-run walkoff home run for the Titans, with two down. 7-6 Titans. Dumont 2-6, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-1, 2B; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Jeff Martin, who had not seen much use recently, played center in the fourth game, and was drilled his first two times at the plate. The Coons broke up a scoring drought in the fourth with a sac fly by David Vinson. The Coons weren’t able to muster more offense, and it cost Kisho Saito in the bottom 7th, where a million little things went wrong. An infield hit was followed by Vinson throwing wildly into center on a stealing attempt. Doug Belding singled to left to tie the game, and a pinch runner stole second, before the Coons could get out. But the nice thing about these 1989 Raccoons was their ability to come back, and again, and again. Bobby Quinn homered for two runs in the top 8th. Saito left there, being pinch hit for, and the pen had to take over. And the pen was a mess. Campbell put the only two batters he faced on with singles. Martinez came in, and Mashwanis hit an infield single. Martinez recollected himself with the bags full and nobody out. He punched out Kelly Carpenter. Shotaro Ono lined to right, but Osanai got the glove on it and got to first before Mashwanis did for the third out. Phew! West entered again in the ninth, and the first batter reached on an error by Miranda. Here we go ag- no, West sat down the next three. 3-1 Coons! Quinn 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-3, 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (10-1); Martinez 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 16 – NAS Carlos Lopez (8-3, 3.16 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 5-0 shutout.
June 17 – SFB LF Diego Rodriguez (.324, 0 HR, 25 RBI) hits a single in a 4-1 loss to Atlanta, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.
June 19 – The Knights deal OF Seitaro Ogawa (.235, 11 HR, 39 RBI) to Vancouver for MR Gary Simmons (1-2, 3.91 ERA, 1 SV) and prospect CL Brian Morris. Simmons (the ex-Coon) was with the Knights until last year and signed with the Canadiens as a free agent before the season. Ogawa was with the Canadiens before, from 1983 to 1985.
June 20 – NO-HITTER!! SFB Rafael Espinoza (6-5, 3.52 ERA) dominates the Falcons the entire day, and allows only three walks and no hits in a 3-0 win of his Bayhawks! It is the 10th no-hitter in ABL history, the first for the Bayhawks, the first against the Falcons, the second this year, and the fifth no-hitter ever in June (50%).
June 23 – Diego Rodriguez goes 0-4 against the Crusaders and his hitting streak ends at 24 games.
June 26 – The Falcons send SP Julio Rodriguez (4-6, 4.33 ERA) and MR Armando Dávila (3.94 ERA in 31 G) to the Capitals in exchange for 1B Jose Madrid (.354, 4 HR, 37 RBI in platoon use), backup catcher Alejandro Moreno (11-39 with 3 RBI) and two minor leaguers.
June 26 – The Scorpions are 2-hit by PIT Jose Galvez (4-7, 3.93 ERA) in a blowout win for Pittsburgh, 10-0.
June 27 – LVA INF Lowell Allen (.342, 1 HR, 24 RBI) suffered a torn labrum and is out for the season.

Complaints and stuff

Tetsu Osanai was the CL Hitter of the Month of June 1989, putting up an impressive .385, 5 HR, 25 RBI mark. He also was Player of the Week for the week flipping June into July with a 13-27, 2 HR, 10 RBI week.

1B Billy Mitchell was the FL Rookie of the Month with the Capitals, being traded over to there this winter from Portland.

We haven’t used either Quinn or Martin a lot in the outfield recently. I’m also trying to give O’Morrissey regular playing time at third. The second base experiment is dead – you can do that if you’re in fifth place. But somehow (I don’t know how) this team has clicked. In fact, we’ll be buyers at the deadline in four weeks. We need help in the bullpen, since our semi-reliable left-handers were all on the disabled list. And Brown … well, nobody wanted him, and they all had reasons. Brown will be sent to AAA again to start the home week before the All Star game, with Nate Goodman returning from the DL, but he has had his moments, too.

Our rotation has been electric, to say the least. And how about Wade? Still unbeaten!!

The Raccoons have been 11 games over .500 in June, repeating a feat achieved in May. By the way, we’re pulling this run off with the seventh-smallest budget in the sport.