[Westheim]

This upcoming week will also see the amateur draft being held on Saturday. I hate that, it chops up the current series so badly …

Raccoons (37-23) @ Stars (24-38) – June 10-12, 1996

What was going on in Dallas? While their offense was not thrilling, their pitching was abysmal. Their rotation ranked 10th in the FL, and their bullpen was just a bad excuse, racking up an ERA of almost SIX at this point. They were clearly in a boat load of trouble. They also had lost six in a row. Would the Raccoons cash in?

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (4-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. Judd Montgomery (6-4, 4.06 ERA)
Antonio Donis (7-2, 4.19 ERA) vs. Chang-bum O (1-2, 6.75 ERA)
Jose Rivera (3-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Manny Ramos (3-5, 4.61 ERA)

The southpaw Chang-bum O had once been very high on our list for the draft, but the Stars had snatched him away before we got to picking. That was in 1992. Who was our top pick in that amateur draft then? Luke Newton.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Green – SS Salazar – C Vinson – P Wade
DAL: SS Lowe – CF Allison – RF Hino – 1B Woods – 3B C. Gonzalez – C James – LF Monnier – 2B E. Lopez – P Montgomery

The Raccoons made a case for grabbing the record of leaving the most players on third base in a game, doing so in the first, third, and fifth innings, not exactly supporting Scott Wade, who was overmatched by the Stars lineup. Moromao Hino homered off him in the bottom 1st, and the Stars added another run in the fourth. While the Raccoons scored one run with doubles by Vinson and Brewer in the top 5th, Brewer was one of those left on third base, getting there with one out. Top 6th, O-Mo led off with a double and went to third when Green grounded out. Salazar grounded to right – and it went through, FINALLY! Wade also settled into a rhythm in the middle innings and went seven frames, pitching around a 1-out double by Mark Ball in the seventh. Ball had replaced Enrico Lopez, who had gone down to an injury in the first inning. The Raccoons failed to generate offense, leaving Brewer on third base once more in the ninth inning, as Neil Reece went 0-5. Andres Otero put the first two batters on in the bottom 9th, but somehow the Stars groundballed themselves out of the chance to have an easy walkoff, and we went into overtime. Nothing happened for three innings, before Wedemeyer led off the top 13th with a solo home run off ex-Coon Toru Fujita. And the Japanese was about to collapse, walking the bases full. The Stars bullpen didn’t have much left, and so Fujita continued, struck out Vinson, struck out Buell, and Brewer lobbed out to center. Oh my god. Tzu-jao Ban was brought in to save the 3-2 game, struck out Hino, and got out with two groundouts to Brewer despite a walk to Cesar Gonzalez. 3-2 Raccoons. Brewer 2-6, BB, 2B, RBI; Kinnear 3-5; Wedemeyer 2-6, HR, RBI; Salazar 2-5, BB, RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; Burnett 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Miller 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (1-3);

Can’t remember Toru Fujita? That’s not so bad. He made one start for the Raccoons in 1989, allowing five runs (all earned) in four innings. He was a part in the deal with the Buffaloes that brought Bob Arnold to Portland for the first time in July 1990.

The home run was Wedemeyer’s 14th on the year, which has him one off the ABL-leading 15 of Raúl Vázquez of the Rebels. It was his 86th career shot, moving him to 2nd on the list of active Raccoons, past Neil Reece, who went 0-6 to continue his current horrid slump. Who leads all current Raccoons in home runs? Royce Green, with 99. GO ROYCE!!

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Buell – CF Newton – SS Ingall – C Kondo – P Donis
DAL: CF D. Rodriguez – LF Allison – RF Hino – 1B Woods – C James – SS Lowe – 2B C. Gonzalez – 3B Ball – P O

GO ROYCE didn’t take long to show results, as Green hit his 100th career dinger in the first inning off Chang-bum O. It counted for two, collecting Brewer, and O was taken out in the first inning with an apparent injury. Youngster Donis dominated the Stars as long as he could, and his breath was only enough for six innings in a 3-1 game, but in those he struck out TEN, but 100 pitches were very much his ceiling. The Raccoons tacked on a pair when Wedemeyer hit a shot that, if we had played in Portland, would have gone over Mount Hood with little effort, in the top 7th, 5-1. Up 6-1 in the bottom 9th and with two left-handers coming up, I was brave enough to enter Tim Mallandain to pitch. To anybody’s surprise, he got through the inning, and even struck out the two left-handers. 6-1 Raccoons. Brewer 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Green 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Donis 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, W (8-2) and 1-1;

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – SS Salazar – C Vinson – P J. Rivera
DAL: SS Lowe – CF Allison – RF Hino – 1B Woods – 3B C. Gonzalez – LF Monnier – C J. Gomes – 2B Ball – P Ramos

Rivera was perfect through three innings, while also bringing in the go-ahead run in the top 3rd on a double play groundout, so he was not credited with an RBI. Hino would hit a single in the fourth, breaking up any no-hit bid that might have developed in due time. Neil Reece, in the middle of a cancerous 5-41 slide, had some luck with an infield single in the top 5th which got the inning along, and David Vinson then hit a big 3-run home run. The next time Reece came up, the Stars’ Manny Ramos had just made a terrible throwing error past Mac Woods that put Wedemeyer and O’Morrissey in scoring position with two out. Neil Reece tattooed a 3-run homer of his own, 7-0!! Rivera was dominating the Stars with a 2-hit shutout through six, then suddenly was battered with back-to-back solo home runs by Moromao Hino and Mac Woods in the seventh. Rivera went into the ninth, but was brought in with a 1-out walk to Hino. Miller came in and walked PH Diego Rodriguez, and Cesar Gonzalez was safe when Salazar made a bad throw. Sakutaro Ine then grounded into a double play, game over. 10-2 Furballs. Reece 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Vinson 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Rivera 8.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (4-0) and 1-4;

Slump over? I sure hope so for Neil Reece. Also, Vinson needs to bat higher in the order. And, after winning nine, losing seven, we have now won six again. I am puzzled. At no point have I fudged up more or less than usual with mismanagement of players.

Also, the Loggers got themselves swept in Richmond, which cut their lead from 4.5 to 1.5 games. At least other teams pull boners, too.

Free agent signing

Once again, we have a lot of outfielders down with injuries in the minors (including Jeff Martin and Joe Lacombe), and we reached out to OF Scott Strong, 32. The Thunder took the left-hander eighth overall in the 1986 draft and he debuted that same September. He was a force with an .800 OPS for his first five full major league seasons, but was lost in translations the last two years, only appearing as backup for the Capitals in 1994 and the Buffaloes in 1995. He batted .172 last season. He was assigned to AAA.

The main reason while I am diving into the outcasts pool is that Stephen Buell is a very bad backup to what we have. You can play either him OR Kinnear, but not both without taking a hit defensively. I am looking for a better backup. I would have called up Joe Lacombe, but he got hurt just in time, and now we have Strong, for whom I tried to trade once, I think, but nothing came of that.

Raccoons (40-23) vs. Crusaders (27-38) – June 13-16, 1996

Little offense, little pitching, with their rotation being of the biggest concern, ranking 11th in the CL. The Crusaders were the cellar children of the CL North for 15 years now, and they would not stop lingering down there. But remember that this is only our second series this year. How did the first 3-game set end? New York swept us.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (8-3, 3.59 ERA) vs. David Ramirez (3-5, 4.06 ERA)
Jason Turner (4-3, 3.45 ERA) vs. Dan Barnes (3-5, 5.03 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-5, 3.44 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (8-5, 4.17 ERA)
Antonio Donis (8-2, 3.95 ERA) vs. David Castillo (0-1, 4.42 ERA)

Those were two left-handers, then two right-handers, giving ample opportunity to rest players. Liam Wedemeyer would rest in game 1, David Brewer would sit out the second game, Royce Green the third, and Neil Reece had already sat out, as well as Kinnear. O-Mo might get a break in game 4.

Game 1
NYC: 2B Lammond – SS R. Rodriguez – C Melendez – CF Diéguez – 3B Wilson – RF P. Jenkins – LF C. Clark – 1B M. Williams – P D. Ramirez
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Green – C Vinson – CF Reece – LF Buell – SS Ingall – 1B Higgins – P Saito

The Crusaders hit four singles off Kisho Saito for two runs in the first inning, so we were reeling right away, but then came back in the bottom 1st to hit David Ramirez for five singles, and three runs! However, the Crusaders had their way with Saito, tying the game in the top 2nd, and this would not be a pretty game for any of the pitchers. Royce Green took to Ramirez with a 2-out, 2-run home run in the bottom 2nd, putting us up 5-3. For the moment, Ramirez had the more horrible day. With two out in the bottom 3rd, the Coons had a pair on, and Saito at the plate. Ramirez got him to 3-2, but then Saito made contact and rushed a single through between Larry Wilson and Raúl Rodriguez. Stephen Buell, in motion from second base, scored easily, 6-3, and Ramirez went for an early shower. Saito went through six with an 8-3 lead, but Haywood Lammond singled to start the seventh and Otero came in to replace Saito. Otero allowed Lammond to score, adding that run to Saito’s ledger, too, and we were up by four. Mallandain and Martinez both put on runners to start the top 9th, but Tzu-jao Ban came in and retired the next three batters. 8-4 Furballs. Brewer 2-4, BB, RBI; Green 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Buell 3-4, 2 2B;

That’s nine for Kisho and seven in a row for the team. Since the Loggers were off today, we moved to within one game. That game is actually two wins the Loggers have on us, as we both tie with the Miners and Warriors for the least losses.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Wilson – SS R. Rodriguez – RF A. Johnson – LF P. Jenkins – 1B Rigg – CF Cobb – C F. Gonzales – 2B Lammond – P Barnes
POR: LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – C Vinson – SS Salazar – 2B Higgins – P Turner

Like the day before, the Coons were up 3-2 after the first. Steve Cobb had driven in a pair off Turner in the top 1st, but we got three runs back immediately, two driven in by Green and one by Reece. However, Jason Turner had nothing. He loaded the bags again in the top 2nd, including an error by himself, and then surrendered a 2-out grand slam to Pat Jenkins. But Dan Barnes also came apart hard, issuing three walks in a row in the bottom 3rd with Wedemeyer already on base, and Higgins then singled to left. Any runner other than Vinson would have scored from second base, but this way the score was 6-5 Crusaders and the bags full with one out. Turner was hit for with Brewer, who grounded out, but the tying run came in. Three innings down, the score was 6-6 and both starters gone. De La Rosa was put into the game, hoping for three, maybe four innings, and he delivered three shutout innings, striking out four, but looked pretty used up after that. He also was due to lead off the bottom 6th, so was hit for. The score was still 6-6. We didn’t get a lot done against the Crusaders’ pen until Royce Green hit a leadoff double in the bottom 7th. Wedemeyer came up and hit a huge ball that JUST missed the wall for an RBI double and he would score on a 2-out single by Higgins, 8-6. Top 9th. I wanted to stay away from Ban here and with two lefties leading off, Burnett came out, and while he struck out Avery Johnson, he then walked Jenkins. Ban DID come out, got Ed Rigg to 0-2, then hit him. Uh-oh. Mark Berry came out to pinch-hit, but popped out. That brought up Fernando Gonzales. The Crusaders’ catchers hit a huge shot to dead center in a 1-1 count, Reece after it, he’s not gonna get it, he’s not gonna get, HE’S GOT IT!!!!! 8-6 Raccoons!!! O’Morrissey 3-5, 3 2B; Green 3-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 3-3, BB, 2 RBI; De La Rosa 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

Royce Green reached 50 RBI in this game. For the season, that is.

Eight in a row! Who is ever gonna stop us!?

Game 3
NYC: 3B Wilson – CF C. Clark – RF A. Johnson – LF P. Jenkins – C Melendez – 1B Rigg – SS R. Rodriguez – 2B Lammond – P Sandoval
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – SS Salazar – RF Newton – P Wade

The Raccoons took an early lead on Wedemeyer’s 16th egg of the year, 2-0, in the first, and were up 3-0 after three. Wade had set down all nine batters he faced. Then the ground opened in the fourth. Starting with an error by Wedemeyer, neither Wade nor the Raccoons did get anything done. Six hits and a Brewer error later, the inning was still not over, but the Crusaders led 5-3. Burnett replaced Wade and got Clement Clark to ground out for the final out. Ugly. That was really ugly. Three runs were earned. Burnett also did the fifth, in the bottom of which Newton led off with a double. Ingall hit for Burnett, but made an out, but the Brewer hit a 1-out triple and we were one base from tying the game. Kinnear singled up the middle, and one again the game was tied and two butchered pitchers had been dragged out on their ankles, leaving puddles of blood on the grass. And a few intestines. We were running out of bullpen here, and needed two innings at least from Daniel Miller. He was going easy, until an error by Salazar put Clark on, and right the next batter, Avery Johnson, homered to right. The Crusaders loaded the bags, before Lammond grounded out to end the inning. With the offense not even getting on base apart from O-Mo reaching on an error in the eighth, this one (and the streak) were getting away. Facing closer Jared Chaney, Newton made the first out in the bottom 9th before Buell drew a walk. Chaney hit Brewer with a 2-2 pitch, and Royce Green pinch-hit for Mallandain in the #2 hole. He flew to deep center, but into an out, bringing up Neil Reece as the last man standing. He connected on the 2-1 pitch, shot a liner over Ed Rigg at first, and the thing fell in and bounced around the corner. Brewer ran the 270 ft dash of his life, came around third and into home, and HE’S SAFE!! NEIL REECE TIES THE GAME!! However, Wedemeyer struck out and thus we went to extra innings with a bullpen full of zombies. Otero was the last remotely fresh guy, with Ban and Martinez tired, and De La Rosa outright unavailable. Otero put down the first two in the 10th, before Neil Reece dropped Lammond fly ball of the harmless sort. Steve Cobb drove home Lammond, and we trailed again. The Crusaders brought in Pedro Mendoza in the bottom 10th, and he started with a walk to O-Mo, and a walk to Vinson. Kondo hit for Salazar for a right-handed bat, but lined out. Newton made an out, before Buell reached with an infield single. Brewer had to do it, but flew out. 8-7 Crusaders. Brewer 3-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Kinnear 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Buell (PH) 1-2, BB; Burnett 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Mallandain 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

FOUR ERRORS!! FOUR ERRORS!! That gives everybody special punishment sessions!!

FOUR ERRORS!! (rages)

By the recent track record they will now lose six more. Best thing is, we will now take a bombed out bullpen into Donis’ start, so this will be fun.

Actually, it wouldn’t be fun. So we made a move over night, and put Stephen Buell and Pancho Padilla on the first planes in the morning, adding a 13th arm to our bullpen just to survive the next few days, while praying for a long outing by Jose Rivera in the series opener in Boston coming up. After that series we would have an off day, finally, after 16 straight games.

Game 4
NYC: 2B Lammond – SS R. Rodriguez – LF A. Johnson – CF Diéguez – 3B Wilson – RF C. Clark – C F. Gonzales – 1B J. Vega – P Castillo
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – C Vinson – SS Salazar – 3B Ingall – P Donis

Donis did not surrender a hit until the fourth inning. By then, the Coons had scored a pair of runs on shy singles by Green and Vinson, respectively, and were up 2-0. Donis himself got on with a double in the bottom 4th, and Kinnear’s 2-out homer doubled the score. Donis was dominant through five, striking out six while allowing only two singles, and then fell apart once again. With a 5-0 lead, he became stuck in the sixth, loaded the bags, walked the first run in, and was removed. Jorge Vega’s infield single against De La Rosa plated another run before pinch-hitter Pat Jenkins hit a pop up to Higgins, having come in in the double switch with De La Rosa, for the final out. A pinch-hit triple by O-Mo in the bottom 7th brought us another run, when Pedro Mendoza, who had saved the game last night, scored him with a wild pitch, 6-2. That was the score into the ninth, which I tried to have pitched by Padilla. Jorge Vega homered, Steve Cobb singled, and Tzu-jao Ban came out of the pen. He quickly got Lammond and Rodriguez out, before Avery Johnson drilled a huge fly ball to deep right. It missed the wall by a few feet, but didn’t miss Royce Green’s glove. 6-2 Raccoons. Brewer 2-5; Kinnear 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Green 2-5, RBI; Vinson 2-4, RBI; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, 3B;

Raccoons (43-24) @ Titans (29-41) – June 17-19, 1996

The Titans ranked 10th in runs scored in the league, but had just rolled over the Indians in a 16-5 game (more below). Their pitchers ranked 9th in runs allowed, starters’ ERA, and bullpen ERA, so the team as a whole didn’t get all that much done apparently. So far we had won all six games against them this season, putting us one game below .500 against them all time.

Projected matchups:
Jose Rivera (4-0, 1.45 ERA) vs. Doug Morrow (6-6, 2.56 ERA)
Kisho Saito (9-3, 3.74 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (5-7, 5.06 ERA)
Jason Turner (4-3, 3.55 ERA) vs. Vicente Navarro (2-6, 3.60 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – C Vinson – CF Newton – SS Salazar – P J. Rivera
BOS: SS Silva – RF Thomas – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 3B Burbidge – 2B Elliott – 1B Mullins – CF C. Garcia – P Morrow

The series opener became the expected pitchers’ duel. Josh Thomas homered in the first, but the Raccoons got the run back in the third inning. The Coons had two on in the sixth with one out but Doug Morrow whiffed both O-Mo and Wedemeyer to get out of the inning. In the bottom 6th the highly annoying Daniel Silva hit a leadoff double and came home to score. Top 7th, Salazar led off with a single to right and was bunted over by Rivera. Brewer struck out, leaving it to Kinnear, who ripped away at Morrow’s first pitch, a line drive to deep left, rising, RISING, GONE!!! Fans scattered for cover as that rocket whizzed horizontally past the foul pole and struck a big, full bucket of popcorn left on a seat, sending the stuff flying everywhere. Morrow was out of steam and surrendered doubles to O-Mo and Wedemeyer for another run, 4-2, before the inning ended. Rivera was removed in the bottom 7th when he put two on, and Burnett got out of the inning. A throwing error by Thomas cost the Titan another run in the top 8th, and they also loaded the bags in the bottom 8th as the overused Raccoons bullpen wobbled mightily, but left them full without scoring. With Ban unavailable, closing the game fell to Juan Martinez today, and after he got the first two batters out, he walked both Bobby Quinn and Daniel Silva, put PH Manny Espinosa fouled out to O-Mo to end the game. 5-2 Raccoons! Kinnear 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 3-5, 2 2B; Wedemeyer 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Salazar 2-4, RBI; Rivera 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (5-0) and 1-1, BB;

With this win we got back into a tie for first place with the Loggers, who lost against the Crusaders.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Kinnear – RF Green – CF Reece – 1B Higgins – SS Ingall – C Kondo – P Saito
BOS: SS Silva – LF Quinn – CF J. Martinez – 1B Burbidge – 3B J. Ramirez – C L. Martin – RF Espinosa – 2B Elliott – P O’Halloran

Kisho Saito vied to become the first pitcher to 10 wins this season in the CL (and only LAP Bastyao Caixinha had 10 in the FL) in this game. We also still had no bullpen to speak of. The Titans slapped nine hits for eight runs off Saito in the first inning. The game was over instantly, which could also be said for Saito’s ERA, which was north of four for good this season. Because there was just no bullpen there to use up, Saito had to go four more innings, in which the Titans hit only two more base knocks, but whiffed five times. 8-2 Titans. Brewer 2-5; Green 2-2, BB; Padilla 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K;

**** this ****.

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – C Vinson – 3B O’Morrissey – SS Salazar – P Turner
BOS: SS Silva – RF Thomas – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 3B Burbidge – 2B Elliott – 1B Quinn – CF C. Garcia – P Navarro

An O-Mo double was the key piece in a 2-run second inning for the Raccoons that put Jason Turner ahead. Turner had struck out the side in the first inning, but started reeling soon enough. In the bottom 5th, still in a 2-0 game, the Titans had runners on first and second with one out, and Navarro at the plate. Navarro laid down a bunt, as expected, and Turner fielded it, throwing wildly past Brewer at first base. The inning would immediately escalate and the Titans plated four runs. The only thing that saved Turner from the gallows was that he went eight in a losing effort. The Raccoons had nothing at all against the Titans past the second inning. 4-2 Titans. Vinson 2-3, BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B, RBI;

In other news

June 10 – At age 35, LVA SP Rafael Espinoza shows no signs of letting up. He sparkled today in a 2-hit shutout, 8-0, of the Capitals and is 8-3 with a phenomenal 1.87 ERA for the year.
June 13 – TOP OF/1B Dave Reid (.258, 5 HR, 25 RBI) is expected to miss six weeks with a strained oblique.
June 14 – MIL SP Davis Sims (8-5, 3.36 ERA) will miss up to three months with a bad hamstring strain.
June 14 – CIN LF/RF Dan Morris (.348, 7 HR, 40 RBI) is also out. A sprained thumb will keep him out for the rest of the month.
June 14 – Trade in the CL South: the Condors acquire 3B/SS George Waller (.339, 2 HR, 19 RBI) from the Aces for C Andres Manuel (.240, 3 HR, 28 RBI) and a minor leaguer.
June 16 – Titans rookie C Laurent Martin (.282, 5 HR, 18 RBI) has a 5-hit game as the Titans clobber the Indians, 16-5, with TEN of the runs driven in by Martin by ways of a single, two doubles, and two home runs. His last hit in the game is a grand slam off John Snook. Martin ties a record for RBI’s in a single game set by Tom McDonald of the Knights in 1987.
June 16 – Vancouver’s Salvador Mendez (.348, 1 HR, 17 RBI) not only knocks four hits in a 7-6 loss to the Loggers, but also extends his hitting streak to 20 games.
June 17 – An eighth inning single extends the hitting streak of SFW 1B/2B Dave Heffer (.322, 0 HR, 31 RBI) to 20 games, as the Warriors fall 6-4 to the Pacifics, while Mendez’ hitting streak is already over with an 0-3 day in a game against the Indians.
June 18 – The Pacifics stop Dave Heffer’s streak at 20 games, before it really can take off.
June 18 – LVA SP Jou Hara (8-6, 3.27 ERA) tosses a 2-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Falcons.
June 19 – NAS 2B/3B Horace Henry (.291, 8 HR, 38 RBI) will miss three weeks with a concussion.

Complaints and stuff

With regard to Laurent Martin’s 10-RBI game, the Raccoons record stands at nine, put up once each by Daniel Hall (1984, extra inning game), Neil Reece (1990) and Vern Kinnear (1993).

That Haywood Lammond single that knocked Kisho Saito from his start against the Crusaders? The 3,000th base hit that Saito has allowed in his career. You gotta be pretty good to allow 3,000 base hits, I guess. It compares rather favorably, though, to his 3,264.2 innings, 712 walks, and 2,311 strikeouts, plus a career record of 204-148.

And then there was that other start. I am really sick of these innings that just won’t stop and it is like there is one of those in every game now. Not Saito games (although Saito’s BABIP is .314, a chunk higher than that of all other starters). All games. It sucks.

Everything sucks.