[Westheim]

All Star Game

The Raccoons sent four representatives to the annual All Star Game: SP Antonio Donis (rookie), CL Tzu-jao Ban, 1B/2B David Brewer, and OF Royce Green. They tied with the Loggers for most players on the CL roster (the Loggers sent SP Martin Garcia, CL John Bennett, INF Bob Grant, and OF Cristo Ramirez). In the FL, the Scorpions put up six players, the Pacifics five, the Warriors four, and there was not much room for anybody else.

Pitching was the topic in the game, as the Continental League won by the slimmest of scores, 1-0. OCT Tommy Norton hit a pinch-hit single scoring ATL Tom Nicks in the eighth to plate the only run.

Donis pitches a scoreless sixth, while Ban faced and retired one batter. David Brewer started at first and went 0-4. Green played the whole game in center and went 1-3.

Also, over the break we sent down Cesar Salcido and added Jeff Martin to the big league roster again as the fifth outfielder. Time to improve that 1-12 track record of yours, Jeffie.

Raccoons (54-33) @ Canadiens (34-54) – July 11-14, 1996

Same old Canadiens. We play four.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (10-5, 4.49 ERA) vs. Lucio Munoz (4-7, 3.57 ERA)
Jason Turner (5-5, 3.26 ERA) vs. Fernando Chavez (8-7, 3.56 ERA)
Scott Wade (6-6, 4.11 ERA) vs. Glenn Ryan (7-7, 5.05 ERA)
Antonio Donis (9-3, 3.73 ERA) vs. John Collins (4-4, 4.15 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – SS Salazar – CF Newton – P Saito
VAN: RF Arroyo – 2B S. Mendez – LF Hartley – 1B Mosley – 3B Galindo – SS McFarland – CF Ledesma – C J. Lopez – P Munoz

And another horrible game, especially for Saito. Bill Mosley reached to lead off the bottom 2nd, and he did so on Saito’s error. The inning didn’t want to end until Jorge Lopez hit a 3-run homer, all runs unearned. Well, kinda. In the bottom 5th, Saito failed to get people out all around. The Canadiens loaded the bags with one out, then scored a run on a sac fly. An error by O’Morrissey plated another run. Lopez was walked to get to Munoz, who then singled to left for two runs to score. The Canadiens had scored seven runs (six unearned), and the Raccoons were blacked out by Munoz. Against a mediocre pitcher with a dime a dozen stuff, they failed to hit anything. Two on, one out in the top 9th, Wedemeyer lined into a double play to end the game. 7-0 Canadiens. Green 2-4;

We made it 87 games before being shut out this season. And OF COURSE it had to happen in a Saito game. And OF COURSE against those despicable Elks. They are worth every bit of hate I can muster. That has more weight than the embarrassing four hits the team managed to accumulate.

Next, Oregon Horror Story, Part LXXXIX:

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Strong – SS Salazar – C Kondo – P Turner
VAN: CF Ledesma – 2B S. Mendez – RF Arroyo – 1B Mosley – 3B Galindo – SS McFarland – LF D. Edwards – C J. Lopez – P F. Chavez

The next day, the Raccoons scored three runs before making an out, when Brewer singled, stole second, scored on Kinnear’s single, and then Green sent one outta here. O-Mo added a solo shot with one out, and Turner’s first pitch came with a 4-0 lead. That was not our last dinger on the day: Wedemeyer made it twenty on the year with a 2-job in the third, which exited Chavez and prompted an appearance by old star Kiyohira Sasaki. The veteran surrendered two more runs in the same inning, which made eight for the Coons through three, but the problem was with Jason Turner, who actively tried to keep the Canadiens in the game. He had surrendered a run in the first (big deal, at least no 4-spot), and then walked and plunked the bases full in the bottom 3rd and surrendered two more, and Jorge Lopez hit a solo homer in the fourth. 8-4. Turner then knocked himself out in the sixth, up 9-4, by allowing a leadoff single to Lopez and then throwing away Orlando Blanco’s bunt. Mallandain replaced him, surrendered a huge ballooning flyer to Ledesma, which Royce Green made a fine play on, and then was dug out by a double play turned between Ingall and Brewer. The Raccoons would cut deep into the Canadiens’ bullpen in the end, scoring five runs in the ninth inning, and holding an 11-run lead into the bottom 9th, with Burnett still in. Forest Hartley reached on an error, and Burnett then surrendered three soft singles every which way. Otero came in and retired the next three batters, holding the damage to three runs. 15-7 Raccoons. Brewer 2-5, BB, RBI; Kinnear 2-5, BB, RBI; Green 4-6, HR, 5 RBI; Wedemeyer 3-6, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-6, HR, RBI; Strong 2-5; Salazar 2-2; Miller 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

As we are talking about losses, Jorge Salazar became entangled in a collision with Michael McFarland at second base in the fourth inning. We are not sure yet, but he knocked up his elbow pretty good, possibly on the base itself. He suffered a contusion that would put him on the shelf for up to two weeks, and that meant a trip to the DL.

Since Salazar had not hit a lot all season, but had still fielded very well, I picked a replacement from AAA that would also field well at short, while hitting only .260 even in the minors. He is a 22-year old Venezuelan (signes as a free agent), who is described as one of the finest young shortstops with their upside on defense, and the ABL’s #43 prospect. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Conceicao Guerin.

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – RF Strong – SS Guerin – P Wade
VAN: CF Ledesma – 2B S. Mendez – RF Arroyo – 1B Mosley – LF Hartley – 3B Galindo – SS McFarland – C J. Lopez – P Ryan

Guerin had a single in his first big league at-bat in the top 2nd in this game, and his second AB came in a 2-1 game with the bags full and two out. He flew to deep center, but not deep enough, and Ledesma got it, but in turn Guerin used his speed in the top 5th when with runners on the corners and two out, he grounded to the vicinity of third base, but beat out Jesus Galindo’s throw to first base and Vinson scored from third base, 4-1. Wade hit another infield single, but Brewer struck out to leave the bags full. Those two runs we scored in the top 5th however got right away again from Wade in the bottom 5th, as Ledesma hit a 2-run home run. Wade wobbled through six, before Burnett was brought in with two lefties leading off the bottom 7th. Roland Moore was retired by Kinnear, but Ledesma reached. Burnett got Mendez to ground out, which was good, since he was supposed to face Arroyo here. The rightfielder struck out, and our scant 4-3 lead lived another inning. The Coons then crowded Holden Gorman in the top 8th. Martin hit for Burnett, but struck out, but then Brewer, Kinnear, and Green all hit singles, and Brewer scored on the last one. Wedemeyer worked a walk. Bags full, one out. In a full count, O-Mo showed off his eye and worked an RBI walk. Vinson then grounded into an out at home, and Strong popped out. Bottom 9th, the first two Canadiens reached against Ban, and the latter of those was Lopez, and he hit another home run. That cut our lead to 6-5, but the defense did the rest of the work. 6-5 Raccoons. Brewer 3-6, 2B; Green 3-6, RBI; Vinson 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Strong 2-5; Guerin 2-5, RBI;

We need a new closer.

But what a good debut for the young Cun- … Can- … I will just call him Chip. Chip from Venezuela.

Game 4
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – SS Ingall – CF Newton – P Donis
VAN: RF Arroyo – 2B S. Mendez – LF Hartley – 1B Mosley – 3B Galindo – SS McFarland – CF Moore – C Durán – P Collins

Wedemeyer got the Coons ahead with a solo homer in the second inning, and we added two more in the third. Donis had been killing Canadiens the first time through the lineup, punching out four, but would not get another strikeout after that. Starting with the third inning, the leadoff batter reached every frame, but they didn’t score through five. In the sixth, Arroyo got on with a single, and then Mendez and Hartley hit back-to-back home runs off Donis to tie the game. Home runs remained the main source of scoring in the game: O-Mo hit a 2-out solo dinger in the top 8th to get us ahead again, 4-3. Bottom 8th, De La Rosa had no luck with singles and put two on with one out. Mallandain was reluctantly entered to face the lefty Roland Moore, but walked him. He then surrendered a fly ball to deep center to Durán, which Newton caught – and Mosley failed to score. Ledesma came out to pinch-hit. He was a lefty and he struck out. The Raccoons left two on in the top 9th, and so Ban was brought into a 4-3 game to face the top of the lineup. Disaster was in the cards. He blew it and got yanked with the game tied and one out, but runners on the corners. And we brought in RIVERA. Monday was off, so his spot in the rotation could be skipped. Rivera came in, hoping for a ground ball and to eat innings after that. He struck out Galindo and McFarland grounded out to Brewer. Works as well. Extra innings. The Canadiens left two on in the 10th against Rivera, and both teams left a runner in scoring position in the 11th. By the 13th, we faced Jackie Lagarde on the mound. Vinson walked, Newton singled, and Guerin walked. Bags full, one out. Brewer walked! Kinnear walked! Lagarde was trashed!! Lagarde struck out Green and Rivera batted for himself grounding out. We needed him to finish this game. Struck out Mendez! Struck out Hartley! STRUCK OUT MOSLEY!!! 6-4 Raccoons!!! Brewer 2-4, 3 BB, 2 RBI; Newton 3-5, BB; Rivera 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (8-0);

We need a new closer. Also, some guys had pretty ugly “ohfers” in this game, as Kinnear went 0-7 and Green 0-6. By the way, I went with and stayed with Rivera because the only two guys left in the pen were Martinez and a much-abused Burnett.

In other news

July 8 – DEN LF Dale Wales (.305, 5 HR, 36 RBI) just can not stay healthy. He will miss the rest of the month with an abdominal strain.
July 12 – The Loggers lose INF Bob Grant (.334, 6 HR, 74 RBI) for the month with a sprained thumb.
July 14 – NO-HITTER!!! Boston’s Vicente Navarro (5-7, 2.95 ERA), acquired from the Blue Sox just this year, puts the Crusaders away effortlessly in a 9-0 blowout in New York, surrendering only three walks en route to the 19th no-hitter in ABL history and the second this season. In fact, the Crusaders have been no-hit twice this year (IND Dan George, April 3)! This is the second no-hitter for the Titans franchise (Luis De Jesus, 1990).

Complaints and stuff

Former Raccoon SP Jose Fernandez, by now 33, tossed a no-hitter for the Loggers’ AAA team this week. More needles into my vulnerable parts. Is that all the pain the world can inflict!? Don’t I have to suffer any more!? Pathetic!

Well. Our pitching is definitely at the soft side at the moment. And we have no closer. Once more.

You know, moving Donis to the closer spot would actually solve two issues. He has lights out stuff, and can’t go six without blowing up. But whom to put into the rotation? Hmmmmmm…