[Westheim]

Raccoons (68-87) @ Canadiens (62-93) – September 24-27, 2001

The season series is 8-6 in favor of the Fuzzballs, a decent swing from our 2000 5-13 drubbing, but we need at least a split on hostile soil to nail down the season series. Should we get swept by the 8th-best offense and 9th-best pitching in the league, we might actually finish the season behind them, which is never a desirable thing to do.

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (8-10, 4.62 ERA) vs. Cal Holbrook (10-7, 4.47 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (7-13, 3.96 ERA) vs. Paul Kirkland (11-9, 3.96 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (6-7, 5.23 ERA) vs. Daniel Dickerson (8-14, 4.18 ERA)
Carl Bean (9-13, 4.49 ERA) vs. Jose Dominguez (8-18, 5.13 ERA)

After three right-handers against the Indians, that’s four more right-handers. And why isn’t anybody testing young arms?

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Torrez – SS Morris – C Mata – P Farley
VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – 2B Butler – LF T. Wilson – CF Wheaton – 3B A. De Jesus – P Holbrook

The Coons struck first, with a 2-out RBI single by Martin that plated Sharp, who had led off the game with a double. That lead didn’t live long, because Farley happened to us before soon, and Tony Velasquez gave the Elks a 3-2 lead in the bottom 3rd with a score-flipping 2-run homer. The score would get temporarily get re-tied by Edgardo Torrez’ first career home run in the sixth inning, but Farley and Mata gave up four stolen bases to the Canadiens, contributing to another run in the bottom 6th, and with two out and Dave Wheaton on third base, Farley was singled off by Cal Holbrook, 5-3. The top 7th saw some muscle flashed by the Critters with both Danny Sharp and Clyde Brady hitting home runs. Miller and Diaz tumbled through the seventh and the Elks put the go-ahead run on third base against Scott Wade, but with one out Alfredo De Jesus popped out to George Morris and Wade got out of the mess. Two out in the top 9th, Reece and Martin were on the corners when Wade’s turn came up in Torrez’ vacated slot. Chris Parker came out to hit against lefty Michael Campbell, and lined a single into right to break the tie, making the bottom 9th Nordahl time. He got Simon out before Antonio Clemente doubled over Neil Reece. Manny Gabriel had been installed at short for defense and became the focal point. Both Velasquez and Gutierrez singled past him – and both times the Raccoons didn’t get the out at home: Nordahl blew another game. 7-6 Canadiens. Sharp 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Brady 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5, RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1, RBI; Mata 2-4, 2B;

Nordahl is 19/27 in saves/opportunities. Talk about a strong franchise closer…

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – RF Cavazos – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Parker – C Thomas – SS M. Ramirez – P Miranda
VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – 2B Butler – LF T. Wilson – CF Wheaton – 3B A. De Jesus – P Norris

All of a sudden the Canadiens drew 22-year old right-handed rookie George Norris from a hat. Norris was on his third cup of coffee, making his fifth career appearance and third career start in the Bigs. While he certainly proved hittable, the same was true for Cipriano Miranda. Ivan Gutierrez put the Elks up 2-0 in the first inning with a booming home run, but the Raccoons put up a 3-run third and led 4-3 in the sixth when Gutierrez hit a line drive double off a struggling Miranda, who then left the game with something being very wrong with his arm, it seemed. The troubled Raccoons bullpen imploded instantly, with both Vega and Perez unable to close out the inning, before Scott Wade gave up the first career home run of Jacob Morgan, which put the Canadiens up 7-4. Palacios hit a homer, tying Martin for the team lead with 24, in the seventh, 7-5, and in the eighth the tying runs were on with one out. Brady hit for Ramirez, walked, and Joly was hit for by another lefty in Jason Kent to face right-hander Pedro Alvarado. He grounded out, a run scored, but Sharp knotted himself up after that. We faced Anthony Duhamel in the ninth, down 7-6, and this was a closer with more losses than Nordahl! Cavazos got on, Martin got on, and then Parker – flew out. 7-6 Canadiens. Sharp 2-5, 2B, RBI; Palacios 2-5, HR, RBI; Cavazos 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5; Parker 2-5;

Neil Reece hacked for the first golden sombrero of his career in this game. Oh well, then the Canadiens will TAKE the season series, because who on this team even gives a ****?

Cipriano Miranda had a stiff back, which was in itself not that bad, but he was hampered by it. He would have been up for the season finale on Sunday, but we will look for a replacement for him.

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – RF Cavazos – LF Roberson – 1B Martin – SS McLaughlin – C Defrese – P M. Lopez
VAN: 1B D. Davis – 3B A. De Jesus – RF Velasquez – SS Butler – CF P. Taylor – C Esquivel – LF Wheaton – 2B J. Zamora – P Dickerson

Lopez struck out seven in six innings of work, but also gave up seven hits for four runs, including a 3-run home run to Bob Butler in the third inning. The Raccoons, who usually handled Daniel Dickerson rather well, didn’t get into scoring position until the fifth inning, where not even in the picture of the Canadiens’ romp to turn the season series around in their favor. Reece drove in Palacios with a 2-out single in the sixth, but that 4-1 deficit felt much larger. In the eighth then, we had Sharp and Palacios get the inning going with singles. If that was not progress! Neil Reece sneaked a single just past a diving Butler at short, loading them up with no outs. Dickerson remained in there, with Cavazos grounding out to first on the first pitch he saw, plating one run. Roberson popped out to shallow center, bringing up Martin with two out. Dickerson was STILL in there. And it cost the Elks: Martin went deep with a 3-run shot to left center, and the Raccoons took a 5-4 lead! We got an add-on run in the ninth. This time, Nordahl remained in the pen, with Marcos Bruno getting the call. After retiring Zamora, Bruno allowed a single to Antonio Clemente, then walked a pair – and another one. 6-5, three on, one out, it was obviously way too late, but Daniel Miller replaced Bruno, who had just gone mental. He struck out Bob Butler on three pitches, before lefty Tom Wilson hit for Phil Taylor. No, it’s Miller. The alternative would be Diaz. A ball, and then Wilson hit a ball hard to right. Cavazos ran after it and the ball actually curved towards him – and he made the catch! 6-5 Raccoons. Palacios 4-4, BB; Reece 3-5, 2 RBI; Martin 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Fifield 1-1;

We have locked down fourth place with this nailbiter, and are three behind the Indians. The Loggers and Titans are deadlocked at 101-58. They will both play on foreign soil on the weekend, the Titans in Indy and the Crusaders in Vancouver.

Game 4
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – LF Cavazos – RF Brady – 1B Heart – CF Torrez – SS M. Ramirez – C Mata – P Bean
VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – 2B Butler – LF T. Wilson – CF Wheaton – 3B A. De Jesus – P Dominguez

Miguel Ramirez became the second player to hit his first career home run in this series, hitting a solo shot in the second inning. Bob Butler put the game back into a tie with a homer off Carl Bean in the bottom 2nd, though. The Coons’ top half of the lineup produced two runs in the top of the third, which Bean rode for a little while. Not all was sugar for the Coons’ assumed top hurler (or once assumed half of a pair of top hurlers, the other half of which had even suffered demotion this season), despite some strikeouts along the way. In the bottom 6th he loaded the bases and the Canadiens got a run on a Gutierrez sac fly to come back to 3-2. While Bean hurled another two scoreless frames, an insurance run did not materialize for the Raccoons, leaving Nordahl to take care of the 3-2 lead in the bottom 9th, with Velasquez leading off, and he hit a double. The inevitable was then dragged out unbearably long with Gutierrez flying out to Brady, but not deep enough for the runner to move up a base, and then Butler popped to Palacios for the second out. Righty Jose Esquivel pinch-hit with the season series on the line and drew a 5-pitch walk. Dave Wheaton was next, batting .349, but whom to we want to send to face that left-handed batting youngster? Diaz? Hah. Nordahl pitched, the count went to 2-2, but this was not a day for strikeouts. Wheaton grounded hard to short, but Ramirez made the play. 3-2 Raccoons. Sharp 2-4, 2B; Bean 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (10-13);

This series surely didn’t lack excitement. I have to change, I’m sweating.

Raccoons (70-89) @ Crusaders (60-99) – September 28-30, 2001

This series featured a horrible team and a slightly less horrible team. Yet, the slightly more horrible team led the season series 8-7. Would be nice to tie that up, boys. They really didn’t score runs all year long, being held to 3.6 runs per game. Not that the pitching had been spectacular, allowing 4.6 counters per game.

Projected matchups:
Felipe Garcia (1-0, 4.61 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (13-17, 4.03 ERA)
Ralph Ford (11-13, 3.91 ERA) vs. Greg Connor (6-13, 4.76 ERA)
Randy Farley (8-10, 4.73 ERA) vs. Mike Nelson (3-6, 5.80 ERA)

We will indeed not face a single left-handed starter in the last three series of the year.

Garcia was called up to replace Miranda, who couldn’t go on Sunday. He was obviously rested and we slotted him in at the top of the series.

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Cavazos – 1B Martin – RF Torrez – SS M. Ramirez – C Mata – P F. Garcia
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – 3B Walker – RF A. Johnson – 1B Breach – CF Latham – SS Rice – C F. Gonzalez – 2B Rigg – P F. Garza

Daniel Sharp figured in the runs in the opener, scoring when Francisco Garza committed a 2-out balk in the third for the first run of the game. In the fifth he launched a 2-run homer that brought the score to 3-0. Garcia had been rock solid through four innings, before putting two men on in the bottom 5th, but stalled them. In the sixth, two Crusaders were on again with one out and left-handers batting. Garcia surrendered Alan Breach, but then balked the runners into scoring position with Brian Latham batting, another lefty. This was trouble. Latham drew a walk, bringing up Gary Rice, a switch-hitter, who drilled the first pitch to the right side. And Martin made a sprawling catch on the liner, keeping three Crusaders stranded! In the seventh there were two on again, but the Crusaders failed to score yet again. In turn, the Furballs faced Toru Fujita in the eighth, who loaded the bags with no outs on two walks to Reece and Martin and a single to Cavazos between those. Torrez hit a 2-run double and the Furballs scored four total in the inning, which allowed a recently shaky Garcia to attempt another inning with a 7-run cushion. With two out, two New Yorkers got on again, and this time Garcia got the hook. One pitch by Manuel Martinez netted a grounder by Felix Gonzalez to Palacios to end that inning – the fourth in a row in which the Crusaders left a pair on base. Al Martin hit his 26th bomb of the year in the top 9th, bringing the score to 9-0. The Crusaders left only one runner on base this time around… 9-0 Coons! Sharp 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Cavazos 2-5; Roberson (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Garcia 7.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (2-0) and 2-3, BB, 2 2B;

What a pleasant surprise this was! Garcia might be worth some consideration when it comes to a starter’s job for next year. Although… he was only 9-6 with a 4.24 ERA in AAA, striking out 163 batters, but surrendered 28 home runs.

Milwaukee beat Vancouver 7-1, while the Titans broke up the Indians in the ninth to win 6-2, so those two remain tied, and we are now one game behind the third-place Indians.

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Brady – LF Roberson – SS McLaughlin – C Thomas – P Ford
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – C Olson – CF Gonzales – 1B Rush – SS Walker – 3B Rigg – RF V. Gonzalez – 2B Rice – P Connor

A 2-out, 2-run double by Clyde Brady gave the Coons a lead in the first inning, but that was before Ralph Ford was brutally whacked by the offensively harmless Crusaders, who plated four runs in the bottom 1st, the last run coming in on a balk. In the top 3rd, Brady came up with two on and two out again. And wouldn’t you know it, this one was not a double – it was a home run! 5-4, all runs bradied in clydely! The Crusaders were on the edge of coming back from that blow in the fourth, when Sharp made a critical error, in the fifth when Ford put two on, and in the sixth, when they loaded them up, but Rice popped out to short, and they never scored. Neither did the Coons, but Brady was a triple shy of the cycle, but struck out in the seventh. Ford put two left-handers on at the start of the bottom 7th. Sooner or later, this had to go wrong. It went wrong as soon as Daniel Miller came in and surrendered a 3-run homer to Mike Olson. Now it was the Raccoons to leave runners on base at the most inopportune moments, runners on the corners in the eighth, to be precise, and nobody even got on in the ninth… 7-5 Crusaders. Brady 3-4, HR, 2B, 5 RBI;

That’s it with third place, since the Indians beat the Titans, 5-4, on a walkoff single by Ron Alston off John Bennett. Good news for the Titans: the Canadiens beat the Loggers in ten innings, 2-1, on a walkoff single by Jose Esquivel, defeating Robbie Wills, the CL save leader.

Also, Concie lost a share of the stolen base lead in the CL when Daniel Silva (grmbl) swiped his 34th bag of the year in the Titans’ loss.

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Brady – LF Torrez – SS M. Ramirez – C Mata – P Farley
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – C Olson – RF A. Johnson – CF Latham – SS Rice – 1B M. Berry – 3B Rush – 2B Rigg – P Nelson

While Nelson faced the minimum through three, but gave up a hit, Farley faced one over the minimum without giving up a hit, and neither team scored. In the top 4th, both Sharp and Palacios singled to get things going. Reece grounded out, moving up the runners, but now Martin blooped a single into left that plated both Critters on base. Clyde Brady opened up the score a bit with his tenth home run of the season, 4-0 Coons. And INSTANTLY Randy Farley was blown off the mound by the Crusaders, who hit two triples in the bottom 4th and plated three runs off the lackluster starter. Farley didn’t get any better, either, just barely surviving the fifth, and in the sixth he allowed a double to Johnson before Palacios’ error plated the tying run. The innings escalated rather quickly: Farley put another man on before Martinez came in, but walked Ed Rigg to load the bases. Alan Breach then pinch-hit for a grounder to first, that Albert Martin somehow managed to misplay for two bases. Perez entered, provided no relief, and the Crusaders went on to score SIX RUNS in the inning, and ALL were unearned. And thusly ended the Raccoons’ season, with a complete and total meltdown on all fronts. With another run on Wade and two on Diaz in the eighth, the team showed its best side right at the end. 12-4 Crusaders.

Both the Loggers and Titans lost on the final day of the regular season, setting up a game #163 on Monday.

In other news

September 25 – The Buffaloes claim the FL East with a 7-3 win over the last-place Capitals, breaking a 19-year playoff drought for their third playoff appearance. Their drought included finishing fifth or sixth ten of eleven years between 1986 and 1996.
September 25 – In Dallas, Stars owner Anthony Fields dies suddenly in a local hospital. Control of the ABL franchise falls to his oldest son, Anthony Fields jr., who is said to be very controlling in financial matters, but lenient in terms of management style.
September 26 – TOP SP Chris York (17-9, 3.55 ERA) 3-hits the Capitals in a 5-0 win.
September 28 – Washington’s LF/RF Jesus Rivera (.337, 33 HR, 143 RBI) has hit in 20 straight games, knocking three base hits with a home run in a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh.
September 29 – Rivera’s streak is already over, as the Miners hold him dry in 4 AB on Saturday, ending his streak at 20 games.
September 30 – Topeka’s veteran reliever Lawson Steward (8-5, 3.52 ERA) has suffered a torn ligament in his elbow and could miss up to a full year. This could well be the end of his career, since the vesting option he had for 2002 will not trigger, since the 38-year old did not finish 40 games for the Buffaloes.
October 1 – Bryce Hildred and Marc Padgett face off in the Loggers-Titans tilt to decide the CL North. The Loggers lead 5-2 in the bottom 9th when Rudy Garrison hits a 1-out RBI single off Robbie Wills, who walks Gonzalo Munoz with two outs, and then falls to Josh Thomas’ first-pitch, 2-run double that sends the game to extra innings. There, Daniel Silva walks off his team with a bases-loaded single off Gabriel Garcia. The Titans qualify for their fourth playoff appearance, the first three coming consecutively from 1997 to 1999.

Complaints and stuff

On Thursday, the Raccoons were finally able to hold a press conference announcing a 4-year, $3.2M contract extension with Conceicao Guerin, who signed late on Wednesday. This buys out his last year of arbitration eligibility, and will keep him in Coon City for his age 28-31 seasons. He’s a career .282/.334/.371 batter with 116 stolen bases and excellent fielding, and in a career spanning 705 games he has gained 9.6 WAR from batting and 7.3 WAR from defense. With four full seasons and two partial ones that works out to about 3.7 WAR per full season. I will buy into THAT.

Franchise leaders in saves (career saves if different):
1st – Grant West – 522
2nd – Wally Gaston – 94
3rd – Daniel Miller – 55
4th – Scott Wade – 53
5th – Kevin Hatfield – 50 (52)
6th – Jackie Lagarde – 45 (85)
7th – Gabriel De La Rosa – 41 (138)
8th – Tzu-jao Ban – 39 (53)
9th – Antonio Donis – 29 (33)
t-10th – Richard Cunningham – 26 (173)
t-10th – Juan Martinez – 26 (27)

Yeah, like you know how when we had Grant West, we wouldn’t bother about the closer’s job for more than a decade? The other half of our history, we’ve switched closers every six weeks.