[Westheim]

Raccoons (66-83) vs. Falcons (68-81) – September 16-18, 2002

Two forgettable teams in the penultimate week of the season. At least the Falcons had the outrageously bad Knights going for them, with the Coons gleaming into last place’s abyss. If we can’t solve the league’s third-worst rotation and get drummed by their above-average offense, we might tie with the Crusaders for last place by midweek. The season series was tied.

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (7-15, 4.69 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (5-2, 2.41 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (0-5, 6.96 ERA) vs. Jesus Hernandez (5-12, 5.30 ERA)
Ralph Ford (12-9, 2.74 ERA) vs. Chang-bum O (10-13, 4.37 ERA)

Two left-handed pitchers (Gonzalez and O) in the same series? Wut?

Game 1
CHA: LF R. Wilson – C F. Chavez – 2B H. Green – 1B Batlle – CF Burke – SS A. Ramirez – RF Estrada – 3B N. Chavez – P R. Gonzalez
POR: SS Guerin – LF Roberson – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – 2B Ingall – RF Brady – CF Torrez – C Fifield – P Farley

Randy was 1-8 since the end of June, blooming his ERA by .9 runs, with the majority of that coming in the last five games, which he had all lost in a landslide. This might well be his last start of the season before getting mothballed. Should he lose this one, it was all his fault, since the Coons got ahead early with a 3-run homer by Marvin Ingall in the bottom 1st. Farley certainly wasn’t any good, he was more lucky. The Falcons left pairs of runners on base in the first, second, and fourth innings, never getting that last single, that everybody always seemed to get off Farley. Well, Randy was better at the plate, having two hits, including a triple(!), and managed to line up six shutout innings with a little help from the defense. In the seventh, up 4-0, it all went wrong, though. Pinch-hit single by John Hudson, double by Ralph Wilson, and an infield single by batting leader Fernando Chavez – bases loaded, no outs. Farley struck out Green before Perez was called in to get the lefties. He didn’t. Batlle doubled, Burke was hit for, with Huerta coming in to issue two walks. Martinez replaced the collection of ******s to strike out Estrada, while Nelson Chavez lined out to deep left, where Roberson made a fantastic play to stop the bleeding at 4-3 and the bags full. Moreno pitched in the eighth, surrendering a high and deep fly to center to Fernando Chavez with two down. Torrez, the ball, and the wall all meshed into one, and when the dust settled, Chavez was out, and so was Torrez. Nordahl walked two in the ninth, but somehow the Raccoons squeaked through. 4-3 Coons. Martin 2-4, 2B; Ingall 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

He broke WHAT? Apparently, Torrez applied an unconventional break mechanism at the centerfield wall. He simply didn’t slow down at all in making the catch, and slammed into it face first, breaking his jaw.

So, no more cookies for Eddie, just pea soup for the next four weeks, and he’s out for the season.

(facepalm)

Game 2
CHA: LF R. Wilson – SS A. Ramirez – 2B H. Green – 1B Batlle – CF Burke – RF J. Lugo – C M. Castillo – 3B N. Chavez – P J. Hernandez
POR: 2B Palacios – 3B Sharp – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – SS Guerin – CF Beairsto – C Thomas – P F. Garcia

The Raccoons unleashed some 2-out terror on Hernandez, hitting four 2-out singles in the bottom 3rd to plate two runs just in time before Beairsto got knotted up hacking himself out, and then added another run on a Palacios single and Sharp double with two out in the fourth. Garcia fell into the category of “not good, but breathing on his own”. The Falcons threatened in the first inning, and then not quite until the sixth again, when they put two runners in scoring position with one out, only for two pops, one fair, one foul, to end the inning. Bottom 6th, Garcia hit a 2-out double with the bags deserted, but Hernandez then balked and Palacios singled to score Garcia from third base, 4-0. The pattern broke up the next inning, when Martin went deep off Shane Sweet with only one out in the inning. Garcia still wasn’t getting touched. With a 5-0 lead he was not hit for in the bottom 8th, making the final out. Bags had been empty. So, he came back out for the ninth, facing Jake Burke leading off, and the relief corps was working just in case. Burke flew out to center on the first pitch, before Lugo whiffed. Castillo singled to left, but well, let’s have him one more. Nelson Chavez sent a lofty liner to center, but Beairsto had more than enough time to get there. 5-0 Coons! Palacios 2-3, BB, RBI; Sharp 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Martin 3-4, HR, RBI; Roberson 2-4, RBI; Guerin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Garcia 9.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-5) and 1-4, 2B;

With his 31st home run of the season, Al Martin has now achieved a tie for fourth on the all-time franchise chart for a single season effort, matching Tetsu Osanai’s 1986 and Mark Dawson’s 1988 output. He is also already our 10th-most prolific home run hitter in franchise history, having knocked out Vern Kinnear (that last week already).

What do 1988 and 2002 have in common? They were utter **** years. After 1988 came 1989.

1989 ended **** though. I can’t un-see Glenn Johnston dropping Ed Parrell’s fly.

Game 3
CHA: 1B M. Clark – C M. Castillo – LF J. Lugo – 3B H. Green – 2B A. Ramirez – CF Estrada – RF King – SS Burgess – P O
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – LF Roberson – 1B Martin – 2B Palacios – C Fifield – CF Lyon – RF Flores – P Ford

The Raccoons have not swept a series since the first week of the season. We can give the ball to our assumed best pitcher. Said assumed best pitcher faced an exclusively right-handed lineup, and was INCREDIBLY wonky from the start. The Falcons knocked four singles off him in the first two innings, and didn’t score only for them having both Mark Clark and Pedro Estrada getting caught stealing by Fifield. Wonky went on to pitch the third under pressure when not only Chang-bum O hit a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch, but Gil Flores managed to lose the ball in his underpants, giving the pitcher an extra base. Ford went on to strike out the side – but didn’t get the third K called, instead Lugo walked in a full count. Green singled to left, before Ramirez also sent a grounder there that Sharp intercepted and somehow glove-lobbed to Palacios at second where in a hair split-decision Green was called out. MIGHT BE NICE TO GET SOME OFFENSE GOING. Guerin walked with one out in the bottom 3rd. Roberson shoved a double past Estrada in center, plating Concie rather easily, 1-0. O unraveled, walking Martin and Palacios before Fifield chipped an RBI single to right. Lyon popped out, leaving it to the not-so-stellar Flores to get something going. Flores hit it to left center – and it fell in and bounced to the wall! Two runs in, the Coons were up 4-0! Ford failed to pitch a single 1-2-3 inning, somehow went six and didn’t allow a run, and we’d file that under success and try to cobble together the last nine outs with the bullpen. Bruno knocked off three outs in the seventh (with dumb luck, mainly). Martinez had a chunk taken out of him in the eighth with extra base hits by Green and Estrada that plated the Falcons’ first run. Kaz Kichida replaced him and struck out King to end the frame, and Nordahl sat them down in order in the ninth. Bring out the brooms! 4-1 Coons! Roberson 2-4, 2B, RBI; Flores 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Ingall (PH) 1-1; Ford 6.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (13-9)

I was unsure whether to list Ford’s outing as good. It was not good. It was all dumb luck. But in the end, if your abilities are not quite enough to sweep a series for FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS, then dumb luck will do.

Raccoons (69-83) vs. Indians (68-84) – September 20-22, 2002

569 runs ranked those Indians last in the Continental League, with average pitching on top of that. Would be nice to take the series and remain in fourth place, wouldn’t it?

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (14-12, 3.76 ERA) vs. Alonso Alonso (12-12, 3.73 ERA)
Nick Brown (9-10, 2.67 ERA) vs. Junior Diaz (3-1, 1.54 ERA)
Ramón Meza (4-3, 5.36 ERA) vs. John Collins (7-12, 5.39 ERA)

Game 1
IND: 2B Montray – SS M. Jones – LF Alston – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – CF Cavazos – 1B J. Garcia – RF J. Lugo – P Alonso
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – LF Roberson – 1B Martin – RF Parker – SS Guerin – CF Beairsto – C Fernandez – P Bean

Bottom 2nd in a scoreless game, Guerin led off with a single. He set off to steal second, with Paraz’ throw nowhere near the bag and well into center. Guerin made it to third, giving even the wild hacker Beairsto a chance to plate him with a bit of contact. A bit of contact he got: quite a lot actually. High – deep – well gone! Third career homer for our 2001 top pick! The joy was short-lived, with Bean getting pierced with four arrows for three brave warriors sneaking across home plate in the third, as the Indians took a 3-2 lead. The Indians had again two in scoring position with two out in the fourth, but Bean managed to strike out Montray, who batted a miserable .125 against Portland this year. 3-2 was still the score in the bottom 6th when Brady hit for Bean with two out and two on. The lead runner was Concie on second base, and Brady singled to right. Concie was sent, and thrown out by Lugo. Against the pen, the Indians left a man in scoring position both in the seventh and eighth, but the Raccoons just couldn’t get the bats up. To start the top 9th, Kichida walked two, Bruno walked one, no outs, and this one was well lost, even though the damage ultimately amounted to just one run that Bruno walked in against Ron Alston. 4-2 Indians. Martin 2-4; Guerin 2-4, 2B; Brady (PH) 1-1;

What a stinker of a game. Stinks of piss. But that might be explained sufficiently with the piss poor home team.

Game 2
IND: C T. Turner – 3B Whaley – LF Alston – 1B D. Lopez – RF Greenman – SS Montray – CF J. Alvarez – 2B Stevens – P J. Diaz
POR: 1B Sharp – SS Guerin – LF Roberson – 2B Palacios – RF Parker – C Fifield – CF Beairsto – 3B M. Ramirez – P Brown

Brownie’s last two starts had been utter crap, but today he would go for 200 K. He reached the mark quickly, removing Lopez for #200 and to end the first inning. Almost as quickly he fell behind, with Greenman hitting a leadoff jack in the second. Three singles plated Montray in the fourth, making it 2-0, and the Coons had not done an awful lot at the plate so far. Roberson started the bottom 4th with a single, Palacios got on, and then Parker uncorked a welcome 3-shot to flip the score in favor of the furred team. Brownie went into the seventh, striking out two full hands, but eventually ran out of steam, and with the tying run on base and Alston up, he was replaced with Domingo Moreno. Alston grounded to Guerin, ending the inning and keeping the 3-2 lead alive. In between, Greenman had been the main killer of Raccoons offense, making three strong catches in right, which cost the Critters at least two runs. He continued to do the dirty work in the eighth, homering off Huerta to tie the score at three. The next inning, there was one he didn’t catch on defense, though, and that one gave the Coons the lead back as Roberson’s liner rammed off the wall to plate Guerin with an RBI double. Although the Coons proceeded to load the bases, Beairsto hacked out for the second out, and Martin flew out to right hitting in place of Ramirez. Thus a 4-3 lead was inherited by Dannyboy, and he retired Paraz, Bowen, and Cavazos, three pinch-hitters, in order. 4-3 Coons! Guerin 2-4; Roberson 2-4, 2B, RBI; Parker 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Brown 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K and 1-2;

Danny is one shy of 30 saves for a horribly lousy team (not that he was flawless, oooooh no). Brownie is still looking for his tenth win of the season to go with his 208 strikeouts. He will only get one more shot.

Game 3
IND: SS W. Walker – 3B Whaley – LF Alston – 1B D. Lopez – RF Greenman – CF J. Valdez – C Abrams – 2B Stevens – P J. Collins
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – CF Beairsto – C Fifield – SS M. Ramirez – P Meza

Both teams lost their leftfielders to injury in the top 4th. First Alston was hurt legging out an infield single that made it 2-0 Indians, then Roberson was hurt on the catch that ended the inning, and it wouldn’t get batter for the Raccoons. Collins, who had a negative batting average, homered off Meza in the fifth, and the inning continued for some time with another hit, a Sharp error, and another Greenman homer that rocketed the score to 6-0. When Daniel Sharp hit a leadoff jack in the sixth, it was only the team’s second hit of the day. They had nothing against Collins. Defense was messy as well, with Martin making an error in the seventh that helped the Indians to plate two more runs. And it went on and on! Wilton Walker tried to steal third base in the eighth, Fifield made an outrageous throwing error, and the Indians reached double digits when Walker scampered home on the hapless Bob Joly. The Coons finished with more errors than hits in a devastating rout on the way out of town. 10-1 Indians.

Ron Alston tore a quad, ending his season with a .298 clip, 36 homers and 103 driven in. We don’t know what’s wrong with Roberson so far.

In other news

September 16 – The Thunder behind Fabien Armand clobber the Crusaders, 12-2, to seal the CL South and set up the 2001 CLCS rematch with the Titans. It will be the Thunder’s third straight, and eighth total playoff appearance.
September 17 – TIJ SP Jose Maldonado (13-12, 2.92 ERA) is shut down to have bone chips removed from his elbow. He should be ready for the start of the 2003 season.
September 20 – San Fran’s Tony Hamlyn (21-9, 2.22 ERA) continues to make a case for the Triple Crown by striking out ten and giving up three hits in a 10-0 romp of the Bayhawks over the Falcons. Hamlyn is currently one win, 30 K, and .16 ERA ahead of the competition.
September 21 – The Gold Sox suffer a blow with the news that SP Victor Bernal (17-9, 2.61 ERA) will miss the rest of the year with a sore shoulder.
September 22 – One day after the bad news, there are good news for the Gold Sox, as they hold off the Warriors, 4-2, while the Scorpions take a 4-3 loss in L.A., which in combination clinches the FL West for the Gold Sox. It will be the first postseason in 17 years for the Sox, who won the 1985 World Series and since then suffered five last place finishes.

Complaints and stuff

Nice week. Until Sunday broke over us.

Odd note: Daniel Miller has appeared in more career games than the next three most-appeared pitchers on the staff combined. It might explain his expiration date reading “best before 2001”.

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With Takeru Sato signing with the Bayhawks last week, the required four qualified free agents have signed. But of course the dead-in-the-water Raccoons won’t sign anybody in September. Not even Royce Green.