[Westheim]

One week in, and our rotation was in shambles after that 20-inning game on Sunday that saw both the Fat Cat and Brownie appear in relief. Neither one was ready to start on either Monday or Tuesday, so we needed a bit of a plan. That plan included a spot starter on Monday, Ralph Ford pitching on Tuesday on short rest, then Brownie on Wednesday (although I don’t like my left-handers back-to-back), Watanabe (on normal rest) on Thursday, and then no Fat Cat until Friday, followed by Fairchild and Ford again.

To facilitate this, Christian Greenman went to the DL with the banged up hand, and we called up Tim Webster for the Monday start against the Condors.

Raccoons (4-1) vs. Condors (3-4) – April 10-12, 2006

Most numbers the Condors had put up after the first week were average, except for a league-worst .202 batting average. But hey, we got a few guys batting on the interstate (or underneath it!) as well.

Projected matchups:
Tim Webster (0-0) vs. Paul Kirkland (0-0, 5.14 ERA)
Ralph Ford (1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Brian Patrick (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Nick Brown (2-0, 1.13 ERA) vs. Román Escobedo (0-0, 3.60 ERA)

With Webster on Monday, we will actually start three left-handers in a row. Hum. You can’t have everything, I guess. Escobedo is the only left-hander the Condors are putting up, and Kirkland is the guy that pulled a Bill Smith this winter.

Game 1
TIJ: RF B. Miller – SS B. Boyle – 2B J. Diaz – CF Luxton – C Estrada – 1B T. Mullins – 3B B. Román – LF J. Thomas – P Kirkland
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – CF Fernandez – SS Yamada – C Bowen – P Webster

Webster could have taken the chance and made something with it, but instead flunked out right away, surrendering a 3-run homer to Paco Estrada in the first, and a solo shot to Bartolo Román in the second. The Raccoons had to reorganize after getting about half their normal sleep, but by the fifth had crawled back into the game and cut the gap to 4-3, with Brady tripling and scoring in the first, and two runs in the fifth including a Craig Bowen homer. Webster managed to cling on in those middle innings, but most of the work was done by the defense. Bowen threw out a runner in the sixth, and in the bottom of that inning our young guns led off with back-to-back doubles to tie the score and have Bob Mays on second with no outs. The Scavengers would escape the inning after an intentional walk to Fernandez and eventually a double play hit into by Bowen, but the score was tied, and credit to Webster, no more deep fly balls for him after that early scuffle. When he allowed a leadoff hit to Robbie Luxton in the ninth, he was pulled for the little scraps of bullpen we had (and in a tied game!). Kichida replaced Webster, fell behind every batter he faced, but somehow escaped the inning with two on (AFTER Bowen threw out Luxton stealing). Bottom 9th, surprise, it’s Ricardo Huerta! Sorry, Rico, we gotta end this one here. Huerta struck out Bowen, but Crespo, who had entered with Kaz in a double switch bracing for extra innings, singled. Sharp couldn’t get anything done, but maybe Yoshi-N, Sunday’s hero, could do something about it. He took Huerta’s second pitch to deep left, a huge fly that Johnny Crum couldn’t haul in, it hit the dirt, it hit the wall, Crum bobbled it once, Crespo was a-running, and he – was – SAFE!!! 5-4 Coons!! Quebell 2-4, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2-4, HR, RBI; Crespo 1-1; Webster 8.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

YOSHIIIII!!!

YOSHIIIIIIII!!!!!!

Technically, he has now hit two walkoffs in one day, since Sunday’s marathon ended well past midnight. =)

Tim Webster had outlived his usefulness now, however, and we sent him back to St. Pete for an additional reliever. We will carry that reliever for a few days, then bring up an outfielder to rebalance our roster. The callup went to 23-year old Cody Bryant, our 2001 second-rounder, who is severely control-challenged. We hope for a good inning or two before we can return him to the swamps.

Game 2
TIJ: RF B. Miller – SS B. Boyle – 2B J. Diaz – CF Luxton – C Estrada – 1B T. Mullins – 3B B. Román – LF Crum – P Patrick
POR: SS Flores – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – CF Fernandez – 3B Searcy – C Wood – P Ford

The Condors moved first with a Juan Diaz home run in the first inning, but the Raccoons came right back with three straight singles in the bottom 1st, starting with Nomura, while the third of those, Quebell’s, was mishandled for an error by Bill Miller, a push that eventually gave the Coons two runs in the inning. It rapidly got worse for Brian Patrick, who allowed a leadoff single to Bob Wood in the second, who scored on Vic Flores’ double, and then Brady cashed in two with his second home run of the season. The Raccoons turned the screws some more and moved out to an 8-1 lead by the fifth inning, and so far Ford had been very responsible with the lead, but he came apart – maybe a factor of going on short rest? – in the sixth inning. Robbie Luxton’s 3-run homer cut the lead to 8-5 and we had to cover 11 outs with the bullpen now. Riddle took over and exited the inning, but Adam Riddle’s stint was eventually short-lived when he drilled Johnny Crum in the seventh and left-handers came up. The Condors put men on the corners, but Moreno found a way out of there, striking out Boyle and getting a poor pop from Diaz. The Coons left two men on in their own half of the seventh, and Cody Bryant made his debut in the top 8th, surrendering Stanley Dougal with a lineout to center. Although the Coons didn’t score in the bottom 8th, keeping the score at 8-5, we stayed with Bryant, holding Bruno available in case it went all wrong. It went all wrong. Román walked, moved to second on a passed ball, to third on Crum’s groundout, and then Bryant walked Ron Brantley. Emergency, emergency! Marcos whiffed Bill Miller, allowed an RBI single to Boyle, but then struck out Diaz to get this one over with. 8-6 Coons! Nomura 2-5; Brady 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Quebell 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Wood 2-4, 2B;

With the Elks’ loss to the Falcons, the Raccoons took over first place in the division.

Game 3
TIJ: RF B. Miller – SS B. Boyle – 2B J. Diaz – CF Luxton – C Estrada – 1B T. Mullins – 3B B. Román – LF Crum – P Escobedo
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – CF Fernandez – 2B Nomura – RF Crespo – C Wood – P Brown

Juan Diaz struck out to end the first and unloaded something onto the umpire that the guy in black didn’t like, and Diaz was tossed right away. While Brown struck out five the first time through the order, the Coons had Sharp thrown out at the plate to end the third inning. Brown had two K’s sandwiching a 1-2 that brushed Diaz replacement Ron Brantley, and Paco Estrada would double him in with a 2-2 pitch taken into the corner in leftfield. That got Brown trailing, and next Ted Mullins singled to left, Estrada was sent, and now he was thrown out at home by Brady, who sent the fly on which Sharp tagged and didn’t score the previous inning. Brownie struck out 11 in this game, but it wouldn’t help him. He was tagged by Brantley with a 2-run homer in the sixth, and came up to bat with two on and two out twice in the game, and never got the ball passed the middle infielders. His turn was up again with Crespo on first and one out in the bottom 7th when Searcy hit for him, and the result was tremendous: a HUGE shot that went out of left center, and the Coons were back in this one, down 3-2! And Sharp doubled, and Brady singled, and this time Sharp was not thrown out, and the game was tied! The Coons managed to load them up and chase Escobedo in the process, with Yoshi Nomura facing Tom Brooks with the bags full and two out, the count ran full, and he walked!! While Crespo struck out, Nomura had pushed in the go-ahead run and put Brownie in line for this third win of the year after being hit for down by three. Now we just had to hold on: Rémy Lucas struck off half of the six outs we needed with a clean eighth. In the bottom 8th, Wood drew a leadoff walk. Yamada ran for him, while Mays batted for Lucas, and while Yamada never got a good jump, he scored on Vic Flores’ 2-out single. Flores was then thrown out stealing himself. With Bruno having been in four of the last five games, we picked Raw Lockburn for the ninth. Locks burning or not, Lawrence struck out the side in the ninth, and the Coons took their sixth straight! 5-3 Brownies! Sharp 2-5, 2B; Brady 3-4, 2B, RBI; Searcy (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, W (3-0);

Best team in baseball – your dearest Raccoons.

That will be one desperate tumble towards .400 from 7-1.

Raccoons (7-1) vs. Indians (5-4) – April 13-16, 2006

We’d have the Indians for four games, and they had so far stuck an arrow into opposing teams 32 times, but had surrendered just as much, which was on the shorter end of scoring. Their pitching had been excellent so far with a 2.56 ERA for the rotation and a 1.67 ERA for the bullpen. The Indians had gotten a few teeth knocked out however with prolific slugger LF/RF Ron Alston (.355, 4 HR, 12 RBI) going to miss three to four weeks with an intercostal strain.

Projected matchups:
Kenichi Watanabe (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Curtis Tobitt (1-1, 1.80 ERA)
Edgar Amador (0-1, 14.29 ERA) vs. Patrick Moreau (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (0-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (1-1, 2.00 ERA)
Ralph Ford (2-0, 4.38 ERA) vs. Bob King (0-0, 2.40 ERA)

One southpaw in there, Gonzalez, but that’s quite the formidable opposition.

Game 1
IND: LF J. Alvarez – SS Kilters – 3B D. Lopez – 1B Battle – C Olson – CF J. Lugo – 2B Harris – RF Martines – P Tobitt
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – SS Flores – CF Fernandez – C Bowen – P Watanabe

With Alston injured and Jose Paraz having the day off, this was Watanabe’s to lose. It didn’t help however that Curtis Tobitt immediately got the Coons into his metal deathgrip and didn’t allow much at all. Watanabe put up four scoreless, but it all fell apart horribly in the fifth with leadoff walks Lugo and Harris. Martines singled, and then Tobitt singled up the middle to plate the first two runs of the game. It didn’t get better, with an infield single by Jesus Alvarez reloading the bases, and there was still nobody out. Thankfully, Chris Kilters hit into a double play, and the Indians were limited to three runs in the inning. The Coons, however, were at zero, and didn’t score until the bottom 6th when Brady was plated by a Vic Flores single. Brady had singled himself, casually raising his average to .484. Fernandez walked to load them up with two out in the inning, giving Craig Bowen a HUGE at-bat against his former team. He missed an 0-1 pitch, but the umpire jumped out yelling and motioning – catcher’s interference! That pushed home a run, but the Coons didn’t get more with Searcy popping out in place of Watanabe. We were back to 3-2, but not for long. Robbie Harris’ leadoff jack off Cody Bryant got the Indians up 4-2 again, yet Clyde Brady raised his average to .500 in style with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the inning, this one off Iván Lopez. That was as big a bite as the Raccoons would take in this game, however, and they couldn’t solve Tommy Wooldridge and Iemitsu Rin in the last two innings, with Brady making the final out. 4-3 Indians. Brady 3-4, HR, RBI; Quebell 2-4; Flores 2-4, RBI; Bowen 1-2, BB, RBI;

With this, Bryant was handed back to AAA, and we added corner outfielder Jorge Rodriguez, 28 now, who had batted .250 with 3 HR and 12 RBI over 96 AB between 2003 and 2004.

Game 2
IND: LF Martines – SS Kilters – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – CF MacKey – 1B Battle – 2B Fugosi – RF J. Lugo – P Moreau
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – CF Crespo – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Amador

After the Critters got an unearned run in the first inning, the home fans got to cheer on the Fat Cat as he whiffed the side in the third inning, maintaining perfection pace, before he walked FOUR in the fourth to tie the game. This was still a no-hitter. The Indians were frustrated, the Raccoons were frustrated (mainly the GM), and after Kilters was tossed complaining about a marginal strike three in the sixth, David Lopez singled to get the Indians into the H column. Amador responded by walking the bases loaded and was removed for Rockburn, who flew out to the deep portion of the left field line, with Brady making a hustling grab and slowing down in time before adding his face to the wall out there. Things went south with Adam Riddle in the top 8th, however. After Lopez had given the Indians their first hit of the game, he also gave them their second, and it was a solo homer. The Coons’ order, clueless all day, had nothing at all against Wooldridge and Rin once more. 2-1 Indians. Flores 2-4; Rockburn 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

No matter what we do, we can never beat those Indians… Next loss gives them the division lead.

Game 3
IND: LF J. Valdez – SS Kilters – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – CF MacKey – 2B Harris – 1B Fugosi – RF C. Rey – P R. Gonzalez
POR: SS Flores – RF Crespo – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – CF Fernandez – 2B Nomura – C Wood – 3B Searcy – P Fairchild

Fernandez made a hero’s catch on Ramiro Gonzalez’ line drive in the top 2nd that kept three Indians stranded and the game scoreless. The bases were reloaded in an instant in the third, with a Valdez single, Kilters getting knocked in the ribs, and Paraz walking. Lopez’ double play scored the first run in the contest, and Fairchild walked another one before Robbie Harris made the third out. Kelly Fairchild hardly got anybody out in the game, and the Indians loaded them up again in the fourth, but failed to score. Gonzalez sat down the first ten Raccoons before Crespo hit a single, but nothing came out of that. Not much at all came off the Coons’ bats, in fact. We were on the other side of a 38-minute rain delay when Eddie Fernandez had an outrageous second hit for the Critters, a 2-out double in the bottom 7th. Once Nomura reached on Kilters’ error, runners were on the corners in the 1-0 game, and Iván Lopez replaced Ramiro Gonzalez, with Bob Mays batting for Bob Wood. Struggling with a .172 average, Wood had a liberating swing for a 2-run triple to dead center, but was left stranded there after Searcy walked and Rodriguez grounded out. Rémy Lucas walked his only batter, MacKey in the top 8th, but Rockburn came in and restored order. The Raccoons in turn couldn’t bring in Vic Flores after he doubled to start the bottom 8th, and so it was double-whammy when Jose Lugo, 1-for-12, hit a leadoff double off Marcos Bruno in the top 9th. The tying run on second base, Bruno struck out Valdez, before Kilters flew out to Rodriguez in rightfield. That left Paraz in the way of going to 8-3, and he went down on three pitches. 3-2 Critters! Mays (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI;

Close ballgames!

Game 4
IND: CF A. Solís – SS Kilters – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – 2B Fugosi – RF MacKey – 1B Harris – LF C. Rey – P King
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – CF Fernandez – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Ford

The Indians scored first with a Filippo Fugosi home run in the top 2nd, but the Coons chopped four hits in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead, although it cost Fernandez, who got entangled with Kilters at second base and had to be removed for J.C. Crespo to take over in center. The Indians hit three doubles off a hopeless Ford in the top 3rd and retook the lead, 3-2. That was not the last score-flipping hit in the game. The next belonged to Danny Sharp, who into this game was batting so far below .200 that you had to worry about something being wrong, but he was unretired after three stints at the plate, with a 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom 4th giving the Coons the lead back, 4-3. Nomura and Ford scored on that one. Ralph Ford still struggled to maintain cohesion and the Indians reached scoring position in the fifth and sixth, but never got to him before he was removed with well over 100 pitches through six. Bottom 6th, the Raccoons had a bushel of singles to load the bases with Nomura, Wood, and Rodriguez with no outs. After Sharp chose this point to make a poor out to Claudio Rey in shallow left, and Flores joined him in that, it looked like we wouldn’t score at all until Bob King balked for a run to score and Brady plated two more with a single up the middle. The seventh saw Rémy Lucas strike out the side, and he also got Kilters to start the eighth, before Kaz came in, walked Lopez, but Paraz hit into a double play. Domingo Moreno however couldn’t seal the deal: MacKey got on, and Robbie Harris homered, bringing the score back to 7-5. Moreno then walked Rey, prompting an unscheduled appearance by Bruno, who allowed a single to Mike Olson before Marty Battle flipped the score for the final time with a huge 3-run homer. 8-7 Indians. Sharp 3-5, 3 RBI; Mays 2-4, 2B; Nomura 2-4, RBI; Rodriguez (PH) 1-1; Lucas 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Okay. THAT … was a **** game. And we just can’t stop putting up such ****ty efforts against the Indians. This has been going on for years!

In other news

April 10 – It’s 200 career wins for BOS SP Jason O’Halloran (1-0, 3.21 ERA)! The 34-year old southpaw held the Knights at bay in a 3-2 win, going to 200-115 with a 3.29 ERA all time. The 2003 CL Pitcher of the Year has spent his entire career with the Titans, who drafted him in the first round in 1989.
April 10 – VAN OF Paul Theobald (.435, 0 HR, 3 RBI) has two knocks in the Canadiens’ 8-1 romp over the championship Falcons, reaching 2,000 career hits. The 1987 first rounder, taken by the Condors, gets the milestone hit, a single off Tommy Wilson, in the second inning.
April 12 – The Thunder announce that 1B Tomas Cardenas (.200, 0 HR, 1 RBI) is out for the season with a broken kneecap.
April 13 – DEN INF Jose Lopez (.472, 1 HR, 13 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak going with one knock in an 8-1 clobbering the Gold Sox are handed by the Warriors.
April 13 – OCT C Felix Hernandez (.158, 1 HR, 2 RBI) will spent two weeks on the shelf with a bruised knees.
April 13 – WAS RF/LF Jose Gomez (.269, 0 HR, 3 RBI) has suffered a concussion and is assumed to be out for three months.
April 14 – LVA SP Anibal Sandoval (0-0, 0.71 ERA), who has pitched 250 or more innings in every one of his ten full seasons in the Bigs, is out for three months with shoulder inflammation.
April 14 – Salem’s southpaw Raúl Chavez (2-0, 1.80 ERA) spins a 3-hitter to beat the Scorpions, 3-0.
April 15 – The Wolves acquire 27-yr old OF Robbie Luxton (.233, 3 HR, 10 RBI) from the Condors, sending over 27-yr old C Blair Harris (.167, 0 HR, 0 RBI) and 23-yr old AAA INF Pancho Ybarra.

Complaints and stuff

Batting .423 with a 2 HR and 6 RBI, Clyde Brady was selected as CL Player of the Week.

The Condors are in trading mood very early in the season. They offered us outfielder Bill Miller on Sunday, longing for AAA players Mike Willard and Ryan Miller. Well, Ryan won’t go anywhere, and Bill Miller doesn’t help us in centerfield. He’s another corner outfielder, and that’s not really what we’re looking for.

Besides, I watched all episodes of “Still Standing”, and I just can’t imagine a player named Bill Miller on a physically demanding position on the field. Beer league pitcher, perhaps.