[Westheim]

A whole week without Brownie! Is there a point to keep on living!!??

Raccoons (10-14) vs. Canadiens (14-10) – May 1-3, 2006

The Canadiens ranked in the top 3 in both runs scored and runs allowed, but their bullpen had been gagged, bound, and thrown onto the train tracks all of April, allowing a 5.13 ERA, which was soundly last in the Continental League.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (2-1, 3.82 ERA) vs. Juichi Fujita (4-0, 2.08 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (1-1, 4.70 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (3-2, 4.54 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (1-3, 5.01 ERA) vs. Scott Spears (0-4, 4.11 ERA)

This assuming that the Canadiens skip their only southpaw Carlos Camacho (2-0, 7.41 ERA). I would skip him, too, if I were them, and would instead gag him, bind him, and throw him into the deepest river.

Game 1
VAN: CF E. Garcia – SS Nakayama – 3B Suzuki – 2B Dobson – LF Theobald – 1B Trinidad – RF J. Gonzalez – C F. Diéguez – P Fujita
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – SS V. Flores – RF Mays – CF Trevino – C Wood – P Ford

The Coons overcame double plays hit into in the bottom 1st and 2nd as well as a 2-out triple by Enrique Garcia in the top 3rd to get Trevino on base in the bottom of the third inning, then have Sharp and Nomura come up with back-to-back 2-out doubles to give Ford a 2-0 lead. You could not expect this to last; Ralph Ford had left home this morning bringing neither his lunch box, nor his stuff, and the Canadiens were just due for a big knock after a while, especially since the Raccoons could not turn any double plays, while getting three turned on them by the fifth inning. The bottom 6th then automatically should have forfeited the game for the Elks. Juichi Fujita hit TWO batters (Nomura and Flores), threw a wild pitch on top of that – yet the Raccoons scored only one run and then let him run away. Ford remained a participant of the contest into the eighth inning, faced the only southpaw in the lineup to start that, Garcia, and surrendered a double. Law Rockburn replaced him, struck out Nakayama, and then tip-toed out of the inning with the Elks stranding a man on third base for the fourth time in the game. Fujita met a grisly end in the bottom 8th then, and finally, one might say. Nomura led off with a single, Brady added a bloop single, and Quebell a cheap one just in front of Garcia in center to load them up, before Fujita threw another wild one to bring in Nomura. After the Elks had him finish the current at-bat to Flores with an intentional walk, reliever Ralph Davis walked in a run against Greenman hitting for Trevino, and Wood brought in another run on a groundout. All the Elks got was a run off Domingo Moreno in the ninth. 6-1 Coons. Nomura 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Quebell 2-4; Flores 1-2, BB; Ford 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (3-1) and 1-2;

This strangely felt like one of those horrible body switch movies, with the Raccoons being the Elks and the Elks being the Raccoons, because THEY were the team that could absolutely do nothing right in the contest. Any which way, we ended our gut-tearing 7-game skid.

Game 2
VAN: 2B Dobson – RF Theobald – LF J. Gonzalez – 3B Suzuki – SS Rodgers – CF P. Flores – 1B J. Phillips – C F. Diéguez – P Camacho
POR: 2B Nomura – SS V. Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Greenman – 3B Searcy – CF Crespo – C Wood – P Fairchild

Nah, here came their left-hander. With the bases loaded in the bottom 1st, Greenman hit into an inning-ending double play and we were right in the fat of business. Kelly Fairchild pitched decently for three and two thirds before stopping the sick charade and getting lit up. With nobody on and two down in the fourth he allowed singles to Suzuki and Rodgers, a 2-run double to Pedro Flores, walked Jim Phillips and Fernando Diéguez, and only struck out Carlos Camacho once threatened with immediate poaching by the pitching coach. Astonishingly, this was not instant death for the Raccoons, with J.C. Crespo lifting a 2-run home run to re-tie the score immediately in the bottom of the inning. Clyde Brady’s awesome catch kept a runner pinned at third base in the top 5th, and the Raccoons had Greenman flunk out out bases loaded with two outs in the bottom 5th to not score. Kelly Fairchild opened the seventh with a walk to Diéguez, was removed for Rémy Lucas, but it just didn’t go right at all, and two runs scored once Jerry Dobson hit an RBI triple off him. Marcos Bruno registered five outs before his turn came up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom 8th. The prime chance to do something against a 4-2 deficit against ex-Coon Albert Matthews was given to Daniel Sharp, who walked to make it 4-3, and Bob Wood lifted a sac fly to tie the score. Bob Mays, who had come on with Lucas in a double switch earlier, grounded back to Matthews, who completely missed the ball for an error, bringing up Yoshi with the bags yet full again, and while he fell behind in the count rapidly, he connected for a single to right and that gave the Coons the lead, 5-4! Flores made the third out, and Angel Casas got his first save opportunity since coming off the DL ten days ago. He could hardly fared worse to start the inning, with Enrique Garcia knocking a sharp double to deep right, before Haruki Nakayama popped out to short. Angel recollected, and Dobson and Theobald would go down swinging to end this game. 5-4 Coons! Flores 3-5, 2B; Quebell 2-4; Bruno 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-1);

Crespo did something that few Raccoons had done recently when he hit a home run. How long had it been? How about Clyde Brady being the last Furball to go deep, on APRIL THIRTEEN. And we wonder why we’re losing.

And may I mention (perhaps I haven’t so far) that I hate Christian Greenman’s guts?

Game 3
VAN: 2B Dobson – RF Theobald – CF E. Garcia – 3B Suzuki – SS Rodgers – LF Richardson – 1B Nakayama – C F. Diéguez – P R. Taylor
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – SS V. Flores – RF Mays – CF Trevino – C Bowen – P Watanabe

Perhaps the Raccoons were due for another drubbing, so it was great to have Watanabe in there. The Elks went up 1-0 in the first, while in the bottom 2nd Quebell was tagged out at third after a leadoff double. Craig Bowen tied the score with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd, and then Watanabe hit a 1-out triple past Paul Theobald, but was starved there after Sharp and Brady walked, but nobody could come up with something productive. Daniel Sharp hadn’t made an error in the field this season yet, but made one in the fourth inning on Diéguez grounder after Nakayama had just singled between him and Flores with two out. Two on, two out was barely dissolved in the Coons’ favor when Rod Taylor hit one sharply to Sharp, who didn’t dare make consecutive errors. Both teams stranded a pair in the fifth and the score remained one-each, until Watanabe thought it was a good idea to walk the opposing pitcher going into the seventh. Taylor then stole second base, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on Dobson’s fly to right. Oh, the shame!

But the Canadiens still had to make do with a 2-1 lead with their wonky bullpen, which appeared in the eighth in form of lefty Juan Sanchez (13.50 ERA), who started a mix and match inning of three relievers facing three Raccoons, and retiring them all, Quebell, Ingram, and Mays all going down. No mixing and matching in the ninth however, as Pedro Alvarado faced three Critters to end the game on a double play hit into by Jose Carlos Crespo. 2-1 Canadiens. Nomura 2-4; Quebell 2-4; Bowen 2-3, HR, RBI;

And we’re in last place.

Raccoons (12-15) @ Buffaloes (15-12) – May 5-7, 2006

The Buffaloes’ run differential was zero, with their 106 runs each scored and allowed ranking 10th and 2nd, respectively, in the Federal League. Both their rotation and bullpen were putting up ERA’s in the 3.40 range, both marks ranking in the top 3. We have not won a series against the hairy bulls since 1997.

Projected matchups:
Edgar Amador (0-4, 5.70 ERA) vs. Roy Floyd (1-3, 5.45 ERA)
Ralph Ford (3-1, 3.11 ERA) vs. Jack Berry (2-2, 2.97 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (1-1, 4.34 ERA) vs. Tony Hamlyn (3-0, 2.23 ERA)

Jack Berry was ours and was traded for a warm meal, and Tony Hamlyn is just unfair. This does not look like a series that will not make us cry.

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – RF Mays – 1B Quebell – SS Flores – CF Trevino – LF Crespo – C Wood – P Amador
TOP: SS Simon – 2B Spinu – LF Perri – 1B Valenzuela – C G. Ortíz – 3B Merritt – RF J. Garcia – CF Roberson – P Floyd

Amador was all over the place with his pitches, and the Buffaloes quickly put a 2-spot on him in the second inning. Amador walked Lionnel Perri in the bottom 3rd, then had both Valenzuela and Gabriel Ortíz reach on infield singles in Yoshi Nomura’s area to load them up with no outs, before Jon Merritt hit into a double play to dissolve the issue. While the Fat Cat stopped sucking for a little while, the Raccoons, who had been dormant for the first four innings, hit doubles into either gap between Flores and Crespo to score a run in the fifth, and then Nomura hit a double in the sixth and scored on Quebell’s single in the sixth to knot the score. Amador almost made it through seven without coming up on the short side, but Chris Roberson’s leadoff single in seventh inning led to some successful small ball play and Georg Spinu singled him in with two outs to give his team a 3-2 lead. Floyd lasted eight innings for the Buffaloes, with the Coons getting a runner on in the eighth, but not doing much about it. In the top 9th they faced Ryosei Kato, when Vic Flores reached on an error by Spinu to represent the tying run with one out. Trevino struck out, but Crespo singled to left, Flores was sent and scored and the game was tied! Spinu then couldn’t hold onto Ortíz’ throw as Crespo stole second base, but Bob Wood struck out to get the Buffaloes into their half of the ninth, where Marcos Bruno held them dry, but when Kaz Kichida came on in the tenth inning, he had simply nothing, and Miguel Torres had a pinch-hit walkoff single that plated Ricco Ghiberti. 4-3 Buffaloes. Sharp 2-5; Crespo 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – 3B Searcy – RF Mays – C Bowen – SS Ingram – P Ford
TOP: RF J. Garcia – 2B Spinu – 1B Valenzuela – C M. Torres – 3B Merritt – SS J. Johnson – LF Talamante – CF Roberson – P J. Berry

Ford initially fared well against a lineup of all right-handers and faced the minimum through three innings, but Miguel Torres, last night’s hero, bolted a 2-run homer off him in the bottom 4th that put the Buffaloes 2-0 ahead. Julio Garcia’s leadoff triple in the sixth inning did not lead to a run when Spinu lined out to Mays in shallow right, Valenzuela grounded back to the mound, and Torres grounded out to Nomura, but Nomura made an error to start the seventh inning and that one would come around to hurt and score as the Buffaloes moved out to 3-0. All the while, I can assure you, the Critters took their at-bats in the prescribed order. There were just no results. Jack Berry took a 2-hitter into the ninth inning, allowed a leadoff single to Santiago Trevino, only for Clyde Brady to hit into a two-for-one. Berry walked three and whiffed eight. 3-0 Buffaloes. Ford 8.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, L (3-2);

No relief pitchers got into this rather brisk affair, which lasted only two hours and eight minutes. And the sweep is already a sure thing with Hamlyn on tap…

Game 3
POR: SS Flores – 3B Sharp – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Greenman – CF Crespo – 2B Ingram – C Wood – P Fairchild
TOP: SS Simon – 2B Spinu – LF Perri – 1B Valenzuela – C G. Ortíz – RF J. Garcia – 3B Sutton – CF Talamante – P Hamlyn

Flores singled, Sharp doubled, and the runners were brought in by Brady and Greenman as the Critters jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first. Of course, Kelly Fairchild yet had to throw a pitch in anger, and once he did, the Buffaloes quickly took advantage – the game was tied at two after as many frames, and Lionnel Perri’s 2-shot made it 4-2 for the upper-class cows in the bottom 3rd, with nobody out. While Fairchild lasted only five plus and was charged with five runs, the entirety of the Critters’ offensive output against Hamlyn between the second and seventh innings was Tom Ingram reaching on an uncaught third strike. The game would be called in the eighth inning after a sudden heavy rain came over the park and lasted for more than an hour, but let’s be fair, the Raccoons were in no position to make up a 3-run deficit given any length of time to bat. 5-2 Buffaloes. Sharp 2-4, 2B;

In other news

May 2 – TIJ CF Ramón Perez (.192, 0 HR, 2 RBI) hits the DL for the second time this season after breaking his wrist.
May 3 – BOS INF Daniel Silva (.200, 0 HR, 1 RBI in 5 AB), who had been demoted to AAA at the start of the season and just had been recalled, is out for a month with a broken rib.
May 4 – News leak out that CHA SP Larry Cutts (4-0, 2.74 ERA), who headed to the DL with a knee contusion the previous day, sustained the injury in the fight with a bouncer at Charlotte’s Pink Parrot nightclub.
May 6 – Tijuana’s INF Bruce Boyle (.267, 6 HR, 18 RBI) makes it to 2,000 career hits with a 2-run double in the ninth inning off Dan Nordahl in Sioux Falls, which turns out to be the winning knock in a 4-2 Condors win. Boyle, who was taken in the first round of the 1987 draft, has spent his entire professional career with the Condors, batting .264 with 133 HR and 890 RBI as well as 153 SB.

Complaints and stuff

Adrian Quebell was the Rookie of the Month for April, batting .271 with no homers and 11 RBI. Must be shortage of young players in the league. Him an Bob Mays in April: zero home runs.

It is cold outside and Clyde Brady is not hitting a lick. Something’s amiss. Does that mean he will tear up pitchers in July?

Marcos Bruno walked his first man on Sunday, Jose Valenzuela drawing a free pass with two out in the seventh. That came after Bruno had sniffed out 17 batters over 12.1 innings.

The Rebels took Fernando Piquero from us in the rule 5 draft this December, and he pitched to a 3.29 ERA in 13.2 innings for them, but his season ended with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow this week.

Tijuana’s Ramón Perez is a great player. Only problem is that he can not stay healthy at all. Imagine the young Daniel Hall, who was hurt often enough, with Jeremiah Carrell’s frail body (we still have a bowl with the dusty remains of his bobblehead), only twice as bad.

And I know something to completely ruin your mood. Ready? Neil Reece was signed in the middle of April, being picked up by the Bayhawks. He is now a Norfolk Expo.

That is single-A ball for you.