[Westheim]

Raccoons (15-9) vs. Canadiens (14-10) – May 5-7, 2008

The Elks had won their last four games in a row (same as the Raccoons) and came in with the third-best offense and average pitching. Their rotation even had a 4.44 ERA, a bit below average, but we wouldn’t face the weakest bits. In 2007, a disastrous 4-14 campaign against our mortal enemies cost us the playoffs, so this year will be all about revenge. Bloody revenge.

Projected matchups:
Kenichi Watanabe (0-4, 8.50 ERA) vs. Juichi Fujita (3-1, 3.48 ERA)
Nick Brown (4-1, 0.96 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (3-2, 3.74 ERA)
Kelvin Yates (3-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Scott Spears (3-0, 4.01 ERA)

Seems like the Elks will skip Simon Pegler (0-4, 5.93 ERA), which is too bad. Also, one of their best players in 2B Jerry Dobson is injured and out until the All Star break.

Game 1
VAN: CF Fletcher – RF E. Garcia – 1B T. Ramos – LF Morris – 3B Suzuki – C G. Ortíz – SS Rice – 2B Palmer – P Fujita
POR: SS Barrón – 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Black – LF Pruitt – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – P Watanabe

The Coons’ week started with Barrón throwing away Jerry Fletcher’s grounder to short and the Elks were in business immediately, scoring two runs off a hapless, and winless, Watanabe. The latter moniker wouldn’t change, for which there was a team effort underway. While the Duke hit a sac fly in the bottom 1st to cut an early 2-0 deficit in half, the team then had Bowen in that and Pruitt in the third inning strike out hacking with a runner on third base. Watanabe went on into the fifth when everybody and their mother got a hit off him, until he left with an injury. Tom Watkins waved in the runners that Watanabe had left on base and the Elks took a 5-1 lead. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the latter half of the game would see a complete dismantling of the Raccoons’ vaunted bullpen. Kichida was banged with a 2-run double by Gabriel Ortíz, Sims couldn’t retire anybody, and even BRUNO couldn’t retire anybody, and Ed Bryan made goddamn sure that those loaded bases were emptied properly. 12-4 Canadiens. Quebell 3-5, 2B; Castro 2-4, BB, RBI; Pruitt 2-4, 2 RBI;

Yeah, well. That was utter dog ****.

But I slept like a baby the following night. Must be that Watanabe left with a mystery injury and I could replace him without much tears.

Game 2
VAN: CF Fletcher – RF E. Garcia – 1B T. Ramos – LF Morris – 3B Suzuki – C G. Ortíz – SS Rice – 2B Palmer – P Pegler
POR: SS Barrón – 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Chavez – P Brown

Pegler would suffice, the Elks thought, and he kinda did and kinda didn’t. He wouldn’t have, if he had faced April’s Nick Brown, allowing four runs in the first three innings. But apparently April’s Nick Brown had been struck by a bus at some point during the homestand and had completely forgotten how to pitch. He was at almost 70 pitches after two innings. He went only five, and walked six. While that was with eight strikeouts, he still walked SIX. Four of those walks came in the second inning, half of them with two outs and the bases loaded, to Fletcher and Garcia. That was AFTER a 2-out walk to Pegler to load the bases in the first place. He fell 5-4 behind in the fifth (one run on him unearned after another Barrón error) and left trailing.

The Elks went up 6-4 in the sixth against Rockburn, but Pegler was still involved in this game and walked Bowen and Chavez to start the bottom of the inning. Crespo hit for the largely ineffective Rockburn and singled to load them up with no outs. We took a lead on Barrón’s RBI single and a 2-run double off Quebell’s bat. Castro was put on intentionally before the Duke missed a slam by about 15 feet and was left with a sac fly. That 4-spot was enough for an 8-6 lead. The Critters added a run with Bowen’s leadoff jack in the seventh inning before leaving the bases stranded in the eighth. Bryan, Watkins, and Sims had somehow climbed over the opposing batters for two innings before handing the ball off to Angel, who issued his first walk of the season to Dan Morris (.358, 5 HR, 16 RBI) before retiring Suzuki and Ortíz to end the game. 9-6 Coons. Quebell 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Castro 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Nomura 1-1; Crespo (PH) 1-2;

Why on earth do games against the Smellfarts always turn not only ugly, but THIS ugly? Brownie hardly had six walks in April (okay, seven), and now he walks six of those Skunkpoos!? Argh!!

Also, I’m trying to squeeze some production out of the middle infield spot, where Barrón isn’t hitting much and has turned into an unexpected defensive tire fire, and the other two kids are even worse. Well, Chavez has hit close to nothing, but that’s because he has scarcely 20 AB after April thanks to Ricardo Martinez bursting out in spectacular fashion.

Next up is Kel, our only undefeated pitchers, and he had sweaty palms since the series started. I fear the worst.

Game 3
VAN: CF Holland – RF Fletcher – 1B T. Ramos – LF Morris – 3B Suzuki – C G. Ortíz – SS Rice – 2B Palmer – P R. Taylor
POR: SS Barrón – 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Chavez – P Yates

In a back-and-forth affair, the Raccoons took an early lead on Ricardo Martinez’ first-inning, 2-out, 2-run double. Ortíz ripped a homer off Kel in the second, but the Raccoons came back with a Castro homer and then a 2-run single by Bowen in the bottom 3rd. That 3-spot was immediately pulled back after Ramos and Morris singled and Suzuki homered in the fourth. Yates completely lacked his biting stuff and was easily hit by the Elks.

Our disemboweled bullpen demanded to use Yates for as long as possible however, despite an off day coming up. He so-so clambered through six innings with that 5-4 lead until the Raccoons, facing ex-Coon Bill Corkum, loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom 6th, with Castro up next. Castro popped out in the other batter’s box, and when Corkum left with an injury, the chewed-up remains of another ex-Raccoon, Qi-zhen Geng appeared to force another pop out from the Duke and a poor groundout from Martinez. And now we left Kel to be mortally frightened by the monster of the seventh inning, resulting in a 2-out single by Jerry Fletcher that got him out of the game. Donald Sims was to face the left-hander Tony Ramos, who had already extended a 12-game hitting streak, but struck out to end the inning. Geng walked three in the bottom 7th, including Quebell with two outs and the bags full, but that was all the Coons got, as Castro failed again with the sacks stuffed. Sims gave a leadoff double to Dan Morris in the eighth and Bruno couldn’t keep the runner on base, as the Elks immediately snapped back to a 1-run deficit. And then even Angel couldn’t get it over with quickly. After retiring Michael Palmer and Fernando Diéguez, he allowed Holland and Fletcher on base with singles. Tony Ramos then grounded out to Nomura at second. 6-5 Critters. Castro 2-5, HR, RBI; Black 2-5; Pruitt 2-5, 2B; Bowen 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI;

Watanabe was diagnosed with a sore back. He would miss one start. But I am entirely unhappy with his performance. He was sent to the DL and we called up that non-kid we got from L.A., Colin Baldwin, almost 26 years old. He even pitched on Monday, lining him up perfectly with Watanabe. He was 5-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 40 K in 44 IP in AAA.

Raccoons (17-10) @ Buffaloes (11-17) – May 9-11, 2008

The last last-place team the Raccoons had encountered had spiked them badly, so caution was in order for this series, facing the team with the worst rotation in the Federal League (5.26 ERA). They were in the bottom four in both runs scored and runs allowed, but actually had a pretty good bullpen. The Raccoons have not won a series against the Buffaloes since 1997, and were swept the last two times the teams met, last in 2005. Overall we’re 28-23 against them.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (1-2, 8.64 ERA) vs. Juan Ortega (0-2, 3.56 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (4-1, 1.21 ERA) vs. Sergio Villafranco (1-3, 7.92 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (0-0) vs. Tony Hamlyn (2-4, 3.14 ERA)

Hamlyn will be the only southpaw we see this week (unless they skip Villafranco and we get to Dan George). He is 33 now and still one of the best pitchers in the game, but was raped for seven runs by the Capitals in his last start, making it only through four innings.

Game 1
POR: SS Barrón – 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – LF Crespo – 2B Nomura – P Cruz
TOP: 2B Merritt – LF Perri – C M. Torres – 1B Echevarria – RF Wheaton – CF Talamante – SS O. Ramirez – 3B Charles – P Ortega

Our lineup had a grand total of 1 AB against Ortega coming into the game, and that was an unsuccessful one by Javier Cruz.

Cruz retired the first eight Buffs before allowing a single to Ortega and promptly walking Jon Merritt, but saved the situation with a K to Lionnel Perri, his fourth on the day. By then, the Duke had already conquered Ortega with a leadoff shot in the second and Nomura had also driven in a run in the inning for a 2-0 lead. Ortega pitched in pretty aggressively, resulting in Black and Castro getting hit early in the game. The latter instance came in the fifth, with a Black single then loading the bases with two out for Martinez, who struck out. The Buffaloes got a run off Cruz in the bottom of the inning and the 2-1 lead didn’t look like much at all. Cruz, on nine strikeouts, still was sent batting to lead off the seventh and reached on an error by Carlos Talamante. After Barrón had popped out, Quebell came through with a big 2-run home run to give us a much easier to go about 4-1 lead. Cruz struck out Jimmy Charles and Ortega in the bottom 7th to get to 11 whiffs on the day, which ended there for him after crossing 110 pitches. After Bruno’s quick eighth, a 2-out RBI double off Martinez’ bat in the top 9th moved the game out of save range, so Angel was kept in the pen. Instead, Bryan and Kichida finished the game with only a minor hiccup in the bottom 9th. 5-1 Critters. Quebell 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Black 2-4, HR, RBI; Martinez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2-4, BB, 2B; Cruz 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, W (2-2) and 1-3;

First W against the Buffaloes since 2001! Woooott!!

The rest of the weekend was to be spent without Tom Watkins if at all possible. He was nursing a severe headache and would probably not be a good fit on the mound, much less on the road.

Game 2
POR: 1B Quebell – SS Barrón – LF Pruitt – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – CF Trevino – 2B Nomura – P Umberger
TOP: 2B Merritt – LF Perri – C M. Torres – 1B Echevarria – RF Wheaton – CF Talamante – SS Keeler – 3B Charles – P Villafranco

The Coons’ first inning lead was entirely born out of Villafranco’s errant pickoff throw to first base that allowed Matt Pruitt to take second and then score on Duke Smack’s single. The Duke was then a key piece in the team’s second run, which scored in the fourth inning. Black singled, then stole his first bag of the year. Villafranco, a bit unnerved, balked, moving Black to third, from where he scored on Bowen’s gapper in right center. The game remained close, with Carlos Talamante hitting a solo home run off Umberger in the bottom 4th to get the score to 2-1. Also, rain set in and led to a delay of almost half an hour after that fourth inning. That meant that Umberger was probably not going to go very deep into the game.

He did get through six, however, and an interesting situation developed in the top 7th. After a Bowen double and a Trevino single the Coons had runners on the corners with Nomura facing Villafranco. If Trevino could steal second off 2003 Gold Glover Miguel Torres, the Buffaloes might be tempted to walk Yoshi intentionally and we could hit Tomas Castro for Umberger. But Trevino never got a good jump and Nomura ultimately grounded out, keeping Bowen pinned at third. Castro still hit for Umberger, walked, right-hander Juan Carlos Bojorquez struck out Quebell, but Juan Barrón then came through with a single to left, scoring two runs! Bojorquez would not retire another batter, as in a terrific display of 2-out terror the Raccoons had Pruitt single to score Castro, Black walked, and then Martinez emptied the bases with a 3-run double! Bojorquez’ successor Victor Gonzalez allowed an RBI double to Bowen to complete a 7-spot on the Buffaloes’ staff, and the Raccoons put on the rout for good in the ninth inning, in which both the Duke and Trevino hit 2-run home runs off Ruslan Kolubidze. sailed smoothly home from there. 13-1 Furballs!! Quebell 2-5; Pruitt 2-4, 2B, RBI; Black 3-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Martinez 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Bowen 3-4, 3 2B, 2 RBI; Trevino 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Umberger 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-1); Kichida 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, SV (1);

Adrian Quebell temporarily reached a .400 batting average after hitting safely in his first two AB in this game, but ultimately dropped back to .388, but that still leads the ABL easily. Meanwhile, Kaz Kichida, after seven years, 219 games, and 290 innings, logged his first career save, facing the minimum with the aid of two double plays.

Game 3
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Barrón – CF Castro – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – LF Pruitt – SS R. Miller – C Rios – P Baldwin
TOP: 2B Merritt – C M. Torres – LF Roberson – CF Talamante – 3B Charles – RF Meza – 1B Perkins – SS Keeler – P Hamlyn

Colin Baldwin’s ERA reached unpleasant highs early with a Chris Roberson (…!) home run in the first inning. The Buffaloes added another run in the second, and had hardly any problem hitting Baldwin in his Raccoons debut. It was mainly the defense that kept him from being completely annihilated, but that didn’t save the rest of the team from being ground to dust by Tony Hamlyn. Quebell reached on an error in the first, but was left on, and while Martinez hit a leadoff single in the second, he was erased in a double play. No Raccoon reached base from there straight through to the Duke taking a stealth route on base with a 2-out walk in the seventh inning – 16 straight batters retired. Martinez tripled on the very next pitch, representing the tying run in a 2-1 game, but Pruitt grounded out to first to end the inning. As if that was not already too much of what little of a chance they could get being wasted, Law Rockburn would continue a terrible struggle of a season by surrendering a pinch-hit 3-run homer to Ramón Echevarria in the bottom of the inning, which all but struck a shovel square over the team’s head for this game – and that was before Manny Meza took Bryan deep in the eighth. 6-1 Buffaloes. Martinez 2-3, 3B, RBI;

Blech. That’s the team’s third 4-game win streak that doesn’t go to five this year.

In other news

May 5 – TIJ CL Charlie Deacon (2-1, 4.61 ERA, 8 SV) saves his 300th game in a 7-5 win of the Condors over the Falcons.
May 5 – DAL SP Jose Flores (4-1, 2.91 ERA) will have to go on hold for two months after being diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis.
May 6 – Season over: RIC OF Brian MacNamara (.286, 0 HR, 7 RBI) faces surgery and a long rehab process after being diagnosed with a torn labrum.
May 7 – The Aces have to shut down 3B Inaki-Luki Warrain (.302, 0 HR, 5 RBI) with severe shoulder inflammation. He could be out for four months.
May 7 – Meanwhile, SAL SP Sylvain Mendes (0-3, 4.56 ERA) is lost for the rest of the season with a torn labrum.
May 8 – CIN SP Juan Garcia (4-1, 2.45 ERA) 2-hits the Blue Sox in a 9-0 rout.
May 9 – They keep falling: Tijuana’s SP Jaylen “Midnight” Martin (1-4, 5.45 ERA) needs surgery to relieve radial nerve compression and is out for the year.

Complaints and stuff

I’m ready to give up on Jimmy E and regret the trades for him I didn’t make. He’s batting an uninspired and entirely disempowered .211 in Aumsville. That dumbbell Whitebread and his stupid spreadsheets. I’ll have Slappy install a sun lamp in his half-office, that will probably kill him quicker than any poison.

The entire outfielder crop we drafted in 2006 is utter crap. The draft strategy next month will heavily involve my crystal ball again!