[Westheim]

Raccoons (55-36) @ Crusaders (59-33) – July 21-23, 2009

Last chance for the truth? They lead in so much stuff, f.e. runs scored (Coons: t-7th after a slight thrashing of the Indians), and were second to us in runs allowed. Their bullpen was miles better than ours with a 1.94 ERA (we use to approach that, though). We are 6-2 against them on the year.

Projected matchups:
Resumption of suspended game from April 23
Jong-hoo Umberger (7-4, 3.33 ERA) vs. Ken Maddox (4-7, 5.64 ERA)
Nick Brown (7-4, 1.97 ERA) vs. Greg Connor (7-9, 3.90 ERA)
Javier Cruz (8-6, 2.71 ERA) vs. Elwood Spurrell (11-5, 3.74 ERA)

Suspended game from April 23
POR: CF Castro – 3B Correa – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Esquivel – P Brown
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS J. Hernandez – LF M. Ortíz – RF S. Martin – 2B Caraballo – 3B Reece – 1B M. Williams – C D: Anderson – P Trevino

I – expectedly – messed this up thanks to the muddy UI. The game came back in the middle of the seventh, except that it showed a 3-out state in the top 7th. Hitting anywhere threw Brownie into the game and the bottom 7th commenced. While this is technically correct procedure (he hadn’t been removed in the original game!), I didn’t even get a CHANCE to remove him. Trevino was the starter on the original April date and continued pitching. Both him and Brown were on three days’ rest.

The Crusaders quickly broke the silence in a two-hits-each game. Brown walked one Martin Brother, and the other one made him pay with a bomb to deep left, and just like that it was 2-0 Crusaders. It wasn’t over, though. Scott Hood pitched in the top 9th, Castro hit a leadoff single, and Correa hit a double. No outs, tying runs in scoring position. Of course, the team ****ed it up. Alston hit a sac fly, nobody else hit anything. 2-1 Crusaders. Correa 2-4; Brown 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, L (7-5);

Of course this means that Brownie can’t start again in this series which is doubly annoying.

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 2B Nomura – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – SS Correa – 3B R. Martinez – C De La Parra – P Umberger
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS Davidson – RF S. Martin – LF M. Ortíz – 2B Caraballo – 1B Batlle – 3B Reece – C D. Anderson – P Maddox

2008 Jong-hoo Umberger had been special for his impeccable control and his stunning sink generating lots of easy infield fodder, none of which was evident or even hinted at in this game. While Umberger gave Stanton Martin a heck of a day (0-3, 3 K), everybody else had him for breakfast, while the Raccoons pulled all the stupid stunts from the book, one after another. Castro was on first base in the opening inning when Pruitt zinged a 3-0 pitch right into a two-for-one. Alston had a leadoff single in the second, then fell asnooze and was picked off. And it just went on like that. They scored a stray run in the fourth on a Correa sac fly, actually the first run in the game, before the Crusaders effortlessly bludgeoned Umberger for two runs in the bottom of the inning.

While the Crusaders stranded runners all over the place in the middle innings, the Raccoons had precious little to strand, but in the sixth inning at least go the game tied with a Ron Alston homer. Three straight singles by the next three batters, all with two outs, flipped the score even in their favor, 3-2, and while Umberger didn’t manage to blow it despite his very utmost efforts, Marcos Bruno almost managed, going to 3-ball counts on absolutely everybody in the eighth inning, from which the Raccoons emerged as leaders mainly for Francisco Caraballo’s extremely convenient groundball right into Correa’s paws, that became a 6-4-3. There was no rescue for Angel Casas, though, of whom Matt MacKey hit a leadoff triple that bounced on the first base bag before escaping all attempts to catch it and bring it back to the farm again. MacKey scored all to easily on Sonny Reece’s single, and the game was sent into a very unwelcome extension, in which the Raccoons used the extra time to display their hit-it-somehow-for-two-outs skills, although the Crusaders didn’t exactly sparkle either, with “Clockwork” Stanton being displaced into the Bottom of the Atlantic time zone and being handed a golden sombrero by Matt Cash in the bottom 12th. But whoever laughs last, laughs best. While the Raccoons were at their absolute worst in those extra innings and amounted to one hit in the last five innings of the game, Martin hit a 2-out single off Rockburn in the bottom 15th that was soon followed by another single by Martin Ortíz. When Caraballo’s bouncer eluded Rob Howell as well, “Clockwork” had long turned third base by the time Trevino got anywhere close to field the ball. 4-3 Crusaders. Cash 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

As you can see, there’s really no need to worry. Your wife can happily reserve tickets for whatever will be October’s opera premiere. No baseball shall be played in Portland.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Sharp – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – SS Howell – 1B Quebell – 2B Correa – C Esquivel – P Teasdale
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS Davidson – RF S. Martin – LF M. Ortíz – 2B Caraballo – 1B Batlle – 3B Reece – C D. Anderson – P Connor

Francisco Caraballo continued to move up the hate charts, although potentially you could also see something positive in his 1-out, bases-clearing double that blew the door out of its hinges in the bottom 5th, giving the Crusaders a 5-0 lead: Teasdale was catastrophically overmatched so badly by the Crusaders, allowed loads of hard contact, and then added four walks against only one strikeout, and that was against Greg Connor. Brenda got a sixth run charged against her when Ed Bryan once more allowed an extra-base hit to a left-hander, in this case a 2-out double to Sonny Reece, but for the bigger picture none of this was important.

When Matt Pruitt hit a double in the sixth inning he also contracted a hip strain and limped off the field. Those are the signs of not enough exercise – from base running for example. The Raccoons weren’t regularly doing any of that. Keith Ayers replaced him, didn’t score, and neither did Ted Reese when he doubled(!) in the following inning. Greg Connor pitched a 6-hit shutout in unmolested fashion. 6-0 Crusaders. Sharp 2-4; Reese 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K and 1-1, 2B;

Matt Pruitt was placed on the DL. 15 days might be enough, or it might be three weeks. Who the **** gives a lick at this point. Since we also discarded Brendan Teasdale back to St. Petersburg with his 0-4, 6.26 ERA non-achievement, there was some room for roster movements.

The open slot in the rotation was taken over by Cássio Boda, who was just more consistent than Kenichi Watanabe, who in his last six AAA starts had allowed five runs or more half the time (and also one run or less in the other three games, but…), and Hector Santos had severe walk issues even in AAA and was not ready.

Filling that outfield spot that would remain open for at least two weeks was not an easier task for a lack of candidates. In AAA, Green had gotten injured a while ago, and Seeley was in a rotten slump. There was Beairsto, the fool, and some more no-name scum. We eventually settled on a completely nuts solution and called up Pete Schipper from Ham Lake. Schipper had been the runt of the litter of the 2007 draft (picked in the 12th and last round) and had never held a starting job anywhere in the system, but was batting for an .802 OPS in 111 AB in Ham Lake this year. Despite scarcely any playing time, he had never hit for less than a .762 mark at any level in any year. He is a marginal fielder, not a good runner, and has hit some home runs here and there. He can fill either corner spot in the outfield, or first base, batting right-handed.

I bet 23 other teams had a good chuckle.

Game 4
POR: CF Castro – 3B Sharp – 1B Quebell – LF Alston – SS Howell – 2B Nomura – RF Ayers – C De La Parra – P Cruz
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS Davidson – RF S. Martin – LF M. Ortíz – 2B Caraballo – 1B Batlle – 3B Reece – C D. Anderson – P Spurrell

Cássio Boda had been planned to start the Friday game in San Francisco, but plans are always subject to change. In this case, a rain delay that lasted almost two hours in the bottom of the fourth inning led to Javier Cruz not being able to go past 46 pitches in a 1-1 contest. There was still Caraballo on first base and one out, but with the generous help of Boda, the Crusaders bloomed that opening into a 3-run inning with a few well-hit balls.

The Coons got to see Nobuyoshi Matsui in the top of the fifth. The unlucky Japanese allowed six hits in the inning, including singles by Howell that scored one and two runs, respectively, as the Raccoons spooled down their entire order as they tied the game in this inning. Bring back Boda, and Martin Ortíz hit a homer that put the Crusaders on top 5-4 in the bottom of the frame…

The Crusaders would get another run off Boda eventually, while the Raccoons were silenced for two innings by Lorenzo Flores. But the problem with this Crusaders bullpen was that there was always another awesome guy coming after the one that just right now made you pull all your fur out. After Flores came Scott Hood, was unbeatable, and after that came closer Iemitsu Rin, not off the DL for long, and quelled all hope in just ten pitches. 6-4 Crusaders. Castro 2-4, BB; Sharp 2-5, 2B; Alston 2-4, BB; Nomura 2-4, 2 RBI;

Pete Schipper made his major league debut entering in a double switch, but grounded out in his only at-bat facing Scott Hood.

Raccoons (55-40) @ Bayhawks (47-49) – July 24-26, 2009

The blood clots and the lard stains, whatever was left over of the Raccoons after the Crusaders had smeared their guts all over their park for three days, were shipped off to San Fran after that disaster of a series, so we could find no hope against a team of the CL Loser Division, in which the sub-.500 Birds were actually just 2 1/2 games out behind the Knights and Thunder. Seemed like some teams WERE able to make a thoroughly second-division offense work despite not having any pitching to cover for it… We were 1-2 against them in 2009, and 14-16 against the CL Loser Division overall.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (7-5, 2.08 ERA) vs. G.G. Williams (1-4, 4.01 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (7-5, 3.05 ERA) vs. Tyler Sullivan (12-5, 2.07 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (7-4, 3.29 ERA) vs. Richard Williams (6-10, 4.72 ERA)

So Boda didn’t start after all after being burned in the Thursday nightmare, and Nick Brown had to go on some awkward form of two days’ rest. He had spun 40 pitches on Tuesday, but there wasn’t anybody else available. Two left-handers will start this set for the Baybirds. By the way, G.G. Williams is a former Coons farmhand. The 2004 third-rounder was half the price of Raúl Fuentes in March of 2007. Another one of those trades…

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – SS Howell – 1B Sharp – LF Alston – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Correa – RF Schipper – C De La Parra – P Brown
SFB: 1B Catalo – 2B J. Perez – RF Cameron – 3B D. Lopez – C M. Torres – LF Guerra – SS McCullough – CF Covington – P G.G. Williams

Nick Brown wasn’t terribly amused by the offensive alignment of this game, and indeed was close to death by singles in the first innings, but always had a strikeout ready when he needed one really badly. The lineup wasn’t doing anything for him, and he also twice made the final out with men on base when his liners were caught by Don Cameron. In the bottom 5th of the scoreless contest, Leborio Catalo drew a 2-out walk before Jose Perez hit a high bouncer to third base. One capital throwing error by Martinez later, the Bayhawks had runners in scoring position in the most dire spot yet for Brown, but he struck out Cameron to escape.

The Coons would then score three runs out of the blue in the top 6th. Rob Howell hit a 2-piece in the inning, but Brownie was already at 91 pitches due to all the extra work. The sixth inning was going to be his last, but he didn’t get through when Fernando Guerra hit a 2-out double to right. With a right-hander up, Matt Cash replaced Brown and managed to make Brandon McCullough fly out to center. After not doing anything for five innings, the Raccoons’ offense then put another five runs on G.G. Williams in the seventh. He never logged an out there, as De La Potassium singled, Keith Ayers tripled, Castro singled, Howell singled, and Sharp went well deep with a 3-piece. In fact the first seven Raccoons all hit safely in the inning, with Alston and Martinez singling against reliever Don Davis before Correa had to ruin everything with a double play. Ed Bryan allowed another extra base hit to a left-hander (Martin Covington) in the bottom 7th, and Covington would score after doubling, but once the game was handed to Law Rockburn, the Bayhawks went down quickly. 8-1 Brownies. Castro 2-5, RBI; Howell 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Alston 3-5; Martinez 2-5; De La Parra 3-4; Ayers (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI; Nomura (PH) 1-1; Brown 5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W (8-5); Rockburn 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Interlude: Trades!

Last year’s trade deadline blockbuster move was Ron Alston, this year’s … well.

The Raccoons traded C Sergio Esquivel (.268, 2 HR, 13 RBI) to the Canadiens for 35-year old right-hander MR Ricardo Huerta (1-1, 2.23 ERA) and #7 prospect CL Ron Thrasher, who is a 22-year old southpaw kicking butts in AA.

Nobody quite knows whether Esquivel can be a competent primary, and the Raccoons have too much money tied up in De La Penne to actively find out. A trade for a right-hander (who is of course no stranger to Coon City) and a demonically good closing prodigy is certainly a splendid chance in this case. We can easily cover the backup spot with comparable players from AAA.

We weren’t done, though. We did away with the chronically obnoxious MR Ed Bryan (2-0, 4.93 ERA, 1 SV), shifting his sorry butt to Richmond in exchange for 23-yr old lefty MR George Youngblood, who was struggling with control in AAA and was posting grisly ERA’s.

We might not gain anything with Youngblood, but at least we keep our budget on the green side by freeing up $110k that still would have been due to Bryan, who was out of options as well. Huerta, a generally reliable reliever who was a rule 5 pick originally and was on the team 2002-2005 and a free agent after this season, was a right-hander though, so we needed to make another swap.

So, roster moves from Friday to Saturday…
Gone: MR Bryan, C Esquivel
In: MR Huerta
Waived and DFA: MR Cash
Promoted: MR Beltran, C Lopes

Raccoons (55-40) @ Bayhawks (47-49) – July 24-26, 2009

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – SS Howell – 1B Sharp – LF Alston – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Correa – RF Schipper – C De La Parra – P Baldwin
SFB: 1B Catalo – 2B J. Perez – RF Cameron – 3B D. Lopez – C M. Torres – LF Guerra – SS McCullough – CF V. Diaz – P Sullivan

Martinez’ 2-run triple in the first inning not only gave the Coons an early lead, but also gave Nick Brown, who hadn’t been charged a run the previous day, the ERA lead in the Continental League back. Baldwin put the first two Birds on, but they wouldn’t score and he began to collect a lot of groundballs. The Coons had the bases stacked with no outs in the top 4th, only for their stupid not traded catcher to hit into a (run-scoring, but still…) double play. But Martinez seemed to have figures something out with his poke stick, nailing a Sullivan pitch for a 2-run homer in the sixth inning, further opening the score to 5-0. By that point he was also just the double short of the cycle, but in his eighth inning plate appearance softly lined out to Brandon McCullough, and while the Coons loaded the bases in the ninth inning, Ron Alston flew out to right to end the frame before Martinez could get another chance. Talking about chances, the Baybirds never had any, with Reese, Beltran, and Huerta following up after Baldwin’s seven scoreless. 5-0 Critters. Alston 2-5; Martinez 3-4, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Baldwin 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (8-5);

Pete Schipper had his first career hit, a horrendous bloop that fell between Jose Perez and Don Cameron in the sixth inning.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Sharp – 1B Quebell – LF Alston – SS Howell – 2B Nomura – C Lopes – RF Trevino – P Umberger
SFB: 1B Catalo – C M. Torres – RF Cameron – 3B D. Lopez – LF Guerra – 2B J. Perez – CF Covington – SS McCullough – P R. Williams

Weak pitcher on the mound, no offense coming forth from the brown-clad team. Business as usual on this Sunday afternoon, with the Critters drawing three runners in four innings, two of which reached on an error, and one on a walk. Ximenes Lopes’ leadoff single in the fifth finally got something into the H column, and when Trevino doubled after him, the Coons had two in scoring position and no outs in a scoreless game, but Umberger was batting. After an obvious K it was Tomas Castro to ram a ball past Leborio Catalo that bounced all the way to the corner, enough time for a 2-run triple, but Castro didn’t score when Sharp walked and Quebell hit into one of his ****ing double plays.

The Birds put their leadoff batters on in both the sixth and seventh innings, but both times hit grounders to Nomura for 4-6-3 pain relief. Meanwhile Williams was still in the game in the eighth, but the Raccoons loaded the bases with one out against him, bringing up Lopes, who at least managed a sac fly before Trevino grounded out. Refusing to add to leads rarely goes unpunished, though. Umberger’s ****ty luck finally ran out in the bottom 8th with three hits in a hurry, which combined with an ill-advised throw home by Alston put the Bayhawks back in the game, trailing 3-2, with David Lopez on second base and one out. Donald Sims game out for the lefty Fernando Guerra, but old warhorse Freddy Rosa batted for him, grounding out. Jose Perez grounded out to end the inning. Angel Casas, continuing to struggle, drilled 2B Carlos Santos in the bottom of the ninth, but the Birds kept hitting awful grounders to get swept. 3-2 Coons. Howell 2-3, BB; Trevino 2-4, 2B;

In other news

July 23 – SFB 1B Leborio Catalo (.291, 1 HR, 27 RBI) goes 4-4 in a 13-6 loss of the Bayhawks over the Falcons, reaching the 2,000 hits mark along the way. The milestone hit for the 33-year old is a first inning single off the Falcons’ Larry Cutts.
July 23 – An Achilles tendon injury ends the season of DEN 1B/3B Yuji Hashimoto (.323, 15 HR, 66 RBI).
July 24 – OCT SP Daniel Dickerson (9-3, 2.22 ERA) will miss at least one start with an oblique issue.
July 25 – Charlotte’s INF Jose Lopez (.274, 16 HR, 58 RBI) scorches the Canadiens with five hits, including two home runs, a double, and 5 RBI, but the Falcons still lose the game, 14-12.
July 25 – CIN 1B/2B Georg Spinu (.341, 4 HR, 35 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak assembled after an eighth inning double in a 4-2 Cyclones win over the Gold Sox.
July 26 – The Warriors flip SP Bruce Morrison (5-7, 4.24 ERA) to the Wolves in exchange for #55 prospect SS Bo Hart, who is 21, but looks like 45.
July 26 – Georg Spinu’s hitting streak ends quickly, just as his Cyclones end quickly in a 5-1 loss to the Gold Sox.
July 26 – SAC LF Rodrigo Lopez (.283, 1 HR, 10 RBI) will miss three weeks with a herniated disc. His team mate SP Dan Moriarty (7-8, 3.61 ERA) is off worse, having his season end with shoulder inflammation.
July 26 – MIL SP A.J. Bartels (2-12, 6.93 ERA) has to have bone chips removed from his elbow and his out for the season.

Complaints and stuff

Quite some personnel exchange this week. Nothing too fascinating though.

The Cyclones wanted to trade strong pitcher Nathan O’Herlihy for Ron Alston, which was not a good trade, and the Titans wanted to grab Hector Santos in a shady trade of catchers. I told both to **** off.