[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Good luck on the season. I’m going under the 82 wins at my bookie in Vegas. Hope I’m wrong

Faithless!!

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Raccoons (0-0) @ Indians (0-0) – April 2-4, 2041

Alright, bring on the munchkins! The calendar sent the Raccoons to Indianapolis to begin the season, where baseball hadn’t been kind to the Indians recently. They had lost 104 games in ’40, and were said to lose at least as many this time. Their Opening Day roster was a weird mix of veterans with contracts gone bad and a whole host of underdone rookies of 21, 22 years of age. We had beaten them 12-6 last year.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (0-0) vs. Jake Jackson (0-0)
Nelson Moreno (0-0) vs. Ayden Cobb (0-0)
Josh Brown (0-0) vs. Manuel Herrera (0-0)

All right-handers for Indy.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Morales – RF Nettles – SS Hunter – P Chavez
IND: RF Crocker – 3B Hutson – C Mordino – 1B Dodson – LF D. Gonzales – CF D. Rivera – 2B E. Vargas – SS Huber – P J. Jackson

The team’s first hit of the season came by way of a Trevino single, and a minute later they also had their first double play hit into of the season, courtesy of Jesus Maldonado. Before long, Bernie Chavez gave up his first bomb to Dan Hutson, so that was plenty of the usual boxes ticked rather early. The Raccoons countered with a Manny Fernandez jack to lead off the second inning, but David Gonzales and Adam Huber, speaking of underdone rookies, landed two hits for another run in the bottom 2nd, staking Jackson to a 2-1 lead. While Manny and Morales both hit into double plays in the next two innings to kill any and all offensive ambition for Portland, Alberto Ramos fell down in foul ground in the bottom 4th chasing after a pop by David Gonzales. The tumble was mainly caused by too much friction between his fat thighs, and Gonzales eventually doubled on a 3-2 pitch before scoring on a 2-out single by Enrique Vargas, 3-1 Indians. That run was chalked up as unearned, and also shambolic.

While Bernie was not overly successful in the line score, he DID strike out nine Indians in six innings before running out of juice. He got back into a tie in the sixth by way of a 2-run homer blasted by Doug Levis (who would hit into a double play later), then got a lead when Miguel Reyna batted for him and singled home Stephon Nettles from third base in the seventh. The lead then survived David Lindstrom, Chuck Jones, and Alex Ramirez before arriving with Damon DeOrio in the ninth inning. Pat Dodson opened with a bloop single behind Tony Hunter, with DeOrio demonstratively spitting in the direction of Hunter. Then Gonzales sent one tingling up the middle to put the winning run on base. Danny Rivera hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, with the tying run in Dodson to third. Rikuto Ito had pinch-hit for Ramirez and grounded out in the top 9th, then had stayed in the game as defensive replacement for Berto in rightfield (it was complicated), then got to hustle in to snatch a soft fly by Vargas. That brought up one of those underdone rookies, Adam Huber, who was making his major league debut… and had skipped AAA entirely on the way here. DeOrio walked him, then stared down ex-Logger Danny Valenzuela with three on and two outs; the count ran full, and when DeOrio threw a fireball at the top of the zone, Valenzuela couldn’t keep up and whiffed. 4-3 Raccoons. Maldonado 2-4; Levis 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 2-4, 2B; Reyna (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Kilmer – RF Balaski – SS Hunter – P Moreno
IND: RF Crocker – 3B Hutson – C Mordino – 1B Dodson – LF Valenzuela – 2B E. Vargas – CF D. Rivera – SS Huber – P Cobb

The Indians hit bushels of singles off Nelson Moreno; two in the first for a run, three in the third for another one, while the Raccoons were standing by and staring with their big black googly eyes. They didn’t do anything worth noting in the first three innings, and when Manny Fernandez hit a 1-out triple in the fourth inning, that came with nobody on and two strikeouts by Levis and Kilmer to follow up. Bill Balaski put the Coons on the board with a leadoff jack in the fifth, cutting the gap to 2-1. The Indians would go on to remove Cobb when Manny Fernandez reached base with two outs in the sixth inning. Right-hander Orlando Altreche instantly blew their lead, giving up a blast to Levis, and the Raccoons took a 3-2 lead.

Nels was still going despite the early poking, and while Valenzuela reached third base in the bottom 6th. Adam Huber was carved up for bacon to end that inning, and then Balaski and Hunter took to the corners with a leadoff walk and a single in the top 7th. Hunter stole second, and Nelson Moreno slapped a single up the middle to extend the lead to 4-2. Berto also hit an RBI single before being forced out on Cosmo’s grounder against new pitcher Joe Robinson. Cosmo stole second, prompting Maldonado to be walked with intent to load the bases for the left-handed Fernandez, who obliged and hit into a double play to kill the inning….. (blows dramatically) …

Moreno then loaded the bags with two singles (one of the infield variety) and a clumsy walk to Sal Mordino that indicated it was high time for a reliever. Alex Ramirez came in and ended the inning with K’s to Pat Dodson and Danny Valenzuela, no mean feat, and preserved the 5-2 edge. Top 8th, Portland had three on with no outs (woe is us!) with a Levis double, Kilmer walk, and Balaski single. Robinson walked Tony Hunter to force home a run, then struck out Ito before the rotund Ramos hit into a double play (…!) to end the inning. That was the Coon’s final offensive groan, but the Arrowheads didn’t do any better and only got a Nick Crocker single off Angelo Montano, who was boldly employed with a 4-run lead – and didn’t blow it. Neither did Juan Zabala in the ninth. 6-2 Raccoons. Ramos 2-5, RBI; Fernandez 2-5, 3B; Levis 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Balaski 2-3, BB, HR, RBI;

The season is young still, but I think we’ve already seen every sort of double play out of the Critters except maybe one, a base runner being hit by the batted ball and the ball then caroming across the field to hit ANOTHER base runner.

That was also the entire series – ill weather caught up with the teams on Thursday and wiped out the series finale.

Raccoons (2-0) vs. Bayhawks (2-1) – April 5-7, 2041

San Francisco had taken two of three from the Condors so far, with 12 runs on each side. Their pen had an ERA over seven in the early going. The Coons’ bullpen ERA was zilch. But the Coons were also playing 1.000 ball, and neither of those two things would last forever. The Raccoons had lost only one game to the Baybirds in each of the last two seasons, which was probably also something that wouldn’t go on like that for all time.

Projected matchups:
Josh Brown (0-0) vs. Ryan Kinner (0-0)
Drew Johnson (0-0) vs. Noe Candeloro (0-0)
Ian Wilson (0-0) vs. Garrett Sutherland (1-0, 3.68 ERA)

Candeloro figured to be the only southpaw we’d see in this first week of the year. We’d dole out a slate of rest days despite the rainout for our lefty regulars. The next scheduled off day was another 10 games away.

Game 1
SFB: CF M. Hall – 3B Barcia – C Jo. Davis – RF D. Martinez – 2B G. Ortiz – SS Clary – LF Deming – 1B Gould – P Kinner
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Morales – SS Hunter – RF Reyna – P Brown

There wasn’t a lefty batter in the opposing lineup for Josh Brown’s Coons debut, and before long Josh Davis clonked a solo homer off the foul pole to give the Birds a 1-0 lead. The Coons answered with four off Kinner in the bottom 1st, with Berto leading off with a single and being driven in with two outs by Manny Fernandez before the bases filled up. Tony Hunter then crashed a gapper for a bases-clearing double and the 4-1 lead. To that they added two unearned runs driven in by Levis in the second inning when Fernandez reached on Sergio Barcia’s error with two outs, loading the bases for Levis in the first place.

…at which point all offense abruptly ended. After the score got to 6-1, neither team did much (the Raccoons did more like nothing), and Brown cruised into the seventh inning before control eluded him and he was replaced after a 2-out walk in the inning. Juan Zabala got out of the inning and around his own leadoff walk to Barcia in the eighth, and Lindstrom and Jones combined for the ninth without any assorted accidents. 6-1 Raccoons. Ramos 2-4; Levis 2-4, 2 RBI; Brown 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

At this stage there were only two teams left without an entry in the L column, the 3-0 Raccoons and the 2-0 Buffaloes, both weather-aided.

Then the Bayhawks preempted Candeloro from the Saturday game, instead bringing back Sutherland on regular rest. The Raccoons kept the left-handers in the lineup, and instead rested Cosmo (hitting 1-for-12) and Maldonado.

Game 2
SFB: CF M. Hall – 1B S. Ayala – C Jo. Davis – RF D. Martinez – 2B Gould – 3B Barcia – LF Oshiita – SS Clary – P Sutherland
POR: 3B Ramos – SS Hunter – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – CF Nettles – 2B Kilgallen – P Johnson

The Raccoons put up another crooked number on Saturday, but only in the third inning. Matt Kilgallen hit a leadoff single in his season debut, was bunted over, and singled in by Tony Hunter with two outs. Manny then hit a jack, taking a 3-0 lead. Levis was robbed at the fence by Dave Martinez the following inning, while Drew Johnson in his return to Portland spun 4.2 casual innings without a hit or a strikeout before registering both to complete the inning. Dick Oshiita was the mean bean taking it all away. Johnson would go seven innings on a 2-hitter, losing control at the end and registering 104 pitches despite the early bid. Eric Clary hit a leadoff single off Ramirez in the eighth, but the right-hander then retired three in a row to end the inning and strand Clary at second base. Two players that made their first appearance of the year got the last dips in the game – Kilgallen hit a homer to left off Sutherland in the bottom 8th, and Brent Clark retired the Bayhawks in order with two strikeouts in the ninth. 4-0 Critters. Kilgallen 2-3, HR, RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

Maud? – Maud? – Is that really my team? – Maud? – Are you really Maud?

Slappy, say something. 4-0?

Game 3
SFB: CF M. Hall – 3B Barcia – RF D. Martinez – 2B G. Ortiz – SS Clary – C Canas – LF Balderrama – 1B Deming – P Candeloro
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – LF Ito – 2B Kilgallen – P Wilson

Hunter and Cosmo opened the bottom 1st with hits, but Maldonado hit into a double play, which was too bad, given that both Kilmer and Levis unpacked RBI doubles and the Raccoons could have gotten more than two runs in the opening frame here. Balaski grounded out to Sonny Deming to keep them at that. The Bayhawks came back though, with Ian Wilson clumsily walking a pair so he could give up an RBI single, with two outs, to the opposing pitcher in the top 2nd. Somehow Mike Hall did not hit a 3-run homer (but failed by less than 30 feet…), and the Raccoons remained ahead for the moment. An Ito single and another Kilgallen homer (what the heck!) ran the tally to 4-1 in the bottom 2nd before Berto entered the game as injury replacement for Cosmo, who pulled something on a 2-out double. Berto then was thrown out at home plate on Maldo’s single, ending the inning. Two walks and a Rodrigo Canas RBI single with two outs in the top 3rd meanwhile established an unpleasant pattern for Wilson, but the Raccoons remained ahead with Edgardo Balderrama flying out easily. Portland went up 5-2 when Candeloro walked Kilmer and Levis to begin the bottom 3rd. Kilgallen hit the 2-out RBI single, with Rikuto Ito, on first after a fielder’s choice, thrown out at third base for another stupid third out.

Despite five runs of support, Ian Wilson didn’t get the W, or even out of the fourth inning, in which he walked Sonny Deming, Thomas Gould, and Dave Martinez, and was yanked with two outs after seven free passes in 3.2 innings. Zabala walked in a run against Greg Ortiz, then struck out Clary – 5-3 through the middle of four. Pushed into a corner, the Raccoons went to their reluctantly carried long man, Angelo Montano, and while it could have gone better, it also could have gone much worse. Montano allowed a hit and two walks, but only one run in three innings of work, and the Raccoons were still up 5-4 in the seventh-inning stretch, but hadn’t landed a base hit since Candeloro had been yanked at around the same time as Wilson. They got Berto on base with two outs against Michael Zabek in the bottom 7th, and also Maldonado. The Raccoons sniffed something against the righty Zabek, sent Tony Morales to hit for Kilmer, and Morales crashed a ball over the fence for a 3-run homer!

That was an 8-4 lead, but the Raccoons were also down to just one more bench player (Reyna). Sal Ayala singled and Barcia reached on a Lindstrom error, but Dave Martinez left them stranded with a grounder in the eighth inning. That was their last threat – DeOrio, out of work since Opening Day, ended the game with a 1-2-3 ninth despite a 4-run lead. 8-4 Raccoons! Trevino 2-2, 2B; Maldonado 2-4; Kilmer 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Kilgallen 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

In other news

April 3 – NYC SP Dave Hils (0-0, 0.00 ERA) breaks his elbow upon being hit with a line drive, which will cost him the entire season.

FL Player of the Week: DAL 2B Hugo Acosta (.517, 0 HR, 7 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: OCT C Jesus Adames (.417, 4 HR, 7 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Only undefeated team in baseball! Now, before you go berserk, remember who we played: the two teams of blind kids, and neither of them showed up with their guide dogs. We don’t actually get to play a *really* good team until a week from now. Next week will be against the Condors and Loggers.

10 runs allowed is the lowest mark in the league, but then again we also only played about three games and a half. The weather was iffy across the country this week though, with the Loggers, Buffos, and Caps all playing only FOUR games.

The rainout on Thursday has been rescheduled into a double header on September 2, which is well and dandy, since it will allow for expanded rosters and no pitching shortage. The Raccoons will indeed not travel back to Indy until then, but will go there twice in September.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have the best defensive efficiency in the Continental League!

Oh the gullible joy of small sample sizes.