Portland Raccoons (ABL) - Page 59

Westheim · 02-18-2015, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin

Please give us an update on his progress in a few years.

I'll do my best, but you know my recent track record.

---

Max Heart came off the DL in time for the series against the Titans. Manny Gabriel was sent back to St. Pete rather than McLaughlin, since the latter had no options left and we could not afford to lose marginal AAA talent right now. It’s that bad. We will start after the draft with a weekend series against the dominant Titans, so that ten under .500 team is soon going to be thirteen under .500 …

Raccoons (28-38) vs. Titans (48-19) – June 15-17, 2001

It’s hard to find a chink in the armor of those Titans, who are 2nd in offense, and a commanding 1st in defense in the Continental League. Their 3.1 R/A per game are otherworldly (not just compared to the Raccoons), and their rotation is virtually unbreakable – or it has been. SP Sergio Gonzalez has recently gone to the DL, opening a hole for Bryce Hildred to crawl out of. Yeah, that guy…

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (4-5, 4.57 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (5-1, 1.78 ERA)
Ralph Ford (4-5, 3.29 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (0-0)
Randy Farley (1-4, 5.72 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (6-8, 4.25 ERA)

Randy has been pushed to Sunday to get that calf an extra day to heal. It’s pointless to skip him, but he is now slotted down to #3 in the order. Also, Jesus Palacios comes in with a 12-game hitting streak.

Guess what: Vern Kinnear is back in the CL North! The Titans claimed him off waivers by the Knights earlier this week.

Game 1
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B D. Mendez – P J. Sanchez
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – P Bean

The call of the day was pitching, and it was some good pitching delivered. Both starters were holding the opposing batters very short, and interestingly it was Carl Bean who held his batters shorter. While Ramiro Cavazos put a run on the board with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd, and the team as a whole put ten hits (nine singles, though) up against Sanchez, Bean didn’t allow anything through seven innings except for three weak hits. In the bottom 6th the Raccoons had had a big chance to add some runs with the bags full after three singles, but Mark Thomas grounded out and they didn’t score. It was still 1-0 with two out in the top 8th when Vern Kinnear came out to pinch-hit and drew a walk from Bean, the first walk on the day. This was tricky though, since they immediately replaced Vern with Luis Alonso to run, and Daniel Silva was due to bat. Silva, the prolific coonskinner, was a left-handed batter, too, so it put us into a predicament with Carl Bean on 103 pitches. But he could probably deal with one more batter, and then the Titans would have reliever Ramiro Román in the #2 hole and send a hitter anyway. Silva grounded out to Palacios. The Coons left on two again in the bottom 8th, and that left the score at 1-0, the Coons up 12-3 in hits. With our closer situation being slightly complicated, and Bean still pitching a shutout, why not stick with him? The Titans sent right-hander Andres Manuel as pinch-hitter to lead off the inning. A soft grounder got through Martin, who had not been pulled for defense, but Mark Austin hit straight into a double play. That left it to Gonzalo Munoz to do something, and hitting a double was well enough. Desperate for a strikeout, I went to Manuel Martinez (!) to face Josh Thomas, a switch-hitter, and Thomas popped the first pitch he saw to shallow left – but no problem for Parker, who ended the game with a two-handed grab. 1-0 Raccoons! Cavazos 3-4, HR, RBI; Palacios 2-4; Sharp 2-4; Parker 2-4; Bean 8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (5-5);

20 years later, I still haven’t learned to manage a bullpen, but somehow it worked out this time.

Game 2
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 2B D. Mendez – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF Garrison – C Manuel – SS H. Ramirez – 1B Walker – P Hildred
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – SS Heart – P Ford

That this would not be Ralph Ford’s day became clear early in the second inning, when he walked three, but the Titans were still not scoring. While the Coons got a run after a Palacios double and Thomas single in the bottom 2nd, Ford was about to be slaughtered in the third. He walked Alonso, hit Mendez, and then Austin singled up the middle. Three on, no outs, the damage was limited to the tying run because Reece threw out Mendez at home on a Rudy Garrison single, but the fourth inning brought an improvement for the Titans. After a leadoff infield single by Hector Ramirez, they systematically destroyed Ford, aided greatly in their endeavor by a terrible misplay by the useless numbnut we had in leftfield, and Ford failed to retire anything or anybody, being loaded for four more runs, 5-1, and didn’t even manage to finish the inning before he was removed and mercy-killed. Not that our bullpen was any less flammable. After Max Heart provided an unexpected rally spark with a 2-run home run in the fifth inning, getting the Coons back to 5-3, Bob Joly was trusted with the ball and over the next two innings was trashed for three runs. The game was basically over right there. In the top 8th, Scott Wade would balk home an unearned run after a Martin error, but who was counting the opposing team’s runs anyway in this park? And that was even before Marcos Bruno got raped for another 4-run inning in the ninth. The Titans out-hit us only 15-13, but the result was markedly more diverse. 13-5 Titans. Cavazos 2-5, RBI; Sharp 2-5; Palacios 3-4, BB, 2B; Thomas 3-4, 2 RBI; Heart 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

And no, we have yet to improve from that dastardly horrible 5.2 runs allowed per game. I wonder why that is. We have such great pitching.

Interlude: trade

Bob Joly was yanked to hell after this game, and Elliott Meeks – anybody remember Elliott Meeks? – was added to the roster. He had spent the last ten days in DFA limbo, refusing an assignment to St. Pete, and had not been claimed either.

I had no interest in his services anymore, however, and we shopped him overnight. The Warriors were the only team answering.

On Sunday, the Raccoons announced that they had flipped Meeks for 21-year old AA SP John Simpson, who had been a supplemental round pick just last year and had pitched a 3-hit shutout in A ball just 11 days earlier, before he had gotten his intestines torn out in his first AA start of the season, allowing nine runs in 3.2 innings (sounds like a Ford or Miranda start, to be honest). Vince gives Simpson a chance, once we get his six vaguely distinguishable pitches sorted out.

Dan Epps joined the Coons from AAA.

Raccoons (28-38) vs. Titans (48-19) – June 15-17, 2001

Game 3
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B D. Mendez – P Bautista
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C M. Thomas – P Farley

The Titans first scored a pair in the top 2nd, and then continued to humiliate a useless pitcher, three months ago the sole hope this team had had, now filed away in the cabinet labeled “Issues”. Two hits, two walks, a Palacios error, and the Titans were up 4-0, with the Raccoons being credited with zero runs and five left on base after two innings. Albert Martin plated himself and Reece with a home run in the bottom 3rd, before Guerin was left on third after a 1-out triple. It didn’t matter anyway, since Farley was charged with another two runs in the fourth. Dan Epps made his season debut in the sixth, but only for a short while. Facing four batters, he gave up three runs on two dingers. Daniel Miller replaced him, surrendering the third consecutive home run to Josh Thomas. Shame continued even beyond that, f.e. in the eighth, when Juan Diaz gave up a home run and three walks – and most of that to left-handers. Scott Wade offered no relief either. This particular rout turned out even more routing than yesterday’s. 15-4 Titans. Cavazos 2-4; Reece 3-4, BB; Guerin 2-5, 3B; Thomas 2-4, BB; Heart (PH) 1-2, RBI;

Palacios’ hitting streak is over.

Total runs in this series: Titans 28, Raccoons 10
Total hits in this series: Titans 38, Raccoons 39
Something’s off here. (yells into the sky) YOU LOT UP THERE HAVING FUN???

Raccoons (29-40) @ Indians (32-36) – June 18-20, 2001

Much contrasting with the Titans, the Indains were second-to-last in runs scored with the most pathetic batting average (.235) in the CL. That probably means the Coons can stay under 20 runs in this 3-game set, but they also have some really solid pitching, with their 283 runs allowed ranking third-lowest.

Projected matchups:
Cipriano Miranda (2-7, 4.69 ERA) vs. Junior Diaz (1-6, 6.61 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-5, 6.20 ERA) vs. Ben Carlson (3-5, 5.40 ERA)
Carl Bean (5-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (9-4, 3.03 ERA)

We are lucky in that we get the soft, fatty part of their rotation and not Manuel Alba or Anthony Mosher, who both have Park-ish ERAs (but not winning records). Yet, all right-handers for the second consecutive series, which with the demise of Clyde Brady is not necessarily something the Raccoons are looking forward to.

Game 1
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Flores – C Fifield – P Miranda
IND: 2B Montray – SS M. Jones – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – CF J. Valdez – RF Lugo – P J. Diaz

Fifield set the Coons on top with a 2-out bloop single in the top 2nd, plating Palacios from third. The Indians didn’t amount to much in the early innings, but crowded Miranda with runners on the corners with one out in the bottom 3rd. Reece made a catch on Phil Montray’s fly to shallow center, keeping the runners pinned, and Mike Jones fouled out to Sharp. Sharp was one of three Coons along with Palacios and Martin to send flies to deep, deep center in the fifth. Valdez snagged two of those, but Sharp’s went out, also collecting Cavazos to make it 3-0. Sharp also drove in the next run in the seventh, an RBI double cashing in Miranda, who was holding the Indians to one hit so far. He issued a few walks, though, like on four balls to David Lopez, leading off the bottom 7th. Lopez stole a base, but the Indians lineup failed to produce anything helpful, even with Miranda pitching, and even with two more 3-ball counts in their favor. After leaving another man in scoring position in the eighth, the Indians were still looking for something countable in the ninth. Miranda kept going despite facing the 3-4-5 batters. Paraz grounded out harmlessly, as did Lopez, and although Miranda’s speed was dropping, he still managed to whiff Ron Alston to end the game! 5-0 Furballs! Cavazos 3-5, 2B; Sharp 3-5, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Miranda 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K, W (3-7) and 1-4;

Whhooooww Miiiii-randa!! This was – really! – his first career shutout! He made 150 starts for the Crusaders before this season, finished only five of those, and never was unscored upon. But it doesn’t make him a great pitcher, still. Well, even Bob Joly tossed a no-hitter once…

Mike Jones actually fouled out to Daniel Sharp three times in this game, twice for the final out with a runner in scoring position. Talk about consistency!

Game 2
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P M. Lopez
IND: RF J. Valdez – LF Quintela – 3B D. Lopez – 2B Matthews – 1B J. Garcia – CF Maguey – C Abrams – SS M. Jones – P Carlson

Carlson was bowled over early with a 2-out, 3-run homer off Albert Martin’s bat in the first inning. That didn’t make Lopez any better however, and the Indians managed to score two in the bottom 2nd, while leaving two men in scoring position. The Indians loaded them up in the bottom 3rd on two hits and Maguey getting plunked, but Brian Abrams grounded out to Sharp before anybody scored. The Raccoons were still ahead by a run, but this one could easily snap against them with Lopez being utterly incapable, which also showed in him plunking Carlson in the bottom 4th. That led to a situation where the Indians had two on and two out, with Lopez batting. He shot a fly to deep left and SOMEHOW Cavazos made that play. Some much needed relief came in Palacios’ 16th home run of the season, collecting Reece, in the top 5th, giving Lopez that 3-run lead back. While the Indians didn’t put anybody on the next two innings, Carlos Quintela would eventually hit a single off Lopez in the seventh, signaling that work was over for him today. Daniel Miller finished the inning, but not without a walk to Matthews. Another insurance run was hard to come by with a Raccoon being thrown out on the basepaths by Abrams in consecutive innings, before Guerin stole his 17th, yet still was left on base in the eighth. In the ninth, with Nordahl getting ready, Lorenzo Martinez walked the first two batters he faced, Parker and Cavazos (who had struck out in all three previous AB’s). Could we get someone home? Sharp flew out, but Reece worked a full count walk, forcing out Martinez for closer (!) Arthur Joplin. The left-hander allowed one run to score on Palacios’ groundout, which made us keep Nordahl in the stable. Instead Manuel Martinez came out to face the right-handed top of the Indians lineup. Valdez struck out, Quintela walked. Lopez then grounded to Guerin – who messed up. Two on, one out. Oh noes! And NOW Nordahl came in, but I had a hunch… No, it worked out. Both Matthews and Garcia grounded out to Palacios, and this one did not get away late. 6-2 Raccoons! Martin 2-5, HR, 3 RBI;

That’s Danny’s first actual save as a nominated closer. He had one in some oddball contest last year, but this is the first time he nailed it down while holding the job of the … naildown guy.

Can we nail down the Indians for three?

Game 3
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Thomas – P Bean
IND: 2B Montray – CF J. Valdez – C Paraz – 3B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – SS Matthews – RF Lugo – P Park

After not hitting a lick against the most terrible pitchers in the terrible rotation we carried around, the Indians instantly jumped on Carl Bean in this Wednesday contest. Bean was roughed up for three runs on two walks and three hits, including two doubles, in the first inning. By contrast, Chang-se Park faced the minimum through three innings, and didn’t get anybody into scoring position until the sixth! That was the case after a bloop and a walk, bringing up Reece with two on and two out, but he grounded out to Montray. The Raccoons were fighting a lost battle, and didn’t score until the seventh when Guerin at first forced out Martin, but then stole second base and scored on Parker’s single. Park whiffed Thomas to end the inning then. Through six, Bean had only been held in the game by the defense, but Jose Lugo eventually took that out of the equation with a solo shot in the bottom 7th that restored the old 3-run gap and also sent Bean to bed. However, Park was not through this one yet. Two out in the top 8th, Sharp and Reece both hit singles. That brought up Palacios with two down, and he still led the Continental League in long balls. The Indians did not replace Park with a lefty, so could Palacios possibly …? Well, he kept the line going! His single up the middle scored Sharp, 4-2, and he represented the tying run on first base. Martin up, still no left-hander, and this was begging for a backlash! Martin fell behind, fought back to 2-2, then made contact, a hard line to left, OVER Matthews, and Alston couldn’t cut it off! It went into the gap, as Reece circled around the bases, and Palacios was waved around third and sent home AND HE WAS SAFE!!! HALLELUJAH!!! Guerin popped out, but we had a brand new ballgame on our hands now! And in the bottom 8th, we had that brand new ballgame escalate rapidly. Bruno retired Abrams, but walked Lopez, prompting a move to Diaz to face Alston. He got a grounder to short from him, but Guerin made another inexplicable error, and the Indians were in business with two on and one out. Diaz walked Garcia, and between all those Daniels in the pen, we picked Miller to face Matthews. After a ball, Matthews grounded back to the mound, and Miller pounced on it, fired home – OUT – and Thomas to first – OUT, TOO!!!! Somehow, Chang-se Park was still in the game when the top 9th came around, although Parker led off. And how he led off – he tripled! C’mon! Score that sucker!! Flores struck out. Heart struck out. Cavazos walked, and Sharp – struck out. AND PARK WAS STILL PITCHING. And Miller never retired anybody in the bottom 9th … and this is how things go with this team… 5-4 Indians. Reece 2-4; Palacios 2-4, RBI; Parker 3-4, 3B, RBI;

In other news

June 14 – ATL SP Tony Hamlyn (10-3, 2.28 ERA) 3-hits the Knights in an 8-0 walkover.
June 15 – DAL SP Kenny Frye (7-3, 3.65 ERA) is out for the year with a severe case of shoulder inflammation.
June 15 – Oklahoma will have to make do without energetic OF Joey Humphrey (.361, 4 HR, 27 RBI) for the next three weeks, as the 30-year old has suffered a sprained wrist.
June 15 – Sacramento’s David Castillo faces three months on the shelf with a forearm strain. It’s not his season anyway, since a 3.57 ERA has only been good enough for a 3-8 record for him.
June 17 – MIL SP Vernon Robertson (9-6, 3.59 ERA) spins seven innings of 3-hit, shutout ball in an 8-0 win over the Indians to grab his 200th major league win. Robertson, 38, spent most of his career in the CL North with the Canadiens and Indians, before going to Washington for four years. He had been the Canadiens’ first round pick in the 1982 draft.

Complaints and stuff

So, I really wanted to get back to the proper weekly cycle but after that last game I … just can’t … -.-

Nick Brown, that former 293th overall pick, who missed about all of the 2000 season with a ruptured UCL, restarted in AA when he came off the DL this April. He’s long back to AAA. Here’s his numbers this year:
AA: 5 GS, 4-0, 2.16 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 18 BB, 39 K
AAA: 7 GS, 5-2, 2.30 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 17 BB, 70 K
Problem is, while he has amazing stuff, his control is blech, and Vince rates him 20/12/6 right now, with a potential 20/13/10, but he’s 23 already, how much better will he get? His profile is below. I still think it’s time to shake up that numbening rotation…

You may know or you may not (most likely not), but in general, bears are extinct in Germany, but there are a few in Italy and Austria. A number of years ago, one bear migrated into Bavaria from there, wreaking havoc along the way in the sheep and chicken population, which he found tasty. As things go in Germany, he was almost instantly allowed to be shot (which soon happened) while being labeled a [/i]Problembär[/i] (problem bear or issue bear), occasionally also Schadbär (damaging bear) in a way only the German language can create new words on the fly. That bear by the way was named Bruno, but as far as I know there is no relation to Marcos Bruno.

Now, centuries ago, explorers and biologists categorized raccoons as a member of the family of bears, and they got incorrectly named Waschbären in German (literally: washing bear). While we have long realized that they in fact aren’t proper bears (or cats, or dogs, or good at baseball), the wrong German name has stuck with them.

And now I will actually come to the bottom line here! (Geez, finally) I think I have come up with a new word for this team. Let’s discuss the Issuecoons.

They have issues. Oh, they sure have. Let’s focus on the rotation for a moment. It’s awful! I though Farley and Ford would be strongpoints, but they are everything but. I also thought that both would run up strikeouts, which they are not. I though Ralph Ford could be an excellent #3, which he is not. It’s actually worse with Ford. You never know what you get! He can whiff a dozen on Monday, and on Saturday he can’t find the strike zone even with three coaches marking the catcher’s glove with laser pointers! It’s infuriating! We knew that Lopez was wrecked even before this season, and Miranda has been nothing but spotty until that shutout he spun. While they have even a better ERA as a group than that Demonic Bullpen of a Thousand Tears, they are clearly not up to the basics of the job description. Like, come to the park before lunch, don’t suck when 20,000 are watching, and be nice to Chad no matter where he’s passed out sniffing yesterday’s socks.

Oh my. Ladies and gentlemen, the Issuecoons!

Trebro · 02-18-2015, 09:57 PM

Assuming you don't have scouting set to 100% accurate, I'm guessing that this is one of those things that's a miss. His K/BB ratio is like 4/1, which doesn't jibe with bad control, unless you know that the AAA league is all free-swingers.

He's worth a look, I think--but maybe not until September? Why run the clock on this guy if he's good, and start the budget-busting so soon?

Orcin · 02-18-2015, 10:05 PM

I believe he is closer to the 10 than the 6 in control, judging from his stats. It could be as Trebro said, i.e. a scouting mistake, or maybe he has received a development bump and the scouting report just hasn't caught up yet. Either way, he appears to be an ace in the making from those pitch ratings.

Issuecoons... I like it.

Westheim · 02-19-2015, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trebro

Assuming you don't have scouting set to 100% accurate, I'm guessing that this is one of those things that's a miss. His K/BB ratio is like 4/1, which doesn't jibe with bad control, unless you know that the AAA league is all free-swingers.

He's worth a look, I think--but maybe not until September? Why run the clock on this guy if he's good, and start the budget-busting so soon?

Scouting accuracy is normal.

You might be right about September. Reminds be about the Mets who are not going to bring up Syndergaard for another 20 years so he can't ever become a free agent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin

I believe he is closer to the 10 than the 6 in control, judging from his stats. It could be as Trebro said, i.e. a scouting mistake, or maybe he has received a development bump and the scouting report just hasn't caught up yet. Either way, he appears to be an ace in the making from those pitch ratings.

I think so, too, yet the scouting report is only three weeks old. Not quite sure what to make of it. Maybe the AAA boys try to flail at the 101mph zipper regardless of location.

I don't expect the 4 K/BB mark to quite survive in the Bigs, though.

You know, the strike zone in Raccoons Ballpark is particularly small.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin

Issuecoons... I like it.

I liked the Winnercoons.

Here's a look back at that 1995 draft class that Brown sprung out of. Note how he has been drafted as a reliever(!). Unfortunately I don't keep screenshots of the players from draft day (hey, everything is going to be better with the next dynasty...), but of course the shortform reports from Vince are still around. Prior to the draft, he was rated a potential 10/8/10 and as throwing 90mph.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westheim

1995 RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Supp. Round (#35) – LF Manuel Villa, 20, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – rated well above average in every offensive category but power (average), Villa also has great defense. His stock could go up if he can learn to play right field competently.
Round 2 (#77) – RF Cory Stanford, 18, from Coral Hills, MD – also above average, including power, however he has a nasty habit of hacking at everything, which will have to be beaten out of him
Round 3 (#101) – MR Bill Coles, 21, from Montreal, Canada – brutal changeup from the righty, but his fastball his dead straight
Round 4 (#125) – SP Julio Romero, 20, from Villalba, Puerto Rico – also a righty with a changeup, but not too much stuff overall
Round 5 (#149) – 1B/2B George Morris, 22, from Mesquite, TX – better D at first, but no home run power to speak of, also little speed and a weak arm
Round 6 (#173) – MR Tristan DeWinter, 18, from Moneka, IL – circle change to kill, but his fastball is really weak and he gives up lots of fly balls
Round 7 (#197) – INF Zach Muller, 18, from Montrose-Ghent, OH – more of a versatile infielder type with decent hitting, could once become a utility guy
Round 8 (#221) – OF Jason Kent, 21, from Sparks, NV – plays all positions in the outfield, but hacks like a maniac and still has no power
Round 9 (#245) – LF/RF Pacio Neira, 21, from Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela – here we enter the depths of no upsides
Round 10 (#269) – C Alan Scott, 23, from Mililani Town, HI – nice work behind the plate, but no hitting
Round 11 (#293) – MR Nick Brown, 17, from Halawa, HI – lefty with a slider
Round 12 (#317) – MR Ramiro Manuel, 18, from Meridian, ID – another righty with a changeup

The first three rounds were complete fails, and then it just got better down the draft. Romero, Morris, and DeWinter are all in AAA, and we know about how Kent is a terrific AAA player, and then there's Brown in the 11th round. All others are long gone from the organization.

Westheim · 02-19-2015, 11:08 PM

Slept after work, only three hours, though, to be able to take in the Gatorade Duels (finally the sports year begins, hooray!), and got to some hairy action here, too.

You can always catch up on sleep on Friday morning in the office, right?

Raccoons (31-41) @ Condors (39-33) – June 22-24, 2001

The Condors were remarkably average in most categories despite shedding most of the former Raccoons they had accumulated in the last few years. Until recently, only Ben O’Morrissey and Mauro Granados had remained of that group, but they had signed Daniel Richardson a few weeks ago. He wasn’t hitting squid.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (4-6, 3.70 ERA) vs. Bastyao Caixinha (9-6, 2.58 ERA)
Randy Farley (1-5, 5.86 ERA) vs. Kelvin Yates (4-3, 4.43 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (3-7, 4.16 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (7-7, 3.56 ERA)

Caixinha will be the first left-hander we go up against in over a week, and the only one in this series. The 39-year old Venezuelan – who is ancient enough to have been pursued to some degree or other by the Raccoons in the next-to-last decade – is enjoying his third and potentially final spring.

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – SS Guerin – 1B Martin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P Ford
TIJ: LF Bayle – 2B J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – CF MacGruder – C Cicalina – 1B B. Boyle – RF B. Wilson – SS Adegoke – P Caixinha

Another Ford start, another wild ride. He went to a full count on leadoff man Jimmy Bayle, but struck him out, then after a perfect first walked both Jeff MacGruder and Urbano Cicalina to start the bottom 2nd, but the Condors stranded runners on the corners when Ford came back to whiff both Wilson and Adegoke to end the inning. Ford led off the third with a double, was on third after a Sharp single – and didn’t score. Ford responded by walking Caixinha on four straight balls in the bottom 3rd. When Bayle doubled, the Condors had two in scoring position with no outs. Juan Barrón hit a soft fly to shallow center that Reece snagged and the runners held. O’Morrissey grounded to Sharp, who made the play to first, and the runners held. Normally, you’d be tempted to walk slugger MacGruder (.841 OPS) with first base open and two down, but Ford would happily walk Cicalina, so he could go after MacGruder just as well. Palacios caught his pop, and we remained scoreless. The next inning the Condors put their first two men on again with a single and a walk before Ford struck out the next three – wild ride, like I mentioned. The ride ended the next inning. Ford hit his second double on the day with one out in the top 5th, but tweaked his ankle sliding into second base. He had to come out, and the Coons didn’t score AGAIN. The Condors then put a run on Manuel Martinez in the bottom 5th, and while Martin drove home Palacios with two down in the sixth to tie the score again, the game quickly got out of hand. Juan Diaz was tagged for a 2-run homer by Bill Wilson in the bottom 6th, yet then Dan Epps managed to pitch two frames without getting torched. However, the Raccoons were silenced by Caixinha over eight frames, and while Martin got on against closer Enrico Gonzalez, Thomas instantly hit into a double play. 3-1 Condors. Palacios 2-3, 2B; Martin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ford 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K and 2-2, 2 2B; Epps 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Diaz was so-so for the last 12 months, but now he just blows. Hard. Which is an issue since we have no other left-handed reliever available…

Ralph Ford had a sprained ankle and was officially listed as DTD, but there was quite the possibility he would have to be skipped for his next scheduled start, which was on Wednesday. We do NOT have an off day next week, so Scott Wade might get a spot start on Wednesday, in turn shortening our bullpen.

Game 2
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Thomas – P Farley
TIJ: 2B B. Boyle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – LF MacGruder – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – 1B Cicalina – RF Richardson – P Yates

The Raccoons were annihilated by Yates, who struck out the side in the first, and held the Coons on the shortest leash well deep into the game. Farley was not terrible, but fell behind in the fourth inning when Cicalina drove in a run (but there had been two in scoring position with no outs, so it could have been worse). In the top 6th then, Thomas singled before Farley struck out trying to bunt. Then Yates issued his first walk of the game to Cavazos, and another one to Sharp. This was quite an important spot for Neil Reece, who was 0-6 in the series with 4 K. Yates, who had struck out seven through five inning, seemed to have lost something and fell behind Reece as well. Walks were boring however, and Reece lined a 2-1 pitch to left – and past MacGruder for a score-flipping 2-run double! Yates, tumbling, scored Sharp with a wild pitch before Reece was plated on a Martin single, making it 4-1. But it was still Farley pitching, and it was the 2001 Farley and not the 1999 Farley. The Condors reeled off three hits to start the bottom 7th, plating a run and having the tying runs on. With a heavily left-handed lineup and Diaz being useless, this was about a sure loss, but Richardson was at the plate. He flew out to center, putting runners on the corners. Granados hit for Yates, another left-hander. He singled, and everything was about to come up tails again for the Raccoons. Miller appeared, gave up the tying run to Bruce Boyle, and ended up issuing three straight 2-out walks, followed by a 2-run single to Ramos – another one of those ultra-dreadful 7-run innings against the Issuecoons. Sharp hit a meaningless home run in the eighth, because ultimately the Raccoons would have another catcher to hit into a double play against Enrico Gonzalez, this time Fifield. 8-6 Condors. Reece 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Thomas 4-4, 2 2B;

And another one of those mind- and soul-crippling losses that were so completely unnecessary. If we had any actual left-handed relief…….

Of course, all of this is down to having ****ing no money again. What do we expect from a minimum salary scrub?

Game 3
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – SS McLaughlin – P Miranda
TIJ: 2B B. Boyle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – LF MacGruder – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – 1B Granados – RF Richardson – P J. Maldonado

With Sharp and Reece in scoring position in the top 1st, the right-hander Maldonado struck out both Palacios and Martin, and there we went. Six days removed from his first career shutout, Miranda was rushed and wrecked by the Condors, who scored three runs in the first inning, including a leadoff jack by Bruce Boyle and the last one coming home on a wild pitch. With Miranda and Cavazos in scoring position in the top 3rd – and NO OUTS – the Raccoons plated one run on an infield single by Neil Reece between a Sharp K and two pop outs. In the bottom 4th, the Condors loaded them up with no outs when Miranda hit Ramos, walked Granados, and Richardson hit a bloop over Palacios, but the Condors also failed to bring the hammer down and were held to a sac fly by Maldonado. Miranda pitched six innings, walking five and whiffing seven, but the damage had of course been done as he trailed 4-1. Manuel Martinez was about choked in the bottom 7th, but Diaz got a lucky double play grounder to dissolve that inning, then struck out the side (because it didn’t matter?) in the bottom 8th. We didn’t face Gonzalez again in the ninth, but Ray Cobb (we’re wearing out closers!), and the Raccoons got stuck in, started with a pinch-hit double by Guerin. Parker and Flores made outs before Heart drew a walk in place of Diaz. Cavazos then singled home Guerin, bringing Sharp up as the go-ahead run. His grounder went up the middle, where Boyle made a great play to seal the sweep. 4-2 Condors. Cavazos 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reece 3-4, 2B, RBI; Guerin (PH) 1-1, 2B; Kent (PH) 1-1; Diaz 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Raccoons (31-44) vs. Aces (34-42) – June 25-27, 2001

These both teams had many similarities. In patheticness, their rotations didn’t take much from another, and their offense was about average as well. In both categories, the Coons had a slight edge over the Aces, but the Aces had something the Raccoons really, really, really didn’t: the second-best bullpen in the league. It would be all about hurting their starters.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (5-5, 5.92 ERA) vs. Dan Moriarty (8-4, 4.02 ERA)
Carl Bean (5-5, 4.21 ERA) vs. Rafael Barbosa (1-6, 6.10 ERA)
TBD vs. Jou Hara (3-8, 5.36 ERA)

We don’t know yet whether Ralph can go on Wednesday. He might, he might not. We will be more informed on Tuesday, but it means that we need to hold out Scott Wade of the Monday game.

Game 1
LVA: CF C. Gúzman – C De La Parra – 1B J. Vargas – RF Ghiberti – SS Cerdeira – 3B J. Bradley – LF Moreno – 2B J. Martinez – P Moriarty
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – SS Guerin – RF Flores – 1B Heart – C Fifield – P M. Lopez

There were four hits in the game through three innings, and it were all the Aces’, but the game was scoreless. Dan Moriarty was perfect the first time through, but Sharp singled to lead off the bottom 4th. Cavazos doubling over Ghiberti put the Raccoons into a prime spot to strike with a pair in scoring position and no outs. Reece flew out to left, Sharp tagged, and was thrown out. Oh noes… Walks to Palacios and Guerin loaded the bags, but Flores grounded out. Sharp throwing away Moriarty’s grounder to lead off the top 5th soon enough led to an unearned run for the Aces right away. Lopez pitched seven innings and struck out NINE – and all for nought. The Raccoons – however they had escaped the Abyss – left runners on third base in both the sixth and seventh. He got the minimal mercy treatment eventually, with Palacios doubling in Cavazos in the bottom 8th, with two down. That tied the score, and Bruno managed a scoreless ninth. That put the team in prime position to walk off, but we led off with Gilberto Flores. However, the Aces fielded Charlie Deacon, whom the Coons had enjoyed success against in the past. Also, he was a righty, and we had Albert Martin on the bench. He hit for Flores and delivered the first of three incredibly quick outs. Both pitchers came back out for the tenth, with Bruno allowing no runs in the top half. He was due to lead off in the bottom half, so we went to elite pinch-hitter Chris Parker. That was again the first of three quick outs against Deacon. Leading off with Dan Nordahl, the Raccoons then had their bullpen trashed in the 12th inning, five runs, all charged against Nordahl. 6-1 Aces. Sharp 2-5; Palacios 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Lopez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K; Bruno 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

And all of a sudden, they’ve lost five straight again. No matter who pitches to whom. It always results in a giant ****up with this team. I resorted to drinking myself senseless after this game and spent Tuesday in a dazed state.

Game 2
LVA: 2B Cerdeira – C De La Parra – 1B J. Vargas – LF McCormick – RF Ghiberti – CF Wills – 3B J. Martinez – SS J. Bradley – P Barbosa
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Bean

De La Parra homered off Bean in the first inning, and the Aces loaded the bases before settling for a 2-0 lead. Here comes the sixth straight defeat. The second saw a Guerin error and Bean plating a run with a wild pitch, 3-0, and Guerin made ANOTHER error in the fourth, plating a run right away when John Bradley was awarded home from second base one Guerin throwing one to the kid with glasses in row three. In between, Palacios had hit his 17th home run of the season, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover all the spillage by Bean and Guerin. The former went five innings, walking six (one intentional), and left down 5-2. Miller pitched the top 6th, and struck out three – however … well, he also surrendered two extra-base hits, a walk, and Sharp made an error, and - ……. And the Aces scored in every inning but the third and ninth, including another crippling 5-run seventh, as the Raccoons got themselves stomped yet again. 13-7 Aces. Kent 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Diaz 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

All runs in the seventh were on Dan Epps (18.00 ERA), who was banished for it. And here comes Bob Joly…

I awoke from my Jack Daniels-induced coma on Wednesday evening to find out that the Raccoons had given up a baker’s dozen on Tuesday, and that manager Lance Cox had penciled Ralph Ford in to start game 3. Oh well, SOMEBODY’s gotta absorb the inevitable loss…

Game 3
LVA: CF C. Gúzman – C De La Parra – 1B J. Vargas – LF McCormick – RF Ghiberti – SS Cerdeira – 3B J. Bradley – 2B J. Martinez – P Hara
POR: CF Cavazos – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – 3B McLaughlin – RF Kent – P Ford

Ford gave up plenty of hard contact, with Parker snagging three deep flies in the first four innings alone. Of course, it didn’t get Ford anywhere close to a win, and neither did Albert Martin’s error in the fourth that ultimately led to an unearned, and the first run of the game. Martin and Thomas led off with a walk and a double in the bottom 4th, giving Parker a chance to do anything with something other than his glove. While a hit was not in the cards for the Coons, at least Parker and McLaughlin managed to make productive outs to take a 2-1 lead. Now we had to hope for Ford to go deep into the game, since giving a 1-run lead to this bullpen was an automatic loss. However, Ford was wild again. While he was more or less on track to make it to the eighth on pitch count, he found it necessary to issue a pair of full count 2-out walks in the sixth. Although he fanned Cerdeira to end the inning, that still put him at 100 pitches on the game. He issued two more walks to leave the game with two out in the seventh. Marcos Bruno was brought on to face Javier Vargas and got him to pop out to Concie. Then it was Jason Kent to knock a leadoff jack in the bottom 7th, giving him home runs in back-to-back games. Up 3-1, we had Wade for the eighth, and had a chunk taken out of him with a Ghiberti double and an RBI single by Cerdeira. There was no insurance to be squeezed out of this team in the bottom 8th, with the Raccoons limited to four hits in the contest, and Nordahl would have to come back from surrendering five runs on Monday to protect a 3-2 lead. After he whiffed Martinez, Bernard Combes hit a single to right. Cisco Gúzman walked, and oh no here we go. Nordahl then struck out De La Parra, and Vargas shoved the ball into the ground just in front of home plate. Thomas sprang out and lobbed to first, wide, Martin with a stretch – OUT! 3-2 Raccoons. Ford 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 7 K, W (5-6);

It was not much of a win, but a win is a win is a win. And after six losses you’d take a kick into the nuts just to get a win.

And now, the Elks.

Raccoons (32-46) vs. Canadiens (28-48) – June 28-July 1, 2001

Since getting pummeled by the Aces, the Raccoons had the most runs conceded in the Continental League once again. They weren’t much worse than the Canadiens, though, who ranked 10th with 12 runs allowed less (412 to 400). Offensively, the Raccoons still held an edge, 344 runs (6th) to 328 runs (8th). Also, the two worst bullpens in the league were involved in this series, so no 7-run lead should be considered safe…

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (1-6, 5.98 ERA) vs. Jose Dominguez (3-12, 5.94 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (3-8, 4.29 ERA) vs. Cal Holbrook (2-2, 4.98 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-5, 5.42 ERA) vs. Daniel Dickerson (6-5, 4.25 ERA)
Carl Bean (5-6, 4.27 ERA) vs. Paul Kirkland (5-6, 3.80 ERA)

That’s a full slate of right-handers by the Canadiens that is on offer here. Not that it matters much with this furry team of trauma. They can’t out-score their horrendous pitching either way.

Game 1
VAN: SS A. Simon – CF T. Wilson – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – C Rosa – 2B J. Zamora – P Dominguez
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C Thomas – P Farley

Bottom 1st, Cavazos singled, stole second, Sharp singled, and Reece walked. Three on, no outs, Palacios singled home a run before Martin killed the inning with a double play, home and first. The team would take some redemption in the next frame when they plated two runs on doubles by Kent, Thomas, and Sharp, 3-0. Farley needed 50 pitches through five innings, pitching a crisp 1-hitter. Control started to go away by the sixth however, when he needed 15 pitches to get through Zamora and Dominguez, although none of them reached. In the top 7th, he led off by plunking Tom Wilson, but Sharp started a double play to remove him. Rain started to fall then. The rain didn’t get to Farley, since it stopped after a few minutes, and the Canadiens per se didn’t either, but his control went away. After eight, he was up to 99 pitches, but up 4-0, he got a shot at the ninth, although the left-handers Simon and Wilson were due to lead off. Simon flew out to Cavazos, fairly deep, but Wilson grounded to first – for an infield single. The pitching coach went out to check on Randy’s general composure, and he wasn’t going to give up the ball anyway right now. He then struck out Valenzuela. Tony Velasquez also had two strikes on it when he grounded to left, but Guerin made the play for the final out. 4-0 Coons! Cavazos 2-4, 2B; Sharp 3-4, 2B, RBI; Palacios 2-4, RBI; Farley 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-6);

Randyboy! This was his sixth career shutout, and of course the first this (rotten) year. The win also assures us to not fall behind the Elks this weekend while playing on our own field.

Game 2
VAN: SS A. Simon – CF T. Wilson – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – C Esquivel – 2B J. Zamora – P Holbrook
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Fifield – RF Flores – P Miranda

The Canadiens came out swinging and chopped two runs off Miranda in the first inning. The Coons didn’t get anybody on until Miranda lobbed a single into leftfield in the bottom 3rd, and after Holbrook hit Cavazos, Sharp flew to deep right, but Velasquez made the play. Bottom 4th, Reece reached, and then Palacios clubbed another home run, which tied the score. The tie didn’t live long, as the Canadiens stole three bags in total off Miranda and Fifield in the top 5th and scored the go ahead run again. Flores got on for the Furballs in the bottom 5th, stole second, but Miranda failed to bunt. Flores only moved to third on a wild pitch with Sharp already at the plate and two out. Sharp would tie the score on the next pitch with a double, but Sharp would eventually be left on third base. Again, the Raccoons failed to resolve a tie in their favor. After a scoreless sixth, Miranda became stuck in the top 7th and was replaced by Bruno with two on and two out. Bruno failed completely, putting four men on before retiring Jesus Zamora, and the Canadiens jumped out to a 6-3 lead. The Raccoons got only one more man on base, Guerin, and he was caught stealing on a pitchout. 6-3 Canadiens. Joly 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Sigh.

Game 3
VAN: 3B A. De Jesus – 2B J. Zamora – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – CF P. Taylor – C Esquivel – LF A. Simon – SS Shaw – P Dickerson
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – SS McLaughlin – P M. Lopez

The third of four contests got underway with icky weather and rain close by. The Coons had two on with two out when Martin singled to center in the bottom 1st. Reece was sent around third base – and thrown out by Velasquez. History repeated itself in the bottom 4th. With Thomas and Parker on base and one out, McLaughlin doubled into the gap in left field. Thomas scored easily and Parker was sent home, too, on the scouting report saying that Arthur Simon had a poor arm (or maybe even no arm). Simon threw him out regardless, keeping the Raccoons to scoring the tying run only once Lopez grounded out. The rain had started a few minutes earlier. The game was shortly delayed in the top 5th but Lopez returned to pitching after less than 20 minutes of interruption. Lopez pitched long enough to get hung onto the hook by a Phil Taylor triple and subsequent sacrifice by Esquivel that put the Elks up 2-1 again. The damage was not permanent as the Raccoons tied it back in the bottom 6th, but they just could not take a lead! Miller and Wade pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings (yet not quite boring innings…), still no life from the Critters, and Wade managed another scoreless innings despite a double by Valenzuela. Still tied, it was unfortunately McLaughlin to lead off the bottom 9th. As the Elks brought a new right-hander in Anthony Duhamel, Kent hit for McLaughlin, flew out, and Heart hit for Wade, and flew out as well. Cavazos failed as well, and we went to extras. With two left-handed Elks due up in the tenth, Diaz came out, and since it meant something, he couldn’t get anybody. A Palacios error got the Canadiens started, but Diaz issued a walk and a single. Three on, no outs. Martinez replaced Diaz, but the Elks scored a run despite a good effort from the righty. So the Coons had to move in the bottom 10th – Duhamel still in, Sharp led off with a groundout, Reece whiffed, and then Palacios sent a fly to deep center – with Taylor receiving it with a good stretch. 3-2 Canadiens. Thomas 2-4, 2B; Lopez 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Wade 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

(absent-mindedly slams head against the door frame, and again, and again, and again …)

We have had four runners thrown out at home in a week’s time. Maybe I should display a bit less recklessness?

So we end June on a terrible 2-for-10 and at .370 in total. And we still have to play the Nasty Smells once more.

Game 4
VAN: SS A. Simon – CF T. Wilson – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – C Esquivel – 2B J. Zamora – P Kirkland
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – SS Guerin – RF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – P Bean

The Raccoons loaded the bases in the bottom 1st, Guerin struck out, and they didn’t score. Carl Bean held the Elks short at first, and the Raccoons actually still took a lead for the first time since Thursday when Albert Martin hit a 2-run home run in the bottom 3rd. The next frame, Guerin led off with a double, Kent and McLaughlin got on as well, and Bean batted with three on and no outs, and actually managed a single past Simon to bring the score to 3-0. Cavazos popped out, Sharp grounded into a force at home, and could Neil Reece show some life? Well, he walked. With a run pushed home thus, Martin came back up and singled over Jesus Zamora to plate another pair! That knocked out Kirkland, with reliever Mark Alexander removing Thomas and ending the inning at 6-0 Coons. Should be plenty even for Bean? Well yes, it should, but would it? The Canadiens didn’t get to do a lot against him in the game. Bean was efficient on the mound and at the plate, driving in another run in the bottom 5th as the Coons made it 8-0 on the Elks. The Coons left a bunch on in the next three innings, but the focus was more on Bean, who carried a 4-hitter into the ninth. Could he do it? Tim Wilson flew to deep left, but Parker made the play after entering the previous inning (Reece had been removed), but then both Valenzuela and Velasquez hit singles, a throw by Kent to third was never going to achieve anything but moving Velasquez to second, and now the shutout was going to blow, unless Bean could whiff Durán. He couldn’t, a run came in, and Bean failed to finish the game either, instead getting rocked for another double by Esquivel. Marcos Bruno had to come in to retire Zamora. 8-3 Raccoons.

They just couldn’t finish this game without cocking up again, could they? Cavazos 2-6, 2B; Sharp 3-5, RBI; Martin 3-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Guerin 3-5, 2B; Bean 8.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (6-6) and 2-4, BB, 2 RBI;

Frustration. Pure, raw frustration.

In other news

June 22 – NAS SP Javier Cruz (7-5, 3.03 ERA) gives up only a second inning single to Fernando Vasquez as he 1-hits the Pacifics, 7-0, and fans a full dozen.
June 24 – The Thunder deal for the Pacifics’ INF Hector Castro (.259, 1 HR, 31 RBI), sending LF/RF Yohan Bonneau (.313, 9 HR, 42 RBI) to L.A.
June 24 – The Titans acquire backup outfielder Arturo Lopez (.300, 1 HR, 12 RBI in 80 AB) from the Canadiens in exchange for 1B/2B Jesus Zamora (.323, 0 HR, 10 RBI in 65 AB).
June 27 – The Canadiens lose 3B Raymond Sutton (.287, 2 HR, 29 RBI) for the season with a broken kneecap.
June 30 – Milwaukee’s Martin Garcia (11-5, 2.88 ERA) 2-hits the Titans and whiffs 11 in an 8-0 romp.

Complaints and stuff

(hums) I know … I know … all beauty must gooo…

That’s been stuck in my head for a few days. I don’t know whether it’s a thing. I just know the Raccoons aren’t a thing. They aren’t much of anything.

It was one of those weeks where the CL Player of the Week was from an opposing team, so you know how the Coons performed (Ricco Ghiberti hit .483, including a slick .583 against the Critters…).

Guerin is in a terrible slump, as is Martin (although the Sunday game might indicate impending improvement?), and we have nobody to lead off (or bat anywhere other than eighth). I feel the need to point one thing out: Palacios was not benched in the Sunday game because of his error the day before, but because we are in a long string of games and he was due a game off. Cavazos is the only player to not have had a day off and he will get one early next week.

The team as a whole continues to perform mediocre to badly, with 3.7 R/G and 4.8 R/A in this update (it’s 4.4 R/G and 5.2 R/A for the year). There are some notable, positive exceptions, like Palacios and Sharp, and Cavazos, and until recently Guerin and Martin. Neil Reece is … I don’t know? He’s hitting mostly singles, but he’s hitting deep flies, too, they just never seem to fall in? Brady was great before he busted his ankle! He’s still in one of those terrifically unstylish grey boots and on crutches, and it’s going to be a long time before he will be back on the field. :-(

We are the sixth-worst team in baseball (what an improvement from the last two years!), and I don’t think that that will make Carlosito spend money for next year, either… maybe we can find some caring owner to buy us out and save us from the hells of .400 ball?

Meanwhile this 17-game stretch will continue right up until the All Star break from July 9-11, and while I have some vague hope that we will get an All Star this year (we didn’t last year), I doubt we have any chances beyond Palacios.

CERTAINLY NO BOTCH- errr, PITCHERS.

Westheim · 02-22-2015, 09:26 AM

Time for my favorite chore again, yay …!

Raccoons (34-48) @ Loggers (49-33) – July 2-5, 2001

Things were looking bleak for the Critters as far as this series was concerned. The second place Loggers had a monster run going, winning 17 of their last 22 games (including three of four from the Titans over the weekend), and they were second in runs scored, which was never something promising success with the way our pitching staff was going. Their pitching was largely lacking weaknesses, so the Raccoons had a realistic chance at getting swept during the week.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (5-6, 3.26 ERA) vs. John Miller (7-4, 3.06 ERA)
Randy Farley (2-6, 5.22 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (11-6, 3.63 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (3-9, 4.47 ERA) vs. Marc Padgett (7-4, 4.10 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-5, 5.26 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (11-5, 2.68 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Fifield – LF Parker – RF Kent – P Ford
MIL: C L. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 2B J. Cruz – CF Fletcher – RF J.J. Villa – 3B T. Johnson – 1B J. Morales – P J. Miller

The opener treated fans with a pitchers’ duel, as neither team was able to get the bats up against the opposing hurler. Well, the Loggers did more so than the Raccoons, who didn’t get on base until the fourth, when Ralph Ford already trailed 1-0 after the Loggers had plated a run on three singles in the bottom 3rd. The best the Raccoons did in the middle innings were putting runners on first and second and then hitting into an inning-ending double play in the sixth. In the bottom 8th, Jason Kent drew the team’s first walk of the game. With one out, Ford went into bunting position, but before it could come that far, Miller twitched to the umpire’s displeasure and had a balk called against him. With the runner in scoring position, Ford went to bat properly and lined to first, where Jose Morales made a launching grab, hurting himself in the process. Sam Fisher replaced him, while Guerin hit a 2-out fly to left that went past the reach of Bakile Hiwalani and fell in for the game-tying RBI double. Guerin scored on Sharp’s single, and the Raccoons led. Ford pitched the eighth, before protection of the 2-1 advantage fell onto Dan Nordahl in the ninth, facing Cruz, Fletcher, and Villa. And Johnson and Fisher, as he successfully walked the bases loaded with two out. Mark Hall hit for closer Robbie Wills … and struck out. 2-1 Raccoons. Guerin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ford 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (6-6) and 1-3;

(blinks irritated) Where’s the usual walkoff grand slam? I think we should nickname Dan Nordahl “Wild Ride”.

Jose Morales tweaked an oblique, but was listed merely DTD, so while Rodrigo Morales kept missing for these Loggers, they were not Moralesless.

Okay, no more puns, I promise.

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P Farley
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – SS T. Johnson – P Robertson

Farley was whipped early in the game, as the Loggers had six hits and three runs in the first two innings. The Raccoons seemed to only get things going after stealing a base: Guerin was plated by Thomas after his 21st swipe of the year in the top 2nd, and in the top 5th they got a bit more going. Flores stole second, was scored with a Farley single, and then Sharp, Cavazos, and Palacios rapped off three more straight hits, tying the score and loading the bases for Neil Reece, with one out. Reece did not have a good year, so when Robertson got two strikes on him, it was oh-oh in the visitor’s dugout. Reece did connect then, and grounded a single past the reach of Tom Johnson to plate two runs for a 5-3 lead. Jorge Cruz would hit his 17th homer of the season off Farley in the bottom 6th to cut the lead in half and get Farley to the showers. The inevitable implosion was soon to follow. The hapless relief corps, this time consisting of Martinez and Bruno, bothched up in the seventh, allowing two runs on four hits. The offense had nothing to put against that, and left Guerin on third base in the top 8th. In the top 9th, against Wills, Jason Kent led off with a single to left, and, representing the tying run, was bunted to second by Daniel Sharp. Bartolo Hernandez however would intercept both Cavazos’ and Palacios’ grounders to end the game. 6-5 Loggers. Cavazos 2-5, 2B, RBI; Guerin 2-4, 2B; Flores 2-3; Kent 1-1;

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – 3B Heart – P Miranda
MIL: C L. Ramirez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – 2B J. Morales – SS T. Johnson – P Padgett

The Coons – aided by a Morales error to put Concie Guerin on base – plated two runs in the first against Marc Padgett. Initially, I wanted to be happy and enjoy the moment, but then I remembered that Cipriano Miranda had yet to throw a single pitch. When he was through with his first inning, the Loggers had tied the game and left the bases loaded. When Guerin threw away Padgett’s grounder to start the bottom 2nd, the gates opened, and the Loggers took a 4-2 lead. Interestingly, Padgett was just as bad and the Raccoons came back to tie the score in the top 3rd, with a Cavazos triple being the key hit. Mark Hall’s error placed Max Heart on second base with no outs in the top 4th, and somehow this was too early to bring a pinch-hitter and send Scott Wade to the mound. Miranda batted, lobbed a 1-1 pitch to shallow right center and it went right past Cristo Ramirez for a double and gave the Raccoons a new 5-4 lead. Too bad that the team left Miranda on third base then… Reece led off the top 5th with a double and wasn’t scored either. This refusal to cash in cost the Raccoons sooner rather than later. In the bottom 6th, Padgett doubled off Miranda and Leon Ramirez’ bloop fell somewhere in between half the team, but plated Padgett and tied the score. Fletcher plated Ramirez, the Loggers were ahead, and somehow Diaz and Wade at least stalled him on base. The seventh also saw the leadoff batter on for the Raccoons, but again no luck. They trailed 6-5 into the ninth, faced Wills, and somewhere I had seen this before. Palacios with one out sent a fly to deep center, but it was caught, and nobody reached base. 6-5 Loggers. Cavazos 2-5, 3B; Martin 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Heart 2-4; Sharp (PH) 1-1; Wade 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

I had expected a blowout or two, which didn’t happen so far, but consecutive 6-5 losses with enough reasons to kick ourselves weren’t exactly rosy either.

And here comes Garcia…

Game 4
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P M. Lopez
MIL: RF C. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 2B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – CF J.J. Villa – 1B J. Morales – P M. Garcia

What else came? Rain. It started soon after the first pitch and by the second inning forced a delay. After 23 minutes with the tarp on the field, Lopez came back out for the bottom 2nd and was bum-rushed immediately. Cristo Ramirez hammered a 3-run, 2-out double. Depending on how far Garcia would be able to go, this was more than enough to sink the Raccoons. An unearned run on Sharp’s 13th error plated another run in the third, while the Raccoons were non-existent in this game. Lopez was behind in the count to almost every batter, and was booked for five runs (four earned) in five innings, with three walks and one K. Reece managed to drive in Palacios against Garcia, who didn’t go past the sixth inning either after the earlier rain, and only whiffed two Raccoons. Our bullpen was long due (about 24 hours) for another brew-up, which happened in the bottom 7th, when Bob Joly was ravaged for three hits and eventually three runs, because while Bruno came in with Hiwalani on third base, two in, and no outs, and got two outs without Hiwalani scoring, once Diaz appeared to face the left-handed Sam Fisher, Hiwalani was singled home in no time. 8-2 Loggers. Palacios 2-4, 2B; Kent (PH) 1-1;

Once more three terrible starts from our rotation, in succession.

Or in suck-cession.

Yeah, I know, puns.

Raccoons (35-51) @ Crusaders (30-56) – July 6-8, 2001

The Crusaders have swept us in our last two encounters, so we are not necessarily thrilled to face them at the tail end of this 17-game stretch. Never mind their anemic offense which took 86 games to manufacture 301 runs. They know how to score against the Furballs, and that is enough.

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (6-6, 4.18 ERA) vs. George Allen (0-0)
Ralph Ford (6-6, 3.09 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (7-9, 3.50 ERA)
Randy Farley (2-6, 5.31 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (8-9, 4.07 ERA)

Allen was a 27-year old right-hander making just his third career start, his 25th appearance (since 1998), and his first of this season. And the other two guys? They have more than half of the New Yorkians’ wins…

Game 1
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Bean
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – 2B Rigg – 1B M. Berry – CF Latham – SS Rice – RF Gonzales – 3B F. Adams – C Olson – P Allen

The go-ahead run for New York scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. After that first facepalm moment, Bean did not allow runners until the fifth, when he walked Gonzales and Olson, but both were stranded in scoring position. In between, Mark Thomas had hit a 2-run double in the top 2nd and by now Bean was up 3-1. Thomas added another run by plating Martin for an unearned run in the top 6th (the Crusaders made three errors in the game), and Bean went through eight innings, allowing just two more hits, and was already considerably over 100 pitches. When his turn to bat came up with two out in the ninth, Max Heart hit for him. Nordahl warmed up in the pen, when Heart made his appearance moot with a pinch-hit homer (off ex-Coon Toru Fujita) that moved the game past save range. Manuel Martinez instead came out to pitch in the ninth. 5-1 Coons. Cavazos 2-5; Sharp 2-5, 2B; Guerin 2-4; Heart (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Bean 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (7-6);

Vince rated George Allen the best player in the Crusaders’ lineup in this game. He gave him 2.5 stars, and nobody else had more than two. By comparison, led by the 4.5 stars Palacios and Bean, the Coons averaged 2.9 stars with their lineup.

And I say ex-Coon regarding Toru Fujita, yet only one of his 370-some career appearances has come as a Raccoon, but it was the very first one: a spot start in 1989.

Game 2
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Ford
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – SS Rigg – CF Gonzales – RF A. Johnson – 3B Rush – 1B M. Berry – C Olson – 2B F. Adams – P Sandoval

Singles by Cavazos and Sharp, followed by Palacios getting plunked, loaded the bags with no outs in the top 1st. Reece was still slumping, but had come through in a similar spot in Milwaukee. Not so this time, as he hit into a double play, with Cavazos scoring. Martin singled to plate Sharp and we still got away with a 2-0 lead. Ford however soon proved hittable and the Crusaders sabotaged themselves with a killing double play in the bottom 1st, then took one run out of the lead in the bottom 3rd. Reece’s leadoff double in the top 4th eventually led to him being scored by Concie and the 2-run gap was restored. Not that Ford was defenseless – he twice converted bunts from Sandoval into force outs at second base – but the fact that almost every leadoff batter of the Crusaders reached base one way or other created constant pressure, under which Ford eventually buckled. He walked both Gonzales and Johnson to start the bottom 6th, and when they successfully pulled off a double steal, we knew we were going down. Bob Rush doubled the runners home, tying the score, and Ford walked Berry before walking from the game. Marcos Bruno replaced him, but didn’t relief him. After Olson popped out, Bruno walked both Adams and Sandoval to fall behind in the score. What did the Raccoons do? After Reece’s double in the top 4th, Sandoval sat down the next 15 batters without blinking once. And so the Raccoons found themselves down by one run in the top 9th for the third time this week, with Leonardo Sosa first looking at Sharp. 16, 17, 18. 4-3 Crusaders.

Four walks in one inning. Fantastic. Go on boys, go on. No, I’m not sharpening that broad axe for any one reason. No, no.

Game 3
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C Fifield – P Farley
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – SS Rice – RF A. Johnson – 1B M. Berry – CF Latham – 3B Rush – 2B F. Adams – C Olson – P F. Garza

The game started with a Cavazos double, and the next four Raccoons struck out, spilling over into the second inning, by which time Farley had already coughed up a run (and I had coughed up some blood). Fifield K’ed to start the top 3rd, before Farley hit a single. Cavazos came up again and drilled a long one out of right field to put Farley on top, 2-1. That was not all, though. Sharp made an out, but then Palacios and Reece sent the bombs flying with back-to-back solo home runs! Kent just narrowly missed a homer in the fourth, instead plating Guerin with a double, and Cavazos hit a 2-out single which ultimately didn’t amount to anything, but in this 5-1 game he was a triple shy of the cycle in the fourth. The Crusaders were not out of hit, however, with Farley melting in the bottom 5th, and Martin Ortíz hitting a 2-out homer. Farley walked two more, before Latham lofted a ball to Cavazos to exit the inning with the tying runs in scoring position. Farley left after six with a 6-3 lead that had been enhanced by Fifield scoring on a wild pitch from Sandoval, who ended up striking out eight between getting battered for six counters. Diaz actually managed a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, and Martinez managed not to get set on fire in the eighth. With the Raccoons not scoring (and Cavazos not tripling), Dan Nordahl this time entered the game, up 6-3, and grounded out Mike Olson to Sharp to start the inning. Then Jorge Gonzales pinch-hit for the pitcher, and the count ran full. Oh no, don’t start walking them again, Danny …! The sixth pitch of the AB was on the corner and called, however, and that brought up Ortíz, who hit a 2-out single. Nordahl continued to fall behind in the count, also to Gary Rice, who grounded a 2-1 pitch hard to first base. There, McLaughlin had replaced Martin for defense, and made the play. 6-3 Coons. Cavazos 4-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Palacios 2-5, HR, RBI; Reece 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1;

Chris Parker is now a whopping 3-37 as a pinch-hitter! That kid is on FIRE!!

In other news

July 3 – TOP 3B/SS Gabriel Rodriguez (.327, 5 HR, 37 RBI) is out for the year with torn ankle ligaments.
July 3 – Oklahoma’s SP Ricky Beach (4-1, 2.23 ERA) sparkles in his sixth major league start. While the offense gives him 20 runs of support in a total thrashing of the Knights, Beach allows only three hits and pitches a shutout.
July 3 – SFW SP Pat Cherry (9-7, 2.35 ERA) 2-hits the Gold Sox in a 3-0 shutout.
July 4 – Another shutout, as SFB Tony Hamlyn (13-3, 2.11 ERA) dominates the Aces, allowing only two hits in an 8-0 romp.
July 5 – The shutout parade continues with Roberto Muniz spinning one in his second start of the year for the Pacifics. Muniz (1-1, 0.60 ERA) allows two hits in a 6-0 win over the Wolves.
July 5 – The Condors take a serious blow with OF Jeff MacGruder (.281, 12 HR, 61 RBI) suffering an oblique strain. He will miss six weeks.
July 6 – Two weeks on the DL is the result of a broken hamate bone in the wrist of Warriors OF Luis Arroyo (.257, 3 HR, 24 RBI).
July 7 – Big day for Sacramento’s OF Aaron Jenkins (.323, 6 HR, 56 RBI): as the Scorpions trash the Wolves, 17-4, Jenkins connects for six hits, including a homer and three doubles, and plates four runs, becoming the 35th player in ABL history to have a 6-hit game. It is the first time in over a year that the feat has been achieved, with Vancouver’s Bob Butler last getting it done on June 19, 2000. It is the fourth time a Scorpion connects six times after Dave Petersen in 1979 and Martin Horn and Jared O’Molony, who achieved a 6-hitter in the same 20-0 blowout of the Cyclones in 1996.

Complaints and stuff

That Rodriguez guy that went down for the Buffaloes and has been OPS’ing .918 is actually a former Raccoon, a short-lived part of the most dismal 1997 squad, before being flipped for Werner Turner and Bob Joly after the season. Six months earlier, incoming, he was part of the trade that sent Ben O’Morrissey out of town then. The other part? Ralph Ford.

After a slow first week, Chris Beairsto burst into flames for the Ham Lake Panthers and ended up batting .373/.500/.784 with 5 HR and 16 RBI in 15 games. He was promoted to AAA St. Petersburg mid-week.

Also in AAA, Julio Mata, who was batting .247 with six homers, has strained an ACL and is out until late August.

Westheim · 02-23-2015, 10:06 AM

All Star Game

By total surprise, the Raccoons received four nominations for the All Star Game! It doesn’t quite come as a surprise, however, that none of the four players are pitchers… Instead the Coons send most of their infield, with Albert Martin, Jesus Palacios, and Conceicao Guerin being honored, plus Ramiro Cavazos, who carried a 10-game hitting streak into the break. Their four nominations rank third in the CL behind the Loggers’ and Titans’ five apiece. The FL field is stacked with six Warriors.

This is the first nomination for all of the Furballs, except Concie, who was an All Star in 1999 already.

With all the fluffy Furballs involved, the Continental League crushed the Federal League, 10-1, and even more amazing was the fact that while only Palacios was a starter in the game and went 0-3, the other three Critters came on as pinch-hitters and replacements, and hit 4-4, with 2 HR and 5 RBI! Guerin had two singles and one run batted in, and Cavazos and Martin both hit pinch-hit home runs, Cavazos for one, and Martin for three runs!

Raccoons (37-52) vs. Loggers (54-35) – July 12-15, 2001

Yay, more butt kicks. Exactly what we need. Third-most runs in the league, third-least runs allowed, and the Raccoons are 7th and 11th in those categories, respectively.

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (7-6, 3.98 ERA) vs. John Miller (8-5, 2.85 ERA)
Ralph Ford (6-7, 3.29 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (12-6, 3.69 ERA)
Randy Farley (3-6, 5.25 ERA) vs. Marc Padgett (8-4, 4.02 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (3-10, 4.68 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (12-5, 2.70 ERA)

We have no off day after this series on Monday, instead playing the Indians already then. Otherwise I would have been tempted to skip the miserable Miguel Lopez and use him as a reliever in this series. But if we do that know, guys have to go on short rest and crap like that and I don’t like it. It’s not like we’re able to win games with Lopez appearing in relief, anyway…

Game 1
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – SS T. Johnson – P J. Miller
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C Thomas – P Bean

The Raccoons left some Furball or other in scoring position in every of the first three innings, without scoring. In the fourth it was Guerin on third base and two down when Carl Bean took care of things with a single to left that gave him a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, the pattern continued, with runners on first and second, one out, and Martin hitting into a double play. That left the Raccoons, despite all the runners, on one run, and when Carl Bean – as was to be expected at some point – lost his marbles in the top 6th, it quickly became a loss. Bean plunked Hernandez, allowed a single to Fletcher, and walked Ramirez to load the bases with no outs and Bakile Hiwalani coming to the plate. While Cavazos managed to grab his fly to left center, Hernandez tagged and scored, and Mark Hall doubled home Fletcher before Bean struck out Cruz and Ramirez. Bottom 7th, Cavazos singled, and after Sharp made an out Miller walked both Palacios and Reece, facing Martin with the bases loaded and one out. While he didn’t quite manage a double play this time, his soft pop to Cristo Ramirez in shallow right didn’t get things done, and Guerin struck out. As usual, one foul inning sufficed to bring down the Issuecoons’ semi-decent starter, while their offense was fooling around all day long. Bottom 9th, Robbie Wills out. Cavazos led off with a walk, then was forced out by Sharp’s terrible bunt. Wills then put the winning run on base as well with a walk to Palacios. Suddenly we had a chance here – if Reece could get it done. Martin couldn’t. Come on, Neil, do it for me! Reece flew out to Cristo Ramirez, bringing up Martin – who struck out. 2-1 Loggers. Cavazos 2-3, BB; Palacios 1-2, 3 BB; Guerin 2-4; Bean 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (7-7) and 1-3, RBI;

14 runners left on base. FOURTEEN. Albert Martin himself went 0-5, hacked out thrice, and that double play, and stranded ELEVEN BATTERS. E-LE-VEN!!!!

Wills saved his 30th game of the season. The Raccoons still barely had 30 wins in total…

(sobs)

Game 2
MIL: RF C. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – CF Fletcher – C L. Ramirez – 2B T. Johnson – 1B J. Morales – P Robertson
POR: LF Cavazos – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – 1B Heart – RF Flores – P Ford

Scoring opened with Mark Thomas’ solo shot in the bottom 2nd, although Ford managed to kill off that unwanted lead within minutes, allowing a leadoff triple to Cristo Ramirez in the top 3rd, and in fact the Loggers sucked a bit less with runners in scoring position, where the Raccoons hit a felt minus three-hundred. A shoddy Ford, who had no bite on his stuff and was behind in the count constantly, finally blew up in the fifth inning, walking in the go-ahead run for the Loggers, and falling behind 3-1, taking over 100 pitches for five innings. The Raccoons had their bullpen once again explode in the seventh inning, of which we twice seemed to escape on grounders that then went for errors and infield hits rather than double plays, with five unearned runs on Scott Wade (pitching) and Daniel Sharp (fielding). I accepted the loss, the sweep, last place, forever, and that I would have to bend over and take it for the rest of my sorry life. 8-2 Loggers. Palacios 3-4; Reece 2-4, HR, RBI; Joly 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K;

Game 3
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – SS T. Johnson – P Padgett
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Fifield – LF Parker – P Farley

I couldn’t be bothered to watch game 3 for very long. The total ineptitude of the brown-clad squad on the grass down there was too much to take. No score, two down in the top 2nd, Farley walked both Cruz and Ramirez, before the gates really opened. Sharp made an error, his 15th, to put Tom Johnson on and load the bases. Then Guerin got a grounder from Padgett, which he threw away to score two runs. Hernandez singled, Fletcher singled. 4-0, and I went for the hot dog vendor to eat myself senseless. When I was on about the fourth dog, Chris Parker hit a solo homer in the bottom 5th that finally got the Inepticoons on the board. It was about the last meaningful game event I witnessed before passing out into an engorged coma, but I was told I didn’t miss much of anything. 4-1 Loggers. Parker 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Farley 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, L (3-7) and 1-2;

Yet the Raccoons’ top 2nd was on every channel that night, apparently, with the nicest punches swung by late night poison spitters Jimmy Phallon and Joe Lenny.

That’s what the Raccoons have become. A punchline! And mostly the line was right in groin height. Of course, whenever Chris Parker or Mark Thomas are your only sources of offense, you deserve last place.

And every single late night kick in the nuts.

Even worse, this was a field day for the Agitator as well, who ran the Coons on the front page, precisely Martin jumping in vain to catch Guerin’s errant throw, and in thick letters, every one of them hurting intensely “THEY DID IT! SKUNKS’ 2,000TH LOSS THEIR FINEST!” Which is in fact true. This was our 2,000th ever regular season loss. And I can’t remember one that stung more.

Besides, this seals the sweep, because look who goes next…

Game 4
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C M. Vela – SS T. Johnson – P M. Garcia
POR: LF Cavazos – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 3B McLaughlin – RF Flores – P Miranda

The outcome of this game was never in doubt. It was miraculous however that the Loggers led off both of the first two innings with doubles and failed to score, with Miranda whiffing four batters. Both teams starved runners in no small number in the early going, with the Coons leaving one in scoring position each of the first three innings, including Guerin on third in the bottom 3rd, because that’s what they always do. In the top 5th, Garcia hit a double with one out and was on third after Hernandez’ groundout. Fletcher then actually laid down a bunt and was safe against the startled defense, but Garcia had never moved. Cristo Ramirez, the only left-hander in their lineup was tasked with getting the runs in, but Miranda made him the final piece in half a dozen strikeouts. His own offense was still unwilling / unable / unprepared to actually score a run, and thus it was Bakile Hiwalani’s leadoff jack in the top 6th that put *some*thing on the scoreboard. Despite my instant urge to slice my wrists, this game was not over yet. In fact, Albert Martin hit his 15th homer in the bottom of the same inning to keep us tied. Miranda then went on to pitch nine complete innings without any further damage done – but the team hadn’t scored until him sitting down Miguel Vela to end the ninth. Could they walk off? Oh look, it’s Wills again – Robbie Wills was pitching in every game against those Uttercoons, it seemed. The Coons went down 1-2-3, sending the game to extras and leaving Miranda without a well-deserved W. Well, Parker had hit for McLaughlin for the third out and Dan Nordahl went into that slot, pitching a perfect tenth. Sharp came on to replace McLaughlin in the field (and nobody hit anything his way), which put him into the prime slot to be a hero once Gil Flores led off the bottom 10th with a double off Wills. COME ON, DAN! BE A ****ING BASEBALL PLAYER!! Sharp singled to left, and Flores was held at third base. In any other situation we would have sent him, but there was nobody out, and Cavazos was next, aaand he grounded to third to keep Flores pinned. Sharp moved to second, but his run was meaningless. The Loggers gambled VERY high here, walking Concie intentionally, which actually put the right-handed Wills against the left-handed home run leader, Jesus Palacios. Any long ball would do, or maybe a walk. In a full count, Palacios sent a fly to shallow right. This was not going to fall in. Why exactly Daniel Sharp wandered away from second base is a mystery. Cristo Ramirez caught the fly and played it to second before Sharp could scramble back, and that was our scoreless bottom 10th.

Yeah, let that sink in for a moment.

A wholly inept Daniel Miller loaded the bases in the 11th with one out. Martinez replaced him and caught Leon Ramirez’ liner for the second out. No Logger had been as ******ed as Sharp, and so no double play. Vela then flew out. The Coons had Reece and Martin hit singles off John Hatt in the bottom 11th before Thomas hit into a double play. That left Reece on third with two out, with rule 5 pick Max Heart hitting for Martinez. And grounding out. Bottom 12th. Flores singled. Sharp singled. Flores to third. NO ****ING OUTS. Hatt walked Cavazos. STILL NO ****ING OUTS. Guerin grounded an 0-2 pitch to third, where Mark Hall did the only sensible thing and went home to nip Flores. ONE ****ING OUT. Palacios grounded to Hatt, who went home. TWO ****ING OUTS. Next. Neil Reece. THE **** HIT SOMETHING, NEIL!!! Three wild hacks later, Scott Wade came from the dugout to warm up for his second inning of work. Bottom 13th, Ricardo Medina pitching, leadoff double by Martin, and he was still on second when Wade came up with one out. Having a hitter hit was entirely hitle- pointless with this team. Maybe, just maybe, Scotty could do something. Actually, no, he grounded out, Martin moved to third, and then .087 RISP hitter Flores grounded out. The 14th. Sharp led off with a single, and then came Cavazos. I was tempted to bunt, but maybe not? Cavazos was NOT told to bunt and managed to hit the 1-1 pitch. High. Deep. Gone. 3-1 Uttercoons. Cavazos 2-6, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Martin 3-6, HR, 2B, RBI; Thomas 3-6; Sharp 3-3; Miranda 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K; Wade 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (3-3);

The pains.

In other news

July 9 – DEN SP Paco Martinez (9-4, 4.79 ERA) is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff.
July 13 – SAC SP Randy Travis shuts out the Stars on two hits in a 6-0 win. Travis improves to 9-4 and a 3.72 ERA on the season.
July 14 – CIN LF/RF Dan Morris (.310, 18 HR, 60 RBI) will miss the rest of the month with a knee contusion.

Complaints and stuff

With Palacios not getting stuff done this weekend, and Hiwalani plating two runs, the obnoxious Logger has now taken over the RBI lead in the CL. Palacios still leads in homers with 19, two over MIL Jorge Cruz, and Guerin ties with Daniel Silva with 22 steals.

I had the day off from the horrors of the office, originally, and still went, because I am actually that dumb, for half the day. The plan was to come home and wind down three series with the Critters.

But you know, I can’t. That series has been enough to make me want to … stab my own eyes out. They are THAT horrible.

I gotta do something entirely mindless now.

There also might not be an update for a few days, because I have run out of tears.

Westheim · 02-26-2015, 04:16 PM

Raccoons (38-55) vs. Indians (44-48) – July 16-18, 2001

With an anemic batting average of .236, the Indians were scoring just barely 3.8 runs per game. Their pitching had come down to earth a bit more recently, and now ranked sixth in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (5-6, 5.36 ERA) vs. Ben Carlson (3-7, 5.87 ERA)
Carl Bean (7-7, 3.90 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (11-6, 2.84 ERA)
Ralph Ford (6-8, 3.39 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (8-10, 4.10 ERA)

These were all right-handers, and we weren’t scheduled a left-hander until possibly Saturday.

Game 1
IND: CF Maguey – LF Quintela – RF J. Valdez – 1B D. Lopez – C Abrams – 3B Whaley – 2B Montray – SS Matthews – P Carlson
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – LF Parker – P M. Lopez

Neil Reece set the Raccoons ahead in the bottom 1st with a 2-out RBI double that plated Palacios, and while Miguel Lopez showed some life in his ravaged body and struck out six batters through four innings, he also surrendered a no-doubt home run to David Lopez that tied the game in the fourth. Mark Thomas’ leadoff single in the bottom 5th was the first sign of some form of life or other from the Raccoons since the bottom 1st. Parker singled, Lopez bunted them over, and then Cavazos struck out and nobody was counting on Sharp for a reason. After his pathetic soft fly for the third out, Juan Valdez led off the top 6th with a double and was scored by a Whaley single, as the Indians took a 2-1 lead. However, somebody else was showing some life in the last few days, too. It was Neil Reece, who found Palacios on base as his turn came up in the bottom 6th and cracked an awesome 2-run, score-flipping home run. Martin homered back-to-back with him, giving Lopez a new 4-2 lead. Miguel Lopez’ day ended with a 1-out walk to David Lopez in the eighth, but Marcos Bruno struck out Abrams and Whaley to exit the frame. Dan Nordahl came out and ran the line to four straight strikeouts in the ninth, fanning Montray and Matthews, before Jose Paraz came out and hit a pinch-hit home run to cut the gap in half. Ron Alston hit for Tomas Maguey and singled, and then the nightmare happened and Carlos Quintela hit a grounder sharply to Sharp. For once, the youngster didn’t fudge up and made the play. 4-3 Coons. Palacios 2-4; Reece 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Parker 2-3; Lopez 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (6-6);

Game 2
IND: SS Montray – CF J. Valdez – C Paraz – 1B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 2B J. Garcia – RF Lugo – 3B Matthews – P Park
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – LF Parker – P Bean

Jose Lugo’s solo jack in the second inning gave the Indians the first run of the game and they added two more against a hapless Carl Bean in the third. Chang-se Park sat down the first six Raccoons he faced, then was taken out by a Mark Thomas liner and had to leave the game with an injury. While this was bad for the Indians, and horrible for Park, it was perhaps a chance for the Raccoons to get one of the most dominating pitchers out of the game – admittedly in an ugly way. In the bottom 4th, reliever Alonso Alonso loaded the bases with no outs with a walk to Sharp and singles by Palacios and Reece. That was it for hits, and the best one could say was that Martin and Guerin had productive outs, getting the team back to 3-2, nursing false hope. 3-2 became 6-2 in the sixth as the Indians torched Bean for good, their offensive outburst crowned by Lugo’s second homer on the day. Two down in the bottom 6th, Martin homered and Guerin singled and stole bases on consecutive pitches, but Mark Thomas still left him on. The Coons again had three on with no outs in the bottom 7th, failed again being held to two sac flies, and it didn’t really matter, because in the meantime Bob Joly had been set on fire by the Indians in the top half of the inning. Our bullpen suffered close-to-complete annihilation in the top 9th, as usual. 10-5 Indians.

For a team that’s not scoring a lot, them Indians are sure scoring a lot.

On the league lead fronts, Bakile Hiwalani drove in four as the Loggers trashed the Crusaders, 11-0, so Palacios probably won’t see that lead never again, particularly because of his own inability to achieve anything worth noting. For the same reason, he now has in-house competition for the home run lead, where Martin has tied Jorge Cruz for second place with 17 homers. Concie’s two bags in this game got him to 24, breaking the tie with the resentful Daniel Silva and also claimed the ABL lead.

Game 3
IND: CF Maguey – LF Quintela – RF J. Valdez – 1B D. Lopez – C Abrams – 3B Whaley – 2B Lepe – SS Matthews – P Alba
POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – SS Guerin – RF Flores – 2B McLaughlin – P Ford

Ralphie faced an all-right-handed lineup, and for a while things went fairly well, with Ford sitting down most of the players he faced and not allowing runs, and Cavazos’ 10th dinger of the season setting the Raccoons ahead, 1-0. In the top 5th, Matt Whaley hit a fly into the gap in left center. Neil Reece ran after it and made a launching grab for the first out of the inning. However, something bothered him and he kneeled down on the grass after tossing the ball back in. Cavazos went over and waved for the trainer to come out. Reece left, Cavazos moved to center, and Parker came in. The team still led 1-0 and in the sixth, Ford struck out Alba to reach 100 K’s for the season in 114 innings. Top 7th, still 1-0, because Thomas and Guerin found it too bothersome to plate Parker from third base in the bottom 6th. Ford got Valdez, but then allowed a big double to Lopez, who advanced to third on a wild pitch. Oh, here it comes. That wild one also ran the count full on Brian Abrams, who then lined to left, where Parker snagged it off the top of the grass for a legal catch, although the Indians protested. Now it was Matt Whaley, who had spent most of the year in AAA and sought ways to get back into a regular role, with two down and the tying run on third base. First pitch, contact, a flare to shallow right, Flores hustling in – and he got it. The eighth was uneventful, both pitchers finishing it, and the Raccoons held the 1-0 lead into the top 9th. Now, Nordahl was all kinds of wonky, and the Indians had plenty of left-handers. Ford had only allowed three hits and at least we knew whom he was batting against, and when. He entered on 105 pitches and the first one he made in the ninth was cannonballed hard up the third base line by Carlos Quintela – and Daniel Sharp made an amazing grab for the first out! Okay, we got this! And then Valdez singled. Hnng-gghh. No, we were committed now. This was all Ralphie. Lopez popped up and out to Guerin, and then Abrams hit a soft fly to right center. Flores picked up a pizza, ate it, and then casually made the catch in due time. 1-0 Coons! Cavazos 1-4, HR, RBI; Reece 1-2, 2B; Ford 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-8);

The devil sat in Neil Reece’s back again, as some pain in the region of his herniated disc from last year had suddenly flared up again. The most grim estimates put his return window at around four weeks, and knowing my life and my fate, four weeks will be it. Looking for a replacement for him, Chris Beairsto was ruled out quickly since he had trouble adjusting to AAA pitching at this point and hit clearly below .200. But it was a golden window for somebody else, who had already been on the way off our watchlist: Chris Roberson.

Roberson, 24, and our first round pick, fourth overall, in the 1998 amateur draft out of Seton Hall, had been lingering in St. Pete since early on in 1999, but had been ravaged by injuries last season. This year, he batted for a .970 OPS for the Alley Cats with 22 homers. Agile, he was also a very sound solution for the now open centerfield spot. His profile shows big power, but bad judgment. So, there will be K’s and he probably won’t ever draw a walk – EVER. He drew just 22 in roughly 400 PA in AAA this year. In turn he can steal bases, something Neil Reece was never very good at. Roberson was not yet on the 40-man roster, but would have been rule 5 eligible this fall anyway (and a September call up regardless, especially with the team awful and Brady already out).

Ralph Ford still celebrated his first career shutout in his 58th start.

Raccoons (40-56) @ Knights (35-60) – July 20-22, 2001

This was a battle of the two most pathetic pitching staffs, with the Knights having given up 523 runs to our 481, so there was quite a gap there. While the Coons could at least boast an average offensive output, the Knights were also second-worst in offense, so there was our chance to have a winning week!

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (3-7, 4.89 ERA) vs. Hector Martinez (5-7, 5.72 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (3-10, 4.37 ERA) vs. Ramon Meza (3-5, 7.82 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.15 ERA) vs. Manuel Movonda (3-8, 5.14 ERA)

Yes that’s Bam Bam Movonda, pitching in his second year past being effective. Meza was the only lefty we would see this week.

Game 1
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – CF Roberson – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Fifield – P Farley
ATL: RF A. Rodriguez – SS Ingall – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 2B J. Miller – C Fabián – 1B Luján – 3B Verdon – P H. Martinez

Chris Roberson’s first career AB was a bases-loading 2-out single in the top 1st, leading up to Concie plating a pair with his own single and the Furballs went up 2-0. Unfortunately, Farley was goddamn awful and constantly spent his time behind in the count. He walked the edge of taking a bat to the face (figuratively, as well as by me personally) for three innings before he finally imploded in the fourth, then however aided by a throwing error by Fifield that made one of the Knights’ pair of runs unearned. Roberson tripled in the top 5th to plate Sharp and regain the lead, with Sharp being on base after getting hit by a pitch. The same fate caught up with Palacios in the seventh, and he was injured by that Hector Martinez offering that appeared to strike him in the lower leg or ankle. The Raccoons bench hollered obscene insults at Martinez, who stretched out his arms as if to say that it wasn’t his fault that the ball had curved up into Palacios’ face. Heart replaced Palacios, joining Sharp on the bases. When Martin stepped in at the plate, he pointed his bat at Martinez, indicating who was next to leave this game. And he made him, with a 3-run homer, his 18th of the season. Reliever Francisco Gutierrez didn’t retire any of the next three Coons and we added two more runs. That put the lead at 8-2, yet now the bullpen took over from an ineffective Farley, and put ineffectiveness to new levels. Joly faced three men and was removed after a 1-out RBI triple by Ingall, who pulled something and also left the game. Then Diaz came in and walked both left-handers, Ware and Rios. Martinez was next, getting to 1-2 counts on both James Miller and Pedro Fabián. Miller made the second out with a sac fly, but Fabián singled, reloading the bags in an 8-4 game. The count on Luján ran full before he unwisely grounded out to Concie. With Cole Johnston pitching in the eighth, the Coons loaded the bases, but didn’t score. Bottom 8th, Daniel Miller, three batters faced, three singles. Bring Bruno! Marcos was NOT BY A LICK any better than Miller – but the Knights managed to run themselves out of the inning. Despite a Will Taylor single plating a run, Cavazos threw out Orlando Mendoza at home on that play, and when Gerardo Rios lifted a ball to left, Parker nailed Alejandro Rodriguez at home. Cavazos drove home a run in the ninth, leaving us to pick Scott Wade rather than Dan Nordahl – the only arms left in the pen after two innings of dismal failure – as this was not a save situation anymore. Perhaps Wade could make it one. Nah, he sat them down in order. 9-5 Raccoons. Sharp 2-4, BB, RBI; Martin 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Roberson 3-3, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Guerin 2-5, 3 RBI;

So, the bullpen of horrors struck again, and Palacios was struck, and I can’t guarantee that Cipriano Miranda won’t take somebody’s head off on Saturday.

On the other hand, Chris Roberson had one of the best debuts I can remember, as he wasn’t sat down even once by the Knights!

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – 2B Heart – RF Flores – P Miranda
ATL: RF A. Rodriguez – SS Ingall – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 1B Tinker – 2B J. Miller – C Fabián – 3B Verdon – P Meza

The Raccoons melted away much sooner this time. Miranda was ineffective, and run over in a 4-run third inning. Two runs were unearned after a Thomas throwing error. Those catchers… At that point, Miranda had already come inside to and plunked Gerardo Rios, and the Raccoons were still looking for a hit of their own. Their first hit of the game would be Chris Roberson’s first homer of hit major league career, a 1-out solo job in the top 4th. The horrible Miranda was yanked after an RBI double by Marvin Ingall in the bottom 4th, making it 5-2 Knights, and Diaz faced Ware and Rios again. He struck out Ware, but Roberson almost had to tear his legs out to catch Rios’ fly to deep center. The Coons scratched out a run in the top 5th, but left the bases loaded, and that was not the way you could play, even a last place team. Top 7th, Roberson on third base with one out, Sharp ran a 3-0 count against lefty Sammy Davis – then grounded out, and didn’t even get Roberson home. Another day, another boner from Dannyboy. In turn, the Knights got a run off – whom else – Bob Joly, and this game was drifting downriver, and they got another run out of Scott Wade in the bottom 8th, chaining up three hits with two outs. 7-3 Knights. Roberson 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Sharp 2-4, RBI;

Last eight games for Ramiro Cavazos: 5-36, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K. Trying too hard?

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – CF Roberson – RF Cavazos – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B McLaughlin – P M. Lopez
ATL: 2B J. Miller – SS Ingall – LF Ware – 1B Tinker – RF W. Taylor – CF Jaramillo – C A. Alvarez – 3B Verdon – P Movonda

After striking out three in the first inning, Miguel Lopez was still turned inside out even quicker than the useless Miranda the day before, as the Knights put four runs on him one inning earlier, in the second, and with no errors in there this time. Key was a 2-out, 2-run triple by James Miller, and even then Lopez failed to stop the bleeding. However, the 2001 Movonda couldn’t stink up even to the 1998 Brownshirt version. In the top 4th, Sharp got on and scored on a Thomas double before Parker homered and moved the Coons back within one. After Guerin was thrown out stealing to kill our efforts in the fifth, Sharp hit a 1-out triple in the sixth and although Ingall threw all his body at Mark Thomas’ grounder, it went through, tying the game. Parker got on and was forced by McLaughlin, getting us into a predicament of Lopez having to bat with runners on the corners and two outs. While Movonda was weak at 37, we would really long for a pinch-hitter, but our bullpen had been eaten up (to some comedic effect) the last two days. Lopez, batting .206 on the year, was sent to bat for himself, and floated a low glider to left – and Ware didn’t get it, the Coons took the lead! The Coons stranded Roberson on third base however in the seventh when Sharp hit into a double play. A leadoff double by Nick Verdon in the bottom 7th spelled trouble and although Manuel Martinez relieved Lopez, he couldn’t keep the run from scoring, as the Knights re-tied the contest. In the eighth we faced ex-Coon Albert Matthews. When Chris Parker got on with a 1-out single it was time for some wicked games. McLaughlin bunted Parker to second. Then, Kent hit for Martinez – and sure enough doubled off Matthews, which made it 6-5 Coons. After Bruno was not scored on in the bottom 8th, we faced Manuel Reyes in the top 9th. He got Roberson, but he didn’t get much more. Cavazos singled, and Martin walked. Sharp plated Cavazos with a single, and Thomas hit an RBI double. We managed another sac fly before the inning fizzled out, and then elected to have Bruno go on in a 9-5 game. Julio Jaramillo led off the bottom 9th with an extra base hit. However, there was no agreeing over how many bases he had. Jaramillo said three, but Chris Parker said two and threw him out. Bruno still didn’t get out of the inning, allowing a single to Verdon and a walk to Rios with two down. Nordahl appeared to face Miller, and his second pitch was taken up the middle. Verdon was waved around third, and this time Chris Roberson disagreed, firing a grapeshot at home, where Verdon was out comfortably. 9-5 Coons. Guerin 2-5; Sharp 3-5, 3B, RBI; Thomas 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Parker 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 19 – SFW LF Javier Encarnación (.323, 4 HR, 49 RBI) is out for a month with an elbow sprain.
July 22 – The Falcons’ allrounder Herberto Vieitas (.225, 3 HR, 26 RBI) is out for the season with torn ankle ligaments. The 25-year old Vieitas plays all defensive positions except catcher.

Complaints and stuff

I had been waiting for the inevitable Neil Reece injury for quite some time. Now it’s here. With Brady down for (most likely) the whole season, our outfield looks toothless and bleak now. Playing two out of Parker, Flores, and Kent, plus some random scrub, on any given day does not likely enhance our chances to carry fourth place going forward.

Hear me. Talking about fourth place as some kind of achievement.

Although it really would be, with Jesus Palacios also going down. By Sunday night we knew there was no structural damage but he would still miss one to two more weeks with a foot contusion. There was no point in leaving him on the roster. The next semi-decent prospect might follow Chris Roberson on the heels in form of Miguel Ramirez (who was already up to scarce success this year), and even another outfielder in Edgardo Torrez.

During our series with the Knights, they had Mike Crowe (.220, 1 HR, 8 RBI in 127 AB) designated for assignment. I just can’t see anybody picking up a 30-year old third baseman that mediocre, even for a minimum contract.

Bob Joly has been shopped, yielding no suitors, even at the deadline. Well, to be fair, I only tried baseball teams. I didn’t try other outfits at their own deadline for acquiring barely living piles of meat, like … occult circles in need of sacrificial lambs for rituals and such.

Westheim · 02-28-2015, 05:58 PM

Raccoons (42-57) @ Falcons (50-47) – July 24-26, 2001

The Falcons were winless against the Raccoons this year, with three losses. We had comparable offensive formations, but they had way better (average) pitching. The Falcons ranked 8th in runs scored, and t-6th in runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (7-8, 4.13 ERA) vs. Terry Wilson (7-5, 4.30 ERA)
Ralph Ford (7-8, 3.13 ERA) vs. John Woodard (9-10, 4.83 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-7, 4.67 ERA) vs. Manuel Hernandez (5-5, 4.53 ERA)

“Loudmouth” Wilson and Hernandez were left-handers, of which we had seen only one last week. The fact that we went 4-2 last week might be less of an indicator of our inability to hit southpaws, but more of the fact that both teams last week were somewhat challenged with their personnel. The Coons – for six days – just happened to be challenged somewhat less. Also, with Brady, Reece, AND Palacios out, our lineup is pretty toothless, regardless of the hand the pitcher on any given day would toss with.

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – RF Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – P Bean
CHA: 2B H. Green – C F. Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B Soto – LF R. Wilson – SS A. Ramirez – 3B J. Munoz – P T. Wilson

Carl Bean scored the Falcons’ first run with a wild pitch, with two down in the second. Antonio Ramirez’ 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 4th didn’t help either, especially with the Raccoons not getting anything worth mentioning done against “Loudmouth” Wilson. Their first remote scoring opportunity came in the sixth, with Roberson and Martin singling with no outs. Martin’s hit was a bloop just out of Ramirez’ reach, and that was begging for punishment. After Sharp hit into a double play, the inning fizzled out rather quickly. Bean failed to surrender anybody in the bottom 6th, three batters, three singles, and when Diaz came in, he lit the fuse. Martinez got a lucky double play that would hold the damage to two runs, and made it 5-0 Falcons. Both teams left two men on in the seventh inning, and the Raccoons just weren’t getting any closer. And they wouldn’t for the rest of the day. Eight hits, scattered all over the place. 5-0 Falcons. Kent (PH) 1-1; Heart (PH) 1-1; Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K;

Sigh.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B Heart – RF Kent – P Ford
CHA: 3B H. Green – CF Estrada – RF Lugo – 1B Soto – LF Trinidad – C M. Castillo – SS J. Munoz – 2B Sullivan – P Woodard

The Falcons offered an all-right-handed lineup against Ralph Ford, who loaded the bases in the bottom 1st. Two out, Miguel Castillo sent a deep fly to left center, and this was going to – no, Roberson got it! Ford however was in trouble, showing bad control all along. The Raccoons scored first, in the top 3rd. Guerin and Sharp got on with two outs, and Guerin then stole third base. Roberson came through with a single up the middle, plating Concie. In the bottom of the inning, Ford had Jose Lugo and Luis Soto both in 2-strike counts, then surrendered hard base hits, with Soto doubling home Lugo. Trinidad whiffed, but a single and a walk loaded them up with one out, before Terry Sullivan fouled out to Thomas, just short of the fence, and then you think, oh we’re gonna be fine, and then the pitcher hits a double through Sharp. Ford didn’t see the end of the next inning, walking the bases full, giving him six freebies in 3.2 innings. Martinez came in to face Sullivan, who put the game away with a bases-clearing triple on the first pitch he saw. The scoring continued against Scott Wade, who was stuffed for a total of five runs in 1.2 innings, facing nothing but right-handers. The Raccoons – as was to be expected – didn’t do anything. They just slowly watched the score escalating. 12-1 Falcons. Sharp 2-2, 2 BB;

Four consecutive innings surrendering multiple runs. That’s gotta be a new low point. That’s … well, it fits in with the general pitching record of this game, as our resident collection of wet hairballs allowed 16 hits, ten walks, and one plunked batter en route to getting stuffed for a dozen, with 14 more left on base by the generous Falcons.

And Sharp? Why did I miss that he is dumb as a rat’s ass? He doubled in the first, and made an out at third base, and he was out by a light year. Yeah, dumbass, you might have been on base four times, but YOU’RE STILL DOING ****!!!

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – 2B M. Ramirez – RF Kent – C Fifield – P Farley
CHA: 2B H. Green – C F. Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B Soto – LF R. Wilson – SS A. Ramirez – 3B J. Munoz – P M. Hernandez

The first thing that the Raccoons did – other than vanishing 1-2-3 in the top 1st – was Gary Fifield dropping Hubert Green’s pop that didn’t get much farther than five feet from the plate. Green stole second with Fifield’s throw so high that Ramirez had to leap to keep it in the infield, and Jose Lugo sacrificed him home eventually. 1-0 Falcons, because of inadequate personnel manning certain positions. We had nine of those on the field at that point. Top 2nd: Sharp hit a double off the wall, Ramirez walked, and Kent doubled to right, plating Sharp only. In a 3-0 count, Fifield suddenly swung and popped out to short. In the Falcons’ cozy suite for the high level brass of the visiting team, I suffered a mild stroke and fell crashing into the table with the delicately presented and certainly mildly expensive food, while Maud was looking on. She couldn’t help it, she’s a woman, she had an hors-d’oeuvre with salmon in one hand and her ugly old-lady’s purse in the other. She might not have wanted to help me, either.

Neither did the Raccoons. Although Ford plated both runners Fifield had foolishly left on with a single, he still had to pitch, but didn’t do it for long. Technically, he still had a no-hitter going, up 3-1, but it was the pitcher Manuel Hernandez to break it up in the bottom 3rd with a 1-out single. The gates opened and flushed Farley far away, as the Falcons reeled off five more hits and a walk to plate six runs in the inning. And that was that game, also over after five innings or less. Hernandez pitched a complete game, striking out ten Issuecoons, including all three in the ninth inning. 8-4 Falcons. Ramirez 2-3, BB; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Once I had plucked all the little wooden sticks – cheese cubes still attached on some – from my face, I felt the urge to purge some sucker to Antarctica. The choice was not difficult. Gary Fifield, batting .152 and useless in every other regard as well, was vaporized. The call went to C/1B Jorge Defrese, a 23-year old right-handed batter from Venezuela, whom we drafted 258th overall in the ninth round of the 1996 draft. Generally not major league material, so he fits right in.

This filled our 40-man roster, but we swiftly moved Clyde Brady from the 15- to the 60-day DL.

Raccoons (42-60) vs. Thunder (67-33) – July 27-29, 2001

Odes should be composed about this Thunder team, and they ought to be praised in song. The Raccoons were ****, knew it, and we were racing straight for an 0-6 week and an 1-8 year against Oklahoma.

Projected matchups:
Cipriano Miranda (3-11, 4.49 ERA) vs. Luis Martinez (4-4, 2.46 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.27 ERA) vs. Ricky Beach (6-1, 1.94 ERA)
Carl Bean (7-9, 4.30 ERA) vs. Aaron Anderson (9-6, 3.15 ERA)

Ya, we’ve got no chance.

Game 1
OCT: CF Humphrey – SS Liu – 2B Grant – LF D. Henry – C Vinson – RF M. Rodriguez – 1B T. Cardenas – 3B H. Castro – P L. Martinez
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 3B Heart – RF Flores – 2B McLaughlin – P Miranda

Guerin doubled and was plated by Roberson in the bottom 1st, as the Baseball Gods teased and taunted me, giving the Raccoons a 1-0 lead. Miranda wasn’t doing so bad, however, and handled the Thunder quite well, despite giving out a few walks and he also overcame a Max Heart error that put Grant on with nobody out in the fourth. To be fair, Cavazos and Roberson both made multiple fine plays in the outfield, too. When Mark Thomas went yard in the bottom of the sixth, collecting Martin to give Miranda three runs of support, Miranda still had the Thunder in a 1-hit death choke. But bad control – he walked Tomas Cardenas in the seventh for his fifth BB on the day – put him in a bad spot with the pitch count. He was at 109 through seven. Yet, with the Raccoons you’re always tempted to send a starter with a shutout going back out there, with 109 pitches or 190, rather than risk to bring in a reliever with two outs and nobody on and have a grand slam in the inning. The eighth inning was a quick one, but Miranda’s velocity dropped into the mid-80s and we got Dan Nordahl ready, until Roberson’s leadoff jack made it 4-0 in the bottom 8th. Now Wade joined Nordahl and entered the ninth with the same score. He struck out David Vinson (easy), then walked a pair. Nordahl entered, struck out Hector Castro, then pinch-walked Takahashi Higashi. Oh come on, boys, don’t …! Joey Humphrey ran a full count, and Nordahl eventually threw a pitch in the dirt to force home a run. Kuang Liu was next, and ripped into the first pitch. It was a high fly to deep right, and Gil Flores had played deep already, but this was … was it going to …? Would it …? Nope, it wouldn’t, it lacked less than five feet of depth, and with Flores playing deep, he made the catch at the wall. 4-1 Raccoons. Roberson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Thomas 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Miranda 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 4 K, W (4-11);

Nine walks, four of those in the ninth inning. No wonder the neighbors here me screaming at 3:45 am.

And I wondered where I got that sore throat from every morning after waking up.

Game 2
OCT: SS Liu – CF Humphrey – 2B Grant – 1B Higashi – C Briggs – RF M. Rodriguez – LF A. Diéguez – 3B H. Castro – P Beach
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B M. Ramirez – P M. Lopez

Spending his day behind in the count was Miguel Lopez, and the Thunder took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Somehow, they didn’t score again until the fifth, when they singled every which way off Lopez and plated two more runs. The Raccoons were tamed by Ricky Beach, whom Vince had rated a 10/11/8, but who was pitching to a sub-2 ERA. He allowed two hits through four, before the third one by Chris Parker was a long one, cutting the gap to 3-1. Lopez went 6.2 innings and left with Beach on first base after a leadoff single, but Miller got Bob Grant to fly out to Cavazos. Down by two, technically the Coons had a chance, and a 1-out double by Thomas in the bottom 7th opened a little door. When Higashi misfielded Parker’s grounder, Thomas scored, and then Ramirez doubled to right, giving us the go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out. Kent hit for Miller, and grounded out so poorly that the runners had to hold. Guerin came up and sent a fly to center on the second pitch. The fly got longer and longer and eluded Humphrey, hitting off the base of the centerfield wall as Guerin flipped the score with a 2-out, 2-run double! A 4-3 lead, what are we gonna do!? Once Cavazos unsurprisingly stranded Guerin to end the inning, Marcos Bruno appeared – and went on to blow it. Two out, runners on the corners, David Vinson hit for Hector Castro. The count ran full. Vinson ALWAYS strikes out in these situation. He ALWAYS does. Bruno walked him. And now the Thunder did NOT hit for Beach! Bases loaded, two out, Bruno against Beach, and this one ended with a strikeout. But we still had to nurse Nordahl through the ninth, and he faced the top of the order. Danny was much more in the zone than the previous night, and the Thunder were tempted to make contact – poor contact. Kuang Liu grounded out to Concie. Humphrey fouled out. And Bob Grant grounded out to Ramirez. 4-3 Coons! Guerin 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

What? Two wins in a row? Against the THUNDER?

Is this real life?

Game 3
OCT: CF Humphrey – SS Liu – 2B Grant – 1B Higashi – LF D. Henry – C Vinson – RF M. Rodriguez – 3B H. Castro – P Anderson
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – LF Parker – RF Cavazos – 2B Heart – C Defrese – P Bean

In the top 2nd, Dan Henry tripled and knocked his elbow hard against the base sliding in. The Thunder had to replace him, but had a good chance to score now with Eric Phillips waiting to be driven in with one out. Bean walked Vinson (!?), then struck out Marcos Rodriguez and Hector Castro to end the inning. While Bean had had a shoddy beginning with two walks and a triple against him, he then struck out four more for half a dozen in total by the end of the fifth. His team mates weren’t shy about leaving scoring chances unused, however. In the bottom 4th, Sharp reached on a Phillips error, and Roberson legged out an infield single when Bob Grant had to grab the ball twice from his glove. Martin killed it with a double play grounder and Parker struck out, and we left two on base in the fifth. Top 6th, and a Max Heart error put Humphrey on base with nobody out. Humphrey was on third with two down, but Higashi hacked himself out to end the inning. Vinson was hit by Bean in the seventh, but nothing came of that, either, and we still had no score, however this changed soon. Ramiro Cavazos, deeply muddled in the mother of all slumps, led off the bottom 7th with a homer, and now it was 1-0 Coons. Bean made it through the eighth comfortably, and then Roberson and Martin hit back-to-back doubles starting the bottom 8th! Jorge Defrese’s major league debut had not been too great so far. He was 0-3 coming to bat with two out and two on in this inning, but now made contact and singled up the middle for his first major league hit. With Bean next, the time to score was now and Martin was waved home, where he arrived at the same time as Diéguez’ throw and was called …….. – SAFE!! Anderson then struck out Bean, who had other things on his mind, like his 3-0 lead. He had surrendered only two hits on the day so far, and surrendered Bob Grant on the first pitch. And then – oh bother – both Higashi and Phillips managed to single past the reach of Concie at short. Vinson was next. Hey, there was our chance! Bean fell behind him, however, before Vinson put the fourth pitch in play. It went to Concie as well. This time, our cherished Venezuelan shortstop got it, zipped to Heart, to Martin – ballgame. 3-0 Furballs! Guerin 2-4; Roberson 2-4, 2B; Martin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Bean 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (8-9);

WOOOOT!!! A sweep of the Thunder!!!???

I am pretty sure it is safe to assume that they don’t know what hit them here. And neither do I.

For Carl Bean, this was his third career shutout, and the second as a Furball.

In other news

July 24 – NAS SP Dave Crawford (6-11, 5.11 ERA) befuddles helpless Wolves in a 3-hitter, taking a 6-0 win.
July 24 – DEN C Johnny Johnson (.264, 7 HR, 47 RBI) is out for a month with a lat strain.
July 26 – And more trouble for the Gold Sox, as OF Chih-tui Jin (.306, 5 HR, 28 RBI) goes down with a sprained ankle and may also miss up to a month.
July 27 – The Crusaders acquire backup outfielder Ricardo Chavez (.374, 11 HR, 26 RBI in 131 AB) from the Wolves, giving up SP George Allen (1-2, 3.57 ERA) and prospect outfielder Wilson Ballina, who had been in the A-level All Star Game this season.
July 28 – The Buffaloes acquire C Pablo Ledesma (.260, 8 HR, 45 RBI) from the Pacifics for SP Carlos Camacho (2-9, 5.70 ERA).

Complaints and stuff

Here’s one coming out of leftfield, or from behind the plate, or whatever. Mark Thomas was named CL Player of the Week, batting .450 (9-20) with 1 HR and 5 RBI. Not bad for someone who was a throw-in to a deal to get rid of an unwanted pitcher, and only made to the primary role because our Chosen One, Julio Mata, was beyond terrible the first two months (and now is hurt).

During the middle Falcons game, I had a Cyclones moment. What’s a Cyclones moment? Well, that was the first time I threw in the towel on this team, over two years ago. Of course, the sucker faces were different then, but they were no less abysmal (well perhaps a little more abysmal). Then, they walked NINETEEN batters in a nine inning contest against the Cyclones, which would tie a now 127-year old “real” major league record.

If all you come to the park for every day, is another hit with a wooden beam straight into your teeth, why do you come then?

The Thunder series was certainly an aberration, because I can’t explain it otherwise. They are not tops of the league in hitting, but they are certainly better than plating four runs against the Coons – in a three-game set, that is.

Totally random fact: Jorge Defrese is the first position player with the surname beginning with D to play on the Raccoons since 1995 (Matt Duncan). Before that, you have to go back to Mark Dawson, whose career ended in 1991.

Anybody remember the first Raccoons position player the surname beginning with D to play for the Raccoons? Johan Dolder, the Pride of Luxembourg, Luxembourg!

Westheim · 03-01-2015, 04:30 PM

Raccoons (45-60) @ Condors (58-47) – July 30-August 1, 2001

The Condors were creaming us at a 5-1 pace this season (but so had the Thunder…), and while our offensive outputs were roughly similar, their pitching was much better, with their rotation ranking fourth in the CL. A similarity between clubs was the fact that we both had better rotations than bullpens (but their bullpen was still solid, 7th in the CL). And, well, offense… we lack three key players in the lineup, so here it comes.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (7-9, 3.55 ERA) vs. Bastyao Caixinha (12-8, 3.02 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-8, 5.07 ERA) vs. Curt Powell (9-6, 4.70 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (4-11, 4.08 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (10-8, 3.32 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Cavazos – RF Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – P Ford
TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – C Cicalina – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B B. Boyle – 2B A. Ramirez – RF B. Wilson – CF G. Davis – P Caixinha

Ford struck out seven, walked none – and still lost. After Daniel Sharp struck first, in the first, with a solo home run, the Raccoons didn’t utilize Roberson reaching second base on an error and left runners on the corners before going into hiding. Things quickly turned sour for Ford with a 2-run home run by Bill Wilson in the bottom 2nd, and the Condors added a run the next inning. Ford went six and was hit for in the 3-1 game with two on and two out in the top 7th. Max Heart doubled over Gerald Davis, scoring a run and putting the go-ahead runs in scoring position, only for Guerin to strike out. We also had two on in the eighth, but Mark Thomas double played us out of there, and in the ninth Cavazos led off with a single off Enrico Gonzalez, was bunted over by Flores, advanced on Ramirez groundout, and then Jason Kent managed to hit the ball about ten feet to make the final out. 3-2 Condors. Sharp 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Cavazos 2-4; Heart (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wade 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Yeah well, we have no surviving offense left. Reece down, Palacios down, Brady down (I do actually sound like a broken record, right?), and Martin is slumping, Cavazos is slumping harshly, and the rest of the team … meh …

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B McLaughlin – P Farley
TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – 2B B. Boyle – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – RF Richardson – 1B Cicalina – P Powell

The Raccoons were hitless the first time through the lineup, while Daniel Richardson (grmpf) had put the Condors on top 1-0 in the bottom 2nd. Powell faced the minimum into the fifth inning, with the Coons drawing two walks and finally a Guerin single in the fourth, but had hit into double plays twice and Guerin had been nipped stealing. Guerin stole his 26th base later in the sixth, but by then Cavazos had tied the score with a homer. In that sixth, Guerin was on second, Sharp on first, two down, and Roberson singled to left. Guerin was sent, and thrown out. Neither starter made it past the seventh, and neither got a decision. Top 9th, Roberson led off against lefty Jose Ochoa, and took him deep! Martin reached on an error, and the Coons somehow happened into loading the bags with two out. Kent hit for Diaz – and again failed. Nordahl had no cushion with a 2-1 lead, and readily walked Carlos Ramos and allowed a single to Richardson to get the bottom 9th underway. The Condors then tried to bunt, but Cicalina popped up and right to Nordahl. They bunted their runners into scoring position and Nordahl faced .145 Gerald Davis, a lefty. The count went to two strikes before Davis made contact, but it was another pop. McLaughlin ended the game. 2-1 Coons. Guerin 2-3, BB; Roberson 2-4, HR, RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – CF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – RF Kent – 2B M. Ramirez – P Miranda
TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – 2B B. Boyle – C C. Ramos – LF Richardson – 1B Jabalera – CF MacKey – P J. Maldonado

We got somebody thrown out at home right in the first inning, MacKey nailing Sharp to end the inning without the Raccoons scoring. In turn, Antonio Jabalera’s first AB of the season resulted in an RBI triple in the bottom 2nd as Miranda fell 2-0 behind. Miranda was reeking, possibly rotting, on the mound, and by the fourth inning had racked up THREE HBP’s. Jabalera doubled home another run, putting the Raccoons 3-1 down. And with the way the Raccoons were going around at the plate, that was already a fatal deficit. Indeed they just couldn’t get runners on base. The Condors didn’t do a lot against Miranda, who went into the seventh before getting stuck, but Juan Diaz ended the inning. Manuel Martinez loaded them up in the bottom 8th and Miller allowed one run to score while collecting the last two outs. Top 9th, Gonzalez in – and the Raccoons didn’t even get close to reaching base, with Kent and Ramirez striking out. 4-1 Condors. Sharp 2-4; Kent 2-4, RBI;

We have gone 2-7 against the Condors for the second straight year. Also, when you don’t score at all, you get more aggressive. That’s why we tend to send runners.

And it never works.

Raccoons (46-62) vs. Titans (69-40) – August 2-5, 2001

We were going up against the CL’s diamond rotation (2.81 ERA), and we were probably not going to get too many dents into that. Their offense was ranked third, and that should be sufficient to inflict some hurt. The Titans have just lost the division lead to the Loggers, so they were hungry to deal damage.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.20 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (2-4, 3.89 ERA)
Carl Bean (8-9, 4.04 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (16-5, 2.68 ERA)
Ralph Ford (7-10, 3.60 ERA) vs. Steven Snyder (9-9, 2.89 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-8, 4.82 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (8-5, 2.59 ERA)

O’Halloran is the only left-hander, however right now I think that left-handers aren’t the issue. We can at most put three left-handers and a switch-hitter into the lineup, and THAT might be a problem against RIGHT-handers. Brady and Palacios are being sorely missed in that regard (not that Reece is not), and the latest prognosis on Palacios, whose DL time runs out on Friday, is that he is not quite ready to return this weekend and will most likely only return early next week. Reece is two weeks off.

Game 1
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – RF J. Thomas – LF Garrison – C Manuel – SS D. Silva – 1B Walker – 3B D. Mendez – P Hildred
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – 2B Heart – P M. Lopez

In muggy weather, Lopez walked three batters in the first, and the disgusting Daniel Silva lobbed a single past Heart for two runs, before Walker struck out. Lopez didn’t make it through the third inning, being truly horrible, issuing five walks and being loaded with five runs. The Coons had nothing going, being limited to two soft hits through five innings against Hildred, who then shoveled his own hole in the sixth. He hit Guerin, who led off the inning, then made an error to put Cavazos on as well. Roberson and Sharp came through with RBI singles and Parker also brought a run in before we ran out of steam. It had drizzled earlier, twice actually, but the rain got heavier in the seventh, forcing a 37-minute delay, ending a strong long relief effort by Bob Joly. Bruno finished the inning when play resumed. Down 5-3, Gil Flores led off with a pinch-hit single in the bottom 7th. Guerin made an out, before Cavazos came up against reliever Román. Ramiro vs. Ramiro, and the one Ramiro took the other Ramiro deep – and that tied the score! Could we get some momentum and – no. Scott Wade pitched a clean eighth, before it all went wrong in the ninth. Josh Thomas doubled, and the Titans would hit TWO infield singles in the inning en route to plate two runs – the latter run walked in by Juan Diaz. The Coons were two down and at John Bennett’s mercy. He put down Guerin, and put down Cavazos. Defrese hit for Diaz in the #3 hole and drew a walk. That brought up a slumping Albert Martin, 0-3 on the day. One strike, two strikes, HOME RUN!!! Martin’s 19th homer of the year tied the game again! As we were sent to overtime, our already depleted bullpen ejected Martinez to pitch the tenth. It would be the last inning of the day. Martinez sucked, loaded the bases, and then Miller came out and walked a run in. Bennett hit a sac fly and then finished the job in his second try in the bottom 10th. 9-7 Titans. Roberson 3-4, RBI; Joly 3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Albert Martin tied Jesus Palacios with 19 homers, but they do not lead the CL anymore. Jorge Cruz had tied Palacios on Wednesday, and moved to 20 while the Raccoons came oh so close and still lost.

Game 2
BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B H. Ramirez – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – LF Kinnear – CF L. Alonso – 2B D. Mendez – P O’Halloran
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – LF Cavazos – 1B Heart – RF G. Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – C Defrese – P Bean

This game had automatic loss written all over it. Or was it? Bean pitched a clean first before Guerin got on base. Roberson singled, moving him to third, and Cavazos scored Concie with a sac fly. Okay, 1-0. What now? Heart doubled! That put two in scoring position with one out for Flores and his grounder up the middle trickled through between Silva and Mendez and plated both runners! If Bean could just pitch a decent game now… He pitched three scoreless frames, before Mark Austin homered in the fourth. Lopez walked, Kinnear singled, and Alonso sent a fly to deep left where Cavazos laid out to make a fantastic catch to end the inning no sooner than absolutely necessary. It was Austin at the plate again in the fifth with two out, two on – and this time nobody was there to intercept a double as Gil Flores ran after it in vain in the corner in deep right field. That tied the game, but wasn’t shocking, since nobody expected better from Bean. The game was still tied at three in the eighth with Marcos Bruno pitching. He got socked again, with Austin singling, and Ramirez then spilling Thomas’ bouncer for an error. Lopez walked, and we were going down hard. Kinnear flew out to Roberson, runners holding, but Luis Alonso unloaded a bases-clearing double and that was that. Another run was charged on Nordahl, with us out of relievers to throw into a loss. 7-3 Titans. Guerin 2-5; Roberson 3-5; Heart 2-3, BB; Flores 2-4, 2 RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1; Bean 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

The useless Miguel Ramirez was trashed after this game. He was batting .164, was inefficient in the field, and I hated his face. We made a wicked move:

We called up Nick Brown.

Game 3
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – 1B Austin – LF Garrison – C Manuel – RF Kinnear – SS H. Ramirez – 2B Walker – P Snyder
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C M. Thomas – RF Kent – 2B Heart – P Ford

Ralph Ford was massively useless in this game, losing it with flying colors, never mind that the offense couldn’t get a bat up at all. He was hooked after four plus innings, in which he walked five, threw two wild pitches, and also gave up a home run, as the Titans led 4-0 with two men on and nobody out. Bob Joly replaced him, casually gave up a 2-run triple to lead-footed Andres Manuel, and the Raccoons were equally casually flushed down the toilet. Joly was as **** as Ford, surrendering three hits and three runs in two innings for two more runs. Yes, the Titans were inefficient with their runners. The Raccoons would give out 13 hits, nine walks, and countless facepalms en route to getting demolished, while tallying easily unnoticed three singles themselves. 10-0 Titans. Kent 1-1, 3 BB;

And it just goes on and on and on and on and on …

Game 4
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – LF L. Alonso – 2B V. Flores – P J. Sanchez
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – RF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – C Defrese – P Farley

The Raccoons had the first run of the game hammered out at home by Luis Alonso in the second, and left Jorge Defrese on third base where he arrived with one out the next inning. Bottom 4th, Sanchez walked the first two Critters, Martin and Sharp, before Kent flew out in a 3-1 count. McLaughlin’s single loaded them up, and Defrese ran a full count before hitting a perfect 6-4-3 problem solver – for the Titans. Randy Farley had deferred getting flogged through four innings, but a pair of leadoff doubles by Alonso and Victor Flores were easily enough to sink him, as both were scored in the top 5th. The Raccoons left two on in the bottom 5th, and Farley was up to bat against reliever Ramiro Román (Sanchez had walked his arm off, apparently) with two on and two out. As much as we loved to have a nominal batter bat here, the pitcher had to, since our deflated bullpen was not in a position to pitch three innings. Predictably, Farley struck out. Bottom 8th, still 2-0, Sharp and Kent got on with no outs. Orlando Blanco had come in just for Kent and had surrendered a single. How unexpected! The Titans went right to the next guy, Risto Mäkelä, and Parker hit for McLaughlin and singled. Bases loaded, nobody out for Defrese. And he drew a walk! That pushed the tying run to third – no outs! – and now we were comfy with batting for Randy, since we were expecting to have Nordahl pitch in the ninth anyway. Mäkelä walked Thomas, tying the game and then Guerin singled, giving Randy the lead. From here, only Roberson brought someone in with a sac fly. But we were up 4-2, we’re good, we’re good. Austin led off with a single. Thomas flew out deep to right, and then Manuel grounded to second, where Heart was. Heart went to first, where Defrese was, and Defrese dropped it. Well, maybe … and Nordahl walked Ramirez. We’re not good. We’re so not good. A walk to Alonso brought home a run, and then Kinnear hit in the #8 hole. This game was lost, regardless of whether Kinnear would swing or not, since Nordahl had just melted completely. Kinnear swung, it was high, it was deep, it was a grand slam. 7-4 Titans. Guerin 3-5, RBI; McLaughlin 2-2, BB, 2B; Farley 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

Sharp was thrown out at home to end the bottom 2nd. Yes we keep doing it, since next to bat was Defrese with first base open after McLaughlin’s double, and after that Farley. And it never works.

It never works.

In other news

July 30 – A partially torn UCL ends the season of 37-year old CHA SP Fernando Chavez (5-7, 4.81 ERA).
August 5 – Oklahoma lose their closer Jimmy Morey (5-3, 2.98 ERA, 24 SV). The 32-year old will be out for the season with a torn labrum.

Complaints and stuff

(sits at the table, silently, face buried in the palms)

…

(silence)

…

…

…

(takes the hands down, showing eyes that have been cried bright red)

It’s…

Last 13 games, 35 runs scored, 68 runs allowed.

Without all the good players, the team can’t score any runs. I mean, it is very obvious, but I can’t stop beating the drum. Amazingly this has happened right at the very moment where our pitching did not implode on a daily basis (well, until the Titans series). I also try to stay away from certain guys in the pen, mostly Marcos Bruno, who’s had a hard rookie season, and is already well over 50 innings on the season. I really don’t want to use my relievers that much…

Now the Nick Brown talk. 11th round pick back when, now he’s in the Bigs. He started on Thursday, and this makes him a nice fit to take over the fifth slot in the rotation. Miguel Lopez gets moved to the bullpen. We will look for someone to get rid off in the next week. It’s really between Diaz and Joly…

The newest scouting report on Brown hasn’t changed from the one I showed you before. In 21 starts this year between AA and AAA, he has pitched 138.1 innings, and struck out 195 batters. That’s something. This young lefty will get his chance on Tuesday. We are antsy to see him go out!

Not that he could wrap up anything else than a bitter loss.

Westheim · 03-03-2015, 04:36 PM

As Jesus Palacios came off the DL in time for the opener in the Loggers series, we sent Chris Roberson back to St. Petersburg. This was not because it was Roberson’s fault. It was a “no options” thing for some guys we had around here, and then there were rule 5 guys, and so on. As soon as we weed out the excess pitcher on the roster, Roberson will come back, which should happen by the weekend, I guess.

Raccoons (46-66) vs. Loggers (72-40) – August 6-8, 2001

The Loggers and Titans were neck-to-neck, and do we really want to interfere with them after getting sliced wide open by the Titans? Do we want to mess with the CL’s best hitting and third-best pitching? Or will we just curl up, close our eyes and pretend everything smells roses?

Projected matchups:

Cipriano Miranda (4-12, 4.19 ERA) vs. John Miller (11-6, 2.51 ERA)
Nick Brown (0-0) vs. Millard Wilson (3-8, 4.92 ERA)
Carl Bean (8-9, 4.03 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (15-7, 3.23 ERA)

The task for the Issuecoons: don’t get soiled as badly as against the Titans. That was a horrible series…

And of course we will get the big league debut for Nick Brown on Tuesday. I sense that horrible, horrible things are going to happen…

Game 1
MIL: C L. Ramirez – 2B J. Morales – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – CF J.J. Villa – SS B. Hernandez – P J. Miller
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – CF Kent – LF Parker – C Thomas – P Miranda

John Miller pitched three innings, surrendering two runs on three hits in the bottom 2nd, and then left due to an injury. That put him on the hook since Miranda did not allow a hit through the first three innings, and while Jose Morales hit a leadoff single in the top 4th, the Loggers didn’t score after Cristo Ramirez hit into a double play. The Loggers got a pair into scoring position with no outs in the fifth and then were held to a sac fly, but that still made it a 2-1 game. The Critters were asleep at the plate and barely managed to cash in on a Loggers error in the bottom 5th, with Miranda hitting a 1-out RBI single, 3-1. In the next inning, Martin led off with a double, and the Loggers walked Sharp intentionally before Juan Gomez threw a wild pitch to make the point kind of moot. Kent hit an RBI single, and we loaded the bags on an infield single by Chris Parker, but the only other run we got in was a sac fly by Miranda, who was kind of carrying the team on both sides of the ledger. Through six, he held the Loggers to three hits and that one run, and they didn’t see any land in the next two innings. Miranda batted in the bottom 8th for an out and potentially killing the inning then, leaving the score at 5-1, then re-appeared for the top 9th as he faced the top of the lineup. While Leon Ramirez sent a deep fly to center, which Kent caught, he then struck out Morales, and Concie made good work of Cristo Ramirez’ easy grounder. 5-1 Critters. Martin 2-4, 2B; Kent 2-4, 2B, RBI; Parker 2-3, BB, RBI; Miranda 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (5-12) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Jose Morales was put on waivers after this game. Oh noes. Now we have made them angry, and we will sent to the mound the smallest cub in the litter. That can’t go right, right?

Game 2
MIL: RF C. Ramirez – C L. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – CF Fletcher – 2B R. Morales – SS B. Hernandez – P M. Wilson
POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – LF Parker – C Thomas – CF Kent – SS McLaughlin – P Brown

Nick Brown struggled in the first inning, walking a pair and loading the bases before he escaped with making Jerry Fletcher his first career K victim. Two innings later, Mark Hall became the first player to hit a homer off him, and it counted for two. The Raccoons were still looking for a hit through three innings, and this game was not about to become a sparkling debut. Brown was eaten up in due time by the Loggers and didn’t get past the fifth inning, surrendering four runs in total. The Coons only had one hit to show in the time frame Brown surrendered seven, and walked three. It didn’t get better, either, with Wade surrendering two runs in the sixth, while the Raccoons were wholly terrible at the plate, racking up just four hits as Millard Wilson pitched a complete game shutout, fanning eight. 6-0 Loggers. Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Way to kill the least little bit of euphoria.

Game 3
MIL: C L. Ramirez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – 2B R. Morales – SS T. Johnson – P Roberson
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Flores – C Thomas – CF Kent – P Bean

Bottom 1st, Guerin doubled, moved to third on Cavazos’ groundout, and was left on. Top 2nd, Bean drilled Hiwalani, and eventually faced Tom Johnson with two on and two down. Johnson couldn’t kill a fly with his bat, but booked a 3-run dinger on Bean, and it was a no-doubter. The Raccoons would soon find themselves in a two on, two out situation, in the bottom 3rd, and were lucky enough to have Albert Martin batting, who tied the CL lead with his 20th home run, and it tied the score. While Bean was struggling, the Raccoons picked up the pace in the bottom 4th, when Thomas and Kent led off with back-to-back homers off Venerable Vernon to make it a 5-3 game, and in the next inning Gil Flores hit his first dinger as a Raccoon, 7-3, knocking Vernon out, and the inning went on to allow Concie to hit a 2-out, 2-run double, 9-3. Home runs weren’t over, however none were hit as long as Bean remained in the game, and he completed seven. Bob Joly was tasked with the final two innings, didn’t even get the first one over with, and instead was taken deep by Hiwalani. Miguel Lopez appeared in relief, ended the eighth, but was shelled in the ninth. The Loggers got as far as loading them up and sending the tying run to the plate – and it was Hiwalani. I didn’t want to, but I had to go to Nordahl. And Danny sucked balls. He walked Hiwalani in a full count, then got Mark Hall to 0-2 before surrendering a 2-run single. I had lost all trust in the kid by now, and went to – Marcos Bruno. Another reliever, another walk to Jorge Cruz, and the bases were loaded again in the 9-8 game. Rodrigo Morales then cut into the first pitch he saw and grounded hard to Sharp – and at least THAT kid did his job. 9-8 Suckoons. Guerin 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Sharp 3-4; Thomas 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Kent 3-4, HR, RBI; Bean 7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (9-9) and 1-3, 2B;

What a fudge squad. How they HAVE to FUDGE UP EVERY SINGLE GAME.

AAHH!!

Bob Joly was annihilated from the roster for what felt like the 18th time this season, and Chris Roberson was recalled. Also, Cavazos and Palacios aren’t doing anything anymore, and went a combined 0-10 in this game.

Raccoons (48-67) @ Wolves (52-63) – August 10-12, 2001

These two teams have been in better shapes when meeting up for Oregon Brawls. Like in 1989. Now, the Raccoons were outright dismal, and the Wolves had their issues with the third-worst pitching over in the Federal League. Rotation and bullpen were equally horrible for them, and the offense was merely 8th and not helping much at all.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (7-11, 3.90 ERA) vs. Billy Lawson (0-2, 3.74 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-8, 4.63 ERA) vs. Manny Guzman (4-8, 5.03 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (5-12, 3.97 ERA) vs. Seiichi Sugiyama (12-5, 3.95 ERA)

That’s three right-handers, and nothing really special about them. Sugiyama is the “ace” of their staff.

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 2B Palacios – C Thomas – LF Parker – RF Kent – P Ford
SAL: 3B Quintero – RF J. Flores – LF Wales – C J. Lopez – 2B Metting – SS Hutchinson – CF Summers – 1B Phillips – P Lawson

The Wolves bowled over Ford in the first inning already, hitting three straight 2-out RBI knocks off him, taking a 3-0 lead. The Coons scored single runs both in the second and third innings, yet both times left a pair of runners in scoring position when Guerin and Parker had poor grounders, respectively. Ford continued to be full of crap, plunked Dale Wales, balked, walked Lopez, and surrendered two more runs in the bottom 3rd. He didn’t make an appearance beyond that, instead being thrown from the bell tower. Palacios pulled a hamstring in the fourth, Parker left two more on base in the fifth, and McLaughlin hit for Wade in the seventh and struck out to leave the bases loaded. And even THAT was topped in the eighth, when Gil Flores hit a triple leading off, and the Wolves’ Momsilo Plavsic then came back to get lucky on Guerin’s foul pop, but then whiffed Sharp and Roberson. Flores was not scored. This raw amount of incompetence could not be remedied by any medicine, nor measure. They were bound to lose, and bound to lose hard. 6-2 Wolves. Palacios 2-2; Flores 1-2, 3B; Lopez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

Palacios, barely back from the shelf, pulled his hamstring in this game, and while it was not all bad, it was still bad enough. The medical staff listed him as DTD and it would take a good couple of days for him to be back to one hundred percent. Well, we lose with him, we lose without him, who gives a crap?

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – 2B Heart – RF Kent – C Defrese – P Farley
SAL: 3B Quintero – 2B Metting – LF Wales – RF J. Flores – C J. Lopez – CF Edwards – SS Hutchinson – 1B Fleming – P M. Guzman

Jesus Flores napped Roberson at home plate to end the top 1st on Martin’s double, then drove in the Wolves’ first run off Farley in the bottom 1st with a 2-out RBI single up the middle. The Wolves only plated two this time in the opening frame, but that was possibly enough against the Issuecoons. The score got to 3-0 soon enough in the bottom 2nd when Farley gave up Tom Fleming’s first big league home run. Farley was soiled, went 4.1 innings and was charged with five runs, while Manuel Martinez just barely escaped the fifth with the bases loaded. Wade surrendered two more runs in the sixth, while the Raccoons really were doing absolutely nothing at the plate. It took a wild pitch by Manny Guzman himself to break up the shutout against the brown-clad team that offered the saddest sight. Before this particular, particularly dispiriting loss could be put into the books, Chris Roberson got hurt in the eighth, shagging a deep fly surrendered by Nordahl. The Wolves pulled Guzman before the ninth, and then tried to cobble three outs together with the shallow end of their bullpen. Max Heart got on. Parker hit for Defrese and doubled. Thomas grounded out for Nordahl, scoring Heart, and Concie walked. When Sharp got on, the Wolves went to closer Avtandil Tarakhanov, who walked Gil Flores in Roberson’s vacated spot. And here, two out, three on, Albert Martin came up as the tying run and countered the right-handed Tarakhanov. The count ran full as Tarakhanov didn’t throw close to Martin’s happy zone, but that cost him a walk and a run. It also brought up Cavazos, who wasn’t getting the bat up at all. And he fouled out. 7-4 Wolves. Guerin 2-4, BB; Parker (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Chris Roberson, .352/.365/.577 with 3 HR and 10 RBI in 71 AB, strained a rib cage muscle, was DL’ed and replaced by the switch-hitter Jesus Taramillo, and he might be out for the balance of the month, possibly a bit less. That’s as bad as it sounds. We got some very unexpected, yet not unwelcome production from him.

Not that it helped this burning, runaway, brakeless train wreck any. Which has derailed and is tumbling down an embankment. It’s heading straight for an orphanage, by the way.

And all this was happening on Sunday, live, and in color.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – CF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Kent – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B Heart – P Miranda
SAL: 3B Quintero – 2B Metting – LF Wales – RF J. Flores – C J. Lopez – CF Edwards – SS Hutchinson – 1B Patel – P Sugiyama

In an odd twist of events, the Raccoons were not slamdunked in the first inning, and rather TOOK A LEAD in the top 2nd, with a 2-run double by Chris Parker. Miranda drove in a run as well (and remember what he did Monday), but coughed up a run in the bottom 2nd. However, we also had a hospital themed weekend. In the next inning, the Wolves had two on and two out when Jesus Flores hit a fly to medium depth, but extreme outside leftfield. Parker sold out on a headlong dive, made the catch, but jammed his other hand under his body and was in some kind of pain afterwards. So, another player down, and Gil Flores replaced him. We had Cavazos on third base with one out in the fifth, but Cavazos was starved, while Miranda could use a few more runs. He was NOT in Monday’s shape, and couldn’t strike out anybody, and was in his defense’s and the Wolves’ offense’s mercy. Miranda batted leading off the top 7th, singled, and was left on third. He managed another scoreless inning, and the Martin hit a leadoff single in the top 8th, and Kent doubled after him. Two in scoring position, no outs. Thomas struck out. Flores struck out. Palacios hit for Heart and flew out gingerly. Miranda did not come back this time, and Daniel Miller got the assignment for the eighth. He surrendered a single to Kurt Metting right away. Wales got him forced, but McLaughlin – now at second – couldn’t turn the double play. Diaz was called on to face the left-handed Jesus Flores, and drilled him in the back.

Okay, we’re gonna lose.

Martinez replaced Diaz right away, facing Jorge Lopez, and surrendered an RBI single up the middle. Cavazos went home with the throw, and the runners moved into scoring position. Drew Edwards grounded to the pitcher for an easy second out and although former star slugger Corey Patel was batting just .140, I didn’t trust his numbers and had Martinez go after Dave Hutchinson. One strike, two strikes, a knock, a liner to the left side and Sharp launched and picked it! Top 9th, McLaughlin was Sugiyama’s eighth strikeout victim, and then Guerin lightened up an 0-4 day with a double to center. He stole third, his 27th bag of the year, re-tying for the CL lead, and then FINALLY SOMEONE AMONGST THE CRAPSHOTS CAME THROUGH – kind of. Cavazos hit a sac fly. Better than nothing. Regardless, here came Nordahl, up 4-2, and walked the wrecked Patel. The next batter, Barry Summers, hit a game-tying home run.

Yeah, we’re gonna lose.

Nordahl somehow got Quintero, and then Metting and Wales singled. Just to keep the impression of actually trying up, Miguel Lopez replaced Nordahl to face Flores, and struck out both him and Jorge Lopez. That sent us to extras, with Albert Martin replaced by Jorge Defrese for defense, which was cynical in the light of Nordahl not even giving the fielders a chance to defend in the process of blowing up YET AGAIN. Stunningly, Defrese, who was first up in the top 10th, took Momsilo Plavsic deep, making it 5-4 Uttercoons instantly. There was only Marcos Bruno left in the pen, so we tried to have Lopez pitch a scoreless tenth now, but Bryan Andrews’ pinch-hit leadoff double made things … complicated. Hutchinson flew out, advancing the runner, making Lopez face – not Patel, but pinch-hitter Jeremiah Mullins, also a southpaw, who popped to shallow center and Cavazos just barely made the play. Here came Summers again. His single tied the game for the second time. Quintero singled. Metting singled. Bases loaded for Dale Wales, and everybody knew what was going to come: oops, no, he grounded out. Top 11th, Tarakhanov pitching. Taramillo hit for Lopez to get going, emptying our bench for good, and walked. McLaughlin singled. Concie whiffed, Cavazos walked, bases loaded, one out for Sharp, who ran a full count, and eventually worked a checked swing walk that was fiercely protested by the Wolves. That was all we got from having the bags full. Marcos Bruno came in for the bottom half of the inning, and put the first man, Flores, on with a single. With two out, Flores was on second, and Hutchinson singled up the middle. McLaughlin couldn’t get it, Flores was of the quick kind, and the game was tied for the third time.

Or maybe we will never lose. And this game will go on forever.

This game in the seventh circle of hell.

Nothing happened the next two innings, except Bruno going over 50 pitches. In theory, Wade was still in the pen, but he had gone almost every day this week and was untouchable. Next was a starter, and unfortunately it would be Nick Brown. But first the Raccoons had to bat in the 14th, and went down 1-2-3. Oh great. The Wolves still had a reliever available, but no pinch-hitters anymore and Brown was lucky enough to get to reliever Aurelio Garcia with two down to survive the first inning he tossed. At least somebody got on in the top 15th, Flores with a walk. McLaughlin joined him with two out, and Guerin faced a new reliever, Kilian Carrier, who surrendered a single to left to Concie. Never mind our luck, Flores was speedy and would run, and he scored from second base. Cavazos grounded out in time to avoid a big inning. Now Brown had to pitch another scoreless frame to get this nightmare over with. He struck out Metting, but Wales singled, and then he plunked Jesus Flores. Lopez struck out. Fleming, who had hurt Farley the day before, was up with two on, two out. One strike, two strikes, three strikes. 7-6 Raccoons. Parker 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Miranda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K and 2-3, RBI; Brown 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-1);

Well. Sometimes you gotta pick up your first career win in relief.

In other news

August 6 – The 2,000 hits mark is reached by 32-year old DAL INF/LF Salvador Mendez (.321, 2 HR, 42 RBI), who has three hits in a 6-3 win over the Scorpions. He hits the key knock, a fifth inning single, off Joe Mann, and adds two more H’s later in the game. Mendez was the Canadiens’ first round pick in the 1990 amateur draft, made his debut the next year and stayed in Vancouver through 1997 before playing for Sacramento and now Dallas. He is a .339/.393/.411 batter with just 15 career home runs compared to 37 triples.
August 7 – Boston’s Bryce Hildred (3-4, 2.90 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders, taking a 1-0 complete game win.
August 7 – SFW INF/CF/RF Ramón Garza (.273, 6 HR, 61 RBI) fractured a rib and should miss about a month.
August 12 – It’s season over for Oklahoma’s INF Bob Grant (.314, 14 HR, 74 RBI) who was severely sprained his ankle.
August 12 – Milwaukee’s Marc Padgett (13-4, 3.53 ERA) 3-hits the Pacifics in a 6-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

Spot the anomaly. RBI’s by Raccoons this week:
Albert Martin – 4
Conceicao Guerin – 3
Jason Kent – 3
Cipriano Miranda – 3
Chris Parker – 3
Gil Flores – 2
Daniel Sharp – 2
Mark Thomas – 2
Ramiro Cavazos – 1
Jorge Defrese – 1
Chris Roberson – 1

If not for Al Martin’s 3-run shot in the third game against Milwaukee, we have a starting pitcher tie for the most ribbies this week. Note how the ostensible 2-3 batters, Cavazos and Palacios, have combined for one RBI and pulled hammy apiece. Now combine all that with a 15-inning game where the team blows the lead in the ninth inning or later THREE $%§$/& TIMES!!

It is all extremely horrible, and prescription drugs don’t help anymore in coping.

Coping could be helped by Neil Reece being back from the DL around the next weekend. I don’t think we need an extensive rehab assignment for him.

(cue dramatic music)

Westheim · 03-05-2015, 04:31 PM

Chris Parker hit the DL with torn thumb ligaments and was not expected back until early-to-mid September. Neil Reece was still a few days off, and we picked Manny Gabriel to keep the roster slot warm for the time being (also outfielders being scarce in our system, except on the DL).

Raccoons (49-69) vs. Buffaloes (58-60) – August 14-16, 2001

While the Buffaloes had the second-lowest batting average in the Federal League at .262 they knew how to hit them to make them count, and ranked 7th in runs scored overall. The pitching staff was middle quality as well, ranking t-6th in runs allowed, with a -4 run differential overall. For stark contrast, the Raccoons’: -113;

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (9-9, 4.02 ERA) vs. Dan George (7-5, 3.28 ERA)
Ralph Ford (7-12, 4.14 ERA) vs. Manny Ramos (8-9, 3.88 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-9, 4.85 ERA) vs. Dylan Jones (0-1, 6.75 ERA)

While we knew the lefty George and the righty Ramos well, for them having pitched excessively for the Indians and Canadiens, respectively, the 24-year old southpaw rookie at the back end of the series was an unknown who would make only his fifth career start in the contest. He had been taken two rounds prior to Nick Brown in the 1995 draft, in the ninth round.

Game 1
TOP: CF Gusmán – 3B Merritt – 2B Spinu – 1B M. Brown – LF Perri – C P. Ledesma – RF R. Reyes – SS McCullough – P George
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 1B Martin – C Thomas – RF Flores – CF Kent – 2B Heart – P Bean

To signal that the game was lost at an early stage, Carl Bean went into 3-ball counts on the #2 through #6 batters in the Topeka lineup, walked the first three of those, had Lionnel Perri single home a pair, and was lucky for Ledesma to make an out. Reyes fouled out. Congrats, Buffaloes. You came here at the right time. Following Perri’s 2-run home run in the top 3rd, Bean walked Ledesma and was removed to be flogged. Miguel Lopez entered the pointless 4-1 contest, which was made a little less pointless by Dan George in the bottom of the same, third inning. Leading off with a Guerin double, George walked two more then to load the bases with one out. Mark Thomas singled home a run, and Flores drew a run-scoring walk. The tying run then scored on a wild pitch. While Lopez pitched efficient long relief, George was still in the 4-4 game in the bottom 7th. Palacios hit for Daniel Miller to get the inning underway, singling to center. Guerin and Sharp did the same, loading the bags with no outs. Ryan O’Quinn replaced George, a fireballing southpaw, who limited the Raccoons to a pair of sacrifice flies. Our bullpen still depleted from Sunday, Juan Diaz got tasked to protect a 2-run lead for a WHOLE inning. As was to be expected - … he got two outs, before Oliver Guzmán and Javier Gusmán got on with a single and a walk, respectively. Then Herman Wilson hit for the pitcher in the #2 hole. The 31-year old Alabaman had gone 584 AB since all the way back to 1992 without ever hitting a home run. He hit one off Diaz. 7-6 Buffaloes. Guerin 2-5, 2B; Sharp 2-3, 2 BB; Kent 2-4, RBI; Palacios (PH) 1-1; Lopez 4.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

Game 2
TOP: CF Gusmán – 1B Merritt – 2B Spinu – LF Perri – C P. Ledesma – RF West – 3B O. Guzmán – SS McCullough – P M. Ramos
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Cavazos – RF Kent – CF Taramillo – P Ford

After a first inning to forget, with a leadoff double by Gusmán, a walk and a plunked batter, which led to somehow just one run, Ford settled in a bit. The Coons tied the score in the bottom 1st on a Palacios single, and Ford struck out seven total over four innings, also seeing the Critters leave the bases loaded in the bottom 3rd, and he left Kent on third himself in the bottom 4th. Top 5th, leadoff double by Manny Ramos, followed by a Gusmán single. In between pop outs, Ford balked the opposing pitcher home, 2-1 for the hairy cows. Again, Guerin landed a hit, stole a base, and was scored by Palacios to tie the game in the same inning. Ford went seven, struck out ten(!), and then hoped for some offense as he was hit for in the bottom 7th, but Concie didn’t get on, so there was no scoring, obviously. Top 8th, Miller pitched, hit Spinu and we did not go to Diaz with Matt Brown hitting for Perri, because Miller can give up the homer just as well – and did. Scott Wade continued his own futile ways, and couldn’t even get the game over with, allowing two hits in the ninth, then a walk, a balk, another walk … Marcos Bruno was sent in to finish the escalation, surrendering a grand slam to Pablo Ledesma in the processs. 10-2 Buffaloes. Ford 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K;

How on earth can a team be this crap …?

We activated Neil Reece for the third game in the series, and Manny Gabriel was sent back to St. Pete without having gotten into a game. Could have started the .077 kid just as well, though. Difference would have been minimal.

Game 3
TOP: CF Gusmán – 3B Merritt – 2B Spinu – 1B M. Brown – LF Perri – C P. Ledesma – RF J. Maldonado – SS McCullough – P D. Jones
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Flores – C Defrese – LF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – P Farley

Having Concie on base was mandatory for the Raccoons, who scored their first run of the final game of the series in the bottom 3rd when he doubled and was plated by Sharp with a single. Although Reece walked to put two on with no outs, Jones struck out Martin and Flores, and Jorge Defrese was not a hazard to opposing pitching anyway. He popped out. Bottom 5th, Concie failed to reach, but Sharp singled and Reece doubled to go into scoring position with one out. Martin failed to land a knock, but scored Sharp with a groundout, and then Gil Flores hit a fly over Javier Gusmán and came up with an RBI triple. Defrese’s grounder defeated Georg Spinu, and the Coons took a 4-0 lead behind very reasonable 3-hit pitching by Randyboy through five innings. Said Randyboy allowed singles to Merritt and Spinu, the first two Buffaloes he faced in the sixth. Matt Brown grounded hard to Al Martin, who still made the play to second, and received the ball for a double play, and Lionnel Perri grounded out to keep the hairy cows off the board. When Brent McLaughlin had his Herman Wilson moment in the sixth, hitting his first major league home run off Jones, the Buffaloes knew they had to shoot him right now. Brandon McCullough, who killed the Raccoons all series long with five hits, also claimed Farley’s shutout with an RBI double in the seventh, and Farley did not see the eighth. Manuel Martinez replaced him, and with walks sandwiching a Brown single loaded the bases with one out. In my blank desperation to save the 5-1 game, I threw in Dan Nordahl – a highly questionable move even with the bases empty. Ledesma popped out, but Nordahl walked both Maldonado and another left-hander in Román Reyes before Oliver Guzmán struck out. However, another inning was looming for the useless Nordahl. But before that, the Raccoons ate up Lawson Steward in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs after extra base hits by Kent and McLaughlin, and then even had Nordahl batting with runners on the corners and two outs. While Steward actually plated the third run with a wild pitch, Nordahl’s single to left would have scored him. Up by five, Nordahl actually struck out the side in the top 9th. 8-3 Raccoons. Sharp 2-3, BB, RBI; Reece 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; McLaughlin 3-4, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-9);

Our bullpen. No you don’t have to pour oil into the fire, there’s already some dynamite in there.

Raccoons (50-71) vs. Canadiens (47-73) – August 17-19, 2001

It’s Elk Time in Portland. The pests, against whom we were 7-4 this year, our only winning mark against ANY Continental League team, came in with the 8th offense and 10th pitching. That wasn’t so far off from the Raccoons…

Projected matchups:
Cipriano Miranda (5-12, 3.84 ERA) vs. Cal Holbrook (6-4, 4.94 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. Paul Kirkland (8-8, 4.20 ERA)
Carl Bean (9-9, 4.19 ERA) vs. Joe Hollow (9-11, 4.73 ERA)

The Canadiens had even more injuries than the Raccoons with Bob Butler, Juan Bello, Raymond Sutton, and a few fringe players all on the shelf. Which will possibly not stop the Raccoons from humiliating themselves on home soil.

Game 1
VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – CF T. Wilson – 2B Shaw – P Holbrook
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Miranda

Tony Velasquez was nursing a sore shoulder, but nevertheless had his swing and took Miranda deep for two runs in the top 4th. Luckily, by then the Raccoons had already had some offense and were still up 3-2, with Neil Reece having a hand in all runs, homering for a pair himself in the bottom 1st and scoring on a Cavazos single in the third after doubling. When he hit a single to get the bottom 5th underway, he was a triple removed from the cycle. The contest was close, and Miranda surrendered some hard contact after the Velasquez homer that just didn’t go for hits. In the bottom 6th he came up with runners on first and second and no outs. His bunt was fielded by Antonio Clemente and fielded all the way past Gutierrez and into the stands, but despite being donated a run and runners in scoring position, the Coons only got one more counter, and Reece struck out to end the inning. Although we were up 5-2, things went south in the eighth, violently. Miranda walked the leadoff man, Jesus Zamora. Simon made an unproductive out, before Clemente grounded to the third base side of the mound. Sharp broke in late and Miranda sunk to his knees. Sharp’s throw was hurried, wide of first, and the Canadiens brought the tying run to the plate in Velasquez while we scratched our injured starter off the field. Velasquez and Gutierrez hit deep flies that Reece and Cavazos shagged just barely to end a messy inning. In the bottom 8th, enough Raccoons got on to bring up Reece with the bags chock full and two down. He’d need a triple, but Michael Campbell fed him junk he didn’t want to swing at and instead drew an RBI walk. Martin fouled out, sparing us the temptation to go with Nordahl again in a 6-2 contest. Wade got the assignment, and Concie made two nifty plays to keep his inning clean. 6-2 Raccoons. Reece 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Thomas 2-4; Kent 3-4; Miranda 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (6-12);

Right now we have no idea what’s wrong with Miranda. Should he go down, we still have Miguel Lopez in the wings. It’s a leg thing with Miranda.

Avery Johnson broke the tie for the home run lead in the CL with his 21st job of the season, a 2-piece of Indy’s Chang-se Park in the Crusaders’ 6-3 win.

Game 2
VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – CF P. Taylor – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – 2B J. Zamora – 1B D. Davis – P Kirkland
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Brown

Nick Brown’s second start was actually worse than his first, with the youngster getting culled in a 4-run fourth inning. In total he surrendered five runs, all earned, in 3.2 frames, with a 3-run shot by weak-hitting Jorge Durán the main source of hurt. He also walked three in the abysmal fourth. While Ramiro Cavazos had showed some life in the bottom 2nd with a 2-run shot that then gave Brown the lead, he was the third straight Coon to whiff in the bottom 3rd with runners on the corners. The Coons would have trouble to get back on base against Kirkland, who went into the seventh, in which they finally got to the corners, but remained on base. The Canadiens left multiple runners on base three times, and never scored against a crumbling bullpen. Neither did the Issuecoons. 5-2 Canadiens. Palacios 2-4; Reece 2-4; Sharp 2-4; Wade 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Raccoons struck out ten times, walked once. They issued eight walks themselves and managed to K only five Elks.

Neil Reece ran a hitting streak that started in early July to 12 games with this performance.

Miranda was diagnosed with a sore hamstring. So far we don’t know whether he will miss a start, or whether we can shuffle, but there’s no point in DL’ing him, with an estimated recovery of five days.

Game 3
VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – CF T. Wilson – 2B J. Zamora – P Hollow
POR: RF Flores – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 2B Palacios – LF Cavazos – SS Heart – P Bean

Bean was chopped up in the first for two runs on Simon singling in a 1-2 count, stealing second base entirely unopposed, eventually scoring on a groundout by Velasquez, and then a homer by Ivan Gutierrez. Joe Hollow balked home Flores in the bottom 1st, but the Challenge of Incompetence was easily won by Carl Bean – and in runaway fashion. Leadoff walk to Tom Wilson in the second, Zamora singled, and after Hollow bunted the runners over, Simon plated Wilson with a groundout. Clemente homered, making it 5-1, and Velasquez singled. Bean then drilled Gutierrez, and the bullpen was really not in a condition to pitch eight innings today… Duràn popped out, but at 5-1 we had already lost. Bean was all-out ****, surrendering another double, wild pitch, and run in the third. Time to butcher that old nag. The backup starter for Miranda had to come in, Miguel Lopez. While the Elks had scored six runs on eight hits, the Raccoons were hitless through three innings. Like I said, lost game. Mark Thomas gave the team of suckers its first base hit in the fourth, a single, and Cavazos scored Neil Reece, who had walked, on a groundout. Back in slam range, yaaay… Lopez surrendered a home run to Velasquez in time, and Diaz allowed another runner left on by Lopez to score. Martinez issued a bases-loaded set of walks in the eighth, and it just wasn’t going to end gracefully, or mercifully, with the most stuffless Nordahl coughing up two more runs in the ninth, and the sucking went on and on and on and on… 10-3 Canadiens. Thomas 2-4, BB;

Neil Reece’s hitting streak ended as the Raccoons were held to four knocks in total.

In other news

August 16 – RF/LF Raúl Vázquez (.331, 18 HR, 84 RBI) has gone down with a groin strain. It will be three weeks before the career home run leader can attack again for the Rebels.
August 18 – LVA 1B/3B Javier Vargas (.318, 11 HR, 39 RBI) fouls a pitch into his own foot, fracturing it. He will miss most of the remaining season.

Complaints and stuff

With the Canadiens’ first starter, I *always* want to type Hal Holbrook. I wonder why…

The Raccoons have a shot at their 2,000th franchise win next week. They merely have to beat the opposition five times.

(chuckles) Maybe next month. Maybe.

Scott Wade looks like he’s done. Well, he IS 39 … His BABIP is ridiculous (.342), but it’s not all defense. He issues a lot more walks than ever in his career. His career BB/9 is 2.1, while this year he’s almost at a 4.0 mark. Interestingly, K’s are up as well, but he still posts his worst career ERA. A 17-year career in the Bigs is about to end – and this time I mean it. The longest-tenured Raccoon will then be Neil Reece, who debuted in 1989.

As we’re on terminating assumed cornerstones of the team, I just want to shoot the complete rotation. In the mouth. And grin while doing so. And yet feel nothing.

I feel nothing.

Westheim · 03-06-2015, 01:20 AM

The Spots Illuminated has another article on the Raccoons, this time under the title "The Hopeless Litter".

There is hope however. For the last few weeks, rumors have gone round that there could potentially be new ownership on the horizon. SI alludes to that as well, with the following picture, captioned: "Base talent is there. With money, the Raccoons might be able to come out of the gutter."

Westheim · 03-06-2015, 12:56 PM

Raccoons (51-73) vs. Indians (59-65) – August 21-23, 2001

There had been a time, a while ago, when the Raccoons had actually been close to the third place Indians. That time had long passed us by, and now we were very close to the fifth place Canadiens. We were 5-7 against the offensively lackluster Indians outfit, with their league-worst .234 batting average. Their average rotation would give the Raccoons issues regardless.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (7-12, 4.07 ERA) vs. Junior Diaz (5-11, 5.10 ERA)
Randy Farley (5-9, 4.65 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (13-8, 2.85 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (6-12, 3.77 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (10-14, 3.89 ERA)

Team voodoo priests were confident that Miranda could start on Thursday. They had sacrificed a chicken to accelerate healing.

Game 1
IND: 1B J. Ramirez – CF Maguey – 3B D. Lopez – RF Alston – SS J. Garcia – C Abrams – LF Montray – 2B Matthews – P J. Diaz
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Taramillo – P Ford

Said lackluster offense branded Ralph Ford with three runs in the second inning, including a 2-piece by Brian Abrams, while all the Raccoons managed to chalk up in the box score early on was Palacios leaving in the first with an injury, and Guerin, from first, getting thrown out at home on a Reece double. Just when Cavazos tied the score with his 15th homer of the season, a 2-job in the bottom 4th, Ford cocked up another 2-run home run to Ron Alston, which dropped him and the rest of the horrible menagerie to 5-3. Although the pitching coach whacked Ford with a wet towel once the top 5th was over and he went for the showers, Ralphie still managed to wind up with the lead when Guerin was plated by Reece’s 2-out single in the bottom 5th, and Albert Martin then homered on an 0-2 pitch. An actual W however was unlikely as we gave a 6-5 lead to the pen to protect for four innings. Top 6th, Jose Ramirez singled, stole second, Miller walked Maguey, BOTH stole a base, and when Miller whiffed David Lopez, we got out Miguel Lopez to face the left-handed Alston, whom he drilled. Jesus Garcia fouled out, which was all that prevented a 9-run escalation. Lopez had to stay in the game now because our bullpen was shorter than a spent match. The Raccoons got the bags packed with one out in the sixth. Astonishingly, McLaughlin (in Palacios’ spot) singled home a pair while Reece hit into a 6-4-3 inning-ender. Those runs came off Lorenzo Martinez, and the next reliever, Pedro Quezada, also was charged with a pair in the seventh, one run driven in by Miguel Lopez, who managed to finish the game without any more destruction happening to the home team. 10-5 Raccoons. Guerin 3-5; Palacios 1-1; McLaughlin 2-4, 2 RBI; Reece 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Sharp 2-5, 2 2B; Cavazos 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Flores 2-3, RBI; Lopez 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, SV (1) and 1-1, BB, RBI;

After ten years in the big leagues, Miguel Lopez has notched his first career save. It was his 224th appearance, and only the eighth in relief.

Palacios had tweaked his back and was DTD once again …

Game 2
IND: 2B Montray – SS M. Jones – C Paraz – LF D. Lopez – RF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – CF Lugo – 3B Matthews – P Park
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – 2B Heart – P Farley

Another day, another starter swiftly partitioned in half, as Farley got off with five straight balls, soon ran into a 2-run double off David Lopez’ bat, and I was hammering on my desk angrily, watching the mess from above. The Coons then battered Park for five hits in the bottom 1st, but plated only two runs and left the bases loaded when Kent popped out and Heart was obliterated by fire. Farley continued to seek defeat, loading the bags with three walks in the top 3rd and it was Kent’s flying grab on Jose Lugo’s liner to the gap that kept the game tied. Strangely, while Chang-se Park was electric and struck out the Critters in droves, and Farley was walking batters left and right, it was Farley who was ahead 3-2 one he was done after six innings and five walks. Park had struck out eight but also allowed nine hits to fall behind over five innings. In the bottom 6th he got socked for four more hits, including a pinch-hit RBI double by Palacios and a 2-run triple by Concie in succession, and was replaced, 13 hits and six runs against him. Diaz and Miller pitched two scoreless innings between themselves, and with a 6-2 lead, Marcos Bruno was unleashed on the ninth. He quickly put two men on, so Nordahl appeared with one out, because we just don’t learn. The first batter he faced, Jose Paraz, homered, cutting the score to 6-5. Guerin played Lopez’ sharp grounder heroically before Nordahl was finally able to defeat a batter, Ron Alston, who looked at strike three. 6-5 Coons. Reece 2-4; Martin 2-4, RBI; Cavazos 2-4, 2B, RBI; Thomas 4-4, 2B, RBI; Palacios (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Flores (PH) 1-1, 2B; Diaz 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Although Martin hit his 21st home run yesterday, by now Avery Johnson has built a lead in the CL home run race. Today he hit a pair in the Crusaders’ 6-5 win over Milwaukee, first off Marc Padgett, then the walkoff shot in extra innings off Bubba Cannon. He is now at 25. All individual achievements left for the Raccoons to quibble over is the stolen base title in the CL, where Concie is one ahead of Bartolo Hernandez and two ahead of Daniel Silva.

On Thursday, the medical report as given by the broadcasters before the game read as follows: Miranda could go, Palacios was hurting, and Chris Roberson was aching to come back.

Game 3
IND: 2B Montray – SS M. Jones – C Paraz – LF D. Lopez – RF Alston – 1B J. Garcia – CF Lugo – 3B J. Ramirez – P Alba
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – RF Kent – 2B Heart – C Defrese – P Miranda

The final game of the set started slow, with the Raccoons not getting a hit the first time through the lineup. When they did get a hit, it was a big one, a 2-out, 3-run home run by Neil Reece in the bottom 3rd, which was the first scoring on the day. Miranda drove in a run in the next inning before Sharp left the bases loaded with a groundout to Ramirez, and in the fifth Albert Martin launched #22 in a 3-run frame that ran the score to 7-0. The Indians weren’t getting much screen time at all against Miranda and went down largely silent. They even hit into a 6-3 double play in the seventh, when Alston had singled to lead off the inning, but ran took off on Jesus Garcia’s liner that Guerin caught, and Alston was out by a mile as he shifted into reverse. Miranda went into the eighth but was removed after walking Tomas Maguey with one out and an elevated pitch count. Scott Wade entered, couldn’t throw strikes, and all three batters he faced reached base safely. Manuel Martinez made sure to walk in a couple of runs to get the score closer and to create excitement as the Indians zoomed back within slam range. The Coons hit into double plays in the sixth, seventh, AND eighth. Again it was Bruno who was assigned the 4-run lead in the ninth, and again he failed, and again he put two on, now with two out, and again we went to Nordahl, and again he faced JOSE PARAZ. You couldn’t be begging for trouble any harder, and sure enough Paraz doubled the runners home. Lopez grounded out after that. 7-5 Raccoons. Guerin 2-5; Reece 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Kent 2-3, BB; Palacios (PH) 1-1; Miranda 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (7-12) and 1-2, RBI;

This bullpen. This bullpen!

Regardless, our first series sweep in a month (then sweeping the Thunder out of the blue) came on offense rather than defense (as against the Thunder), with 15 runs allowed over three games. Most of those runs were on the pen.

Also, with the sweep we can win our 2,000th regular season game at home if we can take two of three from the Aces. We will spend the next week on the east coast (including four in Boston, of which we will arguably win none).

Raccoons (54-73) vs. Aces (55-72) – August 24-26, 2001

Two horrible rotations were going head-to-head, but the Aces owned the third-best bullpen in the league, something the Raccoons couldn’t even dream of. We had scored a few more runs than them, but overall they were 4-2 against us this season.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (1-2, 7.59 ERA) vs. Alfredo Rios (7-14, 4.21 ERA)
Carl Bean (9-10, 4.45 ERA) vs. Patrick Clark (8-10, 4.40 ERA)
Ralph Ford (8-12, 4.23 ERA) vs. Dan Moriarty (12-8, 3.76 ERA)

Moriarty would be the only southpaw we’d face this week.

While the Coons’ field hospital was emptying with only Roberson and Brady on the shelf, the Aces were missing almost a complete lineup with John Bradley (elbow), Lou Jenkins (elbow), Javier Vargas (foot), Ricco Ghiberti (thumb), Bernard Combes (ankle), Victor Cerdeira (oblique), Oliver Torres (concussion). That’s four casts, one brace, one limp, and Torres seeing it all doubled.

Game 1
LVA: RF C. Guzmán – 3B Warrain – C De La Parra – LF McCormick – 1B M. Henry – 2B J. Martinez – CF Bell – SS Pinto – P A. Rios
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Brown

The Aces’ infield combined for 38 RBI on the year, with 30 on Jaime Martinez alone. The rest of their starting infield was on the DL, and the remains of that team whiffed six times against our 11th round blue chip the first time through the lineup. The Aces saw no land against him – but the Raccoons failed to take a bat to Rios either. Top 5th, things went south in a hurry. McCormick hit a leadoff triple and by now Brown had been figured out by the Aces, it seemed, as Mike Henry slapped a single to left to break the scoreless tie. Martinez walked and Bell hit an infield single to Sharp. Enrico Pinto hitting into the Aces’ third double play of the day was the main reason the damage was limited to two runs. Thomas and Kent got on with no outs in the bottom 5th, but Brown bunted into a force at third, and nobody scored in the inning. Brown struck out ten batters, remained on the hook, yet the Aces removed Rios after seven. Oh wait, that’s the third-best bullpen in the league. Ian Johnson allowed nothing in the eighth, but when Al Martin singled off Charlie Deacon to lead off the bottom 9th, the tying run stepped in at the plate, and singled, as Sharp got on. Cavazos grounded out to advance the runners into scoring position. Here, Gil Flores hit for Thomas, righty for a righty against a righty, but somehow Thomas was slumping and Flores had knocked one in his last pinch-hit appearance. And he hit a deep fly here, McCormick wouldn’t get it and Gil hit a game-tying 2-run double!! Kent walked, and Defrese struck out for Wade. Concie walked, leaving things to Palacios, who was 0-4 on the day, but a left-hander, and I had the lowest of opinions of Charlie Deacon. He fell behind Palacios as well and Palacios then snipped a 2-1 pitch into play. It whizzed past Deacon, and whizzed past Martinez and into centerfield. 3-2 Coons!!! Sharp 2-3; Flores (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Brown 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K;

We should trade for Charlie Deacon. He’d fit in well here.

The next one will be it! The next win will be #2,000! (in the regular season)

Game 2
LVA: 3B Bell – 1B G. Silva – LF McCormick – 2B J. Martinez – CF Moreno – C L. Paredes – RF Covington – SS Pinto – P P. Clark
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – RF Flores – C Thomas – P Bean

The Raccoons failed to cash in on a 2-base error by Paredes in the bottom 1st, leaving Palacios where they put him, at second base, the same thing that happened to Sharp after his leadoff double in the next inning. The horrible Carl Bean was poked to death with three singles for two runs in the third, and barely stalled two men in scoring position the next inning. This particular lineup for the Aces totaled 19 home runs on the season, all in the 2-3-4 slots, but everybody could have their way with Carl Bean. Meanwhile the Raccoons had no patience with Patrick Clark, who had walked 115 batters in 153 innings, but they weren’t even letting him miss! After being held to one hit and a lot of long faces in the first four innings, they at least managed three singles and a run in the bottom 5th. Reece then led off with a single in the sixth, representing the tying run, and HE was never moved! Bean went eight, striking out nine, but the Issuecoons couldn’t draw a single walk or get a friggin’ clue against the messiest pitcher in the league! Diaz put two in scoring position in the top 9th, but Miller bailed him out with two outs in two attempts, putting a golden sombrero on Enrico Pinto in the process. Deacon in the ninth, down by one, that sounded manageable. The first pitch he made was taken to right for a single by Albert Martin, who was run for by Taramillo. The runner made it to second on Sharp’s bunt, but Cavazos – still struggling trying too hard – whiffed, and Flores popped out. 2-1 Aces. Bean 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, L (9-11);

Patrick Clark’s game score was 72, his second-highest of the season, and the second time he went without walking anybody in a game. The other game, rain chased him early…

This most shameful display of ineptitude ruins all of the nice batting they did the four days before. They are disgusting!

We activated Chris Roberson at the expense of Jesus Taramillo and his crusty .000 average.

Game 3
LVA: RF C. Guzmán – 3B Warrain – C De La Parra – LF McCormick – 1B M. Henry – 2B J. Martinez – CF Bell – SS Pinto – P Moriarty
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – LF Roberson – RF Cavazos – C Thomas – 1B Heart – 2B McLaughlin – P Ford

Last chance to get #2,000 at home (unless we get swept 0-7 next week…) against a decent southpaw in Dan Moriarty, and it started off horrendously with a Cisco Guzmán double and the first career RBI of Inaki-Luki Warrain (no ****, Sherlock) on a single to left. Guerin and McLaughlin twice failed to turn a double play after De La Parra had walked, and Warrain scored, 2-0 Aces. The Raccoons came along as paralyzed as in the first two games, with Roberson’s leadoff double in the bottom 2nd not leading to anybody stepping onto third base in the near future. In the fifth (yeah, LOTS of action!), Moriarty walked Thomas and McLaughlin before Ford(!) singled to right to load them up with one out. Guzmán caught Concie’s deep fly, holding the Coons to a run on the sacrifice, and Sharp dutifully grounded out. But Professor Moriarty was letting go slowly, but surely. Reece drew his second leadoff walk of the game in the sixth, and this time something happened, with Roberson connecting for a score-flipping homer, the fourth of his career! Up 3-2, Ford, who had whacked out eight in six innings, gave up a single to left to Martinez, and Roberson misfielded the ball for an extra base. Uh-oh. Dick Bell made an out, and that brought up Pinto with two down. Pinto had been humiliated the whole series, so this was easy for an electri- … dumbtard like Ford, who surrendered a game-tying triple to Pinto. The bottom 7th became mired in controversy. McLaughlin hit a single to get it going. Next, Ford was banished and hit for by Flores, wo grounded out to Pinto, putting McLaughlin at second base. Concie ran a full count before chopping a single to center with McLaughlin in motion. Or was it a single? Bell, who had made a launching grab to glove the ball, triumphantly presented it, then played to second to force McLaughlin, who was past third base. The second base umpire however, had extended his arms, palms down, and called it a trapped ball as McLaughlin scored. The Aces were all over him in seconds, but the umpire was steadfast and none of his colleagues had had a good view of the play: the Coons were up, 4-3, but Concie was left on. Bruno appeared in the top 8th, couldn’t do it, but Miguel Lopez struck out McCormick with the tying run on to escape the inning. After a 1-2-3 bottom 8th, and although we should know better, it was Nordahl time. He promptly issued a 1-out walk to Martinez. The left-hander Gabriel Silva then hit for Bell, but grounded to first, where Heart played alertly to second for the force. That brought up Pinto, in his 100th career AB, batting .222 from the right side. C’mon Danny, do it for the franchise! 1-0, Pinto grounded to the left side, Concie, Heart, it’s over! 4-3 Coons! Roberson 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Ford 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (9-12) and 1-2;

In other news

August 21 – Veteran LF/RF Will Jackson (.236, 6 HR, 33 RBI) is out with torn ankle ligaments and the 36-year old will not return to the Bayhawks this season.
August 22 – A broken elbow ends the season of LVA INF John Bradley (.223, 9 HR, 33 RBI).
August 22 – In Cincy, SP Ryobe Kumagai (5-5, 3.76 ERA) is out with a torn rotator cuff.
August 24 – Boston’s SP Steven Snyder (12-10, 2.72 ERA) is out for the year with radial nerve compression.
August 25 – The Crusaders beat the Falcons, 6-0, with Anibal Sandoval (10-14, 3.80 ERA) escaping perfection ever so slightly allowing one hit and two walks. Joe Morton breaks up the no-hitter with a single.
August 26 – PIT INF/RF Lorenzo Sepúlveda (.261, 5 HR, 48 RBI) enters the record books with a 6-hit performance in an 18-12 win of the Miners over the Scorpions. In total he collects three singles and three doubles before missing the chance to become the first player with a 7-hit game in ABL history when he strikes out in the ninth. He drives in six runs in the game. The 36th 6-hit game in ABL history is the third one for the Miners franchise, following the big days of Rich Johnson in 1977 (the first 6-hitter in the ABL) and Alfonso Rojas in 1995. The Scorpions had a 6-hitter of their own just six weeks ago, authored by Aaron Jenkins.

Complaints and stuff

I really wouldn’t have dared to believe we could win five this week to get to 2,000 regular season wins while still at home, but it happened – despite horrendous pitching and a half-dead offense against the Aces, who ironically had an inferior pitching staff when compared to the Indians.

Wooooott!!!

Also great, Neil Reece is on FIRE since coming off the DL last week, batting over .400! Player of the Week went to Jose Paraz however, because reasons. Oh yeah, he played against he Fuzzballs.

I didn’t announce it back then because I was crying furiously, but our 4,000th regular season game was on August 4, that horrible 10-0 blowout we were handed by the Titans. Them 13 hits, us three. Jason Kent being on base as often as the rest of the team combined with a hit and three walks. JASON KENT!!

I find it amazing how scrubs like Jason Kent rack up AB’s in the 100s the last few years. Luke Newton (who was not signed by anybody this year) comes to mind. He made it to 1,350 AB with the Coons between 1995 and 2000, hitting .221/.309/.316. That’s poor, even for us.

All no-hitters, cycles, 6-hitters, and 3-homers combined, the ABL has now seen 100 such occurrences in total:
23 no-hitters
30 cycles
36 6-hitters
11 3-homers
The Coons are very well off with four no-nos (first!), one cycle (t-13th), three 6-hitters (t-3rd), and one 3-homer game (t-3rd).

The only franchise without ANY such achievements?

The Capitals.

They witnessed only three such games, either, being no-hit twice in 1984 by LAP Bob Haines and RIC Roger Weaver, and being cycled against by ex-Coon Pat Parker in 1997.

There are three more “Padres” teams however, with no no-hitters AND no cycles. These are the Buffaloes, Scorpions, and Canadiens.

The Canadiens don’t need any of those, in my honest opinion.

Trebro · 03-06-2015, 10:28 PM

Congrats on win 2,000! I have never had the patience to take a team that far!

Westheim · 03-07-2015, 05:44 PM

Raccoons (56-74) @ Knights (49-80) – August 27-29, 2001

The only outfit in the CL to surrender more runs than the Raccoons, the Knights couldn’t count on their third-worst offense to make up ground, either. Their run differential was a whopping -190, and that was almost 100 runs worse than the already abysmal Raccoons’. The only thing they had going for them were no injuries of any kind to 40-man roster players – and they were still in last place. The season series was split at three.

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (6-9, 4.57 ERA) vs. Tynan Howard (9-16, 4.34 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (7-12, 3.65 ERA) vs. Manuel Movonda (5-11, 5.07 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. Larry Cutts (7-16, 4.69 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – RF Flores – 3B Heart – C Defrese – P Farley
ATL: RF A. Rodriguez – 1B Ingall – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 2B J. Miller – C Fabián – 3B Verdon – SS Luján – P Howard

Palacios tripled and Reece singled him in to make it 1-0 in the top 1st, but Farley surrendered hits to the first three Knights coming up and the game was re-tied. Farley didn’t stop there, plating the go-ahead run for the Knights a frame later with a throwing error. Bottom 3rd, Ware walked, Farley hit Rios, and Miller singled. Bases loaded, no outs. That the Knights scored only one run was down to a great catch by Gil Flores alone. Farley was completely overwhelmed and useless. Down 3-1, the Raccoons had three on and no outs in the top 4th on a Flores walk, Miller error, and Defrese single, but that put Farley up. With our continuously ravaged bullpen, it was not the wisest thing to do to hit for Farley – useless as he was – and so he batted, hitting a sac fly, and that was all the team got with Guerin hitting into a fielder’s choice and then getting picked off first. Farley, the empty bottle, was ravaged for five runs (four earned) in five innings, plunking two batters in total and put seven of nine left-handed batters on base. The grave was shoveled already. The Raccoons would put a number of runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings, but were both times held to one run, while the bullpen didn’t exactly pitch shutout ball, either. Guerin was caught stealing in the eighth, and the Raccoons went down. 6-4 Knights. Reece 2-5, 2B, RBI; Cavazos 2-4;

Game 2
POR: 2B Palacios – SS McLaughlin – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – RF Kent – C Thomas – P Miranda
ATL: RF A. Rodriguez – 1B Ingall – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 2B J. Miller – 3B Verdon – C A. Alvarez – SS Luján – P Movonda

In icky weather, the Coons handled their first chance for an error when Kent completely missed Rodriguez’ fly, and Marvin Ingall then homered against his old team to make it 2-0 right away. Miranda angrily struck out the next three batters, but the damage was done. The game went into rain delay even before the second inning was over, and stayed there for 45 minutes. Movonda was in trouble the next two innings, with great catches by Cavazos ending both frames with three men left on in total and nobody scoring. Through four against Movonda, the Coons had as many hits as errors (two), but after Movonda put a runner on, the Knights replaced him. The rain delay had gotten to him. An error by Antonio Luján would load the bags for the Raccoons with one out and Roberson coming to the plate against left-hander Sammy Davis. The Knights stayed with Davis, and paid for it with a 3-run triple off the rookie’s bat, who was then scored by Martin with a sac fly. Miranda didn’t make it through the fifth either, with Ingall’s leadoff triple knocking him out (and Ingall now had the hard part for the cycle done). Diaz made no attempt to prevent the run from scoring once he relieved Miranda, allowing a huge fly to deep left that Cavazos got, but Ingall scored anyway. Top 6th, 4-3 Furballs, Kent walked and Thomas singled with one out, and then Neil Reece put his lunch aside for a second to come up with a pinch-hit, bases-loading single off righty Jose Perez. Yet, nobody scored, Palacios popping out to short and McLaughlin flying out to Ware in left. After Marcos Bruno put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom 6th, but wiggled out, the Coons loaded the bags AGAIN in the seventh, this time against Francisco Gutierrez, and with NO outs. Cavazos hit a grounder over the bag that Luján even managed to keep in the infield, but had no play: RBI single; Kent then lined out to first and Thomas found a way to hit into a double play. In the top 8th, Guerin drew a pinch-walk, stole second, Palacios was put on intentionally, they swiped one in tandem, and THEN the Raccoons were held to a run driven in by Roberson once Martin hit into a double play. The Knights got a run off Miller in the bottom 8th, getting the score to 6-4, and Nordahl would face the top of the lineup in the bottom 9th, with three of the first four left-handed (and we know that Ingall is the righty). Nordahl got a good start on a foul pop by Rodriguez, and Ingall flew out to Kent, before he invariably walked Stephen Ware in front of slugger Gerardo Rios. Rios however hit another soft pop and Palacios ended the game before it could get ugly. 6-4 Critters. Roberson 2-4, BB, 3B, 4 RBI; Sharp 2-4, RBI; Reece (PH) 1-1; Bruno 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Sometimes you wish the Coons don’t load them up. Once they load them up, everything goes to the dump. Loading the bases three times in this game, the Raccoons plated a total of five runs after those instances, but it was down to Roberson’s clutch triple, the game winning hit, for 80% of that booty.

Of course, with a .367/.386/.646 slash line in 19 career games, Roberson is ridiculously over-performing. CL pitchers will figure him out before long.

Game 3 would not only be the rubber game for the series, but for the 2001 year between those two teams as well.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – 3B Sharp – RF Flores – C Thomas – P Brown
ATL: 3B Verdon – 1B Ingall – CF Ware – LF W. Taylor – 2B J. Miller – C Fabián – RF G. Rios – SS Pena – P Cutts

The Coons jumped onto Larry Cutts in the first inning, furiously, plating four runs on six hits, including a 2-run double by Roberson and an RBI double by Flores. Sadly, Brown was not up to the task. In still mucky weather, with light rain coming in by the second inning, and the Knights got two runs off Brown early, including a solo homer by Tony Pena in the second. The Knights hit for their starter with two on and two out in the bottom 4th, but Luján made the third out with a grounder to Palacios. Brown yielded another run in the fifth before the rain forced a delay that knocked him from the game. The Coons added a run in the sixth, trying to save Brown the W, but Wade gave it back in the seventh. The next inning, Wade got the leadoff man Fabián before Miguel Lopez came in to retire Rios. Pena then singled, and Flores botched the pickup in right. That extra base cost Brown the W when Nick Verdon singled home Pena to tie the score. Lopez then struck out Ingall for his 100th K of the year. The baseball gods had a good chuckle, and that went on into the ninth. Bruno pitched for the Raccoons, and Palacios misfielded Stephen Ware’s grounder to put the winning run for the Knights. Bruno, distraught, walked Taylor on four balls, and then Miller grounded up the middle. Guerin held on to it, bases loaded, no outs. The season series was decided on a full count walk drawn by Pedro Fabián. 6-5 Knights. Martin 2-4, 2B;

Lopez was booked for the blown save on an unearned run, and Bruno got the loss on an unearned run. Huzzah, defense! Remember when that was a strength of the team? This year, we are a shocking NINTH in defense. We used to have FIRST locked DOWN!

Brown struck out six in his five innings of so-so work. He whiffs ten per nine innings, but at the same time he gets hit so awfully hard. He does NOT walk people in excess, which was my biggest concern before bringing him up.

Raccoons (57-76) @ Titans (86-48) – August 30-September 2, 2001

Here comes another beating. 9-2 versus the obese trash pillagers, the Titans were looking forward to having an easy weekend. 640 runs scored, 423 allowed. Nothing good can happen in this series.

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (9-11, 4.35 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (3-4, 2.69 ERA)
Ralph Ford (9-12, 4.16 ERA) vs. TBD
Randy Farley (6-10, 4.67 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (15-9, 3.26 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (7-12, 3.67 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (19-8, 2.74 ERA)

The Titans had lost starter Steven Snyder the previous week and weren’t not quite sure how to finish out the month. I have no illusions. Even if they would somehow send a 44-year old Wally Gaston in there, the Raccoons would still lose.

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – C Defrese – P Bean
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – LF Kinnear – 1B H. Ramirez – C Manuel – 2B D. Mendez – P Hildred

The first six Titans in that lineup were all left-handed batters, except for the switch-hitter Josh Thomas. Hildred, a former Raccoon, was perfect through three innings, striking out four, and remained perfect until Roberson shoved a single into leftfield in the fifth, but was never moved past first base. Bean held the Titans off the board on a 2-hitter through five innings. In the top 6th, Guerin hit a 2-out double, stole third base, but Palacios couldn’t get the ball past Rudy Garrison after that. Josh Thomas then doubled home Garrison in the bottom 6th to score the first run of the game. Bean finished eight innings, not allowing another run, and the Raccoons just couldn’t solve Hildred! And he remained in the game for the ninth, facing Jason Kent first up as he hit for Bean. Kent struck out, but the Titans now made a switch and went to closer John Bennett, who walked Concie. It was dodgy as all hell, but Concie had to run – and was thrown out. 1-0 Titans. Bean 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (9-12);

Mellow.

Chris Parker came off the DL at the most inopportune time right now. As much as I hated to demote Chris Roberson again, it was our only option right now, since the scrubs on the roster were either rule 5 picks or out of options, and while I don’t particularly care for Brent McLaughlin, the Raccoons are in no spot to shun even the most marginal talent.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – C M. Thomas – RF Kent – P Ford
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – RF J. Thomas – LF Garrison – C Manuel – SS D. Silva – 1B Walker – 2B D. Mendez – P Bautista

The Titans did the wise thing, moving up Bautista rather than sent a spot starter or call up someone early to take Snyder’s start. Hildred had sat down the first 13 Critters the night before, Bautista merely made it through a dozen, and then was taken deep by Albert Martin to lead off the fifth inning, breaking the scoreless tie with his 23rd shot of the season. Cavazos then doubled and was eventually scored on a Thomas groundout, 2-0. In the bottom of the inning, Ford gave up his third hit of the day to leadoff man Daniel Silva, a double into the corner in right. Silva was on third with one out and Mendez batting, and the cocky bastard went to steal home – but Thomas launched into him and tagged him out. It cost the Titans a run as Mendez grounded out to the second base side of short, which would have been enough to score Silva easily. The Titans then had runners on the corners with one out in the sixth – and AGAIN ran themselves out! Victor Flores went for second base, was safe, but overslid the back and was tagged out by Palacios on the second try! Ford then struck out Josh Thomas to exit the sixth, still up 2-0. The next inning, Silva would eventually steal one (his 28th of the year), but was left on base. We got an insurance run in the eighth to bring the score to 3-0. Bottom 9th, Ford was on 105 pitches, and we faced the 3-4-5 batters. If going to Nordahl, that would mean two left-handers with power AND a good eye, and struggling as the kid was, I was tempted to stay with the kid who had not allowed a run in eight innings today. Ralph Ford, our only chance to present a double-digit winner before September would hit us like a truck, walked Josh Thomas, his first walk on the day. Okay, plan change. Have Ford work the left-hander Garrison, and then bring Nordahl. The first pitch was high and a ball, but Thomas shot up and fired to first AND THEY PICKED OFF JOSH THOMAS!!! Ford however walked Garrison and we made the move. Manuel grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Luis Lopez pinch-hit for the pitcher in Silva’s vacated slot. I was happy to see Silva gone, but Nordahl walked Lopez on four pitches. Vern Kinnear was next, and he had already hit a game-winning grand slam against Coon City this month. Yet, he could technically not *win* the game right now – he was the tying run. And he walked. At that point, there was no faith left in Nordahl, and Daniel Miller was brought into the game. Three on, two outs, David Mendez batting, a right-hander, with little power, Miller struck him out. 3-0 Coons. Cavazos 2-4, 3B, 2B; Ford 8.1 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (10-12) and 1-3, 2B; Miller 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, IR 3-0, SV (14);

No walks through eight. Four walks in the ninth.

Last year, Grant West went to the Hall of Fame. Can we still get him back? Six years after he lost his effectiveness, we still have not found a reliever capable of dealing with the ninth for more than a month or two.

Rosters expanded halfway through this series. The last two years our AAA team made the playoffs, but this year, they are already eliminated, as are all of our minor league clubs. For this reason we had not called up many players in the last two years, but we dug deep this time, as we added four position players in Gary Fifield, Manny Gabriel, Miguel Ramirez, and Chris Roberson (obviously), as well as a few relievers in Bob Joly, Pedro Perez, and Sergio Vega.

Perez would try to lower that 60-something ERA he had right now, while Vega was added to the 40-man roster for the first time. This 21-year old right-hander had been among the swath of early picks in the 1998 draft, taken 67th overall then, threw 100 miles an hour, and had a changeup and a slider to complement the heat.

Chris Beairsto was not called up, batting .212 in AAA, albeit with 12 homers.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – 3B Sharp – RF Cavazos – C M. Thomas – P Farley
BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B H. Ramirez – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – CF Elizondo – 2B D. Mendez – P O’Halloran

Like the day before, the Critters scored first, and again on a home run, this time with Mark Thomas doing the honors in the third inning. They added another run in the inning, Reece singling in Concie, and Farley was un-hit against through three innings. That changed in the bottom 4th with Hector Ramirez’ starting the frame with a single, but he would be erased on a double play hit into by Mark Austin. However, there was not only one Thomas in the game, and the other Thomas longed to hit a long one as well. He did so in the fifth, pulling the Titans back to 2-1. The Coons put a few men on in the following innings, but never got to third base, and Martin killed two on, one out with a double play in the eighth. Farley surrendered two right-handers in the bottom 8th before we went to Diaz with Daniel Silva due up. Diaz got him to pop out to left, but the Raccoons still couldn’t tack on a run. Nordahl came into the 2-1 game with Farley looking worried from the dugout. Christian Greenman hit for Hector Ramirez, grounded out to short, and Austin and Munoz both grounded out to Palacios. Farley finally exhaled. 2-1 Coons. Reece 3-4, RBI; Farley 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-10) and 1-3;

The Titans and Crusaders flipped fringe players that night, with Steven Walker, batting .267, going to New York for MR Nick Lee (1-2, 2.60 ERA, 2 SV).

Game 4
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – 2B Gabriel – P Miranda
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – RF Elizondo – 2B D. Mendez – P J. Sanchez

Juan Sanchez (11-6, 2.38 ERA) was no slouch compared to an O’Halloran or a Bautista, as the teams prepared for game 4, with only seven runs total being scored in the series so far.

Daniel Silva made the Raccoons pay for their disrespectful behavior the last two days. He got on and stole a base in the first inning, but was left on. In the third however, he had Mendez on base and homered to right center to put up the first runs of the game. While the Titans removed Sanchez, who started on short rest, after only four innings (!?), our battery had a real horrible day. Through four innings, there were three runs on Miranda, and three stolen bases on Thomas, depressing his CS% all the way to 24%. Miranda was knocked out in the fifth inning, being charged with another run, and had issued an uncharacteristic four walks, but this was to a lineup with just two right-handed batters. The Raccoons finally came to a run in the sixth, but once they loaded the bases against Orlando Blanco (that sucker), Sharp popped out to short to strand the triplet. The Coons got another run off Blanco in the seventh and Pedro Perez pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning. After a silent eighth we face Bennett in the top 9th, and Neil Reece hit a 1-out double to bring the tying run to the plate in Martin, who countered the righty on the mound. Martin got to three balls before grounding out, and then Cavazos couldn’t hit the ball out of the infield either. 4-2 Titans. Guerin 2-4, RBI; Reece 3-5, 2B; Cavazos 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI;

This was a stinking loss. We had 11 hits, they had six. Both teams walked five batters. So, why did we lose? 14 men left on base. So, this display of hitting-yet-not-hitting puts us at 4-11 against the Titans this year, which are more losses against them than every season since 1994, when we lost the series 4-14. Well, still time to get there. At least we avoided tying our all time worst season against a CL North team, 3-15 against the Crusaders in 1978.

In other news

The weather in Portland was nice. Mostly cloudy on Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures going up to 68°F, the sun really came out on Wednesday, when it got to 76°F, and then all the way up to 84°F on Saturday, September 1. With the Coons heading back home, we expect rain on Tuesday, with a few lightning strikes mixed in, and 48°F on Thursday, with the weekend having a 75% chance of hail, sleet, and snowdrifts at 18 to 25°F.

Complaints and stuff

I’m dumb as all hell. Can anyone explain to me why I didn’t assign Parker to rehab rather than demote Roberson pointlessly? No wonder this team is so fudged up – they have a GM whose brain consists of nothing but farts.

Last week I mentioned how hot Neil Reece was.
Last week: .391/.440/.565 with 1 HR, 5 RBI
This week: .360/.360/.440 with 0 HR, 3 RBI
Somehow, slapping mostly singles, it seems you’re cold. Odd. It felt like he had a .210 week. But as we established five lines further up, I’m dumb as all hell.

Nick Brown: 23.1 IP, 26 H, 14 ER, 4 HR, 11 BB, 28 K; the BABIP is .393, which indicates a defense being in trouble, and a pitcher being unfairly beaten up repeatedly. He has yet to win a major league start (remember his win came in relief in one of those 15-inning games). But boy, do I like the K/9 number: 10.8;

Brown will be shut down after two or three more starts. He only has pitched 161 innings, but he is coming off injury, and I also want to preserve him for a full rookie campaign next year. Miguel Lopez can easily take over the slot again.

Remember the slow start Milwaukee’s Martin Garcia, twice-defending Triple Crown winner, had? Well, he is in the picture! Two wins, seven strikeouts, and the twentieth part of a run off the pace.

One word on contracts and money. We currently have less than $600k for extensions. We only have three free agents, which includes Pancho Gutierrez, who will certainly receive no offer. Then there’s Scott Wade, who looks done to me, and Cipriano Miranda, whose record doesn’t say all about his performance. However, between him and Bean and Farley, I’d prefer to lock up the latter two, with all their shortcomings. Miguel Lopez is under contract for one more year, and we’re going to have Nick Brown in the rotation, as well as Ford, who will not accumulate enough service time to be a super-2 arbitration case. In short, we have Ford, Brown, Lopez, and two out of Bean, Farley, and Miranda. The former two are arbitration eligible, however, so Miranda looks like he’s out. Lopez doesn’t look tradable to me.

At the current estimates, which are obviously wonky, Bean and Farley might come a combined $200k more expensive than this year, but we also have to consider this flush of players that are arbitration eligible: Palacios AND Guerin AND Cavazos AND Brady! (And Gil Flores, too.) We have a few promising young outfielders, with Roberson, and Edgardo Torrez, and of course Beairsto. So you might want to go for your infielders and pitchers first, and Concie might be the most important of all of them.

But try to extend all of those seven (Bean, Farley, and the five position players), you’re easily down by another million, which is a million we don’t have. So we WILL take losses AGAIN this fall.

What a familiar melody …

darkcloud4579 · 03-07-2015, 06:59 PM

To echo the others, this entire thing is a real achievement. Just spent a bit of time reading your really thorough recaps and don't be surprised if I start trying to copy your style some. This is like a gold standard of a dynasty here. Keep it up.

Westheim · 03-08-2015, 03:54 PM

Unfortunately it skipped right past me that the Warriors clinched the FL West on Sunday after romping .710 for the whole season so far. They came from behind to beat the Scorpions, 5-3, and lock up their sixth playoff appearance, and their third straight October ticket. They were champions once, in 1978.

Raccoons (59-78) vs. Crusaders (51-85) – September 4-6, 2001

We have a complicated story going with the Crusaders this year, sweeping them at the start of the season and going 2-7 against them since. That’s too unfortunate and I really hope for a reversal of fortunes. They were still wholly unable to score runs, running a league-worst 3.3 R/G mark. Even the Raccoons might be able to climb over that ankle-high obstacle.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. Mike Nelson (3-4, 5.66 ERA)
Carl Bean (9-12, 4.21 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (7-19, 4.20 ERA)
Ralph Ford (10-12, 3.94 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (11-14, 3.83 ERA)

Game 1
NYC: C Olson – LF Burne – CF Gonzales – 3B Rush – SS Walker – 1B T. Mullins – RF V. Gonzalez – 2B Rice – P Nelson
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – RF Kent – C Fifield – P Brown

After Reece brought home Guerin with an RBI double in the first inning, the second saw Jesus Palacios hit one outta here for the first time in almost two months after hitting 19 dingers up to July 8. This one counted for three, making the score 4-0 Coons. Meanwhile, what Nick Brown did to the Crusaders was nothing short of a massacre. Through the first three innings, while he surrendered two hits, he struck out EIGHT batters. He reached double digits by striking out Steven Walker to end the fourth inning! The fans were highly alert, being treated to some very special tossing down there on the field. However, his control went away a bit in the fifth and he didn’t whiff anybody until he gave Derek Burne, who made his major league debut, his third K in three attempts to end the sixth. Brown, still up 4-0 with the Coons as dazzled by his performance as the Crusaders were, reappeared in the seventh with 11 K, and on 83 pitches. The franchise record was shaking. 1-2 on Jorge Gonzales, and then something loud and fast left the yard. Oh-oh. Brown went to 2-strike counts on Bob Rush, Walker, and Ted Mullins, and couldn’t strike out any of them. Mullins singled, bringing up Vincente Gonzalez, and Brown rung HIM up, tying the franchise record, but he was now over 100 pitches. The eighth started with a Gary Rice single, getting the bullpen stirring. Brown faced Ed Rigg, went to 2-2, and then Rigg flailed. The park burst into cheers as Nick Brown set a new Portland Raccoons strikeout record! The pitching coach then went out to see where he was, and Brown assured him he had something left. Mike Olson hit the first pitch to Concie, 6-4-3, out of the inning. Nick’s turn did not come up in the bottom 8th because Sharp singled and was tagged out at second, and Fifield hit into a double play. We’d give him a chance to face Burne, give that poor sod a golden sombrero and then - … do we really want Nordahl fudging in this game? Burne popped out, but when Gonzales hit another home run, it was shower time for Brown, who left with a whole ballpark on its feet and celebrating his left arm. Nordahl DID appear, and saved this very special game. 4-2 Raccoons! Guerin 2-3, BB; Reece 2-4, 2B, RBI; Cavazos 2-4; Brown 8.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 K, W (2-2) and 1-2;

This game not only marks Nick casually setting the new franchise strikeout mark, he also got his first hit and he won his first *start*.

We might have our hands on a very special young man here!

Game 2
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – 2B Rigg – RF A. Johnson – CF Latham – SS Rice – 3B Walker – 1B M. Berry – C Olson – P R. Gonzalez
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Roberson – 3B Sharp – RF Cavazos – C Thomas – 1B Heart – P Bean

Once more, the Raccoons had a runner (Palacios) thrown out at the plate in the first inning. In turn the hapless Bean was beaten up for three runs in the third inning after a 1-out walk to Berry. This was how things always started for him… Things didn’t stop and a 1-out, 2-run double by Ramiro Gonzalez ejected Bean from the contest, which saw him saddled with six runs. Nominally the Raccoons stayed close with a 2-out, 3-run shot by Chris Roberson in the bottom of the third, but overall they were not in the picture at all. Sergio Vega made his debut in relief, collecting four outs while making an error, and Miguel Lopez in the sixth handed the home run title to Avery Johnson, serving up the Crusader’s 27th home run of the year. Another run came off Wade in the seventh, giving the Crusaders an 8-3 lead, but the Raccoons would come back to bring the tying run to the plate with two down in the eighth. Cavazos had hit a 2-run homer, and after Kent singled, Gonzalez was removed for the right-hander Alex Byrd. We countered with Al Martin hitting for McLaughlin in the #9 hole, and Martin plated Kent with a double. However, Concie grounded out here, and we’d have to wait for another chance in the ninth against Leonardo Sosa. We got it, delivered by Sosa himself when he bungled a grounder by Miguel Ramirez with one out. Roberson was the tying run at the plate, singled to left, and then Sharp hit a single to right in a full count, plating Ramirez. The winning runs were on base for Cavazos, who lined a 2-0 pitch to right, but right to Avery John- (squeals) IT DROPS! He dropped it! And Roberson scores! Oh my - …!!! Gasp!! Chris Parker hit for an 0-4 Mark Thomas to counter Sosa now, and yes, Parker can’t get a pinch hit without donating a kidney first, but a sac fly will be enough. Turned out, the Crusaders weren’t pitching to him at all, and decided to try their luck with Jason Kent. The count ran full between him and Sosa and then Kent put on into play, a grounder to the short side of second base, and Gary Rice would – MISS IT!!! HE MISSED IT!!! IT’S INTO CENTERFIELD AND THE RACCOONS WIN IT!!! Palacios 3-5; Reece 2-4; Roberson 4-5, HR, 3 RBI; Sharp 2-5, RBI; Cavazos 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Kent 2-2, RBI; Martin (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Perez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Vega 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Slight madness broke out at the park, and in the corporate offices where in the absence of Slappy I gave Maud a firm hug, which she didn’t appreciate.

We used a whopping 21 players in the contest, but it was totally worth it! And I know none of the three runs in the ninth were earned (or even deserved) BUT WE WON IT!!!

Game 3
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – C Olson – CF Gonzales – 3B Rush – SS Walker – 1B T. Mullins – RF Burne – 2B F. Adams – P Sandoval
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Roberson – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – 3B M. Ramirez – C Thomas – P Ford

Palacios homered in the first, but made a huge throwing error in the second inning to bring the score to 1-1 early, and in the third it was Guerin to make a catastrophic error and the Crusaders scored their gift runner again to take a 2-1 lead. Not enough that Ralph Ford pitched pretty underwhelmingly and appeared in need of a St Bernard’s with lots of pitches taken for deep outs, but the defense was actively sabotaging him. Bottom 3rd, Neil Reece had a foul pop caught by Bob Rush to starve two runners in scoring position, and in the next inning, Albert Martin’s triple(!) didn’t lead to a run, either. Ford pitched eight innings on four hits (a feat largely attributable to the outfielders rather than himself OR THE INFIELDERS), but was still trailing 2-1 when he was hit for to lead off the bottom 8th. And then Parker hit for him, grounded to short, and the ball struck Steven Walker in the chest. Parker was safe. Reversal of fortunes? Concie singled, Palacios singled. Three men on, no outs, and here we bring Reece, Roberson, and Martin. We got this! Warm up Nordahl! Reece flew out to shallow left. Well, we got Roberson. Roberson flew out to a little less shallow left, enabling Parker to score to tie the game. Well. Martin grounded out. Sit down Nordahl. We brought Bruno for the ninth, teasing the Crusaders into using the home run leader off the bench to hit for Walker (a strange thing in itself) and he grounded out. Never mind. Mark Berry hit for Mullins, homered, Bruno issued a walk, and when Diaz came in, the gates really opened when Alan Breach drove a howling liner up the right field line on an 0-2 pitch. Cavazos played the double off the wall, while Derek Burne rounded third and went home. Cavazos fired in, Palacios with the relay – OUT at home! And Thomas fires to third, where Alan Breach is heading – OUT at third!!!! And here comes Sosa again, 3-2 in the bottom 9th. This time however, there was no reversal of fortunes. Bruno had lost it indeed. 3-2 Crusaders. Guerin 2-4; Palacios 2-4, HR, RBI; Ford 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-2;

Win one on dumb errors, lose one on dumb errors. In the end, everything comes up .500, I guess.

Raccoons (61-79) @ Loggers (89-51) – September 7-9, 2001

Here comes that #1 offense again. 711 runs (or almost 5.1 per game) is something the Raccoons pitching staff will have trouble to stink up against. Despite the discrepancy, we have held our ground against the Loggers this year, going 7-8 so far. In this series, we could match our win total from last year with three weeks to spare, or we could be loaded with a definite losing record for this year. Which was more likely? Humm…

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (7-10, 4.48 ERA) vs. Marc Padgett (14-4, 3.46 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (7-13, 3.79 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (19-9, 3.60 ERA)
Nick Brown (2-2, 4.55 ERA) vs. Millard Wilson (5-8, 4.30 ERA)

This is a giant power battle going on. Five players with 20 homers on the year are in this series. We have Palacios (21) and Martin (23), they have Mark Hall (23), Jorge Cruz (22), and Bakile Hiwalani (20).

Game 1
POR: 2B Palacios – RF Kent – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – SS McLaughlin – C Fifield – P Farley
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B R. Morales – C M. Vela – SS J. Cruz – P Padgett

The score through three was 1-1, and in the top 4th the Coons loaded them up with one out, but now had McLaughlin batting. He grounded hard to short, and just barely beat out the throw from Hernandez to first to plate a run. Fifield grounded out. In the bottom of the inning, Farley had two out and nobody on before surrendering three straight singles to get the score tied again at two. More offense was coming through for the Critters, with two on and one out in the top 5th. Reece made an out to shallow center, but Martin ripped a double up the left field line, plating both Palacios and Kent to make it a 4-2 game, and Cavazos made it 5-2 with a single before Sharp struck out. Farley however couldn’t hang on to ANY lead, it seemed. A leadoff single by Padgett set the Loggers in motion right away. Hernandez singled, stole second to close in on Concie in the swipes race, and the runs started to come in, one on Fletcher’s groundout, and one on a wild pitch. Farley was swamped and yanked when the Loggers tied the score in the same inning. Bruno got the final out, starving two more runners on base. For the Issuecoons, McLaughlin hit a let’s-go single in the top 6th. Fifield grounded out, and then Parker hit for Bruno and also rammed an RBI double past Hiwalani. Palacios was walked intentionally, with Padgett still in the game. Kent struck out, and they left Padgett in to face Neil Reece with two down, but that turned out to be a mistake. Reece fired from the big cannon, a no-doubt home run to dead center, ramping the score to 9-5! That seemed comfy, but so had the 5-2 lead. The bullpen would however do a good job from here. Vega had a scoreless inning, as did Martinez. Wade issued a leadoff walk in the eighth, but the runner got erased on a double play, and then Joly appeared in the ninth. The score was still 9-5, with the Coons not utilizing their own chances. Joly also issued a walk with one out to Tom Johnson, then struck out Hernandez – and Fifield zinged to first, where Hernandez had been off the bag and now ended the game when Sharp tagged him out. 9-5 Coons! Reece 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Cavazos 2-5, RBI; Sharp 2-5; Parker (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Whatever happened to Randy? He was so great the last three years.

In his last 21 PH appearances, Chris Parker is batting .333; too bad he started the year 0-29 when coming off the bench.

Concie came into the game late, walked, and stole his 33rd bag, keeping the distance to Hernandez at two.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Roberson – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – P Miranda
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – C L. Ramirez – 1B J. Cruz – SS T. Johnson – P Robertson

Concie’s 10th triple of the year got the Coons off to a good start with Reece, who turned 35 today, and Martin landing RBI hits for a quick 2-0 lead. The Loggers were undeterred, pummeling Miranda right away. They got their two runs back, loaded them up, and with two out Tom Johnson flew to deep right – but Cavazos caught it. Oh dear. In the top 2nd, Robertson drilled Mark Thomas, who had to leave the game with an injury. The Coons spoke with their bats and slapped Robertson for three runs in the next inning. Here’s that 5-2 lead again! The comeback started instantly, with Cristo Ramirez reaching and Mark Hall drilling a 2-run homer in the bottom 3rd. Miranda was struggling badly, Chris Roberson homered in the top 5th, and Miranda still couldn’t get through five. The first two Loggers reached in the bottom 5th, and Manuel Martinez replaced Miranda. Removing the starter didn’t help, as Martinez allowed both runners to score, loaded them up, and then couldn’t do anything with a 2-out grounder by Rodrigo Morales, who hit for Robertson. Infield single, 7-6 home team. The Loggers went out to 9-6 against Joly and Defrese, who made a throwing error, in the sixth, yet amazingly the Raccoons pulled back in the top 7th. Al Martin struck out, appearing to end the inning, but the home plate umpire came out waving and called catcher’s interference. That sent Martin to first base, and the Raccoons reeled off an RBI double by Cavazos, an RBI single by Sharp, a single by Defrese, and then a pinch-hit RBI single by McLaughlin! That tied the score, and while Guerin flew to deep left, Hiwalani caught that one to end the frame. And here comes Daniel Miller to pitch the bottom 7th, facing Tom Johnson, and Johnson homered right away… The Loggers would get a pair on with one out and a 3-0 count to Cristo Ramirez, but Ramirez jabbed at it and popped out to Reece in shallow center, and Miller wiggled out with only one run charged against him. Palacios led off the top 8th with a double off John Hatt, Reece grounded out, but Roberson was plunked. Albert Martin grounded wide of Tom Johnson at short, he couldn’t get it, and we were tied as Palacios came home, TEN-TEN! For no change, we left a pair on, but for a nice change, Scotty pitched a scoreless inning. Top 9th, we got Defrese on with no outs and had him bunted to second, but couldn’t get him home, but Wade held on to send the contest to extras. Offensively, the Coons failed to get a break. Wade walked Fletcher to start the bottom 10th, bringing in Diaz for the left-handed Cristo Ramirez, who singled anyway, because Diaz. Nordahl came in, but this one had gotten away already. Miguel Vela singled the Loggers off to celebrate. 11-10 Loggers. Palacios 3-6, 2B; Reece 2-5, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Roberson 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Defrese 3-4; McLaughlin (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Oh for crying out loud!

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Cavazos – RF Kent – C Defrese – 3B Gabriel – P Brown
MIL: RF C. Ramirez – 2B B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – C L. Ramirez – CF Fletcher – 1B R. Morales – 3B J. Cruz – SS T. Johnson – P M. Wilson

The Coons came out swinging, battering Millard Wilson for three runs on five hits, four of those for extra bases, in the first three innings. Brown however would not have an easy cruise like he had on Tuesday, getting whipped early enough with a 2-out, 2-run double by Bartolo Hernandez in the bottom 3rd that brought the score to 3-2. Brown became the first pitcher in a brown shirt to make it through five innings in this series, but his lead didn’t. Jorge Cruz hit a leadoff triple in the bottom 5th, which was bad enough. Then Brown struck out Johnson and retired Wilson on a soft grounder. And then Cristo Ramirez singled to center. Hernandez reached on an error, but Nick struck out Hiwalani to keep it at 3-3. The Loggers continued to hit him with their bats. Two out, two in scoring position in the bottom 6th, we walked Johnson intentionally to get to the pitcher, but here came Mark Hall to pinch-hit. Brown faced him anyway – AND STRUCK HIM OUT! With Juan Gomez pitching, the Raccoons put Gabriel and Guerin onto the corners with one out – until Guerin was picked off first. The play was ferociously disputed by manager Lance Cox, but to no avail. Palacios’ slap single plated Gabriel, but the inning fizzled out on Reece’s groundout. Perez and Miller combined for a scoreless seventh, keeping the 4-3 lead alive. With this series rich on scoring and bullpen activity, we had to roll a die here, and we left Miller in for the eighth, waiting for a left-handed pinch-hitter to appear – or, you know, calamity to strike. Like Fletcher singling to get the inning underway, and then Martin mishandling Morales’ bunt for another single. Then something good happened in this roller coaster series, with Cruz hitting into a 4-6-3, and now it was a runner on third, two down, and Tom Johnson batting. Daniel Miller assured the pitching coach he’d get him, then threw his first pitch past Defrese. Bubba Cannon pitched the top 9th, a southpaw. He drilled Defrese right away. Sharp hit for Gabriel and got Defrese forced out. Then Roberson grounded up the middle where Hernandez made an error. Two on, one out, Concie up, but he hit into a force at second. Palacios didn’t counter Cannon, but was our best bet, and he took the first pitch to shallow right. Hernandez leapt, but couldn’t get it! Defrese scored on a terrible blooper, before Reece flew out to right. So, it’s Nordahl time, with no cushion. Oh my. One ball to Miguel Vela. Two balls. Three balls to Vela. Oh my… Vela then jabbed at the fourth pitch and lifted out to Kent. Cristo Ramirez ran a full count, then struck out swinging, and Nordahl actually got ahead on a batter when facing Hernandez. 1-2 pitch, bit low? Hernandez looked down, then at the ump, who punched him out. 5-4 Critters! Palacios 4-5, 2 RBI; Cavazos 2-4, 2B; Ramirez (PH) 1-1;

Daniel Miller… there aren’t enough palms in the world to bury your face in…

But this was one INTENSE series. Whoah. We have successfully split the season series against the Loggers, nine each. Yes, that’s success for this team!

Mark Thomas has a bruised elbow after being hit by a pitch, and is DTD for a few days.

In other news

September 3 – The Indians will lack the services of C Jose Paraz (.264, 20 HR, 59 RBI) for a week for the 24-year old is suffering from a tight hamstring.
September 9 – NO-HITTER!! San Francisco’s Henry Selph (15-11, 2.86 ERA) sheds nothing but three walks in a 3-0 win of the Bayhawks over the Aces, becoming the first pitcher in ABL history to pitch a second no-hitter! Selph’s other no-hitter came also in September, in 1997, then rolling up the Knights in a Titans uniform. He was also the last non-Raccoon to pitch a no-hitter (Manuel Movonda, 1998; Bob Joly, 2000). While the Aces are no-hit for the first time in franchise history, the Bayhawks can celebrate their third franchise no-no, as Selph joins Rafael Espinoza (1989) and Chris O’Keefe (1991).

Complaints and stuff

The franchise strikeout record that was broken this week had so far been jointly held by Steven Berry (1989), Kisho Saito (1995), and Ralph Ford (2001), who each whiffed a dozen. Early on, I was dreaming of 15, maybe 16, but I’ll take 13. 14 would have been nice, tying for the CL record, which is jointly held by Xavier Mayes (1983), Juan Correa (1983), Bastyao Caixinha (1988), Martin Garcia (1993), Aaron Anderson (2000), and Chang-se Park (2000).

We might get Clyde Brady back as early as the next weekend (although it’s more likely that he will return at the start of the week after that).

Neil Reece reached 750 RBI this week. Not that that is a very special milestone, but I wanted to throw it out. No Raccoon has ever reached 1,000 RBI for the team, however, and only three players have more RBI’s for us than Neil has. You might guess them easily, but they are Daniel Hall (980), Mark Dawson (869), and Tetsu Osanai (865). The order for those four players is the same in home runs for the franchise, with Hall (223) leading Dawson (221), Osanai (168), and Reece (153). Career numbers however put Dawson and Osanai both over Hall, who never played anywhere else, and Dawson had a career with the Buffaloes before coming here, and Osanai was a terror on the Canadiens for a few years.

Now, Neil is aging. He might not make it to Dan The Man’s numbers overall (but will be paid princely during a failed attempt regardless), but he should take out Dan’s franchise hits mark of 1,886. He has to make up 226 hits to get there, and he has a very good shot at 2,000, being under contract for three more years. Looking at his fielding statistics, he is letting up already. Through 1999, he was A-MA-ZING. Last year, he missed most of the season, so the numbers are inconclusive, but this year he will only gain 0.5 WAR from defense, it seems, and he usually got 1.5 to 2.5 from there. Well, he DID turn 35 this week... He has not made an error yet, though, and has a dozen assists, of which he had never had more than seven.

---

Service announcement: I’ll be out of town tomorrow and there won’t be an update. Not sure on Tuesday yet. So, dismal baseball might only continue on Wednesday.

Westheim · 03-11-2015, 03:12 PM

Raccoons (63-80) vs. Titans (92-52) – September 11-13, 2001

Here comes more pain. The final series against the Titans this year promises no rich harvest for the Raccoons, who have split the last series against the Titans, but are 4-11 against them overall in 2001. Why so pessimistic? They have 666 runs scored – they have dark forces on their side. Their run differential is +220, and the Raccoons have trouble scoring since August (although last week was a bit better).

Projected matchups:
Carl Bean (9-12, 4.45 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (16-10, 3.20 ERA)
Ralph Ford (10-12, 3.76 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (19-10, 2.82 ERA)
Randy Farley (7-10, 4.64 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (6-4, 2.38 ERA)

We keep seeing these three days almost every time we face the Titans. And we are 4-11.

Game 1
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – RF Elizondo – 2B D. Mendez – P Bautista
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – RF Cavazos – 3B M. Ramirez – C Defrese – P Bean

Silva singled, Garrison singled, Bean balked, and in no time the Titans were up 2-0. Bean was completely horrible and useless, like giving up a leadoff double to Bautista in the fourth inning, and couldn’t get anything done. When Rudy Garrison hit a 2-run homer in the fifth, the score was at 5-0. Bautista had faced one batter over the minimum, and Jorge Defrese had hit into a pair of double plays to keep his pitch count low. The Raccoons were unable to get anything done, anything. Jesus Bautista was not exactly overwhelming, but the Raccoons were heavily crap, and Bautista’s shutout was not broken up until the ninth when Reece singled home Guerin with one out. Martin then instantly hit into a game-ending double play. 7-1 Titans. Guerin 2-4, 2 2B;

Game 2
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – 1B Austin – RF Greenman – C Manuel – SS D. Silva – LF Elizondo – 2B D. Mendez – P O’Halloran
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Cavazos – 1B Sharp – RF G. Flores – 3B M. Ramirez – C Fifield – P Ford

And again the Titans broke through early, scoring one run in the second inning, and in the third the mad ripper Christian Greenman (AVG under .200, but OPS’ing around .800) ripped a 2-run home run. The Raccoons, predictably, hadn’t done anything so far, although they would score one run in the bottom 3rd, then left runners on the corners. Not that Ford was quite as bad as Bean (which will also go into our yearbook…), for he still completed another five scoreless innings, and ended his day by striking out the ferociously hated Daniel Silva, but he didn’t even get close to a no-decision, with Jason O’Halloran having the Raccoons in his mental death trap: they didn’t manage to get a single hard hit against him. They hardly got the ball out of the infield at all, and didn’t get on base in any kind of frequency. They managed a double play in the sixth. After some steady, if unsuccessful, pitching from Ralphie, the bullpen embarrassed itself again in the ninth, when Diaz, Martinez, and Perez combined for two hits, two walks, and a single run thanks to a nifty grab by Guerin that ended the inning. O’Halloran had been hit for and we faced closer John Bennett, who snuffed out the Raccoons in just seven pitches. 4-1 Titans. Reece 3-4, 2B; Ford 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (10-13) and 1-2, 2B;

So, O’Halloran has 20 wins. When was the last time the Raccoons had a 20-game winner? Answer to this depressing piece of trivia in the comments section.

Game 3
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B V. Flores – P Hildred
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C Defrese – P Farley

The game started with an Albert Martin error, and Silva then readily stole second base, encroaching on Concie’s SB lead (although there were two Loggers between them still). Neither this, nor a Guerin error in the third, helped the Titans to score a run, and to continue with freak occurrences, the Raccoons actually scored, and scored FIRST, when Chris Parker hit a solo home run in the top 2nd, after the Coons had left the sacks full in the bottom 1st. The Critters had eight hits in the first four innings, but didn’t score aside from Parker’s dinger, which at some point had to backfire, especially with luckless Farley pitching. Through five, he 1-hit the Titans, but things could blow up any minute. The Raccoons scratched out an unearned run – woo-hoo – in the fifth, but a Luis Lopez home run cut the gap back to one in the seventh. Farley kept going until his 100th pitch was taken for a 1-out single to center by Mark Austin in the top 8th. Diaz came on and got a foul pop from Munoz before walking Josh Thomas. Miller entered now to face Luis Lopez, who went on to become man of the game with his second homer of the day, regardless of the team effort in the ninth that was to come. 8-2 Titans. Reece 4-5, 2B; Sharp 2-4, RBI; Parker 2-4, HR, RBI; Defrese 3-4; Farley 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Titans: 11 hits. Raccoons: 13 hits.

Devastating.

Raccoons (63-83) vs. Falcons (81-65) – September 14-16, 2001

The Falcons were better than in recent years, but they had used quite a bit of luck to end up 16 games over .500, since their run differential was only +29 and neither their offense nor their pitching was very remarkable. They were league average in all important categories. And now they’re lucky again and will go to 19 games over .500. The season series is still tied.

Projected matchups:
Cipriano Miranda (7-13, 4.02 ERA) vs. Manuel Hernandez (10-7, 4.56 ERA)
Nick Brown (2-2, 4.54 ERA) vs. Angel Romero (13-9, 3.56 ERA)
Carl Bean (9-13, 4.55 ERA) vs. Jesus Hernandez (1-3, 5.06 ERA)

Two left-handers, followed by a 24-year old rookie, who was a supplemental round draft pick one year ago. He throws from the right side, and looking at his numbers, I would not have called him up yet.

Game 1
CHA: 2B H. Green – C Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B L. Soto – LF R. Wilson – 3B J. Munoz – SS Moore – P M. Hernandez
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Roberson – 1B Sharp – RF Flores – 3B M. Ramirez – C Fifield – P Miranda

The Issuecoons matched their entire offensive output in the Titans series here in game 1, and they did so before they went through the whole lineup once, despite a 1-2-3 first. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead on a Ralph Wilson homer, but in the bottom 2nd it was Gil Flores to tie the score with an RBI double, leaving him and Sharp in scoring position and both were collected when Gary Fifield hit his first home run of the season, 4-1. The Falcons struck right back against a harmless Miranda, plating two runs in the third, including an RBI double by Wilson, who would then tie the game in the fifth against a still ineffective Miranda, who left in a tied game with one out and the bags full. Astonishingly, Steve Moore grounded into a force at home against Manuel Martinez, who also retired the pitcher to keep the game tied in this particular inning. Top 6th, Wade pitched, who had already been booked for three runs in less than 10 pitches the day before. Hubert Green singled right through Miguel Ramirez, and then Fifield made a massive throwing error on Fernando Chavez’ grounder. Both runners scored eventually, and the runs were unearned. Those two runs came right back to the Raccoons, though, in the bottom 6th. With two down and starting with Sharp, five straight Coons got on, tying the game at six before Cavazos hit for Wade and left the bags full with a shy fly to center. Then came Bob Joly, surrendered two runs in the seventh, and … and where’s the booze? Joly would pitch two innings, surrendered three runs, and got ahead of one of the 11 hitters he faced. 9-6 Falcons. Flores 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ramirez 2-4, 2 2B, RBI;

Neil Reece has a 12-game hitting streak on. Which is about all this team has currently going for it.

Game 2
CHA: 3B J. Munoz – CF Estrada – RF Lugo – 1B L. Soto – SS H. Green – C M. Castillo – LF J. Cruz – 2B M. Clark – P A. Romero
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – 2B M. Ramirez – RF Flores – P Brown

The Coons had the first chance with Neil Reece hitting a triple in the bottom 1st, but the Raccoons didn’t score when Martin popped out to short. The Falcons had an all-right-handed lineup, except for Angel Romero, waiting for Nick Brown, who didn’t cope well and was taken deep for a pair of runs in the top 2nd. The slugger was Mark Clark, in his seventh career at-bat. Things didn’t get better in the third, with another two runs coming in on a single, two walks, a wild pitch, and an error by Sharp – his 17th of the year. Brown was limited to four innings, being hit for in a 4-1 score with two on and the bags full in the bottom 4th. Roberson came out, hit a ball to deep right, but Jose Lugo got that. Sergio Vega collected five outs following Brown before the Falcons stuffed the bags with two out in the sixth. Marcos Bruno replaced Vega, his first outing of the week, so he was certainly fresh. He got to 2-2 on Pedro Estrada before Estrada launched a bomb just short of a grand slam, but well beyond Neil Reece’s diminishing reach for a bases-clearing double. Yes, Bruno is in peak shape! The bullpen came apart some more later, while Angel Romero whiffed two hands full in just seven innings. 9-2 Falcons. Sharp 2-4; Gabriel (PH) 1-1;

With the minor league season over, we added Julio Mata and George Morris to the roster, as well as OF/1B Edgardo Torrez. To squeeze Torrez onto the 40-man roster, MR Dan Epps was waived and designated for assignment. Torrez, a 24-year old left-hander, had gone .326/.433/.571 with 32 HR and 80 RBI in AAA this year. He was one of Vince’s international discoveries, dug out in Venezuela in 1997. He would have to be put onto the 40-man roster this year anyway, so we didn’t rush anything here. With our assumed inability to hold on to Ramiro Cavazos this fall, we better test out or stuff. That’s why Miguel Ramirez plays every day now.

Clyde Brady came off the DL as well, and to get him back onto the roster, we had to also waive Dwight Williams, who after four years in AAA had racked up an ERA over 6 this season.

Game 3
CHA: 2B H. Green – C Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B L. Soto – LF R. Wilson – 3B M. Castillo – SS Moore – P J. Hernandez
POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – LF Torrez – SS M. Ramirez – C Mata – P Bean

Bean issued walks left and right, but the Raccoons scored first, when Palacios plated Ramirez with two out in the third. Reece walked, loading them up before Martin ripped at a 3-1 pitch and lined out to right. Because of course. In the top 4th, bean immediately surrendered the run again, 1-1. Now, Clyde Brady had not been in the starting lineup, but entered the game in the bottom 4th when Cavazos tweaked his back on ripping a double. Torrez was up with no outs and one on, and was drilled in the forearm by Jesus Hernandez – also leaving the game with a bad bruise. The Raccoons loaded them up in the inning before Bean hit into a double play to kill the effort. All the pain for nothing. Bean surrendered three line drive hits, including two doubles for the go-ahead run in the top 5th, and Bean would surrender a home run to Joe Morton before this particular start found a grisly end. On the short end of a 3-1 score in the bottom 7th, the Raccoons crowded Jesus Hernandez when Neil Reece extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a bases-loading 1-out single. Martin lined out in a full count, bringing up Brady for his second AB in almost four months. C’mon Clyde! Show me the magic! Three pitches later, he sat down, and three other Uttercoons did so, too. Bottom 8th, a collection of Falcons reliever loaded the bases with one out again, the last piece being an infield single by George Morris. Danny Sharp came up in that spot, facing righty Tom Brooks, and his single to left plated not only Ramirez from third, but also Concie from second – tied game! Palacios flew out but advanced Morris, giving Reece a chance, and Neil, who was radiating in a clean, white hotness, rammed a single into left to score the go-ahead run! Martin had been removed in a double switch and now Roberson hit for the pitcher Bob Joly, but grounded out. That meant Nordahl time in the top 9th, facing the top of the Falcons lineup. Struck out Green, struck out Chavez, str- nope, no, Lugo put the 0-2 in play to Palacios, to first, and it’s over! 4-3 Raccoons. Sharp 2-5, 2 RBI; Palacios 2-4, BB, RBI; Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Morris (PH) 2-2;

I like the sound of that. "All the pain for nothing."

In other news

September 11 – While the season is closing in on the playoffs, the Warriors keep losing players. INF Jaime Mateo (.281, 5 HR, 61 RBI) has torn ligaments in his thumb and might miss as much as one month. The Warriors now have half a dozen players on the DL.
September 13 – WAS INF Jose Lopez (.267, 32 HR, 121 RBI) is out for the season with a sprained wrist. He leads the ABL in home runs at this point, one ahead of his team mate Jesus Rivera and Dallas’ Mac Woods.
September 14 – VAN OF/1B Jorge Durán (.304, 1 HR, 49 RBI) has suffered a complicated elbow fracture and is expected to be out for about eight months, and so should sit on the DL until well into the 2002 season.
September 14 – SAL LF/RF Dale Wales (.340, 7 HR, 81 RBI) ends his season on the DL with a strained hamstring.
September 16 – Despite surrendering three runs early, Fabien Armand (17-8, 3.11 ERA) holds on to the lead to help his Thunder beat the Titans, 6-4. The Thunder clinch the CL South despite the Bayhawks drubbing the Indians 13-4, for their seventh overall playoff appearance. They will be the defending champions come October.

Complaints and stuff

Wednesday’s trivia answer: 1995 (Jason Turner) – and it has happened only twice overall.

Usually we go 4-14 against the Titans in all years ending with 4. Maybe we will change to a different pattern now, and go 4-14 against them 4 times and end that run in a year ending with 4. 4 F’s sake.

And this was our week in short form: 16 runs scored, 40 runs allowed. You really don’t need to know a whole lot more. But now I remember what I didn’t miss on Monday and Tuesday. One more: 7 double plays hit into, one double play turned. “All the pain for nothing” should be our new team slogan! We oughta name that ****ing mascot that way! And Maud won’t even LET ME!!

(aggaravated, heavy breathing)

There’s very few pleasant things about this team. Neil Reece comes to mind, batting successfully in 14 straight games (including only five “1s”). Yet he was AGAIN snuffed for CL Player of the Week. Both weeks the winner was an opponent of the Raccoons: MIL Jerry Fletcher and CHA Jose Lugo. Go figure. Yeah well, I know MY Player of the Week, thank you, BNN jerks! For what it’s worth, Neil Reece has risen to *third* place in the CL batting race! Is it mathematically possible to make up 41 points on Oklahoma’s Joey Humphrey in two weeks?

We were 9 1/2 games ahead of the last place Crusaders with 19 to play. And I was wondering just how on earth we could be able to drop below them, because *19*! Well, the team did a phenomenal job this week. Awesome! Keep it going, guys!

Chris Roberson will be shut down before he reaches 150 AB to have him play a full rookie campaign next season. Likewise, we won’t let Nick Brown get even close to 60 IP. I firmly think those are the thresholds to lose rookie eligibility. I bet I am wrong.

All our minor league teams posted losing records this season, with AA Ham Lake and A Aumsville finishing both around 30 games back. We don’t seem to have an awful lot of talent in the low minors, and well, we pillaged St. Pete heavily this year, and they ended up 70-74. And then look at this roster. We NEVER have 36 players on the expanded roster! This year it’s like picking between pest and plague as you compose a lineup…

I know one player I like a ton and who's included in the annual fall "Money Talks" rounds. Our budget situation is most dreadful, but there was some room to make one, at most two significant offers. We made that one offer this week: 4-yr, $3M for - [Maud slams the laptop shut]

Westheim · 03-12-2015, 02:36 PM

One for eternity. NWSN's (Northwest Sports Net) Cubby Hairston with the call of a particular graveyard shift game in late September.

Welcome back at Raccoons Ballpark, we have a new pitcher in the game, Juan Diaz finishing his warm-ups trying to favorably dissolve this jam the Furballs have gotten themselves into. Cipriano Miranda allowed four hits through seven innings of shutout ball, but things have run sour in this top half of the eighth inning. Two hits, an error by Daniel Sharp, then a single by Dave Carroll off Manuel Martinez, and now the game is tied at two, with two men on, and one out.

Diaz has walked 34 batters in 35.2 innings this season. He is not what the Raccoons were looking for from the left side in their bullpen. The Bayhawks have Tom Walls on second, and Dave Carroll on first.

Luke Black, who pinch-hits for Alfredo Marquez to negate Diaz’ left-handedness, steps in. He is a .220 batter this season, a far cry from earlier success.

Here comes the first pitch. And that’s past Julio Mata! The runners move up, as Mata goes to retrieve that ball!

Boy, oh boy, did the Raccoons look for something else from Diaz at this point!

And Lance Cox in the home dugout does not look happy at all.

One and nothing to Luke Black. Diaz winds up, and that one is low – but catches the corner and it is called a strike. One and one to Luke Black, who takes a hack before stepping back in.

The game is tied at two, one out in the top of the eighth, with two men in scoring position for the Bayhawks, and Juan Diaz pitching to Luke Black.

Diaz shakes off Mata, once, twice. Now he gets set. –

It bounces off the plate, and past a befuddled Mata! Here comes Tom Walls, and no throw from Mata, and the Bayhawks take the lead!

Dreadful silence at the park on this cold Wednesday night. Just when everything seemed to get right for the Raccoons in this game. Both Henry Selph and Cipriano Miranda gave up only two hits through six innings, and then the Raccoons took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh on a terrible error by Dave Carroll, yet now things are already reversed.

And in that dugout, Miranda can’t believe it either.

Two and one to Luke Black, as the pitching coach is out there to check after Diaz’ condition. The Raccoons had nobody in their bullpen and just now Scott Wade has gone up and started tossing.

The pitching coach has bought some time. Lance Cox stares bleakly into the night. His mind seems to be what Scott Wade can do keep this from escalating.

Diaz gets set. Two wild pitches in the at-bat, and two and one the count to Luke Black. Three-two Bayhawks with another runner on third base and one out. Here it comes – (voice cracks) and it goes COMPLETELY PAST MATA!! Mata scampers after it, Carroll comes home easily, and the Bayhawks hold a 2-run lead!

(silence but for the boos)

I have never seen anything like this. Three wild pitches in one at-bat. This is the low point. You can not get any worse, for there can not be any more runners on base during any given at-bat.

The three-one pitch is in the dirt, and Luke Black walks, and here comes the pitching coach. And Lance Cox, and he looks terribly unhappy.

And somebody just tossed a hot dog onto the field! The Raccoons are actively alienating their own fans once again tonight!

02-19-2015, 11:08 PM	#1165
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Slept after work, only three hours, though, to be able to take in the Gatorade Duels (finally the sports year begins, hooray!), and got to some hairy action here, too. You can always catch up on sleep on Friday morning in the office, right? Raccoons (31-41) @ Condors (39-33) – June 22-24, 2001 The Condors were remarkably average in most categories despite shedding most of the former Raccoons they had accumulated in the last few years. Until recently, only Ben O’Morrissey and Mauro Granados had remained of that group, but they had signed Daniel Richardson a few weeks ago. He wasn’t hitting squid. Projected matchups: Ralph Ford (4-6, 3.70 ERA) vs. Bastyao Caixinha (9-6, 2.58 ERA) Randy Farley (1-5, 5.86 ERA) vs. Kelvin Yates (4-3, 4.43 ERA) Cipriano Miranda (3-7, 4.16 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (7-7, 3.56 ERA) Caixinha will be the first left-hander we go up against in over a week, and the only one in this series. The 39-year old Venezuelan – who is ancient enough to have been pursued to some degree or other by the Raccoons in the next-to-last decade – is enjoying his third and potentially final spring. Game 1 POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – SS Guerin – 1B Martin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P Ford TIJ: LF Bayle – 2B J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – CF MacGruder – C Cicalina – 1B B. Boyle – RF B. Wilson – SS Adegoke – P Caixinha Another Ford start, another wild ride. He went to a full count on leadoff man Jimmy Bayle, but struck him out, then after a perfect first walked both Jeff MacGruder and Urbano Cicalina to start the bottom 2nd, but the Condors stranded runners on the corners when Ford came back to whiff both Wilson and Adegoke to end the inning. Ford led off the third with a double, was on third after a Sharp single – and didn’t score. Ford responded by walking Caixinha on four straight balls in the bottom 3rd. When Bayle doubled, the Condors had two in scoring position with no outs. Juan Barrón hit a soft fly to shallow center that Reece snagged and the runners held. O’Morrissey grounded to Sharp, who made the play to first, and the runners held. Normally, you’d be tempted to walk slugger MacGruder (.841 OPS) with first base open and two down, but Ford would happily walk Cicalina, so he could go after MacGruder just as well. Palacios caught his pop, and we remained scoreless. The next inning the Condors put their first two men on again with a single and a walk before Ford struck out the next three – wild ride, like I mentioned. The ride ended the next inning. Ford hit his second double on the day with one out in the top 5th, but tweaked his ankle sliding into second base. He had to come out, and the Coons didn’t score AGAIN. The Condors then put a run on Manuel Martinez in the bottom 5th, and while Martin drove home Palacios with two down in the sixth to tie the score again, the game quickly got out of hand. Juan Diaz was tagged for a 2-run homer by Bill Wilson in the bottom 6th, yet then Dan Epps managed to pitch two frames without getting torched. However, the Raccoons were silenced by Caixinha over eight frames, and while Martin got on against closer Enrico Gonzalez, Thomas instantly hit into a double play. 3-1 Condors. Palacios 2-3, 2B; Martin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ford 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K and 2-2, 2 2B; Epps 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Diaz was so-so for the last 12 months, but now he just blows. Hard. Which is an issue since we have no other left-handed reliever available… Ralph Ford had a sprained ankle and was officially listed as DTD, but there was quite the possibility he would have to be skipped for his next scheduled start, which was on Wednesday. We do NOT have an off day next week, so Scott Wade might get a spot start on Wednesday, in turn shortening our bullpen. Game 2 POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Thomas – P Farley TIJ: 2B B. Boyle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – LF MacGruder – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – 1B Cicalina – RF Richardson – P Yates The Raccoons were annihilated by Yates, who struck out the side in the first, and held the Coons on the shortest leash well deep into the game. Farley was not terrible, but fell behind in the fourth inning when Cicalina drove in a run (but there had been two in scoring position with no outs, so it could have been worse). In the top 6th then, Thomas singled before Farley struck out trying to bunt. Then Yates issued his first walk of the game to Cavazos, and another one to Sharp. This was quite an important spot for Neil Reece, who was 0-6 in the series with 4 K. Yates, who had struck out seven through five inning, seemed to have lost something and fell behind Reece as well. Walks were boring however, and Reece lined a 2-1 pitch to left – and past MacGruder for a score-flipping 2-run double! Yates, tumbling, scored Sharp with a wild pitch before Reece was plated on a Martin single, making it 4-1. But it was still Farley pitching, and it was the 2001 Farley and not the 1999 Farley. The Condors reeled off three hits to start the bottom 7th, plating a run and having the tying runs on. With a heavily left-handed lineup and Diaz being useless, this was about a sure loss, but Richardson was at the plate. He flew out to center, putting runners on the corners. Granados hit for Yates, another left-hander. He singled, and everything was about to come up tails again for the Raccoons. Miller appeared, gave up the tying run to Bruce Boyle, and ended up issuing three straight 2-out walks, followed by a 2-run single to Ramos – another one of those ultra-dreadful 7-run innings against the Issuecoons. Sharp hit a meaningless home run in the eighth, because ultimately the Raccoons would have another catcher to hit into a double play against Enrico Gonzalez, this time Fifield. 8-6 Condors. Reece 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Thomas 4-4, 2 2B; And another one of those mind- and soul-crippling losses that were so completely unnecessary. If we had any actual left-handed relief……. Of course, all of this is down to having **ing no money again. What do we expect from a minimum salary scrub? Game 3 POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – SS McLaughlin – P Miranda TIJ: 2B B. Boyle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – LF MacGruder – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – 1B Granados – RF Richardson – P J. Maldonado With Sharp and Reece in scoring position in the top 1st, the right-hander Maldonado struck out both Palacios and Martin, and there we went. Six days removed from his first career shutout, Miranda was rushed and wrecked by the Condors, who scored three runs in the first inning, including a leadoff jack by Bruce Boyle and the last one coming home on a wild pitch. With Miranda and Cavazos in scoring position in the top 3rd – and NO OUTS – the Raccoons plated one run on an infield single by Neil Reece between a Sharp K and two pop outs. In the bottom 4th, the Condors loaded them up with no outs when Miranda hit Ramos, walked Granados, and Richardson hit a bloop over Palacios, but the Condors also failed to bring the hammer down and were held to a sac fly by Maldonado. Miranda pitched six innings, walking five and whiffing seven, but the damage had of course been done as he trailed 4-1. Manuel Martinez was about choked in the bottom 7th, but Diaz got a lucky double play grounder to dissolve that inning, then struck out the side (because it didn’t matter?) in the bottom 8th. We didn’t face Gonzalez again in the ninth, but Ray Cobb (we’re wearing out closers!), and the Raccoons got stuck in, started with a pinch-hit double by Guerin. Parker and Flores made outs before Heart drew a walk in place of Diaz. Cavazos then singled home Guerin, bringing Sharp up as the go-ahead run. His grounder went up the middle, where Boyle made a great play to seal the sweep. 4-2 Condors. Cavazos 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reece 3-4, 2B, RBI; Guerin (PH) 1-1, 2B; Kent (PH) 1-1; Diaz 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Raccoons (31-44) vs. Aces (34-42) – June 25-27, 2001 These both teams had many similarities. In patheticness, their rotations didn’t take much from another, and their offense was about average as well. In both categories, the Coons had a slight edge over the Aces, but the Aces had something the Raccoons really, really, really didn’t: the second-best bullpen in the league. It would be all about hurting their starters. Projected matchups: Miguel Lopez (5-5, 5.92 ERA) vs. Dan Moriarty (8-4, 4.02 ERA) Carl Bean (5-5, 4.21 ERA) vs. Rafael Barbosa (1-6, 6.10 ERA) TBD vs. Jou Hara (3-8, 5.36 ERA) We don’t know yet whether Ralph can go on Wednesday. He might, he might not. We will be more informed on Tuesday, but it means that we need to hold out Scott Wade of the Monday game. Game 1 LVA: CF C. Gúzman – C De La Parra – 1B J. Vargas – RF Ghiberti – SS Cerdeira – 3B J. Bradley – LF Moreno – 2B J. Martinez – P Moriarty POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – SS Guerin – RF Flores – 1B Heart – C Fifield – P M. Lopez There were four hits in the game through three innings, and it were all the Aces’, but the game was scoreless. Dan Moriarty was perfect the first time through, but Sharp singled to lead off the bottom 4th. Cavazos doubling over Ghiberti put the Raccoons into a prime spot to strike with a pair in scoring position and no outs. Reece flew out to left, Sharp tagged, and was thrown out. Oh noes… Walks to Palacios and Guerin loaded the bags, but Flores grounded out. Sharp throwing away Moriarty’s grounder to lead off the top 5th soon enough led to an unearned run for the Aces right away. Lopez pitched seven innings and struck out NINE – and all for nought. The Raccoons – however they had escaped the Abyss – left runners on third base in both the sixth and seventh. He got the minimal mercy treatment eventually, with Palacios doubling in Cavazos in the bottom 8th, with two down. That tied the score, and Bruno managed a scoreless ninth. That put the team in prime position to walk off, but we led off with Gilberto Flores. However, the Aces fielded Charlie Deacon, whom the Coons had enjoyed success against in the past. Also, he was a righty, and we had Albert Martin on the bench. He hit for Flores and delivered the first of three incredibly quick outs. Both pitchers came back out for the tenth, with Bruno allowing no runs in the top half. He was due to lead off in the bottom half, so we went to elite pinch-hitter Chris Parker. That was again the first of three quick outs against Deacon. Leading off with Dan Nordahl, the Raccoons then had their bullpen trashed in the 12th inning, five runs, all charged against Nordahl. 6-1 Aces. Sharp 2-5; Palacios 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Lopez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K; Bruno 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; And all of a sudden, they’ve lost five straight again. No matter who pitches to whom. It always results in a giant up with this team. I resorted to drinking myself senseless after this game and spent Tuesday in a dazed state. Game 2 LVA: 2B Cerdeira – C De La Parra – 1B J. Vargas – LF McCormick – RF Ghiberti – CF Wills – 3B J. Martinez – SS J. Bradley – P Barbosa POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Bean De La Parra homered off Bean in the first inning, and the Aces loaded the bases before settling for a 2-0 lead. Here comes the sixth straight defeat. The second saw a Guerin error and Bean plating a run with a wild pitch, 3-0, and Guerin made ANOTHER error in the fourth, plating a run right away when John Bradley was awarded home from second base one Guerin throwing one to the kid with glasses in row three. In between, Palacios had hit his 17th home run of the season, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover all the spillage by Bean and Guerin. The former went five innings, walking six (one intentional), and left down 5-2. Miller pitched the top 6th, and struck out three – however … well, he also surrendered two extra-base hits, a walk, and Sharp made an error, and - ……. And the Aces scored in every inning but the third and ninth, including another crippling 5-run seventh, as the Raccoons got themselves stomped yet again. 13-7 Aces. Kent 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Diaz 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; All runs in the seventh were on Dan Epps (18.00 ERA), who was banished for it. And here comes Bob Joly… I awoke from my Jack Daniels-induced coma on Wednesday evening to find out that the Raccoons had given up a baker’s dozen on Tuesday, and that manager Lance Cox had penciled Ralph Ford in to start game 3. Oh well, SOMEBODY’s gotta absorb the inevitable loss… Game 3 LVA: CF C. Gúzman – C De La Parra – 1B J. Vargas – LF McCormick – RF Ghiberti – SS Cerdeira – 3B J. Bradley – 2B J. Martinez – P Hara POR: CF Cavazos – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – 3B McLaughlin – RF Kent – P Ford Ford gave up plenty of hard contact, with Parker snagging three deep flies in the first four innings alone. Of course, it didn’t get Ford anywhere close to a win, and neither did Albert Martin’s error in the fourth that ultimately led to an unearned, and the first run of the game. Martin and Thomas led off with a walk and a double in the bottom 4th, giving Parker a chance to do anything with something other than his glove. While a hit was not in the cards for the Coons, at least Parker and McLaughlin managed to make productive outs to take a 2-1 lead. Now we had to hope for Ford to go deep into the game, since giving a 1-run lead to this bullpen was an automatic loss. However, Ford was wild again. While he was more or less on track to make it to the eighth on pitch count, he found it necessary to issue a pair of full count 2-out walks in the sixth. Although he fanned Cerdeira to end the inning, that still put him at 100 pitches on the game. He issued two more walks to leave the game with two out in the seventh. Marcos Bruno was brought on to face Javier Vargas and got him to pop out to Concie. Then it was Jason Kent to knock a leadoff jack in the bottom 7th, giving him home runs in back-to-back games. Up 3-1, we had Wade for the eighth, and had a chunk taken out of him with a Ghiberti double and an RBI single by Cerdeira. There was no insurance to be squeezed out of this team in the bottom 8th, with the Raccoons limited to four hits in the contest, and Nordahl would have to come back from surrendering five runs on Monday to protect a 3-2 lead. After he whiffed Martinez, Bernard Combes hit a single to right. Cisco Gúzman walked, and oh no here we go. Nordahl then struck out De La Parra, and Vargas shoved the ball into the ground just in front of home plate. Thomas sprang out and lobbed to first, wide, Martin with a stretch – OUT! 3-2 Raccoons. Ford 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 7 K, W (5-6); It was not much of a win, but a win is a win is a win. And after six losses you’d take a kick into the nuts just to get a win. And now, the Elks. Raccoons (32-46) vs. Canadiens (28-48) – June 28-July 1, 2001 Since getting pummeled by the Aces, the Raccoons had the most runs conceded in the Continental League once again. They weren’t much worse than the Canadiens, though, who ranked 10th with 12 runs allowed less (412 to 400). Offensively, the Raccoons still held an edge, 344 runs (6th) to 328 runs (8th). Also, the two worst bullpens in the league were involved in this series, so no 7-run lead should be considered safe… Projected matchups: Randy Farley (1-6, 5.98 ERA) vs. Jose Dominguez (3-12, 5.94 ERA) Cipriano Miranda (3-8, 4.29 ERA) vs. Cal Holbrook (2-2, 4.98 ERA) Miguel Lopez (5-5, 5.42 ERA) vs. Daniel Dickerson (6-5, 4.25 ERA) Carl Bean (5-6, 4.27 ERA) vs. Paul Kirkland (5-6, 3.80 ERA) That’s a full slate of right-handers by the Canadiens that is on offer here. Not that it matters much with this furry team of trauma. They can’t out-score their horrendous pitching either way. Game 1 VAN: SS A. Simon – CF T. Wilson – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – C Rosa – 2B J. Zamora – P Dominguez POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C Thomas – P Farley Bottom 1st, Cavazos singled, stole second, Sharp singled, and Reece walked. Three on, no outs, Palacios singled home a run before Martin killed the inning with a double play, home and first. The team would take some redemption in the next frame when they plated two runs on doubles by Kent, Thomas, and Sharp, 3-0. Farley needed 50 pitches through five innings, pitching a crisp 1-hitter. Control started to go away by the sixth however, when he needed 15 pitches to get through Zamora and Dominguez, although none of them reached. In the top 7th, he led off by plunking Tom Wilson, but Sharp started a double play to remove him. Rain started to fall then. The rain didn’t get to Farley, since it stopped after a few minutes, and the Canadiens per se didn’t either, but his control went away. After eight, he was up to 99 pitches, but up 4-0, he got a shot at the ninth, although the left-handers Simon and Wilson were due to lead off. Simon flew out to Cavazos, fairly deep, but Wilson grounded to first – for an infield single. The pitching coach went out to check on Randy’s general composure, and he wasn’t going to give up the ball anyway right now. He then struck out Valenzuela. Tony Velasquez also had two strikes on it when he grounded to left, but Guerin made the play for the final out. 4-0 Coons! Cavazos 2-4, 2B; Sharp 3-4, 2B, RBI; Palacios 2-4, RBI; Farley 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-6); Randyboy! This was his sixth career shutout, and of course the first this (rotten) year. The win also assures us to not fall behind the Elks this weekend while playing on our own field. Game 2 VAN: SS A. Simon – CF T. Wilson – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – C Esquivel – 2B J. Zamora – P Holbrook POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Fifield – RF Flores – P Miranda The Canadiens came out swinging and chopped two runs off Miranda in the first inning. The Coons didn’t get anybody on until Miranda lobbed a single into leftfield in the bottom 3rd, and after Holbrook hit Cavazos, Sharp flew to deep right, but Velasquez made the play. Bottom 4th, Reece reached, and then Palacios clubbed another home run, which tied the score. The tie didn’t live long, as the Canadiens stole three bags in total off Miranda and Fifield in the top 5th and scored the go ahead run again. Flores got on for the Furballs in the bottom 5th, stole second, but Miranda failed to bunt. Flores only moved to third on a wild pitch with Sharp already at the plate and two out. Sharp would tie the score on the next pitch with a double, but Sharp would eventually be left on third base. Again, the Raccoons failed to resolve a tie in their favor. After a scoreless sixth, Miranda became stuck in the top 7th and was replaced by Bruno with two on and two out. Bruno failed completely, putting four men on before retiring Jesus Zamora, and the Canadiens jumped out to a 6-3 lead. The Raccoons got only one more man on base, Guerin, and he was caught stealing on a pitchout. 6-3 Canadiens. Joly 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Sigh. Game 3 VAN: 3B A. De Jesus – 2B J. Zamora – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – CF P. Taylor – C Esquivel – LF A. Simon – SS Shaw – P Dickerson POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – SS McLaughlin – P M. Lopez The third of four contests got underway with icky weather and rain close by. The Coons had two on with two out when Martin singled to center in the bottom 1st. Reece was sent around third base – and thrown out by Velasquez. History repeated itself in the bottom 4th. With Thomas and Parker on base and one out, McLaughlin doubled into the gap in left field. Thomas scored easily and Parker was sent home, too, on the scouting report saying that Arthur Simon had a poor arm (or maybe even no arm). Simon threw him out regardless, keeping the Raccoons to scoring the tying run only once Lopez grounded out. The rain had started a few minutes earlier. The game was shortly delayed in the top 5th but Lopez returned to pitching after less than 20 minutes of interruption. Lopez pitched long enough to get hung onto the hook by a Phil Taylor triple and subsequent sacrifice by Esquivel that put the Elks up 2-1 again. The damage was not permanent as the Raccoons tied it back in the bottom 6th, but they just could not take a lead! Miller and Wade pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings (yet not quite boring innings…), still no life from the Critters, and Wade managed another scoreless innings despite a double by Valenzuela. Still tied, it was unfortunately McLaughlin to lead off the bottom 9th. As the Elks brought a new right-hander in Anthony Duhamel, Kent hit for McLaughlin, flew out, and Heart hit for Wade, and flew out as well. Cavazos failed as well, and we went to extras. With two left-handed Elks due up in the tenth, Diaz came out, and since it meant something, he couldn’t get anybody. A Palacios error got the Canadiens started, but Diaz issued a walk and a single. Three on, no outs. Martinez replaced Diaz, but the Elks scored a run despite a good effort from the righty. So the Coons had to move in the bottom 10th – Duhamel still in, Sharp led off with a groundout, Reece whiffed, and then Palacios sent a fly to deep center – with Taylor receiving it with a good stretch. 3-2 Canadiens. Thomas 2-4, 2B; Lopez 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Wade 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; (absent-mindedly slams head against the door frame, and again, and again, and again …) We have had four runners thrown out at home in a week’s time. Maybe I should display a bit less recklessness? So we end June on a terrible 2-for-10 and at .370 in total. And we still have to play the Nasty Smells once more. Game 4 VAN: SS A. Simon – CF T. Wilson – 1B Valenzuela – RF Velasquez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – C Esquivel – 2B J. Zamora – P Kirkland POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – SS Guerin – RF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – P Bean The Raccoons loaded the bases in the bottom 1st, Guerin struck out, and they didn’t score. Carl Bean held the Elks short at first, and the Raccoons actually still took a lead for the first time since Thursday when Albert Martin hit a 2-run home run in the bottom 3rd. The next frame, Guerin led off with a double, Kent and McLaughlin got on as well, and Bean batted with three on and no outs, and actually managed a single past Simon to bring the score to 3-0. Cavazos popped out, Sharp grounded into a force at home, and could Neil Reece show some life? Well, he walked. With a run pushed home thus, Martin came back up and singled over Jesus Zamora to plate another pair! That knocked out Kirkland, with reliever Mark Alexander removing Thomas and ending the inning at 6-0 Coons. Should be plenty even for Bean? Well yes, it should, but would it? The Canadiens didn’t get to do a lot against him in the game. Bean was efficient on the mound and at the plate, driving in another run in the bottom 5th as the Coons made it 8-0 on the Elks. The Coons left a bunch on in the next three innings, but the focus was more on Bean, who carried a 4-hitter into the ninth. Could he do it? Tim Wilson flew to deep left, but Parker made the play after entering the previous inning (Reece had been removed), but then both Valenzuela and Velasquez hit singles, a throw by Kent to third was never going to achieve anything but moving Velasquez to second, and now the shutout was going to blow, unless Bean could whiff Durán. He couldn’t, a run came in, and Bean failed to finish the game either, instead getting rocked for another double by Esquivel. Marcos Bruno had to come in to retire Zamora. 8-3 Raccoons. They just couldn’t finish this game without cocking up again, could they? Cavazos 2-6, 2B; Sharp 3-5, RBI; Martin 3-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Guerin 3-5, 2B; Bean 8.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (6-6) and 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Frustration. Pure, raw frustration. In other news June 22 – NAS SP Javier Cruz (7-5, 3.03 ERA) gives up only a second inning single to Fernando Vasquez as he 1-hits the Pacifics, 7-0, and fans a full dozen. June 24 – The Thunder deal for the Pacifics’ INF Hector Castro (.259, 1 HR, 31 RBI), sending LF/RF Yohan Bonneau (.313, 9 HR, 42 RBI) to L.A. June 24 – The Titans acquire backup outfielder Arturo Lopez (.300, 1 HR, 12 RBI in 80 AB) from the Canadiens in exchange for 1B/2B Jesus Zamora (.323, 0 HR, 10 RBI in 65 AB). June 27 – The Canadiens lose 3B Raymond Sutton (.287, 2 HR, 29 RBI) for the season with a broken kneecap. June 30 – Milwaukee’s Martin Garcia (11-5, 2.88 ERA) 2-hits the Titans and whiffs 11 in an 8-0 romp. Complaints and stuff** (hums) I know … I know … all beauty must gooo… That’s been stuck in my head for a few days. I don’t know whether it’s a thing. I just know the Raccoons aren’t a thing. They aren’t much of anything. It was one of those weeks where the CL Player of the Week was from an opposing team, so you know how the Coons performed (Ricco Ghiberti hit .483, including a slick .583 against the Critters…). Guerin is in a terrible slump, as is Martin (although the Sunday game might indicate impending improvement?), and we have nobody to lead off (or bat anywhere other than eighth). I feel the need to point one thing out: Palacios was not benched in the Sunday game because of his error the day before, but because we are in a long string of games and he was due a game off. Cavazos is the only player to not have had a day off and he will get one early next week. The team as a whole continues to perform mediocre to badly, with 3.7 R/G and 4.8 R/A in this update (it’s 4.4 R/G and 5.2 R/A for the year). There are some notable, positive exceptions, like Palacios and Sharp, and Cavazos, and until recently Guerin and Martin. Neil Reece is … I don’t know? He’s hitting mostly singles, but he’s hitting deep flies, too, they just never seem to fall in? Brady was great before he busted his ankle! He’s still in one of those terrifically unstylish grey boots and on crutches, and it’s going to be a long time before he will be back on the field. :-( We are the sixth-worst team in baseball (what an improvement from the last two years!), and I don’t think that that will make Carlosito spend money for next year, either… maybe we can find some caring owner to buy us out and save us from the hells of .400 ball? Meanwhile this 17-game stretch will continue right up until the All Star break from July 9-11, and while I have some vague hope that we will get an All Star this year (we didn’t last year), I doubt we have any chances beyond Palacios. CERTAINLY NO BOTCH- errr, PITCHERS. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here. Last edited by Westheim; 02-19-2015 at 11:15 PM.

02-22-2015, 09:26 AM	#1166
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Time for my favorite chore again, yay …! Raccoons (34-48) @ Loggers (49-33) – July 2-5, 2001 Things were looking bleak for the Critters as far as this series was concerned. The second place Loggers had a monster run going, winning 17 of their last 22 games (including three of four from the Titans over the weekend), and they were second in runs scored, which was never something promising success with the way our pitching staff was going. Their pitching was largely lacking weaknesses, so the Raccoons had a realistic chance at getting swept during the week. Projected matchups: Ralph Ford (5-6, 3.26 ERA) vs. John Miller (7-4, 3.06 ERA) Randy Farley (2-6, 5.22 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (11-6, 3.63 ERA) Cipriano Miranda (3-9, 4.47 ERA) vs. Marc Padgett (7-4, 4.10 ERA) Miguel Lopez (5-5, 5.26 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (11-5, 2.68 ERA) Game 1 POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Fifield – LF Parker – RF Kent – P Ford MIL: C L. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 2B J. Cruz – CF Fletcher – RF J.J. Villa – 3B T. Johnson – 1B J. Morales – P J. Miller The opener treated fans with a pitchers’ duel, as neither team was able to get the bats up against the opposing hurler. Well, the Loggers did more so than the Raccoons, who didn’t get on base until the fourth, when Ralph Ford already trailed 1-0 after the Loggers had plated a run on three singles in the bottom 3rd. The best the Raccoons did in the middle innings were putting runners on first and second and then hitting into an inning-ending double play in the sixth. In the bottom 8th, Jason Kent drew the team’s first walk of the game. With one out, Ford went into bunting position, but before it could come that far, Miller twitched to the umpire’s displeasure and had a balk called against him. With the runner in scoring position, Ford went to bat properly and lined to first, where Jose Morales made a launching grab, hurting himself in the process. Sam Fisher replaced him, while Guerin hit a 2-out fly to left that went past the reach of Bakile Hiwalani and fell in for the game-tying RBI double. Guerin scored on Sharp’s single, and the Raccoons led. Ford pitched the eighth, before protection of the 2-1 advantage fell onto Dan Nordahl in the ninth, facing Cruz, Fletcher, and Villa. And Johnson and Fisher, as he successfully walked the bases loaded with two out. Mark Hall hit for closer Robbie Wills … and struck out. 2-1 Raccoons. Guerin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ford 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (6-6) and 1-3; (blinks irritated) Where’s the usual walkoff grand slam? I think we should nickname Dan Nordahl “Wild Ride”. Jose Morales tweaked an oblique, but was listed merely DTD, so while Rodrigo Morales kept missing for these Loggers, they were not Moralesless. Okay, no more puns, I promise. Game 2 POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P Farley MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – SS T. Johnson – P Robertson Farley was whipped early in the game, as the Loggers had six hits and three runs in the first two innings. The Raccoons seemed to only get things going after stealing a base: Guerin was plated by Thomas after his 21st swipe of the year in the top 2nd, and in the top 5th they got a bit more going. Flores stole second, was scored with a Farley single, and then Sharp, Cavazos, and Palacios rapped off three more straight hits, tying the score and loading the bases for Neil Reece, with one out. Reece did not have a good year, so when Robertson got two strikes on him, it was oh-oh in the visitor’s dugout. Reece did connect then, and grounded a single past the reach of Tom Johnson to plate two runs for a 5-3 lead. Jorge Cruz would hit his 17th homer of the season off Farley in the bottom 6th to cut the lead in half and get Farley to the showers. The inevitable implosion was soon to follow. The hapless relief corps, this time consisting of Martinez and Bruno, bothched up in the seventh, allowing two runs on four hits. The offense had nothing to put against that, and left Guerin on third base in the top 8th. In the top 9th, against Wills, Jason Kent led off with a single to left, and, representing the tying run, was bunted to second by Daniel Sharp. Bartolo Hernandez however would intercept both Cavazos’ and Palacios’ grounders to end the game. 6-5 Loggers. Cavazos 2-5, 2B, RBI; Guerin 2-4, 2B; Flores 2-3; Kent 1-1; Game 3 POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – 3B Heart – P Miranda MIL: C L. Ramirez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – 2B J. Morales – SS T. Johnson – P Padgett The Coons – aided by a Morales error to put Concie Guerin on base – plated two runs in the first against Marc Padgett. Initially, I wanted to be happy and enjoy the moment, but then I remembered that Cipriano Miranda had yet to throw a single pitch. When he was through with his first inning, the Loggers had tied the game and left the bases loaded. When Guerin threw away Padgett’s grounder to start the bottom 2nd, the gates opened, and the Loggers took a 4-2 lead. Interestingly, Padgett was just as bad and the Raccoons came back to tie the score in the top 3rd, with a Cavazos triple being the key hit. Mark Hall’s error placed Max Heart on second base with no outs in the top 4th, and somehow this was too early to bring a pinch-hitter and send Scott Wade to the mound. Miranda batted, lobbed a 1-1 pitch to shallow right center and it went right past Cristo Ramirez for a double and gave the Raccoons a new 5-4 lead. Too bad that the team left Miranda on third base then… Reece led off the top 5th with a double and wasn’t scored either. This refusal to cash in cost the Raccoons sooner rather than later. In the bottom 6th, Padgett doubled off Miranda and Leon Ramirez’ bloop fell somewhere in between half the team, but plated Padgett and tied the score. Fletcher plated Ramirez, the Loggers were ahead, and somehow Diaz and Wade at least stalled him on base. The seventh also saw the leadoff batter on for the Raccoons, but again no luck. They trailed 6-5 into the ninth, faced Wills, and somewhere I had seen this before. Palacios with one out sent a fly to deep center, but it was caught, and nobody reached base. 6-5 Loggers. Cavazos 2-5, 3B; Martin 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Heart 2-4; Sharp (PH) 1-1; Wade 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; I had expected a blowout or two, which didn’t happen so far, but consecutive 6-5 losses with enough reasons to kick ourselves weren’t exactly rosy either. And here comes Garcia… Game 4 POR: 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Flores – P M. Lopez MIL: RF C. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 2B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – CF J.J. Villa – 1B J. Morales – P M. Garcia What else came? Rain. It started soon after the first pitch and by the second inning forced a delay. After 23 minutes with the tarp on the field, Lopez came back out for the bottom 2nd and was bum-rushed immediately. Cristo Ramirez hammered a 3-run, 2-out double. Depending on how far Garcia would be able to go, this was more than enough to sink the Raccoons. An unearned run on Sharp’s 13th error plated another run in the third, while the Raccoons were non-existent in this game. Lopez was behind in the count to almost every batter, and was booked for five runs (four earned) in five innings, with three walks and one K. Reece managed to drive in Palacios against Garcia, who didn’t go past the sixth inning either after the earlier rain, and only whiffed two Raccoons. Our bullpen was long due (about 24 hours) for another brew-up, which happened in the bottom 7th, when Bob Joly was ravaged for three hits and eventually three runs, because while Bruno came in with Hiwalani on third base, two in, and no outs, and got two outs without Hiwalani scoring, once Diaz appeared to face the left-handed Sam Fisher, Hiwalani was singled home in no time. 8-2 Loggers. Palacios 2-4, 2B; Kent (PH) 1-1; Once more three terrible starts from our rotation, in succession. Or in suck-cession. Yeah, I know, puns. Raccoons (35-51) @ Crusaders (30-56) – July 6-8, 2001 The Crusaders have swept us in our last two encounters, so we are not necessarily thrilled to face them at the tail end of this 17-game stretch. Never mind their anemic offense which took 86 games to manufacture 301 runs. They know how to score against the Furballs, and that is enough. Projected matchups: Carl Bean (6-6, 4.18 ERA) vs. George Allen (0-0) Ralph Ford (6-6, 3.09 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (7-9, 3.50 ERA) Randy Farley (2-6, 5.31 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (8-9, 4.07 ERA) Allen was a 27-year old right-hander making just his third career start, his 25th appearance (since 1998), and his first of this season. And the other two guys? They have more than half of the New Yorkians’ wins… Game 1 POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Bean NYC: LF M. Ortíz – 2B Rigg – 1B M. Berry – CF Latham – SS Rice – RF Gonzales – 3B F. Adams – C Olson – P Allen The go-ahead run for New York scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. After that first facepalm moment, Bean did not allow runners until the fifth, when he walked Gonzales and Olson, but both were stranded in scoring position. In between, Mark Thomas had hit a 2-run double in the top 2nd and by now Bean was up 3-1. Thomas added another run by plating Martin for an unearned run in the top 6th (the Crusaders made three errors in the game), and Bean went through eight innings, allowing just two more hits, and was already considerably over 100 pitches. When his turn to bat came up with two out in the ninth, Max Heart hit for him. Nordahl warmed up in the pen, when Heart made his appearance moot with a pinch-hit homer (off ex-Coon Toru Fujita) that moved the game past save range. Manuel Martinez instead came out to pitch in the ninth. 5-1 Coons. Cavazos 2-5; Sharp 2-5, 2B; Guerin 2-4; Heart (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Bean 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (7-6); Vince rated George Allen the best player in the Crusaders’ lineup in this game. He gave him 2.5 stars, and nobody else had more than two. By comparison, led by the 4.5 stars Palacios and Bean, the Coons averaged 2.9 stars with their lineup. And I say ex-Coon regarding Toru Fujita, yet only one of his 370-some career appearances has come as a Raccoon, but it was the very first one: a spot start in 1989. Game 2 POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Ford NYC: LF M. Ortíz – SS Rigg – CF Gonzales – RF A. Johnson – 3B Rush – 1B M. Berry – C Olson – 2B F. Adams – P Sandoval Singles by Cavazos and Sharp, followed by Palacios getting plunked, loaded the bags with no outs in the top 1st. Reece was still slumping, but had come through in a similar spot in Milwaukee. Not so this time, as he hit into a double play, with Cavazos scoring. Martin singled to plate Sharp and we still got away with a 2-0 lead. Ford however soon proved hittable and the Crusaders sabotaged themselves with a killing double play in the bottom 1st, then took one run out of the lead in the bottom 3rd. Reece’s leadoff double in the top 4th eventually led to him being scored by Concie and the 2-run gap was restored. Not that Ford was defenseless – he twice converted bunts from Sandoval into force outs at second base – but the fact that almost every leadoff batter of the Crusaders reached base one way or other created constant pressure, under which Ford eventually buckled. He walked both Gonzales and Johnson to start the bottom 6th, and when they successfully pulled off a double steal, we knew we were going down. Bob Rush doubled the runners home, tying the score, and Ford walked Berry before walking from the game. Marcos Bruno replaced him, but didn’t relief him. After Olson popped out, Bruno walked both Adams and Sandoval to fall behind in the score. What did the Raccoons do? After Reece’s double in the top 4th, Sandoval sat down the next 15 batters without blinking once. And so the Raccoons found themselves down by one run in the top 9th for the third time this week, with Leonardo Sosa first looking at Sharp. 16, 17, 18. 4-3 Crusaders. Four walks in one inning. Fantastic. Go on boys, go on. No, I’m not sharpening that broad axe for any one reason. No, no. Game 3 POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C Fifield – P Farley NYC: LF M. Ortíz – SS Rice – RF A. Johnson – 1B M. Berry – CF Latham – 3B Rush – 2B F. Adams – C Olson – P F. Garza The game started with a Cavazos double, and the next four Raccoons struck out, spilling over into the second inning, by which time Farley had already coughed up a run (and I had coughed up some blood). Fifield K’ed to start the top 3rd, before Farley hit a single. Cavazos came up again and drilled a long one out of right field to put Farley on top, 2-1. That was not all, though. Sharp made an out, but then Palacios and Reece sent the bombs flying with back-to-back solo home runs! Kent just narrowly missed a homer in the fourth, instead plating Guerin with a double, and Cavazos hit a 2-out single which ultimately didn’t amount to anything, but in this 5-1 game he was a triple shy of the cycle in the fourth. The Crusaders were not out of hit, however, with Farley melting in the bottom 5th, and Martin Ortíz hitting a 2-out homer. Farley walked two more, before Latham lofted a ball to Cavazos to exit the inning with the tying runs in scoring position. Farley left after six with a 6-3 lead that had been enhanced by Fifield scoring on a wild pitch from Sandoval, who ended up striking out eight between getting battered for six counters. Diaz actually managed a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, and Martinez managed not to get set on fire in the eighth. With the Raccoons not scoring (and Cavazos not tripling), Dan Nordahl this time entered the game, up 6-3, and grounded out Mike Olson to Sharp to start the inning. Then Jorge Gonzales pinch-hit for the pitcher, and the count ran full. Oh no, don’t start walking them again, Danny …! The sixth pitch of the AB was on the corner and called, however, and that brought up Ortíz, who hit a 2-out single. Nordahl continued to fall behind in the count, also to Gary Rice, who grounded a 2-1 pitch hard to first base. There, McLaughlin had replaced Martin for defense, and made the play. 6-3 Coons. Cavazos 4-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Palacios 2-5, HR, RBI; Reece 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1; Chris Parker is now a whopping 3-37 as a pinch-hitter! That kid is on FIRE!! In other news July 3 – TOP 3B/SS Gabriel Rodriguez (.327, 5 HR, 37 RBI) is out for the year with torn ankle ligaments. July 3 – Oklahoma’s SP Ricky Beach (4-1, 2.23 ERA) sparkles in his sixth major league start. While the offense gives him 20 runs of support in a total thrashing of the Knights, Beach allows only three hits and pitches a shutout. July 3 – SFW SP Pat Cherry (9-7, 2.35 ERA) 2-hits the Gold Sox in a 3-0 shutout. July 4 – Another shutout, as SFB Tony Hamlyn (13-3, 2.11 ERA) dominates the Aces, allowing only two hits in an 8-0 romp. July 5 – The shutout parade continues with Roberto Muniz spinning one in his second start of the year for the Pacifics. Muniz (1-1, 0.60 ERA) allows two hits in a 6-0 win over the Wolves. July 5 – The Condors take a serious blow with OF Jeff MacGruder (.281, 12 HR, 61 RBI) suffering an oblique strain. He will miss six weeks. July 6 – Two weeks on the DL is the result of a broken hamate bone in the wrist of Warriors OF Luis Arroyo (.257, 3 HR, 24 RBI). July 7 – Big day for Sacramento’s OF Aaron Jenkins (.323, 6 HR, 56 RBI): as the Scorpions trash the Wolves, 17-4, Jenkins connects for six hits, including a homer and three doubles, and plates four runs, becoming the 35th player in ABL history to have a 6-hit game. It is the first time in over a year that the feat has been achieved, with Vancouver’s Bob Butler last getting it done on June 19, 2000. It is the fourth time a Scorpion connects six times after Dave Petersen in 1979 and Martin Horn and Jared O’Molony, who achieved a 6-hitter in the same 20-0 blowout of the Cyclones in 1996. Complaints and stuff That Rodriguez guy that went down for the Buffaloes and has been OPS’ing .918 is actually a former Raccoon, a short-lived part of the most dismal 1997 squad, before being flipped for Werner Turner and Bob Joly after the season. Six months earlier, incoming, he was part of the trade that sent Ben O’Morrissey out of town then. The other part? Ralph Ford. After a slow first week, Chris Beairsto burst into flames for the Ham Lake Panthers and ended up batting .373/.500/.784 with 5 HR and 16 RBI in 15 games. He was promoted to AAA St. Petersburg mid-week. Also in AAA, Julio Mata, who was batting .247 with six homers, has strained an ACL and is out until late August. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

02-23-2015, 10:06 AM	#1167
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	All Star Game By total surprise, the Raccoons received four nominations for the All Star Game! It doesn’t quite come as a surprise, however, that none of the four players are pitchers… Instead the Coons send most of their infield, with Albert Martin, Jesus Palacios, and Conceicao Guerin being honored, plus Ramiro Cavazos, who carried a 10-game hitting streak into the break. Their four nominations rank third in the CL behind the Loggers’ and Titans’ five apiece. The FL field is stacked with six Warriors. This is the first nomination for all of the Furballs, except Concie, who was an All Star in 1999 already. With all the fluffy Furballs involved, the Continental League crushed the Federal League, 10-1, and even more amazing was the fact that while only Palacios was a starter in the game and went 0-3, the other three Critters came on as pinch-hitters and replacements, and hit 4-4, with 2 HR and 5 RBI! Guerin had two singles and one run batted in, and Cavazos and Martin both hit pinch-hit home runs, Cavazos for one, and Martin for three runs! Raccoons (37-52) vs. Loggers (54-35) – July 12-15, 2001 Yay, more butt kicks. Exactly what we need. Third-most runs in the league, third-least runs allowed, and the Raccoons are 7th and 11th in those categories, respectively. Projected matchups: Carl Bean (7-6, 3.98 ERA) vs. John Miller (8-5, 2.85 ERA) Ralph Ford (6-7, 3.29 ERA) vs. Vernon Robertson (12-6, 3.69 ERA) Randy Farley (3-6, 5.25 ERA) vs. Marc Padgett (8-4, 4.02 ERA) Cipriano Miranda (3-10, 4.68 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (12-5, 2.70 ERA) We have no off day after this series on Monday, instead playing the Indians already then. Otherwise I would have been tempted to skip the miserable Miguel Lopez and use him as a reliever in this series. But if we do that know, guys have to go on short rest and crap like that and I don’t like it. It’s not like we’re able to win games with Lopez appearing in relief, anyway… Game 1 MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – SS T. Johnson – P J. Miller POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – RF Kent – C Thomas – P Bean The Raccoons left some Furball or other in scoring position in every of the first three innings, without scoring. In the fourth it was Guerin on third base and two down when Carl Bean took care of things with a single to left that gave him a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, the pattern continued, with runners on first and second, one out, and Martin hitting into a double play. That left the Raccoons, despite all the runners, on one run, and when Carl Bean – as was to be expected at some point – lost his marbles in the top 6th, it quickly became a loss. Bean plunked Hernandez, allowed a single to Fletcher, and walked Ramirez to load the bases with no outs and Bakile Hiwalani coming to the plate. While Cavazos managed to grab his fly to left center, Hernandez tagged and scored, and Mark Hall doubled home Fletcher before Bean struck out Cruz and Ramirez. Bottom 7th, Cavazos singled, and after Sharp made an out Miller walked both Palacios and Reece, facing Martin with the bases loaded and one out. While he didn’t quite manage a double play this time, his soft pop to Cristo Ramirez in shallow right didn’t get things done, and Guerin struck out. As usual, one foul inning sufficed to bring down the Issuecoons’ semi-decent starter, while their offense was fooling around all day long. Bottom 9th, Robbie Wills out. Cavazos led off with a walk, then was forced out by Sharp’s terrible bunt. Wills then put the winning run on base as well with a walk to Palacios. Suddenly we had a chance here – if Reece could get it done. Martin couldn’t. Come on, Neil, do it for me! Reece flew out to Cristo Ramirez, bringing up Martin – who struck out. 2-1 Loggers. Cavazos 2-3, BB; Palacios 1-2, 3 BB; Guerin 2-4; Bean 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (7-7) and 1-3, RBI; 14 runners left on base. FOURTEEN. Albert Martin himself went 0-5, hacked out thrice, and that double play, and stranded ELEVEN BATTERS. E-LE-VEN!!!! Wills saved his 30th game of the season. The Raccoons still barely had 30 wins in total… (sobs) Game 2 MIL: RF C. Ramirez – SS B. Hernandez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – CF Fletcher – C L. Ramirez – 2B T. Johnson – 1B J. Morales – P Robertson POR: LF Cavazos – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – 1B Heart – RF Flores – P Ford Scoring opened with Mark Thomas’ solo shot in the bottom 2nd, although Ford managed to kill off that unwanted lead within minutes, allowing a leadoff triple to Cristo Ramirez in the top 3rd, and in fact the Loggers sucked a bit less with runners in scoring position, where the Raccoons hit a felt minus three-hundred. A shoddy Ford, who had no bite on his stuff and was behind in the count constantly, finally blew up in the fifth inning, walking in the go-ahead run for the Loggers, and falling behind 3-1, taking over 100 pitches for five innings. The Raccoons had their bullpen once again explode in the seventh inning, of which we twice seemed to escape on grounders that then went for errors and infield hits rather than double plays, with five unearned runs on Scott Wade (pitching) and Daniel Sharp (fielding). I accepted the loss, the sweep, last place, forever, and that I would have to bend over and take it for the rest of my sorry life. 8-2 Loggers. Palacios 3-4; Reece 2-4, HR, RBI; Joly 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; Game 3 MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C L. Ramirez – SS T. Johnson – P Padgett POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Fifield – LF Parker – P Farley I couldn’t be bothered to watch game 3 for very long. The total ineptitude of the brown-clad squad on the grass down there was too much to take. No score, two down in the top 2nd, Farley walked both Cruz and Ramirez, before the gates really opened. Sharp made an error, his 15th, to put Tom Johnson on and load the bases. Then Guerin got a grounder from Padgett, which he threw away to score two runs. Hernandez singled, Fletcher singled. 4-0, and I went for the hot dog vendor to eat myself senseless. When I was on about the fourth dog, Chris Parker hit a solo homer in the bottom 5th that finally got the Inepticoons on the board. It was about the last meaningful game event I witnessed before passing out into an engorged coma, but I was told I didn’t miss much of anything. 4-1 Loggers. Parker 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Farley 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, L (3-7) and 1-2; Yet the Raccoons’ top 2nd was on every channel that night, apparently, with the nicest punches swung by late night poison spitters Jimmy Phallon and Joe Lenny. That’s what the Raccoons have become. A punchline! And mostly the line was right in groin height. Of course, whenever Chris Parker or Mark Thomas are your only sources of offense, you deserve last place. And every single late night kick in the nuts. Even worse, this was a field day for the Agitator as well, who ran the Coons on the front page, precisely Martin jumping in vain to catch Guerin’s errant throw, and in thick letters, every one of them hurting intensely “THEY DID IT! SKUNKS’ 2,000TH LOSS THEIR FINEST!” Which is in fact true. This was our 2,000th ever regular season loss. And I can’t remember one that stung more. Besides, this seals the sweep, because look who goes next… Game 4 MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B M. Hall – 1B J. Cruz – C M. Vela – SS T. Johnson – P M. Garcia POR: LF Cavazos – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 3B McLaughlin – RF Flores – P Miranda The outcome of this game was never in doubt. It was miraculous however that the Loggers led off both of the first two innings with doubles and failed to score, with Miranda whiffing four batters. Both teams starved runners in no small number in the early going, with the Coons leaving one in scoring position each of the first three innings, including Guerin on third in the bottom 3rd, because that’s what they always do. In the top 5th, Garcia hit a double with one out and was on third after Hernandez’ groundout. Fletcher then actually laid down a bunt and was safe against the startled defense, but Garcia had never moved. Cristo Ramirez, the only left-hander in their lineup was tasked with getting the runs in, but Miranda made him the final piece in half a dozen strikeouts. His own offense was still unwilling / unable / unprepared to actually score a run, and thus it was Bakile Hiwalani’s leadoff jack in the top 6th that put something on the scoreboard. Despite my instant urge to slice my wrists, this game was not over yet. In fact, Albert Martin hit his 15th homer in the bottom of the same inning to keep us tied. Miranda then went on to pitch nine complete innings without any further damage done – but the team hadn’t scored until him sitting down Miguel Vela to end the ninth. Could they walk off? Oh look, it’s Wills again – Robbie Wills was pitching in every game against those Uttercoons, it seemed. The Coons went down 1-2-3, sending the game to extras and leaving Miranda without a well-deserved W. Well, Parker had hit for McLaughlin for the third out and Dan Nordahl went into that slot, pitching a perfect tenth. Sharp came on to replace McLaughlin in the field (and nobody hit anything his way), which put him into the prime slot to be a hero once Gil Flores led off the bottom 10th with a double off Wills. COME ON, DAN! BE A **ING BASEBALL PLAYER!! Sharp singled to left, and Flores was held at third base. In any other situation we would have sent him, but there was nobody out, and Cavazos was next, aaand he grounded to third to keep Flores pinned. Sharp moved to second, but his run was meaningless. The Loggers gambled VERY high here, walking Concie intentionally, which actually put the right-handed Wills against the left-handed home run leader, Jesus Palacios. Any long ball would do, or maybe a walk. In a full count, Palacios sent a fly to shallow right. This was not going to fall in. Why exactly Daniel Sharp wandered away from second base is a mystery. Cristo Ramirez caught the fly and played it to second before Sharp could scramble back, and that was our scoreless bottom 10th. Yeah, let that sink in for a moment. A wholly inept Daniel Miller loaded the bases in the 11th with one out. Martinez replaced him and caught Leon Ramirez’ liner for the second out. No Logger had been as **ed as Sharp, and so no double play. Vela then flew out. The Coons had Reece and Martin hit singles off John Hatt in the bottom 11th before Thomas hit into a double play. That left Reece on third with two out, with rule 5 pick Max Heart hitting for Martinez. And grounding out. Bottom 12th. Flores singled. Sharp singled. Flores to third. NO ING OUTS. Hatt walked Cavazos. STILL NO ING OUTS. Guerin grounded an 0-2 pitch to third, where Mark Hall did the only sensible thing and went home to nip Flores. ONE ING OUT. Palacios grounded to Hatt, who went home. TWO ING OUTS. Next. Neil Reece. THE HIT SOMETHING, NEIL!!! Three wild hacks later, Scott Wade came from the dugout to warm up for his second inning of work. Bottom 13th, Ricardo Medina pitching, leadoff double by Martin, and he was still on second when Wade came up with one out. Having a hitter hit was entirely hitle- pointless with this team. Maybe, just maybe, Scotty could do something. Actually, no, he grounded out, Martin moved to third, and then .087 RISP hitter Flores grounded out. The 14th. Sharp led off with a single, and then came Cavazos. I was tempted to bunt, but maybe not? Cavazos was NOT told to bunt and managed to hit the 1-1 pitch. High. Deep. Gone. 3-1 Uttercoons. Cavazos 2-6, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Martin 3-6, HR, 2B, RBI; Thomas 3-6; Sharp 3-3; Miranda 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K; Wade 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (3-3); The pains. In other news July 9 – DEN SP Paco Martinez (9-4, 4.79 ERA) is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff. July 13 – SAC SP Randy Travis shuts out the Stars on two hits in a 6-0 win. Travis improves to 9-4 and a 3.72 ERA on the season. July 14 – CIN LF/RF Dan Morris (.310, 18 HR, 60 RBI) will miss the rest of the month with a knee contusion. Complaints and stuff** With Palacios not getting stuff done this weekend, and Hiwalani plating two runs, the obnoxious Logger has now taken over the RBI lead in the CL. Palacios still leads in homers with 19, two over MIL Jorge Cruz, and Guerin ties with Daniel Silva with 22 steals. I had the day off from the horrors of the office, originally, and still went, because I am actually that dumb, for half the day. The plan was to come home and wind down three series with the Critters. But you know, I can’t. That series has been enough to make me want to … stab my own eyes out. They are THAT horrible. I gotta do something entirely mindless now. There also might not be an update for a few days, because I have run out of tears. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

02-26-2015, 04:16 PM	#1168
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Raccoons (38-55) vs. Indians (44-48) – July 16-18, 2001 With an anemic batting average of .236, the Indians were scoring just barely 3.8 runs per game. Their pitching had come down to earth a bit more recently, and now ranked sixth in the CL. Projected matchups: Miguel Lopez (5-6, 5.36 ERA) vs. Ben Carlson (3-7, 5.87 ERA) Carl Bean (7-7, 3.90 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (11-6, 2.84 ERA) Ralph Ford (6-8, 3.39 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (8-10, 4.10 ERA) These were all right-handers, and we weren’t scheduled a left-hander until possibly Saturday. Game 1 IND: CF Maguey – LF Quintela – RF J. Valdez – 1B D. Lopez – C Abrams – 3B Whaley – 2B Montray – SS Matthews – P Carlson POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – LF Parker – P M. Lopez Neil Reece set the Raccoons ahead in the bottom 1st with a 2-out RBI double that plated Palacios, and while Miguel Lopez showed some life in his ravaged body and struck out six batters through four innings, he also surrendered a no-doubt home run to David Lopez that tied the game in the fourth. Mark Thomas’ leadoff single in the bottom 5th was the first sign of some form of life or other from the Raccoons since the bottom 1st. Parker singled, Lopez bunted them over, and then Cavazos struck out and nobody was counting on Sharp for a reason. After his pathetic soft fly for the third out, Juan Valdez led off the top 6th with a double and was scored by a Whaley single, as the Indians took a 2-1 lead. However, somebody else was showing some life in the last few days, too. It was Neil Reece, who found Palacios on base as his turn came up in the bottom 6th and cracked an awesome 2-run, score-flipping home run. Martin homered back-to-back with him, giving Lopez a new 4-2 lead. Miguel Lopez’ day ended with a 1-out walk to David Lopez in the eighth, but Marcos Bruno struck out Abrams and Whaley to exit the frame. Dan Nordahl came out and ran the line to four straight strikeouts in the ninth, fanning Montray and Matthews, before Jose Paraz came out and hit a pinch-hit home run to cut the gap in half. Ron Alston hit for Tomas Maguey and singled, and then the nightmare happened and Carlos Quintela hit a grounder sharply to Sharp. For once, the youngster didn’t fudge up and made the play. 4-3 Coons. Palacios 2-4; Reece 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Parker 2-3; Lopez 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (6-6); Game 2 IND: SS Montray – CF J. Valdez – C Paraz – 1B D. Lopez – LF Alston – 2B J. Garcia – RF Lugo – 3B Matthews – P Park POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – SS Guerin – C Thomas – LF Parker – P Bean Jose Lugo’s solo jack in the second inning gave the Indians the first run of the game and they added two more against a hapless Carl Bean in the third. Chang-se Park sat down the first six Raccoons he faced, then was taken out by a Mark Thomas liner and had to leave the game with an injury. While this was bad for the Indians, and horrible for Park, it was perhaps a chance for the Raccoons to get one of the most dominating pitchers out of the game – admittedly in an ugly way. In the bottom 4th, reliever Alonso Alonso loaded the bases with no outs with a walk to Sharp and singles by Palacios and Reece. That was it for hits, and the best one could say was that Martin and Guerin had productive outs, getting the team back to 3-2, nursing false hope. 3-2 became 6-2 in the sixth as the Indians torched Bean for good, their offensive outburst crowned by Lugo’s second homer on the day. Two down in the bottom 6th, Martin homered and Guerin singled and stole bases on consecutive pitches, but Mark Thomas still left him on. The Coons again had three on with no outs in the bottom 7th, failed again being held to two sac flies, and it didn’t really matter, because in the meantime Bob Joly had been set on fire by the Indians in the top half of the inning. Our bullpen suffered close-to-complete annihilation in the top 9th, as usual. 10-5 Indians. For a team that’s not scoring a lot, them Indians are sure scoring a lot. On the league lead fronts, Bakile Hiwalani drove in four as the Loggers trashed the Crusaders, 11-0, so Palacios probably won’t see that lead never again, particularly because of his own inability to achieve anything worth noting. For the same reason, he now has in-house competition for the home run lead, where Martin has tied Jorge Cruz for second place with 17 homers. Concie’s two bags in this game got him to 24, breaking the tie with the resentful Daniel Silva and also claimed the ABL lead. Game 3 IND: CF Maguey – LF Quintela – RF J. Valdez – 1B D. Lopez – C Abrams – 3B Whaley – 2B Lepe – SS Matthews – P Alba POR: LF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – SS Guerin – RF Flores – 2B McLaughlin – P Ford Ralphie faced an all-right-handed lineup, and for a while things went fairly well, with Ford sitting down most of the players he faced and not allowing runs, and Cavazos’ 10th dinger of the season setting the Raccoons ahead, 1-0. In the top 5th, Matt Whaley hit a fly into the gap in left center. Neil Reece ran after it and made a launching grab for the first out of the inning. However, something bothered him and he kneeled down on the grass after tossing the ball back in. Cavazos went over and waved for the trainer to come out. Reece left, Cavazos moved to center, and Parker came in. The team still led 1-0 and in the sixth, Ford struck out Alba to reach 100 K’s for the season in 114 innings. Top 7th, still 1-0, because Thomas and Guerin found it too bothersome to plate Parker from third base in the bottom 6th. Ford got Valdez, but then allowed a big double to Lopez, who advanced to third on a wild pitch. Oh, here it comes. That wild one also ran the count full on Brian Abrams, who then lined to left, where Parker snagged it off the top of the grass for a legal catch, although the Indians protested. Now it was Matt Whaley, who had spent most of the year in AAA and sought ways to get back into a regular role, with two down and the tying run on third base. First pitch, contact, a flare to shallow right, Flores hustling in – and he got it. The eighth was uneventful, both pitchers finishing it, and the Raccoons held the 1-0 lead into the top 9th. Now, Nordahl was all kinds of wonky, and the Indians had plenty of left-handers. Ford had only allowed three hits and at least we knew whom he was batting against, and when. He entered on 105 pitches and the first one he made in the ninth was cannonballed hard up the third base line by Carlos Quintela – and Daniel Sharp made an amazing grab for the first out! Okay, we got this! And then Valdez singled. Hnng-gghh. No, we were committed now. This was all Ralphie. Lopez popped up and out to Guerin, and then Abrams hit a soft fly to right center. Flores picked up a pizza, ate it, and then casually made the catch in due time. 1-0 Coons! Cavazos 1-4, HR, RBI; Reece 1-2, 2B; Ford 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-8); The devil sat in Neil Reece’s back again, as some pain in the region of his herniated disc from last year had suddenly flared up again. The most grim estimates put his return window at around four weeks, and knowing my life and my fate, four weeks will be it. Looking for a replacement for him, Chris Beairsto was ruled out quickly since he had trouble adjusting to AAA pitching at this point and hit clearly below .200. But it was a golden window for somebody else, who had already been on the way off our watchlist: Chris Roberson. Roberson, 24, and our first round pick, fourth overall, in the 1998 amateur draft out of Seton Hall, had been lingering in St. Pete since early on in 1999, but had been ravaged by injuries last season. This year, he batted for a .970 OPS for the Alley Cats with 22 homers. Agile, he was also a very sound solution for the now open centerfield spot. His profile shows big power, but bad judgment. So, there will be K’s and he probably won’t ever draw a walk – EVER. He drew just 22 in roughly 400 PA in AAA this year. In turn he can steal bases, something Neil Reece was never very good at. Roberson was not yet on the 40-man roster, but would have been rule 5 eligible this fall anyway (and a September call up regardless, especially with the team awful and Brady already out). Ralph Ford still celebrated his first career shutout in his 58th start. Raccoons (40-56) @ Knights (35-60) – July 20-22, 2001 This was a battle of the two most pathetic pitching staffs, with the Knights having given up 523 runs to our 481, so there was quite a gap there. While the Coons could at least boast an average offensive output, the Knights were also second-worst in offense, so there was our chance to have a winning week! Projected matchups: Randy Farley (3-7, 4.89 ERA) vs. Hector Martinez (5-7, 5.72 ERA) Cipriano Miranda (3-10, 4.37 ERA) vs. Ramon Meza (3-5, 7.82 ERA) Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.15 ERA) vs. Manuel Movonda (3-8, 5.14 ERA) Yes that’s Bam Bam Movonda, pitching in his second year past being effective. Meza was the only lefty we would see this week. Game 1 POR: RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – CF Roberson – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Fifield – P Farley ATL: RF A. Rodriguez – SS Ingall – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 2B J. Miller – C Fabián – 1B Luján – 3B Verdon – P H. Martinez Chris Roberson’s first career AB was a bases-loading 2-out single in the top 1st, leading up to Concie plating a pair with his own single and the Furballs went up 2-0. Unfortunately, Farley was goddamn awful and constantly spent his time behind in the count. He walked the edge of taking a bat to the face (figuratively, as well as by me personally) for three innings before he finally imploded in the fourth, then however aided by a throwing error by Fifield that made one of the Knights’ pair of runs unearned. Roberson tripled in the top 5th to plate Sharp and regain the lead, with Sharp being on base after getting hit by a pitch. The same fate caught up with Palacios in the seventh, and he was injured by that Hector Martinez offering that appeared to strike him in the lower leg or ankle. The Raccoons bench hollered obscene insults at Martinez, who stretched out his arms as if to say that it wasn’t his fault that the ball had curved up into Palacios’ face. Heart replaced Palacios, joining Sharp on the bases. When Martin stepped in at the plate, he pointed his bat at Martinez, indicating who was next to leave this game. And he made him, with a 3-run homer, his 18th of the season. Reliever Francisco Gutierrez didn’t retire any of the next three Coons and we added two more runs. That put the lead at 8-2, yet now the bullpen took over from an ineffective Farley, and put ineffectiveness to new levels. Joly faced three men and was removed after a 1-out RBI triple by Ingall, who pulled something and also left the game. Then Diaz came in and walked both left-handers, Ware and Rios. Martinez was next, getting to 1-2 counts on both James Miller and Pedro Fabián. Miller made the second out with a sac fly, but Fabián singled, reloading the bags in an 8-4 game. The count on Luján ran full before he unwisely grounded out to Concie. With Cole Johnston pitching in the eighth, the Coons loaded the bases, but didn’t score. Bottom 8th, Daniel Miller, three batters faced, three singles. Bring Bruno! Marcos was NOT BY A LICK any better than Miller – but the Knights managed to run themselves out of the inning. Despite a Will Taylor single plating a run, Cavazos threw out Orlando Mendoza at home on that play, and when Gerardo Rios lifted a ball to left, Parker nailed Alejandro Rodriguez at home. Cavazos drove home a run in the ninth, leaving us to pick Scott Wade rather than Dan Nordahl – the only arms left in the pen after two innings of dismal failure – as this was not a save situation anymore. Perhaps Wade could make it one. Nah, he sat them down in order. 9-5 Raccoons. Sharp 2-4, BB, RBI; Martin 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Roberson 3-3, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Guerin 2-5, 3 RBI; So, the bullpen of horrors struck again, and Palacios was struck, and I can’t guarantee that Cipriano Miranda won’t take somebody’s head off on Saturday. On the other hand, Chris Roberson had one of the best debuts I can remember, as he wasn’t sat down even once by the Knights! Game 2 POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – 2B Heart – RF Flores – P Miranda ATL: RF A. Rodriguez – SS Ingall – LF Ware – CF G. Rios – 1B Tinker – 2B J. Miller – C Fabián – 3B Verdon – P Meza The Raccoons melted away much sooner this time. Miranda was ineffective, and run over in a 4-run third inning. Two runs were unearned after a Thomas throwing error. Those catchers… At that point, Miranda had already come inside to and plunked Gerardo Rios, and the Raccoons were still looking for a hit of their own. Their first hit of the game would be Chris Roberson’s first homer of hit major league career, a 1-out solo job in the top 4th. The horrible Miranda was yanked after an RBI double by Marvin Ingall in the bottom 4th, making it 5-2 Knights, and Diaz faced Ware and Rios again. He struck out Ware, but Roberson almost had to tear his legs out to catch Rios’ fly to deep center. The Coons scratched out a run in the top 5th, but left the bases loaded, and that was not the way you could play, even a last place team. Top 7th, Roberson on third base with one out, Sharp ran a 3-0 count against lefty Sammy Davis – then grounded out, and didn’t even get Roberson home. Another day, another boner from Dannyboy. In turn, the Knights got a run off – whom else – Bob Joly, and this game was drifting downriver, and they got another run out of Scott Wade in the bottom 8th, chaining up three hits with two outs. 7-3 Knights. Roberson 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Sharp 2-4, RBI; Last eight games for Ramiro Cavazos: 5-36, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K. Trying too hard? Game 3 POR: SS Guerin – CF Roberson – RF Cavazos – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B McLaughlin – P M. Lopez ATL: 2B J. Miller – SS Ingall – LF Ware – 1B Tinker – RF W. Taylor – CF Jaramillo – C A. Alvarez – 3B Verdon – P Movonda After striking out three in the first inning, Miguel Lopez was still turned inside out even quicker than the useless Miranda the day before, as the Knights put four runs on him one inning earlier, in the second, and with no errors in there this time. Key was a 2-out, 2-run triple by James Miller, and even then Lopez failed to stop the bleeding. However, the 2001 Movonda couldn’t stink up even to the 1998 Brownshirt version. In the top 4th, Sharp got on and scored on a Thomas double before Parker homered and moved the Coons back within one. After Guerin was thrown out stealing to kill our efforts in the fifth, Sharp hit a 1-out triple in the sixth and although Ingall threw all his body at Mark Thomas’ grounder, it went through, tying the game. Parker got on and was forced by McLaughlin, getting us into a predicament of Lopez having to bat with runners on the corners and two outs. While Movonda was weak at 37, we would really long for a pinch-hitter, but our bullpen had been eaten up (to some comedic effect) the last two days. Lopez, batting .206 on the year, was sent to bat for himself, and floated a low glider to left – and Ware didn’t get it, the Coons took the lead! The Coons stranded Roberson on third base however in the seventh when Sharp hit into a double play. A leadoff double by Nick Verdon in the bottom 7th spelled trouble and although Manuel Martinez relieved Lopez, he couldn’t keep the run from scoring, as the Knights re-tied the contest. In the eighth we faced ex-Coon Albert Matthews. When Chris Parker got on with a 1-out single it was time for some wicked games. McLaughlin bunted Parker to second. Then, Kent hit for Martinez – and sure enough doubled off Matthews, which made it 6-5 Coons. After Bruno was not scored on in the bottom 8th, we faced Manuel Reyes in the top 9th. He got Roberson, but he didn’t get much more. Cavazos singled, and Martin walked. Sharp plated Cavazos with a single, and Thomas hit an RBI double. We managed another sac fly before the inning fizzled out, and then elected to have Bruno go on in a 9-5 game. Julio Jaramillo led off the bottom 9th with an extra base hit. However, there was no agreeing over how many bases he had. Jaramillo said three, but Chris Parker said two and threw him out. Bruno still didn’t get out of the inning, allowing a single to Verdon and a walk to Rios with two down. Nordahl appeared to face Miller, and his second pitch was taken up the middle. Verdon was waved around third, and this time Chris Roberson disagreed, firing a grapeshot at home, where Verdon was out comfortably. 9-5 Coons. Guerin 2-5; Sharp 3-5, 3B, RBI; Thomas 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Parker 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; In other news July 19 – SFW LF Javier Encarnación (.323, 4 HR, 49 RBI) is out for a month with an elbow sprain. July 22 – The Falcons’ allrounder Herberto Vieitas (.225, 3 HR, 26 RBI) is out for the season with torn ankle ligaments. The 25-year old Vieitas plays all defensive positions except catcher. Complaints and stuff I had been waiting for the inevitable Neil Reece injury for quite some time. Now it’s here. With Brady down for (most likely) the whole season, our outfield looks toothless and bleak now. Playing two out of Parker, Flores, and Kent, plus some random scrub, on any given day does not likely enhance our chances to carry fourth place going forward. Hear me. Talking about fourth place as some kind of achievement. Although it really would be, with Jesus Palacios also going down. By Sunday night we knew there was no structural damage but he would still miss one to two more weeks with a foot contusion. There was no point in leaving him on the roster. The next semi-decent prospect might follow Chris Roberson on the heels in form of Miguel Ramirez (who was already up to scarce success this year), and even another outfielder in Edgardo Torrez. During our series with the Knights, they had Mike Crowe (.220, 1 HR, 8 RBI in 127 AB) designated for assignment. I just can’t see anybody picking up a 30-year old third baseman that mediocre, even for a minimum contract. Bob Joly has been shopped, yielding no suitors, even at the deadline. Well, to be fair, I only tried baseball teams. I didn’t try other outfits at their own deadline for acquiring barely living piles of meat, like … occult circles in need of sacrificial lambs for rituals and such. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

02-28-2015, 05:58 PM	#1169
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Raccoons (42-57) @ Falcons (50-47) – July 24-26, 2001 The Falcons were winless against the Raccoons this year, with three losses. We had comparable offensive formations, but they had way better (average) pitching. The Falcons ranked 8th in runs scored, and t-6th in runs allowed. Projected matchups: Carl Bean (7-8, 4.13 ERA) vs. Terry Wilson (7-5, 4.30 ERA) Ralph Ford (7-8, 3.13 ERA) vs. John Woodard (9-10, 4.83 ERA) Randy Farley (4-7, 4.67 ERA) vs. Manuel Hernandez (5-5, 4.53 ERA) “Loudmouth” Wilson and Hernandez were left-handers, of which we had seen only one last week. The fact that we went 4-2 last week might be less of an indicator of our inability to hit southpaws, but more of the fact that both teams last week were somewhat challenged with their personnel. The Coons – for six days – just happened to be challenged somewhat less. Also, with Brady, Reece, AND Palacios out, our lineup is pretty toothless, regardless of the hand the pitcher on any given day would toss with. Game 1 POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – RF Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – P Bean CHA: 2B H. Green – C F. Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B Soto – LF R. Wilson – SS A. Ramirez – 3B J. Munoz – P T. Wilson Carl Bean scored the Falcons’ first run with a wild pitch, with two down in the second. Antonio Ramirez’ 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 4th didn’t help either, especially with the Raccoons not getting anything worth mentioning done against “Loudmouth” Wilson. Their first remote scoring opportunity came in the sixth, with Roberson and Martin singling with no outs. Martin’s hit was a bloop just out of Ramirez’ reach, and that was begging for punishment. After Sharp hit into a double play, the inning fizzled out rather quickly. Bean failed to surrender anybody in the bottom 6th, three batters, three singles, and when Diaz came in, he lit the fuse. Martinez got a lucky double play that would hold the damage to two runs, and made it 5-0 Falcons. Both teams left two men on in the seventh inning, and the Raccoons just weren’t getting any closer. And they wouldn’t for the rest of the day. Eight hits, scattered all over the place. 5-0 Falcons. Kent (PH) 1-1; Heart (PH) 1-1; Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; Sigh. Game 2 POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B Heart – RF Kent – P Ford CHA: 3B H. Green – CF Estrada – RF Lugo – 1B Soto – LF Trinidad – C M. Castillo – SS J. Munoz – 2B Sullivan – P Woodard The Falcons offered an all-right-handed lineup against Ralph Ford, who loaded the bases in the bottom 1st. Two out, Miguel Castillo sent a deep fly to left center, and this was going to – no, Roberson got it! Ford however was in trouble, showing bad control all along. The Raccoons scored first, in the top 3rd. Guerin and Sharp got on with two outs, and Guerin then stole third base. Roberson came through with a single up the middle, plating Concie. In the bottom of the inning, Ford had Jose Lugo and Luis Soto both in 2-strike counts, then surrendered hard base hits, with Soto doubling home Lugo. Trinidad whiffed, but a single and a walk loaded them up with one out, before Terry Sullivan fouled out to Thomas, just short of the fence, and then you think, oh we’re gonna be fine, and then the pitcher hits a double through Sharp. Ford didn’t see the end of the next inning, walking the bases full, giving him six freebies in 3.2 innings. Martinez came in to face Sullivan, who put the game away with a bases-clearing triple on the first pitch he saw. The scoring continued against Scott Wade, who was stuffed for a total of five runs in 1.2 innings, facing nothing but right-handers. The Raccoons – as was to be expected – didn’t do anything. They just slowly watched the score escalating. 12-1 Falcons. Sharp 2-2, 2 BB; Four consecutive innings surrendering multiple runs. That’s gotta be a new low point. That’s … well, it fits in with the general pitching record of this game, as our resident collection of wet hairballs allowed 16 hits, ten walks, and one plunked batter en route to getting stuffed for a dozen, with 14 more left on base by the generous Falcons. And Sharp? Why did I miss that he is dumb as a rat’s ass? He doubled in the first, and made an out at third base, and he was out by a light year. Yeah, dumbass, you might have been on base four times, but YOU’RE STILL DOING **!!! Game 3 POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – 2B M. Ramirez – RF Kent – C Fifield – P Farley CHA: 2B H. Green – C F. Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B Soto – LF R. Wilson – SS A. Ramirez – 3B J. Munoz – P M. Hernandez The first thing that the Raccoons did – other than vanishing 1-2-3 in the top 1st – was Gary Fifield dropping Hubert Green’s pop that didn’t get much farther than five feet from the plate. Green stole second with Fifield’s throw so high that Ramirez had to leap to keep it in the infield, and Jose Lugo sacrificed him home eventually. 1-0 Falcons, because of inadequate personnel manning certain positions. We had nine of those on the field at that point. Top 2nd: Sharp hit a double off the wall, Ramirez walked, and Kent doubled to right, plating Sharp only. In a 3-0 count, Fifield suddenly swung and popped out to short. In the Falcons’ cozy suite for the high level brass of the visiting team, I suffered a mild stroke and fell crashing into the table with the delicately presented and certainly mildly expensive food, while Maud was looking on. She couldn’t help it, she’s a woman, she had an hors-d’oeuvre with salmon in one hand and her ugly old-lady’s purse in the other. She might not have wanted to help me, either. Neither did the Raccoons. Although Ford plated both runners Fifield had foolishly left on with a single, he still had to pitch, but didn’t do it for long. Technically, he still had a no-hitter going, up 3-1, but it was the pitcher Manuel Hernandez to break it up in the bottom 3rd with a 1-out single. The gates opened and flushed Farley far away, as the Falcons reeled off five more hits and a walk to plate six runs in the inning. And that was that game, also over after five innings or less. Hernandez pitched a complete game, striking out ten Issuecoons, including all three in the ninth inning. 8-4 Falcons. Ramirez 2-3, BB; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Once I had plucked all the little wooden sticks – cheese cubes still attached on some – from my face, I felt the urge to purge some sucker to Antarctica. The choice was not difficult. Gary Fifield, batting .152 and useless in every other regard as well, was vaporized. The call went to C/1B Jorge Defrese, a 23-year old right-handed batter from Venezuela, whom we drafted 258th overall in the ninth round of the 1996 draft. Generally not major league material, so he fits right in. This filled our 40-man roster, but we swiftly moved Clyde Brady from the 15- to the 60-day DL. Raccoons (42-60) vs. Thunder (67-33) – July 27-29, 2001 Odes should be composed about this Thunder team, and they ought to be praised in song. The Raccoons were , knew it, and we were racing straight for an 0-6 week and an 1-8 year against Oklahoma. Projected matchups: Cipriano Miranda (3-11, 4.49 ERA) vs. Luis Martinez (4-4, 2.46 ERA) Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.27 ERA) vs. Ricky Beach (6-1, 1.94 ERA) Carl Bean (7-9, 4.30 ERA) vs. Aaron Anderson (9-6, 3.15 ERA) Ya, we’ve got no chance. Game 1 OCT: CF Humphrey – SS Liu – 2B Grant – LF D. Henry – C Vinson – RF M. Rodriguez – 1B T. Cardenas – 3B H. Castro – P L. Martinez POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 3B Heart – RF Flores – 2B McLaughlin – P Miranda Guerin doubled and was plated by Roberson in the bottom 1st, as the Baseball Gods teased and taunted me, giving the Raccoons a 1-0 lead. Miranda wasn’t doing so bad, however, and handled the Thunder quite well, despite giving out a few walks and he also overcame a Max Heart error that put Grant on with nobody out in the fourth. To be fair, Cavazos and Roberson both made multiple fine plays in the outfield, too. When Mark Thomas went yard in the bottom of the sixth, collecting Martin to give Miranda three runs of support, Miranda still had the Thunder in a 1-hit death choke. But bad control – he walked Tomas Cardenas in the seventh for his fifth BB on the day – put him in a bad spot with the pitch count. He was at 109 through seven. Yet, with the Raccoons you’re always tempted to send a starter with a shutout going back out there, with 109 pitches or 190, rather than risk to bring in a reliever with two outs and nobody on and have a grand slam in the inning. The eighth inning was a quick one, but Miranda’s velocity dropped into the mid-80s and we got Dan Nordahl ready, until Roberson’s leadoff jack made it 4-0 in the bottom 8th. Now Wade joined Nordahl and entered the ninth with the same score. He struck out David Vinson (easy), then walked a pair. Nordahl entered, struck out Hector Castro, then pinch-walked Takahashi Higashi. Oh come on, boys, don’t …! Joey Humphrey ran a full count, and Nordahl eventually threw a pitch in the dirt to force home a run. Kuang Liu was next, and ripped into the first pitch. It was a high fly to deep right, and Gil Flores had played deep already, but this was … was it going to …? Would it …? Nope, it wouldn’t, it lacked less than five feet of depth, and with Flores playing deep, he made the catch at the wall. 4-1 Raccoons. Roberson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Thomas 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Miranda 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 4 K, W (4-11); Nine walks, four of those in the ninth inning. No wonder the neighbors here me screaming at 3:45 am. And I wondered where I got that sore throat from every morning after waking up. Game 2 OCT: SS Liu – CF Humphrey – 2B Grant – 1B Higashi – C Briggs – RF M. Rodriguez – LF A. Diéguez – 3B H. Castro – P Beach POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B M. Ramirez – P M. Lopez Spending his day behind in the count was Miguel Lopez, and the Thunder took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Somehow, they didn’t score again until the fifth, when they singled every which way off Lopez and plated two more runs. The Raccoons were tamed by Ricky Beach, whom Vince had rated a 10/11/8, but who was pitching to a sub-2 ERA. He allowed two hits through four, before the third one by Chris Parker was a long one, cutting the gap to 3-1. Lopez went 6.2 innings and left with Beach on first base after a leadoff single, but Miller got Bob Grant to fly out to Cavazos. Down by two, technically the Coons had a chance, and a 1-out double by Thomas in the bottom 7th opened a little door. When Higashi misfielded Parker’s grounder, Thomas scored, and then Ramirez doubled to right, giving us the go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out. Kent hit for Miller, and grounded out so poorly that the runners had to hold. Guerin came up and sent a fly to center on the second pitch. The fly got longer and longer and eluded Humphrey, hitting off the base of the centerfield wall as Guerin flipped the score with a 2-out, 2-run double! A 4-3 lead, what are we gonna do!? Once Cavazos unsurprisingly stranded Guerin to end the inning, Marcos Bruno appeared – and went on to blow it. Two out, runners on the corners, David Vinson hit for Hector Castro. The count ran full. Vinson ALWAYS strikes out in these situation. He ALWAYS does. Bruno walked him. And now the Thunder did NOT hit for Beach! Bases loaded, two out, Bruno against Beach, and this one ended with a strikeout. But we still had to nurse Nordahl through the ninth, and he faced the top of the order. Danny was much more in the zone than the previous night, and the Thunder were tempted to make contact – poor contact. Kuang Liu grounded out to Concie. Humphrey fouled out. And Bob Grant grounded out to Ramirez. 4-3 Coons! Guerin 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; What? Two wins in a row? Against the THUNDER? Is this real life? Game 3 OCT: CF Humphrey – SS Liu – 2B Grant – 1B Higashi – LF D. Henry – C Vinson – RF M. Rodriguez – 3B H. Castro – P Anderson POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – LF Parker – RF Cavazos – 2B Heart – C Defrese – P Bean In the top 2nd, Dan Henry tripled and knocked his elbow hard against the base sliding in. The Thunder had to replace him, but had a good chance to score now with Eric Phillips waiting to be driven in with one out. Bean walked Vinson (!?), then struck out Marcos Rodriguez and Hector Castro to end the inning. While Bean had had a shoddy beginning with two walks and a triple against him, he then struck out four more for half a dozen in total by the end of the fifth. His team mates weren’t shy about leaving scoring chances unused, however. In the bottom 4th, Sharp reached on a Phillips error, and Roberson legged out an infield single when Bob Grant had to grab the ball twice from his glove. Martin killed it with a double play grounder and Parker struck out, and we left two on base in the fifth. Top 6th, and a Max Heart error put Humphrey on base with nobody out. Humphrey was on third with two down, but Higashi hacked himself out to end the inning. Vinson was hit by Bean in the seventh, but nothing came of that, either, and we still had no score, however this changed soon. Ramiro Cavazos, deeply muddled in the mother of all slumps, led off the bottom 7th with a homer, and now it was 1-0 Coons. Bean made it through the eighth comfortably, and then Roberson and Martin hit back-to-back doubles starting the bottom 8th! Jorge Defrese’s major league debut had not been too great so far. He was 0-3 coming to bat with two out and two on in this inning, but now made contact and singled up the middle for his first major league hit. With Bean next, the time to score was now and Martin was waved home, where he arrived at the same time as Diéguez’ throw and was called …….. – SAFE!! Anderson then struck out Bean, who had other things on his mind, like his 3-0 lead. He had surrendered only two hits on the day so far, and surrendered Bob Grant on the first pitch. And then – oh bother – both Higashi and Phillips managed to single past the reach of Concie at short. Vinson was next. Hey, there was our chance! Bean fell behind him, however, before Vinson put the fourth pitch in play. It went to Concie as well. This time, our cherished Venezuelan shortstop got it, zipped to Heart, to Martin – ballgame. 3-0 Furballs! Guerin 2-4; Roberson 2-4, 2B; Martin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Bean 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (8-9); WOOOOT!!! A sweep of the Thunder!!!??? I am pretty sure it is safe to assume that they don’t know what hit them here. And neither do I. For Carl Bean, this was his third career shutout, and the second as a Furball. In other news July 24 – NAS SP Dave Crawford (6-11, 5.11 ERA) befuddles helpless Wolves in a 3-hitter, taking a 6-0 win. July 24 – DEN C Johnny Johnson (.264, 7 HR, 47 RBI) is out for a month with a lat strain. July 26 – And more trouble for the Gold Sox, as OF Chih-tui Jin (.306, 5 HR, 28 RBI) goes down with a sprained ankle and may also miss up to a month. July 27 – The Crusaders acquire backup outfielder Ricardo Chavez (.374, 11 HR, 26 RBI in 131 AB) from the Wolves, giving up SP George Allen (1-2, 3.57 ERA) and prospect outfielder Wilson Ballina, who had been in the A-level All Star Game this season. July 28 – The Buffaloes acquire C Pablo Ledesma (.260, 8 HR, 45 RBI) from the Pacifics for SP Carlos Camacho (2-9, 5.70 ERA). Complaints and stuff** Here’s one coming out of leftfield, or from behind the plate, or whatever. Mark Thomas was named CL Player of the Week, batting .450 (9-20) with 1 HR and 5 RBI. Not bad for someone who was a throw-in to a deal to get rid of an unwanted pitcher, and only made to the primary role because our Chosen One, Julio Mata, was beyond terrible the first two months (and now is hurt). During the middle Falcons game, I had a Cyclones moment. What’s a Cyclones moment? Well, that was the first time I threw in the towel on this team, over two years ago. Of course, the sucker faces were different then, but they were no less abysmal (well perhaps a little more abysmal). Then, they walked NINETEEN batters in a nine inning contest against the Cyclones, which would tie a now 127-year old “real” major league record. If all you come to the park for every day, is another hit with a wooden beam straight into your teeth, why do you come then? The Thunder series was certainly an aberration, because I can’t explain it otherwise. They are not tops of the league in hitting, but they are certainly better than plating four runs against the Coons – in a three-game set, that is. Totally random fact: Jorge Defrese is the first position player with the surname beginning with D to play on the Raccoons since 1995 (Matt Duncan). Before that, you have to go back to Mark Dawson, whose career ended in 1991. Anybody remember the first Raccoons position player the surname beginning with D to play for the Raccoons? Johan Dolder, the Pride of Luxembourg, Luxembourg! Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

02-18-2015, 09:57 PM	#1162
Trebro All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 753	Assuming you don't have scouting set to 100% accurate, I'm guessing that this is one of those things that's a miss. His K/BB ratio is like 4/1, which doesn't jibe with bad control, unless you know that the AAA league is all free-swingers. He's worth a look, I think--but maybe not until September? Why run the clock on this guy if he's good, and start the budget-busting so soon?

02-18-2015, 10:05 PM	#1163
Orcin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 9,849	I believe he is closer to the 10 than the 6 in control, judging from his stats. It could be as Trebro said, i.e. a scouting mistake, or maybe he has received a development bump and the scouting report just hasn't caught up yet. Either way, he appears to be an ace in the making from those pitch ratings. Issuecoons... I like it.

03-01-2015, 04:30 PM	#1170
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Raccoons (45-60) @ Condors (58-47) – July 30-August 1, 2001 The Condors were creaming us at a 5-1 pace this season (but so had the Thunder…), and while our offensive outputs were roughly similar, their pitching was much better, with their rotation ranking fourth in the CL. A similarity between clubs was the fact that we both had better rotations than bullpens (but their bullpen was still solid, 7th in the CL). And, well, offense… we lack three key players in the lineup, so here it comes. Projected matchups: Ralph Ford (7-9, 3.55 ERA) vs. Bastyao Caixinha (12-8, 3.02 ERA) Randy Farley (4-8, 5.07 ERA) vs. Curt Powell (9-6, 4.70 ERA) Cipriano Miranda (4-11, 4.08 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (10-8, 3.32 ERA) Game 1 POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Cavazos – RF Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – P Ford TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – C Cicalina – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B B. Boyle – 2B A. Ramirez – RF B. Wilson – CF G. Davis – P Caixinha Ford struck out seven, walked none – and still lost. After Daniel Sharp struck first, in the first, with a solo home run, the Raccoons didn’t utilize Roberson reaching second base on an error and left runners on the corners before going into hiding. Things quickly turned sour for Ford with a 2-run home run by Bill Wilson in the bottom 2nd, and the Condors added a run the next inning. Ford went six and was hit for in the 3-1 game with two on and two out in the top 7th. Max Heart doubled over Gerald Davis, scoring a run and putting the go-ahead runs in scoring position, only for Guerin to strike out. We also had two on in the eighth, but Mark Thomas double played us out of there, and in the ninth Cavazos led off with a single off Enrico Gonzalez, was bunted over by Flores, advanced on Ramirez groundout, and then Jason Kent managed to hit the ball about ten feet to make the final out. 3-2 Condors. Sharp 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Cavazos 2-4; Heart (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wade 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Yeah well, we have no surviving offense left. Reece down, Palacios down, Brady down (I do actually sound like a broken record, right?), and Martin is slumping, Cavazos is slumping harshly, and the rest of the team … meh … Game 2 POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B McLaughlin – P Farley TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – 2B B. Boyle – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – RF Richardson – 1B Cicalina – P Powell The Raccoons were hitless the first time through the lineup, while Daniel Richardson (grmpf) had put the Condors on top 1-0 in the bottom 2nd. Powell faced the minimum into the fifth inning, with the Coons drawing two walks and finally a Guerin single in the fourth, but had hit into double plays twice and Guerin had been nipped stealing. Guerin stole his 26th base later in the sixth, but by then Cavazos had tied the score with a homer. In that sixth, Guerin was on second, Sharp on first, two down, and Roberson singled to left. Guerin was sent, and thrown out. Neither starter made it past the seventh, and neither got a decision. Top 9th, Roberson led off against lefty Jose Ochoa, and took him deep! Martin reached on an error, and the Coons somehow happened into loading the bags with two out. Kent hit for Diaz – and again failed. Nordahl had no cushion with a 2-1 lead, and readily walked Carlos Ramos and allowed a single to Richardson to get the bottom 9th underway. The Condors then tried to bunt, but Cicalina popped up and right to Nordahl. They bunted their runners into scoring position and Nordahl faced .145 Gerald Davis, a lefty. The count went to two strikes before Davis made contact, but it was another pop. McLaughlin ended the game. 2-1 Coons. Guerin 2-3, BB; Roberson 2-4, HR, RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Game 3 POR: SS Guerin – CF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – RF Kent – 2B M. Ramirez – P Miranda TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – 2B B. Boyle – C C. Ramos – LF Richardson – 1B Jabalera – CF MacKey – P J. Maldonado We got somebody thrown out at home right in the first inning, MacKey nailing Sharp to end the inning without the Raccoons scoring. In turn, Antonio Jabalera’s first AB of the season resulted in an RBI triple in the bottom 2nd as Miranda fell 2-0 behind. Miranda was reeking, possibly rotting, on the mound, and by the fourth inning had racked up THREE HBP’s. Jabalera doubled home another run, putting the Raccoons 3-1 down. And with the way the Raccoons were going around at the plate, that was already a fatal deficit. Indeed they just couldn’t get runners on base. The Condors didn’t do a lot against Miranda, who went into the seventh before getting stuck, but Juan Diaz ended the inning. Manuel Martinez loaded them up in the bottom 8th and Miller allowed one run to score while collecting the last two outs. Top 9th, Gonzalez in – and the Raccoons didn’t even get close to reaching base, with Kent and Ramirez striking out. 4-1 Condors. Sharp 2-4; Kent 2-4, RBI; We have gone 2-7 against the Condors for the second straight year. Also, when you don’t score at all, you get more aggressive. That’s why we tend to send runners. And it never works. Raccoons (46-62) vs. Titans (69-40) – August 2-5, 2001 We were going up against the CL’s diamond rotation (2.81 ERA), and we were probably not going to get too many dents into that. Their offense was ranked third, and that should be sufficient to inflict some hurt. The Titans have just lost the division lead to the Loggers, so they were hungry to deal damage. Projected matchups: Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.20 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (2-4, 3.89 ERA) Carl Bean (8-9, 4.04 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (16-5, 2.68 ERA) Ralph Ford (7-10, 3.60 ERA) vs. Steven Snyder (9-9, 2.89 ERA) Randy Farley (4-8, 4.82 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (8-5, 2.59 ERA) O’Halloran is the only left-hander, however right now I think that left-handers aren’t the issue. We can at most put three left-handers and a switch-hitter into the lineup, and THAT might be a problem against RIGHT-handers. Brady and Palacios are being sorely missed in that regard (not that Reece is not), and the latest prognosis on Palacios, whose DL time runs out on Friday, is that he is not quite ready to return this weekend and will most likely only return early next week. Reece is two weeks off. Game 1 BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – RF J. Thomas – LF Garrison – C Manuel – SS D. Silva – 1B Walker – 3B D. Mendez – P Hildred POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – 2B Heart – P M. Lopez In muggy weather, Lopez walked three batters in the first, and the disgusting Daniel Silva lobbed a single past Heart for two runs, before Walker struck out. Lopez didn’t make it through the third inning, being truly horrible, issuing five walks and being loaded with five runs. The Coons had nothing going, being limited to two soft hits through five innings against Hildred, who then shoveled his own hole in the sixth. He hit Guerin, who led off the inning, then made an error to put Cavazos on as well. Roberson and Sharp came through with RBI singles and Parker also brought a run in before we ran out of steam. It had drizzled earlier, twice actually, but the rain got heavier in the seventh, forcing a 37-minute delay, ending a strong long relief effort by Bob Joly. Bruno finished the inning when play resumed. Down 5-3, Gil Flores led off with a pinch-hit single in the bottom 7th. Guerin made an out, before Cavazos came up against reliever Román. Ramiro vs. Ramiro, and the one Ramiro took the other Ramiro deep – and that tied the score! Could we get some momentum and – no. Scott Wade pitched a clean eighth, before it all went wrong in the ninth. Josh Thomas doubled, and the Titans would hit TWO infield singles in the inning en route to plate two runs – the latter run walked in by Juan Diaz. The Coons were two down and at John Bennett’s mercy. He put down Guerin, and put down Cavazos. Defrese hit for Diaz in the #3 hole and drew a walk. That brought up a slumping Albert Martin, 0-3 on the day. One strike, two strikes, HOME RUN!!! Martin’s 19th homer of the year tied the game again! As we were sent to overtime, our already depleted bullpen ejected Martinez to pitch the tenth. It would be the last inning of the day. Martinez sucked, loaded the bases, and then Miller came out and walked a run in. Bennett hit a sac fly and then finished the job in his second try in the bottom 10th. 9-7 Titans. Roberson 3-4, RBI; Joly 3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Albert Martin tied Jesus Palacios with 19 homers, but they do not lead the CL anymore. Jorge Cruz had tied Palacios on Wednesday, and moved to 20 while the Raccoons came oh so close and still lost. Game 2 BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B H. Ramirez – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – LF Kinnear – CF L. Alonso – 2B D. Mendez – P O’Halloran POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – LF Cavazos – 1B Heart – RF G. Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – C Defrese – P Bean This game had automatic loss written all over it. Or was it? Bean pitched a clean first before Guerin got on base. Roberson singled, moving him to third, and Cavazos scored Concie with a sac fly. Okay, 1-0. What now? Heart doubled! That put two in scoring position with one out for Flores and his grounder up the middle trickled through between Silva and Mendez and plated both runners! If Bean could just pitch a decent game now… He pitched three scoreless frames, before Mark Austin homered in the fourth. Lopez walked, Kinnear singled, and Alonso sent a fly to deep left where Cavazos laid out to make a fantastic catch to end the inning no sooner than absolutely necessary. It was Austin at the plate again in the fifth with two out, two on – and this time nobody was there to intercept a double as Gil Flores ran after it in vain in the corner in deep right field. That tied the game, but wasn’t shocking, since nobody expected better from Bean. The game was still tied at three in the eighth with Marcos Bruno pitching. He got socked again, with Austin singling, and Ramirez then spilling Thomas’ bouncer for an error. Lopez walked, and we were going down hard. Kinnear flew out to Roberson, runners holding, but Luis Alonso unloaded a bases-clearing double and that was that. Another run was charged on Nordahl, with us out of relievers to throw into a loss. 7-3 Titans. Guerin 2-5; Roberson 3-5; Heart 2-3, BB; Flores 2-4, 2 RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1; Bean 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; The useless Miguel Ramirez was trashed after this game. He was batting .164, was inefficient in the field, and I hated his face. We made a wicked move: We called up Nick Brown. Game 3 BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – 1B Austin – LF Garrison – C Manuel – RF Kinnear – SS H. Ramirez – 2B Walker – P Snyder POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C M. Thomas – RF Kent – 2B Heart – P Ford Ralph Ford was massively useless in this game, losing it with flying colors, never mind that the offense couldn’t get a bat up at all. He was hooked after four plus innings, in which he walked five, threw two wild pitches, and also gave up a home run, as the Titans led 4-0 with two men on and nobody out. Bob Joly replaced him, casually gave up a 2-run triple to lead-footed Andres Manuel, and the Raccoons were equally casually flushed down the toilet. Joly was as ** as Ford, surrendering three hits and three runs in two innings for two more runs. Yes, the Titans were inefficient with their runners. The Raccoons would give out 13 hits, nine walks, and countless facepalms en route to getting demolished, while tallying easily unnoticed three singles themselves. 10-0 Titans. Kent 1-1, 3 BB; And it just goes on and on and on and on and on … Game 4 BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – LF L. Alonso – 2B V. Flores – P J. Sanchez POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – RF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – C Defrese – P Farley The Raccoons had the first run of the game hammered out at home by Luis Alonso in the second, and left Jorge Defrese on third base where he arrived with one out the next inning. Bottom 4th, Sanchez walked the first two Critters, Martin and Sharp, before Kent flew out in a 3-1 count. McLaughlin’s single loaded them up, and Defrese ran a full count before hitting a perfect 6-4-3 problem solver – for the Titans. Randy Farley had deferred getting flogged through four innings, but a pair of leadoff doubles by Alonso and Victor Flores were easily enough to sink him, as both were scored in the top 5th. The Raccoons left two on in the bottom 5th, and Farley was up to bat against reliever Ramiro Román (Sanchez had walked his arm off, apparently) with two on and two out. As much as we loved to have a nominal batter bat here, the pitcher had to, since our deflated bullpen was not in a position to pitch three innings. Predictably, Farley struck out. Bottom 8th, still 2-0, Sharp and Kent got on with no outs. Orlando Blanco had come in just for Kent and had surrendered a single. How unexpected! The Titans went right to the next guy, Risto Mäkelä, and Parker hit for McLaughlin and singled. Bases loaded, nobody out for Defrese. And he drew a walk! That pushed the tying run to third – no outs! – and now we were comfy with batting for Randy, since we were expecting to have Nordahl pitch in the ninth anyway. Mäkelä walked Thomas, tying the game and then Guerin singled, giving Randy the lead. From here, only Roberson brought someone in with a sac fly. But we were up 4-2, we’re good, we’re good. Austin led off with a single. Thomas flew out deep to right, and then Manuel grounded to second, where Heart was. Heart went to first, where Defrese was, and Defrese dropped it. Well, maybe … and Nordahl walked Ramirez. We’re not good. We’re so not good. A walk to Alonso brought home a run, and then Kinnear hit in the #8 hole. This game was lost, regardless of whether Kinnear would swing or not, since Nordahl had just melted completely. Kinnear swung, it was high, it was deep, it was a grand slam. 7-4 Titans. Guerin 3-5, RBI; McLaughlin 2-2, BB, 2B; Farley 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Sharp was thrown out at home to end the bottom 2nd. Yes we keep doing it, since next to bat was Defrese with first base open after McLaughlin’s double, and after that Farley. And it never works. It never works. In other news July 30 – A partially torn UCL ends the season of 37-year old CHA SP Fernando Chavez (5-7, 4.81 ERA). August 5 – Oklahoma lose their closer Jimmy Morey (5-3, 2.98 ERA, 24 SV). The 32-year old will be out for the season with a torn labrum. Complaints and stuff** (sits at the table, silently, face buried in the palms) … (silence) … … … (takes the hands down, showing eyes that have been cried bright red) It’s… Last 13 games, 35 runs scored, 68 runs allowed. Without all the good players, the team can’t score any runs. I mean, it is very obvious, but I can’t stop beating the drum. Amazingly this has happened right at the very moment where our pitching did not implode on a daily basis (well, until the Titans series). I also try to stay away from certain guys in the pen, mostly Marcos Bruno, who’s had a hard rookie season, and is already well over 50 innings on the season. I really don’t want to use my relievers that much… Now the Nick Brown talk. 11th round pick back when, now he’s in the Bigs. He started on Thursday, and this makes him a nice fit to take over the fifth slot in the rotation. Miguel Lopez gets moved to the bullpen. We will look for someone to get rid off in the next week. It’s really between Diaz and Joly… The newest scouting report on Brown hasn’t changed from the one I showed you before. In 21 starts this year between AA and AAA, he has pitched 138.1 innings, and struck out 195 batters. That’s something. This young lefty will get his chance on Tuesday. We are antsy to see him go out! Not that he could wrap up anything else than a bitter loss. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

03-05-2015, 04:31 PM	#1172
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Chris Parker hit the DL with torn thumb ligaments and was not expected back until early-to-mid September. Neil Reece was still a few days off, and we picked Manny Gabriel to keep the roster slot warm for the time being (also outfielders being scarce in our system, except on the DL). Raccoons (49-69) vs. Buffaloes (58-60) – August 14-16, 2001 While the Buffaloes had the second-lowest batting average in the Federal League at .262 they knew how to hit them to make them count, and ranked 7th in runs scored overall. The pitching staff was middle quality as well, ranking t-6th in runs allowed, with a -4 run differential overall. For stark contrast, the Raccoons’: -113; Projected matchups: Carl Bean (9-9, 4.02 ERA) vs. Dan George (7-5, 3.28 ERA) Ralph Ford (7-12, 4.14 ERA) vs. Manny Ramos (8-9, 3.88 ERA) Randy Farley (4-9, 4.85 ERA) vs. Dylan Jones (0-1, 6.75 ERA) While we knew the lefty George and the righty Ramos well, for them having pitched excessively for the Indians and Canadiens, respectively, the 24-year old southpaw rookie at the back end of the series was an unknown who would make only his fifth career start in the contest. He had been taken two rounds prior to Nick Brown in the 1995 draft, in the ninth round. Game 1 TOP: CF Gusmán – 3B Merritt – 2B Spinu – 1B M. Brown – LF Perri – C P. Ledesma – RF R. Reyes – SS McCullough – P George POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 1B Martin – C Thomas – RF Flores – CF Kent – 2B Heart – P Bean To signal that the game was lost at an early stage, Carl Bean went into 3-ball counts on the #2 through #6 batters in the Topeka lineup, walked the first three of those, had Lionnel Perri single home a pair, and was lucky for Ledesma to make an out. Reyes fouled out. Congrats, Buffaloes. You came here at the right time. Following Perri’s 2-run home run in the top 3rd, Bean walked Ledesma and was removed to be flogged. Miguel Lopez entered the pointless 4-1 contest, which was made a little less pointless by Dan George in the bottom of the same, third inning. Leading off with a Guerin double, George walked two more then to load the bases with one out. Mark Thomas singled home a run, and Flores drew a run-scoring walk. The tying run then scored on a wild pitch. While Lopez pitched efficient long relief, George was still in the 4-4 game in the bottom 7th. Palacios hit for Daniel Miller to get the inning underway, singling to center. Guerin and Sharp did the same, loading the bags with no outs. Ryan O’Quinn replaced George, a fireballing southpaw, who limited the Raccoons to a pair of sacrifice flies. Our bullpen still depleted from Sunday, Juan Diaz got tasked to protect a 2-run lead for a WHOLE inning. As was to be expected - … he got two outs, before Oliver Guzmán and Javier Gusmán got on with a single and a walk, respectively. Then Herman Wilson hit for the pitcher in the #2 hole. The 31-year old Alabaman had gone 584 AB since all the way back to 1992 without ever hitting a home run. He hit one off Diaz. 7-6 Buffaloes. Guerin 2-5, 2B; Sharp 2-3, 2 BB; Kent 2-4, RBI; Palacios (PH) 1-1; Lopez 4.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K; Game 2 TOP: CF Gusmán – 1B Merritt – 2B Spinu – LF Perri – C P. Ledesma – RF West – 3B O. Guzmán – SS McCullough – P M. Ramos POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Cavazos – RF Kent – CF Taramillo – P Ford After a first inning to forget, with a leadoff double by Gusmán, a walk and a plunked batter, which led to somehow just one run, Ford settled in a bit. The Coons tied the score in the bottom 1st on a Palacios single, and Ford struck out seven total over four innings, also seeing the Critters leave the bases loaded in the bottom 3rd, and he left Kent on third himself in the bottom 4th. Top 5th, leadoff double by Manny Ramos, followed by a Gusmán single. In between pop outs, Ford balked the opposing pitcher home, 2-1 for the hairy cows. Again, Guerin landed a hit, stole a base, and was scored by Palacios to tie the game in the same inning. Ford went seven, struck out ten(!), and then hoped for some offense as he was hit for in the bottom 7th, but Concie didn’t get on, so there was no scoring, obviously. Top 8th, Miller pitched, hit Spinu and we did not go to Diaz with Matt Brown hitting for Perri, because Miller can give up the homer just as well – and did. Scott Wade continued his own futile ways, and couldn’t even get the game over with, allowing two hits in the ninth, then a walk, a balk, another walk … Marcos Bruno was sent in to finish the escalation, surrendering a grand slam to Pablo Ledesma in the processs. 10-2 Buffaloes. Ford 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K; How on earth can a team be this crap …? We activated Neil Reece for the third game in the series, and Manny Gabriel was sent back to St. Pete without having gotten into a game. Could have started the .077 kid just as well, though. Difference would have been minimal. Game 3 TOP: CF Gusmán – 3B Merritt – 2B Spinu – 1B M. Brown – LF Perri – C P. Ledesma – RF J. Maldonado – SS McCullough – P D. Jones POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Flores – C Defrese – LF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – P Farley Having Concie on base was mandatory for the Raccoons, who scored their first run of the final game of the series in the bottom 3rd when he doubled and was plated by Sharp with a single. Although Reece walked to put two on with no outs, Jones struck out Martin and Flores, and Jorge Defrese was not a hazard to opposing pitching anyway. He popped out. Bottom 5th, Concie failed to reach, but Sharp singled and Reece doubled to go into scoring position with one out. Martin failed to land a knock, but scored Sharp with a groundout, and then Gil Flores hit a fly over Javier Gusmán and came up with an RBI triple. Defrese’s grounder defeated Georg Spinu, and the Coons took a 4-0 lead behind very reasonable 3-hit pitching by Randyboy through five innings. Said Randyboy allowed singles to Merritt and Spinu, the first two Buffaloes he faced in the sixth. Matt Brown grounded hard to Al Martin, who still made the play to second, and received the ball for a double play, and Lionnel Perri grounded out to keep the hairy cows off the board. When Brent McLaughlin had his Herman Wilson moment in the sixth, hitting his first major league home run off Jones, the Buffaloes knew they had to shoot him right now. Brandon McCullough, who killed the Raccoons all series long with five hits, also claimed Farley’s shutout with an RBI double in the seventh, and Farley did not see the eighth. Manuel Martinez replaced him, and with walks sandwiching a Brown single loaded the bases with one out. In my blank desperation to save the 5-1 game, I threw in Dan Nordahl – a highly questionable move even with the bases empty. Ledesma popped out, but Nordahl walked both Maldonado and another left-hander in Román Reyes before Oliver Guzmán struck out. However, another inning was looming for the useless Nordahl. But before that, the Raccoons ate up Lawson Steward in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs after extra base hits by Kent and McLaughlin, and then even had Nordahl batting with runners on the corners and two outs. While Steward actually plated the third run with a wild pitch, Nordahl’s single to left would have scored him. Up by five, Nordahl actually struck out the side in the top 9th. 8-3 Raccoons. Sharp 2-3, BB, RBI; Reece 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; McLaughlin 3-4, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-9); Our bullpen. No you don’t have to pour oil into the fire, there’s already some dynamite in there. Raccoons (50-71) vs. Canadiens (47-73) – August 17-19, 2001 It’s Elk Time in Portland. The pests, against whom we were 7-4 this year, our only winning mark against ANY Continental League team, came in with the 8th offense and 10th pitching. That wasn’t so far off from the Raccoons… Projected matchups: Cipriano Miranda (5-12, 3.84 ERA) vs. Cal Holbrook (6-4, 4.94 ERA) Nick Brown (1-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. Paul Kirkland (8-8, 4.20 ERA) Carl Bean (9-9, 4.19 ERA) vs. Joe Hollow (9-11, 4.73 ERA) The Canadiens had even more injuries than the Raccoons with Bob Butler, Juan Bello, Raymond Sutton, and a few fringe players all on the shelf. Which will possibly not stop the Raccoons from humiliating themselves on home soil. Game 1 VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – CF T. Wilson – 2B Shaw – P Holbrook POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Miranda Tony Velasquez was nursing a sore shoulder, but nevertheless had his swing and took Miranda deep for two runs in the top 4th. Luckily, by then the Raccoons had already had some offense and were still up 3-2, with Neil Reece having a hand in all runs, homering for a pair himself in the bottom 1st and scoring on a Cavazos single in the third after doubling. When he hit a single to get the bottom 5th underway, he was a triple removed from the cycle. The contest was close, and Miranda surrendered some hard contact after the Velasquez homer that just didn’t go for hits. In the bottom 6th he came up with runners on first and second and no outs. His bunt was fielded by Antonio Clemente and fielded all the way past Gutierrez and into the stands, but despite being donated a run and runners in scoring position, the Coons only got one more counter, and Reece struck out to end the inning. Although we were up 5-2, things went south in the eighth, violently. Miranda walked the leadoff man, Jesus Zamora. Simon made an unproductive out, before Clemente grounded to the third base side of the mound. Sharp broke in late and Miranda sunk to his knees. Sharp’s throw was hurried, wide of first, and the Canadiens brought the tying run to the plate in Velasquez while we scratched our injured starter off the field. Velasquez and Gutierrez hit deep flies that Reece and Cavazos shagged just barely to end a messy inning. In the bottom 8th, enough Raccoons got on to bring up Reece with the bags chock full and two down. He’d need a triple, but Michael Campbell fed him junk he didn’t want to swing at and instead drew an RBI walk. Martin fouled out, sparing us the temptation to go with Nordahl again in a 6-2 contest. Wade got the assignment, and Concie made two nifty plays to keep his inning clean. 6-2 Raccoons. Reece 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Thomas 2-4; Kent 3-4; Miranda 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (6-12); Right now we have no idea what’s wrong with Miranda. Should he go down, we still have Miguel Lopez in the wings. It’s a leg thing with Miranda. Avery Johnson broke the tie for the home run lead in the CL with his 21st job of the season, a 2-piece of Indy’s Chang-se Park in the Crusaders’ 6-3 win. Game 2 VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – CF P. Taylor – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – 2B J. Zamora – 1B D. Davis – P Kirkland POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – C Thomas – RF Kent – P Brown Nick Brown’s second start was actually worse than his first, with the youngster getting culled in a 4-run fourth inning. In total he surrendered five runs, all earned, in 3.2 frames, with a 3-run shot by weak-hitting Jorge Durán the main source of hurt. He also walked three in the abysmal fourth. While Ramiro Cavazos had showed some life in the bottom 2nd with a 2-run shot that then gave Brown the lead, he was the third straight Coon to whiff in the bottom 3rd with runners on the corners. The Coons would have trouble to get back on base against Kirkland, who went into the seventh, in which they finally got to the corners, but remained on base. The Canadiens left multiple runners on base three times, and never scored against a crumbling bullpen. Neither did the Issuecoons. 5-2 Canadiens. Palacios 2-4; Reece 2-4; Sharp 2-4; Wade 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Raccoons struck out ten times, walked once. They issued eight walks themselves and managed to K only five Elks. Neil Reece ran a hitting streak that started in early July to 12 games with this performance. Miranda was diagnosed with a sore hamstring. So far we don’t know whether he will miss a start, or whether we can shuffle, but there’s no point in DL’ing him, with an estimated recovery of five days. Game 3 VAN: SS A. Simon – C Clemente – RF Velasquez – 1B I. Gutierrez – LF J. Durán – 3B A. De Jesus – CF T. Wilson – 2B J. Zamora – P Hollow POR: RF Flores – 3B Sharp – CF Reece – 1B Martin – C Thomas – 2B Palacios – LF Cavazos – SS Heart – P Bean Bean was chopped up in the first for two runs on Simon singling in a 1-2 count, stealing second base entirely unopposed, eventually scoring on a groundout by Velasquez, and then a homer by Ivan Gutierrez. Joe Hollow balked home Flores in the bottom 1st, but the Challenge of Incompetence was easily won by Carl Bean – and in runaway fashion. Leadoff walk to Tom Wilson in the second, Zamora singled, and after Hollow bunted the runners over, Simon plated Wilson with a groundout. Clemente homered, making it 5-1, and Velasquez singled. Bean then drilled Gutierrez, and the bullpen was really not in a condition to pitch eight innings today… Duràn popped out, but at 5-1 we had already lost. Bean was all-out **, surrendering another double, wild pitch, and run in the third. Time to butcher that old nag. The backup starter for Miranda had to come in, Miguel Lopez. While the Elks had scored six runs on eight hits, the Raccoons were hitless through three innings. Like I said, lost game. Mark Thomas gave the team of suckers its first base hit in the fourth, a single, and Cavazos scored Neil Reece, who had walked, on a groundout. Back in slam range, yaaay… Lopez surrendered a home run to Velasquez in time, and Diaz allowed another runner left on by Lopez to score. Martinez issued a bases-loaded set of walks in the eighth, and it just wasn’t going to end gracefully, or mercifully, with the most stuffless Nordahl coughing up two more runs in the ninth, and the sucking went on and on and on and on… 10-3 Canadiens. Thomas 2-4, BB; Neil Reece’s hitting streak ended as the Raccoons were held to four knocks in total. In other news August 16 – RF/LF Raúl Vázquez (.331, 18 HR, 84 RBI) has gone down with a groin strain. It will be three weeks before the career home run leader can attack again for the Rebels. August 18 – LVA 1B/3B Javier Vargas (.318, 11 HR, 39 RBI) fouls a pitch into his own foot, fracturing it. He will miss most of the remaining season. Complaints and stuff** With the Canadiens’ first starter, I always want to type Hal Holbrook. I wonder why… The Raccoons have a shot at their 2,000th franchise win next week. They merely have to beat the opposition five times. (chuckles) Maybe next month. Maybe. Scott Wade looks like he’s done. Well, he IS 39 … His BABIP is ridiculous (.342), but it’s not all defense. He issues a lot more walks than ever in his career. His career BB/9 is 2.1, while this year he’s almost at a 4.0 mark. Interestingly, K’s are up as well, but he still posts his worst career ERA. A 17-year career in the Bigs is about to end – and this time I mean it. The longest-tenured Raccoon will then be Neil Reece, who debuted in 1989. As we’re on terminating assumed cornerstones of the team, I just want to shoot the complete rotation. In the mouth. And grin while doing so. And yet feel nothing. I feel nothing. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

03-06-2015, 01:20 AM	#1173
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	The Spots Illuminated has another article on the Raccoons, this time under the title "The Hopeless Litter". There is hope however. For the last few weeks, rumors have gone round that there could potentially be new ownership on the horizon. SI alludes to that as well, with the following picture, captioned: "Base talent is there. With money, the Raccoons might be able to come out of the gutter." Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

03-06-2015, 10:28 PM	#1175
Trebro All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 753	Congrats on win 2,000! I have never had the patience to take a team that far! __________________ 2020 2021

03-07-2015, 06:59 PM	#1177
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,661	To echo the others, this entire thing is a real achievement. Just spent a bit of time reading your really thorough recaps and don't be surprised if I start trying to copy your style some. This is like a gold standard of a dynasty here. Keep it up. __________________ ------ My Mods Managerial Strategy Pack Competitive Balance Tax Calculator Major League Women's Baseball (OOTP24) quickstart Indian Premier League \| 300+ years of baseball quickstart \| Expatriate League quickstart \| Off-Field Injuries Update \| Women's Name File for OOTP \| ---- Dynasty classics: Centurion comes to OOTP5 \| DC Moneyball Dynasty (2004)

03-11-2015, 03:12 PM	#1179
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	Raccoons (63-80) vs. Titans (92-52) – September 11-13, 2001 Here comes more pain. The final series against the Titans this year promises no rich harvest for the Raccoons, who have split the last series against the Titans, but are 4-11 against them overall in 2001. Why so pessimistic? They have 666 runs scored – they have dark forces on their side. Their run differential is +220, and the Raccoons have trouble scoring since August (although last week was a bit better). Projected matchups: Carl Bean (9-12, 4.45 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (16-10, 3.20 ERA) Ralph Ford (10-12, 3.76 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (19-10, 2.82 ERA) Randy Farley (7-10, 4.64 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (6-4, 2.38 ERA) We keep seeing these three days almost every time we face the Titans. And we are 4-11. Game 1 BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – RF Elizondo – 2B D. Mendez – P Bautista POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – LF Roberson – RF Cavazos – 3B M. Ramirez – C Defrese – P Bean Silva singled, Garrison singled, Bean balked, and in no time the Titans were up 2-0. Bean was completely horrible and useless, like giving up a leadoff double to Bautista in the fourth inning, and couldn’t get anything done. When Rudy Garrison hit a 2-run homer in the fifth, the score was at 5-0. Bautista had faced one batter over the minimum, and Jorge Defrese had hit into a pair of double plays to keep his pitch count low. The Raccoons were unable to get anything done, anything. Jesus Bautista was not exactly overwhelming, but the Raccoons were heavily crap, and Bautista’s shutout was not broken up until the ninth when Reece singled home Guerin with one out. Martin then instantly hit into a game-ending double play. 7-1 Titans. Guerin 2-4, 2 2B; Game 2 BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – 1B Austin – RF Greenman – C Manuel – SS D. Silva – LF Elizondo – 2B D. Mendez – P O’Halloran POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Cavazos – 1B Sharp – RF G. Flores – 3B M. Ramirez – C Fifield – P Ford And again the Titans broke through early, scoring one run in the second inning, and in the third the mad ripper Christian Greenman (AVG under .200, but OPS’ing around .800) ripped a 2-run home run. The Raccoons, predictably, hadn’t done anything so far, although they would score one run in the bottom 3rd, then left runners on the corners. Not that Ford was quite as bad as Bean (which will also go into our yearbook…), for he still completed another five scoreless innings, and ended his day by striking out the ferociously hated Daniel Silva, but he didn’t even get close to a no-decision, with Jason O’Halloran having the Raccoons in his mental death trap: they didn’t manage to get a single hard hit against him. They hardly got the ball out of the infield at all, and didn’t get on base in any kind of frequency. They managed a double play in the sixth. After some steady, if unsuccessful, pitching from Ralphie, the bullpen embarrassed itself again in the ninth, when Diaz, Martinez, and Perez combined for two hits, two walks, and a single run thanks to a nifty grab by Guerin that ended the inning. O’Halloran had been hit for and we faced closer John Bennett, who snuffed out the Raccoons in just seven pitches. 4-1 Titans. Reece 3-4, 2B; Ford 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (10-13) and 1-2, 2B; So, O’Halloran has 20 wins. When was the last time the Raccoons had a 20-game winner? Answer to this depressing piece of trivia in the comments section. Game 3 BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF G. Munoz – LF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B V. Flores – P Hildred POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C Defrese – P Farley The game started with an Albert Martin error, and Silva then readily stole second base, encroaching on Concie’s SB lead (although there were two Loggers between them still). Neither this, nor a Guerin error in the third, helped the Titans to score a run, and to continue with freak occurrences, the Raccoons actually scored, and scored FIRST, when Chris Parker hit a solo home run in the top 2nd, after the Coons had left the sacks full in the bottom 1st. The Critters had eight hits in the first four innings, but didn’t score aside from Parker’s dinger, which at some point had to backfire, especially with luckless Farley pitching. Through five, he 1-hit the Titans, but things could blow up any minute. The Raccoons scratched out an unearned run – woo-hoo – in the fifth, but a Luis Lopez home run cut the gap back to one in the seventh. Farley kept going until his 100th pitch was taken for a 1-out single to center by Mark Austin in the top 8th. Diaz came on and got a foul pop from Munoz before walking Josh Thomas. Miller entered now to face Luis Lopez, who went on to become man of the game with his second homer of the day, regardless of the team effort in the ninth that was to come. 8-2 Titans. Reece 4-5, 2B; Sharp 2-4, RBI; Parker 2-4, HR, RBI; Defrese 3-4; Farley 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Titans: 11 hits. Raccoons: 13 hits. Devastating. Raccoons (63-83) vs. Falcons (81-65) – September 14-16, 2001 The Falcons were better than in recent years, but they had used quite a bit of luck to end up 16 games over .500, since their run differential was only +29 and neither their offense nor their pitching was very remarkable. They were league average in all important categories. And now they’re lucky again and will go to 19 games over .500. The season series is still tied. Projected matchups: Cipriano Miranda (7-13, 4.02 ERA) vs. Manuel Hernandez (10-7, 4.56 ERA) Nick Brown (2-2, 4.54 ERA) vs. Angel Romero (13-9, 3.56 ERA) Carl Bean (9-13, 4.55 ERA) vs. Jesus Hernandez (1-3, 5.06 ERA) Two left-handers, followed by a 24-year old rookie, who was a supplemental round draft pick one year ago. He throws from the right side, and looking at his numbers, I would not have called him up yet. Game 1 CHA: 2B H. Green – C Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B L. Soto – LF R. Wilson – 3B J. Munoz – SS Moore – P M. Hernandez POR: SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – LF Roberson – 1B Sharp – RF Flores – 3B M. Ramirez – C Fifield – P Miranda The Issuecoons matched their entire offensive output in the Titans series here in game 1, and they did so before they went through the whole lineup once, despite a 1-2-3 first. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead on a Ralph Wilson homer, but in the bottom 2nd it was Gil Flores to tie the score with an RBI double, leaving him and Sharp in scoring position and both were collected when Gary Fifield hit his first home run of the season, 4-1. The Falcons struck right back against a harmless Miranda, plating two runs in the third, including an RBI double by Wilson, who would then tie the game in the fifth against a still ineffective Miranda, who left in a tied game with one out and the bags full. Astonishingly, Steve Moore grounded into a force at home against Manuel Martinez, who also retired the pitcher to keep the game tied in this particular inning. Top 6th, Wade pitched, who had already been booked for three runs in less than 10 pitches the day before. Hubert Green singled right through Miguel Ramirez, and then Fifield made a massive throwing error on Fernando Chavez’ grounder. Both runners scored eventually, and the runs were unearned. Those two runs came right back to the Raccoons, though, in the bottom 6th. With two down and starting with Sharp, five straight Coons got on, tying the game at six before Cavazos hit for Wade and left the bags full with a shy fly to center. Then came Bob Joly, surrendered two runs in the seventh, and … and where’s the booze? Joly would pitch two innings, surrendered three runs, and got ahead of one of the 11 hitters he faced. 9-6 Falcons. Flores 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ramirez 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Neil Reece has a 12-game hitting streak on. Which is about all this team has currently going for it. Game 2 CHA: 3B J. Munoz – CF Estrada – RF Lugo – 1B L. Soto – SS H. Green – C M. Castillo – LF J. Cruz – 2B M. Clark – P A. Romero POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Reece – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C Thomas – 2B M. Ramirez – RF Flores – P Brown The Coons had the first chance with Neil Reece hitting a triple in the bottom 1st, but the Raccoons didn’t score when Martin popped out to short. The Falcons had an all-right-handed lineup, except for Angel Romero, waiting for Nick Brown, who didn’t cope well and was taken deep for a pair of runs in the top 2nd. The slugger was Mark Clark, in his seventh career at-bat. Things didn’t get better in the third, with another two runs coming in on a single, two walks, a wild pitch, and an error by Sharp – his 17th of the year. Brown was limited to four innings, being hit for in a 4-1 score with two on and the bags full in the bottom 4th. Roberson came out, hit a ball to deep right, but Jose Lugo got that. Sergio Vega collected five outs following Brown before the Falcons stuffed the bags with two out in the sixth. Marcos Bruno replaced Vega, his first outing of the week, so he was certainly fresh. He got to 2-2 on Pedro Estrada before Estrada launched a bomb just short of a grand slam, but well beyond Neil Reece’s diminishing reach for a bases-clearing double. Yes, Bruno is in peak shape! The bullpen came apart some more later, while Angel Romero whiffed two hands full in just seven innings. 9-2 Falcons. Sharp 2-4; Gabriel (PH) 1-1; With the minor league season over, we added Julio Mata and George Morris to the roster, as well as OF/1B Edgardo Torrez. To squeeze Torrez onto the 40-man roster, MR Dan Epps was waived and designated for assignment. Torrez, a 24-year old left-hander, had gone .326/.433/.571 with 32 HR and 80 RBI in AAA this year. He was one of Vince’s international discoveries, dug out in Venezuela in 1997. He would have to be put onto the 40-man roster this year anyway, so we didn’t rush anything here. With our assumed inability to hold on to Ramiro Cavazos this fall, we better test out or stuff. That’s why Miguel Ramirez plays every day now. Clyde Brady came off the DL as well, and to get him back onto the roster, we had to also waive Dwight Williams, who after four years in AAA had racked up an ERA over 6 this season. Game 3 CHA: 2B H. Green – C Chavez – RF Lugo – CF Morton – 1B L. Soto – LF R. Wilson – 3B M. Castillo – SS Moore – P J. Hernandez POR: 3B Sharp – 2B Palacios – CF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – LF Torrez – SS M. Ramirez – C Mata – P Bean Bean issued walks left and right, but the Raccoons scored first, when Palacios plated Ramirez with two out in the third. Reece walked, loading them up before Martin ripped at a 3-1 pitch and lined out to right. Because of course. In the top 4th, bean immediately surrendered the run again, 1-1. Now, Clyde Brady had not been in the starting lineup, but entered the game in the bottom 4th when Cavazos tweaked his back on ripping a double. Torrez was up with no outs and one on, and was drilled in the forearm by Jesus Hernandez – also leaving the game with a bad bruise. The Raccoons loaded them up in the inning before Bean hit into a double play to kill the effort. All the pain for nothing. Bean surrendered three line drive hits, including two doubles for the go-ahead run in the top 5th, and Bean would surrender a home run to Joe Morton before this particular start found a grisly end. On the short end of a 3-1 score in the bottom 7th, the Raccoons crowded Jesus Hernandez when Neil Reece extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a bases-loading 1-out single. Martin lined out in a full count, bringing up Brady for his second AB in almost four months. C’mon Clyde! Show me the magic! Three pitches later, he sat down, and three other Uttercoons did so, too. Bottom 8th, a collection of Falcons reliever loaded the bases with one out again, the last piece being an infield single by George Morris. Danny Sharp came up in that spot, facing righty Tom Brooks, and his single to left plated not only Ramirez from third, but also Concie from second – tied game! Palacios flew out but advanced Morris, giving Reece a chance, and Neil, who was radiating in a clean, white hotness, rammed a single into left to score the go-ahead run! Martin had been removed in a double switch and now Roberson hit for the pitcher Bob Joly, but grounded out. That meant Nordahl time in the top 9th, facing the top of the Falcons lineup. Struck out Green, struck out Chavez, str- nope, no, Lugo put the 0-2 in play to Palacios, to first, and it’s over! 4-3 Raccoons. Sharp 2-5, 2 RBI; Palacios 2-4, BB, RBI; Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Morris (PH) 2-2; I like the sound of that. "All the pain for nothing." In other news September 11 – While the season is closing in on the playoffs, the Warriors keep losing players. INF Jaime Mateo (.281, 5 HR, 61 RBI) has torn ligaments in his thumb and might miss as much as one month. The Warriors now have half a dozen players on the DL. September 13 – WAS INF Jose Lopez (.267, 32 HR, 121 RBI) is out for the season with a sprained wrist. He leads the ABL in home runs at this point, one ahead of his team mate Jesus Rivera and Dallas’ Mac Woods. September 14 – VAN OF/1B Jorge Durán (.304, 1 HR, 49 RBI) has suffered a complicated elbow fracture and is expected to be out for about eight months, and so should sit on the DL until well into the 2002 season. September 14 – SAL LF/RF Dale Wales (.340, 7 HR, 81 RBI) ends his season on the DL with a strained hamstring. September 16 – Despite surrendering three runs early, Fabien Armand (17-8, 3.11 ERA) holds on to the lead to help his Thunder beat the Titans, 6-4. The Thunder clinch the CL South despite the Bayhawks drubbing the Indians 13-4, for their seventh overall playoff appearance. They will be the defending champions come October. Complaints and stuff Wednesday’s trivia answer: 1995 (Jason Turner) – and it has happened only twice overall. Usually we go 4-14 against the Titans in all years ending with 4. Maybe we will change to a different pattern now, and go 4-14 against them 4 times and end that run in a year ending with 4. 4 F’s sake. And this was our week in short form: 16 runs scored, 40 runs allowed. You really don’t need to know a whole lot more. But now I remember what I didn’t miss on Monday and Tuesday. One more: 7 double plays hit into, one double play turned. “All the pain for nothing” should be our new team slogan! We oughta name that ***ing mascot that way! And Maud won’t even LET ME!! (aggaravated, heavy breathing) There’s very few pleasant things about this team. Neil Reece comes to mind, batting successfully in 14 straight games (including only five “1s”). Yet he was AGAIN snuffed for CL Player of the Week. Both weeks the winner was an opponent of the Raccoons: MIL Jerry Fletcher and CHA Jose Lugo. Go figure. Yeah well, I know MY Player of the Week, thank you, BNN jerks! For what it’s worth, Neil Reece has risen to third* place in the CL batting race! Is it mathematically possible to make up 41 points on Oklahoma’s Joey Humphrey in two weeks? We were 9 1/2 games ahead of the last place Crusaders with 19 to play. And I was wondering just how on earth we could be able to drop below them, because 19! Well, the team did a phenomenal job this week. Awesome! Keep it going, guys! Chris Roberson will be shut down before he reaches 150 AB to have him play a full rookie campaign next season. Likewise, we won’t let Nick Brown get even close to 60 IP. I firmly think those are the thresholds to lose rookie eligibility. I bet I am wrong. All our minor league teams posted losing records this season, with AA Ham Lake and A Aumsville finishing both around 30 games back. We don’t seem to have an awful lot of talent in the low minors, and well, we pillaged St. Pete heavily this year, and they ended up 70-74. And then look at this roster. We NEVER have 36 players on the expanded roster! This year it’s like picking between pest and plague as you compose a lineup… I know one player I like a ton and who's included in the annual fall "Money Talks" rounds. Our budget situation is most dreadful, but there was some room to make one, at most two significant offers. We made that one offer this week: 4-yr, $3M for - [Maud slams the laptop shut] Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here. Last edited by Westheim; 03-11-2015 at 03:22 PM.

03-12-2015, 02:36 PM	#1180
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,470	One for eternity. NWSN's (Northwest Sports Net) Cubby Hairston with the call of a particular graveyard shift game in late September. Welcome back at Raccoons Ballpark, we have a new pitcher in the game, Juan Diaz finishing his warm-ups trying to favorably dissolve this jam the Furballs have gotten themselves into. Cipriano Miranda allowed four hits through seven innings of shutout ball, but things have run sour in this top half of the eighth inning. Two hits, an error by Daniel Sharp, then a single by Dave Carroll off Manuel Martinez, and now the game is tied at two, with two men on, and one out. Diaz has walked 34 batters in 35.2 innings this season. He is not what the Raccoons were looking for from the left side in their bullpen. The Bayhawks have Tom Walls on second, and Dave Carroll on first. Luke Black, who pinch-hits for Alfredo Marquez to negate Diaz’ left-handedness, steps in. He is a .220 batter this season, a far cry from earlier success. Here comes the first pitch. And that’s past Julio Mata! The runners move up, as Mata goes to retrieve that ball! Boy, oh boy, did the Raccoons look for something else from Diaz at this point! And Lance Cox in the home dugout does not look happy at all. One and nothing to Luke Black. Diaz winds up, and that one is low – but catches the corner and it is called a strike. One and one to Luke Black, who takes a hack before stepping back in. The game is tied at two, one out in the top of the eighth, with two men in scoring position for the Bayhawks, and Juan Diaz pitching to Luke Black. Diaz shakes off Mata, once, twice. Now he gets set. – It bounces off the plate, and past a befuddled Mata! Here comes Tom Walls, and no throw from Mata, and the Bayhawks take the lead! Dreadful silence at the park on this cold Wednesday night. Just when everything seemed to get right for the Raccoons in this game. Both Henry Selph and Cipriano Miranda gave up only two hits through six innings, and then the Raccoons took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh on a terrible error by Dave Carroll, yet now things are already reversed. And in that dugout, Miranda can’t believe it either. Two and one to Luke Black, as the pitching coach is out there to check after Diaz’ condition. The Raccoons had nobody in their bullpen and just now Scott Wade has gone up and started tossing. The pitching coach has bought some time. Lance Cox stares bleakly into the night. His mind seems to be what Scott Wade can do keep this from escalating. Diaz gets set. Two wild pitches in the at-bat, and two and one the count to Luke Black. Three-two Bayhawks with another runner on third base and one out. Here it comes – (voice cracks) and it goes COMPLETELY PAST MATA!! Mata scampers after it, Carroll comes home easily, and the Bayhawks hold a 2-run lead! (silence but for the boos) I have never seen anything like this. Three wild pitches in one at-bat. This is the low point. You can not get any worse, for there can not be any more runners on base during any given at-bat. The three-one pitch is in the dirt, and Luke Black walks, and here comes the pitching coach. And Lance Cox, and he looks terribly unhappy. And somebody just tossed a hot dog onto the field! The Raccoons are actively alienating their own fans once again tonight! __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here. Last edited by Westheim; 03-12-2015 at 02:38 PM.