[Westheim]

I think I will go with a 4-man rotation for the rest of the year, with the exception of handing the ball to Carlos Moran for one game. He’s gotten better in long relief the last weeks. You better don’t entrust the ball to him with the bags full and nobody out, but he’s been more or less able to keep himself out of the deepest troubles. That’s all recommendation one needs to play for the Raccoons.

Raccoons (62-84) vs. Falcons (84-62)

I’d kill or die to have a record like the Falcons do. Stupid birds. I’ll get your feathers! (Well, it turned out the birds hacked a couple of them Raccoons to death pretty good)

The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the third inning without ever getting a hit. Cameron Green was walked, bunted over by Powell, and scored on a throwing error. An unearned run tied it in the fourth, Hermundo had bobbled a ball. But Powell delivered a very fine outing, taking a 2-1 lead to the eighth, when Sánz committed an error in right, that put two men on with one out. Powell fanned one, then Irwin Webster shot one to right, where Sánz made a sparkling play to end the inning. Hoyt Cook homered in the bottom 8th and Gaston saved the 3-1 win. Powell had whiffed seven for his 11th win of the year. By the way, Powell led the Continental League in WHIP and BB/9 (the latter also leading the majors as a whole), and was second behind Joe Ellis in K/BB. While Ellis did it with fireballs, Powell had supreme control over his pitches, but relied on his defense to pick up all the balls sent back at them.

The Falcons scored early on against Simmons in game 2, but in the bottom 3rd Cameron Green laid down an infield single. While the Raccoons didn’t score there, this was remarkable as it raised his average to .241 – giving the Raccoons an entire lineup (minus pitcher) with batting averages of .240 or more for – as I remember – the first time in their history. They held that distinction for less than three innings. When Ben Cox flew out to left in the sixth, he dipped to .239 and it was over. The game was also over by then, as Jorge Mora dominated the Raccoons completely, tossing a 3-hit shutout in a 4-0 win for the Falcons. It didn’t get much better in the rubber game, which the Raccoons lost 4-1 on four hits. The first two Falcons runs were unearned.

A look to the minor leagues: our A and AA teams both finished second in their divisions, 18 and 3 games back, respectively. The AAA team made the playoffs, winning their division by one game. They led the first round playoffs 2-0, then lost three and were eliminated. Tony Lopez (sounds familiar?) botched up big time in the deciding game 5.

Could more talent be called up now? SP Jose Nieves (acquired from the Condors this off season in the Bocci/Sullivan deal) had racked up 238 K’s in AAA ball, leading the league, but had also surrendered 34 long balls. Next!
Jason White (our 1977 round 7 pick) had done everything for the AAA team, from starting to closing, but his control was seriously lacking. He had K’ed almost 13 per nine innings – but was just as susceptible to the long ball as Nieves. Still, this was a prime time to test him out. Call up!
Fletcher Kelley was our 1979 round 3 pick, another righty reliever. He had posted a 1.72 ERA between AA and AAA this year, but I felt calling him up now would rush him too fast. Next! Jayson Bowling, versatile infielder, acquired this winter from the Crusaders in the Hermundo/Hatfield trade. He had batted .317 with 9 HR and 58 RBI between AA and AAA this year (139 games). But at the moment, I was set in the infield, he would not do much but pinch hitting. Next!
Marshall Jones was a versatile outfielder, who had hit 21 home runs this year at AAA. But he had a .253 average and that would not go up in the majors. Next!
Nicolás Castillo was the hardest case here. He had socked 52 home runs this year for the AAA team! Batting .321 / .387 / .656 he would be a sure callup under any circumstances – but he was playing the wrong position. He was playing LF, and was ineffective elsewhere, with fine range, but a mediocre arm. Any callup had to be able to play CF, since Hall and Sánz were set at the moment, and neither could be moved to CF. I was not willing to axe Sánz, who was only one year older than Castillo, who was already 28, for him. Strangely, his ratings didn’t comply with his putout at all. He had had stellar ratings in 1977 in AA, but had been rated down dramatically in ’78. I would rather see whether I could get something in a trade for him.

1B Matt Workman would have been considered, finishing 3rd in the AAA league in batting average, but he was injured.

Raccoons (63-86) vs. Bayhawks (83-66)

Carlos Moran got the start in game 1. I figured it would likely go badly. He surrendered three runs in five innings, actually in just one single inning. The Raccoons turned it into a 4-3 lead in the fifth, and we brought in Jason White for an inning. He got an out, then walked a batter and was injured on the pitch. The bullpen took a massive beating, including Wally Gaston, and the Raccoons were routed 10-4. It had rained frequently throughout the early innings, maybe that had hurt Moran’s performance?

The Raccoons scored single runs in the first three frames in game 2 and three in the fourth for a 6-0 lead staked to Roman Ocasio. He gave up two runs in the sixth and was quickly sent for the showers. The pen managed to hold up this time, Cooper and West pitched the rest of the way for the 6-2 win.

Powell pitched game 3 and lost it on poor offense and defense. Tied 1-1 in the top 8th, the Bayhawks had Michael Bolton on third with two outs. Ben Simon couldn’t make a play with an easy roller and the run scored, Raccoons lost 2-1.

In other news:
September 25 – New York’s Jeremy Churchill pulled his back lawn bowling at a family gathering during the Crusader’s off day. Wow, Jerry, don’t you know that action games are not for 35 year olds?

Jason White was diagnosed with a herniated disc after pitching a grand total of 0.1 innings for the Raccoons and is out of action for the season.

With the minor league seasons over, I got news that Ken Miller retired. Miller, 29, had pitched for the Raccoons in 30 games in 1977, earning a 5.10 ERA in 30 IP. Since then he had been moved down to the A level and was not considered a big loss.

I also dabbled a bit through the pitching and batting registers in the history section. So far 31 pitchers and 36 batters have played for the Raccoons. I stumbled across Matt Huber, who was employed in the rotation in 1977. He was horrible, but we managed to trade him to the Gold Sox for Christopher Powell! Powell leads the Raccoons in most pitching categories (like Ben Simon leads in most batting categories), including GS, IP, W, CG, SHO, and K. Huber has not pitched in the majors since ’79. There were two minor leaguers involved in the trade, and while the one I received has since been released, and the one I sent, Laurentij Mlotkovsky, is now on the Gold Sox roster, I think that was the single best trade I made for this team.

There may only be that one good trade. Let’s check that to stretch this update a bit more and pick a few other trades I have made in ‘77/’78.

November 27, 1977: We sent Alex Miranda, our opening day starter, to the Condors for Jorge Romero, Cameron Green, and Richard Jones. Miranda was 9-17 with a 3.38 ERA with the Raccoons. He never got any better than that with the Condors. Of course, Romero is 27-33 for us with an ERA under 3, but he will miss considerable time for the second time now. Cameron Green has hit the majors now and his batting is starting to pick up. Jones in AA and probably will never get any further. This trade was a win, obviously!

January 8, 1978: We traded MR Armando Padilla (and a minor leaguer) to the Rebels for MR Bill Baker. Baker had one good season after that, and has driven me crazy ever since. His ERA’s in the last two seasons are over 8. Padilla had a 4.23 ERA for the Raccoons in 1977 – that was his best ERA in the majors. The minor leaguer is Rebels outfielder Dick Dougherty, who made the majors the first time this year, batting .222 as a backup. Awful trade, for both sides.

November 10, 1978: We traded SS Greg Swift to the Miners, along with minor leaguer Craig Payne, for CF Gustavo Zuniga and minors pitcher Eric Myers. The Miners don’t cherish Swift at all and demoted him to AAA this year, although his numbers are the same. Payne was released soon after, signed a minor league contract in Hialeah (AA), but was released again and is a free agent. Of course, Zuniga’s struggles were well documented, he’s batting around .130! Myers is rotting at the Raccoons’ A level team. This trade was a big bust.

The Indians had a magic number of 1 and will probably clinch against the Raccoons in the upcoming 3-game series. Canadiens and Crusaders will be the last two opponents for us, all on the road.