[Westheim]

Before we get to the off season, something that came to my mind that sure is incredibly fun. At least it was in my mind. From time to time I like to browse through the batting register with all the players (read: losers) the Raccoons have ever had. By now, there are 195 players in there. (Is that a lot for 14 seasons? I find it quite a lot) Let’s take a look at the alphabetical register, and in that, at every player in a position ending in a pair of the same digit, and reflect on his un-achievements. Sounds like fun? It did two hours ago when I was taking out the trash.

#11 – SP Steven Berry (1989-90; current team: POR) – rule 5 pick by the Raccoons, he has had a strong and a bad season, and is currently 14-19 with a 4.05 ERA in his career, including two relief appearances for the Thunder in earlier years.
#22 – LF Gary Carter (1983; retired) – his big league career encompassed all of nine AB’s and no hits, a career minor leaguer that doesn’t warm my heart a lot now (and didn’t back then).
#33 – MR Antonio Cordero (1989-90, current team: POR) – a rarity in being from Argentina, Cordero is one of the game’s best relievers from the left side, and has been in the big leagues since 1980. Between MIL, NYC, and POR, he has 419 appearances and a 3.17 ERA. We plan to keep him for longer, he is only 30 now.
#44 – INF/LF Bob Davis (1983, retired) – another one of those scraps, whose only hit for the Raccoons was a double in six AB’s. He played however for the Knights from 1977 to 1979 and was a career .258 hitter in limited exposure (233 AB). For the Coons however, he was never a factor, and certainly not in their first playoff season.
#55 – LF/RF Jose Flores (1977-1979, retired) – he was our starting left fielder in 1977 and 1978, when I actually thought he had some abilities. And he actually hit .277 in the first season! Daniel Hall however soon made him expendable and he was let go after the 1979 season and never caught on elsewhere, as is common for those early Raccoons. His .255, 15 HR, 87 RBI career output is not too terrible.
#66 – CL Ben Green (1977, retired) – the Raccoons’ first closer, back when they were really bad, and Green was no exception, having a horrible 1977 season. He went on to pitch in every division for LAP, IND, TOP, and SFB before retiring, making a total of 336 appearances with a 2.45 ERA and 96 SV.
#77 – INF Matt Higgins (1988-1990, current team: POR) – acquired for Richard Cunningham when we sold off some assets in that awful 1988 season, he has yet to strike the extraordinary fear with his bat we were hoping for, although the basics are certainly there. Currently he is a .244 batter with good defense and some pop, but we hope for more.
#88 – MR David Jones (1983-1988, current team: WAS (AAA)) – had a few most awesome seasons in the mid-80s, where he could have been the closer if not for Grant West. Was auctioned off in the 1988 fire sale for a pair of prospects including Neil Reece. Since then, he posted a 7.09 ERA for Topeka in 1989 and has not pitched in the Bigs this year. He has a 3.61 career ERA in 388 appearances.
#99 – RF Jorge Lopez (1977-1978, retired) – was a backup for those terrible early Raccoons, where Pedro Sánz reigned in right unless he was injured. Although he stuck around until 1983 for PIT, SFB, NYC, and SAC, his only starting job was with the 1979 Miners, who like the 1977-78 Raccoons also lost almost 100 games. Despite this, he actually has a career average of .287 with 11 HR and 122 RBI.
#100 – MR Tony Lopez (1978-1982, retired) – was an international free agent that never quite lived up to expectations and never appeared for another team in the majors. He posted a 4.07 ERA in 201 games, although he bounced to AAA frequently and was never reliable.
#111 – CF/RF Lynwood McFarland (1980, retired) – another one of those Obscuricoons, he went 4-27 for us, which was bad even for the 1980 Raccoons. He was claimed by the Warriors of waivers and actually went even worse for them. He appeared in one game in 1982 for them, then vanished. His career average is a paltry .123 with 3 RBI.
#122 – MR Tim Moss (1987-1988, current team: SFW) – had a strong 1987 for us, but posted an 8.04 ERA in 1988 before being shipped out. He is still active at the far end of a 13-year career encompassing stints for BOS, LAP, PIT, TOP (pre-POR) and BOS, DEN, SFW (post-POR), 456 starts in total with a 3.69 ERA. He is one of the better players on this list, a lefty reliever that just couldn’t get anybody out in 1988.
#133 – 2B Dani Perez (1986-1988, current team: CIN) – at one time a hot prospect, he never managed to post a good average for us and eventually was shipped out in the O’Morrissey trade, also fire sale related. Like in Portland, he has not been able to become a starter in Cincy, and is a .245 batter in only 709 AB through five seasons.
#144 – INF/LF/RF Juan Ramirez (1988, current team: PIT) – international free agent signing by us, he hit a 3-run homer in his first big league AB, but ultimately ended up traded when better options were available. He was a starter for the Miners in 1989. Overall he is a .258 hitter. That splash home run remains his only dinger in the big leagues.
#155 – SP Kisho Saito (1984-1990, current team: POR) – unquestionably one of the elite pitchers in the game, he has a 132-94 record and 3.04 career ERA in addition to 1,508 strikeouts, which is no shabby number through 2,093 innings. In eight postseason games, he is 5-1 with a 1.01 ERA. Talk about lights out. He is a pitcher everybody likes to have sitting at the top of their rotation!
#166 – MR Mike Shaw (1986-1988, current team: CHA (AAA)) – had a 1.04 ERA in ’86, and a 7.98 ERA in ’88, and was released this year. One of many left-handed relievers in this column, he lacks everything a good pitcher needs and has never appeared in the majors with another team. 5.40 career ERA. Not much to see here.
#177 – MR Burton Taylor (1983-1984, retired) – another left-handed reliever that only worked out part time, holding a 2.64 ERA in our playoff season in 1983, but more than doubled that in 1984. After pitching for BOS and PIT, the Raccoons were his last big league team, and he finished with a 3.89 career ERA, 39 SV in 386 games.
#188 – OF Kelly Weber (1984-1988, current team: DEN (AAA)) – for years tried to get a starter’s spot, but never broke through with us. He had only 14 AB’s for the Gold Sox in ’89 and none this year. Career .251 batter with 5 HR, 112 RBI, he was always a nice player to have, but only as a fourth or fifth man.

Some insights here. This semi-random sample contains a lot of southpaws, and is not representative of how many left-handed relievers I have eaten up already. :-P