[Westheim]

Raccoons (42-26) vs. Indians (36-33) – June 19-21, 1995

The Indians had sunken to fourth place in our division, but they were still close. After dropping the Loggers series, we might want to take this one to stay afloat. After that we were to face the now 39-31 Aces, so things would not get easier this week.

The Indians were 9th in runs scored (with the second-worst batting average), but 3rd in runs allowed with their rotation second only to ours. Low scoring games, anyone? There was something to their rotation, though, as we were to face the weak end of it, evading both 11-game winner Neil Stewart and Vernon Robertson, who were mainly responsible for the main ERA of this rotation.

Projected matchups:
Robert Vázquez (5-2, 3.76 ERA) vs. Dan George (2-8, 5.86 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-6, 4.32 ERA) vs. Lorenzo Ángel (3-3, 4.18 ERA)
Kisho Saito (8-2, 3.20 ERA) vs. Larry Davis (5-7, 4.34 ERA)

We remained Brewer-less to start this series, especially against a left-handed pitcher in Dan George. To start the game, the Indians had two infield singles sandwiching a walk to load the bases, then popped out twice and SS Angel Gonzalez’ groundout to Ingall at second ended the frame scoreless. The Raccoons were not that much better when it came to score runners. While George issued a lot of hits and walks, the Raccoons scored only three runs in five innings off him, and left eight on base. Once George was removed for Artie Saunders, the Raccoons put two unearned runs on the reliever. 2B Claudio Ayala had made an error to fuel our offense. While the offense got in five runs, Robert Vázquez was very good for us – he pitched a complete game, yielding only a solo home run to Matt Brown. Yeah, that one. 5-1 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-5, RBI; Vázquez 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-2);

While O-Mo’s lone 2-hit performance doesn’t look like much, all our starters got at least one hit in the game. En route to a complete game, the 25th of his career and third this season (but no shutouts this year yet), Vázquez wrecked Carlos Paredes’ 18-game hitting streak. Paredes had been scheduled a day off, but when Tomas Maguey got hurt early in the game, the Indians brought in Paredes, who then went 0-3 against Vázquez.

Brewer’s back was not 100% for game 2, but he wanted to play, and I figured why not. What’s the worst that can happen?

The Indians hadn’t lost game 1 on an error – they were already behind, although you could argue that without the extra runs, up by two, Vázquez gets pulled after eight, and what bozo is gonna close then? – but they pretty much lost game 2 on an error, this time by Angel Gonzalez. Ayala, the culprit of the previous night, had set the Indians 1-0 ahead with a leadoff homer off Wade, but Gonzalez bobbled a surefire double play ball with one out in the bottom 2nd that scored the tying run and left two Coons on. Vinson walked to load them up, and then Wade hit a 2-run double, followed by a 2-run triple by Brewer! Brewer was also brought home, 6-1 Coons. Four of the runs were unearned, but Ángel was knocked out of the game. Baldy drove in two in the fifth, and Brewer was replaced with Ingall so he would not put too much on the back after the sixth. Meanwhile Scott Wade played the contact game with the Indians, and – after Ayala at least – they made mostly very poor contact. The Indians would only have seven runners the entire game, two of which were on Salazar and O-Mo errors. Wade pitched through all of it – and went the distance! 8-1 Raccoons! O’Morrissey 2-4; Baldivía 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Wade 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (5-6) and 1-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

Wade completed the game on just 96 pitches, 20 less than Vázquez the day before. That’s some pitching! I hope the bullpen didn’t spent their days snoozing out there and watched and learned some!

Saito too.

No, Saito didn’t. He plunked the leadoff batters in the first and third innings in game 3, and conceded three runs in the former. The Coons grabbed two runs right back. Starter Larry Davis threw only two pitches to Brewer before leaving with an injury, so we were knee deep in the Indians bullpen again, who had pitched 6.1 innings the day before. Brewer and Higgins were in scoring position with no out in the bottom 3rd. Reece whiffed, and O-Mo and Green both grounded out to third without bringing in a run. Grrrbll. Higgins was also left on third base by Reece in the fifth. Ron McDonald would then stun everybody with a 2-run single in the bottom 6th, turning the game around, right before Saito bunted into a double play that ended the frame. Saito put Jose Martinez on in the seventh and with two out left the game. We brought in Juan Martinez to face right-handed catcher Mamoru Sato. Sato reached on a Higgins error, and a Luis Maldonado single loaded the bags. Oh, please no—Brewer ended the inning with a SURE-HANDED GRAB [lightning strikes right next to Higgins] on an Angel Gonzalez pop. But there would again not be a win in Saitoland. The bullpen cocked it up massively in the eighth. Burnett got the first out, then issued a walk to Enrique Martinez. Vela came in, and surrendered three straight singles. Miller got the last two outs, but surrendered the go-ahead run on a sac fly. Thus we were one down in the bottom 9th and faced Jim Durden. Salazar hit for Miller to start the frame, who flew out. No Coon ever reached base. 5-4 Indians. Higgins 2-5, 3B; Reece 2-4; O’Morrissey 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Miller 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

I spoke to the Blood God again after the game, and he demanded another sacrifice.

Tony Vela was demoted to AAA to live out his <1 K/BB ratio there. We called up 23-yr old Day Grandridge, who had been claimed off waivers by the Warriors this winter. ERA and WHIP had been below 1 for him in AAA. Since the 40-man roster was full, outfielder Cristian Ortíz was waived and designated for assignment.

Raccoons (44-27) @ Aces (39-34) – June 23-25, 1995

The Aces were the opposite of the Indians: high offense, weak pitching. You could find them right next to the Coons in the dictionary. Although, not quite. Their rotation struggled badly, 9th in the league, but they had the best bullpen around. This time we would encounter the better end of a team’s rotation, though.

Projected matchups:
Jason Turner (8-2, 3.24 ERA) vs. Rafael Espinoza (4-5, 3.42 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-2, 3.75 ERA) vs. Carlos Guillén (7-4, 3.56 ERA)
Robert Vázquez (6-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Ben Carlson (2-2, 5.40 ERA)

The Coons had the bases full in the top 1st of the opener, and didn’t score. Turner surrendered a run on three 2-out base hits in the bottom 3rd, and the Raccoons – did nothing. Nothing at all. Only an error by Michael Sanders, the leftfielder, that put Salazar on leading off the sixth, got them back into a 1-0 game that Espinoza had controlled wonderfully. Reece came up and doubled to left, putting the tying runs in scoring position with no outs. Again, we got no clutch hit, and only tied the game on an O-Mo groundout. Green was not pitched to, Baldy whiffed, and Kinnear grounded out. The score remained tied 1-1 after eight innings in a true pitchers’ duel. Espinoza had yielded five hits, Turner six, and Turner was done for the day, while the Aces left their man in for the ninth. Baldy, Kinnear, and Higgins (hitting for Vinson) didn’t even get close to challenging him. The game still went into overtime after West pitched a scoreless ninth. And Espinoza STILL remained in the game! McDonald led off with a double to left, but we could not run for him with Vinson out of the game. Brewer was put on intentionally, and then the Aces brought Vicente Rubio to replace Espinoza. Neither Salazar, nor Reece could do something useful here. O-Mo was nicked, and then Green singled up the middle, and two runs scored. Facing left-handers, Burnett was the Daily Closer ™, but he put the first man on and we ended up with a runner on third with one out after a balk and a groundout. Miller replaced Burnett, walked Antonio Esquivel, then struck out Javier Vargas. Lefty Taisuke Mashiba came up, no left-handers left in the pen. Miller had to pitch to him, and got a grounder to Brewer, who ended the game. 3-1 Coons. Reece 2-5, 2B; McDonald 1-1, 2B; Turner 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

Cristian Ortíz was claimed by the Capitals. Should I send flowers to the Potomac? Nah, they will figure out themselves that he can’t do anything besides tying his shoes together.

Middle game. It was a strange game. For one, Raccoons reached not once, but twice on an uncaught third strike, once Miguel Lopez, and once Salazar. Nothing came about of the first situation, but the Salazar one came to cost the Aces in the sixth. It put runners on the corners with one out, and next Baldy was hit by a pitch. Vinson drew a walk, forcing in a run, which upped the score to 4-0, and a Lopez sac fly made it 5-0. The first runs had scored on homers by Reece and O-Mo, while Lopez was mostly cruising. And once he was up by five, Lopez fell apart. George Waller tattooed him with a 3-run homer in the bottom 6th to bring the Aces back to within two runs. Lopez was out of this game, and soon enough Royce Green was as well, with an injury. The Coons failed to mount anything the rest of the game, but got good relief this time, as Lagarde, Martinez, West, and Miller pieced together the rest of the game. 5-3 Coons. Brewer 2-4, BB; O’Morrissey 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI;

We had only six hits in this game, but two long balls usually help.

Bad news now: Royce Green was diagnosed with an intercostal strain, and should be out until the All Star game or so. Three weeks is the label attached to him by the medical staff. So, Green goes back to the DL, and now we needed an outfielder. We called up Luke Newton, 22, who batted .265 in a short stint with us earlier this season. Since Neil Reece could use a day off, Newton was to start the final game in Las Vegas right away.

After Vázquez had collected 27 outs the last time he pitched, there was no such gem this time. Instead, he was battered to an early death, bleeding four runs in less than six innings. Meanwhile, the Coons offense hit balls all over the field, yet whenever the flyers came down, a glove was already waiting for them. Vázquez drove in the only run they scored while he was in the game, one among three hits. They clawed themselves into a chance in the top 8th, with runners on the corners and one out, bringing the tying run to the plate in Salazar. Jose Sotelo replaced starter Ben Carlson. Salazar shoved the ball into the ground right in front of the plate, but catcher Mario Cardenas stumbled out of the crouch and failed to make any play. Bases loaded, one out. Here, Neil Reece batted for Baldivía, and bounced into a double play for him. 4-1 Aces. Vinson 2-3, 3B, 2B; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Raccoons (46-28) vs. Condors (37-38) – June 26-28, 1995

The Condors had the most horrible pitching staff in the league, and the only bullpen worse than ours in the Continental League. In turn, the current top 2 offenses would meet here.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (5-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Sergio Gonzalez (6-7, 4.19 ERA)
Kisho Saito (8-2, 3.26 ERA) vs. Juan Lara (4-3, 3.88 ERA)
Jason Turner (8-2, 3.07 ERA) vs. Jose Macias (5-8, 4.64 ERA)

Hot or not, O-Mo and Brewer needed days off. Brewer was penciled in for the final game against the southpaw Macias. O-Mo got a day off right to start the series, and Ingall played third base.

Scoring was low again in Wade’s start. Pitchers figured big in the first runs scored for either team, as Wade singled to lead off the bottom 3rd, where the Coons went up 1-0. Sergio Gonzalez in turn would hit a 2-out RBI triple off him in the fifth, but the Coons moved right ahead again in the bottom 5th, 2-1. Wade went 7.2 innings this time, but with the bases empty, three left-handers due to bat, and 106 pitches on his clock, he came out for Burnett. A pinch-hit home run by Paul Theobald with one out in the ninth blew the save and cost Wade the win. The game went to extra innings, where the Coons ended up with the bases loaded in the bottom 10th and two out, and Jin coming to bat. We could not hit for him, since we had no other outfielders left, so it was Jin’s turn to deliver. The Coons had singled thrice off Mike Dye in the inning. Jin fell to 2-2 against Dye, then knocked the ball to the second baseman Bruce Boyle – and past him. The Coons still walked off. 3-2 Coons. Higgins 2-4, BB; Kinnear 2-5, 2B, RBI; Jin 1-2, RBI; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1; Wade 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

O-Mo has now a 12-game hitting streak going. I didn’t want to use him in the ninth, but I had hoped for a huge knock. It was a small knock, and Brewer made the final out. And the bullpen. THE BULLPEN.

Offense was hard to come by in the middle game. Saito and Lara totaled five hits given up through five innings, before the Condors got to Saito with a leadoff double by Xiao-wei Li in the top 6th. Li scored on a single by Edgardo Garza, and the Condors were ahead. Saito pitched eight innings of strong ball – and had gotten zero support when he was pinch-hit for to lead off the bottom 8th. Baldy doubled for him. He moved up to third on a passed ball that ran the count between Lara and Brewer to 2-2. Brewer fouled out after that, but Salazar took Saito off the hook with a single to left. The big boys came up with one out, and we were begging for a homer here. Reece flew deep to right, but into Theobald’s glove, and O-Mo popped out. So we had a tie, 1-1, and Campoy came into the game. He put all three batters on that he faced. Lagarde was thrown in, but this was a lost game. The Condors hit two sac flies, and that was enough. 3-1 Condors. Reece 2-4; Baldivía (PH) 1-1, 2B; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

Ramón Campoy was designated for assignment after the game. Gabby De La Rosa was recalled after allowing one runner in 5.2 innings in AAA.

Another game against these ugly birds. Turner surrendered a run in the first, but had the good stuff ready today, fanning six in four innings. The bottom 4th was also the first instance of some remote sign of offense from the Coons. Reece hit a leadoff double and moved to third when O-Mo grounded out. Jin scored him with a sac fly, tying the game, and then Baldy knocked a go-ahead home run. Jose Macias gave up a pair of bases-loaded walks with two outs in the fifth. Turner now had a rather comfy 3-run lead. Oh wait. The first three Condors reached base in the top 6th. The pitching coach went out and they talked about a thing or two. Turner then struck out Henry Givens, before Li blooped a single into left, and one run scored. Turner came back to strike out Kevin Lewis, and Macias was NOT pinch-hit for in that spot and grounded out! Turner was toast after this sixth inning. Grandridge and West pieced together the seventh, in the bottom of which we came to the classic situation of bases loaded, one out, and Baldy to the plate. Stats show that he would hit into a double play 105% of the time. Nah, he went to left this time for an RBI single. Kinnear’s sac fly and an RBi single by McDonald got us to 7-2. Even our bullpen would collect six outs before blowing up five runs, right? Martinez pitched the eighth, and De La Rosa, just returned, was assigned the ninth. O-Mo made the play of the week on a line drive that had teeth all over it off the bat of Xiao-wei Li to start the inning, but De La Rosa got through it. 7-2 Coons. Salazar 2-5; Reece 3-4, BB, 2B; Jin 1-1, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Baldivía 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; McDonald 2-4, RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1, 2B; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (9-2);

In other news

June 21 – IND OF Tomas Maguey (.306, 1 HR, 14 RBI) has suffered a ruptured foot tendon and is out for the season.
June 22 – TIJ CL Mike Dye (1-1, 0.93 ERA, 19 SV) closes a 2-0 Condors win over the Knights for his 400th career save. Ironically, Dye spent seven years in Atlanta before joining the Condors this year, and was taken out of the closer role in Georgia in 1993.
June 23 – The “out for the year” injuries keep piling up: the Knights’ veteran righty Jesse Carver (7-6, 4.24 ERA) is thus out with a torn labrum.
June 23 – The Miners trade 1B/3B Mario Haider (.268, 4 HR, 24 RBI) to the Titans for RF Matt Smith (.213, 7 HR, 28 RBI). Haider is 32, Smith 27 years old.
June 24 – 25-year old CHA SP Millard Griffin makes his major league debut against the Titans. And what a debut it was! His team scored him four runs, and Griffin doesn’t allow anything in return, posting a 3-hit shutout of the Titans.
June 25 – TIJ SP Woody Roberts (4-8, 5.11 ERA) does not have a great year, but eight innings of 3-run ball and plenty run support in a 10-3 win over the Indians notch him his 200th career win. The eighth overall pick in the 1980 draft has never played outside the Condors system. Among his accolades are a 200-134 record, a 3.18 ERA, a no-hitter at the AA level in 1981, and two Pitcher of the Year awards in 1991 and 1993.
June 25 – Out for the year: TIJ SS Cipriano Ortega (.240, 1 HR, 24 RBI) has his season succumb to shoulder inflammation.
June 25 – Out for the year and beyond: IND SP Larry Davis (5-7, 4.34 ERA) will miss up to 10 months with a torn labrum.
June 25 – The Loggers and Knights play 23 innings, running out of pitchers. Tied 9-9 through 22, thirteen runs score in the 23rd inning, as the Loggers win 18-13. Milwaukee’s ace Martin Garcia pitches 11 innings in relief to earn the win, yet still gives up four runs in the bottom 23rd. Atlanta’s Gerald Hall and Tom Nicks both have five hits.
June 27 – NYC LF/RF Jean-Claude Monnier (.301, 6 HR, 37 RBI) suffers a thumb sprain and will miss a month.

Complaints and stuff

Ben O’Morrissey was named Player of the Week in the CL with a .500 (12-24) clip, 1 HR and 5 RBI. This is actually his FIRST such honor! He does have a Batter of the Month, a Gold Glove, and two All Star nominations, but he had never been Player of the Week before.

Royce Green’s injury was terrible … not only for him, but especially for him. After missing a month early, he was about a week or two removed from qualifying for the PCT batting races again. O-Mo’s OPS is around 1 here in late June, which leads the Continental League. Except that it doesn’t. Would Green qualify, his 1.057 mark would be tops.

Especially since the offense has issues at this point. Besides O-Mo, Reece, and Brewer, we don’t have a lot. Vinson and Salazar are struggling badly, and Kinnear just can’t get out of a funk that has been going on for months. This makes playing with this bullpen of ours even more gruesome. Now we don’t have a 5-run offense. It’s more like three runs a game recently, and this could become a problem instantly.

Kisho Saito is 1-2 in his last eight starts with a 3.80 ERA. There are two 5-run starts in there, but overall, he has been betrayed by the rest of the team after winning seven straight games before that stretch. Saito is mostly fine, occasionally struggling with a fastball that ain’t moving, but his K/BB is 4 for the season and his WHIP is better than the last few years at 1.12. He could easily be at 10 wins already, or even more. Gah.

I offered up the one trade chip I could identify. Bobby Quinn – I got no offers for relief pitchers that could even remotely help us.

I forgot to mention: all our draft picks signed for slot, so the draft came us less than $500k in expenses. We have $130k in the bank for trades or free agent signings. This is not a lot. When the Knights put catcher Francisco Ramirez on waivers this week, I had to pass, because we could not take on over half of his $363k contract.

And no, we still have nobody designated as the closer.