[Westheim]

Almost, that table above would have become obsolete this week. Almost... but see for yourself.

All Star Game

David Brewer was the only All Star for the Raccoons this season, and since he was injured, nobody donned a coonskin cap for the game.

The Capitals and Scorpions led the FL with five players each in the game, while in the CL the Titans and Condors had most with six, and the Loggers had five. The number of former Coons in the game was two, Indy’s Matt Brown and Denver’s Pat Parker(!!).

Parker also drove in the winning run in the Federal League’s 3-1 triumph, a third inning double off Tijuana’s Rafael Negron.

Raccoons (34-55) @ Indians (36-53) – July 17-20, 1997

The Indians hadn’t started to score runs (apart from a 12-run bashing of the Coons…) since they were last dicussed, and their pitching is still very much better. But now that the Raccoons were back in sniffing distance of something other than last place I fully expected to get swept over four.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (4-8, 3.10 ERA) vs. Robbie Campbell (7-7, 3.86 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-4, 5.21 ERA) vs. Dan George (5-9, 3.89 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (2-8, 5.12 ERA)
Hector Lara (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Les Browning (3-5, 3.87 ERA)

With our AAA rotation bleeding runs, I did not go back to those guys yet. We had an off day on the Monday following this series, eliminating the need for a fifth starter until all the way to next weekend. Ramos was penciled in tentatively, but he could pitch out of the pen the next six games or so with no troubles, and maybe a week from now we will have another starter up.

We did however exchange Gabriel Rodriguez back to AAA for Steve Caddock for the sake of a left-handed bat off the bench and more versatile defense. Caddock plays all spots on the infield, Rodriguez is mostly useless up the middle.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Ingall – 3B Crowe – LF Kinnear – P Saito
IND: LF G. Flores – RF Sakaguchi – C Cicalina – CF Maguey – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – 1B Alarcon – 3B Whaley – P Campbell

You had to assume that Liam Wedemeyer had spent all of the first half of the year in some kind of Sleeping Beauty world, but was now getting warm. After Saito fell 1-0 behind in the first, Wedemeyer hit a thundering 3-run shot in the third inning to put him and the Raccoons on top. The Coons added a run in the sixth, chasing Campbell, but Salcido struck out Wedemeyer with the bases loaded to end the frame. Saito pitched a strong game, but came apart in a wild seventh with a walk and a ball right into Alarcon, and was mostly saved by Brewer starting a double play. The 4-1 score stood through seven, and Saito was hit for in a scoreless top 8th. Tamburrino took over in the bottom of the inning, sat the Indians down quickly, and when Mike Crowe took Dennis Lauzon deep (just a hair fair inside the pole in left) for two runs, Saito breathed a sigh of relief. He better hadn’t. Daniel Miller retired two Indians quickly, then put one on, and another one, and another one, and then finally struck out Alejandro Roldán. 6-2 Raccoons. Brewer 2-4, BB; Aycock 3-5, RBI; Wedemeyer 4-5, HR, 3 RBI; Crowe 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (5-8);

Kisho won a game! It’s merely his first win in four weeks… While he did have three or four bad starts this season, that is your quota even for aces. The support he has gotten is best expressed in this: 5-8 with a 3.00 ERA.

For the first time since April, we’re in a position to force a tie for fifth place with another win in the next game. GO GET ‘EM!!

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Buell – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Wade
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 1B Brown – RF A. Roldán – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – LF Alarcon – 3B Whaley – P George

****ing enthusiasm. ****ing Matt Brown hit two ****ing home runs off ****ing Scott Wade in the first two innings, for merely five ****ing runs. Wade was removed before he’d face Brown again, after four innings. At that point, Dan George was pitching a no-hitter. Donis appeared in the fifth, walked enough guys to walk home a run, 6-0, and about there I took my eyes off the game and read a really interesting magazine article about the most trendy haircuts for middle-aged women these days. To whom it may concern: no, the Raccoons were not no-hit by George, knocking two singles in the seventh to no effect. 7-0 Indians. Buell 1-1, 2 BB;

The game ended hitting streaks of 14 games for David Brewer and 11 games for Liam Wedemeyer. So, yeah, booooohh!!!

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B Crowe – CF Newton – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – P M. Lopez
IND: LF G. Flores – RF Sakaguchi – C Cicalina – CF Maguey – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – 1B T. Thompson – 3B Whaley – P Park

Luke Newton’s first start since coming back from injury had him plate runs with 2-out singles twice in the game. In the fourth it was an infield single, in the sixth a clean line drive single to right – and then that was all the scoring. Ingall would up to 4-0 with a 2-out, 2-run double in the eighth. Lopez was dominant through five, but began to crumble a bit starting in the sixth, shooting up his pitch count against an all-righty lineup. He entered the ninth with that 4-0 lead, on a 5-hitter, but also on 118 pitches. The bullpen was a busy place, as Lopez hoped to face and retire Tomas Maguey, Martin Carter, and Jose Martinez in the inning. He got Maguey, but the other two got on and Lopez was removed. De La Rosa came on, walked Thompson, surrendered an RBI single to PH Matt Brown, and gave up Lopez’ other run on a sac fly to Roldán. Then he walked Flores. Whom to go to!? Tamburrino?? Yes, bring Tamburrino! Tamburrino ran the count full on Sakaguchi, then placed a cutter right on the edge, and the umpire … fisted Sakaguchi – THREE STRIKES, YOU’RE OUT!! 4-2 Raccoons. Brewer 2-5; Newton 2-4, 2 RBI; Lopez 8.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (6-6); Tamburrino 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, IR 3-0, SV (1);

Just what the hell is wrong with De La Rosa!?

Game 4
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Buell – RF Newton – C Aycock – SS Ingall – P Lara
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 1B Brown – RF A. Roldán – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – LF Sakaguchi – 3B Alarcon – P Browning

There really was not a lot going on in this game until the bottom 7th. Tied at one, both runs scored in either half of the fourth inning, Lara was still pitching with two outs in the bottom 7th, and Tomas Maguey on second base. Brown came up to bat, but wasn’t going to get a chance: we put him on intentionally. Lara would pitch to Roldán, who popped up the first pitch and made the third out to Ingall. So, in a way, there still wasn’t a lot going on. Bottom 9th, still 1-1, Lara put two on to get yanked. With one out, Miller got Cicalina to bounce to Ingall, but we only got one out, and that brought up Brown. Zuniga came in to face him, and his first pitch was taken to left, and right to Buell. Extra innings. In the top 10th, Kinnear led off reaching on an error by reliever Lauzon. Brewer singled, Crowe double-played Kinnear to third, and that was where Reece left him. Padilla never threw a strike in the bottom 10th. Walk, double, sac fly. 2-1 Indians. Reece 3-5, 2B; Buell 2-3, BB, 2B; Lara 8.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K;

Raccoons (36-57) @ Crusaders (46-47) – July 22-24, 1997

A 4.59 starters’ ERA was the main reason the Crusaders weren’t keeping pace with the Loggers and Titans. Their offense was above average, but couldn’t keep up with the second-worst rotation.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (5-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (6-9, 4.60 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-5, 5.43 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (10-7, 5.00 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 3.87 ERA) vs. Cipriano Miranda (8-8, 3.92 ERA)

The road trip continues for another 3-set in San Fran after this, and then we will have another off day. We are scheduled to face three right-handers in this series.

We are currently 3-6 against the Crusaders. We have not lost the season series against them since we went 7-11 against them in 1989!

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – P Saito
NYC: RF Rigg – 3B J. Ramirez – LF A. Johnson – C Melendez – 1B T. Mullins – CF Diéguez – SS J. Vega – 2B Wilson – P F. Garza

Kisho Saito was taken to where the sun didn’t shine twice in the first two innings, left the go-ahead runs in scoring position when he struck out in the top of the second, and then, down 2-1, found himself with another pair of runners on base in the top 4th, and again with two out. Down to the final strike of the inning, Garza made a poor pitch that Saito ripped right into and shot a low rope up the right foul line, where it went right under the diving Theodore Mullins and rumbled into the corner for a go-ahead, 2-out, 2-run triple for Saito! Saito lasted seven innings, surrendering another run after a walk, balk, wild pitch, and groundout in the bottom 7th, but by then the Coons were up 6-3. Miller pitched a clean eighth, but once De La Rosa came into the game for the ninth to face the 2-3-4 hitters, something went wrong: he pitched a perfect inning, without walking anybody. That was new! 6-3 Raccoons! Brewer 2-4, BB, 2B; Wedemeyer 2-4, BB; Reece 3-5, 2B; Kinnear 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (6-8) and 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI;

Kisho Saito had to spend 17 years in the majors to hit a triple! But he did it! Hooray!! By the way, he has two home runs, one for the fluffy Furballs and one that came in his former life as a smelly Elk. That was all the way back in 1982.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – LF Kinnear – 3B Crowe – SS Caddock – P Wade
NYC: 3B Rigg – 2B Wilson – RF A. Johnson – LF P. Jenkins – 1B Berry – C Melendez – CF C. Clark – SS J. Ramirez – P Sandoval

The Raccoons scratched out three runs early, all on flimsy plays: Caddock hit into a run-scoring double play in the second inning, and in the third we got runs on an error and a Wedemeyer sac fly. Wade was perfect through four innings, before everything came crashing down in the fifth. He loaded the bases with one out, and waved for the trainer, then came out of the game. Uh-oh. Tamburrino got out of the inning with one run scoring, but of course Wade, having some kind of trouble with his hand, would not qualify for the win. Caddock came up with the bags full and no outs again in the sixth, and while he again made an out, he actually got an RBI with a sac fly to left that scored Neil Reece, 4-1. Ingall then hit for Tamburrino, and straight into a double play. Still at 4-1, Padilla was tasked with the eighth, but the Crusaders loaded the bags with one out and the left-handed 3-4-5 batters coming up. Zuniga came out, but the game was getting away right here. Avery Johnson singled home a pair, and then the Crusaders actually hit for Pat Jenkins with Theodore Mullins, a right-hander, but our options were limited at that point. Zuniga pitched to him, allowed a 3-run homer, and the Raccoons were washed away. 6-4 Crusaders. Reece 2-4; Kinnear 4-4, 2B; Crowe 2-4; Wade 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Santana 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

The absolute last thing we need is an injury to a starting pitcher. We are kinda short on them already! No diagnosis for Wade was available so far.

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – P M. Lopez
NYC: RF Rigg – 3B J. Ramirez – LF A. Johnson – C Melendez – 1B T. Mullins – CF Diéguez – SS J. Vega – 2B Wilson – P Miranda

Evening the score, Cipriano Miranda left with an injury in the first inning in this game, while the Raccoons scored a pair of runs on him. Lopez retired the first ten Crusaders before Ramirez worked a walk, but the Crusaders didn’t get anything else through four. The Coons added a run in the fifth and a pair in the sixth (one of the latter unearned), while the Crusaders were clueless how to hit Lopez. Kinnear made spectacular plays in the sixth and seventh innings, keeping Lopez’ bid in one piece through seven. To start the eighth, Lopez struck out Mullins, his 6th K on the day, half a dozen more strikeouts for him than hits against him. Five to go, Armando Diéguez emptied a 2-1 pitch into the bleachers in left, and the air was outta this one. Lopez sat down the five remaining Crusaders after that. 5-1 Raccoons. Brewer 2-4, BB, 2B; Aycock 2-5, 2B; Reece 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, 2B; Lopez 9.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (7-6) and 2-5, 2B;

I never liked Diéguez. WHY!!?? I could just cry. (sobs)

Interestingly, our medical staff took 24 hours to diagnose Wade with a torn fingernail. Thanks to the off day on Monday, Wade should be able to pitch in his next scheduled start. If not, the off day could be used to pull Lopez into the Tuesday game.

Raccoons (38-58) @ Bayhawks (46-50) – July 25-27, 1997

Mostly the opposite of the Crusaders, the Bayhawks had a top 3 rotation, but couldn’t score for their petty lives. They ranked 10th in runs scored in the league, and they were currently missing two of their starting infielders with injuries in Mike Powys and Pedro Hernandez, although both players would complete the minimum of 15 days on the disabled list during this series and could come back to play.

Projected matchups:
Hector Lara (2-3, 3.98 ERA) vs. Ricardo Sanchez (10-6, 2.82 ERA)
Jose Ramos (4-2, 3.84 ERA) vs. Charles Bywaters (3-10, 4.88 ERA)
Kisho Saito (6-8, 3.04 ERA) vs. Tony Hamlyn (8-6, 2.38 ERA)

Hamlyn is the only left-hander we get this week. That’s good for Kinnear, who has platooned a lot with Buell recently, but I think, I want to give Buell more than one start a week.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Lara
SFB: 2B Berrios – 3B Chandler – 1B Dean – LF P. Perez – RF Marquez – C J. Ortíz – CF Javier – SS T. Smith – P R. Sanchez

Alfredo Marquez plated three of the Bayhawks’ four first-inning runs with a homer, and the Raccoons were very quickly very out of this game. Hector Lara allowed only an unearned run in the next five innings, which was a moot point with Ricardo Sanchez pitching shutout ball through six, scattering five hits. Green and Crowe led off the top 7th with a pair of doubles, scoring one run, but Crowe was left in scoring position in the inning, and apart from Newton in the ninth, no other Furball ever reached. 5-1 Bayhawks. Reece 2-4; Green 2-4, 2B; Newton (PH) 1-1; Donis 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Well, if there is anything good to draw from this game, then it was Donis’ outing. The Bayhawks fielded five left-handers late in the game, so Donis was left in there. Worked. Let’s move on.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Kinnear – CF Newton – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – P Ramos
SFB: 2B Berrios – CF A. Rodriguez – 1B Dean – LF P. Perez – RF Marquez – SS Chandler – 3B J. Gomez – C J. Ortíz – P Bywaters

The allegedly deficient Bayhawks offense roflstomped the next Raccoons hurler in the middle game, putting three runs on Ramos in a hurry. Ramos would allow 10 hits, five runs, while striking out eight in six innings, and the Raccoons discovered that if the Bayhawks offense as advertised was a lie, the pitching lived up to expectations. Like Sanchez the day before, Bywaters shut them out through six. Contrary to Sanchez, Bywaters kept his shutout through seven. And through eight. And also through nine. The Raccoons sucked the air out of the game, which was never anything else than a rout. 7-0 Bayhawks. Brewer 2-4;

Yay, offense. I find these guys’ offense offensive…

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Ingall – C Aycock – SS Guerin – P Saito
SFB: 2B Berrios – 1B Chandler – CF A. Rodriguez – LF P. Perez – 3B P. Hernandez – SS Powys – RF Cobb – C J. Ortíz – P Hamlyn

Game 3 got going better than the other two with Saito not being blown up instantly. However, he also had the Coons’ first hit (in the top 3rd), and surrendered a leadoff triple to Jose Ortíz in the bottom 3rd. Ortíz was hurt and left the game, but Hamlyn brought the run home, and the Bayhawks had almost scored more, but Reece ended the inning with a hammering throw that nailed Leon Berrios at the plate. The going got rougher in general in the fifth. Aycock led off with a single, and Hamlyn walked Guerin in a full count. Saito missed the bunt on the first pitch, took a ball, then was plunked by Hamlyn. Saito rubbed his side, but was fine and stayed in the game, as we had the bags full with no outs and Brewer up. In a full count, Brewer drilled a liner out to left – and right to Pedro Perez. Aycock tagged and scored, tying the game, but you had to wonder whether the baseball gods were just not willing to yield us runs here at the Bay. Buell went to 3-0 against Hamlyn, then grounded to Berrios, who was too slow to make any play, and we reloaded the sacks with that infield single. Reece popped out, bringing up Wedemeyer, who had two strikes on him in a hurry. Do not strike out, do not strike out, do no… Wedemeyer went into all-or-nothing mode on the 2-2 pitch, ripped, hit, drilled, deep, deeper, GONE, GRAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMM!!!! Saito, with a 4-run cushion, was pitching steadily in the middle innings. To start the bottom 6th, he punched out Pat Chandler, who hissed at the ump and was tossed. The Bayhawks got a run off him in the seventh, though, cutting the gap to three runs, but in the eighth, Saito sat them down in order. That was it for him, though. De La Rosa was tasked defending that 5-2 lead in the ninth, facing the just gotten-back-to-health Hernandez, Powys, and Cobb in the ninth. He was about to blow it with a double by Hernandez, an almost-homer RBI double by Amaya (following two hard outs), a single by PH Bill Dean – and by now the tying runs were on the corners – when Leon Berrios lobbed a low flyer to shallow right. Royce Green beamed in and nabbed it. 5-3 Raccoons. Wedemeyer 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; Guerin 2-3, BB; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (7-8) and 1-2;

In other news

July 17 – The hitting streak of CIN Paul Connolly goes to die in Cincy’s 5-3 loss to the Blue Sox. He had connected in 20 straight games.
July 20 – The Warriors and Scorpions exchange 25-yr old infielders. Ron Reed (.326, 1 HR, 35 RBI) heads to Sioux Falls, while Sacramento receives Felipe Rivera (.326, 1 HR, 35 RBI) and a minor leaguer.
July 21 – Season over for MIL 2B/SS Jose Perez (.254, 6 HR, 44 RBI). The 27-year old has a torn labrum.
July 22 – Tijuana’s LF Dale Wales (.305, 4 HR, 45 RBI) has a pair of hits as the Condors get routed by the Knights, 11-3. A sixth inning single off Knights hurler Sammy Davis marks Wales’ 2,500th career base hit. All but the last 90 have come with the Denver Gold Sox. The 2nd overall pick in the 1981 draft, and 8-time All Star, Wales has often been injured, but now he is the eighth player to reach the 2,500 hits mark. If his health holds up, Wales should have no problems reaching 3,000 hits!
July 23 – As the Capitals are defeated by the Cyclones 5-3, WAS INF Nuno Andresen (.257, 4 HR, 42 RBI) gets his 2,000th career base hit, an eighth inning single off Juan Sanchez. Andresen, 34, has spent his whole 15-year career with the Capitals, winning two World Series with them. An All Star only once (1989), Andresen has won the Federal League Gold Glove at shortstop six times (1986, 1989-90, 1992-94) in his career!
July 25 – RIC RF/LF Raúl Vázquez (.382, 16 HR, 35 RBI) goes down to a sprained ankle and will miss time clean through the end of August.
July 27 – SAL SP Ramón Sotelo (6-9, 3.65 ERA) could be out for a full year with a torn elbow ligament.

Complaints and stuff

SO close to our third no-hitter! SO close. SO sad!

When was the last time that Saito won two games in a week? Must’ve been the 80s…

Doesn’t look like we’re gonna make any more trades during the season. By now we are pretty thin in most aspects when it comes to depth. If Wade had gotten down, that would have been about the death knell, because we can’t fill a rotation properly anyway right now. David Brewer would have been the last big name to sell. We came into the season with six players making $800k or more (up to Brewer’s $1.5M). Salazar and O’Morrissey were unloaded from the sinking ship. Royce Green was injured until the end of June and could not be traded, Neil Reece ain’t going anywhere as long as I am breathing, and Kisho Saito would not go anywhere in any case due to his 10/5 rights, and I want him to retire as a Coon, too. His contract is up after next year and he’d be 39 in ’99. That only leaves Brewer as a big moneymaker to cull.

The question this winter will be the following: with three more seasons on Brewer’s contract, can we expect to field a competitive team in 1999 and 2000? I doubt we’ll have one next year. The prospect front looks dire, too.

If there is a chance to have a strong team together for the last two seasons of his contract, it would be smart to keep Brewer, the best second baseman and one of the best position players that is not a power guy, and swallow the $1.5M for next year.

But if we look at our system and see that there is nothing coming up and we can’t set free enough money to bring in qualified free agents either, then it might be a wise move to trade Brewer and the (after this season) $4.7M left on his contract for prospects. You should get at least one blue chip for him.

On the farm, I can’t find anybody ready for the majors by next year. At AAA, we have 1B/2B Samy Michel, who’s only 20, but from his general profile reminds one of the young Daniel Hall, apart from the different position and lacking a good chunk of power. But he’s an agile, daring whirlwind with gap power and a good eye (maybe even a pair of good eyes). But, he’s 20, not everyone is made for the majors at 20, and he is so far not really killing AAA pitching. Deeper down, our most prominent acquisitions of this season, SP Ralph Ford, C Julio Mata, and CL Dan Nordahl are all doing well so far (the first two in AA, Nordahl in A), but of course neither of them is expected around Coon City until 1999 at the very earliest, Nordahl maybe even later.

By the way, contracts that are up after this season (1997 salary): Green ($821k), Kinnear ($550k), Vinson ($450k), Aycock ($382k), Otero ($350k, will soon come off DL, by the way), Zuniga ($230k), Lara ($200k), Ramos ($164k). We will have at least six arbitration cases, too.

Outside the Big 3 named above (Brewer, Reece, Saito), there are only two players signed for next season that are NOT under team control: Scott Wade and Daniel Miller.

Currently the numbers for ’98 show $3M of budget space available, but to be honest, I expect Senor Valdes to cut into our budget with a significant reduction and expect to have more like $2M, and once we have scouting and development at acceptable rates, about $1.2M… that’s not a lot of money to fill out a roster with only five veteran players and a few boys still wet behind their ears…

More troubles ahead in Coon City.