[Westheim]

Everybody exhale: the pain that Randy Farley felt in the sixth inning on Sunday was nothing too serious. It seems like a mild case of wrist soreness, but he will miss one start. However, he wouldn’t have pitched until the weekend anyway, and by then rosters will have expanded already and we might be able to shuffle staff a bit to get Ralph Ford to take over that start. Or maybe they will start him in AAA on the 31st. Who knows.

Raccoons (56-75) vs. Thunder (72-59) – August 30 – September 1, 1999

The Thunder sported a strong starting rotation with the second-best ERA in the Continental League at 3.50, and with a fourth rank in runs scored they were also supplementing them well. Well, you know, like GOOD teams do. I fear the worst for the Critters.

Projected matchups:
Paco Martinez (3-2, 4.08 ERA) vs. Lou Corbett (10-15, 4.90 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-7, 3.14 ERA) vs. Vaughn Higgins (10-6, 2.69 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (5-6, 5.63 ERA) vs. Fabien Armand (14-5, 2.84 ERA)

Fairchild was not set in stone on that September 1 start. However, looking at our AAA rotation, it was all too likely that Ralph Ford would start on *Monday*, so he wouldn’t be available for game 3 *or* to pitch in Friday’s game against the Titans (in Farley’s slot). With how our roster and the one in AAA looks… brace yourself, but after 12 years and 655 relief appearances Jackie Lagarde could be heading for an emergency start on Friday…

Game 1
OCT: RF Barnes – LF Humphrey – 3B S. Reece – CF R. Green – SS Grant – 1B Higashi – C Cooks – 2B J. Valentín – P Corbett
POR: SS Guerin – RF Newton – 2B Ingall – 1B Gonzalez – C Mata – LF Parker – 3B Crowe – CF Taramillo – P P. Martinez

A member of the little team that couldn’t be held together, Royce Green still got warm welcomes whenever he came to Portland. The fact that he did little against Paco Martinez in the opener didn’t hurt either. Martinez was taken deep in the second by Bob Grant, but Taramillo’s first career RBI’s on a 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 2nd gave him a lead, and Taramillo led off the bottom 5th – just after the Thunder had re-tied the score – with another double. Martinez grounded past Higashi with Taramillo running for an RBI single, before Guerin reached on an error by Lou Corbett. Green grabbed a pop by Newton, still got some cheers from somewhere, but the park didn’t exactly erupt at the easy grab. It would however in the same inning. Ingall got on to load the bags with one out for Gonzalez, whose liner to left was caught by Joey Humphrey and no advance was possible, the bags remained full. That brought up Mata, 0-2 on the day. He soon was 0-2 in the at-bat, before turning into pitch #80 from Corbett. Humphrey tried to get that one, but it was long gone. GRAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!! Martinez went seven innings in a game where the opposition made four errors to aid his campaign, and when Royce Green finally went deep against Tamburrino, the audience wasn’t too mad, and neither was it surprised. 9-3 Furballs. Gonzalez 2-3, BB; Mata 1-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Taramillo 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; P. Martinez 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (4-2) and 1-2, RBI;

Game 2
OCT: RF Barnes – LF Humphrey – 3B S. Reece – 1B Higashi – SS Grant – 2B Browne – CF D. Henry – C Briggs – P Higgins
POR: SS Guerin – LF Parker – 2B Ingall – 3B Gonzalez – 1B Granados – RF Buell – CF Newton – C Fifield – P Wade

Scotty had not won a game at home all season, but for winning a game a few things had to come together, like, you know, offense, and not blowing up as soon as you get some support. Wade had three good innings to start the game, but as soon as Concie was driven home by an Ingall single in the bottom 3rd for a 1-0 lead, Wade blew up. Sonny Reece ripped a leadoff jack in the fourth, bringing a hitting streak to 24 games, and the next five outs were recorded at the warning track. Wade recovered in the sixth and seventh, but was hit for in the bottom 7th and didn’t figure in the decision. The Coons loaded them up in the bottom 8th with an Ingall single, a Granados double, and an intentional walk to Buell (!!??), after which Higgins was removed and replaced by Vincente Galván to face Luke Newton. With a good eye, Newton worked a walk, shoving home the go-ahead run, before Galván struck out Fifield for the second out. Mata hit for Mike Collins, who had sat the Thunder down in order in the top of the inning. To the crowd’s amazement, Mata doubled over Artie Barnes for two more runs. Miller sealed the deal. 4-1 Coons! Guerin 2-4; Ingall 3-4, RBI; Mata (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Wade 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K;

Rosters expanded for Wednesday’s game. As expected, Ralph Ford had pitched on the 31st (grumble), but was called up regardless. Sunday is the earliest start for him, however. We also added another starter you already know too well, two relievers, a youngster we waited some time for, another slacking middle infielder, and we also have Neil Reece in the wings to rejoin us for the Boston series, and Manuel Martinez could soon come back from his rehab assignment, too. The following players got callups:
SP Ralph Ford (13-6, 3.94 ERA @ AAA; 1-0, 6.00 ERA @ ML)
SP Esteban Flores (8-1, 3.46 ERA @ AAA; 2-6, 5.82 ERA @ ML)
MR Fred Carlton (1-1, 7.94 ERA @ AAA; 0-0, 0.00 ERA @ ML)
MR Bob Joly (2-6, 2 SV, 5.42 ERA @ AAA; 2-5, 6.60 ERA @ ML)
1B Albert Martin (.300/.398/.573, 29 HR, 68 RBI @ AAA)
INF/LF Steve Caddock (.122/.218/.143, 0 HR, 1 RBI @ AAA; .150/.253/.275, 2 HR, 7 RBI @ ML)

Yes, can you believe I am adding Caddock yet again?

Game 3
OCT: RF Barnes – CF Humphrey – 3B S. Reece – 1B Higashi – SS Grant – 2B Browne – LF D. Henry – C Briggs – P Armand
POR: SS Guerin – RF Newton – 2B Ingall – 3B Gonzalez – C Mata – 1B Martin – LF Buell – CF Taramillo – P Fairchild

Fairchild sat down the first ten Thunder batters, but once Joey Humphrey shoved a single through between Guerin and Gonzalez, the Thunder quickly were all over Fairchild, pushed him to the ground and rubbed his face against the base line. Chalked up, Fairchild choked before getting out of the sixth and left trailing 3-0. Whenever there was no Coons hurler on the mound, Fabien Armand dazzled their batters and struck out ten over the course of eight shutout innings, and Jimmy Morey added another strikeout in the ninth in a largely eventless game. 3-0 Thunder. Guerin 2-4, 2B;

Were they ever in scoring position? Not sure. However, Albert Martin hit a single his first time at the plate, before going 0-3 the rest of the day.

Also, Sonny Reece’s hitting streak reached 25 games here with a double in the 2-run fourth inning against Fairchild.

Raccoons (58-76) vs. Titans (84-49) – September 2-5, 1999

Run differential of +200. Do I really need to present more details about a .632 team?

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (5-13, 4.10 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (18-7, 3.12 ERA)
Esteban Flores (2-6, 5.82 ERA) vs. TBD
Paco Martinez (4-2, 3.88 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (16-8, 3.10 ERA)
Ralph Ford (4-7, 2.99 ERA) vs. Sergio Gonzalez (6-7, 3.76 ERA)

Flores will most likely only make the one start and will then be waived again, but the only other option was Bob Joly or Jackie Lagarde, and neither is very thrilling. There is nothing left at AAA. We have just too many injuries. Good news is, the Titans aren’t knowing whom to throw into Friday’s game either.

Game 1
BOS: CF Alonso – 3B Nakayama – 2B D. Silva – RF Greenman – C L. Lopez – LF Baker – 1B Elliott – SS Powys – P O’Halloran
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – CF Reece – 1B C. Gonzalez – C Mata – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – RF Newton – P Saito

Stunner early on: after Neil Reece extended an old 10-game hitting streak with a 2-out single in the first, Gonzalez popped to Pat Elliott, who failed to make a grab and we had two on. Then came Mata, saw, and conquered O’Halloran with a 3-run homer to never-seen-again-Land. Unfortunately, Saito wasn’t up to the task, and only Luke Newton saved him from an early shower with a nifty pick on Luis Alonso’s fly to deep right with the score 3-1 and the bags full in the top 2nd. The Titans got another run back thanks to the repulsive Daniel Silva in the third, and by some miracle or other Saito twice escaped with runners on third base until he was removed mercifully after six innings. Chubby Martinez replaced him for the seventh, gave up the game-tying home run to Haruki Nakayama, and failed to retire anybody as the bullpen exploded in a thousand flames. 10-3 Titans.

I don’t know what is worse. Being shut out by some Canadian international free agent we graciously passed on a few winters back, or getting stuffed with ten unanswered runs by the Titans and their pack of obnoxious players.

Game 2
BOS: 2B H. Henry – CF Elizondo – LF Thomas – RF G. Munoz – C L. Lopez – 1B G. Douglas – 3B Nakayama – SS Elliott – P Bautista
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – CF Reece – LF Parker – 3B Crowe – RF Brady – C Fifield – P Flores

The Titans moved Bautista up to Friday’s essentially hopeless game for us, with little Esteban in the game, who was throwing flowers, or something like that. Flores walked the bags full in the first inning and Glenn Douglas’ 3-run double sounded the victory horn before the Raccoons had ever been to bat. Once they had, in the bottom 1st, they loaded the bags themselves only for Crowe to leave them loaded. Flores walked six, plated another run with a wild pitch in the fourth, and was back on the train to Sevasto- … St. Petersburg while Jesus Bautista was still mowing down Coons, who nominally kept stepping in at the plate, but had stopped actually taking action the second Mike Crowe had flunked out in the first inning. The merest sliver of offense was presented by Neil Reece, who salvaged his hitting streak with a leadoff jack in the ninth that knocked out Bautista. The Titans, who had failed to put on routs for consecutive days by leaving 13 runners on base, still had Bill Corkum, though, and the Raccoons went down without much of a whimper. 4-1 Titans. Martin 2-4; Nordahl 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K;

As mentioned, Esteban Flores was banished. No replacement was called up. Much the contrary, we demoted the rather useless Brent McLaughlin – neither him nor Caddock can be expected to properly hold a bat, but at least Caddock can be used in a variety of defensive situations. How just a glove can fill a fridge, amazing!

Meanwhile the Titans kept moving up pitchers, and by now had announced Bryce Hildred (yuck!!) for game 4.

Game 3
BOS: CF Alonso – 3B Nakayama – 2B D. Silva – RF Greenman – C L. Lopez – 1B G. Douglas – LF Elizondo – SS H. Henry – P S. Gonzalez
POR: SS Guerin – LF Parker – CF Reece – 3B C. Gonzalez – 1B Martin – C Mata – RF Newton – 2B Caddock – P P. Martinez

After Carlos Gonzalez for a change drove in a run in the bottom 1st, Paco Martinez went mental in the top 2nd as well and walked the bags full with one out. He recovered with a K to Horace Henry, but Reece had to stretch the legs pretty well to get Sergio Gonzalez’ fly. Flipping the roles, the Coons had the bags full in the bottom 2nd with Martinez batting and no outs, but he couldn’t resist putting a 3-1 ball into play and got Caddock forced out at second, but Mata scored. Guerin just barely got the third run of the game in before Parker whiffed. Martinez got ten outs without allowing a hit, but then the Titans reeled off three quick ones to get a run in the top 4th. Two in scoring position with one out, Henry lobbed out to Newton. Douglas tagged, but was out by three strides at home. Bottom 4th, Newton and Caddock singled their ways to the corners with no outs. Martinez popped out and Guerin whiffed, before Parker was hit by Gonzalez. That gave Reece a chance and he rolled a single to left by the slimmest of margins past a launching Henry. By the time Elizondo got the ball back in, two runs had scored. Martinez went into the seventh but was removed after a walk to Henry with one out. Lagarde got out of the inning. This time, there was no comeback for the Titans – much to the contrary their own bullpen crumbled some and the Coons got back some dignity: 8-1 Furballs. Guerin 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Parker 2-4, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-5, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5; Caddock 2-4; P. Martinez 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, W (5-2) and 1-3, RBI;

Game 4
BOS: CF Alonso – 3B Nakayama – 2B D. Silva – RF Greenman – C L. Lopez – 1B G. Douglas – LF Baker – SS Powys – P Hildred
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – CF Reece – 3B C. Gonzalez – 1B Martin – C Mata – LF Buell – RF Newton – P Ford

Ford no-hit the Titans for three innings before the course of the game shifted rapidly and the Titans banged him for three runs in the fourth, more than just negating a 1-0 Raccoons advantage from the first inning, in which Buell had left the bags full (as usual). Between four hits, four walks, and seven K’s over six innings, Ralph Ford remained left in the rain by his team that failed to get a base hit from the second inning straight through to Neil Reece’s 2-out double in the bottom 8th. Gonzalez whiffed instantly. 3-1 Titans. Reece 2-4, 2B; Granados (PH) 1-1, 2B;

In other news

August 31 – Washington Capitals owner Orlando Gonzales passes away and leaves his team to his oldest son, Orlando jr., who is considered to be a lenient economizer.
September 2 – CHA OF/1B Joe Morton (.287, 3 HR, 61 RBI) makes history by hitting for the CYCLE in a 7-1 win of the Falcons over the Aces. Together with Hubert Green’s cycle on June 3 of this year against the Raccoons, it is the first time that a team has seen cycles by two team mates in the same season. This 27th cycle in ABL history is also the second total for the Falcons. The only other occasion in which a team had two cycles in one season was when Carlos León hit two cycles himself for the Wolves in 1982. León remains the only player with multiple cycles to his credit.
September 2 – OCT 3B Sonny Reece (.358, 9 HR, 65 RBI) has his 25-game hitting streak killed off in a 7-3 loss to the Bayhawks.
September 3 – LVA SP Dan Moriarty (7-15, 4.55 ERA) has torn his labrum and faces the possibility of not being able to pitch again on Opening Day in 2000.

Complaints and stuff

All hail the Continental League Rookie of the Month of August 1999: Julio Mata! Our youngster batted .387 with 3 HR and 23 RBI in his first month of duty, and while I am not sure he can keep that speed going over the long run, it was certainly a splash debut for him!

And that was all the good news. The team was horrendous again this week.