[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-43) @ Aces (34-41) – June 30-July 2, 2003

The Aces were third-worst in scoring runs in the CL, but their run differential was actually only -12 due to some solid pitching. The bullpen had its holes, but the rotation was above average, and they had the fifth-least runs conceded. For comparison and shuddering, the Raccoons’ run differential is a cold -57.

Projected matchups:
Bob Joly (0-3, 4.12 ERA) vs. Frank Pierre (5-5, 3.09 ERA)
Ramón Meza (1-2, 5.23 ERA) vs. Tommy Wilson (5-6, 3.16 ERA)
Randy Farley (5-2, 3.56 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (8-6, 2.76 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – LF Reece – 1B Martin – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – C Ledesma – CF Torrez – P Joly
LVA: C L. Paredes – CF Messinger – 1B O. Torres – LF Talamante – 2B J. Martinez – 3B Samuels – RF G. Wills – SS Bell – P Pierre

Danny Sharp scored on a wild pitch in the first inning just in time before Martin swung himself out of his own shoes, but still missed the ball. Yet, Bob Joly, who was hardly ahead in the count on any hitter in this game, was not shy when it came to giving up runs in the most stupid ways. Bottom 2nd, Martinez got on, advanced on a wild pitch by Joly, and scored on Rusty Samuels’ single. Joly already trailed 2-1 in the bottom 4th (another double getting past old Neil Reece), when he made an active bid for extinction. Having Gary Wills on first with two out and the pitcher at the plate, he not only walked Frank Pierre, but also Paredes on nine pitches total. Then he balked. Forest Messinger struck out to end the inning because he just couldn’t stop laughing at the total joke on the mound. That was one of two strikeouts Joly got in this horrendous start, against six walks and four runs in six innings, and he only made it that far because Ledesma went 100% against base stealers, of which there were two. Funny thing was, he even got a chance for a win when in the top 7th the Raccoons started to get on base. It was a 4-2 game and the bags were full with two out and Martin at the plate. Martin was 0-3 on the day, with 2 K. Pierre put two strikes on him, but Martin put a low pitch into play and trickled into center between the converging infielders, scoring two runs and knocking Pierre from the game. Brady bounced out, however, and the game was only tied. Joly didn’t get a W, and he didn’t deserve one, and the game wasn’t tied for long either. Benton Wilson put two men on, including a walk, and Martinez topped his **** performance with a single and TWO walks as the Aces countered with two runs right away. That was not all of the game however. Against the awful pitching useless Charlie Deacon and the torrid defense of new third baseman Mike Henry, the Aces conceded four unearned runs in the top 8th, again a pair off Al Martin’s bat, and the Aces just kept burning: Jaime Martinez’ leadoff error in the top 9th put Ledesma on base, where he was soon joined by Palacios and Sharp, before Concie and Reece each drove in a pair of runs. There, up by six, Domingo Moreno was in Martin’s slot after a double switch, and we let him in the game, since the pen was not holding any rested relievers anyway. No more runs came forth, but Moreno got a 2-inning save. 12-6 Raccoons. Guerin 3-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Reece 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Martin 2-5, 4 RBI; Brady 2-4, RBI; Torrez 2-4; Ramirez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Palacios (PH) 2-2, 2B; Moreno 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, SV (2);

In total, five runs were unearned in those last two innings. And that was what we meant when we spoke about a bullpen with holes at the top of the show: 11 runs in the last three innings. Very Raccoons-like.

For the Loggers, Bartolo Hernandez was still keeping his hitting streak going. If he can make it through their midweek tilt with the Thunder, he will have four free games on the weekend … in Portland.

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – RF Brady – LF Reece – 1B Martin – CF Moore – SS Guerin – 2B Palacios – C Ledesma – P Meza
LVA: SS J. Martinez – 3B Warrain – 2B O. Torres – LF Talamante – 1B M. Henry – RF Covington – CF Bell – C L. Paredes – P T. Wilson

Ramón Meza pitched to the best of his abilities, which means he allowed seven runs on ten hits, three walks, a hit batter, and admittedly a jaw-dropping, stupendous error by Guerin – in just four innings. Of course, that was quite a bit more than the Raccoons managed to mount, which was … two singles. That was pretty much all that could be said about the game. The Raccoons performed horrendously, but the Aces also left 13 men on base and didn’t score against the bullpen. Al Martin drove in Brady in the eighth with a single. That was all there was to this dreadful night. 7-1 Aces. Reece 2-4; Vega 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

Ramón Meza is no more. I went through my box of Star Trek merchandise to find my phaser and disrupted his neutrons. Slappy is scraping him off the walls. We will call up somebody to take the spot and make the Sunday start, but for the moment added Kaz Kichida to help the bullpen for two or three days. Well, Kaz and being a help? Something ain’t fitting here.

Something else to be scraped off the walls is Bartolo Hernandez’ hitting streak. Five at-bats yielded no success for him in a 9-7 Loggers win over the Thunder. He ends his streak at 38 games, the fourth longest in ABL history.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – LF Reece – 1B Martin – 2B Palacios – 3B Ingall – CF Torrez – C Ledesma – P Farley
LVA: 2B J. Martinez – C L. Paredes – 1B O. Torres – RF Covington – 3B Warrain – LF Messinger – CF G. Wills – SS Samuels – P Sandoval

Vince rated that Aces lineup as outright pathetic, except for Sandoval and Torres, whom he gave 4 1/2 stars. Those were the guys that could beat you. And while the Coons went up 1-0 on Palacios’ leadoff jack in the second inning, Sandoval held them short otherwise. In the bottom 3rd, Sandoval even led off with a ground rule double, but was still on second base when Torres turn came up with two out. Yeah, no. Instead, Farley pitched to Covington, who batted 203 points less and fouled out on the first pitch to end the inning. Top 4th, Palacios scored again after walking and subsequent singles by Ingall and Torrez, 2-0, but that lead was blown in the bottom of the inning. With a man on second and two outs, we pitched to Samuels, who hit an RBI single, which was very unfortunate, but didn’t excuse Farley, who went on to allow an RBI double to … yes, Sandoval. And Reece looked hellaciously bad on that one. Sandoval would come up again with two out in the sixth and hit a single. Three times he faced Farley, resulting in five total bases and the game-tying RBI. The Coons wouldn’t get another chance until the eighth, when Sandoval made an error that put two Raccoons on base with nobody out. After Ingall popped out, he was removed for Anthony Duhamel, who kept the Raccoons from scoring with Torrez grounding out and Ledesma popping out to short. Farley walked the leadoff man in the bottom 8th, Inaki-Luki Warrain, and was removed, along with Warrain, for whom Cisco Guzmán ran, but Moreno and Bruno just barely managed to escape the inning with the go-ahead run starved at third base. Guerin in the top 9th reached on the Aces’ third error of the game, this time on Mike Henry, who was in at third again. And hadn’t there been some miracle on Monday that started just like that? Next, Brady walked. Sharp hit for an 0-4 Reece, took Duhamel’s first pitch to left and past Rusty Samuels, scoring the speedy Concie to break the 2-2 tie! That was all we got. Ian Johnson came in, struck out Martin and Ramirez hit for Palacios, but popped out. Now it was on Nordahl, who struck out Dick Bell before Jaime Martinez tripled. ****. Martinez scored on Luis Paredes’ fly out to left, and we went to extras, where Marv led things off with a line drive home run to left center! Nordahl, second attempt, bottom 10th. Oops, that’s a leadoff double for Martin Covington. With two out and Covington on third base, Nordahl faced Charlie Bruce, for whom this was his first major league at-bat. He sent a 2-1 pitch as a sharp grounder wide of first – but Sharp was right there. 4-3 Coons. Sharp (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ingall 2-5, HR, RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

Sometimes a win is just a win, but sometimes you could really use a real closer…

Raccoons (35-44) vs. Loggers (51-27) – July 3-6, 2003

We are 1-7 this year against the Loggers, which is tremendous. They have now taken over the top of the CL North, despite injury woes, First in offense, third in defense, a pitching staff of studs. Why are we even showing up? Do we need to sell tickets and hot dogs and all the crappy merchandising boogaloo so badly?

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (4-11, 6.02 ERA) vs. Doug Morrow (9-4, 3.43 ERA)
Nick Brown (3-9, 4.26 ERA) vs. John Miller (7-2, 3.70 ERA)
Bob Joly (0-3, 4.28 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (8-5, 3.26 ERA)
TBD vs. Dani Alvarado (3-7, 6.65 ERA)

Oh, that looks bad for three days, and we will have a debutee up on Sunday. To 1-11 we go!

Game 1
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B J. Cruz – SS T. Johnson – CF Fletcher – C Benitez – 1B J. Nava – P Morrow
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – LF Moore – 2B Palacios – CF Torrez – C Ledesma – P Ford

The good impression Ralph Ford had made in his last start didn’t last much past the ceremonial first pitch, with Bakile Hiwalani, who was struggling at a .221 average, hit him with a 2-run homer in the first inning. Down 2-0 was tragic, but not fatal this time, because Doug Morrow didn’t live to see daylight past the second inning. Starting with a 1-out homer by Moore in the bottom 2nd, the Raccoons would put six straight men on base, including five left-handed batters, and a 3-run homer by Ledesma. Martin would draw a bases-loaded walk with two out, and then Moore cashed in three more with a double to the corner, which was the end of Morrow’s day, and the Raccoons had an 8-spot! Even a team routinely surrendering seven runs a game should win with an 8-spot! Top 3rd, Bartolo Hernandez, leadoff homer. Yeah well, maybe we should execute Ford first. The ball was carrying well, however, with Ledesma making it 9-3 with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd, and the Coons added single runs in each of the next two innings. Ford performed far from great, but not too shabby for a day with a strong El Nino creating all kinds of weather absurdities in Coon City, allowing four runs in 6.2 innings. Top 9th, up by eight. Kichida came in. Single to Johnson, walks to Fletcher and Benitez. No outs. Out with Kichida. Two runs would score off Martinez. 12-6 Raccoons. Brady 2-4, 2 BB; Sharp 2-5; Moore 3-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Palacios 3-5; Ledesma 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Huerta 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Wouldn’t you believe it: they find a way to surrender six runs. EVERY. ****ING. DAY.

So, Kichida goes on the trash pile. Anybody in need of a ****ing ****headed twat with an arm so useless, he couldn’t possibly suck more if it were amputated?

Kichida was demoted, and now say hi to Edgar Amador.

Game 2
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B J. Cruz – SS T. Johnson – CF Fletcher – C Benitez – 1B J. Nava – P J. Miller
POR: 3B Sharp – RF Brady – CF Moore – 1B Martin – LF Reece – 2B Palacios – SS M. Ramirez – C Ledesma – P Brown

A pair of doubles by Sharp and Martin plated a run in the bottom 1st before Nick Brown struck out his 100th batter of the season in the top 2nd, doing the honors to Tom Johnson. The ball was also still carrying well, with Ramirez hitting a solo home run in the second, and Moore in the third. A Sharp sac fly made it 4-0 in the fourth, as the Coons scored a run every inning. Brown was not in trouble until the fifth with a leadoff walk to Johnson and a Fletcher single, but eventually got out on John Miller’s poor bunt that Ledesma took to third where Sharp zinged it back over to first for an inning-ending double play. Brown was then tagged by Hernandez with a leadoff jack in the sixth, cutting the score to 4-1. The Loggers wouldn’t get any more out of Brown, who went eight innings in a strong start. In the ninth, it was on Nordahl as the Coons hadn’t scored in the second set of four innings, and while he did get the job done, he just couldn’t resist to make it interesting. With two out, the Loggers got the tying run to the plate, but Jose Nava grounded back to Nordahl for the final out. 4-1 Furballs! Sharp 2-3, 2B, RBI; Ramirez 3-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Brown 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (4-9) and 1-2;

What’s more, we crawled past the Crusaders and are not in last place anymore. Happy Fourth of July everybody!!

Game 3
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – RF C. Ramirez – 3B J. Cruz – SS T. Johnson – CF Fletcher – C C. Ramos – LF A. Johnson – 1B J. Nava – P M. Garcia
POR: SS Guerin – 1B Sharp – LF Reece – RF Moore – 3B M. Ramirez – 2B Ingall – CF Torrez – C Fifield – P Joly

This was not a thrilling pitching matchup from the home team’s standpoint. Then, the first hit for the Loggers didn’t fall in until the fourth, however it didn’t fall in, it went out right away for a solo home run by Tom Johnson. That made it 1-0 for the Loggers, and it was their only hit until the seventh. Joly scored another run with a wild pitch in the eighth, but it was still a decent outing. Unfortunately for him, Garcia just killed the Raccoons, striking out nine in seven inning and scattering only a few singles, and Jesus Longoria didn’t allow anything in the eighth. Robbie Wills came out to close it in the ninth, but Neil Reece’s leadoff homer put the Raccoons on the board and brought the tying run to the plate. But while an Ingall single put the tying run on base with two out, Torrez fouled out to end the game. 2-1 Loggers. Ingall 3-4; Joly 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (0-4);

Well, we shut them down once, they shut us down once. The last game of the set could well end 13-10.

Game 4
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B J. Cruz – SS T. Johnson – CF Fletcher – C C. Ramos – 1B J. Nava – P Alvarado
POR: 3B Sharp – RF Brady – LF Moore – 1B Martin – 2B Palacios – SS Guerin – CF Torrez – C Ledesma – P Amador

Edgar Amador’s Coons career started with lots of 2-strike counts turned into three hits and two runs in the top 1st, but the Furballs rallied in the bottom of the inning and tied the score on Concie’s 2-out, 2-run single. They also left two on in the first, two in the second, and three in the third without scoring again, while Amador hit a batter that came around to score in the fourth. The Loggers kept threatening, loading them up in the sixth when Amador issued back-to-back walks, but then Alvarado came up and made the third out with a grounder to Palacios. Ledesma reached in the bottom 6th and was left in scoring position. The Raccoons just could not do anything worthwhile against Alvarado, and in the top 7th Amador allowed a single to Hernandez, walked Ramirez, and predictably Hiwalani went deep. Amador ended up with six runs in six innings, quite the debut. Bottom 8th, down 6-2, Gabriel Garcia issued two walks to Ledesma and Ingall. Jesus Longoria relieved him, allowing an RBI double to Sharp, which brought the tying run to the plate. Brady popped out, and Moore grounded out to end the inning. Two more left in scoring position, and an all-out **** game from the first pitch to the last. 6-3 Loggers. Martin 2-4, BB; Palacios 2-4, BB; Ledesma 2-2, 2 BB, 2B;

The Inepticoons are nice people. They see a horrible pitcher and go “Oh yeah, he’s a sorry fella. We’ll be nice to him, so he can go to bed happy.”

They don’t quite bother about what they’re doing to their GM, though.

In other news

July 2 – It’s the 200th career win for NAS SP Dennis Fried (9-6, 3.50 ERA), who goes the distance in a 9-2 Blue Sox triumph over the Scorpions. Fried, 34, was originally drafted in 1987 in the fourth round by the Raccoons. He only appeared in 16 games for them in 1990 before being traded to Nashville, where he has pitched ever since, going 200-126 with a 3.55 ERA and 1,981 strikeouts. He has been an All Star four times, won the 1996 Pitcher of the Year award, and was the Pitcher of the Month seven times.
July 3 – Scare in Topeka, as SP Tony Hamlyn (10-1, 2.53 ERA) leaves a game against the Blue Sox early. He is diagnosed with elbow inflammation, but should only miss one start.
July 3 – In just his second start since getting called up again, WAS SP Chad Wright (1-1, 2.12 ERA) 2-hits the Miners in a 1-0 shutout.
July 6 – Time for a new hitting streak. 20 games is the current margin for DEN 3B/SS Zak Davidson (.333, 1 HR, 30 RBI) after two singles in a 4-1 win of the Gold Sox over the Pacifics. It is the fourth time for Davidson to have a 20-game hitting streak, already gobbling up one such streak each year from 1999 to 2001, with a high of 26 games in 2001.
July 6 – A broken hand puts SAL C/1B Jorge Lopez (.252, 6 HR, 38 RBI) out of commission for six weeks.

Complaints and stuff

In AAA, Alejandro Rojas was named Player of the Month. He hit 11 homes for the Alley Cats and has 17 for the season. Problem: he’s a first baseman. He can hardly play that. Trade bait?

Felipe Garcia started a rehab assignment. He went 2-1 with a 3.14 ERA at the start of the season, and I can’t wait for him to replace Joly in the rotation.

Interesting to see how neither our team slash line matches up with our runs scored, neither do the team ERA’s with the runs conceded. I don’t know what the baseball gods are doing. They are probably well drunk.

Whenever we play the Aces and they play spare outfielder Martin Covington, my brain beams back to 1977 and the trade we made with the Capitals before the first ever ABL game, that made Ben Simon a Raccoon for four players, two of which never played in the Bigs, and one of those was a reliever named Elvis Covington. That was just a great game. Sadly, he had zero ability. And that was the essence of that 1977 team. And just like that we’re back in 2003…