[Westheim]

Raccoons (59-65) vs. Indians (57-67) – August 24-26, 2004

With the Raccoons sporting the most anemic offense in the Continental League, the Indians are trying to contain that non-threat despite having the worst pitching staff with the most runs allowed. It probably also won’t help the Coons a lot, since their two fresh faces from AAA will face off against two entirely decent right-handed starters. And we are merely 4-8 on the season against the Indians.

Projected matchups:
Fernando Piquero (0-0) vs. Doug Morrow (12-9, 3.63 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (0-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. Alonso Alonso (8-5, 3.55 ERA)
Nick Brown (15-6, 3.11 ERA) vs. Jack Hamilton (4-12, 6.24 ERA)

Game 1
IND: 2B D. Mendez – SS Kilters – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – 1B Abrams – CF Martines – RF C. Rey – P Morrow
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – RF M. Ramirez – LF Reece – CF Brady – C Thomas – P Piquero

The Indians amounted to precious little with their roster except for the three studs in the middle of that lineup. As soon as one of those turned up to face Piquero, the first ball left the yard. After a very depressing third inning, in which it appeared like the miserable Piquero might not retire anybody anymore, and the Indians scored three runs before Guerin got hold of a ball and turned an inning-ending double play, the score was 4-0 and the non-threat of the Raccoons’ offense had largely turned into a non-issue for the Indians, because Morrow actually did know how to pitch to people. Through six innings, only one ball got away from him, on which Jorge Rodriguez hit a pinch-hit solo home run. Then the defense betrayed him. After Ramirez reached on a leadoff single in the seventh, Reece hit the perfect base-cleaner to Kilters, who was not a natural born shortstop and mailed a throw to centerfield. Slightly unfazed, Morrow walked Thomas before facing Sheehan, hitting for Dave Williams, who doubled to deep left, scoring two runs and bringing the score to 4-3 with two men in scoring position. Sharp and Guerin defeated Morrow with RBI singles, before Tommy Woodbridge cleaned up the bases with Martin popping out and Ramirez grounding out to short. Now we were up 5-4, and led the Indians for like five minutes since Manuel Martinez didn’t retire anybody in the eighth and the game was tied again despite Domingo Moreno’s best attempt to clean up and hold the lead. Angel Casas and Iemitsu Rin both pitched flawlessly in the ninth and tenth innings of yet another extra inning contest, which ended up blowing up in the Coons’ faces for their inability to do anything offensively, and Lawrence Rockburn awarding freebies in the top of the 12th. David Lopez’ 26th homer of the season won the game for the road team. 8-5 Indians. Sharp 2-5, BB, RBI; Guerin 2-6, RBI; Ingall 3-6; Rodriguez (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Sheehan (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Casas 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Our #4 through #8 batters hit 0-for-23 in this game. Three ****ing walks drawn. Shove those ****ing walks up your ****ing ***es.

We will tie for last place if Watanabe proves to be no match to Double-Alonso either.

Game 2
IND: 2B D. Mendez – SS Kilters – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – CF MacKey – 1B Cortez – RF C. Rey – P Alonso
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – RF M. Ramirez – 1B Martin – CF King – 2B Sheehan – LF J. Rodriguez – C Rosa – P Watanabe

After Alston and Lopez in the first game, Jose Paraz was the last of the three sluggers to go deep in this series, waiting all the way to hit a leadoff jack in the top 2nd. The Indians got another run in the inning after Watanabe walked the next two batters, and they went to 3-0 in the fourth on a Matt MacKey home run. The Raccoons had twice had a chance to score, but Rosa left King on third in the bottom 2nd, and Martin bloked with two on in the third. Watanabe’s control and composure got worse and worse, and he was removed in the fifth inning with the bases loaded, one out, and Paraz up to bat. Moreno came in, got a pop out from Paraz, then walked MacKey and surrendered a deep drive to Miguel Cortez that Miguel Ramirez only caught at full speed and headed for the wall in right center. After contact, he looked numb, but stayed in the game, the Indians up by four. While Ramirez even drove in a run in the next inning, the offensive endeavors of the Critters were entirely unpleasant. Top 7th, Ricardo Huerta topped the unpleasant hitting by outright offensive pitching, culminating in a 2-out grand slam by Claudio Rey, with all runs unearned after an error by Huerta, who also drilled a man. Paraz managed to sneak in another homer against Dan Nordahl, as the Raccoons got romped. 9-2 Indians. Guerin 2-5, 2B; Ramirez 2-4, RBI; Martin 2-5, HR, RBI;

Game 3
IND: 2B D. Mendez – CF P. Taylor – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – RF MacKey – 1B C. Rey – SS Kilters – P Hamilton
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – RF M. Ramirez – LF Reece – 3B Sheehan – CF King – C Rosa – P Brown

A perfect first with a K to Ron Alston from Brownie and Jack Hamilton walking three Coons leading to two choppy runs in the bottom of the inning raised hopes that maybe the Raccoons wouldn’t lose every game from here to eternity. Then came the top 2nd, Brown was wild, and then was beaten by MacKey for an RBI single on a 1-2 pitch, bringing the score to 2-1 Coons. Brown continued to be wild, also hitting a batter, while the Indians had a few teeth knocked out when Alston hurt himself on a defensive play. Brown needed 92 pitches through five innings, but had a good sixth and like any good old warhorse soldiered through seven innings with the 2-1 lead untouched. When he was hit for in the bottom 7th, both teams had two hits apiece. The young pony in the pen, Angel Casas, walked Larry Booker to start the eighth, but then sat down the next three batters. Concie then had a leadoff double for the fifth hit total in the game in the bottom 8th, which was a situation crying out for an insurance run to make Marcos Bruno’s job a bit easier. Al Martin hit for Ingall but was intentionally walked by the righty Iván Lopez. Ramirez and Reece both struck out, but then Matt King came through with a single up the middle to score a flying Guerin. David Lopez hit a drive deep to center in the ninth, but King nipped that and nobody reached base. 3-1 Coons. Reece 1-2, BB, RBI; King 2-4, 2 RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, W (16-5);

It was not a BAD outing from Brown. But all our lives were a lot easier if he could cut down on the hit batsmen and the 3-ball counts. He walked only two men in this game, but he could have gone eight if not for the misrouted pitches he threw early on.

Raccoons (60-67) vs. Aces (54-73) – August 27-29, 2004

Hey, a team with a worse record than the dear Furballs! Ninth in runs scored and tenth in runs conceded, the Aces were also inviting to get drummed, but look at how the Indians looked on their way in, and the Raccoons couldn’t get out of their way and score runs either. They scored ten runs in 30 innings.

Projected matchups:
Randy Farley (7-11, 4.94 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (8-15, 4.06 ERA)
Ralph Ford (6-15, 4.39 ERA) vs. Bob Bowden (3-9, 4.21 ERA)
Fernando Piquero (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (11-12, 3.61 ERA)

Game 1
LVA: RF Covington – 3B Warrain – SS Nichols – LF Messinger – CF Talamante – 2B F. Rivera – 1B J. Vargas – C L. Paredes – P Alba
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – RF M. Ramirez – 1B Martin – 2B Ingall – CF Brady – LF J. Rodriguez – C Rosa – P Farley

The game started slowly for the lineups, but by the third inning, both teams left a man on third base with less than two outs. Top 4th, Ramirez cut down Forest Messinger at the plate as he tried to score on a Carlos Talamante single, but Talamante scored on Felipe Rivera’s single then and the Aces took a lead. Farley was up with two out and two on in the bottom 4th but couldn’t get it done, and then it was Brady with two outs and the bases full in the fifth. Alba went to 0-2 on him before Brady singled to right and two runs scored to flip the score in favor of Farley. Immediately another mess happened to the Coons, who were charged with three walks, two bases stolen, and a passed ball in the sixth, and the actual miracle was that the Indians only tied the score and left the bases loaded. Freddy Rosa then singled in the bottom 6th to get going, only for Farley to make himself even more unpopular by bunting into a double play. We had Concie on third again with one out in the seventh, but nobody drove him in, and Rosa and Sharp were stranded in the eighth. With neither team being able to pull a run out of their sorry butts, hairy or not, the game went to extra innings, and we have some experience in those. Bottom 11th, Sheehan hit for Casas to lead off, and singled, then stole second. The Aces walked Sharp intentionally to get to Guerin, who grounded to short, but Felipe Rivera dropped Brian Nichols’ throw at second base and the bases were loaded with no outs. Ian Johnson, who had just loaded them three deep came back and struck out both Ramirez and Martin in full counts, and Ingall at 1-2. While I was a little numb and needed a glass of water really urgently, Rockburn put runners in scoring position with one out in the 12th, but the Aces sucked just as badly. Rockburn loaded them up in the top 13th, but Nordahl struck out Rusty Washington and got Luis Paredes to pop out to end the threat. Nordahl pitched the 14th where Martin Covington reached third base with one out and was left stranded. It was a bit embarrassing for everybody involved. The Aces then scored in the 15th when Bruno walked the first two batters he faced and Rusty Washington hit a sac fly to center. The Raccoons went down without much fuss. 3-2 Aces. Rosa 4-7; Sheehan (PH) 1-2, BB; Casas 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Nordahl 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

…

Game 2
LVA: RF P. Flores – 3B Warrain – LF Messinger – CF Talamante – 1B F. Rivera – SS Hitchcock – 2B Pollack – C L. Paredes – P Bowden
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Guerin – RF M. Ramirez – 1B Martin – CF King – 2B Ingall – LF J. Rodriguez – C Rosa – P Ford

The Raccoons pulled all kinds of stupid stunts in the early innings, but the Aces couldn’t score off Ralph Ford, a well-deserved 15-game loser. By contrast, Inaki-Luki Warrain’s grave throwing error that put Ramirez on second base in the bottom 1st led to an Albert Martin RBI double, and the Coons got another run in the bottom 3rd on a 2-out Ingall Single. In the top 5th the Aces had runners on the corners with one out, didn’t score, but the Coons had hits from King and Ingall with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Rodriguez doubled to right, King scored, but Ingall was thrown out, 3-0. But not all was well for the Coons’ offense: Ford drew a 1-out walk from Bowden in the bottom 6th, Sharp popped out, and then Guerin doubled to right, but Ford wasn’t going to score on anything but a home run from first base. Ramirez made a poor out and two men were stranded in scoring position, and in the seventh King got caught stealing in a pitchout. Ford went seven, and Martinez and Huerta, who had been used the lightest in Friday’s soul-killing, 15-inning loss, kept the Aces shut out, although Guerin started a double play in either frame for them. 3-0 Coons. Guerin 2-4, 2B; Martin 2-4, 2B, RBI; King 2-3, BB, 2B; Ford 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (7-15) and 1-2, BB;

Concie has hit in 13 straight games, but he will get a day off on Sunday.

Game 3
LVA: RF Covington – 3B Warrain – SS Nichols – LF Messinger – CF Talamante – 2B F. Rivera – 1B J. Vargas – C L. Paredes – P Sandoval
POR: 3B Sharp – CF King – RF M. Ramirez – 1B Martin – 2B Ingall – SS Sheehan – LF J. Rodriguez – C Thomas – P Piquero

The Critters took a 1-0 lead in the first inning that was double-unearned, with Forest Messinger and Felipe Rivera making errors on Sharp and King, and although Ramirez hit into a double play, Sharp scored from third base. Not that the Aces had to wait long for a counterattack. Messinger drew a leadoff walk in the second and Carlos Talamante homered to make it 2-1 in their favor. We had a chance in the bottom 3rd, with three on base for Martin, and in another place and time he might have gotten through, perhaps, but for now he struck out and left them stranded, but somehow Thomas plated Ingall on a groundout in the fourth as the Coons stumbled back into a tied game. One out in the bottom 5th, King hit a single and got an extra base when Paredes’ pickoff throw went into rightfield. Ramirez singled, putting them on the corners. Martin struck out AGAIN, but an Ingall Single gave the team the lead with two outs, 3-2. Inaki-Luki Warrain’s home run in the sixth made it a rather short-lived lead, though, and when Javier Vargas took deep Rockburn in the seventh, the Coons trailed again. That was a state that remained true through the end of this game. 5-3 Aces. Ramirez 2-5; Thomas 2-4, RBI; Reece (PH) 1-1;

So let’s see. We out-hit them 11-7. They made three dumb errors. And we still lost.

Sounds fair.

In other news

August 23 – With three hits in an 8-3 loss of his Capitals to the Cyclones, WAS LF/CF Victorino Sanchez (.364, 11 HR, 73 RBI) now boasts a 20-game hitting streak.
August 24 – Hot streak over, as Victorino Sanchez goes hitless along with most Capitals in a 10-2 drubbing at the hands of the Cyclones.

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons were eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday. Not that anybody really noticed.

Hard to say much right now. I am contemplating a complete turnover of the roster. Get all that old junk out of here. There would be a few exceptions, of course. Brownie, f.e., isn’t going anywhere unless somebody shoots me and sets me on fire before feeding me to the dogs. There are – at most – five or six players on the roster that will not go anywhere this winter. At most! This includes players on the DL at this point, so you are invited to make your own estimates as to my list of untouchables.

And boy will they have to pick up speed to even get to 72-90…

Final note: Neil Reece is still 32 hits away from 2,000 which might spare us the countdown with only 32 games left on the schedule.