[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) @ Canadiens (0-0) – April 5-7, 2005

Nothing like Opening Day and you can’t be there, because your photo has been adorned with a fat, red, struck-through circle and hangs in every shop and police station all over the country in which your team happens to play. It's alright, I can cry from afar.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (0-0) vs. Daniel Dickerson (0-0)
Edgar Amador (0-0) vs. Juichi Fujita (0-0)
Ralph Ford (0-0) vs. Cal Holbrook (0-0)

Game 1
POR: CF Torrez – 2B Nomura – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – LF Brady – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Brown
VAN: CF E. Garcia – RF Calzado – 1B Harmon – 2B Dobson – SS Nakayama – LF Trinidad – 3B Phillips – C F. Diéguez – P Dickerson

Nick Brown came, saw, and conquered. He struck out six batters the first time through the lineup to make a statement to the Elks, while the Raccoons looked remarkably harmless with the bats as well. Al Martin had our first hit of the season in the second inning, but was left on. Clyde Brady put up our first tally with a solo home run in the fourth. By then, Brownie had been through runners on the corners with one out in the bottom 3rd, and then survived an error by Daniel Sharp to start the bottom 4th, too. Overall he went seven innings, struck out nine, and didn’t concede anything countable to the Canadiens. Moreno struck out Garcia and Calzado in the bottom 8th, Bruno came in and struck out Henry Harmon, and it was still 1-0. A Sharp single was the only recognizable effort in the top 9th, and so it was Angel Casas versus the 4-5-6 guys in the bottom 9th. An out to the catcher, an out to short, and an out to second, and this game was over in a crisp 2:22! 1-0 Brownies! Sharp 2-4; Brady 1-4, HR, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W (1-0);

Dickerson went eight and allowed only five hits as well. I remember trying half-heartedly to trade for him when he was a rookie and sucked balls, but in the end it is all woulda, coulda, shoulda.

The Titans lost their opener to the Loggers, blowing an early 4-0 lead to lose 5-4. We’re thus one game up on them. HOW DOES THAT FEEL, TITANS, HUH??

Game 2
POR: CF Torrez – 2B Nomura – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – LF Brady – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Amador
VAN: CF E. Garcia – SS Nakayama – RF Calzado – 2B Dobson – LF Trinidad – 1B Wheaton – 3B Phillips – C F. Diéguez – P Fujita

While the Elks had the bases loaded twice through four innings and didn’t score for Fujita making the third out in the bottom 2nd, and Fernando Diéguez lining to Yamada for a double play in the bottom 4th, the Raccoons were held hitless by Fujita that far, with the Japanese putting seven coon skins onto his wagon early on. Then came the top 5th, and Yamada chipped his first major league hit, a single to shallow center. Amador then got a single to left in, and when Torrez singled up the right field line, Yamada was sent around third. For some reason, Amador thought we’d have a double and went to third, where he was out by a mile, but Yamada had already scored, 1-0. The Fat Cat, out of breath, started the bottom 5th with a leadoff walk to Fujita, and that could only ever go wrong. 2-out extra base hits by Calzado and Dobson gave the Elks a 2-1 lead, and in the bottom 7th it got rapidly worse with Dave Williams pitching. Williams made an error that put Enrique Garcia on base, then didn’t mind the batter a bit, and Garcia stole second. Williams would then throw a wild pitch, then walked Haruki Nakayama. Law Rockburn eventually came in, and the first man he faced, Jerry Dobson, immediately homered to make it 5-1, and Ramón Trinidad made it back-to-back for a 6-1 score. The Raccoons put up merely token resistance, Fujita took home eleven pelts, and the Coons were soundly defeated to even their record. 6-2 Canadiens. Sharp 2-4; Yamada 3-4;

Game 3
POR: CF Torrez – 2B Nomura – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Brady – LF Fernandez – SS Yamada – C Cooks – P Ford
VAN: CF E. Garcia – 3B Phillips – 1B Harmon – 2B Dobson – SS Nakayama – LF Trinidad – RF Wheaton – C F. Diéguez – P Holbrook

Yoshi-Y singled home Brady to score the first run of the game in the top 2nd, but the Canadiens came right back against Ford with three singles in the bottom 2nd. Sharpie then set an exclamation mark with a home run in the fourth, and with a Martin double, Brady walking, and an infield single by Fernandez the bases were loaded with no outs against Cal Holbrook. Yoshi-Y managed to avoid our third double play of the day and instead singled to left to score Martin and make it 3-1. Curt Cooks then grounded to short to find that long elusive third DP, but Brady scored to make it 4-1 at least. Ford flew out to Trinidad, then was drawn a nose by Holbrook with a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the inning, cutting the score to 4-2. The next time Holbrook was up in the bottom 6th, he already faced Marcos Bruno. Ford had departed with one out in the inning after putting runners on the corners, and Diéguez had just made the second out. Holbrook chipped a single to left, got his team to 4-3, and Bruno then retired Enrique Garcia, but we kinda needed more offense! But for now the Elks were pushing and got as far as second base in the bottom 7th before Moreno cleaned up Huerta’s mess, before creating his own in the eighth. Brady had gone deep in the top 8th for an insurance run and Moreno still blew up everything we had. He walked Trinidad to start the frame, and then Wheaton tripled. From there, Diéguez struck out and Pedro Hurtado popped out to shallow right, and then Garcia, another lefty, shattered all the effort with a double to right. The top 9th saw Greenman hit for Rockburn and ground out on a 3-0 pitch, and in turn the Elks walked off of Kichida in the bottom of the inning. 6-5 Canadiens. Sharp 2-4, HR, RBI; Brady 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Fernandez 2-4; Yamada 3-4, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (1-2) vs. Falcons (3-0) – April 8-10, 2005

The Falcons are flawless as the Coons, not quite so flawless, come home for a 6-game homestand – they will only get two more home games the entire month. But when you are worst in the league in almost any offensive category, you prefer to play on the road anyway, for there you get booed less.

Projected matchups:
Felipe Garcia (0-0) vs. Alfredo Collazo (0-0)
Ben Carlson (0-0) vs. Rodrigo Gomez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Lewis Donaldson (1-0, 1.13 ERA)

We will not face a left-handed pitcher the entire week!

Game 1
CHA: RF Hudson – SS Guerin – C F. Chavez – LF J. Flores – 2B H. Green – 3B Vieitas – 1B Mendoza – CF Burke – P Collazo
POR: CF Torrez – 3B Sharp – LF Brady – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – 2B Nomura – SS Yamada – C Wood – P F. Garcia

Concie came in hitting 8-for-12, but struck out in the first as the Falcons went down 1-2-3. He still scored the first run of the game, drawing a 2-out walk in the top 3rd and then coming home casually on Fernando Chavez’ triple. Despite Garcia basically tossing batting practice, the Falcons couldn’t get much more meaningful done, and were retired on foul pops four times in the game, and always with a runner in scoring position. But even the dumbest luck eventually runs out, and Garcia was sent to bed with no outs in the seventh on a 2-run homer by pinch-hitter Jose Mendoza. That made it 3-0. The Raccoons … while Collazo had given out a bunch of walks, four in total, the sorry Coons just couldn’t buy a hit with anybody on base. They had a single by Sharp (who was also plunked) and a double by Greenman, who had gone 0-for-9 in the Elks series. That was it. Collazo also went six frames only, and the Coons couldn’t score on the pen either in the seventh, despite a grave error by Vieitas putting the humorously harmless Bob Wood on second base with one out. Bottom 8th, that same Bob Wood came to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs after Yoshi-Y had just singled home a pair, and that runner on third, Yoshi-N, was the tying run. Wood struck out, continuing to go oh-fer on the season. Bottom 9th, facing Luis Hernandez, still down by one. King made the first out before Edgardo Fernandez had a pinch-hit single to center. Sharp whiffed, but Brady shoved a single to right. Fernandez went to third and drew a throw that was never going to nab him unless he’d fall down and break both legs. Brady moved to second. Winning runs in scoring position, Al Martin facing a righty closer with two outs, batting .133 on the season, with no ribbies. A ball, a strike, a swing, grounder up the middle, past the infielders, Brady turning third base, the throw from Jake Burke – is – late!! 4-3 Raccoons!!! Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Brady 2-5; Martin 1-4, BB, 2 RBI; Greenman 2-4, 2B;

With Brady not plating anybody, but scoring twice, in the game, Yoshi-Y, that rule 5 pick, now leads the team in RBI with four. Of our 12 runs so far, Brady scored seven, however.

And no, we probably didn’t deserve that win.

Game 2
CHA: RF Hudson – SS Guerin – C F. Chavez – LF J. Flores – 2B H. Green – 1B Mendoza – 3B Moore – CF L. Alonso – P Donaldson
POR: CF Torrez – 3B Sharp – LF Brady – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – 2B Nomura – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Carlson

Ben Carlson, in his Raccoons debut, expended 34 pitches in the first inning – which was scoreless. He just happened to not fool anybody and guys kept fouling off his crap until he had walked a pair. Luis Alonso took him deep in the second inning to make it 1-0 and the Raccoons proceeded to leave the tying run on third base in the next two innings. The latter instance included a runner on first, and the same happened again in the fifth, although one run scored in that inning. The Coons, through five, had eight hits, and almost as many men left on base. The Falcons were up 2-1, the difference maker now a homer by Hubert Green. Carlson went into the sixth in a semi-respectable effort before issuing a 2-out walk to Jose Mendoza. Williams came on, walked Steve Moore, before Luis Alonso popped out to Nomura. Lewis Donaldson walked Wood and Torrez in the bottom 7th, but Sharp hit into a killing double play, and we still trailed 2-1 despite vastly outhitting them, 8-3. When Yoshi-Y, newborn superhero, hit a leadoff single in the bottom 9th off the same Hernandez we had eaten up the day before, the advantage was 10-5 and the score still 2-1. An errant pickoff throw moved Yamada to second base before he could ever attempt to steal, but in succession Ramirez, Fernandez, and Torrez made outs and Yamada was left on second base. 2-1 Falcons. Torrez 2-4, BB; Sharp 2-4, RBI; Greenman 2-4; Huerta 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Well, we didn’t deserve to lose this one, so it evens out with Friday’s game. That means the rubber match will go by skill, and if it weren’t for Nick Brown, we’d have no hope. We have scored 13 runs in those first five games…

A tie for last place with the Crusaders has been achieved at this point.

Game 3
CHA: CF Hudson – SS Guerin – RF J. Flores – 2B H. Green – C Durango – 1B Vieitas – LF Estrada – 3B Petipas – P T. Wilson
POR: RF Brady – LF Fernandez – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – CF King – 2B Nomura – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Brown

Brown all but lost the game in the first, putting Hudson and Green on base, the latter with a 2-out infield single that fell about within five feet of him, and was then taken deep by Eduardo Durango. Eduardo who? Right. While he held up from there, the Raccoons did little to nothing. They did so little that it was Brown himself to jumpstart the offense with a 1-out single in the bottom 5th. Brady drew a walk and then Fernandez singled up the middle to score Brown from second base. Sharp’s infield single loaded them up, but Martin’s sac fly was all we got as King lined out to center, and the Coons remained a run behind, and that didn’t change when they had Yamada at second, two outs, and Torrez hit for Brown in the bottom 6th, only to ground out to second. Scoreless relief by Rockburn, Moreno, and Casas put us again one behind in the bottom 9th, but Hernandez was worn out and so we faced Rodrigo Gomez, starting with Greenman, who was hitting for Bob Wood, and hit a double up the left field line. Sheehan had entered with Casas in a double switch. This was his first action of 2005, and he immediately showed off, hitting an RBI single to left that tied up the score. Brady walked, and then an infield single by Fernandez to load them up for Sharpie with NO OUTS. Gomez, unfazed, fell behind, and never recovered. Sharpie walked, and the Coons had their second walkoff this week. 4-3 Raccoons! Brady 2-2, 2 BB; Fernandez 2-5, RBI; Nomura 2-4; Greenman (PH) 1-1, 2B; Sheehan 1-1, RBI;

Brownie struck out seven over six innings, reaching almost 100 pitches in the process. ALL his strikeouts came with 2-2 or 3-2 counts, which is not generally considered economical. Neither are first-inning, 3-run home runs to backup catchers.

Raccoons (3-3) vs. Knights (3-3) – April 11-13, 2005

One game off the lead in their division, the Knights ranked fourth in runs scored with 28, something the Raccoons couldn’t bloody quite claim. They had given up 24 runs. For the Coons it was 17 runs scored, 20 surrendered, t-10th and t-3rd respectively.

Projected matchups:
Edgar Amador (0-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Johnny Collins (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Ralph Ford (0-0, 5.06 ERA) vs. Jong-suk Lee (0-1, 14.73 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Manny Rios (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

That’s more right-handers! Not a left-handed starter in sight!

Game 1
ATL: RF R. Lopez – SS Luján – CF J. Morales – 3B J. Garcia – LF Ware – 1B J. Gutierrez – C Valadez – 2B J. Miller – P J. Collins
POR: CF Torrez – 3B Sharp – LF Brady – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – SS M. Ramirez – 2B Nomura – C Cooks – P Amador

The Knights had a single by Rodrigo Lopez to lead off the game, and loaded them up with a pair of 2-out walks, but didn’t score in the first. The Coons had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom 2nd after a leadoff double by Martin, and Greenman and Ramirez also finding ways on. Nomura grounded out to first, plating Martin, Cooks flew out to center, plating Greenman, and Ramirez came home on a bloop single by the Fat Cat, making it a 3-0 Coons game. The Cat however was off by miles, walked the bases full in the top of the third, and two runs scored to bring the Knights right back to 3-2. Although Sharp hit a leadoff triple and scored in the bottom 3rd, the Cat was utter **** and did not retire anybody in the fourth inning. Collins led off with a single, Lopez tripled, and Luján singled. Tied game, runner on first, next hurler please. The ship was sinking rapidly, however. Moreno offered no relief against left-handers, two more runs scored, and HE was yanked with two men in scoring position, which was not a situation crying out for Kaz Kichida, but he came in anyway and served up a 3-run homer to James Miller to complete a 7-run inning and handed the Raccoons a very definite loss. When the Raccoons put up an accidental 3-spot in the bottom of the fifth, the Knights raped Rockburn for the equal amount in the next inning. Then came Williams into the seventh, facing three left-handers, and putting them all on base with singles. Only one run actually scored, but the Knights put up a right thumping in the opener. 14-8 Knights. Sharp 2-5, 3B; Martin 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Ramirez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Nomura 2-4, 3 RBI;

So apart from using up most of our bullpen, we also had to remove Al Martin from this game, who hurt his wrist sliding into second base. It’s only a bruise and if we give him a day off tomorrow, he should be good.

Health-wise.

Bullpen ERA at this junction: 5.96 …

Game 2
ATL: 2B J. Miller – 1B Ware – LF R. Lopez – CF J. Morales – C J. Lopez – RF J. Garcia – SS J. Gutierrez – 3B Verdon – P J. Lee
POR: CF Torrez – 1B Sharp – 3B M. Ramirez – LF Brady – SS Yamada – RF Greenman – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Ford

Double plays were the theme of the game early on, both teams turning a pair, before the Raccoons found other ways to make themselves redundant as entertainment factor in the long-disgruntled city of Portland. We had runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom 4th when the runner on first base, Yoshi Yamada, suddenly took off to steal and was thrown out. That ended the inning. The fifth ended with Sharp flying out gingerly to right to leave the bases loaded. Meanwhile the Knights had been denied often enough themselves, and in the top 6th broke through with a pair of leadoff doubles by Ware and Lopez, and both scored in the inning to make it 2-0 Knights, but that lead was erased again when Yamada and Greenman went deep back-to-back in the bottom of the same inning. Ford battled through the seventh and tossed his way through the eighth on fumes in his bid for a win, his sweaty appearance after retiring Morales to finish his final inning a pretty representation of a young fella who hadn’t had much luck in his major league career, and if luck hadn’t kicked in so far, it pretty damn certain wouldn’t now. The Coons flailed themselves out of their half of the eighth, and Ford did not get a decision. Huerta pitched the ninth, and Casas the tenth. Torrez struck out to lead off the bottom 10th before Bartolo Gomez drilled Sharp, who left the game, with Matt King running. Ramirez flayed over a sinker on a hit-and-run, but King was safe at second base. Then Ramirez struck out, and so did Brady. Top 11th, again no score against Casas. Bottom 11th, Yamada drew a leadoff walk from Gomez. He was visibly antsy at first base and everybody knew he’d go eventually, but Greenman singled before he got a good jump against Gomez, and Morales was to the ball very quickly, holding Yoshi-Y at second base. He was antsy regardless and took off with Nomura batting. Lopez’ throw to third was well high, Nick Verdon couldn’t come up with it, and Yamada scampered home to walk off the Coons for the third time on the homestand. 3-2 Critters. Greenman 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Wood 2-4; Ford 8.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K; Casas 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-0);

First Coons home run for Christian Greenman, whom I despise, and first major league home run for Yoshi Yamada. Also, Angel Casas has more wins than saves on the season… He also LEADS the team in wins!

Game 3
ATL: RF R. Lopez – C J. Lopez – CF J. Morales – 3B J. Garcia – LF Ware – 1B J. Gutierrez – SS Luján – 2B J. Miller – P M. Rios
POR: LF Brady – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – CF Fernandez – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P F. Garcia

Rodrigo Lopez fouled off Garcia’s first pitch and that was the last time Garcia was ahead in any count for a good, long while. Amazingly, none of the first eight Knights reached base, and then even more amazingly it was Manny Rios to hit a single to get them on. That was their only hit for a long, long time. The Coons however were likewise befuddled by Rios, and couldn’t get past second base. Nothing came off Brady’s infield single to lead off the sixth either, but in the seventh there was a proper leadoff single by Greenman, then an infield single for Fernandez. Two on, no outs in a scoreless game, Yoshi-Y’s single to right loaded them up and finally had SOMEBODY reach third base in the game. Yoshi-N popped out to the shortstop, and then Bob Wood flew out to left, only for Stephen Ware to DROP the ball, and the first run scored! Garcia batted for himself and was HIT BY THE PITCH!! That forced another run in and caused a few guys, foremost our other starters, to hurl nasty vocabulary at Manny Rios. Brady was retired when Jorge Garcia snagged his liner on third base, but the bases remained loaded. Sharp hit an RBI single, and then came Martin, homerless on the year, but that was bound to change. GRAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMM!!!! Garcia had no trouble in the eighth, but it started to lightly drizzle in the bottom of the inning, as Yamada was doubling in Fernandez to make it 8-0. C’mon boys, hurry up! James Miller led off the ninth with the Knigths’s second hit on the day, a single to right center, but was then caught up in Bill Tinker’s double play. Rodrigo Lopez grounded out, and the shutout was complete! 9-0 Coons!! Greenman 3-4, 2B; Fernandez 2-3, BB; Yamada 2-4, 2B, RBI; Garcia 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

Felipe Garcia, a few weeks before his 28th birthday, tossed his third career shutout. He has no other complete games in 57 starts. The 2-hitter is the closest he’s come to the record books. He previously had a 3-hitter against the Titans (last September!) as his career best.

Raccoons (5-4) @ Loggers (3-5) – April 14-17, 2005

There is a team with a more embarrassing offense than the Coons, and it’s the Loggers so far. Actually, the 9-0 win got the Coons to seventh in runs scored, but the Loggers are last. They also didn’t prevent runs well early on with a 10th-ranked 4.62 ERA to their rotation.

Projected matchups:
Ben Carlson (0-1, 3.18 ERA) vs. Dani Alvarado (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Armando Gomez (0-1, 7.50 ERA)
Edgar Amador (0-2, 7.00 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Ralph Ford (0-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (2-1, 3.07 ERA)

Alvarado is the tenth straight right-hander we will face to start the season. Then there will be something of a change, with three straight left-handers starting against us on the weekend.

Game 1
POR: LF Brady – 2B Nomura – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – CF Torrez – 3B M. Ramirez – C Cooks – P Carlson
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – 3B T. Johnson – RF Hiwalani – 1B M. Woods – C Benitez – LF Phillip – SS Costello – P Alvarado

Yamada plated Nomura with a 2-out single in the first, the Coons were up 1-0, and although Bartolo Hernandez hit a leadoff double off Carlson in the bottom 1st, he didn’t score. That was not the last extra-base hit off Carlson in the game however, and the Loggers quickly tied the score at one in the bottom 2nd with a double and two singles. Greenman robbed Pedro Costello of an RBI double to end the fourth inning, and we really needed some offense to get started. But whenever the Coons got a man on first base in the middle innings, they soon found a way to wrap up a pair and remained empty-handed. And when Carlson then issued two walks with nobody out in the bottom 6th, the ship began to take on water, but then Mac Woods hacked himself out spectacularly (losing his helmet twice in the at-bat), and Benitez also whiffed, which left Clint Phillip to ground out. Jerry Fletcher would then finally come through for the Loggers in the bottom 7th with a 2-out RBI single and Carlson couldn’t exit that frame, walking Tom Johnson on four straight. Marcos Bruno came in to relief him and struck out a .121 batting Bakile Hiwalani to strand a pair. But we needed the Coons to score, and they wouldn’t. Not at all. Much the opposite, Kaz Kichida found a way to get taken deep by light-hitting shortstop Pedro Costello in the eighth. 4-1 Loggers. Martin 3-4;

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – SS Yamada – LF Fernandez – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – CF King – 2B Sheehan – C Wood – P Brown
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF Hiwalani – 3B T. Johnson – 1B M. Woods – C Benitez – LF Scott – SS Costello – P A. Gomez

Sharp and Greenman produced the first two runs for the Coons in this game, in the first and third innings, with Sharp scoring on a Greenman groundout in the first, and a double by the rightfielder in the third. Greenman would score on a Matt King single in the latter inning, and we led 3-0, although the Loggers should have tied it in the bottom 2nd with men on first and second, and Keith Scott unleashing a driller up the middle that Brad Sheehan SOMEHOW caught in mid-air, with the lead runner already almost at third base and easily doubled off. While Sharpie did not reach base his third time up, Greenman kept producing runs. Fernandez was on first when he came to bat in the fifth and this time he rocketed one outta center to bring the score to 5-0. Brownie utterly dominated the Loggers for six innings before they got a bit lucky in the seventh, with Hiwalani singling and Johnson doubling with no outs. There was hardly a way out of that without conceding a run, and Brownie ended up conceding both on a silly bloop single by Pedro Benitez. He was hit for in the top 8th with Clyde Brady, two on and two out, but Brady grounded out to Costello. And it kept getting worse. Huerta spilled runners onto the corners in the bottom 8th, with Bruno coming out. But Bruno walked Fletcher, and while Hiwalani popped out for the second man to be retired, Tom Johnson hit another double to plate a pair and leave the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Bruno dug a trench and struck out Mac Woods, but the lead was now down to a flimsy 5-4. An insurance run would have been great, but Robbie Wills retired the Coons in order in the ninth. Casas faced the 6-7-8 guys, all right-handers, got ahead on all of them, and then Benitez grounded out, Scott popped out, and Costello struck out. 5-4 Coons! Sharp 2-5, 2B; Fernandez 3-5, 2B, Greenman 2-4, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (2-0) and 1-3;

That was certainly closer than I would have enjoyed. Huerta was unscored upon before this game and I thought with three runs advantage I could go with the second-rate righty. Well, less thinking, more smart, please. Brownie would not have been pleased.

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – CF Fernandez – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – 2B Nomura – SS Sheehan – C Wood – P Amador
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – 3B T. Johnson – RF Hiwalani – 1B M. Woods – LF Kaberman – C J. Reyes – SS Costello – P M. Garcia

We certainly weren’t sued to seeing a 6.00 ERA from Martin Garcia (merely 221 career wins…), so one could expect “regression towards the mean”, which was a 2.84 career ERA, to start rather soon. For the Fat Cat, the book had more walks put into script, and he gave the first of those to Hernandez right away, and Hernandez scored on a Hiwalani single, another case for “regression towards the mean”. The Coons found themselves duly massacred and unable to do anything unless the Loggers did something stupid – and they did. After Amador snipped a single (to move his average to .750) in the third inning, Garcia and Reyes got completely crossed up. Garcia threw two wild pitches completely past Reyes’ target, and Brady also had a double in the inning as the Coons took a 2-1 lead! Their only other scoring chance came after a Loggers error in the fifth, but was left unused. Neither pitcher was threatened much in the middle innings. Amador had another hit in the seventh, but was ultimately stopped at third base. In the eighth, however, Al Martin hit a solo homer to bring the score to 3-1. Amador was lifted after a 1-out double by Tom Johnson, but that runner didn’t score, either, for the Loggers, keeping the Coons up by two. Martin Garcia went the distance of nine, then had to hope for his team to come back in the bottom 9th against Angel Casas, starting with Van Kaberman, who flew out to deep left, but then Jesus Reyes doubled to center. Clint Phillip was up next and unleashed another rocket that was heading towards right – but Ramirez!! Miguel Ramirez had come in after hitting for Nomura in the top 9th, leapt, snagged the fireball, and then bowled it to Sheehan at second base to double off the runner – and the game was over! 3-1 Coons! Amador 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (1-2) and 2-2;

Game 4
POR: 1B Sharp – CF Torrez – LF Fernandez – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – 3B M. Ramirez – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Ford
MIL: 2B B. Hernandez – CF Fletcher – RF Hiwalani – 3B T. Johnson – 1B M. Woods – C Benitez – LF Kaberman – SS Costello – P R. Gonzalez

In this game, the Coons couldn’t turn their double plays. That cost a run in the first, and in the second it would have cost another if Eddie Torrez hadn’t sledgehammered Van Kaberman out at the plate to end the frame. The Coons lumbered about offensively, getting only two hits in the first four frames, but then the game got tied on Bob Wood’s first career homer, a massive crush of a shot to straightaway centerfield! The obnoxious Hiwalani continued his regression toward the mean however, and hit an RBI single plating Hernandez in the bottom 5th to restore the old gap, now at 2-1. The Loggers stranded two men in scoring position when they elected not to hit for their pitcher Ramiro Gonzalez with two out in the sixth and Gonzalez struck out. The Critters just couldn’t get the bats up. They still trailed 2-1 in the ninth, facing Robbie Wills, which was not a thrilling scenario. Yet then Edgardo Fernandez started off with a double through Mac Woods’ tired old body and all the way to the fence. Greenman grounded out to first, moving the tying run to third base with one out. But Yamada couldn’t get the job done, and when Brady hit for Ramirez, he struck out. 2-1 Loggers. Fernandez 2-3, BB, 2B; Ford 6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, L (0-1);

In other news

April 6 – At age 41, LAP LF Forest Hartley (.375, 0 HR, 2 RBI) has his 2,500th career base hit with two hits and an RBI in the Pacifics’ 5-0 win over the Scorpions. The milestone hit is a first inning single off Takeru Sato. Hartley was the 11th overall pick by the Indians in the 1983 draft, debuting the next season at age 20. Since then he has batted .290 with 181 HR and 1,085 RBI, while never playing on a championship team. He is a 3-time All Star and won a Gold Glove in 1993.
April 7 – RIC OF Juan Jose Villa (0 AB) appears to be out for the entire season, breaking his elbow on a defensive play on Opening Day.
April 8 – TOP 1B/2B Georg Spinu figures to be out for the rest of the month with a strained rib cage muscle.
April 9 – RIC CL Javier Navarro (0-1, 10.80 ERA, 1 SV) notches his 400th career save by finishing out a 4-1 win for the Rebels over the Scorpions. Navarro, 35, a 9-time All Star, also is 70-71 with a 2.52 ERA for his career, winning a title with the Thunder in 2000.
April 9 – The season has barely started, but it’s over for IND SP Anthony Mosher (0-0, 3.38 ERA), who left his first start of the year and has been diagnosed with radial never compression.
April 9 – The Titans trade INF Victor Flores (.250, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to the Bayhawks for LF/RF Jim Brulhart (.571, 4 HR, 11 RBI). Brulhart batted .173 in kindly limited playing time in 2004.
April 9 – WAS SP Chris York (1-1, 1.06 ERA) fans 14 Stars in a 13-0 romp, allowing six hits in a shutout.
April 13 – VAN OF Dave Wheaton (.500, 1 HR, 7 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak going after a single in the Canadiens’ 5-3 loss to the Falcons.
April 13 – SAL INF Leborio Catalo (.278, 0 HR, 2 RBI) is out for a month with a fractured finger.
April 14 – DAL OF/1B Robinson Perez (.378, 0 HR, 4 RBI) will miss six weeks with an oblique strain.
April 15 – Dave Wheaton’s hitting streak ends at 20 games, as he goes 0-3 in a 6-2 win of his Canadiens over the Crusaders.

Complaints and stuff

Playing against Concie is weird. I don’t like it.

The offense is pathetic. This is nothing that was not to be expected, however. 13 games in, we already have seven games in which he scored three or fewer runs (mostly fewer), and another two with four and five runs each, and we scored 3.6 runs per game overall in the first few weeks.

We also received a trade proposal from the Thunder, offering back Jesus Palacios in exchange for Watanabe and prospect Trevino. When will people understand that we want to GET prospects and DEAL expensive inventory?

Did you know? Manuel Flores scored his 1,000th career run on August 1, 1991 as a Canadien.

Manuel who?

Probably no update tomorrow, been playing a lot of Civ V recently, the joy of which comes in bursts. Currently, I have a burst. The Coons aren’t much joy. However! I will be on holidays from the 23rd through to the end of the month, and there should be ample time for a daily dose of horrible baseball then.