[Westheim]

Surprise! I’m a dick, and thus I will subject you to another update today!

(With another patch unavoidably hitting Steam on Monday, we might skip Monday’s update. I really don’t want anything to happen with this 2,500+ hours dynasty)

Raccoons (15-23) vs. Indians (19-18) – May 16-19, 2005

Who’d have thought the Indians would be as little as 1 1/2 games out of first place in the middle of May, then get four matchballs against the hapless Coons? Not that they were any good. Their run differential was -14 and they ranked in the bottom half in both runs scored and runs allowed. They were picking the points where to score well, it seemed.

Projected matchups:
Ben Carlson (1-4, 3.79 ERA) vs. Ricardo Sanchez (3-2, 3.43 ERA)
Nick Brown (3-2, 3.17 ERA) vs. Ramón Jimenez (0-6, 6.15 ERA)
Edgar Amador (2-5, 3,75 ERA) vs. Curtis Tobitt (5-2, 2.70 ERA)
Ralph Ford (0-2, 3.96 ERA) vs. Bob King (4-3, 6.12 ERA)

If Brownie doesn’t win on Tuesday, I’m eating my hat, bill first.

Game 1
IND: SS Sepúlveda – RF Alvarez – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – CF MacKey – 1B M. Berry – 2B J. Zamora – P R. Sanchez
POR: LF Brady – 3B Sharp – CF Fernandez – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – 2B Ingram – C Wood – P Carlson

Lorenzo Sepúlveda grounded to Martin, behind first, Martin lobbed to Carlson, Carlson dropped it, and the Indians were in business, with Alvarez singling, Ron Alston doubling, and they got two unearned runs in the first. Before the Coons ever got a hit, they added an earned run in the third, and even with the Indians making a splash of errors, the Coons were just unable. Bottom 5th, Ingram on first, Carlson bunted. When Paraz went to second with that bunt, the throw was high, nobody could come up with it, and that was the Indians’ third mess of the night. Sharp would walk to load them up for Edgardo Fernandez, who rammed the first pitch to left – and right to Ron Alston. Can we finally get a break here?? Yes, we can. Bottom 6th, Martin doubled, Greenman went yard, we were back within one run, Yamada reached, stole a base, and was left to die at third base. Ed Bryan was assigned two innings to work after we had hit for Carlson in the sixth. He struck out a pair in a scoreless seventh, and also got through the eighth, but not before Alston had hit his 13th homer of the season off him. It was still a 4-2 game, we still had a chance. Unless we did something stupid. And boy. Boy.

Top 9th, Kaz Kichida pitching, down 4-2. He got Jesus Zamora. Then Claudio Rey grounded to third, Sharp to first – PAST first. Rey went to second, and then Sepúlveda sent a fly to deep center. Fernandez had it, then dropped it. Rey scored, Sepúlveda the new occupant at second. The pitching coach visited Kichida to assure him that none of this was his fault and the rest of the team were just ******s that would soon be skinned and turned into a coat. The Jesus Alvarez grounded to Tom Ingram – and Ingram completely butchered that play as well. That brought up the fat part of the lineup. Alston singled, 6-2, and Kichida, slightly unnerved, drilled David Lopez. Eventually, with two outs, Felix Martines’ first AB of the year was a 2-run single up the middle. Iemitsu Rin made it a 1-2-3 bottom 9th. 8-2 Indians. Martin 2-4, 2B;

Six runs were unearned, as we made four errors in total, and I think three consecutive errors is something new. Not quite up there with Juan Diaz’ three wild pitches in one at-bat, but certainly trivia material.

What was the number again for that suicide hotline? Maybe they have some tips. Two battles of Captain Coma’s don’t do it.

Game 2
IND: SS Sepúlveda – RF Alvarez – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – CF MacKey – 2B J. Zamora – C Bowen – 1B C. Rey – P B. King
POR: CF Wheaton – 3B Sharp – LF Brady – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – C L. Ramirez – 2B Ingram – P Brown

Jimenez didn’t pitch, but we still saw a 6+ ERA guy in Bob King. Whatever works for you, dear Indians.

Brown was untouched through two innings. Then the rain came. After an hour’s worth of delay, Brown came back out and was taken deep by the first guy that saw him, Craig Bowen, who had no RBI, and hardly any hits this year. The ugly Portland spring reared its head again soon after that, with more rain soaking Brownie in the fourth, and finally causing another one-hour delay in the bottom of the inning. This time Brown was retired, and after the second delay ended, most of the barely 13,000 fans were found to have retired as well, as Brownie Day had simply drowned. The top 5th saw Huerta get hammered by Claudio Rey for a 2-piece, pretty much sealing Brownie’s fate. Stupid errors continued for the Indians, who again made three errors in the game, but the Raccoons stumbled only one run through seven. Bottom 8th, Sharp hit a 1-out single off the impregnable Bob King. Brady grounded to second, and – oops – error. That put the tying runs on base for Martin and Greenman. One of the donkeys fouled out, the other grounded out to short. 3-1 Indians. Brown 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (3-3) and 1-1; Williams 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K; Bruno 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Mm. Mm! (nom) Dat cap. (nom) Dat cap iff deliffous! (nom) (nom) Can I have fome falt pleaff?

Game 3
IND: SS Sepúlveda – RF Alvarez – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – 1B M. Berry – CF Martines – 2B J. Zamora – P Tobitt
POR: CF Wheaton – 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – SS Yamada – 3B Searcy – 2B Sheehan – C Wood – P Amador

Amador was guilty of three singles and a walk in the first inning, but charged with only one run. Extra work was bad anyway since we were very short on bullpen. In the second Tobitt singled, Sepúlveda tripled and scored on a sac fly, and we were already down 3-0. Both teams got an unearned run by the fourth, and the Raccoons continued to be ****. Top 5th, two out, Sharp made an error, and then Zamora’s grounder wasn’t dug out by Amador, and another 10 pitches went onto the odometer. He was squeezed dry for 120 pitches, which covered 6.2 innings, during which he even struck out nine(!), and yet he ended up horribly buried again. Yes, 4-1 was a loss, no matter whether we were in the first or ninth, since this team was never going to come back from anything. That Danny Sharp hit a leadoff homer in the bottom 8th was as meaningless as the 2-out, 3-run onslaught the heart of the Indians lineup inflicted on the Raccoons the following inning, if you were willing to ignore the increase in Moreno’s and Huerta’s already sizeable ERA’s. 7-2 Indians. Wheaton 2-4; Sharp 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Searcy 2-4; Martin (PH) 1-1; Rockburn 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Aaand we have achieved the worst record in baseball. Boy, that 7-6 start really held us back!

We will switch away from our live coverage of a burning orphanage, and absolutely nobody coming with along with any buckets to put it out, to bring you this story from Vancouver, where the Canadiens came back from 5-0 and 8-5 deficits to beat the Loggers, 9-8, and take first place in the division from the Titans.

Oh, those wonderous times were are living in.

Game 4
IND: SS Sepúlveda – RF Alvarez – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – CF MacKey – 2B J. Zamora – LF Martines – 1B C. Rey – P A. Alonso
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – CF Fernandez – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – 2B Ingram – SS Sheehan – C Wood – P Ford

Alonso Alonso (4-3, 5.21 ERA) moved into this series after Jimenez got skipped earlier. We entered with one run scored in excess of precisely 3.0 R/G.

Matt MacKey won the game in the first inning, obliterating an 0-2 offering from Ford, crushing a 3-run homer that wrapped around the inside of the foul pole in right. The Coons had Sharp get on, Brady get on, Fernandez hit into a double play, and didn’t score. They hit into another double play (Sheehan the culprit) in the second, and didn’t score. In the bottom 3rd, Bobby Wood led off with a double, and was moved over to third by Ford. Sharp grounded out to short, but Wood scored, and then Brady singled, Fernandez walked, and Greenman hit a double to left center. 3-2 the score, the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Martin was nicked, loading them up. Which was bad, since that brought up Tom Ingram with 11 AB of major league experience. Alonso got a sorry grounder to short from him, and the inning ended. The bases were loaded again in the bottom 4th on singles by Wood and Brady, sandwiching a Sharp walk. Fernandez up with two outs, and he finally came through! The centerfielder singled to left, plating two, and then Greenman hit another RBI double to make it 5-3. Both Sharp and Brady continued to be unretired when they reached again in the bottom 6th, standing on first and second with one out for Fernandez, who struck out. Greenman grounded out, keeping the score at 5-3. Ford then was singled against by Martines and Rey to start the seventh inning, the runners going to the corners. Williams came in, did little to keep the game from imploding, and both runners scored, with Rey coming home on a Jesus Alvarez triple. Kichida replaced Williams to no success, and the Indians put up a score-flipping 4-spot. 7-5 Indians. Sharp 1-2, 3 BB, RBI; Brady 3-4, BB; Greenman 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Wood 2-4, 2B;

(shrugs)

Raccoons (15-27) vs. Aces (20-19) – May 20-22, 2005

Aces games were hardly ever boring, or comfortable. They scored the second-most runs in the league, but they also gave up almost as many, with their rotation pitching to a crummy 4.55 ERA.

Projected matchups:
Felipe Garcia (1-4, 3.98 ERA) vs. Bob Bowden (3-2, 4.63 ERA)
Ben Carlson (1-5, 3.48 ERA) vs. David Estrada (3-6, 6.38 ERA)
Nick Brown (3-3, 3.10 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (6-4, 3.80 ERA)

We will have an off day on Monday, to get that beleaguered bullpen some rest. Of course, all starters going seven, and no extra innings, would be fine as well.

Game 1
LVA: RF Covington – CF F. Rivera – 2B O. Torres – LF Messinger – SS Nichols – C M. Olson – 3B Warrain – 1B Briggs – P Bowden
POR: 3B Sharp – CF Wheaton – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – C L. Ramirez – SS Yamada – 2B Ingram – P F. Garcia

With the aid of a Brian Nichols error, the Coons loaded the bases in the first inning, but didn’t score when Leon Ramirez grounded out to Inaki-Luki Warrain. Despite three on, there were no hits in that first inning, and Garcia even struck out four of the first six batters he faced. No hits in the game at all through three, but then Francisco Rivera led off the top 4th with a double and soon enough scored on Forest Messinger’s single. Messinger then stole second and Ramirez’ throwing error awarded him third base. Nichols’ sac fly to center scored Messinger and Garcia loved that fourth so much he drilled Mike Olson, just to have it go on forever. Al Martin led off the bottom 4th with a single, the Coons’ first hit. They would rally to tie the score at two, if you could call a miles-away wild pitch really part of their rally, but it got the first run in when Garcia was batting with one out and the bases stuffed. Sharp singled in the tying run, and the next inning Martin drove in Greenman to take a 3-2 lead! No lead was ever long-lived in Portland, however, and when a Yamada error put Jason Briggs on base with one out in the top 7th, the Aces were prompted to have Artie Hill bat for Bowden, and with four more left-handers behind that, we yanked Garcia for Williams, who allowed a double to Hill, and the lead was blown out of the window with a pinch-hit Ricardo Garcia sac fly. Williams was also guilty of allowing a leadoff triple to Oliver Torres in the eighth, and that was a mess that nobody could clean up, and Law Rockburn the least of all. Torres scored, the Aces led, the Critters couldn’t do anything with Ingram’s leadoff double in the bottom 8th, and the Aces won. 4-3 Aces. Martin 2-4, BB, RBI; Ramirez 2-4, 2B; Ingram 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

Game 2
LVA: RF Covington – 3B F. Rivera – 2B O. Torres – LF Messinger – SS Nichols – C M. Olson – CF F. Rivera – 1B Briggs – P Marquez
POR: 1B Sharp – CF King – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 3B Searcy – 2B Ingram – C Wood – SS Sheehan – P Carlson

And another rotation change as Jose Marquez (2-5, 4.89 ERA) took over in place of David Estrada.

Sharp walked, King reached on an error by Francisco Rivera, and then Brady hit into a double play, and we were right in business, not scoring in the first, despite the opposing team begging us to do, so they could have a bit of a challenge. Then Forest Messinger cranked a massive leadoff jack in the top 2nd, and the game was irreversibly tilted the Aces’ way, with the score now an insurmountable 1-0. Actually, the Furballs tied it in the bottom 2nd, on doubles by Searcy and Wood. Carlson was then pelted for three runs in the third inning, a rally that started with a leadoff single by the pitcher Jose Marquez. Carlson was helped by a double play turned by Sheehan in the fourth, then made it into, but not out of the sixth. Moreno kept his runner on third base, but we were still 4-1 behind on only three hits. It took another leadoff extra-base hit by Searcy to get something going, a triple in the seventh, and he scored on Ingram’s grounder to second base. The Coons continued to nibble on Marquez, with a Bob Wood single, and then Sheehan got hold of a pitch and just like that left the yard and tied the score at four! Three Coons pitchers somehow cobbled together the top 8th, although it was mainly Fernandez throwing out Oliver Torres going first-to-third on a single to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Greenman rammed a double off the wall in the bottom 8th, Searcy also got on, and then Ingram hit a looper over the infield that spun away from Covington and became an RBI double! The Coons would make it a 3-run inning for the second consecutive frame, and the final bang was reserved for Sheehan again, a 2-run single to left that made it 7-4 and had Bruno appear for the ninth. Francisco Rivera singled, but was caught up in a double play, and the Coons actually got away with a win. 7-4 Coons. Searcy 2-3, BB, 3B, 2B; Wood 2-4, 2B, RBI; Sheehan 3-4, HR, 4 RBI; Moreno 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Game 3
LVA: 1B Briggs – 3B F. Rivera – 2B O. Torres – LF Messinger – SS Nichols – C M. Olson – RF R. Garcia – CF F. Rivera – P Sandoval
POR: 3B Sharp – CF Fernandez – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – 2B Sheehan – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Brown

Brown wasn’t sharp early on, with Jason Briggs hitting a line drive single to right to start the game, but he got caught up in a double play. Second inning, Nichols singled, stole second base, then was thrown out at home on Olson’s single by Edgardo Fernandez. The Coons scored two runs in the bottom 2nd when Sheehan and Yamada got on, stole in tandem, and scored on groundouts by Wood and Brown. Now, there was rain moving into the area, so can we please get through five? No, of course not, because **** Brownie, the baseball gods wanna have their fun. It started to rain in the bottom 3rd, and once the bases were loaded with Coons, the tarp came on.

It stayed on for half an hour, after which Martin, Sheehan, and Yamada each brought in a run to make it 5-0. C’mon Brownie, get through five! He visibly pitched with anger when he came back out for the fourth, and who wouldn’t with the entire universe aligned against him? By the time he was through five, he had piled up eight victims after it went like gum for him in the first two frames. Brady jacked one outta here in the bottom of the fifth inning, running the score to 6-0, before it seemed to stop working for Brownie. Briggs singled to start the sixth. Rivera popped out, but he walked Torres and allowed another single to Messinger to load them up with one out. Brian Nichols hit a shot to fairly deep center, Fernandez caught it, fired it back in, and the lead-footed Briggs was thrown out at the plate!! Bottom 6th, Sharp homered, top 7th, Brown whiffed two more while he gave the weather the finger. So, after seven it was 7-0 and six outs to get with a bullpen that was bending mightily. Well, Bruno was good enough to go in the ninth, so we really only needed the eighth and went to Huerta. First batter, Inaki-Luki Warrain, home run. Oh yeah, that’s where I like it. Huerta would walk Torres with two out, and we used Williams to retire Forest Messinger. The run surrendered by Huerta came back when ex-Coon Benton Wilson served up a bean to Bobby Wood for a leadoff homer in the bottom 8th, and then Bruno came out for the top 9th. Nichols grounded to third, and Sharp booted it for another error. Bruno gave him the look, then struck out the next three batters. 8-1 Brownies! Sharp 2-5, HR, RBI; Brady 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Greenman 2-5, RBI; Martin 2-4, RBI; Sheehan 3-4, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, W (4-3);

Browniiieee!!

In other news

May 16 – The Wolves deal LF/CF Bryan Gentil (.250, 1 HR, 9 RBI) to the Gold Sox to receive well-worn MR Enrico Gonzalez (0-2, 5.73 ERA) and a minor leaguer.
May 18 – A fractured wrist should put CHA LF/RF Jesus Flores on the shelf for at least a month. Flores has been batting .281 with 2 HR and 14 RBI.

Complaints and stuff

We made it to 23rd in the power rankings, yaaay!!

Brownie leads the Continental League strikeout race by a fair margin right now. He has 77 whiffs, and the closest guys are Juichi Fujita and Kelvin Yates with 61. He’s second in WAR to Curtis Tobitt with 2.1; No other Raccoons show up anywhere in the leaderboards, except for Yoshi Yamada being t-4th in steals with 10, two off the top mark.

Bob Mays is healthy again and is now batting for a .950 OPS in AAA. I’m trying to figure out a way to get him onto the roster. He really should play rightfield, because he has a murderer’s arm, but not so much range. That means either Brady or Greenman in center. They both don’t give another much in terms of arm and range, and neither would be a good fit for center.

And here comes last week’s trivia answer: with Leon Ramirez, Tom Ingram, and Steve Searcy all debuting last Sunday, a total of 371 players has appeared for the Raccoons throughout the years. And we fondly remember just a handful of them.

Since this is just painful to watch, why not revel in the past a bit? C’mon, let’s cheer another up! Share your favorite Raccoons memory/ies with the crowd!