[Westheim]

Raccoons (50-44) @ Loggers (39-52) – July 19-21, 2011

As the Raccoons were tumbling towards irrelevance, the Loggers were exactly the right opponent to face. They were horrible, ranking last in runs scored, and second-to-last in runs allowed in the league, but no matter how horrible they were, they were leading the season series against the Raccoons, 5-4 …

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (8-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Fernando Cruz (7-7, 3.94 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (6-6, 3.45 ERA) vs. Gabriel Caro (5-6, 4.81 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (8-5, 2.93 ERA) vs. Roy Thomas (4-12, 5.28 ERA)

Cruz is a southpaw to start this series, and the Raccoons were running an 8-11 record against left-handers this year. After that come two more righties.

This was about the point of no return for the Raccoons and their season. If the Coons could pull out a sweep against the Loggers, and maybe the Crusaders would drop a game or two in the meantime, there might be a theoretical chance and you don’t want to waste a chance that is at least theoretical. But if the Coons continued to flounder, the shop would be open for Jose Morales and a few other pieces.

Game 1
POR: 3B Merritt – 2B Palmer – LF Morales – RF Ayers – 1B Pruitt – CF Castro – C Bowen – SS Howell – P Brown
MIL: SS Ito – 1B Catalo – 3B Sharp – LF Davenport – RF Locke – C R. Hernandez – CF Alires – 2B P. Taylor – P F. Cruz

Daniel Sharp was batting .315 with a single home run on the season (although he missed time with an injury), but helped his slugging average a bit with a 2-run homer off Brown in the first inning. Sharp would also draw a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth, that soon blossomed into three singles and two runs off a completely helpless Brown, who couldn’t even strike out Fernando Cruz in an 0-2 count. Through five innings, the Raccoons had four runners, two in the first, and two in the fourth, and dissolved both situations with killing double plays hit into by Ayers and Bowen, respectively. The top of the sixth then saw Fernando Cruz either having a stroke or imitating Brown’s style of pitching, as he loaded the bases with three straight walks. Pruitt came to bat with nobody out, hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice that got Ayers removed at second base, and that was as far as this particular “rally” would go. Despite sucking badly, Brown threw only 91 pitches in seven innings, perhaps BECAUSE he was sucking so badly. The Loggers had no trouble making contact, and that was also a pattern that had persisted for several weeks now. Top 9th, down by three, Micah Steele allowed a leadoff single to Castro. But don’t you worry, little Loggers, uncle Craig was damn sure going to hit into a double play. Because of course he was. 4-1 Loggers. Palmer 1-2, 2 BB; Quebell (PH) 1-1;

Alright, show me those juicy prospects.

Game 2
POR: 2B Nomura – LF Castro – 1B Quebell – CF Morales – 3B Merritt – RF L. Taylor – SS Palmer – C Owens – P Umberger
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – 1B Catalo – 3B Sharp – LF Davenport – RF Locke – C R. Hernandez – 2B Ito – SS T. Rodgers – P Caro

The Coons spotted Umberger a 3-spot in the first inning, with Nomura and Castro hitting singles, followed by a 2-run double by Quebell. Merritt would bring home Quebell with a sac fly. For a bit, it looked like Umberger might be … well, not exactly good … but the Loggers didn’t get a hit the first time through the order, and J.R. Richardson’s single with two outs in the third was inconsequential. So was the Coons’ lineup since the first inning had ended, but a 3-0 lead was not something to constantly worry about, and those cannon shots you just heard were Willie Davenport and Philip Locke hitting back-to-back bombs off Umberger to get the Loggers back to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth.

Yeesh.

Top 6th, Merritt and Logan Taylor had singles to go onto the corners with nobody out. This would be a great spot for an add-on run or two against a scuffling Caro, who so far hadn’t struck out anybody (Umberger had at least one victim through five). Palmer hit a ball to left that looked like a double play, but Tim Rodgers never got to it, and Merritt scored on the single. When Travis Owens got plunked for the second time in the game, the bases were loaded with nobody out for Umberger, who struck out, but Yoshi would hit a 2-run single to left center that gave Umberger a 6-2 lead. Our starter got out of leadoff-walk trouble in the bottom 6th, but when Raúl Hernandez hit a leadoff double in the seventh, he was gone. Luis Beltran came in, threw a wild pitch, and conceded the run on a Rodgers groundout. The Coons left pairs of runners on base in the eighth and ninth, which left the bottom of the ninth inning to Angel Casas, starting with Philip Locke at the plate. While Locke struck out, Raúl Hernandez hit a double into the left corner, but it wouldn’t help the Loggers, with Suketsune Ito grounding out and Tim Rodgers raking himself out. 6-3 Coons. Nomura 2-5, 2 RBI; Quebell 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Palmer 2-4, RBI;

Interlude: Trade

Thursday morning, Coon City awoke to have learned that some parts of the team were no more with the team.

First closed was a deal between the Raccoons and the Cyclones. The Raccoons sent LF/RF Logan Taylor (.246, 2 HR, 24 RBI) and SS Rob Howell (.214, 0 HR, 7 RBI) to Cincy for #31 prospect A SP Cameron McSweeney, 20 years old, and 23-year old AA MR Jesus Romero, who was unranked.

That was only the first strike however, as another one was following, and this one concerned the actual big move. The Raccoons sent OF Jose Morales (.352, 9 HR, 44 RBI) and MR Luis Beltran (0-1, 5.48 ERA) to the Capitals for MR Joe O’Brian (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1 SV), 19-yr old #11 prospect AA OF Ricardo Carmona, 21-yr old AA RF Mike Cook, 22-yr old AAA 2B Jason Bergquist, and 21-yr old AA SP Gary Dupes.

O’Brian for Beltran is a simple switch in the bullpen and gets rid of an ineffective left-hander. Beltran was on a long list of players the Cyclones gave us that would allow us to get the Taylor-McSweeney deal done, and was an easy pick. In turn we got a dubious right-hander in return.

Neither of the six actual prospects acquired is on the 40-man roster. We assigned all prospects to their previous level.

The open spots on the major league roster were filled by Jason Seeley, so far untapped 27-year old LF/RF Brett Gentry (.319/.386/.453, 9 HR, 60 RBI in AAA), who would make his major league debut after being signed off the scrap heap, and Dave Roudabush.

Raccoons (50-44) @ Loggers (39-52) – July 19-21, 2011

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – CF Castro – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – RF Seeley – 3B Merritt – SS Palmer – C Bowen – P Baldwin
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – 1B Catalo – 3B Sharp – LF Davenport – RF Locke – C R. Hernandez – SS Ito – 2B P. Taylor – P R. Thomas

A 2-out walk to Daniel Sharp in the bottom 1st was already another fatal mistake, for Baldwin allowed hard singles to Davenport and Locke afterwards and the Loggers took a 1-0 lead. Baldwin would go six innings of so-so ball, allow two runs on four hits, and would be left outside in the rain, hail, and sleet, by his no-good, completely useless team. The Raccoons were beyond horrible, hitting into another two double plays early in the game, and whenever someone was in scoring position they would either pop out or hit a fly ball right to an outfielder. Accordingly, Baldwin trailed 2-0 after his departure. In the top 8th, César Fuentes threw four pitches for the Loggers, which was enough to retire Nomura, Castro, and Pruitt on two pops and a grounder to short. In the bottom of the inning, our bullpen suffered another slight ERA adjustment. Tommy Ward allowed a single to his only batter, J.R. Richardson, before Slayton took over. Leborio Catalo grounded out, and then Sharp singled sharply, Davenport doubled portly, and Locke homered lockly. That wasn’t even a word. 6-0 Loggers.

Raccoons (51-46) @ Thunder (61-35) – July 22-24, 2011

Is there such a thing as a mild rout? It would be the best thing this failed miscarriage of a team could amount to against the Thunder, who were storming through the league and didn’t look like they’d stop short of the World Series. They were scoring the fourth-most runs in the Continental League, but they had the best pitching staff with the least runs allowed, the third-best starters’ ERA and the very best bullpen. So far they were 2-1 against the hapless Furballs.

Projected matchups:
Bill Conway (10-5, 2.70 ERA) vs. Edgar Amador (8-6, 3.80 ERA)
Gil McDonald (4-8, 3.60 ERA) vs. Dave Crawford (6-6, 4.17 ERA)
Nick Brown (8-4, 3.12 ERA) vs. Daniel Dickerson (7-6, 3.77 ERA)

That’s three more right-handers. Where have all the southpaws gone?

Game 1
POR: 2B Nomura – CF Castro – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – RF Seeley – 3B Merritt – SS Palmer – C Bowen – P Conway
OCT: SS Farias – 1B J. Roberts – 2B D. McCormick – RF Tom Reese – 3B M. Austin – C J. Martinez – LF V. Diaz – CF J. Garcia – P Amador

An infield single by Dave McCormick led to a run once Tom Reese doubled to dead center, giving the Fat Cat a first run of support. Not that the Raccoons were particularly threatening in any way, but one run was the minimum you needed to win, y’know? In the bottom 3rd, the ragdoll Raccoons made a right mess on the bases. Jimmy Roberts started the inning by reaching on an uncaught third strike that was blamed on Bowen. Reese would walk, and Mark Austin reached on an error by Palmer who had a double play grounder and … ate it, basically. Conway recovered to strike out Jesus Martinez before Vinny Diaz grounded out to Yoshi, and the Thunder couldn’t bolster their lead.

After three innings of basically nothing, Matt Pruitt then led off the fourth with a knell, jacking a shot over the wall in right center to tie the game at one. Amador, as we knew him painfully well, from one moment to the next lost it all, allowed a double to Quebell and a single to Seeley, putting men on the corners with nobody out. Merritt hit the go-ahead single to left, before Craig Bowen filed a formal application for Goat of the Week, following up Palmer’s pop to center with a double play that ended the inning. Throughout the middle innings, which were interrupted by a 30-minute rain delay at one point, you could get the impression that neither team desired this win all that much. The Thunder had Jaime Garcia on with a leadoff double in the fourth and drew two walks in the fifth and didn’t score. The Coons in the sixth got Quebell to second base with nobody out without any effort of their own, but an error by Emilio Farias and a balk by the Fat Cat, and didn’t score their man either, and the Fat Cat would then bunt into a double play in the bottom of the inning.

That was Conway’s last pitch. Brett Gentry hit for him in the top 7th in his major league debut, and struck out. The Coons still got two men on when Nomura and Castro singled, but Pruitt popped out. Top 8th, another pair reached base with one out, but Ayers popped out batting for Palmer, and Bowen whiffed, as usual. Thrasher struck out the side in the eighth, while Angel Casas wouldn’t strike out anybody in the ninth, bt while Alfredo Ortíz hit a 1-out single, that tying run never got to move off first base. 2-1 Coons. Merritt 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Conway 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (11-5);

Game 2
POR: 2B Nomura – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – CF Seeley – RF Ayers – C Bowen – SS M. Gutierrez – P McDonald
OCT: SS Farias – 1B J. Roberts – 2B D. McCormick – RF Tom Reese – 3B M. Austin – C J. Martinez – LF V. Diaz – CF J. Garcia – P D. Crawford

The Coons stranded two in the top 1st, but so did the Thunder with the two walks McDonald issued in the opening frame. But things were on in the top of the second inning, and with that I mean they were REALLY ON. The Coons were already down twice in the frame when Manuel Gutierrez rolled a single to left. McDonald came up and his grounder escaped Mark Austin, a Gold Glover in his younger years, for another single. Yoshi came up, cranked a drive to left center and it was GONE. 3-0 Coons, and then Merritt was looking for something to hit, and instead got hit himself. He really took objection to that and went after Crawford real hard, striking him down with a right hook. The benches cleared, Matt Pruitt shredded Jaime Garcia’s pants with his claws, Jong-hoo Umberger bickered from the top of the visitors’ dugout at the Thunder fans, Tom Reese gave Craig Bowen a black eye (although you could hardly see it against Bowen’s mask), and Quebell led a platoon of relievers into the Thunder dugout where they plundered their sunflower seeds and their barrel of Gaytirade. Crawford and Merritt were ejected and would probably be suspended.

When order was restored, Ramiro Román pitched for the Thunder, and the Coons shifted Gutierrez to third and brought Palmer in at short. Little happened until the bottom 4th. McDonald entered the frame having two singles to the Thunder’s zero, but they overtook him in the inning. Three singles and a walk scored a run for them, and right-hander Manny Cruz batted for Román with the bases loaded and two outs, and became McDonald’s first strikeout victim of the night, keeping the score at 3-1. With the Raccoons not even getting on base anymore in the middle innings, and McDonald leaving after six innings due to highly advanced pitch count, we needed something from the bullpen. Tommy Ward faced two batters, and retired both on grounders, before Joe O’Brian made his Raccoons debut. He allowed a single to Leslie Starks, a double to Emilio Farias, and then drilled Jimmy Roberts. The lead down to one run and with two men on base, Ron Thrasher was asked to retire the switch-hitter Dave McCormick, who grounded out to short.

Top 8th, Quebell opened with a double to center off Sergio Alvarez. Next was the rookie Seeley, who got an intentional walk(!!) to bring up a badly struggling Keith Ayers. Both Ayers and Bowen made fly outs on the first pitch they saw from Alvarez, and Gutierrez flew out to center down 0-2. Nobody scored, as usual. Top 9th, Palmer hit a 2-out infield single. With Ignacio Garcia, a southpaw, appearing to face Pruitt, we threw Gentry in there to bat instead from the right side. He drew a walk, and once Quebell also walked, Seeley came up with the bases loaded. Was that intentional walk earlier actually justified? Was there damage in the books? Yes, there was! Seeley fell behind 1-2 against the lefty, but then hit a really hard grounder to left, past Austin, and into the outfield to plate two runs! Angel did the rest. 5-2 Raccoons. Merritt 1-1, 2B; Quebell 2-4, BB, 2B;

Jon Merritt and Dave Crawford were both suspended for a whopping ten games by the league office.

Do we really lose any offense? At least Manuel Gutierrez ain’t too unhappy…

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – CF Castro – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – RF Seeley – SS Palmer – C Owens – 3B M. Gutierrez – P Brown
OCT: SS Farias – 1B J. Roberts – RF M. Cruz – C J. Martinez – CF Tom Reese – LF J. Garcia – SS Starks – 3B M. Austin – P Dickerson

The Coons went up 1-0 in the top 1st when Yoshi Nomura doubled, moved up on Castro’s groundout, and then casually jogged home when Matt Pruitt hit a 3-0 pitch to deep, deep right, but still into the glove of Manny Cruz. The Critters would tack on a pair in the third, which was actually sparked with a 1-out single by Nick Brown. Yoshi walked, and then Castro came up with an RBI single and Pruitt plated Yoshi on a grounder. And what was Brownie doing on the mound? He ACTUALLY came out and threw strikes, whiffing the first two batters in the game, Emilio Farias and Jimmy Roberts, and was only in one bad count the first time through the order, although that also entailed allowing a 1-out single to Dickerson in the bottom 3rd, on an 0-1 pitch. Farias also singled, but Roberts hit into a double play and the score was 3-0 through three.

That for sure changed in the fourth. The Raccoons left Seeley to die at third base, before Nick Brown stopped retiring anybody at all. Manny Cruz’ leadoff jack was bad enough, but then Martinez singled, Reese walked, Garcia singled, and with the bases loaded, Brown issued another walk to Leslie Starks in a full count, forcing in the second run. Mark Austin also ran a full count before chopping a ball back to Brown, who got the out at home, struck out Dickerson, and got a fly to Castro from Farias. But wow. What a meltdown.

Still 3-2 through six, Brown came up to bat with Gutierrez just having hit a leadoff double off Dickerson in the top 7th. Curious thing. We had a short bench with Merritt being suspended, so perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea to get another at-bat from a pitcher batting .270-ish. Brownie was sent with a stick, and singled to right, with Gutierrez holding at third base. Things went clearly south for Dickerson, who allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Nomura and Castro before Ignacio Garcia appeared to keep the score somewhat in order. He got Pruitt, he got Quebell, he had Seeley right where he wanted him, then gave up a huge bomb to dead center – 3-run home run Jason Seeley! Do we like that kid!? Well, maybe!

Nick Brown was squeezed out for 120 pitches and got through George Wood, Farias, and Roberts with three grounders in the bottom 7th. O’Brian pitched the bottom 8th, actually retiring batters this time, although he put two on with a single to Tom Reese and a walk to old friend(?) Chris Parker. Josh Gibson faced the minimum in the ninth. 8-2 Brownies! Nomura 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Castro 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Seeley 1-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (9-4) and 2-3;

If there was ever an unlikely sweep, it was this one. This one for sure.

Nick Brown reached 2,200 career strikeouts in this game, whiffing Tom Reese in the second inning.

In other news

July 20 – The Canadiens pick up CL Jayden Reed (5-5, 4.24 ERA, 12 SV) from the Condors, parting with two prospects, including #153 SP Estevan Leon.
July 23 – DEN CL Luis Hernandez (3-0, 1.43 ERA, 21 SV) gets his 300th career save by preserving the Gold Sox’ 5-2 lead over the Rebels.
July 23 – LAP SP Brad Smith (11-4, 2.09 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 13-0 blowout.
July 24 – NYC LF Martin Ortíz (.327, 25 HR, 87 RBI) has manufactured a 20-game hitting streak.

Complaints and stuff

In a way, this team was like the team in 1997. Almost all pieces in place from the previous World Series campaign, which was also a defeat then, and yet… things never clicked, not even once did they click.

Some corner facts about the prospect haul:
Jason Bergquist: very good defender, with some contact ability, although he often swings at stuff in the dirt
Ricardo Carmona: main prize in the Capitals trade, a high-contact, high-OBP outfielder, with great speed and a nose to find the gaps; drawbacks are no home run power and average defense at best, although we hope that with experience (he’s only 19!) he will fare batter in the outfield
Mike Cook: his power is expected to break out any minute now, although he has no homers in 170 AA AB this season
Gary Dupes: so far struggling to get the slider, his third pitch, over either for strikes or to get guys fishing after it; but he has some raw stuff that generate hopes
Cameron McSweeney: right-hander, still in single A after being picked 21st overall in the 2010 draft. Good strikeout rate, the walks are a bit up, but hey, whose aren’t in single A?
Jesus Romero: right-hander with a biting splitter but struggling with the fastball control, and at 23 it might be too late for him, but the Cyclones didn’t give anything about him

Carmona is the obvious main price. McSweeney, Cook, and Dupes are all legit prospects in the second row. Bergquist and Carmona are more throw-ins. And to be fair, getting rid of Logan Taylor for ANYTHING was relief enough.

Sad facts: Ricardo Carmona went 0-for-13 after joining our system, so we already know he’s a bust, while Jose Morales drove in seven in his first three games with the Capitals, after plating 44 runs in 74 games with the Critters. Obviously…

All this puts the Raccoons in a spot where they will have a bit of money available to make moves in the 2011-12 offseason. We still have bad contracts on the roster, and Craig Bowen is batting .200 for two thirds of a season now, and I don’t want to talk about Nick Brown at all.