[Westheim]

2048 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (93-69) vs. Dallas Stars (100-62)

Rematch time! I hope the Stars weren’t still holding a grudge from last year, when we won the World Series over them in five games. They previously beat us in six games in 1983, so this was the third time the two teams encountered another in the championship decider.

The Raccoons came in with roster changes; both Bob Ibold and Chris Robinson returned to the team after healing out their earlier injuries, and Danny Cancel and Matt Glodowski were dropped. The latter move was made despite half the Stars’ starters being left-handed.

How did we stack up against Dallas? For starters, they outscored us by 192 runs, which was a bit on the rough side, but also conceded 101 runs more than us. Their lineup was tremendous, but the key hitters like Juan del Toro (.369, 26 HR, 104 RBI) and Tylor Cecil (.310, 29 HR, 149 RBI) and Leo Villacorta (.310, 15 HR, 91 RBI) were all left-handed, which looked like it might yet play into the Raccoons’ paws, as we came in with three southpaw starters and another three lefty relievers. I also didn’t see any lefty reliever in their bullpen – and that bullpen had not been all that great to begin with. Of course, the Raccoons had only select left-handed batters, but Pat Gurney was raging hot, and then we’d have a prime joker bat on the bench in Chris Robinson, who I’d rather not have in the field against a prolific lineup like the Stars’.

The teams had met in the regular season, contesting a 3-game set in August in which the Raccoons won the opener, 11-5, but then lost two 1-run squeezers after that.

This series certainly could go either way, but probably wouldn’t be a borefest, huh?