[Westheim]

2061 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (94-68) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (100-62)

The first playoff participation for the Portlanders in six years required some initial bookkeeping. In theory, the Raccoons had 26 playoff-eligible players; the 25-man roster from August 31 plus Ryan Sullivan, who was on a rehab assignment at that point.

However, Joey Christopher had broken his foot on Closing Day, removing an outfielder from the equation. He was placed on the DL and this allowed us an option for an additional batter. Rather than bringing on an outfielder with little experience against big league pitching – Todd Oley anyone? – we went with Forbes Tomlin, who was at least a weird rookie threat off the bench.

At the same time, Paul Barton and his late-season meltdown were left off the playoff roster in favor of Ryan Sullivan.

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The Raccoons had finished the season with the fifth-most runs and the second-fewest runs allowed, but only a +90 run differential. They were up against the #1 offense in the league, the Bayhawks having pumped out 897 runs, although their pitching had been serviceable at best and they had lost Kyle Turay from an already strained rotation in late September as well. Worse was the hit to their lineup they had suffered when Grant Anker (.305, 35 HR, 146 RBI) had broken his arm on Closing Day – THAT was gonna sting. Not that they didn’t have other batters. Everybody knew how Armando Montoya (.302, 21 HR, 123 RBI) and Dan Sandoval (.281, 23 HR, 111 RBI) could dole out the hurt, although the bottom of the lineup wasn’t that potent, and along with Anker they were also missing another outfielder in Scott Laws, and infielder Xavier Reyes was day-to-day with a bruised thumb to begin the series.

So yeah, they had a +166 run differential, but they had taken a hit or two, and their pitching looked very beatable if the Coons’ offense brought up it’s late-September performance, not the early-September performance.

A word on handedness; the Raccoons would bring three left-handed starters besides Bobby Herrera, and the meat of the Bayhawks’ lineup – except for Montoya – were all left-handed batters. The only southpaw starter for San Francisco would be Bill Grau (12-5, 2.74 ERA), who also led them in ERA (in theory, he had actually only pitched 157.2 innings due to injury), but the Coons could bring up a very balanced lineup against right-handers. Both teams had *four* left-handed relievers on hand for the series.