[Westheim]

Raccoons (32-17) @ Knights (20-29) – May 29-31, 1995

The Knights were 10th in runs scored in the Continental League, and 6th in runs allowed, with a decent bullpen behind a rotation that nominally consisted of very good pitchers, but those were struggling mightily this year.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (2-5, 4.75 ERA) vs. Carlos Asquabal (3-5, 4.46 ERA)
Kisho Saito (7-0, 2.61 ERA) vs. Pat Cherry (4-6, 2.85 ERA)
Jason Turner (5-1, 3.03 ERA) vs. Jim Harrington (4-5, 4.31 ERA)

We gave Ben O’Morrissey a day off in the opener between Wade and Asquabal. The Knights scored two on Wade in the first inning, but the Coons tied that back in the third. Still 2-2, Baldivía reached on an error to start the top 5th, and then Reece doubled, which prompted the Knights to walk Royce Green intentionally. Bases loaded, no outs. Salazar and Kinnear would drive in those three runners in their at-bats for a 5-2 lead. Wade, after his early mishaps, settled in nicely and began to put up zeroes – all the way through the eighth. For the ninth, it was necessary to go to the bullpen, unfortunately. A 4-run lead, 6-2, was entrusted to Daniel Miller. Tom Nicks singled off Miller. Rory Gorden doubled to the wall in deep right, Nicks was sent home, but Royce Green gunned him down. Thanks, that is enough. Grant West came in to face lefty Sosa Tanaka. He struck Tanaka out, then walked the fearsome .120 batter Jose Rojas. Young Robbie Gardner then shot a racing grounder up the first base line – Ingall had been inserted here for defense in this inning, and made the play. 6-2 Raccoons. Reece 4-5, 2B; Kinnear 2-3, 2B, RBI; Wade 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (3-5) and 1-4;

Vern Kinnear got himself hurt while running the bases in this game, most likely pulling something. We did not yet get a diagnosis on him. Primitive Atlantean health institutions!

Middle game, and Kisho Saito did not have a good start. While the offense spotted him a 4-0 lead rather quickly, Saito had at least two runners on base in every inning but the first, and conceded single runs in the fourth and fifth, bringing the Knights back to 3-2. Control was not quite there for Saito, and he pitched in many 3-ball counts, and issued three walks. Saito was gone from the game after a 1-out HBP to RF Mark Smith, that brought the tying run to the plate. Tony Vela came in and got a double play from C Johnny Johnson. Burnett and Martinez managed damage-free innings after that, before the Coons loaded the bags in the top 9th, but didn’t score. That left Saito’s 4-2 lead with De La Rosa, who was to face Tanaka, Smith, and Johnson. Only Johnson got on with a single, and after that pinch hitter Francisco Rodriguez grounded out to Brewer. 4-2 Coons. Brewer 2-5; Reece 2-5, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey 3-5, 2B, RBI; Green 3-5, 2B, RBI;

So, Kisho is now 8-0, and officially half way (plus half a game) to 200 from where he started this season, despite this being a start more on the meh side of things.

More good news: Vern Kinnear had a sore hamstring only, and would be DTD for another day or two. With an off day coming after this series, we would rest him in the season finale, and we should be fine with him.

Game 3. Quinn spelled the ailing Kinnear after Jin had done so the day before (and had homered). Quinn made himself useful by knocking in two runs in the top 2nd, the first runs in the game, as Turner took on Harrington. Harrington left the game with an apparent injury in the third inning, and the not-so-shabby bullpen of the Knights took over, but immediately threw four 2-out runs on the board in the fourth inning. Jason Turner thus had six runs of support early on. He 1-hit the Knights through five, and while he put runners on the corners in the bottom 6th, the Coons turned an amazing double play, Rodriguez to Salazar to Higgins (at first), to get out of the jam. Even the Knights fans applauded Rodriguez’ launching grab-and-throw-in-one on Tom Nicks’ grounder in front and just left of the plate. Turner pitched into the ninth, but there was some kind of 1-out curse on the Coons as far as shutouts were concerned this year. With two outs to go, Carlos Guzman homered off Turner and sent him showering. Vela got the final two outs. 7-1 Coons. Brewer 2-5; Green 3-5, HR, RBI; Higgins 2-4, BB; Quinn 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Turner 8.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (6-1) and 2-4, RBI;

We have now won six in a row!

Raccoons (35-17) @ Titans (32-22) – June 2-4, 1995

While the Coons would not be able to drop out of first place on this weekend, it was still a battle between the top 2 teams in the CL North. And we had outright sucked against the Titans last year, so we were warned to not take our 4-game lead all too lightly. So, win one: control the damage. Win two: that’d be swell. Win three: now you’re kiddin’. The Titans ranked 3rd in offense in the CL, but their rotation was struggling to a 4.36 ERA, fifth-worst in the league. Maybe some more early oomph could set things right and we can extend our 6-game winning streak a bit?

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (3-1, 2.91 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (7-2, 3.12 ERA)
Robert Vázquez (4-1, 3.29 ERA) vs. Philippe Villard (2-5, 8.05 ERA)
Scott Wade (3-5, 4.43 ERA) vs. Doug Morrow (7-3, 3.19 ERA)

Vern Kinnear was healthy again, but against the lefty O’Halloran was not in the lineup. Bobby Quinn instead played right and batted eighth in the opener. The weather was iffy, and so was Miguel Lopez. While O’Halloran put the first four Raccoons he faced on base in the top 1st and allowed two runs, Lopez wobbled back and forth and fell 4-2 behind by the time rain knocked the starters out after five. While the Coons tied the game and took him off the hook in the top 6th, they had the bags full with no outs in the 4-4 game, and then made three miserable outs. As we were on the topic of misery: the bottom 6th saw Grant West come in for left-handers coming to bat. Daniel Silva hit a grounder to short that hopped over Salazar’s glove into left field. Then Jack Burbidge singled to center and Reece missed it for an extra base. Then West walked Josh Thompson. No outs. How often do the Titan score? Once, on a Matt Smith sac fly off Juan Martinez. That still set us 5-4 down. The Raccoons proceeded to have two runners thrown out somewhere between bases in the top 7th (Reece being caught stealing second, and O-Mo thrown out at home). Lagarde cocked up another run in the eighth, and we fell short by that run when O-Mo hit a 2-out solo bomb and Green did not follow up. 6-5 Titans. Baldivía 2-5; Reece 2-5; O’Morrissey 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Salazar 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Gone the win streak. This was Destiny saying “No! Just – no! Ah! Will you stop begging!? No!” all over. Not that this is new. Which part of “No” did I not understand after all? The N or the O?

Gah.

Middle game. We stole – successfully – four bases in the first three innings, and didn’t score against Villard and his ERA north of 8. And after that, the Titans would strip Vázquez naked in the fourth, when Luis Lopez and Matt Smith went deep back-to-back for a 4-0 lead for the Titans. All the while, the Raccoons were leaving runners on base and Villard was shaving his ERA down a full run by the sixth. Vázquez matched Lopez in surrendering four runs in five innings in this game, while NOT A SINGLE THING went the Raccoons’ way. Down 4-0, the bullpen surrendered more runs. We entered the top 9th down by six. Suddenly the rally started. Three pitchers and 15 minutes into the inning, Royce Green hit a 2-out, 2-run homer that cut the deficit to one. And then Higgins grounded out. 7-6 Titans. Brewer 3-4, BB; Salazar 2-4, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Green 2-5, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Kinnear 2-4, 2B;

How could anyone doubt beforehand that they would sweep us? How could anyone doubt that!?

And the final game wasn’t even played and I KNEW that they would incinerate Wade and move to within a single game. I KNEW it. There was no way the Raccoons could win the final game of their road trip. There was no point in skipping Wade and bringing Saito, who would pitch on regular rest after the off day. They would lose anyway, and be it on five consecutive errors and six homers to break up a 13-0 lead in the ninth. I know that’s only eleven runs, but they would still lose, even if they’d win 13-11. Trust me, it is possible.

The Raccoons did not get a hard hit against Doug Morrow until a leadoff double by Green in the fifth. And then, the next two men made poor outs, Kinnear was walked intentionally, and Wade struck out. Wade was down 2-0 at that point, and the team showed no intentions of catching up. Not that Wade was all that bad. The offense was. Morrow walked two in the top 7th and when Kinnear singled to left, the bags were full with one out, and for Wade it was time to say goodbye. Higgins came out to hit for him. In a 3-2 count, Morrow threw a breaking ball low and Higgins hit the brakes on his swing. No motion from the home plate umpire. Luis Lopez asked for a word from the third base ump, who took his time, and then slowly spread his arms. RBI walk for Higgins. Morrow then struck out Brewer, and then Salazar also found himself in a full count, and walked. Tied game, Reece to bat with the bags full, and the Titans didn’t remove Morrow. Another full count later, Reece swung through a breaking pitch. And the Titans didn’t even care about the blown lead. Against Burnett in the bottom 7th they hit two singles to right and scored the go-ahead run again on a double play not turned between Higgins and Brewer. The Raccoons left the tying run on base in the eighth, and in the ninth too. 3-2 Titans. Green 2-3, BB, 2 2B;

Words fail to describe this.

In other news

May 29 – The Rebels lose C Arturo Aguilar (.289, 6 HR, 33 RBI) for the year. “The Sheriff” is out with a broken kneecap.
May 30 – LAP INF Carlos Cook (.246, 2 HR, 15 RBI) is one of those guys that just can’t stay healthy. He will miss at least a month with an ankle sprain.
May 31 – Los Angeles’ Angel Romero (8-3, 2.20 ERA) 1-hits the Capitals in a 5-0 win. Jeffery Brown singles and breaks up Romero’s bid for the first perfect game in ABL history with two outs in the top 7th. Romero faces just 28 batters in the game, issuing a walk, but getting a double play in the eighth.
June 4 – MIL SP Davis Sims (6-2, 3.23 ERA) will head to the DL for a month with a strained hamstring.
June 4 – The Warriors lose SP Juan Sanchez (5-2, 3.95 ERA) for at least this season due to a torn rotator cuff. Sanchez hopes to be ready for opening day 1996, but that will have to be seen.

Complaints and stuff

Good grief.

Words really fail to describe what I am feeling.

These mid-90s Titans are giving the mid-80s Canadiens a real run for their money when it comes to screwing me over and over and over and over.

I ended up screwing those Canadiens with the Saito and Osanai trades back then. Do the Titans have any Japanese players I could extort?

Anyway. Grief continues, as somehow the bullpen manages to make my life a living hell DESPITE the team having the best record in the league. They are really that bad.

Neil Reece batted .367 with 6 HR and 21 RBI in the month of May and was rightfully so crowned Hitter of the Month for the Continental League! BEST trade I EVER made!

In Aumsville, Samy Michel, who was mentioned in the last update, was named Hitter of the Month, going .400 with 5 HR and 18 RBI. He was dug out of some rabbit hole in New Brunswick by Vince Guerra two years ago and had been signed at age 16. He was born 1/1/1977 – which makes him the first player born in the ABL’s year of inauguration to play in our system. We will see what will become of him. He has no defense to speak of, moving like a dead horse despite a rather slender body. But he sure has extra base power. We’ll see. He has a few years to develop.

Now be sure to up your season ticket packages as we come home, to experience our free fall first hand. On the plane back from Boston, while I was cuddling and crying into my plushy pink pillow, I could already see the Agitator getting a running start for the Monday paper.