[Westheim]

The Raccoons ended July with a 5-3 loss to the Aces. My pitchers walked six, the Aces’ one. My pitchers K’ed four, the Aces’ eight. Couple that with a double play in the top 8th that killed a Raccoons rally and it was another depressing loss. More depressing was the 3-2 loss the next day. Jorge Romero had gone 7.1 scoreless innings and Hatfield got a 2-0 lead in the bottom 9th and failed epically. He left at 2-2 with two outs and runners on second and third. Bruce Wright came in and through a wild pitch that scored a runner to end the game. The sweep was completed with another 4-3 loss in the last game. Powell allowed three runs in right in the first inning after being given a 2-0 lead. His next start will be in four days to finish the Loggers series. Right now this could be very well his last start for the Raccoons.

I don’t know how to replace Powell. But I feel like a pitcher carved out of a dead rotten tree stump would make a better pitcher than him. He’s 7-15 and his ERA is continually rising towards 5.

The Loggers were up next. The Raccoons had the best total record against the Loggers, at 16-9 (.640), if excluding three interleague matchups where we stood at 2-1 (.667). To be honest, the only other CL team we had a winning record against were the Titans (17-13), followed by the Canadiens (13-16). The Loggers and Canadiens each were in Portland for four games – the prime opportunity to get this team into last place in the division (and league).

The Loggers series opened with a 1-0 win for the Raccoons. Simon doubled in Sánz in the first inning and that was it. Berrios went eight frames with one ball and four strikeouts issued. Both teams only had five hits. Bruce Wright closed the game – not because I didn’t trust Hatfield (I didn’t trust anybody on this team), but because the core of the Loggers artillery was up in the ninth and they were all lefties. Wright got through them 1-2-3. Logan Evans came up next and pitched well with one run allowed in six innings. Top 9th. Raccoons led 4-1 and Hatfield got in. Walk, single, home run – bust. Hatfield was thrown out by me and Gaston allowed the winning run in the 5-4 loss after a throwing error. In total the Raccoons made four errors in the game. Hatfield was removed of the closer’s job. This team would not have a fixed closer for now. They didn’t need one anyway, they didn’t win games anyway.

The last two games in the series. The Loggers led 2-0 going into the bottom 7th in game 3. Flores singled, Pickett walked, Sánz had an RBI double. 2-1 down, Simon walked to load the bases with nobody out. Get those [expletive] RUNS IN!!! Sullivan was scored a GIDP and Johnston rolled out to second to end the inning without another run and the suckers lost 3-1. Powell was up in the last game. This time his control was better and he allowed two runs in 7.1 innings, but got a no decision. The game 2-2 into extra innings after the Raccoons had failed to convert bases loaded situations with less than two outs twice early in the game. They again loaded the bases with one out in the bottom 11th. Rob Pickett snipped the ball through on the right side to score the winning run, 3-2. Hatfield ended up the winning pitcher with a 3-inning relief effort, K’ing two, and the only baserunner reached on an error.

Contracts were also signed with backup infielder Freddy Lopez for two years just under the arbitration estimate ($118,000; eligibility would have been two years as well) as well as with Jose Flores (two years for $166,600 a year) and Darryl Maloney (one year for $131,000). The only players without a contract for 1979 remain Wyatt Johnston, Kieran Lawson, Rob Pickett, Jesse Jeffries, and minor leaguer Luis Marin. I have no big interest in Marin, a struggling AAA pitcher with little potential for improvement, and Jeffries, who hadn’t lived up to expectations. I would go after Pickett next, who had surprised by hitting about .280 and fielding well and had won the starter’s spot in CF over Dolder (sub .200). Pickett signed a 3-year extension (last year with a vesting option for 250 PA, so it should only trigger if he still is the CF starter in ’80) the next week.

The Canadiens were on a roll recently, having done away with a sizeable deficit on the Loggers in the last two weeks. The Raccoons got to feel that immediately as they were almost no-hit in the first game, a 4-0 loss. Ed Sullivan broke the bid up in the sixth with a pinch-hit single (Freddy Lopez was making a few starts at 3B recently), and in all they were held to two hits. A 3-1 loss later the Raccoons then were down to 5th in the division, half a game ahead of Milwaukee. Couldn’t take long to get there, too. Romero was tagged for five runs in the first two innings in the 5-2 loss in game 3. Since the Loggers chewed 9-6 through the Indians, the Raccoons now hit rock bottom in the CL North for the first time this season, that they had begun so strongly. Game 4 went to the Canadiens, 2-1, with ten hits and both runs on Powell over seven plus innings. Sweep completed, woodland creatures destroyed.

Summary over the 8-game home stint: 2-6 record, dropped to last, 24 runs allowed (3.0 per game), choking 13 runs scored (1.6 per game). No wonder those suckers dropped to last. In the 11 most significant offensive categories they were 12th in the CL eight times, and 10th two times. They were 2nd in home runs, but even those had been scarce lately.

Interleague play was rapped up next with a lot of sox in the laundry. First the Gold Sox in Denver, then at home a series against the Blue Sox, the last two teams the Raccoons would face for the very first time.

Just three or four weeks ago, the Gold Sox had been the worst team in the ABL. Since then they had gone on a roll and carried a 5-game winning streak into the series against the Raccoons, who were blowing every little chance they got. They never got one in the first game of the series, where Berrios was blazed for seven runs in 3.2 innings. Sánz hit a base clearing double later, as the Raccoons were downed 7-4. Game 2 saw them take a quick 3-0 lead (although two runs were walked in), but Logan Evans gave it away again. Tied at 4-4 the game went to extra innings, where Hoyt Cook, who started for Johnston (who still came in at 3B in the sixth in a double switch), bolted a grand slam to win the game 8-5. Brett Justice got his first career save in the rubber game, as the Raccoons came back from a first inning deficit to win 2-1.

Two wins against a hot last place team – could the Raccoons be that next hot last place team? Well, they actually tied Milwaukee for 5th after this series. The Blue Sox came to Portland, and they were not yet eliminated from contention in the FL East, seven games back there. They mostly did get their W’s on pitching, being 10th in scoring in the FL, but that still meant they had almost 100 runs more than the Raccoons. The FL as a whole was a bit more hitter friendly. We had almost the same amount of runs allowed, but while this was only good for 6th in the CL for us, the Blue Sox led their league in least runs allowed.

Game 1 had Christopher Powell, who seemed to be back to half solid and allowed one run in seven innings, but got a no decision. The Raccoons only scored on a Pedro Sánz 2-run single in the bottom 8th, enough to win 2-1 with a save from Wally Gaston. Unfortunately Sánz left with an intracostal strain later in the eighth inning and went to the 15-day DL. Robby Davis moved in to start in RF, batting leadoff for his speed, and Jorge Lopez was called up from AAA despite having batted 4-42 earlier in the season in the majors.

The Raccoons won game 2 by a score of 3-1 on just five hits. Swift got in two, one with a sac fly. Wyatt Johnston also scored one runner on a sac fly. Berrios went six innings and Tony Lopez pitched a 3-inning save on just 30 pitches. But the offense was, what it was, and the Raccoons lost the final game of interleague play in 1978 by 4-1 on a leadoff walk in the top 6th that scored on Logan Evans and got him the loss, and a Dermott Watkins 2-run homer in the seventh.

Raccoons last at 53-68 in the CL North, yet there are five teams with worse records currently. Still, I don’t like this. Obviously, we need to get relief for the offense during the off season. I have an eye on Don Sullivan of the Gold Sox. He leads the FL in homers with 23 and is a free agent first baseman. With the Raccoons likely losing Wyatt Johnston, we could use Sullivan a bunch.

In other news:
August 2 – The Indians lose starter Du Tong (5-3, 2.93) for the season to shoulder inflammation.
August 6 – Slugger Frank Whitfield from the Boston Titans is hurt just one week after the Titans acquired him from San Francisco. He’ll be out for the rest of the month with a knee sprain.
August 12 – Titan Brian Adams lacks a triple for the cycle in an 11-3 win of Boston over Dallas.
August 17 – Condors reliever Josh Hill breaks his hand punching a locker in the clubhouse after a 6-2 loss of the Condors to the Warriors.

Tough road trip ahead to finish August, as we’ll play the Crusaders (3-8 this year; 10-19 overall), Indians (3-9; 13-17), Condors (2-4; 4-11), and Thunder (4-2; 6-9) in the next two weeks.

One and a half months to go, and no 1977 playoff team is currently in first place, yet all remain in contention.