[Westheim]

Thanks for the kind words. ;-)

Did some screaming during modifying and importing the schedule since yesterday evening. To get some variation I set out and switched four pairs of teams, one pair in each division. Imported with four errors initially but should be good to go now.

Next is the opening day roster for the Raccoons, who will again not play on actual opening day. We will open with two games in Milwaukee (which is strange since I though there weren't any 2-game series in the schedule, but I don't mind it), then go home immediately for a 13-game home stint against the Thunder, Condors, Indians, and Titans.

The Raccoons also have improved their team for 3.5 WAR in the off season, 6th overall in the ABL, behind the Wolves (7.3), Buffaloes (5.9), Falcons (4.6), Condors (4.5), and Rebels (4.3). The biggest losers are the Cyclones (-3.3), Capitals (-5.0), Knights (-5.1), Bayhawks (-6.1), and Canadiens (-8.0).

Here is our roster (first set of numbers indicate 1978 performance, second set overall on the majors level):

SP Jorge Romero (14-16, 2.89 | 29-29, 2.93) – performed not as well last year as with the Condors, but he should be a 20-game winner with a potent offense (which we do have not)
SP Juan Berrios (10-15, 3.82 | 21-33, 3.66) – a year removed from his no-hitter, the sparkle has come off, although he should post better W-L numbers if the offense kicks in (notice the common theme here)
SP Logan Evans (4-4, 3.57 | 4-4, 3.57) – joined the majors mid-season and made some impressive starts before getting injured, only lefty in the rotation
SP Jerry Morris (11-15, 3.47 | 27-29, 4.00) – joins us from the Titans, where he wasn’t even exclusively used as starter in 1978, his season could go either way

MU Christopher Powell (8-18, 3.97 | 22-30, 3.56) – came close to being shot last season, has to prove himself again
MR Bill Baker (2-4, 2.75 | 6-7, 3.25) – one of the two lefties in the pen, mostly solid
MR Ben Jenkins (4-3, 4.31 | 10-6, 4.54) – one of the guys you have to be concerned about, he needs to get his ERA down
MR Tony Lopez (2-7, 4.00 | 2-7, 4.00) – was horrible as a starter replacing Berrios in September, but was good as a reliever, can eat innings as well, covered the most innings out of the pen
SU Brett Justice (0-2, 1.52 | 3-2, 2.37) – spent a year on the DL, returend strong, but with command issues, is the second lefty in there
SU Kevin Hatfield (3-6, 4.35, 29 SV | 4-8, 3.36, 48 SV) – closer for most of last year, he lost his touch after an injury and his ERA rocketed skywards
CL Wally Gaston (6-7, 2.25, 7 SV | 12-15, 2.54, 10 SV) – used only in high leverage situations, he strikes out almost nine over nine innings, but his number of walks are of concern

C Darryl Maloney (.188, 4 HR, 28 RBI | .215, 11 HR, 87 RBI) – was way worse than in ’77, both at the plate and with his arm, has to rebound
C Kieran Lawson (.203, 3 HR, 14 RBI | .202, 5 HR, 31 RBI) – was #1 catcher late in the season, but will be backup again

1B Hoyt Cook (.220, 2 HR, 13 RBI | .224, 3 HR, 24 RBI) – backup, can produce clutch hits, but inconsistent overall
1B Wyatt Johnston (.236, 18 HR, 64 RBI | .262, 33 HR, 156 RBI) – remains a force, but his average suffered, which was one contributor to the Raccoons’ lame offense last year
2B/3B Angel Costa (.320, 1 HR, 27 RBI | .320, 1 HR, 27 RBI) – started the season with the Miners and will take over in the infield for the traded Greg Swift
1B/3B/2B/SS/LF Ed Sullivan (.286, 9 HR, 57 RBI | .285, 29 HR, 118 RBI) – has one of the most reliable bats on the team, but was very error-prone last year
3B Freddy Lopez (.209, 3 HR, 13 RBI | .218, 3 HR, 33 RBI) – backup, could be replaced by one or two AAA talents this season
SS/2B/1B/3B Ben Simon (.244, 12 HR, 80 RBI | .248, 33 HR, 171 RBI) – fielding wizard, but K-prone and often shows nerves at the plate

LF/RF/CF Jose Flores (.251, 7 HR, 35 RBI | .265, 13 HR, 73 RBI) – started most of two seasons, but will only start against RHP to begin 1979
LF/RF Daniel Hall (.286, 5 HR, 15 RBI | .286, 5 HR, 15 RBI) – has all the talent one needs and if he can convert his strong September to a strong season, we should have a solid contributor here
LF/CF/RF Rob Pickett (.270, 2 HR, 39 RBI | .273, 3 HR, 71 RBI) – signed as free agent when our outfield was hospitalized in May and June and impressed enough to stay
LF/CF/RF Gustavo Zuniga (.277, 4 HR, 30 RBI | .277, 4 HR, 30 RBI) – came from the Miners in the off season and should shore up CF
LF/RF/CF/1B Johan Dolder (.189, 0 HR, 6 RBI | .205, 4 HR, 37 RBI) – you can’t ask for more defensively, but his offense was a desaster last year
RF/LF Pedro Sánz (.289, 12 HR, 59 RBI | .299, 29 HR, 129 RBI) – I love him dearly, but he is injured very often, keeping his numbers down

Opening day lineup (equals RHP): 2B Costa – 3B Sullivan – RF Sánz – LF Hall – 1B Johnston – SS Simon – CF Zuniga – C Maloney – P

Lineup vs. LHP: LF Flores – 2B Costa – RF Sánz – 3B Sullivan – SS Simon – 1B Cook – CF Zuniga – C Maloney – P

We also cleaned house and released nine minor leaguers who weren’t fitting anywhere and/or were taking play time away from our good prospects.