[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-41) vs. Condors (34-41)

Here we already are at the end of June, with the series running from the 29th to July 1. With Hall out, the offense would most likely collapse completely, I had no hope at retaining a decent record now.

Gary Simmons pitched a strong game, going seven innings with as many K’s. That didn’t help him. He got his 10th loss of the season after a throwing error by Bocci plated two. The bullpen collapsed again in an abysmal showing in the ninth and the Raccoons lost 6-1. Grant West faced four batters, all reached base, and all scored by the time Ben Jenkins finished the inning.

That night, the Condors added a feared bat in Mitsuharu Yamada, coming over from the Richmond Rebels. Things would not get better a bit for the Raccoons here.

Powell remained remarkably un-sharp. Seitaro Ogawa took him deep in the third, and the Condors scored two in the inning. Wyatt Johnston’s 3-run blast turned it around in the fourth, and Johnston and Simon brought in two more in the fifth for a 5-2 lead. Powell surrendered another home run in the sixth, but went seven innings. Raccoons led 7-3 into the top 9th. White and West proved unable to get the game in, as rain started to fall. Come on boys, in my family we’re eating early! With one run in and two on and one out, Wally Gaston was sent out and struck out the next two batters to end the ballgame, 7-4 Raccoons.

Pennington ended up down 2-0 after the first. Again, the Raccoons rallied and led 3-2 after the fourth, but Pennington could not hold on to the lead. The game went to extra innings, where Coleman created a jam with runners on the corners and nobody out in the 11th. Wally Gaston was brought in and struck out two, then threw a wild pitch that scored a run, and the Raccoons lost, 4-3, going down harmlessly in the bottom of the inning.

Raccoons (34-43) vs. Crusaders (34-44)

Jorge Romero was rocked by the Crusaders for six runs in six innings, the last three coming on a home run with two down in the sixth. He was not sharp at all and got no K’s in this outing (only one in his first back with the team). The Raccoons failed to keep pace and lost 7-4. Peterson had two doubles and that was already the highlight of the day for the team.

Harmless offense did little to alleviate the fact that Logan Evans walked in the winning run in his outing in game 2. Raccoons lost 3-1. Harmless was too kind a word for it, really. With the exception of Ralph Nixon, none of them was producing anything but outs. They had seven hits in the game, Nixon was 3-4 with the team’s lone RBI.

After that game, Logan Evans was quick to sign the contract offer I had made him three weeks ago, before I could tear it to pieces. He will receive $1.05M over four years in a steep incline. This offer buys out arbitration for him, plus a year of free agency. I came in $25k under estimate for next year, but if he develops (and there are signs for that), he will still be cheap when the contract ends in 1985. That year he will make $350k.

Sánz and Simon got days off in game 3, so we dropped that one right away. The Crusaders starter was familiar to Raccoons fans, although they had never seen him in that capacity when he was playing with their team. It was Kevin Hatfield. His success as a starter was mixed: in five tries he had not seen the sixth inning three times, but had a 2-2 record. A mixed bag to choose from, the Raccoons would pick the rotten candies again, right?

Right. Hatfield never gave up an earned run in the game and took the W with him. The Crusaders removed an injured SS Carl Foster early from the game after he made an awkward throwing error in the first inning that helped plate two runs. Ken Clark homered later, but the Raccoons lost 4-3. Clark was 3-4 in the game.

Game 4 began with a comedy of errors. The Raccoons scored first, and on a balk. A Nixon error tied the game, before we scored three unearned runs after an error by Cecil Ward. Both teams exchanged zeros a few times, before the Crusaders shortened the gap to 5-3 in the top 7th. The Raccoons responded by sending 11 batters to the plate in the bottom 7th and plated six runs. The bullpen tried to lose the game, but they were unsuccessful and the Raccoons avoided the sweep with a 12-6 win.

We made a roster change, sending righty MR Jason White (6.11 ERA) to AAA and brought up righty MR Richard Cunningham, who had been the closer there and sported a 3.16 ERA. Cunningham was our 1978 first round pick, #2 overall. He had been the 1980 AA level Pitcher of the Year.

Raccoons (35-46) @ Canadiens (41-39)

The Canadiens sent their shooting star Robbie Campbell in game 1. He was 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA! At age 21, the Canadiens seemed to have struck gold with him. Ralph Nixon still taught him manners right in the first inning with a 2-run shot to dead center. Ben Simon solo bombed Campbell in the fifth, while the Canadiens just couldn’t score against Pennington until the seventh. With the bags full after an intentional walk to Miguel Guzman, Pennington got Carlos Martinez to fly out harmlessly to left. Craig and Coleman loaded the bases in the bottom 8th and West just barely got out. Wally Gaston closed out the 3-1 win in dramatic fashion with two walks and a wild pitch, before facing Nicolas Castillo with two out. Castillo slammed it to left, but Sherwood Henderson got there in time to record the final out. What an astounding win. Canadiens out-hit the Raccoons 12-4, K’ed them 7-1, walked over them 4-2, and got the wild pitch, and STILL lost.

More lineup mess-up as Cameron Green broke his hand in that first game and went to the shelf for six weeks. Costa was brought in to start 3B for a time, and I went looking for replacements at the AAA level. I found Jayson Bowling, who could play every position on the infield. He was a 1977 round 4 pick by the Crusaders and had come over in the Hermundo/Hatfield trade one and a half years ago. I had to waive AAA catcher Angel Ramirez to make room on the roster

Romero pitched in game 2 and held the Canadiens to three hits and two runs, but gave up six walks in six innings. He still was nowhere near his form from last year after that long injury. Raccoons lost 3-1, as the offense took a nap. Romero even had to bat in that run himself. He was much better at the plate, going 2-2 there. Maybe we will convert him to an infielder… (sour look)

All the scoring in game 3 was done in the first inning, where Logan Evans was whacked around to the tune of three runs. The Raccoons once loaded the bags with one out only for Angel Costa to ground into a double play. With this loss, last place was the Raccoons’ again.

Loads of scoring to start the last game. The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead, the Canadiens scored three, and the Raccoons responded with four. And that was just through the top 2nd. The Canadiens tied the score with a 2-run shot my Miguel Guzman in the bottom 6th. The Raccoons lost that one 6-5 in the ninth, when Jenkins and Cooper surrendered back-to-back doubles. No matter what Gary Simmons did, he could not buy a win for his life…

There were newspapers circulating in western Oregon that suggested a name change for the team, from Raccoons to Losers or Suckers. I instantly subscribed to the movement…

The Scorpions claimed Angel Ramirez, so he was gone as well, but I would save my tears for somebody more worthy.

Raccoons (36-49) @ Titans (38-49)

What should I say? The suffering continued into the Titans series. Six hits en route to a 4-2 loss. Jayson Bowling started 3B for the second time since Costa was so terrible at the plate, and went 2-4, which was about the highlight of the game for the Raccoons.

Follow this with a 2-1 loss in game 2, where the game got away from Pennington in the first inning. 11 hits for the Raccoons this time, but three double plays erased many of them. Pathetic hitting all around, and this continued into the 5-1 loss in game 3. Ken Clark’s leadhoff homer was it, after that the Raccoons stopped production altogether.

Ralph Nixon was the only All Star for the Raccoons. The Federal League won 5-4, Nixon only pinch hit and went 0-1.

In other news:
June 29 – The Rebels trade LF/RF Mitsuharu Yamada, one dangerous hitter, and a minor league player for prospects with the Condors. [What a crap trade. NO team in playoff contention would do a trade like that EVER.]
June 30 – The Canadiens’ Eddy Bailey has a 20-game hitting streak going.
July 1 – Bruce Cannon, shortstop for the Indians, also has hit in 20 straight games.
July 2 – The Gold Sox transfer powering outfielder Ramon Borjón to the Warriors in exchange for reliever Juan Carlos Gomez and outfield prospect Mike King. The advisability of this move for Denver is questionable. They have trouble scoring runs anyway, now trade the all time home run leader Borjón (100 long balls) away, and Gomez has constantly deteriorated since strong 1978 and 1979 campaigns.
July 2 – Dallas CF Joe Nelson has quite a day in an 18-6 slapping of the Pacifics. He goes 5-6 with 8 RBI’s, including a grand slam and a 3-run slam.
July 3 – The Aces lose CF Michael Martin, just over from the Miners, to a sprained ankle for four weeks.
July 3 – Eddy Bailey’s hitting streak ends at 22, as he goes 0-4 in a 3-2 loss to the Indians.
July 4 – You do it to me, I do it to you: one day after the Indians chilled Bailey, the Canadiens return the favor and kill off Bruce Cannon’s streak at 22 games as well.
July 4 – Scorpion Pete Ross, a supreme contact pitcher, goes down to a shoulder injury for a month.
July 14 – The Crusaders send SS Carl Foster to the Pacifics in exchange for the L.A. closer Kyle Wallace.

Raccoons have dropped 17 games each of the last two months, and they are 2-10 in July. They sure got a head start to raise the mark.

Oh, here’s another story: our round 1 pick from this year’s draft, Orlando Lantan, has forked up his knee and is out for the year. Huzzah……..

Nobody can even begin to imagine the amount of bitterness and frustration this game is bringing into my (already bitter) life.

After the break: Canadiens, Indians, Thunder. Whenever I feel like I need more electronic humiliation and only once I have restocked on happy pills.