[Westheim]

The first Indians game would have been Huber’s to start, but he was still laboring that oblique strain. Ned Ray came in and got a no-decision. Wally Gaston balked in the winning run for the Indians in the eighth, as we lost 2-1. The Indians were still scoring very little, but the Raccoons were nice people and helped them wherever they could. Pedro Sánz came back in the middle game and launched a solo homer to signal he was healthy, but it was the Raccoons’ only run in a 3-1 loss. They salvaged the series with a 4-2 win in the last game. Indianapolis was a team that was awful to play – they had the potential to lock you down completely. Only 13 runs combined were scored in these three games.

We were now tied again with the Loggers at 26-46 in last place in the CL North – the only teams below 30 wins. Of course, our pythagorean difference was -6, so the Raccoons were really a 32-40 team, which certainly sounds much more friendly than 26-46.

The series in Tijuana. Miranda walked three in the first inning, and Sullivan committed two errors at 3B, and more misery added up to a 5-4 loss in the first game. Stanton Coleman suffered a strained elbow and was put on the 15-day DL. Bruce Wright was called up from AAA. Game 2, with Matt Huber on the mound, saw a Tijuana grand slam with two outs in the bottom 1st, then Huber loaded the bases again with one out in the second, walked in a run, and was then sent on a bus to Anchorage by me. After Hatfield pitched 1.2 innings to contain the fire and struck out two in the third (2 K’s in one inning is phenomenal for this pitching staff), Wright was sent in in the fourth. He hit the first batter he faced. The rest of the game is so far away from me, I can only see it through a thick nebula. Must have been the tears in my eyes and everything. Raccoons lost 6-5, I was told, but out-hit the Condors 14-7. Yay. As yay as losing the last game also by one run, 2-1. We were now seven under our pythagorean record of 33-42.

The team had lost six of seven, and nine of eleven now. They had lost six of those by one run, and two by two runs. This was really nagging on me. There were no clutch performers on the team, not one. The Condors series had put up the Raccoons with two opportunities where they loaded the bases with no outs. How many runs did they score in those two innings? Zero. The Aces were in town first on a 7-game home stint, playing three against them and four against the Canadiens later in the week. We had won the first series against the Aces 2-1, and were 3-4 against the Canadiens.

The series against the Aces was another horrible one. After losses of 6-5 and 3-1 scores in the first two games, Matt Huber took the mound in the last game. He walked two, plunked one, threw a wild one, and allowed five runs in .2 innings. Obviously, Anchorage had not been far enough for that bucket full of - … now the Raccoons came back to jump on Aces starter Munoz for five runs in the bottom 4th, and after eight they led 8-7. Lefty Ken Miller had pitched the eighth. I had just promoted Kevin Hatfield to closer, but he was a righty, and Tony Clark, Harlan Quick, and Rob Dawson the first three batters up in the top 9th were left handed batters. Miller had been perfect in the eighth. He remained in there. He walked Quick, and with two outs and righties to come, Hatfield got in to get the final out from Alfredo Gomez.

Raccoons had lost their last five series since going a good 2-1 against Cincinnati. Next were the Canadiens, which had beaten us 2-1 in the last series before beating the Cyclones. You know what’s most depressing? We’ve not swept a series all year so far. We were still tied with the Loggers, now at 27-51, who were also in another terrible stretch.

The team won the first of four against the Canadiens on a 7-6 squeeze, where Hatfield gave up two runs in the top 9th, the first runs scored on him in three weeks and 14 innings, and the first earned runs in almost seven weeks and 26.2 innings. Would the Raccoons at least get in a streak of three wins? Of course not. Horrid pitching and an outright pathetic performance by catcher Darryl Maloney, who passed a ball, had an error and botched two throws on stolen bases (three in total), was waving the Canadiens around and we lost 10-7. Game 3 was just the same. Miranda walked Andrew Bell in the top 1st, who then set out to steal second, and R.J. Sanderson threw the ball way past the base into centerfield. Bell then promptly scored on a flyout. Next, Pedro Sánz was struck in the head by an errant pitch by Alejandro Mora and had to be replaced by Jorge Lopez. Miranda was signaled to smack Mora when he came to bat in the top 2nd. The mission was accomplished. The Raccoons also lost 10-3, with eight runs on Miranda, who got his tenth loss, which put him in a tie for fourth in the majors. Then came Matt Huber, whose last two outings had been shameful. He pitched eight scoreless, but was credited with the two runs that crossed in the ninth for the Canadiens (walk and a plunked batter, what else), while the Raccoons offense produced some oomph for three homers in a 7-2 win. Sánz had played this game, but he was not really himself and would possibly have to be sidelined with symptoms of a mild concussion. To add insult to injury, CF Johan Dolder was injured when he made wall contact on catching a fly ball and would miss at least a week.

The injuries to Dolder and Sánz were extra unfortunate since this left me with no spare outfielders. Neither one needed to be disabled either, but the next week or so would be tough. I needed an outfielder in any case. The seventh infielder on the team, Hector Mendez, was sent back to AAA, he had hit .167 anway, and brought up was LF/RF Luis Hernandez. I could have used David Correa again, which would have saved me $45,000 but if I would have wanted a majors .000 hitter, I would have sent out my grandma. She’s running the bases pretty well with the new hip joints.

Next up was an important one, four games in Milwaukee against the troubled Loggers for the troubled Raccoons – let’s see who’s troubled the most! 1.0 game ahead of them meant that we could easily move 5.0 ahead of last place in the 4-game series. Or go bust.

Outfielder Jorge Lopez subbed pretty well for Sánz, grand slamming in the top 2nd of the first game in Milwaukee. Pitcher Juan Berrios bobbled a ball while covering first, which ultimately cost two runs, and pitched erratically in this game and while the Raccoons led 9-3 after four innings, Berrios got himself yanked and replaced by Ned Ray, who promptly gave up a grand slam and got the game tied in the bottom 5th. I was told that I was screaming at that point and my head was glowing red. The Raccoons lost 10-9 after another pitcher error (by Ken Miller) in the bottom 8th. Scream. Scream. Must scream. So much.

Armando Padilla won game 2 with seven scoreless frames of 4-hit, 2-walk ball, enabling the Raccoons to beat 0-12 Mike Anderson comfortably with moderate offense, 5-0. The next day the Raccoons wrecked Loggers pitching for TEN runs in the first three innings. Alex Miranda gave up six over three innings and was removed for somebody less incompetent. Raccoons won 13-9. Sánz returned to the lineup in the last Loggers game, while Simon got a day of rest. With unpredictable Matt Huber on the mound, everything could happen in game 4. The Loggers scored eight runs off Huber and short-lived reliever Wright. That was it. Huber had to go, one way or the other. A 6-run fifth inning brought the Raccoons back into the game, as Darryl Maloney grand slammed with two outs. Trailing the Loggers 8-7, the Raccoons tied it 9-9 in the seventh, only for Ben Jenkins to allow another run. Sánz homered to tie it again at 10-10, which sent the game to extra innings. Ken Miller came in in the bottom 10th and never got an out. Raccoons lost 11-10.

I signed a contract extension with Brett Justice during this week. He was out until the next spring, but he was a strong pitcher. He wanted an increased salary (of course). We struck a deal for five years worth just over $800k. Getting rid of Huber was impossible. Nobody wanted to take him on. I rebuilt the rotation with Berrios moving to #2 and Ray getting back in at #3. Huber was demoted to mop-up duties, as the Crusaders waited for us.

In New York, hitting suddenly was an issue again. Game 1 was a 4-1 loss. Who plated the Raccoons’ only run? Pitcher Juan Berrios, with a solo homer to center. Tells you a lot about the team. We also lost SS Greg Swift to a back injury for about a week, throwing another one onto the injury pile. With another 8-5 loss in the next game (including another grand slam by Maloney, maybe he should bat cleanup after all…) and another 6-3 loss behind the annoyance that was Alex Miranda, the Raccoons were tied up again with the Loggers for last in time for the All Star break.

The Raccoons had three All Stars: SS Ben Simon, LF Jose Flores, and RF Pedro Sánz. But they had not a single pitcher that could be trusted. Goal number 1 for the off season would be to acquire at the very least two solid starters. Maybe I could trade for one through Wyatt Johnston, who wanted to be traded away anyway. I have a terrible job ...

In other news:
June 23 – Salem’s Julio Bray tosses a 1-hit shutout against the Gold Sox
June 25 – Oklahomas’s Cristo Perez shuts out the Canadiens, allowing only two hits and walking two.
June 29 – Canadian hurler Salah Brunet of the Indianapolis Indians no-hit the Tijuana Condors, a walk to Rich Savage and an error by Indians 1B Cristo Perez being everything that kept him from perfection!
June 29 – John Dorsey, a starting pitcher for the Topeka Buffaloes, suffers shoulder inflammation and is out for the season. He was 9-4 with an 4.06 ERA.
July 2 – Juan Medine, who led the majors in home runs with 17 AND in batting average at .395, suffers a broken kneecap, ending his season and robbing the Richmond Rebels of their run producer.
July 9 – The Salem Wolves send 41 yr old outfielder Alejandro Rivas to Charlotte for SS Dave Martel, 27, and a prospect. Rivas was hitting over .300 in limited playtime, while Martel was hitting at a .290 clip
July 10 – A strained ACL would sideline the Pittsburgh Miners’ power hitting catcher Sam Murphy for about six weeks. He’s batting .275 with 11 homers.

Next up: home stint against Loggers and Indians, then road trip for the Knights and Falcons.