Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Questdog]

How old is David Vinson?

He's having a real nice year at the plate (are you platooning him?)

He strikes out too much for my tastes, but everything else seems pleasantly palatable......

To think that with your best hitter (Tetsu.....no extraneous u's this season) and best pitcher (Saito) having very down years, you are only 5 games out is amazing.....if those two can come through with monster Septembers, the pennant may yet prove procurable.....

[Westheim]

David Vinson is currently 25 years old. He is rated 4.5/5 stars. We procured him a few years ago in a deal involving prospects with the Warriors, which by now has turned out to have been about even (the Warriors received SP Manuel Paredes, who struck out 242 last year - he's a Nolan Ryan type though, mounting 124 walks, too).

Vinson is the primary catcher, but he missed six weeks earlier this season to a torn abdominal muscle. Leo Smith is a solid, but clear #2. Vinson's injury has also shown that we basically have no depth behind Smith.

A bonus about Vinson is that he is a rather even-splitted switch hitter, with the main difference being home run power, as he's hitting home runs mainly from the right side. His splits are .271/.378/.443 (left) and .283/.386/.562 (right).

Ironically, when Vinson was paired with Sam Dadswell the last two years, we saw him as the better defensive variation to the slugging Dadswell, but this season proves that Vinson can hit dingers just the same - he's second to Mark Dawson on the team in Big 'Uns. (Mark Dawson has just two HR left to notch 300; Vinson has 28 in his career so far)

By the way, Kisho Saito does not have an actual down year. His ERA is the second-highest since joining the Coons in 1984, but I find 3.38 very pleasing. He will win this years Christopher Powell Rememberance Medal for the pitcher getting absolutely zero run support. The Raccoons have scored exactly 3.92 runs in his starts, compared to 4.18 for the whole season.

Add to that injuries to Jason Turner, Steven Berry (he was good *last* year at least), Daniel Hall (as always), Glenn Johnston, Bobby Quinn, then we are really only half that bad.

Ah, the bullpen was great. At least those seven guys were not plagued by injuries or down years.

More from Coon City later today. Have to fetch groceries, else I'll starve in short time.

[Westheim]

We added Alarico Violante as third catcher going into the next series, so we can use Leo Smith as pinch hitter regardless of the inning.

Behind the Titans loomed the Canadiens for the final four games of our head-to-head schedule, so it was important to have everything / everybody in place, working, and humming over the next week.

Raccoons (74-65) @ Titans (63-78)

The main difference in game 1 was the 2-out approach of hitters. While the Titans connected well, with Jack Burbidge driving in three with 2-out knocks his first two times to the plate, the Raccoons flailed helplessly. An Osanai error made it 4-1 Titans through five, and the Raccoons made no impression they could ever come back from that. They got their chance in the sixth, when Osanai, Vinson, and Higgins loaded the bags with one out (and that out, Johnston, was owed to LF Hjalmar Flygt making a Gold Glove play on a line drive). Dawson came up, and instead of hitting into a double play, he took a walk, pushing a run in. A slightly ineffective Jason Turner was pulled with Martin striking out in his place. Arnold flew out to shallow left, ending the inning. With K’s mounting, power was the last resort, and Matt Higgins played that card in the eighth, hitting a 2-run shot to tie the game. Leo Smith pinch-hit with one out in the inning, and hit a huge shot out of left field, and suddenly the Raccoons were ahead, 5-4. It took the cream of the bullpen (Matthews, Cordero, Lagarde) to labor through a 2-men-on bottom 8th, before Flygt got to another liner of Johnston in the top 9th, denying the Coons an extra run. Grant West had to make do with what he had – but couldn’t. The Titans hit a double, a triple, and a single in three appearances to sink him, and the Raccoons lost this one, 6-5. Arnold 2-5, 2 2B; Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Smith (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Burnett 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Leo Smith made it 2-for-2 in driving in go-ahead runs, starting the middle game of the series and getting a 2-out RBI single into right field in the top 2nd, scoring Matt Higgins. Kisho Saito and Luis De Jesus engaged in a pitcher’s duel, allowing very little offense between them. If anything, De Jesus showed bad control, and he walked Reece and Saito in the top 7th with one out, then advanced them into scoring position with a wild pitch. Bob Arnold was at the plate, but his grounder was so piss poor that the runners had to hold, and then Salazar struck out. It seemed like Saito had to fight for himself. Then Daniel Hall led off the eighth with a double to left. Osanai was put on intentionally (why, we won’t ever know), and then O-Mo came through with a double to right, scoring Hall and potentially breaking the game wide open. Of course, the Raccoons were also known for situations like these in which the outcome was about as friendly as a botched home-made abortion. This time however, they came through, scored five runs, and got Saito comfortable, and that way, Saito easily finished the game, shutting out the Titans. 6-0 Raccoons. Hall 1-3, 2 BB, 2B; Smith 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (10-11);

News of Kisho Saito’s 10th career shutout were not necessarily front page worthy however, for two other shutouts were pitched that same day. More below.

Scott Wade in the rubber game got support early with a 2-run homer by Osanai in the first inning. This set the tone for a game developing stunningly similar to the one the night before. Wade was awesome on the mound, just a notch below Saito’s outing, and the Raccoons failed to mount any additional offense until the eighth again, when Glenn Johnston hit a 2-out bases-clearing double for a 5-0 lead. However, similarities ended there. Wade allowed a leadoff triple to Alejandro Espinoza in the bottom 8th, and the run scored, and the Titans loaded the bags with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Cordero came in, allowing a single and a balk to score two runs. Matthews came in, hit Rafael Ramirez, and walked Augusto Arrendondo. The game was tied, and the Titans scored another run for a 6-run inning, killing not only Wade’s W ambitions and ERA, but also the Raccoons’ season. 6-5 Titans. Salazar 2-5; Osanai 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-3, BB, 2B, 3 RBI;

The Raccoons fell to seven games out of first place with this terrible series, and even before the Canadiens series are about done.

Raccoons (75-67) @ Canadiens (82-60)

Unless this series resulted in another sweep, the distance on the Canadiens could be rightfully called insurmountable. What were the chances?

The Raccoons opened game 1 in a hurry, scoring three runs in the top 1st, with Osanai driving in two in the first inning in back-to-back games, but Juan Correa gave two of the runs away again instantly in a 4-hit bottom 1st. The defense held Correa in the game after that, but he only went six frames before being pinch hit for. The Coons barely managed to starve the tying run at third base in the seventh, but when they themselves left the bags full in the top 8th when PH Bob Arnold struck out, killing a 10-game hitting streak unless he would come to bat once more, the writing was on the wall. Matthews came in for the bottom 8th, walking Carlos Gonsales. He was 3-1 on Raúl Solís, before the youngster was so kind to bounce into a 6-4-3 eraser play. The Furballs left a runner at third base in the ninth. Grant West had no margin for error again. Kevin Gilmore singled through Dawson at third base to start the bottom 9th and was replaced by speedy Doug Hill to run. Hill was at third base with two down. Javier Salcido to the plate, a .184 hitter, and he singled up the middle, West had blown another save. This one went to extra innings. In the 11th, Bob Arnold hit a 1-out triple. The Canadiens forewent Glenn Johnston, who was in the leadoff spot with Arnold on the bench to start the game, and pitched to Salazar, but he hit them with an RBI single. I sent Johnston from second to go home on a Hall single, but he was thrown out and the lead remained 4-3. Lagarde came in to save the game, and had considerable trouble, but was helped out by a double play. 4-3 Raccoons. Johnston 2-5, BB, 2B; Salazar 2-5, BB, RBI; Hall 2-6; Osanai 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Smith (PH) 1-1; Arnold (PH) 1-2, 3B;

Tetsu Osanai has reached 100 RBI’s in this game. Grant West in his last 11 outings: 10.2 IP, 18 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 14 K, and perhaps worst of all: 5/9 SV/OPP … things are getting critical here.

“Woody” Lopez doubtlessly appreciated Osanai getting a bit more lukewarm by now, as Osanai was on the back end of back-to-back 2-run hits with Daniel Hall being the front end in the top 3rd. Up 4-0, Lopez still was perfect, but Carlos Quintela’s fourth inning single ended the bid early. Daniel Hall led off the top 7th, but was hit by Ruben Prado and had to leave the game with shoulder pain. The Raccoons loaded the bags in the inning and with one out, Higgins singled in a run, and Dawson came up with a 2-run double. Lopez had shut out the Canadiens so far, but ran into a wall in the bottom 8th and the Canadiens scored two runs. Yet, the Raccoons got those runs back in the top 9th, hurting reliever John Snook, who so far had pitched 14.1 scoreless innings this season. A 1-out bases-loaded infield single by Glenn Johnston scored a run, and Reece, Hall’s replacement, walked on four pitches to force in the second run, and then they added two more, when Vinson walked, too, and Salazar singled in another run. Reece was thrown out at the plate. 11-2 Furballs!! Johnston 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Hall 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Salazar 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-5, RBI; Dawson 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Lopez 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (14-11) and 1-3;

Dan The Man had a bad bruise on the shoulder and was DTD for approximately three days. He was left out of the game 3 lineup as precaution.

Jason Turner struck out the side in the bottom 1st in game 3, but before long fell 1-0 behind on a Carlos Gonsales home run. The Raccoons missed a few scoring chances early on, but David Vinson, subbing in the #3 hole for Dan The Man, turned the score in the sixth with a 2-run homer to extreme right, just a foot inside the foul pole. That tied Vinson with Dawson for the team lead in dingers, and the old man couldn’t let that stand. Two batters later, he also knocked one outta the park to make it 3-1 Coons off unlucky Kazuyoshi Kato. That lead was not too solid, though. Turner was struggling with control at this point and put runners on the corners with a walk and single in the bottom 7th, and there was nobody out. Burnett came in with a string of four switch- and left-handed hitters up, but surrendered the lead with two hits and a sac fly. Lagarde could not keep the lead runner from scoring and the Canadiens took the lead. The Raccoons went down without as much as a whimper in the eighth, and the bullpen surrendered another 3-spot in the bottom 8th. Looked like a done deal. Top 9th: Neil Reece’ 1-out double and an intentional walk to O’Morrissey brought up Bob Arnold, hitting streak in danger. He hit an RBI double over the head of CF Seitaro Ogawa, bringing the tying run to the plate against Jamel Teissier. Johnston struck out, Vinson was hit by a pitch. Osanai with two down and the bags full took a walk, forcing in a run and bringing up Dawson, who had hit a few game-savers this season already. Dawson lobbed the first pitch over the middle infielders, it fell in, Vinson was sent home, the throw to the plate – SAFE!!! The game was tied on a 2-out, 2-run double by Mark Dawson! Carrillo held the Canadiens short to get the game to extra innings, while Osanai was removed for defense. It didn’t help. In the end, in the bottom 10th, it was again that terribly hitting backup catcher Javier Salcido playing Arse of the Day, hitting a 2-out, 2-run, walkoff home run off Carrillo. 9-7 Canadiens. Dawson 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B;

And we’re toast.

Game 4. Arnold doubled, Salazar singled, against the left-hander Vernon Robertson to start the game. Leo Smith started behind the plate and batted third, and imitated Vinson well enough, mashing a 3-run homer right away. The Coons left the bags full in the second, and runners on the corners in both the third and fifth innings without scoring. At some point, that had to come back at them. Kisho Saito started out strong, clicking off the Vancouver lineup in perfect manner the first time through, but the budding bid was broken up by Colin Irwin’s leadoff single in the bottom 4th, and the Canadiens scored a run to make it 3-1 in the fifth. Mark Dawson came up with a clutch hit in the top 6th, a massive liner for an RBI double off the wall in deep right, and the Coons added a run and loaded the bags when Saito came up with two out. There was no way I wanted to remove him here, but we could really use a knock to gain more distance. With left-hander Bernard Hellyer on the mound, we got to Daniel Hall and his bruised shoulder. He made sound contact, but his shot to the warning track was intercepted by Colin Irwin and the inning was over, and Saito out of the game. Jackie Lagarde struck out the side in the bottom 6th, but also put four men on base, adding up to a run, but that was nothing against the bullpen implosion in the bottom 7th, where Lagarde, Martinez, and Cordero coughed up four runs, costing Saito the W (and another shot at getting at least to .500). Top 9th: David Vinson pinch hit for Antonio Gonzalez, but popped out foul. Matt Higgins pinch hit for reliever Pedro Vazquez. Teissier did not pitch him carefully enough and Higgins bashed a game-tying home run. It was Blown Saves Week, apparently. It was also Dashed Hopes Week. Ken Burnett collected one out in the bottom 9th, then Carlos Gonsales hit a pinch hit home run. The Canadiens walked off again, 7-6. Arnold 2-6, 2B; Salazar 3-5, BB; Smith 2-5, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reece 3-5, 2B; Higgins (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Saito 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K and 1-3;

Raccoons (77-69) vs. Knights (82-64)

Things had already gone to hell, but when the Knights scored four runs in the top 1st of the opener on Scott Wade, it still stung. Wade did not have a good day, dragged himself into the seventh, but was charged with seven runs (five earned). The pitching staff, which had had it’s struggles the last week, was not made for the potent Atlanta offense. The Raccoons were terrible at the plate, scoring three runs early, but two were unearned, and from the fourth to the sixth innings, they ended each of them with a soul-wrenching double play. The bottom 8th saw the Coons trail 7-3. Hall singled his way on, before Osanai was hit in the hand with a pitch from Gary Simmons (the ex-Coon). He was out of the game, and possibly his string of 873 consecutive starts at first base was over. The Raccoons loaded the bags, and Salazar hit a 1-out RBI single, Higgins hit a 2-run double, and Dawson came to the plate with the go-ahead run (Higgins) in scoring position. Dawson hit a game-tying sac fly, but Higgins was left on. Grant West came in for the top 9th to hold the Knights at bay, couldn’t do it, and the Knights won on a 2-out homer by SS Paul Connolly. 8-7 Knights. Hall 3-4, BB, 2B; Vinson 2-4, BB, RBI; Higgins 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Tetsu Osanai’s finger was not broken, just bruised, and he insisted to play through it.

Totally surprisingly, the Knights hit a flurry of groundballs at Osanai at the start of the middle game, but he held his ground well enough and David Vinson’s 20th dinger of the year gave the Coons a 1-0 lead in the bottom 2nd. Manuel Guzman took Juan Correa deep in the fourth to tie the game, though. The Raccoons faced Carlos Asquabal in this game and didn’t see much land against the ace of the Knights staff. Through six innings, Arnold was the only other Raccoon with a base hit against Asquabal. To start the bottom 7th of the 1-1 game, Tetsu Osanai – finger swollen and blue or not – singled to short left. Vinson grounded to the mound, but Asquabal’s throw to second base was wide and everybody was safe. Two on, nobody out, Dawson up. He grounded out, but the runners advanced. Neil Reece came up, having flailed badly at Asquabal’s offerings before, and fell behind 0-1, but then hit the ball right where it hurt, launching a moon shot for his first home run of the season, 4-1 Coons. Asquabal was now out of whack and surrendered a leadoff homer to Bob Arnold in the eighth, marking Arnold’s first home run of the year and of course his first as a Coon. The Raccoons won this one, 5-1. Arnold 2-4, HR, RBI; Reece 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; Correa 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, W (11-6); all runs in the game were scored with the long ball;

Qi-zhen Geng pitched the ninth and finally – after six innings – got his first big league K. The victim was Emilio Rosa.

We were able to add Bobby Quinn off the DL in time for game 3, but he did not start the game. Antonio Lopez was ineffective early on, surrendering three runs through three innings, before settling in somewhat, but all the Raccoons mustered early on was a solo shot by Hall. That home run turned out to be half their offensive output. Kiyohira Sasaki pitched masterfully for the Knights, and the only other Furball to knock a hit was David Vinson. The Raccoons never factored in the game, and lost 5-1.

In other news

September 8 – NO-HITTER! Atlanta’s Glenn Ryan joins an elite circle of pitchers by no-hitting the Thunder in a 6-0 win, allowing only two walks in the game. Ryan, 26, and injured from last season until June, is 5-4 with a 3.12 ERA on the season, and the 13th no-hitter in ABL history. It is the first no-hitter for Atlanta pitchers, but the Thunder have been on the receiving end of the last three no-hitters pitched in the ABL, all in the span 12 1/2 months (POR Jason Turner, BOS Luis De Jesus).
September 8 – DEN SP Wilson Martinez (11-12, 4.17 ERA) 2-hits the Scorpions as the Gold Sox win 6-0.
September 11 – The Condor’s ageless (actually 42 years old) Jon Butler (5-2, 1.87 ERA, 24 SV) notches his 400th career save, converting a 3-2 win against the Thunder. Butler is the second closer after Andres Ramirez to reach the mark. When Ramirez was born, however, Butler was already in junior high. While Butler’s career is winding down, Ramirez could reach much higher marks.
September 15 – After being befallen by a slew of injuries, major and minor, in recent times, LVA OF Claudio Garcia (.327, 6 HR, 62 RBI) is now out for the season with a broken kneecap.

Complaints and stuff

There is nothing left to win here. Everybody looking for postseason tickets should apply with the disgusting team over in Colombian Brittany or something like that. The team has lacked sufficient offensive output most of the year, and it has not gotten any better recently.

The bullpen crumbled a few times, but these guys have been ridden hard at points, with a lot of extra innings under our belt already. The story of Grant West is a particularly concerning one. He is completely out of shape at this point.

Not totally unconnected to the West issue: our first round draft pick, Daniel Miller, is already in AAA ball, and has allowed only seven earned runs in 29 innings pitched in the minors. Grant West came up a hot shot like that about ten years ago.

Also in AAA: Steven Berry on rehab, which is almost over. In four starts, he has gone 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA. Things may NOT improve when he returns to the expanded roster.

Tetsu Osanai may have gotten pain bonus, but he won Player of the Week for the September 9-15 period, going 13-29 with 2 HR and 8 RBI.

I tried to trade for Glenn Ryan a few years ago when he was in AAA and on the verge of moving up. That never came about, but it is nice to know that I was exactly right about him. He’s 26-20 with a 3.66 ERA for his career. Injuries have been an issue.

[Westheim]

History is made! And yes, THAT one took 14 years to come together.

More later.

[Westheim]

Now, let’s finish the season decently and soundly over .500. Please.

Raccoons (78-71) vs. Thunder (69-80)

The Thunder were trying to finish the year in decency just as much as we did. But there was no mercy to be had for them. This was a bad team, with not a single section of the roster standing out.

Jason Turner didn’t allow a hit until with two out in the third in the opener, but then three straight Thunder reached base and they scored a run. Hall reached on an error in the bottom 4th and Osanai saddled one for a ride to the Pacific to turn the game to a 2-1 lead. Dawson followed that up with a home run himself. It was the 300th home run of his career, most of them with the Raccoons, and both teams came out to congratulate him at the plate – after all, Dawson was the first player to reach 300 dingers. The Raccoons led 4-1 after six, and Turner went into the eighth before giving way to Burnett with left-handers up. Burnett put two on, and with two out Grant West came in for a 4-out save, but allowed two singles and a run to score before getting out of the inning. He had a less scary ninth, holding on to the game. 4-2 Raccoons. Dawson 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Turner 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (5-3);

With the AAA season over, and our affiliate, the St. Petersburg Alley Cats, finished five games out in their division. We added a few more players, SP Dennis Fried, SP Steven Berry (whose rehab stint was up anyway), and INF Matt Duncan. Fried would start the middle game here. Duncan was a defensive option, so we could pinch hit more readily for the struggling Matt Higgins. Duncan, 24, had been a supplemental round pick by the Warriors in 1987, but they had released him in 1989. We had acquired him last December from the Capitals for AAA 1B Orlando Alvarado. Between Sioux Falls and Washington, he had 208 AB and a .202 average.

Fried starting the middle game was largely ineffective. He allowed nine hits and three runs in four innings, leaving the bags full twice, and was pinch-hit for in the bottom 4th, when the Coons had scored a run and had the bases loaded with one out. Bob Arnold’s liner was caught by SS Tom Nicks, and Johnston came up with two down. He also went up the middle, but out of everybody’s reach, and the single tied the game as two runs scored. Four innings in, the game was tied at three, and now we tested the other call-up, Steven Berry. The top 6th showed pretty well why I was losing all hope in Berry. Tony Oliva led off with a single and advanced on a groundout by Alfonso Torres. Oliva got a huge jump stealing third base off a tardy Berry, who then walked Vonne Calzado, and then didn’t hold him on, and Calzado stole second, taking the double play away. Berry got the double play in order again, hitting Dave Browne with a pitch. With two out, Berry walked Alejandro Olvera and the Thunder took a 4-3 lead. The Coons had the tying run on third base in the bottom 6th with one out, but two pinch hitters (Martin, Smith) didn’t get the run in. Berry was pinch-hit for with the latter. Matt Duncan made his Raccoons debut as defensive replacement then. The Raccoons had only one more base runner in the game, Glenn Johnston, and he was picked off before anybody could use him to do damage. 4-3 Thunder. Johnston 2-5, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-4; Dawson 2-4, 2B; Lagarde 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Kisho Saito came into game 3 with a losing record. We really wanted to get him a WINNING record, but he would have to win his last two starts. Things started off more so-so, with call-up Mitch Heller taking Saito deep in the first. The offense also was not really awake early on. Higgins drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd and stole second, but Saito actually had the first hit for the Brownshirts. Runners on the corners, nobody out, Bobby Quinn in the #1 spot did the bare minimum and hit a sac fly to tie the game. Johnston got on, and after Hall rolled out, Osanai hit a 3-piece to give Saito a lead, 4-1. Saito then inexplicably started the top 4th with two straight 4-pitch walks. The pitching coach hustled out. Saito was over 200 innings on the season and had a history of September meltdowns. Saito then settled in and retired the next three batters. Saito was pulled in the sixth after collecting one out and with Calzado at second base. He didn’t have it, no use in getting him broken up now with the team going to finish second at best. Lagarde came in, collecting one out, before the Thunder broke him up and tied the game. The bullpen did not get better from there. Martinez got two outs in the seventh, then got two men on after David Vinson had already thrown out Oliva stealing. Another single to center, the runner from second going home, and it took a perfect throw from Glenn Johnston to nail him and get out of the inning in a tie. Carrillo managed to pitch a clean eighth, and the Coons then actually managed to scratch a hit together in the bottom 8th to take a lead. And now the question: can somebody close this game? West came out. Tyler Burch and Oliva gave the defense work, but were surrendered. Coonskinner Jeff Wagner came up. Remember, he made the final out in Jason Turner’s no-hitter last year. He made the final out here, and it was a strikeout again. 5-4 Raccoons. Johnston 1-2, 2 BB; Osanai 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Raccoons (80-72) @ Loggers (73-80)

We embarked for a final road series in Milwaukee (we’d finish the year at home against New York and Indy, the latter possibly deciding second place).

To start the series, Daniel Hall had a day off, getting both Quinn and Arnold into the lineup, which was highly difficult otherwise, and Matt Duncan started at second instead of Higgins. The Loggers roughed up Wade early on with two runs in the first, and a Gates Golunski home run in the second, and yes the Gates Golunski chuckles ended early again. Salazar, Duncan, and Wade then loaded the bags in the top 3rd with nobody out, but they scored only one measly run. Vinson’s 21st homer of the year made it 3-2 Loggers in the fourth, but overall they didn’t do enough to hurt a shaky Scott Murphy on the mound. Wade went six, keeping the score there, but the offense didn’t score for him and he was pinch-hit for to no effect with Martin in the seventh. The bullpen then was blown up in the eighth and the Raccoons entered the ninth trailing 6-2. With one out, Duncan and Martin got on base, and Hall pinch-hit for the pitcher Matthews in the #1 spot. His RBI groundout pretty much killed the rally, and Johnston struck out. 6-3 Loggers. Salazar 2-4; Duncan 2-4, 2 2B; Martin (PH) 1-2;

Things didn’t get any better further into this series. Juan Correa was bad from the start in game 2, and was lit up in the bottom 3rd, his last inning after ten hits and five runs in. The Loggers lost their starter Ray Burnett to injury early on, but the Raccoons were completely unable to get to the bullpen with their bats, scoring two innings in the fifth with some help from the Loggers, making one run unearned. The bottom 5th extended the nightmare, as Ken Burnett did another public display of general inability, loading the bags, and Martinez joined him, walking Golunski and surrendering a 3-run double to German Roldan. Carrillo eventually managed to exit the inning, but by then the Loggers led 9-2. The Loggers logged 17 hits in the game, the Inepticoons ineptly had seven. 9-3 Loggers. O’Morrissey 2-4; Arnold 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Carrillo 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the final game of the series when Mark Dawson hit a 2-out RBI single in the first inning. That was already about their offensive output for the day. “Woody” Lopez in turn developed a perfect game bid, clicking off batter after batter, until he walked Neil Stewart with two down in the bottom 6th. Stewart was of course the Loggers’ pitcher. With a K to leadoff man Emilio Roman, the no-hitter was still intact, but even the fans in the park were somewhat disappointed of the bid ending that way. But now the Loggers were quick to sink Lopez, starting with Bob Grant and a leadoff single in the bottom 7th. Cristo Ramirez added a single that put both runners into scoring position on a defensive misplay by Bob Arnold. Jesus Jimenez grounded out, but scored the game-tying run. The Raccoons filled the bags with one out, including two walks by Stewart, in the eighth. They scored two runs, and one was a donation, a wild pitch. Osanai hit a sac fly scoring the other. Matthews put the first two men on in the bottom 8th and was yanked, and against Cordero one run scored. Thankfully, West held on to the lead in the ninth, avoiding the embarrassment of getting swept by the Loggers. 3-2 Raccoons. Arnold 2-4, 2B; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Lopez 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (15-12);

In other news

September 21 – Atlanta’s Tom Connolly (.276, 7 HR, 69 RBI) notches his 2,000th career hit in a 5-3 loss to Tijuana, becoming the ninth player to reach that mark. At age 29, Connolly has a long way he can go. Hit #2,000 is a triple off John Douglas in the sixth inning.
September 21 – LVA CL Rick Evans (4-6, 2.13 ERA, 38 SV) holds the Thunder at bay to save an 8-6 win, notching his 400th career save. He at age 30 is the third player to reach that mark.
September 21 – The Pacifics’ rally against Sacramento falls short and they lose 7-5, while the Stars take ten innings to beat the Warriors 2-1. This clinches the FL West for the Stars, who will make their fifth postseason appearance and the fourth in the last five years.
September 23 – The Canadiens win 4-1 in Boston, and coupled with the Indians’ 3-2 loss in New York, clinch the CL North. It will be their fifth postseason appearance and the first since 1986.
September 23 – DEN Wilson Martinez (13-13, 4.07 ERA) gets only one run from his team, but 3-hits the Wolves, converting for a 1-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

So much for decency. In addition to a dying offense the pitching has been ... I have several vulgar expressions in my mind right now.

Maybe Ken Burnett is not made to be on a 25-man roster. We will certainly look into improvements for that bullpen spot.

By the way, several contracts will be up after the season, and I have made very few thoughts so far about whom to retain and whom to shun.

There will be more important games still coming for the Coons. Steven Berry will get a start down the stretch, and maybe Fried will get another one, too. Right now, I see neither of them in our rotation next year, and they won't have space in the pen, especially with younger relievers pushing up. I only say Daniel Miller. I think, that kid is special.

[Westheim]

Going into the final week of the season, it was already clear that Tetsu Osanai, despite a for his track record poor season, would win the RBI title in the CL with 111 so far. The two players that just led him when they got injured about a month ago, Ira Houston and Will Jackson, still ranked in the top 3 with 93 and 91, respectively. Mark Dawson and David Vinson were t-2nd in homers, but seven behind Jackson. Grant West was 2nd in saves, two behind Jim Durden. It would take stellar play by the Coons to get him back to Durden.

Raccoons (81-74) vs. Crusaders (63-92)

This was a four-game set and hopefully not another display of incompetence like against the Loggers.

Jason Turner’s scheduled second-to-last start of the season ended quickly. The Crusaders put five runs on him in the first inning, getting their first four men on base, including two leadoff walks. Geng as Turner’s replacement was not much more effective and the Crusaders made it 7-1 through three innings. The Raccoons’ offense didn’t really factor into the game. Burnett and Martinez were also tagged for runs while trying to cover the innings with as few pitchers as possible. The Crusaders’ 16-game loser Gary Nixon held the Raccoons to four hits through eight innings, and they had five hits in total. 9-1 Crusaders. Dawson 2-4;

What did I tell these guys about decency that made them so terrible? Okay, boys, from now on, be ***holes.

Steven Berry started game 2. Although he tried, he couldn’t match Jason Turner’s game 1 first-inning output, and the Crusaders only took a 2-0 lead. While the Raccoons tied the game 3-3 in the second, Berry was abysmally bad, spending his whole outing behind in the count. The high K output that had held him in games early in the season and had sparkled last year, it was nowhere to be seen. Neil Reece had a big game, getting in a run in the 3-run second, and then hit a 2-out, 3-run triple in the third that gave the Coons a 6-3 lead. In that situation, Berry’s big AB came in the fourth. Two down, two in scoring position, Douglas Donaldson faced him in the batter’s box. He lined into left, both runs scored, and while the inning ended with the Coons leading 6-5 because of Reece making a good catch in center on a huge fly ball by Mauro Fernandez, it was clear that Berry had completely lost it. Berry went six without further incidents, but five runs in four innings spoke a clear language. O-Mo made it 7-5 with a solo shot in the fifth, and in the seventh Osanai hit a homer, and O’Morrissey was on first base with Reece coming up. He flew into the gap in left center, and Dwight Reynolds and Raúl Castillo took time to get to the ball. Reece blew through second base and into third and – SAFE!! No Raccoon had ever hit two triples in a game before! Bottom 8th. Gonzalez and Dawson both led off with pinch-hit singles, before Donaldson made errors on consecutive plays. One run scored, bases loaded, nobody out. Osanai nudged a pitch right in front of home plate and the Crusaders forced Dawson at home. Vinson then drew a bases-loaded walk, 11-5. O-Mo flew out to right, bringing up Reece with the bags still full. Could he deliver another one? He could! GRAAAAAAND SLAAAAMMM!!! Youngster Neil Reece couldn’t stop grinning on his way around the bases and the park was rocking madly. Even those Crusaders that weren’t stunned clapped applause. 15-5 Raccoons, as they actually had only 13 hits. Dawson (PH) 1-1; Osanai 2-5, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Reece 4-5, HR, 2 3B, 2B, 9 RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Cordero 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Neil Reece actually missed the cycle by the SINGLE, which in itself was an achievement, but he also set two Raccoons records in the game: he was the first Furball to hit two triples in a game, and his nine rund batted in not only added over 50% to his output this season, but also set a new Raccoons record. He broke a record shared by Mark Dawson (1988) and Daniel Hall (1984). The former’s outing back in the day had been dubbed the Daniel Hall Game. If anything, this was the Neil Reece Game. The nine RBI’s fell one short of the ABL record, held by Tom McDonald while with the Knights.

Could we please carry over some euphoria into game 3 and 4? And the Indians series?

Game 3 was Kisho Saito’s last chance to avoid a losing record and jump to 11-11. Hall and Higgins had a day off. Neither had been more hot than room temperature recently. Johnston played right, which kept Reece in the lineup. Saito improved on his predecessors by pitching a scoreless first inning, yay! Ultimately, two things prevented Saito getting to .500 for the season. The Raccoons didn’t score early, and a mild storm rolled through in the third inning and ended Saito’s day with 2.2 innings pitched. It wasn’t until the fifth that the Raccoons mounted offense, started with a Reece single. When Reece stole second, catcher Ruben Melendez threw past second base and Reece went to third. Matt Duncan scored him with an RBI double, his first RBI as a Coon. The Raccoons ended up scoring six runs in the inning, capped by a 2-out, 3-run home run by Tetsu Osanai. Bottom 6th: Reece again led off with a single. Arnold doubled and Duncan walked. Bases loaded, nobody out, they added only two runs this time, though. Daniel Hall with a pinch-hit RBI groundout and then on a balk. They added more offense, Reece driving in a run in the seventh, and Matt Duncan hitting his first Brownshirt dinger in the eighth. It was another blowout in the end, 12-1, with Dennis Fried blowing the shutout in the eighth. Salazar 2-5, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-4, BB; Reece 3-5, 2B, RBI; Duncan 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 1-1, 2B; Saito 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K; Lagarde 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (4-2);

2-out base hits by Reece and O’Morrissey gave Scott Wade an early 2-0 lead in the final game of the series. Glenn Johnston contracted some sort of back injury while legging out an infield single in the bottom 2nd and had to leave the game early, Arnold replaced him. The game remained relatively close after the score went to 3-1 in the top 3rd, as Wade and Raimundo Beato dueled effectively. Bottom 7th: Arnold led off with a double, and Hall and Osanai drew walks. Nobody out. Vinson singled up the middle, 4-1, before Reece actually had a bat AB and struck out. A wild pitch scored a run, and while O’Morrissey was retired on a stellar play by SS Lorenzo Gomez, Osanai scored on the groundout. 6-1 for Wade, who still maintained a reasonable pitch count. Was a complete game in reach? No. He loaded the bags including two full-count walks in the eighth and was removed. Matthews walked in two runs. Could setup guy. Really. Cordero got out of the inning. Well, at the very bottom of things, this gave Grant West a save opportunity, and he converted. 6-3 Raccoons. Salazar 4-5; Johnston 1-1, BB; Reece 2-4, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 RBI; Wade 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (14-10);

With this, we tied the Indians for second place.

Raccoons (84-75) vs. Indians (84-75)

Basically meaningless, we still got something to play for. We would do so without Glenn Johnston, whose back was acting out badly now, and while he could pinch hit here or there, there was no reason to torture him.

“Mauler” Correa made his final start. Maybe as a Coon, maybe of his career, but at least and definitely for this season. Violante made a start behind the plate with Vinson needing a day off and Smith having cooled off badly recently. Violante was the game-tying run in the bottom 3rd after hitting a leadoff double. Correa had fallen 1-0 behind in the second but now the game started anew, 1-1, although that state didn’t hold long. Correa was tagged for three runs in the fourth, including a David Harris home run. Correa’s day (career?) ended with a leadoff homer by Forest Hartley in the fifth. Ken Burnett came in, and although the three runs he gave up in the inning were all unearned, he also filed for release with his outing. The Raccoons’ offense had been left in the clubhouse. Through seven innings, they managed two hits off Robert Vazquez, until ironically it was Violante again doing damage with a home run in the bottom 8th, his first career home run. Violante here, Violante there, the Coons were violently defeated. 8-2 Indians. Violante 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI; Fried 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

So much for something to play for.

Antonio Lopez started game 2. He was the Coon with the most wins this season, 15 already, although only seven had actually come with Portland. Kazuyuki Ando for the Indians struck out the first four Raccoons that dared face him in the game, before David Vinson hit a double to end such nonsense. Vinson didn’t scored, then had two blackouts in the top 4th for a passed ball and then a throwing error that helped the Indians turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Bottom 5th: Daniel Hall managed one final productive AB for a soaring-high-falling-low season, a 2-out RBI single to tie the game. There were still two men on for Osanai, who shot Ando’s pitch into the parking lot behind right center, 5-2 Raccoons. Lopez walked two in the top 7th and was yanked. Lagarde got out with a double play ball. Cordero and West had quick innings to end the game. 5-2 Raccoons, and we will have a 1-game brawl for second place. Salazar 2-3, RBI; Osanai 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Duncan 2-3, 2B; Lopez 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, W (16-12);

Besides the teams being tied for second place after 161 games, their closers are also tied for the ABL lead in saves, as Jim Durden and Grant West both have 44. In the Federal League SAL Andres Ramirez and WAS Domingo Rivera also have 44.

Jason Turner for the win? His last start had been a nightmare. One of the sort from which you can’t wake up. The Indians sent call-up Larry Davis (1-0, 1.62 ERA). While Daniel Hall narrowly missed a home run in the first, and was retired instead, Osanai hit a 2-out RBI double in the first inning that got Turner 1-0 ahead. In the third, the Raccoons loaded the bags with no outs for Osanai. A grounder to left AND IT GOT THROUGH!! Two runs scored, and Vinson and Arnold hit doubles, chasing Davis with the score 6-0. Turner took 101 pitches through six innings, but held the Indians shut out so far, setting a high note to his season. The Indians got a run off Burnett (but who didn’t?), but a save chance for West did not materialize anymore. Maybe if Berry pitched the ninth? No, he sat the Indians down in order. The Raccoons won 7-1, and took second place. Salazar 2-5; Osanai 4-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Vinson 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-4; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (6-4);

In other news

September 24 – Finally an achievement where the Thunder are not on the receiving end: 23-year old OF Alejandro Olvera (.226, 3 HR, 36 RBI) lands six hits in a 9-8 win over the Falcons. Admittedly, the game goes 18 innings and Olvera gets enough chances, but he still becomes the first player this year, the first Thunder, and 21st player overall to hit safely six times in a game. The Falcons are on the wrong side of the achievement for the fourth time (Riley Simon, 1978; Francisco Lopez, 1981; Daniel Hall, 1989) and have never had a player land six hits in a game. Two Falcons, Jeffrey Booker and Tom Stephens, have five hits in the game. No player has ever hit safely seven times in a game, no matter how long.
September 24 – The Capitals have an off day and enjoy the Rebels-Blue Sox game. The Blue Sox lose 6-2, which clinches the division for the Capitals, who will make their first ever postseason appearance. The Capitals were the last FL team to never play October baseball. Three teams remain in the Continental League: the Loggers, the Titans, and the Aces. The Blue Sox are denied winning the division five years in a row.
September 26 – OCT 2B Dave Browne (.290, 12 HR, 71 RBI) goes down to a strained rib cage muscle and will be out for the rest of the season.
September 26 – The Condors lose 3-2 in San Francisco, but Mike “Legs” Dye blows the Knights 2-1 lead over Las Vegas in the ninth, and the Aces win 4-2. The Condors clinch the CL South, setting the playoff field. It will be their fourth playoff appearance.
September 29 – MIL Rafael Garcia (7-11, 3.77 ERA) 3-hits the Canadiens in a 10-0 blowout.

Complaints and stuff

Second place in the division, which I see as damage control. The goal before the season was markedly different.

There will be quite a few decisions that have to be made regarding contract extensions.

[Westheim]

1990 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Stars @ Capitals … 5-1 … (Stars lead 1-0) … DAL Pedro Hernandez 4-4, 2B, 2 RBI;
Canadiens @ Condors … 4-2 (10) … (Canadiens lead 1-0) … VAN Tia Fa 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; TIJ John Douglas 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K;

Stars @ Capitals … 10-6 … (Stars lead 2-0) … WAS Jeffery Brown 3-4, HR, 4 RBI;
Canadiens @ Condors … 0-6 … (series tied 1-1) … TIJ Makoto Kogawa 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W; TIJ Preston O’Day 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Capitals @ Stars … 8-6 … (Stars lead 2-1) … DAL Pedro Hernandez 5-5, HR, 3B, 4 RBI;
Condors @ Canadiens … 14-4 … (Condors lead 2-1) … TIJ Preston O’Day 4-6, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI;

Capitals @ Stars … 3-2 … (series tied 2-2)
Condors @ Canadiens … 6-4 … (Condors lead 3-1) … the Canadiens drop a 4-2 lead after seven, as the Condors rough up John Snook;

Capitals @ Stars … 6-5 … (Capitals lead 3-2) … WAS Clement Clark 4-5; DAL Andres Serna 4-5, 2B;
Condors @ Canadiens … 1-2 … (Condors lead 3-2) … VAN Tia Fa 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W;

Stars @ Capitals … 2-3 (10) … (Capitals win 4-2) … DAL Bill Smith 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K; WAS Jeffery Brown 2-5, 3 RBI; Brown singled Enrique Durán home with the bases loaded to walk off the Capitals;
Canadiens @ Condors … 2-3 … (Condors win 4-2) … Canadiens again blow a lead in the eighth; Lance Parsons takes the loss; TIJ Oscar Riley (3-4, RBI) singles in Shinsui Sato with the tying run and scores on a wild pitch later in the inning;

1990 WORLD SERIES

Condors @ Capitals … 5-6 … (Capitals lead 1-0) … a 4-run bottom 7th ties the game and Jeffery Brown walks off the Capitals for the second game in a row with a single in the bottom 9th;

Condors @ Capitals … 2-3 … (Capitals lead 2-0) … Capitals led 3-0 early on and started to crumble in the seventh, but held on;

Capitals @ Condors … 3-1 … (Capitals lead 3-0) … WAS Parker Montgomery 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W;

Capitals @ Condors … 5-7 … (Capitals lead 3-1) … the Condors led 4-1 after the first, then fell 5-4 behind, before rallying in the seventh to win; TIJ Paul Theobald 3-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; TIJ Tadanobu Sakaguchi 2-4, 2 2B, RBI;

Capitals @ Condors … 1-4 … (Capitals lead 3-2) … TIJ Woody Roberts 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W;

Condors @ Capitals … 4-1 … (series tied 3-3) … the Capitals fall in a 3-run sixth, momentum is now on Tijuana’s side; TIJ John Douglas 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, W;

Condors @ Capitals … 0-8 … (Capitals win 4-3) … a 4-run second inning gets the Capitals on track early, and the Condors are unable to ever hurt Washington’s Parker Montgomery; WAS Parker Montgomery 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K, W;

The team that was almost daily about to leave Washington a few years back just barely held on to win their first World Series appearance after finishing the regular season with the best record in baseball.

1990 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
(1st title)

Off season about to start … now!

I feel like roster evaluation will take longer than usual for me.

[Westheim]

Before we get to the off season, something that came to my mind that sure is incredibly fun. At least it was in my mind. From time to time I like to browse through the batting register with all the players (read: losers) the Raccoons have ever had. By now, there are 195 players in there. (Is that a lot for 14 seasons? I find it quite a lot) Let’s take a look at the alphabetical register, and in that, at every player in a position ending in a pair of the same digit, and reflect on his un-achievements. Sounds like fun? It did two hours ago when I was taking out the trash.

#11 – SP Steven Berry (1989-90; current team: POR) – rule 5 pick by the Raccoons, he has had a strong and a bad season, and is currently 14-19 with a 4.05 ERA in his career, including two relief appearances for the Thunder in earlier years.
#22 – LF Gary Carter (1983; retired) – his big league career encompassed all of nine AB’s and no hits, a career minor leaguer that doesn’t warm my heart a lot now (and didn’t back then).
#33 – MR Antonio Cordero (1989-90, current team: POR) – a rarity in being from Argentina, Cordero is one of the game’s best relievers from the left side, and has been in the big leagues since 1980. Between MIL, NYC, and POR, he has 419 appearances and a 3.17 ERA. We plan to keep him for longer, he is only 30 now.
#44 – INF/LF Bob Davis (1983, retired) – another one of those scraps, whose only hit for the Raccoons was a double in six AB’s. He played however for the Knights from 1977 to 1979 and was a career .258 hitter in limited exposure (233 AB). For the Coons however, he was never a factor, and certainly not in their first playoff season.
#55 – LF/RF Jose Flores (1977-1979, retired) – he was our starting left fielder in 1977 and 1978, when I actually thought he had some abilities. And he actually hit .277 in the first season! Daniel Hall however soon made him expendable and he was let go after the 1979 season and never caught on elsewhere, as is common for those early Raccoons. His .255, 15 HR, 87 RBI career output is not too terrible.
#66 – CL Ben Green (1977, retired) – the Raccoons’ first closer, back when they were really bad, and Green was no exception, having a horrible 1977 season. He went on to pitch in every division for LAP, IND, TOP, and SFB before retiring, making a total of 336 appearances with a 2.45 ERA and 96 SV.
#77 – INF Matt Higgins (1988-1990, current team: POR) – acquired for Richard Cunningham when we sold off some assets in that awful 1988 season, he has yet to strike the extraordinary fear with his bat we were hoping for, although the basics are certainly there. Currently he is a .244 batter with good defense and some pop, but we hope for more.
#88 – MR David Jones (1983-1988, current team: WAS (AAA)) – had a few most awesome seasons in the mid-80s, where he could have been the closer if not for Grant West. Was auctioned off in the 1988 fire sale for a pair of prospects including Neil Reece. Since then, he posted a 7.09 ERA for Topeka in 1989 and has not pitched in the Bigs this year. He has a 3.61 career ERA in 388 appearances.
#99 – RF Jorge Lopez (1977-1978, retired) – was a backup for those terrible early Raccoons, where Pedro Sánz reigned in right unless he was injured. Although he stuck around until 1983 for PIT, SFB, NYC, and SAC, his only starting job was with the 1979 Miners, who like the 1977-78 Raccoons also lost almost 100 games. Despite this, he actually has a career average of .287 with 11 HR and 122 RBI.
#100 – MR Tony Lopez (1978-1982, retired) – was an international free agent that never quite lived up to expectations and never appeared for another team in the majors. He posted a 4.07 ERA in 201 games, although he bounced to AAA frequently and was never reliable.
#111 – CF/RF Lynwood McFarland (1980, retired) – another one of those Obscuricoons, he went 4-27 for us, which was bad even for the 1980 Raccoons. He was claimed by the Warriors of waivers and actually went even worse for them. He appeared in one game in 1982 for them, then vanished. His career average is a paltry .123 with 3 RBI.
#122 – MR Tim Moss (1987-1988, current team: SFW) – had a strong 1987 for us, but posted an 8.04 ERA in 1988 before being shipped out. He is still active at the far end of a 13-year career encompassing stints for BOS, LAP, PIT, TOP (pre-POR) and BOS, DEN, SFW (post-POR), 456 starts in total with a 3.69 ERA. He is one of the better players on this list, a lefty reliever that just couldn’t get anybody out in 1988.
#133 – 2B Dani Perez (1986-1988, current team: CIN) – at one time a hot prospect, he never managed to post a good average for us and eventually was shipped out in the O’Morrissey trade, also fire sale related. Like in Portland, he has not been able to become a starter in Cincy, and is a .245 batter in only 709 AB through five seasons.
#144 – INF/LF/RF Juan Ramirez (1988, current team: PIT) – international free agent signing by us, he hit a 3-run homer in his first big league AB, but ultimately ended up traded when better options were available. He was a starter for the Miners in 1989. Overall he is a .258 hitter. That splash home run remains his only dinger in the big leagues.
#155 – SP Kisho Saito (1984-1990, current team: POR) – unquestionably one of the elite pitchers in the game, he has a 132-94 record and 3.04 career ERA in addition to 1,508 strikeouts, which is no shabby number through 2,093 innings. In eight postseason games, he is 5-1 with a 1.01 ERA. Talk about lights out. He is a pitcher everybody likes to have sitting at the top of their rotation!
#166 – MR Mike Shaw (1986-1988, current team: CHA (AAA)) – had a 1.04 ERA in ’86, and a 7.98 ERA in ’88, and was released this year. One of many left-handed relievers in this column, he lacks everything a good pitcher needs and has never appeared in the majors with another team. 5.40 career ERA. Not much to see here.
#177 – MR Burton Taylor (1983-1984, retired) – another left-handed reliever that only worked out part time, holding a 2.64 ERA in our playoff season in 1983, but more than doubled that in 1984. After pitching for BOS and PIT, the Raccoons were his last big league team, and he finished with a 3.89 career ERA, 39 SV in 386 games.
#188 – OF Kelly Weber (1984-1988, current team: DEN (AAA)) – for years tried to get a starter’s spot, but never broke through with us. He had only 14 AB’s for the Gold Sox in ’89 and none this year. Career .251 batter with 5 HR, 112 RBI, he was always a nice player to have, but only as a fourth or fifth man.

Some insights here. This semi-random sample contains a lot of southpaws, and is not representative of how many left-handed relievers I have eaten up already. :-P

[Westheim]

Roster evaluation time! This will be more thorough this time, although one decision has already been taken off the board by the player: Juan “Mauler” Correa decided to retire after just having turned 40. He went a mere 272-117 with a 2.44 ERA in his career and will go to the Hall of Fame for sure one day. That removes one of the variables from the way we will set up our rotation for next year.

Be aware that we have upwards of $1M to spend, but not excessively more than $1.5M. We have poured lots of money into scouting and development in 1990 due to a cheap team, but I don’t want to hack and slash it excessively.

Starter

So far, only a few things are set in stone as far as the rotation is concerned. Kisho Saito and Scott Wade are givens of course. With Jason Turner healthy again, we may pitch Turner even ahead of Wade, with Saito undisputedly heading the rotation. Saito is under contract through ’92, Wade through ’94 (for cheap), and Turner makes the minimum. Saito is 30 now – extending him past ’92 will be expensive, but that’s a thought for tomorrow.

Who could complete the rotation? Antonio “Woody” Lopez was very good for us after coming in in a trade, but he’s a free agent. As a left-hander, he would fit in well in the #4 or #5 spot (or even #3 spot ahead of Wade to mix hands). He is also a type A free agent, and his career 4.33 ERA, so he’s not always been as great. In fact, his 3.50 mark for last season is his second-best in his 11-year career. He’s 30, so he’s looking for the big bucks.

Steven Berry, Dennis Fried, and Jose Fernandez got extended stays in the rotation last year. Fried’s 4.22 ERA was decent and would do for a #5 starter, but he’s really at best an average guy. Berry had a terrible season with an ERA of almost 6. While the K’s were there, nothing else was. He also was hurt. Neither option thrills me, because, honestly, we want to make another charge next year. Fernandez is about the same as Fried.

In AAA, Jose Fernandez went 13-5 with a 2.97 ERA. He also made 11 starts for the Raccoons, going 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA. Miguel Lopez wend 13-11 with a 3.38 ERA between AA and AAA, but he is not ready yet. Eduardo Salazar went 13-13 with a 3.55 ERA in AAA only. Deeper down, we have a starter in AA, Roberto Gonzalez, who went 13-11 with a 3.95 ERA for a terrible team there, but none of those four appeals too much. If anything, Fernandez has the best marks among them, but he’s 27 already. The others can still improve a bit. Maybe Fernandez won’t be such a bad #5?

In any case, Berry has no options and I can’t make up my mind whether he would clear waivers.

Bullpen

This group of seven was quite the pack in 1990. No injuries, no extended meltdowns and demotions, they stayed together for the whole season. That doesn’t mean they can’t be improved, but in reality, only one spot is open for discussion.

While Grant West softened up two times last season, he still saved 44 games, but his ERA of 3.10 sets a career high. He will be 34 next season. It may be time to look for a replacement.

Among right-handers, Jackie Lagarde started out as the setup man, but lost that role after a summer slump. Juan Martinez and Albert Matthews carried most of the 8th inning duties from there, but Lagarde is an elite reliever, no discussion. All four men discussed so far can put up K numbers in the region of 7 to 9 K/9. Robert Carrillo has good stuff, but was often used more in a long man role, which he filled excellently.

From the left side, Ken Burnett was the original setup man, but Antonio Cordero soon superseded him and posted a stud 1.34 ERA. Burnett completely came apart in September, and his spot is open for discussion, but of course, only left-handers can fill in. Pedro Vazquez and Qi-zhen Geng, our frequent addition in times of trouble, are righties. Vazquez is out of options.

At AAA, Tony Vela and Daniel Miller are hot prospects, but both are right-handers and can’t fill Burnett’s spot. Miller also was only drafted this June and I don’t want to rush him too much, although he was a college junior.

In money terms, West is signed through ’94, Cordero through ’91, Carrillo has a $300k option for next year, Martinez will be arbitration eligible for the first time, and the other three of the stellar seven (Lagarde, Matthews, Burnett) are under club control, making the minimum.

Catcher

David Vinson! The defense! The power! Vinson! Watch me salivating!

Actually, his defense was not phenomenal, but it was compared to what Sam Dadswell did for years. He handled 961.2 innings this year, with four errors and six passed balls, while his CS% was only 26.4%. Dadswell routinely had both numbers close to or in the double-digits. Here is our starter, period. He will unfortunately also be a super-2 arbitration case and getting a long term contract done will be of the highest priority.

Leo Smith behind Vinson was a very good backup, hitting .289 and behaving well when Vinson was hurt. Now comes the “but”. But: he is a free agent, and is labeled type A. The problem here is the fact that we have nobody in our system adequately filling the backup role. Alarico Violante showed very well that he couldn’t do it.

But should you really pass on two extra draft picks for a BACKUP catcher? Especially with the Coons not picking too high next year…

Infield

Let’s split this into corner infield and middle infield, and look at corner infield first.

There is Tetsu Osanai, who was – by his standards – terrible last season, batting merely .286 with 20 HR and 121 RBI. 1991 will be the first year of his huge contract, tying him with Mark Dawson as top earner on the team. Dawson of course has been our 3B rock for a decade now. His season was awful, despite him reaching 300 career home runs, the first player to do so. Ben O’Morrissey managed to split games about evenly between those two from June on.

O-Mo certainly won’t go anywhere. Dawson may retire after the 1991 season or won’t, but he won’t be back with us. I tried to trade him for years, he refused, and when his contract was up, I extended him. I am rather stupid. O-Mo is more of a singles/doubles hitter, but makes that up with equal defense and much better speed compared to Dawson. O’Morrissey is on the minimum for at least one more year.

We traded most of our minor league 1B’s in the last years. In AAA, 1B Ruben De La Rosa and 1B/3B Matt Brown are on the depth chart, but have no shot at the big leagues unless somebody goes down.

Middle infield has Jorge Salazar, a great addition, who soon broke up a planned platoon with Antonio Gonzalez at shortstop, and Matt Higgins. All four play all four positions around the diamond, but in fact are limited to two spots. We expect more from Higgins, but neither him nor Salazar will go anywhere. Salazar is under contract through ’91, Higgins on the minimum at least for ’91, but unfortunately Gonzalez has three years and $1.03M left on a big contract some moron gave him, and he responded by batting .210. Moving him will be interesting, but is desirable.

We have a few options behind those three, like Elmer Hawley and Matt Duncan. Looking deeper down into the organization, the field thins out quickly. At the A level we have highly rated Jayson Kelley, our supplemental round pick from this year, but he’s only 19 and developing.

So, one spot is open here, but a replacement for Gonzalez has to play at least the two middle positions and at best also third base and first base (in that order). I value middle infield defense really very highly. I think this is a lot about finding a good fielder that can bat, rather than finding a batter that can field.

Outfield

Here we are rather crowded! The addition of Bob Arnold made things even more crowded at mid-season, but of course three of our outfielders (Daniel Hall, Glenn Johnston, Bobby Quinn) were injured for extended periods last season.

First of all, Dan The Man won’t go anywhere. Once he retires, we will play without a leftfielder. Nobody deserves to ever succeed him there. And with Dan being right-handed, left-handed outfielders are the more valuable for us. But of the current crop, only Glenn Johnston bats left-handed, and he dropped 40 points in average compared to 1989. Still, he has exceptional defense in all three positions.

Bobby Quinn has been batting .304 this year, but didn’t flash the same power as last year, and Bob Arnold batted .298 between Topeka and Portland. There is also Neil Reece, an elite centerfielder with a somewhat slower bat. Plus Jeff Martin, the only left-hander in this group.

That’s already six guys. Martin was the odd man out more often than not at the end of the season, and with the opposition here being much tougher than him, he can’t be more than a backup, if he can be that at all.

In fact, Martin’s left-handedness could save him his spot, because if we drop him, Johnston is the only left-hander in the outfield. While we have two regular left-handers elsewhere (Osanai, Salazar) and two switch-hitting regulars (Higgins, Vinson), I don’t find the thought pleasing.

Hall is signed through ’93. Johnston and Martin are on the minimum for another year, and Reece is on the minimum for several years. Quinn is arbitration eligible. As is Arnold despite being 30 already. Does he really fit into the outfield here? Tough question.

The depth chart shows a few players that have fallen out of favor in Randy Powers (.220 in AAA) and Daniel Dumont (.234 in AAA). There is also 21-year old Aussie Vern Kinnear in AAA, who batted .256 with 23 dingers between AA and AAA this season. He could fit in someplace by next September or in case of injuries.

---

So, that’s a lot of decisions to make. Compressed, these are our arbitration-eligible (with estimate) and free agency-eligible players:

Arbitration: MR Juan Martinez ($130k), C David Vinson ($290k), OF Bob Arnold ($380k), OF Bobby Quinn ($230k);
Free agents: SP Antonio Lopez, C Leo Smith

[Questdog]

120 RBI's and everyone says you had a bad year.....hope Godzilla comes back to scare the pitchers in '91.....

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

120 RBI's and everyone says you had a bad year.....hope Godzilla comes back to scare the pitchers in '91.....

There are several standards to measure players with. A normal standard for normal players, a gold standard for aces and/or darlings, and a Tetsu standard for the enormous offensive output he brings to the table.

Imagine him batting .330 again. He possibly would have driven in 170, and the Raccoons may have won the division. Or maybe not. I don't want to blame him. Lots of things didn't pan out for the 1990 team, and while a prolonged offensive slump by key sluggers in the middle of the season (Osanai, Hall, Dawson, plus an injury to Vinson, and there you have all double-digit dingers) was an important factor in the shortfall of this team, injuries may have played a part at least as big at the end of the day.

Key now is to find the two players (an SP and a left-handed batter) that can bring a major advance for us in 1991.

[Westheim]

14 years down, the Continental League has some work to do to catch up with the Federal League. Also: Raccoons stats.

[Westheim]

Off season: October to mid-November

Owner Carlos Valdes raised our budget to $14.375M for the 1991 season. It was just under $14M in 1990.

October 1 – RIC LF/RF Manuel Doval (.363, 28 HR, 110 RBI) and ATL RF Michael Root (.339, 21 HR, 77 RBI) are batting champions for the 1990 season.
October 10 – Raccoons MR Jackie Lagarde was enjoying his off season, until he pulled his hamstring while chasing after girlfriend Loretta at the beach. Note to self: no more vacation for players.
October 21 – Recent market analysis suggests that the Portland market is now ranking “above average” in the nation, being moved up from it’s “average” rating.
October 27 – The Raccoons announced 2-year contract extensions for both David Vinson ($625k) and Juan Martinez ($400k).
November 1 – Gold Gloves are dispersed. The Raccoons take away two for the left side of their infield: SS Jorge Salazar wins his second award (1987, then 2B), while Mark Dawson takes his fifth (1978, 1986-88). Ex-Coon Joe Jackson wins the CL 1B award.
November 2 – Rookies of the Year are PIT LF/RF Jean-Claude Monnier (.292, 14 HR, 84 RBI) and OCT RF Vonne Calzado (.336, 7 HR, 88 RBI).
November 4 – NAS SP Carlos Lopez (22-6, 2.99 ERA) and VAN SP Vernon Robertson (21-4, 2.79 ERA) are Pitchers of the Year.
November 5 – RIC OF Manuel Doval (.363, 28 HR, 110 RBI) and ATL RF Michael Root (.339, 21 HR, 77 RBI) are Most Valuable Players.
November 10 – The Raccoons and OF Bobby Quinn avoid arbitration at the last minute by signing a 3-yr, $700k extension for the 26-year old outfielder.
November 11 – Arbitration hearings: the Raccoons take OF Bob Arnold to arbitration, and the arbitrators rule in favor of the player.
November 14 – Free agents file: the Raccoons lose type A free agents C Leo Smith and SP Antonio Lopez.

First entry in the column with the bad results of the off season wheeling and dealing has to be the contract extension with David Vinson. I wanted to lock him up for five years, his arbitration eligibility and a year of free agency, but he had nothing of it and insisted on a short-term deal.

The Juan Martinez deal is the second entry, because I botched up my proposal that he finally accepted, as I accidentally left the player option in. How does that work if he’s still arbitration eligible? Possibly game-breaking.

Talks with Antonio Lopez turned out to be unproductive. He wants a 5-year deal in the general vicinity of $3.5M. That would be okay if his name was Kisho Saito, but his track record says that he’s a fourth starter, not a frontline ace, and thus he should be paid as a fourth starter. We will thus offer arbitration (as we do to Leo Smith) and will take the draft picks for the two type A free agents. This also means we will seek a trade for a back-end-of-the-rotation starter, and will have a spare outfielder (whomever) and possibly Antonio Gonzalez as trade chips.

One trade possibility that soon sprang up was sending only Gonzalez to the Wolves for Alejandro Venegas, who was with us 1987-88, and was the poster boy for a back-end-of-the-rotation starter. He was arbitration eligible and had made $290k in 1990.

Because of the uncertaintities about the bottom of the rotation we even went and offered a $100k contract to SP Carlos De Los Angeles, a 25-year old minor leaguer who had pitched between AA and AAA last season and otherwise would have become a minor league free agent. De Los Angeles signed on November 12, three days before the filing date for free agents.

While we signed a deal with Bobby Quinn in time, Bob Arnold’s contract offer was not accepted by the player before the hearings (well, we pitched it quite late, too). His estimate was $380k, we offered him a 1-yr, $400k contract, but the arbitrators awarded him $422k. Well, it’s not gonna kill us.

The crop of international free agents this season is extremely poor. There are only three players, all pitchers, two of them scrubs and the third is a right-handed reliever, who come a dime a dozen.

Notable retired players apart from Juan Correa include Alfonso Aranda (2,332 career hits) and Jeremiah Carrell (1,647 career hits and a flock of injuries).

Now begins the hard part of the winter: finding that one key addition. Or two. Maybe three.

[Westheim]

Off season: Late November

The rule 5 draft was coming up. Our 40-man roster had been filled during the season, to the extent we lost a player on waivers (C Josh Cook), but the departures of Correa, Lopez, and Smith created some open space, but that was quickly filled. The before mentioned Vern Kinnear was foremost in need of protection.

How do Australians actually pronounce “Kinnear”? I’m puzzled as to that since we discovered and signed him. Is it more “kin-ear” or more like “kinner”?

Among free agents is Kiyohira Sasaki, a starter repeatedly besting the Raccoons, foremost in the 1983 World Series. He’s 160-89 in his career, which says something. He’s a K-machine, and merciless at that. He has 1,778 strikeouts in his career (5th all time behind Juan Correa, Joe Ellis, Leland Lewis, and Xavier Mayes). Imagine the terribly terrifying terror Sasaki and Saito could strike from the top of the rotation! It’s like TWO Godzillas stomping into Los Angeles AND eating all the inhabitants!

There are three problems with signing Sasaki. Him and Saito both are left-handers. Well, I could live with that. He is a type A free agent and would cost our first round pick. Well, I *could* swallow that. But he’s reportedly asking for 7-yr, $7.5M+! That’s a steep prize to pay.

It would solve a lot of issues though. First, it would solve all problems with the rotation. Berry could pitch fifth and if he continues his 5.90 ERA ways, release him. Second, we’d get rid of all that money flocking ‘round the office.

The more days went past, the more confident I became staying with Antonio Gonzalez in middle infield roles. You know, last year he had his best career season, hitting .298, and this year, he had his worst, hitting .219, and at some point, things would pan out for him to be a .250 to .260 hitter.

The outfield would sort itself out, somehow. Everything left to do from there would be to add a backup catcher and look into options for left-handed relievers to possibly replace Ken Burnett.

We entered into contract negotiations with Kiyohira Sasaki on November 24. His actual demand was 5-yr, $4.8M. It is very tough to judge how our salary structure will look like in four or five years. Heck, salary will blow the budget in 1993 at the latest, possibly even next year depending on super-2 arbitration cases. A guy like Sasaki always finds a trade partner, but for now I wanted to keep things manageable. Our first offer of 4-yr, $3M plus incentives was not accepted, and even our third offer of 4-yr, $3.75M finds no love. Things don’t look good, he seems to be quite insisting.

Do we have the room for a $950k salary even this year? Maybe. It will require some slashing of scouting and development. Our budget is actually not that small. We’re ranking 9th overall in the ABL now (well, almost equal with the Titans, Thunder, Wolves, and Blue Sox, who are all just a hair below us). Maybe the numbers are skewed and we have more budget room than it looks like because we threw a combined $3.9M (almost 30% of our budget) at S&D in 1990. The league average was about a million lower. We can probably slash some.

November 21 – The Aces trade CL Raffaele Antuofermo, 33, with 356 SV, to the Pacifics for 25-year old LF/RF Manny Espinosa, who despite his young age has already knocked 59 HR and 355 RBI while batting .280.
November 26 – The Condors add the career saves leader, CL Andres Ramirez, 31, with 420 SV, for 1-yr, $570k.
November 29 – Sad news: Thunder owner Jack Morton passes away, leaving his son Jack Morton jr. in control of the franchise. The younger Morton is characterized as a lenient economizer.
November 30 – The Rebels add ex-OCT INF Tom Nicks (.275, 43 HR, 428 RBI) for 4-yr, $3.28M. Nicks, 29, batted .313 last season and hit double-digit homers (10) for the first time in his career.
December 1 – At age 39, 2B/3B Hector Atilano gets one more payday, signing a 2-yr, $1.75M deal with the Capitals. Atilano’s marks of .314, 2,227 H, 160 HR, 1,055 RBI speak for themselves, but he batted only .254 last year for the Condors.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 15 players are taken over three rounds. The Raccoons are not affected (and had a full 40-man roster going in anyway).

I’ve been brooding over that Sasaki thing for hours now, my head is hurting.

Off topic: hopefully Jon Niese can complete the shutout he has through eight. Would be soul balm for a recently much-tortured Mets fan. Regardless, it will be bed time then at … 3:30 am.

[Westheim]

Here is a look at the three studs that have retired after the 1990 season. Look at Carrell's career OBP. Salivating, isn't it? If he would have stayed healthy ...

Odd stat: the three guys combine for just two World Series rings. Correa won one with the Scorpions and Carrell with the Cyclones. Aranda never was in the right place at the right time.

[Westheim]

December 2 – A Torres … err… torrid trade: the Scorpions trade for INF Alfonso Torres (.287, 15 HR, 206 RBI at age 27) and send SP Juan Torres, 29 with a 42-77 record and 5.03 ERA, to Oklahoma City.
December 3 – The Aces sign ex-BOS CL Vicente Rubio, who has 123 SV at age 27. He will make $1.14M over two years.
December 4 – The Raccoons send AAA INF Carlos Miranda to the Gold Sox for pitching prospect Tim Mallandain.
December 4 – The Knights grab OF Clement Clark, who just won the World Series with the Capitals, for 4-yr, $3.44M. Clark, 28, is a career .315 batter with 26 HR and 384 RBI. The Knights also part with 1B Marcinek Wodaj, a career .273 hitter with 61 dingers, sending the 27-year old to Las Vegas for 33-year old LF/RF Jim Wood, who has 1,506 hits and a .320 average in his book, plus a pitching prospect. Together with Michael Root and Shoichi Fujino, the Knights have themselves an outfield that is rivaled nowhere in the league.
December 6 – 3B Cameron Green returns to the Raccoons’ division, being traded from the Bayhawks to the Titans. Green, 34 by now, is a career .243 batter and is traded for MR Luis Molina and a prospect.
December 7 – The Canadiens add to their roster with 33-yr old LF/RF Yoshinobu Ishizaki (“Itchy”), a .320 hitter with 2,073 base knocks, who will make $2.65M over three years. Itchy’s defense has badly let up the last few years, though, so he could be a game killer in the field.
December 7 – The Wolves sign ex-MIL SP Neil Stewart (85-86, 3.28 ERA) to a 5-yr, $3.65M contract. Stewart is 27 and hopes to finally get some run support, but even with the terribly 1987 and 1988 Loggers he won 17 games both years.
December 12 – Busted! The Raccoons’ MR Antonio Cordero fails a random drug test and will be suspended for the first ten games of the 1991 season.
December 12 – The Condors improve by signing ex-LVA OF Ira Houston, a career .250 hitter with 75 HR, but he hit .320 last season, netting him a 5-yr, $4.25M contract.
December 13 – The Buffaloes sign ex-BOS INF Manny Mora for 6-yr, $5.07M. The 27-year old is a career .292 hitter, but hit over .300 the last two seasons, and has 33 career home runs.
December 14 – Former Miner CF/RF Jesus Rodriguez, 28, gets his payday from the Titans, $4.62M over six years for the .290, 37 HR, 359 RBI batter.
December 25 – Unmerry Christmas: 22-year old ATL CL Ricardo Zamora announces his retirement due to a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. Zamora appeared in only 17 games for the Knights, posting a 2-1 record and 4.41 ERA, but had been the team’s big hope for a homegrown closer.

Shopping Jeff Martin around, brought an offer from Milwaukee for slugger Jesus Jimenez, who can play all four infield positions. Realistically, he has to play middle infield, which is his weaker side, and he is rather bad at shortstop. So, he has to play second base. But that runs contrary to what I am seeking: it makes the defense much worse, and removes our only threat on the bases, Matt Higgins, from the lineup. The deal ultimately fell through.

I find myself not getting any good offers for Antonio Gonzalez. Well, there are *some* good offers, but those don’t find my team, like the Rebels offering stud MR Marvin Newton. If Newton only threw left-handed! The right side of our bullpen was awesometastic last season. I wouldn’t even know which guy to remove between Matthews, Lagarde, Martinez, and Carrillo.

Of course, if one would move Grant West to setup and have Newton close……. No.

I kept looking for a player with about the following minimum requirements: contact 12, defense 2B/SS 13 each. I found out that I already have two such players: Salazar and Gonzalez. So, Gonzalez will stay put. End of story. The hunt for a backup catcher, a starting pitcher, and a left-handed reliever will continue.

Interesting stat that came up through BNN this month: career extra base hit leaders
1st – Mark Dawson (POR) 800
2nd – Hector Atilano (WAS) 706
3rd – Gabriel Cruz (RIC) 647
4th – Paul Connolly (ATL) 636
5th – Daniel Hall (POR) 635

The suspension to Cordero is … unfortunate. No more apple juice for him. And I’m wondering … is there even a restricted list in the game? Where to put him?

[Westheim]

Off season drama: January

We started the 1991 calendar year with two offers on the table, one to a starting pitcher (not Sasaki) and one to a catcher that should be familiar to readers. We were also in third-to-last place in the BNN offseason center in WAR gains (or rather: losses).

January 2 – The Crusaders get outfield help in 35-year old veteran Sean Bergeron, who signs for 2-yr, $1.54M. Bergeron has 128 career home runs, yet he is only a .243 batter.
January 3 – The Raccoons improve their rotation by signing SP Robert Vázquez, a former Indian, to a 4-yr, $2.5M contract. The 28-year old Vázquez has a 70-46 career record and a stellar 2.65 ERA. The left-hander was injured between 1989 and 1990 and only pitched ten games for the Indians last year.
January 4 – Big money shelled out in Dallas, as the Stars add OF Sakutaro Ine, formerly with the Knights, for 6-yr, $5.52M. Ine, 28, has hit .308, 48 HR, 352 RBI so far in his career. He also hit .308 in 1990.
January 11 – The Raccoons sign their former catcher Gustavo Flores to a 1-yr, $128k deal.
January 11 – The Knights still have money to throw around, signing 31-year old SP Jim Harrington (141-125, 3.51 ERA) to a 4-yr, $2.48M deal.
January 13 – The Indians dig deep to sign 31-year old SP Jesus Lopez (87-64, 3.68 ERA) for 4-yr, $3.15M. Lopez was an exceptional 18-2 for the Capitals last year with a 3.10 ERA – while making only 25 starts!
January 18 – The Aces announce the addition of C Marc Leach, a career .257 hitter, for 2-yr, $1.14M.

Amazingly, Vázquez was not compensation-eligible, but this could be related to the fact that he came back from a torn rotator cuff. It did not bother him a lot. He was 5-2 with a 2.79 ERA down the stretch for the Indians. He fits in nicely in the #3 spot in the rotation, pushing Scott Wade all the way down to #4. Berry remains in #5 unless we find someplace to ship him to, and Fried is the odd man out.

Gustavo Flores was available among catchers. His demands were very reasonable. He had a few good season with us as backup catcher (then behind Dadswell) before being shipped to L.A. in 1988 after batting 4-31 at the start of the year. Overall, he is a .258 hitter. Of course, David Vinson will get as many starts as possible, maybe as many as 135. Having Flores in every sixth game seems more than enough.

With a full 40-man roster, we had to start exposing players to waivers. Between Travis Brown, Elmer Hawley, Daniel Dumont, and Jose Fernandez, it hit the left-hander Brown, who cleared waivers. I’m still looking for a trade for Berry here, but nothing substantial comes our way. We could possibly deal for prospects.

One such prospect I liked was Dallas’ LF Akinori Fukushima, who is 22 and in AAA. The Stars wouldn’t take Berry, though, and they wouldn’t take Martin either. They were keen on our prospects, including AAA OF Vern Kinnear, but that is not what I am having in mind here.

It’s early February. Left-handed relievers don’t grow in trees, as I have learned. Head scout Jeffrey Anderson recommends keeping Ken Burnett nevertheless. He thinks, he’s a great 7th inning or situational reliever. So far, his career ERA is still over five, though.

Our two type A free agents are still unsigned by the way. While Leo Smith asks for a little, Antonio Lopez is still asking for 900k/y, which will keep him on the table and greatly infuriate me.

[Westheim]

Waiting for baseball: February and March

There was not really a lot to do here, apart from waiting for the odd trade proposal (which often are really odd). Content with most of the roster spots, the weeks breezed past.

February 6 – The Buffaloes have themselves a new closer, 31-year old Pedro Durán, who has a career 3.07 ERA and 141 SV. He will make $510k for a year.
February 6 – Ex-NAS OF Antonio Rodriguez (.297, 30 HR, 418 RBI) is signed by the Canadiens, going to earn $2.46M over three years.
February 10 – Denver signs ace SP Kiyohira Sasaki (160-89, 3.32 ERA) for 5-yr, $4.95M. Sasaki has 1,778 career strikeouts at age 31.
February 13 – New ninth-inning personnel arriving in Salem, as the Wolves ink CL Domingo Alonso (377 SV, 2.37 ERA) for 3-yr, $760k. It will be Alonso’s eighth different team in eight years. Overall, he has also pitched for eight teams: the Aces, the Indians, the Aces again, the Loggers, the Warriors, the Crusaders, the Thunder, the Gold Sox, and now the Wolves.
February 25 – The Canadiens sign SP Vicente Torres (89-90, 3.55 ERA) for 3-yr, $984k to add to their rotation.
February 27 – SP Antonio “Woody” Lopez (101-120, 4.33 ERA) signs for 2-yr, $670k with the Dallas Stars. The Portland Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick and the Stars’ second round pick in the 1991 amateur draft.

Finally, Lopez came off the table. As February went by, I began sweating that both Lopez AND Smith could remain unsigned, which would have been a major stinker for the Raccoons, of course. Smith did in fact go unsigned.

By the way, we will draft 15th come June, and the Stars pick 20th, so it’s a low pick in the second round. We will have one pick in a smaller than usual 30-pick supplemental round.

Looking around, the Loggers by now have six picks through the second round. If they would ever keep their team together! That franchise is 980-1,288 overall, and it has to be said from time to time: they have never finished with more than 80 wins. Actually, their 78-84 record last year was their second-best ever.

Next: opening day roster.

[Westheim]

1991 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1990 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 30, B:L, T:L (10-11, 3.16 ERA | 132-94, 3.04 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine, his ERA came up last year, while his WHIP actually went down to 1.04, and he got little run support.
SP Jason Turner, 25, B:R, T:R (6-4, 3.94 ERA | 21-12, 3.53 ERA) – the only current Raccoons to toss a no-hitter (in 1989), his 1990 season was everything but amazing, first struggling, then getting hurt; he came back just as good as in ’89 after the injury, and moves into the #2 slot for the first time.
SP Robert Vázquez *, 28, B:L, T:L (5-2, 2.79 ERA | 70-46, 2.65 ERA) – ex-Indian that has given the Raccoons fits before, so things should improve now with him in a brown shirt; has four pitches that he mixes well, and when healthy (he was not from 1989 into 1990), he can strike out 150+ like Saito.
SP Scott Wade, 28, B:R, T:R (14-10, 3.44 ERA | 77-44, 3.26 ERA) – very consistent starter; couldn’t repeat his 21-wins-shred from 1989, but this was partly due to the aching offense last season; occasionally relies a bit too much on his defense.
SP Steven Berry, 29, B:R, T:R (5-11, 5.79 ERA | 14-19, 4.05 ERA, 1 SV) – strikeout machine that unfortunately was also a run machine for the opposing teams last year, and was injured on top of that; there is some hope here he will get his stuff together this year – he has no options.

MR Ken Burnett, 28, B:L, T:L (3-5, 4.82 ERA, 1 SV | 7-9, 5.05 ERA, 1 SV) – pitched his first full season, going solid for five months before imploding in September, ballooning that ERA; has dominant stuff and can be used both as situational lefty as well as long man in times of trouble.
MR Juan Martinez, 24, B:R, T:R (3-3, 3.13 ERA, 2 SV | 10-8, 3.08 ERA, 5 SV) – very good stuff and strong control, although his BB/9 more than tripled from 1989’s awesome 0.83 mark; can also be used in the eighth inning to mix and match.
MR Roberto Carrillo, 30, B:R, T:R (6-1, 2.47 ERA, 1 SV | 31-23, 3.26 ERA, 37 SV) – can be used in a variety of ways, as a strong 7th inning guy, long man, time killer in extra innings, or possibly even as emergency starter, although all of his 347 appearances came in relief.
MR Jackie Lagarde, 27, B:R, T:R (4-2, 2.88 ERA, 2 SV | 6-7, 2.38 ERA, 7 SV) – started as setup man, but a summer slump had him lose that job; he still performed very well, and is gifted with truly overpowering stuff, time and again invoking memories of the not-forgotten Richard Cunningham.
SU Albert Matthews, 21, B:R, T:R (4-4, 2.12 ERA | 5-4, 2.27 ERA, 1 SV) – stunningly fought himself into the setup role on a major league team at the tender age of 20, and has no intention of going away; like many in the pen, his stuff can be overpowering at times, but he had some control issues.
SU Antonio Cordero, 30, B:L, T:L (0-1, 1.34 ERA, 1 SV | 19-17, 3.17 ERA, 9 SV) – was extremely awesome last season, first in a 7th, then an 8th inning role. He will miss the first ten games of the season to a drug suspension.
CL Grant West, 34, B:L, T:L (1-3, 3.10 ERA, 44 SV | 31-19, 2.00 ERA, 371 SV) – the “Demon” shows signs of slowly getting old; the Coons have not had to bother about their closer for a decade, but he posted career highs in ERA, home runs and runs allowed, and a record low in ERA+ last season. However, unless he derails completely, there is nothing in his way to join the 400 SV club this season.

C David Vinson, 25, B:S, T:R (.279, 21 HR, 77 RBI | .267, 31 HR, 119 RBI) – delivered a picture perfect breakout season after getting full control of the dish following the departure of Sam Dadswell, hitting 21 dingers despite missing six weeks to injury, and playing very well defensively.
C Gustavo Flores *, 32, B:R, T:R (did not play | .258, 10 HR, 141 RBI) – backup in his second stint with the Raccoons, was stowed away in the minor leagues as third string catcher last season.

1B Tetsu Osanai, 32, B:L, T:L (.286, 20 HR, 121 RBI | .326, 199 HR, 919 RBI) – offensive monster with a big punch; has three batting titles and is chasing after the all time home run lead held by Mark Dawson; has started 888 consecutive games for the Raccoons at first base – every single one since being acquired from Vancouver; still had a sub-par season for his standards, but will still remain our 1B starter, of course; is under contract long-term for big money;
1B/3B/RF/LF Mark Dawson, 37, B:R, T:R (.209, 21 HR, 71 RBI | .244, 300 HR, 1,257 RBI) – #1 on the all-time home run and RBI leaderboards; five Gold Gloves at third base, including last year; is in the final year in Portland and will share third base with O-Mo again after a grind of a year at the plate; still became the first member of the 300 dingers circle.
1B/3B/2B/SS Matt Higgins, 26, B:S, T:R (.225, 7 HR, 47 RBI | .244, 15 HR, 108 RBI) – often struggled at the plate last season, and is our biggest base stealing threat, taking 24 sacks last season despite some injury time; is going to start at second base.
SS/3B/2B/1B Jorge Salazar, 30, B:L, T:R (.304, 1 HR, 46 RBI | .276, 12 HR, 314 RBI) – excellent defense and a surprisingly productive bat last season, he is slated to start at shortstop and bat leadoff at least against right-handers.
1B/3B/SS/2B Antonio Gonzalez, 28, B:R, T:R (.219, 1 HR, 12 RBI | .256, 26 HR, 196 RBI) – crashed completely after a strong 1989 season and spent most of the last year in AAA, getting only 151 AB; will be backup for the middle infielders and as late inning replacement for Tetsu Osanai.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 25, B:R, T:R (.272, 3 HR, 24 RBI | .242, 8 HR, 45 RBI) – strong defensive corner infielder with pop in his bat, although it has taken him some time to fight Mark Dawson into sharing third base.

LF/RF Daniel Hall, 35, B:R, T:R (.255, 16 HR, 76 RBI | .263, 186 HR, 760 RBI) – pretty complete player, first ever Coons draft pick; was mega hot last April but suffered a prolonged summer slump and then his usual enemies: injuries; starter in left field unless he bats .137 through June.
CF/RF/LF Glenn Johnston, 24, B:L, T:R (.277, 1 HR, 35 RBI | .291, 13 HR, 128 RBI) – very complete player, almost like a younger Daniel Hall, but with great defense in all three outfield positions with a little less home run power; he was injured for much of the summer and slumped in September, but his offense has him start in center against right-handers and maybe even left-handers depending on how things are going.
LF/RF/1B Bobby Quinn, 26, B:R, T:R (.304, 3 HR, 32 RBI | .275, 15 HR, 120 RBI) – strong defender and a good average hitter with speed on the base paths; unfortunately we didn’t get to see the power he flashed in 1989; he also missed time to injuries.
LF/RF/CF Bob Arnold, 29, B:R, T:R (.298, 1 HR, 55 RBI | .292, 12 HR, 269 RBI) – added last July for a stretch run that ultimately failed, he was able to convince with a steady bat and very good defense, although he is difficult to squeeze into the lineup, most likely sharing time with Quinn perhaps.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 24, B:R, T:R (.257, 2 HR, 28 RBI | .277, 4 HR, 35 RBI) – wonderful centerfield defense, but his bat has to pick it up a bit; still set a franchise record with 9 RBI’s in a single game; will not see too much play time unless for injuries.

On disabled list:
Only two low-level prospects, no 40-man roster inhabitants.

Otherwise unavailable:
MR Antonio Cordero – drug suspension through game 10

Other roster movement:
OF Jeff Martin was demoted to AAA, and MR Pedro Vázquez will go there as well, should he clear waivers.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: SS Salazar – CF Johnston – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – C Vinson – 3B Dawson (O’Morrissey) – SS Higgins – RF Quinn (Arnold) – SP Saito
Vs. LHP: RF Quinn (Arnold) – SS Higgins – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – C Vinson – SS Salazar – 3B Dawson (O’Morrissey) – CF Johnston (Arnold, Reece) – SP Saito

We lost 6.7 WAR this off season due to the departures of Correa, Lopez, and Smith, placing us 22nd among the 24 teams overall.

Top 5: Stars (+4.9), Canadiens (+4.5), Knights (+3.9), Crusaders (+3.6), Falcons (+3.0)
Bottom 5: Warriors (-5.9), Blue Sox (-6.3), Raccoons (-6.7), Cyclones (-7.7), Capitals (-8.3)

PREDICTION TIME:

The goal last year was to win it, win it big, and win it hard. It didn’t work out for a multitude of reasons, namely injuries and a sometimes very pathetic offense, especially in the first half of the season.

In general, we have the same roster assembled, with only one key addition over last September. The Raccoons were over .500 in September, but they won 20+ games in both July and August, when they won 13 in a row.

This team definitely has the potential to go very deep in October. But they have to stay healthy, and they have to get the offense going. A 90+ win season is entirely possible, maybe even likely. The Canadiens look good, the Indians look good and have not changed so much. I don’t see a large charge coming from the bottom half of the division.

The Raccoons are going to win their division, 94-68, and in the playoffs, everything is possible.

Player development:

Last season our minor league system was ranked 3rd in the nation, with 14 players among the top 200 and two in the top 10, of which one (Neil Reece) is no longer eligible due to having amassed major league service time.

Well, we took a plunge this year, crashing to 14th among the 24 teams for reason that will have to be analyzed thoroughly. Well, there were four players (Reece as well as Elmer Hawley, Randy Powers, and Dennis Fried, that are no longer eligible) and really a few players that dropped a fair amount. Were they overrated before? Underrated now? I don’t know. We will know in a few years.

28th (+21) – AAA OF Vern Kinnear, 22 – international discovery by Nathan Bruce
47th – A MR Antonio Donis, 18 – 1990 third round pick by the Raccoons
53rd (-46) – AA CL Gabriel De La Rosa, 20 – 1989 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
59th (+5) – AAA MR Tony Vela, 20 – international discovery by Charles Hutchinson
91st (+41) – AAA 1B/3B Matt Brown, 21 – 1987 supplemental round pick by the Pacifics, signed with Raccoons after being released in 1989
101st – AAA MR Daniel Miller, 22 – 1990 first round pick by the Raccoons
131st – AA SP Jose Rivera, 18 – international discovery by the Condors, acquired in 1989 for Stephen Hall
135th – AAA CL Qi-zhen Geng, 21 – international discovery by the Condors, acquired in 1988 (with Jackie Lagarde) for Yoshinobu Ishizaki
144th – A SP Esteban Flores, 17 – international discovery by Jeffrey Anderson
158th (-118) – AAA SP Miguel Lopez, 22 – international discovery by the Warriors, acquired in 1988 for Manuel Paredes and Odwin Garza
191th (-109) – AAA SP Eduardo Salazar, 24 – 1989 first round pick by the Raccoons

The Loggers’ SP Martin Garcia is the #1 prospect in the nation, and was the first overall pick in the 1990 draft.

Next: first pitch!

[Westheim]

We’ve waited for months for this – the 1991 season is about to start!

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Crusaders (0-0)

Game 1 was a matchup between Kisho Saito and Luis Andrade. The Crusaders scored first on two line drive doubles off Saito in the top 2nd, both just fair up the left field line. It was no issue for now, for David Vinson hit a leadoff home run in the bottom 2nd, but Matt Higgins was thrown out at home on a Saito single to end that inning. Bottom 3rd, Tetsu Osanai hit a 2-out, 2-run home run and the Raccoons led 3-1, pulling ahead for the first time this season. Saito ended up going seven innings, scattering seven hits, but no more runs and held the 3-1 lead. He was pinch hit for in the bottom 7th with Quinn on first and two down, but Bob Arnold grounded out for him. The top 8th saw the first agony of the season. Matthews came in and three of the four men he faced reached base. A run scored, two men in scoring position, and only one out. Lagarde entered to hopefully get a K from Benjamin Butler and go from there. It didn’t qork quite that way, as Butler popped out to Higgins, but Lagarde struck out Dale Hunter to hold on to a 3-2 lead. In the top 9th, Phil Burnett led off with a bunt base hit against Grant West and got to third base with two down. Manuel Flores took West’s first pitch to him hard to left – and Mark Dawson CAUGHT it!! For 37 years old he could launch his body at a ball pretty well, and he had at least a 50% share in the save. 3-2 Raccoons. Osanai 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-2;

Jason Turner faced Raimundo Beato in the middle game. Turner went to full counts on the first three batters he faced and labored through a 30-pitch first inning, finally starving two runners, but had two more full counts in a 1-2-3 second. The Raccoons had no offense against a stellar Beato, and Turner held a scoreless tie through four, but then was broken up in the fifth. Dawson made an error, Turner himself made an error, line drive double, bloop single – two unearned runs scored thanks to a timely double play to get out of it. Turner managed to go seven innings after a few better (and quicker!) innings, but trailed 2-1, the only run having been batted in by himself (but no RBI, since he also killed the inning with a double play). But a W was not yet off the table for Turner. Arnold was plunked to start the bottom 7th, and Salazar hit a 1-out single to put two men on. Beato tried to pick off Arnold, but threw the ball to center field and the runners moved up with Johnston at the plate. But Johnston fouled out, and Daniel Hall grounded out, and NOW a W was off the table, and the game was, too, possibly. The Raccoons’ offense was certainly not locked in so far. Bottom 9th, still down 2-1: O’Morrissey managed an infield hit with one down. Salazar fouled out, before Johnston was plunked. That brought up Hall, who had made the final out with two men on twice already in the game. He flew out. 2-1 Crusaders. Salazar 2-5; O’Morrissey 1-2; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, L (0-1);

Opposite Hector Lara, Robert Vázquez made his Raccoons debut in the rubber game. Vázquez got the chance to be his own offense with runners on the corners and two down in the bottom 2nd, but flew out, then misfielded a bunt by Lara in the top 3rd, trying to get the lead runner at second base, which he didn’t. Luckily, the inning ended quickly and without damage. The Raccoons managed to score in actuality in the fourth. Osanai socked a home run, and three more Coons reached base after that, eventually scoring two more runs in the inning (and Vázquez took part with a sac fly. Bottom 6th: Vinson, Quinn, and Higgins all hit singles to start the frame, bringing up O’Morrissey, and he hurled a 2-run single up the middle. We got a bit antsy here and Higgins and O-Mo got sign number 16: double steal – and they made it! Vázquez was at the plate, and then knocked a single into shallow right, another RBI for him! He was also stellar on the mound after his early mishap, eventually going eight innings with ease. The Raccoons won handily thanks to stellar pitching and some boom outta them bats. 8-0 Raccoons! Johnston 2-5; Quinn 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-3, BB, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Offensively, Jorge Salazar and Daniel Hall so far have not set the world on fire. Hall is 1-12. Uh-oh. But it’s early. He hit a few balls hard, but into outs. Things are gonna turn around.

Please things, turn around.

For the moment, at least Pedro Vázquez cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA again.

Raccoons (2-1) vs. Condors (2-2)

Were the Condors the strongest team in the CL South or were they second to the Knights? Well, the latter started 0-3, while the Condors tied their series with the Aces. To open the series, we faced a left-hander for the first time this season, and had Quinn bat leadoff, with Reece and Gonzalez in the lineup for Johnston and Salazar. Let’s see how that works out.

Not well. Before the lineup could ever go to work, the Condors torched Scott Wade for four runs in the top 1st. But the rally started soon. A leadoff walk by Vinson in the bottom 2nd set things in motion against pitcher Jose Macías. Reece and Gonzalez had hits, Quinn had a double, bringing the score to 4-3 before Higgins and Hall went deep into the outfield, but not deep enough. Upon exiting in the sixth with a man on third, Wade trailed 5-4 in the game. Burnett got the final out. Well, actually Higgins got it with a leaping grab. Ultimately, it didn’t help a lot. The Raccoons had only one more chance to score, but Reece was thrown out at home to end the eighth, and by then they trailed already 9-4 after damage done to Burnett and Carrillo. The score remained unchanged. 9-4 Condors. Quinn 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Reece 3-4; Gonzalez 2-3, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-2, 3B;

An RBI single by Hall got the Raccoons on track in the bottom 1st of the middle game, which was Berry’s first call to do his job this season. After that, the Raccoons missed plenty of scoring chances, but Berry held his ground, dominating the Condors with wicked stuff. That was, until the seventh. The Condors had two leadoff singles through Ira Houston and Felix Velez after being held to one hit so far, then executed a successful double steal and Berry walked Cipriano Ortega with one out. Bases loaded, trouble. Gilberto Alaniz fell 0-2 behind, but then sent a soaring flyer into deep left. Hall caught it, but Houston tagged and scored, tying the game. In the bottom of the inning, Higgins hit a fluke 1-out single, then stole second base unopposed when catcher Andres Manuel couldn’t get a grip on the ball. Mark Dawson was at the plate, 0-11 so far in the season. Woody Roberts threw him a pitch he liked, and it became a huge 2-run homer, #301 and counting. Berry got in trouble again in the top 8th, putting the tying runs on. With one out, Ira Houston was barely retired when Hall made a sliding catch in shallow left. Grant West entered to face a left-hander, time to get four outs and a SV here. Unfortunately, the Condors sent oldie Thomas Martin to pinch hit, a right-hander, and he singled to right. Bases loaded, but West got to Manuel, striking him out to end the inning, but then started the ninth walking Ortega on four straight, and Alaniz doubled over Johnston’s head. Harold King walked, bases loaded and nobody out. West got César Báez to fly out to shallow right, the runners held. Oscar Riley came up to pinch-hit. Grounder to Salazar, to Higgins, to Osanai – ballgame! 3-1 Raccoons. Salazar 3-4; Osanai 2-4; Higgins 2-4; Berry 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K, W (1-0);

The fan base was irate after the game. Bobby Quinn had been hit with a pitch by Woody Roberts and had left with an injury. Initially it looked like a broken thumb or something, but it was only a thumb contusion. “Only”. He would be out for about a week, which was bad, since a DL stint didn’t make sense here.

The Raccoons in game 3 had runners on second base twice early in the game, but didn’t score, but that changed after a leadoff double by Hall in the bottom 4th. Higgins with one out singled to right, scoring Hall for the go-ahead run, but they left two on. Kisho Saito had been perfect through four innings, but Tadanobu Sakaguchi’s infield single in the fifth sunk all hopes for one for the record books. An error by Mark Dawson on the next play eventually netted the Condors two unearned runs. The Coons offense remained inactive until the bottom 7th, where John Douglas, renowned for his wildness, walked Dawson and Reece to start the frame. Saito would have been taken out under other circumstances, but here we had him bunt the runners over and leave Salazar with the task to hit a single somewhere nice. Instead, Salazar walked, Johnston flew out so poorly that the runners had to hold, and Hall came up with the sacks full and two down. He struck out. Next thing you know, the Condors ripped Saito apart in the eighth as they added three runs. Lagarde surrendered two more. 7-1 Condors. The Raccoons were left with only five hits. Johnston 2-4;

Things are going great here. Really. If that game had ended after seven, I would have foamed about how if we were losing such kind of games, we could stop play and take sixth place right away. They actually managed to make it worse after that.

Raccoons (3-3) @ Bayhawks (4-2)

Game 1. Kisho Saito may not have lost his last start on unearned runs, but Jason Turner had. Time for some improved defense. And offense. The Coons got a run in the first, then went snoozing. Turner was left to fight for himself, which only partially worked, as the Bayhawks tied the game in the fourth. The top 6th with Salazar reaching base on a 2-base throwing error. If only we could have found someone scoring him. To be fair, Osanai hit a 2-out single, but it wasn’t long enough, and Arnold popped out to end the inning. Turner went seven strong innings of 1-run ball, not getting into a winning position, and was removed for PH Mark Dawson to start the top 8th, who fouled out. With Salazar on first and one out, Johnston grounded to 3B Tim Benson for what looked like a double play, but Benson had the ball fall out of his glove not once, but twice, and we had two runners in scoring position with one out. Hall – DOUBLE INTO THE CORNER!! The runners scored as Zahid Mashwanis hurried after the ball. Osanai was put on intentionally, but it didn’t help the Bayhawks, who came apart now. A pinch-walk by Vinson loaded the bags, and Higgins and O’Morrissey drove in three with hits. With Flores at the plate, the Bayhawks had a good chance to end the misery, but instead a passed ball scored another run. A 6-run inning got Turner into position for the W after all. 7-1 Furballs. Hall 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-3, BB; Vinson (PH) 0-0, BB; Turner 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (1-1);

But the offensive plague continued for the Raccoons in game 2. They missed a chance to score in the first inning, then trailed 1-0 when Robert Vázquez surrendered the first earned run of his Coons career. Daniel Hall hobbled off the field in the second inning with an ankle injury, and things continued to go more so-so. While the Coons tied the game in the third, they left the bases loaded when Bob Arnold lazily popped to second base. The go-ahead run in the fourth scored only on a wild pitch by Rafael Espinoza. The game dragged into the seventh. The Coons had runners on the corners and nobody out and were on a good way to so not score, until the Bayhawks did not go for a play at home on a 1-out, bases-loaded grounder by Arnold, and instead got Arnold at first. A run scored, and Higgins came up and FINALLY a clutch hit, a huge 2-run triple to deep center. The story of the day however was Antonio Gonzalez. He pinch hit for Vázquez in the eighth – and homered to right. The Raccoons put up another rally in the ninth, bringing up Gonzalez with two on and two out – HOME RUN!! This time to left. That was quite an impressive feat for a bench player. The Raccoons ended up winning convincingly despite crawling through half the game, 10-1 Raccoons. Salazar 3-4, BB, RBI; Johnston 2-5; Higgins 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Flores (PH) 1-1; O’Morrissey 3-5, 3 2B, RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 2-2, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Vázquez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2-0) and 1-3;

Matt Higgins was caught stealing in the fourth inning of this game. Last year, he went 24/24 or something like that before getting nailed the first time. He is 4/5 now.

Daniel Hall had a very mild ankle sprain. It was bad enough to hinder him a bit for a week or so, but didn’t appear like something that couldn’t be fixed with tape and not going nine innings every day. For starters, he sat out the last game of the series, with Dawson playing in left field.

Heading into game 3, Scott Wade’s ERA of 7.94 was 60% higher than that of our other four starters COMBINED. So, a solid start, six innings, two runs, that would be something to get him into shape. Wade indeed started well into game, allowing one hit through five innings. Meanwhile the offense … well, they had eight hits through seven innings and had about as many double plays to kill any possible inning. Wade then crumbled in the bottom 7th, loading the bags with nobody out in the scoreless game. He struck out Charlie Foster, but catcher Jose Ortiz got through on the right side for an RBI single. Wade struck out the pitcher Chris O’Keefe, then yielded for Albert Matthews to get Diego Rodriguez, but surrendered a 2-run single. Pedro Villa was next, and his short grounder was thrown away by David Vinson. A 5-run inning, out of the blue. O’Keefe went the distance with a rare 10-hit shutout. 6-0 Bayhawks. Salazar 2-4, 2B; Arnold 2-4, 2B; Vinson 2-3, BB;

In other news

April 7 – SFB INF Roberto Rodriguez (7-21, 1 HR, 6 RBI) sprains his thumb in an on base collision and will miss at least three weeks.

Complaints and stuff

In an instant, I could name several issues that we have had so far. They all have names, but you can find them below.

And what are the Loggers doing in first place? Is it Easter already?