Portland Raccoons (ABL) - Page 28

ShaneCarson · 08-29-2013, 11:31 AM

That is a dreadful start for Dawson. Good god.

Questdog · 08-29-2013, 12:22 PM

Dawson and teacher's pet are looking done (still some hope, though).....

Tetsu seems to have picked up some oomph from last year, but I would rather have the 120 RBI's........

Rotation is looking good enough to win the division (I don't think the Loggers will be there for long).....

Westheim · 08-30-2013, 12:58 PM

Raccoons (5-4) @ Canadiens (3-5)

Here came our first contest against our most-beloved team in the whole world. And four games right away! Wow, that will be fun! Their rotation had been roughed up pretty bad in the first 1 1/2 weeks, being bombed to a 6.40 ERA.

Game 1. So much for a roughed up rotation. While Vicente Torres 1-hit the Raccoons (a lonely Osanai double) through five innings, the Canadiens offense sat right on top of Steven Berry, who conceded ten hits, five runs, and a lot of red-capped, grinning, and very ugly children at the park, and left with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth. Juan Martinez managed to clean up without another run scoring. Lagarde pitched the remaining three frames with one unearned run against him, while the only offensive mark set by the team was a 2-run home run by Glenn Johnston in the eighth. 6-2 Canadiens. Osanai 2-4, 2B; Lagarde 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

Vernon Robertson, last season’s Pitcher of the Year, came into game 2 with an unhealthy 0-2 record and on 9.53 ERA. The Raccoons got a run off him in the first inning, but the Canadiens didn’t take long to get Robertson into a position to break into the W column, when they brutally broke up Kisho Saito for five 2-out runs in the bottom 2nd. They were just finding ALL the seams in the infield. And outfield. And beyond. Even more puzzling, the Raccoons came back from that socking in an instant, with a 2-out RBI single by Osanai in the top 3rd, and after that a huge 3-run homer by Mark Dawson. It went on: Glenn Johnston singled to right, and while 2B David Brewer got to the ball deep behind the infield, he made no throw, and then Neil Reece came up and homered to left center. That was the exit for Robertson. 7-5 Coons, and still six plus innings to play. It was a 7-6 game after the bottom 3rd, with Saito not on top of his game, but still completed five innings, getting in line for a W. The offensive mashing cooled down noticeably as the bullpens brawled in the middle innings. Neil Reece in the top 7th drove in a much needed insurance run, and Dawson did so in the eighth. The Raccoons bullpen held up, with Martinez, Burnett, Matthews, and West pitching scoreless ball. 9-6 Raccoons. Higgins 4-6, 2 2B; Gonzalez 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-4, BB, 2B; Dawson 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Johnston 2-5, 2B; Reece 4-5, HR, 3 RBI;

The hobbled Daniel Hall sat in game 3, and Vinson – not a force at the plate so far – got that game off as well.

Flores was the one getting the Raccoons ahead in the top 2nd of the game, hitting a 2-run double. It was shaky lead. Jason Turner struggled with the Canadiens lineup, allowed a run in the third, and the defense bailed him out by not nailing one, but TWO runners at the plate in the early innings. David Brewer tied the game – finally – with a 2-out RBI single in the fifth. The next time he came up, Brewer sunk Turner and the Raccoons with a 2-out home run in the seventh. In between, Mark Dawson had double-played the Raccoons out of a scoring chance in the sixth, and afterwards Osanai flailed with two men on in the eighth to waste that one. Top 9th, Alejandro Lopez pitching. With one out, Higgins singled his way on, then stole second base. Bob Arnold was 0-2, but then doubled into the gap in left center and Higgins scored to tie the game. The Coons loaded the bags – Reece was up with two out. He took the first thing Lopez offered. The folks down south in Oregon could firmly hear the knock – GRAND SLAM NEIL REECE!! Some of the red-capped, grinning, and hideously ugly children cried. Coon City didn’t. 7-3 Raccoons. Vinson (PH) 1-1; Reece 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Higgins 3-4; Hall (PH) 1-1;

Carrillo pitched the eighth and got the win – the first decision not taken by the starting rotation, illustrating well our feast-or-famine SP performances so far.

We rebuilt the lineup quite heavily, putting the glazing-hot Higgins and Reece at the top of the lineup, starting in game 4, which was started by Vázquez. Two scoreless frames in, Vázquez came to bat with nobody out in the top 3rd and Salazar and Vinson on base. He failed to bunt twice, then was told to hit it, and singled up the middle. Bases loaded, nobody out. Higgins popped out, but Reece hit an RBI single to get some score on the board. Hall singled between 3B Raúl Solís and SS Art Garrett and LF Luis Gonzalez took too long to get to the ball, and two more runs scored. Osanai sac flied, and Johnston brought in Hall with a single, 5-0. The Canadiens were reeling, and on top of everything lost their star 2B David Brewer to an injury on a defensive play in the fourth. Destruction was completed with a 4-run fifth, making for a really miserable Sunday afternoon for those fiendishly ugly little Canadiens rats. The Coons dugout had a party. The Canadiens did get to Vázquez later in the game with four runs (and some shoddy corner infield defense from the Brownshirts), but there was no comeback here. 11-4 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Salazar 4-5, 2B, RBI;

In all the celebrations after that series, one unfortunate issue came up. Daniel Hall had left the last game in the eighth with a sore ankle, and on our following off day we got confirmation that his ankle had in fact aggravated. He was now put on the DL retroactively to April 9, meaning he would be on the shelf for another eight days. Looking for a call-up, Jeff Martin was batting .207 in AAA, and while Vern Kinnear batted .357, we didn’t want to call him up just yet (and even less for a mere week). Daniel Dumont would have gotten the call, but he had no options left. So, after much back and forth, Martin was added to the roster. With two more AAA outfielders on the shelf (Randy Powers, Daniel Camus), we looked to the free agent market for quad-A players.

At the same time, Bobby Quinn was ready to play again for the next series.

Raccoons (8-5) vs. Indians (7-5)

The Indians took it to Scott Wade quickly and with force in the opener of the series. Wade allowed six runs over five innings, with the Indians landing five of their eight hits for extra bases. Kazuyuki Ando scattered three hits over eight frames, and the Raccoons had a runner in scoring position exactly once in the game. The only highlight for Raccoons fans were three hitless innings in relief from Carrillo, although there was one hit, to Angelo Duarte, who left with an injury. Payback coming in this series? We’ll see. For now, the Raccoons lost 6-0. Carrillo 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

A win would have won us the division lead, instead the Indians tied the Loggers at 8-5.

Carlos Guillén not only had no-hit the Raccoons a few years ago, he also came into the middle game having pitched 21 innings with no runs allowed so far this year. And against Steven Berry, with two out in the top 2nd, and two on, in a full count, he homered to center. 3-0 Indians, and the park was frozen. Surprisingly, that was the only damage to Berry in five innings (apart from a few hard hit balls and superb outfield plays). In the bottom 5th, the so far puzzled Coons loaded the bags against Guillén with one out. Gonzalez drew an RBI walk, 3-1, and Berry was pinch hit for with O-Mo, who singled up the middle, 3-2. Higgins grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice to tie the game, at least. Reece flew out. Top 6th, Martinez pitching. Bob Goyer on second base with two out, Guillén to bat – a single up the middle, Goyer scored. It was … crunching? The score remained there into the ninth. Grant West pitched for two outs in the ninth just to get him dusted off, before Jim Durden entered, who had already had a few chunks taken out from him this season. Osanai led off and doubled and went to third when Dawson grounded out. Arnold lobbed into left, right to R.J. Stinton, but Osanai got the go-sign early and tagged up at the first moment. It didn’t help: tanks roll slowly, and Victor Cornett was waiting for him, ball in the glove, at the plate. Osanai bolted through him, the ball came loose, and Osanai was safe. Once Cornett was pieced back together behind the plate (super glue worked wonders), Vinson doubled to left. Salazar came in to run for him, with Gonzalez at the plate. Durden struck Gonzalez out and the Coons played their first extra-inning game of the year, where the real grind just began. West and Durden went through the 10th, before we sent out Lagarde, who pitched the next four, loading the bags in the 13th before escaping. He also struck out with a runner on second in the 13th, but our bench was empty already. When there still was no decision, Cordero came out to pitch for as long as he would have to, with only Carrillo (who had gone three frames the day before) remaining in the pen. In any case, Jason Turner ventured into the pen between innings to take over in the 19th or so. The bottom 15th saw Cordero bunt into a force of Flores at second base, and Higgins thrown out trying to steal by Cornett. Turner eventually was spared a relief appearance. Raúl Vázquez homered off Cordero in the 16th, and the Raccoons were too bad to score anything. 5-4 Indians. Osanai 4-7, 2 2B; Arnold 2-4, RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B; Flores 1-2; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, RBI; West 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Lagarde 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

A win would have –

Game 3. Saito had to go deep in this game with the beaten bullpen we had suffered the day before. A Reece triple and Quinn sac fly took care of a 1-0 lead in the first. From there, Saito was mostly on his own, as the defense was … let’s call it “lazy”. The 1-0 stood in the top 7th, when Saito had a runner on first and two down with Bob Goyer batting. He grounded into the seam between Salazar and O’Morrissey. Salazar made a great grab, was up like a shot, and zinged to first – OUT!! Goyer could not believe it, neither most of the furry fans. Jesus Lopez had held the Coons to two hits that far, but Johnston singled his way on in the bottom 7th. With two out, he was on second base. Salazar blooped a ball into shallow left for a single, and Johnston made for home, where he slid in a hair under the tag, 2-0. The Coons then finally broke the game open in the eighth with a 3-run homer by Tetsu Osanai. Saito still had gas left – he went the distance. 5-0 Raccoons! Reece 2-3, BB, 3B; Quinn 1-2, BB, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (3-1);

Kisho took 111 pitches for his 11th shutout, the first this season. Yay!

Interlude: FA signing

The Raccoons also announced the signing of LF/RF Ennio Sabre. The 30-year old Venezuelan should still be remembered as a member of the 1989 Wolves. Yeah, those. His .284, 13 HR, 71 RBI season two years ago was the only productive one he ever had, and he had batted .228 between Salem and Sioux Falls last year before going unsigned this winter. He has signed a minor league deal and reports to AAA, where we have a flurry of injuries. Overall he is a .241 batter, but with 52 home runs in 2,305 AB.

Raccoons (9-7) vs. Thunder (8-8)

Somehow, the Thunder led the CL in runs scored while having sub-par offensive numbers in general. That was slightly mysterious and we’d have to see how things would play out then.

The Thunder threw six left-handers at Jason Turner in the opener. It didn’t help them a lot early on, as Turner struck out six in the first three innings, but he was still broken up with five hits (two of them more luck than anything else) in the fifth inning, as the Thunder scored four runs, and they made it 5-0 in the sixth. The Raccoons offense was as helpless as the score read, which also translated into the rest of the game. 5-1 Thunder. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B, RBI;

In the middle game, the Raccoons were on the verge of scoring in both of the first two innings, but flailed. In the third, Johnston started with a single, Quinn singled, Osanai with an RBI single, and O-Mo walked. Bases loaded, nobody out. Again, it became a disaster, as Gonzalez grounded out for one run to score, before Vinson hit into a double play. The Inepticoons were loose, despite leading 2-0. Martin singled his way on to start the fourth, then was caught stealing. Next pitch – Vázquez doubled into right. Nobody scored in the inning. At least Vázquez was strong on the mound, but successive extra base hits by Will Jackson and Vonne Calzado cut his lead in half in the sixth. Still, Vázquez’ eight innings were quite the show as he fanned nine. Quinn got on to start the bottom 8th, and stole second. Osanai singled him in and the Coons now crowded the Thunder pen. A freak single off the glove of 1B Hector Roman by Vinson scored another run, and Martin scored another one with an RBI groundout. 5-1 Raccoons. Quinn 2-3, BB; Osanai 2-4, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Martin 2-4, RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (4-0) and 1-3, 2B;

And here we actually took over first place, since both the Loggers and the Indians were crumbling mightily.

One game remained in the series: Scott Wade (a cringing 0-3, 7.27 ERA) faced Bob MacGruder (0-1, 6.17 ERA). Wade faced eight left-handers, all batters except MacGruder, and this didn’t look good at all. Of course, it became a pitchers’ duel. Both teams got a run in the third, and both with a 2-out RBI double by Milo Carpenter and Tetsu Osanai, respectively. Wade went six frames decently before he was pinch hit for in the bottom 6th of the tied game. Two out, the Coons had the bases loaded. Will Jackson’s catch of Bob Arnold’s flyer in left center was one for the highlight reels. Higgins and Johnston then were on the corners in the seventh with nobody out. Quinn lined over Carpenter at short for a tie-breaking single. MacGruder then hit Osanai with an 0-2 pitch. Osanai for a second glared out to the mound, contemplating what Godzilla would have done to MacGruder, then went to first. The Coons made it a 3-run inning to lead 4-1. A pitch into PH Neil Reece’s hip with two down in the bottom 8th was followed by two hits by Quinn and Osanai and the save opportunity was taken away from West when Reece scored. Lagarde entered in the ninth, facing the left-handed 3-4-5 hitters. He struck out Calzado and Jackson, then walked Dave Browne, ending the latter’s 14-game hitting streak. The game ended quickly after that. 5-1 Raccoons. Quinn 3-5, RBI; Osanai 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-3, 2B, RBI; Wade 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; Cordero 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-1);

In other news

April 12 – SFW Manuel Paredes (2-1, 2.35 ERA) 1-hits the Wolves in an 11-0 pouncing. Cameron King breaks up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the eighth.
April 17 – VAN 2B David Brewer (.367, 2 HR, 7 RBI) is out for a month with a strained hamstring suffered in a game against the Raccoons.
April 19 – The Indians confirm that 2B/SS Angelo Duarte (.297, 1 HR, 3 RBI) has suffered a broken wrist when hit by the Raccoons’ MR Robert Carrillo. Also down to a fractured wrist is LAP SS/3B Mike McCain (.146, 0 HR, 3 RBI), and both will miss six weeks.

Complaints and stuff

Matt Higgins leads the CL with eight stolen bases, trailing only DAL Andres Serna with nine. Bobby Quinn does not qualify due to insufficient AB’s, but he could lead the batting race in the CL right now. In the FL, Marcos Costello on the Stars leads with an insane .483 mark. Costello? Costello? Yeah, the guy we traded in for Man of the Year finalist Alarico Violante. How Violante lost the title to Sid Meier will forever remain a mystery. Costello went .310 with 7 HR and 36 RBI in some 300 AB’s last season and is basically unstoppable this year.

The trades I do!

Tetsu has so far a rather good season, by the way. Mark Dawson? Ouch. The “teacher’s pet”? Well, Dan The Man had a slow start, but the injury bug has bitten him already. He will return in a few days.

You wanna see an under-scouted pitcher? See below. Vázquez was never scouted any higher than 12/12/14 by any of our scouts. He can’t be a 12/12/14, not even a 10/11/12. Never.

Questdog · 08-30-2013, 02:33 PM

One of the good new things about OOTP14, is that as players get older and the scouts see them a lot more, the scouts tend to be a lot better at seeing what everyone else can see.....

Westheim · 08-30-2013, 05:59 PM

I'm not feeling like importing the league to OOTP14 at all. I don't want to break consistencies ... if you know what I mean. We're in a nice groove here. It should best stay that way.

My attempts at OOTP14-started dynasties have all ... been more ... semi-successful ... if you know what I mean. Err...

---

Raccoons (11-8) vs. Knights (10-8)

The Knights were on a roll after sitting in last place of the CL South a week ago. Their offense had come to live, and their rotation had a 2.90 ERA. They were on a 7-game winning streak, and the Raccoons had their work cut out as they were going to face Asquabal, Harrington, and Ryan. Uh, that’s going to get tense.

And that stomping rhino of a team was faced merely by Steven Berry. It didn’t go too well here in game 1. Carlos Asquabal not only pitched well, and had his first hit of the season, too, a 2-out, 2-run double in the second inning. To be fair, Berry also started the scoring for his own team, a bloop RBI single in the fifth, and held the Knights at two runs so far. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 5th, but Quinn struck out to end the inning. Berry allowed only two hits through six, but then put a runner on second in the seventh. With bad control quickly shooting up his pitch count, he was removed, but Cordero allowed the run to score nevertheless. The Coons were unable to mount anything worth mentioning, and although the Knights were held to four hits opposed to the Raccoons’ six, they prevailed. 3-1 Knights. Reece 2-4; Martinez 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Weird stats: Reece’s two hits both were infield singles. Matt Higgins reached twice on errors. Neither ever scored.

Kisho Saito started with two walks to the first three men up in game 2, but escaped the inning with the help of a double play. The Raccoons managed to score twice on Jim Harrington in the fourth, both times RBI groundouts and no actual clutch hits. A 2-out triple by slow-footed catcher Joreao Paulos halved that lead pretty soon in the fifth. Saito was then hit by a Harrington pitch in the bottom 5th, but stayed in the game. He was starved along with Matt Higgins in scoring position when Quinn flew out to left to end the inning. Again no clutch hit. Another triple, this time by Luis Barrera, cost Saito the lead in the sixth, when Michael Root scored Barrera with a groundout. Top 9th: Saito still in there in the 2-2 game, Root led off with a single and advanced when Paul Connolly grounded out. Saito was still in there and struck out Manuel Guzman. Eddy Bailey came up. Protected by Shoichi Fujino, Saito pitched to the right-hander, who took Saito’s first pitch out to center, but Reece caught it. Bottom 9th, c’mon boys, walk off for Kisho! Nope, wasn’t in the books. The Raccoons went down 1-2-3 and into extra innings. Top 10th, Matthews walked Fujino, and Paulos singled to right, and Johnston’s throw to third base was slightly (read: wildly) errant. And that was only the first error in the inning. Let’s make this short, the Knights won in ten, 5-3. Higgins 2-5, 2B; Quinn 2-5, 2B; Salazar 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

Daniel Hall came off the DL for game 3, and Jeff Martin packed up and went back to Florida.

Jason Turner and Glenn Ryan continued the good pitching, so-so offense series. Ryan carried a no-hitter into the fifth until Daniel Hall legged out an infield single. “Double Play” Dawson came up and – well. Bottom 7th, Johnston and Osanai on base, two down, Dan The Man came up again. 2-2, Hall grounded to left, and it went JUST between Connolly and Barrera for a single. Johnston went around third at such speed, the sonic boom nauseated the Knights so the throw was late and Johnston was safe with the first run of the game. Dawson had two in scoring position and flew out lazily. One out in the eighth, Dawson threw away Guzman’s grounder, putting the tying run into scoring position, and Root and Barrera came up. With no trust whatsoever in our left-handed relievers, there was a huge conference on the mound. Turner would have to get Root, no matter what. Root was not really into this season yet, batting merely .237, but as things tended to go for the Coons… Turner got to 0-2, but Root grounded to Higgins instead of K’ing, and Guzman went to third. Barrera was up and lined out to center, and Johnston got it! Phew!! The Coons then got their first two men into scoring position in the eighth, before leaving them there. Now, the score was 1-0, and West was ready, but Turner looked so dialed in, and was to face right-handers. Maybe he …? He got two quick outs, but when Anthony Hopper singled his way on, it was go time, and West entered to face Jack Jackson, but Jim Wood came out to pinch-hit, batting more than twice that of Jackson. West struck him out nevertheless. 1-0 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, RBI; Turner 8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (2-2);

Mark Dawson in ’91: 7 H, 4 GIDP; Each of his hits (assuming his salary to be paid from April 1 to September 30) has clocked in at $16,861. For comparison, Matt Higgins: $451;

Now at 12-10, there are three teams breathing down our neck in the division, all within 1.5 games, including those Canadicans.

Raccoons (12-10) vs. Crusaders (8-13)

The Crusaders were not among those, as they were battling the Titans for possession of fifth place. They had not much to offer offensively so far, and their rotation also ranked close to the tail end in the Continental League. This weekend series would wrap up our home stand.

Robert Vázquez fell 1-0 behind in the series opener on a Benjamin Butler home run. Vinson led off the bottom 2nd with a double and scored on a Jorge Salazar grounder that went right through Douglas Donaldson at third base. With one out, Vázquez sac fly was not played well at all by the defense at both Vázquez and Salazar were safe, but nothing came about in the inning beyond that. Daniel Hall hit his first home run of the year to lead off the bottom 3rd. Bases loaded, one out in the third, Bob Arnold fouled out in the #8 hole. Vázquez came up – DOUBLE INTO RIGHT!! Two runs scored, and Vázquez was half the way to a cycle here. But in contrast, his mound work suffered. The Crusaders left three in scoring position between the fourth and fifth, but in the sixth, Horace Simpson hit a huge 3-run homer to tie the game. Vázquez exited the first start for the Coons he wouldn’t win in a 4-4 tie through six. In the bottom 7th, Hall, Osanai, and O’Morrissey loaded the bags with nobody out against starter Gary Nixon. Vinson came up and Nixon still remained in there. He never threw a strike in the at-bat, and Vinson walked, forcing in the go-ahead run. Of course, somewhere, somebody managed to hit into a double play, and it was Salazar, a liner to SS Manuel Flores, who caught O-Mo snoozing far off the bag. Arnold singled in Osanai, 6-4. Matthews and West did their job from there. Lagarde got the W. 6-4 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, BB; O’Morrissey 2-4; Salazar 2-4, RBI; Arnold 2-4, RBI;

Matt Higgins was struggling all of a sudden and paused in the middle game after plunging his average big time the last week. Gonzalez played at second base.

The Crusaders took a quick 2-0 lead in the middle game when Scott Wade surrendered back-to-back home runs to Douglas Donaldson and Sean Bergeron, but hope didn’t have to be abandoned just yet, as Bobby Quinn bombed one as well in the bottom 1st, and his counted for three, collecting Salazar and Hall on the bases. The Raccoons made it 5-2 in the second, but for the struggling Wade that was not enough to feel comfortable, and he crumbled. Up 5-3 in the top 5th, with two down, Hall brought in a single by Bergeron, but threw wide of home, and they didn’t get Donaldson at the plate, and the tying run in Bergeron went to second base. Martin Limón up, a left-hander. Mound conference. Limón grounded to the mound and Wade got the out at first base. Inning over. Wade got through the sixth after all. Breating space was provided by Quinn with another dinger in the seventh, making it 7-4. Beyond that, the back end of the pen took care. Carrillo had pitched the seventh, but put the leadoff man on in the eighth, but Cordero got through the left-handers, and West pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. 7-4 Furballs. Salazar 2-5; Johnston 2-5, 2B; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Quinn 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI;

That was the first W for Wade this year. Now, next get that ERA below five, that would be great.

One more game, and maybe Berry could stop blowing things up and give us our first sweep of the season? With the Coons going out to Milwaukee after this series, we could use some breathing space.

Berry faced Raimundo Beato, which was never a good proposition. A Hall double and Osanai homer at least got him a first inning lead, 2-0. That lead was in danger instantly. The Crusaders had two in scoring position in the top 2nd with one out, but then Butler grounded to the feet of Berry, who got the out at first and the runners held. Simpson, who had hurt us already in this series, was put on intentionally to get to Beato, whom Berry punched out forcefully. Now, Berry didn’t have his most vicious stuff in this game, and struck out four only this time around, but ironically it was his best start of the season, since he was locating and mixing his pitches so much better. After that rocky second inning, he breezed through eight innings of shutout ball. Martinez completed the shutout and series sweep. 4-0 Raccoons! Hall 2-3, 2B; Osanai 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Berry 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-2);

In other news

April 24 – NAS CF Stan Williams (.339, 1 HR, 14 RBI) will miss about six weeks after suffering a fractured thumb.

Complaints and stuff

We have conceded 82 runs through 25 games – obviously a great mark, which leads the CL. Our offense has scored 108 times, which ranks 7th. Now, Hall and Quinn have come back strong from early injuries and are hitting .300+ now. With them in the lineup, and our other outfielders also producing nicely, maybe we will raise that R/G mark (4.3) a bit from here on. Mark Dawson then again … wow … just wow … he also has three errors at third base already. O-Mo is making more starts now.

Daniel Hall now has five consecutive multi-hit games (including the last game before he hit the disabled list).

Scott Wade has not found his mojo yet, that much is clear. However, one difference to the last years is a significantly higher BABIP, so it’s not just him, it’s … baseball.

Westheim · 08-31-2013, 09:44 PM

Raccoons (15-10) @ Loggers (12-12)

This was a 4-game series and we better perform here, because a bad Loggers series killed our momentum last year, and a bad Loggers series could cost us here. Taking three out of four was certainly desirable. There were however indications that the Loggers and their strong start were fake. Their pitching had been bottom of the Continental League (11th) so far. Their rotation had been beleaguered, and the offense was mildly effective. Their run differential was -13.

If the first inning in game 1 was an indicator, we’d have a good series, as the Raccoons roughed up Scott Murphy for two runs there, driven in by Quinn. The offense fell silent after that, though. Kisho Saito got into trouble with two leadoff singles by Raúl Rodriguez and Santiago Rodriguez in the bottom 3rd. Murphy bunted the runners over, but Saito got out by striking out the 1-2 batters, Emilio Roman and Bob Grant. In the bottom 5th, Saito faced the Rodriguezes again. Raúl got on, and Santiago shot a no-doubt homer to tie the game. Those were indeed the 7-8 hitters of the Loggers, and Saito had nothing against them in this game. Saito was the one to wake the Raccoons offense from it’s mid-game snooze then in the top 7th, hitting a double off the wall in right center with one out. Salazar walked and Higgins came through with a 2-run triple. Hall scored him with a sac fly, 5-2. The Rodriguezes were to lead off the bottom 7th. Saito went out to face them. He got Raúl, but Santiago singled, however Saito escaped by means of a Charlie Justin double play. Matthews came close to blowing the lead in the eighth with two men on and Gates Golunski shooting out to center, but Glenn Johnston made the play to end the inning. Grant West would not have been available for this game, but the Coons took the book out of my hands with a leadoff triple by Salazar in the ninth, and Higgins brought him in. 6-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Higgins 1-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B; Saito 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4-1) and 1-3, 2B;

This game ended Daniel Hall’s string of consecutive multi-hit games, in fact he went 0-2 with two walks and a run batted in. Also, another so-so stat: David Vinson threw out Emilio Román stealing in the first inning. It was his first CS this season, he had gone 0/16 before. Ouch. I was aware of the fact that we could not seem to control opposing runners, but hadn’t dived into the numbers yet.

Jason Turner faced off against Davis Sims (2-0, 2.96 ERA) in game 2, the only Loggers starter not yet brutally be-clobbered by the opposition this season. The Coons were happy to fill that hole and batted through the lineup in the top 1st, scoring three runs before Turner left them good ol’ bases full. There were runners on the corners in the top 2nd with Quinn 1-2 behind. With two out, Quinn swung over Sims’ offering – and would have ended the inning, had catcher Duane Smith been able to catch the ball. The ball rolled away, and Neil Reece scored from third. Turner did not have a good game here, occasionally struggling with control and the six left-handers in the lineup were able to get in on him at times, and a 5-0 lead became a 5-2 lead in the fourth, and Turner then made a fielding error in the fifth that brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but he struck out Grady Young and got Drake Evans to ground out to end the inning. Turner covered six innings with 104 pitches before showering. Ken Burnett pitched in relief, but left with a finger blister. The Coons took away a save opportunity with a 2-out run in the ninth, making it 6-2, but Lagarde put a man on in the bottom of the inning. The next batter, Cristo Ramirez shot a bouncer past Lagarde, who in vain stretched for it. Higgins made an error on the play, putting two runners in scoring position, and Lagarde remained on the ground holding his thigh. Grant West came out to strike out a struggling Jesus Jimenez and save a 6-2 win, but we had just lost two relievers. Hall 2-6; Osanai 4-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-6; Vinson 3-4, BB; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Notes on game 2: all nine Coons starters had at least one hit in the game; also, the injuries to our relievers were per se not crippling for them, but for the team as a whole. Burnett’s blister would take a few days to heal, and Lagarde would be hobbled with a mild hamstring strain for a day or so.

Game 3. The Coons left two on in the top 1st, and Robert Vázquez fell 1-0 behind in the bottom 1st. Top 2nd, one of those dreaded bases loaded, nobody out situations, and with Vázquez at the plate. He grounded up the middle, SS Raúl Rodriguez got to it, to first, SAFE!! And would you know, he was the only Coon to get a run in in this inning. Salazar struck out, Higgins flew out to short center, and Hall grounded out. Vinson struck out to leave runners on the corners in the third. Agony. Dan the Man finally came through in the fourth with a 2-out RBI single collecting Higgins, which gave Vázquez a 2-1 lead, which just refused to grow. The Coons left the bags full in the sixth when Johnston popped out to left. Top 7th, O-Mo at first with one out, Vázquez to the plate – and again the pitcher came through with an RBI double. Unbelievable. He was promptly left at second base. Unbelie- … Two were left on in the eighth. Vázquez put two men in scoring position with two out in the bottom 8th. Albert Matthews was brought in to face the right-hander Jimenez, who popped out to Johnston. Top 9th, bases loaded, one out. Hall struck out, Osanai flew out. Come on, that can’t be …! West had a 1-2-3 inning, saving the 3-1 Raccoons win. Hall 2-5, BB, RBI; Johnston 2-4, BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-3, 2 BB; Vázquez 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (5-0) and 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Team LOB: 19. NINETEEN!! They played only nine innings, for fur cap’s sake!! Individually, they left THIRTY-EIGHT men on base! That’s impossible! They coulda won a zillion to one!!

Matt Higgins struck out in the sixth. Why is that of importance? It was his first K this season after going the entire month of April without whiffing, and completing 120 PA without a strikeout! I think that’s uber-awesome.

April was over, but Scott Wade’s April Agony wasn’t. It had turned into May Malaise. He took 32 pitches through the first inning, blowing a 1-0 lead, then could not hold another lead in the fourth. He was not sharp, not at all, as he got into many 2-strikes count, but could barely remove anybody himself. The Raccoons appeared to break out with a 3-run fifth, including RBI doubles by O’Morrissey and Osanai, the latter driving in two. Ocasionally, Wade DID get a big K, like to the struggling slugger Jimenez in the bottom 5th, when there was one out and runners on the corners. Jimenez got to Juan Martinez in the seventh, though, with a 2-out RBI single. Wade was already out there, having barely gone six frames. The Coons led 7-3 in the bottom 9th when Carrillo came in and walked the first three men, all on full counts. Oh no. West was really unavailable. Lagarde came in, and he struck out Ramirez, and he struck out Jimenez. Quinn took care of Young’s flyer to right. PHEW!! 7-3 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Flores 2-3, 2 RBI; Arnold (PH) 1-2, 2B, RBI; Cordero 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Lagarde 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

A sweep – how sweet! Let’s ignore for the moment that they made it a bit hart on themselves in this series.

Raccoons (19-10) @ Miners (10-18)

Here came a team that was phenomenally struggling. They ranked close to the bottom in runs scored, runs allowed, and most shocking was their bullpen ERA: 7.90! Four guys in their rotation had ERA’s of five or more.

The exception to that was Leland Lewis, who was 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA and probably wished himself onto a better team at the moment (although Lewis, 33, was a career Miner, 422 starts, and still motoring strong with a 183-139 lifetime record, with a very good 3.26 ERA).

Ex-Coon Armando Sanchez hurt Steven Berry with a 2-run home run in the first inning of the opener. The battery of Berry and Vinson had a hellacious day. By the third, the Miners led 5-0, Vinson had committed a throwing error, and Berry had thrown two wild pitches. I couldn’t stand his sight past the fourth inning. Bob Arnold pinch hit for him in the fifth and successfully ended the inning with a double play. The Raccoons crawled back into the game in the middle innings with one run in the fourth and two in the sixth, but the weather-hardened Lewis held them there through eight. Johnston’s 1-out single in the top 9th brought the tying run to the plate. The struggling Jose Amador walked Vinson, which brought up Dawson. Should we really have him hit here? Maybe he could hit a dinger? He flew deep to right, but Willis Turner made an amazing catch to retire him. Reece grounded out, and the Raccoons lost, 5-3. Hall 3-4, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Game 2 saw the Raccoons rough up Pittsburgh’s David Castillo with four extra base hits in the second inning, taking a 3-0 lead. Kisho Saito had a 2-out RBI double in the inning, then was roughed up himself in the bottom 2nd for two runs. Castillo was knocked out in a 4-run third, where the Raccoons had the sacks full with no outs and at got all their runners in for once, before Saito was also knocked for two more in the bottom 3rd, 7-4, but he held the damage there. Still, Saito went only five this time, which increased the strain on the pen after Berry’s bad start the previous day. The Raccoons scored single runs each time from the fourth through the sixth before they put the rout on with a 5-run eighth. In the bottom of that inning however, the Miners got to Cordero and battered him for two runs and three men left on. Matthews walked in a run before a double play grounder ended the inning. The Raccoons got two runs back in a major offensive barrage, and won the game handily, 17-7. Salazar 2-6, 2B; Higgins 2-6, 2 2B; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-3, 2 BB, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-6, 3 RBI; Johnston 2-6, 3 RBI; Vinson 4-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Martinez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K; Matthews 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Our bombardment here put us atop the Continental League in runs scored with 150! We also had the best record in baseball now at 20-11.

And after hitting 17 runs the day before, the Raccoons failed to get to Joe Lane jr. in the rubber game. While Jason Turner fell behind in the second on an unearned run, and trailed 2-0 after three, Lane was puzzling the Raccoons big time. And he was one of those 6+ ERA guys. Maybe an error by RF Guillermo Valdez got them going, which put the leadoff man Bobby Quinn on base in the fifth. Salazar followed that up with a single. Runners on the corners, nobody out. O-Mo singled through on the right side, getting the Coons on the board, and Vinson lined over SS Rod Carey to tie the game. Higgins, batting leadoff, eventually brought in the go-ahead run. Turner loaded the bases in the bottom 5th, but punched out Valdez to escape with the 3-2 lead alive. Turner rebounded for 2.1 more solid innings before leaving due to an elevated pitch count and with the lefty Valdez coming up. The Raccoons got an extra run in the sixth inning. West came in for the ninth and walked pinch hitter Robinson Flores to get things started. Carey grounded for a force at second, but scored when Armando Sanchez doubled to left. It was the first run allowed by West this year and now the game was in grave danger. Gonzalez had replaced Osanai for defense, but even he could not get to Jerry Phelps’ grounder into right. Quinn got to that single ball as Sanchez rounded third and went for home. Quinn rocketed the ball right into Vinson’s glove – tag – OUT!! César Cruz made the final out. 4-3 Raccoons! Salazar 3-4, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-3, BB, RBI; Turner 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (4-2) and 1-2;

As the only team with a winning record in the CL North, we now led by five games over the tied Canadiens and Indians.

Raccoons (21-11) vs. Pacifics (20-12)

Here came the second-best team in the ABL, certainly quite the matchup. They had however already allowed 146 runs, 7th in the Federal League, and their rotation ranked 8th with a 4.51 ERA, so they were all but impregnable. Unfortunately, we’d show them the all but impregnable bottom of *our* rotation as well in this series.

But first came the still loss-less Robert Vázquez. The Pacifics threatened early in the first inning, putting two men in scoring position with nobody out, but Vázquez was able to strand them. The Coons also stranded runners in scoring position in their half of the first. Anibal Rodriguez homered off Vázquez in the third, 1-0 Pacifics, and they moved to 3-0 in the fourth. The Raccoons just could not land a hit with runners in scoring position, and were unable to hurt Angel Romero on the mound for L.A. at all. Romero went seven, and Vinson led off the bottom 8th with a double. Raffaele Antuofermo hit Matt Higgins, bringing the tying run to the plate. Now, I contemplated whether to pinch hit Quinn for Arnold on Quinn’s day off, but didn’t, and Arnold struck out. With everything running away, Quinn then pinch hit for Antonio Gonzalez (who had spelled Salazar in the field), and Quinn knocked it deep, deeper, GONE!! One rip tied the game, 3-3. The game went into overtime, where Salazar, who now had to come out despite getting his deserved rest, drew a leadoff walk in the 11th. Lagarde had pitched two innings and came up to bat. We were tight in the pen. Lagarde was to bunt, but fell to 0-2. Clarence Bowen’s third pitch was in the dirt. At 1-2, Salazar went with the pitch, which was low, Lagarde held up, and Salazar was safe. Lagarde then struck out. Leadoff batter du jour was O-Mo, and he hit it out to left, Jonah Frank going out there, but he didn’t get it! O-Mo hit a walkoff double! 4-3 Raccoons. Gonzalez 2-3; Quinn (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Salazar 0-0, BB; Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2-0);

In game 2 Scott Wade (2-3, 5.09 ERA) had two chances: get to .500, and get below five. Either would be appreciated, preferably both. He certainly got early run support, a 2-run homer by Tetsu in the first, then drove in a run himself in the second, and the Coons added two in the third to make it 5-1 through three. Home runs by Daniel Hall and Carlos Cook made it 6-2 after the top 6th, and Wade made an error in the seventh that led to an unearned run, 6-3. It was a game of errors anyway, with two on either side. Hall had the other error for the Brownshirts. With two out in the eighth, Wade walked Ignacio Sosa, ending his night. Cordero came in, but walked Doug Belding, and Vinson couldn’t get out quick enough to convert César Mejia’s grounder into an out. Bases loaded, tying runs aboard for Jose Milanda. Matthews came in to face the right-hander, who shot his first pitch to deep center – into Glenn Johnston’s glove. West surrendered a home run to Glenn Adams in the ninth, but saved the game. 6-4 Coons! Quinn 2-4, 2B, RBI; Dawson (PH) 1-1; Wade 7.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (3-3) and 2-3, RBI;

The very game we moved him into the leadoff spot, Ben O’Morrissey went 0-5, killing a 10-game hitting streak. Great.

Steven Berry was battered early in the last game, surrendering two runs in the first inning. The Coons loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom 2nd. Vinson struck out, and they only got a sac fly from Gonzalez. Berry struck out. Down 2-1, and with Berry not being too good, but holding his ground, the Raccoons couldn’t get the ball on the ground in the middle innings. Greg Cain was not too great either for L.A., but the defense made a few plays that robbed the Raccoons. They were 2-hit until Hall hit a 1-out single in the fifth. Osanai made an out, before Quinn singled to right and Hall went to third. Salazar up the middle – it got through, the game was tied. It was not tied for long. A 2-run homer by Doug Belding buried Berry again quickly in the sixth, and they made it 5-2 in the inning. Berry struck out eight through six innings, but again left with a terrible line. Could the Raccoons come back once more and spare their starter a loss? The ball just didn’t want to fall onto the green for them. Johnston hit a huge line drive out to right to start the eighth, but it was caught. Quinn drew a leadoff walk from Joaquin Bastos in the bottom 9th. Down by three, that was not enough. Two outs were made. Reece pinch hit for Gonzalez and grounded to Kevin Lewis, and the Pacifics could not make the play. The tying run came to the plate, which would be Carrillo, so somebody had to pinch hit, preferably a power bat. All eyes on Mark Dawson (Arnold and Flores were also left, but didn’t fit the job description). Dawson struck out. 5-2 Pacifics. Quinn 2-3, BB; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

In other news

May 1 – IND C Victor Cornett (.240, 7 HR, 18 RBI) joins a small circle of power batters that have hit three home runs in one game, Cornett doing so against the Canadiens. The Indians still lose, 9-7. All of Cornett’s dingers come off Robbie Campbell, and all are solo shots, two leading of innings. He also had a sac fly for a 3-3, 3 HR, 4 RBI line. He is only the seventh player to achieve this feat in ABL history, joining Ben Simon (POR, 1977), Michinaga Yamada (NYC, 1980), David Rivera (RIC, 1981), Matt Mason (RIC, 1983), Edgardo Garza (MIL, 1987), and Michael Root (ATL, 1989).
May 1 – DEN LF Dale Wales (.237, 3 HR, 15 RBI) will be out for about a month with a sprained ankle. He hit over .300 the last two seasons.
May 3 – TIJ SP Woody Roberts (4-2, 2.03 ERA) 3-hits the Scorpions, as the Condors take an 8-0 win.
May 4 – CIN SP Vicente Perez (3-0, 3.08 ERA) tosses a 1-hitter against helpless Loggers, taking a 4-0 win. The lone hit against Perez was a double by Duane Smith, who was thrown out trying to get to third base in the fifth inning.
May 5 – The Wolves will be without catcher Les Harper (.297, 3 HR, 13 RBI) for six weeks. The 26-year old has suffered a torn flexor tendon.
May 8 – SFW RF Enéas Spinelli (.394, 3 HR, 21 RBI) will have to sit three months with a dislocated shoulder. The 5th place Warriors, three games out, will certainly be missing that hat.
May 8 – ATL 1B Manuel Guzman (.307, 3 HR, 14 RBI) also goes down. He has a fractured foot and will miss about five weeks.

Complaints and stuff

That was a very good stretch, despite a few obvious shortcomings of the offense (19 LOB…). The only two games we lost were Berry’s starts. I’m seeing a pattern here.

Over 20% into the season, the Raccoons rank first in the offensive categories SLG, OPS, RS, H, XBH, and K, while we are top 3 in most other categories. The only category we are not great is a former point of excellence of us, back in the mid-80s: drawing walks. The pitching staff ranks top 3 in all but one categories, and leads in ERA, bullpen ERA, OBAVG, and K; that other category is HR, where we rank 6th due to hitter-friendly Raccoons Ballpark. Individually, Tetsu is 3rd in RBI, Higgins leads the CL in SB, and Turner leads in ERA.

I KNEW IT!! It’s a great team!

For the most part at least. There is a certain roster spot that cries for improvement. We won’t call names here.

Random note of weirdness: do you have any idea how often I write Logan Evans’ name when Jason Turner is pitching? I don’t know where that comes from… well, they’re both black, and there is some rather vague similarity in facial features, and of course they came up through our minor league system. Still, Evans is more than ten years older and away from Portland for a few years now. Their pitching styles have very, very little in common. I don’t get it.

By the way, what is Logan Evans up to? He’s still with the Stars, where he went 11-13 with a 4.14 ERA last year, and this year he is 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA. His control is abysmal, he walked 122 last year, and is 10/17 in K/BB this season.

Random note of weirdness #2: who leads the Stars in wins? Hint: it’s another ex-Coon. Answer: Richard Cunningham! Four wins in relief for him so far, despite getting battered to a 7.02 ERA. Baseball is the strangest game.

Questdog · 09-01-2013, 12:16 AM

Glad to see the Pet is not quite washed up.....

Why is Neil Reece not able to supplant Glenn Johnston?

....and it's been a while, and he deserves one, so.....Tet-SUUUUUUUU!!!!

Westheim · 09-01-2013, 08:33 AM

The "pet" has been quite streaky for a few years now, going either .100 or .400 for weeks at a time. It's not a problem as long as other batters don't follow suit in the first category.

Incredibly strong and weak streaks over longer periods once were Mark Dawson's trademark feature. He's in a weak streak now, which has been lasting over a year.

I like Glenn Johnston's left-handed bat in the lineup, especially against right-handers (of course...). Reece has started in center against all left-handed starters, but those have been very few and far between so far. I think we have not faced more than ten so far. Reece has started a few games against right-handers in mid-April when he hit about .400 and whenever Johnston was a bit slow at the plate.

However: track record shows Johnston to be the more consisting hitter, while Reece has so far shone mostly through defense (apart from the famous Neil Reece Game of course). But I admit he should play a few more games.

It's almost a luxury problem that we have here, having four excellent outfielders. Bob Arnold is being pushed out here, since he has not delivered a lot so far this season.

Tetsuuuuuu's power is not there, but I will take a .350 bat with around 20 dingers any day. More concerning is his defense, which is falling apart rapidly. He's become a bit of an error sink.

Bobby Quinn is actually leading the team in home runs. Whether the Capitals are still hitting themselves over waiving him? (Probably not, given their 1990 title)

More from Coon City later today.

Westheim · 09-01-2013, 07:56 PM

Raccoons (23-12) @ Indians (15-18)

The Indians had no offense. That was their main problem. Their 125 runs scored ranked second-to-last in the Continental League (the Raccoons had scored 166 so far).

There were few things not to like about Kisho Saito’s outing in game 1. He got an early 1-0 lead, that remained that small. He controlled the Indians pretty well, and didn’t get into trouble until the fifth with runners on the corners and one out. Here, the Indians ran themselves out of the inning. Sixto Moreno tried to steal second base, but was thrown out by Vinson. Bob Goyer then flew out to right, ending the inning. Had Moreno been still on, it would have been a game-tying sac fly. It took the offense until the seventh to get a leg up against Indians starter Jesse Carver again. Back-to-back 1-out doubles to right by Salazar and Higgins made it 2-0. Saito came up with two out and blooped into shallow right, scoring Higgins, which was a wise move. A leadoff double by Raúl Vázquez spelled trouble in the bottom 7th and while Saito didn’t give up another hit, the Indians brought the runner in. Then the Indians had two leadoff hits in the eighth and had the tying runs in scoring position. Saito conceded another run on a sac fly, then struck out R.J. Stinton. Goyer on third base, he faced right-hander Bob Edwards. No, Kisho can remove him. Johnston had to run a bit in center, but they got the out. In the ninth, Vázquez tried to spoil things again with a leadoff hit, a single, but Grant West remained in control and retired the next three batters. 3-2 Coons! O’Morrissey 2-4; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-1) and 2-3, RBI;

Saito and West tied for the CL leads in wins (6) and saves (11) after this game.

Up 1-0 in the third inning of game 2, the Raccoons had the bases loaded, but David Vinson grounded into a double play. Before that, Jason Turner had left two men on in the second after JUST not getting through up the middle. While Turner was excused for being a pitcher, Vinson was clearly not clicking as well as last season. Vázquez tied the game in the fourth with a leadoff jack. That’s what you get for not driving in runners. Osanai left two on in the fifth. Somehow, things were continuing. The Indians got Turner up again with two on in the sixth and he struck out to leave those on. Neverending story. Top 7th, still 1-1: O-Mo led off the inning with an easy triple to dead center. Neil Reece FINALLY came through, a single up the middle to break the tie. Hadn’t it been for a balk by Jorge Mora, the score would have remained there, but Mora balked in Reece, 3-1. Bottom 8th, same score. Matthews put a man on, getting one out. Cordero came in to face the left-handers Stinton and Vázquez. Stinton flew out to Quinn in right (who had only entered in a double switch today). Vázquez jabbed at a 3-0 pitch and lined out to Hall in left to end the inning. Vázquez had had a 3-0 base hit the day before, but not today, my pal. West closed it successfully. 3-1 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B, 2B; Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Turner 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-2);

Game 3 saw the Raccoons leave two men in scoring position in the first, and the Indians left five men on in their first two innings against ex-Indian Robert Vázquez. The game dragged through four anemic innings before O’Morrissey put something on the board with a solo home run in the fifth, but it woke up the team after all. In the sixth, doubles by Osanai and Higgins brought a run in, and then it was again Vázquez to come through, a 2-out, 2-run double! The Coons added a run after that and another runner (O’Morrissey) was just thrown out at the plate by RF Raúl Vázquez. Everything looked fine for Robert Vázquez, until everything came apart in the eighth, where the Indians scored four including a towering 3-run homer by Victor Cornett, and now the Coons had only a 1-run lead for the bottom 9th. West had been out two days in a row, and we turned to Lagarde, who hadn’t pitched in the series yet. He struck out the first two men and let Reece do the rest in center. 5-4 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Higgins 3-4, 2 2B, RBI;

We weren’t necessarily burning down the park, but I will take a series sweep any day. Or rather, twice a week. Had Vázquez held up in the eighth, it would have given us two pitchers atop the ERA table (Turner and Vázquez).

Raccoons (26-12) @ Titans (18-20)

The Titans were third in the division and possessed the most powerful offense in the league so far, which was kind of surprising, since on paper there was not so much to love about their batters. But Cameron Green (newly acquired ex-Coon) had a strong year, they had a high-average, if low-power, outfield set, and they seemed to have struck gold with 1B Jack Burbidge, a former supplemental round pick in 1986, on whom the Pacifics had then given up. The Titans had believed in him, and now had a very good first baseman at age 22. We’d play four with them.

Game 1 saw the Raccoons put up some small ball and three runs early on, but the lead went to hell in the bottom 4th. First, Scott Wade, who was more or less erratic and generally not sharp, surrendered a 2-run homer to Chad Fisher, and then the Coons didn’t get the final out on an Osanai error. The Titans took advantage of that and tied the game, and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth. Two were on, two out, and the pitcher at the plate, but Wade couldn’t get Jorge Valdes out, and he doubled down the line in right to score both runners. Wade got the hook after surrendering six runs (five earned). The Raccoons offense could not muster anything even remotely productive in the game anymore. The bullpen pitched sloppily, too, and the Titans added a run to win 7-3. Hall 3-4; Quinn 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Mark Dawson had not played at all in the Indians series. Here, he pinch-hit in the seventh with Vinson on first base and managed to clean up the bags with another double play. Patience is running out at a rapid pace with the old man.

Where had the offense gone? With Berry pitching in game 2, we needed to find it quickly. The Titans sent out 22-year old phenom Doug Morrow (1-0, 2.00 ERA). With one out in the second inning, the Raccoons had the bases loaded. Vinson had the day off and Flores stepped to the plate with Berry on deck. This smelled like another bout of depression coming in, but Flores managed to draw a full count walk, and O’Mo delivered a 2-out RBI single. Berry was in a hurry to give it away. In the bottom 3rd, he walked two, he balked, had the bags full, two down, 0-2 to Cameron Green, and then surrendered a grand slam. Going into the sixth, Berry surrendered two more runs, and the Raccoons were again helpless into the late innings. Osanai drove in a run in the seventh, and O-Mo came through with a 2-out RBI single in the eighth, which put the tying runs on base. Reece was up, but Morrow was still in the game, and Reece had not seen any land against him. Vinson came out to pinch hit. He grounded out. Top 9th: a 1-out single by Osanai brought the tying run to the plate. Quinn lifted it out to right, where it hit off Jose Martinez’ glove. Two men on, one out. Higgins flew to right, Martinez got to it – and dropped it again!! Bases loaded now, and just a knock away from getting the game tied up. Salazar singled into short center, but it was too short for Quinn to go home. Down 6-5, still only one out. Now Flores had to bat with Vinson out of the game and he popped out. Johnston had to get things done. 1-0 pitch, liner to left, OVER the shortstop, and dropping in!! Hjalmar Flygt brought it in, but the speedy Higgins scored!! The Raccoons had turned the game around!! O’Morrissey brought in another run before Dawson pinch-hit for Matthews and made the final out. Now Grant West came out, 1-2-3, it was over. 8-6 Furballs after a will-they?-will-they?-they-will! rally in the last three innings!! They had 13 hits, all singles, but THERE was the offense. Right THERE. O’Morrissey 3-5, BB, 3 RBI; Osanai 3-5, RBI; Quinn 2-5; Salazar 3-4, BB, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-2, 2 RBI;

O’Morrissey has gone from platoon third baseman to third place in the batting title race, now hitting .347 behind MIL Jim Stein (.366) and VAN Kevin Gilmore (.360).

Master Kisho had a strange start in game 3. In a scoreless game, he didn’t strike out anybody until the bottom 4th, when an error by Salazar loaded the bases. Had Salazar made the play, it could have been two, and the inning would have been over. Only then did Saito manage to K Martinez, but Shotaro Ono singled to short center and two unearned runs scored. Saito allowed two earned runs in the sixth amidst a bout of bad control. The Raccoons didn’t get onto the board until the seventh. Higgins was on first with one out and Salazar dinked the ball into center, where the relocated Martinez tried to make a great play, and didn’t make one at all. Salazar ended up with an RBI double. That was it. The Titans made about six great plays in the outfield, retiring all our sluggers all the time. 4-1 Titans. Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Nope, the offense was still not there. Although it could more be a BABIP issue at this point. They were not striking out a lot, and they tended to make solid contact, but continued to fly into outs. Not even double plays were a big issue here at the moment.

Game 4. The Raccoons took an early 2-0 lead, but left the bags loaded in the first when Gonzalez and Vinson popped out, and the same two were guilty of leaving two in scoring position in the third, when Gonzalez grounded to third very poorly, and Vinson struck out. The Titans got one run back in the fourth after they were not so choosy about when and where to deliver. Jason Turner struggled a bit with the left-handers in the lineup. Ono was a right-hander and blooped to short center to start the bottom 5th. Nobody called for the ball and it fell in. I was calling for a firing squad for a few fielders, but none came. Pitcher Santiago Perez then laid down a poor bunt that Turner successfully converted into a double play. At least one guy was producing. Bottom 6th, and Turner allowed two singles to left-handers, before O’Morrissey started a double play to end it. Top 7th: Hall doubled with one out and the Titans put Osanai on, then struck out Quinn on a full count. Javier Ortiz came in to match Salazar, but threw a wild pitch, moving up the runners. Could Salazar – liner over Chad Fisher at short! It fell in, Hall came home, and Osanai was waived home and the throw was late! 2-out, 2-run single by Salazar, and finally some breathing space for a sometimes beleaguered Turner. And now they broke it open. Gonzalez singled to right, scoring Salazar, and Vinson homered, 7-1. An Osanai error created a tight spot for Turner again in the bottom 7th, but he got a pop out from Gary Lang and struck out Jesus Rodriguez to escape. Overall, he took 90 pitches through seven innings, but was not sent out for the eighth for three lefties being up to bat. The bullpen got through it, and the Coons scored two in the eighth to tie the series with a 9-1 win. Hall 2-5, 2B; Osanai 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-4, RBI; Salazar 2-5, 3 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-2) and 2-4;

Raccoons (28-14) @ Aces (21-21)

The Aces had yet to decide whether they were going up or down in the standings. So far, they were very average in every aspect, be it pitching or batting. If anything, they were prone to strike out, while at the same time their staff was below average at striking out batters. Both instances could work to the Raccoons’ favor. They have however a 4-game winning streak.

David Vinson got the Raccoons ahead in the opener with a 2-run homer in the second inning. This made for back-to-back days with long balls for him, so maybe his production would improve now. Robert Vázquez was perfect into the fourth, when a 2-out walk to Michael McFarland got that one over with. Didier Bourges did away with the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth. While Vázquez controlled the opposition, the Raccoons couldn’t get another run for their life. Still up 2-0, West remained in the bullpen in the ninth – Vázquez finished this one on his own. Only seven hits in the entire game, five for the Coons. 2-0 Furballs. Vinson 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Vázquez 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-0);

For Vázquez, this was his fifth career shutout, and his first since 1987. All his previous shutouts had come with the Indians.

Game 2. The Coons got a run off the Aces’ Jou Hara in the first, and then started to snooze yet again. They had the bases loaded in the third with one out, but Quinn struck out and Reece popped out and they didn’t score. For a very short period, attention focused on Scott Wade and a no-hit bid, which Marcinek Wodaj foiled in the fourth with a 2-run homer, also putting the Aces on top. Through seven innings, the Aces still held their 2-1 lead. They had had two hits, a walk, and a Higgins error – that was all their offense. The Raccoons had had eight hits, and nine strikeouts against Hara. Osanai hit a 1-out single in the top 8th, bringing up Quinn, and here came the knock, a big one, and outta the park. The game was turned again. Wade got one out in the bottom 8th before Mario Rodriguez reached on an infield single. Burnett struck out Claudio Garcia, and Matthews got an out from Scott Spivey to bail out Wade, and West came on in the ninth for a 1-2-3 save. 3-2 Coons, another close one! Higgins 2-5; Hall 2-5; Osanai 3-4, 2B, RBI; Quinn 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B; Wade 7.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4-4);

Two weeks ago we stuffed the Miners for 17 runs in a game. Since then, the team has scored only 53 runs, 4.07 R/G. This includes two small outbursts against the Titans. While we have not been shut out in over a month, the offense is barely sufficient at this point.

Mark Dawson actually made a start in game 3 to give O-Mo a day off. He was 8-63 by now. Dawson first came up in the second inning in a 1-1 game – and homered to left. With that 2-1 lead Steven Berry wobbled through the innings and it really seemed like the Aces left runners in scoring position every inning. He finally came apart in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on, he could not remove pitcher Jose Murillo, who singled to center. Scott Spivey’s 2-run double turned the game around and the Aces loaded the bases before Berry was removed. Ken Burnett got out by popping up Wodaj. Overall, Berry had given up ten hits in 5.2 innings. Dawson and Hall grounded the Raccoons out of the seventh and eighth innings with double plays, respectively. Quinn’s 1-out double in the ninth brought another chance. Salazar grounded to Spivey at short, but the ball rolled slowly enough that Spivey could not make a play and the tying run moved to third. Vinson walked to load the bags and Dawson came up. Would he really hit into another double play here? Can’t be! Dawson went to bat. Dawson went to 3-1, then jabbed inexplicably at Vicente Rubio’s offering and grounded to third. It was no double play, but Quinn was forced at home. O’Morrissey pinch-hit in the #9 spot, but flew out. No happy end. 3-2 Aces. Johnston 2-4, 2B; Salazar 2-4; Burnett 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The unclutchiness of the Coon Citytonians is starting to unnerve me. This was especially true with the Canadiens actually gaining ground. They were 3 1/2 games out as we left Las Vegas for Charlotte. Our offense really has come crashing down now, as we have dropped to 6th in runs scored now.

Raccoons (30-15) @ Falcons (22-22)

The Falcons had not done a lot offensively with 179 runs scored (9th in CL) so far. Their rotation was good, but this was negated by their 11th place bullpen.

Kisho Saito for a while developed a no-hit bid, but it was broken up in the fourth. The Raccoons continued their sloppy play, vomiting up a run in the third (Hall scoring Saito with a groundout), but could not buy a hit in a RISP situation. Top 5th: O-Mo walked to start the game, and Johnston singled to left, nobody out. Hall grounded to left, SS Emmanuele Bedeschi launching at it – UNDER THE GLOVE!! It trickled into left, and O-Mo scored. While this was the first of three runs to score in the inning, it was their only RISP hit. One run scored on a groundout, and one on an error. Saito singled again in the sixth and went to third when O’Morrissey followed that up with a double. Still only one out, Johnston hurled Luis Herrera’s last pitch of the game into short center, both runners scored. WHAT A RASH OF OFFENSE!! No, don’t worry, it ended right there. An error by O’Morrissey threw Saito a curveball in the ninth, and he issued a walk and a single after that, which broke up the shutout. Saito was pulled, and Martinez ended the game with a double play. 6-1 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 1-3, 2 BB, 2B; Johnston 3-5, 2 RBI; Saito 8.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-2) and 2-4, 2B;

By the way, Kisho Saito is batting .370 at this point. He should probably bat leadoff. Or maybe not. Well, his career average is .242, for 171 career hits, with 1 HR (for the Canadiens) and 70 RBI, so he is certainly not the worst-hitting pitcher in the league.

Quinn, Vinson, and Salazar were rested in game 2, which was against the lefty Bastyao Caixinha – Arnold, Flores, and Gonzalez played. Jason Turner struggled with control early on, walking three the first time through the Falcons lineup, but allowed no runs until the fourth, when Billy Mitchell hit a homer off Turner to tie the game at 1. It was also the first hit allowed by Turner. Bottom 6th: Turner walked Djordje Nedic with one out, bringing up Mitchell again. Nedic stole second, and Flores threw into the outfield. Nedic went to third and scored on Mitchell’s single, the second hit off Turner on the day. The run was unearned. And now the question: would the Raccoons cause the second unearned loss to Turner this year? The offense was terrible all around. Then in the eighth, Osanai drew a 1-out walk. Higgins singled to left, but Arnold made an out. With two out, I didn’t want to see Flores at the plate. Quinn pinch hit and singled to left, but Osanai had to hold. Gonzalez was 2-3 on the day. Caixinha was cautious and threw outside twice. A walk was probably undesirable. The third pitch was in the middle and Gonzalez knocked it into shallow right. Osanai scored, and the speedy Higgins was right behind him, almost shoving Osanai along. Vinson made the final out, pinch-hitting for Turner. Cordero and Lagarde got the eighth together, after which Daniel Hall added an insurance run in the ninth. Grant West had a sub par ninth, putting the tying runs on base before finishing the game. 4-2 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Osanai 1-2, 3 BB; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (7-2) and 1-3;

Game 3 was an off day for Hall, as the Raccoons tried to make this a 10-3 road trip. Vázquez faced Manuel Movonda. Offensively, things didn’t get better a bit. Higgins had the daily clutch hit, driving in a run in the fourth, which was exactly Robert Vázquez’ cushion. Bottom 6th: Gunnar Austin singled past Osanai. Stan Potvin singled over Osanai. Mitchell lined way over Osanai, but Johnston made a monstrous play in right to get to that liner. The catch had no permanent effect. The Falcons hit two more singles off Vázquez, tying the game, loading the bases, and getting Vázquez out. Martinez surrendered a 2-run double to Joe Jackson. 3-1 Falcons through six, and the Raccoons had to answer the question why they couldn’t have any big innings anymore. Reece and Salazar led off the seventh with two infield singles. Now, c’mon boys, if that won’t start a rally, I don’t know what can! Hall came out to pinch-hit, and hit it hard, but CF Rich Tracy intercepted it before it could become a double. O’Morrissey came up, and hit it roughly to the same spot – but this time past Tracy, who was slow to retrieve the ball and O-Mo delivered a game-tying 2-run triple! And they stranded him. (bangs head repeatedly against the XXL Gatorade can) Lagarde put a runner on third in the bottom of the inning, but left him there. Top 8th: Osanai and Vinson had leadoff singles. Movonda threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners. Higgins struck out. Good lords in … Reece flew into deep left, into an out, but Osanai tagged and scored the go-ahead run. Salazar singled up the middle and Vinson, not a racer, was waived on and scored. Up 5-3, Matthews put two on in the bottom 8th, but Burnett collected the final out with a grounder. West closed it. 5-3 Coons. Osanai 3-4; Vinson 2-4; Salazar 4-4, 2B, RBI;

In other news

May 14 – The Wolves’ Neil Stewart (5-2, 2.94 ERA) 3-hits the Stars in a 6-0 shutout, which helps them hold on to the division lead.
May 15 – VAN Vicente Torres (6-2, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 5-0 win for the Canadiens.
May 15 – It is season over for the Falcons’ outfielder Jose Madrid (.329, 2 HR, 11 RBI), who has suffered a broken kneecap and will take up to half a year to heal.
May 19 – LAP SP Angel Romero (2-2, 4.13 ERA) will miss up to an entire year after suffering a torn flexor tendon. The 20-year old had made his big league debut this season and had pitched respectably in his first eight starts. He will have to wait a while for start #9.
May 19 – RIC Harry Griggs (4-4, 3.77 ERA) narrowly misses history books, pitching a 1-hitter against the Gold Sox. The Rebels win 8-0. Cris Camacho breaks up the no-hitter with one out in the eighth inning.
May 19 – New York’s Raimundo Beato (4-4, 3.66 ERA) shuts out the Falcons on three hits, taking a 3-0 win.

Complaints and stuff

We scored 54 runs on the road trip. That’s a bit more than four and won’t get it done once the top 3 in the rotation let up only a bit. Anyway: 22 runs were scored with two outs, and of these I think two were scored on pitchers’ presents (balk, wild pitch). The game doesn’t readily give out these numbers, but in 44 instances this road trip, they left runners in scoring position with two out. This does not include the plentiful flailing with less than two outs. I would have to go through all 13 game logs to get a proper WRISP average, which I don’t feel like doing. It was probably something like .230 but it certainly felt like .160 … and even .230 is not going to get things done.

So, we’re off to a phenomenal start, but the offense HAS to kick in better. For all we know, Jason Turner may not pitch to a 1.90 ERA all year. And I’m still surprised by Vázquez, whom I certainly expected to do better than 1.5 stars, but he’s been so strong for us in that #3 hole.

On pitchers, the Cyclones had put SP Luis Velez on waivers, a decent back-end-of-rotation starter, but the Falcons also claimed them and they should have the superior claim over us anyway. Adding Velez would have meant exposing Berry to waivers, but the question is whether I still care about him. But starting pitchers don’t grow in trees and should not be exposed unnecessarily.

I love funny stuff. The Wolves made a trade proposal, offering Mark “Icon” Allen, admittedly an elite slugger with solid fielding. All they wanted for him were SP Kisho Saito, SP Scott Wade, AND two prospects. Yeah, of course.

On the AI: the Stars fired their manager during the Falcons series. The Stars sat at 22-22 at this point, in fourth place, merely three games behind the Wolves. They are throwing the towel even quicker than I do!

The Federal League ERA is up to 4.18 this year, a 12-year high, and a quarter run up from last year. The CL ERA is unchanged (3.84 to 3.85).

Westheim · 09-02-2013, 05:10 PM

May is slowly turning into June. The sun was shining brightly over Coon City, nestled between Willamette and Columbia. What could possibly go wrong now?

(music builds up)

Raccoons (33-15) vs. Bayhawks (31-15)

The Bayhawks had scored the most runs in the Continental League through 7 1/2 weeks of baseball, and ranked second behind the Raccoons in runs allowed. Everybody ready for division leaders squaring off?

Boy, did Scott Wade look awful in the opener. Through the first three innings, there was nothing the battery couldn’t have been accused of, including armed robbery and mental rape. That the Bayhawks didn’t lead 9-0 after three was more their fault than anything else, but two bad throws by Vinson and a wild pitch, a hit batter, and so-so stuff by Wade created a 2-0 deficit that the Raccoons struggled to tackle with 7-1 Wilson Moreno dealing. That same Moreno seemed to come unglued in the bottom 4th, led off by Hall with a full count walk. So did Osanai. So did Quinn. Bases loaded, nobody out. Higgins grounded to Pedro Villa at first, but a run scored, the Bayhawks getting the out at second base instead. Neil Reece laid down a poor grounder that a slow defense didn’t convert. Infield single – bases loaded again since Osanai had to hold. Vinson would have to get things done. Full count. Come on, David take that wa- STEEEERIKE THREE. Wade up with two out, in a 2-2 count. Liner to short – OVER MIKE POWYS!! Osanai scored and the game was tied, and with a tidy knock by O’Morrissey now we – STEEEEERIKE THREE. Wade held the Bayhawks there, somehow, at 2-2. Bottom 6th, leadoff single by Higgins, stole second, went to third on Reece’s single. Vinson could not land a hit, but walked THIS time. Wade up with the bags full and nobody out, we wrestled the bat away from him. Johnston pinch-hit, struck out, and I felt a scornful look from Wade. O’Morrissey came up with a tie-breaking single then. The Bayhawks replaced Moreno with Luis Molina, who balked in Reece. Now the Coons broke it up: Salazar singled to right for two runs (ex-BOS coonskinner Zahid Mashwanis didn’t look good there), and then Hall jacked out of center. The game was moved away from the Bayhawks. Carrillo came in, had a quick seventh, a quick eighth, and eventually went the rest of the way, even hitting a double and scoring in the eighth. 9-2 Coons! Salazar 2-5, 3 RBI; Hall 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, BB, RBI; Reece 3-5; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1) and 1-1, 2B;

Bobby Quinn went 0-3 with two walks and thus lost a 10-game hitting streak. Wade got the win, moving to 5-4, which leaves only Berry with an unpleasant record. And he’s next.

Game 2 was not a pleasant one. Period. Scoreless after one inning, Dave Burton led off the second inning with a rocket to deep left. Daniel Hall was hustling, launching, catching – but he couldn’t slow down anymore and made hard contact with the wall, then remained on the ground, numb. Of course, he had to leave the game, and this didn’t look good at all. The park was dead silent as he was carted off. Tetsu Osanai tried to make fans smile with a 2-out, 3-run double in the bottom 3rd, but the success was more so-so. Berry somehow went six innings of 1-run ball despite walking five batters in addition to six hits. Beyond the sixth, the Bayhawks had only two more base runners, and Osanai’s key hit was the difference. 3-1 Raccoons. Osanai 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-3;

Dan The Man rans into the outfield wall at full steam and is not diagnosed yet. I am obviously disturbed. I am really disturbed. Bob Arnold would get some AB’s for the next few days. And if something major is – now, happy thoughts, happy thoughts.

Game 3. Kisho Saito was heavily ineffective, needing 60 pitches through the first two innings, and fell 2-0 behind, stranding four. The Raccoons failed to bail him out in the bottom 3rd, when they had runners all around and no outs, and scored only one. But they did better in the fifth. Quinn, who had brought in the only run in the third, found O-Mo and Salazar on the corners with no outs. He drilled an offering from Rafael Espinoza into center, just shy of being a dinger, for a 2-run triple. Osanai scored Quinn, who would hit the homer he just missed there later in the game. Saito left after six (the latter four much more effective) with a 4-2 lead, which eventually grew to 6-2, and was kept there by the pen. 6-2 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Salazar 2-4; Quinn 3-4, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (8-2) and 1-2;

And we swept the Bayhawks!! If it just wasn’t for that numbing feeling that … (blinks)

Coon City in a state of shock

Everybody’s worst fears came true on Monday morning, when the management of the Portland Raccoons announced that outfielder Daniel Hall had suffered a concussion after slamming into the outfield wall in a game against the Bayhawks on Saturday. He is anticipated to miss several months, if not the rest of the season.

The team placed Hall on the 15-day disabled list today. A roster move should happen today while the rest of the team has already arrived in Oklahoma City.

That roster move was to call up LF/RF Ennio Sabre from AAA, who had been .308 with 7 HR and 27 RBI in 35 games since signing on.

Raccoons (36-15) @ Thunder (27-24)

For reasons unknown, I was barely able to read the scouting report with all the tears in my eyes. The Thunder were so-so in some category, a bit better in this, and a bit worse in that. The first series post-Daniel Hall-concussion was to go underway.

Game 1 had Jason Turner, who led the league in ERA, and the Thunder tried to master the beast with six left-handers atop their lineup, which worked only partially well. While the Raccoons scored steadily in the game, and six times overall, including long balls by Osanai in the second inning and Salazar in the eighth, Jason Turner was dealing and was almost, but just almost, untouchable. He went the distance, conceding only one run the whole game. When Glenn Johnston botched a ball in right field to start the bottom 9th, putting Pepe Padilla on second base, Turner upped his game once more and punched out (left-handers) Will Jackson and Dave Browne to do all the hard work himself. 6-1 Raccoons. Salazar 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-5; Osanai 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Vinson 2-5; Turner 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, W (8-2) and 1-4, 2B;

Ennio Sabre made his Furballs debut in game 2, playing recently orphaned left field and batting seventh. Vinson and O’Morrissey had days off, meaning Flores and Dawson were playing (and Dawson was batting fifth in the vain hope he might get an extra base hit someplace). His first time up, Dawson double-played the Raccoons out of a potentially big inning, and the Coons scored only two in the first. The Thunder left a number of runners on base early, when Kevin Williams led off the bottom 5th with a single. Williams was the opposing pitcher. Vázquez could not get to Jose Sanchez’ bunt, and Osanai in vain tried to get an out at second base, throwing the ball away completely. And the Thunder blew that one, too, never advancing any further with three soft fly outs. Top 6th, still up 2-0, Osanai singled up the middle just barely through the middle infielders with two down. Dawson came up. He figured, if he was not getting much playing time, he better hurried to get his annual triple – and did so here, lining past LF Will Jackson for a three-bagger. For how amazing it was, the next time he came up in the eighth, there were three men on, one out, and Dawson ended the inning for the second time on the day. Sabre got his first hit as a Furball in the ninth, a double, but was stranded. Vázquez went eight, West put the thing away. 3-0 Coons. Reece 3-4; Osanai 3-4, 2 RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-0);

The top 3 of our rotation are crowding the CL pitching leaderboards. Saito, Turner, and Vázquez all tie for the lead in wins (8), Turner leads in ERA (1.82) with Vázquez third (2.27) with Will Rodgers between them, whom we missed in the Bayhawks series, Turner is t-2nd in strikeouts (67) behind machine Carlos Asquabal (73), and Saito and Turner are t-2nd in WAR (2.4) behind Asquabal (3.5).

By the way, the annual triple story for Mark Dawson is no longer true. He did not hit a triple last year, rupturing a 13-year streak of 20 triples in total. But it has always made for a nice throw-in story.

One more in Oklahoma, Wade’s call. The first time through, he handled the Thunder’s lefty barrage pretty well, but they loaded the bags in the third, starting with a bunt base hit by Jose Sanchez. Vonne Calzado banged the ball to deep center, but Reece intercepted it for the final out. The Coons took a 2-0 lead on a 2-out Higgins double in the fourth then, and O’Morrissey added a 2-run double in a 3-run seventh. Wade went seven on just three hits, and was spared going through the left-handers another time. Ken Burnett came in and had his perfect ERA messed up after 14 innings with a pinch-hit leadoff homer by Hector Roman. That was all they managed, and the Coons won 6-1. Salazar 2-4, BB; Reece 3-4; Wade 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-4);

That’s three straight sweeps, and a 9-game winning streak now!

Raccoons (39-15) @ Crusaders (19-33)

There was not much to say about this team. They had zero offense, and they had no rotation to speak off, both ranking last in the CL.

Game 1 started rough on the Crusaders with a 3-run first by the Coons, although in all fairness, it was mainly SS Manuel Flores’ fault, throwing away a grounder from Neil Reece, and we led 4-0 after the top 4th. Berry got himself yanked in the bottom 4th. With two out, the Crusaders had already scored three runs and two men were on. Berry walked pitcher Luis Andrade and was gone. Burnett got out of the inning (although I’d credit Reece for a strong catch). Top 5th: bases loaded, no outs. It became ugly – for the Crusaders, as the Coons scored five, including two bases-loaded walks, with a few singles sprinkled in between. That made for a 9-3 lead, but the pen still had to cover five frames. However, we got Osanai out of the game early for defense and to conserve him a bit. We got three innings from Carrillo to cover distance, and the rest of the pen did not give away any presents, either. The Raccoons added three runs late, including Ennio Sabre’s first Coons RBI in the ninth, and won by a 12-3 drubbing. O’Morrissey 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-3, BB, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez 2-5, RBI; Higgins (PH) 2-2, 2B, 3 RBI; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

We’ve won 10 in a row, have a .727 percentage, and our run differential is +102 at the end of May (flipping over to June for the rest of the series). We have had only one *whole* season where we reached +100 or more: 1989 with 789-614 runs.

Two more in New York. Game 2 was Kisho Saito’s start, and Sean Bergeron quickly showed him that the Crusaders still had some life, by nailing a 2-run homer in the first. The Raccoons had their struggles with Hector Lara, who was dealing for New York, but Osanai got to him in the fourth with a massive 2-run homer himself. The Coons got two unearned runs to take the lead in the fifth after an error by 1B Martin Limón that prolonged the inning. Saito still was not sharp (and his K’s were down recently) and the game was 4-3 after five. Dawson was playing at third in this game, and after two poor outs, socked a 2-run homer himself in the sixth to support Saito, who went 6.2 innings before putting another runner on second base and with the fat part of the lineup due up and that consisting of right-handers, Lagarde was brought in, but he allowed a single to Diego Rodriguez and the run scored. But things got even tighter. Matthews and Cordero could not clear the eighth. With one out, the Crusaders had the bags full, and we went to Grant West in the 6-4 game. He had not blown a save all year. Benjamin Butler’s sac fly got the tying run to third base. Charlie Foster came to the plate. Poor grounder in front of the plate, Vinson all over it, to first – OUT!! An insurance run in the ninth was not in the books and West faced the 2-3-4 batters in the bottom 9th. Rodriguez popped out foul, before Antonio Esquivel singled his way on. Bergeron grounded to Higgins. 4-6-3, outta there with a 6-5 win! Higgins 3-4; Quinn 3-5, RBI; Dawson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; West 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (19);

That was a close one, but we had 11, and Saito had nine wins, now leading the CL on his own. He trails Washington’s Archie Dye, who has ten wins already.

In the last game, the Crusaders got the first chance to score, with two in scoring position and two outs in the bottom 2nd. Jason Turner fell to 3-0 on Horace Simpson in the #8 hole. With the pitcher coming up, Simpson was reaching for it, grounded to Turner, and was out at first. In the top 4th, we had Vinson and Reece on base with two outs. Higgins singled into right center, and Vinson was sent second-to-home. Ball, runner, and catcher all arrived at roughly the same time, and while Vinson was safe, he was also out – with a twisted ankle. Flores took over. The inning was however still going on. Bob Arnold was put on intentionally to get to Turner, who took a 3-1 pitch into right field and brought in two runs. The Coons extended the lead to 6-0 by the seventh, in the bottom of which Turner crumbled a little bit. The Crusaders filled the bags with one out and up came – Simpson. Turner tried to punch him out, but Simpson put the 1-1 in play. Salazar to Higgins to Osanai, inning over. A late rally of the Crusaders consisted solely of a 2-run homer by Ray Burnett off Ken Burnett. 6-2 Furballs! Vinson 2-2; Turner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-2) and 1-3, 2 RBI; all starters had one hit with the exception of Vinson who had two, and who won a bandaged ankle for it.

David Vinson has been listed as day-to-day for about four days, which will include an off day on the way home. We will host the Canadiens in Portland with Flores behind the dish. I really don’t want to jeopardize Vinson’s health by playing him. At the same time, we don’t really have a roster spot available to call up a third catcher. So we just have to hope that the offense carries us with a .194 batter catching and that nobody bowls over Flores. However, as I know the Canadiens …

In other news

May 24 – LAP Greg Cain (7-2, 3.26 ERA) tosses a 3-hitter, mesmerizing the Miners in an 8-0 rout.
May 28 – SFB INF Roberto Rodriguez (.384, 1 HR, 21 RBI), who was hurt on a play in the Raccoons series, got the diagnosis: he will miss five weeks with a bruised kneecap.
June 1 – NYC SS Manuel Flores (.271, 0 HR, 11 RBI) knocks his 2,000th career hit in the middle game to the Raccoons, a sixth inning single against Kisho Saito. He is the 10th player to reach that plateau.
June 2 – DEN CL Juan Miranda (2-4, 6.11 ERA, 5 SV) has not the season of seasons, that much is clear, but he at least notched his 300th career save by holding the Stars at bay in a 5-2 Gold Sox win.
June 2 – NAS Luis Guzman (7-3, 2.88 ERA) masters the Cyclones in a 3-hit shutout. The Blue Sox win 5-0.

Complaints and stuff

I’m numb. What if our franchise poster boy never comes back? Everything feels so pointless now… and he won’t come back, the game doesn’t give a rat’s ass about him: BNN didn’t even give him a news story. It’s like he’s already gone. All that is left is a gigantic cavernous void.

Daniel Hall (1978-1991): 1,636 G, 1,585 H, 189 HR, 800 RBI, 97 SB, .264/.335/.441, 130+ OPS;

What is going to happen?

Jason Turner won the Pitcher of the Month award in the Continental League, going 5-0 with a 1.21 ERA and 34 K in five starts in May. That’s some awesome numbers here. It’s his first major league POTM award, he one won such piece of mantelpiece bling in the minor leagues before we traded for him in a 5-player deal with the Knights at the deadline in ’87. Steve Walker went over to Atlanta in that trade. Walker was a valuable piece of the Raccoons around our first peak centered on 1983, but I’d say that was one of my better trades.

Westheim · 09-04-2013, 03:19 PM

It is June, and I have yet to check the draft pool, so this will be a short update. With the bigger drafts now, the next update may take a few days. Plus, I feel discouraged from – you know what. They could be 55-2 and I would cry by heart out.

Raccoons (42-15) vs. Canadiens (31-23)

With David Vinson hurting, Gustavo Flores would start at least the first two games in the series, and then we’d see.

The series opener was not for base stealers. The Coons ran themselves out of the first with Higgins thrown out between two Canadiens errors, and didn’t score. They took a 1-0 lead in the second then on an Arnold RBI single, before the Canadiens had runners on the corners with one out in the top 3rd – and the runner from first was thrown out by Flores trying to advance. Robert Vázquez then got out of the inning unscathed, and then watched his teammate score four in the bottom 3rd, including a massive 3-run homer by Ben O’Morrissey. The 5-0 lead was in danger in the fourth. Vázquez allowed a run and the Canadiens had two men on when 1B Patrick Williams sent a fly ball deep into center. Reece raced back and got it! A huge catch that upheld a 5-1 lead, and Reece also made himself useful at the plate. Vázquez went into the eighth, scattering ten hits and two runs. The Raccoons added a 4-run sixth to move the game out of reach in time. 9-2 Raccoons. Reece 3-5, 2B, RBI; Quinn 2-4; O’Morrissey 4-5, HR, 4 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5; Arnold 1-1, RBI; Johnston 3-3, 2B, RBI; Vázquez 7.1 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-0) and 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Bob Arnold was hit by a pitch from Vernon Robertson in the third inning and left with a bruised finger. He will be DTD for the rest of the series. Just when I wanted to give him some at bats.

Three pitchers were tied with nine wins in the Continental League. All are Furballs: Saito, Turner, Vázquez.

The Canadiens made four errors in this game. If they continue to help us that way, we should make it through the series easily.

Game 2, Wade on the mound. The game was entirely hitless until the bottom 3rd, with Wade and Tia Fa dealing nothing but beans to batters. Wade came in with an ERA over four, but the usually solid Fa was 1-5 with an ERA over five coming in. Flores broke up the no-hitter for the Canadiens in an inning that entailed Fa picking off Sabre on first (he had walked) and forcing Flores on Wade’s bad bunt. Wade was perfect through four, before Antonio Rodriguez hit a leadoff single in the fifth. The Coons finally took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 6th after O’Morrissey led off with a triple, but Wade got himself into danger in the seventh, as the first two men reached and were in scoring position with one out. The Canadiens sent Yoshinobu Ishizaki to pinch-hit, and that removed Wade for lefty Cordero, whose first pitch was hit deep enough to score the runner from third on a sac fly. Then, Carrillo came in to face the righty Art Garrett, and got a grounder to O’Morrissey and – he threw it away. The Canadiens took a 2-1 lead. Luis Arroyo popped up to short – and Salazar dropped it! Consecutive errors, and Carrillo couldn’t believe it. Jose Renteria came up and hit a 3-run home run, and that was it for our 13-game winning streak, violently thrown away. And it wasn’t over yet. Osanai dropped and lost Fa’s grounder – another error. Carrillo struck out Raúl Solís to end the inning, but it had been a shameful display of ineptitude. The Inepticoons were back after all. 7-1 Canadiens. Salazar 2-4; Flores 2-3;

So much for bad defense. I’m foaming.

Vinson felt fine to start game 3 and so he did. Steven Berry would be pitching on the brink of extermination. The Raccoons started slow the first time through, but the second time through the lineup, knew how to get to Robbie Campbell and scored two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. Berry held up through five, then allowed a run in the sixth. With two out, the tying run came to the plate, and Salazar had another error to put him on, but Berry got through the jam, but ran himself out in the seventh, when the Canadiens put the tying runs on the corners with two out, and Ishizaki up. Burnett came in and got him to ground out. Top 8th, Cordero came in, and hit David Brewer. 2-0 on Rodriguez, Vinson allowed a passed ball, 3-0. Rodriguez was then put on intentionally, and Cordero yielded for Lagarde. Full count to Javier Salcido, hard grounder to second, Higgins made it a double play. Kevin Gilmore then grounded out. West then ended it. 3-1 Coons. Quinn 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Defense almost did us in again. Hum. This game also ended a 12-game hitting streak for Matt Higgins.

Raccoons (44-16) vs. Cyclones (36-25)

Offense against offense. The Cyclones led the Federal League in runs scored (323). For comparison, the Raccoons led their own league, but had “only” 290 runs scored for a rather big 11% difference.

We faced 118-game winner Ricardo Torres in the opener, who so far had been drubbed to a 5.18 ERA this season. He had won double digits games for eight straight years, but was 3-7 so far. Torres goofed the Coons the first time through the lineup. Their first hit came by Jorge Salazar and also scored the first run of the game, bringing in O’Morrissey from second with a single. The Cyclones tied the game off Kisho Saito right away in the top 4th, but the Coons put three men on with nobody out in the bottom 4th. All they needed was a hit now. They didn’t get one, but at least Higgins and Sabre managed two productive outs, 3-1. Saito was put into a bad spot with an Osanai error in the sixth, but stranded 1B Joey Jones at third base, and held on to the 3-1 lead through seven, and Matthews and West took over from there and kept it together with almost one base runner the rest of the way. 3-1 Coons! Salazar 1-2, BB, RBI; Vinson 2-3, BB; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (10-2);

We had only 18 hits combined in the last three games, so the offense has slowed down most recently. This will test our pitching some more, I think.

The Cyclones sent Mark Burt (6-5, 5.02 ERA) to face Jason Turner with the best ERA in the majors. As one might guess, Turner did not get even close to grabbing a win. A Johnston error was followed by a 2-run homer by catcher Billy Rowland in the second inning, and the Coons ran after that 2-0 deficit. In wet conditions, Turner’s stuff refused to bite and he needed 101 pitches through six, and he left on a 2-1 hook. In the top 9th, O’Morrissey again started the final downfall with an error, and the Cyclones added two runs. The Raccoons hadn’t been close to make up one run, they were not even in the same ZIP code when it came to make up three. 4-1 Cyclones. Vinson 2-4, RBI; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (9-3);

We had four hits here, that makes 22 hits in four games combined. This is really troubling!

Game 3 to finish up the short home stand, it was the undefeated Vázquez. Neil Reece extended a hitting streak to 11 games with a 2-out RBI single in the first inning. Vázquez knew he had to be near-perfect to get a W here, but he was not. The Cyclones hit doubles over Quinn in right and Arnold in left in the third among two singles and took a 2-1 lead. What do you do if nothing else works? Close your eyes and jab. A pair of bloop singles in the third and the fourth helped the Coons to first tie it, then take a 3-2 lead again. Also, Cyclones pitcher Ryan White was all but sharp, hanging his breaking pitches. Harder contact would have sunk him in the second inning, but the Raccoons weren’t doing that at this point. Top 6th, the leadoff man for Cincy was on. Kelly Carpenter singled to right, runner Moromao Hino went to third, Quinn tried to get him, but his throw was halfway between third and home, and Carpenter went to second. Nobody out. O’Morrissey made a marvelous play on Rowland’s grounder to hold the runners. Vázquez punched out #7 hitter Jose Garcia. 2B Francisco Marino came up. Walking him would have them pinch hit for White in all likelihood, and Vázquez matched up with Marino, who had swung threw everything the whole series. First pitch – more than solid contact into the gap in left center. Reece BOLTING after it in a great hustle and – HE GOT IT!! And after quelling that threat, and after getting an insurance run by Osanai in the bottom 6th, Vázquez led off the top 7th by allowing a single to White – and was gone. Lagarde came on, and the Cyclones didn’t throw at all the crap he was throwing and he walked the bags full with two out, then struck out Carpenter just in time. It didn’t get better. Top 8th, Rowland doubled off Matthews, then went to third on Cordero’s wild pitch and Cordero eventually walked Garcia. Martinez came on, and continued the sucking. Carl McClendon had an RBI groundout, and then Martinez walked the next two. Bases loaded, one out, 4-3 lead. Carrillo came on, but it was too late – two grounders past Osanai scored all the runners, and the Cyclones went on to win, 6-4. The Raccoons had 14 hits (to the Cyclones’ 11), all singles, and left 13 men on base. Quinn 2-5; Osanai 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Reece 2-5, RBI; Arnold 2-5, RBI; Flores 2-4;

That was a **** week.

In other news

June 4 – SFB INF Diego Rodriguez (.347, 2 HR, 24 RBI) goes 3-5 against the Condors in a 4-2 win, bringing his hitting streak to 20 games.
June 5 – The Aces send 37-year old ex-Coon INF Dimian Barrios (.244, 0 HR, 12 RBI) to Charlotte for LF/RF Tom Stephens, 25, batting .252 with 3 HR and 14 RBI.
June 8 – Sad news from Boston: Titans owner Dusty Ward passed away in the early morning hours, leaving his team to his son Enrico Ward, who is described as a lenient financial controller.
June 8 – San Fran’s Diego Rodriguez (.343, 2 HR, 25 RBI) extends his streak to 25 games with a second inning single in a 5-4 win over the Stars.
June 8 – TIJ OF Preston O’Day (.323, 18 HR, 49 RBI) has himself a rather impressive season, and now also has a 20-game hitting streak going with a triple and a double in a loss to the Gold Sox, 7-6.

Complaints and stuff

Pitching, offense, defense. That’s what you gotta have. We didn’t have the latter two during this home stand, and maybe going out 3-3 is not so bad. Making nine errors in six games certainly is. The offensively dreadful middle four were, too.

During the week, ATL OF Shoichi Fujino was placed on waivers. An integral part to the Knights offense (even if just as fourth man on the green part of the field) for years, he was crap for a crap Atlanta team this year. He was batting .211. With Ennio Sabre not clicking and Daniel Hall maybe out for the rest of the year (or forever) – he’s not healed off a bit of his “three months” stated initially so far – we could use an outfield upgrade. But we eventually passed on Fujino, a career .264 batter with 43 dingers and tremendous speed for doubles and triples galore: he was to make $650k this year (absorbable) and had a frightening $820k player option for next year. That latter part made us pass especially.

Orcin · 09-04-2013, 04:50 PM

It's tough to know what to do. Trade for a hitter to replace Hall? Go with what you have and hope someone seizes the opportunity? Wait for a better waiver claim to come along? You have a budget to consider, and it's not like franchise players grow on trees.

It looks like you leaning toward playing the hand that you are dealt, but maybe you are just mulling over your options.

You are right about the cruel and heartless game. Hall is just another ID# to OOTP. Heads you play, tails you don't. Oops, concussion. Generate random number... not career-ending... today. Generate random number... out for 150 days. Send email to player. Process next injury.

Westheim · 09-04-2013, 05:43 PM

I don't know whether you tried, but you didn't necessarily cheer me up. :-/

I'm not planning to add much at the deadline unless injuries rip into the rotation. We have almost $900k in budget room which would accomodate any one player at this point, but ...

Don't tell anyone, but there could be an unconditional release in the cards for somebody with a big contract. His initials are the 13th and 4th letters in the alphabet. But ssssshhhh!

I don't really like the current outfield setup, to be honest. I have great defense out there, but Quinn has the only real power bat. Sabre doesn't put anything on the table. Johnston and Arnold are struggling at the moment. I have no upgrade at AAA, though. Sabre's on a minimum contract, and can be sent to the desert easily, but I have no replacement ready.

The infield is crowded. There are no big issues with the pitching staff. Berry's inabilities so far have been over-compensated by the top 3 in the rotation. The pen is all sugar.

Going into September and (which is not unlikely) October, we will either have Daniel Hall or not. Will he be the same player? As far as I remember, the only Raccoon that previously was concussed was Cisco Banda. He came back, but never caught on again for long, and retired four years later, barely batting over .200 and his fielding went down the drain as well.

Would I be able to cope with the pain of losing Dan The Man? I have seen something like that coming with emotional affection and so. Emotions are crap anyway. Clear answer: No.

Westheim · 09-05-2013, 12:34 PM

Random observation: when your team sucks, you look forward to the draft. When you're 45-18, it is just in the way.

Westheim · 09-07-2013, 05:23 PM

1991 AMATEUR DRAFT

The Raccoons had the 15th pick in every round, plus the 12th of 32 picks in the supplemental first round, and the 20th pick in the second round, which the Stars gave up when they signed Antonio Lopez as a free agent. That’s some neat arrangement for four picks among the first seventy-six. There’s a “but” coming.

But it won’t help us much. I found the 1991 pool extremely poor. Starting pitching is extremely poor with only two or three promising boys in there, and catching is non-existent. Outfielders are scarce, and there is not a single power bat in there that does not swing at pigeons flying past sixty feet overhead. Among infielders and relievers, the personnel-to-be on offer is much better, but at #15, little All Star potential will fall to our feet.

The list for players to drool all over was rather short, accordingly: SP Gerardo Ramirez, MR Xavier Herrera, MR Jesus Longoria, CL Leonardo Sosa, 3B Sonny Reece, LF Paco Martinez – that’s about it. There was 2B/3B Roberto Quintero in there, with a potential .330 bat with double digit dingers power, but the problem was that he had been born with the right foot on the left arm and his left hand on his right arm and so on. Apart from mashing, he couldn’t do ANYTHING. ANYTHING. Not even stand on the field. Let alone hustle down a ball.

The Scorpions had the first overall pick and selected OF Manny Ocampo, who had been rather high on our outfield list as well. Testament to the poor pitching was how little pitchers were picked in total before our first pick: three of fourteen players. Ramirez remained on the table. The only other players from the list above remaining were Herrera and Longoria. We took Ramirez, who was still around for unknown reasons. The other two did not remain on the table until we were to pick again.

1991 Portland Raccoons Draft Class
Round 1 (#15) – SP Gerardo Ramirez, 20, from La Concepcion, Panama – right-hander with five pitches, the slider and curveball looking particularly impressive; flyball pitcher, which could become an issue once he plays in Portland
Supp. Round (#36) – LF/RF Paco Martinez, 18, from Caucaguita, Venezuela – solid hitter, possibly for a high average, and not swinging at crap in the dirt; power projected to be enough for double digits; unfortunately is extremely challenged as far as movement in the field is concerned
Round 2 (#71) – 2B Pat Parker, 20, from Kingsport, TN – only one position, but good contact making ability; power is not as thrilling, but with some speed in there as well, he could become a leadoff hitter
Round 2 (#76) – INF Michael Lloyd, 23, from Ridgecrest, CA – plays all four infield positions well, can hit for average; little arm power and speed, and no power
Round 3 (#95) – MR Fred Carlton, 18, from Mesa, AZ – left-handed reliever with devastating slider
Round 4 (#119) – 1B Steve Stevens, 20, from Willemstad, Curacao – very incomplete hitter with doubles, not home run power; so-so defense
Round 5 (#143) – MR Pancho Padilla, 17, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – good, but not thrilling slider; right-hander
Round 6 (#167) – LF Kenny Crockett, 23, from Brookfield, WI – so-so hitting, coupled with horrifying glove work
Round 7 (#191) – 1B/2B Bryan Peterson, 22, from The Colony, TX – good defense on the right side, has speed and gap power, but nothing else
Round 8 (#215) – LF/RF Ruben Cabrera, 19, from Esperanza, Dom. Rep. – speed really is his only upside, and his range is compromised by a weak arm
Round 9 (#239) – MR Juan De La Cruz, 17, from Cumana, Venezuela – lefty with really low stamina and a good curve
Round 10 (#263) – 1B/2B Luis Lopez, 17, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – no power, swings at everything that moves
Round 11 (#287) – SP Bill Banks, 17, from Pasadena, TX – four pitches, no real velocity
Round 12 (#311) – MR Rob Austin, 17, from Scott Lake, FL – tries to develop a changeup

Ramirez, Parker, and Lloyd will start at the AA level, the others in A ball.

---

This has taken place during the next week. Time is fluid, you know.

More from the grown-up Raccoons in the next update. We have some horrify-shock-terrifying news coming up.

Questdog · 09-07-2013, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westheim

We have some horrify-shock-terrifying news coming up.

??.....I can't wait anymore!!....??

Well, I guess I CAN, but I don't want to.....

Westheim · 09-07-2013, 10:10 PM

Raccoons (45-18) @ Stars (33-29)

We seem to be playing the Stars every year now. Which is true: it’s the fifth straight year of us facing each other somewhere along the way to a division title. Well, they have more division titles than we have, but let’s not get into that. Things are looking semi-hopeful for us this year.

While our 298 runs scored ranked 3rd in the CL, their 306 runs ranked only fifth in the FL, testament to that league’s increased offense. Overall, their success had been so-so this year, and they ranked average or just above in most important categories. They had, however, Sakutaro Ine batting .404. Ine still didn’t qualify for the batting title race for minor nagging injuries setting him aside earlier this season.

In a scoreless game 1, both starters, Scott Wade and Mark Warburton, came to the plate with the bags full and two outs in their respective second innings. Neither had an at-bat to relish for years to come. The Coons left O-Mo on third base in the third, and the Stars the bags full for consecutive innings – so, the pitching was not great, but somehow, the offense wasn’t, either. Until the top 5th: with two out, O-Mo singled, and Warburton walked the next two, facing Osanai with the bases loaded. The big Japanese singled into right to score two, and when Reece singled up the middle, Quinn made for home from second base, and Xiao-wei Li’s terrible throw helped him to not be out. Wade held the fort until the Stars resorted to nastiness in the bottom 7th. Leadoff man Marcos Costello, by now *in*famously shunted by the Raccoons a few years ago, came up with a perfect bunt base hit and things started to roll for them. Up 3-1, runner on first, two out, Wade was to face the lefty Ine, who was 3-3 on the day. Select staff went out for a mound conference, which didn’t work too well. Ine took an 0-1 pitch into the left center gap. But a brown blitz was going after it, it was Reece, and he had it! Grant West was also shaken in the bottom 9th. Li drove in a run with a double off the centerfield wall (nothing the brown blitz could have reached) and was on second with one out. West retired Andres Serna, but that brought up Ine. Do you put the winning run on if he is a .400+ lefty and go after .300 righty Claudio Ayala, if your closer is left-handed? Nope, West had to get Ine. Which didn’t work, Ine singled to left on a 2-2 pitch, but Li held at third. Ayala came up. The 0-2 pitch, knocked up the right foul line, bouncing high and showing it’s teeth as it approached first base. Osanai had been removed for Quinn to move over there – and Quinn made the play to retire Ayala. 3-2 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-5; Reece 2-4, RBI; Wade 7.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (7-5);

Pitcher Bill Smith once chose the Stars over the Raccoons when receiving identical offers from both teams as a free agent. That was about five years ago. I was still made. And he faced Steven Berry in game 2, which meant he had good odds to win. The Coons had the bags-full-no-outs dilemma in the top 2nd, and scored only one run with the 8-9-1 hitters only managing a Gonzalez RBI groundout. Ine tied the game right away with a leadoff homer off Berry in the bottom 2nd. Through the middle innings, the Coons twice left Bobby Quinn waiting at third base with less than two outs and the game remained 1-1 until the bottom 6th. Li led off with a single to left, then stole second uncontested, as the only thing caught doing something were middle infielders Salazar and Gonzalez picking their noses. A wild pitch advanced Li to third with nobody out, and Berry walked Andres Serna after this unnerving at-bat. Serna then stole second on a slow Vinson. And who was at the plate? Ine. He was waved right over to first. Bases loaded, nobody out – for the Stars. Two RBI singles later, Berry was yanked, possibly forever. Carrillo came in to go the distance with the game about broken up, and allowed only one more run on an infield single by Raúl Herrera (another ex-Coon denied entry at the gates of Portland). Little distance was gained by Carrillo, who loaded the bags with nobody out in the bottom 7th. And Ine was there yet again in the batter’s box. No place to walk him to. Burnett replaced Carrillo, and two runs scored, one through Ine. Non-hated ex-Coon Richard Cunningham replaced Smith in the eighth to shunt a short and unspirited Raccoons rally. The game ended with a 2-out, 2-run single by Reece in the top 9th, as the Stars tagged out Osanai going first-to-third. 6-3 Stars. Salazar 2-5; Quinn 3-5, 3B, 2B; Reece 2-4, BB, 2 RBI;

Last year’s furball “Woody” Lopez faced us in the rubber game. Kisho Saito did not face Sakutaro Ine as the Stars chose to load their lineup with right-handers, and got a 2-0 lead by the hands of Bobby Quinn and his 2-out, 2-run single in the third. In the fourth, trouble was brewing for Saito for the first time with two on, two out, and Shimpei Iwamoto grounding into the seam between our fielders on the left side of the dia- no, it hits Claudio Ayala’s foot! The runner is OUT!! Phew. Top 5th, bases loaded with one out, and Osanai flew out high to short right. Dawson up, playing after O’Morrissey had collected five K’s in two games in Dallas – struck out. Dawson’s defense was also toast by now. After the Stars had scored a run in the sixth, Dawson’s next three chances consisted off a bobbled pickup and thus an infield single (generous scoring, hometown team fanboys in the press box), and two semi-wild throws in the general direction of Osanai that the big and largely immobile guy both times JUST corralled – both times with the tying runs in scoring position. Osanai’s latter pick ended the seventh and Saito’s day. Lagarde took over in the eighth, just having won back the setup role from a struggling Matthews. Li – singled. Ayala – singled. Li tried to go for third base – nailed out by Quinn, Ayala to second. Lagarde wobbled out of the inning with the 2-1 lead alive. O-Mo pinch hit (K) in the top 9th, then stayed in the game at third base with Dawson to first for the bottom 9th. West with no margin of error put two men on. With two out, a fast racing grounder by Francisco Rodriguez went right to first – Dawson intercepted it to end the game. 2-1 Raccoons. Higgins 2-5; Quinn 1-3, BB, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (11-2);

In our two wins here, we were out-hit a combined 23-13 by the Stars. Uh-oh. We won’t even deal with the middle game here. Kisho Saito’s 11 wins put him two ahead of everybody in the CL, but he still trails Archie Dye of the Capitals, who won his 12th the same day, surrendering no earned runs (two unearned) in a 7-3 win over the Crusaders. The lone run the Stars managed to press in against Saito was the 200th run conceded by Raccoons pitching this year, and we’re WAY past the one-third-mark of the season.

In something that was beaten to death joke-wise that night by Portland’s own late night talkshow host Will Emmett, the Canadiens were swept by the Gold Sox, who had entered the series playing a half hair over .300, and the Coons now enjoyed an 11 1/2 game lead in the CL North.

Raccoons (47-19) vs. Titans (33-33)

The Titans were flirting with being meaningful in the bigger context of the CL North (if you ignored the Coons playing .712 ball) despite pitiful pitching, especially out of the bullpen. Maybe having the #2 offense in the CL helped?

The draft would take place the night of game 2, separating the series in a rather ugly way. Brrr.

Dawson made another start in game 1 as O-Mo was in a terrible and hopefully short K-parade. Reece was tried in leadoff. He had a 14-game hitting streak going for him, too, and he singled to start the bottom 1st, so the decision had not been all bad. The Raccoons left him on third. Jason Turner was pitching, so you expected the zero in the visitor’s line on the scoreboard to stand, but two walks, two rollers eluding the infield, and a huge 3-run double by Shotaro Ono put the Titans up 4-0 and shot Turner’s ERA over two! The Titans were not done and raped Turner for three more in the fourth inning. There goes the league lead in the ERA category. Turner also went – for the showers. Carrillo was further lit up for three runs over the next four innings. Heck, Matthews was hit for two more runs in the ninth. The Raccoons double-played themselves out of two innings, and were awful throughout. 12-1 Titans. Reece 3-4; Osanai 2-4;

Interlude: roster moves

On June 15, the Portland Raccoons shocked baseball by announcing that 3B Mark Dawson, career leader in home runs (304) and RBI’s (1,268), had been released effective immediately. Fans in Portland were speechless.

Dawson had batted .196 between the last two seasons, which we had paid him $1.8M for. Wasted money. We should have called it quits after 1989, but that had been an awesome season for him. The Dawson chapter was over. Acquired in 1981 from Topeka for SP Jack Pennington, he has been a pillar of those 80s Raccoons along with Hall, Osanai, Dadswell, Evans, Saito, and West.

Dadswell’s gone. Evans’ gone. Hall may be gone. Dawson is gone now. Fan interest has gone down rapidly, mostly due to heart attacks and suicides.

Also, we demoted MR Albert Matthews to St. Petersburg, after he had come completely apart the last two weeks.

Two players were called up to make their major league debuts: 1B/3B Matt Brown and MR Daniel Miller. The latter was called up exactly one year after being drafted.

Raccoons (47-19) vs. Titans (33-33)

On with life. Game 2 had still undefeated Robert Vázquez. To stay that way, and he knew that, he probably had to be his own offense. So Vázquez set out to become 10-0 by combining the best of both worlds. Electric stuff, strong hitting and some dumb luck – and got all of it. He drove in the first run in the bottom 2nd with two on and two out (Reece adding another run after that) and then led off the fifth with a double and scored on a Quinn sac fly. Through six, he scattered only five hits, and the run he surrendered in the seventh was unearned after a passed ball on David Vinson. Vázquez then added a 1-2-3 eighth. Ennio Sabre for once made himself useful by socking a leadoff jack in the bottom 8th, his first home run as a Furball. West was up 4-1 for the ninth – and almost blew it. Five Titans reached base, two scored, and they were loaded with two out, when Salvador Vargas grounded to halfway between third and second. Salazar made a sparkling play to keep the game in one piece. 4-3 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Higgins 2-4; Sabre 2-4, HR, RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (10-0) and 2-3, 2B, RBI;

Game 3. Scott Wade went up against a 39-year old Kinji Kan. Neil Reece continued to audition for the leadoff spot by starting the Raccoons’ plate apperances in the game with a leadoff single. Osanai scored him for an early 1-0 lead, and Wade and Reece both were scored by Quinn in the third. Wade, Reece, and Salazar loaded the bags with two singles and a walk in the bottom 5th. Nobody out. Only Reece managed to score after Quinn got Wade forced at home, and nobody managed something like a hit. 4-0 lead for Wade through five, things looked comfy, but they weren’t. A 1-out infield single by Hjalmar Flygt was followed by a pair of 2-out full count walks to load the bases. Chad Fisher was at the plate and uncorked a 1-1 pitch into deep center. Things looked dire and the ball – here comes the brown blitz, and Reece caught it!! AMAZING DEFENSE!! Reece saved Wade’s furry butt, but Wade still became stuck in the seventh, putting two on with two already out and the left-handed Flygt coming up. Burnett came in, but a run scored on a passed ball by Vinson (his second on the day and third in the series) before Flygt grounded out to Higgins. We used Lagarde in the eighth, and West had labored quite hard and semi-successful the day before and we went to Juan Martinez to close against two right-handers and the #9 slot. Fisher singled to start the ninth, but Martinez retired the next three. 4-1 Raccoons. Reece 4-4; Wade 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (8-5) and 2-3;

This – somewhat close – series win puts us to 130-129 all time against the Titans. That’s the fourth Continental League team we have turned our overall record against to the good side, joining the Bayhawks, Loggers, and Thunder.

Miller and Brown have yet to appear for us in a game.

Raccoons (49-20) @ Indians (31-37)

Scoring runs was not only a torture for the Raccoons lately, but it had been for the Indians all season long. This team was reminiscent of the Indians teams of the early-to-mid 80s combining little offense with awesome pitching. The ’91 Indians lacked the pitching part of it.

Flores caught game 1 for Berry, with Vinson out to get his legs unknotted. Neil Reece hit a leadoff double to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. He was left on base in the inning, along with two other Coons, and they left six men on in total in the first three innings. Berry fell 1-0 behind in the fourth on a home run by R.J. Stinton. Through seven, the Raccoons out-hit the Indians 8-3, but could not pull a run outta their … pockets. Quinn singled his way on to start the eighth. Osanai struck out, and with right-hander Jorge Mora coming in, left-hander Matt Brown pinch hit for Ben O’Morrissey making his major league debut. And got plunked. The inning slowly died when Higgins lined out hard to 2B Bob Goyer, and Johnston grounded to the pitcher to kill it for good. Top 9th, still down by that measly Stinton homer. Gonzalez pinch hit for Flores, but struck out. Vinson pinch hit for Cordero in the #9 hole, and hit a triple off the wall in left. Reece to the plate, any long ball will do. 0-1 pitch, liner off the bat – PAST GOYER, GAME TIED!! That was all they managed. Lagarde was tasked with prolongation of the joyless contest, which he accomplished. He then was tasked with the tenth, too. Which he didn’t. The joyless contest ended with a walkoff homer by Forest Hartley, two down in the bottom 10th. 11-4 hits didn’t translate into anything worth recollecting much further. 2-1 Indians. Reece 3-5, 2B, RBI; Salazar 2-4, BB; Osanai 2-4, 2B; Vinson (PH) 1-1, 3B; Berry 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K;

Reece was batting over .360 now and had he sufficient AB’s, he would lead the CL batting race.

Matt Brown was starting at third base in the middle game. O-Mo had been befallen by the plague all of a sudden, hitting squid and striking out constantly. Brown in turn made an error in the second that cost an unearned run and put Kisho Saito 1-0 behind. Top 3rd, Reece singled (19 in a row), Salazar singled, Quinn singled, bases loaded, no outs. And maybe Mark Dawson was no more, but Osanai could hit into a double play just as well. The tying run scored, but not any more. It was excruciating. Top 4th! Higgins was hit by the pitch. Brown had his first big league hit, a single to right. Higgins dashed for third, was thrown at, but safe, and Brown moved up. Flores was walked intentionally. Same situation as an inning ago. What Tetsu Osanai couldn’t pull out, his fellow Japanese (but not fellow PITCHER) Kisho Saito did (much ashamed about Osanai’s honorless failure), and singled in the go-ahead run. Two K’s later, Quinn singled in another run, before Osanai left the bags full. Some offense would have been nice, since Kisho Saito surrendered a home run to Victor Cornett in the bottom 4th and the game was a close 3-2 Coons affair after that. Could a leadoff triple by Bobby Quinn lead to a run? That happened in the seventh. And Quinn, Arnold, Higgins, and Brown failed to score him. We got the first two men on in the top 9th. Arnold hit into a double play, third and first. The agony. Higgins provided a clutch hit, an RBI triple, AT LAST!! Kisho Saito went out for the ninth with a very low pitch count. The Indians had swung at everything, invariably making weak contact all the time, apart from that home run. Saito ended up with a complete game, but the Raccoons needed 15 hits to score four measly runs. Reece 2-5; Quinn 5-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-4, 3B, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (12-2) and 2-4, RBI;

Again, Kisho Saito remained a W short of WAS Archie Dye’s mark of now 13. Dye handily won his start against the Cyclones with nine runs of support. HOW DARE THOSE CAPITALS SCORE THAT MUCH!? THAT’S THREE GAMES’ WORTH OF RUNS!!

(foams)

Rubber game, Turner pitching, and he had to rebound from a not-so-great start of 7 ER against him. He didn’t, to make it short. A Gonzalez error got the Indians rolling with two down in the bottom 2nd, but then Turner surrendered three straight hits to score four unearned runs, including a 2-run double to pitcher Jesus Lopez. Making that mess up was again left to the pitcher by the offense. Aided by a wild pitch, Turner’s RBI groundout in the fifth was the first run the Coons got on the board, and Reece’s liner into center scored another run and gave him a 20-game hitting streak. If just the rest of the team would do anything meaningful at the plate. Turner pitched six before being pinch hit for, Arnold striking out in his place leading off the top 7th. The Raccoons still trailed 4-2 and no clue how to score two ****ty runs. Daniel Miller made his debut in the bottom 7th, with pitcher Lopez being his first opponent. Lopez singled. Bad sign for things to come. Miller still completed the seventh and eighth without damage done. O’Morrissey’s scratch single off closer Jim Durden brought the tying run to the plate in the top 9th. That was also the high water mark of the team. 4-2 Indians. Reece 2-5, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4; O’Morrissey 3-4; Miller 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

That’s the third game some unqualified bloke in the field has blown for Jason Turner this year. COME ON!! You have no ****ING OFFENSE and then you have no ****ING DEFENSE ATOP OF THAT??

Raging mad.

Raccoons (50-22) @ Condors (41-31)

Riding a remarkable cold streak at the plate, the Raccoons had to face the Condors, whose offense was humming. The Coons had not scored a meaningful number of runs in two weeks.

The Condors were socking so-far-undefeated Vázquez around in the series opener, taking a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Nobody was more surprised than Tetsu Osanai and Matt Higgins, when Tetsu Osanai and Matt Higgins tied the game in the top 3rd with 2-out base hits. That tie didn’t hold together for long. Vázquez made his most awful start since joining the Raccoons (maybe even his first awful start), walked five in 3.2 innings and was yanked down 6-3 with two men on, still in the fourth, and those two runs scored when Paul Theobald doubled off Carrillo. Down 8-3, it was about hopeless, until they scored three in the seventh, but left the tying runs in scoring position, when Gonzalez struck out. Out-hitting the Condors 14-9, they out-scored us 9-6. Reece 3-4; Quinn 2-5; Osanai 2-5, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 4-5, 2 2B, RBI;

Reece was nursing his streak with a 2-out, 2-run single in the top 2nd of game 2, which was Scott Wade’s start, who was decent through the first three innings, but was defeated with triples from the Condors in both the fourth and the fifth, emerging the latter trailing 3-2. The Raccoons could only tie that with an unearned run donated to them in the sixth. Wade went 6.1 innings of so-so ball, before Cordero took over and promptly blew the tie again. The Condors sent oldie Jon Butler with their 4-3 lead in the eighth and he struck out the side, apart from Neil Reece, who homered to left to tie the game again. Ultimately, it only prolonged the suffering. Jackie Lagarde was walked off upon for the second time in a week, and again with a home run, a pinch hit offering by Gilberto Alaniz leading off the bottom 9th. 5-4 Condors. Reece 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Salazar 2-4, BB, RBI; Osanai 2-5, 2B;

The Raccoons so far have not been swept all season.

Game 3. Berry and a potent offense. Ehm, NOT playing on the same team. First the good news: Neil Reece brought his hitting streak to 23 games with a third inning single. For bad news, Berry went seven plus innings, surrendering three home runs for four runs total, two of those runs coming in the eighth, where he was only whacked around. One inning earlier, in the top 7th, the Raccoons had the tying run at third base after a 2-out RBI triple by Jorge Salazar – who OF COURSE was left there on third base by Quinn. Entirely overwhelmed by the Condors roster in it’s entirety, the Raccoons gave in willingly and lost 4-1. Reece 2-4;

In other news

June 10 – San Francisco’s Diego Rodriguez has his hitting streak end at 26 games, as the Cyclones not only beat the Bayhawks, 5-3, but also hold Rodriguez dry to an 0-4 tune.
June 11 – The Condors win 8-6 over the Blue Sox, but Preston O’Day loses his 21-game hitting streak with an 0-3 day against merciless Nashville pitching.
June 17 – Dallas’ LF/RF Sakutaro Ine will miss four weeks with a fractured thumb after being hit by a pitch. All he did so far was hitting .424 with 8 HR and 47 RBI for the Stars.
June 19 – CIN OF Michael Watson, 38, announces his retirement at season’s end. Watson, who has 1,740 career hits, is only batting .223 with this year’s Cyclones.
June 19 – The same day Neil Reece’s hitting streak reached 20 games, SFB OF Dave Burton (.348, 1 HR, 43 RBI) also made it to 20 games of hitting, contributing two hits in a 5-1 win over the Falcons.
June 20 – Only two weeks after the Titans have lost their owner, the Indians’ patriarch Jesus Alvarez passed away after struggling with his health for several years. His son Jesus Alvarez jr., a charitable and understanding character, has taken over operations.
June 20 – The Indians later in the day also announce that they addressed their offensive struggles in a trade with the Knights, bringing in 2B/SS Paul Connolly (.253, 4 HR, 34 RBI) in exchange for SP Jesse Carver (7-5, 3.43 ERA).
June 20 – Dave Burton goes 0-4 against the Falcons, ending his hitting streak already at 20 games.
June 21 – The Falcons end up being 2-hit by Boston’s Kinji Kan (7-5, 3.34 ERA), as the Titans win 8-0.

Complaints and stuff

Neil Reece was obviously hot and won the Player of the Week honors in the Continental League for the Indians/Condors stretch of games, having gone 16-28, 1 HR, 5 RBI.

Occasionally, this team feels like the 1981 Raccoons (or worse). From June 5-19 they had 14 consecutive games of scoring four runs or less, going 7-7 in the process thanks to stud pitching.

Those were two incredibly disgusting weeks.
Since June 1: 3.4 R/G
Since June 5: 2.8 R/G
This update: 2.9 R/G

There is NO offense going on on this team. There is NO offense. The offense is DEAD. Tetsu, Bobby, Glenn, David, and the other suckers could go out and erect burning crosses all over Mississippi and not even THEN would they be offensive!

Add to that spotty defense and that the pitching is coming down to earth. The tumble back to the Canadiens’ record has already begun. It will be very short, but extremely painful. We were a flaming 23-5 in May. We’re 10-10 in June, and the Canadiens won’t play .500 forever.

Orcin · 09-08-2013, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westheim

On June 15, the Portland Raccoons shocked baseball by announcing that 3B Mark Dawson, career leader in home runs (304) and RBI’s (1,268). Fans in Portland were speechless.

I think they were speechless because they weren't sure what happened.

Westheim · 09-08-2013, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin

I think they were speechless because they weren't sure what happened.

Gah. I should stop doing three things at the same time.

On June 15, the Portland Raccoons shocked baseball by announcing that 3B Mark Dawson, career leader in home runs (304) and RBI’s (1,268), had been released effective immediately. Fans in Portland were speechless.

Westheim · 09-08-2013, 10:39 AM

Short update. I just threw a level 3 tantrum over - well, see yourself.

---

Raccoons (50-25) vs. Aces (37-39)

The good news were that we were to miss the Aces’ Jou Hara in this series, who was currently second in pitcher WAR in the CL.

For bad news, a ringing double off the base of the wall in left by Manny Espinosa got the Aces a 1-0 lead in the first. Kisho Saito was not locating his stuff very well in the game and was punished with a 2-run homer by powerwise weak-hitting 2B Scott Spivey in the fourth. Spivey punished Saito once more in the sixth with a 2-out RBI single for a 4-0 score. The Raccoons? They did nothing. Zero. They left two men on in both the fifth and the sixth (both times Spivey made plays on grounders up the middle). They didn’t manage to stitch hits and walks together properly until the eighth, with Saito long out of the game. Vinson walked to start the inning, and Higgins’ grounder was not pulled out by the defense and both were safe. Jose Murillo balked with a full count on Johnston, enabling Johnston to hit an RBI groundout instead of a double play. Matt Brown came up and doubled over Espinosa in right, and now came the tying run to the plate, O-Mo pinch-hitting for Miller, but he lined out to left. Reece barely got away from a wild pitch that moved Brown to third, then showed some more electricity with an RBI double to right. One more knock to get Saito off the hook, which was Salazar’s responsibility. He grounded out… Burnett gave up a run in the ninth, 5-3 Aces. Reece 3-5, 2B, RBI; Johnston 2-4, RBI;

Five losses in a row constituted a crisis, no matter how far ahead of second place your team is. Their non-hitting was agonizing, to say the least. RF Manny Espinosa made two errors and two misplays in this game, and it still didn’t help the Inepticoons a single bit.

Neil Reece’s 24-game hitting streak constitutes a new Raccoons franchise record, breaking a mark set by Tetsu Osanai in 1986.

The Aces sent Sixto Calderon and his 5.17 ERA into game 2. He faced the minimum through three innings. Reece extended his hitting streak with a leadoff single in the bottom 4th with the Coons and Jason Turner trailing 1-0. Salazar’s grounder up right was intercepted by Michael McFarland, but Reece was safe at second and scored when Bobby Quinn singled to left. Game tied. After the top 6th, both teams were held to three hits and a run apiece, but then Turner singled to left to start the bottom 6th. Maybe now something could transpire. Nope, Turner was left on third base by Osanai to end the inning. The Aces tried to crack Turner with throwing every left-handed batter they had at him in the seventh, but couldn’t do it. It also messed up their defense, removing Spivey and Bob Goyer from the game and putting Mario Rodriguez at first and McFarland at short, neither of whom belonging there. Maybe – no. Turner pitched in the eighth, putting runners on the corners with one out. He struck out Espinosa, a lefty, bringing up McFarland, a .319 hitting right-hander. He could do him, right? Yeah, he could – it was close and maybe only Reece’s quick feet kept the game tied when McFarland hurled the ball into deep center. Bottom 8th. Salazar on first, two out, Quinn grounded to second base. Bob Edwards’ throw was dropped by Rodriguez at first, Quinn was on. Osanai coming up against Rick Evans, the big guy would not figure into the decision by walking and leaving it to Vinson with the bases loaded. And Vinson struck out.

The agony.

Contrary to popular belief, Grant West was still with the team, alive and well, and entered in the top 9th of the tied game, his second non-save situation appearance of the year. With two men on, reliever Rick Evans actually had to bat and made the final out – the Aces’ bench was empty. Bottom 9th, O-Mo, Johnston, Higgins scheduled. O-Mo got on, Johnston bunted him over, and then things derailed and we went to extra innings. Bottom 10th, Salazar’s 1-out single created another chance. Quinn singled into shallow right and Salazar ran to third and was safe. Osanai had been removed in a double switch and West was pinch hit for by Matt Brown, the only left-hander we had against righty Vicente Rubio. Here, Matty, make yourself popular in Coon City. He struck out, and Vinson grounded out. Bottom 11th: O-Mo and Johnston singled their way on with nobody out. Higgins bunted the winning run to third base. Bob Arnold to the plate. Winning run at third. One out. He was walked intentionally to create forces at every base, but that brought up Reece. Here, Neil, make yourself popular in Coon City. He went to a full count against Hidekazu Oyama, then laid off the next pitch. Silence for a second. Ball four, BALLGAME!! 2-1 Coons. Reece 1-5, BB, RBI; Salazar 3-5; Quinn 2-5, RBI; Johnston 3-4; Turner 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K and 1-2; West 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Daniel Miller got his first career win in the big leagues.

I tell you, Tetsu Osanai is toying with his consecutive games started streak, which would hit 1,000 games some time in August, I think.

Rubber game. Reece extended his streak with an infield single in the first inning, leading off again, before he was properly erased by a double play off Higgins’ bat. Vazquez fell behind 2-0 in the second inning on a Rodriguez home run and the Raccoons – let’s make this short, they bloked themselves out of every chance they got against ill-controlling Francisco Vidrio. That was until the bottom 8th, when Osanai walked. Antonio Gonzalez came up with one out and tatered the ball outta the park to tie the game. Vazquez was still in the game until *after* a leadoff triple by Claudio Garcia in the ninth. Lagarde replaced him in the hope to get two K’s and a grounder to Higgins (in that order), but he threw a wild pitch before he ever got close to finishing that list. Down 3-2, Johnston’s pinch-walk to start the bottom 9th provided a grasp of hope. The next three balls into play were all hard hit to the edge of the warning track, and all intercepted. 3-2 Aces.

In other news

June 25 – NO-HITTER: San Francisco’s Chris O’Keefe (9-5, 2.47 ERA) no-hits the visiting Titans in a 1-0 win, allowing only three walks to Boston batters. Zahid Mashwanis scored the Bayhawks’ only run in the first inning with a double collecting Diego Rodriguez. This is the 14th no-hitter in ABL history, and the second for San Francisco after Rafael Espinoza’s gem almost exactly two years ago on June 20, 1989. Espinoza’s no-hitter was also the last one not pitched against the Thunder (three since then). The Titans found themselves on the receiving end in a no-hitter for the first time. It is the sixth no-hitter pitched in June, leading all months (Salah Brunet, IND, 1977; Roger Weaver, RIC, 1984; Eric Edmonstone, NYC, 1984; Carlos Guillen, NYC, 1985; and Espinoza’s).
June 25 – Atlanta’s Mike Dye (2-3, 3.52 ERA, 9 SV) holds the Canadiens at bay in a 4-2 win, collecting his 300th career save.

Complaints and stuff

I’m gonna go, read a book. Sounds like more fun.

It is not a baseball book.

08-30-2013, 12:58 PM	#543
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	Raccoons (5-4) @ Canadiens (3-5) Here came our first contest against our most-beloved team in the whole world. And four games right away! Wow, that will be fun! Their rotation had been roughed up pretty bad in the first 1 1/2 weeks, being bombed to a 6.40 ERA. Game 1. So much for a roughed up rotation. While Vicente Torres 1-hit the Raccoons (a lonely Osanai double) through five innings, the Canadiens offense sat right on top of Steven Berry, who conceded ten hits, five runs, and a lot of red-capped, grinning, and very ugly children at the park, and left with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth. Juan Martinez managed to clean up without another run scoring. Lagarde pitched the remaining three frames with one unearned run against him, while the only offensive mark set by the team was a 2-run home run by Glenn Johnston in the eighth. 6-2 Canadiens. Osanai 2-4, 2B; Lagarde 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Vernon Robertson, last season’s Pitcher of the Year, came into game 2 with an unhealthy 0-2 record and on 9.53 ERA. The Raccoons got a run off him in the first inning, but the Canadiens didn’t take long to get Robertson into a position to break into the W column, when they brutally broke up Kisho Saito for five 2-out runs in the bottom 2nd. They were just finding ALL the seams in the infield. And outfield. And beyond. Even more puzzling, the Raccoons came back from that socking in an instant, with a 2-out RBI single by Osanai in the top 3rd, and after that a huge 3-run homer by Mark Dawson. It went on: Glenn Johnston singled to right, and while 2B David Brewer got to the ball deep behind the infield, he made no throw, and then Neil Reece came up and homered to left center. That was the exit for Robertson. 7-5 Coons, and still six plus innings to play. It was a 7-6 game after the bottom 3rd, with Saito not on top of his game, but still completed five innings, getting in line for a W. The offensive mashing cooled down noticeably as the bullpens brawled in the middle innings. Neil Reece in the top 7th drove in a much needed insurance run, and Dawson did so in the eighth. The Raccoons bullpen held up, with Martinez, Burnett, Matthews, and West pitching scoreless ball. 9-6 Raccoons. Higgins 4-6, 2 2B; Gonzalez 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-4, BB, 2B; Dawson 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Johnston 2-5, 2B; Reece 4-5, HR, 3 RBI; The hobbled Daniel Hall sat in game 3, and Vinson – not a force at the plate so far – got that game off as well. Flores was the one getting the Raccoons ahead in the top 2nd of the game, hitting a 2-run double. It was shaky lead. Jason Turner struggled with the Canadiens lineup, allowed a run in the third, and the defense bailed him out by not nailing one, but TWO runners at the plate in the early innings. David Brewer tied the game – finally – with a 2-out RBI single in the fifth. The next time he came up, Brewer sunk Turner and the Raccoons with a 2-out home run in the seventh. In between, Mark Dawson had double-played the Raccoons out of a scoring chance in the sixth, and afterwards Osanai flailed with two men on in the eighth to waste that one. Top 9th, Alejandro Lopez pitching. With one out, Higgins singled his way on, then stole second base. Bob Arnold was 0-2, but then doubled into the gap in left center and Higgins scored to tie the game. The Coons loaded the bags – Reece was up with two out. He took the first thing Lopez offered. The folks down south in Oregon could firmly hear the knock – GRAND SLAM NEIL REECE!! Some of the red-capped, grinning, and hideously ugly children cried. Coon City didn’t. 7-3 Raccoons. Vinson (PH) 1-1; Reece 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Higgins 3-4; Hall (PH) 1-1; Carrillo pitched the eighth and got the win – the first decision not taken by the starting rotation, illustrating well our feast-or-famine SP performances so far. We rebuilt the lineup quite heavily, putting the glazing-hot Higgins and Reece at the top of the lineup, starting in game 4, which was started by Vázquez. Two scoreless frames in, Vázquez came to bat with nobody out in the top 3rd and Salazar and Vinson on base. He failed to bunt twice, then was told to hit it, and singled up the middle. Bases loaded, nobody out. Higgins popped out, but Reece hit an RBI single to get some score on the board. Hall singled between 3B Raúl Solís and SS Art Garrett and LF Luis Gonzalez took too long to get to the ball, and two more runs scored. Osanai sac flied, and Johnston brought in Hall with a single, 5-0. The Canadiens were reeling, and on top of everything lost their star 2B David Brewer to an injury on a defensive play in the fourth. Destruction was completed with a 4-run fifth, making for a really miserable Sunday afternoon for those fiendishly ugly little Canadiens rats. The Coons dugout had a party. The Canadiens did get to Vázquez later in the game with four runs (and some shoddy corner infield defense from the Brownshirts), but there was no comeback here. 11-4 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnston 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Salazar 4-5, 2B, RBI; In all the celebrations after that series, one unfortunate issue came up. Daniel Hall had left the last game in the eighth with a sore ankle, and on our following off day we got confirmation that his ankle had in fact aggravated. He was now put on the DL retroactively to April 9, meaning he would be on the shelf for another eight days. Looking for a call-up, Jeff Martin was batting .207 in AAA, and while Vern Kinnear batted .357, we didn’t want to call him up just yet (and even less for a mere week). Daniel Dumont would have gotten the call, but he had no options left. So, after much back and forth, Martin was added to the roster. With two more AAA outfielders on the shelf (Randy Powers, Daniel Camus), we looked to the free agent market for quad-A players. At the same time, Bobby Quinn was ready to play again for the next series. Raccoons (8-5) vs. Indians (7-5) The Indians took it to Scott Wade quickly and with force in the opener of the series. Wade allowed six runs over five innings, with the Indians landing five of their eight hits for extra bases. Kazuyuki Ando scattered three hits over eight frames, and the Raccoons had a runner in scoring position exactly once in the game. The only highlight for Raccoons fans were three hitless innings in relief from Carrillo, although there was one hit, to Angelo Duarte, who left with an injury. Payback coming in this series? We’ll see. For now, the Raccoons lost 6-0. Carrillo 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; A win would have won us the division lead, instead the Indians tied the Loggers at 8-5. Carlos Guillén not only had no-hit the Raccoons a few years ago, he also came into the middle game having pitched 21 innings with no runs allowed so far this year. And against Steven Berry, with two out in the top 2nd, and two on, in a full count, he homered to center. 3-0 Indians, and the park was frozen. Surprisingly, that was the only damage to Berry in five innings (apart from a few hard hit balls and superb outfield plays). In the bottom 5th, the so far puzzled Coons loaded the bags against Guillén with one out. Gonzalez drew an RBI walk, 3-1, and Berry was pinch hit for with O-Mo, who singled up the middle, 3-2. Higgins grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice to tie the game, at least. Reece flew out. Top 6th, Martinez pitching. Bob Goyer on second base with two out, Guillén to bat – a single up the middle, Goyer scored. It was … crunching? The score remained there into the ninth. Grant West pitched for two outs in the ninth just to get him dusted off, before Jim Durden entered, who had already had a few chunks taken out from him this season. Osanai led off and doubled and went to third when Dawson grounded out. Arnold lobbed into left, right to R.J. Stinton, but Osanai got the go-sign early and tagged up at the first moment. It didn’t help: tanks roll slowly, and Victor Cornett was waiting for him, ball in the glove, at the plate. Osanai bolted through him, the ball came loose, and Osanai was safe. Once Cornett was pieced back together behind the plate (super glue worked wonders), Vinson doubled to left. Salazar came in to run for him, with Gonzalez at the plate. Durden struck Gonzalez out and the Coons played their first extra-inning game of the year, where the real grind just began. West and Durden went through the 10th, before we sent out Lagarde, who pitched the next four, loading the bags in the 13th before escaping. He also struck out with a runner on second in the 13th, but our bench was empty already. When there still was no decision, Cordero came out to pitch for as long as he would have to, with only Carrillo (who had gone three frames the day before) remaining in the pen. In any case, Jason Turner ventured into the pen between innings to take over in the 19th or so. The bottom 15th saw Cordero bunt into a force of Flores at second base, and Higgins thrown out trying to steal by Cornett. Turner eventually was spared a relief appearance. Raúl Vázquez homered off Cordero in the 16th, and the Raccoons were too bad to score anything. 5-4 Indians. Osanai 4-7, 2 2B; Arnold 2-4, RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B; Flores 1-2; O’Morrissey (PH) 1-1, RBI; West 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Lagarde 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; A win would have – Game 3. Saito had to go deep in this game with the beaten bullpen we had suffered the day before. A Reece triple and Quinn sac fly took care of a 1-0 lead in the first. From there, Saito was mostly on his own, as the defense was … let’s call it “lazy”. The 1-0 stood in the top 7th, when Saito had a runner on first and two down with Bob Goyer batting. He grounded into the seam between Salazar and O’Morrissey. Salazar made a great grab, was up like a shot, and zinged to first – OUT!! Goyer could not believe it, neither most of the furry fans. Jesus Lopez had held the Coons to two hits that far, but Johnston singled his way on in the bottom 7th. With two out, he was on second base. Salazar blooped a ball into shallow left for a single, and Johnston made for home, where he slid in a hair under the tag, 2-0. The Coons then finally broke the game open in the eighth with a 3-run homer by Tetsu Osanai. Saito still had gas left – he went the distance. 5-0 Raccoons! Reece 2-3, BB, 3B; Quinn 1-2, BB, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (3-1); Kisho took 111 pitches for his 11th shutout, the first this season. Yay! Interlude: FA signing The Raccoons also announced the signing of LF/RF Ennio Sabre. The 30-year old Venezuelan should still be remembered as a member of the 1989 Wolves. Yeah, those. His .284, 13 HR, 71 RBI season two years ago was the only productive one he ever had, and he had batted .228 between Salem and Sioux Falls last year before going unsigned this winter. He has signed a minor league deal and reports to AAA, where we have a flurry of injuries. Overall he is a .241 batter, but with 52 home runs in 2,305 AB. Raccoons (9-7) vs. Thunder (8-8) Somehow, the Thunder led the CL in runs scored while having sub-par offensive numbers in general. That was slightly mysterious and we’d have to see how things would play out then. The Thunder threw six left-handers at Jason Turner in the opener. It didn’t help them a lot early on, as Turner struck out six in the first three innings, but he was still broken up with five hits (two of them more luck than anything else) in the fifth inning, as the Thunder scored four runs, and they made it 5-0 in the sixth. The Raccoons offense was as helpless as the score read, which also translated into the rest of the game. 5-1 Thunder. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B, RBI; In the middle game, the Raccoons were on the verge of scoring in both of the first two innings, but flailed. In the third, Johnston started with a single, Quinn singled, Osanai with an RBI single, and O-Mo walked. Bases loaded, nobody out. Again, it became a disaster, as Gonzalez grounded out for one run to score, before Vinson hit into a double play. The Inepticoons were loose, despite leading 2-0. Martin singled his way on to start the fourth, then was caught stealing. Next pitch – Vázquez doubled into right. Nobody scored in the inning. At least Vázquez was strong on the mound, but successive extra base hits by Will Jackson and Vonne Calzado cut his lead in half in the sixth. Still, Vázquez’ eight innings were quite the show as he fanned nine. Quinn got on to start the bottom 8th, and stole second. Osanai singled him in and the Coons now crowded the Thunder pen. A freak single off the glove of 1B Hector Roman by Vinson scored another run, and Martin scored another one with an RBI groundout. 5-1 Raccoons. Quinn 2-3, BB; Osanai 2-4, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Martin 2-4, RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (4-0) and 1-3, 2B; And here we actually took over first place, since both the Loggers and the Indians were crumbling mightily. One game remained in the series: Scott Wade (a cringing 0-3, 7.27 ERA) faced Bob MacGruder (0-1, 6.17 ERA). Wade faced eight left-handers, all batters except MacGruder, and this didn’t look good at all. Of course, it became a pitchers’ duel. Both teams got a run in the third, and both with a 2-out RBI double by Milo Carpenter and Tetsu Osanai, respectively. Wade went six frames decently before he was pinch hit for in the bottom 6th of the tied game. Two out, the Coons had the bases loaded. Will Jackson’s catch of Bob Arnold’s flyer in left center was one for the highlight reels. Higgins and Johnston then were on the corners in the seventh with nobody out. Quinn lined over Carpenter at short for a tie-breaking single. MacGruder then hit Osanai with an 0-2 pitch. Osanai for a second glared out to the mound, contemplating what Godzilla would have done to MacGruder, then went to first. The Coons made it a 3-run inning to lead 4-1. A pitch into PH Neil Reece’s hip with two down in the bottom 8th was followed by two hits by Quinn and Osanai and the save opportunity was taken away from West when Reece scored. Lagarde entered in the ninth, facing the left-handed 3-4-5 hitters. He struck out Calzado and Jackson, then walked Dave Browne, ending the latter’s 14-game hitting streak. The game ended quickly after that. 5-1 Raccoons. Quinn 3-5, RBI; Osanai 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-3, 2B, RBI; Wade 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; Cordero 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-1); In other news April 12 – SFW Manuel Paredes (2-1, 2.35 ERA) 1-hits the Wolves in an 11-0 pouncing. Cameron King breaks up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the eighth. April 17 – VAN 2B David Brewer (.367, 2 HR, 7 RBI) is out for a month with a strained hamstring suffered in a game against the Raccoons. April 19 – The Indians confirm that 2B/SS Angelo Duarte (.297, 1 HR, 3 RBI) has suffered a broken wrist when hit by the Raccoons’ MR Robert Carrillo. Also down to a fractured wrist is LAP SS/3B Mike McCain (.146, 0 HR, 3 RBI), and both will miss six weeks. Complaints and stuff Matt Higgins leads the CL with eight stolen bases, trailing only DAL Andres Serna with nine. Bobby Quinn does not qualify due to insufficient AB’s, but he could lead the batting race in the CL right now. In the FL, Marcos Costello on the Stars leads with an insane .483 mark. Costello? Costello? Yeah, the guy we traded in for Man of the Year finalist Alarico Violante. How Violante lost the title to Sid Meier will forever remain a mystery. Costello went .310 with 7 HR and 36 RBI in some 300 AB’s last season and is basically unstoppable this year. The trades I do! Tetsu has so far a rather good season, by the way. Mark Dawson? Ouch. The “teacher’s pet”? Well, Dan The Man had a slow start, but the injury bug has bitten him already. He will return in a few days. You wanna see an under-scouted pitcher? See below. Vázquez was never scouted any higher than 12/12/14 by any of our scouts. He can’t be a 12/12/14, not even a 10/11/12. Never. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

08-30-2013, 05:59 PM	#545
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	I'm not feeling like importing the league to OOTP14 at all. I don't want to break consistencies ... if you know what I mean. We're in a nice groove here. It should best stay that way. My attempts at OOTP14-started dynasties have all ... been more ... semi-successful ... if you know what I mean. Err... --- Raccoons (11-8) vs. Knights (10-8) The Knights were on a roll after sitting in last place of the CL South a week ago. Their offense had come to live, and their rotation had a 2.90 ERA. They were on a 7-game winning streak, and the Raccoons had their work cut out as they were going to face Asquabal, Harrington, and Ryan. Uh, that’s going to get tense. And that stomping rhino of a team was faced merely by Steven Berry. It didn’t go too well here in game 1. Carlos Asquabal not only pitched well, and had his first hit of the season, too, a 2-out, 2-run double in the second inning. To be fair, Berry also started the scoring for his own team, a bloop RBI single in the fifth, and held the Knights at two runs so far. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 5th, but Quinn struck out to end the inning. Berry allowed only two hits through six, but then put a runner on second in the seventh. With bad control quickly shooting up his pitch count, he was removed, but Cordero allowed the run to score nevertheless. The Coons were unable to mount anything worth mentioning, and although the Knights were held to four hits opposed to the Raccoons’ six, they prevailed. 3-1 Knights. Reece 2-4; Martinez 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Weird stats: Reece’s two hits both were infield singles. Matt Higgins reached twice on errors. Neither ever scored. Kisho Saito started with two walks to the first three men up in game 2, but escaped the inning with the help of a double play. The Raccoons managed to score twice on Jim Harrington in the fourth, both times RBI groundouts and no actual clutch hits. A 2-out triple by slow-footed catcher Joreao Paulos halved that lead pretty soon in the fifth. Saito was then hit by a Harrington pitch in the bottom 5th, but stayed in the game. He was starved along with Matt Higgins in scoring position when Quinn flew out to left to end the inning. Again no clutch hit. Another triple, this time by Luis Barrera, cost Saito the lead in the sixth, when Michael Root scored Barrera with a groundout. Top 9th: Saito still in there in the 2-2 game, Root led off with a single and advanced when Paul Connolly grounded out. Saito was still in there and struck out Manuel Guzman. Eddy Bailey came up. Protected by Shoichi Fujino, Saito pitched to the right-hander, who took Saito’s first pitch out to center, but Reece caught it. Bottom 9th, c’mon boys, walk off for Kisho! Nope, wasn’t in the books. The Raccoons went down 1-2-3 and into extra innings. Top 10th, Matthews walked Fujino, and Paulos singled to right, and Johnston’s throw to third base was slightly (read: wildly) errant. And that was only the first error in the inning. Let’s make this short, the Knights won in ten, 5-3. Higgins 2-5, 2B; Quinn 2-5, 2B; Salazar 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; Daniel Hall came off the DL for game 3, and Jeff Martin packed up and went back to Florida. Jason Turner and Glenn Ryan continued the good pitching, so-so offense series. Ryan carried a no-hitter into the fifth until Daniel Hall legged out an infield single. “Double Play” Dawson came up and – well. Bottom 7th, Johnston and Osanai on base, two down, Dan The Man came up again. 2-2, Hall grounded to left, and it went JUST between Connolly and Barrera for a single. Johnston went around third at such speed, the sonic boom nauseated the Knights so the throw was late and Johnston was safe with the first run of the game. Dawson had two in scoring position and flew out lazily. One out in the eighth, Dawson threw away Guzman’s grounder, putting the tying run into scoring position, and Root and Barrera came up. With no trust whatsoever in our left-handed relievers, there was a huge conference on the mound. Turner would have to get Root, no matter what. Root was not really into this season yet, batting merely .237, but as things tended to go for the Coons… Turner got to 0-2, but Root grounded to Higgins instead of K’ing, and Guzman went to third. Barrera was up and lined out to center, and Johnston got it! Phew!! The Coons then got their first two men into scoring position in the eighth, before leaving them there. Now, the score was 1-0, and West was ready, but Turner looked so dialed in, and was to face right-handers. Maybe he …? He got two quick outs, but when Anthony Hopper singled his way on, it was go time, and West entered to face Jack Jackson, but Jim Wood came out to pinch-hit, batting more than twice that of Jackson. West struck him out nevertheless. 1-0 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, RBI; Turner 8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (2-2); Mark Dawson in ’91: 7 H, 4 GIDP; Each of his hits (assuming his salary to be paid from April 1 to September 30) has clocked in at $16,861. For comparison, Matt Higgins: $451; Now at 12-10, there are three teams breathing down our neck in the division, all within 1.5 games, including those Canadicans. Raccoons (12-10) vs. Crusaders (8-13) The Crusaders were not among those, as they were battling the Titans for possession of fifth place. They had not much to offer offensively so far, and their rotation also ranked close to the tail end in the Continental League. This weekend series would wrap up our home stand. Robert Vázquez fell 1-0 behind in the series opener on a Benjamin Butler home run. Vinson led off the bottom 2nd with a double and scored on a Jorge Salazar grounder that went right through Douglas Donaldson at third base. With one out, Vázquez sac fly was not played well at all by the defense at both Vázquez and Salazar were safe, but nothing came about in the inning beyond that. Daniel Hall hit his first home run of the year to lead off the bottom 3rd. Bases loaded, one out in the third, Bob Arnold fouled out in the #8 hole. Vázquez came up – DOUBLE INTO RIGHT!! Two runs scored, and Vázquez was half the way to a cycle here. But in contrast, his mound work suffered. The Crusaders left three in scoring position between the fourth and fifth, but in the sixth, Horace Simpson hit a huge 3-run homer to tie the game. Vázquez exited the first start for the Coons he wouldn’t win in a 4-4 tie through six. In the bottom 7th, Hall, Osanai, and O’Morrissey loaded the bags with nobody out against starter Gary Nixon. Vinson came up and Nixon still remained in there. He never threw a strike in the at-bat, and Vinson walked, forcing in the go-ahead run. Of course, somewhere, somebody managed to hit into a double play, and it was Salazar, a liner to SS Manuel Flores, who caught O-Mo snoozing far off the bag. Arnold singled in Osanai, 6-4. Matthews and West did their job from there. Lagarde got the W. 6-4 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, BB; O’Morrissey 2-4; Salazar 2-4, RBI; Arnold 2-4, RBI; Matt Higgins was struggling all of a sudden and paused in the middle game after plunging his average big time the last week. Gonzalez played at second base. The Crusaders took a quick 2-0 lead in the middle game when Scott Wade surrendered back-to-back home runs to Douglas Donaldson and Sean Bergeron, but hope didn’t have to be abandoned just yet, as Bobby Quinn bombed one as well in the bottom 1st, and his counted for three, collecting Salazar and Hall on the bases. The Raccoons made it 5-2 in the second, but for the struggling Wade that was not enough to feel comfortable, and he crumbled. Up 5-3 in the top 5th, with two down, Hall brought in a single by Bergeron, but threw wide of home, and they didn’t get Donaldson at the plate, and the tying run in Bergeron went to second base. Martin Limón up, a left-hander. Mound conference. Limón grounded to the mound and Wade got the out at first base. Inning over. Wade got through the sixth after all. Breating space was provided by Quinn with another dinger in the seventh, making it 7-4. Beyond that, the back end of the pen took care. Carrillo had pitched the seventh, but put the leadoff man on in the eighth, but Cordero got through the left-handers, and West pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. 7-4 Furballs. Salazar 2-5; Johnston 2-5, 2B; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Quinn 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; That was the first W for Wade this year. Now, next get that ERA below five, that would be great. One more game, and maybe Berry could stop blowing things up and give us our first sweep of the season? With the Coons going out to Milwaukee after this series, we could use some breathing space. Berry faced Raimundo Beato, which was never a good proposition. A Hall double and Osanai homer at least got him a first inning lead, 2-0. That lead was in danger instantly. The Crusaders had two in scoring position in the top 2nd with one out, but then Butler grounded to the feet of Berry, who got the out at first and the runners held. Simpson, who had hurt us already in this series, was put on intentionally to get to Beato, whom Berry punched out forcefully. Now, Berry didn’t have his most vicious stuff in this game, and struck out four only this time around, but ironically it was his best start of the season, since he was locating and mixing his pitches so much better. After that rocky second inning, he breezed through eight innings of shutout ball. Martinez completed the shutout and series sweep. 4-0 Raccoons! Hall 2-3, 2B; Osanai 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Berry 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-2); In other news April 24 – NAS CF Stan Williams (.339, 1 HR, 14 RBI) will miss about six weeks after suffering a fractured thumb. Complaints and stuff We have conceded 82 runs through 25 games – obviously a great mark, which leads the CL. Our offense has scored 108 times, which ranks 7th. Now, Hall and Quinn have come back strong from early injuries and are hitting .300+ now. With them in the lineup, and our other outfielders also producing nicely, maybe we will raise that R/G mark (4.3) a bit from here on. Mark Dawson then again … wow … just wow … he also has three errors at third base already. O-Mo is making more starts now. Daniel Hall now has five consecutive multi-hit games (including the last game before he hit the disabled list). Scott Wade has not found his mojo yet, that much is clear. However, one difference to the last years is a significantly higher BABIP, so it’s not just him, it’s … baseball. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here. Last edited by Westheim; 08-30-2013 at 06:00 PM.

08-31-2013, 09:44 PM	#546
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	Raccoons (15-10) @ Loggers (12-12) This was a 4-game series and we better perform here, because a bad Loggers series killed our momentum last year, and a bad Loggers series could cost us here. Taking three out of four was certainly desirable. There were however indications that the Loggers and their strong start were fake. Their pitching had been bottom of the Continental League (11th) so far. Their rotation had been beleaguered, and the offense was mildly effective. Their run differential was -13. If the first inning in game 1 was an indicator, we’d have a good series, as the Raccoons roughed up Scott Murphy for two runs there, driven in by Quinn. The offense fell silent after that, though. Kisho Saito got into trouble with two leadoff singles by Raúl Rodriguez and Santiago Rodriguez in the bottom 3rd. Murphy bunted the runners over, but Saito got out by striking out the 1-2 batters, Emilio Roman and Bob Grant. In the bottom 5th, Saito faced the Rodriguezes again. Raúl got on, and Santiago shot a no-doubt homer to tie the game. Those were indeed the 7-8 hitters of the Loggers, and Saito had nothing against them in this game. Saito was the one to wake the Raccoons offense from it’s mid-game snooze then in the top 7th, hitting a double off the wall in right center with one out. Salazar walked and Higgins came through with a 2-run triple. Hall scored him with a sac fly, 5-2. The Rodriguezes were to lead off the bottom 7th. Saito went out to face them. He got Raúl, but Santiago singled, however Saito escaped by means of a Charlie Justin double play. Matthews came close to blowing the lead in the eighth with two men on and Gates Golunski shooting out to center, but Glenn Johnston made the play to end the inning. Grant West would not have been available for this game, but the Coons took the book out of my hands with a leadoff triple by Salazar in the ninth, and Higgins brought him in. 6-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Higgins 1-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B; Saito 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4-1) and 1-3, 2B; This game ended Daniel Hall’s string of consecutive multi-hit games, in fact he went 0-2 with two walks and a run batted in. Also, another so-so stat: David Vinson threw out Emilio Román stealing in the first inning. It was his first CS this season, he had gone 0/16 before. Ouch. I was aware of the fact that we could not seem to control opposing runners, but hadn’t dived into the numbers yet. Jason Turner faced off against Davis Sims (2-0, 2.96 ERA) in game 2, the only Loggers starter not yet brutally be-clobbered by the opposition this season. The Coons were happy to fill that hole and batted through the lineup in the top 1st, scoring three runs before Turner left them good ol’ bases full. There were runners on the corners in the top 2nd with Quinn 1-2 behind. With two out, Quinn swung over Sims’ offering – and would have ended the inning, had catcher Duane Smith been able to catch the ball. The ball rolled away, and Neil Reece scored from third. Turner did not have a good game here, occasionally struggling with control and the six left-handers in the lineup were able to get in on him at times, and a 5-0 lead became a 5-2 lead in the fourth, and Turner then made a fielding error in the fifth that brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but he struck out Grady Young and got Drake Evans to ground out to end the inning. Turner covered six innings with 104 pitches before showering. Ken Burnett pitched in relief, but left with a finger blister. The Coons took away a save opportunity with a 2-out run in the ninth, making it 6-2, but Lagarde put a man on in the bottom of the inning. The next batter, Cristo Ramirez shot a bouncer past Lagarde, who in vain stretched for it. Higgins made an error on the play, putting two runners in scoring position, and Lagarde remained on the ground holding his thigh. Grant West came out to strike out a struggling Jesus Jimenez and save a 6-2 win, but we had just lost two relievers. Hall 2-6; Osanai 4-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-6; Vinson 3-4, BB; Lagarde 1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Notes on game 2: all nine Coons starters had at least one hit in the game; also, the injuries to our relievers were per se not crippling for them, but for the team as a whole. Burnett’s blister would take a few days to heal, and Lagarde would be hobbled with a mild hamstring strain for a day or so. Game 3. The Coons left two on in the top 1st, and Robert Vázquez fell 1-0 behind in the bottom 1st. Top 2nd, one of those dreaded bases loaded, nobody out situations, and with Vázquez at the plate. He grounded up the middle, SS Raúl Rodriguez got to it, to first, SAFE!! And would you know, he was the only Coon to get a run in in this inning. Salazar struck out, Higgins flew out to short center, and Hall grounded out. Vinson struck out to leave runners on the corners in the third. Agony. Dan the Man finally came through in the fourth with a 2-out RBI single collecting Higgins, which gave Vázquez a 2-1 lead, which just refused to grow. The Coons left the bags full in the sixth when Johnston popped out to left. Top 7th, O-Mo at first with one out, Vázquez to the plate – and again the pitcher came through with an RBI double. Unbelievable. He was promptly left at second base. Unbelie- … Two were left on in the eighth. Vázquez put two men in scoring position with two out in the bottom 8th. Albert Matthews was brought in to face the right-hander Jimenez, who popped out to Johnston. Top 9th, bases loaded, one out. Hall struck out, Osanai flew out. Come on, that can’t be …! West had a 1-2-3 inning, saving the 3-1 Raccoons win. Hall 2-5, BB, RBI; Johnston 2-4, BB, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-3, 2 BB; Vázquez 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (5-0) and 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Team LOB: 19. NINETEEN!! They played only nine innings, for fur cap’s sake!! Individually, they left THIRTY-EIGHT men on base! That’s impossible! They coulda won a zillion to one!! Matt Higgins struck out in the sixth. Why is that of importance? It was his first K this season after going the entire month of April without whiffing, and completing 120 PA without a strikeout! I think that’s uber-awesome. April was over, but Scott Wade’s April Agony wasn’t. It had turned into May Malaise. He took 32 pitches through the first inning, blowing a 1-0 lead, then could not hold another lead in the fourth. He was not sharp, not at all, as he got into many 2-strikes count, but could barely remove anybody himself. The Raccoons appeared to break out with a 3-run fifth, including RBI doubles by O’Morrissey and Osanai, the latter driving in two. Ocasionally, Wade DID get a big K, like to the struggling slugger Jimenez in the bottom 5th, when there was one out and runners on the corners. Jimenez got to Juan Martinez in the seventh, though, with a 2-out RBI single. Wade was already out there, having barely gone six frames. The Coons led 7-3 in the bottom 9th when Carrillo came in and walked the first three men, all on full counts. Oh no. West was really unavailable. Lagarde came in, and he struck out Ramirez, and he struck out Jimenez. Quinn took care of Young’s flyer to right. PHEW!! 7-3 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Flores 2-3, 2 RBI; Arnold (PH) 1-2, 2B, RBI; Cordero 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Lagarde 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1); A sweep – how sweet! Let’s ignore for the moment that they made it a bit hart on themselves in this series. Raccoons (19-10) @ Miners (10-18) Here came a team that was phenomenally struggling. They ranked close to the bottom in runs scored, runs allowed, and most shocking was their bullpen ERA: 7.90! Four guys in their rotation had ERA’s of five or more. The exception to that was Leland Lewis, who was 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA and probably wished himself onto a better team at the moment (although Lewis, 33, was a career Miner, 422 starts, and still motoring strong with a 183-139 lifetime record, with a very good 3.26 ERA). Ex-Coon Armando Sanchez hurt Steven Berry with a 2-run home run in the first inning of the opener. The battery of Berry and Vinson had a hellacious day. By the third, the Miners led 5-0, Vinson had committed a throwing error, and Berry had thrown two wild pitches. I couldn’t stand his sight past the fourth inning. Bob Arnold pinch hit for him in the fifth and successfully ended the inning with a double play. The Raccoons crawled back into the game in the middle innings with one run in the fourth and two in the sixth, but the weather-hardened Lewis held them there through eight. Johnston’s 1-out single in the top 9th brought the tying run to the plate. The struggling Jose Amador walked Vinson, which brought up Dawson. Should we really have him hit here? Maybe he could hit a dinger? He flew deep to right, but Willis Turner made an amazing catch to retire him. Reece grounded out, and the Raccoons lost, 5-3. Hall 3-4, RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Game 2 saw the Raccoons rough up Pittsburgh’s David Castillo with four extra base hits in the second inning, taking a 3-0 lead. Kisho Saito had a 2-out RBI double in the inning, then was roughed up himself in the bottom 2nd for two runs. Castillo was knocked out in a 4-run third, where the Raccoons had the sacks full with no outs and at got all their runners in for once, before Saito was also knocked for two more in the bottom 3rd, 7-4, but he held the damage there. Still, Saito went only five this time, which increased the strain on the pen after Berry’s bad start the previous day. The Raccoons scored single runs each time from the fourth through the sixth before they put the rout on with a 5-run eighth. In the bottom of that inning however, the Miners got to Cordero and battered him for two runs and three men left on. Matthews walked in a run before a double play grounder ended the inning. The Raccoons got two runs back in a major offensive barrage, and won the game handily, 17-7. Salazar 2-6, 2B; Higgins 2-6, 2 2B; Hall 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-3, 2 BB, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-6, 3 RBI; Johnston 2-6, 3 RBI; Vinson 4-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Martinez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K; Matthews 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K; Our bombardment here put us atop the Continental League in runs scored with 150! We also had the best record in baseball now at 20-11. And after hitting 17 runs the day before, the Raccoons failed to get to Joe Lane jr. in the rubber game. While Jason Turner fell behind in the second on an unearned run, and trailed 2-0 after three, Lane was puzzling the Raccoons big time. And he was one of those 6+ ERA guys. Maybe an error by RF Guillermo Valdez got them going, which put the leadoff man Bobby Quinn on base in the fifth. Salazar followed that up with a single. Runners on the corners, nobody out. O-Mo singled through on the right side, getting the Coons on the board, and Vinson lined over SS Rod Carey to tie the game. Higgins, batting leadoff, eventually brought in the go-ahead run. Turner loaded the bases in the bottom 5th, but punched out Valdez to escape with the 3-2 lead alive. Turner rebounded for 2.1 more solid innings before leaving due to an elevated pitch count and with the lefty Valdez coming up. The Raccoons got an extra run in the sixth inning. West came in for the ninth and walked pinch hitter Robinson Flores to get things started. Carey grounded for a force at second, but scored when Armando Sanchez doubled to left. It was the first run allowed by West this year and now the game was in grave danger. Gonzalez had replaced Osanai for defense, but even he could not get to Jerry Phelps’ grounder into right. Quinn got to that single ball as Sanchez rounded third and went for home. Quinn rocketed the ball right into Vinson’s glove – tag – OUT!! César Cruz made the final out. 4-3 Raccoons! Salazar 3-4, 2B; O’Morrissey 2-3, BB, RBI; Turner 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (4-2) and 1-2; As the only team with a winning record in the CL North, we now led by five games over the tied Canadiens and Indians. Raccoons (21-11) vs. Pacifics (20-12) Here came the second-best team in the ABL, certainly quite the matchup. They had however already allowed 146 runs, 7th in the Federal League, and their rotation ranked 8th with a 4.51 ERA, so they were all but impregnable. Unfortunately, we’d show them the all but impregnable bottom of our rotation as well in this series. But first came the still loss-less Robert Vázquez. The Pacifics threatened early in the first inning, putting two men in scoring position with nobody out, but Vázquez was able to strand them. The Coons also stranded runners in scoring position in their half of the first. Anibal Rodriguez homered off Vázquez in the third, 1-0 Pacifics, and they moved to 3-0 in the fourth. The Raccoons just could not land a hit with runners in scoring position, and were unable to hurt Angel Romero on the mound for L.A. at all. Romero went seven, and Vinson led off the bottom 8th with a double. Raffaele Antuofermo hit Matt Higgins, bringing the tying run to the plate. Now, I contemplated whether to pinch hit Quinn for Arnold on Quinn’s day off, but didn’t, and Arnold struck out. With everything running away, Quinn then pinch hit for Antonio Gonzalez (who had spelled Salazar in the field), and Quinn knocked it deep, deeper, GONE!! One rip tied the game, 3-3. The game went into overtime, where Salazar, who now had to come out despite getting his deserved rest, drew a leadoff walk in the 11th. Lagarde had pitched two innings and came up to bat. We were tight in the pen. Lagarde was to bunt, but fell to 0-2. Clarence Bowen’s third pitch was in the dirt. At 1-2, Salazar went with the pitch, which was low, Lagarde held up, and Salazar was safe. Lagarde then struck out. Leadoff batter du jour was O-Mo, and he hit it out to left, Jonah Frank going out there, but he didn’t get it! O-Mo hit a walkoff double! 4-3 Raccoons. Gonzalez 2-3; Quinn (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Salazar 0-0, BB; Martinez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2-0); In game 2 Scott Wade (2-3, 5.09 ERA) had two chances: get to .500, and get below five. Either would be appreciated, preferably both. He certainly got early run support, a 2-run homer by Tetsu in the first, then drove in a run himself in the second, and the Coons added two in the third to make it 5-1 through three. Home runs by Daniel Hall and Carlos Cook made it 6-2 after the top 6th, and Wade made an error in the seventh that led to an unearned run, 6-3. It was a game of errors anyway, with two on either side. Hall had the other error for the Brownshirts. With two out in the eighth, Wade walked Ignacio Sosa, ending his night. Cordero came in, but walked Doug Belding, and Vinson couldn’t get out quick enough to convert César Mejia’s grounder into an out. Bases loaded, tying runs aboard for Jose Milanda. Matthews came in to face the right-hander, who shot his first pitch to deep center – into Glenn Johnston’s glove. West surrendered a home run to Glenn Adams in the ninth, but saved the game. 6-4 Coons! Quinn 2-4, 2B, RBI; Dawson (PH) 1-1; Wade 7.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (3-3) and 2-3, RBI; The very game we moved him into the leadoff spot, Ben O’Morrissey went 0-5, killing a 10-game hitting streak. Great. Steven Berry was battered early in the last game, surrendering two runs in the first inning. The Coons loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom 2nd. Vinson struck out, and they only got a sac fly from Gonzalez. Berry struck out. Down 2-1, and with Berry not being too good, but holding his ground, the Raccoons couldn’t get the ball on the ground in the middle innings. Greg Cain was not too great either for L.A., but the defense made a few plays that robbed the Raccoons. They were 2-hit until Hall hit a 1-out single in the fifth. Osanai made an out, before Quinn singled to right and Hall went to third. Salazar up the middle – it got through, the game was tied. It was not tied for long. A 2-run homer by Doug Belding buried Berry again quickly in the sixth, and they made it 5-2 in the inning. Berry struck out eight through six innings, but again left with a terrible line. Could the Raccoons come back once more and spare their starter a loss? The ball just didn’t want to fall onto the green for them. Johnston hit a huge line drive out to right to start the eighth, but it was caught. Quinn drew a leadoff walk from Joaquin Bastos in the bottom 9th. Down by three, that was not enough. Two outs were made. Reece pinch hit for Gonzalez and grounded to Kevin Lewis, and the Pacifics could not make the play. The tying run came to the plate, which would be Carrillo, so somebody had to pinch hit, preferably a power bat. All eyes on Mark Dawson (Arnold and Flores were also left, but didn’t fit the job description). Dawson struck out. 5-2 Pacifics. Quinn 2-3, BB; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; In other news May 1 – IND C Victor Cornett (.240, 7 HR, 18 RBI) joins a small circle of power batters that have hit three home runs in one game, Cornett doing so against the Canadiens. The Indians still lose, 9-7. All of Cornett’s dingers come off Robbie Campbell, and all are solo shots, two leading of innings. He also had a sac fly for a 3-3, 3 HR, 4 RBI line. He is only the seventh player to achieve this feat in ABL history, joining Ben Simon (POR, 1977), Michinaga Yamada (NYC, 1980), David Rivera (RIC, 1981), Matt Mason (RIC, 1983), Edgardo Garza (MIL, 1987), and Michael Root (ATL, 1989). May 1 – DEN LF Dale Wales (.237, 3 HR, 15 RBI) will be out for about a month with a sprained ankle. He hit over .300 the last two seasons. May 3 – TIJ SP Woody Roberts (4-2, 2.03 ERA) 3-hits the Scorpions, as the Condors take an 8-0 win. May 4 – CIN SP Vicente Perez (3-0, 3.08 ERA) tosses a 1-hitter against helpless Loggers, taking a 4-0 win. The lone hit against Perez was a double by Duane Smith, who was thrown out trying to get to third base in the fifth inning. May 5 – The Wolves will be without catcher Les Harper (.297, 3 HR, 13 RBI) for six weeks. The 26-year old has suffered a torn flexor tendon. May 8 – SFW RF Enéas Spinelli (.394, 3 HR, 21 RBI) will have to sit three months with a dislocated shoulder. The 5th place Warriors, three games out, will certainly be missing that hat. May 8 – ATL 1B Manuel Guzman (.307, 3 HR, 14 RBI) also goes down. He has a fractured foot and will miss about five weeks. Complaints and stuff That was a very good stretch, despite a few obvious shortcomings of the offense (19 LOB…). The only two games we lost were Berry’s starts. I’m seeing a pattern here. Over 20% into the season, the Raccoons rank first in the offensive categories SLG, OPS, RS, H, XBH, and K, while we are top 3 in most other categories. The only category we are not great is a former point of excellence of us, back in the mid-80s: drawing walks. The pitching staff ranks top 3 in all but one categories, and leads in ERA, bullpen ERA, OBAVG, and K; that other category is HR, where we rank 6th due to hitter-friendly Raccoons Ballpark. Individually, Tetsu is 3rd in RBI, Higgins leads the CL in SB, and Turner leads in ERA. I KNEW IT!! It’s a great team! For the most part at least. There is a certain roster spot that cries for improvement. We won’t call names here. Random note of weirdness: do you have any idea how often I write Logan Evans’ name when Jason Turner is pitching? I don’t know where that comes from… well, they’re both black, and there is some rather vague similarity in facial features, and of course they came up through our minor league system. Still, Evans is more than ten years older and away from Portland for a few years now. Their pitching styles have very, very little in common. I don’t get it. By the way, what is Logan Evans up to? He’s still with the Stars, where he went 11-13 with a 4.14 ERA last year, and this year he is 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA. His control is abysmal, he walked 122 last year, and is 10/17 in K/BB this season. Random note of weirdness #2: who leads the Stars in wins? Hint: it’s another ex-Coon. Answer: Richard Cunningham! Four wins in relief for him so far, despite getting battered to a 7.02 ERA. Baseball is the strangest game. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-01-2013, 08:33 AM	#548
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	The "pet" has been quite streaky for a few years now, going either .100 or .400 for weeks at a time. It's not a problem as long as other batters don't follow suit in the first category. Incredibly strong and weak streaks over longer periods once were Mark Dawson's trademark feature. He's in a weak streak now, which has been lasting over a year. I like Glenn Johnston's left-handed bat in the lineup, especially against right-handers (of course...). Reece has started in center against all left-handed starters, but those have been very few and far between so far. I think we have not faced more than ten so far. Reece has started a few games against right-handers in mid-April when he hit about .400 and whenever Johnston was a bit slow at the plate. However: track record shows Johnston to be the more consisting hitter, while Reece has so far shone mostly through defense (apart from the famous Neil Reece Game of course). But I admit he should play a few more games. It's almost a luxury problem that we have here, having four excellent outfielders. Bob Arnold is being pushed out here, since he has not delivered a lot so far this season. Tetsuuuuuu's power is not there, but I will take a .350 bat with around 20 dingers any day. More concerning is his defense, which is falling apart rapidly. He's become a bit of an error sink. Bobby Quinn is actually leading the team in home runs. Whether the Capitals are still hitting themselves over waiving him? (Probably not, given their 1990 title) More from Coon City later today. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-01-2013, 07:56 PM	#549
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	Raccoons (23-12) @ Indians (15-18) The Indians had no offense. That was their main problem. Their 125 runs scored ranked second-to-last in the Continental League (the Raccoons had scored 166 so far). There were few things not to like about Kisho Saito’s outing in game 1. He got an early 1-0 lead, that remained that small. He controlled the Indians pretty well, and didn’t get into trouble until the fifth with runners on the corners and one out. Here, the Indians ran themselves out of the inning. Sixto Moreno tried to steal second base, but was thrown out by Vinson. Bob Goyer then flew out to right, ending the inning. Had Moreno been still on, it would have been a game-tying sac fly. It took the offense until the seventh to get a leg up against Indians starter Jesse Carver again. Back-to-back 1-out doubles to right by Salazar and Higgins made it 2-0. Saito came up with two out and blooped into shallow right, scoring Higgins, which was a wise move. A leadoff double by Raúl Vázquez spelled trouble in the bottom 7th and while Saito didn’t give up another hit, the Indians brought the runner in. Then the Indians had two leadoff hits in the eighth and had the tying runs in scoring position. Saito conceded another run on a sac fly, then struck out R.J. Stinton. Goyer on third base, he faced right-hander Bob Edwards. No, Kisho can remove him. Johnston had to run a bit in center, but they got the out. In the ninth, Vázquez tried to spoil things again with a leadoff hit, a single, but Grant West remained in control and retired the next three batters. 3-2 Coons! O’Morrissey 2-4; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-1) and 2-3, RBI; Saito and West tied for the CL leads in wins (6) and saves (11) after this game. Up 1-0 in the third inning of game 2, the Raccoons had the bases loaded, but David Vinson grounded into a double play. Before that, Jason Turner had left two men on in the second after JUST not getting through up the middle. While Turner was excused for being a pitcher, Vinson was clearly not clicking as well as last season. Vázquez tied the game in the fourth with a leadoff jack. That’s what you get for not driving in runners. Osanai left two on in the fifth. Somehow, things were continuing. The Indians got Turner up again with two on in the sixth and he struck out to leave those on. Neverending story. Top 7th, still 1-1: O-Mo led off the inning with an easy triple to dead center. Neil Reece FINALLY came through, a single up the middle to break the tie. Hadn’t it been for a balk by Jorge Mora, the score would have remained there, but Mora balked in Reece, 3-1. Bottom 8th, same score. Matthews put a man on, getting one out. Cordero came in to face the left-handers Stinton and Vázquez. Stinton flew out to Quinn in right (who had only entered in a double switch today). Vázquez jabbed at a 3-0 pitch and lined out to Hall in left to end the inning. Vázquez had had a 3-0 base hit the day before, but not today, my pal. West closed it successfully. 3-1 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B, 2B; Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Turner 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-2); Game 3 saw the Raccoons leave two men in scoring position in the first, and the Indians left five men on in their first two innings against ex-Indian Robert Vázquez. The game dragged through four anemic innings before O’Morrissey put something on the board with a solo home run in the fifth, but it woke up the team after all. In the sixth, doubles by Osanai and Higgins brought a run in, and then it was again Vázquez to come through, a 2-out, 2-run double! The Coons added a run after that and another runner (O’Morrissey) was just thrown out at the plate by RF Raúl Vázquez. Everything looked fine for Robert Vázquez, until everything came apart in the eighth, where the Indians scored four including a towering 3-run homer by Victor Cornett, and now the Coons had only a 1-run lead for the bottom 9th. West had been out two days in a row, and we turned to Lagarde, who hadn’t pitched in the series yet. He struck out the first two men and let Reece do the rest in center. 5-4 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Higgins 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; We weren’t necessarily burning down the park, but I will take a series sweep any day. Or rather, twice a week. Had Vázquez held up in the eighth, it would have given us two pitchers atop the ERA table (Turner and Vázquez). Raccoons (26-12) @ Titans (18-20) The Titans were third in the division and possessed the most powerful offense in the league so far, which was kind of surprising, since on paper there was not so much to love about their batters. But Cameron Green (newly acquired ex-Coon) had a strong year, they had a high-average, if low-power, outfield set, and they seemed to have struck gold with 1B Jack Burbidge, a former supplemental round pick in 1986, on whom the Pacifics had then given up. The Titans had believed in him, and now had a very good first baseman at age 22. We’d play four with them. Game 1 saw the Raccoons put up some small ball and three runs early on, but the lead went to hell in the bottom 4th. First, Scott Wade, who was more or less erratic and generally not sharp, surrendered a 2-run homer to Chad Fisher, and then the Coons didn’t get the final out on an Osanai error. The Titans took advantage of that and tied the game, and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth. Two were on, two out, and the pitcher at the plate, but Wade couldn’t get Jorge Valdes out, and he doubled down the line in right to score both runners. Wade got the hook after surrendering six runs (five earned). The Raccoons offense could not muster anything even remotely productive in the game anymore. The bullpen pitched sloppily, too, and the Titans added a run to win 7-3. Hall 3-4; Quinn 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Mark Dawson had not played at all in the Indians series. Here, he pinch-hit in the seventh with Vinson on first base and managed to clean up the bags with another double play. Patience is running out at a rapid pace with the old man. Where had the offense gone? With Berry pitching in game 2, we needed to find it quickly. The Titans sent out 22-year old phenom Doug Morrow (1-0, 2.00 ERA). With one out in the second inning, the Raccoons had the bases loaded. Vinson had the day off and Flores stepped to the plate with Berry on deck. This smelled like another bout of depression coming in, but Flores managed to draw a full count walk, and O’Mo delivered a 2-out RBI single. Berry was in a hurry to give it away. In the bottom 3rd, he walked two, he balked, had the bags full, two down, 0-2 to Cameron Green, and then surrendered a grand slam. Going into the sixth, Berry surrendered two more runs, and the Raccoons were again helpless into the late innings. Osanai drove in a run in the seventh, and O-Mo came through with a 2-out RBI single in the eighth, which put the tying runs on base. Reece was up, but Morrow was still in the game, and Reece had not seen any land against him. Vinson came out to pinch hit. He grounded out. Top 9th: a 1-out single by Osanai brought the tying run to the plate. Quinn lifted it out to right, where it hit off Jose Martinez’ glove. Two men on, one out. Higgins flew to right, Martinez got to it – and dropped it again!! Bases loaded now, and just a knock away from getting the game tied up. Salazar singled into short center, but it was too short for Quinn to go home. Down 6-5, still only one out. Now Flores had to bat with Vinson out of the game and he popped out. Johnston had to get things done. 1-0 pitch, liner to left, OVER the shortstop, and dropping in!! Hjalmar Flygt brought it in, but the speedy Higgins scored!! The Raccoons had turned the game around!! O’Morrissey brought in another run before Dawson pinch-hit for Matthews and made the final out. Now Grant West came out, 1-2-3, it was over. 8-6 Furballs after a will-they?-will-they?-they-will! rally in the last three innings!! They had 13 hits, all singles, but THERE was the offense. Right THERE. O’Morrissey 3-5, BB, 3 RBI; Osanai 3-5, RBI; Quinn 2-5; Salazar 3-4, BB, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-2, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey has gone from platoon third baseman to third place in the batting title race, now hitting .347 behind MIL Jim Stein (.366) and VAN Kevin Gilmore (.360). Master Kisho had a strange start in game 3. In a scoreless game, he didn’t strike out anybody until the bottom 4th, when an error by Salazar loaded the bases. Had Salazar made the play, it could have been two, and the inning would have been over. Only then did Saito manage to K Martinez, but Shotaro Ono singled to short center and two unearned runs scored. Saito allowed two earned runs in the sixth amidst a bout of bad control. The Raccoons didn’t get onto the board until the seventh. Higgins was on first with one out and Salazar dinked the ball into center, where the relocated Martinez tried to make a great play, and didn’t make one at all. Salazar ended up with an RBI double. That was it. The Titans made about six great plays in the outfield, retiring all our sluggers all the time. 4-1 Titans. Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Nope, the offense was still not there. Although it could more be a BABIP issue at this point. They were not striking out a lot, and they tended to make solid contact, but continued to fly into outs. Not even double plays were a big issue here at the moment. Game 4. The Raccoons took an early 2-0 lead, but left the bags loaded in the first when Gonzalez and Vinson popped out, and the same two were guilty of leaving two in scoring position in the third, when Gonzalez grounded to third very poorly, and Vinson struck out. The Titans got one run back in the fourth after they were not so choosy about when and where to deliver. Jason Turner struggled a bit with the left-handers in the lineup. Ono was a right-hander and blooped to short center to start the bottom 5th. Nobody called for the ball and it fell in. I was calling for a firing squad for a few fielders, but none came. Pitcher Santiago Perez then laid down a poor bunt that Turner successfully converted into a double play. At least one guy was producing. Bottom 6th, and Turner allowed two singles to left-handers, before O’Morrissey started a double play to end it. Top 7th: Hall doubled with one out and the Titans put Osanai on, then struck out Quinn on a full count. Javier Ortiz came in to match Salazar, but threw a wild pitch, moving up the runners. Could Salazar – liner over Chad Fisher at short! It fell in, Hall came home, and Osanai was waived home and the throw was late! 2-out, 2-run single by Salazar, and finally some breathing space for a sometimes beleaguered Turner. And now they broke it open. Gonzalez singled to right, scoring Salazar, and Vinson homered, 7-1. An Osanai error created a tight spot for Turner again in the bottom 7th, but he got a pop out from Gary Lang and struck out Jesus Rodriguez to escape. Overall, he took 90 pitches through seven innings, but was not sent out for the eighth for three lefties being up to bat. The bullpen got through it, and the Coons scored two in the eighth to tie the series with a 9-1 win. Hall 2-5, 2B; Osanai 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-4, RBI; Salazar 2-5, 3 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-2) and 2-4; Raccoons (28-14) @ Aces (21-21) The Aces had yet to decide whether they were going up or down in the standings. So far, they were very average in every aspect, be it pitching or batting. If anything, they were prone to strike out, while at the same time their staff was below average at striking out batters. Both instances could work to the Raccoons’ favor. They have however a 4-game winning streak. David Vinson got the Raccoons ahead in the opener with a 2-run homer in the second inning. This made for back-to-back days with long balls for him, so maybe his production would improve now. Robert Vázquez was perfect into the fourth, when a 2-out walk to Michael McFarland got that one over with. Didier Bourges did away with the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth. While Vázquez controlled the opposition, the Raccoons couldn’t get another run for their life. Still up 2-0, West remained in the bullpen in the ninth – Vázquez finished this one on his own. Only seven hits in the entire game, five for the Coons. 2-0 Furballs. Vinson 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Vázquez 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-0); For Vázquez, this was his fifth career shutout, and his first since 1987. All his previous shutouts had come with the Indians. Game 2. The Coons got a run off the Aces’ Jou Hara in the first, and then started to snooze yet again. They had the bases loaded in the third with one out, but Quinn struck out and Reece popped out and they didn’t score. For a very short period, attention focused on Scott Wade and a no-hit bid, which Marcinek Wodaj foiled in the fourth with a 2-run homer, also putting the Aces on top. Through seven innings, the Aces still held their 2-1 lead. They had had two hits, a walk, and a Higgins error – that was all their offense. The Raccoons had had eight hits, and nine strikeouts against Hara. Osanai hit a 1-out single in the top 8th, bringing up Quinn, and here came the knock, a big one, and outta the park. The game was turned again. Wade got one out in the bottom 8th before Mario Rodriguez reached on an infield single. Burnett struck out Claudio Garcia, and Matthews got an out from Scott Spivey to bail out Wade, and West came on in the ninth for a 1-2-3 save. 3-2 Coons, another close one! Higgins 2-5; Hall 2-5; Osanai 3-4, 2B, RBI; Quinn 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B; Wade 7.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4-4); Two weeks ago we stuffed the Miners for 17 runs in a game. Since then, the team has scored only 53 runs, 4.07 R/G. This includes two small outbursts against the Titans. While we have not been shut out in over a month, the offense is barely sufficient at this point. Mark Dawson actually made a start in game 3 to give O-Mo a day off. He was 8-63 by now. Dawson first came up in the second inning in a 1-1 game – and homered to left. With that 2-1 lead Steven Berry wobbled through the innings and it really seemed like the Aces left runners in scoring position every inning. He finally came apart in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on, he could not remove pitcher Jose Murillo, who singled to center. Scott Spivey’s 2-run double turned the game around and the Aces loaded the bases before Berry was removed. Ken Burnett got out by popping up Wodaj. Overall, Berry had given up ten hits in 5.2 innings. Dawson and Hall grounded the Raccoons out of the seventh and eighth innings with double plays, respectively. Quinn’s 1-out double in the ninth brought another chance. Salazar grounded to Spivey at short, but the ball rolled slowly enough that Spivey could not make a play and the tying run moved to third. Vinson walked to load the bags and Dawson came up. Would he really hit into another double play here? Can’t be! Dawson went to bat. Dawson went to 3-1, then jabbed inexplicably at Vicente Rubio’s offering and grounded to third. It was no double play, but Quinn was forced at home. O’Morrissey pinch-hit in the #9 spot, but flew out. No happy end. 3-2 Aces. Johnston 2-4, 2B; Salazar 2-4; Burnett 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; The unclutchiness of the Coon Citytonians is starting to unnerve me. This was especially true with the Canadiens actually gaining ground. They were 3 1/2 games out as we left Las Vegas for Charlotte. Our offense really has come crashing down now, as we have dropped to 6th in runs scored now. Raccoons (30-15) @ Falcons (22-22) The Falcons had not done a lot offensively with 179 runs scored (9th in CL) so far. Their rotation was good, but this was negated by their 11th place bullpen. Kisho Saito for a while developed a no-hit bid, but it was broken up in the fourth. The Raccoons continued their sloppy play, vomiting up a run in the third (Hall scoring Saito with a groundout), but could not buy a hit in a RISP situation. Top 5th: O-Mo walked to start the game, and Johnston singled to left, nobody out. Hall grounded to left, SS Emmanuele Bedeschi launching at it – UNDER THE GLOVE!! It trickled into left, and O-Mo scored. While this was the first of three runs to score in the inning, it was their only RISP hit. One run scored on a groundout, and one on an error. Saito singled again in the sixth and went to third when O’Morrissey followed that up with a double. Still only one out, Johnston hurled Luis Herrera’s last pitch of the game into short center, both runners scored. WHAT A RASH OF OFFENSE!! No, don’t worry, it ended right there. An error by O’Morrissey threw Saito a curveball in the ninth, and he issued a walk and a single after that, which broke up the shutout. Saito was pulled, and Martinez ended the game with a double play. 6-1 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 1-3, 2 BB, 2B; Johnston 3-5, 2 RBI; Saito 8.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-2) and 2-4, 2B; By the way, Kisho Saito is batting .370 at this point. He should probably bat leadoff. Or maybe not. Well, his career average is .242, for 171 career hits, with 1 HR (for the Canadiens) and 70 RBI, so he is certainly not the worst-hitting pitcher in the league. Quinn, Vinson, and Salazar were rested in game 2, which was against the lefty Bastyao Caixinha – Arnold, Flores, and Gonzalez played. Jason Turner struggled with control early on, walking three the first time through the Falcons lineup, but allowed no runs until the fourth, when Billy Mitchell hit a homer off Turner to tie the game at 1. It was also the first hit allowed by Turner. Bottom 6th: Turner walked Djordje Nedic with one out, bringing up Mitchell again. Nedic stole second, and Flores threw into the outfield. Nedic went to third and scored on Mitchell’s single, the second hit off Turner on the day. The run was unearned. And now the question: would the Raccoons cause the second unearned loss to Turner this year? The offense was terrible all around. Then in the eighth, Osanai drew a 1-out walk. Higgins singled to left, but Arnold made an out. With two out, I didn’t want to see Flores at the plate. Quinn pinch hit and singled to left, but Osanai had to hold. Gonzalez was 2-3 on the day. Caixinha was cautious and threw outside twice. A walk was probably undesirable. The third pitch was in the middle and Gonzalez knocked it into shallow right. Osanai scored, and the speedy Higgins was right behind him, almost shoving Osanai along. Vinson made the final out, pinch-hitting for Turner. Cordero and Lagarde got the eighth together, after which Daniel Hall added an insurance run in the ninth. Grant West had a sub par ninth, putting the tying runs on base before finishing the game. 4-2 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Osanai 1-2, 3 BB; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (7-2) and 1-3; Game 3 was an off day for Hall, as the Raccoons tried to make this a 10-3 road trip. Vázquez faced Manuel Movonda. Offensively, things didn’t get better a bit. Higgins had the daily clutch hit, driving in a run in the fourth, which was exactly Robert Vázquez’ cushion. Bottom 6th: Gunnar Austin singled past Osanai. Stan Potvin singled over Osanai. Mitchell lined way over Osanai, but Johnston made a monstrous play in right to get to that liner. The catch had no permanent effect. The Falcons hit two more singles off Vázquez, tying the game, loading the bases, and getting Vázquez out. Martinez surrendered a 2-run double to Joe Jackson. 3-1 Falcons through six, and the Raccoons had to answer the question why they couldn’t have any big innings anymore. Reece and Salazar led off the seventh with two infield singles. Now, c’mon boys, if that won’t start a rally, I don’t know what can! Hall came out to pinch-hit, and hit it hard, but CF Rich Tracy intercepted it before it could become a double. O’Morrissey came up, and hit it roughly to the same spot – but this time past Tracy, who was slow to retrieve the ball and O-Mo delivered a game-tying 2-run triple! And they stranded him. (bangs head repeatedly against the XXL Gatorade can) Lagarde put a runner on third in the bottom of the inning, but left him there. Top 8th: Osanai and Vinson had leadoff singles. Movonda threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners. Higgins struck out. Good lords in … Reece flew into deep left, into an out, but Osanai tagged and scored the go-ahead run. Salazar singled up the middle and Vinson, not a racer, was waived on and scored. Up 5-3, Matthews put two on in the bottom 8th, but Burnett collected the final out with a grounder. West closed it. 5-3 Coons. Osanai 3-4; Vinson 2-4; Salazar 4-4, 2B, RBI; In other news May 14 – The Wolves’ Neil Stewart (5-2, 2.94 ERA) 3-hits the Stars in a 6-0 shutout, which helps them hold on to the division lead. May 15 – VAN Vicente Torres (6-2, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 5-0 win for the Canadiens. May 15 – It is season over for the Falcons’ outfielder Jose Madrid (.329, 2 HR, 11 RBI), who has suffered a broken kneecap and will take up to half a year to heal. May 19 – LAP SP Angel Romero (2-2, 4.13 ERA) will miss up to an entire year after suffering a torn flexor tendon. The 20-year old had made his big league debut this season and had pitched respectably in his first eight starts. He will have to wait a while for start #9. May 19 – RIC Harry Griggs (4-4, 3.77 ERA) narrowly misses history books, pitching a 1-hitter against the Gold Sox. The Rebels win 8-0. Cris Camacho breaks up the no-hitter with one out in the eighth inning. May 19 – New York’s Raimundo Beato (4-4, 3.66 ERA) shuts out the Falcons on three hits, taking a 3-0 win. Complaints and stuff We scored 54 runs on the road trip. That’s a bit more than four and won’t get it done once the top 3 in the rotation let up only a bit. Anyway: 22 runs were scored with two outs, and of these I think two were scored on pitchers’ presents (balk, wild pitch). The game doesn’t readily give out these numbers, but in 44 instances this road trip, they left runners in scoring position with two out. This does not include the plentiful flailing with less than two outs. I would have to go through all 13 game logs to get a proper WRISP average, which I don’t feel like doing. It was probably something like .230 but it certainly felt like .160 … and even .230 is not going to get things done. So, we’re off to a phenomenal start, but the offense HAS to kick in better. For all we know, Jason Turner may not pitch to a 1.90 ERA all year. And I’m still surprised by Vázquez, whom I certainly expected to do better than 1.5 stars, but he’s been so strong for us in that #3 hole. On pitchers, the Cyclones had put SP Luis Velez on waivers, a decent back-end-of-rotation starter, but the Falcons also claimed them and they should have the superior claim over us anyway. Adding Velez would have meant exposing Berry to waivers, but the question is whether I still care about him. But starting pitchers don’t grow in trees and should not be exposed unnecessarily. I love funny stuff. The Wolves made a trade proposal, offering Mark “Icon” Allen, admittedly an elite slugger with solid fielding. All they wanted for him were SP Kisho Saito, SP Scott Wade, AND two prospects. Yeah, of course. On the AI: the Stars fired their manager during the Falcons series. The Stars sat at 22-22 at this point, in fourth place, merely three games behind the Wolves. They are throwing the towel even quicker than I do! The Federal League ERA is up to 4.18 this year, a 12-year high, and a quarter run up from last year. The CL ERA is unchanged (3.84 to 3.85). Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

08-29-2013, 11:31 AM	#541
ShaneCarson All Star Reserve Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 728	That is a dreadful start for Dawson. Good god.

08-29-2013, 12:22 PM	#542
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Dawson and teacher's pet are looking done (still some hope, though)..... Tetsu seems to have picked up some oomph from last year, but I would rather have the 120 RBI's........ Rotation is looking good enough to win the division (I don't think the Loggers will be there for long).....

08-30-2013, 02:33 PM	#544
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	One of the good new things about OOTP14, is that as players get older and the scouts see them a lot more, the scouts tend to be a lot better at seeing what everyone else can see.....

09-01-2013, 12:16 AM	#547
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Glad to see the Pet is not quite washed up..... Why is Neil Reece not able to supplant Glenn Johnston? ....and it's been a while, and he deserves one, so.....Tet-SUUUUUUUU!!!!

09-02-2013, 05:10 PM	#550
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	May is slowly turning into June. The sun was shining brightly over Coon City, nestled between Willamette and Columbia. What could possibly go wrong now? (music builds up) Raccoons (33-15) vs. Bayhawks (31-15) The Bayhawks had scored the most runs in the Continental League through 7 1/2 weeks of baseball, and ranked second behind the Raccoons in runs allowed. Everybody ready for division leaders squaring off? Boy, did Scott Wade look awful in the opener. Through the first three innings, there was nothing the battery couldn’t have been accused of, including armed robbery and mental rape. That the Bayhawks didn’t lead 9-0 after three was more their fault than anything else, but two bad throws by Vinson and a wild pitch, a hit batter, and so-so stuff by Wade created a 2-0 deficit that the Raccoons struggled to tackle with 7-1 Wilson Moreno dealing. That same Moreno seemed to come unglued in the bottom 4th, led off by Hall with a full count walk. So did Osanai. So did Quinn. Bases loaded, nobody out. Higgins grounded to Pedro Villa at first, but a run scored, the Bayhawks getting the out at second base instead. Neil Reece laid down a poor grounder that a slow defense didn’t convert. Infield single – bases loaded again since Osanai had to hold. Vinson would have to get things done. Full count. Come on, David take that wa- STEEEERIKE THREE. Wade up with two out, in a 2-2 count. Liner to short – OVER MIKE POWYS!! Osanai scored and the game was tied, and with a tidy knock by O’Morrissey now we – STEEEEERIKE THREE. Wade held the Bayhawks there, somehow, at 2-2. Bottom 6th, leadoff single by Higgins, stole second, went to third on Reece’s single. Vinson could not land a hit, but walked THIS time. Wade up with the bags full and nobody out, we wrestled the bat away from him. Johnston pinch-hit, struck out, and I felt a scornful look from Wade. O’Morrissey came up with a tie-breaking single then. The Bayhawks replaced Moreno with Luis Molina, who balked in Reece. Now the Coons broke it up: Salazar singled to right for two runs (ex-BOS coonskinner Zahid Mashwanis didn’t look good there), and then Hall jacked out of center. The game was moved away from the Bayhawks. Carrillo came in, had a quick seventh, a quick eighth, and eventually went the rest of the way, even hitting a double and scoring in the eighth. 9-2 Coons! Salazar 2-5, 3 RBI; Hall 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-4, BB, RBI; Reece 3-5; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1) and 1-1, 2B; Bobby Quinn went 0-3 with two walks and thus lost a 10-game hitting streak. Wade got the win, moving to 5-4, which leaves only Berry with an unpleasant record. And he’s next. Game 2 was not a pleasant one. Period. Scoreless after one inning, Dave Burton led off the second inning with a rocket to deep left. Daniel Hall was hustling, launching, catching – but he couldn’t slow down anymore and made hard contact with the wall, then remained on the ground, numb. Of course, he had to leave the game, and this didn’t look good at all. The park was dead silent as he was carted off. Tetsu Osanai tried to make fans smile with a 2-out, 3-run double in the bottom 3rd, but the success was more so-so. Berry somehow went six innings of 1-run ball despite walking five batters in addition to six hits. Beyond the sixth, the Bayhawks had only two more base runners, and Osanai’s key hit was the difference. 3-1 Raccoons. Osanai 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-3; Dan The Man rans into the outfield wall at full steam and is not diagnosed yet. I am obviously disturbed. I am really disturbed. Bob Arnold would get some AB’s for the next few days. And if something major is – now, happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Game 3. Kisho Saito was heavily ineffective, needing 60 pitches through the first two innings, and fell 2-0 behind, stranding four. The Raccoons failed to bail him out in the bottom 3rd, when they had runners all around and no outs, and scored only one. But they did better in the fifth. Quinn, who had brought in the only run in the third, found O-Mo and Salazar on the corners with no outs. He drilled an offering from Rafael Espinoza into center, just shy of being a dinger, for a 2-run triple. Osanai scored Quinn, who would hit the homer he just missed there later in the game. Saito left after six (the latter four much more effective) with a 4-2 lead, which eventually grew to 6-2, and was kept there by the pen. 6-2 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Salazar 2-4; Quinn 3-4, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (8-2) and 1-2; And we swept the Bayhawks!! If it just wasn’t for that numbing feeling that … (blinks) Coon City in a state of shock Everybody’s worst fears came true on Monday morning, when the management of the Portland Raccoons announced that outfielder Daniel Hall had suffered a concussion after slamming into the outfield wall in a game against the Bayhawks on Saturday. He is anticipated to miss several months, if not the rest of the season. The team placed Hall on the 15-day disabled list today. A roster move should happen today while the rest of the team has already arrived in Oklahoma City. That roster move was to call up LF/RF Ennio Sabre from AAA, who had been .308 with 7 HR and 27 RBI in 35 games since signing on. Raccoons (36-15) @ Thunder (27-24) For reasons unknown, I was barely able to read the scouting report with all the tears in my eyes. The Thunder were so-so in some category, a bit better in this, and a bit worse in that. The first series post-Daniel Hall-concussion was to go underway. Game 1 had Jason Turner, who led the league in ERA, and the Thunder tried to master the beast with six left-handers atop their lineup, which worked only partially well. While the Raccoons scored steadily in the game, and six times overall, including long balls by Osanai in the second inning and Salazar in the eighth, Jason Turner was dealing and was almost, but just almost, untouchable. He went the distance, conceding only one run the whole game. When Glenn Johnston botched a ball in right field to start the bottom 9th, putting Pepe Padilla on second base, Turner upped his game once more and punched out (left-handers) Will Jackson and Dave Browne to do all the hard work himself. 6-1 Raccoons. Salazar 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-5; Osanai 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Vinson 2-5; Turner 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, W (8-2) and 1-4, 2B; Ennio Sabre made his Furballs debut in game 2, playing recently orphaned left field and batting seventh. Vinson and O’Morrissey had days off, meaning Flores and Dawson were playing (and Dawson was batting fifth in the vain hope he might get an extra base hit someplace). His first time up, Dawson double-played the Raccoons out of a potentially big inning, and the Coons scored only two in the first. The Thunder left a number of runners on base early, when Kevin Williams led off the bottom 5th with a single. Williams was the opposing pitcher. Vázquez could not get to Jose Sanchez’ bunt, and Osanai in vain tried to get an out at second base, throwing the ball away completely. And the Thunder blew that one, too, never advancing any further with three soft fly outs. Top 6th, still up 2-0, Osanai singled up the middle just barely through the middle infielders with two down. Dawson came up. He figured, if he was not getting much playing time, he better hurried to get his annual triple – and did so here, lining past LF Will Jackson for a three-bagger. For how amazing it was, the next time he came up in the eighth, there were three men on, one out, and Dawson ended the inning for the second time on the day. Sabre got his first hit as a Furball in the ninth, a double, but was stranded. Vázquez went eight, West put the thing away. 3-0 Coons. Reece 3-4; Osanai 3-4, 2 RBI; Vázquez 8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-0); The top 3 of our rotation are crowding the CL pitching leaderboards. Saito, Turner, and Vázquez all tie for the lead in wins (8), Turner leads in ERA (1.82) with Vázquez third (2.27) with Will Rodgers between them, whom we missed in the Bayhawks series, Turner is t-2nd in strikeouts (67) behind machine Carlos Asquabal (73), and Saito and Turner are t-2nd in WAR (2.4) behind Asquabal (3.5). By the way, the annual triple story for Mark Dawson is no longer true. He did not hit a triple last year, rupturing a 13-year streak of 20 triples in total. But it has always made for a nice throw-in story. One more in Oklahoma, Wade’s call. The first time through, he handled the Thunder’s lefty barrage pretty well, but they loaded the bags in the third, starting with a bunt base hit by Jose Sanchez. Vonne Calzado banged the ball to deep center, but Reece intercepted it for the final out. The Coons took a 2-0 lead on a 2-out Higgins double in the fourth then, and O’Morrissey added a 2-run double in a 3-run seventh. Wade went seven on just three hits, and was spared going through the left-handers another time. Ken Burnett came in and had his perfect ERA messed up after 14 innings with a pinch-hit leadoff homer by Hector Roman. That was all they managed, and the Coons won 6-1. Salazar 2-4, BB; Reece 3-4; Wade 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-4); That’s three straight sweeps, and a 9-game winning streak now! Raccoons (39-15) @ Crusaders (19-33) There was not much to say about this team. They had zero offense, and they had no rotation to speak off, both ranking last in the CL. Game 1 started rough on the Crusaders with a 3-run first by the Coons, although in all fairness, it was mainly SS Manuel Flores’ fault, throwing away a grounder from Neil Reece, and we led 4-0 after the top 4th. Berry got himself yanked in the bottom 4th. With two out, the Crusaders had already scored three runs and two men were on. Berry walked pitcher Luis Andrade and was gone. Burnett got out of the inning (although I’d credit Reece for a strong catch). Top 5th: bases loaded, no outs. It became ugly – for the Crusaders, as the Coons scored five, including two bases-loaded walks, with a few singles sprinkled in between. That made for a 9-3 lead, but the pen still had to cover five frames. However, we got Osanai out of the game early for defense and to conserve him a bit. We got three innings from Carrillo to cover distance, and the rest of the pen did not give away any presents, either. The Raccoons added three runs late, including Ennio Sabre’s first Coons RBI in the ninth, and won by a 12-3 drubbing. O’Morrissey 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-3, BB, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez 2-5, RBI; Higgins (PH) 2-2, 2B, 3 RBI; Carrillo 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; We’ve won 10 in a row, have a .727 percentage, and our run differential is +102 at the end of May (flipping over to June for the rest of the series). We have had only one whole season where we reached +100 or more: 1989 with 789-614 runs. Two more in New York. Game 2 was Kisho Saito’s start, and Sean Bergeron quickly showed him that the Crusaders still had some life, by nailing a 2-run homer in the first. The Raccoons had their struggles with Hector Lara, who was dealing for New York, but Osanai got to him in the fourth with a massive 2-run homer himself. The Coons got two unearned runs to take the lead in the fifth after an error by 1B Martin Limón that prolonged the inning. Saito still was not sharp (and his K’s were down recently) and the game was 4-3 after five. Dawson was playing at third in this game, and after two poor outs, socked a 2-run homer himself in the sixth to support Saito, who went 6.2 innings before putting another runner on second base and with the fat part of the lineup due up and that consisting of right-handers, Lagarde was brought in, but he allowed a single to Diego Rodriguez and the run scored. But things got even tighter. Matthews and Cordero could not clear the eighth. With one out, the Crusaders had the bags full, and we went to Grant West in the 6-4 game. He had not blown a save all year. Benjamin Butler’s sac fly got the tying run to third base. Charlie Foster came to the plate. Poor grounder in front of the plate, Vinson all over it, to first – OUT!! An insurance run in the ninth was not in the books and West faced the 2-3-4 batters in the bottom 9th. Rodriguez popped out foul, before Antonio Esquivel singled his way on. Bergeron grounded to Higgins. 4-6-3, outta there with a 6-5 win! Higgins 3-4; Quinn 3-5, RBI; Dawson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; West 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (19); That was a close one, but we had 11, and Saito had nine wins, now leading the CL on his own. He trails Washington’s Archie Dye, who has ten wins already. In the last game, the Crusaders got the first chance to score, with two in scoring position and two outs in the bottom 2nd. Jason Turner fell to 3-0 on Horace Simpson in the #8 hole. With the pitcher coming up, Simpson was reaching for it, grounded to Turner, and was out at first. In the top 4th, we had Vinson and Reece on base with two outs. Higgins singled into right center, and Vinson was sent second-to-home. Ball, runner, and catcher all arrived at roughly the same time, and while Vinson was safe, he was also out – with a twisted ankle. Flores took over. The inning was however still going on. Bob Arnold was put on intentionally to get to Turner, who took a 3-1 pitch into right field and brought in two runs. The Coons extended the lead to 6-0 by the seventh, in the bottom of which Turner crumbled a little bit. The Crusaders filled the bags with one out and up came – Simpson. Turner tried to punch him out, but Simpson put the 1-1 in play. Salazar to Higgins to Osanai, inning over. A late rally of the Crusaders consisted solely of a 2-run homer by Ray Burnett off Ken Burnett. 6-2 Furballs! Vinson 2-2; Turner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-2) and 1-3, 2 RBI; all starters had one hit with the exception of Vinson who had two, and who won a bandaged ankle for it. David Vinson has been listed as day-to-day for about four days, which will include an off day on the way home. We will host the Canadiens in Portland with Flores behind the dish. I really don’t want to jeopardize Vinson’s health by playing him. At the same time, we don’t really have a roster spot available to call up a third catcher. So we just have to hope that the offense carries us with a .194 batter catching and that nobody bowls over Flores. However, as I know the Canadiens … In other news May 24 – LAP Greg Cain (7-2, 3.26 ERA) tosses a 3-hitter, mesmerizing the Miners in an 8-0 rout. May 28 – SFB INF Roberto Rodriguez (.384, 1 HR, 21 RBI), who was hurt on a play in the Raccoons series, got the diagnosis: he will miss five weeks with a bruised kneecap. June 1 – NYC SS Manuel Flores (.271, 0 HR, 11 RBI) knocks his 2,000th career hit in the middle game to the Raccoons, a sixth inning single against Kisho Saito. He is the 10th player to reach that plateau. June 2 – DEN CL Juan Miranda (2-4, 6.11 ERA, 5 SV) has not the season of seasons, that much is clear, but he at least notched his 300th career save by holding the Stars at bay in a 5-2 Gold Sox win. June 2 – NAS Luis Guzman (7-3, 2.88 ERA) masters the Cyclones in a 3-hit shutout. The Blue Sox win 5-0. Complaints and stuff I’m numb. What if our franchise poster boy never comes back? Everything feels so pointless now… and he won’t come back, the game doesn’t give a rat’s ass about him: BNN didn’t even give him a news story. It’s like he’s already gone. All that is left is a gigantic cavernous void. Daniel Hall (1978-1991): 1,636 G, 1,585 H, 189 HR, 800 RBI, 97 SB, .264/.335/.441, 130+ OPS; What is going to happen? Jason Turner won the Pitcher of the Month award in the Continental League, going 5-0 with a 1.21 ERA and 34 K in five starts in May. That’s some awesome numbers here. It’s his first major league POTM award, he one won such piece of mantelpiece bling in the minor leagues before we traded for him in a 5-player deal with the Knights at the deadline in ’87. Steve Walker went over to Atlanta in that trade. Walker was a valuable piece of the Raccoons around our first peak centered on 1983, but I’d say that was one of my better trades. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-04-2013, 03:19 PM	#551
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	It is June, and I have yet to check the draft pool, so this will be a short update. With the bigger drafts now, the next update may take a few days. Plus, I feel discouraged from – you know what. They could be 55-2 and I would cry by heart out. Raccoons (42-15) vs. Canadiens (31-23) With David Vinson hurting, Gustavo Flores would start at least the first two games in the series, and then we’d see. The series opener was not for base stealers. The Coons ran themselves out of the first with Higgins thrown out between two Canadiens errors, and didn’t score. They took a 1-0 lead in the second then on an Arnold RBI single, before the Canadiens had runners on the corners with one out in the top 3rd – and the runner from first was thrown out by Flores trying to advance. Robert Vázquez then got out of the inning unscathed, and then watched his teammate score four in the bottom 3rd, including a massive 3-run homer by Ben O’Morrissey. The 5-0 lead was in danger in the fourth. Vázquez allowed a run and the Canadiens had two men on when 1B Patrick Williams sent a fly ball deep into center. Reece raced back and got it! A huge catch that upheld a 5-1 lead, and Reece also made himself useful at the plate. Vázquez went into the eighth, scattering ten hits and two runs. The Raccoons added a 4-run sixth to move the game out of reach in time. 9-2 Raccoons. Reece 3-5, 2B, RBI; Quinn 2-4; O’Morrissey 4-5, HR, 4 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5; Arnold 1-1, RBI; Johnston 3-3, 2B, RBI; Vázquez 7.1 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-0) and 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Bob Arnold was hit by a pitch from Vernon Robertson in the third inning and left with a bruised finger. He will be DTD for the rest of the series. Just when I wanted to give him some at bats. Three pitchers were tied with nine wins in the Continental League. All are Furballs: Saito, Turner, Vázquez. The Canadiens made four errors in this game. If they continue to help us that way, we should make it through the series easily. Game 2, Wade on the mound. The game was entirely hitless until the bottom 3rd, with Wade and Tia Fa dealing nothing but beans to batters. Wade came in with an ERA over four, but the usually solid Fa was 1-5 with an ERA over five coming in. Flores broke up the no-hitter for the Canadiens in an inning that entailed Fa picking off Sabre on first (he had walked) and forcing Flores on Wade’s bad bunt. Wade was perfect through four, before Antonio Rodriguez hit a leadoff single in the fifth. The Coons finally took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 6th after O’Morrissey led off with a triple, but Wade got himself into danger in the seventh, as the first two men reached and were in scoring position with one out. The Canadiens sent Yoshinobu Ishizaki to pinch-hit, and that removed Wade for lefty Cordero, whose first pitch was hit deep enough to score the runner from third on a sac fly. Then, Carrillo came in to face the righty Art Garrett, and got a grounder to O’Morrissey and – he threw it away. The Canadiens took a 2-1 lead. Luis Arroyo popped up to short – and Salazar dropped it! Consecutive errors, and Carrillo couldn’t believe it. Jose Renteria came up and hit a 3-run home run, and that was it for our 13-game winning streak, violently thrown away. And it wasn’t over yet. Osanai dropped and lost Fa’s grounder – another error. Carrillo struck out Raúl Solís to end the inning, but it had been a shameful display of ineptitude. The Inepticoons were back after all. 7-1 Canadiens. Salazar 2-4; Flores 2-3; So much for bad defense. I’m foaming. Vinson felt fine to start game 3 and so he did. Steven Berry would be pitching on the brink of extermination. The Raccoons started slow the first time through, but the second time through the lineup, knew how to get to Robbie Campbell and scored two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. Berry held up through five, then allowed a run in the sixth. With two out, the tying run came to the plate, and Salazar had another error to put him on, but Berry got through the jam, but ran himself out in the seventh, when the Canadiens put the tying runs on the corners with two out, and Ishizaki up. Burnett came in and got him to ground out. Top 8th, Cordero came in, and hit David Brewer. 2-0 on Rodriguez, Vinson allowed a passed ball, 3-0. Rodriguez was then put on intentionally, and Cordero yielded for Lagarde. Full count to Javier Salcido, hard grounder to second, Higgins made it a double play. Kevin Gilmore then grounded out. West then ended it. 3-1 Coons. Quinn 2-4, 2B, RBI; Defense almost did us in again. Hum. This game also ended a 12-game hitting streak for Matt Higgins. Raccoons (44-16) vs. Cyclones (36-25) Offense against offense. The Cyclones led the Federal League in runs scored (323). For comparison, the Raccoons led their own league, but had “only” 290 runs scored for a rather big 11% difference. We faced 118-game winner Ricardo Torres in the opener, who so far had been drubbed to a 5.18 ERA this season. He had won double digits games for eight straight years, but was 3-7 so far. Torres goofed the Coons the first time through the lineup. Their first hit came by Jorge Salazar and also scored the first run of the game, bringing in O’Morrissey from second with a single. The Cyclones tied the game off Kisho Saito right away in the top 4th, but the Coons put three men on with nobody out in the bottom 4th. All they needed was a hit now. They didn’t get one, but at least Higgins and Sabre managed two productive outs, 3-1. Saito was put into a bad spot with an Osanai error in the sixth, but stranded 1B Joey Jones at third base, and held on to the 3-1 lead through seven, and Matthews and West took over from there and kept it together with almost one base runner the rest of the way. 3-1 Coons! Salazar 1-2, BB, RBI; Vinson 2-3, BB; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (10-2); We had only 18 hits combined in the last three games, so the offense has slowed down most recently. This will test our pitching some more, I think. The Cyclones sent Mark Burt (6-5, 5.02 ERA) to face Jason Turner with the best ERA in the majors. As one might guess, Turner did not get even close to grabbing a win. A Johnston error was followed by a 2-run homer by catcher Billy Rowland in the second inning, and the Coons ran after that 2-0 deficit. In wet conditions, Turner’s stuff refused to bite and he needed 101 pitches through six, and he left on a 2-1 hook. In the top 9th, O’Morrissey again started the final downfall with an error, and the Cyclones added two runs. The Raccoons hadn’t been close to make up one run, they were not even in the same ZIP code when it came to make up three. 4-1 Cyclones. Vinson 2-4, RBI; Turner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (9-3); We had four hits here, that makes 22 hits in four games combined. This is really troubling! Game 3 to finish up the short home stand, it was the undefeated Vázquez. Neil Reece extended a hitting streak to 11 games with a 2-out RBI single in the first inning. Vázquez knew he had to be near-perfect to get a W here, but he was not. The Cyclones hit doubles over Quinn in right and Arnold in left in the third among two singles and took a 2-1 lead. What do you do if nothing else works? Close your eyes and jab. A pair of bloop singles in the third and the fourth helped the Coons to first tie it, then take a 3-2 lead again. Also, Cyclones pitcher Ryan White was all but sharp, hanging his breaking pitches. Harder contact would have sunk him in the second inning, but the Raccoons weren’t doing that at this point. Top 6th, the leadoff man for Cincy was on. Kelly Carpenter singled to right, runner Moromao Hino went to third, Quinn tried to get him, but his throw was halfway between third and home, and Carpenter went to second. Nobody out. O’Morrissey made a marvelous play on Rowland’s grounder to hold the runners. Vázquez punched out #7 hitter Jose Garcia. 2B Francisco Marino came up. Walking him would have them pinch hit for White in all likelihood, and Vázquez matched up with Marino, who had swung threw everything the whole series. First pitch – more than solid contact into the gap in left center. Reece BOLTING after it in a great hustle and – HE GOT IT!! And after quelling that threat, and after getting an insurance run by Osanai in the bottom 6th, Vázquez led off the top 7th by allowing a single to White – and was gone. Lagarde came on, and the Cyclones didn’t throw at all the crap he was throwing and he walked the bags full with two out, then struck out Carpenter just in time. It didn’t get better. Top 8th, Rowland doubled off Matthews, then went to third on Cordero’s wild pitch and Cordero eventually walked Garcia. Martinez came on, and continued the sucking. Carl McClendon had an RBI groundout, and then Martinez walked the next two. Bases loaded, one out, 4-3 lead. Carrillo came on, but it was too late – two grounders past Osanai scored all the runners, and the Cyclones went on to win, 6-4. The Raccoons had 14 hits (to the Cyclones’ 11), all singles, and left 13 men on base. Quinn 2-5; Osanai 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Reece 2-5, RBI; Arnold 2-5, RBI; Flores 2-4; That was a ** week. In other news June 4 – SFB INF Diego Rodriguez (.347, 2 HR, 24 RBI) goes 3-5 against the Condors in a 4-2 win, bringing his hitting streak to 20 games. June 5 – The Aces send 37-year old ex-Coon INF Dimian Barrios (.244, 0 HR, 12 RBI) to Charlotte for LF/RF Tom Stephens, 25, batting .252 with 3 HR and 14 RBI. June 8 – Sad news from Boston: Titans owner Dusty Ward passed away in the early morning hours, leaving his team to his son Enrico Ward, who is described as a lenient financial controller. June 8 – San Fran’s Diego Rodriguez (.343, 2 HR, 25 RBI) extends his streak to 25 games with a second inning single in a 5-4 win over the Stars. June 8 – TIJ OF Preston O’Day (.323, 18 HR, 49 RBI) has himself a rather impressive season, and now also has a 20-game hitting streak going with a triple and a double in a loss to the Gold Sox, 7-6. Complaints and stuff** Pitching, offense, defense. That’s what you gotta have. We didn’t have the latter two during this home stand, and maybe going out 3-3 is not so bad. Making nine errors in six games certainly is. The offensively dreadful middle four were, too. During the week, ATL OF Shoichi Fujino was placed on waivers. An integral part to the Knights offense (even if just as fourth man on the green part of the field) for years, he was crap for a crap Atlanta team this year. He was batting .211. With Ennio Sabre not clicking and Daniel Hall maybe out for the rest of the year (or forever) – he’s not healed off a bit of his “three months” stated initially so far – we could use an outfield upgrade. But we eventually passed on Fujino, a career .264 batter with 43 dingers and tremendous speed for doubles and triples galore: he was to make $650k this year (absorbable) and had a frightening $820k player option for next year. That latter part made us pass especially. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-04-2013, 04:50 PM	#552
Orcin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 9,849	It's tough to know what to do. Trade for a hitter to replace Hall? Go with what you have and hope someone seizes the opportunity? Wait for a better waiver claim to come along? You have a budget to consider, and it's not like franchise players grow on trees. It looks like you leaning toward playing the hand that you are dealt, but maybe you are just mulling over your options. You are right about the cruel and heartless game. Hall is just another ID# to OOTP. Heads you play, tails you don't. Oops, concussion. Generate random number... not career-ending... today. Generate random number... out for 150 days. Send email to player. Process next injury.

09-04-2013, 05:43 PM	#553
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	I don't know whether you tried, but you didn't necessarily cheer me up. :-/ I'm not planning to add much at the deadline unless injuries rip into the rotation. We have almost $900k in budget room which would accomodate any one player at this point, but ... Don't tell anyone, but there could be an unconditional release in the cards for somebody with a big contract. His initials are the 13th and 4th letters in the alphabet. But ssssshhhh! I don't really like the current outfield setup, to be honest. I have great defense out there, but Quinn has the only real power bat. Sabre doesn't put anything on the table. Johnston and Arnold are struggling at the moment. I have no upgrade at AAA, though. Sabre's on a minimum contract, and can be sent to the desert easily, but I have no replacement ready. The infield is crowded. There are no big issues with the pitching staff. Berry's inabilities so far have been over-compensated by the top 3 in the rotation. The pen is all sugar. Going into September and (which is not unlikely) October, we will either have Daniel Hall or not. Will he be the same player? As far as I remember, the only Raccoon that previously was concussed was Cisco Banda. He came back, but never caught on again for long, and retired four years later, barely batting over .200 and his fielding went down the drain as well. Would I be able to cope with the pain of losing Dan The Man? I have seen something like that coming with emotional affection and so. Emotions are crap anyway. Clear answer: No. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here. Last edited by Westheim; 09-04-2013 at 05:44 PM.

09-05-2013, 12:34 PM	#554
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	Random observation: when your team sucks, you look forward to the draft. When you're 45-18, it is just in the way. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-07-2013, 05:23 PM	#555
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	1991 AMATEUR DRAFT The Raccoons had the 15th pick in every round, plus the 12th of 32 picks in the supplemental first round, and the 20th pick in the second round, which the Stars gave up when they signed Antonio Lopez as a free agent. That’s some neat arrangement for four picks among the first seventy-six. There’s a “but” coming. But it won’t help us much. I found the 1991 pool extremely poor. Starting pitching is extremely poor with only two or three promising boys in there, and catching is non-existent. Outfielders are scarce, and there is not a single power bat in there that does not swing at pigeons flying past sixty feet overhead. Among infielders and relievers, the personnel-to-be on offer is much better, but at #15, little All Star potential will fall to our feet. The list for players to drool all over was rather short, accordingly: SP Gerardo Ramirez, MR Xavier Herrera, MR Jesus Longoria, CL Leonardo Sosa, 3B Sonny Reece, LF Paco Martinez – that’s about it. There was 2B/3B Roberto Quintero in there, with a potential .330 bat with double digit dingers power, but the problem was that he had been born with the right foot on the left arm and his left hand on his right arm and so on. Apart from mashing, he couldn’t do ANYTHING. ANYTHING. Not even stand on the field. Let alone hustle down a ball. The Scorpions had the first overall pick and selected OF Manny Ocampo, who had been rather high on our outfield list as well. Testament to the poor pitching was how little pitchers were picked in total before our first pick: three of fourteen players. Ramirez remained on the table. The only other players from the list above remaining were Herrera and Longoria. We took Ramirez, who was still around for unknown reasons. The other two did not remain on the table until we were to pick again. 1991 Portland Raccoons Draft Class Round 1 (#15) – SP Gerardo Ramirez, 20, from La Concepcion, Panama – right-hander with five pitches, the slider and curveball looking particularly impressive; flyball pitcher, which could become an issue once he plays in Portland Supp. Round (#36) – LF/RF Paco Martinez, 18, from Caucaguita, Venezuela – solid hitter, possibly for a high average, and not swinging at crap in the dirt; power projected to be enough for double digits; unfortunately is extremely challenged as far as movement in the field is concerned Round 2 (#71) – 2B Pat Parker, 20, from Kingsport, TN – only one position, but good contact making ability; power is not as thrilling, but with some speed in there as well, he could become a leadoff hitter Round 2 (#76) – INF Michael Lloyd, 23, from Ridgecrest, CA – plays all four infield positions well, can hit for average; little arm power and speed, and no power Round 3 (#95) – MR Fred Carlton, 18, from Mesa, AZ – left-handed reliever with devastating slider Round 4 (#119) – 1B Steve Stevens, 20, from Willemstad, Curacao – very incomplete hitter with doubles, not home run power; so-so defense Round 5 (#143) – MR Pancho Padilla, 17, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – good, but not thrilling slider; right-hander Round 6 (#167) – LF Kenny Crockett, 23, from Brookfield, WI – so-so hitting, coupled with horrifying glove work Round 7 (#191) – 1B/2B Bryan Peterson, 22, from The Colony, TX – good defense on the right side, has speed and gap power, but nothing else Round 8 (#215) – LF/RF Ruben Cabrera, 19, from Esperanza, Dom. Rep. – speed really is his only upside, and his range is compromised by a weak arm Round 9 (#239) – MR Juan De La Cruz, 17, from Cumana, Venezuela – lefty with really low stamina and a good curve Round 10 (#263) – 1B/2B Luis Lopez, 17, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – no power, swings at everything that moves Round 11 (#287) – SP Bill Banks, 17, from Pasadena, TX – four pitches, no real velocity Round 12 (#311) – MR Rob Austin, 17, from Scott Lake, FL – tries to develop a changeup Ramirez, Parker, and Lloyd will start at the AA level, the others in A ball. --- This has taken place during the next week. Time is fluid, you know. More from the grown-up Raccoons in the next update. We have some horrify-shock-terrifying news coming up. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-08-2013, 10:39 AM	#560
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,524	Short update. I just threw a level 3 tantrum over - well, see yourself. --- Raccoons (50-25) vs. Aces (37-39) The good news were that we were to miss the Aces’ Jou Hara in this series, who was currently second in pitcher WAR in the CL. For bad news, a ringing double off the base of the wall in left by Manny Espinosa got the Aces a 1-0 lead in the first. Kisho Saito was not locating his stuff very well in the game and was punished with a 2-run homer by powerwise weak-hitting 2B Scott Spivey in the fourth. Spivey punished Saito once more in the sixth with a 2-out RBI single for a 4-0 score. The Raccoons? They did nothing. Zero. They left two men on in both the fifth and the sixth (both times Spivey made plays on grounders up the middle). They didn’t manage to stitch hits and walks together properly until the eighth, with Saito long out of the game. Vinson walked to start the inning, and Higgins’ grounder was not pulled out by the defense and both were safe. Jose Murillo balked with a full count on Johnston, enabling Johnston to hit an RBI groundout instead of a double play. Matt Brown came up and doubled over Espinosa in right, and now came the tying run to the plate, O-Mo pinch-hitting for Miller, but he lined out to left. Reece barely got away from a wild pitch that moved Brown to third, then showed some more electricity with an RBI double to right. One more knock to get Saito off the hook, which was Salazar’s responsibility. He grounded out… Burnett gave up a run in the ninth, 5-3 Aces. Reece 3-5, 2B, RBI; Johnston 2-4, RBI; Five losses in a row constituted a crisis, no matter how far ahead of second place your team is. Their non-hitting was agonizing, to say the least. RF Manny Espinosa made two errors and two misplays in this game, and it still didn’t help the Inepticoons a single bit. Neil Reece’s 24-game hitting streak constitutes a new Raccoons franchise record, breaking a mark set by Tetsu Osanai in 1986. The Aces sent Sixto Calderon and his 5.17 ERA into game 2. He faced the minimum through three innings. Reece extended his hitting streak with a leadoff single in the bottom 4th with the Coons and Jason Turner trailing 1-0. Salazar’s grounder up right was intercepted by Michael McFarland, but Reece was safe at second and scored when Bobby Quinn singled to left. Game tied. After the top 6th, both teams were held to three hits and a run apiece, but then Turner singled to left to start the bottom 6th. Maybe now something could transpire. Nope, Turner was left on third base by Osanai to end the inning. The Aces tried to crack Turner with throwing every left-handed batter they had at him in the seventh, but couldn’t do it. It also messed up their defense, removing Spivey and Bob Goyer from the game and putting Mario Rodriguez at first and McFarland at short, neither of whom belonging there. Maybe – no. Turner pitched in the eighth, putting runners on the corners with one out. He struck out Espinosa, a lefty, bringing up McFarland, a .319 hitting right-hander. He could do him, right? Yeah, he could – it was close and maybe only Reece’s quick feet kept the game tied when McFarland hurled the ball into deep center. Bottom 8th. Salazar on first, two out, Quinn grounded to second base. Bob Edwards’ throw was dropped by Rodriguez at first, Quinn was on. Osanai coming up against Rick Evans, the big guy would not figure into the decision by walking and leaving it to Vinson with the bases loaded. And Vinson struck out. The agony. Contrary to popular belief, Grant West was still with the team, alive and well, and entered in the top 9th of the tied game, his second non-save situation appearance of the year. With two men on, reliever Rick Evans actually had to bat and made the final out – the Aces’ bench was empty. Bottom 9th, O-Mo, Johnston, Higgins scheduled. O-Mo got on, Johnston bunted him over, and then things derailed and we went to extra innings. Bottom 10th, Salazar’s 1-out single created another chance. Quinn singled into shallow right and Salazar ran to third and was safe. Osanai had been removed in a double switch and West was pinch hit for by Matt Brown, the only left-hander we had against righty Vicente Rubio. Here, Matty, make yourself popular in Coon City. He struck out, and Vinson grounded out. Bottom 11th: O-Mo and Johnston singled their way on with nobody out. Higgins bunted the winning run to third base. Bob Arnold to the plate. Winning run at third. One out. He was walked intentionally to create forces at every base, but that brought up Reece. Here, Neil, make yourself popular in Coon City. He went to a full count against Hidekazu Oyama, then laid off the next pitch. Silence for a second. Ball four, BALLGAME!! 2-1 Coons. Reece 1-5, BB, RBI; Salazar 3-5; Quinn 2-5, RBI; Johnston 3-4; Turner 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K and 1-2; West 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Daniel Miller got his first career win in the big leagues. I tell you, Tetsu Osanai is toying with his consecutive games started streak, which would hit 1,000 games some time in August, I think. Rubber game. Reece extended his streak with an infield single in the first inning, leading off again, before he was properly erased by a double play off Higgins’ bat. Vazquez fell behind 2-0 in the second inning on a Rodriguez home run and the Raccoons – let’s make this short, they bloked themselves out of every chance they got against ill-controlling Francisco Vidrio. That was until the bottom 8th, when Osanai walked. Antonio Gonzalez came up with one out and tatered the ball outta the park to tie the game. Vazquez was still in the game until after a leadoff triple by Claudio Garcia in the ninth. Lagarde replaced him in the hope to get two K’s and a grounder to Higgins (in that order), but he threw a wild pitch before he ever got close to finishing that list. Down 3-2, Johnston’s pinch-walk to start the bottom 9th provided a grasp of hope. The next three balls into play were all hard hit to the edge of the warning track, and all intercepted. 3-2 Aces. In other news June 25 – NO-HITTER: San Francisco’s Chris O’Keefe (9-5, 2.47 ERA) no-hits the visiting Titans in a 1-0 win, allowing only three walks to Boston batters. Zahid Mashwanis scored the Bayhawks’ only run in the first inning with a double collecting Diego Rodriguez. This is the 14th no-hitter in ABL history, and the second for San Francisco after Rafael Espinoza’s gem almost exactly two years ago on June 20, 1989. Espinoza’s no-hitter was also the last one not pitched against the Thunder (three since then). The Titans found themselves on the receiving end in a no-hitter for the first time. It is the sixth no-hitter pitched in June, leading all months (Salah Brunet, IND, 1977; Roger Weaver, RIC, 1984; Eric Edmonstone, NYC, 1984; Carlos Guillen, NYC, 1985; and Espinoza’s). June 25 – Atlanta’s Mike Dye (2-3, 3.52 ERA, 9 SV) holds the Canadiens at bay in a 4-2 win, collecting his 300th career save. Complaints and stuff I’m gonna go, read a book. Sounds like more fun. It is not a baseball book. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.