Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[MarkCuban]

It's 1991-- why not move the Frontier League into the wild-card era? It would add another round of playoffs (extra revenue) and double the chances Portland makes the playoffs.
A six division setup should increase Portland's world series chances. I'm certain it would decrease your overall frustration level.

This setup, with three four-team divisions, would work well. All six CL North Teams remain in the Coastal.

[Westheim]

I manage all my games, start to finish, in one pitch mode. I go into pitch by pitch only on the extremely rarest occasions, like the Grant West vs. Zahid Mashwanis at-bat that ended the 1991 CLCS. I can’t tell you any other instance where I was in it, that’s how rarely I use it.

I handle all substitutions, and I also handle my minor leagues to the point where I move players up and down, and set roles for them, but I don’t manage the actual minor league games (and rarely look at individual scores, that’s why I missed Jason Turner’s AAA no-hitter a few years back).

A move to 4-team divisions is not in the books, since I don't like them one bit. If there is a move to six divisions, then the league would have to have 30 teams.

---

December

I added only our recent acquisition 1B Esteban Baldivia plus MR Pedro Vazquez and C Jose Rodriguez to the 40-man roster ahead of the rule 5 draft. That left three spots open. I still didn’t intend to pick anybody. We don’t want to stuff our roster with replacement players now.

Tasks for December: extend Kisho Saito’s contract (Saito is 31, and has excellent health, and a 3.03 career ERA driving the price), scour the free agent market for the areas we are interested in (SP, C, INF), and don’t do any stupid deals like trading Neil Reece for two pizzas.

December 1 – Rule 5 draft: eight players are taken over three rounds, but the Raccoons are not affected.
December 1 – The Condors and Jon Butler (60-47, 2.23 ERA, 408 SV) agree on an extension for 1993, that will pay Butler $350k. Butler will be 46 years old once the 1993 season will conclude.
December 1 – The Aces sign dependable SP Carlos Guillen (83-105, 3.57 ERA) to a 6-yr, $4.92M contract. Guillen, 29, once no-hit the Raccoons.
December 2 – The Falcons land another big pitching free agent in SP Robbie Campbell. Campbell, 172-114 with a 3.13 ERA in 396 starts for Vancouver, will earn $3.4M over four years.
December 3 – The Aces snatch up ex-CHA SP Manuel Movonda (70-77, 3.43 ERA) for 6-yr, $4.74M. Movonda, 27, was one of the main prizes in the free agent pool with his five strong pitches.
December 6 – The Raccoons extend the contract of SP Kisho Saito (151-101, 3.03 ERA) by six years. The 31-year old Saito will earn $5.5M.
December 13 – The Blue Sox sign ex-SAC LF/RF Tommy Norton (.311, 33 HR, 338 RBI) to a 4-yr, $3.79M deal. Norton, 27, has more career triples (57) than home runs.
December 18 – POR MR Ken Burnett is injured in an off-field incident, trying to protect a woman from a mugger on the street. Burnett suffered a concussion and will have to take things slowly for a few weeks.
December 18 – Ex-IND OF Forest Hartley (.288, 77 HR, 406 RBI) signs a 3-yr, $1.71M contract with the Wolves.
December 19 – The Wolves keep adding with CF Xiao-wei Li (.288, 34 HR, 586 RBI), who signs a 4-yr, $3.44M contract with Salem.
December 21 – Veteran SP Billy Robinson (194-135, 3.26 ERA), who was last with the Rebels, signs a 2-yr, $1.54M contract with the Scorpions. Robinson will be 37 come Opening Day.
December 24 – The Raccoons sign C Shimpei Iwamoto to a 1-yr, $150k deal. Iwamoto, 31, is an exceptional defensive catcher, and a .277 career batter with 32 home runs.
December 25 – Free agent starting pitching gets scarcer with the Warriors inking SP Bill Smith (174-146, 3.33 ERA) to a 3-yr, $2.57M contract. Smith, 34, last was with the Stars.
December 30 – Ex-SAL LF/RF Dale Cleveland (.264, 52 HR, 257 RBI) is signed by the Stars to a 3-yr, $2.25M contract.

Extension talks with Kisho Saito were smooth and easy and he signed within a few days of taking home our offer. The contract is slightly back-loaded to where he will earn $1M in the last two seasons. I think he could have gotten more, had he insisted. I had already accepted my fate of having to go the 6-yr, $7M route. His career K/BB ratio is over 3.1 f.e., and you don’t see this that often in this league.

I actually was contemplating an offer to Movonda. He’s that guy I tried to trade for with another starting pitcher (Vicente Ruiz? It’s been some time), then shied back, then later wanted to, but the Falcons then pulled out. I’m still kicking myself. The rumored demand of $1M per year made me cringe. He would have loaded our rotation so heavily, it almost would have been unfair to other teams.

And seriously, what’s it with all the concussions lately? Ken Burnett should know better than to play hero. That mugger-of-defenseless-women could have had a knife! (rolls eyes)

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Vern Kinnear, age 22, can only play left field. Daniel Hall, age 36, plays left field on the Raccoons.

I do know where you're going at.

Well, Mr. Pet gets hurt enough that even if you wanted him to start every game for the 'Coons, young Kinnear would still get plenty of playing time.....

I'm not advocating de-throning the King, but certainly you can find ways to use them both and give Kinnear a chance to get used to being a major leaguer before he is asked to shoulder the burden of replacing a legend......

[MarkCuban]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Well, Mr. Pet gets hurt enough that even if you wanted him to start every game for the 'Coons, young Kinnear would still get plenty of playing time.....

I'm not advocating de-throning the King, but certainly you can find ways to use them both and give Kinnear a chance to get used to being a major leaguer before he is asked to shoulder the burden of replacing a legend......

You can always "play the old guy at first" card.

[Questdog]

We have a first baseman that has played every game since he's been on the team, so that is not an option......

[MarkCuban]

Originally Posted by Westheim

A move to 4-team divisions is not in the books, since I don't like them one bit. If there is a move to six divisions, then the league would have to have 30 teams.

You could go with a division championship series, where the 1st and 2nd CL north teams battle it out in a five-game series to advance to the CL Championship.

[Westheim]

What’s the point in the first and second teams in a division having a playoff? They’ve played 162 games to determine first and second. I’m not a fan of unnecessarily bloating playoffs, or the wild card for that matter.

Originally Posted by Questdog

We have a first baseman that has played every game since he's been on the team, so that is not an option......

As we are already pointing at the 32-year old white elephant in the room, we can also talk about him. In the late 80s, Tetsu Osanai was rated a 17/14/9 for a few years, and his defense was a 7 or 8 (out of 20), none of which changed a lot while we changed scouts more often than our underpants. We have noticed his defense fall apart for a few years now, and his offense was more so-so for two years (measured against his previous success) with a sub-.300 batting average in 1990 and a poor power output (14 HR) in 1991.

New scout Guerra has re-rated him 13/10/9 now. He rates his defense a 2. OSA had him 12/9/9 in a fall update, which has not changed in the January 1, 1992 report.

The really bad part is this: Tetsu is due $5.5M over the next five years. So, yeah, we have a first baseman with 1,030 consecutive starts at his position, but he looks to be aging quickly. I also think, he’s gaining weight. I don’t track weights at all, but … I don’t know for sure.

---

The Raccoons enter January looking for an infielder and a starting pitcher. There were a few veteran SP’s left, including Bastyao Caixinha and Judd Montgomery (yeah, the Loggers can’t even hold on to their ONE credible pitcher, that franchise is in a truly sorry state and ought to be moved to Siberia…), but their demands were a bit too high for my taste and they were also all type A free agents. We still had some money left from the budget increase, but I didn’t want to add another 5-yr, $4M contract. Unless he breaks a leg, O-Mo will be arbitration eligible in 1992, and the same is true for Albert Matthews. And that is on top of all the other salaries. Our payroll is – as of January 1 – at $8.3M for players only, 14th in the league. Yes, our budget ranks 5th now. I cut something off player development recently and I want to shoot more cash into there again now.

There *was* about $1M left to spend in the coffers, though.

You know which two teams have the smallest budgets, just over $9M? The Loggers are one, and the other team is – shockingly enough – the big-market Crusaders!

January 5 – Ex-CHA SP Bastyao Caixinha (82-80, 3.35 ERA) becomes a Pacific by signing a 6-yr, $4.62M contract.
January 9 – The Capitals find ways to actually further improve their team with the addition of ex-SFB OF Diego Rodriguez (.294, 60 HR, 543 RBI). The 30-year old receives a 3-yr, $1.71M contract.
January 10 – The Stars sign INF Alberto Reyes (.263, 34 HR, 305 RBI) to a 1-yr, $272k deal. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round draft pick.
January 12 – The Falcons acquire 20-yr old prospect SP Ernest Fleming from the Warriors, sending over MR Brit Osborne.
January 13 – The Canadiens sign ex-TOP SP Arnold McCray (114-108, 3.17 ERA) to a 4-yr, $3.76M contract. McCray has always suffered from poor run support in Topeka.
January 16 – Journeyman closer Andres Ramirez (59-69, 2.56 ERA, 465 SV) lands in Indy for this season, signing a 1-yr, $650k contract.
January 22 – The Raccoons and Crusaders strike a deal, sending 30-yr old SP Raimundo Beato to Portland, while New York receives 30-yr old LF/RF Raul Castillo and prospect RF Alfonso Rojas.
January 27 – Dallas inks ex-VAN SP Tia Fa (75-71, 3.35 ERA), who lost 17 games last year, for 6-yr, $3.78M.
January 29 – The Bayhawks and Aces trade veterans as C Didier Bourges heads for the Bay and OF Zahid Mashwanis is sent to the desert. Mashwanis, 32, has been more successful in his career than the 31-yr old Bourges, but his best years are already gone for some time.
January 31 – At age 35, once-a-Coon 3B Cameron Green gets another payday, $1.71M over three years from the Warriors. Green has a career .246 batting clip with 112 HR and 658 RBI.

“Pooky” Beato is an excellent addition to the bottom end of our rotation. He can really be a #3, but I see him more in the #4/#5 region given the talent we have assembled. He spent a long time with the Canadiens before the Crusaders gave him a 6-yr, $4.02M payday. Four years of that contract are still left to pay at $670k apiece. We unload add-on outfielder Castillo, who made only three appearances for us last July before getting hurt, and a prospect that is too far away to help us in the next two or three years, which will be a key time for the team. If we want to win big, we don’t have many years left with our young talent reaching free agency after the 1994/95 seasons. “Pooky” by the way has stuff in him. He won 21 games in ’88 for VAN, and K’s about 150 a year.

But I have said that everything will fall to pieces for the last eight years, and we have not had an entirely dismal season since. Of course, the new $15.9M budget helps a great deal.

Vicente Guerra dug out an 18-year old Venezuelan shortstop in Conceicao Guerin while down there this month. He could develop in a strong, if defensive, shortstop. Or into nuthin’. He was inked, with a 4-star potential asserted by Guerra. It’s your job, Vince, you know best how to lose it.

If you remember, back in 1977 I couldn’t decide between CL Andres Ramirez and our Daniel Hall as our first draft pick. Ramirez would have been a more healthy pick over the last 15 years, but we have Grant West and everything came up crisp in that regard.

With two months to go, we could use some middle infield-capable backup in addition to Matt Duncan, who may start the season with the Raccoons. Duncan, 25, hit .303 last year in 33 AB, which is not the level he will at over a full season, but he gives us strong defense for all four infield positions off the bench, a left-handed bat, and can also play outfield if necessary (left so-so, right more-less-so, and center better not-at-all). Duncan may only hit .220 over a full season, though, so our final infielder should pack a punch. We could throw in a right-handed reliever with Daniel Miller basically ready to join the team for Opening Day. But which one? Lagarde and Martinez are no-no’s, so we are looking at Matthews and Carrillo. Miller can’t really do long relief, so we may *really* look at Matthews to be traded …?

[blazertaz13]

Well I am finally going to try the GMing aspect of the game. I have a feeling that I will be following your path of early struggles. Then again, I may never get to a world series. I just hope that you continue on as the I am still love reading your story. It keeps me going even as I struggle along with my own association. Good luck in the off season and hears to a World Series victory at the end of next season.

[Westheim]

The preseason is zooming past us.

February 9 – The Stars sign ex-MIL SP Judd Montgomery (87-92, 3.61 ERA) to a 6-yr, $4.32M deal.
February 12 – Another Star is signed in Dallas in CL Matt Sims (48-37, 2.20 ERA, 241 SV). The 29-yr old will make $1.45M over two years. Sims spent the last years in Nashville, and the Blue Sox sign their new presumed closer on the same day: Xiao-shuang Sa (44-47, 2.94 ERA, 136 SV); the 32-yr old pitched for New York and Vancouver last season, but hasn’t been a designated closer in a few years. He gets a 2-yr, $612k contract.
February 17 – SP Rafael Espinoza, with the Bayhawks until November, signs a 5-yr, $2.93M contract with the Aces. Espinoza is 69-63 with a 3.78 career ERA.
February 19 – Ex-SFW slugger 1B Fernando Lopez (.310, 191 HR, 1,042 RBI) signs a 3-yr, $1.43M contract with the Condors.
March 18 – OF Bob Arnold signs a 1-yr, $186k deal with the Indians, awarding the Raccoons a supplemental round draft pick.
March 23 – Sacramento picks the last SP worth mentioning in Domingo Leon (96-94, 4.01 ERA), who gets a 3-yr, $1.1M contract.

I used most of the free budget space to boost scouting and player development once more, with $2.11M in scouting and $2M in development, which both rank about 50% above league average. Add the $1.29M for the managerial staff, and we’re spending a bit over one third of our $15.9M budget off the field.

I did this since my search for a fifth infielder capable of playing at least three positions and hitting for some power amounted to nothing. There were only about 15 players fitting my criteria, even when giving up on shortstop defense, and most of those were really first baseman and little beyond that. There were also a few first line players, but those were all corner infielders with a very bad second base ability. The only guy that was attractive in this search was Boston’s chad Fisher, who played all four infield positions plus right field, and was a .250 hitter, but with doubles and home run power. However, Fisher had five years remaining on a very rapidly escalating contract. Was he worth $535k this season? Questionable! Was he worth $665k two years down the road? Probably certainly not.

But we NEEDED somebody! With our projected lineup, and taking Matt Duncan and that loser Matt Brown as backup infielders, with the exception of Iwamoto, our bench would be exclusively left-handed, even against right-handers! (this, assuming that Johnston doesn’t re-supersede Reece in center, and Quinn continues to outperform Johnston, too. A quick solution would be to ditch Jeff Martin and look for a right-handed outfield replacement (great job in trading Castillo).

Maybe trading Antonio Gonzalez had not been such a bright idea. I was essentially looking for him now.

Ah, you’re a moron. No wonder you never win anything.

[Westheim]

1992 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1991 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 31, B:L, T:L (19-7, 2.98 ERA | 151-101, 3.03 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine doing his job at the top of the rotation, although he was less than stellar in the 1991 World Series.
SP Jason Turner, 26, B:R, T:R (16-9, 2.55 ERA | 37-21, 3.11 ERA) – if not hurt (1990), he is an amazing pitcher, who can zero out opposing teams regularly; was under 2 in ERA last season until three bad starts in September got to him; has a no-hitter (1989 against OCT) to his credit.
SP Robert Vázquez, 29, B:L, T:L (17-7, 3.58 ERA | 87-53, 2.80 ERA) – has four pitches that he mixes well, but he also eroded at the end of the 1991 season and had horrible playoffs; has not struck out more than 114 in three years due to injury and struggles.
SP Scott Wade, 29, B:R, T:R (14-11, 3.68 ERA | 91-55, 3.33 ERA) – very consistent starter; struggles often against heavy left-handed lineups, but has won 12 games in six consecutive seasons now.
SP Raimundo Beato *, 30, B:R, T:R (12-16, 4.45 ERA | 104-92, 3.72 ERA) – well balanced pitcher with five more or less well developed pitches, who should not embarrass himself more than necessary; acquired in trade from New York for Raul Castillo and a prospect.

MR Ken Burnett, 29, B:L, T:L (2-4, 2.52 ERA | 9-13, 4.21 ERA, 1 SV) – excelled in a variety of roles last season, from situational left-hander to setup man after Antonio Cordero came apart; easily had his best season in the Bigs.
MR Juan Martinez, 25, B:R, T:R (4-2, 1.93 ERA, 3 SV | 14-10, 2.82 ERA, 8 SV) – very good stuff and strong control, could possibly be a closer somewhere else; has almost 4 K/BB.
MR Roberto Carrillo, 31, B:R, T:R (3-2, 2.22 ERA, 1 SV | 34-25, 3.12 ERA, 38 SV) – can be used in a variety of ways, as a strong 7th inning guy, long man, time killer in extra innings, or possibly even as emergency starter, although all of his 391 appearances came in relief.
MR Albert Matthews, 22, B:R, T:R (1-1, 3.13 ERA | 6-5, 2.52 ERA, 1 SV) – was badly lit up at times early last year and sent back to AAA, from where he came back much stronger; still has some control issues to iron out, though.
SU Jackie Lagarde, 28, B:R, T:R (8-5, 1.80 ERA, 2 SV | 14-12, 2.23 ERA, 9 SV) – has won back the setup role from a sluggish Albert Matthews last season and was excellent last season, while regularly thrown into tight games as evidenced by his record.
SU Chris Nelson *, 34, B:L, T:L (1-3, 4.09 ERA, 1 SV | 42-50, 2.54 ERA, 165 SV) – acquired from San Francisco for Antonio Gonzalez; was a closer for various teams in six seasons; suffered from an abnormal .339 BABIP last season.
CL Grant West, 35, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.15 ERA, 46 SV | 31-19, 1.93 ERA, 417 SV) – the “Demon” was virtually untouchable last season, blowing only one save all year long in the regular season (and one in the World Series, unfortunately); his ERA is a full-season career best, his SV tied a career high, and his WHIP was second to 1982 only. There is hope that he will go for a few more years before falling to the youngsters.

C David Vinson, 26, B:S, T:R (.243, 10 HR, 57 RBI | .258, 41 HR, 176 RBI) – came back lame from his 1990 breakout season, including horrible defense, especially early in the season; here’s to him rebounding this year.
C Shimpei Iwamoto *, 32, B:R, T:R (.236, 3 HR, 30 RBI | .277, 32 HR, 535 RBI) – backup for this year, he has excellent defense, but his offense last year with Dallas was not thrilling.

1B Tetsu Osanai, 33, B:L, T:L (.309, 14 HR, 104 RBI | .325, 213 HR, 1,023 RBI) – former offensive monster with former big punch; has three batting titles and is still chasing after the all time home run lead held by Mark Dawson (304 HR); has started 1,030 consecutive games for the Raccoons at first base – every single one since being acquired from Vancouver; his defense has let up badly in the recent years, and he has not had a blow-away season in the 90s yet;
1B/3B/2B/SS Matt Higgins, 27, B:S, T:R (.246, 4 HR, 52 RBI | .245, 19 HR, 160 RBI) – stole 30 bases and showed excellent defense, but his hitting is not thrilling despite showing great promise a few years ago; penciled in as second base starter.
SS/3B/2B/1B Jorge Salazar, 31, B:L, T:R (.317, 4 HR, 51 RBI | .281, 16 HR, 365 RBI) – excellent defense and a surprisingly productive bat with back-to-back .300+ seasons, he has the shortstop starting job nailed down hard.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 26, B:R, T:R (.259, 5 HR, 74 RBI | .268, 13 HR, 119 RBI) – chased Mark Dawson out of Portland last season and is currently set in stone at third base.
1B/2B/3B/SS/LF Matt Duncan, 25, B:L, T:R (.303, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .229, 2 HR, 19 RBI) – versatile defensive backup with an agonizing bat.
1B/3B Matt Brown, 23, B:L, T:R (.175, 0 HR, 6 RBI | .175, 0 HR, 6 RBI) – he is merely holding this roster spot warm until we can find a better backup; his 1991 showing would not have warranted a comeback under normal circumstances.

LF/RF Daniel Hall, 36, B:R, T:R (.261, 7 HR, 35 RBI | .263, 193 HR, 795 RBI) – pretty complete player, first ever Coons draft pick; missed 96 games last season after suffering a concussion, but came back very Hallesque in September; still our starting leftfielder, although he could be rotated out more frequently than before (along with the other two starters) to get Glenn Johnston into games, especially against right-handers.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 25, B:R, T:R (.357, 13 HR, 60 RBI | .329, 17 HR, 95 RBI) – blew everybody away last season, going from fifth outfielder to third place in the batting title race; was it a once-in-a-lifetime season or can he come up with such heroics again? His awesome defense is certainly no reason not to play him..
LF/RF/1B Bobby Quinn, 27, B:R, T:R (.302, 10 HR, 80 RBI | .284, 25 HR, 200 RBI) – has been a great pickup on waivers in ’89, and combines quite a bit of everything in average, power, defense, and speed.
CF/RF/LF Glenn Johnston, 25, B:L, T:R (.279, 2 HR, 29 RBI | .288, 15 HR, 157 RBI) – very complete player, almost like a younger Daniel Hall, but with great defense in all three outfield positions and less home run power; lost his CF starting spot to Reece last season, but should get ample playing time at least against right-handed starters, spelling the three starters.
LF/CF/RF Jeff Martin, 25, B:L, T:R (.257, 1 HR, 7 RBI | .269, 7 HR, 66 RBI) – only appeared as backup last season, spending most of the year in the minors; will have a hard time again this year as fifth outfielder.

On disabled list: Nobody

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody

Other roster movement: None

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: CF Reece – SS Salazar – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – RF Quinn – 2B Higgins – C Vinson – 3B O’Morrissey – P Saito
Vs. LHP: CF Reece – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – RF Quinn – 2B Higgins – SS Salazar – C Vinson – P Saito

We gained 2.0 WAR this off season and rank 7th in the ABL.

Top 5: Warriors (+9.8), Wolves (+9.5), Scorpions (+4.4), Condors (+3.5), Aces (+3.4)
Bottom 5: Knights (-7.3), Loggers (-8.6), Canadiens (-9.5), Titans (-10.1), Rebels (-10.2)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year, I predicted a 94-68 season if we stayed injury-free, and we finished 96-66 despite injuries. This was done mostly on pitching, and you can’t count on getting such awesome hurling every year. This year, the offense has to come around again. With a serious downgrade on Tetsu Osanai’s scouting report, and the fact that we didn’t even manage to play properly in our own power-friendly park last season, spell more trouble at the plate this season.

Meanwhile, the key personnel that went to the World Series to be obliterated by the 113-49 Capitals is still here, and has been improved in a spot or two. Our infield backups are very weak however, and will remain at the focus for improvements.

Still, with the Canadiens and Titans losing feathers, the Loggers and Crusaders hampered by shoestring budgets, and the Indians still lacking any meaningful slugger beyond Raul Vazquez, the goal can only be the division title again. Something in the 95-wins vicinity should be attainable. After that, it is everybody’s guess, and if the Capitals keep going, they could be locked in for more titles and lay down the first three-peat in the ABL.

The Raccoons will repeat their 96-66 season from last year and rematch the Bayhawks in the CLCS. From there? I don’t know.

Player development:

Our system dropped from 3rd place to 14th last season for us draining out a few players, who were no longer eligible then (although only Neil Reece became stuck in the majors). This year, there is a huge bounce back to 4th place!

Last year, we had five players in the Top 100, one of which is no longer eligible (Matt Brown), and six more in the Top 200, with two of those being no longer eligible (Miguel Lopez, Daniel Miller). Only ten players are ranked this year, but among those are three in the Top 20.

9th (+38) – AA SP Antonio Donis, 19 – 1990 third round pick by the Raccoons
14th (+14) – AAA OF Vern Kinnear, 23 – international discovery by Nathan Bruce
17th (+36) – AAA CL Gabriel De La Rosa, 21 – 1989 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
66th – A SS Conceicao Guerin, 18 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
81st (-22) – AAA MR Tony Vela, 21 – international discovery by Charles Hutchinson
150th (+41) – AAA SP Eduardo Salazar, 25 – 1989 first round pick by the Raccoons
152nd – AAA LF Chih-tui Jin, 22 – 1988 fifth round pick by the Raccoons
156th (-25) – AAA SP Jose Rivera, 19 – international discovery by the Condors, acquired in 1989 for Stephen Hall
159th – A LF/RF Kevin Savary, 18 – international discovery by Wolves, released, signed in 1992 by the Raccoons
199th – AAA 1B Esteban Baldivia, 23 – international free agent signing

The Stars’ C Rob James, 4th overall pick in 1990, is the #1 ranked prospect in the sport.

Next: first pitch!

[Questdog]

Certainly looks like a team worthy of our season ticket purchases!

You gotta believe the offense will be improved, if for no other reason, because Hall will get more plate appearances. Vinson also has to be closer to 1990 form than 1991 and a full season of Reece can't hurt and Testu has to hit more than 14 homers (though we'll take the 100 RBI's). I still have good feelings about Jeff Martin being a plus player and we can't wait to see Vern Kinnear put up some monster numbers in Portland (though we are in no hurry to say goodbye to old friends). On the other hand, Bobby Quinn may have been playing over his head last year (we hope not).

Our favorite new show this fall on Telemundo: Raimundo Beato, a hectic game show where contestants must attempt to dance to the latest hip hop hits while being doused with high pressure hoses of various colored liquids!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Certainly looks like a team worthy of our season ticket purchases!

You gotta believe the offense will be improved, if for no other reason, because Hall will get more plate appearances. Vinson also has to be closer to 1990 form than 1991 and a full season of Reece can't hurt and Testu has to hit more than 14 homers (though we'll take the 100 RBI's). I still have good feelings about Jeff Martin being a plus player and we can't wait to see Vern Kinnear put up some monster numbers in Portland (though we are in no hurry to say goodbye to old friends). On the other hand, Bobby Quinn may have been playing over his head last year (we hope not).

Jeff Martin has favorable ratings, but his production - even in AAA! - does not warrant them at all. He's a jigsaw puzzle that has the corner tiles mizzing.

By the way, one correction: back when Daniel Hall went down, I stated he was on a good run for 1,000 RBI. This is not correct. I may have mixed that up with his BB's, which are 918 so far. And the RBI total above is wrong as well, he has 815.

Ah, confusion.

Oh, and the Quinnster is scouted a 13/7/9 by Guerra, which is about in tune with our other scouts before. OSA insists on 15/8/11. We may not see double-digit homers from him every year, but a .300 average should be well in reach.

Vinson is scouted 13/12/16, largely in agreement with previous scouts. OSA: 10/9/12. Oh, well.

Originally Posted by Questdog

Our favorite new show this fall on Telemundo: Raimundo Beato, a hectic game show where contestants must attempt to dance to the latest hip hop hits while being doused with high pressure hoses of various colored liquids!

How ...??

That's goin' to be Pooky-tastic.

---

First pitch tonight, unless something comes in the way. I'm also trying hard not to hit mlb.com today so I can watch the Rays-Rangers game from last night unspoiled when I come home in some ten hours. Too bad my job is so boooooring. Too great mlb.tv's player and OOTP about barely fit on my laptop's screen together.

We'll open in Milwaukee, by the way.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) @ Loggers (0-0)

We opened with this 2-game set in Milwaukee, not playing on actual Opening Day.

Our season opener was contested by Kisho Saito against the right-hander Davis Sims. Reece and Salazar reached to start the game, but the big boys Hall, Osanai, and Quinn all flailed or flew out. The game remained scoreless until the fourth, and Saito had to stand up for himself early on in this season. Two out, two down in the top 4th, he singled into right to score Bobby Quinn from second base. While now leading, Saito shoveled his own grave in the fifth with a bad throw on Sims’ bunt with Duane Smith on second base. This put runners on the corners with one out. Emilio Roman then got the run in with a sac fly. Sims was removed in the sixth after racing to 110+ pitches, and the game remained tied through seven. Roberto Flores walked Daniel Hall, starting the eighth, then advanced Hall on a wild pitch. Osanai flew out, but Quinn then lined over 3B Bob Grant for an RBI double. Lagarde took over for the eighth and instantly blew the 2-1 lead with a double, a walk, and another double. Oh great. Chris Nelson struck out Cristo Ramirez, and then Juan Martinez was brought in. He popped up Jesus Jimenez, then got Gates Golunski to fly out to Hall. But the game was tied. O’Morrissey was plunked first up in the top 9th. Martinez bunted him over, and after a Reece single, O-Mo scored on Salazar’s groundout. New 1-run lead, new pitcher for the ninth: Grant West. He had 83 to go to 500 saves – why not start early? With two down, Grady Young reached base on a single, but West got Edgardo Ramos to fly out to Reece in center and it was game over. 3-2 Raccoons. Reece 2-5; Salazar 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-3, RBI;

Neil Reece extended his hitting streak from last season to 14 games, as did Bobby Quinn with one single, who got his hitting streak to 21 games thus.

I wanted Glenn Johnston in game 2, but with both Reece and Quinn running hitting streaks I didn’t want to be forced into pinch-hitting with any of those. So, Johnston subbed for Hall in game 2, playing right, with Quinn in left. Quinn also batted in Hall’s spot, in third.

No matter what the lineup was, Jason Turner was smothered from the start, with a 4-run first inning. His control was bad enough, walking two in addition to close third strike in a full count to leadoff man Golunski, and then he basically didn’t get anybody out. Turner scored a fifth run for the Loggers in the third with a wild pitch. Scott Murphy had faced the minimum through three innings, but put men on starting the fourth. Reece, Salazar, and Quinn all reached with nobody out. Osanai hit an RBI single into right, followed by an infield single by O-Mo, which SS Raul Rodriguez only got to too far behind second base. Down 5-2, tying runs on base, nobody out. Higgins lobbed out to left, and Johnston double played the Coons outta the inning. Jason Turner didn’t get out of a jam in the bottom 5th and was relieved by Ken Burnett. The Raccoons didn’t threaten again until the eighth with a 1-out single by Reece. Salazar doubled into the gap in left, scoring Reece, and the tying run came to the plate at 5-3, but Quinn flew out and Osanai fanned. Johnston got on with two out in the ninth, but Vinson struck out to end the game. 5-3 Loggers. Reece 3-4; Burnett 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K (one walk was intentional);

Quinn’s hitting streak is over after going 0-3 with a walk. Turner is in September form. The offense has yet to show up.

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

The Raccoons took a 1-0 led in the bottom 1st of game 1 with Daniel Hall hitting the team’s first homer of the year, and that was followed by a 4-run second inning, including a 2-run homer by O’Morrissey and two unearned runs after a Will Jackson error in center. That 5-0 lead looked comfy, but the Thunder came back to jump on Robert Vazquez in the fourth, also scoring four runs, including a 2-shot by Fernando Gonzales. Jose Sanchez’ leadoff triple in the top 5th seemed destined to sink Vazquez, but he got a pop up and then struck out sluggers Vonne Calzado and Jesus Herrera to escape with his 5-4 lead intact. The Raccoons had runners on the corners in the bottom 6th and two out, when Johnston pinch-hit for Vazquez, but popped out. Martinez came in as reliever, and served up a pinch-hit home run for Milo Carpenter. The pen hung in there to at least keep the game tied in regulation. In the bottom 9th, the Coons just had to walk off. Brown pinch-hit for the pitcher to start that inning and grounded out, refusing to get his career AVG even close to .200. Reece was still hitless here and flew out, and Salazar K’ed for extra innings. Hall flew out in the bottom 10th before Osanai walked. Duncan ran for him, and after several tries by Jose Chavez to pick him off, Duncan stole second base. Quinn came back from 0-2 to walk. Chavez then also walked Higgins and that set up a W for the Coons with any deep ball hit by O-Mo. And he DID hit it deep to right, and over Calzado – the Coons walked off!! 6-5 Raccoons. Higgins 2-3, 2 BB; O’Morrissey 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Three games, two leads blown by the pen. I won’t speak about the third game. Neil Reece’s hitting streak also ended here.

O’Morrissey’s walkoff hit was scored a double despite the winning run on third base. Is that even possible?

Game 2. Iwamoto made his first start for the Raccoons, who would try to keep their winning record here. The ugly Thunder threw seven left-handers at Scott Wade. How evil! Naturally, Wade approached this left-handed beast of a thousand jaws with extreme care, and ended up walking a few, but the Thunder didn’t get hard contact off him. The Coons were puzzled by Francesco Saucedo meanwhile, not getting a hit through three. Salazar and Hall walked to start the bottom 4th. Osanai broke the inning with a double play and Quinn didn’t get a hit, either, and the game remained scoreless. The Coons didn’t get a hit until O’Morrissey singled in the fifth. Iwamoto followed that up with a walk and Wade was told to swing and singled. Bases loaded, one out. Reece managed a sac fly at the top of the lineup – what a rush of offense!! Almost by command, the Thunder now tore up Wade. Four straight Thunder reached base in the top 6th, tying the game and loading the sacks. Nelson replaced him, but the go-ahead run scored on a Bruce Hardy sac fly. Wade was not on the hook for long: Hall led off the bottom 6th with a home run, 2-2. Top 8th: a passed ball on Iwamoto helped the Thunder to go into the lead again, when it advanced a runner to second, and took away a double play on the next grounder, instead setting up for a sac fly for a 3-2 lead for Oklahoma. So we went to the bottom 9th. Higgins singled his way on to start the frame. On a hit-and-run, O-Mo moved him to third base with a single. Johnston pinch-hit for Iwamoto, but grounded out, winning runs in scoring position. Vinson pinch-hit for Matthews, who had pitched the top 9th. At 2-2, Vinson drilled a liner to right that fell in, and raced past Calzado, his first hit of the year, and the Coons walked off again with a 2-run double!! 4-3 Coons. Hall 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4; Brown (PH) 1-1; Vinson (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Nelson 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

T-10th in runs scored, we now led the CL North, exclusively on 1-run wins. Vinson, Quinn, Osanai were all hitting sub-.200 early on, and that was a drag on the offense, for obvious reasons.

Game 3, could we complete a sweep? It was on our addition “Pooky” to get that done. No starter had a W so far. Raimundo Beato faced the same heavily left-handed lineup as Wade had gotten to see. He hit two batters in the first three innings, with the latter knock to Jose Sanchez coming with two out and costing a run when Jeff Wagner and Vonne Calzado singled Sanchez in. Beato hit Dave Browne leading off the fourth, but the Thunder didn’t add to their 1-0 lead. Infield singles by Sanchez and Wagner leading off the fifth signaled the sinking of the ship. Beato walked Calzado to load the bags with nobody out. Burnett came in, already heavily used in this series, but got a flyer to short center, that Reece got to and holding the runners, then a grounder to Higgins for a double play. The Thunder had beleaguered Beato, but they really shredded the bullpen. They got one run off Lagarde, then took four from Carrillo in two innings. The Raccoons were smashedly out-hit 14-6, and sunk 6-1. Quinn 1-2; Salazar 1-2, RBI;

Bobby Quinn was injured running the bases and suffered a foot contusion. He will miss two weeks and hits the DL. Great start. Vern Kinnear was called up, for the right-handed options were even less appealing.

Rotation one time through: 26.2 IP, 0-1, 4.05 ERA

Raccoons (3-2) vs. Condors (4-3)

We were running out of right-handed batters early on and I was already over the remaining free agents. Meanwhile, the offense had to pick it up without Quinn for now.

This was especially tough in the opener against left-hander Jose Macias. We were able to field three right-handed batters, and Vinson and Higgins. That was it. Saito started for Portland and negated any bid by the Condors for hard contact. He scattered six hits in the first six innings, while getting a 1-0 lead, for which the offense had to cough and groan to get it in. O’Morrissey was on second base with one out in the bottom 6th then, when Higgins doubled to the base off the wall, 2-0. Higgins then hobbled off and had to be replaced by Duncan, tweaking something as he turned at first. Tetsu Osanai finally had a big RBI knock in the bottom 7th with an RBI double, and the Coons extended their lead to 4-0. Saito was still pitching, did a quick eighth, and then even did a quick ninth. The Condors were on base a lot, but never scored. 5-0 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Higgins 2-3, 2B, RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (1-0) and 1-4;

Saito threw 114 pitches in his 12th career shutout, nine of which came with Portland. It is also the first time this year, the Raccoons managed double-digit hits: 10;

Matt Higgins will be out with an oblique strain and will sit for about a week. We will not disable him, but in the meantime we will be limited to two middle infielders. That’s bad. We may demote Matt Brown for a middle infielder in the next days.

The middle game was Turner’s start and it didn’t get better from his first one. Francisco Lopez’ 2-run homer quickly got him behind. The Coons tried to get to Tijuana’s starter Carlos Lopez in the bottom 3rd, as Turner, Reece, and Salazar loaded the bags with three singles. One out, Hall in, and after 15 years in the Bigs, he knew every bad pitch from the book – he took four wide ones to force in a run and let Osanai do the heavy lifting. Osanai double played the Raccoons out of it. The Coons were unable to close that gap, leaving Turner to pitch quite well through seven, but in a losing cause. Nelson replaced him for the eighth, the bottom of which the Raccoons contested from the top of their lineup. A walk by Hall was everything they put up. O-Mo walked to lead off the bottom 9th and advanced on Johnston’s groundout. Vinson had to get it done, but grounded out, and that left Duncan up, but we sent for Vern Kinnear to pinch-hit, and he flew out to center. 2-1 Condors. Reece 2-4; O’Morrissey 2-3, BB; Turner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, L (0-2) and 1-2;

Kinnear started the rubber game in place of Hall. The Coons took an early 3-0 lead in the first, as O’Morrissey (2 runs) and Johnston (solo) chugged home runs. Reece and Salazar added runs with RBI doubles in the second inning, 5-0. That’s where it also came apart. Jorge Salazar was injured banging into second base and left the game. O’Morrissey had to play second base now, which certainly was not to enhance our chances. Robert Vazquez surrendered single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, cutting our lead to 5-2. He then gave up three straight singles with two down in the seventh. The next man up was lefty Manuel Doval. Burnett had walked his share already this year and Nelson had been out the day before. Vazquez could get a lefty! He better could. Doval grounded his first pitch to the second baseman – O’Morrissey! (horrified scream) O-Mo made the play, though, and the inning was over. O’Morrissey would however make an error in the ninth, with two down. Combined with a following Paul Theobald single, that brought the tying run to the plate, but Andres Manuel popped out to end the game. 5-2 Furballs. Reece 3-4, 2B, RBI; Salazar 1-2, 2B, RBI; Johnston 2-4, HR, RBI;

Vazquez scattered 12 hits in seven innings. It’s almost a miracle that the Condors didn’t eat him alive.

In other news

April 13 – WAS SP Ramon Ortiz (1-0, 2.16 ERA) sparkles in a 1-hitter against the Scorpions. The Capitals win 7-0. Alfonso Torres breaks up the no-hitter to start the sixth inning.
April 14 – TIJ OF/1B Ira Houston (0-3 this season) will miss three to four months with a fractured leg (sustained before the Raccoons series).
April 15 – IND LF/RF Raul Vazquez (.294, 3 HR, 6 RBI) will miss about a month to get a bone spur in his elbow taken care of.

Complaints and stuff

Quinn hurt his foot. Higgins tweaked his oblique. Salazar broke god-knows-what. The only thing missing here is Daniel Hall’s arm falling off on a throw back in and Master Kisho getting a comebacker to the nuts. As things are going, these would happen on the same play. Somehow.

The offense was of course horrible so far (we rank last in hits and bottom 3 in many categories), with the exception of Reece, Salazar (hurt), Higgins (hurt), and O’Morrissey (under guarantee soon hurt from getting his legs knotted at second base). Well, Dan The Man somehow managed a .917 OPS despite hitting into a lot of outs. The most glaring issue stands at first base, usually for too long to get to a grounder rolling past. The same basic concept also applies to his plate appearances.

In any case, we will make a move demoting Matt Brown for a middle infielder, maybe Elmer Hawley, who was up in Portland in 1990. But Hawley has no options left. I also threw in a waiver claim for an infielder already – and that was before Salazar went down. That claim won’t be executed before game 2 of our 4-set against Indy (and I’m not sure how that stuff’s counting, it could be game 3) and I really don’t want to see O’Mo at second base but after he hit a double.

Ironic? We rank bottom half in 10 of 11 batting categories – all except strikeouts (3rd). We rank top half in nine of 10 pitching categories – all except strikeouts (8th).

Could become a long season.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Westheim

O’Morrissey’s walkoff hit was scored a double despite the winning run on third base. Is that even possible?

Not in real life, but in OOTP if the result is a double, the game won't go back and adjust it.......

[blazertaz13]

It is way too early to think that the season his headed into the crapper. And since it is a long season, it is good to get all of the bad stuff (I just censored myself) out of the way.

[MarkCuban]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Ironic? We rank bottom half in 10 of 11 batting categories – all except strikeouts (3rd). We rank top half in nine of 10 pitching categories – all except strikeouts (8th).

Could become a long season.

The team is built for the playoffs -- in a seven game series, the top three pitchers can start twice, giving pitching an edge. I always like to think once you make the playoffs your record is 0-0.

Originally Posted by Westhiem

ith the Canadiens and Titans losing feathers, the Loggers and Crusaders hampered by shoestring budgets, and the Indians still lacking any meaningful slugger beyond Raul Vazquez, the goal can only be the division title again. Something in the 95-wins vicinity should be attainable

Has anything changed drastically that could tighten up the CL North race? It doesn't sound like you need 95 wins to take the division crown, as last years' division race wasn't close to begin with.

[Westheim]

On paper, the Loggers and Crusaders are so far off, it isn't even funny. I don't see any other CL North team making a big stride forward.

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If I’m not entirely erring here, then we will claim the newest Raccoon in time for game 2. With that knowledge, there will be no roster move prior to the Indians series. O-Mo will have to get through one game at second base again. Brown at third, Duncan at short, plus Osanai, that’s a really terrible infield, defensively.

Raccoons (5-3) vs. Indians (6-3)

We sent four left-handed batters against lefty Jesus Lopez in the opener, and #1 Reece (.364), #2 Johnston (.278), and #5 O’Morrissey (.321) were the only guys batting more than .200 in the lineup. Wade walked Bob Arnold with one out in the first, loaded the bags, and conceded one run in the first. That looked insurmountable. Can we quit? Bob Arnold didn’t quit, homering in the third. HEY, ARNOLD!! WHERE WAS THAT OFFENSE OF YOURS LAST YEAR??? While the Raccoons were down 2-0, they had also left runners on the corner twice through three innings. The top 4th included a Wade error, pitcher Lopez beating out Osanai with a bunt and reaching first safely, and an infield single by Arnold, among other stuff for three runs (two unearned). Arnold would add another RBI single in the sixth, sending Wade to the showers in a 6-0 game, which had seen Osanai roll out a grounder to second with three on and two out in the bottom 5th. After that, the Raccoons just gave in and never reached scoring position again. The Indians cruised, winning 6-0, Jesus Lopez went the distance with a 6-hitter. Hall 2-4; Burnett 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Yuck.

Roster stuff:

Good news! FINALLY SOME!! Jorge Salazar was diagnosed with merely a mild quad strain, and will only be DTD for four more days. Oh, that’s good news! We still can’t play him regularly doing that stretch, but pinch hitting and maybe a bit of fielding by Sunday?

Good news – well, remains to be seen. We successfully claimed INF/LF Ismael Juarez from the Gold Sox. Juarez is 28, a right-hander, and while his career AVG reads a semi-solid .251, that stems from only 167 AB’s – over six years! He has no home runs, one stolen base, no triples – but he can wear a glove, and that gives him a job in Portland. He had hit .304 with the Gold Sox early on this season.

Vern Kinnear had to go to make everything work out here, as we added Juarez to the roster, as we still have two lame infielders taking up spots for a few more days (Higgins could possibly return for game 4).

---

Game 2. Beato fell behind 2-0 in the third, while the Indians’ Arthur Young exerted such bad control that he was pulled in the fifth for smashing through his pitch count – without allowing a run! He didn’t qualify for the W. Beato settled in after that rocky third, and waited for offense on the part of his team. And waited. And waited. Vinson drilled a home run in the sixth, but then they still trailed 2-1. Bottom 7th. Reece singled his way on with one out. Johnston hit it hard to left, but into an out, bringing up Hall. He went into the gap in right center, over CF Tomas Maguey (who was part of the Capitals last October) and RF Joe Estes. Hall blew through second base and reached third safely, a game-tying RBI triple! Osanai just needed a single to – no, he popped out. “Pooky” went eight, didn’t get in line for a W, but Lagarde held the Indians away in the ninth, and Iwamoto, entering with Lagarde in a double switch, led off the bottom 9th. He made the first of three quick outs against closer Jim Durden. Lagarde put two in scoring position in the top 10th and with two out was removed for Nelson to face lefty R.J. Stinton, who drilled the ball to deep right, but Johnston caught it. Matthews put on the first three batters in the top 11th. It was the end – the Indians plated four with Burnett coming in, and the Raccoons were wholly unable. 6-2 Indians. Reece 2-5; Vinson 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Beato 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K;

Kisho Saito met with Larry Davis in game 3, and neither had surrendered an earned run yet. That streak ended in the first, at least for Davis, with a Daniel Hall home run, 1-0 Furballs. However, Master Kisho kept his white vest for like three seconds longer, as Paul Connolly homered off him leading off the top 2nd. The Coons would take a 2-1 lead in the third, but a 2-out RBI double by Stinton tied the game again in the sixth. Saito went seven, crossing 100 pitches with his final batter. Osanai grounded out in the bottom 7th, O-Mo grounded out, Vinson shot a home run out of the park. Saito was in line for the win now, but Martinez put the first two men on in the eighth. He got two outs, but Nelson had to come out to retire Angelo Duarte. The Coons got two men on in the bottom 8th, but Duarte cut off a grounder by Hall and converted into the final out. West had no margin for error in his third save opportunity of the year. And West put the first two men on with singles, and they were bunted into scoring position by Mamoru Sato. Stinton came up. He grounded out, but scored the tying run, and a pinch-hit single by Jake Martin dealt a knelling blow. 4-3 behind, Durden came in. Osanai sent a harmless roller to first, that Estes still lost. Brown was put on as pinch runner for Osanai and raced around the bags to score on O’Morrissey’s triple that followed. The game was tied again. O-Mo at third, nobody out. Intentional walks and a sorry grounder by Juarez loaded the bags with one out, and Martin came off the bench for West. He hit it to deep left, it was caught, but O-Mo tagged and scored. 5-4 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-4, 3B, RBI; Vinson 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Salazar (PH) 1-1, BB; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

Great, on top of all the other crap now our closer isn’t closing. Gah! GAH!!

Game 4. We got Higgins back, sitting Duncan. Salazar had played an inning in the last game, but didn’t start here yet. Jason Turner was perfect the first time through the lineup, but Bob Arnold, Shredder of Coons, singled in the fourth to end a bid in time. The game remained scoreless into the bottom 4th, where Alonso Santana was socked by Daniel Hall with a solo shot. Osanai then singled, and O’Morrissey clubbed another homer, 3-0. Turner sat down the Indians in order with a 4-0 lead after the fifth, until he saw Arnold again. Arnold singled again. Stinton’s grounder was then mishandled by Osanai and now trouble was brewing. Victor Cornett doubled, and Arnold scored. Two in scoring position, nobody out. Connolly’s RBI groundout set up for Angelo Duarte hitting an RBI triple. OF COURSE. It ended Turner’s night, and Lagarde allowed Duarte to score and the game was tied. Osanai’s error became three unearned runs. 4-4.

(rocks slowly back and forth, weeping)

Bottom 7th. Reece on second with two out for Hall, who had had two RBI hits so far on the day – and singled just past Duarte into right. Reece scored. Hall then had to make a daring catch at the wall to end the top 8th with the lead intact, after Stinton had drilled a huge fly ball off Matthews, which with Hall already having cracked his apple once before was not funny to me. The ninth. West struck out Cornett. Connelly grounded in front of the plate, and Iwamoto bobbled the pickup, the tying run was on. West looked a bit concerned, but Duarte fouled out to Iwamoto then, and West punched out Luis Gonzalez. 5-4 Raccoons. Reece 2-4; Hall 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Osanai 2-4; Johnston 2-4;

ABL HR leaders: Dan The Man and SFW Jesus Arias with four apiece.

Also this here: Tetsu Osanai so far: .170/.231/.215. Wins by starters: 2. One-run wins: 5. Run differential: -5.

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

The Titans so far ranked 2nd in runs scored in the CL (76 runs, to the Coons’ 40), with more average-y pitching.

Game 1. Martin made a start in right and left the bags full in the first inning. Two on, one out in the bottom 3rd, O’Morrissey blooped a single into shallow center. Hall was sent from second base, but thrown out at home. Next, Martin popped out to leave two more on base. The Titans took a 1-0 lead on a Shotaro Ono sac fly in the fourth, which was all they got in six innings against Robert Vazquez, who then left on the hook. With nobody on, that loser Martin actually managed to hit a triple with one out in the bottom 6th. They left him there, Vinson popping out and Johnston K’ing against starter Doug Morrow. In the seventh, Albert Matthews surrendered a run and and an intervertebral disc, leaving with back spasms. Bottom 8th. O-Mo was on, and then Morrow walked Martin, his seventh walk of the night, and the Raccoons STILL hadn’t scored. Vinson to the plate, and he singled into right. Bases loaded, nobody out, two runs to make up. Salazar was in the #8 slot, having pinch-hit for Duncan (and been walked intentionally) before. He hit a flyer to center, out, O-Mo tagged and scored. The inning then ended with a PH Brown groundout and a Reece popout. Lagarde gave the run back with a leadoff walk and a hit batter, followed by a single, in the ninth. Bottom 9th, Higgins singled to lead off, bringing up Hall as the tying run, and that basically was our last chance. He grounded to get Higgins forced at second, before Osanai and O-Mo struck out. 3-1 Titans. Vazquez 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, L (1-1);

Albert Matthews was DTD with back spasms for about three days.

We waived and designated for assignment Matt Duncan (1-18 at the plate, which even neat defense can’t cure) and recalled Vern Kinnear. Osanai was dropped to #7 in the order. Hall would bat cleanup.

In his new spot in the lineup, Tetsu came to drive in the first run of game 2, with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 2nd. Johnston scored from second on a close play after having stolen second base before that. The Coons would knock up Titans starter Javier Navarro with a leadoff double by Salazar and a string of singles in the third, where they plated five runs, the last two on a 2-out single by Scott Wade himself. Hall added a 2-run double in the fourth for an 8-0 lead. Wade had had a runner on third early on once, but then started cruising despite the Titans having five lefties and a switch-hitter in their lineup. They just couldn’t get to him on that day. In a 9-0 game after seven, Chad Fisher’s leadoff single in the top 8th was only the Titans’ fourth hit of the game, and Wade starved Fisher at first. Wade made 88 pitches through eight and came back out for the ninth with an 11-run lead behind his back. He got two quick outs from Juan Valentin and Jose Martinez, before Hjalmar Flygt worked a walk. Jack Burbidge singled and whatever came, Salvador Vargas, who came out to pinch-hit, would be Wade’s last man – he grounded him back to the mound for the final out. 11-0 Raccoons! 17 hits! Some scoring! Salazar 2-5, 3B; O’Morrissey 3-5, RBI; Hall 4-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Higgins 2-5, RBI; Wade 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-1) and 2-3, 3 RBI;

Offense! There you are! Dan The Man and O-Mo became the first Coons to double-digit RBI’s this year. Also, this was our first double-digit runs game this season. And the first time we scored more than six.

Rubber game time with “Pooky”! The bad news were that our splurging fountain of offense, Daniel Hall, came down with a running nose over night, was sneezing all over the place, and was officially listed as DTD, but would be held out of the game unless for very special circumstances. With the following off day, he should be able to recuperate in time for the next series. That left O’Morrissey in the cleanup spot (we’re getting a bit thin here with sluggers…) and Kinnear started in left. Those two also took care of three runs in the bottom 1st, first O-Mo with an RBI double and then Kinnear with a 2-run single after Reece and Salazar had gotten on to start the game. A Reece homer and a 2-out RBI single by Kinnear made it 5-0 after two. While “Pooky” was not sharp, he had some margin for error now. And the Coons broke the game open by the fourth. With two out and bases loaded, Higgins worked a walk, and then Osanai hit a bases-clearing double, 9-0. Beato was lifted after six innings with some occasional wildness, and Carrillo came in, only to be shelled for three runs in the seventh. But the lead was still comfy and he remained in there, not allowing another base runner the rest of the way. Whether he actually deserved a save while giving up three runs is a different story. 9-3 Coons! Reece 3-5, HR, RBI; Johnston 2-5; Kinnear 4-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Higgins 2-5, RBI; Beato 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Raccoons (9-6) @ Aces (6-9)

The Aces had yet to find their bats with only 48 runs scored in 15 games, but there was always a chance to do it against the Portlandians. We’d face three right-handers, starting with the always controlling Jou Hara, but we would miss Manuel Movonda, for example.

Hara faced off with fellow Japanese Kisho Saito in game 1, and the Aces got the better start with a leadoff triple by Manny Espinosa in the bottom 2nd leading to the first run of the game. Hara came in 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA and made it clear early on that he was not to be easily defeated. Through 4 2/3 innings, Saito had the only Coons hit off Hara and we trailed 1-0. Saito laid down a bad bunt in the fifth, forcing Osanai out at second base for that second out, and Reece came up, having flailed twice in the game already. He didn’t flail again, and instead nailed it for a 2-run home run. Hara crumbled there, walked two, but Hall flew out to right. Saito came up with two down and two on in the sixth, was sent to bat, and made the final out. He had been strong the last few innings and I calculated that he was better off continuing. Well, no. The Aces tagged him for three runs on five hits in the bottom 6th, getting all the balls in that they needed to. Saito then added a quick seventh, but the damage was already done. The offense had obviously just flickered a bit the last two games, and not caught fire. Higgins’ single in the eighth was only their third hit on the day, and it was also their last one. 4-2 Aces.

That rotten sixth… why can’t they hold Master Kisho’s leads, but not pick him up after such rotten innings!?

Game 2. We tried something new. In 14 years in the Bigs, Daniel Hall had never played in right field. He did so in game 2, with Kinnear in left. Vinson got a day of rest from striking out all the time, and Jason Turner tried to improve on his 0-2 record to give us an all-1-win rotation. Before ever donning a glove, Daniel Hall made sure he was mentioned positively in the box score, and socked a 2-shot off Sixto Calderon in the first. Osanai hit a leadoff double in the fourth and Vinson walked. Turner came up and bunted into a force at third base, and the Coons didn’t score. Turner at least dealt fire from the mound and held the Aces guessing so far. Osanai doubled the lead to 4-0 with a 2-out, 2-run double in the fifth. Up 5-0 in the bottom 7th, the Aces put their two first men on, left-handers Espinosa and Marcinek Wodaj with singles. Turner stayed in there, grounded out Zahid Mashwanis, and then punched out Lowell Allen and Scott Spivey. Turner was knocked out in the eighth with a pinch-hit home run by Tom Stephens. We still led 5-1. The Aces sent Mike Rivers to pitch the ninth, and the Coons set fire to him, breaking him up badly in a 6-run inning that started with two leadoff walks. 11-1 Raccoons! Salazar 2-6, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-3, 2 BB; Brown (PH) 1-1; Hall 2-5, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Kinnear 4-5, BB, RBI; Higgins 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Osanai 3-5, 3 2B, 4 RBI; Turner 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (1-2);

Hall had not gotten much to field in the game, and he’d get another one with Bobby Quinn still on the shelf. Kinnear’s bat was nice to have and he was backing up Hall at the moment, batting fifth. Reece got a day off for Johnston in the final game.

Johnston immediately made himself useful in the rubber game with a solo home run in the first. He didn’t make himself useful for too long, though, as he was hurt in the second inning in a home plate collision with Alberto Duran and left with back pain. He also was called out on Daniel Hall’s RBI double, which still plated Salazar as the fifth run of the inning in a speedy demolition of starter Rafael Espinoza. The Aces didn’t get a hit until the third, and also scored there on a 2-out balk by Robert Vazquez. Down 5-1, but still in it in the third, the Aces faced Martin (Johnston’s replacement) on second with one out (Hall had K’ed) and elected to walk the glazing hot Kinnear for Matt Higgins. Bad mistake, Higgins took Sam Bowman so deep the ball was never seen again, 3-run homer! The Aces nibbled at the lead, scoring twice more against Vazquez, who went seven innings, but still trailed 9-3 after those seven frames. The Coons loaded the bases to start the top 8th, and Hall squeezed a grounder between 1B Wodaj and the foul line for a 2-run single in what became another ugly, 4-run inning. The Raccoons dished out another drubbing, 13-3 this time! Salazar 2-5, BB; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Johnston 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; Martin 2-3, BB, 2B; Hall 3-5, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Higgins 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Vazquez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (2-1) and 1-3, BB, RBI; Martinez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

April 20 – SAL 2B/3B Mark “Icon” Allen (.180, 0 HR, 5 RBI) is out for at least a month after hurting his back in an on base collision. Back spasms will keep him out of the game for a while.
April 26 – NAS SP Joe Ellis (3-0, 3.48 ERA) 3-hits the Stars in a 7-0 win. For Ellis, who will turn 41 in June and certainly looks older, it is the 16th career shutout, and the first since 1988. It is also his 90th career complete game, including at least one in every season all the way back to 1977.

Complaints and stuff

Wow! Offense! (shocked look)

We have 87 runs through 18 games (4.83 R/G). That’s 46 in the last five games (9.2 R/G) and 41 in the 13 games before that (3.15 R/G). I will take a keen guess, that the most recent flush of fire won’t hold up for very long, but if we could settle in close to that five mark, that’d be something. The 3.15 R/G grind eclipsed the offensive outputs of even the worst Raccoons teams in the early seasons.

On Hall: he defensively was always rated about 16/1/10 across the outfield, and never appeared in right field before, mainly because his arm doesn’t allow for any threat in direction of third base. He’s rated 15/1/9 out there currently with a 9 arm, which ain’t that bad for a guy turning 37 in June.

In case you wonder, Dan The Man’s 18 RBI don’t rank in the top 3 in the CL (he leads in home runs, though). The Top 3 read Mike Powys – 24, Steve Cobb – 20, Pedro Villa – 19; sounds familiar? Those are all Bayhawks.

Bobby Quinn will come off the DL during our next series in Charlotte. Who will go? Kinnear probably won’t be it.

The Aces have waived Sixto Calderon, whom we pounced upon in the middle game. Matt Duncan by the way cleared waivers unclaimed and is in AAA ball.

[Questdog]

Boy, oh, Boy! TWO 4 hit games for Mr. Kinnear and not a K in sight!

Know what I mean, Vern?......

[Westheim]

Glenn Johnston was DTD with back pain, continuing the early trend of Raccoons being sidelined with more or less nagging injuries.

Raccoons (11-7) @ Falcons (7-12)

The Falcons were a team of Raccoons castoffs, like Billy Mitchell, Luis Herrera, and Joe Jackson. Herrera started game 1 on the mound.

Things were starting off as usual. The Coons put runners on the corners with nobody out in the top 1st and managed to double play themselves out of it, while Djordje Nedic would hit a 2-out, 2-run double in a full count against Scott Wade in the bottom 1st. That early setback would be corrected with a second-inning 2-out RBI single by Vinson and a leadoff jack off the bat of Neil Reece in the third. We took a 3-2 lead on Higgins’ 2-out RBI infield single the same inning. The score remained 3-2 through seven. The Coons didn’t mount a lot of offense, and Wade kept the Falcons where they were. Bottom 8th, Matthews got one Falcon, Nelson got the next and then remained in to face switch-hitter Jose Madrid. In a 2-2 count, Madrid launched a shot way over the left field fence, and the bullpen had blown another lead. After a scoreless top 9th, Nedic doubled against Nelson to start the bottom 9th, and advanced to third when Lagarde got Jackson to ground out to Salazar. With two out, Lagarde faced Emmanuele Bedeschi, went to 2-2, then surrendered the walkoff single. 4-3 Falcons. Reece 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, BB; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

Bobby Quinn was activated from the DL in time for game 2. Matt Brown was demoted to AAA, so we carried five infielders and six outfielders now. Also, Matt Higgins has now a 12-game hitting streak going.

The Coons took an early lead in the second game with an O’Morrissey home run in the first, 1-0. Salazar made it 2-0 with a sac fly in the third, and they went up 3-0 in the fourth on an error by SS Adam Kent, and they had then two out with nobody on, but so far had not cashed in big in these situations. Osanai now came up with an RBI double, and the Falcons didn’t pitch to Vinson, putting him on to load the bases with nobody out. Raimundo Beato came to bat and killed the inning with a double play, home-and-first. After five strong innings, Beato was also torn up on the mound for three runs in the bottom 6th, with the Falcons closing back to 5-3. The pen took over, and the Falcons took command. Martinez put a man on with one out in the seventh, Burnett allowed him to score. Burnett put the obnoxious Nedic on to start the bottom 8th, which was the tying run. Nedic was bunted to second by Jackson, before heroic plays by Hall and Higgins kept the lead together. Reece provided some much needed insurance with a solo home run in the ninth. West closed it out. 6-4 Raccoons. Reece 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI;

Odd fact: in his 415th career game, David Vinson stole his first base when Beato fanned on a hit-and-run which was intended to catch the Falcons by surprise in the sixth. They were indeed so surprised they didn’t get Vinson out. (He is scouted with 3 speed and 1 stealing, so … yeah) Vinson would come around to score in the inning.

Kisho Saito had one of those starts not to remember in game 3. He put the first two Falcons on, then allowed Jose Madrid to triple, and Madrid was scored as well, and the Falcons led 3-0 in an instant. Saito loaded the bags in the second, and only a double play saved him. Meanwhile the Raccoons did not find a way to hurt Orlando Blanco, who came in with a 5.59 ERA, but struck out eight, while Saito didn’t strike out anybody on a horrible, horrible day. 4-1 Falcons. Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Higgins has a 14-game hitting streak. With this team obviously not going anywhere but fourth place, we better start cheering for personal achievements.

Raccoons (12-9) vs. Loggers (7-14)

The Loggers lacked basically everything, which made them such pushovers. They still were a game ahead of the Crusaders, but from a good team you’d expect to wipe the floor with them in a 3-game sweep. The Raccoons were not such a team, while I continued to juggle the lineup. In an effort to maximize left-handed bats (if nothing else), Johnston and Kinnear were playing along with Hall in the outfield for the opener, sitting Reece and Quinn.

The Loggers quickly nixed all planning by hitting Turner for two runs in the top 1st. Higgins left the bases loaded in the bottom 1st, and the Loggers led 4-0 by the third. Down 5-0, Turner was pinch-hit for in the bottom 4th with Reece, who flew out to leave two Raccoons on. The game was long over by then. Rafael Garcia, who had come in with an ERA over six, obliterated the Raccoons over 8.2 innings before running out of steam in the ninth. Not that the Raccoons would do damage. 6-1 Loggers. Six hits for the Raccoons. Higgins 2-4; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Burnett 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

22-year old Lorenzo Martinez made his big league debut in the middle game, facing off with Robert Vazquez. Martinez instantly was given a 2-0 lead, when Vazquez allowed four straight 2-out base runners in the top 1st. His problem was, that he wasn’t holding on to it, as Hall and Higgins drove in three runs with a pair of singles in the bottom 1st. When Vazquez then hit a home run in the second, the Loggers should have been getting second thoughts about their new starter, who was pinch hit for after four innings with five hits, four walks, a hit batter, and five runs against him (four runs were earned). The Raccoons would hold another feast in the sixth, with four runs on an overwhelmed bullpen, and ran away with this one. 9-2 Coons. Juarez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Hall 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Higgins 2-4, 2 RBI; Vazquez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3-1) and 2-3, HR, RBI; Martinez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Higgins’ streak reached 16 games here, third longest in the majors this season, and that included Bobby Quinn’s 21-game hitting streak that lived for only a day in 1992.

Scott Wade and Scott Murphy entered with identical ERA’s (2.67), identical given names, but not identical records. With his ERA, Murphy had gone 4-1, while Wade was 1-1. Hah. Go figure about offenses. The Loggers offense again came out to play first, with a Gates Golunski double and a Raul Rodriguez RBI single. Nobody out. Hah. As usual, the Raccoons pitcher had to get his own offense going, which he did with a 1-out single in the bottom 3rd. Salazar also singled, and Reece then drove both in with a triple, turning the game around. Reece was scored by O’Morrissey with a sac fly. From there, neither offense gained traction until the eighth. Wade got one out in the top half, then put on Rodriguez with a single. Two lefties up, Nelson got the call, and retired both. West entered in the ninth, hit Jesus Jimenez, but regained control with a double play grounder, and the Coons won 3-1. Reece 2-3, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, 2B; Kinnear (PH) 1-1; Wade 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-1) and 1-3;

Higgins had a bloop single and extended his streak to 17 games.

Raccoons (14-10) vs. Canadiens (14-10)

Series against the Canaries always tended to get ugly, especially if things were close in the standings, like now, as we tied for third in the CL North, 1.5 games off the pace (this is some sort of Pacific Northwest Yankees-Red Sox feud after all!). They had gone largely the same path as we had so far: good pitching, little offense, although their pitching was probably not on the same level as ours. We just had to get things in sync finally.

We tried something new in game 1, batting Kinnear third against right-hander Vicente Torres, behind Salazar and Reece and ahead of Hall and O-Mo. Also, Vinson was rested here. The shuffle worked instant wonders, with Reece singling his way on, Kinnear following with an RBI double, and Hall banging a bomb to make it 3-0. Unfortunately, Beato gave two runs right back in the top 2nd. The Canadiens were on the verge of tying it in the third, but Hall threw out Carlos Quintela at the plate before David Brewer, who came in batting .402, popped out to Reece in short center. After Beato walked the edge above the bottomless pit for a few innings, the Raccoons managed another crooked-number inning in the fifth, where they knocked out Torres with four runs. While we added a few more in a bloop-hit-laden bottom 7th for a 10-2 lead, the Canadiens actually sniffed upwind in the eighth. Beato got an out, then put a man on and we went to Nelson to face left-hander “Itchy” Ishizaki, who singled his way on. Lagarde came in, but couldn’t keep both runs from scoring and loaded the bags with two walks. Burnett entered to face lefty Carlos Guzman and finally ended the inning with a punchout. The Canadiens did not threaten again in the ninth, and the Coons won crushingly, 11-4. Salazar 2-4, BB, RBI; Reece 2-3, BB, RBI; Kinnear 3-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Hall 3-5, HR, 4 RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Beato 7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (3-0);

With both the Indians and Titans losing to the cellar dwellers (MIL 5, IND 4 (13) and NYC 5, BOS 2), we were now a half game out and in striking distance for the first time since mid-April. Also, Dan The Man was Dan of the May – errr, Man of the Day with his 3-5, HR, 4 RBI performance. Unfortunately, Higgins came up dry in this game and had his hitting streak snapped a series worth short of the books at 17 games.

Master Kisho faced Randy Rakes and his 7.20 ERA in 10 IP in the middle game. Odds were in our favor, but that doesn’t always translate into a W. Things went wrong quickly in the top 2nd. Quintela had a leadoff single, and then O-Mo made an error. Luis Arroyo walked, bases loaded, nobody out. Art Garrett singled up the middle, and the Canadiens were up 1-0. Catcher Javier Salcido then sunk hopes with a grand slam. Saito looked as clueless as everybody else. The Canadiens would add a run, six in total, three earned, against Saito in the inning. The Coons would have to rake Rakes now if Saito was not to drop to 1-3. They loaded the bags with nobody out in the bottom 2nd. Vinson was up and lined out to 3B Raul Solis. Saito was left in to bat here and hit a 2-run double, two in scoring position with one out, but only one run scored on Salazar’s groundout. Saito went four innings, not allowing more runs, but he didn’t look good at all. The Canadiens took to Roberto Carrillo in the fifth and sixth, loading him with four more runs, and moving the game far out of reach. Lagarde shut them down over the last innings, but the Coons didn’t get the bats up again. 10-3 Canadiens. Higgins (PH) 1-1; Lagarde 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

So, now both teams have dished out a drubbing. Maybe the rubber game will go 17 innings and end with a 2-1 score, the winning run scoring on a balk?

Hall got game 3 off, mainly because I wanted to give Martin a start somewhere. We needed to trim to five outfielders again, since Ismael Juarez was not helping us in the infield. I wanted to call up Elmer Hawley, who was hitting .291 in AAA.

Game 3 was started by Turner, who like Saito was nowhere near where he was supposed to be at this point. Before anybody got a hit, the Coons took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 2nd. Higgins walked, then stole two bags and scored on Martin’s groundout. Up 2-0, Kinnear found two men on in the bottom 3rd and drilled Manny Ramos’ offering for a 3-run homer, 5-0. Turner was perfect through 11 batters before Brewer grounded past Osanai, but was then cut down stealing. There would not be a no-hit bid, but a shutout bid, which was not threatened until Martin made an error in right in the eighth. Nice way to fight for a roster spot. Turner still got out untouched and with the Furballs extending their lead to 7-0 in the eighth, went back out there. He got two quick outs before Salvador Mendez and David Brewer hit singles, but Turner remained in there and got the final out for a 4-hitter. 7-0 Coons. Kinnear 1-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Turner 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (2-3) and 1-3, 2B;

Jason Turner pitched his seventh career shutout, first this year. He also shaved more than a full run off his ERA with the gem.

Let’s see, we had eight hits, one by each man in the lineup, sans Martin. Martin made an error that almost broke up the shutout.

We took up second place in the division, 1.5 behind the Indians now. With interleague play upon us, things could develop one way or the other. How good I am at talking a lot, but not saying anything.

Raccoons (16-11) @ Buffaloes (12-16)

The Buffos struggled with their pitching, having already conceded 133 runs in the Federal League. The Coons were still a hair below triple digits at 94 runs allowed, which led the Continental League. The offenses were about evenly matched between both teams.

We were unfortunate enough to start the series against the Buffaloes’ ace Fernando Chavez (3-1, 1.80 ERA), sending in Vazquez, and giving a recently struggling Salazar a game off with Juarez in. However, Chavez didn’t really start the game in ace mode. The Coons loaded the bags in the top 1st with one out, and while Osanai was at the plate, Chavez didn’t throw one, but TWO wild pitches for two runs. Vazquez let it get away in the second, but the Coons put up another 2-spot in the top 3rd, this time doing the dirty work themselves. That lead was not safe with Vazquez either, and the Buffos had two in scoring position in the bottom 4th with two down. Manny Mora singled into left and we only stayed ahead because they held the back runner at third and Reece made a sparkling catch to retire the next batter. O-Mo was thrown out at the plate to end the top 5th. Reece upped it to 5-3 in the sixth with a solo jack. Osanai then found Hall on second base with two out in the seventh. What hadn’t we seen yet this year? A Tetsu homer! Well, we got one here, 7-3 Raccoons! Vazquez collected two lefties in the bottom 7th, then was relieved by Matthews and Burnett, who ended the game. 7-3 Furballs. Reece 2-5, HR, RBI; Osanai 3-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Matthews 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Since the Indians had started their series against the Miners while the Coons had enjoyed an off day, and had lost twice already, we moved into a virtual tie for first place here!

Reece and Kinnear sat for Johnston and Quinn in game 2. So many guys that need AB’s! Scott Wade was tasked with ensuring that that virtual tie had a chance to become an actual lead. Neil Ford on the mound for Topeka struggled with control. After Osanai singled to start the top 2nd, he loaded the bags with two walks, then struck out Wade. The best the Coons managed was Higgins’ RBI groundout, and here a great chance was wasted. Bottom 2nd, Wade surrendered three straight singles – no outs. SS Luis Escamilla grounded back to the mound, and Wade got the out at home, and now faced Ford. A K would have been nice, but Ford hurled Wade’s first pitch into left and two runs scored. Bottom 4th. Scott Strong hit a leadoff double. Salazar couldn’t come up with Escamilla’s grounder, runners on the corners. Vinson then threw away Ford’s bunt and all gates opened, the Buffaloes scored five unearned runs in the inning. That slammed the door on the game for the Raccoons, who were unable to mount offense and were defeated soundly, 7-2. Salazar 2-5; Hall 2-2, 3 BB, 3B, 2B; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The Indians won, virtual tie gone, this team was thoroughly unable to gain and keep any momentum.

We demoted Jeff Martin, batting .158, and called up INF/LF Elmer Hawley from AAA, where he had batted .283 with 4 HR and 15 RBI. Neither Duncan nor Brown were doing much there, so they had lost their chance now.

Rubber game. Hawley gave O’Morrissey a day off, and O-Mo got to watch the Buffaloes storm out to an early 3-0 lead against “Pooky”. 1B Edgardo Garza would make it 4-0 in the fifth, while Toru Fujita gave the Coons fits. They had three hits through eight innings, and of course no runs at all. Higgins and Kinnear got on to start the top 9th. Hall flew into the gap in left center, but was intercepted by Dave Reid, and that was basically the game. 4-0 Buffaloes. Higgins 2-4, 3B; Iwamoto 1-2, BB;

In other news

April 29 – IND OF R.J. Stinton (.267, 0 HR, 7 RBI) is out for four to five months with a torn back muscle, dealing a severe blow to the Indians’ chances.
May 1 – WAS OF Jeffery Brown (.330, 1 HR, 14 RBI) logs his 2,000th career hit, a ninth inning single off Christian Proctor, in the Capitals’ 6-3 win over Pittsburgh.
May 5 – TIJ MR Bob Haines, who only appeared in one game for the Condors this season, is most likely out for the year. The 37-year old veteran and no-hitter pitcher has bone chips in his elbow.

Complaints and stuff

The team refuses to leave their .500 morass. It is telling that they have not had a series sweep – either for good or bad – the entire season. One good game, then two bad ones, then a blowout or two, then they lose one in the ninth. Neither forwards, nor backwards. No streak whatsoever.

Tetsu appears to be recovering, at least as far as AVG and OBP are concerned. Power remains missing, and things are worse for Vinson and Quinn. We now have two sub-.200 catchers. Gotta check whether the 70s Raccoons backstops were that bad.

Juarez is a sucker, too. Since coming over from the Gold Sox, he’s 4-26. If I knew what botcher to call up next, I’d have sent him to the desert by now.

I have put an offer on the table for a journeyman infielder who is currently a free agent and would further raise the share Japanese players have around the diamond. He’s only played in the Federal League, so the name should never have come up: 32-year old Marihito Ohayashi, who’s a career .222 batter, but that would still eclipse Juarez. Ohayashi has speed and doubles power, though, and he bats right-handed, the main criteria we need at the moment – still too many left-handed bats around, and some of the right-handed ones don’t perform (I look at you, Bobby Quinn).

I actually like the NYY-BOS analogy to use on the POR-VAN relations. I hate them, they probably hate us. We’ve been dealing in the top half of the CL North for a decade now (also owing to the ailing rest of the division). Portland and Vancouver are about 300 miles apart, 100 miles more than New York and Boston. And it is a close rivalry, 140-130 in favor of the Canaries coming into this season.

[MarkCuban]

Originally Posted by Westhiem

I actually like the NYY-BOS analogy to use on the POR-VAN relations. I hate them, they probably hate us. We’ve been dealing in the top half of the CL North for a decade now (also owing to the ailing rest of the division). Portland and Vancouver are about 300 miles apart, 100 miles more than New York and Boston. And it is a close rivalry, 140-130 in favor of the Canaries coming into this season.

In real life, the winner gets a trophy. So I'd say its an apt comparison.