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Old 07-23-2014, 07:26 PM   #941
Questdog
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Since I used to be a crime scene investigator and the '97 Coons are playing criminally, maybe I can be of assistance. It looks at a glance from a distance that every player on the team is being affected by whatever mysterious ailment has befallen the squad except for 2B David Brewer.

Is he popular in the clubhouse or has he been ostracized from the group? If he's on the outs with his teammates, perhaps he is exacting his revenge on them somehow. Maybe by sprinkling some foreign substance into their athletic supporters. A sound method for detecting many substances is with an olfactic examination (you could sniff their cups and see if they smell funny or at least more funny than usual).

It is also a sound hypothesis that he may be affecting the other players possibly with some form of mass hypnosis. You could check his credit card records to see if he has recently made any payments to any known psychics if you suspect this to be a likely scenario. If a records check should prove to be too difficult to obtain, you could use a method I have often utilized with some success and some failure. You could ask him his opinion on the existence of paranormal phenomenon. If he indicates an affirmative response to the possibility that spooks and stuff might be real, then you know he may be inclined to hire a psychic to gain revenge on someone with whom he has a grudge against. If he denies the possibility of such things, then he may be hiding his true feelings to divert suspicion form the fact that he hired a psychic to give his teammates the Evil Eye. Either way, you can be pretty certain that the Psychic Curse Theory remains a possible explanation for the facts as we know them.

If it turns out that Mr. Brewer is on good terms with most of the other players, then it would seem to me that he is still the key to unlocking the mystery. Study his habits and discern how they differ from the rest of the players. It would seem to me that the rest have something they share in common that is afflicting them with talent withdrawal. What is it that they all are doing except Mr. Brewer? Have you had a pizza party and everyone enjoyed the pies, but Mr, Brewer declined to eat any because of a lactose intolerance issue with the cheese? Did you have a bachelor party for one of the players and were you too cheap to hire more than one hooker and did Mr. Brewer decline his portion of the cake she popped out of? Do the players have a habit of all drinking from the same commode, but Mr. Brewer prefers the urinals? Do the players all share the same steroid syringe, but Mr. Brewer uses an oral contraceptive due to his fear of needles? These are just a few possibilities that come to me off the top of my head, and the answer may be something else, but I would not be surprised if I have hit upon it already because I was a professional, after all, and usually have a good nose for these sorts of things.

If none of these ideas proves fruitful, I could think of other possibilities, but before you jump to ask for them, I would be certain that I have not given you the solution already.

Last edited by Questdog; 07-23-2014 at 07:47 PM.
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Old 07-24-2014, 04:37 PM   #942
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1997 Draft Pool Analysis

Two things are poorly represented in the 1997 draft pool: starting pitching and infielders. But if you are a team with three of the first 43 picks and are looking to get your future starting catcher or a closer shoe-in, this may be your year, assuming you can pick fast enough.

Consensus #1 draft pick is Javier Gusman, though, a youngster scouted as 20/20/20 by Vince Guerra.

However, more realistically, these are the players high on our list that could actually fall to us:

RP Pedro Alvarado (20/17/14)
RP Jerry Paul (18/15/14)
RP Dan Nordahl (18/14/14)

C Alfredo Ortíz (19/10/15)
C Gilberto Muníz (15/17/15)
C Julio Mata (14/14/15)

OF Matt MacKey (13/20/17)
OF Barry Summers (9/18/13)
OF Jochen Funck (15/9/14) – another German kid potentially going high in the draft!
OF Jonathon Bush (16/5/14)

We have the #13, #24, and #43 picks (unless I can’t count anymore). Right now – the draft is still a week away – I would probably take Nordahl if he were around for the #13 pick, then take a catcher at our original first round pick, #24. Can’t decide for a favorite there so far.

---

Next I will craft the huge draft history overview I do less and less often. It hasn’t been updated in five years, so it probably won’t get done until at least tomorrow, it is a buttload of work to go through all the scrums.

---

Quote:
Originally Posted by Questdog View Post
Since I used to be a crime scene investigator and the '97 Coons are playing criminally, maybe I can be of assistance. It looks at a glance from a distance that every player on the team is being affected by whatever mysterious ailment has befallen the squad except for 2B David Brewer.

Is he popular in the clubhouse or has he been ostracized from the group? If he's on the outs with his teammates, perhaps he is exacting his revenge on them somehow.
I interrogated Bob, the guy distributing the towels and stuff in the locker room and other places around the clubhouse, and apparently, David Brewer is really excluded from activities by the other players.

Whenever they play with their Barbie dolls, they only leave the Ken doll for him to play with.

We're on something!
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Last edited by Westheim; 07-24-2014 at 04:38 PM.
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Old 07-24-2014, 11:50 PM   #943
pgjocki
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That Muniz looks pretty good, how is he behind the dish?
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Old 07-26-2014, 10:14 AM   #944
Westheim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pgjocki View Post
That Muniz looks pretty good, how is he behind the dish?
More average than anything else. Mata is the best catcher when it comes to calling a game and containing the heat of the pitchers, but has the weakest plate projection. He may still be my first choice.

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RACCOONS DRAFT HISTORY (as of June 9, 1997)

Players in bold = players currently in the Coons' system (majors or minors).
Players underlined = active major leaguers or players that have played in the majors this season.
Listed are the first five rounds from every draft, plus meaningful drafts from later rounds. Meaningful approximates players that played for the Furballs in the majors, or went on to careers worth mentioning elsewhere, so in the long run two relief appearances in Septembers spaced ten years apart won’t cut it for a 37-year old pitcher, but a youngster pitching elsewhere with only two big league appearances so far would be listed from the later rounds. In very rare cases a player from below the fifth round will be listed that doesn’t qualify under the previous stipulations, like when his call-up to the Raccoons’ roster could come soon.

1977 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - LF/RF Daniel Hall – Franchise poster boy! Forever in our hearts! After a career riddled with all kinds of big and small injuries, he retired after 17 major league seasons, all with the Raccoons, and a .263/.366/.437 career slash line, 1,886 hits, 223 home runs, 980 RBI, and 99 steals, as well as two rings. We will never forget you, Daniel! (sobs)
Round 2 - SP Jose Garcia – retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - 1B Matt Workman – Played 595 games at 1B for the Raccoons, including 404 straight starts before being traded with prospects for Tetsu Osanai. Never landed another job in the starting lineup elsewhere, and last appeared with the Wolves in 1988. Career stats: .271/.327/.390, 61 HR, 327 RBI in his career.
Round 4 - MR Miguel Bojorquez – Appeared in 39 games for the Raccoons between 1980 and 1985, before being claimed on waivers by the Blue Sox. Bounced around in the Federal League as a third-string lefty reliever until 1990. Career stats: 147 G, 11-7, 2 SV, 4.93 ERA
Round 5 - SP/MR Jorge Rodriguez – Was traded before the '83 season and has been with Boston in '83, L.A. in '85, and Oklahoma in ‘87. Career stats: 67 G, 0-2, 1 SV, 7.02 ERA.
Round 7 - MR Jason White – Was traded after the 1985 season for Marcos Costello, and after pitching for the Wolves and Loggers in ’86, bumbled around in the minors for eight years before retiring. 264 career games with a 4.14 ERA.

1978

Round 1 - MR Richard Cunningham – Nasty right-handed setup man with a career WHIP of 1.19 so far and over 1,222 K in 1,167 innings. Was traded to the Stars in the 1988 fire sale, left Texas after ’92 and has since been employed by four other teams, but remains a dangerous right-hander at age 37. Struck out 129 batters in 1992 without making a single start!
Round 2 - MR Gary Simmons – Retired. Was beaten up as a starter with the Raccoons in 1980-81, and was traded to Nashville after the 1982 season. The Blue Sox and later the Knights employed him as reliever exclusively and he remained competent in that role, ending his career after the 1993 season. Career stats: 623 G, 64 GS, 3.44 ERA.
Round 3 - 1B Johnny Snow – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - MR Marvin Large – Retired without reaching the majors despite 15 minor league seasons.
Round 5 - C Eric Gregory – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 7 - LF/RF Fernando Perez – Retired. Had four hits in 26 AB’s for the Coons between 1982 and 1984, was claimed by the Pacifics in 1985, but never appeared in the majors again.
All others from this year are retired.

1979 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - MR Grant West – Forever Portland’s local hero, West spent his whole career as a Raccoon, and being a fail-proof closer for 13 of his 16 seasons. Career stats: 905 G, 43-34, 522 SV, 2.12 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and two rings.
Round 2 - SP Pepe Acevedo – Was shipped off to Cincinnati in the Jack Pennington trade before the 1981 season, and was in the majors for the Cyclones and Indians between 1984 and 1989 with a 43-37 record and 3.80 ERA, but never made it back after that.
Round 3 - MR Fletcher Kelley – Solid right-handed reliever, who was traded to Nashville in the Raúl Herrera trade, where he won two rings. Bounced between teams after 1987 and after three unsuccessful appearances for the 1990 Thunder, he only reappeared in 1994 with the Condors for 18 games of getting mobbed. Career stats: 433 G, 25-18, 7 SV, 3.80 ERA.
Round 4 - LF/RF Gary Carter – Had nine AB’s for the 1983 Coons, going hitless. Never played anywhere else.
Round 5 - C Dave Stewart – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - MR Gilberto Soto – Pitched for the 1984-85 Coons. Career stats: 59 G, 4-2, 1 SV, 4.81 ERA.

1980 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - SP Carlos Gonzalez – Potentially great career that was derailed by injuries early and often. Gonzalez had to retire at the tender age of 30. Pitched for the Raccoons 1984-89 and the Titans 1990-91. Career stats: 145 G, 143 GS, 48-57, 3.91 ERA.
Round 3 - SP Ray Willis – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - 1B/2B Darren Campbell – Only had 86 AB’s for the Raccoons from 1985 to 1987 and never played for another big league team. Career stats: .209/.253/.244 with 0 HR, 7 RBI.
Round 5 - LF Jose Perez – Was taken by the Scorpions in the 1984 rule 5 draft and played for them from 1985 to 1987. Career stats: .221/.297/.277 with 1 HR, 20 RBI.

1981

Round 1 - 3B/2B Orlando Lantán – Retired. Hurt his knee shortly after being drafted and spent short stints with the Coons in 1985 and 1986, after which he was claimed off waivers by the Blue Sox, but never played for any other team. Career stats: .200/.261/.248 with 1 HR, 10 RBI.
Round 2 - C Greg Thornburg – Retired. Great defense, but never much of a batter. Had his 15 minutes of fame with the 1986 Aces, getting four AB’s with a double.
Round 3 - OF Kelly Weber – Retired. Backup outfielder 1984-1988, was traded to the Gold Sox for 1989, but only appeared in six games for them. Career stats: .251/.298/.320 with 5 HR, 112 RBI.
Round 4 - MR Pedro Vazquez – right-handed fireballer with severe control issues, he made 69 appearances for the Raccoons between 1986 and 1992, before being claimed off waivers by the Wolves. Last appeared for the Canadiens in ’94, but is still active with the Miners’ AAA team. Has a 4.60 ERA in 108 big league appearances.
Round 5 - CL Emerson MacDonald – Retired. Appeared for the Raccoons in 1986 and 1988, before being traded to the Pacifics in the trade for Jeff Martin. Last pitched for the Indians in 1991. Career stats: 100 G, 8-4, 3.96 ERA.
Round 7 - C Andy Reed – Retired. Had limited exposure with the Raccoons and Dallas as backup catcher. Career stats: .267/.341/.371 with 2 HR, 9 RBI.
All others from this year are retired.

1982 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - LF/RF Alejandro Lopez – When he didn’t click in the minors, he was traded to the Blue Sox in an 8-player deal in 1985, with whom he debuted the same year. Won two rings with the Blue Sox before being traded to the Condors in ’91, but was unsigned after ’92. He came back to the Raccoons as a scrap heap signing in May of 1993 and was a productive part down the stretch en route to his third World Series title. But he didn’t produce in ’94, was waived and claimed by the Canadiens, didn’t produce there either, and by now has retired. Career stats: .258/.305/.408 with 106 HR, 564 RBI, and 71 SB.
Supp. Round - INF Carlos Miranda – Versatile infielder, with us from 1985 to 1989, but never caught on anywhere else, being limited to 266 career AB. Career stats: .244/.301/.308 with 0 HR, 13 RBI, and 9 SB.
Supp. Round - OF Matt Olson – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Jason Bentley – Another player that only appeared for the Raccoons, from 1985 to 1989. Good right-hander that at one point just lost it. Career stats: 238 G, 5-11, 3 SV, 4.01 ERA, 184 K.
Round 3 - C Odwin Garza – The Aruban’s claim to fame will be that he was included (with SP Manuel Paredes) in the deal that netted the Raccoons David Vinson and Miguel Lopez. Appeared as backup for the Raccoons in 1986-87, and for the Warriors 1988 and 1990. Career stats: .222/.292/.309 with 0 HR, 9 RBI.
Round 4 - 1B Mariano Duarte – Only made the Bigs after leaving as a minor league free agent, accumulating 51 AB for the Thunder in 1989, and one more in 1991. Career stats: .288/.403/.538 with 3 HR, 10 RBI.
Round 5 - RF/LF Paul Blake – Only appeared for the 1986 Raccoons. Career stats: .220/.265/.308 with 1 HR, 5 RBI.

1983

Round 1 - SP Scott Wade – Scotty has been as good a first round pick as you can make, debuting in 1985 despite having only two pitches, and since 1986 he has merely won double-digit games for 11 straight seasons. In 361 career games (357 starts) he is 151-97 with a 3.46 ERA.
Supp. Round - C Miguel Carrasco – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF Wilson Martinez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 8 - 1B/3B Jose Lopez – Retired. Was released in 1985, but eventually bounced into a small cup of coffee with the 1991 and 1993 Knights for 18 career AB. Career stats: .111/.105/.222 with 0 HR, 3 RBI.
All others from this year are retired.

1984

Round 1 - MR Juan Santos – Shipped out for the in Portland short-lived Jose Sanchez after 1987, he didn’t make his debut until 1989 with the Scorpions. Has not appeared after 1990. Currently with the Buffaloes’ AAA team. 5.23 ERA in 64 games.
Supp. Round - 1B Billy Mitchell – Traded after the 1988 season, in which he was a September call-up, being blocked by Tetsu Osanai. Has appeared for the Capitals and Falcons until 1994. Currently a free agent. Has 75 career homers and a .837 OPS.
Round 2 - OF Hector Medina – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - RF Jose Correa – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - MR Jorge Cavazos – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF/RF Jose Vega – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others from this year are retired.

1985

Round 1 - 1B/3B Joe Jackson – debuted in 1988, but was traded to the Falcons after that season for Justin Reader. He is currently with the Falcons’ AAA team (also spending all of 1993 in AAA) after terrible production in 1995 and 1996 (.592 OPS in ’96 in 451 AB). Career .239 batter with 28 HR and 300 RBI.
Supp. Round - 1B Gabriel Ramirez – Retired without reaching the majors. Was at one point traded to Cincinnati for Glenn Johnston, which is a story in itself.
Round 2 - MR Jose Mendoza – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - LF/RF Antonio Morín – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - 1B/2B Dennis Gray – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP/MR Gerald Hickman – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - 3B/2B Bartolo Ayala – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - MR Mike Shaw – Retired. He was a control-challenged lefty reliever that appeared for the 1986 and 1988 Coons. Career stats: 37 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA.
All others from this year are retired.

1986

Round 1 - SP Miguel Martinez – was included in the deal for Neil Reece in the 1988 sales, which was another big W for the Coons. He has bounced around a lot in his career, pitching for the Thunder 1989-91, and then only resurfaced with the 1995 Warriors, was traded to the Gold Sox the same year and is now at their AAA affiliate. 72 career games (61 starts) with a 14-23 record and 4.71 ERA.
Round 2 - SP/MR Eugene Scott – became a reliever, but once he left as a minor league free agent, he has only bounced around. Currently with the Loggers’ AAA team. He has never appeared in the majors.
Round 3 - 1B Vincente Rodriguez – Retired. Was a part of the deal for Jorge Salazar before the 1990 season, and played for the Indians from 1990-1993. Career stats: .257/.327/.362 with 16 HR, 106 RBI, and 14 SB.
Round 4 - RF/INF Ben Nash – currently a free agent, he has one big league hit in 12 AB for the 1995 Raccoons.
Round 5 - MR Keith Jefferson – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others from this year are retired.

1987

Round 1 - 2B/3B Hector Gonzalez – Retired. Was also included in the Neil Reece deal in the 1988 sales, and made his debut for the Buffaloes the same year. He appeared for them until 1993, then for the 1994 Gold Sox, but was left unsigned after that. Career stats: .233/.302/.334 with 38 HR, 360 RBI, and 15 SB.
Supp. Round - MR Albert Matthews – after his 1989 debut with the Coons it soon became apparent that consistency was not in his vocabulary. Was demoted and recalled frequently and alternated between mop-up and setup duties regularly. The Canadiens claimed him off waivers in 1995, and even made him their closer, but he’s now in a lesser capacity with the Warriors. 347 career games, 14-23, 43 SV with a 3.59 ERA.
Round 2 - C Bob Armstrong – primarily a defensive catcher, he spotted 26 AB (7 hits) for the Coons between 1992 and 1994, before being traded to the Falcons in 1996. He is now with their AAA team.
Round 3 - INF/LF/CF Terry Miller – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP Dennis Fried – appeared in 16 games for the Coons in 1990 and pitched so-so, before being included in the ill-fated Raul Castillo deal in 1991 (Castillo only played in three games for Portland due to injury). After being limited to relief appearances with the Blue Sox in 1991, he fought his way into the rotation in 1992 and has stayed there ever since, and after winning 21 games in 1996 was named the FL Pitcher of the Year. 87-64 with a 3.60 ERA.
Round 5 - MR Walter Weber – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others except for MR Gary Montgomery (10th round, in AA for CIN) are retired.

1988

Round 1 - LF Edgar Morris – was constantly hurt and struggled in our system and eventually became a free agent. Has made sporadic appearances for the Knights since 1995, landing 25 hits in 89 AB.
Round 2 - INF Steve Caddock – was in A ball as late as 1992(!), but since then has put his stuff together and appeared in 18 games for the Raccoons since 1995, batting .194.
Round 3 - MR John Smith – home run-prone southpaw that has yet to make the Bigs, currently in AA for the Scorpions.
Round 4 - C Freddy Lambert – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF/RF Chih-tui Jin – made his debut in 1993 with the Coons, but never got past backup status. He was traded to the Gold Sox with Esteban Baldivía after 1995 to acquire Liam Wedemeyer and Tzu-jao Ban, and has broken out with an .835 OPS season as a starter there last year. Currently a .293/.404/.415 career line for him with 21 HR and 151 RBI.
Round 8 – SP Jesse Novak – was released by us in 1989, but caught on with the Blue Sox, for whom he debuted as a reliever in 1993 (one appearance). After a few more casual engagements with them, he spent all of 1996 in their rotation, going 12-14 with a 4.20 ERA. Made nine bullpen camos for the Blue Sox this year before the Rebels claimed him off waivers five days ago. 14-16 with a 4.43 ERA in 64 career games.
All others from this year are retired.

1989

Round 1 - SP Eduardo Salazar – always riddled with injuries, Salazar was traded after the 1992 season for the Miners’ Christian Proctor (didn’t work…). He made 17 starts for them in 1993, but had only seven appearaces since then, and is with their AAA team right now. 10-7 with 3.67 ERA in 26 games.
Supp. Round - CL Gabriel De La Rosa – made his debut in 1993 and has been here to stay since 1995. Can fill all pitching roles adequately (most of the time) with his powerful right arm. 198 career games (15 starts), 16-9, 25 SV, 2.26 ERA.
Round 2 - 1B Ruben De La Rosa – didn’t develop anything but power. Currently a free agent with no big league experience.
Round 3 - OF/1B Rodrigo Correa – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP Brendon Bell – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - MR Rafael Vazquez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 8 – C Ron McDonald – accumulated 104 AB between 1994 and 1996 for us, batting .260; currently with our AAA team.
All others from this year are retired.

1990 (note: this was the first draft over 12 rounds)

Round 1 - MR Daniel Miller – Shot through the minor leagues to make his debut in 1991, which he started with 15 innings without an earned run allowed. By now he is alternating strong years and horrible years fairly regularly, but most of the time can be depended on in a 7th inning role. 316 games, 24-18, 20 SV, 3.49 ERA.
Supp. Round - SS/2B Jayson Kelley – never found his bat, and was released in 1994. Currently with the Scorpions’ AA team.
Supp. Round - C Marcos Lozano – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Leon Wright – overmatched even at AA, he became a minor league free agent after 1996, and is still unemployed.
Round 2 - LF/CF Francisco Reyes – no bat to speak of, released in 1994, currently with the Bayhawks’ AA team.
Round 3 - SP António Donís – amazing stuff, unfortunately coupled with so-so control and insufficient stamina. Made 43 starts for the Coons between 1995 and 1997, going 13-16 with a 4.26 ERA, but is now back at AAA and most likely will be converted to a reliever.
Round 4 - 1B Mark Logan – unemployed minor league free agent.
Round 5 - 1B/2B/LF Michael Martin – became a minor league free agent with his very inconsistent bat, and is now in AA with the Canadiens.

1991

Round 1 - SP Gerárdo Ramirez – severe control issues appear to have derailed his career. He made 11 starts and one relief appearance for the 1994 Coons, but his ERA was 5.34 with 36 walks in 60.2 innings. Still in AAA for us.
Supp. Round - LF/RF Paco Martinez – stuck in AA, batting .209 with no power.
Round 2 - 2B Pat Parker – appeared in 32 games for the 1993 and 1994 Coons before being traded to the Condors the following July for Mike Dye. He became the Cyclones’ 2B starter in 1996, batting for a .799 OPS, but was traded on to the Gold Sox this winter, where he currently has a 1.004 OPS! .296/.372/.421 with 16 HR, 112 RBI for his career.
Round 2 - INF Michael Lloyd – made the AAA team in 1992; he is still there. Weak bat, all glove infielder.
Round 3 - MR Fred Carlton – this southpaw has awful control, currently blowing games for our AAA team.
Round 4 - 1B Steve Stevens – all-or-nothing swing that didn’t advance him very far, he was released in 1994. Now is with the Indians’ AAA team and still tries to make the majors.
Round 5 - MR Pancho Padilla – tries to make the big league bullpen permanently, but his control is … not there. 27 games so far, 3-0, 3.18 ERA, with 27 walks and 36 K’s in 34 innings.
Round 6 – LF/RF Kenny Crockett – made the big league team after rashes of injuries this season, batting for a sub-standard .549 OPS in 55 AB.

1992
Round 1 - OF Luke Newton – first made his debut in 1995 and has been a backup since then. Strong defense, so-so bat work. Unfortunately, with Royce Green down for the first half of the 1997 season, he also got hurt, forfeiting his chance of starting every day. .249/.337/.344 with 3 HR, 46 RBI in 422 AB so far.
Supp. Round - 3B Mike Crowe – has a strong bat, but couldn’t show it much so far, since he is pinned behind Ben O’Morrissey on our depth chart (which may be resolved soon…). Only has 60 AB since 1996 for the Raccoons.
Supp. Round - SP Clinton Kennedy – Completely overwhelmed in AAA this season.
Round 2 - 1B/3B/RF/LF Mark Kowalchuk – has made to AAA during the 1995 season, but he has never batted much and this remains true for him. No big league future in sight.
Round 3 - MR Kokei Kondo – also with our AAA team; his K/BB ratio is just ugly: he can’t hit the zone when he needs to, and when he does, he’s not fooling anyone, either.
Round 4 - C Jorge Chavez – released in 1994, currently with the Sacramento-affiliated AA team.
Round 5 - OF Joseph MacKellachie – released in 1994, now with the Stars’ A level team.
Round 7 - SP Jose Cervantes – released in 1996 after pitching poorly in AA for us, the Wolves picked him, threw him in their big league rotation, but he didn’t stick. Three starts (0-1, 6.89 ERA) were enough for them to demote him, and he is with their AAA team now.
Round 12 - MR Jason Edgar – while not on our major league roster yet, this lefty (from the final round of the draft!) has worked his way up to AAA where he is performing quite competently so far despite a 4.88 ERA. Cinderella story in the making!?

1993
Round 2 - INF Brent McLaughlin – currently in AA, but should be promoted soon, Brent is a believer in moustaches as well as in patience at the plate, which gives him a .286/.393/.442 slash line in AA this year.
Round 3 - RF/LF Marvin Gregory – all potential has more or less disappeared, as he is only batting .213 in AA this season.
Round 4 - C Brad Gray – apart from not calling a very good game, striking out a lot, and running his mouth at times, Brad has 16 homers in AA for a .604 slugging clip. He may still get called up to AAA this year.
Round 5 - 1B Santiago Rodriguez – got released in 1995, and is now with the Warriors’ A level squad.

1994
Round 1 - LF/RF George Wood – made the AAA team at age 21, but is struggling to light it up there.
Round 2 - 1B Carlos Salazar – just promoted to AAA this season, not batting anything so far there.
Round 3 - OF Cal Lyon – has yet to bat his way out of A ball, and time is running out.
Round 4 - SP Joe Key – after a few so-so seasons in A ball, he has gotten over the hump now with 105 K in 88.1 innings and a 3.26 ERA. Call-up to AA should come soon.
Round 5 - 1B Harry Jackson – despite being rated quite poorly by now, Jackson is batting for a .798 OPS in AAA this season, with seven homers. He also strikes out almost 30% of the time, though…
Round 6 - SP/MR Manuel Diaz – made his Raccoons debut in 1997, appearing in only two games before being sent back to AAA. But his stuff is promising enough so that this right-hander should be back at some point. Has great stamina, but only two pitches, and overall his abilities do not stink up to Scott Wade’s, so it is unlikely he will be permanently converted into a starter.

1995
Round 1 - LF Manuel Villa – missed almost the entire 1996 season with a concussion, and is now struggling with the bat in AA ball.
Round 2 - RF/LF Cory Stanford – epic bust. Batting .103 in A ball.
Round 3 - MR Bill Coles – still in A ball, but with good stats. He could work a bit harder, then he might get promoted faster…
Round 4 - SP Julio Romero – fighting control issues like walking 4.5 per nine in AA ball, but overall this boy looks promising, and he is only 22 years old
Round 5 - 1B/2B George Morris – we are trying to find out his nice qualities, but it may not be a job in baseball. Has been sidetracked to a bench role in AA.

1996
Round 1 - MR Manuel Martinez – only 19 years old, and we are currently ironing out his control issues in A ball. But there is some promise to the kid.
Supp. Round - SP Dwight Williams – promoted to AA for 1997, he stuggles with the walks, but punches out almost nine per game with a filthy slider and changeup. Get those walks fixed, and see you in Portland in ’99.
Supp. Round - INF/RF/LF Carlos Gomes – broke his elbow one month into his rookie season, and thus is still in A ball at age 22, but is batting almost for an .800 OPS with pop.
Round 2 - 2B/SS Sergio Tirado – batting .218 in A ball, with 35% strikeouts.
Round 3 - MR Juan Diaz – in AA, also fighting the walks, which seems to plague many of our left-handed pitching prospects.
Round 4 - 1B Albert Martin – coming around after a slow rookie season. A callup to AA could be in the cards in September or so.
Round 5 - SP Ralph Warren – for an 18-year old southpaw in A ball, he’s doing great: 3-5, 3.09 ERA, 70 IP, 19 BB, 75 K this season. Another call-up for later this year?

---

After five years of trying to ignore this list, updating took about five to six hours. Uaaah. But we suck this season, so draft picks become more important.

Looking at this list… in 1991, we hired Vince Guerra as scouting director. And I have been thrilled with the all the boys he’s dug out in the most remote locations on earth that are now in our system. But when he comes to high school and college players in the U.S., he seems to miss as often as everybody else we’ve ever had. Stephen Buell, Conceicao Guerin, a few former players, and some in AAA and below with promising expectations have all been dug out by him.

Again looking at the draft results, we had some great results in the first seven drafts, including jackpots with our first three first round picks, thanks to our first scout, Jeffrey Anderson, and Carlos Gonzalez could have been #4 if not for injuries wrecking him before his time.

The Tampa Pugs, the Scorpions’ AA team, has gobbled up more Wouldbecoons than anybody else, it seems. Poor Pugs.

One thing I have marveled about endless times the last two (real life) years is what would have happened if I hadn’t picked Daniel Hall as first ever pick, but rather the other guy that caught my eye, Andres Ramirez. I mean, Ramirez is merely the all-time saves leader in the association, but with Ramirez around, if we had still picked Grant West two years later, what would have happened then? Can’t have two closers! And West gave us all we needed for more than a decade. Happy 80s in the bullpen! Him, and Cunningham, and (at least early on) Wally Gaston. Then came the 90s, we won the division every year, but our bullpen was crap.

How things go sometimes…

Ah, the 80s. Those were the times. The Coons losing to the Canadiens or Indians almost every year. West closing every game. And Daniel Hall roaming leftfield. And our hearts forever!
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1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055
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Old 07-26-2014, 04:14 PM   #945
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Monday mornings are for waking up, looking out of the window, going for the bathroom, barfing some, and then going back to sleep for another hour or two.

Once I hit the office on Monday (the team had already made for Boston to play that night) I found a note left by David Brewer. He was not happy with how he was used. He longed to bat in the middle of the lineup and wanted to be traded. Judas!!

JUDAS!!!

I will give O’Morrissey as much credit as he actually had the balls to not come up with some silly lie.

But it’s okay. It’s okay! Go! You can all go! I set you free! THERE’S the door! (points) But… Neil, you will stay with me, right? We’re meant to stay together. We were made for each other, Neil. Neil. We belong together. Right? Neil?

Neil?

Raccoons (19-37) @ Titans (35-22) – June 9-12, 1997

The Titans had the best program when it came to avoiding runs in the Continental League, conceding only 195 runs so far. Lemme see. We will play four. Yeah, they have a great chance to stay under 200 here… Their offense ranked fourth, and their rotation was also top of the league. We had already split a 4-game set this season.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (2-3, 5.43 ERA) vs. Bill Smith (5-2, 2.49 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (3-3, 3.14 ERA) vs. Glenn Ryan (5-4, 2.74 ERA)
Esteban Flores (0-2, 5.09 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (6-3, 2.89 ERA)
Hector Lara (0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Dave Beck (1-2, 3.19 ERA)

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Buell – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – SS Ingall – RF Crockett – C Vinson – P Wade
BOS: SS D. Silva – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 2B Henry – RF Thomas – CF Walls – 1B J. Silva – 3B Kan – P B. Smith

The game appeared over after the first inning. The first four Titans reached, capped with Horace Henry’s home run that sunk Wade and the Raccoons, 4-0, right away. People casually stood up during the second inning to get food. When they came back in the top 3rd, the game was tied with two on and one out for Kenny Crockett after a string of singles had torn up Bill Smith. Crockett singled to load the bags for Vinson, who hit a sac fly, and that brought up Wade in a 5-4 game. Wade’s double had started the inning, and it ended with an RBI single on which the Titans nabbed Crockett at third base. The Titans got a run back off Wade in the third, 6-5, and when Wade put a pair on in the fourth, Ramos replaced him, and threw a kindergarten pitch to Henry for the game-tying single. Both starters gone, 6-6 after four, Weeds led off the fifth with a double, was scored by Ingall, and with one out we had the bags full. Kinnear hit for Ramos, and into a double play. Brewer extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a double in the sixth, came up lame and had to leave the game, and when the Raccoons were up 8-6 in the bottom 6th, Santana uselessly walked a pair, and Guerin mishandled the easy grounder Daniel Miller had gotten from Horace Henry. That cost a run, and another run scored on O’Morrissey dropping Julio Silva’s popup. Miller then walked a run in, and Luis Alonso grand slammed the game into history, because WHY THE **** NOT??? The Titans bullpen came apart for four runs in the ninth, but unfortunately we were down by five. 13-12 Titans. Buell 2-5, RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, 2B; Reece 3-5, RBI; Ingall 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; Crockett 4-5, RBI; Lacombe (PH) 1-1;

Out-hit them 20-12, made two DUMB errors, and hit into three double plays. You lot disgust me.

David Brewer had bummed up his knee, which was slightly inflamed the next morning. Doctors wrote him off for the next few days, but he might be back (to hopefully extend his 18-game hitting streak) by the weekend. However, now we only had three players left on the bench, and that would be dumb, so Pancho Padilla was returned to St. Pete and because a middle infielder was down, Steve Caddock was called up rather than Mike Crowe.

Game 2
POR: RF Buell – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 2B Ingall – LF Kinnear – SS Guerin – C Vinson – P M. Lopez
BOS: CF Alonso – RF J. Martinez – SS D. Silva – C L. Lopez – 3B Henry – 1B Kan – LF Thomas – 2B Salinas – P Ryan

After walking, stealing second, and taking third on a bad throw, Buell was on third base with nobody out in the first inning. He wasn’t scored. And so, another horrible day in Cooncasia began. By the bottom 2nd, **** was going down, with errors by Buell and Wedemeyer, and Lopez walking the pitcher, and Daniel Silva with the bags full, putting three wholly unearned (but well deserved) runs on the board. Ryan walked Vinson and Lopez to start the third, and Silva couldn’t do anything with Buell’s grounder, which became a bases-loading single. No outs. One sac fly later, a lineout, and a strikeout later, I was chewing up my pillow while watching from a continent away.* We had the bags full again in the top 6th, again with no outs, and 4-1 down, and again were limited to Ryan issuing his seventh walk of the day to Guerin, and one run. Top 8th, Kinnear led off with a single before Guerin reached on an error. Tying runs on, Vinson struck out, Crockett flew out, and Buell rolled out. Guerin made another error for another run in the bottom 8th, and Lopez, who had pitched six frames, took the loss. 5-3 Titans. Wedemeyer 2-5, RBI; Kinnear 1-2, 3 BB;

Royce Green was sent on a rehab assignment to St. Petersburg today, and we expect him to stay there the full 20 days.

*I may or may not have vandalized a Northwest Airlines plane after that last road trip, and they may or may not refuse to carry me now. That doesn’t matter. I wish them all the best. Forever.

Game 3
POR: 2B Ingall – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Buell – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – SS Guerin – RF Lacombe – C Kondo – P Flores
BOS: SS D. Silva – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 2B Henry – RF Thomas – CF Walls – 1B J. Mullins – 3B Kan – P O’Halloran

Things continued awfully, with Esteban Flores surrendering three runs in the first inning on shoddy pitching. While Flores surrendered six runs in five innings, the Titans’ O’Halloran pitched a 1-hit gem for a while, but kept them dominated with a Neil Reece double about the only hard contact he surrendered all day. He struck out seven through eight innings on a 3-hitter, then struck out Buell, Weeds, and Reece in the ninth for a 3-game, 10-K shutout. 7-0 Titans. O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B;

Brad Tamburrino surrendered his first run as a Raccoon in this game.

Game 4
POR: RF Buell – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 2B Ingall – LF Kinnear – SS Guerin – C Vinson – P Lara
BOS: SS D. Silva – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 2B Henry – RF Thomas – CF Walls – 1B J. Mullins – 3B Kan – P Beck

An error by Tom Walls put Buell on to start the game and he was doubled home by O’Morrissey, who was then left on base. We got another unearned run in the second, but Lara soon gave it away, walking three straight batters in the bottom 3rd. Lara sucked, gave up five runs in five innings, and lined up neatly with the rest of the rotation dwellers, appointments temporary. Jose Ramos was hoped to pitch the game to conclusion, but surrendered four walks and two runs in the sixth. Somehow we got two runs in the eighth, but left the bases loaded to stay 7-5 behind. Top 9th against Bill Corkum, bases loaded, one out. Vinson popped out. Caddock struck out. 7-5 Titans. O’Morrissey 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, 2B, RBI; Guerin 4-4, BB, 2B;

We issued 26 walks (against 21 strikeouts) in this series. Way to go.

Raccoons (19-41) vs. Warriors (32-27) – June 13-15, 1997

Ah, look. The suckers are back home. The next team to trample them were the Warriors, who were built all around offense, with a struggling pitching staff. They ranked 3rd in runs scored, but 8th in runs allowed in the FL.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (2-5, 2.83 ERA) vs. Ricardo Torres (5-2, 3.65 ERA)
Scott Wade (2-3, 5.98 ERA) vs. Neil Stewart (7-3, 4.62 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (3-4, 3.00 ERA) vs. Bob MacGruder (1-5, 9.00 ERA)

Game 1
SFW: 1B Heffer – C Clemente – RF Flygt – CF Hensley – LF Taylor – 2B Watts – SS Garrett – 3B F. Rivera – P Torres
POR: RF Buell – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 2B Ingall – LF Kinnear – SS Caddock – C Vinson – P Saito

Four no-hit frames by Saito went into the trash with a leadoff triple by Thomas Watts in the fifth. He was brought in to score, and the Warriors were up 1-0 against clueless Raccoons. Bottom 5th: Caddock singled off Torres, and Vinson lined into left, and Phil Taylor just barely couldn’t get it. Saito bunted the go-ahead runs into scoring position. Buell grounded out to third, and O’Morrissey flew out, and nobody scored. Next try, sixth inning. Reece singled on a 3-0 pitch and Wedemeyer doubled. Go-ahead runs in scoring position, no outs. Ingall grounded hard to third, and Felipe Rivera didn’t get it, and Ingall had a 2-run double. Kinnear walked intentionally, Caddock walked unintentionally, and the bags were full with no outs. But this was a Saito game, so Vinson grounded into a force at home, Saito struck out, and Buell popped out foul. Bottom 8th, both pitchers still in the game as the Coons led still 2-1, and Saito came to bat with one out and runners on the corners. Can I trust my bullpen? Heck, no. Saito was sent to bat to pitch the ninth himself, but first he took a 2-2 pitch into shallow center for an RBI single that knocked out Torres. Raúl Vargas walked O’Morrissey with two out, bringing up Reece. C’mon, Neil, put this to rest. And a groundout sent us to the ninth. Three groundball outs to Caddock later, Saito had a complete game victory. 3-1 Raccoons. Wedemeyer 3-4, 2B; Ingall 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Kinnear 1-2, 2 BB; Vinson 2-4; Saito 9.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-3, RBI;

Huzzah Saito!! He pitched the 46th complete game of his career, and the second this year. A complete game effort is pretty much what it takes for him to win a game this season…

We got David Brewer back for the middle game with the knee much, much better. Despite the lefty Stewart pitching, he was put back into the leadoff spot.

Game 2
SFW: 1B Heffer – C Clemente – LF Flygt – CF Hensley – 2B Watts – 3B F. Rivera – RF S. Williams – SS Areizaga – P Stewart
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – SS Guerin – C Vinson – RF Lacombe – P Wade

Wade’s game started just like the last one: four Warriors got on, Hensley hit a home run, bamm, 4-0. Flygt added a 2-run homer in the second, and Wade’s day was going to be short. But what nobody saw coming was Stewart being knocked out before Wade. O’Morrissey, Guerin, and Vinson got on in the bottom 2nd, Lacombe singled home a pair, and Wade bunted in a force at third base. Brewer flew out, two down. Then Buell singled, 6-3, and Reece singled to reload the bags. Wedemeyer stepped in and dunked a double just fair in deep left, which emptied the bags and tied the game at six. Stewart was hooked for ex-Coon Albert Matthews. Wade, after giving up six runs in two innings, labored through six with just two base runners in the next four innings, but the Raccoons failed to tag anyone, either. After Zuniga did the seventh, Tamburrino did the eighth on 10 pitches and stayed in for the ninth, where 2-out triple by Dave Heffer almost derailed his effort, but Henry Givens, batting for Antonio Clemente, struck out, and the game remained tied. We faced their closer Ricardo Medina in the bottom 9th, and boy did we look bad… Extra innings (with Brewer at 0-5…), and we had the bags full with one out in the bottom 11th and Daniel Miller, who had collected five outs, next. Kondo came out to bat against lefty Dan Gray, aaaaand double play. De La Rosa surrendered a run in the 12th, and Brewer and Buell were set down by Gray to start the bottom 12th. Then Reece singled, and Weeds singled. A wild pitch moved up the runners with O’Morrissey at the plate. He still grounded out. 7-6 Warriors. Buell 2-6, RBI; Reece 4-5, BB, 2B; Wedemeyer 2-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Lacombe 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Tamburrino 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Miller 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Everything I do is pointless with this bunch of fails. We are now 20 games out, and last in runs allowed in the CL.

Game 3
SFW: 1B Heffer – C Clemente – RF Flygt – CF Hensley – LF Taylor – 2B Watts – SS Garrett – 3B F. Rivera – P MacGruder
POR: 2B Brewer – RF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Kinnear – SS Ingall – C Vinson – 3B Caddock – P M. Lopez

After the Critters left runners on third base and didn’t score the first two innings, the players noticed that I assembled the guillotine on top of the clubhouse. Brewer promptly tripled and was brought home by Buell in the third, 1-0 Coons. We got another run in the fourth inning, while Lopez was not allowing a lot to the Warriors, developing – like Saito – a bid for something greater. Through six, Lopez did not allow a hit, and sat down Clemente to start the seventh, and then Flygt tattered a ball outta there. Gone the no-hitter. Hensley came up, homered, gone the lead. The Warriors had two more hits in the inning, and Lopez was removed for a pinch-hitter to lead off the bottom 7th. That didn’t bring us any further, since the Raccoons were just all around **** and wouldn’t score runs, not in the seventh, not in the eighth, and not in the eleventh, in which they lost it. 4-2 Warriors. Brewer 3-5, 3B; Ingall 2-4, BB, 2B; Lopez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Ramos 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

You know that feeling, when you just want to lay down on the floor and cry?

In other news

June 12 – The career of DAL SP Judd Montgomery (5-2, 2.83 ERA) is in jeopardy after he suffered a ruptured UCL, which will take more than a year to recover from. Montgomery, 33, has 153 career wins for the Loggers and Stars.
June 13 – The Condors trade 34-yr old OF Dale Cleveland (.241, 3 HR, 19 RBI) and a minor leaguer to the Falcons for 35-yr old MR Artie Saunders (1-0, 1.86 ERA, 2 SV).
June 15 – SAC 1B/3B/CF Jared O’Molony (.298, 1 HR, 29 RBI) may miss up to a month with shoulder tendinitis.

Complaints and stuff

Neil Reece is actually one of two players from the Opening Day roster still here and not pissed off at some level or other because of the current events. The other is Stephen Buell. Everybody else is looking ready to kill or cry, or both. (Including me, I’m in the “both” group) There are two more happy players on the roster, Esteban Flores and Pancho Padilla, but I think they are only glad to have escaped the mosquito-infested, malaria-stricken quarters of our Florida-based AAA squad.

How is Royce Green on rehab doing? 0-16. Good, that's progress.

Meanwhile the Agitator keeps asking when I will terminated by owner Carlos Valdes. Well, let’s put it this way: Never. I have photos. The Agitator doesn’t know it, but Valdes does. Right, Carlos? You sure look pretty in your pink school uniform. No, the negatives are stowed away safely.

Next: draft, undoubtedly the high point of our season.
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1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055
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

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Last edited by Westheim; 07-26-2014 at 04:16 PM.
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Old 07-26-2014, 06:07 PM   #946
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1997 AMATEUR DRAFT

Since we are - … erase that. Since we were such a good team and finished with a 108-54 record last season, we will pick last in every round of the draft, but we also got the Pacifics’ first round pick and a supplemental pick when L.A. signed Jason Turner away from us. We will have three of the first 43 picks, and we gotta make them count.

I already listed my favorites among the draft class. The strategy I will employ is the following: my first pick (#13) will be expended for Dan Nordahl, if he is still around at #13. If NOT, we go to one of the three listed catchers with that pick. If we get Nordahl, we will pick a catcher at #24. My preferred target is Julio Mata. We will try to get another of the premium relievers in the draft at #43, since by then the good outfielders will doubtlessly be gone.

The Gold Sox had the first pick and selected – surprisingly – INF Jose Correa at #1. He was not even in my top 20 of batters. Oh well, we will see how that turned out in five years. The in my eyes #1 pick went at #3 to the Buffaloes, LF/RF Javier Gusman. Of our top 10 (well, top 11 minus Gusman, whom I never banked on dropping to #13 in the first place) nobody was taken in the first ten picks of the draft, before the Stars took C Alfredo Ortíz. The next guy taken was SP Donald Stone by the Blue Sox, and that meant that Dan Nordahl fell to us.

For our #24 pick, the plan was now to grab Julio Mata or another catcher if Mata went. While a few catchers were taken, the only guys off the shortlist were MR Pedro Alvarado (#14 to Canadiens), OF Barry Summers (#16 to Wolves) and MR Jerry Paul (#23 to Scorpions). Mata was mine!

With the other top notch relievers gone, outfielder Matt MacKey now slotted to the top of my desires for #43, but he fell to the Pacifics ten picks earlier. The Scorpions took C Gilberto Muniz at #42, and that only left two outfielders on the shorter shortlist, LF/RF Jochen Funck from Germany, and OF Jonathon Bush. I picked the former for slightly more offensive upside compared to Bush, who projected better defensively. The Loggers went on to pick Bush at #54.

1997 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS
Round 1 (#13) – CL Dan Nordahl, 18, from Gravenhurst, Canada – 98mph heat and a filthy slider should make this right-hander an impressive right-handed reliever in the big leagues in a few years. Closer potential, right here.
Round 1 (#24) – C Julio Mata, 21, from Bayamón, Puerto Rico – very smart kid and very agile behind the plate; he projects to be a productive batter as well, including both contact, power, and eye abilities at a plus level.
Supp. Round (#43) – LF/RF Jochen Funck, 21, from Wertach, Germany – good contact bat, doesn’t swing at junk, and while he has not exactly once-in-a-million power, it should do in the Bigs; reasonably adept on defense, too.
Round 2 (#94) – 1B Don Irvin, 22, from Franklin, WI – prototypical ill-fielding, slugging first baseman. Not that he is slow, but he has trouble setting his mass in motion quickly. That does not affect his swing, though.
Round 3 (#118) – SP Craig Rhodes, 18, from Sun Valley, NV – not much velocity on his fastball, but this young southpaw is working on enough pitches to become a successful mix-and-match control guy at the bottom of a major league rotation.
Round 4 (#142) – SP Mauro Rodriguez, 22, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – another southpaw with not-too-much stuff, but he knows where to put his stuff. May be better off in a relief role due to below-average stamina, though.
Round 5 (#166) – MR Antonio Toro, 21, from Quebradillas, Puerto Rico – left-hander with a nasty slider that can’t get his fastball to move.
Round 6 (#190) – MR Jacob Knight, 18, from Seaside, OR – lefty armed with a changeup, but his fastball gets hit in the air a lot.
Round 7 (#214) – OF Marcos Mendez, 17, from Tierra Blanca, Mexico – draft is getting thinned out at this point; this kid has a bit of many things, but not a lot of anything, going (or not) for him.
Round 8 (#238) – INF/LF/CF Pablo Ramos, 21, from San Pedro de Macorís, Dom. Rep. – very agile defender, but don’t get me started on the bat.
Round 9 (#262) – LF Kent Pearce, 22, from Stacy, MN – we need another outfielder at the A level…
Round 10 (#286) – MR Jose Vela, 18, from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – right with a WIP changeup.
Round 11 (#310) – SP Enrico Garza, 22, from Lubbock, TX – right-hander that may have a better projection in the pen; or in a different profession.
Round 12 (#334) – SP Richard Mahoney, 17, from Coal City, WV – right-hander and last pick in the draft for a reason.

Everybody was assigned to the A level team in Aumsville. The lone exception is Julio Mata, who is way ahead of last year’s 9th round pick Jorge Defrese, but that boy is showing promise, too, and I want both of them to play regularly.

So, we got our (my) two most wanted boys in the draft, now it’s time to wait for them to blossom. Vince Guerra suggested that Dan Nordahl could try his hand at starting in A ball, but I was not impressed. I tend to compare 2-pitch guys to Scott Wade. Wade’s stuff is a sliver higher than Nordahl’s, all other things equal, more or less. But that point or two of stuff will make a difference, I think. And the A level is easily dominated. There are a few levels after that. The second point: Nordahl's stamina is not very high for a starter, not at all.

I am all for grooming Nordahl into a closer. Am I wrong?
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1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055
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.

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Old 07-26-2014, 06:26 PM   #947
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Westheim View Post
I am all for grooming Nordahl into a closer. Am I wrong?
Closer and pinch runner....

Why was it you liked him over Alvarado?

I like the idea of Joe Funk gettin' the party started in Portland......

I'd have really liked to see what that MacKey kid could do in Portland's park...perhaps you can keep him in mind for future acquisition.......
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Old 07-26-2014, 07:13 PM   #948
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Alvarado and Nordahl were almost identical according to Vince Guerra. Nordahl has 2 mph more on his fastball (due to him being 3'' bigger perhaps? more downward travel path for the ball? got no clue...), but Alvarado's GB% and slider were a tad better. Both are 18. However, all things equal, I like the second opinion from OSA, and they have Nordahl significantly better.

MacKey in our park could have been golden. However, he might be defensively challenged, so he had his tradeoffs, and his arm is weak, making him rather ineffective in right (like Stephen Buell is now for us), and he lacks the range for center field, so he fits only in left field, really. Still, that bad, if it kicks in, will serve *any* team well.

And our boy from Bavarian Swabia we just drafted? We'll better stay with Joe. Jochen may be unpronounceable to Anglophones =) For everybody inclined to try their larynx on it, start with Johan (as in Johan Santana), get that H to hiss like an angry cat, and have it end in a hen (as in that thing that lays eggs).

Confusion complete.
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1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055
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

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Old 07-27-2014, 05:46 PM   #949
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With the draft and the associated expenses now behind us, we were now a whopping $644k overbudget. The only trade that would get us back even would be one of David Brewer for basically nothing.

Raccoons (20-43) @ Buffaloes (30-33) – June 16-18, 1997

The Buffaloes ranked 11th in batting average in the Federal League, but had scored the fourth-most runs. Somehow. Their pitching was about average, giving up the fourth-most runs in their league: 309 runs, nine more than the Raccoons, who were 11th in the CL in that regard. Buffaloes outfielder Corey Patel terrorized the FL with a .621 SLG mark.

Projected matchups:
Esteban Flores (0-3, 6.35 ERA) vs. Justin Krause (5-5, 4.23 ERA)
Hector Lara (0-1, 5.25 ERA) vs. Juan Diaz (0-0, 6.75 ERA)
Kisho Saito (3-5, 2.65 ERA) vs. Sergio Aguirre (0-3, 5.93 ERA)

How often do you enter a 3-game series in which no starting pitcher comes in with a winning record. Ah, well, I had a hunch that two of the six would have won after the series.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Buell – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Kinnear – SS Ingall – C Vinson – CF Lacombe – P Flores
TOP: 3B R. Hernandez – C C. Ramos – RF Patel – LF Richardson – SS J. Garcia – CF Velázquez – 2B Hitchcock – 1B Mahoney – P Krause

For the second time in a week, David Brewer left a game early due to injury, grabbing his side after a twisted play on LF Daniel Richardson to end the third inning. Through three, the game was scoreless, the Raccoons were hitless, and Wedemeyer was reckless, having made an out on a 3-0 pitch from Krause in the first inning, and then did the same in the fourth. After the fourth, we were also not only hitless, clueless, but also Floresless, when heavy rain forced a delay north of an hour that Flores did not survive as the pitcher du jour. Krause was also knocked from the game, and the Buffaloes suffered an implosion in the fifth inning, which saw the Raccoons send ten men to the plate and score five runs. Tzu-jao Ban was put in for some distanced, but he issued a hit, three walks, and a run over two innings. Things got progressively worse with Santana in the seventh, who faced three left-handers, surrendered three hits, including Corey Patel’s 17th home run of the season. The bullpen was about to blow the game forcefully, when Miller came in, walked Jesus Garcia, surrendered an RBI double to Bernardo Velázquez, loaded the bases, and then accidentally struck out Waylon Mahoney and Gary West to get a 5-4 lead into the eighth. De La Rosa had to close a 5-4 game facing Richardson, Garcia, and Velázquez. Garcia doubled and was at third base with two out and Lance Hitchcock at the plate. For once, some brown-clad guy did not mess up. Gabby struck him out. 5-4 Raccoons. Flores 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

David Brewer was diagnosed with a very mild oblique tweak. He was ready to go the next day. Or at least claimed to be.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – SS Ingall – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – C Kondo – P Lara
TOP: CF F. Sanchez – C C. Ramos – RF Patel – LF Richardson – 2B J. Garcia – SS Hitchcock – 3B R. Hernandez – 1B Hammond – P J. Diaz

Lara had to bat in his own lead with a bases-loaded 2-out single in the top 2nd. The Coons scratched out single runs in the third and fourth innings, too, while Lara through five innings gave up one hit and one run. Fernandeo Sanchez led off the bottom 6th with a triple and scored on Ramos’ groundout, 3-2. Patel grounded out on a 3-0 pitch, and Lara got out of the frame despite a Richardson single. We scored a run in the seventh, and Sancho Rivera walked the bags full in the top 8th then. Reece came to bat with one out on the clock, struck out, and Wedemeyer was pitched to by Tony Vela, and grounded out. Up 4-2 with one out in the bottom 8th, Ramos doubled to remove Hector Lara from the game. Santana came in to face Corey Patel, and got groundouts from him and Richardson. Santana for once not ****ing up – I almost got ecstatic. Gabby came out to protect that 4-2 lead in the ninth, who again allowed one base runner, but no runs in his outing. 4-2 Coons. Buell 3-5, RBI; Lara 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (1-1) and 2-2, BB, RBI;

Fine outing by Hector Lara for his first W as a Furball, also showing up on the offensive part of our ledger. He still has walk issues, giving more free passes than he has strikeouts so far (a problem he shares with Flores, Miller, Ban, and Santana on the current roster…).

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – SS Ingall – C Kondo – P Saito
TOP: CF F. Sanchez – 2B Hitchcock – RF Patel – C C. Ramos – 3B R. Hernandez – LF Ellison – 1B J. Garcia – SS Hammond – P York

Chris York (2-5, 4.28 ERA) pitched the game instead of Sergio Aguirre. York was a walk machine, issuing 46 free passes in 61 innings this year.

While the Raccoons were too dumb to draw walks even 2-0, 3-1 ahead in the count against the erratic Chris York, Saito pitched three dominant innings before being derailed by a 2-out homer by Carlos Ramos in the bottom 4th. The Buffaloes put their next five men on against Saito and plated two more, and Saito didn’t retire anybody in the bottom 5th, where Hitchcock singled, Patel reached on a Reece error, and Ramos singled, before Ruben Hernandez sent Saito home with a 3-run triple. Jose Ramos allowed Hernandez to score, the game was over and I was left to crawl up into the corner of my office and cry myself to sleep once more. 7-1 Buffaloes. Ingall 2-4; Miller 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Let’s see. Saito allowed no hits through eight outs. Then allowed nine hits while collecting four outs.

(shakes first skywards, in the general direction of the baseball gods) ARE YOU HAVING FUN UP THERE??

Trade

On our off day, June 19, I was on the phone with two teams constantly. It was about ridding us of unproductive, costly loudmouth Ben O’Morrissey. He certainly had value, and I was going to cash in on that. I was after top notch pitching prospects (or any prospects) and was offered two of those for O’Morrissey, and those were the teams I was talking to.

Late on Thursday, I left a deal that would send O’Morrissey to Las Vegas for #46 prospect AA SP Alfredo Rios and AAA OF Ricco Ghiberti. I had been after Ghiberti before, then for Tzu-jao Ban, which had not come to fruition. The Aces GM wouldn’t strike the deal that night and promised to call me back at eight in the morning.

He kept the promise, called at 8:02 am on Friday, but rejected the deal. I got back on the other team I had conversed with, and told their GM that I was fine to do our trade, but wanted another chip, and got it. And so:

Early on Friday the Raccoons announced a deal sending 1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey (.263, 0 HR, 13 RBI in 247 AB) to the Condors. The Raccoons receive #59 prospect AA SP Ralph Ford and AAA INF Gabriel Rodriguez.

The trade ends nine years of O’Morrissey in a brown uniform (as a starter since 1991). He had just signed a 6-yr, $6.2M contract last winter, but he had run his mouth around here for the last month, placing the blame on everybody but himself, he, who was running a .711 OPS this year, tied for a career-worst as a full time player. The fallout was too big, he wanted out, I now wanted him out as well, and that’s that.

I am terribly disappointed of him, not as a player, but as a human being. Shame on him.

I wanted Rodriguez in the deal to fill a spot at AAA that will now be vacated, since 3B Mike Crowe (.255, 10 HR, 23 RBI in 204 AB at AAA) was getting the callup – permanently. Crowe was 26 and had been delayed long enough. He is our new starting third baseman. Period.

And yes, I am planning more moves.

Raccoons (22-44) vs. Loggers (39-26) – June 20-22, 1997

Most runs scored, fourth-least runs given up – the Loggers were playing .600 ball for a reason. Everybody better brace for a sweep.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (2-3, 6.25 ERA) vs. Martin Garcia (4-4, 3.87 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (3-4, 2.96 ERA) vs. Davis Sims (5-5, 3.90 ERA)
Esteban Flores (0-3, 5.40 ERA) vs. Rafael Garcia (8-2, 3.69 ERA)

Game 1
MIL: CF Fletcher – 3B Nakayama – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 2B J. Perez – 1B D. Evans – C L. Ramirez – SS J. Lopez – P M. Garcia
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – 3B Crowe – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – P Wade

Crowe hit a home run in his first AB back, giving Wade a 1-0 lead in the bottom 2nd. That lead was short-lived as the Loggers got two runs off Wade in the third inning. A Crowe error would then lead to two unearned runs for the Loggers in the fifth. No. No, there was no hope for this bunch of losers. Wade pitched seven innings with those four runs (50% earned) against him, while the Raccoons managed three hits of their own. Down 4-1 in the bottom 8th, we got the tying run to the plate in Ingall with one out and Martin Garcia still in there, having struck out seven. Ingall singled on a 1-2 pitch, bringing up Reece, who was due a home run, but settled for a 2-run single up the middle. Wedemeyer hit into an inning-ending double play. Bottom 9th, John Bennett pitching, Buell led off with a single, stole second base on a hit-and-run that lacked the hit by Crowe, who then struck out. A wild pitch advanced Buell to third base, and he was scored to tie the game – but we went into extra innings, and there De La Rosa lost the game with a home run to Hiwalani. 5-4 Loggers. Ingall 2-4, BB, 2B; Buell 2-5; Crowe 2-5, HR, RBI; Ramos 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
MIL: CF Fletcher – C L. Ramirez – RF C. Ramirez – LF Hiwalani – 3B Nakayama – 2B J. Perez – 1B D. Evans – SS J. Lopez – P Sims
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – 3B Crowe – LF Kinnear – C Kondo – P M. Lopez

The Raccoons stormed out of the gate and blazing speed, with Wedemeyer knocking one over the fence for three runs in the first inning, and Lopez hitting an RBI double to plate Kinnear in the second. Up 4-0, Jose Lopez led off the third with a double, but Lopez played Sims’ bunt to perfection and nabbed Lopez at third base. Fletcher double-played the Loggers out of the inning then. Soon enough, though, Lopez would run into the bat of Hiwalani, who hit two homers for three runs off him in the game, bringing our lead down to 5-3 after the top 6th. Reliever Juan Guerrero however allowed a double to Kondo and walked two in the bottom 6th, allowing Reece to drive home a pair, 7-3. And Hiwalani continued to torture the Raccoons, drawing a bases-loaded walk off Tamburrino to force home a run belonging to Lopez in the seventh. Tamburrino then struck out Nakayama to keep us ahead, 7-4. But the Raccoons came back, drumming their former teammate Juan Martinez for five runs in the bottom 7th, including 2-run doubles by PH Lacombe and Reece, and another (unearned) run scored after a Perez error with Orlando Blanco pitching. Up 13-4, Ban was put in to collect six outs. He walked the bags full with no outs in the eighth. **** you, Ban, that’s all your ****, clean it up. The Loggers got one run on a sac fly before a heroic catch by Wedemeyer ended the inning. We also loaded the bags with no outs against Raymond Léger in the bottom 8th, but didn’t score at all. 13-5 Raccoons. Brewer 4-5, BB, RBI; Reece 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Kinnear 2-4, BB; Lacombe (PH) 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI;

Game 3
MIL: CF Fletcher – 3B Nakayama – RF C. Ramirez – 2B J. Perez – 1B D. Evans – C L. Ramirez – LF Carver – SS J. Lopez – P R. Garcia
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – C Vinson – LF Kinnear – SS Caddock – P Flores

Nakayama’s solo shot got the Loggers ahead, 1-0, in the top 1st, and you don’t really want to give Rafael Garcia an early lead… But Garcia walked the first two Coons he faced, and Reece reached on an error by Jose Lopez to load the sacks with no outs. Garcia uncorked a game-tying wild pitch, then surrendered Wedemeyer and Buell. Vinson walked, and Kinnear brought a sigh of relief with a 2-run single to right, 3-1 Raccoons after one. Garcia just couldn’t find the strike zone! In the bottom 2nd, Brewer singled, and Garcia then issued 2-out walks to Reece and Weeds, leading to Buell singling home a pair, 5-1. Garcia was pinch-hit for with Preston O’Day to lead off the third, O’Day singled, and before you could count to three, the bags were loaded with no outs. Only one run scored after a double play and Kinnear making a huge catch on Jose Perez’ liner to left center. Flores, who tried all too hard to blow the game, fell victim to a 2-out, 2-run triple by Perez in the fifth, that brought the Loggers back to within one run. The game went down the drain for good in the seventh. Miller walked two right-handers, and Zuniga came in to get the second out from Cristo Ramirez, advancing the runners into scoring position, and then got Perez to ground to Crowe. Crowe’s throw to first was bad, Perez was safe, the tying run scored, and Zuniga wild-pitched in the go-ahead run. Bottom 9th, Bennett pitching, Raccoons down by two. Crowe led off with a single, and Reece singled, too. Wedemeyer popped out, before a wild pitch put the tying runs in scoring position. The next pitch was much more in the strike zone and right into Buell’s swing, as he ripped a game-tying 2-run double to deep right. Winning run in scoring position with one out, we went to extra innings, leaving Buell on third base. Our abused pen was largely empty, and we’d try to get another inning from De La Rosa, before having to fall back on Monday’s starter, Hector Lara. The Loggers didn’t score in the 10th, and the recently ravaged Martinez was put in for the bottom 10th. Lacombe hit for De La Rosa, singled, and Brewer drew a walk. And we didn’t win, because Martinez struck out a pair and got out of the jam. So, here came Hector Lara, surrendered three runs, and got this game over with. 10-7 Loggers. Brewer 2-4, 2 BB, 2B; Buell 3-6, 2B, 4 RBI; Lacombe (PH) 1-1; De La Rosa 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

So we made John Bennett blow two saves, and still lost both games, expended our starter for Monday, and STILL LOST BOTH GAMES??

That night I sat at home discussing roster moves and trades with that toy raccoon. We were able to quickly agree that the suckers should all be traded. Except Tzu-jao Ban. He should be shot. And then quartered. And then shot again.

On bad news: Luke Newton suffered another setback with his ankle, so: yay; also, Royce Green on rehab is batting 2-34 with 10 K in AAA. I am afraid, his bean might have been cooked for good. I might hold out on signing him to a 7-year, $10M deal for a while. He has another week in AAA, then he has to come up.

Raccoons (23-46) vs. Crusaders (35-34) – June 23-25, 1997

The Crusaders were about average in most aspects, but had the worst rotation in the Continental League. How exactly that fit together with a .500 record was anybody’s guess, yet I had none, but then I still couldn’t grasp why the Raccoons after 69 games were so much less than the sum of all their parts…

With Lara uselessly expended (Ban could have lost that game just as well), Saito started game 1 on regular rest, but Wade and Lopez would start on short rest unless I brought somebody up or had Ramos make a spot start.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (3-6, 3.01 ERA) vs. Dan Barnes (5-5, 4.38 ERA)
Scott Wade (2-3, 5.91 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (5-6, 4.81 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-4, 3.16 ERA) vs. John Woodard (0-0)

Game 1
NYC: RF Rigg – 1B J. Ramirez – LF A. Johnson – 3B Delgado – CF Diéguez – SS J. Vega – C Durán – 2B Wilson – P Barnes
POR: 2B Brewer – 1B Ingall – CF Reece – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – RF Crockett – C Vinson – P Saito

The series opener turned out to be about Kisho Saito and his only friend in the lineup, Kenny Crockett? Seriously? Well, Saito did his job, keeping the Crusaders short of home, while Crockett hit his maiden major league home run in the bottom 2nd, 1-0 Coons. Crockett came up again with the bags full and two out in the third – his double emptied the bags, 4-0. In the fifth, he came up with one runner on base – another home run! Saito surrendered a 2-run homer to Alberto Durán in the seventh, but struck out ten batters and only yielded after a leadoff single by Avery Johnson in the ninth, by which time the Raccoons had actually scored three runs not batted in by Crockett, in the eighth. In seven pitches, Miller got a double play and pop up from Delgado and Diéguez, and this one was in the books. Saito and Crockett, friends forever? 9-2 Raccoons. Ingall 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Crockett 3-3, BB, 2 HR, 2B, 6 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (4-6) and 1-4, 2B;

Kishoooo!! Maybe that kid Crockett is worth something after all? He’s now batting .300 (21-70) with two home runs and 14 RBI. Unfortunately, Royce Green will have to be put on the roster by Monday, so his days may be numbered.

Luke Newton’s ankle is getting progressively worse, it seems. The doctors are still unsure whether to amputate at the thigh, or to shoot him right away.

We called up Iván Costa (0-0, 15.00 ERA) to make a spot start in the middle game. Steve Caddock was sent to Florida.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Rigg – 2B Wilson – RF A. Johnson – LF P. Jenkins – 1B Berry – C Melendez – CF C. Clark – SS J. Ramirez – P F. Garza
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – C Vinson – P Costa

Costa’s task was quickly formulated: gimme five innings and less runs than that. Costa sparkled and pitched six shutout innings! Neil Reece’s solo homer in the bottom 1st was all the scoring through six frames, but Costa had to yield, not possessing a marathon runner’s conditioning. Santana pitched the seventh, and Vinson upped to 3-0 with a 2-shot in the bottom 7th after Ingall had double-played Buell off the bases earlier in the inning. Ramos came out for the eighth, which was a 1-2-3 affair, and De La Rosa got ready, but Ban also got up once Iván Lopez loaded the bags with no outs in the bottom 8th. Buell and Kinnear drove in three runs in total, and Ban did indeed enter the game with a 6-run lead. He put two on before Ruben Melendez popped up a 1-2 pitch to end the game, throwing away a good chance at a comeback. 6-0 Raccoons. Reece 3-4, HR, RBI; Buell 2-4, 2 RBI; Kinnear 2-4, RBI; Costa 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

Good job, Iván! Here’s your ticket to St. Pete. Don’t empty the bar on the plane. And don’t hit your butt against the closing door.

Trade

Another guy almost got his but stuck in the door after that game, and it was Tzu-jao Ban. He just had to go. I had tried to trade for the Pacifics’ C Sidney Aycock earlier in the season, when it hadn’t worked, and now threw in Joe Lacombe to make things work.

So, the Raccoons send MR Tzu-jao Ban (2-4, 5.81 ERA, 6 SV) and OF Joe Lacombe (.244, 0 HR, 7 RBI in 82 AB) to the Pacifics for C Sidney Aycock (.391, 1 HR, 14 RBI in 64 AB).

Aycock and Vinson will both be free agents after the season, and I intend to keep at best one. What will happen with Nori Kondo? Great defense doesn’t help you once you’re batting .157 after 71 games. He was demoted to AAA to quibble with Ron McDonald.

In turn, right-hander Manuel Diaz and outfielder Roberto Miranda were called up. Miranda was put on the 40-man roster. He was not batting a lot in AAA, and was mostly called up as centerfield backup, since none of Kinnear, Buell, and Crockett would play competently there. Miranda was a supplemental round draft pick by the Loggers in 1990, but had bounced around and had been signed off the scrap heap by us this March. He was 24 years old, a competent defender, but not a very good batter.

We also called up Gabriel Rodriguez, who had been added in the O’Morrissey trade from the Condors. He was called up rather than Caddock who hadn’t exactly lit the theatre on fire here offensively. Rodriguez however, was less adapt defensively and his best position was at third base.

Raccoons (23-46) vs. Crusaders (35-34) – June 23-25, 1997

We haven’t swept a set of more than two games all year. Maybe with Wade-Power now?

Game 3
NYC: 3B Rigg – CF Latham – RF A. Johnson – LF P. Jenkins – 1B Berry – C Melendez – 2B J. Ramirez – SS J. Vega – P Woodard
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – C Aycock – LF Kinnear – SS Guerin – P Wade

Ramirez reached on an error by Weeds in the top 2nd, and after a Vega double, Woodard singled the runners in with two down in the inning. Oh well. The Crusaders got to Wade for five runs in six innings, and the Raccoons did – nothing. At least nothing contributing to a series sweep. Diaz was impaled for five runs in the top 8th, punching a ticket back to oblivion. 10-2 Crusaders. Brewer 3-4, 2 2B; Buell 2-4;

The morons hit into four double plays. Will it ever stop? Of course not.

As alluded to, Manuel Diaz was returned to AAA, and we called up Pancho Padilla.

Raccoons (25-47) @ Knights (32-40) – June 27-29, 1997

What’s that? A team with a record in shouting distance of our own? What magic is that?

The Knights weren’t scoring a lot (9th in CL), but they really suffered from horrendous pitching, having surrendered 367 runs, the most in the CL. Well. The Raccoons were 10th with only 22 runs less allowed. They were also lacking a few important players like Jim Harrington and Hollis Hatch, who were lingering on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (4-4, 3.16 ERA) vs. Carlos Asquabal (7-5, 3.07 ERA)
Esteban Flores (0-3, 5.63 ERA) vs. Israel Gomes (2-5, 5.46 ERA)
Hector Lara (1-2, 5.31 ERA) vs. Daniel Perez (5-5, 3.32 ERA)

We would play 17 straight games to the All Star Game, where all our guys would enjoy three days off. But the stretch started here, so we would be looking out for off days again.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Buell – 3B Crowe – RF Crockett – C Vinson – P M. Lopez
ATL: 3B Nicks – C J. Johnson – 1B V. Martinez – RF F. Gonzalez – SS Tanaka – 2B M. Gúzman – CF Utting – LF Arias – P Asquabal

The Knights got a run singled in by Sosa Tanaka in the first inning, and the Raccoons – didn’t. And they didn’t do a lot after that, either. Twice Neil Reece made the final out with runners on the corners, and the Raccoons were shut out in a 1-0 game by Asquabal, now aged 37, over seven innings. Asquabal didn’t return for the eighth for some injury or other, and Yosuke Memoto took over the mound work. Reece had the tying run on third base for the third time on the day, this time with one out, and FINALLY came through with a single to left – tied game! And then Reece was left on second base, and Lopez surrendered three straight line drive hits in the bottom 8th, and the game was flushed down the toilet for good when Santana came in, pitched to four batters, didn’t retire any of them, but gave up a grand slam to Jesus Arias. 8-1 Knights. Brewer 2-2, 2 BB; Reece 2-4, RBI;

Nobody is going to give up a substantial prospect for Alonso Santana. How do I know? Shopped the sucking sucker, that sucks a lot, around. That sucks.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – RF Miranda – C Vinson – P Flores
ATL: 1B Nicks – C J. Johnson – CF Arias – SS Tanaka – 2B M. Gúzman – 3B Utting – LF Burton – RF Cooper – P Gomes

For a change, the opposing team took the lead on an error by the pitcher, when Esteban Flores made a throw to first that was nowhere near first and vanished in the stands in the third inning. The Knights scored a pair of unearned runs here, while the Raccoons weren’t even visible at the plate through six. Flores was hit for with Crockett in the seventh with one out and Vinson on first, and still down 2-0. Crockett doubled to center, putting the tying runs in scoring positions. Brewer fouled out, and Crowe flew out. 2-0 Knights, still. Vern Kinnear, not doing **** with the bat, held the team in the game by nailing Tom Nicks at the plate for the final out of the bottom 7th. Reece got on base to start the eighth and somehow came around to score on outs, but we still trailed 2-1 in the ninth against Enrico Gonzalez. Crockett doubled with one out, and that was it. 2-1 Knights. Crockett (PH) 2-2, 2 2B;

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – SS Ingall – RF Buell – C Aycock – LF Kinnear – P Lara
ATL: 3B Utting – 2B Nicks – CF Arias – SS Tanaka – LF F. Gonzalez – 1B M. Gúzman – C E. Ramos – RF Morris – P D. Perez

After trying to get the team back into the game the day before with the out collected at home, which failed for the losers using foam bats with holes in them, Kinnear made an error in the second inning that led to the first Knights run of the game, driven in by ex-minor league Raccoon Edgar Morris. In the third, Buell actually managed to nab Arias going first-to-third on a single by Tanaka, ending that inning. The Raccoons had yet to get past second base, where they left Wedemeyer in the fourth. Kinnear then led off with a round-tripper in the fifth inning, cutting the gap to 2-1 at that point, and the Coons tied it in the sixth when Buell hit a 2-out single, stole second, and came home when Aycock’s grounder bounced over Tanaka’s glove for a single. Still tied at two, Lara went back out there for the eighth – and Arias hit another one of those home runs that ask you why you even bothered to leave Oregon with your collection of crash test dummies. Top 9th. Crockett hit for Tamburrino and walked with two out against Brad Marshall. Brewer doubled, but it wasn’t enough for Crockett to score. Go-ahead runs in scoring position, two down for Crowe. Grounded to first, sweep complete. 3-2 Knights. Brewer 2-4, BB, 2B; Lara 7.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, L (1-3);

In other news
June 18 – The Titans acquire 26-yr old 1B Glenn Douglas (.276, 5 HR, 43 RBI) from the Pacifics, sending over MR Holden Gorman (4-3, 2.17 ERA, 4 SV), who is 34.
June 20 – As the Thunder beat the Condors, 4-0, OCT 1B/2B Dave Browne (.249, 2 HR, 21 RBI) collects his 2,500th career base hit, a first inning single off Juan Lara. Browne, 36, was the Thunder’s first round pick in the 1979 draft, and has spent his whole 16-year career with the team, putting together a .249/.356/.335 slash line with 163 HR and 1,073 RBI as well as 154 SB. The right-handed batter from Lisle, IL is a hero in Oklahoma City and hopes to make it to 3,000 hits now.
June 24 – WAS C/1B Gabriel Rivera (.245, 2 HR, 18 RBI) is struggling in a less productive year for his standards, and so it took a bit longer than expected for him to log his 2,000th career hit. Rivera contributs three hits as the Capitals beat the Cyclones, 9-7, with the milestone recorded with a second inning single of Russ Ewing. The Dominican Rivera, 34, was discovered by the Capitals in 1980 in his hometown of Neyba, and has spent his entire 15-year career with the Capitals. His slash line is an impressive .289/.402/.432 with 188 HR and 1,119 RBI.
June 29 – CYCLE! As the Gold Sox romp over the Capitals, 13-3, DEN 2B Pat Parker (.362, 7 HR, 40 RBI) has a career day, hitting 4-6 with a home run, a triple, and a double included, and 3 RBI, becoming the 21st player and second Gold Sock within a year (Chih-tui Jin) to hit for the cycle! It is also the second cycle this season (LAP Lance Branch).

Complaints and stuff

We talked about Jason Edgar, that 12th round pick in AAA that may on the verge of the Bigs? Well, he popped his UCL, so see you next season.

Liam Wedemeyer had not hit a home run since May 8 until he took Davis Sims deep in the middle game against the Loggers. Oh, don’t worry, that was merely a 6-week drought from a guy that is here to hit home runs and nothing else.

As we are on home runs, Royce Green hit four of those in the last few days of his rehab assignment to AAA, but still only came in a .175 in 63 AB. Roberto Miranda is sent back to Florida for Monday’s game so that Green can be activated. That’s gonna be fun, having him back…

No player on the roster has more than five. For an entire team built around power and pitching, we have two reasons why we are behind the Jerusalem Barefoots this season…

Meanwhile every former Raccoon I traded away for something assumed better is hitting for the cycle now…

Did I mention that all the fun has been sucked out of my life?
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Old 07-27-2014, 08:30 PM   #950
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This will make the rebound season all that much more enjoyable!
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Old 07-28-2014, 04:49 PM   #951
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This will make the rebound season all that much more enjoyable!
Yes, but will any one of us live long enough to witness it?

---

Raccoons (25-50) @ Thunder (36-39) – June 30-July 2, 1997

The Thunder were average or slightly better in the important batting categories, and also had less-than-average number of runs so far (and in fact had a +1 run differential), but still found themselves below .500. One reason might be their CL-worst bullpen. But of course the Raccoons would find a way to heave them back to the break-even point.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (4-6, 2.95 ERA) vs. Jon Robinson (6-5, 2.86 ERA)
Scott Wade (2-4, 5.80 ERA) vs. Millard Wilson (3-6, 6.59 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-5, 3.30 ERA) vs. Lou Corbett (6-7, 3.66 ERA)

Royce Green was back on the roster to open the series, hooray, hooray, hooray. He batted all of .175 on rehab in AAA, so where does he get to bat for some $440k over the next 87 games? After some deliberating, I put him where I would have put him if he had batted .350: in the #5 hole, behind Wedemeyer. There’s no use batting him deeper, and he has to prove he deserves to bat fourth. Except, Wedemeyer didn’t play in the opener against the left-hander Robinson.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – 1B Ingall – CF N. Reece – LF Buell – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – C Vinson – P Saito
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – 1B H. Ramirez – 3B S. Reece – 2B Grant – RF Norton – LF Browne – CF L. Hernandez – C Ikeda – P Robinson

Messy pitching saw Brewer double and score on a wild pitch and a balk, and then Saito issued a walk, a hit batter, and a wild pitch along with a Hector Ramirez single in the first, which totaled up to Thunder 2, Raccoons 1. Saito was reeling badly, threw another wild pitch in the fourth, in which the Thunder plated two more, and the Raccoons had all but two hits after five, down 4-1. Then Brewer led off with a single and advanced on Browne’s error fielding the single, again on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Ingall. Then came Reece, ripped, and tied the game with a 2-piece to left. Saito received a no-decision after pitching six innings that were as joyful as watching someone giving birth on TV, and Robinson was no better. We went into extra innings once more, and we faced Jimmy Morey in the 10th. The Thunder’s closer was struggling this year with a 4.73 ERA and Royce Green upped that with a 1-out RBI single that cashed in Neil Reece from second base. Still with one out, the bags got full and in a risky move Wedemeyer batted for Guerin, and while he made an out, Vinson drew a bases-loaded walk and Aycock had a pinch-hit RBI single. De La Rosa thus had to save a 7-4 lead. He walked Tommy Norton, Dave Browne reached on an error by Green, and Lucio Hernandez drew another walk. Nobody out. Tim O’Donnell lined out hard to Brewer, while Pat Sears grounded out to short, scoring one run. Jose Sanchez came up, grounded out to third, and that all but saved De La Rosa’s beard. 7-5 Raccoons. Brewer 2-6, 2B; Ingall 2-4, BB, RBI; Guerin 2-4, 2B; Aycock (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF N. Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Ingall – C Aycock – LF Kinnear – P Wade
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – LF Norton – 3B S. Reece – RF Barnes – 1B Browne – CF L. Hernandez – 2B H. Ramirez – C Guidry – P M. Wilson

As always, when the starting pitchers’ ERA’s add up to 10 or more (12.39 in this case), there was zero offense. Wilson threw high octane, and Wade mastered his groundball game, and neither team scored through six. The Thunder had the best chance in the fifth, but left a runner on third base in the inning. Top 7th, Green led off with a single, stole second (a move of desperation) and scored on Ingall’s single. We left Ingall on third, and Wade almost had it socked to him in the seventh with two line drive singles, but got out unharmed. We then caught more breaks in the eighth, with Brewer legging out an infield single, and reliever Fernando Pena making a throwing error on Crowe’s grounder. Reece double to score Brewer and we had two in scoring position with no outs, and a string of singles led to four runs and a 5-0 lead. Wade was at 98 pitches through seven, so a shutout would be a stretch, and Artie Barnes drove in a run with two out in the eighth, regardless. Zuniga replaced Wade and gave up a home run to Dave Browne to cut the lead to 5-3 in no time. The Coons however feasted some more on that horrible Thunder pen and plated three runs in the ninth. Padilla pitched a scoreless ninth then. 8-3 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, 2B, RBI; Green 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Ingall 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Aycock 3-5, RBI; Wade 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3-4);

Game 3
POR: 2B Ingall – LF Buell – CF N. Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Guerin – C Vinson – 3B G. Rodriguez – P M. Lopez
OCT: SS J. Sanchez – CF L. Hernandez – 3B S. Reece – 2B Grant – RF Norton – LF Browne – 1B Ikeda – C Guidry – P Corbett

The Raccoons got their first three men on, but scored only one run. In turn, the Thunder also got their first three men on, but that streak concluded with a 3-bomb by Sonny Reece. Back-to-back doubles by Green and Guerin plated a run for us in the fourth, but Guerin was left on third. Green tied the game with a 2-out RBI single the next frame. We got our first two men on in the seventh, singles for Vinson and Rodriguez, but didn’t score, and in turn Jose Sanchez’ 2-run homer put the Thunder on top for good. Another run was laden on Lopez before the day was over, as we missed the sweep – as usual. 6-3 Thunder. Ingall 2-5, 2B; Reece 2-5, RBI; Green 2-4, 2B, RBI; Rodriguez 2-3, BB;

With this series in the books, the Thunder are the first CL South team we have won 100 games against all time (101-85 total).

Raccoons (27-51) @ Titans (49-30) – July 3-6, 1997

Playing four in Boston right now was not up my playbook. They were very good in all aspects except for a wonky bullpen (8th in CL), but mostly they ranked around the top 3 or 4 in the Continental League. They had no injuries, Jesus Bautista led the league in ERA, and Daniel Silva in stolen bases. By the way, the Raccoons didn’t figure on ANY top 3 leaderboard, in ANY category this season.

Projected matchups:
Esteban Flores (0-4, 4.74 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (9-4, 1.94 ERA)
Hector Lara (1-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Glenn Ryan (6-7, 2.89 ERA)
Kisho Saito (4-6, 3.12 ERA) vs. Bill Smith (6-4, 2.85 ERA)
Scott Wade (3-4, 5.50 ERA) vs. Dave Beck (2-3, 3.19 ERA)

That’s three right-handers and the southpaw Beck. With seven more to play after that, Brewer’s next off day could come in Wade’s start. Reece and Ingall were also due an off day at some point in this 17-game stretch, and I was eyeing the middle games here.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Flores
BOS: SS D. Silva – 3B Henry – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 1B Douglas – RF Thomas – CF Reid – 2B Chavez – P Bautista

The Titans scored two on a wonky Flores in the second inning, and we got one run back in the third. In the fifth, Vinson drew a 1-out walk, and when Flores bunted, Horace Henry’s throw to first went into the seats, and we had the go-ahead runs in scoring position. Brewer grounded to third for an infield single, but nobody scored. Crowe struck out and Reece flew to left, and indeed, nobody scored… Bottom 6th, two down, runner on third, Bautista singled off Flores, and that was one reason why the Titans won games, and why the Raccoons sucked so terribly. Clutch hitting. We just ain’t got any. Down by two in the eighth, we had the bags full with one out, when Buell came out to hit for Ramos in the #6 slot. A knock to third, a zip by Henry, 5-4-3, and another pair of outs were made. Ninth: Bill Corkum walked PH Guerin, who then stole second with one out. Kenny Crockett was batting ninth by now and hit an RBI double to deep left. The tying run in scoring position, Brewer singled, but Crockett had to hold. And then Corkum struck out Crowe, and then Corkum struck out Reece. 4-3 Titans. Brewer 3-5, 2B;

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – RF Buell – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Green – 3B Crowe – C Aycock – LF Kinnear – P Lara
BOS: SS D. Silva – 3B Henry – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 1B Douglas – RF Thomas – CF Walls – 2B Salinas – P Ryan

The Raccoons scored two runs in the first, driven in by Aycock, but could have scored three if Wedemeyer hadn’t run himself out on the basepaths after a leadoff single. In the fourth, Kinnear drove in a run with two down. Lara was hit, and Brewer hit a single that Kinnear wasn’t going to score on from second. So Ingall had the bags full, worked a full count, then grounded to second, where Octavio Salinas took ages to come in, and all hands were safe on an RBI infield single! Buell and Weeds hit RBI singles to knock Glenn Ryan from the game, and Jason Leonard walked Green to force in another run. Crowe drove in a pair before Sidney Aycock lobbed out to shallow right. 9-0 Coons, should do? Well, there were still 18 outs to collect. Lara would not get the win… The skies soon darkened (must have been those nasty Boston weather gods) and it started to rain heavily in the fifth with the Titans crowding the bags. 9-1, one out, bags full, the game was delayed for almost an hour. Lara came back out, gave up a sac fly to Silva, and needed one more out, but Henry galloped him for the showers with a gigantic 3-run homer. With a 4-run lead we tapped Padilla to go through seven in the best case, but before anyone could blink the Titans loaded the bags in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate. Tamburrino replaced him to pitch to Henry, and like wouldn’t you know it, a grand slam blew the 9-run lead we at one point had gotten. And more extra innings for everybody! There, the Raccoons barely squelched out one run in the top 11th, leaving the bags full in the process, leaving De La Rosa with no cushion. Salinas led off with a double, moved to third when Julio Silva grounded out, and had tied the game if not for a bear of a catch by Mike Crowe on Daniel Silva’s line drive to left. Henry was walked intentionally. He was NOT going to defeat us with a third homer today. De La Rosa was rather to pitch to Jose Martinez, a left-hander! I’d rather have Martinez defeat us with his first homer. He hit a big fly to center, but Green hardly had to move to nab it. 10-9 Raccoons. Ingall 2-6, RBI; Wedemeyer 2-6, RBI; Green 2-5, BB, RBI; Crowe 4-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Reece (PH) 1-1; Kinnear 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Ramos 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4-2);

At least we know now that Tamburrino is as useless as any other of the suckers and we don’t need to entertain a huge contract offer to him come fall. And we have a lot of contracts ending after this season. We might enter next year with only half our current roster.

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – C Aycock – LF Kinnear – SS Guerin – P Saito
BOS: LF Walls – 3B Henry – SS D. Silva – C L. Lopez – CF Reid – RF Alonso – 1B J. Silva – 2B Durango – P B. Smith

Aycock left the bags full in the first inning, and after that the Raccoons took a liking to swinging at Smith’s junk balls. That didn’t go too well for our OBP or our run total, and so through six, Saito was being defeated by a stray home run by Pepe Durango, who came in batting .184. Saito hit a 1-out single in the seventh, and Brewer hit another single. Smith threw a wild pitch to Crowe, then still struck him out. Reece fell 1-2 behind as well before he somehow made contact and hushed a drunken butterfly into shallow center where it dinked in for an RBI single to tie the score. Wedemeyer, of course, struck out. Bottom 7th, Dave Reid led off, and homered. GODDAMNIT, I’M GONNA ****IN’ KILL YOU ALL!!! 3-1 Titans. Brewer 2-4, BB; Reece 2-5, RBI; Aycock 2-4; Saito 7.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, L (4-7) and 1-3;

Why don’t just throw in the towel?

Or in Saito’s case: throw swords into your teammates.

They scored 63 runs in his 17 starts this year. Every jury on the planet would understand.

Game 4
POR: 1B Ingall – LF Buell – CF Reece – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – 2B G. Rodriguez – C Vinson – P Wade
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Reid – LF J. Martinez – C L. Lopez – 1B Douglas – RF Thomas – 3B Chavez – 2B Durango – P Beck

Wade was as hittable as a barn in the game, surrendering hard contact from the start, and it was only time for the Titans to not hit it to either Reece or Buell. Especially Reece was all over the place with his glove, and the Titans always found it, or kept themselves from scoring otherwise, somehow, like in the fifth, when Dave Beck popped up a bunt for an easy out that cost the potential first run of the game. Eventually, the Titans chewed up Wade not with hard contact, but by drawing two leadoff walks. Rodriguez then failed to dig out Lopez’ grounder and the bags were full after the infield single, and no outs. Wade was gone, Miller walked in a run, and the Titans got a second one with a sac fly. The Raccoons were ****, had three hits through seven innings, and didn’t get a run until with two out in the eighth, when Green doubled home Reece. They got the tying run on base to lead off the ninth when Brewer drew a walk off Bill Corkum, batting for Rodriguez. Vinson bunted him over, and Crockett popped out. A passed ball moved Brewer to third with an 0-4 Ingall batting. The count was 2-0, but ran full, when Ingall finally put the ball in play to left, where Jose Martinez raced in and launched at the ball, missed it, and Ingall ended up on second base on an RBI single and an error. Buell’s roller up the left foul line eluded – somehow – Dave Reid and Ingall was sent to score from second. Reece grounded out, and so De La Rosa came out with no cushion again. Despite an infield single by Daniel Silva, he somehow didn’t blow it. 3-2 Critters. Buell 2-5, RBI; Padilla 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

To be clear: they won on Jose Martinez’ error. If he takes Ingall’s bloop safe, he holds Ingall at first, and Buell can’t score him. Then – at best – we play 13 again and then we still lose 3-2.

In other news
June 30 – SFB LF/RF Pedro Perez (.249, 9 HR, 40 RBI) makes history by knocking three home runs in the Bayhawks’ 9-1 rout of the Titans. He is the 11th player in ABL history with a 3-homer game and the first one since Liam Wedemeyer hit three for the Gold Sox on July 2, 1995, almost two years ago. He is the second Bayhawk to achieve the feat (Jim Thompson, 1994).
July 1 – All-time saves leader Andres Ramirez (3-0, 1.04 ERA, 7 SV) is not employed as the Washington Capitals’ closer usually, but with Jesus Longoria on the DL, Ramirez gets his chance and uses it. Today he put away a 5-3 win over the Warriors, earning his 600th career save! The 37-yr old Cuban, who was – ironically – the Warriors’ first round pick in the 1977 draft, has had a successful and illustrious career for seven different teams, including winning the 1978 World Series with the Warriors. As the only member of the 600 SV club, he is now 78 saves ahead of 2nd place Grant West (who is retired) and 82 ahead of the nearest active pitcher, Jim Durden.
July 1 – At age 22, ATL C Johnny Johnson (.300, 3 HR, 24 RBI) is playing his first season as starting catcher and is doing a terrific job all around. With one hit in the Knights’ 5-3 win over the Canadiens he has now compiled a 20-game hitting streak.
July 4 – It’s season over for ATL LF Freddy Gonzalez (.275, 6 HR, 31 RBI) who has suffered a fractured ankle.

Complaints and stuff

Stephen Buell was the CL Rookie of the Month in June, his second such award this year. He batted .298 with no homers and 17 RBI, so I guess it was a slow month for youngsters?

In AAA, Antonio Donis was getting smothered for an ERA north of seven in five starts, so that was it for him as a starter. He will now be converted to a reliever.

Meanwhile, this bunch of failures is really getting on my nerves. They are a friggin’ 7-22 in 1-run games, 4-8 in overtime affairs, and have a -9 pythagoraean record. All because they can’t do anything right. They are walking everybody, and they don’t get hits when it counts, and when they lead 9-0, they still blow it, and if they’d lead 17-0, they’d still blow it, ALL IN THE NINTH INNING.

Can’t I just all sell to some Arabian slave driver and go fishing? They’re just so aggravating. No pitching. No defense. No home runs. No clutch hits. No wins. No wins. No wins.

And no saves.

And STILL no home runs.

And no wins.
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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

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Old 07-28-2014, 09:01 PM   #952
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On the positive side of things, I believe you had a winning week at 4-3. So there was a little sunshine behind the grey storm clouds.

You have to take the little bright spots when you can.
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Old 07-29-2014, 01:03 AM   #953
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^ the positive side of things? Must be reading the wrong dynasty report

Curious, how's Jason Turner doing in wherever the hell he went?
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Old 07-29-2014, 02:25 AM   #954
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On the positive side of things, I believe you had a winning week at 4-3. So there was a little sunshine behind the grey storm clouds.

You have to take the little bright spots when you can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjh5165 View Post
^ the positive side of things? Must be reading the wrong dynasty report
Taz. Like, seriously. You've been following for years now. Whenever the Raccoons lose a single game a week, I'm raging.

Also, blowing a 9-0 lead blows the mood for at least a fortnight.

Quote:
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Curious, how's Jason Turner doing in wherever the hell he went?
Jason Turner picked another team that is now in last place, the 35-48 Pacifics. He is 4-9 with a 4.54 ERA and 1.62 WHIP. Last year, he had 121 strikeouts to 69 walks. Not a great ratio, but sufficient to go 14-9. This year, he has 58 strikeouts to 52 walks at half time. His control is a mess. And he's due another $4.3M by the Pacifics through the end of 2001.

But it's okay. The Pacifics love to pay fortunes to dead meat. They were the team dumb enough to trade for Tetsu Osanai six (or so) years ago.

Don't get me wrong: no hard feelings for Turner. He was a 109-69 guy for the Raccoons, and you normally didn't have to bother about him. If that contract had been up one year later (and he didn't suck so hard this year) we would have had enough resources to keep him aboard. Didn't work out that way.
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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

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Old 07-29-2014, 01:41 PM   #955
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Taz. Like, seriously. You've been following for years now. Whenever the Raccoons lose a single game a week, I'm raging.

Also, blowing a 9-0 lead blows the mood for at least a fortnight.


My therapist (my wife) tells me I need to look at the positive things in life. I see things in the same manner. So was I just trying to help out another fellow.
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Old 07-29-2014, 07:03 PM   #956
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Raccoons (29-53) vs. Indians (34-48) – July 7-10, 1997

Seven more ‘til the break, four of those against the Indians. With a sweep we just quite can not pass them for fifth place. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. The offense is their boon, scoring the second-least runs in the league, while the pitching is good and the bullpen has a 2.60 ERA mark that leads the league.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (4-6, 3.62 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (2-8, 4.70 ERA)
Esteban Flores (0-5, 4.74 ERA) vs. Dan George (4-9, 4.34 ERA)
Hector Lara (1-3, 5.23 ERA) vs. Robbie Campbell (7-6, 3.52 ERA)
Kisho Saito (4-7, 3.15 ERA) vs. Manuel Alba (3-1, 2.58 ERA)

George was the only left-hander in the group, although right now Wedemeyer was much more likely to get parked than Brewer…

Game 1
IND: CF Maguey – RF Sakaguchi – C Cicalina – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – 3B Whaley – 1B C. Gonzalez – LF Alarcon – P Park
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B Crowe – RF Crockett – LF Kinnear – SS Ingall – P M. Lopez

The Raccoons stormed out to a 5-0 lead through three innings against a hapless Park, with three in the second that were sparked when Lopez drew a bases-loaded, 2-out, full-count walk from Park, enabling Brewer to single home a pair, and then with a 2-run home run by Wedemeyer in the third. But Lopez faced an all-righty lineup and struggled, too. The Indians put two on the board in the fourth, with Crockett throwing out the third run in form of Francisco Alarcon at the plate. Lopez didn’t make it out of the fifth, as he walked two, allowed a single to Martinez, threw a wild pitch, and then drilled Matt Whaley. The sucker was removed for culling, and Tamburrino allowed the tying runs to score, then followed Lopez onto the same packer’s truck. Then came Cesar Salcido, now an Indian, and did the same he had always done, loading the bases and then issued that one extra walk to Ingall. 6-5 Coons, and Padilla held that for two frames, and Zuniga for one more. De La Rosa was broken out for the ninth, and against expectations didn’t blow the game. He had to issue his standard 2-out walk, though. 6-5 Raccoons. Reece 2-5, 2B; Wedemeyer 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Crowe 2-4; Padilla 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Game 2
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 3B Brown – RF A. Roldán – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – 3B Whaley – LF Sakaguchi – P George
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Flores

Flores was torched for four runs in the first inning, and that was more than sufficient to banish him now. With six runs on Flores, he was yanked in the fifth, with Ramos taking over. He was supposed to pitch to at least close to the end, but was blown up just as well, aided by errors by Brewer and Crowe, a passed ball on Vinson, but mostly his own colossal incompetence for another six runs in the span of four outs. It was a major rout. 12-3 Indians. Reece 1-2, 2 BB; Wedemeyer 2-4, 2 2B; Crowe 0-1, 3 BB, RBI; Kinnear (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Santana 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

If you give up a 2-out, 2-run double to the opposing pitcher, you should not have those runs unearned, no matter how many errors your decrepit team has allowed in the inning. Those runs should count ****ing double!!

Surrounded by useless ********s, Flores was cast into the abyss, and we added a reliever, since I planned to pitch Lara on short rest in the last game before the break (what more can he do than lose spectacularly?), in Antonio Donis. That’s right, he will pitch out of the bullpen now.

In a second move, Luke Newton was activated from his rehab assignment and Kenny Crockett was handed back to AAA. The kid (age: 29) had certainly made himself noticed.

Game 3
IND: SS J. Martinez – CF Fisher – 3B Brown – RF A. Roldán – 1B Paredes – 2B M. Carter – C T. Thompson – LF Alarcon – P Campbell
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Ingall – C Aycock – LF Kinnear – P Lara

The Raccoons scored three runs in the second inning to cruise into - … (sigh) … to cruise into Lara giving up four runs in the third. Why does - … wh- … it… (facepalms)

(sobbing sounds)

An Ingall sac fly tied the game in the fifth inning. In the sixth then, Campbell still in, but reeling, Neil Reece had two men on with one out and lined a double into deep left, plating Brewer with the go-ahead run. A Wedemeyer sac fly and a 2-out single by Green plated two more runs to lead 7-4. In the eighth, Donis appeared as reliever for the three left-handers Sam Fisher, Matt Brown, and Alejandro Roldán, and set them down in order, striking out Roldán. De La Rosa saved the game, but once again not without issuing a walk first. 7-4 Raccoons. Crowe 2-5, RBI; Wedemeyer 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Green 2-5, RBI; Ingall 2-3, RBI; Aycock 2-3, BB;

David Brewer has a 12-game hitting streak up and running.

Game 4
IND: CF Maguey – RF Sakaguchi – C Cicalina – 2B M. Carter – 3B Whaley – 1B T. Thompson – SS C. Gonzalez – LF A. Roldán – P R. Herrera
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Saito

The Indians scratched rookie Manuel Alba and brought Roberto Herrera (0-0, 4.50 ERA) out of the bullpen, but he had already started games in AAA this season.

The Coons scored one run in the bottom 1st before Ingall fouled out to leave the bags full. Saito didn’t surrender a hit until the fifth, but the lead remained a very tender 1-0. You would see a blowup, you just had to wait. It came in the seventh, with a 1-out single by Urbano Cicalina up the middle that Reece dropped instead of throwing in, giving Cicalina an extra base. After 1-hitting the Indians through six, Saito would give up two singles and two wild pitches for two runs to come home. The Indians added a run off Saito in the eighth, while the Raccoons of course did ****ing nothing to help him. Reece struck out with the winning runs on base to end the game. 3-2 Indians. Green 2-4, 2B, RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, L (4-8);

I hate this team. I ****ing hate it. Not even whipping their sorry disfigured bodies brings me any joy anymore.

Raccoons (31-55) vs. Canadiens (36-48) – July 11-13, 1997

The Canadiens were allowing the most runs in the Continental League (but only 29 more than the Raccoons, so easily made up in a 3-game set against these crash test dummies), but were scoring slightly more than the league average. Still, their rotation (4.63 ERA) was in shambles, and they had a flurry of injuries crippling their efforts right now including youngster SP Juan Bello and position players Luis Arroyo, Jorge Ledesma, and Bill Mosley.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (3-4, 5.40 ERA) vs. Manuel Hernandez (0-1, 3.65 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (4-6, 3.91 ERA) vs. John Collins (7-8, 5.27 ERA)
Hector Lara (2-3, 5.22 ERA) vs. Jose Marquez (6-7, 3.99 ERA)

Game 1
VAN: RF D. Edwards – C J. Lopez – 1B S. Mendez – CF Hartley – 3B Galindo – LF Moore – 2B B. Butler – SS P. Williams – P M. Hernandez
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – C Aycock – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – P Wade

David Brewer got hurt right in the first inning to get the good news started. Oh, and the Canadiens scored a run on the play. The Coons got that one back in the bottom 1st, and then moved on to deflower Manuel Hernandez in the third with a 6-run inning, where Royce Green started the scoring with a thundering 1-out, 2-run double off the wall in left, and it didn’t stop for a while. Neil Reece upped to 8-1 with a solo home run the next inning, and this was kinda Wade’s to lose. The Canadiens would collect four singles of the infield variety alone in this game, including a bunt by Hernandez early on that Crowe was tardy to play. But although Wade gave up singles left and right, the Canadiens failed to knock him over in this game. He pitched into the ninth in a win, but couldn’t finish it alone in the end. There was another story: Gabriel Rodriguez had entered the game as Brewer’s replacement, and went on to single in every at-bat he got! He did, however, only get to bat five times, and the Raccoons came up two batters short of bringing him up a sixth time in the game. 10-3 Raccoons. Rodriguez 5-5, RBI; Wedemeyer 1-2, 3 BB; Green 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Wade 8.2 IP, 13 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (4-4) and 1-3, BB, RBI;

David Brewer was out for the series and the All Star break with a mild shoulder strain. The only Raccoon with a shot at the All Star Game was down. Hallelujah.

Game 2
VAN: 2B B. Butler – C J. Lopez – 1B S. Mendez – LF Hartley – SS Carpenter – 3B Galindo – CF Moore – RF Rivas – P Collins
POR: 2B Ingall – C Aycock – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – 3B G. Rodriguez – SS Guerin – P M. Lopez

Collins was walking people indiscriminately in this game and the Raccoons took advantage of this (and that he plunked Sidney Aycock with the bases full) early with three runs in the second. Roland Moore was the only left-hander offered by the Canadiens, as Lopez had been crushed by an all-righty lineup the last time out. Buell homered in the third for one run, and one pitch after Wedemeyer had been caught stealing, 4-0. Aycock, slightly mad at Collins, homered in the fourth, 5-0. After the Canadiens pen went up in flames in a 4-run fifth, 9-0, Lopez did so in the top 6th, when the first three Canadiens rapped hard hits off him and three runs scored. A pinch-hit homer by Guy Hopper in the seventh sent him to bed. Padilla replaced him, faced four batters, all four reached, including a 3-run homer by Forest Hartley. And another 9-0 lead was about to get blown, now down to 9-7. Miller struck out Jesus Galindo to exit this horrid seventh. Thankfully, the Canadiens sucked even harder, and another 4-spot was put up in the bottom 7th when Manuel Chavez put the first five Raccoons on base. We identified Santana and De La Rosa to pitch the last two frames – and it worked. 13-7 Raccoons. Ingall 2-5, RBI; Aycock 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, HR, RBI; Kinnear 3-4, 3B, RBI; Crowe (PH) 1-1, RBI; Guerin 2-4, BB, RBI;

Suddenly they are getting offensive? Of course. Saito wasn’t pitching.

Game 3
VAN: RF D. Edwards – C J. Lopez – 1B S. Mendez – CF Hartley – 3B Galindo – LF Moore – 2B B. Butler – SS Carpenter – P Marquez
POR: 2B Ingall – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Guerin – C Vinson – P Lara

Weeds broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning with a massive solo homer to right. Should power suddenly break out around these quarters? Lara however was however intent in blowing the game to pieces. In the sixth, Galindo hit a leadoff single, Lara plunked Moore, and Bob Butler reached on an error by Lara. Yet, the Canadiens didn’t score. Carpenter eagerly struck out, and Buell retired Marquez and Edwards on soft flies to shallow left. The 2-1 lead held up. Lara got one more out in the seventh before Ramos replaced him, surrendered a triple to Salvador Mendez, and the game got tied on Hartley’s sac fly. I was going to need the number of Kisho’s sword sharpener. And the swords. Can we finally sweep a series!? Bottom 8th, Marquez still pitching, Buell hit a leadoff single, and Reece drew a walk. Wedemeyer struck out. Green popped one up. Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD!! Crowe came up, Marquez STILL pitching, and made solid contact for a huge fly to left. Was it going? Was it? No, but Moore wasn’t gonna get it either! Crowe’s fly slapped into the ground just short of the warning track and both runners scored on the double. With two out in the ninth and up 4-2, De La Rosa issued his usual walk to Jorge Lopez, bringing up Mendez. One bad pitch later, we were almost tied, but Mendez also missed the fence for a double. The tying runs in scoring position, I stormed out to scream sense into De La Rosa. De La Rosa fell to 3-1 on Hartley and Daniel Miller was warming up in the pen, when Hartley jabbed at the fifth pitch of the at-bat, dropping a grounder just 15 feet in front of home plate, and not going far. Vinson jumped out to make a throw to first – the whole park instantly stopped breathing. Vinson took the ball, threw, closed his eyes, De La Rosa closed his eyes, Reece in center closed his eyes, heck, Weeds and Hartley closed their eyes for fear of getting beaned. The throw was good, though. 4-2 Raccoons. Crowe 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Lara 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

A SWEEP!! The Canadiens out-hit us 9-4 in this game, by the way.

In other news
July 7 – ATL C Johnny Johnson (.307, 3 HR, 25 RBI) has his hitting streak soar to 25 games with a 2-hit day in a 2-0 loss of the Knights to the Thunder.
July 11 – CYCLE!! While the Knights trash the Falcons, 11-2, LF Edgar Morris (.304, 2 HR, 19 RBI in 125 AB) comes up with a 4-5 day, including a hit of every kind, and also drives in six runs in the rout. Morris’ is the 22nd cycle in ABL history and comes just two weeks after DEN Pat Parker achieved the feat. It is the third cycle this year (LAP Lance Branch) and the second in Knights history (Jai Utting, 1993). The Falcons have never had a cycle themselves and were cycled against for the first time. It was also the first cycle in the Continental League in almost four years since Jai Utting’s.
July 12 – Johnny Johnson’s streak ends at 28 games after going 0-5 in a 3-2 Knights loss to the Falcons.
July 13 – Veteran CIN 2B/SS Paul Connolly (.270, 3 HR, 38 RBI) gets one hit in the Cyclones’ 8-7 win over the Miners, extending a hitting streak to 20 games.
July 13 – An intercostal strain will put PIT INF Roberto Rodriguez (.270, 2 HR, 25 RBI) on the shelf for five weeks.

Complaints and stuff

A 5-2 week. Now after they have blown the season, they are even blowing the #1 draft pick next year. Way to go!

Well, the offense clicked this weak (as long as Saito wasn’t pitching) and we are 8-5 in July. We are still bottom of the league in home runs, though, which is unbelievable. The pitching however … gets progressively worse (as long as Saito isn’t pitching).

Regardless, Liam Wedemeyer was the CL Player of the Week, batting 11-22 with 2 HR and 4 RBI.

But wouldn’t you know it! That’s THREE former Raccoons hitting for the cycle in less than one year! The baseball gods are SPITTING on me!!

Trivia Quiz Time!

Who is the only player to hit for multiple cycles in ABL history?

A: Mark “Icon” Allen
B: Carlos León
C: Mark Dawson
D: Jorge Salazar
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Portland Raccoons, 83 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
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

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Old 07-30-2014, 03:56 PM   #957
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No proper update today. I played the second leg of that home-and-away 4-game double series against the Indians, don't quite know what to make of the results, but I dug out something else.

You know how the San Diego Padres are the only team with neither a no-hitter nor a cycle to their credit? How are ABL teams faring in this regard?

There are currently five teams that have never had one of those top level achievements (there has never been a perfect game in the ABL, by the way), and the Raccoons aren't off so shabbily.

More from Coon City on Friday, since I will come home late tomorrow. See ya then.
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Portland Raccoons, 83 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
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

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Old 08-01-2014, 06:11 PM   #958
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Almost, that table above would have become obsolete this week. Almost... but see for yourself.

All Star Game

David Brewer was the only All Star for the Raccoons this season, and since he was injured, nobody donned a coonskin cap for the game.

The Capitals and Scorpions led the FL with five players each in the game, while in the CL the Titans and Condors had most with six, and the Loggers had five. The number of former Coons in the game was two, Indy’s Matt Brown and Denver’s Pat Parker(!!).

Parker also drove in the winning run in the Federal League’s 3-1 triumph, a third inning double off Tijuana’s Rafael Negron.

Raccoons (34-55) @ Indians (36-53) – July 17-20, 1997

The Indians hadn’t started to score runs (apart from a 12-run bashing of the Coons…) since they were last dicussed, and their pitching is still very much better. But now that the Raccoons were back in sniffing distance of something other than last place I fully expected to get swept over four.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (4-8, 3.10 ERA) vs. Robbie Campbell (7-7, 3.86 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-4, 5.21 ERA) vs. Dan George (5-9, 3.89 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (5-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Chang-se Park (2-8, 5.12 ERA)
Hector Lara (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Les Browning (3-5, 3.87 ERA)

With our AAA rotation bleeding runs, I did not go back to those guys yet. We had an off day on the Monday following this series, eliminating the need for a fifth starter until all the way to next weekend. Ramos was penciled in tentatively, but he could pitch out of the pen the next six games or so with no troubles, and maybe a week from now we will have another starter up.

We did however exchange Gabriel Rodriguez back to AAA for Steve Caddock for the sake of a left-handed bat off the bench and more versatile defense. Caddock plays all spots on the infield, Rodriguez is mostly useless up the middle.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – SS Ingall – 3B Crowe – LF Kinnear – P Saito
IND: LF G. Flores – RF Sakaguchi – C Cicalina – CF Maguey – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – 1B Alarcon – 3B Whaley – P Campbell

You had to assume that Liam Wedemeyer had spent all of the first half of the year in some kind of Sleeping Beauty world, but was now getting warm. After Saito fell 1-0 behind in the first, Wedemeyer hit a thundering 3-run shot in the third inning to put him and the Raccoons on top. The Coons added a run in the sixth, chasing Campbell, but Salcido struck out Wedemeyer with the bases loaded to end the frame. Saito pitched a strong game, but came apart in a wild seventh with a walk and a ball right into Alarcon, and was mostly saved by Brewer starting a double play. The 4-1 score stood through seven, and Saito was hit for in a scoreless top 8th. Tamburrino took over in the bottom of the inning, sat the Indians down quickly, and when Mike Crowe took Dennis Lauzon deep (just a hair fair inside the pole in left) for two runs, Saito breathed a sigh of relief. He better hadn’t. Daniel Miller retired two Indians quickly, then put one on, and another one, and another one, and then finally struck out Alejandro Roldán. 6-2 Raccoons. Brewer 2-4, BB; Aycock 3-5, RBI; Wedemeyer 4-5, HR, 3 RBI; Crowe 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (5-8);

Kisho won a game! It’s merely his first win in four weeks… While he did have three or four bad starts this season, that is your quota even for aces. The support he has gotten is best expressed in this: 5-8 with a 3.00 ERA.

For the first time since April, we’re in a position to force a tie for fifth place with another win in the next game. GO GET ‘EM!!

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Buell – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Wade
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 1B Brown – RF A. Roldán – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – LF Alarcon – 3B Whaley – P George

****ing enthusiasm. ****ing Matt Brown hit two ****ing home runs off ****ing Scott Wade in the first two innings, for merely five ****ing runs. Wade was removed before he’d face Brown again, after four innings. At that point, Dan George was pitching a no-hitter. Donis appeared in the fifth, walked enough guys to walk home a run, 6-0, and about there I took my eyes off the game and read a really interesting magazine article about the most trendy haircuts for middle-aged women these days. To whom it may concern: no, the Raccoons were not no-hit by George, knocking two singles in the seventh to no effect. 7-0 Indians. Buell 1-1, 2 BB;

The game ended hitting streaks of 14 games for David Brewer and 11 games for Liam Wedemeyer. So, yeah, booooohh!!!

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B Crowe – CF Newton – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – P M. Lopez
IND: LF G. Flores – RF Sakaguchi – C Cicalina – CF Maguey – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – 1B T. Thompson – 3B Whaley – P Park

Luke Newton’s first start since coming back from injury had him plate runs with 2-out singles twice in the game. In the fourth it was an infield single, in the sixth a clean line drive single to right – and then that was all the scoring. Ingall would up to 4-0 with a 2-out, 2-run double in the eighth. Lopez was dominant through five, but began to crumble a bit starting in the sixth, shooting up his pitch count against an all-righty lineup. He entered the ninth with that 4-0 lead, on a 5-hitter, but also on 118 pitches. The bullpen was a busy place, as Lopez hoped to face and retire Tomas Maguey, Martin Carter, and Jose Martinez in the inning. He got Maguey, but the other two got on and Lopez was removed. De La Rosa came on, walked Thompson, surrendered an RBI single to PH Matt Brown, and gave up Lopez’ other run on a sac fly to Roldán. Then he walked Flores. Whom to go to!? Tamburrino?? Yes, bring Tamburrino! Tamburrino ran the count full on Sakaguchi, then placed a cutter right on the edge, and the umpire … fisted Sakaguchi – THREE STRIKES, YOU’RE OUT!! 4-2 Raccoons. Brewer 2-5; Newton 2-4, 2 RBI; Lopez 8.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (6-6); Tamburrino 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, IR 3-0, SV (1);

Just what the hell is wrong with De La Rosa!?

Game 4
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Buell – RF Newton – C Aycock – SS Ingall – P Lara
IND: CF Maguey – C Cicalina – 1B Brown – RF A. Roldán – 2B M. Carter – SS J. Martinez – LF Sakaguchi – 3B Alarcon – P Browning

There really was not a lot going on in this game until the bottom 7th. Tied at one, both runs scored in either half of the fourth inning, Lara was still pitching with two outs in the bottom 7th, and Tomas Maguey on second base. Brown came up to bat, but wasn’t going to get a chance: we put him on intentionally. Lara would pitch to Roldán, who popped up the first pitch and made the third out to Ingall. So, in a way, there still wasn’t a lot going on. Bottom 9th, still 1-1, Lara put two on to get yanked. With one out, Miller got Cicalina to bounce to Ingall, but we only got one out, and that brought up Brown. Zuniga came in to face him, and his first pitch was taken to left, and right to Buell. Extra innings. In the top 10th, Kinnear led off reaching on an error by reliever Lauzon. Brewer singled, Crowe double-played Kinnear to third, and that was where Reece left him. Padilla never threw a strike in the bottom 10th. Walk, double, sac fly. 2-1 Indians. Reece 3-5, 2B; Buell 2-3, BB, 2B; Lara 8.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K;

Raccoons (36-57) @ Crusaders (46-47) – July 22-24, 1997

A 4.59 starters’ ERA was the main reason the Crusaders weren’t keeping pace with the Loggers and Titans. Their offense was above average, but couldn’t keep up with the second-worst rotation.

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (5-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Francisco Garza (6-9, 4.60 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-5, 5.43 ERA) vs. Anibal Sandoval (10-7, 5.00 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 3.87 ERA) vs. Cipriano Miranda (8-8, 3.92 ERA)

The road trip continues for another 3-set in San Fran after this, and then we will have another off day. We are scheduled to face three right-handers in this series.

We are currently 3-6 against the Crusaders. We have not lost the season series against them since we went 7-11 against them in 1989!

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – LF Kinnear – P Saito
NYC: RF Rigg – 3B J. Ramirez – LF A. Johnson – C Melendez – 1B T. Mullins – CF Diéguez – SS J. Vega – 2B Wilson – P F. Garza

Kisho Saito was taken to where the sun didn’t shine twice in the first two innings, left the go-ahead runs in scoring position when he struck out in the top of the second, and then, down 2-1, found himself with another pair of runners on base in the top 4th, and again with two out. Down to the final strike of the inning, Garza made a poor pitch that Saito ripped right into and shot a low rope up the right foul line, where it went right under the diving Theodore Mullins and rumbled into the corner for a go-ahead, 2-out, 2-run triple for Saito! Saito lasted seven innings, surrendering another run after a walk, balk, wild pitch, and groundout in the bottom 7th, but by then the Coons were up 6-3. Miller pitched a clean eighth, but once De La Rosa came into the game for the ninth to face the 2-3-4 hitters, something went wrong: he pitched a perfect inning, without walking anybody. That was new! 6-3 Raccoons! Brewer 2-4, BB, 2B; Wedemeyer 2-4, BB; Reece 3-5, 2B; Kinnear 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (6-8) and 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI;

Kisho Saito had to spend 17 years in the majors to hit a triple! But he did it! Hooray!! By the way, he has two home runs, one for the fluffy Furballs and one that came in his former life as a smelly Elk. That was all the way back in 1982.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – CF Reece – LF Kinnear – 3B Crowe – SS Caddock – P Wade
NYC: 3B Rigg – 2B Wilson – RF A. Johnson – LF P. Jenkins – 1B Berry – C Melendez – CF C. Clark – SS J. Ramirez – P Sandoval

The Raccoons scratched out three runs early, all on flimsy plays: Caddock hit into a run-scoring double play in the second inning, and in the third we got runs on an error and a Wedemeyer sac fly. Wade was perfect through four innings, before everything came crashing down in the fifth. He loaded the bases with one out, and waved for the trainer, then came out of the game. Uh-oh. Tamburrino got out of the inning with one run scoring, but of course Wade, having some kind of trouble with his hand, would not qualify for the win. Caddock came up with the bags full and no outs again in the sixth, and while he again made an out, he actually got an RBI with a sac fly to left that scored Neil Reece, 4-1. Ingall then hit for Tamburrino, and straight into a double play. Still at 4-1, Padilla was tasked with the eighth, but the Crusaders loaded the bags with one out and the left-handed 3-4-5 batters coming up. Zuniga came out, but the game was getting away right here. Avery Johnson singled home a pair, and then the Crusaders actually hit for Pat Jenkins with Theodore Mullins, a right-hander, but our options were limited at that point. Zuniga pitched to him, allowed a 3-run homer, and the Raccoons were washed away. 6-4 Crusaders. Reece 2-4; Kinnear 4-4, 2B; Crowe 2-4; Wade 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Santana 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

The absolute last thing we need is an injury to a starting pitcher. We are kinda short on them already! No diagnosis for Wade was available so far.

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – P M. Lopez
NYC: RF Rigg – 3B J. Ramirez – LF A. Johnson – C Melendez – 1B T. Mullins – CF Diéguez – SS J. Vega – 2B Wilson – P Miranda

Evening the score, Cipriano Miranda left with an injury in the first inning in this game, while the Raccoons scored a pair of runs on him. Lopez retired the first ten Crusaders before Ramirez worked a walk, but the Crusaders didn’t get anything else through four. The Coons added a run in the fifth and a pair in the sixth (one of the latter unearned), while the Crusaders were clueless how to hit Lopez. Kinnear made spectacular plays in the sixth and seventh innings, keeping Lopez’ bid in one piece through seven. To start the eighth, Lopez struck out Mullins, his 6th K on the day, half a dozen more strikeouts for him than hits against him. Five to go, Armando Diéguez emptied a 2-1 pitch into the bleachers in left, and the air was outta this one. Lopez sat down the five remaining Crusaders after that. 5-1 Raccoons. Brewer 2-4, BB, 2B; Aycock 2-5, 2B; Reece 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Wedemeyer 2-5, 2B; Lopez 9.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (7-6) and 2-5, 2B;

I never liked Diéguez. WHY!!?? I could just cry. (sobs)

Interestingly, our medical staff took 24 hours to diagnose Wade with a torn fingernail. Thanks to the off day on Monday, Wade should be able to pitch in his next scheduled start. If not, the off day could be used to pull Lopez into the Tuesday game.

Raccoons (38-58) @ Bayhawks (46-50) – July 25-27, 1997

Mostly the opposite of the Crusaders, the Bayhawks had a top 3 rotation, but couldn’t score for their petty lives. They ranked 10th in runs scored in the league, and they were currently missing two of their starting infielders with injuries in Mike Powys and Pedro Hernandez, although both players would complete the minimum of 15 days on the disabled list during this series and could come back to play.

Projected matchups:
Hector Lara (2-3, 3.98 ERA) vs. Ricardo Sanchez (10-6, 2.82 ERA)
Jose Ramos (4-2, 3.84 ERA) vs. Charles Bywaters (3-10, 4.88 ERA)
Kisho Saito (6-8, 3.04 ERA) vs. Tony Hamlyn (8-6, 2.38 ERA)

Hamlyn is the only left-hander we get this week. That’s good for Kinnear, who has platooned a lot with Buell recently, but I think, I want to give Buell more than one start a week.

Game 1
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Lara
SFB: 2B Berrios – 3B Chandler – 1B Dean – LF P. Perez – RF Marquez – C J. Ortíz – CF Javier – SS T. Smith – P R. Sanchez

Alfredo Marquez plated three of the Bayhawks’ four first-inning runs with a homer, and the Raccoons were very quickly very out of this game. Hector Lara allowed only an unearned run in the next five innings, which was a moot point with Ricardo Sanchez pitching shutout ball through six, scattering five hits. Green and Crowe led off the top 7th with a pair of doubles, scoring one run, but Crowe was left in scoring position in the inning, and apart from Newton in the ninth, no other Furball ever reached. 5-1 Bayhawks. Reece 2-4; Green 2-4, 2B; Newton (PH) 1-1; Donis 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Well, if there is anything good to draw from this game, then it was Donis’ outing. The Bayhawks fielded five left-handers late in the game, so Donis was left in there. Worked. Let’s move on.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brewer – C Aycock – RF Green – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Kinnear – CF Newton – 3B Crowe – SS Ingall – P Ramos
SFB: 2B Berrios – CF A. Rodriguez – 1B Dean – LF P. Perez – RF Marquez – SS Chandler – 3B J. Gomez – C J. Ortíz – P Bywaters

The allegedly deficient Bayhawks offense roflstomped the next Raccoons hurler in the middle game, putting three runs on Ramos in a hurry. Ramos would allow 10 hits, five runs, while striking out eight in six innings, and the Raccoons discovered that if the Bayhawks offense as advertised was a lie, the pitching lived up to expectations. Like Sanchez the day before, Bywaters shut them out through six. Contrary to Sanchez, Bywaters kept his shutout through seven. And through eight. And also through nine. The Raccoons sucked the air out of the game, which was never anything else than a rout. 7-0 Bayhawks. Brewer 2-4;

Yay, offense. I find these guys’ offense offensive…

Game 3
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Ingall – C Aycock – SS Guerin – P Saito
SFB: 2B Berrios – 1B Chandler – CF A. Rodriguez – LF P. Perez – 3B P. Hernandez – SS Powys – RF Cobb – C J. Ortíz – P Hamlyn

Game 3 got going better than the other two with Saito not being blown up instantly. However, he also had the Coons’ first hit (in the top 3rd), and surrendered a leadoff triple to Jose Ortíz in the bottom 3rd. Ortíz was hurt and left the game, but Hamlyn brought the run home, and the Bayhawks had almost scored more, but Reece ended the inning with a hammering throw that nailed Leon Berrios at the plate. The going got rougher in general in the fifth. Aycock led off with a single, and Hamlyn walked Guerin in a full count. Saito missed the bunt on the first pitch, took a ball, then was plunked by Hamlyn. Saito rubbed his side, but was fine and stayed in the game, as we had the bags full with no outs and Brewer up. In a full count, Brewer drilled a liner out to left – and right to Pedro Perez. Aycock tagged and scored, tying the game, but you had to wonder whether the baseball gods were just not willing to yield us runs here at the Bay. Buell went to 3-0 against Hamlyn, then grounded to Berrios, who was too slow to make any play, and we reloaded the sacks with that infield single. Reece popped out, bringing up Wedemeyer, who had two strikes on him in a hurry. Do not strike out, do not strike out, do no… Wedemeyer went into all-or-nothing mode on the 2-2 pitch, ripped, hit, drilled, deep, deeper, GONE, GRAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMM!!!! Saito, with a 4-run cushion, was pitching steadily in the middle innings. To start the bottom 6th, he punched out Pat Chandler, who hissed at the ump and was tossed. The Bayhawks got a run off him in the seventh, though, cutting the gap to three runs, but in the eighth, Saito sat them down in order. That was it for him, though. De La Rosa was tasked defending that 5-2 lead in the ninth, facing the just gotten-back-to-health Hernandez, Powys, and Cobb in the ninth. He was about to blow it with a double by Hernandez, an almost-homer RBI double by Amaya (following two hard outs), a single by PH Bill Dean – and by now the tying runs were on the corners – when Leon Berrios lobbed a low flyer to shallow right. Royce Green beamed in and nabbed it. 5-3 Raccoons. Wedemeyer 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; Guerin 2-3, BB; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (7-8) and 1-2;

In other news

July 17 – The hitting streak of CIN Paul Connolly goes to die in Cincy’s 5-3 loss to the Blue Sox. He had connected in 20 straight games.
July 20 – The Warriors and Scorpions exchange 25-yr old infielders. Ron Reed (.326, 1 HR, 35 RBI) heads to Sioux Falls, while Sacramento receives Felipe Rivera (.326, 1 HR, 35 RBI) and a minor leaguer.
July 21 – Season over for MIL 2B/SS Jose Perez (.254, 6 HR, 44 RBI). The 27-year old has a torn labrum.
July 22 – Tijuana’s LF Dale Wales (.305, 4 HR, 45 RBI) has a pair of hits as the Condors get routed by the Knights, 11-3. A sixth inning single off Knights hurler Sammy Davis marks Wales’ 2,500th career base hit. All but the last 90 have come with the Denver Gold Sox. The 2nd overall pick in the 1981 draft, and 8-time All Star, Wales has often been injured, but now he is the eighth player to reach the 2,500 hits mark. If his health holds up, Wales should have no problems reaching 3,000 hits!
July 23 – As the Capitals are defeated by the Cyclones 5-3, WAS INF Nuno Andresen (.257, 4 HR, 42 RBI) gets his 2,000th career base hit, an eighth inning single off Juan Sanchez. Andresen, 34, has spent his whole 15-year career with the Capitals, winning two World Series with them. An All Star only once (1989), Andresen has won the Federal League Gold Glove at shortstop six times (1986, 1989-90, 1992-94) in his career!
July 25 – RIC RF/LF Raúl Vázquez (.382, 16 HR, 35 RBI) goes down to a sprained ankle and will miss time clean through the end of August.
July 27 – SAL SP Ramón Sotelo (6-9, 3.65 ERA) could be out for a full year with a torn elbow ligament.

Complaints and stuff

SO close to our third no-hitter! SO close. SO sad!

When was the last time that Saito won two games in a week? Must’ve been the 80s…

Doesn’t look like we’re gonna make any more trades during the season. By now we are pretty thin in most aspects when it comes to depth. If Wade had gotten down, that would have been about the death knell, because we can’t fill a rotation properly anyway right now. David Brewer would have been the last big name to sell. We came into the season with six players making $800k or more (up to Brewer’s $1.5M). Salazar and O’Morrissey were unloaded from the sinking ship. Royce Green was injured until the end of June and could not be traded, Neil Reece ain’t going anywhere as long as I am breathing, and Kisho Saito would not go anywhere in any case due to his 10/5 rights, and I want him to retire as a Coon, too. His contract is up after next year and he’d be 39 in ’99. That only leaves Brewer as a big moneymaker to cull.

The question this winter will be the following: with three more seasons on Brewer’s contract, can we expect to field a competitive team in 1999 and 2000? I doubt we’ll have one next year. The prospect front looks dire, too.

If there is a chance to have a strong team together for the last two seasons of his contract, it would be smart to keep Brewer, the best second baseman and one of the best position players that is not a power guy, and swallow the $1.5M for next year.

But if we look at our system and see that there is nothing coming up and we can’t set free enough money to bring in qualified free agents either, then it might be a wise move to trade Brewer and the (after this season) $4.7M left on his contract for prospects. You should get at least one blue chip for him.

On the farm, I can’t find anybody ready for the majors by next year. At AAA, we have 1B/2B Samy Michel, who’s only 20, but from his general profile reminds one of the young Daniel Hall, apart from the different position and lacking a good chunk of power. But he’s an agile, daring whirlwind with gap power and a good eye (maybe even a pair of good eyes). But, he’s 20, not everyone is made for the majors at 20, and he is so far not really killing AAA pitching. Deeper down, our most prominent acquisitions of this season, SP Ralph Ford, C Julio Mata, and CL Dan Nordahl are all doing well so far (the first two in AA, Nordahl in A), but of course neither of them is expected around Coon City until 1999 at the very earliest, Nordahl maybe even later.

By the way, contracts that are up after this season (1997 salary): Green ($821k), Kinnear ($550k), Vinson ($450k), Aycock ($382k), Otero ($350k, will soon come off DL, by the way), Zuniga ($230k), Lara ($200k), Ramos ($164k). We will have at least six arbitration cases, too.

Outside the Big 3 named above (Brewer, Reece, Saito), there are only two players signed for next season that are NOT under team control: Scott Wade and Daniel Miller.

Currently the numbers for ’98 show $3M of budget space available, but to be honest, I expect Senor Valdes to cut into our budget with a significant reduction and expect to have more like $2M, and once we have scouting and development at acceptable rates, about $1.2M… that’s not a lot of money to fill out a roster with only five veteran players and a few boys still wet behind their ears…

More troubles ahead in Coon City.
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Old 08-02-2014, 08:06 PM   #959
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Raccoons (39-60) vs. Condors (52-47) – July 29-31, 1997

Here was another team suffering from a horrid (10th in CL) rotation, but the Condors had sufficient offense to stay atop the CL South at this junction. They also possessed the best bullpen with a 2.71 ERA to those arms. Since being traded a bit over a month ago, Ben O’Morrissey had hit five home runs for them. Of course he had.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (4-5, 5.30 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (2-5, 4.13 ERA)
Miguel Lopez (7-6, 3.67 ERA) vs. Woody Roberts (10-6, 2.41 ERA)
Hector Lara (2-4, 4.18 ERA) vs. Juan Lara (10-7, 4.31 ERA)

We were starting a string of 17 games without an off day with this series. These three guys were all right-handers, but we will be looking for opportunities to rest Brewer and Wedemeyer against left-handers, and Reece against right-handers starting on the weekend. These three are the only two players that really play every game at the moment.

Game 1
TIJ: 2B Boyle – 1B C. Guzmán – RF Wales – LF Horn – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Gorden – SS Solís – C F. Ramirez – P Maldonado
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Crowe – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – C Aycock – SS Caddock – P Wade

Once again, Wade was just too easily hittable. O’Morrissey had his 100th hit of the year with a leadoff single in the second, which was soon followed by Rory Gorden’s 12th homer of the season, and the Condors were 2-0 ahead. While Wade recovered from that hiccup, although he wasn’t pitching his usual game, striking out seven while surrendering tons of hard contact, the Raccoons hit into double plays in the second, third, and fourth innings, and then stopped getting on base at all. Wade completed eight innings, and then was hit for with two runners on base and one out in the bottom 8th. Buell grounded out, and so did Brewer, and so they went down once more, but not without leaving the tying runs on base in the ninth as well. 2-0 Condors. Wade 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, L (4-6);

So, by now we can safely assume that Scott Wade will not continue his 11-year run of winning double digit games. Thanks for some ****ty offense for the most part.

Game 2
TIJ: 2B Boyle – SS Gorden – RF Wales – LF Horn – 1B O’Morrissey – C Lozano – CF Spinelli – 3B Liang – P Roberts
POR: 2B Brewer – 3B Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – SS Guerin – C Vinson – P M. Lopez

The Raccoons mauled Woody Roberts in the second inning. Weeds led off with a single, stole second, and went to third on Buell’s single. Kinnear popped out, but Guerin singled home Weeds. Buell and Guerin then pulled off a double steal, and Vinson struck out. Two down, Lopez came through with a bouncing single into right, plating one run, and then Brewer hit a line drive double to center, getting the score to 4-0. Reece would bring home Brewer before the inning ended with Weeds whiffing. 5-0, now it was on Lopez. After four strong innings, the world turned on Lopez in the fifth, with the Condors having runners on the corners with one out and the pitcher’s spot up. The Condors did not hit for Roberts, who instead bunted the runner from first to second. Lopez then hit Boyle and surrendered a 2-run single to Gorden, walked Wales to reload the plates, and then was lucky to escape when Martin Horn fouled out. Up 5-2, the Raccoons’ offense was a-snooze, and Lopez was thumped from the game when Chun-mei Liang led off the seventh with a homer, and he walked PH Carlos Guzmán. Zuniga came in to retire Bruce Boyle, and then Miller got the final two outs of the frame with two pitches, and also pitched a quick eighth. Royce Green hit for him in the bottom 8th with the sacks full and one out, and while he grounded out sharply, Buell scored from third and De La Rosa had to defend a 3-run lead in the ninth. Spinelli, Liang, and Raúl Solís were all sat down in order. 6-3 Raccoons. Reece 2-4, RBI; Wedemeyer 2-4; Buell 2-3, BB, 2B; Miller 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

That puts Lopez at 8-6 with two months to go. Should we still get a 10-game winner this season? That would be so exciting!

(grumpy face)

Game 3
TIJ: 2B Boyle – 1B C Guzmán – RF Wales – LF Horn – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Gorden – SS Solís – C F. Ramirez – P J. Lara
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – 3B Crowe – C Vinson – P H. Lara

In the battle of the Laras, which took place under dark skies, the Raccoons did not get a hit off Juan Lara through three innings, but scored an earned run in the bottom 3rd regardless when Vinson walked, Juan Lara went to second on Hector Lara’s bunt, but didn’t get anybody out, and Vinson scored on the next two outs. We didn’t get a hit until the fifth, when Neil Reece came through with a 2-out RBI single, then *ironically* an unearned run, as Hector Lara, who scored the run, had initially reached on an error by O’Morrissey. The ex-Coon would make three errors in this game, 75% of his team’s total. Weeds was then plunked and Buell worked a bases-loaded walk. For those counting, that’s a 3-0 lead on a single hit, and two runs unearned. Such a flurry of dumb luck was certainly making me await punishment, but our Lara made it through seven shutout innings in this game. The skies had opened shortly once in the fifth inning, but then opened for determinately in the bottom 7th, which ended Hector’s day after a 44-minute game delay. But the bullpen held up, and the Raccoons also busted through the highly praised Condors pen in the bottom 8th, including a 3-run homer by Marvin Ingall, to run away with this one. 7-0 Raccoons. Ingall 1-5, HR, 4 RBI; Lara 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-4) and 1-2;

Can’t say I was not grinning at Mr. Too-Good-For-This having a true Cam Green Day in the field here. Suck it up princess, your bitching allotment for this year is already used up!

As the calendar flipped over to August, we pulled MR Andres Otero (anyone remember him!?) from the disabled list and sent him to a rehab assignment in St. Pete.

Raccoons (41-61) vs. Falcons (49-51) – August 1-3, 1997

In came the worst offensive team in the league (although I found the Raccoons’ offense at times VERY offensive) scoring 408 runs in 100 games. Their pitching was good, ranking mostly in the top 3 or 4 in the league, except for their bullpen, which was below average, 8th. And they had so far wiped the floor with the Raccoons this season, winning all six games. The Raccoons have not gone 0-for against a Continental League team since 1985 (Knights), and the Knights are now the other team we are 0-6 against this year.

Projected matchups:
Jose Ramos (4-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Terry Wilson (8-10, 4.08 ERA)
Kisho Saito (7-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Larry Davis (2-4, 5.47 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-6, 5.10 ERA) vs. Luis Guzmán (3-5, 3.36 ERA)

“Loudmouth” Wilson was the only left-hander we could expect until Wednesday, with a left-hander likely up in the last game of the Knights series. (Yeah we will probably lose six straight now) So Brewer got his rest in the opener, to have him up against all the right-handers later.

Game 1
CHA: 3B Combes – 1B S. Vargas – 2B H. Green – SS M. Hall – LF Encarnación – CF Cleveland – RF Young – C D. Smith – P Wilson
POR: 2B Ingall – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – 3B Crowe – C Aycock – SS Guerin – P Ramos

Javier Encarnación set out to sink the Raccoons all by himself, homering off Ramos in the second, and plating another run in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. At that point, Wilson was still perfect, but the Raccoons got two singles by Buell and Reece in the bottom 4th, yet didn’t score. The bottom 6th saw the Raccoons load the bags with no outs with the top of their lineup. Wedemeyer came up, struck out, and Green came up, struck out, and Crowe fouled out, and I started to clean my blunderbuss. The Raccoons were held to five hits and shut out for the second time this week, and to add rage to annoyance, I didn’t hit any one of the suckers as they fled the park. 2-0 Falcons. Buell 2-4; Reece 2-4; Ramos 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, L (4-4);

Game 2
CHA: 2B J. Barrón – RF S. Vargas – SS H. Green – 3B M. Hall – CF Cleveland – 1B Jackson – LF Young – C P. Barrón – P L. Davis
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – C Aycock – 3B Crowe – P Saito

With Saito pitching, no offense was about guaranteed – for the Coons. Crowe was thrown out at the plate by Salvador Vargas in the third inning, but the Raccoons would still somehow score first with a solo home run by Wedemeyer in the fourth. After Brewer left Mike Crowe on third base the next inning, Ingall led off the sixth by turning hard into a 3-0 pitch by Larry Davis, and drilled it approximately to Wyoming, 2-0. Additional support from the power department came the same inning with Royce Green’s first homer of the year, a 2-job collecting Wedemeyer. Allowing one hit through six innings, Saito was then clobbered hard in the top 7th. Two on, one out, Dale Cleveland got the Falcons aboard with a 1-out double. Former Raccoon and very recent callup Joe Jackson brought the two runners in scoring position home with a single. Grady Young flew out to Reece, and that was also a hard shot, and Saito was removed. Tamburrino got the final out from Pedro Barrón. The significantly reduced 4-3 lead had a good chance of re-enlargement in the bottom 7th. With one out Brewer singled, Ingall was hit by Ray Hoskins (Ingall’s second HBP in the game!), and Reece walked. Bases loaded, one out for Weeds, Hoskins was out of control and walked Liam on four straight. He threw another ball to Green before the pitching coach for the Falcons jumped out and barked at him. 5-3, bases loaded, one out in the bottom 7th. Exit the pitching coach, bring the 1-0 to Green, and while it hit the zone, it also hit into Green’s sledgehammer, and that ball was never seen again: GRAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMM!!!! And that inning wasn’t over, as the Raccoons skinned another Falcon in Lorenzo Ángel, who was blown away with a 2-out, 3-run double by Brewer that ramped the score to 12-3. Zuniga and Miller shut the Falcons down the rest of the way, and brought the game home. 12-3 Raccoons!! Brewer 3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Green 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Crowe 2-3, BB; Newton 1-2; Saito 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8-8); Miller 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Saito back to .500, and three games won in a row! Now let’s bring him over the hump!

Game 3
CHA: RF A. Lopez – 1B S. Vargas – 2B H. Green – LF Encarnación – CF Cleveland – 3B Combes – SS J. Barrón – C D. Smith – P Guzmán
POR: 2B Brewer – SS Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Green – LF Kinnear – C Aycock – 3B Crowe – P Wade

While Wade had his control game ready this time out and started to line up zeroes in the Falcons’ part of the line score, the Raccoons clobbered Guzmán for eight hits in the first four innings – but only scored once. They only had two hits the next four innings, and no runs in those. Meanwhile Wade was pitching a 2-hitter, but with a flimsy 1-0 lead, do you send him out for the ninth inning? Well, I have to conserve my reputation of doing dumb stuff all the time. Of course you send him out! And with his first pitch of the ninth, he gave up the game-tying home run to Mark Hall.

(slams head against the wall)

Donis took the loss in the 11th. 2-1 Falcons. Reece 2-5; Kinnear 3-4, 2B; Wade 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

(slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall) (slams head against the wall)

In other news

July 29 – The Titans are forced to trade OF Jose Martinez (.303, 0 HR, 38 RBI) to the Rebels to acquire SP Henry Selph (13-4, 3.08 ERA). Many question whether the Titans shouldn’t have traded a pitcher for offense instead…
July 29 – WAS RF/LF Vonne Calzado (.351, 8 HR, 59 RBI) is set to miss a month of action with a shoulder strain.
July 30 – The Capitals add OF Tomas Maguey (.244, 1 HR, 26 RBI) back to the fold through a trade with the Indians. SP Rafael Serrano (12-5, 4.67 ERA) is sent over to Indy in exchange for the 32-year old Maguey, who was a part of the Capitals’ two championships teams in 1990 and 1991.
July 30 – The Bayhawks deal 1B Bill Dean (.291, 5 HR, 29 RBI) to the Buffaloes for former Raccoon MR Tony Vela (1-1, 3.77 ERA, 2 SV).
August 2 – 37 but not done: ATL SP Carlos Asquabal (8-5, 2.92 ERA) pummels the Loggers, allowing only three hits in a 4-0 shutout win.

Complaints and stuff

This went unnoticed initially, because there was no news item, which is a shame. Last week, Kisho Saito beat the Crusaders, striking out only two, with the latter K to Jose Ramirez. It was Kisho’s 2,500th career strikeout.

I won’t go into detail as far as the offensive achievements of the Excruciaticoons this week. I might use bad words. Bad, bad words.
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1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055
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

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Old 08-02-2014, 08:37 PM   #960
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I remember Otero. He's the old fart I thought might be a young closer candidate......

You have GOT to finish ahead of Vancouver to make this season ticket holder have something to hang his hat on for this season......
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