Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Charlie Hough]

All I know is that Wally Gaston is the only player on the 25-man roster who was also on the opening day roster in 1977. I can't speak for any minor leaguers that made it.

[Westheim]

That is only a partially correct answer to question #3 of course. ^^

[Westheim]

1984 AMATEUR DRAFT

I mentioned it before, the Raccoons won’t pick until #23, so I will not go into detail about my top preferences too much – it turned out that none of them remained around until #23 (the last being outfielder Fernando Pueblo taken at #22. Damn you Blue Sox!!)

The Loggers had the first pick and selected SP Scott Murphy.

Even my first pick was a highly difficult one. There was a very good righty reliever still available, who was highly hyped, and about three fielders that were personal choices by my scout Nathan Bruce. None of those three fielders had much of a career ahead of them according to OSA. The reliever was a righty and my system was filled with them. He was considered a sure hit by everybody with the word “scout” tagged to him. I took the reliever with the first pick and hoped for one of the three fielders to remain in the supplemental round. Only one of them did, a first baseman similar in makeup to Matt Workman. It had worked back then, it could work again. Our round 7 pick emptied my shortlist. No batters remained when we picked again in round 8!

1984 RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS
Round 1 (#23) – MR Juan Santos, 19, from Mexico City, Mexico – very good stuff and a lot of movement; has a big sweeping curve that freaks out batters and could have a big career ahead of him
Supp. Round (#40) – 1B Billy Mitchell, 23, from Fontana, CA – projects as a throughout above-average hitter in all five categories, but has trouble moving efficiently in defense
Round 2 (#81) – OF Hector Medina, 21, from Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela – his one big deficit is plate discipline, and zero power on top of that; apart from that he is a pretty complete player
Round 3 (#105) – RF Jose Correa, 21, from Winter Park, FL – good plate performer apart from being without any power; defense is so-so…
Round 4 (#129) – MR Jorge Cavazos, 17, from Puebla, Mexico – *murder* *curveball* … we will have to develop anything else, starting with finding the strike zone and improving on that 84mph fastball
Round 5 (#153) – LF Jose Vega, 18, from Boca Raton, FL – little to talk about here, he could just make the majors for a team with little ambitions, his plate performance could just be enough for that; does not project to be a great fielder, either, though
Round 6 (#177) – MR Albert Bowen, 22, from Kendall West, FL – throws dead straight and should also work on his control
Round 7 (#201) – 3B/2B Guillaume Rougier, 21, from Ottawa, Canada – not bad at hitting for contact, but has no power, and has no range when defending
Round 8 (#225) – MR Xavier Robbins, 17, from Clinton, AK – really, this draft has run out of steam already… if he could improve his changeup A TON, he could maybe make some roster as long reliever
Round 9 (#249) – MR Jesse Cole, 22, from Suamico, WI – no future, not even as desperate situational lefty
Round 10 (#273) – MR Cooper Wells, 20, from New Port Richey, FL – no future, and I didn’t really care and let my scout pick him; he’s labeled fragile already…

I think, Santos will make the majors by ’87 (but he could become trade bait at one point, since we’re so overstuffed with young right relief pitching). Billy Mitchell could also make the majors in a few years, but not with us if Matt Workman continues to perform how he does. Medina and Correa have chances, as has Cavazos, and maybe even Vega. After that it becomes bleak quickly.

Mitchell and Medina joined the AA team right away.

[Westheim]

COON MANIAC QUIZ – Round 1 – Solutions (data as of June 14, 1984, as were the questions)

1) This one was intended to mislead, since I have talked some about Mark Dawson fighting for the all time home run lead – this question points to home runs with the Raccoons, though, and Dawson has not even been a Coon for three full seasons. He is 3rd with 67 home runs. Six weeks ago, Ben Simon (88) would have been the correct answer, but the correct answer is Daniel Hall with 96.

2) This was the easy one in the bunch. It is Grant West with a 1.70 ERA in 201 games (195.2 IP). Among the next four pitchers with the lowest ERA’s with the Coons are three more non-qualifying relievers (less than 50 IP), and one that even surprised me: MR Bruce Wright with a 2.37 ERA in 93 games and 106.1 IP in 1977 and 1978. He was then traded to Boston, where the Titans ruined his career by making him a starter.

3) This is the tricky one that I initially contemplated about and which got me to post this in the first place. This includes four groups of players: those with the team on Opening Day in ’77, those with our minor league affiliates in ’77, those acquired by trade during ’77, and those drafted in ’77. The correct answer is SEVEN, and that even surprised me (I counted six, initially). Group 1 only consists of (as guessed by Charlie Hough) Wally Gaston. We acquired Christopher Powell in mid-season from the Gold Sox. We took three current Raccoons in the draft that year: Daniel Hall, Matt Workman, and Jason White; the trickiest ones are those two that started out in our minors, and include two players: Logan Evans and Carlos Morán – the latter of which eluded even me last night =)

One might have guessed that Cameron Green was among those ’77 Raccoons as well, since he’s been around since ancient times, but he actually was drafted by the Condors that year and became a (minor league) Coon the following winter in the Alex Miranda/Jorge Romero trade.

There are a few more all-time-and-since-‘77 Coons in the minor leagues, who started there and still are there: MR Miguel Bojorquez, MR Bill Craig, C Mark Mitchell, and 2B/SS Brandon Roland; all four were on the big league team at one point;

That's one imaginary Wally Gaston bobblehead figure for Charlie Hough and nothing for anybody else.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (34-32) vs. Titans (30-37)

We played the series without Steve Walker, who had a sore back and was day-to-day.

Kinji Kan found new way to suck in the series opener: he hit three batsmen. THREE. Howard Walden, the opposing pitcher, was hit in the hand and had to leave the game. Kan had to leave as well after the third one, to be whipped in the clubhouse. Two of the hit batters came in to score, getting the Raccoons 3-2 behind in the sixth. Both pens made good outings and the game was still 3-2 in the bottom 9th. Banda had a 1-out double, Green struck out, but Hall doubled to left center to tie the game! Hall went to third on a wild pitch, but Dawson lined right into Stanley Holman’s glove to send the game to extra innings, where Enrique Sanchez repeated Dawson’s feat with one down and nobody on. We pinch hit for Cunningham in the 11th but Serna struck out and that left only Grant West, who had to win now – or lose. There was no other pitcher available anymore. Luckily, he only had to pitch one inning, as Dave O’Neill hit Hall with a pitch and then walked two to fill the bases. Thompson singled through to left to walk off the Coons, 4-3. Banda 3-5, BB, 2B, 3B; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-5, BB; Workman 2-6; Thompson 3-5, BB, RBI; Justin Neubauer, Jason White, Burton Taylor, and Wally Gaston all went out to cover just 1.2 innings, facing five batters. They struck out all five of them in succession (with Gaston K’ing two).

Christopher Powell retired the first 16 batters in order in the middle game, but then Yong-Chan Chong singled to right and gone was the no-hitter. By then, the Coons led 11-0 in what had become a major rout early on. Workman had homered for three, Banda had homered for two, and they had driven many more after that. While the winner was already decided, the question was whether Powell could complete the shutout he still had on the table. He had had some long at-bats, striking guys out on full counts a couple of times. Dickerson doubled off him in the eighth and came to third, but was stranded there. Powell entered the ninth and surrendered the Titans in order to complete a strong 2-hit shutout! 12-0 Raccoons. Banda 3-5, HR, 5 RBI; Green 4-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Workman 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Powell 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K and 2-4, RBI;

YES! Old Chris can still do it! This was his ninth career shutout, and the second of the Titans after a 1-hitter in 1980. His last shutout had been in last September against the Condors, and he now has a shutout in five consecutive seasons. His 9 SHO rank 6th all-time. David Burke leads – with TWENTY-SIX!! Even Juan Correa, 2nd on the list, has “only” 15.

The Titans returned the favor to a terrible Charles Young in the last game. Young allowed six runs in 1.2 innings, and even committed a massive throwing error to get the scoring started in the second. That deficit was never overcome by the Raccoons. Gilberto Soto was tagged for three with a homer by Keith Lake, and the rest of the pen bled a few more out. Workman and Dawson homered late to no effect. 12-5 Titans. Banda 2-5; Green 2-5, 2B, RBI; Workman 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Bowling 2-4, 2B;

Raccoons (36-33) @ Indians (37-31)

This was a series for second place, but the Raccoons would have to sweep the 3-game series to get there by Wednesday night. To get there in the first place, we made a roster move: Jayson Bowling was hitting .125 and was demoted to AAA, and Edgardo Gonzalez was called up.

Mark Dawson hit a 2-run shot in the first inning of the series opener to get the Coons ahead, but Ruíz was not able to hold on to it and could not get through the fifth. He left in a 3-3 tie with the bags full and two out. Jason White struck out pitcher Joe Brown to get through the jam. The Raccoons put up a few guys and failed to bring them in afterwards, with Indians reliever Joseph Meyer spectacularly striking out four Coons in the eighth innings with runners on the corners. Also, Mark Dawson nailed a runner at the plate to end the seventh. The game went to overtime, where Gaston put two on in the 11th and Walker could not get an out with the next slow grounder. Grant West surrendered a double to left that scored the winning run. 4-3 Indians. Dawson 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Sanchez 2-5, 2 2B;

The Coons then put up five quickly in game 2 against Dominic Beniniger, who was pinch hit for in the second inning already. We still led 5-0 in the bottom 4th, which came to epitomize our troubles this season. Workman made an error with one out that put a runner on first. That runner advanced to third with a walk and a grounder, then scored on a wild pitch by Carlos Moran. Dawson had another 2-piece in the top 7th to make it 7-1. That long one was necessary. Moran walked two in the eighth and was yanked, but Soto imploded and four runs scored. West came out for a 4-out save with the tying run at the plate and ended the threat in the eighth, then pitched a clean ninth, but by then the Coons had scored two more on four 2-out singles in the top 9th. 9-5 Raccoons. Banda 2-5, 2B; Hall 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Dawson 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Workman 2-5, RBI; Sanchez 3-5, RBI; Thompson 2-5; Walker 2-4; Cameron Green went 1-5 and was the only starter not to hit safely multiple times, they had 19 hits in total in the game, although 15 were singles.

We again scored first in the last game. No-hit through three, a leadoff double by Hall in the fourth got things rolling and the Raccoons took a 2-0 lead. Bottom 5th: catcher Guillermo Gonzalez hit a DEEP leadoff homer off Kinji Kan. The Indians then filled the bags with nobody out on a walk, a hit, and a misplayed bunt by Green. Enrique Sanchez scored after an error in the sixth, 3-1 Coons. Then Green made ANOTHER error in the seventh, that put runners on the corners with two out. And this time, he was taken out, removed in a double switch to bring in a not rested Wally Gaston and Gonzalez at short with Walker to third. Gaston got the out and we continued. The Coons then faced a problem heading into the bottom 9th. Not a single one of the backend guys was ready. Neubauer had pitched the eighth, but didn’t match up with the righties coming up, so we brought in Jason White to save the game, and he came through, 1-2-3. 3-1 Raccoons, while being out-hit 8-4. Thompson 2-3, BB, 3B, RBI;

Raccoons (38-34) @ Condors (41-31)

The Condors, somewhat surprisingly to me, led the CL South ahead of the Aces and Falcons at this point. They had very good pitching, but lacked big time hitters.

The Raccoons got behind early, 3-0 through three. Powell was not as sharp and the defense didn’t help him either. Plus, the Coons were no-hit through four by Jim Harrington. Mark Dawson led off the fifth with a double to show the fans in Mexico that there were actually two teams playing. Harrington wobbled a bit and the Raccoons scored one and had the bags full with one out, but Powell coming up. You don’t switch out a pitcher in the fifth if he’s not that bad. Powell flew out to center, which brought up Cisco Banda, who grounded to Chad Fisher at second – that’s it, that’s the inning, but Fisher threw it away as Wayne Baxter came off the bag far enough for Banda to be safe and it was 3-2 Condors. Green forced a walk to tie the game, and Hall singled up the middle, 4-3 Raccoons. Mark Dawson stepped in, who had also started the inning. And he took Harrington deep – GRAND SLAM MARK DAWSON!!! And then the bottom 5th, and we go in reverse. Runners on the corners with two out, and Wayne Baxter grounds to Thompson at second – and he misses the throw to Workman. One run score, and now Powell starts to shake and Jose Moreno singles up the middle to score another run before Cam Green caught a line drive to end the inning at 8-5 Raccoons.

Now, Powell remained in there, since most of those runs really were not (alone) his fault. LF Diego Rodriguez grounds to third to start the bottom 6th – and Green blows the play! I was screaming many obscene things at this point, probably on network television as well… Powell was taken out after getting an out from Alberto Reyes for Burton Taylor to face tough lefty Marc Leach (the messy play had Powell already far ahead in the pitch count after 5.1 innings). The pen somehow got through this inning although the tying run came to the plate.

At this point, you were glad for every ball going out of the infield… Dawson added a run with his second homer that day in the eighth, but Jason White had a bad outing in the bottom 9th. A home run and a walk brought in Grant West, but the runner left on by White came in to score. 9-7 Coons after a real thriller. Dawson 3-4, 2 HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Workman 2-4, 2B;

Game 2 was the last chance for the Young-Dicks battery to impress me. Young was not getting guys out and in the fourth pointed to his ankle and winced. That no impress me. In that situation, Jason White came in with runners on the corners and one out. K, IBB to Marc Leach, then K to the pitcher Mauro Gomez, inning over, 1-0 lead lives. A leadoff triple by Daniel Hall gave the Coons an extra run in the sixth, and Hall again scored in the eighth, 3-0, but the Coons left the bags full with one out. Dicks struck out and Gonzalez made a poor out as well. Gaston pitched a 2-inning save and even had a leadoff double in the top 9th, but was stranded there. Hall 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Herrera (PH) 1-1, RBI; White 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, WIN (2) and 1-1; Gaston 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SAVE (2) and 1-1, 2B;

We completed the sweep the next day, by jumping on Woody Roberts for four runs in the top 1st. With Vicente Ruíz pitching steadily, that was already enough. Ruíz went seven frames of 1-run ball, and we won 8-2. Green 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Walker 2-3, BB, RBI; Rigsby (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ruíz 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, WIN (7); this tied Ruíz in wins with Gaston for the team lead. A reliever and a guy who didn’t come on until May. That is *a bit* sad.

Raccoons (41-34) vs. Aces (42-34)

How come we have to play the CL South leaders again? We just played against the CL South leaders! :-P

Carlos Moran got another start and would then make way again for Logan Evans, who was solid in his rehab stint in AAA, but with ill command so far. This was to give Evans another rehab start and then put him back up for the next cycle through the rotation.

Moran pitched six scoreless innings. You may ask why we would demote him with a 2-1 record, 2.77 ERA and in line for the win after six with a 2-0 lead. Because he’s fake. He threw 123 pitches through six innings. 123 pitches of utmost wildness. Sooner or later, some team would find out how to hit him and then he would implode again. We’ve been there before, I know this would happen at one point.

The Coons were fake overall in the first game. They had three hits through seven while leading 2-0, but three walks total by Wally Gaston and Richard Cunningham blew the lead in the eighth. Cunningham also surrendered a home run to Mark Allen in the ninth and the Raccoons lost 3-2.

Kinji Kan was awful once more in game 2, walking five and giving away eight hits and four runs in 6.1 innings. The Raccoons managed to tie it at 2-2 early on, but the latter deficit at 4-2 was too much. Jesus Lopez shut down the Raccoons on four measly hits and the pen collapsed in the ninth. 7-2 Aces. Daniel Hall hit a double on his birthday. Happy 29th, Dannyboy. May I still call you Dannyboy?

The Coons scored first in the last game, two in the bottom 3rd. Actually, Steve Walker crossed the plate without the Coons ever landing a hit. He had drawn a leadoff walk and had then come around on grounders and scored on a wild pitch by Claudio Sanchez. The next walk by Sanchez also went to Walker in the bottom 4th. Then it filled the bases with one out. Enrique Sanchez came up, he was struggling a bit this month. But Claudio threw right into Enrique’s red zone and OH BOY, IT’S A SLAM!!! 6-1 Coons. Chris Powell went six and left then, up 6-2. Justin Neubauer created trouble by plunking pinch hitter Craig Knapp in the seventh. When Knapp went to steal second, Sanchez threw the ball past Walker – for the second time in that game! White still got out of the inning, but then collapsed in the eighth. Soto didn’t help, and Cunningham (not rested) was thrown in with the Coons up 6-3, bases loaded, and only one out. He got Tony Clark to fly out to shallow left, preventing Chris Lynch to score from third, and then Mark Allen grounded to Workman – threat and inning over. West pitched an uneasy, but scoreless ninth. 6-3 Raccoons. Thompson 2-4, 2B; Sanchez 1-2, BB, HR, 4 RBI;

In other news

June 14 – NO-HITTER!! Richmond’s Roger Weaver (7-5, 3.99 ERA) nails down the Capitals in order to complete the fifth no-hitter in ABL history, as the Rebels win 4-0. It is also the second no-hitter of the season, and the quickest no-hitters have been pitched after each other, at only 22 days. The Capitals were also no-hit by the Pacifics’ Bob Haines then, and are the first team to be no-hit twice in ABL. Everything that stands between Weaver and a perfect game is a 6th inning walk to Michinaga Yamada.
June 15 – NAS SP Alfredo Garza (5-3, 3.84 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 7-0 win of the Blue Sox.
June 20 – Condors SS Cipriano Ortega (.278, 1 HR, 27 RBI) has his hand spiked and sliced open in an on base collision and will be out for a few weeks.
June 21 – Buffaloes 2B Cordell Atkins (.255, 6 HR, 32 RBI) goes down to a strained hamstring and will miss about six weeks.
June 22 – Atlanta loses 2B Jeremiah Carrell (.361, 0 HR, 17 RBI) to hamstring tendinitis for at least three weeks.
June 25 – ATL SP Xavier Mayes (4-4, 4.30 ERA) 3-hits the Canadiens in a 5-0 shutout.
June 25 – Vancouver’s star shortstop Eddy Bailey (.276, 7 HR, 38 RBI) will miss a month with an oblique strain.

Complaints and stuff

Old Chris is a wise man – the best way to win a game? Never give up a run. That’s about the only way for him to win this season… he was 2-4 as of his shutout. They almost robbed him again the next time out, but he went 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA in the three starts in this update! Finally! FINALLY!!

I like Old Chris :-P

During the Titans series two interesting outfielders were on waivers. One was Chris Smith (the one who played half of last season for the Coons), but he batted only .241 this year. The other was Matthew Beck, who batted a bit more and who had occasionally hurt us. He was a Titan and the reasons behind him being waived were dubious. Anyway, in the end, I didn’t bite. German Serna was not hitting anything, but I had somebody at AAA.

Mark Dawson got hot during this streak, belting long ball after long ball. When he is like that, it’s hard to lose with this team, since I really have a bunch of good to high average hitters assembled around him. Dawson hit five dingers in a matter of five games with 22 AB (9 H, 1 2B). It was not really a huge surprise that he won CL Player of the Week honors for the week of June 17-23, going 10-27, “only” .370, but with 5 HR and 12 RBI.

I made the cut in the middle of the week-long home stand, since next comes the dense intra-division cluster of games around the All Star game. We will have four against Vancouver (can’t lose again!) and then eight with the Loggers and three with the Crusaders around the break. These are almost even more important, because we have slacked against the bottom half of our division so far. The Indians will come up for three at the end of that segment.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (42-36) vs. Canadiens (46-30)

I said this the last time we went up against the Canadiens: we can’t afford to lose. Then we were swept for three. This series will go four games.

Logan Evans was recalled from the rehab stint to go out first to avoid having to use Moran in this series. He took back his #3 spot in the rotation with Young bumped down to #5. A hitless game through three innings saw the Coons jump out with a 2-run shot by Green in the fourth, but Evans gave the two runs back instantly in the top 5th. Evans still went seven and left with a 3-2 lead that was instantly blown up by the pen then in the eighth. Jason White couldn’t get anybody out and was saddled with the loss, 4-3. Green 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; six hits total again for the Raccoons, and I can already smell where this series is going.

German Serna was designated for assignment and placed on waivers the same night. We called up Kelly Weber, our 1981 round 3 draft pick, who can play all positions in the outfield and is batting .294 in AAA. He is a lefty, not very quick, but with good eyes for the ball and the game.

The Coons continued to be limited to big balls if they wanted to score. Enrique Sanchez’ solo homer got them ahead in the bottom 2nd of game 2. That was all they managed on six hits in the first three innings. For the rest of the game they managed one more hit. So it was on Ruíz to axe down the Canadiens, which he did, but he only got through 6.2 innings before becoming tired and wild. The pen pieced the rest together successfully. 1-0 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, BB; Dawson 2-4; Sanchez 2-3, HR, RBI; Kelly Weber drew a walk in his first major league plate appearance in the bottom 8th, pinch hitting for Sanchez.

Seven runs in four innings – Charles Young pitched himself out of the major leagues in game 3. With no offensive production from apathetic Raccoons, this was an easy walkover for the Canadiens. The smothering continued with an overused pen and the Raccoons were downed, 13-2, their only offense a long one from Dawson. Hall 2-4;

House cleaning continues: Charles Young and Spencer Dicks were removed from the roster. Young was demoted to AAA, while Dicks was out of options and was waived and designated for assignment. His contract is up after the season and he won’t receive a new one, so I don’t bother whether he gets claimed. He just uses up space on the 40-man roster now. Mark Mitchell was called up to replace Dicks as backup starter, with highly touted prospect Odwin Garza moving up to replace Mitchell at AAA.

And then we called up Carlos Gonzalez, one month shy of his 22nd birthday. Now or never. He would have been a September call-up anyway. To ease Gonzalez, our 1980 first round pick (first overall actually) into things, he started the last game right away – that day would have been his scheduled start at AAA, and I didn’t want to sit him down for five days extra.

Gonzalez struck out 2B Melvin Greene as his first major league batter to start game 4. But the rest of the game did not go quite to plan. The Raccoons needed six full innings to break up Steve Murray’s no-hit bid with a home run by Matt Workman. By then, Gonzalez was 3-0 behind on just five baserunners, which included a home run by Greene, who took his revenge in the third inning. Gonzalez went eight and was then pinch hit for, 3-1 down. Dawson and Workman got on base to start the bottom 9th against impregnable Gerard Marquis and his 0.20 ERA. Rigsby pinch hit for Thompson, but Dawson was forced out on third on his grounder. Walker popped out, but a wild pitch advanced the runners. Sanchez came up and singled to right when the Raccoons were down to their last strike. Both runners scored and the game was tied up. The game went to extra innings, when Edgardo Gonzalez grounded out, and the next four innings were largely eventless, safe for our Richard Cunningham leaving with an injury after 2.1 strong innings. Grant West entered to do or die. He did it, although it took the Coons until the 14th. Sanchez drew a leadoff walk and advanced on a Gonzalez bunt and a wild pitch. Green lined into left to score him. 4-3 Raccoons, on only six hits! Green 2-6, BB, RBI; Workman 2-4, 2 BB, HR, RBI; C. Gonzalez 8.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K; West 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, WIN (2);

An oblique strain will put our MR Richard Cunningham on the shelf for at least two weeks. Carlos Moran was called up again to replace him in the pen. (Of course, Cunningham can not be adequately replaced)

A tie in this series is not a loss, but doesn’t get the Coons ahead at all. We will have to resort to hurting the next few teams to close the gap.

Raccoons (44-38) @ Loggers (39-43)

The Coons scored in the first, when Herrera scored on a groundout by Daniel Hall. That started a long drought. Kinji Kan pitched into the seventh, but surrendered a 2-out triple. Wally Gaston came in to face Marvin Mills, but he doubled over Hall’s head in left to score the tying run. Gaston left after a leadoff walk in the eighth, only for the rest of the bullpen to implode. Neubauer, Soto, and White gave away five runs. 6-1 Loggers, Raccoons had six hits.

This team ain’t going anywhere, and certainly not to the postseason. Spencer Dicks in turn went somewhere, the Buffaloes claimed him.

A slow grounder by CF Jose Aguilar got through Matt Workman to start the second game, and you know instantly that Christopher Powell was pitching. The Loggers tagged three on him in the first inning. Meanwhile, they had John Douglas in the game, whom the Raccoons usually beat soundly since he was highly erratic and they were good at drawing walks – not today. He was dialed in firmly and the Raccoons looked inept all throughout the lineup. Powell went six and left 5-0 down. After the early barrage he had not allowed a baserunner for four innings, but then Hokichi Endo took him deep for two in the sixth. The Raccoons didn’t make anything with seven hits and the lone walk given up by Douglas, who went the distance. 5-0 Loggers. Herrera 2-5;

Game 3. Logan Evans surrendered a grand slam in the second. The slammer was Judd Montgomery, the opposing pitcher. He later surrendered a 3-run shot to Alvin Sutphen. Three of the other five runs scored had reached on the six walks dished out by Evans and his crappy control. Montgomery walked the two leadoff men in the seventh, which came to cost him big, but ultimately the team was so harmless, it was embarrassing. 8-4 Loggers. Hall 2-5, 2B; Thompson 2-2, 2 BB; Sanchez 2-3, BB; Banda (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The Raccoons were now 378-379 in runs scored/against, indicating their awful play fairly well. Bad pitching, lame offense, and now the chance for the Loggers to sweep them over four.

The Raccoons led 1-0 after three with Walker singled in by Workman. They loaded the bases in the fourth with nobody out – and didn’t score. They added single runs in the sixth and seventh, while the Loggers were puzzled by Ruíz. The pen had trouble once Ruíz went out after seven scoreless. West loaded the bags in the ninth, before Marvin Mills (normally a Coonkiller) grounded into a perfect 6-4-3 double play. 3-0 Raccoons. Still humiliating.

Raccoons (45-41) @ Crusaders (34-52)

Ow, poor Crusaders, they are under .400 – these Coons are nice people, I’m sure they will hand them over a few W’s here before the All Star break. Plus, Hall, Dawson, and Sanchez all chose to become very tired just for this series and game 1, so we had to roll out a lineup with Banda-Herrera-Weber as outfield and .000 batter Mitchell behind the plate – this can not end well.

Staked to a 1-0 lead only in the sixth inning, Carlos Gonzalez had 2-hit the Crusaders through six. Then he walked the leadoff batter, the next singled past a slow Rigsby, and then Miguel Fuentes launched a 3-piece that gave Gonzalez his first major league loss. The Raccoons had nothing and lost 3-1.

Kinji Kan went only five innings the next day. He got 2-0 behind in the fifth, but the Raccoons tied it in the sixth and he came up with the bags full and two out. Herrera pinch hit and made a very poor popout. Cisco Banda walked to start the seventh, stole second and was driven in by Cam Green. 3-2 Coons. Bottom 7th. With one out White, Taylor, and Gaston walked the bases full, and the Crusaders went on to score four in the inning. 6-3 Crusaders. Banda 3-4, BB, 2 2B; Thompson 2-3, BB, RBI; E. Gonzalez 2-4;

The Furballs then took advantage (at the very least they took SOMETHING) of shoddy pitching and fielding in the last game. They led 4-0 in the fourth on only two hits. The rest were walks and throwing errors, but you take what you can get. They had the bases full there in the fourth with one out. Cam Green grounded into a double play. As soon as starter Dave Paul was out of the game, the Raccoons never threatened again. One run scored against Powell in the sixth and two were on with two out and Powell was fading in the seventh. Gilberto Soto came in and the runners scored. 4-3 Raccoons into the bottom 9th, where Grant West was in All Star form and saved the W for Old Chris. Dawson 2-4, BB; Sanchez 2-4, RBI;

In other news

June 28 – NO-HITTER!! Of all the pitchers out there it was New York’s Eric Edmonstone (3-6, 5.38 ERA) to no-hit the Indians in a 6-0 win. He allowed only one walk and struck out three. This comes on the heel of two other no-hitters in in 36 days. Edmonstone’s and Roger Weaver’s no-hitters are now most closely together, 14 days after each other. The Crusaders have a no-hitter for the first time in history, the Indians are no-hit for the second time.
June 29 – ATL SP Carlos Asquabal (9-6, 3.90 ERA) 3-hits the Aces in an 8-0 rout.
June 30 – The Scorpions will have to make do without 1B Pete Ross (.307, 1 HR, 22 RBI) for a while. The 27-yr old is down with a sprained wirst for a few weeks.
July 2 – Young Aces phenom Mark “Icon” Allen (.281, 8 HR, 45 RBI) hits for the CYCLE in a 12-5 bashing over the Bayhawks, going 4-5 with 3 RBI. This is the eighth cycle in ABL history, and the first since August 24, 1982. For the Continental League it is the first cycle in over five years.
July 2 – Rebels 1B Ramon Diaz (.342, 3 HR, 32 RBI) suffers torn ligaments in his thumb and will be on the shelf for most of July.
July 3 – The Stars acquire relief ace Ocatavio Morín (138 career SV with 3.17 ERA) from the Scorpions for versatile infielder Jose Delgado and outfield prospect Cisco Flores.
July 6 – Aces 2B Lowell Allen (.260, 0 HR, 31 RBI) is out for a month with a broken foot.

Complaints and stuff

Matt Workman signed a 2-yr, $235k contract, which is roughly his arbitration estimate. He would have been eligible for the first time this year. I tried for a longer contract, but two years were his max. I will stay on him for sure, since he may have the range of a hemiplegic badger, but he still bats enough to be second in average on the team and with power as well. And I don’t have nobody else.

Grant West and Daniel Hall were the only All Stars for the Coons this year. They really didn’t deserve any more nominations. They were just awful all around when compared to last season. The Canadiens had most in the CL with five, the Falcons had four. In the FL, the Gold Sox had seven All Stars, followed by the Pacifics, Stars, and Blue Sox with three each. The CL won 3-2 in 11 innings after blowing a 1-0 lead in the ninth. This year it was not West to blow the lead (but “Wacky” Booth), he pitched a scoreless fourth inning. Daniel Hall went the distance and was 1-4 with a walk. He drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th, but that lead was blown by Luis Nunez in the bottom 10th.

Alex White was ASG MVP. (eyes glow red)

The team won’t go anywhere this season. The pitching is too inconsistent and although the hitting is better than ever, they put in dead streaks like here where they don’t score at all. Going back to the Aces series, they scored 3.2 R/G in those two weeks. And that’s about what our 67-95 teams always scored. Against the Canadiens and Loggers they averaged 2.25 R/G. From June 12 to June 17 they scored four runs or more in five consecutive games. They have not put up four runs or more in back-to-back games in the three weeks since. The pitching and defense gave up more than 4.5 R/A the last two weeks. No wonder they are succumbing in the division. They were 2-5 last week and 5-9 the last two weeks. June was their first losing month of the season. They tumbled to 18th in the power rankings (which I don’t trust since I don’t know how they’re calculated at all).

It will be a tough month of October. Not because the Raccoons will play baseball in October, the regular season ends September 30. But we will have to make a lot of tough decision on whom to axe.

Next: home week against Loggers (4) and Indians, then road week in Atlanta and Charlotte. Should finally break our .500 record.

[Charlie Hough]

Originally Posted by Westheim

That's one imaginary Wally Gaston bobblehead figure for Charlie Hough and nothing for anybody else.

Victory! I like the bobblehead better than the raccoon cap anyway. Admittedly, I was too lazy to do the work required for the rest of the question or the others. Out of curiosity, I had checked to see if you had any players on your current roster that were there on opening day in 1977. Then you asked the question a few days later. Now that's timing!

On the bobblehead note, how long is it until one of the OOTP dynasty writers or one of the mods makers completely breaks from reality and has a bobblehead made for a Facegen player? Given the usual order minimums required for manufacturing, I don't think this could really happen. But I have no doubt that the desire is there.

[Westheim]

As we're talking about crazy members of this board already, my 1983 Portland Raccoons Continental League Champions T-shirt should arrive tomorrow.

Too bad I don't own a camera.

On Big Wally, a 3-minute search found some shop manufacturing single bobblehead figures from $180 upwards, so for the moment his player profile will have to make do.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (46-43) vs. Loggers (43-46)

Logan Evans started the first game after the break. He struck out nine, but also allowed three runs in seven innings and thanks to incompetence at the plate displayed by his teammates took the loss. The Raccoons were shut out on four hits. 4-0 Loggers.

The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning the next day. That was all they had to offer for Vicente Ruíz, who was rocked for five runs in the first four innings, and still went seven frames. Using up the pen with this anemic offense wasn’t going to help either. An error by 1B Jorge Flores almost would have gotten them back into the game, but down 5-3 and with two on Daniel Hall and Mark Dawson made poor outs. Soto and Moran were beaten in the top 9th, and the Raccoons put two on in the bottom 9th with nobody out, and nobody scored. 9-3 Loggers. Banda 3-4, 2B, RBI;

Nobody was doing any hitting anymore. Hall, Dawson, Workman, Green, the rest of the suckers. All cold. Anemic.

Carlos Gonzalez was shelled for four runs early on and the Raccoons trailed 4-2 in the bottom 6th, where Green, Hall, and Dawson all got on base to lead off the inning. Bases loaded, nobody out. Workman struck out. Thompson struck out. Sanchez rolled out to short. Sanchez then threw the ball away on a stealing attempt in the seventh, which led to two unearned runs against Jason White, who pitched his heart out in relief, unrewarded of course. Daniel Hall sunk a 2-bomb in the eighth. 6-4 Loggers. Hall 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

This loss tied us with the Loggers for third. Agony.

The second inning got the Raccoons 2-0 behind in the last game of the series. Matt Workman made an error that loaded the bases with nobody out and Kinji Kan was in no constitution to pitch through such a situation. He didn’t get anybody out in this game and didn’t K anybody until Hokichi Endo to end the sixth. Mark Dawson unloaded for three runs in the bottom 3rd to give the Furballs a lead, and Cam Green added a solo bang in the fifth, 4-2. Kan jammed in the eighth, badly. Wally Gaston was not totally effective, but limited the damage to one run, and West closed it for #23. 6-3 Raccoons. Dawson 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Sanchez 2-4; Walker 2-4, RBI;

Richard Cunningham came off the DL after this series. Gilberto Soto was demoted to AAA instead of Carlos Moran, since Soto had been whacked around constantly for two weeks now.

Raccoons (47-46) vs. Indians (49-43)

Christopher Powell got his kazillionth no-decision to start the Indians series. The Raccoons led 2-0 after two innings, but stopped there. Powell was beaten around by Esteban Hernandez with a triple and a double that both scored runs. Hernandez was on third with two down in the seventh and Thompson lost grip on a grounder to second – Hernandez scored and Powell was on the hook, 3-2 Indians. Banda doubled in a run in the bottom 7th to at least get Powell off. Jason White put the two leadoff men on in the ninth. Sanchez botched the throw on a double steal and with only one out Cunningham couldn’t keep them from scoring. Indians won, 5-3. Banda 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Thompson 2-4; Walker 2-3, BB; Daniel Hall went 0-4 and dipped below .300 …

Game 2 saw the Raccoons score only with big ones. Cisco Banda had a solo jack in the third, and Daniel Hall once connected in his slump for a 3-run shot in the fifth. Meanwhile Logan Evans mowed down the Indians relentlessly, and pitched a complete game in the 4-0 win. Evans faced the minimum 27 batters, but it was not a perfect game, since he allowed a walk to Guillermo Gonzalez, who was erased on a double play. He also did not pitch a no-hitter, which was broken up early by Jorge Ramirez, who also was erased on a double play. Evans still finished with a stunning 1-hitter. Banda 2-5, HR, RBI; Workman 2-3, BB; Evans 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-3;

It was Evans’ fifth career shutout, the first of the Indians, the first in 1984 (the last had come in September of 1983). He has never been this close to either a no-hitter or a perfect game with only two baserunners. His previous best had been five (with three hits and two walks), in 1981 against the Condors.

The Coons took the lead in the second inning of the rubber game. Dawson led off with his annual triple and was brought in on a grounder by Cam Green. Still up 1-0 in the bottom 5th, we had Sanchez and Gonzalez on with one out and the pitcher Ruíz to the plate. I felt daring and called a hit and run. Ruíz zinged through into right field and Sanchez scored. Gonzalez came in from third on a single by Cisco Banda. 3-0 Furballs. Meanwhile Ruíz was also pitching a great game. He averted disaster in the first with three singles that somehow got through the infielders, also survived a scary third, and struck out contact hitter and speedster Bill Taggart with runners on the corners to end the seventh. Ruíz was still shutting out the Indians through eight, but with an advanced pitch count. He got two out in the top 9th, but Dane Cubitt got on with a single. I came out to talk to Ruíz. He was tired but would have liked to continue. My call: stay in there. Even if Orlando Torres homered off him, we were still ahead and Grant West had only to collect one more out. Torres, on a 2-0 pitch, sent a huge arc of a flyball to deep right and Mark Dawson JUST GOT IT!! 3-0 Raccoons. Ruíz 9.0 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K and 2-3, RBI; that’s right, he was the only Coon with more than one hit, too.

Mark Dawson *does* in fact hit one triple every season all the way back to ’77. He felt very daring and speedy in ’78 and ’80 with three and in ’81 with two for 13 career triples. (The team leader was Cisco Banda with 31 just a nip ahead of Daniel Hall with 30; both first came up during the 1978 season)

This was also W #10 for Ruíz – the first Raccoon to get there this year (although Wally Gaston had had a flying start for sure). Not bad for someone who wasn’t on anybody’s radar and unemployed at the start of the season. The Coons starters had also pitched back-to-back shutouts for what I think is the first time ever. In his 245th career start, Ruíz pitched his first ever complete game!

Raccoons (49-47) @ Knights (51-44)

Whenever something can go wrong, it will, apparently. Only true for the Coons, of course. They led 2-1 in the bottom 2nd of the series opener, when Steve Wall reached on an error by Cam Green to lead off the inning. Two outs and a walk later, Carlos Gonzalez nailed and hurt the Knights’ new acquisition Mitsuzuka Ohara, then walked in a run. From there, it only became worse. Gonzalez took the 5-2 loss, while the Raccoons out-hit the Knights 10-7, but always found room and time to ground into a double play or strike out with the corners occupied and two down. The agony continued. Banda 3-5, RBI; Dawson 2-4; Workman 2-4; Hall was not hitting anything and dropped under .290 …

More humiliation in the next game. Kinji Kan was even more awful than Gonzalez the day before, with six runs against him. He left after 5.2 innings with the bases loaded and lefty Michael Root up. Burton Taylor came in and walked Root on four straight pitches. They had NOTHING against the Knights. 8-1 Knights. Hall 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI;

There was a roster change for game 3 and we had 13 pitchers on the roster for the last game in the series, but see below for more. Chris Powell went out and Cisco Banda hit a leadoff homer, but the Knights had four straight hits to start the game (one through Rigsby and one through Workman, for good measure) to get the Knights 2-1 ahead. A throwing error by Green plated another run in the second, but was I surprised? No. Upset? YOU BET I WAS!! Green actually made two errors in the game. Cisco Banda was hurt on a play in the third, and Powell surrendered six runs in six innings. 6-2 Knights. Sanchez 2-4;

In other news

July 15 – In a seemingly lop-sided trade, the Buffaloes unload SS Mitsuzuka Ohara, who’s only batting .215 this season, on the Knights for infielder Arturo Garcia (.287, 8 HR, 51 RBI). Ohara signed as international free agent prior to last season and has done nothing but disappointed so far.
July 16 – For the second year in a row, 36-yr old Chris Smith is dealt from the FL to the CL in July. The Scorpions send him to Vancouver for reliever Jesus Cortez and his 1.17 ERA in 30 appearances. Smith is batting .252 this season.
July 20 – Denver’s young ace Wilson Martinez (13-3, 2.24 ERA) is out for the season and maybe even the first part of next season with a torn rotator cuff.
July 22 – LAP CF Xiao-wei Li (.328, 3 HR, 36 RBI) will miss about a month with a sprained ankle.
July 22 – The Titans send slugger Ronaldo Cabrera (.286, 7 HR, 48 RBI) to Sioux Falls for veteran reliever Ben Edmonds, who has a 5.23 ERA this season, but is 2.96 ERA lifetime in 485 appearances with 76 saves.

Complaints and stuff

I will end this update in the middle of our week on the road, and with the Coons successfully tanking their record below .500, but this has reasons: we made some deals.

In the early morning hours before our third game in Atlanta, we struck a deal with the Canadiens: the Raccoons send OF Raúl Herrera (batting .217) to Vancouver for SP Kisho Saito (14-4, 2.98 ERA)!! BANG!!

I could have had Saito, 24, already two years ago, then by trading Carlos Gonzalez, who was then struggling in AA ball. I didn’t do it then, but now they accepted Herrera, who had dumped 80 points off his career average in Portland (as was common among imported outfielders). Herrera can do a ton better, but he’s been played out by Cisco Banda, who at least performs as badly as before. Herrera was brought on as threat on the bases, but didn’t even get there. The sad story of the centerfield hole in Portland continues.

Of course this was about 16 hours before Cisco Banda was injured in the third game against the Knights.

Saito is a genuine #2 starter in my eye, with very good performances on the mound, a nasty curve. His only downside was a tendency to give up home runs, but one certain pitcher in that category is firmly chained to my heart already.

But that was only the first deal, there was another one the next day. SP Kinji Kan was traded to Oklahoma City for C Sam Dadswell. The Thunder were eager to get the 1983 Pitcher of the Year, who became the 1984 Dork of the Year, while I was eager to get Dadswell, a good defensive catcher with (for a catcher) good offensive numbers. Enrique Sanchez was way out of whack this season and was made backup with this deal. Mark Mitchell was sent back to AAA. Dadswell had another plus: he batted left-handed, a feature not too common about ABL catchers and I had a slight shortage of lefties on the roster anyway.

The rest of the team … no offense. Zero. And bad pitching and fielding. And they will not finish over .500 this season, never. They are just too … they suck too hard…

Another roster move: Victor Castillo was called up from AAA. Primarily a shortstop, he can play other infield positions as well. Banda is not diagnosed as of the morning of the next game against the Falcons, and Steve Walker is needed as backup outfielder now. Castillo’s bat was nothing special, but he was stellar defensively.

[Westheim]

With all the trades, injuries, inabilities coming together the last few days, the Raccoons lineup was heavily revamped. With Cisco Banda down, Winston Thompson was slotted in as leadoff with Green, Hall, and Dawson behind him. The rest was pieced together with Workman, Dadswell (or Sanchez), Castillo (or Walker), and Weber.

It was a bad lineup.

Raccoons (49-50) @ Falcons (53-44)

Kisho Saito made his Raccoons debut in the first game of the Falcons series. He engaged in a duel with Billy Robinson, in which neither team had a hit before the fourth inning. The Raccoons squeezed in a run in the seventh to take a 1-0 lead before fizzling out with the bags full. Saito was removed for a pinch hitter and Gaston entered, but the lead was blown when Gilbert Dougan was able to steal his way from first to third without Dadswell posing a serious threat. Dougan then scored on a grounder. They got a new lead after an error by Charlotte’s catcher Carl Vickers in the eighth (getting Gaston in line for the win here). Cunningham and West were not dominant in the last two innings, but held the angry birds away. 2-1 Raccoons. Thompson 2-4, BB, 2B; Saito 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Wally Gaston had his eighth win of the season despite allowing a lead to blow (although most of the blame was placed on Sam Dadswell in his first game for Portland). Castillo went 1-3 with a walk in his Portland debut (he had previously dabbled in ABL for years with the Blue Sox). More important, Kelly Weber provided nothing at the plate and it was imperative to get a centerfielder on board before the deadline if Cisco Banda would be out for longer.

The next day, Logan Evans was set alight by the Falcons for six runs in four innings plus change. Juan Correa pitched for Charlotte – it was a bloodbath and the Coons were down 6-2 after five. But they rallied against a fading Correa in the sixth and seventh, supported by two critical errors made by the Falcons. Irwin Webster botched a potential double play that put two Coons in scoring position with nobody out and the Falcons leading 6-5 in the top 8th. Neubauer came up in the pitcher’s spot, but was replaced by Edgardo Gonzalez, who doubled up the left foul line, just past the glove of 3B Teo Colón (whom the Falcons had acquired that night). Suddenly, the Raccoons led the game. Daniel Hall drove in another run, 8-6. They scored three more in the ninth en route to a stunning 11-6 victory! Thompson 3-5, BB, RBI; Green 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 4-5, BB, 3 2B, 2 RBI; Workman 3-6, HR, RBI; Castillo 3-5, 2B, RBI; E. Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

In total, four runs were unearned in that win. Daniel Hall was denied a shot on four doubles in a game with an intentional walk in the ninth, he tied the Raccoons record with three, held by Matt Workman, Mark Dawson, Ben Cox, and now three times himself.

While we still smiled and wondered how we did that, we finally got news from the medical staff. Cisco Banda suffered a concussion when he tumbled into the wall in Atlanta. He is out for the season. His career is in limbo.

BAM!! That one certainly got everything back down to earth. Things had to continue however. Cisco Banda was placed on the 60-day DL, freeing up a spot on the 40-man roster. But I needed an outfielder who could play centerfield well and that only left two of the bunch at AAA, Matt Olson (taken in the draft a few years back) and Bill Stevens (brought over in the White/Banda trade this winter). Neither was hitting for a lot. Waiver wire and trading block did not heed any suitable centerfielders at all. We needed some time here. Jayson Bowling was called up quickly for a day or two, the rest will come.

Game 3 in the series was largely spent thinking about other stuff. The Falcons burned Ruíz for five runs before he ever got anybody out. The Raccoons lost, 7-2.

Raccoons (51-51) vs. Thunder (49-51)

Carlos Gonzalez was in to start this series, with me having had a bad dream the night before. A dream about a sweep by the team clad in black. The Coons wear brown.

Gonzalez continued to be shaky and allowed two runs through 6.1 innings. Burton Taylor came on with runners on the corners and one out and was lucky for a double play ball right into Workman’s glove (which is the only way Workman can even think about turning one). So far, the Raccoons had been zeroed, despite starter Ray Shaw leaving injured in the first inning. Dawson homered to left in the bottom 7th, his 15th this year. The Coons then got a runner when Thompson was hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a Scott Spivey error (handcuffed by a fast spinner on the ground by Daniel Hall) to tie the game. Dawson singled. Hall then was waved on when Dadswell singled up the middle although Francis Bell had a good arm. Hall scored one and a half zings ahead of Sandro Delgado’s tag. Now the Thunder collapsed. Sanchez pinch hit an RBI single with the bags loaded, and Steve Walker then emptied the bases with a 3-run double to center. 7-2 Furballs!! Dawson 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Castillo 2-4; Sanchez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Walker (PH) 1-2, 2B, 3 RBI;

Falling back into a scheme I have noticed for some years now, Chris Powell had a terrible start in the middle game, falling 2-0 behind in the first inning. Then he switched into ace mode and pitched six shutout innings of 3-hit ball. Too bad the Coons were struggling again. They got in one run after a leadoff double by Kelly Weber in the sixth. Weber again came up with two down and two on in the seventh. Removing him for a pinch hitter and then playing Steve Walker in center in a possibly tied game was not too appalling to me. Go bat, Pumpkin. Weber doubled a ball down the right foul line that JUST stayed fair and both runners scored. Powell was then removed for Edgardo Gonzalez, who grounded out, but Powell was now in line for the win. Cunningham and West cancelled out the Thunder – 4-2 Raccoons! Thompson 2-3, RBI; Weber 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI;

Daniel Hall hit #17 in the first inning to get the Coons 1-0 ahead in the third game. Saito allowed a run in the third, but the Coons got production from the bottom of the lineup, Dadswell-Castillo-Weber, for four runs in the fifth and sixth to lead 5-2 after six. The game derailed massively in the eighth. Saito put the leadoff batter on and was removed for Wally Gaston. A flyball to center was dropped by Weber and a line drive by Leonardo Costa brought in the runners. 5-4 Coons, runner on second, nobody out. Three more relievers were used to wobble through the inning, but the lead stood. Top 9th: Grant West made a bad pitch and Frederick Webb hit a leadoff double to left, then advanced to third on a groundout. West struck out Delgado, but could not get out Bruce Cannon, who walked. This brought up former Raccoon Troy Scott. And Grant West – STRUCK HIM OUT!! 5-4 Raccoons!! Thompson 2-4, 2B, RBI; E. Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Workman 2-4; Castillo 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Weber 2-4;

Told you I dreamt about a sweep. This won us the season series against Oklahoma (5-4) for the first time in four years and for only the second time ever. We also moved into the first division in the power rankings for the first time since June. (8th @ 97.6)

Raccoons (54-51) @ Condors (60-45)

The Condors’ Carlos Castro did not allow a hit into the fifth (which was instantly removed with a double play…), while Logan Evans continued to suck. Three runs scored in the first alone, two unearned, but on Evans’ error. He was less awful after the first inning, but it was enough, as the Coons were shut out, 4-0, on only three hits. Workman struck out with two on to end the game.

The Condors then lost both SP Norio Hayashi and 1B Wayne Baxter to injuries in the second game early on, but still managed to cream the Raccoons. Ruíz was shelled for five runs in 3.2 innings and yanked. Jason White gave away four more runs in the next two innings. It was a clear victory for the Condors (despite some casualties), 9-1 over harmless and inept Raccoons, who had four hits. Hall 3-3, BB;

Burton Taylor left in the eighth with a shoulder strain and is out for a few days.

Carlos Gonzalez hit the first batter he faced in game 3. That batter, Diego Rodriguez, advanced to third on an errant throw from Dadswell, then scored on the first actual hit the Condors had. Cam Green, who had been benched the last few days, hit a grand slam in the fourth inning, and with two outs (poor outs, they had actually filled the bags with no outs). They left the bases loaded in the sixth as well and hadn’t scored at all safe for an error by C Mark Leach, but then led 6-3. Big Wally came on in the eighth and had an awful outing. He plunked the first batter, the next reached on an infield single. They filled the bags on a walk. Cunningham came in and got out, but with two runs in, however Grant West came in to pitch a perfect ninth and the Coons salvaged at least one in the horrible series. 6-5 Coons. Green 3-5, HR, 5 RBI;

This was the first big league win for Carlos Gonzalez. He surrendered ten hits in 6.2 innings. He shows a great deal of potential in regard to high K totals, but so far is unable to keep guys off the bags. The Coons struck out 15 times in the final game, and 30 times in the series!

More great numbers: Grant West saved #27 this year, and dropped his ERA to 0.99 – he has not surrendered an earned run since May 20, more than two months ago, and has not blown a save since May 17, converting 17 straight chances (plus a two W’s and three no-decisions). Three of his four blown saves came via unearned runs.

Raccoons (55-53) vs. Titans (47-62)

This was the first series starting in August. The Coons were seven back from the Canadiens, who had slumped a bit as well recently. Four games in Portland against Boston to break the season completely? We had lost four of seven so far in ’84. The Loggers were next, and they had skinned the Coons a ton so far.

It did not get any better. Chris Powell surrendered home runs to Isto Grönholm (for three) and Carlos Hernandez in a 4-1 loss to start the series. He had no support either, and actually batted in the lone Coons run himself. They had five hits.

After this first game, the Portland Raccoons signed veteran outfielder Rodrigo Lucero to a minimum contract. Lucero was 33, from Mexico, and had appeared in 981 games for the Condors and Titans in his career. He was a .230 batter with no power. He was put on the active roster in place of Jayson Bowling and started game 2 in centerfield already.

Kisho Saito walked two in the first inning, then surrendered a 3-run home run to Isto Grönholm. Cameron Green was hit in the ankle with a pitch by Virgil Arnold and left with a bad bruise. Saito was awful, Cunningham was also awful in the last two innings, and the offense was awful all around. 7-0 Titans, with the Raccoons held to three hits.

Game 3. More awfulness. Logan Evans walked six and helped the Titans to score runs when they seemed like they couldn’t get it done alone. The Raccoons couldn’t do anything right. They had the tying run on second with one out in the bottom 9th and neither Sanchez nor Thompson could get him in. 3-2 Titans. Castillo 2-4, RBI;

Ruíz was awful in game 4, as was to be expected already. He was 3-0 down in the third inning, when he hit Ryan Dickerson – for the second time already in the game. Dickerson had enough and charged the mound, where they took swings at each other and the benches emptied. Both Dickerson and Ruíz were ejected.

Against harmless Coons, the Titans had no problem to thump them and sweep the 4-set. Moran had a bad outing in long relief, and Taylor was rolled up in the seventh. The Raccoons lost 6-2 on only five hits.

Isto Grönholm hit four home runs in the series. I hate him.

In other news

July 25 – Blockbuster trade between the Falcons and Aces: the latter send star infielder Teo Colón eastwards in exchange for ace closer Dave McCoy (28 SV this season) and 1B prospect Dave Payne. Colón is a speedy slugger with a huge glove, while McCoy leads the CL in saves!
July 27 – Atlanta’s postseason ambitions receive a serious blow as star infielder Jeremiah Carrell breaks his elbow, removing his .361 bat from the lineup. He will miss the rest of this and possibly even the start of next season. Carrell led the CL batting title race but with only 381 PA so far will not qualify.
July 28 – The Pacifics send OF Jeffery Utter (.301 in 176 AB’s) to Salem for SP Stan Campbell (4-9, 4.69 ERA).
July 29 – Charlotte’s Joe Ellis (10-7, 2.90 ERA) is out with bone spurs in his elbow. His season is over.
July 30 – DEN SP Fernando Vigil (11-3, 2.31 ERA) silences the Cyclones on three hits in a 6-0 win.
August 1 – SAC OF Larry Marshall (.278, 9 HR, 66 RBI) has his history of injuries continue. He is out with chronic back soreness until September.
August 2 – CHA SP Julio Rodriguez (7-3, 2.27 ERA) is out until next year with a torn rotator cuff.

Complaints and stuff

We are officially back to no fun here. They are awful. AWFUL.

AWFUL.

What an awful team. They were supposed to be winning. After all, they had not been changed that much from their 95-wins season. But the pitching, batting, and fielding all are considerably worse this season. They are not good for anything but to be sent to the mines. I would love to go into detail here about what is particularly wrong, but I’m almost sure there is a character limit on posts in this board.

We signed Vicente Ruíz to a 4-yr, $1.37M contract on July 28. The last year is a team option and only $1.05M are guaranteed. He is 29 and leads the team in wins despite only joining in May. Despite being blown up occasionally, he’s the most solid on the staff this season.

Raccoons hitting coach David Jones was fired on August 4, in the middle of the Titans series. The team was last in AVG, last in OBP, and generally anemic. He had been on board since last season and they hadn’t scored a lot then, but although they had a few more runs this season, this was due to some barrages early in the season, and by now they were just awful to watch. Diego Orozco was promoted from AAA, and the AA hitting coach to AAA.

Vicente Ruíz was suspended for seven games for his role in the Dickerson brawl.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Complaints and stuff

We are officially back to no fun here. They are awful. AWFUL.

AWFUL.

What an awful team.

Now there's the Raccoons we've come to know and love. I wondered where they went.

[Westheim]

I don't know, I kinda liked the '83 Raccoons as well. Portland - or how it will soon be renamed: Coon City - is actually in disbelief about the un-performance of the team compared to last year.

The agony continues(?)

Raccoons (55-57) vs. Loggers (51-61)

The Loggers were in their own slump, but nothing beats the anemic Raccoons, doesn’t it? Except maybe a hemiplegic badger, which has been mentioned before.

The Loggers batted through the lineup against Carlos Gonzalez in the first inning already, so game 1 was decided early on. 3-0 after the first. Even with Cameron Green on the bench, the team managed to make two errors in the middle innings (Walker, Sanchez the culprits), but those didn’t score runs today. Steve Walker also was Gary Simmons’ preferred target and was hit by a pitch TWICE. They left runners on the corners once and the bases loaded in the sixth en route to another shameful 5-1 loss. Two runs on Jason White in the ninth, another slacker to be sent to the mines soon. E. Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Workman 2-4, 2 2B; add to this an RBI single by Rodrigo Lucero (his first Coons hit) and you have all the offense already.

That was the fifth loss in a row for the team, four of which had been with three runs or more difference. So, these were not the 1982 Raccoons, who finished a bit below .500 because they lost all 1-run games. These 1984 Raccoons are genuinely bad. They are 55-58 and have 41 more runs against them, almost 4.5 per game total.

Quiz flash: who batted in the first (and lone) Coons run in Chris Powell’s last start? Chris Powell. You may guess where this is going. Christopher Powell surrendered a homer to 1B John Howard early and was 3-0 behind in the bottom 4th when he came to bat with two down. He singled through to left to score Sam Dadswell from second. Apart from that being generally sad, he also had a generally bad outing. He hit THREE batters. Still, he went six innings and left down 3-1, technically making this a quality start. QS has to be seriously redefined. The Coons brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom 9th, but Castillo struck out. 3-1 Loggers. Dadswell 2-4;

This was also the Raccoons’ 700th loss in ABL history, compared to 548 wins.

The Coons actually managed to take a 2-0 lead in the last game of the series, in the first inning with one out, covering the last two days’ offense combined. Of course, some goon managed to hit into an inning-ending double play. I won’t mention names. But it rhymes on “Bam Fatspell”. Kisho Saito pitched and coughed up one in the third, which remained the score for some time. Saito also was not the only one to watch in shock the chances the Coons left untaken through the middle innings. For the last two years the formula two-on-one-out with Hall/Dawson or Dawson/Workman coming up was almost a scoring guarantee. Now you were better off betting on a line drive double play. Or two K’s. Bam Fatspell doubled to lead off the bottom 7th and Steve Walker was walked intentionally. Two on, NOBODY out. Kelly Weber lined out hard, before Cam Green came up with a pinch hit 2-run triple. FINALLY SOME BLOODY SCORING!! I was certainly waiting for a bullpen implosion, but went with Cunningham, who pitched two clean innings. 5-1 Coons. E. Gonzalez 2-4, RBI; Green (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (56-59) @ Salem (51-64)

We had not played the Wolves since 1981. Back then they had swept us, and we were a grand total of 2-7 against them. The Wolves were in last place of their FL West, the Coons were trying hard to get below the .383 Crusaders, so this was for a reason dubbed the battle for being the most awful team in Oregon. There were also a few former Coons with the Wolves, most notably Ben Simon and Ralph Nixon.

SAL SP Carlos Lopez (1-4, 6.27 ERA) was the Chosen One to go against Oregon’s undisputed King of Walks, Logan Evans. Just when Daniel Hall socked a 3-piece to get the Coons up 4-0 in the second, Evans started to lose cohesion on the mound, two leadoff walks in the bottom 2nd, and they both scored. The Raccoons destroyed Lopez and led 10-4 after six. Should be enough, right? Oh, well. Moran came in and that’s where things unraveled. He let three on base, and Burton Taylor … two more. Cunningham came in with the Coons 10-6 up and the bases loaded. After a single he got two K’s and a flyout. West got a save here, maybe this was good news after all, he had taken on a little rust the last few weeks. 10-7 Raccoons. Thompson 3-5, BB, 2B; Hall 2-4, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Workman 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Dadswell 2-2, 3 BB; Lucero 2-5, RBI;

Logan Evans had been nowhere near solid, but it had been enough to get to 3-5 now. Vicente Ruíz would have come up next, but was still suspended and we went straight for Carlos Gonzalez. Luckily we had two off days in quick succession before and after this series so everything would work out with the rotation rather well. As far as rest was concerned at least.

The Wolves started Jose Torres in the middle game, who had surrendered 19 ER in 19.0 IP so far. Of course, he nailed the Coons down to a big fat zero. That guy, that guy … that guy with a forking NINE to star his ERA took a no-hitter into the eighth. Tells you about the Coons. Kelly Weber singled through to right with five outs to go. Torres now instantly imploded, and the Coons scored four in the inning. Carlos Gonzalez had carried his own 1-hitter so far, but had been removed for a pinch hitter here in the eighth. White pitched a clean eighth, but trouble brewed in the ninth. Taylor was ineffective and Wally Gaston surrendered a 2-run homer to 1B Jorge Padilla. Grant West closed the game for the last two outs. 4-2 Coons (also 4-2 hits). C. Gonzalez 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Game 3 was scoreless in the bottom 5th with Christopher Powell pitching. The Wolves had a man on second with two out, but Ben Simon up. A Coon for five years, I knew him well. He struck out in raw amounts, but Powell was nobody to be good in fooling people. Simon led the Wolves in homers. He was given a walk and Powell ended the inning with the next guy up. Hall was up with one out and runners on the corners in the top 6th. Carlos Reyes through a 1-2 pitch past Sam Murphy and Thompson came in to score on the wild pitch. Hall was then walked intentionally. Powell had 1-hit the Wolves so far, but loaded the bags in the sixth with two out and Thompson almost threw the ball to end the inning away, but Workman got it with a good stretch. Hall reached on an error with two out in the eighth and was driven in by Dawson, 2-0 Coons. Powell had pitched seven scoreless but was removed for Neubauer to face lefties, which went rather well. West was tired from the day before and Wally Gaston was sent out to collect the save. He gave up a hit, but overall struck out the side. GO WALLY!! Castillo 2-4; Powell 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K, W (7); Gaston 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (3);

We took (and swept!!) the Oregon Brawl for the first time!!

In other news

August 7 – IND SP Joe Brown (8-5, 2.57) 1-hits the Canadiens in a 7-0 win. Here’s to the CL North becoming a race again. Without furballs of course.
August 8 – OCT SP Hunter Frazier (10-8, 3.25 ERA) 1-hits the Knights, as the Thunder win 5-0.
August 13 – Milwaukee’s young phenom Judd Montgomery (9-7, 3.79 ERA) is out for the season with bone chips in his elbow. He was, at age 20, a hot candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Complaints and stuff

Can I actually afford benching Cam Green because of his 20-error defense? At times, he’s actually coming up clutch. In the first Wolves game, he allowed to score two with a throwing error three arms lengths past Matt Workman.

Davis Rigsby is unhappy with being a bench player. We can not always get what we want. I am unhappy with Davis Rigsby when he is in the starting lineup. He is clearly not the next Winston Thompson, who with the demise of Jayson Bowling to St. Petersburg now has a firm and solitary grip at second base.

By the way, Kisho Saito was 14-4 with a 2.98 ERA for the Canadiens and leads the CL in wins right now (competition for Big Wally can not be that bad after all). Since he will be super-2 arbitration eligible this year, I have pitched an offer to him. And he won't come cheap.

I have also offers out there to Cameron Green. Plus: to everyone's most favorite player on the team, which would keep that player in Portland like forever!

Next: 2-week home stand against the Buffaloes, Canadiens, Indians, and Aces.

[Westheim]

I know Orcin did this at one point with the Louisville Colonels, and I just checked and found the results interesting. And partly shocking, too.

Coons Maniac Quiz - Round 2

4) Who are the Top 5 players on the current (Aug 13, 1984) Portland Raccoons roster in cost effectiveness (VORP * min salary / player salary)?

5) Who are the Top 5 most popular Raccoons players with their fanbase?

Take a guess, please.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Westheim

4) Who are the Top 5 players on the current (Aug 13, 1984) Portland Raccoons roster in cost effectiveness (VORP * min salary / player salary)?

Kisho Saito 38.9; Cunningham 14.4; Dadswell 11.1; Hall 8.1; C. Gonzalez 7.6

Obviously VORP is a key piece to rank high here. Daniel Hall has the highest VORP (+43), but ranks behind three guys on minimum contracts. Similarly, Chris Powell, who has the second highest VORP and highest among qualifying pitchers (+24), does not appear in the Top 5 at all, because he has the highest contract on the team. Carlos Gonzalez is of course also on a minimum contract. Three of the Top 5 were not even on the Coons roster on Opening Day.

Originally Posted by Westheim

5) Who are the Top 5 most popular Raccoons players with their fanbase?

Green, Hall, Sanchez, C. Gonzalez, West

I am actually shocked by Cameron Green leading this list. He is a giant error sink, and bats .250 – I mean he is as far from the Hall of Fame as Uranus is from the Sun. He is basically Ed Sullivan, but can not play anything other than 3B at all. I know Daniel Hall is MY favorite! Gonzalez as pitching phenom has been on the list for years (on and off, but still), even when sucking in AA ball. I can’t come to terms with Enrique Sanchez there either. He is so damn awful this year…

Nobody even TALKS about Winston Thompson! That poor guy got 27 AB with the Gold Sox a few years back and BROKE OUT SO BIG last year, I mean NOBODY had him on the table to hit .260 or above! He is one of those guys that are easily overlooked, but I actually like him a lot.

And of course my deep burning devoted love for Christopher Powell is well documented.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (59-59) vs. Buffaloes (55-63)

Kisho Saito pitched six shutout innings of 3-hit ball, yet with ill command, to start the series. Daniel Hall’s 3-run homer got the Coons on a good path in the bottom 1st, and they extended to 5-0 in the third. Carlos Moran did a good job of finishing out the game for Saito, allowing only one more hit, and the Coons added an unearned run in the seventh for a nice 6-0 win. Castillo 2-4; Hall 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Saito 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (17); Moran 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

The Coons scored first in the middle game, but Logan Evans gave back two runs quickly and the team trailed 2-1 for most of the game. Evans left after seven, having given up 11 hits, while the Coons were puzzled by knuckleballer Johnny Brown. They took advantage of a balk in the bottom 7th that helped to score a run to tie the game, but after Hall walked with two on, Dawson flew out to Thomas Martin in left to end the inning. In the bottom 8th, they loaded the bases with three walks and one out. Steve Walker’s pinch hit infield single got the Coons ahead, and they scored one more on a wild pitch after that. Thompson was walked intentionally to get to Castillo, who struck out, but Hall worked another walk to force in a run. West closed it, 5-2 Raccoons! Dadswell 2-4; Walker (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 3. Both teams scored single runs in the second and then missed big chances to score in the next two innings to leave the game in a 1-1 tie. Especially the Buffaloes missed to kill Vicente Ruíz with the bags full and one out, when they towered two popouts to Thompson – only a few inches apart on the field. Ruíz was gone with two walks and two down in the seventh, but the latter walk had been to pitcher Wayne Smith. Cunningham whiffed A.J. Achber to end the threat. Top 9th. Jason White came in and walked his batter. Neubauer came in and walked his batter. Wally Gaston could not contain the fire – he walked two more between a popout and two K’s and the Buffaloes had a run. Matt Workman was stranded on second in the bottom 9th. 2-1 Buffaloes. Thompson 2-4;

Raccoons (61-60) vs. Canadiens (70-50)

Realistically judged, they didn’t have a chance against the Canadiens, who even without Kisho Saito had some awesome pitching assembled and a formidable lineup, too. The Canadiens had scored a few less runs than the Raccoons, but had conceded about 20% fewer runs themselves! And the Coons? They had very few things. And even less they could be proud of. The division was out of the window by now anyway.

The Coons scored in the bottom 1st of the opener, but then threw that lead away in the second, when nobody went after Shimpei Iwamoto’s looper into shallow right, which scored a run. Dadswell threw away a pickoff throw to score the go-ahead run for the Canadiens in the fourth. Hadn’t he be brought on for defense? Carlos Gonzalez then issued a score of walks and buried himself in runners and the Coons trailed 4-1 after five. In the bottom 6th, Hall got on base to lead off. Dawson singled to right and Hall went to three, where he collided with 3B John Harris. Hall was safe, but hurt and left, with Kelly Weber taking over in left. Workman walked to load the bags with nobody out – pretty good opportunity to score. Sam Dadswell hit into a triple play.

That’s where I blacked out. Box score said 5-3 Canadiens, with Kelly Weber hitting his first ever major league home run in the eighth. Couple that with the triple play and the fact that they had the winning run at the plate with one out in the ninth, and it was another one of these heart breaking games. Hall 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Weber 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

Daniel Hall was diagnosed with a sore groin. WHERE THE FORK DID HARRIS TAG HIM???

Hall was in any way unavailable for the rest of the series, safe maybe for pinch hitting. Powell had to start game 2 with an ostensibly weak lineup, since Dadswell was also benched (in disgust and/or blind rage) for Sanchez. Two bad plays by Thompson where grounders rolled right past him cost Powell an 1-0 lead in the second. Tetsu Osanai homered off Powell to tie it again in the fourth, 2-2. It went back and forth. Castillo led off with a single in the fifth and scored on a hit-and-run double by Workman. By the sixth, the Coons broke the game open with three more runs and a 7-2 lead. Powell went 7.1 and left with one out, SS Eddy Bailey on first, and vicious lefty Osanai up again. Neubauer was ineffective again. Two runners scored, including Powell’s, on a triple by Chris Smith. Yes, that Chris Smith. The top 9th started with an error by Steve Walker. Bad plays by Thompson and Lucero and an inefficient outing by West blew a 3-run lead and Powell’s W. Hall had a pinch hit leadoff single in the bottom 10th. With no pinch runner available and Hall assuring he could make 270 more feet, we called a hit and run, but Thompson missed and Hall was only safe because of a bad throw. He then advanced Hall to third with a grounder – where he was left to die. 9-7 Canadiens in 13 innings. The winning runs scored after a throwing error by Victor Castillo and a wild pitch by Carlos Moran.

Of course, it can not happen that Chris Powell gets a winning record, and they can’t let Grant West just be awesome, and god forbid they take a game from those obnoxious Canadiens. Lardholes.

Grant West surrendered runs for the first time in 90 days, and had his first BS in 93 days (20 straight converted chances in 25 outings). The latter would not have happened without Steve Walker’s error.

Kisho Saito was ripped apart by his former team mates. Eight runs in 2.2 innings. That’s not what he was brought in for. Burton Taylor was another huge bust and allowed the last two runs against Saito to score, plus one. It didn’t get any better. Wally Gaston was raped for four runs in what should have been long relief, but wasn’t very long. Forgettable un-contest. 15-0 Canadiens. The hemiplegic badgers had three hits. One by Winston Thompson. One by Wally Gaston. And one by Richard Cunningham.

My heart is crying. I hate those suckers. I love those suckers. I hate those suckers. At the moment I mostly hate those suckers.

Raul Herrera was 6-16 with a walk and five stolen bags in the series. Yes, that was the tradeoff for Kisho Saito. Leave me alone, I’ve got crying to do.

Raccoons (61-63) vs. Indians (67-57)

Daniel Hall was back in the lineup against the Indians and immediately let his presence be known with a 2-run home run (#20, tying his personal season best) in the bottom 1st for an early 2-0 lead. Offense stopped right there, at hitter number three. Meanwhile, Logan Evans had nothing what could be called a dominant outing. He pitched into the seventh and the Indians had runners in every inning, and multiple runners in every inning but two. Yet, they never scored. Cunningham came in to face Engjell Vulaj with two out and two on, but Vulaj singled up the middle. Jorge Ramirez tried to scored from second, but encountered Enrique Sanchez and the ball at the plate. Crash, and when the dust settled, Ramirez was called OUT!

As usual, things started to go VERY wrong for the Coons with an errant throw. That, and an abused pen. Edgardo Gonzalez threw away an easy grounder to lead off the eighth, getting Cunningham in trouble. He was with the exception of Taylor and West the only guy available, so he was the only righty. He walked two and a single got through between Thompson and Workman, before the Coons somehow got out of the inning, still leading 2-1. Colin Irwin had left the bases loaded. West had a 1-2-3 ninth, though (yet a Vulaj flyer came close to the wall in center, but was caught by Weber). 2-1 Coons.

Alex Miranda was pitching more horrible than he ever did when with the Coons in game 2 and worked hard at getting skinned on the mound by the mob. He plunked Hall in the first inning, then Castillo in the third. He also made a throwing error helping the Coons to two runs in the first and overcoming a first inning homer by Irwin, so opinions about him were still divided with the beer cup holders. Meanwhile Matt Workman was undoubtedly Cloon of the Day (notice what I did there). He came up with the bags full twice – and hit into three outs, no RBI’s. Interestingly, he singled to lead off the sixth. Punishments ain’t not severe enough ‘round here! At least the Raccoons pitching held up again, enabling them to drag the win to safety. 2-1 Coons. Dawson 2-4, RBI; Walker 2-3;

Game 3 was lost quickly with two runs for Indianapolis in the first. In total, Carlos Gonzalez was charged with six runs in less than five innings, continuing his awful ways. The offense did as well – there wasn’t any, except for a home run by Steve Walker and a late rally against a crumbling Indians pen, which Kelly Weber killed professionally with one timely double play. 6-4 Indians. Dadswell 3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Walker 3-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (63-64) vs. Aces (62-65)

Here are the two CL teams perhaps falling farthest away from expectations (along with the Thunder). The Aces missed “Missing”, the Raccoons missed “Hitting”, “Pitching”, “Fielding”, and “Winning”.

But even without Chris Lynch the Aces could field a dominant power-hitting lineup with four guys with double-digit homers. This spelled almost certain trouble with Chris Powell starting game 1. The first homer was by Victor Castillo, his first one for the Coons, but the next was by Tom Simmons and counted for three, and off Powell. I had seen it coming from miles away. The Aces had a total of ten hits against Powell in six frames, and that one that got away did him in. He trailed 3-1 when leaving, with the Furballs racking up a grand total of two hits. Their next hit was by Matt Workman to lead off the bottom 7th (don’t ever ask him to hit with runners on base…), a solo jack to right. That spark brought a few more hits and they got Powell off the hook with two outs in the inning, a single by Thompson up the middle. Cam Green then left two runners in scoring position with a flyout. Thompson made then an error in the ninth that plated the winning run with two down. I was feeling chest pain. Thompson came up in the bottom 9th against almost unhurtable closer Jon Butler on the mound, runners in scoring position and one out. He sent a slow grounder to short – the park fell silent, and while Sam Dadswell was out at second, the grounder was SO slow that Thompson was safe at first and Enrique Sanchez scored from third to tie the game again. Extra innings. The Raccoons had the leadoff batter on in EVERY inning from the 10th to the 12th. Never scored. Richard Cunningham had to lead off the 13th – AND SINGLED. And then was removed in a double play by Castillo.

Agony. The Aces jumped on Cunningham in his fourth inning. 6-4 Aces in the 14th. I HATE YOU ALL!!

Kisho Saito gave up five runs in the first inning of the next game. Just why? It seems like everybody joining this sucking team instantly starts sucking. Home runs by Dadswell and Workman briefly created the surreal illusion that the team could have a real chance to get back into the game. This was rubbish of course. They were awful apart from those two long ones and lost 7-3. Thompson 2-3, BB; Lucero 2-4;

The fans had to endure Logan Evans once more (with feeling?) on this home stand. Evans was staked to a 6-0 lead by his team mates in the first inning, who had torn up Travis Newton. But Evans – after a hairy second inning – turned in one of his best performance in recent times. He went into the eighth, which was highly necessary due to some tired arms in the pen. The offense cooled off quickly after the early barrage. Wally Gaston relieved Evans in the eighth and got the final out there. Then came the ninth, and horrible things were seen. Carlos Moran was … the word has been abused: awful. No, that’s not terrible enough. He left with one run in, one out, and the bases loaded. 7-2 Coons. Cunningham came in, tired himself. He struck out Mark Allen on a full count, then got a grounder from Jordan Archer to end the drama. 7-2 Coons. Hall 2-4; Workman 2-4, 2B; Walker 2-3, BB, RBI; Evans 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, WIN (5); Evans tied a personal best in K’s in a start.

In other news

August 18 – The regular season is over for Las Vegas’ CF Chris “Missing” Lynch (.266, 21 HR, 59 RBI) after he’s torn a meniscus. He will miss at least six weeks, leaving the home run title in the CL up for grabs.
August 20 – DEN 1B Francisco Lopez (.335, 24 HR, 109 RBI) has his run for the triple crown torpedoed by a torn hamstring and is out until late September.
August 21 – SAC INF Hector Atilano (.324, 15 HR, 79 RBI) is out for two weeks with a hyperextended elbow.

Complaints and stuff

Slowly sinking towards fifth place. Next: road trip to Atlanta and Boston, and the Crusaders, Loggers, and Titans (again) will come up after that. Those other carpet crawlers have done some horrible things to the Furballs already this year.

Kisho Saito signed a 3-yr, $960k contract which buys out three of his four arbitration years. Also, we signed Cameron Green to a 5-yr, $1.63M contract ($1.2M guaranteed). He’s the fans’ poster boy (completely beyond everything I can … even fathom to imagine to understand … it’s an affordable contract which makes him tradeable.

The main news were these however: Daniel Hall agreed with the Portland Raccoons to an 8-yr, $3.55M contract!! This will keep the darling leftfielder in Portland until his age 38 season! The contract is loaded with incentives and a no-trade clause (I have zero intention to trade him). Hall’s contract had been up after the 1985 season, and this should settle his case until possible retirement, keeping him a Coon for life!

ME IS EXCITED!

To be honest, I would have paid him even more, but he only asked for four years and about 450k/y to start negotiations and we quickly agreed on eight.

ME IS EXCITED!

All the recent signings shot fan interest into unknown heights, reaching 92/100 after the Hall signing during the Indy series.

Apart from that there is little reason for anything even remotely resembling excitement. Kisho Saito was 14-4, 2.98 ERA with the Canadiens. He’s 3-3, 4.50 ERA with the Furballs. Getting worse.

The batting is almost zero. Hall dropped below .290 for good. Dawson dropped below .230 for good. All the guys that hit .260 or .270 last year bat at least 10, but most at least 20 points less this season. It’s killing my motivation. Bringing in star players that suck the bottom out everybody’s patience, and even the established players can’t get anything done.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (64-66) @ Knights (69-60)

Vicente Ruíz took the ball first for the Coons. He made a very strong impression, zeroing in on the Knights into the sixth, while he batted in all the runs for his 2-0 lead. Cam Green chased him with an error. (sigh) With the bags full in the sixth, Cunningham came in to get the final out. The Knights threatened against him in the seventh, but didn’t score. Neither team got too far on the bases from there. 2-0 Coons! Hall 2-5; Ruíz 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, WIN (12) and 2-3, 2 RBI; both of Ruíz’ RBI’s came with two out.

It is a sign of trouble if the pitchers are more clutch at the plate than the position players. That’s why the Coons aren’t even .500 as opposed to .580 to .600 like last year.

The Knights entered our old Kevin Hatfield in game 2, who sported a 4.43 ERA, but was 7-3. There was no way he was going to lose this one. Carlos Gonzalez surrendered seven runs (six earned) while collecting three outs. He didn’t win it either, being pulled after giving up five walks and a 2-piece to Mark Dawson through 4.2 innings. The Raccoons chewed off a few runs (mostly with long balls, but they never hit one with guys on base), but fell short. 8-6 Knights. Thompson 2-3, 2 BB; Hall 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Green 2-4, 2B; Castillo 2-4, HR, RBI; Moran 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (15 perfect outs, unheralded);

Carlos Gonzalez (2-7, 4.93 ERA) had proven enough that he was not usable for anything after all. He was demoted to AAA, most ironically exactly after his last start before September 1 – the original call-up date for him, before injuries, other suckers, and whatever. Burton Taylor (5.79 ERA) was also demoted. Young and Ackerman came up (a long “yaaaayyy…” from everybody now).

Christopher Powell had five good innings with a 3-0 lead in game 3. Then things got away, and quickly so. The Knights tied it in the sixth and then tore the pen apart in the seventh. Tom McDonald hit two homers to drive in four alone. Ackerman gave up another 3-run home run to Michael Root in the eighth. 9-4 Knights.

Raccoons (65-68) @ Titans (65-69)

This should be the 4-game series to dump the suckers into fifth place, with the Loggers just a tad behind the Titans.

That the Raccoons would not win ANYTHING here was clear in the top 5th of game 1. They trailed 2-1 and had the bags full with two down. Matt Workman sent a fast grounder bound to rightfield – but it hit Dawson, who came from first and was unaware of the ball. Runner out, inning over. The game became tied in the top 6th on two successive wild pitches by Jose Garza, but don’t expect this team to bring in the remaining runner, now on third, with less than ten outs available. They were as dangerous as a dead snail and never were even close to scoring another run. The Titans finally scraped one together to walk off in the 11th, 3-2. Dadswell 2-4, BB, RBI; Weber 2-5;

Out-hitting the Titans 11-8 in the next game, they lost the game in the eighth on a pitching collapse. Logan Evans had been fine through seven, but then gave away two leadoff doubles in the eighth and the pen could not hold on to the remaining 3-2 lead with nobody out. Of course they also lost the game on crappy and clutchless batting. 4-3 Titans. Green 2-4, BB, RBI; Hall 2-4; Workman 2-4, RBI; Lucero 2-4;

At this point the frustration was boiling. (I was so annoyed on Wednesday here that I stopped playing in the middle of a series, and it has to have come VERY FAR for that to happen)

The next day was September 1. The Coons called up Todd Raines, David Jones, Jayson Bowling, and Fernando Perez, all already known from this and/or last season. None of them is expected to make an impact on a 29-man no-impact roster.

Game 3. The Titans made two errors in the top 3rd of a scoreless game. That was not enough for their opponents to score. With the bags full, Dawson rolled out harmlessly to third to end the inning. Vicente Ruíz held the Titans scoreless through five innings, then came up with the bags loaded and two out in the top 6th. Victor Castillo pinch hit – into 2B Wen Zhan’s glove. If not anything else, he showed great precision. Zhan then singled in the go-ahead run for the Titans in the bottom 7th after Neubauer and Ackerman had given away successive 2-out walks. The single was off Cunningham, but went right through non-defender Cameron Green. This was also the lone run in the game. 1-0 Titans. Raccoons had five hits, yet managed to leave runners at third three times. Dadswell 2-4;

Charles Young was beaten for three runs in the first inning to end the series. That was enough to lose it. The usual stuff, leaving the bases loaded, hitting into double plays. Green, Hall, and Dawson in particular played like they were dead in the 2-3-4 area. Plus centerfield of course. Young went 7.1 innings, leaving after a solo shot by Isto Grönholm. 4-2 Titans. Workman 2-4; Dadswell 2-4, 2B; Walker 2-4, RBI;

They have now lost 12 of 15 against the Titans this year. They had never lost more than 11 against the Titans ever. 11 of 18 of course. They were also fifth now (tied for fourth after their off day following this sweep) in the CL North, 14.5 games ahead of the Crusaders with a magic number of 12. Could get interesting again.

25 more games of general horribleness ahead. For this season.

Raccoons (65-72) vs. Crusaders (50-86)

The lineup was heavily reworked. Dawson was out of the cleanup spot. Hall was in (although he has driven in two in the last 12 games), the righty lineup was stuffed with left- and switch-handers, regardless of performance. The team will finish fifth anyway, it doesn’t matter. The only righties in there were Hall (triple crown on the team, plus only Fernando Perez plays leftfield and bats left, and in this case, Hall is exempt) and Dawson (no lefty to play right field). Green benched, Walker benched. How much of a fork did I give by now? Enough to play .120 hitting Jayson Bowling at third.

Since the Crusaders walked up Carlos Guillen, a lefty, in the first game of the series, the less dramatically revised lineup vs. LHP was rolled out first, with Hall batting cleanup, although so far it was unclear whom he should clean up after all.

Oh, how much I wished for Chris Powell to have a winning season once more. Problem was, he was 7-8 at this point. And he was on a team that had lost 13 of 17, and 11 of 32, and of course six in a row.

The Crusaders took the lead in the third on a scratch single just past Steve Walker. The Coons did not land a hit until the bottom 4th, by Green with one out. Workman singled as well and Hall walked to fill the bags, bringing up Mark Dawson. He lifted a 1-1 pitch to deep left. It kept travelling for the foul pole, but stayed fair. HOLY COW, A GRAND SLAM!!! The Coons added two in the sixth and Thompson homered in the seventh. Powell surrendered a long one in the eighth, then was removed with two down and a runner on second. David Jones’ first task after getting an undeserved call-up was to get rid of Ben Browning to end the inning. He kinda did, although 98% of credit went to Winston Thompson and his heroic catch of Browning’s double-bound liner. Jones’ ninth inning was even worse. Grant West came into the game with the tying run in the on-deck circle to strike out Peter Charles (who had homered off Powell) and to collect SV #34. 7-2 Coons! Thompson 2-4, RBI; Dawson 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Powell 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, WIN (8);

We rolled out a struggling Kisho Saito and our skewed lineup vs. RHP out for game 2. The three lefties leading off in the revised lineup totaled seven hits and helped a great deal to make him an 18-game winner, but Saito also was back to strong in this game with seven innings of 1-run ball (and that scored in the eighth, which Saito should not have started, I admit). The Coons won 5-1, and could have won much higher if not for Daniel Hall, who K’ed three times in the first four innings and left eight on base. Ouch. Thompson 3-3, 2 BB; Dadswell 2-4, BB; Workman 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, WIN (18);

Now if we could just get Logan Evans to “strong” status as well. But we couldn’t. Miguel Fuentes took him deep for two in the fourth and just when the Coons had scrambled back to tie it, he gave up a home run to opposing pitcher Mario Garcia to lead off the sixth. David Jones managed to give up three runs in the seventh and the Raccoons lost, 6-3. Dadswell 3-5, HR, 3B, 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-4, RBI;

Raccoons (67-73) @ Loggers (66-74)

This was the last series against the Loggers for this season. We were 6-9 behind and had not looked good in most games against them.

Ruíz took the ball first and started out very solid. The Coons scored three early, then shattered Loggers starter Fiorello Garafaio completely in the fourth, where they put up a 7-spot, crowned by a 3-run home run by Dawson. The team led 11-2 after six, 11-2 after seven, 11-2 into the bottom 9th.

You probably know what’s coming. Todd Raines, Jerry Ackerman, Richard Cunningham, and Grant West were skinned for ten runs, including a walk off grand slam by Hokichi Endo. 12-11 Loggers.

I have really had it.

Game 2. Charles Young let a 3-0 lead get away with doing his usual crap on the mound. Leadoff walk, ball in the dirt on a stealing attempt, wild pitch – in that order, and lots of it. 4-3 Loggers.

Game 3, Powell’s game. The hemiplegic badgers left the bases loaded in the first. Powell then hit the first two batters, which then scored on a dropped flyball by Kelly Weber. Powell was injured in the third and left the game, with no hits and two unearned runs against him. Edgardo Gonzalez put him off the hook with a solo shot in the fourth. Todd Raines lost the game in the sixth. 4-2 Loggers.

Raccoons (67-76) vs. Titans (73-71)

Saito sucked again, and the rest of the assembly of human failures managed to get into four double plays in the game and leave the bags loaded once. 5-1 Titans in that first game.

After that came the news that Christopher Powell was out for the season with an elbow injury.

This was so not great.

I closed my eyes and felt the emptiness in Coon City.

In other news

September 2 – Season over for 22-yr old Titans SS Barry Miller (.281, 2 HR, 35 RBI). The infield wizard is down with a ruptured finger tendon.
September 4 – An elbow sprain robs the Aces of feared slugger RF Tom Simmons (.332, 21 HR, 85 RBI) down the stretch.
September 4 – The Canadiens beat the Logger 1-0, with their starter Luciano Pizzonia tossing a 3-hitter in his first start after getting called up again! He pitched in the majors before, from 1980 to ’82 with the Stars.
September 6 – Harsh punishments are handed out by the ABL office after a ferocious fistfight between ATL Carlos Asquabal and OCT Guy King. Both are suspended for *15* games.

Complaints and stuff

It would be best to just walk away.

Maybe I should do just that.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

The team led 11-2 after six, 11-2 after seven, 11-2 into the bottom 9th.

You probably know what’s coming. Todd Raines, Jerry Ackerman, Richard Cunningham, and Grant West were skinned for ten runs, including a walk off grand slam by Hokichi Endo. 12-11 Loggers.

Ooh, ouch.

Originally Posted by Westheim

It would be best to just walk away.

Maybe I should do just that.

NOOOOOOO!

[Westheim]

For today I have rage-quit. (Of course it is a minute 'til midnight here, so...) Poor Chris Powell.

Eight of the runs in *that* game came with two down. Cunningham had an extremely atypical outing, walking three, in succession. West walked in a run before that grand slam.

In case you don't remember - Endo is the player I ridiculed the Loggers for having him bat cleanup last season.

[Westheim]

Chris Powell was placed on the 60-day DL for the first time in his career for his elbow soreness. He finishes the season 8-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 29 starts. Carlos Gonzalez, who had gone 2-0 in two starts (14.1 IP, 2 ER) in AAA since his demotion, was brought up as replacement.

The sole good implication of moving Powell to the 60-gay DL was an open spot on the 40-man roster. Catcher Andy Reed was called up from AAA for the first time in his career. He had been our round 7 pick in the 1981 Amateur draft. His profession was more batting than catching, to be honest, but he might serve well enough as right-handed bat off the bench in the last few weeks of the season. What other bad things can he do than help the others lose games?

Two games in the Titans series remained.

Game 2 had Logan Evans in. After a solo jack by Daniel Hall in the bottom 2nd for a 1-0 lead, Evans walked three in a 2-run third. The Raccoons bounced back from this instantly for a new 3-2 lead after three. Pitcher Virgil Arnold tied it up with an RBI double in the sixth. Evans had gotten two K’s in the first inning – and none after that, with ill control. Wally Gaston failed to retire a batter in the seventh and lost the game. 8-6 Titans.

In game 3, Titans C Brian Jackson hit an RBI triple for the go-ahead run in the top 2nd. It was Jackson’s first major league at bat. Vicente Ruíz was a kind man and always had an interest in helping kids achieve their goals, but couldn’t he take care for the Coons first? He couldn’t, but a 3-piece by Sam Dadswell made for a 3-2 lead after the third inning. We’ve been there before.

After the Furballs left the bases loaded in the fifth, they loaded them again in the sixth, with two down and Ruíz up. PH Steve Walker sent a single to short center to score a run, but that was it. After White had retired the Titans in order in the seventh, Andy Reed hit a pinch hit single (in place of Workman) in *his* first at bat in the majors, but he was left on in the inning. Grant West got an opportunity to shine, but was still shell-shocked from what everybody just called the Endo game. He still got through with a double play ball and strong defense from Winston Thompson. 4-2 Raccoons. Dadswell 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Reed (PH) 1-1; Dawson 2-4; Lucero (PH) 1-1; Walker (PH) 2-2, RBI;

In other news

September 13 – The Canadiens will have to enter the playoffs without SP Robbie Campbell (12-9, 3.36 ERA), who is out for the season with a torn triceps.

Complaints and stuff

Six pitchers and one batter currently show snow flakes on the roster screen. I feel more like there are 14 pitchers and 16 batters who are cold as death, but who am I to judge these lousy losers?

Since Daniel Hall signed his 8-year extension, fan interest has crashed by eight points.

Mine has crashed by about 80 …

Sad panda.

[Westheim]

For the first time I’m wearing my Raccoons 1983 Continental League Champions shirt (with #15 Daniel Hall on the back) while playing today. It’s 1984 and I could not feel less a champion.

This one went unnoticed (tears in my eyes, maybe) before: DAL 1B Gabriel Cruz has broken Don Sullivan’s single season home run record already a week ago. He has 32 dingers with 16 to play for the Stars.

Raccoons (68-78) vs. Falcons (74-72)

Charles Young against the Falcons’ Billy Robinson was a mismatch, no matter how bad Robinson was on a certain day. You could be sure Young was worse. And at first he seemed to deliver, starting the first game with a double and a hit batsman. Two popouts to Dadswell helped a great deal in survining the first inning. Mark Dawson’s solo shot made it 1-0 Coons in the second, after which Young and Robinson both were dialed in. Things went sour in the seventh with a leadoff double by Teo Colón, who came in to score on a 1-out single to tie the game, and then came up again in a rough eighth to drive in two. That was it, another pathetic loss, 3-1 Falcons, on four hits by the non-batting batters.

Game 2: Steve Walker, who played third instead of Green, left early with a sore back and this got Green right back in. A leadoff walk by Carlos Gonzalez (in Powell’s spot) became the first run in the fifth. The Coons did nothing. Dawson homered with the bases empty in the bottom 7th to tie the game, which was only the Coons’ second hit of the game. The score remained 1-1 into the bottom 9th, where Daniel Hall doubled to left to start the inning. Come on, boys! Bring him in! They made three poor outs (around an intentional walk to Sanchez) to prolong the misery. It was miserable, through 11 frames, both teams had five hits each. The Coons got another chance in the bottom 12th. Sanchez reached on an error to lead off, then advanced on a wild pitch by Dave Myers. An infield hit by Vic Castillo put the winning run 90 feet from home with nobody out. Davis Rigsby came off the bench to hit in the #9 spot and singled to right – WALK OFF!! 2-1 Coons. Castillo 2-5;

Walker was DTD for three days and Green took back third.

A 2-run homer by Antonio Esquivel got Kisho Saito behind in the fourth inning of the rubber game, but the Coons came right back, although mostly fueled by walks given away by erratic Du Tong. 2-2 after four, Workman homered in the fifth to make it 3-2. The Falcons put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the seventh, but Saito continued without giving up a run in the inning! He then put the leadoff batter on in the eighth and was removed for Wally Gaston, but Wally could not get anybody out by now. He gave up a home run to Irwin Webster. Game over. 5-3 Falcons. Workman 2-4, HR, RBI;

Raccoons (69-80) vs. Bayhawks (70-79)

The Coons did not get a hit until Matt Workman singled to start the fourth in game 1. Without two wild pitches the Furballs wouldn’t have gotten him in in that inning, either. This created a 1-1 tie which persisted past Logan Evans’ exit after 6.1 innings. Sam Dadswell got the Coons ahead with a 2-out solo shot in the eighth, only their fourth hit of the day. Matt Workman sent another one OUTTA here, and Daniel Hall went into deep rightfield, but RF Antonio Torres caught the ball – shortly, then dropped it, unable to set his feet after a stumble against the wall. Hall was given a double, but Dawson didn’t get him in. West pitched a good ninth with one hit for the Falcons. 3-1 Coons. Workman 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-4, 2B; the only other hit they had was Dadswell’s shot.

The heavily left-handed lineup against RHP was discontinued after this game. Gonzalez, Weber and our other left-handers (or switch-hitters) were just too awful, except for the 1-2-3 leadoff punch of Thompson, Dadswell, and Workman. Castillo and Lucero were in.

Daniel Hall came up with two on in the first inning and grounded to short for an out, but scored Thompson from first for the go-ahead run. Hall came up again with two on in the third, and this time NAILED the ball, OUTTA HERE!! So far, he had provided all the bash in a 4-0 lead, but Dawson and Green combined for another run in the third. Vicente Ruíz had been flawless that far, but the Bayhawks scored three runs on two long balls in the top 4th. Things melted away already, and when Hall came up again with two on in the fourth, he didn’t get anyone in. Still 5-3, but an error by Thompson in the top 5th was followed by two 1-out walks by Ruíz, who was then yanked. Neubauer had to face slugger Ricardo Gonzalez, who vaulted Neubauer’s first pitch to center for a sac fly. Jason White struck out Tom Taylor to end the misery. Todd Raines allowed a leadoff single in the seventh and there were two on and two out with Cunningham facing lefty Gonzalez again. Full count, swinging strike, everybody exhale. But to no avail. Rookie Charlie Williams homered off Cunningham in the eighth to tie the game. Coons fans hanged their heads already, but the team crawled back thanks to an error by star SS Claudio Rojas on a perfect double play grounder. Instead, Lucero and Sanchez were safe and moved over by Thompson. Dadswell brought them both in. West closed it, 7-5 Coons. Dadswell 2-5, 2 RBI; Workman 2-5; Hall 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Green 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Young faced Harvey Hardin in the last game, with people placing bets on the teams combining for 17 runs or more. Young accordingly fell 3-0 behind in the first. Hall came up with two on and launched an ENORMOUS home run to left to tie it with one out in the bottom 1st. Young went on to get four straight K’s and the game was still 3-3 in the bottom 4th with runners on the corners and one out. Although Cam Green was on third and not renowned for speed, we called a suicide squeeze with Young to bunt – but Green was thrown out by a hair. However: the inning was not over. Thompson walked and Castillo had an infield single, JUST safe at first, to get the Coons ahead. Castillo again came up with the bags full, but struck out, in the sixth, followed by a K to Workman to end the inning. Promptly, Young and David Jones were ravaged in the seventh, with Green making a costly error to escalate things, 5-4 SF. Bottom 9th. An error by SS Jose Diaz got Castillo on to lead off, then Workman had an infield single on a hit and run. Hall up, people rising to their feet, 2-1 pitch to him AND A DOUBLE INTO LEFT!! Unfortunately, Workman was a slow runner and held at third, but the game was tied. Dawson was walked intentionally, bases loaded, nobody out. And Cam Green struck out. Next, Lucero, who grounded to short, and Workman was thrown out at home. The bases remained loaded with two down for Dadswell. He jabbed at a breaking ball and rolled it along the left foul line. Daniel Hall sprinted past Tom Taylor, who in vain tried to tag him, and blazed across home plate to walk them off!!! 6-5 Coons. Castillo 3-5, RBI; Hall 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Green 2-4, 2B; Lucero 2-5; Dadswell 1-2, RBI; Wally Gaston got his ninth win in relief in this game!

This was their first sweep since dumping the Wolves five weeks ago. The sweep also put the Coons’ all-time record against the Bayhawks to 30-42, getting over .400 for the first time ever. That one had started out a sub-par 0-9 in 1977.

Daniel Hall was suddenly red hot and tied Wayne Baxter for the home run lead in the CL with 24.

This was the finale of the season, as far as the home crowd was concerned. The Coons would play their last ten games on the road.

Raccoons (72-80) @ Indians (83-69)

The series opener took place in awfully wet conditions. Carlos Gonzalez made a good start, but was limited to five innings by a rain delay. At that point the Coons led 5-0, scoring in four consecutive innings. The pen pieced together mostly strong innings en route to shut out Indianapolis. Daniel Hall left the bases loaded in the ninth, but had driven one in earlier, so no hard feelings in a 5-0 win. Thompson 2-5; Dadswell 2-5, HR, RBI; Workman 2-4; Green 2-4, RBI; C. Gonzalez 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, WIN (3);

Kisho Saito still had a chance to win 20, but had to convert both of his last two starts to get there. The Indians threw an all-righty lineup against him, plus Alex Miranda, who was always worth an educated guess as to his performance in his next start. Daniel Hall drove in two to help Saito’s cause in the third inning, and was only a few feet shy of a grand slam in that double to the right corner. Miranda did not pitch too well, but despite allowing 14 runners in seven innings, the Coons scored only one more run against him, and Winston Thompson had to mow down the catcher for that one. Saito pitched seven shutout innings of 3-hit ball before being lifted for a pinch hitter, Edgardo Gonzalez, who sacrificed for a run, 4-0. Wally pitched an uneasy eighth, then walked two in the ninth. Cunningham cleaned up for a save, 4-0 Coons! Thompson 2-4, BB; Dadswell 3-5, 2B; Workman 2-4, RBI; Hall 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Castillo 2-4; Saito 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, WIN (19); I don’t normally put up players that went 1-4, but Hall’s hit was a big one and he could become POTW.

Our 5-game streak was on the line with Jesse Carver taking the mound against Logan Evans. The Indians also faced elimination in the playoff race (which was not much of a race) in this game.

Carver tossed the ball four times, then was hurt and exited. That was the beginning of the end for the Indians. The Coons scored two in the first, Hall hit a solo jack in the third, and debutee Armando Rios walked in two in the fourth. Meanwhile, Logan Evans had a no-hitter intact through five innings – when the skies opened for the third straight day. A 1-hour delay foiled Evans’ bid for glory. The no-hitter held up into the eighth, when Esteban Hernandez homered off Rich Cunningham. The Coons would have been the first team with two no-hitters to their credit, but it wasn’t meant to be. They still completed the sweep with a 6-1 win! Dadswell 2-5, HR, RBI; Workman 2-4; Hall 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Lucero 2-4; Evans 5.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, WIN (6);

In other news

September 16 – LAP 2B Carl Foster (.300, 1 HR, 48 RBI) is the first player this season to bring a hitting streak to 20 games.
September 18 – Bad news for Tijuana: Ace SP Pedro Castro (16-11, 2.91 ERA) is out for the season with a biceps injury, and their long time infielder Ryan McNeal retires at age 28 because of a torn labrum. He had 481 career hits, with 21 HR and 181 RBI.
September 18 – Carl Foster is locked out by the Miners and his hitting streak ends at 21 games.
September 21 – TOP LF Thomas Martin sends a NAS CL Willis Sims pitch harmlessly to LF Brian Henry to end the game, 3-1 Blue Sox. With the Cyclones having lost 10-8 in Washington just minutes earlier, the Blue Sox team rushes the field to celebrate, since the win clinches the FL East for the second consecutive year. They will also be the only 1983 playoff team to repeat, the Stars, Raccoons, and Thunder already eliminated.
September 22 – Raccoons fans are slapped in the face as Raúl Herrera goes 6-6 in a 14-1 romp of his Canadiens over the Titans. He collected half singles, half doubles, and four RBI’s. It’s ABL’s first 6-hit game since a pair of those in August 1983, where the Canadiens and Titans found each other at the other end of the feat in different games. With the Indians’ loss to Portland, Vancouver’s magic number goes down to 1.
September 23 – The Canadiens win 4-1 in Boston and clinch the CL North, well over an hour ahead of the final curtain in Indy, which would have also clinched the division for them in case of a loss to the Titans. They make the playoffs for the second time in their history (of course they were the 1982 champs).

Complaints and stuff

That forkhole Raúl Herrera clinched Player of the Week honors over Daniel Hall’s 10-28, 3 HR, 11 RBI performance. Herrera hit .593. Forkhole.

Interesting (and weird) quirk about Danny: he bats right-handed and has a .287/.392/.511 line. Vs. RHP: .308/.405/.552 with 22 HR; Vs. LHP: .207/.348/.353 with 3 HR. Why!? How!?

Anyway, the Coons are now 7-2 while I am wearing my shirt. That thing’s gonna get dirty really quick… the team whooshed up 15 spots in the power rankings during their 6-game streak, gaining 25 points (19th to 4th).

Scout Nathan Bruce returned from what he called a field trip to Mexico (but I swear he packed speedos and a snorkel…). In his bag he had a 17-yr old Mexican corner infielder with a promising bat, Jorge Munoz. He was signed and assigned to the A level.

Last year, the Coons won four of the five season series against the division opponents, all but the Indians. This year, they have won ONLY the one against the Indians (with an option on the Crusaders in the final series of the season, 2 of 3 necessary).

All of our minor league teams finished with winning records, but none made the playoffs. Whom to watch? SP Scott Wade, who moved to AAA in September to go 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA!

Both the Gold Sox and Condors, who would be first-time playoff teams, are dying down the road: