Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Charlie Hough]

Alex White is a bum A .268 average and .328 slugging percentage from this guy? Plus he gets hurt during the season and leaves you short of outfielders. I'll give him credit for having one of the best eyes at the plate that you'll see in OOTP. And it looks like he's been hitting for you since coming off the DL. But he's lucky I'm not the GM, otherwise he'd be shipped out of town and denied the enjoyment of playing for a title contender.

[Westheim]

Rest assured that moving Alex White is an off season priority, unless he picks up the pace a bit now. He won the 1982 Federal League batting title for crying out loud. He's not even winning the 1983 Raccoons outfielders batting title ...

Problem is, he has a $5M+ contract through '89, because he was such a fail-safe pick. Who's gonna swallow that?

The Raccoons have a luxury problem, too, with the "wing" positions: 1B, 3B, LF, RF

They have five contributing players that can only play those four positions: Workman (1B), Green (3B), Hall (LF/RF), Dawson (all four), and White (LF/RF). White also plays center, but very badly... there's a squeeze play on here...

Yes, I list him as contributing, still, since he has a .380 OBP and is fine as leadoff man. He has never been a hitter to go into the gaps or stands, but I would have expected at least a .320 average from him.

This is the Ralph Nixon disaster all over again: drops his AVG big time, is hurt all the time, and costs a lotta money.

Well, I made a few really good trades the last winter, like inking Kinji Kan, and trading Sánz for Charles Young. Their pitching is compensating for White dropping his average by 90 points... at least a bit.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-49) vs. Titans (53-69)

The series started with a pitchers’ duel between our Charles Young and Luis Cruz. Both were rock solid and traded zeros until the sixth, when the Raccoons squeezed in a run on a single by Matt Workman, which dropped inches in front of RF Ryan Dickerson’s glove. That was it. 1-0 Raccoons. Smith 2-3, BB, 2B; Hall 2-4; Young 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K;

Kinji Kan led the majors in ERA (2.04) at this point. Young was not a qualifying pitcher, since he had started 1983 at AAA (since some bozo had signed Shayne Nealon…) and didn’t have the innings, but his 2.10 ERA would rank next in line.

Burton Taylor went on his rehab assignment to AAA. I plan to give him four or five outings there, then recall him.

Game 2 pitted Jerry Ackerman against a strong Virgil Arnold, who puzzled the Raccoons through the first five frames. Ackerman surrendered two in the third inning, but was otherwise solid. The Raccoons got to Arnold in the sixth and tied the score, 2-2. With the bags full, Winston Thompson lined into short left, but the liner was heroically caught by Matthew Beck for the third out – much the opposite of the Workman single the day before. The team brought Ackerman in line for the W with two more runs in the seventh (and Hall was thrown out by Beck at the plate) to make it 4-2, but Danny Latham hit a 2-run shot off Wally Gaston to tie the game again in the top 9th. Jason White surrendered three runs in the 10th, Raccoons lost, 7-4 Titans. A. White 2-4, BB; Workman 2-4, BB, RBI;

Poor offense continued into the last game as well. Powell was again the hard luck loser, as the Raccoons only managed five runs. 3-2 Titans. Dawson 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Sanchez 2-4, 2B;

Since the Canadiens also lost two of three to Indy, the gap remained at 7.5 games. Magic number: 32

Raccoons (73-51) @ Crusaders (58-66)

Two runs in the first were enough to start this series. Logan Evans pitched eight strong innings, and although the offense was cold throughout the lineup at the moment, it was enough to beat the Crusaders 4-1 in the opener. Thompson 2-3, BB; Dicks (PH) 1-1, 2B; Evans 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (13); West 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (35); Grant West now made a serious run for the saves title in the CL. The leader there? New York’s Rick Evans with 36.

Kinji Kan got a 2-0 lead in the first and retired Crusaders constantly. By going scoreless through four, he pushed his ERA to 1.99 and carried that through a scary fifth, with runners on second and third and only one out. Kan even helped himself with a 2-out RBI single in the sixth, 3-0, but had another scary inning in the seventh, with two in scoring position and two down. Alex White made an AWESOME catch of a line drive in deep right to keep the Crusaders off the board, then put the game away with a 3-run homer in the top 8th – apparently. But Carlos Moran was beaten for two in the bottom 8th. Jason White bailed out of there, and Kelley pitched a messy ninth. 6-2 Raccoons. Smith 4-5, 2B; Dawson 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Kan 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K and 1-3, RBI;

That was Carlos Moran’s last botched game. He was banished and we recalled Burton Taylor early. He had made only one outing, but a good one. He’ll be fine.

Kinji Kan in turned lowered his ERA to 1.96 with this outing. He’s chased by OCT Ralph Hoyles (2.09), and VAN Robbie Campbell is a distant third with 2.37 right now. Nobody in the Federal League is even below 2.50;

The Raccoons completed the sweep the next day with an equally awesome performance by Charles Young, who was in danger only once in the game. Daniel Hall’s first inning 2-run homer was already all the offense needed, but Dawson also homered later for #20 (although he was long dumped in the home run race by last year’s co-champ Chris Lynch). The Raccoons won 5-1. Smith 2-5; Dawson 2-5, HR, RBI; Dicks 2-5, 2B; Workman 2-5; Young 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K and 1-2, RBI; Young’s ERA now? 1.96!

The Canadiens took two against Boston and the gap grew to 8.5 games. Magic number: 28

Now for the true test.

Raccoons (76-51) vs. Thunder (74-52)

The Thunder had just been swept by the Aces to close their advantage to just 3.5 games – so they undoubtedly were pretty angry. Poor ‘Coons.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of skipping Jerry Ackerman, so Kinji Kan would pitch game 3 of the series, but then skipped the idea instead. After an off day on September 1 we will play 17 straight and I want everybody to be properly rested, which might be more important in the long run down the stretch.

Ackerman faced Hunter Frazier (6-14, 3.96 ERA), who was already the worst piece of the entire Thunder staff. The Raccoons burned him properly with one run in the first, then with five (albeit unearned) runs in the second. Ackerman cruised from there and easily logged the W, but the pen had problems again in the ninth. Burton Taylor allowed two unearned runs (Workman dropped a ball), but the Raccoons won 8-4. A. White 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Smith 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Hall 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Bowling 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Ackerman 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K and 2-3, RBI;

Not skipping Ackerman now meant that poor Chris Powell faced the next superstar, feared Ralph Hoyles (14-7, 2.09 ERA). Both were old veterans of the game at 34 and 36 years of age, respectively.

The evil Thunder also put up a lineup led off by seven lefties against Powell, who surrendered a home run to Leonardo Costa in the first inning. Powell bounced back with a game-tying RBI single in the second. An error by Jayson Bowling then created a precarious top 4th, where the Thunder filled the bags with two down – Powell struck out .338 batter Alfonso Aranda (the only righty in the #8 spot) to get out of there, but a leadoff triple by Marc Shaw in the top 6th did him in. Shaw scored and the Raccoons were 2-1 behind. They put the first two men on in the bottom 6th, but Thompson lined into a double play. Bowling was walked intentionally to get to Powell and I sent out Cam Green to pinch hit. He lined into left and the not-too-quick Matt Workman raced through the stop sign at third – AND SCORED!! Alex White flew out and Powell got a no-decision. Fletcher Kelley led off the top 7th by walking Hoyles – and was promptly removed to be shot outside in the parking lot. Hoyles came around to score and there was no more offense till the bottom 9th. Alex White grounded out to lead off, on a 3-0 count. One more to shoot. Then Smith and Hall reached on scratch singles. Is there life in Raccoonland? Seung-ook Yi (a bear of a closer) was hurt on the 2-1 pitch to Mark Dawson, a single under the glove of Aranda – but it ended there. Workman flew out, and Sanchez grounded out, and the Raccoons lost, 3-2. Smith 3-5; Hall 2-5, 2B; Sanchez 2-5;

Game 3 was also for the season series against Oklahoma City. We played without Alex White, because I can be pretty mad sometimes. The Raccoons still scored two in the first after a leadoff triple by Chris Smith. Evans gave one back in the second and we led 2-1 in the third, where Bowling and Workman executed a triple play! Alfonso Aranda shot a liner up the middle, Bowling made a sprawling catch and caught the runners way off the bags, stepped on second and zinged to first. Bottom 3rd. Mark Dawson hit a 3-run homer with nobody out and when Bowling came up, he found two on as well. What the heck, Jayson thought, I’ll just hit for three as well – and did. 8-1 Raccoons after three. But this was far from over. Matt Workman made a throwing error for two runs in the fourth, and two more crossed the plate in the fifth. Logan Evans was chased away in the sixth, where the Thunder scored two again on him, and then beat up Richard Cunningham too and led 9-8. The Thunder led off the seventh with a grounder between Cunningham’s legs, which he picked up, but then dropped – and now all dams broke. They crushed our pen for six runs in the inning.

As the Raccoons lay dying, it was over. Mark Dawson hit another 3-run homer in the bottom 8th, but hardly anybody witnessed it. The fans already were leaving. If that was what we were looking at in the League Championship series, then good night.

16-11 Thunder. One of the most amazing destructions of recent memory, they scored 15 straight runs in five innings, aided by three errors, which made seven runs unearned. Hall 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Dawson 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Workman 4-5; Sanchez 2-5, RBI;

I was pretty depressed after this series.

The Canadiens also dropped two, and the gap remained at 8.5 games. Magic number: 25

Raccoons (77-53) vs. Bayhawks (53-77)

Kinji Kan was not as sharp as recently in this game and the Bayhawks led 2-0 early. Bowling tied the game with a long single in the fourth and Kan himself brought in another run with a groundout. Mark Dawson upped to 5-2 with a 2-run shot in the fifth, #23. Kan left 5-3 ahead, and while a run scored against David Jones, the pen held on and the Raccoons won 6-4. Thompson 2-4; Sanchez 3-4, 2B; Green 3-4, 2B; Bowling 2-4, 2 RBI;

Game 2 was another shameful example of no offensive punch. The Raccoons were 5-hit by 6+ ERA and 15-game loser Harvey Hardin through eight innings. Charles Young had given up two in the first and took the 3-2 loss. He had had a pretty wild night, giving away six walks and fanning eight. Hall 4-5;

Jerry Ackerman was then rolled up for four runs in the first inning and then left with a sore hamstring. White and Jones pitched in long relief, and then Grant West was shot down in the ninth for four runs. 11-2 Bayhawks.

In other news

August 21 – LVA SP Antonio Lopez (15-10, 3.94 ERA) tosses a 2-hitter against the Atlanta Knights.
August 23 – Tijuana’s SP Jim Harrington is out for the season with a sore shoulder. He was in the race for most wins at 14-9, 3.55 ERA.
August 23 – The Indians beat the Loggers 3-0, as Jesse Carver (8-14, 2.90 ERA) tosses a 3-hitter.
August 26 – Scorpions slugger Hector Atilano (.336, 7 HR, 68 RBI) bangs his shoulder in an on base collision and is out for up to a month, possibly eliminating him from the batting title race in the Federal League.
August 27 – The Condors lose two more pitchers! SP Woody Roberts (12-9, 3.57 ERA) has torn his triceps and is out for the season. Also game over in ’83 for closer Domingo Rivera: a strained oblique puts him on the shelf for the season after posting a 1.70 ERA and 32 SV.
August 27 – The Knights surprisingly crash the Canadiens in a 20-9 clobbering. 1B Hector Roman is man of the day with six hits, including three doubles, for four RBI’s. It’s the second 6-hit game in the CL in 18 days, and the second in franchise history for the Bayhawks after Mike White in 1979.
August 27 – SFB SS Claudio Rojas (.331, 1 HR, 14 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak going.

Complaints and stuff

That was a horrible way there to end the month of August. The Canadiens took their series against the Falcons and came to 7.5 games back. Magic number: 23

The offense continues to fail. In that condition we don’t even have to think about facing the Thunder. We’d have no chance. Our pitching is probably equally strong, but they have a bunch of punchers that would win the series in no time.

The 4-1 over New York left Logan Evans with 13 wins, which was then only two off the CL lead. Who led the majors at that point? The Warriors’ David Castillo with 18. The name was come up exactly once before. He was included in the trade that brought on Spencer Dicks and Steve Walker prior to last season, and they specifically asked for him in addition to Ken Clark (who’s long been chased away there). He was collecting dust at my AA team and I sent him away in a heartbeat. The trades I do …

THE TRADES I DO …! (facepalm)

As we are already on Steve Walker… he would have been arbitration eligible this season and we made a move here to buy out his arbitration years and the first year of free agency with a 4-yr, $550k contract, which starts at a modest $100k next season, which was his estimate, but is rather cheap for a solid hitter with his great fielding capabilities – he plays six positions after all.

I still need to shave money somewhere.

The sweep over New York also meant two other things: for the first time the Raccoons took the season series against the Crusaders (then 10-5), and they also eclipsed last year’s W’s with that 76th win of the season – best season ever, but we’ve known that already for some time.

We were 17-11 in August. The latest crumble however is worrisome though…

Next is a series of 17 straight games: we’ll play three in Milwaukee and four in Vancouver(!!), then have a home week against the Indians and Loggers, and then briefly head to Tijuana for three.

Below is the already expanded roster. I added Carlos Moran to eat innings, plus Ivan Diaz as extra arm. Diaz was on the 1981 team, where he collected an ERA of 12+, and is only there to eat some more innings. He has no options and I don’t care whether somebody takes him. Should there be a shortage of arms beyond that, I’d call up Justin Neubauer again as extra lefty.

Extra position players were hard to come by. Fernando Perez and Brandon Roland, our two most often used extras during this season, were both injured and out for the season. We called up outfielder Gary Carter and 1B/3B Roy Rollins as extra bats. Rollins was placed on the 40-man roster for this, but he has some trade value after all, although he plays exactly those positions where I don’t need anybody necessarily. Furthermore, Steve Walker was activated from the DL after recovering from his broken hand (did you know that hospitals don’t carry cast in Raccoon brown? Not even in Portland?).

[Westheim]

Where are they now?

Before we delve into September baseball, here’s a look at a few unlucky fur balls, that have not made it this far, former Raccoons that were sorted out for whatever reason. Where are they now?

SS Greg Swift
Swift contended for the starting job at shortstop during the 1977-78 seasons, starting 237 games there. He often fought back problems, as well as pitchers. He batted .256 between the two seasons, with four home runs. The following winter, the Raccoons traded him to Pittsburgh in a 4-player deal – the other three are even less memorable, with OF Gustavo Zuniga being one to join the Raccoons. Swift has never had much luck in Pittsburgh, bouncing back and forth between the big league team and their AAA club in Akron. He was on the 1982 playoff roster of the Miners, going 2-10 in limited play time.

C Sam Moran
Backup catcher for the Raccoons in 1977, he batted a fabulous .123 in 65 AB. He never made it past Darryl Maloney, our primary catcher back then, and after being traded the following winter for Kieran Lawson, he never made the starting job in Los Angeles, either. He was claimed on waivers by the Scorpions in ’82, but soon ended up in their minor league system. He’s not played in the majors this season.

P Roman Ocasio
He first made the Raccoons’ major league team during the 1979 season, but never managed to impress there. He lost 20 games over parts of three season, before the Aces claimed him off waivers in 1981, where he posted a 5.60 ERA during the rest of the season. He was traded to the Condors for 1982, then claimed off waivers by the Stars when struck off the roster before the 1982 season, where he pitched in relief. When the 1983 season began, the Stars waived him and he was claimed by the Titans. His majors ERA is over 4, and he has 40% more walks than K’s.

INF Ken Clement
He was signed by the Raccoons as free agent and backup infielder for the 1980 season after three years in San Francisco, where he had never managed to become a starter. He batted a miserable .143 with the Raccoons, before being waived and claimed by the Wolves. Between those teams, he only had 125 AB in 1980. He became a free agent at seasons’ end, and was never signed by another team. He retired two years later at age 34.
Career stats (ML): 775 AB, 166 H, 2 HR, 89 RBI, .214/.301/.297, -15.9 VORP, -1.6 WAR

OF Johan Dolder
Perhaps the only Luxembourger in professional baseball (outside of, well, Luxembourg), he was with the Raccoons from 1977 to 1979. He batted a mere .203 and showed little other qualities. He was included in the 5-player deal that brought Pedro Hermundo and Jayson Bowling to Portland in exchange for him and Kevin Hatfield, who went to New York. With the Crusaders, he managed to get a grand total of 4 AB. He busted his knee in 1982 while playing in the minors and retired last winter at age 32.
Career stats (ML): 615 AB, 125 H, 4 HR, 41 RBI, .203/.270/.275, -30.0 VORP, -3.0 WAR

Weren’t they miserable? I wonder what I will have to say about guys like Daniel Hall, Ben Simon, Christopher Powell, Jorge Romero, Steve Walker, and Hoyt Cook in a few years’ time.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (78-55) @ Loggers (54-79)

Steve Walker, just returned from the DL, was nailed by a pitch from Stanton Coleman in the top 6th of the opener of the series, and it took some effort to keep him from ripping Coleman’s head right off. (Coleman’s a former Raccoon, of course) There, the Raccoons led 5-1, runners scored by Dawson and Workman, while Chris Powell had surrendered his usual home run. Then he surrendered a second one to September call-up Hokichi Endo and was removed. Grant West ended up giving another run in the 5-3 win – which was another worrisome development. Hall 2-4; Dawson 2-4, 2 RBI; Workman 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Roy Rollins fouled out in his first major league at-bat.

Logan Evans pitched a messy middle game, ending with two runners on in five of his six innings. He still left with a 3-1 lead, somehow. The Raccoons logged 13 hits in this game and added to the lead in the late innings, taking a convincing 7-1 win. A. White 4-4, 2 BB, 2B; Smith 3-6, 2B; Hall 1-2, 3 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Walker 2-5; Rollins (PH) 1-2;

Mark Dawson put the Raccoons ahead in the last game of the set with a solo shot in the second inning, getting him to 100 RBI. Off the top of my head, I can not remember a Raccoon driving in a hundred before him. Kinji Kan mowed down the Loggers, going 4.2 innings of no-hit ball and covered the first five innings with 40 pitches. He steamrolled through to the ninth, but there succumbed to a triple by Marvin Mills breaking up the shutout. Grant West ended the game, 3-2 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Dawson 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Kan 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 2-3;

That was a BIG sweep, especially since the Canadiens dropped their series in New York. Lead is at 9.5 games, magic number is 18 now!

Raccoons (81-55) @ Canadiens (71-64)

Bold statement: we tie this series, it’s close to over for the CL North.

It had to start with Charles Young, who let the first four Canadiens he faced all on base – a heroic play by Mark Dawson limited the damage to one run. Matt Workman tied it with a leadoff homer in the top 2nd. But Young’s control was way off in this game and Mark Dawson’s 2-run homer (#25) in the top 6th also only tied the game, 3-3, and Young left in the tied game. Alex White led off the seventh with grounding a 3-0 pitch to 2B Shawn Gilmore, who threw it away – which was all that saved White from getting tarred and feathered. He scored on a sac fly by Dawson, getting the Raccoons up 4-3, which they held on to. Jason White, Burton Taylor, Richard Cunningham, and Grant West all pitched scoreless innings in relief. Hall 3-3, 2 BB;

That was win #82 this season, the Raccoons had their first winning record in history. It had taken them only seven long and painful years.

Jerry Ackerman was skipped and the start taken by Carlos Moran in game 2, which would probably end badly, but Ackerman was still sore. But Moran (2-2, 5.40 ERA) went up against a guy (Vicente Ortiz, 1-3, 6.56 ERA) with an even worse collection of stats, so the game possibly could go either way.

Boy, did this game go one way rather than the other. Moran gave up five runs in 1.1 innings and was shredded to pieces immediately. The Raccoons lost 8-0, as Ortiz pitched a 4-hitter. I have hardly ever screamed that much during a game.

Christopher Powell pitched six innings of 2-hit ball in game 3, with a 3-0 lead, then suddenly collapsed with two homers in the seventh and the game was tied. Wally Gaston was rapped for two more in the eighth and the Raccoons lost, 5-3.

The Furballs again pieced single runs together for a 3-0 lead in the final game. Logan Evans was his usual self: wild. He managed to walk the bases full in the bottom 7th, with two down. ‘nuff seen. Cunningham came out to go after switch hitter Santiago Gonzalez, but the Canadiens countered with power lefty Tetsu Osanai, who launched a 3-1 pitch into deeeep center – Chris Smith picked it off the top of the fence. The pen then worked hard to blow up the 5-0 lead in the bottom 8th, but the Canadiens scored only three runs on Diaz (2) and Jason White. Grant West logged SV #40, 5-3 Raccoons. Smith 2-5, 3B; Walker 3-4; Bowling 2-4;

Series split, mission accomplished, although it surely was not pretty. We already clinched the season series against Vancouver, at 10-5. The lead of course remains at 9.5 games, but the magic number is now only 14, with 22 games left.

Raccoons (83-57) vs. Indians (70-70)

For the series opener, the Indians mounted a sole .255+ batter, infielder Gabe Taylor. They had stellar pitching, but their offense was poor beyond imagination. Something that to a certain degree still was true for the Raccoons.

They had sufficient punch in the first game, providing six runs to go with Kinji Kan’s 6-hit shutout, who nevertheless gave two triples to Esteban Hernandez (which tied a major league record). Raccoons won, 6-0. A. White 2-4, BB, RBI; Smith 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Hall 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-4, BB; Kan 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K and 2-2; Kan tied for the CL lead with his 16th win of the season.

That seemed to be all the offense for a 3-game series. They had nothing going in the next game. The lone Raccoons run scored on a wild pitch, and later a wild pitch by David Jones scored the winning run for the Indians, who took the middle game, 3-1.

The rubber game took place in really ugly weather. Jerry Ackerman’s performance was equally bad. The six innings he started, the leadoff batter got on base five times, and scored four times. That was too much for the Raccoons batters, who were puzzled, first by Billy Robinson, then by the awesome pen, and the team lost, 4-3. Green 2-5, HR, RBI; Hall 2-4; Dawson 1-2, 2 BB; Workman 2-4, RBI; J. White 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

The Canadiens swept the Loggers to creep to within 7.5 games of the Raccoons. Magic number: 13; next up for the Raccoons, those Loggers.

Raccoons (84-59) vs. Loggers (56-86)

Fortunes turned against the Raccoons with force in the second inning of the 4-set’s opener. Steve Walker left there with an undiagnosed injury after an awkward throw to second base, and next thing you know Chris Powell serves up a 2-run homer to Arnold Payton. Daniel Hall twice made poor outs with two down and the bags loaded, but he wasn’t the only one blacking out with runners on, Dawson and Bowling also left two on to end other innings. Powell looked like the hard luck loser ONCE AGAIN, as the Raccoons entered the bottom 9th trailing 4-2. All of a sudden it clicked. Hall, Dawson, Workman, and Sanchez all had hits to start the inning, tying up the score and putting two on with nobody out. But of course they stopped there. Alex White made an embarrassing out with the bags full and the game went into overtime. Stanton Coleman walked three in the bottom 11th, the Raccoons didn’t score. They lost 5-4 in the 13th inning.

That was one of those terrible, will-breaking games… Steve Walker had “only” suffered a sprained finger and was out for a week.

Logan Evans’ unhealthy wildness continued in game 2. But the Loggers’ Santiago Salazar left with an injury in the first inning and the pen collapsed spectacularly in the sixth, with the Raccoons pushing six runners over the plate for a 12-3 lead. Evans had been yanked already in the top 6th after a run-scoring wild pitch. Moran pitched three scoreless innings in relief, and the Raccoons won 13-3. Only one of their 17 hits was for extra bases. A. White 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5; Workman 3-5, RBI; Sanchez 4-5, RBI; Bowling 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; Moran 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

The Loggers scored first off Kinji Kan in game 3, but the Raccoons made four unearned runs on two errors in the bottom 3rd to lead 4-1. The Raccoons never scored an earned run in the entire game, and somehow still wound up winners, 5-3. Dicks 2-4, RBI; Thompson 2-4; Kinji Kan won #17 this season, and Grant West saved #41 – both CL bests. West shared his with ATL Jon Butler.

Charles Young had another messy first inning with three walks and a run across. He settled in after that and went seven frames, while the Raccoons had to go all out to even give him two runs, which they did in the bottom 7th. They only had five hits in the game, but strong appearances by Cunningham and West closed out the game, 2-1 Raccoons.

The Canadiens put up another sweep of the Crusaders, and are now 6.5 games behind. Magic number: 10 (with 15 to play)

Raccoons (87-60) @ Condors (75-71)

Mark Dawson and Daniel Hall were left out of the lineup for some rest, they were the only players who had been pushed down the latest stretch and had not had an off day. Everybody was going to have a day off after this series. Of course, this was seriously limiting the offensive capabilities of the team, with Ramón Borjón and Cameron Green on the field.

But whether they would have made any difference on the first game in Tijuana – questionable. Jerry Ackerman was taken deep three times in less than three innings, getting the ‘Coons 5-1 down. Moran was beaten for four, and Kelley for three more in the 12-6 blowout. Hard to say whether Hall and Dawson would have made a big difference, both pinch hit, but only Dawson had a single. A. White 2-5, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI; Workman 2-4, BB, RBI; Díaz 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The Raccoons then pulled off their first double steal of the season (on September 17) to start game 2. Walks to Alex White and Thompson put them in a good position. Hall promptly singled in White and after a walk to Dawson, Workman hit a 2-run double and Sanchez a 2-run triple. 5-0 Raccoons. That was more than enough for Christopher Powell, who pitched a 3-hitter as the Raccoons won 6-0. A. White 2-4, BB; Workman 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Powell 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Powell needed only 88 pitches for his 8th shutout, the first of this season. He had 3-hit the Condors once before, on August 30, 1981. It also ended an awful streak of six games in which he had surrendered at least one home run, including two in each of hit last three starts. Fittingly, this highlight was achieved in his 250th major league start. Three weeks until the playoffs and Chris Powell is BACK!

The same day, the Canadiens were smothered 15-1 by the Aces, which ended an 8-game winning streak.

The last game of the series saw a 3-spot put on the Condors’ Mike Moore in the second. Logan Evans was wild again and walked five in six innings, but held on to a 3-1 lead. Dawson homered (#26) in the seventh for an extra run and the Raccoons won 4-2. A. White 2-4, BB; Workman 2-4; Thompson 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 1 – Salem 2B Ralph Nixon, 37, is out with a strained hamstring, probably until the end of the month. Nixon is batting .306 with the Wolves – a mark never achieved in three years in Portland.
September 2 – Another one down, as the Condors lose their third starter in less than two weeks, as Carlos Castro (7-12, 3.67 ERA) succumbs to a sore shoulder and is out for 1983.
September 2 – San Francisco’s Claudio Rojas brings his hitting streak to 25 games.
September 4 – A rotten season continues for SAC OF Larry Marshall, who is out for two weeks with a knee sprain. Injuries have limited him to 243 AB this season.
September 7 – Claudio Rojas keeps hitting, hitting a single in the seventh against the Thunder to bring his streak to 30 games.
September 9 – Season over for CIN INF Jeremiah Carrell (.320, 1 HR, 38 RBI), who is out with a strained hamstring. Plagued by injuries, he only got 256 AB this season.
September 10 – SFB SP Jose Gonzalez (10-13, 3.58 ERA) is out for the season with a strained hamstring, suffered in a 2-0 win over the Aces. In the same game, Claudio Rojas hits a first inning single to extend his hitting streak to 32 games.
September 10 – Falcons ace Juan “Mauler” Correa (16-10, 2.90 ERA) tops the Condors with a 3-hit shutout. The Falcons win 3-0.
September 13 – The Bayhawks beat the Knights 4-0 on a 4-hitter by Harvey Hardin, and Rojas hits two singles to get the streak to 35 games.
September 16 – Topeka’s George Lynch (.313, 6 HR, 71 RBI) is out for the season with a concussion.
September 16 – SFW SP Randy Rakes (6-10, 5.04 ERA) 2-hits the Blue Sox in a 6-0 win.
September 16 – Claudio Rojas goes 3-3 in a 1-0 win over the Loggers before being removed in a double switch, and his hitting streak soars to 38 games.
September 18 – Rojas singles twice in a 5-4 loss to Milwaukee. The Bayhawks infielder has now a hitting streak of 40 games to his credit.
September 19 – The Bayhawks lose SP Harry Petzinger for a full year due to a damaged elbow ligament. Petzinger went 14-9 with a 3.60 ERA in his rookie season.
September 19 – SFW RF Rafael Lopez (.303, 8 HR, 83 RBI) is out for the season with a bad ankle sprain. His son raced into him with a scooter.
September 19 – Rojas’ streak reaches 41 games with a single in a 5-2 win against the Indians.

Complaints and stuff

Nathan Bruce, our head scout, discovered a 20-yr old player in Panama. Dani Perez is a middle infielder with somewhat questionable defense, but his hitting looks much more promising. He is somewhat of a very raw diamond and will take a couple of years to be transformed into a piece worth considering for the major leagues.

By the way, with Mark Dawson breaking the 100-RBI barrier – no Raccoon has ever done that before. He shattered Ben Simon’s mark of 94 back in 1979.

I tried to negotiate a contract for 1984 with outfielder Chris Smith, but his demands are outright outrageous. He wants 3 years and $1.6M, which I can’t squeeze into the budget. It would have been hard to get in $200k. So, Smith is bound to become a free agent. He may be compensation eligible.

Logan Evans and Kinji Kan share the CL lead for wins with 17. Both have two more starts and could tie or surpass the Raccoons record that Christopher Powell set to 18 last year. Grant West leads the CL in saves with 43 now. Mark Dawson is two behind Las Vegas’ Chris Lynch in home runs. Logan Evans has won his last ten decisions, he is unbeaten for 16 straight starts.

We lead the Canadiens by six games (including our off day, where they made up their game behind) and the magic number is 7 now. We have another home stint against the Aces, Crusaders, and Titans. Then we will have to face the Canadiens in Vancouver.

The playoff races lack any excitement… of course everybody's still waiting for that collapse...

[Westheim]

One word on the AI, which occassionally doesn't seem very smart to me.

This guy is batting cleanup for the Loggers. He's a September call-up. He's been three times. He's never cut it. The Loggers have a few punchers available (a few, really, not many, but a few). And they have THIS guy batting cleanup.

He hit a homer of Chris Powell, by the way. But big deal, who hasn't? Grandma Powell, who'll be 87 in November, could hit a homer off Chris Powell...

With her eyes closed, that is.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

The playoff races lack any excitement…

The fact that the Raccoons will be IN the playoffs is pretty exciting!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

The fact that the Raccoons will be IN the playoffs is pretty exciting!

We don't know that yet.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons are down to their final strike in the bottom 8th here. Dean Botts throws – BALL! Winston Thompson works a full count, and now takes a stroll around the box.

The Titans still lead six to four. The Canadiens are losing against the Indians, down by three in the bottom 9th, so this is a big moment here. If the Raccoons can pull this out here, they can take the division.

Thompson asks for time again. Steve Walker has singled in a run and is on first. The bases are loaded. The Raccoons are down by two.

Winston Thompson is stepping back in at the plate now. Dean Botts into his motion.

Contact, and the ball gets through on the right side! WORKMAN SCORES, AND SANCHEZ COMES TO THE PLATE!! Botts cuts off the throw, and Sanchez scores and WE ARE TIED!!

(Silence, except for the roaring fans)

The crowd is alive again here in Portland. And the Titans will make a pitching change here. We’ll be right back.

……..

Herrera on the mound, two and two to Spencer Dicks, pinch hitter for the pitcher. A swing, and it GOES INTO LEFT!! Walker is running, but Rivera throws to the plate, WALKER SLIDES, THE TAG, and he is … SAFE!!!!!

(crowd is going mad)

Steve Walker beats the mighty arm of Israel Rivera. Bottom of the 8th, and the Raccoons lead seven to six! The Canadiens are down to their final out in Vancouver. The Raccoons lead seven to six against Boston.

………

Grounder to third, Dawson has it and throws across the infield – Miller is OUT!!

(crazy crowd in the background)

Two down in the top of the ninth, and now Isto Grönholm comes to the plate. He has two home runs today, and they are not going to pitch to him. Dicks calls for the walk. And they will put Grönholm on with four quick tosses.

Ryan Dickerson comes up. He is one for three today. He swings at the first pitch! It goes into left center and drops just in front of Daniel Hall! And now we have a flare here, with two on and two out. The Raccoons need an out now!

…………..

The "Demon" takes a deep breath. One ball and no strikes to Hernandez. Pitch! A swing and launched into centerfield. There comes Chris Smith and he has it, and IT IS OVER!!!

The Canadiens have lost and the Raccoons squeeze through the Titans, seven to six, and IT IS OVER!!! THE RACCOONS GO TO THE POSTSEASON!!!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (89-61) vs. Aces (82-67)

The Raccoons lost the opener 1-0 on a solo homer by Teo Colón off Kinji Kan, who was thus denied his 18th win of the season. The offense didn’t do a lot and never chained hits together. Hall 2-4; Workman 3-4;

We led 3-0 after the first in the middle game, but Charles Young was torn up in the fourth and the pen could not contain the fire, the Aces scored six in the inning to lead 7-3. They did not recover from that blow and lost 7-5. Smith 3-5, 2 2B; Hall 2-3, BB, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Workman 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Steve Walker was back in the lineup starting with game 3. He drove in the go-ahead run for the Raccoons in the bottom 2nd. But the staff again threw it away, this time in the fifth. Ackerman’s control was awful. He loaded the bags and then walked in the tying run, and then the Aces got up 2-1. Jason White came in, but a wild pitch scored another run, before he struck out the pitcher Vicente Cruz. Some oomph from where we least expected it turned the game around, with a 2-run shot by Winston Thompson in the bottom 7th, and then Alex White added another one, 6-3 Raccoons. Díaz and West ended the game without any further scoring. Walker 2-4, 2B, RBI; Thompson, 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Jerry Ackerman was clearly not going to be in the postseason rotation. Although Young was blown up, too, it could have been due to the steady drizzle during game 2.

The Canadiens didn’t perform any better against the Condors. We are still 6.5 games ahead. The magic number is 4 now. I can smell it. This was also win #90 for the team, which is what I said was the minimum for the team before the season.

Raccoons (90-63) vs. Crusaders (68-84)

Powell again surrendered a home run in the first inning, for two runs to Miguel Fuentes. The Raccoons didn’t score for him, grounding into three double plays at the most inopportune moments. Hall 2-5, 2B; Thompson 2-2, BB; this dropped Powell to 10-12 and gave him a losing record for the first time since 1979;

Play of the team got more horrible by the minute now. Daniel Hall dropped a flyball in the first inning, which exploded the inning with a horrible Logan Evans on the mound. He walked seven in the two innings he pitched, and the Crusaders scored seven runs, five unearned, in those innings. It got only more horrible after that – not that the offense didn’t crawl back in today. The game was 8-6 for New York after the eighth, when the ‘Coons pen disintegrated for good with five runs in the ninth, including a grand slam by Miguel Fuentes. Juan Fuentes in turn set a Continental League record by walking five times in a single game. They lost 13-6, complete destruction by the hands of a team that was way below .500 and didn’t score a lot of runs. They drew 14 walks that day.

A 3-2 lead got away from Kinji Kan in the seventh, the Fuenteses were beating the crap out of our staff in this series. David Jones was defeated in the eighth with a triple by pinch hitter Sam Richmond and Cunningham couldn’t keep him from scoring. Raccoons lost again and were swept, 4-3.

Everything’s going down the drain.

The Canadiens lost two in Boston, which is everything that could still save the dying Raccoons. The gap is now at 5.5 games and the magic number is 2. We still have to survive our own Titans series now, which seems doubtful.

Raccoons (90-66) vs. Titans (66-90)

The misery continued. Young was beaten for five runs in six innings, again with awful control. He walked five. The Raccoons scrambled to get back into the game, but entered the bottom 8th trailing 6-3. There, they suddenly connected. Walker brought in a run. Thompson drove in the tying run, and Dicks drove in the go-ahead run, 7-6 Raccoons. With the Canadiens losing at home against the Indians, this was the chance to take it all despite dropping five of six. West even gave an intentional walk to Isto Grönholm, who had homered twice in the game, and still completed the save. Walker 2-3, BB, RBI; Thompson 2-4, 2 RBI; Dicks (PH) 1-1, RBI (the RBI that clinched the division, that is);

WE CLINCHED THE DIVISION!!!

With the division clinched with five games left, we had the possibility to rest our starters one more time, but we didn’t even need it. We had another off day after this series, and one after the Canadiens series before the League Championship series. I would not alter the rotation, either. Starting with Ackerman, everybody got one more start.

Ackerman walked six in his final start of the season, but still managed to leave in line for a W, 2-1, when replaced by Jason White in the top 7th. The two runs were courtesy of a Daniel Hall homer in the first inning, since then the Raccoons had been held off the bases almost completely. But it was enough, Gaston pitched the eighth, and the ninth ended like the day before, with a harmless flyer to Chris Smith, sent platewards by West. Hall 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Workman 2-4;

The ‘Coons stormed out of the gates in the final game of the series, scoring 11 runs in the first three innings off an overwhelmed Titans staff, aided by five consecutive walks drawn at one point. From there it was almost as easy as pie to complete the sweep. Chris Powell was strong, and while three runs scored against him, two were unearned after poor errors by Workman and Walker. Raccoons smashed the Titans, 14-3. Dawson 2-4, BB, 4 RBI; Workman 2-4, 2 RBI; Sanchez 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI; Walker 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI;

We finished 11-7 against the Titans this season, finally giving us a season series win against every Continental League team.

Since the Thunder were crumbling even more than the Raccoons at the moment, we were two games ahead of them going into the final series of the season, giving us a great chance to claim home field advantage for the League Championship series.

Raccoons (93-66) @ Canadiens (85-74)

We did however give Cameron Green a few games starting at third in this final, now meaningless series. Robbie Campbell slaughtered the ‘Coons through the first three plus innings, fanning no less than seven of the first 11 batters we sent up. He left with an injury in the fourth inning. Logan Evans had a hard time getting out batters in the first two innings and fell 2-0 behind, but once Campbell was gone, things improved considerably for the Raccoons at the plate and they scored five through the seventh, with Matt Workman bashing a 2-run homer. Evans went 6.2 and struck out five, getting his K’s over his walks for the season at the last minute (108-105). The Raccoons entered the bottom 9th leading 7-2, but Díaz and Jones walked the first three batters. Cunningham had to come out to put out the fire, one run scored on a flyout to Hall. 7-3 Raccoons. Hall 3-5, 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-5, RBI;

Congratulations went to Jayson Bowling, who successfully played himself out of the playoffs lineup in game 2 with a catastrophic error in the bottom 6th of game 2. The game had been scoreless so far, but two had gotten on off Kinji Kan at the start of the sixth. Bowling threw away a slow sure-hand double play grounder, and the bases were loaded. The Canadiens jumped on that chance and plated five unearned runs. That was all the scoring in the game, 5-0 Canadiens. The Raccoons were held to three hits by September call-up Raimundo Beato.

Congratulations also to iron man Matt Workman, who has started at first base in all the games this year and had his 700th AB in game 2 of this series. (He has 751 PA so far)

Charles Young started the final regular season game and went six with one run allowed. Mark Dawson provided offense with a 3-run home run in the fifth. The team scored in each of the last three innings as well, including a homer by Thompson for a 7-1 win. Carlos Moran struck out Gabriel Torres to end the regular season. Smith 2-4; Dawson 4-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Thompson 2-4, BB, HR, RBI;

In other news

September 22 – The Warriors beat the Buffaloes 5-2 in the only FL game of the day, which eliminates the latter from contention and clinches the division for the Blue Sox. They are the first to reach the playoffs this season, despite having the worst record among current division leaders. It is the first playoff appearance by the Nashville team.
September 23 – The Dallas Stars take a 5-2 win in Salem, claiming the FL West, and thus setting the FLCS between the Stars and the Blue Sox. The Stars make their first postseason appearance as well.
September 23 – SAC SP Parker Montgomery (7-9, 4.15 ERA) hurts his back in an off-field incident and is out for the season.
September 24 – Claudio Rojas continues to hit. The Bayhawks infielder brings his hitting streak to 45 games with a first inning single in a 5-3 win over the Falcons.
September 27 – It is over! The Tijuana Condors chill Claudio Rojas and end his hitting streak at a whopping 47 games!
September 28 – The Aces take an 8-4 loss in Atlanta, eliminating them from contention and setting the postseason field with the Thunder clinching the CL South for the third time. They are the only team not going to the postseason for the first time this season.
September 28 – The Falcons beat the Thunder 4-0 with William Williams (15-11, 3.08 ERA) pitching a 2-hitter.
October 1 – Gold Sox outfielder Tsuyoshi Ishikawa will miss the start of the 1984 season with a badly broken elbow. He went .261 with 15 dingers and 70 driven in for the Gold Sox in ’83.

Complaints and stuff

WE ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!! (screams at the top of his lungs, like a girl of course)

I was going to talk about the performances of players going into the playoffs in the next post anyway, but here’s one hot guy up front: Daniel Hall has – after a long mid-season slump – found back into his rhythm and has been named Continental League Player of the Month of September 1983. He slapped balls at a .347 pace with 1 HR and 17 RBI.

Grant West lost the saves crown on the last day of the season to Jon Butler, who got his 47th SV that day. Mark Dawson also fell one short of the home run crown, which was split again. Chris Lynch again got half of it, the other half taken by Tijuana’s Wayne Baxter, both with 28 dingers. The single season record of Don Sullivan of 31 homers remains unbroken, mainly because Dawson slumped forever after a rapid April-May barrage.

Two Raccoons pitchers still won categories: Logan Evans was one of three pitchers tying for the CL lead with 18 wins, the others being CHA Juan “Mauler” Correa and ATL Carlos Asquabal. Kinji Kan tied for fourth with 17. But Kan took the ERA crown by a HUGE margin. He finished with a 2.02 ERA for the season, besting all the majors by almost half a run. Logan Evans was 6th in the CL with a 2.92 ERA. Kan also tied Boston’s Ruben Lopez for most shutouts (3), and won the WHIP title, too, with a 1.02 WHIP mark. Chris Powell was 5th in that category with a 1.16 WHIP. Kan and Powell were 3rd and 4th and BB/9. The Raccoons had nobody even close to the truth in strikeouts, though.

No batters took top honors in the CL, but Daniel Hall ranked high on a couple of charts, with a .397 OBP (8th), .484 SLG (2nd), 39 doubles (t-6th), 7 triples (t-7th), 16 dingers (7th). Had he just stayed healthy! Work horse Workman was 2nd in hits with 203 behind TIJ Jim Wood.

One could state that the division was largely decided in head-to-head competition, where we took 12 of 18 from Vancouver. Drop three earlier and that last series would have been much different – and Jayson Bowling would have gotten the boot by now.

NEXT: PLAYOFF TIME!!!

[Westheim]

We had 26 players eligible for the playoff roster, since Steve Walker had still been on the DL on August 31. The thing I feared most was to run out of arms in the 11th inning of a tied game 7. So, I was not to reduce the number of pitchers. Instead, outfielder Jason Short was struck off the roster. He has hardly played at all after July, for his poor performance, and Ramón Borjón was equally suited to play backup outfield. Plus, we’ll have to live with Borjón for another year, while Short is a free agent and will vaporize after the playoffs, never to be seen again (in Portland at least, safe for appearing on the visitors’ team).

I would contest the series against Oklahoma City with a 4-man rotation, starting with Christopher Powell, and continuing with Logan Evans, Kinji Kan, and Charles Young.

Jerry Ackerman moves to the pen, joining lefties Burton Taylor and deadline acquisition David Jones. Also there: righties Wally Gaston, Richard Cunningham, Fletcher Kelley, and Jason White. And of course our closer, Grant West.

The lineup is largely set: RF A. White – CF Smith – LF Hall – 3B Dawson – 1B Workman – C Sanchez – SS Walker – 2B Thompson – P

Spencer Dicks might play, if we find ourselves ahead in the series for superior defensive qualities. Either catcher could bat ahead of Workman against lefty pitchers. Walker could bat second if Smith proves ineffective (he slumped in the last week). Bowling and Green (which added together gives Bowling Green, KY, apparently…) successfully played themselves out of the lineup in the last week of the regular season. Edgardo Gonzalez has hardly played since August and is another backup. Borjón – as mentioned – backs up the outfield, where of course both Dawson and Walker could be moved if necessary.

Now a look at Oklahoma.

As mentioned earlier during the last regular season series against them (which we lost, as well as the season series, 4-5), the Thunder have it all. This is an awesome team with little flaws. If any, their defense is a weak point, but you have to get the ball down on them first.

But there was a BIG plus for the Raccoons: they were all healthy, and the Thunder were not. They miss three position players in this series, including infielder Dave Browne (.275 batter with gap power), corner infielder Chris Scott (.289 with no power, but never strikes out), and outfielder Guy King (.279, 18 HR, 80 RBI), who fractured his finger four days ago and will miss the entired playoffs!

Also out, but on the roster and available perhaps as early as game 2: their closer Seung-ook Yi, who saved 39 games this season and strikes out more than 10 per nine innings.

So, their offense should miss a couple of pieces, and we need to capitalize on that to compensate for what I fear will be low scoring of our own. Anchored by Ralph Hoyles (16-10, 2.72 ERA), their rotation was renowned for their high kill rates throughout, and they had an even better bullpen, where no hurler had an ERA over 3.15!

It is understood that we can only win this, when every player adds 10% to his regular season performance. Logan Evans and Charles Young need to find their strike zone, and when Chris Powell gives up two homers again in each game, we’re as good as toast.

[Westheim]

We have homefield advantage due to our better record and the series will thus start in Portland.

CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (93-69)

Game 1 – Christopher Powell (11-12, 3.16 ERA) vs. Hunter Frazier (9-17, 3.95 ERA)

The Thunder did not have their ace, Ralph Hoyles available to start the series, and instead sent out their (as I perceived him) weakest piece. This was a must-win scenario for Powell. That the Thunder had problems filling their lineup was visible just by looking at their #1 batter: Troy Scott, former Raccoon, where he had not really made a name for himself with high AVG, OBP or anything else.

The game was scoreless through five. Powell was firmly in control, but the Raccoons had nothing going either. Dawson twice lined out hard with Hall on first to end innings. A leadoff double then got Powell behind in the sixth, 1-0 Thunder, when the runner came around to score. The Raccoons had nothing against Frazier, who got rid of them quickly and without danger to their lead. Powell went seven and left on the hook, when he was pinch hit for with Cam Green in the bottom 7th with a runner on third and two out. Green struck out.

Cunningham came in the ninth and also fell victim of a leadoff double, as the Thunder scored another another run, but it didn’t matter. The ‘Coons could not get their bats on the balls firmly enough, and lost the series opener, 2-0.

Game 2 – Logan Evans (18-5, 2.92 ERA) vs. Ralph Hoyles (16-10, 2.72 ERA)

There was Hoyles. Things didn’t look very good now.

Logan Evans again struggled with his control. He plunked Alfonso Aranda in the top 2nd to give the Thunder their first baserunner, but he didn’t score. Alex White dropped an easy flyer to lead off the third, but Evans worked around that one as well. As erratic as he was early on, he soon settled in and clicked off batters one by one.

As did Hoyles. The Raccoons didn’t see any land against him, and if they did get a runner on once in a while, they instantly grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Meanwhile, the attention shifted to something else: Logan Evans had a no-hitter intact through seven innings! While a few had gotten on with all the mishaps, all had been stranded at third, and they had not hit against him so far. Problem was, Hoyles also was great and the game was scoreless.

Chris Smith led off the bottom 7th with a double to left, the first runner to reach second for the Furballs in this game. Hall got the thumb to go to first to face the (in the last month) weaker Mark Dawson. He singled up the middle to load the bases and now things got interesting with slugger Matt Workman up. Hoyles (a righty, so no match to lefty Workman) remained in and pitched to Workman – who dipped a single to short center, and two runs scored. They scored another run on a groundout to take a 3-0 lead.

Frederick Webb broke up the no-hitter with five outs to go, with an infield hit that nobody got to. Webb, one of those scraps only on the roster because of injuries, got around to score, but the Raccoons rebounded with a run in the bottom of the inning, grounded in by Dawson.

Logan Evans was allowed to go after a complete game, but Aranda doubled with two down and the experiment was ended instantly. Grant West came in to strike out Dave Peterson and end the game. 4-1 Raccoons, and the series is tied heading to Oklahoma. Smith 2-4, 2B, 3B; Hall 1-2, 2 BB (both intentional); Sanchez 2-3; Evans 8.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

[Westheim]

CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (93-69)

Game 3 – Kinji Kan (17-11, 2.02 ERA) vs. Dragoljub Djukic (9-4, 3.79 ERA)

Djukic had missed considerable portions of the season due to arm and elbow issues, but at age 24 he was a strong pitcher, who struck out a lot of batters and also was the 1981 CL Rookie of the Year.

Alex White socked a leadoff home run to get the Raccoons up 1-0, but after loading the bags with nobody out they failed to score. This promptly came back at them when Troy Scott (that fool…) ALSO hit a leadoff homer off Kinji Kan.

Neither team put up a serious threat in the next four innings in the 1-1 game. Mark Dawson belted a solo home run to lead off the sixth inning, getting the Raccoons 2-1 ahead again.

Kinji Kan left in the seventh, having covered 6.1 innings with 103 pitches and was done. David Jones could not get out Troy Scott (who had NEVER played that well in Portland!!), but Jason White got a grounder to end the inning with a double play, but then surrendered a double to Jose Gonzales in the eighth. Burton Taylor came in to face lefties, but threw a wild pitch that advanced Gonzales to third. The runner scored on the following flyout and the game was tied.

Both teams were surrendered in order in the ninth to get the game to extra innings. There emerged Seung-ook Yi, the feared closer of the Thunder. The Raccoons were surrendered quickly again, while Wally Gaston put runners on the corners with two out in the bottom 10th. Grant West came in to face lefty Marc Shaw, who drew a walk and brought up the catcher Sam Dadswell with the bags full. West struck him out.

The Thunder again got a runner to third in the 11th, but West wrestled through there. The Thunder now removed Yi for possible future use while the series was still in Oklahoma, and Alex White reached second on a throwing error to lead off the top 12th, but the Raccoons didn’t get him around.

West was removed for Ackerman in the bottom 12th. This was the role for him: cover those extra inning marathons, especially with no team getting anything done.

Turned out, the Raccoons couldn’t get anything done for longer. They were entirely harmless, and Ackerman was overwhelmed in the bottom 15th. Marc Shaw homered to right for two, it was over. Thunder win, 4-2. Smith 3-7;

Oklahoma can now still finish this at home.

Game 4 – Charles Young (7-5, 2.64 ERA) vs. Ray Shaw (11-9, 3.18 ERA)

We put in Spencer Dicks to catch the knuckleballer Young (and since Enrique Sanchez had not set the plate on fire so far) and also Jayson Bowling at second, where Winston Thompson was hitless after two and a half games. We had not seen much from Ray Shaw so far, but he seemed to be an above-average guy throughout. There was also no question we had to take this game.

Mark Dawson drove in Alex White in the first inning for an early 1-0 lead. Spencer Dicks’ solo shot in the second made it 2-0. But Young was crashed in the fourth inning, with a leadoff jack to Jose Gonzales and they kept reeling off hits and scored three in the inning.

Mark Dawson returned the favor in the fifth with a 2-run homer off Shaw. That made it 4-3 Raccoons again.

Young was removed for Thompson to pinch hit in the top 6th with a runner on third and two out, but Thompson grounded out. In the bottom of the inning we burned through three relievers trying to keep Oklahoma from scoring. They had runners on the corners with two down, when Scott Spivey tried to steal second, but was nailed by Dicks.

4-3 was too close a score for Dawson’s taste – he socked another home run to drive in Daniel Hall and make it 6-3. Both his homers had come with two out in this game, and now the bullpen of the home team was crumbling. The Raccoons scored four in the top 8th, including a 3-run clubber by Hall, to lead 10-3.

Wally Gaston pitched two wild innings to get the game home, and the Raccoons won 10-4 to tie the series. A. White 2-5, BB, 2B; Hall 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Dawson 4-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Walker 2-5; Bowling 2-5;

Game 5 – Christopher Powell vs. Hunter Frazier

Sanchez was catching again, but Bowling remained in, because Thompson had not contributed any so far.

Both pitchers started dialed in well and it looked like another scoreless slough here, but Powell led off the top 3rd with a double to deep right center and was driven in by Chris Smith, 1-0 Raccoons.

Powell was not flawless, though. Alfonso Aranda drove a ball to right that Alex White barely managed to scrape off the top of the wall. Still, the lead remained unscathed through four.

The Raccoons again came to bat in the fifth. Powell struck out to lead off, but White and Smith got on base and were driven in by Daniel Hall with a MONSTROUS 400+ft home run to left center. 4-0 Raccoons.

But Oklahoma reeled off three straight hits to start the bottom 5th, and suddenly the game was 4-1, with runners on second and third and nobody out – but Powell chopped through them and no more runs scored in the inning. Powell still was removed in the bottom 6th, when he hit Jose Gonzales with a pitch. David Jones struck out Marc Shaw to continue.

Jones then hit Scott Spivey to put two on with nobody out in the bottom 7th. This time the team couldn’t get out without some scars. Cunningham gave up two singles and two runs scored. 4-3 Raccoons. Uh-oh.

Walker and Bowling both singled to lead off the top 8th, but didn’t score, then Cunningham fireballed his way through the bottom of the inning. The ‘Coons again put on two and didn’t score in the ninth against Yi.

Bottom 9th, up 4-3, enter Grant West. He struck out Frederick Webb. Sandro Delgado grounded to Walker, and Troy Scott flew out to Daniel Hall in left, and OVER!!

4-3 Raccoons! We go to Portland LEADING this thing!! Smith 3-5, RBI; Dawson 2-5; Workman 2-5, 2B; Walker 2-5; Bowling 2-4; the ‘Coons had 16 hits – 13 singles.

[Westheim]

CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (93-69)

Game 6 – Logan Evans vs. Ralph Hoyles

One more to go to the World Series, boys! Hoyles had dominated us for six innings in the first game, but then had succumbed.

This time around, he succumbed much sooner, when Mark Dawson shot a 2-run dinger into the left field stands in the first inning.

The Thunder scored an unearned run on a Matt Workman error in the third inning. He was a prime slugger, but he was not a Gold Glove candidate, unfortunately, not even at first base.

Top 5th: Smith got on base with two out, and Hall drove a double into the left corner to score Smith from first. Dawson doubled in Hall. 4-1 Raccoons.

Evans had a flawless sixth, but was then battered in the seventh. Two runs scored, before he struck out Marc Shaw to end the inning (and his outing). Only 4-3 lead now.

Hoyles also was out of the game, and Wilson Cordova entered. He was their fifth starter, pushed out of the playoff rotation. The Furballs loaded the bags in the seventh, but could not score, Enrique Sanchez struck out to let the chance get away.

Workman made another critical error in the top 8th that put Leonardo Costa on second with two down. And Gonzales came up, who had already homered off Evans in his last at bat. Behind him was Aranda, a dangerous gap hitter, who hardly ever struck out. Richard Cunningham was told to go after Gonzales instead. Gonzales reached for the first pitch, but grounded out harmlessly to Walker.

Bottom 8th. Bowling was plunked with one out. Dicks struck out in the spot of Cunningham. Green came in for White, poked after a 3-0 pitch and made a pathetic out that ended the inning.

This sets the stage. Raccoons ahead 4-3. Top of the ninth. Grant West comes in. Alfonso Aranda led off with a single and was immediately replaced by Heliodoro Pastor, whose only nice quality was speed. Dave Peterson grounded out and Pastor went to second. West then struck out Sandro Delgado, which brought up Frederick Webb, who had hurt us before.

Behind Webb was the pitcher’s spot, but they would not keep Cordova in there. But we had scouted Webb with a bad eye. Maybe West could sneak three by him.

Grant West needed five pitches to strike out Webb.

4-3 Raccoons. Hall 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

We will go to the World Series.

(faints)

[Westheim]

If I have anything to say, then Mark Dawson will be CLCS MVP. He hit .393 in the series, with 4 HR and 10 RBI. Without his resurgence we wouldn’t have gone anywhere, and certainly would not have won the series.

Most of the lineup was very sharp, the only problems came with Alex White, who hit .250 (which is not in the definition of adding 10%), and the second base pairing of Bowling (who hit .400) and Thompson (who hit zero). And off the bench. Cam Green had three at-bats and made three embarrassing outs in the series. The rest of the bench, except for Dicks, was not any better. Gonzalez and Borjón contributed zero.

The pen had it’s lapses, but was overall sharp. The ENTIRE staff was very sharp, to be honest. Powell lost his first game because of the offense being shut out, and in game 3 we went with Ackerman deep in extra innings, and there are reasons for why he’s not in the rotation in October. Kinji Kan had been in line for the win.

Who will be our opponent? That was undecided at the point of the crowd storming the field and tearing the ballpark apart, since the FLCS went the distance of seven games. The Stars had taken the first two at home, 5-3 and 7-3. Former Furball Paul Cooper was the losing pitcher in game 1.

The Blue Sox then crashed Sergio Esparraguerra in game 3 and won 7-2, then came from behind in a big rally in game 4 and took it late, 5-4. Cooper was the winning pitcher this time.

The Blue Sox came from behind AGAIN in the fifth game, and again won 5-4. The winning pitcher? Former Raccoon Gary Simmons. This had brought the series back to Dallas, where the Stars suddenly faced elimination, but swung big bats in the sixth game, romping over the Blue Sox to an 11-3 win, and this set the stage for game 7.

The home team had won every game so far, and the string held up. Esparraguerra again gave away two in the first, but the Stars jumped on Steve Thompson, putting up a 4-spot in the bottom 1st. That was it already – the Stars won 4-2 and advanced to their first World Series.

I don’t know whether I would have preferred the Blue Sox. They had a slower offense for sure. The Stars had some frightening sluggers, but you know, spilled milk and so on … I’ll cry after this is over, for one reason or another.

In any case, had the Blue Sox won, we would have had home field advantage, but the Stars had won 96 games to our 95 and so we started the World Series in Texas.

The Stars were not renowned for their pitching staff. While it had been 2nd in the Federal League, there were some gaping holes in there, and no starter had an ERA under 3, although they had the FL strikeout king Kiyohira Sasaki. He had 18 wins in the regular season and could mow down everything alive or dead. The other starters were respectable as well, but the true weakness I saw was the bullpen, especially the backend, where Juan Miranda had saved 45 games, but had been blown up almost as much and had an ERA over 4. Most of their pitchers racked up high numbers of strikeouts (they had led the FL in the category), but they were also very vulnerable to pitch to contact, and were not great fielders. In hits allowed and BABIP, they had been among the worst three teams in their league.

While their infield did not hit for much, except for 1B Jerome Ramsay, the outfield was dangerous. They all hit over .290, and four of the five outfielders hit for power, and a lot of that. Gabriel Cruz had finished 2nd in home runs in the Federal League, and his colleagues had been close.

They had a dangerous catcher, too, in Angel Potter, but he was in the middle of a terrible slump persisting since mid-September.

And there was Jerome Ramsay. He went .276, 19 HR, 104 RBI in 142 games this year. But he had gotten hurt in the FLCS! His wrist was battered and he was OUT for the World Series! They replaced him with an extra outfielder on the roster, who was not very scary.

All Raccoons are healthy. We played the Stars this year, but lost two of three.

The rotation has been reworked. We will start with Kinji Kan, THEN Powell, Evans, and Young. Going back to Powell would have started Evans on short rest, and I need their ALL for this!

120% that is.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

We will go to the World Series.

(faints)

Wow... I guess you will have to stop complaining about your team soon.

[Westheim]

You know, some things never change.

1983 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. Dallas Stars (96-66)

Game 1 – Kinji Kan (17-11, 2.02 ERA) vs. Kiyohira Sasaki (18-6, 3.11 ERA)

These are not the Japanese Championships, no, no. This is the World Series. Get over it.

It got scary right away, when the Stars loaded the bags in the bottom 1st, but Angel Potter (talked about him above), grounded out harmlessly. In the bottom 2nd Sasaki played a terrible bunt right to Kan, who threw out the runner from second at third. The game remained scoreless.

That changed in the third, when to fast grounders zinged past Bowling on the treacherous Starturf and the Stars went up 1-0. Alex White didn’t look good twice in the next inning, 2-0 Stars.

Meanwhile the Raccoons weren’t going anywhere, murdered without any empathy by Sasaki. He struck out nine in the game, and the Furballs didn’t even know where the bases were on the field after the second inning.

Kan was gone after a leadoff walk in the seventh, from where the pen got out again. Top 8th then. Bowling led off with a single. The pitcher’s spot was next and I brought Borjón to counter the right-handed Sasaki, but the Stars erased Bowling. But then White and Smith had singles, and Borjón was waved on and scored on the latter. The runners advanced. Then White scored on a wild pitch and the game was tied! Hall flew out to end the inning.

Sasaki was out of the game after that. But the Raccoons didn’t score and Gaston walked the leadoff batter in the bottom 9th. Jones came out to face lefty Gabriel Cruz, but threw a wild pitch and Cruz singled, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Cunningham came out, he had the highest K rates in the pen. But Felix Montalvo stabbed at the first pitch and lobbed it over Bowling into right. White actually dashed for it and CAUGHT it, but Ramon Lafrosia tagged third and made it home, 3-2 Stars.

Game 2 – Christopher Powell (11-12, 3.16 ERA) vs. Justin Marshall (16-8, 3.73 ERA)

Marshall was a starter comparable to Logan Evans with underdeveloped control that could walk the bases full in no time. The Raccoons were good in drawing walks, so …

Alex White clubbed a leadoff homer off Marshall to get the Raccoons up, who then grounded into double plays in both of the first two innings. Powell was not a good match against the power faction of the Stars, but held them scoreless early on (the outfielders made some catches for those fancy highlight videotapes).

Then came the top 3rd. In that inning, Christopher Powell made two outs, facing different pitchers. The Raccoons blasted Marshall for six runs in the inning and he was removed for the fifth starter, Dave Miron.

Powell now was pumped up and briefly went into Sasaki mode racking up a few K’s. The Raccoons added solo runs in the fifth and seventh innings, while Powell held the Stars off the board entirely.

Steve Walker made an error to lead off the bottom 8th, and while Powell got the next out, it removed him from the game with the lefty battery of Doug Belding, Gabriel Cruz, and Felix Montalvo coming up. Jones got through those.

Gonzalez pinch hit and drove in another run in the top 9th, and while Jason White was hit for a run in the bottom of the inning, this still left enough for a convincing win. The Raccoons topped the Stars, 10-1, to tie the World Series up again. A. White 4-5, BB, HR, RBI; Workman 2-5; Walker 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Powell 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K;

[Westheim]

1983 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. Dallas Stars (96-66)

Game 3 – Logan Evans (18-5, 2.92 ERA) vs. Jake Wallace (12-15, 3.29 ERA)

Wallace was a 23-yr old youngster, who was similar to Chris Powell in many ways. He had good control (but not as great as Powell had) and had low BB and K numbers. He was also prone to the long ball.

Matt Workman drove in two in the bottom 1st, with Daniel Hall arriving a hair earlier at the plate than Angel Potter’s tag on him.

Logan Evans was too wild for his own good again. The Stars’ Nick MacCrimmon tripled in the top 4th with one down. While Evans removed the next batter, he then threw a wild pitch past Enrique Sanchez and MacCrimmon scored.

Neither team threatened a lot until the bottom 6th. Daniel Hall walked against Wallace with one out. Dawson grounded out, but the Stars removed Hall at second only. Dawson was safe. Matt Workman got the Big Bertha from the bat rack and belted a ball into Wyoming to make it 4-1 Raccoons.

Evans was removed in the seventh, having worked himself up with 3-ball counts. Jason White ended the inning with two runners on base. Danger in the eighth: Wally Gaston put runners on the corners with two out – THEN walked the bags full. He faced Angel Potter, and he was gonna stay in there – he struck out Potter on a full count. The Stars catcher was not getting it done.

Neither was Wally. With a 3-run lead I tried to save Grant West for another day – but Wally walked two in the top 9th and suddenly the grass was burning. West still had to come out and get those last two outs.

Which he did. 4-1 Raccoons, and a 2-1 lead in the series!! Matt Workman provided half the hits today with a 2-3, HR, 4 RBI day.

Game 4 – Charles Young (7-5, 2.64 ERA) vs. Sergio Esparraguera (13-8, 4.33 ERA)

That guy needs a nickname. Anyway, Esparraguera was a mixed bag. He had only made one start the whole season without giving up a run (and the team had lost that, to Salem), but he often managed to somehow limit the damage fairly well. Still, his WHIP was 1.64 and he was by far the weakest of the bunch the Stars had to put up here.

Dicks caught Young again, but that didn’t help against Gabriel Cruz, who belted a 2-piece in the first inning. Dawson drove in a run in the bottom 1st to make it 2-1 Stars.

The Raccoons threatened in the second, but Bowling grounded into a double play and the chance was wasted. Instead Felix Montalvo upped to 3-1 with a solo jack off Young in the fourth, and later Young gave up another home run to Sean Barringer that made it 4-1.

The Raccoons meanwhile had their runners, but didn’t drive them in.

Jason White was taken deep in relief, when Cruz belted his second homer of the day in the eighth. It put the game away for good. The Raccoons never found out how to hit Esparraguera, and lost 5-1. The series was tied.

Game 5 – Kinji Kan vs. Kiyohira Sasaki

But they seemingly had found out how to hit Sasaki, who walked two in the bottom 1st and timely hits by Hall and Workman brought the runners in. 2-0 Raccoons. This was an important game, already much of a game 7. I would hate to go to Dallas trailing.

Kan and Sasaki engaged in a pitchers’ fuel for the next few innings. The Stars squeezed in a run after a leadoff double by Pancho Pacheco in the fifth. Smith also doubled to lead off the bottom 5th, but they didn’t get him in. The tying run then scored on an error by Steve Walker, who could have ended the top 6th with a really ordinary play – but went bust.

That seemed to be the point where it all went downhill. The Raccoons dropped another chance to score after that, and Kan left after a 1-out walk to Andres Gutierrez in the eighth. Burton Walker came in to face the lefties, but the Stars sent out Alberto Soto to pinch hit. The righty blasted one to the right field stands, 4-2 Stars.

Soto was the batter that had only made the roster because of the injury to Ramsay…

Bottom 8th. Matt Workman had a leadoff double and was driven in by Bowling with two out. Cam Green came out to pinch hit and FINALLY was productive with a long double to left that scored Bowling and tied the game up again 4-4.

Wally Gaston held the Stars at bay in the ninth, and the 3-4-5 punch came to bat for the Raccoons in the bottom 9th. The Stars broke out their closer, Juan Miranda. He retired our 3-4-5 punch, 1-2-3.

Gaston walked the first two batters in the 10th and the Stars scored one of them, 5-4. The Raccoons had nothing going against Miranda and lost, and now have to win games 6 and 7 in Texas for a happy end.

[Charlie Hough]

Another collapse perhaps? Uh-oh ...

[Westheim]

1983 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. Dallas Stars (96-66)

Game 6 – Christopher Powell vs. Justin Marshall

The newspapers in Portland were confident that the strong Powell could force a game 7 against Marshall. And Logan Evans had won all his starts so far, so …

The Raccoons pushed in a run in the first inning, while Powell surrendered it again with a homer to Montalvo in the second. He also struggled with control early on, which was highly atypical for him and did not put the game under any good signs.

The game was tied 1-1 through four. The ‘Coons couldn’t even get out of the infield until White hit a 2-out double in the fifth. But Smith made an easy out to second, and the chance was gone.

Dawson and Workman had 1-out singles in the top 6th then. Sanchez grounded out, but advanced the runners, and Walker zinged a shot into rightfield that scored the go-ahead run, 2-1 Raccoons.

Now Powell entered the bottom 6th looking at the lefty battery again. Well, we’d pitch him to Doug Belding and see how it goes. Belding singled just past Bowling, but Powell assured me that he could get Cruz. And he made him ground into a double play and got through the inning. Still 2-1.

Powell followed this with a leadoff double in the seventh. But although the Raccoons filled the bases, they didn’t score. Powell got a stop sign when Smith lined out hard to left, and then missed the go sign when Dawson flew out to center. Workman grounded out to Marshall to end the inning.

That one came back to hurt us big time. Pancho Pacheco homered to lead off the seventh and the game was tied.

Top 8th. Walker and pinch hitter Green were on with one out. Borjón pinch hit for Powell to counter righty Hidekazu Oyama on the mound. He swung at a 3-0 pitch and made an unproductive out. Next: Alex White, 4-4 that day. He took an 0-2 pitch into shallow left and scored Walker. 3-2 Furballs! (He also set a record for CL batters in the playoffs with five hits)

We rolled out Cunningham for the bottom 8th. Andres Gutierrez took him deep with one out. As if it was not meant to be. Belding doubled and Cruz was put on intentionally, then Cunningham went after Montalvo, because the trust for my left-handed relievers was not there.

Montalvo drove in Belding, and it was the end. Up 4-3, the Stars broke out Miranda. Hall walked. Dawson singled, because he could not bunt for his life.

Then Workman was told to bunt them over, and twice bunted foul. Then go ahead, hit at it. He was struck out. This brought up Edgardo Gonzalez, who had entered after some earlier switches. Only Thompson was left on the bench and he had not had a hit in the playoffs at all.

So it was Edgardo Gonzalez. World Series. Game 6. Top of the 9th. And trailing 4-3. Two on. One out. He struck out. On three pitches.

Steve Walker now faced the dubious honor of making the record books as the final out of the 1983 World Series. He struck out as well.

The Raccoons out-hit the Stars 14-6 in this game.

It was over. All them Texans were going crazy. The Raccoons left the park with their heads hanging pretty low.