Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (77-47) vs. Loggers (48-76) – August 23-25, 2010

Well, they were horrendous. -113 run differential with the worst offense in the Continental League, and the fourth-worst pitching certainly didn’t help their cause. The Raccoons were playing .667 against the Loggers this year, having won 8 of 12 games from them.

Projected matchups:
Gil McDonald (5-1, 2.53 ERA) vs. A.J. Bartels (7-7, 4.52 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (6-5, 3.88 ERA) vs. Roy Thomas (12-9, 3.62 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (13-7, 3.40 ERA) vs. Gabriel Caro (9-13, 3.14 ERA)

And the right-handed parade continues – no exceptions in this series. Too bad Ron Alston is down for this week.

Game 1
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – 2B Luján – C Baca – 3B Townsley – SS Mateo – LF Davenport – 1B T. Austin – RF Dally – P Bartels
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – SS Guerin – P McDonald

Gil McDonald struck out five on his first time through the Loggers’ lineup, with the Loggers not logging a hit until the fifth inning, a Tim Austin double to left. Too bad that there was a runner on first, Jaime Mateo, who reached third base on the knock, and there was only one out. But McDonald struck out Justin Dally and looked like he’d get out of the inning, at least until A.J. Bartels knocked a single past Merritt and plated both runners. Also, in more bad news, the Raccoons had stranded pairs in the first and second innings and since then had been silent and trailed 2-0. Things didn’t get better, with McDonald reaching on an error and Castro drawing a walk in the bottom 5th, only to be left on as well. McDonald then fell apart in the sixth, walked two and was knocked out by a Willie Davenport double that put the Loggers on top 4-0. Overall, he struck out eight and walked five. The bullpen turned an already highly dismal game into a Monday night rout in the seventh, with Josh Gibson putting on two runners. Beltran replaced him and only faced Baca, who singled, and when Ray Kelley came in with the bases loaded he served up a 3-run triple to Bob Townsley to put the Raccoons in the box. Not that the – remember: miserable – Loggers were done. Ted Reese appeared in the eighth, allowed a single to Tim Austin, a double to Justin Dally, and then walked Leborio Catalo to load the bases with no outs. Ron Thrasher gave up a 2-run double to J.R. Richardson to keep the scoreboard alit. Bartels allowed two hits and whiffed four in seven shutout innings. 9-0 Loggers.

Yikes. Okay, this was a complete stinker of a game and perfect to ruin the good mood and semi-confidence we had after winning the weekend set with the New Yorkians. Three hits, lots of misery. Nobody did anything remotely useful. It can hardly get worse in the rest of the set.

Game 2
MIL: LF Davenport – 2B Luján – 1B Catalo – CF T. Austin – 3B Townsley – C Rosa – SS Mateo – RF J.R. Richardson – P R. Thomas
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Baldwin

The ball was certainly flying well off the bat when Colin Baldwin was batting, and the Loggers made hard contact five times in the first inning, landing three hits and scored two runs, both on sac flies. While Quebell made up that early deficit with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the first – which gave the Coons the total of one hitter that had double-digit dingers and wasn’t aching – Baldwin just kept bleeding and ended up allowing nine hits, mostly hard, and four runs in six despicable innings of work.

Craig Bowen singled home Quebell in the fifth to at least keep the team only one run out, and Roy Thomas was still pitching in the seventh to allow a leadoff double to the otherwise dead Tomas Castro. Merritt flew out to deep center, moving Castro to third, from where he scored when Quebell’s soft fly to shallow center was juggled and dropped by Tim Austin, which tied the contest at four. Pruitt’s single knocked out Thomas and brought ex-Coon Scott Boone into the game against an unretired Craig Bowen with two on and one out, resulting in an obvious double play grounder. Reese gave up a leadoff single to Townsley in the eighth before starting a double play on Freddy Rosa’s grounder, and Luis Beltran actually managed to retire a left-hander when he retired the pinch-hitting primary catcher Alonso Baca. Two out in the eighth, Howell walked and Pat White singled, but Castro flew out to Richardson, who then started the top 9th with a single off Thrasher. Angel Casas came into the game with the go-ahead run already on base. The Loggers wasted an out with a bunt, and ultimately struck out with Richardson at third, then put Dave Walk into the bottom of the ninth, a right-hander with no special abilities at all, who would face the 2-3-4 guys. 2 and 3 singled, 4 struck out, and 5 drew a walk to load them full with one out. Keith Ayers popped out and was technically out at home, and Nomura flew out to left on a 3-1 pitch, sending the game to extras with three runners stranded.

Two scoreless innings from Angel weren’t enough to win anything here, and Ray Kelley started the 11th. He retired the first two batters before the left-handers Richardson and Dally both singled. A full count walk to Willie Davenport loaded the sacks for Antonio Luján, who also ran a full count before striking out. Kelley struck out the side in the 12th before falling to a Suketsune Ito and an RBI triple with nobody out in the 13th. Ito scored easily in the inning, and Wes Gardner, who had already pitched two innings, would start the bottom of the inning with Manuel Gutierrez, the first of three quick groundouts in the inning. 6-4 Loggers. Merritt 2-6, BB; Quebell 2-4, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Bowen 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; White (PH) 1-1; Casas 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Yeah, well. Well. Well, that’s … oh my.

Game 3
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – C Baca – 3B Townsley – 2B G. Torres – LF T. Austin – RF Dally – P Caro
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – CF White – C Owens – RF Ayers – SS M. Gutierrez – P Umberger

The road to sweep began in the third inning, where the Loggers had runners on the corners after a walk and a single off Umberger, with one out, except that Luján tried to steal second base and was knocked out by Travis Owens. One would assume that Umberger would find his way out of the inning in the scoreless game, but Catalo singled to left to give them a lead and Alonso Baca completely tattered an Umberger pitch for a homer and a 3-0 deficit for the clueless Coons, who got a major break in the bottom of the inning. Gutierrez singled to get started, the first hit of the day for the team, before Umberger’s bunt was airmailed for a 2-base error by Townsley. The Raccoons refused to keep the line moving, barely scoring the runners with two groundouts by Quebell and Nomura. Pruitt led off the fourth with a single and Gabriel Caro then walked Pat White on four pitches, technically putting the go-ahead run on base, which then moved on when Owens drew a walk in a full count. Three on, nobody down, Ayers grounded to third base for what looked like a lot of pain, except that Townsley missed the grab and the ball came out behind him. Everybody was safe, the bases were still loaded, and both teams were even at three. Gutierrez scored the go-ahead run with a groundout before the inning quickly died. The Coons now led 4-3 on the “strength” of two hits.

They’d move to five runs on three hits in the bottom 5th, with White driving in Pruitt, who had walked before him. Owens’ throwing error in the top 6th turned out inconsequential when Rockburn got two pop ups after that, and Rockburn lived through seven and a third before yielding to Beltran with Baca at the plate. Beltran had another day where he pitched, but didn’t log innings, getting purged after a clean single by Baca. The tying run appeared on the plate while Raw Lockburn appeared on the mound, getting a 1-2 pitch bounced into play by Townsley, quick to Merritt, who started a 5-4-3 relief effort. Angel Casas sat down the Loggers in order, salvaging one win out of a train wreck of a midweek series. 5-3 Raccoons. Gutierrez 2-3, RBI; Umberger 7.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (14-7);

Raccoons (78-49) @ Falcons (60-65) – August 27-29, 2010

The Falcons were a balanced bunch, ranking sixth in both runs scored and runs allowed, and also sixth in defense. Well, it wasn’t all just one greyish smear for them. They didn’t hit homers (72, 10th), but stole bases well (59, 4th), but they were even with the Raccoons on the year, 3-3. The Coons have won the season series only once in the last four years.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (11-7, 3.35 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (11-12, 4.74 ERA)
Nick Brown (17-5, 2.67 ERA) vs. Alfredo Collazo (11-10, 4.17 ERA)
Gil McDonald (5-2, 2.98 ERA) vs. Roberto Ramirez (1-1, 3.10 ERA)

Three right-handers in this weekend set as well. They had recently put Jesus Hernandez on the DL and Larry Cutts was ailing as well, although they were expected to activate him from the DL any day now. Nevertheless, right now they had two swingmen in their rotation, one of which was Ramirez.

Game 1
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – CF Castro – RF White – SS Howell – P Cruz
CHA: CF DeBoer – SS J. Amador – C F. Chavez – 3B J. Lopez – LF J. Flores – RF Reya – 2B Reeve – 1B H. Green – P M. Ortíz

While the Coons scored two runs in the first three innings, both RBI’s going to Castro with a 2-out single in the first and a sac fly in the third, they also left the sacks full twice against Ortíz, who was pretty wild, smacked Bowen and White in those three frames, and walked the bases full in the third inning in the first place. Without a doubt this had to come back to hurt, and damn sure it did. Cruz didn’t allow a hit until Jesus Amador’s RBI double in the bottom 3rd, then had two outs and nobody on in the fourth before drilling Luis Reya and then failed a strike to Tom Reeve and Hubert Green at tall. Manuel Ortíz obviously had to hit a liner into center for a 2-out, 2-run single here as the Falcons took the lead.

They wouldn’t hold it for long. Castro tripled in the fifth and was scored by White, before the Raccoons were donated a chance in the sixth. Nomura hit a 2-out single before Merritt got drilled (the third Raccoon on the day to take one to the ribs or other vital body parts by Ortíz…), and a wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position. Yet, Pruitt, cold as ice, grounded out, and nobody scored. Top 7th: Bowen flew out to deep center before Castro reached on a chipper over the second base bag that eluded the middle infielders. Castro stole second base, then scored the go-ahead run on another Pat White single. White would score on a 2-out single by Cruz, who had a low pitch count, and the middle of our pen was not in high regard right now. Cruz retired two in the bottom 7th before Jimmy DeBoer tripled, but Amador popped out to allow Cruz to complete seven, and even started the eighth where he was knocked out by Jose Lopez’ 1-out double. With two left-handers next, Ron Thrasher came out to pitch with the tying run at the plate, and Jesus Flores and Luis Reya had 18 homers between them. Flores didn’t fall a whole lot short of making it 19 when he drove Thrasher’s first pitch to deep left, but somewhere where Pruitt could catch up with it and contain it. Reya struck out. The Raccoons weren’t all that productive in the last innings, assuming Angel Casas would take care of things eventually. Hubert Green hit a 1-out single off Casas in the bottom of the ninth before Melvin Pollack hit into a double play, so they were right after all. 5-3 Critters. Nomura 3-4, BB; Castro 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI; White 2-4, 2 RBI; Cruz 7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (12-7) and 1-4, RBI;

Matt Pruitt is 3-for-29 right now, with no extra base hits, two walks, and one RBI. Matty, this is a VERY BAD TIME to go ****!

Can we get a decent game played this week? Two more chances. Back home in Portland, I heard, Slappy put his August paycheck on “no”.

Meanwhile, the Falcons activated Larry Cutts (9-11, 4.51 ERA) from the DL and threw him straight into the middle game. Cutts is a southpaw, so we will see one after all.

Game 2
POR: 3B Merritt – CF White – RF Ayers – 1B Quebell – C Owens – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Guerin – P Brown
CHA: CF DeBoer – RF J. Flores – 3B J. Lopez – C F. Chavez – SS J. Amador – 2B Reeve – LF Reya – 1B Heart – P Cutts

The second he was moved out of the cleanup spot, Matt Pruitt managed to meet a ball, hitting a leadoff single in the second inning. Nothing happened until Brownie batted with two outs, with a hit-and-run on as Brown floated a ball to right, where it was dropped by Flores, putting the runners in scoring position. Merritt walked, leaving the sacks full for White, who ran a full count before walking and forcing in the first run of the contest. Ayers then lined out to Amador at short. While that was more or less sad, the bottom 2nd made it all that much worse. Not only that Reeve took Brown deep (and well deep) to left, no, he also allowed a single to Reya, then had Cutts at 0-2 with two outs, and conceded a 2-run homer to the pitcher, making somebody’s shamelist in the process.

The Raccoons tied the score at three in the top 4th. Pruitt had hit a 2-out triple in the third but had been left on by Yoshi, and when Merritt hit a 2-out triple in the fourth, the mood wasn’t high. But White doubled, then moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on Ayers’ single to get even. Yet, Brown had one of those games where he had everybody at two strikes, and then bad things would happen. He had some strikeouts on the way, even three in that ****ed up second inning, and reached 200 for the season when he eliminated Fernando Chavez to end the fifth inning, but at that point already had arrived at 100 pitches – and that with our pen that was largely burned out despite the off day on Thursday.

Top 6th, Concie hit a leadoff single. Brown was retained to bunt, albeit badly, and Concie was nailed out at second base. The hit-and-run was on again with Merritt batting, who lined out to Max Heart, and Brown was easily doubled off to end the inning. Brownie started the sixth inning on the mound, too, but scratched and clawed on Jesus Amador’s metal trash can for ten pitches, which was awful even with the final result, a delicious fly out to Ayers. He was removed after that, with Reese finishing the inning, but he then allowed a single to Hubert Green in the seventh. Beltran replaced him, issued a 4-pitch walk to PH Domingo Nieves, and Flores grounded out, bringing up Jose Lopez with two on and two out, with Rockburn to face him, only to throw a run-scoring wild pitch that gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead.

The Falcons’ own pen also stumbled in the eighth. Pruitt hit a 1-out single. With left-hander Pat Kling appearing, Howell hit for Nomura and was plunked. The Falcons brought their third reliever of the inning for Concie, righty Bruno Mack, who was finally successful in getting a double play from Guerin to end the inning with dismay. The Falcons didn’t score in the bottom of the inning, leaving the Raccoons to figure out Luis Hernandez (87 K in 61 IP) in the ninth and try to score a run. Tomas Castro pinch-hit to get it underway, and struck out in a hurry. Merritt then singled, but White flew out to left. Bowen hit for Ayers against the right-hander Hernandez, but grounded out to second base. 4-3 Falcons. Merritt 2-4, BB, 3B; Pruitt 3-4, 3B;

That was Larry Cutts’ first career homer in ten years in the major leagues.

This week blows, and everything that stands between Slappy and a big payout now is Gil McDonald.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – RF White – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P McDonald
CHA: CF DeBoer – SS J. Amador – C F. Chavez – 3B J. Lopez – LF J. Flores – RF Reya – 2B Reeve – 1B Heart – P Collazo

Portland went up in the first when Pruitt doubled home Quebell, who had himself singled before that. Like any lead this week, it looked terminally ill as soon as it was on the board, and McDonald drilled Flores and allowed a double to Reya in the bottom 2nd to quickly put a runner on third base, from where he soon scored. With the teams tied at one, both offensive lineups detached themselves from the action for a while. When Castro led off the sixth with a clean single to right, it was only the third hit for the Coons, and the fifth in the game. Castro stole second base, his 12th of the year, to which the Falcons responded with an intentional walk to Quebell, before Merritt worked an unintentional walk. Bases loaded, no outs for Pruitt, but by now Collazo was messed up. Pruitt walked on four very wide pitches, before Bowen drove a pitch to center, where it was caught by DeBoer, to score another run. Pat White also hit a sac fly, and the Coons went up 4-1 on three hits. The Coons left runners on second and third in the next inning, and the bottom of that seventh frame also saw the Falcons log a third hit, a leadoff double by Flores, who nevertheless was starved on base.

Top 8th, Pruitt narrowly missed a homer to start the inning, instead clanking a double off the base of the wall in rightfield. Here, the Falcons elected to walk Craig Bowen and his .224 average intentionally to get to Pat White, for whatever reason. Jerry Scott, a right-hander, replaced Alfredo Collazo and before he ever threw a pitch he picked Pruitt off second base. White and Yoshi singled to load the bases, but Howell popped out and Ayers whiffed when he hit for McDonald to strand a full compliment. They would definitely lose this game… Ron Thrasher drilled a man and walked another, somewhere got a double play, but was chased by Fernando Chavez’ 2-out single that moved Jose Lopez (.250, 19 HR, 81 RBI) to the plate a the tying run. Law Rockburn was ordered in, and Lopez fouled out behind home plate on a 2-2 pitch. Angel Casas had already turned in some mileage this week and was merely soft-tossing in the pen as Rockburn also started the ninth in the 4-1 game and issued a leadoff walk to Jesus Flores. Hnnnghh!! Shall we bring Angel? Shall we not? While I was still tearing myself in half over this, PH Domingo Nieves hit into a double play and the Coons boogied out of the inning to at least chalk up a .500 week. 4-1 Coons. Castro 2-5; Pruitt 2-3, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; McDonald 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (6-2); Rockburn 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, SV (3);

In other news

August 23 – SAC INF Michael Palmer (.307, 6 HR, 46 RBI) has come up with a separated shoulder and will miss the next month.
August 25 – NYC RF/LF Stanton Martin (.289, 15 HR, 87 RBI) might miss most of the remaining regular season with a hamstring strain.
August 27 – DEN LF Victorino Sanchez (.379, 8 HR, 77 RBI) spent the Gold Sox’ off day on horseback, fell off said horse, and sprained his ankle. He’s out for at least two weeks.
August 27 – It could be season over for SFW LF/1B Gil Gross (.270, 15 HR, 57 RBI), who suffered a separated shoulder.

Complaints and stuff

Let’s just say I’m royally … “unhappy” with how this week turned out. Although, any week that starts with a 9-run rout at the hands of a last place team can be chalked up as futile endeavor right away.

Even unhappier: Slappy, who lost his paycheck and now will have to actually clean my house in exchange for food, and doing work is not his strongest side.

But hey, at least the Crusaders also didn’t get past a .500 week. AND they will have Stanton Martin on the DL for perhaps all of the rest of the regular season. This includes, as I said before, four more games in Portland in the final week of the season. From our side, Ron Alston should be good to go on Monday. Not that he was any hot before twisting his lower body.

Prospect watch! Rich Hood was moved up to AAA some time ago and has 56 walks in 100 innings. The ERA isn’t even bad, but – wow! He has struck out 72 for a 3.31 ERA. Ralph Myers has 17 homers and a .840 OPS in St. Pete, but he really isn’t going to have a roster spot and I think we will try to flip him for something else this winter. Walt Canning’s OPS in AAA is up to .924, making a case for a September callup, although we already have three shortstops, technically. Outfielder Jason Seeley was sent back to Ham Lake two months ago and has since batted not overly well, .753 OPS with four homers, but he should get moved back to St. Pete when the big league roster expands in a few days and there will be openings (Trevino f.e. will move up damn sure).

Overall, while the St. Petersburg Alley Cats lead their division by one game, Ham Lake and Aumsville are rock bottom, 47 and 24 games out, respectively.

[Westheim]

The Furballs can still make my preseason prediction of 101-61 if they play just a sliver beneath .667 from here: 21-11 would be required.

Raccoons (80-50) @ Aces (61-69) – August 30-September 1, 2010

The Raccoons were 4-2 on the Aces in 2010. The series champion had alternated the last couple of years, and the Raccoons had been on top in ’09, so we really wanted to end that pattern. Our slightly scuffling offense would face the worst pitching in the league, with 655 runs conceded, which amounted to 5.04 R/A. They were fourth in runs scored.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (6-5, 4.00 ERA) vs. Ian Rutter (0-7, 7.31 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (14-7, 3.41 ERA) vs. Nehemiah Jones (6-7, 5.93 ERA)
Javier Cruz (12-7, 3.37 ERA) vs. Juan Valdevez (14-8, 3.10 ERA)

Three more right-handers that are penciled in for this series. The Aces have nobody on the DL, but the important thing here is that the Raccoons regain Ron Alston, their recently anemic sterling slugger. Alston had been 9-for-38 before his injury, with one dinger and five RBI, although he had drawn 12 walks against 7 strikeouts. So maybe it was bad luck after all?

Besides roster expansion on Wednesday for game 3, we also had an off day in Thursday this week, after which we would have the Elks in on the weekend, and after that another off day, so Colin Baldwin would get a skip on the weekend, while we would NOT add a starting pitcher when rosters expanded. Our entire depth had vanished to the DL, except for Kenichi Watanabe, and he had always relied on his control to not get swamped, and that control had gone lost entirely this year.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 3B Merritt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Guerin – P Baldwin
LVA: LF L. Taylor – CF Melendez – RF R. Garcia – SS Dahlke – 3B F. Soto – C Durango – 2B Downing – 1B McDermott – P Rutter

Ian Rutter loaded the bases with two walks and a single in the top 1st, the Raccoons had no outs, yet only managed a Pruitt sac fly for one run. The Aces were on top of Baldwin from the start, except that they happily were putting 3-ball pitches into play, ruining an effort in the first inning, but they got a pretty fat chance in the third, when Josh Downing reached on an error by Merritt to start the inning. Sean McDermott singled and the runners were bunted over by Rutter before Logan Taylor struck out and Octavo Melendez’ drive to right was taken by Alston. That came after the usually listless Rutter had struck out Alston and Pruitt in succession in a RISP situation in the top of the inning.

Top 4th, Rutter allowed a leadoff single to Jon Merritt, then walked Yoshi and Concie to fill the bags for … Baldwin, who had already had his annual extra base hit and was a career .182 batter, and obviously was going to strike out, while Castro was no help either, bouncing out to Downing. In the fifth, Bowen struck out to strand Alston and Merritt in scoring position, giving Rutter six each in walks and strikeouts through five frames. He was hit for in the bottom 5th, with Howard Jones flying out to Castro to end that inning with the Raccoons still up 1-0. The Coons’ raging ineptness with runners in scoring position sooner or later had to have dire consequences. Bottom 6th, Baldwin allowed a single to Melendez before Ricardo Garcia doubled and Tom Dahlke drew a walk. Rockburn came in to somehow solve this three on, one out mess in our favor against right-handed batter Francisco Soto, and not only allowed a slam to Soto, but also another follow-up home run to Eduardo Durango.

Suddenly and rudely awoken, the Raccoons crowded lefty Jorge Cortez in the seventh. Castro and Quebell hit singles, Alston dingered, Pruitt reached on an error for what it was worth, and Merritt walked before the inning died against Zack Entwistle, who stranded the runners in scoring position and held the Raccoons down 5-4. The shock effect didn’t last forever, though. Guerin hit a leadoff single in the eighth, but was stranded on second base, while the ninth began with Dave Hughes issuing a leadoff walk to Alston. Hughes was perhaps not the most prudent choice for a closer given that he had already walked 42 batters in 55.1 innings, but he also had 68 strikeouts, so when Pruitt hit into a fielder’s choice and Merritt walked to put runners on first and second with one out we were a bit weary to have Craig Bowen, The Living Strikeout, bat in the spot. Pat White batted instead, lined out to Dahlke, and Nomura flew out to Melendez, who made a shoestring catch. 5-4 Aces. Quebell 2-4, BB; Alston 1-2, 3 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Merritt 2-3, 2 BB;

My post-game address to the game had to be cut off mid-rage for my voice cut out after the eleventh “§$”$&//$(!!!” – For ****’s sake! 12 runners left on base for the Raccoons, TWO for the Aces. Any more questions??

Game 2
POR: LF Castro – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – CF White – 2B Nomura – C Owens – SS Howell – P Umberger
LVA: 1B McDermott – C Durango – RF R. Garcia – 3B F. Soto – LF L. Taylor – SS Dahlke – CF Sambrano – 2B H. Jones – P N. Jones

In 109.1 innings, Jones had issued 40% more walks than strikeouts, so we were certainly going to get some runners, and the Raccoons shoved three runs across in the first inning already, landing three hits and three walks, including a 2-run double by Pat White, before Umberger predictably struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning. While Jong-hoo’s primary job was pitching, he gave back an unearned run in the bottom of the same inning. McDermott had singled and had made it all the way to third when Owens’ throw to second on his stolen base attempt wasn’t quite going to second after all and Pat White had to collect it. Alston drove in Castro in the top 2nd to get to 4-1, but when the bottom of the third started with Umberger serving up a line drive homer to Howard Jones, then walked Nehemiah Jones(!), I began to see blue spots again. Somehow Umberger dug out of the mess with a 4-2 lead still, but the only thing consoling me at this point was the fact that the Crusaders had been routed in Oklahoma and we weren’t going to lose a game on them no matter what.

No matter what turned out to be a 2-out rally by the Aces in the bottom 4th, with Dahlke walking, and them pushing over a run with singles by Sambrano and Howard Jones. The other Jones was removed for pinch-hitter Ron Richards at this point, but Richards bounced out to Quebell to leave Umberger with the slightest sliver of a 4-3 lead. Not for long, though. The Aces’ Chris Spindler walked Merritt and threw two wild pitches in the top 5th to pretty much force Merritt to score, but Umberger was by now gone to **** as well, put on McDermott and then allowed a 2-run homer to Durango to knot the contest at five in the fifth.

While Umberger was purged after the fifth inning, he still wound up in line for the win again when Jon Merritt snapped a 2-out, 2-run triple off Spindler in the top 6th. Cortez replaced Spindler and got a bouncer from Alston to end the inning at 7-5 Trashcan Robbers. Another run was added on a Howell sac fly in the seventh, and Zack Entwistle was bombed by Castro at the start of the eighth, 9-5. Entwistle then loaded the sacks with a Quebell single, Merritt double, and an intentional walk to Alston, nobody out. This time, the Coons were not denied: Pat White snipped a 1-2 pitch to right for an RBI single, and Yoshi plated two with a double to left. That was it for Entwistle, and while Owens popped out against Manny Silva, we were comfortably ahead by now and even had Ted Reese, who had logged two outs in the bottom 7th, bat with one out and a pair in scoring position. Reese struck out, no further runs were scored in the 12-5 game in this inning, and Reese then responded to the special assignment with serving a leadoff jack to Soto in the bottom of the inning, then walked Logan Taylor on four pitches. Dahlke grounding into a double play helped tremendously to keep me from throwing myself into the abyss beneath my assigned suite. Josh Gibson allowed two singles to start the bottom 9th before striking out McDermott and getting another double play turned by Yoshi. 12-6 Blighters. Castro 3-6, HR, RBI; Quebell 3-6; Merritt 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; White 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Nomura 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Guerin (PH) 1-2;

It sure ain’t easy managing this flea circus! Good news, though, with the Crusaders losing their first two games in Oklahoma, we end the month of August with an 8-game advantage over both them and the Indians. The Elks are 12 1/2 games out and for practicable purposes can be ignored, except for when we will play them directly. Like on this weekend.

As rosters expanded, we added three arms in Derrek Fredlund (12.71 ERA here or there…), George Youngblood (a left-hander picked up from the Rebels in ’09 for Ed Bryan, who also had ****ty control), and the eternal Sergio Vega (2-5, 4.74 ERA in 83 ML games since 2001(!)), who was by now 30 and had swingmanned his way through the AAA season, whiffing 100 in 78 innings, 37 games with five of those being starts. He had posted a 3.92 ERA.

Ximenes Lopes was added as the third catcher after batting .285/.346/.410 in 91 AAA games this year, and we also added Ralph Myers (.279/.402/.439 with 18 homers), Ricardo Martinez, Walt Canning, and Santiago Trevino. Players not added include f.e. Pete Schipper, somewhat of a mild upset last year, who had batted an uninspired .257 in AAA this season, with only two homers and little playing time.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 3B Merritt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Canning – P Cruz
LVA: 1B McDermott – CF Melendez – RF R. Garcia – 3B F. Soto – LF L. Taylor – SS Dahlke – C Durango – 2B H. Jones – P Valdevez

While Canning clanked a 2-run homer off Valdevez in the second inning, the Aces were all over Cruz. They had leadoff doubles in both the second and third innings. Cruz walked two in the second, both in full counts, before also running a full count against Valdevez with two outs, whom he thankfully struck out to keep the 2-0 lead up, but he had less luck in the third, in which the Aces drove in their leadoff double hitter McDermott, then loaded the bases again, but left them stacked again when Durango flew out to Pruitt. Cruz remained an easy victim: Jones, Melendez, and Garcia all hit singles off him in the fourth, tying the score and leaving runners on the corners with two outs for Soto, who was in all likelihood the last batter for Cruz, who was already on 93 pitches. Cruz balked in the go-ahead run before Soto even had to swing, and Cruz was removed afterwards.

Down 3-2, George Youngblood made his major league debut in the fifth, where he would face two left-handers among the first three batters. Those two left-handers hit singles, and Youngblood was chased with one out and runners on first and second as Ray Kelley was to go after Howard Jones, whom he struck out, but then allowed an RBI single to Valdevez. The Raccoons left the tying runs in scoring position when Merritt grounded out in the top of the sixth then. How were you not going to rage watching them? How? It wouldn’t get any better after that. Pruitt struck out to end the eighth with the tying runs on base yet again, and in the ninth Merritt led off with a double, bringing up the tying run. White batted for Bowen, grounded out, and Nomura also grounded out. While that scored Merritt, the run didn’t matter one bit. Ayers struck out in Canning’s spot. The end. 4-3 Aces. Quebell 2-4, 2B;

Let’s see. **** game, **** game, **** game, Indy and NYC both back within seven games, and now the Elks come to town. Oh ****.

Raccoons (81-52) vs. Canadiens (68-64) – September 3-5, 2010

The Elks had the most potent offense in the Continental League with 623 runs scored (POR: 610, 3rd), but were fifth in runs allowed (POR: 2nd). We had so far taught them a lesson at an 8-3 pace, but they had a lifelong habit of ruining everything I liked and loved, and a hostile sweep in friendly territory was imminent.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (17-5, 2.74 ERA) vs. Dave Crawford (10-11, 4.29 ERA)
Gil McDonald (6-2, 2.60 ERA) vs. Simon Pegler (10-12, 4.27 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (15-7, 3.52 ERA) vs. Scott Spears (3-5, 4.02 ERA)

At least it looks like we will avoid their two best pitchers, Juichi Fujita (brrr…) and Rod Taylor, unless they skip Simon Pegler completely. Pegler’s turn would have been before Crawford. Oh yeah, all right-handed rotation still for them, so we can continue to run out an endless string of left-handed batters.

Game 1
VAN: CF Holland – LF E. Garcia – 1B Gilbert – 3B Suzuki – RF J. Thomas – 2B Dobson – SS T. Johnson – C Mata – P Crawford
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – SS Howell – P Brown

Dark clouds hovering overhead, Brown was tagged for a run on a Holland single and Ray Gilbert double in the first inning, and the Elks actually loaded the bases when Brown drilled Mitsuhide Suzuki and walked Jerry Dobson, who was batting a makes-mommy-proud .199, on four pitches. Tom Johnson grounded out to leave three on. Brownie’s control was obviously in the trash. He walked Ross Holland in the second, also on four pitches, but he was stranded, before a rain shower doused the field and brought a delay of exactly 60 minutes.

The first few innings were rather eventless when it came to the Raccoons at the plate. When Yoshi drew a 2-out walk in the bottom 4th that merely brought up the completely messed up Bowen, but he came through quite well here, tattering a long shot to left center that left the yard and flipped the score in the Coons’ favor, 2-1. The lead was short-lived though. Nick Brown couldn’t retire the ****ing Ross Holland at all, who hit a leadoff single in the fifth, was bunted over by Garcia, then stole third base largely unimpeded and scored on Gilbert’s fly to Pruitt. Brown worked his way through six very mixed innings and didn’t receive a decision once Nomura and Bowen bowed out of a 2 on, 1 out situation in the bottom 6th. Josh Gibson followed up on Brown with the only task for him being to retire the pitcher at the start of the seventh. Gibson threw one pitch which Crawford hit for a hard single, then was purged. Thrasher and Rockburn got out of this ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY MESS as both teams began to throw their numerous replacements at another. The Elks left a runner on second in the top 8th before Quebell drew a leadoff walk from Crawford in the bottom of the inning. Key word “numerous replacements”, Ricardo Martinez ran for Quebell and managed to reach third base on an Alston single. No outs, go-ahead run on third base, GO COONS!! Pruitt failed with a groundout to the left side that moved Alston to second, as Tom Johnson wasn’t going to get him anymore once he had looked back Martinez, but Pruitt was out. Jon Merritt then flew out to Clint Southcott (that pig!) in leftfield, which enable Martinez to score after all. Juan Medina (that pig, too!) then threw out Alston at home on Yoshi Nomura’s single.

And then Angel blew the save, just like that. One out, Gary Rice pumped a no-doubter to center, home run, tied at three. Southcott also reached on an infield single after that, yet was left on. The Raccoons, much diminished after removing Quebell for speed and Pruitt for defense, now had to contend with Pedro Alvarado, whose numbers were even better than Angel Casas’. When Bowen nevertheless hit a leadoff single, Concie ran for him, and when Alvarado’s 0-2 offering grazed Pat White in the #8 hole, we were perhaps a soft single away from winning still. Canning grounded to Johnson at short, who only got White, Concie going to third with one out. Good news, bad news now: we had two left-handers coming up. Bad news, they were Trevino and Myers, and we could hardly remove either. Well, maybe Myers, but Trevino had to man centerfield. When he bounced out to first, meaninglessly moving Canning to second, Myers still batted and lined a 1-2 pitch to Johnson for the third out and extra innings. Nooooo!!

More “Nooooo!!” in the top 10th. Angel walked Gilbert on four pitches before Suzuki singled, but somehow still maintained order in renewed rain when he struck out Thomas and Dobson and got Johnson to ground out. Alston popped out in the bottom 10th before the rain forced another rain delay and suffocated the contest entirely. The game was suspended, to be completed on Saturday.

Play resumed an hour before the scheduled start of Saturday’s game with the following revised orders:
VAN: LF Southcott – CF Medina – 1B Gilbert – 3B Suzuki – RF J. Thomas – 2B Dobson – SS T. Johnson – C S. Esquivel – P Alvarado
POR: CF Trevino – 1B Myers – RF Alston – PH Ayers – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Lopes – LF White – SS Canning

… and with a 1-0 count on Keith Ayers, who would single, but wouldn’t be scored. Unfortunately, the Raccoons’ selection of pitchers was severely limited by now, and Sergio Vega, who had pitched a scoreless inning on Wednesday, was sent in to pitch for as long as the Elks would allow him to. He smacked Esquivel to get started in the 11th, but struck out Raphael Delattre and Juan Medina to escape the inning. The Coons left Canning on base after a 1-out double, before Vega walked the sacks full in the 12th. Ray Kelley was thrown into the game to face Johnson, but failed to contain Vega’s mess. Johnson singled, 4-3, Esquivel doubled, 5-3, with one runner thrown out at home. But… who cares? The Raccoons went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. 5-3 Canadiens. Alston 2-5, RBI; Ayers (PH) 1-1; Bowen 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Game 2
VAN: CF Holland – LF E. Garcia – 1B Gilbert – RF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – 2B Dobson – SS T. Johnson – C J. Silva – P Pegler
POR: LF Castro – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – CF White – 2B Nomura – SS Canning – C Owens – P Umberger*

Gil McDonald had spent the previous night emptying a particularly vile-smelling trash can in some dubious neighborhood and felt terminally ill on Saturday. Jong-hoo Umberger filled in on short rest.*

The Raccoons came out swinging – perhaps the fact that I used the entire 30-minute break between games to bark into their sorry faces had something to do with it – and took an early 2-0 lead in the first on a Quebell homer. Alston walked and scored on White’s double, but the more critical moment came in the bottom of the fourth, with a 3-0 score after Owens had just singled in Alston, leaving two men on with two outs and Jong-hoo batting. Pegler failed, allowed a single that loaded the sacks to the notoriously poor hitter Umberger, and then threw four pitches off the plate to Tomas Castro to push in another run. Quebell popped out to shallow left to delay the fatal stab. Umberger came to bat in the bottom 6th with the bases loaded and no outs, and Pegler looking at him with a deer-in-the-headlights expression. Jong-hoo struck out anyway (Pegler’s first K on the day), but Castro drew another walk, 5-0, and the end of the road for Pegler. Sancho Rivera came on, but would give up another bases-loaded walk to Merritt to have the Raccoons up 6-0 after six. Umberger’s so far very well pitched game got a few edges knocked off by the Elks, who scored a run in the seventh on a Suzuki double, and then got a pinch-hit homer by Jimmy Roberts in the eighth. Ron Thrasher (whom we got from the Elks!) retired Holland and Garcia to end the inning. The weather turned sour again in the bottom 8th and there was another 32-minute delay, after which the Coons put two on and stranded as many. The ninth had Reese on the mound, who walked Gilbert to get started, then struck out Thomas and Suzuki before Dobson popped out to Gutierrez at third base. 6-2 Coons. Castro 1-2, 2 BB; Alston 1-2, 2 BB; Owens 3-4, RBI; Umberger 7.1 H, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (16-7);

After the loss in the opener was concluded, the Raccoons were only 5 1/2 ahead of the Indians, who were leading the Titans in Boston in the eighth inning, but blew up and lost, 7-6, while the Critters took this middle game to get back to 6 1/2 games ahead.

Game 3
VAN: CF Holland – LF E. Garcia – 1B Gilbert – RF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – 2B Dobson – SS T. Johnson – C Mata – P Spears
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – SS Howell – P McDonald

Holland opened the rubber game with a double, but was still on second with two outs, at least until McDonald threw eight balls to Thomas and Suzuki. Jerry Dobson thankfully struck out, and McDonald also whiffed Johnson and Mata in the second before inexplicably walking Spears. Holland popped out to short. Top 3rd, leadoff walk to Garcia, and Thomas would then hit a single, on which Garcia went to third and drew a weak throw from Alston, which also allowed Thomas to go to third base. Suzuki grounded out to Merritt, keeping the runners pinned before Dobson again was the fool and grounded out to Howell. Three innings, six men on, no runs for the Elks, while the Raccoons had been silent so far. The Elks finally broke through in the fourth. Mata hit a double, and McDonald couldn’t remove Holland in a 1-2 count, giving up a 2-out RBI single to the disgusting centerfielder. McDonald was chased after his fifth walk of the day to Thomas with one out in the fifth. Kelley got out of the mess, and logged two outs in the sixth, too, before him and Bowen were removed in a double switch for George Youngblood to try his luck with the irritating Holland. Of course he walked him, Holland stole second base, his 40th on the year and third in the series, but Enrique Garcia impatiently grounded out after Youngblood had fallen from 0-2 to 3-2 on him. The Elks retained a 1-0 lead over the Raccoons, of whom Scott Spears had sat down 15 straight since Tomas Castro’s leadoff single in the first inning. That string tore in the sixth with Rob Howell legging out an infield single against Ray Gilbert, but the Raccoons would not score once the deep frozen Pruitt grounded out to strand Howell and Quebell on the corners.

Top 7th, Fredlund issued a leadoff walk to Gilbert, then threw a wild pitch well past Travis Owens. Two pop outs saved him from being tagged, but the Raccoons were still looking for a way to at least salvage a .500 week, which seemed like they were aiming for every Sunday by now. They had a chance in the bottom 7th, when Merritt reached on a Holland error (grins evilly) and a Yoshi single. Ricardo Martinez hit for Fredlund and walked, Ayers hit for Howell and ravaged Spears with a drive to left center that just kept rising and racing. GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

Julio Mata was thrown a ball from the dugout and tagged Keith Ayers as he crossed home plate on his slam, but the umpire denied his argument that Keith Ayers was always out at home. Apparently this was not true on a home run. 5-1 Raccoons! Quebell 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ayers (PH) 1-1, HR, 4 RBI; Kelley 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Beltran 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

This claims the season series for the Raccoons, with a 4-game set in Vancouver to spare. We also beat them 10-8 in 2009, which gives us back-to-back series wins against the Elks for the first time since 2001-2003.

In other news

September 4 – CHA SP Roberto Ramirez (2-2, 3.14 ERA) 3-hits the Aces in a 5-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

People have surely felt more comfortable with a 7-game (or so) lead and a month to play. Problems: the pitching does completely stupid things, and the offense keeps putting people on base, but they aren’t scoring them! If I’d get an extra 50 grand of budget room whenever they have the sacks full with one out and score one or even no run(s)! We could outspend the ****ing Crusaders!

This Sunday, Salem’s Nelson Chavez was suspended four games after yelling down an umpire. Chavez was a 2008 Coon, batting .220 before being squeezed out between Martinez and Sharpie. Since then he had .240-ish campaigns in rest-2008 with the Rebels and in 2009 with the Scorpions, but was a regular this season with the Wolves, batting .294 with five homers.

As far as the Coons are concerned, the magic number is 20 when looking at the Indians, and 19 when looking at the Crusaders. We will play in Indy and Boston next week, starting a road trip that will take us to Vancouver next week. By the way, our final 7-game homestand will see us playing BOTH the Crusaders and Indians, with 10 games total left over against these two teams.

*The suspended game ****ed up the rotation and I didn’t notice, perhaps because I was crying furiously. Thanks, OOTP.

[shipfb21]

go coons... looks like we're going to win the pe... well ill wait til its official b4 i say it. but as a long time fan of the coons, im pumped...

[Westheim]

Raccoons (83-53) @ Indians (77-60) – September 7-9, 2010

Key series! One of several to come, actually. Well, we still hold a 6 1/2 game advantage over the Indians, who were creeping back into the playoff picture despite an anemic offense with the third-least number of runs scored in the CL. However, they had both the best rotation and the best bullpen in the league and thus conceding the least runs, and it would give the Raccoons on-and-off offensive offense a run for their lunch money. So far, the season series was even at six.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (12-8, 3.45 ERA) vs. Curtis Tobitt (15-6, 2.54 ERA)
Nick Brown (17-5, 2.75 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (14-12, 2.87 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (16-7, 3.48 ERA) vs. Román Escobedo (3-3, 3.46 ERA)

If we actually face Escobedo, it would be the first left-hander in well over a week. They might skip him though and bring Bob King (14-8, 3.69 ERA) into the mix.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – SS Guerin – P Cruz
IND: 2B Mathews – 3B Sharp – RF Graham – C Paraz – 1B Tsung – LF Cavazos – CF Luxton – SS M. Clark – P Tobitt

Curtis Tobitt entered with 197 strikeouts for the year but didn’t actually reach 200 until he struck out Javier Cruz in the sixth inning. The bad news were that the Raccoons didn’t get anything off him anyway, drawing a walk and notching one measly single (Bowen’s) against him by the time he whiffed Cruz at the start of the sixth. The Raccoons trailed 1-0, a production between ex-Furballs Mun-wah Tsung and Ramiro Cavazos in the second inning. Tsung would be assessed an error after dropping a foul pop by Quebell in the inning, and Quebell would work a 2-out walk, but Matt Pruitt struck out and they didn’t pay for it. The seventh started with singles by Alston and Merritt. Nomura grounded to Mark Clark for a force out at second base, Bowen struck out, after which we sent Pat White to bat for Concie, but he struck out as well. Tobitt maintained his 3-hitter through eight before yielding to Salvadaro Soure, another ex-Coon farmhand, so we damn sure wouldn’t recover this one, even with the 3-4-5 guys up. Or maybe Matt Pruitt would hit a home run on the second pitch, which was exactly what happened, negating Tobitt’s stellar outing, and putting the Raccoons even at one. The euphoria was suffocated quickly, though. Nobody else reached base, Ron Thrasher came in for the bottom 9th, but the first two Indians reached, Dave Graham on a full count walk and Richard Speed on a single. After a fly out to center by Tsung, PH Santiago Guerra grounded to third base, where Merritt hurled the ball home – but too late. 2-1 Indians. Cruz 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Owens – SS Canning – P Brown
IND: CF L. Martinez – SS M. Clark – C Paraz – RF Graham – 1B Tsung – 3B Sharp – LF Cavazos – 2B Mathews – P Weise

Jon Merritt’s 16th triple of the season drove home Pruitt (walk) and Alston (single) in the first inning, giving Brownie a 2-0 lead that instantly was challenged. He didn’t seem to have the nasty stuff going and failed to strike out anybody in the early innings. The pesky Tsung hit a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd, stole second base, moved to third on a groundout, then tried to steal home, but was blocked and tagged out rather violently by Travis Owens. The third started with our two corner outfielders reaching base by opposite means compared to the first inning, but this time Merritt hit into a double play, and Yoshi Nomura failed to drive in the runner from third with two outs for the second time in the game, grounding out to Joey Mathews for the second time in the game. Another double-fail related to Brownie, whose first two plate appearances came with a runner on first and less than two outs, and he twice bunted into a force at second base.

Fails continued. Ron Alston dropped a Joey Mathews pop in the fifth inning, giving the Indians’ lead runner, Sharpie coincidentally, that extra base he needed to score when Weise made contact on an 0-2 pitch and hit a sac fly. The run was unearned, but Brown had nothing stuff-wise, and now the lead was down to 2-1. And of course it wouldn’t stay that way. The Indians’ Paraz, Graham, and Sharp all hit doubles off Brown in the sixth as they took a 3-2 lead. Ironically it was then Brown to spark offense for his own team in the top 7th, hitting a 1-out double to right and reached third on a wild pitch. Castro grounded out pathetically, keeping him pinned, but Quebell singled to right center to tie the game. Pruitt singled, and now we were really badly longing for a big hit from the big guy who wanted big millions. But, well, Alston singled softly just past Mark Clark, but Cavazos was on it so quickly that Quebell had to hold at third base and Merritt flew out to center, keeping three men stranded. Brown received another no-decision for seven innings of uninspired work, and in the bottom 8th Kelley got two out, but Youngblood put two on. Law Rockburn faced Daniel Sharp in the most critical spot yet, and got him to ground out to Merritt. Rockburn got the game into extras after the Coons went down 1-2-3 in the top 9th against Soure, who remained on the mound in the 10th, starting with Pruitt, who tried to be the forgotten hero again, but his drive to left was caught by Cavazos just a few feet off the wall.

The Coons had a snooze here, while Rockburn got another out in the 10th, then handed it over to Luis Beltran, who got eight outs. The Raccoons had two on against Marcos Bruno in the 13th, but when Ayers hit for Guerin with two outs, he grounded out to the annoying Tsung and we didn’t score. Thrasher couldn’t get through the bottom 13th, and with two outs and two on, Angel Casas was brought in to battle Jerry Fletcher, who grounded hard to the right side, but not outside of Quebell’s reach. Bottom 15th, Casas still in and pitching to Chris Kilters, who lined into the gap in left center and went aggro to third, where the ball thrown back in by Pruitt awaited him and Merritt tagged him out. Bowen hit for Casas as the 16th was underway, with Bruno starting his fourth inning of work with a 4-pitch walk to Manuel Gutierrez in the #8 spot. Bowen struck out, as did Castro and Quebell by the time Fernando Hernandez jr. replaced Bruno. They were never going to score again, were they? No matter how you turned and combed the problem, by the bottom of the 16th we had arrived at the mellow, squishy end of the bullpen. Josh Gibson would face the resentful Tsung to start the inning, opening us up for a walkoff homer right away, yet Tsung never got something hittable and walked, was bunted to second, but Ramiro Cavazos struck out and the Indians were actually out of hitters now and Hernandez jr. had to bat and popped out easily. But Hernandez would also electrocute Pruitt and Alston, completely annihilating our top of the order, four batters, four strikeouts, and we were still out of major league pitching.

Yet Gibson held out and got the team to the 18th, where his spot was up with Howell and Gutierrez, who had both walked, on base and still Hernandez on the mound. Ricardo Martinez grabbed a bat to hit with one out, struck out, and handed things to a 1-8 Castro, who chipped the ****tiest bouncer to the left side, and yet it still escaped between César Aguilar and Chris Kilters. Howell was not going to be held and was safe! A run! A run! We scored a run!! Quebell hit the first pitch back to Hernandez to waste the chance to add some, dropping to 1-for-9 in the game. Regardless, we needed a closer, with our choice limited to Vega and Fredlund, and the latter it was, facing the meat of the order, 3-4-5, unchanged since the start of the game. Jose Paraz homered right away to tie the score at four, Graham reached on an infield single, and after Tsung and Fletcher made hairy outs, Fredlund walked Cavazos. But okay, that’s not so bad! That brings up the relief pitcher Hernandez again! And sure he - … oh did he just hit a 3-2 pitch for a single to right center? And now they’re dancing up and down. 5-4 Indians. Pruitt 3-7, BB; Gutierrez 2-2, 2 BB; Beltran 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Casas 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Gibson 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

I think, this game just broke me, mentally. If you know what I mean. It’s all irrelevant. They are going to blow it all, and I know it, and you know it, and everybody outside knows it. People in Nord Korea know it. The Raccoons won’t ever get back to the playoffs.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 1B Myers – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – SS Canning – P Umberger
IND: 2B Mathews – CF Luxton – RF Graham – C Paraz – 1B Tsung – LF Cavazos – 3B Kilters – SS M. Clark – P King

Since nothing mattered anyway I was completely unfazed when Umberger walked three batters in bottom 2nd, struck out King and then got Mathews to fly out to Pruitt on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning. It didn’t matter. They would lose regardless, somehow. They were finding a way, so I could just as well continue to engorge on hot dogs. I would have 13 during this game, and half a Black Forest cake.

The Raccoons would score three runs in the third inning, all unearned, after back-to-back capital throwing errors by Mathews and Clark, with two Critters already on base. Two more runs scored in the fourth, again with a Mark Clark error helping tremendously in loading the sacks before Castro hit a 2-out, 2-run single. Tsung would bat with two outs and the sacks full in the bottom 5th when Umberger had another lapse in composure, but grounded out to Yoshi to end the inning and the Coons remained ahead 5-0. Umberger would make it through seven innings while allowing only one run in the sixth. Youngblood had another shot at pitching in the bottom of the eighth, tasked with the switch-hitter Cavazos and the lefty Kilters (.161). Both grounded out, so he got Clark as well, and that was another groundout. Ted Reese handled the ninth responsibly. 5-1 Coons. Bowen 2-4, 2B; Ayers (PH) 1-1, 2B; Umberger 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (17-7);

For what it was worth, all our runs scored were unearned. The Indians are now back at 5 1/2 games out, and the Crusaders just another half game behind them.

Raccoons (84-55) @ Titans (65-76) – September 10-12, 2010

This was our last set of the year with the Titans, against whom we were 10-5 so far, winning the season series for the third year in a row after we had suffered from 1997 through 2007 against them. They were the second-worst pitching team, and had the second-worst batting average, but still scored the seventh-most runs in the CL, despite not being particularly good sluggers or base stealers. That probably meant they had **** luck on their side.

Projected matchups:
Gil McDonald (6-2, 2.56 ERA) vs. Brian Patrick (8-13, 4.98 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (6-6, 4.05 ERA) vs. Ramón Martinez (6-5, 6.33 ERA)
Javier Cruz (12-8, 3.36 ERA) vs. Ron Carter (7-15, 5.01 ERA)

Martinez is a left-hander, something we haven’t seen in about two weeks, since Escobedo was not sent to pitch by the Indians after all.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – SS Howell – P McDonald
BOS: SS M. Rivera – 3B P. Cruz – 1B T. Ramos – LF G. Rios – C Suda – CF J. Gusmán – RF Thurman – 2B J. Ramirez – P Patrick

The Titans drew two walks and landed two singles off McDonald in the first inning, but only got one run once Zachary Thurman struck out to end the frame with the bases still loaded. Suda almost went deep in the third, while the Raccoons hadn’t been graced by the inspiration yet. Alston was grazed by a pitch though in the fourth inning, and that was in between a Pruitt double and a Merritt single that gave us a full compliment with no outs. Nomura grounded hard to the left side, where Rivera couldn’t come up with the ball, and Yoshi had an RBI single, with another one by Bowen following quickly, giving the Critters the lead. Rob Howell hit into a run-scoring double play and McDonald struck out to end the frame at 3-1 Coons. The bases were loaded again in the top 5th with Castro and Quebell getting on first, our assumed RBI guys picking their black noses, Merritt reached instead, but Yoshi’s grounder was reeled in by Mike Rivera this time. Don’t think the on-field punishment for this would be enough, they would get the belt in the clubhouse after the game.

But first the Titans equalized the score in the sixth, with Gerardo Rios’ 20th homer of the year cutting the lead in half before McDonald walked Suda, who would score on a Rob Howell throwing error. Really! I thought we’d be past that. Seems like we weren’t. McDonald sat down two in the bottom 7th, but wasn’t going to face the left-handed Tony Ramos. Beltran was broken out, with Edgar Salazar hitting for Ramos, and when Salazar walked it wasn’t beneath the Titans to hit for their best slugger with Tokimune Hayashi, who flew out to left. The Raccoons weren’t doing ANYTHING as the game spilled into overtime, with Reese and Kelley holding the fort for the Raccoons. There was just really nobody reaching base at all. Thrasher would be the one absorbing the loss again, allowing a 1-out double to Pedro Cruz in the bottom 12th after already having pitched the 11th. Rockburn came on to face Hayashi with two outs, but allowed a walkoff single. 4-3 Titans. Quebell 3-6; Merritt 2-4, BB; Kelley 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K;

Yeah, well. This is how Jefferson Davis must have felt in 1865. A brilliant mind, carefully positioning people in the right spots, only to realize that they were all incompetent and it was all going to end rather unpleasantly.

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Alston – 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – SS Howell – P Baldwin
BOS: SS M. Rivera – 3B P. Cruz – LF G. Rios – C Suda – 1B T. Ramos – RF Hayashi – CF J. Gusmán – 2B J. Ramirez – P Carter

Quebell and Pruitt reached, Alston hit into a double play. This was just how things were going. Mike Rivera started the Titans’ first with a triple and they had three more hits in quickly loading Baldwin with two runs. Baldwin sucked tremendously, and allowed eight hits for three runs in the first three innings. Baldwin would be gone after five, nine hits, three walks, an F on the test, while the Raccoons’ order had been in coma since Alston’s double play. Alston was up again with two on and no outs in the seventh, grounded out to second base, and pops by Merritt and Nomura kept the runners on. Top 8th, next chance. Bowen walked, Howell doubled, already our third hit on the day! The tying run was at the plate, with Keith Ayers batting for Sergio Vega, who had spun two scoreless innings. Ayers’ foul pop (technically rendering him out at home), and a pair of groundouts by Castro and Quebell weren’t going to get anything done, except avoiding more extra innings of absolute ****ing **** dorkball. Like in the bottom 8th: Fredlund was up, allowed a single to Javier Gusmán, then threw away Ramirez’ grounder. Youngblood got two groundouts, but that was also enough to plate the two runners. 5-1 Titans. Vega 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Strong output with three hits, we should try to build on that on Sunday. I’m sure, four or five hits might be enough to play extra innings once more. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Meanwhile Ramón Martinez was completely removed from the series, and we still didn’t get to see a left-hander. The last one we got was Larry Cutts on August 28. Ah **** it, Pruitt’s gonna get benched anyway.

Game 3
POR: 3B Merritt – CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Alston – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – SS Canning – C Owens – P J. Cruz
BOS: SS M. Rivera – 3B P. Cruz – 1B T. Ramos – LF G. Rios – C Suda – CF J. Gusmán – RF Hayashi – 2B J. Ramirez – P Cabrera

In 185 innings, Jesus Cabrera had 134 walks and 173 strikeouts, and quickly added to the latter pile, while Cruz was plainly bombed by the Titans, who ran him for five runs in the first three innings, a 2-run homer by Hayashi in the second that followed an infield single by Gusmán, then another creeper single in the third before extra base galore plated three more runs with a triple and two doubles against Cruz. Because it didn’t matter, he completed five innings, but … well, it didn’t matter. Walt Canning had singled in a pair in the fourth, but that inning ended with a double play, and when Cruz hit a leadoff double in the top 5th, he was doubled off second base on a Castro liner caught by Rivera.

Top 6th, Alston and Nomura hit singles before Canning came up. His first 2-run hit had been to right, now he slashed a grounder past Pedro Cruz and into left, all the way to the wall. Alston scored, and the tying runs were in scoring position with one out. Pruitt hit for Owens, although we probably should know better, shouldn’t we? The Titans ignored him and put him on the open base. Bowen hit for Javier Cruz, one ball, two balls, three balls, Bowen put the 3-0 in play, a quick bouncer to Ramirez, who turned the 4-6-3. When Castro managed to hit a double and steal third base in the seventh, then scored on a sac fly, that got the Raccoons back to trail only 5-4, but didn’t account for another complete bollocks outing by Luis Beltran, who faced the left-hander Rivera, whom he put on, then got Pedro Cruz, a right-hander, before being taken to kingdom come by Tony Ramos with a colossal homer. Ramos of course was another left-hander.

There was ONE more faint movement of the whiskers, in the ninth, facing Charlie Deacon. Craig Bowen drew a leadoff walk before Merritt rolled a very shy grounder past Pedro Cruz for barely a single. The tying run was at the plate with nobody out, with Castro, Quebell, and Alston coming to bat against the right-hander Deacon, for whom it got worse with a 4-pitch walk to Castro. So, with the tying runs on base and no outs, how could this one possibly go wrong? Well. Quebell took three strikes. Alston took three more strikes. Keith Ayers put up a nominal fight, but would ultimately be the third strikeout. 7-4 Titans. Merritt 2-5; Castro 2-4, BB, 2B; Canning 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

The only conceivable way for this to get worse is for Nick Brown to choke on a bite of hot dog before his start on Monday. Not that I have the least confidence that he can grind out a win.

In other news

September 6 – Sioux Falls’ Jeremiah Irvin (.266, 4 HR, 55 RBI) has his season come to an early end after being diagnosed with plantar fascitis.
September 7 – VAN SP Juichi Fujita (19-8, 3.15 ERA) spins a 3-hitter in a 7-0 shutout of the Loggers.
September 9 – Boston’s Jesus Elmore (4-3, 6.29 ERA) has torn a flexor tendon in his elbow and will miss the rest of this and the entire 2011 season while getting it repaired.

Complaints and stuff

The Alley Cats have blown their lead already. The Coons might by Wednesday.

Alright, I have made up my mind. Ron Alston won’t get a new contract. We can’t afford it, and even if he manage to convince him to go down to a still painful, but somehow workable $3.3M per year, his 2010 performance isn’t worth that. Likewise, once they have completed their second epic meltdown in four years (while never really leading far enough to melt down in the first place the other two years), we might look into turning a few of the big contracts on the roster into silver. And with silver I mean prospects. Our prospects suck balls. We need other people’s prospects. Why do our prospects suck balls? Well, I don’t know. ****ty scouting, perhaps? Can’t be my fault. I’m infallible.

That brings me to Cruz, who might be an easy fit for the 2011 roster and comparably cheap and remotely effective. Alhtough, effectivity doesn’t exactly matter when you’re planning on scaling back anyway. Although by now we have found out that what we thought were our future rotation spot holders are all either junk, or on the DL for most if not all of 2011, or even both.

As this season inevitably tumbles towards a bitter conclusion, we already know that 2011 and perhaps beyond will be saturated with regret, and scorn. Look at all those ex-Raccoons on the Indians roster, and where they are heading. To the ****ing playoffs. The Raccoons have not been there in 14 years, and they shall never return.

[MarkCuban]

Have faith in your bad self, Westheim! Get it together! The Portland Trash Disposal Crew will grind out enough wins to head back to the Postseason!

There is no way they'd just leave Nick Brown out by the road for his inevitable transition to the great landfill in the sky, again! They has what it takes!

[Westheim]

(leisurely sits behind a massive desk with a glass of fine whiskey and a lit cigar; hair is clearly uncombed; the floor is suspiciously wet)

Welcome to the sinking of the Titanic. I shall be your host for today.

Raccoons (84-58) @ Canadiens (73-69) – September 13-16, 2010

There was a million ways in which this series could go horribly wrong, but to be honest, nobody expects anything but total humiliation by now. We had won 10 of 14 from the Elks this season, but the point was moot by now.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (17-5, 2.75 ERA) vs. Dave Crawford (10-12, 4.28 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (17-7, 3.39 ERA) vs. Simon Pegler (10-14, 4.35 ERA)
Gil McDonald (6-2, 2.58 ERA) vs. Scott Spears (3-7, 4.65 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (6-7, 4.10 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (10-10, 3.41 ERA)

Still all right-handers in their rotation. However, does it matter greatly whether you are slapped with the right hand or slapped with the left hand?

Game 1
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – CF Castro – SS Guerin – P Brown
VAN: CF Holland – SS Koka – 1B Gilbert – 3B Suzuki – RF J. Thomas – C Mata – LF Southcott – 2B Rice – P Crawford

Nick Brown made the final out in the top 1st as Crawford surrendered six hits to the Raccoons, five of which were singles, plus a Merritt double. Four runs were in, but Brown’s bottom of the first indicated that four runs would probably not be enough. He walked rookie Joey Koka, allowed a hard single to Gilbert, then balked the runners into scoring position. The Elks didn’t score once both Suzuki and Josh Thomas grounded out to the infielders on the left side. While the Coons didn’t get another hit off Crawford until the fifth inning, in which they loaded the bases and left them loaded when Tomas Castro struck out, the Elks drew a walk in each of the first two innings, but overall didn’t get anything big off Brown, who had his stuff confiscated at border controls upon entering the country, but wiggled through the inning somehow, not conceding a run through six innings on three hits and three strikeouts. In the seventh the Raccoons had a leadoff triple by Jon Merritt to put them in a good spot. Alston was walked intentionally, but Pruitt hit an RBI single for a 5-0 score. Crawford was replaced by right-hander Bill King even with left-handers still coming up, and King would surrender another run after a Yoshi single and Bowen’s groundout. Castro struck out again with runners on second and third and one out, but the Raccoons were 6-0 ahead.

Brown, who had not won any of his last three starts, and had surrendered at least two earned runs for his last four starts, entered the bottom 7th on 76 pitches, so technically was good to go for a bit more. Yet, the seventh was his last inning. Mitsuhide Suzuki and Julio Mata both reached in full counts, with a single and a walk, respectively. Clint Southcott grounded to Yoshi, who took the out at second, and when Gary Rice rammed the ball into the ground in front of home plate, all Bowen had to do was either throw to first or for style points slap out Suzuki coming from third base. He did neither, was assessed an error, and the Elks had an unearned run. Brownie finished the inning, but that was also the end of his day after 102 pitches. The Raccoons would hold on, despite a Ray Gilbert home run off Ted Reese in the eighth. 6-2 Brownies. Merritt 2-5, 3B, 2B; Nomura 4-5; White (PH) 1-1; Brown 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (18-5);

The Indians had this Monday off, moving the Raccoons to three games ahead.

Game 2
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – CF Trevino – SS Howell – P Umberger
VAN: CF Holland – LF E. Garcia – 1B Gilbert – RF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – C Mata – 2B Koka – P Pegler

The Raccoons went down without a whimper the first time through the order, but Quebell had their first hit in style with a leadoff jack in the fourth inning, which broke a scoreless tie. Three batters later, Matt Pruitt was hit on the paw by Pegler’s fastball and left the game with a numb claw. Ayers replaced him. While that was almost all that was to say about the Raccoons against Pegler, Umberger pitched in and out of trouble for six innings, never managing a clean frame in his start. He somehow managed to keep the Elks at bay, twice striking out a man to end the inning with two runners on base. In the sixth, he would then be out of luck after leadoff singles by Gilbert and Thomas, with the former scoring on a Gary Rice grounder eventually, which tied the score, 1-1. In the next inning **** started with a throwing error by Bowen, and Ron Thrasher would walk the bases full. Rockburn came out to face Gilbert and then Thomas in a 3 on, 1 out situation, but conceded two runs on a sac fly and a single. The Coons made up one run on a Ralph Myers homer in the top 8th, getting back to 3-2, only for Josh Gibson and Luis Beltran to braindead their way into a 3-run bottom of the inning. Gibson allowed two singles and a walk, Beltran waved them all in. The Raccoons were down 6-2 in a hurry, then drew a pair of walks off Jesus Quinones in the top of the ninth, bringing in the closer Pedro Alvarado with two on and no outs and Ayers batting. Strikeout to Ayers, strikeout to Nomura, and White bobbled out on the first pitch. 6-2 Canadiens. Myers (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

If you don’t manage more than three hits off Simon Pegler over seven innings, you probably don’t deserve to win. Or maybe even oxygen. Can’t decide yet.

Matt Pruitt was not seriously hurt (except maybe his feelings, and I stopped caring about those), but was still sore after getting smacked in the hand, and would best sit out a game.

Tom Weise was roughed up by the Titans, soaking all runs in a 6-4 defeat that kept the Indians down by three, but the Crusaders beat the Loggers handily, 8-3, to move within four games. In that Indians tilt, Charlie Deacon saved his 400th game. That pushover.

Game 3
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF White – LF Alston – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – C Owens – SS Howell – P McDonald
VAN: C Mata – LF E. Garcia – 1B Gilbert – RF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – CF Medina – 2B Koka – P Spears

The Critters got a few runs early, first in the second inning, where McDonald struck out with the bases loaded for the second out in the inning, but Quebell singled in a pair, and then in the third when White and Alston were on with nobody down. We called a double steal, Alston was thrown out, but at least the runners was on third base and scored on a grounder by Nomura, 3-0. Scott Spears had a hand in all those base runners, offering plenty of walks, and also shuffled the bags full again in the fourth. Howell had a leadoff single, and Spears walked two before White batted with the bases loaded, grounded out to first and a run scored. Alston walked rather than ripping one, and Nomura grounded out, leaving the score at 4-0.

While Gil McDonald didn’t do anything flashy, and first gave up a run in the bottom 4th, at least everybody kept doing a reasonably good job so far. Well, except for Spears, who started the top 5th with three straight singles to Trevino, Owens, and Howell, bringing in the fifth run for the Coons. Spears didn’t last through the inning, in which Quebell drove in another run with an RBI single. McDonald held up perfectly well through eight innings, but his pitch count was already elevated and he was not brought back for the ninth inning, which the Raccoons entered up 6-1. Fredlund was put in to see how far he could ago, and it turned out that a foul pop by Gilbert and a Josh Thomas homer (his 28th) was plenty far. Ray Kelley replaced him, but allowed a single to Suzuki and a double to Rice. Find Angel! Quick! Turned out, Angel Casas had already headed for his late night trash can and appeared in the game with a banana peel stuck under his cap and poking out at the left side. He solved the crisis with three pitches to Juan Medina, who flew out to center, and Trevino nailed down Suzuki at home to close it out. 6-2 Raccoons. Quebell 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; Nomura 3-5, RBI; Owens 2-4; Howell 2-4, BB, RBI; McDonald 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (7-2);

Wanna bet the series finale will go 6-2 the Elks’ way? I do see a pattern here.

The competition did their job, too, with the Indians and Crusaders both winning low-scoring games.

The Raccoons sent away Derrek Fredlund (10.24 ERA), whose services really weren’t required for any longer.

Game 4
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF White – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – CF Castro – SS Howell – P Baldwin
VAN: CF Holland – LF E. Garcia – 1B Gilbert – RF J. Thomas – SS Rice – 3B Delattre – C J. Silva – SS Koka – P R. Taylor

Rod Taylor conceded two doubles, to Quebell and Nomura, and a single to Pruitt for two runs in the first inning as the team tried hard to give Baldwin, who hadn’t won a game at any level since June 25(!!), as much support as possible. Yet Baldwin continued to make a really hard run for Dork of the Year, walked two in loading the bases in the bottom 2nd, even got the second out on a Joey Koka pop, then allowed a game-tying 2-run single with two outs to Taylor, who had already struck out five. Taylor’s spot would come up again with two outs in the fourth, with runners on second and third. Baldwin had been here for long enough to know that if he gave up another run to the pitcher in this game, he better not come back to Portland at all. Or the U.S. in general. I would find him.

So he struck out Taylor, and it was 2-2 through four, and also through five. Taylor had eight coontails on his belt as the sixth inning began, but allowed singles to White and Pruitt, who went to the corners. Nomura grounded out, but somehow Bowen walked against the killing strikeout machine. Castro lined out to short with Pruitt barely scrambling back onto the base before Howell in a full count hit a line to right center to plate two runs with two down. Baldwin survived the bottom 6th thanks to Raphael Delattre hitting into a double play, before the wickedest thing happened in the top 7th. Quebell got on, and then Jon Merritt hit a home run. A home run! We had not seen this trick before! Apparently allowing a homer to Merritt was worse than a 2-run single to a pitcher, since Taylor was hauled in instantly, with the wrecked, wretched, disfigured Cal Holbrook making an appearance and being struck by lightning in form of three hits and two runs in the same inning, and the Elks’ pen continued to explode for three more runs in the eighth. Baldwin stayed in one piece through eight, handing it off to George Youngblood in the bottom 9th. Youngblood hand another forgettable appearance and allowed a run to Joey Koka on a 2-out RBI single, but even the swampy, moist end of the bullpen could not endanger a 9-run lead this time. 11-3 Blighters. Quebell 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Merritt 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; White 3-5; Pruitt 3-5, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Alston (PH) 1-1, RBI; Howell 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Owens (PH) 1-1; Baldwin 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (7-7) and 1-4;

So at least Colin Baldwin is a winner again after almost three months. There was some injury time in there, but … well. Look at where we are. Desperately treading water, and there’s bubbles everywhere.

The competition played extra innings, with both the Indians and the Crusaders winning in 11 frames and staying three and four games back, respectively. On the weekend, we have the Knights in, while the Indians welcome the Falcons, and the Crusaders move on to San Francisco.

Raccoons (87-59) vs. Knights (70-76) – September 17-19, 2010

The Knights’ offense was better than their pitching, ranking 5th compared to 9th in runs allowed. They even had the worst bullpen in the league, posting a 4.40 ERA. The season series was even at three between these teams. They had their good young third baseman Carlos Martinez on the DL, perhaps taking a piece out of that lineup.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (12-9, 3.52 ERA) vs. Dave Butler (6-15, 4.23 ERA)
Nick Brown (18-5, 2.65 ERA) vs. Domingo Cruz (12-12, 4.59 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (17-7, 3.33 ERA) vs. Kurt Doyle (11-8, 3.98 ERA)

Dave Butler is a left-hander, but we miss the other two southpaws in their rotation Johnny Krom and Ray Conner. In fact, by now I doubt that there’s even another team in the CL that even have two left-handed starters right now (like the Coons do with Brown and Baldwin).

Game 1
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 2B J. Hernandez – CF J. Morales – RF G. Munoz – 3B Younger – 1B Rockwell – C Fowler – SS Hibbard – P Butler
POR: 3B Merritt – CF White – LF Alston – RF Ayers – 1B Pruitt – SS Howell – C Owens – 2B M. Gutierrez – P J. Cruz

Marty Reyes was caught stealing after his leadoff single, which cost the Knights a run when they had two more singles and a Kenneth Younger RBI double against Cruz in the first inning. Ron Alston continued to plainly fail in RISP situation, no matter how many were on, f.e. two in the bottom 3rd with two outs, and he shyly grounded out to second base. Bottom 4th, Ayers hit a leadoff double and would score on Owen’s 2-out single, tying the score. Meanwhile Cruz was entirely hittable and had nothing in terms of stuff, and the Knights ran up the hits, having eight against him in five frames, but couldn’t add to their run total, also leaving two in scoring position in the fifth when Gonzalo Munoz lofted out to shallow right, where Ayers made the play for the second out and kept the runners patient long enough for Younger to make the final out.

Bottom of the inning, and either it was something with my eyes, or all our players had gone nuts. Cruz drew a leadoff walk from Dave Butler, and then Jon Merritt, who hadn’t homered until this week, cracked another 2-piece, this one to left and just fair! The Raccoons were up 3-1, Butler was about to melt completely with a walk to White, but Ron “Reliable” Alston hit into a damn sure double play. Cruz lasted six and a third before yielding for Thrasher after a Julio Hernandez single in the top 7th. The left-handers Morales and Munoz were up, with 38 homers and 167 ribbies between them. Morales hoppled a ball to Gutierrez, but the Raccoons couldn’t turn the double play, but it didn’t gravely matter. Thrasher struck out Munoz, and the inning ended either way with the Coons still up 3-1. The eighth was Rockburn’s, with Younger driving a ball to deep left at the start of the inning. Alston got that just barely, but Rockburn then axed down Gil Rockwell and Dale Fowler to set up Angel, who was even spotted an additional run after a leadoff triple by Keith Ayers in the bottom 8th, who came in to score, but didn’t exactly need it, striking out two in a perfect ninth. 4-1 Coons. Merritt 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Ayers 2-4, 3B, 2B; Cruz 6.1 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (13-9);

After days of stalemate, there was movement in the division race. The Indians dropped their opener to the Falcons in 11 innings, 4-3, while the Crusaders’ Manuel Reyes allowed three singles in the bottom 9th for the Bayhawks to win in walkoff fashion in regulation, 6-5. The Coons moved to four and five games ahead respectively.

As a side note, this game eliminated the Knights from playoff contention.

Game 2
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 2B J. Hernandez – CF J. Morales – C Delgado – 3B Younger – 1B Rockwell – RF Goff – SS Hibbard – P D. Cruz
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – CF Castro – SS Canning – P Brown

No, Brown hadn’t found his stuff again, even back in Portland. He must have left it in some trash can in New York, which was really bad news. He allowed a run in the first with the Knights knocking two hard hits in 2-strike counts, a Reyes single and a Morales RBI double in particular. Brown didn’t strike out anybody until the fourth inning, but Domingo Cruz didn’t even face four batters, leaving with an injury in the first inning. While Brown didn’t have strikeouts, but plated a run with a wild pitch in the sixth, the Raccoons didn’t have many hits. Pruitt had singled in the first, the first batter that long man Jim Turner had faced, but Turner didn’t allow anything else through five innings. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom 6th, Quebell finally managed to light up some extra blips on the scoreboard with a single to right. Merritt then mashed a 2-0 pitch to right center, and … and that was going!! Three homers in a week for Jon Merritt!! Tied ballgame!!

While the middle of the order did squat, Brown coughed his way through seven with four strikeouts, including one to Jorge Garcia to end the seventh inning, definitely his last of the day. Could the Raccoons give him a chance at victory? Bowen hit a leadoff single against new pitcher Colby Kirk in the bottom 7th before Castro ran a full count, then dished a home run out of centerfield, 4-2 for the Greycoats! The same inning, Ron Alston finally did something productive, rolling a Kirk pitch into right with two out and two on, scoring Pat White from second base. The run was unearned though: Adrian Quebell, who reached third on the play, had reached base on a Kirk error earlier. Seeking a decision, the Raccoons sent Keith Ayers to bat for Pruitt, because he countered the left-hander Kirk, and the Knights didn’t bother to replace their pitcher. Ayers flew out to center, and the lead was 5-2 after seven. Rockburn was in for the eighth, struck out Marty Reyes, but then walked Hernandez, and with Morales up, mixing and matching began. Ron Thrasher matched Morales, but mixed something up and walked him. (That’s what mixing and matching means, right?) Ray Kelley matched Carlos Delgado as the bullpen door kept flinging back and forth. Kelley allowed both runs to score on a Delgado single and then a sac fly, and the Knights were back at 5-4. Angel Casas was stretching while the bottom 8th was underway, eyeing a semi-historic 49th save, matching an almost two decades old franchise mark by Hall of Famer Grant West. Kirk was still pitching, and the Coons got two on with two out when Castro reached on a Munoz error and Canning worked a walk. Ralph Myers hit for Kelley rather than a right-hander, as we had only shortstops and catchers with dubious stats left over from the right side. Myers saw only one pitch, clanked it tremendously, and semi-history for Angel Casas got delayed with a mighty 3-run homer to rightfield! Instead, Josh Gibson got the ninth inning assignment, up 8-4, against the bottom of the order. Semi-history was back on after a Keshawn Goff single and a walk to Devin Hibbard (four pitches, too), and Angel Casas did come in with the bases already steaming with Knights. John Kelsey grounded hard to first, where Quebell made the play, but the runners moved up. Angel struck out Reyes, and then it was Julio Hernandez with a hard grounder to left, where Merritt nipped the ball, pirouetted around and flung it to first – OUT!! 8-4 Brownies!! Merritt 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Canning 1-2, 2 BB; Myers (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (19-5); Casas 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (49);

Curtis Tobitt wasn’t done with this season and killed the Falcons on a 1-hitter. The Indians won 1-0 on a pinch-hit RBI double by Juan Gutierrez, but the Crusaders fell to the Bayhawks, 5-3, and dropped to six games out.

Game 3
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 2B J. Hernandez – CF J. Morales – RF G. Munoz – C Delgado – 1B Rockwell – 3B Kester – SS Hibbard – P Doyle
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – C Bowen – CF Castro – SS Canning – P Umberger

While the Knights didn’t exploit it, Adrian Quebell made errors in both of the first two innings, something we weren’t quite used to. Jong-hoo, who still had a shot at winning 20 games, but couldn’t afford any more misses, surrendered only light contact in the early innings, but would require offensive help of course. Nothing moved against Kurt Doyle early on, either, but Jon Merritt would hit his 18th triple of the season to start the bottom of the fourth, tying his career high for three-basers. Runner on third and no outs still wasn’t good enough to get an RBI from Alston, who popped out to short, but Pruitt’s drive to left, while caught by Reyes, got the run home, 1-0 Coons. But contact off Jong-hoo intensified greatly in the middle innings, with Delgado, Rockwell, and Jaime Kester all driving balls to the deep outfield in the fifth, yet all three were caught, one by Pruitt, and two by Castro. Doyle doubled with one down in the sixth, but was stranded after a groundout to short by Marty Reyes and Hernandez going down on strikes. Jose Morales drove a ball to deep left to start the seventh, and Pruitt caught that on the warning track as well. Maybe the Raccoons should look into adding to their two hits and one run off Kurt Doyle! Yoshi hit a 1-out double in the bottom of the seventh, but eventually the Critters went down on strikes in the inning. Umberger continued to go so-so, but got through the eighth, having thrown only 67(!!) pitches.

His spot was up to start the bottom 8th, and now, a stupid question: if he gives up contact that hard and they still don’t tag him, isn’t that a sign of the gods? I was convinced it was, even though Honeypaws cried out in horror and even Slappy, who had invited himself to my office to watch from the comfy couch, grabbed a pillow to hold on to. Umberger, Quebell, and Merritt quickly went down against Doyle in the inning, and Umberger came back out to face the top of the order in the ninth inning of a 1-0 game. At the very least, we had Thrasher and Casas warming up, just in casas. Reyes struck out, but pinch-hitter John Kelsey singled to center, which sent the alarm going off sharply. Angel had been out three of the last four days, so Thrasher got the nod to face Morales and Munoz as Umberger was replaced at last. Morales was 0-2 when he bounced a ball right into no man’s land on the infield and legged out the infield hit. Kenneth Younger pinch-hit, a right-hander, and now only Angel could save us from my stupid managing. Younger went down on strikes, bringing up the catcher Carlos Delgado, batting .306 in just over 200 AB’s. The count ran full and on the sixth pitch, which Delgado put in play, the runners were going, eyes closed, head down, just go, go, go! A soaring drive to left, quite high, and quite deep. Pruitt was racing after it and looking left, looking right, where was it!? Was it in the stands!? No, it was coming down on the track! And there was Pruitt! AND HE HAD IT!!! BALLGAME!!!! 1-0 Fuzzies!!! Umberger 8.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (18-7); Casas 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (50);

Eeeekk!!

The Indians blew a 3-0 lead against the Falcons and lost, falling to five out, while Crusaders routed the Bayhawks, 10-2.

Here, we had absolutely shudderworthy batting, three hits for the Coons, plus two walks, and five hits for the Knights. But we had Jon “Triple Ripple” Merritt, nothing to worry about, and the series was in the books as a sweep, and isn’t it written in the rules that the baseball goods were looking to take care of the crazy and the lunatic? Then I have nothing to worry about.

In other news

September 13 – As the Cyclones rape the Rebels in a 22-3 blowout, CIN RF/LF/1B Will Bailey (.376, 17 HR, 76 RBI) knocks six base hits, including a home run and three doubles, and also has 5 RBI. The 47th instance of a 6-hit game, and the third this year after LAP Jens Carroll and MIL Todd Moultrie, both in May, and the third time a Cyclone has achieved the feat after Alex White (1980) and Max Reynolds (1982).
September 13 – The Titans pick up SP Chester Graham (9-7, 4.66 ERA) from the Scorpions, sending over two second-rate prospects.
September 14 – ATL LF/RF Gonzalo Munoz (.275, 16 HR, 87 RBI) cracks three home runs in an 18-8 drubbing of the Bayhawks in San Francisco. He drives in eight, including a grand slam, while homering off three different pitchers. Munoz is the 22nd ABL player to knock three in a game, and the second Knight after Michael Root in 1989.
September 17 – TIJ 2B Stanley Dougal (.336, 4 HR, 63 RBI) has nursed a hitting streak through 20 games, knocking two singles in the Condors 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Loggers.

Complaints and stuff

In winning 13 games against the Elks, the Raccoons tied their best ever result against them, put up in 1997, when they swept them on the final weekend of the season to rally past them into fifth place. While that was all nice and good, moments later that great mid-90s Coons team splintered into a million shards and we entered the Valley of Forgotten Dreams.

And well, while Nick Brown is struggling like crazy and not getting strikeouts anymore, and hadn’t gotten a decision in three straight games before this week, it also should be noted that he hasn’t actually LOST a game since July 21, when he was mishandled by the Loggers in a 6-run rout, going 7-0 in the 11 starts since then with a 2.95 ERA. His win on Saturday also locked in our fifth straight season series win over the Knights. This is the only string of dominance over them longer than three years.

My mood was largely restored by the weekend, and Maud commented on Saturday that the color had returned to my face. That’s good, I guess?

The playoff race sees us play three more teams in contention, including the Thunder from the South, plus the Loggers next weekend. Interestingly, not only will we play the Crusaders and Indians in the final week, but they will also play each other next weekend! So if we can stave off another Milwaukee disaster, it can only be good.

The Alley Cats missed out on the playoffs by one game, tying for second with the Lubbock Flame (MIL) at 80-64, while the 81-63 Baton Rouge Servals (SFB) won the division. It was a very tight division. The Los Reyes Crows (TIJ) were fourth, three games out. It didn’t go so well for the Gold Sox-aligned Chula Vista New Order, who lost 101 games.

So we could call up some more players, but do we really need anybody? 25-year old outfielder Jerry Saenz had a .768 OPS during the season, but he’s a left-handed leftfielder, and that line goes twice around the block.

Also, the Elks were eliminated on Sunday, automatically making Monday a local holiday in Portland. Schools were closed, all the kids were at the park for autographs before the Thunder game. Would the Thunder be back within just two more weeks?

[Westheim]

Raccoons (90-59) vs. Thunder (88-60) – September 20-22, 2010

Regardless of what we did here, the Thunder would in all probability lock in their playoff spot while in Portland, having a magic number of one over the Bayhawks. The Raccoons’ magic number of nine made it impossible for them to secure a playoff spot during this homestand, and progress on that nine getting less was half-contingent of beating the fourth-ranked offense and third-ranked pitching in the Continental League. So far, we had achieved that four out of six times. We lost the season series last year, 4-5, the first time that happened to us since 2003.

Projected matchups:
Gil McDonald (7-2, 2.42 ERA) vs. Takeru Sato (11-10, 3.84 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (7-7, 3.99 ERA) vs. Antonio Donis (20-5, 2.28 ERA)
Javier Cruz (13-9, 3.45 ERA) vs. Shaun Yoder (8-6, 4.88 ERA)

The Thunder were still without Daniel Dickerson (5-2, 1.57 ERA), who had vanished onto the DL in June and wouldn’t resurface until next season, plus outfielder Jose Gonzalez. Instead of Dickerson, they send us two left-handers at the start of this series. Donis leads the league in ERA in the Continental League, and had a share for the lead in wins, but trailed by more than 60 strikeouts behind whiff leader Rod Taylor (231). We will not see the Fat Cat in this series unless the Thunder boot Yoder out of the Wednesday game.

Game 1
OCT: LF Britton – 1B T. Cardenas – C Ledesma – RF Tom Reese – SS M. Garza – CF Covington – 2B P. Brown – 3B Arreola – P Sato
POR: 3B Merritt – CF White – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – LF Pruitt – SS Howell – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – P McDonald

Both starting pitchers were shackled in the first inning of a first glimpse of what COULD become a CLCS two weeks further down the road. Gil McDonald gave up a 3-run homer to Tom Reese in the top of the first, but that was still outdone by Takeru Sato, who put on five Coons on three hits and two walks for four runs in the bottom half of the inning. McDonald blew the 4-3 lead in the top 2nd, Apasyu Britton singling in Powell Brown with two outs, but the Raccoons took a new lead in the bottom of the same inning on the strength of four singles, plating the go-ahead run and Howell stranding three. At the very least, Gil McDonald outlasted the veteran Sato, who was hit for in the fourth inning, in which the Thunder had two singles, but didn’t score. The bottom of the fourth inning saw the major league debut of 25-year old southpaw and 2004 supplemental rounder Ed Michaels, who allowed an unearned run when Keith Ayers reached on an Ignacio Arreola error and scored on Matt Pruitt’s double to right center, giving the Coons a 6-4 advantage. McDonald didn’t live through the fifth inning, being chased with two outs, though. Reese doubled and scored on a Marcos Garza single to center. George Youngblood struck out Martin Covington to end the inning and preserved the 6-5 lead for the moment, but wouldn’t get a win, because Ted Reese blew the game in the sixth inning, allowing three hits and two runs to the Thunder, which gave them the 7-6 advantage over the Raccoons, although that wasn’t the only lead that was blown in that inning. Junior Downey smacked Jon Merritt in the bottom 6th, White got him forced, but then stole second base, advanced on Quebell’s single, and scored on Downey’s wild pitch.

In this game of obvious madness, Ray Kelley opened the top 8th by allowing a double to righty Powell Brown, but then kept him on second base while he retired Ignacio Arreola, Reed King, and Ape Britton, three left-handers. The 7-7 deadlock was broken in the bottom of the inning, and again it was the White/Quebell pairing that was guilty of disturbing heavenly peace. White singled, Quebell doubled past centerfielder Gus Vargas, and White dashed all the way from first base. That was all the Raccoons got, who how had to somehow save an 8-7 advantage without the back end of the pen. With the choices available, including Gibson and Vega, leaving Ray Kelley in for a second inning didn’t seem so bad at all. So of course he blew it, and big. Jesus Martinez singled, Pablo Ledesma (ex-Coon…) homered, and NOW we brought Sergio Vega after all, and he gave up three more singles and another run, which didn’t matter, since the Raccoons went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth anyway. 10-8 Thunder. Quebell 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Pruitt 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Howell 2-5, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Beltran 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

I see our pitching is in playoff form, but the batters are not quite producing enough to make the effort enjoyable…

Elsewhere, the Indians were choked by the Bayhawks’ Milt Beauchamp and lost 1-0, which kept them at bay, but Kevin Bond walked off the Crusaders in the 10th against Charlotte’s Jerry Scott. Both teams are now five games back, and remember that they will play another on the weekend.

And yes, of course the Thunder sealed the CL South with this bogus game, their 10th playoff appearance, but the first since 2004. They will tie the Blue Sox and Stars in terms of most playoff appearances, with the Stars already eliminated in the FL West and the Blue Sox’ magic number in the East down to 2.

Game 2
OCT: 3B R. King – 2B P. Brown – LF Britton – C J. Martinez – RF Tom Reese – SS Vieitas – 1B M. Garza – CF Covington – P Donis
POR: 3B Merritt – 1B Quebell – CF White – LF Alston – RF Ayers – SS Canning – 2B Nomura – C Lopes – P Baldwin

Colin Baldwin struck out the side in the first inning, which was awkward enough, then walked Jesus Martinez to start the second, which was more like it. A wild pitch and a Tom Reese single later, the Thunder had runners on the corners and no outs, and panic was called for, except that Herberto Vieitas popped out to short and Baldwin reared back to strike out Garza and Covington, nipping more batters in two innings than Nick Brown in any of his last two starts. Yet, nothing lasts forever, and good Coons pitching usually doesn’t last longer than a hot dog. Aided by an error by Pat White, Baldwin gave up his first run in the third inning (it was earned anyway), and the Raccoons did very little to ruin Donis’ ERA. Baldwin was the first Coon to actually reach base with a third inning single, and it wasn’t until the fifth that they reached scoring position. Canning singled, Nomura doubled, and Ximenes Lopes was judged as alive and therefore dangerous by the Thunder, who walked him intentionally to get to Baldwin with ONE out in the inning.

So what else could happen than a first-pitch grand slam, you might ask? Well, that was EXACTLY what happened. Baldwin crushed the first pitch, a little fastball at the bottom of the zone, and drove it to center, deep to center, out of center – GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

In a perfect world, Colin Baldwin would have pitched two more clean innings and would have been hero of the week at least, but the sixth inning went Brown double, Britton flattened by the pitch, and Martinez single. Nobody out, and a look into the pen wasn’t instilling much hope at all. Hey come on, Baldwin! There are left-handers and weak switch-hitters coming up! Do something! He got out of the inning, but those weak switch-hitters, Vieitas and Garza, both brought in a run as the Thunder instantly closed back to a 4-3 score. Baldwin was squeezed out by the Thunder in the seventh, although they somehow left the tying and go-ahead runs on base, while the Raccoons had to remove Jon Merritt after a foot injury on a defensive play during which he landed awkwardly after a leaping grab.

Bottom 8th, still 4-3 Coons. Steven Anderson, a left-hander, was pitching and allowed three singles to Quebell, White, and Alston to start the inning, loading the sacks with no outs. Keith Ayers came mighty close to a second slam, but was caught on the track by Marcos Perez, while he still managed a sac fly, as did Walt Canning after him. Despite those two add-on walks (after which Pruitt hit for Nomura and grounded out), the Thunder almost dismantled Angel Casas in the ninth inning. He got two quick outs before Tomas Cardenas walked and Ape Britton reached on an infield single. Pablo Ledesma drove a ball to deep centerfield. Uh-oh, ex-Coon alarm flashing red. But Trevino had replaced White for defense, and that defense paid off, as he scratched the ball out of the air before it could at least become a 2-run double. 6-3 Coons. Baldwin 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (8-7) and 2-4, HR, 4 RBI;

Donis lost the ERA lead thanks to Baldwin’s bomb, dropping behind Curtis Tobitt by .01 ER/9. Nick Brown remains third, far behind.

And now the bad news: Jon Merritt has torn ankle ligaments and is out for the year. We are down to Ricardo Martinez at third base – UNLESS we move Walt Canning there. Guys, you have limited time to show off. And while Canning’s .256/.319/.360 bat is not exactly on the strong side, Martinez is batting .259/.298/.403 for his career, but .221/.271/.317 in 2010, and this September he’s .000/.091/.000 …

There was a swap for second place, as the Crusaders romped the Falcons, 10-3, while the Indians dropped a 7-3 game to the Bayhawks to drop to six out.

Game 3
OCT: LF Britton – 1B T. Cardenas – C Ledesma – RF Tom Reese – SS M. Garza – CF Covington – 2B P. Brown – 3B Arreola – P Yoder
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – SS Canning – CF Castro – 3B R. Martinez – P J. Cruz

Ricardo Martinez made an urgent case for himself, whacking a 2-run homer in the bottom 2nd to give the game a proper score after Ron Alston had found it impossible to plate Quebell from third base with one out in the first, striking out instead. Pruitt then walked, but Bowen flew out to center. Yoshi hit a double in the third, and Alston struck out again. Bowen would crack one, another 2-run homer to dead center as Shaun Yoder got an early ERA adjustment. The Coons didn’t get him out of the game, though, and he would strike out eight over seven innings. Not that Cruz was slacking: the Thunder’s Tom Reese hit a solo shot off him in the fourth, but he maintained a 4-hitter through seven innings before the Thunder hit two singles through the left side with one out in the eighth. Who was on the left side? Martinez was on the left side.

With Thrasher thrashed from overuse, Luis Beltran got the difficult Cardenas / Ledesma assignment, and there actually was no right-hander in that order all the way down until Powell Brown hit seventh. Beltran had the strikeouts (50 in 53 innings), but he also had the blowouts, yet this was a former case. Cardenas whiffed, and Ledesma grounded out to Nomura, danger contained. And there was also the issue with an overused Angel Casas, whom I wanted to give two days off at some point. We had tomorrow off. If Beltran could get through the ninth inning as well, that would be splendid! Tom Reese, who was nagging us the entire series, hit a leadoff double before Beltran got Garza and Covington to ground out to first base. Reese was at third base with Powell Brown up. Aaaah, bring Rockburn! And while Raw Lockburn struck out Powell Brown, he didn’t do so until *after* Travis Owens was guilty of a bumbled ball that Reese used to score on… 4-2 Raccoons. Cruz 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (14-9); Beltran 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K;

Our competition found their way into a tie for second place this Wednesday. The Crusaders dropped a close 3-2 game to the Falcons, while the Indians overcame Román Escobedo’s pitching to beat the Bayhawks 6-4. Both teams are now six games out, with ten to play for everybody!

Raccoons (92-60) @ Loggers (58-94) – September 24-26, 2010

We had logged our share of issues with Milwaukee this season, getting too close for comfort to a 3-game sweep in our last series a month ago in Portland. Overall we are merely 9-6 against the worst offense and second-worst pitching in the league.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (19-5, 2.65 ERA) vs. Gabriel Caro (11-17, 3.42 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (18-7, 3.19 ERA) vs. Roy Thomas (13-11, 4.00 ERA)
Gil McDonald (7-2, 2.85 ERA) vs. A.J. Bartels (10-9, 4.29 ERA)

Three right-handers in this set, with our top 2 still vying for 20 wins. With 10 games left, Brownie has an extra life (against the Crusaders), but Jong-hoo doesn’t. Brown won 20 in 2004, but Jong-hoo’s 18 tie his career high from his rookie season.

Game 1
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – CF Castro – SS Howell – P Brown
MIL: RF Dally – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – CF T. Austin – 3B Townsley – C Rosa – LF J.R. Richardson – 2B Ito – P Caro

Less than little happened in the first two innings before Rob Howell hit a leadoff single in the third. With Brown batting, you could do one thing or another, and we called a hit-and-run, with Brown lining into center for a single, and the runners going to the corners with nobody out. Quebell then doubled for a 1-0 lead and two in scoring position, to which the Raccoons responded with a Nomura strikeout, Alston lifting a **** pop to shallow left, and Pruitt flying out to merely slightly deeper left, and nobody scored anymore. Of course, when Brown walked Leborio Catalo to start the bottom 4th, the Loggers quickly came up with doubles by Townsley and Richardson and took a 2-1 lead. Brown walked two in the fifth, somehow surviving that, but I wouldn’t survive the Raccoons’ batting much longer, as they left the bases loaded in the top of the inning.

That got slightly better afterwards. Canning doubled and scored on a Castro single in the sixth, tying the game, and in the next inning, Yoshi Nomura started things with a single. Pruitt reached, and then Bowen bounced a ball just by inches past Bob Townsley for a 2-out single that plated Nomura from second base and had the Raccoons ahead 3-2 on 11 hits. The Loggers put two on again in the bottom 7th before Brown’s last man, Antonio Luján hit into an inning-ending double play that was wonderfully started by Walt Canning on a hard grounder, just barely preserving the 3-2 lead, which Keith Ayers then added to with a pinch-hit homer in the eighth off Jason Long. Up 4-2, Rockburn and Casas were lined up to get six outs, with Rockburn allowing a leadoff single to Catalo, then threw a wild pitch and worked three deep counts to Tim Austin, Townsley, and Freddy Rosa, yet somehow retired all three of them without Catalo advancing another inch. Angel Casas was less dramatic, struck out J.R. Richardson, and had a 1-2-3 inning although Trevino got to stretch the legs on an Alonso Baca liner that nevertheless ended the game. 4-2 Brownies! Quebell 2-5, 2B, RBI; Canning 2-4, 2B; Howell 2-4; Ayers (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (20-5) and 1-3;

Browniiiieeee!! No, it still wasn’t a good start. He hasn’t had one in a month. August 17, vs. Rebels. He struck out nine, allowed one run, and that was also the most recent time he logged an out in the eighth inning…

Of course, the Crusaders and Indians were playing another in New York right now. The Indians managed only one hit, ironically a 3-run homer by Jose Paraz off Kel Yates in the fourth, and went down 4-3 to the Crusaders, who remain six games out, while the Indians are now seven out and almost eliminated, with a magic number of three. We can NOT seal the division on the weekend under any circumstances; we will need to go into head-to-head final week regardless.

20 wins for Brownie aside, Angel Casas has now 52 saves, and is only one off the single season record for the league.

Game 2
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – SS Guerin – CF Trevino – P Umberger
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – LF Davenport – 3B Townsley – RF Dally – C Baca – 2B G. Torres – P R. Thomas

Quebell and Nomura got on to start the game before Alston, Pruitt, and Martinez failed in succession and that was about the story as far as offense went for four innings, before both leadoff batters had 2-run hits in the fifth. Quebell homered with Trevino on base, but Umberger gave back the lead on a 2-run single to Richardson right away. Umberger struggled with control in the middle innings and was pretty much done after six innings, and when Bowen and Trevino were on base with one out in the seventh and his spot coming up, we had to move. His chance at 20 wins become interlocked with Pat White’s pinch-hitting capabilities, and White was .265 on the season when coming in as replacement. He hit Roy Thomas’ first pitch hard to first and through Catalo for an RBI double! Quebell hit a sac fly, 4-2, and now we just had to find enough bullpen to get this over with. Reese got two outs in the bottom 7th before Beltran allowed a single to J.R. Richardson. Rockburn came in to face the right-hander Luján, who romped a home run on the first pitch he saw, and Umberger was not going to be a 20-game winner after all. Rockburn also put the leadoff man on base in the eighth (this pen…) before Ron Thrasher replaced him and the Loggers hit Freddy Rosa for Justin Dally, with them going down on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out. The game went to extra innings when the Coons did nothing except receiving a 1-2-3 bottom 9th from Josh Gibson against the bottom of the order.

Top 10th started with a single by Quebell against Micah Steele. With personnel abundant, Walt Canning ran for him, but couldn’t get a steal off. Yoshi lined out to right before Alston livened up an 0-4 day with a walk. Pruitt struck out, and then Ralph Myers hit for Pruitt and struck out as well. Gibson allowed two singles to start the bottom 10th, with Ray Kelley coming in, before the crazy Loggers pulled off a double steal, yet they failed to win the game after two pops and a mighty drive to left center that ended up with Trevino, greatly annoying Bob Townsley. The Coons sent Kelley to bat with two outs in the 11th since I wanted a qualified pitcher that wasn’t Angel Casas to be in for the bottom of the inning. He even walked(!), but was left on by Canning. Bottom 11th, Kelley got two quick outs before Gabriel Torres hit a double through Myers. Backup shortstop James Warner hit a ball to the left side, where it escaped between Guerin and Canning, with Torres scoring easily. 5-4 Loggers.

The Crusaders beat the Indians 3-2 in another close one, which will make the Crusaders our primary enemy for sure in the final week. It would be REALLY great to win the rubber game before that, though!

Game 3
POR: 1B Quebell – SS Canning – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – CF White – C Bowen – 3B R. Martinez – 2B M. Gutierrez – P McDonald
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – LF Davenport – 3B Townsley – C Rosa – RF Dally – 2B Jennings – P Bartels

Milwaukee certainly had hoped for much more from Justin Dally in his rookie season than a .220 bat with three homers. At least he got them on top in this one, a 2-run single in the second inning. He was up again in his second turn with runners in scoring position and one out, but this time McDonald struck him out. Meanwhile, the Raccoons lineup was entirely dead against the marginal Bartels (Marginals he shall be called), and McDonald was stripped in the fifth with a leadoff single by Bartels and then a J.R. Richardson triple. The Loggers moved out to 4-0 and the Coons were looking like a fifth-place team at best. McDonald finished six and even struck out seven in what was still a muddled start. The only meaningful thing they managed in seven innings against A.J. Bartels was a 2-out RBI double by Manuel Gutierrez in the last of those seven innings. The bullpen gave that run right back in the bottom of the inning, but in the top 8th the Raccoons actually got TWO runners on base – AT THE SAME TIME! Canning singled, Alston – perhaps accidentally, it has to be assumed – also singled. Scott Boone came out to counter Pruitt, for whom it didn’t need much to counter right now. Boone balked, plating Canning, but struck out Pruitt, and Pat White lined out to Willie Davenport. In the ninth, Bowen drew a leadoff walk from Micah Steele, only for Martinez to have a double play to hit into. 5-2 Loggers. Martinez 2-4, 2B;

Those Loggers, hah?

In consolation, Jose Ramos blew the save in New York, costing the Crusaders the sweep as the Indians rallied back past them and won the Sunday game 7-6.

In other news

September 20 – ATL SP Domingo Cruz (12-12, 4.57 ERA) has been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation. He is expected to miss about eight months, which means he will not be back by next April.
September 21 – The FL West is won by the Los Angeles Pacifics, who beat the Miners 7-4 to seal the deal. This will be the Pacifics’ fifth playoff appearance, and the second consecutive. They have never won the World Series.
September 22 – The Warriors’ Dan Nordahl (6-4, 2.38 ERA, 29 SV) notches his 300th career save in a 2-1 win over the Buffaloes.
September 24 – And the next member of the 300 SV club is: Ian Johnson (8-6, 2.10 ERA, 34 SV)! The 31-year old lefty Cyclone sits down the Capitals to reach the mark.

Complaints and stuff

Deathmatch week coming up. If we blow this, I’ll take the vows and become a heavenly brother in an order where speaking and drinking are forbidding. Speaking forbidden means that also cursing is forbidden. It will be worse than hell, and even worse than the 2005 Raccoons.

So, we’ll have the Crusaders for four and the Indians for three. The Crusaders will play at home against the Titans to finish the year, while the Indians start the week in the Northwest, visiting the Elks for four games. And, well… normally I’d say this is over, playoff tickets are in the mail, but… but the fact that we play BOTH of the remaining contenders prevents me from going to sleep at night. Things can get stupidly wrong so quickly now…

We had a reliever once who had a knack for dramatic extra base hits. It was during the lean years, but I’d be damned if I could come up with his name. It wasn’t Huerta, no? Was it Huerta?

Brown’s K/9 was a career-best 10.0 just four weeks ago. Now it’s a career-worst 9.4 …

The Merritt injury is terrible at best, and discombobulating at worst. Disbowelling one might say. He was about the last hot batter on the team. Look at the corner outfielders. They could star in one of those zombie movies. The salaries are comparable.

Merritt down also wrecks the limited balance of the lineup. You almost have to bat Canning second when he plays, and that is not a sound idea. And – my understanding of these roster rule things is limited, I must admit – it might just be impossible to have BOTH of Canning and Martinez on the playoff roster, since they were both September 1 additions. Unless, you know, Nick Brown loses his left arm in a terrible toenail cutting / chainsaw accident.

Malaise aside, I’m working on a contract with somebody, and it’s not Ron Alston, who will leave after the season. Well, we don’t have THAT many free agents, you can probably guess who I’m trying to nail down.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (93-62) vs. Crusaders (88-67) – September 27-30, 2010

The Crusaders’ best defense and +129 run differential, and their three consecutive championships, they were going to run out of air. The Raccoons had beaten them 8-6 in this season, and the Crusaders would start the series without slugger Stanton Martin, who could be activated from the DL any day however.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (8-7, 4.00 ERA) vs. Manuel Hernandez (11-10, 4.49 ERA)
Javier Cruz (14-9, 3.36 ERA) vs. Mike Collins (8-10, 4.56 ERA)
Nick Brown (20-5, 2.65 ERA) vs. Kelvin Yates (15-12, 3.44 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (18-7, 3.18 ERA) vs. Pancho Trevino (15-9, 4.03 ERA)

Hernandez is the only left-hander we get in this series. Watch out for game 3 and a direct match between our 2007 co-aces (2008 not so much). The last time the Raccoons locked down a playoff spot, in 1996, they did it against the … Crusaders! Alonso Santana picked up the win pitching two scoreless innings in relief after Jose Rivera got ruffled early. Luke Newton and Liam Wedemeyer hit home runs in the 7-6 effort.

For the Raccoons to clinch the division, they have to EITHER at least split the series with the Crusaders OR win one against the Crusaders and one against the Indians OR sweep the Indians.

Alonso who?

Game 1
NYC: CF R. Pena – C G. Ortíz – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Manfull – 2B Caraballo – 3B Bond – RF B. Speed – SS Brantley – P M. Hernandez
POR: 1B Quebell – CF White – RF Ayers – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – SS Canning – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – P Baldwin

Nobody seemingly wanted to score although the Crusaders had the leadoff man on base about every inning except the first, and the Raccoons also stranded at least one batter every frame through four, until a critical error by Adrian Quebell in the fifth, dropping Gabriel Ortíz’ soft line for an error. That loaded the bases with one out for Martin Ortíz and B.J. Manfull, both weighing 29 homers apiece and 235 RBI in total, but both were left-handers, so maybe the Raccoons could wiggle out if Baldw- nah, whom’ I kidding? Ortíz even popped out, but Manfull drove in two, and Francisco Caraballo hit an RBI double too to give the Crusaders a 3-0 lead. The Coons would get a bases loaded chance in the bottom of the sixth after a Canning single, Martinez walking, and Nomura getting plainly plunked by Manuel Hernandez. Baldwin was hit for with Alston, who had managed ONE extra base hit since missing some time with the abdominal injury – ONE!! – and had batted scarcely .200 since then. COME ON ALSTON!! Alston hit the ****tiest bobbler, and it was so ****ty that the Crusaders failed to make a play, and it went into the books as an RBI single, although it died less than 40 feet from home plate. Quebell grounded out, a run scored, and White flew out to left, and the Raccoons were stuck behind, 3-2.

George Youngblood not even issued a leadoff walk to Roberto Pena in the top 7th, no he also balked him over part of the way as the Crusaders got him in to score. Hernandez was still pitching in the bottom half, but started to give up hard hits. Pruitt hit a 1-out double, and Bowen singled with a line over Ron Brantley. Canning hit a ball into the gap in right center, good for an RBI double and two men in scoring position with a 4-3 deficit. Ricardo Martinez took a BIG rip at the first pitch he saw, clearly missed, and then calmly watched as the second pitch almost hit home plate and Gabriel Ortíz was unable to control it and even kicked it further away when he scurried after it, enabling Craig Bowen to amble home with the tying run! Martinez singled on the next pitch, knocking out Hernandez as the Coons took the lead, and Nomura and Alston also hit singles to raise the tally to 6-4. Ray Kelley held the fort in the eighth, and Angel opened the ninth with a strikeout on Ron Brantley before Jose Flores popped out and Roberto Pena rolled out to Yoshi – ballgame! 6-4 Coons! Quebell 2-4, RBI; Canning 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Martinez 3-3, BB, RBI; Alston (PH) 2-2, 2 RBI;

This was not only the first career W for George Youngblood, while Angel Casas tied the single season saves mark set by DAL Derek Wolfe in 1986.

The Indians were choked by Juichi Fujita and lost 5-1 to the Elks, eliminating them from playoff contention.

Game 2
NYC: CF R. Pena – C G. Ortíz – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Manfull – 2B Caraballo – RF Talamante – 3B Burns – SS J. Ortega – P Collins
POR: 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – 2B Nomura – SS Guerin – P Cruz

In the first, Martin Ortíz hit his 30th shot off Javier Cruz, a solo job, before the Raccoons got Quebell on with a walk, plus Castro with a single, Alston hit into a double play, and nobody scored. The Raccoons got back in the bottom 2nd because they had the pitcher up with two men on base, two out, and two strikes on Cruz, and he managed to hit the game-tying single. Quebell doubled, 2-1, and Collins melted, walking Castro to load them up, and then Alston held still and took ball four as well, which was about the best he could do. Yet while Cruz was a threat at the plate, he was oddly clubbable on the mound. Caraballo homered in the fourth to get the Crusaders back to 3-2, and they scored two more runs in the fifth when he just altogether stopped retiring batters and they had the bases loaded with nobody out. What did the Raccoons have once Cruz was gone after 6 1/3 spotty innings? Well, Manuel Gutierrez and Adrian Quebell drove balls to deep center back-to-back in the bottom of the seventh, yet both were sucked up Roberto Pena before they could reach the grass. That was largely it for them. Ricardo Huerta and Scott Hood suffocated them in the last two innings, and the party had to be postponed to Wednesday at least. 4-3 Crusaders. Quebell 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Youngblood 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if Nick Brown could pitch a division-clinching shutout and whiff eleven? Probably reaching a bit far here.

Game 3
NYC: CF R. Pena – C G. Ortíz – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Manfull – 2B Caraballo – 3B Bond – RF Talamante – SS Brantley – P Yates
POR: 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Canning – 3B M. Gutierrez – P Brown

There was rain in the forecast, Roberto Pena almost homered on the first pitch of the game (but flew out to Alston), and the Raccoons had Quebell single, Castro single, and Alston found his way into another double play in the first inning. Kevin Bond’s 2-out walk in the second was followed by a Carlos Talamante home run and the Crusaders were up 2-0 early on. The Crusaders were taking big swings all along, which resulted in five strikeouts in the first three innings, but also lots of drives as Nick Brown didn’t quite get it where he wanted it, and that had gone on for a few months now. In the bottom 3rd, however, he led off the inning with a single to right, and Quebell also singled. Yates balked before throwing a pitch to Castro, putting the tying runs in scoring position for three nominally big left-handers. Castro walked onto the open base in a full count, Alston struck out, Pruitt popped out to shallow right, but Bowen drove a ball to deep left, and that was – into Martin Ortíz’ glove.

It yet got worse. Alston made an error in the fourth that almost would have led somewhere ugly, but the Crusaders balked out of an obvious RISP spot, before Yoshi led off the bottom 4th with a double off the centerfield wall, only to pull up lame and pulling on his leg at second base. He left the game, with Gutierrez going to second and Martinez entering in the #6 hole. Nick Brown hit a sac fly in the inning, then also had to witness the tarp coming onto the field as a rain shower doused the field. The tarp stayed on for almost an hour, likely limiting what Brown could do from here on. Bottom 5th, still down 2-1, we had Pruitt on base when Martinez hit a blooper to shallow center. Pena made a low grab at his knees on the run, kept running, tumbled, and fell on his face, with the ball bouncing away into centerfield. Pruitt and Martinez reached scoring position with two out for Walt Canning, who walked, but Gutierrez struck out – and we had no spare second baseman anymore, so he had to bat. Kevin Bond homered off Brown in the sixth, 3-1, and the team was really going to hang this on him in an all-out effort. Beltran didn’t retire anybody in the top of the seventh, with a run scoring and Ted Reese digging him out, but he was charged a run in the eighth instead. The Raccoons had nothing in the last four innings outside of a sorry single by Gutierrez. 5-1 Crusaders. Quebell 2-4, BB; Castro 2-4. BB; Nomura 1-2, 2B;

Not panicking. Yet. Maybe after they crush Umberger. Yoshi’s injury was not serious, a very mild groin strain. He was DTD for a day or two and we would leave him out of the fourth game in the series.

Please, Jong-hoo, I’m really beggin’ you.

Game 4
NYC: CF R. Pena – C G. Ortíz – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Manfull – 2B Caraballo – 3B Bond – RF B. Speed – SS Brantley – P P. Trevino
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – LF Pruitt – C Owens – 3B R. Martinez – SS Canning – 2B M. Gutierrez – P Umberger

Umberger had nothing, started the game with a walk to Pena, a hard single to Gabriel Ortíz and before you could even blink, there were four runs on the board, and none of them the Coons’. An ugly game had just begun, and it would see another shocker in the fourth inning. Brantley had singled and was on first with one out, when Trevino bunted to the left side, where Martinez overran the ball for another particularly stupid error. Umberger then went ahead and drilled Pena, with the Crusaders eventually held to one run with Ayers throwing out Trevino at the plate. Umberger was limited to five mucky innings, allowing five runs (four earned), with the Raccoons trailing by a world and four runs. Martinez’ second and third at-bat took place with two men on base, and he twice killed the inning with a pop and a strikeout, respectively, then couldn’t handle another easy grounder by Gabriel Ortíz in the seventh. Even the scorer was sorry for him and gave Ortíz a single, but that could hardly mask what Martinez was: a ****ty caricature of a ballplayer, wholly inept in every which way.

Josh Gibson was pitching the sixth and also started the seventh before stopping after feeling pain in his side, and Sergio Vega replaced him. In the bottom 7th the Raccoons got a leadoff double from Canning, and Gutierrez also got on base. When Quebell singled, the score was 5-2, runners were on the corners, and Ayers was batting, and he had already conquered Trevino in the first inning. Here, he struck out. The tying run was on base again in the eighth after Pruitt hit a single to start the frame, and Martinez did the best he could and stuck his fat butt into a Trevino pitch to reach first base, his only means of doing so. Mainly because it was somewhere in the unwritten rules, page 22, Ron Alston had to bat for Walt Canning in this spot, and of course struck out, and the Coons lost again. 5-2 Crusaders. Ayers 2-4, HR, RBI; Pruitt 1-2, 2 BB; Gutierrez 2-4; Gibson 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Oh my…

Gibson was listed as DTD and might be able to even pitch on the weekend. And even if not…

Raccoons (94-65) vs. Indians (89-70) – September 27-30, 2010

Good pitching, pathetic offense, blah. Listen, Arrowheads. This ain’t your business. You’re outta this. Okay, you can have two, but at least let us win once. Okay? Can we do that? No? Bastards.

Projected matchups:
Gil McDonald (7-3, 3.07 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (14-14, 3.22 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (8-7, 3.83 ERA) vs. Jimmy Sjogren (8-16, 5.45 ERA)
Javier Cruz (14-10, 3.44 ERA) vs. Román Escobedo (6-3, 3.39 ERA)

Right-left-left. Don’t these left-hander look squishy? Well, Escobedo is career-squishy for sure (4.63 ERA).

Game 1
IND: 2B Mathews – 3B Sharp – C Paraz – 1B Tsung – CF Cavazos – LF Luxton – RF Graves – SS R. Miller – P Weise
POR: 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P McDonald

Joey Mathews doubled on the first pitch by Gil McDonald and would go on to score, while the Raccoons put three men on and scored nobody in the first inning. McDonald wasn’t fooling anybody, and Tomas Castro was injured on a defensive play, and the Coons were down 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Ron Alston ripped a 433-footer, 2-run home run, tying the score. One inning later, Craig Bowen went well deep off Tom Weise to put the Brownshirts up 3-2. Walt Canning was at the plate with two men on and two outs in the fifth and snipped a grounder up the middle that eluded Mathews and Miller and plated two runners. The Raccoons were up 5-2, but McDonald kept giving up hard stuff, with the outfielders, including the replacement White, shaking the legs quite a bit out there. McDonald was done after six, and the bullpen had to patch up three innings to lock down the postseason without allowing three runs. SOUNDS DOABLE. Thrasher struck out a pair in the seventh to turn away the Indians, before Rockburn came out for the eighth, retired Jerry Fletcher on a bouncer, but then gave up a double into the gap to Mathews. Jose Paraz’ 2-out single plated the runner, and with the tying run at the plate in Mun-wah Tsung (31 homers!), enough with the fudging! If Tsung has to hit one deep, he has to do it off Angel Casas rather than the nervous wreck Beltran. And Angel had history to make! Get that wide-eyed first baseman out of his view! Three pitches, three strikes, Tsung strolled back to the dugout.

The Critters had nothing in the bottom 8th. Angel started the ninth with Ramiro Cavazos, and whiffed him. César Aguilar laid off some borderline stuff and got the balls called, then grounded a 3-1 pitch up the middle. Manuel Gutierrez had replaced Yoshi after he had been hit for by Ayers in the bottom 8th, and made a sparkling play, zinging the ball over to first, where Aguilar was defeated on a bang-bang play, which brought up Al Graves to climb over for Angel, who hit his spots and hit his edges, and on five pitches had Graves struck out. 5-3 Raccoons! Alston 4-4, HR, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-3; Casas 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (54);

Ken Maddox pitched a splendid game for the Crusaders as they beat the Titans, 5-1, in trying to do their part, and doing it very well, but … guys … too late! (casually lights a cigar, leans back in his chair, exhales … then topples over and out of the chair)

Worth it.

Game 2
IND: CF L. Martinez – 3B Sharp – C Paraz – 1B Tsung – RF Luxton – LF Graves – SS M. Clark – 2B J. Gutierrez – P Sjogren
POR: CF White – SS Canning – LF Alston – RF Ayers – 1B Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – P Baldwin

Baldwin struck out five in the first three innings but conceded a run in the third inning to the ex-Coons. Daniel Sharp got on, and Mun-wah Tsung drove him in. The Coons went down in order the first time through against the much ravaged Sjogren. While Walt Canning would hit a single to stave off early thoughts of humiliation, Ron Alston promptly hit into a double play, in which he also formally announced that a 4-hit day in game 1 shouldn’t mean that he was back from the dead, and especially not with meaningful games beginning on Tuesday. Daniel Sharp hit his ninth homer of the year, a solo job in the fifth, off Baldwin to move Indians out 2-0. For the Raccoons, Baldwin had to create something in the bottom 6th, hitting a leadoff single into centerfield. Canning also singled, sending Baldwin to third base, which brought up Alston with the tying runs aboard and one out. Of course nothing was coming forth from Alston or Pruitt in the important spot, with Alston popping out over the infield to make damn sure nobody scored. Instead, Sjogren had his own leadoff hit off Baldwin in the seventh and easily scored.

It was slightly outrageous that the Raccoons couldn’t get to Sjogren, who was still pitching in the eighth inning despite allowing a run on a Martinez triple in the seventh. Pat White worked a leadoff walk in the eighth, bringing up the tying run again. Canning hit right into a double play. With nobody on, Alston walked, and Ayers reached on a Sharp error. Pruitt singled, bases loaded for Bowen, and Sjogren still in, they were BEGGING for it! Nope, Bowen popped out to shallow right. Bottom 9th, Salvadaro Soure pitching. Martinez was an easy out before Nomura singled and Quebell hit for Ted Reese as the tying run. The 1-1 pitch was cracked hard to right, a real drive, to deep right, OUTTA HERE!!!

Extra innings, and Quebell stayed in the game, with Pruitt moving to left, and Alston moving to the showers. Ron Thrasher had a clean 10th, with Ralph Myers pinch-hitting to get the bottom of the inning started, but Soure was angry now and erased Myers and Ayers on strikeouts before Pruitt bobbled out. Quebell batted again in the bottom 11th with Nomura on first base once more, but this time Quebell didn’t get it all and flew out to Leon Martinez. This game turned into a drag. Kelley pitched two scoreless, Youngblood pitched two scoreless, yet by the 15th inning (…) we were at Angel Casas, with Marcos Bruno twice allowing a runner to reach second base, but there he stood and told them that they shall not pass. Bottom 15th, Bruno still in for the third inning, 2-out double but Bowen, but Martinez was next, and ugh… In the 16th, Angel Casas struck out Fletcher and Bruno, then walked Clint Philip and was tattooed with a Juan Gutierrez drive that left Matt Pruitt in leftfield to sadly look after. Bruno was quite easily gassed by now and Nomura hit a hard single to lead off the bottom 16th, only for Quebell and White to pop up. Walt Canning drove a ball to deep center where it banged off the wall for a 2-out RBI double, with Manuel Gutierrez hitting for Angel Casas and flying out to Philip. 5-4 Indians. Canning 3-8, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2-5, BB, 2B; Nomura 2-6, BB; Quebell (PH) 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Kelley 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; Youngblood 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Bloody ****.

Game 3
IND: RF Graves – 2B M. Clark – C Paraz – 1B Tsung – CF Cavazos – LF Luxton – 3B Kilters – SS R. Miller – P Escobedo
POR: CF White – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – 2B Nomura – SS Guerin – P Cruz

Two singles and a dinked batter loaded the bases for the Indians before Javier Cruz ever got anybody out, and while he left them all on with two pops and a whiff – oh my lords, they suck! Especially Pat White. Pat White was the worst. Pat White made TWO outs in the bottom of the first inning. To be precise, White and Quebell started the first inning with outs before Escobedo put on the next seven Raccoons on five singles and two walks, plating five runs, before White made his second out. Top 2nd, Cruz put the first two men on again before going bunt, pop, pop, and nobody scored again, and in the third Jose Paraz doubled to get going and moved to third on a Cavazos single. Cavazos was promptly caught stealing and Robbie Luxton grounded out to Concie to again deny the Indians.

Madness wasn’t going to subside, a lunatic team giving it all on the final day of the regular season. While Cruz finally retired the leadoff man in the fourth inning, the Raccoons would have three on with one out before suffering a case of ****typops and not scoring. Top 5th, Mark Clark hit a leadoff single and went to third on Paraz’ following single, except that Keith Ayers had him gunned down, and THAT cost the Indians their scoring opportunity in the inning! Next inning: Cavazos singled, Luxton singled – RRRAAAHHH!!! Chris Kilters, batting .140 and sinking, hit into a double play and Miller hopped out to second, and Javier Cruz, despite putting a dozen men on in six innings, was still not scored upon! Funny side, he wasn’t even using a lot of pitches. Has anybody ever seen a 10-hit shutout? He issued a leadoff walk in the seventh. Ah the heck! Who cares! Pitch on! A 2-out single by Luxton in the eighth ran the Indians to 11 hits and no runs, and while the Raccoons were doing absolutely nothing remarkable the entire game after making Escobedo soil his underpants in the first inning, Cruz was back out for the ninth inning. Ryan Miller with a leadoff double, César Aguilar with a single. Runners on the corners, no outs. No, it’s fine, keep on pitching, this is so stupid it has to work! Al Graves promptly struck out. All we needed now was a double play from Mark Clark! He popped out on 0-2, very high, very shallow to right, Ayers called off Nomura and had it! Miller retreated to third base, and Jose Paraz was all that stood between Javier Cruz and the most stupid piece of history you could imagine. No, Paraz drilled a 2-1 pitch into the gap, Miller scored, and the runners went into scoring position. Ron Thrasher replaced Cruz and before he even threw a pitch, he balked in Aguilar… Stupidity finally ended when Tsung grounded out to Quebell. 5-2 Coons. Pruitt 2-3, 2 BB; Bowen 2-5, RBI; Guerin 2-3, BB;

In other news

September 28 – Tijuana’s Stanley Dougal (.335, 4 HR, 65 RBI) has his hitting streak killed off at 24 games by the Bayhawks, who hold him to 0-for-4.
September 29 – The Cyclones blow through the Buffaloes, 11-1, to lock up the FL East. This is their eighth playoff appearance, and their fifth straight!
September 30 – SFW INF Oliver Torres (.295, 3 HR, 45 RBI) ends his season with an injury, suffering an oblique strain.
October 1 – NAS RF/1B Juan Ortíz (.278, 21 HR, 98 RBI) has sprained his ankle and will also miss the last few games.
October 1 – DAL CL Kevin Wanless (3-5, 3.34 ERA, 41 SV) is also out a few days early with a strained hammy.
October 2 – The Pacifics lose INF Adriano Lulli (.285, 9 HR, 54 RBI) for the playoffs after the 30-year old strains an oblique.
October 2 – SFW SP Bruce Morrison (20-6, 3.30 ERA) finishes his year with a 3-hitter over the Scorpions as the Warriors win 7-0.

Complaints and stuff

THE RACCOONS GO TO THE PLAYOFFS!!! THE RACCOONS GO TO THE PLAYOFFS!!! THE RACCOONS GO TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!

They played ****, though. The Thunder are the only team that ever beat us in the CLCS, and that one was a sweep, and that’s in the cards again.

It gets worse. Tomas Castro was found out to have a ruptured tendon in his finger, and he was definitely out for the playoffs, so we will play without any speed on the base paths. I think that Trevino will take his roster spot to at least play late inning defense and Pat White might start most days in center.

Depending on how you count it, either Craig Bowen drove in the division-clinching run, because he gave the Coons the lead, or it was Walt Canning, because his 2-run single stood up, but either way, Canning is on the playoff roster. I’m through with Ricardo Martinez.

We are not through with Angel Casas, however, who signed a 3-yr, $4.05M contract on the final day of the regular season. This is a completely bollocks contract, since we both wanted a long-term deal, but he wanted more bucks than I was going to give him (or was able to give him). In the end we did a 3-year deal, and nobody’s happy.

Playoff tickets in the mail! We even barely avoided blowing home field advantage in the CLCS.

[MarkCuban]

This team will go as far as Nick Brown can carry it. And right now, it looks like the Brownie may have expired.

I don't know if this team can stomach the Thunder, they may just crap the bed.

[Westheim]

As is good custom in these confines, the CLCS (and possible World Series) will be presented in a 2-3-1-1 format, primarily to prevent spoilers in game 6 by seeing that the scrollbar doesn’t leave enough room for a game 7 in a 2-3-2 format.

2010 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (95-67)

Tuesday night, Portland, friggin’ cold, nobody cares, because it’s playoff baseball! We haven’t had such fancy bling in 14 years!

Yet the Raccoons arrived in this happy place in a rather unhappy state, decimated by injuries and poor form. They had played merely .500 since September 1, almost had blown a sizeable 8-game lead, and had lost two of their important position players, 3B Jon Merritt and OF Tomas Castro, to injuries in the final few weeks. MR Pat Slayton and rookie SP Hector Santos were also tucked away on the DL. Instead of Merritt and Castro, rookie Walt Canning and defensive centerfielder Santiago Trevino were added to the playoff roster.

Their opposition, the Thunder, also had injury woes. Half-ace Daniel Dickerson had been on the DL since June, and they were also without their starting centerfielder Jose Gonzalez and backup outfielder David Clarke. Another outfielder, Martin Covington was ailing with an oblique issue.

The Raccoons had a few decisions to make. The first concerned their rotation and which starter to drop. Brown – Umberger – Cruz was a rather moot point of discussion, but between Colin Baldwin and Gil McDonald you could argue for against both of them. However, the pendulum swung in favor of Baldwin, and not because he had had such a good season, but rather because the Thunder lineup was even more distorted in favor of left-handed batting than the Coons’ was. Colin Baldwin had started three games against Oklahoma during the season, and had won all three of them. Gil McDonald had faced them once and had been obliterated as recently as September 20. Thus, Gil McDonald moved to the pen, but this might not hold up for the World Series, should the Raccoons make it there.

Odds weren’t in their favor. Apart from the slight issue of the missing pieces in the lineup, there was also the problem that they had not played sound baseball for an extended period of time, and had gotten worse in the last three weeks. The rotation was struggling, the bullpen was prone to blowups, and the corner outfielders had essentially died in August. Matt Pruitt and Ron Alston were as cold as could be.

The Thunder had the highest OBP in the Continental League, and were suffocating their opposition by numbers, not by power. They had hit fewer home runs than the disappointing Portland Power Prodigies. Despite the injuries, they still fielded a top 5 that were all batting .275 or better, and all had OBP’s of .371 or better, with Tomas Cardenas, Pablo Ledesma, and Tom Reese all hitting double-digit dingers on top of that.

But even in the Raccoons’ second-half diminished state, their pitching was still better than the Thunder’s. Antonio Donis had won 21 games and the ERA title, but the best of the rest was William Raven with a 3.80 ERA. The bullpen was porous, especially if called on early. They had only one left-handed reliever in the pen, Steven Anderson, and he had allowed a few runs to the Coons during the year.

In principle, they’re beatable. But the recent offensive shenanigans of the Raccoons are a big concern, and the Thunder might hold a slight edge going into the set.

2010 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (95-67)

Game 1 – Nick Brown (20-6, 2.70 ERA) vs. Takeru Sato (12-11, 4.11 ERA)

Antonio Donis had pitched on the weekend and was probably going to pitch game 2 of the series opposing Jong-hoo Umberger. Sato and Donis are their two left-handers, so it’s not a big difference for us.

He had stunk all the way since August, but it was the playoffs, and there was no way we could leave Ron Alston on the bench. However, I was hoping for a boost from Keith Ayers, who got the centerfield assignment over Pat White. Canning started at third base, something that would probably hold up throughout the playoffs until he would tear out a leg or two.

OCT: 1B J. Lugo – LF Britton – RF Tom Reese – 2B M. Garza – C Ledesma – SS Vieitas – 3B Arreola – CF E. Fernandez – P Sato
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Canning – RF Alston – CF Ayers – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Brown

Almost 33 years old, Nick Brown’s first playoff strikeout after 2,072 K in the regular season was Pablo Ledesma at the end of the first inning. Jose Lugo, normally not batting in the top regions of the order, started with a single in a 1-2 count, and Tom Reese walked, but the Thunder popped out twice. While the Coons didn’t exactly made wind early on, much less storm, Brown’s first appearance as wobbly was proven by the third inning and a leadoff walk to the pitcher Sato. While Jose Lugo hit into a double play, Brown then drilled Apasyu Britton and was taken deep by Tom Reese, sending the Thunder up 2-0.

Brown led off the bottom of the third and reached base on an infield single. While Quebell flew out to left, Walt Canning squeezed a walk out of Takeru Sato, which put Ron Alston in a prime spot to hit one out for effect, or right into a double play. Of course he chose the latter.

While Brownie struck out the side in the fifth inning and reached eight strikeouts for the entire game at that point, the damage had been done, and the Raccoons acted in rather uninspired ways. Craig Bowen hit singles his first two times up, nothing ever came of them.

Brown struck out two in the sixth, and struck out Marcos Garza to start the seventh inning. When he struck out Pablo Ledesma, he reached a full dozen on the day, which broke the Continental League playoff record, and he even added one by striking out Herberto Vieitas for 13 total! Yet, all for naught. The Coons went down in order in the fifth, and in the sixth, that one with Ayers grounding out on a 3-0 pitch, and Bowen walked in the seventh, but … just no. No reaction from the lineup whatsoever.

Ted Reese replaced Brown in the eighth after Brown had thrown 116 pitches, and right away surrendered a first-pitch home run to ex-Coon Eddie Fernandez. Down 3-0, Pat White pinch-hit for Reese in the bottom of the eighth, leading off and hitting a double, the first time a Raccoon reached second base since the second inning. He didn’t score either as the Raccoons continued to suck. Luis Beltran forfeited the game for good in the ninth inning, facing five batters and putting four on base. A complete choke job was completed with a double play that Travis Owens hit into in the bottom of the ninth.

5-0 Thunder (OCT lead 1-0); Bowen 2-2, BB; White (PH) 1-1, 2B; Brown 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 13 K, L (0-1) and 1-2;

Nick Brown broke the strikeout record that was first set by Bob “Butcher” Haines in 1988, and tied by Larry Cutts in 2006.

Game 2 – Jong-hoo Umberger (18-8, 3.28 ERA) vs. William Raven (8-2, 3.80 ERA)

We arrived at game 2, and Angel Casas had come down with the flu. It was too bad to be made up. He was coughing, sneezing, and splattering nasal excrements all over the dugout. It was unpleasant. Was it legal to have him pitch? His paws were covered in plague smear that doctored the ball considerably.

However, if the team doesn’t score runs, there’s no need to run him out there.

OCT: LF Britton – 1B T. Cardenas – C Ledesma – RF Tom Reese – 2B M. Garza – CF Covington – 3B Arreola – SS Vieitas – P Raven
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – CF White – SS Howell – P Umberger

Umberger struck Britton with the fourth pitch of the game, giving the Thunder a free runner, but the issue was for now rendered moot when Ledesma hit into a double play. The largely unremarkable Raven retired the first eight Raccoons in order before Umberger reached with a snipped single to center. Quebell lined a pitch over Cardenas for a double, and Yoshi singled to left to at least score Umberger before Ron Alston made a predictable third out, but at least the Coons held an actual 1-0 lead.

The fourth inning was tense. First, Cardenas almost hit one out but Pruitt was able to catch the ball at the wall. The Thunder remained behind, and Raven walked Bowen in the bottom 4th for a 1-out runner for the Coons. Canning singled, but White popped out. Rob Howell swung through strike three, except that his bat touched Ledesma’s glove and the backstop was called out for interference, loading the bases with two outs for … Umberger. Too bad he was such a ****ty hitter and was not due another base hit until Pentecost.

On the other side of the linescore, Tom Reese was quick to get the Thunder even, hitting a leadoff single in the fifth, stealing second base, and scoring on Marcos Garza’s single to center. Worse, Arreola reached base and then Herberto Vieitas emptied a pitch into the gap in left center, where it easily split and got past Pruitt and White, both runs scored, 3-1 Thunder after the Vieitas double. The runner promptly moved to third base on a wild pitch to Raven, who flew out to center, with Pat White throwing out Vieitas at home. Would that even matter?

Ron Alston actually did something worthy of his salary in the bottom of the inning. With Nomura on base, he doubled to left and into the corner, well enough to have Yoshi score, and Alston represented the tying run on second base. Excuse me – third base. Raven just balked him over. Matt Pruitt singled to left, Alston scored, and we were even at three.

We were going to be even for like five milliseconds. Umberger walked Britton on four pitches in the top 6th, then allowed a single up the middle to Cardenas. Britton went to third with nobody out. Ron Thrasher replaced the clueless Umberger, struck out Ledesma, got a pop to left from Reese that was not deep enough to have Britton go even on Pruitt’s poor arm, and then Marcos Garza struck out in a full count. White and Howell then led off the bottom 6th by getting on base and Thrasher was used to bunt them into scoring position. Quebell and Nomura both grounded out, but at least the go-ahead run scored before Thrasher also pitched the seventh.

But well, we were up after seven, 4-3, so now we could line up Rockburn and – oh ****. And you couldn’t count on Beltran, either, because he had been crap for over a month now. Two innings from a lineup where he wouldn’t face a right-hander until it was too late was probably too much to ask from Raw Lockburn, but did we have another option? We couldn’t send Thrasher to pitch four innings for sure. So it was Rockburn to come out in the eighth to face the top of the order, appearing along with Manuel Gutierrez to get Rockburn into Canning’s slot so his turn wouldn’t come up in the bottom of the eighth. Britton singled to right before Rockburn got a strikeout and a double play, avoiding the blown save for now.

An insurance run would have been swell, but none came to be. While Rob Howell singled, he was also picked off first base, and so Rockburn had to contend with Reese, Garza, and Covington as we wouldn’t bother the feverish Angel Casas. Reese worked a 7-pitch walk to make the attendance break a sweat right away. Garza lifted a 1-0 pitch to left, where Pruitt collected it rather routinely. But then Rockburn loaded the bases with a Covington single and Ignacio Arreola walked. Our last hope was that backup shortstop Marciano Romano in the #8 hole would strike out and whoever hit for Anderson would not hit it all too hard. Romano popped out foul, with left-hander Haruyoshi Takizawa hitting for Anderson, another left-hander. Come on, Law! Don’t be raw! Be … a … be a staw? Get him out goddamnit!!

One, two, three strikes you’re out at the hold ballgame.

4-3 Raccoons (series tied 1-1); Alston 2-4, 2B, RBI; Howell 1-2, BB; Thrasher 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0); Rockburn 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

[Westheim]

2010 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (95-67)

Game 3 – Javier Cruz (15-10, 3.38 ERA) vs. Antonio Donis (21-6, 2.38 ERA)

Javier Cruz had a pathetic postseason track record, pitching with four Blue Sox teams while he was employed in Nashville. He started 11 games, appeared in one more, and went 4-5 with a 5.11 ERA, getting particularly romped in 2000, where he lost both his starts and was hung a 10.38 ERA.

Angel Casas still looked pale to me.

POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Canning – RF Alston – CF Ayers – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Cruz
OCT: LF Britton – 1B T. Cardenas – C Ledesma – RF Tom Reese – 2B M. Garza – CF Covington – 3B Arreola – SS Vieitas – P Donis

The first three Coons hit the ball hard three times, resulting in a flyout to Reese, a Canning single, and a double play. While the Thunder stranded a pair in the bottom 1st, the top 2nd followed the same pattern with Ayers making a deep out with Britton, Pruitt reaching on a single, and the Bowen hit one hard to short, except that it went past Vieitas. While Yoshi made an out, Howell blooped a ball up the rightfield line, unreachable for Reese, and the first run was in as Pruitt scored. Cruz batted and chunked a ball into the ground just a bit away from home plate, but Donis fell away from the ball and Ledesma wasn’t exactly fleet on the feet, Nomura dashing down the line, Cruz up the line, Ledesma – no play! RBI single, 2-0 Coons!

In a perfect world Quebell’s following drive to center would have gone 15 feet further for a 3-shot, but Covington ended the inning with a jumping grab, then got plunked by Cruz as the bottom of the inning started, but didn’t make it past second base.

Ayers and Pruitt hit the ball hard to the deep outfield and had nothing to show for it in the third inning. But the Thunder got their two leadoff batters on with a Britton single and a Cardenas walk, then got back-to-back doubled from Garza and Covington to plate three runs and take the lead.

Top 4th, Donis put Bowen, Nomura, and Howell on base. No outs and a shoddy pitcher on the mound, do you make the switch? No. Because we still have to pitch six innings, and have only one competent left-handed pitcher. And the long man, McDonald, is a right-hander as well. There was that tiny hope that Javier Cruz would at least not turn 3 on, 0 out into a 1-2-3 double play. Nope, much the opposite, he had a productive at-bat, flew out to center, and Bowen tagged and scored to tie the contest. Quebell grounded out to lower his batting average to .091, but Walt Canning hit a liner to right that fell in and scored both Raccoons on the base and Tom Reese didn’t get anything on the throw home where he hoped to nip Howell. No, he even hurt himself and had to leave the game, replaced by Eddie Fernandez.

But Cruz’ days were numbered here. The bottom 4th started with Vieitas, who singled, and Britton then hit an RBI triple. After a walk to Cardenas, SOME move was necessary. Beltran was asked to somehow get out of the inning without falling behind, struck out Ledesma and got a pop from Fernandez to end the inning with still a 5-4 lead to cling on. Takizawa had also hit for Donis, so both starters were out of the game.

And for the moment, Beltran was retiring batters, so when Howell singled with one out in the sixth and his turn came up, we used him to bunt and hope that Quebell could do something against righty Shaun Yoder, but he popped out. Neither team did anything against the other’s reliever. Canning hit a leadoff double in the seventh and was stranded after some outrageous failing by all three outfielder in succession.

Bottom 7th, Ray Kelley struck out the side (and Ledesma in the ribs, somewhere in between), the score remaining 5-4. Yoder made it through four innings without a problem, also holding the Coons to squid in the eighth, and when we moved to Thrasher for the bottom of the inning, he was completely junk and walked Covington and Arreola on eight pitches total. Some frantic relieving was necessary… from Rockburn. And he had nothing else to do apart from walking Vieitas. Three on, nobody out, it was dramatic to say the least. Marciano Romano hit for Yoder and struck out. Britton had a favorable 2-1 count and popped out to short. Cardenas came up, AND HE STRUCK OUT!!! I NEED OXYGEN OVER HERE!!!

After Arturo Lopez cut down Trevino, Quebell, and Canning in the top 9th, Angel “Rudolph” Casas had to contend with the 3-4-5 batters in his reduced state. No cushion. And he walked Ledesma on four pitches. Thankfully the injury to Tom Reese and then pinch-hitting for Eddie Fernandez the last time through had left the Thunder without an option to run for the snail-paced Ledesma, plus Jose Lugo was batting in the cleanup spot and struck out. And Angel clearly had nothing at all. Garza walked in a full count before Covington poked at the first pitch and lofted one out to Alston in leftfield (Pruitt gone for defense). Ignacio Arreola batted with two out and two on in this mad contest, drummed a low line back to the pitcher, and the ball bounced off the grass and struck Casas in the wrist! Casas used the glove to hurl the ball over to Quebell and that was going to be close – OUT!!! HE’S OUT!!!

5-4 Raccoons (POR leads 2-1); Canning 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Howell 2-3, BB, RBI; Beltran 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Good news, we somehow survive. Bad news, Angel Casas had a sore wrist, partly from wiping his nose for three days and partly for that evil bouncer, and was doubtful for the rest of the CLCS.

Game 4 – Colin Baldwin (8-7, 3.83 ERA) vs. Edgar Amador (11-14, 4.25 ERA)

Here comes the Fat Cat, who hasn’t had much luck against the Raccoons. The weather in Oklahoma City was dubious, and it was good that our surplus starter hadn’t been used yet, giving us extra insurance against ill-willed climate.

POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – CF White – SS Howell – P Baldwin
OCT: RF J. Lugo – LF Britton – C Ledesma – 1B T. Cardenas – SS M. Garza – CF Vieitas – 2B Romano – 3B Arreola – P Amador

Rain started early in the third inning, and quickly demanded that play be stopped for an hour. At that point, the Raccoons led 1-0, the run scoring on a groundout by Baldwin, who hadn’t been without problems and had given the Thunder two on and no outs in the first inning.

Amador hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the third, which was awful regardless of the outcome, with Jose Lugo hitting into a double play and Ape Britton striking out. On to the top 4th, the Fat Cat began to lose it quite obviously. Canning walked to start the inning and stole second base, which was not quite a key event once Pat White also walked, and Howell eventually also drew four wide ones. Baldwin batted with the sacks stacked and no one turned down, hit a sac fly to Herberto Vieitas, and then Quebell hit into a double play, and Craig Bowen achieved the same result in the next inning.

The middle innings were considerably easier for Colin Baldwin compared to the first few. From the fourth through the sixth, the Thunder had only one batter reach base. The Raccoons didn’t build on their 2-0 lead, though, even when Baldwin hit a leadoff single in the seventh inning. He never got moved past first base…

Marcos Garza hit a single in the seventh, but again the support cast for the Thunder bowed out. Vieitas popped out to Rob Howell, and Marciano Romano struck out once again. And even the embattled Fat Cat managed to recollect himself against a tame Raccoons order. Baldwin aside, nobody reached from the sixth through the eighth, which he completed, while Baldwin didn’t. Baldwin walked Lugo on four pitches with two outs in the bottom 8th, and despite left-handers coming up, Baldwin was over 100 pitches now, and I wanted Thrasher, who retired his only batter, Ape Britton, on a fly out to Alston.

Sergio Alvarez, a right-hander, pitched for the Thunder in the ninth. White and Howell went down without much fuss, but when Keith Ayers batted for Thrasher, he lined a ball into left for a double. Quebell was rather eager to finally do something productive, singled up the middle, Ayers scored, and we had our third run of the game. The Thunder still had none, and once Yoshi flew out to right, Angel’s sore paw made us default to Law Rockburn, who would start the bottom of the ninth with Pablo Ledesma, who drove a 1-2 pitch to deep left, but not deep enough to beat Pat White. Both Alston and Pruitt were removed for defense here, and it was nice to see that it paid off.

Cardenas struck out, before Marcos Garza looped a pitch into shallow center, and that couldn’t be caught by anyone. No drama yet, the tying run was still not at the plate. And Vieitas had looked bad at the plate the entire day, too. Three strikes erased him and gave the Coons a commanding series lead.

3-0 Raccoons (POR leads 3-1); Pruitt 3-4; Ayers (PH) 1-1, 2B; Baldwin 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-2, 2 RBI;

A 3-1 lead and Nick Brown on tap! That made us feel good, didn’t it?

Game 5 – Nick Brown (20-6, 2.70 ERA) vs. Takeru Sato (12-11, 4.11 ERA)

Adrian Quebell had been quite poor, not just for a leadoff batter, so far. I made the potentially controversial move to not start him, and instead Pat White would start in center. Pruitt was defensively a downgrade at first base, but the outfield defense was increased considerably with the move, and Quebell was still available to pinch-hit, of course.

Nick Brown would try to improve on his 13 K outing in game 1, with game 5 featuring the identical matchup. Come on Brownie, you don’t want to be no lame old cookie who leaves all the wins to the other guys, do you? – See, I knew that!

POR: 2B Nomura – CF White – LF Alston – RF Ayers – 1B Pruitt – 3B Canning – C Bowen – SS Howell – P Brown
OCT: RF J. Lugo – LF Britton – C Ledesma – 1B T. Cardenas – SS M. Garza – CF Vieitas – 2B Romano – 3B Arreola – P Sato

Ledesma doubled in the first inning, but didn’t score. The Coons had very little through three innings, and in the bottom of the inning, Brown whiffed Arreola and Sato for four in total before he walked Lugo for one in total. Britton promptly singled, Lugo went to third, Pat White unleashed a high throw that went well past Canning and into the stands. The Thunder were awarded the run and Britton on second base, and White was awarded an error.

It would only get worse from here. Rain doused the attendance again in the fourth inning, bringing another 1-hour rain delay, and when it finally subsided, Brown served up a 2-run homer to Herberto Vieitas. While the Coons had stranded two on a Pruitt groundout in the fourth and had Howell hit into an inning-killing double play in the fifth, the Thunder had no problems to whack Brown, with Jose Lugo cracking a solo homer in the fifth. That was all for Brown, who was charged with all the runs in the 4-0 game and vanished to the locker room to smash things into bits.

Gil McDonald made his playoff appearance then in the sixth inning. He would deliver two scoreless innings, while the Raccoons were erased one by one by the silently efficient Sato, who arrived in the eighth inning with a 2-hit shutout. When Howell and Nomura reached base with singles, Sergio Alvarez replaced Sato with two outs to face White, who was not only throwing erratically, but was also batting .182 by now, but rolled a grounder up the middle and past the reach of Garza for an RBI single. With Ron Alston appearing as the tying run (nominally), Steven Anderson, their left-hander, made another appearance. Alston popped out, all those millions he was going to get this winter, all those millions for pops like that.

Ray Kelley pitched a scoreless eighth, keeping the Thunder three runs ahead, but we had to face a very healthy and very rested Arturo Lopez in the ninth inning with our very shoddy and very dozey lineup. Ayers struck out. Pruitt struck out. Canning struck out.

4-1 Thunder (POR leads 3-2); McDonald 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

And thus the series is sent back to Portland and Jong-hoo Umberger will get the ball. The Raccoons have scored 13 runs in five games. Yeah, they only allowed 16, but they still only scored 13!

[Westheim]

2010 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (95-67)

Game 6 – Jong-hoo Umberger (18-8, 3.28 ERA) vs. William Raven (8-2, 3.80 ERA)

After game 5 and the series going back to Portland, the first word was that the Thunder were going to send Antonio Donis in the sixth game. The Raccoons had completely failed to hit the Thunder’s two left-handers, Donis getting ruffled a bit, but not quite decisively enough to be of concern for them. But in the end, they still had to pitch William Raven anyway in one of the games. If ahead 3-2, sending Donis would make sense in game 6, but they were down and had to win two anyway, so why send Donis – who was old and always had had very little in terms of stamina! – into an unfavorable matchup? But if the Thunder won game 6, which was a rather open affair, they were the odds-on favorites in game 7.

The Raccoons didn’t know what to do at all. Nobody was hitting. In fact, except for .333/.444/.333 Craig Bowen nobody was even reaching a .700 OPS, with Howell (.697) and Alston (.650) completing a sorrowing top 3 for the team.

With Raven on the mound, the obvious strategy still was to throw all left-handers we had at him, though. Come on boys! We need those bats!!

OCT: LF Britton – 1B T. Cardenas – RF Takizawa – C Ledesma – 2B M. Garza – CF Covington – 3B Arreola – SS Vieitas – P Raven
POR: 2B Nomura – 3B Canning – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – CF White – SS Howell – P Umberger

After a clean and laborious first inning from Umberger, the Raccoons started with a single by Yoshi, a wild pitch moving him to second, and another single by Canning. The three left-handed batters in the middle of the order that were supposed to light up the scoreboard made three poor outs, with only Pruitt’s being remotely productive, as he scored Yoshi on a groundout for a 1-0 lead. The park was not exactly amused, but buzzing in a friendly way.

That run, however, wasn’t going to stand on its own. Umberger allowed a leadoff double to Ledesma in the top 2nd. Garza grounded out, moving him to third before Covington went down hacking wildly. Umberger walked Ignacio Arreola before Vieitas also struck out, but boy did we need insurance – and the outlook on Javier Cruz tomorrow did not count as insurance!

No team got the ball out of the infield for a while then. While Yoshi hit a 1-out single in the bottom 3rd, it expired before it reached the outfield grass, and Walt Canning hit into a double play anyway. Then Alston and Pruitt started the fourth with a pair of singles, bringing “D.P.” Quebell to the plate. He grounded an 0-1 offering to the right side, Cardenas made the play and got the force on Pruitt, but the return throw was late and we retained runners on the corners for Craig Bowen, whose .734 OPS was still pacing these Critters by a sound margin. And HE rolled into the double play.

The Thunder remained suspiciously silent, although the top 5th started with a drive to right by Covington that Alston caught in a tumble. Curiously, Arreola’s poor grounder eluded Canning over the third base bag for a single, but he was stranded. Pat White’s leadoff single in the bottom of the inning only led to him reaching scoring position on Umberger’s bunt, with Yoshi walking, and Arreola not defeated by a Canning bouncer. This was not something that worked both ways, obviously.

In the sixth, Cardenas was on after a single. Takizawa drove a pitch to deep center, but not past the reach of White, and also not out of the park. Speaking of out of the park: the Coons had yet to homer (or triple) in the series.

While this led up to an inning in which Alston, Pruitt, and Quebell were batting, it was not a leadup to then say “A-ha! But here came Alston and did something really great!” – because he didn’t. None of them did. All went down, none made it out of the infield. You were waiting so hard for the Thunder to get even, you could be forgiven for missing the best chance yet for the Raccoons. White reached base again in the seventh, with Howell following after him, and Rob hit a 1-out line drive to left, all the way into the corner. Bad thing was, the line wasn’t entirely out of Arreola’s reach, so White got a late start and couldn’t score on the drive.

Up 1-0, runners on second and third, and one out, this was the spot to bat for Umberger, the worst-hitting pitcher of all times. And we did NOT tap Ayers, but Travis Owens. Which was probably a mistake. His grounder to Vieitas was fast, but right to Vieitas and White scampered back to third base. Yoshi was up, poked at 1-0, a floater over Cardenas, who lunged, but didn’t get it! But Howell was asleep and didn’t go home! Only White scored, 2-0, Howell remaining at third base! Canning came up, hit a line to center, and Covington didn’t get it, and NOW Howell was so kind to score. 3-0, two on, and Alston walked in a full count to load them up. Come on, Matty, end it right here! End it right here, Matty! No, Raven got him to pop out.

By the way. Did you notice that there was no official word on the availability of Angel Casas? The Raccoons had clouded themselves in mystery before the game, and for now, Ron Thrasher was sent out to protect a 3-0 lead with six outs that had to be collected. He got Vieitas on a grounder, then walked PH Robert Rucker. Britton singled to right, Alston tried to get the slowish Rucker at third, couldn’t, and the Thunder had two in scoring position with one out, and with two outs once Cardenas whiffed. That put Thrasher against slugger Haruyoshi Takizawa. Technically there was an open base, but Takizawa was a left-hander and Ledesma was an ex-Coon who had an automatic +25% luck against Portland. Takizawa took a strike before putting the 0-1 in play, a harmless grounder to Howell, who didn’t dare making another mistake in this game. Inning over, three outs left.

The Coons did nothing in the bottom 8th, and as we flipped to the ninth, who left the bullpen? Angel Casas left the bullpen! Angel Casas, newly minted single season saves record holder! Pruitt was replaced for defense with Trevino sliding into center, and Angel Casas was facing Ledesma, Garza, and Covington, with the first two batting .182 in the series, and Covington .300. Angel nibbled a bit and missed a bit with Ledesma, but struck him out on five pitches. Garza popped a 1-1 offering to shallow right, Yoshi out, Alston in, Yoshi catching it while falling down and Alston still coming and coming and never arriving, but the out was made. Martin Covington, career .232/.280/.421 batter was all that stood between the Coons and the World Series, and the first pitch missed. The second was well placed on the inside, Covington still swung and poked it. Bouncer past Angel, but Nomura was going to play it. Yoshi to first, out, ballgame!!

3-0 Raccoons!! (POR wins 4-2); Nomura 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Canning 2-4, RBI; White 2-4; Umberger 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

[edtheguy]

The World Series?!?

Is this really happening???

[shipfb21]

lets go baby!!!!

[Sizeman21]

Great job! So happy for the Coons!

[MarkCuban]

They did it! And with Nick Brown stinking up the joint!

Looks like gold is finally coming back to Portland!

[Orcin]

Good luck!

[Texasborn]

Go get em kid!

[Westheim]

CLCS Roundup

There are a few more notes about the CLCS we have to mention. First of all, there’s the point that the offense was catastrophically bad, and with the greatest pain managed to cough up 16 runs in six games. How the Raccoons made it through the Thunder remains puzzling even the day after.

I mentioned that Nick Brown put up a new CL record with 13 strikeouts in Game 1. This is not correct: it’s an ABL record! The FL record is 11 strikeouts, put up in 2001 by Buffaloes teammates Chris York and Manny Ramos. Well, Nick Brown didn’t win a game, but at least he has THAT!

Then there is a personnel issue I need to announce: the Raccoons will make a replacement on the playoff roster for the World Series. Jon Merritt will come off the DL and provide some much needed offensive competence. He had gone down to a torn ankle ligament on September 21, but he declared himself ready to play. Tape that ****ing ankle and let’s go!

Merritt is one of very few players on the Raccoons that have been to the World Series before, with the 2001 Buffaloes. Javier Cruz was in the World Series with the Blue Sox twice (2002, 2005), and Ron Alston with the 2006 Indians. All of them were defeated.

And of course we still need to throw some light on our opposition in the World Series and here’s a look at the FLCS:

Cyclones @ Pacifics … 1-2 … (Pacifics lead 1-0) … LAP Jesus Rivera 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; LAP Brad Smith 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K;

The Pacifics had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the 9th, the score tied at one, before CIN Ian Johnson struck out Manuel Valdes and Ryan Milk lined out. On the first pitch to Russell Lewis, Felix Hernandez had the ball escape through his legs, and Stanley Murphy scored on the passed ball.

Cyclones @ Pacifics … 5-3 … (series tied 1-1) … CIN Georg Spinu 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; CIN Felix Hernandez 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;

Pacifics @ Cyclones … 3-9 … (Cyclones lead 2-1) … CIN Georg Spinu 2-3, HR, 4 RBI; CIN Bob Hall 2-5, 2 RBI; CIN Alfredo Banda 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI;

Pacifics @ Cyclones … 8-2 … (series tied 2-2) … LAP Stanley Murphy 3-5, RBI; LAP Jesus Rivera 4-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Pacifics @ Cyclones … 8-0 … (Pacifics lead 3-2) … LAP Jesus Rivera 4-4, BB, 2B, RBI; LAP Brad Smith 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W and 2-4, RBI;

Cyclones @ Pacifics … 8-7 … (series tied 3-3) … CIN Georg Spinu 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; CIN Avery Johnson 2-2; LAP Jesus Rivera 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; CIN Jason O’Halloran 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

After four innings, the Pacifics were ahead 7-0 and were ready to open the champagne, but Jack Berry got crumpled for four runs in the seventh inning, yet the 7-4 lead still held up through eight innings before Risto Mäkelä not only blew the save, but also took one of the worst ravagings in LCS history, being blasted for four runs and charged the loss.

Cyclones @ Pacifics … 6-2 … (CIN wins 4-3) … CIN Pedro Estrada 3-4, 2 RBI; CIN Salvarado Lourine 1-1, 2B, RBI; LAP Jimmy Roberts 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Cincy’s Tony Hamlyn allows two runs in the first, and the Pacifics maintain the lead through seven innings before starter Ernest Green crumples and reliever Manuel Martinez can not save him. The Cyclones come from behind again to advance to the World Series.

The Cyclones will have home field advantage for the following reasons:



The World Series will start in a few hours, because I don't want to be disturbed while the event is in progress, and I have an expected disturbance coming up in about two hours.

[pjh5165]

Let's go Coons!