We get a lot of visitors at the office from out of town. Inevitably, we always take them out for deep dish pizza for lunch. I wish Chicago was known for like salads or something.
October 16, 2024: When In Rome
Random Rewind: 1998, Game 32
MINNESOTA TWINS 8, BOSTON RED SOX 7 IN BOSTON
Date: Wednesday, May 6, 1998.
Batting stars: Ron Coomer was 3-for-6 with a home run (his sixth) and two RBIs. Todd Walker was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs. Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double two RBIs. David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Pitching star: Greg Swindell pitched 2.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out one.
Opposition stars: None. Nine different players had exactly one hit. There were no home runs, and each pitcher allowed at least two runs.
The game: Walker led off the game with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out. Coomer added a two-out home run to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. They tallied twice more in the third. With one out, Walker walked, Paul Molitor singled, and Matt Lawton walked, loading the bases. Coomer singled home a run and Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 4-0.
Boston did nothing on offense until the fourth. John Valentin and Mo Vaughn led off that inning with singles, putting men on first and third, and a double play brought home a run. They got back into the game in the fifth. Scott Hatteberg singled and Darren Bragg doubled, puting men on second and third with none out. A ground out scored one and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run single brought home another, cutting the Twins’ lead to 4-3. But the Twins got the runs back in the sixth. Ortiz led off with a double and was bunted to third. With two out, Chris Latham delivered an RBI single and scored on Hunter’s double-plus-error, putting the Twins back up by three at 6-3.
The Twins added on. In the seventh, Lawton walked, Coomer singled, and Ortiz drove in a run with a single. In the eighth, Terry Steinbach doubled and scored on a Hunter single, making it 8-3 Twins.
They needed all those runs. Boston scored in the eighth when Lewis doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a wild pitch. No problem–the Twins still led 8-4, and Rick Aguilera was coming in to pitch the ninth. But in the ninth, Reggie Jefferson and Troy O’Leary led off with consecutive doubles to make it 8-5. A pair of ground outs made Twins fans breathe easier, but Jim Leyritz was hit by a pitch, bringing the tying run to the plate. Pinch-hitter Midre Cummings then drove in two with a double, making it 8-7 and bringing the deciding run to the plate in the dangerous Garciaparra. But he grounded out to second and the victory was preserved.
WP: LaTroy Hawkins (1-3).
LP: Robinson Checo (0-2).
S: None.
Notes: Latham was in right, with Lawton shifting to left and Marty Cordova out of the lineup. Hunter was in center in place of Otis Nixon.
Walker was batting .382. He would finish at .316. Pat Meares was batting .308. He would finish at .260. Coomer was batting .301. He would finish at .276. Mike Trombley, who pitched a third of an inning, had an ERA of 0.73. He would finish at 3.63. Eddie Guardado, who also pitched a third of an inning, had an ERA of 2.63. He would finish at 4.52.
We really thought we had something in Todd Walker. He was batting over .350 as late as August 9. He would go on to have a solid major league career, most of it elsewhere, but he was never the star we thought he would be in 1998.
This was the last of just six games Torii Hunter played for the Twins in 1998. He was not expected to be in the majors yet that season, but filled in for a little while when Nixon was injured. He would be with the Twins all of 1999, but be sent back to AAA for two months in 2000 before coming up to stay. He was batting just .207 when he was sent down in late May of 2000, but would come back strong when brought back in late July and would finish the season batting .280.
Hawkins would continue to be a starter, with little success, through 1999. Moved to the bullpen in 2000, he went on to have a solid career as a reliever.
Cummings would go on to play for the Twins from 1999-2000. He had been drafted by the Twins in 1990, but was traded in 1992 with Denny Neagle for John Smiley. The Twins would trade him again at the August deadline in 2000 for Hector De Los Santos, who would not pitch for them in the majors.
This was the last of two starts Robinson Checo would make in 1998. He had made two in 1997 and would make two more (along with seven relief appearances) in 1999. For his career, he was 3-5, 7.71, 1.86 WHIP in 36.2 innings.
I wonder what the record is for most hits in a game with no player getting more than one.
Record: Boston was 21-10, in second place, 2.5 games behind the Yankees. They would finish 92-70, in second place, 22 games behind the Yankees.
Minnesota was 13-19, tied for second place with Kansas City, 6.5 games behind Cleveland. They would finish 70-92, in fourth place, 19 games behind Cleveland.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 9-6 (.600).
October 15, 2024: Your Personal Healthcare Companion
Whenever I see one of these Rivian trucks, especially if it's white, the only thing I can think of is Baymax.
Happy Birthday–October 15
Charley O'Leary (1882)
Dolly Gray (1897)
Mule Haas (1903)
Mel Harder (1909)
Bill Henry (1927)
Lou Klimchock (1939)
Dick Such (1944)
Jim Palmer (1945)
Mitchell Page (1951)
Carlos Garcia (1967)
Juan Cruz (1978)
Josh Rabe (1978)
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to New Guy.
Cissy & Whitney Houston – Ain’t No Way / You Send Me
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October 14, 2024: 115th Dream
I saw three ships sailin', they were all heading my way
I asked the captain what his name was and how come he didn't drive a truck
He said his name was Columbus, I just said, "Good luck"-Bob Dylan
Simple Minds – Alive and Kicking
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Happy Birthday–August 14
Joe Start (1842)
Paul Radford (1861)
Ivy Olson (1885)
Oscar Charleston (1896)
Harry Brecheen (1914)
Ken Heintzelman (1915)
Tom Cheney (1934)
Tommy Harper (1940)
Frank Duffy (1946)
Al Oliver (1946)
Ed Figueroa (1948)
Kiko Garcia (1953)
Willie Aikens (1954)
Jesus Vega (1955)
Joe Girardi (1964)
Midre Cummings (1971)
Ryan Church (1978)
Boof Bonser (1981)
Carlos Marmol (1982)
Kole Calhoun (1987)
Willians Astudillo (1991)
Outfielder Oscar Charleston is considered by some to have been the greatest player in Negro League history.
Random Rewind: 1970, Game 158
KANSAS CITY ROYALS 4, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN KANSAS CITY
Date: Sunday, September 27, 1970.
Batting stars: George Mitterwald was 2-for-3 with a double. Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple. Brant Alyea was 2-for-4.
Pitching star: Luis Tiant pitched four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.
Opposition stars: Bobby Floyd was 4-for-4 with two doubles. Lou Piniella was 3-for-4. Amos Otis was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs. Jim Rooker pitched 7.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out seven.
The game: Kansas City jumped out to an early lead. In the first inning Otis led off with a single and Piniella followed with a one-out single. The Twins had Piniella picked off first, but an error, put men on second and third and a wild pitch brought home the game’s first run. Ed Kirkpatrick then singled to make it 2-0 Royals.
There were a few threats before the next run scored. In the second Floyd led off with a double and Tommy Matchick followed with a single, putting men on first and third with one out. A strikeout, a popup, and a fly out ended the inning. In the third, Mitterwald led off with a single and went to second on a two-out walk to Frank Quilici, but Harmon Killebrew struck out to end the threat. In the fourth, Alyea had a one-out single and Bob Allison followed with a walk. A balk put men on second and third, but Rick Renick and Mitterwald were each caught looking to strand the runners. Oliva tripled with one out in the sixth, but a strikeout and a fly ball left him on third.
The Royals broke through in the sixth, as doubles by Bob Oliver and Floyd brought home a run. They added one more in the seventh when Otis doubled and scored on Piniella’s single, making it 4-0.
The Twins got a one-out double in the seventh from Mitterwald, but again could do nothing with it. They finally got on the board in the eighth. Killebrew singled with one out. With two out, Alyea singled and Allison hit a two-run double. Rich Reese followed with an RBI single, making the score 4-3.
But that was as much as the Twins could do. A ground out ended the inning, and the Twins went down in order in the ninth.
WP: Rooker (10-15).
LP: Luis Tiant (7-3).
S: Ted Abernathy (14).
Notes: Quilici was at second, with Danny Thompson moving to short and Leo Cardenas getting the day off. Renick was at third with Killebrew moving to first and Reese on the bench, although he would pinch-hit. Allison was in right, with Oliva moving to center and Cesar Tovar on the bench, although he would also pinch-hit.
The Twins had clinched the division title, and this was in the days of September call-ups and before thirteen-man pitching staffs, so they used a lot of bench players. Nine of them, to be exact. They used six pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners. I kind of miss that.
Tiant had his best year at the plate in 1970, batting .406/.424/.531 in 32 at-bats. Oliva was batting .322. He would finish at .325. Tovar was batting .299. He would finish at .300. Rod Carew was injured much of 1970. He batted .366 in 191 at-bats.
Jim Kaat made 34 starts and pitched well over two hundred innings in 1970, yet he pitched two innings of relief in a meaningless game and was probably quite happy to do so. Put that in your file of “things that would never happen today.”
Bobby Floyd batted .326 in 43 at-bats in 1970. Take away this game and he batted .256.
While Tiant was injured much of 1970, he pitched pretty well when he could pitch, going 7-3, 3.40 in 92.2 innings (17 starts). Makes you wonder why the Twins were so quick to give up on him. In their defense, he had a poor year in 1969 and would have another one in 1971 before his career resurgance.
Record: Kansas City was 64-94, in fourth place in the AL West, 31 games behind Minnesota. They would finish 65-97, tied for fourth with Milwaukee, 33 games behind Minnesota.
The Twins were 95-63, in first place in the AL West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland. They would finish 98-64, in first place, 9 games ahead of Oakland.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 7-6 (.538).
October 13, 2024: Floodgates
One of the campaigns somehow got a hold of my email address in the past few days and my inbox is getting absolutely stuffed with their emails. I hope the weather's nice in the spam folder.