Happy Birthday–July 7

George Moriarty (1885)
Double Duty Radcliffe (1902)
Satchel Paige (1906)
Billy Herman (1909)
Sammy White (1927)
John Gordon (1930)
Bill Melton (1945)
Tommy Moore (1948)
Dan Gladden (1957)
Tim Teufel (1958)
Dave Burba (1966)
Jeff Shaw (1966)
Chuck Knoblauch (1968)
Matt Mantei (1973)
John Buck (1980)

Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe played in the Negro Leagues for many years.  He got his nickname because he would sometimes catch one game of a doubleheader and pitch the other.  He played professionally until 1954, when he retired at age 52.  He is the oldest player to ever appear in a professional baseball game, throwing one pitch for the Schaumberg Flyers of the Northern League in 1999 when he was 96.

John Gordon, of course, has been a radio broadcaster for the Twins since 1987.

Tommy Moore was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-eighth round in 1966, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 7

Papa Don’t Preach 7/7/11

I have been a father for 5 months and 10 days. With that said I think it is fair for me to say that I am one of the least qualified people here to make any comments on parenting.  Then again for the past year, since we knew we were expecting, other people have been telling me how to raise my kid.

Those people really tick me off.  It is with that in mind that each time I am up to write a fatherhood column here on the WGOM  I will present something  I will do if I ever add to my herd. This will be directly influenced by what I did wrong with the Calf. So take my write ups to be what not to do with your children.

First off, I am going to see to it that our unborn child, herein known to as Kirby, sleeps in his crib from the first night. When the calf was born we weren't really sure where to put him down for sleep. All we knew that was wherever we laid him down he was going to wake up every two hours. So, we did what was easiest for us. Of the many hand me down baby items we received for the Calf he seemed to fall asleep best in his Calming Vibrations Chair.  So we set the chair up on the coffee table next to the couch in our living room and let him sleep there. Since he woke up every two hours anyway, I would just stay up until around 1am, wake up Ms Buffalo and then she would sleep on the couch, feeding him and changing his as necessary until around 6am when I would begin getting ready for work.  She would sneak in about a hour nap and then take care of him until I got home for work.  Rise, lather, repeat.

At about two months the Calf got a little bigger he began sleeping though the night-- assuming he was in his chair. I mean 10-12 hours straight though. After being awoken every two hours by a crying baby this was a revelation. We got to share a bed again. Now, we love our baby but it was nice to be able to snuggle up in our hay stack once again so we just let him stay in his chair. We didn't want to jinx it.

At around three months the Calf  kept growing, as children are wont to do. We commented on how he was getting bigger and bigger and before you know it he wouldn't be able to sleep in his chair much longer. We had a bassinet that we would try to put in our room but it just wouldn't take. He had to sleep in his chair. We joked about how he couldn't spend the rest of his life sleeping on a coffee table. Ms Buffalo thought this quip  to be especially funny because there may or not be a photograph of me in my early twenties sleeping on a coffee table.  Either way, we figured it was best to not ruin a good thing and we had better let him just sleep in his Calming Vibrations.  We did however take the batteries out of the chair. He didn't seem to mind and I was happy to not be spending money on batteries anymore.

When he crossed the four month barrier he was over two feet tall and closing in on 20 pounds. His chair is graded for 25 pounds so we were starting to get a little bit worried. We would give him his bath, feed him, put him down in his Calming No-Longer Vibrations Chair, let him get to sleep and try to carry him into the crib. This lasted for about three nights as we soon decided, screw it, let's just let him sleep in his stupid chair. I don't want to keep getting up out of bed.

5 months has now come and gone and the kid still won't sleep anywhere except this stupid chair. His butt is on the ground in it. It doesn't even bounce anymore. He has gotta be at least 22 pounds now and this chair is no longer practical for sleeping.

With that said I just spent the last four hours trying to get him to sleep in his crib before remembering that I had to write a a column about being a dad for the WGOM.  As you would imagine, I put him into his Calming- I Don't Vibrate, Bounce, or Do Anything Anymore- Chair and he fell right asleep. I am sure that he will sleep for the next 8 hours.

So remember above when I said other parents giving advice is a pain in my neck? Yeah, I take it all back. If anyone has any tips on how to make a kid sleep in his crib I am all ears.

Game 85 Recap: Spoiler! Twins Lose.

Oh, the spoiler feature doesn't work in the headline.
Twins 5, Rays 12 (The 7 runs they scored in the 8 + 9th innings were enough to win without the other 5 they scored)
LP: A. Burnett WP: The other team.
Twins record 38-47, 8.0 games out of first (3 games ahead of the Royals(!)/small victories/)
Save? not.

Oy. I'm glad that I watched this game while I was in the studio because at least I accomplished something of value on my own. Frankie wasn't sharp, but the offense picked him up. Sinkingship was called on to relieve F-bomb, and pitched quite well surrendering just one hit and one walk while striking out 3 in two innings pitched. After Mijares stuck out the dude who he was asked to strike out gardy decided it would be a good idea to bring in Burnett. Previously, I had been under the impression that the only time it was a good idea to bring in Burnett was when the other team had already won the game, but I guess I was wrong about that. Alex's line for the day reads like the script for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, he gave up 4 hits, a walk, and 4 earned runs over one and a third innings pitched. Awesome. Dumatrait came on for the ninth and expanded the suck by securing two fast outs and then letting some dude named Long"donger'oria jack a three run shot. Boo.

Cuddy had an allstar day at the dish, and TK thinks that Joe Mauer shouldn't be a catcher. That about sums up this stinker.

I was all set to link to the Mill City Museum, but they're closed because the man is holding them down. Boo.

2011 Game 85: TB visiting MN

21-9 just feels so much better than 17-37. Twins are looking to sweep the Rays at home for the first time in six years. Wade Davis versus Francisco Liriano in the Twins' most important game of all time.

Lineups:
Twins
1. Revere         8
2. Casilla        4
3. Cuddyer        3
4. Homie        DH
5. Valencia    5
6. Tosoni        7
7. Repko 9
8. Rivera        2
9. Nishioka    6

Rays
1. Damon        DH
2. Zobrist        9
3. Longoria    5
4. Upton        8
5. Rodriguez    4
6. Kotchman    3
7. Ruggiano    7
8. Shoppach    2
9. Johnson        6

GO Twins!

2011 Game 84: Twins 3, Rays 2

This was one of those games that even though the hometown nine won, it wasn't terribly satisfying. Early in the game, they had some hits against Shields but never really seemed to string together enough to get an extended rally. The runs they scored were on a ground out and a bloop single that got past the Rays' right fielder. Clearly the more concerning things are Baker leaving with an elbow injury & Capps's continued ineptitude.

Everything the training staff said yesterday made this seem like a minor injury for Baker, but their track record is spotty at best. If Baker is out of the rotation for significant time, this will definitely hurt the Twins' chances of making a comeback. He's definitely been the ace of the staff, and I would be pretty bummed if he lost significant time since he has been so darn good. I want Slowey to be freed and I look forward to seeing Gibson in the rotation, but I do not want it to come at the expense of Baker's rotation spot.

Capps has been crapp in his last three outings, and I don't want him on the mound at all. He's pure butt right now. He needs a couple days off to get his mind right. He needs some low leverage work to get sorted out. Early in the season, I liked him as the middle-late inning fireman. If Nathan can take over 9th inning duties, Perkins can continue to ball outrageous, and Capps can reclaim that role the bullpen would be much better for it. There's no sense in throwing him out there to get pounded in the 9th over and over just because he's the "closer."

The Indigenous People & Tigers lost last night. Seven back. I can hardly believe it. I can't wait for the Indians & Tigers to come to town after the All Star Break.

Final Score: Minnesota Twins 3, Tampa Bay Rays 2
Twins Record: 38-46, 7.0 GB in the AL Central.
WP: Scott Baker (7-5) | LP: James Shields (8-6)

Minor Details: Games of 7/5

Pawtucket 4, Rochester 2 in Rochester (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings).  The Red Sox scored all their runs in the first three innings.  Nate Roberts singled and homered.  Jeff Bailey had two hits.  Trevor Plouffe was hit his fifteenth homer and walked three times, raising his average to .308.  Delmon Young was 0-for-3.  Starter Cole DeVries surrendered four runs on eight hits and two walks in 2.2 innings.  Thomas Diamond pitched 2.2 scoreless innings despite giving up four hits and three walks.

 

New Hampshire 7, New Britain 2 in New Hampshire.  A four-run fifth put the game away for the Fisher Cats.  Chris Parmelee hit a home run, his seventh.  Brett Jacobson surrendered all seven runs on ten hits and two walks in five innings.  He struck out six.  Deolis Guerra struck out two in two shutout innings.

 

St. Lucie 9, Ft. Myers 2 in St. Lucie.  The Miracle tied the score with two in the sixth, but the Mets took the lead back with two in the bottom of the sixth and took command with five in the seventh.  The Miracle had only four hits.  Kane Holbrooks gave up two runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings.  Ricky Bowen took the loss, surrendering two runs on two hits and a walk in just one inning.

 

Wisconsin 8, Beloit 3 in Beloit.  The Snappers led 3-0 after two, but a four-run fifth gave the Timber Rattlers the lead for good.  Tyler Grimes continued his good start, hitting a homer and a single.  Adam Bryant had a single and a double.  Manuel Soliman allowed six runs on seven hits and a walk in 4.1 innings.

 

Elizabethton 6, Kingsport 4 in Kingsport.  The Twins scored two in the ninth to break a 4-4 tie.  Niko Goodrum had two hits and Miguel Sano hit a three-run homer, his third.  Tim Shibuya allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in four innings, striking out three, but the bullpen came through with five scoreless innings.  Derek Christensen worked two and Pedro Guerra, Madison Boer, and Matthew Summers worked one each.  Boer got the win and Summers the save.

 

GCL Twins 8, Rays 3 at Rays.  A three-run first propelled the Twins to victory.  Michael Quesada hit two home runs, his first two of the season, and drove in six.  Joshua Hendricks had two singles and a double to raise his average to .323.  Phillip Chapman had two doubles, raising his average to .381.  Starter Hein Robb pitched three shutout innings, with perfection being marred only by an error.  Matthew Tomshaw got the win despite allowing two runs (one earned) on a hit.  He struck out two.  Marcus Limon struck out three in three shutout innings.

 

DSL Reds at Twins.  Postponed.