Monthly Archives: December 2015

WGOM Half-Baked Hall

Half-Baked Hall: 1940-1943

32 Comments

Only ten new players on this ballot. For those who do writeups, look below for your assignments.

The stats page hasn't been updated yet. Nibbish will let everyone know when he gets to it.

The votes page hasn't been updated yet. Daneeksaghost will let everyone know when he gets to it.

Fun Fact: 1943 is the first year that zero players retired who had over 30 WAR.

Blurb Due Date: December 11

Final Ballot

Max Carey 37%
Stan Coveleski 68%
Urban Shocker 42%
Zack Wheat 63%

New Hitters

Earl Averill (daneekasghost)
Wally Berger (CanofCorn)
Charlie Gehringer (Beau)
Gabby Hartnett (philosofer)
Buddy Myer (Scot)

New Pitchers

Wes Ferrell (yickit)
Larry French (New Britain Bo)
Lefty Grove (nibbish)
Bump Hadley (bhiggum)
Charlie Root (DPWY)

Stats

Last Ballot

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Fifty-nine

2 Comments

NEW YORK 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, June 19.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.  Joe Nossek was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Johnny Klippstein pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joe Pepitone was 1-for-2 with a home run (his seventh) and two walks.  Whitey Ford pitched 7.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts.  Tom Tresh was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.

The game:  The first three Yankee batters got hits, a double and two singles, leading to a 2-0 lead.  Pepitone homered leading off the second and Elston Howard delivered an RBI single in the third to make it 4-0.  It was 5-1 after seven.  In the eighth, Killebrew hit a two-run triple to center to cut the lead to 5-3.  That was as close as the Twins would come, however, as Don Mincher flied out to end the inning and the Twins could only come up with a lone single in the ninth.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4 with a run.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  The Twins again got a short start, as Mudcat Grant pitched only two innings, giving up three runs on five hitsand no walks with no strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins dropped to 36-23 but remained in first place by a half game, as Chicago lost to Boston.

Notes:  Jerry Kindall was back in the lineup at second base, but was replaced by Frank Kostro in the third inning.  Killebrew hit twenty-four triples in his career.  He hit seven in 1961 but never hit more than two in any other season.  I remember, when I was a kid, watching a game on TV in which Killebrew hit a triple into the monuments in Yankee Stadium's center field, which were in play back then.  I can't prove that this was the game, but this triple was hit to center field.  There were very few Twins games televised where I was at that time, and with this being a Saturday game in Yankee Stadium it seems like there's a good chance it would have been a Game of the Week, so it seems likely to me.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 3

6 Comments

Billy McLean (1835)
Bennie Tate (1901)
Joe Collins (1922)
Ray Bellino (1932)
Clay Dalrymple (1936)
Chico Salmon (1940)
Jerry Johnson (1943)
Wayne Garrett (1947)
Pat Putnam (1953)
Gene Nelson (1960)
Damon Berryhill (1963)
Darryl Hamilton (1964)
Paul Byrd (1970)
Chad Durbin (1977)
Andy Oliver (1987)

Billy McLean was the umpire in the first National League game ever, April 22, 1876.  He umpired in the National League through 1890.

Shortstop Ray Bellino played and managed in the Twins minor league system and also was a scout for them.

Andy Oliver was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 2006, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to DK.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 3 →

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Fifty-eight

NEW YORK 10, MINNESOTA 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Friday, June 18.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching star:  Jerry Fosnow struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Bill Stafford pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.  Mickey Mantle was 1-for-3 with a grand slam, his tenth homer.  Elston Howard was 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.

The game:  Hall doubled in a run in the first to give the Twins a 1-0 lead, but it was all downhill after that.  Twins starter Mel Nelson didn't make it through the first inning, giving up a single, two walks, a hit batsman, and the Mantle grand slam.  The Yankees scored six in the first inning, as Phil Linz also homered.  The Twins did not get back into the game.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Nelson pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up five runs on two hits and two walks.

Record:  The Twins record dropped to 36-22.  They remained in first place, but only by a half game over Chicago.

Notes:  Rollins once again played second, with Killebrew at third and Don Mincher at first.  The Twins continued to search for a number two hitter, this time moving Oliva into the two spot with Hall batting third.