Monthly Archives: December 2015

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty-nine

CHICAGO 17, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, June 28.

Batting stars:   Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourteenth) and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Danny Cater was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and a double, scoring twice and driving in three.  Don Buford was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring three times and driving in three.  Tom McCraw was 2-for-5 with a grand slam, his second homer.

The game:  The Twins actually led for nearly half the game.  Jimmie Hall had an RBI single and Killebrew drove in a run with a double in the first to give them a 2-0 lead.  Hall's run-scoring single in the third made it 3-0.  In the fifth the first two White Sox were retired, but then two singles, a walk, and McCraw's grand slam made it 4-3 Chicago.  Hall homered in the bottom of the fifth to tie it 4-4, but the roof fell in in the sixth inning, as the White Sox scored seven times.  Cater and John Romano each homered to make it 6-4.  That chased starter Dave Boswell and brought in Jerry Fosnow, who walked his first batter, gave up a single, then walked two more to make it 7-4 with the bases loaded.  Dick Stigman came in and struck out McCraw but then allowed three consecutive singles that produced four runs.  The White Sox added two in the eighth and four in the ninth, all off Mel Nelson, who had started and pitched four innings the previous day.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-3.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a run.  Boswell struck out six in 5.1 innings but gave up six runs on six hits and a walk.

Record:  The loss dropped the Twins to 42-27 and, coupled with a Cleveland win, dropped them all the way to third place, a half game behind both Cleveland and Chicago.

Notes:  Hall raised his average to .322.  Cater did not start the game, but came on in the second, replacing Floyd Robinson for an unknown reason.  It is hard for me to imagine a pitcher now being asked to pitch two innings of mop-up relief after starting and pitching four innings the day before.  I know there were fewer pitchers on a staff back then, but it still seems like a lot to ask.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 13

Jack Taylor (1873)
Hank Majeski (1916)
Larry Doby (1923)
Shotgun Shuba (1924)
Carl Erskine (1926)
Billy Loes (1929)
Bubba Morton (1931)
Lindy McDaniel (1935)
J. C. Martin (1936)
Ron Taylor (1937)
Ferguson Jenkins (1942)
Paul Boris (1955)
Dale Berra (1956)
Mike Mordecai (1967)
Matthew LeCroy (1975)
Ricky Nolasco (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to spookymilk's mom.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty-eight

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 5 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, June 27 (Game 2 of doubleheader)

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Joe Nossek was 3-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch, scoring once and driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mel Nelson pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Jim Perry pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Al Kaline was 4-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Don Demeter was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixth) and a stolen base, scoring twice.  Orlando Pena struck out four in 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit.

The game:  Kaline singled in a run in the first, but an RBI double by Hall and a run-scoring single by Jerry Zimmerman put the Twins ahead 2-1 after two.  Kaline's run-scoring double tied the score in the third, but Versalles drove in a run with a single in the fourth to put the Twins back in front 3-2.  Run-producing singles by Oliva and Killebrew gave the Twins a seemingly safe 5-2 lead after seven, but Demeter led off the eighth with a home run and Willie Horton hit a two-run shot later in the inning to tie it 5-5.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but Bob Allison fouled out and Hall grounded into a double play.  In the tenth, Rich Rollins led off with a single and was sacrificed to second.  Bernie Allen was walked, Zoilo Versalles flied out, but Nossek singled to center to bring home the winning run.

Of note:  Versalles was 2-for-6 with a run and an RBI.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.  Hall raised his average to .315.

Record:  The Twins improved their record to 42-26, but doubleheader sweeps by Chicago and Cleveland held their lead to a half game over both teams.

Notes:  This was the last of Nelson's three starts in 1965.  He would pitch in relief the next day and stay in the bullpen the rest of the season.  He would make four more starts in his career, all with St. Louis in 1968.  It was the next-to-last relief appearance for Perry, who would join the rotation July 5.  Nossek raised his average to .315.  He played third base, with Rollins playing second, and the way the Twins were searching for infield options you'd think he might have been given a shot there.  Apparently Sam Mele didn't think the defensive cost was worth it, though, as he only started at third two more times in 1965 and would make only one more appearance there in his career.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 12

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Phenomenal Smith (1864)
Tully Sparks (1874)
Buzzie Bavasi (1915)
Clyde Kluttz (1917)
Ralph Garr (1945)
Gorman Thomas (1950)
Steve Farr (1956)
Alonzo Powell (1964)
Orlando Hudson (1977)
Ervin Santana (1982)

Emil "Buzzie" Bavasi was the general manager of the Dodgers from 1951-1968, San Diego from 1969-1972, and the Angels from 1977-1984.

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Friday Music Day

FMD: The Best Laid Plans

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I had some plans to put together a couple discussion topics - and hopefully I'll get to them at some point (recognizing that I'm covering both Christmas and New Year's... discussion might not be exactly happening on those days)(Can I get added for another month's rotation at the back end of the schedule?). But my kid puked all over the house last night, so I was addressing other things than planning this post. So I'm just gonna shoot from the gut and spew some words in this space so there's something going up for y'all to hurl your random 10 at.

Anyway, for today, how about we talk "non-standard" Christmas songs. I had a couple more to mention, but for now I'll just nominate this one as one everyone should add to their regular Christmas listening:

httpv://youtu.be/1wS-k66MKgs

What holiday songs do you know that others should be adding?

Also, drop your lists!

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty-seven

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 27 (Game 1 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-3 with a home run (his seventh) and two walks, scoring twice.  Don Mincher was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Mudcat Grant struck out six in 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on eleven hits and a walk.  Al Worthington struck out two in 2.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits.

Opposition stars:  Joe Sparma struck out eight in six innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks.  Don Demeter was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.  Don Wert was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.

The game:  Killebrew had a two-run single in the first and Versalles homered in the second to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.  Dick McAuliffe had an RBI single in the third and Demeter hit a two-run homer in the fourth to tie it 3-3.  The Twins scored once in the fifth to go ahead 4-3, a lead which held until Jackie Moore's RBI single in the eight tied it 4-4.  In the bottom of the eighth, Mincher hit a two-run homer to put the Twins in the lead to stay.  Detroit went down in order in the ninth.

Of note:  Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases (his fourth and fifth) and a run.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 with a double.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4 with an RBI, dropping his average to .313.

Record:  The win made the Twins 41-26 and kept them a half game ahead of Chicago and Cleveland.

Notes:  I'd forgotten how common Sunday doubleheaders were in the 1960s.  It was not unusual for their to be seven or eight doubleheaders among the ten matchups played on a Sunday.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 11

Old Hoss Radbourn (1854)
Art Wilson (1885)
Fred Toney (1888)
Swish Nicholson (1914)
Hal Brown (1924)
Lee Maye (1934)
Mike Henneman (1961)
Thomas Howard (1964)
Jay Bell (1965)
Derek Bell (1968)
Frankie Rodriguez (1972)
Joe Blanton (1980)
Dalton Pompey (1992)

In 2014, Dalton Pompey became the first big leaguer ever to have the given first name "Dalton".

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