Monthly Archives: January 2016

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifteen

CLEVELAND 3, MINNESOTA 1 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Friday, August 13.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixteenth.  Earl Battey was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk with one strikeout.  Garry Roggenburk pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.  Johnny Klippstein pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Larry Brown was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and two runs.  Bobby Tiefenauer pitched three shutout innings, allowing one hit and two walks.  Max Alvis was 2-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Rocky Colavito's RBI single put the Indians up 1-0 in the first.  It stayed 1-0 until the fifth, when three consecutive singles and a wild pitch produced two Cleveland runs for a 3-0 advantage.  The Twins did not get a man past first until the seventh, when Oliva led off with a home run.  The Twins never got the tying run on base.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 74-41.  Baltimore lost 4-2 to Washington, so the Twins' lead remained 8.5 games.

Notes:  Battey raised his average to .314.  Oliva went up to .310...Cleveland starter Sonny Siebert pitched only one inning and was removed, presumably due to injury.  He would not start again until August 31, although he did make a couple of relief appearances...Siebert has been largely forgotten now, but he was a fine pitcher in his day.  He posted double digit wins every year from 1965-72, with an ERA under three from 1965-68 and again in 1971.  He pitched over two hundred innings four times in that span and never had fewer than 177.  He made the all-star team twice, with Cleveland in 1966 and with Boston in 1971.  For his career, he was 140-114, 3.21, 1.21 WHIP in twelve seasons.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 29

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Ray Hayworth (1904)
Pancho Coimbre (1909)
Bill Rigney (1918)
Hank Edwards (1919)
Frank Gravino (1923)
Bobby Bolin (1939)
Sergio Ferrer (1951)
Steve Sax (1960)
Mike Aldrete (1961)
John Habyan (1964)
Jason Schmidt (1973)

Pancho Coimbre was a star in the Caribbean Leagues and the Negro leagues in the 1940s.  Roberto Clemente said that Coimbre was a better player than Clemente was.  Coimbre played two full seasons in the Puerto Rican League in which he did not strike out.

Frank Gravino played in the minors from 1940-1942 and 1946-1954.  He has been called the greatest slugger in Northern League history, hitting 108 home runs in two seasons there.

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WGOM Videos

Otis Clay – Trying To Live My Life Without You

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This is actually another sad passing to note. Otis Clay was a heavy on the Chicago scene and will be missed.


1972

Sound familiar? That because Don Henley, the recently deceased Glenn Frey, and the Eagles fairly brazenly ripped it off for "The Long Run".

2 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 102 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10 (2 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10)
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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fourteen

MINNESOTA 8, NEW YORK 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Thursday, August 12.

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixteenth), a double, and a walk, scoring twice.  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk, scoring twice.  Earl Battey was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk, scoring twice.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on ten hits and one walk with eight strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Clete Boyer was 3-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh) and a double.  Hector Lopez was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.  Mickey Mantle was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  It was scoreless until the fourth, when Mincher hit a two-out two-run homer.  Tony Oliva's sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 3-0.  Each team scored once in the seventh.  The Twins put it away in the eighth when they got a pair of two-out walks and Frank Quilici circled the bases on a triple-plus error to make it 7-1.  Each team scored once in the ninth.

Of note:  Rich Rollins was 3-for-5 with a stolen base (his second, scoring once and driving in one.  Oliva was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Bob Allison was 0-for-5.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-5.

Record:  The win made the Twins 74-40.  Baltimore beat Boston 5-3, so the Twins' lead remained 8.5 games.

Notes:  Battey took over the team lead in batting with .310.  Oliva went to .308.  Hall dropped below .300 for the first time since May 31 at .299...Quilici's triple was the first of his major league career.  He would hit six in his career, four in 1968 and one in 1969...Battey hit seventeen triples in his career.  He never hit more than three in a season, but he had at least one every year from 1959-1967.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 28

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George Wright (1847)
Ducky Holmes (1869)
Bill Doak (1891)
Lyn Lary (1906)
Bob Muncrief (1916)
Pete Runnels (1928)
Harry Dunlop (1933)
Bill White (1934)
Fredi Gonzalez (1964)
Kevin Tolar (1971)
Jermaine Dye (1974)
Magglio Ordonez (1974)
Lyle Overbay (1977)

Harry Dunlop caught in the minors for fourteen years and was a coach for seventeen years.  He caught the minor league no-hitter in which Ron Necciai struck out twenty-seven batters and the back-to-back minor league no-hitters of Bill Bell.

Fredi Gonzalez managed the Florida Marlins from 2007-2010 and has managed the Atlanta Braves since 2011.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirteen

NEW YORK 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, August 11.

Batting stars:  Earl Battey was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  Garry Roggenburk pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.  Dick Stigman struck out four in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, allowing four unearned runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Ray Barker was 1-for-3 with a double.  Clete Boyer was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to an early lead.  A single, an error, and a two-out intentional walk to Mincher were followed by a two-run single by Battey and an RBI single by Rich Rollins to make it 3-0.  The lead held until the fifth, when the Yankees scored all five of their runs.  A double, five singles, and an error did the damage.  The Twins cut it to 5-4 in the sixth when Jerry Zimmerman's single-plus-error brought home a run.  The Twins had the tying run on second, but a line drive double play ended the threat and the Twins did not get a man past first after that.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4.  Bob Allison was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Mudcat Grant pitched four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The win snapped the Twins' six-game winning streak and made their record 73-40.  Baltimore lost to Boston, so the Twins' lead remained 8.5 games.

Notes:  Battey was replaced by Zimmerman in the sixth inning following an RBI single by Joe Pepitone.  One suspects Battey may have been shaken up on a play at the plate.  Battey would be back in the lineup the next day...Oliva and Battey were now each batting .306, with Hall dropping to .303.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 27

Andy Lotshaw (1880)
Milt Gaston (1896)
Bibb Falk (1899)
Fred Heimach (1901)
John Lowenstein (1947)
Tom Trebelhorn (1948)
Eric Wedge (1968)
Phil Plantier (1969)
Angel Berroa (1980)
Gavin Floyd (1983)

Andy Lotshaw had a thirteen-year minor league career as an outfielder/first baseman, leading his league in triples four times and in home runs five times.  He also played professional basketball.  He then became the trainer for the Chicago Cubs from 1922-1952.

Tom Trebelhorn managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 1986-1991 and the Chicago Cubs in 1994.

There do not appear to be any players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.