Monthly Archives: January 2016

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Six

WASHINGTON 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 3 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.  Jerry Zimmerman was 1-for-1 with a walk and a run.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Johnny Klippstein pitched two perfect innings with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Mike McCormick pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Frank Howard was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighteenth.  Ken Hamlin was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Howard homered leading off the second and Hamlin had an RBI double in the third to put the Senators up 2-0.  Versalles tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third.  In the fifth Don Zimmer delivered a two-out two-run double to give Washington a 4-2 lead.  And that was it for the scoring.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the fourth but did not get another hit until Rich Rollins doubled leading off the ninth.  The next three Twins went out to end the game.

Of note:  Frank Quilici was 1-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4.  Starter Dwight Siebler pitched 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were now 67-39 and led Baltimore by 5.5 games.

Notes:  The Twins used somewhat of a B lineup.  Jimmie Hall, Harmon Killebrew, and Earl Battey all did not start, although Battey pinch-hit for Zimmerman in the seventh and caught the rest of the game.  Siebler, normally a reliever, made his only start of the season...Ken Hamlin was a utility infielder for several clubs from 1957-66.  He was the regular shortstop for Kansas City in 1960, but hit only .224/.297/.271.  He was more-or-less the regular shortstop for Washington in 1965, sharing time with Ed Brinkman, and had his best year, hitting .273/.333/.370...Don Zimmer was in his last year as a major league player and would hit only .199...Mike McCormick had a fine career, pitching in the big leagues for sixteen years, most of them with the Giants.  He made the all-star team twice (1960, when he led the league in ERA, and 1961) and won the Cy Young Award in 1967, when he won twenty-two games with an ERA of 2.85.  For his career he was 134-128, 3.73, 1.29 WHIP.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 20

Everett Mills (1845)
C. I. Taylor (1875)
William Eckert (1909)
Jimmy Outlaw (1913)
Joe Dobson (1917)
Gene Stephens (1933)
Camilo Pascual (1934)
Dave Boswell (1945)
Cecil Espy (1963)
Ozzie Guillen (1964)
Kevin Maas (1965)
Marvin Benard (1970)
Brian Giles (1971)
David Eckstein (1975)
Geovany Soto (1983)
Matt Albers (1983)

Everett Mills holds the record for most at-bats in a season without drawing a walk (342).

 C . I. Taylor founded the first African-American professional baseball team, the Birmingham Giants, in 1904.

General William Eckert was the commissioner of baseball from 1965-1968,

Marvin Benard played in the major leagues for nine years and could never get announcers to stop calling him "Marvin Bernard".

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to FTLT’s firstborn and to Twayn's younger daughter.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 20 →

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Five

MINNESOTA 4, WASHINGTON 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 3 (Game 1 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourteenth) and a walk.  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.  Mudcat Grant was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Grant pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on eleven hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Don Blasingame was 3-for-5 with a run.  Frank Howard was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventeenth.  Mike Brumley was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once.

The game:  Ken Hamlin started the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the third, but Tony Oliva delivered a run-scoring single in the bottom of the third to tie it 1-1.  Mincher led off the fourth with a home run and Grant had an RBI double later in the inning to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.  Willie Kirkland singled in a run in the fifth and the Senators had men on first and second with none out, but a strikeout and a double play left the score 3-2.  A pair of errors gave the Twins an insurance run in the seventh and they needed it, as Howard homered in the eighth to make it 4-3.  After that, however, Washington could get only a two-out single in the ninth.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Oliva was 1-for-4 with an RBI.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4.  Earl Battey was 0-for-3 with a walk.

Record:  The win made the Twins 67-38.  Baltimore won and Cleveland lost, so the Orioles regained sole possession of second place, six games back.

Notes:  Jimmie Hall again sat out, with Oliva moving over to center and Valdespino playing right.  Harmon Killebrew also did not play, with Mincher at first and Rich Rollins at third...Oliva's average was now .304 and Battey dropped to .301...The starting pitcher for Washington was Bennie Daniels, who I don't believe I've ever heard of.  He was with Pittsburgh from 1957-60, but only saw significant time on the mound in 1959, when he pitched 100.2 innings.  He was traded to Washington and spent the rest of his career with them.  His best year was 1961, when he went 12-11, 3.44, 1,25 WHIP.  He was mostly a starter, but spent substantial time in the bullpen each season.  1965 would be his last year in the majors.  For his career he was 45-76, 4.44, 1.39 WHIP.  He made his major league debut in the last game played at Ebbets Field, started the last game played at Griffith Stadium, and won the first game played at RFK Stadium (then D. C. Stadium).

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 19

Chick Gandil (1888)
Lee Head (1899)
Rip Radcliff (1906)
Chet Trail (1944)
Jon Matlack (1950)
Rich Gale (1954)
Brad Mills (1957)
Rick Adair (1958)
Chris Sabo (1962)
Jim Morris (1964)
Orlando Palmeiro (1969)
Phil Nevin (1971)
Jeff Juden (1971)
Chris Stynes (1973)
Amaury Telemaco (1974)
Byung-Hyun Kim (1979)

Lee Head played in the minors for twenty-one seasons.  He batted .304, but he was best known for his ability to avoid striking out.  In 1933 he struck out three times in 468 at-bats.  In 1935 he did even better, striking out once in 402 at-bats.

Chet Trail is the only player to have been on a World Series roster who never appeared in a major league game, regular season or post-season.

Third baseman Brad Mills was drafted by Minnesota in the 16th round of the 1977 January draft, but did not sign.

Rick Adair was in baseball from 1979-2013.  Most recently, he was the pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles.  He is the nephew of former Twins pitching coach Art Fowler.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 19 →

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Four

MINNESOTA 6, BALTIMORE 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Jimmie Hall hit a pinch-hit home run, his eighteenth.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched 8.2 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Don Larsen struck out four in 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two walks.  Dick Brown was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

The game:  Versalles brought home a run with a double-plus-error and Rich Rollins followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in the third.  The lead held until the sixth, when Aparicio homered and Brooks Robinson later had an RBI single to tie it 2-2.  In the eighth, Versalles led off with a double, Rollins had an RBI single, Oliva followed with a run-scoring triple, and Bob Allison delivered a one-out single to put the Twins up 5-2.  It seemed safe enough, but in the ninth Brown came through with a two-out three-run homer to tie it 5-5.  No worries, though, because Hall led off the ninth with a home run off Jim Palmer to win the game.

Of note:  Rollins was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was removed from the game in the sixth inning.  Earl Battey was 0-for-2 with a walk.

Record:  The win made the Twins 66-38.  Cleveland did not play, so the Orioles and Indians were once again tied for second place, six games back.

Notes:  Oliva and Battey were now at .305.  Hall, who batted only once as a pinch-hitter, was at .304...Joe Nossek once again started in center field...Three of Dick Brown's four home runs in 1965 to date have come against the Twins.  He would hit five for the season...The Orioles had quite a bullpen in 1965.  In addition to Larsen and Palmer, Harvey Haddix also pitched in relief in this game.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 18

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Eddie Moore (1899)
Danny Kaye (1913)
Mike Fornieles (1932)
Chuck Cottier (1936)
Satch Davidson (1936)
Curt Flood (1938)
Carl Morton (1944)
Billy Grabarkewitz (1946)
Sachio Kinugasa (1947)
Scott McGregor (1954)
Dave Geisel (1955)
Brady Anderson (1964)
Mike Lieberthal (1972)
Wandy Rodriguez (1979)

Entertainer Danny Kaye was one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners.

Satch Davidson was a National League umpire from 1969-1984.

Sachio Kinusaga played in 2,215 games in Japan from 1970-1987.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 18 →