Monthly Archives: February 2016

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-eight

MINNESOTA 5, NEW YORK 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 25.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a home run, his nineteenth.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched 8.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Elston Howard was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk, scoring twice.  Tom Tresh was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and two runs.  Bill Stafford struck out one in a perfect inning.

The game:  Allison homered in the fourth and Nossek delivered a two-out RBI double in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  In the seventh, Tresh homered and Hector Lopez later hit a sacrifice fly to tie it 2-2.  In the bottom of the seventh, Rollins had a two-run triple and Earl Battey a run-scoring double to give the Twins a 5-2 lead.  They needed all those runs, as Howard hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth to cut the margin to 5-4.  Merritt left and Al Worthington came in.  He gave up a two-out double to Clete Boyer but struck out Ray Barker to end the game.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-1.  Battey was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Record:  The win made the Twins 81-47.  Chicago lost to Baltimore 2-1, once again giving the Twins a 7.5 game lead.

Notes:  Jimmie Hall did not start, with Andy Kosco playing right and Oliva moving to center.  Oliva left the game after the first inning, which he ended with a ground out.  Nossek then came in to play center.  Oliva would miss the next five games, a tough thing for a team already missing Harmon Killebrew...Oliva continued to lead the team in batting at .311.  Battey was at .304...Elston Howard had his worst year as a Yankee in 1965.  He made the all-star team for the ninth consecutive time, but he hit only .233 and had only nine homers with an OPS of .623.  He bounced back some in 1966 but had a terrible year in 1967, getting traded to Boston during the season.  He would play only one more season after that.  He had a pretty good career, though, winning the MVP in 1963 and reaching the top twenty in balloting four other times.  He also won two Gold Gloves.  He was primarily a catcher, but played 265 games in the outfield and 85 at first base.  He passed away in 1980 at the young age of fifty-one.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 11

Jimmy Ryan (1863)
Kenjiro Tamiya (1928)
George Alusik (1935)
Ollie Brown (1944)
Ben Oglivie (1949)
Tom Veryzer (1953)
Todd Benzinger (1963)
Scott Pose (1967)
J. R. Towles (1984)

Kenjiro Tamiya is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, playing from 1949-1963.  He began as a pitcher, and came within one out of pitching the first perfect game in Nippon Pro Baseball history.  A shoulder injury required him to switch to the outfield in 1952.  He was a seven-time all-star.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Moss.  Live Moss.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

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NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 24.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his fourteenth) and an RBI.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Dick Stigman retired all four batters he faced, striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, allowing one run on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts.  Elston Howard was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Tom Tresh was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twentieth.

The game:  The Twins got a man to third base in the first and fourth and the Yankees put a man on third in the third, but there was no score until the sixth.  Valdespino led off the sixth with a triple and scored on an Oliva single to put the Twins on the board with a 1-0 lead.  It looked like the lead might hold up, but in the eighth Mickey Mantle got a two-out single and Tresh followed with a two-run homer.  The Twins put their first two men on in the ninth, but Don Mincher hit into a double play and Rich Rollins popped up to end the game.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Earl Battey was 0-for-3.

Record:  The Twins dropped to 80-47.  The White Sox beat Baltimore 6-5, so the lead fell to 6.5 games.

Notes:  Oliva raised his average to .312.  Battey fell to .305...Bob Allison was again out of the lineup, with Valdespino taking his place...I don't remember Tom Tresh as a very good hitter, but he was for about five years.  He was Rookie of the Year in 1962 at age twenty-three, was on the all-star team that year and again in 1963, and received all-star votes in both those years and again from 1965-66.  He also won a Gold Glove in 1965.  From 1962-66 he hit .264/.341/.442 with 114 home runs, numbers which are even better when you put them in the context of the 1960s.  In spring training of 1967, however, he suffered a knee injury.  The Yankees told him to play through it, an order that basically destroyed his career.  He fell off rapidly, hitting just .219 in 1967 and .195 in 1968  He was traded to Detroit in 1969 and was out of baseball after that season.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 10

Horace Wilson (1845)
Jim Keenan (1858)
Curt Welch (1862)
Billy Evans (1884)
Herb Pennock (1894)
Bill Adair (1913)
Allie Reynolds (1917)
George Sobek (1920)
Randy Jackson (1926)
Billy O'Dell (1933)
Dick Bogard (1937)
Jim Barr (1948)
Larry McWilliams (1954)
Lenny Dykstra (1963)
Lenny Webster (1965)
Jayhawk Owens (1969)
Alberto Castillo (1970)
Bobby Jones (1970)
Kevin Sefcik (1971)
Lance Berkman (1976)
Cesar Izturis (1980)
Duke Welker (1986)
Liam Hendriks (1989)
Max Kepler (1993)

Horace Wilson was an American professor English at Tokyo University.  He is credited with introducing baseball to Japan in either 1872 or 1873.

Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history, starting his career at age 22.  He was an American League umpire from 1906-1027.  He would later become general manager of the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, and was president of the Southern Association from 1942-1946.

Bill Adair was a long-time minor league player (1935-1956) and manager (1949-1973).  He also was the scout credited with signing Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.

George Sobek was a long-time scout for the White Sox, credited with signing Denny McLain, Steve Trout, and Mike Squires.  He also played in the NBA and was a long-time college basketball referee.

Another long-time scout, Dick Bogard played in the minors for six years, managed for three, and was a scout for nearly thirty years, mostly for Houston and Oakland.  He is credited with signing Walt Weiss, Jason Giambi, and Ben Grieve.

Jim Barr was drafted six different times before finally signing.  Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round of the January Secondary draft in 1970, but he did not sign.

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WGOM Videos

Aretha Franklin & Smokey Robinson – Ooo Baby Baby

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This is a pretty, little stripped-down rendition of an old classic written by Smokey. Here's a neat little bit of background:

The impromptu performance occurred during a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who was promoting her new album entitled La Diva. Soul Train paid tribute to Robinson earlier on that day’s taping. So since he was still at the studio while Franklin was taping her segments, he agreed to do a duet with her of “Ooo Baby Baby,” a huge hit he had with his group The Miracles in 1965


Dec 1979

Don Cornelius adds a good and awkward interview to the beginning of this clip as well if you want to skip head a couple minutes.

5 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 105 votes, average: 9.40 out of 10 (5 votes, average: 9.40 out of 10)
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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-six

MINNESOTA 4, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, August 23.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixteenth) and two runs.  Earl Battey was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Pitching stars:  Mudcat Grant pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Dick Stigman pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk with one strikeout.  Al Worthington struck out two in a scoreless inning despite giving up one hit and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Whitey Ford pitched 8.1 innings, allowing three runs on ten hits and one walk with six strikeouts.  Clete Boyer was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fourteenth), a stolen base (his third), and a walk.  Roger Repoz was 2-for-4 with a run.

The game:  It was close all the way.  Versalles homered in the third to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Each team scored in the sixth, leaving the Twins up 2-1.  Boyer hit a two-out two-run homer in the seventh to give the Yankees their first lead of the game at 3-2.  The Twins had two out in the bottom of the ninth when Tony Oliva delivered an RBI double to tie it 3-3.  The Yankees loaded the bases in the tenth, but did not score.  In the bottom of the tenth, Allison and Don Mincher each walked to put men on first and second with none out.  A strikeout followed, but then Jerry Kindall came through with an RBI single to end the game.

Of note:  Rich Rollins was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Oliva was 1-for-5 with an RBI.

Record:  The win made the Twins 80-46.  The White Sox lost to Baltimore in twelve innings, so Minnesota's lead increased to  7.5 games.

Notes:  Oliva's average went to .310, while Battey went to .308...Roger Repoz was supposed to be "the next Mickey Mantle".  That would be too much for anyone, and it was too much for Repoz.  He spent all or part of nine seasons in the majors,  His career numbers were .224/.314/.390 with 82 home runs.  His career high in homers was eighteen in 1970.  Still, he played in 831 major league games and had 2,145 at-bats, and that's a lot more than a lot of people can say.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 9

Harry Pulliam (1864)
Heinie Zimmerman (1887)
Specs Toporcer (1899)
Bill Veeck (1914)
Jodie Phipps (1918)
Vic Wertz (1925)
Erv Palica (1928)
Clete Boyer (1937)
Eddie Solomon (1951)
Mookie Wilson (1956)
Pete O'Brien (1958)
John Kruk (1961)
Doug Linton (1965)
Todd Pratt (1967)
Vladimir Guerrero (1975)
Dioner Navarro (1984)

Harry Pulliam was president of the National League from 1903-1909.

Bill Veeck was the owner of the Cleveland Indians (1946-49), St. Louis Browns (1951-53), and Chicago White Sox (1958-61, 1975-81).

Pitcher Jodie Phipps played in the minors from 1939-1957, winning 275 games.  He also managed in the minors for seven seasons.

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

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