Monthly Archives: March 2016

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-two

KANSAS CITY 8, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, September 20.

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with two home runs, his twentieth and twenty-first.  Frank Quilici was 2-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched eight innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Larry Stahl was 3-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and two runs.  Catfish Hunter pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Jose Tartabull was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

The game:  RBI singles by Tartabull and Dick Green led to a three-run third that put the Athletics up 3-0.  Stahl homered in the fifth to make it 4-0.  Mincher put the Twins on the board with a homer in the bottom of the fifth and hit another one in the seventh to cut the lead to 4-2.  In the ninth, however, three singles, three walks, and an error led to four Kansas City runs and put the game out of reach.  The Twins had only two hits other than the Mincher homers, both coming from the bat of Quilici.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Ted Uhlaender was 0-for-4.  Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4.

Record:  The Twins went to 96-56.  Chicago did not play, so they moved to nine games back.

Notes:  A win would have clinched a tie for first place...Earl Battey took an 0-for-4, dropping back below .300 at .298...Bob Allison and Tony Oliva sat this one out, with Uhlaender and Valdespino, respectively, taking their places...John Wyatt pitched two perfect innings for Kansas City to get the save.  He was a fine relief pitcher in the 1960s, before there was much glory in the position.  He had double-digit saves from 1962-67, with a high of twenty-one in 1963.  His best year, however, was probably 1964, when he went 9-8, 3.59, 1.27 WHIP with twenty saves.  He led the league in appearances that year with eighty-one and pitched 128 innings, all in relief.  He made his only all-star appearance that season.  After a poor start in 1966, the Athletics traded him to Boston, where he was a key part of the Impossible Dream season in 1967.  He went 10-7 with twenty saves that year, posting a 2.74 ERA.  He again got off to a slow start in 1968 and was sold to the Yankees.  They sold him to Detroit a month later and Wyatt went to the World Series again, going 1-0, 2.37, 1.22 WHIP with two saves in 30.1 innings (22 appearances).  He went to Oakland for 1969 but was released in late May, ending his career.  He then went into real estate development, building apartments for the underprivileged.  He passed away in April of 1998, shortly before his sixty-third birthday.

 

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 6

Ring Lardner (1885)
Lefty Grove (1900)
Bob Swift (1915)
Pete Gray (1915)
Ted Abernathy (1933)
Cookie Rojas (1939)
Willie Stargell (1940)
Karl Best (1959)
Scott Stahoviak (1970)
Terry Adams (1973)
Marcus Thames (1977)
Clint Barmes (1979)

Author Ring Lardner wrote about a variety of subjects, but is probably most famous for writing about baseball.  If you haven't read any of his stuff, you really should.

As you probably know, Pete Gray played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite having only one arm.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 6 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 5

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Sam Thompson (1860)
Jeff Tesreau (1888)
Lu Blue (1897)
Elmer Valo (1921)
Del Crandall (1930)
Phil Roof (1941)
Katsuo Osugi (1945)
Kent Tekulve (1947)
Doug Bird (1950)
Mike Veeck (1951)
Mike Squires (1952)
Steve Ontiveros (1961)
Brian Hunter (1971)
Jeffrey Hammonds (1971)
Ryan Franklin (1973)
Paul Konerko (1976)
Mike MacDougal (1977)
Erik Bedard (1979)
Joe Benson (1988)

Katsuo Osugi was the first player to have a thousand hits in the Japanese Central League and the Japanese Pacific League.

The son of Bill Veeck, Mike Veeck is president of the Goldklang Baseball Group, which owns a variety of minor league teams, including the Fort Myers Miracle and the St. Paul Saints.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to brianS’ daughter.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s father.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 5 →

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-one

MINNESOTA 8, WASHINGTON 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 19.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-2 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Jim King was 2-for-4 with a double.  Dick Nen was 2-for-4.  Jim French was 2-for-4.

The game;  The Twins again jumped on the Senators early, getting a two-run double from Allison and an RBI single by Mincher to take a 3-0 lead in the first.  Perry contributed a two-run double in a three-run fourth to make it 6-0.  The Senators got a man on in every inning but did not score until the eighth, when two singles and a double play grounder produced their only run.  Versalles ended the scoring with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 1-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his second.  Andy Kosco was 0-for-5 with a run.  Earl Battey was 1-for-4 with a run.

Record:  The win made the Twins 96-55.  Chicago defeated Cleveland 7-5 to just barely stay alive, 9.5 games back.

Notes:  Manager Sam Mele continued to give some people a break.  Nossek replaced Jimmie Hall in center.  Andy Kosco replaced Tony Oliva in right...Battey's average went to .301...Jim King is another guy I never heard of who had a pretty substantial career.  He came up with the Cubs in 1955 and was a semi-regular for them for two years.  He wasn't bad, hitting in the .250s with some power, but the Cubs traded him to St. Louis and his career went into a tailspin.  He spent most of 1957-58 and all of 1959-60 in the minors.  It should be noted that it was not leaving Wrigley Field that hurt him, as his numbers were actually a little better on the road than at home.  Washington chose him in the expansion draft and it was the best thing that could have happened to him.  He was at least a semi-regular outfielder for the Senators from 1961-67.  A left-handed batter, he appears to have been platooned a lot in his career, although his numbers against left-handers are not that much worse than against righties.  He never hit for a high average but did provide some power, hitting double-digit homers every year from 1961-66 with a high of twenty-four in 1963.  He had a bad year in 1967, was traded to the White Sox and then to Cleveland, and his career ended after that season.  Still, he was in the big leagues for at least part of eleven seasons, which isn't too bad.  An Arkansas native, he returned there after he was done playing and worked for the telephone company there until his retirement.

Friday Music Day

Friday Music Day: WGOM Venn Diagrams

45 Comments

Pepper: I think I need a Venn diagram showing the extent of overlap  in the musical interests of [you, DK, and Daneeka's Ghost].

nibbish: I would actually like to see a vein diagram of a lot of the people at the WGOM. free and I would have two nearly distinct circles.

Pepper: You've still got  control of FMD, right? If you can find a way to get people to indicate what they like out of a list of 25 or so artists or songs, I bet there's a way to represent it in some sort of visual way.

Daneeka's Ghost: Come up with a list of 20 and then everyone gets to add 5 of their own that everyone gets to weigh in on.

It could quickly spiral into insanity or actually be really interesting. I'd volunteer my spreadsheet enthusiasm for this.

Sure. Why not?

In addition to your random 10's this week, go here. Put a checkmark next to an artist you enjoy, then add five more musics you enjoy at the end.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty

MINNESOTA 4, WASHINGTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventeenth) and a double.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Earl Battey was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Dave Boswell pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Johnny Klippstein pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Woodie Held was 1-for-2 with a double and three walks, driving in one.  Frank Howard was 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.  Ken Hamlin was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his eighth), scoring twice.

The game:  Howard singled in Held to give the Senators a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but RBI singles by Battey and Don Mincher put the Twins up 2-1 in the bottom of the first.  Versalles hit a two-run homer in the second to make it 4-1.  That was all the runs the Twins would get, but it was all they needed.  This was due in large part to the bullpen, as starter Jim Kaat was pulled with none out in the fifth after giving up a run-scoring double to Held.  Boswell came in and put out the fire in the fifth.  He pitched until the seventh, when a walk, a single, and a bunt put men on second and third with one out.  Bill Pleis came in and retired pinch-hitter (and future Twin) Brant Alyea on a popup.  Klippstein then came in to pitch the rest of the game.  He allowed two singles to start the eighth, but a double play took care of the threat.

Of note:  Ted Uhlaender was 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Kaat pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and six walks with three strikeouts.

Record:  The win made the Twins 95-55.  Chicago beat Cleveland 8-5, so the Twins' lead remained 9.5 games.

Notes:  Battey got his average back over .300 at .302...Manager Sam Mele apparently was taking advantage of the Twins' big lead in the pennant race to rest some players.  Uhlaender played left in place of Bob Allison and Valdespino was in right in place of Tony Oliva...Uhlaender's stolen base was the first of his career.  He would steal fifty-two in his career, with a high of sixteen in 1968...Washington stranded thirteen runners and went 1-for-12 with men in scoring position.