Monthly Archives: March 2016

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-nine

MINNESOTA 3, BALTIMORE 2 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Wednesday, September 29.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twenty-second) and a triple, scoring twice.  Andy Kosco was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Cesar Tovar was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Steve Barber pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.  Boog Powell was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Curt Blefary was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the first as Powell scored from first on a double by Brooks Robinson.  The Twins tied it in the fourth when an Allison triple was followed by Kosco's RBI single.  Paul Blair singled home a run in the seventh to give the Orioles a 2-1 advantage, but Allison struck again in the eighth, hitting a two-run homer to give the Twins their first lead of the game at 3-2.  Baltimore opened the ninth with a walk, a single, and an error, loading the bases with none out.  Jim Merritt came into that situation and got pinch-hitter Bob Johnson to hit a fly to right.  Joe Nossek caught the fly and threw out Curt Blefary at the plate.  Johnny Klippstein then came in to retire Norm Siebern on a fly ball to end the game.

Of note:  Nossek was 0-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4.

Record:  The victory gave the Twins one hundred wins on the season, improving their record to 100-59.  Baltimore remained second, seven games back.

Notes:  It was a B lineup for this game.  Tovar started a game for only the fourth time in his career, playing center in place of Jimmie Hall.  Nossek was in right rather than Tony Oliva.  Kosco played first instead of Don Mincher.  Frank Quilici started at shortstop in place of Zoilo Versalles, only the fourth time in his major league career that he had played short.  Jerry Zimmerman was the catcher, rather than Earl Battey...The win was Grant's twenty-first on the season.  There was only one Cy Young Award given for both leagues in 1965, and the unanimous winner was Sandy Koufax.  Grant did, however, finish sixth in MVP voting that year and was the highest-ranked pitcher on the list.  One has to think that if there had been a separate American League Cy Young Award, he would've been the favorite to win it.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 13

Frank "Home Run" Baker (1886)
Patsy Gharrity (1892)
Alejandro Oms (1895)
C. Arnholt Smith (1899)
Doug Harvey (1930)
Bill Dailey (1935)
Steve Barber (1948)
Terry Leach (1954)
Randy Bass (1954)
Yoshihiko Takahashi (1957)
Luis Aguayo (1959)
Mariano Duncan (1963)
Will Clark (1964)
Jorge Fabregas (1970)
Scott Sullivan (1971)
Johan Santana (1979)

Outfielder Alejandro Oms was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues.

C. Arnholt Smith was the original owner of the San Diego Padres.

Doug Harvey was a National League umpire from 1962-92.

Infielder Yoshihiko Takahashi has the longest hitting streak in Japanese professional baseball.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-eight

BALTIMORE 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Tuesday, September 28.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-third.  John Sevcik was 1-for-4 with a double.  Rich Rollins was 1-for-1 with a run.

Pitching star:  Dave Boswell struck out four in three perfect innings of relief.

Opposition stars:  Wally Bunker pitched 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Brooks Robinson was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  Luis Aparicio was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base (his twenty-sixth), scoring twice.

The game:  RBI singles by Robinson and Jerry Adair put the Orioles up 2-0 in the first inning.  Baltimore scored two more in the fifth without a hit, as Al Worthington came on to issue a walk, hit a batter, and then give up three more walks before settling down to retire the next three batters.  In fact, the last twelve Orioles were retired, but it made no difference because the Twins were too far down.  They had threatened in the third, as Sevcik was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single, but did not score until the eighth, when Killebrew hit a two-run homer.  Jimmie Hall followed with a two-out single, but the last four Twins were retired.

Of note:  Frank Quilici was 0-for-2 with a walk.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-4.  Hall was 1-for-4.

Record:  The Twins record went to 99-59.  Baltimore won its ninth straight game and remained in second, six games back.

Notes:  With the pennant clinched, a few regulars were rested.  Valdespino replaced Tony Oliva in right field.  Andy Kosco played first base in place of Don Mincher.  Jerry Kindall was at shortstop instead of Zoilo Versalles...The Versalles MVP award has been the subject of controversy, but manager Sam Mele clearly thought he was extremely valuable.  This was only the second day off Versalles was given all season...The double by Sevcik was his one and only hit in the major leagues.  He appeared in twelve games, all in 1965, and went 1-for-16.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 12

Abraham Mills (1884)
Denny Lyons (1866)
Leroy Matlock (1907)
Vern Law (1930)
Durwood Merrill (1938)
Johnny Callison (1939)
Jimmy Wynn (1942)
Bill Butler (1947)
Larry Rothschild (1954)
Ruppert Jones (1955)
Dale Murphy (1956)
Mike Quade (1957)
Darryl Strawberry (1962)
Shawn Gilbert (1965)
Steve Finley (1965)
Raul Mondesi (1971)
Greg Hansell (1971) 
David Lee (1973)
P. J. Walters (1985)

Abraham Mills was president of the Mills Commission, which determined that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York in 1839.

Leroy Matlock was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s.

Durwood Merrill was a major league umpire from 1977-2002.

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Friday Music Day

Friday Music Day: Random Thoughts

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No big overhanging theme this week, just a couple of musings.

  • I've decided that while I like the shoegaze aesthetic, I would really like a little more life out of the vocals (MBV excepted, but they might just be getting grandfathered in). Basically, I probably won't turn off the radio if a MBV-clone comes on, but I'm about done buying their music.
  • I don't "get" jazz, per se (and almost certainly never will - I'm not sure I have the patience for it), but I've been enjoying listening to Kind of Blue while doing desk work lately.
  • There hasn't been any new music from 2016 that I'm that crazy about yet. A song or two here and there, but nothing that's going to stick with me.
  • Listening to a lot of Grimes still, though. Art Angels is great.

Drop your random 10s!

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-seven

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MINNESOTA 2, WASHINGTON 1 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Sunday, September 26.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-3 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-3 with a double and a run.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat struck out ten in a complete game, giving up an unearned run on eight hits and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Pete Richert pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.  Frank Howard was 3-for-4.  Ken McMullen was 1-for-4 with a run.

The game:  The Senators scored in the third on two singles and an error.  It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Versalles led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball.  The Twins took the lead in the eighth when Quilici led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Versalles.  Washington did not advance a man past first base after the third inning.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.

Record:  The Twins win the pennant!  The Twins win the pennant!  The Twins win the pennant!  The win made the Twins 99-58.  Baltimore defeated California 2-1, but was 7.5 games back with a record of 90-64.

Notes:  Oliva's average remained .321...Nossek replaced Jimmie Hall in center field...Killebrew was 3-for-18 with a double since coming back.  He drew five walks in that span...I think of Frank Howard as a low-average slugger, but it's not true.  His lifetime average was .273, which is better than it sounds when you remember most of his career came in the 1960s.  He never hit .300, but he hit over .280 five times and over .290 three times.  His high was .296, which he hit in 1961, 1962, and 196.