Monthly Archives: November 2016

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of November 29

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

ORIENTE 5, LICEY 1 IN LICEY

Gustavo Nunez' two-run double in the second put Oriente up 3-0 and Michael Martinez' two-run double made it 5-0 in the fourth.  Nik Turley started for Oriente and struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.

GIGANTES 3, ESTE 2 IN ESTE

The Gigantes broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth by scoring on a passed ball.  Leury Garcia was 3-for-5 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one, for the Gigantes.

ESCOGIDO AT AGUILAS

Rained out.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAROLINA 7, MAYAGUEZ 2 IN CAROLINA

Leading 3-2, Carolina scored four in the eighth, two on an Irving Falu single and two on a J. J. Fernandez single, to put the game out of reach.  Fernandez was 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs.

AGUADILLA 7, CAGUAS 6 IN CAGUAS

Alexis Pantoja tripled in the tying run and scored the go-ahead run on a Raymond Fuentes double in the ninth inning to give Aguadilla the victory.  Fuentes was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in two.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

HERMOSILLO 8, JALISCO 5 IN HERMOSILLO

Jalisco scored four in the eighth to cut Hermosillo's lead to 6-5, but Hermosillo scored two in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win.  Juan Pablo Oramas pitched seven innings for Hermosillo, giving up one run on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Fernando Perez was 3-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk for Hermosillo, driving in two.

NAVOJOA 9, OBREGON 1 IN NAVOJOA

A four-run second provided all the runs Navojoa would need.  Troy Marks pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Alex Sanchez was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double, scoring three times and driving in two.  Fernando Flores was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

MAZATLAN 5, CULIACAN 3 IN MAZATLAN

Mazatlan scored two in the eighth on only one hit to break a 3-3 tie and get the win.  Gilberto Galaviz was 3-for-4 with a home run and a double, driving in two.

MEXICALI 5, LOS MOCHIS 0 IN LOS MOCHIS

Four singles produced two runs in the third and Mexicali added three in the fifth to get a victory.  Javier Solano pitched a complete game shutout for Mexicali, giving up three hits and no walks with five strikeouts.  Xorge Carrillo was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second) and two RBIs.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Fifty-eight

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MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 3 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Wednesday, June 10.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-1 with a stolen base (his third), scoring twice.  Mark Davidson was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out nine in eight innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks.  Jeff Reardon struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Charlie Liebrandt pitched 7.2 innings, giving up three unearned runs on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.  Willie Wilson was 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases (his sixteenth and seventeenth), scoring twice.  Bo Jackson was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.

The game:  The Royals scored single runs in the first and third to take a 2-0 lead.  In the sixth, Blyleven left a pitch up to Jackson to make it 3-0.  The Twins had two out and a man on first when Liebrandt walked Gladden and pinch-hitter Tim Laudner to load the bases.  Dan Quisenberry came in and got Kirby Puckett to ground one to first base, but Steve Balboni made an error and all three runs scored to tie the game.  The game went to extra innings.  Gagne led off the tenth with a single off Jerry Don Gleaton and stole second.  Gary Gaetti was intentionally walked, but Gene Larkin lined a single to left to win the game for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 32-26 and moved into first place, a game ahead of Kansas City.

Notes:  The win completed a sweep of Kansas City and gave the Twins five wins in a row...Al Newman made his fourth consecutive start at shortstop in place of Gagne, who came in as a pinch-runner in the eighth...Larkin made his second consecutive start at first base in place of Kent Hrbek, who presumably had a minor injury...Davidson was in right field, with Brunansky at DH and Roy Smalley out of the lineup.  I had no memory that Davidson played so much in 1987...Sal Butera caught, with Laudner coming in as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning...Puckett was 0-for-5, dropping his average to .312...Larkin was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI and was batting .353.

Player profile:  Willie Wilson is another fine player from the 1980s who has kind of dropped off the radar screen.  He was a first round draft choice in 1974, got September call-ups in 1976 and 1977, and came up to stay in 1978.  He was mostly used as a reserve that year and didn't do much, but he won the starting left field job in 1979 and made the most of it, batting .315 with a league-leading 83 stolen bases.  It may seem odd that a man that fast was in left, but the Royals also had a fine center fielder in Amos Otis.  Wilson had an even better year in 1980, batting .326 and leading the league in runs, hits, and triples.  He finished fourth in the MVP voting that year, winning his only Gold Glove and one of his two Silver Slugger awards.  His best year may have been 1982, when he won his only batting title with a .332 average and again led the league in triples with 15.  He took over the center field job in 1983, when an aging Otis moved to right.  He held the job through 1990, when he became a free agent and signed with Oakland.  Now thirty-five, he really didn't do a lot in his two years with the Athletics.  He went to the Cubs in 1993 but was just a part-time player then until his release in May of 1994.  He had a pretty good run, though, making two all-star teams, getting votes for MVP four times, and leading the league in triples five times.  For his career, he batted .285/.326/.376 with 147 triples and 668 stolen bases (twelfth all time).  He also had thirteen inside-the-park home runs.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 30

Mordecai Davidson (1845)
Frank Killen (1870)
Josh Billings (1891)
Firpo Marberry (1898)
Clyde Sukeforth (1901)
Steve Hamilton (1935)
Craig Swan (1950)
Juan Berenguer (1954)
Dave Engle (1956)
Steve Shields (1958)
Bob Tewksbury (1960)
Bo Jackson (1962)
Gary Wayne (1962)
Mark Lewis (1969)
Ray Durham (1971)
Matt Lawton (1971)
Shane Victorino (1980)
Rich Harden (1981)

Mordecai Davidson was the owner of the Louisville Colonels in the late 1880s.  Under financial pressure, he tried to save money in a variety of ways, including fining players each time the team lost.  As a result, he is credited with inspiring the first baseball players' strike.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 30 →

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of November 28

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

GIGANTES 3, ESCOGIDO 0 AT GIGANTES

The Gigantes scored one in the first and Moises Sierra hit a two-run double in the fourth.  Jorge Polanco was 0-for-4 for Escogido.

LICEY AT ORIENTE

Postponed due to wet grounds.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

SANTURCE 3, CAGUAS 1 IN CAGUAS

Juan Silva hit a three-run homer in the first and that was all the runs Santurce needed.  Reiner Roibal pitched six shutout innings, giving up four hits and one walk with five strikeouts for Santurce.

MAYAGUEZ 4, AGUADILLA 1 IN AGUADILLA

Carlos Corporan hit a two-run double in a four-run fifth that broke a scoreless tie and gave Mayaguez all the runs they would need.  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-4 for Mayaguez.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Fifty-seven

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MINNESOTA 5, KANSAS CITY 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 9.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.  Mark Davidson was 1-for-2 with a triple, two walks, and a stolen base (his sixth), scoring once.

Pitching stars:  Joe Niekro struck out six in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on nine hits and three walks.  Keith Atherton struck out four in 2.2 perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Willie Wilson was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his fifteenth), driving in one.  Jaime Quirk was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Kevin Seitzer was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his third), scoring once.

The game:  The Twins opened the third inning with a double, two singles, and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead.  Laudner hit a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 4-1.  Quirk and Wilson led off the seventh with back-to-back doubles, making the score 4-2, and a one-out single by Danny Tartabull put runners on the corners.  Atherton then came in and completely shut the Royals down, not allowing a baserunner the rest of the way.  The Twins added a run on Puckett's sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, his tenth and eleventh...Kansas City starter Danny Jackson pitched five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and four walks with one strikeout.

Record:  The Twins were 31-26, tied for first with Kansas City (though one percentage point behind).  The win was the fourth straight for Minnesota.

Notes:  Al Newman started at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne and led off, with Gladden batting second.  Gene Larkin played first base in place of Kent Hrbek...Davidson was in right field, with Tom Brunansky at DH and Roy Smalley out of the lineup...This was Niekro's first start as a Twin...Puckett raised his average to .319...Larkin was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, making his average .362.

Player profile:  Buddy Biancalana was a good field-no hit shortstop who gained some fame during the 1985 World Series, thanks partly to having a good Series (by his standards) and thanks partly to David Letterman, who enjoyed saying his name.  He was actually a first round draft choice in 1978.  He never really did hit, even in the minors, although he had a good half-season with AAA Omaha in 1984.  He was not the primary shortstop for Kansas City in 1985--Onix Concepcion was--but as Concepcion batted only .204 that year he lost the job to Biancalana.  He batted .278 in the World Series with five walks, giving him an OBP of .435.  He was not the primary shortstop for Kansas City, either--Angel Salazar was--but he got the most playing time of his career (190 at-bats) and had his "best" season, batting .242/.298/.337.  He played less in 1987, did not do much, and was traded to Houston in late July for Mel Stottlemyre, Jr.  He went 1-for-24 for Houston, was released after the season, and went back to the Royals, playing in Omaha in 1988.  That was it for his playing career.  He managed in the minors from 2001-03 and 2006-07.  He is the co-author of a book, "The 7 Secrets of World Class Athletes", and is the co-founder of PMPM Sports,