Monthly Archives: November 2016

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland–Games of November 9

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

SCOTTSDALE 5, SURPRISE 4 IN SCOTTSDALE

Scottsdale led 4-3 after one inning.  It was 5-3 going to the ninth.  Surprise got one in and put the tying run on first base before going down.  Nick Gordon was 2-for-4 with a double and a run and is batting .350 for Surprise.  Tanner English was 0-for-3.  Stephen Gonsalves started and pitched only two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks.  His ERA is now 11.12 in three starts (5.2 innings).

GLENDALE 10, SALT RIVER 0 IN SALT RIVER

A three-run fourth and a four-run fifth made the score 8-0 and the rout was on.  Austin Voth pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks with three strikeouts for Glendale.

PEORIA 5, MESA 4 IN MESA

Kean Wong's RBI single in the ninth drove home the go-ahead run.  Wong went 3-for-5.  Mesa starter Michael Peoples pitched four perfect innings.

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

LARA 3, CARACAS 2 IN CARACAS

Rangel Ravelo singled in a run in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie.  Jesus Montero was 3-for-5 with a double for Lara.

ZULIA 5, ANZOATEGUI 4 IN ZULIA (10 INNINGS)

Homers by Reynaldo Rodriguez and Jesus Flores tied the score 4-4 in the sixth.  In the tenth, Wilson Garcia's RBI single plated Jose Pirela with the winning run.  Niko Goodrum was 2-for-5 with an RBI for Anzoategui.

MAGALLANES 8, LA GUAIRA 6 IN MAGALLANES (8 INNINGS--RAIN)

A six-run fifth turned a 6-2 deficit into an 8-6 win for Magallanes.  Luis Arraez was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run, dropping his average to .347.

ARAGUA 1, MARGARITA 0 IN MARGARITA

With two out in the fourth, Daniel Alvarez doubled and Ramon Flores singled to produce the game's only run.  Kevin Gadea pitched five shutout innings for Aragua, giving up three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

ESTE 5, LICEY 0 IN LICEY

Este scored two in the first and led all the way.  Leonardo Reginatto was 2-for-4 for Este.  Nick Martinez pitched six shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

ESTRELLAS 1, AGUILAS 0 IN ESTRELLAS

Gabriel Guerrero led off the fourth with a double and scored on a two-out single by Raimel Tapia for the only run of the game.  Stephen Fife pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and no walks with three strikeouts for Estrellas.

ESCOGIDO AT GIGANTES

Rained out.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAGUAS 5, AGUADILLA 4 IN AGUADILLA (10 INNINGS)

An error, a single, and a double play produced the go-ahead run in the tenth.  Juan Centeno was 2-for-5 with a double and a run for Aguadilla.

CAROLINA 4, MAYAGUEZ 3 IN CAROLINA

Carolina scored two in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead.  Mayaguez scored one in the eighth and had men on second and third with one out, but a ground out and a strikeout ended the threat.  Lean Marrero was 0-for-2 for Carolina.  J. J. Fernandez was 0-for-4 for Carolina.  Kennys Vargas was 1-for-5 for Mayaguez.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

JALISCO 10, MEXICALI 4 IN JALISCO

A five-run fifth broke a 3-3 tie and put Jalisco in control of the game.  Alberto Carreon was 2-for-3 with a home run, a triple, and a walk, driving in three.

OBREGON 4, MAZATLAN 3 IN OBREGON (10 INNINGS)

Omar Rosario led off the tenth with a double, was bunted to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly to win the game.  Irwin Delgado pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts for Obregon.

LOS MOCHIS 8, NAVOJOA 7 IN LOS MOCHIS (10 INNINGS)

Saul Soto doubled and scored in the ninth to tie it 7-7 and J. C. Linares singled home Isaac Rodriguez with the winning run in the tenth for Los Mochis.  Soto also hit a three-run homer, his second.

CULIACAN 11, HERMOSILLO 3 IN HERMOSILLO

Culiacan scored five in the sixth to take a lead it would not give up.  Daniel Carbonell was 3-for-6 with a double, scoring three times and driving in one for Culiacan.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Thirty-eight

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CLEVELAND 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Tuesday, May 19.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Les Straker pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Ex-Twin Ken Schrom pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Cory Snyder was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, his sixth.  Joe Carter was 1-for-3 with a home run (his seventh) and a walk.

The game:  Gaetti's two-run double in the first gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.  It was 3-2 Twins going to the bottom of the ninth.  Jeff Reardon was not summoned.  Rather, Mark Portugal, who had entered the game with two out in the sixth, remained to pitch the ninth.  Chris Bando singled, Brett Butler struck out, and Snyder hit a two-run homer to win the game for the Clevelands.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a run and was batting .322...Tim Laudner was 0-for-3 and was batting .073.

Record:  The Twins were 19-19, tied with Oakland for fourth place, four games behind Kansas City.  No one in the Twins' division would have a winning record from this game forward, with Oakland doing the best at an even .500 (62-62).

Notes:  Al Newman again played shortstop in place of Greg Gagne...Randy Bush was again in right field, with Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench...This was one of four complete games by Schrom, who was in his last year in the majors.

Player profile:  I remember Cory Snyder as a better player than he apparently was.  That may be because of his fine rookie season, 1986, when he hit .272 with a .500 slugging percentage and 24 home runs.  He only had an OBP of .299, but people didn't worry so much about such things back then.  He would set a career high in home runs in 1987 with 33, but his best year was the one which followed, 1988.  He hit .272/.326/.483 with 26 home runs, topping an .800 OPS for the first time in his career at .810.  It was also the last time he topped .800 in OPS, as his career dropped off sharply after that.  He hit only .215 and .233 in the next two seasons and was traded to the White Sox after the 1990 campaign.  He bounced around after that, playing for Toronto, San Francisco, and the Dodgers, and also playing in the minors with Boston and San Diego, before his career came to an end after the 1995 season.  He did have one more good season, with the Giants in 1992, but it was nothing to get too excited about.  He had hit 83 home runs through age twenty-five, in three seasons, but hit only 66 after that.  His career numbers are .247/.291/.425 with 149 homers.  He has stayed in baseball as a minor league manager and coach and was the manager of Puebla in the Mexican League in 2016, managing them to the Mexican League championship.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 10

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Jim Whitney (1857)
Cy Morgan (1878)
Del Gainer (1886)
Chick Fewster (1895)
Jimmie Dykes (1896)
Birdie Tebbetts (1912)
Johnny Lipon (1922)
Cal Ermer (1923)
Gene Conley (1930)
Norm Cash (1934)
Mike Vail (1951)
Larry Christenson (1953)
Larry Parrish (1953)
Paul Thormodsgard (1953)
Bob Stanley (1954)
Jack Clark (1955)
Keith Lockhart (1964)
Kenny Rogers (1964)
Butch Huskey (1971)
Shawn Green (1972)
Brian Dinkelman (1983)

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Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of November 8

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

MESA 10, SURPRISE 7 IN MESA

Mesa scored four runs in each of the first two innings, building an 8-1 lead.  Mason Melotakis struck out two in a perfect inning of relief for Surprise.  John Curtiss also pitched a perfect inning.

SCOTTSDALE 13, GLENDALE 3 IN SCOTTSDALE

Scottsdale sent fifteen men to the plate in a ten-run first inning.  Their first twelve batters all reached base.

SALT RIVER 5, PEORIA 4 IN SALT RIVER

JaCoby Jones broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run single in the seventh.  Salt River led 5-2 in the ninth, but with two out Kean Wong hit a two-run double.  However, he was thrown out trying to stretch it two a triple and the game ended.

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

ANZOATEGUI 2, ZULIA 1 IN ZULIA

A wild pitch allowed the go-ahead run to score in the eighth inning.  Niko Goodrum was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Anzoategui.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for Zulia and is batting .351.

LA GUAIRA 15, CARACAS 4 IN LA GUAIRA

Caracas scored one in the top of the first, but La Guaira responded with twelve in the bottom of the first.  Heiker Meneses was 0-for-1 with two walks and two runs for La Guaira.  Wilfredo Tovar was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Caracas and is batting .305.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

LICEY 3, ESCOGIDO 2 IN ESCOGIDO

Diory Hernandez' RBI single capped a two-run eighth that gave Licey the lead.  Daniel Palka was 0-for-4 for Escogido.

ESTE 2, ORIENTE 1 IN ESTE

Deibinson Romero singled home the go-ahead run in a two-run sixth for Este.  Leonardo Reginatto was 2-for-3 for Este.

AGUILAS 9, GIGANTES 8 AT AGUILAS

Aguilas scored seven runs in the first, but needed a bases-loaded hit batsman in the ninth to secure the win.  Ronny Rodriguez was 4-for-4 with a double for Aguilas.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

JALISCO 3, MEXICALI 0 IN JALISCO

Jalisco broke a scoreless tie with two in the fourth.  Bruce Kern pitched 7.1 scoreless innings for Jalisco.

OBREGON 4, MAZATLAN 2 IN OBREGON

Joey Wendle's two-run double in the fourth gave Obregon a 3-0 lead.  Mazatlan had the tying run on second with one out in the ninth.  Blake Bevan pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.

NAVOJOA 11, LOS MOCHIS 2 IN LOS MOCHIS

Navojoa led 5-0 after two.  Randy Arozarena, Quincy Latimore, and Victor Mendoza each had four hits for Navojoa.

HERMOSILLO 2, CULIACAN 0 IN HERMOSILLO

Luis Alfonso Garcia's two-run double in the sixth produced all of the game's runs.  Pablo Ortega pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Thirty-seven

MINNESOTA 10, BOSTON 8 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 4-for-4 with a home run (his ninth), a walk, and two stolen bases (his third and fourth), scoring three times.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and two walks.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-6 with a two-run homer, his tenth.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Dwight Evans was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventh) and a walk, scoring twice.  Dave Henderson was 2-for-2 with a home run (his fifth) and two RBIs.  Ellis Burks was 2-for-6 with a double and a run.

The game:  It was 1-1 half-way through.  Puckett hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-1.  Later in the inning, the Twins loaded the bases.  A fielder's choice brought home one run and Greg Gagne and Gaetti pulled off a double steal of second and home, respectively, to make the score 5-1.  It was 6-1 after seven and things seemed under control.  In the eighth, however, the first four Red Sox batters went homer, single, double, single, making the score 6-4 and chasing starter Frank Viola from the game.  George Frazier came in and allowed a single and a walk to load the bases.  Jeff Reardon came in and another walk to make it 6-5.  Bill Buckner fouled out, finally the first out of the inning, but consecutive singles made it 8-6 Boston.  Not to worry.  Gaetti led off the ninth with a home run and with one out Tom Brunansky homered to tie the score.  Keith Atherton, who had retired the Red Sox in order in the ninth, gave up only a two-out single in the tenth.  In the bottom of the tenth, Dan Gladden singled and Hrbek hit a two-run homer to win the game for the Twins.

Of note:  Puckett was now batting .324...Tim Laudner was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run and raised his average to .079...Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, and a hit-by-pitch...Frank Viola pitched very well for seven innings, but his line read seven innings, five runs, eight hits, and a walk, with six strikeouts...Boston starter Jeff Sellers pitched four innings, allowing three runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 19-18, tied for third place with California, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Al Newman started at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi...Randy Bush started in right, with Brunansky in left.  Gladden entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth...Boston's first seven batters and nine of their first ten reached base in the eighth inning.

Player profile:  The name "Jeff Sellers" meant nothing to me, but he actually made fifty-one starts for the Red Sox from 1985-88.  He was drafted by Boston in the eighth round in 1982.  He got a September callup by the Red Sox after a fine 1985 season in AA.  He split 1986 between AAA and the majors but did not do very well in thirteen big league starts.  He was in the majors for most of 1987 but again did not get much accomplished, going 7-8, 5.28, 1.59 WHIP in 25 games (22 starts).  It should be noted that he did have two shutouts.  He struggled again in 1988 and Boston finally gave up on him, trading him to Cincinnati in a multi-player deal that involved such names as Todd Benzinger and Nick Esasky.  He did not make the majors again, but pitched in the minors for the Yankees, Texas, and Colorado, not ending his playing career until 1994.  His major league numbers are 13-22, 4.97, 1.60 WHIP in 329.2 innings (51 starts, 10 relief appearances).  The Red Sox obviously saw something in him to give him that many chances, but whatever it was, it did not translate into major league success.  His son, Justin Sellers, was an infielder with the Dodgers from 2011-2013 and with Cleveland in 2014.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 9

George Wood (1858)
Harvey Hendrick (1897)
Johnny Gooch (1897)
Jerry Priddy (1919)
Bob Wren (1920)
Bill Bruton (1925)
Whitey Herzog (1931)
Bob Gibson (1935)
Jim Riggleman (1952)
Teddy Higuera (1958)
Dion James (1962)
Chad Ogea (1970)
Adam Dunn (1979)
Chuck James (1981)
Joel Zumaya (1984)

Bob Wren was the head coach of Ohio University from 1949-1972.

Jim Riggleman has managed San Diego, the Cubs, Seattle, and Washington.

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