Monthly Archives: November 2016

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of November 7

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

SURPRISE 8, SALT RIVER 5 IN SURPRISE

Scott Heineman hit a grand slam in a five-run eighth that turned a 4-3 deficit into an 8-4 lead.  Nick Gordon was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run and is batting .339 for Surprise.  Mitch Garver was 1-for-4.  Tanner English was 1-for-3.  Randy Rosario pitched two innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk.

GLENDALE 15, PEORIA 3 IN GLENDALE

Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer (his second) and Harrison Bader hit a two-run homer (his second) in a five-run third that broke a 2-2 tie and Glendale led the rest of the way.  Andrew Stevenson was 5-for-6 for Glendale.

SCOTTSDALE 4, MESA 3 IN SCOTTSDALE

Ian Happ's two-run triple in the sixth put Mesa up 3-2, but RBI singles by Hunter Cole and Tim Tebow in the bottom of the ninth gave Scottsdale the victory.

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

MAGALLANES 5, LARA 1 IN LARA

Jose Tabata's two-run double broke a 1-1 tie in the third and Magallanes would not lose the lead.  Luis Arraez was 3-for-4 with a walk for Magallanes and is batting .358.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

AGUILAS 3, ESTE 1 AT AGUILAS

In the fourth inning Dylan Cozens hit a two-run homer (his fourth) and Ronny Rodriguez followed with a solo shot (his third) to give the Aguilas all the runs they would need.  Leonardo Reginatto was 0-for-2 for Este.

ORIENTE 3, ESCOGIDO 2 IN ORIENTE

Oriente scored in the fifth on a walk, a double, and a ground out to take a 3-2 lead and four relievers made it stand up.  Daniel Palka was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk for Escogido.  In a blast from the past, one of Palka's teammates is Lew Ford.

GIGANTES AT LICEY

Rained out.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

SANTURCE 2, CAROLINA 0 IN CAROLINA

Back-to-back homers by Ivan DeJesus, Jr. (his second) and Neftali Soto provided all the runs of the game.  J. J. Fernandez was 0-for-3 for Carolina.  In another blast from the past, J. C. Romero pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk with one strikeout.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Thirty-six

2 Comments

BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 16.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Roger Clemens pitched a complete game, giving up one run on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.  Wade Boggs was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk, scoring twice.  Bill Buckner was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer.

The game:  Twins starter Bert Blyleven left a pitch up to Wade Boggs, who hit over the fence for a two-run homer in the first inning.  The score stayed 2-0 until the ninth, when a double, a walk, and a Don Baylor double made it 3-0 with one out.  Jeff Reardon then replaced Blyleven and struck out the first batter he faced but gave up a three-run homer to Bill Buckner to make it 6-0.  The Twins put together three singles in the ninth to avoid the shutout.  A walk loaded the bases with one out, but Steve Lombardozzi grounded into a double play to end the game.

Of note:  Puckett raised his average to .331...Blyleven deserved better, but his line reads 8.1 innings, five runs, five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.  After the Boggs homer he gave up only one more hit, a single, until the ninth.

Record:  The Twins were 18-18, in fourth place, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Al Newman started at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne...Randy Bush started in right field, with Tom Brunansky moving to left and Dan Gladden to the bench...From this point of the season, the only division rivals to have winning records would be Oakland and the White Sox, and in each case it was only one game over .500.

Player profile:  It's not really a profile, because I doubt I can tell you much about Wade Boggs that you don't know, but I did want to point this out.  Boggs hit twenty-four home runs in 1987.  He had hit only thirty-two in his major league career from 1982-1986.  He would hit twenty-two from 1988-1991.  His next highest season total came in 1994, when he hit eleven.  He would hit 118 in an eighteen year career, meaning that his average was six and a half and he hit more than twenty percent of his career home runs in 1987.

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of November 5-6

2 Comments

GAMES OF NOVEMBER 5

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

FALL-STARS GAME:  WEST 12, EAST 4

The West scored four in the second and four in the third to take an easy win.  Nick Gordon was the only Twin to make the team, going 0-for-3.

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

CARACAS 7, LA GUAIRA 2 IN CARACAS

Caracas scored three in the third and three in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead.  Wilfredo Tovar was used as a defensive substitute for Caracas and did not bat.  Heiker Meneses was 1-for-4 for La Guaira.

ZULIA 7, LARA 1 IN LARA

Zulia scored in four of the first five innings to build a 5-1 lead.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his fifth and sixth) and is batting .352 for Zulia.

ANZOATEGUI 5, MARGARITA 4 IN ANZOATEGUI

RBI singles by Tomas Telis and Rene Reyes in the eighth inning gave Anzoategui a 5-4 win.  Niko Goodrum was 0-for-4 for Anzoategui.

MAGALLANES 10, ARAGUA 5 IN MAGALLANES

Magallanes led 4-0 after one, then had the lead cut to 4-3.  In the fourth, however, Jose Rondon delivered a two-run triple and later scored to secure the Magallanes win.  Luis Arraez was 3-for-4 with two triples and a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.  He is batting .329 for Magallanes.  Jairo Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Aragua and is batting .324.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

ESCOGIDO 3, ESTE 1 IN ESCOGIDO

Joaquin Arias' two-run single in the seventh snapped a 1-1 tie.  Daniel Palka was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk, scoring once for Escogido.  Leonardo Reginatto was 0-for-3 for Este.

ESTRELLAS 5, GIGANTES 2 IN ESTRELLAS

All the runs were scored in the sixth inning, with the Gigantes getting two in the top half and Estrellas countering with five in the bottom half.  Confesor Lara struck out two in a scoreless inning for Estrellas, giving up two hits.  Carlos Paulino was 2-for-4 for the Gigantes.

LICEY 5, AGUILAS 4 AT AGUILAS

Rymer Liriano was 4-for-4 with a triple and a double, scoring twice and driving in two, to lead Licey.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAGUAS 10, MAYAGUEZ 2 IN MAYAGUEZ

Leading 3-2, Caguas scored four in the sixth to secure the win.  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-1 with two walks for Mayaguez.

AGUADILLA 5, CAROLINA 0 IN CAROLINA

Four pitchers combined on a shutout for Aguadilla.  Juan Centeno was 0-for-3 with two walks for Aguadilla.  J. J. Fernandez pinch-hit for Carolina and was 0-for-1.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

0

MAZATLAN 4, LOS MOCHIS 2 IN MAZATLAN

Corey Brown hit a three-run homer (his third) in a four-run fourth for Mazatlan.

HERMOSILLO 4, MEXICALI 1 IN MEXICALI

Matt Skole's three-run homer in the sixth gave Hermosillo all the runs they would need.

CULIACAN 2, OBREGON 1 IN CULIACAN

Joey Meneses two-run homer (his fifth) in the fourth provided all the Culiacan runs.

NAVOJOA 3, JALISCO 0 IN NAVOJOA

With Navojoa leading 1-0, Randy Arozarena hit a two-run triple to put the game out of reach.  Seven pitchers combined for the shutout, with four of them going less than one inning.

GAMES OF NOVEMBER 6

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

LA GUAIRA 13, CARACAS 4 IN LA GUAIRA

Brock Stassi hit a three-run homer (his fifth) as La Guaira took a 4-1 lead in the first inning and never looked back.  Heiker Meneses was 2-for-5 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in four, for La Guaira.  He is batting .300.

ARAGUA 11, MAGALLANES 5 IN ARAGUA

Six of the first seven Aragua batters reached base as they scored six in the first and led all the way.  Luis Arraez was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs and is batting .341 for Magallanes.

LARA 3, ZULIA 2 IN LARA

Two singles and a sacrifice fly brought home the go-ahead run for Lara in the seventh.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run and is batting .340 for Zulia.

ANZOATEGUI 15, MARGARITA 11 IN ANZOATEGUI

Anzoategui trailed 2-0, led 9-2, trailed 11-10, and then scored five in the bottom of the ninth to win as Emerson Landoni hit a walkoff grand slam.  Niko Goodrum was 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple, a double, and a walk, scoring twice for Anzoategui.  Ryan O'Rourke struck out two but allowed one run on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning for Margarita.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

LICEY 8, AGUILAS 2 IN LICEY

Licey scored six in the second and led all the way.

ESCOGIDO 3, ESTE 2 IN ESTE

Mark Thomas broke a 1-1 tie with a homer in the seventh and Escogido added a needed insurance run on an error in the eighth.  Daniel Palka was 0-for-4 for Escogido.

ESTRELLAS AT GIGANTES

Rained out.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAROLINA 4, SANTURCE 3 IN SANTURCE

Johneshwy Fargas hit a three-run double in the eighth to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead.  J. J. Fernandez was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run for Carolina and is batting .333.  Lean Marrero pinch-ran and scored for Carolina.

MAYAGUEZ 8, AGUADILLA 2 IN AGUADILLA

Danny Ortiz hit a three-run homer for Mayaguez in the first inning and they led all the way.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

HERMOSILLO 2, MEXICALI 1 IN MEXICALI

Jorge Flores' RBI double broke a scoreless tie in the seventh and Jose Amador homered in the eighth for Hermosillo.

NAVOJOA 4, JALISCO 1 IN NAVOJOA

Humberto Sosa's two-run single in the first gave Navojoa a lead they would not relinquish.

OBREGON 4, CULIACAN 2 IN CULIACAN

Leo Heras hit a two-run single in a three-run third and Obregon led the rest of the game.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Thirty-five

5 Comments

MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 15.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his ninth) and a walk.  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  Juan Berenguer started and pitched eight shutout innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  George Frazier pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Bruce Hurst pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts.  Wade Boggs was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.

The game:  Boggs homered in the top of the fourth, but two singles and a sacrifice fly tied it in the bottom of the fourth.  Berenguer was brilliant.  Other than the Boggs homer all he gave up was a two-out single in the second, a two-out single in the fourth, and a leadoff walk in the seventh, none of whom got past first base.  In the ninth, Lombardozzi led off with a single and Puckett followed with a walkoff home run.

Of note:  Puckett was now batting .326...Tim Laudner was 0-for-3 and was now batting .056.

Record:  The Twins were 18-17, in fourth place, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.  Only six games separated the first and last place teams in the division.

Notes:  Mark Davidson started in right field, with Tom Brunansky at DH...Laudner started at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Hrbek was apparently just given a day off, as he played in the game prior to this one and would play in the next game.  The Twins would soon call up Gene Larkin to be the reserve first baseman.  Tom Nieto was the catcher...Berenguer would make six starts for the Twins in 1987.  In those starts, he went 2-0, 2.92, 1.30 WHIP.  Given how the Twins were looking for fourth and fifth starters all year, it's somewhat surprising Berenguer wasn't given more a look in the rotation.  One can only assume Tom Kelly thought that he was more valuable in the bullpen, and I don't mean to imply that I think he was wrong.

Player profile:  Bruce Hurst was never a big star--he made only one all-star team--but he was a solid rotation starter for ten seasons.  Born and raised in St. George, Utah, he was drafted by Boston with the twenty-second pick in 1976.  He got brief callups in 1980 and 1981, coming to the majors to stay in 1982.  He didn't do a lot that year, but he went into the rotation 1983 and didn't leave it until 1992.  His won-lost records are nothing to shout about, with the exception of 1988, but he consistently had a better-than-average ERA, made over thirty starts, and pitched more than two hundred innings.  He finished fifth in Cy Young voting in 1988, when he went 18-6, 3.66, 1.33 WHIP, and also finished fourteenth in MVP voting that year.  Other than his won-lost record, though, there's nothing in his numbers for that season that's out of line with what he did for most of his career.  He cashed in on that won-lost record, though, becoming a free agent after 1988 and signing with San Diego.  He continued to pitch well through 1992, then had injury problems.  He made only five starts in 1993, two with the Padres and three with Colorado, to whom he was traded in late July.  He was again a free agent after that season and signed with Texas, but made only eight starts for them and then was done.  He has done some coaching in China, coaching their entry in both the Asian Baseball Championship and the World Baseball Classic.  The baseball field at Dixie State University in his hometown of St. George is named after him.  His son Kyle pitched in the Angels organization from 2008-2012 but made only three appearances above Class A.  He'll never make the Hall of Fame, but for ten years he was a valuable guy to have on your team.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 7

Chris Von der Ahe (1851)
Ed "The Only" Nolan (1857)
Bill Brubaker (1910)
Dick Stuart (1932)
Jake Gibbs (1938)
Jim Kaat (1938)
Joe Niekro (1944)
Buck Martinez (1948)
Willie Norwood (1950)
Guy Sularz (1955)
Orlando Mercado (1961)
Russ Springer (1968)
Todd Ritchie (1971)
Glendon Rusch (1974)
Esmerling Vasquez (1983)
Danny Santana (1990)

Promoter/entrepreneur Chris von der Ahe, referred to as "Bill Veeck with a handlebar mustache", owned the St. Louis franchise from 1882-1899.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 7 →