Remember everyone: Fall back!
2008
(2 votes, average: 9.50 out of 10)
Loading... ...meh, at this stage, the clocks on all of our devices set themselves. I suppose there's the clock on the old microwave, but that's it.
Date: Thursday, May 14.
Batting stars: Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk. Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Lloyd Moseby was 4-for-4 with a home run (his fifth), a double, and a stolen base (his eighth), scoring three times and driving in four. Tony Fernandez was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk, scoring three times and driving in four. Ernie Whitt was 4-for-6 with two doubles and two runs.
The game: It was tied 2-2 after three and the Twins only trailed 5-2 after five, but a five-run sixth put the game out of reach.
Of note: Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with an RBI, dropping his average to .319. Tim Laudner was 0-for-2 and dropped his average to .061. Les Straker pitched four innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Dave Steib pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks with one strikeout.
Record: The Twins were 17-17, in fourth place, two games behind Seattle. Only 3.5 games separated the top six teams in the division.
Notes: Al Newman started at shortstop rather than Greg Gagne...Randy Bush started in right field, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench...The Twins used four pitchers, with each giving up at least three runs. Keith Atherton pitched one inning and gave up four runs, Allan Anderson pitched 1.1 innings and gave up four runs, and George Frazier pitched 2.2 innings and gave up three runs.
Player profile: Outfielder Lloyd Moseby was taken by Toronto with the second pick of the 1978 draft. He played in Class A in 1979, played 37 games of AAA in 1980, and then found himself in the majors at age twenty. In his first three seasons, he batted .233 with an OPS of .651. In 1983, however, he put it together, batting .315/.376/.499 and winning a silver slugger award. He also stole 27 bases. That was his best season, but he continued to play well through 1987, twice getting MVP consideration and making an all-star team. He fell off after that, having a down season in 1988 and a worse one in 1989. He became a free agent after that, signed with Detroit, and played for them for two years before going to Japan for two more seasons. His final numbers were .257/.332/.414 with 169 homers and 280 stolen bases. He coached for the Blue Jays for a couple of years in the late '90s. At last report he was doing some public relations work for the team.
Walter Johnson (1887)
Mack Jones (1938)
Jim Gosger (1942)
John Candelaria (1953)
Stine Poole (1958)
Chad Curtis (1968)
Don Wengert (1969)
Bubba Trammell (1971)
Deivi Cruz (1972)
Justin Speier (1973)
Adam LaRoche (1979)
Walter Johnson, of course, was a star for the franchise when it was in Washington, pitching from 1907 to 1927.
Justin Speier is the son of ex-Twin Chris Speier.
Stine Poole was traded by Detroit to the Twins for Sal Butera and played in the Twins minor league system for two seasons.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to brianS' mom and spookymilk's brother.
Aww, man, I just realized that baseball's over for the year. Like, completely over over.
SALT RIVER 7, SURPRISE 6 IN SURPRISE (10 INNINGS)
Mauricio Dubon hit a two-run homer in a three-run Surprise seventh that tied it 6-6, but Salt River opened the seventh with three consecutive singles to win the game. Nick Gordon was 3-for-5 with two runs and is batting .340 for Surprise. Stephen Gonsalves pitched two innings, giving up two runs on a hit and a walk. John Curtiss pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
GLENDALE 5, PEORIA 1 IN GLENDALE
Carson Kelly hit a two-run double in a three-run Glendale first and they led all the way.
SCOTTSDALE 8, MESA 3 IN SCOTTSDALE
Ryder Jones hit a three-run homer in a four-run Scottsdale first and they led all the way. It was Jones' second homer. Bradley Zimmer homered for Mesa, his second.
MAGALLANES 10, ZULIA 8 IN MAGALLANES
Magallanes led 7-1, then trailed 8-7. Frank Diaz singled home the go-ahead run for Magallanes in the bottom of the seventh. Luis Arraez was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one, to raise his average to .309 for Magallanes. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 1-for-5 with an RBI and is batting .345 for Zulia.
CARACAS 11, MARGARITA 3 IN CARACAS
Caracas scored four in the third and seven in the fourth to get the win. Omar Bencomo started for Margarita but lasted only three innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and no walks with one strikeout.
LA GUAIRA 6, ARAGUA 4 IN ARAGUA
A three-run Aragua fifth brought them within two at 6-4, but they only got one baserunner after that. Heiker Meneses was 1-for-4 with a run for La Guaira.
ESCOGIDO 7, ORIENTE 6 IN ESCOGIDO (11 INNINGS)
Escogido scored five in the first, but needed a Wilkin Castillo RBI double in the eighth to tie it 6-6 and got an Alex Valdez RBI double in the eleventh to win it. Confesor Lara pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing a run on a hit and a walk for Oriente to raise his ERA to 2.35.
AGUILAS 6, ESTE 1 IN ESTE
Aguilas scored two in the fifth and four in the seventh. Boog Powell was 3-for-4 with a walk and a run for Aguilas. Francisley Bueno pitched five shutout innings.
LICEY 8, GIGANTES 2 AT GIGANTES
Licey scored three in the second and never trailed. Carlos Paulino was 0-for-1 for the Gigantes.
CAROLINA 1, CAGUAS 0 IN CAROLINA
Ozzie Martinez singled home J. J. Fernandez for the game's only run in the fifth inning. Fernandez was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
MAYAGUEZ 3, SANTURCE 0 IN SANTURCE
Emmanuel Rivera singled home a run in the seventh to break a scoreless tie and came around to score later in the inning. Kennys Vargas was 0-for-4 for Mayaguez. Nelson Molina was 0-for-2 for Mayaguez. Dereck Rodriguez pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout for Mayaguez.
MEXICALI 4, HERMOSILLO 0 IN MEXICALI
Mexicali scored single runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and eighth. Edgar Osuna pitched six shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
OBREGON 8, CULIACAN 1 IN CULIACAN
Already leading 4-0, Obregon scored four in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Armando Araiza hit a home run for Obregon. Marco Carilla struck out six in six shutout innings, giving up six hits and two walks.
LOS MOCHIS 6, MAZATLAN 5 IN MAZATLAN
Los Mochis led 6-2 going to the bottom of the ninth, but Brian Hernandez hit a three-run homer and Mazatlan got the tying run on first before going down. Emmanuel Avila was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second) for Los Mochis. Jesus Arredondo was also 3-for-4. Hernandez' homer was his third for Mazatlan.
NAVOJOA 1, JALISCO 0 IN NAVOJOA
A sacrifice fly in the second inning scored the game's only run. Hector Velazquez struck out eight in six shutout innings for Navojoa, giving up four hits and two walks. Tyler Alexander struck out twelve in seven innings for Jalisco, giving up one run on three hits and three walks.
Date: Wednesday, May 13.
Batting stars: Roy Smalley was 2-for-4. Mark Salas was 1-for-1 as a pinch-hitter.
Pitching star: Joe Klink struck out six in 6.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on five hits and two walks.
Opposition stars: Jim Clancy pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits, all singles, and a walk with five strikeouts. Kelly Gruber was 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen bases, scoring twice and driving in one. George Bell was 2-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and two RBIs.
The game: The Blue Jays scored all of their runs in the first three innings. Bell singled in a run in the first, Fred McGriff homered in a two-run second, and Bell homered in a four-run third. The Twins' only threat came in the eighth, when a single, a walk, and a single loaded the bases with one out. Tom Henke then came in to replace Clancy, Steve Lombardozzi flied out to short center field, and Randy Bush struck out to end the inning.
Of note: Kirby Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average to .321...Tim Laudner was 0-for-3, dropping his average to .065...Twins starter Mark Portugal lasted only 2.1 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and a walk with one strikeout.
Record: The Twins were 17-16, in fourth place, 1.5 games behind Kansas City and Seattle.
Notes: Bush was in right field for this one, with Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench...At this point, Klink's ERA was 3.18 in 17 innings, and if not for one rough outing in April it would've been 1.80. Given how desperate the Twins were for fourth and fifth starters, it's a little surprising that they didn't give him a shot at it. Not that I think he'd have gotten the job done, but when you look at some of the other guys they gave starts to, it's hard to think he'd have done much worse.
Player profile: It's kind of amazing to me how many guys who were considered pretty good ballplayers at the time have been almost entirely forgotten now. Kelly Gruber is another one of those. He was drafted by Cleveland with the tenth pick of the 1980 draft. He had a solid season in AA in 1983 as a twenty-one-year-old, but the Indians decided to trade for Brook Jacoby and left Gruber unprotected. The Blue Jays took him in the Rule 5 draft and worked something out so he could stay in the minors for most of 1984 and 1985, then brought him up to stay in 1986. He shared third base with Garth Iorg and Rance Mullinkis in 1987, although Gruber got more playing time there than either of them. He became the regular in 1988 and rewarded the Blue Jays with four solid seasons, batting .274 with 85 homers over that span. He made two all-start teams, one a gold glove, and also won a silver slugger. His best season was 1990, when he hit .274/.330/.512 with 31 homers and finished fourth in MVP voting. He slumped in 1992, was traded to California, played the 1993 season there, and was released in September. He tried to come back in 1997, playing in 38 games in AAA for Baltimore, but while he didn't embarrass himself he wasn't particularly impressive, either. At last report, Kelly Gruber was living in Austin, Texas (he's a native Texan) and made personal appearances and put on instructional camps.
Ice Box Chamberlain (1867)
Roxy Walters (1892)
Pete Donohue (1900)
Harry Gumbert (1909)
Lloyd Moseby (1959)
Fred Manrique (1961)
Brian Raabe (1967)
Javy Lopez (1970)
Johnny Damon (1973)
Juan Morillo (1983)
Thankfully no one blue themselves or we wouldn't be able to see them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oEkp3ZQzDI
1972
Of course, any of those outfits would make them pretty easy to spot...
(4 votes, average: 9.50 out of 10)Loading... It's Friday, right? I've been smiling all morning because I was under the impression that it's Friday, but I see no Friday Music Day post, so it must not be Friday. Now I'm sad.
Drop your lists.
