Winter Wonderland: Games of November 30

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

LARA 13, MAGALLANES 4 IN MAGALLANES

Lara scored three in the second and three in the third and controlled the game from there.  Luis Arraez was 1-for-5 with two RBIs and is batting .358 for Magallanes.

ANZOATEGUI 3, LA GUAIRA 2 IN ANZOATEGUI (10 INNINGS)

Anzoategui scored two in the eighth to tie it 2-2.  Their first two batters went out, but a pair of singles put men on first and third.  Rene Reyes was intentionally walked to load the bases and Orlando Arcia was accidentally walked to force home the winning run.  Tomas Telis was 3-for-5 for Anzoategui.  Shane Youman struck out six in 5.2 innings for Anzoategui, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.

MARGARITA 4, ZULIA 1 IN ZULIA

Jose Osuna's two-run single in the fifth put Margarita up 3-0 and they never trailed.  Daniel Mayora was 3-for-4 for Margarita.  Omar Bencomo pitched five shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks with one strikeout.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

GIGANTES 11, ESCOGIDO 3 AT GIGANTES

Escogido took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, but the Gigantes countered with four in the bottom of the third and seven in the fourth to take control of the game.  Jorge Polanco was 0-for-2 for Escogido.

LICEY 4, ESTE 1 IN LICEY

Licey scored three in the seventh to break a 1-1 tie.  Mitch Atkins pitched five innings for Licey, giving up one run on three hits and a walk with one strikeout.

AGUILAS 2, ORIENTE 0 IN ORIENTE

Ronny Rodriguez tripled and scored on a Juan Carlos Perez single in the fourth and Perez again singled Rodriguez home in the ninth.  Francisley Bueno pitched six shutout innings for the Aguilas, giving up one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

AGUADILLA 2, CAROLINA 1 AGUADILLA (12 INNINGS)

It was 1-1 after three and it stayed there until the twelfth.  Juan Centeno led off with a walk and was bunted to second.  Two walks filled the bases and a hit batsman forced in the winning run.  J. J. Fernandez was 1-for-5 for Carolina.

SANTURCE 6, CAGUAS 0 IN CAGUAS

Santurce scored three in the first and it was more than enough.  Christian Vazquez was 4-for-5 with a double and two runs for Santurce.  Andres Santiago struck out four in four shutout innings for Santurce, giving up two hits and no walks.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

HERMOSILLO 1, JALISCO 0 IN HERMOSILLO

The game's lone run came in the third, when Jorge Flores led off with a double, took third on a bunt, and scored on a fielder's choice.  Tim Melville pitched a whale of a game, going 5.2 scoreless innings and giving up four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

NAVOJOA 5, OBREGON 2 IN NAVOJOA

Niko Vasquez homered in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie and Navojoa added two insurance runs in the eighth.  Randy Arozarena was 3-for-4 with a double for Navojoa.  Zack Dodson pitched six innings for Navojoa, giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

MAZATLAN 3, CULIACAN 0 IN MAZATLAN

Mazatlan scored two in the first and led all the way.  Jeremias Pineda was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Mazatlan.  Nick Struck pitched six shutout innings for Mazatlan, giving up four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

LOS MOCHIS 6, MEXICALI 1 IN MEXICALI

Los Mochis scored all of its runs in the third, getting five singles, two doubles, and two walks.  Saul Soto was 3-for-4 with two doubles for Los Mochis, scoring once and driving in one.  Roy Merritt was deserving, pitching seven shutout innings while giving up three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE*

CANBERRA 10, ADELAIDE 9 IN CANBERRA

Canberra lost leads of 4-1 and 6-4, trailing 9-6 before coming from behind to win.  The tying and go-ahead runs scored on a double by Robbie Perkins in the sixth.  Boss Moanaroa was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in four for Canberra.  Perkins was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

*Game played December 1.  It's timey-wimey.

1987 Rewind: Game Fifty-nine

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 2 IN CHICAGO (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, June 12.

Batting stars:  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola pitched seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  Jeff Reardon struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Ken Williams was 2-for-4 with a run.  Carlton Fisk was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bryan Clark pitched two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.

The game:  It was scoreless until the sixth.  The first two Twins were retired, but Kirby Puckett walked, Kent Hrbek singled, Gaetti singled in a run, and Smalley hit a three-run homer to make it 4-0.  Gagne added a run with a homer in the eighth to make it 5-0.  The White Sox scored twice in the eighth off George Frazier, but Reardon came in to restore order and the tying run never came up to bat.

Of note:  Puckett was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run and was batting .312...Smalley raised his average to .323...Viola's ERA dropped to 3.52...Chicago starter Bill Long pitched seven innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins record was 33-26.  They moved into sole possession of first place by a game over Kansas City.

Notes:  Al Newman played second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi.  He batted ninth, with Gagne batting second.

Player profile:  It's kind of amazing how many guys who had fairly substantial careers I've completely forgotten about.  Bill Long was in his first full season in the majors in 1987, appearing in 29 games and making 23 starts.  He had been a second round draft choice by San Diego in 1981, but had been traded to the White Sox after the 1984 season along with Ozzie Guillen, Tim Lollar, and Luis Salazar for Lamarr Hoyt and minor leaguers Kevin Kristan and Todd Simmons.*  He pitched in four games for the White Sox in 1985 and came up to stay in early May of 1987.  He did okay--8-8, 4.37, 1.23 WHIP.  He led the league in fewest walks per nine innings at 1.5, and while he did not equal that again he always had good control.  He started 1988 in the bullpen but was back in the starting rotation again by mid-June.  He again did okay--8-11, 4.03, 1.32 WHIP.  He was twenty-eight at that point, so he wasn't a young phenom, but he looked like he might be a decent enough fourth or fifth starter.  He started 1989 as a rotation starter, but after a series of rough starts he was back in the bullpen by late June.  He did pretty well there--his overall season numbers don't look that good, but as a reliever he was 2-0, 2.75, 1.33 WHIP.  He was traded to the Cubs early in the 1990, season, and that was kind of the beginning of the end for him.  He had a poor year with them, was released at the end of the season, signed with Montreal for 1991, but made only three appearances for them and ten more in AAA before ending his playing career.  For his career, Bill Long was 27-27, 4.37, 1.37 WHIP in 518.2 innings (159 games, 52 starts).  At last report, Bill Long was a teacher at Gray Middle School in Union, Kentucky.

*For whatever reason, it seems like teams rarely make multi-player trades like this any more.  I miss it.

Happy Birthday–December 1

Ed Reulbach (1882)
Willie Mitchell (1889)
Walter Alston (1911)
Calvin Griffith (1911)
Cookie Lavagetto (1912)
Marty Marion (1917)
Cal McLish (1925)
George Foster (1948)
Dan Schatzeder (1954)
Greg Harris (1963)
Larry Walker (1966)
Reggie Sanders (1967)
Kirk Rueter (1970)

As everyone reading this knows, Calvin Griffith was the long-time owner of the Minnesota Twins.  He had served in a variety of positions for the Washington Senators, including batboy, minor league player-manager, and working in the front office.  His managing career lasted from 1937-1941.  He also played for Class B Charlotte from 1939-1941.  No records of his playing career are available from 1939-1940, but in 1941 he got a hit in his only at-bat.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to SBG’s father, Butch.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 1