Monthly Archives: December 2016

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seventy-four

TEXAS 7, MINNESOTA 2 IN TEXAS (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Saturday, June 27.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Mark Davidson was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer struck out six in six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks.

Opposition stars:  Charlie Hough pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Mike Stanley hit a pinch-hit grand slam in his only at-bat (his second homer).  Pete O'Brien was 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring once.

The game:  Each team scored two runs in the second inning and it stayed 2-2 until the eighth.  Dan Schatzeder retired the first batter of the inning, but then a walk, a single, and a walk loaded the bases.  Jeff Reardon then came in and gave up a pinch-hit grand slam to Stanley.  Later in the inning he gave up a home run to Curtis Wilkerson to make it 7-2.

Of note:  Roy Smalley was 1-for-4 to make his average .328...Gene Larkin was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .303...Berenguer's ERA was 2.93 after the game.

Record:  The Twins were 42-32, in first place, two games ahead of Oakland.

Notes:  Al Newman was at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi and batted second.  He went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .197...Randy Bush played right field in place of Tom Brunansky and batted third...Gaetti was the DH, with Smalley at third base...Davidson played center in place of Kirby Puckett.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 16

Sammy Strang (1876)
Tony Kaufmann (1900)
Neil Chrisley (1931)
Adolfo Phillips (1941)
Mike Flanagan (1951)
Rick Sofield (1956)
Tom Gorman (1957)
Billy Ripken (1964)
Jeff Granger (1971)
Charles Gipson (1972)
Matt Kinney (1976)
Hector Santiago (1987)

The reason Neil Chrisley is listed is because his given name is Barbra O’Neil Chrisley. No explanation for this name is given, but it seems reasonable to assume that he’s the only man to play major league baseball whose first name was Barbra.

Jeff Granger was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1990, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 16 →

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of December 14

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

MARGARITA 7, ANZOATEGUI 6 IN MARGARITA

Anzoategui led 6-0 half-way through, but Margarita competed the comeback with a two-run eighth.  Willie Argo was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and a double for Margarita, driving in two.  Sean Halton hit a two-run homer, his third, for Margarita.

MAGALLANES 4, LA GUAIRA 1 IN LA GUAIRA

Mario Lisson hit a two-run homer (his seventh) to give Magallanes a 3-0 lead and put them in control of the game.  Stolmy Pimentel pitched six innings for Magallanes, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ZULIA 3, ARAGUA 2 IN ZULIA

It was 2-0 going to the bottom of the ninth, but Trayvon Robinson's two-run single capped a three-run comeback victory for Zulia.  Logan Duran pitched seven innings for Zulia, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

AGUILAS 3 ESCOGIDO 2 AT AGUILAS

Jonathan Villar's sacrifice fly in the ninth scored Rafael Ynoa with the winning run.  Jorge Polanco was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for Escogido.

LICEY 1, ORIENTE 0 IN LICEY

Mel Rojas, Jr. homered (his second) leading off the fourth for the game's only run.  Yohan Flande pitched four shutout innings for Licey, giving up three hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ESTE 7, GIGANTES 4 IN ESTE

Este led 6-0 after three and held on to win.  Raul Valdes pitched six shutout innings for Este, giving up four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

SANTURCE 3, CAGUAS 2 IN SANTURCE

Hector Olivera's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth led Santurce to victory.  Adalberto Flores struck out eight in six innings for Santruce, giving up one run on one hit and no walks.

MAYAGUEZ 8, AGUADILLA 3 IN AGUADILLA

Already leading 3-2, Mayaguez scored five in the seventh to put the game out of reach.  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-3 with a walk and two runs for Mayaguez.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

JALISCO 10, OBREGON 2 IN JALISCO

Jesus Valdez hit a three-run homer (his fifth) in a six-run first that put Jalisco in control early.  Octavio Acosta struck out five in five shutout innings for Jalisco, giving up two hits and no walks.  Amadeo Zazueta was 4-for-5 with a home run (his second) and a triple, scoring twice and driving four.  Japhet Amador was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs for Jalisco.  Eduardo Arredondo was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for Jalisco.

MEXICALI 4, NAVOJOA 1 IN NAVOJOA

With Mexicali leading 2-1, C. J. Retherford hit a two-run homer (his ninth) in the eighth to put the game out of reach.  Kameron Loe struck out six in 5.2 innings for Mexicali, giving up one run on eight hits and a walk.

LOS MOCHIS 3, CULIACAN 0 IN CULIACAN

Los Mochis scored two in the first and led all the way.  Yudai Mori pitched six shutout innings for Los Mochis, giving up three hits and no walks while striking out four.

MAZATLAN 4, HERMOSILLO 3 IN HERMOSILLO

Heber Gomez' RBI single in the ninth brought home the go-ahead run for Mazatlan.  Jesus Sanchez pitched 5.2 innings for Mazatlan, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.  Brian Hernandez was 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI for Mazatlan.  Jose Aguilar was 3-for-4 with a walk for Mazatlan, scoring three times and driving in one.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE*

CANBERRA 5, PERTH 2 IN CANBERRA

D. J. Davis hit a three-run homer in the seventh, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.  Louis Cohen struck out five in 5.1 innings for Canberra, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.

*Game played December 15.  It's timey-wimey.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seventy-three

TEXAS 11, MINNESOTA 6 IN TEXAS (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, June 27.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a double, a stolen base (his eighth), and a run.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his eighth) and a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his nineteenth).

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Jeff Russell pitched four shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Ruben Sierra was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his tenth), a stolen base (his seventh), and a walk, scoring twice.  Scott Fletcher was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times.

The game:  The Twins had leads of 1-0, 3-2, and 6-4, but couldn't hold them.  Texas took the lead with a five-run fourth.  With two on and two out, George Frazier came in to relieve Joe Niekro.  He gave up a three-run homer to Sierra, walked Pete O'Brien, and gave up a two-run homer to Larry Parrish, leaving Texas up 9-6.  The Twins did not get a man past first base the rest of the game.

Of note:  Greg Gagne batted second and went 1-for-5 with a home run, his fifth...Puckett raised his average to .344...Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 and raised his average to .330...Niekro pitched 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts...Texas starter Edwin Correa pitched five innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on ten hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 42-31, in first place, two games ahead of Oakland.

Player profile:  I don't remember a lot about Jeff Russell, but he had a pretty substantial career.  He was drafted by Cincinnati in the fifth round in 1979 and came up to the Reds in 1983.  He was a starting pitcher then, and in his first full season (1984), he led the league in losses, going 6-18, although his other numbers suggest that he didn't have a lot of luck that year.  The Rangers acquired him in July of 1985 and moved him to the bullpen in 1986.  He had a pretty good year there, but did not do well in 1987 (this game notwithstanding) and was back in the rotation in 1988.  He did pretty well there, even making the all-star team, but moved back to the bullpen in 1989 and started several years of fine pitching there.  He led the league in saves with 38 in 1989, struggled through an injury-marred 1990, but then had around 30 saves a year through 1993, posting fine ERAs and WHIPs each year.  He was traded to Oakland in August of 1992 and signed with Boston for 1993.  He did well that season, but had a poor 1994 split between Boston and Cleveland.  He signed back with Texas in 1995 and had a couple of decent years with them, but was not the pitcher he once had been.  For his career, he was 56-73, 3.75, 1.35 WHIP with 186 saves.  He made two all-star teams (1988-89) and was ninth in Cy Young voting in 1989.  He's apparently remembered fondly with the Rangers, as he was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2015.  In recent years, he has been the pitching coach of the Texas AirHogs in the American Association.

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of December 13

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

ANZOATEGUI 8, MARGARITA 5 IN MARGARITA

Luis Jimenez hit a two-run homer in a four-run sixth that gave Anzoategui a 5-3 lead.  They scored three more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.  The teams combined to use eighteen pitchers (eleven by Anzoategui) with eleven of them (eight by Anzoategui) going less than an inning and six (five by Anzoategui) facing only one batter.  Jimenez was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his seventh and eighth) and three RBIs.

LA GUAIRA 6, CARACAS 0 IN CARACAS

Hector Sanchez hit a two-run homer in the fourth to open the scoring and the La Guaira pitchers took it from there.  Kelvin De La Cruz struck out seven in 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and no walks for La Guaira.  Yonathan Diaz was 3-for-3 with a two-run homer (his second) and a walk for La Guaira.

ZULIA 5, ARAGUA 1 IN ZULIA

Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a two-run double in a three-run first that gave Zulia all the runs they needed.  Carlos Hernandez struck out eight in six innings for Zulia, giving up one run on four hits and no walks.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

AGUILAS 6, ESCOGIDO 3 IN ESCOGIDO

Hector Luna hit a two-run single in the third to open the scoring and the Aguilas led the rest of the way.  Danny Santana was 0-for-4 with a run and an RBI for the Aguilas.  Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with a run for Escogido.

LICEY 6, ORIENTE 2 IN ORIENTE

With Licey leading 3-2, Jorge Bonafacio hit a three-run homer in the eighth to put the game out of reach.  Confesor Lara pitched two-thirds of an inning for Oriente, giving up a run on a hit and a walk.

GIGANTES 5, ESTE 3 AT GIGANTES

In a scoreless tie, the first two Gigantes went out in the fifth inning.  Then came two walks, two singles, and two doubles (in that order), producing all five of the Gigantes runs, which was all they needed.  Sam Gaviglio pitched four shutout innings for the Gigantes, giving up a hit and three walks with one strikeout.  Leury Garcia was 3-for-4 with two triples for the Gigantes, scoring once and driving in one.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAGUAS 1, CAROLINA 0 IN CAROLINA

The game's lone run came in the fourth on a single, a walk, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly.  J. J. Fernandez was 0-for-2 for Carolina.

MAYAGUEZ 8, AGUADILLA 6 IN MAYAGUEZ

Mayaguez led 4-0, fell behind  6-4, and scored four in the bottom of the sixth to go in the lead to stay.  Kennys Vargas was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Mayaguez.  Dereck Rodriguez struck out two in a scoreless inning for Mayaguez, giving up one hit while lowering his ERA to 0.69.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

OBREGON 9, JALISCO 4 IN JALISCO (12 INNINGS)

It was 4-4 through seven and stayed that way until the twelfth, when a two-run homer by Max Ramirez and a three-run shot by Jose Heberto Felix brought victory to Obregon.  Arturo Lopez pitched six innings for Obregon, giving up two runs on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Ramirez was 4-for-6 with two doubles in addition to the home run, scoring twice and driving in three.

MEXICALI 6, NAVOJOA 5 IN NAVOJOA

Yuniesky Betancourt hit a grand slam in a five-run third that put Mexicali ahead, but they also needed C. J. Retherford's homer in the sixth inning to put the game away.  It was Betancourt's third home run and Retherford's eighth.

LOS MOCHIS 5, CULIACAN 0 IN CULIACAN

Los Mochis scored two in the third and Rodolfo Amador added a three-run double in the sixth.  Roy Merritt pitched eight shutout innings for Los Mochis, giving up three hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

MAZATLAN 4, HERMOSILLO 3 IN HERMOSILLO

Cyle Hankerd's two-run homer in the fifth broke a 2-2 tie.  Hermosillo scored once in the ninth and had men on first and second when the game ended.  Jeremy Kehrt pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and four walks with one strikeout for Mazatlan.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

 

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seventy-two

2 Comments

TEXAS 1, MINNESOTA 0 AT TEXAS

Date:  Friday, June 26.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 0-for-1 with two walks and two stolen bases (his fifth and sixth).  Roy Smalley had the only Twins hit, going 1-for-3.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola took a complete game loss, pitching eight innings and giving up one run on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Witt pitched eight shutout innings, giving up one hit and six walks with seven strikeouts.  Scott Fletcher was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Jerry Browne was 1-for-4 with a run and a stolen base, his twelfth.

The game:  The game's lone run scored in the first, when Browne led off with a single and scored on Fletcher's double.  Smalley got the only Twins hit, a two-out single in the second.  Brunansky was the only Twin to get past first base, getting as far as third in the eighth when he walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a fly ball to right.  Dan Gladden hit a foul fly to right field to end the inning.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk, making his average .335.

Record:  The Twins were 42-30, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Notes:  Al Newman was again at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne and again batted second.  He was 0-for-3 with a walk, making his average .201.

Player profile:  Dale Mohorcic pitched the ninth inning of this game, getting his tenth save.  An undrafted free agent signed out of an independent league, Mohorcic spent time in the Toronto and Pittsburgh organizations before coming to the Rangers as a free agent in May of 1985.  He was already twenty-nine by then, but he pitched well in AAA Oklahoma City and did so again in 1986, and at the end of May of 1986 he was in the big leagues.  He pitched quite well, posting a 2.51 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP with seven saves.  In 1987 he was the nearest thing the Rangers had to a closer, posting sixteen of the twenty-seven Texas saves (Mitch Williams (at age twenty-two), 6; Jeff Russell, 3; Mike Loynd, 1; Steve Howe, 1). He had an excellent season, going 7-6, 2.99, 1.08 WHIP.  He had a poor year for the Rangers in 1988, though, and was traded to the Yankees at the August deadline for Cecilio Guante.  He did fairly well the rest of that season for the Yankees, but did not do well in 1989.  He went to Montreal for 1990, had a decent but unspectacular season there, and his career was over.  For an undrafted free agent who didn't get to the majors until age thirty, though, he did pretty well:  16-21, 33 saves, 3.49 ERA, 1.31 WHIP.