So, that was one of the most uneventful Januarys in recent memory. Maybe February will be more interesting...
Monthly Archives: January 2017
1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty
MINNESOTA 4, SEATTLE 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Monday, August 17.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one. Tom Brunansky was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-fifth. Al Newman was 0-for-1 with two walks and a run.
Pitching stars: Les Straker pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Keith Atherton pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit while striking out one. Jeff Reardon retired all four men he faced, striking out two.
Opposition stars: Mark Langston pitched a complete game, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Jim Presley was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-first. Ken Phelps was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run.
The game: The Twins jumped on Langston for three in the first inning, as Gaetti hit an RBI double and Brunansky followed with a two-run homer. Presley hit a two-run homer in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2. In the fifth, a walk, a double, and an error gave the Twins an insurance run. The Mariners threatened in the eighth, putting men on second and third with two out, but Reardon came in to strike out Gary Matthews. He then retired Seattle in order in the ninth.
Of note: Newman played short in place of Greg Gagne and batted second...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .317...Mark Davidson played right field, with Brunansky at DH...Gene Larkin played first base, with Kent Hrbek out of the lineup...This was the second consecutive complete game loss for a Mariners pitcher.
Record: The Twins were 66-54, in first place by five games over Oakland.
Player profile: Third baseman Jim Presley was nothing special, really, but he was a big league regular for six and a half seasons. Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, he was drafted by Seattle in the fourth round in 1979. He spent two and a half seasons at AA and did not particularly improve over the course of them, but started 1984 in AAA anyway and was promoted to the majors in late June. He didn't do much for Seattle that year, but then had three seasons in which he was a fairly productive player. The best was 1985, when he hit .275/.324/.484 with 28 home runs. He made the all-star team in 1986, even though the numbers were not as good: .265/.303/.464 with 27 homers. He finished 21st in MVP voting that year, probably on the strength of having 107 RBIs. He went down farther in 1987: .247/.296/.433 with 24 homers. That was his last decent year. In 1988 he batted .230 with an OPS of .635. His playing time diminished somewhat in 1989 and then he was traded to Atlanta. He was a Brave for one season, doing a little better but not much, signed with San Diego for 1991, and was released in June. He finished out the year in AAA for Texas, not doing a whole lot, and then his playing career was over. He has stayed in baseball as a batting coach, and was the batting coach for Round Rock last season. His career numbers are .247/.290/.420 with 135 home runs. Again, he was nothing special, but he was a big league regular for six and a half years, and there aren't just a whole lot of people who can say that.
Happy Birthday–January 31
Bob "Death to Flying Things" Ferguson (1845)
Zane Grey (1872)
George Burns (1893)
Pinky Hargrave (1896)
Pedro Cepeda (1906)
Don Hutson (1913)
Jackie Robinson (1919)
Ernie Banks (1931)
Hank Aguirre (1931)
Nolan Ryan (1947)
Fred Kendall (1949)
Ted Power (1955)
Ed Wade (1956)
Francisco Oliveras (1963)
Yuniesky Betancourt (1982)
Caleb Thielbar (1987)
Better known as an author of western novels, Zane Grey played outfield for two years in the low minors, batting .323 in 86 games. He also wrote several books about baseball.
Pedro Cepeda is the father of Orlando Cepeda and is considered by some to have been a better player; he was known as the Babe Ruth of Puerto Rico.
Don Hutson, a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, played in the low minors from 1936-1937, hitting .301 in 194 games.
Ed Wade was the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1998-2005 and the Houston Astros from 2007-2011.
Cracker – Almond Grove
I saw Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven a couple weeks ago at the Fine Line. I wasn't real excited but thought it would be fun. A friend is a big fan and it was only $20. I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked their "new" music that I'd never heard before.
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January 30, 2017: That One Sound Effect
The founder of Namco, Masaya Nakamura, "the Father Of Pac-man", has passed away at 91.
Father Knows Best: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
The terrible twos have come a few months early!
Now, normally, this is actually not that bad a thing. As long as he's happy and content, watching him run around like a hellion and play toys and body slam his giant plush BB-8 is actually a joy to behold.
I'm just wondering how well that energy is going to work when we have to contain it for three hours on a plane.
Continue reading Father Knows Best: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Nineteen
MINNESOTA 5, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, August 16.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two. Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-3 with a double and a run, scoring twice.
Pitching stars: Frank Viola pitched eight innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Gary Matthews was 2-for-4. Mike Moore pitched a complete game, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
The game: The Twins had a double, a walk, and two more doubles in the first inning, producing three runs. A single, a walk, and an error made it 4-0 through two. The only time Seattle threatened to get back into the game was in the fifth, when two singles and an error loaded the bases with one out. A ground out scored one run, but a strikeout ended the inning and the Twins were in control from then on.
Of note: Randy Bush was again in right field and in the leadoff spot, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden out of the lineup...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .319...Reardon got his ERA below five for the first time since his first appearance of the season, April 8. It should be pointed out, though, that from June 1 to the end of the season his ERA was 3.32...After a poor first inning and a somewhat shaky second, Moore was allowed a chance to regroup and pitched quite well through the end of the game. Teams don't very often seem to give pitchers the chance to do that any more.
Record: The Twins were 65-54, in first place by four games over Oakland.
Player profile: Mike Moore had four seasons in which he was very good, and even when he wasn't he was still a reliable innings eater and a very durable pitcher. Born and raised in Carnegie, Oklahoma, he attended Oral Roberts University and was drafted by Seattle with the first pick of the 1981 draft. He pitched in AA that season, made one start in AAA in 1982, then was placed in the Seattle rotation for the rest of the season. That went about as well as you'd expect it to go, which is not very. He split 1983 between AAA and the majors and had a poor season with the Mariners in 1984. At this point in his career he was 20-39, 5.02, and one imagines that most Seattle fans had decided he was a huge bust. If so, he showed them--in 1985 he went 17-10, 3.46, 1.22 WHIP and was tenth in Cy Young voting. In the next two years, 1986-87, though, he went 20-32, 4.52. He was a workhorse in those years, however, making 70 starts and pitching 494 innings. He came back to have a strong year in 1988, although his won-lost record doesn't show it--he went 9-15, but with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He became a free agent after the 1988 season, and one suspects that few Mariners fans were sorry to see him go. He signed with Oakland and gave them the best seasons of his career. He was 19-11, 2.61, 1.14 WHIP in 1989, finishing third in Cy Young voting behind Bret Saberhagen and teammate Dave Stewart, and he really was better than Stewart that season. He had a down year in 1990, but from 1991-92 he was 34-20. He again became a free agent and signed with Detroit. His numbers weren't very good there, but again, he ate a lot of innings for the Tigers for three seasons and twice led the league in starts. His career numbers are 161-176, 4.39, 1.42 WHIP, which are not impressive at all. But he led the league in starts four times and pitched over 200 innings every year from 1984-93 except for 1990, when he pitched 199.1. He averaged 227.1 innings and thirty-four starts over those ten seasons. That's a pretty valuable pitcher.
Winter Wonderland: Games of January 28
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
LICEY 6, AGUILAS 2 AT AGUILAS
Leading 1-0, Licey scored five in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Emilio Bonifacio had a three-run double in the inning. Cesar Valdez struck out five in five shutout innings for Licey, giving up two hits and no walks. Sergio Alcantara was 4-for-5 with a triple for Licey, scoring once and driving in two.
Licey wins the championship series 5-4.
MEXICAN LEAGUE
MEXICALI 13, LOS MOCHIS 1 IN LOS MOCHIS
Los Mochis scored one in the second, but Mexicali got two in the third, one in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the sixth, four in the seventh, and one in the eighth. Leandro Castro was 0-for-4 for Los Mochis. Hector Velazquez pitched six innings for Mexicali, giving up one run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Yordanys Linares was 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk for Mexicali, driving in three. Chris Roberson was 3-for-5 with a run for Mexciali. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a grand slam in the seventh inning for Mexicali.
Mexicali wins the championship series 4-2.
The Caribbean series will begin Wednesday, February 1.
AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE*
ADELAIDE 4, SYNDEY 3 IN ADELAIDE
Connor O'Gorman's three-run homer in the second gave Adelaide a 3-1 lead. Sydney cut it to 4-3 and had the tying run in scoring position in each of the last three innings. The game ended with Aaron Sookee being thrown out at home plate trying to score from second on a Jacob Younis single. Ky Hampton pitched five innings for Adelaide, giving up one run on three hits and no walks with three strikeouts.
BRISBANE 11, CANBERRA 2 IN CANBERRA
Brisbane scored three in the first, two on a David Rodriguez double, and never looked back as they led all the way. Aaron Whitefield was 1-for-3 with a walk for Brisbane, scoring once and driving in one, and is batting .338. Logan Wade was 1-for-5 with a run and two RBIs for Brisbane.
PERTH 8, MELBOURNE 2 IN PERTH
Joey Wong's two-run double in the third put Perth up 2-1 and a three-run fourth put them in control of the game. Nick Veale pitched six innings for Perth, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. John Riley hit a three-run homer for Perth.
That concludes the regular season. The playoffs start Friday, with Adelaide taking on Brisbane in what is called the Preliminary Final Series. It's a best-of-three. The winner will play Melbourne in a best-of-five championship series.
*Games played January 29. It's timey-wimey.
Happy Birthday–January 30
Tony Mullane (1859)
General Stafford (1868)
Walt Dropo (1923)
Sandy Amoros (1930)
Charlie Neal (1931)
Davey Johnson (1943)
Matt Alexander (1947)
Roger Cador (1952)
Joe Kerrigan (1954)
Dave Stegman (1954)
Jorge Cantu (1982)
Jeremy Hermida (1984)
Roger Cador was an outfielder in the Braves organization, reaching AAA. He has been the head baseball coach at Southern University since 1984. He was the first coach of a historically black university to win a game in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament, beating #2-ranked Cal State Fullerton 1-0 in 1987.
Dave Stegman was drafted by Minnesota in the tenth round in 1972, but did not sign.
We would like to wish a very happy birthday to Rowsdower's father and to Mrs. Nibbish.
There do not appear to be any other players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.
Drive-By Truckers – What It Means
Since we have recently discussed the Drive-By Truckers, I'd figure I'd go with this one first. It is one of my favorites from the latest album. And I think their latest album is their best since Jason Isbell was in the band.
I like my protest music to tell stories and ask questions.
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