Truthfully, I spent this year going through Blood Orange's previous effort instead of their newest in 2016, but I've been making up for that the past couple weeks.
2016
When I first got in Dev years ago as Lightspeed Champion (played them my first DJ week!), he was a nerdy, skinny little kid that could wail on his guitar. It's been fun watching him evolve.
(2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
Loading... Over the extended weekend I listened through my backlog of Effectively Wild episodes. Co-host Sam Miller is leaving the podcast after 1000 episodes (reading between the lines, his new employer - the 4ltr - made him quit). He'll be replaced by Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs; the podcast is also moving from BP to Fangraphs.
Episode 999 was a listener question show. A listener who is renovating his office asked for suggestions for three iconic photos that represent baseball's history & greatness. The hosts observed that their top three photos of historic/great moments might not be photos of the top three moments in their lives as fans. Either way, what are yours?
MARGARITA 6, LARA 4 IN LARA
Lara scored one in the second, but Margarita came back with four in the third to take control of the game. Margarita led 6-1 before a three-run eighth got Lara back into the game, but they could not get the tying run on base. Omar Bencomo pitched six innings for Margarita, giving up one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Cesar Puello was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer for Margarita.
Margarita leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
LA GUAIRA 5, ANZOATEGUI 2 IN ANZOATEGUI
Leading 1-0, La Guaira scored four in the third and never trailed. Kelvin De La Cruz pitched 5.1 innings for La Guaira, giving up one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Jose Castillo was 3-for-4 with two strikeouts for La Guaira.
La Guaira leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
ZULIA 6, ARAGUA 3 IN ZULIA
Jesus' Flores RBI triple in the sixth broke a 2-2 tie for Zulia. He scored an insurance run later in the inning and Zulia added two in the eighth. Aragua scored once in the ninth and had the tying run up to bat before falling. Eduardo Escobar was 2-for-4 with a home run for Aragua. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Zulia. Wilfredo Boscan pitched five innings for Zulia, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Zulia leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
GIGANTES 4, ESCOGIDO 3 IN ESCOGIDO
The Gigantes led 4-0 after three and held on. Escogido scored three in the seventh and had the tying run on third base in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. Jorge Polanco was 1-for-4 with a walk for Escogido. Cory Riordan pitched five shutout innings for the Gigantes, giving up three hits and no walks with one strikeout. Leury Garcia hit a home run for the Gigantes.
AGUILAS 2, LICEY 1 AT AGUILAS
Rafael Ynoa's RBI single in the eighth broke a 1-1 tie. Danny Santana was 1-for-1 with a double for the Aguilas. Roenis Elias struck out seven in five innings, giving up one run on four hits and four walks for the Aguilas. Juan Perez was 3-for-4 for the Aguilas. Johan Camargo hit a home run for the Aguilas.
STANDINGS
Aguilas, 4-1
Licey, 2-2
Gigantes, 1-2
Escogido, 1-3
No games scheduled.
NAVOJOA 4, MEXICALI 2 IN NAVOJOA
Jesus Castillo's three-run double in the third gave Navojoa a lead it would not relinquish. Mexicali closed to 3-2 in the fourth but got no closer, and Navojoa scored an insurance run in the sixth. Hector Velazquez struck out seven in 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk for Navojoa.
Navojoa leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
CULIACAN 6, HERMOSILLO 3 IN CULIACAN
Leading 2-1, Culiacan rallied for four in the eighth, capped by a two-run double by Ramiro Pena, to put the game out of reach. Daniel Rodriguez pitched six innings for Culiacan, giving up one run on three hits and four walks with five strikeouts. Maxwell Leon was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Culiacan.
Culiacan leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
LOS MOCHIS 2, MAZATLAN 1 IN LOS MOCHIS (11 INNINGS)
Sebastian Valle hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the eleventh. Roy Merritt struck out nine in 6.2 innings for Los Mochis, giving up an unearned run on six hits and no walks.
Los Mochis leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
No games scheduled.
Date: Saturday, July 18.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Tom Brunansky was 1-for-4 with a home run, his nineteenth.
Pitching star: George Frazier pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Rance Mulliniks was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his eleventh) and a double, scoring twice. Ernie Whitt was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventh) and three RBIs. Dave Stieb pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
The game: The Twins scored three in the third to take a 3-1 lead, but it was downhill from there. Whitt hit a two-run homer in the fourth to tie it and Mulliniks hit a three-run homer in the fifth to make it 6-3 Toronto. Lloyd Moseby's RBI double in the seventh made it 7-3. The Twins got single runs in the eighth and ninth off Tom Henke but never got the tying run up to bat.
Of note: Puckett raised his average to .332...Roy Smalley went 0-for-4 and dropped his average to .299. He would not get back over .300 the rest of the season...Al Newman played second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi, again batting second...Joe Niekro pitched six innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
Record: The Twins were 50-42, in first place by a game over Oakland.
Player profile: Rance Mulliniks is another player who had a pretty solid career. He was drafted by California in the third round in 1974. He was the Angels' regular shortstop for the second half of 1977 and actually did fairly well, especially for a twenty-one-year-old: .269/.329/.365. He had a poor April in 1978, was taken out of the lineup and eventually shipped back to the minors. He hit very well in AAA, but didn't do much with the very limited playing time he got with the Angels in 1978 or 1979. The Angels were playing Dave Chalk and an elderly Bert Campaneris at short, so one would think they'd have given Mulliniks more of a chance, but instead they traded him with Willie Aikens and Craig Eaton to Kansas City for Al Cowens and Todd Cruz. The Royals kept him on the roster all of 1980 and 1981 but rarely played him, although it's more understandable in their case because they had some pretty good infields back then. They then traded him to Toronto for Phil Huffman, which was the break Mulliniks needed. Now twenty-six, he became the Blue Jays' regular first baseman in 1982 and took a substantial step forward in 1983, batting .275/.373/.467. From 1983-88 he had an OPS of over .800 every year but 1986, when it was .757. He batted .300 or better in three of those six seasons and had double-digit home runs in five of them. He fell off in 1989, was a part-time player in 1990 and 1991, and got two at-bats in 1992 before ending his major league career. He never led the league in anything, never made an all-start team, and never won any awards, but he was a solid contributor to a major league team for several seasons.
Barney Gilligan (1856)
Gus Suhr (1906)
Frenchy Bordagaray (1910)
Sid Hudson (1915)
Eddie Einhorn (1936)
Bob Gebhard (1943)
Dick Colpaert (1944)
Larry Barnett (1945)
Gary Lavelle (1949)
Darren Daulton (1962)
Luis Rivera (1964)
Luis Sojo (1965)
A. J. Burnett (1977)
Michael Restovich (1979)
Alex Meyer (1990)
Eddie Einhorn is a part-owner of the Chicago White Sox. He was the founder of the TVS networks, which syndicated sports regionally and nationally in the days before twenty-four hour cable sports stations.
Larry Barnett was a major league umpire from 1969-1999.
Think I'll try to clear out a few more 2016 odds and ends before 2017 stuff starts showing up. Watch out cause sooner or later I might start playing a bunch of the metal I started listening to last year.
(1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)Loading... If we start not putting on fresh coffee as early as January 2nd, things are gonna get real stale around here by 2018.
The regular season is over now, so we'll take a look at how Twins players did there.
J. J. Fernandez batted .253/.327/.364 in 99 at-bats for Carolina. He's twenty-two and had a poor year in Cedar Rapids in 2016. Originally a catcher, he mostly played outfield last season.
Benji Gonzalez batted .250/.336/.310 in 100 at-bats for Mayaguez. He'll be twenty-seven in a couple of weeks and had a decent but not particularly good year in AA with Seattle in 2016.
Kennys Vargas batted .179/.329/.316 in 117 at-bats for Mayaguez. I wouldn't read too much into that--he's been a streaky hitter in the past--but it's obviously not a good thing. He's twenty-six right now, so if he's going to do something he'd better do it pretty soon.
Eddie Rosario batted .179/.281/.214, but it was only in 28 at-bats for Mayaguez. He'll be twenty-five this season.
Lean Marrero went 2-for-6 for Carolina. He'll be nineteen this season and is coming off a decent season in the GCL. He's an outfielder.
Nelson Molina was 0-for-4 for Mayaguez. An infielder, he's played mostly third base. He'll be twenty-two this season and is coming off a solid season at Cedar Rapids.
The only pitcher the Twins had in the Puerto Rican League was Dereck Rodriguez. He went 2-1, 1.02, 1.02 WHIP with 5 walks and 13 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. He'll be twenty-five this season. He spent his first three seasons in professional ball as an outfielder, converting to pitching in 2014. He was a starter in 2016, but was a reliever in winter ball. I don't know if that means the Twins are going to convert him to relief.
The top four teams make the Puerto Rican League playoffs, matched up in best-of-seven series. Mayaguez takes on Caguas and Carolina plays Santurce. The playoffs start tomorrow.
Just a few words about the Mexican League. The Twins did not have any players in the Mexican League this year. Six teams are in the playoffs, matched up in best-of-seven series. Mexicali plays Navojoa, Mazatlan takes on Los Mochis, and Hermosillo goes up against Culiacan. Those playoffs start tonight.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
No games scheduled.
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Playoffs--Day 4
AGUILAS 6, LICEY 1 IN LICEY
The Aguilas scored three in the third and led all the way. It was a bullpen game for the Aguilas, as they used eight pitchers, including our old friend, magical zoomball specialist Samuel Deduno. Danny Santana was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run for the Aguilas. Jonathan Villar was 3-for-4 with a walk for the Aguilas, scoring twice and driving in one. Ronny Rodriguez was 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs for the Aguilas.
ESCOGIDO 12, GIGANTES 2 AT GIGANTES
A nine-run seventh settled this one for Escogido. Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with a walk for Escogido, scoring once and driving in three. Bryan Evans pitched 5.2 innings for Escogido, giving up one run on four hits and no walks with three strikeouts. Eury Perez was 3-for-5 with two runs for Escogido. Taylor Davis hit a two-run homer for Escogido.
STANDINGS
Aguilas, 3-1
Licey, 2-1
Escogido, 1-2
Gigantes, 0-2
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
CAGUAS 4, SANTURCE 1 IN SANTURCE
Angel Ortega's two-run single with two out in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie. John Brownell pitched four innings for Caguas, giving up one run on four hits and a walk with one strikeout. Geraldo Valentin hit a home run for Caguas, his second.
MAYAGUEZ 5, AGUADILLA 0 IN AGUADILLA
Jesmuel Valentin hit a two-run homer in the first and that was all Mayaguez needed. Eddie Rosario was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk for Mayaguez. Pete Parise pitched five shutout innings for Mayaguez, giving up six hits and a walk with one strikeout.
MEXICAN LEAGUE
JALISCO 4, CULIACAN 2 IN CULIACAN
Jose Manuel Rodriguez hit a two-run single in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie. Jesus Cruz pitched five innings for Jalisco, giving up one run on three hits and two walks with four strikeoiuts. Rodriguez was 4-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in two. Carlos Figueroa was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI for Jalisco.
LOS MOCHIS 4, NAVOJOA 3 IN LOS MOCHIS (16 INNINGS)
Saul Soto singled in a run for Los Mochis to tie it 2-2 after eight. Each team scored once in the twelfth. With two out and none on in the sixteenth, Isaac Rodriguez walked and scored from first on a Leandro Castro double to win the game. Luis Niebla pitched five innings for Los Mochis, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Castro was 3-for-6 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.
MAZATLAN 3, OBREGON 2 IN MAZATLAN
Yancarlo Angulo led off the sixth with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to break a 2-2 tie. Walter Silva struck out five in five innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk.
MEXICALI 2, HERMOSILLO 1 IN HERMOSILLO
Luis Alfonso Garcia homered for Hermosillo in the top of the eighth, the only Hermosillo hit of the game, to tie it 1-1, but Chris Roberson's RBI double in the bottom of the eighth gave Mexicali the lead to keep. Efren Delgado struck out eight in eight innings, giving up one run on one hit and no walks. Roberson was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) to go along with the double.
The only games played were in the Australian League.
CANBERRA 7, PERTH 0 IN PERTH (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
Already leading 2-0, Canberra put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth capped by a three-run homer by Josh Almonte. Sean Guinard struck out six in five shutout innings for Canberra, giving up three hits and four walks. Robbie Perkins hit a home run for Canberra, his third.
PERTH 7, CANBERRA 4 IN PERTH (GAME 2)
Perth scored three in the second and two in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. Tim Kennelly was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk for Perth, driving in three. Brandon Dale was 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI for Perth. Matt Kennelly was 3-for-5 with a run for Perth.
BRISBANE 13, ADELAIDE 10 IN BRISBANE (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
Brisbane had leads of 3-0, 6-2, and 7-3, but it was tied 7-7 before they got one in the fifth and five in the sixth to finally take control of the game. Aaron Whitefield was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his second and third) and a walk for Brisbane and is now batting .302. Logan Wade was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs and is batting .309. Donald Lutz was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer (his second) and three runs for Brisbane. David Sutherland was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second) and a double, driving in three for Brisbane. Connor MacDonald also hit a home run for Brisbane, his second.
BRISBANE 13, ADELAIDE 5 IN BRISBANE (GAME 2)
Brisbane scored five in the first, saw Adelaide catch up 5-5, but scored three in the third and never trailed after that. Aaron Whitefield was 4-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a double for Brisbane, scoring three and driving in three. He is batting .330. Logan Wade was 2-for-5 with a double for Brisbane, scoring one and driving in one. He is batting .313. Connor MacDonald was 3-for-4 for Brisbane, scoring one and driving in two. Thomas Milone hit a home run for Brisbane, his second.
MELBOURNE 6, SYDNEY 4 IN SYDNEY
Melbourne lost a 3-1 lead, but came back to score three in the ninth to take a 6-4 win. Dushan Ruzic pitched 5.2 innings for Melbourne, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Cody Jones was 3-for-4 with a walk for Melbourne, scoring twice.
There was only one game played. Again, it was in the Australian League.
MELBOURNE 4, SYDNEY 1 IN SYDNEY
Melbourne scored three in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead. Jon Kennedy struck out five in five innings for Melbourne, giving up one run on two hits and no walks.
Date: Friday, July 17.
Batting stars: Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base (his seventh), scoring once and driving in one. Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventeenth. Tim Laudner was 2-for-2 with a walk.
Pitching stars: Frank Viola struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and no walks. Juan Berenguer pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout. Jeff Reardon struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Lloyd Moseby was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifteenth. Tony Fernandez was 1-for-3 with a run. Jim Clancy pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
The game: Moseby's home run came in the first inning, putting the Blue Jays up 2-0 two batters into the game. Gaetti homered in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 2-1. Newman created the tying run in the sixth, singling to right, stealing second, taking third on a fly ball, and scoring on a wild pitch. In the seventh, a pair of singles put men on first and second with two out and Newman hit a ground-rule double to right-center to put the Twins ahead. Berenguer and Reardon shut the door from there.
Of note: Kirby Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk to make his average .330...Roy Smalley was 0-for-3 with a walk to make his average .304...Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne. He batted second.
Record: The Twins were 50-41, in first place by a game over Oakland.
Player profile: Lloyd Moseby was a pretty good ballplayer whom nobody talks about any more. He was drafted by Toronto with the second overall pick in 1978 and was in the big leagues by 1980. He came up in late May of that year and was the regular right fielder the rest of the season. He shifted to center in 1981, which is where he spent most of his career. He struggled at the plate in his first three seasons, batting just .234 with OBPs less than .300 each season. Oddly, he hit exactly nine home runs in each of those years. In 1983, however, something clicked, or maybe he just matured (he was still only twenty-three). He batted .315/.376/.499 that season and was fourteenth in MVP voting, winning his only Silver Slugger award. He never matched those numbers, but he remained a very productive player for four more seasons. Oddly, he followed the three seasons of exactly nine homers with three seasons of exactly eighteen homers. The only thing he ever led the league in was triples, with fifteen in 1984, and he only made one all-star team, in 1986, but he would hit around twenty homers each season and have OBPs in the mid-.300s. 1987 was his last good year, as he batted .282/.358/.473 with a career-high twenty-six homers. He was only twenty-seven, and one would've expected him to remain productive for several more years. Instead, he fell off significantly. He hit around .230 for the next two seasons, went to Detroit for two more years in which he wasn't terrible, but wasn't really good either, and then was done in the United States at age thirty-one. He went to Japan for two seasons--the first one (1992) was very good, but the second one wasn't. His career numbers don't stand out: .257/.334/.414--but for five seasons he batted .277, slugged .456, averaged twenty homers, and also averaged thirty-five stolen bases. I'm not touting him for the Hall of Fame or anything, but for five years he was a darn good ballplayer.
