Monthly Archives: January 2017

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twelve

MINNESOTA 9, OAKLAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 8.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and two doubles, scoring four times and driving in two.  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Steve Carlton pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Steve Henderson was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Alfredo Griffin was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Luis Polonia was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.

The game:  The first four batters for the Twins reached, as Dan Gladden walked, Greg Gagne singled, Puckett doubled, and Gaetti tripled.  It would've been really cool if Brunansky had followed with a home run, but he had an RBI ground out instead.  Still, it was 4-0 after one inning and Oakland never threatened to get back into the game.  They did not score until the ninth.  Carlton had retired eleven in a row going to the ninth inning, but with one out Oakland got a triple and three singles, scoring once and loading the bases.  Mark McGwire struck out, but when Henderson walked to force in a run Tom Kelly decided it was time for Carlton to come out, with George Frazier getting Reggie Jackson on a fly ball to end the game.

Of note:  Gagne batted second and was 2-for-5 with two runs...Puckett raised his average to .323...Gene Larkin was again the DH...Carlton had three complete games for Cleveland earlier in the season, but this was as close as he would come to getting one for the Twins...Oakland starter Curt Young pitched six innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 60-52, in first place, three games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 21-22

GAMES OF JANUARY 21

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

ZULIA 11, LARA 1 IN LARA

Zulia scored three in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead and it was not close after that.  Wil Ledezma pitched six innings for Zulia, giving up one run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Zulia leads the best of seven series, 2-0.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

AGUILAS 11, LICEY 4 AT AGUILAS

The Aguilas led 3-2 half-way through, but scored three in the fifth and five in the sixth to turn it into a blowout.  Kennys Vargas was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and a walk for the Aguilas.  Danny Santana was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs for the Aguilas.

The Aguilas lead the best-of-nine series 2-1.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAGUAS 12, SANTURCE 1 IN CAGUAS

Caguas got two in the second, four in the fifth, and six in the eighth.  Andrew Barbosa pitched five shutout innings for Caguas, giving up two hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  David Vidal was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Caguas.  Rusney Castillo hit a two-run homer for Caguas.

The best-of-nine series is tied 3-3.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

LOS MOCHIS 3, MEXICALI 1 IN LOS MOCHIS

J. C. Linares hit a two-run homer in the first and that was all Los Mochis needed.  Leandro Castro was 0-for-3 for Los Mochis.  Julian Arballo struck out six in six shutout innings for Los Mochis, giving up six hits and no walks.  Lew Ford hit a home run for Los Mochis.

Los Mochis leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE*

ADELAIDE 5, MELBOURNE 1 IN MELBOURNE

Josh Altmann hit a two-run homer in a three-run fourth that put Adelaide up 3-1.  LaDarious Clark added a two-run homer in the fifth.  Zach Cooper pitched six innings for Adelaide, giving up one run on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts for Adelaide.

BRISBANE 9, PERTH 8 IN BRISBANE

Perth led 6-1 and 8-6, but Brisbane tied it on David Rodriguez' two-run homer in the eighth and won with Kevin Padlo's leadoff walkoff in the ninth.  Aaron Whitefield was 1-for-5 for Brisbane and is batting .350.  Logan Wade was 0-for-3 with a walk for Brisbane, scoring once and driving in one.  Padlo was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.

SYDNEY 7, CANBERRA 6 IN SYDNEY

Sydney led 4-0 after four, trailed 6-4 after eight, but scored three in the ninth (aided by two errors) to win the game.  Canberra made four errors in the game, leading to three unearned runs.

*Games played January 22.  It's timey-wimey.

GAMES OF JANUARY 22

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

LICEY 9, AGUILAS 6 IN LICEY

Trailing 5-4, Licey scored four runs in the seventh to go into the lead for good.  A two-run double by Sergio Alcantara brought home the go-ahead runs.  Danny Santana was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer for the Aguilas.  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-3 with a walk for the Aguilas.  Arturo Lopez pitched five innings for Licey, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  Donovan Solano was 3-for-5 for Licey, scoring once and driving in one.

The best-of-nine series is tied 2-2.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAGUAS 4, SANTURCE 1 IN SANTURCE

Caguas scored two in each of the first two innings and that's all they needed.  Jorge Padilla was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Caguas.  Rey Navarro was 3-for-4 with a run for Caguas.

Caguas leads the best-of-nine series 4-3.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

MEXICALI 7, LOS MOCHIS 2 IN LOS MOCHIS

Mexicali scored three in the third, two on a home run by C. J. Retherford, and never trailed.  Los Mochis cut the lead to 4-2 in the eighth on a two-run homer by Isaac Rodriguez Salazar, but Mexciali got three in the ninth to put the game out of reach.  Leandro Castro was 0-for-3 with a walk for Los Mochis.  Hector Velazquez struck out ten in 7.1 scoreless innings for Mexicali, giving up four hits and no walks.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 23

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Ben Shibe (1838)
Red Donahue (1873)
Bobby Burke (1907)
Randy Gumpert (1918)
Chico Carrasquel (1926)
Frank Sullivan (1930)
Joe Amalfitano (1934)
Don Nottebart (1936)
Paul Ratliff (1944)
Kurt Bevacqua (1947)
Charlie Spikes (1951)
Alan Embree (1970)
Mark Wohlers (1970)
Erubiel Durazo (1974)
Brandon Duckworth (1976)
Juan Rincon (1979)

Ben Shibe was the owner of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 until his death in 1922.  Shibe Park was named in his honor.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 23 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 22

Ira Thomas (1881)
Amos Strunk (1889)
Art Ehlers (1897)
Prince Oana (1910)
Chris Pelekoudas (1918)
Dave Leonhard (1941)
Senichi Hoshino (1947)
Mike Caldwell (1949)
Leon Roberts (1951)
Jeff Treadway (1963)
Jimmy Anderson (1976)
Chone Figgins (1978)
Carlos Ruiz (1979)
Ubaldo Jimenez (1984)

Art Ehlers did not play in the majors, but he spent his life in baseball.  He owned several minor league teams at various times and was the general manager of the Philadelphia Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles.  He also was a longtime scout for the Orioles.

Prince Oana played in the minors for twenty-three years, batting .304.  He also had a pitching record of 80-54.

Chris Pelekoudas was a National League umpire from 1960-1975.  He is best remembered for his run-ins with Gaylord Perry over the latter's use of illegal substances on the baseball.

Senichi Hoshino is a long-time player, manager, and executive in Japanese baseball.

We also want to wish a happy birthday to Rhubarb_Runner’s daughter.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 22 →

WGOM Half-Baked Hall

Half-Baked Hall: New Plaques, New Rules, New Life

26 Comments

It's been eight months since we last looked at the Half-Baked Hall, which I believe is the appropriate amount of half-bakedness. There seemed to be general agreement that it had become kind of a slog for some people, yours truly included, and after giving some significant thought to the matter (at least more than Murray Chass), some changes will be implemented in order to speed things up and hopefully keep things interesting.

My Stuff

  1. The real Hall of Fame ballot always includes guys everyone knows have zero chance of ever making it, like Matt Stairs. While it can be fun to talk about those guys on occasion, the Half-Baked Hall has had many a player that I am confident 100% of you would have been fine never mentioning. For example, Mike Smith. He received zero votes. Anybody remember Mike Smith? Ergo, I will be a little more critical of who I place on the ballot. Thus far, my general criteria has been 30 WAR or a player who otherwise significantly contributed to the game or was notable in some way. I plan on upping the threshold to around 40 WAR. With the exception of 1800s players and modern day relievers, it is doubtful that any nameless hitter from the 1930s with 30.8 WAR is going to receive election, or get anywhere close. Of course, this is a benign dictatorship, and I will gladly place players on the ballot that I miss if someone makes a mildly convincing case.
  2. Right now, each player stays on the ballot for six cycles. I remain comfortable with this amount. So far, several players have been elected on the 5th or 6th ballots after discussion and lobbying, and I like giving players that opportunity. However, according to the spreadsheet, no player has been elected by us ever having received lower than 48% on any ballot (and they were 1800s players). I think it is clear that it is unlikely that if a player starts out with 26% of the vote that they are going to be elected within six cycles, so I will be raising the threshold to stay on the ballot. Now a player that drops below 40% on any ballot will be dropped.
  3. These changes will surely help us get through the years faster, hopefully soon to players that some of us saw play. Of course, it is possible a deserving player will be unfairly dropped due to these rule changes. It is for certain that periodically we will hold reconsideration ballots, much like the veterans committees. However, this will not be a selected group of voters; everyone will participate. It is just another periodic look at some guys perhaps with new perspective (or new WGOM voters).

Your Stuff

Of course, all of this is possible because of you guys. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Some questions:

--Should we keep "Maybe" as a voting option?
--How quickly should we hold each vote?
--Do people still want to do player write-ups?

Any thoughts are welcome as I want this to be enjoyable for everyone and not feel like a chore.

Right now, the following roles are still assigned for help:

Nibbish: Stats spreadsheet
DaneekasGhost: Results spreadsheet
hungry joe: Plaques

Expect a new ballot sometime in the next couple weeks. For now, enjoy the new plaques below of previously enshrined Half-Baked Hallers.