Monthly Archives: January 2017

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 18

Eddie Moore (1899)
Danny Kaye (1913)
Mike Fornieles (1932)
Chuck Cottier (1936)
Satch Davidson (1936)
Curt Flood (1938)
Carl Morton (1944)
Billy Grabarkewitz (1946)
Sachio Kinugasa (1947)
Scott McGregor (1954)
Dave Geisel (1955)
Brady Anderson (1964)
Mike Lieberthal (1972)
Wandy Rodriguez (1979)

Entertainer Danny Kaye was one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners.

Satch Davidson was a National League umpire from 1969-1984.

Sachio Kinusaga played in 2,215 games in Japan from 1970-1987.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Scot's oldest son.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 18 →

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Six

OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN OAKLAND (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Gene Larkin was 3-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with a double and a run.  Al Newman was 2-for-5 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  Keith Atherton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  George Frazier pitched 1.1 scoreless innings despite giving up three hits and a walk while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Terry Steinbach was 4-for-5 with a two-run homer (his eleventh), scoring twice.  Alfredo Griffin was 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his twentieth), driving in two.  Carney Lansford was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and two walks.

The game:  Steinbach's two-run homer in the second put Oakland up 2-1, but Gaetti singled in a run in the third to tie it and Larkin homered in the fourth to give the Twins a 3-2 advantage.  The score stayed there until the sixth, when Lansford homered tie it 3-3.  Griffin's two-run single in the seventh gave Oakland the lead at 5-3, but Tom Brunansky homered in the eighth to cut the margin to 5-4.  In the ninth, Larkin led off with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Mark Davidson.  Davidson took second on a passed ball, went to third on a fly to center, and scored on a wild pitch to tie it up 5-5 and send the game to extra innings.  In the eleventh, a two-out single by Jose Canseco scored Luis Polonia with the winning run.

Of note:  Newman was at shortstop, replacing Greg Gagne and batting second.  Gagne would enter the game in the ninth, with Newman moving to second base...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-5, dropping his average to .321...Larkin was the designated hitter in this game.  Roy Smalley was used as a pinch-hitter in the eleventh...Oakland starter Curt Young lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  He was replaced by Dennis Eckersley, who had seven saves to this point in the season but was still considered the setup man for Jay Howell.  Eckersley pitched 4.1 innings of relief, which was only tied for his fifth-longest outing of the season.  He had one start of 6.1 innings and relief appearances of six, five, and 4.2 innings.  He would become Oakland's closer in mid-August and remain their closer through 1995.

Record:  The Twins were 56-50, in first place, one game ahead of Oakland.

We hope to resume player profiles either late this week or early next.

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 16

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

LARA 5, LA GUAIRA 3 IN LA GUAIRA

Lara led 3-0 after four, but it was tied 3-3 going to the ninth.  A two-out two-run double by Paulo Orlando put Lara ahead to stay.  Gustavo Molina hit a home run for Lara.

Lara leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.

ZULIA 5, ANZOATEGUI 2 IN ZULIA

Zulia scored three in the first and it was all they needed.  Anzoategui cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, but Zulia added single runs in the fifth and eighth.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 0-for-4 for Zulia.  Alex Romero was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Zulia.  Jose Pirela hit a home run for Zulia.

Zulia leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

LICEY 10, GIGANTES 1 IN LICEY

Licey scored three in the fourth to go ahead 5-0 and got five more in the eighth to seal the deal.  Arturo Lopez pitched 5.1 innings for Licey, giving up one run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

AGUILAS 4, ESCOGIDO 0 AT AGUILAS

The Aguilas scored two in the third and got a two-run homer from Zoilo Almonte in the fifth.  Six Aguilas pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout.  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-1 with a walk and an RBI for the Aguilas.  Angel Franco was 3-for-4 with three doubles for the Aguilas.

STANDINGS

Aguilas, 13-4
Gigantes, 8-9
Licey, 8-9
Escogido, 5-12

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

HERMOSILLO 4, MEXICALI 1 IN HERMOSILLO

Carlos Alberto Gastelum's two-run double in the fourth opened the scoring and put Hermosillo ahead to stay.  Mexicali got one back in the fifth, but Hermosillo got single runs in the sixth and seventh to stretch their lead.  Jeremy Kehrt pitched 6.2 innings for Hermosillo, giving up an unearned run on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts.  Jose Amador was 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles for Hermosillo.

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

LOS MOCHIS 3, CULIACAN 2 IN LOS MOCHIS

Los Mochis scored two in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead.  Culiacan got one back in the bottom of the fifth and had the tying run in scoring position in the fifth, sixth, and seventh.  Leandro Castro was 0-for-3 with a walk for Los Mochis.  Manny Barreda struck out five in 5.2 innings for Los Mochis, giving up two runs on five hits and five walks.  Lew Ford was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Los Mochis.  Eugenio Velez hit a home run for Los Mochis.

Los Mochis leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 17

Louis Santop (1890)
Hank Leiber (1911)
Lum Harris (1915)
Mayo Smith (1915)
Don Zimmer (1931)
Keith Lieppman (1949)
Antonio Munoz (1949)
Pete LaCock (1952)
Darrell Porter (1952)
Mark Littell (1953)
Jerry Turner (1954)
Doug Simunic (1956)
T. R. Bryden (1959)
Chili Davis (1960)
SBG (1965)
Tyler Houston (1971)
Rob Bell (1977)

Catcher Louis Santop was a star in the Negro Leagues, hitting .349 over fifteen seasons.

Keith Lieppman has been Oakland's Director of Player Development since 1992.

Antonio Munoz was a long-time star in Cuba, winning eight home run titles and becoming the all-time leader in walks.

Doug Simunic has been the manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks since 1996.

Right-hander Thomas Ray Bryden did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1988.  He was born in Moses Lake, Washington, went to high school in Enumclaw, Washington, and was signed by California as a free agent in 1981.  After two ineffective minor league years as a starter, he was moved to the bullpen in 1983.  He did substantially better there, reaching AA in 1984.  He worked mostly in AAA in 1985 and had a bad year, but pitched very well in spring training in 1986 and made the major league team.  Bryden made sixteen appearances with the Angels through early June, going 2-1, 6.55, 1.72 WHIP with 21 walks in 34.1 innings.  He was sent back to AAA after that and did well, but did not make it back to the major leagues.  In 1987, he was still in AAA, posting a record of 9-1 despite a 6.35 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 72.1 innings.  The Angels were not fooled by his won-lost record and released him after the season.  Bryden signed with Minnesota and spent 1988 in AAA Portland.  He made 30 appearances there, 13 of them starts, and went 8-8, 4.99, 1.56 WHIP in 113.2 innings.  That brought his playing career to an end.  No information about T. R. Bryden since that time was readily available.

Switch-hitting outfielder Charles Theodore "Chili" Davis was with Minnesota from 1991-1992 and was used almost exclusively as a designated hitter.  He was born in Kingston, Jamaica, one of four major league players to be born in Jamaica.  He attended high school in Los Angeles, and was drafted by San Francisco in the 11th round in 1977.  He hit well in three minor league seasons and made the Giants out of spring training in 1981, but was seldom used and was sent back to AAA in early May.  Davis had a huge year in AAA Phoenix, hitting .350 with 19 homers and an OPS over 1.000.  He was the regular center fielder for the Giants in 1982, and remained a big league regular for the rest of his long career.  He finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1982, hitting .261 with 19 homers.  His best year as a Giant was 1984, when he hit .315 with 21 home runs and an OPS of .875.  He made his first all-star team that year, making the team again in 1986.  Davis became a free agent after the 1987 season and signed with the California Angels.  He put in three solid seasons for the Angels from 1988-1990.  He received a few MVP votes in 1989, but there was nothing about that season that made it particularly better than his other Angel seasons, as they were all good.  A free agent again after the 1990 campaign, Davis signed with Minnesota.  He had started doing some DH-ing in 1990, and was the regular designated hitter for the Twins for two seasons.  He put up good numbers for the Twins in those two seasons:  he hit .282/.385/.476, with 41 home runs and 159 RBIs.  He finished 14th in MVP voting in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series.  Davis was once more a free agent after the 1992 season, and returned to the California Angels.  He was an Angel for four years this time, and after a disappointing 1993 went on to produce three of his best seasons, hitting over .300 and averaging 25 homers for those years.  He was traded to Kansas City for 1997, the only time in his career he was ever traded.  After a good year there, he became a Yankee for 1998, but was hurt early in the season and missed most of the year.  Healthy again in 1999, Davis had another solid season, hitting .269 with 19 homers at age 39.  He retired after that season.  He has been coaching for several years, three of them with the Australian national baseball team.  He was the batting coach for the Dodgers’ instructional league team in 2010, the batting coach for AAA Pawtucket in 2011, was the batting coach for the Oakland Athletics from 2012-2014, and has been the batting coach for the Boston Red Sox since 2015.

SBG made contact on the first pitch ever thrown to him in an organized baseball game as a seven year old, rolling out to shortstop off of a pitch from his 10 year old cousin. He played baseball for SBGville for 11 years with only moderate success. He was a left handed first baseman for most of those seasons, but making contact was always a problem. His last season was played for the same team that his cousin played for, as SBGville didn't field a team. Jim Kaat used to say that Chili Davis had a slider speed bat. After his baseball career was over, SBG discovered that he has a slowpitch softball speed bat. After not having hit a single homerun as a baseball player (his last at bat ended with a ground rule double), SBG displayed pretty good power, hitting well north of 100 home runs in about 12 years of softball. After his playing career ended, he lived and worked in the Twin Cities area for several years.  He continues to live there, but now regularly commutes to beautiful downtown Fargo, where he is currently employed.

Cup of Coffee

January 17th, 2017: School’s Closed Again

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Schools across the state are closed today. Of course, they didn't announce it around here until after I got the Trinket up to start getting ready. She was pretty upset about it, which is both good that she likes going and bad that she gets really upset about something out of my control.

Humorously, though, the local news keeps telling us how terrible it is out there but showing video of traffic moving as normal...

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 14-15

GAMES OF JANUARY 14

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

GIGANTES 8, AGUILAS 3 AT AGUILAS (GAME 1)

Garabez Rosa hit a two-run homer in a three-run sixth that put the Gigantes up 5-3.  The Gigantes added three more in the eighth to put the game out of reach.  Danny Santana was 0-for-4 for the Aguilas.  Kennys Vargas was 2-for-3 with a home run and two walks for the Aguilas.  Rosa was 4-for-5 and had two doubles in addition to his home run, scoring twice and driving in three.  Ketel Marte was 3-for-6 with a triple for the Gigantes, scoring once and driving in two.  Cam Perkins was 3-for-5 for the Gigantes.

GIGANTES 8, AGUILAS 2 AT AGUILAS

The Gigantes scored at least once in each of innings two through six, building a 6-2 lead.  It was a bullpen game for the Gigantes, as they used seven pitchers.

LICEY 11, ESCOGIDO 1 IN LICEY

Emilio Bonifacio's RBI double in the fourth put Licey up 2-1.  They then scored two in the fifth, three in the sixth, and four in the eighth.  Jorge Polanco was 0-for-3 with a walk for Escogido.  Evan MacLane struck out six in six innings for Licey, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.  Engel Beltre was 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs for Licey.

STANDINGS

Aguilas, 11-4
Gigantes, 7-8
Licey, 7-8
Escogido, 5-10

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

CAGUAS 1, SANTURCE 0 IN SANTURCE

Randy Ruiz singled Jorge Padilla home in the first inning and Caguas made the run stand up.  Orlando Roman struck out four in 4.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk.

Caguas leads the best-of-nine series 1-0.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

CULIACAN 7, LOS MOCHIS 3

Jose Guadalupe Chavez hit a three-run homer in a four-run sixth that put Culiacan ahead 7-3.  Leandro Castro was 1-for-3 for Los Mochis.  Daniel Rodriguez pitched seven innings for Culiacan, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

Los Mochis leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE*

MELBOURNE 6, CANBERRA 5 IN CANBERRA

Trailing 5-4, Melbourne scored twice in the seventh to take the lead to stay.  The go-ahead run scored from third when Canberra had to throw to first to record a strikeout.

ADELAIDE 2, PERTH 1 IN ADELAIDE

Stefan Welch's two-run double in the first provided all the runs Adelaide would need.  Steven Chambers struck out six in 4.1 scoreless innings for Adelaide, giving up three hits and four walks.

SYDNEY AT BRISBANE

Rained out.

*Games played January 15.  It's timey-wimey.

GAMES OF JANUARY 15

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

LARA 9, LA GUAIRA 3 IN LA GUAIRA

Lara scored two in the first and never looked back, building an 8-0 lead after six.  Jorge Martinez pitched five shutout innings for Lara, giving up four hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  Ildemaro Vargas was 3-for-4 with a double and two walks for Lara, scoring twice and driving in one.  Juniel Querecuto was 3-for-5 with a triple for Lara, scoring twice and driving in three.

Lara leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

ZULIA 3, ANZOATEGUI 2 IN ZULIA

Zulia scored two in the second and never trailed.  Anzoategui cut the lead to 3-2, left the bases loaded in the sixth, and stranded two more in the seventh.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 0-for-4 with a run for Zulia.  Rolando Valdez pitched five innings for Zulia, giving up one run on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Zulia leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

AGUILAS 8, ESCOGIDO 0 IN ESCOGIDO

Angel Franco hit a grand slam to cap a five-run second that gave the Aguilas all the runs they needed.  Danny Santana was 0-for-4 with a walk for the Aguilas.  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-2 with two walks for the Aguilas, scoring once and driving in one.  Alfredo Marte hit a two-run homer for the Aguilas and Jonathan Villar hit a solo homer for the Aguilas.

GIGANTES 10, LICEY 6 AT GIGANTES

The Gigantes trailed 6-4 after seven but scored six runs in the eighth to win.  Melvin Mercedes was 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Gigantes.  Leury Garcia was 3-for-5 with two runs for the Gigantes.

STANDINGS

Aguilas, 12-4
Gigantes, 8-8
Licey, 7-9
Escogido, 5-11

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

SANTURCE 6, CAGUAS 3 IN CAGUAS

Santurce trailed 2-0 after six but scored five in the seventh to win.  Drew Ferguson had a three-run double to break a 2-2 tie.

The best-of-nine series is tied 1-1.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

HERMOSILLO 2, MEXICALI 1 IN MEXICALI

Hermosillo got RBI singles by O'Koyea Dickson and Jose Amador in the eighth to overcome a 1-0 deficit.  Barry Enright pitched eight innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Mexicali leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

CULIACAN 4, LOS MOCHIS 1 IN CULIACAN

Ramiro Pena's RBI single in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie and Culiacan added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.  Leandro Castro was 1-for-3 for Los Mochis.

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

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Five

OAKLAND 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Saturday, August 1.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with an RBI.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Dave Stewart struck out fourteen in a complete game, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.  Tony Bernazard was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk, driving in one.

The game:  In the second, Steve Henderson scored from first on a Bernazard double to put the Athletics ahead 1-0.  The Twins did not score until the eighth, when Puckett tied the score with a sacrifice fly and Hrbek put the Twins ahead with a run-scoring single.  Alfredo Griffin tied it in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single.  In the ninth, Lansford hit a leadoff walkoff homer.

Of note:  Puckett's average was .325 after this game...Greg Gagne batted second, with Steve Lombardozzi dropping to eighth...This is another time where a starter probably would not be allowed to finish in today's game.  Stewart probably would've been replaced after giving up a double to Dan Gladden to start the eighth and almost certainly after walking pinch-hitter Randy Bush.  Viola would almost certainly have been removed after starting the eighth by hitting Terry Steinbach and walking Tony Bernazard, if indeed he'd even have been allowed to start the inning.  This is not to say which is better or worse, but the game has definitely changed.

Record:  The Twins were 56-49, in first place by 1.5 games over California.

We hope to resume player profiles late this week or early next week.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 16

Jimmy Macullar (1855)
Art Whitney (1858)
Jimmy Collins (1870)
Ferdie Schupp (1891)
Buck Jordan (1907)
Dizzy Dean (1910)
Jim Owens (1934)
Ron Herbel (1938)
Joe Bonikowski (1941)
Tsuneo Horiuchi (1948)
Dave Stapleton (1954)
Steve Balboni (1957)
Marty Castillo (1957)
Dave Jauss (1957)
Jack McDowell (1966)
Ron Villone (1970)
Jack Cust (1979)
Albert Pujols (1980)
Matt Maloney (1984)
Jeff Manship (1985)

Jimmy Macullar holds the career record for most games by a left-handed-throwing shortstop (325). Oddly, he batted right-handed.

Pitcher Tsuneo Horiuchi made nine all-star teams in Japan and won seven Gold Gloves.  On October 10, 1967 he pitched a no-hitter and also hit three home runs.

Dave Jauss is a long-time minor league manager, scout, and major league coach.

Marty Castillo was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1975, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 16 →