Gone through this album a few times and I'm really digging it. Feels like something Zack would have gotten me into.
(2 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10)
Loading... Kip Selbach (1872)
Roy Thomas (1874)
Mike Mowrey (1884)
Fatty Arbuckle (1887)
Ernie Shore (1891)
George Sisler (1893)
Jesus Alou (1942)
Mark Marquess (1947)
Garry Templeton (1956)
Bruce Hurst (1958)
Wilson Alvarez (1970)
Steve Karsay (1972)
Jose Valverde (1978)
Corey Hart (1982)
Chad Gaudin (1983)
Silent film comedian Fatty Arbuckle was the owner of the Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League from about 1918-1921.
Mark Marquess is the longtime head baseball coach of Stanford.
No players with connections to the Twins were born on this day; however, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to Mom SBG.
Not that I had any rooting interest in the WBC, but it's kind of annoying that the States won the tournament when I didn't have the means to see it.
Date: Wednesday, October 21.
Batting stars: Greg Gagne was 1-for-4 with a home run. Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and an RBI. Al Newman was 1-for-3 with a walk.
Pitching stars: Joe Niekro pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk. George Frazier struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Tom Lawless was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer. Willie McGee was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Jim Lindeman was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, scoring once and driving in two.
The game: Gagne homered in the top of the third to give the Twins a 1-0 lead, but Lindeman singled in a run in the bottom of the third to tie it 1-1. For the third time in four games, a big fourth inning made the difference. This time it was the Cardinals who broke the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs. Tony Pena walked, Jose Oquendo singled, and Lawless delivered a three-run homer to give St. Louis a 4-1 lead. Frank Viola retired St. Louis pitcher Bob Forsch, but after walking Vince Coleman he was replaced by Dan Schatzeder. He struck out Ozzie Smith, but Coleman stole second, leading to an intentional walk to Tom Herr. Lindeman came through with another RBI single and McGee followed with a two-run double, making the score 7-1. The Twins got a run back on Puckett's RBI single in the fifth. They had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, but Ken Dayley came in to strike out Gary Gaetti and retire Tom Brunansky on a foul popup. The Twins did not threaten again.
Notes: As those of us who were around will recall, Lawless was the least likely of any player on either team to hit a home run, possibly including the pitchers. A seldom-used reserve infielder, he was playing third base because of an injury to Terry Pendleton. He had played in only 19 games in 1987 and had only 25 at-bats, with a line of .080/.179/.120. He had hit one major league home run in his career up to that point, in 1984 when he was with Cincinnati. He would hit only one more, in 1988. Over a nine-year career, he batted .207/.263/.258 in 531 at-bats...Tom Kelly elected to bring Viola back on short rest rather than go with Niekro. Viola lasted only 3.1 innings, giving up five runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Niekro pitched two scoreless innings of relief. I don't remember if that led to second-guessing, but I remember that at the time I thought TK made the right decision and it just didn't work out...Lindeman's two hits made him 4-for-8 in the series to this point...St. Louis starter Greg Mathews came out after just 3.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. I suspect he was injured--if not it was a really quick hook--but I could not quickly find out and did not have time to research the matter.
Record: The best-of-seven series was tied 2-2. Would Bert Blyleven be able to stop the Cardinals momentum and give the Twins their first road World Series win? We'll see tomorrow.
We just played Angel Olsen a few months ago, but these fresh KEXP vids just popped up in my YouTube feed, so whatever.
(2 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)Loading... Mike Smith (1868)
Gavvy Cravath (1881)
Cy Slapnicka (1886)
Ray Kremer (1893)
Johnny Moore (1902)
Johnny Logan (1927)
Jim Lemon (1928)
Lee May (1943)
George Scott (1944)
Pat Bourque (1947)
Lanny Frattare (1948)
Bo Diaz (1953)
Mrs. A (1954)
Mike Remlinger (1966)
Chris Turner (1969)
Mark Buehrle (1979)
Cy Slapnicka was a long-time scout. Players he is credited with signing include Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, and Herb Score. Somehow, "Cy Slapnicka" just sounds like a name a baseball scout should have.
Lanny Frattare was a radio broadcaster for the Pirates from 1976-2008.
Happy birthday to my Hall of Fame wife.
Today is my employer's last day in St. Paul. Everyone needs to be packed up today and then "working" from home Thursday-Friday while a lot of stuff gets moved. Then we show up at the fancy new digs in Bloomington on Monday with sunglasses and sunscreen because we'll be getting a lot more sun in a proper office tower. I'll miss the single-leg commute but not much else of the current building.
Been far too long since we heard Karen O and the boys.
2009
(4 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10)Loading... Date: Tuesday, October 20.
Batting stars: Tim Laudner was 2-for-3 with a double. Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk. Tom Brunansky was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Pitching stars: Les Straker pitched six shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Dan Schatzeder pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit while striking out one.
Opposition stars: John Tudor struck out seven in seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks. Vince Coleman was 1-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases, scoring once and driving in two. Ozzie Smith was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The game: It was quite a pitchers' duel. Each team had only one man get as far as third base in the first five innings. The Twins broke through in the sixth. With one out, Greg Gagne and Puckett drew consecutive walks. Gary Gaetti fouled out, but Brunansky singled to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Straker pitched a scoreless sixth, but with two out and none on in the seventh he was pulled for pinch-hitter Gene Larkin, who made the third out. Juan Berenguer came in to start the bottom of the seventh. He gave up consecutive singles to Jose Oquendo and Tony Pena. A bunt moved them to second and third with one out and Coleman doubled both runners home to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Coleman then stole third and scored on a Smith single. Schatzeder came in and retired the side on a pair of ground outs, but the damage had been done. Puckett got a two-out triple in the eighth, but that was the only baserunner the Twins had the rest of the game.
Notes: As far as I can tell, Straker had thrown around ninety pitches through six innings. It was at least a questionable decision to pinch-hit for him at that point, especially in a situation where the Twins were unlikely to score. There were reasons to do it--I'm not saying it was a blatantly wrong decision--but you could certainly make an argument for allowing him to start the seventh...There was, of course, no DH in this game. Straker came up to bat twice and struck out both times. Two of the Twins' part-time DHs, Larkin and Randy Bush, were used as pinch-hitters. Neither got a hit..John Tudor had made three starts in April, then was out with an injury until August 1. That August first game, in which he faced the Pirates in St. Louis, was one of the handful of major league games your correspondent has attended in person.
Record: The Twins led the best-of-seven series two games to one. As I recall, Tom Kelly had not announced whether he would bring Frank Viola back on short rest or use Joe Niekro as a fourth starter. Which would he choose? We'll see tomorrow.
Jack Boyle (1866)
Ernie Quigley (1880)
Goldie Holt (1902)
Bob Elson (1904)
Marv Owen (1906)
Billy Goodman (1926)
Al Schroll (1932)
Gene Oliver (1935)
Frank Pulli (1935)
Dick Ellsworth (1940)
Ron Wojciak (1943)
Jake Brown (1948)
Eddie Bane (1952)
Bob Costas (1952)
Eric Rasmussen (1952)
Scott Bradley (1960)
Matt Sinatro (1960)
Rich Monteleone (1963)
Glenallen Hill (1965)
Sean Berry (1966)
Ramon Martinez (1968)
Cory Lidle (1972)
Juan Uribe (1979)
Mike Morse (1982)
Ike Davis (1987)
Ernie Quigley was a National League umpire for twenty-six years and then became the NL supervisor of umpires.
Goldie Holt is credited with teaching Charlie Hough to throw the knuckleball.
Bob Elson was a baseball broadcaster for over thirty years, mostly in Chicago.
Frank Pulli was a National League umpire from 1972-1999.
Ron Wojciak helped the Minnesota Golden Gophers win the College World Series in 1964 and played in the Twins’ farm system in 1965. He passed away from lung cancer in 1966.
Jake Brown was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-third round in 1967, but he did not sign.
Scott Bradley was drafted by Minnesota in the twelfth round in 1978, but he did not sign.
