In our pool I went from 1st place to 8th place in one day as I only got 2 of 7 games correct yesterday. However, I still have all final four teams still going, including Baylor, the school my cousin goes to.
In good news, she just agreed to be our live-in nanny this summer. So hats off to her, and go Baylor!
Date: Monday, October 12.
Batting stars: Dan Gladden was 3-for-6 with two doubles, scoring three times and driving in two. Tom Brunansky was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double, driving in three. Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch, driving in one.
Pitching stars: Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Dan Schatzeder pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Kirk Gibson was 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base (his third of the series), scoring once and driving in one. Eric King pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Matt Nokes was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer.
The game: The Twins chased the supposedly unbeatable Doyle Alexander from the game in the second inning. Gary Gaetti opened the inning with a single and Randy Bush walked. Brunansky doubled them both home but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. Steve Lombardozzi got the rally going again with a single, took second on a ground out, and scored on a Gladden single. After Gagne was hit by a pitch, Kirby Puckett delivered an RBI single. Alexander was gone and the Twins led 4-0.
It stayed 4-0 until the fourth, when the Tigers got back into the game. Gibson led off with a double and scored on an Alan Trammell single. Blyleven then left a pitch up to Matt Nokes and the lead was down to 4-3.
Bush came through with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, making it 5-3. In the eighth, Gladden doubled and, following on a walk to Gagne, scored on a force out-plus-error, putting the Twins up 6-3. Chet Lemon homered in the eighth to trim the margin to 6-4, but Brunansky homered in the ninth, followed by a Lombardozzi single and RBI doubles by Gladden and Gagne, giving the Twins a comfortable 9-4 lead. Gibson got an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Trammell lined out and Nokes grounded back to pitcher Jeff Reardon to win the game. The team that couldn't win on the road took two of three in Tiger Stadium and was headed for the World Series.
Notes: Bush got his third stolen base of the series in the third inning...Brunansky batted .412/.524/1.000 for the series...Gagne had the second-highest OPS, batting .278/.409/.778...On the other end of the scale, Kent Hrbek batted .150/.261/.300 and Puckett batted .208/.208/.375...Dan Schatzeder pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief in the series, giving up just two hits and no walks with five strikeouts...Juan Berenguer gave up just one run on one hit and three walks with six strikeouts in six innings...Tiger starter Alexander pitched just 1.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk with no strikeouts. He had been 9-0, 1.53, 1.01 WHIP since joining the Tigers, but in this series he was 0-2, 10..00, 1.67 WHIP...I had forgotten what a prolific base stealer Gibson was. He stole 284 bases in his career, swiping more than twenty in a season five times and more than thirty three times. He was 26-for-33 in 1987. For his career, he had more stolen bases than home runs (255).
Record: The Twins won the best-of seven series 4-1. As of this date, it had not yet been decided whether they would face San Francisco or St. Louis in the World Series.
Jose Mendez (1887)
Bill Wambsganss (1894)
Gee Walker (1908)
Bob Davids (1926)
Richie Ashburn (1927)
Al Solerno (1931)
Paul Powell (1948)
Tim Corcoran (1953)
Mike Norris (1955)
Ivan Calderon (1962)
Jason LaRue (1974)
David Ross (1977)
Clayton Kershaw (1988)
Jose Mendez was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues, pitching from 1906-1925.
Bob Davids was one of the founders of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Al Solerno was an American League umpire from 1961-1968. His firing was one of the things that led to the formation of the first umpires union.
Rob and his buddies really need to get cracking on those WBC games. I swear they run 3.5-4 hours on average.
Date: Sunday, October 11.
Batting stars: Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second of the series) and a double, scoring twice. Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs. Gene Larkin was 1-for-1 with a double and an RBI.
Pitching stars: Juan Berenguer pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and two walks with one strikeout. Jeff Reardon struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Lou Whitaker was 0-for-3 with three walks and two runs. Kirk Gibson was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Dan Petry pitched 3.1 innings of relief, giving up an unearned run on one hit and no walks with one strikeout.
The game: The Tigers scored in the first on a Gagne throwing error with the bases loaded. The Twins tied it in the third on Puckett's home run. Gagne homered with one out in the fourth to put the Twins up 2-1. Puckett led off the fifth with a single-plus-two-base-error and scored on a Gary Gaetti sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Gibson had an RBI single in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2. Gagne led off the sixth with a double and scored on Larkin's pinch-hit double to give the Twins a 4-2 advantage. The Tigers opened the bottom of the sixth with three singles, cutting the margin to 4-3 and putting men on first and second. A bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out.
Then came one of my all-time favorite plays in Twins history. With Darrell Evans on third, Dave Bergman on second, Alan Trammell at bat, and one out, catcher Tim Laudner threw to Gaetti to pick Evans off third base for the second out. I can still see that play in my mind--Laudner whipping the ball to third, Gaetti coming in to make the tag, and the look on Evans' face when he knew he was out. The inning wasn't over--a wild pitch and a walk put men on first and third--but Berenguer got Jim Morrison to fly to center to end the inning. The Tigers never threatened again. Steve Lombardozzi singled home an insurance run in the eighth and the Twins had done what many nay-sayers said they could not do--when a playoff game on the road.
Notes: This was the first time the Twins had won a post-season game on the road...Two of the Twins' RBIs came from reserves. Larkin pinch-hit for Al Newman, who started at second base. Lombardozzi pinch-ran for Larkin and stayed in the game to play second...Twins starter Frank Viola pitched only five innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts...Detroit starter Frank Tanana went 5.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks with one strikeout. He also hit three batters...Gagne had more power than you may remember. He hit 111 home runs in his career and hit double digit home runs five times, although three of those times he hit exactly ten.
Record: The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Nixey Callahan (1874)
Johnny Cooney (1901)
Al Benton (1911)
Hi Bithorn (1916)
Elbie Fletcher (1916)
Eddie Lake (1916)
Bob Broeg (1918)
Hal White (1919)
George Plimpton (1927)
Charley Pride (1938)
Pat Jarvis (1941)
Dwayne Murphy (1955)
Geronimo Berroa (1965)
Corky Miller (1976)
Tomo Ohka (1976)
Scott Podsednik (1976)
Fernando Rodney (1977)
Hi Bithorn was the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues, making his first appearance for the Cubs in 1942.
Sportswriter Bob Broeg covered the St. Louis Cardinals for forty years and was on the Hall of Fame Board of Directors for twenty-eight years.
Author George Plimpton introduced the world to Sidd Finch in 1985.
Country singer Charley Pride pitched in the minor leagues for parts of three seasons from 1953-1960. He also played in the Negro Leagues for a couple of seasons as those leagues were nearing the end of their existence.
We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Rhubarb_Runner.
Wanted to play this song back in December, but there weren't any live videos of her new stuff yet. I think this posted a week after I looked.
(2 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10)
Loading... Eating Lucky Charms is about as Irish as I get.
What do/did you sing to your kids to get them to sleep? What do you like for yourself for the same?
I've been cycling through the same handful of songs, adding one or two with each of my kids. The rotation is pretty much:
"Hallelujah" (More Cohen than anyone else, when I sing it)
"When You Dream" (BNL)
"Salvation Is Created" (Chesnokov)
"You'll Be In My Heart" (Collins)
"Leaving On A Jet Plane" (Peter, Paul, & Mary)
"You Are My Sunshine"
Occasionally some others make it into the mix, but the kids usually request these ones, and I know 'em.
We've also found that Don Williams and George Strait work pretty well for rocking a baby to sleep.
Date: Saturday, October 10.
Batting stars: Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk. Greg Gagne was 1-for-5 with a home run and two runs. Gary Gaetti was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Dan Schatzeder struck out five in 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits. Juan Berenguer pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Pat Sheridan was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double, scoring twice. Larry Herndon was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Kirk Gibson was 1-for-5 with two stolen bases, scoring once and driving in one.
The game: It was scoreless until the third. The Tigers loaded the bases with none out. A ground out scored one and a balk scored a second. Alan Trammell then singled home one and, following a walk, Herndon doubled home two to give Detroit a 5-0 lead. The Twins came back in the fourth: Gagne led off with a homer and Randy Bush had an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2. Brunansky hit a two-run homer in the sixth to make it 5-4. In the seventh, two singles and a walk loaded the bases and Gaetti delivered a two-run single to put the Twins ahead 6-5. Juan Berenguer got the Tigers out in the bottom of the seventh and Jeff Reardon came on to pitch the eighth. Herndon led off with a single. Tom Brookens popped up a bunt attempt, but Sheridan followed with a two-run homer that put Detroit ahead 7-6. The Twins had Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, and Gaetti coming up in the ninth, but Mike Henneman set them down in order to end the game.
Notes: Kirby Puckett was 0-for-5, making him 1-for-13 in the series so far...Gaetti was 5-for-12 and Brunansky was 4-for-9...Les Straker started but lasted only 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on three hits and four walks with one strikeout...Jack Morris pinch-ran for Herndon in the eighth inning and so scored the tying run when Sheridan homered...Sheridan had hit six home runs in 1987. His career high was eleven, which came in 1988. For his career, he hit 51 home runs. He hit three postseason home runs, with the other two coming in 1985 for Kansas City...Walt Terrell started for Detroit and pitched six innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts...Henneman pitched three shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and three walks with one strikeout...The loss on the road, given the Twins' poor road record in 1987, again fueled the "Twins can't win on the road" theory. Would that theory prove true? We'll see tomorrow.
Record: The Twins led the best-of-seven series 2-1.
