Monthly Archives: March 2017

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty

KANSAS CITY 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Friday, October 1.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a run.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-3 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Juan Berenguer struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Bret Saberhagen pitched a complete game, giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  Scotti Madison was 3-for-4 with three doubles and a run.  Danny Tartabull was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, his thirty-third homer.

The game:  It was scoreless until the fourth, when Puckett doubled and Hrbek singled to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Puckett had a run-scoring infield single in the fifth to make it 2-0.  The Royals took the lead in the fifth.  A double, a walk, and a Willie Wilson single plated the first run, an error loaded the bases, and Tartabull launched a grand slam to put Kansas City up 5-2.  Doubles by Madison and Wilson made it 6-2 in the sixth.  The Twins got one more, in the eighth, on two singles and a Hrbek sacrifice fly, but did not get the tying run up to bat.

Notes:  Puckett raised his average to .333...Randy Bush was the DH in this game, going 0-for-4...Tartabull hit five home runs against the Twins in 1987, tied for the most he hit against any team (Texas).  For his career, Tartabull hit thirty homers against the Twins, the second most he hit against any team (Oakland, 32).  For his career he batted .281/.380/.565 against the Twins, compared to his career totals of .261/.361/.471.  His .945 career OPS against Minnesota was his third highest, behind the White Sox and Oakland...These were the first three doubles of Scotti Madison's career, in his thirteenth career game.  He would go on to play in 71 major league games.  The three doubles he hit in this game were one-fourth of his career total.  In case you've forgotten, Madison was in the Twins' organization from 1980-81, traded to the Dodgers along with Paul Voigt for Bobby Mitchell and Bobby Castillo.

Record:  The Twins were 85-75, in first place by four games over Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 12

Abraham Mills (1884)
Denny Lyons (1866)
Leroy Matlock (1907)
Vern Law (1930)
Durwood Merrill (1938)
Johnny Callison (1939)
Jimmy Wynn (1942)
Bill Butler (1947)
Larry Rothschild (1954)
Ruppert Jones (1955)
Dale Murphy (1956)
Mike Quade (1957)
Darryl Strawberry (1962)
Shawn Gilbert (1965)
Steve Finley (1965)
Raul Mondesi (1971)
Greg Hansell (1971) 
David Lee (1973)
P. J. Walters (1985)

Abraham Mills was president of the Mills Commission, which determined that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York in 1839.

Leroy Matlock was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s.

Durwood Merrill was a major league umpire from 1977-2002.

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Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-nine

TEXAS 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN TEXAS

Date:  Wednesday, September 30.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Dan Gladden was 0-for-3 with two walks and a run.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts.  Steve Carlton pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Witt struck out eleven in a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and eight walks.  Jerry Browne was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base (his twenty-seventh), scoring once.  Pete Incaviglia was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.

The game:  Two singles and a Pete O'Brien sacrifice fly gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the first.  The Twins tied it in the third on Puckett's RBI single.  There was no more scoring until the seventh, when a sacrifice fly by Tom O'Malley put the Rangers up 2-1.  Hrbek had a one-out double in the eighth, but he did not move past second and the Twins did not get any closer.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop replacing Greg Gagne...Roy Smalley played third base replacing Gary Gaetti...Puckett's average dropped to .328...The Twins had only four hits, but stranded nine baserunners because they drew eight walks...With eight walks and eleven strikeouts, Witt must have thrown a ton of pitches.

Record:  The Twins were 85-74, in first place by five games over Kansas City.  On the other end of the standings, the White Sox, who had been in last place pretty much all season, defeated California 5-2 to move into a tie for fifth.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 11

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Bobby Winkles (1930)
Dock Ellis (1945)
Cesar Geronimo (1948)
Phil Bradley (1959)
Bryan Oelkers (1961)
Steve Reed (1965)
Salomon Torres (1972)
Bobby Abreu (1974)
Rich Hill (1980)
Dan Uggla (1980)
Frank Mata (1984)

Bobby Winkles was the head baseball coach at Arizona State from 1959-1971, winning three College World Series titles. He also managed and coached in the major leagues.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Zack.

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Friday Music Day

FMD: To Listen List

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I recently discovered a new artist. Just in the past few days. It's someone that I am absolutely loving. At the same time, I have to say that y'all have let me down. I don't think anyone on the WGOM has ever suggested I listen to Sturgill Simpson. The good news is that, despite the WGOM's silence, somehow he still creeped up to the top of my "To Listen List".

I'd heard some of his music here or there (well, I'm almost positive that it was never here) over the past few years, and I've always liked it, but never sat down and really gave it a listen until a few nights ago. Oh, I had long been meaning to, it just hadn't happened. Other things always took the place, and sometimes trying out new music just isn't what a person is in the mood for. So it sat for far too long. Maybe if someone here had recommended Simpson at any point I would have listened sooner...

Anyway, it turns out he's pretty good. Fantastic voice, excellent guitar work, creative (and somewhat seditious) lyrics... the whole works. You should check him out too.

And, in light of my recent discovery, I'm wondering what is at the top of your To Listen List? It seems like whenever there's something you know you should try, that doing so seems to pay off. At least that's been my experience. So what have you not gotten around to checking out that you've been meaning to for ages? What did you wait too long to try? And what should go to the top of my list, now that I've finally picked up Sturgill? (And, by the way, Sturgill should go to the top of your lists too... Maybe then we could all talk about him sometime?).

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-eight

TEXAS 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN TEXAS

Date:  Tuesday, September 29.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and two RBIs.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Gene Larkin was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  George Frazier struck out four in three shutout innings of relief, giving up no hits and one walk.

Opposition stars:  Geno Petralli was 2-for-2 with two home runs, his sixth and seventh.  Pete O'Brien was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-third.  Charlie Hough pitched a complete game, giving up five runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

The game:  The Twins scored three in the first, with the last one scoring on a two-out strikeout/passed ball, to take a 3-0 lead.  Texas tied it with three in the bottom of the third off Dan Schatzeder, normally a reliever but starting in this game.  Gene Larkin's RBi double in the fourth put the Twins back on top 4-3 and Bush homered in the seventh to make it 5-3.  Texas tied it in the seventh as Petralli led off with a home run and Ruben Sierra got an RBI single later in the inning.  The Rangers took their first lead, and the only one they would need, in the eighth on back-to-back homers by O'Brien and Petralli.

Notes:  With the pennant clinched the night before, it would be an exaggeration to say that this was even a B lineup...Chris Pittaro led off and started at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi, who was used as a pinch-runner in the ninth...Mark Davidson batted second and started in center field in place of Kirby Puckett, who pinch-hit in the ninth...Bush batted third and played left field in place of Dan Gladden...Larkin played first base in place of Kent Hrbek, who had a pinch-hit double in the ninth...Billy Beane started in right field in place of Tom Brunansky...Schatzeder made his only start of the season, although he had pitched as many as 5.2 innings in a game in relief...It's a credit to the Twins that despite this lineup, they were in the game right up to the end...There was much consternation at the time that the Twins lost their last five games of the regular season, but as I recall (and as certainly seems apparent in this game), the Twins did not exactly go all out to try to win them.  I'm sure the players were trying while they were on the field, but they mostly looked at these games as tune-ups for the playoffs, which seems like a sensible approach.  Of course, it's easy to say that in hindsight, when we already know the happy ending.

Record:  The Twins were 85-73, in first place by six games over Kansas City.