Monthly Archives: May 2017

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 23

Dummy Hoy (1862)
Deacon Phillippe (1872)
Zack Wheat (1888)
Halsey Hall (1898)
Arch McDonald (1901)
Willis Hudlin (1906)
Augie Galan (1912)
Lawrence Ritter (1922)
Clyde King (1924)
Skip Bertman (1938)
Tom Penders (1945)
Reggie Cleveland (1948)
Buck Showalter (1956)
Ricky Gutierrez (1970)
Ramon Ortiz (1973)
Mike Gonzalez (1978)
Kyle Barraclough (1990)

Deacon Phillippe was the winning pitcher in the first World Series game.  He lived in what would become the state of South Dakota from 1875-1896, where his family farmed near the town of Athol.

Legendary sportswriter and broadcaster Halsey Hall broadcast Twins games from 1961-72.

Arch McDonald was an early baseball broadcaster known for his re-creations of games.

Author Lawrence Ritter wrote the excellent book, "The Glory of Their Times".

Skip Bertman was the head baseball coach at LSU from 1984-2001.

College basketball coach Tom Penders played minor league baseball for the Indians in 1968.

Kyle Barraclough was drafted by Minnesota in the fortieth round in 2011 but did not sign.

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2017 Twins Game Logs

2017 Game 41: Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles

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Okay, I'm not sure what to type here. My last game log, I went off on an ill-advised bout of pessimism, and since then the Twins have continued playing some fairly decent ball. Obviously there's issues abound (like the starting pitching staff), but it's been nice to watch games and have a reasonable expectation that they might actually win.

Anyway, I still don't know how I should feel about this lteam. As AG noted today, the Twins have been in first place a total of 18 days this year. Between 2011-2016 they were in first place a combined 13 days. So, again, I'm not sure just exactly how I should be taking this team in, but for now I'll stop asking too many questions and just enjoy it.

Back to the game at hand: the Twins open up a 3-game series on Bawlmore before heading back home. Speaking of questionable starting pitching, Kyle Gibson lugs his giant ERA back to the majors as Hughes is put on the shelf with "right arm soreness". Gibby wasn't able to win any games down on the farm either, but it appears he pitched a little better than when he was last up. The O's counter with Ubaldo Jimenez who, while generally struggling over the past few years, has never really had any problems smacking the Twins around (2.49 ERA and 75 strikeouts over 11 appearances).

Oh, and Escobar is DHing again for some reason.
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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 22

Al Simmons (1902)
Terris McDuffie (1910)
Jose Valdivielso (1934)
Ron Piche (1935)
Rich Garcia (1942)
Walt Hriniak (1943)
Tommy John (1943)
Jim Colborn (1946)
Jose Mesa (1966)
Al Levine (1968)
Julian Tavarez (1973)

Terris McDuffie pitched from 1930-1954, playing in the Negro Leagues, the Cuban Winter League, the Mexican League, the Puerto Rican League, the Dominican League, the Venezuelan League, the California Winter League, and the minor leagues.  His biography at b-r.com is worth reading.

Rich Garcia was an American League umpire from 1975-1999.

Tommy John was one of the Twins’ television broadcasters from 1994-1996.

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