Happy Birthday–June 10

Jack Graney (1886)
Garland Braxton (1900)
Danny McFayden (1905)
Vic Harris (1905)
Mike Kreevich (1908)
Frank Demaree (1910)
Chuck Thompson (1921)
Hank Foiles (1929)
Carmen Cozza (1930)
Ed Palmquist (1933)
Kazuhisa Inao (1937)
Johnny Edwards (1938)
Ken Singleton (1947)
Elias Sosa (1950)
Gerry Hunsicker (1950)
Francisco Barrios (1953)
Floyd Bannister (1955)
Scott Ullger (1955)
Pokey Reese (1973)

Jack Graney had a few unusual "firsts".  He was the first major leaguer to bat against Babe Ruth.  He was the first player to wear a number on his uniform.  He as also the first player to become a broadcaster.

Outfielder Vic Harris was a long-time Negro League player and manager, leading the Homestead Grays to nine Negro National League pennants.

Chuck Thompson was a long-time broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles.

Outfielder Carmen Cozza played in the low minors in 1952-1953, batting .242.  He later became a college football coach, most notably at Yale.  Upon his retirement in 1996, he held the record for most coaching victories in the Ivy League (179) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Kazuhisa Inao is one of the greatest pitchers in Japanese baseball history.

Gerry Hunsicker is a long-time baseball executive, working for the Mets, the Astros, and the Rays.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 10

Game 57. Twins at San Francisco

The Twins started this west coast trip tied for first place.  After 7 games they are 1.5 games up. It sure doesn't seem like they have been playing winning baseball, but here we are.

Ervin Santana wil start for the Twins trying to get back to winning ways after a really bad performance last outing. For Ray Matt Moore goes for the Giants.

 

Fun fact! This will be the first time Santana has pitched against the Giants.

Minor Details: Games of June 8

SYRACUSE 3, ROCHESTER 2 IN ROCHESTER

All the runs were scored in the sixth inning.  In the top of the inning, Pedro Severino hit a two-run double and scored on an Irving Falu single.  The Red Wings got two of them back on a pair of singles, a sacrifice fly, and two wild pitches.  That was as close as they came, though.  They got men to second and third with one out in the eighth, but could not score.

Aaron Slegers pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  Michael Tonkin pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.45.  Ryan Pressly struck out three in a scoreless inning.  Zack Granite was 3-for-4 with a double, his seventh consecutive multi-hit game, raising his average to .307.  Engelb Vielma was 3-for-3.  Mitch Garver was 2-for-4.

JACKSON 3, CHATTANOOGA 2 IN CHATTANOOGA

The Lookouts led 2-0 after five, but the Generals scored three in the sixth to get the win.  Kevin Cron's two-run single brought home the tying and go-ahead runs.  Chattanooga had the tying run on third with two out in the ninth, but a ground out ended the game.

Ryan Eades pitched five shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks with three strikeouts.  Todd Van Steensel struck out two in a scoreless inning to lower his ERA to 1.96.  Jake Reed pitched two shutout innings of relief.  Jonathan Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  Ryan Walker was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Ryan Strausborger was 2-for-4 with a double.  Nick Gordon was 2-for-5 with his fifth home run to raise his average to .307.  Edgar Corcino was 1-for-5 and is batting .303.

TAMPA 2, FORT MYERS 1 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Max Murphy led off the bottom of the first with a home run, but it was the only run the Miracle got.  Francisco Diaz hit a two-run homer in the third and that was it for the scoring.  Fort Myers got a man in scoring position in five of the other six innings, but went 0-for-9 with men in scoring position.

Brady Anderson pitched six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Williams Ramirez pitched a scoreless inning to make his ERA 2.15.  Max Murphy was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk in addition to the home run, his fourth.

FORT MYERS 2, TAMPA 1 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

This time it was the Yankees who scored on in the first, and the Miracle came back with two in the fourth.  Max Murphy tripled and scored on an Alex Perez single.  Two walks followed, and a double play brought home what would turn out to be the winning run.  Tampa only had one hit after the first inning.

Dereck Rodriguez struck out ten in a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.  The Miracle had three hits in the game.

DSL TWINS 17, DSL NATIONALS 3 AT TWINS

The Twins led 3-0 after three.  They then scored three in the fifth, five in the sixth, and five in the seventh to blow out the Nationals.  The Nationals scored all three of their runs in the eighth inning.

Michael Montero pitched five shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  In nine innings so far he has an ERA of zero and has given up three hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.  Cristian Castro struck out two in two shutout innings.  Robert Gutierrez struck out two in a scoreless inning.  Juan Martinez was 4-for-5 with a walk.  Yeison Perez was 3-for-4 with five RBIs.  Alberoni Nunez was 3-for-5 with two triples and five RBIs.  Estamy Urena was 3-for-6 with a triple.  Wander Valdez was 2-for-4 with a triple and two walks.  Ruben Santana was 2-for-5.

TODAY'S TILTS

9:30  DSL Twins at DSL Nationals
6:05  Syracuse (Sean O'Sullivan, 0-0, 0.00) at Rochester (Adam Wilk, 0-0, 4.26)
6:05  Tampa (Zack Littell, 7-1, 1.94) at Fort Myers
6:35  Burlington at Cedar Rapids (Clark Beeker, 5-2, 2.51)
7:05  Chattanooga (Fernando Romero, 4-5, 3.51) at Montgomery

FMD: 69

(hehehe)

We'll be accepting Summer Mix suggestions through the weekend, then we'll be banging it out shortly after that. Please put your candidates in SPOILER form below. Please list up to 3 choices (further choices will be ignored). The first choice is automatically in, and the other 2 choices will be put in a pool to be selected from to fill out the mix.

Feel free to drop some lists too.

Happy Birthday–June 9

Dude Esterbrook (1857)
Irish Meusel (1893)
Mike Ryba (1903)
Frank McCormick (1911)
Jimmy Newberry (1922)
Roy Smalley (1926)
Bill Virdon (1931)
Howie Gershberg (1936)
Jake Jacobs (1937)
Julio Gotay (1939)
Bruce Look (1943)
Tom Egan (1946)
Dave Parker (1951)
Tom Edens (1961)
Randy Winn (1974)

Jimmy Newberry was the first black player in Japanese baseball.

Howie Gershberg was a long-time college and minor league pitching coach.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to SBG’s uncle and to his brother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 9

Whatever Movie Day

Haven't done one of these for awhile...

This recent conversation got me thinking about the current state of movie theaters. Definitely a lot of options out there, but each one seems to have its proponents and detractors. For example, the idea of picking out your own reserved seat on a seat map seems really weird to me (love the idea for baseball games though). I really don't get out to the movies much, mainly because I don't feel the need to see things right after they come out, nor do I like the idea shelling out $40-50 to go see a movie.

My favorite theater? The $2 one by our old house (and still not too far away). It's got those reclining seats, cheap popcorn, and I don't care if I inevitably pass out at whatever boring kids movie I'm at (looking at you Good Dinosaur).

What's everyone else's favorite viewing experience?