Monthly Archives: November 2017

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Thirty-five

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MINNESOTA 3, KANSAS CITY 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday May 8.

Batting stars:  Tom Prince was 2-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Denny Hocking was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks with no strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Neifi Perez was 2-for-3.  Mike Sweeney was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Carlos Beltran was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the first, but did not score.  They loaded the bases again with one out in the fourth, but Jay Canizaro hit a sacrifice fly to put the Twins up 1-0.  Twins fans probably wondered if the missed opportunities would come back to haunt them, but Radke silenced the Royals bats, allowing only one hit through the first seven innings.  In the sixth, doubles by Mohr, Prince, and Cristian Guzman made the score 3-0.  Kansas City finally got on the board in the ninth.  With two out, Sweeney doubled and Beltran singled him home to cut the lead to 3-1.  Manager Ron Gardenhire allowed Radke to stay in the game, and Radke made the decision pay off by retiring Joe Randa on a fly to center to end the game.

WP:  Radke (4-2).  LP:  Jeremy Affeldt (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Canizaro again started at second and was moved into the leadoff spot, as Jacque Jones was given the day off.  Mohr played left field, with Brian Buchanan in right...Matthew LeCroy was again the DH, going 1-for-3 with a walk.  He was also caught trying to steal third(!).  It was a strikeout/throw out double play with men on first and second and Mohr at-bat, so I assume he was running on a full count.  Still, a rather dicey proposition...Hocking played third, giving Corey Koskie a day off.  He went 1-for-3 with a walk...Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 to make his average .351...Mohr raised his average to .326...Prince raised his average to .370(!)...This was one of two complete games Radke would have in 2002.  He threw 103 pitches...Affeldt started by pitched just four innings, giving up one run on two hits and four walks with three strikeouts.  He threw 78 pitches.  Affeldt was in his rookie season and had spent April in the bullpen.  This was only his second start, which is probably why he was pulled so soon.  Affeldt would go on to have a long and successful career as a set-up man, having his best years with San Francisco from 2009-2014...Ex-Twin Chuck Knoblauch led off and started in left field for the Royals.  He went 0-for-4, dropping his average to .185 with an OPS of .511.

Record:  The Twins were 22-13, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.  The Twins had won eight of ten, but the White Sox remained right on their tail.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 8

Bucky Harris (1896)
Tony Cuccinello (1907)
Wally Westlake (1920)
Joe Nossek (1940)
Ed Kranepool (1944)
John Denny (1952)
Jerry Remy (1952)
Jeff Blauser (1965)
Eric Anthony (1967)
Henry Rodriguez (1967)
Jose Offerman (1968)
Edgardo Alfonzo (1973)
Nick Punto (1977)
Giancarlo Stanton (1989)

Bucky Harris was a star for the franchise when it was in Washington in the 1920s.

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Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Thirty-four

KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 7.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a home run.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Matt Kinney pitched six innings, giving up one run on two hits and four walks with four strikeouts.  LaTroy Hawkins retired all five men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Paul Byrd pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  Michael Tucker was 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk.  A. J. Hinch was 1-for-2 with two walks.

The game:  It was scoreless until the sixth, when Tucker led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Sweeney.  The Royals led off the seventh with singles by Brandon Berger and Neifi Perez, followed by a pickoff error which moved the runners to second and third.  The error hurt, as Hinch delivered a two-run single to put the Royals up 3-0.  In the eighth, Carlos Beltran doubled and scored on a stolen base-plus-error to make it 4-0.  The Twins got their lone run when Guzman homered leading off the bottom of the eighth.

WP:  Byrd (5-2).  LP:  Kinney (1-2).  S:  Roberto Hernandez (1).

Notes:  Brian Buchanan again played right field, going 0-for-3.  His average was .304...Jay Canizaro was back at second base, going 0-for-4...Jones raised his average to .307...Koskie raised his average to .311...Torii Hunter was 0-for-3 to make his average .354...A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-4 and was batting .302...Kinney's ERA fell to 2.95, as he had pitched well in three of his four starts.  Unfortunately, that was as good as it would get for him.  He would make only one more good start the rest of the season, which for him would only last through the end of June, when he went on the disabled list.  The Twins would trade him after the 2002 season...Hawkins had his ERA fall to 1.77...Paul Byrd was a better pitcher than I remember.  He started his career in the bullpen for the Mets and Atlanta, converting to a starter role when he was traded to Philadelphia in 1998.  He made the all-start team as a Phil in 1999, going 11-4, 3.72 in the first half, although he faded in the second half.  He suffered through a couple of injury plagued seasons before having perhaps his best year with the Royals in 2002, going 17-11, 3.90, 1.15 WHIP with a league-leading seven complete games.  He missed 2003 due to injury, but then had another fine year with the Angels in 2004, going 12-11, 3.74, 1.19 WHIP.  That was as good as it got for him.  He had a couple of fair-to-middling years with Cleveland, moved on to Boston, and finished his playing career there in 2009...Roberto Hernandez had missed the month of April due to injury.  This was his first save opportunity of the season.

Record:  The Twins were 21-13, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 7

Chris Von der Ahe (1851)
Ed "The Only" Nolan (1857)
Bill Brubaker (1910)
Dick Stuart (1932)
Jake Gibbs (1938)
Jim Kaat (1938)
Joe Niekro (1944)
Buck Martinez (1948)
Willie Norwood (1950)
Guy Sularz (1955)
Orlando Mercado (1961)
Russ Springer (1968)
Todd Ritchie (1971)
Glendon Rusch (1974)
Esmerling Vasquez (1983)
Danny Santana (1990)

Promoter/entrepreneur Chris von der Ahe, referred to as "Bill Veeck with a handlebar mustache", owned the St. Louis franchise from 1882-1899.

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Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Thirty-three

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MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, May 6.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched five innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Tony Fiore pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Damian Jackson was 2-for-3 with two doubles.  Jose Macias was 2-for-4.  Steve Sparks pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on eleven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

The game:  Macias' RBI single in the third put the Tigers up 1-0.  The Twins took the lead in the fourth, when Jones delivered a two-out two-run single.  In the sixth, the Twins had the bases loaded with one out when Jones hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.  The Tigers had the tying run in scoring position with two out in the eighth, but their last four batters were retired.

WP:  Reed (4-1).  LP:  Sparks (2-3).  S:  Guardado (12).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was again the DH, going 0-for-4...Buchanan was in right field, replacing the Bobby Kielty/Dustan Mohr combination...Denny Hocking was again at second base, going 1-for-4...It is unclear why Reed was removed after just five innings.  He had thrown only 62 pitches.  He had given up a couple of hits in the fifth, but he also got a double play and was not in that much trouble.  It could be that the hits made Ron Gardenhire think it was time to pull him, but it could also be that he had some sort of minor health issue.  He did not miss a start, however...Sparks threw 125 pitches...Jones pulled his average back over .300 at .306...Hunter raised his average to .363...Corey Koskie was 0-for-3 to make his average .304...Buchanan raised his average to .326...A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .315...Fiore's ERA fell to 0.63...Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning to make his ERA 1.38...J. C. Romero gave up a hit and no runs in two-thirds of an inning and dropped his ERA to 0.49...Guardado' ERA went to 1.13...Damian Jackson had a surprisingly long career, playing in parts of twelve seasons.  He was only a regular for three of those seasons, 1999-2001, when he played for San Diego.  The Tigers may have expected him to be their regular second baseman when they traded for him, but he lost time to injury and gradually lost the job to Damion Easley.  He went on to play for Boston, the Cubs, Kansas City, San Diego again, and Washington.  He also spent three years in independent ball before ending his playing career after the 2009 season.  His final career numbers were .243/.323/.356.  He played some outfield in addition to middle infield, which probably extended his career.

Record:  The Twins were 21-12, in first place, a game and a half ahead of Chicago.