Monthly Archives: November 2017

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 6

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Walter Johnson (1887)
Mack Jones (1938)
Jim Gosger (1942)
John Candelaria (1953)
Stine Poole (1958)
Chad Curtis (1968)
Don Wengert (1969)
Bubba Trammell (1971)
Deivi Cruz (1972)
Justin Speier (1973)
Adam LaRoche (1979)

Walter Johnson, of course, was a star for the franchise when it was in Washington, pitching from 1907 to 1927.

Justin Speier is the son of ex-Twin Chris Speier.

Stine Poole was traded by Detroit to the Twins for Sal Butera and played in the Twins minor league system for two seasons.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to brianS' mom and spookymilk's brother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 6 →

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Thirty-two

DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 5.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, and a walk.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Bobby Higginson was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his second.  Wendell McGee was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Robert Fick was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his third.

The game:  Detroit scored two in the top of the second and Minnesota got one in the bottom of the second.  The Tigers then took control with a five-run fifth.  Fick hit a two-run homer, a sacrifice fly brought in a third run, and McGee hit a two-run homer.  The Twins got one back in the bottom of the fifth on a Doug Mientkiewicz RBI single, but it was still 7-2 going to the seventh.  The Twins then got back into the game, with LeCroy hitting a three-run homer and Brian Buchanan contributing a run-scoring single.  The Twins had men on first and third with one out, but A. J. Pierzynski hit into a double play to end the inning.  Koskie hit a one-out double in the ninth, but did not advance.

WP:  Jeff Weaver (2-4).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (2-2).  S:  Juan Acevedo (2).

Notes:  LeCroy was again the DH in place of David Ortiz.  His average was .318...Bobby Kielty played center field, with Torii Hunter given the day off...Buchanan played right field and was 1-for-3 with a walk to make his average .300...Denny Hocking got the call at second base and went 0-for-3...Koskie raised his average to .313...Pierzynski was 0-for-2 with two hit-by-pitches, dropping his average to .318...Lohse pitched well for four innings, but his line was 4.2 innings, six runs, eight hits, two walks, and two strikeouts...Hawkins' ERA dropped to 1.93...Guardado's ERA fell to 1.20...Weaver pitched well for six innings, but did not retire anyone in the seventh.  His line was six innings, four runs (two earned), six hits, three walks, and four strikeouts.  2002 was the best year he had, going a combined 11-11, 3.52, 1.21 WHIP with Detroit and the Yankees.  It was the only year he had an ERA under four as a starter, although he was at 4.01 with the Dodgers in 2004 when he went 13-13, 1.30 WHIP.  He had one other decent year, 2009, when the Dodgers used him mostly in relief.  He was 6-4, 3.65, but with a WHIP of 1.52.  For his career, he was 104-119, 4.71, 1.37 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 20-12, in first place by a half game over the White Sox.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Thirty-one

MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 4.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his sixth.   Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base, his second.  The Twins had just four hits.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  Mike Jackson pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second), a double, and a walk.  Mark Redman pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on two hits and six walks while striking out five.  Brandon Inge was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the second on a walk, a single, and another walk.  A popup was the first out, but Tom Prince delivered a sacrifice fly to put the Twins on the board.  With Koskie on first and Hunter on third, they pulled off a double steal of second and home to make it 2-0.  A sacrifice fly put got the Tigers a run in the fifth and Halter homered in the sixth to tie it 2-2.  Detroit got a pair of two-out singles in the ninth, but did not score.  In the ninth, Koskie walked and was bunted to second.  Pinch-hitter  A. J. Pierzynski was intentionally walked and pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty reached on an error to load the bases.  Jacque Jones fouled out, but Cristian Guzman delivered an RBI single to win the game for the Twins.

WP:  Jackson (2-1).  LP:  Fernando Rodney (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Guzman was back in the lineup at shortstop and batted second.  He went 1-for-5, but the one was obviously a big one...Matthew LeCroy was the DH and went 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average to .333...Prince started at catcher and went 0-for-1 to make his average .333 as well...Jay Canizaro again filled in at second, but was dropped to ninth in the order.  He went 0-for-1 with two walks...Hunter raised his average to .361...Jackson's ERA fell to 1.50...J. C. Romero pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run, making his ERA 0.51...Shane Halter had a pretty undistinguished career other than 2001.  In that season, he batted .284/.344/.467.  The rest of his career he hit .235/.299/.360.  He mostly played shortstop and third base, although he played some second and first, some outfield, and also pitched and caught in two games each.  On October 1, 2000, he pulled off the stunt of playing all nine positions against the Twins.  He faced just one batter as a pitcher, walking LeCroy.  He was with Kansas City from 1997-98, spent most of 1999 in AAA for the Mets, and was with the Tigers from 2000-2003.  He finished his major league career in 2004 with Anaheim, although he also played briefly in AAA for the Cubs in 2005.  He is currently a coach for the Southern Athletics Baseball Academy in Texarkana, Texas.

Record:  The Twins were 20-11, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.  I don't remember, but I would think that even this early in the season, it was frustrating to be playing this well and not be able to increase the lead over the White Sox.