Monthly Archives: November 2017

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-five

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ANAHEIM 11, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Bengie Molina was 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs.  Scott Spiezio was 3-for-5 with a double.  Jarrod Washburn struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks.

The game:  Back-to-back doubles by Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon put the Angels ahead 1-0 in the top of the second.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the second when Mientkiewicz doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an error.  Troy Glaus' RBI single in the third made it 2-1.  Anaheim put the the game out of reach with five in the fourth.  RBI singles by Spiezio, Benji Gil, David Eckstein, and Darin Erstad and a sacrifice fly by Glaus produced the runs.  The Twins were never in it after that.

WP:  Washburn (5-2).  LP:  Eric Milton (7-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brian Buchanan was the DH, going 0-for-4...Jay Canizaro played third base and went 1-for-4.  It would be the last major league game of his career...Denny Hocking played second and had his seven-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-3 with a walk...Milton lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk...After Brad Radke had pitched just a third of an inning the day before, the Twins desperately needed someone to give them some innings.  The honor went to Johan Santana, who was making his season debut with the Twins.  It was not all that promising.  He struck out six in 5.1 innings, but allowed four runs on six hits and two walks, giving him an ERA of 6.75.  A month later it would be below three...Ben Weber pitched two shutout innings for Anaheim.  He's pretty much forgotten now, but he was a really good setup reliever for a little over three seasons for the Angels.  They picked him up on waivers from San Francisco on August 30, 2000.  From then through the 2003 season, he was 19-5, 7 saves (all in 2002), 2.80, 1.28 WHIP in 241.1 innings (191 games).  Recurring back and neck injuries plague him after that and he was never effective again, although he continued to pitch through 2006.  Interestingly, he became a chiropractor when he was done with baseball.  He practices in Montgomery, Alabama. You can also look for how can chiropractic care help to sort out any kind of issues related to back pain.

Record:  The Twins were 31-24, in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 28

Heinie Pietz (1870)
Frank O'Rourke (1894)
Jerry Gardner (1920)
Wes Westrum (1922)
Sixto Lezcano (1953)
Dave Righetti (1958)
Walt Weiss (1963)
John Burkett (1964)
Matt Williams (1965)
Pedro Astacio (1969)
Robb Nen (1969)
Jose Parra (1972)
Carlos Villaneuva (1983)
Miguel Diaz (1994)

Jerry Gardner spent most of his life in baseball as a minor-league player and manager and as a scout.

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to Mom Runner.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 28 →

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 7, ANAHEIM 6 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, May 30.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-2.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  J. C. Romero struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Adam Kennedy was 4-for-5 with two doubles.  Darin Erstad was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks.  Garret Anderson was 2-for-4.

The game:  It looked bad for the Twins in the first.  Erstad homered in the first to put the Angels up 1-0.  A double and two groundouts made it 2-0 in the second.  In the third, RBI singles by Tim Salmon and Kennedy and a run-scoring ground out put Anaheim up 5-0.  The Twins came back in the fifth.  Tom Prince walked and scored from first on a Jay Canizaro double.  A ground out and a hit batsman put men on first and third with one out.  Torii Hunter hit a run-scoring double and, with two out, Brian Buchanan tripled home two to cut the lead to 5-4.  In the eighth, the Angels loaded the bases with one out and Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 6-4.  In the bottom of the eighth, David Ortiz led off with a double and scored on a pair of fly outs.  Two singles and a walk then loaded the bases and Guzman singled to tie it up.  The Twins missed a chance to take the lead when Pierzynski was thrown out trying to score from second on the Guzman single.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out in the ninth, but could not score.  In the tenth, Dustan Mohr walked and went to third on a Pierzynski single.  A ground out put men on second and third, but Guzman hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring Mohr home with the winning run.

WP:  Eddie Guardado (1-1).   LP:  Lou Pote (0-1).   S:  None.

Notes:  Guzman led off, as Jacque Jones was not in the starting lineup.  Jones was used as a pinch-hitter in the eighth...Buchanan started in right field, going 1-for-3 with a triple.  It was his only triple of the season and the first of his career.  He would hit two more, both with San Diego in 2003...The teams combined to leave 22 men on base.  The Twins were 3-for-15 with men in scoring position and the Angels were 2-for-13...Brad Radke started the game, his first appearance since May 13, but faced only two batters.  One of them, Erstad, hit a home run, after which Radke left the game.  He would not appear for the Twins again until August 3...Jack Cressend came in to replace Radke and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out one...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.64...Romero dropped his ERA to 0.57...Scott Schoeneweis started for the Angels, striking out seven in 6.2 innings while giving up four runs, six hits, and two walks...Troy Percival got a blown save despite the fact that the Twins didn't score off him.  As I recall, the Twins had not scored an earned run off Percival at this point.  For his career, the Twins would score just two earned runs in 47.2 innings off Percival, for an ERA of 0.38...Schoeneweis had a long career for a guy who, to put it bluntly, wasn't very good.  He pitched in the majors for twelve seasons.  In seven of them, he had an ERA over five.  His best seasons were when he appears to have been used as a LOOGY, going 3-4, 3.32 in 57 innings (80 games) for Toronto in 2005 and 2-6, 3.34 in 56.2 innings (73 games) for the Mets in 2008.  For his career, he was 47-57, 5.01, 1.47 FIP in 972 innings (577 games, 93 starts).  One of the things that annoys me about baseball is how players like Scott Schoeneweis get chance after chance in the majors, long after they've established that they don't belong there, while other players can make AAA all-star teams for years and struggle to get a cup of coffee in the majors.  I guess no one ever promised life, or baseball, would be fair.

Record:  The Twins were 31-23, in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 27

Bullet Joe Bush (1892)
Johnny Schmitz (1920)
Billy Moran (1933)
Jose Tartabull (1938)
Dave Giusti (1939)
Dan Spillner (1951)
Mike Scioscia (1958)
Randy Milligan (1961)
Tim Laker (1969)
Ivan Rodriguez (1971)
Willie Bloomquist (1977)
Jimmy Rollins (1978)

No players with connections to the Minnesota Twins appear to have been born on this day. The closest we come is Billy Moran, who was part of a three-team trade involving Minnesota, Cleveland, and the Los Angeles Angels. Minnesota acquired Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall and sent Lenny Green and Vic Power to Los Angeles. Billy Moran was sent from the Angels to Cleveland in that trade.