Monthly Archives: November 2017

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Forty-four

NEW YORK 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, May 18.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Mike Trombley struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Ted Lilly struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk.  Bernie Williams was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Jason Giambi was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Four consecutive singles produced two first-inning runs for the Yankees.  Tom Prince singled home a run in the second to cut the lead to 2-1 and Mohr's RBI double in the sixth tied it 2-2.  In the bottom of the sixth, however, New York opened the inning with a pair of singles, bringing in Bob Wells.  He gave up a three-run homer to Alfonso Soriano to put the Yankees in the lead to stay.  Shane Spencer singled home an insurance run in the seventh.  The Twins put two on with none out in the eighth, but their last six batters were retired.

WP:  Lilly (1-3).  LP:  Tony Fiore (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brian Buchanan was at DH, going 0-for-4...Kielty was again at first base.  He raised his average to .329...Casey Blake was at third base, going 0-for-4...Prince was in at catcher and was 1-for-4, making his average .333...Denny Hocking was at second, going 0-for-4...Tony Fiore made an emergency start, one of two he would make in 2002 and the only two starts of his career.  He had a fine year in 2002, going 10-3, 3.16, 1.29 WHIP.  If you take out those two starts, though, he's even better:  9-2, 2.79, 1.02 WHIP...Torii Hunter was 1-for-4, making his average .339...Mohr raised his average to .318...This would be the last good outing of Mike Trombley's career.  He would pitch in just one more game.

Record:  The Twins were 25-19, in first place by a half game over Chicago.

Friday Music Day

FMD 11/17/17 – R.I.P.

19 Comments

Not the rad metal band, unfortunately. I am thinking about The Triple Rock, which is shutting down next week. It is my all time favorite venue, and I am pretty heartbroken to lose it. I didn't see a ton of shows there, but all of them were pretty memorable.

The first show I saw there was Okkervil River & John Vanderslice the weekend of my 22nd birthday. I took J to see The Wrens and Boris there. I was able to catch The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower on an incredible bill with The Locust. And in July, I got to see Mitski for the fourth time.

I'm sad I couldn't make it down for Boris last month. If I had more notice about it closing I probably would have done something to make it happen.

Does anyone else have good memories of the Triple Rock, or another now defunct venue? Drop those and/or your ten below.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 17

George Stallings (1867)
Mike Garcia (1923)
Orlando Pena (1933)
Gary Bell (1936)
Tom Seaver (1944)
Brad Havens (1959)
Mitch Williams (1964)
Paul Sorrento (1965)
Jeff Nelson (1966)
Eli Marrero (1973)
Darnell McDonald (1978)
Ryan Braun (1983)
Nick Markakis (1983)

 George Stallings managed in the major leagues for thirteen years.  He is best remembered as the manager of the 1914 Miracle Braves.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 17 →

Keeping Track

Australian League Preview

The Australian League starts today.  More accurately, it started today, as with the time difference, the first game of the season has already been completed.  To keep things straight, we'll report on it tomorrow when we report on "Games of November 16", which is what it actually was.

Anyway, there are still six teams in the ABL, although there has been some talk of expansion.  They play ten "rounds", a round being a four-game series that usually runs from Thursday through Sunday.  Monday through Wednesday are off-days unless they need to make up a rainout.

Each team, then, plays forty games, eight against each of the other five teams.  They are all in one league--no divisions--but there are still playoffs.  The second place team takes on the third place team in what appears to be a three-game series.  The winner then takes on the first place team in what appears to be another three-game series.

There are usually a few Twins who play in this league.  It's fun to follow.  I hope you enjoy it.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Forty-three

4 Comments

NEW YORK 13, MINNESOTA 12 IN NEW YORK (14 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 4-for-7 with a double and three runs.  Brian Buchanan was 4-for-7 with a double and a stolen base, his second (he had nine stolen bases for his career, six of them with San Diego in 2003).  Denny Hocking was 3-for-7 with three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Bob Wells pitched a perfect inning.  J. C. Romero pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit while lowering his ERA to 0.37.  Jack Cressend struck out five in three shutout innings, giving up four hits.

Opposition stars:  Never mind.

The game:  It was tempting to just skip over this one entirely.  If you were a Twins fan in 2002, you remember this game.  If you weren't, well, take it from me that you don't want to know.  If you really must know more, you can find the b-r.com information here.  https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200205170.shtml

Record:  The Twins were 25-18, in first place by 1.5 games over Chicago.

 

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 16

Mike McGeary (1850)
Joe Quest (1852)
Paul Foytack (1930)
Frank Bolling (1931)
Harry Chiti (1932)
Minnie Mendoza (1933)
Don Hahn (1948)
Herb Washington (1951)
Glenn Burke (1952)
Curt Wardle (1960)
Dwight Gooden (1964)
Chris Haney (1968)
Pete Rose (1969)
Julio Lugo (1975)
Juan Centeno (1989)

Sprinter Herb Washington played for Oakland for two seasons as a pinch-runner.  He appeared in 105 games but did not play in the field and did not bat.  He stole 31 bases in 48 attempts and scored 33 runs.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 16 →