Maybe I'll get back to playing some 2017 stuff but I felt like playing this for some reason.
(7 votes, average: 9.71 out of 10)
Loading... I want to see a Bills/Vikes Super Bowl. Historical suckfest.
Good days in the Venezuelan League.
Date: Monday, July 15.
Batting stars: Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) and a stolen base (his sixteenth). Luis Rivas was 3-for-4 with two doubles. Cristian Guzman was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fifth.
Pitching stars: LaTroy Hawkins retired all five batters he faced. Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.
Opposition stars: Troy Glaus was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk. Garret Anderson was 1-for-4 with a double. Tim Salmon was 0-for-3 with two walks.
The game: The Twins got on the board in the second, but the third inning was a disaster for them, as they gave the Angels five runs. With one out a walk, a single, and a walk loaded the bases. An error scored one run and another error scored a second. A sacrifice fly made it 3-1, Glaus had an RBI single, and a wild pitch made it 5-1. It the fifth, Shawn Wooten hit a two-run single to increase the lead to 7-1. The Twins got back in the game in the bottom of the fifth, as Rivas had an RBI double, Doug Mientkiewicz singled home two, and another run scored on a ground out, cutting the margin to 7-5. Glaus had another RBI single in the seventh to make it 8-5. Hunter hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to pull the Twins within one at 8-7. The first two Twins went out in the eighth, but singles by Rivas and Bobby Kielty were followed by Guzman's three-run homer to put the Twins in front to stay. The Angels did not get a baserunner after Glaus' seventh-inning single.
WP: Hawkins (4-0). LP: Scott Schoeneweis (7-7). S: Guardado (29).
Notes: Michael Cuddyer played right field, with both Kielty and Dustan Mohr on the bench. He went 0-for-4. Kielty and Mohr were both used as pinch-hitters.
Hunter raised his average to .310.
A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3 and was batting .307.
Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.43.
Johan Santana started. He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs (three earned) on four hits and seven walks while striking out three. It was the most walks he had given up in a game all season. He would not walk more than three in any game the rest of the year. His ERA was still good at 2.80.
Santana was relieved by Kevin Frederick, who was making his major league debut. He pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a run on two hits. He would appear in eight games for the Twins that season, giving up at least one run in six of them. This was his only season with the Twins. He got back to the majors with Toronto in 2004, but unfortunately did not fare significantly better.
John Lackey started for Anaheim. He pitched six innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out five.
Shawn Wooten was the catcher in this game. He never really did have a defined position. He was used at first base more than anywhere in the majors, but he also caught, played first, and played third. He actually started more games at DH than he did anywhere else. He came up with the Angels in mid-August of 2000 at age twenty-seven but played in just seven games and started only one of them. He was a part-time player for Anaheim through 2003, never getting more than 300 plate appearances. He actually did pretty well through 2002, batting .312/.340/.464 in 343 at-bats. It seems like that would've earned him more playing time, especially since he didn't have a big platoon split. My first thought was that he was probably terrible in the field and didn't hit enough to be a DH. That might be, but the Angels main DH in 2001 was Orlando Palmeiro, who batted .243/.319/.322. It's hard to think Wooten wouldn't have done better than that. Wooten fell off in 2003, though, batting just .243/.303/.349, and as he was now thirty the Angels let him become a free agent. He signed with Philadelphia for 2004, but the National League is no place for a man without a position. He was in the majors over half the season but got just fifty-three at-bats, batting .170. He got one more at-bat with Boston in 2005, then his major league career was over. He played in the minors a few more seasons, though. In fact, I see that I've missed him in our Twins biographies, as he was a Rochester Red Wing in 2006. He was in the minors for both San Diego and the Mets in both 2007 and 2008 before ending his playing career. For his career, he batted .272/.314/.398 in 669 at-bats. He has stayed in baseball as a minor league coach and manager, and most recently has been the batting coach of the Oklahoma City Dodgers from 2016-2017. As one who remembers the days of the Oklahoma City 89ers, I find it a bit depressing that their AAA team is now boringly called the Dodgers.
Record: The Twins were 54-40, in first place, leading Chicago by ten games.
Another installment of Your Funky Weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2fBFJJJIr8
1973
(2 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)Loading... George Shoch (1859)
Phil Masi (1916)
Jiro Noguchi (1920)
Early Wynn (1920)
Ralph Branca (1926)
Lee Walls (1933)
Lenny Green (1933)
Ruben Amaro (1936)
Don Gullett (1951)
Norm Charlton (1963)
Dan Naulty (1970)
Marlon Anderson (1974)
Brian Bass (1982)
Anthony Slama (1984)
Jiro Noguchi was one of the greatest pitchers in the early days of Japanese professional baseball, winning 237 games with an ERA of 1.96.
A new year is suppose to bring a clean slate, a time to start over. Politically, however, it seems rather hopeless. When things are dire what songs do you go to bring some hope? As usual Robert Pollard pretty much nails it with Hold on Hope, but I am sure there others. Also drop your lists.
Date: Sunday, July 14.
Batting stars: David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run, his sixth. Denny Hocking was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-2 with a double.
Pitching stars: Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk and striking out six. Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Dave Burba pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out three. Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his thirtieth and thirty-first) and a walk, driving in three.
The game: The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the second but did not score. In the fifth, Bill Haselman singled home a run to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Alex Rodriguez homered in the second to make it 2-0. The Twins finally got on the board in the seventh. Bobby Kielty led off with a home run, making it 2-1, and later in the inning Luis Rivas lined a two-run single to give the Twins the lead at 3-2. It didn't last long, as Alex Rodriguez struck again in the eighth, hitting a two-run homer to give Texas a 4-3 advantage. That didn't last long, either. Torii Hunter led off the eighth with a home run to tie it and Ortiz made it back-to-back homers and put the Twins back in front 5-4. Guardado retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the Twins win.
WP: J. C. Romero (5-1). LP: Colby Lewis (1-2). S: Guardado (28).
Notes: Cuddyer pinch-hit for Jacque Jones in the seventh...Rivas was not in the starting lineup. He replaced Cristian Guzman at the start of the second inning. He went to second base, with Hocking moving from second to short. Guzman would be back in the lineup the next day...Romero faced only two batters to get the win. He came in with two out and none on in the eighth and the Twins trailing 4-3. He walked Rafael Palmeiro but retired Herbert Perry on a popup...Colby Lewis was in the first year of an interesting career. He would appear in the next Rangers game, then go back to AAA, coming back as a September call-up. He made 26 starts for Texas in 2003 and went 10-9, but with a 7.30 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. He made three starts for the Rangers in 2004, then was injured and did not come back until 2006. By this time he was with Detroit, having been waived by Texas. He was mostly in AAA for the Tigers that season, making two appearances in the majors. He signed with Washington for 2007, was released in spring training, and signed with Oakland. He split the season between AAA and the majors, doing very well in the former and not well at all in the latter. He then went to Japan for two years, where he pitched extremely well. He came back to the United States in 2010 at age thirty, signed with Texas again, and had three solid seasons for the Rangers. He got hurt again, making just seven minor league starts in 2013. He came back to be in the Rangers rotation for three more seasons, 2014-2016 and did fairly well. He wanted to pitch in 2017, but the Rangers only offered him a minor league contract, and so he retired to become a special assistant to the Rangers' general manager. His career numbers are nothing to shout about. 77-72, 4.70, 1.34 WHIP. At his best, though, he was pretty good. He was also pretty good in the post-season: 4-1, 3.11, 1.18 WHIP in 55 innings.
Record: The Twins were 53-40, in first place, leading Chicago by nine games.
Logan Wade got a key hit for Brisbane.
Ban Johnson (1864)
Bob Carruthers (1864)
Bill Dahlen (1870)
Jack Norworth (1879)
Art Fletcher (1885)
Rube Foster (1888)
Riggs Stephenson (1898)
Luke Sewell (1901)
Jack Kramer (1918)
Earl Battey (1935)
Bud Bloomfield (1936)
Charlie Hough (1948)
Jim Gantner (1953)
Bob Dernier (1957)
Ron Kittle (1958)
Milt Thompson (1959)
Henry Cotto (1961)
John Russell (1961)
Danny Jackson (1962)
Jeff Fassero (1963)
Brian Runge (1970)
Fred Rath (1973)
Mark Redman (1974)
Eduardo Escobar (1989)
Danny Ortiz (1990)
Ban Johnson was one of the founders of and the first president of the American League.
Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
Rube Foster was a player, manager, and owner in the Negro Leagues, eventually becoming president of the Negro National League.
Brian Runge was a major league umpire from 1999-2012. He is the son of major league umpire Paul Runge and the grandson of major league umpire Ed Runge.
Oddly, there are three players born on this day who go by their initials: J. P. Arencibia, C. J. Cron, and A. J. Cole.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to freealonzo.
