I can't think of a better way to end my week than Van the Man and Tom Jones! With a side order of Jeff Beck. Thanks for putting up with me all week, and thanks to hungry joe for keeping an eye on me.
(3 votes, average: 9.67 out of 10)
Loading... Aww shoot, I forgot all about the Australian Open. That's perfect for the night owl that still wants premium sports content in the dead of night. Guess I'll have to wait for the Olympics.
Date: Wednesday, August 7.
Batting stars: Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his ninth. Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a walk. A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3 with a walk.
Pitching stars: Tony Fiore pitched two shutout innings, giving up a walk and striking out one. J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.
Opposition stars: Gary Matthews was 3-for-4 with a double. Luis Lopez was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Melvin Mora was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.
The game: Matthews singled home a run in the first. In the second, the Orioles scored four times to take a 5-0 lead. Jeff Conine and Chris Richard led off the inning with singles. Geronimo Gil struck out, but Jerry Hairston singled to load the bases, followed by a two-run double by Mora, an RBI double by Lopez, and another run-scoring single by Matthews. The Twins got back into the game with four in the third. Pierzynski led off with a double and went to third on Jacque Jones' one-out single. An error brought home one run, Koskie singled home another, and two more scored on another error, cutting Baltimore's lead to 5-4. It stayed 5-4 until the fifth, when the Orioles loaded the bases with none out. A double play and a ground out got the Twins out of the inning, but the double play scored a run to make it 6-4. The Twins put men on first and second in the sixth and eighth, but did not score again.
WP: Scott Erickson (5-10). LP: Rick Reed (9-6). S: Jorge Julio (22).
Notes: Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 to make his average .311.
Bobby Kielty was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .305.
Pierzynski's average went to .309.
Reed settled down after the second, but still pitched only five innings. He gave up six runs (five earned) on ten hits and no walks, striking out four.
Erickson was struggling through a poor year. This was one of his better games, as he pitched seven innings and gave up four runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk, striking out one. His ERA went down to 4.80. He would struggle through five more games, then be shut down at the end of August. He would not pitch again until 2004.
This was Jorge Julio's rookie year, although he had appeared in eighteen games in 2001. It was by far his best year, as he went 5-6, 1.99, 1.21 WHIP with twenty-five saves and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Eric Hinske and Rodrigo Lopez. He would be the Orioles closer for two more seasons but was not nearly as good. In fact, he would not post an ERA under four again until 2008, when he was no longer a closer. He went 0-7, 4.38 with 36 saves in 2003 and 2-5, 4.57 with 22 saves in 2004. The Orioles finally took him out of the closer role in 2005 and traded him to the Mets for 2006. The Mets sent him on to Arizona in late May. He was traded to Florida after the season and traded again to Colorado in May of 2007. The team that had him seemed always willing to get rid of him, but on the other hand there seems to always have been somebody who wanted him, thinking they could get him back to where he had been in 2002. He signed with Cleveland for 2008, was released in late May, and signed with Atlanta, for whom he actually pitched well, but in only 12.1 innings. He moved on to Milwaukee for 2009, then his major league career was over. He played a couple more years for Bridgeport in the Atlantic League. His major league numbers are 17-34, 4.43, 99 saves, 1.44 WHIP. He basically turned one good year into a nine-year career, which is pretty good if you can do it. At last report, Jorge Julio was a high school baseball coach in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Record: The Twins were 69-46, in first place, leading Chicago by fifteen games.
Andy Lotshaw (1880)
Milt Gaston (1896)
Bibb Falk (1899)
Fred Heimach (1901)
John Lowenstein (1947)
Tom Trebelhorn (1948)
Eric Wedge (1968)
Phil Plantier (1969)
Angel Berroa (1980)
Gavin Floyd (1983)
Andy Lotshaw had a thirteen-year minor league career as an outfielder/first baseman, leading his league in triples four times and in home runs five times. He also played professional basketball. He then became the trainer for the Chicago Cubs from 1922-1952.
Tom Trebelhorn managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 1986-1991 and the Chicago Cubs in 1994.
There do not appear to be any players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.
If you're not familiar with it, you should check out the album Ronnie made with Peter Townshend in the late 70's called "Rough Mix". A wonderful little album. Actually, all of Ronnie's post Faces recordings are worth hunting down. He was a vastly underappreciated talent and died way too young.
(1 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)Loading... Late 2017, the latest Bob Dylan bootleg series was released. This covered the “Christian” Dylan years of 1979-81. Is as usual with the Bootleg series, there is a large (in this case 13 CDs) release and a 2-CD “Best of.” I was always interested in this phase of Dylan but woefully uninformed, except for a couple of songs, specifically Gotta Serve Somebody. So I picked up the two CD set and was immediately blown away.
Most of the tracks are live renditions from this period, a time when Dylan’s band was excellent. Also the crowd’s were a little on edge as they wanted to hear the hits and let’s face it, Dylan always responds when the crowd’s on edge. Although not included on the 2-CD set, Dylan was actually testifying to the crowd during these shows. (some of these sermons are included on the 13 CD set or can be found on You Tube.) One particular incendiary song is Blessed is the Name, which I am pretty sure is a Psalm I’ve sung at Catholic Mass.
Anyway, if at all interested in this era of Dylan, I would strongly recommend picking up the 2 CD set. It’s a fascinating look at a fascinating phase of a fascinating artist.
Go forth and drop they lists.
A good day for Logan Wade.
Continue reading Off-Season’s Greetings: Games of January 25
Date: Tuesday, August 6.
Batting stars: David Ortiz was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, his thirteenth. Luis Rivas was 1-for-3.
Pitching star: Johan Santana struck out nine in six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks.
Opposition stars: Luis Lopez was 2-for-5 with a grand slam. Marty Cordova was 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run homer, his fifteenth. Sir Sidney Ponson pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.
The game: Baltimore opened the scoring in the fourth by Jose Leon. The Twins took the lead in the top of the sixth, as Ortiz hit a two-run homer. The Orioles took the lead right back in the bottom of the sixth on Cordova's two-run homer. The Orioles put the game out of reach in the seventh. LaTroy Hawkins started the inning and gave up two singles and a walk, loading the bases with one out. Lopez then hit a grand slam to make the score 7-2. The grand slam did not kill the rally, as as Hawkins walked the next batter and came out of the game. Kevin Frederick came in, walked the next two batters, threw a wild pitch to bring home a run, and got a ground out that allowed one more run to score, making the lead 9-2.
WP: Ponson (6-5). LP: Santana (6-3). S: None.
Notes: Corey Koskie remained out of the lineup. He would return the next day. Michael Cuddyer played third base and Dustan Mohr moved into the third spot in the lineup. Each was 1-for-4.
Torii Hunter was 0-for-3 and was batting .311.
Eric Milton is listed as the starting pitcher in the box score, but he did not face a batter. Santana made the emergency start and would remain in the rotation through the end of August. Milton would not pitch again until September 2.
Hawkins was charged with five runs in a third of an inning, raising his ERA from 1.49 to 2.15.
This was Frederick's last game as a Twin. He would make it back to the majors with Toronto in 2004.
The grand slam was one of two homers Luis Lopez would hit in 2002 and one of twenty-two he would hit in his career. It was a surprisingly long career for a guy who was a career utility infielder. He made his big league debut as a September call-up for San Diego in 1993. He was with the Padres through 1996 with the exception of 1995, when he missed the entire season due to injury. He never had a full season with them, but appeared in 77 games in 1994. He was most used at shortstop, but played a decent number of games at second base and a handful at third. He moved on to the Mets in 1997 and finally got his first full season in the majors in 1998. He stayed in the majors through 2002, playing for Milwaukee from 2000 through June of 2002 and going to Baltimore after that. He was in the minors all of 2003 but got back for another full season in the majors with the Orioles in 2004. That was about the end of the line, though. He played in seventeen games with Cincinnati in 2005 and that was it. He never hit a lot, which of course is why he was a utility player rather than a regular. He had a few seasons when he batted in the .270s, but his career line is .241/.293/.343. His highest OPS was .732 with Milwaukee in 2000, the year he set his career high in homers with six. But he could play all over the infield, and in he at least wasn't usually an automatic out. If you can find managers who like you, that can sometimes lead to a long career.
Record: The Twins were 69-45, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen games.
I have to get on a stage again.
Francis Richter (1854)
Kaiser Wilhelm (1877)
Tubby Spencer (1884)
George Blaeholder (1904)
Charlie Gelbert (1906)
Bob Nieman (1927)
Ray Knoblauch (1928)
Bob Uecker (1934)
Mike Pazik (1950)
Rick Schu (1962)
Jeff Branson (1967)
Esteban German (1978)
Andres Torres (1978)
Ryan Rowland-Smith (1983)
Francis Richter was the editor of two influential early baseball publications, the Sporting Life and the Reach Guide.
The father of Chuck Knoblauch, Ray Knoblauch pitched in the minors from 1948-1957, going 54-51.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Daneeka's Ghost.
