Happy Birthday–March 26

Jack McCarthy (1869)
Bill Zuber (1913)
Ben Mondor (1925)
Harry Kalas (1936)
Mel Queen (1942)
Kevin Seitzer (1962)
Jarvis Brown (1967)
Shane Reynolds (1968)
Jose Vizcaino (1968)
Jason Maxwell (1972)
Brendan Ryan (1982)
Eric Hacker (1983)

Ben Mondor was the owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox from 1977-2010.  He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and the International League Hall of Fame and won numerous minor league Executive of the Year awards from various organizations.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 26

2002 Rewind: Twins League Leaders

As we wrap up our look at the Twins 2002 season, we look at Twins who placed among the top ten in the American League in various statistical categories.

WAR--position players

First--Alex Rodriguez, Tex, 8.8
Eighth--Jacque Jones, Min, 5.4

Defensive WAR

First--Darin Erstad, Ana, 4.2
Ninth--Corey Koskie, Min, 1.3

Triples

First--Johnny Damon, Bos, 11
Sixth--Cristian Guzman, Min, 6
Sixth--A. J. Pierzynski, Min, 6

Batter Strikeouts

First--Mike Cameron, Sea, 176
Ninth--Jacque Jones, Min, 129
Tenth--Corey Koskie, Min, 127

Stolen Bases

First--Alfonso Soriano, NY, 41
Ninth--Torii Hunter, Min, 23

Singles

First--Ichiro Suzuki, Sea, 165
Seventh--Christian Guzman, Min, 124

Extra Base Hits

First--Alfonso Soirano, NY, 92
Tenth--Torii Hunter, Min, 70

Hit By Pitch

First--David Eckstein, Ana, 27
Ninth--A. J. Pierzynski, Min, 11

Sacrifice Hits

First--David Eckstein, Ana, 14
Sixth--Cristian Guzman, Min, 8
Sixth--Luis Rivas, Min, 8

Sacrifice Flies

First--John Olerud, Sea, 12
Ninth--David Ortiz, Min, 8

GIDP

First--Jorge Posada, NY, 23
Eighth--Torii Hunter, Min, 17

Caught Stealing

First--Ichiro Suzuki, Sea, 15
Second--Cristian Guzman,  Min, 13
Fifth--Corey Koskie, Min 11

Power/Speed Number

First--Alfonso Soriano, NY, 40
Fourth--Torii Hunter, Min, 25.7

Outs Made

First--Alfonso Soriano, NY, 516
Second--Cristian Guzman, Min, 492

WHIP

First--Pedro Martinez, Bos, 0.92
Eighth--Rick Reed, Min, 1.16

Walks per nine innings

First--Rick Reed, Min, 1.25
Third--Eric Milton, Min, 1.58

Pitcher Games

First--Billy Koch, Oak, 84
Second--J. C. Romero, Min, 81
Tenth--Eddie Guardado, Min, 68

Saves

First--Eddie Guardado, Min, 45

Shutouts

First--Jeff Weaver, Det/NY, 3
Ninth--Joe Mays, Min, 1
Ninth--Brad Radke, Min, 1
Ninth--Kyle Lohse, Min, 1
Ninth--Rick Reed, Min, 1
Ninth--Eric Milton, Min, 1

Home runs allowed

First--Ramon Oritz, Ana, 40
Fourth--Rick Reed, Min, 32

Walks allowed

First--Tanyon Sturtze, TB, 89
Eighth--Kyle Lohse, Min, 70

K/W Ratio

First--Pedro Martinez, Bos, 5.98
Second--Rick Reed, Min, 4.65
Third--Eric Milton, Min, 4.03

Wild Pitches

First--Johan Santana, Min, 16
Ninth--J. C. Romero, Min, 9

Games Finished

First--Billy Koch, Oak, 79
Third--Eddie Guardado, Min, 62

WPA (pitchers)

First--Billy Koch, Oak, 4.6
Second--J. C. Romero, Min, 4.4

Happy Birthday–March 25

Frank Dwyer (1868)
Clyde Milan (1887)
John Fetzer (1901)
Dutch Leonard (1909)
Ryohei Hasegawa (1930)
Woodie Held (1932)
Frank Peters (1944)
Lee Mazzilli (1955)
Jeff Kunkel (1962)
Tom Glavine (1966)
Erik Schullstrom (1969)
Travis Fryman (1969)
Dan Wilson (1969)
Neal Cotts (1980)

John Fetzer was the majority owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1961-1983.

Ryohei Hasegawa was a star in Japan in the 1950s and was also a coach, manager, and broadcaster there.

Frank Peters was a minor league player and manager.  On August 31, 1974, while managing the Portland Mavericks, he had each player play each position for one inning.  Portland won the game over the Tri-City Ports, 8-7.

There were six major league players born on March 25, 1969.  In addition to the three listed above, Eric Helfand, Paul Menhart, and Scott Sanders were born on that date.  I don't know whether that's a record, but it seems like it has to be pretty close.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 25

2002 Rewind: ALCS Game Five

ANAHEIM 13, MINNESOTA 5 IN ANAHEIM

Date:  Sunday, October 13.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 3-for-3.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with a double.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Kyle Lohse pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Adam Kennedy was 4-for-4 with three home runs and five RBIs.  Scott Spiezio was 3-for-4 with a home run, scoring three times and driving in three.  Tim Salmon was 3-for-4.

The game:  With two out in the first, Koskie walked, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a David Ortiz double.  It went to 2-0 in the second when Mohr doubled and Pierzynski singled.  Kennedy led off the third with a home run to cut the lead to 2-1.  Spiezio led off the fifth with a homer and Kennedy hit a one-out home run to put the Angels in front 3-2.  With one out in the seventh, consecutive singles by Doug MientkiewiczMohr, and Pierzynski loaded the bases.  Bobby Kielty walked to tie it up, a wild pitch put the Twins ahead 4-3, and Jacque Jones delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 5-3 advantage.

Then came That Inning.  You are totally excused if you want to skip this paragraph.  Johan Santana, who had come in with one out in the sixth, started the inning.  He gave up singles to Spiezio and Bengie Molina, and then Kennedy hit a three-run homer to give the Angels a 6-5 lead.  LaTroy Hawkins came in and gave up consecutive singles to David Eckstein, Darin Erstad, and Tim Salmon, loading the bases.  J. C. Romero came in and walked Garret Anderson, making the score 7-5.  Troy Glaus struck out for the first out, but Shawn Wooten singled to make it 8-5, a wild pitch brought home a run, and Spiezio had a two-run single to increase the lead to 11-5.  Bob Wells came in and gave up singles to Chone Figgins and Kennedy, loading the bases again.  Eckstein was hit by a pitch and Erstad had an RBI ground out, making it 13-5.  Alex Ochoa then struck out to finally end the inning.  It was all over but the crying at that point.

WP:  Francisco Rodriguez.  LP:  Santana.  S:  None.

Notes:  Mohr was again in right field.

The Twins made a couple of defensive substitutions in the eighth.  Tom Prince came in to catch, replacing Pierzynski.  Michael Cuddyer came in to play right field, replacing Torii Hunter,  with Mohr moving to center.  Not that it was likely to matter, but it seems strange to run up the white flag in an elimination game, even when you're way behind.

Ron Gardenhire again used four relief pitchers in an inning.  This time, though, he was just desperately looking for someone who could get an out.  My recollection (and recollection can be faulty) is that a lot of the balls in That Inning weren't hit all that hard.  Everything just found a hole.  Maybe today, with all the defensive shifts, it would've worked out differently.  Who knows?  But at the time, there just was nothing anyone could do.

Record:  Anaheim won the best-of-seven series four games to one.

Happy Birthday–March 24

Kip Selbach (1872)
Roy Thomas (1874)
Mike Mowrey (1884)
Fatty Arbuckle (1887)
Ernie Shore (1891)
George Sisler (1893)
Jesus Alou (1942)
Mark Marquess (1947)
Garry Templeton (1956)
Bruce Hurst (1958)
Wilson Alvarez (1970)
Steve Karsay (1972)
Jose Valverde (1978)
Corey Hart (1982)
Dustin McGowan (1982)
Chad Gaudin (1983)

Silent film comedian Fatty Arbuckle was the owner of the Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League from about 1918-1921.

Mark Marquess was the head baseball coach of Stanford from 1977-2017.

No players with connections to the Twins were born on this day; however, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to Mom SBG.