Looks like we might be climbing out of the freezer towards the end of the week around here. Not sure about Minnesota. It just might need to be canceled at this point.
Monthly Archives: March 2019
1969 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-eight
CALIFORNIA 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, September 17.
Batting stars: Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-4. Leo Cardenas was 1-for-2 with two walks.
Pitching stars: Dick Woodson retired all four batters he faced, striking out three of them. Al Worthington pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Jay Johnstone was 3-for-5. Billy Cowan was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Bill Voss was 2-for-4 and scored twice. Ken Tatum pitched three shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out two.
The game: The Twins gave the Angels a run in the first, as they made two errors and issued two walks. Roger Repoz was walked with the bases loaded to force in the run and give California a 1-0 lead. The Twins put two on with none out in the second, but never advanced them past first and second.
The Angels stretched their lead in the third. Voss led off with a single and Jim Fregosi walked. With one out Rick Reichardt delivered an RBI single. Repoz walked to load the bases and Aurelio Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly, giving California a 3-0 advantage. The Angels missed a chance to build the lead still farther in the fourth, as they had the bases loaded with two out, but Cowan struck out to end the inning.
The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but only for one. Harmon Killebrew walked and Rich Reese doubled to put men on second and third with one out, but all they could get out of it was Cesar Tovar's sacrifice fly. In the sixth, the Twins gave California some more runs. They opened the inning with two errors, putting men on first and second. RBI singles by Johnstone and Cowan followed, increasing the Angels lead to 5-1.
The Twins got back into the game in the seventh. They got four consecutive singles to start the inning, as Tovar, Roseboro, Cardenas, and Jim Holt all got base hits to cut the margin to 5-3. Bob Allison walked to load the bases, still with none out, and the Twins looked ready to at least time the score if not take the lead. It was not to be, though. Graig Nettles struck out, Tony Oliva hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4, and Killebrew flied out to end the inning.
California added a run in the eighth on two walks and a two-out single by Cowan. The Twins put two runners on base with two out in the bottom of the eighth, but Charlie Manuel fouled out. Nettles walked with one out in the ninth, bringing the tying run up to bat with the big hitters coming up, but Oliva hit into a force out and Killebrew fanned to end the game.
WP: Tom Murphy (10-14). LP: Dean Chance (5-4). S: Tatum (21).
Notes: The expanded rosters again made themselves known, as the Twins used five pinch-hitters (Allison, Rick Renick, Nettles, Holt, and Manuel) and one pinch-runner (Herman Hill). They also used five pitchers.
Rod Carew was 0-for-3 and was batting .333. He was pinch-hit for by Renick in the seventh inning. I know Carew was slumping, and the move gained a platoon advantage, but it still doesn't make much sense to me. On the other hand, Billy Martin would sometimes make moves like that to try to wake a player up, so that's a possibility, too.
Reese was 1-for-3 and was batting .325. Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .311. Ron Perranoski pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit and two walks, and his ERA went up to 2.28.
Chance started for the Twins and pitched just 2.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks and striking out one. His ERA was 2.95. Murphy started for the Angels and pitched six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks and striking out one.
The Twins pretty much gave this game away. They made four errors and allowed eight walks. They also stranded nine runners and went 2-for-12 with men in scoring position.
Billy Cowan started the season with the Yankees. Used mostly as a pinch-hitter he batted .167/.216/.228 in 51 plate appearances. He was sold to the Angels in late July. Used as both a pinch-hitter and a reserve outfielder, he batted .304/.350/.536 in sixty plate appearances, which must have been annoying to Yankee fans. Cowan had a pretty substantial career, really, playing from 1963-1972. He was a regular only one of those years, with the Cubs in 1964. He played center field and batted .241/.268/.404 with nineteen home runs. He had 520 plate appearances that season--his next highest was 189. In addition to the teams listed above, he also played for the Mets and Philadelphia. After baseball, he became a successful real estate investment consultant until his retirement.
Record: The Twins were 89-59, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Oakland. The Athletics won, so the Twins' magic number remained six.
Bebe Rexha – Meant to Be
Anybody else ever hear these annoying recent radio spots where they play vocal tracks without the music? The Imagine Dragons one is the worst. The Kendrick one is alright, but the flow feels off without the beat. Then there's this one.
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Happy Birthday–March 4
Red Murray (1884)
Jeff Pfeffer (1888)
Dazzy Vance (1891)
Lefty O'Doul (1897)
Buck Canel (1906)
Clyde McCullough (1917)
Mel Queen (1918)
Leo Righetti (1925)
Cass Michaels (1926)
Bob Johnson (1936)
Jack Fischer (1939)
Danny Frisella (1946)
Tom Grieve (1948)
Harry Saferight (1949)
Sam Perlozzo (1951)
Mark Wagner (1954)
Jeff Dedmon (1960)
Tom Lampkin (1964)
Giovanni Carrera (1968)
Dave Stevens (1970)
Mark Wegner (1972)
Sergio Romo (1983)
Born in Argentina, Buck Canel broadcast major league baseball to Latin America for over four decades, calling forty-two World Series.
The father of Dave Righetti, Leo Righetti played in the minors for twelve years, eight of them in AAA.
Harry Saferight made it to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1979, but did not appear in a game. He got to the on-deck circle three times, but each time the last out was made before he had a chance to bat.
St. Paul native Mark Wegner has been a major league umpire since 1998.
March 3, 2019: Cancelled
I think we've had more church services cancelled this winter here in St Louis than all the other 30 years combined.
1969 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-seven
MINNESOTA 11, OAKLAND 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, September 16.
Batting stars: Rich Reese was 3-for-4 with a double. Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer (his forty-fourth) and a walk, scoring twice. Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and a double, scoring twice and driving in two. Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-4 with a home run, his third.
Pitching star: Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on ten hits and four walks and striking out five.
Opposition stars: Dick Green was 2-for-4 with a triple. Fred Talbot struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.
The game: The Athletics put men on first and second with one out in the first inning, but Sal Bando hit into a double play. The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the first. Rod Carew drew a one-out walk, Tony Oliva singled, and Killebrew hit a three-run homer to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead.
Oakland got on the board in the second when Green tripled and scored on a ground out. Each team put two men on in the third and did not score. The Athletics put two men on in the fourth and again did not score. The Twins didn't worry about putting men on base in the bottom of the fourth, as Roseboro and Cardenas started the inning with back-to-back homers to make the score 5-1 Twins.
The Twins put it out of reach in the fifth. With one out, Killebrew walked and Reese doubled, putting men on second and third. Cesar Tovar delivered a two-run single and went to third on a stolen base-plus-error. With two out, Cardenas had an RBI double, Perry had a run-scoring single, Ted Uhlaender walked, and Carew hit a two-run triple. It was 11-1 Minnesota.
Oakland again put two on in the sixth but did not score. They got a couple of runs in the seventh. Bert Campaneris and Jose Tartabull singled and Bobby Brooks walked, loading the bases with none out. Sal Bando struck out, but Tito Francona hit a two-run single to cut the margin to 11-3. There were still two on with one out, but Green hit into a double play to end the inning. The Athletics got only one more hit after that.
WP: Perry (19-6). LP: Jim Nash (8-8). S: None.
Notes: Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .336. Reese was batting .325. Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .313. Perry's ERA went to 2.93.
I didn't notice this yesterday, but Reggie Jackson was apparently injured and missed this series. He had not played since September 9 and would not play until September 18. He certainly would not have missed a series that was, in effect, Oakland's last chance to get back into the race without a good reason. Bobby Brooks was in right field in Jackson's place.
Oakland had been the Twins' closest rival all season, but the Twins took care of them in September, winning five of six. They dominated the Athletics in the second half of the season, going 5-4 against them in the first half but 8-1 in the second half.
Record: Minnesota was 89-58, in first place in the American League West, ten games ahead of Oakland. The Twins' magic number was six.
Happy Birthday–March 3
John Montgomery Ward (1860)
Wee Willie Keeler (1872)
Ed Phelps (1879)
Tetsuya Yoneda (1938)
Paul Schaal (1943)
Rick Reed (1950)
Chuck Cary (1960)
Neal Heaton (1960)
Marvin Hudson (1964)
Scott Radinsky (1968)
Mike Romano (1972)
Matt Diaz (1978)
Jorge Julio (1979)
Tetsuya Yoneda is the second-winningest pitcher in Japanese professional baseball with 350 victories.
The Rick Reed whose birthday is today is the major league umpire from 1979-2009, not the ex-Twin.
Marvin Hudson was a major league umpire from 1979-2009.
Glenn Tilbrook – Black Coffee in Bed
The Squeeze song thats not "Tempted"
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End of an Era
Last week, I closed out the Girl's 529 Account and this week, we'll be making our last ever(?!) tuition payment. We are now entering that netherworld between having "children" and becoming grandparents (with no guarantee that we will ever graduate to grandparent status).
So, what now?
Thankfully, we've been able to transition gradually, via the mostly-empty-nest, for about three years. And let me tell you, having the house to ourselves is pretty awesome. The Mrs and I can have conversations not about the kids, and we can, like we did Friday night, head up to bed at 7:30 p.m. with nobody to give us shit for being old.
Still, the "senior advisor" role takes some getting used to. When do you offer, when do you keep your damned mouth shut?
I'm like many guys, oriented toward fixing problems when I see them, rather than mere, passive availability of emotional support. I have seen my daughter struggling emotionally--with relationship issues, in particular, but also with mild mental health challenges, and found it very hard to find the right pitch. She's a brilliant, talented, highly opinionated, intensely moral, tightly-wound personality, slow to make friends but fiercely loyal when she does.
I've seen her fall in love. It was glorious. She positively shined. And I ached for her, knowing that there are tremendous risks that go with giving your heart to someone, particularly for the first time.
And I've seen that love crumble, as often happens, not-just-but-particularly with first real loves, and wondered how I could support her and give her what she needs.
I went through something vaguely similar when I was a college junior. A long-term, intense relationship died, not of my choosing (although to my long-term benefit). Picking up the pieces after is one of the signature challenges of becoming an adult. So I know that it's something that she mostly has to do herself. Knowing that doesn't make it much easier for a parent.
She comes home in two weeks for her last spring break. I get to wrap her in my arms again, maybe hold her hand on a walk, and tell her I love her. Maybe along the way, we'll get to have one of those conversations that two adults sometimes have with one another about things that matter. And then we'll send her back across the country for a last time as our dependent, before she goes out into the great, wide open.
1969 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-six
MINNESOTA 6, OAKLAND 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Monday, September 15.
Batting stars: Cesar Tovar was 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his thirty-eighth. Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer (his forty-third) and two walks, scoring twice. Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Pitching star: Dave Boswell pitched a complete game, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out eight.
Opposition stars: Rick Monday was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his eleventh) and a walk.
The game: The Twins missed a chance in the first, failing to score despite two walks and a double. The first walk was wiped on by a double play. The Athletics got on the board in the second when Tito Francona hit a one-out single and Monday hit a two-out home run, putting Oakland up 2-0.
The Twins got on the board in the third. Rod Carew got an infield single with two out and scored from first on Oliva's double. Killebrew followed with a two-run homer and the Twins led 3-2. The Athletics tied it in the fifth. Rollie Fingers led off with an infield single-plus error and scored on Jose Tartabull's single to make the score 3-3.
Minnesota went ahead to stay in the sixth. Killebrew led off with a single and advanced to third on Tovar's one-out double. Johnny Roseboro was intentionally walked, but Leo Cardenas hit a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 4-3 advantage.
The Twins put it out of reach in the eighth. Killebrew walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Herman Hill. A wild pitch moved Hill to second and he went to third when Rich Reese reached on a sacrifice/fielder's choice. Tovar then delivered an RBI single. A double play gave Oakland a chance to get out of the inning. Cardenas was intentionally walked to bring up Boswell, who wrecked the strategy with a run-scoring single. The Athletics did not get a hit after Tartabull's RBI single in the fifth.
WP: Boswell (17-11). LP: Fingers (6-6). S: None.
Notes: Carew was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .337. Reese was 0-for-3 and was batting .320. Oliva was batting .314.
It's understandable why you'd walk Cardenas to pitch to Boswell, but Boswell wasn't a bad hitter. His career numbers are .202/.222/.283, which sounds like "good hitter for a pitcher", but much of his career was in the 1960s, when there were regular players who didn't hit .200. His best offensive year was 1965, when he batted .316/.333/.368 in 39 plate appearances. He also had a good year in 1968, when he batted .233/.254/.367 in 68 plate appearances.
Fingers was the starter for Oakland. He pitched six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks and striking out two. This was his fifth start of the season. He would make three more, as he was apparently in the rotation for the last three weeks of the season. He would be in the rotation for about half of 1970 and six weeks in 1971, then would make a permanent transition to the bullpen.
Entering the series down eight games with seventeen to play, Oakland pretty much had to sweep the series to have a realistic chance to get back into the race. The Twins took care of that chance on the first day.
Record: The Twins were 88-58, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Oakland.