Monthly Archives: May 2020

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 11

Charlie Gehringer (1903)
Rip Sewell (1907)
Eddie Chiles (1910)
Jack Lang (1921)
Nestor Chylak (1922)
Milt Pappas (1939)
Frank Quilici (1939)
Jerry Martin (1949)
Dane Iorg (1950)
Mark Huismann (1958)
Walt Terrell (1958)
Trent Hubbard (1964)
Bobby Witt (1964)
Kerry Ligtenberg (1971)
Francisco Cordero (1975)
Miguel Sano (1993)

Eddie Chiles was the owner of the Texas Rangers from 1980-1989.

Jack Lang was a long-time sportswriter in New York and was the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of America from 1966-1988.

Nestor Chylak was an American League umpire from 1954-1978.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 11 →

WGOM Games

Initial Game of Things Starting With Two Letters

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Just in case the guy on KFAN has got his intellectual property ducks in a row with his Kickstarter thing, I will not refer to this game by the same name he has given his version. Instead, this will be the initial time I "host" a game on this platform with the following rules:

1. I will give you two letters (for example, "K.P"). All the items that week will be a two-word answer in which each word begins with letter in the appropriate spot. The answer can be a person, place, thing, or other two-word phrase. For example, if "K.P." are the letters, then one answer might be Kirby Puckett. Another answer might be "Krakow, Poland." And so on.

2. I will provide six clues for each answer. The clues will be provided one-at-a-time.

3. If you believe you know the answer, make a Spoilered guess in the thread. The point will go to whomever correctly identifies the answer first. If you submit an incorrect response, then you can no longer submit for that particular answer.

4. The participant with the most correct answers at the end of the week wins. (If there is a tie, then I will have tiebreakers for only the participants in the tie.)

5. You're going to be on the honor system, but you should not be using the internet or other resources.

My plan will be to start on Tuesday morning (to give the people who somehow had better things to do on Mother's Day than hang out in this basement a chance to play). Logistically, I see two alternatives.

Option A: I can just have a posts for each answer in this thread (and guesses can be responses to the LTE with the clues). I would give a rough notice as to when clues will be shared.

Option B: You can sign-up in the thread, and then I can send a mass email to all participants with each clue. You can then email me your guesses as to the answer, and I'll let everyone know when someone has guesses correctly. The downside is that hearing other people's incorrect guesses can help someone figure out the answer, so doing it privately can be a little tricky. I guess I prefer Option A, but I'm open to thoughts.

For the first week, there will be ten answers. Going forward, I will try to have twelve per week.

    Results

Phrase One: Gluten Free (Algonad, 2 clues)
Phrase Two: Guy Fieri (Philosofer, 4 clues)
Phrase Three: Grand Forks (Zee German, 3 clues)
Phrase Four: Gopher Football (freealonzo, 4 clues)
Phrase Five: Good Friday (MagUidhir, 1 clue)

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1962, Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

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MINNESOTA 6, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 20.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 3-for-4.  Vic Power was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his thirty-third) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Frank Sullivan pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Carl Yastrzemski was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Pete Runnels was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Lou Clinton was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.

The game:  The Twins took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.  Power walked and Rollins reached on an error.  With two out, Bob Allison hit a run-scoring double and Earl Battey delivered a two-run single.

The Twins put men on first and third with none out in the third but failed to add to their lead.  It cost them, because the Red Sox came back.  In the fourth Eddie Bressoud doubled and Yastrzemski singled to make it 3-1.  In the fifth, two singles and a double play grounder made it 3-2.  In the sixth, Yastrzemski led off with a walk and Clinton followed with a two-run homer, putting Boston in front for the first time at 4-3.

Not to worry.  In the bottom of the sixth Rollins singled and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins back in front 5-4.  With two out in the seventh Power doubled and Rollins singled him home to make it 6-4.

And there it stayed.  The Red Sox threatened in the eighth, putting men on first and second with one out, but Sullivan came in to retire the side on a couple of fly balls.  They got a two-out single in the ninth from Gary Geiger, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Bressoud popped up to end the game.

WP:  Dick Stigman (8-3).  LP:  Don Schwall (6-14).  S:  Sullivan (5).

Notes:  The Twins used their standard lineup for 1962.  The only substitution, other than a pitching change, came in the eighth, when Johnny Goryl pinch-ran for Killebrew.  Bill Tuttle replaced Goryl and went to center field, with Lenny Green moving to left.

The only Twins .300 hitter in this game was Rollins, who was batting .313.  He would finish at .298.  The Twins did not end up with a .300 in 1962 unless you count Tony Oliva, who went 4-for-9 in a September call-up, or reliever Ted Sadowski, who was 2-for-4.

The Twins starter was Dick Stigman.  He pitched 7.1 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and five walks and striking out five.  The Twins had three fine starters in Jim Kaat, Camilo Pascual, and Jack Kralick, but struggled to find a fourth.  Others to make more than five starts were Stigman (15), Joe Bonikowski (13), Don Lee (9), and Lee Stange (6).  Stigman took over the fourth starter role in mid-July and did well, going 9-3, 3.82 in fifteen starts.  If he had been the fourth starter all season, the Twins might have won the pennant.

This was the third game of a four-game winning streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 71-56, in third place in the American League, five games behind New York.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, five games behind New York.

The Red Sox were 58-67, in eighth place in the American League, 17 games behind New York.  They would finish 76-84, in eighth place, 19 games behind New York.

 

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 10

Chippy McGarr (1863)
Ed Barrow (1868)
Klondike Douglass (1872)
Harry Salsinger (1885)
Allan Roth (1917)
Hideo Fujimoto (1918)
John McMullen (1918)
Herb Carneal (1923)
Jim Hickman (1937)
Ken Berry (1941)
John Cumberland (1947)
Chris Berman (1955)
Joey Meyer (1962)
Robby Thompson (1962)
Pete Schourek (1969)
Edward Mujica (1984)

Ed Barrow was the manager of the Boston Red Sox from 1918-1920, and is credited with making the decision to make Babe Ruth and outfielder, rather than a pitcher.  He was then general manager of the New York Yankees from 1921-1944.

Harry Salsinger was the sports editor of the Detroit News for forty-nine years.

Allan Roth was the first full-time statistician employed by a major league team, being hired by Branch Rickey in 1947.  He is credited with promoting the idea that on-base percentage is more valuable than batting average and with providing the first evidence that right-handed batters hit better against left-handed pitchers and vice versa.

Hideo Fujimoto holds the Japanese records for lowest career ERA and lowest one-season ERA.

John McMullen was the owner of the Houston Astros from 1979-1992.

With all due respect to John Gordon and Cory Provus, some of us will always consider Herb Carneal to be the Voice of the Twins.

It is rumored that Chris Berman has also been a baseball broadcaster, but no evidence supporting this rumor could be discovered.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 10 →

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2004, Game Eight

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MINNESOTA 10, CLEVELAND 6 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, April 14.

Batting stars:  Henry Blanco was 4-for-4 with a home run (his third), two doubles, three runs, and three RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a double.  Nick Punto was 2-for-5.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Aaron Fultz pitched two perfect innings.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Casey Blake was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Matt Lawton was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-5.  Victor Martinez was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

The game:  The Indians got on the board first, scoring once in the second inning on singles by Blake, Travis Hafner, and Ben Broussard.  The Twins came right back to take the lead in the third.  Michael Ryan led off with a single and Blanco followed with a two-run homer.  Cristian Guzman then tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.

They added to the lead in the fifth.  Blanco led off with a single.  He was caught stealing (!), but an error allowed him to get to second anyway.  Guzman then doubled him home and later scored on a fly out-plus-error, making the score 5-1.

Cleveland chipped away at the lead.  In the bottom of the fifth Coco Crisp doubled and scored on Lawton's single.  In the sixth Blake singled, Hafner walked, and a couple of productive outs brought home a run, cutting the margin to 5-3.

The Twins got one of the runs back in the seventh on doubles by Blanco and Shannon Stewart.  They put the game out of reach in the eighth.  Mientkiewicz doubled and Jose Offerman walked.  RBI singles by Jacque Jones and Lew Ford followed, and a run-scoring double by Blanco gave the Twins a 9-3 advantage.  Koskie homered in the ninth to make it 10-3.

It wasn't quite over, though.  Martinez led off the ninth with a home run and Broussard walked.  The next two batters went out, but RBI singles by Lawton and Omar Vizquel narrowed the Twins lead to 10-6 before Blake struck out to end the game.

WP:  Carlos Silva (1-0).  LP:  Jeff D'Amico (1-1).  S:  Juan Rincon (1).

Notes:  Punto was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Stewart was in left, but injuries would limit him to just 71 games there--Ford actually played more in left, with 81 games.  Ryan was in center field in place of Torii Hunter, who missed a few weeks in April.  This was the year Joe Mauer missed most of the season, so Blanco was the regular catcher.

Offerman had the most games at DH, but the Twins really didn't have a regular DH.  Offerman was there 39 times, Matthew LeCroy 30, Ford 26, Stewart 21, Justin Morneau 11, Hunter 10, Ryan 10, and 11 others had a single-digit number of games there.

Ford came in to play center field in the seventh inning, replacing Ryan.

This early in the season there are some extreme batting averages.  Punto was batting .412--he would finish at .253.  Mientkiewica was batting .317--he would finish at .246.  Blanco was batting .364--he would finish at .206.  Offerman was batting .333--he would finish at .256.  Stewart was also batting .333--he would finish at .304.

On the other end, Koskie was batting .167--he would finish at .251.  Ryan was batting .167--he would finish at .239.

This was Silva's second start of the season, and it was his first year as a starter.  He pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out one.

This was Joe Nathan's first year as the Twins' closer.  He had pitched three scoreless innings coming into this game, but here he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in two-third of an inning and was bailed out by Rincon.  Nathan would not give up another run until June 6.

Cleveland had three runs advance due to defensive indifference in the ninth inning.  I don't know if they keep records like that, but I would think that has to be fairly close to the record.

Record:  The Twins were 4-4, tied for third place in the American League Central, 2 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 92-70, in first place, 9 games ahead of Chicago.

The Indians were 3-6, in fifth (last)place in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 80-82, in third place, 12 games behind Minnesota.

The Nation Has An Appetite

Worth-the-Extra-Effort Baked French Toast

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Confession: I'm not great at making French toast on the stovetop. I don't know if it's that I'm not using the right bread, not using the right recipe, or don't have the right temperature for the griddle. But that's okay because I much prefer baked French toast anyway. You put in all the effort the night before, and then in the morning you just have to stumble out of bed, preheat the oven, and make yourself some kind of caffeinated beverage while the oven does the rest.

A while back I shared an easy baked French toast recipe. This is the one to break out when you are feeling extravagant. It makes a whole lot, which is great because the leftovers are also delicious. If you want to go all out, this spinach and potato breakfast hash is great alongside it.

INGREDIENTS
French Toast
1-2 tablespoons butter to grease pan
1 loaf crusty bread
8 large eggs
2 cups (16 oz) whole milk
1/2 cup (4 oz) heavy cream
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz) light brown sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract (yes, tablespoons is correct!)

Topping
1/2 cup (2 oz) flour
1/2 cup (4 oz) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
approx. 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 stick (4 oz.) butter, cut into pieces

TO PREPARE THE NIGHT BEFORE
Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with butter. Cut the bread into cubes (1" square or smaller) and place in the pan. Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Add milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla and whisk everything together. Then pour it all over the bread. Cover the pan tightly (I use plastic wrap) and store in the fridge overnight.

Make the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a separate bowl Add the butter and use a pastry cutter to mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. (Be careful at this stage; I once flung a large piece of butter out of the bowl and onto the kitchen floor while doing this.) Transfer mixture to a Ziploc bag and store in the fridge.

TO BAKE
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take the pan out of the fridge and sprinkle topping on evenly. Bake for 45-60 minutes. The shorter time gives you something that is very bread putting-esque in the middle, while the longer time gives a firmer, less squidgy texture.

Scoop individual servings onto plates and drizzle with syrup. (A little syrup goes a long way here.) I like to serve with some vegetarian sausage and fresh fruit.

Recipe source: The Pioneer Woman