Monthly Archives: November 2020

Friday Music Day

FMD — Happy 75th Birthday Neil Young

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Neil Young is 75 years old today which is definitely worthy of a FMD post. One of those artists I discovered when I was a teenager that I have loved consistently ever since. Although he hasn't put out anything lately that I have found super compelling, he's also been releasing a bunch of stuff from the archives that have been amazing. I can continue to listen to both live recordings and album releases from each decade since the 60's and do so frequently.

Happy Birthday Neil, this note's for you.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Forty-three

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MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 18.

Batting stars:  Denny Hocking was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Todd Sears was 2-for-2 with a walk.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Esteban Loaiza pitched six innings, giving up one run on eight hits and three walks and striking out three.  Jose Valentin was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his ninth) and two walks.  D'Angelo Jimenez was 2-for-3.

The game:  The Twins had two on with two out in the first and had a runner on third with one out in the second, but it was the White Sox who scored first.  Joe Crede led off the third with a double and Valentin hit a two-out two-run homer to put the Chicago up 2-0.

The Twins loaded the bases in the third but did not score.  The White Sox loaded the bases in the fifth but did not score.  The Twins finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth.  Hocking led off with a double and Sears delivered a two-out single that cut the lead to 2-1.

Each team got a man to third with one out in the seventh and did not score.  With one out in the eighth, Torii Hunter and Mohr each singled, putting men on first and third.  A wild pitch tied the score and an error put the Twins ahead 3-2.

Chicago put two on with two out in the ninth, but Guardado struck out Tony Graffanino to end the game.

WP:  Hawkins (3-0).  LP:  Tom Gordon (2-3).  S:  Guardado (10).

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Hocking was in right field.  Sears was the DH.  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.

Mientkiewicz came out in the third inning after hitting a double in the second.  He apparently was injured, as he would not play again until May 24.  Mohr entered the game and went to right field, with Hocking moving to first base.  Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Sears in the eighth.  Bobby Kielty pinch-hit for Gomez in the eighth.  Rivas then pinch-ran for Kielty and stayed in the game at second.  Pierzynski pinch-hit for Prince in the eighth and stayed in the game at catcher.

Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .347.  Sears raised his average to .333.  LeCroy was 0-for-1 and was batting .310.

Hocking's big day raised his average to .188.

Lohse's ERA was 3.22.  Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.35.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 1.53.

As you can see from the game summary, both teams missed numerous opportunities.  The White Sox stranded nine and were 1-for-9 with men in scoring position.  The Twins stranded nine and were 1-for-15 with men in scoring position.

The Twins swept the series, outscoring Chicago 24-6.  Eighteen of those runs came in the first game.  The Twins had now won five of six, eleven of fourteen. and fifteen of nineteen.  The hot streak moved them into first place.

Record:  The Twins were 25-18, in first place, a half game ahead of Kansas City.

 

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 13

Johnny Kling (1875)
Jackie Price (1912)
Ted Wilks (1915)
Jim Delsing (1925)
Steve Bilko (1928)
Wes Parker (1939)
Mel Stottlemyre (1941)
Gene Garber (1947)
John Sutton (1952)
Dan Petry (1958)
Pat Hentgen (1968)
Jason Simontacchi (1973)
Gerald Laird (1979)
Asdrubal Cabrera (1985)
Wade Miley (1986)
Luke Bard (1990)

Jackie Price played one season in the major leagues, but was better known as a baseball entertainer.  He is sometimes called a "baseball clown", but that's not really accurate, because he really performed tricks more than actually clowning.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 13 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Forty-two

MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base, his third.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and no walks and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Jon Garland pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk and striking out two.  Carlos Lee was 2-for-4.

The game:  In the first Cristian Guzman singled, stole second, and scored on a Koskie single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth Bobby Kielty walked, went to third on a Mientkiewicz single, and scored on a ground out to make it 2-0.

The White Sox did not get a man past first base through six innings.  In the seventh, however, singles by Maggio Ordonez, Paul Konerko, and Joe Crede loaded the bases with two out and Miguel Olivo singled to bring home a run, cutting the lead to 2-1.  J. C. Romero came in to retire D'Angelo Jimenez, keeping the Twins ahead.  In fact, Chicago did not get a man on base after Olivo's single.

The Twins added an insurance run in the eighth.  Jones singled, went to third when Guzman reached on an error, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

WP:  Mays (4-3).  LP:  Garland (2-4).  S:  Guardado (9).

Notes:  Jones was back in left field, with Mohr moving to right.  Kielty was the DH.  The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Jones picked up right where he'd left off, raising his average to .349.

Rivas went 0-for-3, snapping a seven-game hitting streak.  He went 13-for-26 in those games, raising his average from .188 to .261.

Mays lowered his ERA to 5.26.  Romero retired both batters he faced to lower his ERA to 3.26.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out both men he faced to lower his ERA to 1.47.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 1.62.

Carlos Lee has pretty much been forgotten already, but he was a fine player for a long time.  He spent fourteen years in the majors, most of them with the White Sox and Astros.  He batted .285/.339/.483 with 358 home runs.  He also had 125 stolen bases.  He hit over 20 homers every year from 2000-2010, topping 30 in five of those years.  He made three all-star teams and won two silver slugger awards.  His best season was probably 2008, when he batted .314/.368/.569 with 28 home runs.  Oddly, he did not make the all-star team that season.  He was also durable, playing in over 150 games ten times and over 140 games twelve times.  He never led the league in any major categories, and I'm not nominating him for the Hall of Fame or anything.  But he was someone you'd be quite happy to have on your side for quite a few years.

Record:  The Twins were 24-18, in second place in the American League Central, a half game behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 12

Jack Ryan (1868)
Moonlight Graham (1877)
Carl Mays (1891)
Joe Hoerner (1936)
Bruce Bochte (1950)
Jody Davis (1956)
Donnie Hill (1960)
Greg Gagne (1961)
Jeff Reed (1962)
Randy Knorr (1968)
Sammy Sosa (1968)
Aaron Heilman (1978)
Charlie Morton (1983)
Mike Leake (1987)

Aaron Heilman was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2000, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. FT"HM"LT.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 12 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Forty-one

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MINNESOTA 18, CHICAGO 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 16.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 4-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-5 with a home run (his third), a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, three runs, and five RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-5 with a home run (his sixth), two runs, and four RBIs.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs.  Tom Prince was 1-for-1 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out three.  Tony Fiore pitched two perfect innings of relief.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Lee was 2-for-4 with a double.  Sandy Alomar was 2-for-4.

The game:  The White Sox took the early lead.  In the second Magglio Ordonez singled and scored from first on Lee's double.  Lee then scored on a sacrifice fly-plus-error to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.  The Twins got one back in the bottom of the inning when Dustan Mohr doubled, went to third on Pierzynski's single, and scored on a ground out, cutting the margin to 2-1.

The Twins took the lead in the third.  Guzman walked, Koskie hit a one-out single, and Kielty hit a three-run homer, making it 4-2 Twins.

The Twins took control in the fourth.  The first five batters reached, with two singles and an error loading the bases, Guzman delivering a two-run single, and a walk loading the bases.  With one out Kielty singled home two more and Hunter hit a three-run homer to make the score 11-2.

The Twins kept adding on.  In the sixth two walks, and a Hunter single brought home a run, Pierzynski doubled home another, a ground out scored a third and Rivas singled home another to make it 15-2.  Jose Valentin homered in the seventh to make it 15-3.  Prince led off the eighth with a home run and Mientkiewicz hit a two-run homer later in the inning to bring the final to 18-3.

WP:  Radke (5-3).  LP:  Mark Buehrle (2-7).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mohr was in left field, with Denny Hocking in right and Kielty as the DH.  Apparently, Ron Gardenhire didn't think much of Kielty's defense, as he was seemingly playing everyone else in the outfield while keeping Kielty at DH.

Chris Gomez went to short in the seventh, replacing Guzman.  Prince replaced Pierzynski behind the plate in the eighth.

Prince was batting .313.  Hocking was 1-for-5 to get his average up to triple digits at .107.

Radke lowered his ERA to 5.60.  Fiore's ERA was 5.57.

Mark Buehrle started for Chicago.  He pitched 3.1 innings and allowed ten runs (nine earned) on ten hits and two walks and struck out none.  Buehrle had an awful May, going 0-4, 7.16 in five starts.  I don't know if it was an injury, a mechanical problem, or just bad luck. In four of the other six months his ERA was under four, and the other month (August) it was at 4.50.  For the season he was 14-14, 4.14.

This was the most runs the Twins would score in a game in 2003.

Record:  The Twins were 23-18, in second place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.