Monthly Archives: December 2020

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 11

Old Hoss Radbourn (1854)
Art Wilson (1885)
Fred Toney (1888)
Swish Nicholson (1914)
Hal Brown (1924)
Lee Maye (1934)
Mike Henneman (1961)
Thomas Howard (1964)
Jay Bell (1965)
Derek Bell (1968)
Frankie Rodriguez (1972)
Joe Blanton (1980)
Dalton Pompey (1992)

In 2014, Dalton Pompey became the first big leaguer ever to have the given first name "Dalton".  In case anyone remembers Dalton Jones (whose birthday was yesterday), his given first name was James.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 11 →

Keeping Track

2003 Recaps: Game Seventy

KANSAS CITY 8, MINNESOTA 6 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Wednesday, June 18.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Justin Morneau was 2-for-5.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Johan Santana struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Beltran was 3-for-4 with a stolen base (his eighteenth), a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Joe Randa was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Ken Harvey was 2-for-4 with a double.  Michael Tucker was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the first when Koskie doubled and scored on a Morneau single.  The Royals tied it in the second on a walk, a single, and an error.  They took the lead in the third.  One out singles by Randa, Aaron Guiel, and Beltran scored one run, Harvey's double scored another, and Tucker had a two-run single, making it 5-1 Kansas City.

The Twins got two back in the fourth.  Hunter doubled, Lew Ford had an RBI single, Denny Hocking walked, and Jacque Jones had an RBI single, cutting the lead to 5-3.  But the Royals got the two right back in the bottom of the fourth when Desi Relaford singled, Randa had an RBI double, and Beltran had a run-scoring single, making it 7-3.

A sacrifice fly in the fifth cut it to 7-4 and Pierzynski tripled and scored in the sixth to make it 7-5.  But in the bottom of the sixth Beltran walked, stole second, and scored on a Raul Ibanez single to increase the lead back to 8-5.  The Twins scored in the seventh on two singles and a ground out to make it 8-6.

But that was it.  The Twins got a man on in each of the last two innings, but did not advance him past first base.

WP:  Chris George (8-4).  LP:  Rick Reed (3-7).  S:  Mike MacDougal (15).

Notes:  Hocking was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Ford was in right field.  Morneau was the DH.

Ford was 1-for-4 and is batting .423.  Morneau was batting .370.  Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting .305.  Pierzynski was batting .303.  Mientkiewicz was batting .302.

Hocking was 1-for-3 and was batting .197.

Reed lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and a walk and striking out one.  Juan Rincon gave up a run in 2.1 innings and had an ERA of 3.45.  Santana's ERA fell to 2.24.

The Twins had now lost five in a row, three of them to their closest rival.

Record:  The Twins were 38-32, in first place in the American League Central, one game ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 10

Jimmy Johnston (1889)
Rudy Hernandez (1931)
Jaime Jarrin (1935)
Doc Edwards (1936)
Bob Priddy (1939)
Dalton Jones (1943)
Steve Renko (1944)
Paul Assenmacher (1960)
Doug Henry (1963)
Luis Polonia (1963)
Mel Rojas (1966)
Joe Mays (1975)
Dan Wheeler (1977)
Gregorio Petit (1984)
Pedro Florimon (1986)

Pitcher Rudy Hernandez was a member of the old Washington franchise in 1960, but was chosen by the new Washington franchise in the expansion draft in December of 1960.

Jaime Jarrin has been the Dodgers' Spanish-language broadcaster since 1959.  For all the accolades Vin Scully has gotten (and they're deserved), it would be nice if Jarrin got a little more attention.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Moss' son.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 10 →

Keeping Track

Mayaguez Recaps: Game One

The Puerto Rican League started last night.  Our randomly selected team will be the Indios de Mayaguez.  Again, it's a short recap today.

MAYAGUEZ 8, MANATI 7 AT MAYAGUEZ

Manati scored three in the seventh and three in the eighth to take a 7-1 lead.  Mayaguez then scored seven in the ninth to win it.  Manati made three errors in the ninth inning, and the deciding run scored on a wild pitch.  Ex-Twin Brian Navarreto hit a two-run homer in the ninth.  Eric Stout started and pitched four innings, giving up one run on seven hits and no walks and striking out two.

Record:  Mayaguez is 1-0, tied for first place with Caguas.

Next game:  Mayaguez hosts Manati again tonight.

Keeping Track

Lara Recaps: Game Eleven

Shorter recaps today.

LARA 15, ZULIA 1 IN LARA

Lara scored eight runs in the second and led all the way.  Ildemaro Vargas was 4-for-4.  Home runs were by Carlos Rivero (his first), Yordanys Linares (his second), and Jecksson Flores (his first).  Leonel Aponte started and pitched three shutout innings, giving up only a walk and striking out one.

Record:  Lara is 7-4, in first place, one game ahead of Margarita.

Next game:  Lara is at Zulia tonight.

Keeping Track

Gigantes Recaps: Games Eleven and Twelve

Shorter recaps today.

LICEY 5, GIGANTES 4 AT LICEY (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Back-to-back homers by Austin Listi and Sergio Alcantara in the sixth inning broke a 3-3 tie.  Licey got one back in the bottom of the sixth but left the tying run on second base.  Jose Siri (his first) and Carlos Peguero (his third) each homered for the Gigantes.  Chris Ellis struck out four in four innings, but allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk.

GIGANTES 11, LICEY 10 AT LICEY (GAME 2--8 INNINGS)

Logan Moore's two-run double in the seventh tied it 8-8.  Licey scored two in the top of the eighth.  In the bottom of the eighth, Peguero hit a walkoff three-run homer to win it for the Gigantes.  Moore also hit a grand slam in the fifth and had six RBIs for the game.  Jesus Liriano started but pitched just two innings, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks and striking out two.

Record:  The Gigantes are 7-5, in second place, a half game behind the Toros del Este.

Next game:  The Gigantes are at Licey again tonight.