Monthly Archives: December 2020

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 6

Jocko Conlan (1899)
Tony Lazzeri (1903)
Stan Hack (1909)
Dan Dobbek (1934)
Tony Horton (1944)
Larry Bowa (1945)
Tim Foli (1950)
Chuck Baker (1952)
Gary Ward (1953)
Juan Carlos Oliva (1954)
Steve Bedrosian (1957)
Larry Sheets (1959)
Kevin Campbell (1964)
Kevin Appier (1967)
Jose Contreras (1971)
Chris Basak (1978)
Jason Bulger (1978)

Jocko Conlan played two seasons of major league baseball, but is best known as a National League umpire from 1941-1965.

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva was a star pitcher in Cuba and later became a successful pitching coach there.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 6 →

Keeping Track

Lara Recaps: Game Seven

LARA 4, MAGALLENES 1 AT LARA

Batting stars:  Gorkys Hernandez was 3-for-4 with a double.  Yordanys Linares was 2-for-4 with a double.  Gabriel Moreno was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Raul Rivero struck out five in five shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks.  Yapson Gomez struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Vicente Campos pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition star:  Jhoan Quijada pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

The game:  It was scoreless until the sixth.  With one out Hernandez singled, Linares doubled, Josmar Cordero hit a two-run single, Moreno singled, a hit batsman loaded the bases, and a ground out scored another run, making it 3-0 Lara.  In the eighth Moreno singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Rene Reyes single to make it 4-0.

Magallanes scored its lone run in the ninth.  Reynaldo Rodriguez doubled and scored on an Alberth Martinez single.

WP:  Gomez (1-0).  LP:  Felix Doubront (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Moreno is batting .435.

Rivero's ERA is 1.93.  Gomez and Campos each has an ERA of zero.

Record:  Lara is 4-3, tied for first in the West Division with Margarita.

Next game:  Lara has a doubleheader at LaGuaira today.

Keeping Track

Gigantes Recaps: Game Eight

GIGANTES 9, CIBAO 3 AT GIGANTES

Batting stars:  Carlos Paulino was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs.  Jose Siri was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Carlos Peguero was 1-for-4 with a grand slam (his second homer) and a walk.  Juan Francisco was 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Miguel Del Pozo struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Jesus Reyes pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Jesus Liriano struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Junior Garcia pitched a perfect inning.  Yefri Del Rosario pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Dunand was 2-for-2 with a double.  Otto Lopez was 2-for-3 with a double.  Gregory Polanco was 1-for-3 with a home run, his second.  Gilbert Lara was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Samuel Adames retired all seven men he faced, striking out three.

The game:  The Gigantes took care of things early, scoring seven runs in the first inning.  Two singles and a walk loaded the bases and Peguero hit a grand slam to make it 4-0.  With two out, two singles and a strikeout/wild pitch loaded the bases again.  This time Siri hit a bases clearing double to make it 7-0.

Polanco homered in the second to make it 7-1.  Francisco homered in the fourth to make it 8-1 and Paulino homered in the fifth to make it 9-1.  Lara homered in the seventh to cut the lead to 9-2 and a sacrifice fly later in the inning cut it to 9-3, but that was it.

WP:  Reyes (1-0).  LP:  Josh Lowey (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Luis Jimenez was 1-for-1 and is batting 1.000.  Luis Marte was 1-for-4 and is batting .375.  Siri is batting .345.  Ronald Guzman was 1-for-4 and is batting .324.

Del Pozo, Reyes, Garcia, and Del Rosario each has an ERA of zero.

Marcos Molina started for the Gigantes but pitched just two innings, giving up one run on four hits and one walk and striking out three.

Jose Lowey started for Escogido but did not get out of the first inning.  He went two-thirds of an inning, allowing seven runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.

With a blowout game, Escogido substituted freely.  Only one player, outfielder Estevan Florial, played the whole game, and he moved from center to right.  Again, I don't know how big the rosters are, but Escogido used seventeen position players and six pitchers.  One of their pitchers was named Henry Henry, which I mention just because, well, his name is Henry Henry.

Record:  The Gigantes are 4-4, tied for second, two games out of first.

Next game:  The Gigantes are at Aguilas tonight.

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recaps: Game Thirty-five

JALISCO 3, MAZATLAN 2 AT MAZATLAN

Batting stars:  Anthony Giansanti was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Jose Augusto Figueroa was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Edgar Torres pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk and striking out two.  Juan Ramon Noriega pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Luis Ivan Rodriguez pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three.  Carlos Figueroa was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

The game:  Each team scored once in the fourth.  For Jalisco Daniel Alvarez doubled and scored on a Henry Urrutia single.  For Mazatlan Figueroa singled, was bunted to second, and scored on an Isaac Paredes single.

Jalisco took the lead in the seventh on an Agustin Murillo single and two errors.  Figueroa doubled in the eighth and scored on Amadeo Zuzueta's single to make it 3-1 Jalisco.

Giansanti homered in the ninth to make it 3-2, but Mazatlan did not get the tying run on base.

WP:  Rodriguez (6-0).  LP:  Torres (2-4).  S:  Brennan Bernardino (6).

Notes:  Paredes was 1-for-4 and is batting .358.  Italo Mota was 0-for-2 and is batting .320.  Carlos Munoz was 0-for-2 and is batting .311.  Figueroa is batting .308.  Giansanti raised his average to .300.

Torres lowered his ERA to 2.75.  Noriega pitched a perfect inning.

Record:  Mazatlan is 16-19, in seventh place, seven games behind Obregon.  They are two games behind sixth-place Mexicali.

Next game:  Mazatlan hosts Jalisco again tonight.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Sixty-five

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MINNESOTA 3, ARIZONA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 13.

Batting star:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out seven in seven innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Brandon Webb struck out eight in six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk.  Eddie Oropesa struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  The Diamondbacks got two on with one out in the first inning but did not score.  That was the only threat until the sixth, when the Diamondbacks got on the board.  Tony Womack was hit by a pitch, Alex Cintron singled, a bunt moved the runners up, and Junior Spivey hit a sacrifice fly to put Arizona ahead 1-0.

The Twins came back in the bottom of the sixth.  With one out Jacque Jones and Guzman singled.  With two out, Justin Morneau had an RBI single, and on the throw home runners went to second and third.  Torii Hunter then delivered a two-run single, making it 3-1 Twins.

And that was it.  All the scoring came in the sixth inning.  The Diamondbacks opened the eighth with two singles, and a bunt moved the runners to second and third, but a popup and a strikeout ended the inning.  Arizona brought the tying run to the plate with two out in the ninth following a strikeout/wild pitch, but a fly out ended the game.

WP:  Santana (4-1).  LP:  Webb (3-2).  S:  Guardado (19).

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

Morneau was 1-for-3 and was batting .545.  Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .311.

Hocking was 0-for-3 and is batting .167.

Santana lowered his ERA to 2.32.  Hawkins went to 2.27.  Guardado went to 2.51.

Santana, after two excellent starts, was sent back to the bullpen for another month, finally joining the starting rotation to stay on July 11.  At this point in the season, the Twins' rotation was Brad Radke (5-6, 5.61), Kyle Lohse (6-4, 2.91), Kenny Rogers (5-2, 4.67), Rick Reed (3-6, 4.37), and Joe Mays (7-3, 5.21).  I understand that some of those guys are veteran starters.  But with a rotation like that, you can't find starts for Johan Santana?  Reports were that Santana was upset about being sent back to the bullpen, and one can certainly understand why.

This must have been one of the few good games Eddie Oropesa had in the majors.  He was with Philadelphia in 2001 and went 1-0, 4.74, 1.74 WHIP in 30 games.  And he wasn't a young guy they were hoping would get better--he was 29 in his rookie year.  In 2002, with Arizona, he appeared in 32 games and went 2-0, 10.30, 2.13 WHIP.  He was back with the Diamondbacks in 2003 and went 3-3, 5.82, 1.68 WHIP in 47 games.  He moved on to San Diego in 2004 and went 2-1, 11.00, 2.11 WHIP in 16 games.  Add it all together and you get career numbers of 8-4, 7.34, 1.86 in 125 games.  He did not make it back to the majors, but pitched in Mexico in 2005, in the Northern League in 2006, and in the Netherlands in 2007.  You'd think that would be the end, but he came back in 2014 to pitch in 12 games in the Netherlands.  He's a testament to the proposition that if you're a left-handed pitcher, someone will almost always give you a chance.  I also assume that he's probably a really nice guy, because if he was a jerk he wouldn't have kept getting chances, left-handed or not.

Record:  The Twins were 38-27, in first place in the American League Central, five games ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 5

Billy Shindle (1860)
Patsy Tebeau (1864)
Frank Bowerman (1868)
Pink Hawley (1872)
Gus Mancuso (1905)
Bobby Mattick (1915)
Chico Ruiz (1938)
Yoshiharu Wakana (1953)
Gary Roenicke (1954)
Luis Casanova (1956)
Alan Cockrell (1962)
Cliff Floyd (1972)
Hanley Frias (1973)
Justin Smoak (1986)
Christian Yelich (1991)

Yoshiharu Wakana was a six-time all-star in Japan, playing from 1974-1991.

Luis Casanova was a star slugger in Cuba, playing from 1978-1994.

We also want to wish a Happy Birthday to CarterHayes’ mother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 5 →

Keeping Track

Lara Recaps: Game Six

MAGALLANES 8, LARA 5 AT MAGALLANES

Batting stars:  Gabriel Moreno was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  Yonathan Mendoza was 2-for-4.  Joantgel Segovia was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Josmar Cordero was 1-for-4 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Daniel Alvarez pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks and striking out two.  Jesus Sanchez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Hector Rodriguez retired all four men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Gabriel Noriega was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.  Ezequiel Carrera was 2-for-4 with a double.  Leonardo Reginatto was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Marc Flores was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

The game:  In the first, Carrera singled, stole second, and scored on a Reynaldo Rodriguez single to make it 1-0 Magallanes.  Lara tied it in the third on a Segovia home run.

Lara took its only lead in the fourth.  Mendoza singled, Gorkys Hernandez walked, and Moreno hit a three-run homer to make it 4-1 Lara.  Unfortunately, the lead lasted only until Magallanes batted in the bottom of the fourth.  Carlos Perez led off with a walk.  The next two batters went out, but an error extended the inning.  Reginatto singled to load the bases, Noriega had a two-run single, and ex-Twin Engelb Vielma hit a two-run triple, making it 5-4 Magallanes.

Lara tied it in the sixth on a Cordero home run.  Again, though, that lasted only until Magallanes came to bat again.  Flores led off with a home run.   Alberth Martinez then doubled and scored on Noriega's single, making it 7-5 Magallanes.  Magallanes added one more run in the eighth when Reginatto singled, stole second, and scored on a Noriega single.  Lara went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Yohander Mendez (1-0).  LP:  Wilking Rodriguez (0-1).  S:  Jorge Rondon (2).

Notes:  Mendoza is batting .364.

Luis Oviedo allowed four runs in two-third of an inning, but they were all unearned, so his ERA remains at zero.  Sanchez has an ERA of  1.59.  Rodriguez remains with an ERA of zero.  Leonel Campos allowed a run in one inning to make his ERA 1.93.

Ex-Twin Yohan Pino started for Magallanes.  He did well for three innings, but his line is 3.1 innings, four runs, four hits, and a walk.  He struck out four.

The game was delayed for eighteen minutes in the second inning due to a power outage.

Record:  Lara is 3-3, tied for first place in the West Division.  All four teams in the West are 3-3.

Next game:  Lara hosts Magallanes tonight.