Monthly Archives: December 2020

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

COLORADO 5, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 10.

Batting star:  Justin Morneau was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched a perfect inning.  Micheal Nakamura pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jason Jennings pitched 7.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and four walks and striking out seven.  Greg Vaughn was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.  Charles Johnson was 1-for-3 with a home run, his seventh.  Preston Wilson was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fifteenth.

The game:  Singles by Juan Uribe and Jay Payton and a three-run homer by Wilson put the Rockies up 3-0 in the first inning.  Johnson homered leading off the second to make it 4-0.  Vaughn homered with two out in the sixth to make it 5-0.

And that was that.  The Twins put runners on first and second with one out in the second, but a strikeout and a ground out stranded them.  They put men on first and second with two out in the fifth, but a fly out ended that inning.  A pair of walks put runners on first and second with two out in the eighth, but a ground out took care of that threat.

WP:  Jennings (5-5).  LP:  Brad Radke (5-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was in right field.  Morneau made his major league debut at DH.  The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Morneau was, of course, batting .500.  Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .309.

Radke had the first inning trouble we came to expect from him.  For the game he struck out eight in seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk.  His ERA was 5.61.  He would have one more bad game, then start the process of gradually bringing his ERA down to a more respectable level.

Nakamura has now appeared in three games in a row.  His ERA came down to 6.00.  Fiore had an ERA of 5.06.

Jason Jennings was a mainstay in the Rockies rotation for five seasons.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 2002, going 16-8, 4.52, 1.46 WHIP.  We assume people looked at the won-lost record and attributed the ERA and WHIP to pitching in Denver.  It also didn't hurt that in his first game, he pitched a complete game shutout and had three hits, including a home run.  He would post ERAs over five each of the next three seasons, but remained in the Rockies' rotation.  His best season as a Rockie was actually his last one, 2006, when he went 9-13, 3.78, 1.37 WHIP.  He was traded to Houston after that season and was awful for them, going 2-9, 6.45.  He became a free agent and signed with Texas.  He appeared in just six games for them in an injury-plagued 2008, not pitching well, but had a half-way decent season for them out of the bullpen in 2009.  He again dealt with injuries in 2010.  He had an excellent season with independent Grand Prairie in 2011, but then decided to call it a career.  At last report he was living in Frisco, Texas and operating a baseball training center there.

Record:  The Twins were 35-27, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Sixty-one

SAN DIEGO 9, MINNESOTA 4 IN SAN DIEGO

Date:  Sunday, June 8.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventh) and two runs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and two runs.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Mark Loretta was 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.  Ryan Klesko was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his eleventh, two doubles, and a walk.  Sean Burroughs was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Donaldo Mendez was 2-for-4.  Gary Matthews was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third) and two runs.  Brian Buchanan was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his third.  Brian Lawrence pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out five.

The game:  The Padres put men on second and third with two out in the first but did not score.  The Twins put men on first and second with two out in the second but did not score.  San Diego got on the board in the third.  Matthews led off with a home run.  Singles by Mark Kotsay, Loretta, and Burroughs plated another, making it 2-0 Padres.  The Twins got one of them back in the fourth on consecutive one-out singles by Mientkiewicz, LeCroy, and Denny Hocking, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Twins went ahead in the sixth.  Hunter led off with a single and Mientkiewicz followed with a two-run homer, making it 3-2 Twins.  The lead lasted until the seventh.  With one out Loretta singled, Klesko doubled, and an intentional walk loaded the bases.  LaTroy Hawkins gave up a single to Dave Hanses to tie the score, but got out of the inning without further damage.  Hunter then homered with one out in the eighth, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead.

But in the bottom of the eighth, it all fell apart.  Keith Lockhart walked and Matthews singled.  A bunt put men on second and third with one out.  Loretta singled home two and Klesko hit a two-run homer, making in 7-4 San Diego.  Micheal Nakamura then came in and gave up a single to Burroughs and a two-run homer to Buchanan, making it 9-4.  The next two batters went out, but it was too little, too late.  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the ninth but could do no more.

WP:  Lawrence (4-7).  LP:  Hawkins (4-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Denny Hocking was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Lew Ford was in right.

Tom Prince came in for LeCroy in the eighth.  Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty were used as pinch-hitters for pitchers.

Mays was 0-for-2 and was batting .333.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .314.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .301.

Hocking went 1-for-4 to raise his average to .180.

Mays lowered his ERA to 5.21.  That was the lowest it would be the rest of the season.

Juan Rincon gave up a run in a third of an inning to make his ERA 2.88.

Hawkins was charged with four runs in one inning.  His ERA nearly doubled, from 1.27 to 2.45.

Record:  The Twins were 35-26, in first place in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

 

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 1

Ed Reulbach (1882)
Willie Mitchell (1889)
Walter Alston (1911)
Calvin Griffith (1911)
Cookie Lavagetto (1912)
Marty Marion (1917)
Cal McLish (1925)
George Foster (1948)
Dan Schatzeder (1954)
Greg Harris (1963)
Larry Walker (1966)
Reggie Sanders (1967)
Kirk Rueter (1970)

As everyone reading this knows, Calvin Griffith was the long-time owner of the Minnesota Twins.  He had served in a variety of positions for the Washington Senators, including batboy, minor league player-manager, and working in the front office.  His managing career lasted from 1937-1941.  He also played for Class B Charlotte from 1939-1941.  No records of his playing career are available from 1939-1940, but in 1941 he got a hit in his only at-bat.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to SBG’s father, Butch.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 1 →