Happy birthday, Gramps. The youngest is named for him.
Monthly Archives: December 2020
2003 Rewind: Game Seventy-five
CHICAGO 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, June 24.
Batting stars: Denny Hocking was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk. Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.
Pitching stars: Rick Reed pitched seven innings, giving up two runs and six hits and two walks and striking out six. J. C. Romero struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk. LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.
Opposition stars: Esteban Loaiza pitched eight innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and one walk and striking out six. Carlos Lee was 2-for-4 with a double.
The game: The White Sox put men on first and second with one out in the first, but a line drive double play took them out of the inning. Brian Daubach led off the second with a double and scored on Lee's single to put Chicago ahead 1-0.
Neither team did much then until the sixth, when Miguel Olivo led off with a double. He was still on second with two out, but Frank Thomas singled him home to make it 2-0 White Sox.
Loaiza pretty much stifled the Twins offense. They did not put two men on in an inning until the eighth, when Bobby Kielty led off with a single and Hocking drew a one-out walk. At that they might not have scored, but a forceout-plus-error brought Kielty home. The Twins had the tying run on second with two out, but a ground out ended the inning. They went down in order in the ninth.
WP: Loaiza (11-2). LP: Reed (3-8). S: Billy Koch (11).
Notes: Hocking was at second base in place of Luis Rivas. Kielty was in right field, with Justin Morneau at DH.
Morneau was 0-for-4 and was batting .316. Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 and was batting .306. Koskie was batting .305. Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and dropped below .300 at .299.
Hocking had a five-game hitting streak over which he was 9-for-16. He raised his average nearly a hundred points, from .167 to .265.
A. J. Pierzynski was on an 0-for-9 streak, dropping his average from .300 to .288.
Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.96.
This was by far Loaiza's best season. He went 21-9, 2.90, 1.11 WHIP and led the league in strikeouts. He made the first of two all-star teams and finished second in Cy Young voting to Roy Halladay. His next highest win total was 12, in 2005, and he only got his ERA below four one other time, also in 2012 (3.77). I don't know what happened to him in 2003, or if it was just luck, but whatever it was, he couldn't do it again.
Record: The Twins were 40-35, in second place in the American League Central, one percentage point behind Kansas City.
Linkin Park – My December
(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)You must be a WGOM Citizen to rate WGOM Videos.
Loading... 
Happy Birthday–December 15
Nig Clarke (1882)
Eddie Robinson (1920)
Ray Herbert (1929)
Haywood Sullivan (1930)
Sammy Esposito (1931)
Stan Bahnsen (1944)
Art Howe (1946)
Mike Proly (1950)
Bud Bulling (1952)
Mo Vaughn (1967)
Rick Helling (1970)
Kevin Cameron (1979)
Ryan Pressly (1988)
Trevor Hildenberger (1990)
Ryan Eades (1991)
Mayaguez Recaps: Games Five and Six
MAYAGUEZ 7, RA12 1 AT MAYAGUEZ
Saturday
Mayaguez scored four in the second to take the lead and three in the eighth to put it out of reach. T. J. Rivera was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Emmanuel Rivera was 2-for-5 with a home run. Hector Hernandez struck out nine in six innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits and a walk. Robby Rowland struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
MAYAGUEZ 3, RA12 0 AT MAYAGUEZ
Sunday
Mayaguez scored single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. Henry Ramos was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs. Nick Travieso pitched six shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out five.
Record: Mayaguez is 6-0, tied for first with Caguas.
Next game: Mayaguez is at Caguas Tuesday.
RA12: I have learned that "RA12" is so named because the team is owned by Roberto Alomar, who wore number twelve. If I understand correctly, Alomar's original intention was to form an 18-and-under league, but it didn't come together, so he took the players he had, made a team, and put it in the Puerto Rican Winter League. If so, it's no wonder that his team is struggling.
Lara Recaps: Games Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen
ZULIA 6, LARA 1 IN LARA
Saturday
Zulia scored three in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead. Ildemaro Vargas was 2-for-3 with a walk. Josmar Cordero was 2-for-4. Ex-Twin Logan Darnell started for Lara. He struck out five in 4.1 innings, but allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk. Angelo Palumbo pitched three innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks and striking out two.
ARAGUA 4, LARA 2 IN ARAGUA (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
Sunday
Aragua scored three in the first and did not trail after that. All the game's runs were scored in the first two innings. Gorkys Hernandez homered for Lara. Ex-Twin Williams Perez started and pitched three innings, allowing four runs on six his and two walks and striking out one. Maximo Castillo struck out three in three shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit.
ARAGUA 2, LARA 0 IN ARAGUA (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)
Sunday
Aragua scored both of their runs in the fourth inning. Ildemaro Vargas was 2-for-2 with a walk. Alejandro Requena started and pitched 3.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk and striking out three.
Record: Lara is 9-7, tied for first with Magallanes in the West Division.
Next game: Lara hosts La Guaira in a doubleheader on Tuesday.
Gigantes Recaps: Games Seventeen and Eighteen
TOROS 5, GIGANTES 1 AT GIGANTES
Saturday
The Toros scored four in the second and were never threatened. Ronald Guzman was 2-for-4 for the Gigantes and Seuly Matias homered (his second) for their only run. Rogelio Armenteras started but couldn't record an out in the second inning. His line is one inning, three runs, three hits, two walks, and one strikeout. Richelson Pena struck out five in five innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.
Sunday
AGUILAS 3, GIGANTES 2 AT AGUILAS
Isaias Tejada's RBI single in the ninth brought home Robel Garcia with the deciding run, breaking a 2-2 tie. Oneil Cruz was 2-for-4 with a triple for the Gigantes. Kelvin Gutierrez was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk and drove in both of their runs. Chris Ellis pitched five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.
Record: The Gigantes are 7-11, in sixth (last) place, three games behind Estrellas. They are a half game behind fifth-place Licey.
Next game: The Gigantes are at Escogido tonight.
Mazatlan Recaps: Games Forty-two and Forty-three
MAZATLAN 7, MONTERREY 5 IN MONTERREY
Saturday
Mazatlan scored four in the eighth to overcome a 4-2 deficit. Anthony Giansanti hit a two-run triple in the inning. Giansanti was 3-for-4 and had three RBIs. Carlos Munoz was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Edson Garcia was 2-for-3 with a walk. Ramon Rios was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Matt Gage started and pitched five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks and striking out three.
MONTERREY 10, MAZATLAN 2 IN MONTERREY
Sunday
Monterrey scored four in the first and put it away with five in the fifth. Carlos Morales started for Mazatlan and allowed five runs on six hits and no walks in two innings. He struck out three. Mazatlan got solo homers from Edson Garcia and Italo Mota (his second) for their only runs.
Record: Mazatlan is 21-22, in seventh place, six games behind Obregon. They are one game behind sixth-place Culiacan
Next game: Mazatlan hosts Los Mochis Tuesday.
2003 Rewind: Game Seventy-four
MINNESOTA 8, MILWAUKEE 3 IN MILWAUKEE
Date: Sunday, June 22.
Batting stars: Denny Hocking was 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple, a walk, and three runs. Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Corey Koskie was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his eleventh. Torii Hunter was 1-for-5 with a home run, his tenth. Justin Morneau was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit home run, his second.
Pitching stars: Johan Santana pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. LaTroy Hawkins retired all four men he faced, striking out one. Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Eddie Perez was 3-for-4. Geoff Jenkins was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixteenth), a double, two runs, and two RBIs.
The game: With one out in the first Hocking walked and Koskie hit a two-run homer to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. The Brewers got one back in the bottom of the first when Scott Podsednik tripled and scored on a Jenkins single. The Twins scored in the second when Dustan Mohr walked, went to third on a Tom Prince double, and scored on a ground out. They got one more in the third on two singles and a double play, leaving the score 4-1.
Jenkins homered in the fourth to cut the lead to two, but Hocking homered in the fifth to build it back to three. In the sixth Jenkins doubled, went to third on a Richie Sexson single, and scored on a sacrifice fly to cut it to two again at 5-3.
It was all Twins after that. In the seventh Bobby Kielty walked, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Jacque Jones' double to make it 6-3. Milwaukee put men on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh but did not score. Hunter homered in the eighth and Morneau homered in the ninth to bring us to the final of 8-3.
WP: Kenny Rogers (6-3). LP: Matt Kinney (5-6). S: None.
Notes: Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski. Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman. There was no DH. Kielty and Morneau were used as pinch-hitter for pitchers.
Morneau was batting .353. Mientkiewicz was batting .306. Jones was at .303. Koskie was up to .302.
Rogers pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk and striking out none. His ERA was at 5.16.
Santana's ERA was 2.15. Hawkins fell to 2.02. Guardado was down to 2.93.
Ex-Twin Matt Kinney started for the Brewers. He lasted 6.1 innings but allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks and struck out five.
The Twins managed to salvage one game of the three-game series. They would now go home to face the White Sox.
Morneau's first two career home runs were pinch-hit home runs. That can't be terribly common.
Record: The Twins were 40-34, in first place in the American League Central, one game ahead of Kansas City.
December 14, 2020: Cleveland Spiders
I mean, it's the obvious choice, right @spiders_six?