Monthly Archives: January 2021

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred One

MINNESOTA 6, KANSAS CITY 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 24.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh), a double, and three RBIs.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighteenth.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out four.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Raul Ibanez was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth), a triple, and two RBIs.  Ken Harvey was 2-for-4.  Darrell May pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks and striking out two.

The game:  Aaron Guiel led off the game with a single and scored on Ibanez' triple to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.  The Twins tied it in the second on Jones' two-out home run.  They took the lead in the fourth when Hunter hit a one-out homer.  It stayed 2-1 until the seventh, when Ibanez homered to tie it 2-2.

The Twins took control in the eighth.  Denny Hocking led off with a single.  An error on Shannon Stewart's bunt put men on second and third with none out.  A. J. Pierzynski drove in a run with a single and a wild pitch scored another.  Doug Mientkiewicz walked.  The next two batters struck out, but Jones delivered a two-run double to put the Twins up 6-2.

Kansas City did not go away quietly.  Carlos Beltran Walked and Harvey singled, putting men on first and third with one out.  But Michael Tucker was caught looking and Angel Berroa grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Hawkins (7-2).  LP:  Jason Grimsley (2-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was behind the plate in place of Pierzynski.  Pierzynski pinch-hit for Luis Rivas in the eighth and stayed in the game behind the plate.  Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Guzman pinch-hit for LeCroy in the eighth and stayed in the game at short, with Hocking moving to second.  Stewart was in right, with Justin Morneau at DH.

Jones raised his average to .311.  Stewart was 0-for-2 and was batting .306.

Radke lowered his ERA to 5.33.  Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.59.

The Twins climbed back to within one game of .500

Record:  The Twins were 50-51, in third place in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind Kansas City.  They trailed third-place Chicago by 1.5 games.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 10

Harry Wright (1835)
Chick Stahl (1873)
Del Pratt (1888)
Ziggy Sears (1892)
Max Patkin (1920)
George Strickland (1926)
Jim O'Toole (1937)
Willie McCovey (1938)
Chuck Dobson (1944)
Wilfredo Sanchez (1948)
Richard Dotson (1959)
Kelvin Torve (1960)
Wally Bell (1965)
Kevin Baez (1967)
Gary Rath (1973)
Adam Kennedy (1976)

 Outfielder Ziggy Sears played in the minors for sixteen years, mostly in the Texas League.  He once drove in eleven runs in a game.  He was a National League umpire from 1934-1945.

Max Patkin was a well-known baseball clown from 1944-1995.

Wilfredo Sanchez was a star in Cuba from 1968-1986, winning five batting titles.

Wally Bell was a major league umpire from 1992-2013, when he passed away from a heart attack.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 10 →

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 8

MAZATLAN

MAZATLAN 7, HERMOSILLO 2 IN MAZATLAN

Mazatlan scored three in the first and three in the third to take a 6-1 lead.  Edson Garcia was 2-for-3 with a walk and four RBIs.  Anthony Giansanti was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Edgar Torres pitched five innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk and striking out three.

Record:  Mazatlan trails the best-of-seven series 2-3.

Next game:  Mazatlan is at Hermosillo tonight.

GIGANTES

GIGANTES 5, ESTRELLAS 3 AT ESTRELLAS

Kelvin Gutierrez hit a two-run homer in the first and the Gigantes led all the way.  Abiatal Avelino was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Gutierrez was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.  Chris Ellis struck out seven in six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.

Record:  The Gigantes won the best-of-seven series 4-2.

Next game:  The Gigantes will play the winner of the Aguilas/Toros series in the finals.  The first game of the series will be Tuesday.

LARA, GAMES 36 AND 37

MAGALLANES 7, LARA 2 IN LARA (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Magallanes scored three in the fourth to break a 2-2 tie.  Osman Marval was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs.  Yojhan Quevedo was 2-for-3 with a double.  Nestor Molina started and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk and striking out two.

LARA 5, MAGALLANES 4 IN LARA (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

Yordanys Linares RBI single in the sixth tied it 4-4 and Josmar Cordero's RBI single in the seventh won it for Lara.  Cesar Puello was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Linares was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Ex-Twin Logan Darnell pitched four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out two.

Record:  Lara is 23-14, in first place in the Venezuelan League West, 1.5 games ahead of Magallanes.

Next game:  Lara is at Magallanes tonight.

MAYAGUEZ

Mayaguez' series with Manati remains in limbo due to COVID concerns.  The last I knew, a decision would be made Sunday or Monday in regard to whether the series would be continued.  If it is not, Caguas, which won the other semi-final series, will be declared the champion.

MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE 4, CANBERRA 3 AT CANBERRA (10 INNINGS)

Damek Tomscha hit a three-run homer in the ninth to tie it 3-3.  Blake Gailen then singled in the tenth to bring home the go-ahead run.  Tomscha was 2-for-3 with a walk in addition to the home run, which was his fifth.  Jake Romanski was 2-for-4.  Brian Flynn struck out eight in 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and no walks.

Record:  Melbourne is 6-4, in second place in the Australian League, no "games back", but in second by winning percentage behind Adelaide.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred

KANSAS CITY 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, July 23.

Batting stars:  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Luis Rivas was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Jeremy Affeldt struck out five in five shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks.  Carlos Beltran was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth), a double, a stolen base (his twenty-eighth), and a walk.  Michael Tucker was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Aaron Guiel was 2-for-5 with two home runs, his seventh and eighth.  Raul Ibanez was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth.  Angel Berroa was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twelfth.

The game:  Each team put runners in scoring position, but there was no score through the first three innings.  That changed in the fourth, as Beltran led off with a home run.  The Royals added another run in the fifth when Guiel homered, making it 2-0.

Kansas City broke it open in the sixth.  Raul Ibanez hit a one-out home run.  Ken Harvey walked, Tucker doubled, and Desi Relaford walked, loading the bases.  A wild pitch scored one and Berroa followed with a three-run homer.  It was 7-0.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Rivas homered.  Three walks later in the inning loaded the bases, but the Twins could do no more damage in the inning.  They put men on first and second in the seventh, but again could not make the margin smaller.

Guiel hit his second home run in the ninth to make it 8-1.  The Twins got two in the bottom of the ninth.  Stewart walked, Justin Morneau singled, and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third.  A ground out scored one and Torii Hunter singled home another to make it 8-3, and that's how it ended.

WP:  Affeldt (6-5).  LP:  Johan Santana (4-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Chris Gomez remained at third in the continued absence of Corey Koskie.  Stewart was in right.  Morneau pinch-hit for Rivas in the ninth.

Stewart raised his average to .308.  Jones was 0-for-2 and was batting .306.

Santana pitched 5.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks and striking out four.

Joe Mays pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run to lower his ERA to 6.73.

I don't remember if this was the origin of the term "Jeremy", but it's a good example of it.  Affeldt was a decent pitcher in 2003, but nothing special.  It was his first full season.  This was actually his last start of the season--he would be moved to the bullpen after this game.  At this point he was 6-5, 4.34.  He would finish 7-6, 3.93.

The Twins sank farther into third place with the loss.

Record:  The Twins were 49-51, in third place in the American League Central, 6.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were 1.5 games behind third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 9

Bill Thomas (1905)
Johnny Washington (1916)
John Kibler (1928)
Julio Navarro (1936)
Ralph Terry (1936)
Masaaki Mori (1937)
Al Clark (1948)
Joe Wallis (1952)
Ivan DeJesus (1953)
Otis Nixon (1959)
Stan Javier (1964)
Jay Powell (1972)
Gabriel Moya (1995)

Bill Thomas pitched in the minors from 1924-1952. He set records for games pitched (1,016), wins (383), losses (347), innings (5,995), hits allowed (6,721), and runs allowed (3,098).

Outfielder/first baseman Johnny Washington played in the Negro Leagues for nearly twenty years.

John Kibler was a National League umpire from 1963-1989.

Masaaki Mori was involved with twenty-seven pennant winners in Japan, sixteen as a player, three as a coach, and eight as a manager.

Al Clark was a long-time American League umpire.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 9 →

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 7

MAZATLAN

Mazatlan's game at Hermosillo was suspended after four and a half innings with Mazaltan leading 6-2.  Mazatlan trails in the best-of-seven series 3-1.  They are scheduled to complete the game today.

GIGANTES

ESTRELLAS 5, GIGANTES 3 AT GIGANTES

The Estrellas scored all five of their runs in the third, and it was enough.  Jeremy Pena hit a two-run homer in the inning.  Carlos Paulino was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk for the Gigantes.  Richelson Pena started but lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out one.

Record:  The Gigantes lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.

Next game:  The Gigantes are at the Estrellas again tonight.

LARA

Lara did not play yesterday.  Lara is 22-13, in first place in the Venezuelan League West, a game and a half ahead of Magallanes.  Lara hosts Magallanes for a doubleheader tonight.

MAYAGUEZ

Mayaguez' series against Manati appears to still be in limbo.  Mayaguez leads the series 1-0, but no other games have been played due to COVID concerns.  If the series cannot be continued, Caguas, which had the best regular-season record and won their playoff series, will be declared the champion.

MELBOURNE

CANBERRA 4, MELBOURNE 2 AT CANBERRA

Canberra scored two in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead and led the rest of the way.  Jarryd Dale was 2-for-4.  Blake Gailen was 2-for-5.  Derek Tomscha hit a home run, his fourth.  Daniel McGrath pitched 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and four walks and striking out three.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 0-for-3 and is batting .393.  Darryl George was 1-for-5 and is batting .378.  Gailen is batting .333.  Tomscha is batting .313.  Jon Kennedy gave up one run in two innings and has an ERA of 2.57.  Ex-Twin Sam Gibbons pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run and has an ERA of zero.

Record:  Melbourne is 5-4, in second place in the Australian League, a half game behind Adelaide.