Monthly Archives: January 2021

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 21 and 22

LARA

Thursday

No game scheduled.

Friday

ANZOATEGUI 6, LARA 0 AT LARA

It was scoreless through five, but Anzoategui scored two in each of innings six through eight.  Jecksson Flores was 3-for-4 to lead Lara.  Yordanys Linares was 2-for-4.  Lara had seven hits and drew six walks, but they could not score.  Ex-Twin Logan Darnell pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks and striking out two.  Willians Astudillo was 1-for-5 with a double for Anzoategui.

Record:  Anzoategui leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.

Next game:  Lara hosts Anzoategui again tonight.

MAYAGUEZ

Thursday

CAGUAS 4, MAYAGUEZ 0 AT CAGUAS

Yadier Molina hit a two-run triple in the first and later scored on a ground out, giving Caguas a 3-0 lead.  Mayaguez had just two hits.  Hector Hernandez pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.

Molina had played for Manati in the first round of the playoffs.  Now he's with Caguas.  I'm not sure how that works.

Friday

CAGUAS 7, MAYAGUEZ 5 AT MAYAGUEZ

Caguas scored two in the sixth to take a 7-2 lead.  Mayaguez had the tying run up to bat when the game ended.  Jeremy Rivera was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs for Mayaguez.  Jack Lopez was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Joel Huertas started and pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on one hit and three walks.  The teams combined to use fifteen pitchers, with Mayaguez using eight.

Record:  Mayaguez trails the best-of-seven series 0-2.

Next game:  Mayaguez is at Caguas tonight.

MELBOURNE

Thursday

MELBOURNE 4, BRISBANE 3 AT MELBOURNE

Blake Gailen's RBI double broke a 3-3 tie.  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Jake Romanski was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Blake Flynn started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.

Friday

BRISBANE 3, MELBOURNE 2 AT MELBOURNE

Dermon Fritsch singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth, breaking a 2-2 tie.  Colin Willis was 3-for-3 for Melbourne.  Damek Tomscha was 2-for-4.  Tyler Beardsley pitched 5.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks and striking out four.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 1-for-4 and is batting .443.  Darryl George was 1-for-4 and is batting .333.  Jack Barrie was 0-for-3 and is batting .333.  Tomscha is batting .328.  Willis is batting .316.  Beardsley has an ERA of 2.84.  Jon Kennedy gave up an unearned run in two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of 2.38.

Record:  Melbourne is 12-6, in first place in the Australian League, one game ahead of Adelaide.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fourteen

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Thursday, August 7.

Batting stars:  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a double.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twentieth.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up five runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Jeff Conine was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Jack Cust was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer.  Rodrigo Lopez pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out six.

The game:  With two out in the first, Conine doubled and scored on a Jay Gibbons single to put the Orioles up 1-0.  The Twins took the lead in the second when Koskie doubled and Hunter hit a two-run homer.  They got an insurance run in the third when Stewart doubled and scored on a Rivas single.

It wasn't enough.  In the fourth Conine and Batista singled and Cust hit a three-run homer to give Baltimore a 4-3 lead.  They got an insurance run of their own later in the inning when Deivi Cruz doubled and scored on Larry Bigbie's single.

And that was it.  The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the fifth but did not score.  They also had men on first and third with two out in the seventh but did not score.  That was the last time they got the tying run on base.

WP:  Lopez (5-6).  LP:  Reed (5-11).  S:  Jorge Julio (27).

Notes:  Denny Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Stewart was in right field.

Jacque Jones was apparently injured, as Dustan Mohr replaced him in left field in the fourth inning.  He would miss one game, then be back in the lineup.  Chris Gomez pinch-hit for Mohr in the ninth.  Todd Sears pinch-hit for Hocking in the ninth.

Stewart was batting .318.  Jones was 0-for-2 and was batting .305.  Koskie was batting .302.  Doug Mientkiewicz and A. J. Pierzynski each slipped back to .299.

This was the last complete game of Reed's career.

This was Cust's first homer as a Baltimore Oriole.  It was only the second game he'd played for them.  It was also the second homer of his career, as he'd hit one for Colorado in 2002.  He would not become a regular player until 2007, when he went to Oakland.  He would end up with 105 career home runs.  He was a three true outcomes guy--he had over 90 walks three years in a row, leading the league once; he led the league in strikeouts three times, and he hit 84 homers over three seasons.  His final numbers were .242/.374/.439.  Even in his last season, when he batted just .213 with three home runs, he had an OBP of .344.

The Twins again failed to stay above .500.

Record:  The Twins were 57-57, in third place in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were three games behind Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 23

Ben Shibe (1838)
Red Donahue (1873)
Bobby Burke (1907)
Randy Gumpert (1918)
Chico Carrasquel (1926)
Frank Sullivan (1930)
Joe Amalfitano (1934)
Don Nottebart (1936)
Paul Ratliff (1944)
Kurt Bevacqua (1947)
Charlie Spikes (1951)
Alan Embree (1970)
Mark Wohlers (1970)
Erubiel Durazo (1974)
Brandon Duckworth (1976)
Juan Rincon (1979)
Jeff Samardzija (1985)

Ben Shibe was the owner of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 until his death in 1922.  Shibe Park was named in his honor.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 23 →

Friday Music Day

FMD: Tom Jones Need Not Apply

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The Ghost family has decided on their themed playlist for 2021 - Cats.  We threw together a few songs last weekend, so we've got a 10-song start, but are always open to suggestions:

  • Nashville Cats - The Lovin' Spoonful
  • The Cat Came Back - Sonny James
  • The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh) - The Tokens
  • Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats
  • Keyboard Sonata in G Minor (the "Cat Fugue") - D. Scarlatti
  • Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
  • Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats - Cats
  • You Can Sleep on Top of Anything - Kitty Kat Fan Club
  • Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat - Artistocats
  • Honky Cat - Elton John

Last year we did space and ended up with a fun mix.

Spoiler SelectShow

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirteen

MINNESOTA 7, BALTIMORE 3 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Wednesday, August 6.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his nineteenth) and two runs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.  Shannon Stewart was 1-for-5 with a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.  Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Brian Roberts was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Deivi Cruz was 2-for-4.  Luis Matos was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  In the second Tony Batista doubled, went to third on Cruz' bunt single, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.  It was still 1-0 through three, but in the fourth the Twins broke through for five runs.  Stewart led off with a home run.  Consecutive singles by Luis Rivas, Doug Mientkiewicz, and Corey Koskie followed giving the Twins a 2-1 lead.  There was a fly out, but Hunter then hit a three-run homer, putting the Twins up 5-1.

Baltimore got one back in the sixth when Roberts singled and scored on a Matos double.  They got one more in the eighth when Batista was hit by a pitch and singles by Jose Morban and Cruz plated a run.  The lead was cut to 5-3.

The Twins put it away with two in the ninth.  With one out, singles by A. J. Pierzynski and Hunter were followed by Jacque Jones getting hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Matthew LeCroy then hit a two-run double to make it 7-3.  The Orioles went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Lohse (8-9).  LP:  Pat Hentgen (4-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jones was back in left field, with Stewart moving to right.

Stewart was batting .315.  Jones was batting .306.  Pierzynski was batting .303.  Koskie was batting .300.

Lohse lowered his ERA to 5.06.

James Baldwin did not give up a run in two-thirds of an inning to lower his ERA to 2.13.  Hawkins went down to 2.38.

Hentgen pitched eight innings for Baltimore and did well other than the fourth inning.  His line, though, was five runs, seven hits, no walks, and three strikeouts.  Hentgen was an excellent pitcher through 1997, but didn't do much after that.  2003 was his last decent season.  He went 7-8, 4.09, 1.30 WHIP in 160.2 innings.  He struggled through a bad season with Toronto the next year, then was done.

The Twins were again a game above .500.  Could they stay there this time?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 57-56, in third place in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were 2.5 games behind third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 22

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Ira Thomas (1881)
Amos Strunk (1889)
Art Ehlers (1897)
Prince Oana (1910)
Chris Pelekoudas (1918)
Dave Leonhard (1941)
Senichi Hoshino (1947)
Mike Caldwell (1949)
Leon Roberts (1951)
Jeff Treadway (1963)
Jimmy Anderson (1976)
Chone Figgins (1978)
Carlos Ruiz (1979)
Ubaldo Jimenez (1984)

Art Ehlers did not play in the majors, but he spent his life in baseball.  He owned several minor league teams at various times and was the general manager of the Philadelphia Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles.  He also was a longtime scout for the Orioles.

Prince Oana played in the minors for twenty-three years, batting .304.  He also had a pitching record of 80-54.

Chris Pelekoudas was a National League umpire from 1960-1975.  He is best remembered for his run-ins with Gaylord Perry over the latter's use of illegal substances on the baseball.

Senichi Hoshino is a long-time player, manager, and executive in Japanese baseball.

We also want to wish a happy birthday to Rhubarb_Runner’s daughter.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 22 →