Happy Birthday–May 30

Amos Rusie (1871)
Turkey Mike Donlin (1878)
Rube Oldring (1884)
Al Mamaux (1894)
Twink Twining (1894)
Turk Lown (1924)
Mel Nelson (1936)
Mike Sadek (1946)
Dana DeMuth (1956)
Mike LaCoss (1956)
Mike Oquist (1968)
John Courtright (1970)
Scott Eyre (1972)
Manny Ramirez (1972)
Mark Kiger (1980)
Fernando Salas (1985)
Tony Watson (1985)

Dana DeMuth was a major league umpire from 1983 to 2019.

Mark Kiger is the only player to have played in the major leagues in the post-season but never have played in a regular season game.  An infielder, he was added to the Oakland roster when Mark Ellis fractured a finger.  He appeared in two games in the 2006 ALCS but did not bat.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 30

Minor Details: Games of May 26-28

Truncated reports, because I don't have time to do full reports and if I did, the post would be too long for anyone to read.

SAINT PAUL SAINTS

Wednesday

ST. PAUL 4, IOWA 3 IN IOWA

The Saints led 4-1 after seven and held on.

Batting stars:  Tomas Telis was 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs.  Yeltsin Encarnacion was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Charlie Barnes struck out seven in seven innings, giving up a run on five hits and a walk.

Thursday

ST. PAUL 4, IOWA 2 IN IOWA

The Saints scored three in the ninth to pull it out.  Tzu-Wei Lin singled home the tying run and two more runs scored on an error.

Batting stars:  J. T. Riddle was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Lin was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Jimmy Kerrigan was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Jhoan Duran struck out eight in four shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.  Juan Minaya pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Andrew Vasquez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.  Rob Whalen pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Friday

ST. PAUL 4, IOWA 0 IN IOWA

The Saints scored one each in the third and fourth and added two in the eighth.

Batting stars:  J. T. Riddle was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Mark Contreras was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Griffin Jax struck out ten in six shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.  Shaun Anderson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.  Ian Gibaut struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Record:  The Saints are 11-11, in third place, 3.5 games behind Omaha.

WICHITA WIND SURGE

Wednesday

WICHITA 14, SPRINGFIELD 1 IN WICHITA

The Wind Surge scored six runs in the first inning.

Batting stars:  Jose Miranda was 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Gilberto Celestino was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs.  Trey Cabbage was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Roy Morales was 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, three runs, and two RBIs.  Andrew Bechtold was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three RBIs.  Ernie De La Trinidad was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Jermaine Palacios was 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Cole Sands struck out six in four shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.  Brandon Koch struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit.  Calvin Faucher struck out two in two innings, giving up a walk.

Thursday

SPRINGFIELD 6, WICHITA 2 IN WICHITA

The Cardinals scored two in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.

Batting stars:  Gilberto Celestino was 3-for-5 with a double.  Ernie De La Trinidad was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Jovani Moran struck out three in two shutout innings.

Starter:  Chris Vallimont struck out seven in four innings but allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk.

Friday

SPRINGFIELD 5, WICHITA 2 IN WICHTA

The Cardinals scored two in the second and led the rest of the way.

Batting stars:  Andrew Bechtold was 2-for-4.  Jermaine Palacios was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.

Pitching star:  Ryan Mason pitched a scoreless inning despite giving up three hits.

Starter:  Austin Schulfer pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks and striking out three.

Record:  The Wind Surge is 12-10, tied for second with Tulsa, a half game behind Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS

Wednesday

WISCONSIN AT CEDAR RAPIDS

Rained out.

Thursday

WISCONSIN AT CEDAR RAPIDS

Rained out.

Friday

WISCONSIN 6, CEDAR RAPIDS 2 AT CEDAR RAPIDS

It was 2-2 through eight, but Je'Von Ward hit a three-run triple in a four run ninth for the Timber Rattlers.

Batting stars:  Leobaldo Cabrera was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Wander Javier was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  The Kernels drew eight walks but had just two hits.

Pitching stars:  Matt Canterino struck out ten in four shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks.  Tyler Palm struck out five in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Kernels pitchers struck out twenty.

Record:  The Kernels are 9-12, in fifth place, 5.5 games behind Quad Cities.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS

Wednesday

LAKELAND 10, FORT MYERS 9 IN LAKELAND (10 INNINGS)

Jeferson Morales homered in the ninth to tie it and the Mighty Mussels scored one in the tenth, but the Flying Tigers came back with two to win it.

Batting stars:  Edouard Julien was 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, two runs, and three RBIs.  Kyle Schmidt was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Anthony Prato was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Morales was 2-for-5 with a home run, his third.

Pitching stars:  None.

Starter:  Regi Grace struck out four in four innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks.

Thursday

FORT MYERS 3, LAKELAND 0 IN LAKELAND

The Mighty Mussels scored single runs in the first, sixth, and ninth.

Batting stars:  Misael Urbina was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Jeferson Morales was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Sawyer Gipson-Long struck out eight in 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and a walk.  Miguel Rodriguez struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.  Bradley Hanner struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Friday

LAKELAND 3, FORT MYERS 2 IN LAKELAND

Jimmy Kerr's two-run single in the fifth brought home the tying and go-ahead runs.

Batting stars:  Willie Joe Garry, Jr. was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jeferson Morales was 1-for-2 with two walks.  Anthony Prato was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Louie Varland struck out five in 2.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits and five walks.  Denny Bentley struck out eight in three shutout innings, giving up two walks.

Record:  The Mighty Mussels are 10-12, in fifth place, 5.5 games behind Tampa.

TODAY'S TILTS

5:00  Fort Myers (Casey Legumina) at Lakeland
5:05  Wisconsin at Cedar Rapids (doubleheader--Andrew Cabezas and Jon Olsen)
6:05  Springfield at Wichita (Josh Winder)
7:08  St. Paul (Chandler Shepherd) at Iowa

Happy Birthday–May 29

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Bob Hope (1903)
George McQuinn (1910)
Loel Passe (1917)
Fred White (1936)
Fay Vincent (1938)
John Kennedy (1941)
Blue Moon Odom (1945)
Jamie Allen (1958)
Mike Stenhouse (1958)
Eric Davis (1962)
Charlie Hayes (1965)
Trever Miller (1973)
Jerry Hairston (1976)
Matt Macri (1982)

Comedian and actor Bob Hope was a long-time part-owner of the Cleveland Indians and was on their Board of Directors.

Loel Passe broadcast Houston Astros games from the team’s inception through 1976.  Along the way, he worked with two Hall of Fame broadcasters, Gene Elston and Harry Kalas.

Fred White broadcast Kansas City Royals games from 1974-1998.

Fay Vincent was the commissioner of baseball from 1989-1992.

Third baseman Jamie Allen was drafted by Minnesota with the tenth pick of the 1976 draft, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. brianS.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 29

2021 Game 50: Royals @ Twins – Heading The Right Direction

It seems the Twins have maybe finally figured a few things out. Or at least took advantage of playing awful teams. Luckily, the KC Royals have dropped a bunch and are down under .500, so maybe the Twins can keep that going.

I think the general consensus has been that this a super talented Twins squad, just playing poorly. And maybe they'll go back to playing poorly, but somewhere along the way it feels like they've gotten their heads on straight and are giving the game a bit more focus and effort.

Tonight Randy Dobnak - who showed us last time that he is definitely a starter and not a reliever - goes for the Twins, against Kris Bubic.

We're hoping for another one of those Multiple MN Sports Teams Win Nights - the Anti-Free, as it were. Go Twins and Wild and Lynx and Saints!

NHL PLAYOFFS: Game 7 – Wild @ Vegas


It's the last time the Wild will play the Golden Knights this season. The final game of the first round playoff series is here.  There is just nothing left to say about this series. You know what we're looking at.

Two teams playing each other for the 7th time in a row will never lack for stories. This series is no exception. Talbot and Fleury have gone back and forth.  The Wild managed to figure out how to break up almost every single Las Vegas offensive zone pass in game 6, but have struggled to sustain that disruption in almost every other game. Goals have been called back on both sides in pivotal moments.  It's been a ride, and as good as you could hope for a playoff series.

Winner gets to start round 2 on Sunday against the Avalanche who haven't played a game in a week.

Continue reading NHL PLAYOFFS: Game 7 – Wild @ Vegas

Happy Birthday–May 28

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Spider Baum (1882)
Jim Thorpe (1887)
Warren Giles (1896)
John Allyn (1917)
Bob Kuzava (1923)
Frank Saucier (1926)
Kirk Gibson (1957)
Bill Doran (1958)
Duane Ward (1964)
Mike Maksudian (1966)
Mike Difelice (1969)
Jhonny Peralta (1982)
Craig Kimbrel (1988)
Lester Oliveros (1988)
Huascar Ynoa (1998)

Spider Baum won 325 games in the minors between 1902-1920.  267 of those wins came in the Pacific Coast League.

Warren Giles was president of the National League from 1951-1969.

John Allyn was the owner of the Chicago White Sox from 1961-1975.

Frank Saucier is the player Eddie Gaedel pinch-hit for in 1951.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Philosofer.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 28