Monthly Archives: October 2021

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Four

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MINNESOTA 8, CALIFORNIA 2 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Wednesday, April 15.

Batting stars:  Brant Alyea was 1-for-2 with a grand slam (his third homer) and a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Cesar Tovar was 1-for-5 with a home run.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Jay Johnstone was 2-for-4 with a home run.  Alex Johnson was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.

The game:  The Angels put two on with two out in the first, but nothing came of it.  They broke through in the fourth, though.  Johnson singled and stole second.  Johnstone had an infield single and Roger Repoz grounded out, bringing Johnson home for a 1-0 Angels lead.

That changed in the sixth.  The Twins had managed only one hit through the first five innings, but Tovar led off the sixth with a home run to tie it 1-1.  Rod Carew reached on a two-base error and scored on Tony Oliva's single to put the Twins up 2-1.  Harmon Killebrew walked, Rich Reese was hit by a pitch, and Alyea hit a grand slam to make it 6-1 Twins.  The grand slam did not kill the rally, although it did knock starter Andy Messersmith from the game.  Mel Queen came in and gave up a single to George Mitterwald and a two-run homer to Cardenas to increase the lead to 8-1.

That was pretty much it.  Jim Fregosi hit a one-out double in the sixth but was stranded at second.  Johnstone led off with a homer in the seventh to make it 8-2.  But that was the last baserunner California got, and it ended 8-2.

W:  Perry (2-0).

L:  Messersmith (2-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt replaced Alyea in left field in the sixth.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the seventh and stayed in the game at third base.

Alyea was batting .600.  Carew was 1-for-5 and was batting .375.  Mitterwald was 1-for-4 and was batting .375.  Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .350.  Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .333.  Holt was 0-for-1 and was batting .333.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .308.

Perry had an ERA of 1.00.

Reese was 0-for-3 and was batting .133.

Alyea must have been endearing himself to Twins fans with that kind of start.  6-for-10 with three home runs and eleven RBIs.  Hard to do much better than that.

I wonder, though, if Alyea was a butcher in the field.  In all three of those games he was replaced for defense with Holt.  It's a long time ago, of course, and to be honest I don't understand defense stats very well.  But I certainly don't recall Holt being regarded as some sort of defensive wizard.  I don't doubt that he might have been better than Alyea--I'm just thinking that might have been a low bar, sort of like when Pedro Munoz replaced Gene Larkin for outfield defense under Tom Kelly.

The Twins did not keep to their one-day-on, one-day-off schedule.  Instead, they had three days off before their fourth game.  I assume it was some combination of bad weather and planned off days.

It's very early, obviously, but this was a matchup between the first and second place teams in the division.

Wally Wolf pitched a scoreless ninth for the Angels.  It was one of 7.2 major league innings that he pitched.  2.1 of them were in 1969 and 5.1 in 1970.  He would appear in three more major league games one in April and two in May.  He had basically topped out in AA--his career AAA numbers are 1-12, 6.66, 1.81 WHIP in 104 innings.  He had a strong AA season in 1969, which got him a September call-up and a chance to open 1970 in the majors, but that was as good as it would get for him.  1970 was his last professional season.  But, hey, he got 7.2 major league innings, which is 7.2 more than I'll ever get.

Record:  The Twins were 4-0, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

MLB

2021 Division Series Day 2: AL Games 2 and NL Games 1

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I hope you like all-day baseball because it's all-day (if the day starts no earlier than 2 p.m. EDT) baseball.

Now on MLBN:
Lucas Giolito
vs
Framber Valdez

3:37 p.m. on TBS
Charlie Morton
vs
Corbin Burnes

6:02 p.m. on FS1
Chris Sale
vs
Shane Baz

8:37 p.m. on TBS
Walker Buehler
vs
Logan Webb

Minnesota Wild, NHL

Weekly Wild Whangdoodle: The Schedule

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The 2021-2022 season kicks off one week from tonight as the Wild find themselves back in California.

Welcome to the new season same as the old season.

The NHL will play a full 82 game schedule this year for the first time in a while and the league has returned to pre-COVID divisions.  The Wild will play every team in the NHL this season. They will travel to Canada almost every month and will mostly get back what you would think of as a normal NHL schedule ...

** looks at February **

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Olympics.  Never mind all that.

Let's dive into the Wild's season schedule and find all the weirdness that comes out.

* The Wild play every team in the Central 4 times, except the Blues and the Coyotes. Why have an asymmetric schedule like this? I cannot answer that. Their only home game against the Blues is the Winter Classic. That's also the only time they play the Blues until April.

* The Wild play every team in the Eastern Conference twice, and every team in the Pacific division thrice.

* The worst road trip will probably be in December, 4 games in 6 days with travel to EDM, SJ, LA, and Vegas.

* The Wild don't have a home game for 35 days between 1/24 and 3/1 (five road games in a row, with the Olympic break in the middle)

* After the Olympic break the Wild have 16 games in both March and April.  32 games in 60 days is a pretty tough finish to the season. 11 of those 32 games are against Central division opponents.

* The longest homestand of the season is at the end of March, with 9 games in a row at home.

* The last three games of the season are against Arizona, Calgary, and Colorado - so it seems pretty unlikely that those games will be against teams the Wild are directly competing with for playoff spots or positioning (Arizona will be terrible, Colorado will be far ahead of Minnesota, and Calgary is in a different division).

CENTRAL DIVISION 2021-22
Arizona
Chicago
Colorado
Dallas
Minnesota
Nashville
St. Louis
Winnipeg
Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Three

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MINNESOTA 8, OAKLAND 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Saturday, April 11.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a stolen base and two runs.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and one walk and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Sal Bando was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk.  Reggie Jackson was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Jim Roland pitched 2.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk and striking out two.  Roberto Rodriguez pitched two perfect innings and struck out one.

The game:  The Twins again scored early and often.  Tovar led off with a single and stole second.  He was still there with two out, but then a circus broke out.  Harmon Killebrew reached on an error, scoring Tovar.  Rich Reese reached on an error, putting men on first and second.  Then came a passed ball-plus-error, scoring Killebrew to put the Twins up 2-0.

In the second Leo Cardenas drew a one-out walk, Tovar hit a two-out single, Carew was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Tony Oliva delivered a two-run single to make it 4-0.  In the third, Jim Holt singled and George Mitterwald walked.  Leo Cardenas bunted to move the runners to second and third for Kaat.  An unusual strategy, bunting in front of the pitcher, but it worked as Kaat hit a two-run single to make it 6-0.  Carew hit a two-run single to increase the lead to 7-0.  The Twins added one more in the fifth when Cardenas singled, Kaat reached on a bunt-plus-error to put men on second and third, and a ground out brought the run home.

Meanwhile, the Athletics did not advance a man past first base through five innings.  Singles by Bob Johnson and Bert Campaneris opened the sixth, but Rick Monday hit into a double play and Felipe Alou struck out to end the inning.  Oakland finally got on the board when Bando homered with one out in the seventh.  They got another run in the ninth when Jackson hit a two-out homer.  But that was all they got, and it ended 8-2.

W:  Kaat (1-0).

L:  Blue Moon Odom (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third base in the seventh.

Carew was batting .455.  Mitterwald was 0-for-3 and was batting .417.  Holt was 1-for-4 and was batting .400.  Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .400.  Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .400.  Kaat was 1-for-3 and was batting .333.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .300.  I love having fun with early-season batting averages.

Rich Reese was 0-for-3 and was batting .167.

Kaat had an ERA of 2.00.

I think I forgot to put the dates on the first couple of games, but the Twins had been playing every other day.  Their first two games were on April 7 and 9.  I don't know if that was planned off days, rainouts, or one of each.

I don't remember, and I don't want to look ahead far enough to check, but I suspect we'll find that Alyea and Holt were platooned, at least to an extent.

Roland, of course, is a former Twin.

Roberto Rodriguez came up with the Athletics in 1967, when they were still in Kansas City.  He went 1-1, 3.57 in 40.1 innings.  He then went to AAA for two seasons and did not pitch very well.  He started 1970 with Oakland and posted a 2.92 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in 12.1 innings.  The Athletics were apparently not impressed, as they sent him to San Diego in late May "as part of a conditional deal".  He put up a 6.61 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP in 16.1 innings there, and in late June the Padres sent him back to Oakland "as part of a conditional deal", meaning he was essentially traded for himself.  That same day, though, the Athletics traded him to the Cubs for Don Young.  He wasn't very good there either, posting a 5.82 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 43.1 innings.  He pitched in AAA through 1974 and then went to the Mexican League for 1975, and then was done with organized ball.  He apparently went to the Venezuelan Winter League for several years, though, and pitched very well.  He was inducted into the Venezuelan Hall of Fame in 2011.  He was an instructor at a baseball academy in Nicaragua for several years before passing away from a heart attack in 2012.

Record:  The Twins were 3-0, tied for first based on percentages, but a half game behind California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 8

Ping Bodie (1887)
Donie Bush (1887)
Doc Crandall (1887)
Wally Moses (1910)
Danny Murtaugh (1917)
Catfish Metkovich (1920)
Ed Kirkpatrick (1924)
Don Pepper (1943)
Paul Splittorff (1946)
Rick Stelmaszek (1948)
Enos Cabell (1949)
Jerry Reed (1955)
Mike Morgan (1959)
J. T. Bruett (1967)
Olmedo Saenz (1970)
Antoan Richardson (1983)
Cody Eppley (1985)
Taylor Featherston (1989)

Right-hander Jerry Reed was drafted by the Twins in the eleventh round in 1973, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish E-6 a very happy birthday, and a very happy anniversary to Rhu_Ru's parents.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 8 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Two

MINNESOTA 6, CHICAGO 4 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double.  George Mitterwald was 3-for-4.  Frank Quilici was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks and striking out four.  Steve Barber pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Bill Melton was 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Gene Rounsaville pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

The game:  The Twins again jumped out to a first-inning lead.  Carew hit a one-out double and Killebrew hit a two-run homer to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.  It went to 3-0 in the second, as Brant Alyea reached on an error and scored on Mitterwald's single-plus-error.

The White Sox had two on in the first, second, and third, but did not score.  The Twins had two in the fourth and fifth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fifth, Walt Williams walked, Aparicio doubled, Carlos May hit an RBI ground out, and Melton drove in a run with a double, cutting the lead to 3-2.  The Twins got the runs back in the sixth, though.  Mitterwald singled, Leo Cardenas doubled, and pinch-hitter Charlie Manuel was intentionally walked, loading the bases with none out.  A 1-2-3 double play looked like it might take the Twins out of the inning, but Quilici delivered a two-run single to put the lead back to three runs at 5-2.

The Twins had two on with one out in the seventh, but a double play ended the inning.  In the bottom of the seventh, singles by Aparicio, Carlos May, and Melton cut the lead to 5-3.  Chicago had men on first and second with none out, but could do no more.  In the eighth, however, two walks and a bunt put men on second and third with one out.  Aparicio flied out, May was intentionally walked, and Melton again delivered, getting an infield single.  Duane Josephson scored on the hit, but Bobby Knoop was thrown out trying to score from second, ending the inning and preserving the 5-4 lead.

Oliva homered in the ninth to make it 6-4.  Syd O'Brien drew a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Josephson flied out to end the inning.

W:  Stan Williams (1-0).

L:  Joel Horlen (0-1).

S:  Barber (1).

Notes:  Quilici went to second in the fourth, replacing Rod Carew.  Presumably Carew was ill or injured.  There's nothing in the printed play-by-play that reveals how he would've gotten hurt.

Manuel pinch-hit for Williams in the sixth.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field.  Minnie Mendoza replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Alyea was 1-for-4 and was batting .625.  Mitterwald was batting .556.  Oliva and Quilici were each batting .500.  Carew and Killebrew were each batting .429.  Williams and Barber each had an ERA of zero.

Cesar Tovar was 0-for-5 and was batting .100.  Ron Perranoski allowed two runs in two innings and had an ERA of 9.00.

It was an interesting decision in the eighth to intentionally walk Carlos May to pitch to Melton.  They gained a platoon advantage, but they also put the go-ahead run on base.  It didn't work, as Melton singled.  I gather the infield single must have deflected off shortstop Leo Cardenas to second baseman Quilici, as the out went 6-4-2.  Another possibility is that it was a slow roller, Cardenas tried and failed to get a forceout at second base, and Knoop tried to catch the Twins by surprise by trying to score from second.

This was the major league debut for "not the" Steve Barber.  It was one of two career saves he had, the other coming in an extra-inning game in June.  I don't know how many pitchers have gotten a save in their major league debut.  While I don't suppose it's all that rare, I do suspect it's a relatively short list.

This was also the major league debut for Minnie Mendoza.  He appeared in sixteen major league games, never starting one (although he came close, as we'll see in a couple of weeks).  I don't know what the non-pitcher record is for most games played without starting one, but sixteen seems like kind of a lot.  Usually they'll give a guy a token start someplace along the line.  On the other hand, he had played for sixteen years in the minors before coming up to the majors with the Twins at age thirty-six.  He spent eight seasons in AA, all for Charlotte.  I'm sure he'd love to have played more, but I suspect he was also very happy just to be in the majors at all.

I had never heard of Gene Rounsaville, and as I look at his record I see why.  This was one of eight games in which he appeared, and he pitched a total of 6.1 innings, so this game represents nearly a third of his major league career.  He was actually unscored upon in six of his eight appearances, but he gave up a total of eight runs (seven earned) in the other two, giving him a career ERA of 9.95.  He was twenty-five years old in 1970, and had a fine season in AAA, but this was his last professional season.  In three AAA seasons, he was 13-13, 3.41, 1.23 WHIP in 235 innings.  Apparently he had an arm injury of some sort that made him decide to retire.  If not for that, Gene Rounsaville might have had a decent major league career.  His nickname was "Butch".

Record:  The Twins were 2-0, tied for first place with California in the American League West.