Charlie Ebbets (1859)
Solly Hofman (1882)
Pete Richert (1939)
Jim Bibby (1944)
Darrell Brown (1955)
Terry Felton (1957)
Jesse Barfield (1959)
R. A. Dickey (1974)
Karim Garcia (1975)
Scott Randall (1975)
Dana Eveland (1983)
Jose Mijares (1984)
Charlie Ebbets was the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1898-1925. Ebbets Field was named after him.
MINNESOTA 9, DETROIT 6 IN DETROIT
Date: Thursday, May 7.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eighth. Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fifth), a walk, a stolen base, and three runs. Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, a stolen base (his second), and two runs. Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a walk.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Willie Horton was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Dick McAuliffe was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs. Bill Freehan was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.
The game: Cesar Tovar led off the game with a single and Oliva hit a two-run homer to give the Twins the early lead. In the second, singles by Jim Holt and Paul Ratliff were followed by an RBI ground out to make it 3-0. In the fourth Oliva reached on a fielder's choice, went to second on a Killebrew single, and scored on Reese's single to make it 4-0. In the seventh, walks to Carew and Oliva were followed by Killebrew's three-run homer to increase the lead to 7-0.
Meanwhile, Twins starter Jim Perry had allowed just one hit over six innings. Why then, you ask, is he not listed as a "pitching star"? Well, in the seventh, McAuliffe led of with a walk and Dalton Jones singled. With one out, Norm Cash got the Tigers on the board with an RBI double. Horton then followed with a two-run triple, cutting the lead to 7-3. Ron Perranoski then came into the game, but Horton scored on an error, dropping the lead to 7-4.
The Twins bounced back with a two-out rally in the eighth. Tovar walked and scored on a Carew double. Oliva singled, moving Carew to third, and the two of them then pulled off a double steal of second and home to make the score 9-4.
Detroit did not quit. In the bottom of the eighth McAuliffe singled and Al Kaline reached on an error, putting men on first and second with two out. Mickey Stanley delivered an RBI single to make it 9-5. Horton singled to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate, but Jim Northrup grounded out to end the threat. Freehan hit a home run in the ninth to round out the scoring, but the Tigers did not get the tying run to bat again.
WP: Perry (5-1).
LP: Joe Niekro (3-2).
S: Perranoski (8).
Notes: Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea. Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald. Mitterwald pinch-hit for Ratliff in the fifth and went behind the plate. Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third base in the seventh.
Carew was batting .362. Oliva was batting .354. Killebrew was batting .337. Tovar was 1-for-3 and was batting .303. Perry allowed four runs (three earned) in 6.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.50. Perranoski allowed two runs (one earned) in 2.2 innings and had an ERA of 1.74.
Holt was 1-for-5 and was batting .190. Mitterwald was 0-for-3 and was batting .194.
Future Twin Niekro lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and no walks and striking out four. He was not the knuckleballing Joe Niekro at this stage of his career, but was more a conventional pitcher.
Perranoski had now pitched nine innings in the last seven games, appearing in five of them.
Carew was back, having missed two weeks and thirteen games. His batting picked up right where it left off.
I don't know if McAuliffe quite qualifies as a "Twins killer", but in 1970 he batted .295/.415/.455 against them. That's pretty good, especially when for the season he batted .234/.358/.345. The only team against who he did better in 1970 was Milwaukee--.297/.422/.486. For his career he batted ,267/.348/.453 against the Twins with 23 home runs. I remember McAuliffe as primarily a singles hitter, but my memory is faulty. He hit double figure home runs in ten consecutive seasons and hit over twenty three times, with a high of twenty-four in 1964. He finished with 197 home runs.
The Twins had now taken two of three from Baltimore and two of three from Detroit on their eastern trip. They next travel to Cleveland for the last leg of their journey.
Record: The Twins were 16-8, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.
Wolves with a real nice game on the road against the defending champs. Really hoping this keeps shaping up to be a fun year.
DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN DETROIT
Date: Wednesday, May 6.
Batting stars: Leo Cardenas was 2-for-2 with two walks. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Al Kaline was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs. Jim Northrup was 2-for-3 with a walk. Ken Szotkiewicz was 1-for-4 with a home run. Les Cain pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and six walks and striking out two.
The game: The Tigers took the lead in the first inning. Dick McAuliffe led off the inning with a single. With one out, Kaline walked and Norm Cash delivered an RBI single. With two out, Northrup and Bill Freehan each singled in a run, making it 3-0 Detroit.
The Twins put two men on with one out in the second, the third, and the fifth but each time a double play took them out of the inning. They also hit into a double play in the fourth and the sixth, making five consecutive innings in which they hit into a double play. I don't know the record for the most consecutive innings hitting into a double play, but five can't be too far off of it.
It stayed 3-0 until the sixth, when Szotkiewicz homered to make it 4-0. In the seventh Kaline walked and scored on Willie Horton's double to make it 5-0.
The Twins finally got on the board in the eighth. Cardenas walked and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer. But the Twins did not get a man on base after that.
WP: Cain (1-1).
LP: Dave Boswell (0-4).
S: None.
Notes: Bob Allison was again at first base in place of Rich Reese. Frank Quilici remained at second in the absence of Rod Carew.
Rick Renick pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh and Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit for Boswell in the seventh. Mendoza remained in the game at second base as part of a double switch. Carew pinch-hit for Steve Barber in the ninth.
Carew was 0-for-1 and was batting .349. Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .347. Brant Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .329. Killebrew was batting .316. Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .302.
Mendoza was 0-for-1 and was batting .091. Allison was 0-for-4 and was batting .100. Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .179. Boswell gave up four runs in six innings and had an ERA of 6.48.
This was one of three career home runs for Szotkiewicz. It gave him three RBIs for the series. As you may recall, he had nine for his career, which means he had one-third of his career RBIs in two games against the Twins.
Les Cain was a rotation starter from 1970-1971. This was the better year--12-7, 3.84. In both seasons he had a WHIP of 1.47, mainly because he walked 5.4 batters per nine innings. He walked six in this game. He also got five double plays in this game, which makes me think he might have induced a lot of ground balls. That would be explain why he was able to stay in the rotation for two years despite the walks.
Record: The Twins were 15-8, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.
New Snail Mail SZN!!!
(3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
Loading... Tommy Tucker (1863)
Frank Smith (1879)
Doc Lavan (1890)
Johnny Neun (1900)
Joe Page (1917)
Bob Veale (1935)
Sammy Stewart (1954)
Bob Melvin (1961)
Lenny Harris (1964)
Larry Casian (1965)
Juan Guzman (1966)
Braden Looper (1974)
Nate McLouth (1981)
Jeremy Bonderman (1983)
Daniel Palka (1991)
This is my thirty-second wedding anniversary. Coincidentally, it's Mrs. A's thirty-second wedding anniversary, too. She has announced that she is picking up my option for another year, for which I am most grateful.
Johnny Neun managed two major league teams, the Yankees in 1946 and Cincinnati from 1947-1948. Each time, he was replaced by someone who was nicknamed “Bucky”.
José Urquidy
vs
Max Fried
World Series time. Final chances to watch MLB baseball until Spring Training.
Few things better than a nice warm bowl of soup on a rainy autumn day like today. I recently made a batch of Sweet Potato & Pear Soup, and thought I'd share it here, since it's perfect today (Note: the image is not the right soup, but the color is close enough). I was attracted to the recipe by the simplicity, and I added a few things (namely the ginger) to make it my own.
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatos
2 firm pears
1 small onion
1 inch ginger, grated
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 stick butter
1 cup cream
salt & pepper to taste
Directions
1. Dice the veggies into 1/2 inch pieces
2. Melt the butter and cook the ginger and onion until the onion is translucent, but not carmelized. Add the other veggies & cook for 3 - 5 minutes.
3. Add the stock, bring to boil, then simmer for 1/2 hour, until everything is tender.
4. Blend*
5. Cool somewhat, then slowly mix in cream, salt & pepper to taste.
That's it. So easy, and so good.
*I bought myself an immersion blender with gift cards I'd gotten for my birthday. One of my best birthday gifts ever. Not even a super top-of-the-line one or anything, but it works so well and the whole process is so much easier than transferring to blenders and cleaning up additional equipment. Highly recommend.
YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE!
Who would you PREFER win the World Series
Total Voters: 16
Loading ...MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 5 IN DETROIT
Date: Tuesday, May 5.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a triple, two runs, and six RBIs. Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, and two runs.
Pitching stars: Luis Tiant pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and nine (!) walks and striking out four. Ron Perranoski pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one. Twins pitchers issued thirteen walks.
Opposition stars: Ken Szotkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs. Dick McAuliffe was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and three walks. Al Kaline was 1-for-5 with a home run (his fourth).
The game: The Twins took the early lead, as Cesar Tovar led off with a walk and Oliva hit a two-run homer. The Tigers loaded the bases on three walks in the first and did it again in the second, but did not score either time. In the third, Cardenas hit a one-out double and Oliva hit a two-out single to put the Twins ahead 3-0.
Detroit got on the board in the fourth. Szotkiewicz got the first Tiger hit of the game, a single, and McAuliffe hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 3-2. The Twins got the run back with interest in the fifth. With one out, singles by Tovar and Cardenas and a walk to Killebrew loaded the bases. Oliva followed with a bases-clearing triple, making the score 6-2. Rich Reese delivered a two-out-single to make it 7-2.
Detroit threatened in the seventh with two walks, but did not score. Killebrew homered in the bottom of the seventh, moving the lead to 8-2. In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases again, this time getting two walks and a single. Szotkiewicz hit a two-run single to cut the margin to 8-4, but Elliott Maddox struck out to end the inning. Kaline homered in the eighth to close out the scoring. Detroit got two on in the eighth after the Kaline homer, and got two more on in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with two out, but Don Wert flied out to end the game.
WP: Tiant (5-0).
LP: Mickey Lolich (4-3).
S: Perranoski (7).
Notes: Bob Allison was at first base in place of Reese. Frank Quilici remained at second in the continuing absence of Rod Carew. Reese pinch-hit for Allison in the fifth and stayed in the game at first base. Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left in the seventh. Minnie Mendoza replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.
Oliva took over the team batting lead at .352. Alyea was 0-for-4 and was batting .328. Killebrew was batting .320. Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .315. Tiant had an ERA of 2.86. Stan Williams gave up his first earned run of the season in 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 0.71. Perranoski had an ERA of 1.50.
Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .167. Quilici was 0-for-4 and was batting .184. Reese was 1-for-2 and was batting .191. Mitterwald was 1-for-4 and was batting .193.
Lolich pitched 4.1 innings, giving up seven runs on six hits and three walks and striking out four. In his two games against the Twins, he had given up twelve earned runs in ten innings. In his six other starts, he had given up nine earned runs in fifty-two innings.
Twins pitchers walked thirteen Tigers, but amazingly, only two of them scored. Detroit was 2-for-11 with men in scoring position and stranded fifteen runners. They had twenty baserunners in nine innings, and managed to score only five of them.
This was the only year of Ken Szotkiewicz' career, and 22.2 percent of his career RBIs (two of nine) came in the seventh inning of this game. An infielder, he batted .107/.216/.226 in 84 at-bats. The Twins had actually drafted him in the first round of the secondary phase of the June draft in 1967, but he did not sign. He had not played above AA, and only had 116 at-bats there, before making the Tigers at the start of the 1970 season. Surprisingly, he stayed all year as a backup shortstop. The regular was Cesar Gutierrez, who only batted .243/.275/.299. Szotkiewicz had not hit much in his limited time in the minors, and would not hit much after he was sent back down in 1971. The only good offensive season he had came in 1974, when he was a twenty-seven year old in AA. Presumably he was considered a good defender.
The usage of Perranoski continues to be interesting. You remember that, in April he had appeared in five of six games, pitching 9.2 innings. He then got five days off. Now, he has appeared in four of five games, pitching 6.1 innings.
Record: The Twins were 15-7, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.
