Monthly Archives: November 2021

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Fifty-five

MINNESOTA 5, WASHINGTON 3 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer (his sixteenth), two walks, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Ron Perranoski struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Ed Stroud was 2-for-4.  Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his nineteenth) and two walks.

The game:  The Senators took the early lead, as Stroud hit a one-out single in the first and Howard followed with a two-run homer.  Rod Carew hit a one-out double in the bottom of the first but was stranded at third base.  The Twins got on the board in the third, however, when Cesar Tovar hit a one-out triple and scored on Oliva's two-out single.

Washington got the run back in the fifth.  Jim French led off the inning with a walk.  Stroud drew a two-out walk, putting men on first and second.  Howard was then intentionally walked, loading the bases, and Mike Epstein drew an accidental walk, forcing in a run.  Rick Reichardt grounded out to end the inning, but the Senators led 3-1.

The Twins got one back in the sixth when Killebrew drew a one-out walk, went to third on a Rich Reese double, and scored on a ground out.  They finally took the lead in the seventh.  Tovar was hit by a pitch with one out.  With two down, Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with a three-run homer, putting Minnesota ahead 5-3.  That's where it stayed, as the Senators got only one hit in the last two innings.

WP:  Zepp (3-0).

LP:  Joe Coleman (5-4).

S:  Perranoski (16).

Notes:  Jim Holt was again in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Zepp in the seventh.  Frank Quilici replaced him and went to third base as part of a double switch, with Perranoski replacing Killebrew in the lineup.

Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .370.  Oliva was batting .336.  Killebrew was batting .326.  Tom Hall gave up no runs in two-thirds of an inning and had an ERA of 2.45.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.97.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.91.

Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .188.  Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Dave Boswell allowed three runs in four innings and had an ERA of 7.09.

Coleman struck out nine in 7.1 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and three walks.

This was Boswell's tenth start of the season, and he had yet to have a game score as high as fifty.  He'd gone 20-12, 3.23 the year before.  He clearly wasn't right, but Bill Rigney continued to run him out there.  It would be another month and a half before Boswell finally left the rotation, and he never had a good season again.

Some interesting managerial decisions regarding the other team's big slugger in this game.  In the fifth, Washington had men on first and second with two out, leading 2-1.  Despite the fact that the only open base was third, Rigney ordered an intentional walk to Frank Howard, moving two men into scoring position.  It backfired to an extent, as Epstein walked to force in a run, but that was the only run the Senators got and it was better than having Howard hit a three-run homer.  In the seventh, the Twins also had men on first and second with two out, trailing 3-2.  Washington manager Ted Williams had his pitcher pitch to Harmon Killebrew, who hit a three-run homer to provide the margin of victory.  That's not to say Rigney was right and Williams was wrong--strategy is one thing, and how well you execute the strategy is another.  It's just interesting that managers went opposite ways in a similar situation in the same game.

Record:  The Twins were 37-18, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 30

Mordecai Davidson (1845)
Frank Killen (1870)
Josh Billings (1891)
Firpo Marberry (1898)
Clyde Sukeforth (1901)
Steve Hamilton (1935)
Craig Swan (1950)
Juan Berenguer (1954)
Dave Engle (1956)
Steve Shields (1958)
Bob Tewksbury (1960)
Bo Jackson (1962)
Gary Wayne (1962)
Mark Lewis (1969)
Ray Durham (1971)
Matt Lawton (1971)
Shane Victorino (1980)
Rich Harden (1981)
Luis Valbuena (1985)

Mordecai Davidson was the owner of the Louisville Colonels in the late 1880s.  Under financial pressure, he tried to save money in a variety of ways, including fining players each time the team lost.  As a result, he is credited with inspiring the first baseball players' strike.  Nobody ever seems to name their kid "Mordecai" any more.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 30 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 10, BOSTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 14.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a walk.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jim Holt was 2-for-5 with a home run, a triple, two runs, and three RBIs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out seven in five innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks.  Stan Williams pitched four shutout innings, giving up two hits and three walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  George Thomas was 3-for-5 with a double.  Billy Conigliaro was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.  Jose Santiago struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Red Sox scored in the first inning as Thomas singled and scored from first on a Carl Yastrzemski double.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the first when Cesar Tovar singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch.

It stayed 1-1 until the fourth.  Boston took the lead when, with one out, Rico Petrocelli and George Scott singled and Conigliaro delivered an RBI double.  Tom Satriano was intentionally walked, loading the bases with still only one out, but Sonny Siebert and Mike Andrews struck out to end the inning.  It cost the Red Sox, as the Twins responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Cardenas led off the inning with a single and scored on a Holt triple.  Mitterwald followed with an RBI single and was bunted to second.  With two out Carew singled home a run and went to second on the throw home, which enabled him to score on an Oliva single and put the Twins up 5-2.

The Twins added a run in the fifth, although they missed a chance for more.  Reese and Cardenas led off the inning with singles.  With one out, Mitterwald walked and then pinch-hitter Rick Renick walked, forcing in a run to make the score 6-2.  The bases were still loaded, but a pair of force outs thwarted the Twins.

Boston loaded the bases with two out in the sixth with two walks and an error, but Thomas flied out to end the inning.  That was the last time the Red Sox threatened to get back into the game.  The Twins added four runs in the ninth.  Carew, Oliva, and Killebrew all singled, bringing home one run.  A ground out brought home another, and Holt hit a two-run homer to round out the scoring.

WP:  Blyleven (2-1).

LP:  Siebert (5-4).

S:  Williams (3).

Notes:  Holt was again in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Renick pinch-hit for Blyleven in the sixth.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.

Carew was batting .373.  Oliva was batting .333.  Killebrew was batting .324.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.37.  Williams had an ERA of 1.90.

Pitchers batting does lead to some interesting managerial decisions sometimes.  Leading 2-1 in the fourth, the Red Sox had the bases loaded with one out and Siebert up to bat.  Boston manager Eddie Kasko allowed him to bat, he struck out, so did Mike Andrews, and the inning was over.  The Twins scored four in the bottom of the fourth and the Red Sox never led again.  On the other hand, leading 5-2 in the fifth, the Twins had the bases loaded with one out and Blyleven up to bat.  Renick pinch-hit and walked, forcing in a run.  I'm really not in a position to say either decision was right or wrong, I just find them interesting.  I suspect if the Twins pitcher had been one with a reputation of being a good hitter, say Jim Kaat or Jim Perry, Bill Rigney might have allowed him to bat.

And if you're wondering, Siebert did fall into the "good hitter for a pitcher" category, with a lifetime average of .173.  His best year at-bat would be 1971, when he batted .266 with six home runs in 79 at-bats.  Blyleven had a career average of .131 with no home runs and only seven doubles in 451 at-bats.

The four ninth-inning runs were given up by ex-Twin Lee Stange.  Future Twin Ken Brett pitched one inning, giving up two walks but no runs.

As you can see above, seven of the Twins' batters had two or more hits.  They had sixteen for the game, so they were spread pretty evenly.  The Red Sox stranded twelve men and were 1-for-15 with men in scoring position.

Record:  The Twins were 36-18, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of California.  They had the best record in the American League, but trailed National League leader Cincinnati, who was 44-17.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 29

Tom Hughes (1878)
Irv Noren (1924)
Minnie Minoso (1925)
Vin Scully (1927)
George Thomas (1937)
Dick McAuliffe (1939)
Bill Freehan (1941)
Otto Velez (1950)
Mike Easler (1950)
Rick Anderson (1956)
Joe Price (1956)
Dennis Burtt (1957)
Howard Johnson (1960)
Bob Hamelin (1967)
Mariano Rivera (1969)
Brian Wolfe (1980)
Guillermo Quiroz (1981)
Craig Gentry (1983)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 29 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Fifty-three

BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, June 13.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double.  Rod Carew was 2-for-5 with a triple.

Pitching star: Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  George Thomas was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a hit-by-pitch, and three runs.  Reggie Smith was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Ray Culp pitched eight innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on nine hits and three walks and striking out three.

The game:  Thomas doubled with one out in the first, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the first when Tovar led off with a single-plus-error, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch.

The Twins took the lead in the second.  Paul Ratliff led off the inning with a walk.  With one out Tovar, Carew, and Oliva all singled, scoring two runs and putting them up 3-1.

It stayed 3-1 until the sixth.  Thomas led off with a double and scored on a Carl Yastrzemski single to cut the lead to 3-2.  Smith then doubled, putting men on second and third with none out.  The next two batters were retired, but Billy Conigliaro hit a two-run single to put Boston ahead 4-3.  Singles by Jerry Moses and Culp resulted in another run, making it 5-3 Red Sox.  In the seventh, George Thomas singled, Carl Yastrzemski walked, and an error scored Thomas to make it 6-3.

The Twins rallied in the ninth.  Leo Cardenas reached on an error, Ratliff singled, and Rick Renick walked, loading the bases with none out and bringing up the top of the Twins order.  Tovar hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4, but Carew struck out and Oliva grounded to second, ending the game.

WP:  Culp (5-6).

LP:  Jim Kaat (5-4).

S:  Sparky Lyle (9).

Notes:  We once again had Jim Holt in left and Ratliff behind the plate, replacing Brant Alyea and George Mitterwald, respectively.  Charlie Manuel and Renick were used as pinch-hitters for pitchers.

Carew was batting .372.  Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .330.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .315.  Williams had an ERA of 2.09.

Kaat had pitched in three of the last five Twins games, starting two of them.  He again wasn't awful, but wasn't very good, either:  five innings, four runs, seven hits, no walks, no strikeouts.  I'm sure Kaat was more than willing to pitch that often, and I'm sure he said he felt fine, but it wasn't really working very well.

We tend to remember Sparky Lyle as a Yankee, but he was a fine reliever in Boston for five years before coming to New York.  As a Red Sock, he was 22-17, 2.85, 69 saves, 1.29 WHIP in 331.1 innings (160 games, all in relief).

Record:  The Twins were 35-18, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of California.