1970 Rewind: Game Forty-six

BOSTON 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN BOSTON

Date:  Thursday, June 4.

Batting star:  Rod Carew was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Steve Barber pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks.

Opposition stars:  Carl Yastrzemski was 3-for-3 with a walk.  Mike Andrews was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fifth), two walks, and two runs.  Reggie Smith was 2-for-4.  Billy Conigliaro was 1-for-5 with a home run (his fourth) and two runs.  Sonny Siebert pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and one walk and striking out four.

The game:  The Twins had two on in the first and the Red Sox had two in both the first and second, but it was scoreless until the third, when singles by Andrews, Yastrzemski, and Rico Petrocelli gave Boston a 1-0 lead.  The Twins tied it 1-1 in the fifth when Paul Ratliff singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a Carew single.

But that was as good as it got for the Twins.  The Red Sox got the lead back in the bottom of the fifth when Andrews walked and Yastrzemski and Smith singled.  They took control in the sixth.  Tom Satriano was hit by a pitch, and with one out Andrews and Conigliaro hit back-to-back homers, giving Boston a 5-1 lead.  The Twins did not get a baserunner in the final three innings.

WP:  Siebert (5-2).

LP:  Jim Kaat (5-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rick Renick was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Ratliff was once again behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Alyea pinch-hit for Bill Zepp in the seventh.

Carew was batting .393.  Renick was 1-for-4 and was batting .324.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .321.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .318.

Kaat pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out four.

Presumably a game on Wednesday, June 3 was rained out.

Killebrew drew a walk in his sixth consecutive game.  He had ten walks in those games.  For his career, he led the league in walks four times, drew over a hundred walks seven times, and drew ninety or more walks ten times.

Record:  The Twins were 31-15, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of California.  They had the best winning percentage in the league at .674, bested only by the Big Red Machine in the National League (.712).

Happy Birthday–November 20

Joe Sommer (1958)
Kenesaw Landis (1866)
Clark Griffith (1869)
George McBride (1880)
Leon Cadore (1890)
Larry Benton (1897)
Jay Ritchie (1936)
Herm Starrette (1938)
Jay Johnstone (1945)
Rick Monday (1945)
Ron Cash (1949)
Alex Arias (1967)
Gabe White (1971)
J. D. Drew (1975)
Sam Fuld (1981)
Brock Peterson (1983)
Greg Holland (1985)
Cody Allen (1988)

Kenesaw Landis, as I'm sure you know, was the first commissioner of baseball, holding the job from 1920 until his death in 1944.

Pitcher Clark Griffith was a star for the Cubs before jumping to the White Sox when the American League was formed. Later, of course, he was the owner of the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington. His adopted son, Calvin, brought the team to Minnesota.

Ron Cash was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 1969, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 20

1970 Rewind: Game Forty-five

BOSTON 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN BOSTON

Date:  Tuesday, June 2.

Batting stars:  Jim Perry was 2-for-2.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Dick Woodson pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mike Andrews was 4-for-5 with a double.  Tom Satriano was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Billy Conigliaro was 1-for-2 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs.  Ray Culp struck out nine in a complete game, giving up one run on eight hits and three walks.

The game:  Andrews led off the first with a single, Carl Yastrezemski walked, and Rico Petrocelli hit an RBI double to put the Red Sox up 1-0.  They missed a chance to get more, however, as they left the bases loaded.

The Twins missed chances to tie it, wasting a leadoff double in the second and stranding two runners in the third.  Conigliaro led off the fourth with a home run.  With one out, Satriano and Culp singled and Andrews had an RBI double to make 3-0.  Again, Boston missed a chance to get more, as they again left the bases loaded.

The Twins got on the board in the fifth when Perry singled, Cesar Tovar walked, and Rod Carew hit an RBI double.  Again, though, the Twins stranded two men.  Boston got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Conigliaro was hit by a pitch and scored on a Luis Alvarado double.

Reese again had a leadoff double in the sixth and went nowhere.  The Red Sox added one more run in the bottom of the sixth when Andrews, Yastrzemski, and George Scott singled.  The Twins did not get a hit after the Reese double leading off the sixth.

WP:  Culp (4-6).

LP:  Perry (6-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Paul Ratliff was again behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Mitterwald entered the game in the sixth as part of a double switch.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Woodson in the ninth.

Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .390.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .328.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was batting .325.

Perry was "a good hitter for a pitcher".  His lifetime batting numbers are .199/.228/.247.

Teams were trying to avoid pitching to Killebrew when they could.  He had drawn at least one walk in each of his last five games, and in thirteen of fourteen.  He had drawn nine walks in his last five games.

The 1970 Red Sox would've score a lot of points in Scrabble.  Yastrzemski, Petrocelli, Conigliaro, Alvarado, and Satriano were all in their lineup in this game.  At one time, one of the marks of a true fan was being able to spell "Yastrzemski".

This was the first of a seven-game road trip which would take the Twins to Boston, Washington, and New York.

Record:  The Twins were 31-14, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.

November 19, 2021: Forgotten Holiday

Someone at work asked if people were going to be around for our usual Tuesday meeting and I thought, yeah, why not? Then I remembered next week is Thanksgiving. We won't be traveling as the family is in MN and after kids we decided only the November or December holiday gets a visit; not both, and it's usually the latter.

So, uh, what are your Thanksgiving plans?

Happy Birthday–November 19

Billy Sunday (1862)
Everett Scott (1892)
Roy Campanella (1921)
Joe Morgan (1930)
Manny Jimenez (1938)
Larry Haney (1942)
Bobby Tolan (1945)
Bob Boone (1947)
Dickie Noles (1956)
Mike Winters (1958)
Gary Disarcina (1967)
Mario Valdez (1974)
Clay Condrey (1975)
Ryan Howard (1979)
Jeff Gray (1981)
Jonathan Sanchez (1982)
Bryan Holaday (1987)
Michael Tonkin (1989)
Ian Gibaut (1993)
Lewin Diaz (1996)

The Joe Morgan listed above is not Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. The Joe Morgan born today is the Joe Morgan who once managed the Red Sox.

Larry Haney is the cousin of ex-Twin Mike Cubbage.

Mike Winters has been a major league umpire since 1990.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 19

1970 Rewind: Game Forty-four

MINNESOTA 7, NEW YORK 6 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his thirteenth and fourteenth.  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Stan Williams pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits and three walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Danny Cater was 2-for-4.  Pete Ward hit a pinch-hit home run.  Roy White was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Gary Waslewski pitched two perfect innings of relief, striking out one.

The game:  In the second, Cater singled, Thurman Munson reached on an error, and John Ellis walked, loading the bases with one out.  Gene Michael singled home two runs.  Mel Stottlemyre walked, re-loading the bases.  Horace Clarke hit a two-run single to make it 4-0 Yankees.

The Twins came back.  In the bottom of the second, Jim Holt and Leo Cardenas walked and Paul Ratliff singled, cutting the lead to 4-1.  Killebrew homered in the third to make it 4-2.

White homered in the fifth to make it 5-2, but the Twins again came back in the bottom of the inning.  Singles by Jim KaatCesar Tovar, and Carew brought home one run and Tony Oliva doubled in another.  Killebrew walked to load the bases and Rich Reese delivered a two-run single, giving the Twins their first lead at 6-5.  But Ward homered in the seventh to tie it 6-6.

That was the last hit by either team until the tenth, when Cater led off with a single.  A pair of productive outs got him to third, but he was stranded there.  Killebrew led off the tenth with a home run to walk it off for the Twins.

WP:  Williams (5-0).

LP:  Lindy McDaniel (4-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was again in left in place of Brant Alyea and Ratliff was again in place of George Mitterwald.

Carew was batting .394.  Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .330.  Killebrew was batting .329.  Williams had an ERA of 1.59.

Kaat started and pitched five innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks and striking out two.  Stottlemyre pitched four innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks and striking out none.  They batted better than they pitched, going a combined 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

This tied for the longest relief appearance for Williams this season--he would again go five innings on July 7.  These days, of course, it's common for the starter not to go five innings.

The Twins took two of three from the Yankees in this series.

Record:  The Twins were 31-13, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of California.

Happy Birthday–November 18

Deacon McGuire (1863)
Jack Coombs (1882)
Les Mann (1892)
Gene Mauch (1925)
Roy Sievers (1926)
Danny McDevitt (1932)
Cal Koonce (1940)
Jim Shellenback (1943)
Steve Henderson (1952)
Luis Pujols (1955)
Mike Felder (1961)
Jamie Moyer (1962)
Dante Bichette (1963)
Ron Coomer (1966)
Tom Gordon (1967)
Gary Sheffield (1968)
Shawn Camp (1975)
David Ortiz (1975)
Steve Bechler (1979)
C. J. Wilson (1980)

Roy Sievers was a star for the franchise when it was in Washington in the 1950s.

There are eighty-one current and former major league players born on this day. I'm pretty sure that's the most on any day.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 18