Monthly Archives: December 2021

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-six

MINNESOTA 9, CHICAGO 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Saturday, June 27.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer (his ninth) and three runs.  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a home run (his seventh), two runs, and two RBIs.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched a complete game, giving up one run on two hits and a walk and striking out eight.

Opposition stars:  Bob Spence was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Floyd Weaver struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  Tovar led off the game with a single, Leo Cardenas reached on an error, and Oliva hit a three-run homer to put the Twins up 3-0.  The Twins got a pair of singles in the second and did not score.  Oliva led off the third with a single and went to second when the White Sox tried to throw behind him at first base.  Reese then delivered an RBI single to make it 4-0.  Tovar homered in the fourth to increase to lead to 5-0.

The game calmed down a bit from there, but in the sixth Thompson singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a Tovar single, making it 6-0.  Spence homered in the eighth to get Chicago on the board at 6-1.  The Twins then scored three in the ninth.  Oliva singled, Reese drew a two-out walk, and RBI singles by Jim Holt, Mitterwald, and Thompson followed, bringing the final score to 9-1.

WP:  Blyleven (3-2).

LP:  Garry Janeski (7-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Bob Allison was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Thompson was at second in place of Rod Carew.    Holt replaced Allison in left in the sixth.  Frank Quilici replaced Harmon Killebrew in the ninth, with Quilici going to second and Thompson moving to third.

Oliva was batting .321.  Killebrew was 0-for-5 and was batting .302.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.82.

Thompson raised his average to .167.

The stolen base in this game was the first of Mitterwald's career.  He stole 14 bases in his career, with a high of three (done four times).  He was caught stealing 17 times.

Janeski pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out three.  He was a rookie in 1970 and remained in the starting rotation all season despite going 10-17, 4.77, 1.51 WHIP.  He was traded to Washington after the season for Rick Reichardt and had a poor season there.  He was in AAA from 1972-1974, making four appearances for Texas in 1972.

Spence's home run was the first of four major league home runs he hit, all in 1970.  His entire major league career (1969-1971) was spent with the White Sox, but 1970 was the only time he got more than 27 at-bats (130).  His numbers were .202/.265/.306.  He hit well in AAA--.286/.392/.493--but couldn't translate that to major league success, although he didn't get very much of a chance, either.  He was a first baseman, and Chicago was playing Gail Hopkins at first base, so you'd think they might have given him more of a shot.  But by 1971 they had Carlos May, and in 1972 they had Dick Allen, so Spence wasn't going to get a shot by then.

Record:  The Twins were 42-24, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 11

Old Hoss Radbourn (1854)
Art Wilson (1885)
Fred Toney (1888)
Swish Nicholson (1914)
Hal Brown (1924)
Lee Maye (1934)
Mike Henneman (1961)
Thomas Howard (1964)
Jay Bell (1965)
Derek Bell (1968)
Frankie Rodriguez (1972)
Joe Blanton (1980)
Dalton Pompey (1992)

In 2014, Dalton Pompey became the first big leaguer ever to have the given first name "Dalton".  In case anyone remembers Dalton Jones (whose birthday was yesterday), his given first name was James.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 11 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-five

CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN CHICAGO

Date: Friday, June 26.

Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a double. Rich Reese was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.

Pitching star: Dick Woodson struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars: Luis Aparicio was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base (his fourth) and two runs. Bob Miller pitched five innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two. Jerry Crider pitched four shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out three.

The game: Tovar led off the game with a double but did not score. In the bottom of the first Aparicio singled, went to third on Syd O'Brien's double, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead. In the second, Rich McKinney reached second on an error. Ken Berry walked and Miller singled home a run. Berry then stole third and scored on another sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Chicago.

The Twins got on the board in the third. Jim Kaat was hit by a pitch, Tovar singled, a ground out moved the runners up, and another ground out brought home a run. Reese homered leading off the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2.

But that's as close as the Twins got. In the fifth Aparicio walked, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on, yes, another sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.

The Twins had two on with none out in the sixth but did not score. They got a one-out single in the ninth, bringing the tying run to bat, but again could not do anything with it.

WP:  Miller (3-3).

LP:  Kaat (6-6).

S:  Crider (1).

Notes:  Jim Holt remained in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.

Herman Hill and Bob Allison pinch-hit for pitchers.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the ninth.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Thompson in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .315.  Killebrew was batting .309.  Bill Zepp did not give up a run in two-thirds of an inning and had an ERA of 2.70.  Woodson had an ERA of 1.86.

Thompson was batting zero (0-for-7).  Hill was batting zero (0-for-5).  Mitterwald was 0-for-3 and was batting .195.

Kaat pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks and striking out two.

Both White Sox pitchers had pitched for the Twins in 1969.

The Twins had scored thirteen runs in their last five games.  In each of those games, the opposition started an average to below average pitcher.

The Twins were 3-5 in their road trip against some of the worst teams in the league.

Record:  The Twins were 41-24, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 10

Jimmy Johnston (1889)
Rudy Hernandez (1931)
Jaime Jarrin (1935)
Doc Edwards (1936)
Bob Priddy (1939)
Dalton Jones (1943)
Steve Renko (1944)
Tim Kurkjian (1956)
Paul Assenmacher (1960)
Doug Henry (1963)
Luis Polonia (1963)
Mel Rojas (1966)
Joe Mays (1975)
Dan Wheeler (1977)
Gregorio Petit (1984)
Pedro Florimon (1986)

Pitcher Rudy Hernandez was a member of the old Washington franchise in 1960, but was chosen by the new Washington franchise in the expansion draft in December of 1960.

Jaime Jarrin has been the Dodgers' Spanish-language broadcaster since 1959.  For all the accolades Vin Scully has gotten (and they're deserved), it would be nice if Jarrin got a little more attention.

Tim Kurkjian has been a baseball writer/reporter since 1978.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Moss' son.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 10 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-four

MILWAUKEE 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Thursday, June 25.

Batting star:  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out six in 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Bill Zepp pitched two perfect innings.  Steve Barber pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two walks.

Opposition stars:  Lew Krausse pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  Russ Snyder was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Brewers jumped on Twins starter Jim Perry for three runs in the first inning.  With one out Snyder doubled and scored on a Dave May single.  Tito Francona walked and Bob Burda delivered an RBI single.  Another run scored on a ground out, making it 3-0 Milwaukee.  In the second Phil Roof singled and Tommy Harper drew a one-out walk, chasing Perry from the game.  Hall came in and gave up a run-scoring single to Snyder and it was 4-0 Brewers.

The Twins did not get a hit until the fifth, when Reese hit a one-out single.  They got on the board in the seventh when, with one out, Tony Oliva doubled, Harmon Killebrew singled, and Reese drove in a run with a single.  That brought the tying run up to bat, but a pair of fly outs ended the inning.  The Twins got only one more baserunner, when George Mitterwald reached on an error in the eighth.

WP:  Krausse (5-10).

LP:  Perry (10-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Danny Thompson made his major league debut in this game, playing second base.  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Herman Hill and Paul Ratliff were used as pinch-hitter for pitchers.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .320.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .301.  Hall had an ERA of 2.41.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.75.  Barber had an ERA of 2.70.

Mitterwald was 0-for-3 and was batting .199.

Perry lasted only 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks and striking out one.  It seems like a really quick hook for that era--I wonder if he was battling an injury or illness.  If so, it was minor, because he made his next start and did well.

Krausse had a few good years and also some not-very-good years.  This was one of the not-very-good ones, as he went 13-18, 4.75, 1.40 WHIP.  His game score of 82 in this game was his second-highest of the season, topped only by a shutout of the White Sox on July 7.  He did have eight complete games in 1970, his career high.

This game was a make-up of a rained out game on May 15.

Record:  The Twins were 41-23, in first place in the American League West, three games behind California.