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Loading... Monthly Archives: January 2022
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Happy Birthday–January 18
Eddie Moore (1899)
Danny Kaye (1913)
Mike Fornieles (1932)
Chuck Cottier (1936)
Satch Davidson (1936)
Curt Flood (1938)
Carl Morton (1944)
Billy Grabarkewitz (1946)
Sachio Kinugasa (1947)
Scott McGregor (1954)
Dave Geisel (1955)
Brady Anderson (1964)
Mike Lieberthal (1972)
Wandy Rodriguez (1979)
Michael Pineda (1989)
Entertainer Danny Kaye was one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners.
Satch Davidson was a National League umpire from 1969-1984.
Sachio Kinusaga played in 2,215 games in Japan from 1970-1987.
Six players born on this day made their major league debuts in 2017: Jaycob Brugman, Max Fried, Jarlin Garcia, Kyle Martin, Alex Mejia, and Gift Ngoepe. I don't know, but I suspect this may be a record.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Scot's oldest son.
Right-hander Jose Miguel "Mike" Fornieles made 11 relief appearances for Minnesota in 1963. Born in Havana, he signed with Washington as a free agent in 1950. He had two fine years in the low minors, pitching over 200 innings both years, and made his major-league debut with Washington in September of 1952. That off-season, Fornieles was traded to the White Sox for Chuck Stobbs. The White Sox never really settled on a role for Fornieles, sometimes making him a starter, sometimes a reliever. He also spent some time in AAA in both 1954 and 1955, despite not pitching all that badly in the majors. He was traded to Baltimore in May of 1956, but the Orioles didn't seem to know what to do with him, either, and traded him to Boston in June of 1957. He was a starter for the Red Sox most of 1957, but mid-way through 1958, they moved him to the bullpen, and Fornieles finally found his niche. His best year with Boston was 1960, when he went 10-5, 2.64 and led the league in appearances, saves, and games finished. He also got a vote in the MVP balloting that year. He was unable to repeat that the next season, although he made the 1961 all-star team. He had a poor year in 1962 and was having another one in 1963 when he was sold to Minnesota in the middle of June. He was with the Twins for about a month, pitching 22.2 innings and going 1-1, 4.76. He was released in mid-July. Fornieles was out of baseball for the rest of 1963, signed with Cincinnati for 1964, but was released before the season started, bringing his career to a close. After his playing career ended, Mike Fornieles became a car salesman in Florida, a job which he held until his retirement. Mike Fornieles passed away in St. Petersburg, Florida on February 11, 1998.
Right-hander Michael Francisco Pineda has been with the Twins since 2018. He was born in Yaguate, Dominican Republic and signed with Seattle as a free agent in 2005. He pitched quite well in the low minors, dominated the Southern League for half a season in 2010, did all right in AAA for the other half of the season, and was with the Mariners for all of 2011. He did well there, going 9-10, 3.74, 1.10 WHIP in 28 starts at age 22. The Mariners traded him to the Yankees after the season, but he missed all of 2012 with a torn labrum. He made ten minor league starts in 2013 and thirteen major league starts in 2014, pitching very well when he was able to pitch. He was back in the Yankees rotation for all of 2015 and 2016 and the first half of 2017. He struck out a lot of guys but otherwise was pretty average, going 26-26, 4.56. He then had Tommy John surgery and missed the second half of 2017. He was a free agent after the season and signed a two-year contract with Minnesota despite the fact that he was not expected to pitch much in 2018. And, in fact, he didn't pitch much in 2018, making four minor league appearances and throwing twelve innings. He got off to a slow start in 2019 but then started pitching very well through early September. Unfortunately, he was then suspended for using a banned substance. The suspension lasted through the first month and a half or so of 2020, which meant it lasted most of the season. He pitched well in the five starts he had. So far as a Twin, he is 13-5, 3.91, 1.19 WHIP. He turns thirty-two today. One assumes he will be an important part of the Twins' rotation in 2021.
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred One
MINNESOTA 2, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)
Date: Monday, August 3.
Batting stars: Danny Thompson was 3-for-4 with a double. Rich Reese was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out six. Tom Hall struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.
Opposition stars: Jerry McNertney was 2-for-3. Marty Pattin pitched an eight inning complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out five.
The game: There was no score until the fifth, when Roberto Pena singled, stole second, and scored on McNertney's single. The Twins tied it in the sixth when Thompson hit a one-out single, Harmon Killebrew drew a two-out walk, and Reese followed with an RBI double.
The Twins wasted George Mitterwald's leadoff double in the seventh. In the eighth, however, Thompson led off with a double and scored on a Reese two-out RBI single to give the Twins their first lead of the game. Hall came in to retire the Brewers in the ninth and preserve the victory.
WP: Perry (16-9).
LP: Pattin (7-9).
S: Hall (3).
Notes: Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew. Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea. Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the seventh, with Tom Tischinski going in to catch in the eighth.
Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .326. Perry was 0-for-2 and was batting .306. Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was batting .304. Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .301. Hall had an ERA of 2.71.
Without going back through the box scores, I couldn't find out how many times Kaat was used as a pinch-runner. It was more than a few times, however.
It's interesting that Bill Rigney went with Hall to close out a 2-1 game. First, it's surprising to me that Perry didn't finish the game--he had given up just a single in the seventh and had retired the side in order in the eighth. Having decided to go to the pen, the choice of Hall was probably influenced by the fact that Ron Perranoski and Stan Williams had each pitched in three consecutive games. It certainly worked out.
Pattin threw eleven complete games in 1970. That was only good for tenth in the league. Mike Cuellar led the league with twenty-one.
Thompson had six multi-hit games in his last seven starts. He went 14-for-27 in those starts and raised his average from .200 to .282.
Record: The Twins were 65-36, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of California, which had regained second place from Oakland.
January 17, 2022: MLK
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
Happy Birthday–January 17
Louis Santop (1890)
Hank Leiber (1911)
Lum Harris (1915)
Mayo Smith (1915)
Don Zimmer (1931)
Keith Lieppman (1949)
Antonio Munoz (1949)
Pete LaCock (1952)
Darrell Porter (1952)
Mark Littell (1953)
Jerry Turner (1954)
Doug Simunic (1956)
T. R. Bryden (1959)
Chili Davis (1960)
SBG (1965)
Tyler Houston (1971)
Rob Bell (1977)
Trevor Bauer (1991)
Randy Dobnak (1995)
Catcher Louis Santop was a star in the Negro Leagues, hitting .349 over fifteen seasons.
Keith Lieppman was Oakland's Director of Player Development from 1992-2021, when he became a special advisor for player development.
Antonio Munoz was a long-time star in Cuba, winning eight home run titles and becoming the all-time leader in walks.
Doug Simunic was the manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks from 1996-2017.
Stevie Wonder & Friends – Happy Birthday
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WgOmRDLE Results: 01/17 – 01/23
I'm going to suggest that we place the tiles of results inside of a SPOILER box. The score can be left outside, but start the SPOILER from in between the score and the tiles. This way the sidebar won't be completely destroyed by all those squares.
January 16, 2022: Orbit
We used to have a pretty great roller rink nearby. Large, spacious, okay food, full bar, and they'd even play Prince occasionally if I begged them. That one closed just before the pandemic and we're left with a crappy one that is/has none of those things.
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred
MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 3 IN DETROIT
Date: Sunday, August 2.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a home run (his eighteenth), two runs, and two RBIs. Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his thirty-third) and a walk.
Pitching stars: Bill Zepp pitched 8.1 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Bill Freehan was 2-for-4. Daryl Patterson struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.
The game: Oliva homered in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Tigers tied it in the second when Norm Cash walked, went to second on Bill Freehan's single, and scored on a double by Don Wert. The Twins went back in front in the fourth when Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer. They added a run in the fifth on singles by Zepp, Tovar, and Oliva, making the score 4-1.
It stayed 4-1 until the ninth. Cash led off the inning with a single and Wert drew a one-out walk, bringing the tying run to the plate. Ron Perranoski came in and retired Elliot Maddox on a line out, but Ike Brown singled to load the bases and an error brought home two runs. It was 4-3 with men on first and third and two out. Stan Williams then came in to retire Mickey Stanley on a line out to end the game.
WP: Zepp (6-1).
LP: Joe Niekro (10-9).
S: Williams (8).
Notes: Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew. Charlie Manuel was in left field in place of Brant Alyea. Jim Holt pinch-ran for Manuel in the sixth and stayed in the game in left field.
Oliva was batting .327. Killebrew was batting .306. Tovar was batting .304. Zepp had an ERA of 2.96. Perranoski had an ERA of 1.90. Williams had an ERA of 1.56.
Niekro gave up four runs in 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits and no walks and striking out one.
Manuel was with the Twins for all but a month of the 1970 season, but started only six games. This was the second of those six, and as you can see above, he played barely over half the game. In his month in AAA, when he actually got to play, he batted .329 with an OPS of 1.027. I understand that he probably wasn't a very good defender, but this was a team that was playing Brant Alyea, Holt, and Rick Renick in left field. There should've been more than six starts for Manuel.
This was the longest start of Zepp's career to date. He would make only one longer, a shutout of the White Sox on September 11.
The Twins finished their road trip 3-3. They would now come home for ten games against Milwaukee, California, and Oakland.
Record: The Twins were 64-36, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of California and Oakland.
Happy Birthday–November 16
Jimmy Macullar (1855)
Art Whitney (1858)
Jimmy Collins (1870)
Ferdie Schupp (1891)
Buck Jordan (1907)
Dizzy Dean (1910)
Jim Owens (1934)
Ron Herbel (1938)
Joe Bonikowski (1941)
Tsuneo Horiuchi (1948)
Dave Stapleton (1954)
Steve Balboni (1957)
Marty Castillo (1957)
Dave Jauss (1957)
Jack McDowell (1966)
Ron Villone (1970)
Jack Cust (1979)
Albert Pujols (1980)
Matt Maloney (1984)
Jeff Manship (1985)
Mark Trumbo (1986)
Jimmy Macullar holds the career record for most games by a left-handed-throwing shortstop (325). Oddly, he batted right-handed.
Pitcher Tsuneo Horiuchi made nine all-star teams in Japan and won seven Gold Gloves. On October 10, 1967 he pitched a no-hitter and also hit three home runs.
Dave Jauss is a long-time minor league manager, scout, and major league coach.
Marty Castillo was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1975, but did not sign.