Monthly Archives: February 2022

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-three

MINNESOTA 6, CHICAGO 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 11.

Batting stars:  George Mitterwald was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fourteenth), a walk, and two runs.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his second) and a walk.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run, his forty-first.

Pitching star:  Bill Zepp pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and five walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Syd O'Brien was 2-for-4.  Lee Stange pitched two shutout innings, giving up a walk and striking out one.

The game:  With two out in the first Killebrew hit a home run to give the Twins a quick lead.  The next batter, Tony Oliva, was hit by a pitch, and Alyea then delivered an RBI double to make it 2-0 Twins.

It stayed 2-0 through three, with the White Sox not advancing a man past first.  In the fourth Rick Renick singled, Mitterwald walked, and Quilici hit a three-run homer to put the Twins up 5-0.

Chicago had their first threat in the fifth, putting men on second and third with two out, but Bobby Knoop struck out to end the inning.  A single and an error gave them men on first and third with one out in the fifth, but a strikeout and a popup ended that threat.

Mitterwald homered in the eighth to make it 6-0.  The White Sox put two on with two out in the ninth, but Tom McCraw popped up to end the game.

WP:  Zepp (8-4).

LP:  Barry Moore (3-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.

Reese pinch-hit for Renick in the fifth and stayed in the game at first base, with Killebrew moving to third.  Jim Holt went to center field in the fifth, with Cesar Tovar moving to right and Oliva coming out of the game.  Danny Thompson came in to play third base in the eighth, with Killebrew coming out of the game.  Jim Nettles went to right field in the eighth, with Tovar moving to left and Alyea coming out of the game.

Oliva was 0-for-1 and was batting .317.  Alyea was batting .308.

This was the only shutout of Zepp's career.  It was also the only complete game of Zepp's career.

Barry Moore's given name was Robert Barry Moore.  If your last name is Moore and you're going to give your son the middle name of Barry, it seems like you should also give him the first name of Lionel.  Or at least John.

The Twins had won four in a row, nine of ten, and eleven of thirteen.  The were 6-1 just over half-way through their thirteen game homestand.

Record:  The Twins were 87-56, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was eleven.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 28

Terry Turner (1881)
Jud Wilson (1897)
Bob Howsam (1918)
George Maloney (1928)
Frank Malzone (1930)
Bill Haller (1935)
Marty Perez (1946)
Mark Wiley (1948)
Tom Gamboa (1948)
Jim Wohlford (1951)
Mike Milchin (1968)
Trent Oeltjen (1983)
Aaron Thompson (1987)
Aroldis Chapman (1988)
Niko Goodrum (1992)
Randy Arozarena (1995)

Jud Wilson played in the Negro Leagues from 1922-1945 and had a lifetime batting average of .351.

Bob Howsam was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds and helped put together the Big Red Machine.

George Maloney was an American League umpire from 1969-1983.

Bill Haller is the older brother of Tom Haller and was an American League umpire from 1963-1982.

Tom Gamboa was a minor league manager who won league championships twice and reached the playoffs four other times in a ten year career.  Unfortunately, he is best known as the Kansas City Royals coach attacked by two White Sox "fans" in Comiskey Park in 2002.

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Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-two

MINNESOTA 7, OAKLAND 2 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Thursday, September 10.

Batting stars:  Brant Alyea was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.  Frank Quilci was 2-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out five.  Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Sal Bando was 2-for-4.

The game:  Oliva homered with two out in the first to give the Twins an early 1-0 lead.  In the second Rich Reese and Paul Ratliff were each hit by a pitch (not the same pitch, of course) and Kaat delivered an RBI single to make it 2-0 Twins.  The Athletics got on the board in the third when Blue Moon Odom singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Rudi's single.

Oakland had two on with one out in the fourth but did not score.  The Twins broke it open in the fifth.  Cesar Tovar led off with a walk, was bunted to second, and went to third on a wild pitch.  He was still on third with two out, but walks to Harmon Killebrew and Reese loaded the bases.  Another wild pitch brought home a run, Alyea delivered a two-run single and went to second on the throw to the plate, and Ratliff added an RBi single, giving the Twins a 6-1 lead.

The Athletics got one run in the seventh on singles by Dick Green, Bert Campaneris, and Rudi.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the seventh when Tovar tripled and scored on a Cotton Nash ground out.  That made the score 7-2, and that's how it ended.

WP:  Kaat (12-10).

LP:  Odom (8-6).

S:  Williams (13).

Notes:  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt went to center field in the sixth inning, with Tovar moving to left and Alyea coming out of the game.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the seventh, with Herman Hill going to center field in the eighth.  Cotton Nash pinch-hit for Ratliff in the seventh, with Mitterwald going behind the plate in the eighth.  Danny Thompson went to third base in the eighth, with Killebrew coming out of the game.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .318.  Alyea was batting .305.  Williams had an ERA of 2.05.

Hill was 0-for-1 and was batting .100.  Nash was 0-for-1 and was batting .000.  It was the first appearance in the majors for Nash in 1970.  He had appeared in three games in 1967 and six in 1969.

The Twins swept the series between the first and second place teams.  They had won eight of nine and ten of twelve.  This series essentially wrapped up the division for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 86-56, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was twelve.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 27

Walter Briggs (1877)
Cy Perkins (1896)
Hilton Smith (1907)
Bill Capps (1919)
Buck Elliott (1919)
Johnny Pesky (1919)
Connie Ryan (1920)
John Wockenfuss (1949)
Ron Hassey (1953)
Greg Cadaret (1962)
Pete Smith (1966)
Matt Stairs (1968)
Willie Banks (1969)
Craig Monroe (1977)
Anibal Sanchez (1984)
Denard Span (1984)
Yovani Gallardo (1986)

Walter Briggs was involved in the ownership of the Detroit Tigers from 1920-1952, becoming sole owner in 1935.

Hilton Smith was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues from 1931-1950.  Some observers considered him the equal of, if not better than, Satchel Paige.

Bill Capps was a third baseman who played in the minors for twenty years, fifteen of them at Class A or below.

Buck Elliott was an outfielder who played in the minors for fourteen years, all but one of them at Class A or below.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 27 →