Monthly Archives: February 2022

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-one

MINNESOTA 6, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Thursday, September 10.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base (his twenty-ninth), and three runs.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base, his third.  Charlie Manuel was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Tom Hall struck out eleven in a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 3-for-4 with a double.  Bob Locker pitched three innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  Each team put two on with one out in the first and did not score.  In the third Tovar led off with a single, stole second, was bunted to third, and scored on a Tony Oliva double.  Harmon Killebrew walked, a force out put men on first and third, Alyea delivered an RBI single, George Mitterwald walked to load the bases, and Manuel delivered a pinch-hit two-run single to give the Twins a 4-0 lead.

The Athletics got one back in the fourth when Sal Bando doubled and scored on a two-out single by Dick Green.  But there the score stayed until the sixth, when Tovar doubled and scored on an error.  The Twins scored one more in the eighth when Tovar singled and scored on a Leo Cardenas double.  Oakland only once got a man as far as second base after the fourth inning.

WP:  Hall (8-6).

LP:  Catfish Hunter (16-13).

S:  None.

Notes:  Frank Quilici started at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici in the third inning, with Danny Thompson taking over at second base.  Jim Holt went to center field in the seventh, with Tovar moving to left and Alyea coming out of the game.

Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .318.  Alyea raised his average to .300 for the first time since May 17.  Hall had an ERA of 2.53.

This has been referenced, but I just want to point out the move of Bill Rigney in the third inning.  With the Twins lead 2-0 and the bases loaded, Manuel was sent up to pinch-hit for Quilici.  You  would not expect a pinch-hitter for the eighth-place batter that early in the game.  I suspect Rigney sensed a chance to put the game away early and decided to go for it.  It worked, as Manuel delivered a two-run single to put the Twins up 4-0.

This was Hall's only complete game in eleven starts in 1970.  He'd had five in 1969.  He would have only one more in his career, with Cincinnati in 1972.  But then, he would make only thirty-four more starts after 1970, and never more than eleven in a season.  He spent most of the rest of his career in the bullpen.

The Twins had won seven of eight and nine of eleven.

Hunter lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks and striking out two.

In the matchup between the first and second place teams, and in a series Oakland desperately needed to win to stay in the race, the Twins had taken the first two games.  The Athletics would try to salvage at least one game of the series in game two of the doubleheader.

Record:  The Twins were 85-56, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 26

Grover Alexander (1887)
Rip Collins (1896)
Preacher Roe (1916)
Johnny Blanchard (1933)
Don Lee (1934)
Hiromitsu Kadota (1948)
Jack Brohamer (1950)
Rick Wieters (1955)
Kelly Gruber (1962)
Scott Service (1967)
J. T. Snow (1968)
Mark DeRosa (1975)
Trevor Larnach (1997)

Hiromitsu Kadota is third on the Japanese professional baseball home run list with 567.

The father of Matt Wieters, Rick Wieters pitched in the minor leagues for five years, reaching AA.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 26 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty

MINNESOTA 3, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, September 9.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-3 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks and striking out five.  Stan Williams struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with a home run, his twenty-sixth.  Chuck Dobson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game:  Mincher homered with two out in the fourth to open the scoring.  It stayed 1-0 through six innings, with the Twins getting just three singles in those first six innings.

The Twins finally got it going in the seventh.  Killebrew led off with a double and scored when Alyea hit a one-out double.  George Mitterwald walked, a force out put men on first and third, and Perry delivered an RBI single to put the Twins ahead 2-1.

The Athletics had men on second and third with one out in the eighth, but a strikeout and a fly out ended the inning.  The Twins got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Oliva doubled and scored on a Rich Reese single.

Sal Bando doubled with one out in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate.  But Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace each struck out to end the game.

WP:  Perry (22-10).

LP:  Dobson (15-13).

S:  Williams (12).

Notes:  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh.  Danny Thompson then pinch-ran for Manuel and stayed in the game at second base.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the seventh and stayed in the game at center field, with Cesar Tovar moving to left.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the eighth.  Herman Hill then pinch-ran for Renick and stayed in the game in center field.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .318.  Perry had an ERA of 2.93.  Williams had an ERA of 2.11.

Oakland started the series five and a half games behind.  Realistically, they had to sweep the series to have much chance.  Obviously, they failed to do that, and could only hope to win two out of three now.

The Twins had won six out of seven and eight out of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 84-56, in first place in the American League West, 6.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 25

Bob Bescher (1884)
Al Hollingsworth (1908)
Roy Weatherly (1915)
Monte Irvin (1919)
Andy Pafko (1921)
Syd Thrift (1929)
Johnny Schaive (1934)
Jerry Reinsdorf (1936)
Denny Lemaster (1939)
Danny Cater (1940)
Ron Santo (1940)
Stump Merrill (1944)
Ken Szotkeiwicz (1947)
Cesar Cedeno (1951)
Bob Brenly (1954)
Ken Dayley (1959)
Paul O'Neill (1963)
Shannon Stewart (1974)

Syd Thrift was the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-88 and of the Baltimore Orioles from 2000-02.  He also held a variety of other front office positions, generally having to do with overseeing minor league player development.

Infielder Johnny Schaive was in the Washington organization from 1955-1960, reaching the majors for parts of the 1958-1960 seasons.  He was selected by the new Washington franchise as the 36th pick in the 1960 expansion draft.

Jerry Reinsdorf became part-owner of the Chicago White Sox in 1981.

Stump Merrill was the manager of the New York Yankees from 1990-91.  A catcher, he was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-third round in 1965, but did not sign.

Shortstop Ken Szotkiewicz was chosen by Minnesota with the third pick of the 1967 June Secondary draft, but did not sign.

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