Monthly Archives: February 2022

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty

NEW YORK 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Sunday, August 30.

Batting stars:  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Jim Holt was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jake Gibbs was 3-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Roy White was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, his nineteenth homer.  Steve Kline pitched 8.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  In the second Harmon Killebrew and Holt singled and Ratliff followed with a two-run double.  Ratliff was on second with none out, but the Twins could do no more damage.  Still, the Twins had a 2-0 lead.  Rich Reese doubled with one out in the third, but he was also stranded at second.

Gibbs led off the third with a home run to cut the lead to 2-1.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out in the fourth but again did not score.  They had men on first and second with one out in the fifth and did not score.

And in the bottom of the fifth they paid the price.  Gibbs led off with a single and Jerry Kinney walked.  A bunt moved the runners to second and third, Frank Baker walked with two out to load the bases, and White hit a grand slam to put New York ahead 5-2.

The Twins got one-out singles from Ratliff and Leo Cardenas to bring the tying run to the plate.  Danny Thompson fouled out, but Rick Renick got a pinch-hit single.  Unfortunately, Ratliff was thrown out at the plate, trying to score from second on the hit, and the game was over.

WP:  Kline (3-3).

LP:  Bert Blyleven (8-6).

S:  Lindy McDaniel (21).

Notes:  Cesar Tovar was again in left, with Holt in center and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Ratliff was again behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Frank Quilici was again at second in place of Rod Carew.

Alyea pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Blyleven in the seventh.  Thompson went to second in place of Quilici.  Renick pinch-hit for Perranoski in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .315.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.28.

Blyleven pitched six innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks and striking out four.  The solo homer didn't hurt him, but the grand slam sure did.

This was Steve Kline's rookie year, and he'd been in the majors about a month and a half at this point.  He was very good in his first three seasons, especially in 1971 and 1972, when he posted ERAs under three and WHIPs under 1.1 in both years.  He then developed arm problems, was traded to Cleveland early in 1974, missed all of 1975, tried to come back, but was done after 1977.  From 1970-1972, though, he was 34-28 with an ERA of 2.80, 1.11 WHIP.  He was only twenty-four after the 1972 season, but had pitched 458.2 innings in the past two seasons, which may have contributed to his arm problems.  If not for injury, he might have had a fine major league career.

Record:  The Twins were 76-54, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 14

Joe Gerhardt (1855)
Arthur Irwin (1858)
Pretzels Getzien (1864)
Morgan Murphy (1867)
Candy LaChance (1870)
Bob Quinn (1870)
Earl Smith (1897)
Mel Allen (1913)
Red Barrett (1915)
Len Gabrielson (1940)
Ken Levine (1950)
Larry Milbourne (1951)
Will McEnaney (1952)
Dave Dravecky (1956)
Alejandro Sanchez (1959)
John Marzano (1963)
Kelly Stinnett (1970)
Damaso Marte (1975)
Tyler Clippard (1985)

Bob Quinn was a long-time executive for the St. Louis Browns, the Boston Red Sox, and the Boston Braves.  He was later the director of the Hall of Fame.

Ken Levine has been a broadcaster for Baltimore, San Diego, and Seattle.  He has also worked on a number of television programs, notably including "Cheers" and "Frazier".

John Marzano was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1981, but he did not sign.

There have been seven major league players with the last name "Valentine".  The most recent was Joe Valentine, a reliever for Cincinnati from 2003-05.  The best was Ellis Valentine, who played from 1975-83 and 1985, mostly for Montreal.  One was a manager, Bobby Valentine.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Mother 6.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 14 →

NFL

Super Bowl LVI: Los Angeles Rams at Cincinnati Bengals (at Los Angeles Rams)

6 Comments

Sun, Feb 13, 5:30 PM CST
NBC
SoFi Stadium

Well, this could actually be a good game. More interesting than some of the other possibilities at least. No particular rooting interest for me, just for a fun game (and for my squares). That means it's gonna be a total blowout of course.

Anyone doing any cooking tonight? I'm going to a potluck style thing and drew appetizers. Just going to make guac, a Mexican corn salad, and to be super dorky, a football shaped cheeseball. Hope everyone has some nice food and drinks on the table tonight.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-nine

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MINNESOTA 3, NEW YORK 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, August 29.

Batting star:  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third) and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched six shutout innings, giving up nine hits and a walk and striking out one.  Tom Hall struck out three in 2.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Frank Baker was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Jim Lyttle was 2-for-4.  Thurman Munson was 2-for-5.  Roy White was 2-for-5.  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks and striking out seven.

The game:  Cesar Tovar started the game with a single and went to third when Tony Oliva reached on an error with one out.  A sacrifice fly brought home a run and singles by Jim Holt and Ratliff brought home another, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees got three hits in the bottom of the first, but a double play kept them from taking advantage of them.  They loaded the bases in the second on a single, a hit batsman, and a walk, but a line drive double play took them out of that inning.  Each team had two on with one out in the fourth and did not score.  New York got a pair of singles with two out in the sixth and did not score.  So, it remained 2-0 going to the ninth.

Ratliff homered with two out in the top of the ninth to make it 3-0.  But the Yankees did not just go away quietly.  With one out Ron Woods tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.  Munson then singled to bring the tying run to bat with two out.  White hit a ball to deep right, but it was just a fly out and the game was over.

WP:  Zepp (7-3).

LP:  Stottlemyre (12-11).

S:  Hall (4).

Notes:  Holt was in center, with Tovar in left and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Bob Allison pinch-hit for Zepp in the seventh.  Danny Thompson went to third base in the ninth, replacing Harmon Killebrew.

Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .317.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.79.  Stan Williams did not give up a run in two-thirds of an inning and had an ERA of 2.04.  Hall had an ERA of 2.92.

Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .197.

The was the first time Ratliff had started since August 10 and the first time he had played an entire game since July 10.

The Twins had only two at-bats with men in scoring position, going 1-for-2.  The Yankees had eight at-bats with men in scoring position, but went 0-for-8.  They stranded eleven.

Record:  The Twins were 76-53, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 13

Chick Fulmer (1851)
Bill Bradley (1878)
Hal Chase (1883)
Eddie Foster (1887)
Sal Bando (1944)
Donnie Moore (1954)
Jerry Browne (1966)
Matt Mieske (1968)
Kevin Stocker (1970)
Howie Clark (1974)
Nathan Eovaldi (1990)
Gilberto Celestino (1999)

Nathan Eovaldi is the only player in major league history whose last name begins with "Eo".

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 13 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-eight

NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, August 28.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Luis Tiant pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and five walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mike Kekich pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out seven.  Jim Lyttle was 0-for-0 with three walks.

The game:  There were no hits on either side until the third, when Horace Clark singled.  He stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and score on Frank Baker's single to put the Yankees up 1-0.

The Twins got their first hit in the fifth, when Rich Reese singled.  He went to second on a ground out and scored on a George Mitterwald single, tying the score at 1-1.

It stayed 1-1 through eight.  Killebrew led off the ninth with a double.  Tony Oliva was intentionally walked and the strategy worked, as the next three batters went out.  In the bottom of the ninth Bobby Murcer reached on an error and was bunted to second.  Danny Cater was intentionally walked.  A ground out moved Murcer to third and he scored on a wild pitch to end the game.

WP:  Kekich (4-3).

LP:  Ron Perranoski (7-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Oliva was again in center with Cesar Tovar in left and Brant Alyea in right.  Jim Holt went to center in the seventh, with Oliva going to right and Alyea leaving the game.  There's no obvious reason for the move.  Alyea popped up to third in the top of the inning--he may have injured himself, or Bill Rigney may have decided to substitute for him because he wouldn't be batting again for a couple of innings.

Bob Allison pinch-hit for Tiant in the eighth.  I'm not really questioning the move, but I can't help pointing out that Tiant was 1-for-2 in the game and was batting .419 for the season, while Allison was batting .200.

Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and stayed in the game at second base.  Danny Thompson, who was still at second base in place of Rod Carew, moved to third.

Tiant as stated above, was 1-for-2 and was batting .419.  Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .320.  Perranoski gave up an unearned run in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.34.

In the two games of the doubleheader, the Twins scored one run and had just eight hits.

This was easily Kekich's best start of the season.  He had a game score of seventy-seven.  His next highest was sixty-three on September 12.  This was his only complete game of the season and one of eight in his career.

The Twins had lost five of their last seven games.

Record:  The Twins were 75-53, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California.  This was their smallest lead since June 29.