Hey, gang. What's up on your clearing out plans? Anyone Marie Kondoing this?
Monthly Archives: March 2022
Happy Birthday–March 21
Jack Herbert (1877)
Mysterious Walker (1894)
Bill McGowan (1896)
Shanty Hogan (1906)
Tommy Davis (1939)
Manny Sanguillen (1944)
Al Fitzmorris (1946)
Bill Plummer (1947)
Fernando Arroyo (1952)
Luis Leal (1957)
Shawon Dunston (1963)
Tim McIntosh (1965)
Cristian Guzman (1978)
Aaron Hill (1982)
Carlos Carrasco (1987)
Jack Herbert was a minor league manager in the early 1900s. Among the teams he managed were the Pekin Celestials, the Cedar Rapids Rabbits, and the Cairo Egyptians.
Bill McGowan was an American League umpire from 1925-1954. He worked the first all-star game and worked eight World Series.
WgOmRDLE Results: 03/21 – 03/27
I felt a similar pain yesterday.
March 20, 2022: Sprung
Time to step outside, citizens. Winter is over.
1970 Rewind: ALCS Game One
BALTIMORE 10, MINNESOTA 6 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Saturday, October 3.
Batting stars: George Mitterwald was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Tony Oliva was 3-for-4. Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.
Pitching stars: Stan Williams pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk. Ron Perranoski struck out two in a scoreless inning.
Opposition stars: Brooks Robinson was 3-for-3 with a double. Boog Powell was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Elrod Hendricks was 2-for-5 with two runs. Mike Cuellar was 1-for-2 with a grand slam. Don Buford was 1-for-3 with a home run and two walks. Dick Hall pitched 4.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out three.
The game: The Twins got on the board first. Tovar led off the first with a single, was bunted to second, and scored on a Killebrew single. The Orioles took the lead in the second, however. One-out singles by Hendricks and Robinson put two on, and Dave Johnson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Mark Belanger hit a potential double play grounder, but a throwing error by Danny Thompson allowed two runs to score and put Baltimore up 2-1. The Twins tied it in the second when Mitterwald singled, went to third on Thompson's double, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Jim Perry.
But the roof fell in in the fourth inning. Frank Robinson and Hendricks led off with singles, and a sacrifice fly by Brooks Robinson put the Orioles ahead again. Singles by Johnson and Belanger loaded the bases, and Mike Cuellar--Mike Cuellar--hit a grand slam to make it 7-2 Baltimore. Buford followed with another homer, and with two out Powell homered, making the score 9-2.
The Twins tried to battle back. In the bottom of the fourth Mitterwald singled, went to second on an infield grounder, and scored on a Tovar single. Killebrew led off the fifth with a home run, followed by an Oliva doubled. Brant Alyea walked, a ground out moved them to second and third, and Mitterwald delivered a two-run single to cut the lead to 9-6.
But that was as good as it would get. The Orioles added a run in the sixth when Hall singled, went to second on a walk to Buford, and scored on Powell's single, making it 10-6. The Twins got only one hit in the last four innings.
WP: Hall (1-0).
LP: Perry (0-1).
S: None.
Notes: Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew. Bob Allison pinch-hit for Bill Zepp in the fourth inning. Frank Quilici went to second in the sixth inning as part of a double switch. Jim Holt pinch-hit for Williams in the eighth. Carew pinch-hit for Quilici in the eighth. Holt stayed in the game in center field, with Tovar moving to second base.
Neither starting pitcher fared well. Perry pitched 3.1 innings, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and a walk and striking out one. Mike Cuellar pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out two.
These losses to the Orioles were almost as frustrating as the losses to the Yankees would be thirty-some years later. You lose because Mike Cuellar, of all people, hits a grand slam. Cuellar hit seven home runs for his career and had a lifetime line of .115/.128/.171. And he hits a grand slam. Incredible. It's really to the Twins credit that they continued to fight and battled back as well as they did. I mean, I know that's what they're supposed to do and what they get paid to do, but still, giving up that grand slam, and then seeing two more home runs that same inning, had to be really disheartening.
It was a different time, and that plays into it, but I still think you can question using one of the two best relievers, Williams, for three innings in that situation. Yes, you never want to give up on a playoff game, and back then, they still might bring Williams back in the next game. But still, burning one of your two best relievers in a game that, let's face it, the odds are against you coming back to win doesn't make much sense.
But, tomorrow's another day, and the Twins would try to get the series back to even.
Record: The Twins trailed the best-of-five series, 0-1.
Happy Birthday–March 20
Bill Cammeyer (1821)
Mike Griffin (1865)
Joe McGinnity (1871)
Bob Connery (1880)
Walter Schmidt (1887)
Amanda Clement (1888)
Vern Kennedy (1907)
Clyde Shoun (1912)
Hank Izquierdo (1931)
George Altman (1933)
Pat Corrales (1941)
Rick Langford (1952)
Steve McCatty (1954)
Paul Mirabella (1954)
Si-jin Kim (1958)
Chris Hoiles (1965)
Manny Alexander (1971)
Brad Hand (1990)
Bill Cammeyer was involved in the early days of professional baseball. He is credited as a pioneer who put a fence around his ballpark so he could charge admission. He built a clubhouse, graded the diamond, created a very primitive set of stands for fans, and put a saloon inside the fence.
Bob Connery is the scout credited with discovering Rogers Hornsby and Tony Lazzeri.
Amanda Clement, born in Hudson, South Dakota, was the first woman to be paid to umpire a baseball game. She umpired games in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. She umpired regularly from 1904-1910 and on an occasional basis into the 1920s.
Paul Mirabella was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 1975, but did not sign.
Si-Jin Kim was a top pitcher in the first decade of Korean professional baseball.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s daughter.
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-two
MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 0 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Thursday, October 1.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a triple and a double. Jim Kaat was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer.
Pitching stars: Kaat struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk. Stan Williams retired all five men he faced.
Opposition star: Bob Johnson struck out ten in an eight-inning complete game, giving up four runs on nine hits and no walks.
The game: The Twins got on the board in the first inning when Cesar Tovar led off with a single and scored from first on an Oliva double. With two out in the second Danny Thompson doubled and Kaat followed with a two-run homer, making it 3-0 Twins. They added one more run in the sixth when Oliva tripled and Cotton Nash followed with an RBI single.
The Royals had only three hits in the game, all singles. The closest they came to scoring was the seventh. With one out, Lou Piniella and Bob Oliver hit consecutive singles. Jim Campanis then grounded into a double play to end the inning.
WP: Kaat (14-10).
LP: Johnson (8-13).
S: Ron Perranoski (34).
Notes: Oliva ended the season batting .325. Tovar was 1-for-2 and ended at .300. Williams ended the season with an ERA of 1.99. Perranoski ended the season with an ERA of 2.43.
Herman Hill was 0-for-1 and ended batting .091. Charlie Manuel was 0-for-3 and ended batting .188.
This was the last game of Nash's major league career.
This was Kaat's only home run of the season. He hit sixteen for his career, with a high of three in 1964.
Perranoski came in to record the last out and get the save. There was no apparent reason to remove Williams and bring him in. Perhaps the Twins wanted him to get into a game before the playoffs. He would have been the league saves leader regardless. Not a big deal, obviously, just a curiosity some fifty-two years later.
In the east, the Baltimore Orioles won the division by fifteen games over the second-place Yankees. Thus, for the second consecutive season, the Twins would play the Orioles in the American League Championship Series.
Record: The Twins were 98-64, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Oakland.
March 19, 2022: See Ya
Well, there goes the decent SP free agent market.
EDIT: got the SS part wrapped up at least.
Happy Birthday–March 19
Jose Mendez (1887)
Bill Wambsganss (1894)
Gee Walker (1908)
Bob Davids (1926)
Richie Ashburn (1927)
Al Solerno (1931)
Paul Ray Powell (1948)
Tim Corcoran (1953)
Mike Norris (1955)
Ivan Calderon (1962)
Jason LaRue (1974)
David Ross (1977)
Clayton Kershaw (1988)
Jose Mendez was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues, pitching from 1906-1925.
Bob Davids was one of the founders of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Al Solerno was an American League umpire from 1961-1968. His firing was one of the things that led to the formation of the first umpires union.
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-one
MINNESOTA 6, KANSAS CITY 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, September 30.
Batting stars: Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Paul Ratliff was 1-for-1 with a three-run homer, his fifth.
Pitching stars: Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up four runs (one eanred) on five hits and four walks and striking out three. Hal Haydel struck out two in a scoreless inning.
Opposition stars: Bob Oliver was 2-for-4 with a triple. Lou Piniella was 2-for-4 with a double. Wally Bunker pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on six hits and no walks and striking out six.
The game: Each team put a man in scoring position in the first but did not score. In the second Oliver led off with a triple. Bobby Floyd walked and went to second on a wild pitch. With two out, they both scored on an error, putting the Royals up 2-0.
There were no more runs, and in fact no more hits, until the fifth. George Mitterwald and Blyleven singled, putting men on first and second with two out. Tovar then hit a two-run double, with Blyleven scoring from first, to tie it up 2-2.
Kansas City got the lead back in the sixth without getting a hit. A walk, a two-base error, and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out and Floyd hit a sacrifice fly. The Royals added an insurance run in the seventh when Rojas hit a two-out double and scored on Piniella's single.
It stayed 4-2 until the bottom of the ninth. Singles by Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew were followed by a passed ball, putting the tying run in scoring position. Jim Holt hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. Brant Alyea walked and Ratliff delivered a pinch-hit three-run homer to give the Twins the victory.
WP: Haydel (2-0).
LP: Jim York (1-1).
S: None.
Notes: Rod Carew was at first base, with Danny Thompson at second and Rich Reese out of the lineup. Holt replaced Carew at first in the sixth. Reese pinch-hit for Blyleven in the eighth. Herman Hill pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth. Jim Nettles pinch-ran for Alyea in the ninth. Ratliff pinch-hit for Mitterwald in the ninth.
Carew was 0-for-2 and was batting .366. Oliva was 1-for-4 an was batting .323. Haydel had an ERA of 3.00.
This was the first time Carew played first base in the major leagues. He would not play there again until 1975. In 1976, he became a full-time first baseman.
Even when you're just marking time until the playoffs, a walkoff home run is still fun.
Record: The Twins were 97-64, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Oakland.