Well, it was a heck of a season. Lots of highs, lots of lows. All in all, it was a lot of fun. What are your takeaways from this year? Any especially favorite plays? Bonus points for embedded video.
Monthly Archives: October 2023
Happy Birthday–October 12
Sam Field (1846)
Pop Smith (1856)
Malachi Kittridge (1869)
Pete Hill (1882)
Dixie Davis (1890)
Rick Ferrell (1905)
Joe Cronin (1906)
Al Smith (1907)
Bob Sheppard (1910)
Tony Kubek (1935)
Glenn Beckert (1940)
Herman Hill (1945)
Garth Iorg (1954)
Jim Lewis (1955)
Sid Fernandez (1962)
Jose Valentin (1969)
Derrick White (1969)
Tanyon Sturtze (1970)
Tony Fiore (1971)
Nick Tepesch (1988)
B-r.com says "Sam Field played only 12 games in the majors, but managed to do so with three teams in two leagues. He played mostly catcher. His career may have been doomed by his .712 fielding percentage." It may also have been doomed by his .146 batting average.
Pete Hill is considered one of the greatest outfielders of the Negro Leagues. Incomplete statistics list his average as .303.
Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, of course, played for the Washington franchise from 1928-1934, managing the team in the latter two years. He married Clark Griffith’s niece, which did not keep Griffith from trading him to Boston after the 1934 season.
If there was a Hall of Fame for public address announcers, Bob Sheppard would be the first one in.
Jose Valentin is the brother of ex-Twin Javier Valentin.
First baseman/outfielder Derrick White was drafted by Minnesota in the 23rd round in 1989, but did not sign. He played in the major leagues for Montreal, Detroit, the Cubs, and Colorado, playing in three seasons and totaling 116 at-bats.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Dr. Chop.
The Allman Brothers Band – End Of The Line
Well, we had a good run.
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2023 Game 168: Houston Astros at Minnesota Twins (and NLDS Games 3)
José Urquidy
vs
Joe Ryan
FS1 at 6:07 p.m. CDT
NLDS games:
TBD vs Aaron Nola, TBS at 4:07 p.m.
Lance Lynn vs Brandon Pfaady, TBS at 8:07 p.m.
Urquidy's strikeout rate is down compared to last year (6.4 K/9 compared to 7.3 K/9 last year), his walk rate is up (+1.5 BB/9) and his home run rate is steady yet high (1.6 HR/9). All of these things match up well with what Twins batters can feast on. The rest of the league already has with his 5.39 ERA this year in 61 innings. I doubt Houston will let him pitch deep so Twins need to get their scoring in early and often.
October 11, 2023: Do-over
Okay, that one doesn't count.
Happy Birthday–October 11
Will White (1854)
Buttercup Dickerson (1858)
Eddie Dyer (1899)
Bob Chipman (1918)
Joe Ginsberg (1926)
Bill Fischer (1930)
Bob Stinson (1945)
Orlando Hernandez (1965)
Gregg Olson (1966)
Joe Roa (1971)
Dmitri Young (1973)
Mike Duvall (1974)
Ty Wigginton (1977)
Gio Urshela (1991)
Josh Winder (1996)
We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. CarterHayes.
Ratboys – The Window
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ALDS Game 3 – Astros at Twins and Orioles at Rangers
We have ourselves some playoff baseball folks. Having split the two games in Houston the Twins now with a chance to close out the Astros at home and move on to the ALCS. There is literally a generation of Twins fans who have never experienced anything like this. My son is 28 and doesn't really remember the 2002 series against Oakland and then losing to the Angels.
Sonny Gray on the mound for the Twins and it will be nice to have his veteran presence in a big game like this. Also I really like the pitching matchup advantage the Twins have with Cristian Javier going for the Astros. He's a big fly out pitcher so hopefully we see a lot of balls deposited into the stands.
Plus I'll be at the game so very excited.
We can keep this post open and use it for the Orioles at Rangers at 7:00. Let's hope the Birds extend that series a couple more games.
First pitch at 3:07
Twins Lineup
Edouard Julien, DH
Jorge Polanco, 2B
Max Kepler, RF
Royce Lewis, 3B!!
Carlos Correa, SS
Alex Kirilloff, 1B
Matt Wallner, LF
Willi Castro, CF
Ryan Jeffers, C
October 10, 2023: Hankies At The Ready
Let’s win, Twins!
Happy Birthday–October 10
Otto Hess (1878)
Bill Killefer (1887)
Wally Berger (1905)
John Stone (1905)
Emery Adams (1911)
Floyd Baker (1916)
Bobby Tiefenauer (1929)
Don Schaly (1937)
Gene Tenace (1946)
Roger Metzger (1947)
Terry Enyart (1950)
Les Straker (1959)
Jim Weaver (1959)
Ramon Martinez (1972)
Placido Polanco (1975)
Pat Burrell (1976)
Brad Ziegler (1979)
Troy Tulowitzki (1984)
Andrew McCutchen (1986)
Jeurys Familia (1989)
Shelby Miller (1990)
Kolten Wong (1990)
Don Schaly was the head baseball coach at Marietta College for forty years. His teams reached the finals of the Division III College World Series ten times, winning three times.
Kolten Wong was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2008, but did not sign.
We would like to wish a happy birthday to Can of Corn's Niblet.