Monthly Archives: May 2024

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of May 26

BUFFALO BISONS 8, ST. PAUL SAINTS 3 IN BUFFALO

Addison Barger hit a three-run homer in the third to give Buffalo a 4-2 lead.

Multi-hit games:  Michael Helman was 3-for-4.  DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  Austin Martin was 2-for-5 with a double.  Royce Lewis was 2-for-5 with a double.  The top four men in the lineup went 9-for-18 with two doubles and a home run, and somehow managed to produce only three runs.

Home runs:  Keirsey, Jr. (8).

Multi-RBI games:  Keirsey, Jr. 2.

Stolen bases:  Keirsey, Jr. 16.

Pitching prowess:  Nick Wittgren struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition standout:  Steward Berroa was 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs.

Record:  St. Paul is 22-27, in ninth place, 11.5 games behind Omaha.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 3, SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS 1 IN WICHITA

Wichita scored single runs in the first, fourth, and fifth to build a 3-0 lead.

Multi-hit games:  Emmanuel Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and two runs.  Jorel Ortega was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jeferson Morales was 2-for-4.

Home runs:  Rodriguez (8).

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Pierson Ohl pitched 6,1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out five.  Taylor Floyd pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out one and walking one.  Jared Solomon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition standout:  Yovanny Cruz struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks.

Record:  Wichita is 18-26, in fifth (last) place, seven games behind Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, PEORIA CHIEFS 2 IN PEORIA

Luke Keaschall led off the game with a home run and Cedar Rapids led all the way.

Multi-hit games:  Nate Baez was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Keaschall was 2-for-5 with a home run.

Home runs:  Keaschall (7); Baez 2 (3).

Multi-RBI games:  Baez 3.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Jeremy Lee pitched 3.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and two walks and striking out two.  Juan Mercedes retired all four men he faced.  Juan Mendez struck out two in a perfect inning.  Gabriel Yanez struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition standout:  Gustavo Rodriguez struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 28-16, in first place, a half game ahead of Wisconsin.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 7, DAYTONA TORTUGAS 4 IN DAYTONA (10 INNINGS)

Gregory Duran hit a two-run triple in the tenth to break a 4-4 tie.

Multi-hit games:  Duran was 3-for-5 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  Duran 2.

Stolen bases:  Payton Eeles (7).

Pitching prowess:  Charlee Soto struck out two in two innings, giving up an unearned run on two walks.  Xander Hamilton struck out five in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition standout:  Carter Graham was 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.

Record:  Fort Myers is 19-26, in fifth place, thirteen games behind Clearwater.

TODAY'S TILT

11:00  FCL Pirates at FCL Twins

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 27

Frank Snyder (1894)
Pinky Higgins (1909)
Terry Moore (1912)
George O’Donnell (1929)
Jerry Kindall (1935)
Fred Bruckbauer (1938)
Jim Holt (1944)
Gary Nolan (1948)
Terry Collins (1949)
Mark Connor (1949)
Mark Clear (1956)
Ed Nunez (1963)
John Jaha (1966)
Jeff Bagwell (1968)
Frank Thomas (1968)
Todd Hundley (1969)
Brad Boxberger (1988)
Garrett Richards (1988)
Jose Berrios (1994)

Terry Collins was the manager of Houston from 1994-96, of Anaheim from 1997-99, and of the Mets from 2011-2017.

Mark Connor pitched in the Twins’ minor league system from 1971-1972 before he suffered a career-ending arm injury.  He has been a pitching coach for the Yankees, Arizona, Toronto, Texas, and Baltimore.  He also was the head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 27 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 26

Jim Frey (1931)
Joe Altobelli (1932)
Jim McKean (1945)
Darrell Evans (1947)
Kevin Kennedy (1954)
Rob Murphy (1960)
Jason Bere (1971)
Chris Latham (1973)
Travis Lee (1975)
Ben Zobrist (1981)
Kevin Mulvey (1985)

Among other things, Jim Frey was manager of Kansas City from 1980-81, manager of the Cubs from 1984-86, and general manager of the Cubs from 1988-91.

Jim McKean was an American League umpire from 1974-2001.  He also played in the CFL for five years.

Kevin Kennedy managed Texas from 1993-94 and Boston from 1995-96.  He was also a broadcaster for FOX.

Travis Lee was drafted by Minnesota with the second pick of the 1996 draft.  However, the Twins failed to make a formal contract offer within the time designated under the Basic Agreement, and Lee was declared a free agent.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 26 →

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of May 24

ST. PAUL SAINTS 7, BUFFALO BISONS 4 IN BUFFALO

St. Paul scored three in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead and added two more in the eighth.

Multi-hit games:  Yunior Severino was 2-for-4.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  Patrick Winkel 2.

Stolen bases:  Alex Isola (2).

Pitching prowess:  Josh Winder struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Hobie Harris struck out five in three perfect innings.  Diego Castillo pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Brandon Eisert pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Record:  St. Paul is 21-26, in ninth place, 10.5 games behind Omaha.

SAN ANTONIO MISIONS 1, WICHITA WIND SURGE 0 IN WICHITA

Brandon Valenzuela hit a home run in the seventh for the game's only run.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Marco Raya struck out six in four shutout innings, giving up no hits and two walks.  Travis Adams struck out four in four innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.  Miguel Rodriguez pitched a scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Victor Lizarraga pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks and striking out four.

Record:  Wichita is 17-25, in fifth (last) place, seven games behind Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, PEORIA CHIEFS 4 IN PEORIA

Kevin Maitan hit a grand slam in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.

Multi-hit games:  Jose Salas was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Maitan was 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and four RBIs.  Ricardo Olivar was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Home runs:  Maitan (2).

Multi-RBI games:  Maitan 4.

Stolen bases:  Salas (8).

Pitching prowess:  Christian MacLeod struck out four in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks.  Rafael Marcano pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and one walk and striking out one.  Jacob Wosinski struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition standout:  Won-Bin Cho was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 27-15, in first place, a half game ahead of Wisconsin.

DAYTONA TORTUGAS 7, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 4 IN DAYTONA

Daytona scored four in the fifth to go up 6-1.  Carter Graham hit a three-run double in the inning.

Multi-hit games:  Poncho Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a double.  Maddux Houghton was 2-for-4.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Brandon Winokur (11); Houghton (8).

Pitching prowess:  Ben Ethridge struck out two in 1.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on a hit and a walk.

Opposition standout:  Gabriel Aguilera struck out four in four innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.

Record:  Fort Myers is 18-25, in fifth place, twelve games behind Clearwater.

FCL TWINS 5, FCL RED SOX 4 AT TWINS (7 INNINGS)

The Red Sox scored one in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead, but the Twins got two in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead to stay.  Brooks Lee singled home the go-ahead run.

Multi-hit games:  Lee was 3-for-4.  Ricardo Pena was 2-for-3.  Jayson Bass was 2-for-3.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Yasser Mercedes (8); Hendry Chivilli (4).

Pitching prowess:  Cleiber Maldonado struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition standout:  Kelvin Diaz was 2-for-2.

Record:  The FCL Twins are 10-4

TODAY'S TILTS

9:00  FCL Twins at FCL Red Sox
5:05  St. Paul (David Festa, 0-1, 3.18) at Buffalo
5:35  Fort Myers (Ross Dunn, 0-0, 2.49) at Daytona
6:05  San Antonio at Wichita (TBD)
7:05  Cedar Rapids (Darren Bowen, 2-2, 4.61) at Peoria

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 25

Al Reach (1840)
Lip Pike (1845)
Joe Judge (1894)
Martin Dihigo (1905)
Chester Williams (1906)
Lindsey Nelson (1919)
Bill Sharman (1926)
Jim Marshall (1931)
W. P. Kinsella (1935)
Glenn Borgmann (1950)
John Montefusco (1950)
Bob Knepper (1954)
Kerwin Danley (1961)
Bill Haselman (1966)
Dave Hollins (1966)
Joey Eischen (1970)
Todd Walker (1973)
Miguel Tejada (1974)
Chris Young (1979)
Scott Hairston (1980)
Jason Kubel (1982)
Eric Young (1985)
Pat Dean (1989)
Neil Ramirez (1989)

Al Reach played major league baseball from 1871-1875.  He later founded the A. J. Reach Company, which was the largest sporting goods company in the United States at one time (it eventually merged with Spalding).  This company also published the Reach Guide, an influential baseball publication, from 1883-1927.

Martin Dihigo was a star in the Negro Leagues, winning 250 games as a pitcher and also winning two batting titles.

Lindsey Nelson was one of the most famous broadcasters in the country at one time.  He broadcast New York Mets games from 1962-1978 and San Francisco Giants games from 1979-1981.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Sharman was a minor league outfielder from 1950-1953 and in 1955, reaching AAA with St. Paul.

W. P. Kinsella has written several books on baseball, most notably "Shoeless Joe" the book on which the movie "Field of Dreams" was based.

Kerwin Danley was a major league umpire from 1998-2021.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 25 →