Monthly Archives: May 2024

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 18

Babe Adams (1882)
Arndt Jorgens (1905)
Gil Coan (1922)
Jack Sanford (1929)
Carroll Hardy (1933)
Brooks Robinson (1937)
Reggie Jackson (1946)
Osamu Higashio (1950)
Eric Gregg (1951)
Jim Sundberg (1951)
Andre David (1958)
Jim Bowden (1961)
Erik Hanson (1965)
Eric Young (1967)
Rich Garces (1971)
Joakim Soria (1984)
Randy Rosario (1994)

Pitcher Osamu Higashio is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Eric Gregg was a National League umpire from 1975-1999.

Jim Bowden was the general manager of Cincinnati and of Washington and is currently a broadcaster for MLB Network Radio.

Two players who share a name with Minnesota Twins players, Scott Baker (1970) and Roy Smith (1976), were also born on this day.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 18 →

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of May 16

OMAHA STORM CHASERS 9, ST. PAUL SAINTS 8 IN ST. PAUL (11 INNINGS)

St, Paul led 7-3 after six.  Omaha scored one in the eighth and three in the ninth to tie it.  Drew Waters singled home the deciding run in the eleventh.

Multi-hit games:  Diego Castillo was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Michael Helman was 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs, and four RBIs.  Anthony Prato was 2-for-5.

Home runs:  Helman (5).

Multi-RBI games:  Helman 4.

Stolen bases:  Castillo (6).

Pitching prowess:  Austin Schulfer pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one and walking one.  Hobie Harris pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Waters was 4-for-6 with a triple, a double, and four RBIs.

Record:  St. Paul is 17-23, in ninth place, 9.5 games behind Omaha.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 11, TULSA DRILLERS 8 IN TULSA

Wichita scored three in the sixth to take a 7-6 lead and got three insurance runs in the seventh.

Multi-hit games:  Jake Rucker was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two runs, and four RBIs.  Tanner Schobel was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Aaron Sabato was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.

Home runs:  Emmanuel Rodriguez (5).

Multi-RBI games:  Rucker 4; Schobel 3; Rodriguez 2.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Scott Engler pitched two shutout innings, striking out one and walking one.  Jared Solomon struck out two and walked one in 1.1 scoreless innings.

Opposition standout:  Brendon Davis was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer and a walk.

Record:  Wichita is 16-19, in fourth place, four games behind Arkansas and Springfield.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 1, QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 0 IN QUAD CITIES

Jay Harry's RBI single in the first brought home the game's only run.

Multi-hit games:  Harry was 2-for-3.  Luke Keaschall was 2-for-4 with a double.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  John Klein struck out six in six shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Jacob Wosinski struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition standout:  Steven Zobac pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out one.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 21-14, in second place, 1.5 games behind Wisconsin.

LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS 3, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 2 IN LAKELAND

A passed ball with the bases loaded in the ninth brought home the deciding run.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Ty Langenberg struck out eight in five innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk.  Jack Noble struck out five in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.

Opposition standout:  Jim Jarvis was 3-for-3.

Record:  Fort Myers is 14-22, in fifth place, ten games behind Clearwater and Lakeland.

FCL RAYS AT FCL TWINS

Postponed due to wet grounds.  Will be made up June 3.

TODAY'S TILTS

11:00  FCL Twins at FCL Red Sox
5:30  Fort Myers (TBD) at Lakeland
6:35  Quad Cities at Cedar Rapids (C. J. Culpepper, 0-0, 3.31_
6:37  Omaha at St. Paul (David Festa, 0-1, 3.00)
7:00  Wichita (Marco Raya, 0-0, 3.38) at Tulsa

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 17

Hal Carlson (1892)
Del Webb (1899)
Cool Papa Bell (1903)
Ace Parker (1912)
Billy Hoeft (1932)
Ozzie Virgil (1932)
Dan Monzon (1946)
Carlos May (1948)
Pascual Perez (1957)
Greg Mathews (1962)
Jose Guillen (1976)
Carlos Pena (1978)

Del Webb was an owner of the New York Yankees from 1945-1964.

As you probably know, James "Cool Papa" Bell was a star in the Negro Leagues.  It was said that he was so fast he could turn out the light and be in bed before the room got dark.

Ace Parker is a member of both the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame.  He was an infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937-1938.

Left-hander Greg Mathews was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round of the January draft in 1982, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Philosofer.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 17 →

Cup of Coffee

May 16, 2024: TerrifAIng

16 Comments

We had a big company wide town hall yesterday where the CEO went over the plan for the next few fiscal years, including specific goals, figures, etc. As I've mentioned, the company has been plugging AI into everything lately. Out of curiosity, since it transcribes in real time, I asked it to provide a summary of the hour long meeting. It took a good minute or so, but it produced a frighteningly accurate and concise summary of all the main points, including citing specific numbers. There was even a little blurb at the end about the safety compliance officer that opened the meeting and gave a brief set of recommendations. It was a bit unsettling.

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Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of May 15

OMAHA STORM CHASERS 6, ST. PAUL SAINTS 0 IN ST. PAUL

Omaha scored five in the second inning, which would be more than enough.

Multi-hit games:  DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Keirsey, Jr. (11).

Pitching prowess:  Ronny Henriquez pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Nick Wittgren pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one.  Ryan Jensen pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition standout:  Luis Cessa struck out five in five innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Record:  St. Paul is 17-22, in ninth place, 8.5 games behind Omaha.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 7, TULSA DRILLERS 1 IN TULSA

Wichita broke a 1-1 tie with a four-run fifth.

Multi-hit games:  Jeferson Morales was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Jake Rucker was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs.  Emmanuel Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, and two runs.

Home runs:  Rucker (2).

Multi-RBI games:  Morales 2; Kyler Fedco 2.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Zebby Matthews struck out six in five innings, giving up one run on three hits.  Mike Paredes pitched two perfect innings.  John Stankiewicz retired all four men he faced.

Opposition standout:  Sauryn Leo struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.

Record:  Wichita is 15-19, in fourth place, five games behind Springfield.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3, QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 0 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

Misael Urbina's two-run single in the third broke a scoreless tie.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  Urbina 2.

Stolen bases:  Luke Keaschall (12).

Pitching prowess:  Andrew Morris pitched seven shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out six.  Ricardo Velez struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition standout:  A. J. Block struck out three in two perfect innings.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 20-14, in second place, 2.5 games behind Wisconsin.

LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS 16, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 1 IN LAKELAND

Lakeland scored eight runs in the first inning.

Multi-hit games:  Kyle Hess was 2-for-3.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Payton Eeles (3).

Pitching prowess:  Aaron Holiday struck out three and walked three in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Matthew Clayton pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Daneurys De La Cruz was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, three runs, and three RBIs.

Record:  Fort Myers is 14-21, in ninth place, 9.5 games behind Clearwater.

TODAY'S TILTS

11:00  FCL Rays at FCL Twins
5:30  Fort Myers (Ty Langenberg, 0-3, 4.44) at Lakeland
6:35  Quad Cities at Cedar Rapids (Darren Bowen, 2-2, 4.23)
6;37  Omaha at St. Paul (Randy Dobnak, 3-3, 4.42)
7:00 Wichita (Jaylin Nowlin, 2-2, 3.33) at Tulsa