Happy Birthday–June 11

Roger Bresnahan (1879)
Ernie Nevers (1902)
Dan Topping (1912)
Frank Thomas (1929)
Jimmy Stewart (1939)
Danny Morris (1946)
Dave Cash (1948)
Tom Austin (1951)
Mike Fuentes (1958)
Brian Gorman (1959)
Mike Davis (1959)
Odalis Perez (1978)
Bobby Keppel (1982)
Jose Reyes (1983)
Brock Holt (1988)

Football great Ernie Nevers, born in Willow River, Minnesota, pitched for the St. Louis Browns for parts of three seasons (1926-1928).

Dan Topping was part-owner of the New York Yankees from 1945-1966.

Tom Austin is a long-time college baseball coach at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Outfielder Mike Fuentes was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1980, but did not sign.

Brian Gorman was a major league umpire from 1993-2021.

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 11

2024 Game Log 66: Minnesota Twins vs. Colorado Rockies Colorado Rockies vs. Minnesota Twins

West Coast road trip! It's Paddack against H-Dak. Neither pitcher has been particularly good of late, so that and the ballpark might make the ball a bit more lively. You know, provided the batters can get their bats on it.

Twins are good against bad teams (usually), so hopefully they have a few more wins on this side of the Mississippi.

ETA: Oh yeah, they're in Minnesota.

Minor Details: Games of June 9

SYRACUSE METS 7, ST. PAUL SAINTS 4 IN ST. PAUL

Yolmer Sanchez hit a three-run homer to give the Mets a 5-3 lead i the fourth.

Multi-hit games:  Michael Helman was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, and three RBIs.  Yunior Severino was 3-for-5 with a home run.  Will Holland was 2-for-3 with a double.

Home runs:  Helman (10); Severino (10).

Multi-RBI games:  Helman 3 (31).

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Jeff Brigham pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Kody Funderburk struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition standout:  Rylan Bannon was 3-for-5 with a double.

Record:  St. Paul is 27-35, in eighth place, 15.5 games behind Omaha.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NATURALS 3, WICHITA WIND SURGE 2 IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

It was scoreless through seven.  Each team scored two in the eighth and Shervyen Newton singled home the deciding run in the ninth.

Multi-hit games:  Jeferson Morales was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Home runs:  Morales (3).

Multi-RBI games:  Morales 2 (21).

Stolen bases:  Kala'i Rosario (3); Aaron Sabato (3).

Pitching prowess:  Zebby Matthews struck out eight in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits.

Opposition standout:  Luinder Avila struck out six in 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and four walks.

Record:  Wichita is 23-34, in fifth (last) place, ten games behind Springfield.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 9, GREAT LAKES LOONS 6 IN GREAT LAKES

Trailing 6-3, Cedar Rapids scored five runs in the eighth.  Nate Baez hit a two-run double to give the Kernels the lead.

Multi-hit gamesRayne Doncon was 4-for-5 with a double, two runs, and three RBIs.  Baez was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, and four RBIs.  Jose Salas was 3-for-5.  Agustin Ruiz was 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs.

Home runs:  Baez (4); Ruiz (3).

Multi-RBI games:  Baez 4 (11); Doncon 3 (7).

Stolen bases:  Salas (10).

Pitching prowess:  Mike Paredes struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition standout:  Sam Mongelli was 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs, and four RBIs.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 32-24, in second place, 3.5 games behind Wisconsin.

TAMPA TARPONS 8, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 4 IN TAMPA

Tampa scored two in the second and two in the third to build a 4-0 lead.  Fort Myers never got closer than two runs.

Multi-hit games:  Brandon Winokur was 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk.

Home runs:  Winokur (5).

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Carlos Aguiar (3).

Pitching prowess:  Danny Moreno pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Cade Smith struck out eleven in five innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.

Record:  Fort Myers is 28-29, in fourth place, nine games behind Lakeland.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:00  DSL Phillies Red at DSL Twins
11:00  FCL Braves at FCL Twins

Happy Birthday–June 10

Jack Graney (1886)
Garland Braxton (1900)
Danny McFayden (1905)
Vic Harris (1905)
Mike Kreevich (1908)
Frank Demaree (1910)
Chuck Thompson (1921)
Hank Foiles (1929)
Carmen Cozza (1930)
Ed Palmquist (1933)
Kazuhisa Inao (1937)
Johnny Edwards (1938)
Ken Singleton (1947)
Elias Sosa (1950)
Gerry Hunsicker (1950)
Francisco Barrios (1953)
Floyd Bannister (1955)
Scott Ullger (1955)
Pokey Reese (1973)
Al Alburquerque (1986)
Patrick Murphy (1995)

Jack Graney had a few unusual "firsts".  He was the first major leaguer to bat against Babe Ruth.  He was the first player to wear a number on his uniform.  He as also the first player to become a broadcaster.

Outfielder Vic Harris was a long-time Negro League player and manager, leading the Homestead Grays to nine Negro National League pennants.

Chuck Thompson was a long-time broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles.

Outfielder Carmen Cozza played in the low minors in 1952-1953, batting .242.  He later became a college football coach, most notably at Yale.  Upon his retirement in 1996, he held the record for most coaching victories in the Ivy League (179) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Kazuhisa Inao is one of the greatest pitchers in Japanese baseball history.

Gerry Hunsicker is a long-time baseball executive, working for the Mets, the Astros, and the Rays.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 10

2024 Summer Mix Nominations

All right, citizens, it's that time of year. Toss your nominations below.

1. The theme is "Summer". You're free to interpret that as you'd like.
2. Put your nominations in a Spoiler box.
3. You may nominate up to 3 songs. Any further nominations will be ignored.
4. Unless we get an insane amount of nominations for some reason, everyone's first choice is automatically in. The rest of the mix will be filled out with the other nominations.
5. Like a Supreme Court justice and porn, I don't know the exact time when a song becomes too long to include, but I can tell you that 15 minutes is probably a bit too long...

WGOM Summer Mix 2015
WGOM Summer Mix 2016
WGOM Summer Mix 2017
WGOM Summer Mix 2018
WGOM Summer Mix 2019
WGOM Summer Mix 2020
WGOM Summer Mix 2021
WGOM Summer Mix 2022
WGOM Summer Mix 2023