Monthly Archives: November 2024

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2008, Game 63

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CHICAGO WHITE SOX 12, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Sunday, June 8, 2008.

Batting stars:  Jason Kubel hit a home run, his seventh.

Pitching stars:  Craig Breslow pitched a perfect inning.  Jesse Crain pitched a perfect inning.  Dennys Reyes pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Alexei Ramirez was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and three RBIs.  Nick Swisher was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), two runs, and four RBIs.  Joe Crede was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Jermaine Dye was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-5.  Gavin Floyd struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk.

The game:  It started well.  Chris Gomez led off with a single and Brendan Harris followed with a double, putting men on second and third with none out.  But the Twins could only manage a run-scoring ground out after that, giving them a short-lived 1-0 lead.

Chicago took control after that.  In the second, Paul Konerko hit a ground-rule double, Jim Thome walked, and Nick Swisher hit a three-run homer to make it 3-1.  In the third, the White Sox got a single, two doubles, another single, another double, and two more singles, scoring five runs to take an 8-1 lead.  In the sixth, Jermaine Dye and Swisher doubled, Joe Crede singled, and Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run homer, making the score 12-1.

The Twins never threatened to get back into the game.  Jason Kubel homered leading off the seventh, but that was it, bringing the final score to 12-2 Chicago.

WP:  Gavin Floyd (7-3).

LP:  Kevin Slowey (2-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at first base in place of Justin Morneau, who was the DH.  Jason Kubel, who played the most games at DH with 85, was in right field.  Denard Span, who played the most games in right field, also with 85, was on the bench.  Matt Macri was at second in place of Alexi Casilla.  Brendan Harris was at short.  He played 55 games at short, just a few fewer than Nick Punto (61).  Adam Everett played 44 games at short.  Mike Lamb was at third.  He played 55 games at third, a few fewer than Brian Buscher (64).  Harris played 34 games at third.  As he often did, Ron Gardenhire went with a B lineup in a day game after a night game.

This was Matt Macri’s sixth major league game, and he was batting .429.  He would be sent down about two weeks later, coming back for four games in September.  He would finish at .324.  As this was his only year in the majors, that would be his career batting average.  While it’s certainly not a record, it seems likely this is one of the higher career batting averages among players with 30 or more at-bats.

Joe Mauer was batting .328.  He would finish at .328, which would lead the league.

Craig Breslow had an ERA of 1.93.  He would finish at 1.63.  Dennys Reyes had an ERA of 2.33.  He would finish at 2.33.

A.J. Pierzynski had played for the Twins from 1999-2003.  Jim Thome, who went 0-for-2, played for the Twins from 2010-2011.  Joe Crede played for the Twins in 2009.  Carlos Quentin, who went 1-for-4, went to spring training with the Twins in 2016.

This was the worst start Kevin Slowey made in 2008.  He lasted just three innings and allowed eight runs on ten hits and a walk.  He did strike out four.  You can’t tell it from this game, but he had a pretty good year:  12-11, 3.99, 1.15 WHIP, the best season of his career.  

Gavin Floyd was having the best season of his career.  He would finish 17-8, 3.84, 1.26 WHIP.  

Record:  Chicago was 36-27, in first place in the AL West, five games ahead of Minnesota.  They would finish 89-74, in first place, one game ahead of Minnesota.

The Twins were 31-32, in second place in the AL West, five games behind Chicago.  They would finish 88-75, in second place, one game behind Chicago.  This, of course, was the year the Twins lost game 163 to the White Sox.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-29 (.473).

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 25

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Bert Cunningham (1865)
Jakie May (1895)
Clint Thomas (1896)
Charles Baron (1913)
Joe DiMaggio (1914)
Mike Ryan (1941)
Bucky Dent (1951)
Dave Baker (1956)
Chico Walker (1958)
Mark Whiten (1966)
Octavio Dotel (1973)
Nick Swisher (1980)

First baseman Charles Baron played in the minors from 1931-1951, batting .306 with 2,319 hits.  He was a player-manager for the last five of those seasons.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 25 →

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1999, Game 51

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ANAHEIM ANGELS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN ANAHEIM

Date:  Tuesday, June 1, 1999.

Batting star:  Denny Hocking was 2-for-4 with a double.  Marty Cordova was 2-for-4 with a double.  Corey Koskie hit a home run, his fourth.

Pitching star:  Benj Sampson struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.      

Opposition stars:  Troy Glaus was 2-for-2 with a home run (his seventh), a double, a walk, and two runs.  Randy Velarde was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifth), a double, and two runs.  Ken Hill pitched 8.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out six.

The game:  Each team got a double in the third inning, but only Anaheim turned it into a run, as Troy Glaus led off with a double, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  In the fourth, Randy Velarde led off with a single, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Garret Anderson double.  Todd Greene followed with an RBI single, and it was 3-0 Angels.

The Twins opened the fifth with a pair of walks, but nothing came of it.  Marty Cordova hit a two-out double in the sixth, but was stranded at second.  Anaheim made it 4-0 in the seventh when Troy Glaus homered and it went to 5-0 in the eighth when Randy Velarde homered.

The Twins finally got on the board in the ninth when Corey Koskie homered with two out, but that was it.  The final was 5-1 Angels.

WP:  Ken Hill (2-4).

LP:  Mike Lincoln (1-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  Javier Valentin was behind the plate in place of Terry Steinbach.  Denny Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Matt Lawton was in left in place of Chad Allen.  Lawton was usually in right field, but Corey Koskie was in right in this game.  Koskie played the most games at third base (79), but Brent Gates (61) and Ron Coomer (57) also played a lot of third.  Coomer was the third baseman in this game.  Coomer also played 71 games of first base.

Marty Cordova was batting .306.  He would finish at .285.  Ron Coomer was batting .306.  He would finish at .263.

Matt Walbeck was the catcher for Anaheim, going 0-for-3.  He played for the Twins from 1994-1996.

This was another year the Twins struggled with pitching.  The starter, Mike Lincoln, had an ERA of 5.98 after this game and finished at 6.84.  The relievers were Benj Sampson (7.67 after this game, 8.11 for the year), Rob Radlosky (15.43, 12.46), and Gary Rath (13.50, 11.57).  

The Twins had two decent starters, Brad Radke and Eric Milton.  The others were Lincoln, LaTroy Hawkins (6.66), Joe Mays (4.37, but with a 1.44 WHIP), and Dan Perkins (6.54).  In the bullpen, Rick Aguilera was traded in May.  Mike Trombley (4.33) became the closer.  Bob Wells and Travis Miller pitched pretty well, but that was about it.

This was the best game Ken Hill pitched in 1999, and was the only time he pitched more than 7.2 innings.

Koskie in right was another attempt by the Twins to turn a third baseman into an outfielder.  They did it with Graig Nettles, Trevor Plouffe!, and Miguel Sano as well.

Record:  Anaheim was 25-27, in fourth (last) place in the AL West, 6.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 70-92, in fourth (last) place, 25 games behind Texas.

The Twins were 18-33, in fifth (last) place in the AL Central, 15.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 63-97, in fifth (last) place, 33 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-28 (.481).