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Keeping Track

Minor Details: Game of April 2

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COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 2, ST. PAUL SAINTS 0 IN COLUMBUS

Saints pitchers extended their scoreless streak seven more innings.  Columbus scored two in the eighth and it was enough, because the Saints were held scoreless.  All three Saints games have been shutouts, two going the Saints' way, one going the other way.  The Saints were 1-for-11 with men in scoring position, stranding twelve runners.

Batters:  Carson McCusker was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jeferson Morales was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitchers:  Andrew Morris pitched five innings, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out four.  Cory Lewis struck out four and walked two in 1.2 scoreless innings.  Jacob Bosiokovic allowed the two runs and took the loss.

Opposition:  Will Wilson was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Kody Huff was 2-for-4 with a double.  Juan Brito was 2-for-4.  Parker Messick pitched four shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out two.  Zak Kent struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.  Parker Mushinski struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.

Record:  The Saints are 2-1, tied for first with Iowa.

Next:  Thursday, 5:15.  St. Paul (Marco Raya) at Columbus (Doug Nikhazy, 0-0, 3.60).

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 3

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Guy Hecker (1856)
Henry McHenry (1910)
Larry Shepard (1919)
Alex Grammas (1926)
Art Ditmar (1929)
Wally Moon (1930)
Jerry Dale (1933)
Hawk Taylor (1939)
Larry Littleton (1954)
Darrell Jackson (1956)
Gary Pettis (1958)
Doug Baker (1961)
Chris Bosio (1963)
Mark Shapiro (1967)
Mike Lansing (1968)
Ryan Doumit (1981)
Kyle Phillips (1984)
Jay Bruce (1987)
Jason Kipnis (1987)

Guy Hecker is one of three pitchers to have won over fifty games in a season.  He is also the only pitcher to have won a batting title.

Larry Shepard managed Pittsburgh in 1968-1969.  Coincidentally, he was replaced by Alex Grammas.

Jerry Dale was a National League umpire from 1971-85.  He pitched in the minors for the Washington (now Minnesota) franchise from 1951-52.

Mark Shapiro was the general manager of the Cleveland Indians from 2001-10 and was president of that club from 2011-2015, when he became president of the Toronto Blue Jays.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Papa Pirate.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 3 →

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Game of April 1

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ST. PAUL SAINTS 5, COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 0 IN COLUMBUS

The Saints played only their second game of the year, their first since Friday, and they made the most of it.  Jair Camargo hit a two-run single in the first and Zebby Matthews and a pair of relievers took it from there.  Saints pitchers have not allowed a run in the first two games of the season.

Batters:  Armando Alvarez was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Austin Martin was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Jair Camargo was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.  Mike Ford was 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk.

Pitchers:  Zebby Matthews pitched five shutout innings, giving up only one hit and no walks and striking out four.  Travis Adams pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up four hits but no walks and striking out two.  Anthony Misiewicz retired all four men he faced, striking out three of them.

Opposition:  Kyle Datres was 2-for-3 with a double.

Record:  The Saints are 2-0, in first place by percentage points over Louisville (3-1).

Next game:  Wednesday, 5:15 in Columbus.  Andrew Morris against Parker Messick.  No record for either pitcher yet this season.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 2

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Tommy Bond (1856)
Hughie Jennings (1869)
Bill Yancey (1902)
Luke Appling (1907)
Al Barlick (1915)
Vedie Himsl (1917)
Bobby Avila (1924)
Billy Pierce (1927)
Gordon Jones (1930)
Dick Radatz (1937)
Al Weis (1938)
Mike Kekich (1945)
Reggie Smith (1945)
Don Sutton (1945)
Daniel Okrent (1948)
Tom Johnson (1951)
Billy Sample (1955)
Hank Steinbrenner (1957)
Pete Incaviglia (1964)
Curtis Leskanic (1968)
Denny Hocking (1970)
Jon Lieber (1970)

Shortstop Bill Yancey played in the Negro Leagues for fourteen years, later becoming a manager, coach, and scout.

Al Barlick was a National League umpire from 1940-1970.

Vedie Himsl was a longtime coach and scout, primarily in the Cubs organization.  While pitching for St. John's (Minnesota) University, he struck out twenty batters in a game.

Daniel Okrent was one of the creators of the first fantasy baseball league.

Hank Steinbrenner is one of the owners of the New York Yankees, inheriting the team from his father in 2010.

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 2 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 1

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Hugo Bezdek (1884)
Jeff Heath (1915)
Vern Hoscheit (1922)
Bo Schembechler (1929)
Giulio Glorioso (1931)
Ron Perranoski (1936)
Ted Sadowski (1936)
Phil Niekro (1939)
Rusty Staub (1944)
Willie Montanez (1948)
Mike Bacsik (1952)
Mike Kinnunen (1958)
Rich Amaral (1962)
Frank Castillo (1969)
Matt Herges (1970)
John Axford (1983)
Daniel Murphy (1985)

Hugo Bezdek is the only man to manage a major league team and coach an NFL team.  He was the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1917-1919 and the coach of the Cleveland Rams in 1937.  He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Vern Hoscheit was a long-time minor league manager, scout, and major league coach.  He was also the president of the Three-I League from 1960-61.

Better known as a college football coach, Bo Schembechler was the president of the Detroit Tigers from 1990-1992.

Giulio Glorioso won six ERA titles and four pitching triple crowns in Italy and is a member of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 1 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 31

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Bill Hallman (1867)
Jack Stivetts (1868)
Big Jeff Pfeffer (1882)
Brick Owens (1885)
Tom Sheehan (1894)
Carson Bigbee (1895)
George Mitchell (1900)
Mule Suttles (1900)
Marv Grissom (1918)
Dave Koslo (1920)
Moises Camacho (1932)
Moose Stubing (1938)
Balvino Galvez (1964)
Chien-Ming Wang (1980)
Jeff Mathis (1983)
Peter Bourjos (1987)
Josmil Pinto (1989)

There have been two players in the majors named Jeff Pfeffer.  They were brothers.  "Big Jeff" Pfeffer was actually Francis Xavier Pfeffer.  Plain old Jeff Pfeffer was actually Edward Joseph Pfeffer.  "Big Jeff" was 6'1", 185 pounds.  Plain old Jeff was 6'3", 210.

Brick Owens was a longtime major league umpire.  His first name was Clarence.  He got the nickname "Brick" after being hit by one while umpiring a game in Pittsburg, Kansas early in his career.

Mule Suttles is sometimes credited as the all-time Negro Leagues home run leader with 237.  He swung a fifty-ounce bat.

One of the top second basemen in the history of the Mexican League, Moises Camacho played  there from 1951-1975.  He was known as the Rogers Hornsby of Mexico.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 31 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 30

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Tom Burns (1857)
George Van Haltren (1866)
Ripper Collins (1904)
Dick Fowler (1921)
Dick Woodson (1945)
Grady Little (1950)
Jason Dickson (1973)
Jeriome Robertson (1977)
Josh Bard (1978)
Shairon Martis (1987)
Chris Sale (1989)
Jake Marisnick (1991)
Alex Bregman (1994)

Grady Little was the manager of the Boston Red Sox from 2002-03 and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006-07.

Josh Bard was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-fifth round in 1996, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 30 →

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Game of March 28

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I don't know how much I'll do with this feature this season.  It would not be accurate to say that I'm busier in retirement than I was when I was working, but the thing is that I'm busy with different things, and for the most part, those different things don't involve sitting in front of a computer screen.

So, there will be days when the feature does not appear at all.  There will be other days when it only covers some of the games, rather than all of them.  We'll see.

I hope you'll read it when it's here, but the truth is that I really do this for myself more than you.  I like keeping up with the Twins' minor league teams, and this is a way for me to do it.  I hope you'll enjoy it, too, when it's here.

And now, on to the game.

ST. PAUL SAINTS 11, INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 0 IN ST. PAUL

It's hard to open better than that.  The Saints scored early and often, getting two in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth, three in the sixth, and three in the eighth.  They did not hit any home runs, but the had eighteen hits, including four doubles and a triple.  They also drew seven walks.  Eight players had at least two hits.  The pitching was equally impressive, with four pitchers throwing a combined four-hit shutout.

Batters:  Emmanuel Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Jair Camargo was 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs, and two RBIs.  Ryan Fitzgerald was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Jeferson Morales was 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Armando Alvarez was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Austin Martin was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Yunior Severino was 2-for-5.  Luke Keaschall was 2-for-6.

Pitchers:  David Festa pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks and striking out four.  Scott Blewett struck out two and walked one in two shutout innings.  Kyle Bischoff pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.  Kody Funderburk struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition:  Hunter Stratton pitched a scoreless inning despite giving up three hits.

Record:  St. Paul is 1-0 and tied for first.

Next game:  2:07  Indianapolis (Mike Burrows) at St. Paul  (Andrew Morris)