All posts by Jeff A

Keeping Track

Tigres Tales

Hector Gimenez homered with two out in the bottom of the ninth to give Aragua a 2-1 victory over Lara.

Alex Nunez scored the other Tigres run, getting a double and a triple.  Joe Benson was 0-for-3.  Rich Rundles (St. Louis) got the win in relief, retiring both batters he faced.

For the Cardinales, Luis Antonio Jimenez (Seattle) had two hits and scored the only Lara run.  Starter Jarrett Grube (Seattle) pitched six innings, giving up a run on three hits and striking out seven.  Moises Hernandez (Seattle) took the loss in his second inning of relief.

Aragua hosts Margarita tonight.

Keeping Track

Solar Sox Summary

Mesa's winning streak ended at one yesterday as Peoria took a 6-2 victory over the Solar Sox.

Scooter Gennett (Milwaukee) led the Javelinas with two singles and a double.  Juan Lagares (Mets) singled and homered.  Kentrail Davis (Milwaukee) singled and tripled.  Jefry Marte (Mets) had two hits.  Nick Franklin (Seattle) hit a home run.  The win went to Anthony Bass (San Diego), who allowed both runs on three hits and a walk in four innings.  Robert Carson (Mets) worked two shutout innings of relief.

Mesa was led by Junior Lake (Cubs), who had two of the four Solar Sox hits.  Aaron Hicks was 0-for-3.  Bruce Pugh took the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.  Dakota Watts worked 1.2 perfect innings.

Mesa travels to Peoria today.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 13

Charles Somers (1868)
Bill Donovan (1876)
Rube Waddell (1876)
Pickles Dillhoefer (1893)
Frankie Hayes (1914)
Lou Saban (1921)
Charlie Silvera (1924)
Eddie Yost (1926)
Eddie Mathews (1931)
Bob Bailey (1942)
Randy Moffitt (1948)
Dick Pole (1950)
Frank LaCorte (1951)
George Frazier (1954)
Bryan Hickerson (1963)
Chris Gwynn (1964)
Trevor Hoffman (1967)
Damian Miller (1969)

Better known as a football coach, Lou Saban was the president of the New York Yankees in 1981 and 1982.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 13 →

Keeping Track

Venezuelan Winter League Preview

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The Venezuelan Winter League starts today.  There are eight teams in the league.  The teams are Aguilas de Zulia, Bravos de Margarita, Cardenales de Lara, Caribes de Anzoategui, Leones del Caracas, Navegantes del Magallanes, Tiburones de La Guaira, and Tigres de Aragua.

Once again there are a lot of Twins players on the roster for the Tigres de Aragua.  They are Cesar Ciurcina, Jhon Garcia, Edgar Ibarra, Jose Mijares, Miguel Munoz, Josmil Pinto, Oswaldo Arcia, Joe Benson, Jon Goncalves, and Yangervis Solarte.

It is unclear, however, which of those players will actually play or when they will play.  Rosters in winter leagues are different.  There are fifty-five players currently on the Aragua roster.  Players come and go.  Some are there for a couple of weeks, some are there for a month, some stay all season.  It seems logical that there would be an "active roster" of people who are actually available to play on a given night, but if it exists it is not easy to find.  As one follows the league, one gets the impression that if a good player just happened to show up in the fifth inning, they'd hand him a uniform and send him onto the field.

We hope at least a few of the Twins players will always be around at any given time, so that following Aragua will be more interesting to us.  If not, well, it's still baseball, and it will still be something to help us through the long winter months.  Let's play ball!

Keeping Track

Solar Sox Summary

Mesa finally got its first win, defeating Scottsdale 3-2.  The Solar Sox once again got off to an early lead, as they were ahead 3-0 after six.  This time, however, they were able to hold on for the victory.

Brandon Short (White Sox) led Mesa with a single and a solo homer.  Junior Lake (Cubs) had two hits.  Brian Dozier was 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt.  Chris Herrmann was 0-for-2 with a walk.  Aaron Hicks was 1-for-2 with a triple and a walk.  The win went to Terry Doyle (White Sox), who started and pitched four perfect innings.  Andrew Cashner (Cubs) worked a scoreless ninth, giving up one hit to get the save.  No Twins pitchers were used in the game.

For the Scorpions, Hank Conger (Angels) and Zach Walters (Arizona) each had two hits.  Starter Tyler Cloyd (Philadelphia) took the loss, giving up a run on four hits and a walk in three innings.

The Solar Sox try to make it two in a row as they host Peoria this afternoon.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 12

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Sam Field (1846)
Charlie Morton (1854)
Pop Smith (1856)
Malachi Kittridge (1869)
Pete Hill (1882)
Dixie Davis (1890)
Rick Ferrell (1905)
Joe Cronin (1906)
Al Smith (1907)
Bob Sheppard (1910)
Al Unser (1912)
John Kennedy (1926)
Tony Kubek (1935)
Glenn Beckert (1940)
Herman Hill (1945)
Jim Lewis (1955)
Sid Fernandez (1962)
Luis Polonia (1963)
Jose Valentin (1969)
Derrick White (1969)
Tanyon Sturtze (1970)
Tony Fiore (1971)

Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, of course, played for the Washington franchise from 1928-1934, managing the team in the latter two years. He married Clark Griffith’s niece, which did not keep Griffith from trading him to Boston after the 1934 season.

If there was a Hall of Fame for public address announcers, Bob Sheppard would be the first one in.

First baseman/outfielder Derrick White was drafted by Minnesota in the 23rd round in 1989, but did not sign. He played in the major leagues for Montreal, Detroit, the Cubs, and Colorado, playing in three seasons and totaling 116 at-bats.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 12 →

Keeping Track

Solar Sox Summary

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Mesa once again lost by one run in the late innings, falling to Scottsdale 4-3.  This time, the Solar Sox led 3-0 after three innings, but the Scorpions scored three in the fourth to tie and one in the eighth to win.

Scottsdale was led by Brandon Crawford (San Francisco), who had two singles and led off the eighth with a triple, eventually scoring the winning run.  Stephen Harrold (San Francisco) got the win, working two scoreless innings and allowing only two baserunners, both on walks.

For Mesa, D. J. LeMahieu (Cubs) singled and doubled and Robbie Grossman (Pitssburgh) had two hits.  Brian Dozier was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt.  Aaron Hicks got his first hit, going 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI.  Cole DeVries started, working three scoreless innings before allowing the three runs in the fourth.  For the game, he gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk while striking out three in 3.1 innings.  Brett Jacobson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.  Brandon Kloess (White Sox) took the loss, allowing a run on a hit and two walks in one inning.

The Solar Sox will continue to look for their first victory as they host Scottsdale this afternoon.

Keeping Track

Solar Sox Summary

Obviously, the numbers mean nothing; this is just for fun.

Where they stand:  Mesa is 0-5, third in the AFL East, four games behind Salt River.

Who's hot:  Brian Dozier is hitting .462/.533/.769 in 13 at-bats.  Chris Herrmann is .500/.625/.833 in 6 at-bats.

Who's cold:  Aaron Hicks is hitting .000/.071/.000 in 13 at-bats.  Cole DeVries is 0-0, 10.12, 1.88 WHIP in 2.2 innings.  Brett Jacobson is 0-0, 16.20, 2.40 in 1.2 innings.  Bruce Pugh is 0-0, 19.29, 4.29 with 5 walks in 2.1 innings.  Dakota Watts is 0-1, 16.87, 2.83 in 2.2 innings.