All posts by Jeff A

Happy Birthday–May 6

Bonesetter Reese (1855)
Walton Cruise (1890)
Mike McCormick (1917)
Willie Mays (1931)
Russ Gibson (1939)
Bill Hands (1940)
Masanori Murakami (1944)
Steve Staggs (1951)
Larry Andersen (1953)
Al Williams (1954)

John “Bonesetter” Reese worked with many baseball players and other famous people in the first part of the twentieth century.  “Bonesetting” is a Welsh term for the treatment of muscle and tendon strains.

Infielder Steve Staggs was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1970, but did not sign.

This is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Wilson Sanchez (1991).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 6

Minor League Players of the Month: April

ROCHESTER

Position PlayerTrevor Plouffe was .261/.333/.551 in 69 at-bats in April with five home runs.  Honorable mentionRene Tosoni hit .286/.389/.500 in 70 at-bats.

PitcherKyle Gibson was 0-1, 3.15, 1.05 WHIP in 20 innings (four starts).  He has struck out 21 and walked four.  Honorable mentionScott Diamond was 1-1, 3.48, 1.16 WHIP in 20.2 innings (four starts).  He has struck out 16 and walked nine.

NEW BRITAIN

Position PlayerYangervis Solarte was .359/.367/.577 in 78 at-bats.  Honorable mentionChris Parmelee is .273/.378/.442 in 77 at-bats.

PitcherCole DeVries is 0-0, 0.00, 0.27 WHIP in April in 14.2 innings (seven appearances).  He had four saves, walked one, and struck out 21.  Honorable mentionSteve Hirschfeld is 1-0, 2.05, 0.91 WHIP in 22 innings (four starts).  He has walked five and struck out 18.

FT. MYERS

Position PlayerBrian Dozier is .312/.443/.455 in 77 at-bats in April.  Honorable mentionDanny Rams is .338/.408/.500 in 68 at-bats.

PitcherKane Holbrooks is 0-4, 2.43, 1.11 WHIP in 29.2 innings (five starts).  He has walked six and struck out nine.  Honorable mentionDaniel Osterbrock is 2-0, 2.95, 1.15 WHIP in 18.1 innings (three starts, one relief appearance).  He has walked two and struck out nine.

BELOIT

Position PlayerDanny Ortiz is .377/.429/.768 with six home runs in 69 at-bats in April.  Honorable mention:  Oswaldo Arcia is .352/.420/.704 with five home runs in 71 at-bats.

PitcherLogan Darnell is 1-1, 2.78, 0.66 WHIP in 22.2 innings (four starts).  He has walked three and struck out 16.  Honorable mention:  Blayne Weller is 2-0, 0.00, 1.40 WHIP in 14.1 innings (seven appearances).  He has walked six and struck out twelve.

Minor Details: Games of 5/1 – 5/4

ROCHESTER

Sunday—Rochester 9, Syracuse 6 in Syracuse.  Trevor Plouffe had two singles, a double, and a home run.  Brian Dinkelman and Matt Brown each had three hits.

Monday—Syracuse 3, Rochester 2 in Syracuse.  Scott Diamond worked five shutout innings.  Ben Revere and Dustin Martin each had two hits.

Tuesday—Rochester at Syracuse.  Postponed.

Wednesday—League-wide off day.

NEW BRITAIN

Sunday—New Britain 8, Harrisburg 7 in New Britain (10 innings).  Yangervis Solarte had two doubles and a single, scoring the winning run.  Mike Hollimon had three hits.  Brett Jacobson worked 3.1 scoreless innings.

Monday—Richmond 6, New Britain 2 in New Britain.  Deibinson Romero had two hits.  Michael Tarsi worked two scoreless innings.

Tuesday—New Britain 4, Richmond 2 in New Britain. Evan Bigley had two singles and a double.  Bobby Lanigan gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings.  Cole DeVries pitched two scoreless innings.

Wednesday—Richmond at New Britain.  Postponed.  Will be made up as a doubleheader today.

FT. MYERS

Sunday—Ft. Myers 5, Charlotte 3 in Charlotte.  Nate Hanson had three hits.  Andrew Albers gave up two hits and struck out four in 4.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Monday—Ft. Myers 4, Charlotte 3 in Charlotte (10 innings).  Nick Romero and James Beresford each had two hits.  Nate Hanson hit a game-tying homer in the ninth.  Kevin Slowey gave up two hits and no walks in 5.2 scoreless innings.

Tuesday—Ft. Myers 9, Palm Beach 6 in Ft. Myers.  Brian Dozier doubled and tripled, scoring three times.  Aaron Hicks hit a two-run homer.  Tom Stuifbergen pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

Wednesday—Ft. Myers 6, Palm Beach 2 in Ft. Myers.  Danny Rams had three hits.  Kane Holbrooks gave up two unearned runs on six hits and a walk in six innings.  Blake Martin worked three perfect innings.

BELOIT

Sunday—Beloit 10, Clinton 8 in Clinton.  The Snappers scored nine runs in the eighth.  Danny Ortiz, Tobias Streich, and Wang-Wei Lin each had two hits.  Ryan O’Rourke pitched 2.1 scoreless innings.

Monday—Clinton 13, Beloit 6 in Clinton.  Jamaal Hawkins, Michael Gonzales, and Nate Roberts each had two hits.

Tuesday—Beloit 6, Clinton 3 in Clinton.  Kyle Knudson had three hits.  Ryan O’Rourke pitched two scoreless innings.

Wednesday—Beloit 4, Wisconsin 1 in Beloit.  Danny Ortiz had two doubles.  Adrian Salcedo gave up one run on six hits in seen innings while striking out eight.  Clinton Dempster struck out five in two shutout innings.

Happy Birthday–May 5

Chief Bender (1884)
Bob Cerv (1926)
Bing Russell (1926)
Red Robbins (1928)
Jose Pagan (1935)
Tommy Helms (1941)
John Donaldson (1943)
Larry Hisle (1947)
Ron Oester (1956)
Charles Nagy (1967)
Hideki Irabu (1969)
Mike Redmond (1971)

Better known for his role as Deputy Clem Foster on “Bonanza”, outfielder Bing Russell played minor league baseball from 1948-1949.  He is the father of actor (and minor league player) Kurt Russell and the grandfather of major league player Matt Franco.

Spencer “Red” Robbins was a minor league player for fourteen years.  He then spent many years in the Twins’ organization, most of them as a scout (1963-1986).

This is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Bobby Lanigan (1987).

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mrs. Rhubarb_Runner.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 5

Happy Birthday–May 4

Charley Hickman (1876)
Jack Tobin (1892)
John Tsitouris (1936)
Rene Lachemann (1945)
Ken Oberkfell (1956)
Rick Leach (1957)
Tim Tschida (1960)
Eddie Perez (1968)
Joe Borowski (1971)
Miguel Cairo (1974)
Ben Grieve (1976)
Jason Michaels (1976)
Ryan Jorgensen (1979)
Matt Tolbert (1982)
Kevin Slowey (1984)

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Twins farmhands Erick Gonzalez (1991) and Matej Hejma (1990).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 4

Happy Birthday–May 3

George Gore (1857)
Garry Herrmann (1859)
Eppa Rixey (1891)
Red Ruffing (1905)
Goose Tatum (1921)
Chuck Hinton (1934)
Chris Cannizzaro (1938)
Davey Lopes (1945)
Dan Iassogna (1969)
Darren Dreifort (1972)
Ryan Dempster (1977)
Ben Revere (1988)

Better known as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Goose Tatum played in the Negro Leagues for several years in the 1940s.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 3

Happy Birthday–May 2

Eddie Collins (1887)
Bing Crosby (1904)
Joe Falls (1928)
Eddie Bressoud (1932)
Gates Brown (1939)
Clay Carroll (1941)
Keith Moreland (1954)
Dr. A (1956)
Felix Jose (1965)
Paul Emmel (1968)

Entertainer Bing Crosby was part-owner and a vice president of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1947 into the 1960s.

It appears that no players with connections to the Minnesota Twins were born on this day.  However, it is the birthday of my brother, who is the head of the Mining and Minerals Department at Virginia Tech.  Happy Birthday, Dr. A!

Minor Details: Games of 4/30

Syracuse 3, Rochester 0 in Syracuse.  The Chiefs scored in the third, fourth, and fifth.  The Red Wings had three singles and drew two walks.  Jeff Manship allowed two runs on six hits in four innings, walking none and striking out five.  Eric Hacker and Carlos Gutierrez each struck out three in two innings of relief, with Hacker allowing an unearned run.

New Britain 5, Harrisburg 2 in New Britain.  The Rock Cats scored three in the second and two in the seventh.  Yangervis Solarte had a double and two singles.  Steve Singleton had two doubles.  Evan Bigley had two hits.  Liam Hendriks struck out nine in 7.1 innings, giving up just one run on four hits and two walks.  Cole DeVries retired the only man he faced for the save.

Charlotte 5, Ft. Myers 4 in Charlotte.  The Miracle blew a 4-0 lead, with the Stone Crabs scoring four in the bottom of the ninth to take the win.  Charlotte had only three hits in the ninth, receiving two walks and benefitting from a Ft. Myers error.  Nick Romero doubled and tripled, Brian Dozier had two doubles, and Jon Goncalves doubled and singled.  Edgar Ibarra allowed just one run on six hits, walking none in seven innings.  Bruce Pugh pitched the ninth and took the loss.

Peoria 13, Beloit 8 in Beloit (10 innings).  The Chiefs scored five in the tenth to win a slugfest.  Smaily Borges hit two home runs for Peoria.  Daniel Ortiz had two solo homers and a single.  Michael Gonzales hit two solo homers.  Oswaldo Arcia doubled and homered, driving in three.  Josmil Pinto hit a solo homer.  Andrei Lobanov surrendered six runs (five earned) on seven hits and a walk in 4.2 innings.  Blayne Weller worked 2.1 scoreless innings.  Martire Garcia pitched the tenth and took the loss.

Happy Birthday–May 1

Frank Foreman (1863)
George McQuillan (1885)
Victor Starfin (1916)
Johnny Berardino (1917)
Al Zarilla (1919)
Von Joshua (1948)
Rudy Meoli (1951)
Roy Lee Jackson (1954)
Charlie O'Brien (1960)
Jose Lind (1964)
Armando Reynoso (1966)

Born in Russia, Victor Starfin was Japanese baseball’s first 300-game winner.

Infielder Johnny Berardino played in the major leagues for eleven years and appeared in 912 games, but is best known as Dr. Steve Hardy on General Hospital, a role he played from 1963-1996.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 1

Minor Details: Games of 4/29

Buffalo 3, Rochester 2 in Rochester.  Each team scored two in the first, but an eighth-inning homer by Lucas Duda off Anthony Slama made the difference.  Ben Revere had three hits.  Yorman Bazardo went three innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.  Chuck James worked three shutout innings, striking out three.

Harrisburg 4, New Britain 1 in New Britain (12 innings).  Steve Lombardozzi’s two-run single in the twelfth brought in the winning runs.  The Rock Cats opened the twelfth inning by making two errors.  Steve Hirschfeld allowed just one run on four hits and a walk in seven innings, striking out seven.  Spencer Steedley gave up only a walk in 2.2 scoreless innings.  Tyler Robertson allowed three unearned runs to take the loss.

Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 3 in Palm Beach.  The Miracle took a 4-0 lead after four and held on from there.  James Beresford had three hits.  Reggie Williams and Steve Liddle each had two hits.  Daniel Osterbrock got the win, giving up a run on five hits and two walks in five innings.  Dakota Watts worked a scoreless ninth, allowing two hits but striking out two to get the save.

Beloit 7, Peoria 2 in Beloit.  The Snappers scored two in the second, two in the fourth, and two in the fifth to build a 6-0 lead.  Kyle Knudson doubled and homered, driving in three.  Michael Gonzales had two hits and Daniel Ortiz homered.  Adrian Salcedo gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk in 6.2 innings to get the win.