Charley O'Leary (1882)
Dolly Gray (1897)
Mule Haas (1903)
Mel Harder (1909)
Bill Henry (1927)
Lou Klimchock (1939)
Dick Such (1944)
Jim Palmer (1945)
Mitchell Page (1951)
Carlos Garcia (1967)
Juan Cruz (1978)
Josh Rabe (1978)
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to New Guy.
Aragua made it two in a row, defeating Margarita 5-1 in Aragua. The Tigres scored three in the first two innings and never trailed.
Lastings Milledge led the offense with a pair of doubles. Guillermo Rodriguez hit a home run. Joe Benson was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Starter Deunte Heath (White Sox) struck out five in 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and a walk. The win went to Yohan Pino (Toronto), who struck out three while giving up two hits in two shutout innings. Francisco Butto struck out three in 1.2 shutout innings, allowing just a walk to get the save.
For the Bravos, Frank Diaz and Cesar Hernandez (Philadelphia) each had two hits. Starter Ryan Tatusko (Washington) gave up a run on a hit and three walks in just two-thirds of an inning to take the loss. Leonardo Astorga struck out four in three perfect innings of relief.
Aragua again hosts Margarita this evening.
Mesa scored three in the fifth on the way to a 6-3 win over Peoria. The Solar Sox pounded out sixteen hits in the game, their second win in their last three tries.
Tyler Saladino (White Sox) led the way with two singles and a triple. Robbie Grossman (Pittsburgh) had two singles and a double and Brandon Short (White Sox) had three singles. Jarek Cunningham (Pittsburgh) singled and doubled. Brian Dozier was 2-for-5, scoring a run and driving one in. Aaron Hicks was 1-for-5 and scored once. Nathan Baker (Pittsburgh) got the win with two shutout innings, giving up one hit and walking one. Brett Jacobson worked a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Mike Colla (Pittsburgh) walked one in a scoreless ninth to get the save.
Peoria was held to five hits and made three errors. Taylor Whitenton (Mets) took the loss, surrendering three runs on three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings.
The Solar Sox host Surprise this afternoon.
Joe Start (1842)
Paul Radford (1861)
Ivy Olson (1885)
Oscar Charleston (1896)
Harry Brecheen (1914)
Ken Heintzelman (1915)
Tom Cheney (1934)
Tommy Harper (1940)
Al Oliver (1946)
Frank Duffy (1946)
Ed Figueroa (1948)
Kiko Garcia (1953)
Willie Aikens (1954)
Jesus Vega (1955)
Joe Girardi (1964)
Midre Cummings (1971)
Ryan Church (1978)
Boof Bonser (1981)
Carlos Marmol (1982)
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.