All posts by Jeff A

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 20

Bill Cammeyer (1821)
Mike Griffin (1865)
Joe McGinnity (1871)
Bob Connery (1880)
Walter Schmidt (1887)
Vern Kennedy (1907)
Clyde Shoun (1912)
Hank Izquierdo (1931)
George Altman (1933)
Pat Corrales (1941)
Rick Langford (1952)
Steve McCatty (1954)
Paul Mirabella (1954)
Si-jin Kim (1958)
Chris Hoiles (1965)
Manny Alexander (1971)

Bill Cammeyer was involved in the early days of professional baseball.  He is credited as a pioneer who put a fence around his ballpark so he could charge admission.  He built a clubhouse, graded the diamond, created a very primitive set of stands for fans, and put a saloon inside the fence.

Bob Connery is the scout credited with discovering Rogers Hornsby and Tony Lazzeri.

Paul Mirabella was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 1975, but did not sign.

Si-Jin Kim was a top pitcher in the first decade of Korean professional baseball.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s daughter.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: World Series Game Three

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LOS ANGELES 4, MINNESOTA 0 IN LOS ANGELES

Date:  Saturday, October 9.

Batting star:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double.

Pitching star:  Johnny Klippstein pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Claude Osteen pitched a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

The game:  Versalles led off the game with a double, but was ultimately thrown out at the plate when he and Harmon Killebrew tried a second-and-home double steal with two out.  The Dodgers opened the scoring in the fourth on a two-run single by Johnny Roseboro.  Lou Johnson doubled home a run in the fifth and Maury Wills did the same in the sixth.  The Twins put men on first and third with one out in the sixth, but Tony Oliva grounded into a double play.  The only other Twins threat came in the eighth, when an error and a walk put men on first and second with two out.  Eighteen of the Twins' outs came on infield grounders.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 0-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Camilo Pascual started and pitched five innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk with no strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins led the series two games to one.

Notes:  Sam Mele once again used Joe Nossek in center rather than Jimmie Hall to try to get a platoon advantage.  On the one hand, while Hall had a fine season, he had slumped badly down the stretch and did not have a good record against left-handed pitchers.  On the other hand, Nossek had shown no particular ability to hit either left or right-handed pitching...I'm not one hundred percent sure about that first-inning double steal, but the Twins had men on first and third with two out and the play-by-play reads "Versalles Caught Stealing Hm (C-SS-C-3B)".  My assumption is that, while it may not have been a straight steal, Killebrew at least went far enough toward second to draw a throw and Versalles was trying to catch the Dodgers by surprise...Claude Osteen is kind of "the other guy" on those 1960s Dodgers teams, after Koufax and Drysdale, but he was a fine pitcher in his own right.  He posted an ERA under four every year from 1962-74.  In four of those years his ERA was under three and all but three of them in was under 3.50.  His WHIP was under 1.3 in all but two of those seasons.  He also pitched over two hundred innings every year from 1963-73, pitching over two hundred fifty in all but three of those years.  His won-lost record was usually around .500, partly because of the poor offense the Dodgers had.  He did win twenty games in 1969 and 1974, though.  For his career, which went from 1957-75, he was 196-195, 3.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP.  His average season as a Dodger (1965-73) was 16-14, 3.09, 1.22 WHIP, 37 starts, 266 innings...The time of game was 2:06.  I wonder when the last time was a World Series game came that close to two hours.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 19

Jose Mendez (1887)
Bill Wambsganss (1894)
Gee Walker (1908)
Bob Davids (1926)
Richie Ashburn (1927)
Al Solerno (1931)
Paul Powell (1948)
Tim Corcoran (1953)
Mike Norris (1955)
Ivan Calderon (1962)
Jason LaRue (1974)
David Ross (1977)
Clayton Kershaw (1988)

Jose Mendez was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues, pitching from 1906-1925.

Bob Davids was one of the founders of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Al Solerno was an American League umpire from 1961-1968.  His firing was one of the things that led to the formation of the first umpires union.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: World Series Game Two

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MINNESOTA 5, LOS ANGELES 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, October 7.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5 with a triple and two runs.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Sandy Koufax struck out nine in six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk.  Ron Fairly was 2-for-4 with a run.  Jim Lefebvre was 2-for-4.

The game:  No one got a hit until the fourth and there was no scoring until the sixth.  There nearly was in the fifth, though, as with none out and a man on first Bob Allison made an amazing sliding catch of a line drive down the left field line which is still talked about in Twins history.  The Twins broke through in the sixth when Oliva delivered an RBI double and Killebrew followed with a run-scoring single.  The Dodgers got on the board in the seventh when future Twin John Roseboro came through with an RBI single.  The Dodgers had men on second and third with one out, but Kaat struck out Don Drysdale (who was used as a pinch-hitter for Koufax) and retired Maury Wills on a short fly to center.  Versalles tripled and scored in the seventh and the Twins put it away in the eighth on a two-out two-run single by Kaat.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 1-for-3.

Record:  The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the Series.

Notes:  Nossek replaced Jimmie Hall in center field.  One assumes the goal was again to gain a platoon advantage...Three future Twins played in this game:  Roseboro, Ron Perranoski, and Bob Miller...1965 was by far Drysdale's best year at the plate.  He hit .300/.331/.508 in 130 at-bats.  He only had one other season in which he hit over .200.  His seven home runs tied his career high, set in 1958...I'm sure pitchers have been used as pinch-hitters in the World Series on occasion, but I would think most of those times were when he was brought up to bunt or when the bench was exhausted.  When Drysdale pinch-hit in this game, he was the first substitute the Dodgers had used.  I wonder how many other times, if any, that's happened in the World Series--that a team used a pitcher to pinch-hit when they had their full bench available.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 18

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Nixey Callahan (1874)
Johnny Cooney (1901)
Al Benton (1911)
Hi Bithorn (1916)
Elbie Fletcher (1916)
Eddie Lake (1916)
Bob Broeg (1918)
Hal White (1919)
George Plimpton (1927)
Charley Pride (1938)
Pat Jarvis (1941)
Dwayne Murphy (1955)
Geronimo Berroa (1965)
Corky Miller (1976)
Tomo Ohka (1976)
Scott Podsednik (1976)
Fernando Rodney (1977)

Hi Bithorn was the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues, making his first appearance for the Cubs in 1942.

Sportswriter Bob Broeg covered the St. Louis Cardinals for forty years and was on the Hall of Fame Board of Directors for twenty-eight years.

Author George Plimpton introduced the world to Sidd Finch in 1985.

Country singer Charley Pride pitched in the minor leagues for parts of three seasons from 1953-1960.  He also played in the Negro Leagues for a couple of seasons as those leagues were nearing the end of their existence.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Rhubarb_Runner.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: World Series Game One

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MINNESOTA 8, LOS ANGELES 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, October 6.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5 with a home run and a stolen base, driving in four.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk, scoring twice.  Frank Quilici was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on ten hits and one walk with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Ron Fairly was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Maury Wills was 2-for-5 with an RBI.  Howie Reed retired all four batters he faced, striking out one.

The game:  Fairly homered in the top of the second to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but Mincher answered with a homer in the bottom of the second to make it 1-1.  The Twins broke loose in the third, scoring six runs and driving Los Angeles starter Don Drysdale from the game.  Versalles had a three-run homer,  Earl Battey drove in two with a single, and Quilici had an RBI single.  The Dodgers put two on in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, but did not score again until the ninth on Wills' two-out bunt single.

Of note:  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Record:  The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Notes:  Valdespino played left field in place of Bob Allison, presumably to gain a platoon advantage.  That seems like a rather daring move for Sam Mele to have made...Drysdale lasted only 2.2 innings and gave up seven runs, although only three were earned.  He had gone 23-12, 2.77, 1.09 WHIP during the season...Despite all the awesome pitchers the Dodgers had, their best in this game was Howie Reed.  Pretty much forgotten now, Reed was a fine reliever for the Dodgers from 1964-66 and continued to pitch well through 1967, when he was traded first to California and then to Houston.  In those years, he posted a 3.12 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 231 innings.  For some reason, the Astros tried to convert him to a starter in 1967, and while he pitched well in AAA in that role he did not do well in the majors.  Traded to Montreal early in 1969, he had one more good relief year in 1970, but his career came to end in 1971.  After baseball, he operated a farm in Mathis, Texas and passed away in December of 1984 at the young age of forty-seven.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 17

Fred Pfeffer (1860)
Oscar Stanage (1883)
Joe Fitzgerald (1897)
Charlie Root (1899)
Sammy Baugh (1914)
Hank Sauer (1917)
Pete Reiser (1919)
Vic Voltaggio (1941)
Cito Gaston (1944)
Kurt Russell (1951)
Tim Lollar (1956)
Frank Wren (1958)
Danny Ainge (1959)
John Smiley (1965)
Dan Masteller (1968)
Bill Mueller (1971)
Raul Chavez (1973)
Scott Downs (1976)
Robb Quinlan (1977)

Joe Fitzgerald had a long association with the Minnesota/Washington franchise, serving as bullpen catcher from 1945-1947, coach from 1948-1956, and scout from 1957 until he passed away in 1967.

Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh was an infielder in the minors for St. Louis in 1938, batting .200 in the American Association and the International League.

Vic Voltaggio was an American League umpire from 1997-1996.

Actor Kurt Russell spent three years in the low minors (1971-1973), batting .292 in 356 at-bats.

Frank Wren has been the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves.

NBA star Danny Ainge was a third baseman for Toronto from 1979-1981.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR's sister.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-two

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MINNESOTA 3, CALIFORNIA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, October 3.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-fifth.  Don Mincher was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4 with a stolen base (his fourteenth) and a run.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Jim Perry struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Johnny Klippstein pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Ed Kirkpatrick was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Rick Reichardt was 3-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, his fourth.  Bobby Knoop was 2-for-5 with a run.

The game:  Killebrew hit a two-run homer in the first to give the Twins an early 2-0 lead.  Vic Power cut the lead to 2-1 with an RBI single in the top of the third, but Mincher answered with an RBI single of his own in the bottom half to make it 3-1.  Kirkpatrick doubled in a run in the fifth, but that was it for the scoring.  The Angels had the tying run on second in the fifth and seventh and put men on first and third with two out in the eighth, but the Twins held on to win.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4 with a run.

Record:  The Twins ended the regular season 102-60.  Chicago defeated Kansas City to hold onto second place, seven games back.  The rest of the standings went:  Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, California, Washington, Boston, Kansas City.

Notes:  The Twins basically used this as a tune-up game.  Kaat, Dave Boswell, Al Worthington, and Perry each pitched two innings and Klippstein pitched one...The regular lineup played except that Valdespino was once again in right rather than Tony Oliva.  Oliva did not play in any of the last five Twins regular season games...Oliva was the only twin to hit .300, leading the league in batting at .321 and in hits with 185.  Zoilo Versalles led the league in runs (126) and total bases (308), was tied for the league lead in doubles (45) and triples (12), and was second in hits with 182.  Mudcat Grant led the league in wins (21), winning percentage (.750), and shutouts (6).  Jim Kaat led the league in starts with 42.  I wonder when the last time is that a pitcher started that many games in a season.  The only one who comes immediately to mind is knuckleballer Wilbur Wood, who started at least that many games each year from 1971-75.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 16

Bud Fowler (1847)
Blondie Purcell (1854)
Jerry Denny (1859)
Patsy Donovan (1865)
Jake Flowers (1902)
Buddy Myer (1904)
Lloyd Waner (1906)
Ken O'Dea (1913)
Tom Gorman (1919)
Clint Courtney (1927)
Hobie Landrith (1930)
Don Blasingame (1932)
Rick Reichardt (1943)
Rick Renick (1944)
Charles Hudson (1959)
Fieldin Culbreth (1963)
Abraham Nunez (1976)
Curtis Granderson (1981)
Stephen Drew (1983)
Brandon League (1983)
Mickey Storey (1986)

Bud Fowler was the first African-American to play professional baseball, playing in the minors in 1878 and from 1884-1894.

Tom Gorman was a National League umpire from 1951-1977.  His son Brian is currently a major league umpire.

Fieldin Culbreth has been a major league umpire since 1993.

Mickey Storey was drafted by Minnesota in the 22nd round in 2007, but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-one

CALIFORNIA 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, October 2.

Batting stars:  Andy Kosco was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-fourth) and a walk.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-third.

Pitching stars:  Camilo Pascual pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  Jim Merritt pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jim Fregosi was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  Ed Kirkpatrick was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third) and a double.  Albie Pearson was 1-for-1 with a stolen base (his twelfth) and three walks, scoring twice.

The game:  Fregosi singled in a run in the top of the third, but Kosco delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the third to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.  A wild pitch tied the score in the fifth and Kirkpatrick homered in the top of the sixth to put the Angles up 3-2.  Allison tied it in the seventh with a home run, but California scored twice in the eighth, getting an RBI double from Fregosi and a run-scoring single by Joe Adcock to take a t-3 advantage.  Killebrew homered in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4.  Rich Reese led off the ninth with a single and was bunted to second but could get no farther.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-3 with a run.  Joe Nossek was 0-for-4.

Record:  The Twins went to 101-60.  Chicago defeated Kansas City and Baltimore lost to Cleveland, so the White Sox moved into second place, seven games back.

Notes:  Tony Oliva once again did not play, with Kosco playing right field.  Other deviations from the normal lineup were Joe Nossek in center instead of Jimmie Hall and John Sevcik behind the plate in place of Earl Battey...This was one of only three games Sevcik started in his career and one of only two in which he caught the entire game...Two players with Twins connections were used as reserves in this game.  Jackie Hernandez pinch-ran for Adcock in the seventh and Vic Power came in to replace Adcock at first base.