All posts by Jeff A

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 6

Jocko Conlan (1899)
Tony Lazzeri (1903)
Stan Hack (1909)
Dan Dobbek (1934)
Tony Horton (1944)
Larry Bowa (1945)
Tim Foli (1950)
Chuck Baker (1952)
Gary Ward (1953)
Juan Carlos Oliva (1954)
Steve Bedrosian (1957)
Larry Sheets (1959)
Kevin Campbell (1964)
Kevin Appier (1967)
Jose Contreras (1971)
Chris Basak (1978)
Jason Bulger (1978)

Jocko Conlan played two seasons of major league baseball, but is best known as a National League umpire from 1941-1965.

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva was a star pitcher in Cuba and later became a successful pitching coach there.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty-one

MINNESOTA 7, NEW YORK 4 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Sunday, June 20 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-5 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a double, driving in three.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5 with a triple and a double, scoring once.  Joe Nossek was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Dick Stigman struck out four in 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Hal Reniff struck out five in three shutout innings, allowing only a walk.  Ray Barker was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer (his second) and a walk.  Steve Hamilton struck out three in two shutout innings, allowing a hit and a walk.

The game:  Killebrew hit an RBI double in the first, Zoilo Versalles doubled home two in the second, and the Twins got run-scoring singles in the third by Earl Battey and Nossek to go ahead 5-0.  Barker hit a pinch-hit three-run homer in the bottom of the third to get the Yankees back in the game at 5-3.  There was no more scoring until the sixth, when an error allowed the Yankees to cut the lead to one.  They had the tying run on third with two out, but Stigman struck out Hector Lopez to end the inning.  The Yankees did not get a hit after that and Killebrew's two-run homer in the ninth put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Versalles was 1-for-5 with a stolen base (his seventh), scoring once and driving in two.  Rich Rollins was 0-for-5.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a double and a run, raising his average to .325.  Dave Boswell started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The doubleheader sweep made the Twins 38-23 and increased their lead over Chicago to a full game.

Notes:  Rollins again played second base, with Nossek at third.  Normally an outfielder, Nossek played ten games in his career at third base, nine of them in 1965.  I had never heard of Ray Barker.  He played in five games for Baltimore in 1960, then did not get back to the majors until 1965 at age twenty-nine.  He played in eleven games for Cleveland, then was traded to the Yankees in May.  This was the second of his ten career home runs, seven of which came in 1965.  He played in parts of the 1966 and 1967 seasons for the Yankees as well.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 5

Billy Shindle (1860)
Patsy Tebeau (1864)
Frank Bowerman (1868)
Pink Hawley (1872)
Gus Mancuso (1905)
Bobby Mattick (1915)
Chico Ruiz (1938)
Yoshiharu Wakana (1953)
Gary Roenicke (1954)
Luis Casanova (1956)
Alan Cockrell (1962)
Cliff Floyd (1972)
Felix Rodriguez (1972)
Hanley Frias (1973)

Yoshiharu Wakana was a six-time all-star in Japan, playing from 1974-1991.

Luis Casanova was a star slugger in Cuba, playing from 1978-1994.

We also want to wish a Happy Birthday to CarterHayes’ mother.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty

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MINNESOTA 6, NEW YORK 4 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Sunday, June 20 (Game 1 of doubleheader)

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth), a triple, a walk, and a stolen base (his fourth), scoring once and driving in two.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth), a double, and a walk, scoring twice.  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Camilo Pascual pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk with one strikeout.  Jim Kaat pitched a perfect ninth inning.

Opposition stars:  Roger Maris was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eighth) and a walk, driving in three.  Tom Tresh was 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Joe Pepitone was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  The Yankees again scored in the first inning, getting RBI singles from Maris and Elston Howard to go up 2-0.  The Twins scored single runs in the second and third to tie it at two.  Hall homered in the sixth to give the Twins a 3-2 lead, but Maris hit a two-run homer in the seventh to make it 4-3 Yankees.  Killebrew homered in the eighth to tie it up 4-4.  In the ninth, a walk and a single put men on first and third and a passed ball put the Twins up 5-4.  A pair of walks and a wild pitch gave the Twins an insurance run.  Kaat came in to take care of things in the ninth.

Of note:  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his second), scoring once and driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, his fifth.  Don Mincher was 0-for-3.  Hall boosted his average to .322.

Record:  The win moved the Twins to 37-23.  They remained in first place by a half game over Chicago.

Notes:  Valdespino replaced Bob Allison in the lineup.  Mincher replaced Rich Rollins, with Killebrew moving to third.  Jerry Zimmerman replaced Earl Battey.  Kaat made the first of three relief appearances on the season and got the first of two saves.  He had pitched a complete game three days earlier and would make his regular start two days later.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Fifty-nine

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NEW YORK 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, June 19.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.  Joe Nossek was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Johnny Klippstein pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joe Pepitone was 1-for-2 with a home run (his seventh) and two walks.  Whitey Ford pitched 7.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts.  Tom Tresh was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.

The game:  The first three Yankee batters got hits, a double and two singles, leading to a 2-0 lead.  Pepitone homered leading off the second and Elston Howard delivered an RBI single in the third to make it 4-0.  It was 5-1 after seven.  In the eighth, Killebrew hit a two-run triple to center to cut the lead to 5-3.  That was as close as the Twins would come, however, as Don Mincher flied out to end the inning and the Twins could only come up with a lone single in the ninth.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4 with a run.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  The Twins again got a short start, as Mudcat Grant pitched only two innings, giving up three runs on five hitsand no walks with no strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins dropped to 36-23 but remained in first place by a half game, as Chicago lost to Boston.

Notes:  Jerry Kindall was back in the lineup at second base, but was replaced by Frank Kostro in the third inning.  Killebrew hit twenty-four triples in his career.  He hit seven in 1961 but never hit more than two in any other season.  I remember, when I was a kid, watching a game on TV in which Killebrew hit a triple into the monuments in Yankee Stadium's center field, which were in play back then.  I can't prove that this was the game, but this triple was hit to center field.  There were very few Twins games televised where I was at that time, and with this being a Saturday game in Yankee Stadium it seems like there's a good chance it would have been a Game of the Week, so it seems likely to me.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 3

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Billy McLean (1835)
Bennie Tate (1901)
Joe Collins (1922)
Ray Bellino (1932)
Clay Dalrymple (1936)
Chico Salmon (1940)
Jerry Johnson (1943)
Wayne Garrett (1947)
Pat Putnam (1953)
Gene Nelson (1960)
Damon Berryhill (1963)
Darryl Hamilton (1964)
Paul Byrd (1970)
Chad Durbin (1977)
Andy Oliver (1987)

Billy McLean was the umpire in the first National League game ever, April 22, 1876.  He umpired in the National League through 1890.

Shortstop Ray Bellino played and managed in the Twins minor league system and also was a scout for them.

Andy Oliver was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 2006, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to DK.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Fifty-eight

NEW YORK 10, MINNESOTA 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Friday, June 18.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching star:  Jerry Fosnow struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Bill Stafford pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.  Mickey Mantle was 1-for-3 with a grand slam, his tenth homer.  Elston Howard was 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.

The game:  Hall doubled in a run in the first to give the Twins a 1-0 lead, but it was all downhill after that.  Twins starter Mel Nelson didn't make it through the first inning, giving up a single, two walks, a hit batsman, and the Mantle grand slam.  The Yankees scored six in the first inning, as Phil Linz also homered.  The Twins did not get back into the game.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Nelson pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up five runs on two hits and two walks.

Record:  The Twins record dropped to 36-22.  They remained in first place, but only by a half game over Chicago.

Notes:  Rollins once again played second, with Killebrew at third and Don Mincher at first.  The Twins continued to search for a number two hitter, this time moving Oliva into the two spot with Hall batting third.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Fifty-seven

MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Thursday, June 17.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, his third and fourth.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Joel Horlen pitched eight innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  Danny Cater was 1-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and a walk.  Ron Hansen was 1-for-4 with a double.

The game:  It was scoreless until the fifth, when Mincher hit a one-out homer.  Versalles homered with one out in the sixth to make it 2-0.  Kaat doubled and scored on a Versalles single in the eighth to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.  Cater homered in the eighth and Floyd Robinson followed with a one-out single, but a double play ended the inning and the White Sox went down in order in the ninth.

Of note:  Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .318.

Record:  The win boosted the Twins' record to 36-21 and increased their lead over Chicago to 1.5 games.

Notes:  Mincher played first base, with Killebrew moving to third and Rich Rollins to second.  Earl Battey was removed from the game in the fourth inning, but would play the next day.  Hoyt Wilhelm pitched the ninth for the White Sox.  In his age forty-two season, he would appear in sixty-six games, seven fewer than the previous year and six fewer than he would appear in three years later.  Wilhelm would pitch until 1972, when he was forty-nine.