Category Archives: Keeping Track

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.

Happy Birthday–April 30

Dave Eggler (1849)
Charley Jones (1850)
Jack Sheridan (1862)
Jumbo Brown (1907)
Chet Laabs (1912)
Ernie Tyler (1924)
Ken Retzer (1934)
Ray Miller (1945)
Phil Garner (1949)
Tracy Ringolsby (1951)
Jeff Reboulet (1964)

Jack Sheridan was the first home plate umpire to crouch behind the catcher in the style that umpires do today.

Ernie Tyler has been the umpires’ assistant for Baltimore Orioles home games since 1960.  He went from opening day of 1960 through July 27, 2007 without missing a game, a streak of 3,769 games.  He missed two games that weekend to go to Cooperstown for the induction of Cal Ripken, Jr. into the Hall of Fame.

Ray Miller was the manager of the Twins in 1985 and 1986, replacing Billy Gardner and being replaced by Tom Kelly.

Today is also the birthday of Twins' farmhand Ryan O'Rourke (1988).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 30

This Week in Ex-Twins

Colorado organization (AAA Colorado Springs) places Matt Macri on the temporarily inactive list.
Angels organization (AA Arkansas) activates Loek Van Mil from the disabled list.
Dodgers organization (AAA Albuquerque) places Randy Keisler on the seven day disabled list.
Mets select the contract of Jason Pridie from Buffalo (AAA).
San Diego options Pat Neshek to Tucson (AAA).
San Diego organization (AAA Tucson) places Bobby Kielty on the seven day disabled list.
Washington organization assigns Joe Testa to Potomac (A) from extended spring training.

Minor Details: Games of 4/28

Rochester 8, Buffalo 6 in Rochester.  The Red Wings scored six of their runs in the first three innings.  Jeff Bailey was 4-for-4 with a double and a home run, scoring three times and driving in three.  Ben Revere was also 4-for-4.  Matt Brown doubled and homered, and Trevor Plouffe had two hits.  Andrew Baldwin got the win, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk in six innings.  Carlos Gutierrez surrendered three runs on two hits and a walk in one inning.  Phil Dumatrait struck out three in the ninth to get the save.

New Britain 9, New Hampshire 7 in New Hampshire.  A four-run Rock Cats seventh broke a 5-5 tie.  Mike Hollimon hit two home runs and drove in three.  Ray Chang hit two doubles.  Yangervis Solarte hit a three-run homer in the seventh.  Bobby Lanigan allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks in five innings.  Jake Stevens gave up a run on four hits in two innings to get the win.  Cole DeVries struck out three in two innings, giving up an unearned run on one hit, to get the save.

Palm Beach 5, Ft. Myers 2 in Palm Beach.  The Cardinals scored in the second inning and never trailed.  Anderson Hidalgo had three hits and James Beresford had two.  Kane Holbrooks took the loss, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk in six innings.

Beloit 4, Peoria 3 in BeloitLance Ray’s two-out solo homer in the eighth broke a 3-3 tie.  Ray also doubled.  Daniel Santana singled and doubled, and Jamaal Hawkins hit a two-run homer.  Logan Darnell worked 6.1 innings, giving up two unearned runs on just two hits and a walk.  Jose Gonzalez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to get the win.