Category Archives: Keeping Track

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 3

John Montgomery Ward (1860)
Wee Willie Keeler (1872)
Ed Phelps (1879)
Tetsuya Yoneda (1938)
Paul Schaal (1943)
Rick Reed (1950)
Chuck Cary (1960)
Neal Heaton (1960)
Marvin Hudson (1964)
Scott Radinsky (1968)
Mike Romano (1972)
Matt Diaz (1978)
Jorge Julio (1979)

Tetsuya Yoneda is the second-winningest pitcher in Japanese professional baseball with 350 victories.

The Rick Reed whose birthday is today is the major league umpire since 1979, not the ex-Twin.

Marvin Hudson has been a major league umpire from 1979-2009.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-eight

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MINNESOTA 7, KANSAS CITY 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 15.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring twice.  Bob Allison was 1-for-2 with two RBIs.  Don Mincher was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run.

Pitching star:  Bill Pleis pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Billy Bryan was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a double.  Ken Harrelson was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and a walk.  Larry Stahl was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.

The game:  Each team scored once in the first.  It stayed 1-1 until the fourth, when Earl Battey had an RBI single to put the Twins in the lead.  In the fifth, Versalles had a run-scoring single-plus-error and Allison had a two-run single to make it 5-1 Twins.  Homers by Harrelson and Stahl cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth, and the Athletics scored twice in the eighth on Bryan's homer and a run-scoring single by Mike Hershberger to tie it at five.  In the ninth the Twins took the lead back on RBI singles by Ted Uhlaender and Joe Nossek.  Kansas City got a man on by error with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but that was as close as they would come.

Of note:  Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-1 with an RBI.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4 with a run.  Jim Perry pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins made it seven in a row with the win and improved their record to 94-54.  Baltimore won and Chicago split a doubleheader, so the Orioles moved into sole possession of second place, ten games back.

Notes:  Oliva raised his average back to .318.  He was removed for a pinch-runner in the fourth inning following a single.  He perhaps suffered a minor injury, because he would not start again for nearly a week.  He was replaced by Allison, whose place in the starting lineup had been taken by Valdespino...Larry Stahl is another guy who played for quite a while without doing a whole lot.  An outfielder, he played in all or part of ten major league seasons, from 1964-73.  His high in games played was 119 and his high in at-bats was 312, both in 1966.  Other than 1964, when he had only 46 at-bats, he only once hit over .250 (.253), only three times had an OBP over .300 (the high was .315), and only once had an OPS over .660 (.709 in 1971).  It's interesting to see how some guys tear up AAA and can't get a chance in the majors, and other guys play in the majors for years without really doing much of anything.  As has been observed before, no one ever promised that life or baseball would be fair.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 2

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Horace Fogel (1861)
Moe Berg (1902)
Woody English (1906)
Jack Knott (1907)
Mel Ott (1909)
Mort Cooper (1913)
Jim Konstanty (1917)
Jim Nettles (1947)
Pete Broberg (1950)
Larry Wolfe (1953)
Terry Steinbach (1962)
Ron Gant (1965)
Jay Gibbons (1977)
Glen Perkins (1983)

Horace Fogel was a sportswriter who became manager of the New York Giants in 1902.  His time as Giants manager is best remembered for his attempt to move Christy Mathewson to first base.  He was fired 41 games into the season and replaced by Heinie Smith, who put an end to such nonsense.  Instead, he tried to move Mathewson to shortstop.

We assume everyone reading this knows Ron Gant's connection to the Minnesota Twins.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-seven

MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 14.

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base (his thirteenth), scoring once and driving in two.  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his twenty-sixth), scoring once.  Rich Rollins was 2-for-5 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched eight innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  Jim Merritt struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Ken Harrelson was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twentieth), a walk, and a stolen base (his seventh).  John Wyatt struck out four in two shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks.  Mike Hershberger was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The game:  Hershberger singled in a run in the top of the second, but Earl Battey had an RBI double in the bottom of the first to tie it 1-1.  Hall doubled and scored in the sixth to put the Twins up 2-1, but the Athletics tied it in the seventh on a walk, an error, and two sacrifices.  Hall came through again in the seventh, delivering a two-run single to give the Twins a 4-2 lead.  Harrelson led off the ninth with a homer, cutting the lead to 4-3.  A walk, a single, and a bunt followed, putting men on second and third with one out.  Merritt then struck out Wayne Causey and pinch-hitter Billy Bryan to end the game.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 with two walks.  Bob Allison was 1-for-3 with a run.

Record:  The Twins' sixth straight victory made them 93-54.  Baltimore split a doubleheader while Chicago lost, so the Twins' margin over both teams went to ten games.

Notes:  Oliva's average dropped to .317...Billy Bryan, whom I don't recall having heard of, had a fairly decent major league career.  A catcher, he spent parts of 1961-63 with the Athletics before finally sticking in 1964.  He appeared in 211 games for Kansas City from 1964-65, getting 545 at-bats, and actually hit pretty well:  .248/.301/.459, numbers which are better than they may appear given the context of the 1960s.  He pretty much fell apart after that, though, hitting only .172 in a 1966 season split between the Athletics and the Yankees and spending most of 1967-70 in the minors, although he did play in sixteen games for the Yankees in 1967 and forty for Washington in 1968.  His playing career ended after the 1970 season.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 1

Paul Hines (1855)
Farmer Vaughn (1864)
Harry Caray (1914)
Bing Devine (1916)
Othello Renfroe (1923)
Larry Brown (1940)
Vern Fuller (1944)
Jeff Holly (1953)
Dick Bremer (1956)
Johnny Ray (1957)
Mark Gardner (1962)
Rich Rodriguez (1963)
Tony Castillo (1963)
Omar Daal (1972)
Ramon Castro (1976)
Ken Harvey (1978)

Bing Devine worked in baseball front offices from 1939-1978, spending most of that time in the Cardinals organization.  He was the St. Louis general manager from 1957-1964 and 1968-1978, serving as the general manager of the Mets from 1965-1967.

Othello Renfroe played in the Negro Leagues for several years.  He eventually became a broadcaster, sportswriter, scout, and public address announcer.  He was also the first African-American official scorer in major league baseball.

A lifelong Minnesotan, Dick Bremer has been a Twins broadcaster from 1983 to the present with the exception of 1986.

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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-six

MINNESOTA 2, BOSTON 0 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, September 12.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and a stolen base (his nineteenth), scoring once.  Bob Allison was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases (his twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth) and a run.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game shutout, giving up four hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Earl Wilson pitched eight innings, allowing one run on three hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  Jim Gosger was 2-for-4.  Frank Malzone was 1-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first when Oliva hit a two-out triple and scored on Allison's single.  The score stayed 1-0 through eight innings.  Neither team even mounted much of a threat--the only player for either team to reach second base in that time was Malzone, who hit a two-out double in the sixth.  In the ninth, Versalles singled, stole second and third, and scored on a Don Mincher sacrifice fly.  The Red Sox did not get a man past first base in the ninth.

Of note:  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4.

Record:  The win was the Twins' fifth straight and made them 92-54.  Chicago won and Baltimore did not play, so the White Sox resumed sole possession of second place, nine games behind.

Notes:  Oliva's average remained .318...Earl Wilson is another forgotten pitcher of the 1960s.  He became a rotation starter in 1961, but really did not hit his stride until he was traded to Detroit in June of 1966 at age 31.  After posting an ERA of 4.10 and a WHIP of 1.40 in his seasons with Boston, he went 13-6, 2.59, 1.00 WHIP the rest of the 1966 season with Detroit.  He followed that up in 1967 by going 22-11, 3.67, 1.17 WHIP in 1967.  In 1968 his won-lost record was not as good, but his other numbers were comparable or better.  He continued to pitch well in 1969, but struggled in 1970 and ended his playing career after that season.  My first thought was that perhaps the Tigers had some genius pitching coach who helped Wilson in 1966.  And maybe he was a genius, but he certain doesn't have that reputation.  The Tigers' pitching coach in 1966 was Stubby Overmire.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-five

MINNESOTA 8, BOSTON 4 IN BOSTON

Date:  Saturday, September 11.

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 4-for-5 with a double, a walk, and two stolen bases (his eleventh and twelfth), scoring three times and driving in two.  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-5 with a double and two stolen bases (his twenty-second and twenty-third), scoring twice.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

Pitching star:  Camilo Pascual pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Carl Yastrzemski was 1-for-4 with a home run (his eighteenth) and two RBIs.  Lee Thomas was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Jim Gosger was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.

The game:  Oliva singled in a run in the first and Don Mincher had an RBI single in a two-run third to put the Twins up 3-0.  Hall's two-run single in the fourth made it 5-0 and the Twins were never really threatened.  Oliva's two-run double made it 8-2 in the eighth.  The Red Sox got single runs in the eighth and ninth but never appeared to be back in the game.

Of note:  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a walk.

Record:  The Twins' fourth consecutive win made them 91-54.  Baltimore and Chicago both lost, so the Twins' lead over both went up to nine games.

Notes:  Oliva raised his average to .318...The Twins' first three batters in the lineup (Versalles, Hall, Oliva) went a combined 10-for-15 with a walk, three doubles, and four stolen bases...The Boston starter was Jim Lonborg, who was in his rookie year and was not yet the ace pitcher he would become, if only briefly.  He went 9-17, 4.47, 1.39 WHIP in 1965.  The Red Sox, to their credit, kept him in the rotation all year.  He improved in 1966 and had his best year in 1967, when he went 22-9, 3.16, 1.14 WHIP and won the Cy Young award.  He broke his leg in a skiing accident that off-season and was never the same.  He would, however, go on to have a long career and had a few good seasons, going 14-12, 2.83 for Milwaukee in 1972, 17-13, 3.21 for Philadelphia in 1974, and 18-10, 3.08 for the Phillies in 1976.  After his playing career was over he went to dental school and appears to still be a practicing dentist in Hanover, Massachusetts.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 28

Terry Turner (1881)
Jud Wilson (1897)
Bob Howsam (1918)
George Maloney (1928)
Frank Malzone (1930)
Bill Haller (1935)
Marty Perez (1946)
Mark Wiley (1948)
Tom Gamboa (1948)
Jim Wohlford (1951)
Mike Milchin (1968)
Trent Oeltjen (1983)
Aaron Thompson (1987)
Aroldis Chapman (1988)

 Jud Wilson played in the Negro Leagues from 1922-1945 and had a lifetime batting average of .351.

Bob Howsam was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds and helped put together the Big Red Machine.

George Maloney was an American League umpire from 1969-1983.

Bill Haller is the older brother of Tom Haller and was an American League umpire from 1963-1982.

Tom Gamboa was a minor league manager who won league championships twice and reached the playoffs four other times in a ten year career.  Unfortunately, he is best known as the Kansas City Royals coach attacked by two White Sox "fans" in Comiskey Park in 2002.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 27

Walter Briggs (1877)
Cy Perkins (1896)
Hilton Smith (1907)
Bill Capps (1919)
Buck Elliott (1919)
Johnny Pesky (1919)
Connie Ryan (1920)
John Wockenfuss (1949)
Ron Hassey (1953)
Greg Cadaret (1962)
Pete Smith (1966)
Matt Stairs (1968)
Willie Banks (1969)
Craig Monroe (1977)
Anibal Sanchez (1984)
Denard Span (1984)

Walter Briggs was involved in the ownership of the Detroit Tigers from 1920-1952, becoming sole owner in 1935.

Hilton Smith was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues from 1931-1950.  Some observers considered him the equal of, if not better than, Satchel Paige.

Bill Capps was a third baseman who played in the minors for twenty years, fifteen of them at Class A or below.

Buck Elliott was an outfielder who played in the minors for fourteen years, all but one of them at Class A or below.

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