Category Archives: Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 26

Frank Selee (1859)
Kid Gleason (1866)
Lee Tannehill (1880)
Dick Hoblitzel (1888)
Tommy Griffith (1889)
Snuffy Stirnweiss (1918)
Bud Byerly (1920)
Toby Harrah (1948)
Mike Hargrove (1949)
Steve Rogers (1949)
Dave Coleman (1950)
Harry Chappas (1957)
Gil Heredia (1965)
Mark Sweeney (1969)
Francisco Liriano (1983)

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to UncleWalt’s wife.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 26

Weekly Winterball Whiparound

Who's hot:  Andrew Baldwin is 1-0, 2.31, 0.69 WHIP in 11.2 innings (2 starts).  Cesar Ciurcina is 0-0, 0.00, 0.30 WHIP in 3.1 innings (2 appearances).  Deolis Guerra is 1-0, 3.86, 1.29 WHIP in 4.2 innings (3 appearances).  Pedro Guerra is 0-0, 3.00, 0.83 WHIP in 8 innings (2 appearances, 1 start). 

Who's in the middle:  Joe Benson is hitting .240/.424/.360 in 25 at-bats.  Jairo Perez is hitting .250/.400/.300 in 20 at-bats.

Who's cold:  Rene Tosoni is hitting .235/.333/.235 in 34 at-bats.

Who's barely played:  Josmil Pinton is hitting .000/1.000/.000 in 0 at-bats (walked in only plate appearance).  Manuel Soliman is 0-0, 0.00, 2.00 WHIP in 1 inning (1 appearance).  Junior Subero is 0-0, 9.00, 3.00 in 1 inning (1 appearance).

Magallanes is in first place in the VWL.  La Guaira is second a half game out; Caracas is third, two back; Aragua is fourth, 2.5 games behind; Anzoategui is fifth, four games out; Lara is sixth, 4.5 games back; Zulia is seventh, five games behind; and Margarita is eighth, 5.5 games out of first.

The Tigres host Caracas tonight.

Solar Sox Summary

Surprise scored two in the fifth to break a 3-3 tie and added three in the ninth to beat Mesa 8-3 in Mesa.

The Saguaros were led by Wil Myers (Kansas City), who drove in three with two singles and a double.  Joe Terdoslavich (Atlanta) singled and homered, and Tim Beckham (Tampa Bay) singled and doubled.  Miguel De Los Santos (Texas) got the win despite allowing all three runs on five hits and two walks in four innings.  He did strike out five.  Dan Jennings (Florida) and Evan Reed (Florida) each worked two shutout innings.

For the Solar Sox, Robbie Grossman (Pittsburgh) had three hits.  Joe Mahoney (Baltimore) and Brian Ward (Baltimore) each had two hits.  Brian Dozier was 0-for-4 with an RBI and Aaron Hicks was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.  The loss went to Nathan Baker (Pittsburgh), who allowed two runs on three hits in one inning.  Dakota Watts surrendered the three ninth-inning runs on two hits and three walks.

Mesa travels to Surprise this afternoon.

Happy Birthday–October 25

Jack Doyle (1869)
Smoky Joe Wood (1889)
Jack Kent Cooke (1912)
Lee McPhail (1917)
Russ Meyer (1923)
Bobby Thomson (1923)
Bobby Brown (1924)
Roy Hartsfield (1925)
Chuck Schilling (1937)
Al Cowens (1951)
Roy Smalley (1952)
Rowland Office (1952)
Tito Landrum (1954)
Danny Darwin (1955)
Andy McGaffigan (1956)
Steve Decker (1965)
Keith Garagozzo (1969)
Pedro Martinez (1971)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 25

Tigres Tales

Magallanes scored two in the ninth to defeat Aragua 2-1 in Aragua.

Each team had only three hits.  Adonis Garcia hit a home run for the Navegantes.  Starter Jose Sanchez worked five innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk.  Robert Coello (Cubs) struck out four in two perfect innings of relief.  Lino Urdaneta pitched a perfect eighth to get the win.  Jean Machi (San Francisco) walked one in a scoreless ninth for the save.

Joe Benson was 0-for-2 with 2 walks for the Tigres.  Sergio Perez (Houston) struck out nine in five shutout innings, giving up no hits but walking three.  The no-hitter lasted through four pitchers and eight innings.  In the ninth, however, Francisco Butto allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in one-third of an inning to take the loss.

Around the league, Jairo Perez was 0-for-2 as a substitute as Lara lost to Caracas 10-5.  Andrew Baldwin started and worked six innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks as Anzoategui lost to Zulia 8-6.

The Tigres are off today.  They will host Caracas tomorrow night.

Solar Sox Summary

Mesa is 8-9, second in the AFL East, 4 games behind Salt River.  The Solar Sox have won four consecutive games and are 7-3 in their last ten games.

Who's hot:   Brian Dozier is hitting .327/.386/.429 in 49 at-bats.  Chris Herrmann is hitting .368/.478/.526 in 19 at-bats.  Cole DeVries is 2-0, 3.21, 0.86 WHIP in 14 innings.

Who's in the middle:  Aaron Hicks is hitting .200/.321/.467 in 45 at-bats.  Brett Jacobson is 0-1, 4.50, 1.83 WHIP in 6 innings.

Who's cold:  Bruce Pugh is 0-1, 9.00, 2.71 WHIP in 7 innings.  Dakota Watts is 0-1, 1 save, 7.36, 1.64 WHIP in 7.1 innings.

 

Happy Birthday–October 24

Ned Williamson (1857)
Bill Kuehne (1858)
Lou Sockalexis (1871)
Ossie Bluege (1900)
Jack Russell (1905)
Jim Brosnan (1929)
Rawly Eastwick (1950)
Omar Moreno (1952)
Gary Serum (1956)
Ron Gardenhire (1957)
Junior Ortiz (1959)
Danny Clay (1961)
Rafael Belliard (1961)
Gene Larkin (1962)
Arthur Rhodes (1969)
Rafael Furcal (1977)

Third baseman Ossie Bluege played for the franchise in Washington for eighteen years and remained in the organization for many years after that. He is credited as being the first third baseman to guard the lines in the late innings. He is also credited as the scout who discovered Harmon Killebrew.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 24

Tigres Tales

Aragua scored in five of the nine innings to defeat Caracas 6-1 in Caracas.

Alex Romero (Florida) and Joe Benson each had two doubles to lead the Tigres.  Benson was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Luis Hernandez singled and doubled, and Vinny Rottino had two hits.  Yohan Pino (Toronto) got the win with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up just one hit.

No player for the Leones had more than one hit.  The loss went to Victor Larez (Detroit), who surrendered four runs on six hits and a walk in 3.1 innings.

Around the league, Rene Tosoni was 1-for-5 and Jairo Perez was 0-for-4 with a walk as Lara fell to Magallanes 5-4 in 11 innings.  Pedro Guerra struck out two in two perfect innings of relief for Magallanes, and Deolis Guerra worked a perfect eleventh to get the win.  Anzoategui edged Zulia 4-3, and La Guaira beat Margarita 3-1.

Aragua hosts Magallanes this evening.

Solar Sox Summary

Mesa scored four runs in the first two innings and was never threatened as the Solar Sox defeated Salt River 9-2 in Salt River.  The win gave Mesa four consecutive victories.

Junior Lake (Cubs) led the way with three singles and a double, driving in three.  Robbie Grossman (Pittsburgh) had two hits and scored three times, and Tyler Saladino (White Sox) had two hits and drove in three.  Terry Doyle (White Sox) worked four shutout innings to get the win, striking out four while giving up one hit and two walks.  The only Twin to play was Bruce Pugh, who pitched a perfect eighth inning.

The Rafters were led by Gorman Erickson (Dodgers), who singled and doubled.  The loss went to Stephen Fife (Dodgers), who allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks in two innings.

Mesa is off today.  The Solar Sox host Surprise Monday afternoon.

Happy Birthday–October 23

William Hulbert (1832)
Mike Sullivan (1866)
Lena Blackburne (1886)
Rube Bressler (1894)
Billy Sullivan (1910)
Vern Stephens (1920)
Ewell Blackwell (1922)
Jim Bunning (1931)
Greg Thayer (1949)
John Castino (1954)
Dwight Lowry (1957)
Al Leiter (1965)
Todd Sears (1975)
David Riske (1976)
John Lackey (1978)
Bud Smith (1979)
Kyle Gibson (1987)

Infielder Lena Blackburne discovered and marketed the mud from the driver beds near the Delaware River in New Jersey that has been rubbed on every major league baseball used since the 1950s.

It is to be hoped that Kyle Gibson’s biography will be added eventually.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 23