Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 12

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Sam Field (1846)
Pop Smith (1856)
Malachi Kittridge (1869)
Pete Hill (1882)
Dixie Davis (1890)
Rick Ferrell (1905)
Joe Cronin (1906)
Al Smith (1907)
Bob Sheppard (1910)
Tony Kubek (1935)
Glenn Beckert (1940)
Herman Hill (1945)
Garth Iorg (1954)
Jim Lewis (1955)
Sid Fernandez (1962)
Jose Valentin (1969)
Derrick White (1969)
Tanyon Sturtze (1970)
Tony Fiore (1971)

B-r.com says "Sam Field played only 12 games in the majors, but managed to do so with three teams in two leagues. He played mostly catcher.  His career may have been doomed by his .712 fielding percentage."  It may also have been doomed by his .146 batting average.

Pete Hill is considered one of the greatest outfielders of the Negro Leagues.  Incomplete statistics list his average as .326.

Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, of course, played for the Washington franchise from 1928-1934, managing the team in the latter two years. He married Clark Griffith’s niece, which did not keep Griffith from trading him to Boston after the 1934 season.

If there was a Hall of Fame for public address announcers, Bob Sheppard would be the first one in.

Jose Valentin is the brother of ex-Twin Javier Valentin.

First baseman/outfielder Derrick White was drafted by Minnesota in the 23rd round in 1989, but did not sign. He played in the major leagues for Montreal, Detroit, the Cubs, and Colorado, playing in three seasons and totaling 116 at-bats.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Dr. Chop.

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Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Eight

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MINNESOTA 9, OAKLAND 8 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Tuesday, April 14.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, scoring twice and driving in one.  Tom Nieto was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Terry Steinbach was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and two walks, scoring twice.  Jose Canseco was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and a stolen base.  Reggie Jackson was 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs.

The game:  The Twins had three doubles in a five-run fourth that gave them a 7-0 lead.  Starter Mark Portugal couldn't make it out of the bottom of the fourth, yielding four runs on four hits, two of them homers.  A two-run double by Gary Gaetti made it 9-4 in the top of the sixth, but again the Athletics responded, scoring three in the bottom of the sixth.  With the score 9-7, Jeff Reardon came on in the eighth to try for a two-inning save.  He retired the side with no problem in the eighth, but Mike Davis homered leading off the bottom of the ninth.  Tony Phillips followed with a single, but Reardon retired the next three batters to preserve the victory.

Of note:  Gladden was now batting .438.  Al Newman, playing second base, went 1-for-3 to raise his average to .313.  Kirby Puckett took an 0-for-3 to drop his average to .452.  Smalley raised his average to .360.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 to raise his average to .318.  Randy Bush played right field in place of Tom Brunansky and went 1-for-5.

Record:  The Twins were 6-2, in first place by a game over California.

Notes:  Joe Klink pitched two innings in this game, one of his twelve appearances as a Twin.  He pitched in five major league seasons spread over ten years.  One of them was actually pretty good:  He posted a 2.04 ERA in forty games for Oakland in 1990.  His career numbers are better than you might think:  10-6, 3 saves, a 4.26 ERA.  He had a stretch of ninety consecutive appearances without giving up a home run, the most by a left-hander since at least 1957.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 10

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Otto Hess (1878)
Bill Killefer (1887)
Wally Berger (1905)
John Stone (1905)
Floyd Baker (1916)
Bobby Tiefenauer (1929)
Don Schaly (1937)
Gene Tenace (1946)
Roger Metzger (1947)
Terry Enyart (1950)
Les Straker (1959)
Jim Weaver (1959)
Ramon Martinez (1972)
Placido Polanco (1975)
Pat Burrell (1976)
Troy Tulowitzki (1980)
Kolten Wong (1990)

Don Schaly was the head baseball coach at Marietta College for forty years.  His teams reached the finals of the Division III College World Series ten times, winning three times.

Kolten Wong was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2008, but did not sign.

We would like to wish a happy birthday to Can of Corn's Niblet.

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Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seven

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OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, April 13.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and six walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Carney Lansford was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.  Alfredo Griffin was 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a stolen base.  Jose Canseco was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Hrbek's two-run single in the sixth gave the Twins a 2-1 lead.  In the seventh, however, RBI singles by Griffin and Canseco gave the Athletics a 3-2 advantage.  Puckett tied it with a home run leading off the eighth, but in the bottom of the eighth, a two-out two-run single by Lansford gave Oakland the lead for good.  The go-ahead runs came off George Frazier, who had come in to get the last out of the seventh.

Of note:  Four of the Twins batters were batting .300 or better in the young season:  Al Newman (.308), Randy Bush (.300), Puckett (.500) and Smalley (.350).  Two, however, were below .200:  Tom Brunansky (.160) and Tom Nieto (.143).

Record:  The Twins were 5-2, tied for first with California.

Notes:  Because of all that's happened since, it's easy to forget what a great batter Jose Canseco was, especially early in his career.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 1986, made the all-star team in five of his first seven seasons, and received MVP votes in five of his first six seasons, winning the award in 1988.  The one year he didn't get MVP votes, 1989, was when he was injured and only played in 65 games.  He hit over 30 homers in each of his first five full seasons, leading the league in 1988 and 1991.  He was traded from Oakland in 1992 and then was up and down, battling injuries much of the time.  He still had some fine years, though, topping a .900 OPS with Texas in 1994, with Boston in 1995, and with Tampa Bay in 1999.  He hit 462 home runs for his career, had a slugging average of .515, and an OPS of .867.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.