This young man doesn't need much of an introduction. Here he is dropping a new track from a few weeks ago.
(1 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)
Loading... Date: Thursday, August 26.
Batting stars: Bob Allison was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer (his twentieth) and two doubles, scoring three times. Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in one. Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.
Pitching star: Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on ten hits and no walks with two strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Clete Boyer was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fifteenth. Tom Tresh was 3-for-4. Bobby Richardson was 2-for-4.
The game: Jerry Kindall singled in a run in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Boyer homered leading off the third to tie it 1-1, but the Twins scored single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth to go ahead 4-1. Allison hit a two-run homer in the seventh and the Twins scored three in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Of note: Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and a run. Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Record: The Twins clinched a winning record, going to 82-47. Chicago lost to Baltimore, so the Twins' lead went up to 8.5 games.
Notes: No Killebrew, no Oliva, no problem. Valdespino took Tony O's place in right, Hall batted third, Battey fourth, and Don Mincher fifth...Battey's average went to .304...In addition to pitching a complete game, Kaat went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .240...The Yankees' starting pitcher was Jack Cullen, whom I'd never heard of. He had made two appearances for them as a September call-up in 1962, but did not get back to the majors until late July of 1965, when he was placed in the Yankees' rotation. This was the sixth of nine starts he would make. Four of the first five were very good. In fact, in the start before this one he threw a three-hit shutout in Baltimore. This day, though, he would give up three runs on eight hits and two walks in just 3.1 innings. He bounced back with a complete game 2-1 win over California on August 30, but that would be his last good major league start. He made two poor starts in September and finished the season in the bullpen. He started in 1966 in the Yankee bullpen and didn't do badly, but was shipped out in early May, never to return to the big leagues. He pitched in AAA for the Dodgers and Braves before ending his playing career after the 1970 season. He went to the same high school as umpire Phil Cuzzi.
Pants Rowland (1879)
Chick Hafey (1903)
Dom DiMaggio (1917)
Joe Garagiola (1926)
Pat Dobson (1942)
Mike Martin (1944)
Ray Corbin (1949)
Lenny Randle (1949)
Don "Full Pack" Stanhouse (1951)
Cam Bonifay (1952)
Chet Lemon (1955)
Greg Johnston (1955)
Joe Bitker (1964)
Ryan Lefebvre (1971)
Chris Snyder (1981)
Cole De Vries (1985)
Clarence "Pants' Rowland spent his life in baseball. A catcher, he went on to manage the Chicago White Sox to the World Championship in 1917. He was an American League umpire from 1923-1927. He was also a minor league manager and executive, and was president of the Pacific Coast League from 1944-1954. He is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.
Mike Martin has won over 1,800 games as the head coach of Florida State.
Cam Bonifay was the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1993-2001 and is currently working in the Cincinnati organization.
Ryan Lefebvre appeared in six minor league games for the Watertown Indians in 1993. He was a Twins broadcaster in the 1997 and 1998 before moving to Kansas City in 1999, where he has been a broadcaster for the Royals ever since.
Joe Bitker was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in the 1984 January draft, but he did not sign.
This is a great day for players with colorful nicknames. In addition to those listed above, we have Sweetbread Bailey (1895), Kiddo Davis (1902), Dutch Dietz (1912), and Monk Dubiel (1918).
...of Arizona. After countless phone calls and holdups, I was told I got the job in Eagan. I don't have a start date yet, but I hope to be in Target Field for the home opener this year, and whatnot. What a long process it was.
The Milkmaid is poised to steal my thunder, as she is being eyed by Target's corporate office for a job that would represent an insane 40% increase (as the one who didn't waste time in show business, she already makes more than I do).
The good Dr. and I survived another mardi gras, now about that diet...
Date: Wednesday, August 25.
Batting stars: Rich Rollins was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk, scoring once and driving in two. Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a home run, his nineteenth. Joe Nossek was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Pitching star: Jim Merritt pitched 8.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Elston Howard was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk, scoring twice. Tom Tresh was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and two runs. Bill Stafford struck out one in a perfect inning.
The game: Allison homered in the fourth and Nossek delivered a two-out RBI double in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. In the seventh, Tresh homered and Hector Lopez later hit a sacrifice fly to tie it 2-2. In the bottom of the seventh, Rollins had a two-run triple and Earl Battey a run-scoring double to give the Twins a 5-2 lead. They needed all those runs, as Howard hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth to cut the margin to 5-4. Merritt left and Al Worthington came in. He gave up a two-out double to Clete Boyer but struck out Ray Barker to end the game.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run. Tony Oliva was 0-for-1. Battey was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Record: The win made the Twins 81-47. Chicago lost to Baltimore 2-1, once again giving the Twins a 7.5 game lead.
Notes: Jimmie Hall did not start, with Andy Kosco playing right and Oliva moving to center. Oliva left the game after the first inning, which he ended with a ground out. Nossek then came in to play center. Oliva would miss the next five games, a tough thing for a team already missing Harmon Killebrew...Oliva continued to lead the team in batting at .311. Battey was at .304...Elston Howard had his worst year as a Yankee in 1965. He made the all-star team for the ninth consecutive time, but he hit only .233 and had only nine homers with an OPS of .623. He bounced back some in 1966 but had a terrible year in 1967, getting traded to Boston during the season. He would play only one more season after that. He had a pretty good career, though, winning the MVP in 1963 and reaching the top twenty in balloting four other times. He also won two Gold Gloves. He was primarily a catcher, but played 265 games in the outfield and 85 at first base. He passed away in 1980 at the young age of fifty-one.
Jimmy Ryan (1863)
Kenjiro Tamiya (1928)
George Alusik (1935)
Ollie Brown (1944)
Ben Oglivie (1949)
Tom Veryzer (1953)
Todd Benzinger (1963)
Scott Pose (1967)
J. R. Towles (1984)
Kenjiro Tamiya is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, playing from 1949-1963. He began as a pitcher, and came within one out of pitching the first perfect game in Nippon Pro Baseball history. A shoulder injury required him to switch to the outfield in 1952. He was a seven-time all-star.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Moss. Live Moss.
Saw the above sign advertising Ash Wednesday services. I chuckled.
Date: Tuesday, August 24.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his fourteenth) and an RBI. Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Dick Stigman retired all four batters he faced, striking out two.
Opposition stars: Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, allowing one run on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts. Elston Howard was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk. Tom Tresh was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twentieth.
The game: The Twins got a man to third base in the first and fourth and the Yankees put a man on third in the third, but there was no score until the sixth. Valdespino led off the sixth with a triple and scored on an Oliva single to put the Twins on the board with a 1-0 lead. It looked like the lead might hold up, but in the eighth Mickey Mantle got a two-out single and Tresh followed with a two-run homer. The Twins put their first two men on in the ninth, but Don Mincher hit into a double play and Rich Rollins popped up to end the game.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4. Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk. Earl Battey was 0-for-3.
Record: The Twins dropped to 80-47. The White Sox beat Baltimore 6-5, so the lead fell to 6.5 games.
Notes: Oliva raised his average to .312. Battey fell to .305...Bob Allison was again out of the lineup, with Valdespino taking his place...I don't remember Tom Tresh as a very good hitter, but he was for about five years. He was Rookie of the Year in 1962 at age twenty-three, was on the all-star team that year and again in 1963, and received all-star votes in both those years and again from 1965-66. He also won a Gold Glove in 1965. From 1962-66 he hit .264/.341/.442 with 114 home runs, numbers which are even better when you put them in the context of the 1960s. In spring training of 1967, however, he suffered a knee injury. The Yankees told him to play through it, an order that basically destroyed his career. He fell off rapidly, hitting just .219 in 1967 and .195 in 1968 He was traded to Detroit in 1969 and was out of baseball after that season.
Horace Wilson (1845)
Jim Keenan (1858)
Curt Welch (1862)
Billy Evans (1884)
Herb Pennock (1894)
Bill Adair (1913)
Allie Reynolds (1917)
George Sobek (1920)
Randy Jackson (1926)
Billy O'Dell (1933)
Dick Bogard (1937)
Jim Barr (1948)
Larry McWilliams (1954)
Lenny Dykstra (1963)
Lenny Webster (1965)
Jayhawk Owens (1969)
Alberto Castillo (1970)
Bobby Jones (1970)
Kevin Sefcik (1971)
Lance Berkman (1976)
Cesar Izturis (1980)
Duke Welker (1986)
Liam Hendriks (1989)
Max Kepler (1993)
Horace Wilson was an American professor English at Tokyo University. He is credited with introducing baseball to Japan in either 1872 or 1873.
Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history, starting his career at age 22. He was an American League umpire from 1906-1027. He would later become general manager of the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, and was president of the Southern Association from 1942-1946.
Bill Adair was a long-time minor league player (1935-1956) and manager (1949-1973). He also was the scout credited with signing Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.
George Sobek was a long-time scout for the White Sox, credited with signing Denny McLain, Steve Trout, and Mike Squires. He also played in the NBA and was a long-time college basketball referee.
Another long-time scout, Dick Bogard played in the minors for six years, managed for three, and was a scout for nearly thirty years, mostly for Houston and Oakland. He is credited with signing Walt Weiss, Jason Giambi, and Ben Grieve.
Jim Barr was drafted six different times before finally signing. Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round of the January Secondary draft in 1970, but he did not sign.
