1965 Rewind: Game Seventy

MINNESOTA 7, CHICAGO 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 29.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a double and two runs.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched 7.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Danny Cater was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  John Romano was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.  Smoky Burgess was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit two-run homer, his second.

The game:  Hall doubled in a run  and Killebrew singled in another to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in the first.  Single runs in the second and third made it 4-0.  Cater doubled in a run in the fourth, but the Twins tallied twice in the fifth, one on Killebrew's RBI double, to take a seemingly comfortable 6-1 lead.  In the sixth, however, Cater singled home a run and Ron Hansen drove in two with another single to make it 6-4.  With one out in the ninth, Burgess hit a pinch-hit two-run homer off Dick Stigman to tie it 6-6.  Bernie Allen led off the ninth with a double and was pinch-run for by Dave Boswell.  Joe Nossek bunted him to third and Zolio Versalles hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring home the winning run.

Of note:  Versalles was 0-for-3 with two sacrifice flies.  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-4.

Record:  The win made the Twins 43-27 and lifted them into second place, a half game behind Cleveland.

Notes:  Bob Allison was apparently dealing with some sort of injury, as he was in and out of the lineup int his period.  Sandy Valdespino was playing left field in his place.  Hall's day raised his average to .325.  He was batting fourth in this stretch, between Oliva and Killebrew.  Burgess had sixteen pinch-hit home runs in his career.

Monday Book Day: Re-Reads

Apologies for missing the first Monday.

I finished the Great Vonnegut (Re)-Read of 2015 by finishing his last novel, Timequake, right at the end of November.  When I decided to read all of Vonnegut's novels, Timequake was the one that I was most interested in re-reading.  I read it in 1997 when it was first published and I was in 10th grade.  And I don't think I got it.  I had always been perplexed when people have good things to say about the book because I thought it was my least favorite book of his.  So, I was very interested in what my reaction would be to it this time around, moreso than any of the other books.  (One nice thing about that being that it served as a very nice motivator to keep the project going, I had to get to Timequake to see how it had changed for me).

This time around, I loved it.  I'm not going to argue that it's a great novel.  It's half of a novel at best.  But if you spend time with Vonnegut, especially post-Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut, this book is a near perfect epilogue to his career.  Through this whole year I got the perspective that I was missing back in 1997.  The payoff to the project was pretty good.

This summer, I got in a friendly argument with my Dad about re-reading books.  He refuses to do it, using the "there's too many books I haven't read out there and not nearly enough time to read them all" argument.  He could not understand why I would choose to re-read all of Vonnegut's novels or start The Wheel of Time over from the beginning when the final three books started coming out.  So I went back and looked through my reading spreadsheets and found that I really don't re-read very much.  I feel like that's the majority opinion, most people feel like they don't read enough and so why spend time reading something again?  But the effect of my Vonnegut re-read is making me question that a little bit.  There are books that I've said I'd like to go back and spend some more time with (2666 is the one that leaps to mind), but I don't know that I ever would have.  Now I'm reconsidering a little bit.  Maybe that will be a project for a future year.  Re-read one book per month that I've wanted to revisit?  Could be interesting.

So, do you ever re-read?  Never re-read?  What books would you revisit if the feeling struck you?

Happy Birthday–December 14

John Anderson (1873)
Lefty Tyler (1889)
Bob Weiland (1905)
Eddie Smith (1913)
Rusty Peters (1914)
Bobby Adams (1921)
Sad Sam Jones (1925)
Bob Clear (1927)
Pete Whisenant (1929)
Jim Roland (1942)
Jerry May (1943)
Greg Goossen (1945)
Bill Buckner (1949)
Craig Biggio (1965)
Ken Hill (1965)
Scott Hatteberg (1969)
Marcus Jensen (1972)
Billy Koch (1974)
Rodrigo Lopez (1975)
Dave Gassner (1978)

Bob Clear was in baseball from 1945-1987 as a minor league player and manager, major league coach, and as a scout.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 14

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty-nine

CHICAGO 17, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, June 28.

Batting stars:   Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourteenth) and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Danny Cater was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and a double, scoring twice and driving in three.  Don Buford was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring three times and driving in three.  Tom McCraw was 2-for-5 with a grand slam, his second homer.

The game:  The Twins actually led for nearly half the game.  Jimmie Hall had an RBI single and Killebrew drove in a run with a double in the first to give them a 2-0 lead.  Hall's run-scoring single in the third made it 3-0.  In the fifth the first two White Sox were retired, but then two singles, a walk, and McCraw's grand slam made it 4-3 Chicago.  Hall homered in the bottom of the fifth to tie it 4-4, but the roof fell in in the sixth inning, as the White Sox scored seven times.  Cater and John Romano each homered to make it 6-4.  That chased starter Dave Boswell and brought in Jerry Fosnow, who walked his first batter, gave up a single, then walked two more to make it 7-4 with the bases loaded.  Dick Stigman came in and struck out McCraw but then allowed three consecutive singles that produced four runs.  The White Sox added two in the eighth and four in the ninth, all off Mel Nelson, who had started and pitched four innings the previous day.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-3.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a run.  Boswell struck out six in 5.1 innings but gave up six runs on six hits and a walk.

Record:  The loss dropped the Twins to 42-27 and, coupled with a Cleveland win, dropped them all the way to third place, a half game behind both Cleveland and Chicago.

Notes:  Hall raised his average to .322.  Cater did not start the game, but came on in the second, replacing Floyd Robinson for an unknown reason.  It is hard for me to imagine a pitcher now being asked to pitch two innings of mop-up relief after starting and pitching four innings the day before.  I know there were fewer pitchers on a staff back then, but it still seems like a lot to ask.

Happy Birthday–December 13

Jack Taylor (1873)
Hank Majeski (1916)
Larry Doby (1923)
Shotgun Shuba (1924)
Carl Erskine (1926)
Billy Loes (1929)
Bubba Morton (1931)
Lindy McDaniel (1935)
J. C. Martin (1936)
Ron Taylor (1937)
Ferguson Jenkins (1942)
Paul Boris (1955)
Dale Berra (1956)
Mike Mordecai (1967)
Matthew LeCroy (1975)
Ricky Nolasco (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to spookymilk's mom.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 13

1965 Rewind: Game Sixty-eight

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 5 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, June 27 (Game 2 of doubleheader)

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Joe Nossek was 3-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch, scoring once and driving in one.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mel Nelson pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Jim Perry pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Al Kaline was 4-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Don Demeter was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixth) and a stolen base, scoring twice.  Orlando Pena struck out four in 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit.

The game:  Kaline singled in a run in the first, but an RBI double by Hall and a run-scoring single by Jerry Zimmerman put the Twins ahead 2-1 after two.  Kaline's run-scoring double tied the score in the third, but Versalles drove in a run with a single in the fourth to put the Twins back in front 3-2.  Run-producing singles by Oliva and Killebrew gave the Twins a seemingly safe 5-2 lead after seven, but Demeter led off the eighth with a home run and Willie Horton hit a two-run shot later in the inning to tie it 5-5.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but Bob Allison fouled out and Hall grounded into a double play.  In the tenth, Rich Rollins led off with a single and was sacrificed to second.  Bernie Allen was walked, Zoilo Versalles flied out, but Nossek singled to center to bring home the winning run.

Of note:  Versalles was 2-for-6 with a run and an RBI.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.  Hall raised his average to .315.

Record:  The Twins improved their record to 42-26, but doubleheader sweeps by Chicago and Cleveland held their lead to a half game over both teams.

Notes:  This was the last of Nelson's three starts in 1965.  He would pitch in relief the next day and stay in the bullpen the rest of the season.  He would make four more starts in his career, all with St. Louis in 1968.  It was the next-to-last relief appearance for Perry, who would join the rotation July 5.  Nossek raised his average to .315.  He played third base, with Rollins playing second, and the way the Twins were searching for infield options you'd think he might have been given a shot there.  Apparently Sam Mele didn't think the defensive cost was worth it, though, as he only started at third two more times in 1965 and would make only one more appearance there in his career.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.