Let’s Play Two in Boston – Games 51 and 52

Game 51: 12:35pm

Pitchers: Phil Hughs v Eduardo Rodriguez

Lineups:
Twins:
1. Dozier, 2B
2. Robinson, LF
3. Plouffe!, 1B
4. Hunter, RF
5. Suzuki, C
6. Escobar, 3B
7. Nunez, DH
8. Hicks, CF
9. Santana, SS

BoSox
1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Mookie Betts, CF
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Hanley Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Napoli, 1B
6. Brock Holt, 3B
7. Xander Bogaerts, SS
8. Sandy Leon (Who?), C
9. Rusney Castillo

Game 52: 6:10pm

Pitchers: Trevor May v. Rick Porcello

Lineups:
Twins:
1. Dozier
2. Hunter
3. Mauer
4. Plouffe!
5. Rosario
6. Escobar
7. Herrmann
8. Hicks
9. Santana

BoSox
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Happy Birthday–June 3

Don Osborn (1908)
Jim Gentile (1934)
Steve Dalkowski (1939)
Duane Josephson (1942)
Ron Keller (1943)
Jim Dwyer (1950)
Ed Glynn (1953)
Barry Lyons (1960)
Steve Lyons (1960)
Nelson Liriano (1964)
Carl Everett (1971)
Bryan Rekar (1972)
Jose Molina (1975)
Travis Hafner (1977)

Don Osborn won 201 games in the minors.  He later was a minor league manager, pitching coach, and scout.

Some say Steve Dalkowski had the fastest fastball ever.  He struck out 1,396 batters in 995 minor league innings.  However, he also walked 1,354, which is why he never made the majors.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 3

Game 50.1: Twins at Red Sox

Big Pelf (4-1, 2.77 ERA, 4.50 xFIP) vs. Bucholz (2-6, 4.33 ERA, 3.15 xFIP)

Well this all feels pretty familiar. I feel like I just previewed this pitching match up last Tuesday. That particular contest was shockingly both a pitcher's duel and won by the Pelfster. It'd be pretty great if they Twins could just score a bunch of runs on Bucholz this time and completely avoid having to rely on a 2-1 victory.

Of course, I do see some more rain in the forecast, so who knows if this game will happen or suffer the same fate as Monday's game, the poor bastard.

Happy Birthday–June 2

Jack O’Connor (1866)
Frank Verdi (1926)
Bob Lillis (1930)
Larry Jackson (1931)
Bob Bennett (1933)
Jerry Lumpe (1933)
Gene Michael (1938)
Jim Maloney (1940)
Horace Clarke (1940)
Roger Freed (1946)
Jack O’Connor (1958)
Darnell Coles (1962)
Bryan Harvey (1963)
Mike Stanton (1967)
Kurt Abbott (1969)
Raul Ibanez (1972)
Neifi Perez (1973)
Jared Burton (1981)
Tim Stauffer (1982)

Bob Bennett was the baseball coach at Fresno State for many years, winning 1,302 games.

Roger Freed was drafted by Minnesota in 1966, but the pick was voided.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 2

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.