Cup of Coffee

January 30, 2012: Brothers

42 Comments

I'm a decade older than my brothers, and very proud of how both of them are turning out. One little brother leaves this morning for a semester abroad. He's headed to Florence, and I've no doubt in my mind that he'll make the most of this opportunity. The other little brother attended Twins Fest last weekend, and was one of 120 people invited to a small event in the Champions Club, where he asked a panel of Jim Pohlad, Dave St. Peter, and Terry Ryan a question. Here's what he asked:

"Could you explain how you can justify cutting payroll three season into a publicly financed ballpark?"

Keeping Track

Spanning the Globe

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Saturday

Escogido 5, Aguilas 2 in Escogido.  Pedro Florimon was 1-for-3 and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for Escogido.  Luis Perdomo worked a scoreless inning for Aguilas, giving up one hit.

Sunday

Aguilas 9, Escogido 2 in Aguilas.  Luis Perdomo pitched a perfect inning for Aguilas, striking out one. Pedro Florimon was 1-for-4 for Escogido.  Francisco Liriano started and allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out four in 3.2 innings.  He took the loss for Escogido.

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

Saturday

Aragua 7, La Guaira 1 in La Guaira.  Pedro Guerra pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout for Aragua.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

Saturday

Perth 9, Melbourne 4 in Perth.  Joshua Hendricks was 0-for-4 for Melbourne.  Sam Gibbons worked a scoreless inning for Melbourne, walking one.

Sunday

Sydney 10, Adelaide 4 in Adelaide (Game 1).  Jacob Younis was 0-for-5 for Sydney.

Sydney 1, Adelaide 0 in Adelaide (Game 2).  Jacob Younis was 1-for-3 for Sydney.

Perth 3, Melbourne 1 in Perth.  Joshua Hendricks was 2-for-4 for Melbourne.

PLAYOFF UPDATES

Dominican League—Aguilas and Escogido are tied at four games apiece in the best-of-nine championship series.  Game nine is scheduled for tonight.

Mexican League—Obregon won the championship.

Puerto Rican League—Mayaguez won the championship.

Venezuelan League—Our congratulations go to the Tigres de Aragua, who defeated La Guaira four games to two to win the championship.

Australian League—Perth defeated Melbourne three games to one in the first round.  Sydney defeated Adelaide three games to one in the first round.  Sydney now plays Melbourne in the best-of-five semi-finals, which will begin Wednesday.

Berserk Boxscores

Berserk Boxscores: Orioles @ Blue Jays 8/24/1983

23 Comments

Pixel Perfect Memories will come out tomorrow.  Tonight I'm in the mood to discuss baseball.  While not a scheduled feature, from time to time I would like to take a look at some of the more amazing, unlikely play-by-play moments in history.

One of the reasons I love the game so much is that at any moment something crazy can happen.  August 24, 1983 was one of those times.  The Orioles were battling the Blue Jays among others for the pennant, and on this day they played host, just one game ahead. Jim Clancy and Scott McGregor had pitched decent games, and entering the 9th the Jays were ahead by two.  Clancy put two men on with two out and was replaced.  Benny Ayala and Al Bumbry both hit clutch singles to tie the game.

Entering the 10th, however, the Orioles had a problem.  They had two catchers on their roster, Rick Dempsey and Joe Nolan.  Both had been pinch-hit for and now they needed someone to play there in the 10th.  Manager Joe Altobelli called on Lenn Sakata, second baseman, who had never played behind the plate in his life.  The first batter for the Blue Jays, Cliff Johnson, belted a solo shot to give the Jays a one-run lead.  Barry Bonnell singled.  Tippy Martinez came into pitch, and Bobby Cox decided to take advantage of Sakata's never-before tested ability to throw out base runners.  Here is what followed:

Barry Bonnell caught stealing (PO) 2B (P-1B)
Dave Collins walks
Collins picked off 1B (P-1B)
Willie Upshaw singled to 2B
Upshaw picked off 1B (P-1B).

That's right.  Martinez picked three consecutive men off first base to end the inning, and Sakata never broke a sweat.

To add insult to injury, Cal Ripken started off the bottom half of the 10th with a home run.  Then Sakata, the Orioles new catcher, hit a walk-off three run jack to win the game for the home team.  The Orioles, of course, would go on to win the pennant and the World Series, while the Jays would finish nine games back.  Sakata would never catch again.

Tippy would also win the next night.  He pitched 103 innings in relief, going 9-3 with a 2.35 ERA.  He would finish 27th in the MVP balloting.  His career would end on the Twins, pitching four innings for them in 1988.

I would pay money to watch this inning live, though I doubt MLB will ever allow me to do that.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 30

4 Comments

Tony Mullane (1859)
General Stafford (1868)
Walt Dropo (1923)
Sandy Amoros (1930)
Charlie Neal (1931)
Davey Johnson (1943)
Matt Alexander (1947)
Roger Cador (1952)
Joe Kerrigan (1954)
Dave Stegman (1954)
Jorge Cantu (1982)
Jeremy Hermida (1984)

Dave Stegman was drafted by Minnesota in the tenth round in 1972, but did not sign.  There do not appear to be any other players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

WGOM Videos

Craig Finn – Western Pier

Video 1 Comment

I wouldn't say I forced myself to like the new Craig Finn album but I will admit that I've listened to it about 15 times in the past week. And I will tell you, I am really enjoying this album.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVln-6FhsN4

 

Where some of the slower HS stuff feels a need to throw some "rock" in there because they are the Hold Steady this album doesn't. It sounds more like Craig Finn fronting a band like the Jayhawks.  There are about half a dozen killer tunes, including this one. Grab the album when you get the chance.Where some of the slower HS stuff feels a need to throw some "rock" in there because they are the Hold Steady this album doesn't. It sounds more like Craig Finn fronting a band like the Jayhawks.  There are about half a dozen killer tunes, including this one. Grab the album when you get the chance.

3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10 (3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
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Game Logs, NBA

2012 Game Logs: Game 20 Lakers @ Wolves

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The Lakers franchise returns home tonight to find a Wolves team that is not the push over LA has been used to. Here is some facts about this game bullet point style

  • The Lakers have beaten the Wolves 15 games in a row.
  • The Wolves, with a win, will have a .500 record.
  • The Lakers are 1-7 on the road this season.
  • There probably isn't a more difficult place to play on the road than the Target Center.
  • Josh McRoberts is the third best player on the Lakers. He would be the 10th best player on the Wolves.
  • Last season the Wolves allowed 107.7 ppg. So far this season the Wolves have improved this number to 93.5ppg.
  • The Lakers have never won a game being played at the same time as the Pro Bowl when being played the week before the Super Bowl in their franchise history (0-1).
  • This will be the first match up between JJ Barea and Andrew Bynum since Bynum attempted to murder Barea in last year's playoffs. If you think JJ isn't gunning for Bynum, well, you've got another thing coming.
  • Vegas realizes all of these things and as a result have made the Lakers 1.5 underdogs to the giant killing Minnesota Timberwolves.

Today has the possibilty of being a really fun game, you guys.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.