Flags at half staff and the ladder truck in town with a giant flag hanging from it had me explaining 9/11 to Niblet on the way to school this morning. Answering the, “Why did they hate us?” question was not on my Twingo card for this morning.
Happy Birthday–September 11
Con Daily (1864)
James Dunn (1866)
Steve Brodie (1868)
Frank Kitson (1869)
Ellis Clary (1916)
Eddie Miksis (1926)
Luis Garcia (1929)
Larry Bearnarth (1940)
Jackie Hernandez (1940)
Dave Roberts (1944)
Larry Cox (1947)
Jeff Newman (1948)
Brad Lesley (1958)
Scott Patterson (1958)
Don Slaught (1958)
Ellis Burks (1964)
Quinn Mack (1965)
Eduardo Perez (1969)
Frank Francisco (1979)
Toby Gardenhire (1982)
Jacoby Ellsbury (1983)
Andrew Cashner (1986)
Mike Moustakas (1988)
Nik Turley (1989)
Shawn Armstrong (1990)
James Dunn was the owner of the Cleveland Indians from 1916-1922.
Infielder Ellis Clary was a scout for the Twins for over two decades.
Luis Garcia is a member of both the Venezuelan Hall of Fame and the Caribbean Hall of Fame.
Actor Scott Patterson, best known for his role on The Gilmore Girls, was a minor league pitcher for seven seasons, pitching 373 AAA innings but not reaching the majors. He was in the Yankees and Braves systems.
Brad "the Animal" Lesley was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round of the 1977 January draft, but did not sign.
Quinn Mack is Shane Mack’s brother and got 21 at-bats with Seattle in 1994.
Toby Gardenhire, of course, is the son of the former Twins’ manager. He was a player in the Twins’ minor league system, reaching AAA, and is the manager of the St. Paul Saints.
We also want to wish a very happy birthday to Rhubarb_Runner.
Additionally, it seems appropriate on this day to mention former minor league players Marty Boryczewski, Ralph Scorca, Mike Weinberg, and Brent Woodall, all of whom were killed in the terrorist attacks of 2001.
2024 Game Log 145 – Angels at Twins
So is this how the season plays out? With a whimper, not a bang? Twins in a 4-game tailspin and have lost 9 games off their season high 17 games over .500 from just early August. Injuries, ass bats, bad pitching, lousy managing, somnolent ownership have contributed to where the Twins see themselves: Stuck in the last wild card slot, with three other teams starting to think they have a chance to surpass them.
Pablo Lopez on the mound so a good chance Twins can snap the losing streak against an Angels team that can already see their post season tee-off times pop up on their calendars. Griffin Canning on the mound for the Halos and with a 5-12 record this year and 5.02 ERA, makes him the ace of the staff I think (pure conjecture, not really going to do the research on this one).
Game time 6:40 and looks like a nice summer night to watch baseball
Minor Details: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Leaders
BATTING
GAMES
Brandon Winokur, 94
Byron Chourio, 84
Maddux Houghton, 84
AT BATS
Winokur, 362
Chourio, 328
Houghton, 256
RUNS
Winokur, 60
Houghton, 50
Chourio, 38
HITS
Winokur, 90
Chourio, 68
Poncho Ruiz, 67
DOUBLES
Ruiz, 21
Winokur, 19
Rayne Doncon, 13
TRIPLES
Chourio, 5
Kyle DeBarge, 3
Payton Eeles, 3
Winokur, 3
HOME RUNS
Winokur, 14
Rixon Wingrove, 8
3 tied at 5
RBIs
Winokur, 54
Ruiz, 36
Houghton, 35
WALKS
Isaac Pena, 38
Ruiz, 38
Yohander Martinez, 35
STRIKEOUTS
Winokur, 115
Chourio, 104
Houghton, 89
STOLEN BASES
Angel Del Rosario, 25
Chourio, 23
Winokur, 23
BATTING AVERAGE
Eeles, .331
Doncon, .283
Walker Jenkins, .273
ON BASE PERCENTAGE
Eeles, .448
Jenkins, 404
Doncon, .374
SLUGGING AVERAGE
Eeles, .517
Wingrove, .497
Doncon, .464
OPS
Eeles, .965
Wingrove, .866
Doncon, .838
PITCHING
GAMES
Xander Hamilton, 35
Samuel Perez, 35
Ben Ethridge, 34
STARTS
Charlee Soto, 20
Cesar Lares, 19
Ross Dunn, 16
INNINGS
Lares, 81
Paulshawn Pasqualotto, 75.2
Soto, 74
WINS
Jack Noble, 8
Spencer Bengard, 7
Hamilton, 6
Wilker Reyes, 6
LOSSES
Pasqualotto, 8
Hamilton, 7
Soto, 7
HOME RUNS ALLOWED
Noble, 11
Ethridge, 10
Pasqualotto, 9
HIT BATSMEN
Lares, 20
Tanner Hall, 7
Hamilton, 7
Soto, 7
WALKS
Soto, 33
Dunn, 30
Noble, 30
STRIKEOUTS
Soto, 87
Lares, 77
Perez, 77
ERA
Bengard, 1.64
Nolan Santos, 2.39
Perez, 2.54
WHIP
Bengard, 1.01
Perez, 1.10
Santos, 1.12
BATTING AVERAGE AGAINST
Santos, .191
Perez, .208
Hamilton, .212
September 10, 2024: Is There A Draft In Here?
Aww, shoot. Forgot to set the football draft. Are people still interested? If so, I could set one for Wednesday so we can still get the Thursday game in.
Happy Birthday–September 10
Barney Pelty (1880)
High Pockets Kelly (1895)
Sammy Hale (1896)
Poindexter Williams (1897)
Hoss Walker (1904)
Ted Kluszewski (1924)
Roger Maris (1934)
Len Whitehouse (1957)
Randy Johnson (1963)
Riccardo Ingram (1966)
Danys Baez (1977)
Joey Votto (1983)
Anthony Swarzak (1985)
Neil Walker (1985)
Paul Goldschmidt (1987)
Mike Baumann (1995)
Mike Baumann was drafted by the Twins in the thirty-fourth round in 2014, but did not sign.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to the Philosofer's eldest child.
Minor Details: Games of September 8
ST. PAUL SAINTS 9, IOWA CUBS 3 IN ST. PAUL
Carson McCusker hit a three-run homer in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.
Multi-hit games: McCusker was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs, and three RBIs. Diego Castillo was 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs. Chris Williams was 2-for-4.
Home runs: McCusker (3).
Multi-RBI games: Castillo 3 (49); McCusker 3 (9).
Stolen bases: Williams (4).
Pitching prowess: Travis Adams pitched six innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk and striking out four. Giovanny Gallegos pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one. Zack Weiss pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.
Win: Caleb Baragar (2-3).
Opposition standout: Riley Thompson struck out eight in six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits.
Record: St. Paul is 29-34, tied for seventh with Toledo, 11.5 games behind Columbus.
WICHITA WIND SURGE 4, FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS 2 IN FRISCO (10 INNINGS)
Wichita tied it 2-2 in the eighth and Jake Rucker hit a two-run homer in the tenth.
Multi-hit games: Rucker was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Home runs: Jorel Ortega (10).
Multi-RBI games: Rucker 2 (68).
Stolen bases: None.
Pitching prowess: C. J. Culpepper struck out six in four shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk. Taylor Floyd pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. Cody Laweryson struck out two in a perfect inning. Kyle Bischoff pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. Jarret Whorff struck out three in two perfect innings.
Win: Whorff (3-3).
Opposition standout: Kohl Drake struck out six in five innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks.
Record: Wichita is 25-38, in fifth (last) place, fourteen games behind Arkansas and Springfield.
WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 10, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
Homers by Cooper Pratt and Eduardo Garcia gave Wisconsin a 3-0 lead in the first and they led all the way.
Multi-hit games: Poncho Ruiz was 2-for-3. Misael Urbina was 2-for-4 with a triple.
Home runs: Kevin Maitan (8).
Multi-RBI games: None.
Stolen bases: None.
Pitching prowess: Jeremy Lee pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk and striking out one.
Loss: Tanner Hall (0-3).
Opposition standout: Victor Torres was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.
Record: Cedar Rapids is 30-36, tied for fifth with Beloit, eight games behind Quad Cities. Overall, they were 67-63, in third place, 9.5 games behind Wisconsin.
FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 9, LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS 4 IN LAKELAND
Khadim Diaw homered in the sixth to tie it at three and Maddux Houghton hit a two-run homer later in the inning to put Fort Myers ahead to stay.
Multi-hit games: Kyle DeBarge was 4-for-5 with a home run, two runs, and four RBIs. Diaw was 2-for-3 with a home run.
Home runs: Houghton (4); DeBarge (1); Diaw (1).
Multi-RBI games: DeBarge 4 (41); Houghton 2 (35).
Stolen bases: DeBarge 2 (15); Byron Chourio (23).
Pitching prowess: Anthony Narvaez struck out four in three innings, giving up one run on three hits. Juan Mercedes struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Win: Paulshawn Pasqualotto (3-8).
Opposition standout: Carlos Lequerica struck out five in 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.
Record: Fort Myers is 35-25, in second place, a half game behind Lakeland. Overall, they were 66-59, in third place, 11.5 games behind Lakeland.
TUESDAY'S TILTS
5:15 St. Paul (Brent Headrick, 1-0, 1.54) at Columbus
7:05 Tulsa at Wichita (TBD)
September 9, 2024: Workaday
My entire time out here I've lived west of work, which means I get to drive into the sun both ways. Anyone else have a similar predicament?
Happy Birthday–September 9
Abner Dalrymple (1857)
Frank Chance (1876)
Dots Miller (1886)
Doc Johnston (1887)
Frankie Frisch (1898)
Waite Hoyt (1899)
Hugh Mulcahy (1913)
Jay Ward (1938)
Paul Roof (1942)
Jerry Mumphrey (1952)
Tom Foley (1959)
Alvin Davis (1960)
Jim Corsi (1961)
Todd Zeile (1965)
Joey Hamilton (1970)
Dan Miceli (1970)
Mike Hampton (1972)
Felix Rodriguez (1972)
Edwin Jackson (1983)
Kyle Davies (1983)
Alex Romero (1983)
Michael Bowden (1986)
Billy Hamilton (1990)
Dots Miller’s given name was John. He got the nickname “Dots” because when he first came up, a sportswriter asked teammate Honus Wagner who the new guy was. Wagner, in his thick German accent, said, “Dot’s Miller.”
Hugh Mulcahy has one of the worst nicknames in the history of baseball. In four seasons as a starting pitcher for the Phillies, he twice led the league in losses. He went 45-89 for his career, leading to the nickname “Losing Pitcher Mulcahy”.
The brother of Phil Roof, Paul Roof was a pitcher for four seasons in the Braves’ system, never going higher than Class A. He was actually on the Braves' major league roster as a September call-up in 1961, but did not appear in a game.
Elton John – Crocodile Rock
Welcome to nibbish week! This was supposed to happen a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't! Now it will!
This is the three year old's favorite song. It's this, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", and "Crab Rave" (and lots and lots of the Bluey soundtrack). I've heard of things like Cocomelon, and....one can do worse than Elton John.