A nice hybrid WFH perk is to decide, “eh, I don’t feel like going to the office today,” and then not going.
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-one
MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 3 IN CHICAGO
Date: Saturday, September 19.
Batting star: Brant Alyea was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
Pitching stars: Tom Hall struck out nine in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks. Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, striking out one.
Opposition stars: Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fifth). Tommy John pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks and striking out one.
The game: The White Sox had men on first and second with one out in the first but did not score. In the second Alyea doubled and scored on a Rick Renick single to put the Twins up 1-0.
Chicago took the lead in the third when Syd O'Brien walked and Aparicio hit a two-run homer, making it 2-1 White Sox. The Twins had two on with two out in the fifth and did not score. In the sixth Duane Josephson doubled and scored on Ken Berry's single to make it 3-1 Chicago.
The Twins came back in the eighth. Walks to George Mitterwald and Danny Thompson were followed by a Bob Allison RBI single. An error tied the score and a walk to Leo Cardenas loaded the bases. Harmon Killebrew hit a sacrifice fly to put the Twins ahead and Alyea hit a run-scoring single to make it 5-3 Minnesota.
Josephson drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate. The next three batters went out, however, and the Twins had the win.
WP: Hall (9-6).
LP: Tommy John (11-16).
S: Williams (15).
Notes: Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench. Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.
Rick Dempsey pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the eighth. Tom Tischinski came in to catch. Allison pinch-hit for Hall in the eighth, with Herman Hill pinch-running for Allison. Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the eighth and stayed in the game in center field, with Cesar Tovar moving to left. Rich Reese went to first base in the eighth, replacing Killebrew. Frank Quilici went to third base in the eighth, with Renick coming out as part of a double switch.
Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .318. Tovar was 0-for-5 and was batting .300. Alyea was batting .300, his first time at .300 since May 17. Hall had an ERA of 2.58. Williams had an ERA of 1.99.
I couldn't figure out a quick way to find this out, but I suspect this is one of a very few times in his career that Rick Dempsey was used as a pinch-runner. I had assumed, when I first saw that, that he was chosen to pinch-run so he could go in to catch, but then Tischinski went in to catch instead. Surely, with expanded rosters, the Twins had a better pinch-runner than Dempsey available.
You look at Tommy John's 11-16 record, and you think he must had had a bad year. But he had an ERA of 3.27 with a 1.31 WHIP. He had ten complete games and three shutouts. The White Sox had a poor offense that year, and one assumes that they simply didn't score very many runs for him.
The Athletics defeated California 2-1, so the Twins were only able to take one game off their magic number.
Record: The Twins were 91-60, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland. Their magic number was four.
St. Vincent – Down
This record was underrated
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Happy Birthday–March 8
Harry Lord (1882)
Pat Flaherty (1897)
Bobby Goff (1902)
Pete Fox (1909)
Ray Mueller (1912)
Al Gionfriddo (1922)
Carl Furillo (1922)
Jim Bouton (1939)
Jacques Doucet (1940)
Dick Allen (1942)
Jim Rice (1953)
John Butcher (1957)
Mark Salas (1961)
Lance Barksdale (1967)
Mike Moriarty (1974)
Juan Encarnacion (1976)
Hines Ward (1976)
If you have a few minutes to spare, I would very much recommend reading Harry Lord’s biography at baseball-reference.com.
Pat Flaherty pitched in the minors from 1917-1921. He also played in the NFL from 1923-1928, was a major in the Air Force, and appeared in about 250 movies from 1934 to the 1950s.
Bobby Goff played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, 1923-1941. He also was a minor league manager and general manager and a major league scout, remaining in baseball until 1972.
Jacques Doucet was the French-language play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from 1972 until the team left.
Lance Barksdale has been a major league umpire since 2000.
NFL star Hines Ward was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1994, but did not sign.
WgOmRDLE Results: 03/07 – 03/13
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty
MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 4 IN CHICAGO
Date: Friday, September 18.
Batting stars: Jim Holt was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs. Tony Oliva was 2-for-4. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4.
Pitching stars: Bill Zepp pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three. Ron Perranoski pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks and striking out two.
Opposition stars: Bobby Knoop was 2-for-3 with a walk. Bill Melton was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-ninth) and two runs. Don Eddy struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.
The game: The Twins came out firing in the first. Tovar led off with a single, Leo Cardenas walked, and Oliva delivered an RBI single. The next two batters went out, but Holt hit a two-run triple, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead before the White Sox came to bat.
Chicago did come to bat, of course, and in the second they got back in the game. Melton was hit by a pitch and went to third on Syd O'Brien's one-out double. A ground out scored one run and Knoop single home another, cutting the Twins lead to 3-2. But the Twins got the runs back in the third. With two out Rich Reese singled and Brant Alyea and Holt walked, loading the bases. George Mitterwald then delivered a two-run single to make it 5-2 Twins.
The White Sox got one back in the bottom of the third when Luis Aparicio tripled and scored on a ground out. They had two on with two out in the fourth but did not score. They had a man on second with none out in the seventh but did not score. Melton homered in the eighth to make it 5-4. Chicago had the tying run on second with two out in the eighth and on first with two out in the ninth, but neither reached home plate and the Twins had the victory.
WP: Zepp (9-4).
LP: Bart Johnson (3-6).
S: Perranoski (31).
Notes: Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to third base and Harmon Killebrew again out of the lineup. I don't know if Killebrew was injured or ill or was simply given a little time off with the division nearly settled. Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew. Steve Brye went to left field in the seventh in place of Alyea.
Oliva was batting .318. Tovar was batting .302. Perranoski had an ERA of 2.30.
Brye was 0-for-1 and was batting .143.
Johnson was the starter for Chicago. He pitched seven innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on eight hits and four walks and struck out four.
This was the start of a nine-game road trip: three in Chicago, three in Oakland, and three in Kansas City. It appeared likely that the Twins would clinch on the road.
Oakland defeated California 3-2, so the Twins' magic number was only reduced by one.
Record: The Twins were 90-60, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland. Their magic number was five.
March 7, 2022: Green Cube
So, my company holds an internal, worldwide "competition" to look for new and innovative ideas to support and invest in (the company as a whole is in an enormous amount of markets). A buddy of mine is getting quite far into the competition with a new type of home farming. All this is to say that his team is looking for responses to a survey for their research and presentation purposes.
If you're bored, could you answer the below questions? Maybe it will start a fun conversation or two.
Emily Wells – Don’t Use Me Up
My view of looping pedals has softened in my old age.
She definitely has some Joanna in her inflections.
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Happy Birthday–March 7
Ed Willett (1884)
Dave Danforth (1890)
Andy Phillip (1922)
Bobo Holloman (1923)
Red Wilson (1929)
Galen Cisco (1936)
Jimmie Hall (1938)
J. R. Richard (1950)
Jeff Burroughs (1951)
Albert Hall (1958)
Joe Carter (1960)
Jose Cano (1962)
German Gonzalez (1962)
Mauro Gozzo (1966)
Jeff Kent (1968)
Tyler Ladendorf (1988)
A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Andy Phillip played minor league baseball in 1947, 1949, and 1952, batting .281 in 123 games.
Bobo Holloman is sometimes referred to as the worst pitcher ever to throw a major league no-hitter.
The father of Robinson Cano, Jose Cano appeared in six games for Houston in 1989.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to strategery's son.
1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-nine
MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Thursday, September 17.
Batting stars: Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two runs. Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk and striking out two. Stan Williams pitched 1.2 innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Tony Gonzalez was 2-for-4. Lloyd Allen pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.
The game: Tovar led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on a Cardenas single to put the Twins up 1-0. In the third Tovar drew a one-out walk. Cardenas followed with an RBI triple and Tony Oliva followed that with a run-scoring double, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead. In the fourth George Mitterwald hit a one-out double and scored on a Danny Thompson single to make it 4-0.
The Angels did not advance a man past first base in the first five innings. In the sixth Mickey Rivers drew a one-out walk and got to second on Gonzalez' single, but that was as far as he'd go. In the seventh, California did get on the board, but missed a chance for more. Alex Johnson was hit by a pitch and Jim Spencer doubled, putting men on second and third with none out. Jay Johnstone hit an RBI ground out, but a strikeout and a foul out followed, so the Twins still had a 4-1 lead.
In the eighth, Bill Voss led off with a single and Gonzalez singled with one out. Jim Fregosi followed with an RBI double and Johnson hit a sacrifice fly, making it 4-3 with the tying run on second. Spencer flied out to end the inning. In the ninth Mel Queen delivered a two-out pinch-hit single, but Voss flied out to end the game.
WP: Perry (23-11).
LP: Tom Murphy (14-13).
S: Williams (14).
Notes: Jim Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to third base and Harmon Killebrew given a rare day off. Charlie Manuel was given a rare start in left in place of Brant Alyea. Thompson was at second in place of Rod Carew. Herman Hill went to left in place of Manuel in the seventh. Jim Nettles went to left in place of Hill in the ninth.
Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .317. Tovar raised his average to .301, the first time he'd been over .300 since August 4. Williams had an ERA of 2.03.
I don't know why Nettles replaced Hill in the ninth, unless Bill Rigney just wanted to get him in the game. It does not appear that Hill was injured--he would be used in a game just two days later. It could have been a minor injury, of course, and that he was removed as a precaution. Not that it makes a lot of difference--it's just kind of a curious thing.
I have no idea why Angels manager Lefty Phillips used a pitcher, Mel Queen to pinch-hit in the ninth. Queen was not a particularly good batter--his lifetime numbers are .179/.233/.226. That's not bad for a pitcher, but it's bad for a batter. The Angels had already used a number of bench players--Roger Repoz, Randy Brown, Mickey Rivers, and Bill Voss--but teams had bigger benches back then, and besides it was September, with expanded rosters. In fact, Jarvis Tatum came in to pinch-run for Queen, so we know that he was available. There had to be some others, too. Using Queen as a pinch-hitter makes no sense to me at all. But having said all that, it worked. Queen got a pinch-hit single. Does that mean that Phillips made a smart move, or does it mean that he got lucky? Who knows? But the payoff is always in results, and the result was good, whether I think it was dumb thing to do or not.
Oakland did not play, so the Twins gained a half game in the standings.
Record: The Twins were 89-60, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland. Their magic number was six.