Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-eight

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 12.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.  Brant Alyea was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

Pitching star:  Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Elrod Hendricks was 4-for-4 with a double.  Don Buford was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Boog Powell was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Dave Johnson was 2-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Cesar Tovar led off the first with a triple and scored on a foul out to the first baseman, putting the Twins up 1-0.  Each team got a pair of two-out singles in the second and did not take advantage of them, but the Twins' singles were preceded by an Alyea homer which put the Twins ahead 2-0.

The Orioles got on the board in the fourth when Powell doubled, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on Johnson's single.  They took the lead in the fifth when Mike Cuellar and Buford opened the inning with singles and both scored on Frank Robinson's double.  They increased the lead to 5-2 in the sixth as Johnson drew a one-out walk, Hendricks followed with a single, and Buford hit a two-run triple.

The Twins came back in the seventh.  Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit a single with one out.  Tovar walked, and Carew and Harmon Killebrew hit back-to-back RBI singles to cut the lead to 5-4.  Unfortunately, Carew was then caught stealing home to take the Twins out of the inning.  Jim Holt got a pinch-hit walk in the ninth and got as far as third base with one out, but a double play ended the game.

WP:  Mike Cuellar (4-2).

LP:  Jim Perry (5-2).

S:  Pete Richert (6).

Notes:  Mendoza pinch-hit for Tom Hall in the seventh.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff coming in to catch.  Holt pinch-hit for Williams in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .336.  Carew was batting .333.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.  Alyea was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Tovar was 1-for-3 and was batting .301.  Perry gave up three runs in 4.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.80.  Williams had an ERA of 0.98.

Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Mitterwald was 1-for-3 and was batting .192.

Cuellar pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out five.

Hall had made two appearances from April 25--May 9, and now had appeared in back-to-back games, pitching four innings.

This was the only four-hit game Hendricks had in 1970.  He was 1-for-11 in the three games prior to this and went 1-for-12 in the three game after it.

Record:  The Twins were 18-10, in second place in the American League West, one game behind California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 2

Dutch Zwilling (1888)
Chief Hogsett (1903)
Travis Jackson (1903)
Johnny Vander Meer (1914)
Al Campanis (1916)
Ron Reed (1942)
Tom Paciorek (1946)
Scott Boras (1952)
Paul Hartzell (1953)
Greg Harris (1955)
Willie McGee (1958)
Sam Horn (1963)
Orlando Merced (1966)
Travis Miller (1972)
Orlando Cabrera (1974)
Sidney Ponson (1976)
Wilson Betamit (1981)
Yunel Escobar (1982)
Daryl Thompson (1985)

Dutch Zwilling held the record for last major leaguer in alphabetical order until Tony Zych came along.

Al Campanis was the general manager of the Dodgers from 1969-1987.

Scott Boras has been a player agent for many years.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 2 →

First Monday Book Day

First Monday Book Day: Adaptations

38 Comments

Been a while since we had an FMBD post. As I washed my beard on Saturday I found myself wondering whether The Boss’ POTUS biography journey has made it into the hirsute Chief Executive era.

We’ve had some CoC chatter about the new Dune film adaptation. I’ve been watching & enjoying Foundation on Apple TV+, but I’m not familiar with Asimov’s series. The same was true for The Expanse (final season drops on Prime in December) and James A. Corey’s novels. I’ve been meaning to start reading those.

What previously-unadapted* novel or series would you like to see get the (home) cinema treatment? On my film list are: Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, J. M. G. Le Clézio’s Désert, & Vonnegut’s Player Piano. Eugene Vodolazkin‘s Laurus, Richard Ford’s Canada, & Richard Powers’ The Overstory all seem ripe for a high-quality miniseries treatment.

My current read is Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Committed, which is a follow-up to The Sympathizer.

* We can hold ourselves to English-language adaptations.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-seven

CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Sunday, May 10.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bob Allison was 2-for-4.  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-4 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Duke Sims was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Sam McDowell pitched 8.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out eight.  He also hit a home run.

The game:  In the bottom of the first, Larry Brown reached on an error and scored on a double by Ted Uhlaender, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead.  McDowell homered leading off the third and Sims homered with one out in the fourth to make it 3-0.  Meanwhile, the Twins had only two singles through five innings and only advanced one man as far as second base.

The changed in the sixth when Cardenas got the Twins on the board with a home run.  The Twins' joy was short-lived, however, as with two out in the sixth Vada Pinson walked and Sims followed with a two-run homer, putting Cleveland up 5-1.

The Twins did try to come back.  In the eighth Cardenas walked, Killebrew singled, and Tony Oliva had an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.  In the ninth Allison singled, Rick Renick had a pinch-hit double, and Minnie Mendoza hit a two-run single, cutting the lead to 5-4 and putting the tying run on base with one out.  The Twins could do no more, however, and the game ended with a 5-4 score.

WP:  McDowell (4-3).

LP:  Dave Boswell (0-5).

S:  Rich Hand (2).

Notes:  Allison was at first base in place of Rich Reese.  Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew.  Mendoza went to second base in the seventh inning as part of a double switch.  Renick pinch-hit for Hall in the ninth.  Carew pinch-hit for Cesar Tovar in the ninth.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Mendoza in the ninth.

Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .345.  Killebrew was batting .330.  Carew was 0-for-1 and was batting .328.  Renick was 1-for-1 and was batting .308.  Brant Alyea was 0-for-4 and was batting .308.  Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .300.

Mendoza was 1-for-2 and was batting .154.  Quilici was 0-for-3 and was batting .167.  Mitterwald was 0-for-4 and was batting .186.  Boswell allowed five runs (four earned) in 5.2 innings and had an ERA of 6.17.

This was only Hall's seventh game of the season.  Prior to this game, he had pitched just 1.1 innings since April 24.  I don't know if he was battling an injury, but it doesn't appear that way.  He just was not being used for some reason.

This was the second and last home run of Sam McDowell's career.  The other came in 1967.  He also had seven doubles and two triples.  His lifetime batting numbers are .154/.171/.176.

I find it odd that, with Rod Carew on the bench, Bill Rigney chose to use him in place of Tovar, rather than the light-hitting Mendoza.  Mendoza got a two-run single, so either Rigney knew something I don't or he just got lucky.

The Twins went 6-3 on their nine-game East Division road trip, taking two of three in each series.

Record:  The Twins were 18-9, in first place in the American League West, a half-game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 1

Doc Adams (1814)
Bid McPhee (1859)
Larry French (1907)
Pat Mullin (1917)
Vic Power (1927)
Jim Kennedy (1946)
Miguel Dilone (1954)
Gary Redus (1956)
Fernando Valenzuela (1960)
Eddie Williams (1964)
Bob Wells (1966)
Ryan Glynn (1974)
Cleatus Davidson (1976)
Coco Crisp (1979)
Steven Tolleson (1983)
Anthony Bass (1987)
Alex Wimmers (1988)
Brent Rooker (1994)

Daniel Lucius "Doc" Adams was instrumental in developing the rules of baseball and was the first man to play what we now know as shortstop.

With the addition of Brent Rooker, November 1 takes the lead for most Twins birthdays, with nine.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 1 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-six

MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Saturday, May 9.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth), a walk, and a stolen base (his second).  Paul Ratliff was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.

Pitching star:  Luis Tiant pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Ex-Twin Ted Uhlaender was 3-for-3 with a home run (his second) and two RBIs.  Roy Foster was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.  Ex-Twin Dean Chance struck out nine in 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and six walks.

The game:  Uhlaender homered leading off the bottom of the first to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.  The Twins stole three bases in the first three innings, but none of it led to a run, so it was still 1-0 after five.  Tiant led off the sixth with a double and Oliva hit a two-out two-run homer to give the Twins the lead 2-1.

Rich Reese led off the Twins seventh with a walk.  He was still there with two out, but Chance then walked Ratliff, Tiant, and Cesar Tovar to force in a run and make it 3-1.  The Twins scored no more in the inning, however, as Mike Paul came in and got Rod Carew to ground out.

It cost the Twins, as Cleveland tied it in the eighth.  Foster led off with a home run, cutting the lead to 3-2.  Jack Heidemann then tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly, tying it 3-3.  In the ninth, however, Leo Cardenas walked and Ratliff hit a two-run homer, putting the Twins on top 5-3.  Tony Horton got a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth and went to second on a passed ball, but could advance no farther.

WP:  Ron Perranoski (1-1).

LP:  Dennis Higgins (0-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Frank Quilici replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Tiant was 1-for-2 and was batting .438.  Oliva took over the team batting lead at .346.  Rod Carew was 0-for-5 and was batting .333.  Killebrew was 0-for-4 and was batting .322.  Tovar was 1-for-3 and was batting .311.  Tiant had an ERA of 2.81.  Perranoski gave up one run in two innings and had an ERA of 1.99.

Holt was 0-for-4 and was batting .160.

The two teams combined to go 1-for-14 with men in scoring position, with the lone hit being Oliva's two-run homer.

Ex-Twin Graig Nettles was not off to a good start with his new club, batting just .132 at this point.

Jack Heidemann was the starting shortstop for Cleveland, the one year he was a regular.  He was found wanting, batting just .211/.265/.292.  He started more games than anyone else for the Indians in 1971 as well, but it was only 81.  By 1972 Frank Duffy was the starter and Heidemann was back in the minors, playing just ten games in the bigs.  He continued to get chances in the majors through 1977, but could never hit well enough to stick.

Record:  The Twins were 18-8, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.  As early as it was in the season, it still had to be a little frustrating for the Angels to win four in a row and five of six and not be able to gain on the Twins.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.