While we're coming up on a full fun filled year of pandemic, it started in earnest at the tail end of winter. The outdoors were always an option, but not when the highs are in the single digits. Definitely hard to squeeze excess energy out of the younguns.
2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-two
ANAHEIM 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN ANAHEIM
Date: Wednesday, August 27.
Batting stars: A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch. Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double. Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5.
Pitching star: J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Chone Figgins was 3-for-5 with a triple. Scott Spiezio was 2-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth. Eric Owens was 2-for-4 with a double. Robb Quinlan was 2-for-4. Bengie Molina was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.
The game: The Twins played catch-up all night and could never quite get the lead. In the bottom of the first Figgins led off with a triple and scored on Owens' single-plus-error. Owens went to third on a ground ball and scored on a sacrifice fly, putting the Angels up 2-0.
The Twins scored one in the second when Hunter doubled and Pierzynski singled. Anaheim got the run back in the third when Tim Salmon walked, went to second on an infield out, and scored on Shawn Wooten's single. The Twins again cut the lead to one in the fifth as Pierzynski was hit by a pitch, went to third on an error and scored on a ground out. They tied it up in the sixth when Matthew LeCroy singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Hunter's single. But the tie lasted only for two batters, as Molina homered in the bottom of the sixth to put the Angels back up 4-3.
The Twins again tied it in the seventh. Denny Hocking walked, went to third on a single-plus-error by Cristian Guzman, and scored on a ground out. This time the tie lasted for three batters, as Spiezio homered in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-4 Anaheim.
And that's where it stayed. The Twins loaded the bases in the eighth and got a one-out single in the ninth, but the score did not change.
WP: Ben Weber (4-1). LP: Juan Rincon (3-6). S: Troy Percival (28).
Notes: Hocking was at third base in place of Corey Koskie, who would not return until August 30. Jacque Jones was in left with Shannon Stewart in right. Michael Ryan pinch-hit for Hocking in the eighth and Chris Gomez went to third base in the ninth.
Michael Ryan was 0-for-1 and was batting .429. Stewart was 1-for-5 and is batting .313. Jones was 1-for-4 and is batting .311. Pierzynski got back up over .300 at .301.
Kenny Rogers started for the Twins and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eleven hits and a walk, striking out none. Aaron Sele started for the Angels and also pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk and striking out four.
Chicago and Kansas City both won big, so the Twins lost a game to both of their rivals.
Record: The Twins were 68-64, in third place in the American League Central, 2.5 games behind Chicago. They were 1.5 games behind second-place Kansas City.
Happy Birthday–February 10
Horace Wilson (1845)
Jim Keenan (1858)
Curt Welch (1862)
Billy Evans (1884)
Herb Pennock (1894)
Bill Adair (1913)
Allie Reynolds (1917)
George Sobek (1920)
Randy Jackson (1926)
Billy O'Dell (1933)
Dick Bogard (1937)
Jim Barr (1948)
Larry McWilliams (1954)
Lenny Dykstra (1963)
Lenny Webster (1965)
Jayhawk Owens (1969)
Alberto Castillo (1970)
Bobby Jones (1970)
Kevin Sefcik (1971)
Lance Berkman (1976)
Cesar Izturis (1980)
Alex Gordon (1984)
Duke Welker (1986)
Jeanmar Gomez (1988)
Liam Hendriks (1989)
Max Kepler (1993)
Horace Wilson was an American professor English at Tokyo University. He is credited with introducing baseball to Japan in either 1872 or 1873.
Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history, starting his career at age 22. He was an American League umpire from 1906-1027. He would later become general manager of the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, and was president of the Southern Association from 1942-1946.
Bill Adair was a long-time minor league player (1935-1956) and manager (1949-1973). He also was the scout credited with signing Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.
George Sobek was a long-time scout for the White Sox, credited with signing Denny McLain, Steve Trout, and Mike Squires. He also played in the NBA and was a long-time college basketball referee.
Another long-time scout, Dick Bogard played in the minors for six years, managed for three, and was a scout for nearly thirty years, mostly for Houston and Oakland. He is credited with signing Walt Weiss, Jason Giambi, and Ben Grieve.
Jim Barr was drafted six different times before finally signing. Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round of the January Secondary draft in 1970, but he did not sign.
Thundercat – Black Qualls
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February 9, 2021: But For The First
One of these days this team will put it together. One of these days...
2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-one
MINNESOTA 3, ANAHEIM 0 IN ANAHEIM
Date: Tuesday, August 26.
Batting stars: Jacque Jones was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and two runs. Denny Hocking was 2-for-4. Luis Rivas was 2-for-5 with a home run (his eighth) and a double. Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5.
Pitching stars: Brad Radke pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out four. He threw 98 pitches.
Opposition stars: Scott Spiezio was 2-for-3. Garret Anderson was 2-for-4 with a double. John Lackey pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and one walk and striking out five.
The game: The Angels got a two-out double in the first but did not score. In the second, the Twins got consecutive singles from Jones, Torii Hunter, A. J. Pierzynski, and Hocking, but only scored once, as Hunter was thrown out trying to score on Hocking's hit. It was 1-0 Twins after two.
Anaheim again got a man to second in the second inning, this time with one out, but again did not score. They put men on first and second with one out in the fourth, but a double play took them out of the inning. Jones led off the sixth with a home run to make it 2-0. Rivas homered with two out in the seventh to make it 3-0. The Angels got one more threat, putting two on with one out in the ninth. Tim Salmon came up representing the tying run, but he hit into a double play to end the game.
WP: Radke (10-10). LP: Lackey (8-13). S: None.
Notes: Hocking was at third base in place of Corey Koskie. Jones was in left and Stewart in right. Dustan Mohr pinch-ran for DH Matthew LeCroy in the eighth.
Stewart was batting .314. Jones was batting .312.
This was the only shutout of the season for Radke. It was one of ten for his career. He had a high of two in 2001. He got his ERA below five for the first time since opening day, at 4.78. His game score of 80 was easily his best of the season--the next-highest was 69, back in April.
The Twins had put together back-to-back wins. Could they make it three in a row?
Record: The Twins were 68-63, in third place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Chicago. They were a half game behind second-place Kansas City.
Phoebe Bridgers – I Know The End
everyone needs to calm tf down about this.
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Loading... Happy Birthday–February 9
Harry Pulliam (1864)
Heinie Zimmerman (1887)
Specs Toporcer (1899)
Bill Veeck (1914)
Jodie Phipps (1918)
Vic Wertz (1925)
Erv Palica (1928)
Clete Boyer (1937)
Eddie Solomon (1951)
Mookie Wilson (1956)
Pete O'Brien (1958)
John Kruk (1961)
Doug Linton (1965)
Todd Pratt (1967)
Vladimir Guerrero (1975)
Dioner Navarro (1984)
Harry Pulliam was president of the National League from 1903-1909.
Bill Veeck was the owner of the Cleveland Indians (1946-49), St. Louis Browns (1951-53), and Chicago White Sox (1958-61, 1975-81).
Pitcher Jodie Phipps played in the minors from 1939-1957, winning 275 games. He also managed in the minors for seven seasons.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to LBR.
Winter Wonderland: Games of February 6
MELBOURNE
SYDNEY 7, MELBOURNE 3 AT SYDNEY
Sydney scored five in the first inning and led all the way. Jarryd Dale was 2-for-4 for Melbourne. Kyle Perkins was 1-for-2 with a home run (his second) and two walks. Ex-Twin Sam Gibbons started for Melbourne. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out two.
Record: Melbourne is 19-8, in first place in the Australian League, four games ahead of Perth.
Next game: The regular season is over. Five of the six teams go to the playoffs. The playoffs start with a play-in game between Canberra and Sydney. After that, the four teams remaining play a double-elimination tournament. Except, the championship game is not double-elimination. In other words, if you reach the finals, there's no advantage to being the undefeated team other than you played one fewer game so your pitching might be in better shape. If a team goes undefeated, but then loses to the one-loss team in the finals, it does not get another chance.
CARIBBEAN SERIES FINAL
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 4, PUERTO RICO 1
The Dominican scored two in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. Ramon Torres was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Ronald Guzman was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Johan Camargo was 1-for-3 with a home run. Cesar Valdez pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three. Puerto Rico had only four hits. Hector Hernandez struck out seven in five innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.
The Dominican Republic goes undefeated and wins the Caribbean Series.
2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty
MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, August 24.
Batting stars: Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base (his fourth, a walk, and three runs. Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-2 with a double and three walks. Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-third) and a walk.
Pitching stars: Johan Santana struck out ten in six innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks. J. C. Romero struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Juan Rincon struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Joe Randa was 2-for-4 with a double. Desi Relaford was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.
The game: Relaford homered in the second to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. The Twins got the run back on Hunter's homer in the bottom of the second. The Twins took the lead in the third. Walks to Stewart and Luis Rivas and a double steal, putting men on second and third with none out. LeCroy hit an RBI single, Corey Koskie had a sacrifice fly, Hunter walked, and Jacque Jones delivered an RBI single to make it 4-1 Minnesota. It went to 5-1 in the fourth when Stewart singled, Mientkiewicz walked, and LeCroy hit another RBI single.
Kansas City loaded the bases in the fifth but did not score. In the bottom of the fifth Cristian Guzman singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on Rivas' squeeze bunt to make it 6-1. The Twins added two in the eighth. A. J. Pierzynski singled and Stewart doubled, putting men on second and third. Rivas hit a sacrifice fly and LeCroy had another RBI single to bring the final score to 8-1.
WP: Santana (8-3). LP: Graeme Lloyd (1-4). S: None.
Notes: Jones was in left and Stewart in right. Dustan Mohr pinch-ran for Jones in the fifth and went to right field, with Stewart moving to left.
Stewart was batting .313. Jones was at .308. Mientkiewicz climbed back to an even .300.
Santana lowered his ERA to 2.85. In his last five starts he had pitched 36 innings. He had given up six runs (five earned) on 25 hits and 10 walks while striking out 40.
Royals starter Kevin Appier pitched just two innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks and striking out one. He was removed due to injury and would not pitch any more in 2003. He had been signed by Kansas City in early August to bolster their rotation to make a playoff run, but he was able to make only four starts for them in 2003.
It was a needed win over a team ahead of them in the standings, but the Twins were still in third place as they headed west for a road trip.
Record: The Twins were 67-63, in third place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Chicago. They were a half game behind second-place Kansas City.