Happy Birthday–April 18

Frank Navin (1871)
Sam Crawford (1880)
Duffy Lewis (1888)
Jack Scott (1892)
Perry Hall (1898)
Steve Blass (1942)
Mike Paul (1945)
Doug Flynn (1951)
Bobby Castillo (1955)
Rich Bordi (1959)
Jim Eisenreich (1959)
Dennis Rasmussen (1959)
Rico Brogna (1970)
Steve Dunn (1970)
Brian Buscher (1981)
Miguel Cabrera (1983)
Billy Butler (1986)
Anthony DeSclafani (1990)
Prelander Berroa (2000)

Frank Navin was the owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1908-1935.

Rich Bordi was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1977, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mrs. CarterHayes.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 18

Minor Details: Games of April 16

A short version, which is too bad, because these games deserve more.

IOWA CUBS 20, ST. PAUL SAINTS 6 IN IOWA

Well, maybe not this one.  Iowa led 6-0 after three.  It was 7-1 after six, but Iowa scored nine in the seventh.  Iowa hit eight home runs in the game.  Carson McCusker was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his third and fourth.  Armando Alvarez hit a three-run homer.  Jeferson Morales was 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks.  Starter Andrew Morris pitched 3.2 innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits and a walk, striking out six.

TULSA DRILLERS 5, WICHITA WIND SURGE 4 IN TULSA (14 INNINGS)

It was 1-1 through eight.  Each team scored two in the ninth and one in the eleventh.  Yeiner Fernandez singled home the deciding run.  Tyler Dearden was 4-for-6.  Kyler Fedco was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his second) and two walks.  Chase Chaney pitched 4.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and no walks and striking out one.  Angel Macuare struck out four in 2.1 perfect innings.  John Stankiewicz pitched 2.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on no hits and three walks, striking out two.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 8, PEORIA CHIEFS 7 IN PEORIA (11 INNINGS)

Cedar Rapids trailed 7-5 after six.  They scored one in the seventh, one in the ninth, and Brandon Winokur doubled home the deciding run in the eleventh.  Nate Baez was 4-for-5 with two runs.  Winokur was 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs.  Caden Kendle was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Starter Ty Langenberg pitched 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks and striking out three.  Paulshawn Pasqualotto struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Gabriel Yanez pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 1, BRADENTON MARAUDERS 0 IN FORT MYERS

Jay Thomason homered in the second for the game's lone run.  Bradenton had only one hit.  Christian MacLeod struck out four in two perfect innings.  Brock Stewart, on a rehab assignment, struck out all three men he faced.  Pierson Ohl struck out eight in three shutout innings, giving up the one hit.  Dylan Questad struck out four and walked two in three shutout innings.

TODAY'S TILTS

12:08  St. Paul (Marco Raya, 0-0, 2.08) at Iowa (Jordan Wicks, 0-0, 3.05)
6:05  Bradenton (Carlos Castillo, 0-0, 2.45) at Fort Myers (Eli Jones, 1-1, 4.82)
6:35  Cedar Rapids (Charlee Soto, 0-0, 0.00) at Peoria (Zack Showalter, 0-0, 3.86)
7:00  Wichita (Trent Baker, 0-0, 1.29) at Tulsa (Jackson Ferris, 0-0, 1.80)

April 17, 2025: Steamy

The water heater that came with our house has been a champ. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you the year it was installed actually, but though not on the top of its game, it's always been at least serviceable. The last place we rented once had a water heater emergency that I'd like to avoid (and that's also the last time I remember being able to call an owner and say, hey, take care of this; I miss that).

Anyway, two questions:

  • Name a current or former Twins player that's never been outright good, but has at least been goodish now and then, but also never outright bad. Bonus points for someone that maintained that until the end of their career.
  • Uhh, any recommendations for a natural gas water heater replacement? Again, it's working "fine", but better to replace before it's a problem. I have no dog in the tank vs. tankless fight.

Happy Birthday–April 17

Alexander Cartwright (1820)
Cap Anson (1852)
Tom Needham (1879)
Jake Daubert (1884)
Buzz Arlett (1912)
Solly Hemus (1923)
Tsutomu Wakamatsu (1947)
Denny Walling (1954)
Craig Worthington (1965)
Marquis Grissom (1967)
Gary Bennett (1972)
Ryan Raburn (1981)
Jed Lowrie (1984)
Deolis Guerra (1989)

Alexander Cartwright was instrumental in developing the rules for the game of baseball.

Buzz Arlett was a star in the low minors from 1934-1941, and probably would have been for several more years had World War II not intervened.  He had a career average of .319 with a slugging average of .480, but never played above Class C.

Tsutomu Wakamatsu was a star in Japan from 1971-1989, making the all-star team eleven times.  His career average of .319 is second to Leron Lee on the all-time list of players with at least four thousand at-bats.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 17

Minor Details: Games of April 15

ST. PAUL SAINTS 2, IOWA CUBS 1 IN IOWA

Reese McGuire singled home a run in the third, but the Saints came back with a Carson McCusker two-run double in the fourth.  Saints pitching took it from there, striking out nine and walking only one in the game.

Batters:  Luke Keaschall and Emmanuel Rodriguez were each 2-for-5.  Carson McCusker was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.

Pitchers:  Zebby Matthews struck out seven in five innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.  Travis Adams pitched four shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks and striking out two.

Opponents:  Carlos Perez was 2-for-3 with a double.  Jonathan Long was 2-for-4.  Javier Assad struck out four in 3.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.  Brooks Kriske struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Record:  St. Paul is 6-7, in eighth place, 4.5 games behind Columbus.

TULSA DRILLERS 3, WICHITA WIND SURGE 0 IN TULSA

It was scoreless until the fifth, when John Rhodes singled home a run and another scored on an error.  Rhodes singled home another run in the seventh.  Wichita drew six walks but had only five hits, striking out ten times and stranding nine runners.

Batters:  Aaron Sabato was 2-for-3 with a double.  Ricardo Olivar was 2-for-4.

Pitchers:  Ricky Castro struck out four in 3.2 innings, giving up two hits and two walks.  Michael Martinez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opponents:  John Rhodes was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Chris Newell was 2-for-4.  Peter Heubeck struck out eight in four shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.  Lucas Wepf pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out one.  Christian Suarez pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Record:  Wichita is 6-4, tied for third with Northwest Arkansas, one game behind Arkansas and Springfield.

PEORIA CHIEFS 6, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 2 IN PEORIA

Cedar Rapids scored two in the first, one on a bases-loaded walk and the other on a wild pitch.  Peoria came back with one in the second and took control with a four-run third.  Brayden Jobert had a two-run single in the inning.

Batters:  Billy Amick was 2-for-4.

Pitchers:  Starter Jeremy Lee pitched 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks and striking out two.  Logan Whitaker pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opponents:  Brayden Jobert was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Johnfrank Salazar was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Zach Levenson was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Dionys Rodriguez pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out two.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 6-4, in second place, one game behind Quad Cities.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 9, BRADENTON MARAUDERS 4 IN FORT MYERS

Fort Myers scored four in the third to take a 5-1 lead.  Jose Rodriguez had a two-run triple in the inning.  The lead stretched to 9-2 through eight.

Batters:  Jose Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a triple, a run, and two RBIs.  Peyton Carr was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Poncho Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Pitchers:  Starter Michael Carpenter struck out three and walked three in two innings, giving up one run and two hits.  Liam Rocha pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Brady Feigl pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opponents:  Axiel Plaz was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Yordany De Los Santos was 2-for-4 with a double.

Record:  Fort Myers is 5-5, tied for second with Lakeland and Tampa, one game behind Clearwater.

TODAY'S TILTS

11:00  Wichita (Chase Chaney, 0-0, 7.71) at Tulsa (Chris Campos, 0-0, 6.75)
12:08  St. Paul (Andrew Morris. 0-0, 0.00) at Iowa (TBD)
6:05  Bradenton (Clevari Tejada, 0-1, 11.57) at Fort Myers (Christian MacLeod, 0-0, 0.00)
6:35  Cedar Rapids (Ty Langenberg, 0-1, 7.71) at Peoria (Juan Salas, 0-2, 7.71)

April 16, 2025: XI

Work is making the move to Windows 11, and since I'm one of the "techy" people (I use that term extremely relatively; I am just compare to the rest in my office), I'm a part of the trial group making the switch today. I've been clicking the ignore upgrade button for a long time now on my home PC, so we'll see how this goes. Whenever MS makes "improvements" or "upgrades", they always get rid of a lot of simple but very useful functions in the process. Can't wait to see how much of a pain is the new version.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.