Happy Birthday–May 5

Chief Bender (1884)
Bob Cerv (1926)
Bing Russell (1926)
Red Robbins (1928)
Jose Pagan (1935)
Tommy Helms (1941)
John Donaldson (1943)
Larry Hisle (1947)
Joe Angel (1948)
Ron Oester (1956)
Charles Nagy (1967)
Hideki Irabu (1969)
Mike Redmond (1971)

Better known for his role as Deputy Clem Foster on “Bonanza”, outfielder Bing Russell played minor league baseball from 1948-1949.  He is the father of actor (and minor league player) Kurt Russell and the grandfather of major league player Matt Franco.

Spencer “Red” Robbins was a minor league player for fourteen years.  He then spent many years in the Twins’ organization, most of them as a scout (1963-1986).

Joe Angel was a broadcaster for the Twins from 1984-1986.

Today we also salute Eddie Mayo, Jackie Mayo, and Mayo Smith.  Sadly, there has never been a major league ballplayer named "Cinco".  However, baseball-reference.com says that Johnny Cueto's nickname is Cinco.

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 5

Minor Details: Games of May 3

ST. PAUL SAINTS 4, LOUISVILLE BATS 0 IN ST. PAUL

St. Paul scored three in the sixth and one in the seventh.

Multi-hit gamesMatt Wallner was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Home runs:  Wallner (3).

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Louie Varland struck out eight in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits.  Justin Topa struck out two in a perfect inning.  Diego Castillo pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Levi Jordan was 2-for-3.

Record:  St. Paul is 12-17, in ninth place, 5.5 games behind Omaha.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NATURALS 7, WICHITA WIND SURGE 6 IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

Wichita led 6-2, but Northwest Arkansas scored two in the seventh and three in the eighth.  Leonel Valera's two-run single gave the Naturals the lead.

Multi-hit games:  Kala'i Rosario was 2-for-3 with two doubles, two walks, and four RBIs.

Home runs:  Alerick Soularie (1).

Multi-RBI games:  Rosario 4.

Stolen bases:  Ben Ross (5), Soularie (5).

Opposition standout:  Gavin Cross was 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and three RBIs.

Record:  Wichita is 8-17, in fifth (last) place, nine games behind Springfield.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 1, PEORIA CHIEFS 0 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

The game's lone run scored in the ninth on a hit batsman and an error.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Zebby Matthews struck out nine in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits.  Ricardo Velez struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 13-11, in fourth place, 2.5 games behind Quad Cities and Wisconsin.

BRADENTON MARAUDERS 4, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 0 IN BRADENTON

Bradenton scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the seventh.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Byron Chourio (3).

Pitching prowess:  Nolan Santos pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Eddy Rodriguez was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and two RBIs.

Record:  Fort Myers is 9-16, in fourth place, eight games behind Clearwater.

TODAY'S TILTS

9:00  FCL Red Sox at FCL Twins
2:07  Louisville at St. Paul (Randy Dobnak, 1-3, 5.96)
5:30  Fort Myers (Ty Langenberg, 0-2, 4.70) at Bradenton
6:05  Wichita (Nick Wittgren, 1-0, 4.50) at Northwest Arkansas
6: 35  Peoria at Cedar Rapids (Darren Bowen, 1-2, 5.84)

Happy Birthday–May 4

Jack Tobin (1892)
John Tsitouris (1936)
Rene Lachemann (1945)
Ken Oberkfell (1956)
Rick Leach (1957)
Tim Tschida (1960)
Eddie Perez (1968)
Joe Borowski (1971)
Miguel Cairo (1974)
Ben Grieve (1976)
Jason Michaels (1976)
Ryan Jorgensen (1979)
Matt Tolbert (1982)
Kevin Slowey (1984)

 St. Paul native Tim Tschida was a major league umpire from 1986-2012.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 4

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.