Happy Birthday–June 6

Ed McKean (1864)
Jose Maria Fernandez (1896)
Fresco Thompson (1902)
Bill Dickey (1907)
Wild Bill Wright (1914)
Hector Espino (1939)
Merv Rettenmund (1943)
Bud Harrelson (1944)
Bobby Randall (1948)
Dave Bergman (1953)
Max Venable (1957)
Tony Graffanino (1972)
Brooks Kieschnick (1972)
David Lamb (1975)
Mark Ellis (1977)
Jeremy Affeldt (1979)
Matt Belisle (1980)
Anthony Rendon (1990)

 Wild Bill Wright was a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.

Hector Espino is considered the greatest player in the history of the Mexican League, hitting 453 home runs there.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 6

June 5, 2024: Abuzz

We haven't really had the cicadas buzzing away around our house, and we've got a decent amount of trees in the neighborhood (six large ones in our yard alone). However I was driving with the windows open next a forest preserve not too far from the house and you could almost feel the noise coming from the woods. Guess that's where the party is.

Minor Details: Games of June 4

SYRACUSE AT ST. PAUL

Rained out.  Will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NATURALS 10, WICHITA WIND SURGE 1 IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

Northwest Arkansas hit three solo homers in the third to take a 4-0 lead.

Multi-hit games:  Carson McCusker was 2-for-4.  Tanner Schobel was 2-for-4.

Home runs:  Ben Ross (3).

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:   None.

Opposition standout:  Josh Lester was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.

Record:  Wichita is 19-32, in fifth (last) place, eleven games behind Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 5, GREAT LAKES LOONS 2 IN GREAT LAKES

Dalton Shuffield hit a three-run single-plus-error in the sixth to give Cedar Rapids a 5-1 lead.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  Rubel Cespedes (7).

Multi-RBI games:  Cespedes 2 (41); Shuffield 2 (8).

Stolen bases:  Rayne Doncon (1).

Pitching prowess:  John Klein struck out seven in 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.  Jordan Carr pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.  Gabriel Yanez struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition standout:  Brandon Neeck retired all eight men he faced, striking out four.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 31-20, in second place, 1.5 games behind Wisconsin.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 4, TAMPA TARPONS 2 IN TAMPA

Fort Myers scored single runs in the second, fourth, seventh, and ninth.  Tampa got both of their runs in the bottom of the ninth on solo homers.

Multi-hit games:  Payton Eeles was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Home runs:  Brandon Winokur (4).

Multi-RBI games:  Isaac Pena 2 (11).

Stolen bases:  Byron Chourio (9).

Pitching prowess:  Jose Olivares struck out six in five innings, giving up four hits.  Spencer Bengard pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Jackson Castillo was 2-for-4 with a home run.

Record:  Fort Myers is 25-27, in fourth place, nine games behind Clearwater and Lakeland.

FCL TWINS 4, FCL RAYS 1 AT RAYS

The Twins scored two in the fourth and two in the sixth.

Multi-hit games:  Hendry Chivilli was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.  Javier Roman was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games;  Roman 2 (5).

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Eduardo Soriano pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out two.  Cleiber Maldonado struck out three in two innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk.  Devin Kirby struck out two in two perfect innings.

Opposition standout:  Erick Lara was 2-for-3 with a double.

Record:  The FCL Twins are 14-9, tied for second with the FCL Pirates, one game behind the FCL Rays.

DSL METS ORANGE 8, DSL TWINS 5 AT TWINS (7 INNINGS)

The Mets Orange built a 4-0 lead through three innings, then scored four in the sixth to put it out of reach.  The Twins scored four in the seventh to make the final score look better.

Multi-hit games:  Yandro Hernandez was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  Hernandez 2 (2).

Stolen bases:  Daiber De Los Santos (1); Luis Fragoza (1).

Pitching prowess:  Fabian Herrera pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition standout:  Jesus Anton struck out four in 3.1 innings, giving up one run on no hits and no walks, which isn't easy to do.

Record:  The DSL Twins are 0-1, tied for ninth, 1.5 games out of first.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:00  DSL Twins at DSL Nationals--completion of suspended game
12:00  Fort Myers (Ty Langenberg, 2-3, 3.56) at Tampa
6:05  Cedar Rapids (Christian MacLeod, 0-0, 2.70) at Great Lakes
7:05  Wichita (Travis Adams, 2-4, 5.85) at Northwest Arkansas
7:07  Syracuse at St. Paul (Caleb Boushley, 5-1, 4.24)

Happy Birthday–June 5

Jack Chesbro (1874)
Sandy Thompson (1895)
Harry Williams (1905)
Eddie Joost (1916)
Lou Brissie (1924)
Duke Sims (1941)
Bill Spiers (1966)
Ray Lankford (1967)
Mike Coolbaugh (1972)
Russ Ortiz (1974)
Robinson Chirinos (1984)
Manny Pina (1987)
Jake Petricka (1988)
Andrew Heaney (1991)
Dereck Rodriguez (1992)
Joe Ryan (1996)
Royce Lewis (1999)

Prior to beginning his major league career, Lou Brissie served in World War II.  He suffered severe leg injuries, receiving the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, but overcame his injuries to spend seven years in the majors.

Mike Coolbaugh was the first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers when he was struck on the head with a line drive and killed.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 5

2024 Game Log 60 – Twins at Yankees

Twins been playing well lately so no better time to show up at the Bronx for a three gamer against the Yankees. Yanks appear to be great this year - mashing and pitching (I'm not going to look up their fielding stats). Judge and Soto just crushed the Giants this past weekend in a manner rarely seen. No worries, Twins at Yankee Stadium always seems to work Minnesota's way. I'm hearing from the control booth that this is incorrect.

Luis Gil on the mound for the Yankees and he's been lights out this year. Nice little discussion in the CoC this morning about past Twins connections/possibilities. Bailey Ober for the Twins so seems like another mis-match. Royce Lewis back for the Twins (and batting 5th) so at least we have that to look forward to. I'm all negative here but the Yankees just seem on another planet this season so let's at least get one game over the next few days and move on to the rest of the schedule. It's summer and lots of time for great baseball.

Game on TBS but not sure if blacked out in Minnesota.

First Pitch: 6:05p.

Minor Details: Games of June 3

FCL RAYS 2, FCL TWINS 1 AT TWINS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

The FCL Rays scored in the sixth on an error to break a 1-1 tie.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  Omari Daniel 2 (6).

Pitching prowess:  Anthony Narvaez struck out nine in four innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and a walk.  Eider Machuca struck out four in three innings, giving up an unearned run on a hit and a walk.

Opposition standout:  Jeremy Pilon struck out seven in 4.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks.

FCL RAYS 7, FCL TWINS 0 AT TWINS (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

Jose Contreras hit a two-run double in the second to break a scoreless tie.  The FCL Twins had one hit and made four errors.  Our guess is that the record of teams having more errors than hits is not good.

Multi-hit games:  None.

Home runs:  None.

Multi-RBI games:  None.

Stolen bases:  None.

Pitching prowess:  Yency De Jesus struck out three in three innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits and two walks.

Opposition standout:  Contreras was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Record:  The FCL Twins are 13-9, in third place, two games behind the Rays.

DSL TWINS AT DSL NATIONALS

The game was suspended in the bottom of the third inning with no score.  It will be completed Wednesday.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:00  DSL Mets Orange at DSL Twins
11:00  FCL Twins at FCL Rays
5:30  Fort Myers (TBD) at Tampa
6:05  Cedar Rapids (John Klein, 3-1, 3.89) at Great Lakes
7:05  Wichita (Jaylin Nowlin, 3-2, 3.38) at Northwest Arkansas
7:07  Syracuse at St. Paul (Caleb Boushley, 5-1, 4.24)

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.