Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 19

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John Reese (1895)
Bucky Walters (1909)
Hector Maestri (1935)
Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Alberto Callaspo (1983)
Zach Duke (1983)
Joe Mauer (1983)
Jackie Bradley (1990)
Tyler Jay (1994)

Right-hander Hector Maestri was with the Washington franchise in 1960, making one appearance in the majors.  Before the 1961 season started, however, he was selected in the expansion draft by the new Washington franchise, for whom he made one more appearance in 1961.

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Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of April 17

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Short version again.

IOWA CUBS 6, ST. PAUL SAINTS 2 IN IOWA

St. Paul scored one in the first, but Greg Allen hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Chase Strumpf hit a grand slam in the eighth.  Ryan Fitzgerald was 2-for-2 with two hit-by-pitches.  Mike Ford hit a home run, his second.  Marco Raya struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk.  Alex Speas pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Richard Lovelady struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

TULSA DRILLERS 5, WICHITA WIND SURGE 3 IN TULSA

Aaron Brocho hit a two-run homer in the fourth and added two more in the fifth.  Kyler Fedco hit a three-run homer in the sixth to cut the margin to 4-3, but that was as good as it got.  Tulsa added one in the seventh.  Fedco was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Ben Ross was 2-for-4 with a run.  Trent Baker struck out seven in 4.2 innings, but allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk.  Mike Paredes struck out four in 3.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and a walk.

PEORIA CHIEFS 9, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 4 IN PEORIA

Peoria scored four in the fifth and led 7-0 and after six.  Cedar Rapids scored three in the seventh but did not get back into the game.  Kyle DeBarge was 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs.  Charlee Soto struck out four in four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk.  Juan Mendez pitched 1.2 innings, giving up one hit.

BRADENTON MARAUDERS 6, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 3 IN FORT MYERS

Fort Myers took a 2-0 lead in the fifth, but Bradenton scored three in the sixth, one in the seventh, and two in the eighth.  Jay Thomason was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second), a walk, and two runs.  Byron Chourio was 2-for-3.  Daniel Pena was 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI.  Eli Jones struck out six in five shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

TODAY'S TILTS

6:05  Bradenton (TBD) at Fort Myers (Jason Doktorczyk, 2-0, 2.70)
7:00  Wichita (Aaron Rozek, 1-1, 4.82) at Tulsa (Jared Karros, 0-1, 9.72)
7:05  Cedar Rapids (Alejandro Hidalgo, 0-0, 5.63) at Peoria (Jose Davila, 1-0, 2.79)
7:08  St. Paul (Randy Dobnak, 0-0, 4.50) at Iowa (TBD)

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 18

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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.

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Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of April 16

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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)

Cup of Coffee

April 17, 2025: Steamy

38 Comments

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.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.