Tag Archives: 2002 rewind

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Sixty-three

FLORIDA 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 9.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a double.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-2 with three walks.

Pitching star:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Andy Fox was 3-for-5 with three runs and a stolen base, his eleventh.  Derrek Lee was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his eleventh and twelfth.  Julian Tavarez pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game:  Corey Koskie had an RBI triple in the first to put the Twins ahead 1-0.  Lee tied it with a home run in the second and the Marlins took the lead in the third on a single by Mike Lowell.  Lee homered again in the fourth and took a 3-1 lead.  The Marlins added two more in the fifth, getting run-scoring singles by Lowell and Kevin Millar.  The teams traded sacrifice flies in the seventh, making the score 6-2.  The Twins got one more in the eighth on a home run by A. J. Pierzynski, but did not threaten to get back into the game.

WP:  Tavarez (4-3).  LP:  Rick Reed (6-3).  S:  Vladimir Nunez (15).

Notes:  Jones raised his average to .321...Torii Hunter was 0-for-5 to make his average .308...Dustan Mohr was 0-for-4 and dropped to .327...Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .330.  The home run was his second...Reed made it through 6.1 innings, but he gave up six runs on ten hits and two walks, striking out three...The Twins stranded eleven runners and went 0-for-10 with men in scoring position...This was the only season Vladimir Nunez got as close, and he couldn't hold the job.  He came up with Arizona, getting a September call-up in 1998.  He was pitching pretty well for them in 1999 when he was traded to Florida in a deal that included Brad Penny and Matt Mantei.  He had been a starter in the minors and the Marlins tried to move him back to that role, but when it didn't go well for the rest of 1999 and didn't go much better in AAA in 2000, they moved him back to the bullpen.  He was very good in a set-up role in 2001 and became the closer and the start of the 2002 season.  He was doing well in that role through this game.  He would blow saves in three of his next five chances, however, and by the end of June he had lost the closer job to Braden Looper.  He was awful for Florida in 2003, did not get a lot better in AAA, and then started bouncing around, playing (mostly in AAA) for Colorado, Texas, St. Louis, Arizona, Pittsburgh, and the White Sox.  He was not in the majors from 2005-2007, but made it back with Atlanta in 2008 and had a half-decent two and a half months with them.  He made just one more big league appearance, in 2009, was in the minors in 2010, and then was done.  For his career he was 21-34, 4.83, 1.42 WHIP, 21 saves in 442 innings (254 games).  It appears that he is now working for The Hot Corner, a baseball instructional facility in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Record:  The Twins were 36-27, in first place by five games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

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MINNESOTA 5, FLORIDA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, June 8.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a walk and a double.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out one.  Mike Jackson pitched a perfect inning while striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Cliff Floyd was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth), a double, and a walk.  Mike Lowell was 1-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and a walk.  Andy Fox was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his tenth.

The game:  The Marlins scored in the top of the first, as Luis Castillo led off with a single and scored on Floyd's double.  The Twins tied it in the second when Corey Koskie walked, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on a Mohr double.  Hunter's two-run double in the third put the Twins ahead 3-1, but Florida come right back in the top of the fourth, getting back-to-back homers by Floyd and Lowell to tie it 3-3.  Mohr led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and scored on Jones' single to give the Twins a 4-3 advantage.  The Marlins led off the sixth with two walks, but Fiore came in to retire the next three batters to get out of the inning.  In the bottom of the sixth, back-to-back doubles by Luis Rivas and Jones made the score 5-3.  Florida put men on first and third with two out in the seventh, but J. C. Romero came on to retire Cliff Floyd on a ground out and the Marlins did not get a baserunner after that.

WP:  Matt Kinney (2-5).  LP:  Kevin Olsen (0-4).  S:  Guardado (18).

Notes:  Jones raised his average to .316...Hunter went up to .314...Mohr was batting .336...A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 to make his average .331...Romero's ERA fell to 0.79...Jackson now had an ERA of 1.07...Koskie had stolen twenty-seven bases in 2001, more than double what he did in any other year.  He would steal ten in 2002 and eleven in 2003, the only years when he reached double digit stolen bases.  He had seventy-one for his career...Kinney struck out six in five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks...Florida starter Kevin Olsen pitched 4.1 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out four...This was one of only ten starts Olsen made in his major league career.  Florida drafted him in the twenty-sixth round in 1998.  He got a September call-up from AA in 2001 and pitched quite well, throwing seven shutout innings against Montreal on October 3.  He appears to have been the fifth starter for Florida at the start of the 2002 season, pitching out of the bullpen when a fifth starter was not needed due to off-days or rainouts.  He did okay in nine relief appearances, but was not very good in eight starts and was sent down in early July.  He was pitching really well in AAA Albuquerque in 2003 and came up to the majors in June.  He made on good appearance and three really bad ones.  In the last one, on June 27, he was hit in the head by a Todd Walker line drive, landing him on the disabled list.  He came back in September and had one really bad outing and two good ones.  He apparently was still dealing with injury in 2004, as he made just ten starts for Albuquerque.  He signed with Pittsburgh for 2005 but never threw a pitch for them all year and was released after the season.  He started 2006 in independent ball and finished it in AA for Oakland, doing very well in thirteen starts.  He made just two bad starts in AAA in 2007, however, before being released.  A quick Google search did not reveal whether the later injuries had to do with concussion symptoms or if they were independent of that.  He might not have done much in the majors anyway, but it's too bad that he couldn't stay healthy so he could find out for sure.

Record:  The Twins were 36-26, in first place by six games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Sixty-one

MINNESOTA 12, FLORIDA 7 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 7.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks, scoring three times.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a hit-by-pitch, and a stolen base, his fifth.

Pitching star:  Johan Santana, making his first major league start of the season, struck out eight in 5.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Derrek Lee was 3-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and three runs.  Mike Lowell was 2-for-4.  Eric Owens was 1-for-3 with two walks.

The game:  The Twins jumped on Florida starter Ryan Dempster early, scoring five runs in the first inning.  The first run scored on an error, Doug Mientkiewicz and Hunter had RBI singles, David Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly, and Kielty delivered a run-scoring single.  Lee homered with two out in the second to get the Marlins on the board, but the Twins got the run back in the bottom of the second on another RBI single by Hunter.  Hunter struck again in the fourth, belting a run-scoring triple that made the score 7-1.  The Twins eventually built an 11-1 lead through six.  The Marlins got two back in the seventh, loading the bases with none out and then getting two run-scoring ground outs.  It was 12-3 going to the bottom of the ninth, when Florida got four runs off Bob Wells to make the final score look better.

WP:  Santana (1-0).  LP:  Dempster (3-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-5 with a triple, raising his average to .313...Hunter's average went up to .311...Kielty raised his average to .336...Pierzynski was 1-for-4 with a walk and his average was now .333...Luis Rivas was 1-for-5 to make his average .381...Marlins starter Ryan Dempster pitched four innings, giving up ten runs on eleven hits and four walks while striking out none...Kielty was batting .336/.450/.551 at this point.  He wasn't expected to keep that up all year, and he didn't, but he kept it up quite a while.  He was still batting .327/.453/.528 at the end of July.  A terrible August, in which he batted just .173/.279/.231, took his average below .300.  He still ended up at .291/.405/.484, by far the best numbers he would have in his career...Pitching a scoreless inning for Florida was Oswaldo Mairena, a pitcher of whom I have no memory.  He signed with the Yankees in 1996 and was in their farm system through July of 2000, when he was traded to the Cubs for Glenallen Hill.  A reliever throughout his career, he had done pretty well for the Yankees up to that point.  He did not do very well in AAA Iowa, but still got a September call-up, appearing in two games.  That was it for his Cubs career, as he was traded to Florida the following March for Manny Aybar.  He did well in AA for the Marlins in 2001 but was pretty terrible in AAA that season.  He did somewhat better, but not a lot, in AAA in 2002 and somehow the Marlins thought he deserved half the season in the majors.  He did about what you'd expect him to do, going 2-3, 5.35, 1.49 WHIP in 31 games (33.1 innings).  He stayed in the Marlins organization through 2003.  He was a starter in the Mexican League in 2005, but did not do very well there, either.  He continued to pitch for the Nicaraguan national team for some time after that, playing in the 2007 Pan-American games and the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup.  Not a great career, but he can boast that he was traded for a couple of pretty decent players.

Record:  The Twins were 35-26, in first place by five games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Sixty

MINNESOTA 8, CLEVELAND 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, June 6.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a stolen base, his fifth.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with  three-run homer, his fifteenth.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched two perfect innings.  Mike Jackson struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jim Thome was 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch.  Ellis Burks was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Matt Lawton was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Jones singled home a run in the third, but the Twins missed a chance for more, leaving men on second and third.  Cleveland missed a bigger chance in the fourth, leaving the bases loaded.  The Indians didn't miss in the fifth, though, getting an RBI double by Omar Vizquel, a run-scoring single by Ellis Burks, and another run-scoring single by Chris Magruder to go ahead 3-1.  The Twins came right back in the bottom of the fifth.  A. J. Pierzynski and Jones each doubled to make it 3-2, Doug Mientkiewicz singled home a run to tie it, and Hunter hit a three-run homer to put the Twins ahead 6-3.  The Twins bullpen then came in and shut down the Indians the rest of the way, giving up just one single.  The Twins added a run in the seventh on a Corey Koskie single and one more in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Cristian Guzman.

WP:  Kyle Lohse (6-3).  LP:  Bartolo Colon (7-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  This is the first time since very early in the season the Twins used all nine of their "regular" players...Jones raised his average to .311...Hunter went down to .303...Mohr went up to .331...Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .335...Luis Rivas was 1-for-2 with a walk and was batting .438...Lohse pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three...Jackson's ERA went down to 1.11...Bartolo Colon, who was in his sixth year in the majors at this point, started for Cleveland.  He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out five...Outfielder Chris Magruder had the most playing time of his career in 2002, getting 258 at-bats.  He was drafted by San Francisco in the second round in 1998.  He did fairly well, but nothing special, in the minors for them, but was traded to Texas in July of 2001 in a deal that involved Andres Galarraga.  He got a September call-up with them, batting .127 in 29 at-bats.  He was traded to Cleveland just as the 2002 season was starting.  He started the season in AAA, but came up to the Indians in late May and stayed the rest of the season.  He played all three outfield positions, starting 63 games, but batted just .217/.261/.353.  He was injured much of 2003, playing just 41 games in AAA and getting a September call-up.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Milwaukee.  He started 2004 in AAA with them, but spent the second half of the season with the Brewers.  He was in Milwaukee for all of 2005, his first full season in the majors.  It was also his last full season in the majors, and in fact his last season as a professional baseball player, as he became a free agent after the season and went unsigned.  For his career, Magruder batted .220/.277/.352 in 540 major league at-bats spread over five seasons.  If he'd been platooned against left-handers, he might have been a useful player, as he batted .280/.310/.444 against them.  Unfortunately for him, roughly two-thirds of his major league at-bats came against right-handers, against whom he batted .188/.261/.302.  He is a cousin of NFL quarterback Jon Kitna.

Record:  The Twins were 34-26, in first place, four games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-nine

1 Comment

CLEVELAND 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, June 5.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4 with a home run, his third.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a double.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.  Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning, walking two.

Opposition stars:  Omar Vizquel was 3-for-4 with a double.  Jim Thome was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eighteenth) and two walks.  C. C. Sabathia pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

The game:  With two out in the first, Ellis Burks and Thome hit back-to-back homers to put the Indians up 2-0.  The Indians scored two more in the third, one on an RBI single by Thome, to make it 4-0. John McDonald's RBI triple in the fourth increased the lead to 5-0.  The Twins got on the board with two in the fifth, one scoring on a Tom Prince ground out and the other on a Guzman single.  It stayed 5-2 until the eighth, when Einar Diaz' run-scoring single made it 6-2.  Kielty led off the ninth with a home run to cut the margin to 6-3.  Mohr singled, Jacque Jones flied out, and consecutive singles by A. J. Pierzynski and David Ortiz made it 6-4 with men on first and second.  Guzman flied out, but Doug Mientkiewicz walked to load the bases for Torii Hunter.  One imagines the crowd (such as it was--15,617) going wild.  Hunter worked the count full and fouled off some pitches, building the drama.  On the eleventh pitch of the at-bat, however, he was called out on strikes to end the game.

WP:  Sabathia (5-4).  LP:  Eric Milton (7-5).  S:  David Riske (1).

Notes:  Jones did not start, but was used as a pinch-hitter.  Kielty and Mohr manned the corner outfield positions, with Guzman leading off.  Mientkiewicz moved up to the number two spot...Brian Buchanan was the DH, going 1-for-3 with a double.  Ortiz was used as a pinch-hitter...Prince was the catcher, going 0-for-3.  Pierzynski was used as a pinch-hitter...Given the number of regulars not in the lineup, one might have thought this was a day game.  One would be wrong...Hunter was 1-for-5, dropping his average to .304...Kielty raised his average to .327...Mohr was now batting .326...Luis Rivas was 0-for-3 to drop his average to .429...Twins starter Eric Milton struck out seven in six innings, but he gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.51...Ellis Burks was always kind of a favorite of mine, for no particular reason that I can remember.  He was a pretty good ballplayer, though.  He came up to the Red Sox in 1987 at age 22 and was immediately installed as their regular center fielder.  He held the job through 1992.  He made the all-star team in 1990 and also got his only Gold Glove and the first of two Silver Slugger awards.  There's really no difference between his 1990 season and his 1989 season except that he was healthy for the whole season.  He missed a lot of 1992 due to injury and became a free agent.  He played for the White Sox in 1993 and then went to Colorado.  He missed significant time in 1994 and 1995, but then went on to have his best years from age 31 through 37.  The best of them was 1996, when he batted .344 with an OPS of 1.047, stole thirty-two bases, led the league in runs, slugging percentage, and total bases, made his second all-star team, won his second Silver Slugger, and finished third in MVP voting behind Ken Caminiti and Mike Piazza.  He was traded to the Giants at the July trade deadline in 1998 and continued to play well.  His 2000 season, when he again batted .344, rivaled 1996 as his best season, with the main difference being that he only had 393 at-bats.  He moved on to Cleveland in 2001 and continued to play well for two years.  2002, the season we're dealing with here, was his last good year:  he batted .301 with 32 homers and had an OPS of .903.  He was still a productive player when healthy in 2003, but played only fifty-five games.  He played eleven more with the Red Sox in 2004 and then was done.  It was a darn good career, though:  .293/.363/.510 with 352 home runs and 181 stolen bases in exactly 2000 games over 18 seasons.

Record:  The Twins were 33-26. in first place by three games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-eight

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MINNESOTA 23, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 4.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 4-for-6 with a double, scoring five times and driving in five.  Dustan Mohr was 4-for-6 with a home run (his third), scoring three times and driving in three.  A. J. Pierzynski was 4-for-6 with a triple and a double, scoring four times.  Jacque Jones was 4-for-6 with a home run (his eleventh), a double, and a walk, driving in five.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out five.  Jack Cressend pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Bob Wells pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Jim Thome was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his sixteenth and seventeenth.  Ricardo Rincon pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Torii Hunter singled in a run in the first.  The Twins scored two in the second to make it 3-0.  Thome homered in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Twins scored two in the fourth to make it 5-1.  The Twins then made it a blowout.  Mohr hit a two-run homer in a four-run sixth that made it 9-1.  Rivas had a two-run double in a four-run sixth that made it 13-1.  The Twins then scored ten runs in the seventh.  Corey Koskie hit a home run, Rivas had a two-run single, Jones hit a three-run homer, and Bobby Kielty had a two-run double in the inning.

WP:  Reed (6-2).  LP:  Ryan Drese (5-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  The bottom three in the Twins' order, Mohr, Pieryznski, and Rivas, combined to go 12-for-18 with a home run, a triple, and two doubles.  They scored twelve runs and drove in eight...Denny Hocking started at shortstop, going 0-for-2 with a walk...Rivas made his return to the lineup, playing for the first time since April 3.  He appears to have been healthy...Jones raised his average back over .300 at .306...Hunter was 1-for-4 and was batting .307...Kielty was 2-for-2 with two doubles to raise his average to .320...Mohr raised his average to .321...PIerzynski went up to .333...Rivas was batting .545 (6-for-11)...Drese started for Cleveland and pitched three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out two...Charles Nagy struggled through two innings, giving up nine runs on eight hits and two walks...Mark Wohlers pitched a third of an inning, giving up five runs on five hits and one walk while striking out one.

Record:  The Twins were 33-25, in first place by four games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-seven

ANAHEIM 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 2.

Batting stars:  Brian Buchanan was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out one.  Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two walks.

Opposition stars:  Garret Anderson was 3-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases, his fourth and fifth.  Orlando Palmeiro was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Jorge Fabregas was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  The Twins left the bases loaded in the first but got on the board in the second on Buchanan's leadoff homer.  The Angels loaded the bases in the fourth and took advantage of it, getting RBI singles from Fabregas and Benji Gil to take a 2-1 lead.  Scott Spiezio doubled home a run in the fifth and Palmeiro singled one home in the sixth to make the score 4-1.  The Twins got one in the seventh, but the Angels got the run right back in the eighth to make it 5-2.  Mientkiewicz hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4.  Koskie followed with an infield single, but the last six Twins were retired to end the game.

WP:  Aaron Sele (5-3).  LP:  Matt Kinney (1-5).  S:  Troy Percival (9).

Notes:  Buchanan was the right fielder...Denny Hocking was at second base, going 0-for-3...Torii Hunter was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .308...A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .321...Starter Kinney pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four...Hawkins dropped his ERA to 1.56...J. C. Romero gave up one hit and no runs in two-thirds of an inning, making his ERA 0.55...Jackson's ERA fell to 1.16...Anaheim starter Sele pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out three...Orlando Palmeiro had a fairly long career as a platoon outfielder.  A left-handed batter, he had over two thousand at-bats against right-handed pitchers and less than three hundred against lefties.  Still, he was a big-leaguer for thirteen seasons, playing with the Angels from 1995-2002, with St. Louis in 2003, and with Houston from 2004-2007.  Only twice did he have as many as 300 at-bats, 317 in both 1999 and 2003.  He played some at every outfield position but was mostly at the corners.  He hit .300 or better four times, although two of those times were when he had fewer than two hundred at-bats.  He had very little power, hitting only twelve career homers and never more than three in a season.  For his career he batted .274/.351/.350 in 2,335 at-bats.  He was never a star or even a regular, but for thirteen seasons a major league team thought he was worth having around.

Record:  The Twins were 32-25, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago and Cleveland.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-six

MINNESOTA 4, ANAHEIM 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, June 1.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up one run on eight hits and a walk with no strikeouts.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Tim Salmon was 3-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and a double.  Garret Anderson was 2-for-4 with a double.  Scott Spiezio was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Back-to-back doubles by Anderson and Brad Fullmer led off the second inning and gave the Angels a 1-0 lead.  The Twins threatened in the third putting men on first and second with one out and loading the bases with two out, but Corey Koskie struck out to end the threat.  In the sixth, Hunter delivered a two-out RBI double to tie the score 1-1.  In the seventh, A. J. Pierzynski doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by Jones to give the Twins their first lead.  Guzman followed with a two-run homer to give the Twins some insurance runs.  It was still 4-1 going to the ninth.  Eddie Guardado came in and immediately gave up a home run to Salmon, a double to Spiezio, and a single to Bengie Molina, making the score 4-2 with men on first and third and none out.  Benji Gil then struck out and Adam Kennedy hit into a double play to end the game.

WP:  Lohse (5-3).  LP:  Kevin Appier (5-3).  S:  Guardado (17).

Notes:  Denny Hocking remained at second base, going 1-for-3.  Luis Rivas would return to the lineup in a few days...Lohse threw just 92 pitches in his seven innings...Appier pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four.  Jones got his average back over .300 at .301...Hunter raised his average to .313...Bobby Kielty was 0-for-3 to drop his average to .309...Pierzynski was 1-for-3 to make his average .322...Romero's ERA fell to 0.56...Kevin Appier was a fine pitcher for many years.  Never a superstar, but he pitched in sixteen seasons.  He had double-digit wins in ten of those seasons, posted an ERA under 4.00 in ten of them, and had an ERA under 3.00 three times, leading the league in ERA in 1993 at 2.56.  He pitched over 200 innings eight times and over 180 eleven times.  He made the all-star team in 1995 and was third in Cy Young voting in 1993.  It's arguable that he had a better year than the two pitchers who finished ahead of him, Jack McDowell and Randy Johnson, but McDowell won 22 games to Appier's 18 and Johnson struck out 308 batters to Appier's 186.  He was drafted by Kansas City in the first round in 1987, made his major league debut in 1989, finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1990 (behind Sandy Alomar and Kevin Maas.  Nobody paid attention to WAR back then, but b-r.com says Appier had 5.3, compared to 2.4 for Alomar and 1.2 for Maas), and was with the Royals until the end of July of 1999, when he was traded to the Mets.  2002 was his first year with the Angels and he was still an effective pitcher, going 14-12, 3.92, 1,35 WHIP, 4.28 FIP.  It would be his last good year, though.  He was released by the Angels at the end of July of 2003 and went back to Kansas City.  He was with them through 2004, missed 2005, tried to come back with Seattle in 2006, but then ended his playing career.  He ended 169-137, 3.74, 1.29 WHIP, 3.81 FIP.  Again, never a superstar, but for over a decade he was a pitcher you were quite happy to have on your team.  He had retired to Paola, Kansas, but moved to Michigan a year ago to be closer to his wife's family.

Record:  The Twins were 32-24, in first place by 3.5 games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-five

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ANAHEIM 11, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Bengie Molina was 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs.  Scott Spiezio was 3-for-5 with a double.  Jarrod Washburn struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks.

The game:  Back-to-back doubles by Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon put the Angels ahead 1-0 in the top of the second.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the second when Mientkiewicz doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an error.  Troy Glaus' RBI single in the third made it 2-1.  Anaheim put the the game out of reach with five in the fourth.  RBI singles by Spiezio, Benji Gil, David Eckstein, and Darin Erstad and a sacrifice fly by Glaus produced the runs.  The Twins were never in it after that.

WP:  Washburn (5-2).  LP:  Eric Milton (7-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brian Buchanan was the DH, going 0-for-4...Jay Canizaro played third base and went 1-for-4.  It would be the last major league game of his career...Denny Hocking played second and had his seven-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-3 with a walk...Milton lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk...After Brad Radke had pitched just a third of an inning the day before, the Twins desperately needed someone to give them some innings.  The honor went to Johan Santana, who was making his season debut with the Twins.  It was not all that promising.  He struck out six in 5.1 innings, but allowed four runs on six hits and two walks, giving him an ERA of 6.75.  A month later it would be below three...Ben Weber pitched two shutout innings for Anaheim.  He's pretty much forgotten now, but he was a really good setup reliever for a little over three seasons for the Angels.  They picked him up on waivers from San Francisco on August 30, 2000.  From then through the 2003 season, he was 19-5, 7 saves (all in 2002), 2.80, 1.28 WHIP in 241.1 innings (191 games).  Recurring back and neck injuries plague him after that and he was never effective again, although he continued to pitch through 2006.  Interestingly, he became a chiropractor when he was done with baseball.  He practices in Montgomery, Alabama. You can also look for how can chiropractic care help to sort out any kind of issues related to back pain.

Record:  The Twins were 31-24, in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.

Keeping Track

2002 Rewind: Game Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 7, ANAHEIM 6 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, May 30.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-2.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  J. C. Romero struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Adam Kennedy was 4-for-5 with two doubles.  Darin Erstad was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks.  Garret Anderson was 2-for-4.

The game:  It looked bad for the Twins in the first.  Erstad homered in the first to put the Angels up 1-0.  A double and two groundouts made it 2-0 in the second.  In the third, RBI singles by Tim Salmon and Kennedy and a run-scoring ground out put Anaheim up 5-0.  The Twins came back in the fifth.  Tom Prince walked and scored from first on a Jay Canizaro double.  A ground out and a hit batsman put men on first and third with one out.  Torii Hunter hit a run-scoring double and, with two out, Brian Buchanan tripled home two to cut the lead to 5-4.  In the eighth, the Angels loaded the bases with one out and Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 6-4.  In the bottom of the eighth, David Ortiz led off with a double and scored on a pair of fly outs.  Two singles and a walk then loaded the bases and Guzman singled to tie it up.  The Twins missed a chance to take the lead when Pierzynski was thrown out trying to score from second on the Guzman single.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out in the ninth, but could not score.  In the tenth, Dustan Mohr walked and went to third on a Pierzynski single.  A ground out put men on second and third, but Guzman hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring Mohr home with the winning run.

WP:  Eddie Guardado (1-1).   LP:  Lou Pote (0-1).   S:  None.

Notes:  Guzman led off, as Jacque Jones was not in the starting lineup.  Jones was used as a pinch-hitter in the eighth...Buchanan started in right field, going 1-for-3 with a triple.  It was his only triple of the season and the first of his career.  He would hit two more, both with San Diego in 2003...The teams combined to leave 22 men on base.  The Twins were 3-for-15 with men in scoring position and the Angels were 2-for-13...Brad Radke started the game, his first appearance since May 13, but faced only two batters.  One of them, Erstad, hit a home run, after which Radke left the game.  He would not appear for the Twins again until August 3...Jack Cressend came in to replace Radke and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out one...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.64...Romero dropped his ERA to 0.57...Scott Schoeneweis started for the Angels, striking out seven in 6.2 innings while giving up four runs, six hits, and two walks...Troy Percival got a blown save despite the fact that the Twins didn't score off him.  As I recall, the Twins had not scored an earned run off Percival at this point.  For his career, the Twins would score just two earned runs in 47.2 innings off Percival, for an ERA of 0.38...Schoeneweis had a long career for a guy who, to put it bluntly, wasn't very good.  He pitched in the majors for twelve seasons.  In seven of them, he had an ERA over five.  His best seasons were when he appears to have been used as a LOOGY, going 3-4, 3.32 in 57 innings (80 games) for Toronto in 2005 and 2-6, 3.34 in 56.2 innings (73 games) for the Mets in 2008.  For his career, he was 47-57, 5.01, 1.47 FIP in 972 innings (577 games, 93 starts).  One of the things that annoys me about baseball is how players like Scott Schoeneweis get chance after chance in the majors, long after they've established that they don't belong there, while other players can make AAA all-star teams for years and struggle to get a cup of coffee in the majors.  I guess no one ever promised life, or baseball, would be fair.

Record:  The Twins were 31-23, in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.