Tag Archives: johan santana

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 13

Frank "Home Run" Baker (1886)
Patsy Gharrity (1892)
Alejandro Oms (1895)
C. Arnholt Smith (1899)
Doug Harvey (1930)
Bill Dailey (1935)
Steve Barber (1948)
Randy Bass (1954)
Terry Leach (1954)
Yoshihiko Takahashi (1957)
Luis Aguayo (1959)
Mariano Duncan (1963)
Will Clark (1964)
Jorge Fabregas (1970)
Scott Sullivan (1971)
Johan Santana (1979)
Mike Aviles (1981)
Sandy Leon (1989)
Robinson Leyer (1993)

Outfielder Alejandro Oms was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues.

C. Arnholt Smith was the original owner of the San Diego Padres.

Doug Harvey was a National League umpire from 1962-92.

Infielder Yoshihiko Takahashi has the longest hitting streak in Japanese professional baseball.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 13 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: ALDS, Game Four

NEW YORK 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, October 5.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Eric Milton pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  David Wells pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on eight hits and no walks and striking out four.  Derek Jeter was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk.  Jason Giambi was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Alfonso Soriano was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Jorge Posada was 2-for-5.

The game:  Well, it was good for three innings.  The Twins got a man to second in both the second and third, but could not get him farther.  The Yankees had only one hit, and did not advance the man past first.

Then came the fourth.  Jeter struck out, but Giambi and Bernie Williams hit back-to-back doubles to get New York on the board.  Posada singled to put men on first and third.  Hideki Matsui hit a ground-rule double to make it 2-0.  Aaron Boone popped up and Juan Rivera was intentionally walked to load the bases.  It backfired, as Nick Johnson doubled home two and Soriano singled home two more.  It was 6-0 Yankees, and the game and the series were pretty much over at that point.

They played the remaining five and a half innings, of course.  The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on consecutive singles by Hunter, Pierzynski, and Michael Cuddyer.  The Yankees scored in the eighth when Boone singled, stole second, and scored on a bunt single-plus-error by Rivera.  The Twins got a pair of two-out singles in the eighth to drive Wells from the game, but did not score.  Jeter homered leading off the ninth.

WP:  Wells.  LP:  Johan Santana.  S:  None.

Notes:  The Twins used their standard lineup with the exception of Cuddyer at DH.  Shannon Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Santana was dealing with a hamstring issue, which is likely why he could not keep it going after three innings.  His line was 3.2 innings, six runs, six hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

The Twins were outscores sixteen to six in the series.  Six runs over four games, and three in the last three, is not likely to get the job done.

Little did we know the string of post-season futility this series began.

Record:  The Twins lost the best-of-five series, three games to one.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: ALDS, Game One

2 Comments

MINNESOTA 3, NEW YORK 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Tuesday, September 30.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a double.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched four shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out three.  J. C. Romero pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Derek Jeter was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Aaron Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bernie Williams was 2-for-4.  Alfonso Soriano was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.  Mike Mussina pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out six.

The game:  Stewart opened the game with a ground-rule double, but was stranded at third base.  The Twins got on the board in the third, however.  One-out singles by Cristian Guzman and Stewart put men on first and third, and Luis Rivas hit a sacrifice fly, putting the Twins up 1-0.

The Yankees got a pair of two-out walks in the third but stranded them.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the fourth but also stranded them.  New York got a two-out double in the fifth but again could score.

The Twins added to their lead in the sixth.  Matthew LeCroy led off with a single.  With one out, Torii Hunter circled the bases on a triple-plus-error, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead.  The Yankees had men on first and second with none out in the seventh and did not score.  The Twins had men on first and second with one out in the eighth but were also turned aside.  It was still 3-0 going to the ninth.

New York did not go away quietly.  Williams led off with a single.  With one out, Boone doubled, putting men on second and third and bringing the tying run up to bat.  Ruben Sierra flied out, but Soirano singled, making it 3-1, putting the tying run on base, and bringing the deciding run up to bat.  But Nick Johnson grounded to third and game one belonged to the Twins.

WP:  Hawkins (1-0).  LP:  Mussina (0-1).  S:  Eddie Guardado (1).

Notes:  No spring training lineup here.  All the regulars played the whole game.  It was Stewart in left, Jacque Jones in right, and LeCroy at DH.

Santana had a hamstring injury which limited him to four innings.  The bullpen stepped up and came through.  Rick Reed was the first man out of the pen, and while the Twins might have hoped he would fill up some innings he pitched to just three batters, retiring the first two before giving up a double to Soriano.  First Romero and then Hawkins picked up the slack.  Closer Eddie Guardado had the worst game of any of the pitchers, but managed to get the job done.

Mussina had gone 2-0, 1.20 against the Twins in two starts (15 innings).  For his career he was 22-6, 3.09.  The Twins didn't exactly knock him all over the park, but they scored enough runs to win.

The Twins stranded 8 and were 1-for-6 with men in scoring position.  The Yankees stranded 10 and were 1-for-10 with men in scoring position.

Ah, those wonderful, innocent days of youth, when we actually thought the Twins had a chance to beat the Yankees in a playoff series.

Record:  The Twins were 1-0 in the best-of-five playoff series.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 13

Frank "Home Run" Baker (1886)
Patsy Gharrity (1892)
Alejandro Oms (1895)
C. Arnholt Smith (1899)
Doug Harvey (1930)
Bill Dailey (1935)
Steve Barber (1948)
Randy Bass (1954)
Terry Leach (1954)
Yoshihiko Takahashi (1957)
Luis Aguayo (1959)
Mariano Duncan (1963)
Will Clark (1964)
Jorge Fabregas (1970)
Scott Sullivan (1971)
Johan Santana (1979)
Mike Aviles (1981)
Robinson Leyer (1993)

Outfielder Alejandro Oms was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues.

C. Arnholt Smith was the original owner of the San Diego Padres.

Doug Harvey was a National League umpire from 1962-92.

Infielder Yoshihiko Takahashi has the longest hitting streak in Japanese professional baseball.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 13 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-five

MINNESOTA 4, CHICAGO 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Wednesday, September 10.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and one walk and striking out six.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jon Garland pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.  Magglio Ordonez was 1-for-2 with a walk.

The game:  The White Sox had two on with two out in the first and did not score.  That was really the only significant threat until the fifth, when the Twins broke the scoreless tie.  Torii Hunter and Corey Koskie singled and A. J. Pierzynski was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  The Twins didn't get a big inning out of it, but sacrifice flies by Cristian Guzman and Stewart put them up 2-0.

In the sixth singles by Tony Graffanino and Frank Thomas were followed by an Ordonez sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 2-1.  The Twins got the run back in the seventh when Koskie walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Stewart's single.

Chicago put men on second and third with one out in the seventh but did not score.  The Twins got an insurance run in the eighth when Doug Mientkiewicz walked and scored from first on LeCroy's double.  The White Sox did not get a hit after that and the Twins won 4-1.

WP:  Santana (10-3).  LP:  Jon Garland (11-11).  S:  Guardado (34).

Notes:  Luis Rivas was back at second base.  Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  Dustan Mohr pinch-ran for LeCroy in the eighth.

Stewart raised his average to .313.  Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 and was batting .305.  Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .303.  Pierzynski was 1-for-3 and was batting .302.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.92.  Guardado got under three at 2.95.

Having lost the first two of the four game series, the Twins needed this win.  They also needed Santana to come up big yet again, and he certainly did.  The bullpen, which had been solid all season, was solid again, too.

The win stopped the Twins' two-game losing streak.  They would have a chance to split the series and move back into a tie for first the next day.  Kansas City won, as they tried to stay in the race.

Record:  The Twins were 77-68, in second place in the American League Central, one game behind Chicago.  They were 2.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty

2 Comments

MINNESOTA 10, TEXAS 7 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 5.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3 with two runs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a triple and four RBIs.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his thirteenth.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixteenth.

Pitching stars:  Juan Rincon pitched three perfect innings, striking out two.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Michael Young was 3-for-4 with a grand slam, his thirteenth homer.  Jason Jones was 2-for-4 with a double.  Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a home run, his forty-first.  Shane Spencer was 2-for-5.

The game:  The Twins led all the way, but there were some uneasy moments.  Shannon Stewart led off the bottom of the first with a double, was bunted to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second Jones singled, Corey Koskie walked, Pierzynski and Guzman had RBI singles, and a sacrifice fly made it 4-0 Twins.

The Rangers got on the board in the third.  Three singles loaded the bases, a ground out scored one, and a wild pitch scored another, cutting the lead to 4-2.  But the Twins came roaring back in the bottom of the third.  Jones singled, Koskie walked, Pierzynski singled to load the bases, and Guzman brought them all home on a four-run triple-plus-error, putting the Twins up 8-2.  With Johan Santana on the mound, it looked like an easy win for the Twins.

But Texas had something to say about that.  In the fourth a double and two walks loaded the bases with one out.  Young then hit a grand slam.  Later in the inning Rodriguez homered, and the lead was suddenly down to 8-7.

But as happened so many times in this season, the Twins bullpen came in and shut down the opposition.  The Rangers could come up with only two singles after that, one in the eighth and one in the ninth, and neither man got past first base.  The Twins got some insurance in the sixth.  Rivas tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly, and LeCroy homered later in the inning.

WP:  Rincon (4-6).  LP:  Mickey Callaway (1-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Stewart was in left with Jones in right.  Doug Mientkiewicz returned to the lineup at first base.

Stewart was 1-for-3 and was batting .312.  Jones was batting .306.   Pierzynski was at .304.

Santana's string of excellent performances came crashing to a halt.  He struck out six in four innings, but allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.00.

The Twins scored three runs on sacrifice flies.  I have no idea what the record is--I'm sure it's more than three--but three by one team in one game is at least somewhat unusual.

This was the one season of Jason Jones' major league career.  He played in forty games and batted .215/.298/.355.  He had hit all through the minors, and continued to hit in AAA in 2004.  His total minor league numbers were .286/.375/.458, and those numbers are not skewed by huge numbers in the low minors or anything.  The Rangers didn't have a super outfield in 2003--yes, they had Juan Gonzalez, but they also had Shane Spencer and Ryan Christenson.  In 2004 their outfield was David Dellucci, Laynce Nix, and Kevin Mench.  He was a corner outfielder, which limited him some, but still.  There was obviously something the Rangers didn't like about him, and apparently other teams saw it, too.  He retired after spending 2004 in AAA at age twenty-seven.  It seems like he should've gotten more of a chance, but as we've observed before, no one ever promised that baseball or life would be fair.

It was the third straight win for the Twins.  Chicago and Kansas City both won, too, so the Twins did not gain any ground.

Record:  The Twins were 74-66, tied for first with Chicago in the American League Central, 1.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-five

MINNESOTA 2, TEXAS 0 IN TEXAS

Date:  Saturday, August 30.

Batting star:  Corey Koskie returned to the lineup and was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched six shutout innings, giving up five hits and no walks and striking out four.  Juan Rincon struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Mark Teixeira was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Mickey Callaway pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out four.

The game:  The Rangers had men on first and third with two out in the first but did not score.  Michael Young had a one-out double in the third and Shane Spencer reached on a two-base error in the fourth.  Those were the only men to be in scoring position for either team in the first five innings.

In the sixth, however, A. J. Pierzynski led off with a single, Denny Hocking followed with a double, and Shannon Stewart delivered a two-run single, putting the Twins up 2-0.

And that was all the scoring in the game.  Teixeira led off the bottom of the sixth with a double but stayed on second.  Jacque Jones hit a two-out double in the seventh but had a similar fate.  Teixeira had another double with two out in the eighth and again was stranded.  The Twins put men on first and second with none out in the ninth, but again the score remained 2-0.  Texas went out in order in the bottom of the ninth.

WP:  Santana (9-3).  LP:  Callaway (1-5).  S:  Guardado (31).

Notes:  Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman, who would not return to the lineup until September 2.  Jones was in left and Stewart in right.  Dustan Mohr replaced Stewart in right field in the ninth.

Stewart was 1-for-4 and was batting .313.  Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .308.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-3 and was batting .301.

Santana lowered his ERA to 2.72.  He made six starts in the month of August and went 5-0, 1.07, 0.95 WHIP.  He struck out 44 in 42 innings, giving up 30 hits and 10 walks.  His ERA went from 3.49 to 2.72.

LaTroy Hawkins retired the only man he faced to drop his ERA to 2.09.

I remember Mickey Callaway as a manager and pitching coach, and of course he's been in the news lately for other reasons.  But I have no memory of him as a pitcher.  This was his first start as a Texas Ranger--he had been released by the Angels in late July.  Over half his major league appearances came in 2003--he appeared in 40 games, 23 of them this season.  He did not justify it:  he went 1-7, 6.68, 1.78 WHIP.  This was one of the few good games he pitched in his career, and he still didn't get a win for it.  For his career, he went 4-11, 6.27, 1.71 WHIP.  He made 20 starts in his 40 games and pitched 130.2 innings.  His only major league "success" came in 2002, when he made six starts for the Angels at the end of the season and went 2-1, 4.19.

The Twins had won three in a row and five of six.  The White Sox won and Kansas City didn't play (presumably a rainout), so the Twins moved into a tie for second place.

Record:  The Twins were 71-64, tied for second with Kansas City in the American League Central, a half game behind Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty

MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 24.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-5 with three RBIs.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base (his fourth, a walk, and three runs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-2 with a double and three walks.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-third) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out ten in six innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks.  J. C. Romero struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Juan Rincon struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Joe Randa was 2-for-4 with a double.  Desi Relaford was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

The game:  Relaford homered in the second to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.  The Twins got the run back on Hunter's homer in the bottom of the second.  The Twins took the lead in the third.  Walks to Stewart and Luis Rivas and a double steal, putting men on second and third with none out.  LeCroy hit an RBI single, Corey Koskie had a sacrifice fly, Hunter walked, and Jacque Jones delivered an RBI single to make it 4-1 Minnesota.  It went to 5-1 in the fourth when Stewart singled, Mientkiewicz walked, and LeCroy hit another RBI single.

Kansas City loaded the bases in the fifth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fifth Cristian Guzman singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on Rivas' squeeze bunt to make it 6-1.  The Twins added two in the eighth.  A. J. Pierzynski singled and Stewart doubled, putting men on second and third.  Rivas hit a sacrifice fly and LeCroy had another RBI single to bring the final score to 8-1.

WP:  Santana (8-3).  LP:  Graeme Lloyd (1-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jones was in left and Stewart in right.  Dustan Mohr pinch-ran for Jones in the fifth and went to right field, with Stewart moving to left.

Stewart was batting .313.  Jones was at .308.  Mientkiewicz climbed back to an even .300.

Santana lowered his ERA to 2.85.  In his last five starts he had pitched 36 innings.  He had given up six runs (five earned) on 25 hits and 10 walks while striking out 40.

Royals starter Kevin Appier pitched just two innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks and striking out one.  He was removed due to injury and would not pitch any more in 2003.  He had been signed by Kansas City in early August to bolster their rotation to make a playoff run, but he was able to make only four starts for them in 2003.

It was a needed win over a team ahead of them in the standings, but the Twins were still in third place as they headed west for a road trip.

Record:  The Twins were 67-63, in third place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Chicago.  They were a half game behind second-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-five

MINNESOTA 8, CLEVELAND 2 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Tuesday, August 19.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a stolen base, his twelfth.  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-5 with a triple.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his fourteenth.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out ten in eight innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk.  He threw 100 pitches.  Grant Balfour struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition star:  Casey Blake was 4-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fifteenth) and a double.

The game:  It was scoreless for four innings, and the only serious threat came from the Indians.  They put men on first and third with none out in the fourth and had the bases loaded with two out, but did not score.  Cleveland got on the board in the fifth, however, when Coco Crisp hit a two-out triple and Blake followed with a two-run homer.

The Twins bounced right back in the top of the sixth.  Guzman singled and scored on a Rivas triple.  Corey Koskie was intentionally walked, but the strategy backfired as LeCroy hit a three-run homer to put the Twins ahead 4-2.  The Twins added another run in the seventh when Guzman got an infield single, went to third on an error, and scored on Stewart's infield single.  They put it out of reach in the eighth.  Doubles by Jones and A. J. Pierzynski plated one run and Mohr hit a two-run homer, making the score 8-2.

WP:  Santana (7-3).  LP:  Jason Davis (7-10).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was again at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Stewart was in left, Mohr in right, and Jones at DH.  Denny Hocking pinch-ran for Koskie in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.  Michael Ryan pinch-hit for Jones in the ninth.

Ryan was down to .500.  Stewart was batting .311.  Jones was batting .311.

Santana's ERA dropped to 2.92  Balfour went to 2.89.  It was Balfour's first game since July 12.

The Blake home run produced the only earned runs Santana had given up in his last three starts.  He had gone eight innings in each.  In 24 innings he had given up 14 hits, 5 walks, and struck out 23.  It appeared that he had shown he belonged in the starting rotation.

During the off-day on August 18, the Twins had dropped back to third place.  With this win, however, it was shaping up to be quite a three-team race.  A race of mediocrity, some might say, but a race nonetheless.

Record:  The Twins were 64-61, in third place, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were a half game back of second-place Chicago.