Tag Archives: Micheal Nakamura

Happy Birthday–September 6

Oyster Burns (1864)
Red Faber (1888)
Tom Young (1902)
Tommy Thevenow (1903)
Johnny Lanning (1910)
Harry Danning (1911)
Vince DiMaggio (1912)
Hal Jeffcoat (1924)
Harry Dunlop (1933)
Fran Healy (1946)
Greg Olson (1960)
Roy Smith (1961)
Pat Meares (1968)
Derrek Lee (1975)
Micheal Nakamura (1976)
Jerry Blevins (1983)
Mitch Moreland (1985)
Tyler Austin (1991)

Harry Dunlop caught in the minors for fourteen years and was a coach for seventeen years.  He caught the minor league no-hitter in which Ron Necciai struck out twenty-seven batters and the back-to-back minor league no-hitters of Bill Bell.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mom and Dad MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 6

Happy Birthday–September 6

Oyster Burns (1864)
Red Faber (1888)
Tommy Thevenow (1903)
Johnny Lanning (1910)
Harry Danning (1911)
Vince DiMaggio (1912)
Hal Jeffcoat (1924)
Harry Dunlop (1933)
Fran Healy (1946)
Greg Olson (1960)
Roy Smith (1961)
Pat Meares (1968)
Derrek Lee (1975)
Micheal Nakamura (1976)
Jerry Blevins (1983)
Mitch Moreland (1985)
Tyler Austin (1991)

Harry Dunlop caught in the minors for fourteen years and was a coach for seventeen years.  He caught the minor league no-hitter in which Ron Necciai struck out twenty-seven batters and the back-to-back minor league no-hitters of Bill Bell.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mom and Dad MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 6

Happy Birthday–September 6

Oyster Burns (1864)
Red Faber (1888)
Tommy Thevenow (1903)
Johnny Lanning (1910)
Harry Danning (1911)
Vince DiMaggio (1912)
Hal Jeffcoat (1924)
Harry Dunlop (1933)
Fran Healy (1946)
Greg Olson (1960)
Roy Smith (1961)
Pat Meares (1968)
Derrek Lee (1975)
Micheal Nakamura (1976)
Jerry Blevins (1983)
Mitch Moreland (1985)
Tyler Austin (1991)

Harry Dunlop caught in the minors for fourteen years and was a coach for seventeen years.  He caught the minor league no-hitter in which Ron Necciai struck out twenty-seven batters and the back-to-back minor league no-hitters of Bill Bell.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mom and Dad MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 6

2003 Rewind: Game Eighty-one

CHICAGO 10, MINNESOTA 3 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Monday, June 30.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 3-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and two runs.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Juan Rincon pitched 4.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:   Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his thirteenth and fourteenth), a walk, and three RBIs.  Jose Valentin was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.  Willie Harris was 2-for-5 with a triple.  Carlos Lee was 1-for-3 with a home run (his thirteenth), a walk, and three runs.  Joe Crede was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.  Jon Garland struck out seven in seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks.

The game:  It got late early, as they say.  Harris led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on an Aaron Rowand single.  Crede hit a two-run homer in the second.  In the third Rowand walked and scored on a Frank Thomas double.  Ordonez followed with a two-run homer.  After an error, Valentin hit a two-run homer, making the score 8-0 White Sox.

There's not a lot to say after that.  The Twins got on the board in the seventh on back-to-back homers by Kielty and Pierzynski.  In the eighth Ordonez and Lee homered.  The Twins got one more in the ninth when Pierzynski singled and scored on a Lew Ford double.  And that was that.

WP  Garland (6-6).  LP:  Joe Mays (8-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Ford was 1-for-3 and was batting .357.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 and was batting .309.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-2 and was batting .302.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-2 to get back up to .300.

Mays lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on six hits and striking out two.  His ERA was 6.30.

Micheal Nakamura gave up a run in 1.1 innings.  His ERA went to 7.82.  He had been with the Twins for 22 games and had appeared in 12 of them.  He then would be sent down to AAA and would not return the rest of the season.  He went from being used every day to being in Rochester in a big hurry.

Eight of the ten Chicago runs were scored on homers.  Two of the three Twins runs were scored on homers.

This was Rincon's second-longest appearance of the season.  He had gone five innings on April 6, his first game of the season.  He had six other games in which he pitched three innings or more.

We are now half-way through the 2003 season.  Kansas City was swept in a doubleheader, so despite getting beaten badly the Twins moved into first place.

Record:  The Twins were 43-38, in first place in the American League Central, a half game ahead of Kansas City.

2003 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

COLORADO 5, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 10.

Batting star:  Justin Morneau was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched a perfect inning.  Micheal Nakamura pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jason Jennings pitched 7.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and four walks and striking out seven.  Greg Vaughn was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.  Charles Johnson was 1-for-3 with a home run, his seventh.  Preston Wilson was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fifteenth.

The game:  Singles by Juan Uribe and Jay Payton and a three-run homer by Wilson put the Rockies up 3-0 in the first inning.  Johnson homered leading off the second to make it 4-0.  Vaughn homered with two out in the sixth to make it 5-0.

And that was that.  The Twins put runners on first and second with one out in the second, but a strikeout and a ground out stranded them.  They put men on first and second with two out in the fifth, but a fly out ended that inning.  A pair of walks put runners on first and second with two out in the eighth, but a ground out took care of that threat.

WP:  Jennings (5-5).  LP:  Brad Radke (5-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was in right field.  Morneau made his major league debut at DH.  The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Morneau was, of course, batting .500.  Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .309.

Radke had the first inning trouble we came to expect from him.  For the game he struck out eight in seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk.  His ERA was 5.61.  He would have one more bad game, then start the process of gradually bringing his ERA down to a more respectable level.

Nakamura has now appeared in three games in a row.  His ERA came down to 6.00.  Fiore had an ERA of 5.06.

Jason Jennings was a mainstay in the Rockies rotation for five seasons.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 2002, going 16-8, 4.52, 1.46 WHIP.  We assume people looked at the won-lost record and attributed the ERA and WHIP to pitching in Denver.  It also didn't hurt that in his first game, he pitched a complete game shutout and had three hits, including a home run.  He would post ERAs over five each of the next three seasons, but remained in the Rockies' rotation.  His best season as a Rockie was actually his last one, 2006, when he went 9-13, 3.78, 1.37 WHIP.  He was traded to Houston after that season and was awful for them, going 2-9, 6.45.  He became a free agent and signed with Texas.  He appeared in just six games for them in an injury-plagued 2008, not pitching well, but had a half-way decent season for them out of the bullpen in 2009.  He again dealt with injuries in 2010.  He had an excellent season with independent Grand Prairie in 2011, but then decided to call it a career.  At last report he was living in Frisco, Texas and operating a baseball training center there.

Record:  The Twins were 35-27, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

2003 Rewind: Game Sixty

MINNESOTA 6, SAN DIEGO 2 IN SAN DIEGO

Date:  Saturday, June 7.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his seventh and eighth) and a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his second.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out seven in six innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.  Micheal Nakamura struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit.

Opposition stars:  Mark Loretta was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), a double, and a walk.  Scott Linebrink pitched 4.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on six hits and a walk and striking out three.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a home run to put the Twins up 1-0.  The Padres put their first two batters on base, but a double play took them out of the inning.  In the second Dustan Mohr walked, stole second, and scored on a Luis Rivas single.  Jones led off the third with a home run to make it 3-0 Twins.  Later in the inning, with two out, Torii Hunter walked, Mientkiewicz singled, and Mohr walked to load the bases.  Pierzynski then delivered a two-run single to put the Twins up 5-0.

San Diego got a leadoff double from Loretta in the fourth but could do nothing with it.  The Twins added another run in the sixth.  Mohr doubled and Pierzynski had an RBI single to put the Twins up 6-0.

The Padres finally got on the board in the sixth when Loretta hit a two-out home run.  They put two on in the seventh on a hit batsman and a walk but did not score.  In the eighth Gary Matthews and Rondell White walked and Brian Buchanan hit a two-out RBI single to make it 6-2.  Nakamura then entered the game and struck out Dave Hansen to end the inning.  San Diego got only a harmless single in the ninth.

WP:  Santana (3-1).  LP:  Carlton Loewer (1-2).  S:  Nakamura (1).

Notes:  Santana was 1-for-3 and was batting .333.  Jones raised his average to .316.  Mohr was 1-for-2 and was batting .300.

This was Santana's second start of the season.  He would take one more turn in the rotation, then would go back to the bullpen until mid-July.

This was the major league debut for Micheal Nakamura.  It was also his only career save.  There can't be a lot of guys who got a save in their major league debut, and there have to be a lot fewer for whom it was their only career save.  If someone with more time and/or initiative than I have wanted to look that up, I would be grateful.

Mientkiewicz had four stolen bases in 2003.  That was his career high in a season.  For his career, he had 14 stolen bases in 29 tries.

Santana's ERA was 2.49.

Loewer started for the Padres and lasted just 2.2 innings.  He allowed five runs on five hits and three walks and struck out two.

Record:  The Twins were 35-25, in first place in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

Happy Birthday–September 8

Oyster Burns (1864)
Red Faber (1888)
Tommy Thevenow (1903)
Johnny Lanning (1910)
Harry Danning (1911)
Vince DiMaggio (1912)
Hal Jeffcoat (1924)
Harry Dunlop (1933)
Fran Healy (1946)
Greg Olson (1960)
Roy Smith (1961)
Pat Meares (1968)
Derrek Lee (1975)
Micheal Nakamura (1976)
Jerry Blevins (1983)
Mitch Moreland (1985)
Tyler Austin (1991)

Harry Dunlop caught in the minors for fourteen years and was a coach for seventeen years.  He caught the minor league no-hitter in which Ron Necciai struck out twenty-seven batters and the back-to-back minor league no-hitters of Bill Bell.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mom and Dad MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 8