Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update, from back home in New Orleans.  We have a tie for Kings of the Cellar this week.  The 16-32 Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins are duking it out for their share of the title this week.  The 17-33 San Diego Padres are right in there with their losing ways.

  Minnesota dropped off and went 4-6 in their last ten games and Chicago broke their nine game losing streak, but is still 1-9 in their last ten games.  San Diego lost four straight and are 3-7 in their last ten games.  The defending champion Houston Astros have lost five in a row and are 22-27.

   This week's honorable mention, once again, goes to the Atlanta Braves.  The Braves lost eight straight and are 4-11 in their last 15 games.  Atlanta is now tied for last in the NL East.

  After 48 games, the 1962 Mets were 12-36 and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders were 9-39.  Again, no team appears to be a threat to these records at this time, but there is plenty of season left.

   Stay tuned and have a great day!!

Today in 1962 - New York Mets vs San Francisco Giants

Today in 1962, the New York Mets took on the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park.  Jay Hook of the Mets would face off against Billy O'Dell of the Giants.

   The Mets scored in the first inning when Gil Hodges hit in Charlie Neal.  The Giants got on the board in the second inning, with Harvey Kuenn hitting a RBI double, scoring Jose Pagan.  In the top of the third inning, Elio Chacon hit a single to left field scoring Frank Thomas and Hodges.  The Giants responded in the bottom of the third when Orlando Cepeda had a ground out, scoring Willie Mayes.  The score was tied 3-3.

  In the fourth inning, Gaylord Perry relieved O'Dell.  New York took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Neal.  Pinch runner Rod Kanehl scored on the play.  The Mets increased its lead to two runs in the top of the sixth inning on a homerun by Joe Christopher.  San Francisco answered with a RBI single by Jim Davenport, scoring Felipe Alou.  Don Larsen relieved Perry in the top of the eighth.  In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mayes hit a solo homer, tying the game 5-5 and ultimately sending the game to extra innings.

  In the top of the tenth, the Mets took the lead on a solo homerun by Felix Mantilla and kept Hook on the mound.  In the bottom of the inning, with Kuenn on base, Chuck Hiller bunted and got on base on a fielder's choice.  Mayes came to bat and smashed a two run shot, winning the game.  The San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 7-6.

   Larsen got the win, going to 3-0.  Hook, who pitched a complete game fell to 3-4.  Hook struck out one while O'Dell struck out four, Perry struck out three and Larson struck out two.  San Francisco improved to 31-14, first in the NL.  The Mets fell to 12-25, ninth in the NL.  The Giants ended the season winning the NL Pennant, but losing to the New York Yankees in seven games.  The Mets made history by ending the season with the worst record in modern history at 40-120.


Trivia

• There were 4 Hall of Famers playing or managing in this game: Manager Casey Stengel for the Mets, and Willie Mayes, Orlando Cepeda, and Gaylord Perry for the Giants.
• This was Stengel's first season with the Mets.  He managed the team from 1962-65.  He also managed the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1934-36, the Boston Bees/Braves from 1938-43, and of course the New York Yankees from 1949-60.  He led the Yankees to seven World Series championships (five straight from 1949-53) and three AL Pennants.  The Braves were named the Bees from 1936-40.
• Stengel played from 1912-25 with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1912-17),  Pittsburgh Pirates (1918-19), Philadelphia Phillies (1920-21), New York Giants (1921-23), and Boston Braves (1924-25).
• This was Alvin Dark's second season managing the Giants, leading to the NL Pennant, losing to the Yankees in seven games.  Dark also managed the Kansas City A's from 1966-67, Cleveland Indians from 1968-71, Oakland A's from 1974-74, and the San Diego Padres in 1977.  In his return to the A's in 1974, Dark led the team to the World Series Championship, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
• Dark played for the Boston Braves (1946, 1948-49), New York Giants (1950-56), St. Louis Cardinals (1956-58), Chicago Cubs (1958-60), Philadelphia Phillies (1960), and the Milwaukee Braves (1960).
• Met's catcher Harry Chiti would only play six more games in the majors.  His last game was two weeks later on June 10 against the Chicago Cubs, who he played for from 1950-56.  His career spanned from 1950-62.
• Giants' outfielder Harvey Kuenn went on to manage the Milwaukee Brewers for a game in 1975 and from 1982 to 1983.  He led the Brewers to the World Series in 1982, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
• Mets' first baseman Gil Hodges went on to manage the team from 1968-71, leading the Miracle Mets to the 1969 World Series title.  Hodges was a long time player for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1943, 1947-61).
• Giants' outfielder Felipe Alou went on to manage the Montreal Expos from 1992-2001.  He managed the Giants from 2003-06.
• Alou's brother Matty was a teammate.  They were teammates with the Giants from 1960-63.

Game stats can be found at Baseball-Reference.com on the box score page at New York Mets vs. San Francisco Giants - May 26, 1962.

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update, brought to you from deep in the sticks in the great state of Georgia.  The 15-29 Chicago Cubs have dethroned the 15-28 Minnesota Twins as Kings of the Cellar, leading the Twins and the 16-29 San Diego Padres by half a game.

   Minnesota had the lead until they went on a 6-4 run in their last ten games.  Chicago went 1-9 in their last ten, losing nine in a row and overtaking the Twins.  San Diego quietly went 4-6 in the same span, but is only a game ahead of the 16-27 Colorado Rockies.  The defending champion Houston Astros returned to their winning ways and are 21-23, 6-4 in their last ten.  Again, there is plenty of season left.

   This week's honorable mention goes to my 26-19 Atlanta Braves, who have had a bit of a losing skid, going 4-6 in their last ten games and have lost three straight.  This skid now has the Braves a half game behind the former two-time Kings of the Cellar Washington Nationals.

  At this point, none of the teams seem to be a threat to the 1962 Mets or the 1899 Cleveland Spiders at this time, unless the one of the teams makes a serious move in mid to late season.  The '62 Mets were 12-32 after 44 games.  Stay tuned.

   Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update.  The 10-25 Minnesota Twins still lead the 12-24 San Diego Padres by a game and a half for Kings of the Cellar.  The 14-20 Kansas City Royals went 6-4 in their last ten games and won three straight, which got them knocked out of third by the 13-21 Colorado Rockies.  The Rockies hit the skids, losing nine of their last ten games and lead KC by a game for third place.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 15-21 Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Diamondbacks are 2-8 in their last ten games and are on a three game losing streak.

   Minnesota went 3-5 and San Diego went 3-4 since the last update.  At this pace, they continue to be no threat to the 1962 Mets or the 1899 Spiders.  The defending champ Houston Astros slipped a bit and are now 15-20, only five games behind the Twins.  Will Houston make a move to repeat?   Stay tuned.


   Have a great day!!!

Today in 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants

Today in 1985, the St. Louis Cardinals invaded Candlestick Park to take on the San Francisco Giants.  Bob Forsch of the Cardinals faced Jim Gott of the Giants, though neither would finish the game.

   St. Louis got the scoring started in the first inning when Tom Herr ground out to second and got in Lonnie Smith.  San Francisco tied the game on a leadoff home run by Gott in the bottom of the third.

   In the fourth, the Cardinals took the lead again when Terry Pendleton hit a ground out to second and Jack Clark scored.  Gott hit his second HR of the day in the bottom of the day and tied the score 2-2.

  The Giants took the lead for the first time in the game, when Bob Brenly hit a solo HR, but they weren't done.  Jeff Lahti relieved Forsch and Dan Gladden hit in David Green.  San Francisco led 4-2.

   However, St. Louis wasn't ready to go quietly into the night.  In the top of the eighth, Mark Davis relieved Gott when he walked Smith.  Davis faced Clark two batters later, who hit in Smith.  In the top of the ninth, the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith got his only hit of the game on a solo HR on Davis, tying the game.  The Cards held in the bottom of the ninth and the game went to extra innings.

  San Francisco made the Cards go three up and three down in the top of the tenth.  In the bottom of the inning, relief pitcher Neil Allen took the mound.  He walked Chili Davis, who got on second on a wild pitch to Chris Brown.  Brown flied out and Allen intentionally walked Brenly, setting up a double play.  However, it was not to be, because Green hit a single, scoring Davis.

   The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinal 5-4.  Reliever Scott Garrelts got the win, going to 2-1.  However, his teammate Mark Davis got a blown save.  Allen was charged with the loss, falling to 1-3. Forsch struck out four batters, while Gott struck out five.  St. Louis fell to 14-16, 4th in the NL East.  San Francisco improved to 12-18, 5th in the NL West.


Trivia

• There were 2 Hall of Famers who played or managed in this game, both with the Cardinals: Ozzie Smith and manager Whitey Herzog.
• This was Jim Davenport's only season with the Giants.  He only coached for 144 games, going 56-88.  He was replaced by Roger Craig, who led the Giants to the 1989 NL Pennant.
• This was Herzog's sixth season with the Cardinals.  They went on to win 101 games that season and win the NL Pennant, losing to the Kansas City Royals in the World Series in seven games.
• Herzog also managed the Royals (1975-79), California Angels (part of 1974), and Texas Rangers (part of 1973).
• Davenport played his entire career with the Giants from 1958-70.
• Herzog played from 1956-63 for the Washington Senators, Kansas City A's, Baltimore Orioles, and Detroit Tigers.  Although the New York Yankees signed him in 1953, he missed the 1953-54 seasons serving in the military.
• Bob Brenly went on to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2001-04, leading the team to a World Series title in 2001.
• Pitcher Jim Gott hit his first two career homeruns in this game. It was the only time he ever hit more than one homerun in a game.  He would hit three more career homers after this game.

Game stats can be found at Baseball-Reference.com on the box score page at St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants - May 12, 1985.

Last Place Update

Welcome to the first Last Place Update of the 2012 MLB season.  The 7-20 Minnesota Twins lead the 9-20 San Diego Padres by 1.5 games for Kings of the Cellar.  Minnesota is a league worst 2-8 in their last 10 games.  The Padres are 6-6 in their last 12 games, but 4-6 in their last 10.  The 9-18 Kansas City Royals are a game behind San Diego.  However, after losing 12 games in a row, Kansas City is 6-4 in its last 10 games.  The defending Kings of the Cellar champion Houston Astros are 13-15, five games behind the Twins.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Chicago White Sox.  After going 10-6, Chicago lost 9 of their last 12 games, matching the Astros' record of 13-15. 

   The two primary records of futility these teams are matched against are the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120 and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134 in their last ever season.  So far, none of the teams are on pace to match or break either of these records.  The most recent record of futility was the 2003 Detroit Tigers.  They finished the season at 43-119.

   At this point, we'd go into next losses, but because of the sheer number of games, they will be omitted for now.  The next losses will eventually go in, either when the race heats up or a team competes for the '62 Mets or 1899 Spiders record. 

   Have a great day!!!

Random Musings

• Hats off to Jered Weaver of the Anaheim Angels for givings Angels fans something to celebrate by throwing the second no-hitter of the season.  Anaheim dominated the Minnesota Twins 9-0.  Weaver struck out nine batters in the victory and went to 4-0 on the season.  LP Liam Hendriks fell to 0-2.
  
• The football world suffered a great loss at the death of future NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau.  Seau committed suicide yesterday.  Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come with former NFL players.  Former Chicago Bears CB great Dave Duerson and one of his former opponents, former Philadelphia Eagles CB Andre Waters also committed suicide.  Both Waters' and Duerson's autopsies revealed brain damage from the concussions they suffered as players.  Seau was an old school hard hitting linebacker.  He will be missed.
  
• The NFL has handed down its suspensions of current and former New Orleans Saints players from the Bountygate scandal.  LB Jonathan Vilma received the worst punishment, getting suspended for the entire season.  DE Will Smith (4 games), former Saints LB Scott Fujita, (3 games) and DE Anthony Hargrove (8 games) also received suspensions.  There's a lot of chatter on both sides of the argument, from too harsh and lack of due process to the suspensions being more than fair.  If the NFL has smoking gun evidence, then the suspensions are fair.  If the NFL only has hearsay and no hard evidence, then the players should win on appeal.  Regardless of who wins, this will probably not help the NFL in the class action lawsuit the former players filed.
  
• Drum corps season starts next month.  Back in the day, the first contests usually for junior drum & bugle corps began on the first weekend in June.  The first contest sanction by Drum Corps International is on June 16.  The All Age drum & bugle corps of Drum Corps Associates begin their contest season on the same day.  The drum and bugle corps activity is the second highest youth activity in the country next to sports.  The activity changed a lot of lives for the better, including mine.  Let's support the activity and if you or people you know are too old to march in the junior corps, find an all age corps and get back to playing music.  There will be "On this day" entries for drum corps, but as with baseball, the entries will be posted when I can post them.
  
• Speaking of posting, if this was a Last Place Update, the 6-18 Minnesota Twins, fresh from getting no-hit by the Anaheim Angels, lead the 7-16 Kansas City Royals by a game and a half for Kings of the Cellar.  The defending champion Houston Astros are 11-14.  The honorable mention would go to the 12-12 Detroit Tigers for going 3-7 in their last 10 games.
   
• On this day in 1978, Mother Nature gave our local weathermen a reality check on predicting rain.  The evening before, the local New Orleans weathermen said the city had a 20 percent chance of rain and would have maybe a few showers.  Yeah...right.  The downpour began early in the morning and never let up.  By 6:30, the streets began to flood.  By 1:00, the high school I attended turned into one big lake and the principal was authorized to declare an early dismissal.  The rain finally stopped at about two or three in the afternoon.  What happened?  A cell of rain developed over the city and never moved, although the rest of the storm connected to the cell moved northeast.  By the time the cell dissipated, it had dropped a good six inches over parts of the Greater New Orleans area and caused a lot of flood damage.  Luckily, we weren't flooded at all where I lived, but at least we had some fun in our high school lake.

Have a great day!!