Pole Leads M’s Past Floundering Bosox 3-0

For Seattle pitcher Dick Pole, it was a chance to prove to his former team that his current numbers—a 4-10 won-lost record and a 4.52 ERA—were a fluke, and that his starting performance from a few weeks earlier—a 5-1 complete game win over the Twins—was more indicative of what he could accomplish if given the chance.

The Red Sox, however had other ideas…and none of them were good, as Pole pitched a remarkable 3-0 shutout over the struggling Bosox, allowing just seven hits and striking out seven batters on his way to his fifth win. Not bad for a PB 2-5 pitcher whose last—and up to now, only—shutout came in 1975, when he played for his pennant-winning opponents.

To read more about the game, make comments, and see a few photos, click here.

Happy 73rd Birthday, Johnny!

TWISP Notes #74

TWISP Notes
November 7, 2020

• Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker makes his long-awaited return from the SP78 suspended list on August 23rd, and will start the second game of a doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Tiger Stadium that night. It will mark the first time in 64 games – since June 10, 1994 – that the Detroit rookie has seen major league action. Steve Dillard and Mark Wagner, the two utility infielders who took over for Whitaker during his suspension, will split second base duties in Game 1 of the twinbill.

• To make room for Whitaker on the team’s 25-man roster, the Tigers sent slumping third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez to their AAA club at Evansville. Rodriguez, hitting just .224 in 84 games this season, will return to the parent club on September 1st, when all clubs expand their rosters to forty players. Until then, Phil Mankowski will take over at third for Detroit.

• Mike Caldwell of the Brewers became the first pitcher this season to reach the 20-win mark, doing so August 22nd against the Indians at County Stadium. Caldwell (20-4)  topped the Tribe 9-1, and saw his ERA drop to 1.46.

• With an infield single in his fourth and final at-bat against the Red Sox on August 22nd, Seattle catcher Bob Stinson reached the 100-hit mark in a season for the first time in his 12-year career.

• A’s pitcher Steve Renko returned from the 15-day disabled list on August 22nd and started in that day’s match-up against the Orioles, where he pitched an outstanding game, allowing just four hits and one run over 6.2 innings, but came out on the losing end of a 1-0 O’s shutout.

• Tigers outfielder Steve Kemp was injured when he dove awkwardly for a fly ball off the bat of Twins hitter Hosken Powell in their August 22nd game at Metropolitan Stadium; the ball fell for a triple, and Kemp left the game with minor injuries. He’s expected to return to action in a few days.

• Bobby Murcer of the Cubs and Al Oliver of the Rangers will take 13-game hitting streaks into their respective games on August 23rd. Both are currently the longest active streaks in the SP78 season.

• The White Sox are the first SP78 team this season to lose 80 games.

• The Cubs activated outfielder Greg Gross from the 21-day disabled list, and sent outfielder Gene Clines to their minor league affiliate in Wichita.

• Despite his 6-3 win over the Padres on August 22nd, Phillies starter Jim Lonborg (5-9) is still the only pitcher on the squad who has a losing record.

Fans! August 24th is 7-Up Junior Padres Night at San Diego Stadium!

Caldwell Earns 20th as Brewers Topple Tribe 9-1

Milwaukee Brewers ace Mike Caldwell became the first pitcher of the SP78 Replay season to reach the 20-win mark, allowing just one run on eight hits and going the distance in a convincing 9-1 victory over the Indians, in the first game of a ‘Ladies Night’ doubleheader at Milwaukee.

Caldwell (20-4) found himself involved in a pitching duel early on with Tribe starter Sid Monge (0-5), with Monge allowing just two hits to Caldwell’s four over the first four innings. But while Caldwell stayed strong into the eighth, Monge fell apart in the fifth, coughing up four earned runs thanks to Gorman Thomas’ 22nd home run of the season, a grand slam that just cleared the short County Stadium wall in left. It was his first slam of the SP78 season, and the third of his five-year career.

To read more about the game, make comments, and see a few photos, click here.