Another time the BBWAA really screwed up (and there have been many).

I don’t care what Ken Rosenthal, Joel Sherman or others say, I am still upset about one voter not putting Derek Jeter on his or her ballot.

Don’t tell me how to think, Ken. In other words, STFU. (By the way, you still look like Pee Wee Herman with those bow ties).

By the way, Ken, when you say “this is a democracy”, as you do on your Fox video telling people to “just pipe down”, go back to school. The USA is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic. Learn the difference.

A democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what is for dinner.

And you know what? I’m still upset that three voters didn’t include Ken Griffey, Jr., nine didn’t include Henry Aaron, 23 (!) didn’t include Willie Mays, and that Mickey Mantle only got 88% of the vote.

I could go on and on.

But here is one of the worst cases of BBWAA stupidity that you may not know about.

It happened in 1960, when Lefty Grove, the former Philadelphia A’s and Boston Red Sox great (1925-1941) got 2.2% of the votes.

Now Grove, one of the greatest lefty pitchers ever, with 300 wins and 9 ERA titles, deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

The point is, he WAS ALREADY ELECTED IN 1947!

And it wasn’t one voter. It was SIX. SIX who voted for Lefty Grove in 1960 despite the fact he already was in the HOF.

Now maybe they meant to vote for Lefty Gomez. Gomez pitched for the Yankees (1930-1942) and one game for the Washington Senators in 1943. Gomez won 2 ERA titles and was, along with Red Ruffing, one of the key pitchers on six WS Champion teams (1932, 1936-1939, 1941).

Gomez did make it into the HOF—by veteran’s committee—in 1972.

But to think, six voters in 1960 couldn’t get Lefty Grove vs. Lefty Gomez straight.

Stupidity in the BBWAA goes back a LONG ways.

 

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (69-60) won 4-3. LF Trey Amburgey 2 hits. 1B Gosuke Katoh 2 hits, 2 RBI. Michael King, who had a great 2018 but who missed most of this year due to an injury, turned in a nice outing. Deivi Garcia, converted to the bullpen for now, gave up a run but did strike out five in two innings

King (W, 1-1, 4.97) 6 2/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 3 W, 11 K.  Gave up 1 HR.
D. Garcia (H,1) 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 5 K.  4.98 (AAA ERA)
Adams (S, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  4.44

AA: Trenton (70-58) won 7-0. SS Hoy Jun Park 2 RBI. 1B Chris Gittens 2 hits, solo HR. C Kellin Deglan 2 hits, solo HR. CF Rashad Crawford 2 hits, 2 RBI. 3B Max Burt 2 hits, RBI.

Nick Green (W, 3-3, 7.04) 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 W, 4 K.
Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K.  1.40
Kriske 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.62
D. Alvarez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.  2.32

High A: Tampa (60-66) won 3-1 in 11 innings.
2B Oswaldo Cabrera 3 hits, RBI. DH Mickey Gasper 2 hits.

F. German 5 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.64
McGarity 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 5 K.  5.40
Zurak (W, 6-4, 2.79) 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 W, 1 K.
Wivinis (S, 8) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.  2.68

Low A: Charleston (67-62) lost 6-1, getting just two hits. DH Josh Breaux solo HR.
Starter Yoendys Gomez a no-decision, 6 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 W, 8 K.  4.37.

Minor League Report. Nice pitching tonight.

AAA: SWB (63-48) beat Lehigh Valley 9-6. LF Clint Frazier 3 hits, 4 RBI, a 3-run HR. DH Mike Ford 2 hits, RBI. SS Thairo Estrada 2 hits, 3 RBI. RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits. 1B Gosuke Katoh 2 hits.

AA: Trenton (59-51) won 2-0 on a four-hitter. CF Rashad Crawford 3 hits.

Nick Nelson (W, 6-2, 2.61) 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 3 W, 4 K.
Kriske (H, 5) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.37
D. Alvarez (S, 15) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  2.70

High A: Tampa (48-59) won 2-0 on a TEN-hit shutout. 2B Wilkerman Garcia 3 hits, RBI.

Otto 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.43
Stephan (W, 2-3; 4.40) 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 7 H, 0 W, 3 K.

Low A: Charleston (55-56) won 2-1.   CF Brandon Lockridge solo HR.  LF Canaan Smith 2 hits, (.325). RF Josh Stowers 2 hits. 2B Oliver Dunn 2 hits.

Y. Gomez 2 2/3 IP, 0 R 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.  4.15
Lehnen (W, 4-1, 2.45) 4 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 5 K.
Myatt (S, 3) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.   4.14

Minor League Report. Andujar homers on Rehab stint. Also, a special moment remembered.

 

Before I get into the minor league report, I would like to comment on the picture you see above. Gene Stephens, a backup/platoon OF who played in the majors for Boston (1952-1953, 1955-1960), Baltimore (1960-1961) the KC A’s (1961-1962) and Chicago White Sox (1963-1964) was a .240 hitter, 37 MLB HR, OPS+ 83. His 162 game average was .240-6-35. 12 years in the majors, nothing really significant about his career, except…

THIS photo.

This photo was taken on August 12, 1964. Mel Stottlemyre made his MLB debut against the White Sox, winning the game, and Stephens is the centerfielder for the White Sox that day looking up at a HR hit by Mickey Mantle that went over the 461 ft. sign and ALSO the fence and screen which combined were about 23 ft. high. It was said to be a 502 ft. shot.

Stephens just passed away a few days ago on April 27, age 86. I thought you’d like to know the story and see the photo.

AAA: SWB (12-12) won 7-3. SS/2B Gosuke Katoh (.366) 3 hits. 2 doubles, HR. C Ryan Lavarnway 2 RBI. 3B Mandy Alvarez 3 hits, 2 RBI. David Hale the W. 3-0, 2.38.

AA: Trenton (15-9) lost 7-4, getting just 3 hits. SS Kyle Holder 2-run HR. Solo HR 1b Chris Gittens. Solo HR LF Ben Ruta.

High A: Tampa (12-15) won 6-5. 3B Miguel Andujar, on rehab, 2 for 2 with a 2-run HR. 1B Dermis Garcia solo HR.

Low A: Charleston (14-13) won 4-0 on a two-hitter, 12 K. CF Josh Stowers 2 hits. C Josh Breaux 2 hits, RBI. DH Cannan Smith 2 hits, RBI. 3B Neil Gomez 2 hits, RBI.

Daniel Bies 7 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 9 K. (W, 2-1, 4.07)
Dalton Higgins 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.    1.93

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (8-8) lost 8-1, getting only three hits. Remember, with all the injuries and callups that the Yanks have, that there is a trickle-down effect. A lot of guys who would be playing here, the Ford’s, Estrada’s, Tauchman’s…. are with the big club because of the injuries the big club has.

Solo HR SS Gosuke Katoh. Nestor Cortes 4 R, 4 IP with the loss.

AA: Trenton (10-6) lost both games of a DH.

Game 1: 6-4 loss. 2B Hoy Jun Park 2 hits. RF Ben Ruta 2 hits, 2 RBI. 1B Chris Gittens 2 hits, 2 RBI. CF Rashad Crawford 2 hits. Trevor Stephan 6 R, 4 2/3 IP (L).

Game 2: 8-6 loss. Park 2 hits, 2 RBI. Nick Green 5 IP, 6 R, 3 ER; Domingo Acevedo (L) 1 IP,
2 R.

High A: Tampa (8-11) won 5-3. SS Diego Castillo 2 hits. 1B Dermis Garcia 2 hits, 2 RBI. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, 2 RBI, HR. Dalton Lehnen 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 6 K.

Low A: Charleston (8-11) lost 5-2. 3B Nelson Gomez 2 RBI but made 2 errors.

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB was supposed to have a DH at Buffalo. Game 1 was suspended with SWB up 1-0 and Game 2 was ppd.

AA: Trenton’s game ppd. Makeup on July 2.

High A: Tampa (6-11) lost 2–1. 1B Dermis Garcia solo HR. SS Welfrin Mateo 2 hits.

Rony Garcia 5 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 W, 5 K. (L, 0-1, 2.45)
Kriske 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.00
Zurak 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 0.90

Low A: Charleston (8-9) won 3-1. LF Brandon Lockridge 2 RBI. 3B Nelson Gomez solo HR.

Medina 5 IP, 1 R, 8 H, 2 W, 5 K.   10.80
Semple (W, 2-0, 0.53) 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K.

Minor League Report. Espinal closes strong for Charleston.

AAA: SWB (8-6) lost both games of a DH to Lehigh Valley, and both by 5-3 scores.

Game 1: SS Thairo Estrada 2 hits. 3B Mandy Alvarez 2 hits, 2 RBI. C Ryan Lavarnway 3 for 3. RF Zach Zehner 2 hits, RBI.

Loaisiga (L, 0-1, 3.60) 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 3 W, 7 K.

Game 2: 2B Gosuke Katoh 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR. Chance Adams gave up 5 runs in the fourth, inc. 2 HR. ERA 10.32.

AA: Trenton (8-4) also lost 5-3.  Brody Koerner 7 IP, 5 R, 3 ER.

High A: Tampa (5-9) threw a 2-hitter and scored six in the eighth to win 6-1. CF Pablo Olivares 2 RBI. DH Dermis Garcia 2 RBI. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, RBI. C Donny Sands 2 hits.

Deivi Garcia 4 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 3 W, 8 K. 3.75
Bristo 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.45
Kriske (W, 1-1, 0.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 4 K.

Low A: Charleston (7-7) won 7-1. CF Josh Stowers 2 hits, RBI. 1B Max Burt 2 hits, 2 RBI.
SS Eduardo Torrealba 2 hits, RBI. 3B Nelson Gomez and C Mickey Gasper each with a solo HR.

Orozco (W, 1-1, 1.88) 6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 4 W, 3 K.
C. Espinal (S, 1) 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 7 K. 0.00