The fans speak out

Baseball Digest, March-April, 2005 by Eric Husby-Gerry, Patrick Kielty, Sam Aviles, Keith Castelluccio, Al Valentine, Tom Putnam, David Lynch, John Rowehl, Stephen Tarbell, Shawn Casey, Norman L. Macht, Jim Schier, Drew Masterman, Bill Frangis, John Hogan, Steve Luftig, Lewis J. Snyder, Bob Reigh, Fred Jimenez, Robert Bouret, Donald S. Buss, Robert A. Wolfe, Bob Diehl, Jerry Sills, Michael P. Pippin, Eric Sever

In the bottom of the second inning, the Yankees recorded their first two runs on back-to-back homers by Mike Pagliarulo and Dan Pasqua.

The final two runs by the Angels were scored in the bottom of the ninth on a solo homer by Jack Howell off reliever Tim Stoddard and an unearned run was tallied against closer Dave Righetti who recorded a save.

Guidry's final major league career victory occurred on September 27, 1988 against the Orioles in Baltimore. In that contest, Guidry pitched seven innings and allowed six hits, one run and one walk while striking out four batters. The losing pitcher was Curt Schilling, who worked four innings while giving up five runs, seven hits and two walks with one strikeout to his credit.

In the seventh inning of that game, Mickey Tettleton recorded the last hit against Guidry with a leadoff single. Guidry recorded his final career strikeout against Craig Worthington, and the last batter to face the left-hander was Rene Gonzales who grounded out to shortstop.

In 2004, the New York Yankees didn't have a pitcher win more than 14 games, yet they were able to win 101 games during the regular season. Has there ever been another team to win i00 or more games in a season without having a 15-game winner in the rotation?

Bill Francis

Kingston, N.Y.

The 2004 Yankees are the only club in major league history to win 100 or more games in the regular season without having a pitcher on its staff with at least 15 victories. Since 1900, there have been 88 clubs that won 100 or more games in a season and only seven of them had a pitcher with 16 or fewer victories to lead its staff. See accompanying chart.

As a fan since boyhood, I was very interested in a recent article in Baseball Digest regarding the number of umpires in a game. It was increased to three in the 1930s and to four, I believe, in the 1950s. However, I have films of the 1944 World Series between the old St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals showing two umpires. Am I mistaken? Perhaps someone could verify this.

John Hogan

Stamford, Ct.

According the box scores from the 1944 World Series between the Browns and Cardinals, there were four umpires working that Series: National League arbiters Ziggy Sears and Tom Dunn, and Bill McGowan and George Pipgras from the American League.

Thanks very much for your excellent Baseball Digest article about Minnie Minoso in the January/February issue. Like you, I think of him as a special ballplayer. In the late summer of 1963, in his only season with the Washington Senators, Minnie hit a tenth inning foul ball at Yankee Stadium off of Ralph Terry, which a 14-year-old fan from Brooklyn, New York caught high in the grandstand. The Yankees won in the bottom of the tenth and many games later, Minnie's extra-inning foul fly is still a vivid memory as the only game ball I've ever had within reach.

Steve Luftig

Riverdale, N.Y.

I enjoyed your "Warm Up Tosses" article on Minnie Minoso very much. In particular, the mention that "he was good with kids seeking autographs" brought back one of my fondest boyhood memories.