Baseball Notebook: Around the Bases...Tony Horton

Baseball Notebook

Around the Bases

Yesterday was a day for shutouts with four shutout games and with two teams shutting out the losing team by 1-0 scores. Thirteen teams scored two or less runs so this was a day of some well pitched games.

American League

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Joe Saunders (1-0) pitched the Los Angeles Angels to a 1-0 shutout win over the Minnesota Twins. He held them to 4 hits in 8 innings. Neither team had an extra base hit in the game. Nick Blackburn (0-1) took the loss for the Twins despite giving up only one run in 7 innings. Howie Kendrick scored the only run of the game when Blackburn threw a wild pitch that got past the catcher Mike Redmond.

Final Score: Los Angeles Angels 1, Minnesota Twins 0

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Brian Bannister (1-0) held the Detroit Tigers to three hits by Edgar Renteria in the 4-0 win by the Kansas City Royals. Bannister allowed only two hits in 7 innings. Today, the Tigers send Jeremy Bonderman against Zack Greinke, so could be another well pitched game today.

Final Score: Kansas City Royals 4, Detroit Tigers 0

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Rich Harden pitched 5 scoreless innings for the Oakland Athletics, but the bullpen gave up all 5 runs in the 5-0 win by the Boston Red Sox. Jon Lester (1-1) allowed only 3 hits in 7 innings. The top three hitters and bottom three hitters in the lineup had 12 of the 13 Red Sox hits. Harden has allowed only one run in 11 innings this season for a 0.82 ERA while striking out 15. David Ortiz and Jason Varitek hit their first homers of the season.

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 5, Oakland Athletics 0

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Cleveland Indians' pitcher Fausto Carmona (1-0) allowed just one run in 7 innings to take the 7-2 win over the Chicago White Sox. Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore combined to drive in 5 of the 7 runs scored by the Indians. Javier Vazquez (0-1) and two relievers all allowed runs in the contest.

Cleveland Indians 7, Chicago White Sox 2

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The Tampa Bay Rays blew a 6-3 lead and the Orioles scored three runs in their last six at-bats. Matt Garza didn't pitch that well, but left the game with the lead. However, Al Reyes blew the save and allowed 4 more runs to cross the plate while taking the loss. Rays will have to start winning these kind of games if they are to do well in the AL East.

Final Score: Baltimore Orioles 9, Tampa Bay Rays 6

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A.J. Burnett (1-0) evened the Toronto Blue Jays' record to 1-1 after pitching them to a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees. The only two runs he allowed were on the first homer of the season by Alex Rodriguez. I guess since he found out he is getting paid more than the entire Marlins team, he drove in two runs, which was two more runs than the Marlins scored yesterday.

Final Score: Toronto Blue Jays 5, New York Yankees 2

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Carlos Silva (1-0) pitched seven innings of 3 hit baseball to pitch the Seattle Mariners to a 4-1 win over the hapless Texas Rangers who could manage only 3 hits off of Silva and two relievers. Jose Lopez hit a three run homer to give the Mariners the win.

Final Score: Seattle Mariners 4, Texas Rangers 1

National League

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Jeff Suppan (1-0) allowed 2 runs in 6 1/3 innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Jason Kendall was the offensive star for the Brewers having a 3 for 4 day at the plate and stealing a base. Kendall may be making an even bigger contribution through his handling of the pitchers. If he can get pitchers like Suppan to pitch this well all season, the Brewers could find themselves at the top of the NL Central division.

Final Score: Milwaukee Brewers 8, Chicago Cubs 2

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Washington Nationals' Tim Redding (1-0) held the Philadelphia Phillies to one hit; the hit was a single by Pedro Feliz. Cole Hamels (0-1) wasted a strong pitching performance in the 1-0 shutout loss to the Nationals. Hamels allowed only one run in 8 innings. Ryan Zimmerman's home run was the only run for the Nationals, and it turned out to be the deciding run of the game. Zimmerman is on fire, hitting his second "game winning" homer of the season to give the Phillies the win.

Final Score: Washington Nationals 1, Philadelphia Phillies 0

On a side note, Redding vomited 6 times on Tuesday after eating bad oysters, but felt better by gametime. The win was only the fourth win for Redding since 2004. He pitched so badly in one inning for the New York Yankees in 2005 that he only pitched that inning the whole season. In that one inning, he gave up 6 runs, 4 hits and 4 walks. He didn't even pitch in the majors in 2006, but signed with Nationals last season.

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The Cincinnati Reds came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning trailing by a 5-3 score but won the game when Edwin Encarnacion hit a three run walkoff home run. Conor Jackson, the first baseman for the Diamondbacks, had to be taken to hospital in fifth inning due to shortness of breath.

Final Score: Cincinnati Reds 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 5

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New York Mets' Oliver Perez threw 6 shutout innings, keeping the Florida Marlins from scoring, while striking out 8 in their 13-0 shellacking of the Marlins. David Wright and Ryan Church both drove in 3 runs for the Mets in the game. The Mets had 17 hits, with Wright, Church and Carlos Beltran all picking up 3 hits. The win was a big win for the Mets after learning Pedro Martinez could be out from four to six weeks after his hamstring injury. Nelson Figueroa was called up replace Martinez in the rotation.

Figueroa has a 7-17 record, but hasn't pitched in majors since 2004 season. The Mets have to hope that Orlando Hernandez can return to the starting rotation sooner rather than later. Right now they have three top grade starters in Oliver Perez, Johan Santana, and John Maine, but with Mike Pelfrey and Figueroa as the fourth and fifth starters, it weakens the team, unless they perform better than expected.

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Jair Jurjjiens (1-0) became the first Atlanta Braves starter to win a game after Tim Hudson and Tom Glavine received non decisions in their starts. Jurjjens and six Braves relievers held the Pittsburgh Pirates to seven singles. The Braves scored 7 times in the 8th inning to seal the win. By the end of the game, Xavier Nady, Chipper Jones, and Yunel Escobar all had 6 runs batted in the new 2008 season, leading the majors with David Wright for a four way tie for the lead. The Braves' bullpen pitched the last 3 2/3 innings and allowed no runs and no hits. Yunel Escobar is showing why the Braves traded Edgar Renteria, plus they apparently have a dependable starter in Jurrjens, who the Braves received in the trade.

Final Scores: Atlanta Braves 10, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

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Todd Wellemeyer (1-0) took the win in the St. Louis Cardinals' 8-3 defeat of the Colorado Rockies. Rick Ankiel hit his first home run of the season while having a 3 for 5 night while Ryan Ludwick, also went 3 for 5. Albert Pujols reached base 5 times with 2 hits and 3 walks.

Final Score: St. Louis Cardinals 8, Colorado Rockies 3

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The Houston Astros scored 4 times in the top of the ninth to turn a 6-5 loss into a 9-6 victory. The Astros hit 4 homers while the Padres hit two homers in the contest. Petco Park is famous for not being a home run haven, but last night, 6 homers sailed out of the park. Lance Berkman hit a three run homer off the all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, who blew the save and took the loss. The Major League saves leader of last season, Jose Valverde, took the win for the Astros.

Final Score: Houston Astros 9, San Diego Padres 6

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Tim Lincecum (1-0) pitched in relief after the Giants used an emergency starter because of weatherman predicting rain after the start of the game. Lincecum gave up one run in 4 innings and Randy Winn and Aaron Rowand drove in the two runs by the Giants. The Giants have only scored 4 times in their first three games a double is the only extra base hit this season. Eugenio Velez is leading the Giants in hitting with a .500 batting average.

Final Score: San Francisco Giants 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

Home Runs of April 2, 2008

Players From the Past: Tony Horton

Tony Horton was born December 6, 1944 in Santa Monica, California. He played his first Major League game on July 31, 1964, and played his last game on August 28, 1970. He will be 64 in December.

Horton was only 19 years old when he made his major league debut. He played for the Boston Red Sox to start his Major League career, playing for them until he was traded during the 1967 season, the same season the Red Sox went to the World Series and lost to the Cardinals. Horton was traded in June of that year to the Cleveland Indians along with Don Demeter in exchange for Gary Bell, who started 24 games for the Red Sox and had a 12-8 record in 1967.

In 1969 he played his first full season as an Indian and put up good numbers hitting 27 homers and driving in 93 runs.

1970 was a year of ups and downs for Horton, as he hit three home runs against the Yankees, but the Indians lost anyway by an 8-7 score on May 24, 1970. On June 24, 1970, he attempted twice to hit Steve Hamilton's "Folly Floater" and crawled off the field and is hospitalized because of his sensitivity to fans booing him.

The link to a short video of him attempting to hit the "Folly Floater" is provided below:

On July 2, 1970, Horton hit three home runs in one game, but on August 28, 1970, Horton troubled by a slump and the fans booing is hospitalized for depression and never plays major league baseball again and his career ends at the age of 25.

The following paragraphs from Lavieenrobe website explain in detail what happened the day he faced the "Folly Floater" and how his career ended that August:

Honestly, when was the last time you saw a baseball game where the fans and the players in both dugouts were all laughing together about something that just happened on the field — other than watching some drunken, field-invading fan get clotheslined by security?

Of course, the reality behind this clip is darker and more complex than it would initially appear. Though Horton was clearly having fun with Hamilton, and his "crawl of shame" into the dugout was strictly for laughs, the Indians first baseman was actually teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown at the time. Booed by Indians fans for not carrying the team like he'd done in 1969, castigated by Cleveland sportswriters for demanding a salary increase, the high-strung Horton gradually lost his shit as the 1970 season wore on. But as the team (and major league baseball in general) had little knowledge at the time of how to deal with depression, Horton was pretty much left to stew in his own juices. Finally, after being pulled out of a game on August 28, Horton went back to his motel in Cleveland and slit his wrists. Thankfully, he was found by motel security before it was too late; and after several months of hospitalization, he was well enough to get on with his life, but he never played another game in the majors.

And that, to me, is way more interesting than however many homers a dude with body armor and an heirloom tomato-shaped head can hit.

It is sad to see a career end this way but playing major league baseball comes easier for some while not so easy for others. Booing is part of the game and players need to shut out the boos while playing but that is easier said than done as can be attested by Tony Horton.

White Sox Score 11 Runs In One Inning On One Hit

To avoid ending the article on a tragic note, I am using this paragraph from baseballlibrary.com to write about one of the most unusual innings in baseball history:

On April 22, 1959, the Chicago White Sox were trailing the Kansas City Athletics by a 6-1 score. They eventually came back to score 11 times in the 7th inning with only one guy getting on base via base hit. In the 7th inning, there were 3 errors, 10 walks (all of which George Brunet issued), 5 bases-loaded walks, and a hit batsmen with the bases loaded. Jim Landis of the White Sox made two outs in the inning both times grounding to the pitcher. Nellie Fox drove in two runs in the inning by walking. There were 3 other bases-loaded walks in the inning.

Below is a recap of that inning from baseball-reference.com:

Top of the 7th, White Sox Batting, Ahead 8-6, Tom Gorman facing 5-6-7 Tom Gorman replaces Preston Ward pitching and batting 9th --- 84% R Boone Reached on E6 (throw) (Ground Ball); Boone to 1B 1-- 88% A Smith Reached on E5/Sacrifice Bunt; Boone to 2B RR 12- 97% J Callison Single to RF (Line Drive); Boone Scores/unER; Smith Scores/Adv on E9/unER; Callison to 3B --3 97% L Aparicio Walk 1-3 97% B Shaw Aparicio Steals 2B -23 98% " " Walk Mark Freeman replaces Tom Gorman pitching and batting 9th; Earl Torgeson pinch hits for Sammy Esposito batting 1st R 123 99% E Torgeson Walk; Callison Scores; Aparicio to 3B; Shaw to 2B R 123 99% N Fox Walk; Aparicio Scores; Shaw to 3B; Torgeson to 2B O 123 99% J Landis Groundout: P-C/Forceout at Hm; Torgeson to 3B; Fox to 2B R 123 100% S Lollar Walk; Torgeson Scores/unER; Fox to 3B; Landis to 2B George Brunet replaces Mark Freeman pitching and batting 9th R 123 100% R Boone Walk; Fox Scores/unER; Landis to 3B; Lollar to 2B R 123 100% A Smith Walk; Landis Scores/unER; Lollar to 3B; Boone to 2B R 123 100% J Callison Hit By Pitch; Lollar Scores/unER; Boone to 3B; Smith to 2B Lou Skizas pinch runs for Johnny Callison batting 7th R 123 100% L Aparicio Walk; Boone Scores/unER; Smith to 3B; Skizas to 2B O 123 100% B Shaw Strikeout Bubba Phillips pinch hits for Earl Torgeson batting 1st R 123 100% B Phillips Walk; Smith Scores/unER; Skizas to 3B; Aparicio to 2B R 123 100% N Fox Walk; Skizas Scores/unER; Aparicio to 3B; Phillips to 2B O 123 100% J Landis Groundout: P-1B 11 runs, 1 hit, 3 errors, 3 LOB. White Sox 19, Athletics 6.

Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

598 days ago

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Niteowl, I embedded your video, rather than linking to it.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

598 days ago

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That is better..I had just written another way to get to the video but your way is better...just delete what I just wrote...thanks.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

598 days ago

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Don't know why all the percents are in there but they were at baseball-reference in the text about the 11 run inning.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

598 days ago

Score 1

Can you get me a link to where you accessed it from? I might be able to tidy it up a bit.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

598 days ago

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http://www.b...904220.shtml You may have to scroll down to get to the 11th inning part of inning by inning recap.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

598 days ago

Score 1

Apparently, those % are a sort of "bonus" stat, and it is simply commenting on the % chance of a team winning from the current game position. Interestingly, it got to 100% pretty quickly, which is absolute rubbish, in my opinion. It can never be 100%. 99%, yes, but it's never over until out #27 (unless extra innings). That's what they are. I'll have a go at tidying it up a little.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

598 days ago

Score 1

Baseball scorecards are much more complicated than their cricket counterparts! That was a terrible pitching inning. I don't get how you can walk in 5 runs in an inning. Why wasn't the pitcher(s) throwing fastballs down the middle? What was the worst that could happen?!

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KelsdadAll-Star

598 days ago

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That's because baseball is more complicated, Alex. In America, when you hear crickets, its time to break out the pesticide. Leave it to the Brits to name their national sport after an insect.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

598 days ago

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For more details on Tony Horton go to this link: http://www.n...e_case_.html

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Patrickburke1980All-American

598 days ago

Score 5

Oh man, Omar Minaya must really be regretting trading Bannister for that peice of crap known as Ambiorix Burgos.

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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer

598 days ago

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I hope that the two-game resurgence of the Brewers pitching staff is due to Jason Kendall. He looks like a Hall of Famer compared to Johnny Estrada.

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Agent0Red-Shirting

598 days ago

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Note to everyone on Giants @ Dodgers
Like Niteowl said there was heavy rain resulting in both coaches Bochy & torre alike in starting bullpen guys and basically pitching bullpen games...Linececum pitch 4 while Billinglsey I'm pretty sure pitched 0.1ip...Those two runs were both sac flys for the Giants and the Giants one extra base hit on the season is by 3B Jose Castillo...Game ended when Giants' closer Brian Wilson struck out Furcal looking and Molina threw out Pierre trying to steal 2nd base...DOUBLE PLAY!

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Too Manny StilesVarsity Captain

598 days ago

Score 1

Great article - never knew the Horton story!

I gave up 4 runs on 0 hits in an inning once. Hit an batter walked two more - interspersed with two Ks - then my RF dropped a can of corn fly ball; then tried to throw the ball to third and put it in the stands... grand slam error!!!

"the last time you saw a baseball game where the fans and the players in both dugouts were all laughing together"

AFL - a brewers 3rd baseman was "traded" from Mesa to Scottsdale right before a game between the two in mid season because Scottsdale needed a 3B (Evan Longoria had just left with Team USA and the other 3B got hurt) and Mesa had like 7 of them. So, on the first pitch of his first at bat, the pitcher - also a Brewers farmhand, and good friends with each other threw a "message" pitch about 3 feet over the guys head and mocked like he wanted to start a brawl with the "traitor"... Both dugouts spilled over in laughter and I almost peed myself laughing...

Too bad there were more people on the field that night than in the stands!!!

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Niteowl049AAA-er

598 days ago

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Johnny Estrada has never stolen a base and Kendall has stolen 163 which is over 4 times as many as Cal Ripken stole.

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KelsdadAll-Star

598 days ago

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In the old days, before the draft, amateur players were open season for all teams. Teams would set a budget and it would not be uncommon for one or two players to be signed for the majority of that budget, leaving the rest for signing guys who were passed over and just wanted to play. In 1962, the Red Sox signed a 17 year old California high school star to a six figure bonus contract, stupid money back then. That player was Tony Horton. Later on the same year, the Sox signed a Massachusetts high school outfielder to a $22K contract. That player was Tony Conigliaro. If things had worked out for those two guys health wise, the Red Sox would have had two power hitting, tailormade for Fenway righthanded sluggers in their lineup for 20+ seasons, you think the Sox would have won more than one Championship in that timeframe? Me thinks so.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

598 days ago

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Kelsdad...thanks for relating the background about the deals Tony Horton and Tony Conigliaro...for some reason I don't remember Horton ever being a Red Sox.

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Davis21wylieMVP

570 days ago

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Congrats NiteOwl, this article just got linked at The Hardball Times...

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KelsdadAll-Star

570 days ago

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Yeah, congrats. Very cool....

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SSreportersLegend

570 days ago

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Congrats Niteowl....you are the wise man of this site and definitely one of the top writers.

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