We remember Cesar Tovar (1940-94)

We remember Cesar Tovar, who was born in Venezuela on this day in 1940.

Tovar was the Twins' leadoff hitter for several years.    It was a lineup that started with Tovar and followed by Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison.   Needless to say, they drove a lot of pitchers crazy.

In September 1968, Tovar played all 9 positions in a late season game.  

He is a better remembered for hitting .281 for the Twins over 8 seasons and leading the league in hits in 1971 with 204.   He had 195 in 1970.   

Tovar broke up 5 no-hitters in his career, including twice in 1969 against Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally of the Orioles.

Tovar died in Venezuela in 1994.   

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1946: "The dark corner" a movie with Lucille Ball

Not long ago, I clicked channels and found myself watching "The dark corner" from 1946 with Lucille Ball as a detective's secretary.

For me, it's hard to watch Lucille Ball without thinking that Desi Arnaz is about to enter into the scene.    

Nevertheless, it was a good movie with Clifton Webb, William Bendix and a few other faces that I recognized.

Here is the movie:

Lucille Ball...."The Dark Corner"....1946........... https://t.co/R3yOGy2DSX via @amazon

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) July 9, 2018

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  

July 3, 1968: A super day for Luis Tiant

Before Luis Tiant became the darling of Boston fans, he was a pretty good pitcher with the Cleveland Indians. As you may remember, Tiant pitched some rather good post-season baseball in 1975. He beat the A’s in game 1 of the ALCS and then won 2 games against the Reds in the World Series. His complete Game 4 performance is still talked about in Boston. 

On this day in 1968, Cuban-born Luis Tiant was just awesome: 19 Ks in 10 innings as Cleveland beat Minnesota 1-0! A couple of weeks later, Tiant was the AL starter in the 1968 All Star game. He pitched 2 innings and gave up the game’s only run.  The NL beat the AL, 1-0. 

Tiant finished the 1968 season: 21-9, a 1.60 ERA, 264 strikeouts and 19 complete games. Unfortunately for Tiant, Denny McLain won 31 games that year and ran away with the AL Cy Young award. 

Tiant’s excellent pitching put the Indians in 3rd place behind Detroit in the last season before divisions. Overall, Luis Tiant won 229 games, with a 3.30 ERA and 187 complete games. 

On this day in 1968, he was awesome.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.