Saturday HotSkitz, Iron Man Pitches, Mgm scores 28 runs

Its fun to watch good baseball, the Montgomery team seems to have a nice punch at the plate and a consistent bullpen. If the starting pitching holds up and we avoid the injury bug it looks like a fun summer at the ballpark.

Victor Mateo turned in another fine outing on Saturday, helped to the win by one big inning before handing over the lead to the bullpen.

New closer Garrido looks to be gaining confidence with each appearance.

CAMS WHEELS
The big inning was set up by the speed threat... of Cameron Seitzer?

With Cameron Seitzer on third and Willie Argo on first, manager Brady Williams gave the steal sign to Argo at first, who took off with the pitch. The catcher didn't throw to second, denying us a possible Cameron Seitzer steal of home!

Argo took the bag, his ninth, he leads the league in thefts. After a walk loaded the bases, a pair of doubles helped plate five runs in the inning.

APRIL 20 1893

Joe McGinnity

On this date, a rookie pitcher named Joe McGinnity, signed to play for the Montgomery Colts by Colts skipper John McCloskey, arrives and is put right to work. Joe makes his first start for Montgomery by beating Nashville 10-4 while holding the opposition to just five hits on the same day he stepped off the train for his professional debut.

Two days later he would beat the Nashville team again as the Colts got off to a fast start, winning 13 of their first 16 games.


Future Hall of Famer Joe McGinnity got his nickname from working in iron mines in the offseason, playing baseball with the miners teams before being signed by Montgomery. Joe would pitch professionally through age 54, often tossing both ends of a doubleheader and defining the term "iron man".

Joe McGinnity 1894

With Montgomery in his first season, Joe walked more than he struck out and allowed more than a hit an inning. Montgomery's Colts folded with the rest of the league in August - there was a massive financial recession known as the Panic of 1893 and with it ended Joe McGinnity's time with Montgomery.

For the Colts Joe posted 15 wins, losing twenty. He tossed 28 complete games and one shutout.

McGinnity would go on to win 246 major league games, winning 20 games eight times, leading the league in wins five times, and twice winning over 30 games. Pitching mostly for the New York Giants, he completed 314 of 381 major league starts.

After the age of 38, no longer a major league pitcher, Joe went to work in the minor leagues, winning ANOTHER 239 times for teams like Newark, Tacoma, Vancouver and Dubuque. He finally hung up his spikes after 1925, a full 33 seasons after he stepped off the train at Union Station to pitch for Montgomery.

APRIL 20 1896
I have this odd box score from a game on this date....

Montgomery defeats Birmingham 28-4. 

The game features a whopper of a score, centered around the sixth inning rally. Already leading 12-1 the Montgomery Senators score eleven more times. No punches pulled as the home team plates another five in the seventh inning.

The lucky recipient of the massive run support is Montgomery's pitcher Vianello Drinkwater. Birmingham's starting pitcher Hon Fricken goes the distance on what is probably his worst career day.

Darkness and a sense of humanity ended the afternoon affair and allowed scorekeepers to refill their inkpots.

Mike Kahoe

Among the damage - 33 hits for Montgomery, a home run, five doubles, three triples and three base on balls.

Catcher Mike Kahoe hit for the cycle in this game, including the homer for Montgomery. He would spend 11 years in the majors and win a world championship with the Chicago Cubs in 1907 as their backup catcher.



APRIL 20 1908
Nashville and Montgomery battle for 15 innings without a run before darkness ends the contest.