Ila Borders Makes History and Babe Ruth Plays With a Dog: The Twins Almanac

[Matt Johnson]

This three-day-weekend installment of the Almanac features longtime Twin Cities high school math teacher Don Arlich, a Notre Dame legend from over 100 years ago, the first woman to pitch in a men's college baseball game, and the slugger who once commanded the richest free-agent contract in Twins history. 

Feb. 15, 1994: Ila Borders became the first woman to pitch in a men's college baseball game on this date in 1994, giving up just five hits in a 12-1 Southern California College win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

 

She retired the first 10 batters she faced and took a shutout into the eighth. 

Of course, Borders also made history with the Duluth-Superior Dukes a few years later, becoming the first woman to win a men's professional baseball game when she pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over the Sioux Falls Canaries at Wade Stadium on July 24, 1998. 

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Feb. 15: Happy 82nd birthday to North St. Paul graduate and former Houston Astros pitcher Don Arlich, born in Wayne, Michigan on this date in 1943.

Arlich went 15-0 for the 1961 State Champion North High Polars—a team that also featured Twins curator Clyde Doepner.

Arlich signed with Houston out of high school and made his major league debut four years later, starting the second-to-last game of the 1965 season versus the Cardinals at the Astrodome. The first batter he faced was former St. Cloud Rox star Lou Brock, who popped out to shortstop leading off a 1-2-3 first inning. Arlich held the Cardinals to two runs on five hits and a walk over six innings, and was in line for the win before St. Louis rallied against the Houston bullpen. 

It was the only start Arlich would make in the majors. He made it back to "The Show" for a cup of coffee midway through the 1966 season, making seven appearances out of the bullpen. 

Perhaps Arlich's greatest contribution to the major league history books was helping a young Joe Morgan learn to hit lefties while they were both in the Houston organization.

Arlich stuck it out in the minors until 1969, playing his final two and a half seasons in the Atlanta organization (where he was teammates with Tom House).

Following his nine-year pro baseball career, Arlich became a math teacher at Park High School in Cottage Grove, MN. One of his students included the actor Seann William Scott (Stifler in American Pie).

Though Mr. Arlich never had him in class, eight-year major leaguer Kerry Ligtenberg graduated from Park High School in 1989.

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Feb. 16, 1897: St. Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights) graduate, World War I veteran, Notre Dame legend, and former White Sox pitcher Paul Castner was born in St. Paul on this date in 1897.

According to biographer Bill Lamb, baseball was Castner's third-best sport after football and hockey. He played fullback at Notre Dame under legendary coach Knute Rockne, blocking for the Gipper.

He made six relief appearances with the Chicago White Sox in 1923. In his SABR BioProject essay, Bill Lamb tells several interesting anecdotes about Castner's brief time in the majors. Here's a fun story from a blowout loss to the Yankees: 

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With the outcome of the 16-5 game no longer in doubt, manager Gleason allowed the good-hitting Castner to bat for himself in the ninth. Meanwhile, bored Yankee left fielder Babe Ruth  had begun playing with a dog that had somehow gotten loose in the outfield. Seconds after Ruth had tossed his fielding glove to the mutt, Castner lifted a fly ball to left – which the Babe nonchalantly caught barehanded, much to the amusement of spectators.

Another story Castner reportedly enjoyed telling later in life was of Ty Cobb stealing home off him. (Of course, these days, Cobb would have run afoul of the notorious unwritten rules since the steal of home came later in a blowout win for the Tigers.)

Castner was the featured guest at the Halsey Hall SABR meeting on May 4, 1985. I wonder if he told the Ruth and Cobb stories. 

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Feb. 16: Happy 46th birthday to former Twins outfielder Josh Willingham.

The Twins signed Willingham to a three-year, $21 million contract prior to the 2012 season, which was the richest free-agent deal in team history at the time. He responded with the best season of his career, becoming just the third player in Twins history to hit 35 home runs and winning a Silver Slugger alongside fellow AL outfielders Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton. 

He began the season with a 15-game hitting streak—the longest streak to begin a Twins career, and tied with Kirby Puckett's 1994 streak for the longest to begin a season in team history.

Willingham had actually played for a Minnesota team over a decade earlier, playing third base for Austin's Southern Minny Stars in 1998 and '99—the team's final two seasons in the Northwoods summer collegiate league. (He played mostly shortstop in college.) On a related note, did you know Kirby Puckett was an All-American third baseman in high school?

One last Willingham fun fact: He hit grand slams in back-to-back innings with the Nationals in 2009. 

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[Matt Johnson]

please comment

[Twins63]

Absolutely love reading these! You mentioned a Twins treasure-Clyde Doepner.  If you haven't heard one of Clyde's talks at Twins Fest, you are missing out on what makes baseball such a unique sport and part of our woven history. Someone should interview him for this site...

[ashbury]

I was in attendance when Paul Castner was the featured guest at the Halsey Hall Chapter's Spring meeting, 1985.  He was 88 years old and passed away less than a year later, so it was great to get a final chance to pick his brain for memories.  He did tell the Cobb story, in response to a rather general question about memories of Cobb if I'm not mistaken.  Sorry I don't recall the details of that story (and I reached out to a couple of fellow members who couldn't recall either), but what sticks out for me is that he prefaced the story with a quavering "Ohhhhh. He was a miserable fellow."  Forty years later and the expression on his face is still clear for me, of the contempt this old-timer had for the Hall of Famer.  A major leaguer is a major leaguer forever, and it was cool to interact with someone who was a contemporary of players so long before.