We used to have a pretty great roller rink nearby. Large, spacious, okay food, full bar, and they'd even play Prince occasionally if I begged them. That one closed just before the pandemic and we're left with a crappy one that is/has none of those things.
MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 3 IN DETROIT
Date: Sunday, August 2.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a home run (his eighteenth), two runs, and two RBIs. Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his thirty-third) and a walk.
Pitching stars: Bill Zepp pitched 8.1 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Bill Freehan was 2-for-4. Daryl Patterson struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.
The game: Oliva homered in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Tigers tied it in the second when Norm Cash walked, went to second on Bill Freehan's single, and scored on a double by Don Wert. The Twins went back in front in the fourth when Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer. They added a run in the fifth on singles by Zepp, Tovar, and Oliva, making the score 4-1.
It stayed 4-1 until the ninth. Cash led off the inning with a single and Wert drew a one-out walk, bringing the tying run to the plate. Ron Perranoski came in and retired Elliot Maddox on a line out, but Ike Brown singled to load the bases and an error brought home two runs. It was 4-3 with men on first and third and two out. Stan Williams then came in to retire Mickey Stanley on a line out to end the game.
WP: Zepp (6-1).
LP: Joe Niekro (10-9).
S: Williams (8).
Notes: Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew. Charlie Manuel was in left field in place of Brant Alyea. Jim Holt pinch-ran for Manuel in the sixth and stayed in the game in left field.
Oliva was batting .327. Killebrew was batting .306. Tovar was batting .304. Zepp had an ERA of 2.96. Perranoski had an ERA of 1.90. Williams had an ERA of 1.56.
Niekro gave up four runs in 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits and no walks and striking out one.
Manuel was with the Twins for all but a month of the 1970 season, but started only six games. This was the second of those six, and as you can see above, he played barely over half the game. In his month in AAA, when he actually got to play, he batted .329 with an OPS of 1.027. I understand that he probably wasn't a very good defender, but this was a team that was playing Brant Alyea, Holt, and Rick Renick in left field. There should've been more than six starts for Manuel.
This was the longest start of Zepp's career to date. He would make only one longer, a shutout of the White Sox on September 11.
The Twins finished their road trip 3-3. They would now come home for ten games against Milwaukee, California, and Oakland.
Record: The Twins were 64-36, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of California and Oakland.
Jimmy Macullar (1855)
Art Whitney (1858)
Jimmy Collins (1870)
Ferdie Schupp (1891)
Buck Jordan (1907)
Dizzy Dean (1910)
Jim Owens (1934)
Ron Herbel (1938)
Joe Bonikowski (1941)
Tsuneo Horiuchi (1948)
Dave Stapleton (1954)
Steve Balboni (1957)
Marty Castillo (1957)
Dave Jauss (1957)
Jack McDowell (1966)
Ron Villone (1970)
Jack Cust (1979)
Albert Pujols (1980)
Matt Maloney (1984)
Jeff Manship (1985)
Mark Trumbo (1986)
Jimmy Macullar holds the career record for most games by a left-handed-throwing shortstop (325). Oddly, he batted right-handed.
Pitcher Tsuneo Horiuchi made nine all-star teams in Japan and won seven Gold Gloves. On October 10, 1967 he pitched a no-hitter and also hit three home runs.
Dave Jauss is a long-time minor league manager, scout, and major league coach.
Marty Castillo was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1975, but did not sign.
NSFW
(2 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
Loading... MINNESOTA 12, DETROIT 4 IN DETROIT (10 INNINGS)
Date: Saturday, August 1.
Batting stars: Danny Thompson was 4-for-6 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
Pitching stars: Jim Kaat pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two. Dick Woodson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Don Wert was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk. Al Kaline was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a walk. Ike Brown was 2-for-4 with a home run, his third. Mickey Lolich pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out five.
The game: The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the first but did not score. Brown homered in the bottom of the first to put the Tigers on the board, but they also could not take advantage of a pair of one-out singles. The Twins tied it in the second. Rich Reese led off with a walk and one-out singles by Tom Tischinski and Kaat loaded the bases. All the Twins could get, though, was a sacrifice fly, as they again stranded two men.
Detroit put two on in the third and again could not score. In the fourth, Kaat drew a two-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Tovar single to put the Twins up 2-1. The Twins added a run in the fifth when Brant Alyea hit a two-out double and scored on a Reese single. The Twins again missed a chance for more, as they loaded the bases with two out, but the score stayed 3-1.
The Tigers tied it in the seventh. Wert led off the inning with a home run. With one out Jim Price walked, Cesar Gutierrez singled him to third, and a ground out brought home the tying run. The Twins went back in front in the eighth when Tischinski reached on an error, went to third on a Charlie Manuel single, and scored on a sacrifice fly. Once again, however, the Twins loaded the bases with two out and could not make it pay. It cost them, as Kaline homered in the bottom of the eighth to tie it 4-4.
The Twins finally broke through in the tenth. With one out, Tovar singled and scored on a Thompson double. Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked, but Tony Oliva delivered an RBI double and Rick Renick hit a two-run double, making the score 8-4. Reese was intentionally walked, a ground out put men on second and third, and Paul Ratliff was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Bob Allison walked to force in a run, Tovar singled in two, and Thompson finished the scoring with an RBI single. An eight-run tenth gave the Twins a 12-4 lead. Detroit tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases, but Norm Cash flied out to end the game.
WP: Ron Perranoski (7-2).
LP: Fred Scherman (3-3).
S: Dick Woodson (1).
Notes: Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew. Tischinski was again behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald. Jim Holt replaced Alyea in left field in the seventh. Manuel pinch-hit for pitcher Stan Williams in the eighth. Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Tischinski in the eighth, with Ratliff going behind the plate. Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the ninth and went to left field. Allison pinch-hit for Perranoski in the tenth.
Oliva was 1-for-6 and was batting .323. Killebrew was 1-for-5 and was batting .306. Tovar was batting .303. Williams retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 1.57. Perranoski gave up a run in two innings and had an ERA of 1.91.
Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .170.
The Twins stranded fifteen men, but were still 7-for-15 with men in scoring position. The Tigers stranded eight and were 0-for-6 with men in scoring position.
The Twins received three intentional walks in the tenth inning. I don't know what the record for intentional walks in an extra inning, or in any inning, is, but it seems like it can't be much more than three. They received a total of ten walks in the game.
Record: The Twins were 63-36, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Oakland, who had moved into second place ahead of California.
Rick came across a Game Boy Color that we have for some reason though I still don't know where it came from (I never saw it when I was a kid; I think my sister may have had it at some point?). Compared to a cell phone game or something though, I'm fine with him playing some sort of Mario game on it.
Johnny Nee (1890)
Ray Chapman (1891)
Steve Gromek (1920)
Georges Maranda (1932)
Dr. Mike Marshall (1943)
Bobby Grich (1949)
Rance Mulliniks (1956)
Jerry Narron (1956)
Don Cooper (1956)
Delino DeShields (1969)
Ray King (1974)
Matt Holliday (1980)
Armando Galarraga (1982)
Mitch Garver (1991)
Johnny Nee was a long-time minor league manager and scout.
No, I'm not afraid to disappear
The billboard said "The End Is Near"
I turned around, there was nothing there
Yeah, I guess the end is here
DETROIT 10, MINNESOTA 9 IN DETROIT
Date: Friday, July 31.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventeenth. Brant Alyea was 2-for-4. Rich Reese was 2-for-5 with two runs. Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5. Danny Thompson was 2-for-5. Charlie Manuel was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit homer. Bob Allison was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit two-run homer.
Pitching star: Tom Hall struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.
Opposition stars: Jim Northrup was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twentieth), two runs, and four RBIs. Dick McAuliffe was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs.
The game: Cesar Gutierrez led off the third with a single, Mickey Stanley drew a two-out walk, and Northrup hit a three-run homer to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. It stayed 3-0 until the sixth, when the Twins got six runs. Thompson singled and Oliva homered to cut the lead to 3-2. Harmon Killebrew then walked, Reese singled, Alyea hit a two-run single-plus-error, and Cardenas singled to give the Twins a 5-3 lead. The next two batters went out, but singles by Cesar Tovar and Thompson produced another run, making it 6-3 Twins.
That lead lasted until the seventh, when Detroit got a touchdown of its own. Don Wert singled and Russ Nagelson walked. Elliot Maddox had an RBI double and McAuliffe delivered a two-run single to tie it 6-6. Stanley and Northrup each singled to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead. Al Kaline drew a walk to load the bases. Bill Freehan was hit by a pitch to force in a run and Nagelson walked again to force home another run. Detroit led 9-6 through seven.
The Twins came back again. Manuel hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth to cut the margin to 9-7. In the ninth Oliva led off with a walk, but Killebrew lined into a double play. Reese then singled, however, and Allison hit a two-run pinch-hit homer to tie it 9-9.
But it was all for naught. Kaline led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. The next two batters grounded out, making two out with a man on second. Wert was intentionally walked. Pinch-hitter Ike Brown walked to load the bases, and Maddox walked to force in the deciding run.
WP: Tom Timmerman (4-3).
LP: Pete Hamm (0-1).
S: None.
Notes: Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew. Tom Tischinski was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald. Jim Holt went to left field in the seventh in place of Alyea. Rick Renick pinch-hit for Tischinski in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff going behind the plate. Manuel pinch-hit for Hall in the eighth. Allison pinch-hit for Holt in the in the ninth and stayed in the game in left field.
Oliva was batting .326. Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .307. Tovar slipped under .300 at .299. Bert Blyleven allowed five runs in six innings and had an ERA of 2.87. Ron Perranoski allowed four runs without retiring anyone and had an ERA of 1.84. Hall had an ERA of 2.75.
Allison raised his average to .173. Hamm allowed one run in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 10.80.
Denny McLain started for Detroit. He allowed four runs in five innings.
Russ Nagelson presumably tied a record by drawing two walks in an inning. He drew those walks as a pinch-hitter, which puts into more select company. I don't know how many guys walked twice in the same inning as a pinch-hitter--I'm sure there are some, but I doubt that it's all that common.
What a frustrating way to lose a game. Not only do you force in two runs in the seventh with a bases-loaded hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk, but you force in the deciding run with a bases-loaded walk. And not only that, but the Tigers did not get a hit in the bottom of the ninth--they scored on four walks.
Not that it excuses anything else, but I don't understand the intentional walk to Don Wert. For his career, he batted .242/.314/.343. At this point in 1970 he was batting .234/.315/.339. Yes, it brought up the pitcher's spot, but Bill Rigney had to figure the Tigers would pinch-hit. The pinch-hitter, Ike Brown, was batting .279/.392/.512. They did not gain a platoon advantage with this--both Wert and Twins pitcher Hamm were right-handed, as was Brown. It does not make much sense to me.
The Twins had lost three in a row and five out of seven.
Record: The Twins were 62-36, in first place in the American League West, 6.5 games ahead of California.
Billy Meyer (1892)
Smead Jolley (1902)
Phil Piton (1903)
Chet Brewer (1907)
Sonny Siebert (1937)
Dave Campbell (1942)
Ron Clark (1943)
Derrel Thomas (1951)
Terry Forster (1952)
Wayne Gross (1952)
Mike Pelfrey (1984)
Erick Aybar (1984)
Logan Forsythe (1987)
J. R. Graham (1990)
Billy Meyer won 1,604 games as a minor league manager, mostly in the Yankees organization.
Phil Piton was president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1964-1971.
Chet Brewer was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues known for his mastery of throwing scuffed baseballs.
