I used a random number generator to pick a season from the past with the idea that I would quickly highlight the Twins history that occurred today in that year. The generator sent me to the year 1988.
Angels 16, Twins 7 - BR boxscore
In a game with an odd 5:10pm start time, the Angels hitters teed off against Minnesota pitchers. The Twins pitchers combined to allow 24 baserunners in 7 innings. A performance made all the more shameful when Dan Gladden pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning. In fact, the Twins ended the game with the following defensive lineup:
P-Gladden; C-Brian Harper; 1B-Kelvin Torve; 2B-Steve Lombardozzi; 3B-Al Newman; SS-Greg Gagne; LF-Mark Davidson; CF-John Moses; RF-Randy Bush
Tony Armas managed to go 0-for-5 for the Angels even though the other eight players in their starting lineup all had scored at least one run and had at least one hit by the fourth inning. Bob Boone had four hits while batting ninth for the Angels. It was his first four-hit game in more than four years. He may have been exacting revenge against the Twins for not signing his son, Bret, after they had drafted him in the 27th round the previous year. Bret would ultimately get the last laugh with his comically inept cameo in a Twins uniform at the end of his career.
Kirk McCaskill "earned" the win by throwing 102 pitches while staggering through 5 innings and allowing 10 hits and 4 runs. When asked after the game, McCaskill told reporters, "[T]oday I was pretty sorry."
The Angels 5-run third inning featured two walks and three different hits that made contact with Twins in the infield (Johnnie Ray singled off Torve's glove, Jack Howell singled off Lombardozzi's glove and Devon White singled off starter Fred Toliver's leg).
Torve hit his only Major League homerun in the seventh inning off future-Twins minor league coach Stew Cliburn. Randy Bush reached base four times (including getting hit by his fifth pitch of the season) and the most important man in America had three hits, including a double.
Finally, reliever Jim Winn made his Twins debut allowing six hits in one inning of relief work after entering after Devon White's abovementioned third inning single with the game tied 3-3 and runners on the corner. Winn had been a first round pick for the Pirates in 1981 (four spots after the Twins drafted Mike Sodders) and had been signed as AAA filler after getting cut at the end of Spring Training by the White Sox. He stuck around with the Twins for a month, and then got another cup of coffee in September to end his Major League career. Tom Kelly managed to use Winn nine times that season in relief and never brought him into another game UNLESS the Twins were already losing. TK knew how to use a groundskeeper.
Randon Thing I Noticed While Researching This Date: In 1988, Tom Nieto had four singles and a walk in 62 plate appearances as a backup catcher. If only the Twins could have someone of Brian Harper's ability to come up and replace Butters...
If only the Twins could have someone of Brian Harper's ability to come up and replace Butters...
by this I assume you mean we'd stubbornly hold on to Mauer for a year (who is batting around a buck ninety) and then finally supplant him with the new guy?
Close, but not quite. I'm just amazed at how incredibly inept Tom Nieto was in 1988. Even Corky (Corky) Miller didn't last that long while performing at such a miserable level.
I was referring to Laudner in 1989, who was nicknamed Buck Ninety.
The final score of that game 23 years ago looked pretty sad when I read this earlier...then I say to myself, "Self, that's 7 more runs than we managed tonight."
Yes, and we didn't get to enjoy Ben Revere pitching the ninth inning.