DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 4 IN DETROIT
Date: Saturday, April 24.
Batting stars: Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second. Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a run. Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up three walks. Mel Nelson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.
Opposition stars: Willie Horton was 2-for-5 with two home runs. Phil Regan pitched eight innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Dick McAuliffe was 2-for-2 with three walks and a stolen base, scoring once.
The game: Allison hit a two-run homer in the second that put the Twins up 2-0. A single, two walks, and a sacrifice fly put the Tigers on the board in the third. The score stayed 2-1 until the seventh, when Don Demeter and Horton hit back to back homers to give Detroit a 3-2 lead. In the ninth, a pinch-hit single by Sandy Valdespino tied the score and Oliva's sacrifice fly gave the Twins a 4-3 advantage. Jerry Fosnow came in to close it out, but Horton led off the bottom of the ninth with his second home run of the game to tie it up. The Tigers got a pair of walks to put men on first and second with two out and Gates Brown delivered a pinch-hit three-run homer off Al Worthington to win the game for Detroit.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5. Jerry Kindall was 0-for-4. Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with two walks. Don Mincher and Valdespino were each 1-for-1 as pinch-hitters. Dick Stigman started but pitched only two innings, giving up one run on three hits and four walks.
Record: The loss put the Twins at 6-2, tied for first with the White Sox based on games back, though in first based on winning percentage.
Just wanted to mention that this feature has been blessed with some awesome pictures. Thanks!
I have that set, too!
Listening to Reusse on the way home from work last night and he was interviewing Jim Kaat about the passing of Dean Chance. Mainly he talked about what a great guy Dean was, wacky, but heart-of-gold stuff, but he also talked about the trade of Cimino, Hall & Mincher to the Angels for Chance. Kaat said that he felt that the team had some bad luck in '66, that they should have been in position to repeat the success from '65, but didn't quite get it done and Griffith traded power bats for a power arm. Talked a lot about the '64 season too - how beating Koufax for the Cy at that time was pretty amazing.
turned out to be a good trade I think. Hall fell off a cliff and Mincher was fine, but Chance was very good while in Minnesota
B-ref lists two interesting batter comps for Mincher: Josh Willingham (#5) and Paul Sorrento (#6). Not sure precisely what all factors into the similarity scores. Willingham seems far closer to Mincher once you look at bWAR – Mincher accumulated 23.0 to Willingham's 18.4 and Sorrento's 5.6. Both Willingham & Mincher were Alabamians.