CALIFORNIA 3, MINNESOTA 1 IN CALIFORNIA
Date: Friday, August 20 (Game 1 of doubleheader).
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base (his thirteenth), scoring once. Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one. Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and no walks with one strikeout. Al Worthington pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Albie Pearson was 4-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Joe Adcock was 2-for-3 with a home run, his thirteenth. Jack Sanford pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
The game: Each team threatened in the first, but there was no scoring until the fourth, when Adcock hit a two-run homer to put the Angels up 2-0. The Twins got one back in the sixth when Oliva scored from first on a Hall double, but that was as close as the Twins would come. Hall reached third with one out but was stranded, and in the seventh Pearson singled home an insurance run to make it 3-1. The Twins threatened in the ninth, getting two out singles from Andy Kosco and Zoilo Versalles, but Sandy Valdespino flied out to end the game.
Of note: Versalles was 2-for-5. Valdespino was 0-for-5. Earl Battey was 0-for-4.
Record: The loss made the Twins 77-45. The White Sox defeated Kansas City 3-1, so they continued to trail the Twins by 7.5 games.
Notes: Oliva took over the team batting lead at .312. Battey fell to .308. Hall came back to an even .300...This was the second consecutive doubleheader the Twins had...Valdespino played left in place of Bob Allison...If people remember Albie Pearson at all, it's usually for his size (5'5", 140 lbs.). He had a solid career, though. He was the Rookie of the Year for the Senators in 1958. He was traded to Baltimore in May of 1959 for original Twin Lenny Green, then was selected by the Angels in the expansion draft after the 1960 season. He had three really good years for them, batting .288 in 1961, leading the league in runs scored in 1962, and batting .304 in 1963. He made his only all-star appearance that year and received minor consideration for Most Valuable Player. Unfortunately, back problems, which had bothered him in 1959-60, came back after that. 1965 would be his last good season. After baseball, he became an ordained minister, established churches and orphanages in Ecuador and Zambia, and also has founded a home for abused, neglected, and abandoned boys in California.