MINNESOTA 8, WASHINGTON 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, September 19.
Batting stars: Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two. Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Don Mincher was 1-for-2 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.
Pitching star: Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Jim King was 2-for-4 with a double. Dick Nen was 2-for-4. Jim French was 2-for-4.
The game; The Twins again jumped on the Senators early, getting a two-run double from Allison and an RBI single by Mincher to take a 3-0 lead in the first. Perry contributed a two-run double in a three-run fourth to make it 6-0. The Senators got a man on in every inning but did not score until the eighth, when two singles and a double play grounder produced their only run. Versalles ended the scoring with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth.
Of note: Joe Nossek was 1-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his second. Andy Kosco was 0-for-5 with a run. Earl Battey was 1-for-4 with a run.
Record: The win made the Twins 96-55. Chicago defeated Cleveland 7-5 to just barely stay alive, 9.5 games back.
Notes: Manager Sam Mele continued to give some people a break. Nossek replaced Jimmie Hall in center. Andy Kosco replaced Tony Oliva in right...Battey's average went to .301...Jim King is another guy I never heard of who had a pretty substantial career. He came up with the Cubs in 1955 and was a semi-regular for them for two years. He wasn't bad, hitting in the .250s with some power, but the Cubs traded him to St. Louis and his career went into a tailspin. He spent most of 1957-58 and all of 1959-60 in the minors. It should be noted that it was not leaving Wrigley Field that hurt him, as his numbers were actually a little better on the road than at home. Washington chose him in the expansion draft and it was the best thing that could have happened to him. He was at least a semi-regular outfielder for the Senators from 1961-67. A left-handed batter, he appears to have been platooned a lot in his career, although his numbers against left-handers are not that much worse than against righties. He never hit for a high average but did provide some power, hitting double-digit homers every year from 1961-66 with a high of twenty-four in 1963. He had a bad year in 1967, was traded to the White Sox and then to Cleveland, and his career ended after that season. Still, he was in the big leagues for at least part of eleven seasons, which isn't too bad. An Arkansas native, he returned there after he was done playing and worked for the telephone company there until his retirement.