MINNESOTA 6, SEATTLE 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Friday, August 14.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in two. Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-ninth) and two runs. Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a walk.
Pitching star: Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Ken Phelps was 2-for-4 with a home run (his nineteenth) and a double, scoring twice. Mickey Brantley was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one. Harold Reynolds was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.
The game: Tom Brunansky singled in a run in the second and Randy Bush did the same in the third to put the Twins ahead 2-0. Each team scored once in the fifth and once in the sixth, leaving the Twins up 4-2. Gaetti delivered a two-run double in the eighth (with Hrbek scoring from first) to put the Twins in control. Seattle scored one in the ninth but did not threaten to tie the game.
Of note: Greg Gagne was again in the leadoff spot...Randy Bush was again in right field and batting second, with Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench, although Gladden played in the ninth inning...Gene Larkin was the DH...Blyleven left a pitch up to Phelps but pitched well otherwise...Seattle starter Mike Morgan pitched seven innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and no walks with one strikeout.
Record: The Twins were 63-54, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of California.
Player profile: I don't know how many people remember Alvin Davis, but he was a pretty good player for the Mariners for several years. Born and raised in Riverside, California, he went to Arizona State and was drafted by Seattle in the sixth round in 1982. He played only two seasons in the minors before becoming the Mariners' starting first baseman in 1984 at age twenty-three. He batted .284/.391/.497 with twenty-seven homers, made the all-star team that season, won the Rookie of the Year award, and had greatness predicted. He never quite achieved greatness, but he achieved pretty good-ness for seven seasons (1984-90). His OPS was over .800 for all of those seven seasons except 1986, when it was .799. He batted .300 only once (.305 in 1989), but hit in the .280s and .290s consistently. His OBP was generally between .370-.390, topping .400 twice (1988 and 1989). His high for home runs was 29, in 1987, but he hit 18 or more six years in a row (breaking the streak with 17 in 1990). He fell off very quickly--in 1991 he batted just .221 with an OPS of .635. He signed with California as a free agent for 1992 but was released in late June. He played in Japan for the rest of 1992 and his playing career was suddenly over. For his career, he batted .280/.380/.450 with 160 home runs in nine seasons. Not hall of fame numbers or anything, but he was a fine player for seven years, and that's a long way from nothing.