MINNESOTA 10, CHICAGO 5 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Tuesday, July 1.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his fifth and sixth) and a double, scoring three times and driving in three.  Johnny Roseboro was 3-for-5 and scored twice.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and a stolen base (his third), scoring twice.  Rod Carew was 2-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Ted Uhlaender was 1-for-4 with a home run (his second) and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Dick Woodson pitched 5.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Buddy Bradford was 2-for-4.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-5.  Gail Hopkins was 2-for-5.

The game:  The White Sox took the lead early, scoring three in the first.  Aparicio had a one-out single and scored on Hopkins' single-plus-error.  With two out, Carlos May walked and Bradford and Bill Melton delivered RBI singles to give Chicago a 3-0 lead.  In the third, Don Pavletich and May each hit a one-out single and an error brought them both home, putting the White Sox up 5-0.

The Twins started their comeback in the fourth.  Reese hit a one-out home run, Roseboro had a two-out single, and Cardenas followed with a two-run homer to cut the margin to 5-3.  It looked like Chicago might get the runs back in the bottom of the fourth, as Aparicio and Hopkins again singled with one out.  This time, however, Woodson came in to replace starter Jim Perry and retired Pavletich and May on fly balls to end the inning.

The Twins took the lead in the fifth.  Uhlaender led off with a home run and Carew followed with a triple.  With one out, Harmon Killebrew hit a ground ball and the White Sox failed to get Carew at home, tying the score.  Reese then hit his second home run of the game, giving the Twins a 7-5 lead.

The Twins tacked on a couple of runs in the eighth.  Roseboro and Cardenas led off the inning with singles and a stolen base put men on second and third with none out.  A pickoff error brought home one run and a squeeze bunt scored the second, making the score 9-5.  The Twins added one more in the ninth, as Reese hit a two-out double and scored on a Cesar Tovar single.

WP:  Woodson (5-3).  LP:  Wilbur Wood (5-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .372.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-5, dropping him to .312.  Reese's big day raised him to .314.

Graig Nettles started in left, with Tovar going in for defense.  Frank Quilici was also a defensive sub at third, but this time he replaced Killebrew, with Reese remaining at first.

Neither starter lasted very long or did very well.  Perry pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits and two walks and struck out none.  Billy Wynne struck out four in four innings but allowed five runs on eight hits and no walks.

Wood was still a relief pitcher at this point in his career, and would lead the league in appearances in 1969 for the second of three consecutive seasons.  He would become a starter in 1971 and would lead the league in starts for four consecutive seasons (1972-1975--he was second in 1971 to Mickey Lolich).

Billy Wynne was a rotation starter for the White Sox for the latter two-thirds or so of 1969, the only time in his career that would be true.  He wasn't that bad, going 7-7, 4.06.  In fact, he was the only member of the White Sox' rotation to not have a sub-.500 record.  He first came to the majors in 1967 with the Mets, making six appearances.  He was traded to Chicago after that season and stayed through 1970.  He got off to a poor start in 1970 and spent most of the season in the minors, although he did get a September call-up.  He then was traded to California, for whom he made three appearances in 1971.  The Angels released him shortly before the 1972 season, he was briefly in AAA with Montreal, then went to the Mexican League through 1973.  For his career he was 8-11, 4.33, 1.58 WHIP in 187 innings.

Record:  The Twins were 42-33, tied for first with Oakland in the American League West, though second in winning percentage, .563 to .560.

MINNESOTA 7, CHICAGO 3 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Monday, June 30.

Batting stars:  Johnny Roseboro was 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his fourth.  Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-5 with three RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Bob Miller pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Buddy Bradford was 3-for-4 with a triple.  Bill Melton was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.  Joel Horlen pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game:  Ted Uhlaender led off the game with a double and Killebrew delivered a two-out single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  Neither team really threatened again until the fifth, when the White Sox opened the inning with consecutive singles by Carlos May, Bradford, Melton, and Rich Morales, tying the score and leaving the bases loaded with none out.  Horlen hit into a 1-2-3 double play and Ken Berry grounded out, leaving the score 1-1 through five.

The Twins had only one hit in innings two through six.  In the seventh, however, singles by Killebrew and Reese and a double by Roseboro put the Twins up 2-1.  They missed a chance for more--Leo Cardenas was intentionally walked, but Miller struck out and Uhlaender grounded out to end the inning.

The Twins took control in the ninth, however.  With one out, consecutive singles by Reese, Roseboro, and Leo Cardenas gave the Twins a 3-1 lead.  With Ron Perranoski up to bat, Roseboro and Cardenas pulled off a double steal of third and second, respectively.  Perranoski could not bring anyone home, however, and with two out Uhlaender was intentionally walked to bring up Carew.  That worked about as well as you might think, as Carew doubled home two runs to make the score 5-1.  Oliva was then intentionally walked to bring up Killebrew.  That didn't work very well, either, as Killebrew singled home two runs to make it 7-1.

The White Sox tried to get back into the game.  Melton led off the ninth with a home run and Bradford followed with a triple.  All Chicago could get after that, however, was a Walt Williams sacrifice fly and the Twins won 7-3.

WP:  Miller (1-2).  LP:  Horlen (4-9).  S:  Perranoski (13).

Notes:  Carew was 1-for-5, making his average .371.  Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .317.  Reese raised his average to .303.

Charlie Manuel got the start in left field and went 0-for-5.  The standard defensive changes were made, with Cesar Tovar going to left, Frank Quilici going to third, and Killebrew replacing Reese at first.

I don't know how often someone was intentionally walked to get to Rod Carew, but I doubt that it happened very often.  Walking Oliva to get to Killebrew I can see, in that it was already 5-1, a hit of any kind would probably drive in two and put the game out of reach, and Oliva would be more likely to get a hit than Killebrew.  it's not a great option, but the White Sox were out of great options at that point.

For a part-time outfielder, Buddy Bradford (given name:  Charles William Bradford) had a long career.  He was with the White Sox from 1966-1970, with Cleveland from 1970-1971, went to Cincinnati for the end of 1971, was back with the White Sox from 1972-1975, finished 1975 with St. Louis, and came back to the White Sox again for 1976.  He also played in Japan in 1977.  Through all of that, he never had more than 313 plate appearances in a season or more than 281 at-bats.  He was generally a fourth or fifth outfielder.  One assumes he was good on defense, because he could not hit--his lifetime numbers are .226/.311/.364.  He was a right-handed batter, but he did not hit lefties particularly better than right-handers.  One also assumes he was a pretty nice guy, because if he was a jerk they wouldn't have kept him around that long.  He apparently had a successful career in business after his baseball career ended.

Record:  The Twins were 41-33, in second place in the American League West, one game behind Oakland.

MINNESOTA 12, KANSAS CITY 2 IN KANSAS CITY (GAME TWO)

Date:  Sunday, June 29.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 5-for-5 with two home runs (his eleventh and twelfth) and a double, driving in five.  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with two doubles, scoring three times and driving in three.  Frank Quilici was 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs.  George Mitterwald was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and two walks, scoring twice and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Buck Martinez was 3-for-4.  Mike Hedlund pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the first but could only score once, on a double play.  It looked like it might cost them, as the Royals took the lead with two in the bottom of the first.  With a man on second and two out, Bob Oliver doubled home a run and Martinez singled home another.

Not to worry.  The Twins took control with a six-run second.  Two walks opened the inning, and Kansas City starter Jim Rooker was pulled, having walked four of the seven batters he faced.  The bullpen did not provide relief for the Royals.  Quilici singled home a run to tie it, Kaat walked to load the bases, Tovar doubled home two, and Oliva hit a three-run homer to put the Twins ahead 7-2.

The only Kansas City threats came in the fourth and the eighth, both times when they had two on with two out.  The Twins scored two more in the sixth, when Tovar doubled and Oliva homered, and three in the ninth, when Mitterwald hit a two-run homer and Tovar later had an RBI single.

WP:  Kaat (8-6).  LP:  Rooker (0-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Oliva was 8-for-9 in the doubleheader with two home runs and a double.  Over the last ten games, he was 25-for-45 with 11 doubles and 5 home runs.  He raised his average from .279 to .322.

Tovar was in center field in place of Ted Uhlaender.  Bob Allison started in left.  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.

This was Quilici's only three-hit game of the season.

Allison got his second stolen base of the season, swiping second in the second inning.  It would be his last stolen base of the season, as he would go 2-for-6 in steal attempts.  He actually reached double digits in stolen bases four times in his career, with a high of thirteen in 1959.  He was Rookie of the Year that season, made the all-star team, and led the league in triples with nine.

Kaat's ERA was 2.65.

I have no memory of Mike Hedlund, but he was actually pretty good in 1969.  He went 3-6, 3.24, 1.30 WHIP in 34 games (16 starts).  He also had a fine year in 1971, going 15-8, 2.71, 1.17 WHIP in 32 games (30 starts).  He had made six appearances with Cleveland in 1965 at age eighteen, when he clearly wasn't ready.  He got a September call-up with the Indians in 1968 after a good year in AA.  The Royals took him in the expansion draft.  After his good season in 1969, he went to Venezuela to play winter ball and got very sick.  It looks like it took him all of 1970 to get his strength back--he started 1970 in the majors, but struggled and was sent back to AAA after just nine appearances.  It looks like he probably developed arm problems after his fine 1971 season, as he did not have a good year after that.  He did pitch well in AAA in 1974, but that was his last season.

Record:  The Twins were 40-33, in second place in the American League West, a game and a half behind Oakland.