Monthly Archives: December 2019

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

MINNESOTA 11, CLEVELAND 7 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Saturday, June 15.

Batting stars:  Scott Leius was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5.  Brian Harper was 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Paul Abbott pitched 6.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Felix Fermin was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Chris James was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  Chili Davis' RBI single got the Twins on the board in the first inning.  The Indians came back in the bottom of the first.  Singles by Mike Huff and Fermin, a sacrifice fly, a walk to Brook Jacoby, and Jeff Manto's two-run double gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead.  In the second a walk, an error, and RBI singles by Fermin and James made it 5-1 Indians, and the Twins' winning streak appeared to be in serious trouble.

Not to worry.  The Twins put up a six-spot in the third and went into the lead to stay.  With one out, Gladden and Knoblauch singled and Kirby Puckett delivered a two-run triple.  Davis walked, followed by Harper's RBI single.  Kent Hrbek walked, a force out brought home a run to tie it, and Leius came through with a two-run single to put the Twins up 7-5.

The Twins added to their lead in the fifth.  Davis walked, Harper doubled, a ground out scored one run, and Leius had another run-scoring single to make the score 9-5 Twins.  The Indians got one back in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and two ground outs, cutting it to 9-6, but the Twins took control in the seventh.  Harper was hit by a pitch and Shane Mack got a one-out double.  Leius singled home another run and a sacrifice fly made it 11-6.  Cleveland got a run in the ninth on a double play to round out the scoring.

WP:  Abbott (2-0).  LP:  Jeff Mutis (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was a standard lineup, but the Twins made numerous late changes.  Pedro Munoz pinch-hit for Puckett in the eighth and went to right field, with Mack moving to center.  Lenny Webster went in to catch in the eighth, replacing Harper, and Al Newman went to short in the eighth, replacing Greg Gagne.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game at first base.

Harper raised his average to .341.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .320.  Davis was 1-for-3 and was batting .301.  Abbott dropped his ERA to 1.98.

Bush went 0-for-1 and was batting .193.  Twins starter Mark Guthrie pitched just 1.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned), raising his ERA to 5.60.  He would struggle through two more starts, then be dropped from the rotation.

Cleveland starter Jeff Mutis pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks.  This was his major league debut, and it obviously didn't go quite like he dreamed.  He made two more starts for the Indians in 1991 and continued to struggle.  He was with them again briefly in 1992 and was actually in their rotation at the start of 1993, but never had success in the majors.  He was in the Florida bullpen in 1994 but fared no better there.  For his career, he was 4-11, 6.48, 1.76 WHIP in 143 innings.  He appeared in 58 games, 18 of them starts.  He wasn't very good in AAA, either, going 17-16, 4.72, 1.49 WHIP.  He was with teams who were desperate for pitching, and there was apparently something about him teams liked, but there was really no reason for him to get that many chances in the major leagues.  His wikipedia entry closes with "In 1994, on December 15th, he birthed a beautiful child, named Carolyn Mutis".  At last report, he was living in Ontario and was a software engineer.  We hope he has more success in his current occupation.

So the Twins had made it fourteen in a row and seventeen of eighteen.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 37-25, in second place in the American League West, a half-game behind first-place Oakland.  They led third-place Texas by three games.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 9

Joe Kelley (1871)
Cy Seymour (1872)
Adam Comorosky (1905)
Joe DeMaestri (1928)
Billy Klaus (1928)
Darold Knowles (1941)
Jim Merritt (1943)
Del Unser (1944)
Jerry Cram (1947)
Doc Medich (1948)
Steve Christmas (1957)
Ed Romero (1957)
Juan Samuel (1960)
Tony Tarasco (1970)
Todd Van Poppel (1971)
Tony Batista (1973)
Adam Wilk (1987)

Outfielder Del Unser was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1965, but did not sign. Catcher Steve Christmas was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-third round in 1975, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 9 →

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Sixty-one

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MINNESOTA 7, CLEVELAND 0 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Friday, June 14.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-4 with a grand slam (his fifth homer), a double, and five RBIs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixth.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and five walks and striking out four.  He threw 120 pitches.  Carl Willis pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition star:  Jesse Orosco pitched a perfect inning.

The game:  The Twins put men on second and third with one out in the second, but did not score.  No problem.  In the third, Chuck Knoblauch drew a one-out walk and Hrbek followed with a two-out two-run homer, putting the Twins up 2-0.  The Indians got a couple of walks in the bottom of the third but did not score.  In the fourth, Randy Bush tripled and scored on Mack's single to make the score 3-0.

The Twins put the game out of reach in the fifth.  Kirby Puckett was hit by a pitch with one out.  With two out, Harper singled and Bush was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  Cleveland starter Jeff Shaw was then replaced by Rod Nichols, whose first pitch was hit over the fence for a grand slam by Mack to make the score 7-0.

The Indians' biggest threat came in the sixth, when they put men on second and third with two out.  They also put two men on in the seventh.  But the shutout held and it was another victory for the Twins.

WP:  Morris (8-5).  LP:  Shaw (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bush was the DH in place of Chili Davis.  The Twins made a number of defensive changes in the eighth inning.  Gene Larkin went to first base in place of Hrbek.  Al Newman went to second, replacing Knoblauch.  The two flip-flopped in the batting order, with Newman batting in Hrbek's spot and Larkin taking Knoblauch's spot.  Pedro Munoz replaced Puckett and went to right field, with Mack moving to center.

Harper raised his average to .335.  Puckett was 1-for-3 and went to .321.  Munoz was 0-for-1 and was batting .303.  Willis dropped his ERA to 2.81.

Bush was 1-for-3 to raise his average to .196.

Morris' ERA was 3.69, the lowest it had been all season.  One wonders if he tried to convince Tom Kelly to leave him in the game to pitch the eighth, even though the outcome was not in doubt and he had thrown 120 pitches.

This was the first major league appearance of the season for Jeff Shaw, and his only start of the season.  He would make one more start in 1992, make eight starts for Montreal in 1993 (and forty-seven relief appearances), then go to the bullpen for good.  He was really a fairly mediocre pitcher through 1995, but then he signed with Cincinnati and his career took off.  He went 8-6, 2.49, 1.22 WHIP with four saves in 1996.  He then became the closer and led the league in saves with 42 in 1997.  He stayed with Cincinnati until July 4, 1998, when he was traded to the Dodgers.  He stayed there and was their closer for the rest of his career.  He had a down season in 2000, but came back to make the all-star team in 2001.  There's no apparent reason he could not have pitched for at least a few more years, but he retired after the 2001 season instead.  He had 203 saves for his career and averaged 39 per season once he became a closer.  If he'd had three or four more good years, he might have had a case for the Hall of Fame.  He chose not to do that, though, there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

The Twins had now won thirteen in a row and sixteen out of seventeen.  That's pretty impressive.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 36-25, in second place in the American League West, one game behind Oakland.  They were two games ahead of second place California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 8

Jack Rowe (1856)
Jimmy Austin (1879)
Sam Zoldak (1918)
Jim Pagliaroni (1937)
Brant Alyea (1940)
Ed Brinkman (1941)
Ken Roy (1941)
Masahiro Doi (1943)
Alan Foster (1946)
Jeff Grotewold (1965)
Mike Mussina (1968)
Garvin Alston (1971)
Reed Johnson (1976)
Vernon Wells (1978)

Ken Roy was a minor league umpire for two years before becoming a Catholic priest.  He said that his umpiring career helped him in ministry because it gave him more patience with people and made him a better listener.

Masahiro Doi was a fifteen-time all-star in the Japanese Pacific League, playing from 1962-1981.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s son, HPR.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 8 →

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Sixty

MINNESOTA 10, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, June 13.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Chili Davis was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his thirteenth and fourteenth) and three RBIs.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his fifth) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Scott Erickson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out five.  He threw 85 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Steve Sax was 3-for-4.  Kevin Maas was 2-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.  Pat Kelly was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Don Mattingly was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins again got off to a big start.  Gladden singled and stole second.  Chuck Knoblauch walked, and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third.  An infield out scored one run and Hrbek doubled in another.  With two out, Larkin doubled in a run and Lenny Webster singled home another, giving the Twins a 4-0 lead.

The Yankees nearly got on the board in the third, but Alvaro Espinoza was thrown out trying to score from second on a Mattingly single.  Davis led off the third with a home run to make it 5-0.  With one out in the fourth, Gladden singled and Knoblauch walked.  Puckett then singled in a run and Hrbek doubled home another to make it 7-0.

New York got on the board in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and Maas led off the sixth with a home run to cut the lead to 7-2.  Three consecutive two-out singles got the Twins a run in the seventh.  The Yankees got three singles to open the eighth but could only score once, making the score 8-3.  Davis rounded out the scoring with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.

WP:  Erickson (10-2).  LP:  Mike Witt (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin started in right field.  Al Newman was at short, replacing Greg Gagne.  With Erickson pitching, Webster was behind the plate.

In the eighth, Scott Leius came in to play short, with Newman moving to second and Knoblauch leaving the game.  Shane Mack went to center field to replace Puckett.  Pedro Munoz went to right field, with Larkin moving to first base and Hrbek leaving the game.

Puckett raised his average to .321.  Munoz was 0-for-1 and was batting .308.  Davis raised his average to .301.  Erickson's ERA went to 1.60.  Terry Leach gave up a run in two innings to make his ERA 3.21.

Newman was 0-for-3 with a walk to drop his average to .184.

Mike Witt was near the end of his career and was battling injury.  He pitched to only four batters in this game, and would not appear in another major league game until 1993.

This made twelve in a row and fifteen of sixteen for the Twins.  They had swept Baltimore, Cleveland, and New York, all at home.  They would go back on the road next, traveling to Cleveland.  Could they keep the streak going?

Record:  The Twins were 35-25, in second place in the American League West, 1.5 games behind Oakland.  They led third-place California by a game.