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Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fourteen

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CALIFORNIA 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 13.

Batting stars:  Chili Davis was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Batting stars:  Terry Leach struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Denny Neagle pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and three walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jim Abbott pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.  Wally Joyner was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.  Luis Polonia was 3-for-6 with a stolen base (his thirty-third) and two RBIs.  Lance Parrish was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his thirteenth), a walk, and two runs.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two walks.

The game:  The Angels put men on first and third in the first inning but did not score.  The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the first when Kirby Puckett hit a two-out single, stole second, and scored on a Davis double.  California took a 2-1 lead in the second when Shawn Abner singled and Parrish followed with a two-run homer.

The Angels took control in the fourth.  Abner walked and went from first to third on a ground out to third base.  An error scored him and put Luis Sojo on second.  Dick Schofield walked.  There were then three consecutive RBI singles, by Polonia, Joyner, and Gaetti, to put California up 6-1.

The Twins got somewhat back into it in the sixth.  Gene Larkin walked and went to second on a passed ball.  Greg Gagne delivered a run-scoring single with two down and Dan Gladden followed with a triple to cut the margin to 6-3.

That was as good as it got.  The Angels added a couple of runs in the ninth on RBI singles by Polonia and Joyner.

WP:  Abbott (11-8).  LP:  Willie Banks (1-1).  S:  Bryan Harvey (26).

Notes:  Brian Harper came out after the fifth inning and was replaced by Junior Ortiz.  He had batted ending the fifth--perhaps he was injured in the at-bat.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Scott Leius in the eighth and Mike Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Gagne in the eighth.  Both stayed in the game, with Newman going to shortstop and Pagliarulo to third base.

Puckett was 1-for-5 and was batting .327.  Harper was 0-for-3 to make his average .308.

Banks pitched 3.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out three.  His ERA was 6.35.  Leach lowered his ERA to 2.76.  Neagle went down to 3.18.

This was Banks' second start of his career.  He would make one more this season.

It was also the second appearance of Neagle's career.  He had made a start on July 27.  He would make three more relief appearances and then make two more starts at the end of the season.  That would, of course, be the extent of his career with the Twins, as he was traded after the season with Midre Cummings for John Smiley.

The Twins were 2-for-12 with men in scoring position.

The White Sox lost a doubleheader to the Tigers, 11-9 and 4-3, so despite the loss the Twins gained a half game on their nearest challenger.

Record:  The Twins were 68-46, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 29

Ray Hayworth (1904)
Pancho Coimbre (1909)
Bill Rigney (1918)
Hank Edwards (1919)
Frank Gravino (1923)
Bobby Bolin (1939)
Sergio Ferrer (1951)
Steve Sax (1960)
Mike Aldrete (1961)
John Habyan (1964)
Jason Schmidt (1973)
Alex Avila (1987)

Pancho Coimbre was a star in the Caribbean Leagues and the Negro leagues in the 1940s.  Roberto Clemente said that Coimbre was a better player than Clemente was.  Coimbre played two full seasons in the Puerto Rican League in which he did not strike out.

Frank Gravino played in the minors from 1940-1942 and 1946-1954.  He has been called the greatest slugger in Northern League history, hitting 108 home runs in two seasons there.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Beau's son.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 29 →

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirteen

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MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 12.

Batting stars:  Scott Leius was 3-for-3 with a double.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer (his seventh), a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth.

Pitching star:  Jack Morris pitched 8.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out seven.  He threw 121 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Luis Polonia was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his twenty-second.  Shawn Abner was 2-for-3 with a triple.

The game:  Polonia led off the game with a single and stole second.  With one out, Wally Joyner walked.  A wild pitch with two out moved the runners to second and third.  Dave Parker then delivered a two-run single to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.

The Twins got back-to-back one-out singles in the third, but a double play ended the inning.  The Twins also put men on first and second with one out in the fourth and did not score.  In the fifth, however, Leius doubled and Gagne followed with a two-run homer, tying it at 2-2.

California got the lead back in the seventh when Abner hit a two-out triple and scored on a Luis Sojo single.  Leius led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Gagne was hit by a pitch.  Dan Gladden bunted, but the result was a force out at third base.  Chuck Knoblauch walked to load the bases.  Kirby Puckett then hit into a force out to tie the score 3-3, but that was all the Twins would get.

No matter.  With two out in the eighth, Hrbek hit a solo home run.  It hurt the Angels, because it was the deciding run of the game.  With two out in the ninth Abner singled, but Rick Aguilera came in to retire Max Venable on a pop up to end the game.

WP:  Morris (14-9).  LP:  Chris Beasley (0-1).  S:  Aguilera (31).

Notes:  Al Newman pinch-ran for Leius in the seventh and remained in the game at third base.

Puckett was 1-for-4 to make his average .328.  Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .311.  Aguilera's ERA went to 2.57.

California starter Chuck Finley pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out two.

The eighth and ninth spots in the Twins lineup went 5-for-6 with a home run.  The only out was made by Newman, who didn't start the game.

1991 was the only major league season for Chris Beasley.  He was a twenty-nine-year-old rookie in his seventh major league game.  He had gone 3-5, 5.26 at AAA Edmonton before being called up.  He seems an odd choice to be brought into a the ninth inning of a tie game, but I don't have time to go back and check out what options the Angels may have had.  He had done well in his first six games, posting an ERA of 1.04 through 8.2 innings.  He obviously was never going to keep that up, but his season-ending numbers are 0-1, 3.38, 1.35 WHIP in 26.2 innings.  He was back in Edmonton in 1992 and then was done as a player.

The White Sox lost to Baltimore 5-4 in eleven innings, snapping a seven-game winning streak and losing a game to the Twins in the standings.

Record:  The Twins were 68-45, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 28

George Wright (1847)
Ducky Holmes (1869)
Bill Doak (1891)
Lyn Lary (1906)
Bob Muncrief (1916)
Pete Runnels (1928)
Bill White (1934)
Fredi Gonzalez (1964)
Kevin Tolar (1971)
Jermaine Dye (1974)
Magglio Ordonez (1974)
Lyle Overbay (1977)

Fredi Gonzalez managed the Florida Marlins from 2007-2010 and managed the Atlanta Braves from 2011-2016.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 28 →

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twelve

MINNESOTA 5, SEATTLE 2 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Sunday, August 11.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth), two runs, and three RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.  Shane Mack was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourteenth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Kevin Tapani pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk and striking out three.  He threw just 91 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Jay Buhner was 1-for-3 with a home run, his twenty-first.

The game:  Mack homered with two out in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second Hrbek led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch, was bunted to third, and scored on a ground out to make it 2-0.  In the fourth, Gene Larkin doubled and scored on Hrbek's single to make it 3-0.

The Mariners got on the board in the bottom of the fourth.  Edgar Martinez led off with a single and went to second when Harold Reynolds walked.  A ground out moved the runners up and a sacrifice fly cut the Twins' lead to 3-1.  It went to 3-2 when Buhner homered leading off the fifth, but the Twins got the run back with interest in the sixth when a walk to Larkin was followed by Hrbek's two-run homer.

The score was 5-2, and there it stayed.  Seattle got just one baserunner after that, a two-out single by Omar Vizquel in the eighth.

WP:  Tapani (10-7).  LP:  Bill Krueger (9-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin was the designated hitter, replacing Chili Davis.  That caused Mack to go into the third spot in the batting order, with Puckett moving down to fourth.  Greg Gagne returned to the lineup at shortstop.

Puckett was batting .329.  Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .311.  Tapani lowered his ERA to 2.98.

With Hrbek on second and none out in the second inning, Scott Leius bunted, moving Hrbek to third.  He scored on a ground out, making the score 2-0.  I wonder if Leius bunted on his own, trying to get a hit.  It seems strange to just want to move Hrbek to third with one out, especially with Gagne as the next batter.

I doubt that, at the start of the season, very many people would've expected Mack to have more home runs than Hrbek.  It's remarkable, as I go through these games, how few times Hrbek has been one of the offensive stars.  He was still a solid player, and a steady contributor.  He batted .284/.373/.461 with 20 homers, and you'll certainly take that.  I'm surprised that he didn't have much of a platoon split.  Memory had told me that he really struggled with lefties, but he didn't in 1991--he batted .281/.352/.445 against them.  He was even better against righties, of course--.284/.380/.467.  Tom Kelly often dropped Hrbek to seventh in the lineup against left-handers, which is probably why I assumed there was a big platoon split.  But there really wasn't.

Tapani had now won five straight games.  He wasn't pitching all that much better than he had earlier--his ERA only fell from 3.16 to 2.98.  The Twins just started scoring some runs for him.

The White Sox kept pace with the Twins, defeating Baltimore 7-0.

Record:  The Twins were 67-45, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Chicago.