Twins Top Moments

Top Moments: #6 and #11 Seeds

53 Comments

Okay, today you guys will throw out all the best moments since 1987 that I missed.  Only rule is it has to be a moment during an actual game the Twins played.  It can be the culmination of a season-long performance (e.g. Mauer wins batting title), but no off-the-field stuff.

After everyone has had a chance to give suggestions, we will run a poll to see everyone's favorites to add into the tournament.  But before that, here are the #6 seeds:

But wait!  Before that, I have to let you know that I did something half-baked.  In the Puckett region the Kubel slam that went up against Gladden's slam was supposed to be the walk-off slam against the Red Sox, not the one to complete the cycle.  Whoops!  So now we have a #6 seed to fill as well.

Kirby Puckett Region: Game 4, ALCS, Laudner Picks Darrell Evans Off Third Base

Kent Hrbek Region: Game 6, WS, Don Baylor 3-Run Blast

Johan Santana Region: NOW OPEN

Joe Mauer Region: Scott Baker's Near Perfect Game

53 thoughts on “Top Moments: #6 and #11 Seeds”

  1. I'm going with my 5-4-2 double play in the game that clinched a tie for the division in 1987.

  3. The hot dog game, with Chuck Knoblauch.

    The hitting of a HR in each of the first 7 innings game.

    1. A top moment for the Twins was assaulting Knoblauch? Or are you referring to something else?

      1. Nope, that's exactly what I'm referring to.

        I might put it a little differently than "assaulting"... more like "administering a pork-byproduct form of justice."

        1. I thought people also threw bottles at him too, which prompted Bob Casey to ask people to stop or the game would be forfeited.

          1. You remember correctly.

            Fans still angry at Knoblauch for leaving the team when it was down threw golf balls, hot dogs and plastic beer bottles at Knoblauch on Wednesday night, causing umpires to pull the Yankees off the field for 12 minutes in the sixth inning of Minnesota's 4-2 win.

            They started with change at the start of the series.

            Fans threw quarters Monday at Knoblauch, playing left field in his former home stadium for the first time.

          2. Reading back now through the commentary, I see that a lot of it was "the umpires pulled the Yankees off the field" but it was all very much predicated on Joe Torre complaining - and early on, before bottles, etc. had been thrown - which seemed completely out of place, given what ballplayers relay about Yankee stadium. I recall there were a few hot dogs thrown, Torre complained, the Yankees were pulled off the field, and that was when other, more dangerous, items really started being thrown. I don't mean to justify it - I certainly didn't and wouldn't throw things on the field, and I don't understand that impulse - but I do understand the frustration with the Yankee double standard.

            1. I was at that game (though not within missile range of Knoblauch). Bob Casey did indeed implore the crowd to stop, but he also said something like "This is a playoff game!" which it was not.

                1. I can too. But I honestly don't remember if I was at the game or if I remember hearing clips from the game. Damn kids, ruining my memory.

                  1. I recall us discussing that game at one point, as if you had first-hand experience. So my vote (because I get one for this type of thing!) is that you were actually there.

                    1. Sounds good! My very faint memory has me sitting on the third base line.

                      I remember in like 1998 or so going to an Orioles game with several people from high school. Were you at that one with me? I remember the Twins lost. And the place was just empty.

                    2. I don't recall that one specifically, but that doesn't mean I wasn't there. I do remember lots of empty Metrodome games, and I know I saw the Orioles play there multiple times.

                    3. I also remember Rachel being there, and some guy about 5 sections over saw her, came over, and asked her out.

                    4. I was at an Orioles game in 98 or 99 sitting right behind the 3rd base dugout becuase my Dad wanted us all to see Ripken before he retired.

              2. He called it a Championship Game, which it arguably was because the MLB refers to their seasons as "Championship Seasons".

  5. I think there was a game in Oakland in 1988 in which the Twins allowed six solo homeruns, but came back to win.

    How about this game when Liriano outdueled King Felix, Joe hit a homer, and TPaw signed the bill funding Target Field into law before the game?

    This game featured the A's talking all sorts of trash how the Twins got lucky in the ALDS, and then Kielty with the pinch-hit to ruin Zito's gem. (Look at the WPA chart!)

    1. That game was in 1991. I was driving to visit my brother who lived in Aberdeen at the time and listened on the radio. Brian Harper hit a 3 run homer to put the Twins in the lead and I hit my horn for about 30 seconds out in the middle of nowhere to celebrate. I believe Dave Henderson hit three of those dingers.

      1. For some reason, B-R.com is not showing the entire 1991 season so I can't find the box score. But, I'm pretty sure August 1991 and David West was the starting pitcher. That night my brother and I concluded (correctly!) that the Twins were going to win the 1991 World Series.

        1. It must not have been that trip to Aberdeen because August 3rd, but I do remember watching the Vikings defeat the Rams at my brother's place 23-21, OT. That was the first overtime game in NFL history to end on a safety. The Vikings scored their 21 points in regulation via seven field goals.

      3. Sheesh. If only there was a place I could read about all the games in 1991.

        1. It was national TV, and Philosofette and I were able to watch the Twins in D.C. and it was really just perfect. The whole narrative had been Clemens, and here he gets squashed by Liriano, who we all knew about already, but hardly anyone else did... that was fun.

  6. How about the last unscheduled “doubleheader” played at the Metrodome: the extra innings walk-off conclusion of Game 161, followed by Game 162 in 2004. The Twins were forced to suspend Game 161 in the top of the 12th so the field could be converted for a Gophers football game.

    La Tortuga goes first-to-home and gives us “Chubby people also run.”

    I’m trying to remember the context around it, but there was game in which Koskie got so fed up he broke a chair, sparking a Twins win.

    HJ mentioned another one on Sunday night, but I don’t want to steal it.

    1. Found it! August 15, 2004. Koskie struck out with bases loaded, broke the chair, then hit the go-ahead homer in the 10th to beat the Indians. He kept hitting after that, too.

  7. I don't remember exactly which game it was but Gaetti is sitting in a folding chair before his AB, then gets up and mashes one.

  8. Oh, another one for me. I couldn't find video or an article of it anywhere, but I have a distinct memory of Viola catching a sharp ground ball behind his back with his bare hand then tossing it to first like nothing had happened. Not sure it was 1987 or later. If anyone can corroborate, let me know.

    1. Box Score. The Twins won 10-0, each team got 11 hits. Time of Game: 2:15.

      The Twins turned 6 double plays. I might have been at that game with my Dad. Not sure.

  11. There was a special night (I forget the exact game) at the Dome against the Orioles, where in the house were:
    Paul Molitor (3,319 hits) also league leader in hits 3 different teams, and 39 game hitting streak
    Eddie Murray (3,255)
    Cal Ripken, Jr. (3,184)
    Dave Winfield (3,110)
    Rod Carew (3,053)
    Also there was Tony Oliva, league leader in hits 5 seasons. And of course, Herb Carneal.

  12. What about the final game of 2006 when the Twins sat on the field and watched the Tigers lose (to clinch the Central) with in the jumbotron with the fans?

    1. This is petty, but I was rooting for the Tigers to win so the Twins would face the Yankees. I knew if the Twins won the division they'd face the A's and get only day games and I wouldn't be able to watch any of them with my job.

      1. I had tickets to Game One of the ALDS in Yankee Stadium. I had to scramble to get them resold.

  13. Nobody else probably remembers this, but there was a game in 1999 against Oakland where Chad Allen hit a "little league home run". He hit a ground ball toward first and beat the pitcher to the bag. Everybody just started walking back to their positions, but time had not been called, so Allen headed to second. The pitcher threw the ball into left-center field and he circled the bases before they could get the ball back in. Again, it's not a particularly famous moment or anything, but I thought it was great, and I'll always remember it.

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