Monthly Archives: April 2020

Twins Top Moments

Kirby Puckett Region: #5 vs. #12

8 Comments

5. Dan Gladden Hits a Grand Slam in Game 1

This is literally my first memory as a Minnesota Twins fan.  I'm sure I watched plenty of games before this one, but I had just turned seven years old and I still remember where I was sitting when Gladden did this.

12. Jason Kubel Slams for the Cycle

Would love to see the WGOM game log for this.

Little did we know in April how important this comeback would be for the final standings. The Twins had not been a high-scoring team in recent years, and when they blew a lead and fell down 8-3 in the 7th, you just figured it was over. Down 9-4 in the 8th, they rallied for 3 runs and had two men on with two out. Morneau was intentionally walked to bring up Jason Kubel. Kubel had already hit a single, double, and a triple at this point in the game. Why, wouldn’t it be poetic if he finished off the Twins comeback by hitting a home run?

The Better Moment

  • Kubel Slam (53%, 10 Votes)
  • Gladden Slam (47%, 9 Votes)

Total Voters: 19

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The Better Moment

  • Two Triple Plays in One Game (60%, 12 Votes)
  • Erickson Wins 12 In a Row (40%, 8 Votes)

Total Voters: 20

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The Better Moment

  • Touch Em All Kirby (95%, 19 Votes)
  • Go Buxton Go (5%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 20

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Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1982, Game Thirty-three

3 Comments

MINNESOTA 10, BOSTON 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 11.

Batting stars:  Gary Ward was 3-for-4 with a home run (his third) and three runs).  Bobby Mitchell was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.  Butch Wynegar was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  John Castino was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Dwight Evans was 3-for-5 with two triples and three RBIs.  Dave Stapleton was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.  Tony Perez was 2-for-5 with a double.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-5.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the second.  Kent Hrbek led off the inning with a single and Ward had a one-out single-plus-error, putting men on second and third.  A wild pitch scored one run and a sacrifice fly scored another, putting the Twins up 2-0.

The Red Sox got on the board in the fourth, but missed a chance for a big inning.  Jim Rice reached on an error, and singles by Perez and Lansford loaded the bases with one out.  Stapleton delivered an RBI single, but Twins starter Brad Havens escaped further damage by retiring Glenn Hoffman and Gary Allenson on foul popups and striking out Reid Nichols.  It appeared to be just a temporary reprieve, however, as Boston scored three in the fifth to take the lead.  Jerry Remy led off with a single, and with one out Rice walked and Perez had an RBI double.  Lansford struck out, but Stapleton came through with a two-run single, giving the Red Sox a 4-2 advantage.

But the Twins came right back in the bottom of the fifth.  Wynegar led off with a double, Mitchell had a one-out RBI single, and Castino delivered a two-out run-scoring double, tying it 4-4.  The Twins took the lead in the sixth.  Their first two batters were retired, but they then put together six consecutive singles, by Ward, Wynegar, Randy Bush, Mitchell, Ron Washington, and Castino, producing five runs and giving the Twins a 9-4 advantage.  Ward hit a solo homer in the seventh to make it 10-4.

Boston must have been stunned.  They scored a pair of runs in the eighth, when Rick Miller and Remy walked and Evans hit a two-run triple, but that was it.  The Twins took the 10-6 victory.

WP:  Bobby Castillo (1-1).  LP:  Bob Ojeda (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was kind of a strange lineup for the Twins.  Washington was at second base, with Castino playing left field, one of five times in his career that he played there.  The DH was Jesus Vega.  Mitchell had taken over center field from Jim Eisenreich.  Ward, normally in left, moved to right.

Havens pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits and two walks and striking out four.  Red Sox starter Ojeda pitched 5.2 innings as well, allowing six runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out five.

Bush pinch-hit for Lenny Faedo in the sixth inning.  He then went to left field, with Castino moving to second base and Washington going to shortstop.

The leading batter in the Twins lineup was Vega, who was batting .349.  He would end the season at .266.  Hrbek was batting .314.  He would end at .301.  Washington was batting an even .300.  He would finish at .291.

On the other end of the scale, Mitchell was batting .164.  He would finish at .249.  Faedo was batting .196.  He would end up at .243.

Ojeda was not the Bob Ojeda he would become.  He was twenty-four, but had still not had a full season in the majors.  He would finish this season 4-6, 5.63, 1.58 WHIP in 22 games, 14 starts.  He'd had ten solid starts in 1981, which had gotten him third place in the Rookie of the Year voting (behind Dave Righetti and teammate Rich Gedman).  He would improve from 1982, but would not really become a star until his trade to the Mets after the 1985 season.

The Twins win snapped a five-game losing streak.  They had lost nine of ten before this game.

Record:  The Twins were 11-22, in sixth (not last) place in the American League West, 9.5 games behind California.  They would finish 60-102, in seventh (last) place), thirty-three games behind California.

The Red Sox were 21-10, in first place in the American League East, three games ahead of Detroit.  They would finish 89-73, in third place, six games behind Milwaukee.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 15

Jim Creighton (1841)
Ed Abbaticchio (1877)
Ed Bailey (1931)
Willie Davis (1940)
Ted Sizemore (1945)
Jeromy Burnitz (1969)
Milton Bradley (1978)
John Danks (1985)
Chris Tillman (1988)

Jim Creighton was a star pitcher from 1857-1862, before the National League was created.  He passed away from a ruptured hernia in 1862 at the age of twenty-one.

Until Henry Aaron came along, Ed Abbaticchio held the “first in the alphabet” record.  Now, of course, David Aardsma has them both beat.

There do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

Twins Top Moments

Kirby Puckett Regions: #8 vs #9

5 Comments

8. Two Triple Plays in One Game

I was nine years old and not paying that much attention at this point because the Twins were having a terrible year. But I remember hearing about this the night it happened and wishing I could see the highlights.  It was many years before I did.

I have one other memory from baseball in 1990.  I was riding in my dad's truck with my family when Eric Davis hit a homer off Dave Stewart in the first inning.  Unanimous roars that day.

9. Scott Erickson Wins 12 in a Row

I remember asking to see the newspaper every morning after a Scott Erickson start in 1991 and thinking we had the best pitcher in baseball.  Much like Radke would do a few years later, Erickson would also notch his 20th win with the help of a 12 game winning streak. Except by the time Erickson did that, the Twins had more important things to celebrate and worry about.

The Better Moment

  • Two Triple Plays in One Game (60%, 12 Votes)
  • Erickson Wins 12 In a Row (40%, 8 Votes)

Total Voters: 20

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The Better Moment

  • Touch Em All Kirby (95%, 19 Votes)
  • Go Buxton Go (5%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 20

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Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2010, Game Twenty-six

4 Comments

MINNESOTA 10, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Wilson Ramos was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  J. J. Hardy was 2-for-4 with a double.  Justin Morneau was 2-for-4.  Denard Span was 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs.  Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his fourth), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Scott Baker pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Brad Thomas pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up four hits and striking out one.  Austin Jackson was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Miguel Cabrera was 2-for-3.  Brennan Boesch was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Twins took control of this one early.  With one out in the first, Orlando Hudson singled, Morneau walked, Jim Thome had an RBI single, and Cuddyer hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 4-0 lead.  In the second Ramos singled, Nick Punto walked, Span hit a two-run triple, and an RBI ground out made the score 7-0 Twins.

The Tigers tried to get back into it.  In the fourth Cabrera singled and scored from first on Boesch's double.  In the fifth Ramon Santiago walked, Jackson singled, a wild pitch moved them to second and third, and a pair of RBI ground outs made it 7-3.

That was as close as Detroit would come.  With one out in the fifth Cuddyer and Jason Kubel walked, Hardy had an RBI single, Ramos hit a run-scoring double, and Punto contributed a sacrifice fly, giving the Twins a 10-3 advantage.

The final Tigers run came in the ninth, when Santiago walked and scored on Jackson's two-out triple.

WP:  Baker (3-2).  LP:  Max Scherzer (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  This was the second game of Ramos' career.  With a 3-for-4 day, his batting average dropped from .800 to .778.  He was playing due to an injury to Joe Mauer.  He would play just seven games for the Twins, go back to AAA, and then be traded in late July with Joe Testa for Matt Capps.

Kubel was in left, with Cuddyer in right and Morneau at first base.  Morneau would be injured and miss the second half of the season, so the regular alignment would then be Cuddyer at first, Kubel in right, and Delmon Young in left.

Punto was still the regular third baseman, as Danny Valencia would not be called up for another month.

Morneau was leading the team in batting at .356.  He would be at .345 when he got hurt.  Cuddyer was batting .308.  He would finish at .271.  Hudson was batting .306.  He would finish at .268.

Scherzer lasted just 4.1 innings and allowed all ten runs on eight hits and four walks and struck out one.  He was just twenty-four, and in his second full season.  He was not what he would become, but he was still a solid pitcher already.  He went 12-11, 3.50, 1.25 WHIP in 2010.  By game scores, this would by far be the worst game he had this season.

Record:  The Twins were 17-9, in first place in the American League Central, 1.5 games ahead of Detroit.  They would finish 94-68, in first place, six games ahead of Chicago.

The Tigers were 16-11, in second place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, thirteen games behind Minnesota.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 14

Cannonball Redding (1890)
Marvin Miller (1917)
Gordon Gillespie (1926)
Don Mueller (1927)
Marty Keough (1934)
Pete Rose (1941)
Joe Lahoud (1947)
Ron Schueler (1948)
David Justice (1966)
Greg Maddux (1966)
Greg Myers (1966)
Mike Trombley (1967)
Brad Ausmus (1969)
Steve Avery (1970)
Gregg Zaun (1971)
Kyle Farnsworth (1976)

Cannonball Redding was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues.

Marvin Miller was the head of the Major League Baseball Players association from 1966-1983.

Gordon Gillespie holds the record for most wins by a college baseball coach.

It must be kind of a bummer for a big league ballplayer to not only not be the best player born on the day and year he was born, but to not even be the best player with his first name born on the day and year he was born.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 14 →