1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-one

MINNESOTA 4, MILWAUKEE 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Monday, June 22.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his eighteenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on five hits and one walk and striking out five.  Ron Perranoski pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Tommy Harper was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twelfth), a double, and two runs.  Ken Sanders retired all five men he faced, striking out one.  John Gelnar pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins drew a pair of two-out walks in the first but stranded them.  In the bottom of the first Harper led off with a double, took third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.  The Twins put two on with one out in the third, but a double play took them out of the inning.

The Twins tied it in the fourth when Bob Allison walked and scored from first on a Leo Cardenas double.  The Twins took the lead in the fifth when Tovar went to second on a single-plus-error, Frank Quilici walked, and Killebrew hit a three-run homer to make it a 4-1 game.

Milwaukee did not get a man past first in innings two through eight.  In the ninth, Ted Savage singled and Harper hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 4-3.  Perranoski then came in and retired the next three men to end the game.

WP:  Kaat (6-5).

LP:  Gene Brabender (3-9).

S:  Perranoski (17).

Notes:  Allison was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt was in right field in place of Tony Oliva, who apparently was dealing with a minor injury.

The most significant thing that happened, though, was that Rod Carew had his knee torn up while turning a double play in the fourth inning.  He would not return for three months.  He was batting .376 when he was injured.

Killebrew was batting .306.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.79.

Quilici was 1-for-1 and was batting .182.

This was the last year of Brabender's five-year career.  He had been a good pitcher for Baltimore from 1966-1968.  He pitched 289.2 innings for them in 82 games (30 starts) and went 16-14, 3.39, 1.21 WHIP.  He did not do as well in Seattle in 1969, however, and was awful for Milwaukee in 1970--6-15, 6.02, 1.60 WHIP.  He somehow lost his control when he left Baltimore--he walked 3.1 per nine there, 4.6 per nine in Seattle, and 5.1 per nine in Milwaukee.  He apparently had a sore shoulder, which may have contributed to the problem.  He passed away in 1996 at the young age of fifty-five, due to a brain aneurysm.

Record:  The Twins were 40-21, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.

Happy Birthday–December 6

Jocko Conlan (1899)
Tony Lazzeri (1903)
Stan Hack (1909)
Dan Dobbek (1934)
Tony Horton (1944)
Larry Bowa (1945)
Tim Foli (1950)
Chuck Baker (1952)
Gary Ward (1953)
Juan Carlos Oliva (1954)
Steve Bedrosian (1957)
Larry Sheets (1959)
Kevin Campbell (1964)
Kevin Appier (1967)
Jose Contreras (1971)
Chris Basak (1978)
Jason Bulger (1978)
Adam Eaton (1988)

Jocko Conlan played two seasons of major league baseball, but is best known as a National League umpire from 1941-1965.

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva was a star pitcher in Cuba and later became a successful pitching coach there.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 6

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty

MINNESOTA 11, KANSAS CITY 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, June 21.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and three runs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Keough was 2-for-4 with a double.  Lou Piniella was 2-for-4.  Al Fitzmorris pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  The Twins opened the scoring in the second.  Allison led off with an infield hit.  While Rick Renick was batting, Allison somehow went to second on an error on the shortstop.  He then stole third and scored on a throwing error on the catcher, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.

The Twins put two on in the third but did not score.  In the fourth, however, the Twins took control of the game.  Allison reached on an error and Renick walked.  Cardenas delivered a two-run single-plus error, taking second on the play.  Reese singled, putting men on first and third, and George Mitterwald singled home a run.  A bunt moved the runners up and a sacrifice fly brought home one more, making it 5-0 Twins.  Killebrew homered leading off the fifth to make it 6-0.

The Royals had only one hit through the first six innings.  In the seventh, consecutive two-out singles by Bob Oliver, Keough, Piniella, and Ed Kirkpatrick brought home two runs and chased Perry from the game.  Perranoski came in to retire Hawk Taylor and keep the score 6-2.

The Twins put it away with five in the ninth.  Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Carew single.  Killebrew walked and Allison was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  An error brought home one run and Cardenas hit a three-run double to bring us to the final score of 11-2.

WP:  Perry (10-5).

LP:  Bill Butler (2-6).

S:  Perranoski (16).

NotesAllison was in right field, giving Tony Oliva his first day off of the season.  Renick was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt replaced Renick in the seventh inning.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.

Carew was 7-for-12 in his last three games and raised his average to .378.  Perry was 1-for-2 and was batting .368.  Killebrew was batting .305.  Perry had an ERA of 2.82.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.82.

I really don't know how Allison got to second in the second inning.  The play-by-play says "Baserunner Advance; Allison to 2B/Adv on E6".  My best guess is that he was trying to steal second and would've been out, but the shortstop dropped/missed the throw.  The catcher should get an assist on that, though, and nothing indicates that he did.

It seems strange to bring your closer into a game in the seventh inning of a 6-2 game, but of course it would not have been nearly has strange in 1970.  Plus, the game was arguably on the line--Kansas City had just scored two runs and had two men on.  On the other hand, the batter was Hawk Taylor, who wasn't exactly Babe Ruth--a career .218 average with a career OPS of .578.  Today they surely would've brought someone else in to pitch the ninth, with the Twins leading 11-2, but that just wasn't the way they did things back then.  At that time, they figured, Perranoski hasn't pitched since June 15, he's all warmed up, he might as well finish it up.

The Royals starter, Butler, would pitch for the Twins in 1974-1975 and 1977.  In this game, he pitched six innings, giving up six runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks and striking out three.  Kansas City made five errors in the game, leading to four unearned runs.  They had made three errors in yesterday's game and two in the game before that, making ten for the series.  Yet, they won two out of three.

The Twins would now head for Milwaukee for the next leg of their three-city road trip.

Record:  The Twins were 39-21, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Happy Birthday–December 5

Billy Shindle (1860)
Patsy Tebeau (1864)
Frank Bowerman (1868)
Pink Hawley (1872)
Gus Mancuso (1905)
Bobby Mattick (1915)
Chico Ruiz (1938)
Yoshiharu Wakana (1953)
Gary Roenicke (1954)
Luis Casanova (1956)
Alan Cockrell (1962)
Cliff Floyd (1972)
Hanley Frias (1973)
Justin Smoak (1986)
A. J. Pollock (1987)
Christian Yelich (1991)
Trevor Megill (1993)

Yoshiharu Wakana was a six-time all-star in Japan, playing from 1974-1991.

Luis Casanova was a star slugger in Cuba, playing from 1978-1994.

We also want to wish a Happy Birthday to CarterHayes’ mother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 5

1970 Rewind: Game Fifty-nine

KANSAS CITY 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Saturday, June 20.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.  The Twins only got one other hit.

Pitching stars:  Dick Woodson struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Stan Williams pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Ed Kirkpatrick was 2-for-3 with a home run (his ninth), a double, and four RBIs.  Amos Otis was 2-for-4.  Jim Rooker pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks and striking out five.  Bob Johnson struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  In the first inning, the Twins loaded the bases with one out on a bunt single, a walk, and an error, but Leo Cardenas grounded into a double play to end the inning.  It cost the Twins, because the Royals scored four in the bottom of the first.  Cookie Rojas hit a one-out double and scored on Rojas' single.  An error put men on first and third and Joe Keough walked, loading the bases.  With two out, Kirkpatrick hit a three-run double, making it 4-0 Kansas City.

It stayed 4-0 until the fourth, when Kirkpatrick homered to make it 5-0.  Meanwhile, the Twins got only one hit in innings two through seven.  Bob Allison led off the eighth with a double.  Brant Alyea walked and Carew followed with a three-run homer to make it 5-3.  It killed the rally, however, as the next three batters went out.  Reese hit a one-out double in the ninth, bringing the tying run up to bat, but Charlie Manuel and Allison struck out to end the game.

WP:  Rooker (4-4).

LP:  Dave Boswell (2-6).

S:  Johnson (1).

Notes:  Rick Renick was in left field in place of Alyea.  Allison pinch-hit for Dave Boswell in the fifth and stayed in the game in center field as part of a double switch.  Alyea pinch-hit for Woodson in the eighth and Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Alyea.  Manuel pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the ninth.

Carew was batting .376.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .318.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was batting .307.  Woodson had an ERA of 2.35.  Williams had an ERA of 1.85.

Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Boswell gave up five runs (two earned) in four innings and had an ERA of 6.89.

This would be the last time Allison would play center field.  He had not done so since playing two innings there in 1968.

Oliva was 0-for-12 in his last three games.  Killebrew was 0-for-12 in his last four games.

This was Woodson's first appearance since June 2.  I assume he had gone to AAA Evansville during the interim.

This was the Twins' third consecutive loss, two to the Royals and one to the Senators.

Record:  The Twins were 38-21, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.