KANSAS CITY ROYALS 8, MINNESOTA TWINS 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, June 9, 1982.

Batting stars:  Ron Washington was 3-for-5.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth) and three RBIs.  Mickey Hatcher was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Ron Davis pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Willie Wilson was 3-for-5 with a triple.  George Brett was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Frank White was 2-for-4 with a double.  John Wathan was 2-for-5 with a double and three runs.  Amos Otis hit a three-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  Kansas City took the lead in the first inning on a single, a stolen base, and a George Brett RBI double.  It went to 4-0 in the third when John Wathan doubled, Brett was intentionally walked, and Amos Otis foiled the strategy with a three-run homer.  It went to 5-0 in the fourth when Jerry Martin singled and scored from first on Frank White’s double.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Kent Hrbek led off with a home run.  But the Twins could get no more, and it stayed 5-1 until the seventh.

The first two Royals went out in the seventh, but Willie Wilson singled, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch.  John Wathan singled him home and also stole second.  George Brett followed with a triple, and it was 7-1.

The Twins got back into it, kind of, in the eighth.  Larry Milbourne led off with a double and Ron Washington followed with an RBI single.  Singles by Tom Brunansky and Kent Hrbek plated a second run, and a sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 7-4.

That was as good as it would get.  In the ninth Frank White singled, stole second, and scored on a Willie Wilson triple.  The Twins didn’t give up.  In the bottom of the ninth, Jim Eisenreich singled, and with one out Ron Washington singled and Tom Brunansky walked, bringing Kent Hrbek up to the plate as the tying run.  All he could manage was a sacrifice fly, however, and the next batter ground out to end the game.

WP:  Paul Splittorff (5-4).

LP:  Albert Williams (2-4).

S:  Dan Quisenberry (15).

Notes:  Sal Butera was behind the plate.  Tim Laudner did most of the catching, 93 games, with Butera behind at 53.  Larry Milbourne was at second base in place of John Castino.  Castino was at third in place of Gary Gaetti.  Mickey Hatcher was in left in place of Gary Ward.  Tom Brunansky was in center in place of Bobby Mitchell.  Ward went to right, which was usually Brunansky’s spot.  Jesus Vega was the DH.  Randy Johnson played the most games there with 69, with Vega following at 39.

Kent Hrbek was batting .337. He would finish at .301.  Jim Eisenreich was batting .313.  He would finish at .303.

We assume everyone reading this is familiar with Jim Eisenreich’s story.  He would play only one more game for the Twins in 1982.  He remained with the Twins through 1984, but would play only fourteen more games for them.

Larry Milbourne would play seven more games for the Twins, then be traded to Cleveland.  Officially, he played for both the Twins and the Indians on this day, June 9.  Cleveland’s game on this date was suspended, and would be completed after he was traded.

Amos Otis is another fine player who’s been largely forgotten.  He made five all-star teams, won three Gold Gloves, and received MVP votes five times, finishing in the top ten four of those times.  He was very durable, playing over 140 games nine times.  He led the league in stolen bases once and in doubles twice.  Over seventeen seasons he batted .277/.343/.425 with 193 home runs and 341 stolen bases.  An excellent all-around ballplayer.

Record:  Kansas City was 32-21, in first place in the AL West, 1.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 90-72, in second place, three games behind California.

The Twins were 13-46, in sixth (last) place in the AL West, twenty-two games behind Kansas City.  They would finish 60-102 in sixth place, thirty-three games behind California.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 37-42 (.468).