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).

MINNESOTA TWINS 5, MILWAUKEE BREWERS 4 IN MINNESOTA (15 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, May 13, 1972.

Batting stars:  Eric Soderholm was 3-for-6 with a two-run homer (his first), a double, and two runs.  Rod Carew was 3-for-6 with a walk.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with two walks.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched nine innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out eight.  Tom Norton pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Dave LaRoche struck out three in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Brock Davis was 2-for-3.  George Scott hit a two-run homer, his second.  Mike Ferraro hit a home run, his first.  Earl Stephenson pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Frank Linzy struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.  Jim Slaton pitched 5.2 innings of relief, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  Brock Davis led off the game with a single and George Scott hit a one-out two-run homer, giving Milwaukee the early 2-0 lead.  It didn’t last long, as the Twins tied it up in the bottom of the first.  Cesar Tovar led off the bottom of the first with a single and Danny Thompson walked.  Rod Carew followed with an RBI single, putting men on first and third.  A double play followed, but the tying run scored and it was 2-2 after one.

Jim Nettles led off the third with a walk and Eric Soderholm singled.  The next two batters went out, but Cesar Tovar delivered an RBI single, putting the Twins up 3-2.  It stayed 3-2 until the eighth.  Dave May led off with a single, was bunted to second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out to re-tie it 3-3.

The Twins missed a chance to win it in the ninth.  Eric Soderholm led off with a double and was bunted to third.  Steve Braun and Cesar Tovar were intentionally walked, loading the bases.  The strategy worked, as a short fly ball and a ground out followed, and the game went to extra innings.

In 1972 men were men, and the thought of a “ghost runner”, if anyone had been crazy enough to think of it, would have been laughed at.  Each team went down in order in the tenth and eleventh.  In the twelfth Rod Carew singled with two out and Rich Reese walked, but a ground out ended the inning.

Neither team advanced a man past first until the fifteenth, when Mike Ferraro led off with a home run to give the Brewers a 4-3 advantage.  It looked bad for the Twins, as the first two men in the bottom of the fifteenth went out.  But then Jim Nettles drew a walk and Eric Soderholm hit a walk-off two run homer.  The Twins win 5-4!

WP:  Dave LaRoche (1-1).

LP:  Jim Slaton (1-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Phil Roof was behind the plate.  He and George Mitterwald each caught 61 games, with Glenn Borgmann right behind at 56.  Rich Reese was at first base in place of Harmon Killebrew.  Charlie Manuel was in left.  Steve Brye played 74 games there, with Cesar Tovar behind with 41.  Jim Nettles was in center.  Bobby Darwin played 86 games there, with Nettles second with 58.

Steve Braun was batting .355.  He would finish at .289.  Rod Carew was batting .325.  He would finish at a league-leading .318.

Bert Blyleven had an ERA of 2.75.  He would finish at 2.73.  Tom Norton had an ERA of 1.42.  He would finish at 2.78.  Dave LaRoche had an ERA of 1.14.  He would finish at 2.83.

John Briggs was at first base, going 0-for-3.  He would play for the Twins in 1975.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate, going 0-for-3.  He had played for the Twins in 1963 and again from 1970-1971.  

This was the second career home run for Eric Soderholm.  He would hit 102 in a nine-year career.

This was the only season Tom Norton played in the major leagues.  He played in 21 games, all in relief, and went 0-1, 2.78, 1.39 WHIP.  He had never pitched above AA before this season, and would never pitch well above AA after it, going 6-6, 5.14, 1.74 WHIP in 105 AAA innings.

Jim Lonborg was the Milwaukee starter.  This would be his only season in Milwaukee.  He had won the Cy Young award in 1967 for Boston, and would go on to have some good years for Philadelphia.

It’s interesting that Milwaukee manager Dave Bristol allowed Jim Slaton to pitch the fifteenth, after having already pitched five relief innings, rather than going to someone else once they had the lead.  Bristol would be fired about a week and a half later, although I don’t know that this decision had anything to do with that.

Even though it went fifteen innings, the game only took three hours and thirty-six minutes.

Record:  Milwaukee was 6-13, in sixth (last) place in the AL East, six games behind Detroit.  They would finish 65-91, in sixth place, twenty-one games behind Detroit.

The Twins were 15-5, in first place in the AL West, 2.5 games ahead of Oakland.  They would finish 77-77, in third place, 15.5 games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 37-41 (.474).

BALTIMORE ORIOLES 3, MINNESOTA TWINS 2, MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, July 18, 2005.

Batting star:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3.  Joe Mauer was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Carlos Silva pitched nine innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out two.  He threw 85 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Rafael Palmeiro was 3-for-5 with a double.  Melvin Mora was 2-for-5.  Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer, his tenth.  Miguel Tejada hit a home run, his twentieth.  Erik Bedard struck out seven in six shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks.  Jorge Julio struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Twins got a walk and a single with two out in the first.  Rafael Palmeiro led off the second with a double.  Nick Punto led off the fifth with a double.  Still, it was 0-0 until the seventh, when Palmeiro hit a one-out single and Sammy Sosa followed with a two-run homer, giving Baltimore a 2-0 lead.

The Twins got one back in the bottom of the seventh when Michael Cuddyer hit a one-out double and scored on a two-out single by Luis Rodriguez.  In the ninth, Torii Hunter led off with a double and Bret Boone followed with a single to tie it 2-2.

In the tenth Joe Mauer got a one-out single and went to second on a ground out, but that was as far as he would go.  With two out in the eleventh, Miguel Tejada hit a home run to put the Orioles up 3-2.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the eleventh.

WP:  Jorge Julio (3-2).

LP:  Juan Rincon (4-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at first base in place of Justin Morneau.  Bret Boone was at second base.  Nick Punto played the most games there with 73, followed by Luis Rivas at 53 and Luis Rodriguez with 40.  Punto was at third base.  Cuddyer played the most games there with 95.  Lew Ford was in right in place of Jacque Jones.

Luis Rodriguez was batting .307.  He would finish at .269.  Joe Mauer was batting .307.  He would finish at .294.

Juan Rincon had an ERA of 2.51.  He would finish at 2.45.

This was one of fourteen games Bret Boone would play for the Twins.  His RBI was one-third of his total with the club.  He would be released at the end of July and would not play in the majors again.  He did attempt a comeback in 2008 with Washington, but did not get past AAA.

Carlos Silva issued one of his nine walks all season in this game.  Two of the walks were intentional.

From 2005-2011, Erik Bedard was 50-40, 3.54, 1.27 WHIP.  He had trouble staying healthy, but when he could pitch he was really good.

Record:  Baltimore was 50-42, tied for second place with Boston in the AL East, a half game behind New York.  They would finish 74-88, in fourth place, twenty-one games behind New York.  They went 24-46 after this game.

The Twins were 49-42, in second place in the AL Central, thirteen games behind Chicago.  They would finish 83-79, in third place, sixteen games behind Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 36-41 (.468).