MINNESOTA TWINS 6, LOS ANGELES ANGELS 0, IN LOS ANGELES
Date: Wednesday, July 19, 1961 (Game 1).
Batting star: Bob Allison was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his eighteenth and nineteenth) and four RBIs. Earl Battey was 3-for-5. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run, his twenty-eighth.
Pitching star: Camilo Pascual struck out fifteen in a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and one walk.
Opposition star: Tom Morgan pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.
The game: Bill Tuttle hit a one-out single in the first and Harmon Killebrew followed with a two-run homer. The Twins then loaded the bases with two out, but a force out ended the inning and it remained 2-0.
Los Angeles got their first two men on in the second on an error and an infield single, but the next three batters also struck out looking. In the fifth, Harmon Killebrew walked, Jim Lemon doubled, and Bob Allison hit a three-run homer to make it 5-0. Allison homered again leading off the seventh to make it 6-0.
The Angels had only one other threat, when Earl Averill and Billy Moran singled with two out. A fly to center ended the inning, and they never got a man past first base after that.
WP: Camilo Pascual (8-12).
LP: Eli Grba (5-10).
S: None.
Notes: Ted Lepcio was at second base in place of Billy Martin. Jose Valdivielso was at shortstop in place of Zoilo Versalles.
Rich Rollins was batting .364. He would finish at .294. Harmon Killebrew was batting .329. He would finish at .288. Earl Battey was batting .306. He would finish at .302.
Ron Kline pitched two innings of relief for Los Angeles. He would pitch for the Twins in 1967.
Camilo Pascual had a stretch from 1958-1964 when he was really, really good. He went 108-78, 3.05, 1.20 WHIP. He led the league in WAR twice, in complete games three times, in shutouts three times, in strikeouts three times, and in FIP once. He made seven all-star teams and received MVP votes three times. He is a member of both the Twins Hall of Fame and the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame.
This was Rich Rolllins’ rookie year and the eighth game of his career. He would be sent back to AAA after this day, coming back as a September callup. The next year he would be the Twins’ starting third baseman and make the all-star team.
Ted Lepcio was in the last year of his major league career. He played for ten seasons, but only played in 100 or more games once, in 1954 with Boston. A utility infielder, he played 388 games at second, 224 games at third, and 90 games at short. He was a better batter than many utility players, batting .245/.318/.398. He hit 69 home runs, with a career high of 15 in 1956.
Jose Valdivielso was also in the last year of his major league career. He playd for just five season, and also played in 100 or more games only once, in 1960. His entire major league career was with the Washington/Minnesota organization. He made his debut in 1955, when he somehow got a tenth-place vote for MVP despite batting .221 with an OPS of .594 in just 294 at-bats. He was part of the only all-Cuban triple play in major league baseball–a line drive to Camilo Pascual, who threw to Julio Becquer to double off one runner, who threw to Valdivielso to triple off another runner. He was a long-time Spanish-language sports broadcaster in New York after his playing career ended.
Record: Los Angeles was 38-54, in ninth place in the American League, twenty-one games behind New York. They would finish 70-91, in eighth place, 38.5 games behind New York.
The Twins were 38-53, in eighth place in the American League, 20.5 games behind New York. They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, thirty-eight games behind New York.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 40-45 (.471).