DETROIT TIGERS 12, MINNESOTA TWINS 4 IN DETROIT

Date:  Friday, April 21, 1967.

Batting star:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5 with a home run (his first) and two RBIs.  Russ Nixon was 2-for-5.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.  Rod Carew hit a home run, his first.

Pitching star:  Dwight Siebler pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Jim Perry pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jim Northrup was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer (his first), a double, and two runs.  Ray Oyler was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Bill Freehan was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third) and two runs.  Al Kaline was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Denny McLain pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases in the first on an error and two walks, but did not score.  They got on the board in the third when Cesar Tovar singled and scored from first on a Tony Oliva single.  The lead lasted until the bottom of the third.  Don Wert drew a one-out walk, followed by a Gates Brown triple and an Al Kaline single, putting Detroit up 2-1.

From there it was all Tigers.  With one out in the fourth Denny McLain and Dick McAuliffe walked, followed by a Don Wert RBI single.  A run scored on an error, Al Kaline hit an RBI single, and Jim Northrup hit a three-run homer.  With two out Bill Freehan followed with another home run.  When the rally was over, Detroit led 9-1.  They added three more runs in the sixth.  Northrup singled with one out.  With two down, Freehan singled, Ray Olyler hit a two-run double, and a wild pitch scored Oyler from second, making the score 12-1.

Rod Carew hit a two-run homer in the seventh and Tony Oliva homered in the ninth, but the Twins never got back into the game.

WP:  Denny McLain (2-1).

LP:  Dave Boswell (0-1).

S:  Larry Sherry (1).

Notes:  Russ Nixon was behind the plate.  Jerry Zimmerman was the regular catcher in 1967, as Earl Battey was injured most of the season.  Cesar Tovar was in center in place of Ted Uhlaender.

Zoilo Versalles was batting .385.  He would finish at .200.  Russ Nixon was batting .333.  He would finish at .235.  Sandy Valdespino was batting .333.  He would finish at .165.  Cesar Tovar was batting .313.  He would finish at .267.  Obviously, batting averages are skewed this early in the season.

Dwight Siebler had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 3.00.

This was Rod Carew’s first career home run.  He would hit ninety-two in his career, with a high of fourteen in 1975 and 1977.

Cesar Tovar played in every game in 1967 despite not having a regular position.  He played 72 games at third base, 64 games in center field, 35 games at second base, ten games in left field, nine games at shortstop, and six games in right field.  He actually played in 164 games in 167 due to a couple of tie games.  He also led the league in at-bats and plate appearances.  He finished seventh in MVP voting that year, one of five seasons in which he received MVP votes.

As shown below, and as you probably know, the Twins lost the pennant by one game in 1967.  You have to think a healthy Earl Battey would’ve made the difference.  Jerry Zimmerman was known as a fine defender, but he batted .167/.243/.192, for an OPS of .436.  Even in the 1960s, that’s terrible.  One might also fault the Twins’ front office for not going out and getting a catcher who wasn’t an automatic out at the plate.

This was the only triple Gates Brown would hit in 1967.  He hit nineteen in his career, with a high of six in 1964.

You would be hard pressed to find a pitcher who had consecutive years better than Denny McLain in 196-1969.  As you know, he won 31 games in 1968.  But for the two years combined he was 55-15, 2.37, 1.00 WHIP.  He won the Cy Young Award both years and was the MVP in 1968.  He led the league in wins, starts (82), and innings pitched (661) in both years, led the league in WAR in 1969, and led the league in complete games in 1968 (28).  For the two years combined he had 51 complete games.

This was the next-to-last game of Dwight Siebler’s major league career.  He would appear in one more game (April 30), finish the year in AAA, and then his playing career was over.

Record:  Detroit was 6-3, in first place in the American League, one game ahead of Cleveland and New York.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second place with Minnesota, one game behind Boston.

The Twins were 2-5, in tenth place in the American League, three games behind Detroit.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second place with Detroit, one game behind Boston.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 48-47 (.505).