It's been a while since we did this. The Arizona Fall League is over. Scottsdale, for whom Twins prospects played, won the championship.
All posts by Jeff A
1965 Rewind: Game Fifty
CLEVELAND 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Thursday, June 10.
Batting stars: Jerry Kindall was 2-for-3 with a walk. Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Dave Boswell was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Pitching star: Johnny Klippstein pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks with two strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Sam McDowell struck out nine in eight innings, allowing one run on eight hits and five walks. Camilo Carreon was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. Leon Wagner was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.
The game: An RBI single by Vic Davalillo and Carreon's two-run homer gave the Indians a 3-0 lead in the second. The Twins got a two-out rally in the second and scored their only run on a Boswell single, but left the bases loaded. Wagner homered in the third to make it 4-1 and the scoring was over. The Twins had other chances, leaving two men on in the sixth, eighth, and ninth, but could not score again.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5. Rich Rollins was 1-for-5. Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 with two walks. Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4. Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk. Boswell pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
Record: The loss made the Twins 32-18 and cut the Twins' lead over the White Sox to 1.5 games.
Notes: McDowell would go on to lead the league with 325 strikeouts, the most of his career. He struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings. It was one of five times he would lead the league in strikeouts. It was also one of five times he would lead the league in walks (132). He also led the league in ERA for the only time in 1965.
Happy Birthday–November 24
George Burns (1889)
Billy Rogell (1904)
Joe Medwick (1911)
Danny Ozark (1923)
Bob Friend (1930)
Jim Northrup (1939)
Steve Yeager (1948)
Randy Velarde (1962)
Ben McDonald (1967)
Al Martin (1967)
Cal Eldred (1967)
Dave Hansen (1968)
Chris Herrmann (1987)
Danny Ozark was the manager of Philadelphia from 1973-1979.
1965 Rewind: Game Forty-nine
CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, June 9.
Batting stars: Jerry Kindall was 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a double. Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a double.
Pitching star: Jim Kaat pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Ralph Terry pitched eight innings, allowing one run on six hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Max Alvis was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his ninth) and a walk. Vic Davalillo was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his fourth.
The game: It was scoreless, and there really wasn't much in the way of threats, until the eighth, when Kindall led off with a double, went to third on Kaat's bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zoilo Versalles. In the ninth, Rocky Colavito drew a one-out walk which was followed by Alvis' two-run homer to give the Indians the lead. Hall got a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth but did not advance past first base.
Of note: Versalles was 0-for-3 with an RBI. Rich Rollins was 0-for-4. Tony Oliva was 1-for-4. Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4. Earl Battey was 1-for-4.
Record: The loss dropped the Twins to 32-17. They remained in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.
Notes: Ralph Terry was having the last good year of a pretty good career. His best years came with the Yankees, for whom he played from 1959-64. He went 16-3 in 1961, but his best year was 1962, when he led the league in wins with 23, in starts with 39, and in innings pitched with 298.2. He made his only all-star team that year. He also had a fine year in 1963, when he led the league in starts, complete games, and WHIP.
Happy Birthday–November 23
This is a great day for names:
Chief Zimmer (1860)
Hi Church (1863)
Socks Seybold (1870)
George Stovall (1877)
Jimmy Sheckard (1878)
Runt Marr (1891)
Freddy Leach (1897)
Beans Reardon (1897)
Bubber Jonnard (1897)
Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)
Bill Gates (1918)
Charlie Osgood (1926)
Jack McKeon (1930)
Luis Tiant (1940)
Tom Hall (1947)
Ken Schrom (1954)
Brook Jacoby (1959)
Dale Sveum (1963)
David McCarty (1969)
Adam Eaton (1977)
Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.
Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.
Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.
Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.
Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003. In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80. He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.
1965 Rewind: Game Forty-eight
MINNESOTA 6, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, June 8.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his ninth) and a double, scoring twice. Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his third) and a walk. Bob Allison was 0-for-1 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.
Pitching star: Camilo Pascual pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Rocky Colavito was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth) and a walk. Max Alvis was 1-for-4 with a home run. Vic Davalillo was 1-for-3 with a walk.
The game: Killebrew hit a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. Colavito homered in the second and Alvis in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2, but Battey hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-2. The Indians did not threaten again.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a walk, a run, and two stolen bases. Rich Rollins was 2-for-4. Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Record: The win made the Twins 32-16, in first by 2.5 games over Chicago.
Notes: Both the bench and the bullpen got the day off, as the Twins used only nine players. Cleveland starter Sonny Siebert was pulled after only one inning, allowing three runs on one hit and three walks with one strikeout. I hadn't remembered Max Alvis as a power hitter, but he hit over twenty homers three times in his career.
Happy Birthday–November 22
Harry Rice (1901)
Dick Bartell (1907)
Lew Burdette (1926)
Wade Blasingame (1943)
Rich Chiles (1946)
Greg Luzinski (1950)
Lyman Bostock (1950)
Wayne Tolleson (1955)
Lee Guetterman (1958)
Mike Benjamin (1965)
Jay Payton (1972)
Ricky Ledee (1973)
Joe Nathan (1974)
Jonny Gomes (1980)
Mike Benjamin was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in January, 1985, but did not sign.
1965 Rewind: Game Forty-seven
CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Monday, June 7.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once. Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Pitching stars: Mudcat Grant pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Jerry Fosnow pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Luis Tiant struck out nine in a complete game, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. Rocky Colavito was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a walk. Leon Wagner was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.
The game: It was scoreless until the fourth, when Grant gave up back-to-back two-out homers to Wagner and Colavito. That was the only trouble Grant got into, but it was enough. The Twins got one in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Oliva and Mincher, but did not get another hit the rest of the game.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4. Jerry Kindall was 0-for-3. Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3.
Record: The loss dropped the Twins to 31-16 and dropped their lead over Chicago to 2.5 games.
Notes: Harmon Killebrew was rested, but was used as a pinch-hitter and walked. Earl Battey remained out of the lineup, but was also used as a pinch-hitter and caught the last inning of the game.
Happy Birthday–November 21
Bobby Mathews (1851)
Charlie Bennett (1854)
Billy Clingman (1869)
Andy High (1897)
Freddie Lindstrom (1905)
Paul Richards (1908)
Stan Musial (1920)
Warren Hacker (1924)
Tom McCraw (1940)
Bill Almon (1952)
Rick Peters (1955)
Mike Mason (1958)
Mark Eichhorn (1960)
Dick Schofield (1962)
Ken Griffey (1969)
Todd Erdos (1973)
Brian Meadows (1975)
Hank Blalock (1980)
Rick Peters was drafted by Minnesota in the eighteenth round in 1973, but did not sign.
1965 Rewind: Game Forty-six
MINNESOTA 11, WASHINGTON 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, June 6.
Batting stars: Jerry Zimmerman was 3-for-4 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in three. Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times. Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.
Pitching star: Bill Pleis struck out seven in five shutout innings of relief, giving up three hits and two walks.
Opposition stars: Ed Brinkman was 2-for-2 with two walks. Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a hit-by-pitch. Steve Ridzik struck out two in two shutout innings, allowing one hit.
The game: Tony Oliva homered in the first and Zimmerman singled in a run in the second to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Each team scored once in the third, but Howard's home run in the fourth cut the lead to 3-2. Zimmerman struck again in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a two-run homer to give the Twins a 5-2 advantage. Starter Dave Boswell had given up four hits and a walk through four innings, but when he opened the fifth with a walk and a hit batsman he was replaced by Pleis. The move paid off, as Pleis struck out the next three batters and the Senators did not threaten again until the ninth, by which time the game was well in hand. A three-run seventh was highlighted by Hall's two-run double and the Twins added three more in the eighth keyed by a two-run single by Oliva.
Of note: Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Oliva was 2-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and two RBIs. Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-5 with a run. Boswell pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with no strikeouts.
Record: The win was the Twins' fourth straight and made their record 31-15. They were in first place by 3.5 games over Chicago.
Notes: Hall's 3-for-4 day raised his average to .335. Boswell went 1-for-2 and was hitting .313. Earl Battey was again out of the lineup.