MINNESOTA TWINS 4, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 1 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Sunday, August 20, 1972.

Batting stars:  Bobby Darwin was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer (his sixteenth) and a walk.  Steve Braun was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-4.  Glenn Borgmann was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Ray Corbin pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out eight.

Opposition stars:  Terry Crowley hit a home run, his eighth.  Roric Harrison pitched 7.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out seven.

The game:  The Twins jumped on Baltimore starter Mike Cuellar for three runs in the first inning.  Cesar Tovar led off with a single, Steve Braun hit a one-out single, and Bobby Darwin blasted a three-run homer to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.

It became a pitchers’ duel after that, but it’s always good to start a pitchers’ duel with a 3-0 lead.  Boog Powell led off the second with a double but was stranded at third.  Bobby Darwin drew a two-out walk in the third and Danny Thompson followed with a single, but nothing came of it.  The Twins put two on in the fifth as well, when Steve Braun walked and Darwin singled with one out, but again the runners were stranded.

Terry Crowley put Balitmore on the board in the fifth with a leadoff homer, cutting the lead to 3-1.  It stayed 3-1 until the seventh, when Rod Carew hit a one-out single, stole second, and scored on a Steve Braun double, making it 4-1.  The Orioles did not get a man past first base after that, and the Random Twins’ losing streak was over!

WP:  Ray Corbin (7-6).

LP:  Mike Cuellar (12-10).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rich Reese was at first base in place of Harmon Killebrew.  Steve Braun was at third base, a position he shared that season with Eric Soderholm.  Steve Brye, who mostly played in left, was in center.  Bobby Darwin, who mostly played center, was in right.  Cesar Tovar, who mostly played in right, was in left.  Perhaps the configuration of the ballpark had to do with that, but that’s speculation.

Rod Carew was batting .312.  He would finish with a league-leading .318.  Steve Braun was batting .303.  He would finish at .289.

Ray Corbin had an ERA of 2.43.  He would finish at 2.62.

Don Baylor was in center field for Baltimore and went 1-for-4.  He would play for the Twins at the end of the 1987 season.  Terry Crowley would be the Twins’ batting coach from 1991-1998.

We think of the 1960s as low offense, but things hadn’t improved a lot by 1972.  The league average ERA was 3.06.  Boston led the league with 604 runs scored, a total which beat only the White Sox in 2024.  The American League would introduce the designated hitter the next year to increase offense.

Bobby Darwin and Terry Crowley, both of whom homered in this game, share a birthday, February 16.

I don’t know if Mike Cuellar wasn’t feeling well or if Earl Weaver just had a quick hook, but Cuellar was out after a third of an inning, facing just five batters.  Roric Harrison, in his rookie season, took over and pitched through the eighth.  Cuellar would not miss a start, so if it was illness or injury it was short-lived.

Record:  Baltimore was 61-54, in second place in the AL East, 1.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 80-74, in third place, five games behind Detroit.

The Twins were 60-52, in third place in the AL West, five games behind Chicago and Oakland.  They would finish 77-77, in third place, 15.5 games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 27-32 (.458).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS 3, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN TORONTO

Date:  Monday, August 1, 1988.

Batting star:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Jesse Barfield was 2-for-2 with two doubles and a walk.  Manny Lee was 2-for-4.  George Bell hit a three-run homer, his fifteenth.  Dave Stieb pitched eight innings, giving up one run on three hits and one walk and striking out six.

The game: Only one man reached second base in the first four innings, a two-out double in the second by Jesse Barfield.  The Twins got on the board in the fifth, though.  Kent Hrbek led off with a single and Gary Gaetti walked.  With two out, Steve Lombardozzi delivered an RBI single to put the Twins up 1-0.

Toronto threatened in the fifth when Barfield led off with a double and Sil Campusano got an infield single with one out, but the runners were stranded.  The Twins did not have the same luck in the eighth, however.  With two out, Tony Fernandez and Manny Lee singled.  Frank Viola was replaced by Jeff Reardon, who gave up a three-run homer to George Bell.

That was pretty much the ball game.  Kent Hrbek hit a two-out single in the ninth, but that was it, and it stayed 3-1 Toronto.

WP:  Dave Stieb (11-7).

LP:  Frank Viola (16-4).

S:  Tom Henke (19).

Notes:  Kirby Puckett was batting .355.  He would finish at .356.  Gary Gaetti was batting .305.  He would finish at .301.  

Frank Viola had an ERA of 2.32.  He would finish at 2.64 and win the Cy Young Award.  Jeff Reardon had an ERA of 2.68.  He would finish at 2.47.

Sal Butera caught for Toronto and went 1-for-3.  He had played for the Twins from 1980-1982 and also in 1987.

The Twins had only four hits, all singles.

It seems like George Bell has pretty much been forgotten, but he was a really good ballplayer.  He won the MVP in 1987, when he led the league in RBIs.  He got MVP votes five other times, finishing in the top ten three times and in the top five twice.  He also won three Silver Slugger awards.  He drove in more than a hundred runs four times and hit over twenty homers eight times.  His career numbers are .278/.316/.478 with 265 home runs in 12 major league seasons.  He’s not a Hall of Famer or anything, but he was a force in the middle of the lineup for quite a while.

Tom Henke was also really good.  He had an ERA of under three in ten of his fourteen major league seasons.  He also had a WHIP of under 1.2 in ten of his fourteen major league seasons.  He had 311 saves, leading the league in 1987 with 34.  Even in his last year, at age thirty-seven, he had an ERA of 1.82 and a WHIP of 1.10 with 36 saves.  He didn’t retire because he couldn’t do it anymore–he retired because he was tired of the baseball life and truly did want to spend more time with his family.  It’s rare in baseball that someone is able to retire on his own terms like that.

Record:  Toronto was 52-54, tied for fifth with Milwaukee in the AL East, 10.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish at 87-75, tied for third with Milwaukee, two games behind Boston.

The Twins were 57-46, in second place in the AL West, 6.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, thirteen games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-32 (.448).

OAKLAND ATHLETICS 7, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 7, 1982.

Batting star:  Gary Ward was 3-for-4.  Ron Washington hit a home run, his fifth.

Pitching star:  Jeff Little struck out five in three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  The Twins missed a chance to score in the second.  Kent Hrbek led off with a walk and Gary Ward doubled, but Hrbek was thrown out trying to score.  The Twins still had Ward on third with one out, but a pair of ground outs to third ended the inning.  

That was as good as it would get for the Twins.  In the third, Jeff Newman walked, Jimmy Sexton singled, and Dwayne Murphy hit an RBI double to put Oakland up 1-0.  It went to 4-0 in the fourth.  Tony Armas led off with a single and Wayne Gross homered.  Davey Lopes then singled, stole second, and scored on a one-out single by Jeff Newman.  They scored again in the fifth when singles by Armas and Gross were followed by a walk.

The Twins threatened in the fifth when Tim Laudner hit a two-out triple and again in the sixth when Bobby Mitchell singled and Ron Washington walked with one out, but neither threat produced a run.  The Athletics tallied two more in the seventh.  Armas led off with a home run, followed by a walk to Gross and a Lopes single.  A wild pitch advanced the runners and Jeff Burroughs walked to load the bases.  With one out, Jimmy Sexton hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-0.

The Twins’ lone run came in the ninth when Ron Washington led off with a home run.  They got one-out singles by Jesus Vega and Gary Ward, but a line drive double play ended the game.

WP:  Matt Keough (9-15).

LP:  Bobby Castillo (5-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  Ron Washington was at second base in place of John Castino.  Mickey Hatcher was the DH.  Randy Johnson played the most games at DH with 66, followed by Jesus Vega (39) and Hatcher (29).

Kent Hrbek was batting .321.  He would finish at .301.

Dave McKay came in late in the game at second base, replacing Davey Lopes.  He had played for the Twins in 1975-1976.

Despite this game, Bobby Castillo was the closest thing the 1982 Twins had to an ace.  He went 13-11, 3.66, 1.28 WHIP.  A reliever most of his career, he moved into the Twins rotation in late May.  There’s no significant difference between his relief stats and his starting stats.  He’s best remembered now for teaching Fernando Valenzuela to throw the screwball.

This was the first triple of Tim Laudner’s career and the only one he would hit in 1982.  That tied his career season high, as he never hit more than one triple in a season.  He hit five in his career.

Three Jeffs played in this game:  Jeff Burroughs, Jeff Little, and Jeff Newman.  That may be close to the record for most Jeffs in one game.

Matt Keough would lead the league in losses with 18.  He also would lead the league in earned runs allowed (133) and home runs allowed (38).  His ERA was 5.72 and his WHIP was 1.60.  Still, he made 34 starts and pitched 209.1 innings.

Record:  Oakland was 48-63, in fifth place in the AL West, 15 games behind California.  They would finish 68-94, in fifth place, 25 games behind California.

The Twins were 38-72, in seventh place in the AL West, 24.5 games behind California.  They would finish 60-102, in seventh place, 33 games behind California.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-31 (.456).

CALIFORNIA ANGELS 2, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Sunday, July 23, 1967

Batting stars:  None.  The Twins had three hits, all singles.

Pitching stars:  Dean Chance pitched six innings, giving up two unearned runs on four hits and a walk and striking out three.  Ron Kline pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Roger Repoz was 2-for-4.  Jack Hamilton pitched six innings, giving up one run on two hits and five walks and striking out four.  Minnie Rojas pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  California scored both of their runs in the third inning.  Bobby Knoop reached on an error, was bunted to second, and scored on a single by Jose Cardenal.  Cardenal then stole second, was wild pitched to third, and stole home, giving the Angels a 2-0 lead.

The Twins, meanwhile, did not have a hit through three innings.  They did not get a hit in the fourth, either, but still scored.  Cesar Tovar led off with a walk.  With one out, Harmon Killebrew and Rich Reese walked, loading the bases.  Zoilo Versalles hit a sacrifice fly, and the lead was cut to 2-1.

The Twins were held hitless until the seventh, when Zoilo Versalles and Russ Nixon led off with singles.  A bunt moved runners to second and third.  A strikeout made two out, Rod Carew was intentionally walked, and a ground out ended the inning.  The Twins got one more hit in the ninth, a single by Bob Allison, but he never moved past first base, and the game ended 2-1.

WP:  Jack Hamilton (7-1).

LP:  Dean Chance (11-8).

S:  Minnie Rojas (19).

Notes:  Russ Nixon was behind the plate in place of Jerry Zimmerman.  Earl Battey, who would’ve been the regular catcher, was injured much of the season.  Cesar Tovar was at third base.  He played 72 games there–Rich Rollins had the most, with 97.  Rich Reese, normally a first baseman, was in left field, one of just ten games he played there, in place of Bob Allison.

Rod Carew was batting .301.  He would finish at .292.

Dean Chance had an ERA of 2.61.  He would finish at 2.73.

Don Mincher was at first base for California, going 1-for-4.  He was an original Twin and played for them through 1966.  He was part of the trade through which the Twins acquired Dean Chance.  Jimmie Hall was in right field for California, going 0-for-2 with a walk.  He played for the Twins from 1963-1966 and was part of that same trade.

The Twins drew seven walks but had only three hits, all singles.  They stranded eight and were 0-for-6 with men in scoring position.

This was the only season Ron Kline would pitch for the Twins.  It was a good one–he went 7-1, 3.7, 1.20 WHIP in 71.2 innings (54 games).  He came up to the big leagues in 1952 at age 20, missed two seasons for military service, then played through 1970.  He was primarily a starter through 1961, and made occasional starts through 1963, going to the bullpen full-time after that.  He became mayor of his hometown of Callery, Pennsylvania after his playing career ended.

Minnie Rojas had an undistinguished minor league career with the Giants in the early sixties.  He then went to the Mexican League for two years, and when he came back he was a completely different pitcher.  He had excellent seasons for the Angels in 1966 and 1967.  He had a down year in 1968, although he wasn’t terrible.  By then, though, he was thirty-four, and the Angels let him go.  He played one more year in Mexico, and surely could have played more, but in March of 1970 he was severely injured in an auto accident.  It killed two of his children and left him with a severed spinal cord.  Through physical therapy he was able to regain some use of his upper body, but could not walk again.  He passed away in Los Angeles in March of 2002.

Record:  California was 53-44, in third place in the AL, two games behind Chicago.  They would finish 84-77, in fifth place, 7.5 games behind Boston.

The Twins were 49-43, in fifth place in the AL, 3.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second place with Detroit, one game behind Boston.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-30 (.464).