Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

1 Comment

MILWAUKEE 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Tuesday, June 23.

Batting star:  George Mitterwald was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Phil Roof was 2-for-3 with a home run, his sixth.  Roberto Pena was 2-for-4.  Bobby Bolin pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.  Dave Baldwin struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases in the second inning but did not score.  In the bottom of the second, Dave May singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Pena's single to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

The Twins put two on with one out in the third but again did not score.  They got on the board in the fifth, as Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Jim Holt single.  The Twins took the lead in the sixth when Bob Allison singled and Mitterwald hit a two-out two-run homer, making it 3-1 MInnesota.

The Brewers had two on in the fifth and again in the sixth but did not score.  Roof homered leading off the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2.  It was still 3-2 in the ninth.  Roof was hit by a pitch with one out and Tommy Harper walked with two out.  Ron Perranoski then came in to face pinch-hitter Gus Gil.  Gil hit a double to left, scoring both runners, and Milwaukee took the win, 4-3.

WP:  Baldwin (2-0).

LP:  Tom Hall (2-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was again in right in place of Tony Oliva.  Allison was again in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  So as not to spoiler it, I haven't checked if Bill Rigney continued to use the light-hitting Quilici to replace Carew or if he went a different direction.  We'll see as the series goes on.  With Quilici in the starting lineup, Rigney did not use a defensive replacement for Harmon Killebrew at third base.

Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .301.  Hall gave up two runs in 2.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.70.

Quilici was 0-for-3 and was batting .172.

The Brewers used six pinch-hitters in the game:  Ted Savage, Gil, Danny Walton, Mike Hershberger, Tito Francona, and Jerry McNertney.  They also used a pinch-runner, Max Alvis.  I miss the days when teams had enough bench players that they could do stuff like that.

With the recent election, the 1970 Twins had five Hall-of-Famers:  Blyleven, Carew, Kaat, Killebrew, and Oliva.  I'm sure that's nowhere near the record, but it's still impressive.

The Twins were now 2-3 on their eleven-game road trip.

Record:  The Twins were 40-22, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 7

Denny Galehouse (1911)
Dick Donovan (1927)
Hal Smith (1930)
Don Cardwell (1935)
Bo Belinsky (1936)
Alex Johnson (1942)
Johnny Bench (1947)
Ozzie Virgil (1956)
Shane Mack (1963)
Tino Martinez (1967)
Eric Chavez (1977)
Saul Rivera (1977)
Mark Payton (1991)

Mark Payton was drafted by the Twins in the thirty-first round in 2010 but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 7 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-one

2 Comments

MINNESOTA 4, MILWAUKEE 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Monday, June 22.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his eighteenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on five hits and one walk and striking out five.  Ron Perranoski pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Tommy Harper was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twelfth), a double, and two runs.  Ken Sanders retired all five men he faced, striking out one.  John Gelnar pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins drew a pair of two-out walks in the first but stranded them.  In the bottom of the first Harper led off with a double, took third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.  The Twins put two on with one out in the third, but a double play took them out of the inning.

The Twins tied it in the fourth when Bob Allison walked and scored from first on a Leo Cardenas double.  The Twins took the lead in the fifth when Tovar went to second on a single-plus-error, Frank Quilici walked, and Killebrew hit a three-run homer to make it a 4-1 game.

Milwaukee did not get a man past first in innings two through eight.  In the ninth, Ted Savage singled and Harper hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 4-3.  Perranoski then came in and retired the next three men to end the game.

WP:  Kaat (6-5).

LP:  Gene Brabender (3-9).

S:  Perranoski (17).

Notes:  Allison was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt was in right field in place of Tony Oliva, who apparently was dealing with a minor injury.

The most significant thing that happened, though, was that Rod Carew had his knee torn up while turning a double play in the fourth inning.  He would not return for three months.  He was batting .376 when he was injured.

Killebrew was batting .306.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.79.

Quilici was 1-for-1 and was batting .182.

This was the last year of Brabender's five-year career.  He had been a good pitcher for Baltimore from 1966-1968.  He pitched 289.2 innings for them in 82 games (30 starts) and went 16-14, 3.39, 1.21 WHIP.  He did not do as well in Seattle in 1969, however, and was awful for Milwaukee in 1970--6-15, 6.02, 1.60 WHIP.  He somehow lost his control when he left Baltimore--he walked 3.1 per nine there, 4.6 per nine in Seattle, and 5.1 per nine in Milwaukee.  He apparently had a sore shoulder, which may have contributed to the problem.  He passed away in 1996 at the young age of fifty-five, due to a brain aneurysm.

Record:  The Twins were 40-21, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 6

Jocko Conlan (1899)
Tony Lazzeri (1903)
Stan Hack (1909)
Dan Dobbek (1934)
Tony Horton (1944)
Larry Bowa (1945)
Tim Foli (1950)
Chuck Baker (1952)
Gary Ward (1953)
Juan Carlos Oliva (1954)
Steve Bedrosian (1957)
Larry Sheets (1959)
Kevin Campbell (1964)
Kevin Appier (1967)
Jose Contreras (1971)
Chris Basak (1978)
Jason Bulger (1978)
Adam Eaton (1988)

Jocko Conlan played two seasons of major league baseball, but is best known as a National League umpire from 1941-1965.

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva was a star pitcher in Cuba and later became a successful pitching coach there.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 6 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 11, KANSAS CITY 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, June 21.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and three runs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Keough was 2-for-4 with a double.  Lou Piniella was 2-for-4.  Al Fitzmorris pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  The Twins opened the scoring in the second.  Allison led off with an infield hit.  While Rick Renick was batting, Allison somehow went to second on an error on the shortstop.  He then stole third and scored on a throwing error on the catcher, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.

The Twins put two on in the third but did not score.  In the fourth, however, the Twins took control of the game.  Allison reached on an error and Renick walked.  Cardenas delivered a two-run single-plus error, taking second on the play.  Reese singled, putting men on first and third, and George Mitterwald singled home a run.  A bunt moved the runners up and a sacrifice fly brought home one more, making it 5-0 Twins.  Killebrew homered leading off the fifth to make it 6-0.

The Royals had only one hit through the first six innings.  In the seventh, consecutive two-out singles by Bob Oliver, Keough, Piniella, and Ed Kirkpatrick brought home two runs and chased Perry from the game.  Perranoski came in to retire Hawk Taylor and keep the score 6-2.

The Twins put it away with five in the ninth.  Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Carew single.  Killebrew walked and Allison was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  An error brought home one run and Cardenas hit a three-run double to bring us to the final score of 11-2.

WP:  Perry (10-5).

LP:  Bill Butler (2-6).

S:  Perranoski (16).

Notes:  Allison was in right field, giving Tony Oliva his first day off of the season.  Renick was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt replaced Renick in the seventh inning.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.

Carew was 7-for-12 in his last three games and raised his average to .378.  Perry was 1-for-2 and was batting .368.  Killebrew was batting .305.  Perry had an ERA of 2.82.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.82.

I really don't know how Allison got to second in the second inning.  The play-by-play says "Baserunner Advance; Allison to 2B/Adv on E6".  My best guess is that he was trying to steal second and would've been out, but the shortstop dropped/missed the throw.  The catcher should get an assist on that, though, and nothing indicates that he did.

It seems strange to bring your closer into a game in the seventh inning of a 6-2 game, but of course it would not have been nearly has strange in 1970.  Plus, the game was arguably on the line--Kansas City had just scored two runs and had two men on.  On the other hand, the batter was Hawk Taylor, who wasn't exactly Babe Ruth--a career .218 average with a career OPS of .578.  Today they surely would've brought someone else in to pitch the ninth, with the Twins leading 11-2, but that just wasn't the way they did things back then.  At that time, they figured, Perranoski hasn't pitched since June 15, he's all warmed up, he might as well finish it up.

The Royals starter, Butler, would pitch for the Twins in 1974-1975 and 1977.  In this game, he pitched six innings, giving up six runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks and striking out three.  Kansas City made five errors in the game, leading to four unearned runs.  They had made three errors in yesterday's game and two in the game before that, making ten for the series.  Yet, they won two out of three.

The Twins would now head for Milwaukee for the next leg of their three-city road trip.

Record:  The Twins were 39-21, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.