MINNESOTA TWINS 10, KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS 6 IN KANSAS CITY (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, April 24, 1961.

Batting stars:  Reno Bertoia was 3-for-4 with two walks and three runs.  Earl Battey was 3-for-6 with a double, three runs, and three RBIs.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-6.  Bob Allison was 2-for-6.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched five innings, giving up two runs on two hits and five walks and striking out one.  Ray Moore struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Marv Throneberry hit a three-run homer, his second.  Don Larsen pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits and six walks and striking out five.

The game:  The Twins had two men on in four of the first five innings, getting four hits, three walks, and a hit batsman, but the game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when Kansas City broke through for two runs.  With two out, Marv Throneberry and Joe Pignatano walked, and RBI singles by Don Larsen and Dick Howser made it 2-0.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth, getting three runs on just two hits.  With one out, Earl Battey and Reno Bertoia singled and Billy Gardner walked.  Elmer Valo then reached on an error, scoring a run.  With two out, Lenny Green and Don Mincher drew bases-loaded walks, putting the Twins up 3-2.

The Athletics came back in the eighth.  Jerry Lumpe reached on an error and was bunted to second.  Norm Siebern reached on an error, putting men on first and third, and a ground out tied the score.  Andy Carey singled, and Marv Throneberry hit a three-run homer, giving Kansas City a 6-3 lead.

But the Twins staged their own comeback in the ninth.  With one out, Earl Battey and Reno Bertoia singled and Billy Gardner walked, just like in the sixth inning.  A ground out scored a run, Zoilo Versalles delivered an RBI single, and an error brough home the tying run.  The Athletics had two on with two out in the ninth, but did not score, and the game went to an extra inning.

In the tenth, Don Mincher reached on an error, Bob Allison singled, and Dan Dobbek reached on an error, loading the bases.  Earl Battey then delivered a bases-clearing double and Reno Bertoia followed with an RBI double, putting the Twins up 10-6.  Kansas City went down in order in the bottom of the tenth and the victory went to the visitors.

WP:  Ray Moore (1-1).

LP:  Bud Daley (1-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Don Mincher was at first base in place of Harmon Killebrew.  Billy Gardner was at second base in place of Billy Martin.  Reno Bertoia was at third.  Bill Tuttle played the most games there with 85.  Killebrew was second with 45, followed by Ted Lepcio with 35.

Earl Battey was batting .333.  He would finish at .302.  Zoilo Versalles was batting .319.  He would finish at .280.  Paul Giel was batting 1.000 (1-for-1).  He would finish at .500 (1-for-2).

Jim Kaat had an ERA of 2.19.  He would finish at 3.90.  Paul Giel had an ERA of 3.00.  He would finish at 9.78.

Bill Tuttle would be traded to the Twins, along with a player to be named later, on June 1 and would play for them through 1963.  Paul Giel and Reno Bertoia were sent to Kansas City in that trade.  The player to be named later would be Giel, who was sent back to the Twins on June 10.

Paul Giel is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1953, losing out to Johnny Lattner.  He would go on to be the athletic director for the University of Minnesota.

The Don Larsen who played in this game is the Don Larsen who threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series.  He had been traded to Kansas City after the 1959 season and would be traded to the White Sox on June 10 of 1961.

Marv Throneberry would be traded to Baltimore on June 8.  Baltimore would trade him to the Mets on May 9, 1962.  He would go on to fame as “Marvelous Marv”, emblematic of the futility of the 1962 Mets team.  He really wasn’t a terrible player–in parts of seven seasons he batted .237/.311/.416.  Not great numbers, but there are certainly plenty of people who’ve done worse.

As you know, both Billy Martin and Billy Gardner would go on to manage the Twins.  Jim Lemon, who played left for the Twins, would manage Washington in 1968.  Dick Howser, who played short for Kansas City, managed the Yankees in 1980 and the Kansas City Royals from 1981-1986.  Billy Gardner would succeed him as manager.  Haywood Sullivan, who came in to catch later in the game for Kansas City, managed the Athletics in 1965.  Joe Pignatano, who started at catcher for Kansas City, was a long-time coach for several teams.  

The two teams combined for seventeen walks and seven errors in this game.  Neither team was very good in 1961, but one suspects weather may have been a factor as well.

Record:  Kansas City was 2-5, in ninth place in the American League, five games behind Detroit.  They would finish 61-100, tied for ninth with Washington, 47.5 games behind New York.

The Twins were 8-2, in second place in the American League, a half game behind Detroit.  They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, thirty-eight games behind New York.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 36-40 (.474).

SEATTLE MARINERS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Sunday, April 14, 1985.

Batting star:  Mickey Hatcher was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Tom Klawitter pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Al Cowens was 3-for-4.  Mike Moore pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  The Twins put two on in the first but did not score.  They got a pair of one-out singles in the third, but the game remained scoreless.  Seattle got a pair of two-out singles in the fourth, but similarly were held off the scoreboard.  The Twins got two two-out singles in the seventh, but it was still 0-0.

Seattle finally broke through in the seventh.  With one out, Al Cowens doubled and Jim Presley was intentionally walked.  With two out, Spike Owen singled home the game’s first run and Harold Reynolds walked to load the bases.  Rick Lysander then came in to replace starter Frank Viola and gave up a three-run triple to Phil Bradley.  Alvin Davis followed with an RBI single and the Mariners led 5-0.

The Twins got one back in the eighth when Tom Brunansky doubled with two out and scored on a Mike Stenhouse single.  But the last four Twins went out and the Mariners won it, 5-1.

WP:  Mike Moore (2-0).

LP:  Frank Viola (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Mike Stenhouse was the DH.  Roy Smalley had the most games in that spot with 56, followed by Dave Engle (38) and Randy Bush (28).

Mickey Hatcher was batting .407.  He would finish at .282.  Tom Brunansky was batting .368.  He would finish at .242.  Mike Stenhouse was batting .333.  He would finish at .223.  Kirby Puckett was batting .333.  He would finish at .288.

Tom Klawitter had an ERA of 0.00.  He would finish at 6.75.

This was the only full season Mike Stenhouse had in the major leagues.  He played in 81 games, got 179 at-bats, and batted .223/.330/.335.  He also played for Montreal from 1982-1984 and for Boston in 1986.

This was Tom Klawitter’s first major league game.  He would appear in six more, never to return.  Speculation at the time was that the main reason he made the team was that Billy Gardner enjoyed making the “claw” gesture when he wanted him to come into a game.  Given the Twins’ pitching staff in 1985, it was probably as good a reason as any.

This was Rick Lysander’s last season in the majors. He’d pitched decently in relief for the Twins in 1983-1984, but it fell apart for him this season.

Mike Moore made thirty-two starts or more every season from 1984-1993.  He pitched over 200 innings in each of those seasons except 1990, when he pitched 199.1.  He finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting twice, finishing third in 1989 (behind Bret Saberhagen and teammate Dave Stewart).  He made 440 starts over a fourteen year career, an average of 31.4 per season.  His career numbers aren’t spectacular by any means:  161-176, 4.39, 1.42 WHIP.  He’s doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame, or even in the Hall of Very Good.  But he was a guy you were happy to have in your rotation for fourteen seasons.

Record:  Seattle was 6-0, in first place in the AL West, three games ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 74-88, in fifth place, seventeen games behind Kansas City.

The Twins were 2-4, tied for third place in the AL West with California and Oakland, four games behind Seattle.  They would finish 77-85, tied for fourth with Oakland, fourteen games behind Kansas City.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 34-40 (.459).