Random Rewind: 1970, Game 60

MINNESOTA TWINS 11, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, June 21, 1970.

Batting starBob Allison was 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a double.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew hit a home run, his seventeenth.

Pitching starJim Perry struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits.  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 gameBob Allison created a run in the second, getting an infield hit, going to second on an error, and scoring on a stolen base-plus-error.  The Twins took control of the game in the fourth.  Allison reached on an error, Rick Renick walked, and Leo Cardenas brought home two runs on a single-plus-error.  Rich Reese then singled and George Mitterwald hit an RBI single.  A bunt moved runners to second and third and a sacrifice fly brought home the fourth run of the inning, giving the Twins a 5-0 lead.  It went to 6-0 in the fifth when Harmon Killebrew led off the inning with a home run.

Kansas City did not do much in the first six innings, but got on the board in the seventh.  With two out, consecutive singles by Bob Oliver, Joe Keough, Lou Piniella, and Ed Kirkpatrick plated two runs to make the score 6-2.

The Twins added five runs in the ninth.  Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Rod Carew single.  Harmon Killebrew walked and Bob Allison was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  An error brough home one run and Leo Cardenas delivered a bases-clearing double, bringing the final score to 11-2.

WPJim Perry (10-5).

LP:  Bill Butler (2-6).

S:  None.

NotesRod Carew was the regular second baseman until the day after this game, when he was injured and missed most of the rest of the season.  He was replaced by Danny Thompson, who, while a nice person who met a sad end, was not exactly Rod Carew at the plate.  Rick Renick was in left field.  Jim Holt played the most games there (76), followed by Brant Alyea at 73 and Cesar Tovar at 45.  Bob Allison was in right field, one of only four games he played there in 1970, in place of Tony Oliva

Rod Carew was batting .378.  He would finish at .366.  Jim Perry was batting .368.  He would finish at .247.  Harmon Killebrew was batting .305.  He would finish at .271.

Jim Perry had an ERA of 2.82.  He would finish at 3.04.  Ron Perranoski had an ERA of 1.82.  He would finish at 2.43.

Joe Keough did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 1974.  Jackie Hernandez came in for defense in the ninth.  He played for the Twins from 1967-1968.

The Bill Butler who played in this game is the second-best Bill Butler in Royals history.

Record:  Kansas City was 23-40, in fourth place in the AL West, 17.5 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 65-97, tied for fourth with Milwaukee, thirty-three games behind Minnesota.

The Twins were 39-21, in first place in the AL West, four games ahead of California.  They would finish 98-64, in first place, nine games ahead of Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 34-39 (.466).

Happy Birthday–December 14

John Anderson (1873)
Lefty Tyler (1889)
Bob Weiland (1905)
Eddie Smith (1913)
Rusty Peters (1914)
Bobby Adams (1921)
Sam Jones (1925)
Bob Clear (1927)
Pete Whisenant (1929)
Jim Roland (1942)
Jerry May (1943)
Greg Goossen (1945)
Bill Buckner (1949)
Craig Biggio (1965)
Ken Hill (1965)
Scott Hatteberg (1969)
Marcus Jensen (1972)
Billy Koch (1974)
Rodrigo Lopez (1975)
Dave Gassner (1978)

Bob Clear was in baseball from 1945-1987 as a minor league player and manager, major league coach, and as a scout.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 14

Random Rewind: 2014, Game 54

MINNESOTA TWINS 7, NEW YORK YANKEES 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Sunday, June 1, 2014.

Batting starsTrevor Plouffe! was 2-for-4 with a double.  Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Josh Willingham hit a home run, his third.

Pitching stars:  Phil Hughes pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out six.  Caleb Thielbar pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Chase Whitley struck out six in five innings, giving up one run on five hits.  Dellin Betances struck out five in two perfect innings.  

The gameOswaldo Arcia led off the second with a single and Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch, but the Twins were unable to score.  In the third, however, Aaron Hicks singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Trevor Plouffe! single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

The lead lasted until the fourth.  New York got all of their hits for the game in the first three batters of the fourth inning.  Brett Gardner tripled and Derek Jeter singled to tie the score.  Jacoby Ellsbury followed with another single.  Brian McCann walked to load the bases, with still none out.  The next three batters went out, but one of them hit a sacrifice fly, putting the Yankees ahead 2-1.

It looked like it would stay there, as the Twins got only two hits in innings five through eight.  But then came the ninth.  Josh Willingham led off with a home run to tie the game at two.  Jason Kubel struck out, but Kurt Suzuki walked.  Eduardo Escobar struck out, but Aaron Hicks walked.  Brian Dozier then came through with an RBI double, giving the Twins a 3-2 lead.  Joe Mauer was intentionally walked, but Eduardo Nunez hit a two-run double to make it 5-2.  Oswaldo Arcia hit a two-run single, and the Twins had a six-run ninth to take a 7-2 lead.  Caleb Theilbar slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth, the Twins won, and there was great rejoicing.

WPPhil Hughes (6-1).

LP:  David Robertson (0-2).

S:  None.

NotesJason Kubel was in left field.  Josh Willingham played the most games there (53), with Kubel second at 36, followed by Jordan Schafer (34).  Aaron Hicks was in center.  Danny Santana played the most games there (69), with Hicks second at 57, followed by Sam Fuld (40).  Willingham was the DH.  Kennys Vargas played the most games there (40), with Kendrys Morales second at 26, followed by Josmil Pinto (21).

Eduardo Escobar was batting .317.  He would finish at .275.

Yangervis Solarte was the third baseman for the Yankees, going 0-for-3.  He was in the Twins’ farm system from 2006-2011.

2014 was the best season Phil Hughes had.  He went 16-10, 3.52, 1.13 WHIP and led the league in fewest walks per nine and strikeout/walk ratio.  He was decent in 2015, then would battle injuries and would never have a good season again.

This was the last season for Josh Willingham.  He would be traded to Kansas City in mid-August, finishing the season there.

Chase Whitley entered the Yankees rotation in mid-May.  He made seven really good starts and had an ERA of 2.56 in mid-June.  Then the roof fell in.  He was out of the rotation by late July and ended the year with an ERA of 5.23.  He would make just five more major league starts after that.  He would, however, have a decent year in the Tampa Bay bullpen in 2017.

The Yankees had Ichiro Suzuki in right field and the Twins had Kurt Suzuki behind the plate.  This ties the all-time record for most Suzukis in one game.

Record:  New York was 29-26, in second place in the AL East, 3.5 games behind Toronto.  They would finish 84-78, in second place, twelve games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 26-28, in third place in the AL Central, 5.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 70-92, in fifth (last) place, twenty games behind Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 33-39 (.458).

Happy Birthday–December 13

Jack Taylor (1873)
Hank Majeski (1916)
Larry Doby (1923)
Shotgun Shuba (1924)
Carl Erskine (1926)
Billy Loes (1929)
Bubba Morton (1931)
Lindy McDaniel (1935)
J. C. Martin (1936)
Ron Taylor (1937)
Ferguson Jenkins (1942)
Paul Boris (1955)
Dale Berra (1956)
Mike Mordecai (1967)
Matthew LeCroy (1975)
Ricky Nolasco (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to spookymilk's mom.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 13

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.