MINNESOTA 5, CALIFORNIA 3 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Tuesday, June 24.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 4-for-4 with a double.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a triple.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his ninth.

Pitching star:  Dave Boswell pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Eddie Fisher struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up three hits.  Bob Priddy pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  The Twins started the scoring in the second on Reese's RBI double.  They made it 3-0 in the third when Uhlaender singled and Oliva hit a two-run homer.

The Angels tied it with a three-run fourth.  Jim Fregosi led off with a triple and scored on a Rick Reichardt single.  Roger Repoz walked, and with one out Jim Spencer and Joe Azcue each hit an RBI single to make the score 3-3.

The Twins went into the lead to stay in the fifth.  Uhlaender doubled, went to third on Tovar's single, and scored on an infield hit by Killebrew.  They got an insurance run in the sixth when Reese led off with a single, went from first to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Cardenas, making the score 5-3.

Aurelio Rodriguez hit a one-out double in the sixth, but he was erased on a line drive double play.  California did not get a hit after that.

WP:  Boswell (9-7).  LP:  Tom Murphy (4-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Rod Carew was again not in the starting lineup, but he came in to play defense in the sixth inning.  Tovar had started the game at second and moved to center field, with Uhlaender coming out of the game.  Carew went 1-for-2 and was batting .379.

Oliva dropped his average to an even .300.  Boswell's ERA dropped to 2.88.

Charlie Manuel was the starting left fielder in this game, going 0-for-4.

Reese raised his average to .307.  It was the second consecutive game in which a Twin went 4-for-4.

Over his last three starts, Boswell had pitched 26.1 innings.  He had two complete games and went 8.1 innings in the middle game of the three.

Murphy was the California starter.  He pitched 5.1 innings and allowed all five runs on ten hits.  He did not walk anyone and struck out one.  He had faced the Twins on June 16 and had only lasted four innings.  In between, he made a start against the White Sox and allowed just one run in ten innings.

Record:  The Twins were 37-30, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by a half game.

MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 3 IN OAKLAND (GAME 2--13 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, June 22.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-6 with three doubles.  Ted Uhlaender was 3-for-6.  Rod Carew was 2-for-3.  Charlie Manuel was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-6.

Pitching stars:  Ron Perranoski pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out one.  Jim Perry pitched two scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Jim Kaat pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Tommie Reynolds was 3-for-5.  Rick Monday was 3-for-5.  Reggie Jackson was 2-for-6 with a double.  Blue Moon Odom pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.  Jim Roland pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Rollie Fingers pitched four innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the first inning, as Ted Uhlaender singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Rod Carew single.  The Athletics tied it in the second on singles by Sal Bando, Monday, and Reynolds.

Oakland forged ahead in the fourth when Jackson led off with a double and scored on Danny Cater's one-out single.  The Twins took the lead in the sixth.  Carew and Killebrew singled and Oliva doubled to tie the score.  With one out Manuel singled to bring Oliva home and put Minnesota up 3-2.  They still had men on first and third with one out, but could not add to their lead.

The Athletics tied it in the seventh.  With two out and none on, Reynolds singled, Larry Haney walked, and Mike Hershberger singled to tie it 3-3.  Each team missed chances to win in nine innings.  Oliva led off the eighth with a double but did not score.  Oakland had men on first and second with one out in the ninth, but Joe Rudi hit into a double play.  The Twins also had a chance in the eleventh, putting men on first and second with two out, but could not bring anyone across the plate.

The Twins went ahead to stay in the thirteenth.  Oliva again led off the inning with a double and went to third on a ground out.  Manuel was intentionally walked, and Jim Perry laid down a squeeze bunt to bring in the lead run.  Kaat came in to pitch and set the Athletics down in order to end the game.

WP:  Perry (6-3).  LP:  Rollie Fingers (3-4).  S:  Kaat (1).

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .380, but was removed from the game in the sixth for a pinch-runner (Cesar Tovar).  You may recall that he had come out of a game early a couple of days ago as well.  Perhaps he had some nagging injury.  He would be out of the lineup the next day, although he did pinch-hit.

Bob Miller came out of the bullpen to make his first start of the season.  It went about as well as one could expect--he went 3.1 innings and allowed two runs on eight hits and no walks and struck out two.  He actually made eleven starts in 1969 and even threw a complete game.

Perranoski had now pitched 9.2 relief innings over three days.  Perry had started the previous day's game, going 5.1 innings.  Kaat had started the first game of the doubleheader, going three innings.  Teams would use a position player to pitch and concede the game rather than do such things today.  That's not to say which is better or worse--it's simply a comment on how times change.  Of course, one of the things Billy Martin was known for was not being too concerned about blowing out a pitcher's arm.

Have I discussed Tommie Reynolds before?  If I have, I can't remember.  He was with the Kansas City Athletics from 1963-1965, mostly as a reserve.  He was in AAA all of 1966 and went to the Mets in 1967, again used in a reserve role.  He was again in AAA all of 1968 and was back with the Athletics, now in Oakland, in 1969.  This was the season he got the most playing time of his career, as he was as close to a regular left fielder as the A's had.  It was also his best season, but unfortunately for him that's not saying too much--he batted .257/.343/.308 in 315 at-bats.  He was with California from 1970-1971 and with Milwaukee in 1972.  That ended his major league career, but he was in AAA with the Brewers through 1978.  He had some fine AAA seasons for the Brewers, batting over .300 four times and posting an OPS over .800 four times, but never got another shot at the big leagues.  His major league numbers are .226/.306/.296, so I guess it's understandable why Milwaukee wasn't too anxious to give him another shot.  He was a coach with Oakland and St. Louis in the 1990s.

Record:  The Twins were 36-29, tied for first place with Oakland in the American League West, although they were second based on winning percentage, .556 to .554.

OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 3 IN OAKLAND (GAME ONE)

Date:  Sunday, June 22.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a double.  Rod Carew was 3-for-5 and scored twice.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-5 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Al Worthington pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ted Kubiak was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  Sal Bando was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his thirteenth and fourteenth), a walk, and three RBIs.  Future Twin Phil Roof was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Reggie Jackson was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-seventh), two runs, and three RBIs.  Chuck Dobson pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on eleven hits and a walk and striking out three.

The game:  The Twins got two in the first inning, as Uhlaender doubled, Carew got an infield single, and Harmon Killebrew hit a two-run double.  The Athletics matched the two runs in the bottom of the first on Bando's two-run homer.  Oakland took the lead in the third.  With two out and none on, Kubiak, Jackson, and Bando each homered to give the Athletics a 5-2 lead.

Each team missed a good chance in the fourth.  The Twins got singles from Rich Reese and Leo Cardenas, putting men on first and second with one out, but did not score.  Oakland loaded the bases with none out on two singles and a hit batsman, but a popup and a double play ended the threat.

The Twins got two within two in the fifth as Carew scored from first on Oliva's double.  The Athletics again loaded the bases in the fifth, this time with two out, and again did not score.  In the sixth, however, with men on second and third and two out, Jackson delivered a two-run single to make the score 7-3.

The Twins had men on first and second with two out in the seventh, but Reese fouled out to end the inning.  The last seven Twins were retired.

WP:  Dobson (8-5).  LP:  Jim Kaat (7-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .376.

Kaat lasted just three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out one.  As you can see above, the runs scored on four home runs.  His ERA went to 2.63.

Utility infielder Ted Kubiak was 5-for-8 with a home run and a walk over the last two games.  The home run was one of two he had in 1969 and one of just thirteen in his ten-year career.  He was not much of a batter, really--his career high in batting average was .252, in 1970 for Milwaukee, and his career best OPS was .671 in a 1971 split between Milwaukee and St. Louis.  He hit a career-high seven triples that year and also matched his career high in home runs with four, giving him a career high slugging average of .379.  He actually hit more triples (21) than home runs in his career.  In addition to the teams listed above, he played for Texas in 1972, went back to Oakland in the middle of that season and stayed through early 1975, then finished his career with San Diego in 1975-1976.  He was traded for some good players--in 1971 the Brewers sent him and minor leaguer Chuck Loseth to St. Louis for Jose Cardenal and Dick Schofield.  In 1975 he was traded to San Diego for Sonny Siebert.  His career numbers are .231/.307/.289 in 2447 at-bats.

I think it was 1973 that Oakland had a bunch of light-hitting infielders, and so briefly experimented with pinch-hitting for the second baseman whenever he came to bat.  Kubiak was part of that experiment, along with Dick Green, Mike Andrews, Dal Maxvill, and Manny Trillo.  I could have some details wrong--a quick google search did not turn up anything, so I'm going off memory and a look at the Oakland rosters from that time.  The experiment did not last long.  If anyone has time to fill in more details on this, feel free to do so.

Record:  The Twins were 35-29, in second place in the American League West, one game behind Oakland.

MINNESOTA 14, OAKLAND 4 IN OAKLAND (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, June 21.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-6 with three runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and two walks, scoring three times and driving in four.  Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-6 with a double and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out three.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit and one walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Danny Cater was 3-for-5 with a home run, his fourth.  Ted Kubiak was 2-for-5 with a stolen base.  Ex-Twin Jim Roland struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two walks.

The game:  The Athletics opened the scoring in the second with two singles and a Larry Haney sacrifice fly.  It went to 2-0 in the third when Kubiak singled, stole second, and scored on a Sal Bando single.

The Twins got on the board in the fourth when Uhlaender led off the inning with a double and scored on Killebrew's single.  The Twins put men on first and third with one out in the fifth, but a foul out and a fly ball kept them off the board.  The Twins did take the lead in the sixth.  Carew led off the inning with a single and Killebrew walked, the next two men went out, but Graig Nettles and Cardenas each came through with an RBI single to make it 3-2 Minnesota.

Oakland loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but did not score.  In the eighth, however, Cater led off with a home run to tie it 3-3.

The Twins exploded in the tenth, sending sixteen men to the plate and scoring eleven runs.  Killebrew hit a three-run homer to make it 6-3 Twins.  Far from killing the rally, it ignited it.  They did not get another extra-base hit, but they had five singles and four walks.  Oakland made three errors in the inning, and the Twins also had a stolen base.  It took a line drive double play to end the inning.  The Athletics did get on back in the bottom of the tenth.

WP:  Joe Grzenda (2-1).  LP:  Paul Lindblad (4-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .370.

Perranoski's ERA was now 1.57.

Perranoski, who had pitched 3.1 innings in the previous day's game, pitched 2.2 innings in this game.

Catfish Hunter started the game for Oakland.  He pitched six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks and striking out four.

I'm sure it's not a record, but eleven runs in an extra inning is a lot.

Paul Lindblad started the tenth inning and gave up singles to Uhlaender and Carew.  Lew Krausse then came in and gave up the three-run homer to Killebrew.  He stayed in and walked Tony Oliva, gave up a single to Cesar Tovar, walked Frank Quilici, and gave up a single to Cardenas.  Marcel Lachemann then came in for the duration, giving up four unearned runs on three hits and two walks.

Catfish Hunter had not yet become a superstar, but he was a good pitcher.  He had made the all-star team in 1966 and 1967.  He was regularly making thirty-five starts a year and pitching around two hundred fifty innings with about ten complete games.  He was posting ERAs under 3.50 and WHIPs under 1.20. He was not yet posting good won-lost records--his lifetime W-L record through 1969 was 55-64.  That would come, however.  He would go 18-14 in 1970 and then go 111-49 from 1971-1975.  He led the league in winning percentage in 1972-1973 and in wins in 1974-1975.  For his career he made eight all-star teams and won one Cy Young award, finishing in the top four three other times.  For his career he was 224-166, 3.26, 1.13 WHIP.  He pitched in 500 games, 476 of them starts, over fifteen seasons.  He passed away on September 9, 1999.

Record:  The Twins were 35-28, tied for first in the American League West with Oakland, although they trailed in winning percentage, .557 to .556.

OAKLAND 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN OAKLAND (14 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, June 20.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 4-for-6 with a walk.  Dave Boswell was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-7 with a stolen base, his eleventh.

Pitching stars:  Boswell pitched 8.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out eight.  Ron Perranoski pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jim Nash pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks and striking out four.  Danny Cater was 2-for-5.  Bert Campaneris was 2-for-6 with a walk and a stolen base, his thirty-second.  Rick Monday was 2-for-6.

The game:  Each team had a ton of missed opportunities.  It started in the top of the first, when the Twins put men on first and third with one out and did not score.  In the third, the Athletics had men on first and second with none out and did not score.  The Twins put men on fist and second with two out in the fourth and did not score.

The Twins finally got on the board in the fifth.  A walk, a hit batsman, and a pickoff error put men on second and third with two out.  Harmon Killebrew got an infield single to bring home the run and put Minnesota up 1-0.  Oakland got the run back in the sixth on a single, two walks, and a Cater sacrifice fly.

Boswell helped his own cause (whenever a pitcher gets a big hit, you have to say he helped his own cause.  it's in the sportswriter's code someplace).  with a home run leading off the seventh to put the Twins up 2-1.  The Athletics nearly tied it in the eighth.  With two out, Reggie Jackson walked and Sal Bando singled.  Cater then singled, but Jackson was thrown out trying to score.  In the bottom of the ninth, however, Rick Monday singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a single by South Dakota native Dick Green, sending the game to extra innings.

In the tenth, the Twins had men on first and second with two out.  A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third and Leo Cardenas was intentionally walked to fill the bases and bring up the pitcher's spot.  Oddly, Ron Perranoski (lifetime batting numbers .096/.147/.114) was allowed to bat.  To the surprise of, one assumes, no one, he struck out, stranding the runners.  Oakland had two on with two out in the eleventh and did not score.

In the thirteenth, the Twins had one out and none on and Perranoski was again allowed to bat.  To the surprise of, one assumes, everyone, he singled to center.  At that point, he was removed from the game for pinch-runner Rick Renick.  Uhlaender followed with a single, but the next two men were retired.  The Twins again put two men on in the fourteenth and did not score.

In the bottom of the fourteenth, future Twin Phil Roof opened the inning by reaching on a two-base error by Cardenas.  Tommie Reynolds then bunted him to third and was safe on an error by Rod Carew.  Carew was removed from the game at that point, with Cesar Tovar moving from third to second, Killebrew moving from first to third, and Bob Allison coming in to play first base.  An intentional walk loaded the bases.  The next batter was Ted Kubiak, and what happened is described as "Groundout: RF-SS/Forceout at 2B; Hunter Scores/unER; Reynolds to 3B."  Why Tony Oliva would throw to second base for a forceout in that situation is anyone's guess, but it brought home the game-winning run for Oakland.

WP:  Marcel Lachemann (2-0).  LP:  Bob Miller (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew was 1-for-7, dropping his average to .366,.

Boswell's ERA was 2.87.  Perranoski's ERA was 1.45.  Miller's ERA was 2.40.

The Twins stranded eighteen men and went 1-for-17 with men in scoring position.  Oakland stranded thirteen men and went 2-for-9 with men in scoring position.

Any one-run game gives opportunities for second-guessing, and a fourteen-inning game gives even more.  That said, I have no idea what Billy Martin was doing allowing Perranoski to bat twice, especially when he was clearly not a good batter.  The first one, in the tenth, basically conceded the inning with the bases loaded.  The second one, in the thirteenth, came when he was prepared to take Perranoski out anyway.  If someone wants to try to explain this, go ahead, because it makes no sense to me.

As I look at it a little more closely, Martin had shorted himself somewhat on the bench.  When the Twins went up 2-1, he made some defensive changes, inserting Tovar in left for Graig Nettles, Frank Quilici at third, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese coming out, and Tom Tischinski replacing Johnny Roseboro behind the plate.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit in the tenth and replaced Quilici in the lineup (playing left with Tovar moving to third).  However, he still clearly had Renick and Allison on the bench, and one assumes George Mitterwald as well, all of whom had a substantially better chance of doing something positive at the plate than Perranoski.

I don't know why Carew was removed from the game in the fourteenth inning.  He may have been shaken up on the play, although he started the next day.  I suppose it's also possible that Martin thought the error was due to a lack of hustle or something--we know Martin was not above embarrassing someone if he thought they weren't playing hard.  If anyone knows more about this, feel free to comment.

Record:  The Twins were 34-28, in second place in the American League West, one game behind Oakland.

MINNESOTA 8, CALIFORNIA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, June 19.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a stolen base (his thirteenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Bob Allison was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Pitching star:  Dick Woodson pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and two walks and striking out eight.

Opposition star:  Jim Fregosi was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.

The game:  Cesar Tovar put the Twins on the board in the bottom of the first, leading off the inning by circling the bases on a triple-plus-error.  In the third the Twins had three consecutive singles that produced two runs.  Carew singled and Harmon Killebrew followed with a single-plus-error that put men on second and third.  Allison then delivered a two-run single that made the score 3-0.

The Twins added some more runs in the third.  Tom Tischinski led off with a single and Woodson reached on an error.  A pickoff error moved them to second and third.  With one out, Carew hit a two-run double to right and with two out, Allison had an RBI single.  The score was then 6-0.

Fregosi got the Angels on the board in the seventh with a one-out home run--they'd had only one hit before that.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the seventh when Rick Renick had a two-out single and pinch-runner Ted Uhlaender scored from first on a Frank Quilici double.

The Twins finished the scoring in the eighth.  Cesar Tovar drew a one-out walk and somehow went from first to third on a ground out to the pitcher.  He then scored on a Rich Reese single.

WP:  Woodson (4-2).  LP:  George Brunet (2-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .374.

Tony Oliva was given the day off, with Renick in right field.  This was one of four games in his career that Renick played in right field.  Tovar was in center, with Uhlaender given the day off other than his pinch-running appearance and subsequent play in right in the last two innings.  Allison started in left.  Quilici started at third base, with Killebrew at first.  Reese came in as a defensive replacement in the seventh.  Tischinski was the catcher, with Johnny Roseboro given the day off.

George Brunet was nearing the end of a long and not-all-that-distinguished career.  He played for nine different teams over fifteen seasons.  The Angels clearly got his best years.  The only other team for which he had an ERA under four was Pittsburgh, for whom he pitched just 16.2 innings.  For six of the nine teams he pitched for, his ERA was over five.  He made fifteen appearances with the Kansas City Athletics from 1956-1960, when he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves.  He appeared in twenty-two games for them through 1961, when he moved on to Houston.  He also appeared in twenty-two games for them, went to Baltimore during the 1963 season, and made sixteen appearances as an Oriole.  After that season he was twenty-eight years old, had not pitched a full season in the majors, and his lowest season ERA was 4.50 in 54 innings with the 1962 Houston Colt 45s.  He was in AAA in 1964 when he was sold to the Angels in August.  They brought him up to the majors and something immediately clicked.  In four full and two partial seasons with the Angels, Brunet posted an ERA of 3.13 and a WHIP of 1.20.  Unfortunately for him, he didn't get a lot of run support--his won-lost record in those years was 54-69 and he twice led the league in losses.  He was still pitching well in 1969, but the Angels sold him to the Seattle Pilots at the end of July.  His career went backward again and he was out of the majors after the 1971 season, although he pitched in AAA for a couple of years after that.  b-r.com doesn't say so, but it appears he then pitched in Mexico for several more seasons.  He was elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.  For his major league career, he was 69-93, 3.62, 1.32 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 34-27, tied for first place in the American League West with Oakland although they trailed in winning percentage, .559 to .557.

CALIFORNIA 13, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Batting star:  Rich Reese was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a double.

Pitching star:  Bob Miller pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Andy Messersmith struck out nine in a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and two walks.  Bill Voss was 3-for-6 with a three-run homer and three runs.  Rick Reichardt was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Jim Fregosi was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Sandy Alomar was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Aurelio Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a triple and a walk, scoring three times.

The game:  The Angels drew two walks in the first inning but didn't score.  They made up for it.  They got on the board in the second when Rodriguez reached on an error and scored on Jim Spencer's triple.  They went up 3-0 in the third when Reichardt hit a two-run homer.   The Twins got on the board in the fourth when Reese led off the inning with a home run.  They had men on first and second with none out in the fifth, but failed to advance them, leaving the score 3-1.

It was all California from there.  In the sixth, a walk, a bunt, and an intentional walk put men on first and second.  A fly out made it first and third, and Billy Martin ordered an intentional walk to Spencer, moving the runner from first into scoring position and loading the bases, to bring up Messersmith.  The strategy didn't work.  Messersmith walked to force in a run, Sandy Alomar delivered a two-run single, and Voss hit a three-run homer, making the score 9-1.

They added two more in the seventh, as Jay Johnstone singled, Rodriguez tripled, and Joe Azcue doubles.  They topped it off with two more in the ninth, as Voss and Fregosi singled, Reichardt had an RBI single, and Johnstone contributed a sacrifice fly.

The last fifteen Twins were retired.

WP:  Messersmith (2-5).  LP:  Danny Morris (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cesar Tovar played second base in place of Rod Carew, who was used as a pinch-hitter.  It was again Nettles in left, Killebrew at third, and Reese at first.

Miller lowered his ERA to 2.51.

This was the only start Morris would make this season and was the last of his major league career.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for him in the third after he gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks.  He would make just one more major league appearance, on June 29.  He would stay in the Twins organization through 1972, but didn't get much accomplished at AAA and did not make it back to the majors.

Six of the runs California scored were charged to Al Worthington.  He came on in the sixth with men on first and second and one out.  He retired Azcue on a fly ball, but then came the rest of the inning detailed above.  He also pitched the seventh through the Azcue double, when he was relieved by Joe Grzenda.

This was outfielder Bill Voss' first year with the Angels and the year in which he got the most playing time of his career.  He had gotten brief trials with the White Sox, playing a total of twenty-six games from 1965-1967, before finally sticking for half the season in 1968.  He was traded to the Angels that off-season.  He played in 133 games in 1969, getting 349 at-bats.  He was not a home run hitter--the homer in this game was one of just two he would hit in 1969.  He had a career total of nineteen, and oddly got over half of them (ten) in one season, 1971.  He was in his first year with Milwaukee that season.  He was a man on the move in 1972, starting the year with the Brewers, moving to Oakland in June, and going to St. Louis in August.  He was traded to Cincinnati after the 1972 season, but he never played again.  His career major league numbers are .227/.298/.317 in 1177 at-bats.  The vast majority of his games were in right field, although he had a handful in center and left.  There was something about him that baseball people liked--when you read his biography at sabr.com, you keep seeing comments from his managers at the time about how they believed in him and thought it was just a matter of time before he starting hitting.  He hit well in AAA, batting .283/.347/.438, and he hit well in spring training, but he just could never hit in major league games that counted.  As of 2014, Bill Voss was an assistant pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Cottonwood, Arizona.

Record:  The Twins were 32-27, tied for first place in the American League West with Oakland.  Oakland actually led based on winning percentage, .544 to .542.

MINNESOTA 8, CALIFORNIA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, June 16.

Batting stars:  Jim Perry was 3-for-3 with a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a home run (his sixteenth) and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Perry struck out nine in a complete game, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Aurelio Rodriguez was 2-for-3.  Eddie Fisher pitched a perfect inning.

The game:  The Twins jumped on Angels' starter Tom Murphy for three runs in the first inning.  A walk and an error put two men on with none out.  Tony Oliva singled home the first run, leaving men on first and second.  With Harmon Killebrew up to bat, the Twins pulled off a double steal, with Rod Carew swiping third and Oliva taking second.  Then, with Killebrew still at the plate, they pulled off another double steal, with Carew stealing home and Oliva taking third.  Killebrew then singled to bring Oliva home with the third run of the inning.

California put two men on in the second, but did not score.  In the third, walks to Carew and Killebrew put men on first and second with one out.  Rich Reese singled home a run, a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and Graig Nettles delivered a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-0.

The Angels again put two men on in the fifth but did not score.  They finally got on the board in the sixth, as Jim Fregosi doubled, Rick Reichardt singled him to third, and Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the sixth, although they should have gotten more.  Nettles walked, Leo Cardenas singled, and Johnny Roseboro walked to fill the bases with none out.  Jim Perry then hit into a strange double play.  He hit a fly ball to center, which Jay Johnstone dropped for an error.  Cesar Tovar scored, so Perry got credit for a sacrifice fly, but Cardenas was forced out at third and Roseboro was forced at second.  Anyway, at this point the score was 6-1.

The Twins finished their scoring in the seventh.  With two out and none on, Killebrew homered, followed by back-to-back doubles by Frank Quilici and Tovar to make the score 8-1.  California added one in the ninth when Rodriguez and Jim Spencer singled and Joe Azcue hit a sacrifice fly.

WP:  Perry (5-3).  LP:  Tom Murphy (4-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was again Nettles in left, Killebrew at third, and Reese at first.  The standard defensive change, with Tovar going to left, Quilici to third, and Killebrew to first, came in the seventh inning.

Carew was 0-for-4 with a walk and was now batting .382.

Perry falls into the "good hitter for a pitcher" category, rather than really being a good hitter.  His lifetime numbers were .199/.228/.247.  He'd had three not-so-good starts before this one.

I don't know that it was good percentage ball, but this Twins team was sure exciting to watch.  A double steal of second and third, followed by a double steal of third and home, both with Harmon Killebrew at the plate.  It seems to me that this falls into the category of "it looks really good when it works", but it sure had to be fun to see.

I don't know that I've ever heard of a sacrifice fly/error/double play before.  I don't know how often that's happened, but it sure seems unusual 🙂

Teams usually want a fair amount of offense at third base, but Aurelio Rodriguez had a long career as primarily a glove man at the position.  He had the misfortune to have most of his career overlap that of Brooks Robinson, so he only won one Gold Glove, but he was known as a really good defender.  His highest batting average (when he had a significant number of at-bats) was .265, in 1978.  His highest OPS (same qualification) was .721, in 1970.  His career numbers are .237/.275/.351.  Still he played for seventeen seasons.  He was with the Angels from 1967 through early 1970, when he was traded to Washington.  He was traded to Detroit after the season and played there from 1971-1979.  1980 was split between San Diego and the Yankees and was his last season as a regular.  He was still with the Yankees in 1981 but was apparently injured, as he played only twenty-seven games.  He was with the White Sox in 1982 and split the 1983 season between the White Sox and Baltimore.  Again, not much of a batter, but a good enough defender that teams kept playing him for a long time.  He also has all the vowels in his first name.

Record:  The Twins were 32-26, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by a half game.