MINNESOTA 7, TEXAS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 7.

Batting stars:  Sal Butera was 2-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in three.  Randy Bush was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-2 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Geno Petralli was 3-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a double, driving in two.  Pete O'Brien was 2-for-4 with a double.  Curtis Wilkerson was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his fourth), a hit-by-pitch, and a run.

The game:  Petralli homered in a two-run third and singled in a run in the fourth to put the Rangers up 3-0.  The Twins came back in the fifth, as Butera hit a three-run double and later scored on a bases-loaded walk to Puckett to give the Twins a 4-3 lead.  A sacrifice fly tied it 4-4 in the top of the seventh, but in the bottom of the frame Bush delivered an RBI single and Roy Smalley brought home two with a double to put the Twins ahead 7-4.  The Rangers did not get a man past first the rest of the game.

Of note:  Juan Bereguer started and struck out ten in six innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks...Texas starter Edwin Correa struck out seven in 4.1 innings but allowed four runs on three hits and four walks.

Record:  The Twins were 29-26, in second place, two games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne...Bush was in right, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden out of the lineup...Puckett's average was now .317...Butera was making his 1987 Twins debut, a move that resulted from the trade of Mark Salas.  The Twins had traded Butera to Detroit in the spring of 1983.  He had played with Montreal and Cincinnati, being released by the Reds on May 19 of 1987.  The Twins signed him three days later, sent him to AAA Portland, and brought him up for this game.  He would stay the rest of the season.

Player profile:  Geno Petralli is another guy who turned being a reserve catcher into a fairly lengthy career.  Unlike most who do that, though, he was known more for his bat than his glove.  He was drafted by Toronto in the third round of the January draft in 1978.  He made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1982.  He got another September call-up in 1983 and played a few games early in the season in 1984.  The Blue Jays had Ernie Whitt as their catcher back then and were pretty well satisfied with him, so Petralli was sold to Cleveland in May of 1984.  He appears to have been injured a lot of that season, as he played only twenty-three games of AAA, and he was released in April of 1985.  The Rangers signed him a month later and brought him to the majors to stay in July.  He didn't play a lot in 1985 or 1986, but 1987 saw increased playing time for him, as he topped two hundred at-bats for the first time.  He responded by batting .302 with an OPS of .868, his best season in the majors.  In an effort to get his bat into the lineup more, he started six games at third base and one at first.  He also was used at second, right field, and left field.  He was the Rangers' primary catcher in 1988, although he started only seventy-two games there, and batted .282,  He was injured much of 1989 but got the starting job back in 1990 and batted .304 with a .775 OPS.  In 1991, however, Ivan Rodriguez came along, and Petralli was back to a reserve role.  He remained in that role through 1993, then his playing career was over.  His career numbers are .267/.344/.360 in 1874 at-bats spread over twelve seasons.  He does not have a reputation as a good defensive catcher, and allowed a lot of passed balls, but partly that's the result of frequently being asked to catch knuckleballer Charlie Hough.  His father played in the White Sox' organization from 1948-53 and his son Ben played in independent ball in 2010.  Another son, James, is part of a band called White Denim.  Geno Petralli was a coach for the Round Rock Experss in 2016.

MINNESOTA 3, TEXAS 2 IN MINNESOTA (13 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, June 6.

Batting stars:  Mark Salas was 2-for-3 with a home run, his third.  Gene Larkin was 3-for-5 with a walk.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with two walks and a run.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on ten hits and three walks.  George Frazier struck out five in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.  Jeff Reardon struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Charlie Hough pitched nine innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and five walks with three strikeouts.  Oddibe McDowell was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), three walks, and two stolen bases (his seventh and eighth).   Scott Fletcher was 3-for-5 with two walks.

The game:  Pete Incaviglia singled home a run in the fifth to put Texas ahead 2-1.  It stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the ninth, when Salas led off with a home run to tie it 2-2.  Each team had threats--the Twins even loaded the bases with one out in the twelfth--but there was no more scoring until the thirteenth.  Tom Brunansky walked with one out.  Salas struck out, but Steve Lombardozzi singled to the left-center field gap and Brunansky scored from first to win the game for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 28-26, in second place, two games behind Kansas City.

Notes:   Kirby Puckett was 0-for-5, dropping his average to .320...Larkin raised his average to .366...Salas raised his average to .378...Roy Smalley was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter, dropping his average to .309...Dan Gladden batted second in this game, with Al Newman taking the leadoff spot.  Newman batted second in place of Lombardozzi, who entered the game in the ninth after Smalley pinch-hit for Tim Laudner...Larkin was the DH...This was the last game Salas would play as a Twin.  He was traded to the Yankees the next day for Joe Niekro.  I guess a game-tying homer isn't a bad way to go out.

Player profile:  Charlie Hough had an incredibly long career. He first came up with the Dodgers at the end of 1970, got cups of coffee in 1971 and 1972, came up to stay in 1973, and didn't leave until 1994. He was with the Dodgers through mid-1980, almost entirely as a reliever, and did a really good job for them for several years. He had a poor year in 1979, however, and when he was no better in 1980 he was sold to Texas. They moved him into the rotation in 1982 and he was a consistently good rotation starter through 1990. He twice led the league in starts and batters faced and once led the league in innings. He pitched over 200 innings each year from 1982-88 and over 250 innings in five of those seasons.  He made one all-star team, in 1986.  He became a free agent after 1990 and signed with the White Sox, pitched fairly well for them for two seasons.  Again a free agent after 1992, he signed with the Florida Marlins and was the starting pitcher in their first game ever.  He was fairly good in 1993 but finally slipped in 1994, at age forty-six, and retired.  He is the only pitcher to make over 400 starts and over 400 relief appearances.  He's also the last pitcher to pitch thirteen innings in a game.  He was a pitching coach in both the majors and the minors for several years before retiring.

TEXAS 15, MINNESOTA 9 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Roy Smalley was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer (his third) and a walk.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-3 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one.  Al Newman was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Randy Niemann made his Twins debut by striking out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Pete O'Brien was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twelfth and thirteenth), driving in seven.  Ruben Sierra was 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, and a stolen base (his fifth), scoring twice and driving in two.  Steve Buechele was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and two doubles, scoring three times.

The game:  It wasn't as close as it sounds.  Texas scored three in the first, led 7-0 after four and a half, led 11-1 after five and a half, and led by 15-3 after six and a half.  A five-run seventh for the Twins made it look a little better, but the game was gone by that point.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI...Gene Larkin was 2-for-2 with a run...Gary Gaetti was 2-for-3 with a double...Bert Blyleven lasted only three innings, surrendering five runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout...Boston starter Greg Harris pitched five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out three.

Record:  The Twins were 27-26, in third place, two games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Blyleven left a pitch up to O'Brien, who hit a two-run homer in the first, and to Oddibe McDowell, who hit a solo shot in the third...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a run and was batting .327...Larkin raised his average to .333...Smalley's average was .311...Mark Salas was used as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-1, making his average .357...Greg Gagne batted second in this game, with Steve Lombardozzi in the eighth spot.

Player profile:  Oddibe McDowell had more power than I remembered, hitting double digit homers in four of his seven seasons.  He was a first-round draft choice of the Rangers in 1984, started his pro career in AAA in 1985, and was in the majors by mid-May of that year.  He batted .239/.304/.431 with 18 homers and 25 stolen bases, good enough for fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting that season behind Ozzie Guillen, Teddy Higuera, and Ernie Riles.  His best year was the next one, 1986, when he batted .266/.341/.427 with 18 homers and 33 stolen bases.  He was still a productive player in 1987 but slumped in 1988 and was traded to Cleveland as part of a deal for Julio Franco.  He didn't do much for the Indians in 1989 and was traded to Atlanta in early July.  He did well for the Braves, batting .304, but faded the next year and was released in spring training of 1991.  He signed with Baltimore, and went to AAA, but was released at mid-season.  He signed with California for 1992, was released from AAA in mid-May, sat out for a while, and signed with Texas in July of 1993, again going to AAA.  He was still there in 1994 but by late April was back in the big leagues as a reserve outfielder.  He did okay in that role, but no more.  He was in AAA with the Yankees for fourteen games in 1995, then his playing career was over.  His career numbers are .253/.323/.395 with 74 homers and 169 stolen bases, not terrible numbers but not what one expects from a first round draft choice, either.  At last report, Oddibe McDowell was the head baseball coach at McArthur High School in Broward County, Florida.

BOSTON 7, MINNESOTA 6 IN BOSTON (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Wednesday, June 3.

Batting stars:  Roy Smalley was 4-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Mark Salas was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Pitching star:  Les Straker pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk, scoring three times.  Jim Rice was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks, scoring once.  Calvin Schiraldi pitched two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.

The game:  The Twins led 6-2 after seven.  In the eighth, however, George Frazier gave up a homer to Rice and walked Greenwell.  Keith Atherton came in and retired the first two men he faced, but then walked one, hit one, and walked in a run to make it 6-4 before getting out of the inning.  Jeff Reardon came on to pitch the ninth.  He struck out Wade Boggs but walked Rice and gave up a two-run homer to Greenwell to tie it 6-6.  Joe Klink came on to pitch the tenth.  A walk and a single put men on first and second with two out.  Boggs then grounded a single between second and first to bring home the winning run.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5, raising his average to .327...Reardon's ERA went up to 7.96 and he had his sixth blown save...Boston starter Bob Stanley pitched six innings, allowing five runs on ten hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 27-25, tied with Seattle for second, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Steve Lombardozzi batted second in this game, with Greg Gagne dropping to ninth...Roy Smalley was the third baseman, with Gary Gaetti getting the day off.  Larkin was the DH...This was the last game Salas would start at catcher for the Twins.  He made two more appearances in a reserve role before being traded.

Player profile:  Calvin Schiraldi did not quite come out of nowhere to be the Red Sox' closer in their pennant-winning year of 1986, but pretty close.  He had made fifteen appearances from 1984-1985 for the Mets and had been pretty terrible:  2-3, 7.63, 1.92 WHIP.  He was traded to Boston after the 1986 season and started the year at Pawtucket.  He did very well there and came up to the Red Sox in late July, becoming their closer after just five appearances as the setup man.  He went 9-for-9 in save opportunities.  He did not repeat his performance in 1987, and kind of lost the closer role to Wes Gardner, although nobody got many saves for the Red Sox that year--the team only had sixteen saves total, with Gardner getting ten and Schiraldi six.  He was never a closer again, getting only six more saves in his career.  Traded to the Cubs after the 1987 season, he was put into their starting rotation in 1988 and did okay, though nothing special.  He was back in the bullpen in 1989 and did okay there, too, but was traded to San Diego at the August deadline.  They put him in the rotation in September and he did very well there, although he obviously did not go very deep into the games.  He did not have a good year in 1990, however, and was released after the season.  He signed with Houston for 1991, did not do well in AAA, and finished up the season with Texas.  Overall his career is not that great, but he had that two-month stretch in 1986 where he was awesome, and older Red Sox fans will always remember him for that.  At last report, Calvin Schiraldi was the baseball coach at St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin, Texas.

BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN BOSTON

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eleventh.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Mark Portugal pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and three walks while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Wade Boggs was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks, scoring once and driving in one.  Bill Buckner was 1-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs.  Mike Greenwell was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk, driving in one.

The game:  A single and four walks (one intentional) plated two runs for the Red Sox in the first inning.  The built a 4-0 lead through four, but the Twins rallied.  Brunansky hit a solo homer in the fifth and Hrbek hit a three-run shot in the sixth to tie it 4-4.  In the eighth a walk, a single, and a wild pitch put Minnesota up 5-4.  Jeff Reardon came on and retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth.  In the ninth, however, a single and a double put men on second and third with one out.  Dwight Evans popped up, but Bill Buckner delivered a two-run single to center to win the game for the Bostons.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base (his eighth) and a run...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 with a run and is batting .325...Juan Berenguer started but lasted only 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits and nine walks...Boston's starter was John Leister, who pitched 5.1 innings and gave up four runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 27-24, tied for second with Seattle, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Greg Gagne was again the second-place batter.

Player profile:  You can be forgiven if you don't remember John Leister, as this was one of only ten major league games in which he appeared.  He was chosen in the third round of the January Secondary draft in 1984 by Boston.  He started in Class A and advanced a level a year reaching AAA by 1986.  This was only his second major league start--he had lasted just two innings in his first one, but here he pitched well other than the home run balls.  He would make one more start, then two relief appearances, then be sent back to AAA.  He had a good season in Pawtucket, going 11-5, 3.77, 1.29 WHIP, and made three more starts for Boston as a September call-up.  He was back in Pawtucket for all of 1988 and 1989, doing okay but nothing special.  He began 1990 in Boston but made only two appearances, one starting and one in relief, before being sent back to Pawtucket.  He had a poor year there and his playing career ended.  When people talk about players spending their entire career with one team, John Leister isn't who they have in mind, but he did it.  His record in the majors isn't much:  0-2, 8.50, 2.00 WHIP.  He did have one very good game, in September of 1987, when he pitched 7.1 innings against Baltimore and gave up two runs on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts.  He also had success in football, as he was the starting quarterback for Michigan State for three years and played for the USFL's Michigan Panthers.  He was the head baseball coach at Alma College from 1997-2007 and was the school's athletic director from 2007-2014.  At last report, John Leister was helping coach football at Chesaning Union High School in Chesaning, Michigan.

MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 5 IN BOSTON

Date:  Monday, June 1.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his eleventh and twelfth), driving in three.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Dwight Evans was 2-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and a double, scoring twice.  Bill Buckner was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.  Mike Greenwell was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit two-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  Smalley's two-run double in the first put the Twins up 2-0 and Brunansky's homer in the fourth made it 3-1.  The Red Sox came back to tie it 3-3 in the fifth.  In the seventh, however, the Twins scored six runs, four of them off Boston starter Roger Clemens, to take control of the game.  The Twins got three home runs in the inning, with Gladden hitting a solo homer and Gary Gaetti a two-run shot off Clemens and Brunansky hitting a two-run homer off reliever Wes Gardner.

Of note:  Gaetti was 1-for-5, and the home run was his thirteenth...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-5 with a triple and a run and was batting .332...Mark Salas was 1-for-4 and was batting .351...Clemens pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins won their third straight game and were 27-23, tied for second with Seattle, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Salas caught in place of Tim Laudner...The Twins were searching for a second-place batter all year.  Greg Gagne filled the role in this game, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Player profile:  Mike Greenwell peaked early, but still had a fine career.  He was drafted by Boston in the third round in 1982, got a September call-up in 1985, and came up to stay in late July of 1986.  He had a tremendous rookie season in 1987, batting .328/.386/.570 and finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Mark McGwire, Kevin Seitzer, and Matt Nokes).  He posted similar numbers in 1988, but never had an OPS over .900 again.  His power just never quite developed.  After hitting 19 homers as a rookie and 22 the next season, he never topped fifteen the rest of his career.  He remained a good, productive player when healthy, but missed significant time in 1992, 1994, and 1996 due to injury.  He signed to play in Japan in 1997, but the injury problems persisted and he played in only seven games for Hanshin before ending his career.  It was a pretty good career, though--in twelve seasons, all with the Red Sox, Greenwell batted .303/.368/463 with 130 home runs.  At last report, he owned a ranch in Florida and also owned an amusement park, Mike Greenwell's Bat-a-Ball and Family Fun Park, in Cape Coral, Florida.

MINNESOTA 11, DETROIT 3 IN DETROIT (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 4-for-6 with a double and a stolen base (his seventh), scoring three times and driving in one.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-3 with a home run (his tenth), a double, and two walks, scoring three times.  Tim Laudner was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his third and fourth) and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  George Frazier pitched 3.1 perfect innings with one strikeout.  Mark Portugal pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out one.  Keith Atherton pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Chet Lemon was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Kirk Gibson was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Alan Trammell was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins led all the way, but it was only 4-3 after five.  The Twins scored three in the sixth, one in the seventh, and three in the eighth to put the game out of reach.  The story of the game, though, was the Twins' bullpen.  Starter Allan Anderson pitched only three innings, but Portugal, Frazier, and Atherton combined for six shutout innings of relief, giving up just two hits and a walk and not allowing a baserunner after the fifth inning.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his sixth), scoring once and driving in two...Steve Lombardozzi was 3-for-5 with an RBI...Randy Bush was 2-for-3 with a run...Anderson pitched three innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks with no strikeouts...Detroit starter Frank Tanana pitched 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The doubleheader sweep made the Twins 26-23, tied for second with Seattle, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Al Newman played shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Gagne was put in the game in the eighth inning to give Puckett a rest and played center field.  The first two batters hit fly balls to him, which he caught...Mark Davidson started in right field, with Brunansky as DH and Roy Smalley out of the lineup.

Player profile:  I had not remembered that 1987 was George Frazier's last year in the majors.  He was drafted by Milwaukee in the eighth round in 1976, reached the majors in 1978, but did not really hit his stride until 1981, when he had an excellent second half for the Yankees.  He was an important part of the Yankees' bullpen through 1983, after which he was traded to Cleveland along with Otis Nixon for Toby Harrah.  He had a decent enough first half in 1984, but was traded again, this time to the Cubs, in mid-June as part of the Rick Sutcliffe deal.  He didn't do much for the Cubs, but stayed there until August of 1986, when he was traded to the Twins along with Ray Fontenot and Julius McDougal for Ron Davis and Dewayne Coleman.  McDougal did not make the majors and neither Frazier nor Fontenot did much for the Twins, but it is widely acclaimed as an excellent trade for the Twins anyway.  In his two and a half seasons with the Twins, Frazier went 6-6, 4.83, 1.55 WHIP with eight saves.  He was a longtime television broadcaster for the Colorado Rockies, but retired after the 2016 season and it appears he has moved back to his native Oklahoma.

MINNESOTA 9, DETROIT 5 IN DETROIT (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a home run (his tenth), scoring twice and driving in three.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth), a double, and a walk, scoring twice.  Randy Bush was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Jeff Reardon struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Dave Bergman was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.  Darrell Evans was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run.  Pat Sheridan was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his sixth.

The game:  Detroit led 2-1 after five and 5-4 after seven.  With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, second baseman Tom Brookens booted a grounder that allowed the tying and winning runs to score.  Roy Smalley singled in an insurance run to make it 7-5.  Hrbek hit a two-run homer in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a run, batting .323...Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts.  He left a pitch up to Bergman in the fifth inning, and even though it was a solo home run it hurt him, putting the Twins behind 2-1...Mark Salas was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one, and was batting .364...Gene Larkin was 0-for-5, but was still batting .308...Detroit starter Jeff Robinson pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 25-24, in third place, three games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  It appears that the Saturday game was rained out, resulting in the Sunday doubleheader...Al Newman started at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi, who was used late in the game...Randy Bush played right field, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench, with Gladden coming in later in the game...Larkin was the DH, with Smalley used as a pinch-hitter in the eighth...Salas was the catcher in place of Tim Laudner...Bergman was the leadoff batter for Detroit, one of two games in 1987 in which he led off.  He led off thirty-five games in his career.

Player profile:  I'd forgotten what a long career Dave Bergman had, especially considering that he never had a regular job.  He was drafted by the Yankees in the second round in 1974 and made his major league debut in late August of 1975.  He didn't get back until 1977, when he was a September callup.  He was traded to Houston after that season.  He was a part-time player for the Astros in 1978, seeing as much time in the outfield as he did at first base.  He was back in AAA in 1979, finally getting back to the big leagues in 1980.  He was almost exclusively a bench player, though, appearing in 90 games but getting only 70 at-bats.  He was traded to the Giants along with Jeffrey Leonard early in 1981 and played a little more, but not much.  He remained a reserve throughout his career in San Francisco, playing in 190 games from 1982-83 but getting only 261 at-bats.  In spring training of 1984 he was traded to the Phillies, who immediately traded him to Detroit along with Willie Hernandez.  He stayed with the Tigers the rest of his career, and while he was never a regular he did get significantly more playing time.  He played the most in 1989, when he got over 300 at-bats for the only time in his career.  He had a couple of good years, but for the most part was average-to-below average.  As a Tiger, he hit .259/.346/.368, numbers which are almost identical to his career numbers:  .258/.348/.357.  As one might guess, he was frequently used as a pinch-hitter, getting 419 plate appearances in that role.  Despite that, he was not all that good at it, batting .213/.335/.311 as a pinch-hitter.  He was fairly successful as a DH, batting .300/.385/.386 in 338 plate appearances in that role.  But he played for a long time, going through 1992.  He played in parts of seventeen seasons, playing through age thirty-nine.  He passed away on February 2, 2015, from bile duct cancer at the age of sixty-one.

DETROIT 15, MINNESOTA 7 IN DETROIT

Date:  Friday, May 29.

Batting stars:  Mark Salas was 2-for-2 with two home runs and five RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a home run, his ninth.  Gene Larkin was 1-for-1 with a home run.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Pat Sheridan was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and a double, scoring three times and driving in four.  Matt Nokes was 2-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and two walks, scoring twice and driving in four.  Alan Trammell was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk, scoring twice.

The game:  Detroit scored three in the first, three in the third, and five in the fifth to take an 11-1 lead.  The Twins scored two in the eighth and four in the ninth to make the final score look somewhat competitive.

Of note:  Les Straker started and lasted just three innings, allowing six runs on five hits and three walks with one strikeout...Joe Klink pitched four innings and allowing nine runs (eight earned) on eleven hits and three walks with one strikeout...Detroit starter Walt Terrell pitched eight innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out four.

Record:  The Twins were 24-23, tied for second with Seattle, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Klink took one for the team and didn't get rewarded for it.  His ERA went from 3.93 to 6.45.  He would make only one more appearance and then be sent down, not returning to the majors until 1990.  Of Klink's twelve appearances for the Twins, he gave up eight earned runs here and three in an appearance in April.  In his other ten appearances, his ERA was 3.18...Salas and Larkin each entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, replacing Tim Laudner and Hrbek, respectively.

Plater profile:  Pat Sheridan has been largely forgotten, but he had a decent major league career.  He was drafted in the third round by Kansas City in 1979.  He had a fine year in Omaha in 1981, earning a September call-up in 1981, was injured part of 1982 then came to the majors to stay in 1983.  He was pretty much a utility outfielder in 1983, spending significant time at all three positions, but became the mostly regular right fielder in 1984.  He had a poor year in 1985, however, lost his starting job, and was released in spring training in 1986.  The Tigers signed him and he stayed through 1989.  He never had a full-time job but always saw significant playing time.  He never was really good (his best year was probably 1984, when he hit .283/.338/.399), but he was never utterly terrible, either.  Basically, he was a decent fourth outfielder who wouldn't hurt you too badly if he had to play more than that.  The Tigers traded him to San Francisco in mid-June of 1989, he signed with Kansas City for 1990, was again released in spring training, spent 1990 in AAA with the Cubs, signed with the Yankees for 1991, was a reserve outfielder for most of the season, and then his playing career came to an end.  Not a bad career, though:  he played in the big leagues for part of nine seasons, got 2419 at-bats, and hit .253/.319/.371 with 51 homers and 86 stolen bases.  At last report, Pat Sheridan was a property insurance salesman in Michigan.

MINNESOTA 13, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 27.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-2 with a home run (his ninth) and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Gene Larkin was 3-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in two.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-3 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer pitched seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition star:  Greg Brock was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

The game:  The Twins scored six runs in the first and followed that with five runs in the third, making it a laugher early.  Berenguer pitched an excellent game, retiring nine batters in a row at one point and never allowing more than one baserunner in an inning.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with two RBIs...Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his sixth) and three runs...Milwaukee starter Mike Birkbeck lasted only a third of an inning, surrendering six runs on six hits and a walk with no strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 24-22, in second place, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Puckett raised his average to .324...Berenguer lowered his ERA to 2.20...Gene Larkin was the DH, rather than Roy Smalley.

Player profile:  Based on his minor league stats, first baseman Greg Brock was supposed to be a superstar, but it didn't work out that way.  In 1981 he hit .295 with 32 homers and an OPS of .901 in AA San Antonio.  He followed that in 1982 with an average of .310 with 44 homers and an OPS of 1.094 in AAA Albuquerque.  Both of those were hitters parks in hitters leagues, and he was already twenty-five in 1982, but even so, those are impressive numbers.  Brock got a September callup in 1982 and was the Dodgers' regular first baseman in 1983.  He hit 20 homers and had an OBP of .343, but he batted only .224.  He had similar numbers in 1984, getting sent back to the minors for a couple of months.  He had his best year as a Dodgers in 1985, batting .251 with 21 homers and an OBP of .332, but he declined somewhat in 1986 and the Dodgers gave up on him, trading him to Milwaukee.  He rewarded the Brewers with his best year in 1987.  He only hit 13 home runs, but he batted .299 with an OBP of .271 and an OPS of .809, the only time he posted an OPS of over .800.  The next year, however, he slumped to .212 with only six homers.  He stayed with the Brewers until the middle of 1991 as their mostly regular first baseman, but was released in July of that year.  He signed with the White Sox but played only two games of AAA for them before ending his playing career.  He is currently coaching high school baseball in Loveland, Colorado.