Tag Archives: 1987 rewind

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Three

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MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 9.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer struck out four in three shutout innings of relief, giving up just one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mike Davis was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, three RBIs, and two stolen bases.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a run.  Dennis Eckersley pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up one hit.

The game:  Hrbek homered in a two-run second that put the Twins up 2-0, but Davis homered in a two-run third to tie that tied it 2-2.    Davis' two-run double in the sixth made it 4-2 Oakland and it stayed there until the ninth.  With one out, Gary Gaetti doubled and scored on a Brunansky single to make it 4-3.  Roy Smalley doubled, Mark Salas was intentionally walked, and Gladden delivered a pinch-hit single down the left field line to bring home the tying and winning runs.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-3.  Mark Portugal pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 3-0 and took over sole possession of first place, a game ahead of California and the White Sox.

Notes:  Gladden remained out of the starting lineup, with Randy Bush playing right field and Brunansky moving to left...Eckersley was not yet the closer for the Athletics, but was setting up Jay Howell...Mike Davis' career numbers are not all that impressive, but he was pretty good at his peak.  From 1985-87 he batted .274 with 65 home runs and 70 stolen bases.  After the 1987 season he became a free agent, went to the Dodgers, and his career pretty much collapsed.  He did win a world championship there, though, and drew a walk right in front of Kirk Gibson's famous home run in Game 1 of the World Series.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Two

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MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  April 8, 1987.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola struck out eleven in six innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks.  Keith Atherton pitched two shutout innings, giving up a walk and striking out one.  Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Carney Lansford was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.  Eric Plunk pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts.

The game:  The Twins scored two in the first on a walk, a single, two ground outs, and a wild pitch.  They added single runs in the fourth and fifth.  The lone Oakland run came in the sixth.  They did not bring the tying run up to bat.

Of note:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Record:  The Twins were 2-0, tied for first place with California.

Notes:  I had forgotten that, in fact, Tom Nieto was the starting catcher for about the first month and a half of the season...Dan Gladden was apparently fighting a minor injury at the start of the season.  After DHing in the first game, he did not play in this one, and would be used as a pinch-hitter a couple of times before making his first Twins start in the outfield on April 12.  Brunansky moved over to left in this game, with Randy Bush in right...Reggie Jackson, in his last season, was used as a pinch-hitter and struck out.  He was batting for DH Ron Cey, also in his last season.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One

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MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, April 7.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double, scoring twice and driving in two.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk, scoring once.  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts.  George Frazier pitched two shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Alfredo Griffin was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Mike Davis was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, scoring once.  Curt Young struck out ten in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks.

The game:  Oakland got on the board in the first, but Puckett hit a two-run homer in the third and Gaetti tripled and scored later in the third to make it 3-1.  The Athletics made it 3-2 in the fourth and Griffin's two-run homer in the fifth put Oakland up 4-3.  The Twins tied it in the eight on an RBI groundout by Kent Hrbek.  Lombardozzi opened the tenth with a single and a Puckett double put men on second and third.  Following an intentional walk to Gaetti, Hrbek delivered an RBI single to win the game.

Of note:  Hrbek was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Record:  The win made the Twins 1-0, tied for first place with California and Chicago.

Notes:  A good trivia question is:  Who was the Twins' starting left fielder in the first game of the 1987 season?  The answer is not Dan Gladden, who was the DH in that game.  It was not Randy Bush, either.  It was---Mark Davidson, in his only full season in the majors.  He started forty games that season, twelve of them in left field.  He played in 102 games, but had only 150 at-bats.  That would be the most at-bats he would get in a season, as he was a reserve for the Twins from 1986-88 and for Houston from 1987-89...Another lineup oddity on opening night is that Tom Nieto was the catcher, rather than Tim Laudner.  He started only thirty-six games that season.  The two lineup gambles did not work, as Davidson and Nieto combined to go 0-for-6 with a walk...Alfredo Griffin hit only three home runs in 1987 and never had more than four in a season.  Presumably, Blyleven left a pitch up.  And yes, we may very well use that line forty-six times during this series.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Three

MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 9.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with two walks and a home run.  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mike Davis was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, and two stolen bases.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Chris Codiroli pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout.

The game:  The Twins scored two in the second, but the Athletics tied it with two in the third.  Davis hit a two-run double in the sixth to put Oakland up 4-2 and it stayed 4-2 until the ninth.  With one out, Gaetti doubled, Brunansky singled him home, and Roy Smalley doubled to put men on second and third.  After an intentional walk to Mark Salas, Dan Gladden pinch-hit for Tom Nieto and delivered a two-run single down the left-field line to win the game.

Of note:  Starter Mark Portugal pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-3.  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4.

Record:  The Twins were 3-0 and moved into sole possession of first place, leading California and Chicago by a game.

Notes:  Mike Davis has been mostly forgotten, but he was a pretty fair player for a few years.  He got partial seasons with Oakland from 1980-82 but finally came up to stay in 1983, when he batted .275.  He had a poor year in 1984 but followed it with his best season in 1985, when he hit .287 with 24 homers, 34 doubles, and 24 stolen bases.  He stayed a productive player for Oakland through 1987, when he became a free agent.  He signed with the Dodgers and his career promptly collapsed.  I don't know if he was hurt or something, but he batted only .196.  He stayed in the majors through 1989, played a couple of seasons in the minors, and then was done.  From 1985-87, though, he batted .274 with 65 homers, 94 doubles, and 70 stolen bases.