Tag Archives: 1991 rewind

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Thirty

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MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 11.

Batting stars:  Brian Harper was 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Chili Davis was 2-for-2 with a home run (his fifth) and two walks.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis pitched three shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out two.  Steve Bedrosian pitched a perfect inning.  Rick Aguilera pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Milt Cuyler was 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, his eighth and ninth.  Travis Fryman was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourth) and a stolen base (his fourth).  Jerry Don Gleaton pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks and striking out one.

The game:  The Tigers jumped on Twins starter Allan Anderson in the first inning.  Singles by Tony Phillips and Alan Trammell and a walk to Rob Deer loaded the bases with none out.  Cecil Fielder popped up, but Pete Incaviglia hit a sacrifice fly and Fryman delivered a three-run homer to give Detroit a 4-0 lead.

That was all they would get, though, and the Twins came back.  They got on the board in the bottom of the first on singles by Knoblauch and Davis and an RBI double by Harper.  The Tigers failed to score in the second despite having men on first and third with one out, and the Twins made them pay for it.  Greg Gagne drew a one-out walk, and with two down Gladden tripled and Knoblauch doubled to cut the margin to 4-3 after two.  The Twins struck again in the third, as Davis led off with a home run to tie it at four.

The Twins had three walks and a single in the fourth, but did not score due to a double play and Kirby Puckett being thrown out trying to score from second on a Harper hit.  There was not much else in the middle innings, but in the seventh Puckett led off with a double.  Davis was intentionally walked.  Harper then got a bunt single which somehow led to Puckett scoring from second and Davis reaching third.  There obviously must be more to the story, but in any event, the Twins took a 5-4 lead.

They lost a chance for more when Davis was thrown out at the plate on the back end of an attempted second-and-home double steal.  It didn't matter, though, as Detroit could manage just one single in the last two innings.

WP:  Willis (1-0).  LP:  Mike Henneman (3-1).  S:  Aguilera (6).

Notes:  Pedro Munoz was again in right field.  Gene Larkin was again at first base with Kent Hrbek out.

Harper raised his average to .377.  Knoblauch went up to .315.  Davis raised his average to .313.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .310.  Gagne was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .301.  Bedrosian dropped his ERA to 3.38.  Aguilera went down to 1.98.

Munoz was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .143.  Scott Leius was 0-for-3 and was batting .161.

The double steal in the seventh came with Harper on first and Davis on third.  I can't think of two players on the Twins at that time that I'd be less likely to try a double steal with.  Junior Ortiz, maybe, but that's about it.  They had the element of surprise going for them, but not much else.  The Twins actually lost three men on the bases:  in addition to Davis on the double steal and Puckett thrown out at the plate, Gladden was caught stealing in the eighth.  If you include the two double plays they hit into, it's five men lost on the bases.  They did not have a successful stolen base in the game.

Puckett was in somewhat of a slump, going 8-for-40 over his last ten games.  His average dropped from .355 to .310 over that period.

The Twins got back to .500 in this game.  I suspect most Twins fans were happy about that at the time.  They'd finished last the year before, and had gotten off to the 2-9 start.  A .500 record probably sounded pretty good.

Record:  The Twins were 15-15, in fifth place in the American League West, four games behind Oakland.  They were a half game behind California for fourth place.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-nine

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MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 10.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a triple.

Pitching stars:  Mark Guthrie struck out six in six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks.  Terry Leach pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Rick Aguilera retired all four men he faced, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Cecil Fielder was 3-for-4 with a double.  Travis Fryman was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his third.  Mark Leiter pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the first, as Gladden led off with a triple and scored on a one-out single by Kirby Puckett.  Pagliarulo led off the second with a double but did not get past third.  The Tigers started the third with two singles, but a bunt and two strikeouts ended the inning.

The Twins scored in each of the next three innings. In the third, Chili Davis drew a two-out walk, Harper had an RBI double, and Pagliarulo delivered a run-scoring single to make it 3-0.  In the fourth Greg Gagne reached on an error, went to second on a bunt single, took third on a sacrifice, and scored on a ground out to give the Twins a 4-0 lead.  In the fifth, Harper had a one-out single and scored on Pagliarulo's double to make it 5-0.

Detroit got both of their runs in the sixth.  Fielder had a one-out single and with two down, Fryman hit a two-run homer to cut the Twins' lead to 5-2.  That was as close as they would come, though, as they did not threaten after that.

WP:  Guthrie (2-2).  LP:  Walt Terrell (1-3).  S:  Aguilera (5).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Al Newman was at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch.

Harper raised his average to .342.  Gagne was 1-for-4 and was batting .313.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was at .312.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.13.

Scott Leius pinch-hit and was 0-for-1, dropping his average to .179.  Despite pitching well in this game, Guthrie still had an ERA of 6.23.

My recollection was that Travis Fryman always hit very well against the Twins.  He did, but not in a way that was completely out of line with what he did against other clubs.  He batted .294/.351/.476 against Minnesota; his career numbers were .274/.336/.443.  Significantly better against the Twins, but not in an "he totally owns them" sort of way.  He was just a very good batter.  He made five all-star teams in thirteen seasons with Detroit and Cleveland.  He won a Silver Slugger and also a Gold Glove.  A darn good ballplayer.

Pedro Munoz made his 1991 Twins debut in this game, starting in right field.  He had played in 22 games for the Twins in 1990 as a September call-up.  He would be with the Twins through mid-July, then come back as a September call-up.  I don't remember if was sent down in mid-July or if he was hurt.  There's no apparent reason to have sent him down--he was batting .283/.333/.434 at the time--but at the same time, the Twins weren't really in need of an outfielder, and sending out the twenty-two year old Munoz would've been the easy thing to do.  If someone with more time than I have wants to look into that, I'd be interested to know.  He stayed with the Twins through 1995, then became a free agent and went to Oakland.  I always thought he should've played more, but he never achieved more than semi-regular status with the Twins and was done after one season with the Athletics.  Part of the problem was probably that he was not a very good fielder (it says a lot about Gene Larkin's outfielding ability that the Twins would sometimes use Munoz as a defensive replacement for him).  But at bat, he hit .273/.315/.444 in 1832 plate appearances.  Not an all-star, but certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Record:  The Twins were 14-15, fifth in the American League West, four games behind Oakland.  They were a half game behind fourth place California.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-eight

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DETROIT 3, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 9.

Batting star:  Shane Mack was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and striking out six.  Steve Bedrosian struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Dan Petry pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and one walk and striking out one.  Paul Gibson pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Cecil Fielder was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Mickey Tettleton was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.

The game:  The Twins got a man to second in the second and the Tigers got a man to second in the third, but no one went farther until the fourth.  Alan Trammell led off with a walk and with one out Fielder hit a two-run homer to make it 2-0 Detroit.

Each team got a man to third in the sixth, but there was no more scoring until the seventh, when Tettleton led off with a home run.  In the bottom of the seventh came the only time the Twins had more than one man on base.  With two out, Brian Harper and Gene Larkin singled and Shane Mack walked, loading the bases.  Carmelo Castillo pinch-hit and grounded to second, ending the inning.  The Twins had only one baserunner the rest of the game.

WP:  Petry (1-1).  LP:  Tapani (2-2).  S:  Gibson (3).

Notes:  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Mack was in right field.

Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .333.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .314.  Chili Davis was 0-for-4 and was batting .308.  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Tapani had an ERA of 2.66.

Castillo was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .167.

Mack finally got over the Mendoza line at .205.

The Twins had seven hits, but no batter had more than one.  The seventh was the only time the Twins got more than one hit in an inning.  The two teams combined to go 0-for-10 with men in scoring position.

Dan Petry was a pretty good pitcher for six seasons, before overuse caught up with him.  He came up to the Tigers in July of 1979, at age 20, and went 6-5, 3.95 in fifteen starts.  From 1982-1985, his age 23 through 26 seasons, he made 142 starts (35.5 per season) and pitched 984.1 innings (246 per season).  He went 67-41, 3.45 in those years.  He finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting in two of those years and made his only all-star team in 1985.  He was never able to make more than 23 starts or pitch more than 150 innings after that, nor was he able to have an ERA below 4.30.  The Tigers traded him to California after the 1987 season, but he came back to Detroit as a free agent in 1990.  This was one of only six starts he made in 1991.  He went to the bullpen in late May, was traded to Atlanta at the end of June, and was traded to Boston in mid-August.  1991 was the last season of his career, but it was a fine career.  He went 125-104, 3.95, 1.36 WHIP in 2080.1 innings.  He played in 370 games and made 300 starts.  And for a four year period, he was one of the top pitchers in the game.

Record:  The Twins were 13-15, sixth in the American League West, five games behind Oakland.  They were a half-game behind California and Texas for fourth place.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-seven

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BOSTON 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN BOSTON

Date:  Wednesday, May 8.

Batting star:  Brian Harper was 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Pitching star:  Terry Leach struck out two in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Roger Clemens struck out ten in eight innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.  Wade Boggs was 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, and two RBIs.  Jody Reed was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and three RBIs.  Carlos Quintana was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.

The game:  The Red Sox put men on first and third with none out in the first inning and did not score.  They would not be denied in the second, however, as Quintana singled, Luis Rivera walked, and Boggs hit a two-out single to score the first run of the game.  It could've been worse, though, as Boston left the bases loaded.

The Red Sox increased their lead in the third, as three walks and a two-run single by Tony Pena made the score 3-0.  They added another in the fourth on two singles and a sacrifice fly by Tom Brunansky, and got one more in the fifth when Boggs singled and scored on Reed's double, making the score 5-0.

The Twins finally got on the board in the seventh when Kirby Puckett led off with a double and scored on Harper's two-out single.  Boston got the run back with interest in the bottom of the seventh.  A single, an error, and a walk loaded the bases.  Boggs then walked to force in a run and Reed hit a two-run double, making the score 8-1.  The Twins got two in the ninth on two walks and Harper's two-run double, but it was far too little and far too late.

WP:  Clemens (6-0).  LP:  Jack Morris (2-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Randy Bush was again in right field in place of Shane Mack.  Granted that Mack was off to a slow start, but so was Bush.  With an 0-for-3 in this game, he was batting .189/.286/.216.  Given the difference in defense, there was really no good reason to play Bush in right field this much.

Gene Larkin was again at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.

With the blowout game, there were a lot of late-inning substitutions.  Carmelo Castillo pinch-hit for Dan Gladden and went to right field, with Bush moving to left.  Mack replaced Puckett in center.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Greg Gagne and stayed in to play short.  Scott Leius pinch-hit for Bush and Junior Ortiz pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo.

Harper raised his average to .338.  Gagne was 0-for-2 and was at .329.  Chili Davis was 1-for-4 and was batting .322.  Puckett was 1-for-3 to go to .317.  Chuck Knoblauch was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .307.

Castillo was 0-for-1 and was batting .182.  Leius walked and remained at .185.  Bush, as stated above, was at .189.  Mack walked and remained at .190.

Morris pitched five innings and allowed five runs on ten his and five walks while striking out six.  His ERA was 5.89.  Carl Willis pitched an inning and allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits and two walks and struck out one.  His ERA was 7.94.

Clemens, as you may remember was Really Good back then.  He would win his third Cy Young Award, and it was the fifth time in six years that he finished in the top six.  He would make it six times in seven years in 1992.  He ended up with seven Cys, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, and 2004.  His numbers obviously say he should be in the Hall of Fame, and we all know the only reason he's not.

The Twins failed in their attempt to get over .500.  Could they get back to .500 in the next game?

Record:  The Twins were 13-14 and remained tied for fifth with California in the American League West.  They were 4.5 games behind Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-six

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MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 3 IN BOSTON

Date:  Tuesday, May 7.

Batting stars:  Chili Davis was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and three RBIs.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a stolen base (his second), and two runs.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5.  Shane Mack was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer, his second.

Pitching star:  Scott Erickson pitched a complete game, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks and struck out five.  He threw 120 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Ellis Burks was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Carlos Quintana was 2-for-4.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  It was close most of the way.  The Twins started the game with singles by Gladden, Chuck Knoblauch, and Puckett to take a 1-0 lead, but could do no more.  The Red Sox got two singles in the bottom of the first but still sent only three men to the plate, losing one runner on a caught stealing and the other on a double play.

Neither team did much after that until the fifth.  Mike Pagliarulo opened the inning with a single and Gagne followed with a double.  Gladden drew a walk, loading the bases with none out.  Knoblauch hit a sacrifice fly and Davis doubled, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead.  It went to 6-0 in the seventh, when Puckett got a one-out single, Davis followed with another single, and Mack delivered a pinch-hit three-run homer.  The Twins added three more in the eighth, again with one out.  Gagne walked, Gladden and pinch-hitter Al Newman singled, and Davis doubled.

Boston did manage to get on the board in the ninth.  Ellis Burks singled, Jack Clark reached on an error, and with one out ex-Twin Brunansky hit a three-run homer.

WP:  Erickson (4-2).  LP:  Greg Harris (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Randy Bush started in right field, with Mack pinch-hitting for him in the seventh and remaining in the game in right.  Ortiz was at catcher with Erickson on the mound.  Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Carmelo Castillo pinch-hit for him in the ninth and Brian Harper finished the game at first base.

Gagne raised his average to .338.  Davis was batting .325.  Knoblauch and Puckett were each batting .316.  Erickson's ERA was 1.65.

Scott Leius pinch-hit for Pagliarulo in the eighth and went 0-for-2.  He was batting .185.  Mack raised his average to .190.

There's no way that, today, Erickson would've been allowed to throw 120 pitches in a game that the Twins were winning 9-0 going to the ninth.  It really didn't make a whole lot of sense then, either.  But he had a shutout going, and that's just the way things were done at the time.  I doubt if anyone really thought about it much.

As you probably know, playing a position other than catcher was nothing new for Brian Harper.  Early in his career, he was blocked by people like Tony Pena, Lance Parrish, and Terry Steinbach, and so--in John Gordon's phrase--he played around.  He played 114 games in the outfield and a handful of games at third as well as first.  It wasn't until he got to the Twins in 1988, where the incumbent backstop was Tim Laudner, that he actually got a shot at the catching job.  When he did, he made the most of it.  In his six seasons with the Twins, he batted over .300 four times and was over .290 the other two times.  He didn't get a regular job in the majors until he was twenty-nine--had he gotten started earlier, he might have had an even better career.  As it was, he played in parts of sixteen seasons, had well over three thousand plate appearances, and put up a line of .295/.329/.419.  That's a pretty respectable career.

After that 2-9 start, the Twins finally got back to .500.  Would they stay there?  We'll find out tomorrow!

Record:  The Twins were 13-13, tied for fifth with California in the American League West, 3.5 games behind Oakland.  Only one game separated the second through sixth place teams.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-four

MINNESOTA 7, MILWAUKEE 4 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Saturday, May 4.

Batting stars:  Greg Gagne was 3-for-4 with a home run (his third), two doubles, and two runs.  Chili Davis was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Randy Bush was 3-for-5.  Shane Mack was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Mark Guthrie pitched six shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Willie Randolph was 2-for-4.  Greg Vaughn was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixth.  Rick Dempsey was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.

The game:  In the second, Davis led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Gagne homered in the third to make it 2-0.

The Brewers got their first threat in the fourth, when Randolph singled and Franklin Stubbs drew a two-out walk, but Vaughn fouled out to end the inning.  The Twins added another run in the fifth when Gagne doubled with one out and scored on a Dan Gladden single.  Milwaukee got another threat in the sixth on one-out singles by Randolph and Robin Yount, but a pop up and a strikeout put it to bed.

The Twins took control in the seventh.  Gagne led off with a double but was thrown out trying to go to third on Gladden's ground ball to short.  Chuck Knoblauch walked, though, putting men on first and second, and Hrbek came through with a two-run double.  Singles by Davis and Bush scored Hrbek to increase the Twins' lead to 6-0.  They got one more in the ninth when Hrbek singled and scored on Davis' double.

The Brewers did not quit, though.  Steve Bedrosian, in his third inning, gave up a one-out single to Stubbs and Vaughn followed with a two-run homer.  Dante Bichette reached on an error, and with two out Dempsey homered to cut the lead to 7-4.  Greg Brock grounded out, however, and the game was over.

WP:  Guthrie (1-2).  LP:  Chris Bosio (3-3).  S:  Bedrosian (1).

Notes:  Bush was in right field in this game, with Mack in center and Kirby Puckett given the day off.

Gagne raised his average to .333.  Knoblauch was 0-for-3 with two walks and was batting .319.  Davis raised his average to .303.

Mike Pagliarulo was 0-for-4 and was batting .179.  Mack raised his average to .184.  Hrbek raised his average to .190.

With his six shutout innings, Guthrie lowered his ERA to 7.94.  That may not sound like much, but it was 16.88 going into the game.  He had made two starts and two relief appearances going into this game.  He would be in the starting rotation through the end of June, then go to the bullpen for the rest of the season.  He did much better there--for the season he was 5-4, 5.73, 1.78 WHIP as a starter, 2-1, 2.51, 1.37 WHIP as a reliever.  He would make only two more starts the rest of his career, both in 1994.

I'm sure I included it in his biography, but I had completely forgotten that Rick Dempsey was even still in the league in 1991, much less played for the Brewers.  He appeared in 60 games, but had just 147 at-bats.  He would have one last hurrah with Baltimore in 1992 before hanging it up for good at age forty-two.

The Twins were 0-for-2 in stealing bases, with Mack and Bush getting caught stealing.  Plus, there was Gagne getting thrown out trying to go from second to third on a grounder to short.  It didn't cost them the game, but losing three baserunners is not the recommended way to go about things.

Bedrosian got a three-inning save despite giving up four runs in the ninth.  He would have six saves on the season, three of them of the three-inning variety.

Milwaukee starter Chris Bosio pitched 6.1 innings, allowing six runs on ten hits and three walks and striking out four.  It's interesting how much the game has changed, and how much longer starters were allowed to stay in games in 1991 even when they were giving up runs.

Record:  The Twins were 11-13, tied for fifth with Seattle in the American League West, 4.5 games behind Oakland.

 

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-three

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MILWAUKEE 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Friday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5.  Brian Harper was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Paul Molitor was 4-for-4 with a triple and three runs.  Jim Gantner was 2-for-4.  Franklin Stubbs was 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.

The game:  Molitor led off the first with a single, went to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on another ground out to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.  The Twins responded with five in the second.  Chili Davis led off with a single and Harper hit a two-run homer.  It did not kill the rally, as the Twins strung together four consecutive one-out singles.  The hits came from Mike Pagliarulo, Al Newman, Gladden, and Knoblauch and made the score 4-1.  A ground out brought home the fifth run of the inning and left the Twins with a 5-1 lead.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the Twins.  After wasting a leadoff double by Greg Vaughn in the second, Milwaukee got back into the game in the third.  Molitor and Gantner led off with singles and Robin Yount walked to load the bases with none out.  Stubbs hit a sacrifice fly and Vaughn had an RBI ground out to cut the Twins' lead to 5-3.  Molitor struck again in the fifth, leading off with a triple and scoring on Gantner's single to make the score 5-4.

The Twins clung to that lead until the eighth.  Stubbs got a one-out single, driving Jack Morris from the game and bringing in Rick Aguilera.  He walked Vaughn, a passed ball moved the runners to second and third, and Dante Bichette tripled to bring them both home and give the Brewers a 6-5 advantage.  The Twins had just two hits after the second inning and they did not get one in the ninth, and so the game ended.

WP:  Jaime Navarro (2-0).  LP:  Aguilera (0-2).  S:  Edwin Nunez (3).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was once again in right, with Kirby Puckett in center.  Shane Mack came in for defense in the eighth, playing center with Puckett moving to right.  Newman was at shortstop, replacing Greg Gagne.

Knoblauch raised his average to .330.  Harper was batting .321.  Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .311.  Larkin was 0-for-4 and was 1-for his last-11.  He was batting .310.  Aguilera gave up a run on a hit and two walks in two-thirds of an inning, but still had an ERA of 2.16.

Newman was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .174.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 and was batting .176.  Pagliarulo was 1-for-4 and was batting .192.  Gladden raised his average to .210 and left the Mendoza line behind permanently.  Morris pitched 7.1 innings, but was charged with five runs on eight hits and three walks.  He struck out five.  His ERA was 5.49.

Milwaukee starter Navarro pitched eight innings and allowed five runs on ten hits and no walks and struck out two.

Four runs in the game scored on productive outs.  Three of them scored on ground outs and one on a sacrifice fly.  The Brewers scored three runs on productive outs and the Twins scored one.  Thus, the teams were able to score eleven runs despite going 4-for-18 with men in scoring position.

Because batting average was considered so much more important back then, I didn't realize what a truly awful batter Al Newman was.  I knew he was bad in 1991, when he batted .191, but even his good years were bad.  He never had an OPS above .650, with his highest being .643 in 1989.  He did have an OBP of .341 that year, but that was the only year he had a positive OBP.  He only had one other year when his OPS was over .600 (.601 in 1987).  Yes, he could play a lot of positions, and he had a reputation as a good glove man all over the infield (although someone who understands defensive stats better than I do will have to say whether that reputation was justified).  He was also popular in the clubhouse.  But when he was up to bat, there was not much good that was likely to happen.

Edwin Nunez was pretty much the Brewers' closer at the start of the season, but he got hurt shortly after this game and missed much of the campaign.  Doug Henry, who made his big league debut in mid-July, led the team in saves with 15.  Nunez and Dan Plesac each had eight.  Plesac had been the team's closer from 1986-1990, but lost the job in 1990.  He regained it temporarily when Nunez got hurt, but then lost it to Henry.  The other ten Milwaukee saves were spread around four pitchers.

Record:  The Twins were 10-13, tied for fifth with Seattle in the American League West, 5.5 games behind Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-two

4 Comments

MILWAUKEE 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Thursday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk.  Brian Harper was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Kevin Tapani pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and one walk and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Kevin Brown pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and five walks and striking out four.  Chuck Crim pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Willie Randolph was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two RBIs.  Paul Molitor was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Twins drew two walks in the first inning but did nothing with them.  In the bottom of the second, Franklin Stubbs led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Randolph.  The Twins got another man to second base in the fifth when Scott Leius walked and stole second with two out, but there he stayed.  The Twins tied it in the sixth, however, when Puckett hit a one-out triple and scored on Harper's single.

It didn't stay tied long.  In the bottom of the sixth, Robin Yount led off with a single and Stubbs walked.  Greg Vaughn bunted the runners over, Dante Bichette hit a sacrifice fly, and Randolph had an RBI single to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead.

The Twins got singles from Carmelo Castillo and Greg Gagne in the seventh, but they were stranded.  It was the last threat the Twins had.  Milwaukee added two insurance runs in the eighth.  Vaughn walked and scored on Bichette's double.  Bichette then stole third and scored when Randolph's fly ball was missed by right fielder Gene Larkin.

WP: Brown (2-0).  LP:  Tapani (2-1).  S:  Crim (3).

Notes:  Castillo was the DH, with Chili Davis out of the lineup.  Kent Hrbek was dropped down to the sixth spot in the order, with Harper batting fourth and Larkin fifth.  With Larkin in right, Puckett was again in center.

Al Newman pinch-hit for Castillo in the ninth.  It was one of twenty-four times he was used as a pinch-hitter in 1991.  I don't know the circumstances of all of them--he may have been batting in a blowout to give a regular a rest sometimes.  But still, it says something about your bench, or your manager, or both, that you use a player like him as a pinch-hitter that many times.

Larkin was 0-for-4 and was batting .342.  Harper was batting .327.  Puckett was at .326.  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-4 and was batting .313.  Gagne was 1-for-3 and was at .305.  Tapani's ERA went to 2.43.

Newman was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .150.  Randy Bush was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .160.  Hrbek was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .171.  Gladden was 0-for-3 with a walk and fell back below the Mendoza line at .197.  Terry Leach pitched one inning, giving up two runs (one earned) on a hit and a walk and had an ERA of 5.14.

Look at this lineup the Brewers used:  Molitor, Jim Gantner, Yount, Stubbs, Vaughn, Bichette, Randolph, B. J. Surhoff, Dale Sveum.  Those are some pretty big names.  Granted, a few of them (Vaughn, Bichette, Surhoff) were still near the beginning of their careers and were not yet what they would become.  Still, that sounds like a pretty formidable lineup.  What Franklin Stubbs was doing in the middle of it is another question, but I guess you can't have everything.

The Kevin Brown who pitched is not "the" Kevin Brown.  This Kevin Brown appeared in 24 games over 3 seasons.  By game scores, this was his second-best game of the season and third-best of his career.  For his career, he was 3-5, 4.82, 1.46 WHIP.  He made thirteen career starts and pitched a total of 89.2 major league innings.

I had completely forgotten that Willie Randolph had played for Milwaukee.  The Yankees had decided he was done after a 1988 season in which he batted .230.  He went to the Dodgers in 1989 and made the all-star team.  He split 1990 between the Dodgers and Oakland, then went to the Brewers for 1991.  At age thirty-six, he had one of the best years of his career, batting .327/.424/.374.  He went to the Mets in 1992, then was done.  He managed the Mets from 2005-2008.  He has coached for a couple of teams, and is currently a coach for the United States National Team at the WSBC Premier12, an international baseball championship.

Record:  The Twins were 10-12, tied for fifth with Seattle in the American League West, 4.5 games behind Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty-one

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MINNESOTA 1, BOSTON 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, May 1.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Kent Hrbek was 0-for-1 with three walks.

Pitching star:  Scott Erickson pitched a complete game shutout, giving up two hits and one walk and striking out seven.

Opposition star:  Greg Harris pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out six.

The game:  It was a pitchers' duel, as you probably guessed from the score.  Neither team got a man on base until the bottom of the third, when Greg Gagne hit a two-out double.  Gladden then reached on an error, but Chuck Knoblauch grounded out to end the inning.  The Red Sox got men to first and second with two out in the fourth on an error and a walk, but nothing came of it.  Boston got its first hit in the sixth on a two-out single by Jody Reed, but he remained at first base.  Gladden got to third in the sixth when he led off with a single, took second on a ground out, and advanced to third on a fly ball, but that was as far as he got.  Tom Brunansky had a two-out double int he seventh but did not advance.  In the bottom of the seventh, Gene Larkin led off with a single, went to second on a ground out, and took third with one down on a pickoff error, but Mike Pagliarulo fanned and Gagne popped up to end the threat.

Finally, in the bottom of the eighth, Gladden led off with a home run.  The Red Sox went down in order in the ninth, and in fact did not get a baserunner after Brunansky's double.

WP:  Erickson (3-2).  LP:  Jeff Gray (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin was again in right field, with Puckett in center.  Shane Mack came in to play center in the ninth, with Puckett moving to right.  Al Newman replaced Pagliarulo at third base in the ninth inning.  Junior Ortiz was once again Erickson's catcher.

Larkin was 1-for-3 and was batting .382.  Puckett was 0-for-4 to go to .325.  Knoblauch was 0-for-4 and was batting .316.  Gagne was 1-for-3 to go to .304.  Erickson had an ERA of 1.58.  He threw 125 pitches.

Gladden finally got above the Mendoza line at .205.  Hrbek was batting .179.  Pagliarulo was 0-for-3 and was batting .188.

Erickson was in his first full season and was twenty-three years old.  In his first five starts, he averaged 115 pitches per start and had exceeded 120 three times.  It's safe to say that would not happen today.

The two teams combined to go 0-for-9 with men in scoring position.

By game scores this was Erickson's best game of the season with a score of 89.  His next best was against the Yankees on June 24, when he had an 88.  His line scores were nearly identical:  nine innings, two hits, no runs, one walk.  The only difference is that he struck out seven in this game and six in the game in June.

I hadn't remembered that Larkin played so much right field in 1991.  He made 39 starts there.  When you're batting .382, they find ways to get you in the lineup. He obviously didn't do that all season, but he still had a fine year.

Hrbek wasn't hitting, but the Red Sox clearly still respected him.  They walked him three times, once intentionally.

After their 2-9 start, the Twins had now won eight of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 10-11, tied for fourth place in the American League West with California, four games behind Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty

7 Comments

BOSTON 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 30.

Batting stars:  Scott Leius was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, a walk, and two runs.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Quintana was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Jack Clark was 2-for-4.  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer (his third), a double, and two runs.

The game:  The Red Sox opened the scoring in the second.  Clark led off with a single, Ellis Burks doubled, and Tom Brunansky hit a two-run single to give Boston a 2-0 lead.  It went to 4-0 in the third, as Jody Reed hit a one-out single followed by Greenwell's two-run homer.

The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the third.  Gene Larkin singled and Leius hit a two-run homer.  It did not kill the rally, as Gladden got a one-out single and scored on Chuck Knoblauch's double to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the fifth on a single, an error, and a walk, but a force out and a double play ended the inning.  The Red Sox put men on first and second with one out in the seventh, but a fly out and a pop up took care of that.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Twins took their only lead of the game.  With one out, Leius walked, Greg Gagne singled, and Gladden delivered a two-run double to make it 5-4 Twins.

The lead didn't last long.  Greenwell led off the eighth with a double.  With one out, Burks walked.  Tom Brunansky popped up and it looked like the Twins might get out of it, but Quintana hit a three-run homer to give Boston a 7-5 advantage.  That was pretty much it, as the only offense the Twins could manage after that was a two-out single by Randy Bush in the eighth.

WP:  Jeff Gray (1-1).  LP:  Steve Bedrosian (2-1).  S:  Jeff Reardon (8).

Notes:  Kirby Puckett was again in center, with Larkin in right.  Shane Mack came in for defense in the eighth, playing center with Puckett moving to right.  When the Twins fell behind, Bush pinch-hit for Mack in the bottom of the eighth and stayed in the game in right field, with Puckett moving back to center.

Larkin was 1-for-3 and was batting .387.  Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .342.  Knoblauch was 1-for-5 and was batting .333.  Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.  Gagne was 1-for-3 and was batting .302.  Chili Davis was 0-for-4 and was batting .302.

On the other hand, Al Newman went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .158.  Bush was 1-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .167.  Kent Hrbek was 0-for-4 and closed out April batting .182.  Gladden raised his average to .188.

Neither starting pitcher did that well, although they both got fairly deep into the game.  Allan Anderson pitched six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out none.  In thirty-one inning, he had just six strikeouts.  Boston starter Matt Young pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

I had completely forgotten that Jack Clark ended his career with the Red Sox.  He was with them two seasons, 1991-1992.  He was thirty-five in 1991 and was not what he had been, but he still hit 28 homers and had an OPS of .840.  It was his last good year, though.  He batted .210 as a part-time player in 1992 and then was done.

Mike Greenwell never became the star that some thought he would early in his career, but he still had a fine career.  He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987 (behind Mark McGwire, which was understandable, but also behind Kevin Seitzer and Matt Nokes).  He was second in MVP voting the next year, in 1988 (behind 40-40 man Jose Canseco), even though statistically his season was almost identical to 1987.  He batted .300 or better five times and twice batted .297.  He had an OPS over .800 seven times.  In his last major league season, 1996, he batted .295 with an OPS of .777.  He was only thirty-two at that point, and one would've thought he could continue for a while.  Instead, he went to Japan, played in just seven games for Hanshin, and retired.  It appears that injuries made him decide that playing baseball was just not worth it anymore.  He raced stock cars and trucks for several years and now lives on a ranch in Florida.  His son, Bo Greenwell, played in the minors for eight seasons, reaching AA.  His nephew, Joey Terdoslavich, played for the Atlanta Braves for parts of three seasons.

Record:  The Twins were 9-11, in sixth place in the American League West, four games behind Oakland.  They were one game behind fifth place Seattle and a half game ahead of seventh place Kansas City.