Tag Archives: 1991 rewind

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: ALCS Game Three

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MINNESOTA 3, TORONTO 2 IN TORONTO (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, October 11.

Batting stars:  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5 with a double.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a double.  Mike Pagliarulo hit a pinch-hit home run.

Pitching stars:  David West struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and three walks.  Carl Willis pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jimmy Key pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out one.  Joe Carter was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  With two out in the first inning Carter homered to get the Blue Jays on the board.  They weren't done, as John Olerud walked, Kelly Gruber singled, and Candy Maldonado delivered an RBI double, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead.

The Twins did not get a hit until the fourth, when Puckett hit a double.  Nothing came of it, and nothing came of the Blue Jays' fourth, when they opened the inning with a pair of walks.  The Twins got on the board in the fifth, when Shane Mack tripled and scored on a ground ball.

In Toronto's fifth, two more walks and a wild pitch put men on second and third, but again nothing came of it.  The Twins tied it in the sixth when Knoblauch hit a one-out double and Puckett drove him in with a single.  The Blue Jays threatened again in the seventh when Devon White singled, was bunted to second, and Carter was intentionally walked, but again they did not score.  There were no further threats through nine, so we went to extra innings.

Well, only one extra inning.  With one out in the tenth, Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Scott Leius and hit a 1-0 pitch over the fence to give the Twins their first lead at 3-2.  Aguilera came on and retired Toronto in order in the bottom of the tenth to give the Twins a victory.

WP:  Mark Guthrie.  LP:  Mike Timlin.  S:  Aguilera (2).

Notes:  Scott Erickson was the starting pitcher, so Junior Ortiz was behind the plate.  Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the ninth.  Al Newman came in to play shortstop.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Ortiz in the tenth.  Brian Harper came in to catch.  As stated above, Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Leius in the tenth and stayed in the game at third base.

Erickson pitched four innings, giving up two runs on three hits and five walks and striking out two.  He came out in the fifth after giving up a leadoff walk to Roberto Alomar.  It was a quick hook, in a way, but five walks (and three in the last inning-plus) will tend to make a manager do that.  The Twins bullpen came through in a big way, pitched six scoreless innings.  In addition to the pitchers listed under "pitching stars", Guthrie came in to retire the only man he faced, Rob Ducey.

Toronto stranded ten men and went 1-for-9 with men in scoring position.  The Twins were not a lot better, stranding six and going 1-for-7 with men in scoring position.  The Blue Jays drew eight walks, but could get only five hits.  It had to be a tough loss for Toronto--their first home game of the series, they had all kinds of chances to win, and yet they could not do it.

Record:  The Twins led the best-of-seven series 2-1 and regained home field advantage.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: ALCS Game Two

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TORONTO 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, October 9.

Batting star:  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.

Pitching star:  Mark Guthrie retired all seven men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Juan Guzman pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and four walks and striking out two.  Duane Ward struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-3 with a stolen base.  Devon White was 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, and three runs.  Kelly Gruber was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The game:  White led off the game with a single, stole second, was bunted to third, and scored on a Joe Carter single to put the Blue Jays up 1-0.  The Twins put men on first and second in the bottom of the first, but did not score.  Toronto put men on first and second in the second, but also did not score.

In the third White led off with a double and went to third on Alomar's single.  Alomar then stole second and Gruber singled them both home, making it 3-0 Blue Jays.  The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the third when Knoblauch hit a two-out single, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Kirby Puckett single.

The Twins got closer in the sixth.  Walks to Knoblauch and Chili Davis put men on first and second with two out.  Brian Harper then delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to 3-2.  In the seventh, however, Manny Lee and White walked, putting men on first and second with one out, Alomar hit an RBI single, and Carter hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 5-2 Blue Jays.

And that was it.  The Twins had only one baserunner after that, Knoblauch's eighth-inning single, but he did not get past first base.

WP:  Guzman.  LP:  Kevin Tapani.  S:  Ward.

Notes:  The Twins made just one substitution.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Shane Mack in the ninth.

Tapani pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out five.

This was Guzman's rookie year.  He had an excellent season, going 10-3, 2.99, 1.18 WHIP.  He was especially good against the Twins, going 2-1, 1.66, 0.88 WHIP.  It was no surprise that he had a good game against the Twins in the ALCS.

The Twins again did well with men in scoring position, going 2-for-6.  They simply did not get enough men in scoring position.

With the series tied 1-1, home field advantage swung to Toronto.  The Twins would have to win at least one game there to bring the series back to Minnesota.  Could they do it?  We will see.

Record:  The Twins were 1-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: ALCS Game One

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MINNESOTA 5, TORONTO 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, October 8.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a double.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5.  Chili Davis was 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs, and a stolen base.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis retired all seven batters he faced, striking out two.  Rick Aguilera struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Joe Carter was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Kelly Gruber was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base.  John Olerud was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-4.  David Wells pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks and striking out one.  Mike Timlin pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk and striking out two.

The game:  Gladden and Knoblauch started the first inning with singles.  A fly ball and a stolen base moved them to second and third with two out.  Davis then came through with a two-run single to put the Twins up 2-0.  Mack led off the second with a single, stole second, and scored on a Greg Gagne single.  Singles by Gladden and Knoblauch brought home Gagne to make it 4-0.  In the third Davis walked, stole second, and scored on Mack's double to put the Twins up 5-0.

The Blue Jays started their comeback in the fourth.  Alomar singled and Carter doubled, but Alomar was thrown out at the plate.  Carter went to third on the throw, however, and scored on a ground out to make it 5-1.

The Twins loaded the bases in the fifth but did not score.  In the sixth Toronto got five consecutive one-out singles, by Devon White, Alomar, Carter, Olerud, and Gruber, to cut the lead to 5-4.  The Blue Jays had men on first and second with one out, but at that point Jack Morris was replaced by Willis, who retired the next two batters to get the Twins out of the inning.  The Blue Jays had only one baserunner after that, a two-out single by Olerud in the eighth.  The Twins held on to take game one 5-4.

WP:  Morris.  LP:  Tom Candiotti.  S:  Aguilera.

Notes:  Scott Leius pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the fifth inning and stayed in the game at third base.  Junior Ortiz came in to replace Brian Harper at catcher in the eighth.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Leius in the eighth, with Al Newman coming in to play third base in the ninth.

Morris pitched very well for four innings, got out of trouble in the fifth, but could not get out of the sixth.  Five consecutive singles sounds like bad luck, and maybe it was, but four of the five are described as line drives.  Willis really came in and saved the day, as he did so many times in the 1991 season.

I was a little surprised to see that the Blue Jays had gone with Candiotti as their game one starter.  Their other starters were Todd Stottlemyre, Jimmy Key, David Wells, and Juan Guzman.  But in 1991 Candiotti had a 2.65 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  He was really good that year, and you can see why Toronto started him in game one.

Both teams hit well with men in scoring position.  The Blue Jays were 3-for-8 and the Twins were 4-for-12.  Toronto stranded four men and the Twins stranded eight.

The Twins weren't a particularly strong basestealing team, but they stole four bases in this game.  They were 4-for-6.  Candiotti, a knuckleballer, being on the mound probably influenced that.

Record:  The Twins led the best-of-seven series 1-0.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-two

TORONTO 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, October 6.

Batting star:  Mike Pagliarulo was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixth) and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Edens pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks and striking out five.  David West struck out two in a perfect inning.  Steve Bedrosian struck out one in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Pat Hentgen pitched five innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk and striking out two.  Kelly Gruber was 2-for-2 with a double.  Devon White was 1-for-2 with a home run, his seventeenth.  Rob Ducey was 1-for-3 with a home run.

The game:  White led off the game with a home run, giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.  Pagliarulo homered with one out in the third to tie it 1-1.  The Twins put men on first and second in the fourth and again in the sixth, but the score remained 1-1 until the seventh.

In the seventh, Pagliarulo reached on a two-base error and scored on a Paul Sorrento single to put the Twins up 2-1.  In the eighth Mookie Wilson singled, stole second, and scored on a Greg Myers single to tie it 2-2.

The Twins put two on in the ninth, but did not score.  In the tenth, Ducey led off with a home run to give Toronto a 3-2 lead.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the tenth.

WP:  David Weathers (1-0).  LP:  Allan Anderson (5-11).  S:  Duane Ward (23).

Notes:  The Twins started their regular lineup, but substituted for everyone but Pagliarulo.  In the fifth, Gene Larkin replaced Kent Hrbek at first base, Al Newman replaced Chuck Knoblauch at second base.  Jarvis Brown had pinch-run for Kirby Puckett in the fourth and went to center field in the fifth.  In the sixth, Randy Bush pinch-hit for Chili Davis and remained at DH.  Paul Sorrento replaced Dan Gladden in the lineup and went to first base, with Larkin moving to right field.  Pedro Munoz replaced Shane Mack and went to left field.  Scott Leius replaced Greg Gagne and went to shortstop.  In the seventh, Junior Ortiz replaced Brian Harper and went behind the plate.

Puckett was 1-for-2 and ended the season at .319.  Harper was 0-for-3 and ended at .311.  Mack was 1-for-2 and ended at .310.  Bush was 0-for-3 and ended at .303.

Newman was 0-for-2 and ended at .191.

Both teams treated this as a spring training game.  No Blue Jay played the entire game.  I'm sure they were thrilled to have to play an extra inning in the last game of the season when it didn't mean anything.  I suspect Tom Kelly was not all that disappointed when the Twins lost in the tenth.

This was the only home run Ducey hit this season and only the second of his major league career.  He had thirty-one for his career.  His career high was eight in 1999.

This was the first win of Weathers' career.  He ended up with 73 in his career.  His career high was eight in 1994.  It may have been a meaningless game, but it was probably not meaningless for him.

Record:  The Twins ended the season 95-67, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.

Toronto ended the season 91-71, in first place in the American League East, seven games ahead of Detroit.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty

TORONTO 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, October 4.

Batting star:  Jarvis Brown was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Denny Neagle pitched five innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out three.  Allan Anderson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one walk.

Opposition stars:  Todd Stottlemyre struck out five in five innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks.  Candy Maldonado was 2-for-2 with a double.  Turner Ward was 2-for-2 with a walk.  Derek Bell was 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, his second and third.

The game:  The Blue Jays scored in the first inning when Joe Carter reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, and scored on Maldonado's single.  They had men on first and second in the second and on second and third in the third, but did not score.  The Twins had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth, but Randy Bush lined into a double play.  So it stayed 1-0 Toronto until the fifth.

In the fifth, Eddie Zosky (who?) doubled and Ward singled to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.  The Twins put men on first and second in the fifth, but did not get on the board until the sixth.  Singles by Bush and Shane Mack and a walk to Scott Leius loaded the bases with one out.  Lenny Webster hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the margin to 2-1, but that was all the Twins got, and they would not come that close to taking the lead again.

Toronto got some insurance runs in the eighth.  Ward and Pat Border singled and Rance Mulliniks walked, loading the bases with one out.  Ed Sprague walked to force in a run and a sacrifice fly brought home another, making it 4-1.  The Twins did not get a baserunner after the sixth inning.

WP:  Stottlemyer (15-8).  LP:  Neagle (0-1).  S:  Duane Ward (22).

Notes:  Randy Bush was at DH in place of Chili Davis.  Paul Sorrento was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Webster was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Brown was in center field in place of Kirby Puckett.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Sorrento in the sixth and stayed in the game at first base.

Bush was 1-for-3 and was batting .309.  Mack was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Webster was 0-for-3 and was batting .303.

Newman was 0-for-2 with two walks and was batting .193 with an OPS of .472.

It had to be kind of strange to have a meaningless end-of-season three-game series against the team you would play in a few days for the League Championship.  Both teams treated it somewhat like a spring training game.  As you can see above, the Twins played a number of reserves.  The Blue Jays started most of their regulars, but substituted for them as the game progressed.  Both starters pitched just five innings even though the score was 2-1 after five.

This was the only decision Neagle would have as a Twin, as he was traded after the season.

Eddie Zosky played in forty-four major league games over five seasons and ten years.  He was a good field-no hit infielder who was drafted by Toronto in the first round out of Cal State-Fresno.  He spent two season in AA, where he had a decent but not great batting average, did not draw a whole lot of walks, and had little power.  He hit .264/.315/.350 in AAA in 1991 and got a September call-up, going 4-for-27 in 18 games.  He batted just .231 in AAA in 1992 but again got a September call-up, going 2-for-7 in 8 games.  He missed much of 1993, presumably to injury, was in AAA in 1994, then moved to the Marlins.  He was in AAA for them in 1995 but did get called up for about three weeks early in the season, going 1-for-5.  By this time he was in his late twenties and no longer a prospect, but he kept playing.  He was in the minors for Baltimore in 1996, San Francisco in 1997, and Milwaukee in 1998.  He was still with the Brewers in 1999 and got another September call-up, going 1-for-7.  He was with Pittsburgh and Houston in 2000 and got one more September call-up with the Astros, going 0-for-4.  Adding it all up, he was 8-for-50 in the majors, posting a line of .160/.173/.260.  He was well thought of early on:  Baseball America had him as the third-best prospect in the Southern League in 1990 and as the twenty-second-best prospect in all of baseball in 1991.  As a scout once said, you can talk all you want about the five tools, but none of the others mean much if you can't hit.

Record:  The Twins were 94-66, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-nine

CHICAGO 13, MINNESOTA 12 IN CHICAGO (GAME 2--12 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, October 3.

Batting stars:  Pedro Munoz was 3-for-6 with a home run (his seventh), a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Gene Larkin was 3-for-6 with two doubles.  Scott Leius was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and two RBIs.  Paul Sorrento was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, and three RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his twentieth.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-5 with a home run, his eighth.

Pitching star:  Gary Wayne pitched three innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Ozzie Guillen was 4-for-5.  Dan Pasqua was 4-for-6 with a home run (his seventeenth), a double, a walk, and three runs.  Warren Newson was 3-for-4.  Carlton Fisk was 3-for-7 with two home runs (his seventeenth and eighteenth), a double, three runs, and six RBIs.  Craig Grebeck was 2-for-5 with a double and a walk.  Lance Johnson was 2-for-6 with a double, a stolen base (his twenty-fifth), and two runs.  Tim Raines was 2-for-7 with a stolen base, his fifty-first.

The game:  The White Sox got on the board in the third when Guillen doubled, went to third on Raines' single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  The Twins responded with six in the fourth.  Gagne led off with a home run to tie the score.  Munoz and Chili Davis singled, Larkin had an RBI double, Lenny Webster walked, Sorrento had a two-run single, and Leius had an RBI single.  Jarvis Brown drew a one-out walk to load the bases, and with two out Munoz walked to force in a run.  The Twins left the bases loaded, but they led 6-1 and things looked good.

It didn't last.  In the fourth, Johnson reached on a fielder's choice and scored on a stolen base-plus-error-plus-error, making it 6-2.  In the fifth Pasqua and Fisk hit back-to-back home runs to make it 6-4.  The Twins got a run back in the sixth on a pair of errors, making it 7-4, but in the bottom of the fifth Frank Thomas homered, Pasqua and Fisk hit back-to-back doubles, and Newson had an RBI single, tying the score 7-7.

Chicago took the lead in the seventh.  A single and two walks loaded the bases and Fisk hit a two-out grand slam to give the White Sox an 11-7 lead.  Leius homered in the eighth to make it 11-8, but in the bottom of the eighth Johnson doubled, went to third on Grebeck's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 12-8.

Munoz led off the ninth with a homer to make it 12-9.  With two out Webster singled and scored from first on a Sorrento double.  Hrbek then hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to tie it 12-12.

The Twins had men on second and third in the tenth but could not score.  Chicago had men on first and third in the tenth but could not score.  In the twelfth Joey Cora singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a Matt Merullo single to win the game for the White Sox.

WP:  Brian Drahman (3-2).  LP:  Terry Leach (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brown was in center field in place of Kirby Puckett.  He batted first.  Gagne batted second.  Munoz was in left in place of Dan Gladden and batted third.  Larkin was in right field in place of Shane Mack.  Webster was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Sorrento was at first base in place of Hrbek.  Al Newman was at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch.

Randy Bush pinch-hit for Chili Davis in the fourth.  Harper pinch-hit for Bush in the ninth.  Hrbek pinch-hit for Leius in the ninth.  Knoblauch then replaced Hrbek and went to second base, with Newman moving to third.  Mike Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Gagne in the tenth and stayed in the game at third base, with Newman moving to shortstop.  Mack pinch-ran for Harper in the tenth.  Gladden pinch-hit for Sorrento in the eleventh.  Gladden then went to left field, with Munoz moving to right and Larkin going to first base.

Webster was 1-for-3 and was batting .333.  Harper was 1-for-2 and was batting .313.  Bush was 0-for-2 and was batting .308.  Mack was 0-for-1 and was batting .306.

Kevin  Tapani started and pitched five innings, allowing four runs on eleven hits and two walks and striking out five.  His ERA was 2.99.  Carl Willis allowed three runs in one inning to make his ERA 2.65.

Brown was 0-for-6 and was batting .161.  Newman was 0-for-5 and was batting .194.

Greg Hibbard started for Chicago.  He lasted just three innings, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk and striking out none.  The White Sox used nine pitchers:  Hibbard, Roberto Hernandez, Steve Wapnick, Jeff Carter, Donn Pall, Scott Radinsky, Bobby Thigpen, Ken Patterson, and Drahman.

In eight games against the Twins in 1991, Warren Newson went 6-for-16 (.375).  For his career he batted .326/.425/.579 against the Twins for an OPS of 1.004.  For his career overall, he batted .250/.374/.401.

Fisk's grand slam was his last home run of the season.  He would hit only four more in his career.  He was forty-three at this point, and near the end of his career, but he played two more seasons before finally retiring.

What's more fun than playing a meaningless doubleheader at the end of the season?  Playing two extra-inning games in a meaningless doubleheader at the end of the season!

Record:  The Twins were 94-65, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-eight

CHICAGO 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN CHICAGO (GAME 1--10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, October 3.

Batting stars:  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-4 with a stolen base, his twenty-fourth.  Chili Davis was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixth.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris pitched five shutout innings, giving up six hits and a walk and striking out five.  He threw 72 pitches.  Mark Guthrie pitched two shutout innings, giving up three hits.

Opposition stars:  Jack McDowell pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out three.  Lance Johnson was 4-for-4 with a triple and a stolen base, his twenty-fifth.  Frank Thomas was 2-for-3 with two walks.

The game:  The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the first on two singles and a walk, but Bo Jackson hit into a double play to end the inning.  The Twins put men on first and second with two out in the fourth, but Brian Harper flied out to end the inning.

Those were the only threats until the sixth, when Gladden led off the inning with a home run to put the Twins up 1-0.  The Twins added a run in the ninth when Kent Hrbek walked and pinch-runner Jarvis Brown scored from first on Davis' double.

It was 2-0 going to the bottom of the ninth, and Rick Aguilera came in to finish it off.  But he walked Warren Newson to lead off the inning, and Johnson then circled the bases on a triple-plus-error to tie the score 2-2.  The next three batters went out, so we had free baseball.

The Twins went down in order in the top of the tenth.  In the bottom of the tenth, Tim Raines reached on a two-base error.  A ground out, an intentional walk, and a foul popup gave the Twins hope, but Newson delivered a single to score Raines and give the White Sox the victory.

WP:  Scott Radinsky (5-5).  LP:  Aguilera (4-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.

Lots of substitutes again.  Brown pinch-ran for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game in right field.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Harper in the ninth and stayed in the game at first base.  Gagne pinch-ran for Davis in the ninth.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Shane Mack in the ninth, but after a pitching change Pedro Munoz pinch-hit for Bush.  Lenny Webster then replaced Munoz in the bottom of the ninth and went behind the plate.  Scott Leius pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.

Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .318.  Harper was 0-for-3 and was batting .312.  Mack was 0-for-3 and was batting .306.  Morris lowered his ERA to 3.43.  Terry Leach pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run to make his ERA 3.46.  Aguilera allowed three runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings to make his ERA 2.38.  It was his ninth blown save of the season.

Newman went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .198.  He would not get back over the Mendoza line.

What's more fun than a doubleheader after the pennant race is over?  Extra innings in a doubleheader after the pennant race is over!

It's a little surprising to me that Aguilera would stay in the game to pitch the tenth.  He ended up throwing thirty-nine pitches, which these days would be considered a lot for a closer.  Things were different then, of course.  Still, with the expanded rosters and a meaningless game, I'd have expected someone else to come in to pitch the tenth.

Record:  The Twins were 94-65, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.

On October 2, when the Twins didn't play (presumably they were rained out), Toronto won and clinched the East, so the Twins would play the Blue Jays in the ALCS.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-seven

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MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Tuesday, October 1.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fifteenth.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his twelfth.

Pitching stars:  David West pitched four innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.  Carl Willis pitched two perfect innings.  Mark Guthrie pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Wilson Alvarez pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks and striking out two.  Frank Thomas was 2-for-4 with a double.  Sammy Sosa was 2-for-4.  Ozzie Guillen was 2-for-4.

The game:  Each team missed a chance in the first.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out; the White Sox loaded the bases.  Still it was scoreless until the second.  Brian Harper reached on an error and Mack singled.  A bunt advanced the runners and Pedro Munoz delivered an RBI single.  With men on first and third, the Twins tried a double steal of second and home, but Mack was thrown out at the plate to leave the score 1-0 Twins.

Chicago tied it in the third on back-to-back two-out doubles by Thomas and Carlton Fisk.  They took the lead in the fourth.  Sosa and Lance Johnson started the inning with singles, putting men on first and third.  The White Sox then tried a double steal of their own and got the same result the Twins had, with Sosa thrown out at the plate.  Ron Karkovice singled, however, putting Chicago up 2-1.

It stayed 2-1 until the seventh.  With one out Mack singled, stole second, and scored on a Gene Larkin single, tying it 2-2.  In the eighth Puckett homered to give the Twins a 3-2 advantage.  The White Sox did not get a man past first after that.

WP:  Guthrie (7-5).  LP:  Melido Perez (8-7).  S:  Aguilera (41).

Notes:  Mack was in left field, with Dan Gladden on the bench.  Gagne moved up to the leadoff spot.  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Munoz was in right field.

Al Newman replaced Gagne in the sixth and went to third base, with Leius moving to shortstop.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Munoz in the seventh and went to right field.  Junior Ortiz replaced Harper at catcher in the seventh.  Jarvis Brown replaced Bush in right field in the eighth.

Puckett was batting .321.  Harper was 0-for-3 and was batting .314.  Bush walked in his only plate appearance and remained at .312.  Mack raised his average to .308.  Willis lowered his ERA to 2.37.  Aguilera went down to 2.31.

This was the only year of his career that Melido Perez was mainly a reliever.  He did pretty well, going 8-7, 3.12, 1.20 WHIP.  He'd had a good rookie year as a starter in 1988, but then struggled for two seasons.  He was traded to the Yankees for 1992, went back to starting, and had the best season of his career, going 13-16, 2.87, 1.23 WHIP.  He fell off after that, though, and never posted an ERA below four again.  He was not a great pitcher, but he did have a couple of good years, which is a couple more than some people have.  For his career, he was 78-85, 4.17, 1.34 WHIP.

Not only had the White Sox been eliminated, they now had only a 1.5 game lead over Oakland and Texas for second.  It was possible that they might drop to third or even fourth.

Record:  The Twins were 94-63, in first place in the American League West, ten games ahead of Chicago.

In the East, Toronto won and Boston lost, increasing the Blue Jays' lead to 4.5 games.  Toronto had clinched at least a tie for the division.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-six

MINNESOTA 8, CHICAGO 3 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Monday, September 30.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixth.  Brian Harper was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Pedro Munoz was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his sixth), a double, and two runs.  Paul Sorrento was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  Tom Edens pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out two.  Steve Bedrosian pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition star:  Matt Merullo was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, his fourth.

The game:  In the second Harper walked, went to third on a Bush single, and scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Twins up 1-0.  The White Sox got a pair of one-out singles in the third but could do nothing with them.  In the fourth, Munoz doubled, Harper had an RBI single, and Bush followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 4-0.

The Twins put it away in the fifth.  Al Newman led off with a single, but a force out put Jarvis Brown at first base instead.  He stole second, Greg Gagne walked, and Munoz hit a three-run homer.  Sorrento made it back-to-back homers and gave the Twins an 8-0 lead.

The White Sox got on the board in the fifth when Lance Johnson led off with a triple and scored on a ground out.  They got a couple more in the ninth when Warren Newson walked and Merullo hit a two-run homer, but never threatened to get back into the game.

WP:  Edens (2-2).  LP:  Alex Fernandez (9-13).  S:  None.

Notes:  As you might suppose the day after clinching the division, it was an unusual lineup.  Brown started in center in place of Kirby Puckett and batted first.  Gagne moved up to the second spot.  Munoz was in left in place of Dan Gladden and batted third.  Paul Sorrento was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek and batted fourth.  Harper was the DH in place of Chili Davis.  Bush was in right field in place of Shane Mack.  Lenny Webster was behind the plate.  Newman was at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch.

It should be noted that with the roster restrictions now, teams can no longer do this.  The day after a team clinches, several regulars are still going to have to play, because there won't be enough reserves to fill out the lineup.

The Twins made just one substitution--Scott Leius came in for Gagne at shortstop in the fifth inning.

Harper raised his average to .316.  Bush went up to .312.  Webster was 0-for-4 and was batting .333.  Rick Aguilera allowed two runs in one inning to make his ERA 2.34.

This was the first time Bedrosian had pitched since September 17.  He presumably had some sort of injury or illness that he was dealing with.

A couple of weeks earlier, of course, it had looked like this might be an important series in the last week of the season.  As it turned out, the Twins had clinched the day before, rendering the series meaningless as far as the pennant race was concerned.

This was the thirty-second game of Brown's career, but only his second start.  He was used as either a pinch-runner or a defensive replacement in the other thirty games.  I'm sure he was happy to be in the big leagues at all, and I'm sure he was also happy to be on a championship team.  Still, it must have been just a little frustrating to not get more of a chance to play.  He probably understood it, but it still would be frustrating.

Record:  The Twins were 93-63, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Chicago.

Toronto lost and Boston won, so the Red Sox kept their hopes alive in the East.  The Blue Jays led by 3.5 games.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-five

3 Comments

TORONTO 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN TORONTO

Date:  Sunday, September 29.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Scott Erickson pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out two.  He threw one hundred pitches.

Opposition stars:  Todd Stottlemyre pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out none.  Candy Maldonado was 1-for-2 with a walk.  Devon White was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The Blue Jays scored both of their runs in the first inning.  White led off with a double.  A sacrifice/fielder's choice put men on first and third.  A ground out made it second and third, and a walk to John Olerud loaded the bases.  A sacrifice fly scored one and Maldonado's single brought home another, making it 2-0 Toronto.

The Twins put men on first and second in the second but did not score.  That was their only real threat until the seventh, when Gene Larkin led off with a double and scored on a Paul Sorrento single.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Sorrento and went to second on a ground out.  With two out Randy Bush singled, but Brown was thrown out trying to score.  That was the last chance to tie the game the Twins had.

WP:  Stottlemyre (14-8).  LP:  Erickson (19-8).  S:  Duane Ward (20).

Notes:  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Junior Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.

Sorrento pinch-hit for Ortiz in the seventh.  Brown then pinch-ran for Sorrento.  He stayed in the game and went to right field, with Mack going to left.  Bush pinch-hit for Dan Gladden in the seventh.  Lenny Webster then came into the game to catch.

Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .319.  Mack was batting .307.  Bush was 1-for-1 and was batting .301.  Erickson lowered his ERA to 3.27.

I'm not sure I understand the play that ended the seventh inning.  Brown was on second with two out.  The play-by-play for Bush's at-bat says, "Single to C (ground ball); Brown out at Hm (C-3B).  The best I can figure out is that Bush hit a dribbler out in front of the plate and was safe at first.  Brown then took to big a turn around third base, was trapped off, and was tagged out.  I'm not sure if that's what happened, but it's my best guess.

The White Sox lost to Seattle 2-1, so despite the loss, the Twins clinched the division.

Record:  The Twins were 92-63, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.

Boston lost to Milwaukee, putting the Blue Jays in first place by 4.5 games.