Tag Archives: Bobby Bolin

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Three

MINNESOTA 5, MILWAUKEE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 4.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven struck out twelve in a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Tommy Harper was 2-for-4.  Bob Humphreys struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third, when singles by Ted Kubiak, Harper, and Russ Snyder put the Brewers ahead 1-0.  The Twins took the lead in the fourth.  Back-to-back one-out doubles by Harmon Killebrew and Reese brought home the first run.  With two out, Leo Cardenas doubled and Blyleven contributed an RBI single to give the Twins a 3-1 advantage.

The Twins added two more in the fifth.  With one out, Oliva singled and Killebrew was hit by a pitch.  Reese singled home a run, leaving men on first and third, and a sacrifice fly made the score 5-1.

Blyleven took it from there.  He gave up a run in the seventh when Dave May singled and scored on a Roberto Pena double, but Milwaukee did not get the tying run up to bat in that or any other inning as the Twins won 5-2.

WP:  Blyleven (6-3).

LP:  Bobby Bolin (3-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was in center in place of Cesar Tovar.  Danny Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew.  Charlie Manuel made a rare start in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Tovar went to left in the seventh, replacing Manuel.  Frank Quilici went to second in the ninth, with Thompson moving to third and Killebrew coming out of the game.

Oliva was batting .328.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .304.  Tovar was 1-for-1 and was back up to .300.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.78.

This was the third complete game for Blyleven.  He would have five for the season.

This was only the second time Tovar did not start, and each time he came in for defense late in the game.  He would not get a full game off until late September.

Bolin pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out none.  He did not have a good season in 1970, but he struggled with the Twins more than most:  0-3, 5.91, 1.69 WHIP.  For the season he was 7-11, 4.63, 1.46 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 66-37, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of California and Oakland.  This was the largest lead the Twins had up to this point in the season.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Forty

MINNESOTA 6, MILWAUKEE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 26.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-3 with a triple and a walk.  Jim Holt was 2-for-4 with a double.  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jim Kaat was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.  Cesar Tovar was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Future Twin Danny Walton was 1-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.  Tommy Harper was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

The game:  Tovar homered leading off the bottom of the first to put the Twins ahead 1-0.  Walton homered in the second to tie it 1-1.  The Twins went into the lead to stay in the bottom of the second.  With one out, Ratliff doubled and scored on a Kaat single.  With two out, Carew singled and Kaat scored all the way from first base to put the Twins ahead 3-1.

Harper homered in the third to cut the lead to 3-2, but that was as close as the Brewers would come.  They threatened in the sixth, putting men on first and third with one out, but Ted Kubiak was thrown out trying to score on a grounder to third.

The Twins got an insurance run in the seventh.  Kaat singled, was bunted to second, went to third on a Carew single, and scored on a single by Tony Oliva.  They put it out of reach in the eighth.  Reese singled and scored from first on a Holt double.  Holt was bunted to third and scored on a Ratliff single.  Milwaukee got a couple of guys on base in the ninth but did not bring the tying run up to bat.

WP:  Kaat (5-1).

LP:  Bobby Bolin (1-4).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was again in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.

Carew got back over .400 at .404.  It would be the last time he would be above .400 this season.  Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .329.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4 and was batting .319.

I wonder when the last time is a pitcher scored from first base on a single.

This was Bolin's only season with Milwaukee, and it would not be a full season.  He had been traded to the Brewers after several solid seasons with San Francisco.  He would be traded to Boston in September and would play for the Red Sox through 1973.

Walton hit seventeen home runs in 1970.  He would not hit more than four in any other season.  He had fifteen in the first half of the season, then hit just two more before being injured and missing the month of September.  He was twenty-two in 1970 and Milwaukee probably thought they had a coming superstar, but it was not to be.  He had some big home run season in AAA, hitting 184 home runs at that level, but never got as many as 100 at-bats in a major league season after 1970.

Record:  The Twins were 28-12, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-two

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 6, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Sunday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.  Paul Ratliff was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Future Twin Phil Roof was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Bobby Bolin struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  Steve Hovley led off the second with a single.  The next two batters went out, but Roof singled and pitcher Lew Krausse delivered an RBI single to put the Brewers up 1-0.

It looked like the 1-0 lead might hold up.  The Twins got a man to third in the third inning, but did not otherwise threaten through five.  In the sixth, however, Perry led off with a single.  Cesar Tovar hit into a force out, but Carew singled and Tony Oliva hit an RBI double to tie the score.  Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Rich Reese hit into a force out to give the Twins the lead, and error scored two runs, and Leo Cardenas singled home one more running, putting the Twins up 5-1.  In the seventh, Tovar reached on an error and scored on a Carew single to make it 6-1.

Perry remained in control, allowing no hits in innings three through eight.  He allowed a pair of two-out singles in the ninth, but Ted Savage flied out to end the game.

WP:  Perry (6-2).

LP:  Krausse (3-7).

S:  None.

Notes:  Paul Ratliff remained at catcher in place of George Mitterwald.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the sixth and remained in the game in left field.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Carew's 2-for-5 lowered his average to .407.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .331.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .321.  Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .303.  Perry had an ERA of 2.54.

Holt was 0-for-1 and was batting .147.

Carew was 14-for-23 over his last five games and 18-for-38 over his last nine games.  He had two or more hits in five games in a row and seven of the nine.  In one of the games in which he did not get two hits, he was a pinch-hitter and only batted once.

Bobby Bolin had been a fine pitcher for the Giants throughout the '60s.  He struggled in 1970 and 1971, but had a couple of fine seasons working out of the Boston bullpen before retiring after the 1963 campaign.  He both started and relieved throughout his career, which kept his counting numbers down.  In thirteen seasons he was 88-75, 3.40, 1.24 WHIP in 1576 innings (495 games, 164 starts).  He never led the league in anything and he never got any Cy Young support, but he was someone you'd be very happy to have on your pitching staff for several years.

The Twins had won their fourth consecutive game and twelve out of sixteen.

Record:  The Twins were 22-10, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.