Tag Archives: can’t miss prospects who missed

2021 Twins Game Logs

2021 Game 18: 3.14-rats at Twins

25 Comments

Sano is on the IL. Various other players are still dealing with Covid stuffs. We're all frustrated at the way this team has played.

One of the more demoralizing aspects, for me at least, is it feels like the Twins don't exactly have a brilliant minor league system. Maybe it has some depth, but it seems like it is lacking that bonafide gonna be a star player. For a while that was supposed to be Gordon, and, honestly, I'm hoping the kid surprises and sees a lot of success in the bigs. I feel like Kiriloff will be a reliable player, so that makes Gordon the bonus call up here. Maybe we'll get a nice surprise.

Meanwhile, keep watching this Buxton fella, would you? He seems like he might be talented.

Pitchers tonight are J.A. Happ and JT Brubaker, and I guess the two of them might need to have a conversation about punctuating intitials.

Let's hope the Twins put their complete game together after the road trip and off day and covid disasters and injuries and general ineptitude.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty

OAKLAND 8, MINNESOTA 7 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 19.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fifth.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fourteenth), a double, and two runs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and two runs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Steve Bedrosian pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Brook Jacoby was 3-for-5.  Terry Steinbach was 2-for-4.  Jose Canseco was 2-for-5 with a home run (his thirty-fifth) and two runs.  Rickey Henderson was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his eleventh) and two walks.  Joe Klink pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  Canseco hit a two-out homer in the top of the first to give the Athletics a 1-0 lead.  Puckett responded with a two-out homer in the bottom of the first to tie it 1-1.  There was no more scoring until the fourth, when Oakland exploded for five runs.  Terry Steinbach started the inning with a walk.  Jacoby singled and Brad Komminsk had an RBI single to give the Athletics the lead.  Mark McGwire walked to load the bases.  With one out, Mike Bordick laid down a squeeze bunt.  Rickey Henderson followed with a three-run homer to give Oakland a 6-1 lead.

The Twins came right back in the bottom of the fourth.  With one out, Hrbek and Chili Davis hit back-to-back doubles to score one run.  Harper singled, but Davis was thrown out at the plate.  Undaunted, Mack singled and Pagliarulo hit a three-run homer to cut the Athletics' lead to 6-5.

In the fifth, singles by Canseco, Jacoby, and McGwire plated a run to make it 7-5.  In the bottom of the fifth Knoblauch walked and Hrbek hit a two-run homer to tie it 7-7.

There was no more scoring until the ninth.  With one out, Dave Henderson walked.  He went to second on a ground out and Steinbach delivered an RBI single to give Oakland an 8-7 lead.  In the bottom of the ninth Randy Bush hit a pinch-hit one-out double, but a ground out and a pop up ended the game.

WP:  Klink (9-3).  LP:  Steve Bedrosian (4-3).  S:  Dennis Eckersley (34).

Notes:  Dan Gladden was on the bench for this game.  Mack moved to left and Gene Larkin went to right.  Knoblauch moved up to the leadoff spot and Larkin batted second.  Al Newman was at shortstop in Greg Gagne's place.

Bush pinch-hit for Newman in the ninth.  Scott Leius then pinch-ran for Bush.

Puckett raised his average to .328.  Harper went up to .306.  Mack got over .300 for the first time all season at .301.

David West started and lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and three walks.  He struck out four.  Terry Leach gave up one run in 2.1 innings to make his ERA 2.78.

The Athletics' starter was Joe Slusarski.  He pitched four innings and also allowed six runs.  He gave up seven hits and and one walk with one strikeout.

You may remember Brad Komminsk--he was a can't-miss prospect who missed.  The Braves took him with the fourth pick of the 1979 draft.  He tore up the minors and made his major league debut with Atlanta in mid-August of 1983.  He batted .222 in 36 at-bats, but he was only twenty-two.  He was doing well in AAA in 1984, came up to the majors at the end of May, and batted .203 in 301 at-bats.  He stuck with the Braves the entire 1985 season, but batted just .227.  He did draw a fair number of walks, but not enough to offset his low average.  Also, he was supposed to be a power hitter, and he was in the minors, but his high in home runs for Atlanta was eight in 1984.  He was with the Braves through 1986, was with Milwaukee in 1987, was in the minors all of 1988, played for Cleveland in 1989, was with Baltimore and San Francisco in 1990, and was with Oakland in 1991.  He hit well in AAA, but for some reason could not translate that to the majors.  It's true that he rarely got regular playing time--his high in at-bats in a season was 301--but it's also true that he never showed he deserved it.  For his career, in 1119 plate appearances, he batted .218/.301/.336 with 23 home runs.  He was in AAA with the White Sox in 1992-1993, played in the Northern League in 1996, and played one game of AAA for Detroit in 1997.  He was a long-time minor league coach and manager.

The White Sox lost to Detroit 3-2, so the Twins maintained their lead.

Record:  The Twins were 71-49, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty

MINNESOTA 1, TORONTO 0 IN TORONTO

Date:  Thursday, July 4.

Batting stars:  Pedro Munoz was 2-for-4 with a double.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  David West pitched seven shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out five.  Steve Bedrosian pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jimmy Key pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Derek Bell was 1-for-2 with a walk.

The game:  Knoblauch doubled with one out in the first, but only got to third base.  In the second, Munoz and Shane Mack started the inning with singles, putting men on first and third.  Junior Ortiz then hit into a forceout, bringing in a run and putting the Twins up 1-0.

Munoz got a one-out double in the fourth but stayed at second.  Joe Carter got a one-out double in the fourth but stayed at second.  The Twins got men on first and second in the fifth but did nothing with them.  In the seventh, Bell singled and went to second on a wild pitch with one out, but only got as far as third.  Devon White got a two-out double in the eighth.  But neither team scored, and the Twins took a 1-0 victory.

WP:  West (1-0).  LP:  Key (10-4).  S:  Aguilera (21).

Notes:  Al Newman and his .493 OPS replaced Kent Hrbek at first base.  He batted first.  Hrbek came into the game for defense in the eighth, with Newman moving to third and Scott Leius coming out of the game.  Munoz was in right and Mack was in left, replacing Dan Gladden.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Mack in the ninth and Jarvis Brown went to left field.  Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.

Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .320.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.84.

Bush was 0-for-1 and was batting .197.

This was the only time in his career that Newman would play first base.

This was West's first game for the Twins in 1991 and was the best start he would have all season.  He was supposed to be the key player in the Frank Viola trade.  A can't-miss prospect, he mostly missed, although he had a couple of good seasons with Philadelphia (1993-1994).  1991 was the best season he had as a Twin:  4-4, 4.54, 1.32 WHIP in 71.1 innings (15 games, 12 starts).  He would remain in the Twins' rotation through early September.

The win was the Twins' second in nine games.  The bats remained quiet, however.  The Twins had scored just nineteen runs in their last nine games.  The only two wins they had in that span were shutouts.

The win moved the Twins back into first place.  Could they stay there?

Record:  The Twins were 46-34, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of California.