Tag Archives: Chili Davis–outfielder

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: World Series Game Five

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ATLANTA 14, MINNESOTA 5 IN ATLANTA

Date:  Thursday, October 24.

Batting stars:  Al Newman was 1-for-1 with a triple.  Scott Leius was 1-for-2 with a walk.  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Ron Gant was 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, and three runs.  Greg Olson was 3-for-5 with a stolen base, his second.  Brian Hunter was 2-for-2 with a home run (his second), two runs, and two RBIs.  Mark Lemke was 2-for-4 with two triples, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Terry Pendleton was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Rafael Belliard was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  David Justice was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second), a stolen base (his second), two runs, and five RBIs.  Lonnie Smith was 1-for-5 with a home run, his third.

The game:  It was scoreless for three innings, but that was shattered in the fourth.  Gant led off with a single and Justice hit a two-run homer.  Olson got a one-out single, Lemke tripled him home, and Belliard had an RBI double, making the score 4-0 Braves.  They added a run in the fifth when Pendleton and Gant singled and Justice had an RBI ground out.

The Twins rallied in the sixth.  With one out Knoblauch walked, Kirby Puckett singled, and Chili Davis walked, loading the bases.  Brian Harper and Leius each drew a bases-loaded walk, cutting the margin to 5-2.  A big hit would've gotten the Twins right back into the game, but all they could manage was a pair of ground outs.  One of them did score a run, making the score 5-3.

That was the end of the good news, though.  Atlanta put it out of reach with six in the seventh.  Smith homered, Justice and Hunter had RBI singles, Lemke drove in two with another triple, and Belliard had an RBI double, making the score 11-3.  The Twins got one back in the eighth, when Davis singled and scored on Newman's triple.  In the bottom of the eighth, however, Pendleton doubled, Gant tripled, and Hunter homered, bringing the score to 14-4.  The Twins got the final run of the game in the ninth when Dan Gladden tripled and scored on a ground out.

WP:  Tom Glavine (1-3).  LP:  Kevin Tapani (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  With no DH, Davis was in right field, with Shane Mack on the bench.

The Twins again made substantial use of the bench.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Tapani in the fifth.  Mike Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Terry Leach in the seventh.  Also in the seventh, Al Newman went to second base as part of a double switch that took Knoblauch out of the game.  Jarvis Brown pinch-hit for Puckett in the eighth, as Tom Kelly conceded the game.  Also in the eighth, Randy Bush pinch-hit for Harper and Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Kent Hrbek.  Junior Ortiz came in to catch in the eighth, as Davis left the game as part of a double switch.  Sorrento went to first base, Brown went to center, and Bush went to right.

Tapani pitched four innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks and striking out four.  Atlanta starter Glavine pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and four walks and striking out two.

The decision to put Davis in the outfield was much debated at the time, and is still a questionable move.  He had played only three innings of outfield all season, and all were in blowout games.  It seems like a desperation move, and the Twins weren't in a position where they needed to make a desperation move.  Did it make a difference in the outcome?  Probably not, although we'll never know for sure.  I seem to remember him misplaying one ball in the outfield, but I can't tell from the printed play-by-play when it happened or whether it would've made any difference.

The Twins bullpen pretty much melted down in this game.  Leach gave up one run in two innings, David West gave up four runs and didn't retire anyone, Steve Bedrosian gave up two runs in one inning, and Carl Willis allowed three runs in one inning.  The Twins were still in the game until the seventh inning, so if the bullpen had come through, the outcome might have been different.  Of course, if either Hrbek or Greg Gagne could have come up with a hit in the sixth, when the Twins were rallying, the outcome might have been different, too.

There were five triples hit in this game.  I wonder what the record is for most triples in a World Series game.  My guess is that it was set back in the dead ball era, but I really have no idea.

Mark Lemke was now 7-for-15 with three triples and a double in the series.

So the Twins would head back to Minnesota, with the Braves needing to win just one of two there to take the Series.  The Twins had lost two tough games, but now had been blown out and pretty much embarrassed.  Could the Twins rally?  Would someone step up and take the burden of leadership?  We'll see.

Record:  The Twins trailed the best-of-seven series two games to three.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Ninety-three

MINNESOTA 14, BOSTON 1 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, July 21.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.  Chili Davis was 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his third.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.  Scott Leius was 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-6 with two runs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-3 with three walks and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched six innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and no walks and striking out none.  Paul Abbott struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Allan Anderson pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition star:  Steve Lyons was 2-for-3 with a double.

The game:  Leius led off the game with a single, followed by singles by Knoblauch and Puckett to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  An RBI ground out made it 2-0.  In the third Knoblauch walked and went to third on Davis' two-out single.  Davis then stole second.  A passed ball scored one run, a Harper single scored another, and a Mack double made it 5-0.  in the fourth, Greg Gagne hit a one-out double, walks to Leius and Knoblauch filled the bases, and Puckett's two-run single made it 7-0.

The Red Sox got on the board in the bottom of the seventh.  Jody Reed reached on an error and scored on a Jack Clark double.  That was the end of their good news, though.  The Twins scored five in the sixth and two more in the seventh to get the 14-1 victory.

WP:  Tapani (6-7).  LP:  Tom Bolton (7-7).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mack was again in left field in the absence of Dan Gladden.  Gene Larkin was in right.  Leius was the leadoff batter.

Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Puckett in the fifth and stayed in the game in center field.  Al Newman went into the game at shortstop in the fifth, replacing Gagne.  Randy Bush went into the game in the sixth inning at first base, replacing Kent Hrbek.  Davis went to left field in the eighth inning, with Abbott entering the lineup in Mack's spot.

Puckett raised his average to .328.  Harper went up to .325.  Tapani lowered his ERA to 3.03.  Abbott went down to 3.31.

Tapani hadn't gotten much run support up to this point in the season, but that turned around in this game.  Including this game, he won five starts in a row and went 9-0 over ten starts.  In those games, the Twins scored 71 runs.  Tapani was still pitching well--he did not give up more than four runs in any of those starts, and six times gave up fewer than three.

This was Davis' first appearance in the field all season.  He would make just one more, about a month later.  He would, of course, play one game in the field in the World Series.  He had been a regular outfielder from 1982-1989 and had played a substantial number of games in the outfield in 1990, but would make only token appearances there after that and none from 1995-1999, when his career ended.

Boston starter Bolton pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks and striking out one.  He had pitched five innings of relief just three days earlier.  He really couldn't be expected to pitch well after that, and he didn't.

Tapani pitched six innings and neither struck out nor walked anyone.  I don't know how rare that is, but it is at least unusual.  I suspect it might have been more common years ago than it is now, but I don't think it was all that common in the old days, either.

The White Sox lost and Texas won, so the Twins gained a game in the standings while the Rangers tied Chicago for second place.  The Twins had won four in a row, five of six, and eight of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 55-38, in first place in the American League West, 5.5 games ahead of Texas and Chicago.