Tag Archives: deep benches

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-eight

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CHICAGO 11, MINNESOTA 10 IN CHICAGO (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, June 28.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer (his eleventh) and three runs.  George Mitterwald was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixth) and four RBIs.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch and two stolen bases (his sixteenth and seventeenth).

Pitching stars:  Ron Perranoski pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.  Tom Hall pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Ken Berry was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and two RBIs.  Syd O'Brien was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bill Melton was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Danny Murphy was 1-for-1 with a home run.  He also pitched four innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and three walks.  Luis Aparicio was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third), two walks, and two runs.

The game:  The Twins scored four in the top of the first inning.  Tovar led off with a single, went to second on a ground out, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  Oliva then singled, Brant Alyea walked, and Mitterwald hit a three-run homer, putting the Twins up 4-0.

The lead lasted until the bottom of the first.  O'Brien led off with a double and Aparicio walked.  Starter Dave Boswell then came out of the game due to injury.  Dick Woodson came in.  Carlos May walked, loading the bases.  An error brought home two runs, Ed Herrmann singled home a run, Rich McKinney hit a two-run double, and after McKinney was picked off Berry hit a home run, giving the White Sox a 6-4 lead after one inning.  It went to 8-4 in the second, as singles by Melton, Bob Spence, Berry, and Barry Moore plated two runs.

The Twins got back into it in the third.  Harmon Killebrew walked, Oliva singled, and Alyea was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with none out.  A pair of RBI ground outs and a run-scoring double by Frank Quilici cut the Chicago lead to 8-7 through three innings.

The Twins put two on in the fifth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fifth, solo homers by Murphy and Aparicio made it 10-7 White Sox.  Melton homered in the sixth to make it 11-7.

In the seventh, walks to Jim Holt and Paul Ratliff and a two-out RBI single by Rick Renick cut the lead to 11-8.  In the eighth Killebrew singled and Oliva followed with a two-run homer to make it 11-10.  But that was as good as it got.  The Twins had men on first and second with two out, but a ground out ended the inning.  In the ninth Tovar singled and stole second with one out, but a pair of strikeouts ended the game.

WP:  Murphy (1-0).

LP:  Woodson (0-1).

S:  Wilbur Wood (11).

Notes:  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Quilici pinch-hit for Thompson in the third and stayed in the game at second base.  Bob Allison pinch-hit for pitcher Steve Barber in the third.  Holt pinch-hit for Alyea in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh.  Herman Hill pinch-hit for pitcher Jim Kaat in the seventh, but when Wood then came in to pitch Renick pinch-hit for Hill.  Renick stayed in the game in left field, with Holt moving to center and Tovar to second.  Tom Tischinski pinch-hit for pitcher Ron Perranoski in the eighth.

Oliva was batting .327.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Bill Zepp gave up two runs in 2.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.80.  Perransoki had an ERA of 1.75.  Hall had an ERA of 2.18.

Thompson was 0-for-1 and was batting .188.  Quilici was 1-for-2 and was batting .180.  Boswell gave up two runs in zero innings and had an ERA of 6.55.

Boswell had doubtless been pitching with an injury all season, but it apparently finally became too much for him in this game.  He would make his next start, however, making five starts in July before finally giving up.

Hall, as you may remember, had pitched 6.2 innings in the first game of the doubleheader, then came in to pitch an inning in the second game.  I wonder when the last time is someone started the first game of a doubleheader and then relieved in the second game.  I especially wonder when the last time is someone started and pitched that many innings in the first game and then relieved in the second game.  In the b-r.com game log, under days rest, it says "-1".

The Twins used seven reserve position players in this game.  I don't know if it was a better game when teams had that many players on the bench, but I think it was more fun.  They also used seven pitchers.

Tom Tischinski was one of those seven.  He got his first at-bat of the season in this game, going 0-for-1.  He would stay with the Twins the rest of the season as the third catcher.

Wood got a hit in this game, going 1-for-1.  He had two hits in all of 1970, going 2-for-18.

The Twins closed out their road trip of three of the worst teams in the league with a record of 5-6.  They would now go home to play two of those same teams, Kansas City and Chicago.

Record:  The Twins were 43-25, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

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MILWAUKEE 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Tuesday, June 23.

Batting star:  George Mitterwald was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Phil Roof was 2-for-3 with a home run, his sixth.  Roberto Pena was 2-for-4.  Bobby Bolin pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.  Dave Baldwin struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases in the second inning but did not score.  In the bottom of the second, Dave May singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Pena's single to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

The Twins put two on with one out in the third but again did not score.  They got on the board in the fifth, as Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Jim Holt single.  The Twins took the lead in the sixth when Bob Allison singled and Mitterwald hit a two-out two-run homer, making it 3-1 MInnesota.

The Brewers had two on in the fifth and again in the sixth but did not score.  Roof homered leading off the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2.  It was still 3-2 in the ninth.  Roof was hit by a pitch with one out and Tommy Harper walked with two out.  Ron Perranoski then came in to face pinch-hitter Gus Gil.  Gil hit a double to left, scoring both runners, and Milwaukee took the win, 4-3.

WP:  Baldwin (2-0).

LP:  Tom Hall (2-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was again in right in place of Tony Oliva.  Allison was again in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  So as not to spoiler it, I haven't checked if Bill Rigney continued to use the light-hitting Quilici to replace Carew or if he went a different direction.  We'll see as the series goes on.  With Quilici in the starting lineup, Rigney did not use a defensive replacement for Harmon Killebrew at third base.

Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .301.  Hall gave up two runs in 2.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.70.

Quilici was 0-for-3 and was batting .172.

The Brewers used six pinch-hitters in the game:  Ted Savage, Gil, Danny Walton, Mike Hershberger, Tito Francona, and Jerry McNertney.  They also used a pinch-runner, Max Alvis.  I miss the days when teams had enough bench players that they could do stuff like that.

With the recent election, the 1970 Twins had five Hall-of-Famers:  Blyleven, Carew, Kaat, Killebrew, and Oliva.  I'm sure that's nowhere near the record, but it's still impressive.

The Twins were now 2-3 on their eleven-game road trip.

Record:  The Twins were 40-22, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Fifty-two

MINNESOTA 5, BOSTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 12.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 4-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with three walks.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Tom Satriano was 2-for-3 with a home run.  Mike Andrews was 2-for-4.

The game:  In the second Brant Alyea reached on an error, went to second on a Cardenas single, and scored on a Perry single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins loaded the bases in the third on two walks and a single but did not score.  In the fifth Tony Oliva singled and went to second on a wild pitch with two out.  Alyea then delivered an RBI double and scored on a Cardenas single to put the Twins up 3-0.

Satriano homered leading off the sixth to make it 3-1.  A pair of singles gave the Red Sox two on with one out, but they could do no more.  In the seventh, singles by Rico Petrocelli, Satriano, and Mike Fiore plated another run to cut the lead to 3-2.

A strikeout ended the inning, however, and the Twins got the runs back in the eighth.  Jim Holt walked, Cardenas got another single, and George Mitterwald singled home a run.  With two out, Carew hit an RBI double to make the score 5-2.  Boston got a one-out single in the ninth from George Scott but did not get the tying run up to bat.

WP:  Perry (8-5).

LP:  Gary Peters (3-7).

S:  Perranoski (14).

Notes:  Rick Renick was at third base, with Harmon Killebrew moving to first.  Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the fifth and stayed in the game in left field.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Perry in the sixth.  Rich Reese pinch-hit for Renick in the seventh and stayed in the game at first base, with Killebrew moving to third.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the eighth and stayed in the game at third base.

Carew was 1-for-5 and was batting .371.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .333.  Killebrew was batting .315.  Perry was 1-for-2 and was batting .313.  He also had an ERA of 2.81.  Stan Williams gave up a run in two-thirds of an inning and had an ERA of 2.21.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.00.

It was fun when teams had deeper benches and could make lots of in-game moves with position players.  I miss that.

This was the start of a six-game homestand for the Twins against Boston and Washington.  They had only eight home games in the month of June.

Record:  The Twins were 35-17, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of California.