Tag Archives: Ken Szotkiewicz

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-three

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN DETROIT

Date:  Wednesday, May 6.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Al Kaline was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs.  Jim Northrup was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Ken Szotkiewicz was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Les Cain pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and six walks and striking out two.

The game:  The Tigers took the lead in the first inning.  Dick McAuliffe led off the inning with a single.  With one out, Kaline walked and Norm Cash delivered an RBI single.  With two out, Northrup and Bill Freehan each singled in a run, making it 3-0 Detroit.

The Twins put two men on with one out in the second, the third, and the fifth but each time a double play took them out of the inning.  They also hit into a double play in the fourth and the sixth, making five consecutive innings in which they hit into a double play.  I don't know the record for the most consecutive innings hitting into a double play, but five can't be too far off of it.

It stayed 3-0 until the sixth, when Szotkiewicz homered to make it 4-0.  In the seventh Kaline walked and scored on Willie Horton's double to make it 5-0.

The Twins finally got on the board in the eighth.  Cardenas walked and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer.  But the Twins did not get a man on base after that.

WP:  Cain (1-1).

LP:  Dave Boswell (0-4).

S:  None.

Notes:  Bob Allison was again at first base in place of Rich Reese.  Frank Quilici remained at second in the absence of Rod Carew.

Rick Renick pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh and Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit for Boswell in the seventh.  Mendoza remained in the game at second base as part of a double switch.  Carew pinch-hit for Steve Barber in the ninth.

Carew was 0-for-1 and was batting .349.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .347.  Brant Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .329.  Killebrew was batting .316.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .302.

Mendoza was 0-for-1 and was batting .091.  Allison was 0-for-4 and was batting .100.  Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .179.  Boswell gave up four runs in six innings and had an ERA of 6.48.

This was one of three career home runs for Szotkiewicz.  It gave him three RBIs for the series.  As you may recall, he had nine for his career, which means he had one-third of his career RBIs in two games against the Twins.

Les Cain was a rotation starter from 1970-1971.  This was the better year--12-7, 3.84.  In both seasons he had a WHIP of 1.47, mainly because he walked 5.4 batters per nine innings.  He walked six in this game.  He also got five double plays in this game, which makes me think he might have induced a lot of ground balls.  That would be explain why he was able to stay in the rotation for two years despite the walks.

Record:  The Twins were 15-8, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-two

MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 5 IN DETROIT

Date:  Tuesday, May 5.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a triple, two runs, and six RBIs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and nine (!) walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Twins pitchers issued thirteen walks.

Opposition stars:  Ken Szotkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Dick McAuliffe was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and three walks.  Al Kaline was 1-for-5 with a home run (his fourth).

The game:  The Twins took the early lead, as Cesar Tovar led off with a walk and Oliva hit a two-run homer.  The Tigers loaded the bases on three walks in the first and did it again in the second, but did not score either time.  In the third, Cardenas hit a one-out double and Oliva hit a two-out single to put the Twins ahead 3-0.

Detroit got on the board in the fourth.  Szotkiewicz got the first Tiger hit of the game, a single, and McAuliffe hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 3-2.  The Twins got the run back with interest in the fifth.  With one out, singles by Tovar and Cardenas and a walk to Killebrew loaded the bases.  Oliva followed with a bases-clearing triple, making the score 6-2.  Rich Reese delivered a two-out-single to make it 7-2.

Detroit threatened in the seventh with two walks, but did not score.  Killebrew homered in the bottom of the seventh, moving the lead to 8-2.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases again, this time getting two walks and a single.  Szotkiewicz hit a two-run single to cut the margin to 8-4, but Elliott Maddox struck out to end the inning.  Kaline homered in the eighth to close out the scoring.  Detroit got two on in the eighth after the Kaline homer, and got two more on in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with two out, but Don Wert flied out to end the game.

WP:  Tiant (5-0).

LP:  Mickey Lolich (4-3).

S:  Perranoski (7).

Notes:  Bob Allison was at first base in place of Reese.  Frank Quilici remained at second in the continuing absence of Rod Carew.  Reese pinch-hit for Allison in the fifth and stayed in the game at first base.  Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left in the seventh.  Minnie Mendoza replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Oliva took over the team batting lead at .352.  Alyea was 0-for-4 and was batting .328.  Killebrew was batting .320.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Tiant had an ERA of 2.86.  Stan Williams gave up his first earned run of the season in 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 0.71.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.50.

Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Quilici was 0-for-4 and was batting .184.  Reese was 1-for-2 and was batting .191.  Mitterwald was 1-for-4 and was batting .193.

Lolich pitched 4.1 innings, giving up seven runs on six hits and three walks and striking out four.  In his two games against the Twins, he had given up twelve earned runs in ten innings.  In his six other starts, he had given up nine earned runs in fifty-two innings.

Twins pitchers walked thirteen Tigers, but amazingly, only two of them scored.  Detroit was 2-for-11 with men in scoring position and stranded fifteen runners.  They had twenty baserunners in nine innings, and managed to score only five of them.

This was the only year of Ken Szotkiewicz' career, and 22.2 percent of his career RBIs (two of nine) came in the seventh inning of this game.  An infielder, he batted .107/.216/.226 in 84 at-bats.  The Twins had actually drafted him in the first round of the secondary phase of the June draft in 1967, but he did not sign.  He had not played above AA, and only had 116 at-bats there, before making the Tigers at the start of the 1970 season.  Surprisingly, he stayed all year as a backup shortstop.  The regular was Cesar Gutierrez, who only batted .243/.275/.299.  Szotkiewicz had not hit much in his limited time in the minors, and would not hit much after he was sent back down in 1971.  The only good offensive season he had came in 1974, when he was a twenty-seven year old in AA.  Presumably he was considered a good defender.

The usage of Perranoski continues to be interesting.  You remember that, in April he had appeared in five of six games, pitching 9.2 innings.  He then got five days off.  Now, he has appeared in four of five games, pitching 6.1 innings.

Record:  The Twins were 15-7, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.