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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 23

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This is a great day for names:

Chief Zimmer (1860)
Hi Church (1863)
Socks Seybold (1870)
George Stovall (1877)
Jimmy Sheckard (1878)
Runt Marr (1891)
Freddy Leach (1897)
Beans Reardon (1897)
Bubber Jonnard (1897)
Roy Parnell (1903)
Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)
Bill Gates (1918)
Charles Osgood (1926)
John Anderson (1929)
Jack McKeon (1930)
Luis Tiant (1940)
Tom Hall (1947)
Ken Schrom (1954)
Brook Jacoby (1959)
Dale Sveum (1963)
David McCarty (1969)
Adam Eaton (1977)
Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
Justin Turner (1984)
Lewis Thorpe (1995)

Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.

Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.

Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.

Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.

Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003.  In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80.  He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 23 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 23

This is a great day for names:

Chief Zimmer (1860)
Hi Church (1863)
Socks Seybold (1870)
George Stovall (1877)
Jimmy Sheckard (1878)
Runt Marr (1891)
Freddy Leach (1897)
Beans Reardon (1897)
Bubber Jonnard (1897)
Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)
Bill Gates (1918)
Charles Osgood (1926)
John Anderson (1929)
Jack McKeon (1930)
Luis Tiant (1940)
Tom Hall (1947)
Ken Schrom (1954)
Brook Jacoby (1959)
Dale Sveum (1963)
David McCarty (1969)
Adam Eaton (1977)
Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
Justin Turner (1984)
Lewis Thorpe (1995)

Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.

Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.

Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.

Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.

Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003.  In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80.  He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.

The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 23 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 23

This is a great day for names:

Chief Zimmer (1860)
Hi Church (1863)
Socks Seybold (1870)
George Stovall (1877)
Jimmy Sheckard (1878)
Runt Marr (1891)
Freddy Leach (1897)
Beans Reardon (1897)
Bubber Jonnard (1897)
Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)
Bill Gates (1918)
Charles Osgood (1926)
John Anderson (1929)
Jack McKeon (1930)
Luis Tiant (1940)
Tom Hall (1947)
Ken Schrom (1954)
Brook Jacoby (1959)
Dale Sveum (1963)
David McCarty (1969)
Adam Eaton (1977)
Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
Justin Turner (1984)
Lewis Thorpe (1995)

Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.

Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.

Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.

Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.

Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003.  In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80.  He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 23 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-eight

KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, September 27.

Batting stars:  George Mitterwald was 2-for-3 with a double.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Luis Tiant pitched four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Floyd was 4-for-4 with two doubles.  Lou Piniella was 3-for-4.  Amos Otis was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Jim Rooker pitched 7.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out seven.

The game:  The Royals took the lead in the first inning.  Otis led off with a single and Piniella hit a one-out single.  A pickoff error moved the runners to second and third and a wild pitch brought home a run.  Ed Kirkpatrick's RBI single made it 2-0 Kansas City.

Then came some missed opportunities.  The Royals had men on first and third with none out in the second.  The Twins had men on first and second with two out in the third.  The Twins had men on second and third with one out in the fourth.  The Twins had a man on third with one out in the sixth.  But it was still 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when doubles by Bob Oliver and Floyd plated a Kansas City run and made it 3-0.  The Twins had a man on second with one out in the seventh and did not score.  In the bottom of the seventh Otis doubled and scored on Piniella's single to make it 4-0.

The Twins finally broke through in the eighth.  Harmon Killebrew hit a one-out single.  With two out Alyea singled and Bob Allison delivered a two-run double.  Rich Reese then hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-3.

That's all there was, though.  The last four Twins batters went out and the score stayed 4-3 Royals.

WP:  Rooker (10-15).

LP:  Tiant (7-3).

S:  Ted Abernathy (14).

Notes:  Danny Thompson was at shortstop in place of Leo Cardenas.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Allison was in right field, with Tony Oliva moving to center and Cesar Tovar out of the lineup.  Rick Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Reese out of the lineup.

Steve Brye pinch-hit for Tiant in the fifth.  Tovar pinch-hit for Jim Kaat in the seventh.  Jim Nettles pinch-ran for Alyea in the eighth and stayed in the game in left field.  Reese pinch-hit for Renick in the eighth, with Herman Hill pinch-running for Reese.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Mitterwald in the eighth and stayed in the game at catcher.  Cardenas went to shortstop in the eighth, with Thompson moving to third.  Jim Holt pinch-hit for Bill Zepp in the ninth.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici in the ninth.

Tiant was 0-for-1 and was batting .406.  Oliva was batting .322.

Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .190.  Brye was 0-for-1 and was batting .182.

It's sad to me that, with only slightly expanded rosters now, you can't have box scores that look like this.

This was Tiant's first appearance since September 7.

This would be the last start of Allison's career.

I have no memory of Bobby Floyd, but he played in parts of seven seasons.  He never played a lot--his highest at-bat total was 134, and it was the only time he got above 100.  He was a utility infielder, and was presumably considered a good glove man.  I would guess that this was probably his only four-hit game.  His career numbers are .219/.264/.266.    He did have a long career as a minor league manager and coach, and was on the Mets major league coaching staff in 2001 and 2004.

This closed out the three-game series in Kansas City.  The Twins would now come home to end their season with four more against the Royals.

Record:  The Twins were 96-63, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-eight

MINNESOTA 8, MILWAUKEE 3 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Monday, September 7.

Batting stars:  Hal Haydel was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Haydel pitched five innings of relief, giving up two runs on four hits and no walks and striking out two.  Ron Perranoski pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Dave May was 3-for-3 with a stolen base, his fourth.  Tommy Harper was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-seventh), a triple, and two runs.

The game:  Harper led off the game with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Brewers a quick 1-0 lead.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the first when Killebrew doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Brant Alyea single.  The Twins took the lead 2-1 in the second when Haydel doubled and scored on a Tovar single.  Harper homered in the third to tie it 2-2, but in the bottom of the third Alyea walked and scored on a two-out triple by Leo Cardenas to put the Twins up 3-2.  Haydel homered in the fourth to make it 4-2.

Milwaukee edged closer in the sixth.  Russ Snyder and May led off with singles, a bunt moved them to second and third, and a sacrifice fly made it 4-3.  But the Twins put it away in the seventh.  Tovar singled, Danny Thompson reached on an error, and Killebrew had an RBI single.  A wild pitch put men on second and third and a sacrifice fly scored a second run.  Cardenas walked, followed by run-scoring singles by Steve Brye and George Mitterwald brought the score to 8-3.  The Brewers got only one hit in the last three innings.

WP:  Haydel (1-0).

LP:  Al Downing (4-12).

S:  Perranoski (29).

Notes:  Thompson was once again on second base in place of Rod Carew.  Rick Renick was at third, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Brye was in right field in place of Tony Oliva.

The Twins made a number of defensive substitutions in the eighth.  Reese came in to play first in place of Killebrew.  Quilici came in and went to second, with Thompson moving to third and Renick coming out.  Jim Holt came in and went to center, with Tovar moving to left and Alyea coming out.  In the ninth, Jim Nettles came in to play right field, with Brye moving to left and Tovar coming out.

Haydel was batting .667.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.05.

Luis Tiant started but could go only one inning, coming out of the game due to injury.  He would make only one more appearance in 1970, nearly three weeks later.

Haydel made his major league debut, and it was a really good one.  He came in after Tiant was pulled, pitched five innings, got the win, went 2-for-3 at the plate, and also hit a home run.  It was the only home run of his major league career, and the double he hit was the only double, but then he only batted six times.  His career batting numbers are .500/.500/1.167.  His career pitching numbers are 6-2, 4.04, 1.31 WHIP.  He had a  terrible year in AAA in 1972 and then was out of baseball.  One wonders if he might have been injured--he had done decently in the minors, and not badly in the majors, prior to 1972.

I don't think of Tommy Harper as a home run hitter, but he hit thirty-one in 1970.  That was easily his best power year--his next highest was eighteen in 1965 with California.  He had an OPS of .899 in 1970--his next highest was .774 in 1983.  He hit 146 home runs in his career, which isn't too shabby.  He also stole 408 bases, which is what I remember him for.  He led the league in steals twice--73 in 1969 with Seattle, and 54 in 1973 with Boston.

The Twins had won five consecutive games and would go for the series sweep in the next game.

Record:  The Twins were 83-55, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-three

WASHINGTON 11, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 23.

Batting star:  Charlie Manuel was 1-for-1.

Pitching star:  Dick Woodson pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Aurelio Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, a stolen base (his tenth), and two runs.  Del Unser was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer (his fifth), a walk, and two runs.  Ed Brinkman was 2-for-5.  Ed Stroud was 2-for-6 with two runs.  Frank Howard was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his thirty-sixth.  Dick Bosman pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and no walks and striking out three.

The game:  Stroud and Unser opened the game with singles and Howard followed with a three-run homer, putting the Senators up 3-0 three batters into the game.  Washington then loaded the bases with two out, but did not score any more in the first.  In the third, however, Mike Epstein walked, Rodriguez singled, and Jim French hit a two-run triple.  A ground out scored French to make it 6-0 Senators through three.  In the sixth Bosman and Stroud singled and Unser hit a three-run homer to increase the lead to 9-0.

Meanwhile, the Twins managed just three hits, all singles, through those six innings.  They finally got on the board in the seventh.  With two out Jim Holt doubled and Leo Cardenas singled him in.  That was as good as it got, though.  With two out in the eighth Epstein walked, Rodriguez hit an RBI triple, and Brinkman had a run-scoring single to bring the final score to 11-1.

WP:  Bosman (13-9).

LP:  Jim Perry (18-11).

S:  None.

Notes:  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Holt was in center, with Cesar Tovar in left and Brant Alyea on the bench.

Paul Ratliff came in to catch in the sixth as part of a double switch, with George Mitterwald going to the bench.  Bob Allison went to left field in the seventh in place of Tovar.  Manuel went to right in the seventh in place of Tony Oliva.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Woodson in the seventh.  Frank Quilici went to third base in place of Harmon Killebrew in the eighth.

Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .319.

Pete Hamm allowed three runs in three innings and had an ERA of 6.08.

Perry started but lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and three walks and striking out two.  By game scores this was his worst game of the season, and it was his second-shortest start.  He would bounce back to throw complete games in his next two starts.

Hamm would go back to AAA after this game, and would not pitch in the majors again until September 26.

Luis Tiant made his only relief appearance of the season, allowing two runs in two innings.

The Twins lost two out of three in the series and had lost five of their last six games against the last-place Senators.  They would now host Boston for three games.

Record:  The Twins were 73-50, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Seventeen

MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 6 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, August 16.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirty-seventh), a walk, and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Cesar Tovar was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his ninth) and a walk.  George Mitterwald was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his eleventh) and a walk.  Brant Alyea was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  John Kennedy was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Tony Conigliaro was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twenty-second), a double, and two runs.  Jerry Moses was 1-for-1 with a home run, his sixth.  Reggie Smith was 1-for-5 with a home run, his seventeenth.  Ed Phillips pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  In the first Tovar and Killebrew walked, a wild pitch moved them up, and they scored on a two-run double by Oliva to gie the Twins a 2-0 lead.  The Red Sox got one back in the bottom of the first on doubles by Andrews and Carl Yastrzemski and tied it in the second when George Thomas doubled and scored on Kennedy's single.

Boston took the lead in the third on doubles by Conigliaro and Kennedy.  The Twins took the lead back in the fourth when Alyea homered, Bob Allison walked, and Mitterwald homered, giving the Twins a 5-3 advantage.  Smith homered in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-4.

Killebrew homered in the top of the seventh and Conigliaro homered in the bottom of the seventh, moving the score to 6-5.  Rich Reese led off the eighth with a walk and was bunted to second.  With two out, pinch-hitter Charlie Manuel was intentionally walked and Tovar hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 9-5 lead.  Moses homered in the eighth to make it 9-6, but that's where it stayed.

WP:  Bert Blyleven (7-5).

LP:  Gary Peters (11-10).

S:  Stan Willams (10).

Notes:  Danny Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew.  Allison was at first base in place of Reese.  Reese replaced Allison at first base in the sixth inning.  Jim Holt replaced Alyea in the seventh and went to center field, with Tovar moving to left.  Manuel pinch-hit for Blyleven in the eighth.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew in the ninth and went to second base, with Thompson moving to third.

Luis Tiant was 0-for-1 and was batting .414.  Oliva was batting .321.  Williams allowed one run in two innings and had an ERA of 2.17.

Tiant started but pitched just 1.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out one.  It appears that was as much due to injury as performance.  He would pitch in relief a week later, make two more starts, then miss three weeks before making one final start.

It was two short starts in a row, but Bill Rigney saved the bullpen by using yesterday's starter, Blyleven, for 5.2 innings of relief.  I could have included him as a "pitching star" simply for that reason.  He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks and struck out four.  It was his second and last relief appearance of the season.  He would pitch in relief only five more times in his career, and never more than twice in a season.

I assume you know the story of Tony Conigliaro.  He actually had an excellent season in 1970, batting .266 with 36 homers and an OPS of .822.  It was the last good season he would have, though.

I wish I understood how Rigney decided when to use Tovar in center and Holt in left and when to reverse it.  I assume he had reasons, that he wasn't just doing it based on some sort of gut instinct or something, but I have no idea what the reasons may have been.

I don't recall having heard of Ed Phillips.  This was his only year in the majors.  He appeared in twenty-two games, going 0-2, 5.32, 1.65 WHIP.  He started the season well, posting an ERA of 1.50 through his first eight appearances.  It appears that he was injured at that point, and when he came back he was not the same pitcher.  He never did get it back, and was out of baseball after the 1971 season.

The win snapped the Twins' nine-game losing streak.

Record:  The Twins were 70-47, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Two

MILWAUKEE 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 2-for-4.  Jim Holt was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out two.  Pete Hamm pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Bob Burda was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his third) and a walk.  Lew Krausse pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out four.

The game:  With two out in the first Mike Hegan and Burda walked and Dave May delivered an RBI single, putting the Brewers up 1-0.  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the third but did not score.  Milwaukee got a pair of leadoff singles in the fifth but did not score.  So, it was still 1-0 going to the sixth.

With one out in the sixth Hegan walked and Burda followed with a two-run homer, making it 3-0.  Neither team threatened again until the ninth, when Roberto Pena and future Twin Phil Roof hit one-out singles and Krausse delivered a two-out single, increasing the Brewers' lead to 4-0.

The Twins finally got something going in the ninth.  Danny Thompson led off with a single and Tony Oliva bunted him to second (presumably bunting for a hit).  Harmon Killebrew doubled home the first Twins run.  After a ground out, Holt singled home Killebrew (who was not pinch-run for) to make the score 4-2.  But that was all there was, as Leo Cardenas grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Krausse (11-11).

LP:  Tiant (6-1).

S:  Ken Sanders (3).

Notes:  Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Holt was again in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Alyea pinch-hit for Stan Williams in the sixth.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff going behind the plate.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Hamm in the eighth.

Tiant was 0-for-1 and was batting  .417  Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .326.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .304.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and slipped below .300 at .298.  Williams allowed two runs in one inning and had an ERA of 1.79.

Hamm lowered his ERA to 6.75.

Thompson now had six multi-hit games in his last seven starts.  He was 16-for-32 in those seven starts and raised his average from .200 to ,290,

This was Tiant's first appearance since May 28.  He would remain in the Twins' rotation through the month of August.

Bob Burda had thirteen home runs in his career, one of them obviously in this game.  A first baseman/right fielder, he was traded to Milwaukee in early June and got the only semi-regular playing time of his career.  He wasn't up to it, batting .248/.303/.342 with four home runs in 222 at-bats.  He had a very good year as a pinch-hitter for St. Louis in 1971, batting .296 in 71 at-bats.  Traded to the Red Sox for 1972, he could not repeat his success and was out of baseball after that year.

Record:  The Twins were 65-37, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 23

This is a great day for names:

Chief Zimmer (1860)
Hi Church (1863)
Socks Seybold (1870)
George Stovall (1877)
Jimmy Sheckard (1878)
Runt Marr (1891)
Freddy Leach (1897)
Beans Reardon (1897)
Bubber Jonnard (1897)
Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)
Bill Gates (1918)
Charles Osgood (1926)
John Anderson (1929)
Jack McKeon (1930)
Luis Tiant (1940)
Tom Hall (1947)
Ken Schrom (1954)
Brook Jacoby (1959)
Dale Sveum (1963)
David McCarty (1969)
Adam Eaton (1977)
Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
Justin Turner (1984)
Lewis Thorpe (1995)

Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.

Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.

Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.

Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.

Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003.  In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80.  He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 23 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Forty-one

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 11, MILWAUKEE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 28.

Batting stars:  Luis Tiant was 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fifth) and a walk.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Rick Renick was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars: Luis Tiant pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and three walks and striking out five.  Stan Williams pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Russ Snyder was 4-for-5 with a home run, his second.  Jerry McNertney was 2-for-4.  Danny Walton was 2-for-5.  Tommy Harper was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.

The game:  The Twins put this one away early.  The Brewers got two men on in the first with walks but did not score.  Alyea led off the second with a single.  With one out, singles by Leo Cardenas, Mitterwald, and Tiant made it 2-0.  Tovar walked to load the bases, Carew got an infield single, and a sacrifice fly made it 4-0.

The Twins added some more in the third.  Singles by Rick Renick and Tiant put two on with two out and Tovar hit a three-run homer to put the Twins up 7-0.  Milwaukee got a pair of singles in the fourth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fourth Killebrew and Alyea singled, putting two on with one out.  Renick hit an RBI single.  With two out Mitterwald doubled home a run and Tiant delivered a two-run single to give the Twins a 11-0 lead.

Snyder hit a solo homer in the fifth and Harper hit one in the seventh to cut the lead to 11-2.  The Brewers had two on with two out in the seventh, two on with one out in the eighth, and loaded the bases in the ninth, but the score did not change.

WP:  Tiant (6-0).

LP:  John Morris (2-1).

S:  Williams (2).

Notes:  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew at first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Reese replaced Killebrew in the eighth.  Frank Quilici replaced Cardenas at shortstop in the fifth, presumably due to illness or injury.  He would be back in the lineup the next day.

Tiant was batting .435.  Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .398.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.  Killebrew was batting .326.  Tovar was batting .302.  Williams had an ERA of 1.55.

Quilici was 0-for-2 and was batting .159.

Tiant was not a particularly good batter through most of his career.  In 1965 and 1968 he batted below .100.  In 1964 and 1966 he batted .111.  He'd only had one year in which his average was higher than that--he batted .254 in 1967.  For his career he batted .164/.185/.224.  I don't know if there was a reason he batted so well in 1970 or if it was just a small sample size fluke, but it's pretty amazing.

Also, Tiant had four RBIs in 1970.  Three of them came in this game.

The Brewers stranded eight men and went 0-for-13 with men in scoring position.

This was one of ten major league starts John Morris made.  He appeared in relief 122 times over an eight-year career.  He was 11-7, 3.95, 1 career save, 1.35 WHIP.

There was apparently a rainout on Wednesday, as there seems no other reason for an off-day in the middle of the series.

Record:  The Twins were 29-12, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of California.