Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-four

MINNESOTA 5, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eighth) and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Jeff Reardon retired all five men he faced, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Steve Crawford pitched 5.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on eight hits and two walks with no strikeouts.  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a double, driving in three.  Marty Barrett was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Bush homered in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Three singles and a sacrifice fly-plus-error produced three Twins runs in the second to make it 4-0 and Roy Smalley singled in a run in the fifth to make it 5-0.  Greenwell hit a two-run homer in the sixth and two walks and an RBI double with one out in the eighth made it 5-3 and brought Reardon into the game.  He allowed a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4, but retired all five men he faced to secure the win.

Of note:  Al Newman led off and played shortstop, with Greg Gagne out of the lineup...Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup, with Bush in right field batting second and Tom Brunansky in left...Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .329...Don Baylor, who had been acquired for a player to be named later (Enrique Rios) just before the August 31 trade deadline, had still not played in a game for the Twins at this point.

Record:  The Twins were 70-64, in first place.  Oakland lost to the Yankees 5-4 in ten innings, so the Twins lead increased to 1.5 games.

We may or may not get back to player profiles later this week.

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-three

BOSTON 9, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Jeff Sellers pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.  Wade Boggs was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixteenth) and a walk, driving in four.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third, when Boggs hit a two-run homer and Greenwell a solo blast to put Boston up 3-0.  The Red Sox added two in the fifth, two in the seventh, and two in the ninth.  The Twins had only five hits, all singles.  Their biggest threat came in the first inning, when one-out singles by Puckett and Kent Hrbek put men on first and second.  Gary Gaetti hit into a double play to end the inning.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Brunansky in left and Randy Bush in right...Greg Gagne led off, with Puckett batting second and Hrbek third...Puckett raised his average to .329...Joe Niekro started and pitched four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout...The Twins got through the game with only three pitchers, as Dan Schatzeder worked three innings and George Frazier two...This was the second and last shutout of Jeff Sellers' career.  The other came against Oakland on July 3 of this season.  He would have another complete game in his next start, but would have only one more in his career.  It should be noted, however, that in his last start of 1987 he pitched eleven innings.

Record:  The Twins were 69-64, in first place by a half-game over Oakland, which defeated the Yankees 8-3.

 

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-two

MINNESOTA 10, MILWAUKEE 6 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Sunday, August 30.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 6-for-6 with two home runs (his twentieth and twenty-first) and two doubles, scoring four times and driving in four.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base (his seventh), scoring twice.  Al Newman was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Keith Atherton pitched 1.1 scoreless innings despite giving up a hit and two walks.  Jeff Reardon struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Bill Schroeder was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his tenth) and a walk.  Glenn Braggs was 3-for-4 with a stolen base (his tenth) and an RBI.  Paul Molitor was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run, and a stolen base (his thirty-first).

The game:  A number of members of the nation indicated they were on vacation in August of 1987.  I was not on vacation, but I was at a week-long meeting in Denver.  I remember hearing about the game Puckett had and being amazed.  Looking at it now, I'm still amazed.  It'd be hard to have a much better day.  6-for-6, two home runs, two doubles, four runs, four RBIs.

Puckett drove in the first run of the game in the first inning with a measly single.  He homered in the third to make it 2-0.  Schroeder hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.  The Twins scored three in the fifth, aided by three walks and a hit-by-pitch, to go ahead 5-3.  In the sixth Milwaukee scored three times, two of them scoring on a sacrifice fly-plus-error, to take a 6-5 lead.  Kent Hrbek brought home the tying run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly and Gene Larkin hit a two-run single to give the Twins an 8-6 lead.  Puckett hit a two-run homer in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Al Newman led off and was the designated hitter.  We laugh at that, but he was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Maybe TK knew something...Greg Gagne was 2-for-6 and scored twice...Puckett raised his average to .328...Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup, with Mark Davidson in right and Tom Brunansky in left...Frank Viola lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts...Milwaukee starter Juan Nieves lasted 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 69-63.  Oakland lost to Toronto 13-3, so the Twins moved back into first place, a game ahead of the Athletics.

Only twenty-three players have gone 6-for-6 in a nine-inning game since this game.  Oddly, the last two came on consecutive days last season, with C. J. Cron doing it for the Angels on July 2 and Wilmer Flores doing it for the Mets on July 3.  There are two other players who have gone 6-for-7 since this game.

Only one player has ever gone 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game.  Rennie Stennett did it for Pittsburgh on September 16, 1975.

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-one

MINNESOTA 12, MILWAUKEE 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  August 29, 1987.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his eighteenth and nineteenth), and three runs.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his thirty-second) and three walks, scoring three times.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twenty-eighth) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Robin Yount was 1-for-4 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  B. J. Surhoff was 3-for-5.  Mike Felder was 1-for-2 with two walks.

The game:  There was no lack of Twins offense in this one.  Gaetti hit a two-run homer in the first and Puckett hit a solo homer in the third to make it 3-0 Twins.  Milwaukee got single runs in the third and fourth to cut it to 3-2.  Puckett hit another homer in the fifth and the Twins got three more runs later in the inning to go up 7-2.  Hrbek hit a three-run homer in the sixth and the Twins added two more in the seventh.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Randy Bush in right field and Tom Brunansky in left...Bush batted seventh, with Greg Gagne in the leadoff spot...Puckett moved up from his usual number three slot to bat second, with Hrbek third...Puckett raised his average to .320...Brunansky was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI...Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, driving in three...Milwaukee starter Len Barker lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout...Milwaukee reliever Jay Aldrich was tagged with six runs in 3.2 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 68-63, tied for first place with Oakland, who defeated Toronto 6-5 in ten innings.  Oakland, at 67-62, was actually slightly ahead on winning percentage, .5194 to .5191.

Player profile:  I know I said I wouldn't do one until next week, and after this I probably won't, but I had a fondness for guys who had brief careers.  This was the rookie season for Jay Aldrich.  He was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, attended Montclair State University, and was drafted in the tenth round by Milwaukee in 1982.  He did fairly well in AA and AAA, especially considering that he was playing El Paso and Denver, two places where it's hard to get good pitching numbers (one would think it was really hard for the Brewers to evaluate their minor league pitchers at this time).  He came up to Milwaukee in early June of 1987 and was used in long relief.  His ERA of 4.94 is not very good, but he appears to have been allowed to get beaten up a few times just because the Brewers needed someone to fill up the innings.  If you take out the worst three of his 31 appearances, in which he gave up a total of 15 earned runs, his ERA drops to 3.06.  Still, he spent all of 1988 in AAA.  He started 1989 in AAA too, but came up to the Brewers in late May and was traded to Atlanta in September.  1989 was his best major league season, as he went 2-2, 3.29 and got a save.  However, he was released after that season and signed with Baltimore for 1990.  He was with the Orioles at the start of the season, but did not pitch well and was sent down in late April.  He did not pitch well in AAA, either, and was sold to San Francisco in early August.  He became a free agent after the season, did not sign with anyone, and his playing career was over.  He did sign with the Pirates as a replacement player in 1995.  For his career, he was 6-5, 4.72 with two saves and a WHIP of 1.45 in 62 games (108.2 innings).  Not a great career, not even a good career.  But he got to the big leagues, spent about a year and a half there, and got into sixty-two games.  That's better than the vast majority of baseball players do.

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty

MILWAUKEE 1, MINNESOTA 0 IN MILWAUKEE

Date: August 28, 1987.

Batting star:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and one walk with two strikeouts.  Juan Berenguer struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Chris Bosio pitched a complete game shutout, giving up two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.  Robin Yount was 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base, his thirteenth.  Greg Brock was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  The familiar refrain is "We finally get some pitching and we can't hit."  Straker pitched very well, but the Twins managed only two hits off Bosio, a one-out single by Greg Gagne in the first and a one-out single by Hrbek in the seventh.  Both times the runner was erased by a double play.  The Twins' biggest threat, if you want to call it that, came in the second inning, when Gene Larkin was hit by a pitch and stole second with two out.  It was the only time the Twins advanced a man into scoring position.  The game's only run came in the sixth, when Yount singled, stole second, and scored on Brock's double.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup, with Randy Bush in right field and leading off.  Tom Brunansky played left...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .315...This was Bosio's rookie season.  This was his first complete game, and obviously his first shutout.  He would have 39 complete games and 9 shutouts in his career...The Twins had lost nine of their last ten games.

Record:  The Twins were 67-63, tied for first place with Oakland.  Oakland actually had a slightly higher winning percentage, .516 to .515.  That winning percentage would have merited fifth place in the American League East.

We won't get back to player profiles this week after all.  We'll try again next week.

Happy Birthday–February 10

Horace Wilson (1845)
Jim Keenan (1858)
Curt Welch (1862)
Billy Evans (1884)
Herb Pennock (1894)
Bill Adair (1913)
Allie Reynolds (1917)
George Sobek (1920)
Randy Jackson (1926)
Billy O'Dell (1933)
Dick Bogard (1937)
Jim Barr (1948)
Larry McWilliams (1954)
Lenny Dykstra (1963)
Lenny Webster (1965)
Jayhawk Owens (1969)
Alberto Castillo (1970)
Bobby Jones (1970)
Kevin Sefcik (1971)
Lance Berkman (1976)
Cesar Izturis (1980)
Alex Gordon (1984)
Duke Welker (1986)
Liam Hendriks (1989)
Max Kepler (1993)

Horace Wilson was an American professor English at Tokyo University.  He is credited with introducing baseball to Japan in either 1872 or 1873.

Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history, starting his career at age 22.  He was an American League umpire from 1906-1027.  He would later become general manager of the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, and was president of the Southern Association from 1942-1946.

Bill Adair was a long-time minor league player (1935-1956) and manager (1949-1973).  He also was the scout credited with signing Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.

George Sobek was a long-time scout for the White Sox, credited with signing Denny McLain, Steve Trout, and Mike Squires.  He also played in the NBA and was a long-time college basketball referee.

Another long-time scout, Dick Bogard played in the minors for six years, managed for three, and was a scout for nearly thirty years, mostly for Houston and Oakland.  He is credited with signing Walt Weiss, Jason Giambi, and Ben Grieve.

Jim Barr was drafted six different times before finally signing.  Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round of the January Secondary draft in 1970, but he did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 10

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-nine

DETROIT 10, MINNESOTA 8 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 26.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times and driving in one.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and three RBIs.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-seventh.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Chet Lemon was 3-for-5 with two home runs, scoring three times and driving in four.  Jim Morrison was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth).  Dan Petry struck out four in four innings of relief, giving up one run on four hits and no walks.

The game:  I don't specifically remember this game, but it must have felt like a devastating loss at the time.  Sacrifice flies in each of the first two innings put the Twins ahead 2-0.  Morrison hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give Detroit a 3-2 advantage.  Brunansky homered in the bottom of the fourth to tie it and Gagne delivered an RBI single later in the inning to put the Twins up 4-3.  Kirby Puckett drove in a run with a single in the fifth to make it 5-3.  Lemon homered in the sixth and Alan Trammell had a run-scoring single in the seventh to tie it 5-5.  Gagne then homered in the eighth to again put the Twins up 6-5 and Jeff Reardon, who hadn't given up a run since August 9, came in to pitch the ninth.  A walk, a strikeout, a walk, a fly out, and an infield single loaded the bases with two down.  Matt Nokes then lined a single to bring home two runs and Lemon hit a three-run homer, and Detroit was ahead 10-6.  To the Twins credit, they came back to score twice (despite having a runner thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single) and had the bases loaded with two out before Willie Hernandez came in to get Al Newman to pop up and end the game.

Of note:  Newman led off and played second in place of Steve Lombardozzi.  He was 3-for-6 with a run and two stolen bases (his fifteenth and sixteenth)...Mark Davidson batted second and played left in place of Dan Gladden...Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, batting .318...Frank Viola started and pitched seven innings, giving up five runs on eleven hits and no walks with six strikeouts...Detroit starter Frank Tanana lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 67-62, in first place by a half game over Oakland.  They had now lost eight out of their last nine games and five of their last six to the Tigers.

We hope to get back to player profiles yet this week.

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-Eight

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 25.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-4 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Juan Berenguer struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up only a walk.  Keith Atherton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Chet Lemon was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Kirk Gibson was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Darrell Evans was 0-for-2 with three walks, a run, and a stolen base, his fifth.

The game:  Lemon had a two-run double in a three-run third to give Detroit a 3-0 lead.  The Twins scored two in the fourth to make it 3-2, but Gibson's two-run single in the sixth put the Tigers up 5-2.  Hrbek singled home a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3.  In the eighth, Randy Bush delivered an RBI triple to make it 5-4 and put the tying run on third base with one out, but the last five Twins were retired to end the game.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup.  Lombardozzi led off, with Bush batting second and playing right field.  Brunansky was in left...Puckett's average went to .316...Twins starter Joe Niekro pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on only four hits but seven walks with four strikeouts...Detroit starter Doyle Alexander pitched 7.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 67-61, in first place by one game over Oakland.

We will try to get back to player profiles later in the week.

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a walk, driving in one.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with three walks, scoring once and driving in one.  Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out eight in eight innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and six walks.  Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Darrell Evans was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-fifth) and two walk, scoring twice.  Jim Morrison was 2-for-5 with a double and a run.  Chet Lemon was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

The game:  Gary Gaetti's two-run single in the first gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Darrell Evans homered in the second to make it 2-1, but the Twins got the run back in the third on Puckett's RBI double.  In the sixth, the Tigers got three singles and a walk to cut the lead to 3-2 and Tom Brookens followed with a two-run single to put Detroit in front 4-3.  Steve Lombardozzi delivered an RBI single in the seventh to tie it up.  Lombo opened the ninth with a single, went to second on a bunt, and took third on Newman's single to left.  Puckett was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Hrbek lined a single to right to win the game and snap the six game losing streak for the Twins.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was apparently still bothered by an injury.  He started the game, but in the third inning he singled, stole second, and was replaced by pinch-runner Randy Bush.  One suspects Bush did not make a lot of appearances in his career as a pinch-runner...Newman batted second and started at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne...Lou Whitaker was also apparently injured or ill.  He led off the game, was called out on strikes, and then was replaced by Brookens...Detroit starter Walt Terrell struck out eight in 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks.

Record:  The Twins were 67-60, in first place, by two games over Oakland.

We hope to resume player profiles later in the week.

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-six

BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, August 23.

Batting stars:  Roy Smalley was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eighth) and a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his thirty-first.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer pitched 3.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Don Baylor was 2-for-3 with a grand slam (his sixteenth homer) and a hit-by-pitch.  Dwight Evans was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-ninth.  Wade Boggs was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs.

The game:  It looked good early.  Gary Gaetti and Roy Smalley led off the second with back-to-back home runs to put the Twins up 2-0.  Hrbek hit a two-run homer in the third to make it 4-0.  Twins starter Steve Carlton walked in a run in the fourth, but a double play got him out of the inning and the Twins still led 4-1.  In the fifth, however, Boston loaded the bases again and this time Baylor unloaded them with a grand slam, putting the Red Sox in front 5-4.  Dwight Evans also homered in the inning to make it 6-4.  The Twins got only one hit after the fourth inning, a two-out double by Puckett in the eighth.

Of note:  Puckett raised his average to .315...Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-seventh...Carlton pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts...Boston starter Jeff Sellers struck out ten in 7.1 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk.

Record:  The Twins were 66-60, in first place by two games over Oakland.  This was their sixth consecutive loss.

Player profile:  His win in this game was one of thirteen career wins for Jeff Sellers.  He was born in Compton, California, went to high school in Paramount, California, and was drafted by Boston in the eighth round in 1982.  He had an excellent year in AA in 1985 and got a September call-up that season, going 2-0, 3.63 in four starts.  He spent the next three seasons going back and forth between Pawtucket and Boston, sometimes doing well in AAA but never showing much in the big leagues.  In 1986 he made 14 appearances (13 starts) for the Red Sox, going 3-7, 4.94.  In 1987 he made 25 appearances (22 starts), going 7-8, 5.28.  In 1988 he made 18 appearances (12 starts), going 1-7, 4.83.  He was still only twenty-four at that point, but the Red Sox gave up on him and traded him to Cincinnati.  He pitched in AAA for the Reds, the Yankees, and the Rangers through 1992, but never got back to the big leagues.  His strikeout numbers got better as his big-league career went along--in 1988 he struck out 7.4 batters per nine innings.  One wonders if he might have done well in the bullpen, but he never really got a chance there.  His son, Justin Sellers, was an infielder for the Dodgers and Indians from 2011-14.