MINNESOTA 4, SEATTLE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 17.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-fifth.  Al Newman was 0-for-1 with two walks and a run.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Keith Atherton pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit while striking out one.  Jeff Reardon retired all four men he faced, striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Mark Langston pitched a complete game, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.  Jim Presley was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-first.  Ken Phelps was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run.

The game:  The Twins jumped on Langston for three in the first inning, as Gaetti hit an RBI double and Brunansky followed with a two-run homer.  Presley hit a two-run homer in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2.  In the fifth, a walk, a double, and an error gave the Twins an insurance run.  The Mariners threatened in the eighth, putting men on second and third with two out, but Reardon came in to strike out Gary Matthews.  He then retired Seattle in order in the ninth.

Of note:  Newman played short in place of Greg Gagne and batted second...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .317...Mark Davidson played right field, with Brunansky at DH...Gene Larkin played first base, with Kent Hrbek out of the lineup...This was the second consecutive complete game loss for a Mariners pitcher.

Record:  The Twins were 66-54, in first place by five games over Oakland.

Player profile:  Third baseman Jim Presley was nothing special, really, but he was a big league regular for six and a half seasons.  Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, he was drafted by Seattle in the fourth round in 1979.  He spent two and a half seasons at AA and did not particularly improve over the course of them, but started 1984 in AAA anyway and was promoted to the majors in late June.  He didn't do much for Seattle that year, but then had three seasons in which he was a fairly productive player.  The best was 1985, when he hit .275/.324/.484 with 28 home runs.  He made the all-star team in 1986, even though the numbers were not as good:  .265/.303/.464 with 27 homers.  He finished 21st in MVP voting that year, probably on the strength of having 107 RBIs.  He went down farther in 1987:  .247/.296/.433 with 24 homers.  That was his last decent year.  In 1988 he batted .230 with an OPS of .635.  His playing time diminished somewhat in 1989 and then he was traded to Atlanta.  He was a Brave for one season, doing a little better but not much, signed with San Diego for 1991, and was released in June.  He finished out the year in AAA for Texas, not doing a whole lot, and then his playing career was over.  He has stayed in baseball as a batting coach, and was the batting coach for Round Rock last season.  His career numbers are .247/.290/.420 with 135 home runs.  Again, he was nothing special, but he was a big league regular for six and a half years, and there aren't just a whole lot of people who can say that.

MINNESOTA 5, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 16.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.  Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-3 with a double and a run, scoring twice.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola pitched eight innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Gary Matthews was 2-for-4.  Mike Moore pitched a complete game, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

The game:  The Twins had a double, a walk, and two more doubles in the first inning, producing three runs.  A single, a walk, and an error made it 4-0 through two.  The only time Seattle threatened to get back into the game was in the fifth, when two singles and an error loaded the bases with one out.  A ground out scored one run, but a strikeout ended the inning and the Twins were in control from then on.

Of note:  Randy Bush was again in right field and in the leadoff spot, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden out of the lineup...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .319...Reardon got his ERA below five for the first time since his first appearance of the season, April 8.  It should be pointed out, though, that from June 1 to the end of the season his ERA was 3.32...After a poor first inning and a somewhat shaky second, Moore was allowed a chance to regroup and pitched quite well through the end of the game.  Teams don't very often seem to give pitchers the chance to do that any more.

Record:  The Twins were 65-54, in first place by four games over Oakland.

Player profile:  Mike Moore had four seasons in which he was very good, and even when he wasn't he was still a reliable innings eater and a very durable pitcher.  Born and raised in Carnegie, Oklahoma, he attended Oral Roberts University and was drafted by Seattle with the first pick of the 1981 draft.  He pitched in AA that season, made one start in AAA in 1982, then was placed in the Seattle rotation for the rest of the season.  That went about as well as you'd expect it to go, which is not very.  He split 1983 between AAA and the majors and had a poor season with the Mariners in 1984.  At this point in his career he was 20-39, 5.02, and one imagines that most Seattle fans had decided he was a huge bust.  If so, he showed them--in 1985 he went 17-10, 3.46, 1.22 WHIP and was tenth in Cy Young voting.  In the next two years, 1986-87, though, he went 20-32, 4.52.  He was a workhorse in those years, however, making 70 starts and pitching 494 innings.  He came back to have a strong year in 1988, although his won-lost record doesn't show it--he went 9-15, but with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  He became a free agent after the 1988 season, and one suspects that few Mariners fans were sorry to see him go.  He signed with Oakland and gave them the best seasons of his career.  He was 19-11, 2.61, 1.14 WHIP in 1989, finishing third in Cy Young voting behind Bret Saberhagen and teammate Dave Stewart, and he really was better than Stewart that season.  He had a down year in 1990, but from 1991-92 he was 34-20.  He again became a free agent and signed with Detroit.  His numbers weren't very good there, but again, he ate a lot of innings for the Tigers for three seasons and twice led the league in starts.  His career numbers are 161-176, 4.39, 1.42 WHIP, which are not impressive at all.  But he led the league in starts four times and pitched over 200 innings every year from 1984-93 except for 1990, when he pitched 199.1.  He averaged 227.1 innings and thirty-four starts over those ten seasons.  That's a pretty valuable pitcher.

MINNESOTA 14, SEATTLE 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 15.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-fourth), a double, and a walk, scoring twice.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his twentieth), scoring three times and driving in two.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-fifth), scoring twice and driving in two.

Pitching stars:  Roy Smith pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Dan Schatzeder pitched two shutout innings, giving up three hits.

Opposition stars:  Alvin Davis was 2-for-3 with a home run (his nineteenth) and a walk, driving in three.  Mike Kingery was 2-for-3 with a double.  Ken Phelps was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

The game:  Davis singled in a run in the top of the first, but the Twins responded in the bottom half with an eight-run inning, putting this one to bed early.  The Twins had three singles, three doubles, a triple, a walk, and two errors in the inning, with Greg Gagne circling the bases on a three-run triple-plus-error.  The Twins added three in the second on a home run by Brunansky and a two-run homer by Kent Hrbek.

Of note:  Hrbek's homer was his thirtieth of the season...Steve Lombardozzi batted second in this game...Gene Larkin was the DH...Mark Davidson played center field, with Kirby Puckett out of the lineup...This was Smith's only start of the season, filling in for Joe Niekro...Lee Guetterman started for Seattle but lasted only two-thirds of an inning, allowing six runs (none earned) on four hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Record:  The Twins were 64-54, in first place by four games over Oakland.

Player profile:  No one would consider Lee Guetterman an all-star, but he actually had a number of seasons in which he was an effective pitcher.  He was born in Chattanooga, went to high school in Oceanside, California, attended Liberty University, and was drafted by Seattle in 1981.  He made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1984, but spent all of 1985 in AAA before coming back to the Mariners in 1986.  He was with Seattle for almost all of the season despite the fact that, frankly, he was pretty awful:  0-4, 7.34, 1.82 WHIP.  He started 1987 back in AAA, did very well, and came back to the Mariners in late May.  He was primarily a starter, the only year in his career in which that was the case, and did okay:  11-4, 3.81, 1.34 WHIP.  He was traded to the Yankees after that season.  He didn't do much for them in 1988, but pitched well after that:  from 1989-91 he was 19-16, 3.14, 1.22 WHIP in 284 innings (198 games).  He also picked up 21 saves on a team that had Dave Righetti as its closer.  He got off to a bad start in 1992, was traded to the Mets, and continued to pitch poorly.  He signed with the Dodgers for 1993, was released in spring training, signed with St. Louis in early May, and again pitched well, going 3-3, 2.93, 1.24 WHIP.  Surprisingly, though, nobody wanted him after that:  he signed with California, got released in spring training, signed with San Diego, was sent to AAA and was released again despite the fact that he pitched well, and signed back with Seattle.  Maybe people knew something, though, because despite the fact that he made it back to the majors for parts of 1995-96 he was never any good there again.  For his career he was 38-36, 4.33, 1.43 WHIP, numbers which wouldn't impress anybody.  In his best five seasons, though, he was 33-23, 3.29, 1.22 WHIP, which are good numbers in anybody's book.  The point is not to cherry-pick good years out of his career and make him look better than he was.  The point is simply that there were five years out of his career in which he was, indeed, a very good major league pitcher.

MINNESOTA 6, SEATTLE 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, August 14.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in two.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-ninth) and two runs.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Ken Phelps was 2-for-4 with a home run (his nineteenth) and a double, scoring twice.  Mickey Brantley was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.  Harold Reynolds was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

The game:  Tom Brunansky singled in a run in the second and Randy Bush did the same in the third to put the Twins ahead 2-0.  Each team scored once in the fifth and once in the sixth, leaving the Twins up 4-2.  Gaetti delivered a two-run double in the eighth (with Hrbek scoring from first) to put the Twins in control.  Seattle scored one in the ninth but did not threaten to tie the game.

Of note:  Greg Gagne was again in the leadoff spot...Randy Bush was again in right field and batting second, with Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench, although Gladden played in the ninth inning...Gene Larkin was the DH...Blyleven left a pitch up to Phelps but pitched well otherwise...Seattle starter Mike Morgan pitched seven innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and no walks with one strikeout.

Record:  The Twins were 63-54, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of California.

Player profile:  I don't know how many people remember Alvin Davis, but he was a pretty good player for the Mariners for several years.  Born and raised in Riverside, California, he went to Arizona State and was drafted by Seattle in the sixth round in 1982.  He played only two seasons in the minors before becoming the Mariners' starting first baseman in 1984 at age twenty-three.  He batted .284/.391/.497 with twenty-seven homers, made the all-star team that season, won the Rookie of the Year award, and had greatness predicted.  He never quite achieved greatness, but he achieved pretty good-ness for seven seasons (1984-90).  His OPS was over .800 for all of those seven seasons except 1986, when it was .799.  He batted .300 only once (.305 in 1989), but hit in the .280s and .290s consistently.  His OBP was generally between .370-.390, topping .400 twice (1988 and 1989).  His high for home runs was 29, in 1987, but he hit 18 or more six years in a row (breaking the streak with 17 in 1990).  He fell off very quickly--in 1991 he batted just .221 with an OPS of .635.  He signed with California as a free agent for 1992 but was released in late June.  He played in Japan for the rest of 1992 and his playing career was suddenly over.  For his career, he batted .280/.380/.450 with 160 home runs in nine seasons.  Not hall of fame numbers or anything, but he was a fine player for seven years, and that's a long way from nothing.

CALIFORNIA 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.  Randy Bush was 2-for-5 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  George Frazier pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Mike Witt pitched eight innings, giving up one run on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Doug DeCinces was 2-for-5 with a home run (his thirteenth) and two RBIs.  Dick Schofield was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

The game:  The Angels didn't have any big innings, but just sort of eased out to a good lead and held it.  George Hendrick singled in a run in the first and DeCinces singled one home in the third.  Hrbek hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third, but an RBI single by Gus Polidor and a run-scoring double by Schofield made it 4-1 in the fourth.  DeCinces homered in the seventh to round out the scoring.  The Twins had their chances but stranded twelve runners, eight of them in scoring position.

Of note:  Al Newman replaced Greg Gagne at short and led off...Bush batted second and played right field, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden out of the lineup...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a walk, making his average .320...Gene Larkin was again the DH...Steve Carlton started for the Twins, pitching seven innings and giving up five runs on ten hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  Memory is a funny thing, but I seem to recall Tom Kelly doing this a few times--using Carlton against another team's ace.  My thought at the time was that TK figured the Twins weren't likely to beat that pitcher anyway, so there was no sense in wasting one of his good pitchers in that game.  Carlton would at least be able to give him five or six innings and keep him from having to blow out the bullpen in a game they weren't likely to win.

Record:  The Twins were 62-54, in first place, 2.5 games ahead of California.

Player profile:  He couldn't sustain it, but there were a few years when Mike Witt was about as good a pitcher as anybody.  He was born in Fullerton, California, went to high school in Anaheim, and was drafted by California in the fourth round in 1978.  He was in Class A through the middle of 1980, went to AA for the rest of 1980, and despite the fact that he didn't pitch very well there he jumped to the big leagues in 1981 and stayed there the rest of his career, other than some rehab assignments.  In his first two seasons, he produced ERAs well under four but only went 16-15.  He did finish tied for fifth (with Dave Engle and Shooty Babitt)  in Rookie of the Year voting in 1981.  After three poor starts in 1983 he was moved to the bullpen, not getting back to the rotation until late July.  He came back in 1984 and had three consecutive excellent years.  From 1984-86 he went 48-30, 3.28, 1.21 WHIP.  He averaged 255 innings in those seasons.  The best of them was 1986, when he went 18-10, 2.84, 1.08 WHIP and finished third in Cy Young voting.  That year, though, seems to have taken something out of him, because while he remained a rotation starter for three more seasons, and even made the all-star team in 1987, he was clearly not the same pitcher.  He never had an ERA under four again and never had a WHIP under 1.3 again.  He continued to make every start, though, averaging nearly 250 innings from 1987-89.  He started the 1990 season in the Angels' bullpen but was traded to the Yankees in mid-May for Dave Winfield.  He went into their rotation, but the change of scenery didn't particularly help him.  Injuries got him after that--he made only four starts (two in the minors) in 1991, three minor league starts in 1992, and twelve starts (three in the minors) in 1993, calling it a career after that.  His career numbers don't look all that impressive:  117-116, 3.83, 1.32 WHIP.  But for a few years there, he could hold his own with anybody.

CALIFORNIA 8, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-eighth) and a walk.  Roy Smalley was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  George Frazier pitched two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.

Opposition stars:  Ruppert Jones was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his seventh.  Gus Polidor was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in three.  Kirk McCaskill struck out seven in 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and four walks.

The game:  It was over pretty early.  Polidor's two-run single put the Angels up 2-0 in the second, Devon White's RBI single made it 3-0 in the third, and a three-run fourth, aided by two wild pitches, put the Angels up 6-0.  Hrbek had a solo home run in the fourth and Smalley had one in the seventh, but those solo home runs didn't hurt the Angels.

Of note:  Al Newman again played second and batted second...Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .321...Twins starter Les Straker lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and three walks with one strikeout...The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 62-53, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of California.

Player profile:  Center fielder Ruppert Jones started out well, but never really improved.  He was born in Dallas, went to high school in Berkeley, and was drafted by Kansas City in the third round in 1973.  He reached the majors with the Royals on August 1 of 1976 and didn't do a lot.  Left unprotected in the expansion draft, he was the first choice of the new Seattle Mariners.  In 1977 he made the Mariners look good, hitting .263/.324/.454 with 24 homers and making the all-star team at the age of twenty-two.  Big things were expected, but he never really progressed from that point.  He had an off year in 1978, due at least partly to injuries, then had a year similar to 1977 in 1979.  Still only twenty-four, he was traded to the Yankees, did poorly (again due at least partly to injuries), and was traded to San Diego after the season.  He was their mostly-regular center fielder for the next three seasons, but often sat against left-handers, for good reason.  He came back in 1982 to make his second all-star team, batting .283 with a .798 OPS.  He went back down in 1983, became a free agent, and signed with Detroit.  He did pretty well for the Tigers as a reserve outfielder, hitting twelve homers in 215 at-bats and posting an OPS of .862.  He became a free agent again after the season, though, and signed with California, where he stayed from 1985-87.  He was a semi-regular for them, not getting very high batting averages but hitting some homers and drawing some walks.  1987 would be his last year in the majors.  He would play for two more seasons, splitting 1988 between Japan and AAA for the Rangers and spending all of 1989 in AAA for the Rangers.  For his career, he batted .250/.330/.416 with 143 home runs in 4415 at-bats.  He played for twelve seasons, and he wasn't a bad player by any means, but he never became what he was expected to be.  At last report, Ruppert Jones was an insurance salesman in the San Diego area.

MINNESOTA 7, CALIFORNIA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 11, 1987.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-fourth) and two runs.  Mark Davidson was 2-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and one walk with six strikeouts.  Keith Atherton pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Opposition star:  George Hendrick was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in two.

The game:  An RBI double by Brunansky and a two-run double by Davidson put the Twins up 3-0 in the second.  Greg Gagne tripled home a run in the fourth to make it 4-0.  Hendrick had a two-run double in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-2, but Gaetti homered leading off the seventh to make it 5-2.  RBI singles by Al Newman in the seventh and Brunansky in the eighth rounded out the scoring.  Viola started the ninth inning, but after giving up a walk and a single to the first to batters was replaced by Atherton.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was back in the leadoff spot and was apparently recovered from whatever was wrong with him...Newman batted second and played second in place of Steve Lombardozzi...Gene Larkin was at first base, replacing Kent Hrbek...Brunansky was the DH, with Davidson in right field...John Candelaria started for California, going five innings and giving up four runs on six hits and no walks with one strikeout...The win was the Twins' fifth in a row...This was the third consecutive series the Twins played against one of their top two challengers.

Record:  The Twins were 62-52, in first place, 4.5 games ahead of California and Oakland.

MINNESOTA 7, OAKLAND 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 9.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twenty-seventh.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his fourteenth.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-third) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Keith Atherton struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Alfredo Griffin was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-5 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in two.  Tony Bernazard was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.

The game:  Oakland got on the board in the first, but Hrbek hit a three-run homer in the third to put the Twins ahead 3-1.  Brunansky homered in the fourth to make it 4-1.  Oakland got one back in the fifth, but Laudner hit a two-run homer in the sixth to put the Twins ahead 6-2.  Oakland scored one in the seventh to cut the lead to 6-3, but Gaetti got the run back with a home run in the eighth.  Carney Lansford hit a two-out two-run homer in the ninth to bring the tying run up to bat, but Jose Canseco grounded out to end the game.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a run to raise his average to .324...Randy Bush was in right field and in the leadoff spot, with Brunansky in left...Steve Ontiveros pitched a complete game, giving up seven runs on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  I'm sure that's nowhere near the record, but seven runs is a lot to give up in a complete game...This gave the Twins a four-game sweep of Oakland.  The two teams had been tied for first going into the series.

Record:  The Twins were 61-52, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of California.

MINNESOTA 9, OAKLAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 8.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and two doubles, scoring four times and driving in two.  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Steve Carlton pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Steve Henderson was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Alfredo Griffin was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Luis Polonia was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.

The game:  The first four batters for the Twins reached, as Dan Gladden walked, Greg Gagne singled, Puckett doubled, and Gaetti tripled.  It would've been really cool if Brunansky had followed with a home run, but he had an RBI ground out instead.  Still, it was 4-0 after one inning and Oakland never threatened to get back into the game.  They did not score until the ninth.  Carlton had retired eleven in a row going to the ninth inning, but with one out Oakland got a triple and three singles, scoring once and loading the bases.  Mark McGwire struck out, but when Henderson walked to force in a run Tom Kelly decided it was time for Carlton to come out, with George Frazier getting Reggie Jackson on a fly ball to end the game.

Of note:  Gagne batted second and was 2-for-5 with two runs...Puckett raised his average to .323...Gene Larkin was again the DH...Carlton had three complete games for Cleveland earlier in the season, but this was as close as he would come to getting one for the Twins...Oakland starter Curt Young pitched six innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 60-52, in first place, three games ahead of Oakland.