Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Twenty-four

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MINNESOTA 4, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Keith Atherton pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk with one strikeout.  George Frazier pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.  Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Rickey Henderson was 3-for-4 with a walk and four stolen bases, his ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth.  Willie Randolph was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Joel Skinner was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

The game:  I guess solo home runs can hurt you if you give up too many of them.  The Twins scored four runs, all on solo homers, and it was enough to win.  The Yankees scored all three of their runs in the fourth to go up 3-0.  Gaetti homered in the bottom of the fourth to make it 3-1, Gladden homered in the sixth to make it 3-2, Tom Brunansky homered in the sixth to tie it up, and Puckett homered in the eighth to put the Twins ahead.  Henderson led off the ninth with a single, but instead of having him try for his fifth stolen base the Yankees had Don Mattingly swinging, and he hit into a double play.  Dave Winfield popped to the catcher to end the game.

Of note:  Puckett was now hitting .355...Brunansky was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third...Mark Portugal started and went 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts...Dennis Rasmussen started for the Yankees and went 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 14-10. in first place by a game over California.

Notes:  Mark Davidson was again the right fielder, with Brunansky as DH and Roy Smalley on the bench...Tim Laudner pretty much became the regular catcher at this point.  He was 0-for-3 and was 1-for-15 for the season (.067).  He would go lower than that and would not get his average into triple digits until May 21.  He would only have seven days all season where his average was above the Mendoza line.  He would end at .191, which led to the forming of the famous "Buck Ninety Fan Club"...Joel Skinner is one of those guys who put in a decent career as a backup catcher.  He played for nine seasons (if you count six games in 1983).  He played behind some pretty good catchers:  Carlton Fisk with the White Sox, Rick Cerone with the Yankees, and Sandy Alomar with Cleveland.  He also played behind guys like Don Slaught and Andy Allenson, but such is life when you're a career backup.  He hit .228/.269/.311, but still was around for quite a while.  As they say, it's nice work if you can get it.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Twenty-three

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NEW YORK 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a run.  Tom Nieto was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Willie Randolph was 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk, driving in three.  Ron Kittle was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and a double.  Dave Winfield was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) and two RBIs.

The game:  A solo homer by Kittle and a two-run shot by Randolph put the Yankees up 3-1 in the fourth.  Mark Davidson's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth cut the lead to 3-2, but Winfield homered leading off the fifth and drove in a run with an RBI in the sixth to make it 5-2.  Hrbek's two-run homer in the eighth cut it to 5-4, but Randolph struck again with an RBI single in the ninth to make it 6-4.  Dave Righetti struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a run to make his average .348...Frank Viola lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts...Juan Berenguer pitched four innings of relief, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts...The Yankees' starter was Tommy John, who pitched 6.2 innings and gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts...Righetti came in with two outs in the seventh and pitched the rest of the way to get the save.

Record:  The Twins were 13-10, in first place, a game ahead of California.

Notes:  Mark Davidson started in right field, with Tom Brunansky as the DH and Roy Smalley on the bench...Newman started at shortstop...This was tied for Berenguer's longest relief appearance of the season.  He would also pitch four innings in an extra-inning game on September 4...Righetti made sixty appearances in 1987.  Twenty of them were for two innings or more...For me, Willie Randolph is one of those guys I never think of, but when I do it's kind, "Oh, yeah, he was pretty good."  I'll say he was.  He made the all-star team six times, got MVP votes twice, and won a Silver Slugger award.  He only once led the league in anything (walks, in 1980), but he was a consistently good performer, almost always hitting .270 or better, drawing a lot of walks, hitting a good number of doubles, and playing solid defense.  I'd forgotten that he played with some other teams besides the Yankees.  He started his career with Pittsburgh as a rookie in 1975, then was traded with Ken Brett and Dock Ellis for Doc Medich.  You might say that trade worked out pretty well for New York.  He was a Yankee through 1988, but after a down year was allowed to become a free agent and signed with the Dodgers.  He played well for them, but was traded to Oakland in mid-May of 1990 for Stan Javier.  He went to Milwaukee in 1991 and hit .327, but that was his last hurrah.  He signed with the Mets in 1992 and was not awful, but was not very good either, and his playing career was over.  I'd also forgotten that he managed the Mets from 2005-2008, taking them to the playoffs in 2006.  Tom Nieto was one of his coaches.  b-r.com says his nickname was "Mickey", although I don't remember him ever being referred to by that name.  He received a plaque in the Yankees' monument park in 2015.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Twenty-two

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MINNESOTA 7, NEW YORK 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 1.

Batting stars:  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his second and third) and a walk, scoring three times.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Randy Bush was 1-for-2 with a run and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out ten in eight innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks.  Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Don Mattingly was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk.  Dan Pasqua was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.  Joel Skinner was 2-for-3 with a run.

The game:  The Twins broke open a 1-1 game with five in the fourth.  Gaetti opened the inning with a home run.  Two singles and a walk filled the bases, and Bush brought home three with a single-plus-error.  Kirby Puckett then singled to bring Bush home.  It was 7-2 after eight.  Blyleven was allowed to start the ninth, but after walking Dave Winfield and leaving a pitch up to Pasqua he was replaced by Reardon, who got the save.

Of note:  Puckett was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, making his average .353...Mark Salas was 1-for-4 with a run and was batting .333...Tom Brunansky was 2-for-2 with a stolen base...Yankee starter Rick Rhoden lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 13-9, leading California and Seattle by two games.

Notes:  Lombardozzi was the leadoff batter...Bush was again right with Brunansky in left and Gladden on the bench...Salas replaced Tom Nieto behind the dish...The Yankees used three players with Twins connections:  DH Dave Winfield (0-for-3 with a walk and a run--wasn't he supposed to be Mr. May?), Mike Pagliarulo (0-for-4) and Gary Ward (walked as a pinch-hitter)...In another "times change" note, it's hard to think that Blyleven would've started the ninth today, especially after having given up a run in the eighth.  It's even harder to think he'd have been left in to face Pasqua after walking the first batter of the inning...Four Hall-of-famers played in this game:  Blyleven, Rickey Henderson, Puckett, and Winfield.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Twenty-one

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TORONTO 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN TORONTO

Date:  Wednesday, April 29.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Johnson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks with no strikeouts.  Ernie Whitt was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and two walks, scoring twice.  Lloyd Moseby was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and two RBIs.

The game:  It was only 2-0 through six, but the Blue Jays started the seventh with an error, an RBI double by Willie Upshaw, and Whitt's two-run homer to go ahead 5-0.  The Twins got their lone run in the eighth on a Greg Gagne double, but Toronto scored three more in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Puckett raised his average to .354...Mike Smithson started and pitched six innings.  As you can see above, he did better than his line would indicate, but the totals are five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks.

Record:  The Twins were 12-9 but remained a half game ahead of California.

Notes:  Randy Bush was again in right, with Brunansky in left and Gladden on the bench...Bush batted in the second spot, with Steve Lombardozzi leading off...You can be forgiven in you don't remember Joe Johnson.  He was a big leaguer for three seasons, 1985-87.  He was drafted by Atlanta in the second round in 1982.  He did well in AA, but did not accomplish much in AAA until 1985, when he made nine starts and produced excellent numbers.  He was promoted to Atlanta in late July, and while he didn't set the league on fire he did not do badly for a twenty-three-year-old rookie.  In 1986 he had two consecutive outings of eight shutout innings in mid-May, but other than that he didn't do much and was traded to Toronto around the fourth of July.  He did well in the second half for the Blue Jays and did okay in April but poorly after that.  He would have only one more good start after this, against Seattle on the first of June.  By the end of June he was in AAA and never made it back to the majors.  Wikipedia says it was thought at the time that he would be down for a brief time to work on his mechanics, but that's obviously not how it turned out.  He continued pitching in AAA through 1990, then retired.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Twenty

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TORONTO 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN TORONTO

Date:  Tuesday, April 28.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker struck out three in two perfect innings of relief.  Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning of relief.

Opposition stars:  Jim Clancy pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  George Bell was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fifth), a walk, and a hit batsman, scoring twice and driving in three.  Jesse Barfield was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks, scoring once.

The game:  Cecil Fielder's two-run single in the second put the Blue Jays up 2-0.  It was 3-0 after three, Hrbek's homer made it 3-1 in the fourth, and Bell hit a two-run homer in the fifth.  The Twins did not get a man past first base after the fourth inning.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 and is batting .346...Frank Viola pitched five innings, allowing five runs on five hits and five walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 12-8, in first place by a half game over California.

Notes:  Randy Bush was the leadoff batter in right field.  Brunansky was again in left with Dan Gladden on the bench...This was one of five relief appearances Straker made in 1987.  It appears that sometimes, when there was an off day, his spot in the rotation would be skipped and he would be used in relief... When people talk about the top pitchers of the 80s, Jim Clancy is seldom mentioned, but he was pretty good for most of the decade.  He joined the Blue Jays rotation in 1978 and was pretty mediocre.  He was injured for much of 1979 and was ineffective when he did pitch.  He led the league in walks in 1980 but still had some good numbers:  3.30 ERA, 1.38 WHIP.  He had a down year in 1981 but came back in 1982 to make his only all-star appearance and lead the league in starts with forty.  He remained in the Toronto rotation through 1988.  He became a free agent and signed with Houston for 1989.  Things did not go well for him there.  He moved to the bullpen in 1990, was traded to Atlanta in 1991, and ended his career after that season.  He never had great won-lost records, but he pitched over 200 innings six times and was over 190 two more time.  I'm not saying he was a superstar, but he was a valuable man to have around for quite a few seasons.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 23

William Hulbert (1832)
Mike Sullivan (1866)
Lena Blackburne (1886)
Rube Bressler (1894)
Billy Sullivan (1910)
Vern Stephens (1920)
Ewell Blackwell (1922)
Jim Bunning (1931)
Greg Thayer (1949)
John Castino (1954)
Dwight Lowry (1957)
Al Leiter (1965)
Todd Sears (1975)
David Riske (1976)
John Lackey (1978)
Bud Smith (1979)
Kyle Gibson (1987)

William Hulbert was one of the founders of the National League and was its president from 1877 until his death in 1882.

Infielder Lena Blackburne discovered and marketed the mud from the driver beds near the Delaware River in New Jersey that has been rubbed on every major league baseball used since the 1950s.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 23 →

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Eighteen

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MINNESOTA 8, CALIFORNIA 7 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 25.

Batting stars:  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run (his fifth), scoring twice and driving in two.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.

Pitching star:  George Frazier pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Jack Howell was 2-for-4 with a double and two walks, scoring three times.  Ruppert Jones was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer and a stolen base.  Mark McLemore was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third) and two RBIs.

The game:  The Twins led 5-2 after four and 6-4 after seven, but the Angels tied it in the top of the eighth on McLemore's two-run single off Jeff Reardon.  Gaetti led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to put the Twins up 7-6, but Wally Joyner's RBI single in the ninth, again off Reardon, tied the score at seven.  In the bottom of the ninth, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out.  It appears that the Angels went with a five-man infield, but Gaetti made it irrelevant with a fly ball to deep center field, getting a single and driving in the winning run.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with an RBI, raising his average to .348...Reardon continued to struggle, as his ERA was now 8.22.  In fact, as we look at his numbers for the season, it shows how low the bar was set for Twins closers that he was considered a savior and actually got both Cy Young and MVP consideration.

Record:  The Twins were 11-7, tied for first with California.

Notes:  Al Newman played second in this game, replacing Steve Lombardozzi...Randy Bush was again in right, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench.  Have Cory and Dazzle ever talked about how little playing time Dazzle got in April of 1987?...Chuck Finley pitched the bottom of the ninth for California and took the loss.  I had not remembered that, for the first two years of his career, Finley was a relief pitcher.  He was pretty good in a half-season in 1986, but was not good at all in 1987 and not a whole lot better when he moved into the starting rotation in 1988.  In 1989, however, at age twenty-six, he went 16-9, 2.57, 1.27 WHIP.  He made the first of five all-star teams that season.  He would be a solid rotation starter through 2000, pitching over 200 innings in all but two of those years (and he would have in 1994 if not for the strike--he led the league in innings pitched that season with 183.1).  He had a poor year in 2001 but came to pitch fairly well in 2002, going 11-15, 4.15, 1.37 WHIP.  He was with the Angels through 1999, went to Cleveland in 2000, and finished with St. Louis, to whom he was traded in July of 2002.  He only once received Cy Young consideration, finishing seventh in 1990 when he went 18-9, 2.40, 1.23 WHIP.  He was a pretty good pitcher for a long time, and he serves as a reminder that a lot of pretty good pitchers struggle in the early years of their careers.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seventeen

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CALIFORNIA 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 24.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4.  Roy Smalley was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Mark Salas was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Juan Berenguer struck out six in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks.  Joe Klink pitched three innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Wally Joyner was 4-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, scoring twice and driving in three.  Don Sutton pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  Brian Downing was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring three times and driving in one.

The game:  The Angels led 3-0 through three and then scored four in the fourth to put the game away.  The first five batters reached.  Downing drove in a run with a walk and the other three came in on Joyner's bases-clearing double.  The lone Twins run came in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with one out and scored on an RBI groundout by Al Newman.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 to raise his average to .338...Salas raised his average to .364...Starter Mark Portugal lasted only three innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  His line would've been better had he received help from the bullpen.  He left with the score 3-0, the bases loaded, and none out in the fourth.  Berenguer came in to walk Downing and give up the three-run double to Joyner before striking out the next four batters he faced.

Record:  The Twins were 10-7, in second place, trailing California by a game.

Notes:  Newman was again at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne...Randy Bush was again in right field with Brunansky in left...Despite his batting average, Salas would not play again for a week and would play only twice in the next two and a half weeks...The catcher for California was Butch Wynegar, who was nearing the end of his career.  Wynegar was the Angels' starting catcher as the season began, but he apparently got hurt soon after this game.  He played only two games in May and two in June.  He played nine more in July, then was done for the year.  He played in twenty-seven games in 1988, but his season and his career ended in late May.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Sixteen

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CALIFORNIA 7, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 23.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.  Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Wally Joyner was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third) and a walk, scoring twice.  Devon White was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his sixth.  Brian Downing was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his seventh.

The game:  Gaetti's two-run homer in the first made it 2-0 and an error in the fifth put the Twins up 3-2, but it was all downhill after that.  In the sixth, Joyner's homer tied it and an RBI single by Darrell Miller made it 4-3 Angels.  A three-run ninth made it 7-3.  The Twins didn't give up, loading the bases with none out in the bottom of the ninth, but Mark Salas popped up, Randy Bush struck out, and Dan Gladden flied out to end the game.

Of note:  Gladden went 0-for-5 to drop his average to .314...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 with a run.  It was his fourth consecutive oh-fer and dropped his average to .328...Frank Viola started and pitched 7.1 innings, but allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts.  John Candelaria was the California started.  He worked seven innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins record was 10-6, dropping them into a first-place tie with the Angels.

Notes:  Newman started at shortstop in this game, with Greg Gagne going to the bench...Tim Laudner was the DH, replacing Roy Smalley...When I saw that the go-ahead run was knocked in by "D. Miller", I wondered who in the world that was.  I kind of remember the name "Darrell Miller', but did not remember a thing about him.  It turns out he's the older brother of Cheryl Miller and Reggie Miller.  He spent his entire major league career with the Angels, getting drafted in the ninth round in 1979.  He started out as a catcher, moving to the outfield in 1981.  He reached the majors in mid-August of 1984 after an excellent season in AAA Edmonton.  He spent almost all of 1985 with the Angels but rarely played, appearing in fifty-one games but making only five starts.  Granted that they had Brian Downing, Gary Pettis, and Reggie Jackson in the outfield, but you can't find more than five starts for a guy who hit .326 with a .937 OPS in AAA?  He did well in his limited playing time, batting .375 in 1985, but it did him no good.  He was with California for half of 1986, starting a grand total of six games.  He continued to hit well in AAA.  1987 was his only full season in the majors, but he got only 108 at-bats and started twelve games.  In 1988 they moved him back to catcher and he played a little more, but not much.  The Angels let him go after that season.  He was in AAA with the Yankees in 1989 and with Baltimore and Seattle in 1990.  There could be reasons the Angels didn't think he would succeed--they may have thought his AAA numbers were inflated by playing in the Pacific Coast League, and he may have been a poor defensive player (although, other than Pettis and Devon White, these Angels teams did not exactly have a gold glove outfield).  Still, it looks like Gene Mauch unfairly buried him on the bench without ever giving him a chance to see if he could play, and that's too bad.  According to wikipedia, he is now major league baseball's vice-president of Youth and Facility Development.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Fifteen

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SEATTLE 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 22.

Batting stars:  Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his second) and an RBI.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Juan Berenguer struck out four in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mark Langston pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks with nine strikeouts.  Rey Quinones was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk, scoring twice.  Harold Reynolds was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his fourth), scoring once and driving in one.

The game:  Blyleven left a pitch up to Quinones in the fourth to tie the game 1-1, but Newman's two-run single in the fifth put the Twins up 3-1.  The Mariners tied it with two in the seventh.  In the eighth, Seattle got three consecutive singles off George Frazier, with the last a run-scoring hit by Reynolds, to take the lead.  The Twins put two on with two out in the ninth, but Mark Davidson popped up to end the game.

Of note:  Newman raised his average to .317...Gladden was batting .357...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .351...Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.

Record:  The Twins were 10-5, in first place by a game over California.

Notes:  Newman started at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi...Gladden was in center field, with Davidson in left.  Puckett was the DH...It seems highly unlikely that Langston would be allowed to pitch a complete game today in this situation.  I don't have a pitch count for him, but he had allowed three runs in eight innings and had a one-run lead, so the closer would almost certainly be brought in to start the ninth.  Even if not, it seems like a move would be made after Langston allowed a single and a walk with two out.  That's not to say which is better or worse, just that times have changed.