Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seven

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OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, April 13.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and six walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Carney Lansford was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.  Alfredo Griffin was 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a stolen base.  Jose Canseco was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Hrbek's two-run single in the sixth gave the Twins a 2-1 lead.  In the seventh, however, RBI singles by Griffin and Canseco gave the Athletics a 3-2 advantage.  Puckett tied it with a home run leading off the eighth, but in the bottom of the eighth, a two-out two-run single by Lansford gave Oakland the lead for good.  The go-ahead runs came off George Frazier, who had come in to get the last out of the seventh.

Of note:  Four of the Twins batters were batting .300 or better in the young season:  Al Newman (.308), Randy Bush (.300), Puckett (.500) and Smalley (.350).  Two, however, were below .200:  Tom Brunansky (.160) and Tom Nieto (.143).

Record:  The Twins were 5-2, tied for first with California.

Notes:  Because of all that's happened since, it's easy to forget what a great batter Jose Canseco was, especially early in his career.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 1986, made the all-star team in five of his first seven seasons, and received MVP votes in five of his first six seasons, winning the award in 1988.  The one year he didn't get MVP votes, 1989, was when he was injured and only played in 65 games.  He hit over 30 homers in each of his first five full seasons, leading the league in 1988 and 1991.  He was traded from Oakland in 1992 and then was up and down, battling injuries much of the time.  He still had some fine years, though, topping a .900 OPS with Texas in 1994, with Boston in 1995, and with Tampa Bay in 1999.  He hit 462 home runs for his career, had a slugging average of .515, and an OPS of .867.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Six

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MINNESOTA 8, SEATTLE 5 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Sunday, April 12.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a triple, and a stolen base, scoring twice and driving in three.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.

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

Opposition stars:  Ken Phelps was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his second and third), scoring three times.  Alvin Davis was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  In the first inning, Puckett hit a two-run triple and scored on a balk, as the Twins jumped on Mark Langston for a 3-0 lead.  It was 5-0 half-way through, but the Mariners hung around, and it was 6-3 through seven.  Laudner hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to make it 8-3, but Davis' two-run double cut it to 8-5 in the bottom of the eighth.  Juan Berenguer, who came in to start the seventh, settled down after that and retired the final five Mariners, four by strikeout.

Of note:  Gladden was making his first start of the season...This was Puckett's third three-hit game of the young season.  He was batting .520 (13-for 25)...Blyleven apparently left a couple of pitches up to Phelps.  But they were both solo home runs, so they didn't hurt him.

Record:  The Twins were 5-1, in first place by one game over California.

Notes:  Ken Phelps had four seasons in which he played over a hundred games.  In those four seasons, he hit 99 home runs and had an OPS well over .900.  He had a heck of a time getting teams to play him that much, though.  In 1979 he hit 20 homers with an OPS of .885 in Omaha.  In 1980 he hit 23 homers there with an OPS of .988.  The Royals saw fit to give him exactly four major league at-bats in those two seasons.  Yes, the Royals had some pretty good teams back then, but they also gave nearly two hundred games at first base to the immortal Pete LaCock.  It took a trade to Seattle to give him substantial playing time at age twenty-nine, which he took advantage of.  The Mariners eventually traded him to the Yankees for Jay Buhner, which worked out pretty well for them.  The Yankees didn't give Phelps a ton of playing time, either, but they at least had the excuse of having Don Mattingly at first base.  Phelps bounced around his last few years.  He still had a decent career, but one wonders what he might have done had the Royals not made him waste some prime years in Omaha.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Five

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SEATTLE 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Saturday, April 11.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-4 with a home run, his third.  Randy Bush was 2-for-5 with a home run, his second.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched four shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Apparently, the rules allowed relief pitchers to work more than one inning back then.

Opposition stars:  Donell Nixon was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two stolen bases, scoring once and driving in one.  Ken Phelps was 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and two RBIs.  Rey Quinones was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

The game:  The Twins trailed 5-2 after five, but a Puckett home run in the sixth, an RBI groundout in the eighth, and a sacrifice fly in the ninth tied it 5-5.  Jeff Reardon came on to work the ninth.  He retired the first batter, but Scott Bradley singled, Mickey Brantley doubled, and Mike Kingery singled home the winning run.

Of note:  Les Straker started but lasted only four innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks with one strikeout...Greg Gagne was 1-for-3 with a run...Mark Davidson was used as a pinch-runner and stole a base.

Record:  The Twins were 4-1, falling into a tie for first with California.

Notes:  Gladden remained out of the starting lineup, with Tom Brunansky starting in left and Bush in right.  He was used as a pinch-hitter and hit a game-tying sacrifice fly in the ninth...Davidson stole nine bases in 1987 and was caught stealing only twice...1987 was one of the better years of Minnesota native Mike Kingery's career, as he batted .280 with 25 doubles.  The next two years he would bat .204 and .223 and see substantial time in the minors.  He signed with the Giants for 1990 and bounced back to bat .295 in part-time play, although with an OPS of just .673.  The next two seasons he again spent substantial time in the minors and could not top the Mendoza line in his major league time.  He wasn't in the majors at all in 1993, but he signed with Colorado for 1994 and had the best season of his career at age 33, batting .349 with an OPS of .933 in 349 at-bats.  He had a decent year in 1995, but didn't do much upon moving to Pittsburgh in 1996 and was done after that.  It appears that he returned to Minnesota and operates the Solid Foundation Baseball School in Grove City.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Four

MINNESOTA 8, SEATTLE 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Friday, April 10.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in two.  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Mike Smithson pitched eight innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  George Frazier pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Jim Presley was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Rey Quinones was 2-for-4.

The game:  Bush hit a two-run homer in a three-run fifth that put the Twins up 5-1.  The Twins had added three in the eighth, two scoring on a two-run homer by Gary Gaetti.

Of Note:  Al Newman started at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne and was 3-for-5 with a run.  Gaetti was 1-for-4.  Tom Brunansky was 0-for-4.

Record:  The Twins remained unbeaten, going to 4-0.  They were in first place, leading California by a game.

Notes:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Brunansky in left and Bush in right...I don't remember Jim Presley as a home run hitter, but he hit 28 in 1985, 27 in 1986, and 24 in 1987.  Those were his only really productive years, though.  He hung on in Seattle through 1989, then bounced around a couple more seasons before ending his playing career.  He has stayed in baseball as a coach, and in 2016 was the batting coach for Round Rock.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Three

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MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 9.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer struck out four in three shutout innings of relief, giving up just one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mike Davis was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, three RBIs, and two stolen bases.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a run.  Dennis Eckersley pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up one hit.

The game:  Hrbek homered in a two-run second that put the Twins up 2-0, but Davis homered in a two-run third to tie that tied it 2-2.    Davis' two-run double in the sixth made it 4-2 Oakland and it stayed there until the ninth.  With one out, Gary Gaetti doubled and scored on a Brunansky single to make it 4-3.  Roy Smalley doubled, Mark Salas was intentionally walked, and Gladden delivered a pinch-hit single down the left field line to bring home the tying and winning runs.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-3.  Mark Portugal pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 3-0 and took over sole possession of first place, a game ahead of California and the White Sox.

Notes:  Gladden remained out of the starting lineup, with Randy Bush playing right field and Brunansky moving to left...Eckersley was not yet the closer for the Athletics, but was setting up Jay Howell...Mike Davis' career numbers are not all that impressive, but he was pretty good at his peak.  From 1985-87 he batted .274 with 65 home runs and 70 stolen bases.  After the 1987 season he became a free agent, went to the Dodgers, and his career pretty much collapsed.  He did win a world championship there, though, and drew a walk right in front of Kirk Gibson's famous home run in Game 1 of the World Series.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 6

Pop Snyder (1854)
Jerry Grote (1942)
Gene Clines (1946)
Gary Gentry (1946)
Victor Bernal (1953)
Alfredo Griffin (1957)
Oil Can Boyd (1959)
Rich Yett (1962)
Ruben Sierra (1965)
Archi Cianfrocco (1966)
Darren Oliver (1970)
Freddy Garcia (1976)
Andrew Albers (1985)

Right-hander Victor Bernal was drafted by the Twins in the 1975 January draft, but the pick was voided. He went on to be chosen by San Diego in the June draft of 1975 and played in fifteen games for the Padres in 1977.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 6 →

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Two

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MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  April 8, 1987.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola struck out eleven in six innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks.  Keith Atherton pitched two shutout innings, giving up a walk and striking out one.  Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Carney Lansford was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.  Eric Plunk pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts.

The game:  The Twins scored two in the first on a walk, a single, two ground outs, and a wild pitch.  They added single runs in the fourth and fifth.  The lone Oakland run came in the sixth.  They did not bring the tying run up to bat.

Of note:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Record:  The Twins were 2-0, tied for first place with California.

Notes:  I had forgotten that, in fact, Tom Nieto was the starting catcher for about the first month and a half of the season...Dan Gladden was apparently fighting a minor injury at the start of the season.  After DHing in the first game, he did not play in this one, and would be used as a pinch-hitter a couple of times before making his first Twins start in the outfield on April 12.  Brunansky moved over to left in this game, with Randy Bush in right...Reggie Jackson, in his last season, was used as a pinch-hitter and struck out.  He was batting for DH Ron Cey, also in his last season.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One

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MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, April 7.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double, scoring twice and driving in two.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk, scoring once.  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts.  George Frazier pitched two shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Alfredo Griffin was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Mike Davis was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, scoring once.  Curt Young struck out ten in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks.

The game:  Oakland got on the board in the first, but Puckett hit a two-run homer in the third and Gaetti tripled and scored later in the third to make it 3-1.  The Athletics made it 3-2 in the fourth and Griffin's two-run homer in the fifth put Oakland up 4-3.  The Twins tied it in the eight on an RBI groundout by Kent Hrbek.  Lombardozzi opened the tenth with a single and a Puckett double put men on second and third.  Following an intentional walk to Gaetti, Hrbek delivered an RBI single to win the game.

Of note:  Hrbek was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Record:  The win made the Twins 1-0, tied for first place with California and Chicago.

Notes:  A good trivia question is:  Who was the Twins' starting left fielder in the first game of the 1987 season?  The answer is not Dan Gladden, who was the DH in that game.  It was not Randy Bush, either.  It was---Mark Davidson, in his only full season in the majors.  He started forty games that season, twelve of them in left field.  He played in 102 games, but had only 150 at-bats.  That would be the most at-bats he would get in a season, as he was a reserve for the Twins from 1986-88 and for Houston from 1987-89...Another lineup oddity on opening night is that Tom Nieto was the catcher, rather than Tim Laudner.  He started only thirty-six games that season.  The two lineup gambles did not work, as Davidson and Nieto combined to go 0-for-6 with a walk...Alfredo Griffin hit only three home runs in 1987 and never had more than four in a season.  Presumably, Blyleven left a pitch up.  And yes, we may very well use that line forty-six times during this series.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 4

Orator Shafer (1851)
Ray Fisher (1887)
Frank Crosetti (1910)
Red Munger (1918)
Rip Repulski (1928)
Jimy Williams (1943)
Tony LaRussa (1944)
Glenn Adams (1947)
Dave Johnson (1948)
John Wathan (1949)
Lary Sorensen (1955)
Charlie Liebrandt (1956)
Joe Boever (1960)
Billy Hatcher (1960)
Dennis Cook (1962)
Chris James (1962)
Bruce Ruffin (1963)
Mark McLemore (1964)
Steve Olin (1965)
Kyle Lohse (1978)
Tony Gwynn (1982)
Jered Weaver (1982)
Kurt Suzuki (1983)

Frank Crosetti was a coach for the Twins from 1970-71.

Outfielder/DH Glenn Charles Adams played for the Twins from 1977-1981. He was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was drafted by the Houston Astros with the fourth pick of the 1968 draft. Adams seemed to just be coming on strong in 1971, hitting .335 in a season split between AA Columbus and AAA Oklahoma City, but he was released by the Astros in January of 1972 and seems to have been out of baseball that year. He signed with the Giants in December. Adams hit very well for AA Amarillo in 1973 and even better for AAA Phoenix in 1974. He was finally called up to the Giants in 1975, and spent the next two seasons as a pinch-hitter/reserve corner outfielder for them. Adams was sold to the Twins in December of 1976, and became a part-time corner outfielder/DH throughout the Gene Mauch era. The Twins generally batted him in the middle of the order and seemed to think of him as a power hitter, despite the fact that he never hit more than 13 homers in a minor league season and his highest number in the majors was eight. He hit for a high average with the Twins, however, twice batting over .300. He declined when Mauch left, batting only .209 in 1981, and became a free agent after the season. Adams signed with Toronto and spent most of 1982 with AAA Syracuse, getting only 66 at-bats with the Blue Jays. That was the end of his playing career. He had a lifetime average in the minors of .311. As a Twin, Glenn Adams hit .281/.325/.399 in 501 games. He set a Twins record for most RBI in a game with eight on June 26, 1977, later tied by Randy Bush. He has been a long-time minor league coach, working for the Twins from 1989-1994. As of 2009, Glenn Adams was the batting coach for the Erie Sea Wolves, but he did not retain that position for 2010. No current information about Glenn Adams was readily available.

“Another” Dave Johnson, right-hander David Charles Johnson, played for the Twins in 1977 and 1978. Born and raised in Abilene, Texas, he was drafted by the Orioles in the fifth round in 1967. The Orioles seemed to have trouble making up their minds whether he should start or relieve, as he did some of both in each of his first five minor league seasons. He spent those five seasons in rookie and A ball, despite the fact that his numbers don’t look all that bad. The Orioles finally decided he was a reliever, and promoted him to AA Asheville in 1972 and to AAA Rochester in 1973. After a solid year and a half in Rochester, Johnson was promoted to Baltimore in July of 1974. Despite pitching well there for a month, he was returned to Rochester in August, coming back to Baltimore in September. He pitched only 8.2 innings for the Orioles in April and early May, being again returned to Rochester and then breaking his wrist in a motorcycle accident. Johnson was back in Rochester for all of 1976 and again pitched very well, but could not get a shot with the big club. The Orioles sold him to Seattle in October of 1976. He started the 1977 with AAA San Jose, but then was purchased by the Twins. He appeared in 30 games for the Twins in 1977, six of them starts. Those were his first starts since 1971. Johnson was fairly mediocre for the Twins that year. He started 1978 with the Twins, but pitched only 12 innings for them before being injured. He finished up his career with four innings in Toledo, and then was released. As a Twin, Dave Johnson appeared in 53 games, seven of them starts. He was 2-7 with an ERA of 5.00 and a WHIP of 1.57 in 84.2 innings. No information about Dave Johnson since that time was readily available.

Right-hander Kyle Matthew Lohse played for the Twins from 2001-2006. He was born in Chico, California, and attended high school in Valley City, California. Lohse was drafted by the Cubs in the 29th round in 1996, and for a 29th round pick, has done very well. He pitched well in the low levels of the minors, but struggled for a few years after that. He was traded to the Twins in May of 1999 along with Jason Ryan for Rick Aguilera and Scott Downs. He continued to struggle, hitting bottom in 2000, when he went 3-18 with a 6.04 ERA for AA New Britain. In 2001, however, he suddenly turned things around. In fourteen starts split between AA and AAA, Lohse went 7-3 with a 2.79 ERA, and by late June he found himself in the Twins’ rotation at the age of 22. He did not do well that year, but stayed in the Twins’ rotation until early 2006. He was never a star, but he was generally an average major league pitcher (with the exception of 2004), which is not something to be taken lightly. Lohse got off to a poor start in 2006, was sent to AAA Rochester, and was traded to the Cincinnati at the end of July for Zach Ward. Lohse continued to be a more-or-less average pitcher for Cincinnati, was traded to Philadelphia at the end of July of 2007, became a free agent at the end of the season, and signed with St. Louis for 2008. He a fine year in 2008, going 15-6 with a 3.78 ERA, but went back to normal in 2009. He was injured much of 2010, but also did not pitch well when he could pitch.  In 2011, however, he had his best season, going 13-8, 3.39, 1.17 WHIP in 188.1 innings.  He then topped it in 2012, going 16-3, 2.86, 1.09 WHIP in 211 innings.  A free agent after the season, it took him a long time to sign, but he finally became a Milwaukee Brewer in late March.  He had a pair of fine years for them, too, going 24-19, 3.45, 1.16 WHIP.  In 2015, however, he was not good at all, going 5-13, 5.85, and finally being taken out of the rotation in early August.  A year ago, we said, "It could be that he just had a bad year or that he was battling an injury, but it could also be that he's about done".  It turned out to be the latter.  He signed with Texas in May, pitched poorly in AAA, and made two bad starts for the Rangers in July.  As a Twin, Lohse was 51-57 with a 4.88 ERA, in 172 appearances, 152 of them starts.  He turns thirty-eight today.  We know teams are always looking for pitching, so it's possible someone will take him to spring training.  It appears, though, that it's time for Kyle Lohse to call it a pretty good career and move on to the next phase of his life.

Catcher Kurt Kiyoshi Suzuki has played for the Twins since 2014.  Born and raised in Wailuku, Hawaii, he attended Cal State-Fullerton and was drafted by Oakland in 2004.  He rose quickly through the minors, posting good batting averages and on-base percentages at every stop, though without a lot of power.  He reached the big leagues with Oakland in June of 2007 and never looked back, other than a rehab stint in 2010.  He shared the catching job with Jason Kendall in 2007 but took over as the regular catcher in 2008.  He hit in the .270s in 2008 and 2009, but dwindled to around .240 the next to seasons.  He was hitting only .218 in 2012 when he was traded to Washington in early August.  He hit well the rest of the season, but went back to hitting .222 in 2013 when he was traded back to Oakland in late August.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota for 2014.  It was thought that he might have been signed to backup Josmil Pinto, but he was the starting catcher from the start of the season and had the best offensive season of his career, hitting over .300 for much of the season before dropping to .288.  He also hit 34 doubles and made his first all-star team.  There was no reason go think he could repeat those numbers and he didn't, batting only .241 with 17 doubles in 2015, although he did drive in fifty runs.  He remained the Twins' starter for most of 2016 and did somewhat better, batting .258 with 24 doubles.  For most of his career he had a reputation as a very good defensive catcher, although that reputation may have dimmed a little the last couple of years.  He turns thirty-three today and is a free agent.  He's not everything you ever wanted in a catcher, but unless the Twins are willing to go with Mitch Garver they're either going to need to re-sign him or look for someone else somewhere.