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Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-seven

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MINNESOTA 2, WASHINGTON 1 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Sunday, September 26.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-3 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-3 with a double and a run.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat struck out ten in a complete game, giving up an unearned run on eight hits and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Pete Richert pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.  Frank Howard was 3-for-4.  Ken McMullen was 1-for-4 with a run.

The game:  The Senators scored in the third on two singles and an error.  It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Versalles led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball.  The Twins took the lead in the eighth when Quilici led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Versalles.  Washington did not advance a man past first base after the third inning.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.

Record:  The Twins win the pennant!  The Twins win the pennant!  The Twins win the pennant!  The win made the Twins 99-58.  Baltimore defeated California 2-1, but was 7.5 games back with a record of 90-64.

Notes:  Oliva's average remained .321...Nossek replaced Jimmie Hall in center field...Killebrew was 3-for-18 with a double since coming back.  He drew five walks in that span...I think of Frank Howard as a low-average slugger, but it's not true.  His lifetime average was .273, which is better than it sounds when you remember most of his career came in the 1960s.  He never hit .300, but he hit over .280 five times and over .290 three times.  His high was .296, which he hit in 1961, 1962, and 196.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-six

MINNESOTA 5, WASHINGTON 3 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Saturday, September 25 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-second) and a walk.  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Camilo Pascual pitched six innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Jim Merritt struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Jim Duckworth struck out thirteen in 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks.  Ed Brinkman was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Mike Brumley was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run.

The game:  In the second, Brinkman hit a two-run double and Brumley followed with a squeeze bunt that gave the Senators a 3-0 lead.  The Twins got on the board in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and scored again in the seventh on Mincher's home run, but still trailed 3-2 going to the eighth.  With two on and two out in the eighth, however, Joe Nossek tied the score with a run-scoring double and Quilici put the Twins ahead with a two-run single, giving the Twins a 5-3 advantage.  The last eight Senators were retired.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-2.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5 with a run.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Record:  The win made the Twins 98-58.  Chicago was eliminated despite sweeping a doubleheader from the Yankees.  Baltimore swept a doubleheader from California to remain in second place.  They were 7.5 games out of first, but as they still had nine games to play they had a theoretical chance to tie for the championship.

Notes:  Oliva raised his average to .322...Sandy Valdespino again played left in place of Bob Allison.  Jerry Zimmerman gave Earl Battey a rest behind the plate...So who was this amazing strikeout pitcher Jim Duckworth?  Well, he actually did strike out a lot of guys, but he also walked a lot of guys and really was not particularly good.  He was used mostly as a reliever but did start a fair number of games.  He did the most pitching in his rookie year of 1963, starting fifteen games, relieving in twenty-two, and pitching 120.2 innings.  Unfortunately, he went 4-12, 6.04, 1.64 WHIP.  In fairness to him, he had pitched in Class B in 1962 and probably should not have been in the majors in the first place.  He got better, and 1965 was his best year.  He started eight games, relieved in nine, and pitched 64 innings, going 2-2, 3.94, 1.27 WHIP and averaging 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings.  He was traded to Kansas City in June of 1966 for Ken Harrelson, but in July the Athletics sent him back to Washington for Diego Segui.  He spent 1967 in AAA and didn't pitch badly, but by then he was twenty-eight and the Senators apparently decided they'd seen enough and his playing career ended.  He appears to have lived a full life after baseball:  He was a California Highway Patrolman for twenty-five years, taught elementary and middle school for seven years, worked at a kayak store for two years, and has more recently become a full-time nature photographer.  I like it when I find out people have lived successful lives after baseball.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-five

MINNESOTA 5, WASHINGTON 0 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Saturday, September 25 (Game 1 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 4-for-5 with a two-run homer (his eighteenth) and a triple, scoring twice.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with two walks and a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Earl Battey was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game one-hitter, giving up two walks with seven strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Don Blasingame was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Buster Narum pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with one strikeout.  Marshall Bridges pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one hit.

The game:  There was no score until the fifth.  The Senators got their only threat in the third, as Jim French reached on an error to start the inning and Blasingame hit a two-out double, but Ken McMullen grounded out to end the threat.  The Senators would get only one more baserunner, a one-out walk by French in the fifth.  Versalles hit a two-run homer in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  In the seventh, Oliva hit a run-scoring double and Sandy Valdespino delivered a two-out two-run single to make it 5-0.   The last fourteen Senators were retired.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 0-for-3.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with two walks.

Record:  The win made the Twins 97-58.  This eliminated Chicago despite the fact that the White Sox beat the Yankees 2-0 in the first game of their doubleheader.  Baltimore, which had moved into second place during a couple of days when the Twins did not play, stayed alive by defeating California 2-1 in the first game of their doubleheader.  The Orioles were 7.5 games behind the Twins.

Notes:  Oliva kept his average at .321...Joe Nossek played center field in place of Jimmie Hall...Buster Narum is a great name for a ballplayer, especially considering that his given name was Leslie Ferdinand Narum.  While he had a great nickname, he was not a great pitcher.  He basically had two seasons in the majors, 1964-65, although he also appeared in seven games for Baltimore in 1963 and appeared in five more for Washington from 1966-67.  He was mostly used as a starter in 1964-65, starting fifty-six games and relieving in twenty-eight.  He was much more effective as a reliever--as a starter he was 12-26, 4.68, 1.46 WHIP, as a reliever he was 1-1, 2.37, 1.28 WHIP.  Even granting that it was only 49.1 relief innings, you'd think somebody might have noticed that and decided to see what he could do as a full-time reliever, especially on a team like the Senators, but apparently no one did.  He continued to play in AAA through 1969, then his career ended.  He became a freight salesman in the trucking industry and passed away in 2004 at the young age of sixty-three.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-four

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 22.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Joe Nossek was 2-for-4 with a run.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Dwight Siebler struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up no hits and two walks.  Pete Cimino made his major league debut with a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Dave McNally pitched a complete game, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts.  Jerry Adair was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and a double, driving in four.  Paul Blair was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once.

The game:  Adair hit a two-run homer in the second to put the Orioles up 2-0.  RBI singles by Bob Allison in the second and Oliva in the third tied it 2-2.  In the fifth, however, Brooks Robinson had a run-scoring single and Adair delivered a two-out two-run double to give the Orioles a 5-2 advantage.  The Twins put two on with two out in the fifth, but did not threaten after that and at one point had ten men in a row retired.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Earl Battey was 0-for-2.  Jim Kaat pitched 4.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins fell to 96-58.  The win brought Baltimore to within eight games and kept their slim hopes alive.  Chicago beat Detroit 2-1 and also moved to within eight games, keeping their slim hopes of a tie alive.

Notes:  Oliva raised his average to .321.  Battey fell back below .300 at .298...Nossek played center field in place of Jimmie Hall... Cimino made his major league debut in this game at age twenty-two.  It would be his only appearance for the Twins in 1965.  He spent most of 1966 with the Twins, appearing in thirty-five games and going 2-5, 2.92, 1.28 WHIP in 64.2 innings.  After the 1966 season he was traded to California along with Hall and Don Mincher for Dean Chance.  He pitched very well for the Angels in 1967.  One assumes he was injured in 1968, as he made only thirteen appearances that year and never pitched again after that.  He once scored 114 points in a high school basketball game, including all 69 of his team's second-half points.  His team won, 134-86.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-three

BALTIMORE 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, September 21.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once.  Earl Battey was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Johnny Klippstein struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Boog Powell was 2-for-4 with a double and two walks, driving in three.  Paul Blair was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.  Jerry Adair was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases (his fifth and sixth) and a run.

The game:  Powell singled in a run in the first and Blair hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead.  A single, an error, and two walks put the Twins on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but Baltimore got the run back in the fifth on Powell's RBI double, leaving the score 4-1.  Don Mincher drove in a run with a double in the seventh and the Twins scored twice in the eighth to tie it up, with Versalles driving in the tying run with a double.  Each team had a chance to score in the ninth, but the game went to an extra inning.  In the tenth, Luis Aparicio drove in the go-ahead run with a single and an insurance run was walked home.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the tenth.

Of note:  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-5.  Don Mincher was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Camilo Pascual pitched four innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 96-57.  Chicago also lost, keeping them nine games back and meaning the best they could do is tie the Twins.  Baltimore, however, improved to nine games back as well.  As the Orioles had played fewer games, they still had a slim chance to catch the Twins.

Notes:  Oliva raised his batting average to .320.  Battey was hitting an even .300...Killebrew returned to the lineup for the first time since August 2.  He played third base, with Mincher remaining at first...Bob Allison was again out of the lineup, with Ted Uhlaender in left.  Allison was used as a pinch-hitter...The Twins used twenty-two players.  They used six pitchers, four pinch-hitters, and two pinch-runners.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-two

KANSAS CITY 8, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, September 20.

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with two home runs, his twentieth and twenty-first.  Frank Quilici was 2-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched eight innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Larry Stahl was 3-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and two runs.  Catfish Hunter pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Jose Tartabull was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

The game:  RBI singles by Tartabull and Dick Green led to a three-run third that put the Athletics up 3-0.  Stahl homered in the fifth to make it 4-0.  Mincher put the Twins on the board with a homer in the bottom of the fifth and hit another one in the seventh to cut the lead to 4-2.  In the ninth, however, three singles, three walks, and an error led to four Kansas City runs and put the game out of reach.  The Twins had only two hits other than the Mincher homers, both coming from the bat of Quilici.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Ted Uhlaender was 0-for-4.  Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4.

Record:  The Twins went to 96-56.  Chicago did not play, so they moved to nine games back.

Notes:  A win would have clinched a tie for first place...Earl Battey took an 0-for-4, dropping back below .300 at .298...Bob Allison and Tony Oliva sat this one out, with Uhlaender and Valdespino, respectively, taking their places...John Wyatt pitched two perfect innings for Kansas City to get the save.  He was a fine relief pitcher in the 1960s, before there was much glory in the position.  He had double-digit saves from 1962-67, with a high of twenty-one in 1963.  His best year, however, was probably 1964, when he went 9-8, 3.59, 1.27 WHIP with twenty saves.  He led the league in appearances that year with eighty-one and pitched 128 innings, all in relief.  He made his only all-star appearance that season.  After a poor start in 1966, the Athletics traded him to Boston, where he was a key part of the Impossible Dream season in 1967.  He went 10-7 with twenty saves that year, posting a 2.74 ERA.  He again got off to a slow start in 1968 and was sold to the Yankees.  They sold him to Detroit a month later and Wyatt went to the World Series again, going 1-0, 2.37, 1.22 WHIP with two saves in 30.1 innings (22 appearances).  He went to Oakland for 1969 but was released in late May, ending his career.  He then went into real estate development, building apartments for the underprivileged.  He passed away in April of 1998, shortly before his sixty-third birthday.

 

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 5

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Sam Thompson (1860)
Jeff Tesreau (1888)
Lu Blue (1897)
Elmer Valo (1921)
Del Crandall (1930)
Phil Roof (1941)
Katsuo Osugi (1945)
Kent Tekulve (1947)
Doug Bird (1950)
Mike Veeck (1951)
Mike Squires (1952)
Steve Ontiveros (1961)
Brian Hunter (1971)
Jeffrey Hammonds (1971)
Ryan Franklin (1973)
Paul Konerko (1976)
Mike MacDougal (1977)
Erik Bedard (1979)
Joe Benson (1988)

Katsuo Osugi was the first player to have a thousand hits in the Japanese Central League and the Japanese Pacific League.

The son of Bill Veeck, Mike Veeck is president of the Goldklang Baseball Group, which owns a variety of minor league teams, including the Fort Myers Miracle and the St. Paul Saints.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to brianS’ daughter.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s father.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 5 →

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-one

MINNESOTA 8, WASHINGTON 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 19.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-2 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Jim King was 2-for-4 with a double.  Dick Nen was 2-for-4.  Jim French was 2-for-4.

The game;  The Twins again jumped on the Senators early, getting a two-run double from Allison and an RBI single by Mincher to take a 3-0 lead in the first.  Perry contributed a two-run double in a three-run fourth to make it 6-0.  The Senators got a man on in every inning but did not score until the eighth, when two singles and a double play grounder produced their only run.  Versalles ended the scoring with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth.

Of note:  Joe Nossek was 1-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his second.  Andy Kosco was 0-for-5 with a run.  Earl Battey was 1-for-4 with a run.

Record:  The win made the Twins 96-55.  Chicago defeated Cleveland 7-5 to just barely stay alive, 9.5 games back.

Notes:  Manager Sam Mele continued to give some people a break.  Nossek replaced Jimmie Hall in center.  Andy Kosco replaced Tony Oliva in right...Battey's average went to .301...Jim King is another guy I never heard of who had a pretty substantial career.  He came up with the Cubs in 1955 and was a semi-regular for them for two years.  He wasn't bad, hitting in the .250s with some power, but the Cubs traded him to St. Louis and his career went into a tailspin.  He spent most of 1957-58 and all of 1959-60 in the minors.  It should be noted that it was not leaving Wrigley Field that hurt him, as his numbers were actually a little better on the road than at home.  Washington chose him in the expansion draft and it was the best thing that could have happened to him.  He was at least a semi-regular outfielder for the Senators from 1961-67.  A left-handed batter, he appears to have been platooned a lot in his career, although his numbers against left-handers are not that much worse than against righties.  He never hit for a high average but did provide some power, hitting double-digit homers every year from 1961-66 with a high of twenty-four in 1963.  He had a bad year in 1967, was traded to the White Sox and then to Cleveland, and his career ended after that season.  Still, he was in the big leagues for at least part of eleven seasons, which isn't too bad.  An Arkansas native, he returned there after he was done playing and worked for the telephone company there until his retirement.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty

MINNESOTA 4, WASHINGTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventeenth) and a double.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Earl Battey was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Dave Boswell pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Johnny Klippstein pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Woodie Held was 1-for-2 with a double and three walks, driving in one.  Frank Howard was 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.  Ken Hamlin was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his eighth), scoring twice.

The game:  Howard singled in Held to give the Senators a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but RBI singles by Battey and Don Mincher put the Twins up 2-1 in the bottom of the first.  Versalles hit a two-run homer in the second to make it 4-1.  That was all the runs the Twins would get, but it was all they needed.  This was due in large part to the bullpen, as starter Jim Kaat was pulled with none out in the fifth after giving up a run-scoring double to Held.  Boswell came in and put out the fire in the fifth.  He pitched until the seventh, when a walk, a single, and a bunt put men on second and third with one out.  Bill Pleis came in and retired pinch-hitter (and future Twin) Brant Alyea on a popup.  Klippstein then came in to pitch the rest of the game.  He allowed two singles to start the eighth, but a double play took care of the threat.

Of note:  Ted Uhlaender was 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Kaat pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and six walks with three strikeouts.

Record:  The win made the Twins 95-55.  Chicago beat Cleveland 8-5, so the Twins' lead remained 9.5 games.

Notes:  Battey got his average back over .300 at .302...Manager Sam Mele apparently was taking advantage of the Twins' big lead in the pennant race to rest some players.  Uhlaender played left in place of Bob Allison and Valdespino was in right in place of Tony Oliva...Uhlaender's stolen base was the first of his career.  He would steal fifty-two in his career, with a high of sixteen in 1968...Washington stranded thirteen runners and went 1-for-12 with men in scoring position.

Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-nine

WASHINGTON 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, September 17.

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Camilo Pascual struck out thirteen in nine innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks.

Opposition stars:  Pete Richert pitched nine innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts.  Fred Valentine was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

The game:  The Senators opened the scoring in the third when Valentine walked, went to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Howard's single.  The Twins had only three hits through five innings, but in the sixth a pair of two-out walks were followed by a Mincher single to tie it 1-1.  In the tenth, Don Lock's two-out single brought Valentine home with the go-ahead run.  Zoilo Versalles opened the bottom of the tenth with a walk and was bunted to second, but a pair of fly outs ended the game.

Of note:  Versalles was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Rich Rollins was 1-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 94-55.  Chicago won, cutting the Twins' lead to 9.5 games.

Notes:  Nossek played center and Hall moved to right, giving Tony Oliva a day off.  Oliva was used as a pinch-hitter and was 0-for-1, dropping his average to .317...I remember Pete Richert as a fine relief pitcher for Baltimore, but before that he had a few good years as a starter, mostly with Washington.  He made the all-star team as a starter twice, in 1965 and 1966.  1965 was his best year, as he was 15-12, 2.60, 1.19 WHIP.