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Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-eight

CALIFORNIA 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 16.

Batting star:  George Mitterwald was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out ten in 6.2 innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks.  Jim Kaat pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Tony Gonzalez was 2-for-4.  Alex Johnson was 1-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth), a walk, a stolen base (his thirteenth), and two runs.  Clyde Wright pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out three.

The game:  Neither team got a man past first until the fourth inning, when Johnson hit a home run to put the Angels up 1-0.  California had men on second and third with one out in the fifth but did not score.

In the sixth, however, the Angels broke through for three more runs.  Gonzalez led off with a single.  With one out, Johnson reached on an error and Ken McMullen delivered an RBI single.  A double steal put men on second and third and Jay Johnstone was intentionally walked.  A popup made it two out, but Bill Voss reached on an error, bringing home two runs and making the score 4-0.

The Twins looked like they might get back into the game in the bottom of the sixth.  Cesar Tovar led off with a single and Leo Cardenas and Harmon Killebrew walked, loading the bases with none out.  But Tony Oliva popped up, Rick Renick hit into a run-scoring force out, and Bob Allison grounded out, leaving the Twins trailing 4-1.

California added a run in the seventh on singles by Gonzalez, Jim Fregosi, and Chico Ruiz.  The Twins had only one hit after the sixth.

WP:  Wright (20-11).

LP:  Blyleven (9-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Allison was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Steve Brye went to left field in place of Allison as part of a double switch in the seventh.  Rick Dempsey pinch-hit for Quilici in the eighth, with Danny Thompson going to second base.  Cotton Nash pinch-hit for Kaat in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .317.  Brye was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Nash was 0-for-1 and was batting zero.  Dempsey was 0-for-1 and was batting zero.

This was Dempsey's first appearance in 1970.  He had appeared in five games in 1969.

Bill Rigney apparently had very little confidence in any of his relievers other than Perranoski and Williams.  He had used both of them in both games of the doubleheader yesterday, and now went to Kaat in this game.

Oakland defeated Milwaukee 4-1, so the Twins magic number remained the same.

Record:  The Twins were 88-60, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was seven.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-three

BALTIMORE 11, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, July 26.

Batting star:  Jim Perry was 1-for-1 with a home run and a walk.

Pitching star:  Perry pitched six innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and no walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Merv Rettenmund was 3-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base, his fifth.  Dave Johnson was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Brooks Robinson was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and two runs.  Boog Powell was 2-for-5 with a grand slam (his twenty-fifth homer) and six RBIs.  Mark Belanger was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Elrod Hendricks was 2-for-5.  Dave McNally pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out five.

The game:  It was close for a while.  In fact, there was no score through four innings.  In the fifth, singles by McNally, Don Buford, and Rettenmund loaded the bases and Powell delivered a two-run single to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.  Perry homered in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-1.  Baltimore got the run back in the sixth on singles by Hendricks, Johnson, and Belanger, increasing the lead to 3-1.

The Orioles put it away in the eighth.  Singles by Robinson and Johnson and a walk to McNally loaded the bases with two out.  Buford walked to force in a run.  Dick Woodson then came in to replace Tom Hall.  He walked Rettenmund, forcing in another run, and the Powell hit a grand slam, giving Baltimore a 9-1 lead.

The Orioles tacked on two more in the ninth when Robinson was hit by a pitch, Johnson walked, Belanger had an RBI single, and Buford hit a sacrifice fly.

WP:  McNally (13-7).

LP:  Perry (15-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rick Renick was again in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Bob Allison was used as a pinch-hitter for the pitcher.  Danny Thompson replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .322.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .314.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-3 and was batting .309.  Hall had an ERA of 2.96.

Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Dave Boswell retired the only man he faced and had an ERA of 5.97.

In his last three games (one of them a start), Hall had pitched 9.1 innings and allowed ten runs (nine earned) on nine hits and nine walks while striking out ten.  His ERA went from 2.03 to 2.96.

In his last five games, Steve Barber had pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven runs on eleven hits and five walks while striking out four.  His ERA went from 2.70 to 4.63.  After this game, he would not pitch for the Twins again until late September.

I don't remember ever doing a game recap before where the same player was the only batting star and the only pitching star.

Record:  The Twins were 60-33, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recap: Games Sixteen and Seventeen

MAZATLAN 4, MEXICALI 3 IN MAZATLAN (11 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Ramon Rios was 3-for-4 with a double.  Jose Augusto Figueroa was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Francisco Hernandez was 2-for-5.  Ricky Alvarez was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his second.

Pitching stars:  Carlos Morales pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk and striking out three.  Alejandro Soto pitched a scoreless inning, walking one.  Ivan Zavala pitched a scoreless inning, walking one.  Roberto Espinosa pitched two perfect innings and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Javier Solano pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out five.  Luis Juarez was 2-for-5.  Eric Aguilera was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk.  Thomas Malgarejo pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

The game:  In the first inning Rios hit a one-out double and Alvarez hit a two-out two-run homer, putting Mazatlan up 2-0.  Mexicali got on the board in the third when Xorge Carrillo walked, went to third on a Fabricio Macias double, and scored on a ground out.  Aguilera homered leading off the fifth to tie it 2-2.

There was no more scoring until the eleventh.  One-out singles by Daniel Castro and Juarez put men on first and third, and a wild pitch put Mexicali up 3-2.  In the bottom of the inning Carlos Munoz drew a one-out walk.  With two out, Ricardo Valenzuela singled and Chris Roberson walked, loading the bases.  Figueroa then delivered a two-run single to win the game for Mazatlan.

WP:  Ryan Newell (1-1).  LP:  Edgar Gomez (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Figueroa is batting .500.  Munoz was 0-for-4 and is batting .310.

Zavala's ERA is 2.25.  Espinosa has an ERA of 1.04.

If we must have the "start with a runner on second" rule, the way the Mexican League does it, starting that rule in the twelfth inning, makes more sense to me.  Give them a couple of extra innings to try to settle it with real baseball before using a gimmick to get the game over.

Mexicali was 0-for-7 with men in scoring position.

MEXICALI 11, MAZATLAN 5 IN MAZATLAN (10 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Jose Augusto Figueroa was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Carlos Munoz was 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Fernando Burgueno pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.  Adolfo Ramirez pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Xorge Carrillo was 4-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.  Javier Salazar was 3-for-6.  Eric Aguilera was 2-for-3 with a double, three walks, four runs, and two RBIs.  Alex Mejia was 2-for-6 with a double and three RBIs.  Greg Mahle pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Roque Gutierrez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two walks.

The game:  Munoz homered with two out in the first to give Mazatlan a 1-0 lead.  Mexicali responded in the third, scoring three times.  Daniel Castro and Luis Juarez opened the inning with walks, Aguilera delivered a two-run double, and Carrillo had a two-out RBI single, making it 3-1.

Mazatlan came back to tie it in the sixth.  Figueroa had a one-out single.  With two down, Hector Mora singled and Francisco Hernandez walked, loading the bases.  Walks to Ramon Rios and Munoz forced in two runs, making the score 3-3.

Mexicali went back in front in the eighth.  Aguilera singled, went to third on two wild pitches, and scored on a Mejia single to make it 4-3.  They added an insurance run in the ninth when Aguilera walked, Miguel Choice singled, and Carrillo had an RBI single.  But Mazatlan came back to tie it again in the bottom of the ninth.  Munoz singled, Isaac Paredes walked, Ricardo Valenzuela had an RBI single, and a passed ball tied it 5-5.

But Mexicali put it away in the tenth.  A single, an error, and a walk, loaded the bases.  A sacrifice fly brought home the go-ahead run, Jose Manuel Orozco tripled home two, a walk and a sacrifice fly made it 9-5, and back-to-back doubles by Carrillo and Mejia made it 11-5.  Mazatlan loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth on two walks and a hit batsman, but could not come back.

WP:  Jake Sanchez (1-0).  LP:  Ryan Newell (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Figueroa is batting .563.  Jose Luna was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and is batting .333.  Munoz is batting .323.

Burgueno has an ERA of 2.70.  Roberto Espinosa gave up a run in two-thirds of an inning to make his ERA 1.93.

Mazatlan has been using Newell as a closer, but he's just not getting it done.  In this game he gave up four runs (two-earned) in a third of an inning to raise his ERA to 10.29.

There were eighteen walks and three hit batsmen in the game.  Mazatlan pitchers walked seven and Mexicali pitchers walked eleven.  You'd think eleven walks and nine hits would produce more than five runs, but Mazatlan stranded sixteen and went 1-for-13 with men in scoring position.  Mexicali, on the other hand, went 7-for-15 with men in scoring position.

Record:  Mazatlan is 6-11, tied for seventh, nine games behind Obregon.

Next game:  Mazatlan goes to Guasave (6-11) Tuesday night.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1975, Game Sixty-nine

MINNESOTA 8, TEXAS 5 IN TEXAS (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, June 27.

Batting stars:  Dan Ford was 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.  Jerry Terrell was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Lyman Bostock was 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs.

Pitching star:  Vic Albury pitched 4.1 innings of relief, giving up an unearned run on one hit and no walks and striking out four.

Opposition star:  Roy Howell was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the first inning.  Bostock led off with a double, went to third on a pickoff error, and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.  The Twins opened the second with two singles, but a strikeout/throwout double play took them out of the inning.  In the third, Glenn Borgmann led off with a triple and Bostock followed with a double.  Ford delivered a two-out single to put the Twins ahead 3-0.

The Rangers got on the board in the fourth when Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Mike Hargrove single.  Texas then took the lead in the fifth.  Tom Grieve led off with a single and scored from first on Howell's double.  Roy Smalley's RBI single tied it, and singles by Jim Sundberg and Mike Cubbage put the Rangers up 4-3.

The lead didn't survive the next half-inning, though.  Steve Braun walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored the tying run when Terrell singled.  Terrell went to second on the throw home, took third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch (Twins Baseball!) to give the Twins a 5-4 advantage.

Texas tied it in the seventh when Howell doubled and scored on an error.  It stayed 5-5 until the ninth.  With two out, Rod Carew walked, Steve Brye singled, and Eric Soderholm walked, loading the bases.  Ford then delivered a two-run single and Terrell had an RBI single to make the score 8-5.  The Rangers went down in order in the ninth, and in fact their last nine batters were retired.

WP:  Albury (5-4).  LP:  Jim Umbarger (4-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tom Kelly was at first base in place of John Briggs, who was out for a week or so.  Briggs had come over in a trade from Milwaukee a couple of weeks earlier.  Sadly, we did not hit the game in which Kelly hit his home run--he was 0-for-3.  He would go back to the minors about two weeks later.

Terrell was at third base in place of Soderholm.  Steve Braun, normally in left field, was the DH in place of Tony Oliva.  That moved Bostock from right to left and put Brye in right.

Soderholm pinch-hit for Braun in the seventh.  Danny Walton pinch-hit for Kelly in the eighth and stayed in the game at first base.  Luis Gomez came in for defense in the ninth, replacing Danny Thompson at short.

Carew was batting .369.  He would finish at .359.  Terrell was batting .327.  He would finish at .286.  Braun was batting .303.  He would finish at .302.  Larry Hisle would bat .314 in 255 at-bats.  The Twins batted .271, which was second in the league to Boston's .275.

Ford led the team with just 15 home runs.  Carew was right behind at 14 and Oliva was next with 13.  Soderholm, Braun, and Hisle each had 11.  The Twins hit 121 home runs, which was eighth in the league.  Cleveland led with 153.  California was last with only 55 home runs.

Bert Blyleven led the staff, going 15-10, 3.00.  Jim Hughes was 16-14, 3.82--Twins fans really thought he was going to be something.  Having him throw 250 innings with 12 complete games at age 23 might not have been such a bright idea.  Dave Goltz, who started this game, went 14-14, 3.67.  The fourth starter spot was split between Ray Corbin and Albury, neither of whom got much accomplished.  Tom Burgmeier and Bill Campbell handled closing chores, and while they did fine they didn't get much help.  The Twins' team ERA was 4.05, tenth in the league.  Baltimore led at 3.17.  The Twins were ninth in WHIP at 1.40.  Baltimore led there, too at 1.23.

As you probably noticed, there are players with connections to the Twins playing for Texas:  Cesar Tovar, Mike Cubbage, Roy Smalley, and Bill Hands, who started the game for the Rangers.

The Twins lost the first game of the doubleheader 2-0.  This was one of only two wins out of eleven games.

Record:  The Twins were 32-37, in fourth place in the American League West, 12.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 76-83, in fourth place, 20.5 games behind Oakland.

The Rangers were 35-38, in third place in the American League West, 11.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 79-83, in third place, 19 games behind Oakland.

Random record:  The Twins are 59-52 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game Twenty-nine

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CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Tuesday, May 16.

Batting stars:  Pedro Ramos was 3-for-3 with a home run (his second) and three runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Pedro Ramos pitched a complete game despite allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Cam Carreon was 2-for-4.  Minnie Minoso was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), a walk, and two RBIs.  Early Wynn pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on six hits and five walks and striking out seven.

The game:  Ramos led off the third with a home run, putting the Twins up 1-0.  In the bottom of the third, Carreon singled, Al Smith reached on an error, and walks to Nellie Fox and Minoso forced home a run to tie it 1-1.

In the fifth Ramos singled, Lenny Green drew a two-out walk, a wild pitch moved the runners up, and Killebrew delivered a two-run single to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.  Once again the White Sox tied it in the bottom of the inning.  Wynn walked, Smith singled, and Fox hit a two-run triple to make it 3-3.

Ramos led off the seventh with a single, was bunted to second, and scored on Green's double.  But once again, Chicago tied it in the bottom of the inning, as Minoso hit a two-out home run to make the score 4-4.

The White Sox took their only lead of the game in the eighth. Jim Landis walked, Carreon singled, and Wynn delivered a two-out RBI single to make the score 5-4 Chicago.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Wynn (4-1).  LP:  Ramos (3-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Billy Gardner was the second baseman in this game.  We've discussed the 1961 Twins' second base situation a couple of times, and there's no need to do so again.

Reno Bertoia was at third.  He was the regular third baseman until he was traded at the end of May.  Eventually, Bill Tuttle took over at third base.

Dan Dobbek went to left field in place of Jim Lemon in the seventh.  Don Mincher pinch-hit for Bertoia in the ninth.  Elmer Valo pinch-hit for Ramos in the ninth.  I suppose that last move made sense, but given how he had done, it would've been nice to see Ramos get one more chance to bat.

Killebrew was batting .371 on the young season.  He would finish at .288.  Ramos was batting .364.  He would finish at .172.  Earl Battey was batting .333.  He would end up leading the team in batting at .302.  Green was batting .314.  He would finish at .285.  The Twins were seventh in batting at .250.  Cleveland and Detroit tied for the league lead at .266.

Killebrew led the team in home runs with 46.  Bob Allison hit 29, Battey 17, and Lemon 14.  The Twins were four in home runs with 167.  New York led the league with 240.

Ramos led the staff in starts, and while his won-lost record doesn't look good he had a fairly good season.  He went 11-20, 3.95 ERA, 1.30 WHIP.  Camilo Pascual was the ace of the staff, going 15-16, 3.64, 1.21.  Jack Kralick was 13-11, 3.61, 1.33.  Jim Kaat rounded out the rotation at 9-17, 3.90, 1.35.  The only other pitcher with double-digit starts was Don Lee with exactly ten.  He went 3-6, 3.52, 1.11.  The Twins had a poor bullpen, though, and that left them seventh in team ERA at 4.28.  Baltimore led at 3.22.  The Twins were fifth in WHIP at 1.39.  Baltimore led there, too, at 1.25.

Despite his big day, Ramos was not a particularly good batter, going .155/.182/.240 for his career.  He hit 15 home runs in 703 at-bats.  Wynn was a better batter, going .214/.274/.285 in 1704 at-bats.  He hit 17 home runs.

It was kind of an odd game, in that each time the Twins would score in the top of the inning, the White Sox would score the exact same number of runs in the bottom of the inning.  In the end, of course, Chicago cheated and scored in an inning when the Twins did not score, and that was the difference in the game.

This game snapped a four-game winning streak by the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 16-13, in third place in the American League, five games behind Detroit.  They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, 38 games behind New York.

The White Sox were 12-16, in eighth place in the American League, 8.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 86-76, in fourth place, 23 games behind New York.

Random Record:  The Twins are 43-42 in Random Rewind games.