Tag Archives: outfield shuffle

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-eight

NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, August 28.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Luis Tiant pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and five walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mike Kekich pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out seven.  Jim Lyttle was 0-for-0 with three walks.

The game:  There were no hits on either side until the third, when Horace Clark singled.  He stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and score on Frank Baker's single to put the Yankees up 1-0.

The Twins got their first hit in the fifth, when Rich Reese singled.  He went to second on a ground out and scored on a George Mitterwald single, tying the score at 1-1.

It stayed 1-1 through eight.  Killebrew led off the ninth with a double.  Tony Oliva was intentionally walked and the strategy worked, as the next three batters went out.  In the bottom of the ninth Bobby Murcer reached on an error and was bunted to second.  Danny Cater was intentionally walked.  A ground out moved Murcer to third and he scored on a wild pitch to end the game.

WP:  Kekich (4-3).

LP:  Ron Perranoski (7-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Oliva was again in center with Cesar Tovar in left and Brant Alyea in right.  Jim Holt went to center in the seventh, with Oliva going to right and Alyea leaving the game.  There's no obvious reason for the move.  Alyea popped up to third in the top of the inning--he may have injured himself, or Bill Rigney may have decided to substitute for him because he wouldn't be batting again for a couple of innings.

Bob Allison pinch-hit for Tiant in the eighth.  I'm not really questioning the move, but I can't help pointing out that Tiant was 1-for-2 in the game and was batting .419 for the season, while Allison was batting .200.

Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and stayed in the game at second base.  Danny Thompson, who was still at second base in place of Rod Carew, moved to third.

Tiant as stated above, was 1-for-2 and was batting .419.  Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .320.  Perranoski gave up an unearned run in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.34.

In the two games of the doubleheader, the Twins scored one run and had just eight hits.

This was easily Kekich's best start of the season.  He had a game score of seventy-seven.  His next highest was sixty-three on September 12.  This was his only complete game of the season and one of eight in his career.

The Twins had lost five of their last seven games.

Record:  The Twins were 75-53, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California.  This was their smallest lead since June 29.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Twenty

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BOSTON 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 30.

Batting stars:  Scott Leius was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, a walk, and two runs.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Quintana was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Jack Clark was 2-for-4.  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer (his third), a double, and two runs.

The game:  The Red Sox opened the scoring in the second.  Clark led off with a single, Ellis Burks doubled, and Tom Brunansky hit a two-run single to give Boston a 2-0 lead.  It went to 4-0 in the third, as Jody Reed hit a one-out single followed by Greenwell's two-run homer.

The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the third.  Gene Larkin singled and Leius hit a two-run homer.  It did not kill the rally, as Gladden got a one-out single and scored on Chuck Knoblauch's double to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the fifth on a single, an error, and a walk, but a force out and a double play ended the inning.  The Red Sox put men on first and second with one out in the seventh, but a fly out and a pop up took care of that.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Twins took their only lead of the game.  With one out, Leius walked, Greg Gagne singled, and Gladden delivered a two-run double to make it 5-4 Twins.

The lead didn't last long.  Greenwell led off the eighth with a double.  With one out, Burks walked.  Tom Brunansky popped up and it looked like the Twins might get out of it, but Quintana hit a three-run homer to give Boston a 7-5 advantage.  That was pretty much it, as the only offense the Twins could manage after that was a two-out single by Randy Bush in the eighth.

WP:  Jeff Gray (1-1).  LP:  Steve Bedrosian (2-1).  S:  Jeff Reardon (8).

Notes:  Kirby Puckett was again in center, with Larkin in right.  Shane Mack came in for defense in the eighth, playing center with Puckett moving to right.  When the Twins fell behind, Bush pinch-hit for Mack in the bottom of the eighth and stayed in the game in right field, with Puckett moving back to center.

Larkin was 1-for-3 and was batting .387.  Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .342.  Knoblauch was 1-for-5 and was batting .333.  Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.  Gagne was 1-for-3 and was batting .302.  Chili Davis was 0-for-4 and was batting .302.

On the other hand, Al Newman went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .158.  Bush was 1-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .167.  Kent Hrbek was 0-for-4 and closed out April batting .182.  Gladden raised his average to .188.

Neither starting pitcher did that well, although they both got fairly deep into the game.  Allan Anderson pitched six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out none.  In thirty-one inning, he had just six strikeouts.  Boston starter Matt Young pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

I had completely forgotten that Jack Clark ended his career with the Red Sox.  He was with them two seasons, 1991-1992.  He was thirty-five in 1991 and was not what he had been, but he still hit 28 homers and had an OPS of .840.  It was his last good year, though.  He batted .210 as a part-time player in 1992 and then was done.

Mike Greenwell never became the star that some thought he would early in his career, but he still had a fine career.  He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987 (behind Mark McGwire, which was understandable, but also behind Kevin Seitzer and Matt Nokes).  He was second in MVP voting the next year, in 1988 (behind 40-40 man Jose Canseco), even though statistically his season was almost identical to 1987.  He batted .300 or better five times and twice batted .297.  He had an OPS over .800 seven times.  In his last major league season, 1996, he batted .295 with an OPS of .777.  He was only thirty-two at that point, and one would've thought he could continue for a while.  Instead, he went to Japan, played in just seven games for Hanshin, and retired.  It appears that injuries made him decide that playing baseball was just not worth it anymore.  He raced stock cars and trucks for several years and now lives on a ranch in Florida.  His son, Bo Greenwell, played in the minors for eight seasons, reaching AA.  His nephew, Joey Terdoslavich, played for the Atlanta Braves for parts of three seasons.

Record:  The Twins were 9-11, in sixth place in the American League West, four games behind Oakland.  They were one game behind fifth place Seattle and a half game ahead of seventh place Kansas City.