NEW YORK YANKEES 4, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 11, 2002.

Batting star:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out five.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Bernie Williams was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, and two runs.  Robin Ventura was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  Ted Lilly pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out one.  Mike Stanton pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The only man to get as far as second base in the first three innings was Dustan Mohr, who led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Each team scored once in the fourth.  For New York, Derek Jeter singled and Jason Giambi walked.  Jeter went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double play.  For the Twins, Matthew LeCroy hit a two-out double and scored on a Bobby Kielty single.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth, as Torii Hunter hit a one-out double and scored on a two-out single by Brian Buchanan.  The Yankees tied it right back up in the seventh when Bernie Williams tripled with one out and scored on a Robin Ventura single.

New York threatened in the eighth.  John Vander Wal singled and went to third on a one-out double by Alfonso Soriano.  Nick Johnson then grounded to second, and pinch-runner Gerald Williams was thrown out at the plate.  In the ninth, however, Bernie Williams doubled with one out and Robin Ventura followed with a two-run homer, making the score 4-2.  The Twins got a man on first with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but could do no more.

WP:  Mike Stanton (2-0).

LP:  Eddie Guardado (0-1).

S:  Mariano Rivera (12).

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Matthew LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Denny Hocking was at second in place of Luis Rivas.  Casey Blake was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Dustan Mohr was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Mohr made most of his appearances in right, but Bobby Kielty was in right.  Brian Buchanan was the DH in place of David Ortiz.  

Torii Hunter was batting .345.  He would finish at .289.  Tom Prince was batting .323.  He would finish at .224.  Matthew LeCroy was batting .329.  He would finish at .260.  Dustan Mohr was batting .329.  He would finish at .269.  Jacque Jones was batting .308.  He would finish at .300.

J. C. Romero had an ERA of 0.45.  He would finish at 1.89.  Mike Jackson had an ERA of 1.32.  He would finish at 3.27.  Eddie Guardado had an ERA of 2.12.  He would finish at 2.93.

I don’t know why Ron Gardenhire went with what we used to call the “B” lineup in this game.  I had thought perhaps it was a day game after a night game, but b-r.com indicates this was a night game, too.

Bernie Williams had fifty-five triples in his career, but this was his first since 2000.  He would have one more in 2002 and just four more for his career.

Record:  New York was 23-14, in second place in the AL East, three games behind Boston.  They would finish 103-58, in first place, 10.5 games ahead of Boston.

The Twins were 22-15, in first place in the AL Central, one game ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 94-67, in first place, 13.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 24-26 (.480).

NEW YORK YANKEES 11, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Sunday, April 29, 1973.

Batting star:  Dan Monzon was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  None.

Opposition stars:  Ron Blomberg was 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and three RBIs.  Graig Nettles was 2-for-4.  Thurman Munson was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.  Matty Alou was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Fritz Peterson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game:  New York took a 1-0 lead in the first, as Roy White walked, Thurman Munson singled, and a pair of productive ground outs followed.  The Twins tied it in the second.  Joe Lis reached on an error with one out, Danny Thompson doubled, Dan Monzon walked to load the bases, and Phil Roof delivered an RBI single.

It stayed tied until the fourth.  With two out, Ron Blomberg singled and scored on a Johnny Callison double to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.  New York increased its lead in the sixth.  Matty Alou, Bobby Mercer, and Graig Nettles all singled to bring home a run, and Blomberg followed with an RBI double to put the Yankees up 4-1.

The Twins put two on with two out in the seventh and with one out in the eighth, but failed to score.  Then, in the bottom of the eighth, New York put it out of reach, scoring seven times.  The Twins put one man on in the ninth, but fell 11-1.

WP:  Fritz Peterson (2-3).

LP:  Bill Hands (2-2).

S:  Lindy McDaniel (3).

Notes:  Phil Roof was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Dan Monzon was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jerry Terrell was at third base in place of Steve Braun.  Mike Adams was in left.  There really wasn’t a regular left fielder, with Jim Holt getting the most appearances there with 80 and Larry Hisle following with 50.  Hisle was in center, which was his primary position in 1973.  Danny Walton was in right field, with Bobby Darwin, the regular right fielder, at DH and Tony Oliva out of the lineup.

This was the second game of a doubleheader, which explains the number of regulars out of the lineup.

This was the first game in which Dan Monzon batted in 1973, so he was batting .667.  He would finish at .224.  Jerry Terrell was batting .364.  He would finish at .265.  Larry Hisle was batting .304.  He would finish at .272.  Rod Carew, who did not play in this game, would win the batting title at .350.

Ray Corbin had an ERA of 2.92.  He would finish at 3.03.

Graig Nettles played for the Twins from 1967-1969.  Bernie Allen, who was 0-for-2 with two walks, played for the Twins from 1962-1966.

Lindy McDaniel started pitching in the top of the eighth, with the score 4-1, which is why he was able to get a save.

What a team the 1973 Twins were.  They had a few good players, but their regulars included George Mitterwald, Joe Lis, Danny Thompson, Jim Holt, and Bobby Darwin.  The rotation was not bad, with Bert Blyleven (2.52 ERA), Jim Kaat (4.41), Joe Decker (4.17), and Dick Woodson (3.95).  Also making double-digit starts were Bill Hands (3.49) and Dave Goltz (5.25).

Kaat was in his age thirty-four season.  He would be placed on waivers in August and claimed by the White Sox, but would only play another ten years after that.

The 1973 Yankees had a lot of players who, if you remember them at all, you don’t remember as Yankees.  Matty Alou, Johnny Callison, Hal Lanier, Bernie Allen, all had substantial careers in other places.

Record:  New York was 9-10, in fourth place in the AL East, one game behind Baltimore.  They would finish 80-82, in fourth place, seventeen games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 9-8, tied for third with California in the AL West, two games behind Chicago.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, thirteen games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 24-25 (.490).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS 3, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN TORONTO

Date:  Wednesday, August 1, 2001.

Batting star:  Doug Mienkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk and striking out two.  Todd Jones pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.   

Opposition stars:  Brad Fullmer was 3-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth) and a double.  Carlos Delgado hit a home run, his twenty-ninth.  Roy Halladay pitched eight innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game: The Twins had men on first and second with one out in the first, thanks to singles by Jones and Mientkiewicz, but nothing came of it.  The scoring started in the second, when Delgado led off with a home run.  Fullmer doubled later in the inning, but was stranded at second.  Toronto scored again in the fourth when Shannon Stewart led off with a double, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly, making the score 2-0.

Meanwhile, the Twins had only one hit in innings two through six.  They got on the board in the seventh, though.  Doug Mientkiewicz singled and Corey Koskie walked, putting men on first and second with none out.  A double play almost took them out of the inning, but David Ortiz delivered a double, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Blue Jays got the run right back in the bottom of the seventh, when Brad Fullmer led off with a home run.  The Twins got the tying run up to bat in both the eighth and the ninth, but they did not score again, and Toronto won 3-1.

WP:  Roy Halladay (1-1).

LP:  Kyle Lohse (3-4).

S:  Billy Koch (22).

Notes:  Denny Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Chad Allen was in right field in place of Matt Lawton, who had been traded to the Mets a couple of days earlier for Rick Reed.

Doug Mientkiewicz was batting .329.  He would finish at .306.

Shannon Stewart went 1-for-4 in this game.  He would be traded to the Twins two years later and would play for them through 2005.

Todd Jones had been traded to the Twins a few days earlier for Mark Redman.  He would only stay through the end of 2001, leaving as a free agent.  He would play in the majors through 2008.

It was the rookie year for Kyle Lohse.  He had made his first start on June 22.  2001 was a struggle, as he went 4-7, 5.68.  He would do better, but would not have an ERA under four until 2008, when he was with St. Louis.

Roy Halladay was still in the process of establishing himself as a major league pitcher.  He’d had a full season in the majors in 1999 and done pretty well, but 2000 was a struggle for him and he was back in AAA for part of the season.  He came back to the majors about a month before this game.   The next year he would be an all-star, and the year after that would win the Cy Young Award.

Record:  Toronto was 50-58, in third place in the AL East, 15.5 games behind New York.  They would finish 80-82, in third place, 16 games behind New York.

The Twins were 60-47, in second place in the AL Central, 1.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 85-77, in second place, 6 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins have lost five consecutive games and are 23-23 (.500).

DETROIT TIGERS 4, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN DETROIT (13 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, August 5, 1969.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-7.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-6 with a home run (his sixth) and a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-6.

Pitching stars:  Dean Chance pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Ron Perranoski pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Dick Woodson pitched 3.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Norm Cash was 3-for-5.  Mickey Stanley was 3-for-6.  Don Wert was 2-for-6.  Gates Brown hit a home run, his first.  Denny McLain pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eleven hits and two walks and striking out four.  Don McMahon struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Pat Dobson pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  Each team scored once in the first inning.  For the Twins, singles by Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, and Rich Reese produced a run.  In the bottom of the inning, singles by Mickey Stanley, Tom Tresh, and Norm Cash tied the score.

The Twins took the lead in the fourth.  Cesar Tovar reached second on a single-plus-error and scored on a Leo Cardenas single.  Ted Uhlaender led off the fifth with a home run, giving the Twins a 3-1 lead.

But that was as good as it got.  In the sixth, Gates Brown led off with a home run.  Later in the inning Willie Horton walked, went to third on a throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch to tie it 3-3.

Each team had chances.  In the seventh the Twins loaded the bases on two singles and a walk.  In the eighth a single and a walk put Tigers on first and second with one out.  The Twins got a single and a walk with two out in the ninth and got a man as far as third in the eleventh.  

The Tigers finally pushed the winning run across in the thirteenth.  In his fourth inning of relief, Dick Woodson gave up a leadoff walk to Al Kaline and a single to Norm Cash, putting men on first and third.  Even though first base was occupied, Billy Martin ordered an intentional walk to Willie Horton, loading the bases.  It looked like the strategy might work, as Woodson struck out Bill Freehan and Dick Tracewski.  But Don Wert got an infield single to bring in the deciding run in a very frustrating loss for the Twins.

WP:  John Hiller (3-3).

LP:  Dick Woodson (6-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Cesar Tovar was in center field, with Ted Uhlaender in left.  Uhlaender was the regular center fielder.  The Twins didn’t really have a regular left fielder.  Bob Allison played the most games there (58), followed by Graig Nettles (54), Uhlaender (44), Charlie Manuel (41), and Tovar (40).  Yes, the Twins took a future Gold Glove third baseman and played him in the outfield.  The Twins, throughout their history, have put third basemen in the outfield.  Trevor Plouffe! and Miguel Sano are two names that come to mind.

Rod Carew was batting .363.  He would finish at a league-leading .332.  Tony Oliva was batting .333.  He would finish at .309.  Rich Reese was batting .320.  He would finish at .322.

Dean Chance had an ERA of 2.51.  He would finish at 2.95.  Ron Perranoski had an ERA of 1.65.  He would finish at 2.11.

There were no players for Detroit who had or would play for the Twins, but Don McMahon was the Twins’ pitching coach from 1976-1978 under Gene Mauch.

In the “Things that would probably never happen today” file, we have a thirteen-inning game (which does still happen, but it’s pretty rare) and each team using a reliever for three or more innings (and not as primary pitcher following an opener).

The Twins ran wild on the bases in 1969, but did not steal any bases in this game.  They did have one caught stealing.

This was one of fourteen games Gates Brown played in the field in 1969, as he played left.  He appeared in sixty games, but generally was used as a pinch-hitter.  For his career, he had 500 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter and batted .251/.356/.421 with sixteen home runs in those plate appearances.  That’s another thing that would never happen today:  a player on the roster who’s chief responsibility was to pinch-hit.

This was Tom Tresh’s last year in the majors.  He had been with the Yankees since 1961, but was traded to Detroit on June 14, 1969.  I don’t remember him as a home run hitter, but he hit over twenty four times and had 153 for his career.

Record:  Detroit was 59-47, in second place in the AL East, fourteen games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 90-72, in second place, nineteen games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 67-42, in first place in the AL West, three games ahead of Oakland.  They would finish 97-65, in first place, nine games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 23-21 (.523).

MINNESOTA TWINS 6, MILWAUKEE BREWERS 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 20, 1997.

Batting stars:  Pat Meares was 2-for-3 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Brent Brede was 2-for-3 with two walks.

Pitching star:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched six innings, giving up one run on two hits and five walks and striking out four.  Mike Trombley struck out two in a perfect inning.  Greg Swindell struck out two and walked one in two shutout innings.

Opposition star:  Cal Eldred pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and six walks and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins scored in the first, as Knoblauch walked, went to third on a Brede single, and scored on Ron Coomer’s sacrifice fly.  They loaded the bases with one out in the second on three singles, but a line drive double play took them out of the inning.  Meares homered in the fourth to make it 2-0, although after that the Twins once again loaded the bases and did not score.

Milwaukee did not get a hit through the first five innings, although they did draw four walks.  In the sixth, however, Jeff Cirillo hit a one-out ground rule double and scored on a Julio Franco single, cutting the margin to 2-1.  

The Twins drew two walks in the sixth, but did not score.  But with one out in the seventh, Matt Lawton doubled, Marty Cordova tripled, and Damian Miller hit a sacrifice fly, increasing the lead to 4-1.  They put it away in the eighth.  Knoblauch and Brede led off the inning with singles.  An error brought home one run and Coomer hit an RBI single for another.  The score was 6-1, and that’s where it stayed.  The two hits in the sixth were the only hits the Brewers had.

WP:  LaTroy Hawkins (6-11).

LP:  Cal Eldred (13-14).

S:  Greg Swindell (1).

Notes:  Damian Miller was behind the plate in place of Terry Steinbach.  Brent Brede was at first base in place of Scott Stahoviak and Greg Colbrunn, who saw most of the first base action.

Paul Molitor was batting .304.  He would finish at .305.

Jeff Cirillo was 1-for-3 with a walk.  He would play for the Twins in 2007.  Darrin Jackson was 0-for-4.  He had started the 1997 season with the Twins, traded at the August deadline for the immortal Mick Fieldbinder.  Mike Fetters pitched the eighth inning, giving up two runs on three hits.  He would pitch for the Twins briefly in 2003.

The Twins went 4-for-10 with men in scoring position, but still managed to strand eleven.

There were twelve walks in the game, six by each team.  I don’t know if home plate umpire Jim Evans had a small strike zone or if the pitchers just had trouble finding home plate.

Marty Cordova hit eighteen triples in his career.  His season high was four, set in 1995 and tied in 1997.

By game scores, LaTroy Hawkins actually had two games better than this in 1997:  August 30 against Cincinnati (7 IP, 1R, 6H, 1W, 4K) and June 17 against Pittsburgh (7 IP, 1R, 3H, 2W, 2K).  He also did fairly well in his other interleague game, against St. Louis.

Damian Miller played only briefly for the Twins, but went on to have an eleven-year major league career.  He played for Arizona, Oakland, the Cubs, and Milwaukee.

Record:  Milwaukee was 75-77, in third place in the AL Central, 7.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 78-83, in third place, 8 games behind Cleveland.

The Twins were 62-91, in fifth (last) place in the AL Central, 21 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 67-94, in fourth place, 18.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 23-18 (.561)

CLEVELAND INDIANS 4, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 9, 1994.

Batting stars:  Chip Hale was 2-for-4 with a double.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5 with a triple, a double, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Dave Stevens pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Mark Guthrie pitchd 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Alvaro Espinoza was 2-for-4.  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-5.  Eddie Murray hit a home run, his thirteenth.

The game:  Each team scored once in the first.  For Cleveland, Kenny Lofton singled, stole second and third, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Albert Belle, which must have caught everyone by surprise.  For the Twins, Chuck Knoblauch led off with a triple and scored on a ground out.  The Indians took the lead 2-1 in the second when Candy Maldonado doubled and scored on a Vizquel single.

The Twins tied it in the fourth.  Kirby Puckett was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  Hrbek followed with a single, then came walks to Shane Mack and Scott Leius to force in a run.  The bases were still loaded with none out, but the Twins could do more, and the score was tied 2-2.  The tie did not last long.  In the fifth Carlos Baerga singled with one out and Murray hit a two-out two-run single, making it 4-2 Cleveland.

The Twins got one back in the bottom of the fifth on doubles by Knoblauch and Puckett, but that was as close as they would come.  They got a man to second in the sixth, when Hale hit a one-out double, and in the eighth, when Hrbek singled and went to second on Hale’s two-out single, but they could not score again.  Their last four men went out and the victory went to Cleveland.

WP:  Dennis Martinez (8-4).

LP:  Jim Deshaies (4-9).

S:  Jeff Russell (13).

Notes:  Jeff Reboulet was at shortstop in place of Pat Meares.  Rich Becker was in center in place of Alex Cole.  Hale was at DH in place of Dave Winfield.

Kirby Puckett was batting .321.  He would finish at .317.  Chuck Knoblauch was batting .320.  He would finish at .312.  Shane Mack was batting .314.  He would finish at .333.

Alvaro Espinoza played for the Twins from 1984-1986.  Paul Sorrento pinch-hit and was 0-for-1.  He played for the Twins from 1989-1991.

The Twins pitching was, to put it bluntly, awful in 1994.  They scored 5.26 runs per game, but allowed 6.09.  Granted it was 1994, and scoring was up, but the average was 4.92.  We went through this once before, but the rotation was Kevin Tapani (4.62 ERA), Scott Erickson (5.44), Jim Deshaies (7.39), Pat Mahomes (4.73), and Carlos Pulido (5.98).  I didn’t check the AAA roster, but the Twins must have thought they didn’t have any better options, because those five pitchers made all but six of the team’s starts.  The primary relief pitchers did not provide much relief:  Rick Aguilera (3.63), Carl Willis (5.92), Mark Guthrie (6.14), Mike Trombley (6.33), Larry Casian (7.08), and Dave Stevens (6.80).  Other than Aguilera, Tom Kelly could just as well have pulled names out of a hat when he went to the bullpen.

Albert Belle had four sacrifice bunts in his career.  This was the last one.

I think of Eddie Murray as a Baltimore Oriole, and of course that is where he had his best years.  But he played for nine years after leaving the Orioles:  three with the Dodgers, two with the Mets, two and a half with Cleveland, a half season back with Baltimore, and a final season split between Anaheim and the Dodgers.

The 1994 season would come to a premature end about a month later due to a labor-related work stoppage.

Record:  Cleveland was 50-33, in first place by percentage points over Chicago.  They would finish 66-47, in second place, one game behind Chicago.

The Twins were 42-43, in fourth place, nine games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 53-60., in fourth place, fourteen games behind Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 22-17 (.564).

CALIFORNIA ANGELS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Saturday, May 4, 1996.

Batting star:  Greg Myers was 2-for-4 with a home run (his first), a double, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Chili Davis was 2-for-3 with a home run (his seventh), a double, a walk, and three runs.  Tim Wallach was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  J. T. Snow hit a home run, his second.  Garret Anderson hit a home run, his third.  Jason Grimsley pitched a complete game, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks and striking out five.

The game:  Neither team got a hit until the bottom of the second, when Davis led off with a double.  The next two batters went out, but Wallach singled to give California a 1-0 lead.  The Twins drew two walks in the third, but did not score.  The Angels drew two walks in the fourth and they did score, as Wallach again delivered a two-out RBI single.  That was the last hit by either team until the bottom of the sixth, when Snow and Anderson hit back-to-back solo homers to put the Angels up 4-0.

The Twins got on the board in the seventh when Myers got to third on a double-plus-error and scored on a ground out.  Rich Becker doubled in the eighth but did not get past third base.  

From there, the teams traded solo homers.  Davis hit one in the bottom of the eighth and Myers hit one in the bottom of the ninth, bringing the final score to 5-2.

WP:  Jason Grimsley (2-1).

LP:  Frankie Rodriguez (2-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Denny Hocking was in right field.  The Twins didn’t really have a regular right fielder.  Matt Lawton had the most games there (60), followed by Roberto Kelly (54) and Hocking (33).

Marty Cordova was batting .346.  He would finish at .309.  Chuck Knoblauch was batting .345.  He would finish at .341.  Paul Molitor was also batting .345.  He would also finish at .341.  Pat Meares was batting .312.  He would finish at .267.  Greg Myers was batting .309.  He would finish at .286.

Dan Naulty pitched two innings, giving up one run.  He had an ERA of 1.27.  He would finish at 3.79.

Chili Davis, as you probably know, played for the Twins from 1991-1992.

We had hopes for Frankie Rodriguez, but those hopes were mostly based on the fact that he was young.  1996 was his only season as a rotation starter, and he went 13-14, 5.05, 1.43 WHIP and struck out only 110 in 206.2 innings.  He was only twenty-three, and we hoped he would improve, but he didn’t.  In seven major league seasons, he had one in which he posted an ERA below five (4.62 in 1997).  He hung around until 2001, then was out of baseball.

The Twins batted .288 as a team in 1996.  In addition to the players listed above, Roberto Kelly batted .323 and Ron Coomer batted .296.  They hit only 118 home runs, however, with Marty Cordova leading the team with 16.  They were second in baseball in batting average, but dead last in home runs, 

And, as you would guess if you didn’t know, their pitching was not good.  Brad Radke was the only pitcher with an ERA under five (4.46).  In addition to Rodriguez, their rotation was Rich Robertson (5.12), Scott Aldred (5.09) and Rick Aguilera (5.42).  Aguilera had wanted to start, and the Twins accommodated him, but it did not go well, and the next year he would be back in the closer role.  Other pitchers given starts, none of whom had an ERA below six, were Jose Parra, Pat Mahomes, Scott Klingenbeck, Travis Miller, LaTroy Hawkins, and Dan Serafini.  The pitcher who tried to replace Aguilera as closer was Dave Stevens, who posted a 4.66 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.

This was Jason Grimsley’s last year as a starting pitcher.  He would spend two years in the minors before resurfacing as a reliever with the Yankees.  He would continue to be part of a major league bullpen through 2006.

Record:  California was 17-12, in second place in the AL West, 1.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 70-91, in fourth (last) place, 19.5 games behind Texas.

The Twins were 14-14, in third place in the AL Central, 5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 78-84, in fourth place, 21.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 22-18 (.550).

CLEVELAND INDIANS 4, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 9, 1994.

Batting stars:  Chip Hale was 2-for-4 with a double.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5 with a triple, a double, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Dave Stevens pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Mark Guthrie pitchd 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Alvaro Espinoza was 2-for-4.  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-5.  Eddie Murray hit a home run, his thirteenth.

The game:  Each team scored once in the first.  For Cleveland, Kenny Lofton singled, stole second and third, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Albert Belle, which must have caught everyone by surprise.  For the Twins, Chuck Knoblauch led off with a triple and scored on a ground out.  The Indians took the lead 2-1 in the second when Candy Maldonado doubled and scored on a Vizquel single.

The Twins tied it in the fourth.  Kirby Puckett was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  Hrbek followed with a single, then came walks to Shane Mack and Scott Leius to force in a run.  The bases were still loaded with none out, but the Twins could do more, and the score was tied 2-2.  The tie did not last long.  In the fifth Carlos Baerga singled with one out and Murray hit a two-out two-run single, making it 4-2 Cleveland.

The Twins got one back in the bottom of the fifth on doubles by Knoblauch and Puckett, but that was as close as they would come.  They got a man to second in the sixth, when Hale hit a one-out double, and in the eighth, when Hrbek singled and went to second on Hale’s two-out single, but they could not score again.  Their last four men went out and the victory went to Cleveland.

WP:  Dennis Martinez (8-4).

LP:  Jim Deshaies (4-9).

S:  Jeff Russell (13).

Notes:  Jeff Reboulet was at shortstop in place of Pat Meares.  Rich Becker was in center in place of Alex Cole.  Hale was at DH in place of Dave Winfield.

Kirby Puckett was batting .321.  He would finish at .317.  Chuck Knoblauch was batting .320.  He would finish at .312.  Shane Mack was batting .314.  He would finish at .333.

Alvaro Espinoza played for the Twins from 1984-1986.  Paul Sorrento pinch-hit and was 0-for-1.  He played for the Twins from 1989-1991.

The Twins pitching was, to put it bluntly, awful in 1994.  They scored 5.26 runs per game, but allowed 6.09.  Granted it was 1994, and scoring was up, but the average was 4.92.  We went through this once before, but the rotation was Kevin Tapani (4.62 ERA), Scott Erickson (5.44), Jim Deshaies (7.39), Pat Mahomes (4.73), and Carlos Pulido (5.98).  I didn’t check the AAA roster, but the Twins must have thought they didn’t have any better options, because those five pitchers made all but six of the team’s starts.  The primary relief pitchers did not provide much relief:  Rick Aguilera (3.63), Carl Willis (5.92), Mark Guthrie (6.14), Mike Trombley (6.33), Larry Casian (7.08), and Dave Stevens (6.80).  Other than Aguilera, Tom Kelly could just as well have pulled names out of a hat when he went to the bullpen.

Albert Belle had four sacrifice bunts in his career.  This was the last one.

I think of Eddie Murray as a Baltimore Oriole, and of course that is where he had his best years.  But he played for nine years after leaving the Orioles:  three with the Dodgers, two with the Mets, two and a half with Cleveland, a half season back with Baltimore, and a final season split between Anaheim and the Dodgers.

The 1994 season would come to a premature end about a month later due to a labor-related work stoppage.

Record:  Cleveland was 50-33, in first place by percentage points over Chicago.  They would finish 66-47, in second place, one game behind Chicago.

The Twins were 42-43, in fourth place, nine games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 53-60., in fourth place, fourteen games behind Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 22-17 (.564).

MINNESOTA TWINS 6, LOS ANGELES ANGELS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 16, 2016.

Batting stars:  Trevor Plouffe! was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second), a double and two RBIs.  Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a home run (his first) and two RBIs.  Eduardo Nunez was 2-for-4 with a triple.  ByungHo Park hit a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect inning.  Kevin Jepsen pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Yunel Escobar was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Cory Rasmus retired all eight men he faced, striking out three.

The game:  The Twins took the early lead.  Nunez led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on a ground out.  Joe Mauer then singled, and two-out singles by Plouffe! and Arcia produced another run, making it 2-0 Twins.

The lead didn’t last long.  Los Angeles had six consecutive batters reach with one out in the second.  Singles by C. J. Cron, Andrelton Simmons, and Geovany Soto loaded the bases, followed by a two-run double by Cliff Pennington and a two-run single by Escobar.  Rafael Ortega walked, but a strikeout ended the inning.

The Twins had men on first and second with one out in the bottom of the second, but a double play ended the inning.  Plouffe! homered in the third to cut the lead to 4-3.  They tied it in the fifth.  Brian Dozier singled and stole second.  Miguel Sano walked with one out and Plouffe! came through again, hitting an RBI double.  The Twins had men on second and third, but could do no more, and it remained tied at 4-4.

The Angels put men on first and second with two out in the seventh but did not score.  In the eighth, Arcia and Park hit back-to-back home runs to put the Twins up 6-4.  Los Angeles got a one-out walk in the ninth, but did not advance the man past first and the Twins came away with the victory.

WP:  Ryan Pressly (1-0).

LP:  Joe Smith (0-1).

S:  Kevin Jepsen (2).

Notes:  John Ryan Murphy was behind the plate.  He was the semi-regular catcher at the beginning of the year, but quickly lost the job and was sent to AAA, with Kurt Suzuki taking over regular catching duties.  ByungHo Park was at first base, with Joe Mauer at DH.  Those roles were reversed more often than not.  Eduardo Nunez was at short.  He would make the all-star team, but be traded to San Francisco later in the season for Adalberto Mejia.  Eduardo Escobar had the most games at shortstop, with 71.  Oswaldo Arcia was in left.  He would be traded to Tampa Bay in June.  Robbie Grossman made the most games in left, with 75.  Eddie Rosario would play 57 games there.  Rosario started in center.  Byron Buxton had the most games in center at 92, with Danny Santana playing there 40 times.  Miguel Sano was in right field, as the Twins made a misbegotten attempt to make him outfielder.  Max Kepler was the regular right fielder.

As you can see, the Twins roster was in a state of flux in 2016, and it showed up in their record below.

Eduardo Nunez was batting .692.  He would finish at .296, then be traded.  Joe Mauer was batting .359.  He would finish at .261.  

Ryan Pressly had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 3.70

C. J. Cron went 1-for-4 for the Angels.  He would play for the Twins in 2019.  Andrelton Simmons went 1-for-4 for the Angels.  He would play for the Twins in 2021.

It’s a shame that ByungHo Park was never really healthy in his time with the Twins.

Ricky Nolasco started for the Twins and did well except for the second inning.  He did that a lot with the Twins in 2016, where he pitched well “except for” this or that.  But the exceptions made him 4-8, 5.13.  He was traded to the Angels in August.

Kevin Jepsen would lose the closer role to Brandon Kintzler, then be traded to Tampa Bay in early July.

Record:  Los Angeles was 5-6, tied for second with Seattle in the AL West, one game behind Texas.  They would finish 74-88, in fourth place, 21 games behind Texas.

The Twins were 2-9, in fifth (last) place in the AL Central, six games behind Chicago and Kansas City.  They would finish 59-103, in fifth (last) place, 35.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 22-16 (.579).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN LOS ANGELES

Date:  Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

Batting stars:  Byron Buxton was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-seventh.  Gilberto Celestino was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  None.

Opposition stars:  Will Smith was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Justin Turner was 2-for-4 with a double.  Max Muncy was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.  Trea Turner was 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Julio Urias struck out eight in seven innings, giving up one run on five hits.

The game:  With two out in the first, Freddie Freeman walked and scored on Smith’s double.  The Twins tied it in the second when Gio Urshela hit a one-out triple and scored on a Gilberto Celestino single.

That was as good as it would get for the Twins.  In the bottom of the second, Gavin Lux singled with one out in the first, followed by doubles by Joey Gallo and Cody Bellinger.  With two out, Trea Turner hit another double, and it was 4-1 Los Angeles.  Muncy homered in the third to make it 5-1, and in the fourth Mookie Betts singled, went to third on a stolen base–plus-error, and scored on a ground out to make it 6-1.

The Twins finally got the Dodgers out a few times, but they added to their lead again in the seventh.  Freeman and Smith singled, putting runners on the corners.  Muncy doubled home a run and another scored on a ground out, making it 8-1.

The Twins got two back in the eighth when Nick Gordon singled and Buxton hit a two-run homer.  But the Dodgers scored two of their own in the bottom of the eighth on doubles by Trayce Thompson and Trea Turner and a single by Smith, bringing it to the final score of 10-3.  The Twins went down meekly in the ninth, as Caleb Ferguson came in to strike out the side.

WP:  Julio Urias (12-6).

LP:  Joe Ryan (8-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Sandy Leon was behind the plate for the Twins in this game.  Gary Sanchez had the most appearances at catcher in 2022, with Ryan Jeffers also seeing significant time there.  Byron Buxton was at DH.  The Twins did not have a regular DH.  Among those seeing significant time there were Luis Arraez (38 games), Buxton (35), Sanchez (33), and Jose Miranda (31).

The only .300 hitter the Twins had was Luis Arraez, who won the first of his three (and counting) batting titles at .316.  He did not play in this game.

Joey Gallo was 1-for-4 in this game.  He would go on to play for the Twins in 2023.  It amazes me that he was still in the majors this year when he hasn’t batted over .200 since 2019.

We forget quickly, or at least I do, but Gilberto Celestino was actually pretty much the regular center fielder that year, playing 90 games there.  Byron Buxton had 57 games there, Nick Gordon 38, and Mark Contreras 13.

The legendary Sandy Leon came to the Twins in a trade for Ian Hamilton, who has gone on to have two fine years for the Yankees since the trade.

By game scores, this was the second-worst start Joe Ryan had in 2022.  He pitched five innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and a walk and struck out four.

Record:  Los Angeles was 76-33, in first place in the NL West, 16 games ahead of San Diego.  The would finish 111-51, in first place, 22 games ahead of San Diego.

The Twins were 57-52, tied for first place with Cleveland in the AL Central.  They would finish 78-84, in third place, 14 games behind Cleveland.  After this game, the Twins would go 21-32 while Cleveland went 35-18.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 21-16 (.568).