Tag Archives: random rewind

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2000, Game Thirty-two

MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 7.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 1-for-3 with a triple, two walks, and two runs.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Joe Mays pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and two walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Willie Blair pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and two walks and striking out two.  Deivi Cruz was 2-for-3.

The game:  The first was a "Twins Baseball!" kind of inning.  Guzman led off with a walk and went to third on a single by Jay Canizaro.  A one-out sacrifice fly by Ron Coomer got the Twins on the board.  A wild pitch moved Canizaro to second, Corey Koskie walked, and Butch Huskey was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  Jones then delivered a single, only the second hit of the inning, to put the Twins up 3-0.

The Tigers threatened in the third.  Cruz singled, and with two out Brad Ausmus and Juan Encarnacion walked, loading the bases.  But Juan Gonzalez flied out to end the inning.  The Twins added a run in the fourth when Guzman led off with a triple and scored on a Matt Lawton single.

That was it for the scoring.  Detroit had a chance to at least spoil the shutout when Encarnacion led off with a triple.  But Gonzalez hit a short fly ball, Bobby Higginson fouled to the catcher, and Dean Palmer flied out to end the game.

WP:  Mays (1-4).  LP:  Mark Johnson (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Marcus Jensen was the catcher.  The Twins used five catchers in 2000, none of whom got much accomplished at bat until A. J. Pierzynski came up in mid-August.  Jensen (.209/.663 OPS) and Matthew LeCroy (.174/.577) each caught 49 games, with Chad Moeller (.211/.534) right behind at 48.  They also used Danny Ardoin (.125/.550) for 15 games before Pierzynski (.307/.809) catching 32 games.  After that mess for the first four and a half months, he seemed like a Godsend.

Huskey was the DH.  He had signed with the Twins to be the DH, but at this point he was close to losing the job to David Ortiz.  Huskey batted just .223 with an OPS of .660 before being traded to Colorado in mid-July.

Matt Lawton was leading the team in batting at this point at .363.  He would finish at .305, which still led the team.  Jones was batting .337.  He would finish at .285.  Koskie, who was batting .270 at this point, would finish at .300.

On the other end, Canizaro was batting .185, although he would finish at .269.  The Twins had soured on Todd Walker at this point and would trade him to Colorado in the same deal that sent Huskey there.  Walker had batted .316 in 1998 and a still-respectable .279 in 1999, but when he got off to a slow start in 2000 the Twins benched him, sent him to AAA, and then traded him.  His defense was suspect, but as I recall this was a case where the main reason for trading him was that Tom Kelly just didn't like him.  Walker went on to have a very good major league career while the player the Twins got back in the deal, Todd Sears, played just forty major league games.  And it's not like the Twins had a hotshot second baseman knocking at the door to replace him--Canizaro was the regular for 2000 and they then went to Luis Rivas.  I think a lot of TK, but he had his blind spots, and this was one of them.

The Twins batted .270, which was tied for tenth in the league.  Cleveland and Kansas City led at .288.

Jones led the team in homers with 19.  Coomer had 16, Lawton 13, and Ortiz 10.  They finished dead last in home runs with 116, thirty-four behind the next lowest team.  Toronto led the league with 240.  When the juiced ball era came around, the Twins were conscientious objectors.

This was easily Mays' best game of the season.  It was his only shutout and one of two complete games, the other being an eight-inning loss.  He did not have a good year in 2000, going 7-15, 5.56, 1.62 WHIP.  It shows how bad the Twins' pitching was that he was allowed to make 28 starts.  Brad Radke was the staff ace, I guess, but he went 12-16, 4.45, 1.38.  Eric Milton was the other mainstay of the rotation, making 33 starts and going 13-10, 4.86, 1.25.  Others to make double-digit starts were Mark Redman (12-9, 4.76, 1.41), Sean Bergman (4-5, 9.66, 2.12--he made 14 starts!), and J. C. Romero (2-7, 7.02, 1.77).

The bullpen was better than that, but it wasn't particularly good either.  The Twins posted an ERA of 5.14, tied for eleventh in the league.  Toronto led at 4.23.  The Twins were actually eighth in WHIP at 1.50.  Boston led at 1.33.  It was definitely a hitters' year.

This was the year Guzman hit twenty triples.  He led the league, of course, one of three times he did so.

The was the second game of a stretch in which the Twins won five out of six.  They did not have very many of those stretches in 2000.

Record:  The Twins were 14-18, in fourth place in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 63-93, in fifth (last) place, 26 games behind Chicago.

The Tigers were 9-21, in fifth (last) place in the American League Central, 8.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 79-83, in third place, 16 games behind Chicago.

Random Record:  The Twins are 46-44 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1962, Game Fifty-seven

MINNESOTA 8, CHICAGO 4 IN MINNESOTA (FIRST GAME OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, June 10.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 3-for-3 with a home run (his ninth), a walk, and three runs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Eddie Fisher pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on one hit and no walks and striking out four.  Jim Landis was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his eleventh), a double, and two runs.  Nellie Fox was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.

The game:  With two out in the first, Landis doubled and Al Smith singled him home to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead.  It was the only lead they would have, and it wouldn't last long.  In the bottom of the first Rollins singled and Mincher hit a two-run homer to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.  In the second, consecutive singles by Earl Battey, Bernie Allen, and Zoilo Versalles loaded the bases, a fourth consecutive single, by Kaat, plated two runs, and a double play scored a third to make the score 5-1 Twins.

Rollins hit a solo homer in the fifth to make it 6-1, and it looked like the Twins had total control of the game behind Kaat.  In the eighth, however, Cam Carreon singled, Joe Cunningham walked, and with two out Landis hit a three-run homer to cut the margin to 6-4.  But in the bottom of the eighth Rollins walked and Killebrew hit a two-run homer to make it 8-4.  Chicago put two runners on in the ninth but did not get the tying run to the plate.

WP:  Kaat (5-4).  LP: Joel Horlen (5-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mincher was at first base in place of Vic Power, who was apparently out with an injury.  Other than that, the Twins used their standard 1962 lineup.  Bill Tuttle came in for defense in the ninth.  He replaced Killebrew, who had been in left, but Tuttle went to center, with Lenny Green moving to left.

Rollins was batting .353.  He would finish at .298, which would lead the team.  Battey was batting .326.  He would finish at .280.  The Twins batted .260, which was third in the league.  New York led with .267.

Every one of the Twins' eight regulars finished with double digit home runs.  Not surprisingly, Killebrew led the team with 48.  Bob Allison hit 29, Versalles 17, Power and Rollins 16 each, Green 14, Allen 12, and Battey 11.  The Twins hit 185 home runs, again third in the league.  Detroit led with 209.

Either Kaat or Camilo Pascual would've been the ace of the staff:  both had fine years.  Kaat was 18-14, 3.14, 1.18 WHIP; Pascual was 20-11, 3.32, 1.15 WHIP.  The third starter, Jack Kralick, was 12-11, 3.85, 1.24.  The fourth starter role was split between Dick Stigman and Joe Bonikowski, with Don Lee given a handful of starts as well.  Bonikowski, a twenty-one year old rookie, seems to have gotten most of the starts early in the season, but he went 3-6, 4.82, 1.45 as a starter.  He did much better out of the bullpen, going 2-1, 1.57, 1.05.  It was his only major league season--he pitched poorly in the minors over the next few years.  Stigman got most of the starts late and did better, going 9-3, 3.82, 1.32.  The Twins only finished five games behind they Yankees--perhaps, had they moved Stigman into the rotation sooner, they'd have made up those five games.

The Twins had a 3.89 ERA, sixth in the league.  Baltimore led at 3.69.  The Twins were second in WHIP at 1.29.  New York led at 1.28.

The Twins scored their early runs off Horlen, who lasted just two innings and allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out one.  Horlen would become a fine pitcher, but he was not yet one in 1962.  It was his first full season in the majors, and he went 7-6, 4.89.  He would be substantially better in 1963, and he went five seasons, 1964-1968, in which he posted ERAs under three while pitching over 200 innings.  In four of those seasons his ERA was less than 2.50.  Even in a pitcher's era, that's impressive.  Somehow he only made one all-star team and only once got Cy Young consideration.  That was in 1967, when he went 19-7, 2.06, 0.95 WHIP.  He led the league in ERA, WHIP and shutouts (6), but still lost the award to Jim  Lonborg (22-9, 3.16, 1.14 WHIP).  Lonborg had a fine season, but had Horlen won a twentieth game it might have made a difference.

We mentioned Eddie Fisher above.  There was also, of course, a popular singer of roughly that era named Eddie Fisher, although his career had started to wane by this time.  I wonder if a person could come up with a team of ballplayers who had the same name as singers.  Michael Jackson comes immediately to mind, but I don't know if there are very many others.

The Twins would sweep the doubleheader.  They were in a stretch where they would win five of six, seven of nine, and nine of twelve.

As you may be able to tell, the 1960s era is my favorite era of Twins baseball.  I guess it's because they were the team I followed when I was a kid--I think most of us tend to think of the way sports were when we were young as a golden era.  1962 was a little early--I was only three then--but by 1965 I had started to pay attention and by 1969 I was completely hooked.

Record:  The Twins were 34-24, in second place in the American League, percentage points behind New York.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, five games behind New York.

The White Sox were 29-29, in sixth place in the American League, five games behind New York.  They would finish 85-77, in fifth place, 11 games behind New York.

Random Record:  The Twins are 45-44 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2018, Game One Hundred Twenty-four

2 Comments

CHICAGO 8, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 20.

Batting stars:  Max Kepler was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a triple.  Ehire Adrianza was 2-for-4.  Jake Cave was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth), a walk, and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Alan Busenitz pitched 2.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and two walks and striking out two.  Oliver Drake struck out four in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Daniel Palka was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Tim Anderson was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Matt Davidson was 2-for-5 with a home run (his eighteenth), two runs, and three RBIs.  Jose Abreu was 2-for-5 with a double, a stolen base (his second), and two RBIs.  Juan Minaya struck out five in two perfect innings.

The game:  The White Sox put men on first and third in the first inning but did not score.  In the second, however, they scored four times.  Nicky Delmonico tripled and Davidson hit an RBI single.  Yolmer Sanchez walked and Kevan Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Anderson singled home a run and Abreu doubled home two to make it 4-0 Chicago.

The Twins got one back in the bottom of the second when Mitch Garver walked and Cave hit an RBI double.  The White Sox got the run back in the fourth when Abreu singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a stolen base-plus-error to make it 5-1 Chicago.

The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the fourth when Garver hit a two-out double and Cave delivered a two-run homer to cut the lead to 5-3.  It stayed 5-3 until the seventh.  At that point Avisail Garcia singled and Davidson hit a two-run homer.  They added one more in the eighth when Anderson singled and scored from first on Palka's double, making the score 8-3.

The Twins tried to come back in the ninth.  Kepler led off the inning with a home run.  Cave drew a one-out walk, took second on defensive indifference, and scored on Adrianza's two-out single.  But Joe Mauer grounded out, and the game was over.

WP:  Lucas Giolito (9-9).  S:  Stephen Gonsalves (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Adrianza was at second base.  Brian Dozier was the regular second baseman, but of course he was traded at the end of July.

Miguel Sano was at third base.  Nothing noteworthy about that, really, but injuries limited him to 56 games at third base.  Eduardo Escobar played the most games at third, 77.  Adrianza played 28 games there.

Cave played the most games in center and Kepler played the most games in right.  In this game, however, their roles were reversed, with Kepler in center and Cave in right.

Tyler Austin was the DH.  He had been acquired in a trade about ten days earlier.  The Twins used a bunch of guys at DH in 2018.  Robbie Grossman played the most games there, 36, but Logan Morrison was right behind at 35 and Mauer had 33.  Austin played 20 games at DH and Eddie Rosario had a dozen games there.

The Twins did not have a .300 hitter unless you count Willians Astudillo, who had 93 at-bats.  Jorge Polanco and Rosario each batted .288.  The Twins were seventh in the league in batting at .250.  Boston led the league at .268.

Rosario led the team in home runs with 24.  Kepler was second at 20.  Dozier had 16, Escobar and Morrison each had 15, and Cave and Sano each had 13.  The Twins were twelfth in home runs with 166.  New York led the league with 267.

This was the major league debut for Gonsalves.  It did not go well.  He pitched 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks.  He did strike out three.  He would make three more starts and three relief appearances, going 2-2, 6.57.  The Twins struggled to find more than three starters.  Jose Berrios was 12-11, 3.84, 1.14 WHIP.  Kyle Gibson was 10-13, 3.62, 1.30.  Jake Odorizzi was 7-10, 4.49, 1.35.  But beyond that, it was tough.  Lance Lynn made twenty starts, going 7-8, 5.10, 1.63.  The only other pitcher to make double-digit starts was Fernando Romero, who was 3-3, 4.69, 1.42.  Eleven other pitchers made at least one start, with six of them making four or more.

Fernando Rodney was the closer most of the season and he did well enough, going 3-2, 3.09, 1.40 WHIP.  Taylor Rogers was very good:  1-2, 2.63, 0.95.  Ryan Pressly was reliable, for the most part:  1-1, 3.40, 1.36.  But Addison Reed and Trevor Hildenberger struggled, and beyond that it was a bunch of guys like Matt Magill, Zach Duke, and Matt Belisle.

The Twins were ninth in team ERA at 4.50.  Houston led at 3.11, far above the number two Rays at 3.74.  The Twins were tenth in WHIP at 1.38.  Houston led there, too, at 1.10, again significantly ahead of number two Tampa Bay at 1.20.

It seems like longer ago than two years that we were playing guys like Busenitz, Drake, and Morrison.

Record:  The Twins were 59-65, in second place in the American League Central, 13 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 78-84, in second place, 13 games behind Cleveland.

The White Sox were 47-77, in fourth place in the American League Central, 25 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 62-100, in fourth place, 29 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Twins are 44-44 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2015, Game Seventy-four

4 Comments

MINNESOTA 8, BALTIMORE 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 7.

Batting stars:  Kurt Suzuki was 3-for-4.  Miguel Sano was 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and three RBIs.  Joe Mauer was 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Gibson struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk.  Brian Duensing pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.  Ryan O'Rourke pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Adam Jones was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  J. J. Hardy was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.  Brad Brach pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  The Orioles put men on second and third with one out in the first inning but did not score.  It was the last time they were in the game.

In the bottom of the first Mauer hit a one-out single, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Trevor Plouffe double.  Sano followed with his first major league home run to put the Twins ahead 3-0.  In the third Mauer again singled, again took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a strikeout/passed ball (Twins baseball!) to make it 4-0.  The Twins put it away in the fourth.  Aaron Hicks led off with a double and Suzuki singled.  A sacrifice fly scored a run; with a man on third Mauer was intentionally walked and Plouffe was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  Sano drew a walk to force in a run and Eddie Rosario singled home two to make it 8-0 Twins.

Baltimore got two in the sixth on Hardy's homer and added one more in the eighth on a Jones double, but again, they never threatened to get back into the game.

WP:  Gibson (7-6).  LP:  Kevin Gausman (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Danny Santana was at shortstop.  He started the season as the regular shortstop, but did not hit and was eventually replaced by Eduardo Escobar.  For the season Escobar played slightly more games at short, 71 to 67.

In this game, however, Escobar was in left field.  Rosario, normally in left, moved to right, with Torii Hunter given the day off.

Shane Robinson went to left in the eighth in place of Escobar.

This was the sixth game of Sano's major league career.  He was batting .450 and, as noted above, hit his first major league home run in this game.  He would finish at .269 with 18 home runs.  The Twins did not have a .300 hitter, or anything close to it, in 2015.  In fact, Sano's .269 led the team.  Rosario was next at .267 and Mauer batted .265.  The Twins were next-to-last in batting average at .247.  Detroit led the league at .270.

Brian Dozier led the team with 28 home runs.  Hunter and Plouffe tied for second with 22.  The Twins had eight players with double digit home runs:  Sano had 18, Rosario 13, Escobar 12, Hicks 11, and Mauer 10.  The Twins were tenth in home runs with 156.  Toronto led the league at 232.

Gibson would probably have to be considered the ace of the staff.  He went 11-11, 3.84, 1.29 WHIP in a team-leading 32 starts.  The only other starter with an ERA under four was Tommy Milone, who was 9-5, 3.92, 1.28.  Ervin Santana, who missed the first half of the season, was 7-5, 4.00, 1.30.  The other starters were Mike Pelfrey (6-11. 4.26, 1.48) and Phil Hughes (11-9, 4.40, 1.29).

Glen Perkins was the closer, going 3-5, 3.32, 1.19 with 32 saves.  Others who were reliable relievers include Blaine Boyer (3-6, 2.40, 1.25) and Casey Fien (4-6, 3.55, 1.09).  Doing well in limited duty were Tyler Duffey (5-1, 3.10,  1.31), Kevin Jepsen (1-1, 1.61, 0.89), Ryan Pressly (3-2, 2.93, 1.41), and Michael Tomkin (0-0, 3.47, 1.29).

The Twins were tenth in ERA at 4.07.  Houston led the league at 3.57.  They were twelfth in WHIP at 1.33.  Cleveland led at 1.19.

Baltimore players with a Twins connection include Hardy, Chris Parmelee, Steve Pearce, and Jonathan Schoop.

It seems like more than five years ago that we had people like Robinson, Boyer and Tomkin.  Also playing in this game was J. R. Graham.

This was the middle game of a three-game winning streak.  The Twins would go on to win seven of eight.

Record:  The Twins were 45-39, in second place in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.  They would finish 83-79, in second place, 12 games behind Kansas City.

The Orioles were 43-41, in second place in the American League East, 1.5 games behind New York.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, 12 games behind Toronto.

Random Record:  The Twins are 44-43 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1992, Game One Hundred Twenty-five

5 Comments

DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN DETROIT

Date:  Monday, August 24.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourteenth.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4.  Randy Bush was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Mike Trombley struck out four in three innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Eric King pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and one walk and striking out five.  Skeeter Barnes was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his third.  Mark Carreon was 2-for-4.  Tony Phillips was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his sixth.  Cecil Fielder was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-eighth.

The game:  Neither team did much for the first two innings, but the Tigers opened the third with consecutive singles by Carreon, Barnes, and Gary Pettis to take a 1-0 lead.  They did no more damage, however, and when Hrbek homered with two out in the fourth, the scored was tied 1-1.

But then Detroit took over in the fifth.  Barnes led off with a single and went to third on a stolen base-plus-error.  Pettis walked, Phillips hit a two-run double, and Gladden followed with a two-run homer.  The Tigers had a 5-1 lead.

The Twins put men on second and third with two out in the bottom of the fifth, but nothing came of it.  Fielder homered leading off the seventh to make it 6-1.  The Twins got one in the eighth on singles by Chuck Knoblauch and Mack and an infield out by Kirby Puckett, but that was all they could do.

WP:  King (4-4).  LP:  Bill Krueger (10-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  The only variation from the standard 1992 lineup is that Bush was in right field rather than Pedro Munoz, who was apparently just given the day off.

The Twins used their bench in the ninth, although it didn't help any.  Jeff Reboulet pinch-ran for Bush.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Scott Leius.  Mike Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Greg Gagne.

Puckett was batting .329.  He would finish at .329, which led the team.  Mack was batting .325.  He would finish at .315.  Brian Harper was batting .305.  He would finish at .307.  As a team the Twins batted a league-leading .277, well ahead of second-place Milwaukee at .268.

The 1992 team was not a homerun-hitting team.  Puckett led the squad with 19.  Mack was second at 16, followed by Hrbek with 15 and Munoz and Chili Davis with 12 each.  The Twins hit 104 home runs, which was tenth in the league.

Krueger lasted five innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out six.  He had a decent-enough year, going 10-6, 4.30, 1.31 WHIP, not bad for a fourth starter.  The staff ace was John Smiley, who was 16-9, 3.21, 1.12 WHIP.  At the time Smiley was considered somewhat of a disappointment, but that's unfair.  The Twins were coming off a World Series win, and Smiley was supposed to be the guy to lead them back there again.  When they didn't get there, he got some of the blame, but he more than did his part.  The main reason the Twins didn't get back to the World Series is that Oakland improved by twelve games.  The Twins had a good team.  The Athletics just had a better team.

Anyway, the rest of the rotation was Kevin Tapani (16-11, 3.97, 1.25) and Scott Erickson (13-12, 3.40, 1.32).  Another reason the Twins couldn't overtake Oakland is that they couldn't find a fifth starter.  Pat Mahomes started and ended the season as the fifth starter, but in the middle it was Willie Banks.  Neither of them got the job done.   Mahomes was 3-4, 5.04, 1.58 WHIP.  Banks was 4-4, 5.70, 1.65 WHIP.

The bullpen was extremely good, with five relievers with ERAs below three.  Rick Aguilera was 2-6, 2.84, 1.16.  Carl Willis was 7-3, 2.72, 1.06.  Tom Edens was 6-3, 2.83, 1.32.  Mark Guthrie was 2-3, 2.88, 1.09.  Gary Wayne was 3-3, 2.63, 1.35.  That's a reliable bullpen.

The Twins were third in ERA at 3.70.  Milwaukee led at 3.43.  The Twins were second in WHIP at 1.29.  Milwaukee led there, too, at 1.22.

By game scores, this was the best game of the season for Eric King.  He was a solid pitcher from 1988-1990, but was not any more by 1992.  This was his last year, and he went 4-6, 5.22, 1.49.  But he was too much for the Twins on this day.  That's baseball.

August was the worst month of the season for the Twins, as they went 12-17.  One could argue that this poor month cost the Twins the pennant, too.

Record:  The Twins were 69-56, in second place in the American League West, 7 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 90-72, in second place, 6 games behind Oakland.

The Tigers were 60-66, in fourth place in the American League East, 11.5 games behind Toronto.  They would finish 75-87, in sixth place, 21 games behind Toronto.

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

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game Twenty-nine

2 Comments

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.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game Twenty-five

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 5, LOS ANGELES 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 12.

Batting stars:  Pedro Ramos was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs.  Jim Lemon was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Pedro Ramos struck out eight in eight innings, giving up four runs on six hits and five walks.  Ray Moore pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Earl Averill was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and a double.  Eli Grba was 1-for-2 with a home run.  Ken Hunt was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.  Johnny James struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

The game:  Neither team got a hit for the first three innings.  In the fourth, Leon Wagner led off with a walk and Hunt hit a one-out two-run homer to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the fourth.  Harmon Killebrew drew a one-out walk, Earl Battey singled, and Lemon hit a two-run double, making the score 2-2.

Los Angeles pitcher Grba homered in the top of the fifth, but Twins pitcher Ramos answered with a homer of his own in the bottom of the fifth, once again tying the game.  In the sixth, Lemon led off with a walk and went to second on a ground out.  Bob Allison was intentionally walked and Reno Bertoia was accidentally walked, loading the bases.  Ramos then came through again, knocking a two-run single to left to give the Twins a 5-3 lead.

The Angels put men on second and third with two out in the seventh, but did not score.  Averill led off the ninth with a home run, cutting the margin to 5-4, but Moore came in and allowed only a two-out walk to Faye Throneberry before closing the door.

WP:  Ramos (3-2).  LP:  Grba (3-3).  S:  Moore (4).

Notes:  Billy Gardner was the second baseman.  He would be replaced by Billy Martin after he was acquired on June 1 for Billy Consolo.  The Twins had quite the Billy club in 1961.  A little odd, too, that one future Twins manager was replaced by another.

Bertoia was at third base.  Bill Tuttle was the mostly regular at third, with Killebrew playing a fair number of games there as well.  At this stage of the season, however, Tuttle was an outfielder; he did not shift to third until late June, and had not played the position in the majors before.  He would not play it again, either, as he shifted back to the outfield in 1962.

The only position player substitution came in the ninth inning, when Dan Dobbek came in to replace Lemon in left field.

Battey was batting .345 in the young season.  He would finish at .302.  Killebrew was batting .342.  He would finish at .288.  Zoilo Versalles was batting .319.  He would finish at .280.  Lenny Green was batting .308.  He would finish at .285.  The Twins batted .250, good for seventh in the league.  Cleveland led the league at .266.

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

It would be hard to say who the staff ace was in 1961.  Ramos led the team in starts at 34, and also pitched in relief 8 times.  He was 11-20, 3.95. 1.30 WHIP.  Camilo Pascual was 15-16, 3.46, 1.21.  Jack Kralick was 13-11, 3.62, 1.33, and Jim Kaat was 9-17, 3.90, 1.35.  The only other pitcher to make double digit starts was Don Lee, who was 3-6, 3.52, 1.11.  Closers weren't really a thing then--Moore led the team with 14 saves.  Each of the four main starters pitched over 200 innings and they had 49 complete games, so their weren't just a whole lot relief innings to be concerned about.

As a team, the Twins had an ERA of 4.28, seventh in the league.  Baltimore led at 3.22.  The Twins were fifth in WHIP at 1.39.  Baltimore led at 1.25.

I'm guessing that, back in the day, both starting pitchers hitting a home run wasn't that rare, but it was certainly uncommon.  I don't recall it happening in any of the random rewind games, nor do I recall it in the 1965 or 1969 rewinds, although I certainly could have forgotten.

Record:  The Twins were 13-12, in fourth place in the American League, 5.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, 38 games behind New York.

The Angels were 9-14, tied for eighth in the American League, 8.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 70-91, in eighth place, 38.5 games behind New York.

Detroit went 101-61 and finished eight games out of first place.  That had to be discouraging.

Random record:  The Twins are 41-40 in Random Rewind games.  If we do this for 162 games (which we won't, unless there's no 2020 season at all), we'd be at the half-way point of the random season.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2009, Game Sixty-two

1 Comment

OAKLAND 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Thursday, June 11.

Batting stars:  Justin Morneau was 2-for-4.  Delmon Young was 2-for-4.  Joe Crede was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his tenth.

Pitching star:  Nick Blackburn pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits and three walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Jack Hannahan was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Adam Kennedy was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his fifth), a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.  Trevor Cahill pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.  Brad Ziegler struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Twins started the second with two singles, but nothing came of it.  In the fourth Morneau singled with one out.  Jason Kubel walked and Crede followed with a three-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 3-0.

That's all the Twins did on offense, but for a while it looked like that would be enough.  Blackburn appeared to be in control, giving up just three hits through seven innings.  With one out in the eighth, however, Hannahan tripled, Orlando Cabrera had an RBI single, and Kennedy hit a two-run homer, tying the score at 3-3.

We went to the bottom of the ninth.  Sean Henn started the inning and walked Jason Giambi.  Matt Guerrier came in and hit Kennedy with a pitch, moving the deciding run to second.  A bunt moved the runners up and Rajai Davis singled, ending the game in Oakland's favor.

WP:  Ziegler (1-1).  LP:  Henn (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brian Buscher was at first base, with Morneau at DH.  Kubel, who played the majority of games at DH, was in right field.  Michael Cuddyer, normally in right, was in center.  Carlos Gomez, normally in center, was given the day off.

Matt Tolbert was at second base in place of Alexi Casilla.  Casilla was in the process of losing the second base job, and would have lost it by now had the Twins had a decent alternative.  As his competition was Tolbert and Punto, he still managed to play the most games at the position, 72.

Brendan Harris was at shortstop.  He and Nick Punto shared the shortstop spot until the end of July, when the Twins traded for the above-mentioned Orlando Cabrera.

Gomez came in to run for Kubel in the eighth.  He then went to center, with Cuddyer moving to right.

Mauer, whose season didn't start until the first of May, was batting .410.  He would finish at .365.  Morneau was batting .340--he would finish at .274.  Kubel was batting .311--he would finish at .300.  Denard Span, who did not play in this game, batted .311.  He was essentially a regular, but is not listed as one because he did not play the most games at any one position.  He played 84 games in center, 74 in left, and 39 in right.

At the other end of the batting scale, Tolbert was batting .183.  For some reason, he led off in this game.  He would finish at .232.  Buscher was batting.195.  He would finish at .235.  The Twins were still third in batting in 2009 at .274.  Los Angeles led with .285.

Cuddyer led the team in home runs with 32.  Morneau was right behind at 30 and Mauer and Kubel were not far back at 28.  Crede contributed 15 and Young 12.  The Twins were ninth in home runs with 172.  New York led with 244.

Blackburn had a solid year for the Twins, going 11-11, 4.03.  He led the starters in ERA and was tied for the most starts with Scott Baker, who led the team in wins.  He went 15-9, 4.37.  From there it got kind of ugly.  Francisco Liriano 5-13, 5.80 and Glen Perkins was 6-7, 5.89.  Kevin Slowey went 10-3 despite a 4.86 ERA, and Carl Pavano was 5-4, 4.64 in 12 starts.  Anthony Swarzak also made 12 starts and went 3-7, 6.25.

The Twins did have a pretty solid bullpen.  Joe Nathan saved 47 games and had a 2.10 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP.  Guerrier, although he did not pitch well in this game, had an ERA of 2.36 and a WHIP of 0.97.  Jose Mijares appeared in 71 games, posting an ERA of 2.34 and a WHIP of 1.18.  Also contributing were Jon Rauch (1.72 ERA, 1.21 WHIP in 17 games) and Ron Mahay (2.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in 16 games).

The starters, though, dragged the Twins down to eleventh in ERA at 4.50.  Seattle led with 3.87.  They were sixth in WHIP at 1.38.  Seattle led that, too, at 1.30.

There were several "oh, yeah" Twins in this game:  Tolbert, Harris, Crede, Buscher, Henn.  The main thing I remember about Crede is the Twins Territory ad that referred to him as "Home Run Greedy Crede".

Oakland players with a Twins connection are Cabrera and Kurt Suzuki.

Hannahan's triple was one of five he had in his career.

The Twins were in a stretch where they won four out of five.  This was their only loss.

Record:  The Twins were 30-32, in second place in the American League Central, four games behind Detroit.  They would finish 87-76, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit.

The Athletics were 27-32, in fourth (last) place in the American League West, seven games behind Texas.  They would finish 75-87, in fourth place, 22 games behind Los Angeles.

Random record:  The Twins are 40-40 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1990, Game Seventy-six

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 4, BALTIMORE 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, July 1.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Al Newman was 2-for-3 with a stolen base (his sixth) and two walks.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his eleventh) and a walk.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Roy Smith pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and one walk and striking out five.  Rick Aguilera struck out five in two shutout innings, giving up two walks.

Opposition stars:  Cal Ripken was 3-for-5 with a home run (his ninth) and two RBIs.  Steve Finley was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk.  Joe Orsulak was 2-for-5.  Pete Harnisch pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out five.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the third but did not score.  They put two on with two out in the fourth but did not score.  Instead, the Orioles started the scoring in the fifth when Finley hit a one-out home run.

The Twins answered back in the fifth.  This time they put two on with none out, as Gene Larkin and Puckett started the inning with singles.  Hrbek then hit a three-run homer to put the Twins up 3-1.  Ripken homered with one out in the sixth to cut the lead to 3-2.

It stayed 3-2 until the eighth.  Then Orsulak led off with a double and Ripken had an RBI single, and the game was tied 3-3.  The Twins put men on first and third with two out in the bottom of the eighth, but to no avail.

The Orioles could only manage a one-out walk to Mickey Tettleton in the top of the ninth.  In the bottom of the ninth, Puckett led off with a walk and Hrbek singled, putting men on first and second.  A force out put men on first and third, and Brian Harper delivered an RBI single, giving the Twins the victory.

WP:  Aguilera (2-1).  LP:  Gregg Olson (4-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  John Moses was in left in place of Dan Gladden.  Larkin was in right field.  Paul Sorrento was the DH.

The Twins really didn't have a regular right fielder.  Moses played the most games there with 52, but Shane Mack was right behind at 51.  Larkin played 47 games in right, Randy Bush 31, Carmelo Castillo 20, and Pedro Munoz 19.

The Twins also didn't really have a regular DH.  Larkin had the most games there with 43, with Castillo second at 35.  Bush was the DH for 27 games, Sorrento for 23, Jim Dwyer 22, Hrbek 20, Harper 11, and Moses 10.

Puckett was batting .308.  He would finish at 298.  Harper was batting .301.  He would finish at .294.  Among those who had at least 300 at-bats, Mack was the only .300 hitter, batting .326.  The Twins would bat .265 on the season, good for fourth place in the league.  Boston led at .272.

Hrbek led the team in home runs with 22.  Gary Gaetti hit 16 and Puckett 12.  The Twins hit just 100 home runs, tied for last with Kansas City.  Detroit led the league with 172.

Smith had a good enough game here, but he did not have a good season, going 5-10, 4.81, 1.55 WHIP.  My recollection of him is that he was a fairly big guy (6'3", 200 lbs.), but he did not throw hard at all.  He'd had a good year in 1989 (10-6, 3.92), but that was the only good year he ever had in the majors.

The Twins' rotation was not very good in 1990.  Allan Anderson led the team in starts with 31, but he went 7-18, 4.53.  Kevin Tapani made 28 starts, going 12-8, 4.07, 1.21 WHIP.  David West made 27 starts and went 7-9, 5.10, 1.50 WHIP.  Mark Guthrie battled injuries but did okay when healthy, going 7-9, 3.79, 1.33.  Scott Erickson made the jump from AA to the majors in late June and did okay, going 8-4, 2.87, 1.41 WHIP.

The Twins had three solid relievers in Rick Aguilera (5-3, 2.76), Terry Leach (2-5, 3.20) and Juan Berenguer (8-5, 3.41).  John Candelaria also did well out of the bullpen (7-3, 3.39), but he was traded to Toronto at the July deadline.

The Twins were eleventh in team ERA at 4.12; Oakland led with 3.18.  The Twins were eighth in WHIP at 1.39; Oakland led there, too, at 1.22.

The Twins really struggled to find a second baseman.  Newman got the most playing time there, 89 games, but he batted just .242 with a .582 OPS, and Tom Kelly preferred to use him as a utility man anyway.  They acquired Fred Manrique early in the season, but he batted just .237 and was released in August, having played 67 games at second.  Nelson Liriano was acquired in the Candelaria trade and played 50 games at second, batting .254.  The next year, Chuck Knoblauch would take over at second.

This was the "worst" part of the worst-to-first connection for the Twins.  Kelly never liked that phrase.  He said something to the effect of "we finished last, but we weren't the worst".  He had a point:  the Yankees actually had the worst record in the league at 67-95, and the Twins were only a game and a half behind Kansas City.  Plus, the Twins' record that year was among the best that a last-place team has ever had, as they lost fewer than 90 games.

This game snapped a four-game losing streak for the Twins.  They would go on to win four of the next five.

Record:  The Twins were 36-40, in fifth place in the American League West, 12 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 74-88, in seventh (last) place, 29 games behind Oakland.

The Orioles were 34-42, in fifth place in the American League East, 10.5 games behind Boston.  They would finish 76-85, in fifth place, 11.5 games behind Boston.

Random record:  The Twins are 40-39 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2005, Game Ninety-eight

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN DETROIT

Date:  Sunday, July 24.

Batting stars:  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4.  Joe Mauer was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.

Pitching star:  Matt Guerrier pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out six.  Magglio Ordonez was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk.  Chris Shelton was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Curtis Granderson was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second), a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.  Ivan Rodriguez was 2-for-4.  Carlos Guillen was 2-for-5 with a home run, his third.

The game:  With two out in the first, Shelton singled and scored from first on Ordonez' double, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.  The Twins tied it in the third when Michael Cuddyer tripled and scored on a Stewart single.

Detroit went back in the front in the fourth when Rodriguez singled and Granderson delivered a two-out RBI triple.  The Tigers extended their lead in the fifth.  Guillen led off the inning with a home run, Shelton followed with a double, and Ordonez had a run-scoring single, making the score 4-1.  Granderson homered leading off the sixth, increasing the lead to 5-1.

The Twins did very little offensively from the fourth through the seventh.  They put two men on with one out in the eighth, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.  Mauer led off the ninth with a home run.  Torii Hunter then singled and Jacque Jones walked, bringing the tying run to the plate.  But Matthew LeCroy hit into a double play and Justin Morneau grounded out, and the game was over.

WP:  Bonderman (13-6).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (7-9).  S:  Kyle Farnsworth (5).

Notes:  Bret Boone was at second base in one of the fourteen games he played for the Twins.  Luis Rivas started the season at second, but the Twins had lost patience with him by this point and he lost the job.  Nick Punto played the most games at second, with 73.  Rivas had 53, Luis Rodriguez 40, Brent Abernathy 17, Boone 14, and Michael Cuddyer 11.

Juan Castro was at shortstop.  He was the regular there for the first half of the season, but at this point he was just about to lose the job to Jason Bartlett.  Castro played a few more games at short, 73 to 68.  Punto played 34 games there and Rodriguez 10.  One of those ten is this game, as will be seen below.

Lew Ford pinch-hit for Castro in the eighth.  Rodriguez then entered the game at shorstop.

Mauer was batting .311.  He would finish at .294.  The Twins did not have a .300 hitter unless you count players with fewer than 150 at-bats.  The Twins batted .259, which was next-to-last in the league.  Boston led at .281.

Jones led in home runs with 23, with Morneau right behind at 22.  LeCory hit 17, Hunter 14, Cuddyer 12, and Stewart 10.  The Twins were 12th in the league in home runs with 134.  Texas led with 260.

Lohse pitched 5.2 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on eleven hits and three walks.  He struck out two.  Johan Santana was clearly the staff ace, going 16-7, 2.87, 0.97 WHIP.  Along with Brad Radke (9-12, 4.04, 1.18) and Carlos Silva (9-8, 3.34, 1.17), the Twins had three pretty good starters.  Lohse wasn't awful as a fourth, going 9-13, 4.18, 1.43.  Joe Mays was the fifth starter pretty much all season even though he was awful, going 6-10, 5.65, 1.56 WHIP.  There were only three other pitchers who started games for the Twins, Scott Baker with nine, Francisco Liriano with four, and Dave Gassner with two.  The Twins were fifth in the league in ERA at 3.71; Cleveland led at 3.61.  They were second in WHIP at 1.23; Cleveland led at 1.22.

The Twins had a very good bullpen, with three relievers with ERAs under three, Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain, and Juan Rincon.  Two more were under four, Guerrier and J. C. Romero.  I know ERA isn't all that in evaluating relivers, but still, that's pretty good.

Chris Shelton had a couple of pretty good years as a part-time first baseman, batting .299/.360/.510 in 388 at-bats in 2005 and .273/.340/.466 in 373 at-bats in 2006.  Despite that, the Tigers chose to go with Sean Casey (.296/.353/.393) at first base in 2007.  Shelton spent the entire 2007 season in Toledo and never did get another real chance in the majors.

This game started a stretch in which the Twins would lose eight of nine.

Record:  The Twins were 53-45, in second place in the American League Central, 11.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 83-79, in third place, 16 games behind Chicago.

The Tigers were 49-49, in fourth place in the American League Central, 15.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 71-91, in fourth place, 28 games behind Chicago.

Rewind Record:  The Twins are 39-39 in Random Rewind games.