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Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1973, Game One Hundred Twenty-eight

MILWAUKEE 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

DateL  Sunday, August 26.

Batting star:  Jim Holt was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out eleven in 7.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and no walks.  Bill Hands retired all four men he faced, striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jim Slaton pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out none.  Bob Coluccio was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his tenth.  Pedro Garcia was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his eleventh.

The game:  The Brewers put men on second and third with none out in the first, but Blyleven came back to strike out Johnny Briggs and George Scott before retiring Don Money on a liner to left.  In the second, however, Tim Johnson hit a two-out single and Garcia followed with a two-run homer, putting Milwaukee ahead 2-0.

Holt had a leadoff double in the third but did nothing came of it.  That was the only time either team got a man past first base until the sixth, when Coluccio doubled and Money delivered a two-out single to make it 3-0.

Brewers starter Slaton appeared to be in complete control.  In the ninth, however, Larry Hisle led off with a triple and Tony Oliva singled him home, making the score 3-1 and bringing the tying run up to bat.  Mike Adams came in to run for Oliva and got as far as second with two out.  Chris Short came in to face Steve Braun, but when Bobby Darwin pinch-hit he was intentionally walked.  That was the only man Short would face, as Carlos Velazquez came in to face pinch-hitter Eric Soderholm.  Soderholm delivered an RBI single, cutting the margin to 3-2 and putting the tying run on third.  Jerry Terrell fouled out to third, however, and the game was over.

WP:  Slaton (9-11).  LP:  Blyleven (15-14).  S:  Velazquez (2).

Notes:  Phil Roof caught in place of George Mitterwald, presumably because it was a day game after a night game.

Rich Reese was at first base, one of only four games he started for the Twins.  He was at the end of his career, having been released by Detroit a couple of weeks earlier, and was apparently brought back to the Twins out of sentiment.  Harmon Killebrew was still the primary first baseman, but he missed a couple of months due to injury.  Joe Lis played the most games at first in 1973, with 96.

Terrell shared the shortstop position with Danny Thompson.  Both were pretty much dead weight offensively.  Terrell was a little better, at .265/.297/.315.  Thompson batted .225/.259/.282.  Thompson played more games at short, 95 to 81.

Darwin was the regular right fielder, but was given the day off.  Holt, who played the most games in left (80), was in right, with Hisle in left.  Hisle also played quite a bit of center field, but Steve Brye played the most games there and was there in this game.

All the substitutions came in the ninth inning and are mentioned above.

Carew, not surprisingly, was leading the team in batting at .347.  He would finish at .350 and be the team's only .300 hitter.  The Twins would actually lead the league in batting at .270.  Carew was obviously a big part of that, but Holt batted .297, Oliva .291, and Braun .283.  Soderholm also batting .297 in 111 at-bats.

Darwin led the team in home runs with 18.  Mitterwald and Oliva each had 16, Hisle 15, and Holt 11.  The Twins were seventh in home runs with 120.

Blyleven, of course, was the ace of the pitching staff, going 20-17, 2.52.  Dick Woodson was 10-8, 3.95; Jim Kaat was 11-12, 4.41; Joe Decker was 10-10, 4.18.  Others to make double digit starts were Hands (7-10, 3.49) and Dave Goltz (6-4, 5.25).  Hands' record is deceiving.  In his fifteen starts he went 5-7, 4.55.  Moved to the bullpen, he was excellent, going 2-3, 1.34, 1.09 WHIP, and two saves in 47 relief innings.

The Twins didn't really have a closer.  Ken Sanders started the year as the closest thing to one, but he often was used for two or three innings.  He had eight saves, but also had an ERA of over six when he was waived in early August.  Ray Corbin took over the closer role and actually was fairly good, getting 14 saves.  The Twins preferred to have him in a longer role, so Bill Campbell was eventually made the closer near the season's end.

This was Bob Coluccio's rookie year.  He was a regular for Milwaukee for two seasons but couldn't get his batting average out of the .220s.  Presumably he was considered a fine fielder.

This was also Pedro Garcia's rookie year.  He batted .245/.296/.395, which was good enough to place him second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Al Bumbry.  That was as good as it would get for him, though.  He slumped to .199 the next year and was never a regular again.  His was a second baseman, and presumably was not all that good in the field, because while he spent a few seasons as a reserve he was never used at another position.

This was the end of a stretch in which the Twins lost eight out of nine.  They would win seven of the next nine.

Record:  The Twins were 60-68, in third place in the American League West, 16.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, 13 games behind Oakland.

The Brewers were 62-65, in fifth place in the American League East, 12.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 74-88, in fifth place, 23 games behind Baltimore.

Random record:  The Twins are 38-35 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1978, Game Thirty-eight

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KANSAS CITY 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Saturday, May 20.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Willie Norwood was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his twelfth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Freddie Patek was 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, his eighth and ninth.  Hal McRae was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Amos Otis was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his eighth.  George Brett was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Clint Hurdle was 2-for-4 with a double.  Rich Gale pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  Dan Ford drew a two-out walk in the first and scored from first on a Mike Cubbage double, putting the Twins up 1-0.  That would be their only lead of the game.

The Royals loaded the bases in the second and did not score.  In the third, however, Willie Wilson led off with a single, stole second, and scored on McRae's single.  McRae went to second on the throw home and later scored on an Otis single, giving Kansas City a 2-1 lead.

The Twins got two singles and a walk in the fourth but failed to produce a run with them.  It stayed 2-1 until the sixth, when Hurdle doubled and scored on Patek's single to make it 3-1.  The Royals then took over in the seventh. McRae singled, George Brett doubled, and Al Cowens singled to make it 4-1.  Otis walked to load the bases and Hurdle singled to give Kansas City a 5-1 advantage.

The Twins tried to get back into it in the eighth.  Norwood singled and Carew hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 5-3.  But the Twins gave a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Patek singled, stole second, and scored on McRae's double.  In the ninth Jose Morales walked and Smalley doubled, bringing the tying run to the plate with none out.  It came to nothing, however, as the next two batters fanned and a popup to the pitcher ended the game.

WP:  Gale (4-0).  LP:  Paul Thormodsgard (1-6).  S:  Al Hrabosky (5).

Notes:  Rob Wilfong was at second base.  He platooned with Bobby Randall, kind of, but the right-handed Randall still got more playing time.  One assumes Randall was considered the better defender, because there's not a lot to choose from offensively.

The Twins made liberal use of their bench, although it doesn't seem to have helped much.  Rich Chiles pinch-hit for Wilfong in the eighth, with Randall coming in to play second.  Larry Wolfe pinch-hit for Cubbage in the eighth and stayed in the game at third.  Morales pinch-hit for Glenn Adams in the ninth.  Bombo Rivera pinch-hit for Hosken Powell in the ninth.  Craig Kusick pinch-hit for Randall in the ninth.

Carew was batting .397.  He would falter, finishing the season at .333.  Rivera was batting .341.  He would finish at .271.  Morales was batting .333.  He would finish at .314.  Cubbage was batting .321.  He would finish at .282.  The Twins finished fifth in batting at .267.

Smalley led the team in home runs with 19.  The only other Twin in double figures was Dan Ford at 11.  The Twins cleanup hitter in this game was Cubbage, who finished the season with 7 homers and a slugging average of .401.  The Twins were dead last in home runs with 82, fifteen behind the next-to-last team.

Thormodsgard started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out one.  The Twins' rotation wasn't bad:  Roger Erickson (14-13, 3.96), Geoff Zahn (14-14, 3.03), Dave Goltz (15-10, 2.49), and Gary Serum (9-9, 4.10).  Thor was the odd man out at (1-6, 5.05), but he would be replaced by Darrell Jackson (4-6, 4.48).

It was kind of fun hearing the names of those great Royals players of the seventies.

Clint Hurdle is regarded as a first-round bust, and I guess he was, but it was because of injuries, not a lack of ability.  In 1980, his age twenty-two season, he batted .294/.349/.458.  He then suffered a back injury and was never again the same player.  He was never able to play more than 78 games in a season and never had more than 184 plate appearances.  Had it not been for the back injury, he could have had a tremendous career.

This was the fifth game of a stretch in which the Twins won seven of eight.  Random.org gave us their only loss in that stretch.

Record:  The Twins were 14-24, in fifth place in the American League West, 9.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 73-89, in fourth place, 19 games behind Kansas City.

The Royals were 19-16, in third place in the American League West, 3 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 92-70, in first place, 5 games ahead of California and Texas.

Random record:  The Twins are 38-34 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2019, Game Forty-four

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MINNESOTA 7, SEATTLE 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Friday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Ehire Adrianza was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), two runs and two RBIs.  Max Kepler was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.  Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Martin Perez struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks.  Matt Magill struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.  Mike Morin pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Austin Adams retired all six men he faced, striking out four.  Edwin Encarnacion was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dee Gordon was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his twelfth.  Mitch Haniger was 0-for-1 with three walks.

The game:  The Mariners put men on second and third with one out in the first, but a pair of strikeouts ended the inning.  The Twins started the scoring in the third on Adrianza's solo home run.  In the fourth, the Twins opened the inning with consecutive singles by Gonzalez, C. J. Cron, Willians Astudillo, and Kepler, making the score 2-0.  They added one more on Adrianza's sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead.

The Twins built their lead some more in the fifth.  Jorge Polanco and Gonzalez singled and Cron walked, loading the bases with one out.  Astudillo hit a sacrifice fly, and an error moved everyone up a base.  Kepler then delivered a two-run single, making it 6-0 Twins.

Seattle got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth.  With two out Gordon singled, Haniger walked, and Encarnacion had an RBI single.  They had only one hit after that, a two-out double by J. P. Crawford in the sixth.  The Twins added a run in the ninth when Adrianza singled and scored from first on a two-out double by Jonathan Schoop.

WP:  Perez (6-1).  LP:  Marco Gonzales (5-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Astudillo was the catcher in this game, one of 21 games he caught.  Mitch Garver and Jason Castro split the catching duties almost evenly, with Garver catching 82 games and Castro 78.

Adrianza was at third base.  Miguel Sano, who would become the third baseman, was just getting back from injury.  This was his second game of the season, and he was the DH.  Nelson Cruz, the regular DH, missed a few weeks due to injury.

Gonzalez was in left field in place of Eddie Rosario, who was apparently just given the day off.

The Twins did not make any position player substitutions.

Polanco was leading the team in batting at .331.  He would finish at .295.  Luis Arraez, who had not been brought up yet, would lead the team in batting at .334.  Cruz would be the only other .300 hitter, at .311.  The Twins were second in the league in batting at .270.

Cruz would lead the team in home runs with 41.  The Twins would have eleven batters who hit double-digit home runs:  Kepler (36), Sano (34), Rosario (32), Garver (31), Cron (25), Schoop (23), Polanco (22), Gonzalez (15), Castro (13), and Byron Buxton (10).  As you know, the Twins would set a new record for home runs in a season with 307.

Perez was 6-1, 2.89 at this point of the season.  Unfortunately, he couldn't sustain that, and ended up at 10-7, 5.12.  The Twins had three solid starters:  Jose Berrios (14-8, 3.68), Jake Odorizzi (15-7, 3.51), and Michael Pineda (15-11, 4.01).  They struggled after that, though, with Perez and Kyle Gibson (13-7, 4.84).  When Pineda was suspended they really struggled, which led to Randy Dobnak making a start in the playoffs.

The Twins used 31 pitchers in 2019.  So they won't be forgotten, let's tip our cap to Andrew Vasquez, Chase DeJong, Jorge Alcala, and Austin Adams, each of whom pitched one or two games for the Twins last season.

This was the fourth game of a five-game winning streak for the Twins.  After a loss they would win six more in a row, meaning they won eleven of twelve.

Record:  The Twins were 29-15, in first place in the American League Central, 5.5 games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 101-61, in first place, 8 games ahead of Cleveland.

The Mariners were 22-25, in fourth place in the American League West, nine games behind Houston.  They would finish 68-94, in fifth (last) place, 39 games behind Houston.

Rewind Record:  The Twins are 38-33 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1999, Game One Hundred Seven

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MINNESOTA 9, KANSAS CITY 8 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Friday, August 6.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Ron Coomer was 3-for-5 with a home run (his thirteenth), three runs, and three RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-5 with a stolen base (his fifth) and two runs.  Chad Allen was 3-for-5.  Todd Walker was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Dan Perkins pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Travis Miller pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Hector Carrasco pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Mike Trombley allowed three walks but still pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jeremy Giambi was 3-for-5.  Mike Sweeney was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs.  Rey Sanchez was 2-for-4.  Joe Randa was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Johnny Damon was 2-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base, his twenty-second.  Carlos Febles was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his ninth) and a stolen base (his eighteenth).  Carlos Beltran was 1-for-6 with a home run, his seventeenth.

The game:  In the top of the first Guzman had a one-out single, went to second on a Walker walk, took third on a sacrifice fly, and scored on Koskie's single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Royals came right back in the bottom of the first.  Damon led off with a single and Febles followed with a two-run homer, making it 2-1 Kansas City.

Kansas City added to their lead.  In the second Sanchez reached second on a single-plus-error and scored on Damon's single.  Beltran led off the third with a home run, Sweeney singled, Jermaine Dye walked, and Randa had an RBI double.  The first out followed, but then Giambi had an RBI single and a sacrifice fly plated another run.  The Royals led 7-1 after three innings.

The Twins did not start their comeback until the sixth.  Walker led off with a double and went to third on Coomer's single.  Koskie had a sacrifice fly for the first out, but Chad Allen singled and Matt Lawton walked, loading the bases.  Terry Steinbach had an RBI single and a ground out plated another run, cutting the margin to 7-4.

Kansas City scored a two-out run in the sixth when Sweeney doubled and scored on Dye's single.  The Twins came right back with two in the seventh.  Coomer homered for one run, and consecutive two-out singles by Koskie, Allen, and Lawton made the score 8-6.  They took the lead for the first time since the first inning in the eighth.  Torii Hunter and Guzman had one-out singles.  With two down Coomer hit a two-run single to tie it.  Koskie singled him to second, and Allen had another single, bringing home the go-ahead run.

The Royals did not go away quietly.  In the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Scott Pose walked and stole second.  With two out, Tom Kelly gave an intentional walk to Damon, putting the potential winning run on base.  An accidental walk to Jed Hansen (who?) loaded the bases, but Beltran struck out to end the game.

WP:  Miller (2-0).  LP:  Scott Service (4-4).  S:  Trombley (17).

Notes:  Jacque Jones was in center field, rather than Hunter.  Both had center field as their primary position in 1999, with Hunter playing 107 games then and Jones 82.  Clearly, then, there were games when each of them played in center field at some point, and that was the case in this game.  Jones started, but Hunter pinch-hit for him in the sixth and stayed in the game in center field.

Coomer was the DH rather than Marty Cordova.  This was one of only seven times Coomer was at DH in 1999.  He played 71 games at first base, which he shared with Doug Mientkiewicz, and 57 games at third base, which he shared with Koskie.  He was, of course, the Twins' "all-star" in 1999.

Cordova pinch-hit for Mientkiewicz in the sixth inning, with Denny Hocking then going to first base.  Brent Gates replaced Walker at second base in the eighth.

Terry Steinbach led the team in batting at .309.  He would finish at .284.  Koskie was batting .308.  He would finish at .310, which would lead the team at the end.  The Twins were eighth in team batting average at .264.

Coomer led the team in home runs at 16.  Koskie followed with 14.  Koskie had 11 and Allen 10.  The Twins were dead last in home runs with 105, forty below the thirteenth-place team, Tampa Bay.

Twins starter Eric Milton did not retire a man in the third inning.  In two official innings, he allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and two walks.  He did strike out four.  You couldn't tell it from this game, but he actually pitched pretty well over the last four months of the season, going 5-7, 3.86, 1.10 WHIP.  Other than Milton, Brad Radke, and Joe Mays (6-9, 3.72 as a starter), the Twins' starters were pretty terrible.  LaTroy Hawkins (10-14, 6.66), Mike Lincoln (6-10, 6.84), and Dan Perkins (1-7, 6.54).  The Twins had 66 starts made by pitchers who had ERAs over 6.  It's hard to win very many games that way, and of course in 1999 the Twins didn't.

Trombley became the closer when Rick Aguilera was traded in May.  He did okay, saving 24 games and getting only one blown save.  He wasn't used the way closers are now, or even the way closers usually were then.  He came into a lot of tie games and came into a number of games in the eighth inning.  It was his only shot at being a closer--he signed with Baltimore in 2000.  The Twins didn't really have a closer in 2000, Hawkins was given the job in 2001, and eventually Eddie Guardado took over.

Jed Hansen played in parts of three seasons for the Royals, mostly at second base.  He played in 87 games, had 208 plate appearances, and batted .256/.342/.375.  Most of his positives were in his first season, 1997, when he batted .309/.394/.426 in 111 plate appearances--the rest of the time he was around the Mendoza line.  He was a good hitter in the low minors but basically topped out at AA.  In just over a thousand AAA games he batted .255/.342/.433.  Not embarrassing or anything, but not something that projects as a good batter in the majors, either.  Had he been a really good fielder he might have been able to have a career as a utility infielder, but one gets the impression that he was nothing special as a defender.  He kept playing until 2006, but 1999 was his swan song in the majors.

The was the first game of a three-game series which the Twins would sweep.  They were coming off a four-game losing streak.

Record:  The Twins were 45-62, in third place in the American League Central, 19.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 63-97, in fifth (last) place, 33 games behind Cleveland.

The Royals were 45-63, in fourth place in the American League Central, 20 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 64-97, 32.5 games behind Cleveland.

Rewind Record:  The Twins are 37-33 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2001, Game One Hundred Twenty-six

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TORONTO 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 21.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-5.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3.  Brian Buchanan was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

Pitching stars:  Eddie Guardado pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Todd Jones pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Delgado was 3-for-5 with a home run (his thirty-sixth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Raul Mondesi was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-second), a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Alex Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5 with a home run (his ninth) and a double.  Jose Cruz was 1-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-fourth.  Scott Eyre struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  Brad Radke was pitching and so, as you might guess, the Blue Jays scored in the first inning.  With one out, Gonzalez singled and was balked to second.  Delgado delivered a two-out RBI single and scored from first on Mondesi's double, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead before the Twins came to bat.  The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the bottom of the first, but a double play took them out of the inning.

The Blue Jays wasted a leadoff triple in the third.  It looked like it might cost them, as the Twins tied it up in the bottom of the inning.  Pierzynski led off with a single and scored on Luis Rivas' double-plus-error.  Rivas scored on a Guzman single to make it 2-2.  The Twins then took the lead in the fourth on Buchanan's two-out home run.  Cruz homered in the fifth, evening the score again at three.  The Twins took the lead back again in the bottom of the fifth, as Doug Mientkiewicz hit a two-out double and Corey Koskie circled the bases on a double-plus-error-plus-error, giving the Twins a 5-3 advantage.

Jack Cressend came in to relieve Radke in the sixth.  He gave up a home run to each of the first three batters he faced, Stewart, Delgado, and Mondesi, to put Toronto back in front at 6-5.  They added a run in the seventh when Gonzalez singled, Stewart doubled, Mondesi was intentionally walked with two out, and Brad Fullmer singled, making the score 7-5.

The Twins had their chances after that.  With one out in the seventh, Jacque Jones walked and Guzman singled, with a wild pitch moving them to second and third.  In the ninth, singles by Denny Hocking and Guzman put men on first and second with two out.  In both cases, however, the Twins were turned aside and 7-5 was the final score.

WP:  Brandon Lyon (2-2).  LP:  Cressend (2-2).  S:   Billy Koch (29).

Notes:  Buchanan was in right field.  Matt Lawton had been the regular right fielder, but he was traded to the Mets for Rick Reed at the end of July.  Buchanan was the mostly-regular right fielder the rest of the way.

Hocking pinch-hit for Pierzynski in the ninth.

Mientkiewicz was batting .326.  He would finish at .306.  Guzman was batting .314.  He would finish at .302.  The Twins were fourth in team batting at .272.

Torii Hunter led the team in home runs with 27.  Koskie was right behind at 26.  The Twins had six other players with double-digit home runs:  David Ortiz (18).  Mientkiewicz (15), Jones (14), Guzman (10), Lawton (10), and Buchanan (10).  The Twins were ninth in home runs with 164.

Ortiz is widely considered to have been a bust during his time with the Twins.  He certainly wasn't the "Big Papi" he would become, but in 2001 he hit 18 homers and had an OPS of .799.  In 2002, his age 26 seasons, he batted 272, hit 20 homers, and had an OPS of .839.  I'm not claiming that's Hall-of-Fame worthy or anything, but it's a long way from Scott Stahoviak.

Radke pitched five innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five.  Radke had a good year in 2001, going 15-11, 3.94.  The best starter was actually Joe Mays, in his one good year:  he went 17-13, 3.16.  Eric Milton was solid:  15-7, 4.32.  But from there, it went downhill fast:  Kyle Lohse (4-7, 5.68), Rick Reed (4-6, 5.19), J. C. Romero (1-4, 6.23).  Romero, of course, would go on to give the Twins a couple of good years out of the bullpen.  Reed would go on to be an important contributor to the 2002 division champions.

Cressend was actually a solid reliever for the Twins in 2001, although you obviously couldn't tell it by this game.  He went 3-2, 3.67, 1.17 WHIP in 56.1 innings (44 games).  He gave up six home runs on the season, half of them in this game.

This was the last of a streak in which the Twins would win just one game out of twelve.  They lost eight in a row, won one, then lost the next three.

Record:  The Twins were 65-61, in second place in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 85-77, in second place, 6 games behind Cleveland.

The Blue Jays were 60-66, in third place in the American League East, 14 games behind New York.  They would finish 80-82, in third place, 16 games behind New York.

Random record:  The Twins are 36-33 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1988, Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Friday, August 26.

Batting star:  Gene Larkin was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched 7.2 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Charlie Liebrandt pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out three.  Danny Tartabull was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Pat Tabler was 2-for-3.  Bo Jackson was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twenty-first.

The game:  The Royals put a man on second with two out in the second and men on first and third with two out in the third, but could not score either time.  In the fourth, Tom Herr doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a balk to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

The lead lasted until the next half-inning.  Kansas City started the inning with singles by George Brett, Tabler, and Tartabull to tie the score.  With one out, Jackson hit a three-run homer to put the Royals up 4-1.

The Twins had a two-out rally in the fifth.  John Christensen singled, Greg Gagne doubled, and Al Newman delivered a two-run single, cutting the margin to 4-3.  But that was as good as it got, though, as the Twins could not get a man past first base the rest of the game.

WP:  Liebrandt (9-11).  LP:  Viola (19-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Herr was at second base.  He was, of course, acquired in the controversial trade of Tom Brunansky.  He was the second baseman when he could play, but he only played 73 games at second due to injuries.  Steve Lombardozzi actually played more, playing 90 games at second.

Newman was at third in place of Gary Gaetti, who missed about three weeks.  Christensen was in right field in place of Randy Bush, who was given the day off against the left-handed Liebrandt.

Puckett was batting .352.  He would finish at .356.  Hrbek was batting .300.  He would finish at .312.  Christensen was batting .348 in 23 at-bats.  He would finish at .263 in 38 at-bats.

This was Viola's second attempt at his twentieth win.  He had lost 3-2 to Texas on August 20.  He would have only one more loss, finishing at 24-7 with an ERA of 2.64.  He would win the Cy Young Award that season.  This was also the one really good year Allan Anderson had, going 16-9, 2.45 and winning the ERA title.  Unfortunately, those were their only two reliable starters.  Bert Blyleven went 10-17, 5.43.  Other starters were Charlie Lea (7-7, 4.85), Fred Toliver (7-6, 4.24), and Les Straker (2-5, 3.92 in 14 starts while battling injuries).

The 1988 team was, in many ways, a better team than the 1987 World Championship team.  Unfortunately, the Oakland Athletics were better still.

This was the first game of a three-game series in Kansas City.  The Twins were swept by the Royals in that series.

Record:  The Twins were 72-55, in second place in the American League West, 7 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, 13 games behind Oakland.

The Royals were 66-61, in third place in the American League West, 13 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 84-77, in third place, 19.5 games behind Oakland.

Random record:  The Twins are 36-32 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2011, Game One Hundred Nine

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LOS ANGELES 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN LOS ANGELES

Date:  Tuesday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jason Kubel was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Alex Burnett pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.  Matt Capps pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Ervin Santana pitched a complete game, giving up one run on eight hits and two walks and striking out seven.  He threw 121 pitches.  Vernon Wells was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Peter Bourjos was 2-for-3 with a double.  Mark Trumbo was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twentieth.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourteenth.

The game:  The Angels started the scoring in the third.  Bourjos led off with a double, was bunted to third, and scored on a ground out to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.  The Twins got the run back in the fourth, as Cuddyer led off with a double and scored on a pair of ground outs, making it 1-1.

The Angels took control in the fourth.  Wells led off with a walk, Howie Kendrick doubled, and Trumbo hit a three-run homer to make it 4-1.  The Twins had a threat in the fifth, as Delmon Young led off with a walk followed by a Tsuyoshi Nishioka single, but Denard Span hit into a double play to take them out of the inning.  Hunter homered in the fifth to make it 5-1.

The Twins had one more threat, in the sixth, when Cuddyer and Kubel had one-out singles, but nothing came of it.  They did not advance a man past first after that.

WP:  Santana (7-8).  LP:  Brian Duensing (8-9).  S:  None.

Notes:  Joe Mauer was behind the plate for this game, one of just 52 times he was able to catch.  Drew Butera was actually the primary catcher, playing 93 games.  Rene Rivera caught 44.

Cuddyer was at first base, as Justin Morneau was out due to injury.  Morneau was able to play just 56 games at first base, with Cuddyer playing 46, Luke Hughes 36, Chris Parmelee 20, and Mauer 18.

Trevor Plouffe was at second base, as Alexi Casilla's season was effectively over due to injury.  Casilla was able to play just 56 games at second base.  Hughes played 37, Matt Tolbert 36, Cuddyer 17, Plouffe 17, and Brian Dinkelman 11.

Span was making his return to center field, having missed nearly two months due to injury.  He was able to play just 67 games in center.  Ben Revere played 89.

With Cuddyer at first base, Kubel was in right field.

Kubel was batting .306.  He would finish at .273.  Cuddyer was batting .300.  He would finish at .284.  Mauer would lead the team in batting at .287 in 333 plate appearances.  The Twins finished eleventh in batting at .247.

Cuddyer led the team in home runs with 20.  Then came Danny Valencia with 15, Jim Thome with 12, and Kubel with 12.  The Twins finished last in home runs with 103.  A Bomba Squad they were not.

Duensing pitched six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out three.  This would be his only season as a full-time starter.  Scott Baker was the only good starter they had, at 8-6, 3.14, but he was only able to make 21 starts due to injuries.  Carl Pavano made the most starts, 33, and went 9-13, 4.30.  Nick Blackburn was 7-10, 4.49 and Francisco Liriano was 9-10, 5.09.  The only other pitcher to make double-digit starts was Anthony Swarzak, who was 4-7, 4.32.

The 2011 team was really destroyed by injuries.  I didn't even mention the injury to Nishioka or Joe Nathan's struggles trying to come back.  Between guys playing out of position and guys who should have been in Rochester, it's no wonder they had a terrible year.

This was the last of a three-game losing streak.  They would win the next day, then go on a six-game losing streak.  Over the last two months of the season this team went 13-41.

Record:  The Twins were 50-59, in fourth place in the American League Central, 8 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 63-99, in fifth (last) place, 32 games behind Detroit.

The Angels were 60-50, in second place in the American League West, 1 game behind Texas.  They would finish 86-76, in second place, 10 games behind Texas.

Random record:  The Twins are 36-31 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2006, Game Twenty-two

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DETROIT 9, MINNESOTA 0 IN DETROIT

Date:  Friday, April 28.

Batting star:  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Matt Guerrier pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and three walks and striking out one.  Jesse Crain struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Nate Robertson struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk.  Marcus Thames was 3-for-4 with a home run (his third), a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.  Ivan Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Placido Polanco was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Carlos Guillen was 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs.  Craig Monroe was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Chris Shelton was 1-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk.

The game:  The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the first, but did not score.  The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first on singles by Polanco, Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez, but could only get a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead.  The Twins got a two-out double from Michael Cuddyer in the second, but did not score.  Thames hit a home run with one out in the second to make it 2-0 Detroit.  The Twins opened the third with two singles, but did not score.

The Tigers then took control of the game.  Singles by Polanco and Rodriguez and a walk to Ordonez loaded the bases with none out.  Carlos Guillen hit a bases-clearing double.  The bases were literally cleared, because Guillen was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple.  Shelton then hit a home run and Monroe doubled, still all with none out.  The Monroe double finally chased starter Brad Radke from the game, but by then it was 6-0 Detroit.

After all their early scoring threats, the Twins only once got a man past first after that.  Tony Batista hit a one-out double in the seventh, but did not get past second base.  The Tigers scored three more in the seventh.  Doubles by Monroe and Thames plated one run.  Curtis Granderson walked, Polanco had an RBI single, and walks to Rodriguez and Ordonez forced home the ninth run.

WP:  Robertson (3-2).  LP:  Radke (2-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mike Redmond was behind the plate in place of Joe Mauer, who missed a couple of days.  Cuddyer was at first in place of Justin Morneau, who missed a couple of days.  Juan Castro was the starting shortstop at the beginning of the season, later to be replaced by Jason Bartlett.  Batista was the starting third baseman at the beginning of the season, later to be replaced by Nick Punto.  Stewart was the starting left fielder at the beginning of the season, but injuries would force him out of the lineup.  Lew Ford, who would take Stewart's place in left field, was in right in this game.  Right field, of course, was normally the province of Cuddyer.

Despite the lopsided score, the Twins made only one non-pitcher substitution.  Luis Rodriguez entered the game at first base in the eighth.  Cuddyer went to right, Ford went to center, and Torii Hunter came out of the game.

The Twins had some really good batting averages early in the season.  Redmond was batting .375--he would finish at .341.  Rodriguez was batting .368--he would finish at .235.  Castillo was batting .365--he would finish at .296.  Stewart was batting .356--he would finish at .293.  As alluded to earlier, he would also finish on the DL.  Mauer, who did not play in this game, would bat .321.

There were also a couple of really bad batting averages early in the season.  Rondell White was batting .145--he would finish at .246.  Hunter was batting .190--he would finish at .278.

The Twins would lead the league in batting average at .287.  They were next-to-last in home runs at 143.  Morneau led the team with 34.  Hunter had 31 and Cuddyer 24.  Mauer was the only other player in double digits, with 13.

This was Radke's last season.  He was no longer the ace of the staff, of course, but he was still usually a dependable pitcher.  Not in this game, obviously--this was his lowest game score of the season.  But he finished 12-9, 4.32, which you'll take in the rotation any time.  The ace was Johan Santana (19-6, 2.77).  Francisco Liriano joined the rotation in mid-May and pitched really well through the end of July, but then was able to make only two more starts.  He went 12-3, 2.16.  Boof Bonser joined the rotation in late May and went 7-6, 4.22.  Others who made double-digit starts were Carlos Silva (11-15, 5.94) and Scott Baker (5-8, 6.37).

2006, as you probably remember, was the season the Twins stumbled and bumbled early in the year, then got hot and came back to win the division by one game over Detroit.  It's really pretty amazing how they remade so much of the team on the fly, partly due to injuries and partly due to signing retreads who had to be replaced.

We haven't had a lot of rewind games where the Twins got blown out.  This was the first game of a four-game losing streak.  The Twins would get outscored in those four games 41-3.  Game-by-game, it was 9-0, 18-1, 6-0, and 8-2.  I suspect the game logs were not pretty.

Record:  The Twins were 9-13, in fourth place in the American League Central, six games behind Chicago.  They would finish 96-66, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit.

The Tigers were 14-9, in second place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 95-67, in second place, one game behind Minnesota.

Random rewind:  The Twins are 36-30 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1969, Game One Hundred Fifty-three

MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Monday, September 22.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-4 with a stolen base (his thirty-second).  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run, his forty-seventh.

Pitching stars:  Bob Miller pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out five.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Mike Fiore was 2-for-4 with a double.  Buck Martinez was 2-for-4.  Jim Rooker pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out five.

The game:  Fiore hit a one-out double in the first but could not get past third base.  The Twins put two on with two out in the second and did not score.  The Royals got on the board in the third on singles by Pat Kelly and Fiore and an Ed Kirkpatrick sacrifice fly.

The Twins came back to take the lead in the fourth.  Killebrew led off with a home run to tie it 1-1.  Bob Allison then doubled, went to third on a fly out, and scored on George Mitterwald's sacrifice fly, making the score 2-1 Twins.  They added to the lead in the fifth when Cardenas got a leadoff double and scored on Tovar's single.

The Twins got one more run in the ninth when Frank Quilici walked, was bunted to second, and scored on a single by Tovar.  They needed it, as Kansas City came back in the bottom of the ninth.  Kirkpatrick led off with a single and Lou Piniella delivered an RBI double.  With one out, Jerry Adair walked and Martinez singled, cutting the margin to 4-3.  They lost a man on the bases, however, as pinch-runner Scott Northey rounded second too far and was cut down by Oliva.  Paul Schaal grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Miller (5-4).  LP:  Rooker (4-15).  S:  Worthington (3).

Notes:  Quilici started at second base, with Rod Carew on the bench.  Carew entered the game in the seventh for defense, with Quilici moving to third and Rick Renick, who started at third, coming out of the game.  Killebrew played the entire game at first base, with Rich Reese on the bench.  This has to be one of the few times in his career that Carew entered a game as a defensive replacement.

Mitterwald was again behind the plate, with Johnny Roseboro on the bench.  I don't know if Roseboro had a minor injury or ailment or whether, with the pennant race well in hand, Billy Martin just chose to give him a couple of days off.  Roseboro would be in-and-out of the lineup the rest of the season, but would not play a complete game.

This was Miller's first start since August 8.  He had missed about a month due to injury and made three relief appearances in that span.

This was the game that clinched the pennant for the Twins.

This was Scott Northey's only season in the majors.  It was really just the month of September--he got a September call-up after batting .327 in a half-season of AAA.  He batted .262/.337/.410 in 68 plate appearances.  He was only twenty-two, and probably big things were expected.  Instead, he went backward.  He started 1970 in AAA, but went back to AA after batting just .226.  He spent in 1971 and 1972 in AA, didn't do much, and his playing career was over.  He's the son of major league outfielder Ron Northey.

Record:  The Twins were 92-61, in first place in the American League West, 10.5 games ahead of Oakland.  They would finish 95-67, in first place, 9 games ahead of Oakland.

The Royals were 64-89, in fifth place in the American League West, 28 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 69-93, in fourth place, 28 games behind Minnesota.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1984, Game One Hundred Fourteen

SEATTLE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN SEATTLE (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, August 11.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his twenty-second and twenty-third), a walk, and three RBIs.  Tim Teufel was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.  Randy Bush was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mike Smithson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks and striking out six.  Ron Davis pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Salome Barojas pitched 7.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out four.  Alvin Davis was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twenty-fourth), a walk, and two runs.  Steve Henderson was 2-for-4 with a double.  Ken Phelps was 2-for-4.  Al Cowens was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the first but could not score.  The Mariners put men on first and third with two out in the first but could not score.  In the third, however, Seattle did score--Jack Perconte hit a one-out double and Davis hit a two-out two-run homer to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

The Twins got one back in the fourth on Brunansky's homer.  It stayed 2-1 until the eighth.  With two out Bush walked and Brunansky struck again, hitting a two-run homer to give the Twins their first lead at 3-2.

The lead lasted until the bottom of the eighth.  With one out Spike Owen reached on an error.  Davis and Phelps followed with singles, tying the score, and Henderson hit a two-out double that put Seattle back in front 4-3.  The Twins came right back in the ninth, as Teufel hit a leadoff homer to tie it 4-4.

The Twins went down in order in the top of the tenth.  In the bottom half, Owen led off with a single and Davis walked.  Barry Bonnell fouled out, but Cowens delivered an RBI single that gave the Mariners the victory.

WP:  Edwin Nunez (2-1).  LP:  Pete Filson (6-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tim Laudner was the catcher.  He shared the job with Dave Engle in 1984, with Engle catching slightly more games (86 to 81).  Neither was anything great at the plate--Engle hit for a better average, Laudner had more power, but both posted an OPS below .670.  Neither had a reputation as a great defensive catcher, either.

Darrell Brown was in left in place of Mickey Hatcher, who was out for a few days.

Andre David pinch-hit for Houston Jimenez in the seventh.  Ron Washington came in to play shortstop.

Kent Hrbek was leading the team in batting average at .326.  He would finish at .311.  Kirby Puckett was batting .301.  He would finish at .296.  Hatcher would also finish over .300, at .302.

The Twins had three solid starters in 1984:  Frank Viola (18-12, 3.21), Smithson (15-13, 3.68), and John Butcher (13-11, 3.44).  They couldn't find a fourth or a fifth, though.  Making double-digit starts were Ken Schrom (5-11, 4.47), Ed Hodge (4-3, 4.77), and Al Williams (3-5, 5.77).

If you're like me, when 1984 came up and you saw the Twins had lost in extra innings, you may have suspected that Davis had blown the game.  Well, yes and no.  He came in in the eighth inning with men on first and second, one out, and a tie game.  He retired one man and then gave up the RBI double to Henderson that put Seattle in front 4-3.  The Twins tied it in the ninth and he retired the side in the bottom of the ninth with no trouble.  Filson came in to start the tenth and Mike Walters eventually gave up the deciding hit.

Even though the Twins were in contention most of the way, they were a pretty flawed team.  They had some very good players, but also some very obvious holes.  We discussed catcher and fourth and fifth starter.  Another hole was shortstop.  Jimenez played the most there, but batted .201/.238/.245 in 317 plate appearances.  Washington was a superior batter, batting .294/.307/.447 in 206 plate appearances, but he was not good enough to field the position.  Others tried were Lenny Faedo and Chris Speier (at the end of his career).  Had the Twins been able to find even an average shortstop, they probably would have won the division.

Record:  The Twins were 59-55, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.  They would finish 81-81, tied for second with California, three games behind Kansas City.

The Mariners were 53-65, in sixth place in the American League West, 8 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 74-88, tied for fifth with Chicago, 10 games behind Kansas City.

Rewind Record:  The Twins are 35-29 in Random Rewind games.