Tag Archives: random rewind

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1996, Game One Hundred Forty-four

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OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 10.

Batting star:  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base, his thirty-ninth.

Pitching star:  Scott Klingenbeck struck out two in two shutout innings.

Opposition stars:  Dave Telgheder pitched a complete game shutout, giving up three hits and three walks and striking out seven.  Mike Bordick was 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his fifth.  Brian Lesher was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Tony Batista was 2-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base, his sixth.  Jason Giambi was 2-for-5.  Ernie Young was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his seventeenth.

The game:  The Twins put two on in the first, but a double play took them out of the inning.  The Athletics started the scoring in the second when Lesher singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on a Bordick double.  Oakland increased its lead in the fourth.  Singles by Giambi, Bordick, and Tony Batista plated one run, Scott Brosius walked to load the bases, and a sacrifice fly made it 3-0.

Todd Walker doubled leading off the fourth but did not advance. The Athletics put the game away in the fifth.  They opened the inning with walks to Terry Steinbach and Lesher, and with one out Young hit a three-run homer to give Oakland a 6-0 lead.  They added one more in the sixth when Steinbach walked and Lesher and Giambi singled.

The Twins had only three hits.  Their last came in the sixth, when Rich Becker singled.  He got as far as third base, but that was it.

WP:  Telgheder (3-6).  LP:  Rich Robertson (7-14).  S:  None.

Notes:  Matt Walbeck was the catcher.  He shared catching duties with Greg Myers in 1996, with Myers playing in the majority of games.

Walker was the third baseman.  Dave Hollins was the regular third baseman most of the season, but he was traded at the August deadline.  Walker came up and was immediately given the third base job for the rest of the season.  He would, of course, play second base for most of his major league career.

Brent Brede went to right field in the eighth in place of Matt Lawton.  Mike Durant went behind the plate in the eighth in place of Walbeck.  Chip Hale pinch-hit for Pat Meares in the eighth.  Denny Hocking then went in to play short in the ninth.

Walker, in limited at-bats, was batting .343.  He would finish at .256.  Paul Molitor, at age thirty-nine, was batting .340.  He would finish at .341.  Knoblauch was batting .339.  He would also finish at .341.  Marty Cordova was batting .306.  He would finish at .309.  Part-time outfielder Roberto Kelly would bat .323 in 322 at-bats.

So with all those .300 hitters, did the Twins have an exceptional offense in 1996?  Not really.  They were tied for second in team batting average at .288, but only eighth in runs scored with 877.  The biggest reason, as you may have guessed, was a lack of power.  They finished dead last in the league in home runs with 118.  The team leader was Cordova with 16.  They had five others in double figures:  Scott Stahoviak (13), Knoblauch (13), Hollins (13), Becker (12), and Ron Coomer (12).

Robertson lasted 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and six walks and striking out two.  He would finish 7-17, 5.12.  Of their five most used starters, only one, Brad Radke, had an ERA under five.  The others were Frankie Rodriguez (5.05), Scott Aldred (5.09), and Rick Aguilera (5.42).  Aguilera had re-signed with the Twins on the condition that they give him the chance to start.  Dave Stevens was the closer at the start of the year.  When he couldn't do the job, they went closer by committee for a while and finally gave the job to Mike Trombley at the end of the season.

This was the only shutout of Dave Telgheder's career.  It was also the only complete game of his career.  As a starter for his career, he was 14-18, 5.39, 1.58 WHIP.  That's the pitcher who shut down the Twins in this game.  Yes, it's baseball, and it happens, but it happens to you a lot more when you're not very good.

Record:  The Twins were 72-72, in third place in the American League Central, 13.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 78-84, in fourth place, 21.5 games behind Cleveland.

The Athletics were 71-75, in third place in the American League West, 13 games behind Texas.  They would finish 78-84, in third place, 12 games behind Texas.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2011, Game Thirty-two

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BOSTON 9, MINNESOTA 5 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, May 8.

Batting stars:  Jason Kubel was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Danny Valencia was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third), a stolen base (his second), and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Alex Burnett pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Joe Nathan struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Adrian Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fourth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Jacoby Ellsbury was 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his tenth).  Kevin Youkilis was 2-for-4 with a double and four runs.  David Ortiz was 2-for-4.

The game:  It started well.  Denard Span led off with a single and Trevor Plouffe walked.  With one out Kubel had an RBI single.  A ground out moved men to second and third, and Valencia delivered a two-run single to put the Twins up 3-0.

It wouldn't stay that way for long.  The Red Sox got on the board in the second when Youkilis led off with a double and scored on a pair of ground outs.  They took the lead in the third.  Carl Crawford led off with a triple and scored on a ground out, making it 3-2.  Ellsbury singled, Dustin Pedroia walked, and Gonzalez singled in a run to tie it.  An RBI ground out put Boston ahead, Ortiz singled, and J. D. Drew had a run-scoring single to give the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.

The Twins got a run back in the fourth when Valencia led off with a home run.  In the fifth, however, Gonzalez homered to make it 6-4, Youkilis and Ortiz singled, and another RBI ground out increased the Red Sox lead to 7-4.

Boston put the game away with two in the seventh.  Gonzalez singled, Youkilis reached on an error, and Jed Lowrie hit a two-run double.  The Twins scored one more in the eighth when Plouffe doubled and scored on a Kubel single, but the Twins did not threaten to get back into the game.

WP:  Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-3).  LP:  Carl Pavano (2-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Joe Mauer was injured much of the season, so Drew Butera was the regular catcher.

The Twins used a variety of players at shortstop, none of whom really got the job done.  Tsuyoshi Nishioka played the most games there (66), as he held the job for most of the second half of the season.  Plouffe, who was the shortstop in this game, played 45 games there.  Others to see time there were Alexi Casilla (36 games) and Matt Tolbert (31).

Span was the centerfielder when healthy, but he also missed a lot of the season due to injury, so Ben Revere played the most games there.  In this game Span was in center, with Revere in left.  Delmon Young played the most games in left.  Michael Cuddyer was in right.

Kubel was the DH.  Jim Thome played the most games at DH with 59--Kubel was second at 37.  The Twins used a total of 18 different players at DH for at least one game.

Tolbert came in to play shortstop in place of Plouffe in the ninth.  Rene Tosoni pinch-hit for Butera in the ninth.

Kubel was batting .351.  He would finish at .273.  Plouffe was batting .300--he would finish at .238.  Among players with a significant number of at-bats, Mauer led the team at .287.  Cuddyer led the team in home runs with twenty.

Pavano started and pitched five innings.  He allowed seven runs on ten hits and a walk and struck out none.  Pavano was very up-and-down in 2011, and this was obviously one of his down stretches.  His ERA at this point of the season was 6.44, but it would end up at 4.30.

This was the second of a nine-game losing streak for the Twins.  They would go 8-19 in May.

Record:  The Twins were 12-20, in fourth place in the American League Central, 9.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 63-99, fifth (last) in the American League Central, 32 games behind Detroit.

The Red Sox were 16-18, in third place in the American League East, four games behind New York.  They would finish 90-72, in third place, seven games behind New York.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2000, Game Sixty-three

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MILWAUKEE 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 11.

Batting stars:  Matt Lawton was 2-for-2 with a triple and three walks.  Denny Hocking was 2-for-4 with a double.  Midre Cummings was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Geoff Jenkins was 3-for-5 with a double, two stolen bases (his second and third), and two RBIs.  Marquis Grissom was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third), a stolen base (his eleventh), a walk, three runs, and two RBIs.  Mark Sweeney was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Raul Casanova was 2-for-4.

The game:  Ronnie Belliard led off the game with a single and Grissom followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins in a 2-0 hole two batters into the game.  The Twins got one back in the bottom of the first when Cristian Guzman drew a one-out walk and scored on Lawton's triple.  The Brewers had men on first and third with none out in the second and first and second with one out in the third, but were denied both times, leaving the score 2-1 through three.

The Twins took their first (and only) lead of the game in the fourth.  Cummings led off with a double but only made it as far as third with two out.  Hocking then got an RBI single to tie the score.  Singles by Jacque Jones and Guzman produced another run, and the Twins led 3-2.

The lead lasted until the next half-inning.  In the fifth, Grissom singled, stole second, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a fielder's choice, tying it 3-3.  Charlie Hayes walked to put men on first and second and Sweeney had a run-scoring single to give Milwaukee a 4-3 advantage.

The Twins threatened in the sixth when Hocking led off with a double, but he could only get as far as third.  The Brewers added an insurance run in the seventh when Grissom reached on a two-base error and scored on a Jenkins single.  The Twins had one more threat in the ninth.  Lawton led off with a single, David Ortiz had a one-out single, and Cummings walked, loading the bases.  A hit would have tied the score, but Matthew LeCroy hit into a double play and the game was over.

WP:  John Snyder (1-2).  LP:  Brad Radke (3-8).  S:  Bob Wickman (7).

Notes:  Hocking was at second base in place of Jay Canizaro.  Jacque Jones was in center.  Torii Hunter played the most games in center, but he was sent down for a couple of months in the middle of the season after batting just .207.  He would hit very well the last couple of months and end at .280.  Lawton, who played quite a bit in both right and left, was in left in this game, with Cummings in right.

The only non-pitcher substitution was that Brian Buchanan pinch-ran for Ortiz in the ninth.  I understand that, if the game went extra innings, Buchanan was probably the best choice to replace Ortiz as DH.  I also don't have time to go back and look at who was on the roster in that game or what their health situation was.  But it's hard to believe the Twins didn't have a better pinch-running candidate than Buchanan, especially when he represented the tying run.  It didn't matter, as it turned out, but that still seems like a strange move.

Lawton was batting .346 at this stage of the season, and the Twins' front office was promoting him as a superstar.  Well, I guess they had to promote someone.  He would finish at .305, which of course is still very good.  Jones was batting .322.  He would finish at .285.  On the other end of the scale, LeCroy was batting .180.  He would finish at .174.

Catcher was pretty much a black hole for the Twins in 2000.  LeCroy and Marcus Jensen each caught 49 games, the most on the team.  Jensen batted just .209.  Chad Moeller caught 48 games.  He would go on to have a long career, but he batted just .211 in 2000.  Danny Ardoin caught 15 games and batted .125.  Finally, in August, A. J. Pierzynski came up and took over the catcher's job, batting .307.

Radke started, and as you can see he had trouble in the first inning.  He lasted six innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on ten hits and two walks and striking out three.  For his career, Radke had a 5.05 ERA in the first inning, compared to his overall ERA of 4.22.  In 2000 he went 12-16, 4.45.

I don't know how many times Geoff Jenkins stole two bases in the same game, but it can't be very many.  He had 32 stolen bases for his career.  2000 was the only season when he had more than five--he had 11 in this season.  It was 11-for-12, so he was picking his spots well.  For his career he was 32-for-46.

Record:  The Twins were 28-35, in fourth place in the American League Central, ten games behind Chicago.  They would finish 69-93, in fifth (last) place, 26 games behind Chicago.

The Brewers were 25-37, in fifth place in the National League Central, nine games behind St. Louis.  They would finish 73-89, in third place, 22 games behind St. Louis.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1976, Game Twenty-seven

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CALIFORNIA 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Sunday, May 16.

Batting stars:  Butch Wynegar was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Dave McKay was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Don Kirkwood pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.  Bill Melton was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Andy Etchebarren was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the second inning, as Danny Thompson singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on McKay's single.  That was as good as it would get for the Twins.

The Angels took the lead in the third.  Dave Chalk and Ron Jackson led off the game with a single.  Jerry Remy laid down a sacrifice bunt, but an error scored Chalk and put men on  second and third with none out.  All California could get out of it was a sacrifice fly by Bobby Bonds, but the Angels led 2-1.

It stayed 2-1 until the seventh, when California scored two runs without a hit.  With one out Chalk walked and Jackson was hit by a pitch.  With two out, Rusty Torres walked to load the bases, Bonds was hit by a pitch to force home a run, and Leroy Stanton walked to bring home another run.  The Angels added a run in the ninth when Bill Melton tripled and scored on Etchebarren's single.

The Twins did not get a man past first base after the second inning.

WP:  Kirkwood (1-3).  LP:  Jim Hughes (0-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Danny Thompson was at shortstop.  Roy Smalley would be the regular shortstop for most of the season, but he had not been traded from Texas yet.

Lyman Bostock, normally the center fielder, was given the day off.  Larry Hisle moved over from left to play center, with Steve Braun taking over left.

The lone Twin over .300 who played in this game was Rod Carew, at .311.  He would finish at .331.  Bostock, at this point in the season, was batting .349 and would finish at .323.

The Twins did not hit a home run, which was a fairly common occurrence in 1976.  Dan Ford led the team in homers with twenty.  Others in double figures were Hisle (14), Craig Kusick (11), and Wynegar (10).

Twins starter Jim Hughes pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out two.  Older fans may remember Hughes for throwing a palmball.  Hughes had gone 16-14, 3.82 as a rookie in 1975, leading Twins fans to think they might have something.  It was the only good year he would have.  It could be that the workload got to him--he pitched 249.2 innings in 1975 at age twenty-three.  Or, it could be that he wasn't that good in the first place--even in 1975, his WHIP was 1.47.  He stayed in the 1976 rotation until early August, mostly because the Twins didn't have much for alternatives.  He would make two relief appearances in 1977 and then would never pitch in the big leagues again.

Hisle batted leadoff in this game, one of eight times he did that in 1976.  The fact that Bostock was out of the lineup probably had to do with that.  Hisle batted all over the lineup in 1976, starting double digit games at every spot except first, eighth, and ninth, and starting at least a few games at every spot except ninth.  Gene Mauch did love to play with the batting order.

The Twins were in the middle of a stretch where they won five of six.  As randomness would have it, this was the one loss.

Record:  The Twins were 14-13, in third place in the American League West, 3.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 85-77, in third place, five games behind Kansas City.

The Angels were 12-22, in sixth (last) place in the American League West, 10 games behind Texas.  They would finish 76-86, tied for fourth with Texas, 14 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1995, Game One Hundred Thirty-one

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MINNESOTA 10, KANSAS CITY 4 IN KANSAS CITY (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Monday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-5 with a double and three runs.  Pedro Munoz was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three RBIs.  Marty Cordova was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.  Pat Meares was 2-for-5 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Pat Mahomes pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Keith Lockhart was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Wally Joyner was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.  Jon Nunnally was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Brent Mayne was 2-for-4 with a double.  Tom Goodwin was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his forty-fourth.

The game:  It was scoreless through three.  In the fourth, Puckett doubled and Cordova reached on an error.  Munoz had an RBI single to put the Twins on the board.  A double play threatened to take them out of the inning, but Matt Walbeck had an RBI single, stole second (!), and scored on a Jeff Reboulet single to put the Twins up 3-0.

The lead lasted until the next time the Royals batted.  Joyner led off the inning with a walk.  He was still on first with two out, but Lockhart singled, Nunnally had an RBI double, and Greg Gagne (yes, that Greg Gagne) had a two-run single, tying the game at three.

It stayed tied until the Twins batted in the next inning, as the once low-scoring game got wild.  Meares led off with a double and went to third on Brian Raabe's single.  Puckett and Cordova had RBI singles and Munoz had a run-scoring double to put the Twins up 6-3.  This time the lead would not only hold, but the Twins would add to it.  In the sixth Meares walked, and with two out Puckett, Cordova, and Munoz all singled, plating two runs and making the score 8-3.

It was pretty much over at that point.  Kansas City got a run in the sixth on singles by Lockhart, Nunnally, and Mayne.  The Twins added two in the eighth.  Raabe walked, Puckett singled, and Munoz walked, loading the bases.  Ron Coomer then delivered a two-run single, making the final score 10-4.

WP:  LaTroy Hawkins (1-3).  LP:  Dilson Torres (1-2).  S:  Mahomes (3).

Notes:  1995 was a strike year in which the season did not start until late April.  Thus, game 131 was in the middle of September.  The Twins would play 144 games.

Coomer was at first base in place of Scott Stahoviak.  This was Coomer's rookie season, as he came up on August 1.  He played both first and third that season, as he would do for much of his career.

Raabe was at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch, as this was the second game of a doubleheader.  Reboulet was at third in place of Scott Leius, presumably for the same reason.  Puckett was the DH, with Munoz in right field.  Most of the time, that was reversed.

Matt Lawton pinch-ran for Munoz in the eighth and stayed in the game in right field.  It was Lawton's first season--he was a September call-up.  Dan Masteller pinch-ran for Coomer in the eighth and stayed in the game at first base.  This was Masteller's only season in the majors.

Puckett was batting .321.  He would finish at .314.  Munoz was batting .311--he would finish at .301.  Reboulet was batting .300--he would finish at .292.  Knoblauch, who did not play, would lead the team in batting at .333.

Starter Hawkins pinched 5.2 innings and allowed four runs on ten hits and one walk while striking out two.  This was also Hawkins' first season.  He would make six starts for the Twins and go 2-3, 8.67.  He would, of course, have better seasons.

Mahomes pitched very well in this game.  That didn't happen very often in 1995--he finished 4-10, 6.37.  He would have better seasons, too, although, to be honest, not a lot of them.  This was one of his five career saves.

The Walbeck stolen base was one of three he had for the season and one of 13 in his career (13-for-25).  Three was his career high in stolen bases, which he attained three times.

It was quite a group of pitchers the Royals sent out there.  Dave Fleming started, followed by Dilson Torres, Jim Converse, and Billy Brewer.  Fleming and Brewer at least had a couple of decent seasons, but I suspect one would have to be as much of a die-hard Royals fan as I am a Twins fan to remember much about them.

No one knew it at the time, but this was one of the last games of Puckett's career.  He would play ten more games in 1995, then be forced to retire.

This game started a four-game winning streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 49-82, in fifth (last) place in the American League Central, 42 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 56-88, in fifth place, 44 games behind Cleveland.

The Royals were 68-64, in second place in the American League Central, 23.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 70-74, in second place, 30 games behind Cleveland.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1979, Game One Hundred Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 3, MILWAUKEE 2 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Friday, September 21.

Batting stars:  Butch Wynegar was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Ken Landreaux was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifteenth.

Pitching stars:  Jerry Koosman pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out six.  Mike Marshall pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Moose Haas pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks and striking out five.  Ben Oglivie was 4-for-4.  Robin Yount was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Gorman Thomas was 1-for-3 with a home run (his forty-third) and a walk.

The game:  The Twins missed chances early, stranding a man on third in the first and men on first and second in the second.  Thomas started the scoring in the bottom of the second with a home run, putting the Brewers up 1-0, but they similarly left men on first and second.

There was really not much for threats from there until the seventh, when Oglivie hit a one-out single, Yount walked, and Charlie Moore delivered a two-out RBI single.  Milwaukee left men on first and third, but they still led 2-0, and that remained the score through eight.

Then came the ninth.  Roy Smalley led off with a walk.  A popup followed, but then Landreaux hit a two-run homer to tie the score.  Wynegar followed with a home run and the Twins took their only lead of the game at 3-2.

The Brewers did not give up.  Oglivie led off the ninth with a single, which brought Marshall into the game.  With one out Yount singled, putting men on first and second.  Moore hit into a force out at second, moving the tying run to third, but Paul Molitor popped up and the game belonged to the Twins.

WP:  Koosman (19-13).  LP:  Haas (11-10).  S:  Marshall (31).

Notes:  Rick Sofield was in center, with Landreaux moving to left.  Sofield had started the season with the Twins, but was sent to AAA in mid-May and came back as a September call-up.  Landreaux had played center most of the season.  Bombo Rivera is listed as the Twins' left fielder, but in fact they used a few players there:  Rivera (61 games), Landreaux (49), Glenn Adams (45), and Dave Edwards (36).

Adams was the DH in this game.  He spent 54 games at DH, sharing the position with Jose Morales (77), Danny Goodwin (51), Mike Cubbage (22), Willie Norwood (17), and Craig Kusick (12).

The Twins had three batters over .300 this late in the season.  Rob Wilfong was at .317--he would finish at .313.  Landreaux was at .304--he would finish at .305.  Adams was at .300--he would finish at .301.

Smalley led the team in home runs with 24.  Landreaux had 15 and Ron Jackson 14.  No one else had double digits in homers.

Koosman would go on to win twenty games for the second and last time of his career.  He finished 20-13, 3.38, 1.33 WHIP at age thirty-six.  This was his first season with the Twins, having been traded from the Mets with Greg Field for Jesse Orosco.

The Twins had three decent starters in Koosman, Geoff Zahn, and Dave Goltz.  They struggled to fill out the rotation, however, with Paul Hartzell and Roger Erickson each posting an ERA over five in more than twenty starts.

Robin Yount was batting eighth for Milwaukee.  He was in his sixth major league season, but was still just twenty-three.  He batted .267 in 1979, but with an OPS of just .679.  The next season he would really become Robin Yount, batting .293 with 23 homers, leading the league with 49 doubles, posting an OPS of .840, and making his first all-star team.  Surprisingly, Yount only made the all-star team three times in his career and did not make it in one of his two MVP seasons, 1989.

They don't give pitch counts for games in the '70s, but these days Haas would probably not have started the ninth, and almost certainly would have been removed after the leadoff walk to Smalley.  The Brewers really didn't have a closer, and in fact had only twenty-three team saves, distributed over five pitchers.  They threw sixty-one complete games.  Presumably, George Bamberger saw no reason to take a pitcher out when he was doing well, regardless of what his pitch count was.

The Twins were still in the pennant race at this point, but after winning the next game they would drop six in a row to take them out of it.

Record:  The Twins were 80-74, in third place in the American League West, three games behind California.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, six games behind California.

The Brewers were 90-63, in second place in the American League East, ten games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 95-66, in second place, eight games behind Baltimore.

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1964, Game One Hundred Twenty

MINNESOTA 13, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 16.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth), a stolen base (his eleventh), and four RBIs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Bob Allison was 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base (his seventh), and two RBIs.  Rich Rollins was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Don Mincher was 2-for-5 with a double.  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his forty-second), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Sonny Siebert pitched six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks and striking out five.  Chico Salmon was 2-for-4 with a double.  Woodie Held was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his sixteenth.

The game:  It was close most of the way.  Versalles started the scoring by leading off the third inning with a home run.  In the fourth Oliva led off with a double and Killebrew hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.

It stayed 3-0 until the seventh.  The Indians had four hits, but never more than one in an inning.  The Twins put the game away in the seventh inning.  Grant walked and scored from first on a two-out double from Rollins.  Oliva was intentionally walked and Killebrew was accidentally walked to load the bases.  Mincher hit a two-run single.  Allison then walked to re-load the bases.  Versalles hit a two-run single, and with men on first and third Allison and Versalles pulled off a double steal of second and home, making the score 9-0.

Cleveland got on the board in the eighth.  Joe Azcue singled and Held hit a two-run homer.  The Twins got the runs back with interest in the bottom of the eighth.  Grant led off with a double, followed by singles by Jerry Kindall, Rollins, and Oliva.  A couple of popups followed, but then Allison had a two-run single and Versalles had an RBI single, making the final score 13-2.

WP:  Grant (10-9).  LP:  Siebert (3-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jerry Zimmerman was behind the plate in place of Earl Battey, who missed five or six games.  Allison usually played first base in 1964, but he was in right field in this game, with Mincher at first.  Oliva, normally in right field, was in center in place of Jimmie Hall, who appears to just have been given the day off.  Kindall was at second base in place of Bernie Allen, who was battling injuries.  Hall came in to play center in the ninth, with Oliva moving to right, Allison to left, and Killebrew, who had been in left, leaving the game.

Oliva was the only Twin over .300, at .339.  He finished at .323.  This was his rookie season and, as you probably know, he was Rookie of the Year.  It's interesting that he was inserted into the third spot in the order very early in the season, after batting second 33 times.  It's rare these days to see a rookie put in an important batting order spot like that--I don't know if it was more common then.

Grant had only been with the Twins for a couple of months at this point.  He was acquired at the June trade deadline for George Banks and Lee Stange.  He would be instrumental in the Twins AL Championship team in 1965.  While Stange went on to have some good years, I think it's fair to see the Twins came out well on that trade.

Despite his good day at the plate, Grant falls into the "good hitter for a pitcher" category, rather than actually being a good hitter.  His numbers were .178/.216/.240. in 853 plate appearances.

It's interesting that the Twins chose to play Killebrew in left field and Allison primarily at first base, rather than the other way around.  Not that Allison won any Gold Gloves, but I have to think that he covered more ground in the outfield than Killebrew.  Harmon had played well over a hundred games at first in his career at this point, so it's not like he was unfamiliar with the position.

Record:  The Twins were 59-60, in sixth place in the American League, 14.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 79-83, tied for sixth with Cleveland, 20 games behind New York.

The Indians were 54-64, in seventh place in the American League, 19 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 79-83, tied for sixth with Minnesota, 20 games behind New York.

And you say, this was game 120, but the Twins record was 59-60.  59 plus 60 is only 119.  What gives?  Well, the Twins played 163 games in 1964.  Their game on June 22 with Cleveland was a ten-inning tie.  I guess it's fitting that two teams that ended up tied would play a tie game.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1968, Game Thirty-five

DETROIT 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, May 20.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer, his second.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched 9.2 innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Denny McLain pitched a ten-inning complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out seven.  Willie Horton was 1-for-5 with a home run, his tenth.

The game;  With one out in the second Oliva and Rich Rollins hit consecutive singles and Reese followed with a three-run homer.  Unfortunately, that was all the Twins offense did.

For a while it looked like it would be enough.  The Tigers closed the gap in the fourth.  Mickey Stanley reached on an error and Jim Northrup singled, putting men on first and third with one out.  A force out scored a run, another error put men on first and second with two out, and Don Wert had an RBI single to cut the margin to 3-2.

It stayed 3-2 until the ninth, when Horton may not have heard a who, but he hit a homer to tie the score and send the game to an extra inning.  The first two Detroiters were retired in the tenth, but Al Kaline reached on a two-base error and scored on another error, putting the Tigers in front for the first time.  The Twins went down in order in the tenth and the game was gone.

WP:  McLain (6-1).  LP:  Merritt (3-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cesar Tovar was at shortstop.  Jackie Hernandez had the most games at shortstop with 79.  Ron Clark had 44, Rick Renick 40, and Tovar 35.  Tovar was the only one of them who could hit in 1968, and I suspect that, as good as he was at playing all over the field, he was somewhat stretched at shortstop.

Reese was in left field in place of Bob Allison.  I didn't remember Reese playing the outfield, but he played 74 games there over the course of his career.  He was,  of course, primarily a first baseman.

Hernandez came in for defense in the seventh.  He went to short, with Tovar moving to third and Rollins leaving the game.  Clark cae in for defense in the ninth.  He went to third, with Tovar moving to left and Reese leaving the game.  Allison was used as a pinch-hitter for the pitcher in the tenth.

Carew was leading the team in batting at .295.  He would finish at .273.  Oliva ended up leading the team in batting at .289.  I didn't check, but memory tells me that was second in the league to Carl Yastrzemski, who led at .301.

Merritt pitched a tremendous game and really deserved to win.  The Twins made four errors behind him, one each by Tovar, Hernandez, Rollins, and Clark.  Two of those players, of course, were brought in for defense.  Well, nobody's perfect.

As you probably know, this was the year McLain won 31 games.  He also led the league in starts (41), complete games (28), innings (336) and batters faced (1288).  He would have another tremendous year in 1969, but would never have another one again.  Throwing 51 complete games and 661 innings over two years will do that to you.  He pitched through 1973, but he was basically done at age 25.

It was, of course the Year of the Pitcher, but the Twins' rotation numbers are still pretty impressive.  Dean Chance, 16-16, 2.53, 0.98 WHIP.  Jim Kaat, 14-12, 2.94, 1.12.  Merritt, 12-16, 3.25, 1.09.  Dave Boswell, 10-13, 3.32, 1.24.  When a fifth starter was needed, there was Jim Perry, 8-6, 2.27, 1.00.  Again, it was the Year of the Pitcher, but those are still good numbers.

Record:  The Twins were 18-17, tied for fourth in the American League, 5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 79-83, in seventh place, 24 games behind Detroit.

The Tigers were 23-12, in first place in the American League, 2.5 games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish  103-59, in first place, 12 games ahead of Baltimore.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1993, Game One Hundred Fifty-two

3 Comments

MINNESOTA 5, NEW YORK 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, September 22.

Batting stars:  Dave Winfield was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Pedro Munoz was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-second.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out five.  Carl Willis pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Rick Aguilera pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Randy Velarde was 2-for-3.  Mike Gallego was 1-for-3 with a home run, his tenth.

The game:  The Twins did almost all of their damage in the second inning.  Hrbek led off the inning with a home run.  Winfield doubled, Brian Harper singled, and Munoz hit a three-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 4-0.

The Yankees had only two hits through the first four innings.  They got on the board in the fifth when Bernie Williams doubled and Velarde singled.  It stayed 4-1 until the eighth.  In the top of the inning Chuck Knoblauch walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Kirby Puckett's single.  Gallego homered leading off the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-2.  New York got one man on in the ninth but did not bring the tying run to the plate.

WP:  Tapani (10-15).  LP:  Scott Kamieniecki (9-7).  S:  Aguilera (32).

Notes:  Scott Stahoviak was at third base.  I had completely forgotten that Stahoviak came up as a third baseman.  He played 19 games there in 1993 and 22 in 1995 before moving to first base.  Terry Jorgensen and Jeff Reboulet also saw significant time at third.  Mike Pagliarulo had been the regular third baseman, but he was traded to Baltimore in mid-August.

David McCarty was in right field.  The person who actually got the most games in right field was Puckett, with 47, but he also had the most games in center with 95.  Shane Mack played center when Puckett did not and usually played left when Puckett did.  Munoz had the next highest number of games in right field with 41.  McCarty had 34, Winfield had 31, and Gene Larkin had 25.  Munoz moved to left for this game, which he often did when someone else was in right.

Harper was the lone Twin over .300, at .305.  He would finish at .304.  Chip Hale, who did not play in this game, batted .333 in 186 at-bats.

Stahoviak was batting .175 after this game.  He would finish at .193.  It was his rookie season at age 23.  I'd forgotten that he actually had a fine year in 1996--.284/.376/.469 with 13 homers and 30 doubles.  If he'd been able to stay near that level, he'd have been a good player.  Unfortunately, the next season he batted .229 and he played in only nine big-league games after that.

Tapani pitched well in this game but did not have a good year, going 12-15, 4.43.  Maybe it's because of his fine 1991 season, when he was instrumental in the World Championship, but Tapani really does not appear to have been as good as I remember him.  He wasn't awful, but his career numbers--143-125, 4.35, 1.31 WHIP--are really pretty average.  He was really good in 1991, though.

This was the second game of a stretch in which the Twins would win eight out of nine.

Record:  The Twins were 64-88, in sixth place in the American League West, 22.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 71-91, tied for fifth with California, 23 games behind Chicago.

The Yankees were 83-70, in second place, 5 games behind Toronto.  With only nine games left, the loss to the lowly Twins really hurt them.  They would finish 88-74, in second place, 7 games behind Toronto.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1979, Game Twenty-four

MINNESOTA 7, DETROIT 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 4.

Batting stars:  Rob Wilfong was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-3 with two walks.  Mike Cubbage was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Willie Norwood was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third) and two runs.  Ron Jackson was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk.  Glenn Adams was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Mike Marshall pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Rusty Staub was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two RBIs.  Ron LeFlore was 3-for-5 with three runs.  Steve Kemp was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Jerry Morales was 3-for-5 with a double.

The game:  The Twins gifted the Tigers a run in the top of the third:  LeFlore singled with one out, followed by a walk to Lou Whitaker.  With two out, walks to Jason Thompson and Staub made it 1-0 Detroit.  The Tigers gifted the run right back in the bottom of the third, as Norwood got an infield single, was bunted to second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on an error, making it 1-1 after three.

Detroit got an unearned run of their own in the fourth, as Morales singled, Alan Trammell reached on an error, LeFlore singled to load the bases, and Kemp had a two-run single, making it 3-1 Tigers.  But again the Twins came back in the bottom of the inning.  Butch Wynegar led off with a single.  With one out, Norwood singled and Wilfong walked, loading the bases.  Cubbage delivered a two-run single and Smalley had an RBI single, putting the Twins up 4-3.  Ron Jackson homered in the fifth, making it 5-3.

The Tigers came back to tie it in the sixth.  Singles by LeFlore and Kemp put men on first and third with one out.  A sacrifice fly scored a run and Staub doubled home another, making it 5-5.  Once again, the Twins countered in the bottom of the inning.  Wilfong singled and scored from first on a Cubbage double, giving the Twins a 6-5 lead.

Detroit tied it once more in the seventh when Morales doubled and scored on a pair of fly balls.  The Twins again took the lead back in the bottom of the inning, when Adams led off the inning with a home run and put the Twins up 7-6.

And that was it.  The Tigers threatened in the eighth, when Kemp doubled and Jason Thompson singled to put men on first and third with one out, but Staub hit into a double play.  Lance Parrish led off the ninth with a single, but he never advanced past first base.

WP:  Marshall (4-1).  LP:  Aurelio Lopez (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Norwood was in center.  He began the year as the regular center fielder, but lost the job in late May, with Ken Landreaux moving over from left to take over in center.  The Twins pretty much just mixed and matched their corner outfielders the rest of the season.  In left it was Bombo Rivera (61 games), Adams (45), and Dave Edwards (36).  In right it was Hosken Powell (85 games), Rivera (50), Norwood (28), Edwards (24), and Rick Sofield (22).

The DHs had a similar situation.  The most used was Jose Morales, with 77 games.  Others used were Adams (54), Danny Goodwin (51), Cubbage (22), Norwood (17), and Craig Kusick (12).

Cubbage was at third base in place of John Castino.  He was in somewhat of a platoon with Castino, but the right-handed Castino got the majority of the playing time.  Presumably Gene Mauch tried to spot Cubbage against right-handers he thought he could hit.

Rivera replaced Adams in right field in the eighth.  Castino pinch-hit for Cubbage in the eighth and stayed in at third base.

The Twins were hitting, at least for average, early in the season.  They had five players with averages of .300 or better.  They were led by Smalley, who was batting .396.  He would be over .400 as late as May 20 and was still batting .373 at the end of June.  He did a belly-flop in the second half, though, and finished at .271.  Wilfong was batting .338--he would finish at .313.  John Castino was batting .333--he would finish at .285.  Landreaux was batting .312--he would finish at .305.  Adams was batting .300--he would finish at .301.

Pete Redfern started for the Twins.  He struck out four in four innings, but allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks.  This would be one of just six starts for Redfern--he spent most of the year in the bullpen and had a fine season, going 7-3, 3.49, 1.30 WHIP.

As you probably know, it was not unusual for Marshall to pitch multiple innings.  He set a league record by appearing in ninety games and pitched 142 relief innings.  That was only his third-highest total of his career--he had pitched 179 relief innings for Montreal in 1973 and 208.1 for the Dodgers in 1974.  He had a fine season for the Twins in 1979 as well, going 10-15, 32 saves, 2.65 ERA, 1.26 WHIP.

This was the last of a six-game winning streak for the Twins.  They would lose one, then win five more, making them eleven of twelve.

Record:  The Twins were 17-7, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, six games behind California.

The Tigers were 8-11, in fifth place in the American League East, 5 games behind Boston.  They would finish 85-76, in fifth place, 18 games behind Baltimore.