Tag Archives: random rewind

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1982, Game One Hundred Fifteen

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MINNESOTA 3, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, August 13.

Batting stars:  Ron Washington was 2-for-4.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a walk.

PItching stars:  Bobby Castillo pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and one walk and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Gaylord Perry pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk and striking out five.  Bruce Bochte was 2-for-3.

The game:  Joe Simpson led off the game with a triple and scored on Bochte's single to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  The Twins put men on first and third in the bottom of the first but did not score.

No one got a man past first in innings two through five.  In the sixth, however, the Twins got consecutive one-out singles from Tom Brunansky, Hrbek, Gary Ward, and Gary Gaetti, plating two runs and giving the Twins a 2-1 lead.  The Twins added a run in the eighth when Washington singled, then was picked off first but reached second on an error.  Hrbek was intentionally walked.  Ward hit a potential double play ball, but the throw to first was wild and Washington came in to score, making it 3-1 Twins.

Castillo was in total control.  He gave up only one hit after the first inning, a two-out single by Bochte in the fourth.  He retired the last ten batters he faced.

WP:  Castillo (6-9).  LP:  Perry (7-10).  S:  None.

Notes:  Washington was the shortstop in this game.  Lenny Faedo is listed as the Twins starting shortstop in 1982, but Washington actually played slightly more games there (92 to 88).

Randy Johnson was the Twins DH.  He's listed as the Twins starting DH in 1982, and he got more time there than anyone, but it was only 66 games.  Others who spent significant time at DH were Jesus Vega (39 games), Mickey Hatcher (29), Randy Bush (26), and Dave Engel (20).

Hrbek was the only Twins above .300, at .315.  He would finish at .301.  This was the only time Hrbek was named to the all-star team.  He deserved more appearances, but after a snub early in his career he said that he was not interested in going.

This was one of the two best seasons of Castillo's career, and his best as a starter.  He was 13-11, 3.66, 1.28 WHIP.  His other good season was when he was a reliever for the Dodgers in 1980.  By game scores, this was his best game of the season.  He did, however, have six complete games in 1982.  He would have three the next season, and those were the only complete games he had in his career.

Perry was in his age forty-three season in 1982.  He was obviously not what he once was, but he was still decent--10-12, 4.40, 1.38 WHIP.  He would pitch one more season before calling it quits.

Record:  The Twins were 40-75, in seventh (last) place in the American League West, 26.5 games behind California.  They would finish 60-102, in seventh place, thirty-three games behind California.

The Mariners were 56-58, in fourth place in the American League West, ten games behind California.  They would finish 76-86, in fourth place, seventeen games behind California.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1977, Game Fifty

BOSTON 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, June 4.

Batting star:  Larry Hisle was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and a double.

Pitching star:  Tom Burgmeier pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Bill Lee pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out one.  Denny Doyle was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base (his second), and two runs.  Bernie Carbo was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Fred Lynn was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Carlton Fisk was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his fifth.

The game:  The Twins had men on first and third with none out in the second, but Butch Wynegar hit into a 6-2-5-3-6 double play to take them out of the inning.  The Red Sox got on the board in the third when Doyle doubled and Fred Lynn singled.  They made it 2-0 in the fourth when Carl Yastrzemski tripled and Carbo singled.

The Twins got on the board in the fourth when Hisle homered.  Boston got the run back in the fifth on two-out singles by Fisk and George Scott and a wild pitch.  They added a run in the seventh when Doyle singled, stole second, and scored on Lynn's single.  They got one more in the eighth when Carbo doubled, was bunted to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Twins got their second and last run in the eighth when Wynegar doubled and scored on a pair of ground outs.

WP:  Lee (3-1).  LP:  Paul Thormodsgard (3-2).

Notes:  The only change from their regular lineup is that Jerry Terrell was at third base in place of Mike Cubbage.  Terrell, who had a .295 OBP, was batting leadoff for some reason.  His career OBP was .288, so it's not like he was just in a temporary slump.  What makes it worse is that Lyman Bostock, who was batting .331 with an OBP of .399, was batting seventh.  I know some people say batting order doesn't make a lot of difference, but it seems like you should still try to take advantage of whatever little difference it makes.

Rod Carew was leading the team in batting at .376, despite going 0-for-4 in this game.  He would finish at .388.  For as great a hitter as he was, I don't remember Carew ever having a really long hitting streak.  My memory is that he tended to get his hits in bunches.  Obviously, when you bat .388 you're not getting a lot of 0-for-4s, but I suspect it was not as uncommon as one might expect.

Hisle was batting .328.  He would finish at .302 and lead the league in RBIs with 119.

Roy Smalley was batting just .210, and he would finish the season at only .231.  He was twenty-four in this season, and had not yet established himself as a batter.  He would bat .273 in 1978 and would go on to be a productive batter through 1983.

Thormodsgard pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out one.  This was his only full season as a rotation starter.  He went 11-15, 4.62, 1.38 WHIP.  For a twenty-three-year-old who had been jumped from A ball, that's not awful.  It was as good as it would get for him, though.  He started 1978 in the rotation, but in twelve starts he went 1-6, 5.05, 1.49 and was sent back to AAA.  He pitched well in AAA for the Twins in 1978 and 1979 and for Philadelphia in 1980, but he never got another chance at the majors.  I'm sure there were reasons, but it seems like he did enough to deserve more of a chance than he got.  As we've observed many times, life and baseball are not always fair.

Carlton Fisk had 128 stolen bases in his career.  His high was seventeen, which he did twice, in 1982 and again in 1985, when he was thirty-seven.

Record:  The Twins were 31-19, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 84-77, in fourth place, 17.5 games behind Kansas City.

The Red Sox were 26-23, in third place in the American League East, two games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 97-64, tied for second, 2.5 games behind New York.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2010, Game Fifty-eight

MINNESOTA 7, KANSAS CITY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 8.

Batting stars:  Danny Valencia was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Jason Kubel was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventh) and a double.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-4.  Denard Span was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Kevin Slowey pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Jose Guillen was 2-for-4 with a double.  Mike Aviles was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins jumped out for three runs in the first inning.  With one out, Matt Tolbert walked and Joe Mauer singled.  With two out, Cuddyer delivered an RBI single and Kubel hit a two-run double, putting the Twins up 3-0.  They added two more in the fourth.  Delmon Young and Valencia singled, they were bunted to second and third, and Span came through with a two-run single to make it 5-0.

It went to 6-0 in the fifth when Kubel homered.  In the sixth Valencia singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Tolbert single.

The Royals scored some late runs to make the final score look better.  In the eighth singles by Mitch Maier and Yuniesky Betancourt and a sacrifice fly brought home their first run.  In the ninth, Billy Butler reached on an error and scored on Guillen's double.  Aviles singled him home to make the final score 7-3.

WP:  Slowey (7-3).  LP:  Zack Greinke (1-8).  S:  Matt Guerrier (1),.

Notes:  As we've discussed before, this was the year Justin Morneau had his season end just before the all-star break, which caused Cuddyer to go to first and Kubel to right field.  At this point, though, Morneau was still at first, Cuddyer in right, and Kubel at DH.  The main DH this season was Jim Thome.

Tolbert was at second base in place of Orlando Hudson, who was out due to injury.  Nick Punto was at shortstop in place of J. J. Hardy, who was out due to injury.

Morneau was leading the team in batting at .362.  He was batting .345 with an OPS of 1.055 when his season ended.  Valencia was batting .333.  He would finish the season at .311.  We thought we really had something.

Mauer was batting .312.  He would finish at .327.

Tolbert, who was in the number two spot in the order, was batting .160 with an OPS of .345.  He would finish at .230, which was also his career batting average.

According to game scores, this was only the fourth-best game for Slowey in 2010.  His best was July 31, when he pitched eight shutout innings against Seattle.  His second best was seven no-hit innings against Oakland on August 15.  He was also higher on April 20, when he gave up one run in eight innings and struck out nine against Cleveland.

This was the year after Zack Greinke's Cy Young year.  He did not have a good year, but it was not as bad as I remembered it, and I think it's not as bad as it was claimed to be at the time.  He went 10-14, 4.17, 1.25 WHIP.  That's not great by any means--it's certainly not Cy Young caliber--but it's not awful, either.  It's an average to slightly-above-average season.

Record:  The Twins were 34-24, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Detroit.  They would finish 94-68, in first place, six games ahead of Chicago.

The Royals were 24-35, in fourth place in the American League Central, 10.5 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 67-95, in fifth (last) place, twenty-seven games behind Minnesota.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1969, Game Thirty-seven

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MINNESOTA 2, NEW YORK 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, May 24.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up an unearned run on five hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Murcer was 2-for-4.  Bill Burbach pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out four.

The game:  The Twins started the scoring in the second on singles by Harmon Killebrew, Graig Nettles, and Cardenas.  They ran themselves out of a chance for a bigger inning when, with men on first and third and one out, Nettles was thrown out trying to steal home on the back end of a second-and-home double steal attempt.  It went to 2-0 in the third when Rod Carew walked, stole second, and scored on Oliva's single.

It stayed 2-0 for a while, as neither team was getting much else going offensively.  Tom Tresh led off the sixth with a double but did not advance.  The Yankees got on the board in the seventh when, with a man on first and two out, Carew made a two-base error on a pop fly to short right field, scoring Billy Cowan.  Neither team threatened after that, and the game ended 2-1.

WP:  Kaat (4-2).  LP:  Burbach (2-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cesar Tovar was again at third base, with Nettles in left field.  In the eighth, Frank Quilici came in to play third, with Tovar moving to left.

Carew was 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average to .384.  Oliva went up to .306.  Kaat's ERA fell to 2.50.

The Twins went 1-for-4 in stolen bases.  In addition to Nettles, Oliva was caught stealing twice, in the third and the sixth.

The Twins were having trouble scoring runs in this period.  They had scored just thirteen runs in their last eight games.  Part of it was that they hit a stretch where they faced some good pitchers, but that was not the case in this game (more on that below).

It strikes me that one reason pitchers threw more innings and more complete games back then is that balls were simply put in play more frequently.  Yes, there were some pitchers with high strikeout totals, but a lot of successful pitchers did not strike out that many batters.  Kaat pitched a complete game here, but struck out just four and walked only two.  For the season, in 242.1 innings, he struck out just 139 and walked 75 (including 15 intentional walks).  I am making no judgment about what is better or worse, just observing that you're going to be able to face more batters if you don't throw as many pitches per at-bat.  And if you can get those batters to make outs, well, you're probably going to throw more innings and get more complete games.

I have absolutely no memory of Bill Burbach.  As it turns out, he's an ex-Twin that I had missed, although he did not play in the majors for Minnesota.  1969 was his rookie season.  He was in the rotation pretty much all year and did fairly well, going 6-8, 3.65.  He pitched 140.2 innings and gave up just 112 hits, but he walked 102 batters, leading to a WHIP of 1.52.  He was just twenty-one years old in this season, though, and one can imagine people saying, "If he can just learn to throw strikes, he'll be a great pitcher."  It didn't happen for him, though.  He made four starts for the Yankees in 1970, posting a 10.26 ERA, and spent the rest of the year in AAA Syracuse.  1971 was similar--two appearances in the majors early in the season, the rest of the year in AAA.  It wasn't AAA Syracuse, though--the Yankees traded him to Baltimore for Jim Hardin in late May.  The Orioles traded him to Detroit before the 1972 season, but somehow he ended up making thirty-three appearances for Tacoma in the Twins' organization that season.  He wasn't very good, posting an ERA of 4.50 and a WHIP of 1.75.  He improved some at throwing strikes as his career, although no one would ever have called him a control pitcher.  As his walk rate went down, however, his hits allowed rate went up.  One wonders if he might have thrown a magical zoomball, and if in the process of trying to control it, it became hittable.  At any rate, he was out of baseball after the 1972 season at age twenty-five.  His career major league numbers are 6-11, 4.48, 1.60 WHIP in 160.2 innings.

Record:  The Twins were 21-16, tied for first with Oakland in the American League West.  They would finish 97-65, in first place, nine games ahead of Oakland.

The Yankees were 20-22, in fourth place in the American League West, ten games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 80-81, in fifth place, 28.5 games behind Baltimore.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1989, Game One Hundred Two

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MINNESOTA 7, DETROIT 3 IN DETROIT (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, July 28.

Batting stars:  Johnny Moses was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base (his ninth), and two runs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fourteenth), two walks, two runs, and three RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Vic Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Mike Dyer pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and five walks and striking out two.  Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Edwin Nunez struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks.  Dave Bergman was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Chet Lemon was 2-for-4 with a double.  Lou Whitaker was 1-for-2 with a home run (his twenty-first), two walks, and two runs.

The game:  With one out in the first, Bergman singled followed by three consecutive walks, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.   Lemon's RBI single made it 2-0 after one.  Detroit got a pair of two-out walks in the second, but could not add to their lead.

Hrbek got the Twins on the board in the fourth with a home run.  In the fifth, Brian Harper reached on an error to start the inning and went to third on a one-out single by Rodriguez.  Al Newman's sacrifice fly tied the score.  Moses doubled and Puckett had an RBI single.  A wild pitch plated another run and the Twins had a 4-2 lead.

The Twins put men on second and third in the fifth but did not score.  They scored in the sixth, though.  Moses led off with a double and Puckett walked.  Hrbek hit a two-run double to make it 6-2.  Carmelo Castillo  was hit by a pitch.  A productive out put men on second and third, Harper was intentionally walked, and another wild pitch gave the Twins a 7-2 lead.

Lou Whitaker homered leading off the seventh to make it 7-3.  The Tigers had only one hit after that, however, and the game went to the Twins.

WP:  Dyer (1-2).  LP:  Jeff Robinson (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Newman was at second base in place of Wally Backman, who was out with an injury.  Moses was in left field in place of Dan Gladden, who was out with an injury.  It looks like Castillo and Randy Bush platooned in right field, but both played in this game, with Castillo in right field and Bush at DH.  The main DHs that year were Jim Dwyer and Gene Larkin.  Rodriguez was at third base in place of Gary Gaetti, who was given the second game of the doubleheader off.

Puckett was the leading Twins batter at .345.  He would finish leading the league in batting at .339.  Harper was batting .310 in his first season as a regular (at age twenty-nine).  He would finish at .325.  Doug Baker, who came in to play second base in place of Newman in the eighth, had only thirty-three at-bats, but was batting .333.  He would finish at .295 in seventy-eight at-bats.  It was the only decent batting season he had, and nothing in his record suggests he could have sustained it had he been given more of an opportunity.

Dyer was twenty-two years old at this time, and while he got by in this game he was clearly not ready for the majors, going 4-7, 4.82, 1.56 WHIP.  Unfortunately for him, he never would be.  He was able to get two full seasons in the majors as a reliever, 1995 with Pittsburgh and 1996 with Montreal.  In those years, he went 9-10, 4.37, 1.49 WHIP.

He's on the birthday list and I've done his bio, but it still came as a surprise to me that the Twins once had a player named Vic Rodriguez.

Record:  The Twins were 50-52, in fifth place in the American League West, 12.5 games behind California.  They would finish 80-82, in fifth place, nineteen games behind Oakland.

The Tigers were 35-66, in seventh (last) place in the American League East, 19.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 59-103, in seventh place, thirty games behind Baltimore.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2008, Game Sixty-five

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CLEVELAND 1, MINNESOTA 0 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Tuesday, June 10.

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching stars:  Scott Baker pitched seven innings, giving up one run on eight hits and one walk and striking out one.  Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  C. C. Sabathia pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and no walks and striking out five.  David Dellucci was 2-for-3.  Ryan Garko was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins opened the game with two singles, but the rally fizzled when Carlos Gomez was doubled off second base when a long fly by Justin Morneau was caught.  The Indians took advantage of it, scoring in the bottom of the first when Ben Francisco hit a one-out double and Garko delivered a two-out single.

And that was it for the scoring.  The Twins never really got a threat going after that.  They got three more singles, but no runner got past first base.  They had no extra-base hits and did not draw any walks.  It was 1-0 after one inning, and it was 1-0 at the end of the game.

WP:  Sabathia (4-8).  LP:  Baker (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was in right field.  Denard Span, who was a rookie that year, is listed as the regular right fielder, but he didn't really take over the job until Cuddyer was injured in late June.  The injury essentially ended Cuddyer's season, although he made a handful of appearances in September.

Mike Redmond was the DH in this game.  Craig Monroe started the season as the DH, but he was found wanting Jason Kubel became the more-or-less full time designated hitter.

Brendan Harris was at shortstop.  Adam Everett was supposed to be the regular shortstop, but he missed much of the season due to injuries.  Harris and Nick Punto pretty much shared the position after that.

Matt Macri was at third base.  This was another instance of a failed plan.  Mike Lamb was supposed to be the third baseman.  When that didn't work, Brian Buscher became the more-or-less regular at the position.

This was Macri's only season in the majors, and he got only thirty-four at bats.  He made the most of them, batting .324/.361/.441.  There's nothing in his record that suggests he could've sustained anything near that, but he still has a lifetime average of .324, and that's pretty good.

Other than Macri, Alexi Casilla was the leading batter on the team at .330.  He would finish at .281.  It was an empty .281, as his OPS was .707.  That was the second-highest OPS of his career--he was at .726 in 2010.

Joe Mauer was batting .327.  His average was sustainable, as he finished the season at .328 and led the league in batting.

Mike Redmond was batting .311.  He would finish at .287.

This was the year the Twins lost game 163 to Chicago.  When you look at the names listed above, it's remarkable that they came that close to winning the division, although it may be more due to the weakness of the division than anything else.  Still, it's rather frustrating to think that, if they'd just made one or two moves to acquire some good players, rather than shopping in the bargain basement, they probably could've won the division easily.

Record:  The Twins were 31-34, in second place in the American League Central, six games behind Chicago.  They would finish 88-75, in second place, one game behind Chicago.

The Indians were 30-35, in third place in the American League Central, seven games behind Chicago.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, 7.5 games behind Chicago.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1967, Game Sixteen

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MINNESOTA 13, NEW YORK 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs.  Ron Clark was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jerry Zimmerman was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-5 with a triple, a double, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Dean Chance pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition star:  Tom Tresh was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his third) and two walks.

The game:  The Yankees put men on second and third with two out in the first but did not score.  That was the last time the Yankees were in the game.  The Twins scored six times in the first inning.  Tovar and Uhlaender started the inning with back-to-back doubles.  Versalles singled and Harmon Killebrew hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.  Bob Allison had an RBI single.  With two out Clark had a run-scoring double.  Zimmerman was intentionally walked, Chance was accidentally walked to load the bases, and Tovar got his second hit of the inning, a two-run single, to make it 6-0 Twins.

It stayed 6-0 until the fifth, when New York got on the board.  John Kennedy led off with a walk and Tresh hit a two-out two-run homer to cut the margin to 6-2.  The Twins came back with three in the sixth.  Zimmerman singled and Chance reached on an error.  Tovar bunted the runners up, and with two out Versalles hit a two-run triple, followed by Killebrew's RBI double, giving the Twins a 9-2 lead.

The Twins added a run in the seventh when Andy Kosco reached on a three-base error and scored on a sacrifice fly.  In the eighth Uhlaender tripled, Frank Quilici walked, Killebrew hit a sacrifice fly, Allison walked, and Kosco and Clark had RBI singles, making the score 13-2.  The Yankees added two in the ninth.  Bill Robinson reached on an error and Dick Howser singled.  A force out put men on first and third, a wild pitch scored one, and Ray Barker's single made the final 13-4.

WP:  Chance (3-1).  LP:  Fritz Peterson (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tovar was at second base in place of rookie Rod Carew, who missed a couple of days with a minor injury.  Kosco was in right field in place of Tony Oliva, who missed a couple of weeks.  Clark was at third base in place of Rich Rollins, who missed about three weeks.  As we mentioned yesterday, Earl Battey missed much of the season due to injury, so Zimmerman was the regular catcher.

Quilici entered the game in the seventh and went to second base, with Tovar moving to short and Versalles leaving the game.  Rich Reese replaced Killebrew at first base in the ninth.

There were a couple of interesting managerial decisions.  In the first, with two out, a man on second, and the score 4-0, Zimmerman was intentionally walked to bring up Chance.  Chance was a notoriously bad batter--he only had one year in which he batted over .100, and his lifetime average was .066.  But Zimmerman was a pretty bad batter, too--his lifetime average was .204, and he was batting .133 at this time.  So yes, you were bringing up a worse batter, but it seems like if you don't have confidence that your pitcher can get a batter like Zimmerman out, you probably shouldn't be using that pitcher in the first place.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Twins led 6-2.  Zimmerman led off with a single and Chance was allowed to bat.  Maybe he was supposed to bunt--the play-by-play doesn't say that, it simply says that he reached on an error.  But Chance came out of the game to start the seventh, with Al Worthington coming in to pitch.  Maybe if the score had stayed 6-2, Chance was going to pitch the seventh, but when it went to 9-2 Sam Mele decided to give him a break and use Worthington instead.

Peterson did not get out of the first inning.  The walk to Chance was the last straw, and he was removed in favor of Jim Bouton.  Bouton then pitched the next 5.1 innings of relief.

This is the first time random.org gave us back-to-back games from the same year.  It has also given us the same opponent three times in a row.

Record:  The Twins were 6-10, in tenth (last) place in the American League, four games behind Detroit.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second, one game behind Boston.

The Yankees were 9-7, tied for second place in the American League, one game behind Detroit.  They would finish 72-90, in ninth place, twenty games behind Boston.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1967, Game Forty-one

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MINNESOTA 3, NEW YORK 0 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Tuesday, May 30.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4 with a double.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt struck out eleven in a complete game, giving up two hits and no walks.

Opposition star:  Hal Reniff pitched three shutout innings, giving up only a walk and striking out two.

The game:  With one out in the first, Rod Carew doubled.  Zoilo Versalles drove him in with a single and went to second on an error.  Killebrew drove him in with a single and went all the way to third on an error.  Tony Oliva drove him in with a single and the Twins had a 3-0 lead.

And there it stood the rest of the game.  The Yankees never threatened.  Horace Clarke got a leadoff single in the second but never got past first base.  He reached on an error in the third but again stayed at first.  Bill Robinson reached on an error in the fifth and had a similar fate.  Charley Smith hit a one-out double in the seventh and went to third on a ground out, but stayed there.

WP:  Merritt (3-0).  LP:  Fritz Peterson (0-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Earl Battey was injured much of 1967, catching only forty-one games, so Jerry Zimmerman was the regular catcher.

Tovar was in center field in this game in place of Ted Uhlaender.  As you probably know, Tovar could play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  In 1967 he played 72 games at third base, 64 in center field, 35 at second base, 10 in left field, 9 at shortstop, and 6 in right field.  I can't tell you how good he was defensively, but he was good enough that his managers kept making sure he was in the lineup someplace.  In 1967 he led the league in games played with 164 (I assume there were a couple of games that were called for weather as ties or something), plate appearances at 726, and at-bats at 649.

This was Merritt's best year in the majors.  He went 13-7, 2.53, 0.99 WHIP.  Some might say his best years were 1969-1970, when he went a combined 37-21 for Cincinnati (winning twenty games and making the all-star team in 1970), but his ERA, his WHIP, and his FIP are all substantially lower in 1967.  This was one of four shutouts he pitched that year--he had no more than one in any other season and nine for his career.  This was only his second start of the season--he had started the year in the bullpen.  His first start, on May 26, was a shutout of Kansas City.

I like the good old days, when the Twins could beat the Yankees.

Record:  The Twins were 20-21, in sixth place in the American League, 6.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second place, one game behind Boston.

The Yankees were 17-22, in ninth place in the American League, 8.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 72-90, in ninth place, twenty games behind Boston.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game One Hundred Six

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NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, August 5.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-2 with two walks.  Bob Allison was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Jack Kralick pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up two runs on nine hits and three walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jim Coates pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and five walks and striking out three.  Elston Howard was 3-for-4.  Bill Skowron was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.  Mickey Mantle was 2-for-4 with a triple.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the first inning.  Versalles led off the game with a walk.  With one out, Harmon Killebrew and Allison had consecutive singles, putting the Twins up 1-0.

That was as good as it would get.  The Yankees tied it in the second.  Howard singled and scored on Skowron's two-out double.  New York threatened to take the lead in the fifth, putting men on second and third with one out, but Bobby Richardson lined into a double play.  Each team got two on in the sixth, but neither scored.

The Yankees took the lead in the eighth.  With one out, Roger Maris singled and Mantle tripled, making it 2-1.  The Twins threatened to tie it in the ninth.  Joe Altobelli had a pinch-hit triple and Ted Lepcio walked.  But Bill Tuttle popped up to second, and the game was over.

WP:  Coates (7-3).  LP:  Kralick (10-7).  S:  None.

Notes:  The only variation from the standard lineup is Lepcio, who was at second base in place of Billy Martin.  Lepcio appears to have replaced Martin as the regular second baseman from late July to mid-August, with Martin eventually getting the job back.  Both were veteran infielders at the end of their careers, and offensively there's not a lot to choose between them.  Martin hit for a higher average but with less power in 1961, but for their careers their slash lines are pretty similar.

Julio Becquer pinch-hit for Jim Lemon in the ninth.  Altobelli pinch-hit for Earl Battey in the ninth.  In both cases it was a left-hander pinch-hitting for a right-hander to face the right-handed Coates.

This was Altobelli's third game as a Twin.  All were as a pinch-hitter.  He would make his first start the next day, but would be replaced in the second inning, presumably due to a minor injury.  He would finally play his first full game on August 12.

Other than Altobelli, who was 1-for-2, the leading average on the Twins belonged to Killebrew, who was batting .313.  He would finish at .288, which was the highest average in his career for a full season.  Lenny Green was batting .302.  He would finish at .285.

From 1960-1964, Kralick was a fine pitcher.  He made the all-star team in 1964, when he was with Cleveland.  After that, he fell apart--one suspects an injury may have been involved, but I really don't know.  His career was over in 1967, when he was in a bad car accident that left him with double vision.  It did not clear up for over a year, and by the time it did he decided to move on with his life.  But for five years, he was a pitcher any team would've been happy to have in its rotation.

Jim Coates had about three years where he was a good pitcher.  He pitched very well out of the bullpen for the Yankees in 1959, then had a couple of good seasons in which he both started and relieved.  He made the all-star teams in 1960, when he went 13-3 despite an ERA of 4.28.  He struggled after that, but came back to have some decent partial seasons with the Angels in 1965-1966.  One gets the impression that when he was on, he was really on, and when he was not, he was really not.  For his career, he was 43-22, 4.00, 1.37 WHIP in 683.1 innings (247 games).

It might be fun to do a rewind of the 1961 Twins, just to learn more about the first Twins team.  They weren't all that good, as is shown below, but there are a lot of interesting players.

It also might be fun to do the 1924 Washington Senators, the Twins' predecessor.  There'd be all kinds of players to learn about on that team.

Record:  The Twins were 46-60, in ninth place in the American League, twenty-three games behind New York.  They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, thirty-eight games behind New York.

The Yankees were 69-37, in first place in the American League, 1.5 games ahead of Detroit.  They would finish 109-53, in first place, eight games ahead of Detroit.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1971, Game Thirty

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MINNESOTA 6, WASHINGTON 5 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, May 9.

Batting stars:  Jim Holt was 3-for-4 with two triples, a walk, and three runs.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Ray Corbin struck out four in four shutout innings of relief, giving up no hits and one walk.

Opposition stars:  Tim Cullen was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs.  Del Unser was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

The game:  Unser led off the game with a home run, putting the Senators up 1-0.  In the second, walks to Joe Foy and Jim French and a single by Cullen loaded the bases with none out.  A 1-2-3 double play kept Washington off the board momentarily, but Denny McLain hit a two-run triple to give the Senators a 3-0 lead.

The Twins came back in the fourth.  Cardenas led off the inning with a home run.  Oliva doubled, followed by a run-scoring single-plus-error by Harmon Killebrew.  Holt then tripled to tie the score and Brant Alyea hit a sacrifice fly to put the Twins up 4-3.

The Senators went back in front in the sixth.  French singled, Cullen tripled, and Toby Harrah hit a sacrifice fly to give them a 5-4 advantage.  The lead only lasted until the Twins came up to bat, because Holt hit a one-out triple and Alyea followed with his second sacrifice fly to tie it 5-5.

It stayed tied until the tenth.  The first two Twins batters went out.  Holt and Alyea then singled, putting men on first and third.  Rich Reese was intentionally walked to load the bases and bring up George Mitterwald.  Mitterwald came through with an RBI single and the Twins won 6-5.

WP:  Corbin (3-1).  LP:  McLain (3-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Killebrew was at third base in this game, with Reese at first.  Killer played both first and third in 1971, with Steve Braun usually playing third when Harmon was at first.

Alyea was in left in place of Cesar Tovar, who missed a few days, presumably with a minor injury or illness.  Tom Tischinski caught in place of Mitterwald.

Paul Ray Powell pinch-ran for Oliva in the eighth.  He stayed in the game in center field, with Holt moving to right.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Tischinski in the ninth, with Mitterwald entering the game to catch in the tenth.

Despite using three pitchers, the Twins did not pinch-hit for any of them.  Stan Williams batted twice (0-for-2) and Corbin batted twice (0-for-2).

There were four triples in this game.  While I'm sure that's nowhere near a record, it's still a lot of triples, especially when you think of the number of games that can go by where you don't even see one.  I imagine the record was set back in the dead ball era, and I'm sure it's a lot more than four, but four is still remarkable.

Holt hit two of the triples.  He had three for the season and ten in his career.  Cullen had four triples for the season and nine in his career.  This was one of two triples McLain had in his career.

Astonishingly, McLain pitched a complete game.  I know men were men back then, but it's not exactly like he was mowing them down.  He allowed six runs on thirteen hits and two walks.  His game score was forty-four.  They don't give pitch counts for games that old, but it had to be a lot.  It's not like their bullpen was terrible--they had Joe Grzenda (5-2, 1.92), Paul Lindblad (6-4, 2.58), Denny Riddleberger (3-1, 3.23), and Horacio Pina (1-1, 3.59).  After his two Cy Young seasons, 1968-1969, McLain fell off sharply and never had a good year again.  This was his last full season in the majors, and he went 10-22, 4.28, 1.41 WHIP.

1971 is somewhat analogous to 2011.  It's not a perfect analogy by any means, but in both cases you had a team that had been good for a while suddenly fall off a cliff.  The Twins had won the division in 1969 and 1970, and as is seen below, were nowhere close in 1971.

Record:  The Twins were 15-15, in fourth place in the American League West, five games behind Oakland.  They would finish 74-86, in fifth place, 26.5 games behind Oakland.

The Senators were 13-16, in fifth place in the American League East, six games behind Boston.  They would finish 63-96, in fifth place, 38.5 games behind Baltimore.