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Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game One Hundred Forty-three

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MINNESOTA 7, KANSAS CITY 0 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, September 10.

Batting stars:  Earl Battey was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and two runs.  Joe Altobelli was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer (his forty-third), three walks, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Pedro Ramos pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and four walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Lew Krausse pitched two perfect innings.  Ed Rakow pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  Each team put two men on in the first, but neither scored.  In the third Lenny Green singled with one out, Billy Martin walked, and Killebrew hit a three-run homer.  Battey homered later in the inning to make the score 4-0 Twins.

The Athletics drew a pair of one-out walks in the fourth, but a line drive double play took them out of the inning.  It was still 4-0 until the eighth.  Altobelli led off the inning with a single.  Battey reached on an error, and Bob Allison bunted the runners to second and third.  A wild pitch scored a run, Bill Tuttle walked, and Zoilo Versalles got a bunt single to make the score 6-0.

The Twins added one more in the ninth when Killebrew walked, Battey singled, and Allison had an RBI single.  Kansas City put two men on in the ninth but could not break the shutout.

WP:  Ramos (11-17).  LP:  Bill Kunkel (3-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Altobelli was in left field in place of Jim Lemon.  He had come up from the minors in early August.  This was his last season in the majors, but he would continue to play in the minors for several more years.  In 1966-1967 and in 1970 he was a player-manager in the minors, although he did not play very often.

Battey was batting .303.  He would finish at .302, the only regular player on the team to bat .300.  The Twins batted .250, which was seventh on the team.  Cleveland and Detroit led the league at .266.

Killebrew led the team in home runs with 46.  Allison was second with 29, followed by Battey with 17 and Lemon with 14.  The Twins hit 167 home runs, fourth in the league.  New York led at 240.

We went through the Twins' rotation in another 1961 game recently, so we won't repeat the discussion.  Ramos had three shutouts and nine complete games on the season.  Camilo Pascual led the team in both categories, throwing eight shutouts and fifteen complete games.  Jack Kralick had two shutouts and eleven complete games.  Jim Kaat had one shutout and eight complete games.  Don Lee, who only made ten starts, had four complete games and Al Schroll, who made eight starts, had two complete games.

The Bill Kunkel who started and lost for Kansas City is the same Bill Kunkel who was a major league umpire from 1968-1984.  He is the last person to have been both a major league player and a major league umpire.  He was a Rule 5 pick for the Yankees in 1963 and had a good year for them, pitching in 22 games and going 3-2, 2.72, 1.19 WHIP.  It looks like he mostly pitched mopup relief, but still, that's pretty good.  For some reason, though, he never got another chance in the majors.  Instead, he was in AAA for Milwaukee in 1964 and in AAA for Baltimore and Detroit in 1965.  He obviously had a much longer career as an umpire.  He retired in August of 1984 when his son, Jeff, reached the major leagues.  Sadly, he did not get much time to enjoy his retirement.  The cancer he had been fighting for years came back even stronger, and he passed away on May 4, 1985.

The Athletics used Joe Nuxhall as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.  Yes, that's the Joe Nuxhall who pitched for many years for Cincinnati and other teams.  As you probably know, he's the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game, pitching an inning in 1944 at age fifteen.  He would not reappear in the majors for eight years, but he went on to have a fine career.  He was, as they say, a good hitter for a pitcher, batting .198/.240/.292 in 861 plate appearances.  He was a good hitter, period, in 1961.  Small sample size, obviously, but he batted .292/.352/.446 with 2 home runs in 76 plate appearances.  Still, it's hard to understand using him as a pinch-hitter.  Kansas City had only used two substitutes, so they surely had position players remaining, especially in a September game.  Apparently, though, this was not unusual--it appears that he was used as a pinch-hitter 26 times in 1961, batting .250/.423/.300 in those appearances.

Record:  The Twins were 61-81, in eighth place in the American League, 37 games behind New York.  They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, 38 games behind New York.

The Athletics were 53-90, in ninth place in the American League, 45.5 games behind New York.  They would finish 61-100, tied for ninth with Washington, 47.5 games behind New York.

Random Record:  The Twins are 47-46 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1989, Game Forty-seven

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TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 28.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-5 with a stolen base (his fourth) and two RBIs.  John Moses was 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base (his seventh).  Al Newman was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base (his seventh), two runs, and two RBIs.  Randy Bush was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Shane Rawley pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Rafael Palmeiro was 4-for-5 with two RBIs.  Jeff Kunkel was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.  Julio Franco was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two RBIs.

The game:  The Twins let this one get away.  The Rangers scored first, as Kunkel led off the game with a double and scored on Palmeiro's single.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the first, as Newman led off with a double and scored on Jim Dwyer's single.  The Twins took the lead in the second.  Bush singled, Moses walked, and Newman singled, putting the Twins up 2-1.

It went to 4-1 in the fourth.  Moses hit a one-out double and stole third.  Newman walked and stole second.  With two out, Puckett delivered a two-run single.  The Twins added another run in the sixth.  Tim Laudner walked, was bunted to second, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1 Twins.

The Rangers got one back in the seventh, and it came exactly as had their run in the first--Kunkel doubled and Palmeiro singled.  But Bush homered in the eighth to make it 6-2 Twins going to the ninth inning.  Things looked good for the Twins.

It wasn't to be.  Steve Shields (be honest--do you remember that the Twins had Steve Shields?), who had come in to start the eighth, remained in the game to start the ninth.  He retired the first batter, then game up a single to Cecil Espy.  Espy stole second, but Jeff Stone struck out.  The Twins just needed one more out to win the game.  Scott Fletcher hit an RBI single, making the score 6-3, but Jeff Reardon came in, needing to record just one out with the tying run still in the on-deck circle.  He wouldn't get it.  Palmeiro singled, Ruben Sierra had an RBI double, Julio Franco had a two-run double to tie it, and Rick Leach had an RBI single to put Texas ahead.  Tom Kelly finally brought in Lee Tunnell (be honest--do you remember that the Twins had Lee Tunnell?), who gave up an RBI single to Pete Incaviglia before finally getting the third out of the inning.

The Twins did try to rally in the ninth.  Dan Gladden and Puckett singled, putting the tying run on base with none out, but again, it wasn't to be.  A fly out, a strikeout and a foul out ended the game.

WP:  Cecilio Guante (2-3).  LP:  Reardon (0-2).  S:  Jeff Russell (10).

Notes:  Laudner was at catcher, of course.  Brian Harper had become the regular by 1979, but Laudner still got plenty of playing time, catching 68 games.  Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek, who was out with an injury.  Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Moses was in left in place of Dan Gladden.

Gagne came in for defense in the ninth.  Newman moved to second and Wally Backman came out of the game.  Gladden came in for defense in the ninth as well.  Moses moved to right and Bush came out of the game.  Carmelo Castillo pinch-hit for Gagne in the ninth.

Puckett was leading the team in batting at .333.  He would finish at .339.  Moses was batting .325.  He would finish at .281.  Harper, who didn't play in this game, batted .325.  Dwyer was batting .295.  He would finish at .316.  On the other end of the scale, Laudner was batting .196.  He would finish at .222.  The Twins were second in batting at .276, just behind Boston at .277.

Home runs, again, were another story.  Hrbek led the team with 25.  Gary Gaetti hit 19 and Bush 14.  The Twins were tenth in home runs with 117,  California led with 145.

This was the last season of Rawley's career, and as often happens it was not a very good one.  He did well in this game, and actually did okay for the first half of the season, but he ended up 5-12, 5.21, 1.57 WHIP.  Allan Anderson led the team in starts, and while he didn't match his 1988 season he was fine at 17-10, 3.80, 1.36 WHIP.  Roy Smith was 10-6, 3.92, 1.34.  Frank Viola was traded at the July deadline--he was 8-12, 3.79, 1.24 at the time.  Rick Aguilera came over in that trade and did well, going 3-5, 3.21, 1.16 in eleven starts.  The other pitcher to make double digit starts was Mike Dyer, who went 4-7, 4.82, 1.56.  The stalwarts of the bullpen were Reardon (5-4, 4.07, 1.10, 31 saves), Juan Berenguer (9-3, 3.48, 1.35, 3 saves), and Gary Wayne (3-4, 3.30, 1.28, 1 save).  The Twins pitched to a 4.28 ERA, which was twelfth in the league.  Oakland led at 3.09.  The Twins were eleventh in WHIP at 1.40.  Oakland led there, too, at 1.24.

Dwyer was always one of my favorite players, in that odd way that a fan will take a liking to a player for no particular reason.  I was very pleased when he came to the Twins at the end of his career, and he did pretty well for them in a limited role.  I was also pleased when he became a long-time minor league coach and manager in the Twins organization.

It's probably just as well that we weren't doing game logs back in 1979.  An epic meltdown like this--well, it wouldn't have been pretty.

This was the third of a four-game losing streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 21-26, in sixth place in the American League West, 11 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 80-82, in fifth place, 19 games behind Oakland.

The Rangers were 27-19, in fourth place in the American League West, 4.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 83-79, in fourth place, 16 games behind Oakland.

Random record:  The Twins are 46-46 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1978, Game One Hundred Three

SEATTLE 3, MINNESOTA 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Wednesday, August 2.

Batting star:  Rob Wilfong was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Geoff Zahn pitched six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out two.  Mike Marshall struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jim Colborn pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and one walk and striking out one.  Julio Cruz was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Bob Stinson was 2-for-3.  Leon Roberts was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his third.  Bob Robertson was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk.

The game:  With one out in the second Robertson walked, was bunted to second, and scored on a Juan Bernhardt single, putting the Mariners up 1-0.  The Twins tied it in the fourth when Roy Smalley walked, Rod Carew sent him to second with a double, and Butch Wynegar hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 1-1.

It stayed 1-1 until the sixth.  Roberts got on with a one-out single and Robertson hit a two-out two-run homer to put Seattle up 3-1.  And that was it.  The Twins got three singles in the last three innings, but never put a man past first base.

WP:  Colborn (3-8).  LP:  Zahn (8-10).  S:  None.

Notes:  Wilfong and Bobby Randall platooned at second base.  Randall actually played more games there, 115 to 80, but Wilfong got the call in this game.

The Twins also had a platoon at third base with Mike Cubbage and Larry Wolfe.  Again, Cubbage played more games, 115 to 81, but Wolfe got the call here.

Rich Chiles was in left in place of Willie Norwood.

Jose Morales pinch-hit for Wolfe in the eighth.  Randall went in to play third base.

Carew was leading the team in batting, of course, at .330.  He would finish at .333.  Dan Ford was batting .300.  He would finish at .274.  The Twins batted .267, which was tied for fourth in the league.  Milwaukee led at .276.

As we've seen in numerous years, the Twins did not have much power.  Smalley led the team with 19 homers.  The only other player in double figures was Ford, with 11.  The Twins hit 82 home runs, which was last in the league and 15 behind the next-lowest team.  Milwaukee led with 173, more than twice as many as the Twins had.

Zahn had a solid year, going 14-14, 3.03, 1.35 WHIP.  The staff ace was Dave Goltz, who went 15-10, 2.49, 1.25.  Roger Erickson, in his rookie year, went 14-13, 3.96, 1.31.  We really thought we had something in Erickson, and maybe we would have if he hadn't thrown 265.1 innings in his age 21 season.  Gary Serum joined the rotation in May and went 9-9, 4.10, 1.26.  The other starters were Darrell Jackson, 4-6, 4.48, 1.48, and Paul Thormodsgard, 1-6, 5.05, 1.49.  "Closer" Mike Marshall went 10-12, 2.45, 1.18 with 21 saves (the rest of the team had five).  The Twins pitched to a 3.69 ERA, good for tenth in the league.  New York led at 3.18.  The Twins were ninth in WHIP at 1.36.  New York led there, too, at 1.23.

This was Jim Colborn's last season.  He had been a good pitcher, but he no longer was one in 1978, going a combined 4-12, 5.24, 1.44 WHIP for Kansas City and Seattle.  This was his first game all season in which he had a game score over 50.

This was the second of a four-game losing streak.  The Twins were in a stretch in which they lost seven of eight, nine of eleven, and eleven of fourteen.

Record:  The Twins were 45-58, in fifth place in the American League West, 12.5 games behind Kansas City.  They would finish 73-89, in fourth place, 19 games behind Kansas City.

The Mariners were 38-69, in seventh (last) place in the American League West, 21.5 games behind Kansas City.  They would finish 56-104, in seventh place, 35 games behind Kansas City.

Random Record:  The Twins are 46-45 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2000, Game Thirty-two

MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 7.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1962, Game Fifty-seven

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

Date:  Sunday, June 10.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2018, Game One Hundred Twenty-four

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CHICAGO 8, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 20.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2015, Game Seventy-four

4 Comments

MINNESOTA 8, BALTIMORE 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 7.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1992, Game One Hundred Twenty-five

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DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN DETROIT

Date:  Monday, August 24.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game Twenty-nine

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CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Tuesday, May 16.

Batting stars:  Pedro Ramos was 3-for-3 with a home run (his second) and three runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Pedro Ramos pitched a complete game despite allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Cam Carreon was 2-for-4.  Minnie Minoso was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), a walk, and two RBIs.  Early Wynn pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on six hits and five walks and striking out seven.

The game:  Ramos led off the third with a home run, putting the Twins up 1-0.  In the bottom of the third, Carreon singled, Al Smith reached on an error, and walks to Nellie Fox and Minoso forced home a run to tie it 1-1.

In the fifth Ramos singled, Lenny Green drew a two-out walk, a wild pitch moved the runners up, and Killebrew delivered a two-run single to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.  Once again the White Sox tied it in the bottom of the inning.  Wynn walked, Smith singled, and Fox hit a two-run triple to make it 3-3.

Ramos led off the seventh with a single, was bunted to second, and scored on Green's double.  But once again, Chicago tied it in the bottom of the inning, as Minoso hit a two-out home run to make the score 4-4.

The White Sox took their only lead of the game in the eighth. Jim Landis walked, Carreon singled, and Wynn delivered a two-out RBI single to make the score 5-4 Chicago.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Wynn (4-1).  LP:  Ramos (3-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Billy Gardner was the second baseman in this game.  We've discussed the 1961 Twins' second base situation a couple of times, and there's no need to do so again.

Reno Bertoia was at third.  He was the regular third baseman until he was traded at the end of May.  Eventually, Bill Tuttle took over at third base.

Dan Dobbek went to left field in place of Jim Lemon in the seventh.  Don Mincher pinch-hit for Bertoia in the ninth.  Elmer Valo pinch-hit for Ramos in the ninth.  I suppose that last move made sense, but given how he had done, it would've been nice to see Ramos get one more chance to bat.

Killebrew was batting .371 on the young season.  He would finish at .288.  Ramos was batting .364.  He would finish at .172.  Earl Battey was batting .333.  He would end up leading the team in batting at .302.  Green was batting .314.  He would finish at .285.  The Twins were seventh in batting at .250.  Cleveland and Detroit tied for the league lead at .266.

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

Ramos led the staff in starts, and while his won-lost record doesn't look good he had a fairly good season.  He went 11-20, 3.95 ERA, 1.30 WHIP.  Camilo Pascual was the ace of the staff, going 15-16, 3.64, 1.21.  Jack Kralick was 13-11, 3.61, 1.33.  Jim Kaat rounded out the rotation at 9-17, 3.90, 1.35.  The only other pitcher with double-digit starts was Don Lee with exactly ten.  He went 3-6, 3.52, 1.11.  The Twins had a poor bullpen, though, and that left them seventh in team ERA at 4.28.  Baltimore led at 3.22.  The Twins were fifth in WHIP at 1.39.  Baltimore led there, too, at 1.25.

Despite his big day, Ramos was not a particularly good batter, going .155/.182/.240 for his career.  He hit 15 home runs in 703 at-bats.  Wynn was a better batter, going .214/.274/.285 in 1704 at-bats.  He hit 17 home runs.

It was kind of an odd game, in that each time the Twins would score in the top of the inning, the White Sox would score the exact same number of runs in the bottom of the inning.  In the end, of course, Chicago cheated and scored in an inning when the Twins did not score, and that was the difference in the game.

This game snapped a four-game winning streak by the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 16-13, in third place in the American League, five games behind Detroit.  They would finish 70-90, in seventh place, 38 games behind New York.

The White Sox were 12-16, in eighth place in the American League, 8.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 86-76, in fourth place, 23 games behind New York.

Random Record:  The Twins are 43-42 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1961, Game Twenty-five

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 5, LOS ANGELES 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 12.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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