MINNESOTA TWINS 7, NEW YORK YANKEES 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 4, 1967.

Batting stars:  Ted Uhlaender was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.  

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on seven hits and four walks and striking out three.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jake Gibbs was 4-for-4 with three RBIs.  Tom Tresh was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Thad Tillotson pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out one.

The game: The Twins got on the board in the first inning, as Cesar Tovar walked and scored on a Harmon Killebrew double.  The Yankees responded with four in the second.  Tresh doubled and went to third on Joe Pepitone’s single.  A one-out walk to John Kennedy loaded the bases.  Pitcher Mel Stottlemyre then brought home to runs on a single-plus-error.  Dick Howser walked to re-load the bases, and two more runs scored on Gibbs’ sacrifice fly-plus-error.  It was 4-1 Yankees.

The Twins got two back in the second, as a pitcher once again brought home a couple of runs.  Russ Nixon walked, Uhlaender reached on a two-base error, and Perry singled them both home, cutting the lead to 4-3.  The Twins put men on first and second in both the third and the fourth, but did not score again until the fifth.  Killebrew walked and scored on an Oliva triple.  Bob Allison then delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 5-4 lead.  Uhlaender homered in the eighth to make it 6-4.

It was looking good for the Twins, but the Yankees wouldn’t go away.  In the ninth, Charley Smith singled, Howser doubled, and Gibbs hit a two-run single to tie it 6-6.  With two out, Gibbs stole second and went to third on a throwing error.  Walks to Tresh and Pepitone loaded the bases, but a force out ended the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, however, Tovar led off with a single and Rod Carew bunted him to second.  Pinch-hitter Frank Kostro walked, and Oliva ended things with an RBI single.  Justice prevailed, the good guys won, and on this most American of holidays the evil empire was defeated.  Of course, in 1967, that was a little easier to do.

WP:  Al Worthington (3-4).

LP:  Steve Hamilton (2-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Nixon was behind the plate in place of Jerry Zimmerman, who was the regular catcher due to an injury to Earl Battey.  Tovar was at third base in place of Rich Rollins.  

Carew was batting .313.  He would finish at .292.  Perry was batting .308.  He would finish at .190, still not bad for a pitcher.

Jerry Zimmerman was the epitome of the defense-first, light-hitting backup catcher.  In an eight-season career, the last seven with the Twins, he batted .204/.269/.239.  This was the only season in which he played a hundred games, again due to an injury to Earl Battey.  He was not up to it, batting .167/.243/.192.  His OPS of .436 was worse than three pitchers on the roster in 1967:  Perry, Jim Kaat, and Dave Boswell.  The Twins, of course, would miss out on the American League pennant by one game.  I have to think that even an average-hitting catcher would have made up that one game difference.

Tony Oliva hit 48 triples in his career.  He has already hit three for the Random Twins.

This was Thad Tillotson’s only full season in the majors.  Pitching mostly in relief, he went 3-9, 4.03, 1.40 WHIP, numbers which are worse than they may sound given the low-offense context of 1967.  He appeared in seven more games in 1968, then his major league career was over.  I couldn’t find out what happened to him after baseball, but I did find this tidbit from thisdayinbaseball.com:  “On June 21, 1967 In retaliation for Joe Foy getting struck in the helmet in the top of the frame, Red Sox starter Jim Lonborg promptly plunks opposing pitcher Thad Tillotson in the back, igniting a bench-clearing brawl in the second inning of the Yankees’ 8-1 loss to Boston at Yankee Stadium. The five-minute melee results in no ejections but doesn’t quite settle the matter when Reggie Smith is brushed back in the third, and Dick Howser leaves the game in the fifth after being hit the head with a pitch.”

Record:  The Yankees were 34-42, in eighth place in the AL, 11 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 72-90, in ninth place, 20 games behind Boston.

The Twins were 42-34, in second place in the AL, 3 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second with Detroit, one game behind Boston.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 14-10 (.583).

CLEVELAND INDIANS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, July 19, 2010.

Batting stars: Delmon Young was 3-for-5 with a double.  Orlando Hudson was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jason Kubel was 2-for-5 with a double.  Jim Thome hit a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching star:  Jeff Manship pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Trevor Crowe was 4-for-5 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Jayson Nix was 3-for-6 with a double.  Carlos Santana was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Shelly Duncan was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Jason Donald was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.  Michael Brantley was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Travis Hafner was 2-for-5.  Matt LaPorta was 2-for-5.  Aaron Laffey pitched five innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and four walks and striking out two.

The game:  Hafner led off the second with a single and Jhonny Peralta walked.  With one out, Crowe doubled and Donald hit an RBI ground out, making it 2-0 Cleveland.  There were several threats, but no more runs until the fourth, when the Twins got on the board.  Kubel led off with a double, Young singled, and Danny Valencia drew a one-out walk, loading the bases.  All the Twins could manage, though, was one run on a passed ball, so they still trailed 2-1.

It cost them, as the Indians took control in the fifth.  Santana doubled and Duncan singled.  With one out, Peralta hit a sacrifice fly.  Then the roof fell in.  Singles by LaPorta and Crowe made it 4-1 and chased starter Scott Baker from the game.  Alex Burnett came in and gave up RBI singles to Donald and Brantley.  Ron Mahay came in and gave up an RBI single to Nix.  It was 7-1 and the game was effectively over.

It wasn’t literally over, though, and the Twins did get a couple of runs in the sixth.  Thome led off with a home run.  With two out, Denard Span walked and scored on Hudson’s double to make it 7-3.

That was as close as the Twins would get.  In the eighth, consecutive doubles by Duncan and Hafner made it 8-3.  In the ninth, consecutive singles by Crowe, Donald, Brantley, and Nix produced a run, and a sacrifice fly made it 10-3.  The Twins got one last run in the ninth when Michael Cuddyer doubled and scored on a Young single.

WP:  Laffey (2-3).

LP:  Scott Baker (7-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  The Twins used their standard lineup for 2010.  The only substitute used was Jason Repko, who pinch-hit for Thome in the ninth.

Valencia was batting .314.  He would finish at .311.  Young was batting .313.  He would finish at .298.

Joe Mauer was batting .297 at this point.  He would finish at .327.

Manship had an ERA of 2.45.  This was his fifth game of the season, and he would go back to AAA after it.  He would come back for a September call-up but pitch poorly, finishing at 5.28.  Jose Mijares had an ERA of 2.75.  He would finish at 3.31.

Santana appears to be the only player with a Twins connection to play for Cleveland in this game.

A couple of guys played in this game for who we would have hopes, only to see them dashed.  Delmon Young had the best year of his career, batting .298/.333/.493.  He was twenty-four, and seemed to have figured things out.  His list of similar batters by age included Carl Yastrzemski and Al Oliver.  Instead, he went backward.  The Twins traded him to Detroit in August of 2011 and he would be out of the majors before he was thirty.  Danny Valencia batted .311 as a rookie.  He would lose his starting job by 2012, be traded to Baltimore, and bounce around the majors for several more years.  He would have a couple more good years, but would never fulfill the promise he seemed to have.

On the pitching side, Jose Mijares followed a good 2009 with a fine 2010.  He would be down in 2011, become a free agent, have a decent year in 2012 with Kansas City and San Francisco, but be out of the majors after 2013.

Record:  Cleveland was 39-54, in fifth place in the AL Central, 12.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 69-93, in fourth place, 25 games behind Minnesota.

The Twins were 49-44, in third place in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 94-68, in first place, six games ahead of Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 12-10 (.545)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, September 19, 1988.

Batting star:  Jim Dwyer was 2-for-3.  John Moses was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Roy Smith pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and a walk.  Juan Berenguer pitched two shutout innings, walking three and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Luis Polonia was 2-for-3 with two walks.  Mike Gallego was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jose Canseco was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Dave Parker was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his eleventh.  Dave Stewart pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out six.  Dennis Eckersley pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

The game:  Moses led off the game with a single, was balked to second, went to third on a fly out, and scored on a ground out, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second, Carney Lansford walked and scored on Terry Steinbach’s single-plus-error to tie it.  Steinbach went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Stan Javier infield single to give Oakland a 2-1 advantage.

The Twins went back in front in the third.  Singles by Greg Gagne and Tom Herr put men on first and second with one out.  RBI singles by Randy Bush and Kirby Puckett made it 3-2 Twins.  But the lead was short-lived, as Canseco led off the bottom of the third with a single and Parker followed with a two-run homer, putting the Athletics in front 4-3.  Later in the inning, singles by Lansford, Walt Weiss, and Gallego made it 5-3 Oakland.

And that was it for the scoring.  Each team had threat in the sixth.  For the Twins, Dwyer had a one-out single and Gene Larkin walked.  With two-out, Al Newman walked to load the bases, but a foul fly ended the inning.  For the Athletics, Polonia had a bunt single and stole second with two out.  Canseco was intentionally walked, but a ground out put an end to the inning.

Moses led off the seventh with a single, but he never moved past first.  The last nine Twins were retired, and the victory went to Oakland.

WP:  Stewart (19-12).

LP:  Fred Toliver (7-5).

S:  Eckersley (42).

Notes:  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Herr was acquired specifically to play second, but Steve Lombardozzi actually made the most appearances there in 1988.  Newman was at third in place of Gary Gaetti.  Moses was in left in place of Dan Gladden, although Gladden would pinch-hit and then go to left, with Moses moving to right.  Dwyer, who had been acquired at the August trade deadline, was the DH, where Larkin had made the most appearances.

Puckett was batting .346.  He would go 24-for-54 over the last twelve games to finish at .356.  Moses was batting .314.  He would finish at .316.  Gaetti was batting .300.  He would finish at .301.

Terry Steinbach would go on to play for the Twins at the end of his career.  He was 1-for-3 with a walk in this game.

This was Fred Toliver’s only year as a rotation starter.  He would make 19 starts and go 7-6, 4.24.  He might have been a good pitcher if he could’ve found the strike zone more often, although there are lots of pitchers of whom that could be said.  He walked 4.1 per nine in 1988 and 4.5 per nine for his career.  He made 37 starts in his career, so just over half of them came in 1988.

This was a September game and the Twins were out of the pennant race, so several substitutes were used.  This includes a couple of guys who had very brief Twins careers, Eric Bullock and Doug Baker.  Bullock appeared in 16 games with the Twins and in 131 games over seven seasons.  Baker appeared in 11 games with the Twins in 1988, 57 games total, and 136 games over seven seasons.

This was Eckersley’s first full season as a closer, and he made the most of it.  He had 45 saves and a WHIP of 0.87.  He would finish second in Cy Young voting to Frank Viola.  

Record:  Oakland was 96-55, in first place in the AL West, 12.5 games ahead of Minnesota.  They would finish 104-58, 13 games ahead of Minnesota.

The Twins were 83-67, in second place in the AL West, 12.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, 13 games behind Oakland.  The Twins finished six games better than they had in their 1987 championship season, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Athletics.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 12-9 (.571).

MINNESOTA TWINS 5, CLEVELAND INDIANS 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Sunday, June 23, 2013

Batting stars:  Joe Mauer was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Ryan Doumit was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Chris Parmelee was 2-for-4.  Josh Willingham was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Pedro Hernandez pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and six walks and striking out two.  Jared Burton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.  Glen Perkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Jason Kipnis was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk.  Michael Bourn was 3-for-5.  Drew Stubbs hit a home run, his sixth.

The game: The Twins took the lead in the first inning.  Mauer hit a one-out double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Willingham single.  They threatened in the second, as Parmelee singled and Pedro Florimon walked to put men on first and second with one out, but a pair of ground outs ended the inning.  Cleveland tied it in the second.  Walks to Mark Reynolds, Carlos Santana, and Ryan Raburn loaded the bases with none out.  All the Indians could do, however, was get a sacrifice fly by Yan Goes to tie it 1-1.

Cleveland took the lead in the third.  Mike Aviles led off with a walk and scored on Kipnis’ double.  Another walk to Reynolds put men on first and second with one out, but they did not score again in the inning.  

The Twins got the lead back in the fifth.  Clete Thomas singled and Mauer walked.  The next two batters went out, but RBI singles by Arcia and Trevor Plouffe! gave the Twins a 3-2 lead.  They increased their lead in the seventh.  Singles by Mauer and Doumit put men on first and third with none out, and Willingham singled home a run.  A line drive double play took them out of the inning, but the Twins were still on top 4-2.

Stubbs led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run, cutting the lead to 4-3.  Each team missed a chance to score in the eighth.  A single and a wild pitch put a man on second with two out for the Twins, but a ground out ended the inning.  In the bottom of the inning, Michael Brantley singled, Yan Gomes walked, and a double steal put men on second and third with two out and Stubbs at bat.  He grounded out, however, and the score remained 4-3.

In the ninth, Doumit singled and Arcia delivered a two-out double.  The Indians twice got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth.  Bourn led off with a single but was erased on a double play.  Kipnis then doubled, but Nick Swisher grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Hernandez (3-1).

LP:  Carlos Carrasco (0-3).

S:  Perkins (19).

Notes:  Doumit was behind the plate, with Mauer moving to DH.  Parmelee, usually a right fielder, was at first base in place of Justin Morneau.  Clete Thomas was in center in place of Aaron Hicks.  Arcia was in right.  The Twins didn’t have a regular DH–Doumit had the most appearances there, with 49.

Mauer was batting .330.  He would finish at .324.

Perkins had an ERA of 2.20.  He would finish at 2.30.

Future Twin Carlos Santana went 0-for-3 with a walk in this game.

Pedro Hernandez made twelve starts for the Twins in 2013.  He was 3-3, 6.83, 1.82 WHIP.  The Twins had eight pitchers who made at least ten starts, but only three of them had ERAs below five.  The best was Samuel Deduno, who used his magical zoomball to post a 3.83 ERA.  The other two below five were Andrew Albers (4.05) and Kevin Correia (4.18).

This was the only year Pedro Florimon got regular play in his career.  Appearing in 134 games, he batted .221/.281/.330.  It was the only season he got more than 150 at-bats.  He was reputed to be an excellent fielder, but it's yet another example of how none of the other tools matter much if you can’t hit.

This was Oswaldo Arcia’s rookie year, and we thought he was really going to be a good player.  Well, a good batter, anyway.  He hit .251/.304/.430 as a 22-year-old, and he seemed to have a bright future.  Instead, it was the best season he ever had.  He was with the Twins organization through June of 2016, bounced around for a few years, went to a few other teams, and was done as a major league player at age twenty-five.  He has, however, had a long playing career anyway.  He played in Japan for a few years and is still playing in Mexico and in winter ball.  It’s nice to see that his baseball story, while it may not have gone the way he hoped, is still having somewhat of a happy ending.

Record:  Cleveland was 38-36, in second place in the AL Central, four games behind Detroit.  They would finish 92-70, one game behind Detroit.

The Twins were 34-38, in fourth place in the AL Central, seven games behind Detroit.  They would finish 66-96, in fourth place, twenty-seven games behind Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 12-8 (.600).

MINNESOTA TWINS 3, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 2 IN ST. LOUIS

Date:  Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

Batting stars:  None.  Seven Twins had exactly one hit, and they did not hit a home run.

Pitching stars:  Pablo Lopez pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out five.  Emilio Pagan pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Griffin Jax pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Taylor Motter was 2-for-3.  Lars Nootbaar was 2-for-4.  Tyler O’Neill hit a home run, his third.

The game:  Neither team got a man past first base until the fifth, when Ryan Jeffers hit a one-out double.  Michael A. Taylor then reached on an error with two out, scoring Jeffers and giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The lead held up until the sixth.  Motter led off with a single, Nootbaar singled with one out, and Nolan Arenado delivered a two-out single that tied it 1-1.  

The Twins got the lead right back in the seventh.  Jorge Polanco singled and Matt Wallner hit a ground-rule double, putting men on second and third with none out.  A strikeout followed, but then Donovan Solano hit a two-run single that put the Twins ahead 3-1.  

Each team threatened in the eighth.  Byron Buxton hit a two-out double for the Twins.  For St. Louis, Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt hit two-out singles.  Still, it remained 3-1 until the ninth.  With one out, O’Neill hit a home run to cut the lead to 3-2.  Jhoan Duran struck out the next two batters, however, and the victory was preserved.

WP:  Pablo Lopez (6-6).

LP:  Miles Mikolas (6-7).

S:  Duran (18).

Notes:  Christian Vazquez actually caught more games than Jeffers in 2023, although they split the time fairly evenly.  Joey Gallo started at first base, with Solano pinch-hitting for him in the seventh.  Jorge Polanco started at third base, moving to second when Kyle Farmer pinch-hit for Edouard Julien in the eighth.  Matt Wallner started in left, with Willi Castro replacing him for defense in the seventh.

No one who played in this game for the Twins was batting .300.  The closest was Julien at .293.

Jax had an ERA of 2.98.  He would finish at 3.86.  Duran had an ERA of 2.81.  He would finish at 2.45.

Taylor Motter had played for the Twins briefly in 2018.  He pretty much defines “futility infielder”.  In 480 at-bats over six seasons, he “hit” .188/.258/.294.  He could play all over the infield and also had forty games in the outfield, but he didn’t really help you at any of those positions.  I assume he’s a really nice guy.

This is the first interleague game for the Random Twins.

Record:  St. Louis was 47-61, in fifth place in the NL Central, 11.5 games behind Cincinnati.  They would finish 71-91, in fifth place, 21 games behind Milwaukee.

Minnesota was 55-53, in first place in the AL Central, two games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 87-75, in first place, nine games ahead of Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 11-8 (.579).

BOSTON RED SOX 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 4, 1993.

Batting stars: Dave Winfield was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Brian Harper was 3-for-5.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Scott Erickson pitched a complete game, giving up five runs on eleven hits and a walk and striking out five.  He threw 121 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Scott Cooper was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-5.  Ivan Calderon was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Aaron Sele pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  Boston took the lead in the second.  Calderon singled with one out and scored on Cooper’s triple.  A ground out scored Cooper, making it 2-0.  John Valentin then singled and Scott Fletcher walked, but a strikeout ended the inning.

The Twins threatened in the third.  With two out Mack walked, Chuck Knoblauch singled, and Kirby Puckett was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but a force out ended the threat.  It cost them, because the Red Sox added on in the fourth.  It again started with a Calderon single, followed by a Cooper double that made it 3-0.  The next two batters went out, but Cooper tripled home a run and Greenwell followed with an RBI single that gave Boston a 5-0 advantage.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth.  Winfield led off with a double, got to third with one out on an infield single by Mike Pagliarulo, and scored on Gene Larkin’s sacrifice fly.  The Twins threatened in the sixth, getting one-out singles by Winfield and Harper, but nothing came of it.  In the seventh, however, Mack hit a one-out double and scored on Puckett’s two-out triple.  Kent Hrbek walked and Winfield singled, making the score 5-3.  Harper followed with another single, but Hrbek was thrown out at the plate, ending the inning.

The Twins tried to pull it out in the ninth.  Knoblauch drew a one-out walk.  With two out, Hrbek doubled, cutting the margin to 5-4.  Winfield walked, bringing up Harper, who already had three hits in the game.  But he popped up to second, and the game was over.

WP:  Aaron Sele (6-0).

LP:  Erickson (6-13).

S:  Jeff Russell (29).

Notes:  While Puckett was still primarily a center fielder, the Twins had started his transition to right, and that’s where he played in this game, with Mack in center.  Gene Larkin was in left, with Pedro Munoz on the bench.  Chip Hale pinch-hit for Pat Meares and stayed in the game at second base, with Knoblauch moving to shortstop.  It was one of six times Knoblauch would play short in 1993.

Harper was batting .314.  He would finish at .304.

Pagliarulo was in his last days as a Twin.  He would be traded on August 15 for a player to be named later, who turned out to be named Eric Schullstrom.  

It was a different time, but it’s still surprising to see someone allow five runs and pitch a complete game.  Erickson did, however, pitch very well after the fourth inning, giving up just one hit.  At one point he retired twelve consecutive batters.

Largely forgotten now, Scott Cooper was a two-time all-star.  He was traded to St. Louis early in 1995 and fell off rapidly after that.  But from 1992-1994 he batted .279/.347/.410.

The Twins went 4-for-10 with men in scoring position, but still stranded eleven.

Record:  Boston was 60-47, in second place in the AL East, two games behind Toronto.  They would finish 80-82, in fourth place, 15 games behind Toronto.  They had the worst record in the American League after this game, going 20-35.

Minnesota was 45-59, tied for sixth place with Oakland in the AL West, 13 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 71-91, tied for fifth with California, 23 games behind the White Sox.   

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 10-8 (.556)

NEW YORK YANKEES 2, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, June 10, 1970.

Batting star:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple.

Pitching star: Bert Blyleven pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.  Ron Perranoski pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Thurman Munson was 2-for-3 with a double.  Horace Clarke was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out seven.

The game:  Neither team had more than one runner on base at a time until the fourth.  The Twins didn’t do it then, either, but they scored anyway, as Oliva led off the inning with a triple and scored on a ground out.  The Yankees took the lead in the fifth when Stottlemyre singled with two out and scored on Clarke’s two-run homer.

And that was it.  There was only one hit after the fifth inning, a bunt single by Munson in the seventh.  Other than Oliva, the Twins only once got a man past first base–Cesar Tovar hit a two-out double in the third.

WP:  Stottlemyre (6-4).

LP:  Blyleven (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rod Carew was at second.  He would be injured a couple weeks later and miss almost the entire remainder of the season.  Danny Thompson took his place at second, which was obviously a significant drop-off.  Jim Holt was in left, a position he shared with Brant Alyea in 1970.  Alyea had far superior offensive numbers, but was very streaky.  His OPS by month was 1.257, .519, 631, 1.049, .715, 1.051.  Holt, on the other had, was consistently mediocre.

Carew was batting .377.  He would finish at .366.  Oliva was batting .335.  He would finish at .325.  Harmon Killebrew was batting .313.  He would finish at .271.

This was Blyleven’s second career start.  His ERA was 1.93, but he was 1-1 due to getting a total of three runs of support over the two games.  That would set the tone for much of his career.  He would finish the season 10-9 with an ERA of 3.18.  He would pitch 164 innings despite not making his debut until June.  For comparison, Pablo Lopez led the Twins in innings pitched in 2024 with 185.1.  It was a different era.

Perranoski had an ERA of 2.11.  He would finish at 2.43.

We’ve done two games from 1970.  Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple in both of them.  He would hit seven triples in 1970.  

This was the last of four home runs Horace Clarke would hit in 1970.  He hit a grand total of 27 in a ten-year career.

We’ve done two games from 1970, when the Twins won the division, and they lost both.  We did one game from 1998, when they were terrible, and they won.  I guess it proves the old saying that the best team loses sixty games and the worst team wins sixty games.  Unless, of course, you’re the White Sox.

Record:  The Yankees were 33-24, in second place in the AL East, 4.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 93-69, in second place, 15 games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 34-17, in first place in the AL West, 2 games ahead of California.  They would finish 98-64, in first place, 9 games ahead of Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 10-7 (.588).

MINNESOTA TWINS 5, TEXAS RANGERS 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 25, 2024

Batting stars:  Alex Kirilloff was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and two runs.  Jose Miranda was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Chris Paddack pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out three.  Cole Sands struck out two in two perfect innings.  Jhoan Duran pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars: Leody Taveras was 2-for-4 with a double.  Ezequiel Duran hit a home run, his first.  Michael Lorenzen pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game: The Twins took the lead in the first inning.  With one out, Carlos Correa walked and Miranda singled.  A line out followed, but then Byron Buxton got an infield single to load the bases and Ryan Jeffers walked to bring home the game’s first run.  A ground out ended the inning, but the Twins led 1-0.

The lead held up until the fourth.  Corey Seager led off with a single, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Adolis Garcia’s ground-rule double, tying the score at one.  Ezequiel Duran homered with one out in the fifth to give Texas a 2-1 lead.  In the sixth, Josh Smith walked and stole second and Taveras delivered a two-out double, putting the Rangers ahead 3-1.

The Twins got only one hit in innings two through six.  In the seventh, however, Kirilloff led off with a single and Carlos Santana walked.  Edouard Julien drew a one-out walk and Correa hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the margin to 3-2.  The Twins got the lead back in the eighth.  Max Kepler singled and Buxton walked.  With one out, Kirilloff hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 5-3 advantage.  It held up, as Texas did not get a baserunner after the sixth inning.

WP:  Sands (2-0).

LP:  David Robertson (2-2).

S:  Jhoan Duran (6),

Notes:  Willi Castro, who played just about everywhere in 2024, was in left.  Manuel Margot, who played the most games in left field, came in for defense in the ninth, with Castro moving to third and Miranda leaving the game.  Kirilloff was at DH.

Max Kepler was batting .303.  He would finish at .253.

This was one of three home runs Ezequiel Duran hit in 2024.  He had a slugging average of .321.

It’s interesting to look at the “regulars” for 2024.  Jeffers and Christian Vazquez each caught 86 games.  Edouard Julien had the most games at second with 90.  Jose Miranda had the most games at third with 79.  Correa led at short with 84.  Margot had the most in left with 64.  Buxton had 94 games in center.  Trevor Larnach had the most games at DH, 52.  The only players to play a hundred games at the same position were Santana at first (146) and Max Kepler in right (103).  Injuries had something to do with that, but some ot if was a deliberate managerial choice.

Record:  Texas was 24-29, in second place, 3 games behind Seattle in the AL West.  They would finish 78-84, in third place, 10.5 games behind Houston.

The Twins were 28-23, in third place, 6.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, 10.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 10-6 (.625).

MINNESOTA TWINS 8, BOSTON RED SOX 7 IN BOSTON

Date:  Wednesday, May 6, 1998.

Batting stars:  Ron Coomer was 3-for-6 with a home run (his sixth) and two RBIs.  Todd Walker was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double two RBIs.  David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  

Pitching star:  Greg Swindell pitched 2.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out one.  

Opposition stars:  None.  Nine different players had exactly one hit.  There were no home runs, and each pitcher allowed at least two runs.

The game:  Walker led off the game with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out.  Coomer added a two-out home run to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  They tallied twice more in the third.  With one out, Walker walked, Paul Molitor singled, and Matt Lawton walked, loading the bases.  Coomer singled home a run and Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 4-0.

Boston did nothing on offense until the fourth.  John Valentin and Mo Vaughn led off that inning with singles, putting men on first and third, and a double play brought home a run.  They got back into the game in the fifth.  Scott Hatteberg singled and Darren Bragg doubled, puting men on second and third with none out.  A ground out scored one and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run single brought home another, cutting the Twins’ lead to 4-3.  But the Twins got the runs back in the sixth.  Ortiz led off with a double and was bunted to third.  With two out, Chris Latham delivered an RBI single and scored on Hunter’s double-plus-error, putting the Twins back up by three at 6-3.

The Twins added on.  In the seventh, Lawton walked, Coomer singled, and Ortiz drove in a run with a single.  In the eighth, Terry Steinbach doubled and scored on a Hunter single, making it 8-3 Twins.

They needed all those runs.  Boston scored in the eighth when Lewis doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a wild pitch.  No problem–the Twins still led 8-4, and Rick Aguilera was coming in to pitch the ninth.  But in the ninth, Reggie Jefferson and Troy O’Leary led off with consecutive doubles to make it 8-5.  A pair of ground outs made Twins fans breathe easier, but Jim Leyritz was hit by a pitch, bringing the tying run to the plate.  Pinch-hitter Midre Cummings then drove in two with a double, making it 8-7 and bringing the deciding run to the plate in the dangerous Garciaparra.  But he grounded out to second and the victory was preserved.

WP:  LaTroy Hawkins (1-3).

LP:  Robinson Checo (0-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Latham was in right, with Lawton shifting to left and Marty Cordova out of the lineup.  Hunter was in center in place of Otis Nixon.  

Walker was batting .382.  He would finish at .316.  Pat Meares was batting .308.  He would finish at .260.  Coomer was batting .301.  He would finish at .276.  Mike Trombley, who pitched a third of an inning, had an ERA of 0.73.  He would finish at 3.63.  Eddie Guardado, who also pitched a third of an inning, had an ERA of 2.63.  He would finish at 4.52.

We really thought we had something in Todd Walker.  He was batting over .350 as late as August 9.  He would go on to have a solid major league career, most of it elsewhere, but he was never the star we thought he would be in 1998.

This was the last of just six games Torii Hunter played for the Twins in 1998.  He was not expected to be in the majors yet that season, but filled in for a little while when Nixon was injured.  He would be with the Twins all of 1999, but be sent back to AAA for two months in 2000 before coming up to stay.  He was batting just .207 when he was sent down in late May of 2000, but would come back strong when brought back in late July and would finish the season batting .280.

Hawkins would continue to be a starter, with little success, through 1999.  Moved to the bullpen in 2000, he went on to have a solid career as a reliever.

Cummings would go on to play for the Twins from 1999-2000.  He had been drafted by the Twins in 1990, but was traded in 1992 with Denny Neagle for John Smiley.  The Twins would trade him again at the August deadline in 2000 for Hector De Los Santos, who would not pitch for them in the majors.

This was the last of two starts Robinson Checo would make in 1998.  He had made two in 1997 and would make two more (along with seven relief appearances) in 1999.  For his career, he was 3-5, 7.71, 1.86 WHIP in 36.2 innings.

I wonder what the record is for most hits in a game with no player getting more than one.

Record:  Boston was 21-10, in second place, 2.5 games behind the Yankees.  They would finish 92-70, in second place, 22 games behind the Yankees.

Minnesota was 13-19, tied for second place with Kansas City, 6.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 70-92, in fourth place, 19 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 9-6 (.600).

MINNESOTA TWINS 12, OAKLAND ATHLETICS 10 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 19, 2001.

Batting stars: Brian Buchanan was 4-for-5 with a double, a walk, two runs, and four RBIs.  Tom Prince was 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Luis Rivas was 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBIs.  Casey Blake was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Frank Menechino was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh), a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Terrence Long was 2-for-4.  Jason Giambi was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Johnny Damon was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Jeremy Giambi hit a two-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  Damon led off the game with a single and Menechino followed with a two-run homer, giving Oakland a 2-0 lead two batters into the game.  The Twins had men on first and second in each of the first two innings and had a man on second in the third, but it was still 2-0 until the fourth, when Long hit a two-out single and Jeremy Giambi followed with a two-run homer, making the score 4-0 Athletics.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on one-out singles by Denny Hocking and Blake and a Prince sacrifice fly.  They then took the lead in the fifth.  With one out, Mientkiewicz was hit by a pitch.  Buchanan and Koskie had consecutive RBI doubles to cut the deficit to 4-3.  With two out, Hocking walked and Blake and Prince delivered RBI singles, putting the Twins in front 5-4.

The Twins kept adding to the lead.  In the sixth, one-out singles by Mientkiewicz and Buchanan were followed by Koskie’s two-run double, making the score 7-4.  Prince led off the seventh with a triple.  One-out singles by Rivas, Mientkiewicz, and Buchanan followed, putting the Twins up 9-4.

Oakland tried to get back into the game in the eighth.  Menechino led off with a walk, Jason Giambi singled, and Ron Gant delivered a two-run double to cut the lead to 9-6.  There were still none out, but the next three batters were retired to end the inning.  The Twins got the runs back with interest in the bottom of the eighth.  A walk and a strikeout/passed ball put men on first and second with two out.  Rivas delivered an RBI single, Mientkiewicz walked, and Buchanan drove in two with a single, giving the Twins a seemingly comfortable 12-6 lead going to the ninth.

But the Athletics weren’t done.  Giambi walked.  Damon singled with one out, and Menechino singled to drive home a run.  Menechino then drove in a run with a single, Jason Giambi doubled home another, and Billy McMillon hit a two-run double, cutting the lead to 12-10.  The tying run was at the plate, but Miguel Tejada popped up and Eric Chavez grounded out to end them game.

WP:  Eric Milton (9-3).

LP:  Barry Zito (6-7).

S:  LaTroy Hawkins (25).

Notes:  Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Buchanan was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Blake was at DH in place of David Ortiz.

Mientkiewicz was batting .319.  He would finish at .306.  Blake was batting .318.  That’s where he would finish as a Twin in 2001, because he was sent to AAA after this game, was waived in September, and finished the season with Baltimore.  He would come back to the Twins in 2002, but be released after the season and sign with Cleveland, where he would go on to have some fine seasons.  Matt Lawton was batting .307.  He would finish at .293.

This was the third of four triples Prince would hit in his career.  His last would come the following season.

The Twins used five relief pitchers:  Eddie Guardado, Bob Wells, Travis Miller, Jack Cressend, and Hawkins.

Eric Milton was an all-star in 2001, something I had forgotten.  I suppose the Twins had to have somebody.  He was 8-3, 3.73 in the first half, decent numbers but not numbers that scream “all-star”.  He was 7-4, 5.01 in the second half, for a total of 15-7, 4.32.

Record:  Oakland was 50-45, in second place in the AL West, 18 games behind Seattle.  They would finish 102-60, in second place, 14 games behind Seattle.  This, of course, was the year the Mariners won 116 games.  It must stink to win 102 games and be nowhere close to the division title.

Minnesota was 58-37, in first place in the AL Central, 3 games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 85-77, in second place, 6 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 8-6 (.571).