Tag Archives: Ron Perranoski

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-two

MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 5 IN DETROIT

Date:  Tuesday, May 5.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a triple, two runs, and six RBIs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and nine (!) walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Twins pitchers issued thirteen walks.

Opposition stars:  Ken Szotkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Dick McAuliffe was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and three walks.  Al Kaline was 1-for-5 with a home run (his fourth).

The game:  The Twins took the early lead, as Cesar Tovar led off with a walk and Oliva hit a two-run homer.  The Tigers loaded the bases on three walks in the first and did it again in the second, but did not score either time.  In the third, Cardenas hit a one-out double and Oliva hit a two-out single to put the Twins ahead 3-0.

Detroit got on the board in the fourth.  Szotkiewicz got the first Tiger hit of the game, a single, and McAuliffe hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 3-2.  The Twins got the run back with interest in the fifth.  With one out, singles by Tovar and Cardenas and a walk to Killebrew loaded the bases.  Oliva followed with a bases-clearing triple, making the score 6-2.  Rich Reese delivered a two-out-single to make it 7-2.

Detroit threatened in the seventh with two walks, but did not score.  Killebrew homered in the bottom of the seventh, moving the lead to 8-2.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases again, this time getting two walks and a single.  Szotkiewicz hit a two-run single to cut the margin to 8-4, but Elliott Maddox struck out to end the inning.  Kaline homered in the eighth to close out the scoring.  Detroit got two on in the eighth after the Kaline homer, and got two more on in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with two out, but Don Wert flied out to end the game.

WP:  Tiant (5-0).

LP:  Mickey Lolich (4-3).

S:  Perranoski (7).

Notes:  Bob Allison was at first base in place of Reese.  Frank Quilici remained at second in the continuing absence of Rod Carew.  Reese pinch-hit for Allison in the fifth and stayed in the game at first base.  Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left in the seventh.  Minnie Mendoza replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Oliva took over the team batting lead at .352.  Alyea was 0-for-4 and was batting .328.  Killebrew was batting .320.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Tiant had an ERA of 2.86.  Stan Williams gave up his first earned run of the season in 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 0.71.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.50.

Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Quilici was 0-for-4 and was batting .184.  Reese was 1-for-2 and was batting .191.  Mitterwald was 1-for-4 and was batting .193.

Lolich pitched 4.1 innings, giving up seven runs on six hits and three walks and striking out four.  In his two games against the Twins, he had given up twelve earned runs in ten innings.  In his six other starts, he had given up nine earned runs in fifty-two innings.

Twins pitchers walked thirteen Tigers, but amazingly, only two of them scored.  Detroit was 2-for-11 with men in scoring position and stranded fifteen runners.  They had twenty baserunners in nine innings, and managed to score only five of them.

This was the only year of Ken Szotkiewicz' career, and 22.2 percent of his career RBIs (two of nine) came in the seventh inning of this game.  An infielder, he batted .107/.216/.226 in 84 at-bats.  The Twins had actually drafted him in the first round of the secondary phase of the June draft in 1967, but he did not sign.  He had not played above AA, and only had 116 at-bats there, before making the Tigers at the start of the 1970 season.  Surprisingly, he stayed all year as a backup shortstop.  The regular was Cesar Gutierrez, who only batted .243/.275/.299.  Szotkiewicz had not hit much in his limited time in the minors, and would not hit much after he was sent back down in 1971.  The only good offensive season he had came in 1974, when he was a twenty-seven year old in AA.  Presumably he was considered a good defender.

The usage of Perranoski continues to be interesting.  You remember that, in April he had appeared in five of six games, pitching 9.2 innings.  He then got five days off.  Now, he has appeared in four of five games, pitching 6.1 innings.

Record:  The Twins were 15-7, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-one

MINNESOTA 4, BALTIMORE 3 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Sunday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks and striking out one.  Ron Perranoski pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Merv Rettenmund was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Paul Blair was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his eighth.  Jim Palmer struck out eleven in a complete game, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk.

The game:  There wasn't even a baserunner until the bottom of the third, when Dave Johnson walked.  The next two men went out, but Rettenmund hit an RBI double and Mark Belanger followed with a run-scoring single, making it 2-0 Orioles.

It stayed 2-0 until the sixth.  Frank Quilici led off the inning with a single and Cesar Tovar doubled with one out, putting men on second and third.  They were still there with two out.  Oliva then hit a ground ball to second.  Johnson booted it, then threw it away, making two errors on the same play and allowing both runners to score, tying it at 2-2.

The Orioles put men on second and third in the seventh, but did not score.  Rettenmund homered leading off the eighth, putting Baltimore up 3-2.  Oliva singled with one out in the ninth, and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer, giving the Twins their first lead of the game at 4-3.  Baltimore went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Kaat (4-1).

LP:  Palmer (3-2).

S:  Perranoski (6).

Notes:  Quilici remained at second base in the continuing absence of Rod Carew.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Pitcher Steve Barber pinch-ran for Brant Alyea in the ninth.  Mitterwald then went behind the plate as part of a triple switch, with Jim Holt going to left and Perranoski replacing Ratliff in the batting order.

Alyea was 0-for-3 and was batting .349.  Oliva was batting .333.  Killebrew was batting .324.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .318.  Kaat had an ERA of 2.40.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.62.

Rich Reese was 0-for-4 and was batting .182.

Alyea was now 0-for-10 in May, with his average going from .415 to .349.

After getting five days off, Perranoski had now appeared in three out of four games, pitching five innings.

Rettenmund was batting leadoff for the Orioles.  I don't think of him as a leadoff-type batter, but he stole 13 bases in 1970.  More important to Earl Weaver, I'm sure, is that he batted .322 with an OBP of .394.  He was basically a utility outfielder in 1970, playing 44 games in center, 36 in right, and 30 in left.

Having taken two out of three from Baltimore, the Twins would now continue their eastern trip with three in Detroit.

Record:  The Twins were 14-7, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventeen

MINNESOTA 1, CLEVELAND 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 29.

Batting star:  Frank Quilici was 2-for-3.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched 8.2 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and a walk and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Ray Fosse was 2-for-3 with a double.  Rich Hand pitched seven innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and a walk and striking out none.

The game:  The Twins put two on with two out in the second but did not score.  They broke through in the third.  Leo Cardenas singled, but Tony Oliva hit into a force out for the second out.  Harmon Killebrew singled, sending Oliva to second, and Rich Reese reached on an error which scored Oliva for a 1-0 Twins lead.

And that was it for the scoring.  The Indians had a chance in the fifth when Fosse singled and then tried to score from first on an Eddie Leon single (perhaps it was a hit-and-run or something).  The next batter Jack Heidemann, also singled, but pitcher Hand grounded out to end the inning.  They threatened in the ninth when Tony Horton hit a two-out double and Roy Foster walked, but Stan Williams came in and picked Horton off second base to end the game.

WP:  Kaat (3-1).

LP:  Hand (0-3).

S:  Williams (1).

Notes:  Quilici remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Cardenas continued to bat second.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.

Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left field in the seventh.  Minnie Mendoza replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the eighth.

Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .408.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .319.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .311.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .304.  Ratliff was 0-for-1 and was batting .300.

Hand pitched seven innings without striking anyone out.  That had to be unusual even back then.  Today, of course, just pitching seven innings is unusual.

Williams got a save without retiring a batter.  I know it's not unheard of, but that has to be unusual, too.  Vada Pinson was the batter--he was a .286 hitter, so he certainly would have had a chance to deliver a game-tying single.  But he never got that chance.

It's interesting that Bill Rigney brought in Williams rather than Ron Perranoski.  My guess is that Perranoski was hurting--after appearing in five of six games and pitching 9.2 innings, he then had five days off before he would appear again.

Record:  The Twins were 11-6, in second place in the American League West, one game behind California.