Kid Nichols (1869)
Jerry Doggett (1916)
Jerry Coleman (1924)
Jim Fanning (1927)
Stan Williams (1936)
Jerry Don Gleaton (1957)
Tim Wallach (1957)
Mike Durant (1969)
David Bell (1972)
Chad Bradford (1974)
Delmon Young (1985)
Derek Law (1990)
Andrew Vasquez (1993)
Jerry Doggett was a broadcaster for the Dodgers from 1956-1987.
Kid Nichols (1869)
Jerry Doggett (1916)
Jerry Coleman (1924)
Jim Fanning (1927)
Stan Williams (1936)
Jerry Don Gleaton (1957)
Tim Wallach (1957)
Mike Durant (1969)
David Bell (1972)
Chad Bradford (1974)
Delmon Young (1985)
Derek Law (1990)
Andrew Vasquez (1993)
Jerry Doggett was a broadcaster for the Dodgers from 1956-1987.
BALTIMORE 11, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, October 4.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his second) and a walk. Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a home run.
Pitching star: Stan Williams pitched three perfect innings and struck out one.
Opposition stars: Mark Belanger was 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs. Boog Powell was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. Dave McNally was 2-for-5 with a double. Frank Robinson was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, two walks, and two runs. Dave Johnson was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer. McNally also pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on six hits and five walks and striking out five.
The game: Belanger and Paul Blair opened the game by drawing walks. With one out Powell hit an RBI double, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead. It went to 3-0 in the third when Belanger singled and Robinson hit a two-run homer. In the fourth Andy Etchebarren reached second on a single-plus-error and scored on McNally's single, making it 4-0 Baltimore.
The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the fourth. Leo Cardenas walked and Killebrew hit a two-run homer followed by a solo homer by Oliva, cutting the margin to 4-3. But there it stayed until the ninth. The Twins missed a chance in the fifth. Williams drew a one-out walk and went to second on a Cesar Tovar single. Cardenas followed with another single, but Williams was thrown out at the plate. They had another chance in the sixth when George Mitterwald hit a two-out double, but an infield out ended the inning.
The Orioles broke it open in the ninth, scoring seven runs. McNally led off with a double and Belanger singled him to third. A one-out walk to Robinson loaded the bases. Powell then hit a two-run double, Merv Rettenmund followed with an RBI single, an error brought home a fourth run, and Johnson capped the inning with a three-run homer. It was 11-3, and that would be the final score.
WP: McNally (1-0).
LP: Tom Hall (0-1).
S: None.
Notes: Rick Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese out of the lineup. Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew. Bob Allison pinch-hit for Williams in the seventh. Jim Holt pinch-ran for Brant Alyea in the eighth inning and stayed in the game in center field, with Tovar moving to left. Frank Quilici pinch-hit for Luis Tiant in the ninth.
Hall pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks and striking out four.
Hall had pitched very well down the stretch, but the fact that he was the number two starter showed how injuries hurt the Twins starting rotation. Dave Boswell was unavailable and Tiant might as well have been, being used in mop-up relief. Bert Blyleven would not have been a bad choice, but he was even younger than Hall (age 20 versus age 22) and Hall had really pitched better. Jim Kaat would've been another choice, but perhaps Bill Rigney wanted to start Hall at home, where he might be less nervous, then to make him deal with a road crowd. I haven't looked ahead, and don't remember, who started game three. We'll see tomorrow.
I guess I didn't need to worry about Williams being overused in game one, as he threw three more perfect innings in game two. The ninth-inning runs came mostly off of Ron Perranoski, who was in his second inning of work after pitching a perfect inning the day before.
The Twins had now played five ALCS games against Baltimore and lost all five. They were now facing an elimination game in Baltimore.
Record: The Twins trailed the best-of-five series, 0-2.
MINNESOTA 7, NEW YORK 6 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)
Date: Sunday, May 31.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his thirteenth and fourteenth. Rod Carew was 2-for-5.
Pitching star: Stan Williams pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits and three walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Danny Cater was 2-for-4. Pete Ward hit a pinch-hit home run. Roy White was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh. Gary Waslewski pitched two perfect innings of relief, striking out one.
The game: In the second, Cater singled, Thurman Munson reached on an error, and John Ellis walked, loading the bases with one out. Gene Michael singled home two runs. Mel Stottlemyre walked, re-loading the bases. Horace Clarke hit a two-run single to make it 4-0 Yankees.
The Twins came back. In the bottom of the second, Jim Holt and Leo Cardenas walked and Paul Ratliff singled, cutting the lead to 4-1. Killebrew homered in the third to make it 4-2.
White homered in the fifth to make it 5-2, but the Twins again came back in the bottom of the inning. Singles by Jim Kaat, Cesar Tovar, and Carew brought home one run and Tony Oliva doubled in another. Killebrew walked to load the bases and Rich Reese delivered a two-run single, giving the Twins their first lead at 6-5. But Ward homered in the seventh to tie it 6-6.
That was the last hit by either team until the tenth, when Cater led off with a single. A pair of productive outs got him to third, but he was stranded there. Killebrew led off the tenth with a home run to walk it off for the Twins.
WP: Williams (5-0).
LP: Lindy McDaniel (4-1).
S: None.
Notes: Holt was again in left in place of Brant Alyea and Ratliff was again in place of George Mitterwald.
Carew was batting .394. Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .330. Killebrew was batting .329. Williams had an ERA of 1.59.
Kaat started and pitched five innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks and striking out two. Stottlemyre pitched four innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks and striking out none. They batted better than they pitched, going a combined 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.
This tied for the longest relief appearance for Williams this season--he would again go five innings on July 7. These days, of course, it's common for the starter not to go five innings.
The Twins took two of three from the Yankees in this series.
Record: The Twins were 31-13, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of California.
CALIFORNIA 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Friday, April 22.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-4. Rick Renick was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and striking out three. Stan Williams struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.
Opposition stars: Ken McMullen was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk. Jim Spencer was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third. Clyde Wright pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.
The game: The Twins missed a chance in the first. Cesar Tovar led off with an infield hit and went to third with none out on a pickoff error. Unfortunately for the Twins, he was then thrown out trying to score on a grounder to second, so the game remained scoreless.
McMullen changed that in the second, hitting a home run to put the Angels up 1-0. The Twins got one-out singles in the fifth from Leo Cardenas and George Mitterwald and Perry bunted to move the runners to second and third, but Tovar grounded out to end the inning. The Twins did tie it in the sixth, however, on consecutive one-out singles by Harmon Killebrew, Oliva, and Brant Alyea. They missed a chance for more, however, as Oliva was thrown out trying to go to third on Alyea's single.
California went ahead to stay in the seventh. Spencer led off with a home run to put them ahead 2-1. With one out, the Angels got consecutive singles from Bill Voss, Joe Azcue, and pitcher Wright to make it 3-1. Renick homered in the ninth to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Twins could not get the tying run on base.
WP: Wright (6-2).
LP: Perry (6-3).
S: Ken Tatum (7).
Notes: Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit for Tom Hall in the seventh. Rich Reese pinch-hit for Mitterwald in the ninth.
Carew was 0-for-3 and was batting .418. Oliva was batting .324. Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .315. Renick was 1-for-4 and was batting .300. Perry had an ERA of 2.70. Williams had an ERA of 1.64.
Mitterwald was 1-for-3 and was batting .185.
It was a battle of the top two teams in the division. There will, of course, be two more games in the series. it's early to talk about a "big series", but I'm sure there was a lot of interest in this one.
Angels closer Tatum had an ERA of 0.86 at this point in the season and had given up just twelve hits in twenty-one innings.
Williams had not pitched since May 16.
Record: The Twins were 25-11, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.
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.
Kid Nichols (1869)
Jerry Doggett (1916)
Jerry Coleman (1924)
Jim Fanning (1927)
Stan Williams (1936)
Jerry Don Gleaton (1957)
Tim Wallach (1957)
Mike Durant (1969)
David Bell (1972)
Chad Bradford (1974)
Delmon Young (1985)
Andrew Vasquez (1993)
Jerry Doggett was a broadcaster for the Dodgers from 1956-1987.
Date: Sunday, July 5.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-fourth), two walks, two runs, and two RBIs. Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three RBIs. Jim Holt was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Tony Oliva was 2-for-5.
Pitching star: Stan Williams was perfect over 3.1 innings, retiring all ten men he faced. He struck out one.
Opposition stars: Duane Josephson was 2-for-4 with a triple. Ken Berry was 1-for-3 with a walk.
The game: The Twins took control early. They got on the board in the second inning. Killebrew walked, Rich Reese singled, and Paul Ratliff was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with none out. They only scored once, on Cardenas' sacrifice fly, but the broke it open in the third. Cesar Tovar and Holt singled, putting men on first and third with none out. Oliva had an RBI single, a run scored on a wild pitch, and Killebrew had an RBI single. A force out and a Ratliff single put men on first and second with one down. Cardenas had an RBI single, and a sacrifice fly followed. It was 6-0 Twins and it was never close again.
The Twins added some more in the fifth. Killebrew led off with a home run. Reese and Ratliff walked and Danny Thompson had an RBI single. Cesar Tovar was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and Holt delivered a two-run single to put the Twins up 10-0.
The White Sox got all of their runs in the sixth. With one out, Walt Williams walked and Luis Aparicio doubled. Tom McCraw drove in a run with a double, a ground out brought home a second run, and Josephson tripled in a third run, cutting the Twins' margin to 10-3. Chicago did not get a baserunner after that, however.
The Twins added single runs in the sixth and seventh. In the sixth Ratliff was again hit by a pitch and scored on scored on Cardenas' double. In the seventh Tovar reached on an error, Oliva singled, and Killebrew was intentionally walked, loading the bases with two out. Reese was then hit by a pitch (the fourth hit batsman of the game) to force in the game's final run.
WP: Jim Kaat (7-6). LP: Bob Miller (3-4). S: Williams (7).
Notes: Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.
Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea. That's kind of misleading, though, because while Alyea is listed as the regular, Holt actually played a few more games in left (76 to 73). I assume the left-handed batting Holt was somewhat platooned with the right-handed Alyea.
Herman Hill pinch-ran for Tovar in the seventh and replaced him in center field. Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the seventh inning and went to second base, with Thompson moving from second to third.
Oliva was the Twins leading batter at .326. He finished at .325. Killebrew was batting .313. He finished at .271. Tovar was batting .311. He finished at .300.
Thompson was the regular second baseman because Rod Carew missed much of the season due to injury.
Jim Kaat started for the Twins. He pitched well for five innings, but his line was 5.2 innings, three runs, seven hits, two walks, and no strikeouts. His ERA was 4.01. He would finish strong, though, ending at 14-10, 3.56.
Ron Perranoski was the main closer, but Williams got his chances, too. He had fifteen saves, going 15-for-19 in save opportunities. He was also 10-1, 1.99, 1,03 WHIP. That's a very good season in anyone's book.
This was the only triple of the season for Duane Josephson. Remarkably, he hit six of them in 1968, half his career total. That was his only year as a regular, and he made the all-star team. I don't know how many people made he all-star team in their only year as a regular player, but I suspect the list is not very long. He missed much of the 1969 season due to a blood clot, had to share catching chores with Ed Herrmann in 1970, and was traded to the Red Sox in spring training in 1971. Injuries limited his playing time that season, and then some guy named Fisk came along. Josephson was a backup in 1972, then his playing career was over.
The Bob Miller who started for the White Sox was, indeed, the Bob Miller who had pitched for the Twins in 1968-1969. He was traded to Cleveland over the off-season in a deal that got the Twins Williams and Luis Tiant, but cost them Graig Nettles. The Indians then shipped him on to Chicago in June.
This was the first game of a five-game winning streak for the Twins. They had just had a five-game winning streak snapped the day before, so the Twins were in a stretch where they won ten of eleven.
Record: The Twins were 49-26, in first place in the American League West, 4 games ahead of California. They would finish 98-64, in first place, 9 games ahead of Oakland.
The White Sox were 28-52, in fifth place in the American League West, 23.5 games behind Minnesota. They would finish 56-106, in sixth (last) place, 42 games behind Minnesota.
