This Day in Twins History – August 28, 1980

Exhibition StadiumAn odd game for sure at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium. The game officially lasted 15 innings and 4 hours and 24 minutes but the game was actually not completed until the next day August 29) when the Twins defeated the Blue Jays by a 7-5 score. The game was scheduled as a day game because the Canadian National Exhibition (Canada’s version of a state fair) was going on next door to the ballpark and as part of the event, a concert stage was erected next to the stadium for a daily nighttime concert and it was declared that no inning could begin after 5:00 PM local time. The teams played for 14 innings and were tied at 5 apiece when the curfew kicked in.

Dave StiebVerhoeven, JohnThe game resumed the following afternoon but both of the line-ups had to be modified because Blue Jays 1B Otto Velez and the Twins outfielder Bombo Rivera were injured in an auto accident after the game. Rivera was in no condition to play and Blue Jay Otto Velez was injured and out for the season. Since Toronto had used all their position players, the Blue Jays sent pitcher Dave Stieb (who was scheduled to start that day’s game for Toronto) out to left field. As often happens in these situations, the Twins scored two runs quickly in the top of the 15th and Al Williams held the Blue Jays scoreless in the bottom of the inning for a Twins win and in the process recorded the first of his two career saves. Minnesota then won the regularly scheduled game for that day (August 29) 5-2 and naturally, Dave Stieb was the losing Toronto pitcher. A strange two days at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. John Verhoeven only won 3 games in his Twins career and this was one of them.

Box Score for August 28 game

Box Score for August 29 game

This Day in Twins History – August 25

Dean Chance8/25/1967Dean Chance pitches the second no-hitter in Twins history and defeats the Indians  2-1 in the second game of a double-header at Cleveland Stadium. The Indians actually scored first in this game when Chance walked Lee Maye and Vic Davalillo in the bottom of the first. Chance then struck out Chuck Hinton but Tony Horton reached on an error by SS Jackie Hernandez to load the bases. With Max Alvis batting, Chance threw a wild pitch and Maye scored the Indians first and only run. Chance then struck out Alvis and Joe Azcue flew out to end the threat. Chance then completed the game without allowing an Indian hit while striking out eight and walking a total of five batters. The Twins went on to score two runs and win this unusual no-hitter. Box Score

8/25/1970 – A bomb scare at Met Stadium delayed the Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins game forty-three (43) minutes. According to the Sporting News, a bomb scare forced a 43-minute delay in the fourth inning, but the only bomb that exploded was the homer by Tony Conigliaro off of Tom Hall in the eighth giving Red Sox 1-0 victory over Twins. A crowd of 17,697 evacuated the stands after announcement over public address system stated that a telephoned warning had been received that bomb was due to go off. The evacuation was orderly and without panic with about 2,000 fans, players, police and vendors gathered in the center-field area. The rest milled about in the parking lot. The bomb was supposed to go off at 10:30 PM so after a 27 minute wait, the game was resumed at 10:57 PM. The Sox end the game with a double play, the first out is a force at second base on a ball hit by Jim Holt and then Tony Oliva is caught in a rundown (6-5-2-5) trying to score from third. Ken Brett is the winner in relief over Tom Hall. Box Score

Bob Casey
Bob Casey

Bob Casey who was the Twins public address announcer for a long time and a Minnesota legend was at times a curmudgeon. One of the best anecdotes about him occurred during this bomb threat. “Bob,” a team official told Casey, “there’s a bomb threat, and we need to clear the stadium. So could you make some sort of announcement for people to calmly leave the stadium.” Casey assured them that it would be no problem. Moments later, he grabbed the microphone and shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, please don’t panic but there’s going to be an EXPLOSION in 15 minutes!”

Jerry Zimmerman
Jerry Zimmerman

8/25/1978 – Major League umpires stage a one-day strike in defiance of their union contract. Semipro and amateur umps are pressed into service until a restraining order forces the strikers to return.  At Toronto at Exhibition Stadium, the Blue Jays beat the Twins 7 – 3, with two amateur umpires and two coaches officiating: Toronto coach Don Leppert was at 2B and Twins coach Jerry Zimmerman was at 3B. Since 1910, this was just the 5th time this century, and the first time since 1941, that active players or coaches have acted as umpires. The umpires will walk out again at the beginning of the 1979 season

8/25/1998 – The Twins like many teams before them, send pitcher Mike Morgan packing, this time to the Cubs and pitcher Scott Downs heads to Minnesota. Morgan pitched for 12 different ML teams (13 if you count that he was traded to the Cubs twice) between 1978 and 2002 before he finally calls it quits.

8/25/2008 – The Twins make a deal with the Texas Rangers and reacquire relief pitcher Eddie Guardado and send pitcher Mark Hamburger to Texas. Hamburger resigned with the Twins as a free agent in September 2013.