According to ELIAS

Dozier ties Twins franchise mark

Brian Dozier 2015Brian Dozier hit two home runs and knocked in four runs in the Twins’ 4-0 win over the White Sox last night. It marked the ninth consecutive game that Dozier delivered an extra-base hit, tying the Twins franchise record in that category. Mickey Vernon had a double, triple or homer in nine consecutive games for the then Washington Senators in 1953. Prior to Dozier, the last major-league player to produce an extra-base hit in at least nine consecutive games while starting at second base in each game during the streak was Chase Utley in 2008.

Dozier broke the Twins record of eight consecutive game XBH that was previously held by Harmon Killebrew (1970) and Tony Oliva (1969). Another long time record bites the dust……

This Day in History – April 21

 

Ray Moore
Ray Moore

April 21, 1961 – The Minnesota Twins played their inaugural home game at Metropolitan stadium but came away with a loss against Joe McClain and the Washington Senators. The Senators score 2 in the top of the ninth off reliever Ray Moore and pin a 5-3 defeat on the Twins. 24,606 fans attended the Twins first home game and team ownership was disappointed that the game was not a sell-out with about 6,000 seats sitting empty. Temperature at game time was 63 degrees. There were no line-up cards available so Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto and Senators manager Mickey Vernon had to scribble their line-ups on pieces of scrap paper.

April 21, 1967 – Tony Oliva of Minnesota lost a home run due to a base running blunder. Playing in Detroit in the third inning, Cesar Tovar was the runner at first base. Oliva hit the ball out of the park off Denny McLain, but then passed Tovar between first and second. He was credited with a single and one RBI for scoring Tovar. In the ninth inning Oliva hit another home run and this one counted.

John ButcherApril 21, 1985 – The Twins had won the first two games of the 1985 season under manager Billy Gardner but then proceeded to lose nine in a row before John Butcher took the mound for the Twins against the Oakland A’s at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium on this day and shut out the A’s on just 3 hits facing only 28 batters and threw just 81 pitches. The game lasted just 1 hour and 55 minutes and Kirby Puckett went 3 for 5 and knocked in both runs.

April 21, 1994Eddie Murray set a major league record with his 11th switch-hit home run (home run from each side of the plate) game as the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 10-6 at the Metrodome.

April 21, 2004 – The Twins sell pitcher Brad Thomas to the Boston Red Sox.

 

Joe Nathan
Joe Nathan

April 21, 2007 – The Twins had started the 2007 season with 19 consecutive stolen bases before Torii Hunter gets caught in the 8th inning of their 17th game of the season. However; the Twins beat the Royals at Kauffman Stadium 7-5 and Joe Nathan performs a rarity during his 6th save of the season when he retires the Royals 1-2-3 in the ninth getting Esteban German, Tony Pena, and David DeJesus all looking at 3rd strikes. Getting the side out 1-2-3 for a save, all on called third strikes is rare feat and was last done in 2003 by Jose Valverde.

April 21, 2012 – With his leadoff single in the ninth inning, Josh Willingham extended his season-opening hitting streak to 15 games. He improved upon the record he set Friday night, the longest hitting streak by a player to start his Twins career. And he tied Kirby Puckett’s 1994 Twins record for the longest season-opening hitting streak. His streaks ended as he went hitless on April 22nd.

Good Eye, Good Eye!

May 15, 2010 – The Twins preach to their pitchers that the batter should earn his way on base via a hit, just throw the ball over the plate and take your chances that the batter will hit it to one of your fielders. In recent years, the Twins pitching staff has always been one of the league leaders in fewest bases on balls allowed.

But the shoe is on the other foot when it comes to the Twins hitters where the coaching staff tries to teach patience at the plate, after all, a walk is just as good as a hit. Plus, the more pitches you see, the better the odds are of the batter getting a hit and the quicker the pitcher reaches their so called pitch limits. This year the Twins hitters have taken that advice to heart and after 32 games they have walked 147 times and are on pace for about 700 walks which would be the most not only in Twins history but in franchise history. The 1956 Senators walked 690 times and the most walks by a Twins team was the 1962 Twins when they walked to first base 649 times. Let’s take a look at the top 10 career Twins and Senators batters that believed that a walk was indeed as good as a hit.

Minnesota Twins

HOF Harmon Killebrew played for the Senators/Twins from 1954-1974
HOF Harmon Killebrew played for the Senators/Twins from 1954-1974
Rank Player Bases on Balls Plate Appearances Base on Ball %
1 Harmon Killebrew 1,321 8,018 16.48%
2 Kent Hrbek 838 7,137 11.74%
3 Bob Allison 641 4,641 13.81%
4 Rod Carew 613 6,980 8.78%
5 Roy Smalley 549 4,675 11.74%
6 Chuck Knoblauch 513 4,571 11.22%
7 Kirby Puckett 450 7,831 5.75%
8 Tony Oliva 448 6,879 6.61%
9 Matt Lawton 408 3,150 12.95%
10 Tom Brunansky 394 3,760 10.48%

 Washington Senators

Eddie Yost
Eddie Yost
Rank Player Bases on Balls Plate Appearances Base on Ball %
1 Eddie Yost 1,274 7,461 17.08%
2 Joe Judge 943 8,906 10.59%
3 Buddy Myer 864 7,028 12.29%
4 Mickey Vernon 735 7,769 9.46%
5 Ossie Bluege 723 7,452 9.70%
6 Clyde Milan 685 8,312 8.24%
7 Sam Rice 680 9.879 6.89%
8 Buddy Lewis 573 5,937 9.65%
9 Joe Kuhel 530 5,234 10.13%
10 Goose Goslin 488 5,810 8.40%

Know your Washington Senator History

July 31, 2009 – The Washington Senators had some bad teams over the years including 5 seasons with 100 or more losses and only 18 winning seasons between 1901 and 1960. That does not mean however; that they didn’t have some great players over the years, one of those great players was Mickey Vernon.

Born James Barton Vernon on April 22, 1918 in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, Vernon signed as a free agent with the Washington Senators in 1937. A left hander all the way, Mickey stood 6’2”, weighed 180 and played 1B. Mickey Vernon made his major league debut on July 8, 1939, the same year as Hall of Famers Hal Newhouser, Ted Williams, and Early Wynn. In addition to being a slick fielding first baseman, Vernon could also hit, winning batting titles in 1946 with a .353 batting average and again in 1953 hitting .337, winning the batting title by 1 percentage point over Cleveland’s Al Rosen and thus depriving Rosen of the Triple Crown. Mickey played for the Senators from 1939 through 1948 (taking 1944 and 1945 off to serve in the US Navy) before being traded to the Cleveland Indians where he played one full season and part of the second before he was traded back to the Washington Senators for whom he played through the 1955 season before again being traded, this time to the Boston Red Sox. After the 1957 season, Vernon was waived and picked up by the Cleveland Indians. After a 1 year stint in Cleveland, Vernon was traded to the Milwaukee Braves where he played out the 1959 season. In 1960, Vernon spent most of the season as a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates before being activated in September and finishing his career by playing in 9 games for the World Champion Pirates, giving him the rare achievement of playing in four separate decades.

Vernon was not a real power hitter but he did hit 172 home runs in his 20 major league seasons. Three times, Vernon lead the league in doubles, once hitting 51 two baggers. In his 20 seasons, Mickey Vernon played 2,409 games, had 9,834 plate appearances, 2,495 hits, scored 1,196 times, stole 137 bases, and had 1,311 RBI’s with a career .286 batting average. Twenty years as a player in the majors, seven times an All-Star, but never lucky enough to play in a World Series game.

Vernon like many other players from that era served his time in the service of his country by serving in the Navy in 1944 and 1945 in Hawaii, where his commander was Max Patkin, a onetime pitcher who became a comedian known as the Crown Prince of Baseball. Off the field, Mr. Vernon was affable and easygoing but was known for his stubborn contract negotiations. Team owner Clark Griffith, who often cut a player’s salary after a subpar year, called Mr. Vernon “the most difficult man I ever dealt with on the salary question.” After his stellar 1953 season, Mr. Vernon told The Washington Post: “If a ball player can’t cash in on the kind of a year I had, it’s a hopeless profession. . . . Last season was one they can’t take away from me. If the Washington club couldn’t show any profit, it wasn’t my fault. I gave it a pretty good try.”

In 1961, after the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins, Vernon was named the first manager of Washington’s new expansion franchise. He had little luck with a team of castoff players and unproven minor-leaguers before being fired in 1963 with a 135-227 won-loss record as the Washington Senators manager. After his managing stint with the Senators, Vernon became a coach with the Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. He also managed at the Triple-A and Double-A levels.

Many fans believe that seven times All-Star Mickey Vernon belongs in the Hall of Fame, but that honor eluded Vernon during his life time. Mickey Vernon, one of the all time Washington Senator greats passed away on September 24, 2008.

Senator’s Tidbits

July 4, 2008 – The team played in two stadiums, American League Park in 1901 through 1902 and then played in Griffith Stadium from 1903 through 1960. Griffith Stadium as known as National Park from 1903 through 1920.

Washington’s best season was in 1933 when their record was 99-53. Their worst season was in 1904 when their record was 38-113.

The team made World Series appearances in 1924, 1925, and 1933 with their only World Series championship in 1924.

Team colors were Navy, White, and Red.

Sixteen players with Washington Senators roots are in the major league Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Washington franchise hosted two All-Star games, in 1937 and again in 1956.

The Senators had two rookie of the year winners, ironically they were both outfielders and they were back to back in 1958 (Albie Pearson) and 1959 (Bob Allison).

The Senator’s never had a Cy Young award winner but did have 3 MVP winners. Walter Johnson a right handed pitcher won in 1913 and again in 1924. Roger Peckinpaugh, a shortstop, won the award in 1925.

Two Washington Senator pitchers threw no hitters, Walter Johnson in 1920 and Bob Burke in 1931.

Four Washington batters hit for the cycle, Otis Clymer in 1908, Goose Goslin in 1924, Joe Cronin in 1929, and Mickey Vernon in 1946.

In their final year in Washington, the Senators finished in 5th place with a 73-81 record.