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Happy April Fools Day!
2024 – No Twins game today, scheduled day off in Milwaukee.
2023 – The Twins beat the Royals once again at Kauffman Stadium by an identical score of 2-0. The consecutive shutout wins to start the season marks a Twins/Senators franchise record (since 1901). Sonny Gray (1-0) was the starter and winner, pitching 5 shutout innings, with three hits allowed, four walks and one strikeout. The bullpen combined for 4 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, highlighted by Caleb Thielbar, who struck out three batters in the eighth inning and earned his second hold. Jorge López added a save with a scoreless ninth inning. The offense recorded five hits and were led by Byron Buxton, who went 2-for-4 with a double and both runs scored. Catcher Christian Vazquez also had two hits. The Royals had just four hits. The game was played in quick two hours and 18 minutes. Box Score
2022 – It is no April Fool’s joke. Beginning this season, umpires will inform fans at the ballpark and those watching on TV at home of replay review decisions, Major League Baseball announced today. Umpires will be mic’d up to announce replay decisions, the league said. Training has been held in Arizona and Florida this spring.
2021 – The Twins open their 61st season with a three-game series at American Family Field which was previously known as Miller Park in Milwaukee. Today marks the third time in Twins history that they have opened against the Milwaukee Brewers (1971 & ’92) and second time in Milwaukee (1992). But it is the first time that the Twins & Brewers open the season as part of Inter league play since the Brewers were an American League team through 1997. The Twins open the 2021 season with 10 players on their 26-man roster who were not on the 2020 Opening Day roster. Kenta Maeda started for the Twins and Brandon Woodruff had the opening day assignment for the home town Brewers. Woodruff was gone after 4 innings and Maeda left after 4.1 innings. The Twins were up 3-2 after five innings and took a 5-2 lead into the ninth inning with Alex Colome taking the mound for the save. But sometimes #$%t happens, Colome retired the first batter for the out but then hit Kolten Wong in the hand with a 0-2 pitch. Then Keston Hiura bounced back to Colome who wheeled around and threw to second but the throw was high and both runners were safe on first and second. Christian Yelich hit a fly ball to the warning track in right field that bounced in and out of Max Kepler’s glove allowing Wong to score and the Brewers were down 5-3 with runners at first and second. The next batter grounded out softly to first with the pitcher covering and now with two outs and the runners now at second and third. Travis Shaw promptly doubled to right field scoring both runners and it was a 5-5 ballgame. Colome retired the next batter for the third out but it was time for extra-innings “pandemic” style with a runner starting at second base. This was the tenth time that the Twins have played bonus baseball on OD. Josh Hader struck out all three Twins batters in the tenth on just 11 pitches with all but one 97 mph or over and now the Brewers take their shot at the Twins and Randy Dobnak. Omar Narvaez singled putting runners at the corners and Orlando Arcia hit a soft grounder to Jorge Polanco at second who threw home but it was a bit too late and the Brew Crew walked off the Twins 6-5 in 10 innings. Dobnak the Twins seventh pitcher of the day only got to throw three pitches but took home the “L” and Josh Hader took the “W”. Max Kepler who had three hits all spring had three hits in this game and came up a home run short of the cycle. Byron Buxton hit the Twins first home run of the season, a long 456 foot blast to center. Josh Donaldson started at third base and had a single in the first inning and as he rounded first he suffered a “minor” hamstring pull and left the game with an injury when the inning ended. It took Donaldson about six minutes into the season to suffer his first injury, a day later he went on the 10-day IL. Box Score
2020 – No Twins vs Mariners game in Seattle today due to COVID-19 – 7 games missed
2019 – No Game Today. Scheduled day off.
2018 – The Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards by a score
of 7-0, winning their first series of the season. José Berríos was the starter and winner, pitching his first career complete game shutout. The offense recorded 10 hits, six going for extra-bases, including two home runs from Brian Dozier, and one each from Miguel Sano and Eduardo Escobar. This was Dozier’s eighth multi-homer game of his career and also his 28th lead-off home run. Byron Buxton stole his 26th straight base, extending the club record. The April 1 complete game is the earliest in Twins history, passing the previous mark set by Dave Goltz on April 5, 1978, beating the Mariners in Seattle 3-2. Box Score
2014 – No game today, scheduled day off.
2013 – The Twins open the 2013 season at Target Field but lose to Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers 4-2. Newly acquired Twins starter Vance Worley took the loss. Worley allowed 3 runs on 8 hits over 6 innings. The Twins had 8 hits with catcher Joe Mauer getting three of them but it wasn’t enough. Aaron Hicks a Twins first round pick in 2008 made his major league debut with an 0 for 4 effort with three strikeouts. With the game-time temperature at 35 degrees and the wind blowing at 17 mph, fans had to bundle up. But opening day is always a draw, as evidenced by the announced crowd of 38,282, officially a sellout by Twins guidelines. Box Score
2011 – April Fool’s Day was a bad joke on the Minnesota Twins as they got pounded 13-3 by the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre as a crowd 47,984 looked on. The Blue Jays jumped on Twins starter Carl Pavano for four runs in the bottom of the first on a single, single, stolen base, a walk, a bases-loaded HBP, an error and a balk before Pavano was able to retire the side. Tsuyoshi Nishioka made his big league debut at second base and went 1 for 4 but he would only play in six games before suffering a broken leg. The 10-run loss marked the club’s worst margin of defeat in a season-opening game and was a sign of things to come in a season where the Twins finished last in the Central Division and went down to defeat 99 times. Box Score
2010 – In 2010, the Twins opened Target Field with a “dry-run” exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals, losing by a score of 8-4…the game was played in front of 32,995. They completed their spring training season with another game against the Cardinals on April 3.
2007 – Herb Carneal, the Hall of Fame radio voice of the Minnesota Twins for all but one year of their existence, died in his home in Minnetonka, Minnesota at the age of 83 after a long battle with a number of illnesses. The press box at the Metrodome was named in his honor. Carneal was the recipient of the Ford C. Frick award, baseball broadcasting’s highest honor, in 1996. Obituary
2003 – No game today, scheduled day off.
2002 – The Twins open the season at Kauffman Stadium against the Kansas City Royals and take an early lead only to fall behind and then come from behind to club their way to a 8-6 win. Brad Radke started for Minnesota and Jeff Suppan for KC. Radke lasted just 4.1 innings allowing 6 runs, 5 earned on 8 hits but Jack Cressand, JC Romero, Michael Jackson and Eddie Guardado pitched scoreless ball the rest of the way. Romero getting the win and Eddie the save. The Twins hit five home runs with Jacques Jones getting two, and David Ortiz, Torii Hunter, and Brian Buchanan chipping in one each. Ron Gardenhire managed his first game as the Twins new manager and came up a winner in his first try. Attendance was 40,605. Box Score
1998 – Opening Day for the Twins finds them in Toronto at the Skydome where they take on the Blue Jays in front of a nice crowd of 41,387 fans. Opening Day starters are Bob Tewksbury for Minnesota and Roger Clemens for the Blue Jays. The Twins get out hit 6 to 4 and come up on the short-end of a 3-2 game. Tewksbury gives up all three runs over 6 innings on 5 hits and takes the loss. Clemens goes 7 innings allowing one run on two hits and notches the win. Brent Gates gets a sole home run in his first game as a Twin. Jose Cruz has a big day for Toronto going 3 for 3 with 3 RBI. Box Score
1997 – 43,216 baseball fans showed up at the Metrodome to welcome in a new MLB season as the Twins hosted the vising Detroit Tigers in the season opener for both clubs. Gopher basketball coach was called in to throw out the first pitch. The starters were Brad Radke for the Twins and Doug Brocail for the Tigers. Detroit scored the first five runs to take a 5-0 lead and the Twins came back with seven of there own with 3 in the fifth inning and 4 in the eighth and came away as 7-4 winners. Dan Naulty, the fourth Twins pitcher was credited with the win and it turned out it would be his last of 1997 and his last as a Twins pitcher. Dan Miceli took the loss for the Tigers. Pat Mears had a big stick for the Twins with two hits, a home run, a triple and 2 RBI. Paul Molitor, Terry Steinbach and Matt Lawton also had two hits each. First baseman Scott Stahoviak broke a bone in his left hand and was put on the DL and is expected to miss at least a month. Box Score
1996 – It wasn’t easy by any means but the Twins won their Season Opener in 1996 at the Metrodome and beat the visiting Detroit Tigers 8-6. At one point the Twins had a 7-1 lead but their bullpen let the Tigers back into the game. Brad Radke was the starter and winner for Minnesota allowing one run on five hits in 6 innings (100 pitches). Dave Stevens got the save. Felipe Lira started and lost for the Tigers. Scott Stahoviak hits the Twins first home run of the season in addition to a single and scored twice. Dave Hollins had two hits including a double. Opening day crowd was 30,185. Twins fans had no way of knowing that Kirby Puckett who lost vision in his eye due to Glaucoma this Spring would never play baseball again. Box Score
1972 – This is no April Fool’s Day joke. The 1972 Baseball Strike, the first strike in Major League Baseball history begins. The strike occurred from April 1 to April 13, 1972. It was called by the Major League Baseball Players Association and its leader, Executive Director Marvin Miller. Baseball resumed when the owners and players agreed on a $500,000 increase in pension fund payments, as well as the introduction of salary arbitration. The 86 games that were missed over the 13-day period were never played because the league refused to pay the players for the time they were on strike. As a result, some teams only played 153 games, 9 fewer than normal, and the Detroit Tigers were proclaimed AL East champions even though they held only a half-game lead over the Boston Red Sox, who had played one fewer game, when the regular season ended.