Harmon Killebrew hits his first home run in a Minnesota Twins uniform (his 85th career home run) and his fifth game as a Twin off White Sox hurler Bob Shaw in a 5-3 loss in 11 innings at Met Stadium. Winning pitcher Bob Shaw pitched the 11 inning complete game for Chicago. Twins starter Jack Kralick pitched 10.2 innings giving up 12 hits and 6 walks and 5 earned runs before giving way to Ray Moore for the final out. Killebrew’s home run was a shot deep to center in the 11th inning but the Twins came up short. Harmon would go on to hit 475 home runs while wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform. Be sure to check out the box score and play by play for this game. Don’t forget to check out the Today in Twins History page each day to learn more about the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful past.
Month: April 2012
Twins Minor League Player of the Week
Rochester Red Wings left-handed starting pitcher Scott Diamond is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for April 21-27. Diamond, 25, made one start, April 22 vs. Lehigh Valley, earning the win as he allowed two unearned runs on four hits in 7 innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Diamond is 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts and five walks allowed in four starts for the Red Wings this season.
Diamond started 7 games for the Twins in 2011 going 1-5 with a 5.08 ERA and a WHIP of 1.74 in 39 innings while striking out 19 batters. Scott was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and was a signed by the Atlanta Braves as a free agent in 2007. The Twins acquired Scott Diamond as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Braves in December of 2010.
Sam Perlozzo – Twins 2B and baseball lifer
Samuel Benedict Perlozzo was born in Cumberland, Maryland on March 4, 1951. Growing up in Maryland, Sam enjoyed playing football and baseball and was probably better known as a football player playing running back and safety but his lack of size kept him from pursing the gridiron. Sam earned a baseball scholarship to George Washington University where he played for three seasons from 1970 to 1972. In his final year, Sam was the star of the team hitting .345, leading the nation in stolen bases and getting named as an Academic All-American. Sam ended up signing a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins on August 15, 1972. Perlozzo started his professional career in “A” ball with Fort Lauderdale in 1973 and played in Dubuque in 1974 and Reno in 1975. Back in those days some of the big league clubs had co-op teams where a team was made up of players for several big league clubs so even though Sam was signed as a Minnesota Twin, he did not get to play on a team of Twins minor leaguers until he joined the Orlando team in 1976. Sam Perlozzo made his major league debut on September 13, 1977 at Comiskey Park replacing Bob Randall at 2B in the seventh inning but he did not get an at bat that day. Sam ended up playing in 10 games for the Twins in 1977 going 7 for 24 (.292 average) and scoring 6 runs. As it turned out, those 10 games would be the only games that Sam played in a Minnesota Twins uniform as he spent 1978 in AAA Toledo. In the spring of 1979 Perlozzo and the Twins had reached an agreement that if Sam did not make the Twins ballclub coming out of spring training he would be granted his release and that took place on March 30, 1979. Perlozzo signed with the San Diego Padres and spent the season playing in Hawaii before getting a September call-up. Unfortunately for Sam he was suffering from a groin injury at the time and only got two at bats with the Padres before being carted off the field after he reinjured his groin. That my friends marked the end of Sam Perlozzo’s big league playing career. In January of 1980 the Padres sold Perlozzo to the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese League and Sam played ball there in 1980 hitting .281 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI’s in 118 games. In 1981 Sam joined the New York Mets as a player/coach in AAA Tidewater but after that season, Sam, who was 30 at the time, walked away from his playing days and moved into coaching and managing.
Perlozzo managed various teams in the Mets minor league system from 1982-1986 winning three league titles while never having a losing season. Perlozzo ended his minor managing league career with a 364-263 (.581) record in five seasons. The following season (1987), Sam was promoted to the New York Mets as a third base coach and he stayed in that role through the 1989 season. Perlozzo then went on to coach for the Cincinnati Reds from 1990-1992, the Seattle Mariners from 1993-1995, and the Baltimore Orioles from 1996-2005. In August of 2005 Perlozzo was named as the Baltimore Orioles manager after Lee Mazzilli was let go. After nearly two years at the helm, Perlozzo could not get the Orioles over the hump and on June 18, 2007 Sam was replaced by Dave Tremblay as the O’s skipper. Sam then returned to coaching with the Seattle Mariners from 2008-2009 before joining the Philadelphia Phillies as a coach in 2009. Perlozzo is still coaching with the Phillies and has now been a big league coach or manager for 25 straight seasons. Sam obviously loves the game of baseball. In the off season, Sam lives in Tampa, Florida and enjoys playing golf and spending time with family and friends. Sam’s son Eric was drafted by the Orioles in the 2007 amateur draft.
You can listen to the Sam Perlozzo interview by clicking here. Be sure to check out our other interviews with former Twins players by going to the Interview Archives page, there are 35 different interviews you can check out.
How do you fix this?
The Twins pitching this season has been dismal and as I took a look at the Twins pitching stats during last nights 11-2 drubbing at the hands of the Boston Red Sox I have to wonder what Terry Ryan, Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson can do to fix the problem. Before the Twins had even played one game that counted this season they had already lost reliever Joel Zumaya and starter Scott Baker to Tommy John surgery. Losing Baker who I thought was the Twins top starting pitcher was a serious blow to a team that already had pitching woes. The 29 year-old Baker had started 159 games with a 63-48 record over the last 7 seasons with a 4.15 ERA and could be counted on to keep the Twins in the game when he was on the mound. With Baker out for the season the Twins went in to the 2012 season with a starting five composed of Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Jason Marquis, Nick Blackburn and either Anthony Swarzak or Liam Hendriks. Liriano who was dubbed “the Franchise” back in 2006 when he went 12-3 has been a colossal disappointment this season and now is out of the rotation to clear his head after four terrible starts when he has gone 0-4 with a 11.02 ERA and 2.36 WHIP in 16.1 innings and giving up a league leading 20 earned runs. A 2.36 WHIP, that is incredible, 2.36 runners every inning. The Twins seem to be perplexed with what to do with Liriano and plan to have him skip a start and work on the side. Personally, I think the best thing they can do with Liriano at this point is send him back to the minors and have him pitch until he proves he can get big league hitters out. Everyone keeps saying that Liriano has “great stuff” and maybe he does and maybe he doesn’t but the bottom line is that right now he is not a major league pitcher and he has no business being in the big leagues. I would rather see the Twins call up some one from the minors and have them learn how to pitch in the majors than send Liriano out start after start with little to no hope of improvement. It is not all about physical ability, you have to understand how to pitch in the big leagues and I’m afraid that Francisco Liriano may never attain that stature. Pavano and Marquis are both veterans and you get what you see with these two, journeymen at best that are filling out a starting rotation. The sinker-balling Nick Blackburn is no star but can fill the back-end of a starting rotation. I am not sure what Liam Hendriks can do in the majors but I am willing to send him out every fifth day and see what he has to offer. Swarzak is probably best suited for the role he is in right now, the long man in the pen. The 25 year-old lefty Scott Diamond who was a Rule 5 pick-up from the Atlanta Braves in December of 2010 is tearing it up in Rochester with a 4-0 mark and a 1.07 ERA in four starts is worth calling up for a big league shot. What have you got to lose?
The Twins have to do something, but what? They are 5-13 and 5.5 games out and we are still in April. How much improvement can Gardy and Ryan expect from a pitching staff that is putting up these kinds of numbers?
| Twins | Opponent | |
|---|---|---|
| IP | 146 | 151 |
| H | 161 | 148 |
| R | 91 | 63 |
| ER | 87 | 56 |
| HR | 26 | 13 |
| BB | 42 | 47 |
| SO | 86 | 117 |
| ERA | 5.36 | 3.34 |
| WHIP | 1.39 | 1.29 |
| Oppenent batting avg. | .283 | .256 |
Did you know?
The home run that outfielder Desmond Jennings hit in the 5th inning off starter Francisco Liriano of yesterday’s game in Tampa Bay was the 8,000th home run allowed in Minnesota Twins history (1961-2012). The Minnesota Twins have hit 6,839 home runs since they moved here from Washington in 1961. Thus far this season the Twins’ pitching staff has given up 23 home runs which ranks second in Major League Baseball, only the Boston Red Sox have given up more (26).
The Twins staff ranks 30th among all MLB teams in strikeouts, with just 81 in 137.0 innings pitched this season. Opponents have swung and missed just 20.0% of the time, while 20.8% of all swings taken by the opponent are put into play (leads the Majors).
When the Twins out hit their opponents they are 5-0, when the opponent out hits the Twins, they are 0-8. Source: Twins PressPass
Twins Minor League Player of the Week
New Britain infielder Chris Colabello is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for April 14-20 Colabello, 28, appeared in six games hitting .381 (8-for-21) with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI and four walks. Colabello, who was signed as a minor league free agent this winter, had a two homer game and two other game winning hits this week. Colabello had spent the majority of his career with Worcester of the Independent League Canadian-American Association before signing with the Twins.
Tom Powers of the Twincities.com Pioneer Press did a nice little piece on Colabello back in March that you might enjoy reading.
According to Elias
Josh Willingham’s three-run double in the seventh inning yesterday highlighted the Twins’ come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Rays. Willingham, who had only a .246 batting average for the Athletics last season, has at least one hit in all 14 Twins games this year. The only other major-league player in the past 15 years who hit safely in each of his team’s first 14 games coming off a season with a batting average that low was Scott Brosius. Brosius hit .230 for the Yankees in 2000, but then had a hit in each of their first 14 games in 2001, which was his final season in the big leagues. Source: Elias
Willingham now owns the Twins record for longest hitting streak to start their career with the club and is just one game shy of tying Kirby Puckett, who owns the Twins record hitting safely in each of the Twins first 15 games in 1994.
The Twins pitching staff has allowed 22 home runs this season, only the Boston Red Sox have allowed more with 23.
The Twins have the fourth highest batting average in baseball at .270, the Texas Rangers .306 is the highest average.
The Twins and the Cubs have each ground into 16 double plays, the most in baseball.
Twins minor leaguer Miguel Sano is the subject of the documentary “Pelotero”, which follows him and countryman Jean Carlos Batista through the process of signing with major league teams. The film, produced by Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, is set for theatrical release this year. Sano went 4-for-5 with three doubles, two RBIs and a run scored Friday night, leading the Class A Beloit Snappers to a 13-3 romp over the South Bend Silver Hawks. Sano raised his average 53 points to .314, moving him above the .300 line for the first time this season. He moved into a tie for the Midwest League lead with 10 extra-base hits, six homers, three doubles and a triple in 15 games.
It is nice to have good young pitching
When he started Opening Day for Tampa, James Shields, who turned 30 on Dec 20, ended a major-league-record streak of 764 games in which the Rays had started a pitcher under the age of 30, however, the Rays have now used a starting pitcher 30 or younger in 909 consecutive games, the last Tampa Rays starter over age 30 was 32-year-old LH Mark Hendrickson, who lost 4-1 on June 25, 2006 versus the Atlanta Braves. The Rays have used a starting pitcher they drafted for the past 178 consecutive games, a major league record, the last game started by a pitcher drafted by another organization was Sep 30, 2010 at KC, when Minnesota Twins draftee Matt Garza started.
The Metrodome in April 1982
The Metrodome served as home to the NFL Minnesota Vikings and University of Minnesota football, Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead concerts, Rev. Billy Graham revivals, two Final Fours, a Super Bowl, an MLB All-Star game, various tractor pulls, Monster truck shows, state high school championships, a Promise Keepers rally, Home and Garden shows, snowmobile races and, oh yes, the Minnesota Twins. The Minnesota Twins have won two World Championships in the Metrodome and called it home from 1982 through the 2009 season. The Twins regular season record in the Metrodome was 2,196 wins and 2,272 losses but the dome always seemed to provide a home field advantage for the Twins. The Metrodome was named after Hubert H. Humphrey who was a former Minneapolis mayor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Vice President. He was a big sports fan and rooted for the Vikings and Twins every chance he got. Because of his dedication to the state and to teamwork, the Metrodome was named in his honor. After the 2009 season the Twins moved to their new home at Target Field and the Metrodome which is still the home of the NFL Minnesota Vikings was renamed to Mall of American Field. The Metrodome was always more suited to host football games versus baseball games and Twins fans hated being indoors on those beautiful Minnesota summer days and evenings but when it was raining or cold as it can be in Minnesota in April and September, fans didn’t complain as they filed in to the dry and warm 69 degree climate controlled Metrodome.
“It was a weird place,” says Kent Hrbek, the Twins’ legendary first baseman who played a key role in both the ’87 and ’91 World Series wins and whose first full season in the majors coincided with the Metrodome’s big league debut. “When we first got in here, you look back at old pictures from ’82, it was just so plastic. “I remember there were signs, a black and white scoreboard, and beyond that, nothing. Just blue seats and concrete. It was something that was really different. Everybody was excited because it was state of the art and it was going to be warm every day. That’s what they sold.”
In spite of its bad reputation, the Metrodome does have a lot of Twins history attached to it which I am not going to rehash here now but the other day I ran across a nice piece written by Jayson Hron at Historically Inclined called Metrodome: Home sweet storm home. It is a nice history of what transpired in April of 1982 at the Metrodome when the 1982 baseball season opened to cold and snowy weather. I am sure most of you don’t remember what transpired back in 1982 in the Metrodome and some of you were not even around back then. If you have a few minutes, check it out.
According to Elias
“Carl Pavano overcame a rough start to pitch the Twins to a 7-3 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Monday night. Pavano allowed a home run to each of the first two batters he faced – Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson – but bounced back to pitch seven strong innings and earn the victory. Over the last 40 years, only three other pitchers have pitched at least seven innings and earned a victory after allowing a home run to the first two batters they faced: Houston’s Joe Niekro on July 5, 1982, Atlanta’s Doyle Alexander on June 20, 1987, and the Mets’ Pete Smith on June 22, 1994.” Source: Elias