TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
Rochester (AAA) right-handed left-handed pitcher Pat Dean is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Dean, 26, tossed a complete shutout allowing just six hits while striking out six in his only start last week versus Buffalo. He has tossed 15.1 consecutive scoreless innings for the Red Wings and has recorded four complete games on the season.
The Twins drafted Dean in the third round (102 overall) of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Boston College and Dean signed for a reported $319,500. The Connecticut native is in his sixth season with Minnesota and has had a nice season as his 10-10 record with a 2.92 ERA indicates. Dean has started 24 games and he has completed 4 of his starts. Dean is not a strikeout pitcher as 92 KO’s in 152 innings indicates but he has great control (only 33 walks) and he keeps the ball in the ballpark as he has allowed only 10 round-trippers. The 26 year-old Dean is running out of time and it will be interesting to see if the Twins call him up in September.
The Twins scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead over the Orioles and held on to win by that score at Camden Yards. Minnesota, prior to that comeback, had been 1-26 (.037) on the road this season after trailing entering the seventh inning, which tied the Red Sox for the worst such record in the American League. Source: ELIAS
The Twins trailed 3-1 after seven innings in Baltimore, but the Minnesota Twins scratched across three runs in the eighth to come away with the 4-3 victory. Entering Friday, the Twins had been 2-48 this season in games when trailing by multiple runs in the eighth inning or later, including 0-25 on the road. The Orioles meanwhile had been 48-0 this season when leading by two or more runs in the eighth inning or later. Baltimore had won its last 88 home games with a multi-run lead in the eighth inning or later.
Twins rookie Miguel Sano hit his 10th home run in Minnesota’s 15-2 win at Baltimore on Thursday. Sano, who made his major-league debut on July 2, is tied with the Astros’ Carlos Correa for the most homers in the majors since that date by a rookie, and he leads the 2015 rookie class with 31 runs batted in over that span. Source: ELIAS
This particular blog has nothing to do with the 1965 Twins other than it took place in Met Stadium in 1965. I missed all the hullabaloo as I had just reported to U.S. Navy boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center to begin my 3+ year hitch.
On August 21, 1965, the Beatles traveled to Minneapolis Minnesota for a show at Metropolitan Stadium as the sixth stop along their 1965 North American Tour. Tickets were $2.50, $3.50, $4.50 and $5.50. The group received a guarantee of $50,000 and an additional 65 percent of sales above 18,500 tickets. 30,000 tickets were sold.
If you were lucky enough to have one of the most expensive tickets, it would have looked like this.
There are a number of good articles about the Beetles visit and I will try to provide you with some of the links.
Between August 1 and August 19 the Twins were 12-7 and and in first place with a 8.5 game lead over the Chicago White Sox. Their record for the year was 77-34 (.636). The Twins played in three doubleheaders during this period winning one and splitting the other two.
Frank Quilici
There is a nice piece in the August 7 issue of the Sporting News about the Twins new second baseman Frank Quilici. “Quilici never shuts up,” said manager Sam Mele. WOW! that is a real shocker to those people that know Frank at all. On that same page you can read about the Pirates planning to leave their spring training facility in Ft. Myers in their rear view mirror.
The August 14 has a lengthy piece on Jim Perry who came out of the bullpen to become a starter when Twins starters starting rotation suffered through a rash of injuries and illness. Al Worthington the Twins 36 year old closer who had never tasted post season play and the rest of the relief staff had to work over-time with some many injuries to the starting staff. “Housemaid knees” might not be politically correct today but according to Jim Grant that is what was troubling him even though he had a league leading 12-3 won/lost record.
I ran across this short article about Zoilo Versalles on the D.C. Baseball History web site that was written by an individual that had a personal encounter with Versalles back in 1959 when he was first called up by the Washington Senators.
The D.C. Baseball History web site is a great site if you are interested in learning more about the 1901-1960 Washington Senators who become our Minnesota Twins in 1961. The site also obviously covers the Washington Nationals.
Catcher Joe Mauer goes 2 for 4 but the Twins lose 6-1 to the New York Mets in a meaning less make-up game at Target Field. Turns out that this is probably the last time that Mauer will ever catch for the Twins. The next day Mauer has concussion symptoms and misses the rest of the season. Mauer caught the entire game but took a foul tip off his mask during the game. On November 11, 2013 the Twins and Mauer announce that Mauer is giving up catching and moving to play 1B where he has played a total of 56 games over the last three seasons.
So many issues with the Twins might be solved if Mauer was still the catcher…..
Since Joe moved to first base he has played in 237 games hitting .271 with 12 home runs and 106 RBI, in those 1,002 plate appearances he has struck out 175 times. In his first four big league seasons Mauer had 183 strike outs in 1,755 PA’s.
The Twins bullpen threw four scoreless innings yesterday helping Tommy Milone earn a win in his first game back after a stint on the disabled list. Entering Sunday’s action, the Twins’ bullpen had a 6.59 earned-run average in games started by Tommy Milone this season, the worst bullpen support for any pitcher who has made at least 10 starts this season. Source: ELIAS
Did you know? Left-handed pitcher Tom Milone had a memorable major league debut for the Washington Nationals on September 3, 2011. Making the start against the New York Mets at Nationals Park, he retired the first 6 batters he saved, then hit the first pitch he saw from Dillon Gee in the bottom of the 2nd inning for a three-run homer, giving him a 5-0 lead.
Rochester (AAA) first baseman/designated hitter Kennys Vargas is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Vargas played in eight games for the Red Wings, hitting .391 (9-for-23) with two doubles, one home run, eight RBI, nine walks and a .563 on-base percentage. Vargas has hit .274 (96-for-350) with 11 doubles, 15 home runs and 50 RBI in 105 games this season at three levels (Minnesota, Rochester and Chattanooga).
Today we have a guest post by Treavor Lenz who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first Twins game which he saw at Met Stadium. I enjoy the stories and thoughts that readers of this site share either through comments, messages or e-mails. If I can, I try to share them with other Twins fans. In this case Treavor talks about many different Twins historical events that he has had the pleasure to witness in person over the last 40 years. That is one of the cool things about baseball, it seems like certain games or events stay with you for a life time.
The young Twins fans of today haven’t had the opportunity to witness some of the wonderful events that have taken place over the years. What is cooler than reading about a Twins historical event from a person that actually was there when it took place? Thanks for taking the time to share your memories with us Treavor!
Hi Twins fans!
This August 16th marks a famous day in Twins history…. Well, for me, at least. It’s the 40th anniversary of my first Twins game I ever attended at the Old Met. I had just turned 7 and my Dad and I joined a Knothole Gang bus tour out of Eagle Lake, MN (I grew up in Waseca, MN.). The sights and sounds of the ballpark were awesome for me and the game had a few historical significance’s, too. The Indians were managed by Frank Robinson, a future HOFer and the first African-American to lead an MLB team. As noted in the Twins Trivia “This Day In Twins History” page, the Twins set an MLB record as all 9 players in the starting lineup had at least 2 hits, 20 total on the day. Phil Roof’s home run landed just a section away from where we were sitting! Tony Oliva and Rod Carew were definite favorites. It’s too bad… I had missed out on seeing Harmon Killebrew by one season.
I was hooked; I wanted to see the Twins play each year and on or around my birthday, for sure. I made it back to the Old Met, Metrodome and Target Field at least once each summer until 2011, 37 straight years! After college at Iowa State, getting married and starting a family, my career took me to Wisconsin in 1999, so getting back for a game became wasn’t as easy as just picking up one evening and going to the Twin Cities from southern MN, but my desire spurred by that 7 year old’s memories kept it going for a while.
I wanted to share a few favorite memories of Twins games I attended with you today.
Other “This Day In Twins History” games I saw were:
Dave Goltz’s 180 (!) pitch, 11 inning, complete game 2-1 win over the A’s on July 25, 1977. I only realized a few years ago researching games I’d been to how high his pitch count was.
The only double-header in Metrodome history on August 1, 1983 (my 15th birthday) vs. the Angels, caused by the April 14, 1983 snowstorm that deflated the Metrodome roof. On that April day when they announced when the double-header would be, I simply told my folks, “We’re going!” Two games and a return trip of Rod Carew! Reggie Jackson had two doubles in the first game. The Twins split, with Rick Lysander winning the second game with an amazing complete game, 11-hit shutout. Darrell Brown went 4-4, too.
Dave Kingman’s pop up that got stuck in the Metrodome roof on May 4, 1984, that, after much deliberation, the umpires ruled a ground rule double.
Steve Carlton’s last MLB win (329) vs. the A’s in an important 1987 AL West division game. He went 8 and 2/3’s innings. Also, Don Baylor was an underrated pickup for the 1987 Champs!
Casey Blake was on fire on July 5, 2003! The Indians’ slugger was 5-5, with two doubles and two HRs, adding 7 RBIs in Cleveland’s 13-2 win. My brother “became an Indians fan” in the seventh, “since they were the only ones hitting that day.”
Other memories include:
In 1976 vs. the Yankees, my Dad almost broke his hand on a Mickey Rivers’ foul liner that just kept climbing into the second deck, 3rd base side.
A 1977 tilt, when Lyman Bostock had a go-ahead, 8th inning homer, the White Sox and Twins seventh of the day, to win it 7-6 and the whole 1977 season when Carew, Bostock, Hisle and Ford were key hitters in a fun season. (Reminds me a little of the current 2015 Twins!)
A great stab by Rob Wilfong going towards first, starting a 4-6-3 DP, of a line one hop smash by Jim Rice. My section was right in front of it! You’ve got to give Rice credit; he hustled and almost beat it out. The Twins beat a star-studded Red Sox team 5-2 on July 25, 1978 that featured Fred Lynn, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, George “Boomer” Scott and Jim Rice.
Waiting out a 2 hour rain delay to see Detroit bet the Twins 8-3 in 1979. Willie Norwood would always have a good game at the plate when I went.
Jerry Koosman pitched a 10 inning complete game 2-1 win over the 2 time defending World Champ Yankees the day before my 12th birthday, July 31, 1980. John Castino doubled in Ken Landreaux all the way from first off of future HOF closer Goose Gossage. Even Reggie’s strikeouts were majestic!
My first game in the Metrodome in 1982. First (full) year phenom Kent Hrbek was intentionally walked with no one on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th as Texas preserved a 3-2 win.
The arrival of a dynamo named Kirby Puckett, who swung at anything and hit line drives and ran everything down in center. KIRRR-BY PUCKETT!!!!—never got tired of the PA announcer’s call!
A fan a few rows in front of me made a great bare handed catch of a foul liner off of the bat of Orioles’ first baseman Eddie Murray. If it had skipped through, I was ready!
A fan a few rows behind me by the cement aisle steps dropped a foul pop from Randy Bush. As I got my hand on it after judging the one hop, my brother informs me that another fan pushed me squarely in the back trying to reach over me for it, too. The ball skittered away from both of us. I never got any closer to a ball than that!
Oakland CF Dave Henderson losing the ball in the white Metrodome ceiling and LF Rickey Henderson’s mad dash (to no avail) to try to catch it behind him!
Seeing 12 games in 1987, including Game 2 of the 1987 World Series! My Dad’s brother, Uncle Fred got 2 sets of 2 tickets to it. My brother, Aaron, and I sat in one and Dad and Fred in the other. Gary Gaetti’s HR (inside the foul pole right in front of us), Randy Bush’s RBI double, Bert Blyleven going 7 innings and the loudest atmosphere I’d ever been in stand out. A Tom Brunansky bottom of the 9th HR vs. the Brewers for a 2-1 win was key that year. KC Royals Danny Tartabull’s 9th inning 3 run HR off of Jeff Reardon was not. Oddly, the Twins were 5 wins and 6 losses in the 11 regular season games I attended—the year they had such a great home record!
Boston’s Roger Clemens outdueled Scott Erickson 1-0 in about 1990. Clemens finished with a complete game 2 hitter and Scotty went about 7 and 2/3’s. Leadoff batter Billy Hatcher cueballed a spinning double past Kent Hrbek down the first base line, Wade Boggs singled him in and that was it for the scoring after the top of the first!
Seattle’s Ken Griffey, Jr and Ken Griffey, Sr playing together. Junior homered, naturally…
The last game I saw at the Metrodome was in July 2009 vs. Detroit. Each time Detroit would score so would the Twins until their one run in the 16th inning could not match the three the Tigers had scored. Longest game I’ve ever attended!
The two games at Target Field in 2010 and 2011, both against the Rays. Jim Thome’s shot off the wall only resulted in an RBI single (a few feet short of a home run) as they lost in ’10, but Michael Cuddyer’s bloop RBI single was the winning margin in ’11.
I’ve probably left off a few deserving entries, but what I enjoyed the most about going to a Twins game was attending WITH MY FAMILY! My Dad Ken, Mom Kathy, sister Kelli, brother Aaron, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and later, my wife Becky, my kids Trey, Kylie, and the twins (of course!) Mikayla and Mackenzie, her folks Arlin and Carol, brother Brian, and sister Deb’s family are the people with whom I enjoyed Twins games!
Left to right: Me (Treavor), Mackenzie, Trey, Mikayla, Kylie, and my wife, Becky
I hope you enjoyed a look at the last 40 years of Twins baseball as I saw it! Go Twins!!!
Treavor Lenz
As I was prepping this post by tagging all the players that Treavor mentioned it dawned on me that some of these players had slipped into the archives of my own memory banks as I age but seeing their name in print again brought back many memories, some funny, some exciting, some good, some bad, some historic, and some that are just plain sad. That’s a good thing, damn I love baseball. Thanks again Treavor.
Rochester (AAA) 
