Month: October 2015

Remembering 1965 – Part 27 – Twins whip Dodgers 8-2 at the Met

Mudcat Grant
Mudcat Grant

October 6, 1965 – The Twins play their first World Series game at Metropolitan Stadium with 47,797 fans in the stands against the Los Angeles Dodgers and win the game 8-2 behind the complete game pitching of Mudcat Grant. Grant becomes the first African-American to win a World Series game. In the third inning the Twins scored six times and rookie second baseman Frank Quilici had a double and a single in the same inning in his first World Series game. Don Drysdale took the defeat. Don Mincher and Zoilo Versalles hit round trippers. Sandy Koufax (26-8) refuses to pitch the first game of the World Series against the Twins because game is scheduled on Yom Kippur, the most sacred of the Jewish holidays. Tony Oliva tied a World Series record for most putouts in a nine-inning game in right field (7). Box score

1965-world-series-openingHubert Humphrey, Vice-President of the United States, and a former mayor of Minneapolis threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

1965 Twins World Series game 1

Remembering 1965 – Part 26 – Oliva, Killebrew, Hall, Lentz, Kindall

The Minnesota Twins are ready to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1965 World Series. But first here are a couple more Sporting News from back in September 1965.

Sporting News Sep 18, 1965 P7

Sporting News Sep 25, 1965 P13

Sporting News Sep 25, 1965 P22

According to ELIAS

MLB – Ventura avenges loss to Twins by eliminating them

Yesterday, Yordano Ventura earned his ninth win in his last 10 decisions as the Royals snapped a 1-1 tie with four runs in the seventh inning and went on to defeat the Twins, 5-1, eliminating the Twins from postseason eligibility. Ventura avenged a loss to the Twins on September 7, which had been the only blemish in his last 10 decisions. Jake Arrieta has won his last 11 decisions, but other than him, Ventura stands among eight other active pitchers who have won nine of their last ten.

Trevor Plouffe
Trevor Plouffe

The loss had a bitter tinge for the Twins, who committed two errors on one play during Kansas City’s winning rally. The usually reliable Trevor Plouffe committed one of those miscues, just his 11th error in 140 games at third base this season. Until that play, he was on the verge of breaking the franchise record for the fewest errors in one season by a third baseman playing 140-or-more games; now, at best he will tie Gary Gaetti‘s record of 11 errors in 150 games in 1987.

Remembering 1965 – Part 25 – “A Pennant for the Twins Cities: The 1965 Minnesota Twins”

A Pennant for the Twin CitiesThe Twins chances for a 2015 wild card spot are “slim and none” as they prepare to play their final two games of 2015 at Target Field. Yes, mathematically they still have a chance but the odds are stacked against them. The Twins have had a wonderful season and stranger things have happened so there is still hope.

But 50 years ago the 1965 Minnesota Twins were playing their final game of the season at their home park (Metropolitan Stadium) too and they would go on to beat the California Angels 3-2 to post win number 102, the most ever wins in the Senators/Twins franchise history. Just a few days later this great team would take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1965 World Series.

A new book about that team and its players has just hit the market and if you are a fan of Minnesota Twins baseball you have to get your hands on that book. I have my book on order and can’t wait to start reading it. The book is called “A Pennant for the Twins Cities: The 1965 Minnesota Twins” and the author is Gregory H. Wolf.

Here is a portion of how the book is described on Amazon.com: “Included are the life and baseball stories of all 35 roster players, the coaches, and manager of the 1965 Twins, plus team owner Calvin Griffith; broadcasters Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, and Ray Scott; and sportswriters Dick Gordon and Max Nichols. A comprehensive summary of the regular season, as well as meticulous essays highlighting important games and the All-Star Game played in Minnesota, an overview of the 1965 Dodgers, and thorough summaries the World Series games are included. Chapters about how the Griffith family built its pennant winner, the fate of the Twins after 1965, Metropolitan Stadium, and the 1965 season “by the numbers” round out the book. Members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) researched and wrote all of the biographies and essays in this book“.

I am proud to say that I played a small part in this book by contributing the BIO on Twins catcher John Sevcik and as I said earlier, I can’t wait to get my hands on this book to read the rest of the story. The is definitely a book that you want on your book shelf and it will make a great gift for any Minnesota Twins fan.

According to ELIAS

Twins top Indians with two runs in the ninth

The Minnesota Twins scored two runs in the ninth inning to snap a 2-2 tie and register a 4-2 win over the Indians in Cleveland last night. Minnesota has now scored 40 runs in the ninth inning on the road this season, which is the second highest total for any American League team behind the Houston Astros (43).

According to ELIAS

Six scoreless innings for Gibson

Kyle Gibson 2015Kyle Gibson pitched six shutouts innings in game one of a scheduled double-header as the Twins beat the Indians. Gibson is 3-5 in his 14 starts since the All-Star break. He has not allowed a run in 19.1 innings pitched in his three wins, compared to 48 runs allowed (47 earned) in 61.2 innings pitched in his 11 other starts (6.86 ERA).