Odds are that you will not recognize the player in this picture but he is still in the Twins organization and has been on the Fort Myers Miracle coaching staff since 2006. He played in the big leagues for 18 seasons for seven different teams but never had more than 260 at bats in any single season and played for the Minnesota Twins in 1998, 1999 and 1990.
It has been over 25 years since a Minnesota Twins batter pinch-hit a grand slam for the Minnesota Twins. This Twins were ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when “Pig Pen” stepped into the left-handed batters box to hit pinch-hit for Twins catcher Tim Laudner who was hitting in the 7-hole on that day. Right-hander Donn Pall was the third pitcher used by the mighty whitey’s that inning and he gave up the grand salami to Jim Dwyer and the Twins were up 7-2 and would eventually win the game by a score of 10-3 as Frank Viola won his 22nd game of the season. No one has pinch-hit a grand slam home run for the Twins since September 15, 1988.
Pinch-hit grand slam home runs in Twins history
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Dwyer | 1988-09-15 | MIN | CHW | W 10-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Mike Cubbage | 1978-08-08 | MIN | SEA | W 10-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Rod Carew | 1976-09-09 | MIN | TEX | W 6-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Tony Oliva | 1975-06-29 | MIN | TEX | L 7-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Rich Reese | 1972-07-09 | MIN | NYY | L 6-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Harmon Killebrew | 1971-09-03 (1) | MIN | OAK | W 9-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Rick Renick | 1970-06-30 | MIN | KCR | W 8-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Rich Reese | 1969-08-03 | MIN | BAL | W 5-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Julio Becquer | 1961-07-04 (1) | MIN | CHW | W 6-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
ERROR, ERROR, RECOMPUTE: A bit of a technical glitch with my search, it turns out that the last player to pinch-hit a home run for the Twins was not Jim Dwyer but our old friend Matt LeCroy in 2004. Here is the corrected list.
| Rk | Player | Date ? | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Pos Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt LeCroy | 2004-05-19 | MIN | TOR | W 6-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH 1B |
| 2 | Greg Colbrunn | 1997-08-04 | MIN | TOR | W 9-3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH 1B |
| 3 | Jim Dwyer | 1989-06-10 | MIN | CHW | W 11-8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH DH |
| 4 | Carmelo Castillo | 1989-04-11 | MIN | DET | W 14-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH RF |
| 5 | Jim Dwyer | 1988-09-15 | MIN | CHW | W 10-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 6 | Ron Washington | 1986-07-03 | MIN | BAL | W 11-7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | PH 2B |
| 7 | Dave Engle | 1982-07-06 | MIN | DET | L 6-11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | PH RF |
| 8 | Mike Cubbage | 1978-08-08 | MIN | SEA | W 10-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 9 | Rod Carew | 1976-09-09 | MIN | TEX | W 6-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 10 | Tony Oliva | 1975-06-29 | MIN | TEX | L 7-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 11 | Danny Walton | 1973-04-17 | MIN | CAL | W 10-5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | PH DH |
| 12 | Rich Reese | 1972-07-09 | MIN | NYY | L 6-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 13 | Harmon Killebrew | 1971-09-03 (1) | MIN | OAK | W 9-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 14 | Rick Renick | 1970-06-30 | MIN | KCR | W 8-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 15 | Rich Reese | 1970-06-07 | MIN | WSA | W 10-9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH 1B |
| 16 | Rich Reese | 1969-08-03 | MIN | BAL | W 5-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 17 | Julio Becquer | 1961-07-04 (1) | MIN | CHW | W 6-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
Where is Rich Reese’s third pinch hit grand slam? My research indicates it was June 7, 1970 off Dick Bosman. Rich is tied for the lead in career pinch hit grand slams.
Roger, thank you for pointing that out. After further analysis of my search criteria I determined that I had originally limited my search to just one at-bat but in reality a number of these pinch-hitters stayed in the game after their grand slam home runs. I think I got my list corrected this time. Again, thanks for pointing out the error and for stopping by the site. I am not happy to make errors but I appreciate when they are pointed out so that I can correct them, I want my data to be correct.
Thanks for looking into it and glad to be of assistance…….
With all due respect to Twins fans, this was at best the second most notable grand slam that Dwyer hit. The most notable had to have been on August 6, 1986, as reported by Tom Boswell (Washington Post) the next day:
I saw all three bats in the Hall of Fame (museum) a few years later – hard to believe that Dwyer got a mention in the Hall. Since 1986, there have been three other three-slam games: one in the NL just the next season; then one in the AL in which the Yankees hit all three, setting the team record for one game; and another in the NL last year (2015).
P.S. Typo at the end of the first paragraph: should be 1988, 1989, 1990 (not 98, 99, 90).
According to Baseball-Reference.com, only 357 players had careers of 18 years or longer. Jim Dwyer is one of them. And there are only 19 players who had 100 or more career pinch hits. Guess what…Jim Dwyer is one of them. Pig Pen got the job done quietly, but somehow year after year he managed to demonstrate enough value to major league teams to make for a long career! And he’s managed and coached ever since! A true, lifelong baseball professional.