The 4th of July is always special and the only Twins player to make his debut in the big leagues took place on this day back in 1973 at the old Met.
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Eddie Bane (P) – July 4, 1973 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1973 amateur draft. The box score says that 45, 890 fans, the largest crowd to ever see a Twins regular season game pack into Met Stadium to see something they have never seen before. The crowd was so big that the game’s start was held up for 15 minutes waiting for the fans to enter. They were there to see the Twins first round selection and 11th overall, LHP Eddie Bane, go from the campus of Arizona State University straight to the big leagues. Bane’s signing bonus of slightly over $50,000 was repaid that day and then some.
The Kansas City Royals were the Twins opponent that day and took a 1-0 lead in the third inning off Bane on a single and a double. Bane went on to pitch 7 innings allowing just 3 hits, 3 walks and 1 run while striking out three before being lifted by manager Frank Quilici trailing 1-0. The Twins scored 3 in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 3-1 lead but the Twins bullpen gave up 4 runs in the top of the ninth to allow the Royals to retake the lead at 5-3. The Twins tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth and scored another run but their rally fell short and the Royals beat the Twins 5-4. Eddie Bane received a ND for his efforts.
I did an interview with Eddie a few years ago that you can listen to by going here.
You can read what the July 5 Star Tribune had to say about the game:
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