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
Fourth-place batter Max Kepler went 4-for-4 with a home run in the Twins’ 9–5 home win over the Angels yesterday. It had been almost exactly eight years since a Minnesota cleanup hitter went 4-for-4 or better, including a home run. On July 4, 2009, Justin Morneau was 4-for-4 with one homer in a 4–3 win over the Tigers at the Metrodome.
Kind of a telling stat I guess…..
The Minnesota Twins end June 36-34 record and in third place, 7 games behind the league leading Chicago White Sox and just one and a half a games behind the second place Detroit Tigers. Although the team has not put together any long winning streak, they have not lost back-to-back games since May 30th.
With the 1967 All-Star game just 11 days away, the Twins know they have a tough row to hoe before they get a few days off as they have three doubleheaders to play before taking time off for the mid-summer classic. That will be 11 games in 9 days.
New Twins manager Cal Ermer has a new plan in mind for Twins starting pitchers that maybe today’s Twins should implement. You can read about it in the Sporting News article below.
The rest of the stories that I have done on the 1967 AL pennant race can be found here.
The International League office announced on Saturday that Rochester Red Wings (AAA) outfielder Zach Granite has been named the International League Player of the Month for June.
Granite led the league with a .470 batting average, 55 hits, 16 extra-base hits, 23 runs scored, 78 total bases, a .527 on-base percentage and a 1.193 OPS in June, the 24-year-old was rewarded with his first mid-season All-Star selection earlier this week. Granite reached base safely in all 29 games he played in June, tied for the longest on-base streak in the league this season. For the season, Granite paces the league with a .367 batting average and a .419 on-base percentage. His batting average is 50 points higher than any other qualified IL batter and ranks third among all minor leaguers. Granite is the first Rochester player honored as league Player of the Month since Chris Colabello in June of 2013.
One player made his major league debut as a Minnesota Twin on July 3.
Bud Bulling (C) – July 3, 1977 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the 1974 amateur draft.
I am a day late with these guys but they made their major league debuts as Minnesota Twins on July 2.
Miguel Sano (3B/OF) – July 2, 2015 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on October 9, 2009. Debuted as the DH going 1 for 4 in a Twins 2-0 win over the Royals as Kauffman Stadium.
Jarvis Brown (OF) – July 2, 1991 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1986 amateur draft (January). Player signed May 23, 1986. ) for 2 in his debut at the Skydome in a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
Gary Serum (P) – July 2, 1977 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in June 1975. Debuted as a reliever at Met Stadium in a 6-2 loss to the Angels pitching 2 innings and striking out 2 while giving up just one hit and no runs.
Elizabethton Twins (Rookie League) outfielder/3B Trey Cabbage has been named Twins minor league Player of the Week. In seven games, the left-handed swinging Cabbage hit .333 (9-for-27) with two doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, eight walks and had a .486 on-base percentage. Cabbage was headed for the University of Tennessee before the Twins persuaded him to sign a professional contract for $760,000 and nice bump over the $517,900 slot amount.
We have one player making their big league debut in a Twins uni on July the 1st
Glenn Borgmann (C) – July 1, 1972 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1971 amateur draft (June Secondary)
A much-anticipated pitching duel between the Royals’ Jason Vargas and the Twins’ Ervin Santana turned out to be no contest, as Kansas City scored seven runs off Santana en route to an 8-1 win. Vargas had entered the game at 11-3 and Santana at 10-4, in what was only the second matchup of pitchers with double-digit wins totals before July 1 over the last 20 seasons. (The other such meeting came on June 16, 2002, in a Red Sox-Braves game in which Derek Lowe, at 10-2, opposed Tom Glavine, 11-2.)
Vargas secured his 12th win on Friday night, becoming only the second pitcher in Royals history to win 12 games before July 1 (Bret Saberhagen stood at 13-2 entering July in 1987). Vargas finished off a clean sheet for the month of June: six starts and six wins. The last Kansas City pitcher to win six games in a month was Saberhagen in September of 1989, after Bret had earned seven victories in August of that year!