I have been working on a very long term project whereas I do a brief recap of Twins games on my “In This Day in Twins History Pages.” So my plan is to give you a brief recap of the Twins first season as it plays out on a weekly basis. For more info on a particular game you can also click on the date and go to the appropriate “In This Day in Twins History Page” as there you will often get to see some player pictures and supporting documentation. We will see how long I can keep up with it, no promises. So let’s see what we have for week thirteen.
The Twins, now 33-47 were 5-3 this past week and moved up one spot in the standings to eighth place just a half game ahead of the Angels and one game up on the last place Kansas City Athletics. The 51-29 Tigers are still hanging on to first place with a half game lead on the New York Yankees. Over in the National League the Cincinnati Reds have a three game cushion over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
July 6 – There was a slugfest at the Met and the Los Angeles Angels came out the winners in a 12-11 game. Earl Battey went 3 for 5 with a stolen base and Bob Allison and Lenny Green homered but the Twins still came up a run short. Ryne Duren started for the Angels and Gerry Arrigo started for the Twins but each starter gave up five runs and neither one lasted through two innings. Box Score
With Zoilo Versalles on the suspended list for leaving the team, the Twins purchased ten year big league veteran Ted Lepcio from their Syracuse AAA farm club for infield help.
July 7 – The Twins can only mange three hits at Griffith Stadium off Joe McClain and lose to the expansion Washington Senators 3-0. Second baseman Billy Martin got two of the hits and Lenny Green got the other. Pedro Ramos also goes the distance for Minnesota but he gets the defeat. Twins Cuban scout Joe Cambria stated that he talked with Zoilo Versalles and he said he would be back next week. Box Score
July 8 – Twins starter Jack Kralick kept the expansion Senators off the board and with home runs from Ted Lepcio (1) and Harmon Killebrew (26) had a 2-0 lead through seven innings but the eighth proved to be a problem. The Senators used five hits to score three times off Kralick, and relievers Jim Kaat and Ray Moore and the Twins were suddenly down 3-2 with just one turn at bat left. John Gabler pitched a clean ninth for the Senators and got his fourth save of the season. The save turned out to be the final one he would ever get in the big leagues. The expansion Senators now lead the season series 6 games to 2 and the Twins record drops to 33-50. The game was over in an expeditious 2 hours and 25 minutes in front on 9,147 fans at Griffith Stadium. Box score
July 9 – In the final game before the first All-Star break the Twins finally won a game at Griffith Stadium (first in six tries) when they scored two in the first, second and third innings and held on for a 7-1 victory. Camilo Pascual pitched a complete game giving up one run on five hits and two walks while striking out nine Nats and upped his record to 7-11. The Twins had 9 hits with seven going for extra bases including two home runs by Earl Battey who also had a double and one home run by Ted Lepcio. All this action in just 2 hours and 5 minutes. Box Score
July 10 – Day off for the All-Star break.
July 11 – The National League not only has a 2-0 lead after five innings but NL pitchers Warren Spahn and Bob Purkey have held the AL All-Stars to no hits. Mike McCormick takes the mound for the NL in the sixth and keeps the no-hitter intact by retiring Brooks Robinson. Then Harmon Killebrew becomes the first Minnesota Twin to appear in an All-Star game when he pinch-hits for pitcher Dick Donovan and he doesn’t disappoint when he hits a home run off Mike McCormick at Candlestick Park. After 8 innings the NL has a 3-1 lead and NL pitchers have given up just the one hit, Killebrew’s home run. With ace reliever Roy Face on the mound in the ninth for the NL the game was all but over. Face struck out Jim Gentile and the AL was down to two outs. But then Norm Cash doubles, Al Kaline singles pinch-runner Nellie Fox home and the AL suddenly had the tying run on base. Face was done and Sandy Koufax is brought in to face Roger Maris who singles and Koufax is done too. Stu Miller is brought in to pitch and he commits a balk pitching to Rocky Colavito moving the runners to second and third. Colavito then reaches first on a Ken Boyer error and Kaline scores the tying run. The NL commits two more errors in the inning but somehow avoid anymore runs from scoring. The AL then takes a 4-3 lead in the top of the tenth on another Ken Boyer error but the NL comes back with two runs in the bottom of the tenth against Hoyt Wilhelm and when all the smoke clears the National League wins the game in 10 innings by a score of 5 to 4 on a Roberto Clemente walk-off single that scores Willie Mays. There were seven errors committed in this game in windy Candlestick Park, five by the winning National League All-Stars. Stu Miller blew the save but got the win and Wilhelm took the loss. 1961 All-Star Game box score
Meanwhile back home at Met Stadium
July 12 – No game today, still on All-Star break.
Going into the All-Star break the Twins go 1-3 on the week and find themselves with a 34-50 record, mired in ninth place 20.5 games behind the AL leading Detroit Tigers who have the New York Yankees nipping at their heels just a 1/2 game back.
