Category: This Day in Twins History

This Day in Twins History – May 27

May 27 has not always been kind to the Twins over the years.

Jimmie Hall5/27/1964 – In the first game of a doubleheader at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Angels, Twins center fielder Jimmie Hall is beaned by Angel lefty Bo Belinsky as Hall leads off the top of the fifth inning. The Twins end up losing the game 4-1 but come back to win the second game 4-3. Hall ends up with a concussion and tries to come back on May 31st as a pinch-hitter but ends up striking out. Hall sits out several more games and gets back in the line-up on June 4th. Hall hit 33 home runs as a rookie in 1963 but is never really the same player after this beaning.  Star Tribune write-up 

Rick Lysander5/27/1983 – Twins reliever Rick Lysander becomes the first Twins pitcher to lose both games of a double-header at the Tigers beat the Twins 7-4 and 2-1 at Tiger Stadium. Box score Game 1, Game 2

Scott Baker
Scott Baker

5/27/2011 – Twins starter Scott Baker threw seven scoreless innings and left with a 5-0 lead at Target Field, but the Los Angeles Angels scored five in the eighth and one in the ninth against the bullpen and defeated the Twins, 6-5. Baker became the first major-league starter in 13 years to fashion a scoreless outing of at least seven innings and leave with a lead of at least five runs, only to see his team lose. As badly as things have gone for the Twins this season, who are now 16-33 and 14.5 games out of first, the loss set a new low. It was the only the second time since the team came to Minnesota in 1961 – and the first time in nearly 40 years – that the Twins have lost a game in which they led by five-or-more runs going into the eighth inning. Since their only previous such loss – 11-9 to the Yankees on July 30, 1971 – the Twins had gone 755-0 in games in which they took a lead of five-or-more runs into the eighth inning! That was the longest winning streak in major league history in games of that type. Box score

This Day in Twins History – May 10, 2000

This is the kind of a game the Twins need to break out of their season long funk here in 2016.

Midre Cummings
Midre Cummings

In their biggest come from behind victory ever, the fourth place Twins storm back from an 8-1 deficit at the Metrodome and beat the third place Indians 10-9 on a walk-off two run homer from Midre Cummings. Eddie Guardado picked up the win for Minnesota and Steve Karsay took the defeat. Check out the boxscore and look at the names of some of the players that played for the Twins and Indians in this game. The reported attendance in the dome that day was 9,505.

This Day in Twins History – First ever walkoff loss is a strange one

Bill Pleis April 28, 1961 – The Twins and the Los Angeles Angels are tied 4-4 after 9 innings at Wrigley Field. The Twins score an unearned run in the top of the 12th and take the lead 5-4. Twins skipper Cookie Lavagetto pulls starter Pedro Ramos who has pitched the first 11 innings and brings in reliever Bill “Shorty” Pleis to close out the victory. Pleis gets the first out but then gives up a game tieing home run to Ken Hamlin. The next two hitters get singles but Pleis retires Leon Wagner for the second out. The Twins decide to intentionally walk Ted Kluszewski to load the bases. So what happens next? Shorty Pleis hits Ken Hunt and the Angels have a walk-off hit-by-pitcher win. Yikes!! It was the thirteen game the new formed Minnesota Twins had ever played and it turns out to be their first ever walkoff loss. Boxscore

This Day in Twins History – April 27, 1961

1961 Los Angeles AngelsThe expansion Los Angeles Angels play their first home game bowing to the Minnesota Twins at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, 4-2. The 74-year old baseball legend Ty Cobb, in his last-ever visit to a ballpark, throws out the first ceremonial pitch. This was the first American League game to ever be played in Los Angeles.

Wrigley Field - Opened in 1925, closed in 1965 and demolished in 1966. Wrigley Field's brief major league status ended after the 1961 season. Most people remember Wrigley Field as the backdrop for the old TV series home run derby. It was also the site for several baseball themed movies including pride of the Yankees, and the old Munsters TV show
Wrigley Field – Opened in 1925, closed in 1965 and demolished in 1966. Wrigley Field’s brief major league status ended after the 1961 season. Most people remember Wrigley Field as the backdrop for the old TV series home run derby. It was also the site for several baseball themed movies including pride of the Yankees, and the old Munsters TV show

Twins outfielder Lenny Green had the first hit and Earl Battey homered for the Twins as they beat Eli Grba and his Angels 4-2. Camilo Pascual was the winner for the Twins and Ray Moore got the save in front of 11,931 fans. Boxscore

This Day in Twins History – April 8, 1969

MIN-TWINS-vs.-KC-ROYALSApril 8, 1969 – The Royals play their first game in the history of the franchise and joins the winner circle along with the other three new clubs making their debuts today. Reliever Moe Drabowsky picks up the win as Kansas City beat the Twins in 12 innings, 4-3 in Kansas City Municipal Stadium.Drabowsky, Moe

Losing to a lowly expansion team in the first game he ever managed must have really stuck in Twins skipper Billy Martin‘s craw. Who had the first ever Royals hit? That would be our old friend Lou Piniella, check out the boxscore for more interesting names that you might remember from that era. Boxscore

The Twins will play the World Champion Kansas City Royals later today at Kauffman Stadium looking for their first win of the season. Over the years the Twins and Royals have hooked-up 733 times and the Twins have beaten the Royals 380 times and lost 353 times for a .518 winning percentage. Even though the Twins have beaten KC 27 more times than they have lost the run differential favors the Twins by only 15 runs so many of the games over the past 47 years have been close ones. The Twins have a 199-166 record at home against the Royals and on the road they are 181-187.

If you want to see a history of all the Twins/Royals match-ups you can go here.

This Day in Twins History – April 3

April 3, 1982 – The Twins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 in an exhibition game, the first event ever held in the new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Pete Rose of the Phillies gets the first hit in the new stadium and Kent Hrbek hits the first two home runs in the Metrodome.

Key Dates in Metrodome History

TCBearApril 3, 2000 – TC Bear is introduced as the Twins new mascot. The TC stands for Twin Cities. A case could be made that TC Bear “bears” some resemblance to the Hamm’s Beer Bear, a mascot used in advertisements for Hamm’s Brewery, an early sponsor for the Twins dating back to the early 1960’s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TC!

Ervin Santana 2015April 3, 2015 – The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced that Minnesota Twins right-handed pitcher Ervin Santana has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension of Santana will be effective for the first 80 games of the 2015 regular season. Santana, who was to earn $55 million over the next four seasons, was suspended for 80 games for violating Major League Baseball’s drug prevention and treatment program. The earliest he can return to action is July 4, when the Twins visit the Kansas City Royals. Scheduled to earn $13.5 million this year as part of the richest free-agent deal in club history, Santana will not be paid during the suspension, costing him more than $6.6 million.

This Day in Twins History – March 22, 2010 – you have to be careful what you wish for

Joe MauerCatcher Joe Mauer officially signed his eight-year, $184 million contract extension (2011 – 2018) in a press conference at the Lee County Sports Complex. The contract is the 4th highest contract ever signed in MLB as of that date.

Since his eight-year extension started in 2011 which is five years ago Mauer has the following stats (and look for the box that has Mauer’s batting stats for 2011-2015). Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for but I also remember how upset I would have been had the Minnesota Twins not signed Joe Mauer to an extension.

The reality is that long-term deals seldom work out as planned and most of the time favor the player. But in spite of what appears to be a distinctive advantage in these long-term deals for the players, their agents still found a way to swing the advantage in their favor even more by inventing opt-outs in the contracts. What’s next? Doubling a players salary if he is injured and out for the season? Sometimes I wonder if baseball GM’s and their players aren’t in cahoots. Baseball owners are wealthy but you have to wonder how they got that way because they don’t seem to be the brightest bulb on the tree. Then I wonder what that says about me, the baseball fan lifer who keeps buying tickets and follows the game day in and day out.

This Day in Twins History – Baseball Forever Changed – December 23, 1975

Messersmith, AndyMcNally, Dave 2In a decision announced on December 23, 1975, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that pitchers Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith were free agents because the reserve clause could not bind them to a team forever. David McNally actually retired after the 1975 season and never played baseball again while Messersmith became a free agent and signed a three-year deal with the Atlanta Braves for a grand total of $1 million that included a $400,000 signing bonus.

Several court appeals were rejected, forcing the owners into collective bargaining on the issue. Take a moment to read “The Demise of the Reserve Clause” by Stew Thornley.

Baseball-reference.com write-up on the reserve clause

How Curt Flood Changed Baseball and Killed His Career in the Process

On this Day in Twins History – Metrodome groundbreaking – December 20, 1979

June 12, 1980: The domed Hubert H. Humphrey Stadium in downtown Minneapolis is beginning to take shape as construction continues on schedule. The 65,000-seat facility, scheduled to open in April of 1982 is about $11.7 million below budget. (Pioneer Press file photo)
June 12, 1980: The domed Hubert H. Humphrey Stadium in downtown Minneapolis is beginning to take shape as construction continues on schedule. The 65,000-seat facility, scheduled to open in April of 1982 is about $11.7 million below budget. (Pioneer Press file photo)

December 20, 1979 – With the official groundbreaking taking place, construction began on the Metrodome and it was built by the state of Minnesota at a cost of approximately $68 million. The Metrodome becomes baseballs’ third domed facility when it opened in 1982.

The Minnesota Twins moved out of the Metrodome after the 2009 season and moved across town to their new digs at Target Field. The last season that the NFL Minnesota Vikings played there was in 2013.

Metrodome late March 2014
Metrodome late March 2014

The Dome was then gutted and almost completely torn down starting in January 2014 and the new Minnesota Vikings $1+ billion US Bank Stadium is being built and will be ready for the Vikings 2016 season.

This is what the site of the Metrodome looks like now as the new US Bank rises from the ashes of the old dome. The old dome cost $68 million and the shiny new US Bank Stadium comes in at a price tag of well over a billion dollars and will be the home of the Minnesota Vikings.
This is what the site of the Metrodome looks like now as the new US Bank rises from the ashes of the old dome. The old dome cost $68 million and the shiny new US Bank Stadium comes in at a price tag of well over a billion dollars and will be the home of the Minnesota Vikings.

The US Bank construction cam can be seen here. Metrodome on Wiki.