The Twins entered the top of the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead over the Tigers. J.D. Martinez‘s three-run home run off Glen Perkins turned that lead into a 3-2 deficit before the Twins rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for the win. It’s been over 30 years since the Twins won a game in which they led entering the top of the ninth inning; fell behind in the top of the ninth before rallying in the bottom of the ninth for the win. The Twins last such win occurred on April 13, 1984 against the Mariners. Minnesota saw a 2-1 lead disappear when Alvin Davis and Ricky Nelson hit back-to-back home runs off Ron Davis to open the top of the ninth inning. The Twins rallied in the bottom of the ninth on RBI singles by Tim Teufel and Tom Brunansky for the win.
According to Elias
Torii Hunter‘s solo home run in the ninth inning broke a 6-6 tie and Miguel Cabrera added some insurance with a homer of his own to give the Tigers an 8-6 win at Target Field yesterday. Hunter is the second player to appear in at least 500 games for the Minnesota Twins and then hit a game-winning home run in the ninth inning or later against them. He joins Rod Carew, who connected for a home run in the 15th inning to give the Angels a victory over Minnesota in 1980.
200 hits in a season
Last Wednesday Houston Astros 2B Jose Altuve went two for five in the Astros 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. His single in the seventh inning was his 200th hit of the season. As of today, Altuve, a 2014 All-Star has 206 hits and the hitter closest to him in hits is Indians outfielder Michael Brantley with 180 hits. The 24 year-old five foot six inch second sacker who is in his fourth season with the Astro’s is showing everyone that he is a real good baseball player. In the last 10 seasons MLB hitters have had 200 or more hits on 36 occasions but last year there were none and this season Altuve may well be the only one. Is pitching taking over baseball?
So when was the last time the Minnesota Twins had a hitter with 200 or more hits in a season? Can’t remember? Maybe that is because it hasn’t happened for many a year. The last Twins hitter to have 200 or more hits in a season was 39 year-old DH Paul Molitor back in 1996. The amazing Kirby Puckett did it a total of five times including four in a row from 1986-1989 and he came up just short in 1985 with 199 hits. The Twins now in their 54th season have had only 13 hitters that have gotten 200 or more hits in a single season. The Twins have never had more than one hitter in a season get 200 or more hits but in 1977 Rod Carew had 239 hits and Lyman Bostock came up just short with 199 hits.
Twins hitters with 200 or more hits in a season
| Rk | Player | H | Year ? | Age | G | AB | R | HR | RBI | Pos | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Molitor | 225 | 1996 | 39 | 161 | 660 | 99 | 9 | 113 | .341 | .858 | *D3/H |
| 2 | Kirby Puckett | 210 | 1992 | 32 | 160 | 639 | 104 | 19 | 110 | .329 | .864 | *8/DH45 |
| 3 | Kirby Puckett | 215 | 1989 | 29 | 159 | 635 | 75 | 9 | 85 | .339 | .843 | *8/HD |
| 4 | Kirby Puckett | 234 | 1988 | 28 | 158 | 657 | 109 | 24 | 121 | .356 | .920 | *8/H |
| 5 | Kirby Puckett | 207 | 1987 | 27 | 157 | 624 | 96 | 28 | 99 | .332 | .900 | *8/DH |
| 6 | Kirby Puckett | 223 | 1986 | 26 | 161 | 680 | 119 | 31 | 96 | .328 | .903 | *8/H |
| 7 | Rod Carew | 239 | 1977 | 31 | 155 | 616 | 128 | 14 | 100 | .388 | 1.019 | *3/H4D |
| 8 | Rod Carew | 200 | 1976 | 30 | 156 | 605 | 97 | 9 | 90 | .331 | .858 | *3/4H |
| 9 | Rod Carew | 218 | 1974 | 28 | 153 | 599 | 86 | 3 | 55 | .364 | .879 | *4/H |
| 10 | Rod Carew | 203 | 1973 | 27 | 149 | 580 | 98 | 6 | 62 | .350 | .881 | *4/H |
| 11 | Cesar Tovar | 204 | 1971 | 30 | 157 | 657 | 94 | 1 | 45 | .311 | .725 | *798/5H4 |
| 12 | Tony Oliva | 204 | 1970 | 31 | 157 | 628 | 96 | 23 | 107 | .325 | .878 | *9/8H |
| 13 | Tony Oliva | 217 | 1964 | 25 | 161 | 672 | 109 | 32 | 94 | .323 | .916 | *9/8H7 |
Miracle win it all!
On Monday, September 8, the Ft. Myers Miracle won the first Florida State League Championship in team history three games to one over the Daytona Cubs. Jason Kanzler‘s two-run homer in the eleventh inning propelled the Fort Myers Miracle to the Florida State League Championship in a 4-2, extra inning win over the Daytona Cubs at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in game four on Monday night. The Miracle under manager Doug Mientkiewicz finished the season with an 87-58 overall record and were 4-1 in the playoffs. Outfielder Adam Walker led the 2014 Miracle with 25 home runs and 94 RBI while hitting .246. The pitching staff was led by Matt Tomshaw, Brett Lee, and Jose Berrios who had a combined 30-14 record.
Minnesota’s longest-running Minor League full season affiliate, the Miracle began an association with the Twins in 1993. The 1993 team finished with a 55-79 record under manager Steve Liddle. Players on that team that went on to play in Minnesota were pitchers Brad Radke, Dan Naulty, Scott Watkins, catcher Damian Miller and outfielder Brent Brede.
The team has drawn nearly 120,000 fans in each of the last seven seasons. The Miracle have been top-four in the Florida State League for individual game average attendance every year since 2005. As expected, the Twins and single-A affiliate Ft. Myers Miracle have agreed to extend their Player Development Contract for four years, through the 2018 season.
This is the first league championship that a Twins minor league team has won since the Elizabethton Twins won the Appalachian League title in 2012 and also the first league championship that a minor league team has won under Brad Steil who became the Twins Farm Director after the 2012 season. The last Twins A-Ball team to win a league championship were the 1987 Kenosha Twins (82-58) who were managed by Don Leppert.
Twins minor league teams finished the 2014 season with a combined record of 409-354 for a .536 winning percentage. Of the Twins seven minor league clubs, only the 23-37 Gulf Coast League Twins posted a losing record. 2014 marked the third consecutive season that Twins farm teams have won more games than they lost.
You can learn more about the Twins minor league teams going back to 1961 on our Twins Minor League History page.
According to Elias
Quintana joins Sale to form big-strikeout duo for Sox
Jose Quintana struck out 13 Minnesota Twins in seven innings of the White Sox’ 5-1 victory in the first game of their doubleheader in Chicago. Quintana is the second left-handed pitcher this season to strike out 13 batters in a game for the Southsiders; Chris Sale fanned 13 Tigers on August 30. Only three other teams in the modern era (since 1900) have had two different southpaws record 13+ strikeouts in a game: The 1959 Dodgers (Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres), 1969 Tigers (Mickey Lolich and Mike Kilkenny), and 1971 Tigers (Lolich and Les Cain).
Jose Quintana is the second White Sox pitcher in 2014 to strike out at least a dozen Twins in a game. Chris Sale recorded 12 strikeouts at Target Field on July 26. It’s the third time that two different White Sox pitchers have registered a 12-strikeout game versus the same opponent in the same year. In 1954, Billy Pierce and Jack Harshman both struck out a dozen Tigers in a game. And in 1961, Pierce and Juan Pizarro each put up 12+ Ks in a game versus the Orioles.
A record-tying strikeout performance for Minnesota, Chicago
Twins and White Sox pitchers combined to strike out 45 batters in their doubleheader yesterday. That tied the modern major-league record for combined strikeouts by two teams over two nine-inning games in a day. Rockies and Marlins hurlers also fanned 45 in two games on August 16, 2009.
According to Elias
Carlos Santana hit a two-run home run in the first inning to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in Cleveland’s 8-2 win over Minnesota in the first game of a doubleheader, and then in the nightcap, he put the first run on the board with a solo home run in the fourth inning in a 2-0 Indians win. Over the last 20 seasons, only two other players have hit a home run to put their team ahead for good in both games of a doubleheader sweep: Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer on August 16, 2013 against Detroit and Boston’s Trot Nixon on October 5, 2001 against Baltimore.
Santana is the first Indians player to do that in over 50 years, since Max Alvis did it in both games of a doubleheader, also against the Twins on June 17, 1964. Box score game 1, Box score game 2
This Day in Twins History – September 10, 1974
Forty years ago today only 3,285 fans witness what turns out to be a wild and wooly game between the Chicago White Sox and the Twins at the Met. Twins starter Vic Albury leaves after 7 with a 3-1 lead and closer Bill Campbell comes in to shut the door in what seems to be a routine ball game. Campbell retires the Whitey’s in the 8th with no scoring but in the top of the 9th all hell breaks loose. Before Campbell can retire a batter he gives up a single, then a double and Brian Downing then steps up to the plate and promptly hits a 3-run home run to tie the game at 4. The next batter singles and manager Quilici has seen enough and he brings in Tom Burgmeier who quickly gives up another single but settles down and retires the next three White Sox without any further damage and the Twins fail to score in the bottom of the ninth so to extra innings we go.
Neither team scores in the 10th but in the top of the 11th inning the White Sox get a single, a sacrifice and another single and take a 5-4 lead but Burgmeier closes the door. Craig Kusick leads off the bottom of the 11th for the Twins with a home run and once again we are tied, this time at 5. The 12th inning is scoreless. In the 13th the White Sox put a couple of hits together off of Burgy and take a 6-5 lead but once again the Twins fight back with walks to Eric Soderholm, Craig Kusick, and a sacrifice/fielders choice by Danny Thompson and the Twins have the bases loaded with one out. Glenn Borgmann singles to left to score Soderholm but Jerry Terrell who was running for Kusick is thrown out at home but the game is tied at 6 apiece. The White Sox escape further damage and the game moves on to the 14th inning. For some reason, Twins manager Frank Quilici brings in St. Paul native Tom Johnson to make his major league pitching debut in the 14th inning in a tie ball game. The rookie pitcher gives up two singles and commits an error and the White Sox push a run across to take a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the 14h inning the Twins get a single from Soderholm and a double from Tony Oliva and yes, the game is tied at 7 once again. Johnson pitches a 1-2-3 top of the 15th and the Twins come to bat in the bottom of the inning facing future hall of famer, Goose Gossage. Steve Brye strikes out but Rod Carew singles and proceeds to steal second, Larry Hisle steps up and singles to left and Carew scores and the Twins have an unbelievable 8-7 victory. Twins Tom Burgmeier pitched 5 innings of relief and Tom Johnson pitched two innings in his major league debut and won his first major league game in his first big league appearance. The fans sure got their money’s worth in this 4 hour and 7 minute game.
According to Elias
The Angels won their season series against the Twins, seven-games-to-none. The Halos have swept only one other season series of seven or more games in their history (seven games versus the Royals in 2004) but it’s the fourth time that the Twins have been swept in a season series of at least seven games (12 games versus the Rangers in 1999, seven games against the Yankees in both 2003 and 2009).
Dozier to join a select group of Twins players
When Twins second baseman Brian Dozier scores his next run he will cross home plate for the 100th time this season and become just the 13th player in Twins history to score 100 or more runs in a single season. Twins players have scored 100 runs or more in a single season 19 times. Our old buddy Chuck Knoblauch did it four times (1992, 1995-1997) and in 1996 he scored an amazing 140 runs. The last player to score 100 or more runs for Minnesota was Michael Cuddyer when he scored 102 runs in 2006. Here is the complete list through September 5, 2014.
| Rk | Player | R ? | Year | G | PA | AB | H | BB | IBB | SB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chuck Knoblauch | 140 | 1996 | 153 | 701 | 578 | 197 | 98 | 6 | 45 | .341 | .448 | .517 | .965 |
| 2 | Rod Carew | 128 | 1977 | 155 | 694 | 616 | 239 | 69 | 15 | 23 | .388 | .449 | .570 | 1.019 |
| 3 | Zoilo Versalles | 126 | 1965 | 160 | 728 | 666 | 182 | 41 | 3 | 27 | .273 | .319 | .462 | .781 |
| 4 | Cesar Tovar | 120 | 1970 | 161 | 726 | 650 | 195 | 52 | 5 | 30 | .300 | .356 | .442 | .798 |
| 5 | Kirby Puckett | 119 | 1986 | 161 | 723 | 680 | 223 | 34 | 4 | 20 | .328 | .366 | .537 | .903 |
| 6 | Chuck Knoblauch | 117 | 1997 | 156 | 716 | 611 | 178 | 84 | 6 | 62 | .291 | .390 | .411 | .800 |
| 7 | Tony Oliva | 109 | 1964 | 161 | 719 | 672 | 217 | 34 | 8 | 12 | .323 | .359 | .557 | .916 |
| 8 | Kirby Puckett | 109 | 1988 | 158 | 691 | 657 | 234 | 23 | 4 | 6 | .356 | .375 | .545 | .920 |
| 9 | Tony Oliva | 107 | 1965 | 149 | 647 | 576 | 185 | 55 | 12 | 19 | .321 | .378 | .491 | .870 |
| 10 | Chuck Knoblauch | 107 | 1995 | 136 | 629 | 538 | 179 | 78 | 3 | 46 | .333 | .424 | .487 | .911 |
| 11 | Harmon Killebrew | 106 | 1969 | 162 | 709 | 555 | 153 | 145 | 20 | 8 | .276 | .427 | .584 | 1.011 |
| 12 | Harmon Killebrew | 105 | 1967 | 163 | 689 | 547 | 147 | 131 | 15 | 1 | .269 | .408 | .558 | .965 |
| 13 | Lyman Bostock | 104 | 1977 | 153 | 660 | 593 | 199 | 51 | 5 | 16 | .336 | .389 | .508 | .897 |
| 14 | Kirby Puckett | 104 | 1992 | 160 | 696 | 639 | 210 | 44 | 13 | 17 | .329 | .374 | .490 | .864 |
| 15 | Chuck Knoblauch | 104 | 1992 | 155 | 707 | 600 | 178 | 88 | 1 | 34 | .297 | .384 | .358 | .743 |
| 16 | Bob Allison | 102 | 1962 | 149 | 613 | 519 | 138 | 84 | 0 | 8 | .266 | .370 | .511 | .881 |
| 17 | Michael Cuddyer | 102 | 2006 | 150 | 635 | 557 | 158 | 62 | 5 | 6 | .284 | .362 | .504 | .867 |
| 18 | Shane Mack | 101 | 1992 | 156 | 692 | 600 | 189 | 64 | 1 | 26 | .315 | .394 | .467 | .860 |
| 19 | Corey Koskie | 100 | 2001 | 153 | 649 | 562 | 155 | 68 | 9 | 27 | .276 | .362 | .488 | .850 |
When Dozier joins this select list he will have the lowest batting average of any Twins player to score 100 or more runs in a season.
This Day in Twins History – September 6, 1954
Sixty years ago today, in 1954 the Washington Senators played a black ballplayer for the first time. His name was Carlos Paula and he was from Havana, Cuba. The 26 year-old Paula started in left field for the Senators seven years after Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut. Paula went 2 for 5 with a double and knocked in 2 runs in a 8-1 win in game 1 of a DH against the Philadelphia A’s. The Senators lost game 2 by a 3-2 score at Griffith Stadium. Only the Yankees in 1955, the Phillies in 1957, the Tigers in 1958 and the Red Sox in 1959 broke the color-line later than did the Senators/Twins franchise. Paula died on April 25, 1983 in Miami, Florida.
I think that theatlantic.com always is an interesting read and if you saw the movie “42” here is something you might also enjoy reading that they published in April 2013.
An interesting post done back in 2007 by MNGAMEDAY that is worth your time.