What a power packed day, back in the days when the Minnesota Twins were renowned for their power. In a double-header with the Washington Senators in DC Stadium the Twins sweep both ends. In the first game the Twins win 14-2 and hit 8 home runs in the process. Jimmie Hall, Rich Rollins, Bernie Allen, and Bob Allison each hit one out while Vic Power and Harmon Killebrew each hit two out of the park. The Twins win the second game 10-1 and hit 4 more home runs. This time Zoilo Versalles, Jimmie Hall, Bernie Allen, and Harmon Killebrew hit’em out. We should also note that Twins pitchers Lee Stange and Dwight Siebler each pitched a complete game for the Twins that day.
This Day in Twins History – August 28, 1980
An odd game for sure at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium. The game officially lasted 15 innings and 4 hours and 24 minutes but the game was actually not completed until the next day when the Twins defeated the Blue Jays by a 7-5 score. The game was scheduled as a day game because the Canadian National Exhibition (Canada’s version of a state fair) was going on next door to the ballpark and as part of the event, a concert stage was erected next to the stadium for a daily nighttime concert and it was declared that no inning could begin after 5:00 PM local time. The teams played for 14 innings and were tied at 5 apiece when the curfew kicked in. The game resumed the following afternoon but both of the line-ups had to be modified because Blue Jays 1B Otto Velez and the Twins OF Bombo Rivera were injured in an auto accident after the game. Rivera was in no condition to play and Blue Jay Otto Velez was injured and out for the season. Since Toronto had used all their position players, the Blue Jays sent pitcher Dave Stieb (who was scheduled to start that days game for Toronto) out to left field. As often happens in these situations, the Twins scored two runs quickly in the top of the 15th and Al Williams held the Blue Jays scoreless in the bottom of the inning for a Twins win and in the process recorded the first of his two career saves. Minnesota then won the regularly scheduled game for that day 5-2 and naturally, Dave Stieb was the losing Toronto pitcher. A strange two days at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. John Verhoeven only won 3 games in his Twins career and this was one of them. Box Score
Spending some time with Dave McCarty
Dave McCarty was born in Houston, Texas on November 23, 1969. Dave grew up playing the three major sports and attended Sharpstown High School in Houston. Like most Texas athletes, McCarty grew up thinking he would attend the University of Texas but while on a recruiting trip to Stanford he fell in love with the campus, the weather and the quality of education offered there and before he knew it he had accepted a baseball scholarship and became a Stanford Cardinal. In 1991 after hitting .420 with 24 home runs, 66 RBI’s with a .828 slugging percentage McCarty was named as a first team All-American and the NCAA National Player of the Year.
McCarty was the Twins first round pick (third overall behind Brien Taylor and Mike Kelly) in the 1991 June amateur draft and he signed with Minnesota a few weeks later for a $390K bonus. McCarty started his baseball career in “A” ball with Visalia and quickly moved up to AA Orlando. In 1992 McCarty spent most of the season with Orlando but was promoted at the end of the season to AAA Portland where he played in 7 games. McCarty started the 1993 season with Portland but in May the Twins called him up and on May 17, 1993 Dave McCarty made his major league debut at the Metrodome as an outfielder against the New York Yankees. McCarty was 1-4 in his first big league game but the Twins lost 11-5. McCarty stayed with the Twins for the rest of the 1993 season but his relationship with manager Tom Kelly left something to be desired. McCarty started the 1994 season with Minnesota but appeared in only 44 games through the end of June and was sent back to Portland where he finished the 1994 season. McCarty again started the 1995 season in Minnesota but played sparingly and on June 8, 1995 the Twins traded their 1991 first round pick to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher John Courtright who as it turned out would never spend a day in a Minnesota Twins uniform. McCarty never played for the Reds either and just 6 weeks later they sent him to the San Francisco Giants in a big seven player trade. McCarty played for the Giants 1995-1996, the Mariners in 1998, the Royals in 2000-2002, the Tampa Devil Rays in 2002, the Oakland A’s in 2003 and finished his big league career with the Boston Red Sox between 2003 and 2005 where he ended up earning a World Series ring in 2004 though he did not appear in the playoffs or the World Series that season.
McCarty played 1B/outfield in the major leagues for all or parts of 11 seasons but the most at bats he ever accumulated in a single season was during his rookie year in Minnesota when he had 350. Though he had a strong college hitting career he quickly became labeled as a utility player in the big leagues and was known more for his glove work that his work with the stick. In his big league career McCarty hit .242 in 1,493 at bats with 36 home runs, 175 RBI’s, and had 9 stolen bases. A right-handed hitter, McCarty threw left-handed and was used as a pitcher on 3 occasions with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 pitching a total of 3.2 innings against the Blue Jays, Dodgers and the Orioles. Although he posted a 0-0 record he did have a nice 2.45 ERA and he struck out 4 batters while walking just one batter.
After retiring from baseball as an active player in May of 2005 Dave McCarty joined NESN as the Red Sox baseball analyst where he stayed until the end of the 2008 season. Now days Dave McCarty works in commercial real estate for Lee & Associates in Oakland and lives in the Piedmont, California area with his wife Monica and two children. Monica McCarty is a well-known Scottish historical romance writer who has published numerous books and has been on the New York Times and USA Today best seller lists. In his spare time Dave enjoys playing golf and spending time traveling with his family.
Earlier this month I had a chance to interview Dave and you can listen to that interview here. Be sure to check out our other interviews with former Twins players by going to the Interview Archives page, there are 37 different interviews you can check out.
A True American Hero, Neil Armstrong passes away
American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man ever to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82 according to a statement put out by his family. Describing the iconic space explorer as “a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job,” the statement said “He served his nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut.” Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 and has been best remembered by saying “That ‘s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Born on Aug. 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong served in the U.S. Navy and joined the Korean War before becoming an astronaut. After the war, he served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High Speed Flight Station. He left NASA a year after the Apollo 11 mission to become a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
I seldom use this blog for anything except to write about the Minnesota Twins and their history but I have to make an exception here. This man was a REAL hero, a man who risked his life many times for his country and the betterment of mankind. I still remember watching as he landed on the Moon on TV and it will always be something that I will never forget. I have had the opportunity to see several of these space capsules up close and to think that these heroes strapped themselves into these tiny little things and allowed themselves to be shot up into space is incredible to me. When you looked inside these space capsules you saw wires hanging everywhere, many of them connected with black electrical tape. I remember how shocked I was the first time I saw one of these capsules and how poorly made they were. Heck, we have more computer power in our cars than those guys did back then and they got to the moon and back. Incredible, rest in peace Neil Armstrong, thank you for your service and thank you for all you did for all of us.
Danie Brown of the Mercury News did a nice piece called “Neil Armstrong and the one giant swing by Gaylord Perry”. Take a moment to read it here.
Twins Minor League Player of the Week
Kennys Vargas is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Vargas, a 6’5″ switch-hitting 1B hit .429 (12-for-28) with a double, a home run and five RBI in seven games for Single-A Beloit. Vargas, 22, signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2009 and has spent his entire professional career in the Twins organization, including hitting .322 at Elizabethton last year.
Vargas is in his fourth season in the Twins system and has played 1B exclusively except for one game at 3B in Beloit this year. Vargas has a career hitting average of .306 (hitting over .300 for three years in a row) in 543 at bats with 22 home runs and 106 RBI’s.
Vargas was suspended by MLB for 50 games last season for testing positive for Phentermine and missed his final 18 games at Elizabethton last year and served out the remainder of his suspension this season. That is why Vargas has played in only 32 games this year but in those games he has 118 at bats and is hitting .305 with 10 home runs and 9 RBI’s along with a 1.043 OPS.
This Day in Twins History – August 25
8/25/1967 – Dean Chance pitches the second no-hitter in Twins history and defeats the Indians 2-1 in the second game of a double-header at Cleveland Stadium. The Indians actually scored first in this game when Chance walked Lee Maye and Vic Davalillo in the bottom of the first. Chance then struck out Chuck Hinton but Tony Horton reached on an error by SS Jackie Hernandez to load the bases. With Max Alvis batting, Chance threw a wild pitch and Maye scored the Indians first and only run. Chance then struck out Alvis and Joe Azcue flew out to end the threat. Chance then completed the game without allowing an Indian hit while striking out eight and walking a total of five batters. The Twins went on to score two runs and win this unusual no-hitter.
8/25/1970 – A bomb scare at Met Stadium delayed the Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins game forty-three (43) minutes. According to the Sporting News, a bomb scare forced a 43-minute delay in the fourth inning, but the only bomb that exploded was the homer by Tony Conigliaro off of Tommy Hall in the eighth giving Red Sox 1-0 victory over Twins. A crowd of 17,697 evacuated the stands after announcement over public address system stated that a telephoned warning had been received that bomb was due to go off. The evacuation was orderly and without panic with about 2,000 fans, players, police and vendors gathered in the center-field area. The rest milled about in the parking lot. The bomb was supposed to go off at 10:30 PM so after a 27 minute wait, the game was resumed at 10:57 PM. The Sox end the game with a double play, a 1-6 force at second base, then a throw home to nab Tony Oliva trying to score. Ken Brett is the winner in relief over Tommy Hall.
Bob Casey who was the Twins public address announcer for a long time and a Minnesota legend was at times a curmudgeon. One of the best anecdotes about him occurred during this bomb threat. “Bob,” a team official told Casey, “there’s a bomb threat, and we need to clear the stadium. So could you make some sort of announcement for people to calmly leave the stadium.” Casey assured them that it would be no problem. Moments later, he grabbed the microphone and shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, please don’t panic but there’s going to be an EXPLOSION in 15 minutes!”
8/25/1978 – Major League umpires stage a one-day strike in defiance of their union contract. Semipro and amateur umps are pressed into service until a restraining order forces the strikers to return. At Toronto at Exhibition Stadium, the Blue Jays beat the Twins 7 – 3, with two amateur umpires and two coaches officiating: Toronto coach Don Leppert was at 2B and Twins coach Jerry Zimmerman was at 3B. Since 1910, this was just the 5th time this century, and the first time since 1941, that active players or coaches have umpired. The umpires will walk out again at the beginning of the 1979 season
8/25/1998 – The Twins like many teams before them, send pitcher Mike Morgan packing, this time to the Cubs and pitcher Scott Downs heads to Minnesota. Morgan pitched for 12 different ML teams (13 if you count that he was traded to the Cubs twice) between 1978 and 2002 before he finally calls it quits.
8/25/2008 – The Twins make a deal with the Texas Rangers and reacquired relief pitcher Eddie Guardado and send pitcher Mark Hamburger to Texas.
Be sure to bookmark our Today in Twins History page so you can check out events like the ones mentioned above each and every day.
Congrats to E-Twins
With four games left in their regular season, the Elizabethon Twins have clinched the Western Division title and advanced to the Appalachian League playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. Since 2000 the Elizabethton Twins have played in eleven Appalachian Playoffs winning five Championships during those years. The 2012 season marks an unprecedented 24th consecutive winning season for this Minor League Baseball franchise.
Two E-Town Twins, outfielders Candido Pimentel and Max Kepler were chosen as Appy League All-Stars and Pimentel, was named as Player of the Year. Pimentel leads the league in hits, ranks third in batting, fourth in on-base percentage and runs scored, and is tied for fourth in stolen bases. Kepler hit .303 in 218 at bats with 9 home runs, knocked in a team leading 47 RBI’s, has 6 stolen bases and led the team with 118 total bases while playing a stellar outfield with just 1 error. Angel Mata was one of the teams top pitchers with a 4-3 record starting 12 games, allowing only 31 hits in 52.1 innings while striking out a team leading 54 batters and posting a 3.27 ERA.
Congratulations and a job well done to all the E-Town players as well as manager Ray Smith, hitting coach Jeff Reed and pitching coach Ivan Arteaga.
Dumb move by Diamond
With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the third at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with Ben Revere on second base, Twins catcher Joe Mauer worked the count to 3-0 when out of the clear blue, Texas Ranger pitcher Roy Oswalt plunks Mauer in the middle of his back just above the number 7. Gardy and the rest of the Twins seems a bit perturbed and had a few things to say to Oswalt from the dugout. Oswalt couldn’t have cared less and proceeded to strike out Ryan Doumit and Justin Morneau and was out of the inning. In the bottom of the third inning Scott Diamond retired the first batter and as Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton was stepping in the batters box he appeared to be saying something to Mauer. Diamond who was not particularly sharp and had already thrown 53 pitches to that point threw the first pitch to Hamilton behind his head to the backstop and home plate umpire Wally Bell immediately came out from behind the plate and tossed Scott Diamond from the game. By that time Twins skipper Gardenhire was already flying out of the Twins dugout yelling and screaming at Bell who then wasted no time giving Gardy the heave-ho for the 62nd time in his career.
I have no issue with Diamond and the Twins retaliating by hitting the Rangers best player and I would have been upset if they hadn’t but why be so obvious about it by doing it so quickly? I have watched baseball for a long time and I know that a Twins pitcher had to protect his teammate but the timing was just plain stupid. The Twins and Rangers were tied and still early in the game, why throw at Hamilton there when you already know what the end result is going to be? That makes no sense at all and it was an emotional rookie mistake by Diamond. Mauer and his teammates wouldn’t have had any problem if Twins pitchers had gotten even later in the game. Wally Bell had no choice but to eject Diamond. So what did the Twins and Diamond gain by making such a unproffesional move? Nothing, they lost their best pitcher and manager for the rest of the game and they didn’t even hit Hamilton. This is just another display of the Twins lack of discipline and not thinking and when the game was over the Twins added another notch to the loss column.
This event is not over and there is more action to come in this four game series but for now Roy Oswalt and the Texas Rangers had a good laugh and another win in their pocket. That is why the Rangers are 73-51 and in first place and the Twins are fighting for a high draft choice in 2013. Hopefully Scott Diamond and the rest of the Twins have learned something here that they can use in the future to help them become a better baseball team.
UPDATE – MLB announced that Diamond has been fined and suspended for 6 games. Diamond has filed an appeal.
According to Elias
After a loss to the Athletics on Wednesday, Liam Hendriks is 0-8 in 13 major-league starts. No other player who came up with the Twins franchise lost his first eight decisions as a starter. The previous most is seven, by Paul Abbott and Terry Felton. (Felton finished his major-league career 0-16, as a starter and reliever, the most losses without a win in major-league history.)
New Britain to host 2013 Eastern League All-Star game
According to milb.com, The Eastern League has announced that the New Britain Rock Cats will serve as the host of the 2013 Eastern League All-Star Game. The game will be played on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 and will feature teams representing the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The two-day All-Star festivities will also include additional community events beginning on July 9 and continuing through July 10.
“We are extremely honored that the Eastern League has chosen the Rock Cats to host the 2013 All-Star Game,” said Rock Cats owner Josh Solomon. “This is going to be a terrific event for baseball fans and families throughout the region and we look forward to showcasing the future stars of major league baseball right here at New Britain Stadium.”
“The Eastern League is very excited to be bringing our premier event back to New Britain after the city previously served as an outstanding host of the event in 2003,” said Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn. “The event will be returning to New Britain next season thanks in large part to the efforts of their new ownership group, led by Josh Solomon, to deliver this event for their fans. Connecticut’s longest continuous professional sports franchise is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in New Britain in 2012.