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
The Minnesota had just completed a 97-65 season winning the AL West Division but lost three games to zip in the 1969 ALCS to the Baltimore Orioles. On the morning of October 13th Twins owner Calvin Griffith called his manager and told him that he would not be returning to manage the club in 1970.
Twins fans loved Billy Martin and were very unhappy when Griffith fired Martin and I was one of those fans who didn’t attend any games for two season after Martin was sent packing.
The 1969 Minnesota Twins were the first major league team that Billy Martin managed but they would not be his last. Martin went on to manage the Detroit Tigers from 1971-1973, the Texas Rangers from 1973-1975, The New York Yankees in 1975 through 1978, again in 1979, before moving to Oakland from 1980-1982 and returned to manage the Yankees in 1983, 1985 and again in 1988.
When he hung up his spikes for the final time he had managed for 16 seasons winning 1,253 games and losing 1,013 and winning one World Series (1977) and winning two )1976 and 1977) pennants.
In a press-release less than an hour ago the Minnesota Twins announced today that they have signed Manager Paul Molitor to a three-year contract extension, which will keep him as the club’s manager through 2020.
All of you that have the 1987 Minnesota Twins Home Hanky stashed away somewhere should check on its condition because that hanky is 30 years old. 30 years old, can you believe it? Most of us kept at least one as a souvenir and maybe, just maybe it would increase in value over time. Well, 30 years has passed and the hanky is worth about the same price a lot of us paid for it back then, a buck.
Hankies went out of style years ago but this is no regular hanky, it is the red and white hanky that everyone was waving back in the Metrodome as the Twins were beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1987 World Series.
Check out this first hand recollection by Tim McGuire who was managing editor of the Star Tribune at the time. The story is a fun read and worth a few minutes of your time and it may even surprise you as to how it all came about. Click here to see the story.
The Twins scored three runs in the top of the first inning and the Yankees answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning in the American League Wild Card game. Only one other postseason game in major-league history saw each team score at least three runs in the first inning. In Game 4 of the 1993 World Series, the Blue Jays scored three times in the top of the first only to relinquish the lead in the bottom half of the inning when the Phillies scored four times in what is still the highest scoring World Series game in major-league history, a 15-14 Toronto win at Veterans Stadium.
Dozier and Rosario go deep in first postseason plate appearance
Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosarioeach homered in their first career playoff plate appearance in the first inning of the American League Wild Card game on Tuesday night. It’s only the third time in major-league history that multiple players from the same team each homered in their first postseason at bat in the same game. That previously happened on October 2, 1984, when the Cubs’ Bob Dernier (first inning) and Rick Sutcliffe (third inning) each did it; and on October 1, 1996 by the Orioles’ Brady Anderson (first inning) and B.J. Surhoff (second inning).
Yankees postseason domination of Twins continues
The Yankees beat the Twins in the American League Wild Card game on Tuesday. New York has now won each of the last 10 postseason games it has played against Minnesota, winning the last three games of the 2004 ALDS and registering three-game sweeps in the 2009 ALDS and 2010 ALDS prior to Tuesday’s win. That ties the second-longest postseason winning streak for one team against another in major-league history. The Red Sox won 11 straight postseason games against the Angels (1986-2008), the Yankees won 10 in a row against the Rangers (1996-2010) and the Athletics won 10 straight against the Red Sox (1988-2003).
Robertson’s strong relief effort lifts Yankees
David Robertson did not allow a run while getting 10 outs in relief in the Yankees’ win over the Twins in the American League Wild Card game. Robertson is the seventh pitcher in major-league history to record at least 10 outs without allowing a run while pitching in relief in a victory in a winner-take-all postseason game. Five of the other six pitchers to do it were starting pitchers during the regular season: Walter Johnson (1924 World Series), Vida Blue (1972 ALCS), Mike Torrez (1977 ALCS), Pedro Martinez (1999 Divisional Playoffs) and Madison Bumgarner (2014 World Series). The only other pitcher who was primarily a reliever to do that was the Yankees’ Joe Page in Game 7 of the 1947 World Series against the Dodgers. Page, who pitched in relief in 54 of his 56 regular-season appearances that season, pitched the final five innings and didn’t relinquish a run allowing New York to capture the World Series with a 5-2 victory. Robertson threw 52 pitches in his outing. Those are the most pitches Robertson has ever thrown in a game in his major-league career. His previous high was 45 on July 1, 2008.
Judge’s magical season extends into the playoffs
Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning giving the Yankees a 7-4 lead in a game they would go on to win 8-4 over the Twins in the American League Wild Card game on Tuesday. Judge is the third rookie in Yankees history to homer in his first career postseason game, joining Elston Howard (1955) and Shane Spencer (1998).
First time ever for the Minnesota Twins in postseason play as a wild card participant and it is against the team that has had the Twins number of the years. This year however; I feel things will be different and the Twins win (6-2) and move on to play the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees will be left muttering how unfair a one game playoff can be.
Only five American League teams finished at or above .500
The only American League teams that finished the regular season with winning percentages of .500 or higher are the five A.L. teams that qualified for the playoffs, all of which had winning records (the Indians, Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Twins). It is the first time that either the American or National League had as few as five teams finish a season with as many or more wins than losses since the major leagues expanded to 30 teams in 1998.
Every major-league manager went “wire-to-wire” this season
Brad Ausmus will not be returning as the Tigers’ manager in 2018, nor will Pete Mackanin for the Phillies, and although their fates were sealed earlier last week, they both finished the season for their respective teams. Terry Collins announced his resignation as the Mets’ manager after Sunday’s season finale. Every major-league manager who began the 2017 season spent the entire season in that position. There have been only two other seasons over the last 75 years in which the manager of every major-league team went “wire-to-wire” in that position: 2000 and 2006.
Nothing new as the American League best the National League in interleague play
The Diamondbacks defeated the Royals in the final interleague game of the year. The American League took the season series from the National League, 160–140. This was the 14th consecutive year in which the A.L. had the upper hand in interleague play.
Brewers lose after leading, 6-0, ceding last playoff spot to Rockies
The heartbreak of two extra-inning losses to the Cubs last weekend turned out to be an appetizer of the agony that Brewers fans felt on Saturday. Milwaukee’s 6-0 lead evaporated and its 7-6 loss at St. Louis eliminated Craig Counsell’s squad from playoff contention, allowing the Rockies to claim the final invitation to MLB’s postseason party. Milwaukee became the first major-league team to hold a lead of six-or-more runs but then to lose its 161st or 162nd decision of the season, with that loss resulting in its elimination from playoff contention.
In its final game of the 2006 season, the Tigers blew a 6-0 lead and lost to Kansas City, 10-8, with that result costing them the American League Central title, which went to the Twins. Nevertheless, Detroit reached the playoffs as a wild card and went on to reach the World Series. And back in 1984, on the final Friday of the season, it was the Twins who frittered away a 10-0 lead and lost, 11-10, at Cleveland. Coupled with a victory by the Royals later that night, Kansas City won the A.L. West title and the Twins were eliminated. But Minnesota’s loss came in its 160th decision of the season, as opposed to the 161st-game loss by the Brewers on Saturday in St. Louis.
The Twins and Dean Chance cruised along with a 2-0 lead at Fenway Park until the bottom of the sixth inning when the wheels came off the Twins bandwagon and the Boston Red Sox scored 5 times and held on for a 5-3 win behind Red Sox starter Jim Lonborg who won his 22nd game of the season. Dean Chance was the loser. The Detroit Tigers who still had a chance coming in ended up splitting with the California Angels and also came up a game short like the Twins and tied for second place. A pennant race for the history books but for everyone but the Boston Red Sox, it was “wait until next year”.
Jim Kaat hurts elbow in the third inning and the Red Sox go on to a 6-4 victory and tie Twins for first place with both teams at 91-70. Meanwhile the Tigers split a DH with the Angels and are half a game back with a DH scheduled for tomorrow. The Tigers won the first game by a 5-0 score and were ahead 6-2 after seven innings but the Angels came back with 6 runs in the 8th inning and held on to beat the Bengals 8-6 and claim a split. The White Sox were eliminated yesterday.
Red Sox-Twins- Boston: Jim Kaat (rubbing ball) Twins pitcher, talks to his manager Cal Ermer after complaining about a pain in his elbow in the third inning. Listening in is Zoilo Versalles and umpire Jim Honochick. Kaat pitched two more balls and then was forced to leave the game due to the pain in his elbow. CREDIT: Getty Images
I know that I just told you how this game with the Boston Red Sox ended up but you can still enjoy this game in its entirety by watching this video of the entire game. I hope you enjoy it, it is supposedly the oldest telecast of a complete MLB game totally in color.
