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
Byron Buxton hit a walkoff home run to beat the Blue Jays last night, one night after Eddie Rosario won a game for the Twins with a walkoff homer. That is the first time since 1970 that the Twins won two consecutive games on walkoff homers. George Mitterwald and Jim Holt turned the trick on August 6 and 7 that season.
Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 14th.
Alvaro Espinoza (SS) – September 14, 1984 – Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins on March 18, 1982. Entered the game late as a replacement shortstop and had no PA’s in his big league debut at Arlington Stadium in a Rangers 9-2 win over Minnesota.
Kevin Stanfield (P) – September 14, 1979 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 7th round of the 1976 amateur draft (January). Debut was a relief appearance in the first inning that lasted just one batter after Twins starter Dave Goltz got off to a rough start. Stanfield retired the batter on an infield fly at Arlington Stadium in a Twins 5-3 loss to Texas.
Jim Hughes (P) – September 14, 1974 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round of the 1969 amateur draft. Hughes debuted as the Twins starter in the second game of a DH at Met Stadium against the Kansas City Royals and was pinned with the 13-3 defeat. He lasted just 1.1 innings allowing 6 run (4 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. He never actually recorded an out himself as the first batter he faced, Hal McRae walked and was caught stealing. Tough start indeed.
You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.
Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 13th.
Jose Mijares (P) – September 13, 2008 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on March 2, 2002. Debuted at Camden Yards and closed out the 12-2 Twins win over the Orioles with one scoreless inning pitched (14 pitches) and one strike out.
Javier Valentin (C) – September 13, 1997 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1993 amateur draft. Debuted as replacement for catcher Terry Steinbach late in a Twins 9-3 setback to the Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington but had no chances to swing the bat.
Sam Perlozzo (2B) – September 13, 1977 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in August 1972. Debuted in the 7th inning at 2B in a Twins 6-1 loss to the Chicago south-side bunch at Comiskey Park.
Bill Bethea (2B/SS) – September 13, 1964 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1963 first-year draft. Debuted in Yankee Stadium as a replacement for Zoilo Versalles but had no PA’s in the Twins 5-2 loss to the Bronx Bombers.
You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.
Eddie Rosario’s home run in the bottom of the tenth inning gave the Twins a 3-1 win over the Padres last night at Target Field. Rosario was just 1-for-18 in extra innings in his career entering the contest. Rosario’s homer was the 46th of his career, but it was the first that gave his team the lead in the eighth inning or later.
Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 12th.
Bucky Guth (SS) – September 12, 1972 – Acquired from the Atlanta Braves in an unknown transaction in June 1970. Made his big league debut as a pinch-runner wearing a Twins uniform at Met Stadium in a 7-4 loss to the Oakland A’s.
You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.
Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 11th.
Derek Parks (C) – September 11, 1992 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1986 amateur draft. Parks debuted in the Dome when the Twins were hosting the California Angels. The Twins were down 5-0 when Parks replaced Brian Harper at catcher and had a single in his first big league at bat and walked in his second plate appearance but the Twins came out on the short end of an 8-0 game.
Jay Pettibone (P) – September 11, 1983 – Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins on February 23, 1981. Started the Twins versus Royals game on the mound at the Metrodome and pitched a complete game but took the loss in a 3-1 effort. Pettibone only allowed 6 hits but 2 were home runs and thus the 3 runs allowed with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Attendance at the Dome for the game? 4,820 is all.
Dave Edwards (OF) – September 11, 1978 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 7th round of the 1971 amateur draft. Debuted at Comiskey Park as the center fielder hitting sixth. Edwards went 1 for 4 with a double and an error. Twins beat the White Sox 3-1.
Ron Clark (3B/SS/2B) – September 11, 1966 – Sent from the Los Angeles Angels to the Minnesota Twins in an unknown transaction in 1963. Debuted as a pinch-runner in a 11-6 Twins win over the Orioles at Met Stadium.
You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.
The Twins hit homers in each of the first seven in innings in their 16-0 win over the Padres last night at Target Field. In doing so, they became the first team in major-league history to homer in each of the first seven innings of a game and the second team in MLB history to hit homers in seven consecutive innings in the same game. The Reds hit home runs in innings two through eight at Philadelphia on September 4, 1999.
The Twins beat the Royals, 17-0, on September 2 of this season. Minnesota is the second team in major league history to have two shutout wins by a margin of at least 16 runs twice in one calendar month. The Cardinals had two wins like that in June of 1944: 18-0 at Cincinnati and 16-0 at Pittsburgh.
The Twins’ victory was the 151st by an American League team against a National League team this season, and it clinched the 300-game interleague series for the American League for a 14th consecutive year. With 14 interleague games remaining this season, American League teams own a record of 151 wins and 135 losses, a winning percentage of .528.
Lots of players that made their big league debut as a Minnesota Twin on September 10.
James Beresford (1B/3B/2B) – September 10, 2016 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on August 13, 2005. Made his major league debut at Target Field as the starting third baseman hitting eighth. James was 1 for 4 with a sacrifice in 5 PA’s and helped celebrate a Twins 2-1 victory over the Indians.
Chris Heintz (C) – September 10, 2005 – Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins on November 21, 2003. Heintz debuted as a replacement for Mike Redmond as the catcher with the Twins down 7-2 at Jacobs Field. The Twins ended up losing 7-5 and Heintz was in the on deck circle awaiting his first plate appearance when the game ended.
Travis Bowyer (P) – September 10, 2005 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 20th round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Bowyer debuted in the same game as Chris Heintz but Bowyer entered the game in relief with no outs and the bases full of Indians. Bowyer got the first batter on a sac fly and then threw a wild pitch moving the runners-up before allowing a single to score another run and his night was over at Jacobs Field in the 7-5 loss to Cleveland after 7 pitches.
Rich Becker (OF) – September 10, 1993 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Becker, Hocking, and Stahoviak all debuted in the same game. Becker debuted in the lead-off spot while playing center field and went 2 for 5, both hits were doubles and he scored a run and struck out 3 times. Twins lost 3-2 in Arlington Stadium.
Pitch limits were at an all-time low for Twins relievers in Kansas City last night. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Buddy Boshers relieved Ryan Pressly and threw one pitch to Eric Hosmer; it was hit for a single. Tyler Duffey then replaced Boshers and threw but one pitch, which was grounded down the left-field line by Salvador Perez for an RBI double. After Duffey stuck around for a no-pitch intentional walk, Taylor Rogers took his turn for the Twins, retiring Brandon Moss on one pitch before taking his leave. Alan Busenitz finished off the inning for Minnesota, throwing five pitches (what stamina!) to finish off the frame.
It had been a little more than 10 years since the last time that a major-league team had as many as three pitchers throw exactly one pitch in a game. The circumstances were quite similar on Aug. 21, 2007, with the Royals at bat in the eighth inning. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen used a new pitcher for every batter in the inning. Ehren Wassermann recorded the first out on six pitches, then he gave way to Mike Myers, who was pulled after allowing a first-pitch single. Ryan Bukvich wasn’t much better, allowing a single on his only pitch as well. Matt Thornton cleaned up the damage with his one pitch, coaxing a double-play ground ball from Alex Gordon to end the inning.
Three of the five players listed below debuted in the bigs as Twins in one game on September 9th. What are the odds of finding them all on one card?
Benj Sampson (P) – September 9, 1998 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round of the 1993 amateur draft. pitched one inning of scoreless relief at Edison Field throwing 15 pitches and allowing no hits but the Twins lost to the Anaheim Angels 10-8.
Corey Koskie (3B) – September 9, 1998 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 26th round of the 1994 amateur draft. Entered the game at Edison Field to play 3B with the Twins already down 10-3 and he struck out twice in two PA’s as the Twins lost to Anaheim 10-8.
A.J. Pierzynski (C) – September 9, 1998 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1994 amateur draft. The Twins were down 10-2 when A.J. entered the game to catch. He had two PA’s in the game and grounded out in his first at bat and then was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a bases clearing triple but the Twins still came out on the short end of a 10-8 loss at Edison Field the Anaheim Angels.
Larry Casian (P) – September 9, 1990 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round of the 1987 amateur draft. Debuted at the Dome in a 12-9 loss to the Indians. Casian pitched the final 1.1 innings of the game allowing one run on two hits.
Tony Oliva (OF) – September 9, 1962 – Signed as an amateur free agent in 1961. Fifteenth player to make his big league debut in a Twins uniform. The Twins lost to the Tigers 10-9 at Tigers Field the day that Oliva debuted in the big leagues. The Twins scored 3 in the top of the ninth on a Bernie Allen home run to close the gap to just a run but then Zoilo Versalles grounded out for the first out, Tony Oliva then struck out against Bob Humphreys four the second out and then Lenny Green grounded out to end the game.
You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.