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 Twins jumped on the Yankees scoring in each of the first five innings and held on for a 10-4 win over the Bronx Bombers. Jim Kaat pitched a complete game allowing 12 hits while striking out 6 and allowing the 4 runs. Rich Reese, Tony Oliva, and Ted Uhlaender supported Kaat with home runs. Reese (4) and Uhlaender (3) had 7 of the 10 RBI between them.
The eighth win in a row puts the Twins in lone possession of second place in the AL just 3 games back as they prepare to hit the road to play the league leading Chicago White Sox.
The rest of the stories that I have done on the 1967 AL pennant race can be found here.
Byron Buxton’s sixth-inning home run was a highlight in the Twins’ 5–4 win over the Angels. Buxton’s homer snapped his streak of 61 consecutive at-bats without an extra-base hit. That was tied for the second-longest current streak of that kind among active position players who have appeared in a game this season. A.J. Ellis has not produced a double, triple or home run in his last 73 at-bats.
Eddie Bane (P) – July 4, 1973 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1973 amateur draft. The box score says that 45, 890 fans, the largest crowd to ever see a Twins regular season game pack into Met Stadium to see something they have never seen before. The crowd was so big that the game’s start was held up for 15 minutes waiting for the fans to enter. They were there to see the Twins first round selection and 11th overall, LHP Eddie Bane, go from the campus of Arizona State University straight to the big leagues. Bane’s signing bonus of slightly over $50,000 was repaid that day and then some.
Eddie Bane (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
The Kansas City Royals were the Twins opponent that day and took a 1-0 lead in the third inning off Bane on a single and a double. Bane went on to pitch 7 innings allowing just 3 hits, 3 walks and 1 run while striking out three before being lifted by manager Frank Quilici trailing 1-0. The Twins scored 3 in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 3-1 lead but the Twins bullpen gave up 4 runs in the top of the ninth to allow the Royals to retake the lead at 5-3. The Twins tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth and scored another run but their rally fell short and the Royals beat the Twins 5-4. Eddie Bane received a ND for his efforts.
I did an interview with Eddie a few years ago that you can listen to by going here.
You can read what the July 5 Star Tribune had to say about the game:
Fourth-place batter Max Kepler went 4-for-4 with a home run in the Twins’ 9–5 home win over the Angels yesterday. It had been almost exactly eight years since a Minnesota cleanup hitter went 4-for-4 or better, including a home run. On July 4, 2009, Justin Morneau was 4-for-4 with one homer in a 4–3 win over the Tigers at the Metrodome.
The Minnesota Twins end June 36-34 record and in third place, 7 games behind the league leading Chicago White Sox and just one and a half a games behind the second place Detroit Tigers. Although the team has not put together any long winning streak, they have not lost back-to-back games since May 30th.
With the 1967 All-Star game just 11 days away, the Twins know they have a tough row to hoe before they get a few days off as they have three doubleheaders to play before taking time off for the mid-summer classic. That will be 11 games in 9 days.
New Twins manager Cal Ermer has a new plan in mind for Twins starting pitchers that maybe today’s Twins should implement. You can read about it in the Sporting News article below.
The International League office announced on Saturday that Rochester Red Wings (AAA) outfielder Zach Granite has been named the International League Player of the Month for June.
Granite led the league with a .470 batting average, 55 hits, 16 extra-base hits, 23 runs scored, 78 total bases, a .527 on-base percentage and a 1.193 OPS in June, the 24-year-old was rewarded with his first mid-season All-Star selection earlier this week. Granite reached base safely in all 29 games he played in June, tied for the longest on-base streak in the league this season. For the season, Granite paces the league with a .367 batting average and a .419 on-base percentage. His batting average is 50 points higher than any other qualified IL batter and ranks third among all minor leaguers. Granite is the first Rochester player honored as league Player of the Month since Chris Colabello in June of 2013.
I am a day late with these guys but they made their major league debuts as Minnesota Twins on July 2.
Miguel Sano,
Miguel Sano (3B/OF) – July 2, 2015 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on October 9, 2009. Debuted as the DH going 1 for 4 in a Twins 2-0 win over the Royals as Kauffman Stadium.
Jarvis Brown (OF) – July 2, 1991 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1986 amateur draft (January). Player signed May 23, 1986. ) for 2 in his debut at the Skydome in a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
Gary Serum (P) – July 2, 1977 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in June 1975. Debuted as a reliever at Met Stadium in a 6-2 loss to the Angels pitching 2 innings and striking out 2 while giving up just one hit and no runs.
Elizabethton Twins (Rookie League) outfielder/3B Trey Cabbage has been named Twins minor league Player of the Week. In seven games, the left-handed swinging Cabbage hit .333 (9-for-27) with two doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, eight walks and had a .486 on-base percentage. Cabbage was headed for the University of Tennessee before the Twins persuaded him to sign a professional contract for $760,000 and nice bump over the $517,900 slot amount.
