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
We all know about the Minnesota Twins players who have been enshrined in the MLB Hall of Fame and it is a great and rare honor to get voted in. Over the years a number of outstanding and I think “hall worthy” Minnesota Twins players have received votes but never enough to get that call they have waited for, I would put players like Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Jack Morris in that category.
OlivaKaatMorris
Here is a list of other one-time Twins players who received at least one vote in HOF balloting through 2017 voting, some deserved it and others I have to wonder what the voter was thinking.
Ron Keller pitched for the Twins in 1966 and in 1968
Major League Baseball’s first amateur draft was held in June 1965. Teams chose players in reverse order of the previous season’s standings, with picks alternating between the National and American Leagues. With the first pick, the Kansas City Athletics took Rick Monday, an outfielder from Arizona State University.
Originally, three separate drafts were held each year. The June draft, which was by far the largest, involved new high school graduates, as well as college seniors who had just finished their seasons. Another draft was held in January, which typically involved high school players who graduated in the winter, junior college players, and players who have dropped out of four-year colleges. Junior college players were required to wait until their current season was completed before they could sign. Finally, there was a draft in August for players who participated in amateur summer leagues. The August draft was eliminated after only two years, while the January draft lasted until 1986.
Ron Keller was an eighth round selection and the 143 pick overall by the Minnesota Twins in MLB’s first amateur draft that was held in New York City in 1965. Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan was the New York Mets 12 round pick and 295th overall that same year. The Twins selected the 6’2″ Keller out of Indiana University as a right-handed pitcher.
From 1957 to 1961 Keller earned six letters at Cathedral High in Indianapolis playing baseball and basketball. According to teammates, Keller was a very intelligent player and knew how to keep the ball down and to throw strikes. At IU Keller majored in accounting and played under Ernie Andres who had a short stint in the big leagues as a third baseman for the Boston Red Sox in 1946. After retiring from baseball Andres coached the IU baseball team from 1949-1973.
After being drafted and signed by the Twins, Keller was assigned to the St. Cloud Rox (A) where he led the league in wins with 9 (3 losses) and he completed 11 of the 14 games that he started. Keller posted a 2.03 ERA and he struck out 132 batters in 111 innings.
In 1966 started the season with the Wilson Tobs (A) where he was 4-2 in 55 innings before being bumped up to the Charlotte Hornets (AA) where he was 3-0 in 48 innings. After his brief stop in Charlotte he was assigned to the Denver Bears (AAA) where he started seven games and posted a 5-1 record. When Camilo Pascual took one of his annual trips to the DL, Keller was called up by the mother club and he made his inauspicious big league debut at Met Stadium on July 9, 1966 in an 8-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers, just barely a year after being drafted and starting his professional career. Keller shut down the Tigers in 2 of the 3 innings he pitched but he gave up 3 “earnies” in the middle inning. Keller only appeared in one more game again in relief for the Twins in 1966 before being send down. Advancing from “A” ball to the big leagues in just one year after signing was very impressive indeed.
Ron Keller spent all of 1967 in the minors at Denver (AAA) and posted and 10-11 record with a 4.78 ERA. Keep in mind we are talking Denver which was no easier to pitch in then than it is now. Keller spent most of 1968 with Denver again but was called up by the Twins and appeared in just 7 games in 3 months with the parent club. In the spring of 1969 the Twins brain trust wanted to ship Keller back out to AAA but Keller said “no” and retired from baseball at the age 25. “I thought I had nothing more to prove in the minors,” he said. “Twins owner Calvin Griffith refused to trade me, and wouldn’t believe my threats to quit baseball.”
You have to wonder if either Griffith or Keller regretted their stubbornness and their decision.
The expansion Los Angeles Angels play their first home game bowing to the Minnesota Twins at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, 4-2. The 74-year old baseball legend Ty Cobb, in his last-ever visit to a ballpark, throws out the first ceremonial pitch. This was the first American League game to ever be played in Los Angeles.
Wrigley Field – Opened in 1925, closed in 1965 and demolished in 1966. Wrigley Field’s brief major league status ended after the 1961 season. Most people remember Wrigley Field as the backdrop for the old TV series home run derby. It was also the site for several baseball themed movies including pride of the Yankees, and the old Munsters TV show
Claude Osteen shuts out Camilo Pascual and the Twins 4-0 in game 3 of the World Series in Los Angeles but the Twins still lead the series 2 games to one. The Dodgers out hit the Twins 10 to 5 and Osteen a 25-year-old left hander acquired from the Washington Senators as part of the Frank Howard trade the previous off-season pitched a complete game for the win. Did you know that every winning pitcher in the 1965 World Series for the Twins and the Dodgers pitched a complete game?
This was also the game when catcher Earl Battey was injured. An injury he sustained in the seventh inning when he hit his throat against a dugout railing in Chavez Ravine while chasing a foul pop hit by Willie Davis. He left the game, but returned to start every game in the Series. Box score.
This site is about baseball and the Minnesota Twins but every now and then I run across a story or a picture that I think is worth sharing that has nothing to do with the great game of baseball. Earlier this year The Atlantic did a piece called “50 Years Ago: A Look Back at 1965”. There are 50 wonderful photo’s that you all should see and it will give you a chance to see what life and the world was like in 1965. Those were the good old days?
The 1965 Minnesota Twins had 35 different players suit up and play ball wearing a Twins logo across their chest against the nine other members of the American league. Their manager, Sam Mele had four coaches at his disposal to help guide the team. Here are the images of the players and coaching staff that made up the 1965 American League champions. Team owner Calvin Griffith also served as the teams General Manager.
Just click on any player image to see a larger image
Earl Battey - Catcher
Don Mincher - 1B
Jerry Kindall - 2B
Zoilo Versalles - SS
Rich Rollins - 3B
Bob Allison - OF
Jimmie Hall - OF
Tony Oliva - OF
Harmon Killebrew - 1B/3B/OF
Sandy Valdespino - OF
Joe Nossek - OF/3B
Jerry Zimmerman - Catcher
Frank Quilici - 2B/SS
Andy Kosco - OF/1B
Bernie Allen - 2B/3B
Frank Kostro - 2B/3B/OF
Cesar Tovar - 2B/SS/3B/OF
Ted Uhlaender - OF
John Sevcik - Catcher
Rich Reese - 1B/OF
Jim "Mudcat" Grant - Pitcher
Jim Kaat - Pitcher
Camilo Pascual - Pitcher
Jim Perry - Pitcher
Dave Boswell - Pitcher
Jim Merritt - Pitcher
Dick Stigman - Pitcher
Al Worthington - Pitcher
Mel Nelson - Pitcher
Johnny Klippstein - Pitcher
Bill Pleis - Pitcher
Garry Roggenburk - Pitcher
Jerry Fosnow - Pitcher
Dwight Siebler - Pitcher
Pete Cimino - Pitcher
Sam Mele - Manager
Billy Martin - Coach
L-R: Johnny Sain - Pitching Coach with Manager Sam Mele
The Minnesota Twins hosted a 59th anniversary celebration on July 31 and August 1 for the 1965 American League champions. On July 31st the organization put on a “Championship Breakfast” that was attended by about 250 Twins fans and 11 players from the 1965 championship team that won a Twins record 102 games. Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer served as the master of ceremonies.
I was able to attend the breakfast which was held in the Metropolitan Club at Target Field and had a great time meeting other Twins fans and chatting briefly with some of the players. The cost of the breakfast was $75 for season ticket holders and $100 if you were not a Twins season ticket holder with the proceeds going to the Twins Community Fund.
John Sevcik and Bill Pleis were unable to attend due to family health issues. Jimmie Hall also was invited but was not in attendance. Why he was not here is unclear, I saw some where that he was not able to change his schedule in time to attend and the other reason that has floated around for a long time is that Hall likes to stay close to home and that he is not a huge fan of the Twins organization due to some conflicts that have arisen in the past over medical claims. I have no idea why Dwight Siebler or Pete Cimino were not in attendance other than Siebler only appeared in seven games and Cimino only appeared in one game.As nored earlier, coach Hal Naragon was in attendance.
Manager Sam Mele who is 93 was not able to attend due to health concerns but he did make a short video that was played for the crowd. Coaches Billy Martin, Johnny Sain, and Jim Lemon have also passed on. Coach Hal Naragon as mentioned earlier was in attendance.
I took a few pictures at the championship breakfast that I will share with you here. Just click on the first thumbnail image to get started.
The Twins were kind enough to provide me with a group picture from the Saturday celebration. Clicking on the picture will enlarge it slightly.
BACK ROW L – R: Jim Merritt, Jerry Kindall, Dick Stigman, Rich Reese, Mel Nelson, Andy Kosco, Frank Kostro, Garry Roggenburk, Jerry Fosnow, Bernie Allen, Hal Naragon FRONT ROW L – R: Joe Nossek, Sandy Valdespino, Rich Rollins, Jim Perry, Camilo Pascual, Al Worthington, Frank Quilici, Jim Kaat, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Tony Oliva
Harmon Killebrew suffers a dislocated left elbow in a collision with Baltimore’s Russ Snyder in the 6th inning while playing first base at Met Stadium. The Twins slugger ends up missng 48 games. Killebrew was leading the AL in homers with 22 and RBI with 70.
Camilo Pascual
Twins pitching Ace Camilo Pascual had surgery on his pitching arm in Washington D.C. and the surgery was deemed a success but how long he would be out was unknown. It turned out that Pascual missed 39 games and returned to the mound for the Twins on September 6. Pascual’s ailment was originally diagnosed as a possible tumor or Lipoma, a fatty growth but it turned out to be a torn muscle.
The Killebrew and Pascual articles are on page 18 and the recap of the Twins versus Orioles game can be found on page 19. Actually it is kind of fun to read the entire paper and read about the news back then and see some of the old ads.
The Twins were shutout 2-0 on only one hit by the Kansas City Royals last night and found themselves dropping out of a first place tie with the Royals in the AL Central. The Twins record is now 33-25 and they are one game out of first place.
Back in 1965 on this date the Twins had lost two games in a row to the Cleveland Indians and reliever ‘Ding Dong” Bell (whose real name was Gary Bell) and their record was 32-18 and the team has a 1.5 game lead in the AL standings. Although the team was 16-8 at Met Stadium the team was not drawing well at the gate where in 24 games the attendance stood at 266,365 for an average of 11,099 fans per game. The Twins biggest crowd of the season showed up on Sunday, June 6 to see the Twins beat the Washington Senators 11-2 at the Met, I am not sure if there was a give-away that day or not but it sure appears to be a “Bat Day” crowd.
Camilo Pascual
On June 8th Camilo Pascual beat the Indians 6-2 at the Met and ran his record to 8-0. Bothered by a bad back which caused him to miss all of August, Pascual would only win one more game in 1965 and finished the season with a 9-3 record.
The very first June free agent draft started on June 8 and the Twins selected Eddie Leon in round one and ninth overall and outfielder Del Unser in round two and 29th overall but both players passed on Minnesota offers and did not sign. The best player the Twins drafted in 1965 was 3B Graig Nettles but the Twins traded him to the Indians after Nettles played sparingly for the Twins from 1967-1969. The Twins expect to spend up to a total of $300,000 in bonuses to their 50 draftees…….
Ricky Nolasco earned career win #100 in the Twins’ win over the Red Sox. Nolasco is the 14th pitcher to earn career win #100 while wearing a Twins uniform, and ten of them did it in a home game. Some notable pitchers whose 100th career win came as a Minnesota Twins player are Camilo Pascual (1963), Mudcat Grant (1966), Jim Kaat (1967), Dean Chance (1968), Jim Perry (1968) and Frank Viola (1988). Source: ELIAS
As we get to the middle of May it is time once again to revisit the 1965 Twins. The attached page of the May 15, 1965 Sporting News has a nice story on how Twins trainer George Lentz suggested that Tony Oliva use a knobless bat to lessen the pain that he endured with his knuckle on his right hand when swinging the bat. There is also a short piece on bench players Sandy Valdespino and Rich Reese.
The Twins on-going hunt for starting pitchers never seems to change and Twins skipper Sam Mele had the same issue back in 1965. The May 22, 1965 issue of the Sporting News has a nice spread on Twins starter Jim Grant and a new pitch he learned form pitching coach John Sain. There is also mention of the May 6 Twin Cities infamous tornado outbreak that did some relatively minor damage to the homes of Howard Fox and owner Calvin Griffith. Just as an FYI, the Lake Minnetonka former home of Griffith was bulldozed a couple of months ago for what I would expect will be a new McMansion.
On May 15, 1965 the Twins record was 18-8 having won seven out of their last eight games and they were in second place just a half game out of the league lead. As good as the team was, the fans were not coming out to watch them play at Met Stadium. The biggest home crowd they had to date was 17,664 for a Sunday afternoon game against the Mighty Whitey’s which the Twins won 6-1 when Camilo Pascual pitched a complete game bringing his record to 4-0 and hitting a home run to boot. Their home opener on April 12 albeit in bad weather had a crowd of only 15,388.
As well as the Twins were playing, they would throw in a clinker now and then, for example, a 13-5 loss to the White Sox on May 7 when the Twins gave up 10 unearned runs due to seven errors in a game at the Met.
