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
Louis Roberts Stephen Jr. was born in Porterville, California on July 13, 1944 and recently passed away in the city in which he was born on May 9, 2024 at the age of 79. Stephen was better known as “Buzz Stephen” and he achieved his dream of pitching in the major leagues albeit in just two games.
In Porterville High school he was 6’4″ and was the center on the basketball team and a pitcher on the baseball team. Stephen graduated in 1962 and attended Porterville Junior College before transferring to Fresno State College. He had some success as a swingman for the Fresno State Bulldogs, even if his control was wild at times. Stephen was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 25th round of the 1965 MLB June Amateur Draft from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA), the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1966 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (6th) of the 1966 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA).
In 1968 Stephen had his best season in pro ball at Double-A Charlotte and the Twins called him up in September for that “cup of coffee” and he made his major league debut on September 20 at Met Stadium versus the Oakland A’s and Catfish Hunter. The game was rescheduled from a May 15th rain out and with neither team in a pennant chase, a small crowd of 1,710 showed up to watch the rookie’s debut. Stephen gave up a harmless single to Bert Campaneris to lead off the game but then a steal, a walk, a double steal, a ground out and a fly out led to two runs scoring. By the time the Oakland A’s finished batting in the first inning they had already posted a 2-0 lead. It was a 3-1 lead for the A’s after six innings but Oakland knocked Stephen out of the game in the seventh after he had pitched 6.1 innings giving up 8 hits and 5 walks allowing 5 runs, but only 4 were earned while striking out one. Oakland went on to a 7 to 1 win and Stephen (0-1) had his first loss while Catfish Hunter (13-13) pitched a complete game for the win.
As you watch the 2021 MLB Opening Day games tomorrow one of the things that you are unlikely to see is a complete game win by a starting pitcher. Back in the day, it was normal to see starting pitchers throw complete games in their final one or two spring training exhibition starts and complete games on OD were a normal occurrence. Not so in todays baseball.
Last year Chicago Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks pitched a complete game throwing 103 pitches as he shutout the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on July 24. It was the first complete game on OD (not counting a five inning effort by Gerrit Cole in 2020) since April 1, 2013 when Clayton Kershaw shutout the San Francisco Giants 4-0. The last complete game on OD in the American League goes back even farther, back to April 1, 2011 when Felix Hernandez got a CG 6-2 win against the Oakland A’s. The last pitcher to pitch a complete game against the Twins was Rick Rhoden when he was pitching for the New York Yankees on April 5, 1988 after the Minnesota Twins won the 1987 World Series.
The Minnesota Twins OD complete games are documented below.
September 20, 1965 – Just 537 fans paid to watch the Kansas City A’s Jim “Catfish” Hunter beat Jim “Mudcat” Grant 8-2 at Met Stadium in a makeup game in a cool 52 degree drizzle. Fortunately the game was over in two hours and 10 minutes. Don Mincher hits two home runs and gets two of the Twins four hits. It is the smallest paid crowd to watch the Twins play at home. B-R shows attendance of 547 but Twins media guide states 537. You would think that a team that was on its way to the 1965 World Series would draw a bit better than that. Box Score.
Just 537 fans paid to watch the Kansas City A’s Jim “Catfish” Hunter beat Jim “Mudcat” Grant 8-2 at Met Stadium in a makeup game in a cool 52 degree drizzle. Don Mincher hits two home runs. It is the smallest paid crowd to ever watch the Twins play at home. B-R shows paid attendance of 547 but Twins media guide states 537.
Mudcat Grant
The Twins were up by 9.5 games going into this game and would clinch the 1965 AL pennant just 6 days later. The team went on to win 102 games in 1965 the most in Twins history and yet the Twins would finish 1965 with an attendance of just 1,463,268 in 77 home dates for an average of 19,003 fans per game. The Twins played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Twins first ever World Series and lost 4 games to 3.
How do you get a nicknames like Mudcat and Catfish? Legend has it that this is how it came to be. Jim Grant was with the Indians and was the roommate of his boyhood idol Larry Doby when he first came to Cleveland, and Doby dubbed him “Mudcat”, saying that he was “ugly as a Mississippi mudcat”. The nickname stuck. As for Jim Hunter, it was in 1965 that the PR-conscious Athletics’ owner Charles O. Finley that gave Hunter the nickname “Catfish” in an effort to pique fan interest. A story circulated that Hunter’s family gave him the nickname as a child when he went missing and was later found with a string of catfish but there seems to be no truth to that story.
4/6/1951 – Twins pitching great and MLB Hall of Famer Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven was born on this day in Zeist, Netherlands. Blyleven, now a Twins TV color commentator makes a big deal about his birthday and seems to mention his birthday on every Twins telecast and can tell you on any day of the year how many days it is until his next birthday. Bert is famous for using his “telestrator” for circling Twins fans in the crowd who have brought their “Circle me Bert” signs to the ball game.
4/6/1966 – The Twins swing a deal with the Red Sox and acquire catcher Russ Nixon and 2B Chuck Schilling and give up pitcher Dick Stigman and 1B Jose Calero.
4/6/1972 – For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and 86 games were lost before the strike was settled.
4/6/1973 – Tony Oliva hits the first home run ever by a designated hitter in AL history when he cranks one out against “Catfish” Hunter in Oakland in the Twins 8-3 victory.
4/6/1978 – In only the second game of the season while playing in the Kingdome, Twins 2B Rob Wilfong is hit by a pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Shane Rawley in the sixth inning and suffers a broken bone in his hand which sidelines him for a month.
4/6/1982 – A huge crowd of 52,279 turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie 3B Gary Gaetti goes 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins 11-7. By the way, the temperature outside that day was 28 degrees.
4/6/2004 – Playing in just his second major league game, Twins star rookie catcher Joe Mauer hears something “pop” as he slides and tries to catch a foul pop-up in a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins actually ended up winning the game 7-6 in 15 innings. A few days later, April 8th, Joe ends up having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Mauer returns to the line-up on June 2 but continues to have trouble off and on with the knee swelling and he plays in his final 2004 game on July 15 and his first season as a Twin ends after just 35 games but in that short period he showed all of us what kind of bat he had as he hit .308 in 107 at bats.
4/6/2005 – The Twins are leading the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning at Safeco Field when Ron Villone is brought in to face Twins 1B Justin Morneau. Villone beans Morneau and in the process Morneau suffers a mild concussion. According to a Star Tribune article in 2005, “Contributing to the concern is Morneau’s history of concussions. This was his fifth, although the first involving baseball. He suffered others playing basketball and hockey and, in the worst one, running backward in 2000 during a workout. He fell and hit the back of his head on the ground.” Morneau saw the pitch coming toward his head – a frightening recollection. “A heat-seeking missile,” Morneau called it. After a 2 week stint on the DL, Morneau returned to the line-up on April 22.
4/6/2009 – The Twins open their 28th and final season at the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Twins opponent in the first regular season game at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 was also the Mariners and the Twins lost that game 11-7.
By the way, I just set up a new page that I call Twins Audio and Video clips, check it out if you have a few minutes.
After having a season for the ages (still holds AL record for most wins and saves in the same season) with the Minnesota Twins going 17-5 with 20 saves and a 3.01 ERA in 167.2 innings, reliever Bill Campbell (Soup) becomes the first player in MLB to cash in on the new free-agent system. The reliever signs with the Red Sox for big money, a four-year deal for one-million dollars after being paid $23,000 by the Twins for the 1976 season. How did free agency come into play anyway?
The Reserve Clause, it doesn’t sound that bad, right? But what it really did was to tie a player to the ballclub that originally signed him for as long as the team wished to pay him for his services. It was a paragraph in each player’s contract that allowed a baseball team to keep him indefinitely until he was sold, traded or released. It was part of baseball’s antitrust exemption and allowed the team to renew his contract the following year even if the player refused to sign. The players insisted the renewal was good for one year; owners said it could be invoked indefinitely.
Curt Flood
After the 1969 season, 14-year outfielder Curt Flood was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood appealed in vain to commissioner Bowie Kuhn to be declared a free agent, then sued for it, writing that he was not property to be bought and sold regardless of his wishes and that “any system that produces that result violates my basic right as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States.” On June 19, 1972, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 against him.
After the 1974 season Oakland A’s pitcher Catfish Hunter claimed that the Oakland A’s owner Charles O. Finley had violated a portion of his contract and an arbitrator agreed allowing Hunter to sign with any team of his choice and on December 31, 1974 signed a five-year $3.75 million contract with the New York Yankees. Those damn Yankees spent big money even back then.
Unhappy with their contracts, pitchers Andy Messersmith, 30, of the Dodgers and Dave McNally, 33, of the Expos played the 1975 without signing contracts and when the season ended they declared themselves free to sign with whom they pleased. A three-man panel made up of an owners representative, a players representative and an independent arbitrator, Peter Seitz heard the case. You can guess how the owners rep and players rep voted and then Seitz cast his vote in favor of the players making them free agents. The baseball owners quickly fired Peter Seitz and appealed their case in Federal Court but in February of 1976 they lost their appeal. In the spring of 1976 after instituting a spring training player lock-out the owners and players finally agreed on a free agency system. McNally never benefited from the system retiring from baseball before the 1976 season began but Messersmith signed a 3-year, $1.75 million contract that contained “renewal clauses after each season” and Braves owner Ted Turner stated that “Messersmith will never be traded, he will be a Brave as long as I am”. However; after two seasons in Atlanta where Messersmith put up a 16-15 record the Braves sold him to the New York Yankees who kept him for one year before releasing him, Messersmith with his tail between his legs returned to the Dodgers in 1979 but in August the Dodgers said they had seen enough and Messersmith’s big league career was history. I guess you can make a case that paying big bucks for multi-years to free agent pitchers didn’t work back then and seldom works now. Keep this in mind when you get after the Twins brain-trust to pay big money for a free agent pitcher.
Sports Illustrated did a rather lengthy piece about the 1976 MLB free agent class back in their April 16, 1990 issue called “the first to be free“.
With the World Series now in the books all the teams in major league baseball are reviewing what went wrong and what they can do to make their teams better for 2013 and beyond. Two quick ways to solve some problems are by signing free agents or by making some trades. Free agency is relatively new to baseball and came into play as part of baseball’s 1976 collective bargaining agreement and changed the landscape of baseball forever. Thanks to players like Curt Flood, Catfish Hunter, Andy Messersmith, and Dave McNally players were no longer tied forever to the team that signed them to their first contract.
Baseball trades however; have taken place since baseball began. Today, outside of players that were drafted this past season and players that have no-trade clauses in their contracts, any player currently under contract can be sent packing in hopes of improving the team’s record. Trades sound simple, all you have to do is to agree on what you are willing to give up to get what you want. But that is easier said then done. In the past, trades were much easier to make than they are today, the money involved was much smaller and very few players had multi-year contracts. In the past, most trades were made strictly to improve the product on the field but in today’s world baseball trades may be made for a variety of reasons including player performance on and off the field, salaries, length of contracts, arbitration, trade demands by the player, medical issues, legal concerns, up-coming free agency deadlines and even the teams fan base needs to be considered because trading a popular player can raise all kinds of havoc with ticket sales.
The Twins made their first trade back on June 1, 1961 when owner and GM Calvin Griffith agreed to send 3B Reno Bertoia and pitcher Paul Giel to the Kansas City A’s in return for outfielder Bill Tuttle and since that time the Twins have made 276 trades, some have turned out great and others have been nothing to brag about. We all think we can make better trades than our current teams GM can but then again it is always easy to be an arm-chair quarterback and to be able to spend other people’s money.
So what about the Minnesota Twins trading history? Over the years the Twins have traded the most frequently with the Cleveland Indians (20 times) and only traded once with the Tampa Bay Rays and there are more than just a few fans that will tell you that they wish that the Twins had never traded with Tampa, but that is a whole different story. The Twins have not been able to make a deal with the Kansas City Royals since 1978, that is 34 years ago, what is up with that? I have put together a chart showing how many trades the Twins have made with each of the other teams and in which decade the deals were made.
Donald Ray Mincher a former Minnesota Twin and baseball lifer in every sense of the word passed away yesterday in Huntsville, Alabama after a lengthy illness at the age of 73. Mincher was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent prior to the 1956 season and in the process passed up a football scholarship to the University of Alabama and started his pro career by playing for the Duluth-Superior White Sox in the class C Northern League as he started climbing the minor league ladder towards a big league career. Mincher who threw right-handed was a slugging left-handed hitting first baseman who stood 6’3″, weighed about 205. Before Don could put on a White Sox uniform in a big league game, he along with catcher Earl Battey and $150,000 were sent to the Washington Senators for 1B Roy Sievers in April of 1960. Don Mincher made his big league debut on April 18, 1960 at Griffith Stadium in a 10-1 Senators win over the Boston Red Sox. Mincher became one of the “original” Minnesota Twins when owner Calvin Griffith moved the Washington Senators to Minnesota after the 1960 season. Mincher went on to play for the Twins through the 1966 season playing in 617 games and hitting 92 home runs while hitting .244. Mincher was good enough to have been a regular on many other teams but with the power hitting Twins of the 60’s, Mincher could not crack the everyday starting line-up. Although not a regular, Mincher was never-the-less a feared slugger as his league leading 15 intentional bases on balls during the Twins pennant winning 1965 season will attest. Don played in all seven games of the 1965 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers hitting only .130 in 25 plate appearances but he did hit a home run in-game 1 off of HOF and Dodger great Don Drysdale. In the seventh inning of a game against the Kansas City Athletics at Metropolitan Stadium on June 9, 1966, Mincher was one of five Minnesota players to hit home runs (the others were Rich Rollins, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, and Zoilo Versalles). This still stands as the major league record of homers in an inning. Three of the home runs were hit off starter A’s starter and future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter, the other two off of reliever Paul Lindblad. After the 1966 season the Twins traded Mincher, outfielder Jimmie Hall and pitcher Pete Cimino to the California Angels for pitcher Dean Chance and a PTBNL that turned out to be infielder Jackie Hernandez. Mincher ended up making the American League All-Star team in his first season as an Angel and played in California for two years before the Seattle Pilots drafted him in the second round of the 1968 expansion draft. Don again made the All-Star team in 1969 as a Pilot and finished that season hitting 25 home runs and he also stole 10 bases that season at the age of 31. In January on 1970, the Pilots had turned into the Milwaukee Brewers and the Brew Crew traded Mincher to the Oakland A’s where he hit a career high 27 home runs. In 1971 Mincher was traded to the Washington Senators who became the Texas Rangers in 1972. The Rangers then traded Mincher back to the Oakland A’s where Don played the final 47 games of his big league career. Mincher appeared in the 1972 ALCS and the Oakland A’s 1972 World Series earning his championship ring.
When you look at Mincher’s 13 year big league career you will find that he hit 200 home runs (with five 20+ home runs seasons) and hit .249 and had a .798 OBP in 4,725 plate appearances. Don Mincher is the only player to play for both the original Washington Senators and the expansion Washington Senators, as well as both teams that they moved to become, the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers. Additionally, he played for a third team, the Seattle Pilots, in its first and final season before relocating to a new city (but was traded before playing a game for the Milwaukee Brewers).
Don Mincher as President of the Southern League
After his playing days, Mincher returned to his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama and managed a sporting goods store for about a decade before becoming General Manager of the Huntsville Stars in 1984. He then led a group that owned the club from 1994 to 2001. In 2000, he became President of the Southern League, a position he held until retiring in late 2011 due to health issues, at which point the league named him President-Emerius.
Mincher was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. Though he never played for the team, the Huntsville Stars retired his number 5 in an on-field ceremony on June 6, 2008. In 2010, he was presented with the “King of Baseball” award, the highest honor bestowed by Minor League Baseball.
Mincher is survived by his wife Pat, son Mark, daughters Lori Lumpkin and Donna Hopper and six grandchildren. Funeral services are pending. We at Twins Trivia want to extend our heart-felt condolences to Don Mincher’s family, friends and fans.
Updates as of March 6
I asked Mincher’s teammate and long-time friend pitcher Jim Kaat for his memories of Don and here is what Jim had to say: “Minch” or “Mule” as we called him was a great teammate….when we needed a big hit and he was at the plate our cry from the dugout was ”Kick Mule!!” we had a great relationship…one of the few 1st basemen that could play deep and well off the line when I pitched and trust that I would get to 1st to cover the base…he prevented a lot of would be hits off me by doing that. He and Jerry Zimmerman were close buddies and roommates, they could usually come up with some good pranks…[i.e. the day after I gave up back to back to back hr’s in Baltimore they hung a 45 rpm record of the 5th Dimension’s “up up and away” in my locker] I knew immediately it was them…..Don had a great sense of humor, developed into a real good power hitter after they quit telling him to pull everything. He and Pat had a great 50 plus years together. I really enjoyed his company on and off the field.. He had a great life as a player and later a club owner and president of the southern league…. Time marches on..as I look at the box score of game 2 of the ’65 series on my office wall I am reminded of that. Don is the 11th player out of 22 that played in that game that have passed on….. Thanks for the memories “Mule”!!
Kitty
Here is a very nice note that I received from Lori Webb (VP – Operations) of the Southern League.
I was first introduced to Don Mincher when I was hired to work at the Southern League office in Marietta, GA in September 1994. At that time, he was owner and General Manager of the Huntsville Stars. When former president Arnold Fielkow resigned in early 2000, Don became Interim President and served in that capacity until he was elected president in October of that year. While Don chose to work out of his home office in Huntsville, I managed the league office from Marietta. We spoke on the phone almost every day until last September when he entered the hospital for surgery.
During the last 12 years we worked together, Don and I forged a strong and mutually respectful working relationship, and we also considered each other friends. Don was always willing to share his knowledge of the game and taught me a lot about baseball. He was “old school” in that respect, and it was always fun to be in his company when other former players were around – to hear their stories, the friendly ribbing back and forth, and to just be in the presence of a former Major Leaguer who had such a love for the game of baseball and such a respect for the sport that turned into a lifelong career for him and his family. I especially remember Don introducing me to his old roommate, Harmon Killebrew, when we attended the annual Rickwood Classic game in Birmingham a couple years ago. I sat and listened as these two old friends reminisced about “the good old days” and you could tell these two guys were cut from the same cloth. Perhaps they will meet up again now in heaven where they will both certainly reside for eternity.
What I will remember most about Don is that he was a family man first and last, and was a true Southern gentleman. He was my boss, but he was also my mentor and friend. I will miss him so much, but will always cherish the advice he gave me and I am so happy I was able to be associated with this very humble, decent, gentle, fair man for so many years. He had a lot of good friends not only in baseball, but in his beloved hometown of Huntsville, AL, as well.
Everyone that met Don Mincher considered him their friend. His dry wit, thoughtful consideration of matters big and small, and his genuine personna will be very greatly missed. It is certainly the end of an era in the Southern League with his passing, but we are all richer for having known him.
Thanks for this opportunity to share my thoughts about Don with you.
Lori M. Webb
VP – Operations
Southern League
David Laurila interview with Don Mincher that ran in Baseball Prospectus in January 2011. The interview is split in two part and well worth your time. Part 1Part 2
Don Mincher was a winner with a great love for life. He worked hard to become a great all-around player and he worked very hard on his defense. The fact that Harmon Killebrew also played 1st base kept Don from being an everyday player with the Twins. Don proved that by becoming an All-Star player when he was traded to other teams. But what I really loved about big Don was his attitude and personality. I was a rookie in 1965 and he played a big part in helping me on defense to position myself according to whom we were playing against. He made it fun.
When we won the American League championship, it was three days later and he (Mincher) approached manager Sam Mele. He said, Sam, could you answer a question I’ve wondered about? Sure Mule, what’s the question. Minch said, when you win a championship, when do you stop celebrating? It broke Mele up and he responded by saying, you’d better be ready for the World Series, or you’ll find out. Minch hit the first home run against the Dodgers in the Series. We’ll miss him as a friend and a great teammate. “Save a place for us up there Mule”
March 29, 2011 – This year Opening Day for our Minnesota Twins will take place on Friday, April 1st at the Rogers Centre (formally called the SkyDome) in Toronto, Ontario next to the CNN Tower and the shores of Lake Ontario. The once proud Toronto Blue Jay team is coming off an 85-77 season and a third consecutive fourth place finish in the tough as nails American league Eastern Division.
Opening day is always a special day, no one has lost a game as yet, everyone is still in the pennant race and visions of the playoffs are on everyone’s mind. The Twins and Jays are no different and both teams will send their Ace’s to the mound hoping to get off to a fast start. As things stand today, I think it will be Carl Pavano for the Twins and Ricky Romero for the Jays, but I wouldn’t expect to see either pitcher around at the end of the game. Since the 1998 season started 13 years ago, the only complete games on Opening Day were by Jeff Weaver when his Tigers lost to the Twins 3-2 in 2001 in a 9 inning effort, In 2002 both Bartolo Colon then a Cleveland Indian beat the Angels 6-0 in 9 innings and Randy Johnson (130 pitches) as an Arizona D-Back beat the Padres 2-0 in 9 innings, in 2003 Hideo Nomo as a Dodger beat Arizona 8-0 in 9 innings, in 2005 Jake Westbrook of the Indians lost a complete 8 inning 1-0 effort to the Chicago White Sox. The last pitcher to chuck a complete game on Opening Day was the often injured Ben Sheets in 2007 when he pitched his Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-1 win over the Dodgers. That makes 6 complete games on Opening Day in the past 13 seasons.
So where do the Twins stand on opening day complete games? The Twins have taken part in 50 Opening Days and have a 24-26 record to show for their efforts and Twins Opening Day starters have pitched a total of six complete games and the last one was in 1978 but that was an 8 inning effort. The Twins have won 5 of the 6 times their pitcher pitched a complete game on the Opener.
The very first game the Minnesota Twins ever played was Opening Day effort against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium I on April 11, 1961 and Twins hurler Pedro Ramos pitched a complete 9 inning complete game and the Twins were victorious by a 6-0 score over Whitey Ford and his gang. Pistol Pete Ramos finished the season with an 11-20 record while pitching 264.1 innings in his only season as a Minnesota Twin. 14,607 fans saw the game. (Box score)
The second Twins complete Opening Day game took place in 1966 at Met Stadium on April 12 when both starters pitched complete games and the Twins Mudcat (Jim Grant) bested the Catfish (Jim Hunter) and his merry band of Kansas City A’s 2-1 in 9 innings in 1 hour and 45 minutes in front of only 21,658 fans. (Box score)
Opening Day complete game number three took place in D.C. Stadium on April 10, 1968 when Dean Chance went 9 innings and the Twins beat the Washington Senators and former Twins pitcher Camilo Pascual 2-0. Minnesota native Vice-President Hubert Humphrey threw out the first ball. (Box score)
The fourth complete Opening Day game took place on April 7, 1970 at Chicago White Sox Park when Jim Perry pitched a complete game and won the first of his 24 games during his Cy Young award season as the Twins pounded the Might Whitey’s by a 12-0 score. The White Sox starter that day was non other than Tommy John, just a pup then as he was just in his 8th big league season and he would end up pitching in the big leagues for 26 seasons. (Box score)
The fifth complete game and the last time a Minnesota Twins hurler pitched a complete 9 inning Twins win on Opening Day was by Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, then a 22 year old peach faced kid when he pitched the Twins to a 8-3 win over the Oakland A’s in Oakland-Alameda County Stadium on April 6, 1973. April 6? What is special about April 6? Everybody knows that, it is Bert Blyleven’s Birthday! The loser that day was Jim “Catfish” Hunter. A nice Birthday present indeed! (Box score)
The sixth and final Twins complete game on Opening Day was an 8 inning 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners in the KingDome by Minnesota native Dave Goltz on April 5, 1978. (Box score)
That is it, six complete games in 50 tries and none since 1978. One additional bit of trivia since this is of course Twinstrivia.com. Did you know that Camilo Pascual, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, and Jack Morris have “toed the rubber” as starters on Opening Day for both the Minnesota Twins and also against the Minnesota Twins?
August 3, 2009 – With the recent perfect game by Mark Buerhle of the White Sox against the Tampa Rays still fresh in everyone’s mind, maybe it is time to think back to May 8, 1968 when Jim “Catfish” Hunter pitched the 9th perfect game in baseball history and this time the Minnesota Twins were the victims as they lost 4-0 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Jim Pagliaroni was behind the plate that day and in this article that was written by Rich Zuckerman in May of 2008 he recounts what happened that day and tells you a little more about Hall of Famer Jim “Catfish” Hunter. It is a nice little article and well worth your time, click here to get to the story. For an actual newspaper account of the game, check out the Milwaukee Journal.
