Tag: Cleveland Indians

Way to go Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins will honor Jacob Wetterling and show support for his family by wearing a No. 11 patch on their red jerseys Friday night against the Indians. Twins officials said Cleveland players will also wear the patch in support of Jacob.

Jacob Wetterling was a fan of all sports and wore the No. 11 jersey as a child. The Wetterling family has asked people to use the number 11 as a symbol of hope to honor their son and show a commitment to making the world better for kids. Wetterling was kidnapped in October of 1989, and it was learned earlier this week that Danny Heinrich admitted to his abduction and murder.

The Twins will also have a moment of remembrance before Friday night’s game, and there will be a tribute graphic to Wetterling on an outfield wall the rest of the season.

Twins newest outfield wall sign is up and will remain there for the rest of the season as of 9/9/2016.
Twins newest outfield wall sign is up and will remain there for the rest of the season as of 9/9/2016.

Nice tribute by the Minnesota Twins.

Patch that the Twins will wear.
Patch that the Twins will wear.

 

No RBI? No problem, you can still win the game

Win a baseball game without your team getting an RBI? It happens, but it doesn’t happen all that often, in the case of our Minnesota Twins it has happened on 12 occasions in the Twins 56 years of play in Minnesota with the last occurrence taking place on May 1, 2015 at Target Field when the Twins shut out the might whities from Chicago 1-0. The Twins had seven hits that day, the most they have ever had in a game of this type. The Twins have beaten the Cleveland Indians three times and the Yankees twice without getting a RBI.

The first time it happened was June 22, 1962 at Met Stadium in the first game of a double-header against the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins had only three hits that day and a walk but they managed to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game 3-2. Starter Don Lee for the Angels pitched a complete game in a losing effort, he had pitched for the Twins in 1961 and part of 1962 before being traded to the Angels just a month earlier for pitcher Jim Donohue who also appeared in this game.

The Twins starter that day was Canadian Georges Maranda from Quebec. The right-handed throwing Maranda had an interesting history having been signed by the Boston Braves in 1951. Although Maranda started his career in the Braves system as a 19 year-old he did not make a big league appearance until he debuted as a Rule 5 selection for the San Francisco Giants at the age of 28 on April 26, 1960. He spent the entire season with the Giants in 1960 and was used sparingly, appearing in only 17 games and pitching a total of 50.2 innings and posting a 1-4 record. In 1961 the Giants sent him to AAA Tacoma where he posted a 10-4 record with a 3.56 ERA which was good enough to catch the attention of the Minnesota Twins who made him their Rule 5 pick on November 27, 1961. In Minnesota he again spent the entire season in the big leagues pitching primarily in relief he appeared in 32 games starting just four and the game above was one of those four games. Maranda was credited with the win which turned out to be the only victory he would get wearing a Minnesota uniform and one of the only two games he would win in the majors. The October of 1962 the Twins traded Maranda to the Cleveland Indians as the PTBNL in a deal for pitcher Ruben Gomez.

You have got to love that glove (click on the picture to make it bigger)
You have got to love that glove (click on the picture to make it bigger)


Georges Henri Maranda was the first Canadian to wear a Minnesota Twins uniform. Maranda played 13 seasons in professional baseball, but only played for two seasons in the majors. In his final season of pro ball in 1963 he pitched for the Jacksonville Suns in the American Association in 1963. In 1973, the town of Lévis named its baseball park the “Stade Georges Maranda” (Georges Maranda Stadium). He was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame on June 26, 2000. Georges Maranda passed away on July 14, 2000 at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer.

Georges Maranda
Georges Maranda
Rk Date Tm Opp Rslt AB R H RBI
1 2015-05-01 MIN CHW W 1-0 28 1 7 0
2 2010-04-27 MIN DET W 2-0 33 2 5 0
3 2001-09-28 MIN CLE W 1-0 30 1 6 0
4 1985-08-24 MIN BOS W 1-0 30 1 5 0
5 1978-07-07 (2) MIN OAK W 1-0 30 1 5 0
6 1970-04-29 MIN CLE W 1-0 30 1 6 0
7 1968-08-19 MIN NYY W 1-0 28 1 4 0
8 1968-07-23 (2) MIN CAL W 3-1 30 3 7 0
9 1967-08-25 (2) MIN CLE W 2-1 33 2 7 0
10 1966-09-16 MIN NYY W 2-1 28 2 2 0
11 1966-07-21 MIN WSA W 1-0 32 1 5 0
12 1962-06-22 (1) MIN LAA W 3-2 29 3 3 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/24/2016.

Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph – Nov 28, 1961 – Maranda drafted by Twins (interesting writing style)

Georges Maranda Memorial

According to ELIAS

A one-of-a-kind day for the Indians

Cleveland_Indians_logo.svgAll four members of the Indians starting infield homered on Thursday against the Twins: first baseman Carlos Santana, second baseman Jason Kipnis, shortstop Francisco Lindor, and third baseman Jose Ramirez. But not only that: all three starting outfielders had an assist: left fielder Brandon Guyer, center fielder Rajai Davis, and right fielder Abraham Almonte. No other team in major-league history has had homers from all four of its starting infielders and assists from all three of its starting outfielders in one game.

 

Bull Dozier plowing through American League pitching this week

Brian Dozier homersBrian Dozier had two hits including a homer in the Twins’ loss in Cleveland, and over his last five games he’s collected 10 hits and slugged five homers. Over the last 30 years, the only other Twins players with 10 hits and five homers in a five-game span were Kirby Puckett (1987 and 1995) and David Ortiz (2002).

This Day in Twins History – May 10, 2000

This is the kind of a game the Twins need to break out of their season long funk here in 2016.

Midre Cummings
Midre Cummings

In their biggest come from behind victory ever, the fourth place Twins storm back from an 8-1 deficit at the Metrodome and beat the third place Indians 10-9 on a walk-off two run homer from Midre Cummings. Eddie Guardado picked up the win for Minnesota and Steve Karsay took the defeat. Check out the boxscore and look at the names of some of the players that played for the Twins and Indians in this game. The reported attendance in the dome that day was 9,505.

Twins way-back machine looks at April 1963

1961 - 1969 primary logo
1961 – 1969 primary logo

It is fun to look back at the Sporting News and see what was up with the Minnesota Twins back in the day. The Twins started their 1963 season with a 9-10 record in April but went on to win 91 games. That however; only earned them third place (15 1/2 games back) in the AL standings behind the AL champ New York Yankees and 5 games behind the second place Chicago White Sox.

Kralick, Jack 2Jack Kralick had an “interesting” month of April, in his first three starts the Twins scored zero runs on his behalf but he also gave up 18 runs so he deserved his 0-3 start, but in his fourth start of the month he pitched a complete game 3-0 shutout of the Washington Senators. Little did he know but on May 2 the Twins would trade him to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Jim Perry and the man that threw the Minnesota Twins first no-hitter was history.

1963 Twins roster

Sporting News April 13, 1963

By the way, there is a nice piece about Twins 2014 first round selection (and fifth over-all) shortstop Nick Gordon in the Ft. Meyers News-Press today that you should check out if you get a minute.

Twins bonus baseball – long extra inning games

extra inningsStarting with the 1961 season the Minnesota Twins have been scheduled to play about 8,912 games give or take a couple and only 33 of those games went 15 or more innings, a pretty small (less than 4 tenths of 1 percent) percentage. So if you attended one of these games you were a lucky son of gun. The Twins record in these games is 17-16 and as it turns out 17 games were at home and 16 on the road. Seven took place at Met Stadium, 9 took place at the Metrodome and 1 has taken place at Target Field. If you enjoy baseball you can’t help but enjoy bonus baseball, here is a chance to relive those games. Those pesky Cleveland Indians participated in their share of these games.

Rk Date Tm Opp Rslt IP H R SO HR Pit BF # Attendance GmLen
1 1993-08-31 MIN CLE W 5-4 22.0 16 4 8 0 288 85 7 17,968 377
2 1972-05-12 MIN MIL L 3-4 22.0 13 4 13 0 86 7 8,628 347
3 1967-08-09 MIN WSA L 7-9 20.0 14 9 16 2 79 5 16,901 340
4 1976-08-25 MIN NYY L 4-5 18.2 16 5 5 1 73 4 24,351 326
5 2004-08-08 MIN OAK L 5-6 18.0 16 6 13 0 251 71 7 25,976 297
6 1969-09-06 MIN OAK W 8-6 18.0 16 6 12 1 78 4 17,599 317
7 1969-07-19 MIN SEP W 11-7 18.0 20 7 9 1 82 5 12,069 341
8 1967-07-26 (2) MIN NYY W 3-2 18.0 10 2 7 0 65 4 21,927 264
9 1976-08-28 MIN CLE L 3-4 16.2 13 4 6 0 62 6 6,071 295
10 1969-04-09 MIN KCR L 3-4 16.2 11 4 8 0 64 5 13,731 272
11 1995-05-07 MIN CLE L 9-10 16.1 26 10 9 3 322 82 9 39,431 396
12 2009-07-03 MIN DET L 9-11 16.0 17 11 12 2 218 69 7 33,368 307
13 2005-08-16 MIN CHW W 9-4 16.0 12 4 12 1 204 63 6 34,533 309
14 1986-06-11 MIN TEX L 2-6 16.0 16 6 7 1 66 5 11,506 272
15 1977-09-17 MIN TEX L 4-5 16.0 12 5 10 2 65 5 13,163 312
16 1969-07-25 MIN CLE W 4-2 16.0 8 2 14 1 57 3 8,959 266
17 1982-04-20 MIN OAK L 3-4 15.2 14 4 10 0 66 3 12,488 303
18 1975-07-12 MIN NYY L 7-8 15.2 18 8 7 1 70 5 13,573 311
19 2012-06-17 MIN MIL W 5-4 15.0 15 4 7 1 250 66 7 39,206 290
20 2004-06-10 MIN NYM W 3-2 15.0 8 2 13 1 231 59 6 16,706 246
21 2004-05-04 MIN SEA L 3-4 15.0 13 4 14 1 245 65 8 32,727 288
22 2004-04-06 MIN CLE W 7-6 15.0 12 6 10 1 223 59 8 19,832 300
23 2002-06-10 MIN ATL W 6-5 15.0 11 5 6 1 209 58 5 24,534 263
24 1999-05-21 MIN OAK W 2-1 15.0 8 1 9 0 225 59 5 14,433 295
25 1992-07-04 MIN BAL W 3-2 15.0 12 2 8 0 250 64 6 48,028 280
26 1980-08-28 MIN TOR W 7-5 15.0 13 5 9 1 60 4 14,035 264
27 1980-06-20 MIN CLE L 3-4 15.0 14 4 6 1 63 6 7,668 268
28 1974-09-10 MIN CHW W 8-7 15.0 19 7 9 1 62 4 3,285 247
29 1973-06-06 (1) MIN CLE W 7-3 15.0 10 3 8 1 66 3 254
30 1972-06-06 MIN BAL W 5-4 15.0 11 4 14 0 63 4 6,203 265
31 1972-05-13 MIN MIL W 5-4 15.0 10 4 12 2 54 3 7,871 216
32 1964-09-29 MIN KCA L 6-7 15.0 10 7 13 3 61 8 2,999 290
33 1961-05-22 MIN CLE L 5-7 15.0 17 7 7 2 63 4 5,425 248
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/9/2016.

 

According to Wikipedia

The longest game by innings in Major League Baseball was a 1-1 tie in the National League between the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 26 innings, at Braves Field in Boston on May 1, 1920. It had become too dark to see the ball (fields did not have lights yet and the sun was setting), and the game was considered a draw. Played rapidly by modern standards, those 26 innings were completed in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

The longest American League game, and tied for the longest major league game by innings which ended with one team winning, was a 7-6 victory by the Chicago White Sox over the Milwaukee Brewers in 25 innings, at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1984. The game began at 7:30 p.m. on the evening of May 8, 1984, and after scoring early runs both teams scored twice in the 8th inning; but the game was suspended after 17 innings with the score tied 3-3 due to a league curfew rule prohibiting an inning from beginning after 12:59 a.m. The game was continued the following evening, May 9, 1984, and both teams scored three times in the 21st inning to make the score 6-6; finally, in the bottom of the 25th, the White Sox’ Harold Baines hit a home run to end the contest. Tom Seaver was the winning pitcher in relief.[5] A regularly scheduled game followed, meaning both nights saw 17 innings played; Seaver also started, and won, the second game. The official time of the entire 25-inning game was 8 hours, 6 minutes, also a major league record

Dean Chance passes away at the age of 74

Dean Chance It has been reported that Dean Chance died of a heart attack at the age of 74 yesterday in his hometown of Wooster, Ohio. Chance was born in Wooster on June 1, 1941 and went on to attend Northwestern High School in Wayne, Ohio where he became a sports legend. Chance was considered by many to be the best high school pitcher in Ohio history, throwing 17 no-hitters (eight in one season) and posting a 52-1 record in high school, including 32 consecutive victories. The Baltimore Orioles signed Chance out of high school for $30,000. After two season in the Orioles organization the team exposed him to the 196o expansion draft and he was taken by the Washington Senators in the 48th round but his stay as a Senator was short-lived as they traded him to the Los Angeles Angels that same day for Joe Hicks in one of several forced trades by AL President Joe Cronin.

Dean Chance who would go on to become a two-time All-Star and Cy Young winner made his big league debut against the Minnesota Twins on September 14, 1961 at Met Stadium and lost 5-2 to Jim Kaat. Chance pitched well going 7.1 innings allowing 10 hits and 3 earned runs and two strike outs. Dean Chance blossomed the following year for the Angels and was 14-10 with a 2.96 ERA 206 plus innings.

Dean Chance met Bo Belinsky for the first time in spring training in Clearwater, Florida, in 1959. When the Angels selected Belinsky from the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft on November 27, 1961, and the two subsequently made the Angels in 1962, they became teammates and then roomed together during the 1963 and 1964 seasons. Belinsky and the already married Chance made the rounds in Hollywood, and probably became more famous for their off-the-field exploits than they did on a pitching mound.

After the season 1964 season in which Chance led the American League in wins with 20, ERA with 1.65, 15 complete games, 11 shutouts, and 278.1 innings pitched, Chance was rewarded with the Cy Young Award, at the time given out to only one pitcher in baseball. Chance also finished fifth in MVP voting behind Brooks Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard and Tony Oliva. Chance pitched for the Angels from 1961-1966 before the Angels traded him along with shortstop Jackie Hernandez to the Minnesota Twins for 1B Don Mincher, outfielder Jimmie Hall and RHP Pete Cimino in December 1966.

Chance, Dean 3The Twins just missed winning the pennant in 1967 but Dean Chance could not blamed for that as he went 20-14 and had a 2.73 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in a league leading 283.2 innings with a league leading 18 complete games in 39 starts, again league leading. He had two no-hitters that season: a 5-inning perfect game (that’s no longer an official no-hitter) and then a 2-1 no-hitter over Cleveland on August 25th. In 1968 Chance was 14-14 but had a stellar ERA 2.53 and a 0.98 WHIP in 292 innings. The 1969 Twins under Billy Martin won the AL Western Division with 97 wins but Dean Chance was only 5-4 in 15 starts due to a back injury and he missed all of June and July and this was the beginning of the end of Chance’s baseball career. Chance’s only playoff experience took place in game 3 of the 1969 ALCS in a mop-up role when he pitched 2 innings in a 11-2 Orioles win.

In December of 1969 the Twins traded Chance,RHP Bob Miller, 3B Graig Nettles, and OF Ted Uhlaender  to the Cleveland Indians for RHP’s Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. Chance was 9-8 for the Indians in 1970 before being sold to the New York Mets in September where he finished the season. The Mets then traded Chance to the Tigers in March of 1971 where he pitched in 31 games going 4-6 with a 3.51 ERA. The Tigers released Chance in October 1971 and the baseball career of Dean Chance was in the books.

Chance was known for getting his sign from the catcher and then turning his back to the batter until he threw the ball, that motion Chance said, shortened his career according to him, he felt he was lucky to last in the majors the 11 years that he did. As good a pitcher as Chance was, hitting was not his forte, he was a terrible hitter, batting a mere .066 in 662 at-bats for his career, striking out 420 times for one of the highest strikeout rates in history. Chance still holds the Minnesota Twins record for most consecutive at bats without a hit, in 1967 between April 19 and July 23 Chance was 0 for 52 with 35 strikeouts.

Dean Chance was tough on the New York Yankees and Mickey Mantle in particular although Mantle did hit .242 off Chance with three home runs. “Every time I see his name on a lineup card, I feel like throwing up” – Mickey Mantle. Mantle once uttered this memorable quote during Chance’s remarkable 1964 season. As sportswriter Phil Pepe wrote that year, “It’s Chance, not CBS, who owns the New York Yankees. Lock, stock and barrel.” Chance pitched 50 innings against the Yankees that year, allowing only 14 hits and one run, a homer by Mantle. In five starts he threw four complete games and three shutouts, going 4-0 with a 0.18 ERA.

After his baseball ended at the age of 30 Dean Chance did not move to a rocking chair, he went into the carnival business where he owned numerous games “where you can win an item off the top shelf” and traveled all over the country. He was a boxing promoter for a while and he started and was still president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) when he died. Chance also invested in real estate, played Gin Rummy on a professional level and attended many sports memorabilia shows. It is ironic to me that he attended so many memorabilia shows because I mailed him numerous baseball cards over the  years asking for his autograph but I never got a single card back, with or without an autograph. The man was one of baseball’s great characters.

Rest in Peace Dean Chance and thank you for all the great memories.

Dean Chance SABR BioProject

Dean Chance Obit – Star Tribune

Los Angeles Times Obit

Dean Chance: baseball, carnies, boxing. He was worthy of a book.

Bo and Dean: A Lifetime of Fun and Friendship

Chance of a lifetime: Area legend was one of a kind

Mis-Management 101: The American League Expansion for 1961

This Day in Twins History – Twins longest game

Munoz, PedroAugust 31, 1993 – The Minnesota Twins finally win the longest game in their history when Pedro Munoz hits a walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the 22nd inning to beat Jason Grimsley and the Cleveland Indians 5-4 in 22 innings after playing ball for 6 hours and 17 minutes at the Metrodome. Twins rookie RHP Brett Merriman picks up his first big league win in his seventh big league game. Sadly for Merriman, that win turned out to be the only game he would win in the big leagues. According to some reports, there were only about 1,500 fans in the stands when Munoz crossed the plate at 1:22 AM on 9/1. I was home and stayed up to watch the entire game on TV. Don’t forget to check out the pitch counts in the box score provided below.

Brett Merriman
Brett Merriman

Twins and Indians did not want to go home

Box Score

According to ELIAS

Dozier: first Twins middle infielder with 25-HR season

Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier

Brian Dozier slammed his 25th home run of the season in the Twins’ 4-1 victory over the Indians, becoming the first major-league second baseman to reach that total this season. He’s also the first Twins player at any position to hit 25 homers in any of the last three seasons, the last being Josh Willingham, who hit 35 in 2012. And, for a big finish, Dozier is the first middle infielder ever to hit 25 home runs for the Twins franchise since it began back in 1901 in Washington. Source: ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Kluber throws one-hitter at Target Field

Corey Kluber allowed only one hit in nine innings–a home run by Joe Mauer— in the Indians’ 6-1 victory in Minneapolis yesterday. The only other major-league pitcher in the last five seasons to throw a complete-game one-hitter in which that lone hit was a home run was the Mariners’ Taijuan Walker on July 31 of this year, coincidentally also against the Twins at Target Field, although Minnesota’s home run in that game was hit by Miguel Sano. Source: ELIAS