Tag: Harmon Killebrew

This day in Twins history – May 17

5/17/1963 – Outfielder Bob Allison becomes the first Twin to ever hit 3 home runs in a single game when he bangs out 3 against the Indians in Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland.

5/17/1998 – David (Boomer) Wells pitched the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 at Yankee Stadium in front of nearly 50,000 fans on Beanie Baby Day.

5/17/2002 – In a game they would rather forget, the Twins score three times in the top of the 14th at Yankee stadium to take a 13-10 lead, Jason Giambi hits a one-out grand slam off reliever Mike Trombley to give the Bronx Bombers a one-run victory.

Harmon Killebrew5/17/2011 – The face of the Minnesota Twins, the man that every baseball fan in Minnesota knew, the greatest slugger in Twins history, Hall of Famer, Harmon Clayton Killebrew passed away today in Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 74 after suffering from esophageal cancer. The Twins, who were in Seattle wore a number “3” on their right sleeve and will continue to do so for the rest of the season. The Twins players also announced that they will wear their 1961 throw back jerseys for all their remaining home games. The Twins grounds crew painted a large white number “3” behind second base and dug up home plate and placed a picture of Harmon Killebrew batting under home plate and then replaced home plate at Target Field. By the way, the Twins beat the Mariners 2-1 with Killebrew’s number “3” jersey hanging in the dugout. A sad day for sure.

 

According to Elias

Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer had four hits and knocked in three runs for the Twins on Monday night. It’s the ninth time in his career that Mauer had at least four hits and three RBIs in a game as a catcher. No other player has more than seven such games as a catcher since Mauer made his major-league debut in 2004.

Joe Mauer had four hits and three RBIs for the second straight game, and the Twins beat the Angels for the second straight game, this time by the score of 8-6. He became the first major-leaguer with at least four hits and at least three RBIs in two straight games since the Twins’ Danny Valencia did it in July 2010. Mauer had only one game of four-or-more hits over the past two seasons combined.

Last night marked Joe Mauer’s 21st career game with four-plus hits, which ranks fourth on the Twins all-time list, behind Kirby Puckett (47), Rod Carew (42) and Tony Oliva (28)…it was also his 356th career multi-hit game, which ranks sixth on the Twins all-time list, behind Puckett (702), Carew (617), Oliva (562), Kent Hrbek (469) and Harmon Killebrew (410).

The last two games with four hits each marked the second time in Mauer’s career with consecutive four-hit games, the previous time being June 26-27, 2006 vs. Los Angeles-NL.

They came to play

The major league baseball season is a real grind, you are scheduled to play 162 games in about 185 days give or take and that includes travel time. I am not even going to mention spring training and the post season. Many of us go to work Monday through Friday but we usually have week-ends off and a few holiday scattered in to re-charge our batteries. Once the baseball season starts the player’s life is totally baseball, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that playing baseball is tougher than a normal job that we all do, I am just saying that it is not as easy as many of us would like to think. I know, I know, we would all still gladly trade places with any player out there.

Baseball is a marathon, you need to keep chugging along, working through illness and injury while you strive for peak performance and you do this in front of the general public and all the writers and reporters that are out there every day looking for something they can put on TV or in the paper. Ability is critical but if your team doesn’t also have durability you are probably headed for a long season.

The Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. holds the major league record for consecutive games played with 2,632 in a streak that started on May 30, 1982 and ended on September 19, 1998. Think about that, every game from 1982 to 1998, an amazing streak and a record I am sure will never be broken.

Justin MorneauSo that takes me to why I am writing this post, what is the Minnesota Twins record for most consecutive games played and who holds the record? The Twins have played in Minnesota for 52 years and yet the Twins record for consecutive games played stands at 319, a far cry from 2,632. I think many of you will be surprised to learn that the Minnesota Twins consecutive games played record holder is still playing for the Twins today and is none other than Justin Morneau, yes the same guy that has not played more than 135 games since 2008. Let’s take a look at the Twins six longest consecutive games played streaks and see who owns them. Some of the “gamers” on this list will probably surprise you.

  1. 319 games – Justin Morneau (1B/DH) – Streak started on June 29, 2007 and ended on June 20, 2009.
  2. 249 games – Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B, and OF) – Streak started on September 21, 1965 and ended on July 4, 1967.
  3. 245 games – Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B) – Streak started on September 23, 1968 and ended on July 7, 1970.
  4. 230 games – Gary Gaetti (3B/OF) – Streak started on September 29, 1983 and ended on June 22, 1985.
  5. 210 games – Roy Smalley (Shortstop) – Streak started on April 6, 1979 and ended on June 2, 1980. Smalley’s streak would actually have stood at 254 and in second place on this list had he not chose to sit out the last day of the 1978 season.
  6. 203 games – Cesar Tovar (played all over) – Streak started on September 4, 1966 and ended on May 4, 1968.

In the Twins 52 year history only 5 players have appeared in every game that the Twins played that particular season so it is a fairly rare occurrence with only one player accomplishing this feat twice. The most recent occurrence was Justin Morneau appearing in all 163 games in 2008 and that was 24 years after Gary Gaetti appeared in all 162 games in 1984. In 1979 Roy Smalley played in all 162 games, Harmon Killebrew did it twice playing in 162 games in 1966 and again in 1969 and Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games in 1967.

The list of players that have led the Twins in games played over the years is an interesting list indeed. Who has led the Twins in games played the most frequently? That would be Kirby Puckett who did it eight times including five years in a row.

2012 – Joe Mauer played in 147 of a possible 162 games.

2011 – Danny Valencia played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

2010 – Michael Cuddyer played in 157 of a possible 162 games.

2009 – Michael Cuddyer played in 153 of a possible 163 games.

2008 – Justin Morneau played in all 163 games.

2007 – Torii Hunter played in 160 of a possible 162 games.

2006 – Justin Morneau played in 157 of a possible 162 games.

2005 – Lew Ford played in 147 of a possible 162 games.

2004 – Lew Ford played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

2003 – Torii Hunter played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

2002 – Jacque Jones played in 149 of a possible 161 games.

2001 – Luis Rivas & Corey Koskie played in 153 of a possible 162 games.

2000 – Cristian Guzman & Matt Lawton played in 156 o fa possible 162 games.

1999 – Todd Walker played in 143 of a possible 161 games.

1998 – Matt Lawton played in 152 of a possible 162 games.

1997 – Chuck Knoblauch played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1996 – Paul Molitor played in 161 of  a possible 162 games.

1995 – Karby Puckett & Marty Cordova played in 137 of a possible 144 games.

1994 – Chuck Knoblauch played in 109 of a possible 113 games.

1993 – Kirby Puckett played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1992 – Kirby Puckett played in 160 of a possible 162 games.

1991 – Chili Davis played in 153 of a possible 162 games.

1990 – Gary Gaetti played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

1989 – Kirby Puckett played in 159 of a possible 162 games.

1988 – Kirby Puckett played in 158 of a possible 162 games.

1987 – Kirby Puckett played in 157 of a possible 162 games.

1986 – Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games.

1985 – Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games.

1984 – Gary Gaetti played in all 162 games.

1983 – Gary Gaettti and Gary Ward played in 157 of a possible 1962 games.

1982 – Gary Ward played in 152 of a possible 162 games.

1981 – John Castino  played in 101 of a possible 110 games.

1980 – John Castino played in 150 of a possible 161 games.

1979 – Roy Smalley played in all 162 games.

1978 – Roy Smalley played in 158 of a possible 162 games.

1977 – Rod Carew played in 155 of a possible 161 games.

1976 – Rod Carew played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1975 – Rod Carew played in 143 of a possible 159 games.

1974 – Rod Carew played in 153 of a possible 163 games.

1973 – Rod Carew played in 149 of a possible 162 games.

1972 – Bobby Darwin played in 145 of a possible 154 games.

1971 – Cesar Tovar played in 157 of a possible 160 games.

1970 – Cesar Tovar played in 161 of a possible 162 games.

1969 – Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games.

1968 – Cesar Tovar played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1967 – Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games.

1966 – Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games.

1965 – Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 162 games.

1964 – Tony Oliva played in 161 of a possible 163 games.

1963 – Zoilo Versalles played in 159 of a possible 161 games.

1962 – Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 163 games.

1961 – Bob Allison played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

When I looked back over the entire franchise history going back to 1901 for the Washington Senators I found that there was a true “iron man”  who currently stands number 9 on the MLB all-time consecutive games played list with 829 games. Senators 3B Eddie Yost started his streak on August 30, 1949 and he played in every game through May 11, 1955. That is a lot of games.

Prince FielderThe current active MLB consecutive game streak is in the firm grasp of Detroit Tiger 1B Prince Fielder who stands at 343 and counting. Actually Fielder has missed just 1 game (September 13, 2010) since September 3, 2008 and if he had not skipped that game due to a stomach virus his streak would be at 669 today. The man has been in the big leagues since 2005 and full time since 2006. Since 2006 he has played in 157, 158, 159, 162, 161, 162, and 162 games. An amazing streak for a man his size.

The Twins and tie games

Who says that there no tie games in baseball? In major league baseball, games end with tie scores only in rare cases when conditions make it impossible to continue play. A tie game does not count as a game in the standings – a 2008 rule change made all tie games suspended unless and until not needed for the sake of determining playoff teams, and no longer replayed; however, though undecided, and not factored in the championship standings and the playoff reckoning, a tie game goes on the record and player and team statistics from the game are counted. Inclement weather may also shorten games, but at least five innings must be played for the game to be considered official; four-and-a-half innings are enough if the home team is ahead. Previously, curfews and the absence of adequate lighting caused more ties and shortened games – now, games interrupted from ending in such circumstances are, at least initially, suspended. Also, with more modern playing surfaces better able to handle light rains, the process for calling or shortening a game due to weather has changed; it is more common than in the past to delay a game as much as two hours before a cancellation; also, a delay usually does not occur anymore until the rain is moderate-heavy and/or there is standing water on some part of the playing field.

Since the Minnesota Twins came into existence in 1961 they have played 8 games that have ended in a tie but none since their last tie game in 1999.

10/3/1999 – The Twins ended their miserable 1999 season (63-97) against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park II with a 1-1 tie game. The game was called due to rain, wind and cold in the middle of the seventh inning after the Twins scored in the top of the seventh after two were out when Doug Mientkiewicz singled and Torii Hunter doubled him home. Previous to the Twins scoring in the top of the seventh, the game had been scoreless since the bottom of the first when the White Sox scored their lone run. The game went on the books as a tie game. Box Score

4/29/1981 – On a 61 degree day albeit cloudy, windy with intermittent rain, 2,171 fans are in the stands to watch the Twins take on the Seattle Mariners at Met Stadium. Going into the bottom of the eighth inning with Mariner reliever Dick Drago on the mound the Twins find themselves trailing 7-4. Outfielder Gary Ward leads off with a single, 2B Pete Mackanin also singles and the Twins have runners on first and second. “Papa” Jackson who is playing 1B grounds out for the first out of the inning but at least moves the runners along. Twins manager Johnny Goryl decided to have Danny Goodwin pinch-hit for catcher Sal Butera and Goodwin delivers with a double to left scoring both runners. Dave Engle is the next batter and he hits a ball off the LF fence scoring Goodwin and tries to stretch it in to an inside-the park home run but is thrown out at the plate and after 8 innings the game is tied up at 7-7. At this point with one out in the inning the umpires delay the game due to rain but the game is never resumed and goes into the books as a tie game. Box Score.

4/11/1974 – Just four games into the 1974 season the winless Chicago White Sox are at Met Stadium to take on the Twins in the final game of a three game series but the game is called after 6 innings and ends in a 4-4 tie. Jim Kaat is again involved in a tie game but this time he is the White Sox starter and the Twins beat him up pretty good. After 6 innings the umpires call for a halt in play due to rain and 38 minutes later the game is called due to unplayable conditions. Box Score

7/25/1967 – The Twins and New York Yankees play to a 1-1 tie at Yankee Stadium I when the game is called after 9 innings due to rain. The only runs of the game are scored via the long ball when Harmon Killebrew gets ahold of one off Yankee starter Al Downing in the top of the first inning with two outs and Mickey Mantle hits one off of Jim Kaat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kaat pitches a complete game giving up 9 hits but gets nothing for his effort. The Twins were on a 6 game losing streak going into this game and note the unusual batting order that Twins skipper Cal Ermer employed for this game. He had Bob Allison leading off, Tony Oliva hitting second, Harmon Killebrew hitting third, Rich Rollins hit fourth, Cesar Tovar hit in the five hole, Zoilo Versalles hit sixth, Rod Carew hit seventh, Earl Battey hit in the eight spot and Jim Kaat hit in the nine hole. The Twins played the Yankees in a double-header the next day and lost the first game 6-1 to stretch their losing streak to seven before beating the Bronx Bombers 3-2 in 18 innings in game two with Twins starter Jim Merritt going the first 13 innings giving up the two runs. Merritt faced 46 batters allowing 7 hits and striking out 7 so I wonder how many pitches he threw that day. By the way, the winning run in the top of the 18th inning was unearned. The game ended 4 hours and 24 minutes after it started. Box Score for the tie game. Box Score for the 3-2 18 inning affair.

6/21/1967 – The Twins were playing the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium and jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead off Tiger pitcher Earl Wilson but the Tigers came back and by the end of the 7th inning the game was knotted at 5-5. Neither team scored in the 8th. In the top of the 9th inning 2B Rod Carew led off with a single and 1B Harmon Killebrew stepped to the plate having gone 2 for 3 with a walk and two home runs. Unfortunately, Carew tried to steal 2B and was thrown out by Tiger catcher Bill Freehan and at that point the game was halted for rain and never restarted. Box Score

6/22/1964 – The Twins have a 8-2 lead over the Cleveland Indians at Met Stadium after 4 innings but Camilo Pascual, Mudcat Grant, and Gerry Arrigo can’t hold the lead and the Indians tie the game at 8 apiece after 8 innings are in the books. The teams continue play and after 10 innings the game remains tied but then the rains come and force the game to be called. Box Score

8/22/1962 – The Twins and Washington Senators played to an 8-8 at Met Stadium when the game was suspended due to a local curfew regulation. The game was tied 5-5 after 8 innings but then both teams scored 2 in the 9th inning and again the score was tied. In the 10th inning both teams scored again but the game remained tied and after 3 hours and 51 minutes the umps had no choice but to suspend the game due to curfew. Box Score

9/5/1961 – The first tie game in Minnesota Twins history occurred at Met Stadium when the game against the Chicago White Sox was called after 9 innings with the score knotted at 3. Twins hurler Jack Kralick and White Sox pitcher Billy Pierce had dueled for 7 innings and each team had scored a run. The Mighty Whities scored one in the top of the 8th and the Twins came back with two of their own in the home half of the 8th on a single with two runners on base by Bill Tuttle. The White Sox led off the 9th inning with a long home run to left by Al Smith and the score was tied at 3-3. The Twins then retired the White Sox without any additional runs scoring but could not score in the bottom of the 9th. At that point, according to local Twins historian and official scorer Stew Thornley, the game was called due to a heavy fog. Box Score

This Day in Twins History – October 2

10/2/1974 – Harmon Killebrew wears the Twins uniform for the last time as a Twins player and appears as a pinch-hitter with two out in the bottom of the ninth but takes a called third strike from Steve Foucault for the final out of the game and the 1974 season. Only 2,570 fans see Harmon play his last game as a Minnesota Twin. Texas Rangers manager Billy Martin elects not use a designated hitter, and allows starting pitcher Ferguson Jenkins to bat for himself. Although Fergie gets a hit in the Texas 2-1 victory over the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium, the Rangers manager refusal to use a DH prevents the position from being employed for the entire game according to the rules.

10/2/1981 – The HHH Metrodome is inflated for the first time. It took two hours to inflate over 310 tons of fabric, covering the world’s largest air-supported multi-use stadium.

10/2/1988 – The Twins draw 35,952 fans in their season finale against the California Angels to become the first American League team to pass 3 million in attendance in a single season. They finish the season with a total attendance of 3,030,672. By the way, the Twins won the game 3-2.

10/2/1992 – Chili Davis hits home runs from each side of the plate against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in a 5-1 Twins victory and becomes only the second Twins batter to accomplish this feat.

10/2/2002 – The Twins lose game 2 of the 2002 ALDS in Oakland to the A’s by a score of 9-1. Joe Mays was the losing pitcher and the Twins scored their only run on a Christian Guzman home run.

10/2/2004 – The game against the Indians at the Metrodome was suspended after 11 innings with the game tied at 5 because the playing surface had to be prepared for a Gophers football game. I was there and walked away feeling like I got cheated, baseball games are not supposed to end in a tie. The Twins won the game 6-5 in the 12th inning the next day. Kyle Lohse who pitched the 12th inning was the winning pitcher and he went on to start the regularly scheduled game for that day but he only lasted 4 innings and was the losing pitcher. Box score for suspended game.

10/2/2009 – Joe Nathan recorded his 46th save of the season and in the process broke the club single season save record held by Eddie Guardado who had 45 saves in 2002. Joe finished the 2009 regular season with 47 saves

Don’t forget to stop by daily and check out what transpired on our Today in Twins History page.

This Day in Twins History – August 29, 1963

What a power packed day, back in the days when the Minnesota Twins were renowned for their power. In a double-header with the Washington Senators in DC Stadium the Twins sweep both ends. In the first game the Twins win 14-2 and hit 8 home runs in the process. Jimmie Hall, Rich Rollins, Bernie Allen, and Bob Allison each hit one out while Vic Power and Harmon Killebrew each hit two out of the park. The Twins win the second game 10-1 and hit 4 more home runs. This time Zoilo Versalles, Jimmie Hall, Bernie Allen, and Harmon Killebrew hit’em out. We should also note that Twins pitchers Lee Stange and Dwight Siebler each pitched a complete game for the Twins that day.

Box Score for Game 1

Box Score for Game 2

Twins Iron Men

The Twins have had their share of injuries the last few years and it got me to wondering how often a Twins position player has participated in every game during a particular season and when was the last time this has happened. We all know that Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games over a span of 17 years. Think about that, every game over a span of 17 years! An amazing streak no matter how you look at it.

Since the Washington Senators packed their bags after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins in 1961 they have had only 5 position players in 51 seasons that have played in every regular season game in a particular season and one of those players accomplished that feat twice and the name might surprise you.  Here is the list of Twins players that have played in every Twins regular season game in a particular season.

YEAR Name Games Played
2008 Justin Morneau 163
1984 Gary Gaetti 162
1979 Roy Smalley 162
1969 Harmon Killebrew 162
1967 Cesar Tovar 164
1966 Harmon Killebrew 162

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

The Twins position player that led the team in games played the most seasons was outfielder Kirby Puckett. The “Puck” lead his teams in games played on seven occasions between 1985 and 1993 and averaged an amazing 156.66 games during that period. I think the Twins “Iron Man” has to be the great Kirby Puckett.

 

Twins Leader in Games Played Over the Years

YEAR Games Team Played Name Games Played
1961 161 Bob Allison 159
1962 163 Zoilo Versalles 160
1963 161 Zoilo Versalles 159
1964 163 Zoilo Versalles 160
1965 162 Zoilo Versalles 160
1966 162 Harmon Killebrew 162
1967 164 Cesar Tovar 164
1968 162 Cesar Tovar 157
1969 162 Harmon Killebrew 162
1970 162 Cesar Tovar 161
1971 160 Cesar Tovar 157
1972 154 Bobby Darwin 145
1973 162 Rod Carew 149
1974 163 Rod Carew 153
1975 159 Rod Carew 143
1976 162 Rod Carew 156
1977 161 Rod Carew 155
1978 162 Roy Smalley 155
1979 162 Roy Smalley 162
1980 161 John Castino 150
1981 110 John Castino 101
1982 162 Gary Ward 152
1983 162 Gary Ward & Gary Gaetti 152
1984 162 Gary Gaetti 162
1985 162 Kirby Puckett 161
1986 162 Kirby Puckett 161
1987 162 Kirby Puckett 157
1988 162 Kirby Puckett 158
1989 162 Kirby Puckett 159
1990 162 Gary Gaetti 154
1991 162 Chili Davis 153
1992 162 Kirby Puckett 160
1993 162 Kirby Puckett 156
1994 113 Chuck Knoblauch 109
1995 144 Marty Cordova & Kirby Puckett 137
1996 162 Paul Molitor 161
1997 162 Chuck Knoblauch 156
1998 162 Matt Lawton 152
1999 161 Todd Walker 143
2000 162 Matt Lawton & Cristian Guzman 156
2001 162 Luis Rivas & Corey Koskie 153
2002 161 Jacques Jones 149
2003 162 Torii Hunter 154
2004 162 Lew Ford 154
2005 162 Lew Ford 147
2006 162 Justin Morneau 157
2007 162 Torii Hunter 160
2008 163 Justin Morneau 163
2009 163 Michael Cuddyer 153
2010 162 Michael Cuddyer 157
2011 162 Danny Valencia 154

 

Did you know?

In the 1985 All-Star game, the American League started seven future Hall of Famers: Rickey Henderson (CF), George Brett (3B), Eddie Murray (1B), Cal Ripken (SS), Dave Winfield (RF), Jim Rice (LF), and Carlton Fisk (C). This is the most Hall of Famers ever in a starting lineup for an All-Star Game, not including Veterans Committee inductees. Three more, Wade Boggs, Paul Molitor, and Bert Blyleven appeared later in the game for the American League. The National League had five future Hall of Famers in Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Goose Gossage and Nolan Ryan appearing in the game. Gary Carter was an All-Star also but did not play. That makes 16 Hall of Famers gracing the Metrodome turf and 15 of them playing.

As I have mentioned in this blog previously, the first MLB game I ever attended was the 1965 All-Star game at Met Stadium and I got to see 15 future Hall of Famers play that day when the AL had Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Al Kaline playing and Mickey Mantle and Carl Yastrzemski named to the team but not playing due to injury. The NL has 12 future Hall of Famers at the Met that day, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Ernie Banks, Juan Marichal, Ron Santo, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Billy Williams, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson, and Sandy Koufax and they all played that day. Something I will never forget.

If the Minnesota Twins are awarded the 2014 All-Star game and if you get a chance to attend that game, don’t pass it up, who knows what future Hall of Famers you will get to see that day. Just saying………

This Day in Twins History – July 11, 1965

With the Twins AL lead at only 4 games and the All-Star game break coming up the next day, the Twins took on the New York Yankees at the Met and after 8 innings the score was tied at 4 apiece. The Yanks scored one in the top of the ninth and the Twins had their backs to the wall. In the bottom of the ninth, Zoilo Versalles grounded out to the pitcher but Rich Rollins coaxed a walk from Pete Mikkelsen and the Twins had the tieing run on base with Tony Oliva due up. Oliva flew out to center and the Twins were down to their last out but the last Twins hitter was Harmon Killebrew and he took Mikkelsen to a full count before hitting a walk-off 2 run homer and the Twins fans celebrated. The Twins players never looked back and ended up winning the league pennant by 7 games over the White Sox. Killebrew’s described his home run as “It’s one of the sweetest of the sweet” and it stands in Twins lore as one of their most famous home runs. The box score can be found here.

By the way, how the Yankees scored the run in the top of the ninth to take the lead in this game is a story in itself. If you want to read more about that and this game, you can read Chapter 8 of Jim Thielman’s book Cool of the Evening here. It is a wonderful book about the 1965 Twins championship season, if you have never read this book, I would recommend it highly.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the things that happened to the Twins on this day by visiting our Today in Twins History page.

According to Elias

Trevor Plouffe

Trevor Plouffe hit his 19th home run of the season in the Twins’ 8-6 win at Detroit. All but one of Plouffe’s homers has come in his last 39 games. Eighteen home runs tie the most over any 39-game single-season span in franchise history. The only other player to do that was Harmon Killebrew, in 1962, 1964 and 1967.