Tag: Harmon Killebrew

According to ELIAS – 3 home run games

Dozier dazzles in defeat

Brian DozierBrian Dozier slammed three homers, his 36th, 37th and 38th of the season in a Labor Day afternoon game at Target Field, though the Royals came away the 11-5 victors in Minneapolis. Dozier has now hit 21 homers in his last 35 games, and he became the first major-leaguer to connect for that many homers over a 35-game span since Shawn Green connected for 22 round-trippers over a 35-game span (including four in one game) for the Dodgers in 2002. Dozier has hit 24 homers in 50 games since the All-Star break, with 22 of them coming while in the game as a second baseman (the other two came in a game in which he was the designated hitter). Dozier broke the American League record for homers by a second baseman after the break; the old mark had belonged to Hall-of-Famer Joe Gordon since 1940, when he hit 21 post-break homers with the Yankees.

Dozier’s season total of 38 home runs has been reached by only one other player since the Twins moved from Washington to Minnesota in 1961. The Hall-of-Famer Harmon Killebrew reached that level in eight different seasons in Minnesota (he had also done it once while the team still played in the nation’s capital), knocking out a team-record of 49 homers in 1964 and 1969.

Minnesota Twins 3 home run games

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI BOP Pos Summary
1 Brian Dozier 2016-09-05 MIN KCR L 5-11 5 5 3 3 3 4 1 2B
2 Max Kepler 2016-08-01 MIN CLE W 12-5 6 6 3 4 3 6 3 RF
3 Justin Morneau 2007-07-06 (2) MIN CHW W 12-0 5 5 3 3 3 6 5 1B
4 Tony Oliva 1973-07-03 MIN KCR L 6-7 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 DH
5 Harmon Killebrew 1963-09-21 (1) MIN BOS W 13-4 5 5 3 3 3 5 4 LF
6 Bob Allison 1963-05-17 MIN CLE W 11-4 5 5 3 3 3 6 4 RF
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/6/2016.

Opponents 3 home run games

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI BOP Pos Summary
1 Josh Donaldson 2016-08-28 TOR MIN W 9-6 5 4 3 3 3 4 2 3B
2 Alex Rodriguez 2015-07-25 NYY MIN W 8-5 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 DH
3 Curtis Granderson 2012-04-19 NYY MIN W 7-6 5 5 3 5 3 4 2 CF
4 Jose Bautista 2011-05-15 TOR MIN W 11-3 5 5 3 3 3 4 3 RF
5 Evan Longoria 2008-09-18 TBR MIN L 8-11 5 5 3 3 3 4 4 3B
6 Nick Markakis 2006-08-22 BAL MIN W 6-3 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 RF
7 Hee-Seop Choi 2005-06-12 LAD MIN W 4-3 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 1B
8 Ellis Burks 2001-06-19 CLE MIN L 9-10 7 7 3 5 3 3 2 DH
9 Edgar Martinez 1999-05-18 SEA MIN W 10-1 5 5 3 3 3 4 4 DH
10 Ivan Rodriguez 1997-09-11 TEX MIN W 7-0 4 4 3 3 3 5 2 C
11 Geronimo Berroa 1996-08-12 OAK MIN W 11-1 5 5 3 4 3 5 5 RF LF
12 Ernie Young 1996-05-10 OAK MIN W 15-5 6 5 4 4 3 6 1 CF
13 Darnell Coles 1994-07-05 TOR MIN W 14-3 5 5 3 3 3 4 7 3B
14 Juan Gonzalez 1992-06-07 TEX MIN W 5-4 4 4 3 3 3 4 6 CF
15 Dave Henderson 1991-08-03 OAK MIN L 6-8 5 5 3 3 3 3 2 CF
16 Dave Winfield 1991-04-13 CAL MIN W 15-9 6 6 4 5 3 6 4 RF
17 Joe Carter 1989-07-19 CLE MIN W 10-1 5 3 3 3 3 6 4 LF
18 Cory Snyder 1987-05-21 CLE MIN W 6-3 4 4 3 3 3 3 7 RF
19 Harold Baines 1984-09-17 CHW MIN W 7-3 5 4 3 3 3 4 3 RF
20 Doug DeCinces 1982-08-03 CAL MIN L 4-5 5 5 3 3 3 4 2 3B
21 Jeff Burroughs 1981-08-14 (2) SEA MIN W 13-3 5 4 3 3 3 6 6 RF
22 Eddie Murray 1979-08-29 (2) BAL MIN W 7-4 5 5 3 3 3 7 4 1B
23 Al Oliver 1979-05-23 TEX MIN W 7-2 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 CF
24 Bobby Grich 1974-06-18 BAL MIN W 10-1 5 5 3 3 3 6 3 2B
25 Joe Lahoud 1969-06-11 BOS MIN W 13-5 5 5 3 3 3 4 6 RF
26 Tommy McCraw 1967-05-24 CHW MIN W 14-1 6 6 3 3 3 8 4 1B
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/6/2016.

According to ELIAS

Dozier ties franchise record for extra-base hits in a month

Dozier
Dozier

Brian Dozier‘s first-inning home run on last night was his 23rd extra-base hit this month, tying a Twins franchise record for extra-base hits in a calendar month. Joe Cronin had 23 extra-base hits in a calendar month twice, when the team was known as the Senators, in July 1932 and June 1933. Cronin hit .368 (46-for-125) in July 1932, but then topped that off by sporting a remarkable .458 batting average (54-for-118) in June 1933.

Dozier has 12 home runs this month, the most for any player in a calendar month this season. Only two other players in franchise history had 12 or more homers in a calendar month: Harmon Killebrew eight times (his high for a month was 15 in May 1959) and Jimmie Hall in August 1963 (13 homers).

According to ELIAS

Royals allow one run, on Dozier’s homer

For the fourth straight game, the Royals allowed only one run, and it came on a solo homer. No other team in major-league history has had a streak like that, allowing only one run, on a solo homer, in four straight games.

Dozier
Dozier

Yesterday’s homer came off the bat of Brian Dozier, who has a six-game homer streak against the Royals. (Dozier did have a game during the streak with only a pinch-hit walk, but we’re going by the hitting streak rules here.) The only other player to have a six-game homer streak against the defending World Series winner was Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves. He homered in nine straight games against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956. The Twins longest streak of this kind belongs to Harmon Killebrew who homered against the Kansas City Athletics in 9 straight games in 1961. The longest streak of this kind for an opponent belongs to Seattle Mariners Ken Griffey Jr. who hit six against the Twins in 1999 and Jim Thome who also hit six against the Twins while with the White Sox in 2007.

The pinch-hit grand slam, it has been awhile

Dwyer, JimOdds are that you will not recognize the player in this picture but he is still in the Twins organization and has been on the Fort Myers Miracle coaching staff since 2006. He played in the big leagues for 18 seasons for seven different teams but never had more than 260 at bats in any single season and played for the Minnesota Twins in 1998, 1999 and 1990.

It has been over 25 years since a Minnesota Twins batter pinch-hit a grand slam for the Minnesota Twins. This Twins were ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when “Pig Pen” stepped into the left-handed batters box to hit pinch-hit for Twins catcher Tim Laudner who was hitting in the 7-hole on that day. Right-hander Donn Pall was the third pitcher used by the mighty whitey’s that inning and he gave up the grand salami to Jim Dwyer and the Twins were up 7-2 and would eventually win the game by a score of 10-3 as Frank Viola won his 22nd game of the season. No one has pinch-hit a grand slam home run for the Twins since September 15, 1988.

Pinch-hit grand slam home runs in Twins history

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI
1 Jim Dwyer 1988-09-15 MIN CHW W 10-3 1 1 1 1 1 4
2 Mike Cubbage 1978-08-08 MIN SEA W 10-2 1 1 1 1 1 4
3 Rod Carew 1976-09-09 MIN TEX W 6-0 1 1 1 1 1 4
4 Tony Oliva 1975-06-29 MIN TEX L 7-9 1 1 1 1 1 4
5 Rich Reese 1972-07-09 MIN NYY L 6-9 1 1 1 1 1 4
6 Harmon Killebrew 1971-09-03 (1) MIN OAK W 9-4 1 1 1 1 1 4
7 Rick Renick 1970-06-30 MIN KCR W 8-5 1 1 1 1 1 4
8 Rich Reese 1969-08-03 MIN BAL W 5-2 1 1 1 1 1 4
9 Julio Becquer 1961-07-04 (1) MIN CHW W 6-4 1 1 1 1 1 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/5/2016.

ERROR, ERROR, RECOMPUTE: A bit of a technical glitch with my search, it turns out that the last player to pinch-hit a home run for the Twins was not Jim Dwyer but our old friend Matt LeCroy in 2004. Here is the corrected list.

LeCroy, Matt 4

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Rk Player Date ? Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI Pos Summary
1 Matt LeCroy 2004-05-19 MIN TOR W 6-5 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH 1B
2 Greg Colbrunn 1997-08-04 MIN TOR W 9-3 3 3 1 1 1 4 PH 1B
3 Jim Dwyer 1989-06-10 MIN CHW W 11-8 2 2 1 1 1 4 PH DH
4 Carmelo Castillo 1989-04-11 MIN DET W 14-0 2 1 1 1 1 4 PH RF
5 Jim Dwyer 1988-09-15 MIN CHW W 10-3 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
6 Ron Washington 1986-07-03 MIN BAL W 11-7 2 2 2 2 1 4 PH 2B
7 Dave Engle 1982-07-06 MIN DET L 6-11 4 4 1 3 1 4 PH RF
8 Mike Cubbage 1978-08-08 MIN SEA W 10-2 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
9 Rod Carew 1976-09-09 MIN TEX W 6-0 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
10 Tony Oliva 1975-06-29 MIN TEX L 7-9 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
11 Danny Walton 1973-04-17 MIN CAL W 10-5 2 2 2 2 1 4 PH DH
12 Rich Reese 1972-07-09 MIN NYY L 6-9 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
13 Harmon Killebrew 1971-09-03 (1) MIN OAK W 9-4 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
14 Rick Renick 1970-06-30 MIN KCR W 8-5 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
15 Rich Reese 1970-06-07 MIN WSA W 10-9 3 3 1 1 1 4 PH 1B
16 Rich Reese 1969-08-03 MIN BAL W 5-2 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
17 Julio Becquer 1961-07-04 (1) MIN CHW W 6-4 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/20/2016.

According to ELIAS

Kepler does something a certain 40-year-old has never done

Credit: Minnesota Twins
Credit: Minnesota Twins

Max Kepler slugged three home runs last night, which may make another active player who began his career with the Twins a little jealous. David Ortiz has hit 528 home runs in the majors and he has never had a three-homer game. Big Papi is one of three members of the 500-home-run club who never hit three in one game, along with Rafael Palmeiro and Gary Sheffield.

Corey Seager went deep three times in a game against the Braves in June. Kepler and Seager are the fourth pair of rookies to each have a three-homer game in the same season. The other tandems to do that were Mark McGwire and Mickey Brantley in 1987, Nick Markakis and Cody Ross in 2006, and Evan Longoria and Joey Votto in 2008.

Update: According to Elias, Max Kepler became the first European-born player in baseball history to homer three times in a game.

 

Kepler hits three homers in Twins’ victory

Box score

Congratulations Max!

This Day in Twins History – July 11, 1965 – Killebrew walks off Yankees

That famous Harmon Killebrew swing
That famous Harmon Killebrew swing

Mikkelsen, PeteJuly 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.

Box score

According to ELIAS

Dozier ties Twins franchise mark

Brian Dozier 2015Brian Dozier hit two home runs and knocked in four runs in the Twins’ 4-0 win over the White Sox last night. It marked the ninth consecutive game that Dozier delivered an extra-base hit, tying the Twins franchise record in that category. Mickey Vernon had a double, triple or homer in nine consecutive games for the then Washington Senators in 1953. Prior to Dozier, the last major-league player to produce an extra-base hit in at least nine consecutive games while starting at second base in each game during the streak was Chase Utley in 2008.

Dozier broke the Twins record of eight consecutive game XBH that was previously held by Harmon Killebrew (1970) and Tony Oliva (1969). Another long time record bites the dust……

Twins inside-the-park home runs are a rarity

From the time the Twins started play in 1961 through yesterday June 14 (2016) the Minnesota Twins have hit 7,462 home runs, 3,746 have been hit on the road and 3,716 have been hit at home. The Twins hit 1,872 home runs at the Metrodome, 1,424 at Met Stadium and 420 at Target Field. The most home runs the Twins have hit on the road have been at the Angels home park where they have hit 257.

Eduardo Nunez 2016Of the Twins 7,462 round-trippers only 50 of them have been inside-the-park home runs. Inside-the-park home runs are relatively rare so I am a bit surprised that when Eduardo Nunez hit the latest one back on June 2 that no one mentioned that it was number 50 in Minnesota Twins history. How rare are they? Only .0067% of Twins home runs are of the inside-the-park variety. So what Twins have hit IPHR’s? We have put together a complete list here for you with the help of Baseball-Reference.

 

Twins inside-the-park home runs from 1961-June 2, 2016

Date Batter Opp Pitcher Play Description
1961-07-04 (2) Harmon Killebrew CHW Cal McLish Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1962-04-27 Zoilo Versalles @CLE Dick Donovan Home Run
1963-09-22 Jimmie Hall @BOS Bob Heffner Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1963-09-28 Vic Power @NYY Whitey Ford Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1964-07-04 (1) Tony Oliva @NYY Jim Bouton Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1964-08-04 Rich Rollins BOS Bill Monbouquette Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1964-09-04 Tony Oliva BOS Dave Gray Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1965-04-22 Zoilo Versalles @NYY Pedro Ramos Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1965-06-04 Jimmie Hall WSA Howie Koplitz Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1965-06-18 Rich Rollins @NYY Bill Stafford Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1966-06-04 Tony Oliva CLE Tom Kelley Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1967-05-08 Ted Uhlaender WSA Phil Ortega Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1969-05-13 Rod Carew BAL Mike Cuellar Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1971-07-22 Jim Nettles @NYY Fritz Peterson Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1972-10-04 Eric Soderholm CHW Ken Frailing Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1974-06-24 Danny Thompson @TEX David Clyde Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1975-06-17 (1) Dan Ford OAK Vida Blue Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1975-09-07 Steve Brye @CHW Claude Osteen Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1979-05-08 Ken Landreaux TOR Balor Moore Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1979-05-15 John Castino TEX Sparky Lyle Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1980-07-11 Rick Sofield @SEA Glenn Abbott Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1980-08-20 Mike Cubbage TOR Jackson Todd Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1982-05-28 Tom Brunansky NYY Ron Guidry Home Run
1982-07-19 Tom Brunansky MIL Jerry Augustine Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1982-09-10 Gary Ward @KCR Larry Gura Home Run
1982-09-30 Kent Hrbek @TOR Luis Leal Home Run
1983-09-25 Tom Brunansky @KCR Keith Creel Inside-the-park Home Run
1984-06-23 Randy Bush CHW Tom Seaver Home Run
1984-06-24 Tim Teufel CHW Richard Dotson *WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run
1984-09-11 Kent Hrbek KCR Charlie Leibrandt Home Run
1985-07-03 Dave Engle CLE Neal Heaton Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1986-07-03 Ron Washington BAL Mike Boddicker Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1986-10-04 Greg Gagne CHW Floyd Bannister Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1986-10-04 Greg Gagne CHW Floyd Bannister Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1987-05-31 (1) Gary Gaetti @DET Jeff Robinson Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1987-09-24 Greg Gagne TEX Charlie Hough Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1988-07-08 Steve Lombardozzi MIL Bill Wegman Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1988-09-28 Steve Lombardozzi OAK Todd Burns Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1990-05-26 Gene Larkin BOS Mike Boddicker Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1991-05-19 Mike Pagliarulo @DET Dan Petry Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1994-05-17 Shane Mack NYY Jimmy Key Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1997-04-26 Rich Becker TEX Bobby Witt Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1997-05-25 Pat Meares OAK Ariel Prieto Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1997-08-08 Roberto Kelly NYY Dwight Gooden Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1999-09-05 Todd Walker @TBD Ryan Rupe Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
2000-07-29 Chad Moeller NYY Ramiro Mendoza Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
2001-07-26 Torii Hunter @OAK Mark Guthrie Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
2007-07-21 Joe Mauer LAA Scot Shields Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
2014-05-20 Kurt Suzuki @SDP Nick Vincent Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
2016-06-02 Eduardo Nunez TBR Matt Moore Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/14/2016.

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Miguel Sano too big to fail

Miguel Sano
Miguel Sano

I have told you all before that my glass is half empty and it is leaking. You can say that it is a negative attitude or what ever you want but this type of thinking has served me well during my life time and it helped me immensely in my 38 year career in IT.

I hope like hell that Miguel Sano has finally found a position he can call home but I can’t help but wonder what would happen if for some reason it does not pan out. It is unlikely that a decision like that would be made quickly because the Twins want and need Miguel Sano to play right field, if Sano isn’t an outfielder all kinds of poop hits the fan.

Let’s look at worst case here for a moment and see what you do with Sano if that should happen. He was signed as a shortstop and the Twins said for several years that he might have to be moved to third base and eventually they did move him to the hot corner. Now with Trevor Plouffe finally playing well at 3B and hitting in the middle of the line-up the Twins aren’t excited about moving him to another position or trading him. Sano has shown (albeit in the minor leagues) he is far from a gold glover at 3B anyway so why take Plouffe off 3B? Last year Sano played a little 3B and DH but you really don’t want to waste an athletic young player like Sano at DH. If he is so athletic why can’t he play outfield or anywhere else for that matter? I think the answer is simply his size, the man is a brute, I didn’t say fat, he is huge for a baseball player. Maybe he eventually settles in at 1B but not for the time being, we have Joe Mauer there, Byung-ho Park was signed as a first baseman, and Kennys Vargas wants to play there too.

Norwood, WillieI have actually spent a lot of time thinking about this situation with Sano so that shows you how my mind works these days. With the way the Twins team is structured there is no way that Sano is not the right fielder for the Twins in 2016 short of a serious injury. Think about it, the Twins have used Harmon Killebrew as an outfielder and even Willie Norwood played outfield for the Twins and he couldn’t catch a cold at your local urgent care center filled with kindergartners.

I can live with Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton covering left and center and Sano camping out in right field because I am not buying a ticket to watch Sano play in the outfield, I am there to watch Miguel Sano hit. Sano has more power that Harmon Killebrew and people will indeed stop whatever they are doing to watch Sano hit, just like they did for Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. Say what you want, but Miguel Sano is indeed too big to fail no matter how you slice and dice it.

So now what do we do with Max Kepler and Adam Walker? An embarrassment of riches? OH BOY! This going to be fun.

 

Back when players played 160 games or more

The players today seem to need more rest today than the players did years ago. Sure, they play eight more games then teams did in the past but still you have to wonder what the cause really is and does it pay off in the long run? The last Twins player to play in 160 or more games in a season was Justin Morneau in 2008. If you look at the list you can’t help but notice that three of the 10 names are shortstops, not exactly an easy position. Paul Molitor did it at the age of 39 but then again he was strictly a DH. Zoilo Versalles played 160 or more games four times and also had a season with 159 games and the man weighed 146 dripping wet with rocks in his pockets. You wonder how he did it.

Zoilo Versalles

Rk Name Yrs From To Age
1 Zoilo Versalles 4 1962 1967 22-27 Ind. Seasons
2 Kirby Puckett 3 1985 1992 25-32 Ind. Seasons
3 Harmon Killebrew 3 1966 1969 30-33 Ind. Seasons
4 Gary Gaetti 2 1984 1985 25-26 Ind. Seasons
5 Leo Cardenas 2 1969 1970 30-31 Ind. Seasons
6 Cesar Tovar 2 1967 1970 26-29 Ind. Seasons
7 Justin Morneau 1 2008 2008 27-27 Ind. Seasons
8 Torii Hunter 1 2007 2007 31-31 Ind. Seasons
9 Paul Molitor 1 1996 1996 39-39 Ind. Seasons
10 Roy Smalley 1 1979 1979 26-26 Ind. Seasons
11 Tony Oliva 1 1964 1964 25-25 Ind. Seasons
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/27/2016.

In the American League this past season Manny Machado played in a league leading 162 games and Kyle Seager and Elvis Andrus played in 160 or more. The only National Leaguer to play in 160 or more games was Anthony Rizzo.