Tag: Jim Merritt

The 1967 Twins are off to a slow start – Part 6

The Minnesota Twins finished their 1967 Grapefruit League season with a 12-17 record and only the Kansas City Athletics had a worse record. The Twins started the season on the road in Baltimore where they lost two games before coming home to face the Detroit Tigers for their home opener at Met Stadium. 

With 21, 347 fans in the stands Twins starter Dave Boswell faced off against Tiger starter Earl Wilson. Boswell kept the Tigers off the board in the first inning and when the Twins came to bat in the bottom of the first they were ready, Cesar Tovar singled to left and advanced on a passed ball and Rich Rollins then doubled to left scoring Tovar. Wilson walked Tony Oliva but Wilson induced Harmon Killebrew to hit into a double play with Oliva reaching second. Wilson wild pitched Oliva to third and up stepped rookie Rod Carew who quickly singled and had his first big league RBI when Oliva scored. Bob Allison stepped up to the plate but the rookie Carew got picked off first by Wilson and the Twins had their first lead of the season.

Jim Merritt

The Tigers scored three runs off Dave Boswell in the third inning and kept their 3-2 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when Bob Allison hit his first home run of the season to tie the game at three. The Twins took the lead for good when Zoilo Versalles scored on a Jerry Lumpe error on a Tovar ground ball to second off reliever Larry Sherry. Versalles led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a home run off Johnny Podres to end the scoring. Jim Merritt who pitched the final four inning of scoreless relief was credited with the win and Tiger starter Earl Wilson took the loss. Box score

The Twins then lost their next two games by identical 4-3 scores to the Tigers and the Indians and on April 18 their record stood at 1-4. Their 1-4 start matched their 1963 start which was the worst start they have had since they started play in Minnesota.

April 18, 1967 AL Standings

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A very interesting SABR article about Earl Wilson

Sporting News May 6, 1967 P11

Sporting News May 6, 1967 P 12

My previous 1967 pennant race articles can be found here.

 

Complete game streaks a rarity nowadays

The franchise leader in complete games pitched for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins is Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson who had 38 complete games in 1910 in 42 starts for the Washington Senators. Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, also in the Hall of Fame is the Twins leader in complete games in a single season with 25 complete games in 40 starts back in 1973. The last Twins pitcher to lead the AL in complete games was Carl Pavano with seven in 2010.

But who holds the Minnesota Twins record for the most complete games in a row? That record of course belongs to Twins curve-ball ace Camilo Pascual who had 8 complete games in a row between May 10, 1964 and June 17, 1964. Bert Blyleven is second on the Twins list below but he pitched 10 complete games in a row in 1985 for the Cleveland Indians.

 

Camilo Pascual
Rk Name Strk Start End Games W L GS CG SHO IP H ER BB SO HR ERA
1 Camilo Pascual 1964-05-10 1964-06-17 8 7 1 8 8 1 71.2 58 19 28 58 4 2.39
2 Bert Blyleven 1986-07-22 1986-08-11 5 3 2 5 5 1 43.0 19 10 10 37 6 2.09
3 Roger Erickson 1978-08-05 1978-08-23 5 3 2 5 5 0 46.0 40 13 12 18 2 2.54
4 Dave Goltz 1976-05-14 1976-05-30 5 5 0 5 5 0 47.0 32 11 12 33 1 2.11
5 Bert Blyleven 1975-08-02 1975-08-19 5 4 1 5 5 1 44.0 26 10 11 30 3 2.05
6 Jim Hughes 1975-05-09 1975-05-28 5 5 0 5 5 2 45.0 25 5 17 26 2 1.00
7 Bert Blyleven 1973-09-14 1973-09-30 5 3 2 5 5 1 43.0 27 10 6 37 2 2.09
8 Dick Woodson 1972-08-01 1972-08-18 5 4 1 5 5 2 45.0 25 4 11 26 1 0.80
9 Jim Merritt 1968-04-11 1968-05-01 5 3 2 5 5 0 45.0 31 9 7 27 3 1.80
10 Jim Kaat 1966-08-23 1966-09-09 5 5 0 5 5 2 45.0 29 5 9 35 4 1.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/18/2017.

Back in 1980 Oakland A’s starter Rick Langford as a 28 year-old pitched an amazing 22 complete games in a row between May 23 and September 12 and that included a 14 inning win against the Cleveland Indians. The A’s starting staff had an work-man like 94 complete games in 1980. The starting five made up of Rick Langford, Mike Norris, Matt Keough, Steve McCatty and Brian Kingman started all but three A’s games that season. The team finished with a 83-79 record under skipper Billy Martin and pitching coach Art Fowler.

Nolan Ryan who was pitching for the California Angels at the time had a streak of 10 complete games in a row against the Minnesota Twins from September 30, 1972 through September 28, 1974 but the Twins did manage to win 3 of those 10 games. About the time Ryan’s streak was ending, teammate Frank Tanana started a streak of his own pitching 7 complete games in a row against the Twins from September 27, 1974 through June 15 1977.

Twins masters of the pickoff

In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base.

Twins career leaders in pickoffs

Frank Viola

Rk Player PO G W L W-L% SV IP ERA BF
1 Frank Viola 27 260 112 93 .546 0 1772.2 3.86 7450
2 Jerry Koosman 24 94 39 35 .527 7 601.1 3.77 2527
3 Mark Guthrie 20 240 29 27 .518 8 489.2 4.19 2101
4 Francisco Liriano 17 156 50 52 .490 1 783.1 4.33 3341
5 Roger Erickson 17 114 31 47 .397 0 712.0 4.10 3074
6 Allan Anderson 15 148 49 54 .476 0 818.2 4.11 3474
7 Dave Goltz 15 247 96 79 .549 3 1638.0 3.48 6887
8 Johan Santana 14 251 93 44 .679 1 1308.2 3.22 5281
9 Geoff Zahn 14 133 53 53 .500 0 852.0 3.90 3621
10 Jim Kaat 14 468 189 152 .554 5 2959.1 3.28 12385
11 Bert Blyleven 11 348 149 138 .519 0 2566.2 3.28 10542
12 Vic Albury 11 101 18 17 .514 1 372.2 4.11 1630
13 Jim Merritt 11 122 37 41 .474 6 686.2 3.03 2760
14 Jim Perry 10 376 128 90 .587 5 1883.1 3.15 7791
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/13/2016.
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Some interesting pickoff tidbits

Four time Cy Young award winner and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton pitched for the Minnesota Twins in a total of just eight games in his short stint in Minnesota in 1987-1988 and he had one pickoff and that was the last one in his illustrious career in which he picked off a MLB career leading 144 runners.

Tippy Martinez pitched for Minnesota in his final season in the big leagues in 1988 after pitching for the Yankees in 1974-1976 and the Orioles in 1976-1986. According to Wikipedia:

“Martinez may be best known for picking off three Toronto Blue Jays at first base in one inning during an August 24, 1983 game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The Orioles, having replaced both their starting catcher and his backup while rallying to tie the game in the ninth inning, entered the tenth with reserve infielder Lenn Sakata in the game at catcher. Three consecutive Blue Jays hitters reached first base and each one, thinking it would be easy to steal a base on Sakata, took a big lead. Martinez picked off all three baserunners, then became the winning pitcher when the Orioles won the game on Sakata’s home run in the bottom of the tenth.”

Korean pitcher ordered to do community service for firing a pickoff throw at opponent’s head.

In 2014 Jon Lester of the Red Sox finishes his year having faced 346 batters with at least one runner on base, yet without having attempted a single pickoff throw.

Remembering 1965 – Part 33 – Koufax just too tough – Twins lose 2-0

1965 Twins World Series game 7 ticketGame 7 matched Sandy Koufax and Jim Kaat, who traded scoreboard zeroes until the top of the fourth, when Dodger left fielder Lou Johnson lined a homer off the left-field foul pole. Ron Fairly followed with a double, and he scored on Wes Parker‘s single just a moment later. Kaat was lifted by manager Sam Mele and he brought in his closer Al Worthington, who quickly put a stop to the Dodgers scoring spree, but the Dodgers had two big runs on the board and Koufax on the mound. Would a manager bring in his closer in the fourth inning today, I think not. Worthington was followed by Johnny Klippstein, Jim Merritt, and Jim Perry and they each held the Dodgers off the scoreboard. Jim Gilliam made a great play in the fifth to squelch a Twin rally, and Koufax cruised from there, retiring 13 of the next 14 hitters to finish with a World Series-clinching, three-hit shutout.

Sandy Koufax - World Series MVP
Sandy Koufax – World Series MVP

What more can you say? Some times teams don’t lose the game, the other team wins, I think that was the case here. You have to give credit where credit is due.

If you want to watch game 7 again you can see it on our Twins Audio and Video clips page.

Box score.

Sandy Koufax and the 1965 World Series on a site called Baseball Analysts.

The Twins have to be satisfied with this AL Championship ring instead of a World Series championship ring.
The Twins have to be satisfied with this AL Championship ring instead of a World Series championship ring.

Remembering 1965 – Part 24 – 100 wins

100 winsThe Minnesota Twins beat the Hank Bauer managed Baltimore Orioles 3-2 at Memorial Stadium and post win number 100 for the only time in franchise history in a 2 hour and 7 minute game. The Twins trailed 2 to 1 going into the 8th inning but Bob Allison hits a two run home run in the top of the eighth inning and the Twins are up 3-2. The Orioles however; were not going to go down without a fight, they load the bases with no one out against Twins starter Mudcat Grant on a walk, a single and a Frank Quilici error and Twins manager Sam Mele brings in Jim Merritt who induces pinch-hitter Bob Johnson to hit into a RF-C double play. Mele then pulls Merritt and brings in 37 year-old reliever Johnny Klippstein to face pinch-hitter Norm Siebern. Klippstein gets Siebern to fly out to center field to earn the save and the Twins put victory 100 into the books.

Box score

The Twins go on to win 102 games in 1965, the most in franchise history. The most games that the Washington Senators ever won was 99 in 1933 when they finished first but lost the World Series 4 games to 1 to the New York Giants.

1965 twins 50th anniversary banner

Remembering 1965 – Part 21 – Meet the Manager, Coaches & Players from 1965

The 1965 Minnesota Twins had 35 different players suit up and play ball wearing a Twins logo across their chest against the nine other members of the American league. Their manager, Sam Mele had four coaches at his disposal to help guide the team. Here are the images of the players and coaching staff that made up the 1965 American League champions. Team owner Calvin Griffith also served as the teams General Manager.

Just click on any player image to see a larger image

1965 Twins team picture

1965 Twins team picture

Remembering 1965 – Part 20 – Kindall, Merritt, Boswell, Battey and the All-Star game

When the dog days of August ended the Twins had a 7 1/2 game lead on the Chicago White Sox, were winning at a .616 clip and had a record of 84-50, 34 games above the .500 mark. The team was marching towards their first pennant in spite of all the injuries the team had encountered.

Sporting News Aug 21, 1965 P13

Sporting News Aug 28, 1965 P8

I thought that I would share some images that pertain to the 1965 All-Star game that was placed in Met Stadium on July 13, 1965. Box score

1965 All-Star game logo
1965 All-Star game logo
1965 All-Star game patch
1965 All-Star game patch
1965 All-Star game ticket
1965 All-Star game ticket
1965 All-Star program
1965 All-Star program
1965 All-Star game - l-r is Felix Mantilla, Roberto Clemente, Tony Oliva, Cookie Rojas, Juan Marichal, Zoilo Versalles, Vic Davalillo and Leo Cardenas
Latino’s in 1965 All-Star game – l-r is Felix Mantilla, Roberto Clemente, Tony Oliva, Cookie Rojas, Juan Marichal, Zoilo Versalles, Vic Davalillo and Leo Cardenas

 

1965 All-Star Game: Oliva relives his double, just not with Gibson

Much has changed since the 1965 All-Star Game in Minnesota

Remember when: Recap of the 1965 All-Star Game at Metropolitan Stadium

Remembering 1965 – Part 19 – 50th anniversary celebration pictures and video

1965 twins 50th anniversary bannerThe Minnesota Twins hosted a 59th anniversary celebration on July 31 and August 1 for the 1965 American League champions. On July 31st the organization put on a “Championship Breakfast” that was attended by about 250 Twins fans and 11 players from the 1965 championship team that won a Twins record 102 games. Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer served as the master of ceremonies.

I was able to attend the breakfast which was held in the Metropolitan Club at Target Field and had a great time meeting other Twins fans and chatting briefly with some of the players. The cost of the breakfast was $75 for season ticket holders and $100 if you were not a Twins season ticket holder with the proceeds going to the Twins Community Fund.

There were 35 players that appeared in a Minnesota Twins uniform in 1965 and 20 of them were in town for the 50 year anniversary celebration. Bernie Allen, Jerry Fosnow, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Jim Kaat, Jerry Kindall, Andy Kosco, Frank Kostro, Jim Merritt, Mel Nelson, Joe Nossek, Tony Oliva, Camilo Pascual, Jim Perry, Frank Quilici, Rich Reese, Garry Roggenburk, Rich Rollins, Dick Stigman, Sandy Valdespino, and Al Worthington. Coach Hal Naragon was also in attendance.

The ten player’s have passed on are Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Dave Boswell, Harmon Killebrew, Johnny Klippstein, Don Mincher, Cesar Tovar, Ted Uhlaender, Zoilo Versalles, and Jerry Zimmerman. RIP gentlemen and thank you for all the wonderful memories.

John Sevcik and Bill Pleis were unable to attend due to family health issues. Jimmie Hall also was invited but was not in attendance. Why he was not here is unclear, I saw some where that he was not able to change his schedule in time to attend and the other reason that has floated around for a long time is that Hall likes to stay close to home and that he is not a huge fan of the Twins organization due to some conflicts that have arisen in the past over medical claims. I have no idea why Dwight Siebler or Pete Cimino were not in attendance other than Siebler only appeared in seven games and Cimino only appeared in one game.As nored earlier, coach Hal Naragon was in attendance.

Manager Sam Mele who is 93 was not able to attend due to health concerns but he did make a short video that was played for the crowd. Coaches Billy Martin, Johnny Sain, and Jim Lemon have also passed on. Coach Hal Naragon as mentioned earlier was in attendance.

I took a few pictures at the championship breakfast that I will share with you here. Just click on the first thumbnail image to get started.

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1965 TWINS A.L. CHAMPIONSHIP REUNIONMinnesota Twins; Target Field; Minneapolis Minnesota
1965 TWINS A.L. CHAMPIONSHIP REUNIONMinnesota Twins; Target Field; Minneapolis Minnesota

The Twins were kind enough to provide me with a group picture from the Saturday celebration. Clicking on the picture will enlarge it slightly.

BACK ROW L - R: Jim Merritt, Jerry Kindall, Dick Stigman, Rich Reese, Mel Nelson, Andy Kosco, Frank Kostro, Garry Roggenburk, Jerry Fosnow, Bernie Allen, Hal Naragon FRONT ROW L - R: Joe Nossek, Sandy Valdespino, Rich Rollins, Jim Perry, Camilo Pascual, Al Worthington, Frank Quilici, Jim Kaat, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Tony Oliva
BACK ROW L – R: Jim Merritt, Jerry Kindall, Dick Stigman, Rich Reese, Mel Nelson, Andy Kosco, Frank Kostro, Garry Roggenburk, Jerry Fosnow, Bernie Allen, Hal Naragon
FRONT ROW L – R: Joe Nossek, Sandy Valdespino, Rich Rollins, Jim Perry, Camilo Pascual, Al Worthington, Frank Quilici, Jim Kaat, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Tony Oliva

 

Charley Walters: Memories of 1965 still fresh for Twins great Jim Kaat

Fox Sports: 1965 Minnesota Twins reunion video (19 minutes)

Twins celebrate 1965 American League Champions video (several combined video’s about 30 minutes total)

KSTP Breaking News! Minnesota Twins clinch the 1965 AL pennant! 9/26/1965 radio aircheck

Another short 1965 reunion video

 

Remembering 1965 – Part 8 – Boswell & Merritt

Jim Merritt
Jim Merritt

Our notes about the 1965 American League champion Twins continues with a great write-up in the April 10 edition of the Sporting News about pitchers Jim Merritt and Dave Boswell as they battled to make the 1965 team out of spring training. There is also a blurb about the problem with the Stadium Club and a short piece on why the president of the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce thought that the Twins should open the season in Fairbanks, Alaska versus Met Stadium. Here is a clue – Collegeville, Minnesota had 66 inches of snow fall during the month of March in 1965. Oh, ticket sales, the Twins are mumbling about their 13,000-14,000 season ticket fan base this season, back in 1965 Calvin Griffith saw his season ticket base fall to about 3,400 going into the 1965 season. Plus, an update on the new outfield walls and new left field grandstand as the team prepares to host their first ever All-Star game.

Sporting News April 10, 1965

Remembering 1965 – considering a four man rotation – Part 5

The Minnesota Twins have a new pitching coach in Neil Allen this season.  Heading into the 1965 season the Twins also had a new pitching coach and his name was Johnny Sain. It turns out that both Allen and Sain were right-handed and both pitched in the big leagues during all or parts of 11 seasons. Allen is getting his first shot as a big league pitching coach in 2015 while Sain had already served as a pitching coach for the Kansas City A’s in 1959 and the New York Yankees from 1961-1963 before he joined Minnesota in 1965 where he would last for two years before going on to serve as pitching coach for the Tigers from 1967-1969, the White Sox from 1971-1975 and the Atlanta Braves in 1977 and again from 1985-1986. Most pitchers loved Sain as their pitching coach and Twins pitcher Jim Kaat was one of those. Matter of fact, when owner Calvin Griffith and the Twins let Sain go, Kaat went public about how stupid he thought that move was but that is a another story for another time.

The Twins had switched to a five man rotation in 1962 but new Twins pitching coach Sain thought that he had the pitchers in Minnesota to go back to a four man starting rotation and it was not a hard sell. Here is a piece that appeared in the Sporting News on  February 13, 1965. Feel free to click on the article a couple of times if your eyes are like mine and need a bit larger font.

 

1965 Twins to pitch on 3 day rest SN 02131965

 Here is how the Twins 1965 pitching stats turned out.