Tag: Sandy Koufax

Remembering 1965 Part 1

1965 Twins team picture

The 1964 Minnesota Twins were a disappointing 79-83 under manager Sam Mele after winning 91 games the previous season and they finished tied for sixth with the Cleveland Indians in the 10 team American league. Twins owner and GM Calvin Griffith felt that his team had suffered some bad luck in 1964 and he expected his team to be much improved in 1965.

The 1965 Twins would go on to win 102 games (most in franchise history) and lose only 60 in 1965 and walked away with the AL pennant seven games ahead of the Chicago White Sox. The 1965 Twins were the first Minnesota Twins team to taste post season action as they went on to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series that Fall but ended up losing the series in game seven to Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. Previous to 1965 the last team in franchise history to appear in the World Series were the 1933 Washington Senators who lost that series four games to one to the New York Giants.

It will be 50 years this season since that 1965 Minnesota Twins team won 102 games and went to the World Series so this year we at twinstrivia.com are going to try to bring back memories of what transpired that year and relive 1965 as the season progresses. So follow us this season as we bring back some fun and interesting facts about that 1965 Twins team who some say was the best Twins team to ever step on a baseball diamond.

The beginning of this series starts with a page out of the January 23, 1965 Sporting News which was truly thee baseball Bible back in those days. Check out the Twins roster, I believe it has 42 players and some of the names there would never play for the Minnesota Twins and of course team owner Calvin Griffith wasn’t about to over pay his players even though team star Harmon Killebrew would become the first player in Twins history to make over $50,000 in a single season.

Sporting News Jan 23 1965 Twins coverage

If you remember the 1965 Twins season and have special memories that you would like to share with today’s Twins fans please feel free to share them in the comments section. I only witnessed that season through early August of 1965 and missed the Twins post season play because I had chosen to join the US Navy and by early August I was on a train from Minneapolis to the Great Lakes Naval Training center to start boot camp. Back in 1965 Navy boot camp had no TV, radio, newspapers and certainly no computers and internet, it was all business so following the Twins run to the pennant was not in the cards for me. I hope we can bring back some great memories for you Twins fans that were lucky enough to witness that great year in Twins history.

As a side note, after boot camp was over for me in late 1965 I was assigned to Radar “A” school, again at Great Lakes and the following spring on April 16, 1966 when I did get a few hours of liberty where did I go? I went to Comiskey Park to see the Chicago White Sox play the Kansas City A’s.  I remember it was kind of cool that day and of course the game went into extra innings, the White Sox won the game 2-1 in the bottom of the 11th inning on a walk-off walk of all things. Back then the White Sox let active military personnel attend the games for free I believe. Here are a few pictures I took that day of old Comiskey Park in 1966.

Comiskey Park April 16, 1966
Comiskey Park April 16, 1966
Comiskey Park scoreboard April 16, 1966
Comiskey Park scoreboard April 16, 1966
April 16, 1966 White Sox host the Kansas City A's - note the green and gold A's in the field.
April 16, 1966 White Sox host the Kansas City A’s – note the green and gold A’s in the field.

Hal Naragon 1965 AL Championship ring sold

Hal NaragonA couple of weeks ago while doing some research for this site I ran across an auction web site that was selling a 1965 American League championship ring so I had to stop and investigate.

Here is how Legendary Auctions described the ring they had up for bids:

“Hal Naragon used his skills behind the plate to craft a ten-year career in the major leagues, ending his playing days in 1962 as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Immediately after that he took a job as a Twins coach and was on-hand for the teams unforgettable run to the 1965 American League championship. Offered here is Hal’s actual AL Championship Ring awarded to him for his efforts in that season that came only inches away from producing a World Series championship when Sandy Koufax downed the Twins 2-0 in a Game 7 duel with Jim Kaat. Dazzling diamond is centered on the face of this Jostens 14K ring is a brilliant round stone set upon a deep-blue background. Encircling the stone is “American League Champions.” On one shank, “MINNESOTA” is engraved above a raised “TC” logo. The bottom of the shank bears a baseball and two crossed bats with “1965” engraved within the ball. The other shank is topped with the name “NARAGON.” An image of the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities logo is above another baseball and two crossed bats. It would seem that Hal has always appreciated how special this ring is and what it represents as he has clearly taken exceptional care of it over the past five decades. In comparing this to the one other 1965 Twins ring that we’ve seen, there is no question that this is a far superior example and it grades NM with spectacular visual qualities.

When the bidding closed, there were 14 bids and the final bid was $3,585. I am not sure why Hal Naragon who is now 86, chose to sell his 1965 AL Championship ring but to me it is always sad to see something personal like this get sold to anyone other than the person that earned it. I did an interview with Hal Naragon, who is one of the original Minnesota Twins back in September 2010 that you can listen to here.

(click on the images to make them larger)

Twins and post season play

As 2014 is coming to an end it is a good time to look back on another Twins season, their fourth in a row without post season play. But you have to be a winner to make post season play and the Twins have been anything but a winner the last few years. It has been a toss-up when you try to determine who has been more inept, the Twins players on the field or the ownership and Twins executives that sit behind their desks and make the decisions that determine the experience that Twins fans will have to live with during the up-coming season.

The Twins have had many losing seasons over the years and the real core Twins fans complained but they accepted the team they had and they looked forward to the next season with renewed hope for more wins “next year”. But it is seems different now, I am not sure why, maybe the fans are more passionate, maybe it is social media that allows Twins fans to better express their frustrations but today’s Twins fans are just plain mad and disgusted with the caliber of play their home team has displayed since the 2010 ended. Hopefully the Minnesota Twins organization feels some of the passion that Twins fans have and will start to look at the product from the fans perspective and see what they can do to make the fans experience a little more fun and and not so tough on the wallet.

Since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins the team has played 8,617 regular season games, winning 4,274, losing 4,335 and playing to a tie on eight occasions in 54 seasons of play. Boy, how time flies by, I still remember that 1961 season.

Looking back at Twins history they have two World Series winners and a third World Series appearance in which they lost game seven to Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition to the 8,617 regular season games the team has played a total of 64 post season games winning 25 and losing 39. Their last post season appearance was in 2010 and that brief playoff run lasted just three games when they were swept by the New York Yankees 3 games to zip. The teams last post season win was back in 2004 (if I am not mistaken that is about 10 years ago, YIKES!) when they beat the Yankees in game 1 of the ALDS series before losing the next three games.

So let’s take a look at the hitting and pitching statistics of the Minnesota Twins in post season play. Let’s see who stood out under the bright lights of post season play and who couldn’t or didn’t deliver when the pressure was on. The names you will see below will bring back many memories, some good, some bad, some sad and in some cases you will say “who in the hell is so and so, I don’t remember him”. But it is fun looking back.

 Hitting in Post Season (had at least one PA)

Rk Player #Matching PA ? AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP OPS SB
1 Dan Gladden 24 115 104 17 29 6 3 1 15 9 12 .279 .348 .771 7
2 Kirby Puckett 24 109 97 16 30 3 2 5 15 8 17 .309 .361 .897 3
3 Kent Hrbek 24 103 91 10 14 1 0 3 12 11 12 .154 .252 .516 0
4 Greg Gagne 24 96 89 12 19 5 0 4 10 5 22 .213 .271 .675 0
5 Torii Hunter 21 88 80 15 24 8 1 3 8 5 11 .300 .337 .875 2
6 Jacque Jones 18 79 76 6 15 5 0 2 5 1 23 .197 .215 .557 0
7 Michael Cuddyer 21 78 74 5 25 2 1 2 8 4 18 .338 .372 .845 0
8 Corey Koskie 18 78 67 8 15 4 1 1 9 7 21 .224 .321 .679 0
9 Cristian Guzman 18 75 67 9 16 3 0 1 2 5 12 .239 .301 .630 3
10 Doug Mientkiewicz 14 56 53 4 12 1 0 2 6 3 5 .226 .268 .626 0
11 Chuck Knoblauch 12 55 46 8 15 3 0 0 5 7 5 .326 .407 .799 6
12 Harmon Killebrew 13 54 40 6 10 1 0 3 6 14 10 .250 .444 .944 0
13 Tony Oliva 13 53 51 7 16 5 0 3 5 2 10 .314 .340 .928 1
14 Gary Gaetti 12 53 47 9 13 3 1 3 9 3 8 .277 .340 .914 2
15 A.J. Pierzynski 14 50 45 6 14 0 1 2 7 4 4 .311 .360 .849 0
16 Tom Brunansky 12 50 42 10 12 4 0 2 11 8 7 .286 .400 .924 1
17 Shane Mack 11 44 41 4 9 2 1 0 4 2 11 .220 .250 .567 2
18 Luis Rivas 14 43 38 3 6 1 0 0 1 2 9 .158 .195 .379 0
19 Tim Laudner 12 43 36 5 8 2 0 1 6 7 9 .222 .349 .710 0
20 Chili Davis 11 42 35 7 9 2 0 2 6 7 11 .257 .381 .867 1
21 Brian Harper 11 41 39 3 13 4 0 0 2 2 4 .333 .366 .802 0
22 Joe Mauer 9 39 35 1 10 1 0 0 1 4 7 .286 .359 .673 0
23 Shannon Stewart 8 38 35 1 10 2 0 0 2 2 6 .286 .316 .659 1
24 Steve Lombardozzi 11 37 32 5 11 1 0 1 5 4 4 .344 .417 .885 0
25 Jason Kubel 8 32 29 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 13 .069 .156 .260 0
26 Bob Allison 10 30 26 3 2 1 0 1 3 3 10 .077 .167 .397 1
27 Zoilo Versalles 7 30 28 3 8 1 1 1 4 2 7 .286 .333 .833 1
28 David Ortiz 9 29 29 0 8 3 0 0 4 0 10 .276 .276 .655 0
29 Justin Morneau 7 29 29 4 9 3 0 2 4 0 3 .310 .310 .931 0
30 Mike Pagliarulo 11 28 26 5 8 1 0 2 5 1 4 .308 .333 .910 0
31 Matt LeCroy 10 28 26 2 7 0 0 0 1 2 9 .269 .321 .591 0
32 Denard Span 6 28 28 1 10 1 0 0 1 0 2 .357 .357 .750 1
33 Delmon Young 6 27 24 2 5 1 1 0 0 2 6 .208 .296 .630 1
34 Cesar Tovar 6 27 26 2 6 0 1 0 1 1 2 .231 .259 .567 1
35 Randy Bush 11 26 22 5 5 1 1 0 4 3 4 .227 .308 .671 3
36 Frank Quilici 9 26 22 2 4 2 0 0 1 4 4 .182 .308 .580 0
37 Leo Cardenas 6 26 24 1 4 0 1 0 1 1 8 .167 .200 .450 0
38 Don Mincher 7 25 23 3 3 0 0 1 1 2 7 .130 .200 .461 0
39 Earl Battey 7 25 25 1 3 0 1 0 2 0 5 .120 .120 .320 0
40 Nick Punto 6 25 21 0 6 1 0 0 1 3 2 .286 .375 .708 0
41 Don Baylor 7 21 18 3 7 0 0 1 4 1 1 .389 .476 1.032 0
42 Joe Nossek 6 21 20 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .400 0
43 Rich Reese 5 21 19 0 3 0 0 0 2 2 2 .158 .238 .396 0
44 Scott Leius 9 20 18 2 5 0 0 1 2 2 3 .278 .350 .794 0
45 Rod Carew 5 17 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .063 .118 .180 0
46 George Mitterwald 4 16 15 2 5 1 0 0 2 1 5 .333 .375 .775 0
47 Dustan Mohr 7 15 14 4 7 2 0 0 0 1 4 .500 .533 1.176 1
48 Orlando Cabrera 3 15 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 .154 .267 .421 1
49 Lew Ford 4 14 12 1 3 1 0 0 2 0 3 .250 .357 .690 1
50 Luis Castillo 3 14 11 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 .273 .429 .701 0
51 Jim Thome 3 13 10 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 .100 .308 .408 0
52 Orlando Hudson 3 13 12 2 4 0 0 1 2 0 2 .333 .333 .917 0
53 Gene Larkin 12 12 11 1 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 .273 .333 .697 0
54 Rondell White 3 12 12 1 5 1 0 1 2 0 0 .417 .417 1.167 0
55 Brendan Harris 3 12 12 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 .250 .250 .667 0
56 Al Newman 6 11 9 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 .222 .300 .744 0
57 Sandy Valdespino 5 11 11 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 .273 .273 .636 0
58 Danny Valencia 3 11 9 1 2 1 0 0 2 1 3 .222 .273 .606 0
59 Jason Bartlett 3 11 11 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 .273 .273 .636 0
60 Henry Blanco 4 10 8 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 .250 .222 .847 0
61 J.J. Hardy 3 10 10 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .100 .100 .300 0
62 Danny Thompson 3 9 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .125 .222 .472 0
63 Mudcat Grant 3 9 8 3 2 1 0 1 3 0 1 .250 .250 1.000 0
64 Brant Alyea 3 9 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 .222 .222 0
65 Bobby Kielty 7 8 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 .000 .125 .125 0
66 Junior Ortiz 4 8 8 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .125 .125 .250 0
67 Jason Tyner 2 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .000 .250 .250 1
68 Jimmie Hall 2 8 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .143 .250 .393 0
69 Jim Kaat 4 7 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 6 .143 .143 .286 0
70 Rick Renick 3 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .333 0
71 Denny Hocking 3 6 6 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .500 .500 1.167 0
72 Ted Uhlaender 2 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .167 .333 0
73 Matt Tolbert 2 6 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .333 .533 0
74 Carlos Gomez 1 6 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 .333 .333 0
75 John Roseboro 2 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .400 0
76 Jim Holt 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
77 Paul Sorrento 4 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 .250 .250 0
78 Roy Smalley 4 4 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 .500 .750 1.750 0
79 Jim Perry 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
80 Paul Ratliff 1 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .500 0
81 Dave Boswell 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 .000 .000 0
82 Rich Rollins 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .333 .333 0
83 Jose Offerman 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
84 Tom Prince 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
85 Phil Nevin 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
86 Jose Morales 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
87 Sal Butera 1 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 .667 1.333 0
88 Charlie Manuel 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .500 .500 0
89 Les Straker 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
90 Jack Morris 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
91 Jarvis Brown 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
92 Pat Borders 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
93 Bert Blyleven 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
94 Jerry Zimmerman 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
95 Dick Woodson 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0
96 Stan Williams 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0
97 Frank Viola 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
98 Kevin Tapani 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
99 Mike Ryan 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
100 Ron Perranoski 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
101 Camilo Pascual 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
102 Graig Nettles 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0
103 Tom Hall 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
104 Scott Erickson 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
105 Mark Davidson 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
106 Rick Aguilera 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2014.

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Pitching in Post Season (faced at least one batter)

Rk Player #Matching W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO SV IP ? H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Jack Morris 5 4 0 1.000 2.23 5 1 1 0 36.1 35 9 1 10 22 1.24
2 Brad Radke 6 2 3 .400 3.60 6 0 0 0 35.0 37 14 6 8 17 1.29
3 Johan Santana 11 1 3 .250 3.97 5 0 0 0 34.0 35 15 2 10 32 1.32
4 Frank Viola 5 3 1 .750 4.31 5 0 0 0 31.1 31 15 3 8 25 1.24
5 Bert Blyleven 5 3 1 .750 3.18 4 0 0 0 28.1 27 10 3 5 23 1.13
6 Mudcat Grant 3 2 1 .667 2.74 3 2 0 0 23.0 22 7 3 2 12 1.04
7 Kevin Tapani 4 1 2 .333 6.04 4 0 0 0 22.1 29 15 1 5 16 1.52
8 Jim Perry 5 0 1 .000 6.75 2 0 0 0 17.1 21 13 6 6 10 1.56
9 Joe Mays 3 1 1 .500 4.76 3 0 0 0 17.0 21 9 4 2 4 1.35
10 Jim Kaat 4 1 3 .250 4.41 4 1 0 0 16.1 24 8 1 4 7 1.71
11 Eric Milton 3 1 0 1.000 1.65 2 0 0 0 16.1 13 3 2 3 9 0.98
12 Scott Erickson 3 0 0 4.91 3 0 0 0 14.2 13 8 4 9 7 1.50
13 Dave Boswell 2 0 1 .000 1.35 1 0 0 0 13.1 10 2 0 9 7 1.43
14 Carl Pavano 2 0 2 .000 4.15 2 0 0 0 13.0 15 6 3 1 12 1.23
15 Carl Willis 7 0 0 2.92 0 0 0 0 12.1 8 4 2 2 5 0.81
16 Kyle Lohse 5 0 2 .000 3.00 1 0 0 0 12.0 9 4 1 2 14 0.92
17 Les Straker 3 0 0 6.94 3 0 0 0 11.2 12 9 1 7 7 1.63
18 Rick Reed 3 0 2 .000 8.18 2 0 0 0 11.0 15 10 6 2 8 1.55
19 Juan Berenguer 7 0 1 .000 5.23 0 0 0 1 10.1 11 6 1 3 7 1.35
20 Jeff Reardon 8 1 1 .500 2.70 0 0 0 3 10.0 12 3 1 3 8 1.50
21 J.C. Romero 12 0 1 .000 5.59 0 0 0 0 9.2 10 6 1 6 7 1.66
22 Juan Rincon 8 0 0 5.19 0 0 0 0 8.2 6 5 1 6 9 1.38
23 Dan Schatzeder 5 1 0 1.000 3.12 0 0 0 0 8.2 6 3 0 3 8 1.04
24 Rick Aguilera 7 1 1 .500 1.08 0 0 0 5 8.1 7 1 0 1 6 0.96
25 Brian Duensing 2 0 2 .000 11.25 2 0 0 0 8.0 14 10 2 2 4 2.00
26 Joe Nathan 6 0 1 .000 4.70 0 0 0 1 7.2 8 4 1 6 9 1.83
27 Francisco Liriano 2 0 0 5.87 1 0 0 0 7.2 7 5 1 4 8 1.43
28 Ron Perranoski 5 0 1 .000 10.29 0 0 0 0 7.0 13 8 0 1 5 2.00
29 LaTroy Hawkins 10 1 0 1.000 6.75 0 0 0 0 6.2 9 5 0 1 11 1.50
30 Mark Guthrie 6 1 1 .500 1.35 0 0 0 0 6.2 3 1 0 4 3 1.05
31 Tom Hall 3 0 1 .000 6.00 1 0 0 0 6.0 6 4 1 4 6 1.67
32 Stan Williams 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 6.0 2 0 0 1 2 0.50
33 Boof Bonser 1 0 0 3.00 1 0 0 0 6.0 7 2 0 1 3 1.33
34 David West 4 1 0 1.000 6.35 0 0 0 0 5.2 3 4 1 8 4 1.94
35 Nick Blackburn 1 0 0 1.59 1 0 0 0 5.2 3 1 0 2 3 0.88
36 Al Worthington 3 0 0 1.69 0 0 0 0 5.1 5 1 0 2 3 1.31
37 Eddie Guardado 5 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 3 5.0 10 5 2 2 5 2.40
38 Carlos Silva 1 0 1 .000 10.80 1 0 0 0 5.0 10 6 1 0 1 2.00
39 Camilo Pascual 1 0 1 .000 5.40 1 0 0 0 5.0 8 3 0 1 0 1.80
40 Matt Guerrier 5 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 4.2 1 0 0 1 4 0.43
41 Steve Bedrosian 5 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 4.2 6 2 0 2 4 1.71
42 Jim Merritt 2 0 0 2.70 0 0 0 0 3.1 2 1 0 0 1 0.60
43 Jon Rauch 5 0 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 3.0 1 1 0 2 1 1.00
44 Terry Mulholland 1 0 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 3.0 3 1 1 0 0 1.00
45 Dick Woodson 2 0 0 10.12 0 0 0 0 2.2 5 3 0 4 2 3.38
46 Johnny Klippstein 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 2 0 0 2 3 1.50
47 Brian Fuentes 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 1 0 0 0 2 0.38
48 Grant Balfour 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 0 0 0 0 2 0.00
49 Terry Leach 2 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 2.1 2 1 0 0 2 0.86
50 Scott Baker 1 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 2.1 3 1 1 0 2 1.29
51 Jose Mijares 5 0 1 .000 4.50 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 1 1 2 0 1.50
52 Joe Niekro 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 1.00
53 George Frazier 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0.50
54 Dean Chance 1 0 0 13.50 0 0 0 0 2.0 4 3 1 0 2 2.00
55 Michael Jackson 4 0 0 16.20 0 0 0 0 1.2 6 3 0 2 2 4.80
56 Jesse Crain 4 0 1 .000 16.20 0 0 0 0 1.2 7 3 2 1 1 4.80
57 Ron Mahay 3 0 0 5.40 0 0 0 0 1.2 0 1 0 1 2 0.60
58 Keith Atherton 3 0 0 5.40 0 0 0 0 1.2 1 1 0 1 0 1.20
59 Bob Miller 1 0 1 .000 5.40 1 0 0 0 1.2 5 1 0 0 0 3.00
60 Bill Zepp 2 0 0 6.75 0 0 0 0 1.1 2 1 1 2 2 3.00
61 Kenny Rogers 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 1 3 1.50
62 Tony Fiore 1 0 0 20.25 0 0 0 0 1.1 4 3 0 2 0 4.50
63 Bob Wells 2 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 2 2.00
64 Dennys Reyes 2 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 3.00
65 Pat Neshek 2 0 1 .000 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 0 0 1 1.00
66 Bill Pleis 1 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 2.00
67 Matt Capps 1 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 0 2.00
68 Luis Tiant 1 0 0 13.50 0 0 0 0 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 1.50
69 Joe Grzenda 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
70 Glen Perkins 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 6.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2014.

Since the Twins started play in 1961 through the 2014 season a total of 751 players have put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and appeared in a game either as a hitter or a pitcher. Only 162 of them or 21.57% have appeared in a Twins post season game over the 54 seasons the Twins have called Minnesota home.

Quality Starts and Twins Wins

A pitcher gets credit for a quality start (QS) any time he allows three earned runs or less in a start that lasts at least six innings. John Lowe who was writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time developed and coined the term Quality Start back in 1985.

Most arguments against the QS begin with the statement that a QS equals a 4.50 ERA and an ERA of 4.50 is not seen as top-notch by anybody. If you look up QS on Wiki you can find some strange situations for and against the term QS, for example, in 2000 Mark Mulder goes 6 and 2/3 innings giving up 15 hits, nine runs but only two were earned and so he gets a QS, in 1982 Mike Scott goes the required 6 innings giving up 7 hits, 5 walks, zero strikeouts, allows 7 runs albeit only 3 earned and he get a QS, on the other side of the coin, back in 1974 Gaylord Perry goes 15 innings and allows 4 earned runs and get no QS, same with Randy Johnson who pitches a complete game while striking out 19 but gives up 4 earnies and gets no QS.

Since 1961, the most MLB QS in a single season record is held by White Sox knuckleballer Wilbur Wood who had 37 QS in 41 starts in 1971. Next on the list is Dodger great Sandy Koufax with 36 QS in 1966 (his final season) in 41 starts. The career leaders in QS from 1961-current are Don Sutton with 483, Nolan Ryan with 481, and Greg Maddux with 480.

LHP Jim Kaat
LHP Jim Kaat

The Twins top five career QS leaders are Jim Kaat with 253, Bert Blyleven with 218, Brad Radke with 208, Jim Perry with 156 and Frank Viola with 144. The Twins most QS in a season  record belongs to Bert Blyleven who had 31 QS in 1972 in 38 starts. That 1972 Twins team had the most QS in a single season with 114 in 154 games, that means that 74% of their games were QS and yet the team finished with a 77-77 record. The others starters that season were Dick Woodson with 26 QS, Jim Perry with 22, Jim Kaat and Ray Corbin with 14 and Dave Goltz with 7. Compare that with the 66 QS in 2014 where the team leader was Phil Hughes with 20, Kyle Gibson had 15, Kevin Correia, had 13, Ricky Nolasco had 10, Yohan Pino had 3, Trevor May and Sam Deduno had 2 each and Tommy Milone put one in the books.

Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven

But how close is the relationship of a QS to what really counts, a team victory. If you look at the list that I have provided below that shows the Minnesota Twins QS and the team record you can get a feel for how the two compare. Sure, there are outlier seasons like 1972 when the team had 114 QS and finished the season with a 77-77 record or when the opposite happened in 2006 when the Twins went to the play-offs with a 96-66 record but only had 73 QS. By the way, I don’t remember seeing any Rick Anderson for governor buttons back then.

The Twins historical QS numbers are kind of strange, almost a bell-shaped curve. The Twins have had 90 or more QS in a season 11 times and went to the playoffs zero times. No Twins team with 72 or less QS has sniffed the playoffs either. The Twins have advanced to the playoffs 11 times and their QS were always in the 73-89 range and if you exclude the 2006 season with just 73 QS, the other ten fall between 78-89. Having said all that, in the past 54 seasons the Twins have had 4,266 QS, the team record during that period is 4,274-4,335. 4,266 QS and 4,274 wins over 54 seasons, is that strange or what?

The chart below shows you in a pictorial fashion the relationship of QS and Twins victories. Click on the chart to make it larger.

Quality Starts versus Wins

 

Twins Quality Start History

YEAR QS RECORD
1972 114 77-77
1967 105 91-71
1968 100 79-83
1966 99 89-73
1963 95 91-70
1973 93 81-81
1978 92 73-89
1974 90 82-80
 1984  90  81-81
 1988  90  91-71
 2005  90  83-79
 1965*  89  102-60
 1970*  89  98-64
 1991*  89  95-67
 1969*  88  97-65
 1971  88  74-86
 1989  88  80-82
 1964  86  79-83
 2008  86  88-75
 2010*  86  94-68
 1976  83  85-77
 1992  83  90-72
 2004*  83  92-70
1980  82 77-84
 1987*  80  85-77
2001  80  85-77
 2003*  80  90-72
2007  80  79-83
 2011  80  63-99
 1962  79  91-71
2009* 79 87-76
 1998 78 70-92
 2002* 78 94-67
 1961  75  70-90
1990 75  74-88
 1985 74  77-85
 1979  73  82-80
 2006*  73  96-66
 1975  71  76-83
 1986  71  71-91
 2000  71  69-93
 1977 70 84-77
 1993 69 71-91
 1996 69  78-84
 1983 67  70-92
 1982 66 60-102
 2014 66 70-92
 1999 63  63-97
 2012 62  66-96
2013 62  66-96
1997 61 68-94
1981 56  41-68
 1995 43  56-88
 1994 37  53-60
 TOTALS  4,266  4,274-4,335
* = went to playoffs
 .

Twins QS data by decade

DECADE QS AVG. QS PER SEASON
1960’s 816 90.7
1970’s 863 86.3
1980’s 764 76.4
1990’s 667 66.7
2000’s 800 80.0
2010’s 356 71.2
Data provided by Baseball-Reference Play Index.
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I asked Jim Kaat if he would comment on Quality Starts and here is what Jim had to say-

Thanks John,
I’m happy to comment on “Quality Starts”. It’s one of my favorite subjects because it is misunderstood. My pitching stats person, Merrianna McCully, has compiled a 25 year profile on QS’s in her book ‘Three Up Three Down’. She kept all sorts of pitching stats for me from 1988-2006…
The MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT,[ like a vitamin pill] is 6 ip. 3 er or less..the actual earned run averages in a Quality start is a little under 2 in the NL and about 2.05 in the American league..DH factor…The IP’s in a QS game will close to 8 innings pitched. The records show that if a team got just a minimum daily requirement for a QS they would win about 2/3 of their games unless they had an extremely ineffective bullpen.

Jim

According to Elias

Quintana joins Sale to form big-strikeout duo for Sox

Jose Quintana struck out 13 Minnesota Twins in seven innings of the White Sox’ 5-1 victory in the first game of their doubleheader in Chicago. Quintana is the second left-handed pitcher this season to strike out 13 batters in a game for the Southsiders; Chris Sale fanned 13 Tigers on August 30. Only three other teams in the modern era (since 1900) have had two different southpaws record 13+ strikeouts in a game: The 1959 Dodgers (Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres), 1969 Tigers (Mickey Lolich and Mike Kilkenny), and 1971 Tigers (Lolich and Les Cain).

Jose Quintana is the second White Sox pitcher in 2014 to strike out at least a dozen Twins in a game. Chris Sale recorded 12 strikeouts at Target Field on July 26. It’s the third time that two different White Sox pitchers have registered a 12-strikeout game versus the same opponent in the same year. In 1954, Billy Pierce and Jack Harshman both struck out a dozen Tigers in a game. And in 1961, Pierce and Juan Pizarro each put up 12+ Ks in a game versus the Orioles.

A record-tying strikeout performance for Minnesota, Chicago

Twins and White Sox pitchers combined to strike out 45 batters in their doubleheader yesterday. That tied the modern major-league record for combined strikeouts by two teams over two nine-inning games in a day. Rockies and Marlins hurlers also fanned 45 in two games on August 16, 2009.

Did you know?

  • When Minnesota Twins pitcher Yohan Pino will made his Major League debut Thursday night at 30 years, 175 days old at Target Field against the Chicago White Sox. He became the oldest Twin (since 1961) to make his big league debut. Yohan became the 49th starting pitcher in Major League history since at least 1914 to make his Major League debut at age 30-or-older, and just the 14th since 1982. Starters making their Major League debut at age 30-or-older have won each of their last three starts and four of the last five. Since 1982, teams are 7-6 in the 13 occurrences. The 13 pitchers have combined to go 6-4 with a 3.36 ERA (27 earned runs in 72.1 innings) with
    26 walks and 52 strikeouts.
  • Twins second baseman Brian Dozier has hit 15 home runs while swiping 15 bases this
    season, stealing his 15th earlier this week. It marks the 15th time in Club history and 12th different player with the previous ?ve being Torii Hunter in 2007 (28 homers/18 steals), Lew Ford in 2004 (15 homers/20 steals), Hunter in 2004 (23 homers/21 steals), Hunter in 2002 (29 homers/23 steals) and Corey Koskie in 2001 (26 homers/27 steals). Dozier accomplished the feat in his 68th game which is the fastest ever by a Twin and fastest in baseball since Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers did it in his 68th game.
  • Upon Further Review – Through 1,073 games played this season (through
    Wednesday), Major League Baseball has had 541 replay reviews, which have taken an average of one minute and fifty-one seconds.

*541 Replay Reviews
*130 Confirmed
*153 Stands
*251 Overturned
*7 Record Keeping
*1:51 Average Time

  • Through June 18th the American League has a 79-68 record in Interleague play and is hitting .255 and their pitchers have a 3.80 ERA. National League batters are hitting .254 and their pitchers have a 3.78 ERA.
  • The CWS (College World Series) Legends Team includes former Twins Todd Walker, Eddie Bane, and Dave Winfield (former Minnesota Gopher as well).
  • In baseball, a quality start is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in 1985 while writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The most quality starts in a season for a Twins pitcher since 2003 is 25 by Johan Santana in 2004. If you use the QS formula going back to 1961, then Bert Blyleven‘s 31 QS in 1972 would be the leader.

Twins career QS leaders from 1961 to present day

Rk Player QS From To G GS CG SHO W L W-L% SV IP SO ERA HR BF BA
1 Jim Kaat 253 1961 1973 468 422 133 23 189 152 .554 6 2959.1 1824 3.28 270 12385 .256
2 Bert Blyleven 218 1970 1988 348 345 141 29 149 138 .519 0 2566.2 2035 3.28 243 10542 .246
3 Brad Radke 208 1995 2006 378 377 37 10 148 139 .516 0 2451.0 1467 4.22 326 10244 .276
4 Jim Perry 156 1963 1972 376 249 61 17 128 90 .587 5 1883.1 1025 3.15 166 7791 .242
5 Frank Viola 144 1982 1989 260 259 54 10 112 93 .546 0 1772.2 1214 3.86 213 7450 .260
6 Dave Goltz 129 1972 1979 247 215 80 11 96 79 .549 3 1638.0 887 3.48 119 6887 .264
7 Johan Santana 112 2000 2007 251 175 6 4 93 44 .679 1 1308.2 1381 3.22 144 5281 .221
8 Camilo Pascual 101 1961 1966 184 179 72 18 88 57 .607 0 1284.2 994 3.31 123 5362 .233
9 Kevin Tapani 98 1989 1995 181 180 19 6 75 63 .543 0 1171.1 724 4.06 109 4897 .270
10 Eric Milton 83 1998 2003 166 165 10 4 57 51 .528 0 987.1 715 4.76 149 4196 .259
11 Scott Baker 76 2005 2011 163 159 4 2 63 48 .568 0 958.0 770 4.15 123 4004 .266
12 Dave Boswell 76 1964 1970 187 150 37 6 67 54 .554 0 1036.1 865 3.49 106 4344 .217
13 Scott Erickson 73 1990 1995 155 153 14 7 61 60 .504 0 979.1 527 4.22 83 4244 .275
14 Geoff Zahn 71 1977 1980 133 126 36 7 53 53 .500 0 852.0 348 3.90 68 3621 .289
15 Nick Blackburn 69 2007 2012 145 137 5 0 43 55 .439 0 818.2 388 4.85 117 3577 .303
16 Allan Anderson 69 1986 1991 148 128 15 3 49 54 .476 0 818.2 339 4.11 87 3474 .282
17 Francisco Liriano 68 2005 2012 156 130 1 1 50 52 .490 1 783.1 788 4.33 76 3341 .247
18 Kyle Lohse 67 2001 2006 172 152 4 3 51 57 .472 0 908.1 561 4.88 128 3982 .285
19 Mudcat Grant 67 1964 1967 129 111 36 10 50 35 .588 1 780.2 377 3.35 88 3227 .260
20 Joe Mays 66 1999 2005 193 146 10 6 48 65 .425 0 946.1 487 4.85 127 4110 .282
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/22/2014.

If you took the list from above and looked at QS%, the Twins career leader is Johan Santana with .640% followed by Bert Blyleven at .632%. Nick Blackburn was not always a fan favorite but his career QS% is .504%, 14th best in team history. Who has the best career QS% in the AL since 1961? That would be Pedro Martinez at .751%. How about the NL you say? That is non other than Sandy Koufax at .782%.

Check out the BA column on the list above, the best is an amazing .217 career BA allowed by the late great Dave Boswell, the man has not gotten his due here in Minnesota and should be in the Twins Hall of Fame. Aren’t statistics fun?

Baseball is such an amazing game, you never know what you will see next and how many times have you watched a game and told yourself, Geez, I have never seen that happen before. How about this one, Brewers score three on one wild pitch.