Tag: Tony Oliva

Today in Twins History – April 6

4/6/1951 – Twins pitching great and MLB Hall of Famer Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven was born on this day in Zeist, Netherlands. Blyleven, now a Twins TV color commentator makes a big deal about his birthday and seems to mention his birthday on every Twins telecast and can tell you on any day of the year how many days it is until his next birthday. Bert is famous for using his “telestrator” for circling Twins fans in the crowd who have brought their “Circle me Bert” signs to the ball game.

4/6/1966 – The Twins swing a deal with the Red Sox and acquire catcher Russ Nixon and 2B Chuck Schilling and give up pitcher Dick Stigman and 1B Jose Calero.

4/6/1972 – For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and 86 games were lost before the strike was settled.

4/6/1973 – Tony Oliva hits the first home run ever by a designated hitter in AL history when he cranks one out against “Catfish” Hunter in Oakland in the Twins 8-3 victory.

4/6/1978 – In only the second game of the season while playing in the Kingdome, Twins 2B Rob Wilfong is hit by a pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Shane Rawley in the sixth inning and suffers a broken bone in his hand which sidelines him for a month.

4/6/1982 – A  huge crowd of 52,279 turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie 3B Gary Gaetti goes 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins 11-7. By the way, the temperature outside that day was 28 degrees.

4/6/2004 – Playing in just his second major league game, Twins star rookie catcher Joe Mauer hears something “pop” as he slides and tries to catch a foul pop-up in a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins actually ended up winning the game 7-6 in 15 innings. A few days later, April 8th, Joe ends up having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Mauer returns to the line-up on June 2 but continues to have trouble off and on with the knee swelling and he plays in his final 2004 game on July 15 and his first season as a Twin ends after just 35 games but in that short period he showed all of us what kind of bat he had as he hit .308 in 107 at bats.

4/6/2005 – The Twins are leading the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning at Safeco Field when Ron Villone is brought in to face Twins 1B Justin Morneau. Villone beans Morneau and in the process Morneau suffers a mild concussion. According to a Star Tribune article in 2005, “Contributing to the concern is Morneau’s history of concussions. This was his fifth, although the first involving baseball. He suffered others playing basketball and hockey and, in the worst one, running backward in 2000 during a workout. He fell and hit the back of his head on the ground.” Morneau saw the pitch coming toward his head – a frightening recollection. “A heat-seeking missile,” Morneau called it. After a 2 week stint on the DL, Morneau returned to the line-up on April 22.

4/6/2009 – The Twins open their 28th and final season at the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Twins opponent in the first regular season game at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 was also the Mariners and the Twins lost that game 11-7.

By the way, I just set up a new page that I call Twins Audio and Video clips, check it out if you have a few minutes.

First Twins player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated

SI -08231965On August 23, 1965 the Twins were in their fifth season in Minnesota ready to take on the New York Yankees in a 3:10 start at Met Stadium in front of 37,787 fans that wanted another Twins win over the hated Yankees. The Twins had a 7.5 game lead and were well on their way to their first World Series. That same day Tony Oliva became the first Twins player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. I would urge you to take a few minutes and read a story about the Twins in that SI issue called “Everybody Pick up a Drum” by William Leggett. It is a nice piece of writing about the Minnesota Twins and it mentions a huge trade that owner Calvin Griffith had cooked up with the New York Mets that was all but signed sealed and delivered prior to the 1965 season but the Mets backed out at the last-minute and the rest is history as they say. Had that trade gone through, you can bet your bippy that the Twins history would show the Minnesota Twins appearing in only two World Series (1987 and 1991) versus three. It just goes to show that some of the best trades are the ones that you don’t make, I can attest to that with my experiences with trades in fantasy baseball over the years. If you care at all about Twins history you will check out this story.

By the way, you can read this issue of Sports Illustrated cover-to-cover by clicking on the SI magazine cover above.

This and That

Max Kepler in WBC in 2012There was a nice piece written about Twins outfield prospect Max Kepler the other day by MiLB.com and if you get a chance, check it out here. The article talks about Kepler’s childhood, the choices he has made and the road that he has taken to try to become a major league player with the Minnesota Twins. The path to the majors for a ballplayer from Germany is a long and difficult one and not just for Max but for his family as well. I have watched Max work hard to improve his skills and I will tell you this, don’t bet against this young man, he is dedicated to be the best he can be and one day he will be a major league ball player, mark my words.

Football season has ended and baseball is just around the corner but March Madness will be starting soon and everyone will fill out one or more “brackets” hoping to cash in either financially or in term of bragging rights. Some fans may even want to wager a few dollars in support of their favorite teams. For all types of sports betting including NCAA College Basketball Betting just follow the link.

The MLB Fan Cave is back for its third season in 2013 and the 50 finalists have been named. The Twins representative is 25-year old St. Paul native, Michael McGivern, an ardent Minnesota Twins fan with broadcasting, social media, and marketing experience. The first round of voting ends on February 13th so take a minute to support your Twins  representative by voting for Michael at http://mlbfancave.mlb.com/fancave/vote.jsp?fliqzid=75d1a1fb9d2844bfba9497e98bde25c8

Tony Oliva with Rod Carew
Tony Oliva with Rod Carew

When I was at TwinsFest recently I ran across a young lady that was part of a campaign to get Tony Oliva elected to the MLB Hall of Fame in 2014. The group has set up a web site at www.votetonyo.com in hopes of accomplishing their goal. I truly believe that Tony deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and I will do whatever I can to help. I would urge all the Twins fans out there to do whatever they can to make this happen. I would love to see all the Twins blog sites out there post a link to the votetonyo.com site to help drive traffic to the site. Stop by the site and see what you can do to help make Tony Oliva a Hall of Famer! I recently did an interview with Eddie Bane who played with Tony and has been around the big leagues since 1973 and this is what Eddie had to say about Tony: “By the way, one additional thought on some of the old-time baseball guys from the 60’s and 70’s. I have asked a lot of former major league pitchers who the best hitter they ever faced was. Of the more than 20 pitchers I asked at least half of them said Tony Oliva. Tony never gets his due as far as the Hall of Fame goes, but those pitchers all remember that swing that I can still picture in my mind. Without those lousy knees that he had Tony O would certainly be a Hall of Fame player”. Thanks Eddie, another reason to vote Tony to the Hall!

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.

Straight from ASU to the Met

Eddie Bane (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
Eddie Bane (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

Eddie Bane was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1952 but grew up in southern California not too far from Disneyland. Bane was offered a scholarship by coach Bobby Winkles and before he knew it he was pitching for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973) Bane became a pitching legend. The left-handed Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA and is still regarded as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time. Bane pitched the only perfect game in Sun Devil baseball history on March 2, 1973 against Cal State Northridge and led the nation in strikeouts in 1972 and 1973 and still holds the ASU career strikeout mark. Bane was named first team All-American in 1973.

The Minnesota Twins selected Bane with their first pick, eleventh overall in the 1973 amateur draft and a short time later Bane joined a very select group of only 20 players that were drafted and went on to play pro ball directly out of high school or college with no minor league experience. Bane made his major league debut as a starter against the Kansas City Royals on July 4, 1973 at Met Stadium in front of 45,890 fans that couldn’t wait to see their first round pick pitch. Bane didn’t disappoint the Twins faithful going 7 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3 but manager Frank Quilici took Bane out after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 1-0. The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning but couldn’t hold on to the lead and ended up losing the game 5-4. Eddie stayed with the Twins for the rest of the season going 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 23 games that included 6 starts. Bane spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 in AAA Tacoma before getting a September call up by the Twins where he went 3-1 in 4 starts and posted a nifty 2.86 ERA. Bane found himself in Tacoma once again as the 1976 season opened but the Twins brought him back to Minnesota in late June and Bane started 15 games and put up a 4-7 record with a 5.11 ERA and that was the last time that Eddie Bane pitched in a Twins uniform. Bane pitched in Tacoma in 1977 but became a free agent after that season and signed with the Chicago White Sox but never pitched for them in the majors and then in January of 1980 he was traded to the Kansas City Royals but never pitched in the majors again. Bane went on to spend some time in the Cubs minor league system later in 1980 and pitched in Mexico in 1981 and Alaska in 1982 but then his career as an active player was over.

After Bane’s playing career was over he became a pitching coach in the LA Dodgers minor league system in 1983 and then managed the Batavia Trojans in 1984-1985 in the Cleveland Indians system. Bane also scouted for the Indians from 1984-1987 before moving on to the Dodgers as a scout from 1988-1998. Bane then joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as an assistant to the GM from 1999-2003 before joining the Los Angeles Angels as their Scouting Director from 2004 to 2010 where he drafted players like Jered Weaver in 2004, Nick Adenhart in 2004, Jordan Walden in 2006, Hank Conger in 2006, Mark Trumbo in 2004 and Mike Trout in 2009 and in 4 of those 7 years the Angels didn’t even have a 1st round pick. Inexplicably, the Angels let Bane go after the 2010 season and Bane became a scout for the Detroit Tigers in 2011-2012. Later in 2012 Bane took the position of Assistant to Player Personnel with the Boston Red Sox where his son Jaymie who also attended ASU and pitched in the Angels minor league system has been a scout since 2006.

In 1994 Baseball America named Eddie Bane to their All-Time college all-star team and in 2008 Bane was selected to the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.

I also wanted to share with you what Eddie Bane had to say about Tony Oliva. “By the way one additional thought on some of the old time baseball guys from the 60’s and 70’s. I have asked a lot of former major league pitchers who the best hitter they ever faced was. Of the more then 20 pitchers I asked at least half of them said Tony Oliva. Tony never gets his due as far as the Hall of Fame goes, but those pitchers all remember that swing that I can still picture in my mind. Without those lousy knees that he had Tony O would certainly be a Hall of Fame player”.

You can find the interview with Eddie Bane here. This interview is just one of the 39 interviews that we have done with former Twins players that you can find on our Interviews Archives page.

This Day in Twins History – November 18

Zoilo Versalles

11/18/1965 – Shortstop Zoilo Versalles is selected as the American League MVP getting 19 out of 20 first place votes. Versalles becomes the first Latin player and the first Minnesota Twins player to win a MVP award. Versalles led the AL in plate appearances (728), at-bats (666), runs scored (126), doubles (45), triples (12), extra-base hits (76) and total bases (308), was second in assists (487) and third in stolen bases (27). Todate Versalles is only one of three Twins (along with Rod Carew and Joe Mauer) to lead the league in WAR. Twins outfielder Tony Oliva finishes second in the MVP balloting receiving the only other first place vote.

11/18/1992 – The Twins and Mets swap outfielders when the Twins acquire Pat Howell and the Mets receive Darren Reed.

11/18/1997 – The Twins lose outfielder Brent Brede and catcher Damian Miller to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1997 expansion draft. The Tampa Devil Rays did not select any Minnesota Twins in that draft.

11/18/2001 – Approximately 4,000 Minnesota Twins fans (and I was one of them) gathered in the Metrodome’s parking lot on a rainy Sunday afternoon to voice their support for their team after MLB voted to contract two teams.

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 – August 8

1974 – The Royals – Twins game at Royals Stadium is briefly interrupted by President Nixon’s resignation speech. The speech is broadcast after it begins and the next inning is delayed until the conclusion of the speech. The Twins prevail over the host Royals‚ 3 – 2 in 14 innings when Tony Oliva’s sacrifice fly drives home Rod Carew. Bill Campbell pitches 7 innings of relief for the win.

1987 – The Twins beat the Oakland A’s 9-2 at the Metrodome as Twins pitcher Steve Carlton wins the 329th and final game of his Hall of Fame career. Carlton pitches 8 2/3 innings giving up 2 runs while striking out two batters

1988 – The Indians and the Twins were scoreless after 3 innings at the Metrodome with Allan Anderson on the mound for the local nine. In the top of the fourth inning with no one out, the Indians Ron Washington and Willie Upshaw singled to put runners on first and second and then Joe Carter smashed a long drive to the left field corner where Twins outfielder Dan Gladden snagged it for an out and wheeled and fired a strike to Steve Lombardozzi at 2B to nail Washington and then Lombo relayed the ball to Gene Larkin at first to get the runner there by at least 5 feet and completed the unusual 7-4-3 triple play. The Twins went on to win the game by a 7-2 score with Gladden going 3 for 5 with a run scored, a stolen base, and a RBI. Catcher Brian Harper was 4 for 4 but played second fiddle to Gladden on this day.

1998 – Paul Molitor stole his 500th base in Minnesota’s 6-3 loss to Baltimore to become only the fifth player ever with 3,000 hits and 500 steals. Molitor joined Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins and Lou Brock.

2004 – The A’s beat the Twins 6 – 5 in 18 innings. It is the second-longest game in the 23-year history of the Metrodome. With the score tied 3 to 3, the A’s score 3 in the top of the 18th off Terry Mulholland to take a 6-3 lead. The Twins come back with 2 in the bottom of the 18th with a Morneau home run but leave Matthew LeCroy stranded on first when Koskie and Cuddyer fly out to end the rally and the Twins hope of a huge comeback victory. The game lasts 4 hours and 57 minutes.

2005 – One time Minnesota Twins manager (1976-1980) Gene Mauch passes away at the age of 79. Mauch was the seventh manager in Twins history. I think one of my favorite Gene Mauch quotes was “I’m not the manager because I am always right, but I am always right because I am the manager”.

2009 – The Twins third manager, Cal Ermer passed away at the age of 85 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ermer replaced the fired Sam Mele in June 1967 with the Twins in sixth place with a 25-25 record. The Twins went 66-46 the rest of the season but lost the American League pennant on the final day of the season. Ermer was fired after the Twins finished in seventh place in 1968 with a 79-83 record.

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.

This Day in Twins History – May 20

Ray Moore

1962 – The Twins split a double header at Yankee Stadium losing the first game 4-3 and winning the second game 4-2. Twins reliever Ray Moore becomes the first Twins pitcher to lose and win a game in the same day. There is a nice SABR Biography of “Farmer” or” Old Blue” that you can read here.

 

1970 – Rod Carew becomes the first Twins player to hit for the cycle when he accomplishes that rare feat in a 10-5 win over the Royals in Kansas City.

1984 – Boston’s Roger Clemens strikes out 7 batters in 7 innings en route to his first ML victory, 5-4 over the Twins.

1986 – The Twins trade pitcher Eric Broersma to Oakland for pitcher Keith Atherton.

1989 – Danny Gladden ties a major league record when get gets 7 official at bats against the Texas Rangers in a 9 inning game. Randy Bush ties a Twins record with 8 RBI’s in a 19-3 win at Arlington Stadium.

1994 – The Twins are hot having won 9 out of their last 10 games and are beating the Boston Red Sox 10 to 1 after 4 1/2 innings at the Metrodome. Then in the bottom of the fifth the Twins send up 16 batters, get 10 hits (8 singles, 1 double, and 1 home run), 2 walks, a hit batter, score 11 runs and leave 2 on base against three Red Sox pitchers and take a 21 – 1 lead and they hold on for a 21-2 victory. Now that is a fun inning if you are a Twins fan.

outfielder Marty Cordova

1995 – Minnesota Twins outfielder Marty Cordova ties a rookie record of home runs by hitting home runs in five consecutive games.

Carlos Silva

2005 – In an amazing pitching performance, Carlos Silva beats the Brewers 7-1 at the Metrodome with a 74 pitch complete game win in a game that lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.

 

2011 – The funeral for Harmon Killebrew was held at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona. Several hundred mourners, including past and present members of the Minnesota Twins, attended the service on a gorgeous sunny morning. The Twins just happened to be in town because they were scheduled to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in their first interleague play of 2011. Current Twins Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, and Justin Morneau, as well as manager Ron Gardenhire, were pall bearers, along with ex-Twin Paul Molitor and Killebrew’s former teammates Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Frank Quilici. Bert Blyleven, now a Twins broadcaster, was the only non-family member other than the pastor to speak at the service. A private burial is planned for Monday, May 23 in Killebrew’s hometown of Payette, Idaho.