Game 20: Minnesota Twins (12-7) @ Toronto Blue Jays (10-8)

Tuesday April 28, 1987

Blue Jays 5, Twins 1

This game marks the first time the Twins have seen AL East competition in 1987. Since they will not see another team from the West for more than a month, it is worth checking the AL East standings through 4/27:

Milwaukee 17-1 121 RS 76 RA -
New York 14-5 107 RS 74 RA 3.5 GB
Toronto 10-8 79 RS 79 RA 7.0 GB
Baltimore 8-11 94 RS 99 RA 9.5 GB
Boston 8-11 73 RS 86 RA 9.5 GB
Detroit 7-11 73 RS 74 RA 10.0 GB
Cleveland 6-14 89 RS 132 RA 12.0 GB

The Twins haven’t had a lot of luck at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto over the past few seasons. The team is 2-17 in its last 19 games in Canada, including a 5-1 loss in the teams first meeting of the 1987 season.

On the day that the Vikings made DJ Dozier their number one draft pick, the Twins couldn’t get anything going in Toronto. Frank Viola continued his woes against the Blue Jays, giving up five runs in five innings. Viola’s career mark against the Jays is now 1-10.

While George Bell’s two-run blast in the fifth may have sealed the deal for the Jays, it was the defense of Jesse Barfield that hurt the Twins the most. In the first, he threw behind Randy Bush as he was rounding third on a Kirby Puckett single, getting the out and effectively ending a potential Twins threat. In the third and fifth innings, Barfield made two catches, one off the bat of Bush, the other from Steve Lombardozzi, on plays that looked to be extra-base hits.

There was one bright spot on an otherwise cold and dreary day in Toronto: Kent Hrbek’s home run marked the team’s 25th HR in 20 games so far this year.

Player of the Game

Jesse Barfield

AL West Standings through April 28
Minnesota 12-8 104 RS 87 RA -
California 12-9 113 RS 98 RA 0.5 GB
Seattle 11-10 91 RS 108 RA 1.5 GB
Kansas City 8-10 79 RS 78 RA 3.0 GB
Texas 7-11 79 RS 89 RA 4.0 GB
Oakland 8-13 103 RS 106 RA 4.5 GB
Chicago 6-11 58 RS 70 RA 4.5 GB

Tomorrow @ Toronto: Mike Smithson 3-0 2.93 vs Joe Johnson 0-2 5.06
Friday-Sunday vs NYY
5/5-5/7 vs BAL
5/8-5/10 @ NYY

A Familiar Storyline

We have seen this before, right here in Minnesota. Here is the scenario:

-Team wins less than 90 games, but makes the postseason in a weak division.

-Team has one Cy Young candidate pitcher, one solid-type veteran, and a mish mash of rookies and inconsistent veterans to fill out the starting rotation.

-Team stumbles towards the end of the season.

-Team defeats better opponents on its way to winning a World Series.

In the baseball world that the Yankees and Bud Selig helped create, winning the World Series is all that matters. The Cardinals may have limped into the post season, but were easily the best team in the short tournament.

ESPN.com has a poll that allows readers to rank the champions from the last 20 years. For what it’s worth, my top three looks like this:

1. 1998 Yankees
2. 1986 Mets
3. 1989 A’s

After those three, there can be a lot of debate about the middle teams. My bottom three:

18. 2006 Cardinals
19. 1988 Dodgers
20. 1987 Twins

(The 2000 Yankees probably pop in at number 17.)

In other news….

Sadly, it was reported over the weekend that Joe Niekro died after suffering a brain aneurysm. Niekro made a long career out of throwing the knuckleball, including a few years with the Twins later in his career. He is remembered in these parts, for better or worse, for the emory board incident in 1987. As I watched and listened to the storm kicked up around the Kenny Rogers pine tar incident, I couldn’t help but remember Niekro’s famous attempt to toss the evidence aside.

Game 19: California Angels (11-7) @ Minnesota Twins (11-7)

Sunday April 26, 1987

Twins 10, Angels 5

The Twins hit four home runs en route to a 10-5 victory over California, earning a series split and reclaiming sole possession of first place in the AL West.

The fireworks started in the first inning when Gary Gaetti hit his sixth of the season, a two-run shot off of Urbano Lugo.

Kirby Puckett hit a solo shot in the fifth off of Lugo to tie the score at four.

Steve Lombardozzi’s solo home run in the seventh inning put the Twins ahead to stay. The home run, Lombardozzi’s first of the season, came on his 27th birthday.

Greg Gagne capped the power display with the team’s 10th run, a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.

George Frazier pitched the last three innings to earn the win. Roy Smalley added three RBI to the Twins’ effort.

The Twins will have an off day tomorrow, before heading to Toronto for their first look at the AL East. The team’s first 19 game have come against West Coast opponents.

Player of the Game

Roy Smalley 2-3 1 R, 3 RBI

AL West Standings through April 26
Minnesota 12-7 103 RS 82 RA -
California 11-8 96 RS 83 RA 1.0 GB
Seattle 9-10 80 RS 102 RA 3.0 GB
Kansas City 8-9 79 RS 75 RA 3.0 GB
Chicago 6-10 58 RS 69 RA 4.5 GB
Texas 6-11 76 RS 88 RA 5.0 GB
Oakland 6-13 91 RS 103 RA 6.0 GB

Twins Stats through April 26

Dan Gladden LF .300/.310/.375 0 HR
Steve Lombardozzi 2B .262/.392/.381 1 HR
Kirby Puckett CF .351/.410/.649 6 HR
Kent Hrbek 1B .254/.359/.328 1 HR
Gary Gaetti 3B .233/.291/.548 6 HR
Roy Smalley DH .286/.317/.554 2 HR
Tom Brunansky RF .226/.294/.323 2 HR
Greg Gagne SS .295/.333/.545 3 HR
Tom Nieto C .250/.327/.364 0 HR

Tim Laudner C .091/.167/.364 1 HR
Al Newman UT .259/.310/.333 0 HR
Randy Bush RF .250/.315/.458 2 HR
Mark Davidson OF .278/.278/.278 0 HR
Mark Salas C .364/.467/.364 0 HR

Bert Blyleven 1-1 4.24 ERA 5.85 FIP 1.35 WHIP
Frank Viola (L) 1-2 2.57/3.66/1.29
Mike Smithson 3-0 2.93/3.60/1.08
Mark Portugal 1-1 7.64/7.15/1.92
Les Straker 1-0 2.45 /5.20/1.45

Jeff Reardon 1-1 8.22/6.06/1.82
Juan Berenguer 1-0 2.25/0.70/0.92
Keith Atherton 1-0 3.18/4.08/1.06
George Frazier 2-2 3.86/3.11/1.28
Joe Klink (L) 0-0 6.14/6.21/1.92

Tuesday at Toronto: Frank Viola (L) 1-2 2.57 vs Jim Clancy 1-2 5.59
Wednesday @ TOR
Friday-Sunday vs NYY
5/5-5/7 vs BAL

Game 18: California Angels (11-6) @ Minnesota Twins (10-7)

Saturday April 25, 1987

Twins 8, Angels 7

The Twins won their first game of the weekend series against California in front of a sellout crowd at the Metrodome, only the third baseball sellout in the five year history of the stadium. Twins officials were stunned at the size of the walk-up crowd, the advance sale of tickets was only in the 26,000 range. Long lines formed at the dome at about 6:00, and many fans were turned away on cap night.

The game was delayed by 14 minutes to allow the fans to get in, and 51,717 of them saw the Twins win the game on a Gary Gaetti single in the bottom of the ninth inning. The victory puts the Twins back into a tie for the division lead.

The Twins held a slim lead through most of the game, thanks in part to a two home run performance by shortstop Greg Gagne. The Angels were able to tie the game with two runs in the top of the eighth, but the Twins answered in the bottom half of the inning with a Gaetti solo shot to reclaim the lead.

Last night’s hero, Wally Joyner, tied the game again in the ninth with a single off of Jeff Reardon. The closer was able to get the next two men out, however, to move the teams into the bottom of the ninth.

With one out, Mark Davidson singled off of Chuck Finley. Kirby Puckett followed with a single, sending Davidson to third. Kent Hrbek was able to coax a walk to load the bases for Gaetti’s game-winning hit.

Player of the Game

Gary Gaetti 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, Game winning hit

AL West Standings through 4/25
California 11-7 91 RS 73 RA -
Minnesota 11-7 93 RS 77 RA -
Seattle 8-10 72 RS 97 RA 3.0 GB
Kansas City 7-9 73 RS 74 RA 3.0 GB
Chicago 6-9 56 RS 64 RA 3.5 GB
Oakland 6-12 86 RS 95 RA 5.0 GB
Texas 5-11 71 RS 85 RA 5.0 GB

Tomorrow vs California: Bert Blyleven 1-1 3.86 vs Urbano Lugo 0-0 7.30
Tuesday-Wednesday @ TOR
Friday-Sunday vs NYY
5/5-5/7 vs BAL

Game 17: California Angels (10-6) @ Minnesota Twins (10-6)

Friday April 24, 1987

Angels 8, Twins 1

20,116 Metrodome fans each recieved a Minnesota road map before the Twins-Angels game. By the end of the game, most of the maps had been made into paper airplanes, which bombarded the field through the middle and late innings of the Twins’ worst defeat this season.

Don Sutton won the 311th game of his career 8-1 over the Minnesota Twins. The win moves the Angels alone into first place in the AL West. Sutton’s win was his first this year, and by far his best performance of 1987. He carried a shut out into the bottom of the seventh, but by the time the Twins were able to scratch together a run against Sutton, they were already in a seven-run hole.

Twins starter Mark Portugal lasted only three innings and change, giving up six runs, though only four were earned.

Player of the Game

Wally Joyner 4-4 1 W, 2 R, 3 RBI

AL West Standings through 4/24
California 11-6 84 RS 65 RA -
Minnesota 10-7 85 RS 70 RA 1.0 GB
Seattle 8-9 69 RS 90 RA 3.0 GB
Kansas City 7-8 71 RS 61 RA 3.0 GB
Chicago 5-9 51 RS 60 RA 4.5 GB
Oakland 5-12 79 RS 92 RA 6.0 GB
Texas 4-11 69 RS 84 RA 6.0 GB

Tomorrow vs California: Mike Smithson 3-0 2.01 vs Willie Fraser 1-0 0.00
Sunday vs CAL
Tuesday-Wednesday @ TOR
Friday-Sunday vs NYY

Signs that Baseball Season is Coming to an End

(Aside from the obvious)

-My drive-time radio “play-list” expands. During the season, I will generally surf through a few stations in order to find baseball talk. That failing, I will often just leave the radio on KFAN in case they decide to throw in some baseball in between Vikings draft coverage. During the off season, I am more likely to be listening to public radio or the local talk station (particularly during Vikings season).

Interestingly, fall is also pledge drive time for MPR. If I didn’t know better, I would think that all they do is ask for money.

-I can’t watch television or listen to the radio without being inundated by political ads. This year seems to be particularly nasty, but I seem to remember feeling that way every two years. There are at least two local candidates, one from each party, who would be on my “no vote” list, even if I knew nothing else about them, based on their respective television spots alone. It’s a shame, because I don’t hold their opponents in particularly high esteem either. It’s enough to make one consider voting independent…(ex pro-wrestlers excluded).

-CW posting either becomes A) less frequent or B) less about baseball, or C) some combination of the two (Hot Stove 1987 notwithstanding). I may also post some meaningless milestones, such as the fact that CW is now a year old, the most viewed posts are here and here (in that order), and you may or may not have found this blog by typing one of the following into a search engine:

when did jackie robinson join the twins
elysian geek history definition
Jeter playoffs all that matter
momentum sports cliche
naked baseball player (I’m guessing that you didn’t find what you were looking for)
eric stampfl

-For Emily, hockey season becomes an interest. I try to keep up with the Wild so as to hold up my end of the conversation, but I think she primarily enjoys the checking. When we were in college, we played on the same broomball team; it was on those rinks in the frigid Minnesota January where she developed her love for playing dirty, particularly earning a reputation for diving at the opponent’s knees. She never played hockey (not a popular sport where she comes from), but would likely have been the female equivalent of a hockey goon if she had.

(I ran the above paragraph by my editor who proposed the following changes:
1. There is a difference between “diving at knees” and “swinging brooms at people’s knees”
2. I only played as dirty as half of the guys did-they just didn’t want to check a girl
3. What is a hockey goon?)

-I pick up on some of my other strange hobbies, like voting for my favorite Supreme Court Justice (he didn’t win) or throwing the ball so that my dog will be forced to slide on the hardwood floor (there really isn’t anything more amusing than watching him try and navigate corners on hard floors).

-I may even finish the book I started back in April (Note to Dad: I still have it, about 2/3 of the way through it).

Game 16: California Angels (9-6) @ Minnesota Twins (10-5)

A big early season series deserves a look at the opponents’ lineup:

Angels 9-6 (5-5 in the last 10)
1. Brian Downing DH .382/.500/.818 6 HR
2. Wally Joyner 1B .210/.350/.355 2 HR
3. Devon White RF .279/.343/.639 5 HR
4. Doug DeCinces 3B .281/.455/.406 1 HR
5. Dick Schofield SS .204/.273/.286 1 HR
6. Darrell Miller LF .091/.091/.364 1 HR
7. Butch Wynegar C .227/.320/.250 0 HR
8. Gary Pettis CF .315/.362/.481 1 HR
9. Mark McLemore 2B .289/.396/.333 0 HR

Starting Pitchers
Game 1: John Candelaria (L) 1-0 1.35 ERA 3.35 FIP 1.10 WHIP
Game 2: Don Sutton 0-3 7.07/7.56/1.79
Game 3: Willie Fraser 1-0 1.46/2.96/1.14
Game 4: Urbano Lugo 0-0 7.30/4.26/1.95

Thursday April 23, 1987

Angels 7, Twins 3

The California Angels did everything they could to hand this game to the Twins, but the end result was the Twins second straight loss at the Metrodome.

The Twins jumped on John Candelaria early with a Gary Gaetti two-run home run in the bottom of the first. Frank Viola held that lead for three innings, before Devon White hit a two-run shot of his own to even the score in the fourth.

The Angels gave a run back in the fifth, thanks to a Dick Schofield error, one of five charged to the California infield.

The lead was short lived, as the Angels came back with two runs in the sixth, including a Wally Joyner home run off of Frank Viola.

The score remained 4-3 Angels until the top of the ninth. After retiring the first four batter he faced, Keith Atherton ran into some late trouble. A double and a single by Gary Pettis and Mark McLemore added a run to the total, but the most devastating blow came off of the bat of Brian Downing, the third home run of the game for the Angels. Though the Twins loaded the bases with no outs in their half of the ninth, they failed to score.

Notes:

Kirby Puckett is in the midst of a four game hitless streak. He is 0 for 16 over that time span.

Steve Lombardozzi overcame the bad Manicotti he ate earlier in the week to return to the lineup tonight.

Angels pitcher Dewayne Buice on the Metrodome: “This is the wildest place I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s like being in the Goodyear blimp.”

Player of the Game

John Candelaria 7 IP 4 H 3 R 1 ER 6 K

AL West Standings through 4/23
Minnesota 10-6 84 RS 62 RA -
California 10-6 76 RS 64 RA -
Seattle 7-9 63 RS 87 RA 3.0 GB
Kansas City 6-8 64 RS 58 RA 3.0 GB
Chicago 5-8 49 RS 56 RA 3.5 GB
Oakland 5-11 76 RS 86 RA 5.0 GB
Texas 3-11 63 RS 80 RA 6.0 GB

Tomorrow vs California: Mark Portugal 1-0 6.75 vs Don Sutton 0-3 7.07
Saturday-Sunday vs CAL
Tuesday-Wednesday @ TOR
5/1-5/3 vs NYY

Thomas Eakins

Baseball Players Practicing, 1875

About the Artist 

Game 15: Seattle Mariners (6-9) @ Minnesota Twins (10-4)

Wednesday April 22, 1987

Mariners 4, Twins 3

On a day in which Minnesota was awarded an expansion NBA franchise (complete with a Dan Barreiro column titled: “Here are 10 things to like about the NBA”) , the Twins suffered their first loss at the Metrodome this season, falling to the Mariners in an afternoon matinee.

It was looking good for the Twins in the fifth inning, when Al Newman’s two RBI single off of Mariner’s starter Mark Langston put the home team ahead 3-1.

The Mariners clawed their way back, scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth on a Harold Reynolds single off of George Frazier.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Tom Brunansky almost played the hero. With Kent Hrbek on first, Brunansky drove a Langston pitch deep down the left field line. The ball started in fair territory, but tailed foul just before it crossed the foul pole in left. From Jay Weiner’s column in the Strib:

“I wish it would have straightened out,” Brunansky said, watching the event repeatedly on a VCR in the Twins’ clubhouse. But wishing didn’t work on a day when victory was not to be.

Twins second baseman Steve Lombardozzi has now missed two games in a row with food poisoning.

Player of the Game

Mark Langston 9 IP 7 H 3 R 2 W 9 K

AL West Standings through April 22
Minnesota 10-5 81 RS 55 RA -
California 9-6 69 RS 61 RA 1.0 GB
Seattle 7-9 63 RA 87 RA 3.5 GB
Kansas City 6-8 64 RS 58 RA 3.5 GB
Chicago 5-8 49 RS 56 RA 4.0 GB
Oakland 5-11 76 RS 86 RA 5.5 GB
Texas 2-11 54 RS 76 RA 7.0 GB

Tomorrow vs California: Frank Viola (L) 1-1 1.74 vs John Candelaria (L) 2-0 1.35
Friday-Sunday vs CAL
Tuesday-Wednesday @ TOR
5/1-5/3 vs NYY

“It gets through Buckner!”

October 25, 1986

Twenty years ago today, the Red Sox looked to be ready to break the curse. Ahead 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning and nobody on base, all the Sox needed to do to start the celebration in New England was to get the final out.

With Calvin Schiraldi pitching, Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell, and Ray Knight singled in succession to cut the lead to 5-4 with runners at the corners. The three singles were enough to end Schiraldi’s night, and he was relieved by Bob Stanley.

Stanley promptly threw a wild pitch that tied the score and allowed the winning run to advance into scoring position. Here is text of Vin Scully’s call of the 3-2 pitch to Mookie Wilson:

“Little roller up along first, behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here come Knight and the Mets win it!”

Later:

“If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words; but more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to game six of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they will play the Red Sox in game seven tomorrow.”

The Mets would, of course, go on to win the series the next night. New England would have to wait another 18 years to capture a World Series title.

A while back, I posted a video of a Nintendo re-enactment of the sequence to end game six. It’s worth posting again, if for no other reason than to hear Vin Scully make the famous call.