Game 75: Minnesota Twins (42-32) @ Texas Rangers (33-38)

Sunday June 28, 1987

Rangers 6, Twins 3

On the heels of the hottest streak of the season, the Twins had easily their worst series of the year, a four-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers. The team was outscored 25-11 over the four game, three day series. At the start of the series, the Twins had a 4 1/2 game lead in the division. In three days, that lead has dwindled to just one game.

Tom Kelly had a suggestion for his team: “We need to pitch a little better and we have to play a little bit better.”

Player of the Game

Jose Guzman 7 1/3 IP 7 H 3 R 1 BB 4 K

AL West Standings through 6/28 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 75   42   33    0  .560     -   398  380
Oakland Athletics               73   40   33    0  .548   1.0   380  329
Kansas City Royals              72   38   34    0  .528   2.5   307  297
Seattle Mariners                74   38   36    0  .514   3.5   340  373
California Angels               75   37   38    0  .493   5.0   345  346
Texas Rangers                   72   34   38    0  .472   6.5   382  397
Chicago White Sox               71   25   46    0  .352  15.0   296  349

Twins Stats through 6/28

Dan Gladden LF .259/.326/.368 4 HR
Greg Gagne SS .240/.295/.423 5 HR
Kirby Puckett CF .346/.385/.545 13 HR
Kent Hrbek 1B .273/.361/.539 20 HR
Gary Gaetti 3B .269/.323/.496 15 HR
Roy Smalley DH .326/.384/.500 5 HR
Tom Brunansky RF .273/.369/.512 16 HR
Steve Lombardozzi 2B .237/.301/.314 3 HR
Tim Laudner C .174/.232/.400 8 HR

Al Newman UT .191/.273/.282 0 HR
Randy Bush RF .248/.342/.419 5 HR
Gene Larkin DH .300/.367/.438 2 HR
Mark Davidson OF .296/.346/.380 1 HR
Sal Butera C .189/.205/.270 0 HR
Tom Nieto C .247/.310/.377 1 HR (IR)

Bert Blyleven 6-6 4.41 ERA/5.65 FIP/1.32 WHIP
Frank Viola (L) 6-6 3.29/4.22/1.13
Les Straker 3-4 3.86/4.65/1.55
Mike Smithson 4-4 5.32/4.91/1.53
Joe Niekro 2-0 5.06/3.51/1.81

Juan Berenguer 5-0 2.93/2.85/1.25
Jeff Reardon 4-4 6.16/5.86/1.53
Keith Atherton 4-2 4.04/3.81/1.44
George Frazier 5-3 5.19/4.96/1.62
Dan Schatzeder (L) 0-0 15.75/7.20/3.50

Tomorrow at Kansas City: Les Straker 3-4 3.86 vs Danny Jackson 3-10 4.26
Tuesday-Thursday @ KC
Friday-Sunday vs BAL
7/6-7/8 @ NYY
7/9-7/12 @ BAL

Game 73 & 74: Minnesota Twins (42-30) @ Texas Rangers (31-38)

Saturday June 27, 1987

Rangers 11, Twins 6
Rangers 7, Twins 2

Game 1

Joe Niekro felt stiffness in his shoulder early, and had his worst outing as a Twin in the game one loss to the Rangers. Niekro allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings before he called it a game. George Frazier came on, but had similar results, allowing four runs in 2 1/3 innings to earn the loss. Ruben Sierra’s three-run shot off of Frazier in the fourth was the biggest blow to the Twins, who lost their second straight to the sixth place Rangers.

Player of the Game

Ruben Sierra 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI

Game 2

The Rangers scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a pinch hit grand slam by Mike Stanley off of Jeff Reardon, to blow open a game that had been tied at two up until that point. Juan Berenguer pitched six strong innings in his spot start, while Rangers starter Charlie Hough pitched the complete game to earn the second half of the doubleheader sweep.

Player of the Game

Charlie Hough 9 IP 7 H 2 R 2 BB 4 K

AL West Standings through 6/27 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 74   42   32    0  .568     -   395  374
Oakland Athletics               72   39   33    0  .542   2.0   370  329
Kansas City Royals              71   37   34    0  .521   3.5   299  294
Seattle Mariners                73   38   35    0  .521   3.5   337  365
California Angels               74   36   38    0  .486   6.0   332  343
Texas Rangers                   71   33   38    0  .465   7.5   376  394
Chicago White Sox               70   25   45    0  .357  15.0   293  336

Tomorrow at Texas: Mike Smithson 4-3 5.04 vs Jose Guzman 5-6 5.28
Monday-Thursday @ KC
Friday-Sunday vs BAL
7/6-7/8 @ NYY
7/9-7/12 @ BAL

Game 72: Minnesota Twins (42-29) @ Texas Rangers (30-38)

Friday June 26, 1987

Rangers 1, Twins 0

Texas starter Bobby Witt, in his second year, gave up a single to Roy Smalley with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. It was the last hit he would allow in the 92 degree heat in Arlington, Texas that day. The Rangers scored one run off of Frank Viola in the first inning, and it was enough to pull out a win over the streaking Twins.

Frank Viola pitched what may have been his best game of the year, allowing just the one run on seven hits in a complete game effort. It wasn’t enough.

Meanwhile, in the Twins pre-game clubhouse, Kent Hrbek was planning his career after baseball (Jay Weiner, Star Tribune):

“T. Rex. That’s my wrestling name,” Kent Hrbek was explaining before Friday night’s game with the Texas Rangers. He and his teammates were in their air-conditioned clubhouse, protecting themselves from the 92-degree oven-like conditions outside, and to pass the time they were dressing an inflated dinosaur in baseball garb.

The dinosaur is known as T. Rex and it belongs to the Twins first baseman. A gift to Hrbek from Metrodome clubhouse cook Bobby Dorey, it first made its appearance in Hrbek’s locker at the Dome. But Twins equipment manager Jim Wiesner deflated the life-size Godzilla, packed it and reinflated it for good luck on this eight-game road trip, four in Texas and four in Kansas City.

Hrbek said that when he retires he has desires to turn his bulk to the pro wrestling ring. His stage name will be T. Rex. Before the team left the clubhouse for pregame practice, the plastic Mr. Rex, green and fat, was wearing an athletic supporter and sunglasses and was reading a magazine.

Player of the Game

Bobby Witt

AL West standings through 6/26 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 72   42   30    0  .583     -   387  356
Oakland Athletics               71   38   33    0  .535   3.5   357  326
Seattle Mariners                72   38   34    0  .528   4.0   337  359
Kansas City Royals              70   36   34    0  .514   5.0   293  294
California Angels               73   35   38    0  .479   7.5   329  342
Texas Rangers                   69   31   38    0  .449   9.5   358  386
Chicago White Sox               69   25   44    0  .362  15.5   292  333

Tomorrow at Texas (DH)
Game 1: Joe Niekro 2-0 2.92 vs Ed Correa 2-5 7.44
Game 2: Juan Berenguer 5-0 2.93 vs Charlie Hough 7-3 3.88

Sunday @ TEX
Monday-Thursday @ KC
7/3-7/5 vs BAL
7/6-7/8 @ NYY

Game 71: Cleveland Indians (25-44) @ Minnesota Twins (41-29)

Thursday June 25, 1987

Twins 4, Indians 3

The Twins completed the three game sweep of Cleveland with a 4-3 victory in the series finale. Roy Smalley’s home run in the bottom of the fourth put the Twins ahead 4-1, and the team held on to complete the sweep. Kent Hrbek and Dan Gladden also homered in the winning effort. Bert Blyleven evened his record at 6-6 with the win, and Jeff Reardon pitched two perfect innings (with four strikeouts) to earn his 15th save.

Attendance was so high for the six game homestand that the Twins ran out of All-Star ballots prior to Thursday’s game.

Player of the Game

Roy Smalley 3-4, HR

AL West Standings through 6/25 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 71   42   29    0  .592     -   387  355
Oakland Athletics               70   37   33    0  .529   4.5   352  326
Kansas City Royals              69   36   33    0  .522   5.0   292  289
Seattle Mariners                71   37   34    0  .521   5.0   332  358
California Angels               72   34   38    0  .472   8.5   326  341
Texas Rangers                   68   30   38    0  .441  10.5   357  386
Chicago White Sox               68   25   43    0  .368  15.5   291  330

Tomorrow at Texas: Frank Viola (L) 6-5 3.45 vs Bobby Witt 2-3 5.40
Saturday-Sunday @ TEX (Saturday DH)
Monday-Thursday @ KC
7/3-7/5 vs BAL
7/6-7/8 @ NYY

Game 70: Cleveland Indians (25-43) @ Minnesota Twins (40-29)

Wednesday June 24, 1987

Twins 14, Indians 8

It was the bottom of the fourth inning. With the score tied at one Kent Hrbek stepped into the batter’s box.

To Hrbek, the fact that he was in the game came as somewhat of a surprise. Struggling lately, he expected to get the day off with a lefty on the mound.

The pitcher, Greg Swindell, tried to sneak an inside fastball past Hrbek with two men on base. Almost in an instant, the ball was flying over the Hardware Hank sign into the upper deck in right field.

It was Hrbek’s 17th home run of the year, a team high. More importantly, it put the Twins in the lead for good in what eventually became the team’s 14th win in the last 17 games.

The Twins left only four runners on base in the winning effort, while Cleveland left 14 runners on base.

On the negative side of things, Dan Schatzeder’s debut was anything but dazzling. The lefty allowed five runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings pitched.

Prior to the game, injured pitcher Joe Niekro was doing a television interview, likely discussing the fact that he is scheduled to make his first start since the brawl on Saturday in Texas. Suddenly, his right shoulder was hit by an errant throw from Indians outfielder Mel Hall. The resulting bruise was reportedly 3-4 inches from Niekro’s separated shoulder. Though he had a good sized bruise, Niekro is still expected to make the start in Texas.

Player of the Game

Kirby Puckett 3-4, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI

AL West Standings through 6/24 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 70   41   29    0  .586     -   383  352
Oakland Athletics               70   37   33    0  .529   4.0   352  326
Kansas City Royals              69   36   33    0  .522   4.5   292  289
Seattle Mariners                71   37   34    0  .521   4.5   332  358
California Angels               72   34   38    0  .472   8.0   326  341
Texas Rangers                   68   30   38    0  .441  10.0   357  386
Chicago White Sox               68   25   43    0  .368  15.0   291  330

Tomorrow vs Cleveland: Bert Blyleven 5-6 4.41 vs Phil Niekro 5-6 5.42
Friday-Sunday @ TEX (Saturday DH)
Monday-Thursday @ KC
7/3-7/5 vs BAL
7/6-7/8 @ NYY

Game 69: Cleveland Indians (25-42) @ Minnesota Twins (39-29)

Tuesday June 23, 1987

Twins 9, Indians 4

Sometimes, over the course of a long season, you don’t win a game as much as you survive. Such was the case with the first of three games at the Metrodome between the Twins and Indians. From the Star Tribune:

The winning pitcher, Mike Smithson, has been battling elbow problems that disabled him for more than a month. This was his first victory since April 20. The offensive standout, Gary Gaetti, was playing in the field for the first time since fouling a pitch off his foot nine days ago.

Cleveland’s top home run hitter, Joe Carter, was struck in the face by a Keith Atherton slider in the seventh inning. He was carried off the field with a broken nose, hospitalized overnight and probably will be out a week.

On the previous pitch, Atherton had been struck on the right (pitching) hand by Pat Tabler’s one-hop smash. The bruise he suffered wasn’t as frightening as having his hand go numb in the midst of the misfired delivery to Carter.

The Twins made some news off of the field as well. The team acquired left-handed reliever Dan Schatzeder from the Phillies for two minor league players. To make room on the roster, Randy Niemann was sent to Rochester.

Player of the Game

Gary Gaetti 2-4, HR, 4 RBI

AL West Standings through 6/23 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 69   40   29    0  .580     -   369  344
Kansas City Royals              68   36   32    0  .529   3.5   290  285
Oakland Athletics               69   36   33    0  .522   4.0   348  324
Seattle Mariners                70   36   34    0  .514   4.5   322  351
California Angels               71   33   38    0  .465   8.0   322  340
Texas Rangers                   67   30   37    0  .448   9.0   356  382
Chicago White Sox               67   25   42    0  .373  14.0   284  320

Tomorrow vs Cleveland: Les Straker 2-4 3.72 vs Greg Swindell (L) 3-6 4.68
Thursday vs CLE
Friday-Sunday @ TEX (DH Saturday)
6/29-7/2 @ KC
7/3-7/5 vs BAL

Game 68: Chicago White Sox (24-40) @ Minnesota Twins (38-29)

Sunday June 21, 1987

Twins 8, White Sox 6

Though the Twins hit four solo home runs in the first four innings, they closed out their 12th win in the last 15 games with a couple of hit-and-runs.

Kirby Puckett, Gary Gaetti, Dan Gladden, and Tom Brunansky started the scoring with the solo shots. When Keith Atherton came on in relief of Frank Viola in the seventh inning, however, the game was tied at four.

The hit-and-run struck in the seventh, when Kent Hrbek found the hole to single, moving Gaetti to third. Gaetti would eventually score on a single by Brunanasky.

In the eighth, with Roy Smalley at the plate, Brunansky took off for third, in what he called a straight steal. Smalley slapped a single through the infield to bring him home.

Juan Berenguer pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win, Jeff Reardon picked up his 14th save even though he allowed a home run to Harold Baines in the ninth. It was the first time Reardon has allowed a run in seven outings.

Joe Niekro will miss another start due to the shoulder he dislocated during the brawl in Milwaukee. The team’s best guess is that he will be available for the Texas series.

Player of the Game

Tom Brunansky 3-4, HR, 3 RBI

AL West Standings through 6/21 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 68   39   29    0  .574     -   360  340
Kansas City Royals              66   35   31    0  .530   3.0   285  281
Oakland Athletics               67   35   32    0  .522   3.5   344  319
Seattle Mariners                68   35   33    0  .515   4.0   316  338
Texas Rangers                   65   30   35    0  .462   7.5   347  367
California Angels               69   31   38    0  .449   8.5   307  331
Chicago White Sox               65   24   41    0  .369  13.5   271  314

Twins Stats through 6/21

Dan Gladden LF .261/.322/.356 3 HR
Greg Gagne SS .232/.290/.400 4 HR
Kirby Puckett CF .335/.374/.532 13 HR
Kent Hrbek 1B .275/.367/.514 15 HR
Gary Gaetti 3B .267/.322/.494 14 HR
Roy Smalley DH .317/.383/.491 4 HR
Tom Brunansky RF .274/.365/.518 15 HR
Steve Lombardozzi 2B .246/.309/.327 3 HR
Tim Laudner C .188/.245/.416 7 HR

Al Newman UT .201/.279/.286 0 HR
Randy Bush RF .252/.353/.412 4 HR
Gene Larkin DH .324/.390/.471 2 HR
Mark Davidson OF .284/.338/.373 1 HR
Sal Butera C .185/.207/.259 0 HR
Tom Nieto C .247/.310/.377 1 HR (IR)

Bert Blyleven 5-6 4.41 ERA/5.60 FIP/1.27 WHIP
Frank Viola (L) 6-5 3.45/4.38/1.14
Les Straker 2-4 3.72/5.13/1.40
Mike Smithson 3-3 4.97/4.95/1.51
Joe Niekro 2-0 2.92/2.87/1.63

Jeff Reardon 4-4 6.11/5.55/1.59
Juan Berenguer 5-0 3.02/2.88/1.23
Keith Atherton 4-1 4.08/3.83/1.44
George Frazier 5-2 5.02/4.37/1.59
Randy Niemann (L) 1-0 8.44/6.78/2.26

Tuesday vs Cleveland: Mike Smithson 3-3 4.97 vs Tom Candiotti 2-7 5.55
Wednesday-Thursday vs CLE
Friday-Sunday @ TEX (Saturday doubleheader)
6/29-7/2 @ KC
7/3-7/5 vs BAL

Game 67: Chicago White Sox (23-40) @ Minnesota Twins (38-28)

Saturday June 20, 1987

White Sox 10, Twins 5

It had to end sometime. The Twins were on a mad tear having won 11 of their last 13 games, but there was little magic left for the 10-5 loss to a struggling White Sox club.

More specifically, there was no magic to be found in the seventh inning.

With a 3-0 lead, the Sox loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning. Harold Baines hit an easy ground ball to Greg Gagne, who promply air mailed the throw past Steve Lombardozzi allowing two runs to score. The next batter, Greg Walker, grounded to Roy Smalley at third, who followed Gagne’s lead and threw the ball over Lombardozzi’s head to allow another unearned White Sox run.

At this point, starter Bert Blyleven was pulled in favor of Juan Berenguer, who allowed an RBI single and a three run home run before the seventh finally ended. The final damage in the inning: 8 runs on 4 hits.

Player of the Game

Daryl Boston 2-4 HR, 4 RBI

AL West Standings through 6/20 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 67   38   29    0  .567     -   352  334
Kansas City Royals              65   35   30    0  .538   2.0   285  273
Oakland Athletics               65   34   31    0  .523   3.0   334  303
Seattle Mariners                67   34   33    0  .507   4.0   311  338
Texas Rangers                   63   29   34    0  .460   7.0   331  357
California Angels               68   30   38    0  .441   8.5   299  331
Chicago White Sox               64   24   40    0  .375  12.5   265  306

Tomorrow vs Chicago: Frank Viola (L) 6-5 3.30 vs Floyd Bannister (L) 3-6 4.96
Tuesday-Thursday vs CLE
Friday-Sunday (DH Saturday) @ TEX
6/29-7/2 @ KC
7/3-7/5 vs BAL

Game 66: Chicago White Sox (23-39) @ Minnesota Twins (37-28)

Friday June 19, 1987

Twins 7, White Sox 6

Tim Laudner, a man who now has a .194 batting average so far in 1987, sent the first pitch of the botton of the ninth inning to the left-centerfield seats in the Metrodome for a 7-6 Twins win.

The Twins looked like they might win the game without needing late inning heroics when they scored three runs in the first inning, and were ahead 4-1 after five.

The bullpen, in this case Randy Niemann and George Frazier,  followed up Les Straker’s impressive performance (5 IP, 6 H, 1 R) by allowing four runs in the sixth and giving up the lead. The Twins grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the inning with a Randy Bush two RBI single.
By the time the ninth inning came around, the game was tied at six.

Jeff Reardon pitched the final inning and two-thirds to earn the win.

On the injury front, Joe Niekro sustained a slightly dislocated left shoulder in the brawl against Milwaukee, which is why Straker started today. Niekro may be ready to pitch for his next scheduled start on Wednesday against the Indians.

Player of the Game

Tim Laudner

AL West Standings through 6/19 (Retrosheet)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                 66   38   28    0  .576     -   347  324
Kansas City Royals              64   34   30    0  .531   3.0   277  269
Oakland Athletics               64   34   30    0  .531   3.0   328  296
Seattle Mariners                66   34   32    0  .515   4.0   309  329
Texas Rangers                   62   28   34    0  .452   8.0   324  351
California Angels               67   30   37    0  .448   8.5   295  323
Chicago White Sox               63   23   40    0  .365  13.5   255  301

Tomorrow vs Chicago: Bert Blyleven 5-5 4.43 vs Jose DeLeon 4-6 3.99
Sunday vs CHW
Tuesday-Thursday vs CLE
6/26-6/28 @ TEX (4 games)
6/29-7/2 @ KC

George Will on Blogs

Will responds to Time magazine’s Person Persons of the Year Award. Read the entire column here.

Richard Stengel, Time’s managing editor, says, “Thomas Paine was in effect the first blogger” and “Ben Franklin was essentially loading his persona into the MySpace of the 18th century, ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack.’ ” Not exactly.

Franklin’s extraordinary persona informed what he wrote but was not the subject of what he wrote. Paine was perhaps history’s most consequential pamphleteer. There are expected to be 100 million bloggers worldwide by the middle of 2007, which is why none will be like Franklin or Paine. Both were geniuses; genius is scarce. Both had a revolutionary civic purpose, which they accomplished by amazing exertions. Most bloggers have the private purpose of expressing themselves for their own satisfaction. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is nothing demanding or especially admirable about it, either. They do it successfully because there is nothing singular about it, and each is the judge of his or her own success.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 76 percent of bloggers say one reason they blog is to document their personal experiences and share them with others. And 37 percent — soon, 37 million — say the primary topic of their blog is “my life and experiences.” George III would have preferred dealing with 100 million bloggers rather than one Paine.

When I started CW a year ago, my wife signed on to the idea with the warning “it better not become just you writing a bunch of self-involved crap” (paraphrased). Interestingly, since then she has made it clear that the baseball and history content on this blog bores her, and she only reads the other stuff.

Now that I have illustrated Will’s point, back to baseball. Rondell White? In left field every day? Really?

It’s also worth mentioning that a pretty good pinch-hitter from the Twins two championship teams is making a name for himself in management.

Its entirely possible that I included that last link only for this quote:

55 days . . . until cubs pitchers and catchers report to spring training.