Game 106: Minnesota Twins (58-47) @ Toronto Blue Jays (53-55)

Thursday August 4, 1988

The headline on Mark Vancil’s story in the 8/5/1988 Star Tribune told the story.

“Anderson is Twins’ man of the hour - Complete-game victory just what bullpen ordered”

Allan Anderson held the Jays to just four hits and a single run that came on George Bell’s fourth inning home run. The Twins won the game 2-1 on the strength of Anderson’s pitching and Kirby Puckett’s solo home run in the top of the fourth inning that put the Twins ahead 2-0 at the time.

Anderson faced the minimum after Bell’s home run, and gave the weary bullpen a night off in a week in which the team is scheduled to play four more games in three more days. Vancil continued to run down Anderson’s unlikely accomplishments so far in 1988:

For two months, Anderson has made it seem that way. In 12 starts since June 5, he is 7-4 with a 1.73 ERA. He lowered his overall ERA to 2.75, sixth-best in the American League, and his 9-7 record doesn’t come close to reflecting the consistency that has made him the team’s most reliable starter behind Frank Viola.

In Anderson’s seven losses, the Twins have scored only 14 runs, and yesterday they forced the 24-year-old lefthander to be almost flawless. Brian Harper, who has caught Anderson all season, was gunned down at third trying to advance from second on an infield grounder in the second inning. Greg Gagne wasted a leadoff triple in the third by getting tagged out trying to score on a ground ball to third. The Twins also left the bases loaded in the fourth and pinch runner Eric Bullock, who was shipped back to Class AAA Portland after the game, got picked off with one out in the ninth.

“We tried to give it away, but Allan wouldn’t let it go,” said manager Tom Kelly. “It was the kind of pitching we needed because we were making some mistakes out there. He was just outstanding, going nine innings when we really needed it. Our bullpen was washed out and he finished it off with a good eighth and good ninth.

Box

Player of the Game
Allan Anderson

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              109   67   42    0  .615     -   522  423
Minnesota Twins                106   59   47    0  .557   6.5   502  464
California Angels              107   55   52    0  .514  11.0   496  519
Kansas City Royals             107   54   53    0  .505  12.0   464  435
Chicago White Sox              107   47   60    0  .439  19.0   435  536
Texas Rangers                  105   46   59    0  .438  19.0   400  474
Seattle Mariners               108   41   67    0  .380  25.5   436  549

The Franchise 1952

1952 Washington Nationals

Manager: Bucky Harris 25th Season (16th with Washington 1194-1252-23)
78 W 76 L 3 T 598 RS 608 RA 5th AL 17.0 GB (New York 95-59)
3.81 RPG (AL = 4.18) 3.37 ERA (AL = 3.67)
.978 DER (3rd AL)

All Stars (2) Jackie Jensen, Eddie Yost

Franchise (1901-1952) 3708-4140-100; 8-11 WS

At the end of the previous season, Clark Griffith promised there would be some changes. There were rumors early in the year that Bucky Harris might take a job as the GM of the Detroit Tigers, but ultimately Harris stayed on to manage Washington, but that was about the aspect of the Washington Nationals that remained the same in 1952.

Immediately following the conclusion of the 1951 season, the Nats unloaded former starting short stop Sam Dente in a trade with the White Sox that netted infielder Tom Upton. It wasn’t a major move, Dente hadn’t been a regular for several years, but it was the first in a chain of dominoes falling that shaped the ‘52 version of the team.

In the months leading to spring training, the Nats let Mike McCormick go. Shortly after the start of the season, Mickey Harris was claimed on waivers by the Indians. These were relatively minor moves, but there was more to come as the season progressed.

The major movement began in May. On the 3rd, the Nats sent Irv Noren and Upton to the Yankees, recieving four players in return, including right fielder Jackie Jensen and starting pitcher Spec Shea. Later that month, Griffith sent Sam Mele to the White Sox for a solid second baseman (Mel Hoderlein) and a new center fielder (Jim Busby). On the 19th, Griffith proved that not even family was safe when he let the A’s claim his nephew Sherry Robertson off of waivers.

The dealing continued into June, where the Nats traded Sid Hudson to the Red Sox for SP Walt Masterson and RP Randy Gumpert. By then, only three everyday players remained starters from the previous season: Mickey Vernon, Eddie Yost, and Pete Runnels. Connie Marrero and Bob Porterfield still anchored the rotation, but the addition of Spec Shea and the return of Walt Masterson made for a pretty solid pitching staff.

The revamped version of the Nats improved, and actually finished above the .500 mark for the first time in six seasons, but still finished fifth in a tough American League. Their problem was still hitting, though the pitching had improved enough from the previous season to make the team look like a contender.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to Washington in 1952

C Mickey Grasso .216/.276/.241 0 HR -1.7 BFW 4 WS 20 FRAR 0.6 WARP3
Newton Michael Grasso earned the nickname “Mickey” because teammates thought he resembled Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane. From 1943 to 1945, Grasso was POW in North Africa. He spent two plus years playing on teams while in captivity, and ultimately returned after liberation to the Giants, the team that had signed him before the war. He got some brief playing time with the Giants in 1946, but didn’t see major league action again until Washington picked him up in the 1949 Rule V Draft. He spent 1950-1951 as the backup catcher, and finally got his chance to start in 1952.

1B Mickey Vernon .251/.353/.394 10 HR 0.0 BFW 20 WS 33 FRAR 7.0 WARP3
Vernon’s line from 1952 illustrates why he can be a difficult player to evaluate. While BFW, WS, and WARP3 typically vary a little bit, they don’t usually disagree so much for a given player. Vernon’s 1952 WS and WARP3 numbers look pretty good, not top of the league good, but certainly above average. BFW indicates that Vernon was average. WARP3 would rate 1952 as the fourth best season of Vernon’s career (1953 9.6 WARP3; 1946 9.3 WARP3; 1949 8.0 WARP3); while Win Shares says there were six seasons in which Vernon was better (1946 33 WS; 1953 29 WS; 1954 24 WS; 1943, 1949, & 1955 21 WS; while BFW says there were nine seasons in which Vernon was better than in 1952 (1946 4.3 BFW; 1953 3.0 BFW; 1949 1.8 BFW; 1954 1.4 BFW; 1955 1.0 BFW; 1956 0.6 BFW; 1958 0.5 BFW; 1950 0.4 BFW; 1943 0.1 BFW). Vernon put up fairly consistent offensive numbers through his career. Throw out his two high and two low OPS+ seasons from his years as a regular and all the remaining numbers fall between 99-137. The difference, then, would be how the different metrics account for his fielding. FRAR likes his defense in 1952 - the only year in which he was credited with more was in 1949 when he had 34. I don’t have the breakdown of fielding stats that contribute to the other numbers, but it might be safe to say that Pete Palmer rates Vernon’s effort at first base in 1952 a good bit lower than does Bill James.

2B Floyd Baker .262/.342/.293 0 HR -1.7 BFW 8 WS 14 FRAR 2.0 WARP3
2B Mel Hoderlein .269/.333/.327 0 HR -0.7 BFW 5 WS 14 FRAR 2.0 WARP3
Baker came in an off season trade with the White Sox. The 35-year-old veteran had been in the majors since 1943, and was notably a member of the St. Louis Browns’ 1944 team. In May, Griffith added Hoderlein in the trade that sent Sam Mele to the Red Sox. The two veterans platooned at second for the rest of the season. Baker was sold to Boston in May if 1953, while Hoderlein remained with the team through 1954, though his 72 games played in 1952 is more than the rest of his career combined.

SS Pete Runnels .285/.368/.333 1 HR -0.5 BFW 22 WS 38 FRAR 6.2 WARP3
From Shirley Povich’s column in the July 2, 1952 Sporting News:

He (Runnels) was banging away at a .280 rate that actually was no index to his surge. For the first six weeks of the season Pete was bogged down among the low .200’s and causing Bucky Harris to wonder if he were the same sprightly hitter who last year gave promise of being a solid man with the bat.

Runnels is one of the Senators who isn’t being benched against any type of pitching, which is more to his credit. He’s a southpaw swinger who concedes little to lefthanded pitching, and the other week at Cleveland he jolted the outfielders who had been shading him to the left by pulling his first major league home run into right field territory.

…

At this point, Jackie Jensen is the only regular outhitting Runnels, and Mickey Vernon is the only player who has driven more runs across the plate for the Senators. Even when Runnels’ average was down, he was making his hits count, and the pitchers were aware of it and dispensing more than the average allotment of intentional passes to him.

3B Eddie Yost .233/.378/.359 12 HR -1.6 BFW 23 WS 4 FRAR 4.2 WARP3
Yost’s production fell in just about every category except walking. He once again led the AL, this time with 129 free passes. Yost’s season long slump was so bad that he was hitting under .200 as late as mid-August. Still, he led the team in home runs with 12, all of which came on the road.

LF Gil Coan .205/.277/.319 5 HR -2.2 BFW 5 WS 1 FRAR -0.3 WARP3
LF Ken Wood .238/.333/.419 6 HR 0.2 BFW 8 WS 5 FRAR 1.6 WARP3
On My 25, Coan broke his wrist when he dove attempting to knock down a ball. On June 9 Washington acquired Wood in a trade with the Red Sox. When Coan returned to the lineup, Wood remained in a platoon with Coan, who was another of the Senators having the dreaded season long slump.

CF Jim Busby .244/.281/.318 2 HR -2.3 BFW 26 FRAR 2.1 WARP3
Busby also came from Chicago in the Mele trade. At the time of the deal, Busby was batting just .128/.171/.128 compared with Mele’s .429/.448/.750 line. Still, Busby was five years younger than Mele. Busby improved on his numbers in Chicago, but wasn’t going to win any awards with his hitting in 1952. The highlight of his season came on August 29 in a game against the Yankees. With his team down by one in the top of the ninth inning, Busby ignored a bunt sign because of what he called a “fat” pitch, and launched the ball for a game-winning two-run home run at Yankee Stadium.

RF Jackie Jensen .286/.360/.407 10 HR 1.4 BFW 8 FRAR 4.8 WARP3
Jensen had originally been groomed in the Yankee farm system as the heir apparent to Joe DiMaggio. When he struggled early in his career, he was quickly replaced for that title by Mickey Mantle. Jensen, who became expendable to the Yankees, was dealt to Washington early in the 1952 season. Jensen enjoyed his best season so far, and was the best hitter on the team in 1952.

SP Bob Porterfield 13-14 2.72 ERA 1.33 WHIP 2.4 PW 20 WS 6.6 WARP3
May 15th might have been a microcosm of Porterfield’s season in 1952. On that day he was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Virgil Trucks of the Detroit Tigers. While Porterfield held the Tigers scoreless through eight innings, Trucks had a no-hitter going against the Nats offense. In the ninth inning, Porterfield allowed a two-out solo home run to Vic Wertz, and he lost the game 1-0. It was noted in The Sporting News that Washington had been shut out five times by mid-July, and all five were Porterfield losses. Though Porterfield won’t pitch as well in 1953, his win-loss record will dramatically improve.

SP Connie Marrero 11-8 2.88 ERA 1.24 WHIP 0.7 PW 14 WS 3.5 WARP3
At the age of 40 (though he was listed as 43 in The Sporting News), the Cuban junkballer continued to confound AL hitters. Marrero was known as much for his trademark cigar (referred to as his “cee-gar” by sportswriters) as he was for his pitching prowess.

SP Julio Moreno 9-9 3.97 ERA 1.40 WHIP -1.1 PW 6 WS 1.4 WARP3
Moreno was the least heralded of Griffith’s Cuban pitchers, but had his best season in 1952. Though he started off well in 1953, there wasn’t enough innings for him to pitch, and he was optioned to the minors in the middle of the season. Moreno never returned to the majors.

SP Walt Masterson 9-8 3.70 ERA 1.40 WHIP -0.2 PW 9 WS 3.2 WARP3
Masterson, who pitched for the Nats throughout the 1940’s, returned to Washington after a two-plus year absence as part of the deal that sent Sid Hudson to the Red Sox. The deal was basically a wash, with Masterson and Hudson performing similarly for the next two years, while the other pitcher that came to Washington in the deal, Randy Gumpert, was out of the majors after a sub par 1952.

SP Spec Shea 11-7 2.93 ERA 1.40 WHIP 1.5 PW 15 WS 4.5 WARP3
The “Naugatuck Nugget’s” previous best season was his rookie year of 1947, the season in which he fell short of the rookie of the year award only because of Jackie Robinson. From 1948-1951 Shea struggled to find his rookie form and found that he wasn’t able to pitch without pain. The Yankees staff blamed it on arm trouble, and Shea tried for four years to work it out in the minors. During the offseason between 1951 and 1952, Shea went to a chiropractor who reportedly fixed his problem within 15 minutes. Whether that story is true or not, the numbers indicate that Shea had his best career season in 1952, though part of the success may have been due to to the fact that he pitched half of his games in Griffith Stadium.

RP Sandy Consuegra 6-0 3.05 ERA 1.45 WHIP 0.3 PW 7 WS 1.7 WARP3
Consuegra had another very good season in 1952, and was being used almost exclusively out of the bullpen. After four difficult outings in 1953, Consuegra was sold to the White Sox, where he continued to perform as one of the best relief pitchers in baseball.

RP Tom Ferrick 4-3 3.02 ERA 1.26 WHIP 0.6 PW 5 WS 2.2 WARP3
RP Don Johnson 0-5 4.43 ERA 1.64 WHIP -0.7 PW 0 WS 0.3 WARP3
RP Joe Haynes 0-3 4.50 ERA 1.59 WHIP -0.4 PW 1 WS 0.4 WARP3
A group of Washington veterans rounded out the bullpen. While none of them had a particularly stand out season, it is notable that none of them was horrible either. None of the three will return to Washington to play. Ferrick and Haynes both retired after the season, and Johnson spent a year in the International League before resurfacing with the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.

RP Bobo Newsom 1-1 4.97 ERA 1.97 WHIP -0.3 PW 0 WS 0.2 WARP3
44-year-old Bobo Newsom had his fifth and final stint with the Nats in 1952. He appeared in 10 games before he was released in mid-June. Newsom was immediately snatched up by Philadelphia, and finished his career there. He retired after the 1953 season with a 20-year career in which he played for nine different teams. His totals with Washington: 8 seasons, 61-66 4.28 ERA (95 ERA+), 497 BB, 511 K, 18.3 WARP3.

1952 World Series
The Yankees won their fourth straight World Series by defeating the Dodgers in seven games. Former Nat Irv Noren batted .300/.364/.300 in 11 PA’s, while another former Nat, Bob Kuzava, pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Game 105: Minnesota Twins (57-47) @ Toronto Blue Jays (53-54)

Wednesday August 3, 1988

The task was a simple one, really, for Juan Berenguer, Keith Atherton and Jeff Reardon on Wednesday night in Toronto: pitch. Pitch well or pitch poorly, but pitch.

Luckily for the Twins, they pitched well, because if they hadn’t the game still might be going on. Berenguer, Atherton and Reardon held down the Blue Jays as the Twins won 8-3. They were the only three guys available to pitch.

“Berenguer gave us all he had,” manager Tom Kelly said. “He gave us four good innings. Keith came in and threw three shutout innings. And Jeff Reardon came in and shut them out over the last two.”

And if one of those guys had faltered?

“Dick Such was getting loose,” Kelly said, smiling. “But the guys scored some runs tonight. They knew what kind of a position we were in and really helped out.”

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 8/4/1988

The Twins’ offense helped its pitching staff out by scoring three runs in the first inning that included RBI hits for both Gary Gaetti and Steve Lombardozzi, the first of four hits on the day each. The Twins added two more on a Kirby Puckett double in the fourth, and held on to win despite a Fred McGriff three-run shot in the bottom of the same inning.

When asked about the shape of his pitching staff following the game, Tom Kelly replied “Well, Allan Anderson is pitching,” Kelly said. “Reardon can probably go one, Anderson goes eight… That adds up to nine, doesn’t it?”

Box

Player of the Game
Gary Gaetti

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              108   66   42    0  .611     -   520  423
Minnesota Twins                105   58   47    0  .552   6.5   500  463
California Angels              107   55   52    0  .514  10.5   496  519
Kansas City Royals             107   54   53    0  .505  11.5   464  435
Chicago White Sox              107   47   60    0  .439  18.5   435  536
Texas Rangers                  105   46   59    0  .438  18.5   400  474
Seattle Mariners               107   41   66    0  .383  24.5   436  547

Game 104: Minnesota Twins (57-46) @ Toronto Blue Jays (52-54)

Tuesday August 2, 1988

Tom Powers reported some trouble the Twins were having agreeing to terms with Bert Blyleven:

A disagreement in the wording of the contract language has led Bert Blyleven and the Twins to break off negotiations. Both sides say there will be no contract talks for the rest of the season.

Neither side appears particularly happy with the other. “Basically, my agent, Dick Moss, told Andy (MacPhail) that some wording was not the way it was supposed to be, not the way he said it was going to be,” Blyleven said before Tuesday night’s game against the Blue Jays. “We’re not going to accept that. We said let’s forget about it then.”

“That’s ridiculous,” MacPhail said. “We kept the same offer out there right along. We basically told them that if we hadn’t consummated the agreement by a certain time we would withdraw the offer. We did.”

The offer had been on the table since mid-June. Blyleven was told last week that the offer would be withdrawn Aug. 1. Blyleven and Moss let the deadline come and go.

The contract Blyleven turned down was as follows:

*1989 - $1 million base with a $100,000 bonus for a Cy Young Award. The $1 million would be guaranteed if Blyleven were to pitch 195 innings in 1988. He already has 148, so he would have been 47 innings away from a guaranteed million.

*1990 - $900,000 base with a $100,000 bonus for a Cy Young Award and four possible $25,000 bonuses based on levels of innings pitched up to 250. The base would be guaranteed, again, if Blyleven were to pitch 195 innings in 1989. If not, the Twins could buy out the final year for $150,000.

In an unrelated note, Blyleven will miss his scheduled Wednesday start because of a thumb injury in his pitching hand.

On the field, the Twins took one on the chin in Toronto. The Jays teed off on Charlie Lea for six runs in three innings, and added five more off of reliever Jim Winn. The Jays got a home run from Rance Mulliniks in the third inning, and a pair off the bat of Fred McGriff in their 11-1 win over the Twins.

After the game, the talk in the Twins’ clubhouse was about Jim Winn, who finished the game after the early hook came for Lea. Winn threw 107 pitches that the Twins needed because Juan Berenguer was unavailable out of the bullpen because he is scheduled to start for Blyleven on Wednesday.

“I was exhausted,” the righthander said. “I knew I was going to have to finish the game. I knew it was my job, no matter what, even if they scored 10 runs or 20 runs. We were short in the bullpen and with Juan pitching (tonight), who knows how long he’ll be able to go before he tires. I had to finish it.”

…

“(Winn) sacrificed himself for the pitching staff,” Such said. “That’s about what it amounted to. He did a helluva job and he pitched better than his numbers will show. He’s got a lot of heart and you have to appreciate that.”

-Mark Vancil, Star Tribune 8/3/1988

Box

Player of the Game
Fred McGriff

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              107   65   42    0  .607     -   516  420
Minnesota Twins                104   57   47    0  .548   6.5   492  460
California Angels              106   55   51    0  .519   9.5   489  511
Kansas City Royals             106   53   53    0  .500  11.5   462  434
Chicago White Sox              106   47   59    0  .443  17.5   432  532
Texas Rangers                  104   46   58    0  .442  17.5   396  469
Seattle Mariners               106   40   66    0  .377  24.5   428  540

Game 103: Minnesota Twins (57-45) @ Toronto Blue Jays (51-54)

Monday August 1, 1988

For the second time in less than a week, the Toronto Blue Jays managed to defeat Frank Viola. This time, however, the decisive blow did not come against the Twins’ lefty, but rather off of the ace reliever.

Viola held the Jays scoreless through the first seven innings, but all the offense the Twins could muster was a lonely run on a Steve Lombardozzi RBI single in the top of the fifth. The Twins only managed three hits off of Toronto starter Dave Stieb, two of which came in the fifth.

Viola looked as though he might cruise through the eighth inning as well. He retired the first two batters fairly easily, but ran into trouble when he allowed consecutive two-out singles to Tony Fernandez and Manny Lee. With George Bell on deck, Tom Kelly decided to go to Reardon, who had retired Bell with a strikeout the only other time the two men faced each other in 1988.

This time was different, however, and Bell took a 2-1 Reardon pitch out of the park to give the Jays a 3-1 lead, one that held up after Tom Henke retired the Twins in the ninth.

“He hit it to just the right part of the field, where the ball carries,” Reardon said. “Plus, I was behind in the count. If I’m ahead in the count, maybe he thinks a curveball is coming.”

As to why Reardon fell behind in the count, it may have to do with the fact that he hadn’t pitched since last Tuesday.

“I think that has something to do with it,” Reardon said. “I usually don’t fall behind 2-0 like that with two pitches that far out of the strike zone. If I don’t get in there, that’s going to happen. You can’t do that to a good hitter like George Bell, to any hitter really.”

Kelly repeatedly has said that he can’t create situations for Reardon.

“He’s the manager. He knows when to put me in,” Reardon said, refusing to complain. “I’ll never tell him I want to pitch.”

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 8/2/1988

Box

Player of the Game
Dave Stieb

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              106   65   41    0  .613     -   511  413
Minnesota Twins                103   57   46    0  .553   6.5   491  449
California Angels              105   54   51    0  .514  10.5   479  509
Kansas City Royals             105   53   52    0  .505  11.5   462  433
Texas Rangers                  103   46   57    0  .447  17.5   394  462
Chicago White Sox              105   46   59    0  .438  18.5   425  527
Seattle Mariners               105   40   65    0  .381  24.5   426  530

Improving my Bobblehead Team

A day after learning that the Twins extended the contracts of both Morneau and Cuddyer, I went to TwinsFest, in part to pick up the bobble heads that come with my season tickets every year, and found that this year’s package included the very players that had just signed to play in Minnesota until my son is at least four years old.

Three Generations at TwinsFest

This year’s TwinsFest was my son’s first. I learned quickly that it’s not a great event to take a one-year-old to, particularly one who prefers walking to being carried. I think that he’ll enjoy it much more when he has a couple of years under his belt and can participate in some of the kids activities.

For my part, I chatted with Seth Stohs and Howard Sinker for a bit, saw Chief Bender’s HOF plaque (overheard a few times: who is Chief Bender?), and checked out the model of the new ballpark. All in all worth the trip.

For the record, the new acquisitions have very much helped my bobble head team, that now shows only one glaring weakness among the starters:

P Walter Johnson
C Joe Mauer
1B Justin Morneau
2B Rod Carew
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Gary Gaetti
LF Bob Allison
CF Torii Hunter
RF Kirby Puckett
DH Harmon Killebrew

Morneau replaces Mientkiewicz at first. Memo to the Twins promotions department: I need a Zoilo Versalles bobble head next year, I’d even take Greg Gagne. Rick Aguilera would sure up my non-existent bullpen.

For what it’s worth, I like the new signings (real version, not bobble head), though I tend to agree with Aaron Gleeman and others who suggest that the Twins are paying a bit too much for both, Morneau in particular. It’s easy to look at the Twins locking down any player and call it a good move because it’s not my money, but the reality is that this team still has some significant budget constraints and overpaying a couple of good players may not be the best way to go about the business of putting the best team on the field.

Game 102: Minnesota Twins (56-45) @ Cleveland Indians (52-52)

Sunday July 31, 1988

The Twins offense, shut out just two days ago, came alive in the sixth inning on Sunday afternoon. Mark Vancil described the inning in the lead to his game story in the 8/1/1988 Star Tribune:

If Julio Franco had been a horse, they might have shot him. Then again, if this had been a horse race it might have taken a 21-gun salute to clean up Cleveland Stadium after the Twins, with some local assistance, reduced a game to an inning Sunday.

Franco led an ugly assault on baseball’s finer points by bobbling a grounder, misplaying a fly ball and dropping a line drive - all in the sixth inning. Cleveland pitchers, four of them, heaved 56 pitches and added a balk. There were seven hits, nine runs and enough trips to the mound to start a shuttle service.

It was like a bad B movie and the Twins, when they weren’t running around the bases, simply watched, some amused, most amazed, all of them pleased. The resulting 12-4 victory gave them another winning series on the road and kept the heat on Oakland through the first leg of a crucial 10-day stretch.

It also gave Fred Toliver (2-1) his second straight victory and provided four players, including Tim Laudner, with a slump breaker. But all that had been taken care of before Mark Portugal fired 3 2/3 innings of relief for his third save.

“Somebody came into the dugout and said, `Let’s hit for 20 minutes,” said Al Newman with a smile. “It sounded like a pretty good call. It was like, just put the ball in play and see what happens.”

By the time the 38-minute sixth inning came to a halt, 24,045 fans were standing in a sarcastic show of disapproval, Indians manager Doc Edwards was looking for a place to hide and the stadium organist was taking a musical swipe by playing “Wipe Out.”

The Twins begin the month of August with four games in Toronto and four in New York before returning home.

Box

Player of the Game
Tim Laudner

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              105   64   41    0  .610     -   501  411
Minnesota Twins                102   57   45    0  .559   5.5   490  446
California Angels              104   53   51    0  .510  10.5   471  505
Kansas City Royals             104   52   52    0  .500  11.5   457  430
Texas Rangers                  103   46   57    0  .447  17.0   394  462
Chicago White Sox              104   46   58    0  .442  17.5   423  517
Seattle Mariners               104   40   64    0  .385  23.5   422  522

Game 101: Minnesota Twins (55-45) @ Cleveland Indians (52-51)

Saturday July 30, 1988

Gary Gaetti hit a three run home run in the first inning, and Allan Anderson did the rest in a 4-2 Twins win that lasted only seven innings.

The Cleveland grounds crew began rolling out the tarp after the Indians’ half of the seventh inning. At first, it did not appear as though the delay would be long, but after an hour and 45 minutes the umpires finally called the game.

For Anderson, it was his first complete game pitched in two years.

Box

Player of the Game
Gary Gaetti

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              104   63   41    0  .606     -   495  409
Minnesota Twins                101   56   45    0  .554   5.5   478  442
California Angels              103   52   51    0  .505  10.5   464  500
Kansas City Royals             103   51   52    0  .495  11.5   453  429
Texas Rangers                  102   46   56    0  .451  16.0   393  457
Chicago White Sox              103   46   57    0  .447  16.5   418  510
Seattle Mariners               103   40   63    0  .388  22.5   420  516

Game 100: Minnesota Twins (55-44) @ Cleveland Indians (51-51)

Friday July 29, 1988

As the Twins set out to begin an 11-game road trip (while the A’s prepared for 13 consecutive games against the White Sox and Mariners), the talk of the town was about the trade deadline coming up.

They may do that, but they could use some help. Any team could use some help - pitching help in particular - during a stretch like this. MacPhail says he is working on it. He is trying to land a pitcher and he is trying to do it before Aug. 1. That’s when things get complicated because players have to clear waivers before a trade can be completed. Other clubs can block trades by claiming anyone put on waivers - a common practice.

“I’ve encouraged other clubs that I’ve talked with - remind them of that July 31st date,” MacPhail said. “To me, that’s all I can do. I’m not the guy who is going to pull the trigger on these deals.

“Everybody has a sense of where we are. All know we are operating within a sense of urgency.”

Reading between the lines, MacPhail is saying that he has offers on the table, but so do other teams in a similar position. There are some name players being shopped around by teams not in contention and looking to the future. But the Zane Smiths and David Palmers probably will be traded before the waiver deadline or not until after the season.

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 7/29/1988

Meanwhile, an AP story about Kent Hrbek broke the same day:

Minnesota Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek exchanged blows with a driver who had cut in front of him, defending himself when the motorist approached with a broken bottle, police confirmed Friday.

The case remains under investigation, but Hrbek is listed as the victim of the altercation Sunday morning, watch commander O. Pritchard of the Bloomington police department said. The altercation happened before Sunday’s game between the Twins and the Baltimore Orioles, KSTP-TV reported Friday night.

Police confirmed that Hrbek was waiting for a stoplight, with a car behind him. When the light changed and Hrbek didn’t start through the intersection, the car behind him sped around and cut in front of him, KSTP-TV reported.

On the field, Bert Blyleven’s struggles with the home run ball continued, though he zero help from the Twins offense. The Indians scored seven runs off of Blyleven, including a home run each for Ron Kittle and Joe Carter. Greg Swindell allowed just five Twins hits and pitched a shut out despite allowing the Twins to load the bases in the first inning. After wiggling out of the first inning jam, Swindell retired 24 of 25 the rest of the way.

“They’re a classy team,” said Swindell, who retired 19 straight at one point. “When Puckett got the double in the ninth, I looked to second base, and here’s the best hitter in baseball tipping his hat to me. That means it must have been a good game.”

-quoted by Mark Vancil, Star Tribune 7/30/1988

Box

Player of the Game
Greg Swindell

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              103   62   41    0  .602     -   490  407
Minnesota Twins                100   55   45    0  .550   5.5   474  440
California Angels              102   51   51    0  .500  10.5   449  486
Kansas City Royals             102   50   52    0  .490  11.5   445  422
Texas Rangers                  101   46   55    0  .455  15.0   393  454
Chicago White Sox              102   46   56    0  .451  15.5   404  495
Seattle Mariners               102   40   62    0  .392  21.5   418  511

David Ortiz signs with Boston

January 21, 2003

On December 17, 2002, LaVelle E. Neal wrote about David Ortiz’ departure from the Minnesota Twins:

The Twins were unable to find a team to deal David Ortiz to, so they created their own swap.

The club released last season’s regular designated hitter on Monday and used the space on their 40-man roster to select minor league shortstop Jose Morban in the Rule V draft.

The release ended the Twins’ six-year relationship with the lefthanded-hitting Ortiz, whom they had hoped would develop into a bona fide power hitter. Ortiz, 27, batted .272 last season with 20 homers and 75 RBI. But he hit only .203 against lefthanded pitchers and .240 with runners in scoring position. He also landed on the disabled list for the second consecutive season.

“This is not exactly an easy thing to do,” Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said on the last day of baseball’s winter meetings. “I like David personally. I liked some of the things he does with the bat. And everyone likes him.”

Ortiz, however, is a subpar defensive first baseman, which virtually limited him to the DH role. His clubhouse presence and humor made him popular with teammates, but the Twins needed to improve their DH production and .252 team average against lefthanded pitchers.

Manager Ron Gardenhire had mixed feelings about the deal, quoted in the Pioneer Press (12/17/2002):

“I’m going to miss David,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s a fantastic kid. I really liked him.

“But this is about winning baseball games more than anything else. We have a very good clubhouse, and David was a very big part of that. But you have to balance that against some of the things we were trying to do with the lineup and the roster.”

On January 21, Ortiz signed with the Boston Red Sox.

In the March 14, 2003 edition of the Star Tribune, Jim Souhan compared the Red Sox organization with the Twins organization. The entire article is worth a read, and Souhan basically made the argument that the Twins were a better run organization that the Red Sox should be jealous of. One of his arguments:

The Twins choose to employ first and second basemen (Doug Mientkiewicz and Luis Rivas) who could win Gold Gloves, but won’t make many Rotisserie teams.

The Red Sox choose to employ first and second basemen (David Ortiz and Todd Walker) the Twins jettisoned because of their fielding inadequacies. They are proof the Red Sox are a Rotisserie team.

Other “strikes” against the Red Sox according to Souhan: the Hector Carrasco for Lew Ford trade (Souhan refers to Ford as a “top prospect”), the fact that Bill James had lineup and personnel input while Ron Gardenhire routinely discards statistics, and the fact that Boston’s fifth starter was John Burkett, while the Twins had Kyle Lohse who won 13 games in 2002. Souhan’s conclusion:

The Twins went to the ALCS last year. Their Opening Day payroll was $40 million. The Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs. Their Opening Day payroll was $108 million.

So which team is in better shape?

Put it this way: In this comparison, the Green Monster shouldn’t be the nickname of Fenway Park’s left field wall. It should describe the Red Sox’s envy.

I’m sure the Red Sox would love to switch places with the Twins right now.