ALCS Game 6: Twins @ Red Sox

Twins 11, Red Sox 10 (11 innings)

In a comeback of epic proportions, the Minnesota Twins have taken the American League pennant.  And Kent Hrbek is your ALCS MVP.

Building a two-run lead early wasn’t enough for Les Straker.  Known for tiring early in games, he ran out of gas in the 5th inning.  After getting two outs, the Twins starter allowed five runs before being pulled for Roy Smith, who promptly gave up two more runs on Ellis Burks’s second homer of the series.  The Red Sox weren’t done either, as they added two more off a struggling Berenguer.  Down 9-2 entering the 8th, the Twins began their miracle push towards the World Series.

Bob Stanley, in relief of Boddicker, had the first bad postseason game of his career thanks to an error by Marty Barrett.  With two outs, Greg Gagne belted a three-run shot that put the Twins within three.  But not ones to lay down, Rich Gedman led off the 8th with a homer off Berenguer, extending the lead back to four.

After John Moses singled off Stanley to begin the 9th, McNamara went to his closer, Lee Smith.  But the Twins batters paid him no mind.  After a walk to Bush, a fly out by Puckett, and a single by Gaetti, the Twins were within three runs with just one out.  And then Hrbek came to the plate.  After working the count to 3-2, Hrbek turned on a fastball, depositing it around Pesky’s Pole.  Smith escaped the inning, but the game that was all but over was now headed for extras.

The 10th went by without much fanfare, but the Twins got to Sox southpaw Bolton in the 11th.  Tim Laudner pinch-hit for Bush and somehow beat out an infield hit to second.  Puckett, second only to Boggs in batting average this season, laid down a perfect sacrifice.  And for the second time in the game, Gaetti came through, singling Laudner home.  Reardon would try to get through his second inning but would make things interesting.  Spike Owen walked before being pinch-ran for by Kevin Romine.  But Romine, after watching Boggs pop out to short, was caught dead to rights by Brian Harper trying to swipe second.  Barrett extended the game with a single and apparently Tom Kelly had seen enough.  Instead of trusting his closer with the game, he went to German Gonzalez, who got Darrell Evans to an 0-2 count when Barrett stole second base.  But Barrett remained in scoring position for just one pitch, as Gonzalez got Evans to swing and miss to end the series.

Kent Hrbek, who batted .400 in the series with two homers, including the game-tying blast in tonight’s game, is the easy choice for MVP.

In the 100 series simulated, the Twins won 60 times.  Below is the breakdown:

Twins in 4: 10                Red Sox in 4: 4
Twins in 5: 11                Red Sox in 5: 9
Twins in 6: 21               Red Sox in 6: 15
Twins in 7: 18              Red Sox in 7: 12

Stay tuned, as at some point in the future you may see the results of the hypothetical 1988 World Series between the Twins and the Dodgers.

Boxscore and play-by-play below the fold

ALCS Game 5: Red Sox @ Twins

Red Sox 9, Twins 8

If Kelly felt uneasy about how he used his pitching staff last night, he is wallowing with full regret tonight.  Building an 8-0 lead off of Clemens by the 6th inning, the series was all but wrapped up.  But with Anderson tiring in the 7th, Kelly went to a depleted well that took only three innings to go dry.

The Twins offense was relentless for the first two thirds of the game.  Twelve hits, culminating with a solo shot by Randy Bush put the hometown nine just nine outs from their second consecutive World Series berth.  But with one out in the 7th, Rick Cerone tripled to right, sparking the so far uninspired Sox bats.  An error by Gagne only further fueled the fire.  With two runs already across, Kelly went to Roy Smith.  He walked the bases loaded before getting Greenwell to line out.  Needing only one out to escape the jam, Smith allowed a double to Burks and a single to Rice, cutting the lead to just two runs.

Possibly flustered by the turn of events, the Twins bats went 1-2-3 for the first time in the game.  Berenguer, who had to be used last night in the blow out, came in and couldn’t retire a batter.  Leaving with the bases loaded, Kelly stubbornly went to German Gonzalez instead off his closer.  But the rookie did his job, allowing only a sacrifice fly to Marty Barrett.  After walking Greenwell intentionally to load the bases with two outs, Kelly finally went to the Terminator, who struck out Burks to preserve the 8-7 lead.

But Reardon, overworked himself, collapsed in the 9th.  Benzinger lined a pinch-hit single to begin the inning.  But after striking out Parrish, Cerone got his second huge hit of the game, a double to deep left.  Reed and Boggs followed with singles and the lead had evaporated.  Lee Smith did his job in the 9th, allowing a single to Jim Dwyer but no runs.  With the tying run on second, Gagne struck out to slam the final nail in the Twins’ coffin.

Heading back to Boston with momentum, the Sox will try to take two at home to pull off a miracle comeback.  Meanwhile, the Twins bullpen will rest, and Les Straker will try to bounce back from his previous outing.

Boxscore and play-by-play below the fold

ALCS Game 4: Red Sox @ Twins

Red Sox 5, Twins 10

For the first time in this series the hometown fans had something to cheer about. Hurst got shelled again, this time the victim of Kirby Puckett’s grand slam in the 4th inning. Gene Larkin added a two-run double in the 6th off Sellers to extend the Twins lead to 10-1. With the huge lead, Kelly removed Viola for Atherton. He became uneasy about his decision as Atherton proceeded to give up four runs, thanks in part to a three-run blast by Ellis Burks in the 8th. Not taking any chances, Berenguer and Reardon got the last three outs to seal the victory.

With a 3-1 lead in the series, the Twins will try to wrap things up tomorrow in front of their home fans.

Boxscore and play-by-play below the fold.

1988 ALCS Game 3: Red Sox @ Twins

Red Sox 10, Twins 4

The Sox scored one off Les Straker in the first, thanks to the bat of (guess who) Mike Greenwell. Count ‘em six runs in the series for the Sox and six RBI for Greenwell. The Twins would tie it in the bottom half thanks to a two-out single by Hrbek, but it was all downhill from there. Straker never looked comfortable, and the Sox bats finally came alive. An error by Gagne led to two unearned runs and Straker couldn’t shake them off. Jim Rice sent him to the showers with a three-run bomb in the fifth. Roy Smith replaced him and didn’t fare much better, though he did save the bullpen by finishing out the game.

The Twins bats did manage to score four times off Mike Boddicker, but with the lead safely in hand and a low pitch count to boot, he completed the game on his own. With new life, the Sox will see if Hurst can outduel Viola tomorrow.

Boxscore and play-by-play after the fold.

1988 ALCS Game 2: Twins @ Red Sox

Twins 4, Red Sox 3

With the best and fifth best pitchers in E.R.A. squaring off, a pitching duel was almost a forgone conclusion. And that’s what we got today at Fenway Park. Thankfully, a short rain delay early on didn’t stiffen any arms and we got to see two great hurlers pitch their hearts out. Clemens was a little wild in the second, issuing two one-out walks that would both score. But Mike Greenwell would again wreak havoc, doubling home two runners in the third and singling home another in the fifth. Anderson was lucky to get out of the fifth alive. After Greenwell’s RBI single, he loaded the bases with one out by beaning Burks. But Jim Rice hit a weak pop-up and Larry Parrish flew out to end the threat.

Clemens continued to roll but was pulled after just six innings with a high pitch count. Bolton and Stanley helped load the bases in the 7th, but Lamp cleaned up the mess. Puckett and Gaetti failed to come through and the score remained 3-2. Berenguer relieved Anderson in the bottom half, and got into some trouble of his own. With two outs and two on, he committed a balk, his 6th of the season. Thankfully for Juan, Harper remembered what happened in game four of last year’s ALCS. With Darrell Evans on third, Laudner caught him napping and picked him off third base. This time, it was Dwight Evans on third, but the same result. Parrish took a 1-1 fastball, Harper jumped out his crouch and made a picture perfect throw to Gaetti.

If that didn’t take the wind out of the home team’s sails, Kent Hrbek went ahead and put tore them to shreds, lining the first pitch of the 8th inning into the seats. Though it only tied the game, one could feel that the game was already over for the Sox. The 9th saw John Moses double off Lamp, and after a balk, score on Randy Bush’s sacrifice fly. Reardon needed just seven pitches to nail down the save, inducing three flyouts from the heart of the Red Sox lineup.

Down two games to none and leaving their home park, the Sox have dug themselves a deep hole. They have managed just five runs in two games, and Greenwell has driven in all five of them. They’ll need help from the other eight spots in the lineup if they want to make their second World Series in three years.

Boxscore and line-up below the fold

1988 ALCS Game 1: Twins @ Red Sox

Twins 11, Red Sox 2

Like last year’s World Series, Frank Viola started in game one, but this time without the guilt from missing his brother’s wedding to motivate them. He still pitched brilliantly. His only bad pitch through the first five innings was deposited by Mike Greenwell into the right-field corner for a two-run blast. Despite this, he was losing thanks to Bruce Hurst’s superior carving of the Twins’ lineup. The visiting nine had only two hits through five, one of them on a bunt single. But when Tommy Herr made a marvelous unassisted double-play to end the fifth (on a line shot by Ellis Burks), one could almost see the sparks ignite.

In short, the Sox were singled to death. Over the next four innings, the Twins banged out fifteen hits, thirteen of the one-base variety. Gagne himself had four of them, and every Twins regular except Gaetti joined the parade. When the dust settled, they had a nine-run victory in their cap and a dispirited Beantown fanbase sulking out the exits. Tomorrow night, the Twins will send out Allan Anderson to duel with Roger Clemens

Boxscore and play-by-play below the fold

1988 ALCS: Red Sox vs. Twins?

ED: It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks for me and my family, and finding time to keep daily posts here is going to be difficult. I thought this would be a great time to bring in a pinch hitter, and frequent commenter Beau was gracious enough to accept the invitation. His series will run into next week, and hopefully I can talk him into other contributions down the road.

With the entire core of their ’87 World Championship team intact (and in the prime of their careers), the Twins were expecting to build upon their success from the year past. And indeed, they did. In a year where league scoring plummeted by almost ninety runs per team, the Twins scored only thirty fewer runs. Additionally, the pitching staff allowed 134 fewer runs, marking a dramatic improvement for the hometown nine on both sides of the diamond. All this added up to an eleven win Pythagorean improvement and six actual wins in the standings. Unfortunately, those pesky A’s improved their Pythagorean by a whopping seventeen games, obliterating the AL West and wrapping up the division with two weeks yet to play.

The year before, the Twins were fairly lucky to be in the playoffs, sporting only the fifth best record in the American League. This year, the Twins finished second in the league and were not even granted a suspenseful finish. Meanwhile, the AL East Champion Red Sox had the league’s third best record, and only three and a half games separated them and the fifth place Yankees. The Sox were a solid but underwhelming team, and the Athletics proved it by destroying them in four games on their way to the World Series. But what if the Twins’ fortunes had been reversed and the A’s had finished with just ninety wins?

To answer this question, I have asked our Diamond Mind simulator to run this ALCS 100 times. Over the next four to seven days, you will see the results of this series. But first, I have to set up the teams. The Red Sox are easy. I simply plugged in their real playoff roster, rotation, and usual platooned lineups. Other than an injured Oil Can Boyd (who had suffered a terrible year), the Sox were healthy and rested. Surprisingly, John McNamara decided to pitch Bruce Hurst in game one, despite Roger Clemens being even more rested. Perhaps he was looking at his hurler’s 3-0 record in the ’86 playoffs as a barometer, but Clemens had a far superior season and was right-handed (the A’s were not very heavy on the lefties). Whatever the reason, ’tis none of my business to question the manager’s decision, so I left the rotation as is, with Clemens pitching game two and Mike Boddicker game three in his three-man rotation.

Meanwhile, what to do with the Twins? One would guess Kelly would stay with the three-man rotation he employed in ’87, but after Sweet Music and E.R.A. title holder *cough cough* Allan Anderson, who would have pitched third? I can’t believe he would have sent Blyleven out there given how dreadful a season he had. The only other Twins’ starter who had a good E.R.A. was Les Straker. Given he had pitched quite well in the World Series, I gave the nod to him.

Setting the 25 man roster is tough as well, as the Twins have several options. I left Blyleven in as a reliever, as I believe history and sentiment would have kept him with the club. That leaves Charlie Lea headed for home, but I gather neither will be that crucial to the series anyway. Filling out the bullpen are German Gonzalez and Roy Smith, sending Mark Portugal packing as well. Unfortunately, the only decent southpaw reliever is Dan Schatzeder (1.74 E.R.A.), who joined the team on September 1st and is not eligible. When all is said and done, the Twins begin the series with fifteen hitters (including lefty masher John Christensen and the embittered Steve Lombardozzi) and ten pitchers.

Deciding the Twins’ lineups is practically impossible, as Kelly juggled players around all season, but I tried to stay consistent with his managerial tendencies. For example, the Twins would benefit from starting both Tim Laudner and Brian Harper against lefties (with a Hrbek/Larkin platoon at first), but Kelly never left the bench without a catcher and wouldn’t dare sit Hrbek at all. Additionally, Gary Gaetti was struggling with injuries, and mostly DH’d or pinch-hit in September. Would he start at third with the playoffs on the line? I am guessing so, leaving Larkin to handle DH duties.

The Twins will be traveling to Beantown, as home field advantage goes to the AL East this year, regardless of record. Come back tomorrow to see Viola and Hurst face off in game one of this exciting series that finally gets a chance to happen.

Things I Learned About 1988

Another hot stove season is in the books. While this one didn’t have quite the happy ending that 1987 did, it certainly was an interesting season to revisit after 20 years.

My favorite story of the year was Tom Kelly’s vendetta with the official scorers. It was something that I don’t remember hearing about that year (to be fair, I was 10). Kelly tends to have a halo in these part not unlike the one formerly worn by Kirby Puckett, and the most enduring image I have of Kelly is him sitting quietly on the bench while the 1987 Twins celebrated the World Series victory. Still, he could be just about as ornery as any manager when something set him off.

I also very much appreciated the Jose Canseco quote when he was accused of using steroids en route to his 40-40 MVP season. “It was an ignorant statement, and usually I don’t pay attention to ignorant statements,” – I wonder how he was able to write his book?

At the beginning of the season, it was striking to see how similar the plight of the 88′s was to the plight of the 07′s. The more things change, the more they stay the same – only the names are changed. Ramon Ortiz + Sidney Ponson in 2007 = Steve Carlton + Joe Niekro in 1988 – though I guess the latter group had just a tiny bit more career success than the former, the point remains that the manager stuck with veterans who weren’t getting the job done rather than relying on young pitchers who were likely to perform better.

Allan Anderson’s decision to sit out the last day still makes me chuckle, as does the fact that he claimed to not care about his ERA in the weeks leading up to it; and I’m not sure there was a worse fit for Minnesota than Tom Herr, although in fairness I’m not convinced that he got a fair shake from the fans immediately after the trade due to the popularity of the man he was traded for, and reading between the lines a bit I imagine that the clubhouse was pretty pro-Lombardozzi most of the season.

Tune in next fall for Hot Stove 1989!

Game 162: California Angels (75-86) @ Minnesota Twins (90-71)

Sunday October 2, 1988

A few weeks ago, Tom Kelly adjusted his starting rotation a bit in order to reward Allan Anderson with an extra start, scheduled to come on the final day of the season. Neither Kelly nor Anderson anticipated that the left-hander would choose to sit out the day before.

Roy Smith will pitch for the Twins today in the season finale at the Metrodome. Allan Anderson was scheduled to go against the Angels but he will be sitting on the bench and on his earned-run average.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Teddy Higuera, starting against the Athletics in Oakland on Saturday, gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings and saw his ERA move up to 2.454. That made Anderson’s ERA of 2.446 the best in the league.

A couple of Anderson’s teammates mentioned to him that by pitching he would risk losing the ERA championship. At least one veteran suggested he not pitch today. Anderson began thinking about that and became confused over what to do. When manager Tom Kelly saw Anderson’s ambivalent state, he figured it best for all concerned to send Smith out there.

“I gave him a choice of what he would like to do,” Kelly said. “He was sort of in between. He was indecisive. At that point I figured it would be better to probably use someone else.”

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 10/1/1988

Anderson, who earlier in the week had said that he wasn’t paying attention to his ERA, figured he might take some heat for his decision.

“I had a lot of opinions from the other ballplayers,” Anderson said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It is an honor to have that. I feel good about myself. I feel I’ve done everything possible when I went out there.”

Anderson says he knows people are going to ridicule his decision and say he backed into an ERA title.

“I just take it at face value,” he said. “If it makes them feel better, that’s fine.”

Powers reported on the Milwaukee reaction the next day.

Milwaukee pitching coach Chuck Hartenstein was philosophical when he heard Twins pitcher Allan Anderson would sit out Sunday’s finale to protect his earned-run average. Anderson thereby nipped Brewers starter Teddy Higuera for the earned-run average title, 2.446 to 2.454.

“Let each man’s conscience be his guide,” Hartenstein said when he got the news. “That kid (Anderson) worked his tail off all year to do what he did. I can understand him doing that, (he’s) a young player.

“You like to see guys who, when it comes their turn to pitch, pitch. But it’s no big deal. I’m not sure what we would have done if the shoe was on the other foot.”

“I don’t care,” Higuera said. “I’m very happy with the season I’ve had.”

With the AL ERA champion watching from the clubhouse, the Twins won the final game of the 1988 season to finish 91-71. Though the Twins won 3-2, the story of the game was the fan reaction.

The Metrodome was draped with bedsheet banners, some in anticipation of topping 3 million in attendance (“See a Game, Set a Record”), some offering suggestions to executive vice president Andy MacPhail (“Sign Bert Blyleven – If He Leaves, It Will Be Like Losing Jim Kaat”).

The game was something of a formality, although the victory allowed the Twins to finish 20 games over .500 for the first time in 18 years. A crowd of 35,952 cheered Gladden’s fence-crashing catch in the fifth inning and, after Kirby Puckett struck out for the third time, still applauded the center fielder’s terrific season.

However, the fans saved their loudest cheers for themselves: With two outs in the ninth, the scoreboard flashed the news that the Twins had become the first American League club to top 3 million in attendance, ending up with 3,030,672. Carol Hanson of Alexandria, Minn., won a drawing as the 3,000,000th fan, with prizes of airfare, hotel, rental car and a $1,000 gift certificate.

Afterward, the Twins gathered in the middle of the infield and tipped their caps to the stands. Club owner Carl Pohlad, manager Tom Kelly, Kent Hrbek, Puckett, Frank Viola and Jeff Reardon briefly thanked the fans and predicted future postseason fun. Then it was into the clubhouse and into the night.

“The last two years have been the most incredible two years I’ve ever witnessed,” said Viola, whose 24-7 record makes him a lock for the AL Cy Young Award. “Knowing what it was like here in ’82, ’83, looking up and seeing 4,000 fans in the stands, this gives me goose bumps. That’s what this game’s all about.”

-Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune 10/3/1988

Though they finished six games better than the previous year, there will be no champagne popping for the Twins in 1988.

Box

Player of the Game
Greg Gagne

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              162  104   58    0  .642     -   800  620
Minnesota Twins                162   91   71    0  .562  13.0   759  672
Kansas City Royals             161   84   77    0  .522  19.5   704  648
California Angels              162   75   87    0  .463  29.0   714  771
Chicago White Sox              161   71   90    0  .441  32.5   631  757
Texas Rangers                  161   70   91    0  .435  33.5   637  735
Seattle Mariners               161   68   93    0  .422  35.5   664  744

Game 161: California Angels (75-85) @ Minnesota Twins (89-71)

Saturday October 1, 1988

The Twins won their 90th game for the first time since 1970. They did so largely behind the bat of Kirby Puckett, whose two-run home run in the first inning got the game off on the right foot. Puckett’s season line now stands at .357/.376/.547 with 24 HR and 121 RBI. The last Twin to drive in as many runs was Harmon Killebrew, who knocked in 140 in 1969. Puckett’s home run also extended his hitting streak to 15 games, tying the team record. Tom Brunansky also hit in 15 straight back in 1983.

Charlie Lea pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win in what will be his final major league game. Les Straker came on to pitch the final 3 1/3 innings, what would also turn out to be his final major league appearance.

The 10-5 victory for the Twins was somewhat overshadowed by events in Oakland.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Teddy Higuera, starting against the Athletics in Oakland on Saturday, gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings and saw his ERA move up to 2.454. That made Anderson’s ERA of 2.446 the best in the league.

Box

Player of the Game
Kirby Puckett

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              161  103   58    0  .640     -   796  620
Minnesota Twins                161   90   71    0  .559  13.0   756  670
Kansas City Royals             160   84   76    0  .525  18.5   703  643
California Angels              161   75   86    0  .466  28.0   712  768
Chicago White Sox              160   70   90    0  .438  32.5   626  756
Texas Rangers                  160   69   91    0  .431  33.5   630  733
Seattle Mariners               160   68   92    0  .425  34.5   662  737