A History of Non-Pitchers Pitching for the Twins

9/10/1961: Julio Becquer came into the game in the bottom of the 7th inning with the Twins trailing 8-1 at the Kansas City Athletics. He promptly allowed four consecutive two-out hits, two singles and two doubles. By the time Becquer recorded the third out, the Twins trailed 13-1. Becquer came back out for the 8th inning and had some more success, with only a two-out walk between him and a 1-2-3 inning. It was Becquer’s second career pitching appearance. The firstbaseman had pitched an inning the previous year as part of the Washington Senators.

9/22/1968: Cesar Tovar starts and pitches one inning in a game in which the utility man played exactly one inning at each of the nine positions on the field as part of a promotion dreamed up by Calvin Griffith. Tovar did not allow a hit, but walked one batter and was called for a balk. The game drew just north of 11,000 fans, which was below average for a Sunday game. The Twins won the game 2-1.

6/27/1988 & 5/7/1989: Dan Gladden made a total of two appearances as a pitcher. His career line: 2.0 innigs pitched, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 4.50 ERA.

6/24/1989, 5/19/1990, & 7/3/1990: John Moses took over for Gladden as the mop-up position player/pitcher and made three appearances. Two of them came at Fenway Park.

7/25/2011: Michael Cuddyer allowed two hits but no runs in a 20-6 loss to the Texas Rangers.

5/20/2012: Drew Butera reached 94 mph on the radar gun and struck out former Twin Carlos Gomez in a scoreless inning pitched against the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

2005: 74 Pitches

May 20, 2005

In December 2003 the Twins sent Eric Milton to the Phillies in exchange for Nick Punto, Carlos Silva, and the famous player-to-be-named-later. To that point in his career, Silva had been used only out of the bullpen. The Twins thought he had the stuff to be a starter, and immediately plugged the Venezuelan into the starting rotation. Silva responded with a solid 2004 season in which he won 14 games and allowed only 35 walks in 203 innings pitched.

2005 started out even better for the 26-year-old Silva. In his first six starts he had a 3.77 ERA and had allowed, incredibly, only two walks in 43 innings pitched. Silva was scheduled to go against the Brewers in a Friday night game at the Metrodome on May 20, 2005; but Silva’s pitching performance could have just as likely have happened 100 years earlier.

The game was a perfect combination of a sinking sinker and an opponent that was more than happy to swing at it. Silva allowed just one run and five hits in a complete game victory. The complete game was rare enough, particularly in the Ron Gardenhire era, but that is not what made this effort by Silva special.

At the end of the night, Silva completed the 7-1 Twins’ victory by throwing just 74 pitches, 50 for strikes. It was, and is, the lowest pitch count in a complete game since 2000, when Elias started keeping track of low pitch counts in complete games.

LaVelle E. Neal offered some perspective in his game story in the Star Tribune (5/21/05):

Chew on this for a minute. A pitcher throws eight warmup tosses before each inning. That means Silva entered the ninth inning with 64 warmup throws and 64 actual pitches. And that means he threw more warmup pitches than actual pitches in the first, second, sixth and seventh innings.

Silva finished the 2005 season leading the league with an incredible 0.4 walks per nine inning rate and 7.89 strikeout to walk ratio. His numbers weren’t great in 2006 or 2007, but he managed to get a big contract with Seattle, where he has struggled for the past season and a half.

1988: Brunansky for Herr

Originally posted at Tony, the Killer, and Carew on 4/26/2007. For more on the trade, here is the report from my Hot Stove 1988 series a few years back.

April 22, 1988

Fresh off of the club’s first ever World Championship, the Twins’ front office was looking for another. Impatient with the team’s 4-10 start, it seemed inevitable that a shakeup was going to occur. That shakeup was announced shortly after an 11-6 home loss to lowly Cleveland.

The Twins announced that they were trading 27-year old Tom Brunansky, a six-year regular in right field for the Twins, to the Cardinals for 32-year old second baseman Tom Herr.

Brunansky originally came to the Twins from the California Angels in a 1982 trade that sent Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong to the Angels. Brunansky immediately became the team’s starting right fielder, and didn’t relinquish that spot until he was traded to the Cardinals. The Twins had come to expect pretty consistent numbers from Bruno, who quickly became a fan favorite in Minnesota. He generally only hit in the .240-.250 range, but was a patient hitter and had some power. He started slowly in 1988, batting only .184/.286/.265 with one home run; a line that likely made him expendable in the eyes of GM Andy MacPhail.

The previous fall, Tom Herr had competed against the Twins in the World Series. He batted .250/.300/.357 in seven games against his future team in a losing effort in the series. From the time he had signed as an amateur free-agent as an 19-year-old in 1974, Herr had been a part of the Cardinals’ organization. He had some good offensive seasons, most notably in 1985 when he hit .302/.379/.416 for an NL Championship team; but Herr was mostly known for his glove, although today’s defensive metrics indicate that he was a touch overrated in that department.

Andy MacPhail, quoted by Mark Vancil in the Star Tribune (4/23/88), explained his reasoning.

“It’s tough to do when a guy has done so much for the club for several years,” said MacPhail. “We just felt we needed to improve our balance, and I think Tommy Herr is one of the four or five best second basemen in all of baseball. He gives us a lefthanded bat at the front of the order and he can steal a base.”

It was speculated that this move would be followed by a move sending Steve Lombardozzi away in exchange for a starting pitcher, but that move never came to fruition. Lombo was never a big hitter, and, like most Twins, had a poor start in 1988 (.094/.194/.188 at the time of the trade).

To replace Brunansky in right, the Twins looked to 29-year-old Randy Bush. Bush made his reputation as a versatile back up and a good left-handed pinch hitter, but had few chances to play a regular position with the Twins. Bush figured to give the Twins a similar hitting line as Brunansky, with a lower slugging percentage and fewer home runs.

The 1988 numbers tell part of the story of this trade:

Tom Brunansky STL 143 G .245/.345/.428 22 HR 79 RBI 121 OPS+ 7.6 WARP3
Tom Herr MIN 86 G .263/.349/.326 1 HR 21 RBI 89 OPS+ 2.9 WARP3

The story the numbers don’t tell is that Tom Herr did not want to play for the Twins. The first wind of it showed up in the papers three weeks after the trade, when Herr was quoted saying that he felt like an “intruder” in Minnesota. By the end of May, Herr had already announced that he would not return to the team in 1989. He took a trip on the DL in the middle of the season, though many on the team and in the media privately believed that the injury may have been in Herr’s head.

The Twin Cities media had passed judgment on Herr, and the writing was on the wall. Herr was eventually traded to Philadelphia as part of the deal that brought Shane Rawley to the Twins. The Twins had some trouble filling the second base position for several years, and didn’t really settle on a regular until Chuck Knoblauch’s rookie season in 1991.

The immediate impact of the trade looked horrible for the Twins, but as the years passed history was a little more kind to MacPhail. Brunansky lasted in the majors until 1994. Aside from a mini-resurgence with the Red Sox in 1992, he never really returned the the form that had made him a favorite in Minnesota. The Twins ultimately got one poor season from Tom Herr and one poor season from Shane Rawley in exchange for Bruno. While it wasn’t as bad as it initially looked, it is not one of the proudest trades in Twins’ history.

1988: “Bean Ball” Blyleven

Friday April 22, 1988

In a losing effort against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome, Bert Blyleven tied a league record by beaning four Cleveland batters. Blyleven also hit the final batter he faced on the day.

He started on his record pace quickly, hitting Julio Franco on the second pitch of the game. He also hit Ron Kittle in the first inning. Both Franco and Kittle came around to score in the inning (along with just about every other member of the Cleveland lineup).

In all, it was a forgettable day for Bert Blyleven.

Bert made another run at history when he hit three Oakland A’s in the same inning on September 28 of the same year.

The Franchise 1993 (Part 2)

Roster/Stats (Pitchers)
Bold = Player new to Minnesota in 1993

SP Kevin Tapani 12-15 4.43 ERA 98 ERA+ 1.32 WHIP 3.71 FIP 2.8 WAR
Kevin Tapani in 1993 looked very similar to Kevin Tapani in 1992, the main difference that he essentially flipped his won/loss record. Accordingly, everybody wondered what had happened to Tapani.

SP Scott Erickson 8-19 5.19 ERA 84 ERA+ 1.50 WHIP 4.05 FIP 1.0 WAR
Erickson came into his final two starts of the 1993 season with the chance to join Pedro Ramos (1961) in the Twins’ 20-loss club. He earned a no-decision in both, including a 6 1/3 inning effort at Fenway Park in a Twins’ loss. He still ended the season with a league-worst 19 losses, but gained some credit from Tom Kelly for “being competitive enough to stare down 20 losses.”

SP Willie Banks 11-12 4.04 ERA 107 ERA+ 1.54 WHIP 4.09 FIP 2.4 WAR
Banks had some success in his first full season in the majors, and may have been the best of the Twins rotation in 1993. Still, the former first round pick was not developing as quickly as the Twins would have liked, so his success meant that his trade value peaked. The Twins sent him to Chicago in exchange for Matt Walbeck and Dave Stevens. As it turned out, 1993 was Banks’ best career season. He bounced around the league playing for six different teams. Banks became a somewhat effective bullpen arm, but never reached the promise that he seemed to have as a first round pick.

SP Jim Deshaies 11-13 4.41 ERA 99 ERA+ 1.25 WHIP 4.92 FIP 2.6 WAR
Jim Deshaies had been a very effective starter for the Houston Astros in the latter part of the 1980′s, but was considered a reclamation project when the Twins signed him as a free agent after the 1992 season. By mid-season, Deshaies was considered the most reliable starter in the rotation. Deshaies’ success led to a late August trade with the contending San Francisco Giants in which the Twins picked up three players, to most recognizable of which was reliever Aaron Fultz who, at the time, was still seven years away from his major league debut. Immediately after the season ended, Deshaies became a free agent and ultimately signed to return to Minnesota for the 1994 season.

SP Eddie Guardado 3-8 6.18 ERA 70 ERA+ 1.68 WHIP 4.97 FIP -0.6 WAR
When Pat Mahomes started the season 0-5 with an 11.29 ERA, the Twins looked to 22-year old Eddie Guardado to fill in the final spot in the rotation. Guardado was drafted by the Twins in the 21st round of the 1990 draft. His 16 starts in 1993 would represent over half of his career starts when his career ended 17 years later.

CL Rick Aguilera 4-3 3.11 ERA 140 ERA+ 1.02 WHIP 3.60 FIP 2.3 WAR
While the rest of the team struggled, the one area in which the Twins were set was at the closer position. There were plenty of rumors at the end of the season – the Atlanta Braves were the most often mentioned team, but Aguilera would return to the Twins for 1994.

RP Mike Trombley 6-6 4.88 ERA 89 ERA+ 1.50 WHIP 4.36 FIP 0.1 WAR
RP Mike Hartley 1-2 4.00 ERA 109 ERA+ 1.50 WHIP 3.82 FIP 0.8 WAR
RP Carl Willis 3-0 3.10 ERA 141 ERA+ 1.25 WHIP 2.80 FIP 1.3 WAR
RP Larry Casian 5-3 3.02 ERA 145 ERA+ 1.28 WHIP 2.92 FIP 1.1 WAR
The bullpen was stretched by a starting staff that pitched just five complete games all season, but ended up being a relative strength for a fairly bad team.

1983: Deflated

April 14, 1983

For the third time in its brief history, the Metrodome deflated.

The first time it happened was in November of 1981, just weeks after the dome was inflated for the first time. The cause was a 10-inch snowfall.

A little more than a year later, in December of 1982, the roof collapsed again, this time as a result of melting snow.

An April snowfall in 1983 didn’t figure to cause too many problems for the roof. Snow removal at the time was handled by people on the roof with shovels. One of the shovelers ran into a chunk of ice which tore a hole in the roof as the crew attempted to move it. The roof deflated on the evening of April 14. Though there was a game scheduled that night, it had been already been canceled due to the fact that the California Angels weren’t able to fly in due to the winter storm.

Though it was the last time that the roof collapsed, the issue was not dead. Seven years later, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission was awarded $3.6 million in damages from the Dome’s builders.

The roof, of course, collapsed one more time in December of 2010. By that time the Twins had already played a season in their new home, and didn’t have to worry about the dome anymore.

The Franchise 1993 (Part 1)

1993 Minnesota Twins

Manager: Tom Kelly 8th Season (8th with Minnesota 598-559)
71 W 91 L 693 RS 830 RA 5th AL West 23 GB (Chicago White Sox 94-68)
4.28 RPG (AL = 4.71) 4.71 ERA (AL = 4.32)
.679 DER (14th AL)

All Stars (2) Rick Aguilera, Kirby Puckett

Franchise (1901-1993) 6878-7475-110; 27-29 Post Season; 19-21 WS
Washington (1901-1960) 4214-4864-104; 8-11 WS
Minnesota (1961-1993) 2660-2611-6; 19-18 Post Season; 11-10 WS

The Sporting News ran mid-season report on the Twins in July:

What went wrong? The Twins played poorly in all phases of the game during the horrific first half. They set a major league record by going 85 games into a season without a complete game and had the worst ERA in the AL from late April to the All-Star Break…

Scott Erickson and Kevin Tapani, the two starters the Twins were counting on, were 8-20…

Though the fielding has been statistically solid, there has been numerous miscommunications among rookies who have filled in because of so many injuries. Even veterans have made basic mistakes in the field.

In retrospect 1993 signaled the beginning of the dark ages at Metrodome. While the Twins expected to contend based on past performance of their main players, age was catching up to many of the stars who had helped the team win two World Series in the previous seven seasons. The rookies who came in to replace them, however, were not quite up to the task.

C Brian Harper .304/.347/.425 12 HR 107 OPS+ 2.3 WAR
1993 Proved to be Harper’s last season in a Twins uniform. The Twins, in what was described by Andy MacPhail as a financial decision as opposed to a baseball decision, decided not to pick up Harper’s option year. He landed in Milwaukee as a part time option in 1994, and returned for two appearances with the A’s after the strike. In six years with the Twins, Harper batted .306/.342/.431 with a 110 OPS+, not to mention a World Series ring.

1B Kent Hrbek .242/.357/.467 25 HR 120 OPS+ 1.8 WAR
OF-1B Dave McCarty .214/.257/.286 2 HR 46 OPS+ -3.2 WAR
Hrbek’s numbers were up a bit from 1992, but his body suffered through another injury-plagued season. Though the signs of physical breakdown were evident, there did not seem to be a clear successor for Hrbek in the organization. The Twins had hoped that McCarty could step in, but the numbers from his first season weren’t promising.

2B Chuck Knoblauch .277/.354/.346 2 HR 90 OPS+ 2.8 WAR
Knoblauch’s numbers in 1993 looked almost identical to his Rookie-of-the-Year numbers from two years prior, but expectations had been adjusted and it was considered a disappointing season.

SS Pat Meares .251/.266/.309 2 HR 55 OPS+ -0.7 WAR
The Twins initially let Greg Gagne go thinking that Scott Leuis would take over, but a torn rotator-cuff suffered by Leuis in May meant that rookie Pat Meares would be the very day shortstop by default. Meares got off to a good start, but appeared over matched in his first major league season.

3B Mike Pagliarulo .292/.350/.423 3 HR 108 OPS+ 1.4 WAR
The Twins unloaded Pagliarulo in August for a player to be named later. Pagliarulo got to finish the season with a team that was in contention, and the Twins ended up getting Erik Schullstrom who would hang around in the bullpen for the Twins in 1994 and 1995. Pagliarulo finished his career in 1995 with the Texas Rangers.

LF Shane Mack .276/.335/.412 10 HR 100 OPS+ 1.1 WAR
Mack’s production was down a but due in part to injuries. Though there was a lot of speculation that the Twins might want to unload him in the offseason for financial reasons. Mack ended up signing a one-year deal to play in 1994, with an extra quarter-million promised by the Twins if he was traded mid-season in 1994.

CF Kirby Puckett .296/.349/.474 22 HR 120 OPS+ 0.5 WAR
With all of the contract speculation out of the way, the new discussion surrounding Minnesota institution Kirby Puckett was how long he would remain in center field. The WAR numbers tell the story: according to B-R, Puckett was worth 3.5 wins with his bat, but worth -3.0 in the field. He played 47 games in right field in 1993, but by 1994 Puckett was a full time right fielder.

RF Pedro Munoz .233/.294/.393 13 HR 83 OPS+ -2.3 WAR
Munoz was one of the many Twins  plagued by injury throughout the 1993 season. He would rebound in 1994.

DH Dave Winfield .271/.325/.442 21 HR 105 OPS+ -0.2 WAR
The Twins acquired 41-year-old Minnesota native Dave Winfield in an attempt to replace Chili Davis as the team’s power-hitting designated hitter. Winfield had an very good season considering his age, and his pursuit of 3,000 hits was probably the highlight of the season.

UT Jeff Reboulet .258/.356/.304 1 HR 80 OPS+ 1.8 WAR
IF Chip Hale .333/.408/.425 3 HR 125 OPS+ 1.5 WAR
UT Gene Larkin .264/.357/.347 1 HR 91 OPS+ 0.0 WAR

1982: RD

Ed: I originally wrote this in 2007, but have reposted it several times. I don’t get a large amount of comments here, but I have to excerpt this one from a 2009 version of this same post from a commenter named “hurt for life”:

Oh God, do I remember RD. RD is an icon. Any given ineffectual relief pitcher the Twins now bring in is to be referred to as RD. The year is 1984….

…I’ll omit the details about 1984 blown saves….

I made an oath at this time: I will not listen to the Twins until RD is GONE. It took one entire year plus, until I could listen again.

April 10, 1982

The Twins traded veteran infielder Roy Smalley to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Ron Davis and minor leaguers Greg Gagne (SS) and Paul Boris (P).

Ever since the mid-1960’s, the Twins have had a revolving door for players to fill the role of “bullpen ace”. The most recent was Doug Corbett, who filled the role pretty admirably in 1980 and 1981 (220 and 154 ERA+, respectively).

In early 1982, the Twins went into full cost-cutting mode (or “build for the future” mode, depending on your point of view), and unloaded a lot of veteran players. Roy Smalley was the first to go.

Smalley came into the league with Texas in 1975. He came to the Twins in 1976 as a part of the deal that sent Bert Blyleven to Texas. The second-generation ballplayer put up solid if unspectacular numbers in his first stint with the Twins (’76-’82); his best season being 1978 when he went .273/.362/.433 and had a 122 OPS+ and 10.4 WARP3.

In exchange for Smalley, the Twins got something they really didn’t seem to need and a couple of minor leaguers. With Corbett pitching so well in previous years, it seemed odd that Davis was the player the Twins went after. About a month later, a struggling Corbett was traded to California in exchange for a couple of young players (including Tom Brunansky) and cash.

Though Corbett had been good for the Twins, Davis had been even more impressive for the Yankees. As a rookie in 1979, he compiled a 14-2 record with 2.85 ERA (144 ERA+). In 1981, he was able to strike out 13 of 15 batters he faced in one three-game stretch of appearances. Davis did it all as a middle reliever, however. The role of closer in New York belonged to Goose Gossage.

The trade represented a chance for Davis to be a closer. This is what he had been waiting for. Instead, the trade in 1982 marked the beginning of the most miserable seasons of his career.

It wasn’t so much that his numbers were bad in his tenure with the Twins. They were actually pretty good until his final season with the team:

Year-Record-ERA-ERA+-WARP3
1982 3-9 4.42 96 3.8
1983 5-8 3.34 128 5.8
1984 7-11 4.55 92 3.5
1985 2-6 3.48 126 4.0
1986 2-6 9.08 47 -1.2

The numbers weren’t Davis’ problem. His difficulties seem to come from the fact that he tended to blow saves in memorable ways. He quickly earned a reputation for blowing leads in big games, a legend that seems to have been fanned by the local media. One of RD’s critics during his Twins years, Patrick Reusse, still seemed bitter years later when he recalled some of the memorable blown saves on the 20th Anniversary of the trade that sent Davis out of town to the Cubs.

RON DAVIS‘ TOP FIVE BLOWN SAVES

Two words: Jamie Quirk

Sept. 27, 1984: Davis relieved Mike Smithson with two runners on in the bottom of the eighth and the Twins leading 3-1 at Cleveland. Both runners scored and, with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Davis gave up a two-out home run to Jamie Quirk, who was making his only plate appearance in a one-week stint with the Indians. The game basically eliminated the Twins from the AL West race.

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Saturday the 13th

April 13, 1985: The Twins led the Mariners 7-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Davis came in with a runner on and no outs, struck out two and walked two, then gave up a game-winning grand slam to Phil Bradley.

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Monday the 13th

May 13, 1985: The Twins led 8-6 in the bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium. With two outs and a runner on, Ken Griffey walked and Don Mattingly hit a three-run home run for a 9-8 victory.

.

Roof collapses, then Twins collapse

April 26, 1986: The roof collapsed at the Metrodome, causing a delay in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth, with a 6-1 lead, Frank Viola gave up a two-run homer to the Angels’ George Hendrick. Davis relieved. Rob Wilfong singled and Ruppert Jones homered. Davis walked Reggie Jackson and, with two outs, Wally Joyner homered. The Angels won 7-6.

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Ifs, ands and butts

May 19, 1986: The Twins led the Red Sox 7-6 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth at Fenway Park when Marty Barrett walked and Wade Boggs doubled. Bill Buckner was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Davis walked Jim Rice, forcing in the tying run, then hit Marc Sullivan in the butt, bringing in the winning run.

The fact that Reusse and the editors at the Star Tribune felt the need, 20 years later, to mark the Anniversary of the Davis trade by remembering his top blown saves is indicative of the strong feelings that still exist in this town towards Davis.

It is surprising, then, to learn that Davis was 106 for 134 in save opportunities during his Twins career, a 79% rate of success. Take away his miserable 1986 season, when he was successful in only two of eight save situations, and Davis converted 83% of his save opportunities. Not a great number, but it certainly seems high for a guy who, based on reputation, couldn’t save a game if his life depended on it (in 1987, Jeff Reardon was called the team MVP by many with only 77% of his save opportunities converted).

Whether he deserved it or not, most of the negative feelings of Twins fans over the course of some losing seasons fell squarely on the shoulder of Ron Davis. It was a relief to him when he was traded to the Cubs late in the 1986 season.

As for the other players involved in the 1982 trade the brought Davis to Minnesota: Roy Smalley ended up back with the Twins for the 1985 season. Paul Boris pitched in 23 games for the Twins, all in 1982, and that was the extent of his career. Greg Gagne became the everyday shortstop by 1985 and had a long and productive career with the Twins, including a big role on the two World Series teams in 1987 and 1991.

Minnesota Twins Opening Day History

The Twins have now lost three straight opening days, but have won the division two of those three years. The moral of the story: opening day only matters until the start of game two of the season. So here is the meaningless list of opening day results and starters for the Twins.

To further press the meaningless: the Twins have only faced Baltimore twice before on opening day, in 1967 and in 2007. They are 1-1 against the Orioles on opening day, so do with that information what you will.

Date – Result – Starting Pitcher

4/11/1961 W @ NYY 6-0 Pedro Ramos
4/10/1962 L @ KCA 2-4 Jack Kralick
4/9/1963 L vs CLE 4-5 Mudcat Grant
4/14/1964 W @ CLE 7-6 Camilo Pascual
4/12/1965 W vs NYY 5-4 (11 innings) Jim Kaat
4/12/1966 W vs KCA 2-1 Mudcat Grant (2)
4/11/1967 L @ BAL 3-6 Jim Kaat (2)
4/10/1968 W @ WAS 2-0 Dean Chance
4/8/1969 L @ KCR 3-4 (12 innings) Tom Hall
4/7/1970 W @ CHW 12-0 Jim Perry
4/6/1971 L vs MIL 2-7 Jim Perry (2)
4/15/1972 L @ OAK 3-4 (11 innings) Bert Blyleven
4/6/1973 W @ OAK 8-3 Bert Blyleven
4/5/1974 W @ KCR 6-4 (11 innings) Bert Blyleven
4/8/1975 W @ TEX 11-4 Bert Blyleven (2)
4/9/1976 L @ TEX 1-2 (11 innings) Bert Blyleven (3)
4/9/1977 L @ OAK 4-7 Dave Goltz
4/5/1978 L @ SEA 2-3 Dave Goltz (2)
4/6/1979 W @ OAK 5-3 Dave Goltz (3)
4/10/1980 W @ OAK 9-7 (12 innings) Jerry Koosman
4/9/1981 L vs OAK 1-5 Jerry Koosman (2)
4/6/1982 L vs SEA 7-11 Pete Redfern
4/5/1983 L vs DET 3-11 Brad Havens
4/3/1984 L vs DET 1-8 Albert Williams
4/9/1985 W @ CAL 6-2 Frank Viola
4/8/1986 W @ OAK 3-2 Frank Viola (2)
4/7/1987 W vs OAK 5-4 (10 innings) Bert Blyleven (4)
4/5/1988 L @ NYY 0-8 Frank Viola (3)
4/4/1989 L vs NYY 2-4 Frank Viola (4)
4/9/1990 L @ OAK 3-8 Allan Anderson
4/9/1991 L @ OAK 2-7 Jack Morris
4/6/1992 W @ MIL 4-2 Scott Erickson
4/6/1993 W vs CHW 10-5 Kevin Tapani
4/5/1994 L vs CAL 2-8 Kevin Tapani (2)
4/26/1995 L @ BOS 0-9 Scott Erickson (2)
4/1/1996 W vs DET 8-6 Brad Radke
4/1/1997 W vs DET 7-5 Brad Radke (2)
4/1/1998 L @ TOR 2-3 Bob Tewksbury
4/6/1999 W vs TOR 6-1 Brad Radke (3)
4/3/2000 L vs TB 0-7 Brad Radke (4)
4/3/2001 W @ DET 3-2 Brad Radke (5)
4/1/2002 W @ KC 8-6 Brad Radke (6)
3/31/2003 W @ DET 3-1 Brad Radke (7)
4/5/2004 W vs CLE 7-4 (11 innings) Brad Radke (8)
4/4/2005 L @ SEA 1-5 Brad Radke (9)
4/4/2006 L @ TOR 3-6 Johan Santana
4/2/2007 W vs BAL 7-4 Johan Santana (2)
3/31/2008 W vs LAA 3-2 Livan Hernandez
4/6/2009 L vs SEA 1-6 Francisco Liriano
4/5/2010 L @ LAA 3-6 Scott Baker
4/1/2011 L @ TOR 3-13 Carl Pavano

Overall Record on Opening Day: 25-26

1974: A Royal Beating

April 6, 1974

After defeating the Royals a day earlier in the season opener, the Twins took one on the chin in game two of the 1974 season.

Bill Hands started the game on the mound for the Twins, but his day was over after just 2/3 of an inning. In that time he allowed seven runs on seven hits, including six singles and a double. Additionally, Hands hit first baseman Paul Schaal with a pitch, and allowed a stolen base to Freddie Patek. The only two outs Hands recorded both came on strikeouts.

Patek had a particularly good first inning. He singled twice, both off of Hands, knocked in two runs, and stole two bases (the second came with Ray Corbin on the mound). Corbin temporarily stopped the bleeding when he got Jim Wohlford to ground out for the third out of the inning.

After the Twins went down in order in the second inning, Corbin ran into some trouble of his own. The Royals added three more on Hal McRae’s home run. Though Corbin made it through the second, he would not return for the third with is team down 10-0.

Larry Hisle singled home a run in the top of the third. Danny Fife came in relief and finally held the Royals scoreless in the bottom of the third inning. A Steve Braun three run home run in the top of the fourth cut into the Kansas City lead, which was cut even further when Bobby Darwin hit a two run home run in the fifth. The score was 10-6 and the Twins looked as though they might make a game of it.

That all changed, however, when Danny Fife ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Kansas City added six more runs to take a 16-6 lead. The Royals went on to score three more in the sixth, one in the seventh, and three again in the eighth. The final tally was a 23-6 Royals’ victory.

The 23 runs allowed was a record for the Twins that still stands today. There has been only one other occasion on which the Twins have allowed more than 20.