1991 Game 136: New York Yankees (60-73) @ Minnesota Twins (81-54)

Saturday September 7, 1991

Mary Scmitt profiled the Yankee Cap’n in the Pioneer Press:

He’s not one for fiery pep talks, though he does try to take the Yankees’ younger players under his wing. “For the most part, I try to lead by example,” he said before the Yankees’ game against the Twins on Saturday night. “I like to talk to the young players, help them when they’re struggling, give them some encouragement that things will get better. I do talk to them about their approach to the game. I tell them to be aggressive and have a positive attitude so that we can get the most out of ourselves as a team. I just tell them to play hard every day.”

That is exactly what Mattingly has done throughout his career, and that is exactly why Yankees manager Stump Merrill figured he would be a good captain.

“He’s what I would call a `Yankee,”’ Merrill said in what he obviously considered the greatest possible compliment. “He has played his entire career here and has the respect of the entire clubhouse as well as the entire coaching staff and front office. We have a young club that needed some leadership, and I couldn’t think of a better guy.”

Twins third baseman Mike Pagliarulo agreed.

“He’s definitely a leader,” said Pagliarulo, a close friend of Mattingly’s who played six seasons with him in New York. “The way he plays the game, he gets a lot of admiration from his peers. He’s a good person. He plays to win. He plays the game hard and that’s how it should be played.

“I’ve never talked to him about it, but I’m sure he considered it a real honor. After all, how many Yankee captains were there?”

Well, since 1912, there have been only 10, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson and Graig Nettles.

“I really did consider it an honor,” said Mattingly, who has had many in his career. He was the American League’s most valuable player in 1985, won the AL batting title in 1984 (.343) and earned a Gold Glove at first base five times.

All of which makes what happened earlier this season almost impossible to understand. On Aug. 15, Mattingly was suspended for one game for his failure to get a haircut, which had been ordered by Yankees general manager Gene Michael.

Mattingly was hurt and angry.

“It surprised me,” said Mattingly, who eventually got the haircut, although he still sports a tidy, but longish style. “I had a hard time understanding it. I’ve played there with guys who’ve had drug problems, with guys who’ve had alcohol problems. So I thought they were messing with me. I thought I’d always been a good representative of the organization. I haven’t been a bad guy. I haven’t caused any problems. I always came to play. I thought I represented the organization well.”

So well, in fact, that the press and public were solidly on his side in the matter. Though the incident passed quickly, and Merrill insists it has been forgotten, Mattingly doesn’t sound so sure.

Based on how he was treated in that matter, and on the fact that the Yankees are a young team building for the future, the respected veteran could be exploring his options once the season is over.

“Now is not the time,” he said Saturday night. “After a long season is not the time to make a decision. You’ve just got to play your way through it, play hard the rest of the way, get to the offseason and then see where you are.”

Jeff Lenihan wrote about Saturday’s results in the Star Tribune:

The Twins gave away a baseball game Saturday night. Then they took it back. They let the New York Yankees tie the game after Jack Morris was one strike away from his 17th victory, then used a pinch single by rookie Pedro Munoz with two outs in the 10th to win 3-2.

The Twins won for the fifth time in six games to move 28 games above .500 for the first time since the final day of the 1970 season. The Twins, 9-2 against the Yankees, still lead the AL West by 7 1/2 games.

Munoz, recalled from Class AAA Portland earlier in the day, arrived at the Metrodome at 5:30 p.m. and missed batting practice. The RBI was his first for the Twins since July 1. He was optioned to Portland on July 30.

Munoz’s line single to center off loser Lee Geutterman (3-3) scored Kirby Puckett. With one out, Puckett hit a high chopper to the mound and was awarded a hit when first baseman Don Mattingly failed to field the throw. The throw nearly hit Puckett and barely beat the outfielder to the bag, presenting Mattingly with what Puckett called “a very tough play.”

Said Mattingly: “He wasn’t inside the (base) line. It was just tight. I have to make that play, though. That’s what happens when you’re winning. The breaks go your way.”

Puckett moved to second on Kent Hrbek’s grounder to second.

Carl Willis (8-3) earned the victory by pitching a perfect inning of relief after Rick Aguilera had blown a save opportunity for the first time since July 16.

Morris seemed to have his ninth complete game wrapped up with the two outs in the ninth. The Twins were leading 2-1 – thanks to Chili Davis’ RBI double in the eighth – and Morris, who pitched ahead in the count all evening, quickly got ahead of Matt Nokes 0-2.

With the crowd of 35,504 on its feet, Morris got Nokes to swing at a high, outside fastball and loft a soft fly to left. The pitcher began walking off the mound. But because Nokes is a lefthanded pull hitter, the Twins’ defense was swung around to the right. Shortstop Al Newman, who pinch hit for and replaced Greg Gagne, was positioned on the first-base side of second base.

Left fielder Dan Gladden, who entered the game as a defensive replacement to start the inning, did not charge the ball, and the fly dropped in front of him as Nokes chugged into second. “I still don’t know what happened in the outfield, if Danny didn’t see the ball or what,” manager Tom Kelly said. “If anyone knows, let me know. I thought it was an out.”

Instead, it was the end of Morris’ evening. He left without a victory despite pitching what might have been his best game of the season. “He got his three outs (in the ninth), but we didn’t make the play,” Kelly said. “He threw that last pitch 89 miles per hour. That’s real good for the ninth inning. I thought when that ball fell in, it was emotionally a letdown. . . . I would have taken anybody out at that point.”

Aguilera, who would have started the ninth had the starter been anyone but Morris, was summoned and gave up a line single by Roberto Kelly that drove in pinch runner Hensley Meulens with the tying run.

“That’s why I would never want to have his job,” Puckett said. “It’s all or nothing. There’s no in-between.”

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Minnesota Twins                136   82   54    0  .603     -   654  551
Chicago White Sox              137   75   62    0  .547   7.5   656  577
Oakland Athletics              137   73   64    0  .533   9.5   636  658
Texas Rangers                  134   70   64    0  .522  11.0   702  668
Kansas City Royals             135   69   66    0  .511  12.5   615  596
Seattle Mariners               136   68   68    0  .500  14.0   576  557
California Angels              135   67   68    0  .496  14.5   555  539