Tony, the Killer, and Carew

This is the 17th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Wednesday June 24, 1992
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

Kevin Tapani had been somewhat of a forgotten man in 1991. Though he had a career year and was the most consistent starter for a team that won the World Series, Tapani was overshadowed the entire season by the story lines surrounding Jack Morris, Scott Erickson, and Rick Aguilera; partially due to a lower win total than the first two. 1992 started out much the same for Tapani. The buzz at the beginning of the season seemed to surround new acquisition John Smiley and Erickson, leaving Tapani to the familiar spot as the third most popular starter on the team.

Tapani didn’t have a great start to the 1992 season. After winning his first start, he lost four straight and had to work to keep his ERA below six. Coming into a the late June game against the Angels, Tapani had a 6-5 record with a 5.08 ERA. Tapani’s slow start mirrored that of his team. The defending World Series champions struggled through the early months of the season. After hovering just below .500 for most of April and May, the Twins seemed to settle in just above the .500 mark until late June. It was then that the Twins put together a streak, and had won six of seven games heading into the final game a 13-game home stand.

Tapani took the mound against the Angels and Chuck Finley. Finley had a history of looking good against the Twins, and was one of those pitchers that Twins’ fans expected a tough game against regardless of Finley’s tough start in 1992 (he was 2-6 with a 5.71 ERA as of June 23).

The Twins got to Finley early in front 0f 30,000 fans at the Metrodome. Chili Davis’ fifth home run of the season gave the Twins a quick 2-0 lead in first inning. Tapani worked around a two-out single in the top of the first, then went on a string in which he retired 18 in a row, including the fourth inning, in which he struck out the side. Jeff Lenihan summarized the performance in the next day’s Star Tribune:

Tapani’s complete-game two-hitter represented the finest pitching performance by a Twins starter this season and perhaps the best start of Tapani’s 82-start major league career. Tapani, a righthander, did not walk a batter, allowed only three baserunners and struck out a career-high 10. After the Twins scored twice in the first off Chuck Finley - or someone giving a poor impersonation of the pitcher that used to dominate the Twins - Tapani was never in trouble as the Twins recorded their fifth consecutive victory.

 

In his past two starts, Tapani has thrown 17 1/3 innings and given up only six hits, two walks and one earned run. That gives him two quality starts in the team’s current streak of eight straight. But before Friday’s 1-0 loss to Dave Fleming of the Mariners, Tapani had given up 100 hits and 46 earned runs in only 75 innings, and the Twins were having to score six or seven runs for him to win.

 

The game ended up being quite void of drama thanks to an offensive outburst by the Twins, led by Brian Harper who went 4-for-4 with four RBI in the game. The final score was 11-0.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   
K Tapani, W (7-5)           9     2   0   0    0  10   0   4.58 

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   30  115-79    11-6     93   -	 

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In honor of Nick Punto’s (almost) historically bad season, I thought I would take a look at historically bad hitters in Twins history. Here are the bottom 10 career batting averages among non-pitchers in Twins history (through 2006).

10. Henry Blanco C (2004) .206 (315 AB)

9. Jerry Zimmerman C (1962-1968) .204 (790 AB)

8. Charlie Manuel OF (1969-1972) .199 (366 AB)
7. Luis Gomez SS (1974-1977) .199 (362 AB)

6. Houston Jiminez SS (1983-1984) .195 (384 AB)

5. Jerry Kindall IF (1964-1965) .183 (470 AB)

4. Ron Clark IF (1966-1969) .182 (296 AB)

3. Danny Walton OF (1973-1975) .176 (159 AB)

2. Jackie Hernandez IF (1967-1968) .172 (227 AB)

1. Tom Nieto C (1987-1988) .152 (165 AB)

It is not surprising that this particular list is dominated by back up catchers and utility infielders, and that half of the list played in the late 1960’s. Henry Blanco is the only active player on the list, and the only player from the current decade to show up. As would be expected, there is nobody on the list that played a single game for the Twins in the 1990’s. For what it’s worth, Nick Punto’s career average with the Twins was .248 through last Saturday’s play, which equals Jeff Reboulet and Juan Castro’s career average with the Twins, and is just one less than Greg Gagne’s .249.

1 year ago…
9/26/2006: Just one day after clinching a playoff berth the Twins were after an AL West title. Johan Santana pitched eight innings against the Kansas City Royals and won his 19th game of the season in a 3-2 Twins victory at the Metrodome. The score was tied into the bottom of the eighth inning. Shortly after Justin Morneau was thrown out trying to score on a wild pitch, Luis Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to score the eventual winning run.

12 years ago…
9/26/1995: The Twins took out a year’s worth of frustration on Chuck Finley and the eventual AL Champion Cleveland Indians. The Twins, powered by a six-run seventh inning, defeated the Indians 13-4 in a late season game at the Metrodome. Marty Cordova went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the win.

18 years ago…
9/26/1989: Rick Aguilera, who was just recently acquired from the Mets in the Frank Viola trade, pitched a complete game victory over the White Sox in Chicago. Kirby Puckett and Gene Larkin each homered in the 7-1 Twins win.

34 years ago…
9/26/1973: Bert Blyleven allowed just one hit to the Oakland A’s: a fifth inning RBI single for Angel Magual. The run was set up by a Twins error. Still, the Twins won the game 4-1, and Blyleven had the benefit of three Twins home runs to win the game at Oakland.

42 years ago…
9/26/1965: The Twins won their 99th game of the season, matching a franchise high for team wins set in 1933. The game was tied 1-1 until Zoilo Versalles hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning that put the Twins ahead of Washington, 2-1. Jim Kaat pitched the complete game and allowed just a single run despite eight total hits for the Senators.

This is the 16th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Sunday October 5, 1986
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

On the final day of the 1986 season, the Twins and the White Sox played what was essentially a meaningless game. Neither team had really been in contention that year, and both had at least one change of managers (the Sox when from Tony LaRussa to Doug Rader to Jim Fregosi; the Twins went from Ray Miller to a young guy named Kelly).

Frank Viola had already established himself as the best pitcher on the Twins’ staff. While 1986 was a down year for him, he still managed to come into the last game with a 15-13 record (despite a 4.68 ERA). Viola’s only other game against Chicago that season was a June 25th loss in which he allowed four runs over six innings pitched.

While Viola had pitched very well for the Twins for some time, he had not recorded a shutout in more than two years, his last being in August of 1984.

The first time through the White Sox lineup, Viola was perfect. By the time he took the mound in the fourth inning, he already had a 1-0 lead thanks to an unearned run scored when Greg Gagne stretched a single into a home run thanks to an error charged to the left fielder, John Cangelosi.

It was Cangelosi, however, who broke Viola’s perfect string when he singled to lead off the fourth inning. He didn’t get beyond second base, however, as Viola retired the next three in order.

In the bottom of the fourth, with the bases loaded and one out, Mark Davidson drew a walk to make the Twins’ lead 2-0. A Kirby Puckett ground out scored the third run, a tally that turned out to be the final of the game.

In the final five innings, the only blemishes on Viola’s game was a walk drawn by Ron Karkovice in the fifth inning, and a two-out single by Ozzie Guillen in the eighth. Viola wrapped the game up in a tidy two hours, two minutes by retiring the final four men he faced.

“It’s been too long since the last (shutout), but this is a nice way to end the season,” Viola said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever thrown a complete-game two-hitter. Now, I’ll go for a one-hitter and no-hitter. I’ve already got the 14, 13, 12 and 11-hitters down pat.” - quoted by Howard Sinker in the Star Tribune 10/6/1986.

 

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   
F Viola, W (16-13)          9     2   0   0    1   9   0   4.51   

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   30     -       8-10    91    - 

Box

After the game, the team focused on 1987.

Kelly has been asked by Twins vice president Andy MacPhail not to leave town for a few days. There are players to be evaluated and tasks to be completed that require a manager’s presence, even if Kelly may not be filling that position for more than another week or two. Interviews are expected to continue this week.

While Kelly has been told there will be a job for him in the organization, perhaps returning to his former job as third-base coach, the other coaches have no guarantees. Their job searches are about to begin, and their only realistic hope of returning to the Twins rests with Kelly’s getting the permanent job.

This is the 15th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Friday August 1, 1986
Metrodome
Minneapols, MN

It took nearly a decade after Dave Goltz scored a 92 Bill James game score in 1977 for another Twin to get to 91 or better. Interestingly, it was a former Twin who had returned in 1986 that got the job done. Bert Blyleven came to the Twins in a mid-season trade in 1985. Since he left the team, he made stops in Texas, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland on his way back to Minnesota. When Blyleven left in 1976, the Twins were still playing their home games at Met Stadium. Upon his return, Blyelven and the Twins were in the middle of their third year in the Metrodome.

Blyleven turned 35-years-old at the beginning of the 1986 season, but he still was a very effective pitcher. After having a bit of a rough go in the early 80’s, Blyleven was again posting numbers that looked very much like a Hall of Fame resume, particularly in 1984 when he won 19 games and had a 2.87 ERA with a sixth-place Cleveland team.

Through July of 1986, however, Blyleven had a 9-10 record with another bad team, and had a mediocre 4.70 ERA heading into the game against Oakland on the 1st of August. In that time, Blyleven had allowed 33 opposition home runs, already a career high (his previous high was 25 allowed in 1975).

Blyleven was on the verge of a positive career milestone as well, coming into the game with 2,992 career strikeouts, just eight K’s away from becoming only the 10th pitcher in history to reach 3,000.

In that regard, Blyleven started off well, retiring the first 12 men he faced, six by strikeout. A Bruce Bochte single and a Gary Gaetti error that allowed Carney Lansford to reach to start the fifth inning didn’t phase Blyleven, who struck out the next two men he saw, including Mike Davis who became career victim number 3,000. An Alfredo Griffin ground out with the bases loaded helped Blyleven escape the fifth without allowing any runs, and the Twins put up another three in the bottom of the frame to push the score to 7-0 in the home team’s favor.

Blyleven wasn’t satisfied with the career milestone, however, and struck out two more A’s in each of the next two innings to run his total to 12 for the game. By the time Blyleven struck out Jose Canseco for the second out in the ninth inning, he had run his total on the day to a career-high 15 strikeouts.

The only blemish on the game was a familiar one for Blyleven in 1986. With nobody on base in the eighth, Alfredo Griffin lined a Blyelven pitch to right for a solo home run, one of only two hits the A’s managed in the game. It was the 34th home run allowed by Blyleven that season, who eventually would set an ML record by allowing 50 that season.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA    
B Blyleven, W (10-10)       9     2   1   1    1  15   1   4.51    

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS		
			   31     -       9-3     93    - 

What might have been the most remarkable thing about Blyleven’s performance, however, was that it stole headlines from what would have been top bill any other day. Over the course of the 10-1 victory, Kirby Puckett had hit for the cycle. Puckett was the seventh (and last) Twin to accomplish the feat, and was the first to do it since 1980.

Box

The Chicago White Sox are in town this weekend, meaning Jim Thome will have another chance to tee off on Twins pitchers. In his career against the Twins, Thome has hit .317/.414/.644 compared to his normal .281/.409/.562 line. He has hit 51 home runs against the Twins, as many as he has hit against any team (he also has 51 off of Detroit pitching

With that in mind I ask: who are some other players from the past or present who were or are “Twins Killers”? You know, those batters who it seems the Twins can never get out, or those pitchers who seem to shut down the Twins lineup with ease. Leave some names in the comments section.

The AJ Pierzynski Trade: November 14, 2003

At the time, the focus was on the beginning of the Joe Mauer era. AJ Pierzynski had been the starting catcher for the Twins for the last five seasons, and his departure cleared the way for the top pick in the 2001 amateur draft to start behind the plate for the Twins. For some players, however, the focus was on the end of an era rather than the beginning of the new one. The most outspoken was Doug Mientkiewicz (not surprisingly).

“In about three or four years, our group will get its due,” Mientkiewicz said. “People will look back and say, `Damn, that group we had in ‘01, ‘02, and ‘03 was pretty good.

 

“This franchise is looking toward the future, which is fine. But if this franchise ever goes back to the days when .500 was a good season, our group will get the credit it deserves.

 

“It’s not fair to the Mauers and [Justin] Morneaus to bring them up and expect to win. It’s hard enough to play in this league as it is, as a young guy. To learn and win at the same time? The game’s not going to let you do it.

 

“And that’s coming from someone who thinks Joe Mauer will be a very good player.”

 

-Star Tribune 11/14/2003

 

 

Lost in most of the discussion at the time was the names of the players that the Twins got in return. Those names wouldn’t remain forgotten for long.

Joe Nathan

Before: Nathan had four years of major league experience, the best of which was the just-completed 2003 season, in which he went 12-4 with a 2.96 ERA. He was universally recognized as the best major league player in the trade.

Since: Almost immediately upon his arrival, Nathan was installed as the team’s new closer to replace Eddie Guardado, despite the fact that Nathan had no experience in that role. All he has done since is become one of the elite closers in baseball, posting a 1.96 ERA in four seasons with the Twins (230 ERA+).

Boof Bonser

Before: The 22-year-old starting pitcher was a product of the 2000 draft. In 2003, he was 7-10 with a 4.00 ERA in AA, 1-2 3.13 in AAA.

Since: Bonser got his first major league start in the spring of 2006. He had a solid season, and was one of the Twins few options to start in the playoffs. He has struggled a bit on 2007, and many (including the manager) place the blame for his struggles on his size (listed at 6′4″, 260 lbs). In two seasons, Bonser is 14-18 with a 4.65 ERA (96 ERA+).

Francisco Liriano

Before: LaVelle E. Neal simply said this about Liriano the day after the trade: “The lefthanded Liriano, 20, was limited to five games in the low minors because of a muscle strain.”

Since: Liriano showed a flash of brilliance in the 2006 season, going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA (207 ERA+) before his season was prematurely shut down due to injury. He has been out all of 2007 after having Tommy John surgery, and Twins fans are hoping that he will return to form to start 2008.

The Pierzynski trade represented Terry Ryan at his best: trading a known major league quantity for prospects. In this case, the prospects panned out for the Twins, and it is likely that other GM’s took notice, making it difficult for Ryan to repeat his success in later trades.

The last major change to the Twins uniform came prior to the historic 1987 season. The team dropped the synthetic-looking uniform that came into vogue in the mid-1970’s in favor of the more traditional, button-down look. Gone were the powder blue road uniforms. In their place, the Twins returned to the classic road grays with the addition of pinstripes to both home and away uniforms. While the “Twins” written across the front had a slight font change from the previous year (with the word “win” underlined in “Twins”), the most drastic change came to the road jersey, where the name of the state appeared along the front for the first time, in red letters above the player’s number.

The writing along the front of the jersey became the only place where the color red was used so predominantly. The Twins stopped wearing red shoes, and caps and batting helmets became blue again. An “M” replaced “TC” as the logo on the cap, though the “TC” remained as a shoulder patch on the home uniform, while the new Twins logo (sadly replacing the Twins shaking hands over the river) was the patch worn on the road.

For those who wanted to show some team spirit on their stirrups, as Bert Blyleven liked to do, the “M” replaced the “TC” there as well.

The Twins, of course, won two World Championships in these uniforms. That might be the reason why very little has changed to the basic pattern in 21 years, although baseball styles have changed a great deal. In general, uniforms have trended toward the looser fitting side in the past decade, and sock styles have changed dramatically, almost eliminating the stirrup entirely. Today, a player has two major options with their socks: cover up completely, or show the socks all the way to the knees - no stirrups necessary.

The Twins have made some changes recently, including wearing “TC” on their caps (and the brief use of red caps on Sunday home games). Like every other team in this decade, the Twins have also experimented with alternate jerseys. Some have caught on, like the blue jerseys with red lettering that have been around since the late 90’s; while others have not, like the ill-advised vests introduced last year and worn only enough times to count on one hand.

Here are all of the uniforms from 1987-2006 on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame online exhibit.

1 year ago…
9/12/2006: The Twins scored four in the bottom of the eighth to come from behind and beat the Oakland A’s 7-5. Justin Morneau highlighted the inning with a two-run double, then later scored on a wild pitch. With the win, the Twins remained 1.5 games behind Detroit. Just two weeks earlier they were 6 games back.

16 years ago…
9/12/1991: Nolan Ryan out dueled Jack Morris in a battle of veteran starting pitchers at Arlington Stadium. Ryan allowed the Twins just two hits over seven innings pitched, and added nine strikeouts to his career total. Morris went the distance in the loss, and allowed four runs over eight inning pitched. The Twins made it a game in the ninth when Chili Davis hit a two-run home run, but the scoring stopped there in the 4-3 Texas win.

21 years ago…
9/12/1986: Though the Twins defeated the Rangers 4-2, this date will forever be remembered as the beginning of the Tom Kelly era. Prior to the game, Ray Miller was fired before he reached the end of his second season as manager of the Twins. Kelly would go on to have a bit of success as skipper of the Twins.

32 years ago…
9/12/1975: After debuting with much fanfare two season earlier, Eddie Bane finally earned his first major league victory in a 7-6 Twins’ win over the A’s. The offense helped Bane by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth, capped off by Jerry Terrell’s two RBI triple. As it turned out, Bane would need each of those runs. The A’s scored five in the eighth to make the game close, but the Twins pulled it out for the one-run victory.

38 years ago…
9/12/1969: Jim Perry shut out the Kansas City Royals on six hits at the Met to earn his 18th win, and his team’s 87th win. The Twins got home runs from Bob Allison and Cesar Tovar in the 3-0 win.

This is the 14th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Tuesday August 23, 1977
Metropolitan Stadium
Bloomington, MN

If Dave Goltz was somewhat of an unknown quantity when he threw his first gem in August of 1976, he wasn’t sneaking up on anybody a year later. 1977 was his best season, and Goltz came into the August 23rd game against Boston with a 15-7 record and a 3.36 ERA. With all of his success, however, Goltz had not had a dominant game yet in 1977 like he saw at the end of 1976. In fact, Goltz hadn’t pitched a shutout since September 25, 1976. Still, he had a career high for victories in a season already with a month left to go, and Goltz was starting to be recognized as one of the better pitchers in the AL. The Twins rewarded Goltz with a new, three-year contract in late July of 1976.

It was a good thing too. Things had changed for the Twins in that same year’s time as well. When Goltz shut down the Brewers in August of 1976, the Twins were 15 games out of first place. Almost exactly a year later, the Twins found themselves in second place in the AL West, just one game behind Kansas City with a 71-54 record.

Boston came to Met with something to play for of their own. After losing to the Twins in the first game of the series, Boston still held a slim half-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East. The Sox sent Ferguson Jenkins to the mound against Goltz in the second of a short two-game series.

After Goltz got out of the first with just a walk allowed, the Twins offense jumped on Jenkins early. With two outs, Rod Carew hit a solo home run, and the Twins added another with an unearned run later in the inning to take a 2-0 lead. By the time the fourth inning rolled around, the Twins added another run, while Goltz was still cruising along.

A lead-off single by Jim Rice in the fourth inning didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, and Goltz struck the next two men out before getting George Scott to ground out and end the inning with Rice still stranded. Rice’s hit, however, would take on significance as the game progressed.

From the fifth inning on, Goltz allowed just two more Red Sox to reach base; one on an error, the other a walk (his third walk issued of the game). Goltz plowed through the last 10 batters he faced, retiring them all while striking out five of them, to close out the game, a one-hit shut out that would have been a no-no without Rice’s harmless single in the fourth.

The Twins added several runs over the innings in a team effort at the plate; no one player had more than a single RBI in the 7-0 win over the Red Sox.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    
D Goltz, W (16-7)           9     1   0   0    3  10   0   

 			  ERA   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS

			 3.23   32     -      10-7     92    - 

Box

Unfortunately for the Twins, Goltz performance may have represented the last point at which the team’s hopes for an AL West championship were in reach. They dropped four of five on the ensuing road trip, and went 12-23 overall after August 23. The free fall was enough to drop the Twins to fourth in the AL West.

Goltz played out his contract with the Twins, never again getting particularly close to the post season. When he had his chance, Goltz signed as a free agent with Los Angeles, where he didn’t pitch particularly well, but he did appear in two World Series games and a handful of playoff games.