Tagged: Harmon Killebrew
A New Month Begins!
The Minnesota Twins begin this month by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 in a home game delayed two hours by a passing rain storm. Things started off poorly when Brewer Carlos Gomez hit a solo home run in the first inning, but the Twins answered in the form of a big Jim Thome three-run homer before the inning ended! That 3:1 run ratio set in the first inning was prophetic in that the game ended with the same run ratio!
We play them again today and Sunday with the hope of sweeping this series; payback for our humiliation in Milwaukee last week.
(The payback has already taken the form of a Joe Mauer ground ball that passed between the legs of Brewer first baseman, Prince Fielding who, as you may recall, was instrumental in our defeat in Milwaukee.)
Last Sunday I asked the question, “Will [the Twins] be swept by the Brewers?” And I mentioned that the odds didn’t look good. We’d come from an outing in San Francisco that started with a bang, but which ultimately fizzled. After that first game of “Crazy Eights” the Twins scored only one run in each of the next two games. Our pitching wasn’t bad: we allowed the Giants only seven runs in those two games (five and two), but that was enough for them to win the series (our first series loss of June).
When we visited the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series, and by the time I wrote the question above, we’d lost the first two games. So we had already lost our second series and were in danger of being swept for the first time in June. Our low run issues continued: we managed three runs in the first game, but only one in the second. We kept the Brewers to four runs in the first game, and that 3-4 loss seemed to signal that we had a chance. But then came the second game, and the Brewers blasted us eleven to one; more than enough…and then some. (Especially humiliating was that we had eight hits and three walks. Runners on base eleven times, but could only get one of them home.)
At that time, it was only the fourth loss by 10 or more runs:
April 1 at Toronto Blue Jays 3-13 (lost by 10)
April 19 at Baltimore Orioles 0-11 (lost by 11)
April 28 Tampa Bay Rays 3-15 (lost by 12)
June 25 at Milwaukee Brewers 1-11 (lost by 10)
So we’d stumbled pretty badly from our tons-of-fun eight-game June Zoom into a four-game June Gloom. Clearly the odds didn’t look great.
And in this case, the odds were right on the money. We lost the third game to the Brewers 2-6 (another low score game for the Twins). Over the series, we’d scored only six runs total (averaging two per game!) compared to 21 runs scored by the Brewers (seven per game!!). We’d lost two consecutive series, been swept in one, and now had a five-game losing streak. And starting pitcher Francisco Liriano had one of his worst outings recently, giving up five earned runs in less than four innings (a game ERA of 12.27).
Could things get any worse?
Well, actually, yes they could. (Never ask that question; the answer is almost always, “Yes!”)
We limped home, bruised and beaten, to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team you’d think we would beat. At the time, the Dodgers had a 35-44 win-loss record, which put them second-to-last in the National League West. Only the San Diego Padres (34-45) were below them in that Division. Only the Florida Marlins (34-44), Chicago Cubs (31-46) and Houston Astros (28-51) were worse than them in the rest of the National League.
In the American League, at that time, the Baltimore Orioles (35-40) and the Oakland Athletics (35-44) were comparable. It might have been a clue that, in the AL, in our Central Division, the Twins were in the basement (32-44), and even the second-to-last Kansas City Royals (33-45) had a worse record than the Dodgers.
Still, it was our ballpark, and while we had only a 14-16 win-loss record at home then, the Dodgers had a 19-24 record on the road. It seemed like we would have a chance. Maybe even a good chance. And on top of all that, that was the day the Dodger organization declared bankruptcy. You’d think a thing like that would shake up a team.
Well, apparently bankruptcy is good for a ball club. The Dodgers annihilated us 0-15. Shut us out. In our own ball park. On our first day back after the sorry road trip that ended our June Zoom. Out-hit us by more than six-to-one (they got 25 hits; we got only four). Gave us our sixth consecutive loss (along with a bad case of indigestion).
It was our worst loss this season and by a noticeable margin. Until now, the worst loss was the 3-15 April 28 game against the Rays. We lost that one by only 12 and at least managed to get three runs of our own. (Interesting that our two worst losses happened at home.) This loss was magnified not just by our failure to get any runs at all, but also by getting only four hits. (It is perhaps ironic that Joe Mauer got one of those hits, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka got two! (On the other hand, Nishioka also picked up his sixth error of the season, so there is that.))
The game went bad on us immediately when the Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning. We managed to keep them from scoring in the second inning, but from that point on the Dodgers put runs on the board every inning but the last. They never scored more than three in an inning, but did score two or three in six of them. (In the third inning they scored just one run.) They even committed a single error, so there was no “bagel” (zero) in their “E” box.
It was definitely not a good night for Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn. He pitched just over four innings and gave up seven earned runs (for a game ERA of 14.54). It also wasn’t a good night for Twins bullpen pitchers Anthony Swarzak (1.2 innings, 2 ER, 13.50 ERA), Phil Dumatrait (1.0 innings, 2 ER, 18.00 ERA) or Jose Mijares (1.0 innings, 3 ER, 27.00 ERA). The single ray of light was Matt Capps in the last inning, who pitched to five Dodgers, but kept them off the scoreboard.
Could things get any worse?
As it turned out, at least for now, the answer is, “No.” The Twins went on to win the last two games of the series against the Dodgers. The wins weren’t decisive (6-4 and 1-0), but they were wins, and that’s what matters.
The last game of the series, on June 29, was both special and a nail-biter. It was special, because it was Harmon Killebrew’s birthday (and my mom’s). You really don’t want to lose a ball game in your own park on Killebrew’s birthday. It was a nail-biter not just for being a 1-0 game, but because that single run was picked up in the first inning (Ben Revere triple batted home by a ground out by Nishioka). Then for the rest of the game, pitchers Scott Baker, Glen Perkins and Matt Capps (along with the Twins defense) needed to keep the Dodgers from scoring at all!
And they did. A very good outing for the pitching staff; 0.00 ERAs all around!
The Twins bats may not have made much headway against the Dodgers (only seven runs in two games), but they were enough to get the job done. The Twins were winning again and had begun a (two-game) win streak (and won the series).
One might even argue that we answered their over-the-top, over-amped shut out with a finessed shut-out of our own. We beat them by just enough to make the point! ‘No runs for you, and–hey–we only need one. Nah, nah, nah, NAH, nah!’
And that was June. A win-loss record of 17-9 (.654) on the month and 34-45 (.430) on the season. As in April and May, we began the month with a loss, but broke the pattern by ending with a win. We were still eight games behind Division leaders Detroit and Cleveland, but far better off than the 16.5 games behind as of June 1. We’d even edged out of last place into second-to-last place.
It’s interesting to divide the first 24 games played in June into four parts of six games each. You can combine the first three parts (18 games) and compare them to the last part (six games). The results are interesting:
Games 18 6 24 Win 15 0 15 Lose 3 6 18 Win% .833 .000 .625 Runs 85 8 93 R/G 4.72 1.33 3.88 Hits 164 36 200 H/G 9.11 6.00 8.33 ERA 2.08 6.48 3.01
Given the 18:6 ratio of games, you can’t directly compare Wins, Losses, Runs or Hits. You can compare Win%, Runs/Game, Hits/Game and ERA. (You can, although it may make you ill.) The Twins were definitely off their game for those six. A future post will get deeper into analysis of the June stats.
But now it’s time to beat the Brewers. Again. And then again.
“The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major league game. The second-greatest feeling is to lose a major league game.” —Chuck Tanner, The Sporting News, 15 July 1985
Happy Birthday Harmon Killebrew!
Happy Birthday to one of the greatest of the Minnesota Twins, the slugger (and great human being) Harmon Killebrew!!
And also to my mom!! Happy Birthday to a great mom (also a great human being)!!
“I didn’t have evil intentions, but I guess I did have power.”
Mom, of course, wasn’t much of a baseball player, but I’d be willing to bet Killebrew couldn’t play the piano (let alone teach me to play it)!
This historic water tower, visible from Target Field, wears the Killebrew #3 along with a pin-striped “jersey” in honor of the great baseball slugger.
The tribute is on “Rusty” the water tower on top of the Wyman-Partridge building located across the street from Target Field. The twelve-story building was built in 1917 and renovated in 2006.
The banner was placed there for the Harmon Killebrew Memorial service at Target Field and will remain in place until July 4th.
“Look for the seams (on a knuckleball) and then hit in-between them.”
A more permanent addition honoring Killebrew was also added to the Target Field environment: The Killer’s signature now adorns the right field wall (the notation below, “HOF ’84” refers to Killebrews installation in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984):
Killebrew was known both for his easy-to-read signature, but also for his insistence that other ball players learn to also give fans a signature they could read.
“Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own.” —Harmon Killebrew
What a Difference a Day Makes!
It’s a hard thing to watch your own pitcher have such a bad day on the mound that he’s taken out early in the game. It’s hard not just because the opposing team usually ends up with a big lead early—a lead that’s often hard to get back—but because you know how bad the poor pitcher feels. So it’s hard not to feel sympathy for the other guy when it happens to him. You may be cheering your team for picking up that early lead, but you also gotta feel bad for the other guy.
Pitching Major League Baseball is an extremely challenging task—one that very few truly master in their lifetime. Membership in the exclusive club of Great Pitchers is difficult to accomplish, because it requires mastering the arts of consistency, speed, movement and “pitching smarts” (a lot of pitching involves fooling the batter). Many of the great names in baseball come from the rolls of this club. Names such as Roger Clemens, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux…
So it understandable that pitchers can have bad days and good days. Sometimes the all pieces–the mechanics of pitching–just don’t work. And as with any tricky physical task, sometimes the harder you try, the worse you do. (As Yoda said, “There is no try. There is do or not do.”)
In any event, in what almost seems karmic, Texas Ranger starting pitcher Colby Lewis, had a very bad first inning in Saturday’s game. By the time the inning was over, ten Twins had stepped up to the plate, five of them had gotten hits, two of them received walks and five scored! Lewis started the second inning in that 0-5 hole, and was removed from the game after giving up two more hits, one of which scored (in part because of a nice steal of third base by Alexi Casilla).
It was har
d not to feel for the guy. The night before, Brian Duensing, in the rain, lasted only two innings before being removed and had given up seven hits, seven runs and a walk. And while Duensing left the game down seven runs in two innings versus the six run lead Lewis left in just over one inning, Lewis hard the harder time. Duensing walked one, struck out two and had only three earned runs charged against him. Lewis walked two, struck out one and had all six runs charged against him. The difference is apparent in that Duensing was removed between the second and third inning, whereas Lewis was removed early in the second when it was obvious the Twins were running away with the game.
So it’s hard not to feel sympathetic while dancing around ones living room cheering the great Twins lead. And it’s hard not to at least mention that Duensing had the excuse of the rain[1] Friday, whereas Saturday’s weather was outstanding for baseball. Colby Lewis just had a very bad day on the mound.
Meanwhile, over on the Minnesota side, Scott Baker pitched one of the best games of his life! For one thing, he pitched his career fourth complete game, which is great for the Twins because of their unreliable bullpen. Baker averaged 6.5 innings in his last ten games, pitching eight only once and seven only twice.
But not only did he go the distance, he gave up just one run in the game with only five hits. On top of all that, he pitched four perfect innings until the top of the fifth when first batter, Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre, belted out a double. (Oddly, the announcer for Fox Sports Saturday had just mentioned that Baker was throwing a perfect game–many consider mentioning it a jinx to be avoided. You’d think a baseball announcer would be more aware, but these guys couldn’t keep Ben Revere and Rene Rivera straight… perhaps “C” and “CF” was confusing. d;-) That double also ruined his no-hitter. (The silver lining is that the pitcher can stop thinking about a perfect game or a no-hitter.)
Which leaves a possible shut-out, and Baker kept that hope alive all the way to the eighth inning. Texas first baseman Mike Napoli reached first on a fly to center, stole second on defensive indifference and scored on the single by Dave Murphy. But that was the one run Texas managed. (Some might argue that the defensive indifference cost Baker his shut-out, but others will argue in favor of concentrating on retiring the batter.)
As far as batters, the Twins batters didn’t get too much done once Colby Lewis was replaced, but still managed to earn three more runs. My favorite Twin, Alexi Casilla, doubled and scored in the second, and batted in Ben Revere (a great new Twin!) with a single in the fourth. Michael Cuddyer did something similar in the seventh: scoring on a double by Delmon Young after a double of his own put him on second. Center fielder, Ben Revere, also gets a shout out for some outstanding fielding!
This win puts the Twins 2-1 on the series, so the worst that can happen in Sunday’s game is a tie. I’m hoping for a win and another great game of baseball, because I’ll be at Target Field for that last game. This will be only my third visit, second this year. The first time, May 15th, we lost to the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m hoping for a better result Sunday!
“Look for the seams (on a knuckleball) and then hit in-between them.” —Harmon Killebrew, MN Twins #3 (retired)
New To The Game 