Written by We are going to wrap up this season’s “Twins History Lesson*” series of posts with one final look in to the franchise’s past. Today we’ll cover the rest of the month of October.Obviously, we could fill a lengthy post with game-by-game summaries of every Twins post-season game. But instead, we’re just going to cover the events with the most historical significance.
October 4, 1969: Many of today’s Twins fans don’t remember a time when there were no “playoffs”… only a World Series between the AL and NL standings champions. But 1969 was the first year of Divisional play and the Twins were among the first four Division champions. On this date, the first Division playoff games in MLB history were played when the Mets beat the Braves 9-5 and the Twins dropped a close game to the Orioles, 4-3.
October 4, 1986: Alright, I’m not really sure how “historically significant” this is, but I thought it was very cool. On this date, Greg Gagne hit not one, but TWO inside-the-park HRs against the White Sox… the only time that’s been done by a Twin.
October 6, 1965: Jim “Mudcat” Grant became the first African-American pitcher to win a World Series game as the Twins beat the Dodgers and Don Drysdale 8-2 in the first World Series game at Metropolitan Stadium and the first since the Twins moved to Minnesota from Washington. Dodger ace Sandy Koufax refused to pitch the opening game because it was played on Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Don Mincher and Zoilo Versalles homered for the Twins and Tony Oliva set a WS record for a right fielder with 7 put-outs.
October 6, 2009: Alexi Casilla drove in Carlos Gomez with the winning run in the 12th inning of Game 163 to lead the Twins to a 6-5 win, the AL Central Championship and a date with the Yankees in the ALDS. It was, without a doubt, the most exciting game I have ever attended in person. It was the final regular season game played at the Metrodome.
October 7, 1925: Yes… 1925. The Washington Senators, behind pitcher Walter Johnson, beat the Pirates in Game 1 of the World Series in Pittsburgh. The franchise has not won a road World Series game since, losing 14 straight since this date.
October 7, 1965: The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the World Series, as Jim Kaat beat Sandy Koufax 5-1. The highlight of the game for the Twins was an amazing Bob Allison diving catch down the left field line.
October 9, 2002: The largest home crowd in Twins history, 55,990, were on hand to see the Twins fall to the Angels 6-3 in game 2 of the ALCS.
October 11, 1900: Washington, DC was awarded a franchise in the soon-to-be-formed American League. In another 60 years, this franchise would become our Minnesota Twins.
October 12, 1987: The Twins beat Detroit 9-5 at Tiger Stadium to claim their first AL pennant in 22 years behind pitcher Bert Blyleven. Upon arriving back in Minnesota, the Twins find 50,000 fans at the Metrodome waiting to show their appreciation and celebrate with the team.
October 12, 2001: Manager Tom Kelly retired with the most wins (1140) of any manager in Twins history.
October 13, 1965: After dropping 3 games to the Dodgers in Los Angeles to fall behind 3 games to 2, the Twins tied the series and sent it to a seventh game. Once again, Mudcat Grant was the winning pitcher. This time, however, he also added offensive support with a home run. Bob ALlison also homered.
October 13, 1991: The Twins claimed the AL pennant with an 8-5 series clinching win over the Blue Jays. David West got the win and Kirby Puckett launched his second HR of the series.
October 14, 1965: Pitching on 2 days rest, Sandy Koufax beat Jim Kaat 2-0 as the Dodgers claimed the 1965 World Series title over the Twins. 50, 596 fans, the largest crowd in Met Stadium history, attended the game.
October 17, 1987: The Twins beat the Cardinals 10-1 behind Dan Gladden’s grand slam home run in the first ever indoor World Series game.
October 19, 1991: The Twins jumped out to a 1-0 series lead on the Braves behind Jack Morris’ pitching and home runs by Greg Gagne and Kent Hrbek in a 5-2 win.
October 25, 1987: The Twins won their first World Series title with a 4-2 win over the Cardinals, the first time all seven games of a World Series had been won by the home team.
October 26, 1991: Kirby Puckett’s 11th inning home run to win the game may be the most famous HR in Twins history.
October 27, 1991: Jack Morris threw a 10-inning shutout to lead the Twins to a 1-0 win over the Braves and claim the second World Series title for the Twins.
October 29, 2001: Commissioner Bud Selig announced that MLB is considering contracting two teams. One would be the Montreal Expos and the other would be either the Florida Marlins or Minnesota Twins. Of course, in the end, guys like Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Brad Radke, and Doug Mientkiewicz would have none of that. A year later, the Twins were AL Central Champions and contraction talk ancient history.
I hope others have enjoyed these weekly (sorta) trips in to the Twins history books as much as I have. The Twins came in to existence just shortly before my 5th birthday and I’ve been a fan ever since, so I suppose for me this has been an opportunity to re-live a few memories.
Now, let’s sit back and watch this year’s Twins make new post season memories for all of us! – JC
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*We pull this information from a few different sources, including (but not necessarily limited to) Dave Wright’s excellent book, “162-0, The Greatest Wins!”, as well as some internet sites like “Twins Trivia” and “National Pastime”.
Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed them, and look forward to squaring off once again in the playoffs. I think I would give the Yankees a slight edge in hitting (depth mostly) and the Twins a more favorable edge in pitching. I fully anticipate a 5 game series, with a memorable finish at Target Field… I know there are 2 more days until the games begin. Are you planning on discussing matchups then? If not, I would love to hear what the experts think.
Warm regards…
Thanks for the kind words, YF, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the History Lesson series.
It’s funny you should ask about discussing the match-ups, because that’s exactly what I’m sitting down to start drafting over lunch today. I don’t think it’s giving away my thoughts prematurely to simply say that I agree with you that this has the makings of a memorable series. I’ll be very disappointed if it turns out to be very one-sided (of course, my disappointment will be significantly lessened if it’s the Twins who dominate in a lopsided manner!).
I’ll also mention that Seth has already posted a pretty fair position-by-position comparison over at sethspeaks.net, so we’ll try to avoid a lot of duplication with his analysis.
I would be in favor of a dual matchups discussion – not everyone has a knowledgeable and trustworthy Yankee fan in their midst to do a real discussion. If YF would would be willing to put a little work into his position, I think it would be fun to assemble both sides.
I have to say I found the following to be the most depressing statistic of them all:
October 7, 1925: Yes… 1925. The Washington Senators, behind pitcher Walter Johnson, beat the Pirates in Game 1 of the World Series in Pittsburgh. The franchise has not won a road World Series game since, losing 14 straight since this date.
Almost afraid to see what their home vs. road records are for the other rounds of the postseason . . . but hoping that TF will miraculously change all the numbers. Three cheers for magical thinking and superstition
JC – I have truly enjoyed reading your history of the Twins series. I hope it was as fun to compile and write as it was for me to read.
YF – I am looking forward to a compelling matchup between our two teams. And I also enjoy your perspective!
I am so bummed that I am going to have to TiVo tonight’s and Saturday’s games, tonight I have a Girl Scout leader meeting (ugh) and Saturday I will be up in the mountains and away from the TV. I will be able to check scores on my phone but it won’t be quite the same.