Friday,
August 17, 2007
20
Years Ago Already!
Good morning
everyone! Well, I know that I have been eagerly awaiting this weekend
for a long time. The Twins will be celebrating their 20th anniversary of
their 1987 World Series championship. Most of the players will be back.
Obviously Kirby Puckett and Joe Niekro won't make it, but
from the sounds of it, many of the others will be there. I am looking
forward to seeing the players and reading the stories about what they
are doing now, where they are at and such. I wish I were capable of some
Where Are They Now Q&As with some of those players.
Obviously it will be
good to see Jeff Reardon there. He has had a
well publicized past few years, so hopefully this celebration can be a
positive for him.
So, what do you
remember of that 1987 team? Let's share some memories here.
-
For me, I was 12
years old and in 7th grade.
-
I remember the
Detroit series. I believe that the game-clinching game was in the afternoon
and I had football practice. I couldn't believe that we would have practice
when such an important game was on TV!
-
I remember that a
friend of mine pronounced Steve Lombardozzi's name Lar-Dum-BO-Zee. It
cracked me up. But he was my brother's favorite player. And, his 1.121 OPS
in the World Series was impressive too. Sometimes, it's not about being good
as it is about being good at the right time!
-
I remember
wondering if Les Straker could pitch Game 6, but he did well.
-
I remember
driving on a bus back to school (I can't remember why) and the bus driver
spending five minutes asking me if I still thought the Twins could win the
World Series after being down 3-2 and going back to the Metrodome.
-
I remember
Kirby Puckett's airplane hat thing.
-
The Berenguer
Boogie?
-
I remember
'Buck-Ninety' and in the World Series, he hit .318 with five walks!
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I remember
wondering why Greg Gagne wasn't called "G-Man" too.
-
I remember the
Sweet Music and that impressive game 7 performance. I remember wondering why
Viola didn't get to pitch the bottom of the 9th.
-
The Tom
Lawless bat flip was pretty ridiculous.
-
Do you remember
how many injuries the Cardinals had that hurt them in the World Series?
Vince Coleman. Jack Clark. Terry Pendleton. Oh well!
-
I remember
watching Game 7 in my parent's basement. This was before it was re-done and
finished. It was a black and white TV that didn't come in real clear. But I
was way too nervous to watch the game with anyone else!
-
I remember that I
literally went to the bathroom every half inning during Game 7, I suppose
because I was so nervous.
-
What I didn't
remember were the bench players, probably because they didn't play much in
the series. Al Newman was on the roster. Sal Butera was on the
roster. Roy Smalley went 1-2 with two walks in the World Series.
Mark Davidson was on the roster.
-
I remember
Willie McGee grounding to Gary Gaetti and Gaetti slinging it over
to Kent Hrbek at first. I remember Hrbek catching the ball and
leaping into the air, arms outstretched into the air.
What else do you
remember about the 1987 season or the playoffs? What are you looking forward to
about this weekend? By the way, don't forget to pick up your August issue of
Gameday Magazine outside the
Metrodome! Please Comment below with your memories. If you get to the game or
run into any of the players, please share stories. If you would rather, please
e-mail me.
Twins
Thoughts
The Twins players likely
enjoyed their day off yesterday after a long road trip. As mentioned
above, the team will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their
1987 World Series championship. It will be fun to get to see all
those players again. Here are the pitching matchups for the series
against the Rangers:
-
Friday -
7:10 p.m. - Carlos Silva (9-12, 4.30, 1.30, .287) vs Kason
Gabbard (5-1, 3.83, 1.10, .286)
-
Saturday -
6:10 p.m. - Boof Bonser (5-9, 4.77, 1.49, .283) vs Kameron Loe
(5-9, 5.80, 1.58, .296)
-
Sunday -
1:10 p.m. - Johan Santana (12-9, 3.02, 1.05, .220) vs Kevin
Millwood (8-9, 5.63, 1.64, .298)
The Twins made a few moves.
-
As you recall, the Twins
traded Ramon Ortiz to the Colorado Rockies for IF Matt
Macri. I still am amazed that the Twins were able to deal
Ortiz and not have to pay any of his remaining salary and get a
decent prospect for him. I realize Macri is already 25 years old
and just hitting AAA for the first time in his career, but he
has been well thought of in the past.
-
To fill Ortiz's spot on
the 25 man roster, the Twins recalled 1B/OF/DH/PH Garrett
Jones. Although I think that Lew Ford would have made
a little more sense, I have no problem with Garrett Jones
moving up.
-
The Twins also claimed
utility infielder
Chris Basak from the Yankees. The 28 year old got into
five games for the Yankees in August, but he got just one at
bat. That was his first big league call up after he was drafted
by the Mets in the 6th round of the 2000 draft out of the
University of Illinois. He has spent part of the past five years
at Norfolk, the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets. This was his
first year with the Yankees organization. He really can't hit,
has little power, isn't extraordinary defensively and really
provides the Twins with nothing. He is not as good as Nick
Punto, Luis Rodriguez, Alexi Casilla, Matt
Tolbert and maybe even Gil Velazquez. He is probably
better than Luis Ugueto though! This is about as
Who-Cares a move as you'll find.
The Twins are hoping that
Jason Bartlett and Jason Kubel will be able to play some
this weekend. If Bartlett can't play, we will see a left side of the
infield that will include Nick Punto and Tommy Watkins. I'm
happy for Watkins and prefer watching him to Punto, but Bartlett and
Brian Buscher or Luis Rodriguez sounds like a much
better option.
Twins Minor League
Updates
Stick & Ball Guy takes a look at the Twins Top 10 picks in the draft
this year and shows how they are doing.
Here are the game reports
of the Twins and their minor league affiliates from Thursday's games.
Thursday SethSpeaks
Player of the Day – Brock Peterson,
New Britain Rockcats
Thursday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day –
Alex Burnett,
Beloit Snappers
ROCHESTER
REPORT
Thursday - Red
Wings
4, Buffalo 5 –
Kevin Slowey was excellent yet again. He worked the first
seven innings and gave up just one run on four hits. He walked one
and struck out four. He left the game having thrown just 86 pitches
(63 strikes). Bobby Korecky came in for the 8th and 9th
innings. He gave up four runs (2 earned) on five hits. He walked
none and struck out three, but gave up the game-ending run with two
outs in the ninth. Denard Span went 2-4 with a walk and his
7th triple. Lew Ford went 2-4 with a stolen base. Jose
Morales went 1-2 with two walks.
NEW BRITAIN
NEWS
Thursday - Rockcats
7, New Hampshire 3
– The Rockcats must be happy to have
big Brock Peterson back from his DL stint. Last night, he went 3-4
with his third triple and 14th homer. Felix Molina went 2-3
with his 17th double. Matt Moses was 2-4 with his 16th double
and fourth homer. Trevor Plouffe hit his 34th double.
Anthony Swarzak started and gave up two runs on six hits in 6.1
innings. He walked none and struck out five. Armando Gabino
came in and got the next five outs, threw on strikeouts. Tim
Lahey gave up a run on two hits in his inning.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Thursday
- Miracle 9, Tampa 5
– Kyle Waldrop was the recipient of plenty of run support en
route to his sixth win for the Miracle. In six innings, he gave up
three runs (2 earned) on five hits. He walked one and struck out
zero. David Shinskie pitched a scoreless inning. Adam
Hawes got just one out and gave up two runs on four hits.
Robert Delaney came in and got the final two outs for his sixth
save. Steve Tolleson went 3-5 with his 19th double. Juan
Portes went 2-3 with two walks, three runs scored and his ninth
homer. Danny Valencia went 2-5 with his second triple.
Brian Dinkelman was 2-5, and Erik Lis hit his 16th home
run.
BELOIT
BITS
Thursday
- Snappers 9, Burlington 0
– Alex Burnett has been
struggling of late, but he returned to form in this game. In six
shutout innings, he gave up two hits, walked none and struck out
five to even his record at 7-7. Matt Williams got his first
save with three shutout innings. Eli Tintor led the offense.
He was 3-5 with his second triple and two RBI. Chris Parmelee
went 2-4 with his 14th homer and four RBI. Steve Singleton
was 2-5 with his 14th double. Wilson Ramos went 2-5, and
Chris Cates went 2-4.
E-TWINS REPORT
Thursday
- E-Twins 4, Johnson City 9
– The E-Twins had plenty of
base runners, but just not enough big hits to keep up with all the
runs their pitchers allowed. The Twins had seven hits and eight
walks. Rene Tosoni went 2-4 with a walk. Deibinson
Romero hit his 14th double. Michael Allen started the
game and in 3.1 innings, he gave up seven runs on eight hits. He
walked one and struck out five, but two home runs were too much.
Omar Alcala came in and gave up two runs in 3.2 innings. He gave
up three hits, walked three and struck out five. Curtis Leavitt
struck out two in two shutout innings.
GCL TWINS REPORT
Thursday
- GCL Twins 8, GCL Red Sox 3
– The Twins got a lot of
offense from a lot of players. Angel Morales went 2-4 with
two triples. Juan Richardson was 2-4 with two RBI.
Yangervis Solarte went 2-4 with his second triple and two RBI.
Ben Revere went 2-4 with his fifth double. Danny Rams
was 2-4. Ramon Santana was 1-3 with a walk and his first
home run. Winston Marquez gave up two runs on six hits in
the first fiver innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Tom Stuifbergen gave up a run over three innings. Juan Acosta
went a scoreless inning.
Please feel free to
discuss the Twins game, the minor league teams and players and anything in the
comments below.
That's it for today
and for this week. Have a great weekend and check back next week!
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