TwinsCards.com Franchise History Blog: Coffeyville Whirlwind

Tuesday May 21, 1991

The Twins jumped ahead of the Rangers early. Thanks to Kirby Puckett’s two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, the Twins carried a 3-1 lead through three innings. That lead, however, was short-lived.

Steve Buechele tied the score with a two-run home run of his own off of Kevin Tapani in the top of the fourth. The Rangers took the lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Julio Franco. A couple of runs in the eighth inning off of Steve Bedrosian gave Texas a 6-3 cushion, enough to survive a mini-rally by the Twins in a 6-5 final.

The win was the eight straight for Texas.

“They’re swinging good. There’s no question about that,” Kelly said. “They seem to be taking pitches and doing a smart job of hitting. You look at their lineup and you take Inky (Pete Incaviglia) out, and it looks a lot better. Nothing against Inky, but they don’t have that mystique of free swinging any more. They’re more disciplined. . . . We ran into them at the wrong time. I wish they would cool off.”

-quoted by Jeff Lenihan, Star Tribune

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Seattle Mariners                39   23   16    0  .590     -   152  148
Oakland Athletics               38   22   16    0  .579   0.5   199  188
Texas Rangers                   33   19   14    0  .576   1.0   170  140
California Angels               39   22   17    0  .564   1.0   176  147
Minnesota Twins                 38   19   19    0  .500   3.5   161  151
Chicago White Sox               35   17   18    0  .486   4.0   130  168
Kansas City Royals              37   15   22    0  .405   7.0   134  156

October 4, 1913

Walter Johnson’s final appearance of the 1913 season came in a game that the New York Times described as “farcical”. The paper’s description was apt. Johnson, the star pitcher, started the game in center field. He came on to pitch to two batters in the eighth inning. Johnson lobbed pitched to the two Red Sox hitters, who each reached safely before the Coffeyville Whirlwind returned to center field to make room for the new pitcher, who happened to be catcher Eddie Ainsmith making his pitching debut. Ainsmith allowed consecutive triples and Walter Johnson was charged with two runs. His ERA moved from 1.09 heading into the game to 1.14.

55 years later those final hitters Johnson faced would have historical significance. Had he not entered the game, his 1.09 ERA would still be the top single-season ERA in baseball history. Instead Bob Gibson’s 1.13 in 1968 has that honor.

Final Numbers (from baseball-reference.com; they don’t match with my running tally from the NYT reports):

48 G  36 GS  36-7  346 IP  232 H  56 R  38 BB  243 K  1.14 ERA  0.78 WHIP

While attempting to cover Walter Johnson’s 1913 season, I discovered how difficult it can be to track statistics from early boxscores. I gave up trying to distinguish earned runs and unearned runs early in the series, and found that assigned wins and losses to pitchers can be tricky too. All said, my running tally wasn’t too far from the actual numbers.

None of this changes, of course, the fact that the season Walter Johnson turned in the summer of 1913 remains without peer.

Sunday May 19, 1991

Jack Morris’ first start at Tiger Stadium since he left Detroit was an ugly one. Two home runs in the first inning, a three-run shot by Cecil Fielder and a grand slam by Milt Cuyler, put the Twins in an early 7-0 hole. Though he righted the ship somewhat for the next three innings, the Twins went on to lose the game 8-3.

From Jeff Lenihan’s game story in the Star Tribune:

Besides the homers, the 10-batter, 44-pitch inning included a four-pitch walk to Lou Whitaker and hard ground singles by Tony Phillips and Mickey Tettleton that nearly took off the right arm of second baseman Al Newman.

The Tigers had dropped eight straight games, including five in a row to the Twins. But as he did so many times during his 13-plus seasons in Detroit, Morris (3-5) helped stop a Tigers losing streak. That he was batted around like a pinata - he yielded three homers, six walks and eight runs (four earned) in four innings - thrilled a crowd of 17,148 that seemed as interested in jeering Morris as cheering the slumping Tigers.

“I think most of the fans got to see what they wanted to see,” Morris said. “Some people are feeling good now, so the world is a better place because of me. Unfortunately, I didn’t give my team a chance to win.”

…
“Jack didn’t have his best stuff and anybody who saw him pitch the last time (when he two-hit the Brewers Tuesday) could attest to that,” Kelly said. “He pitched like he did in a couple of other games where he struggled earlier this season.”

And while one might assume the timing couldn’t have been worse, Morris disagreed.

“If I’m going to have a bad outing, I guess it’s better it’s here than somewhere else,” he said. “At least here the players and fans and the other side got some enjoyment out of it.”

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               36   22   14    0  .611     -   192  176
Seattle Mariners                37   22   15    0  .595   0.5   141  138
Texas Rangers                   32   18   14    0  .563   2.0   164  135
California Angels               37   20   17    0  .541   2.5   166  142
Chicago White Sox               33   17   16    0  .515   3.5   125  158
Minnesota Twins                 37   19   18    0  .514   3.5   156  145
Kansas City Royals              35   14   21    0  .400   7.5   124  145

Saturday May 18, 1991

Jim Caple helpfully summarized the game in the Pioneer Press:

For you folks dying to move on and read more about guys with no teeth and blades on their feet, here’s the gist of Minnesota’s 4-1 victory over Detroit on Saturday: The Tigers made the least of their many scoring opportunities while the Twins made the most of their few.

Things started off well for the Twins when Kirby Puckett homered in the top of the first inning. Detroit looked poised to take the lead in the bottom of the first when, with two outs, Mark Guthrie walked three consecutive Tigers. He and the Twins escaped with the 1-0 lead in tact, however, when Lou Whitaker flied out to center field to end the inning.

The Twins took advantage in the second inning. After Brian Harper singled and Kent Hrbek walked, Shane Mack homered to put the Twins on top 4-0.

The Tigers scored in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 4-1, but it turned out to be the last of the scoring. Guthrie and the bullpen; Terry Leach, Larry Casian, and Rick Aguilera, held the Tigers the rest of the way. Aguilera even repeated Guthrie’s first inning when he walked the bases loaded with two out in the ninth inning, but the Twins held on for their second consecutive win.

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Seattle Mariners                36   22   14    0  .611     -   139  135
Oakland Athletics               35   21   14    0  .600   0.5   183  172
Texas Rangers                   31   17   14    0  .548   2.5   152  131
California Angels               36   19   17    0  .528   3.0   156  140
Minnesota Twins                 36   19   17    0  .528   3.0   153  137
Chicago White Sox               32   16   16    0  .500   4.0   120  154
Kansas City Royals              34   14   20    0  .412   7.0   122  141

Friday May 17, 1991

Scott Erickson did not seem to be as dominant as he had been in his other 1991 starts, but the results at Tiger Stadium were the same nonetheless. Erickson held the Tigers to just a run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched despite a lack of sharpness:

Erickson wasn’t as sharp as he has been.

One key to his recent success has been his ability to keep his sinking fastball in the strike zone, but he had difficulty with that Friday. Erickson walked five batters, including the game’s first hitter, and hit another. He allowed six hits. Manager Tom Kelly gave him the hook in mid-inning for the third time this season after he walked Cecil Fielder to load the bases.

-Jim Caple, Pioneer Press

He didn’t need to be that sharp, however, as the Twins’ offense scored eight runs in the 8-1 win. Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Chili Davis, Pedro Munoz, and Junior Ortiz all had multipe hits in the victory.

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Seattle Mariners                35   21   14    0  .600     -   135  134
Oakland Athletics               34   20   14    0  .588   0.5   180  172
Texas Rangers                   30   16   14    0  .533   2.5   139  126
Chicago White Sox               31   16   15    0  .516   3.0   118  145
California Angels               35   18   17    0  .514   3.0   152  138
Minnesota Twins                 35   18   17    0  .514   3.0   149  136
Kansas City Royals              33   13   20    0  .394   7.0   115  137

Thursday May 16, 1991

Allan Anderson had another shaky start, and the Twins dropped the last game of the series against Milwaukee, 6-3.

Anderson lasted just three innings and allowed five runs on six hits, two of which were home runs (off the bats of Bichette and Yount). Tom Kelly explained the difficulty of preparing for an Anderson start in the Star Tribune:

“When you’re driving to the ballpark, you like to have a good feeling that you’re going to win the game,” manager Tom Kelly said. “The more days out of five you feel you have a good chance to win, that tells you what kind of club you have.

“Andy has been inconsistent. He is capable of pitching very good. I was thinking on the way here (yesterday) how the last time out he wasn’t very good at all (four runs in four innings vs. Detroit) and I didn’t feel so good. Then I started thinking that he pitched well against the Brewers (one run in seven innings) the time before that, so then again maybe we’d be OK. You just don’t know.”

Kelly also referred to Anderson as “horsecrap” in the first two innings. Pitching coach Dick Such was more succinct:

“If I had the answer to it, I’d offer him some help.”

…and, the pitcher’s perspective…

“As far my own perspective, I thought I made most pitches where I wanted them,” said Anderson, who has allowed nine earned runs in seven innings in his past two games. “I was pretty close to the same as far as my mental makeup and what my pitches were doing as I was in the games where the result turned out the way I wanted it to. I didn’t feel like I was missing by that much.

“In fact, except for the game against Detroit over the weekend, I feel like I’ve pitched about the same. I really can’t control the result. What I can do ends about the time the ball leaves my hand.”

There were a few positives for the Twins in the loss, including Pedro Munoz’ first major league home run and Greg Gagne’s 2-for-4 day out of the lead off position. The Twins head to Detroit to start a weekend series with the Tigers tomorrow.

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               33   20   13    0  .606     -   174  161
Seattle Mariners                34   20   14    0  .588   0.5   134  134
California Angels               34   18   16    0  .529   2.5   151  133
Texas Rangers                   29   15   14    0  .517   3.0   133  122
Minnesota Twins                 34   17   17    0  .500   3.5   141  135
Chicago White Sox               30   15   15    0  .500   3.5   113  142
Kansas City Royals              32   13   19    0  .406   6.5   110  130

Wednesday May 15, 1991

On day after St. Paul native Jack Morris twirled his best game for the Twins, another St. Paul native had an impact on the Twins-Brewers series. This time, however, it was the visiting team that benefited.

Paul Molitor, the pride of Cretin High and the University of Minnesota, can vouch for that. He has played more than 50 professional baseball games at the Metrodome, but none was quite as memorable as Wednesday night’s, when he almost single-handedly led the Brewers to a 4-2 victory over the Twins by hitting for the cycle.

Molitor’s odds-defying feat, which helped end Milwaukee’s eight-game losing streak, was witnessed by 15,992 fans who chose to either ignore North Stars-mania or take the fever to the park - along with their radios. But included in the crowd were five of Molitor’s six sisters, his brother, 30 close friends and probably 1,000 or so fans who were as interested in Molitor as in the Twins.

If you get the feeling Minnesota natives have been saving some of their crowning achievements for the Dome lately, congratulations for paying attention. The Twins have played 18 home games, and already three St. Paul natives have had milestone games at the Dome. St. Paul Central graduate and Gophers product Dave Winfield had his first three-homer game April 13, and two weeks later, first-year Twin Jack Morris of Highland Park High won his 200th game. Throw in that New Ulm’s Terry Steinbach hit his first Dome homer April 21, and you get the feeling Molitor was destined to do something special during his visit.

“The only premonition I really had was when I was thinking early in the game about Winfield hitting the three homers, Steinbach finally getting his homer here and Jack (Morris) winning No. 200,” Molitor said. “I noticed that a lot of good things had happened to Minnesotans here. I guess I thought a little about the cycle or something else big. When you’re the DH, you have time to think about a lot of things.”

Molitor became only the fourth player in Brewers history to hit for the cycle (joining Mike Hegan, Charlie O’Brien and Robin Yount) and the first to do so against one pitcher. That was Kevin Tapani, who fell to 2-3 after succumbing to what he aptly described as a “one-man show.”

Molitor’s cycle was the 203rd in major league history and the 92nd in the history of the American League. Robby Thompson of the Giants hit for the cycle earlier this season. George Brett was the last AL player to hit for the cycle - last July 25.

-Jeff Lenihan, Star Tribune

Molitor got the toughest part of the cycle out of the way when he tripled on the first pitch of the game. He singled in the third, doubled in the fifth, and completed the cycle with a home run in the seventh. Molitor scored twice and had one RBI.

Kevin Tapani was on the hill for the Twins. It was the first time that Tapani had allowed more than three runs in a game.

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               32   19   13    0  .594     -   163  156
Seattle Mariners                33   19   14    0  .576   0.5   131  133
Texas Rangers                   29   15   14    0  .517   2.5   133  122
California Angels               33   17   16    0  .515   2.5   144  133
Minnesota Twins                 33   17   16    0  .515   2.5   138  129
Chicago White Sox               30   15   15    0  .500   3.0   113  142
Kansas City Royals              32   13   19    0  .406   6.0   110  130

Tuesday May 14, 1991

The Twins finally got what they were looking for from Jack Morris. After several shaky starts, Morris was outstanding against the Brewers. He allowed just two hits, a pair of doubles off the bat of Jim Gantner, in his complete game victory.

The Twins’ offense did its job starting in the sixth inning. Chili Davis hit a two-run home run and Mike Pagliarulo doubled home a third run. The team added two more in the seventh on a Brian Harper double.

The 5-1 victory is the fourth in a row for the Twins. All of the talk after the game, however, was about Morris.

“I was thinking the whole night, you have to complete this complete this game, finish, finish. It was important to me,” said Morris, who struck out seven. “I just had to get into the ninth inning for a change. It’s been awhile.

“I had a live arm tonight. Really, I had command of all four pitches. That’s when it’s fun to pitch, because you feel like you can throw anything and get them out.”

“(That’s the best I’ve seen him) in our uniform,” Twins manager Tom Kelly said. “Those first six innings (when Morris allowed only one base runner) were pretty devastating. The Brewers tried swinging early the first couple of innings, then they tried swinging late and it seemed like Jack had it all figured out.”

…

“We hope Jack can take off from this and string a couple of good games together,” said Kelly, whose team has won four consecutive and 15 of its past 21. “I don’t know if he can do any better. Whether it’s a two-hitter, a five-hitter, a seven-hitter or a 10-hitter, he was throwing the kind of pitches tonight we saw the last third of last season that made me think this is the guy that can really help us.”

-Jim Caple, Pioneer Press

Box

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               31   18   13    0  .581     -   157  153
Seattle Mariners                32   18   14    0  .563   0.5   125  129
Minnesota Twins                 32   17   15    0  .531   1.5   136  125
Chicago White Sox               29   15   14    0  .517   2.0   107  133
California Angels               32   16   16    0  .500   2.5   134  131
Texas Rangers                   28   14   14    0  .500   2.5   128  118
Kansas City Royals              31   12   19    0  .387   6.0   104  126

September 29, 1913

It was George McBride day in Washington, and Walter Johnson celebrated his teammate by shutting out the American League champions, 1-0. Since the Athletics had already clinched, Johnson was not facing their best team, but he held the subs to no runs on five hits. Johnson walked one and struck out nine.

Through 9/29
47 G  36 GS  35-8  347.3 IP  52 R  229 H  41 BB  245 K  1.35 RA  0.78 WHIP

September 25, 1913

Clark Griffith turned Walter Johnson loose on the Yankees, and Chance’s men promplty evacuated seventh place…

Barring a little uprising in the third inning, Johnson held the Yankees powerless, and as soon as the Senators tied up the game in the seventh no one was optimistic enough to think that the home team would win. The final figures were 5 to 2.

Johnson allowed the two runs on four Yankee hits. He walked two and struck out seven.

Through 9/25
46 G  35 GS  34-8  338.3 IP  52 R  224 H  40 BB  236 K  1.38 RA  0.78 WHIP