June 16, 1969, Rod Carew and Tony Oliva complete two double steals on two consecutive pitches in the same game. In the bottom of the first inning at Metropolitan Stadium, Tony Oliva and Rod Carew complete a double steal, swiping second and third base, respectively. On the next pitch thrown by Angels’ starter Tom Murphy,…
1968 – Cesar Tovar plays one inning at each position for the Minnesota Twins, becoming only the second major leaguer in history to do it. Bert Campaneris of the Oakland Athletics was the first, earlier this season.
Harmon Killebrew launches the longest home run ever hit in Metropolitan Stadium, a 503-foot shot which travels deep in the second deck of the left-center field bleachers. The stadium chair the ball hit by the Twins’ outfielder is mounted high on a wall overlooking the flume ride at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America, the former site of the Met, in the precise spot the ball landed in the upper deck in deep left-center field.
Sandy Koufax declines to pitch the first game of the World Series against the Twins because the scheduled game occurs Yom Kippur, the most sacred of the Jewish holidays. As the Dodger southpaw attends shul and fasts on the Day of Atonement, Don Drysdale gives up seven runs in three innings in the team’s 8-2 loss at Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium.
On July 13, 1965, Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hits a home run, draws two walks, and scores a pair of runs, leading the National League to a 6-5 win in the All-Star Game. Juan Marichal, Mays’ teammate with the Giants, earns MVP honors by pitching three shutout innings. Traditionally, the managers of…
On July 23, 1964, at Metropolitan Stadium Kansas City A’s shortstop Bert Campaneris hits two home runs in his major league debut. He rips home run on the first pitch he sees from Minnesota’s Jim Kaat, and belts another home run in the seventh inning, a two run shot that tied the game. The A’s…
On July 18, 1962, At Metropolitan Stadium, Minnesota’s Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison power grand slam home runs in the first inning, as part of an 11-run outburst. The Twins become the first American League team to hit two grand slams in one inning. Barry Latman and Jim Perry serve the grand gophers. The 11-run…
At Metropolitan Stadium, the Twins sweep a pair from the White Sox, winning the opener, 6 – 4, when Julio Becquer hits a 9th-inning grand slam as a pinch hitter. Cal McLish shuts out the Twins in the second game until the 8th inning when the Twins score four runs, two on Harmon Killebrew’s only career inside-the-park homer, off McLish. It is the Twins’ first inside-the-park home run. They win, 4 – 2, behind Jack Kralick.
The Twins, formerly known as the Washington Senators before moving to Minnesota, play their first home game, losing to the ‘new’ expansion Washington Senators, 5-3 in front of a crowd of 24,606 at Metropolitan Stadium. The club’s move to the North Star State will attract 1,256,723 fans, third best in the American League, and far better than their last season in the nation’s capital, where the team drew only 743,404 fans, the worst gate in the league.
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