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I remember the Glen Adams performance in '77 taking a back seat to Carew, even though Glen set the Twins RBI record. Rod had generated a huge amount of media interest with his pursuit of .400 and this game was the pinnacle of all the attention as his 4 for 5 day put him up to .403. Also, the Twins were very much in the pennant race in the AL West at that point and ended up taking the lead over the White Sox with this victory. It was just a gorgeous warm late June Sunday afternoon for baseball, too, leading to a rare sellout crowd that day at the old Met. (And lots of beer sales.)
I would circle this game as one of the ten most memorable regular season games in the Twins chronicle as it was a confluence of great individual performances that were meaningful in the bigger team picture as well. As far as the individual performance by Adams, I think Kirby's incredible '87 weekend in Milwaukee was more impressive but this game was much more memorable.
I gotta go with Puckett in Milwaukee. He "only" had 4 RBI, but that's pretty impressive considering he came to the plate just once with RISP. This was Puck at his Puckiest, swinging at everything, bashing the ball all over the field. How's this for memorable: he got his final AB by virtue of a 3rd strike passed ball that should have ended the top of the 9th. Given the opportunity to swing one more time, he hit a homer.
Extra credit: It came in the final weeks of a pennant race the Twins won by just 2 games; it came on the road, where the team struggled mightily; on defense, he reached over the wall to steal a grand slam from future Hall-of-Famer Robin Yount that would have put the Brewers ahead by 2 in the bottom of the 6th.
I was in the left field bleachers that day. It was completely exhilarating. Teflon, you are right: it was, rightfully, all about Carew that day. Adams was a footnote. That said, I vote for Kirby's game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Teflon
I would vote for Kirby's game in Milwaukee as well. I was 7 years old at the time and just beginning to fall in love with the Twins. Puckett's performance that weekend will always be etched into my memory. It was simply phenomenal.
I would like to add another game to this list. In 2010 at Kansas City, Joe Mauer went 5 for 5 with a HR and 7 RBI. I would say a 5-hit game combined with that many RBI would be pretty rare.
1991 World Series Game 7 bottom of 10...... nuff said!
That one definitely deserves recognition. I think Kubel's cycle should be higher up the list. He single handedly won that game and the grand slam is a HUGE exclamation point.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinsGuy55422
I believe in 2006 against the Dodgers at home Mauer a 4 for 5 game followed by a 5 for 5 game. That was when he was flirting with .400 around the all-star break. I don't remember if he hit any homeruns or how many RBI he had, but it was definitely and awesome performance.
I wish I had a more creative answer, but it would have to be Puck's 6 for 6 game. I had the opportunity to watch that game on TV as a 12 year old and it sticks with me strongly to this very day. I recall a fan catching his 2nd HR to RF barehanded. Puckett may be looked at as a sabremetric weak link to the Hall of Fame.... I pitty those fools. He was a big game hunter and we would be lacking 2 World Championships without him. The Twins have had some good clubs since his retirement and unfortunate passing, if he was on the 2006 team, he might have been the difference maker. We have had some good teams in the post-Puckett era... they lacked the passion and the clutch mentality it takes to win those pressure packed playoff games. I just may have seen the last Twins World Championship in my lifetime as a 16 year old.
I vote for Puckett. I loved watching him play baseball.
I was at the Dome for the Kubel cycle. The hilarious part of that grand slam was the fact that with first base open, the Angels intentionally walked Morneau to load the bases for Kubel. I was sitting in the stands in shock. Was Scioscia watching the same game I was? As soon as that ball left Kubel's bat, you knew it was gone. I've never screamed so hard in my life at a baseball game than when Kubel hit that homer.