1965 Minnesota Twins: What Could Have Been

[Nate Palmer]

Too often injuries to star players leave us asking "What could have been?" In 1965 the Minnesota Twins saw two such injuries to Harmon Killebrew and Camilo Pascual.In 2009 it felt like so much broke right for the Minnesota Twins. They stormed back in the division to force a game 163 and defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-5 to advance into the playoffs. Something that certainly took the wind out of their sails was that first baseman and All-Star Justin Morneau suffered a back injury which forced his 30 home runs to the bench.

 

As a fan of Minnesota sports this seems to be too much the norm. Our teams seem to be right on target and then something happens. An injury occurs, a scandal emerges, a whole stadium deflates. 1965 was no different as two very important pieces of the team went down with injuries.

 

Camilo Pascual

 

Pascual was no stranger to missing stints of a season with shoulder discomfort. In ‘65 it would become a bit different as the pitcher would end up needing to have surgery on what was frayed muscles in his back/shoulder area (Thielman, 167). This was quite the blow to the Twins as Pascual was viewed as the Twins leader of the rotation entering the season.

 

While the right-hander would be able to return to action come September after missing the month of August. It is fair to wonder exactly what sort of form Pascual was in after surgery. As a staff, the Twins also missed out on about 100 innings of what a healthy Pascual would normally have tossed for the Twins in a given season.

 

When it came to the World Series against the Dodgers, Pascual did start game 3 of the series which would wind up being his only career postseason appearance. He threw 5 frames and allowed 3 runs in the 4-0 loss to the Dodgers.

 

Harmon Killebrew

 

While stretching to grab an off target throw to record an out at first base, Killebrew collided with Russ Snyder. It seems a bit too ironic that Morneau was referenced at the start of this post as it was a collision at second and a knee to the head that ended his 2010 campaign. Killebrew’s collision resulted in a dislocated elbow to the Twins offensive leader and arguably best player in team history to date.

 

We may never know exactly how much of that elbow injury that Killebrew may have been able to play through. That is because the Twins had built such a lead in their race for the pennant that they could afford to let him continue to sit deep into September. Also while missing that time, it seemed every replacement player who in one way or another filled in for Killebrew seemed to get the hit when the team needed it. You just never truly replace a bat like his which in 103 games had produced a slash line of .278/.393/.507, .900 OPS, as well as 22 home runs.

 

What is more impactful is we can continue to wonder how much of his groove at the plate Killebrew lost with his time away. In his 10 games to close the season he hit only .184/295/.447 with three home runs. Thankfully he would rebound come the postseason to hit .286/.444/.429 but with only one home run. We can only wonder if not missing that time would have allowed his bat to connect with more impact than it did that postseason.

 

The silver lining here, as with almost any injury, is there is an opportunity for others to step up. The two that may have done that the most were pitchers Jim Merrit and Dave Boswell. While they wouldn’t start any World Series games with Pascual’s return, they did become vital parts of the ‘65 mix of pitchers and other Twins teams to come.

 

Another positive was that both Pascual and Killebrew were at least active parts in the Twins 1965 postseason. Even if we will question just how sharp either was. Which hasn’t always been the case for injured Minnesota sports stars.

 

Which “what could have been” moment from over the years stands out to you the most? Feel free to wander to other Minnesota franchises! Yes, we could be here all year with that topic.

 

Thielman, Jim.Cool of the Evening: the 1965 Minnesota Twins. Minneapolis, MN: Kirk House Publishers, 2005.

 

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[theBOMisthebomb]

Minnesota Vikings 1999 NFC Championship game and Gary Bleeping Anderson and his ONLY miss of the season. Not much for the Twins since they have either won the World Series as underdogs, lost to superior teams in the playoffs (Yankees) or been mediocre. The Vikings are the Minnesota team that has broken hearts.

[mikelink45]

Actually the Twins after 1965 fielded their best team in 1967 finishing one game out, but no wild cards in those days.  That was a heart breaker!  

[Doctor Gast]

Thank you pointing these injuries out. Just think of Killebrew 100% what impact he could`ve had & Camilo Pasqual 100% facing Sandy Koufax & if Pasqual had won (which he could have) that would have changed history & made that confrontation even more electrifying! 

[mickeymental]

 

Actually the Twins after 1965 fielded their best team in 1967 finishing one game out, but no wild cards in those days.  That was a heart breaker!  

yaz indeed.

[Nate Palmer]

 

Actually the Twins after 1965 fielded their best team in 1967 finishing one game out, but no wild cards in those days.  That was a heart breaker!  

 

I just started comparing the '65, '67, and '69 rosters last week. That '67 rotation was not to be messed with! Imagining if the '65 or '69 lineup had been combined with the '67 rotation is something of magic. 

[Nate Palmer]

 

Minnesota Vikings 1999 NFC Championship game and Gary Bleeping Anderson and his ONLY miss of the season. Not much for the Twins since they have either won the World Series as underdogs, lost to superior teams in the playoffs (Yankees) or been mediocre. The Vikings are the Minnesota team that has broken hearts.

 

This is one of my personal, "Where were you when..." moments. My friend Dan's basement trying every "good luck" thing we could to will the Vikings to victory. 

[South Dakota Tom]

Reading the book now.  Have about 30 pages left so don't spoil the ending for me!

[mlhouse]

What is interesting is that from the time Harmon was a 23 and a full time player in the majors, 1959 through 1971, the 1965 season was his second worse season (his 1968 season was another injury plagued season that he followed up with perhaps his best season winning the MVP in 1969).  

 

Kind of interesting the team would have their best season in 1965.