Twins Almanac: Snowstorms, Home Run Milestones, & WWII Veterans

[Matt Johnson]

April 13 is an eventful date in Minnesota baseball history. Jim Perry, Kirby Puckett, and Dave Winfield had great games, and Ron Davis had a Ron Davis game. The first major leaguer born in Minnesota was born in Shakopee on this date in 1858. A staple of the Minneapolis sports scene showed incredible heroism in Germany on this date in 1945. 

April 13, 1858
Birthdate of Bill Barnes

Centerfielder Bill Barnes was born in Shakopee on this date in 1858. He and teammates Joe Werrick and Lou Galvin became the first Minnesota natives to play Major League Baseball when St. Paul joined the Union Association as a replacement team for the final nine games of the 1884 season. Even though the Union Association only existed for one season, MLB officially recognized it as a “major league.” 

St. Paul played all nine of their Union Association games on the road, so even though Minnesota technically had a major league baseball team in 1884, no major league games were actually played on Minnesota soil.  

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April 13, 1945
Minnesotan Major Leaguer Heroic in WWII

Minneapolis native and 1949 White Sox catcher Don Wheeler was decorated with a Bronze Star on this date in 1945 for his heroic achievement in the vicinity of Lowenstein, Germany.

Quote

Leading his squad forward in an advance, Sergeant Wheeler observed hostile activity on a ridge which was his objective. Aware that a frontal assault might result in severe casualties, he ordered his men to take cover while he advanced along to a vantage point from which he directed mortar fire upon the opposing forces. He then summoned his men forward and led them in an attack in which six hostile riflemen were captured and the position secured without casualty to his squad.

Following his nine-year professional career, Wheeler remained active in Minneapolis sports. At various times, he threw batting practice for the Millers, umpired Gophers games, was a penalty timekeeper for the North Stars, and worked the sidelines at Vikings games. 

April 13, 1962
Home Opener Snowed Out

In just the second year of Major League Baseball in Minnesota, the Twins’ home opener versus the Los Angeles Angels was canceled due to six inches of snow.

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April 13, 1968
Perry Pitches Shutout, Hits Homer

Jim Perry had a heckuva game on this date in 1968, pitching a four-hit shutout and hitting a ninth-inning homer in a 6-0 Twins win at Yankee Stadium.

The only other player in Twins history to homer while pitching a shutout is Jim Kaat, who did so on July 24, 1963, and October 1, 1970.

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April 13, 1985
Davis Gives Up Walk-Off Grand Slam

Trying to protect a 7-4 lead with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Twins closer Ron Davis gave up a walk-off grand slam to Mariners left fielder Phil Bradley. It was the first walk-off grand slam surrendered in team history.

Davis, of course, was coming off a 1984 season in which he tied the MLB record with 14 blown saves.

In Davis’s defense, Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers (1976) and Bruce Sutter (1978) had previously blown 14 saves in a season, but nobody has done it again since Davis. 

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April 13, 1987
Puckett Homers in Fourth-Straight

Kirby Puckett homered in his fourth straight game on this date in 1987.

The team record for consecutive games with a home run is five, by Harmon Killebrew on two separate occasions in 1970, rookie Marty Cordova in 1995, Brian Dozier in 2016, and Nelson Cruz in 2019.

Cordova tied the record in just his 23rd major league game. Dozier and Cruz hit three home runs in a single game during their five-game home run streaks. 

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April 13, 1991
Winfield Has Historic Game versus Twins

Angels right fielder Dave Winfield went 5-for-6 with three home runs (in his first three at-bats), a double, six RBI, and four runs scored in a 15-9 win at the Metrodome.

Winfield was lifted for a pinch runner after collecting his fifth hit in the top of the ninth. I wonder if he received an ovation from the Metrodome fans.

Also Noteworthy: Winfield hit his 400th home run at the Metrodome in August 1991. Guess Winny knew 1991 would be a big season in Minnesota history, and he wanted to be part of it. 

New Angels third baseman Gary Gaetti went 4-for-6 with a double. Overall, he went 7-for-14 (.500) with five RBI in his first series as a visitor at the Metrodome. 

Winfield’s 15 total bases are the most ever in a major league game played in Minnesota (Met Stadium, the Dome, or Target Field).

Fifteen total bases is tied for the most by a player born in Minnesota with Clearbrook native Wes Westrum, who went 4-for-4 with three home runs and a triple at the Polo Grounds on June 24, 1950.

The Twins record is 14 by Kirby Puckett in Milwaukee on August 30, 1987.

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April 13–15, 2018
April Snowstorm

The largest April snowstorm in Twin Cities history (14.9″) forced the postponement of the final three games of a four-game series versus the White Sox.

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Please join the conversation in the comments section below and return tomorrow for the Twins Almanac: Sunday Edition.

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[D.C Twins]

Great work Matt.... a VERY enjoyable read.... I hope you keep doing this!

[Matt Johnson]

5 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Great work Matt.... a VERY enjoyable read.... I hope you keep doing this!

Gonna make it a weekend thing. Hard to do it every day and still attend to all my other adulting. 

[twinstalker]

Nice feature.  Thanks.  I remember that Ron Davis game well.  We were very optimistic going into 1985, but then had 9-10ish game losing streak that this was probably part of, followed it with a 9-10ish game winning streak, followed by a 9-10ish game losing streak a month or so later.  Ugh.  Puckett was fun, but he had no power or patience.  Another Twins who was a flash in the pan?  We'd had a lot of them in recent years, but Puck already was a cult hero, and it did seem different.

Ron Davis and Billy Gardner had to go.  They really did.  Butcher and Smithson, our lovely haul for Gary Ward, were suddenly not as good as in 1984, and it was reported/implied that Butcher was tipping his pitches, but nothing got figured out.  Hrbek, Bruno, Bush, Laudner, Gaetti were in their fourth full year, and as a whole were disappointing.  Viola was meh and had no help until we traded for Blyleven (a year late).  Somehow Ron Davis lingered, but Gardner was fired for Ray Miller, who definitely was in over his head.

Ron Washington and Houston Jimenez (gone) weren't as hustly and/or cute as they'd been the year before, and Tim Teufel simply wasn't the answer at 2B.  John Castino had succumbed to his back pain by then, and basically the pitching sucked.  I did a quick check, though, and as bad as the pitching was, they had 41 CG, including Blyleven getting 9 in his 14 starts.

The other good news I recall besides Bert is Roy Smalley was back with the Twins, a young man with expansive range and a cannon arm took over SS for the next decade, and someone we all called Chief had a great season behind the plate, delegating young Laudner to backup duty the second half.  Other than than, it wasn't anything to write home about.

There was a young man listening to games on the radio in his Northfield dorm room, disgusted but having too much fun with friends and beer to really care as graduation approached.  The Twins were doing well as finals finished, but KC was a number of games ahead, and then that second 10 game losing streak happened.  It was all over by the time he emptied his four years into his little bedroom at home.  The young man drank much that summer, crushed on a friend's girlfriend, bartended in a couple of meh bars in Maplewood Mall (remember Esteban's?), and watched Live Aid live on TV before heading off to grad school.

Ultimately, Don Denkinger handed the Royals their first WS title in what would prove to be their last playoff appearance for 39 years.  Is that right?  2014?

The Twins' bats came alive that next year, but the pitching stunk (Ron Davis was finally fired!), and the manager was in over his head.  If you don't think a manager matters much, remember to compare Ray Miller to his replacement, Tom Kelly.  Sometimes it matters a lot. 

 

[Matt Johnson]

A couple clarifications: Don Wheeler was not actually decorated with a Bronze Star on this date in 1945, but rather the heroic achievement for which he was decorated occurred in the vicinity of Lowenstein, Germany on this date in 1945.

Also, Bill Barnes did not play in the MLB (uppercase Major League Baseball), but rather the 1884 Union Association is considered a “major” league (lowercase). MLB—and baseball historians in general—recognize a number of other leagues from the 1800s and first half of the 1900s as major.

I apologize. Some editing happens that is beyond my control.