The Twins Almanac: (6/27): A Minnesota Major League Triangle

[Matt Johnson]

In Today's Almanac:

• An Edina graduate and former Golden Gopher makes his MLB debut 
• Birthdate of Wayne Terwilliger
• 41-year-old throws 81-pitch shutout
• Position player pitches 1-2-3 inning
• Minor leaguer hits for the cycle
• Number 7 has five-hit, three-double game, & more

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Olson Makes Major League Debut
This is one of my favorite Minnesotan major leaguer stories . . .

With the Twins leading the Athletics 11-4 going into the top of the eighth at the Metrodome on this date in 1989, 1979 Edina graduate Greg Olson made his major league debut, taking 1978 Bloomington Kennedy grad Kent Hrbek's spot in the batting order, and taking over at catcher for 1976 Park Center grad Tim Laudner, who slid over to first to take over for Hrbek and complete the Minnesotan major leaguer triangle. 

Olson grounded out to second in his only at-bat.

There's more to the story—1980 New Ulm graduate Terry Steinbach started the game at catcher for Oakland and moved to third base for the bottom of the eighth. Greg Olson and Steinbach actually both came to the University of Minnesota as third basemen, but Olson converted to catcher to make room for the incoming Steinbach, who was later converted to catcher in the Athletics organization when Mark McGwire appeared to be their third baseman of the future. (Big Mac, of course, became a 12-time All-Star first baseman.) Both Olson and Steinbach wound up catching in major league All-Star Games—Olson in 1990, and Steinbach in 1988, '89, and '93, garnering MVP honors in '88.

That's a lot of notes for a local guy's otherwise uneventful major league debut! 

 

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Birthday of Wayne Terwilliger
World War II veteran and nine-year major league second baseman Wayne Terwilliger was born in Clare, MI on this date in 1925. He was teammates with Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays—and also Roy Smalley Jr . (the switch-hitting Twins infielder's dad).

Following his playing career he coached third base for four years under Senators/Rangers manager Ted Williams. He was the Twins' first base coach from 1986 to 1994, and coached the St. Paul Saints from 1995 to 2002. 

 

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Happy Birthday, Steve Edlefsen
Happy 40th birthday to 2004 Bloomington Jefferson graduate Steve Edlefsen. He made his major league debut in a high-leverage situation with the Giants on August 21, 2011 (age 26), entering in the fifth inning of a tie game with two on and two out and got the inning-ending strikeout. He pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth before being pinch-hit for by old friend Orlando Cabrera. 

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Gladden Pitches 1-2-3 Inning
After actual professional pitchers gave up 16 runs over seven innings in Anaheim on this date in 1988, left fielder Dan Gladden needed just nine pitches to set the Angels down in order. Greg Minton retired the Twins on eight pitches in the top of the ninth for a 16-7 Angels win. (This used to be more noteworthy before recent trends in the game.) 

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Perry Pitches Shutout
41-year-old Gaylord Perry threw an 81-pitch, one hour and 49-minute four-hit shutout versus the Twins on a 109° day in Texas on this date in 1980. 

Roy Smalley had three of the Twins' four hits.

Gaylord Perry's first professional team was the St. Cloud Rox way back in 1958. 

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Also On This Date

• 1979: Chili Davis hits for the cycle with two doubles at Class A Fresno in the Giants organization
• 1999: Denny Hocking goes 5-for-6 with three doubles in a 12-7 Twins win in Detroit. Somehow, he didn't have an RBI in the game, but did score two runs. 

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