The Twins Almanac for July 17: Twins Turn Two Triple Plays, Thome Scares Delmon Young with His Power

[Matt Johnson]

Gary Gaetti, Al Newman, and Kent Hrbek turned an unprecedented two triple plays at Fenway Park on this date in 1990, with Tom Brunansky hitting into the first one. (The Twins still lost the game 1-0.)

The next night the Twins tied an American League record by turning six double plays, and the two teams together tied the American League record with 10 combined double plays in a 5-4 Twins loss.

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Thome Hits Awe-Inspiring Homer
Jim Thome hit a staggering 490-foot three-run blast in a 4-3 win over the Royals on this date in 2011. It was the longest home run in Target Field history until Miguel Sanó hit one 496 feet on September 17, 2019. (It's still number two on the list according to the 2025 Media Guide.)

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Hocking Leads Off Consecutive Games with a Home Run
Denny Hocking homered on Cubs pitcher Terry Mulholland's first pitch of the game on this date in 1999. Hocking also led off the game with a homer the next night in St. Louis. 

Fun Fact: Kirby Puckett homered on the first pitch of the game on back-to-back days in Detroit in May 1986, with the first coming off Jack Morris. That gave Kirby 11 homers in the Twins' first 24 games (after hitting just four in 1985, and zero as a rookie in 1984).

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Puckett Plays the Infield
Kirby Puckett played 3B, SS, and 2B in the ninth and 10th innings on this date in 1992.

It was Boston pitcher Frank Viola's first game back at the Metrodome, and he pitched well, but the Twins walked it off against Jeff Reardon in the 10th.

In the 10th, Kent Hrbek reached on a fielder's choice for the first out. Boston then brought in their closer Jeff Reardon. With reigning Rookie of the Year Chuck Knoblauch at-bat, Hrbie stole second and advanced to third on an error on the play, then scored the walk-off run on an infield-single by Knoblauch.

Tom Kelly was pulling a lot of strings late in this game, but I think what Kirby playing infield boils down to is Hrbek pinch-hitting for the shortstop Greg Gagne in the bottom of the eighth. TK brought Kirby into the infield, and I'm guessing moved him around each at-bat to where he was least likely to be hit to. (And he wasn't.) The Twins used 14 position players in the game. 

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Minnesotans Beat Twins in Back-to-Back Games
Minnesota natives Jack Morris and Jerry Ujdur earned the win for the Tigers at the Metrodome on consecutive nights on July 16 and this date in 1982. Morris graduated from St. Paul’s Highland Park High School. Ujdur graduated from Hermantown and is the second-winningest pitcher in University of Minnesota history. 

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Gold Glover Commits Three Errors
Sixteen-time Gold Glove winner Jim Kaat committed three errors in an 8-5 Twins win over the White Sox at Met Stadium on this date in 1969.

Back when Kaat was on Twitter, he commented to me that he was playing through a groin injury and received a Novocaine shot before every start. He said he was glad teams didn't bunt on him more!

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Birthdate of Toni Stone
Trailblazing professional baseball player Toni Stone was born in West Virginia on this date in 1921. Her family moved to St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood when she was 10. She became the first woman to play regularly in men’s professional baseball, driving in two runs in her first at-bat with the Negro League San Francisco Sea Lions in 1949. In 1953, she played 50 games with the Indianapolis Clowns, primarily at second base. (The Clowns second baseman the previous year was Henry Aaron.) 

One of her most memorable moments was getting a hit off Satchel Paige.

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[Matt Johnson]

Thanks, as always, to Matthew Trueblood for adding on to these articles. Gotta admit I didn't even know players aren't free to roam about the field anymore. You learn something new every day here on the Almanac. Even me! 🤣