Twins Almanac: Brian Dozier Reaches a Milestone, César Tovar Makes History, Twins Birthdays Galore

Happy 68th birthday to Waseca native and former Twins third base coach Gene Glynn. Fun Fact: Glynn received Minnesota's first-ever "Mr. Basketball" award his senior year at Waseca, and handed the award off to Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin McHale (of Hibbing) the following year. 

Glynn was an all-time great at Mankato State in both baseball and basketball, and still holds school basketball records in assists in a game (16, 1976), season (221, 1977), and career (772). The second baseman also once held the school record with 81 career stolen bases.

After earning his degree in Physical Education in 1979, Glynn was signed as an amateur free agent by Montreal Expos scout Bob Gebhard (who is a Minnesota native, played for the Twins, and later served in the Twins front office during both World Championship seasons before becoming the first general manager of the Colorado Rockies). Glynn played seven seasons in the Expos' farm system, including parts of four seasons at Triple-A. He began his coaching career in 1986 as a manager in the Expos farm system. Bob Gebhard brought him into the Rockies organization in 1992 and he got his first major league job as manager Don Baylor's first base coach in 1994 and third base coach from 1995 to '98. Glynn has mentioned 1996 as one of his most memorable seasons, when the Rockies hit 221 home runs and stole 201 bases (and still finished third in the NL West).

Glynn then coached third for the Expos in 1999, Chicago Cubs from 2000 to 2002, and San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. He was then a scout in the Tampa Bay Rays organization from 2007 to 2011. He was hired by the Twins to manage the triple-A Rochester Red Wings in 2012. He interviewed for the major-league manager job after Ron Gardenhire’s dismissal in 2014. That job ultimately went to Paul Molitor, but Glynn was named the Twins' third-base coach, a role in which he served for four seasons until Molitor was dismissed, too.

Happy 65th birthday to 14-year major-leaguer Wally Backman. His one season with the Twins in 1989 got off to a productive start, scoring 12 runs in the team's first 11 games.

Happy 59th birthday to 15-year major leaguer and 1991 World Series Champion Mark Guthrie. 

You know I'm interested in Minnesotan major leaguers, right? Well here's a fun fact: Hopkins High School graduate Tim McIntosh made his MLB debut with the Brewers against his hometown Twins in 1990, but Guthrie spoiled it by pitching a four-hit shutout that day.

In addition to the Twins in 1991, Guthrie also pitched in the postseason with the Dodgers, A's, and Cubs (but never made it back to the World Series). 

César Tovar played all nine positions on this date in 1968, striking out Reggie Jackson in the first inning. The Twins beat the A's 2-1 in two hours and 18 minutes.

Crazy Coincidence: The first batter Tovar faced was Bert Campaneris, who was the only previous person to play all nine positions in an MLB game.

The Twins clinched the inaugural AL West Championship on this date in 1969, beating the Royals 4-3 thanks, in part, to Harmon Killebrew's 47th home run of the season. The Killer finished the season with a major league-leading 49 home runs and 140 runs batted in.

The day after being no-hit by Vida Blue, the Twins clinched their second-straight AL West Championship in Oakland on this date in 1970. Tony Oliva went 3-for-5 with a home run, double, two RBI, and three runs scored in the 5-3 win. 

Unfortunately, the Twins were swept in the ALCS by the Orioles both years. 

Bert Blyleven pitched a no-hitter in his final game as a Texas Ranger on this date in 1977. The Rangers sent Bert to the Pirates as part of four-team, 11-player trade on December 8. (Bert, of course, won a ring in Pittsburgh.)

Roy Smalley drove in Hosken Powell for a 1-0 first-inning lead on this date in 1980. That's all the Twins would need as Jerry Koosman (eight innings) and Doug Corbett pitched an unlikely shutout despite allowing fifteen baserunners in the 1-0 win over the Rangers at Met Stadium.

Nick Blackburn earned his 10th win of the season on this date in 2010, giving the Twins six pitchers with 10 or more wins: Carl Pavano 17, Francisco Liriano 14, Kevin Slowey 13, Scott Baker 12, and Brian Duensing 10. 

The only previous pitching staff to achieve this in the 21st century were the 2008 Angels. I doubt another team has done it since, but somebody could look into that if they were so inclined. 

Brian Dozier hit his 40th home run of the season as a second baseman on this date in 2016, setting a new American League record for his position. (He also hit two homers as a DH.)

In 2021, Oakland's Marcus Semien hit 41 home runs while playing second base and another four as a shortstop. (So let's call it 45 as a middle infielder.) 

On the National League side, Atlanta's Davey Johnson hit 42 as a second baseman and another as a pinch hitter in 1973.

Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby hit 42 in 1922. 

Nelson Cruz hit his 400th career home run—and 40th of the season—on this date in 2019, becoming just the third player in Twins history to hit 40 home runs in a season. Harmon Killebrew did it seven times as a Twin (and once as a Senator) and Brian Dozier hit 42 in 2016. (Though, Washington Senators slugger Roy Sievers hit 42 in 1957.)

Are you interested in Twins history? Then check out the Minnesota Twins Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Twins uniform!