Twins Almanac: Harmon Killebrew Launches Home Run Out of Stadium, and the Joe Niekro File

Happy Birthday, Tim Graupmann
Happy birthday to 1981 Grand Rapids graduate Tim Graupmann. He played three seasons in the Twins farm system and was teammates with Kirby Puckett his first year with Elizabethton in 1982. These days, Tim is a chiropractor with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and operates a bed & breakfast at the historic Gilbert Mansion in Grand Rapids.

August 3, 1962: Killer Hits Monster Homer
Harmon Killebrew hit a monster home run off Hall of Famer Jim Bunning over the roof and out of Tiger Stadium on this date in 1962. The only other right-handed batters to hit the ball over the roof of Tiger Stadium are Frank Howard, Mark McGwire, and Cecil Fielder. 

August 3, 1969: Reese Snaps McNally's Streak
Rich Reese hit a seventh-inning pinch-hit grand slam on this date in 1969 which wound up snapping Orioles starter Dave McNally's 15-game winning streak. And he had won 17-straight stretching back to 1968.

Bonus Fact: The American and National Leagues each split into two divisions (East and West) in 1969. The Twins won the first two AL West titles in '69 and '70, but were swept by Baltimore three games to none in the ALCS both years. 

August 3, 1987: Nail-File Incident
The man comes down on mischievous knuckleballer Joe Niekro for practicing good personal hygiene on the mound on this date in 1987. 

August 3, 2004: Silva Pitches 11-Hit Shutout
Carlos Silva pitched an ELEVEN-HIT shutout on this date in 2004. He also walked two and another batter reached on a fielder's choice for a total of 14 baserunners, which tied the team record for baserunners in a complete-game shutout. The record for hits in a complete-game shutout is 13 by Mudcat Grant on July 15, 1964. 

The Twins turned six double plays in Silva's shutout. Despite the 14 baserunners, Silva only threw 99 pitches. Torii Hunter, Corey Koskie, Justin Morneau, and Henry Blanco homered in the 10-0 home win over the Angels. 

Bonus Fact: Silva beat the Brewers on just 74 pitches on May 20, 2005, giving up five hits and no walks in a 7-1 win at the Dome. He led the majors with 0.430 walks per nine innings that season.

August 1–3, 2016: Twins Score 35 Runs Over Three-Game Span
The Twins scored 10-plus runs in three-straight games against the same team for the first time in team history between August 1 and this date in 2016. (They had previously done it in three-straight games, but never against one team.) Joe Mauer went 10-for-15 with two walks, a homer, four doubles, a triple, six RBI, and eight runs scored. Max Kepler went 7-for-12 with four walks, four home runs (including three in one game on August 1st), 10 RBI, and eight runs scored. 

August 3, 2019: Cruz Has Second 3-HR Game
In a Saturday night home game versus the Royals on this date in 2019, 39-year-old DH Nelson Cruz had his second three-home run game in 10 days, becoming the first Twin to have two such games in a season, and joining Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler as the only Twins to have two 3-HR games altogether.

Cruz is the only player in major league history with two 3-HR games after age 39. Not even the steroid-addled Barry Bonds did it. 

The August 3 game was Cruz's fourth game of the season with at least 11 total bases. Believe it or not, the only other player in Twins history with even two 11-total base games in one season was Jason Kubel in 2008. Of course the team single-game record is 14 by Kirby Puckett that one Sunday in Milwaukee in 1987. 

Nelly had five RBI in the game. He finished the season with FIVE 5-RBI games, which is the most in Senators/Twins franchise history. And who had the second-most 5-RBI games in team history? Wouldn't you know it's Jason Kubel again, with four such games in 2009. 

Remarkably, a Twins player only hit three home runs in a game four times in the team's first 55 seasons, and then they had eight such games in a four-year period between 2016 and 2019. 

The most recent of now 10 three-home run games in Twins history was by Miguel Sanó on May 18, 2021.

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!