1965 Minnesota Twins: What Could Have Been

In 2009 it felt like so much broke right for the Minnesota Twins. They stormed back in the division to force a game 163 and defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-5 to advance into the playoffs. Something that certainly took the wind out of their sails was that first baseman and All-Star Justin Morneau suffered a back injury which forced his 30 home runs to the bench.

As a fan of Minnesota sports this seems to be too much the norm. Our teams seem to be right on target and then something happens. An injury occurs, a scandal emerges, a whole stadium deflates. 1965 was no different as two very important pieces of the team went down with injuries.

Camilo Pascual

Pascual was no stranger to missing stints of a season with shoulder discomfort. In ‘65 it would become a bit different as the pitcher would end up needing to have surgery on what was frayed muscles in his back/shoulder area (Thielman, 167). This was quite the blow to the Twins as Pascual was viewed as the Twins leader of the rotation entering the season.

While the right-hander would be able to return to action come September after missing the month of August. It is fair to wonder exactly what sort of form Pascual was in after surgery. As a staff, the Twins also missed out on about 100 innings of what a healthy Pascual would normally have tossed for the Twins in a given season.

When it came to the World Series against the Dodgers, Pascual did start game 3 of the series which would wind up being his only career postseason appearance. He threw 5 frames and allowed 3 runs in the 4-0 loss to the Dodgers.

Harmon Killebrew

While stretching to grab an off target throw to record an out at first base, Killebrew collided with Russ Snyder. It seems a bit too ironic that Morneau was referenced at the start of this post as it was a collision at second and a knee to the head that ended his 2010 campaign. Killebrew’s collision resulted in a dislocated elbow to the Twins offensive leader and arguably best player in team history to date.

We may never know exactly how much of that elbow injury that Killebrew may have been able to play through. That is because the Twins had built such a lead in their race for the pennant that they could afford to let him continue to sit deep into September. Also while missing that time, it seemed every replacement player who in one way or another filled in for Killebrew seemed to get the hit when the team needed it. You just never truly replace a bat like his which in 103 games had produced a slash line of .278/.393/.507, .900 OPS, as well as 22 home runs.

What is more impactful is we can continue to wonder how much of his groove at the plate Killebrew lost with his time away. In his 10 games to close the season he hit only .184/295/.447 with three home runs. Thankfully he would rebound come the postseason to hit .286/.444/.429 but with only one home run. We can only wonder if not missing that time would have allowed his bat to connect with more impact than it did that postseason.

The silver lining here, as with almost any injury, is there is an opportunity for others to step up. The two that may have done that the most were pitchers Jim Merrit and Dave Boswell. While they wouldn’t start any World Series games with Pascual’s return, they did become vital parts of the ‘65 mix of pitchers and other Twins teams to come.

Another positive was that both Pascual and Killebrew were at least active parts in the Twins 1965 postseason. Even if we will question just how sharp either was. Which hasn’t always been the case for injured Minnesota sports stars.

Which “what could have been” moment from over the years stands out to you the most? Feel free to wander to other Minnesota franchises! Yes, we could be here all year with that topic.

Thielman, Jim. Cool of the Evening: the 1965 Minnesota Twins. Minneapolis, MN: Kirk House Publishers, 2005.

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