Matt Johnson

New York Calls Up Minneapolis Phenom (1951) Minneapolis Millers phenom Willie Mays was sitting in a movie theater on an off day in Sioux City, Iowa, on this date in 1951 when he received a message to return to the team hotel. The news waiting for him was that the New York Giants were calling him up to the majors. The Giants took out a full-page ad in the Minneapolis paper apologizing to taking Mays away. In 35 games with the Millers, Mays hit .477 with eight home runs, 30 RBI, and 38 runs scored. The Giants went to the World Series, and Mays won National League Rookie of the Year. One-Hit Shutout (1973) Bert Blyleven pitched a one-hit shutout at Metropolitan Stadium as the Twins beat the Royals 2-0 on this date in 1973. George Mitterwald and Danny Thompson drove in the Twins’ two runs. Blyleven pitched three one-hitters in his career—two in 1973 and another in 1974—but this was his only one-hit shutout. Jim Kaat also pitched a one-hitter in 1973. Pitchers' Duel (1972) Jim Kaat and Kansas City's Dick Drago dueled for 11 scoreless innings before Rod Carew drove in Danny Thompson off Drago in the top of the 12th. Wayne Granger set the Royals down in order to preserve the 1-0 Twins win. Mauer Breaks Up No-Hit Bid (2013) Detroit's Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning on this date in 2013 before Joe Mauer broke it up with a one-out single. It was the third time that Mauer spoiled a no-hit bid in the ninth inning. Cesar Tovar had his team's only hit five times in his career, tied for the major league record. He had the only hit four times as a Twin, and one time playing for the Texas Rangers. He broke up two no-hitters in the ninth inning in 1969. First Game Between Minneapolis and St. Paul (1867) The first St. Paul versus Minneapolis baseball game was played on this date in 1867. The results were reported in the very first issue of the Minneapolis Daily Tribune the following day. The St. Paul Pioneer reported that the North Star Club enjoyed their visit to the “suburbs.” View full article

Happy birthday, Andre David Happy 67th birthday to former Twin Andre David who homered off Hall of Famer Jack Morris on his very first major-league swing as a 26-year-old rookie in 1984. Unfortunately, it was the only home run of his career. Happy birthday, Rich Garcés Happy 54th birthday to former Twins reliever Rich Garcés. Back in 1990, he became the most recent of only eight teenagers to play for Minnesota. In just his second MLB game, he became the only teenager in Twins history to record a save. Prior to Garcés, the last teenager to play for the Twins was Bert Blyleven way back in 1970. OTD in 1969: Rod Carew steals second, third, and home in the same inning With the Billy Martin-managed Twins down 2-0 in Detroit, César Tovar singled off Mickey Lolich leading off the bottom of the third. Then, with Carew up to bat, Tovar was balked to second and then stole third. Perhaps distracted by Tovar, Lolich walked Carew. Then, with Harmon Killebrew at the plate, the Twins executed a double steal, with Carew swiping second and Tovar taking home on the throw. Carew then stole third and home to tie the game. (Killebrew wound up striking out.) Carew was the only player to steal second, third, and home consecutively during the 1960s. St. Paul native Paul Molitor accomplished the feat in the first inning of a game against Oakland on July 26, 1987. The most recent player to do so was Elly De La Cruz on July 8, 2023. OTD in 2021: Miguel Sanó hits three home runs Miguel Sanó hit three home runs with four RBI in a 5-4 win over the White Sox at Target Field on this date in 2021. In the Twins' first 55 seasons in Minnesota, there were only four 3-HR games (Allison, Killebrew, Oliva, and Morneau). There were NINE 3-HR games over six years from 2016 to 2021 (Kepler x2, Rosario, Dozier, Buxton, Cruz x2, and Sanó). OTD in 1865: Baseball has a long history here in Minnesota. One hundred and sixty years ago today—just a month after the end of the Civil War—the North Star Base Ball Club of St. Paul beat the Excelsior Club of Fort Snelling 38-14. If you're interested in Minnesota baseball history, I highly recommend Stew Thornley's outstanding book, Baseball in Minnesota: The Definitive History. View full article

Indeed

Harmon Killebrew passed away on this date in 2011. Share your favorite stories, stats, or fun facts about number 3 in the comments section at the bottom of the page. 1998: Wells Pitches Perfect Game 50,000 fans, including Billy Crystal, came out to Yankee Stadium for Beanie Baby Day, and what turned out to be the fifteenth perfect game in major league history. David Wells threw 120 pitches, striking out 11 Twins. The last perfect game at Yankee Stadium was pitched by Don Larsen in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. Larsen and Wells attended the same high school, Point Loma in San Diego. How’s that for a coincidence? But wait, there’s more! Don Larsen actually threw out the first pitch before baseball’s next perfect game, pitched by David Cone on Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium in 1999. Berra had caught Larsen’s perfect game in the ’56 Series. Cone threw just 88 pitches in his perfect game. 1963: Allison Has First 3-HR Game in Twins History Bob Allison had the first three-home run game in Twins history on this date in 1963, going 3-for-5 with six RBI in an 11-4 win in Cleveland. The performance raised his season average to .330. Allison had a career year in 1963, making his second of three All-Star teams and leading the league with a .911 OPS and 99 runs scored, finishing third in the league with 35 home runs, and fourth with 91 RBI. If you believe in WAR, Allison led the league with 7.4, as retroactively calculated by Baseball Reference. 1975: Aaron Brings Hammer to Bloomington Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Hank Aaron hit the 738th of his 755 career home runs off Ray Corbin in the fifth inning of a Saturday afternoon game in Bloomington on this date in 1975. The two-run homer extended the Brewers lead to 6-2. Aaron had hit an RBI double in the third inning, knocking starter Vic Albury out of the game. The Twins trailed 7-6 in the eighth when Rod Carew hit a two-out, two-run double to take a 8-7 lead. Tom Kelly entered as a defensive replacement at first in the top of the ninth as the Twins nailed down the win. 1979: Smalley Starts Smoking Hot Shortstop Roy Smalley went 2-for-3 with two walks, a double, and run scored in a 7-6 Twins win in Kansas City on this date in 1979, raising his average to .416. His average finally dropped below .400 for good on May 21. He was hitting over .350 as late as July 12 that season. 1980: DH Ties Double Play Record José Morales tied Minnesota native Terry Terrell's Twins record by grounding into three double plays on this date in 1980. Some of you may find this hard to believe, but Joe Mauer never did that! But did you know that Gary Gaetti and Kirby Puckett led the majors in double plays grounded into in 1987 and 1991, respectively? 1992: Old Friend Paul Sorrento Cleveland first baseman Paul Sorrento homered in back-to-back at-bats against former teammate Kevin Tapani on this date in 1992. Kirby Puckett and Pedro Muñoz homered for Minnesota, while Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored in a 9-5 Twins win in Cleveland. Closing Thought Finally, with the Twins playing in Milwuakee this weekend, enjoy this clip of Kirby's epic weekend in 1987: View full article

Search up what Ted Williams said to Dick Bremer about Munoz

Birthdate of Frank Quilici Former Twins player, coach, manager, and broadcaster Frank Quilici was born in Chicago on this date in 1939. As a rookie in 1965, he tied a World Series record by connecting for two hits in one inning off Don Drysdale in Game 1. An all-time great guy and a Twins lifer, Quilici received the “Kirby Puckett Award” in 2013, honoring community service by Twins alumni. Chance One-Hitter Dean Chance pitched a one-hit shutout against the Kansas City Athletics at Met Stadium on this date in 1967. Chance got his no-hitter on August 25 of that season. 21-year-old Catfish Hunter, already in his third season, gave up eight runs (seven earned) in just five innings for Kansas City. He got his revenge, though, 363 days later, pitching a perfect game against the Twins in the Athletics’ first season in Oakland. Happy Birthdate, Kerry Ligtenberg Happy 54th birthday to 1989 Park High School (Cottage Grove, MN) and 2000 University of Minnesota graduate Kerry Ligtenberg, born in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1971. After pitching for the independent Minneapolis Loons, Ligtenberg signed with Atlanta on the recommendation of Loons manager and former Atlanta All-Star catcher Greg Olson. (Fun Fact: Ligtenberg was teammates on the Loons with old-timer Juan Berenguer.) He pitched in five postseasons with Atlanta from 1997 to 2002 before spending one season each with the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Diamondbacks. Gladden's Triples Streak Dan Gladden tripled in his third straight game as the Twins beat the Tigers 5-4 at home in the Dome on this date in 1991. Four Twins have tripled in three straight games: Rod Carew (June 15–17, 1977), Gladden, Delmon Young (May 18–20, 2008), and Eddie Rosario (July 28–30, 2015). Twins Acquire Brunansky The Twins traded Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong to the Angels for Tom Brunansky, pitcher Mike Walters, and $400,000 cash on this date in 1982. Brunansky, a southern California native, was drafted by the Angels in the first round out of high school in 1978. Bruno was, of course, an integral part of the Twins’ 1987 championship season, hitting 32 home runs with 85 RBI and 83 runs scored. The following year, Andy MacPhail ill-advisedly traded him to St. Louis for clubhouse cancer Tommy frickin’ Herr. View full article

So you're saying Fred Lynn was a bona fide Twins killer. Here's a clip of Lynn against the Twins that Twins fans had to see every week on This Week in Baseball. (It was part of the opening or closing montage, I don't remember which.)

I have no memory of the 1987 World Series, but the '87 season highlight tape narrated by Carneal is probably my number-one core baseball memory.

Herb Carneal was born in Richmond, Virginia on this date in 1923. He was in the Twins radio booth for FORTY-FOUR years, from 1962 to 2006. Share your favorite memories or stories about Carneal in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Biggest Comeback Win in Team History: The Twins overcame an 8-1 seventh-inning deficit for the biggest comeback win in team history on this date in 2000. After Cleveland scored four in the top of the seventh to take an 8-1 lead, the Twins scored six in the bottom of the inning to pull within one. David Justice homered in the top of the ninth to give Cleveland a 9-7 lead, but after an RBI-hit in the bottom of the ninth, Midre Cummings hit a two-out walk-off homer for a 10-9 Twins win. Matt Lawton went 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored, raising his season average to .365. Cleveland’s Jim Thome went 3-for-4 with a home run and double. From CBS News: Twins Ambush Perry: Lenny Green and Vic Power started the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs off Cleveland pitcher Jim Perry on this date in 1962. Fun Fact: Nobody reached base more often in the Twins’ first two seasons than Lenny Green (522). And of course Jim Perry won the Cy Young pitching for the Twins in 1970. Back-to-back home runs to begin a team’s half of the first inning tied the major league record at the time. The current record is three-straight to begin a game. Fred Lynn Hits Ninth-Inning Homers in Three-Straight Games: Baltimore's Fred Lynn hit ninth-inning home runs in three-straight games against the Twins including two walk-offs beginning on this date in 1985. Ron Davis gave up a walk-off home run to the Yankees' Don Mattingly on May 13 to make it four-straight ninth-inning home runs surrendered by the Twins. View full article

Today's Almanac features notes on Royals slugger Harmon Killebrew and Minnesota natives Charles Bender and Jim Burnos. Image courtesy of © Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images On This Date in 1975: Killebrew's Number Retired The Twins retired Harmon Killebrew's number 3 in a pregame ceremony on this date in 1975. A few minutes later, the new Royals DH slugged a first-inning, two-run homer, driving in Hal McRae. Killebrew hit 14 home runs in his one season with the Royals, including his 573rd and final home run off the Twins' Eddie Bane at Met Stadium on September 18. Native Americans Charles Albert Bender (from Minnesota) and Louis Leroy (from Wisconsin) were the opposing pitchers in New York on this date in 1906. Bender lost his cool and was ejected after supposedly enduring racial abuse from the Highlanders' Clark Griffith. Clark, of course, went on to own the Washington Senators before leaving the team to his nephew Calvin, who eventually moved them to Minnesota. Happy 63rd birthday to 1980 Cooper (New Hope) High School graduate Jim Burnos. He played two years in the Twins farm system and was teammates with Kirby Puckett in 1982. He was defensive partners on his high school hockey team with 13-year NHLer Jim Johnson. View full article

Today's Almanac includes the fifth no-hitter in Twins history, a hot start to a season and a hot start to a career by two players forever linked in Twins history, and the birthday of a major league pitcher from the northwest suburbs. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images On This Date in 2011: Liriano Pitches a No-Hitter Francisco Liriano pitched the fifth no-hitter in Twins history on a chilly 42-degree night in Chicago on this date in 2011, beating the White Sox 1-0. The Twins' only run came on a Jason "Klutch" Kubel homer in the fourth inning. Liriano was far from perfect, issuing six walks—the same as St. Paul native Jack Morris when he pitched his no-hitter on a similarly chilly day in Chicago in April 1984. (Nolan Ryan walked eight when he no-hit the Twins in Anaheim in 1974.) Liriano was 1-4 with a 9.13 ERA coming into his no-hitter. Interesting to note that Scott Erickson was 1-3 with a 7.48 ERA before pitching his no-hitter in April 1994, and coming off a 1993 season in which he led the majors with 19 losses and the most hits allowed. Liriano only struck out two batters in his no-hitter, despite averaging 7.5 K's per nine innings that season and 9.2 per nine over the course of his career. He threw 123 pitches—only 66 for strikes. He finished the season with a 9-10 record, 5.09 ERA, and 1.489 WHIP. The no-hitter was Liriano’s only complete game as a Twin. (He pitched two complete games with the Pirates in 2013.) On This Date in 1986: Puckett Leads Off Second-Straight Game with First-Pitch Homer Kirby Puckett homered on the very first pitch of the game for the second-straight game on this date in 1986. He hit a leadoff homer off Jack Morris the previous day, and ambushed Walt Terrell in this game. It was his fourth-straight game with a homer, sixth in the past seven games, and 11th on the season—remarkable, considering he hit only four home runs in 1985 and zero during his 1984 rookie season. He finished the '86 season with a career-high 31 home runs, making him the only player in MLB history to have a full season with zero home runs and later hit 30. This was Kirby's seventh-straight game with at least four total bases. On This Date in 2010: Ramos's Historic First Two Games The day after going 4-for-5 in his major league debut, Twins catcher Wilson Ramos went 3-for-4 with two doubles on this date in 2010, becoming just the fourth player in MLB history with seven hits in his first two games, and the first since Nanny Fernandez in 1942. Ramos only played seven games for the Twins before being traded to the Washington Nationals for closer Matt Capps, who helped the Twins make it to the ALDS (where they were swept by the Yankees). Happy Birthday, Joey Gerber Happy 28th birthday to Wayzata graduate Joey Gerber, who made it to the majors with the Mariners in 2020. Didn't allow a hit in his first two major league relief appearances against the Angels, retiring Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani. He is currently at Triple A in the Rays organization. View full article

April 27th has been an eventful date in Minnesota baseball history, with memorable achievements by Charles Bender, Harmon Killebrew, Scott Erickson, Joe Ryan, Camilo Pascual, and Showboat Fisher. Image courtesy of © Joy R. Absalon-Imagn Images (photo of Scott Erickson), © Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images (photo of Camilo Pascual), © Gregory J. Fisher-Imagn Images (photo of Steve Carlton) On This Date in 1994: Erickson Pitches No-Hitter Scott Erickson pitched the first no-hitter in Metrodome history on this date in 1994, as the Twins beat the Brewers 5-0. It was the third of five no-hitters in Twins history, and the first since Dean Chance in 1967. The Twins scored in each of the first four innings, staking Erickson to an early 5-0 lead. The ninth inning was a little suspenseful. With two out in the inning, Erickson walked two batters before finally getting the dangerous Greg Vaughn to fly out to Alex Cole in left. Erickson, who led the American League with 20 wins and finished second in Cy Young balloting in 1991, was coming off a 1993 season in which he led the league with 19 losses and 266 hits allowed. He was 1-3 with a 7.48 ERA on the season prior to pitching his no-hitter. Francisco Liriano was 1-4 with a 9.13 ERA before pitching his no-hitter on May 3, 2011. On This Date in 1969: Killebrew Hits 400th Harmon Killebrew hit his 400th career home run in the top of the first inning of an afternoon game in Chicago on this date in 1969. Rod Carew hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Twins a 4-3 win. All told, Killebrew hit 573 home runs, fifth-most in MLB history at the time of his retirement. He hit 84 as a member of the Washington Senators, 14 as a Kansas City Royal in 1975, and 475 in a Twins uniform. On This Date in 1903: Bender Pitches Shutout in First MLB Start 18-year-old Minnesota native Charles Albert Bender pitched a four-hit shutout in his first major league start on this date in 1903, a week after earning the win in relief over Boston’s Cy Young in his MLB debut. The Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Highlanders and opposing pitcher Clark Griffith 6-0. Griffith went on to own the Washington Senators until his death in 1955 when Calvin Griffith took over. Calvin, of course, moved the Senators to Minnesota in 1961. Bender became the first Minnesotan inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1953. On This Date in 1930: Showboat's Hot Return to "The Show" Albany (Minnesota) High School alumnus Showboat Fisher went 3-for-4 with a walk and two doubles on this date in 1930, giving him a .523 average and 1.323 OPS through the first 12 games of the season, after being out of the majors the previous five seasons. The Cardinals went on to win the National League pennant in 1930. Just two years later, Showboat opened Fisher’s Club on Middle Spunk Lake in Avon, MN. It’s still open today. On This Date in 1965: Twins Pitcher Hits Grand Slam Before even climbing the mound, Camilo Pascual hit the only grand slam by a pitcher in Twins history, staking himself to a 7-0 first-inning lead in Cleveland on this date in 1965. He went on to pitch a heckuva game, allowing just two hits and two walks in an 11-1 Twins win. Pascual had previously hit a grand slam in the Senators’ final season in Washington, on August 14, 1960. Those four RBI were significant, as the Senators won the first game of the doubleheader at Yankee Stadium 5-4. (They won Game 2 in 15 innings.) On This Date in 2003: Ortiz Hits First Homer with Red Sox David Ortiz hit his first home run as a member of the Red Sox on this date in 2003. One of the Twins’ grievances with Ortiz was his supposed inability (or unwillingness) to hit to the opposite field, so of course his first home run with Boston was to the opposite field in Anaheim, where the Twins lost the ALCS six months earlier. Feels like he was trolling us. ALSO ON THIS DATE: • The Twins released 43-year-old lefty Steve Carlton on this date in 1988, ending his 24-year Hall of Fame career. • Rookie Joe Ryan pitched a heckuva game on this date in 2022, giving up just one hit over seven scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.71 through his first four starts of the season. View full article

Today's Almanac features a memorable collapse (in more ways than one), as well as notes on "Disco" Danny Ford, Boof Bonser, Steve Lombardozzi, Wayne Terwilliger, and Chaska native Brad Hand. Image courtesy of © Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images (photo of Morneau, Redmond), © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images On This Date in 1986: Dome Deflates, Twins Collapse With the Twins beating the Angels 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth on a stormy night in Minneapolis, a tear caused the Metrodome roof to deflate. The L.A. Times described “80-m.p.h. winds tearing holes in the fiberglass dome and whipping through the stadium, sending speakers and light standards swaying on their cables like yo-yos in a wind tunnel... Above the third base line, a geyser of water shot through a drainage hole in the roof, dousing a handful of spectators.” Remarkably, the roof was re-inflated with the game only being delayed nine minutes. The Twins went on to score once more in the eighth for a 6-1 lead going into the ninth. Frank Viola gave up a leadoff double to Brian Downing and a two-run homer to George Hendrick before giving way to closer Ron Davis, still up 6-3. Davis gave up a single and two-run homer to the first two men he faced. With one out, he walked pinch-hitter Reggie Jackson, representing the tying run. After striking out Bobby Grich for the second out, Ron Davis gave up a go-ahead two-run homer to Wally Joyner, who had made his major league debut less than three weeks earlier. Tom Brunansky, Roy Smalley, and Gary Gaetti went down in order in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-6 Twins loss. Despite allowing 17 baserunners, the Twins shut out the Royals for 11 innings on this date in 2007. Starting pitcher Boof Bonser and relievers Glen Perkins, Matt Guerrier, and Joe Nathan combined to allow the 17 baserunners through the first 10 innings on just five hits, but TEN walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a reached-on-error. Juan Rincón pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 11th, and earned the win when Mike Redmond drove in Justin Morneau with a walk-off single in the bottom of the inning. "Disco" Dan Ford knocked in seven runs in a 9-8 loss in Oakland on this date in 1978. It was the seventh 7+ RBI game in team history. There wasn't another one until Randy Bush tied the team record with an eight-RBI game 11 years later. To date, there have been 19 seven-plus RBI games in team history, most recently by Nelson Cruz in 2020. Brant Alyea and Kirby Puckett are the only players to have two such games. Happy 65th birthday to former Twins second baseman Steve Lombardozzi. He went 7-for-17 (.412) with a home run in the 1987 World Series. Here's a clip of Chaska native Brad Hand striking out Carlos Correa with a filthy slider to save a Cleveland win in Houston on this date in 2019. Here's a great photo of Minneapolis Millers second baseman Wayne Terwilliger attempting to turn a double play on this date in 1957. View full article

April 13 is an eventful date in Minnesota baseball history. Jim Perry, Kirby Puckett, and Dave Winfield had great games, and Ron Davis, well, did Ron Davis things. The first Minnesotan major-leaguer was born in Shakopee on this date in 1858. And a staple of the Minneapolis sports scene showed incredible heroism in Germany on this date in 1945. April 13, 1987: Puckett Homers in Fourth Straight Kirby Puckett homered in his fourth straight game on this date in 1987. The team record for consecutive games with a home run is five, by Harmon Killebrew, on two separate occasions in 1970; rookie Marty Cordova, in 1995; Brian Dozier, in 2016; and Nelson Cruz, in 2019. April 13, 1991: Winfield Has Historic Game vs. Twins Angels right fielder Dave Winfield went 5-for-6 with three home runs (in his first three at-bats), a double, six RBIs, and four runs scored in a 15-9 win at the Metrodome. New Angels third baseman Gary Gaetti went 4-for-6 with a double. Overall, he went 7-for-14 (.500) with five RBIs in his first series as a visitor at the Metrodome. Winfield’s 15 total bases are the most ever in a major-league game played in Minnesota, be it at Met Stadium, the Dome, or Target Field. That figure is also tied for the most by a player born in Minnesota, with Clearbrook native Wes Westrum, who went 4-for-4 with three home runs and a triple at the Polo Grounds on Jun. 24, 1950. The Twins record is 14, by Puckett, in Milwaukee on Aug. 30, 1987. April 13, 1968: Perry Pitches Shutout, Hits Homer Jim Perry had a heckuva game on this date in 1968, pitching a four-hit shutout and hitting a ninth-inning homer in a 6-0 Twins win at Yankee Stadium. The only other player in Twins history to homer while pitching a shutout is Jim Kaat, who did so on Jul. 24, 1963 and Oct. 1, 1970. April 13, 1985: Davis Gives Up Walk-Off Grand Slam Trying to protect a 7-4 lead with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Twins closer Ron Davis gave up a walk-off grand slam to Mariners left fielder Phil Bradley. It was the first walk-off grand slam surrendered in team history. Davis, of course, was coming off a 1984 season in which he tied the MLB record with 14 blown saves. In Davis’s defense, Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers (1976) and Bruce Sutter (1978) had previously blown 14 saves in a season, but nobody has done it again since Davis. April 13, 1945: Minnesotan Major Leaguer Heroic in WWII Minneapolis native Don Wheeler made it to the majors with the White Sox in 1949, but perhaps his most significant achievement occurred on this date in 1945—when, as an infantry sergeant, he demonstrated incredible heroism in the vicinity of Lowenstein, Germany. According to his Bronze Star citation, while “leading his squad forward in an advance, Sergeant Wheeler observed hostile activity on a ridge which was his objective. Aware that a frontal assault might result in severe casualties, he ordered his men to take cover while he advanced along to a vantage point from which he directed mortar fire upon the opposing forces. He then summoned his men forward and led them in an attack in which six hostile riflemen were captured and the position secured without casualty to his squad.” Following his nine-year professional career, Wheeler remained active in Minneapolis sports. At various times, he threw batting practice for the Millers, umpired Gophers games, was a penalty timekeeper for the North Stars, and worked the sidelines at Vikings games. April 13, 1858: First Minnesotan Major-Leaguer Born in Shakopee The first major-leaguer born in Minnesota was born in Shakopee on this date in 1858. Center fielder Bill Barnes, along with teammates Joe Werrick and Lou Galvin, became the first Minnesota natives to play major-league baseball when St. Paul joined the Union Association as a replacement team for the final nine games of the 1884 season. Even though the Union Association only existed for one season, it is officially recognized by MLB as a “major league.” St. Paul played all nine of their Union Association games on the road, so even though Minnesota technically had a major-league baseball team in 1884, no major-league games were actually played on Minnesota soil. April 13, 1962: In just the second year of major-league baseball in Minnesota, the Twins’ home opener versus the Los Angeles Angels was canceled due to six inches of snow. April 13–15, 2018: The largest April snowstorm in Twin Cities history (14.9″) forced the postponement of the final three games of a four-game series versus the White Sox. That's all for today, folks. Please join the conversation in the comments section below. View full article

Read today's Twins Almanac, featuring the starting pitcher taking a helicopter ride to the home opener, the 2,000th hit for a Twins legend, the first home opener in Target Field history, and the birthdate of a St. Paul major leaguer. Image courtesy of © Dan D'Addona/Sentinel Staff / USA TODAY NETWORK 1965: The starting pitcher had to be airlifted to the ballpark for the Twins home opener on this date in 1965. Jim Kaat, Dick Stigman, Rich Rollins, and Bill Bethea were marooned at their homes in Burnsville—the wrong side of the flooded Minnesota River. Kaat called up former Twins teammate (and Golden Gophers legend) Paul Giel, who was the sports director at WCCO radio, and he arranged for the station's traffic helicopter to pick up the players from the Burnsville High School parking lot. The Twins beat the Yankees in 11 innings on a but César Tovar walk-off single off former Twin Pedro Ramos (who pitched a three-hit shutout in the first regular-season game in Twins history at Yankee Stadium in 1961). 2018: First baseman Joe Mauer connected for his 2,000th career hit—a two-RBI grounder right up the middle (identical to his first career hit) in the seventh inning of a 4-0 victory over the White Sox at Target Field. Mauer also lined an RBI-single to right-center in the third inning. 2010: Carl Pavano and the Twins beat the Red Sox 5-2 in the first regular season game in Target Field history. (The Red Sox first run came on a David Ortiz RBI double in the fourth.) Orlando Hudson had the Twins' first hit, Denard Span scored the first run, Michael Cuddyer had the first RBI, Jason Kubel hit the first home run, and Jon Rauch recorded the first save. Joe Mauer had an RBI-double and RBI-single. Walt Moryn, born in St. Paul in 1926. He played 785 major league games over eight seasons with the Dodgers (1954–'55), Cubs (1956–1960), Cardinals (1960–'61), and Pirates (1961). His teammates included Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, and Roberto Clemente. He hit 101 home runs, including six off Robin Roberts. He had nine multi-home run games. He hit three on May 30, 1958, including a walk-off homer against Sandy Koufax, who entered the game in the ninth. Moryn made his only All-Star team in 1958, but did not get into the game. Moryn is best remembered by Cubs fans for making a dramatic shoestring catch in left for the final out of Don Cardwell's no-hitter on May 15, 1960. Biographer Art Mugalian points out that Moryn had spoiled a no-hitter a month earlier, hitting a two-out pinch-hit home run in the eighth off Sam Jones at Candlestick Park on April 16 (Jones completed the one-hitter for a 6-1 Giants win). View full article