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About this blog

The history of the Minnesota Twins, one day at a time. Also sharing the stories of the major leaguers who grew up in Minnesota.

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The Twins Almanac for February 5-11

Here is the Twins Almanac for the week of February 5-11. Former Twins closer Al Worthington, Mounds View grad Mark Hamburger, and current Twins outfielder Max Kepler are all celebrating birthdays this week. '27 Yankees third baseman Julie Wera was born in Winona this week in 1902. Also this week in Twins history was a big payday for Bloomington's Kent Hrbek (1985), the Chuck Knoblauch trade ('08), and Terry Ryan's cancer diagnosis ('14).     http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/Wort
Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson

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The Twins Almanac for February 12-18

Here is the Twins Almanac for the week of February 12-18. Former Twins pitchers Kevin Tapani and Cole De Vries celebrate birthdays this week, as well as a pair of big leaguers who played their high school ball in Minnesota, Don Arlich and Brian Denman. And it was this week in 1973 that the Twins revealed 27-year-old infielder Danny Thompson's leukemia diagnosis.   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/denman_zpseevl08jd.jpg   February 12 Happy 61st Birthday to Brian Denman   It’
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The Twins Almanac for Jan 29-Feb 4

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/TwinsAlmanac_zpscrd6a75x.jpg   January 29 Twins Almanac’s First Birthday   The Twins Almanac was born in a Bellingham, WA apartment with the creation of the @TwinsAlmanac Twitter account on January 29, 2016. In the intervening year Molly and I moved to Minnesota where our daughter was born earlier this month.   The Twitter account was originally a way for me to feel like I was being productive, building an audience for the articles that were
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Twins Almanac: Dozier Edition

Here's my quick kitchen table roundup of all of the trivia surrounding Dozier's big day.     Brian Dozier is the sixth player in Twins history to homer three times in a game, joining Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew (1963), Tony Oliva ('73), Justin Morneau ('07) and Max Kepler who homered three times on August 1st this season in Cleveland.   Dozier's first homer came on the first pitch of the game. It was Dozier's 17th career leadoff home run. It was also his 36th home run of the season, givin
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Twins Almanac: Weekend Edition

And here is the Labor Day weekend edition of the Twins Almanac. While you're reading this I'll be attending my first State Fair of the millennium. Expect the next Almanac to read like it was written by someone five pounds fatter.   September 3, 1971 Eric Soderholm’s Eventful MLB Debut   Making his major league debut versus Oakland at home at Met Stadium in Bloomington, Eric Soderholm homered off of Diego Segui in just his second big league at-bat. A closer look at the game, though, reveals
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Twins Almanac: Workweek Edition

And here is the Twins Almanac for Monday, August 29 to Friday, September 2, 2016. Mrs. Johnson broke the internet at my folks' place where we're staying, so I'm posting this from across the pasture at my sister's house. I kind of forgot about this whole humidity thing here in Minnesota. It's alright, though, I'm just pretending I'm on safari.   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/killebrewallison_zpsq2qqq1gi.jpg   August 29, 1963 Twins Hit 12 Home Runs   The Twins hit a team
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Twins Almanac: Weekend Edition

And here is the Twins Almanac for the weekend of August 27-28, 2016. Mrs. Johnson and I have been busy getting settled here in Minnesota. It's good to be back after a decade out west. Look for a fresh batch of Twins trivia by open of business Monday.   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160810_105324_zpsinrwxudh.jpg   August 27 Happy 46th Birthday, Jim Thome   It’s the birthday of Jim Thome, born in 1970 in Peoria, IL. He had already hit 564 home runs when he signed with
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Twins Almanac for August 20-26

August 20, 1961 Two Twins Pitchers Homer in Same Game   Twins starting pitcher Jack Kralick and reliever Al Schroll both hit solo home runs vs. the Angels at Los Angeles’s Wrigley Field. The Twins, incidentally, won by 2 runs, 9-7. Twins center fielder Lenny Green homered to lead-off the game. Bloomington High School graduate George Thomas tied the game for the Angels with an RBI single in the second. The Angels went on to build a 3-1 lead in the inning. Then, leading off the third inning, Twi
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Twins Almanac, August 13-19

The Twins Almanac for August 13-19   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160810_105206_zpsixc8dcyp.jpg   And here is the first full-fledged Twins Almanac in awhile. In my absence from Twins Daily, many of you have been keeping in touch on Twitter, with over 1,000 new people following @TwinsAlmanac over the past month. It's good to be back writing posts of greater than 140 characters, though. This was a fun week in Twins history to write about. My childhood hero Kent Hrbek's n
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The Twins Almanac for May 26-31

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160525_170738_zpsyytecp4e.jpg   May 26, 2011 Twins Pay Final Respects to Harmon Killebrew   On an off day, the Twins and about 4,000 of their fans paid their final respects to Harmon Killebrew, who had passed away on May 17, with a beautiful memorial service on the infield at Target Field. In attendance was Commissioner Bud Selig, Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Rod Carew, Paul Molitor and Bert Blyleven, as well as Tony Oliva and an All-Star lin
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The Twins Almanac for May 23-25

May 23, 1991 Kirby Puckett Has Second 6-Hit Game   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160522_105636_zpswcgiqwij.jpg   Kirby Puckett collected 6 hits for the second time in his career, going 6-for-7, scoring 2 runs in an eleven inning loss to Texas at the Metrodome. Kirby had 5 singles and a triple. His 6th hit, a single, came in the eleventh inning. The game was tied 5-5 entering the eleventh, but the Rangers were able to score 5 runs off of Steve Bedrosian. Kent Hrbek drove i
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Twins Almanac: Weekend Edition

May 21st Happy Birthday, Kent Hrbek   It's the birthday of Kent Hrbek, born on this date in 1960 in Minneapolis. He graduated from Bloomington's Kennedy High School in 1978 and was drafted that June by the Twins in the 17th round. Only Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett have played more games in a Twins uniform.   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/Hrbek.82D_zps6hujuucx.jpg   The big, 6'4" left-handed first baseman made his Major League debut on August 24, 1981 at Yankee Stad
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Twins Almanac for May 20th

May 20th has been such an eventful day in Twins history that it gets its own dedicated edition of the Twins Almanac.   http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160518_175318_zpswka0qtce.jpg   May 20, 1970 Rod Carew Hits for Twins’ First Cycle   Rod Carew hit for the first cycle in Twins history in a 10-5 win in Kansas City. He completed the cycle with an eighth inning triple, driving in Cesar Tovar. Carew was 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored on the day. After Carew’s triple, St
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The Twins Almanac for May 15-19

May 15th Happy Birthday, Justin Morneau   It’s the birthday of 2006 American League MVP, Justin Morneau, born on this day in 1981 in New Westminster, British Columbia. The Twins drafted the 6’4” Canadian in the 3rd round in 1999, behind B.J. Garbe and Rob Bowen, neither of whom made it to the Majors. Morneau hit cleanup in his Major League debut in June, 2010, hitting a two-strike line drive single to center in his first at-bat and going 2-for-4 on the day. He hit 19 home runs in just 74 Major
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The Twins Almanac for May 8-14

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160507_171027_zpsfuptnh3h.jpg   May 8, 1967 Rod Carew Gives Twins First 5-Hit Game   Rookie Rod Carew became the first Twin to collect 5 hit in a single game in a 7-4 Twins loss to the Senators at home in Bloomington. Rodney was 5-for-5 on the day with a double, an RBI and run scored. The Twins had 11 hits in total, but no other Twin had more than one.   Kirby Puckett set a new Twins record for hits in a game when he went 6-for-6 with 2 hom
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The Twins Almanac for May 7th

May 7, 1965 Twins Commit Seven Errors   The Twins committed 7 errors in a 13-5 loss to the White Sox at home. Shortstop Zoilo Versalles and third baseman Rich Rollins each committed two errors, while Harmon Killebrew, Earl Battey and St. Paul-native, Jerry Kindall, added one each. Every infielder plus the catcher committed an error. Despite the 7 errors, Twins pitching still gave up 10 earned runs. Nimrod, MN-native, Dick Stigman, started the game for the Twins and lasted just 3 ⅔ innings, all
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The Twins Almanac for May 5th & 6th

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160430_104657_zpswsn6rbqy.jpg   May 5th It’s the Birthday of Larry Hisle   It’s the birthday of Larry Hisle, born on this day in 1942 in Portsmouth, OH. The 14-year Major Leaguer played five seasons for the Twins, from 1973 to ‘77 when he hit .302 with 28 home runs and an American League-leading 119 RBI. In 2010, Fox Sports North included Hisle among their “50 Greatest Twins.”   Hisle was the hitting coach for the back-to-back World Series
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The Twins Almanac for May 3rd & 4th

May 3, 1986 Puckett Leads-Off Consecutive Games with First-Pitch Home Runs   Facing Walt Terrell on the road in Detroit, leadoff hitter Kirby Puckett homered on the first pitch of the game for the second game in a row. It was already his 11th home run of the young season. The previous night Kirby hammered St. Paul-native Jack Morris’s first pitch for a home run. Morris struggled mightily as the Twins collected 4 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in just 1 ⅓ innings. Even Steve Lombardozzi got in on t
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The Twins Almanac for May 2nd

May 2, 1963 Twins Trade Jack Kralick for Jim Perry   The Twins traded pitcher Jack Kralick, who had come with the team from Washington, to the Cleveland Indians for Jim Perry. Kralick pitched the Twins’ first no-hitter the previous season, on August 26, 1962, as the Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics at home 1-0. Kralick lost the perfect game by giving up a walk with one out in the ninth. The final two outs were recorded on foul pop flies. Though the Twins’ first season in Minnesota, 1961, w
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The Twins Almanac for May 1st

May 1, 1996 Twins Win on Paul Molitor Walk-Off Hit-By-Pitch   The Twins held a 5-3 lead vs. Kansas City heading into the top of the ninth when 1994 AL Rookie of the Year, Bob Hamelin, hit a two-run home run off of Dave Stevens with Jose Offerman aboard to tie the game. Hamelin had also homered with Offerman aboard in the second. Royals all-time saves leader, Jeff Montgomery, set the Twins down in order in the bottom of the ninth. His second inning of relief did not go so smoothly. After poppin
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The Twins Almanac for April 24-30

And here is the Twins Almanac for the week of April 24th through April 30th. This week in Twins history Paul Molitor and Greg Myers each collected 5 RBI as the Twins scored a team record 24 runs. Scott Erickson pitched the third no-hitter in Twins history. Camilo Pascual hit his 2nd career grand slam. Harmon Killebrew hit both his first home run as a Twin and his 400th career home run this week in history. Mickey Hatcher tied Tony Oliva’s club record for consecutive hits. And Luke Hughes became
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The Twins Almanac: April 21st

April 21, 1961 Inaugural Home Opener   The 5-1 Twins played their first ever home game, taking on the expansion Washington Senators at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The teams were tied 3-3 when the Senators scored 2 off of Ray Moore in the top of the 9th to win 5-3. Only 24,606 fans attended the game, 6,000 short of a sell-out despite a gametime temperature of 63 degrees.   April 21, 1985 John Butcher 1hr 55min Complete Game Shutout   The Twins had lost 9 in a row, falling to 2-9 on
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8-Walk 8th Gives Twins the Win

April 17, 2014 The Twins 8-Walk 8th Inning (aka, Minnesota’s 6-Run, 1-Hit Inning)   The Twins and the Blue Jays played two cold ones on April 17th after having been snowed out the previous night. The Twins won game 1 by a score of 7-0. The game time temperature of 31 degrees was a record for a Twins home game. The temperature was up to 42 for the start of game 2. The Twins trailed 3-5 going into the bottom of the 8th when they would score 4 runs before their first hit, and ultimately score 6 r
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Grand Slam Gives Twins Win, Kubel the Cycle

The Twins trailed the Angels 4-9 entering the bottom of the 8th on April 17th, 2009. They scored 3 runs on RBI hits by Mike Redmond and Denard Span. After Brendan Harris struck out looking for the second out, the Angels, still up by 2, intentionally walked Justin Morneau to load the bases for Jason Kubel, who had already gone 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored and was a HR shy the cycle. Kubel hit the 0-1 pitch out of the park, completing the Twins’ 7-run 8th inning rally. Joe Nathan retired the
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The Twins Almanac for April 17-23

And here is The Twins Almanac for the week of April 17th through the 23rd. Two of the 50 Greatest Twins share a birthday this week. This week in 1961 the Twins played their first home opener and celebrated their first walk-off win. Several impressive streaks began and ended. The Twins put together a 6-run inning on just 1 hit. And this week in Twins history, just 14 games removed from the 1987 World Series, Minnesota made a demoralizing trade with St. Louis for a pontificating clubhouse cancer.
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