Forgotten Twins Greats: Dave Goltz

[Matt Braun]

Just as greats live on forever, the underappreciated athlete falls out of conversations. Often lost in time, only remembered through the etchings of historical leaderboards, these players still breathe eternally, only re-entering our shared knowledge when one re-discovers their accomplishments. This is one of those stories.

Image courtesy of Thiéres Rabelo (Graphic)

One of the greatest Minnesota-born pitchers, Dave Goltz could not have chosen a more inconspicuous start to his life. Born in Pelican Rapids on June 23rd, 1949, Goltz entered the world as the child of a produce marketer (his father) and a produce-business bookkeeper (his mother) (Temanson). He moved to Rothsay as a young boy.

A multi-sport athlete in high school, Goltz’s 6’4” frame stood out among the regulars. His dominant performance in football, basketball, track, and baseball—the only four sports offered by Rothsay High School—spread his name across the state as a high school legend, perhaps a new athlete capable of great things (Temanson). Goltz eventually narrowed his focus to baseball, fueled by the interest sparked in him by his former teacher, Ken Reitan, who started a little league team when Goltz was young (Sorum).

A fresh-faced 5th-round pick in the newly-minted June MLB draft (the first was in 1965; Goltz was drafted in 1967), Goltz headed to the GCL to start his professional career. His first two seasons were great successes. He led the GCL in ERA in 1967, then led the Northern League in strikeouts in 1968 (B/R bullpen).

Set to lead a league in another pitching stat in 1969, conflict in Vietnam intruded on Goltz’s budding pitching career. Despite new President Richard Nixon beginning the slow, messy process of withdrawal, Uncle Sam called Goltz to service. He worked as a helicopter mechanic in the Army Reserve and missed the 1969 baseball season (Temanson). One of 54 former ballplayers who served in the Vietnam War, Goltz never left the states during his active duty (Baseball Almanac) (twinstrivia).

Returning to baseball, Goltz spent two more seasons in the minors—one in Tacoma, Washington as roommates with Tom Kelly—before finally joining the Twins in 1972 (twinstrivia). In the middle of the season, Jim Kaat broke a bone in his wrist sliding into second base, and Minnesota “needed to fill the roster with pitchers,” necessitating a promotion for Goltz (Sorum). 

 Two years removed from an ALCS appearance, this was not a legendary period for Twins baseball. A few remnants of the 1960s glory days remained—names like Kaat, Rod Carew, Cesar Tovar, Tony Oliva, and Harmon Killebrew—but this was a roster in turmoil. Bert Blyleven, 21 and one year away from a legendary pitching season, led a group of players whose ceiling was an 85-win season in 1976.

Always one to pitch deep into ballgames, Goltz collected 83 complete games in his MLB career (image courtesy of twinstrivia.com)

But this was still 1972 and there was baseball to be played. Goltz debuted against the Yankees on July 18th, pitching 3 2/3  scoreless frames in relief of starter Ray Corbin in a 6-0 loss. Thurman Munson—who should be in the Hall of Fame—homered and doubled. Goltz’s first win came in his first start—a six-inning, two-earned-run performance in the opening game of a doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Twins used Goltz mainly as a starter the rest of the season, allowing him to soak up innings as the team struggled to stay afloat. 

As fun as 1972 was, 1973 proved disappointing, a lesson for Goltz to learn as he grew as a player. The 5.25 ERA, 106 1/3  inning slog cursed him to the minors to start 1974, but Minnesota quickly recalled the starter, and he tossed 174 1/3  frames with a finer 3.25 ERA in 1974.

Thus began Goltz’s odd streak of consistency. The good: he gobbled nearly 700 innings between 1974 and 1976 with ERAs of 3.25, 3.67, and 3.36, respectively. The bad: Goltz could not escape his record—a stat as crucial to a starter as any—which somehow tagged him as a .500 pitcher each year. He went 10-10, 14-14, and 14-14, respectively, over the same period. Minnesota’s offense remained well over the league average each season; Goltz simply felt the run-support curse that occasionally dogs even the best pitchers in baseball.

Goltz’s 1977 was legendary. In an unparalleled 39 start, 303-inning performance, Goltz accrued 19 complete games, won 20 games, and finished sixth in the AL Cy Young voting. He only finished third in MLB in innings pitched—this was the 70s, after all—but he led the AL in both starts and wins, something that a Twin didn’t do again until Johan Santana in 2006. No Twin has touched 300 innings since. Parsing through the best Twins pitching seasons by fWAR, you’ll find a few Hall of Famers—Bert Blyleven and Jim Kaat—a few Cy Young Winners—Johan Santana, Jim Perry, Frank Viola, and Dean Chance—Camilo Pascual’s excellent 1962 and Phil Hughes’ historic 2014, and sitting as the 16th best individual pitching season in Twins history is Goltz’s 1977 effort. In other words, he was pretty good that year. He was so good that he nearly tossed a no-hitter on August 23rd against Boston, only allowing a bloop hit to Jim Rice that barely sailed over a leaping Roy Smalley.

Goltz’s 1978 season was even better by ERA. His 2.49 mark served as his career low, but a few ailments, including a burned hand suffered while grilling and a rib fracture earned during a scuffle against the Angels on April 22nd, cut his innings; he totaled “just” 220 1/3  of them that year (Temanson) (Gleeman, 175).

The Twins gave Goltz the opening day nod in 1979, marking the third season in which he pitched the first game. Baseball forces worked against him that year; after five straight seasons with an ERA under 4.00, Goltz’s earned runs shot up, and he ended the year with a 4.16 ERA, the worst since his sophomore slump in 1973. His league-leading 282 hits allowed appear to be the culprit.

But times were changing. The landmark 1972 Supreme Court decision Flood v. Kuhn effectively killed the reserve clause, allowing players to sign with whatever team they chose. Catfish Hunter's five-year, $3.35 contract before the 1975 season set the standard. Free agency started to develop even more following the 1976 Collective Bargaining Agreement. With years under his belt, Goltz earned the chance to capitalize on his worth. 

After his disappointing 1979 season, Goltz filed for free agency. The Twins in this era were stingy, to be kind. Owner Calvin Griffith ran potential stars Lyman Bostick and Larry Hisle out of town with his tight pockets and traded 1977 AL MVP Rod Carew for similar reasons. Although, Griffith’s infamous racist comments in Waseca in 1978 also fueled that move. Goltz claims Howard Fox, Minnesota’s Vice President, was the man he had financial issues with, but he nonetheless chose to dabble in the open waters (Temanson).

Perhaps not the proudest accomplishment, Goltz owns the record for most runs allowed in a saved game after allowing eight runs against the Cleveland Guardians on June 6, 1973.

Four teams, led by the trio of Southern California franchises and Milwaukee, vied for Goltz. The starter preferred the Brewers with their energetic hitters and gritty style of play, but kept his heart open to the Dodgers, Angels, and Padres (twinstrivia). When the Dodgers offered an eye-popping six-year $3 million contract, Goltz's agent sealed the deal, and the Minnesota boy officially headed west to join a growing powerhouse.

The 1980s Dodgers, under manager Tommy Lasorda, were a legendary bunch. Fresh off NL pennant victories in 1977 and 1978, the team enjoyed a host of elite players: hitters like Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, Steve Garvey, and Dusty Baker supplied the pop while veteran Don Sutton handed the torch off to youngsters Bob Welch, Fernando Valenzuela, and Orel Hershiser. L.A.  won two titles in the 1980s while finishing above .500 in six seasons. 

Goltz’s time as a Dodger was not happy. He started his career in L.A. with back-to-back shutouts but fell out of the rotation in 1981, and the team cut him just a few months into the 1982 season. Still, after tossing 3 1/3  innings in the 1981 World Series, Goltz aided in a championship victory, earning a ring in the process. 

Goltz remained in California, joining the Angels in 1982. Back under the watch of manager Gene Mauch, Goltz joined an eventual playoff team led by Carew, Reggie Jackson, the eternally-underrated Bobby Grich, Fred Lynn, and Don Baylor. Luis Tiant and Tommy John served as the (very) veteran depth arms. Goltz earned one more chance at postseason success, a relief appearance in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Milwaukee Brewers. However, Harvey’s Wall-Bangers didn’t spare Goltz as, after jumping on Tommy John, Milwaukee pegged Goltz for three runs on their way to a World Series appearance. 

Goltz tossed a few innings for the Angels in 1983, but his playing career ended quickly and quietly.

Never a strikeout artist—he “relied more on ground balls” than strikeouts—Goltz could be easy to miss and simple to paint broadly (Gleeman, 175). Sometimes mentioned as one of the original free agent “busts,” Goltz was not merely a decent pitcher on an elite Dodger team, but instead, a starter who endured massive workloads in his prime, only finally wobbling once he reached the wrong side of 30. Of all the pitchers Gene Mauch oversaw—an impressive list that includes Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana, and Jim Bunning, among others—he claims Goltz to be the best he ever managed (Temanson). 

A master of the sinker—one that would “rise” and another that would “sink” into a right-hander—Goltz earned his outs with movement (Sorum). When paired with a knuckle curve that he could throw three different ways, Goltz could gobble innings with the best of them (twinstrivia). His 1,248 innings thrown between 1975 and 1979 are the 11th-highest of all pitchers. Stars like Nolan Ryan, Luis Tiant, Don Sutton, and Jerry Koosman (another Minnesota-born Vietnam veteran) rank below Goltz’s total in that streak. 

Minnesota’s leaderboards bear Goltz’s greatness. He accrued the fifth-most fWAR of all Twins starters, the sixth-most innings, and has the 11th-lowest ERA of all qualified starters. His numbers compare favorably to Frank Viola—a Twin legend cherished and remembered by fans into the present.

Goltz left baseball to join Midwest Insurance in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where, as of 2010, he still entered the office consistently (Sorum). Occasionally making his way to various Twins events, Goltz prefers to avoid the city and its traffic, instead choosing to live in sparse parts of the state.

Aaron Gleeman placed Goltz 30 in his Big 50 book, an appreciation of the men and moments that define the Minnesota Twins.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twinsdaily's formatting doesn't allow for footnotes, my preferred style of citation, so I used the Author/Date system in the text with my bibliography here. Sources are listed alphabetically, not necessarily by use.

Temanson, Lee, "https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Dave-Goltz/," SABR, 2009.

Sorum, Scott, "Dave Goltz: Former Minnesota Twins pitcher calls this area ‘Home’," https://www.wahpetondailynews.com/, 2010.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dave_Goltz

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=goltzda01

twinstrivia.com, "Dave Goltz interview," 2011.

Gleeman, Aaron, "The Big 50: The Men and Moments That Made the Minnesota Twins," Triumph Books, 2018

https://www.fangraphs.com/

 

View full article

[mikelink45]

Nice memories.  A small town MN boy just did not belong in California, but happily we got to enjoy him with the Twins.

[Karbo]

When with the Twins I remember him as a reliable starter. At the time the talk was about the knuckle curve. Gone are the days of 300 IP. These days 200 IP is rare. Seeing the totals some of the "old timers" pitched, makes a guy think maybe todays pitchers could be pushed a bit further.

[nclahammer]

Excellent story, so well written.  Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and the insights I was not aware of with Dave Goltz.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Goltz and his heyday with the Twins was basically just before my time as my sports memories start in the late 1970s and detailed memories in the early 1980s. I was surprised to learn today (technically should say reintroduced to the fact) that he was a member of the 1981 Dodgers World Series champions. I remember cheering for those Dodgers as a young person to beat the hated Yankees and get revenge for 1977 and 1978. I wouldn't say Goltz is forgotten. Maybe lacking a signature Twins moment and postseason success here. The number of starts, innings pitched, and complete games are so impressive. 

[Blyleven2011]

The teams were all consistently competitive back before free agency , with the same player year after year ...

Dave goltz had some very good seasons with the twins and as stated above the run support just wasn't there for him as he battled against other pitchers like Nolan Ryan,  Jim palmer and the rest of Baltimore's pitching staff  , catfish hunter and the rest of Oakland and Yankees  pitching staff  , there was alot of great pitchers he went up against and kept us in the game ... 

Calvin was cheap and let him walk , he might of kept thriving in minnesota rather than the west coast as the early 80's turned ugly for the twins until the twins meshed and won a world series in 87  ...

Thanks for the memories  ...

[DJL44]

I'm surprised he hasn't been named to the Twins Hall of Fame, especially considering his local origins.

[tony&rodney]

Excellent article. 

For younger fans, it can be difficult to understand the game of baseball looking back fifty years or more. 

I remember that for several years Twins fans could look forward to the days when Goltz was starting as a day the team would have a good chance for victory. Goltz was consistently very good, reliable.

[Eris]

Matt, thank you for the well written article. It made my Sunday. 

[Riverbrian]

Back in the early 90's. There was a legion baseball tourney in East Grand Forks. 

I was sitting on the top row of one of those portable metal bleachers down the first base line. The concession stand and bathrooms are located behind the RF fence so there was frequent foot traffic behind you and it was an extremely windy day blowing out of LF. So windy that the baseball cap that I was wearing blew off my head and took off on a roll. 

I jumped off the bleachers to chase after the hat. A gentlemen was walking past and the hat rolled right in front of him and he was kind enough to chase after it for me... maybe 20 yards... It was really really windy.

As he walked back with the hat instead of handing to me... while saying here ya go, he attempted to toss it to me from maybe 5 feet away, the wind caught it again and this time the hat blew even further away. 

I jokingly said to him... "You'll never make it to the major leagues with an arm like that". He laughed and I took off after the hat. 

It was just a random stranger who just happened to be Dave Goltz walking behind me at the exact time that I could use some hat assistance.  I didn't know it was Dave Goltz until later on when I heard someone sitting nearby point and say that's Dave Goltz over there and then I could see it... Yeah, that's definitely Dave Goltz and the team he was watching was Fergus Falls so it made sense that he was that random stranger. 

I still laugh about it to this day. I assume that he thought that I knew who he was when I made the joke... but I didn't.

What are the odds, that I would randomly make that "Never make it to the major league joke" to someone who actually made it to the major leagues in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

Of all the gin joints in all the world. 

[twinfan]

I often review many of the old Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins players that I rooted for over the years (I'm giving my age away) and wonder whatever happened to them after baseball and even if they are still alive. Thanks for the review.

[Aerodeliria]

Yes! Thanks. There are two nostalgic Twins memories about Dave Goltz that are tucked away in the old gray matter. The first is the near no-hitter. I was listening on my transistor radio as I was prone to do. That was a great hitting Boston team that featured the dynamic duo of Jim Rice and Freddie Lynn. I was so disappointed when Rice got that single to left. The second is the knuckle curve. I had never heard of a knuckle curve before Dave Goltz, so I thought it was so cool that we had a pitcher that threw an 'interesting' pitch. (I suppose I thought it was more like a real knuckle ball, which I was quite familiar with as the Twins faced a few knuckle ballers in those days and usually fared poorly, especially against Wilbur Wood.)

[HoskenPowell]

I was too young to remember his great years.  I remember getting his bb card often in 1977. I swear to god he was in about every 4th pack I would buy.    Having a 50/50 record on those Twins teams was actually really good , they were not much of a winning teams those years. Had he been pitching for say the Yankees or Reds he would have probably won 75% of his starts.

[HerbieFan]

Ahhh...another fun trip down memory lane.  Guy was SO underrated due to his record.  Dude was a horse for several years.

[Nine of twelve]

Players like Goltz may be "forgotten" by younger fans but not by me. One of the best games I ever attended was on 7/21/1977. The Angels got 2 runs off Goltz in the top of the first and the Twins got 3 off Nolan Ryan in the bottom of the first. In my mind's eye I can still see Carew rounding third and heading home on a Lyman Bostock triple to tie the score. After the first inning it was basically two pitchers humbling the opposing lineups. Both threw CG's. Good stuff.

[wsnydes]

6 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Back in the early 90's. There was a legion baseball tourney in East Grand Forks. 

I was sitting on the top row of one of those portable metal bleachers down the first base line. The concession stand and bathrooms are located behind the RF fence so there was frequent foot traffic behind you and it was an extremely windy day blowing out of LF. So windy that the baseball cap that I was wearing blew off my head and took off on a roll. 

I jumped off the bleachers to chase after the hat. A gentlemen was walking past and the hat rolled right in front of him and he was kind enough to chase after it for me... maybe 20 yards... It was really really windy.

As he walked back with the hat instead of handing to me... while saying here ya go, he attempted to toss it to me from maybe 5 feet away, the wind caught it again and this time the hat blew even further away. 

I jokingly said to him... "You'll never make it to the major leagues with an arm like that". He laughed and I took off after the hat. 

It was just a random stranger who just happened to be Dave Goltz walking behind me at the exact time that I could use some hat assistance.  I didn't know it was Dave Goltz until later on when I heard someone sitting nearby point and say that's Dave Goltz over there and then I could see it... Yeah, that's definitely Dave Goltz and the team he was watching was Fergus Falls so it made sense that he was that random stranger. 

I still laugh about it to this day. I assume that he thought that I knew who he was when I made the joke... but I didn't.

What are the odds, that I would randomly make that "Never make it to the major league joke" to someone who actually made it to the major leagues in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

Of all the gin joints in all the world. 

I actually played some traveling summer ball with Dave's son.  He was a few years behind me, but was already a pretty good player and pitcher.  I aged out, so I don't know much about what he did after that, but I had a couple of opportunities to talk to Dave.  Nice guy, approachable and willing to chat a bit.  

[TruthInDuluth]

I was at that game in august when he threw the 1hitter

rod Carew hit two home runs that game

we drive down from Duluth, to the old Met, to a teeming crowd.

I remember driving back to Duluth that night with my two coworkers, stating this was the best game we all would ever see in person

it was, at least for me

[h2oface]

Thanks for the article, and educating some of these posters that only know the game from todays angles led by WAR.

[mikelink45]

9 hours ago, Karbo said:

When with the Twins I remember him as a reliable starter. At the time the talk was about the knuckle curve. Gone are the days of 300 IP. These days 200 IP is rare. Seeing the totals some of the "old timers" pitched, makes a guy think maybe todays pitchers could be pushed a bit further.

We know that is true.  But there is a new group in charge of the thought police now

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Thank you for this fine article about a forgotten but important player in Twins History.  He was the Twins #1 post-Blyleven and pre-Viola.  The 1977 season with the monster seasons from Carew, Bostock, and Hisle with the 20 victory season from Dave Goltz certainly was exciting even if it didn’t end in a division championship.  

[David HK]

I saw Dave pitch at the old Met on a handful of occasions, making the trek down from ND.  Even years past his Twins tenure, if not a stop at the cafe, there was always at least a quick viewing of the Rothsay Prairie Chicken from up and down the off ramp, and I'd remark to whomever was traveling with me, "That's where Dave Goltz is from."  Whether they knew of him or not.

[David HK]

Just now, David HK said:

I saw Dave pitch at the old Met on a handful of occasions, making the trek down from ND.  Even years past his Twins tenure, if not a stop at the cafe, there was always at least a quick viewing of the Rothsay Prairie Chicken from up and down the off ramp, and I'd remark to whomever was traveling with me, "That's where Dave Goltz is from."  Whether they knew of him or not.

Post script:  and while I was long part of UND Rugby, I was not present on the early 80s trip with the notorious pit stop at the Rothsay Diner.