Article: VOTE: Most Iconic Twins Moment

[nojo]

I think that the iconic moment from Morris' complete game in '91 was when he walked out of the dugout to start the 10th inning. I still get chills thinking about that moment.

[DedunoTheMuffinMan?]

Good mention. I swear I did not read or know anything about this in advance: I was just glancing at the box score the next day (in New York, I didn't get much Twins news in the pre-Internet days), and my eye fell upon the "TP, Min, 2." Couldn't believe it. I did cut out the box score and still have the curled up yellow piece of paper.

 

I did have a strange gut feeling about the 1990 Twins: that they really weren't a last place team, and that they would do something with their good pitching and defense.

 

My Dad was at that game but sadly missed the 2nd triple play while he was in the bathroom.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Something Mauer related. (Sad that the second greatest Twin of my lifetime doesn't have a signature moment.

 

To the rescue.. one of the most athletic plays any baseball player anywhere will ever make:

 

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/joe-mauer-blocks-brett-gardner-plate-fake-throw-1st-article-1.409800

[Longdistancetwins]

My Dad was at that game but sadly missed the 2nd triple play while he was in the bathroom.

 

Oh, dear. That was at Boston? He could have felt like Walter Matthau in movie The Odd Couple, who misses a triple play when Felix calls him.

[IndianaTwin]

I'm not 60, so I can't speak to the Killebrew events, but I was an 11-year-old on my one and only weekend trip to the Met on 6/26/77. Twins beat the ChiSox 19-12 to move in first place. Carew had four hits. Glenn Adams had a grand slam and a team-record 8 RBIs after getting booed for misplaying a ball the day before. A drunk guy tried to climb the left field foul pole, and I seem to remember the Sox 1B coach (Minnie Minoso?) getting thrown out as the crowd went nuts.

 

I think the regular season attendance record for the Met was set that day, but my brother-in-law and I know that the record was two less than the announced 46,463. It was Rod Carew Jersey Day and all the kids got a t-shirt. Paul wanted one badly enough that we bought an extra two tickets for the bleachers, went in and got the shirt, walked back out and then entered at our real seats down the first base line.

 

It's probably behind the 1991 series, but that day will probably always be MY iconic Twins moment.

 

...I also think Carew's 4 hit June 26 game that left him with an avg over .400 during his 1977 MVP year should have been on the list.

[Thegrin]

You didn't mention my favorite. The Day Killebrew saved Carew's life.

Opening Day 1969. Rod Carew on 3rd. Gaylord Perry pitching for the Rangers.Harmon Killebrew at the plate. Carew fakes a steal of home and Perry ignores him. The next pitch Carew goes to steal home and Killebrew almost killed Carew with a 1/2 swing. He stopped his swing at the last second and Carew was safe. You had to be there.

[Cody Christie]

Just so everybody knows, I asked my followers on Twitter for the nominees for this poll. There have been a lot of iconic moments in the franchise history but I thought this was a good list.

[Cody Christie]

Here's the updated standings after the weekend:

 

1. Kirby's Catch

2. Larkin's walk-off

3. Hrbek's Grand Slam

4. ALCS Celebration

5. Hrbek tags Gant

6. Casilla's Walk-Off

7. Killebrew's bomb

8. Allison's catch

 

Are there any surprises in the current standings?

[WINTWINS]

How about the DP with the bases loaded in Game 7 in 91 and Hrbek pumping his arm? That is the most memorable play for me. Others for me: Killebrew hitting it over the roof at Tiger Stadium; Carew chasing .400; Cesar Tovar playing all positions; Casilla's walkoff; Morris and Kelly having that conversation in the bottom of the ninth and you knew Morris was heading out there; Kirby's catch; Twins facing Koufax in 65; Ray Scott telling Halsey Hall "You can get up from underneath the table" after the Twins clinch the AL in 65.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I love that Halsey Hall story -- that one was just before my time so much appreciated. And that's about how I felt when Eddie G almost blew that Game 5 out in Oakland in 2002

 

Two other Iconic moments which probably fall outside the top ten but deserve mention (or reminiscence): Puckett getting 10 hits in 2 games in Milwaukee (he probably swung at the first pitch on each one) and Morneau's big homer against Zumaya in Detroit in 2006. I think both of those were in August. Ahh to have a pennant race again...

[DocBauer]

48 years old, and been a Twins fan since I was about 5. My exposure to the Twins for a majority of my life was a few games on cable at my grandmother's house growing up in South Dakota, but mostly on 57.0 WNAX out of Yankton on transistor, car and alarm clock radios. Fighting static on late night games, and my father teaching me the game on weekends or travels in the car. The professional, dignified voice of Herb Carneal will always be THE TWINS for me. I even recall watching/helping my father and family members milk cows in the evening at my grandfather's farm in northern South Dakota on visits, and me listening to a little radio hung up on a hook and offering up updates on the current game.

 

I remember the Calvin Griffin era very well. I remember Koosman, Goltz and Marshall fondly, amongst others. Cubbage, Wilfong, Smalley and Wynegar and others. I can even recall Carew before leaving for the west coast. I sat in my first car cheering on Gaetti, Hrbek, Brunansky and others in the early 80's when a young kid named Kirby Puckett made his MLB debut. So many other memories over the years! But for all those years, while both World Series wins were memorable and completely thrilling, the '87 victory holds a special place for me.

 

I remember total excilleration that my team had finally climbed the mountain, and was brought to tears with utter joy. My only regret being that my father and I, living 3 hours apart, were unable to watch the series together.

 

Perhaps strangely, what I remember most was not the series itself, but the ALCS between the Twins and the Tigers. The Twins went from worst to first that year, and the Tigers won 98 games, the best record in all of baseball, and were the prohibitive favorite. The Twins out pitched and outplayed Sparky Anderson's boys. One of the strangest memories I have is of Randy Bush having a great series and surprising with a couple key SB. And those games I was able to watch with my father. And there was a sense that something was happening with our team that was special.

[Longdistancetwins]

You didn't mention my favorite. The Day Killebrew saved Carew's life.

Opening Day 1969. Rod Carew on 3rd. Gaylord Perry pitching for the Rangers.Harmon Killebrew at the plate. Carew fakes a steal of home and Perry ignores him. The next pitch Carew goes to steal home and Killebrew almost killed Carew with a 1/2 swing. He stopped his swing at the last second and Carew was safe. You had to be there.

 

Interesting, but I'd like more details. The Rangers didn't exist yet, and I think Gaylord was in the National League. Anybody remember who was pitching?

[ashbury]

Interesting, but I'd like more details. The Rangers didn't exist yet, and I think Gaylord was in the National League. Anybody remember who was pitching?

 

http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/rod-carews-seven-steals-of-home-in-1969/ :

 

Ten days later, we’re playing California. I was on third in the seventh inning. The score was tied, and Hoyt Wilhelm, the old knuckleballer, was pitching. His knuckler takes all day to arrive at the plate. It looked appetizing. I flashed a sign to Billy that I thought I could go. He flashed back an okay.

Harmon [Killebrew] was at the plate. I flashed him the sign. It’s a tap on my belt buckle with my right hand. It appeared he answered by tapping his belt buckle with his right hand. Wilhelm started into the windup. I went. I was coming down the line, and I was amazed to see that Harmon was preparing to hit the pitch: if he swung, I’d end up a double down the left-field line. Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw me, and he held back in the nick of time. I came sliding in and beat the knuckleball home. It proved to be the winning run of the game.

 

Box score (April 19, 1969):

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196904190.shtml

 

Looks as though it only tied the score, and then they won it in the bottom of the 9th, this time because Killer did take the bat off his shoulder to drive in Uhlaender. Box score (April 19, 1969):

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196904190.shtml

[#1ShaneMackFan]

The "moment" for Morris's game might be when he came back out for the 10th. A real "wow" moment that still sends chills of anticipation for me. As an iconic moment, it is different than the others mentioned, as it wasn't yet a done deal, and it only becomes iconic because of the final result.

 

I would go with that or my favorite moment from the game: the Hrbek-Harper-Hrbek double-play late in the game. The reactions of Hrbek and Morris are forever etched in my mind. Best fist pump ever.

[goulik]

Let me speak for the over 60 crowd. I don't think the two oldest entries ('65 catch and '67 520 ft homer) equal Killebrew's '65 bottom of the ninth, two out home run in the last game before the all star game. That homer that beat the Yankees, perennial league champions, signaled that the Twins just might be for real. In an earlier day, that homer was voted the greatest moment in Twins history (25 year celebration?). I also have a personal attachment as I was in the left field bleachers near where the line drive homer landed.

 

I also think Carew's 4 hit June 26 game that left him with an avg over .400 during his 1977 MVP year should have been on the list.

 

As part of the under 60 crowd I wish I knew those older moments better especially those tied to the '65 World Series. Because of the Long History and moments like those you mentioned, game 163 does not belong in the same list.

[stringer bell]

Game 163, with Casilla's game winner, was the greatest game I can ever remember. It had everything including the walkoff in a win-or-go-home situation.

[Cody Christie]

I wrote a post with the final standings for this poll.

 

Here are the results: http://www.nodaktwinsfan.com/2014/02/final-standings-most-iconic-twins-moment.html