Anyone remember the 1967 pennant race?

[thetank]

Anyone remember the 1967 pennant race? The Twins lost the last 3 games of the season including the last 2 to the pennant winning Red Sox. It was nearly a 3way tie with Tigers losing by a game tying the Twins for 2nd place.

 

This is had to be a heart wrenching loss coming close to 2 WS in 3 years. I read somewhere that Denny McClain had gamblers break one of his toes near the end of the season and he missed his last start with the Tigers losing by a game.

 

I know Yaz went wild at the end of the season to win the triple crown.

[Craig Arko]

I do indeed remember. That was the first season I started following baseball. I mostly recall Yaz and Lonborg vs. Brock and Gibson.

 

And the arrival of one Rod Carew.

[Guest USAFChief]

I remember...sigh...Maybe you'd like to give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon on it now too.

[Longdistancetwins]

I do indeed remember. That was the first season I started following baseball. I mostly recall Yaz and Lonborg vs. Brock and Gibson.

 

And the arrival of one Rod Carew.

 

Me, too! I was in New Jersey following along with my brother who had decided some years earlier to become a Twins fan (he defected as an adult when he moved to Red Sox country, but since he always wears a David Ortiz jersey, I can’t really give him too hard a time). Even at age 10, I realized that I had stumbled into the greatest pennant race in history, so, yes, I stayed hooked on baseball. Sure was disappointed, but I didn’t watch the last game. We went out hiking on a family outing on the last day of the season, and a waiter at a Howard Johnson’s told us the bad news. When my mom brought something called “Yaz bread” into the house, we refused to eat it.

[Monkeypaws]

You are in luck. I recently came upon this youtube of Minnesota at Boston on September 30, 1967, the complete game. Apparently this is the oldest complete broadcast available in color. Great Twins line-up. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cze3fMSa84w

 

Oh how i miss the clean green field free of ads.

[Twins Twerp]

My dad was 4

[bird]

My dad was 4

 

My son was -24

[strumdatjag]

Big 20 win year for Dean Chance, who was one of the worst pitchers once he came up to bat. The Twins also had Jim Kaat who was one of the best pitchers in the batter's box. The best commercial from that era had the Hamm's Bear attempting to shag a few fly balls - watch it all, trust me.

 

Darn it - I can't find a link that works - Just search youtube for - Hamm's Beer Commercial Bear Baseball - Watch the one with the guy sitting at the bar watching the TV

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Thanks tank, I'd like this thread to reach 200

[stringer bell]

The theme song for the Red Sox was "Impossible Dream". They had been second division for years and went from something like 8th to win. It was a great four-team race (White Sox were there until the last couple days) and pitchers were dominant. I believe the Tigers had a doubleheader on the last day and split when they knew they needed a sweep to tie. The Twins had two games in Boston and needed to split to eliminate the Red Sox, but lost both. Killebrew tied Yaz in homers and had a fine year (.965 OPS). Oliva and Carew were great, Tony in mid-career and Carew a rookie. Carew missed games with some military obligation. Earl Battey played his last year and was a shadow of his All-Star self. Russ Nixon and Jerry Zimmerman combined to hit less that .200 as his replacements--maybe Calvin should have spent a few shekels to acquire a catcher! Calvin fired Sam Mele after 50 games and Cal Ermer was a popular replacement. I was heartbroken that the Twins couldn't win a game in Boston.

[Halsey Hall]

We had at least 8 tickets to the World Series. It was a total bummer they just couldn't put it away.

[jimv2]

I remember vividly. We had a great team, and needed to win one game out of the last three. I was a kid living on the east coast and couldn't imagine that we would lose all three. And of course back then there were no playoff games, so it was win one and head for the WS. So I started telling everyone that the Twins would smoke the Cardinals in the world series. I ended up taking mammoth amounts of abuse. And for years, I hated the Red Sox.

 

But I got a small measure of revenge. THe Sox had to use their ace, Jim Lonborg, in the final game to beat us. So he wasn't available for the frist game of the series. GIbson was. Gibson pitched 3 games, each on 3 days rest (standard at the time.) Lonborg also pitched 3, but the last , game 7 was on 2 days rest. GIbson was his usual self ("Bob Gibson is the luckiest pitcher I ever saw. He always pitches when the other team doesn't score any runs." - Former Cardinal Catcher Tim McCarver) but Lonborg wasn't and the Sox lost game 7. So I reasoned that the Twins had indirectly made the Sox lose the series.

[snepp]

You are in luck. I recently came upon this youtube of Minnesota at Boston on September 30, 1967, the complete game. Apparently this is the oldest complete broadcast available in color. Great Twins line-up. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cze3fMSa84w

 

Oh how i miss the clean green field free of ads.

 

I decided to watch this last week, after reading half a dozen or so articles about the '67 season.

 

Despite how it ended, that would have been a pretty fantastic season of baseball to take in.

 

Shame that I was -11 at the time, my memory isn't what it used to be.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

A great topic of discussion now, but I can't imagine what the disappointment must have been like.

[PseudoSABR]

Bingo's at five, everyone.

[glunn]

Great thread! If only the Twins could have gotten more out of having the bases loaded in the first inning of that game against the Red Sox...

[bird]

A great topic of discussion now, but I can't imagine what the disappointment must have been like.

 

Well, it was sorta like getting a big paper cut and having some jerk pour lemon it it.

[Craig Arko]

A great topic of discussion now, but I can't imagine what the disappointment must have been like.

 

The 1998 Vikings.

[Longdistancetwins]

We had at least 8 tickets to the World Series. It was a total bummer they just couldn't put it away.

 

I first saw the Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown in 1972. Then it was more like someone’s attic, a real, wonderful hodgepodge of memorabilia. I walked by a case and did a double take when I saw a ticket “World Series 1967 Twins vs. Cardinals.” So the tickets to the World Series That Never Was made it to Cooperstown. 1987 was charming for a host of reasons, but I also thought of it as the World Series that I waited 20 years to see.

[Longdistancetwins]

You are in luck. I recently came upon this youtube of Minnesota at Boston on September 30, 1967, the complete game. Apparently this is the oldest complete broadcast available in color. Great Twins line-up. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cze3fMSa84w

 

Oh how i miss the clean green field free of ads.

 

Thanks. I did start watching on my old clunky work computer (after hours, of course ). I had only gotten to the second batter (interesting to see superman Yaz sort of bobble the ball) when my computer spontaneously started shutting down, step by step. My hands were nowhere near the mouse or the keyboard. It didn’t just “End Program” or “logoff,” it actually shut completely down—something I never do—all by itself. Obviously this is too painful even for my computer.

[thetank]

You are in luck. I recently came upon this youtube of Minnesota at Boston on September 30, 1967, the complete game. Apparently this is the oldest complete broadcast available in color. Great Twins line-up. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cze3fMSa84w

 

Oh how i miss the clean green field free of ads.

They have game 7 of the 1965 World Series I noticed on YouTube.

[Guest USAFChief]

Thanks. I did start watching on my old clunky work computer (after hours, of course ). I had only gotten to the second batter (interesting to see superman Yaz sort of bobble the ball) when my computer spontaneously started shutting down, step by step. My hands were nowhere near the mouse or the keyboard. It didn’t just “End Program” or “logoff,” it actually shut completely down—something I never do—all by itself. Obviously this is too painful even for my computer.

huh...I would have thought it wouldn't have choked until very, very late.

[Paul]

You are in luck. I recently came upon this youtube of Minnesota at Boston on September 30, 1967, the complete game. Apparently this is the oldest complete broadcast available in color. Great Twins line-up. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cze3fMSa84w

 

Oh how i miss the clean green field free of ads.

 

Thanks for the link. What a treat. Also, what a blast from the past. Weather forecast that expected rain instead of the nice day they got, advert for a gas station that washed your windows "all the time", advert for White Owl cigars, even a guy hustling (Uhlander) and ending up on 3rd on a routine pop fly to right. Thanks again.

[thetank]

Kaat had won 7 games in Sept and should have pitched on Oct. 1 the last day of the regular season. The video pointed out the 7 victories. He only pitched 2 innings this game but needed an extra day of rest.

[ashbury]

Thanks tank, I'd like this thread to reach 200

 

Any thoughts on Terry Ryan, or Jim Souhan?¹

 

On-topic, I grew up in Indianapolis, so I didn't have a direct rooting interest at the time, and I found the hitless wonder White Sox an interesting story, also the expansion team Angels being in the race until near the end, but ultimately I was one of those lemon-juice pouring young jerks who rooted for the BoSox that year.

 

¹ / yeah, I'm trolling. Trolling for people to ban!

[Othercousin 324]

Thanks for the youtube link. It was great viewing and it lead me to game 7 of the 1952 World Series -which was even better. In fact , I thought the camera work on the 52 game was better than the 67 one. They even had split screen. So 52 World Series Game 7 is highly recommended. You'll see a 20 year old Mick, Jackie, Scooter, Yogi, Pee Wee, Gil Hodges, Campenelia, Billy, Casey, Duke and the list goes on. At Ebbets field no less with Red Barber and Mel Allen calling the action from the catbird's seat. (don't have link but just google and you'll find it.) Think I'll tell my elected representatives that viewing should be part of all school children's core curriculum.

[Craig Arko]

Thanks for the youtube link. It was great viewing and it lead me to game 7 of the 1952 World Series -which was even better. In fact , I thought the camera work on the 52 game was better than the 67 one. They even had split screen. So 52 World Series Game 7 is highly recommended. You'll see a 20 year old Mick, Jackie, Scooter, Yogi, Pee Wee, Gil Hodges, Campenelia, Billy, Casey, Duke and the list goes on. At Ebbets field no less with Red Barber and Mel Allen calling the action from the catbird's seat. (don't have link but just google and you'll find it.) Think I'll tell my elected representatives that viewing should be part of all school children's core curriculum.

 

You reminded me; if ever I meet any of you folks in person (again, for some) to relate the story about how my wife brought Mickey Mantle in for show and tell to her elementary school.