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This is an excerpt from a piece that originates at Zone Coverage here. Please click through to read the rest, and consider subscribing to the site. It’s May 17, 1998. It’s 8:30 a.m. It’s a Sunday. There is nothing remotely perfect about David Wells’ state of mind as he’s on the receiving end of a Senton Splash — as popularized by the Hardy Boyz of WWE fame from that era — from his son Brandon. Having poured himself into bed a mere 210 minutes earlier, Wells’ mind couldn’t be further from where it needs to be in a matter of hours — a date with the Minnesota Twins just after 1:30 in the afternoon. The Yankees are in the midst of a wonderful start in what ends up being a legendary season, though Wells isn’t quite yet pulling his weight. Last time out, Wells mowed down a forgettable Royals lineup — though it did feature future Yankees stalwart Johnny Damon — on the way to his fourth win of the season. But the time out before that, Wells was throttled by the Texas Rangers, giving up seven earned runs while recording only eight outs in a game the Yankees won, 15-13. That early May game pushed his season ERA to 5.77, and while Wells would get his revenge that October as the Yankees eliminated the Rangers in the division series in three straight games — thanks in large part to Boomer throwing eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts before handing the ball to Mariano Rivera — he had to turn his attention to a Twins team that was closer to contraction than contention in 1998. So Wells was headed into Sunday’s matchup with the Twins with a 5.23 ERA and one hell of a f*cking headache. If anything big was brewing, it wasn’t taking place between Boomer’s ears. — Ask anyone about something that happened 20 years ago, and you’re bound to get hazy answers. Hell, it’s hard to remember 20 days ago for most folks. But when reminded of a particularly noteworthy event, the details around it come into focus. There is one indisputable fact from this particular Sunday — no Twins reached base against Wells. A lot of other details start to file into place when reminded of that fact. But the weird thing is that most people remember the weather from that day. It’s really strange, too, because it really isn’t all that notable. The official record for the game records the temperature as 59 degrees, overcast and breezy.

A couple of the pitchers that you have already read about in our Twins Top 10 prospect series. One is known for a killer curveball. Today’s pitcher isn’t known for either of those things and yet he was likely the easiest choice to make when the front office was considering who to add to the 40-man roster in November. He is on the cusp of what many believe could be a long major league career. Find out today why Stephen Gonsalves finds himself securely among the Top 5 Minnesota Twins prospects.Age: 23 (DOB: 7/8/1994) 2017 Stats (Rookie): 110.0 IP, 3.27 ERA, 118 K, 31 BB, 1.14 WHIP ETA: 2018 2017 Ranking: 2 National Top 100 Rankings BA: 97 | MLB: 78 | ESPN: NA | BP: NA What’s To Like? Stephen Gonsalves looks the part of a big league pitcher. The left-hander stands 6-5 and is lean, weighing in around 210 pounds, allowing himself to maintain his flexibility. He’s got a classic set up and delivery. While he may not throw his fastball in the upper 90s, once he got rolling in 2017, he was sitting 91 to 94 mph. Most of the time, he’s got pretty good control and command. Gonsalves is also said to have a plus-plus changeup. His smooth delivery and consistant release points make it a very effective pitch. He is also a very hard worker and some might even say he has had a chip on his shoulder since “falling” to the fourth round of the 2013 draft. “I just like to always think that there are guys ahead of me that I’m always chasing. I think that’s my biggest motivation. There’s always going to be someone better than you, and you just have to paint that target on their back and go after them. That’s what gets me going every day, and keeps me working and keeps me going after it. I like to think that I’m not there yet to give me something to work for and keep grinding.” What’s Left To Work On? At this stage, the still-just-23-year-old lefty is really just tweaking a few things in his game to prepare himself for the next step, the big leagues. He spent time this offseason working out with long-time major league veteran David Wells. “David Wells will help me out a little bit more to further my game, just being one of the older guys I’ve worked with. I’ve been working with Strasburg and Chris Young as well. So I’ve been able to lean on those guys a lot. I’m excited to work with David. He was one of those lefties. We all talk about how my curveball is slow and loopy, but he had one of those big, big loopy curveballs. So hopefully he can help me further that pitch so I can really get that fourth pitch down and I can come into this 2018 season with a bang. He’s also put a lot of work into a cutter/slider in recent offseasons. “That slider did get developed really well this season working with Ivan Arteaga in AA Chattanooga. We tweaked some things because it got a little slower - 82, 83 - when we were trying to get it to 86-88. It ended up becoming my second or third pitch. It’s almost as good as my changeup, I think. I am excited. As long as we can get that curveball going, I think we’ll be in a good place.” Gonsalves missed time in the Arizona Fall League in 2016, and midway through big league spring training last year, as he fought a shoulder issue which cost him the first six weeks of the season. But Gonsalves ended 2017 strong and looks to a healthy, full season in 2018. What’s Next? The pattern throughout Gonsalves’s career has been to start each season at the level he finished the previous, and he’s found benefit from doing that. That is likely what will happen again in 2018. With just three AAA starts under his belt, expect him to get at least a half-season with the Red Wings just to continue working on and tweaking a few things. (Quotes from Seth’s Twins On Deck Podcast Episode1) TD Top Prospects: 16-20 TD Top Prospects: 11-15 TD Top Prospect: #10 Akil Baddoo TD Top Prospect: #9 Brusdar Graterol TD Top Prospects: #8 Blayne Enlow TD Top Prospects: #7 Brent Rooker TD Top Prospects: #6 Wander Javier TD Top Prospects: #5 Alex Kirilloff TD Top Prospects: #4 Stephen Gonsalves TD Top Prospects: #3 (Coming Soon) Click here to view the article

May 17, 1963 Allison Has Twins' First 3-HR Game Bob Allison became the first Minnesota Twin to hit three home runs in a game in an 11-4 Twins win in Cleveland. He was 3-for-5 on the day with six RBI. His batting average at the end of the day was .330. He would finish his All-Star ‘63 season with a .271 AVG, 35 HRs, and 91 RBI. Harmon Killebrew and Zoilo Versalles also hit home runs in the game. Pitcher Jim Perry, who had played for Cleveland the previous season, was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored on Allison’s first home run. May 17, 1975 Aaron Brings Hammer to Bloomington Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Hank Aaron hit the 738th of his 755 career home runs off of the Twins' Ray Corbin in the fifth inning of a Saturday afternoon game at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The two-run home run extended the Brewers' lead to 6-2. Aaron had hit an RBI double in the third, knocking Twins starting pitcher Vic Albury out of the game. The Twins trailed just 6-7 in the bottom of the eighth when Rod Carew hit a two-out, two-run double. Tom Kelly entered one of his 49 major league games playing first base in the top of the ninth. The Twins held on to win 8-7. May 17, 1998 David Wells Pitches a 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. The last perfect game at Yankee Stadium was Game 5 of the 1956 World Series by Don Larsen, who attended the same high school as Wells, Point Loma in San Diego. Don Larsen actually threw out the first pitch before baseball’s next perfect game, pitched by David Cone in 1999 on Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium. Berra had caught Larsen's perfect game in the '56 Series. Cone threw only 88 pitches in his perfect game. The major leagues’ first two perfect games were pitched in 1880, just five days apart. The next perfect game wasn’t pitched until 1904 by the Boston Americans’ Cy Young. The most recent perfect game was pitched by the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez on August 15, 2012. May 17, 2011 Harmon Killebrew Passes Away Minnesota Twins legend Harmon Killebrew passed away at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona on this date in 2011. He was just 74 years old. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch with the @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter.

In Twins history, May 17th has included a breakthrough game, a visit by a home run legend, a perfect game to forget and the final departure of perhaps the greatest Twin of all time.May 17, 1963 Allison Has Twins' First 3-HR Game Bob Allison became the first Minnesota Twin to hit three home runs in a game in an 11-4 Twins win in Cleveland. He was 3-for-5 on the day with six RBI. His batting average at the end of the day was .330. He would finish his All-Star ‘63 season with a .271 AVG, 35 HRs, and 91 RBI. Harmon Killebrew and Zoilo Versalles also hit home runs in the game. Pitcher Jim Perry, who had played for Cleveland the previous season, was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored on Allison’s first home run. May 17, 1975 Aaron Brings Hammer to Bloomington Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Hank Aaron hit the 738th of his 755 career home runs off of the Twins' Ray Corbin in the fifth inning of a Saturday afternoon game at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The two-run home run extended the Brewers' lead to 6-2. Aaron had hit an RBI double in the third, knocking Twins starting pitcher Vic Albury out of the game. The Twins trailed just 6-7 in the bottom of the eighth when Rod Carew hit a two-out, two-run double. Tom Kelly entered one of his 49 major league games playing first base in the top of the ninth. The Twins held on to win 8-7. May 17, 1998 David Wells Pitches a 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. The last perfect game at Yankee Stadium was Game 5 of the 1956 World Series by Don Larsen, who attended the same high school as Wells, Point Loma in San Diego. Don Larsen actually threw out the first pitch before baseball’s next perfect game, pitched by David Cone in 1999 on Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium. Berra had caught Larsen's perfect game in the '56 Series. Cone threw only 88 pitches in his perfect game. The major leagues’ first two perfect games were pitched in 1880, just five days apart. The next perfect game wasn’t pitched until 1904 by the Boston Americans’ Cy Young. The most recent perfect game was pitched by the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez on August 15, 2012. May 17, 2011 Harmon Killebrew Passes Away Minnesota Twins legend Harmon Killebrew passed away at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona on this date in 2011. He was just 74 years old. Click here to view the article