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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 that Soderholm’s debut was even more eventful that it appears at first-glance. He reached on a fielder’s choice ground-out in his very first major league at-bat. He moved up to second on a Phil Roof single. Pitcher Jim Perry then singled to right and Soderholm was thrown out at the plate by Reggie Jackson for the second out of the inning. With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Soderholm came up with runners on second and third and one out. In just his third major league at-bat, Soderholm was intentionally walked to load the bases. Oakland brought Mudcat Grant in from the bullpen to pitch to Phil Roof with the bases loaded. The Twins, however, called upon Harmon Killebrew who hit a pinch-hit grand slam driving in Steve Brye, Steve Braun and Soderholm. In his fourth and final at-bat, Soderholm was hit-by-pitch to load the bases, but George Mitterwald struck-out to end the threat. The Twins beat the first-place Athletics 9-4. Soderholm had been on base in each of his first four major league at-bats. In addition to homering in his first major league game, he was thrown out at home by one Hall of Famer and scored on another Hall of Famer’s grand slam. What a memorable debut. September 3, 1990 Mark Guthrie Complete Game Shutout In the first game of a doubleheader in Milwaukee, Mark Guthrie pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout. The Twins won 6-0. It was the major league debut of Brewers catcher Tim McIntosh, a Hopkins High School and University of Minnesota alumnus. He went 0-for-3. Fellow Golden Gopher Paul Molitor went 0-for-4 against Guthrie. Kirby Puckett went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and 2 runs scored. Pedro Munoz, who had made his major league debut two days earlier, went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Check out the first six Brewers batters in game two, with a combined 31 All-Star selections between them: Paul Molitor (7), Robin Yount (3), Gary Sheffield (9), Dave Parker (7), B.J. Surhoff (1) and Greg Vaughn (4). The fact that Robin Yount was only selected to three All-Star teams is always a little startling. He wasn’t even an All-Star in 1989 when he was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. The only other American Leaguer to win MVP without being named an All-Star that season was Hank Greenberg in 1935. September 3, 2006 Bert Blyleven Said a Naughty Word on Television Bert Blyleven had a tough time with a pre-game segment that he thought was being taped. “We’re gonna do this f*cking thing over again,” Bert said, “‘cause I just f*cked it up,” to which Anthony LaPanta said “well we’re live.” Bert would enjoy a five-game vacation. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/Gagne.Score91WS_zpsk4x8yotk.jpg September 4, 2010 Greg Gagne Inducted into Twins Hall of Fame The Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame inducted its 22nd member, Greg Gagne, who played shortstop for the Twins from 1983-’92 before spending his final five seasons with the Royals and Dodgers. Gagne originally came to the Twins from the Yankees in the Ron Davis/Roy Smalley trade. On October 4, 1986 Gagne hit two inside-the-park home runs against the White Sox at the Metrodome. As a personal aside, I think an error should have been charged on 99% of inside-the-park home runs. Gagne, never a power hitter, hit 4 postseason home runs between 1987 and ‘91. He hit two in the ‘87 ALCS vs. Detroit and one in each World Series. Probably his most memorable was a game-winning three-run home run in Game One of the 1991 World Series off of Charlie Liebrandt. It was Leibrandt who also gave up Kirby’s Game Six walk-off home run. After the induction ceremony, the first-place Twins hosted the first-place Rangers, with the Twins winning 12-4. Carl Pavano picked the the 16th of his 17 wins on the season. Matt Tolbert had 2 triples and drove in 5 runs. And Jim Thome hit a pair of home runs, passing Mark McGwire for ninth most all-time. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/discodan_zpsoiuveo4r.jpg September 5, 1978 "Disco" Dan Earns His Nickname In a 4-3 home loss to the Larry Doby-managed White Sox, "Disco" Dan Ford earned his nickname. Ask @RoySmalley5 how. And keep in touch with @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter.

3/21: It’s the birthday of 1983 Hopkins High School graduate and former Major Leaguer, Tim McIntosh. McIntosh played three seasons at the University of Minnesota before being selected in the 3rd round of the ‘86 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. McIntosh played in five games with the Brewers in 1990, making his Major League debut on September 3rd in Milwaukee vs. the Minnesota Twins. He went 0-3 as the Twins’ Mark Guthrie hurled a complete game shutout. Paul Molitor (Cretin High School class of ‘74) went 0-4. On September 28th, with the Yankees leading the Brewers 6-1, McIntosh entered the game in the 7th as a defensive replacement for catcher B.J. Surhoff. McIntosh led off the bottom of the 8th, hitting a home run for his first Major League hit and his only hit of the 1990 season. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/McIntosh_zpso0a5yh9r.jpg McIntosh was a September call-up in 1991, going 4-9 with a HR in his first 2 games. He played only as a defensive replacement, however, in 5 subsequent games, making only 2 plate appearances. McIntosh, in fact, only started 25 of the 71 Major League games that he played in, and 20 of those starts came in 1992 when he played in a total of 35 games, collecting 14 of his 21 career hits while batting .182. McIntosh appeared in 1 game as a late-inning defensive replacement for Milwaukee in ‘93 before being claimed off waivers by the Montreal Expos on April 14th. He played in 20 games for the Expos, collecting 2 hits and 0 walks in 21 plate appearances for an .095 batting average. He became a free agent after the season and was signed by the Minnesota Twins. He spent the 1994 season with AAA Salt Lake, hitting .338 with 18 HRs. After the ‘94 season, his contract was purchased by the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan where he hit only .220. In February of ‘96, McIntosh signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. He played in 3 games for the big league club that season. Tim McIntosh appeared in his last Major League game on June 12th, 1996, playing the final inning as a defensive replacement at third in a 7-4 Yankee loss in Toronto. For more stories about the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook and follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160316_173242_zpsw33tqxhy.jpg