The Minnesota Twins had wanted to secure the 1965 American League pennant before the home folks, but that wasn't in the cards after they dropped the final three games of a mid-September homestand. Their magic number was three going into the final two games at the Met against the second-place Orioles, and it was still three when the Twins headed to Washington for three games against the expansion Senators.
Calvin Griffith wouldn't be in Washington to watch the Twins close in on the franchise's first pennant in 32 years. Injunctions filed against him when he moved the team to Minnesota would have forced a lengthy stay in the nation's capital had he even stepped foot into the District, so the Twins owner was forced to track his club's progress from his office at Metropolitan Stadium.
The Twins and Senators were rained out in the Friday night opener on September 24. The Twins' two right-handed aces, Mudcat Grant and Camilo Pascual, took the mound for Saturday's doubleheader, and in the opener, Grant pitched as well as he had all season.
After Washington's Don Blasingame doubled in the third inning, Grant mowed down the Senators without allowing another hit. Only one baserunner reached third base against him. He fanned seven and retired the last 14 Senators in a 5-0 victory, securing his 20th win and league-leading sixth shutout with one of his premier performances of the year. Grant became the first African American pitcher to win 20 games in the American League, an honor of which he remains proud to this day.
Pascual, who had remarkably returned from August 2 surgery to repair a muscle tear under his right armpit, could pitch the Twins to within a game of the pennant in the nightcap. The Senators scored three times in the second inning, but Don Mincher's 22nd home run (in just 335 AB) closed the gap to 3-2 in the seventh.
Then a quartet of Twins rookies took over. Sandy Valdespino ignited an eighth-inning rally with a one-out single, and scored on pinch-hitter Joe Nossek's game-tying double. With two outs, Frank Quilici delivered a bases-loaded single that scored two runs and put the Twins in front, 5-3. And Jim Merritt held Washington scoreless over the final three frames to get the win.
The Twins could still claim the AL title that night if Baltimore lost either end of a twinbill with the Angels. But the Orioles won both games, so the Twins looked to close out the pennant race in their Sunday finale in Washington on September 26.
The two starters, lefties Jim Kaat and Pete Richert, went the distance in a classic pitchers' duel. Tony Oliva's first-inning single was the only hit allowed by Richert through the first five innings. By then the Senators had scratched for an unearned run and a 1-0 lead.
Leading off the sixth, Zoilo Versalles drove a liner into the left-center-field gap and motored around the bases for a triple. With Nossek at the plate, Richert fired a low pitch that escaped Don Zimmer, a lifelong infielder filling in at catcher at the end of his career. The ball trickled no more than 10 feet from the plate, but without hesitation Versalles tore down the line and slid under Zimmer's underhanded flip to Richert at the plate.
The game was still 1-1 when Quilici slashed a double past Senators third baseman Ken McMullen leading off the eighth. Richert retired Kaat, but not before Quilici advanced to third on a wild pitch that sailed past Zimmer. Versalles, on a 2-2 pitch, lifted a fly to strong-armed Don Lock in center field. Lock played the ball well, moving toward the plate and rifling a good throw, but Quilici was off and running and beat the ball home. Versalles had scored the tying run and driven home the go-ahead run. Despite collecting just three hits, the Twins now led 2-1.
Richert put the Twins down 1-2-3 in the ninth to wrap up a three-hitter. Kaat, who had scattered eight singles and finished with 10 strikeouts, popped out of the dugout to pitch the final three outs. The workman-like Kaat induced a lazy fly from Lock to Oliva in right for the first out. Then he fanned first baseman Dick Nen on three pitches, though the third strike eluded catcher Earl Battey, who made a snap throw to Mincher at first to record the second out.
Up stepped Zimmer, in the final days of a 12-year career highlighted by World Series titles with the 1955 and 1959 Dodgers. He swung at and missed Kaat's first pitch, lofting his bat in the vicinity of the Twins dugout. After he took strike two, he fouled back the left-hander's third offering. Down 0-2, Zimmer started to swing at the next pitch and then checked it. Before he could turn around to look for the call, he heard umpire John Flaherty call him out. Minnesota had clinched its first AL pennant.
The Twins headed for their clubhouse, where Oliva, closing in on his second straight batting title, uncorked the first bottle of champagne. Battey shook a bottle and sent the cork and the first spray across the room. Soon the beverage of choice for baseball celebrations was everywhere. Valdespino and Quilici rewarded manager Sam Mele for his team's fine season, administering a champagne shampoo and shower.
Grant wrapped an arm around the neck of third-base coach Billy Martin and poured freely over the former Yankee's head. "This is one of the wildest celebrations I've seen," said Martin, part of six such pennant clinchings with New York. Perhaps the ritual had become old hat in the Bronx; this young Minnesota club was showing its youthful vigor.
Next up: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the World Series.
Calvin Griffith wouldn't be in Washington to watch the Twins close in on the franchise's first pennant in 32 years. Injunctions filed against him when he moved the team to Minnesota would have forced a lengthy stay in the nation's capital had he even stepped foot into the District, so the Twins owner was forced to track his club's progress from his office at Metropolitan Stadium.
The Twins and Senators were rained out in the Friday night opener on September 24. The Twins' two right-handed aces, Mudcat Grant and Camilo Pascual, took the mound for Saturday's doubleheader, and in the opener, Grant pitched as well as he had all season.
After Washington's Don Blasingame doubled in the third inning, Grant mowed down the Senators without allowing another hit. Only one baserunner reached third base against him. He fanned seven and retired the last 14 Senators in a 5-0 victory, securing his 20th win and league-leading sixth shutout with one of his premier performances of the year. Grant became the first African American pitcher to win 20 games in the American League, an honor of which he remains proud to this day.
Pascual, who had remarkably returned from August 2 surgery to repair a muscle tear under his right armpit, could pitch the Twins to within a game of the pennant in the nightcap. The Senators scored three times in the second inning, but Don Mincher's 22nd home run (in just 335 AB) closed the gap to 3-2 in the seventh.
Then a quartet of Twins rookies took over. Sandy Valdespino ignited an eighth-inning rally with a one-out single, and scored on pinch-hitter Joe Nossek's game-tying double. With two outs, Frank Quilici delivered a bases-loaded single that scored two runs and put the Twins in front, 5-3. And Jim Merritt held Washington scoreless over the final three frames to get the win.
The Twins could still claim the AL title that night if Baltimore lost either end of a twinbill with the Angels. But the Orioles won both games, so the Twins looked to close out the pennant race in their Sunday finale in Washington on September 26.
The two starters, lefties Jim Kaat and Pete Richert, went the distance in a classic pitchers' duel. Tony Oliva's first-inning single was the only hit allowed by Richert through the first five innings. By then the Senators had scratched for an unearned run and a 1-0 lead.
Leading off the sixth, Zoilo Versalles drove a liner into the left-center-field gap and motored around the bases for a triple. With Nossek at the plate, Richert fired a low pitch that escaped Don Zimmer, a lifelong infielder filling in at catcher at the end of his career. The ball trickled no more than 10 feet from the plate, but without hesitation Versalles tore down the line and slid under Zimmer's underhanded flip to Richert at the plate.
The game was still 1-1 when Quilici slashed a double past Senators third baseman Ken McMullen leading off the eighth. Richert retired Kaat, but not before Quilici advanced to third on a wild pitch that sailed past Zimmer. Versalles, on a 2-2 pitch, lifted a fly to strong-armed Don Lock in center field. Lock played the ball well, moving toward the plate and rifling a good throw, but Quilici was off and running and beat the ball home. Versalles had scored the tying run and driven home the go-ahead run. Despite collecting just three hits, the Twins now led 2-1.
Richert put the Twins down 1-2-3 in the ninth to wrap up a three-hitter. Kaat, who had scattered eight singles and finished with 10 strikeouts, popped out of the dugout to pitch the final three outs. The workman-like Kaat induced a lazy fly from Lock to Oliva in right for the first out. Then he fanned first baseman Dick Nen on three pitches, though the third strike eluded catcher Earl Battey, who made a snap throw to Mincher at first to record the second out.
Up stepped Zimmer, in the final days of a 12-year career highlighted by World Series titles with the 1955 and 1959 Dodgers. He swung at and missed Kaat's first pitch, lofting his bat in the vicinity of the Twins dugout. After he took strike two, he fouled back the left-hander's third offering. Down 0-2, Zimmer started to swing at the next pitch and then checked it. Before he could turn around to look for the call, he heard umpire John Flaherty call him out. Minnesota had clinched its first AL pennant.
The Twins headed for their clubhouse, where Oliva, closing in on his second straight batting title, uncorked the first bottle of champagne. Battey shook a bottle and sent the cork and the first spray across the room. Soon the beverage of choice for baseball celebrations was everywhere. Valdespino and Quilici rewarded manager Sam Mele for his team's fine season, administering a champagne shampoo and shower.
Grant wrapped an arm around the neck of third-base coach Billy Martin and poured freely over the former Yankee's head. "This is one of the wildest celebrations I've seen," said Martin, part of six such pennant clinchings with New York. Perhaps the ritual had become old hat in the Bronx; this young Minnesota club was showing its youthful vigor.
Next up: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the World Series.