Fifty years ago, in 1967, the Minnesota Twins engaged in one of the most dramatic pennant races in American League history. After the Baltimore Orioles had run away with the 1966 AL crown and swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, they weren’t a factor in a ’67 chase that came down to the Twins, the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox, a surprise contender after losing 90 games in ’66, didn’t enter the fray until the second half. But with Carl Yastrzemski winning the Triple Crown and delivering the big hit all season under rookie manager Dick Williams, the Red Sox posted the league’s best second-half record and played for the pennant on the final day of the 1967 campaign.
The Twins also didn’t look like a contender, going 30-30 over their first 60 games. By then, the Summer of Love was underway. The rock scene had turned psychedelic, with the Beatles releasing their tour de force on June 1, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Jefferson Airplane had hits with “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” and radio playlists featured Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense and Peppermints,” Small Faces’ “Ichycoo Park” and Jimi Hendryx’ “Purple Haze.” San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury became the epicenter of counterculture life and the rock music world.
The Summer of Love was a long, hot affair for many American cities. That summer, racial violence erupted in Detroit and Newark, Cleveland and Cincinnati, Buffalo and Birmingham, Louisville, Nashville and Wichita—and on Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis. Vietnam protests were on the rise as well, and the dramatic AL pennant race took place in these troubled times.
The Twins had plenty of trouble of their own in the early going. They struggled to score, and in a late-April stretch that carried into May, skipper Sam Mele watched his club commit 21 errors in 16 games. A run of mental errors was even more upsetting to Mele.
On April 21, in Detroit’s 12-4 romp over the Twins at Tiger Stadium, César Tovar singled to lead off the third inning. One out later, Tony Oliva sent a towering fly to right-center. Tigers star Al Kaline backtracked to the wall as Tovar, instead of going halfway to second base, retreated toward first in anticipation of a catch at the wall.
Both Oliva and first-base coach Jim Lemon watched the ball drop into Tiger Stadium’s upper deck, which hung over the playing field. As he rounded first base, Oliva suddenly heard Tovar shout in Spanish, “Don’t pass me on the bases!” It was too late. Detroit first baseman Norm Cash quickly alerted first-base umpire John Stevens, who had his back to the infield as he followed the flight of the ball. Tovar was allowed to score, but Stevens called Oliva out for passing his teammate.
Tired of his team’s mental mistakes, Mele fined Tovar for the lost run. The frustrated manager, fed up with his team’s play, held a brief team meeting during a seventh-inning rain delay and another after the game. Then the Twins lost five of their next eight.
Early on, a rare source of hope was 21-year-old rookie Rod Carew, the last great position player developed by the Twins in the 1960s. Owner Calvin Griffith sang the praises of the talented Carew in Florida, but Mele wasn’t going to give him the second-base job. He would have to earn it in camp and he did. Then he collected 34 hits in his first 100 at-bats, demonstrating the ability to make consistent contact in his earliest days in the majors. In addition to batting .340, Carew had driven in 13 runs in 28 games.
One of the Twins’ few April highlights was Carew’s ninth-inning RBI single on April 19, which gave them a 3-2 victory over Baltimore. The rookie jumped on a first-pitch changeup from O’s relief ace Stu Miller and drove it up the middle to bring home Ted Uhlaender.
The 39-year-old Miller, a masterful righthander with 23 wins and a 2.04 ERA in more than 200 innings over the two previous seasons, succeeded with an arsenal best described as slow and slower. Carew, who had faced Miller in a spring training game, already knew to wait on the veteran’s pitches.
“The first pitch came up like a big grapefruit, and I wasn’t taking any strikes with the bases loaded,” Carew said after delivering the game-winning run. His Rookie of the Year performance was off to an impressive start.
I will post about the 1967 Twins and the wild AL pennant race all summer long, using material from my upcoming book on the Twins and the 1960s pennant races in which they participated. Like my author page on Facebook and you’ll get notifications when a new 1967 post is available, as well as other baseball news.
The Red Sox, a surprise contender after losing 90 games in ’66, didn’t enter the fray until the second half. But with Carl Yastrzemski winning the Triple Crown and delivering the big hit all season under rookie manager Dick Williams, the Red Sox posted the league’s best second-half record and played for the pennant on the final day of the 1967 campaign.
The Twins also didn’t look like a contender, going 30-30 over their first 60 games. By then, the Summer of Love was underway. The rock scene had turned psychedelic, with the Beatles releasing their tour de force on June 1, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Jefferson Airplane had hits with “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” and radio playlists featured Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense and Peppermints,” Small Faces’ “Ichycoo Park” and Jimi Hendryx’ “Purple Haze.” San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury became the epicenter of counterculture life and the rock music world.
The Summer of Love was a long, hot affair for many American cities. That summer, racial violence erupted in Detroit and Newark, Cleveland and Cincinnati, Buffalo and Birmingham, Louisville, Nashville and Wichita—and on Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis. Vietnam protests were on the rise as well, and the dramatic AL pennant race took place in these troubled times.
The Twins had plenty of trouble of their own in the early going. They struggled to score, and in a late-April stretch that carried into May, skipper Sam Mele watched his club commit 21 errors in 16 games. A run of mental errors was even more upsetting to Mele.
On April 21, in Detroit’s 12-4 romp over the Twins at Tiger Stadium, César Tovar singled to lead off the third inning. One out later, Tony Oliva sent a towering fly to right-center. Tigers star Al Kaline backtracked to the wall as Tovar, instead of going halfway to second base, retreated toward first in anticipation of a catch at the wall.
Both Oliva and first-base coach Jim Lemon watched the ball drop into Tiger Stadium’s upper deck, which hung over the playing field. As he rounded first base, Oliva suddenly heard Tovar shout in Spanish, “Don’t pass me on the bases!” It was too late. Detroit first baseman Norm Cash quickly alerted first-base umpire John Stevens, who had his back to the infield as he followed the flight of the ball. Tovar was allowed to score, but Stevens called Oliva out for passing his teammate.
Tired of his team’s mental mistakes, Mele fined Tovar for the lost run. The frustrated manager, fed up with his team’s play, held a brief team meeting during a seventh-inning rain delay and another after the game. Then the Twins lost five of their next eight.
Early on, a rare source of hope was 21-year-old rookie Rod Carew, the last great position player developed by the Twins in the 1960s. Owner Calvin Griffith sang the praises of the talented Carew in Florida, but Mele wasn’t going to give him the second-base job. He would have to earn it in camp and he did. Then he collected 34 hits in his first 100 at-bats, demonstrating the ability to make consistent contact in his earliest days in the majors. In addition to batting .340, Carew had driven in 13 runs in 28 games.
One of the Twins’ few April highlights was Carew’s ninth-inning RBI single on April 19, which gave them a 3-2 victory over Baltimore. The rookie jumped on a first-pitch changeup from O’s relief ace Stu Miller and drove it up the middle to bring home Ted Uhlaender.
The 39-year-old Miller, a masterful righthander with 23 wins and a 2.04 ERA in more than 200 innings over the two previous seasons, succeeded with an arsenal best described as slow and slower. Carew, who had faced Miller in a spring training game, already knew to wait on the veteran’s pitches.
“The first pitch came up like a big grapefruit, and I wasn’t taking any strikes with the bases loaded,” Carew said after delivering the game-winning run. His Rookie of the Year performance was off to an impressive start.
I will post about the 1967 Twins and the wild AL pennant race all summer long, using material from my upcoming book on the Twins and the 1960s pennant races in which they participated. Like my author page on Facebook and you’ll get notifications when a new 1967 post is available, as well as other baseball news.