A video I discovered the other night, with the help of my Twitter friend Lord Of The Fries. It is the last 20 minutes of the 13-6 win against the White Sox on September 21, 1976.
Bostock, during his final at-bat
Beautiful beyond words. From seeing that uncomplicated, whippy swing of Lyman Bostock, Larry Hisle settling in under a can of corn in left field, Mike Cubbage (think John Denver in baseball hosiery), and that crazy pitching delivery of Tom Burgmeier from the first base side, to how impossibly unathletic Glenn Borgmann REALLY appeared - all on top of seeing hitless wonder Bob Randall (4 hits that night), Roy Smalley (in his first go-around with the Twins) AND hitting wonder Rod Carew bat (hitless that night) - is too much for words. It was when my fandom was in its most innocent stage.
BONUS: besides getting to see the faux, 1893-era Sox uniforms, you get to hear Harry Caray go completely incoherent at about the 5:30 minute mark, remarks about "Minnesota's proximity to Oakland versus Oakland's to Kansas City." Or some such gibberish. Oh yes - -I will be adding additions to this post on the original Minnesota Lumber Company faster than a psychotic carpenter, rest assured.
I couldn't watch this segment, and Caray's references to the leaders in the batting title race, without thinking about the controversial finish to come days later in the season finale (Oct. 3, 1976) for Carew and Bostock against Kansas City's George Brett and Hal McRae. Brett won the title (news story pdf) by .001 of a point with a ninth inning inside-the-park home run, which McRae claimed Twins left fielder Steve Brye let drop purposely because of racial bias on the part of Twins Manager Gene Mauch. A story for another time..
Signing off, in the style of our old broadcasting buddy, Herb Carneal:
Bostock, during his final at-bat
Beautiful beyond words. From seeing that uncomplicated, whippy swing of Lyman Bostock, Larry Hisle settling in under a can of corn in left field, Mike Cubbage (think John Denver in baseball hosiery), and that crazy pitching delivery of Tom Burgmeier from the first base side, to how impossibly unathletic Glenn Borgmann REALLY appeared - all on top of seeing hitless wonder Bob Randall (4 hits that night), Roy Smalley (in his first go-around with the Twins) AND hitting wonder Rod Carew bat (hitless that night) - is too much for words. It was when my fandom was in its most innocent stage."My last time up, I was definitely trying to hit a home run [for the cycle] and I almost got it." - Lyman Bostock, Winona Daily News, September 22, 1976 (VIDEO LINK: STARTING WITH BOSTOCK AT BAT)
I couldn't watch this segment, and Caray's references to the leaders in the batting title race, without thinking about the controversial finish to come days later in the season finale (Oct. 3, 1976) for Carew and Bostock against Kansas City's George Brett and Hal McRae. Brett won the title (news story pdf) by .001 of a point with a ninth inning inside-the-park home run, which McRae claimed Twins left fielder Steve Brye let drop purposely because of racial bias on the part of Twins Manager Gene Mauch. A story for another time..
Harry Caray, wiseguy:
"Minnesota has a great shot at finishing second!" LOL! (5:00 mark)
Signing off, in the style of our old broadcasting buddy, Herb Carneal:
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