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| "Mr. Becquer, meet Misters Allison, Green & Battey" |
Yesterday, Francisco Mejia, Padres catcher, took Jeffrey Springs of the Rangers deep with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off grand slam to defeat the Rangers 7-3. You might recall Mejia was the prized trade chip in the Pad's trade of Minnesota (Chaska) native Brad Hand to the Cleveland Indians on July 19 of this season. So sad Cleveland won't have the benefit of his services in the foreseeable future (Twins fans, insert chuckle here)..
It was MLB's seventh walk-off grand slam of the 2018 season. All of which made me wonder "how many game-winning, walk-off grand slams have been hit in Minnesota Twins history* I thought, there must have been about 5, 6, at least.
* Grand slams hit in the home half of the last half inning that put the home club in the lead, and which automatically end the game
I wasn't far off! Basically right on...of course! :D
The actual result of my search? A grand total of FIVE times in 59 seasons of Twins baseball. Or one every 12 years or so.
By the way aLI (average pressure index) is a Baseball Reference creation alluding to the average pressure factors upon the batter in their individual at bats. Which would say Becquer was feeling a HEAP of stress, perhaps thinking his status with the club in that inaugural Twins season might hinge on that very at bat (see Reusse story below!) . It's also interesting to note the 40 year span from Hall's 1966 bomb until Jason Kubel got the Twins back on the map in the 2000's.
Twins All-Time Walk-off Grand Slams, 1961-2018
| Rk | Player | Date ▲ |
Opp | Rslt | HR | RBI | aLI | Pitcher | Batter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julio Becquer | 1961-07-04 (1) | CHW | W 6-4 | 1 | 4 | 6.990 | Warren Hacker | Julio Becquer |
| 2 | Jimmie Hall | 1966-08-02 | BOS | W 7-3 | 1 | 4 | 2.372 | Don McMahon | Jimmie Hall |
| 3 | Jason Kubel | 2006-06-13 | BOS | W 5-2 | 1 | 4 | 2.962 | Julian Tavarez | Jason Kubel |
| 4 | Joe Crede | 2009-05-13 | DET | W 14-10 | 1 | 4 | 2.044 | Brandon Lyon | Joe Crede |
| 5 | Brian Dozier | 2018-07-15 | TBR | W 11-7 | 1 | 4 | 5.570 | Matt Andriesse | Brian Dozier |
MLB'S 2018 Walk-off Grand Slams
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Pitcher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francisco Mejia | 2018-09-16 | SDP | TEX | W 7-3 | Jeffrey Springs |
| 2 | David Bote | 2018-08-12 | CHC | WSN | W 4-3 | Ryan Madson |
| 3 | Daniel Robertson | 2018-07-22 | TBR | MIA | W 6-4 | Kyle Barraclough |
| 4 | Xander Bogaerts | 2018-07-14 | BOS | TOR | W 6-2 | Chris Rowley |
| 5 | Jose Bautista | 2018-07-06 | NYM | TBR | W 5-1 | Chaz Roe |
| 7 | Jason Heyward | 2018-06-06 | CHC | PHI | W 7-5 | Adam Morgan |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/17/2018. - FOR SOME REASON, BBREF WILL NOT LIST DOZIER'S GS
ON JULY 15 IN THE GENERATED REPORT - I HAD TO DO IT MANUALLY
IN THE FIRST CHART. #CONSPIRACY! #SAD
ON JULY 15 IN THE GENERATED REPORT - I HAD TO DO IT MANUALLY
IN THE FIRST CHART. #CONSPIRACY! #SAD
Yeah, those greedy Cubs have TWO already in 2018!!
See Patrick Reusse's July 3, 2010 Article about Becquer's Grand Slam via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It is corkin' good!
"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal
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