Twins Walk Off Grand Slams!

"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

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/17/2018.

MLB'S 2018 Walk-off Grand Slams

Results

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

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

The Naming of The Twins: Nov. 26, 1960

On this day 54 years ago, Calvin Griffith announced his decision to name the new Minnesota franchise that was relocating to the Minneapolis-St.Paul area for the 1961 season. Among his choices was the "Twin Cities Twins," referencing the Northstar cities straddling the Mississippi River and their joint venture to field a major league ballclub. It was Griffith's intention to placate the two cities, and create unity after years of rivalry as minor league baseball cities. He eventually compromised, settling on "Minnesota Twins," thus making the entry the first MLB team to be named after a state, and not a city. The "TC" symbol, though, was retained on the caps.*

ABOVE: Nov. 28, 1960, 

Fergus Falls (Minn.)Daily Journal

The recent relocation of the Minneapolis Lakers to L.A. in April, 1960 was unquestionably on his mind, and he didn't want discord to undermine the franchise's viability in the future. The area would indeed embrace the team of Versalles, Becquer, Allison, Killebrew, Pascual, Kaat, Battey and Lenny Green. The naming decision was published in a story by iconic Minnesota sportswriter and broadcasting legend Halsey Hall (SABR link) ten days later in "The Sporting News" edition of December 7, 1960.

Ahh! Rustic. In the quaint,
Huckleberry Finn sense.
Manager Lavagetto, May 27, 1961

* "Twenty Cubans" was Jim Kaat's tongue-in-cheek response when asked by a rival team player for the meaning of the cap symbol. The Twins were renowned for fielding rosters with multiple players of Hispanic ancestry since the 1950's.

1961 Minnie And Paul logo
courtesy of Fleer Sticker Project.
The logo was created by artist 
Ray Barton in 1961 for $15.

Details, details. The 5 and 7 year-old money figures Calvin cites at the bottom of this section undoubtedly did not match the current economic realities, inflation, etc.,in Minnesota at the time. The Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1/10/61) detailed the compensation The Twins eventually agreed to fork over for area rights. Yes, fudging details, omitting relevant info...they were Griffith's twin guns he brought to many a negotiation! Star hurler Jim Grant was quoted as saying Griffith handled nickels as if they were manhole covers, alluding to the difficulty in wringing wage increases during salary talks with the Twins President. A formidable adversary in all things economic, and a pretty fair baseball mind! As far as I am aware, the middle section is the first national sports publication reference to the Twins team logo (left). Oddly enough, the only known instance of Cal telling fans to "Keep your money" was during the team season ticket drive before the '61 season, as reported in The Sporting News of January 11, 1961.

The "Gerald" (Gerry) Arrigo acquisition is a key one in Twins history - not so much for what he did as a member of the Twins staff, but for what he was worth in trade. The Twins picked up super-sub Cesar Tovar on Dec. 4, 1964 from the Reds. This was perhaps Calvin’s greatest trade steal of the 1960’s (with the possible exception of the 1963 Jim Perry for Jack Kralick deal).

You now know the fine trivia answer "Eddie Lopat" to the question: "Who was the Twins' first pitching coach?" Take a look at several of his young Twins rookie pitchers at the April, 1961 Baseball Digest (Google Books). Carl Yastrzemski, of course, had Minnesota ties from his season as a Minneapolis Miller in 1960, playing at Metropolitan Stadium. He later would help to famously end the Twins season as a member of the Boston Red Sox with his performance during the final series of the year (game stats) in 1967. 

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. Now, Minnesota fans in late 1960 could truly say they were "Big League," that, despite the fact the old Minneapolis Lakers had been an NBA dynasty in the 1940s and 50s. But that was long before basketball was truly a big-time, high-echelon American, professional sport. The expansion NFL Vikings were technically first to commit to Minnesota, back on January 28, 1960. But they wouldn't play their first game until September 17, 1961. And after the original Lakers fell on hard times and fan apathy, they moved to L.A. after their last playoff game on March 26, 1960. They left behind a territory eager for something bigger - Major League Baseball and some yet, unknown entity that would fill the void. 

Enter the Twins.

As our Hall Of Fame broadcaster Herb Carneal ended his broadcasts, I say:"So long, everybody!" - TT 

Jim Lemon and Lenny Green were

positively un-Twinlike on the day

the Minnesota Twins were truly a

reality, in their first regular season

game on April 11, 1961

in New York.