#1988 minnesota twins mini baseball bat series

The middle and setup relief crew relied on Juan Berenguer, who finished with a 3.96 ERA and Keith Atherton, whose ERA clocked in at 3.41. They weren’t bad, but given the rotation depth issues, the Twins could have used a couple more arms in these roles. Because if they could just get to the end of games, Minnesota was in good hands. Jeff Reardon was one of baseball’s best closers and in 1988 he saved 42 games with a 2.47 ERA. Skeptics of the Twins’ 1987 performance got early ammunition when they lost 11 of their first 16 games. A sweep of Baltimore, who was off to a historically bad start provided a brief respite. But the Twins were still 9-16 in late April and ten games back of the sizzling Oakland A’s. The alignment of major league baseball prior to 1994 had each league split into just two divisions, an East and a West.

Only the first-place team could advance to the postseason. So when we say Minnesota was staring at a 10-game deficit in the AL West, that was even more alarming than it would be today. It was early May that Minnesota began to play better baseball. By the end of the month, they were starting to roll, with an eight-game winning streak leading into Memorial Day. The Twins’ record at the holiday was 24-22 and they were up to second place. But the A’s had a comfortable nine-game cushion. Minnesota continued to play well through the early summer months. They chipped away at the divisional deficit and were within six games when they visited Oakland for a four-game set in late June. Gaetti homered twice in Friday night’s opener, an 11-5 win.

#1988 minnesota twins mini baseball bat series

#1988 minnesota twins mini baseball bat series.