July 27, 1978: Mike Cubbage hits for the cycle; Stan Perzanowski records his only complete-game win

Even with Dave Goltz, the Twins’ best pitcher, on the mound, on Wednesday, July 26, 1978, the Twins lost the first of a two-game midweek series with the Toronto Blue Jays, baseball’s most hapless team. The Twins were now 12½ games out of first place in the American League Western Division, and getting back in the division race seemed a long way off. Moreover, they were starting Stan Perzanowski, a 27-year-old journeyman who had last pitched in the majors with Texas in May 1976. His career record of 3-4 with a 5.02 earned-run average did little to inspire confidence.

After California had released him from its organization in August 1977, Perzanowski, cousin of one-time Twins reliever Ron Perranoski, called around for a job. Minnesota farm director George Brophy decided to take a flier on the sinkerball pitcher, sending him to the Twins’ Triple-A farm club in Toledo. In his first 24 games, Perzanowski was 5-1 with a 2.46 ERA, and Twins manager Gene Mauch decided to give him a start with the big-league club. Perzanowski responded by pitching the best game of his career, hurling his only complete-game victory. 

Despite this performance, Perzanowski was overshadowed by his one-time Texas and minor-league teammate, third baseman Mike Cubbage.  Cubbage became the fifth Twin to hit for the cycle, joining Rod Carew, Cesar Tovar, Lyman Bostock, and Larry Hisle.1 “I used to hit a few for Perzanowski when we were at Spokane in the Pacific Coast League,” Cubbage said. “We both belonged to Texas then. I know that Perzanowski can pitch; he’ll help us up here.”2

For this Thursday day game, the Twins drew 18,285 fans, a large turnout for the time. (Attendance was only 6,014 the night before.) Against the Twins, Toronto manager Roy Hartsfield called on 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Jim Clancy, who would go on to a nice career. Hosken Powell led off for the Twins in the bottom of the first and reached on an infield single. Roy Smalley singled him to third, and Powell scored when Carew hit into a double play, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Cubbage led off the second inning with the Twins ahead 1-0 and belted the ball to right field but was thrown at third trying to stretch his hit to a triple, earning a stare-down from Mauch.3 The Blue Jays tied the score in the third when Luis Gomez scored on a double by Rick Bosetti.  In the fourth Cubbage homered to right after Dan Ford walked, giving the Twins a 3-1 lead. After another hit and a walk, Hartsfield replaced Clancy with lefty Jerry Garvin.

The Blue Jays made it a one-run game again in the top of the fifth with a walk and two singles. In the bottom of the inning, Powell again singled and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Dan Ford. With Cubbage due up next, Mauch left him in the game. Cubbage had been platooning with Larry Wolfe, but the righty had been struggling and was hitting only .223, while Cubbage had only slightly cooled off from the .325 he was hitting at the All-Star break. With two well-struck balls so far, Mauch hoped Cubbage could stay hot. “I wanted to see what he could do,” Mauch said. “He’s been stroking the ball very well.”4 Cubbage rewarded his manager with a hard single off Garvin’s glove that bounded to third.

In the bottom of the seventh with the Twins still up 4-2, Powell led off with his third single in three at-bats. (He had one walk.) With two out and Powell on second, Hartsfield intentionally walked Ford to get to Cubbage. Cubbage hit the ball off the center-field fence, scoring both Powell (his third run of the day) and Ford. In going for the catch, center fielder Bosetti hit the wall and fell down, giving Cubbage time to get to third for a stand-up triple and the cycle.5

In the ninth Toronto scored one more run on two hits to make the final score 6-3. Perzanowski’s sinker held the Blue Jays to six hits and 21 groundouts. The 19 assists by the Twins set a team record, and Carew’s 21 putouts set a team record and fell just one short of the major-league record for a first baseman.6

“It’s a pleasure to be in the major leagues again,” Perzanowski said after the game. “To win and to pitch when you can put the ball right where you want it. That’s pretty much my style, sink the fastball low and get the groundball. Today I had the curve and the forkball for a changeup.”7 He also remembered how hard the last two years had been, “You better believe it’s easier pitching up here than it is to get back up here.”8

Mauch responded by putting Perzanowski into the rotation. “I love groundball pitchers who can throw strikes,” Mauch said. “He’ll get another start in the first game (Tuesday night) in Seattle.”9 But Perzanowski could not duplicate his performance and was pulled from the rotation several weeks later, going 1-7 with a 5.66 ERA subsequent to his complete-game victory.

Cubbage thought his performance might earn him more starts against lefties: “I hope this will help me stay in the lineup all the time. I always believed that I can hit left-handers.”10 Mauch mostly kept his third-base platoon during August but gave Cubbage a few more opportunities; he had 101 plate appearances, well more than any other month. Cubbage hit .220 for the month, however, and in September his playing time fell more in line with previous months; for the season Cubbage faced lefties in 47 plate appearances. Overall, Cubbage hit .282 with an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .749, his best year in the majors. 

The next season the Twins promoted third baseman John Castino, co-recipient of the 1979 Rookie of the Year Award. Cubbage remained a semi-regular, receiving some platoon at-bats with the right-handed Castino and at designated hitter. In 1980, Cubbage’s final season in Minnesota, Mauch moved him to first base, where he partially platooned with Ron Jackson.

On the broader team level, the victory was insignificant. The Twins remained 12½ games out of first and in fifth place. 

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. He would also like to thank his brother, fellow SABR member Jed Levitt, who was at the game and still had his scorebook.

Notes

1 Since Cubbage, six Twins have hit for the cycle: Gary Ward, Kirby Puckett, Carlos Gomez, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer, and Jorge Polanco.

2 Tom Briere, “New Twin Finds Life in Majors a Winner,” Minneapolis Tribune, July 28, 1978.

3 Author interview with Mike Cubbage, January 17, 2020.

4 Associated Press, “Cubbage Hits for Cycle; Twins Whip Blue Jays,” Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Leader-Telegram, July 28, 1978.

5 Author interview with Mike Cubbage, January 17, 2020.

6 Bob Fowler, “Toledo a Start for Stan,” Minneapolis Star, July 28, 1978; “Twins Tales,” The Sporting News, August 19, 1978; Briere.

7 Briere.

8 “Twins 6, Blue Jays 3,” Des Moines Tribune, July 28, 1978.

9 Bob Fowler, “Toledo a Start for Stan,” Minneapolis Star, July 28, 1978.

10 “Cubbage Hits for Cycle; Twins Whip Blue Jays.”