June 20, 1976: Youth is served as Tigers top Twins 7-3

As the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins prepared to square off at Metropolitan Stadium on Sunday, June 20, 1976, neither team had particularly distinguished itself to that point in the season. The Tigers, at 26-33, were at least so far staying out of the American League East basement, where they had finished every year since Billy Martin was fired during the 1973 season. The Twins were two games under the .500 record they always seemed to hover around in the early to mid-1970s (1972: 77-77, 1973: 81-81, 1974: 82-80, 1975: 76-83). 

The Twins franchise was in the midst of significant changes. They had hired veteran manager Gene Mauch to replace Frank Quilici after the disappointing 1975 campaign. Already bearing his “Little Genius” nickname, Mauch’s was expected with his dugout savvy to elevate the team’s fortunes. Interestingly, Quilici had joined the Twins broadcast team, where he presumably had the opportunity to second-guess the moves made by his successor.

More significantly, on June 1, 1976, the Twins had traded longtime staff ace Bert Blyleven, as well as infielder Danny Thompson, to the Texas Rangers for a package including pitchers Bill Singer and Jim Gideon, infielders Roy Smalley and Mike Cubbage, and $250,000. While none of the players the Twins received had the pedigree of Blyleven, each nonetheless represented a reasonable return for a star player unlikely to sign with Twins after his contract expired at the end of the 1976 season. In fact, Blyleven had made his feelings toward the Twins organization well known the day before he was traded. After a 3-2 loss to the Angels at Metropolitan Stadium on May 31, Blyleven made an obscene gesture to the Twins home crowd. When questioned afterward, Blyleven said, “I couldn’t care less about the fans. Maybe I should flip them every game and that would bring in more fans to the park. Maybe that fat bastard [owner Calvin] Griffith would have some money to pay us.”1

The other Twins development was much more positive. A rookie, 20-year-old Butch Wynegar, had emerged as the Twins starting catcher early in the season, and had conjured up hope for a possible All-Star berth as he delivered a slash line of .295/.402/.440 to this point of the season. Despite the fact that he was the youngest player in the major leagues at the time of the game, Harold Delano Wynegar Jr. (Butch was a nickname bestowed by his grandmother) had established a veteran-like reputation for perseverance and dedication to his craft. Mauch commented, “Adversity never fazes him. He just keeps grinding away.”2

Wynegar was joined in the staring lineup by another youngster, second-year outfielder Lyman Bostock, as well as longtime Twins stalwarts Steve Braun, Larry Hisle, and Rod Carew. The 25-year old Bostock was hitting a strong .327 to go with a .375 on-base percentage as the teams took the field.

Change was in the offing for the Tigers as well. Two 21-year-old rookies, starting pitcher Mark Fidrych and first baseman Jason Thompson, had emerged as significant contributors to the team. Thompson, after hitting three home runs in four games to start the 1976 season at Triple-A Evansville, had seized the first-base job and had already hit seven homers in the majors. It was Fidrych, though, who had emerged as a revelation for the Tigers.

The 6-foot-3 redhead had pitched reasonably well in the minors in 1975 (11-10, 3.21 earned-run average), but had given little indication of the level he would pitch at in 1976. Fidrych made his first start of the 1976 season on May 15, a game he would win 2-1 over the Indians while pitching a complete game. In his five subsequent starts, he had completed every game while going 4-1. In fact, he entered the June 20 game with a 5-1 record and a minuscule 1.86 ERA. He had attracted significant attention for his antics on the mound as well. As Ron Fimrite of Sports Illustrated later recapped, Fidrych “ran to his position, uncommonly eager to get on with the game. He knelt on the mound to pat the earth in front of him and smooth out the opposing pitcher’s spike holes. He bolted from the mound to shake the hands of fielders whose play behind him seemed to call for some demonstration of his gratitude. And – the coup d’estime – he talked to the baseball! You could see him standing out there on the mound, holding that ball before him and actually speaking to it, as if he were Hamlet addressing poor Yorick’s skull.”3

Squaring off against Fidrych was recently acquired Twins hurler Bill Singer. Singer had not pitched particularly well for the Twins in his three starts since coming from the Rangers in the Blyleven trade, but the 32-year-old veteran was hoping to change his fortunes.

Tigers outfielder Ron LeFlore led off the game with a single off Singer but would get no further than second base when the half-inning ended. Bostock similarly led off for the Twins with a single, but was nabbed attempting to steal second by Tigers catcher Bruce Kimm. One batter later, Carew also singled, but he too was thrown out by Kimm as he attempted to steal second.

In the second, the Tigers got on the board. Alex Johnson singled to center with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored when Aurelio Rodriguez doubled. Singer was able to strand Rodriguez at second as he dispensed with the bottom of the Tigers order.

The Tigers lead didn’t hold up for long. With two out, Fidrych gave up back-to-back walks to Hisle and Steve Brye. Shortstop Jerry Terrell then singled Hisle home and second sacker Bob Randall also walked. Bostock grounded out to end the threat, so the game was tied 1-1 entering the third inning. Entering the game, Fidrych had generally exhibited good control (he had walked 10 in 58 innings), so three walks in the span of four batters was unusual.

The Tigers offense continued to reach Singer in the third. With one out, Tom Veryzer and Dan Meyer singled. After Rusty Staub fouled out, Thompson blasted his eighth homer of the season, to left-center, before Singer could end the threat. The Tigers now led 4-1.

After the Twins went quietly in the bottom of the third, the Tigers in the fourth scored for the third inning in a row. With two out, Kimm walked and was doubled home by LeFlore. The Tigers were now up 5-1.

The fifth and the top of the sixth were uneventful, but in the bottom of the sixth the Twins got to Fidrych again. Wynegar led off with a single (his second hit of the game). Fidrych issued his fourth walk of the game to the recently acquired Cubbage to put runners on first and second. Wynegar advanced to third on Hisle’s fly out. Veteran Brye singled Wynegar home to narrow the Tigers lead to 5-2, but Fidrych coaxed a double-play ball from Jerry Terrell to end the inning.

This was not Singer’s day, though. LeFlore led off the top of the seventh with a single and Singer hit Veryzer with a pitch. Meyer flied out, but Singer then balked the runners to second and third. Staub hit a sacrifice fly to score LeFlore, and Thompson singled Veryzer home. The inning ended with the Tigers up 7-2.

Fidrych disposed of the Twins in the bottom of the seventh, and the Tigers failed to dent reliever Steve Luebber in the eighth after Mauch mercifully ended Singer’s day. His final line stood at seven runs allowed on 10 hits in seven innings. It’s safe to stay that Singer had not yet made Twins fans forget Blyleven, as he had now allowed 18 runs in his 24⅔ innings of work as a Twins starter since coming from the Rangers.

In the bottom of the eighth, Fidrych’s control once again deserted him. Wynegar failed in his bid to get his third hit of the day, but Cubbage and Hisle walked. Brye then doubled to right to score Cubbage. At this point, Tigers manager Ralph Houk ended Fidrych’s complete-game streak at six. Houk called on veteran fireman John Hiller to end the threat, and he was able to get to out of the inning without yielding another run. The Tigers now held a 7-3 lead.

After a quiet Tigers ninth, the Twins again threatened. Phil Roof singled, and with one out Wynegar got his third hit of the day, a double to right. Hiller was able to strand the runners, though, and pick up his sixth save of the season as the Tigers won 7-3.

After the game, both Fidrych and Houk acknowledged “The Bird’s control problems.” Fidrych said, “I walked six guys and somehow got away with it.”4 Houk added, “He didn’t pitch like Fidrych. He normally has very good control.”5

While the game was not particularly close, the 11,916 fans who visited Metropolitan Stadium got to see a showcase of the teams’ precocious rookies. In addition to Fidrych’s sixth victory of the young season, Jason Thompson was 2-for-5 with a homer and four runs batted in, and hometown favorite Butch Wynegar raised his batting average over .300 with his 3-for-5 performance.

Notes

1 John Snyder, Twins Journal: Year by Year and Day by Day with the Minnesota Twins since 1961 (Covington, Kentucky: Clerisy Press, 2010): 121.

2 Douglas S. Looney, “He’s Catching on Real Fast,” Sports Illustrated, June 21, 1976: 47.

3 Ron Fimrite, “He’s Not a Bird, He’s a Human,” Sports Illustrated, April 11, 1977: 45-46.

4 Associated Press, “Fidrych Wins 6th,” Adrian (Michigan) Daily Telegraph, June 21, 1976: 10.

5 “Fidrych Wins 6th.”