September 3, 1971: Red roses, blue buttons, and a George Mitterwald walk-off for Twins

The Minnesota Twins occupied fifth place in the American League West Division when Labor Day weekend 1971 arrived in the Twin Cities. After spending most of June and early July in third place, the Twins dropped into fifth in a 13-15 August. Preseason prognostications placed Minnesota atop the AL West1 after winning both the 1969 and 1970 titles by nine games over the Oakland Athletics. However, this year’s team was not meeting expectations.2 The Twins’ offense was led by future Hall of Famers first baseman Harmon Killebrew and second baseman Rod Carew with perennial All-Star outfielder Tony Oliva vying for the batting title. The pitching staff was anchored by stalwart veterans Jim Perry and Jim Kaat, with Bert Blyleven playing in his first full major-league season.

The Oakland Athletics were poised to begin their AL West dominance. The Athletics led the AL West, 17½ games ahead of the second-place Kansas City Royals, entering the weekend series against Minnesota. Oakland was led by future Hall of Famers manager Dick Williams and slugging outfielder Reggie Jackson, with third baseman Sal Bando adding power and shortstop Bert Campaneris providing speed. All-Star youngster Vida Blue, pitching in his first full major-league season, led the league in several pitching categories and was considered an early favorite to win the Cy Young Award.3

Minnesota won the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, 9-4. Both teams scored two runs in the first inning, and then Killebrew blasted a sixth-inning pinch-hit grand slam to break a 4-4 tie.4

Twins manager Bill Rigney selected rookie right-hander Ray Corbin to pitch the nightcap. Corbin was 7-10 with a 4.03 earned-run average in 111⅔ innings pitch. He last won six weeks earlier when he pitched seven scoreless relief innings and plated the tying run on a misplayed squeeze bunt.5 Corbin led the Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota’s Double-A affiliate, with 208 innings pitched and finished second with a 2.86 ERA in 1970. He impressed Twins coaches in spring training 1971 with a “good fast ball and good breaking stuff” though “he has been four years in the farm system.”6

Oakland’s budding superstar Blue faced Corbin. Although the game was hosted by Minnesota, the Twins front office promoted that evening as Vida Blue Button Night. The Blue button read, “Roses are red, my clothes are blue, when I was there to see Vida Blue!”7 Anyone wearing blue clothes to the game received a Blue button. Blue was dominating baseball in 1971; through August, he was 23-6 with a 1.70 ERA and 274 strikeouts in 275⅓ innings pitched. The AL’s starting pitcher in the 1971 All-Star Game, Blue pitched three innings and got the win, though he allowed two homers.8 The lanky left-hander threw a dynamic fastball, a good curveball, and an effective changeup.9     

Corbin quickly tamed Oakland’s offense as the nightcap started. Athletics leadoff hitter Dwain Anderson, making his major-league debut, struck out in his first plate appearance. Joe Rudi and Jackson grounded out. In the Minnesota half, Cesar Tovar led off with a groundout. Carew singled and took second on a wild pitch but was stranded when Blue struck out Killebrew and Oliva. In the top of the second inning with two outs, Mike Hegan singled for Oakland’s first baserunner. Dave Duncan grounded out, the fourth groundout Corbin induced in his first seven batters.

Twins rookie and Oakland native10 Steve Brye led off Minnesota’s second inning and blasted his first career home run, 346 feet off the left-field foul pole, to give Minnesota the lead.11 Brye played in nine Twins games the previous season and made his 1971 Twins debut in the first game of the doubleheader after spending the season with the Triple-A Portland Beavers. He led Portland hitters with a .340 batting average and 14 stolen bases, and hit 13 homers. Brye commented after the game, “I’ve seen Blue pitch in Oakland when I’ve been home for Army Reserve meetings. Let alone this being my first major-league homer, having it come off Vida Blue has to be my biggest thrill ever.”12 Blue responded to Brye’s blast by striking out Eric Soderholm. Catcher George Mitterwald singled and stole second, then went to third on Athletics catcher Duncan’s wild throw. But Blue struck out the next two batters to strand Mitterwald.

The Athletics’ Larry Brown started the third inning with a groundout, and Corbin struck out Blue. But Oakland fared better the second time through the order: Anderson and Rudi singled. Anderson scored on Jackson’s single. Adrian Garrett grounded out to second, but Oakland had tied the game, 1-1.

After Tovar started the Twins’ third inning with a groundout, Carew singled. Facing Minnesota’s powerful number-three and -four hitters, Blue struck out Killebrew and Oliva for the second time. Corbin was equally effective: An Oakland leadoff hitter finally reached base in the fourth inning when Bando singled. With one out, Bando took third on a muffed groundball. With two outs and Blue hitting, Bando broke for home, but was out. The Twins also lost a runner in their half. Soderholm walked, the only walk Blue issued, then was caught stealing by Duncan.

In the fifth inning Oakland threatened with a pair of baserunners as Anderson and Rudi singled, repeating their third-inning at-bats. With one out, Jackson hit into a fielder’s choice, and Garrett fouled out to end the threat. Blue cruised through Minnesota’s hitters in the fifth with a foul pop fly, strikeout, and groundout. Both teams were retired in order during the sixth inning and the game remained deadlocked.

Larry Brown began the Oakland seventh with a single to left field. Blue sacrificed him to second. With two outs, Rudi walked, giving Jackson a third opportunity to bat with runners on first and second. He flied out to left field, and for the third time in the game, the Athletics stranded two runners. After the seventh-inning stretch, Brye led off with a single to left and stole second. But he remained there as Blue struck out two and got a fly out.

Adrian Garrett walked to open the A’s eighth inning. Successive force outs and a stolen base put a runner at second with two down. Duncan walked, but pinch-hitter Rick Monday struck out to end Oakland’s half with another missed opportunity. Blue also encountered trouble in the eighth. He started with a strikeout, but Tovar reached on an error and moved to second on Carew’s third single. Killebrew flied out and Oliva grounded out. Both pitchers escaped their eighth-inning jams by stranding opposing runners on first and second.

Rookie right-hander Hal Haydel relieved Corbin for the ninth inning and thwarted Oakland hitters with a groundout and two strikeouts. Brye started the Minnesota ninth with a fly out to left field. Veteran George Thomas, appearing in the next to last game of his 13-year career,13 grounded out to first base. Then George Mitterwald blasted a 1-and-2 Blue fastball into the left-field pavilion, giving Minnesota a dramatic 2-1 victory. Mitterwald exacted some revenge with his walk-off homer; in June against Oakland, his throwing error on a delayed double steal allowed the winning run to score in a Blue victory.14 Losing manager Dick Williams lamented his slow hook: “That was going to be (Blue’s) last inning. I was just then signaling for Rollie Fingers to get ready in the bullpen. (Blue) threw 142 pitches. He usually throws about 125.”15

Besides each hitting a home run, Brye and Mitterwald also accounted for both Minnesota stolen bases. Reliever Haydel got his third win. Blue, who struck out 12 and walked one, was saddled with the loss, dropping his record to 23-7. Oakland squandered scoring chances, stranding 10 runners and hitting 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Williams noted, “We had plenty of opportunities tonight, but we just didn’t get the big hit. In three of (Blue’s) last four games, we’ve gotten him the grand total of one run.”16

Minnesota swept the doubleheader attended by 22,032 fans, and eventually finished 1971 in fifth place with a 74-86 record, 26½ games behind Oakland and 5½ games ahead of the last-place Milwaukee Brewers. The Athletics won the AL West with a 101-60 record, 16 games ahead of Kansas City. Blue received both the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards.17 Twins walk-off hero Mitterwald finished the season hitting .250 with 13 homers and 44 runs batted in 125 games.

Sources

Besides the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Almanac.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and the following:

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Abstract (New York: The Free Press, 2001).

Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer, et al. Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball (New York: Viking Press, 2004).

Notes

1 Chris Roewe, “Writers Predicting Repetition in Races,” The Sporting News, April 10, 1971: 8.

2 Bob Fowler, “Why Twins Shouldn’t Fire Bill Rigney,” The Sporting News, September 4, 1971: 12.

3 Wells Twombly, “Vida Blue, Newest Superstar,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1971: 36.

4 Tom Briere, “Twins’ Homers Top Blue, A’s,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 4, 1971: 13.

5 Associated Press, “Corbin Hurls Twins Past Senators, 5-3,” Arizona Republic (Phoenix), July 18, 1971: 27.

6 Bill Hengen, “Pitching Problem for Twins,” Minneapolis Star, April 3, 1971: 14.

7 Briere: 13.

8 Phil Finch, “Spectacular Homers Save Vida Blue,” San Francisco Examiner, July 14, 1971: 53.

9 Bill James and Rob Neyer, The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches (New York: Fireside Books, 2004), 136.

10 Ron Bergman, “HRs Thwart Vida,” Oakland Tribune, September 4, 1971: 13.

11 United Press International, “Twins Sweep Oakland,” St. Cloud (Minnesota) Times, September 4, 1971: 12.

12 Bergman: 13.

13 Baseball-Reference.com, “George Thomas 1971 Game Log,” baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=thomage01&t=b&year=1971. Accessed January 25, 2020.

14 Dan Stoneking, “Cliff-Edge Twins Still Hanging On,” Minneapolis Star, September 4, 1971: 7.

15 Associated Press, “Mitterwald’s Homer Bests A’s and Blue,” Napa Valley Register (Napa, California), September 4, 1972: 14.

16 Bergman: 13.

17 Ron Bergman, “Vida Adds MVP Award,” Oakland Tribune, November 17, 1971: 53.