Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, September 14th, 2017
Welcome to the September 14th edition of the Daily Dip, your daily piece of news and notes here on Puckett’s Pond. You’ll find the scores and a quick summary of every level of the Minnesota Twins organization and links to any information you need to know to follow the Minnesota Twins here every morning!
You will be seeing some changes begin to filter in this week now that the minor league affiliates have finished playoffs, and the Daily Dip will begin to implement looks around the league as well at happenings in the game of baseball as a whole.
News and Notes
- Belisle claims closer role
- Mejia called up for Saturday start
- Fort Myers announces Irma relief efforts
Minnesota Twins 3, San Diego Padres 1 (10)
A shutout until the 8th inning was spoiled by a single run in the top of the 8th inning from the Padres, sending the game into extra innings, where the Twins walked off with a 3-1 win on an Eddie Rosario home run. Ervin Santana had an excellent start, going 6 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk, striking out 7. Matt Belisle closed out the game with 1 2/3 perfect innings. Joe Mauer had three singles. Eddie Rosario had a home run, a double, and a walk. Jorge Polanco had a pair of singles.
September 14th Probable Starter: Jose Berrios vs. Toronto 7:10PM CT
Wild Card Standings
- New York Yankees, 78-66, +3
- Minnesota Twins, 75-69, —
- Los Angeles Angels, 73-71, -2.0
- Kansas City Royals, 72-72, -3.0
- Texas Rangers, 72-72, -3.0
- Seattle Mariners, 72-73, -3.5
- Tampa Bay Rays, 72-74, -4.0
- Baltimore Orioles, 71-74, -4.5
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
- Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez
- Minnesota Twins: After missing out on Correa, what comes next?
- Minnesota Twins: Free Agency should be Ace or Bust for the Rotation
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Christian Vazquez Signing
Notes from around baseball
- Indians break AL win streak record with 21st straight win
- Dodgers win 2nd straight on Bellinger’s big hit
- Diamondbacks snap Rockies win streak
- Angels stay pace with Twins in Wild Card with win over Astros
- LeBron offers message to Indians
- Marlins manager considers odd shift for Hoskins
- Brett Phillips has 104 MPH throw from outfield
- Reds shut out Cardinals behind rookie
- Yankees bullpen key win over Rays
- Cubs take down Mets to keep Central lead
- Red Sox division lead down to 3 after loss to A’s
- Mike Zunino powers Mariners past Rangers
- Brewers win, gain ground for 2nd WC
- Nats fall again to Braves as Kemp hits grand slam
Next: Twins Minor League Awards
One Last Thing
Fifty years ago today, one of the true tragedies of the game occurred as Walt Bond passed away. His last major league experience was early in the 1967 season with the Twins.
Who was Bond? The Hardball Times has an awesome profile on him that is absolutely worth the read, and I’ll borrow from there and a few other online spots to give this quick summary.
Bond was a 6’7″ large man (reported between 220-250 pounds) who was athletically handle center field, even in the 1960s, where his size would have been mammoth. He initially got his start in the Negro Leagues, and different sources state different ages for his first season in the waning Negro Leagues, by then a dying league, but he was certainly a teenager when he signed with the Cleveland Indians and had played more than one season in the Negro Leagues at that point.
He could not seem to crack the major league roster with the Indians, though certainly not due to his lack of production in the minor leagues, specifically in leagues that were still working through issues with racial integration as a substantially large African-American man.
After two seasons with the Astros organization, the Twins traded for Bond, but then stuck him in AAA all season in 1966, in spite of hitting .316/.378/.529. He opened the season with the Twins as a utility player, pinch hitter, and DH. He hit very well, .313/.400/.563 over his 10 games before health issues forced him out of the game.
He died of leukemia 50 years ago today. RIP, Walt.