Not to Twins fans who watched this team in the 80s it wasn't.I don't remember a lot about teams in the mid-80s, and I'm pretty sure that's a defense mechanism. But I still shudder slightly at the words "Ron Davis." I vaguely remember working in kitchen of Big Boy on France, listening to the game, and feeling like I'd been kicked in the stomach, night after night.
I thought of this today while doing a little research on those mid-80s teams. The core of the 1987 team was put together during the early 80s, and by 1984 they were in the pennant race up until the final few games. Of course, they lost those final few games, including one in which they led 10-0. Guess who failed to close them out?
But there was still plenty of optimism starting the 1985 season. Instead the Twins struggled out of the gate, and manager Billy Gardner (who had coached the team since 1981) was fired in late June. The Twins record at that time was 27-35, and a lot of that had to do with Davis and the bullpen. Up until Gardner being fired, Davis had six saves versus five losses. Bringing him into a game was like flipping a coin.
For whatever reason, his performance improved significantly under new manager Ray Miller. He saved an additional 19 games and didn't blow a save again until late September. Similarly, the Twins also played better, tallying a .500 record under Miller and finishing in fourth place with a 77-85 record. Davis would save his really fantastic meltdowns for the next year, which I'm looking forward to researching the same way I look forward to remembering my last proctology exam.
Looking back at that core of players and the damage the bullpen did, I wonder if the Twins of 1985 and 1986 couldn't have been contenders those years too. I wonder if the bullpen didn't mask how good a team this really was, leading to the magic of 1987.
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In 1985 - the Twins were 11th in runs scored in a 14 team league and 11th in ERA. They finished 14 games out. Their problem was not their just their bullpen. They weren't very good team. They were even worse in 1986 but their offense had improved to just a little below the league average. Their team ERA was dead last. But again it wasn't just the bullpen and they finished 21 games out. You could have had Joe Nathan closing and the 85-86 teams wouldn't have been competitive.
I can't wait. My father cursing his name is one of my earliest memories, and to this day, I love to hate Ron Davis.
1986, Twins at Seattle for a late Friday game. Long, high scoring back-and-forth affair. Well past midnight. An infant and a two year old. Game finally seems well in hand. RD comes in and does what RD does. I'm distraught having spent 3 and a half hours of my life only to be kicked in the balls. That's when I made my mistake.
Seeking comfort I woke my wife with the news, the same wife who had to get up in a couple of hours to feed the baby. She looks at me and says, "you woke me up for this?"
Still married 23 years later but that night was clearly not a feather in my cap.
Big Boy on France Ave. Wow. That swooshes me back in time to when I was a teenager and my folks took us there for supper. Weird. I'm sorry, I know that has nothing to do w/baseball, but I hadn't thought of that place in forever, and then when you mention in in this post, it just takes me way back.
I lived in Grand Forks, ND in the late 80s and often visited a card and comic shop downtown. I remember the owner having a few select cards under a sheet of glass at the register. One was a mint Ron Davis card priced at a dime. Right next to it was a defaced Ron Davis card ...
... for a quarter.
I developed an expression when Ron Davis was closing. One pitch insurance. We had to have a five run so Davis couldn't blow it with one pitch.
Of course he proceeded to do that a couple of times.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
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