But occasionally, it still surprises me, usually around a topic from my youth. Like a month ago, when I realized I could find the song from the movie Hopscotch that I had been humming to people for a couple of decades. (It’s Rondo in D, K382 by Mozart).The latest example was generated by the local SABR chapter’s message board. It turns out that in the 1987 World Series, 24 players appeared for the Twins (http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1987_WS.shtml). But the postseason roster (as far as we know) is 25 players. So who didn’t get to play?
I used this question as an excuse to truck around the internet for an hour and become amazed at everything you can find out. Bear with me on the tour.....
Only nine pitchers pitched for the Twins in that series , so I though it would have had to have been a pitcher. The ones who did are starters Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven, Les Straker and relievers Jeff Reardon, Juan Berenguer, Dan Schatzeder, Keith Atherton, Georg Frazier and Joe Niekro.
In the ALCS, only seven pitchers appeared: the nine above minus Frazier and Niekro. That doesn't help.
The Twins who threw the most innings in 1987 (other than those nine) were Mike Smithson (21 G, 109 IP), Mark Portugal (13G, 44 IP), Steve Carleton (9G, 43 IP) and Joe Klink (12G, 23 IP). Nobody else had more than 16.1.
Smithson pitched all year, including a long relief stint on 9/25. Portugal didn't pitch for the Twins past 6/5 in the regular season. Carlton pitched all year, including on 9/30. Plus, he was veteran and left-handed and Schatzeder was the only southpaw in the bullpen (or other than Viola, on the staff.) Klink was also left-handed, but didn't pitch past June 3rd in the regular season.
So my best guess was that it was Carlton, but his wikipedia bio says he was never on the Twins postseason roster along with another interesting tidbit about the team picture at the White House:
"He was traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he was yet again ineffective. He went a combined 6-14 with a 5.74 ERA for both the Indians and Twins. However the Twins, who had been a bad team for most of the 1980s, would go on to a surprising win in the 1987 World Series, albeit without Carlton on the postseason roster, to earn him a third World Series ring and a trip to the White House to meet President Reagan along with his teammates. Interestingly, when Carlton was photographed with his teammates at the White House, newspapers listed each member of the team with the notable exception of Carlton. Instead, Carlton was listed as an "unidentified Secret Service agent."[12] The Twins brought him back in 1988 but he lasted only a month (0-1 16.76 ERA in four games) before the Twins released him."
So I looked into Smithson, but it states on John Swol’s website that Smithson was never on the 1987 playoff roster. That link includes a 31-minute audio interview with Smithson which I didn't listen to, so I can't tell you if he confirms that in the interview or not.
Ok, how about the other guys? There were four other guys who pitched at some point in 1987: Roy Smith, Allan Anderson, Jeff Bittiger & Jeff Niemann. Niemann & Anderson were lefties, and I gotta think Tom Kelly would've have wanted more than one southpaw in that bullpen. Niemann didn't pitch past June (or even again in the majors, so I think he's out.) And Anderson didn't pitch in the regular season for that team past May, so I doubt it's him. (BTW, If you would like to ask Anderson, you might be able to do so through his facebook page.
So maybe it was Bittiger or Smith, but I wondered what other position it might be. Hmm, maybe TK might have had a 3rd catcher on the roster for the World Series? Other than Tim Laudner and Sal Butera, the other catcher that year was Tom Nieto. He was on the roster in September, so he was certainly an option. (Yes, that’s the same Tom Nieto who the Twins recently fired as their AAA head coach.) A search on google for "Tom Nieto 1987 World Series" turned up a 1987 Tom Nieto World Series jersey. That's far from definitive proof, but that's my best bet right now.
But one of the other powers of the internet is that it can bring people together, so let’s try opening this up to TwinsCentric’s esteemed readers. If you remember or have any other thoughts or information, please let me hear it in the comments. Or share your favorite obscure 1987 Twins trivia.
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15 comments:
Nieto is shown in the '87 DVD set in the celebration after winning the pennant (bonus material). IIRC, the announcers said that he was not on that roster. I assume a WS jersey for Nieto could just have been from sitting on the bench and being around in case the DL was needed.
For some reason, I had thought the 25th man was Smithson.
Are you sure the active rosters were 25 in 1987? According to baseball-reference (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Roster#Evolution_of_the_active_roster), the active rosters were 24 from 1986-1989, although I don't know if that applied to the playoff rosters.
Carlton was taken off the active roster at the end of August to make room for Don Baylor. He was added back a few days later in September when rosters expanded to 40.
Baseball-Almanac.com also lists only 24 players for the Cardinals in that World Series.
my memory says carlton was on the post season roster although my memory has been known to be faulty... fyi you say phil niekro was on the roster and of course it was joe niekro...
The Twins waited until the morning of September 1 to formally announce the move, but Don Baylor was added to the Twins’ roster before midnight on August 31, the deadline for a player to be eligible for the post season.
The reason for the delayed announcement was that, to make room for Baylor, the Twins needed to let go of somebody. That somebody turned out to be future HOF’er Steve Carlton, whose 6.70 ERA left something to be desired.
http://coffeyvillewhirlwind.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/1987-don-baylor/
24 man post season rosters, as a few have already mentioned.
None of the sabr-types knew that?
John,
How about a column comparing Tony O's numbers in a pitcher's era to those of recent Hall of Fame electee Barry Larkin?
VG
That was back when pitchers threw more innings and even 11 man pitching staffs were essentially unheard of.
The regular season active rosters in 1987 were 24. My dad framed the official set of baseball cards from that year, and there were 24 cards. I mentioned that in my blog post because Tom Kelly's number is being retired today, and his card was in the 25th spot on that picture: http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/08/tom-kelly-jersey-retired/
The regular season active rosters in 1987 were 24. My dad framed the official set of baseball cards from that year, and there were 24 cards. I mentioned that in my blog post because Tom Kelly's number is being retired today, and his card was in the 25th spot on that picture: http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/08/tom-kelly-jersey-retired/
The regular season active rosters in 1987 were 24. My dad framed the official set of baseball cards from that year, and there were 24 cards. I mentioned that in my blog post because Tom Kelly's number is being retired today, and his card was in the 25th spot on that picture: http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/08/tom-kelly-jersey-retired/
The regular season active rosters in 1987 were 24. My dad framed the official set of baseball cards from that year, and there were 24 cards. I mentioned that in my blog post because Tom Kelly's number is being retired today, and his card was in the 25th spot on that picture: http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/08/tom-kelly-jersey-retired/
The regular season active rosters in 1987 were 24. My dad framed the official set of baseball cards from that year, and there were 24 cards. I mentioned that in my blog post because Tom Kelly's number is being retired today, and his card was in the 25th spot on that picture: http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/08/tom-kelly-jersey-retired/
The regular season active rosters in 1987 were 24. My dad framed the official set of baseball cards from that year, and there were 24 cards. I mentioned that in my blog post because Tom Kelly's number is being retired today, and his card was in the 25th spot on that picture: http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/08/tom-kelly-jersey-retired/
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