Twins Flashback Friday: May 22, 1992 (Twins vs. Tigers at Tiger Stadium)
Join Brandon as he takes a walk down Minnesota Twins memory lane
One of my favorite offseason activities — and oh boy, are we in the offseason — is tracking down old Twins games and different sorts of things to check out while passing the time between seasons.
This offseason — and moving forward — I’d like to start a new feature called “Twins Flashback Friday” where we’ll close out every week with a fun bit of Twins nostalgia that I find during the rest of the workweek.
This time, it’s just a random May ballgame from 1992 against the Tigers, but I enjoy going back and watching these as a way to remember the past, take in how the game used to be played and watch something other than the usual crime shows and pro wrestling I’m accustomed to.
Let’s talk to it
The pitching matchup: Kevin Tapani vs. Eric King
Starting Lineups:
And since I just love these graphics, here’s the Twins’ defensive look as well:
The location: old Tigers Stadium
The date: May 22, 1992
The records (entering play): Twins (21-19) at Tigers (19-22)
Curiosities:
Ron Hansen (former big leaguer and at the time, current Yankees scout) discusses his unassisted triple play in 1968, but even more interestingly discusses aspects of scouting that most people might not know (big-league scouts, cross-checkers, etc. as well as the upcoming expansion draft) in the pregame show.
The commercials are intact for this one, and it’s always a blast for me to go back and watch those. I was six years old in these days, so I remember some of the national spots. Buying a brand new Geo Storm never felt so possible.
Detroit’s starter the previous night was Mark Leiter. His son — the aptly named Mark Leiter Jr. — is a current pitcher for the Cubs. Mark’s brother Al was a well-known pitcher for four teams over 19 big-league seasons.
The game is a homecoming of sorts for Twins starter Kevin Tapani, who graduated from Escanaba High School and went to Central Michigan University. While still technically in Michigan, Escanaba is part of the state's upper peninsula, a good 400-plus miles away from metropolitan Detroit. CMU is much closer to Detroit (about 150 miles away).
The Twins chased Eric King in the second inning, despite it being just a 2-1 game as the righty had allowed three batters to reach in the second — despite Scott Leius being caught stealing. King was in his second stint with the Tigers, and the 28-year-old was sent out after this game and made just eight more big-league appearances over the rest of his career (all in late 1992).
Twins closer Rick Aguilera recorded the save (his 13th) with 1.2 innings of scoreless ball and a pair of strikeouts. He came into the game with an ERA of 4.71, but over his final 44 appearances recorded 29 saves with a 1.97 ERA. He also appeared in the All-Star game two months later, his first of three straight years doing so.
So sit back and enjoy the Twins against the Tigers from May 1992: