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The Pride of Minnesota: The Twins in the Turbulent 1960s
The 1960s were a heady time to come of age. The British Invasion transformed pop music and culture. The fledgling space program offered a thrilling display of modern technology. The civil rights movement and Vietnam War drew young people to American politics, spurring them to think more critically about the state of the nation. And the assassinations Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 shook the United States to the core. During these turbulent times the Minnesota Twins were the pride of the North Star State—an elite team that advanced to the World Series in 1965 and played in dramatic pennant races in the years thereafter.
After an uneven 1964 season the Twins set themselves up for a turnaround that would last the rest of the decade. At the end of his playing career with the Twins, Billy Martin was hired as third base coach in 1965, giving them a more aggressive base-running style. Mudcat Grant became the first African American pitcher to win at least twenty games in the American League, and Tony Oliva won his second batting title to help lead the Twins to the World Series, which they lost in seven games to the Dodgers. In 1967 rookie Rod Carew joined the Twins as they engaged in a historic pennant race but finished second to the Red Sox during their “Impossible Dream” season. In 1969 Martin took over as manager, and both Carew and Harmon Killebrew led the Twins to the American League Championship Series, only to lose to the Orioles, after which Martin was fired in part for a now-legendary bar fight. Bill Rigney took the helm in 1970 and steered the Twins to a second-straight division title and ALCS loss to the Orioles.
In The Pride of Minnesota Thom Henninger details these pennant races, from the key moments and games to the personalities of the players involved, in the context of state and world events. Although the Twins won only one AL pennant in this stretch and failed to win the World Series, these memorable seasons, played in remarkable and compelling times, made for an important first decade in the team’s early history.
After an uneven 1964 season the Twins set themselves up for a turnaround that would last the rest of the decade. At the end of his playing career with the Twins, Billy Martin was hired as third base coach in 1965, giving them a more aggressive base-running style. Mudcat Grant became the first African American pitcher to win at least twenty games in the American League, and Tony Oliva won his second batting title to help lead the Twins to the World Series, which they lost in seven games to the Dodgers. In 1967 rookie Rod Carew joined the Twins as they engaged in a historic pennant race but finished second to the Red Sox during their “Impossible Dream” season. In 1969 Martin took over as manager, and both Carew and Harmon Killebrew led the Twins to the American League Championship Series, only to lose to the Orioles, after which Martin was fired in part for a now-legendary bar fight. Bill Rigney took the helm in 1970 and steered the Twins to a second-straight division title and ALCS loss to the Orioles.
In The Pride of Minnesota Thom Henninger details these pennant races, from the key moments and games to the personalities of the players involved, in the context of state and world events. Although the Twins won only one AL pennant in this stretch and failed to win the World Series, these memorable seasons, played in remarkable and compelling times, made for an important first decade in the team’s early history.
344 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2021
During most of the decade of the 1960’s, the Minnesota Twins were one of the better teams in the American League. They won the pennant in 1965 and while they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game World Series. Much success was predicted for the team, but they did not win another pennant in a five year stretch in which they not only won many games but built a loyal following in the Twin Cities. This excellent book by Thom Henninger covers that six year stretch in which the team won that 1965 pennant, the first two American League West Division titles, and fell just short of winning one of the most epic pennant races in baseball history.
If there was a characteristic of the book in which it might fall short of a reader’s expectation, it is because the bulk of the book starts with the 1965 season. The Twins actually started to be noted as a good team in 1962 when they finished second to the Yankees in the American League. This started a gradual rise for the Twins and a gradual decline for the Yankees. The attention was now on players like Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Jim “Mudcat” Grant instead of the aging New York start. Henninger writes in excellent detail about not only the games and progress of the Twins’ march to the pennant in 1965, he provides the reader with excellent stories about many of the players as well as the action on the field. This detail goes down to the last pitch of game 7 in the World Series when Bob Allison struck out against Sandy Koufax ending the Twins’ championship dreams.
Henninger continues with this style of writing that will take the reader inside the team during the 1967 pennant chase in which the Twins were one of four teams that took the race down to the final weekend. The Twins just needed to win one game of the final two against the Boston Red Sox. While describing both wins by the Red Sox, the writing is good enough to bring pain back to Twins fans who might not want to remember that fateful weekend at Fenway Park. This style of writing continues into the 1969 and 1970 seasons when the Twins won the first two American League West Division titles and also tells the stories of new players who were important to the Twins success such as Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven and Jim Perry.
Like many other baseball books about a particular year or time frame, there are passages on the pop culture, social issues and politics of the time. What makes this book a little different in this aspect is that instead of just concentrating on the national events of the time, there are references to these events in Minnesota and the Twin Cities. For example, there is a good deal of material on the musical British Invasion of 1964 and 1965 and the arrival of the Beatles. But instead of just concentrating on their success nationally, Henninger writes about the one time the Beatles played in Minnesota at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965 when the Twins were on a road trip. One of the best pictures in the picture section is here when George Harrison is featured donning a Twins cap.
Other events covered in the book with a Minnesota theme were the floods and tornadoes in the 1965, the destruction of many businesses along Plymouth Avenue in north Minneapolis when other cities were experiencing riots in 1967 and the rash of bomb threats nationwide in 1970, which included a bomb threat called into Metropolitan Stadium during a Red Sox-Twins game. Giving these parts of the book a local flavor was an excellent touch that readers from Minnesota will enjoy.
This is a book that any Twins fan or baseball fan from the Upper Midwest will want to add to their collection. Full of both cultural references and excellent baseball from that era, it is a fine recollection of when the Minnesota Twins were one of the better teams in the American League.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
If there was a characteristic of the book in which it might fall short of a reader’s expectation, it is because the bulk of the book starts with the 1965 season. The Twins actually started to be noted as a good team in 1962 when they finished second to the Yankees in the American League. This started a gradual rise for the Twins and a gradual decline for the Yankees. The attention was now on players like Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Jim “Mudcat” Grant instead of the aging New York start. Henninger writes in excellent detail about not only the games and progress of the Twins’ march to the pennant in 1965, he provides the reader with excellent stories about many of the players as well as the action on the field. This detail goes down to the last pitch of game 7 in the World Series when Bob Allison struck out against Sandy Koufax ending the Twins’ championship dreams.
Henninger continues with this style of writing that will take the reader inside the team during the 1967 pennant chase in which the Twins were one of four teams that took the race down to the final weekend. The Twins just needed to win one game of the final two against the Boston Red Sox. While describing both wins by the Red Sox, the writing is good enough to bring pain back to Twins fans who might not want to remember that fateful weekend at Fenway Park. This style of writing continues into the 1969 and 1970 seasons when the Twins won the first two American League West Division titles and also tells the stories of new players who were important to the Twins success such as Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven and Jim Perry.
Like many other baseball books about a particular year or time frame, there are passages on the pop culture, social issues and politics of the time. What makes this book a little different in this aspect is that instead of just concentrating on the national events of the time, there are references to these events in Minnesota and the Twin Cities. For example, there is a good deal of material on the musical British Invasion of 1964 and 1965 and the arrival of the Beatles. But instead of just concentrating on their success nationally, Henninger writes about the one time the Beatles played in Minnesota at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965 when the Twins were on a road trip. One of the best pictures in the picture section is here when George Harrison is featured donning a Twins cap.
Other events covered in the book with a Minnesota theme were the floods and tornadoes in the 1965, the destruction of many businesses along Plymouth Avenue in north Minneapolis when other cities were experiencing riots in 1967 and the rash of bomb threats nationwide in 1970, which included a bomb threat called into Metropolitan Stadium during a Red Sox-Twins game. Giving these parts of the book a local flavor was an excellent touch that readers from Minnesota will enjoy.
This is a book that any Twins fan or baseball fan from the Upper Midwest will want to add to their collection. Full of both cultural references and excellent baseball from that era, it is a fine recollection of when the Minnesota Twins were one of the better teams in the American League.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
August 3, 2021
Solid baseball book that covered mostly the Minnesota Twins from their Pennant winning campaign in 1965 throw their NL West Crown in 1970. The idea behind the book was to center it around the Minnesota Twins of that era while also highlighting events that took place outside of the diamond in Minnesota during that time.
The book had both it’s bright spots and flaws. For example, some of the stories told within the book were pure gold. The one that had me laughing the most detailed Earl Battey and Mudcat Grant trying to steal a racist yard statue that involved the door of a Volkswagen being ripped off their car. The downside was too often the events Mr. Henninger detailed had not a lot to do with Minnesota like the space race or a lot of the music scene (other than the Beatles played a concert in Minnesota). I wish Mr. Henninger would have spent more time on the Minnesota centric events in the book like the flooding. I also felt the breakdown of the seasons was tied more into the play by play of what happened versus the stories surrounding the seasons.
Overall a solid baseball book that will be of particular interest to Minnesota Twins fans. While I think the book could have been much better, it still is worth the read. Overall I would probably put this at a 3.5 star book. It is good not great.
The book had both it’s bright spots and flaws. For example, some of the stories told within the book were pure gold. The one that had me laughing the most detailed Earl Battey and Mudcat Grant trying to steal a racist yard statue that involved the door of a Volkswagen being ripped off their car. The downside was too often the events Mr. Henninger detailed had not a lot to do with Minnesota like the space race or a lot of the music scene (other than the Beatles played a concert in Minnesota). I wish Mr. Henninger would have spent more time on the Minnesota centric events in the book like the flooding. I also felt the breakdown of the seasons was tied more into the play by play of what happened versus the stories surrounding the seasons.
Overall a solid baseball book that will be of particular interest to Minnesota Twins fans. While I think the book could have been much better, it still is worth the read. Overall I would probably put this at a 3.5 star book. It is good not great.
December 28, 2022
A strangely written book.
The random interjections of landmark moments from the 1960s make this a clunky read. Henninger fails to make these moments relevant to the story of the Minnesota Twins.
On top of that, the baseball narrative is not compelling. Henninger manages to take most of the drama out of the pennant chases before you even get into the heart of the chapters. I'll rate this two stars instead of one because I did enjoy his writing on the season-ending Boston series in 1967, the Billy Martin-led 1969 squad, and Minnesota UFO sightings.
Overall, though, take a pass.
The random interjections of landmark moments from the 1960s make this a clunky read. Henninger fails to make these moments relevant to the story of the Minnesota Twins.
On top of that, the baseball narrative is not compelling. Henninger manages to take most of the drama out of the pennant chases before you even get into the heart of the chapters. I'll rate this two stars instead of one because I did enjoy his writing on the season-ending Boston series in 1967, the Billy Martin-led 1969 squad, and Minnesota UFO sightings.
Overall, though, take a pass.
January 25, 2022
Jennings has written an excellent history of the 1960s Minnesota Twins and paired with important historical events of the time. Highly recommend.
February 2, 2022
Way too much information not related to the Twins. I understand putting into context but oof
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