The Minnesota Twins took the American League West championship with a 3-1 victory over California in the 1975 Strat-O-Matic Tournament presented by Press Room Pass.
Jim Hughes nearly went the distance on the mound for the Twins as he scattered seven hits with six strikeouts, allowing a homer to Bruce Bochte in the fifth inning. With two runners on base in the ninth, Tom Burgmeier was needed to get the final out as he earned a save.
Minnesota got on the scoreboard in the third as an error by California right fielder Leroy Stanton helped the cause. Danny Thompson singled to right and Stanton and the misplay by Stanton allowed Eric Soderholm to score from second.
After Bochte’s homer, the Twins scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good on sacrifice flies by Lyman Bostock and Dan Ford.
Ed Figueroa tossed all eight innings for the Angels as he surrendered seven hits with four strikeouts.
Larry Hisle led the Twins with a two hits, while Stanton topped the Angels with a pair of singles.
American League West Division Championship
(4) Twins 3, (6) Angels 1
(4) Twins at (1) Red Sox, AL championship
IN REAL LIFE:
Lyman Bostock’s story is a tragic one. In 1975, he was a rookie with Minnesota appearing in 98 games with 29 RBI and a .282 batting average.
Bostock was becoming a star in 1976 and 1977 with the Twins as he hit .323 and then improved .336. He finished in the top five in the American League batting race each season and hit for the cycle in 1976.
It was this improvement that led to Bostock to sign a free agent contract with California before the 1978 season.
At the beginning of the 1978 season, Bostock struggled offensively and eventually ended up giving his April salary to charity.
By September, Bostock had bounced back raising his average to .296. With the Angels playing the White Sox in Chicago, he was visiting friends and family in Gary, Ind. He was killed on Sept. 23. You can check out a story about Bostock’s death here.