Twins on a Tear

When a baseball team that was one of the favorites (at 3-1 odds) to win he American League pennant loses 16 out of 26 spring exhibition games and

winds up 18th in the Grapefruit League standings, the question is: What's wrong? The answer is nothing--not when that same team wins six out of its first eight regular-season games in a row, outscormg the opposition by 44

runs to 22.

After shellacking the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on the road last week, the Twins flew home to Minnesota, serenaded by the strains of Goin' Out of My Head coming from the cabin P A system. And that is how it's going. Leftfielder Bob Allison, a lifetime 257 hitter is leading the league in batting with a .533 average and a slugging percentage of .933--28 total bases in 30 times at bat. First Baseman Harmon Killebrew's batting average is .392-he also has four home runs and nine RBIs Rightfielder Tony Oliva, obviously recovered from an off-season operation for bone chips in his right knee, can be expected to hit .300 for the season and the No. 7 man in the batting order, Centerfielder Ted Uhlaender is currently batting .333. Pitching? Fireballer Dean Chance has won two games as has Jim Merritt. Jim Perry and Dave Boswell both have complete-game victories, and the Twins' bullpen crew is languishing from lack of work.

Speed & Savvy. A far cry from the dissension-riddled club that lost the 7 pennant to the Boston Red Sox on the last day of the season, this years Twins are a cocky, close-knit crew of opportunists who score runs in bunches (seven in one inning against Washington last week), have developed speed and savvy to complement their power at the plate. Last year the Twins stole only 55 bases in 164 games; this year, under the tutelage of Coach George Case, who pilfered 61 himself the Washington Senators in 1943 they have already stolen eight in eight games. Acquired in an off-season trade with the National League's Los Angeles Dodgers, Catcher John Roseboro one of the game's shrewdest tacticians: after shutting out the Senators on four hits in the Twins' opening game of the season, Pitcher Chance allowed as how he had shaken off only one of Roseboro's signs. "That," he said, "was one of the hits they got."

Despite their hot streak, the Twins at week's end still trailed the Detroit Tigers by one game. So they are not spending any World Series money yet But for the moment anyway, says Catcher Roseboro, "we're having fun out there."

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