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Eddie Bane
One of the most hyped, and yet most overlooked, pitchers in Minnesota Twins history is Eddie Bane. Baine grew up in southern California and was offered a scholarship by Arizona State. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973), he became a pitching legend. The left-handed Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA and is still regarded as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time. He pitched the only perfect game in Sun Devil baseball history on March 2, 1973, against Cal State Northridge, led the nation in strikeouts in 1972 and 1973 and still holds the ASU career strikeout mark. He was named first team All-American in 1973, and in 1994 Baseball America named him to their All-Time college all-star team. In 2008 Bane was selected to the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.
With that track record, perhaps his rapid ascent, and the excitement that went with it, might have been anticipate. The Twins selected Bane with their first pick, eleventh overall in the 1973 amateur draft. A short time later Bane joined a very select group of only 20 players that were drafted and went on to play pro ball directly out of high school or college with no minor league experience. Amid a great deal of publicity and fanfare, Bane made his major league debut as a starter against the Kansas City Royals on July 4, 1973, at Met Stadium. Almost 46,000 fans attended for their first glimpse of the first-round pick pitch.
Bane didn’t disappoint that day. He threw 7 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3, but manager Frank Quilici took him out after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 1-0. The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning but couldn’t hold on to the lead and ended up losing the game 5-4.
But if the throng thought that was just a first taste of a larger feast, they were likely disappointed. It's probable that overly anticipated first game was the highlight of Bane's professional career. He stayed with the Twins for the rest of the season going 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 23 games that included 6 starts. He spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 in AAA Tacoma before getting a September call up by the Twins. He found himself in Tacoma once again as the 1976 season opened but the Twins brought him back to Minnesota in late June and Bane started 15 games and put up a 4-7 record with a 5.11 ERA.
That was the last time that Eddie Bane pitched in a Twins uniform. - twinstrivia.com
The above seemed a fine story to tell given even I was pulled in and watched Skenes' start on Saturday. The old Bane is mine from two years ago and it replaced a raccoon-like one made from sunglasses. It's a tough one. Best I could do.
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