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Grand achievement Kelly becomes 46th manager to win 1,000 games
Posted: Sunday May 07, 2000 08:34 PM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Tom Kelly wasn't in the mood to do much reflecting after he became the 46th manager to win 1,000 games. "I wish I could be a little bit more excited about it, but I'm not. I'm happy this is over with. Hopefully I won't have to hear about it any more," Kelly said after the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 4-0 on Sunday. Kelly has managed the Twins since Sept. 12, 1986 -- the longest current tenure in the four major professional sports -- and won the World Series in 1987 and 1991. Kelly, the sixth active manager with 1,000 or more wins, also has lost 1,092 games. Kelly seemed more interested in talking about Joe Mays, who pitched a five-hit shutout to beat Detroit, but Kelly acknowledged that the feat secured him a spot in the record books. "When I look back on it, it will mean more, but right now, we need to focus on trying to do a better job to try and make it more entertaining for the people in the Upper Midwest,' he said. After the game, the stoic Kelly walked out of the dugout clutching the lineup card and shook hands with his players. "He's not a big rah-rah, flamboyant guy, but I know in his own way, he's happy, as we are for him," Minnesota's Ron Coomer said. Kelly said he would celebrate by playing nine holes of golf Sunday afternoon with his wife, Sharon. Detroit manager Phil Garner praised Kelly, but was more focused on his team's dreary offense. "I'm happy for him, but I'm disappointed we had to give it to him," Garner said. "One thousand is a lot of wins. For us right now, one seems like a lot." Mays (1-4) kept the Tigers guessing all game and got stronger as the game went on, retiring 19 of the final 21 batters. "Everything he throws moves," said Dean Palmer, who was 1-for-4. "Today he had good movement on his fastball and he got his curveball over, too. Once he got in the later innings, I think he smelled that win." The Tigers loaded the bases in the third when Deivi Cruz singled and Mays walked Brad Ausmus and Juan Encarnacion. But Juan Gonzalez flied out to left to end the inning. "Today was probably the best I felt all year," Mays said. "I felt real loose, had a good sink on the sinker and had quite a good cutter today." It was the second career shutout for Mays, whose first was against the Cubs at Wrigley Field last July 17. Encarnacion went 1-for-3 with a walk, extending his 18-game hitting streak with a ninth-inning triple. The Twins scored three runs in the first off Mark Johnson (0-1), who had trouble finding the plate in his second major league start. He gave up four runs on four hits and six walks in 3 1-3 innings. Jacque Jones hit a two-run single to score Jay Canizaro and Corey Koskie and put the Twins up 3-0. The Twins added another run in the fourth when Cristian Guzman hit his league-leading seventh triple and scored on a single by Matt Lawton. Johnson allowed four runs and four hits in 3 1-3 innings. Willie Blair pitched 4 1-3 scoreless innings of relief. Notes: The other five active managers with more than 1,000 wins are St. Louis' Tony La Russa, Atlanta's Bobby Cox, Joe Torre of the Yankees, the Dodgers' Davey Johnson and Seattle's Lou Piniella. ... Chuck Dressen is 45th on the wins list with 1,008. ... In the first, Johnson hit Butch Huskey on the top of the shoulder as Huskey dove to the ground to avoid being hit in the head. Huskey glared at Johnson for a moment while lying on the ground before getting up and slowly walking to first. ... Guzman, whose triple came in his third plate appearance, walked twice on four pitches and saw 10 straight balls before Johnson threw him a strike. ... Lawton has hit in 24 of his last 26 games.
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