Tom Klawitter's ability to make the Twins' Opening Day roster as a long shot in 1985 was mentioned a while back. This required a look at the Klaw's pitching résumé (Baseball Reference, you magnificent beast).
Klawitter made a start against Toronto on May 19, 1985, in the Metrodome. He went 1 ⅓ innings and was hooked with a 2-1 lead. Pete (Freeze) Filson relieved, giving up one run over 7 ⅔ innings as the Twins cruised, winning 8-2.
Wait a moment, here:
Does this mean Twins manager Billy (Slick) Gardner wasn't as old school as imagined? Did Slick actually invent the "opener" — starting an unlikely suspect to get two innings maximum, with another pitcher at the ready to go deep into the game?
Klaw, were you the original opener on that Sunday 35 years ago?
"No, I gave up a home run to Jesse Barfield to open the second, walked a couple, and Billy just pulled me," Klawitter said from his home in Janesville, Wis.
Klawitter went 10-6 in 26 starts at Class AAA Toledo in 1984 to earn a spring training invitation. Twin Cities media visitors to Orlando started a pro-Klawitter campaign. Gardner cooperated by making "Klaw" signs from the dugout when the lefty recorded outs.
There was enough attention paid to this Klaw that, when the season started, the real "Claw" — Baron von Raschke — showed up at the Dome a couple of times. Sadly, Klawitter couldn't throw enough strikes, then ran into an elbow problem and pitched only seven games (April 14 to May 21) in the big leagues.
