"It is the summer of 1961, the first year of Major League Baseball in Minnesota. We're in Murray's, then and now a famed steakhouse.

The night games start at 8 o'clock sharp, so there's time to have an early dinner in downtown Minneapolis and get to Met Stadium for the first pitch. That's what we're doing, my father and me and some of his friends, and all around the restaurant, there's a hum of excited baseball talk.

The Yankees were in town -- a big deal for us prairie folks, and even bigger because this was the Year of Maris and Mantle.

The Yankees already were far clear of the Twins in the 10-team American League, but there was no gloom among the ticketholders on this night. Camilo Pascual would be the starter for the Twins, and even the mighty Yankees were not eager to take hacks against Camilo's curveball."