Gladden Emerges as Mr. October--Again : Twins: Left fielder who sparked the offense during postseason play in 1987 is off to another fast start.

The Minnesota Twins’ 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night in Game 1 of the American League championship series destroyed some pre-playoff beliefs.

It was the Twins who displayed more speed, better middle relief and a leadoff hitter, Dan Gladden, who proved more catalytic than Devon White.

A surprise?

Not necessarily in the case of Gladden, who is Minnesota’s nominee for Mr. October.

A real money player?

“You’d have to ask my wife,” the 31-year-old left fielder said. “She’s the money player in our family.”

Perhaps in some ways, but not all.

In Minnesota’s playoff and World Series victories of 1987, Janice Gladden’s husband batted .313 with 12 runs batted in and eight scored.

He had a pivotal single in Game 1 of the playoff victory over the Detroit Tigers and a grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

In Game 1 of the 1991 playoffs, Gladden seemed to pick up where he left off, a theory he disputed.

“I don’t think I’d have a job if I waited four years before picking up where I left off,” Gladden said in his laconic manner.

Nevertheless, he opened the first inning against Tom Candiotti with a single, scored the first of Minnesota’s two runs in that inning, then singled again in the second to drive in one of two more runs against Candiotti.

The 4-0 lead he helped produce took the Twins out of their running game and justified Manager Tom Kelly’s decision to stay with Gladden, who batted .184 in his last 39 regular-season games, over Gene Larkin.

“I would have liked to play Larkin,” Kelly said before the game. “He hits Candiotti well, but I have to go with my best defense, and Dan had a spectacular championship series and World Series in ’87. He can make things happen. He may just jump up and surprise somebody.”

Indeed, though it was no surprise to Gladden himself. He dismissed the late-season slide that dropped his average from .274 to .247.

“I don’t put much emphasis on those numbers,” he said. “In ‘87, I hit something like .247 (.249) with 38 RBI and 20 (28) stolen bases. Those numbers didn’t mean much once the playoffs got started.

“I’d like to think I focus every night, but the post season lifts you to another plateau. This is why you play.”

Gladden has hit in nine straight postseason games and has a .333 postseason average, going hitless in his final three at bats of Game 1.

Said Terry Crowley, the Twins’ batting instructor:

“We need to get Danny on base because we have a terrific record (37-13 in the regular season) when he scores.”

“He’s a hell of a competitor, and he knows it’s showtime,” Kelly said of Gladden, who had two important defensive plays.

He went to the fence in left center to catch a Candy Maldonado drive he had momentarily lost in the sixth, and he cut off a John Olerud base hit in the left-center-field gap in the eighth, restricting it to a single.

A hard night’s work, but the Twins wouldn’t expect anything less. Gladden is known as Wrench because he looks like a man who would use one. He is a fan of dirt bikes, wears his blond hair long and straggly and seldom shaves before a game.

“Where are those experts?” Gladden said of pre-playoff analysts. “I don’t care what they say. I just care what the guys on this team think.”