Top 10 offensive seasons by a Twins position player

It is always interesting to look back over the years and try to determine who has had the best offensive season for your favorite team. In the case of the Minnesota Twins I think that is a pretty easy answer, Rod Carew in 1977 and his run at hitting .400. I was lucky that I was able to witness that season as I was able to get out to Met Stadium and see a number of his games in person. Here is a short 3 minute video (don’t forget to turn on the sound) for you to watch about Rod. An interesting point is that none have taken place at Target Field.

But the Twins have had many great offensive seasons by their players and today we going to provide a list of the top 10 (actually 11) for you. All the players on this list have a WAR of 7.0 or above. As you go down the list you can picture the player in your mind or if you weren’t around or didn’t follow the Twins back then this website will hopefully learn more about that player and his contribution to Minnesota Twins history. As always we are going to use Baseball-Reference.com and their nifty tool “Stathead” to help us identify the players for this list by rating them using WAR.

Twins top 10 offensive seasons by a Twins player

Over the years, there have been 141 players with a WAR of 9.0 or more in a season, here is the list. Any surprises? Feel free to leave your comments.

List of 141 MLB players with WAR of 9.0 or higher

According to ELIAS – What Just Happened?

 

Only five American League teams finished at or above .500

The only American League teams that finished the regular season with winning percentages of .500 or higher are the five A.L. teams that qualified for the playoffs, all of which had winning records (the Indians, Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Twins). It is the first time that either the American or National League had as few as five teams finish a season with as many or more wins than losses since the major leagues expanded to 30 teams in 1998.

Every major-league manager went “wire-to-wire” this season

Brad Ausmus will not be returning as the Tigers’ manager in 2018, nor will Pete Mackanin for the Phillies, and although their fates were sealed earlier last week, they both finished the season for their respective teams. Terry Collins announced his resignation as the Mets’ manager after Sunday’s season finale. Every major-league manager who began the 2017 season spent the entire season in that position. There have been only two other seasons over the last 75 years in which the manager of every major-league team went “wire-to-wire” in that position: 2000 and 2006.

Nothing new as the American League best the National League in interleague play

The Diamondbacks defeated the Royals in the final interleague game of the year. The American League took the season series from the National League, 160–140. This was the 14th consecutive year in which the A.L. had the upper hand in interleague play.

According to ELIAS – Albert Pujols hits number 600

King Albert joins 600 Home Run Club

Albert Pujols hits HR number 600 off the Twins Ervin Santana with Chris Gimenez catching.

Albert Pujols hit his 600th major-league home run in the Angels’ 7-2 win over the Twins, a long grand slam off Ervin Santana. The only player in major-league history who hit a “100th” home run of 400-or-higher that was a grand slam was Carlos Delgado, whose 400th home run was a grand slam, for the Mets at home off Jeff Weaver of the Cardinals on August 22, 2006. Delgado hit number 399 off Weaver earlier in the game and also homering twice in that game was Pujols himself: the 238th and 239th of his career off of John Maine.

Pujols is the ninth player to join the 600 home run club, and he had 1,223 extra-base hits leading up to his 600th homer. That’s the second-most for a player at the time of his 600th homer, behind Hank Aaron (1,233). Willie Mays had the next-most (1,193). Pujols was batting .308 entering the 600th home run, third-highest at the time of accomplishing the feat, below Babe Ruth (.349) and Hank Aaron (.312). Ruth started his career before RBIs became in official statistic in 1920. Among the 8 members of the 600 home run club who debuted since 1920, Pujols’s 1,855 RBIs at the time of number 600 rank second to only Aaron, who had one more (1,856).

Ervin Santana is a former teammate of Pujols; they played together for the Angels in 2012. Pujols is the third player to hit a “100th” home run of 500-or-higher off a former teammate. Jimmie Foxx hit number 500 while playing for the Red Sox in Philadelphia in 1940, off his former A’s teammate George Caster, and Manny Ramirez hit number 500 while playing for the Red Sox in 2008 in Baltimore off his former Red Sox teammate Chad Bradford.

According to ELIAS

Big Papi and The Bambino

David Ortiz
David Ortiz

David Ortiz hit his 20th home run this season in the first inning of the Red Sox’ game against the White Sox on Monday. This is the 14th consecutive season with 20 or more home runs for Ortiz (2002-2015) and his 13th straight 20-homer season for the Red Sox (2003-2015). Only one other player hit at least 20 home runs for one American League team in 13 or more consecutive seasons. That was Babe Ruth, who slugged at least 20 homers in each of the 15 seasons he played for the Yankees (1920-1934). Source: ELIAS

What if…………

According to ELIAS

Satisfying night for Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes  2015Phil Hughes tossed seven scoreless innings against his former team as the Twins knocked out four home runs and took a 10-1 decision from the Yankees. Hughes emphatically ended his streak of having allowed at least one home run in each of his last eight appearances, the longest such streak in the majors this season.

It was Minnesota’s largest margin of victory over the Yankees in nearly 24 years; the Twins last beat the Yankees by a margin of at least nine runs on July 31, 1991, when they did it with a 12-3 win at old Yankee Stadium that also included four Minnesota homers. New York avoided a shutout by scoring a run in the ninth – a shutout that would have been only the second double-digit shutout loss ever to the Twins or to their ancestors, the Washington Senators. That’s right. These teams have been playing each other for 113 years, but the only double-digit shutout loss for the Yankees came on Sept. 7, 1928, when the Senators’ Bump Hadley three-hit the Yanks, 11-0. (Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig accounted for all three Yankees hits.) Source: ELIAS

Odds and Ends

Most of us know that the Twins longest consecutive game hitting streak is 31 games and that record holder is Ken Landreaux but did you know who holds the Twins record for the longest multi-hit (two hits or more) game hitting streak? The record is 10 games and Chuck Knoblauch accomplished that feat in 1996.

It is baffling to me why Twins managers Ron Gardenhire and now Paul Molitor keep sending infielders out to play the outfield. Is that something that Twins managers have to agree to do?

J.R. Graham
J.R. Graham

I am a little concerned about the lack of patience that Paul Molitor is showing with his young players. I know that Danny Santana, Oswaldo Arcia, Kennys Vargas and J.R. Graham have struggled so far this season but you don’t improve your skills by sitting on the bench. I say play these guys day in and day out through May and then reevaluate the situation. It is not like the Twins are in the hunt for a playoff spot. Molitor should know that players need to know that their manager has their back and will keep their butts in the line-up as they improve their skills. Since Graham is a Rule 5 guy the Twins need to keep him on the 25 man roster all season or return him or maybe even work out a trade that will allow them to send him to the minors. Molitor should not have to manage a 24 man roster.

Is it just me or is Paul Molitor the second coming of Gene Mauch? It seems to me that Molitor seems to think that he is smarter than the average manager and the game revolves around him and not the players. Molly, just fill out the line-ups and let the boys play.

If you traveled to Florida to watch the Twins during spring training from 1961-1990 you had to go to Orlando and you watched the Twins play at Tinker Field. A couple of days ago the Target Field grandstand came crashing down as a demolition team took over the old historic ballpark where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and many other legends of the game once played. To read more about it and to see a couple of short video clips you will need to go here.

Alex Wimmers
Alex Wimmers

Is former first round pick, 21st overall in 2010 Alex Wimmers going to be added to the long list of Twins pitchers that have been first round selections that have turned out to be duds? The 26 year-old right-handed Wimmers is in his sixth season with the Twins and thus far he has an 8-8 record with a 4.44 ERA in just 176+ innings. Although a starter, Wimmers has never pitched more than 84 innings in any season in the Twins system. Wimmers is in Chattanooga this season and in 3 starts has a 7.80 ERA in 15 innings.

That Shane Robinson guy kind of grows on you, I really like him as the fourth outfielder on this team. Jordan Schafer on the other hand I believe is on borrowed time here in Minnesota, if he is here another week I will be surprised, I think he needs to start looking for a “real” job. But who would the Twins bring up to replace him? No one in the Twins minor league system is beating down Terry Ryan’s door demanding a ticket to Minnesota. Best bet is probably Aaron Hicks who is hitting over .300 but I would like to see Eddie Rosario who is starting to hit in Chattanooga get a shot at the Twins center field job.

Another question for Terry Ryan, why are the Twins using Mark Hamburger as a starter in Rochester?

And finally, the Twins end the month of April with a 10-12 record, that is pretty good considering their horrendous start this season. Two games under .500 isn’t bad for this point in the season.

Two former Twins players excluding the previously mentioned Landreaux have had 30 game or longer hitting streaks in the majors during their professional careers, can you name the players and the length of their hitting streaks?

Baseball Triple Doubles

Triple Double StarsThe other day SABR member Clem Comly who also follows basketball wondered who the  “triple doubles” leader might be in baseball history. His search defined a “baseball triple double” as a player that had 2 or more runs, 2 or more hits, and 2 or more RBI in a single game. His used Retrosheet (1913-2014) in his calculations and determined that the all-time baseball leader in triple doubles was Babe Ruth with 247. Lou Gehrig was second with 204, Willie Mays and Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez were tied for third with 191 and Hank Aaron was fifth with 188.

I though it might be fun to run a similar search for all of baseball during the time period of 1961 through 2014 since 1961 is the year the Minnesota Twins came into existence. I cut the list off at 100 meaning that you had to have at least 100 “triple double” games to make the list. It turns out to be a Whose Who of baseball hitting. You can almost use this list to see who might deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, assuming of course you excluded things like position played, fielding and the whole steroid situation.

Rk Player #Matching
1 Alex Rodriguez 191
2 Barry Bonds 184
3 Sammy Sosa 158
4 Manny Ramirez 157
5 Albert Pujols 152
6 Ken Griffey 143
7 Jim Thome 142
8 Chipper Jones 137
9 Gary Sheffield 134
10 Vladimir Guerrero 134
11 Frank Thomas 127
12 Jeff Bagwell 127
13 Hank Aaron 124
14 Jim Rice 123
15 Frank Robinson 122
16 Eddie Murray 122
17 Willie Stargell 121
18 Carl Yastrzemski 120
19 Mike Schmidt 119
20 Carlos Beltran 118
21 Billy Williams 117
22 Jason Giambi 117
23 Rafael Palmeiro 116
24 Carlos Delgado 115
25 Dave Winfield 114
26 Juan Gonzalez 113
27 Jose Canseco 113
28 Larry Walker 112
29 David Ortiz 111
30 Mark McGwire 111
31 Albert Belle 111
32 Todd Helton 109
33 Andre Dawson 109
34 Mike Piazza 107
35 Willie Mays 107
36 Reggie Jackson 107
37 Joe Carter 107
38 Willie McCovey 103
39 Jeff Kent 103
40 Andres Galarraga 102
41 Jim Edmonds 102
42 Cal Ripken 101
43 Alfonso Soriano 100
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/29/2014.

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The top five highest active players are Albert Pujols with 152, Carlos Beltran with 118, Jason Giambi with 117, David Ortiz with 111 and Alfonso Soriano with 100. Future Hall of Famers? We will have to wait and see.

2006 - present script logo for BP

I also used the same “triple double” criteria to determine who the Minnesota Twins “triple double” leaders are and I used a cutoff of 30 games.

I am surprised to see Jacques Jones on this list. Larry Hisle only played in Minnesota for five seasons but he put up some nice numbers during his stay here and a lot of Twins fans have no idea who he is.

Historic Tinker Field to be demolished

Tinker FieldThe Minnesota Twins spring training home from 1961 – 1990 is scheduled for demolition some time in the next 60 days. The Twins left Orlando after the 1990 season and moved their spring training home to Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers prior to their 1991 championship season. Numerous teams including the Minnesota Twins had minor league teams that played in Tinker Field as part of the Florida State League and the Southern League.

The ballpark was built-in 1923 at a cost of $50,000 and named for former Chicago Cubs player and Hall of Famer Joe Tinker. It hosted the Cincinnati Reds for spring training in the 1920s, and the Brooklyn Dodgers for two seasons in the 1930s. The Washington Senators and later the Minnesota Twins held spring training camp there from the mid-’30s until 1990. Numerous Hall of Famers including Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson have played there. Tinker Field’s history isn’t limited to baseball, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at a civil-rights rally there in 1964.

On May 14, 2004, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places but now it is slated to be torn down in the name of progress. The main reason? The renovation of the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium, which abuts the baseball field, includes a larger enclosed concourse that will encroach onto Tinker Field. The ballpark will lose about 80 feet of its outfield, putting the outfield fence as close as 240 feet from home plate.

For me personally,it is sad that Tinker Field will soon be torn down as it is the first place that I ever attended spring training when I spend a few days there back in 1971 watching the Twins go through their spring paces.

Here is the story the Orlando Sentinel did on it today.

What I saw at Hammond Stadium yesterday

I wanted to check out the Twins “B” game against the Red Sox yesterday so I jumped in the Durango and took the 10 mile drive from Cape Coral to Fort Myers. When I arrived at Hammond Stadium there were plenty of free parking spaces and I took one fairly close to the main ballpark entrance. As I walked towards the stadium I saw Lavelle E. Neal III a couple of spots down from me get out of his rental car and prepare for another day of Star Tribune Twins coverage. He appeared to be in a hurry and was a bit late I think because as I walked into the stadium the Twins were taking the field at 10  AM for their encounter with those hated Red Sox. I looked to see where I wanted to sit and since there was probably less than 200 people in the park I had my choice of sitting in the shade down the right field line or behind home plate albeit in the sun and even at this early hour, the sun was beating down pretty hard. I know, it is a rough life…..I decided to sit behind home plate and took a seat across the isle for GM Terry Ryan and a host of other scouts. The first pitch Blackburn threw was wacked up the middle for a clean single that Blackburn just missed back-handing, but he got out of that inning unscored on and ended up pitching three scoreless innings. The Red Sox Jon Lester also kept the Twins off the board in his 3 innings of work although one inning ended with just two out because Lester had apparently reached his pitch count for the day. But that is how life is in these “B” games, you never know what you might see happen next. It was fun sitting next to Ryan and the other scouts and to listen to their banter back and forth after each pitch. You sprinkle in a few stories about the good old days and the “back in our day” players were a lot different discussions and it makes for some entertaining eavesdropping. It was obvious these guys all have spent a lot of time together on the road and enjoy each other company as they go about their work. I did not recognize any of the scouts but based on the way they talked it sounded as if a number of them had their time in the sun on the major league diamond.  It is funny watching the scouts because just as the pitcher is ready to deliver a pitch you see a sea of radar guns pop into position as the pitch is thrown. But you know what, in all the games I have ever attended and seen GM Ryan scout players, I have never ever seen him with a radar gun, a stop watch, sure, but never a radar gun. The man is old school and I would love to see what he writes for notes about the players he watches. Terry Ryan has to be the friendliest and most fan accessible GM in baseball. He will always say hello and talk baseball with whoever happens to walk up to or sit down next to him.

As I said, I only watched four innings of the game before I moved on to the minor league side to see what was going on there on their first full day of training camp but first I want to make note of a couple of things kind of stood out for me today as I watched the Twins and Red Sox play. Joe Mauer started at first base and he is looking pretty comfortable over there but he has a ways to go before he is a really good first baseman and understands the ins and outs of playing first. Justin Morneau is really, really thin, I wonder how much weight he has really lost and why. I for one am not convinced that Morneau is back to what he was when he was one of the most feared sluggers in the American league. Trevor Plouffe started in left field and called off his infielders on a pop up to left and then proceeded to dive and have the ball clank off his glove. I know that it was very windy today but still, if you call off your infielders, you had better make sure you make the catch. I for one want to see Plouffe win a starting outfield job because I think the man can hit but we have to keep in mind that he will not be a gold glover out there for some time.

I took the walk over to the minor league fields and all the fields were empty except for one and that field had all the Twins minor league players assembled on their first day as some players were still going through their physicals. The staff was getting the players separated by club, Fort Myers, Beloit, etc. and then they had each group of players listen to a short “here are our expectations” talk and then they had the players stretch for a bit, throw for a little while and then the main event of the day for each group was the mile run. I was a bit surprised at how some of these players were dreading the run. A mile is apparently four times around the perimeter of this particular playing field and as each group completed their run their individual times was recorded, I don’t know if the time means anything but never the less it was being tracked. I know I can’t run the mile in the times that these players were putting up but then again, some of them are 45 years younger than I am. The bottom line is that a lot of these players were really huffing and puffing to get their mile done and some were darn near walking. This mile run could not have been a total surprise to these players and I wonder why they have not gotten themselves in better shape and better prepared prior to spring training. Baseball is what they hope to make a living from and these guys come to spring training out of shape? What are these guys thinking? A number of these players look like they spent the off-season watching I Love Lucy reruns or playing video games. I guess that is why you never know about what the future holds when you draft these guys to be big league ball players but I can’t help but wonder how bad some of these guys really want to play pro ball on a big league level. I know these guys are the cream of the baseball crop and they have probably always been the stars of the teams they played for and have always had things handed to them but still, you have to take care of your body which in this case is your livelihood. Baseball is obviously no different that the real life business world, the young workers of today expect to be promoted quickly and paid well for their efforts even though their efforts may not measure up to what my generation may expect. I am not saying that all the young players are being lazy because many of them are working their butts off to get ahead but some of these minor league Twins players just don’t get it, I hope they catch on before it is too late for them and their Twins careers. Then again, I have not seen any of these guys hit or pitch a ball as yet, Babe Ruth and CC Sabathia aren’t the most athletic baseball players I have ever seen either.

As always, I managed to get a couple of pictures today that you can view in my 2102 Spring Training Pictures section.

Did you know?

April 10, 2011 – That Brad Radke started out the 2005 season by walking just one of the first 247 hitters who stepped into the batters box? Maybe the 2011 Twins pitching staff should watch some of Brad Radke’s old video’s.

That the Twins moved in left field at Met Stadium from 346 feet to 330 feet prior to the 1975 season and Twins players started calling it Borgie’s Porch. Twins Catcher Glenn Borgmann was often accused by other Twins players of having “warning track power” and he was convinced that moving the wall in would help his power numbers. Unfortunately that was not the case, the year before, Glenn had hit three home runs and in 1975 he hit just two. As a matter of fact, Borgmann never hit more than three home runs in any of his nine big league seasons.

The great HOF Walter “Big Train” Johnson’s final major-league appearance came as a pinch hitter at Yankee Stadium I in the same game in which the Babe Ruth hit his then-record 60th home run on September 30, 1927. The New York Yankkes beat the Washington Senators that day by a 4-2 score.

67 years passed between World Series Game Sevens that went into extra innings. How odd that the same franchise produced victories in both; the 1924 Washington Senators when they beat the New York Giants and the 1991 Minnesota Twins that beat the Atlanta Braves.