Tag: Cincinnati Reds

With MLB baseball you just never know

Since the all-star break I have found it difficult to sit down and come up with something interesting to write about the Minnesota Twins. It is not the Twins fault, they have won two series (Indians and Angels) in a row and are 4-2 since the break but I am just stuck in rut.  I don’t want to spend time writing about possible trade scenarios that have no chance of  taking place, there are plenty of blogs writing about that. Fire Ron Gardenhire? I have been there and given my thoughts about that. I think the problem is that I know this team is not going anywhere and it frustrates me because I know this team is going to go through streaks of playing winning baseball when they are fun to watch and then they will play like crap for a series or two and drive me nuts. Yet I know and understand that is how young players play the game and learn to win.

But the Twins are not the only team playing inconsistent baseball. When the season started I had the Blue Jays, Tigers, and Angels winning their divisions with the Rays and Royals as wild cards in the AL. When I look at the American League standings now I see the Tigers, Red Sox, and A’s winning their divisions with the Rays, Orioles, and the Rangers in hot pursuit as possible wild card candidates. The Blue Jays have stunk and are playing .455 baseball, who would have predicted that? I thought that the Red Sox would suck again this year and they have 61 wins in the bank, better than any team in baseball. In the NL I had the Nationals, Reds, and Dodgers as division winners with the Braves and Pirates as wild card winners. The standings in the NL now show us that the Cards are going head-to-head with the Pirates, The Dodgers are battling with the D-Backs and the Braves are running away from the Phillies and the third place Nats. Heck, the Miami Marlins have won more games than the Astros and almost as many as the White Sox.

It just goes to show how unpredictable MLB baseball really is from year to year and why it is such an interesting and great game. A team can sign a slew of free agents or make a mega trade (hello Blue Jays) and all the baseball experts or talking heads as I like to call them jump on the bandwagon and predict great things and guarantee a cake walk to the playoffs. But when the season ends you find this teams players packing their bags and cleaning their golf clubs when game 162 is in the books. I had originally picked the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Nationals to play in World Series 2013 and for the Nats to win in six games. Now the Nationals will have to play some amazing baseball just to get in to the playoffs. Last time I looked, the Twins were 100 to 1 to win the World Series. Those are some long odds indeed but I remember back in 1987 when I made my annual February trip to Las Vegas and put $10 down on the Twins to win it all and I put $400 in my pocket later that year.

Guardado and Mee to join Twins Hall of Fame

Eddie "Every Day" Guardado
Eddie “Everyday Eddie” Guardado (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

 

 

The Twins announced that pitcher Eddie Guardado and former executive Tom Mee have been selected to be inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame at Target Field on June 16 prior to the Twins vs Detroit Tigers game. Guardado and Mee will become
the 25th and 26th members of the Twins Hall of Fame.

The January 25th Minnesota Twins press release stated that “Guardado was elected by a 56-member committee consisting of local and national media, club officials, fans and past elected members, using rules similar to those necessary for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The 56-member committee annually considers “player” personnel for induction into the Twins Hall of Fame. Guardado was the top vote getter, followed by Chuck Knoblauch, Cesar Tovar and Dan Gladden. Mee was elected through the Veterans Committee ballot, which consists of 18 voters; voting participants include all living Twins Hall of Famers, current Twins President and General Manger and two Minnesota Baseball historians. The 18-member committee votes every other year on “non-player” personnel for induction into the Twins Hall of Fame”.

The 42-year old Guardado was born in Stockton, California and was the Twins 21st round selection in the 1990 June amateur draft but he did not sign with the team until May 23, 1991. Guardado started his pro career with Elizabethton and pitched in Kenosha (A), Visalia (A+), and Nashville (AA) before the Twins called and said they needed his help in the big leagues.

On June 13, 1993 Eddie made his major league debut at the Metrodome as the Twins starter against the Oakland A’s but it was not a propitious beginning as Eddie gave up a home run to Terry Steinbach who was batting second in the A’s batting order in the top of the first inning. The Twins came back with four of their own in the bottom of the inning and led 4-1 after one inning. Guardado left with a 4-3 lead after pitching 3.1 innings and giving up 5 hits, 3 walks while striking out 3 but the Twins relievers could not hold the lead and the Twins lost 7-6. Guardado pitched in 19 games starting 16 of them in 1993 but as time went along it became apparent that Eddie’s true calling would be in the bullpen. “Everyday Eddie” soon became a bullpen fixture and pitched for the Twins from 1993-2003 and returned for 9 games in 2008. Guardado became the Twins closer in 2001 and saved a league leading 45 games in 2002 and had 41 saves in 2003 and was selected to the All-Star team both years. Guardado became a free agent after the 2003 season and signed with the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners traded Guardado to the Cincinnati Reds in June of 2006 and “Every Day” Eddie pitched there for two season before playing for the Texas Rangers and the Twins again in 2008 and then finishing his active big league career as a Ranger once again in 2009. During his stay in Minnesota Guardado had a 37-48 record with 116 saves and is the Twins all-time pitching leader in games appeared with 648 throughout his career, recording at least 60 appearances in eight different seasons. Additionally, he is the Twins all-time leader in innings pitched (579.0) as a reliever and stands third on the Twins all-time saves list with 116.

Tom Mee (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
Tom Mee (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

St. Paul native Tom Mee is widely regarded as the Minnesota Twins first employee and he served in a variety of roles in the Twins organization including radio/TV broadcaster, public address announcer but was best known for serving as Director of Media Relations for 30 years. After retiring in 1991, Mee went on to be the teams official scorer and he performed those duties until he left that post in 2007.

Mee received the Robert O. Fischel award for Public Relations excellence in 1988 and in 2007 he became the second ever recipient of the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award. The Tom Mee Library, which is located in the Baseball Communications office at Target Field, is named in his honor

A number of fans seemed surprised and disappointed at Eddie Guardado’s selection to the Twins Hall of Fame stating that the bar has been lowered but if they took the time to look at what he accomplished in a Twins uniform they would see that he is fully deserving of the honor that the Twins will bestow on him this summer. Although Guardado was not blessed with the greatest physical abilities he proved over the years that he was one of the Twins best.

  • Third on the franchise all-time saves list behind Joe Nathan and Rick Aguilera with 116.
  • Third on the franchise strikeouts per 9 innings ranking behind only Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano.
  • Second in franchise history in games appeared by a pitcher behind only Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.
  • Only “Iron Mike” Marshall appeared in more games in a season than Guardado did.
  • Only Nathan and Aguilera finished more games than Eddie did in franchise history.
 

Former Twins pitcher Frank Pastore dead at 55

Former Cincinnati Reds (1979-1985) and Minnesota Twins (1986) pitcher Frank Pastore passed away yesterday at the age of 55 after spending the last four weeks in a coma.  Pastore had been riding his motorcycle home from his job as a radio host at KKLA 99.5 FM in Glendale, California when he was hit by a car near his home and suffered critical head injuries when he was thrown from his Honda Shadow motorcycle on November 19th. Frank Enrico Pastore was born in Alhambra, California on August 21, 1957.

Pastore was the Reds 2nd round pick in the 1975 amateur draft and made his big league debut with the Reds at Riverfront Stadium on April 4, 1979. The Reds used Pastore both as a starter and a reliever where he posted a 45-57 won/lost record with a 4.30 ERA. Pastore was hit by a Steve Sax (Dodgers) line drive off his pitching elbow in June of 1984 and he was never the same pitcher again. The Reds released Pastore in April 1986 and the Twins signed him shortly there after and he finished the 1986 as a Minnesota Twin. The right-handed Pastore appeared in 33 games for the Twins starting once and finishing the season with a 4.01 ERA and a 3-1 record. Pastore left the Twins as a free agent after the 1986 season and signed with the Texas Rangers but never pitched for them in a big league game.

Frank Pastore

After his baseball career ended Pastore became a born again Christian and returned to school where he earned degrees in political science and theology. In 2004 Pastore went to work for KKLA 99.5 as a Christian drive-time radio talk-show host and his show reportedly was the most listened to Christian talk show in the country. On his final radio show and just hours before his accident Pastore talked about his own mortality in a short timebyte that you can listen to here. Frank Pastore was survived his wife of 27 years, Gina; two adult children, Frank and Christina; and one grandchild.

Los Angeles Times obituary

Twins Trivia post season award winners

The 2012 baseball season was not a great season for the Minnesota Twins or their fans but there are teams, players and managers that had a great year and one that they will remember for a long time. Now that the regular season is complete, members of the Baseball Bloggers Association are voting for their post season award winners by picking who they feel deserved to bring home the hardware for their efforts. Here is how I see it.

American League

The Connie Mack (Top Manager) award goes to Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics for leading the A’s to a division championship (94-68) after the team finished with a 74-88 mark in 2011. On June 30th the A’s were 13 games out of first and had a 37-52 record after three consecutive losses to the Texas Rangers. From that point on the A’s went 57-26 and won the division title on the last day of the season. My runner-up award goes to the Baltimore Orioles Buck Showalter who took his team to a wild-card playoff spot and a second place finish in a tough division. My third place finisher was a true rookie manager, Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox who had never managed before and piloted his team to a second place finish when I had the White Sox picked to finish dead last in the AL Central.

The Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) award is the easiest pick of all, the award goes to outfielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Trout started the season in AAA and was called up at the end of April. Even with the late start Trout led the league in runs scored (129) and stolen bases (49) while finishing second in batting average hitting .320. Trout lead all AL rookies in every hitting category and even had the two longest rookie hitting streaks this past season. What an amazing season! My runner-up was the Oakland A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes who finished second to Trout in every AL hitting category except stolen bases (finishing fourth) and in any other season would have easily won the award. I have three pitchers rounding out the top 5 with the Oakland A’s Tommy Milone and  Yu Darvish finishing in a tie for third and the Minnesota Twins Scott Diamond rounding out the top five.

The Goose Gossage (Top Reliver) award goes to closer Fernando Rodney of the Tampa Bay Rays. The 35 year-old Rodney had a career year in his 10th season in the big leagues with 48 saves in 50 opportunities with 76 strikeouts in 74.2 innings and posting a 0.60 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP. Talk about lights out and to think he never had an ERA of under 2.68 any other season. The Rays signed Rodney as a free agent on January 4, 2012 for $1.75 million, what a bargain. The runner -up is the Baltimore Orioles Jim Johnson who led the league in saves with 51 in 54 chances. I have Rafael Soriano of the New York Yankees finishing third, Joe Nathan from the Texas Rangers in fourth and my fifth place vote goes to Tommy Wilhelmsen of the Seattle Mariners.

The Walter Johnson (Top Pitcher) award goes again this season to the Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander who pitched 238.1 innings in 33 starts and went 17-8 with an ERA of 2.64 and a 1.06 WHIP and a .217 batting average against to go with his 239 strikeouts. Tampa Bay Rays David Price was my runner-up by an eye lash, Price had a great season going 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA but I gave the nod to Verlander for innings pitched and strikeouts. My third place vote goes to the Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez, fourth goes to Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox and fifth goes to Jeff Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Stan Musial (Top Player) award goes to the American League’s first triple crown winner since 1967, the Detroit Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera. This was a very tough choice over my runner-up, outfielder Mike Trout of the Angels but in the end I think Cabrera earned it because of his triple crown and because he volunteered to move to 3B to make room for the recently acquired Prince Fielder. Both players had amazing seasons but I had to go with Cabrera this year. My third place vote goes to the Texas Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre, Twins catcher Joe Mauer gets my fourth place vote and my fifth place vote went to the shortstop from the New York Yankees because he played in 159 games and led the league in hits, and at bats at the age of 38.

National League

The Connie Mack (Top Manager) award goes to the Washington Nationals skipper Davey Johnson who took over the manager reigns late in 2011 and took the Nats to their first division championship and 98 wins this past season. Previous to taking over the Nationals manager role in 2011, Johnson last manged the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2000. My runner-up for NL skipper of the year goes to rookie manager Mike Matheny of the St. Louis Cardinals. In his first job as a manager the former catcher Matheny took his team to a wild card playoff spot and 88 victories after losing his best player (Albert Pujols) to free agency and losing one of his best pitchers (Chris Carpenter) for all but 3 games in 2012. The third place vote goes to the Cincinnati Reds skipper Dusty Baker for leading that team to a 97 win division winning season in his fifth year on the job.

The Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) award goes to the Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. The Nationals rookie also started his big league career in late April after starting the season in AAA and hit .270 with 22 home runs, 59 RBI’s, scored 98 runs and stole 18 bases. My runner-up may surprise some people but I think catcher Wilin Rosario of the Colorado Rockies had a fantastic rookie season hitting .270 with 28 home runs, 67 runs scored and 71 RBI’s while playing in just 117 games with just 396 at bats. My third place vote goes to lefty Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks who was 16-11 in 29 starts and 194.2 innings with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP for a team that went 81-81. Fourth place goes to 1B Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs and my fifth place vote goes to 27 year-old rookie pitcher Lucas Harrell who won 11 games for the worst team in baseball, the Houston Astros who won a total of 55 games this year.

The Goose Gossage (Top Reliever) award easily goes to the 24 year-old Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel who had 42 saves in 45 opportunities and posted a 3-1 record with a 1.06 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP. In 62.2 innings Kimbrel struck out 116 batters allowing only 27 hits and 14 walks and allowed opposing hitters a .126 batting average. The man is a machine. My runner-up is Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds who also had 42 saves and struck out 122 batters in 71.2 innings while posting a 1.51 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. Hitters hit .141 against Chapman. Third place goes to Jason Motte of the St., Louis Cardinals, fourth goes to Jonathan Papelbon of the Philadelphia Phillies and my fifth place vote goes to Joel Hanrahan of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Walter Johnson (Top Pitcher) award is a tough call but I am going with the New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey as my choice. Dickey pitched a league leading 233.2 innings and struck out a league leading 230 batters. The 37-year-old Dickey was 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP for a team that won a total of 74 games. My runner-up is Gio Gonzalez of the division winning Washington Nationals who was 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA and an amazing 0.4/9 home runs allowed. My third place vote goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, fourth place goes to the Atlanta Braves Craig Kimbrel and my fifth place vote is for Cincinnati Reds Johnny Cueto.

The Stan Musial (Top Player) award goes to Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun again this year. Yes, I know all about last years fiasco with Braun but what can I say, the man puts up the numbers and without him the Brewers are nothing. Look at the numbers, a league leading 41 home runs to go with a league leading 108 runs scored, second in RBI’s (112) and a .319 batting average. Top that off with 356 total bases and you have the best player in the NL this season. The runner-up this year is Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen who had a wonderful season. My third place vote goes to San Francisco catcher and part-time first baseman Buster Posey. Posey almost single handedly led the Giants to the NL Western Division title and if he had played as well the entire year as he did in the second half of the season he might have been my choice to win this award. Posey hit .385 and knocked in 60 runs during the last half of 2012 coming off a horrific injury in 2011. I will go with New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey fourth in the voting here because without Dickey the Mets would have been not worth watching. Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel gets my fifth place vote.

So there you have it, the players that I think deserve to bring home the hardware after another great season of baseball in 2012. You may agree or disagree with my choices but that is what makes baseball such a great game and so much fun for us as fans to enjoy. When the BBA announces their winners in the near future I will share them with you.