Cotton Nash passes away at age 80

Charles “Cotton” Nash, a three-time All-American men’s basketball player and a University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Famer, died May 23, 2023 in Lexington, Kentucky at the age of 80. Nash was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on July 24, 1942.

Hollywood handsome with a distinctive thatch of blonde hair (the inspiration for his nickname), Nash was a star from the moment he joined Adolph Rupp’s varsity in 1961-62. Nash (1962-64) appeared in 78 for the Wildcats and averaged 22.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. He was a member of two Southeastern Conference championship squads and was tabbed an All-American during all three seasons of his basketball career. Nash earned All-SEC Eastern Division honors as a member of the baseball team, and also participated in track and field as a discus thrower.

Twins minor league players of the week are Brooks Lee & Alejandro Hidalgo

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Brooks Lee and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo have been named Twins minor league Player and
Pitcher of the Week for week five.

Minnesota Twins and the playoffs

The Twins have been playing baseball in Minnesota for 62 seasons and have played 9,803 games, winning 4,867 games and losing 4,936 games for a winning percentage of .496 and have advanced to the playoffs 14 times or 22.6% of the time.

Maybe we should not be that surprised, the Washington Senators who moved from Washington D.C. after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins had a .465 winning percentage. Year after year, the Senators were a laughingly bad team, prompting famed sportswriter Charley Dryden to joke: “Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” The Senators played in Washington for 60 seasons and won 3 pennants (1924, 1925, & 1933) and won one World Series title in 1924. In that regard the Twins it seems are not much better having played for 62 seasons and won 3 pennants (1965, 1987, & 1991) but they have won two World Series titles, in 1987 and again 1991.

What’s in store behind the 2021 door

I will jump right in and say that I am very optimistic about the 2021 Minnesota Twins winning the American League Central title even though with the exception of the Cleveland Indians I see the rest of the Central Division teams improving.

The Angels knew and now they have to pay

Tyler Skaggs – Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

The recent news that the Angels organization was aware that pitcher Tyler Skaggs was an opioid abuser and that they actually helped him acquire the drugs is an unforgivable act and obviously a crime. In my opinion this is many times worse than cheating, gambling, or hacking into another teams data.

The fact that the Angels knew what was going on and didn’t report it is inexcusable. In today’s business world harassment must be reported but in MLB apparently drug use is not only allowed but encouraged. Looking the other way is not acceptable, what happened to “if you see something, say something”? How did Skaggs get by with this? Where is the drug testing that MLB is so proud of? Do we need to test front office personnel too?

The Los Angeles Angels organization must be punished and longtime Angels PR official Eric Kay should be arrested and should be looking at serious jail time. But what kind of punishment should be applied to the Angels organization? No question Eric Kay should get a lifetime ban from MLB, but what about the others?

I think you start at the very top of the Angels food chain with owner Arte Moreno. The man has more money than he knows what to do with so a fine is not in play. If I am the the MLB commissioner I give owner Moreno a choice, either sell the team in the next 180 days or face a life-time suspension whereas he can’t even be seen at any Angels facility or provide any input into how the team is run for a minimum of two years at which point his case would come up for review. Team President Joe Carpino is also suspended for one season with no pay simply because this happened on his watch, the buck stops at the top. No excuses here!

That addresses some of the key individuals, but how about the team itself? They can’t go scot free in this ordeal. There has to be a severe punishment applied and there are not many ways to do this. You could fine the organization a ton of money but I don’t think a fine is the answer. As far as I know no MLB team has ever been banished from the playoffs but that is an option. Taking away draft choices is an option that has been used in the past. How about a imposing a salary cap on the Angels for a couple of years?

The team must be punished in some fashion to send a message to all of MLB but no matter how you look at it, Angels fans and players that are clean in this terrible situation are the big losers. None of the penalties that MLB will impose on the Los Angeles Angels will compare to the price paid by Tyler Skaggs who paid the ultimate price just to play a game. In the end, that is all baseball really is, a game.

Twins clinch their first ever wild card spot

Joe Mauer and Max Kepler celebrate. Courtesy of Dustin Morse

After losing at Cleveland to the Indians 4-2, the Twins retreated to the clubhouse to watch the Angels play the White Sox in Chicago because an Angels loss and the Twins could celebrate their first playoff appearance since 2010 which seems, oh so long ago. The Mighty Whities came through for Minnesota with a extra-inning walk-off 6-4 win as the Angels fifth reliever of the night Blake Parker gave up a two-run walk-off home run to outfielder Nick Delmonico. The corks were popped and the Twins celebrated getting into the 2017 MLB playoffs.

What I find interesting is that while the 2017 Minnesota Twins fought for a wild card that no one mentioned that the Minnesota Twins have never been a wild card participant. All of their previous eleven forays into the playoffs have been as winners of their division.

Their appearance in this years playoffs will be extra special because they will be the first team in MLB history to lose 100 games (103 to be specific) in the previous season and see playoff action the next year. Even stranger when you consider that the Twins did this with a new Chief of Baseball Operations, a new GM but a returning manager in Paul Molitor, not many managers survive to return after losing 103 games.

The team has four games to play, one more this afternoon in Cleveland against the first place Indians and then they fly home to finish off the season with three home games against the Detroit Tigers.

The Twins current record stands at 83-75 with four games to play. It will be interesting to see how the Twins do in their last four games as the World Champion Twins won just 85 games in 1987.

So congratulations to the Minnesota Twins and good luck in the playoffs! A victory over those hated New York Yankees in Gotham (assuming the Red Sox hold on to win the division) would be OH SO SWEET! In a one game series anything can happen.

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 – Jason Castro and Miguel Sano

Twins spoil it in the ninth

Jason Castro

In the top of the ninth inning last night in La La land, Jason Castro delivered a two-run single that turned a Twins’ 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead; Minnesota went on to defeat the Angels, 4-2. Entering Thursday, Los Angeles was 28-0 when leading in the ninth inning or later and 13-0 at home when leading after eight innings this season. Since the start of the 2016 season, Minnesota had won only one other game in which the team trailed in the ninth inning or later and that was just last month (May 19 vs. Kansas City).

Miguel Sano

BONUS: Before Thursday’s game against the Angels, Twins third baseman Miguel Sano worked on his defense with third-base coach Gene Glynn with an emphasis on fielding grounders while positioned near the third-base bag.

Sano gleefully predicted to all that would listen that he would turn a triple play later in the night. And sure enough, just a few hours later, the Twins turned their first triple play in over a decade, as rookie left-hander Adalberto Mejia got the Angels’ Jefry Marte to ground into a 5-4-3 triple play that was started by Sano in a 4-2 win at Angel Stadium. Sano also hit a home run.

This Day in Twins History – First ever walkoff loss is a strange one

Bill Pleis April 28, 1961 – The Twins and the Los Angeles Angels are tied 4-4 after 9 innings at Wrigley Field. The Twins score an unearned run in the top of the 12th and take the lead 5-4. Twins skipper Cookie Lavagetto pulls starter Pedro Ramos who has pitched the first 11 innings and brings in reliever Bill “Shorty” Pleis to close out the victory. Pleis gets the first out but then gives up a game tieing home run to Ken Hamlin. The next two hitters get singles but Pleis retires Leon Wagner for the second out. The Twins decide to intentionally walk Ted Kluszewski to load the bases. So what happens next? Shorty Pleis hits Ken Hunt and the Angels have a walk-off hit-by-pitcher win. Yikes!! It was the thirteen game the new formed Minnesota Twins had ever played and it turns out to be their first ever walkoff loss. Boxscore

Dean Chance passes away at the age of 74

Dean Chance It has been reported that Dean Chance died of a heart attack at the age of 74 yesterday in his hometown of Wooster, Ohio. Chance was born in Wooster on June 1, 1941 and went on to attend Northwestern High School in Wayne, Ohio where he became a sports legend. Chance was considered by many to be the best high school pitcher in Ohio history, throwing 17 no-hitters (eight in one season) and posting a 52-1 record in high school, including 32 consecutive victories. The Baltimore Orioles signed Chance out of high school for $30,000. After two season in the Orioles organization the team exposed him to the 196o expansion draft and he was taken by the Washington Senators in the 48th round but his stay as a Senator was short-lived as they traded him to the Los Angeles Angels that same day for Joe Hicks in one of several forced trades by AL President Joe Cronin.

Dean Chance who would go on to become a two-time All-Star and Cy Young winner made his big league debut against the Minnesota Twins on September 14, 1961 at Met Stadium and lost 5-2 to Jim Kaat. Chance pitched well going 7.1 innings allowing 10 hits and 3 earned runs and two strike outs. Dean Chance blossomed the following year for the Angels and was 14-10 with a 2.96 ERA 206 plus innings.

Dean Chance met Bo Belinsky for the first time in spring training in Clearwater, Florida, in 1959. When the Angels selected Belinsky from the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft on November 27, 1961, and the two subsequently made the Angels in 1962, they became teammates and then roomed together during the 1963 and 1964 seasons. Belinsky and the already married Chance made the rounds in Hollywood, and probably became more famous for their off-the-field exploits than they did on a pitching mound.

After the season 1964 season in which Chance led the American League in wins with 20, ERA with 1.65, 15 complete games, 11 shutouts, and 278.1 innings pitched, Chance was rewarded with the Cy Young Award, at the time given out to only one pitcher in baseball. Chance also finished fifth in MVP voting behind Brooks Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard and Tony Oliva. Chance pitched for the Angels from 1961-1966 before the Angels traded him along with shortstop Jackie Hernandez to the Minnesota Twins for 1B Don Mincher, outfielder Jimmie Hall and RHP Pete Cimino in December 1966.

Chance, Dean 3The Twins just missed winning the pennant in 1967 but Dean Chance could not blamed for that as he went 20-14 and had a 2.73 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in a league leading 283.2 innings with a league leading 18 complete games in 39 starts, again league leading. He had two no-hitters that season: a 5-inning perfect game (that’s no longer an official no-hitter) and then a 2-1 no-hitter over Cleveland on August 25th. In 1968 Chance was 14-14 but had a stellar ERA 2.53 and a 0.98 WHIP in 292 innings. The 1969 Twins under Billy Martin won the AL Western Division with 97 wins but Dean Chance was only 5-4 in 15 starts due to a back injury and he missed all of June and July and this was the beginning of the end of Chance’s baseball career. Chance’s only playoff experience took place in game 3 of the 1969 ALCS in a mop-up role when he pitched 2 innings in a 11-2 Orioles win.

In December of 1969 the Twins traded Chance,RHP Bob Miller, 3B Graig Nettles, and OF Ted Uhlaender  to the Cleveland Indians for RHP’s Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. Chance was 9-8 for the Indians in 1970 before being sold to the New York Mets in September where he finished the season. The Mets then traded Chance to the Tigers in March of 1971 where he pitched in 31 games going 4-6 with a 3.51 ERA. The Tigers released Chance in October 1971 and the baseball career of Dean Chance was in the books.

Chance was known for getting his sign from the catcher and then turning his back to the batter until he threw the ball, that motion Chance said, shortened his career according to him, he felt he was lucky to last in the majors the 11 years that he did. As good a pitcher as Chance was, hitting was not his forte, he was a terrible hitter, batting a mere .066 in 662 at-bats for his career, striking out 420 times for one of the highest strikeout rates in history. Chance still holds the Minnesota Twins record for most consecutive at bats without a hit, in 1967 between April 19 and July 23 Chance was 0 for 52 with 35 strikeouts.

Dean Chance was tough on the New York Yankees and Mickey Mantle in particular although Mantle did hit .242 off Chance with three home runs. “Every time I see his name on a lineup card, I feel like throwing up” – Mickey Mantle. Mantle once uttered this memorable quote during Chance’s remarkable 1964 season. As sportswriter Phil Pepe wrote that year, “It’s Chance, not CBS, who owns the New York Yankees. Lock, stock and barrel.” Chance pitched 50 innings against the Yankees that year, allowing only 14 hits and one run, a homer by Mantle. In five starts he threw four complete games and three shutouts, going 4-0 with a 0.18 ERA.

After his baseball ended at the age of 30 Dean Chance did not move to a rocking chair, he went into the carnival business where he owned numerous games “where you can win an item off the top shelf” and traveled all over the country. He was a boxing promoter for a while and he started and was still president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) when he died. Chance also invested in real estate, played Gin Rummy on a professional level and attended many sports memorabilia shows. It is ironic to me that he attended so many memorabilia shows because I mailed him numerous baseball cards over the  years asking for his autograph but I never got a single card back, with or without an autograph. The man was one of baseball’s great characters.

Rest in Peace Dean Chance and thank you for all the great memories.

Dean Chance SABR BioProject

Dean Chance Obit – Star Tribune

Los Angeles Times Obit

Dean Chance: baseball, carnies, boxing. He was worthy of a book.

Bo and Dean: A Lifetime of Fun and Friendship

Chance of a lifetime: Area legend was one of a kind

Mis-Management 101: The American League Expansion for 1961