Twins players that left us in 2023

Another trip around the Sun is behind us and it is time once again to to look back and remember Minnesota Twins players of yesteryear that have left us. They may be gone from this earth but their memories always stay with us.

Reliever Bill Campbell (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
Read more: Twins players that left us in 2023

Bill Cambell was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in September 1970 and debuted with the Twins against Cleveland on July 14, 1973. Campbell pitched for the Twins from 1973-1976 saving 51 games. After becoming a free agent after the 1976 season, “Soup” signed with the Boston Red Sox. After leaving the Red Sox, Campbell went on to pitch for the Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Tigers before he finished his big league career with Montreal in 1987. Campbell pitched in 455 games, all but nine in relief and had 126 Saves in his 15 season in the big leagues.

Alex Cole signed with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent in February of 1994 and left as a free agent after the 1995 season. Many fans remember Cole breaking his leg in a gruesome injury in May of 1995. Cole, an outfielder, played primarily in centerfield and appeared in 133 games hitting .304 with five home runs. Cole played in the majors from 1990-1996 with the Cleveland Indians, Twins, Rockies and the Red Sox.

Before the 1955 season, Dan Dobbek was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent. Scouts in the Washington organization were touting Dobbek as a potential power hitter in the mold of Harmon Killebrew when he came up to the Senators in 1959 after hitting 23 home runs for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Dobbek was one of the original Minnesota Twins when they moved from Washington and he played in the Twins first-ever game as a defensive replacement for outfielder Jim Lemon. A neck injury Dobbek incurred when he ran into a fence as a Twin in 1961 may have contributed to his short big league career that ended after the 1961 season. The Twins traded Dobbek to the Cincinnati Reds in January of 1962 for catcher Jerry Zimmerman but he never played in the major leagues again. Dobbek spent the remainder of his playing career in the minors, retiring after the 1963 season. Dobbek also played for the Elefantes de Cienfuegos of the Cuban Winter League and was a member of the 1960 Caribbean Series champion team. From 1959-1961 Dobbek played in 198 games hitting fifteen home runs while hitting .208.

George Frazier was traded by the Chicago Cubs with Julius McDougal (minors) and Ray Fontenot to the Minnesota Twins for Dewayne Coleman (minors) and Ron Davis on August 13, 1986. Frazier pitched in 69 games in Minnesota in his 1 and 1/2 year stay, posting a 6-6 record with 8 Saves and had a 4.83 ERA. Frazier was a member of the 1987 World Series winning team as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Frazier was sent to pitch for the Twins once in their postseason run. In Game 4 of the World Series, he was sent to pitch in the seventh inning. The Twins lost 7-2, but he pitched two effective innings in what ended up being his last major league appearance. Frazier became a free agent after the 1987 season and with no takers decided to retire. Over his ten-year career with five big league teams, Frazier appeared in 415 games and was credited with 35 wins, 29 saves, and a 4.20 ERA. Frazier served as a color analyst for the Twins in 1993 and for the Colorado Rockies from 1998 until 2015. Following that he did color commentary for Fox Sports during the Big 12 Baseball championship broadcasts while also serving as a color analyst for Oklahoma baseball on television from 2015 to 2023.

Roric Harrison was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a free agent on April 28, 1978 after spending time in the minor leagues since 1975. Harrison appeared in just nine games for Minnesota in 1978 going 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA and spent of his final season in pro ball with the Twins AAA Toledo team. Harrison was also a good hitting pitcher, and one of his most noteworthy accomplishments came with a bat in his hands. He made just 2 starts in his first big league season with the Baltimore Orioles, with the last one coming on October 3, the final game of the year. Harrison threw 6 innings of 1-run ball against Cleveland, and Grant Jackson pitched the final 3 innings in the 4-3 victory. Harrison also hit a sixth-inning home run off Cleveland starter Ray Lamb. Not only was it Harrison’s first major-league home run, it would be the last home run by an American League pitcher before the onset of the designated hitter rule. Almost 30 years would go by before another AL pitcher homered, thanks to the addition of interleague play. Bobby Witt Sr. of the Texas Rangers broke the dry spell when he hit a homer against Ismael Valdez of the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 30, 1997. Shortly after stepping away from the game, he began a career with Coldwell Banker, rising to the executive level for both the Residential Brokerage and Relocation Services divisions.

The Minnesota Twins beat out several clubs and signed fire-balling Danny Morris as an amateur free agent in June of 1964, for what Minnesota management called a five-figure bonus. Scout Ray Holton did the honors, and Morris was assigned to the Twins’ Cocoa Rookie League team in Melbourne, FL. Morris had his major league debut on September 10, 1968. Morris probably deserved more big league time with the Twins but the Twins excellent pitching staff kept Morris in the minors. Over parts of two seasons (1968-1969), Morris appeared in 6 games, including 3 starts, with the Twins. He had an 0-2 record, and in 16 innings, he allowed 16 hits and 5 earned runs for a 2.81 ERA. He walked 8 and fanned 7. After retiring from the MLB due to injuries–he moved to Oakland City, IN. to work along side his father, Clyde Morris, at Old Ben Coal. After Old Ben Coal closed, Danny opened Friends Bar Grill with his wife Donna in 1990. For 33 years he loved working at Friends and making lifelong friends that he cherished.

Cotton Nash, one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the University of Kentucky. He played in the NBA, the ABA as well as in MLB, as a first baseman and outfielder. When he graduated from college, Nash signed with a Los Angeles team — two of them, in fact. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA draft and also signed with the California Angels. In May of 1967 the California Angels traded Nash to the Chicago White Sox and Nash was called up for a cup of coffee at the tail end of 1967 and made his MLB debut at Fenway Park against the Red Sox going 0 of 2. Then in April 1969 the White Sox traded him to Pittsburgh for Ed Hobaugh but that trade was voided and in July of 1969 the White Sox traded Nash again, this time to the Minnesota Twins for a PTBNL that turned out to be Jerry Crider. Nash played in six games with the Twins in 1969 but he did get his first big league hit off of Steve Barber of the Seattle Pilots at Sick’s Stadium. In 1970 he played in four games with Minnesota so in his two seasons with the Twins he played in ten games and was 3 for 13 with a run scored and two RBI. That was it for Cotton Nash as a big leaguer although he continued to play minor league ball through 1972. His main sporting interest after retirement was breeding thoroughbred horses.

Carlos Pulido was signed at 18 in 1989 by Minnesota, the hard-throwing Pulido was a bright prospect in the Twins’ system, but a 1995 arm injury ruined his chances as a starter. After spending one season with the Twins in 1994, he spent the next decade in the minor leagues, as well as with the Orix BlueWave, before spending two more seasons with the Twins in 2003 and 2004. In his three-season MLB career, all with the Minnesota Twins, Pulido posted a 3–8 record with 47 strikeouts and a 5.98 ERA in 111.2 innings.

Sandy Valdespino was a Cuban outfielder who played for 7 seasons in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins (1965-67), Atlanta Braves (1968), Houston Astros (1969), Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers (1969-70) and Kansas City Royals (1971). Like many of the Cuban and other Latin American ballplayers who ended up in the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins organization, his journey into professional baseball started with scout “Papa Joe” Cambria when he signed with the Washington Senators in 1957 but did not make his MLB debut until April 12, 1965 with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins outfield was crowded, so Valdespino did not get much playing time but in spite of that was a huge fan favorite. Valdespino played in 5 of the 7 1965 World Series games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and their great pitching staff going 3 for 11 with a double and a run scored. The Atlanta Braves snapped up Valdespino after the 1967 season in the Rule 5 draft. Sadly when all was said and done, Valdespino came up two games short of qualifying for an MLB pension.

Former Twins pitcher George Frazier passes away at the age of 68

George Frazier was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on October 13, 1954 and passed away on June 19, 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 68 from an undisclosed illness.

The lanky, 6-foot-5 right-hander, Frazier was a star at Hillcrest High School in Springfield, Missouri where he played alongside two other future major leaguers in Bob Detherage and Keith Drumright. before attending the University of Oklahoma from 1973-76. 

Frazier was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 13th round of the 1972 June free agent draft but turned that offer down to attend the University of Oklahoma. George Frazier, who was a member of two College World Series teams in the 1970s playing at Oklahoma in 1975 and ’76 for legendary coach Enos Semore and was a member of the final two of five straight CWS appearances from 1972-76. After completing his college career Frazier was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 9th round of the 1976 MLB June Amateur Draft.

2021 Twins Turkey of the Year

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Time seems to have gotten away from me and it was only in the last few days that I realized it was that time again, time to pick another Twins Turkey of the Year. This years winner will be number 13. So far we have only had one repeat winner and that was President and CEO Dave St. Peter who took the honors in 2013 and again in 2019.

With the 2021 Minnesota Twins expected to do well and go deep in the playoffs by their fans and the so called baseball experts and then to see the team finish 73-89 and in last place in the American League Central Division you would have to think that there were more turkeys then you could shake a stick at. You would be right.

Twins all-opponent team center fielder

Center FielderFred Lynn – What the heck is going on here? Another Boston Red Sox? There have been some great center fielders that have played against our favorite team the Minnesota Twins. What about players like Amos Otis, Paul Blair, Chet Lemon, Ken Griffey Jr., Kenny Lofton, Bernie Williams, Willie Wilson and I could go on and on.

Nope, the Twins all-opponent CF is Fred Lynn. Lynn was originally a New York Yankee third round selection in 1970 but he said no and went on to USC. In 1973 the Red Sox selected Lynn in round two, six picks after the Twins chose shortstop Ed McMahon, a Sporting News All-American out of the University of Massachusetts who they started out in AAA Tacoma in 1973 with the likes of Tom Kelly (I bet that was interesting). Then the Twins sent him to A ball in 1974 and after that season he was history. Did Ed McMahon going on to fame on the Johnny Carson TV show, no, that would be another Ed McMahon. Our man Fred Lynn however; had a cup of coffee with the Red Sox in 1974 and then went on to win the ROY award in 1975. In his first game against the Twins he went 2 for 4 with a run scored, and hit a two-run home run off Dave Goltz. 1975 turned out to be a pretty good season for Lynn, in addition to his ROY award he was also the AL MVP, an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner. During his 17 year career with five different teams he went on to be a nine-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glover and for good measure he won the AL batting title in 1979.

Against the Minnesota Twins Lynn played in 130 games and hit .331 with an OPS of 1.054. Lynn had 160 hits against Minnesota pitching with 33 doubles, 38 home runs and 122 RBI. As a Baltimore Oriole in 1985 he walked-off the Twins on successive nights. On May 10 he hit a walk-off home run off Twins closer Ron Davis and on May 11 he hit another walk-off home run, this time off Twins reliever Curt Wardle who was brought in to replace Ron Davis on the mound.

According to the ever humble Fred Lynn,

“I really didn’t have any holes in my game other than the fact that I couldn’t stay on the field for the second half of my career.”

If you are a Twins fan you just gotta hate a guy like that…..

 

Our previous selections for the Twins all-opponent team

CatcherIvan Rodriguez

First BasemanPaul Konerko

Second BasemanLou Whitaker

Third BasemanWade Boggs

ShortstopCal Ripken

Left FielderJim Rice

The Twins all-opponent team second baseman

Second BaseLou Whitaker was the Tigers fifth round in the 1975 draft and went on to become the 1978 AL Rookie of the Year, a five-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger winner, and a three-time Gold Glove winner. Sweet Lou played in the big leagues for 19 years, all with the team that drafted him and in his 2,308 games, all but 32 (DH) were as a second baseman.

Whitaker played 162 games against the boys from Minnesota hitting .298 with an OPS of .832. His 172 hits included 34 doubles, seven triples and 14 home runs. Whitaker walked off the Twins twice, both times with singles off of closers Mike Marshall and Ron Davis. To show the respect that Twins managers had for Whitaker, you don’t need to look any further than the 10 IBB that Twins pitchers issued to Whitaker. Whitaker is one of only 15 players to have been given 10 or more IBB by Twins pitchers since 1961.

The runner-up for this spot is Roberto Alomar who put up similar numbers against the Twins over the years. I could have gone either way with these two players, one is a Hall of Famer and the other should be a Hall of Famer. Whitaker has a career WAR of 74.9 and Alomar has a WAR of 66.8. To be honest and fair, I see each player with a strike against them in the fact that one spit in an umpires face and the other didn’t stand for the national anthem. I know it has nothing to do with their play against the Twins but this Twins all-opponent team is strictly my opinion, my list and it is what it is. You are always welcome to express your opinion as well.

The unapproachable greatness of Sweet Lou

 

Our previous selections for the Twins all-opponent team

Catcher – Ivan Rodriguez

First Baseman – Paul Konerko

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Blyleven, Havens, & Gagne

A big day for major league debuts as Minnesota Twins, one was drafted and went on to be a hall of famer and two were acquired in trades.

Greg Gagne

Greg Gagne (SS) – June 5, 1983 – Traded by the New York Yankees with Paul Boris and Ron Davis to the Minnesota Twins for Roy Smalley on April 10, 1982. Gagne struck out in his first two at bats before doubling in the sixth and then scoring. Gagne ended up 1 for 4 in a Twins 10-4 win over the Red Sox at the Dome.

Brad Havens

Brad Havens (P) – June 5, 1981 – Traded by the California Angels to the Minnesota Twins in February 1979. In his big league debut Havens faced off against Jack Morris at Tiger Stadium and pitched 6 innings allowing just 2 hits, a single and a home run by Alan Trammell and left the game down 1 to nothing. Unfortunately, Morris pitched a complete game 3-hit shutout and the Twins and Havens lost 2-0 in a 2 hour game.

Bert Blyleven

Bert Blyleven (P) – June 5, 1970 –  Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1969 amateur draft and became the 69th player to make his big league debut as a Twins player. As Blyleven has stated on many occasions, he did indeed give up a home run to the first Senators batter he faced in his debut at RFK Stadium and that batter was Lee Maye and that tied the score at one apiece. Blyleven gave up another single in the first but then held Washington to 3 hits the rest of the way and was pulled after seven innings after having allowed the one run on 5 hits and a walk while striking out seven and the future hall of fame right-hander was on his way. The Twins selected OF Paul Powell in round 1 that year and he played 30 big league games, 20 with Minny. In round 2 they selected Ron McDonald a high school 3B but he never got above AA ball. They selected shortstop Rick Burleson in round 7 but couldn’t sign him…The Red Sox did after taking him in the January secondary draft.

To see other Major League Debut’s as Minnesota Twins

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – May 21 – Plouffe, Bonser, L Rodriguez, Larkin, Eufemia, Boris & Crider

The following seven players made their major league debuts in a Minnesota Twins uniform over the years on May 21.

Trevor Plouffe

Trevor Plouffe (SS/2B/OF/3B) – May 21, 2010 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (20th) of the 2004 MLB June Amateur Draft. A nice debut at shortstop for Trevor going 2 for 5 with a run scored and two RBI.

 

Boof Bonser

Boof Bonser (P) – May 21, 2006 – Traded by the San Francisco Giants with Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan to the Minnesota Twins for A.J. Pierzynski and cash on November 14, 2003. A solid major league debut in his six inning start but the Twins bullpen let him down and cost him his first big league win. Boof? Twins Know What It Means

 

Luis Rodriguez

Luis Rodriguez (2B/3B/SS) – May 21, 2005 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on June 1, 1997

 

Gene Larkin (1B/OF) – May 21, 1987 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 20th round of the 1984 amateur draft. Going 2 for 4 with an RBI in your first big league game is pretty nice.

 

Frank Eufemia

Frank Eufemia (P) – May 21, 1985 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 18th round of the 1982 amateur draft. Debut not too shabby considering he was pitching in a blow-out loss, 3.1 innings and no runs allowed.

 

Paul Boris (P) – May 21, 1982 – Traded by the New York Yankees with Ron Davis and Greg Gagne to the Minnesota Twins for Roy Smalley on April 10, 1982. Boris’s major league debut was one he would like to forget.

 

Jerry Crider (P) – May 21, 1969 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 1962

To see other Major League Debut’s as Minnesota Twins

Know your Minnesota Twins closers

The folks at Baseball-Reference.com describe a save as follows: 

A save (abbreviated SV or S) is a statistic awarded to a relief pitcher, often called a closer, who enters the game under certain conditions and maintains his team’s lead until the end of the game. The save rule was first adopted for the 1969 season and amended for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Baseball researchers have worked through the official statistics retroactively to calculate saves for all major league seasons prior to 1969.

The first save credited to a Minnesota Twins pitcher occurred on April 16, 1961 long before the save rule was actually in existence in 1969.

According to Elias

The Twins entered the top of the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead over the Tigers. J.D. Martinez‘s three-run home run off Glen Perkins turned that lead into a 3-2 deficit before the Twins rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for the win. It’s been over 30 years since the Twins won a game in which they led entering the top of the ninth inning; fell behind in the top of the ninth before rallying in the bottom of the ninth for the win. The Twins last such win occurred on April 13, 1984 against the Mariners. Minnesota saw a 2-1 lead disappear when Alvin Davis and Ricky Nelson hit back-to-back home runs off Ron Davis to open the top of the ninth inning. The Twins rallied in the bottom of the ninth on RBI singles by Tim Teufel and Tom Brunansky for the win.

Twins hodgepodge

Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer

Seems to be some validity to the complaining that the Twins best paid player Joe Mauer isn’t hitting with runners on base. Joe Mauer had the go-ahead single in the ninth inning for Minnesota on Monday, after he entered the game hitting .171 (7 for 41) in Late Inning Pressure Situations. Over the past six seasons (2008-2013), Mauer hit .339 in LIPS, the highest in the major leagues among players with at least 100 plate appearances.

The Ft. Myers Miracle the Twins High-A team is now calling JetBlue Park their new home for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs as Hammond Stadium undergoes the second phase of their two-year remodeling effort. It will be interesting to see what Hammond Stadium will look like next spring.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels the Twins Low-A club and the Minnesota Twins extended their player-development contract (PDC) through the 2020 season. Another nail in the coffin for those that had hopes of St. Paul landing a Twins minor league affiliation in their new ballpark that is being built.

Minneapolis provided MLB with free rent and discounted services for the All-Star FanFest at the Minneapolis Convention Center when the Twins hosted the 2014 All-Star game.

Ron Davis - Twins pitcher from 1982 - 1986 (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
Ron Davis – Twins pitcher from 1982 – 1986 (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

Twenty eight years ago today the Twins traded closer Ron Davis along with minor league pitcher Dewayne Coleman to the Chicago Cubs for relievers George Frazier and Ray Fontenot and shortstop Julius McDougal. Davis was the Twins closer from 1982 until he was traded in 1986. Davis saved 108 games for the Twins but it was the games that he didn’t save that made Davis one of the biggest villans in Twins history. Here is a piece about Davis in the LA Times. The Twinstrivia  interview with Ron Davis can be found here.

In the last three weeks Terry Ryan and Rob Antony have been busy house-cleaning and they have cut about $8 million from the Twins payroll. First the Twins traded DH/1B Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners for RHP Stephen Pryor. Then they traded outfielder Sam Fuld to the Oakland A’s for LHP Tommy Milone. Then RHP Kevin Correia was sent out to La La land where he will pitch for the Dodgers and the Twins will receive a PTBNL or cash. Their latest trade has outfielder/DH Josh Willingham headed south to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for minor league RHP Jason Adam. Here is what a KC blog site called Cover the Bases had to say about the deal. Are there still more trades on the horizon? You never know but if I was Jared Burton  I might not be too quick to send out my clothes to the dry cleaners. Joe Mauer is now the oldest position player on the team, Wow!

Jim Merritt
Jim Merritt

A lot is being made of King Felix Hernandez and his run of history making starts this season where he has pitched seven innings or more and allowed two runs or fewer. There is even talk of him as a serious MVP candidate. Have any Twins pitchers had a nice run like that? Turns out that Jim Merritt had 11 games in a row back in 1967. This is actually a pretty amazing run by Hernandez, since 1961 there have only been 10 pitchers that have had a streak of 10 games or more that fit this criteria. Check out the list, there are some pretty good pitchers here.

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 Streaks of seven innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed since 1961

Rk Name Strk Start End Games W L GS CG SHO IP H R BB SO HR ERA Tm
1 Felix Hernandez 2014-05-18 2014-08-11 16 9 2 16 0 0 121.0 69 20 20 134 4 1.41 SEA
2 Tom Seaver 1971-07-17 1971-09-16 13 8 3 13 10 2 114.1 72 15 25 114 5 0.94 NYM
3 Mike Scott 1986-05-17 1986-07-07 12 6 3 12 2 1 96.1 58 16 19 99 4 1.40 HOU
4 Dwight Gooden 1985-09-06 1986-05-06 12 9 0 12 7 4 105.0 63 10 21 88 2 0.69 NYM
5 Gaylord Perry 1974-04-23 1974-06-12 11 10 0 11 10 2 98.1 56 14 35 61 3 0.92 CLE
6 Larry Dierker 1969-08-03 1969-09-17 11 7 2 11 6 1 94.2 50 14 16 79 5 1.33 HOU
7 Bob Gibson 1968-06-06 1968-07-30 11 11 0 11 11 8 99.0 56 3 13 83 0 0.27 STL
8 Jim Merritt 1967-06-25 1967-08-13 11 5 3 11 4 1 94.0 70 16 6 59 4 1.53 MIN
9 Johnny Cueto 2013-09-23 2014-05-15 10 4 2 10 3 2 79.0 36 12 21 81 8 1.25 CIN
10 Don Sutton 1976-08-10 1976-09-27 10 9 0 10 7 2 90.2 53 9 18 54 5 0.89 LAD
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/13/2014.

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Bob Gibson
Bob Gibson

Take a moment to check out Bob Gibson‘s numbers in the table above, they are absolutely incredible. His streak was 11 games long, his record was 11-0 and he had 11 complete games with 8 shutouts and a total of three runs allowed. No wonder Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver said that Gibson was the luckiest pitcher ever, he only pitched when the other team was not hitting.

The Minnesota Twins are still on track to have over 2.3 million fans at Target Field this summer. I think as the cooler weather approaches, the state fair gets in full swing and school begins, the attendance will fall off and the Twins will be around the 2 million mark but that is still an amazing mark for a team that has played as badly as the Twins have for the last four years.

So what about Ron Gardenhire and his staff? I think they are history within a week of the season ending. Who will be the Twins new skipper, it won’t be anyone currently associated with the Minnesota Twins today. Who would I like it to be? I think the Twins should swing a deal with the Marlins and bring Mike Redmond in as the Twins manager in 2015. The man had done well with the players he has been given. Will it happen? Nooooooo