Month: October 2011

Remembering Lyman Wesley Bostock

Lyman Bostock

February 26, 2010 – Some knowledgeable baseball people will tell you that Lyman Bostock was “the best player that you never heard of”. Lyman’s career was cut tragically short, only playing four seasons (three with the Twins and one with the Angels) but he left a lasting memory for many of us. SABR has done a nice biography about Lyman and you can read it by clicking here. There are also some video clips that show Bostock in action and explain the tragic event that ended Bostock’s once promising career and you can watch them by clicking here for part I and here for part II. You have to wonder what kind of career this man might have had.

Lyman Bostock by Daniel Michael – a very nice tribute.

Fifth and Jackson, a great piece by Jeff Pearlman for ESPN. A must read

UPDATE AS OF September 19, 2013 – MLB Network to air the Lyman Bostock story.

Spring Training Report

February 24, 2010 – I went out to the ballpark on Monday morning to catch the first official work-out and had a good time. There were a number of people there but not a huge crowd by any means. It was easy to get around and view the different activities on the different practice fields. I saw Jose Mijares throwing so he obviously cleaned up his visa issues and he does look considerably thinner. Jon Rauch was throwing at the same time and boy is Rauch a physically imposing figure, he is what 6″11″? By the way, Joe Mauer was in there catching some of the pitchers.

I went over to the next field and there I saw Gardy and TK running a “pitcher cover first base drill”. That is kind of fun to watch as the pitcher throws the ball to a catcher. In the mean time a coach hits another ball to a 1B who then lobs the throw to the pitcher covering first. Over and over again the same old thing, but yet sometimes during the season it looks like they never practiced it before. Gardy and TK try to make it fun and you can hear some of the banter going on back and forth. One of the things they do also is to have the coach drop a ball somewhere next to the pitcher and the pitcher has to quickly find it, pick it up and get ready to throw to first, One time Deolis Guerra was the pitcher and all of a sudden all 10 or so of the pitchers threw their balls at Guerra at the same time, there were balls everywhere and everyone got a big kick out of it including Deolis who was laughing as he threw his glove in the air.

The next field had some batting practice for the catchers and other position players that had reported early. I watched Mauer and Cuddyer hit a couple of times and they were putting a good hurt on the balls.

I was in kind of a hurry due to other plans so I didn’t go over to the minor league fields to see what was going on there but obviously some of the boys had reported early and were doing some hitting and throwing the ball around.

It appears that the players come out for stretching about 9:30 AM and practice starts about 10:00 AM. They wrap up between 11:30 and Noon and that is the best time to get pictures and autographs. The players and coaches all seem very good about that. In the picture above you can see Cuddyer as he signs and signs and signs.

For more Twins spring traing coverage, please check out the Fort Myers NEWS-PRESS.COM site by clicking here.

Pitchers that hated to walk batters

February 22, 2010 – With Twins pitchers and catchers working out for the first time today, it is a good time to take a look at the top control pitchers in franchise history. The Twins always preach to their pitchers that walks will kill. If you want to pitch for the Minnesota Twins you need to get your pitches over the plate and force the hitter to put the ball in play. This strategy has worked for the Twins in the past and I don’t see it changing in the future. So let’s take a look and see what Twins pitchers gave up the fewest walks per inning pitched and at the same time compare how Washington Senators pitchers in the past compared to their modern day counterparts.

Minnesota Twins

Carlos Silva

Rank Pitcher BB/9 Innings pitched
1 Carlos Silva 1.303 773
2 Brad Radke 1.634 2,451
3 Jim Merritt 1.769 686
4 Jim “Mudcat” Grant 1.879 780
5 Kevin Tapani 1.959 1,171
6 Scott Baker 2.054 653
7 John Butcher 2.148 502
8 Jim Kaat 2.177 3,014
9 Dean Chance 2.250 664
10 Allan Anderson 2.320 818

 Washington Senators

Al Orth
Al Orth
Rank Pitcher BB/9 Innings pitched
1 Al Orth 1.555 677
2 Watty Lee 1.794 526
3 Dutch Leonard 1.910 1,899
4 Waletr Johnson 2.074 5,914
5 Garland Braxton 2.115 583
6 Doc Ayers 2.301 1,122
7 George Mogridge 2.417 1,016
8 Casey Patten 2.430 2,059
9 Charlie Smith 2,240 822
10 Roger Wolff 2,442 527

Get to know Moe Berg

Moe Berg - a most interesting individual
Moe Berg – a most interesting individual

February 15, 2010 – The Society for American Baseball Research is a great organization and one of the wonderful projects they have going on is the Baseball Biography Project. One of the biographies they have completed is about Moe Berg, a very interesting individual that played for the Washington Senators between 1932 and 1934. Berg also played for the Brooklyn Robins, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, and the Boston Red Sox during his 15 year major league career. You have to read this biography if you get a few minutes, just click on the picture of Moe Berg to get started.

Kent Hrbek and the 82 Twins

February 7, 2010 – The 2010 baseball season is just about upon us and we can’t wait to see what the Twins new ballpark, Target Field, will be like. But before that can happen, baseball fans all over Twins territory want to hear that local boy and AL MVP Joe Mauer will sign a long term deal to stay in a Minnesota Twins uniform. Twins fans love Joe Mauer and not only want him to stay but they expect him to stay and spend his entire career in Minnesota.

If you think back to 1982 there was another local boy by the name of Kent Hrbek that was just starting to make a name for himself in the Twins new stadium at the time, the HHH Metrodome. Hrbek also had the option to leave as a free agent later in his career but he chose to stay in Minnesota and play his entire career in front of his hometown fans. Back on July 5, 1982 Sports Illustrated published a very nice story about Kent Hrbek and the 1982 Twins and if you have a few minutes to spare, take the time to click on the SI cover and check out the story written by Steve Wulf, you won’t be sorry.

What “they” said about Bert in 1976

January 31, 2010 – An interesting story about Bert Blyleven written by Pat Jordan in the June 14, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. It is a fun read and I hope you enjoy it. I wonder what Bert would say about that story today? To read the story just click on the Sports Illustrated cover.

Twins sign Jim Thome, why?

Jim Thome

January 27, 2010 – The announced that they have signed 39 year old DH Jim Thome to a one year deal for $1.5 million with another $750,000 on the table as incentives based on at bats. Thome, a left handed hitter and a five time all-star will begin his 20th season in the big leagues in 2010 having played for the Indians, the Phillies, the White Sox, and last year he split time between the Sox and the Dodgers. The man has hit more home runs against the Twins than any other player, 57 I believe and his career home run count stands at 564. I have enjoyed watching Jim Thome play baseball over the years and I have read numerous articles stating how nice a guy he is and how he helps many a charity. But I have got to ask, why would Bill Smith and the Twins sign Jim Thome? Where do you play him?

The Twins already have a nice DH and part time outfielder in the left handed Jason Kubel. Everyone is in agreement that Kubel will remain the primary DH so what do you need Thome for? The man has not put on a glove in anger since 2007 so there is no chance of him playing in the field short of a major calamity. A pinch hitter off the bench you say, let’s look at what Jim Thome accomplished as a pinch hitter for the White Sox and the Dodgers last year. For the Sox, Thome had 9 plate appearances as a pinch hitter and had nothing but a walk to show for his efforts to go along with his 4 strikeouts. As a Dodger, Thome had 17 plate appearances in which he struck out 7 times and had 4 singles and 3 RBI’s. Yes, 4 singles, no doubles, no triples, and no home runs. I am not saying that Thome is washed up, but some players are not suited to getting off the bench and taking their hacks once a day or once every several days and Thome’s history albeit short does nothing to make me think he can fill the role as the big bopper of the bench. Let’s assume for a moment here that Thome does pinch hit and bloops a single down the right field line, you think Gardy is going to let him run and clog up the bases and kill a rally? No sir, Gardy is too smart for that so he will burn another bench player running for Thome. So to get this rally going we have burned at least two bench players. If you decide to play Thome as the DH then either Delmon Young or Kubel probably sits, what is the point of that? Carlos Gomez was traded to solve the crowded outfield problem and now here once again we have found a new way to keep Young from playing full time. If the Twins don’t think that Young can fill their outfield role full time, then they should just trade the guy and be done with it. Geez, enough is enough already.

Even by today’s standards $1.5 million is still a lot of money and I think Bill Smith just threw it out his Target Field window. Why not save that money and pool it with the money they still have to spend to fill either the 2B or 3B hole and get a player that can really help this team. Smith’s master plan for 2010 is obviously well beyond me because I just don’t get it. I am also amazed at how the local press and bloggers all seem to be in favor of this signing. Again, I ask why?

Top franchise home run teams

January 23, 2010 – The home run, the long ball, the big blast, or whatever you want to call it is fun to watch and it can put runs on the score board in a hurry. The home run is loved by most baseball fans (pitchers excluded of course) but it does not guarantee a winning season. The 1965 Twins hit 150, the 1987 Twins hit 196 and the 1991 Twins hit 140 home runs and all three teams played in a World Series. The Twins big slugger as we all know was Harmon Killebrew who hit 49 out of the park in 1964 and again in 1969. Matter of fact, the Killer holds the top nine Twins home run seasons, Bob Allison joins him in the top ten with 35 in 1963. The Twins least productive season from a home run perspective was the strike shortened season of 1981 when the Twins hit only 47 long balls in 109 games and Roy Smalley was the team leader with a total of 7. Their lowest full season home run output was 81 in 1976 when they finished third with an 85-77 record and Disco Danny Ford hit 20 round trippers.

Twins top 10 home run teams

  Year Home Runs Record Finish
1 1963 225 91-70 3
2 1964 221 79-83 6
3 1986 196 71-91 6
4 1987 196 85-77 1
5 2004 191 92-70 1
6 1962 185 91-71 2
7 2009 172 87-76 1
8 1961 167 70-90 7
9 2002 167 94-67 1
10 2001 164 85-77 2

The Senators top home run teams never even got a sniff of the top spot in their league as their top 10 home run teams never finished better than in fifth place. Their pennant winning teams of 1924, 1925, and 1933 hit 22, 56, and 60 home runs respectively. The Senators top sluggers were none other than the Twins big bopper, Harmon Killebrew who hit 42 as a Senator in 1959 and Roy Sievers who hit 42 out of the park for the 1957 Senators and hit 39 more in 1958.

Senators top 10 home run teams

  Year Home Runs Record Finish
1 1959 163 63-91 8
2 1960 147 73-81 5
3 1958 121 61-93 8
4 1956 112 59-95 7
5 1957 111 55-99 8
6 1938 85 75-76 5
7 1949 81 50-104 8
8 1954 81 66-88 6
9 1955 80 53-101 8
10 1950 76 67-87 5

 

Kouzmanoff traded to the A’s

January 16, 2010 – It has been reported that the San Diego Padres have traded 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff to the Oakland A’s and now the door is quickly closing on any hopes of the Twins getting a major league caliber 3B. The free agent market at 3B is drying quickly up with Joe Crede, Melvin Mora, and Andy Kennedy as the last men standing and there are rumors out there that the Orioles are hot on the Crede trail. I am not sure that Mora is any improvement over what we currently have at playing third now and we certainly don’t want Adam Kennedy.

So what do the Twins do, they still have holes at 3B and 2B? The 2B free agent market still has Orlando Hudson who would be a great pick-up and Felipe Lopez who would also be a nice fit but after that it drops down to Ronnie Belliard and of course Adam Kennedy again.

It seems that the Joe Mauer salary negotiations are already impacting the team that the Twins can put on Target Field. The Twins need to sign Mauer but they find themselves between a rock and a hard spot because they have a pretty solid team but they have two major holes in their infield. If the team is going to seriously contend, the Twins need to bite the bullet and spend the money to fill at least one of the two holes and probably play Punto in the other position. If they do nothing, they still end up with a high salary team with diminished hopes of making the playoffs and you can already hear the “time to rebuild” chatter starting to gather momentum.

You can bring Danny Valencia up and play him at 3B but he is not ready. The sad part is that neither his hitting not his fielding is ready to play in the big leagues, if either his glove or his bat were ready, it would be easier to throw him in the fire and suffer with the other but that is not the case.

I guess that is why Mr. Smith makes the big bucks, to make these kinds of decisions, but here we are, about a month away from spring training and the Twins have two major holes in the infield and Mauer is still not signed for the long term. Do something Mr. Smith, show us you are breathing and that there is more going on at Target Field then just everyone “patting themselves on the back” for the great ballpark that will open in April. If nothing else, at least bring back Joe Crede, maybe he can play 3B at Target Field five days a week. I think the ball is in your court Mr. Smith, I know you have been working hard and that you have really been getting after it, but now it is time we see the fruits of your labor.

Twins sign Clay Condrey

January 7, 2010 – The Twins announced they signed relief pitcher Clay Condrey yesterday and put him on the 40 man roster replacing reliever Bobby Keppel who was given his release so he can sign with a team in Japan. Condrey is 34 years old, stands 6’3” and weighs 225. The right handed Condrey throws a sinker, cutter, curve ball, change up, and a four-seam fastball, that is a lot of pitches for a reliever. Condrey has pitched in the big leagues off and on since 2002 but he did spend all of 2004 and 2005 in the minors. 2008 is the only season that Condrey has spent the entire year in the majors.

When I look at his career stats, I see a journeyman pitcher who may or may not help the Twins. Condrey has appeared in 179 games and has an 18-12 record with an ERA of 4.10 and a WHIP of 1.470. He has struck out 143 in 250+ innings but what I don’t like is the 281 hits he has given up. The press talks about him filling a role in the pen while the team waits for Neshek to return from surgery but I see him more as a long guy, last man on the staff, filling the Keppel role. Time will tell I guess.