TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
November 16, 2010 – Major League Baseball announced back in October that the 30 clubs drew 73,061,781 fans during the 2010 regular season, the sixth highest attendance total in history. Major League Baseball attendance for the regular season was off just four-tenths of one percent (.4%) from the 2009 total of 73,367,659.
The Minnesota Twins eclipsed three million fans for the second time in franchise history and set a new all-time franchise record with a 2010 home attendance of 3,223,640. The previous record of 3,030,672 was set in 1988, the year following the Twins first-ever World Series Championship. During the inaugural season at Target Field, the Twins sold out a franchise-record 79 games (including 78 consecutive). They also drew crowds of 40,000 or more in 22 consecutive games from July 3rd – August 31st, eclipsing the previous mark of seven consecutive games of 40,000 or more fans set from August 10-20, 1988.
The Twins finished with 3,223,640 fans going through the turnstile gates with the third highest attendance in the American League trailing only the New York Yankees with 3,765,807 and the Los Angeles Angels with 3,250,814. This places the Twins sixth overall all in the majors trailing the only Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals, and the Angels. On a percentage of capacity basis in the American League, only the Red Sox with 100.9% of capacity beat the Twins 100.7% of capacity.
On the road however; it was a different story as the Twins drew an average of 27,350 fans (62.6% of capacity) making the Twins the third worst draw in the American League just slightly ahead of the American League pennant winning Texas Rangers with 26,565 and the worst drawing team, the Chicago White Sox who only drew an average of 26,311 fans into opposing stadium seats. You have to wonder why two division winners like the Rangers and the Twins draw so poorly on the road.
November 13, 2010 – The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a great organization and one of the wonderful projects they have going on is the Baseball Biography Project. One of the many biographies they have completed is about former Minnesota Twins outfielder Lenny Green. Leonard Charles Green was born January 6, 1933 in Detroit, Michigan. Lenny signed with the Baltimore Orioles as a amateur free agent prior to the 1955 season and made his major league debut in August of 1957. Green was traded to the Washington Senators during the 1959 season and played for the Senators for two years before the team moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Green had good seasons for the Twins in 1961 and 1962 before losing his job to Jimmie Hall in 1963. Lenny was part of a big three team trade in 1964 and wound up with the Angels who gave him little playing time before selling him back to his original team in Baltimore. The next spring, 1965, he was again sold, this time to the Reds Sox. Green played for the Red Sox for two years and then finished his career with his home town Detroit Tigers in 1966 and 1967. Take a few minutes and read about one of the original Minnesota Twins by clicking here. I am not sure why right now but back in 1961 when the Twins played here in their first season, I was 13 years old and Lenny Green was my first “favorite” Twins player.
November 11, 2010 – The Twins have nine players (Jim Thome, Orlando Hudson, Carl Pavano, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Brian Fuentes, Jon Rauch, Randy Flores, and Ron Mahay) that became free agents and Nick Punto was added to the free agent list when the Twins passed on his $5 million option and let him walk for the $500K buy-out. They did however; pick up Jason Kubel’s $5.25 million option.
OK, so what do they do now? The Twins payroll was about $101 million last year and President Dave St. Peter has stated that the payroll will go up for 2011 but he did not say by how much. For the record, the Twins have stated that they usually spend 50% of their revenue on player payroll. Since we don’t know the true figure of the Twins revenue let’s assume that they will raise their payroll this year by about 10% and that the payroll number they will be shooting for is $110-$115 million.
The Twins have a number of issues as they go into the off-season. The bullpen is pretty much decimated by free agency so they have a huge rebuilding task there, Carl Pavano, although not a number 1 or 2 pitcher in my mind is still a valuable starter. They can probably fill their 2B hole from with-in and then there is always the question of what happens with Jim Thome who was the team leader in home runs but can’t play in the field and is 40 years old.
If those were the only problems that the Twins had they would be in good shape but they have two other huge black clouds off in the distance, will Joe Nathan bounce back from Tommy John surgery and if so, can he be ready to open the season as the Twins closer? What about Justin Morneau and his concussion, will Justin be healthy enough to start the season at 1B? Nathan and Morneau are huge question marks that have huge implications on how the Twins should spend their payroll dollars and what kinds of free agents they should go after and what kinds of trades they might pursue.
If I am Bill Smith I have to sit back and say WOW, where do we start? Strangely enough Smith started by signing free agent pitcher Eric Hacker, a career minor leaguer, with the exception of 3 big league relief appearances with the Pirates in 2009. Smith has also been quoted as saying they are in the Thome hunt but you have to wonder how long they will stay in that hunt. Thome put up some very nice numbers but only because he had the opportunity to play way more than was originally planned due to Morneau’s injury. If Morneau is healthy do you want a 40 year old with back problems as your DH? No, but then again he did hit 25 home runs and he will want more money and there are other teams, some in the Central Division that might just give it to him. Orlando Hudson is probably history, a luxury the Twins can no longer afford with Alexi Casilla once again showing he can probably do the job for less money.
So what to do with the bullpen free agents? Mahay and Flores are easy, let them go, no one is going to beat their doors down to sign them. Flores had a 4.91 ERA and pitched a total of 3 2/3 innings in 11 games, geez! Brian Fuentes I really like, but he wants to close and the Twins don’t have that opportunity open to him here so he is gone too. Jon Rauch is good insurance since he has closing experience but with him I am thinking it is all about the money, depending on what he wants determines if the Twins keep him. The two most important free agent relievers are Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier. Guerrier is three years older and has pitched in 70+ games in four consecutive years. Crain strikes out more batters but also walks more. There is also some talk floating around that Crain would like to be a closer somewhere and the Twins have no closer opening. Crain and Guerrier are two totally different pitchers but yet they both get the job done. If I am Mr. Smith, it is a priority for me to sign both of these guys to provide some stability for a bullpen that needs some help. And these moves just scratch the surface of the Twins moves this off season, you might need a scorecard to identify the players.
November 10, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins have signed 27 year old free agent pitcher Eric Hacker to a major league contract and placed him on the 40 man major league roster. The 6’1” right handed Hacker, a Texas native, was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 23rd round of the 2002 amateur draft. Hacker spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons in the Yankees minor league system and then sat out all of 2004 due to right elbow surgery. Hacker only pitched 10 games in 2005 in the Yankee system and then sat out 2006 with shoulder inflammation. Hacker was back with the Yankees system in 2007 and 2008 but was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in May of 2009. Hacker made his major league debut with the Pirates in September of 2009 but only pitched in relief in 3 games throwing 3 innings while giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs. At the end of the 2009 season Hacker was granted free agency and signed with the San Francisco Giants and he spent the entire 2010 season with Fresno in AAA where he started 29 games and was 16-8 with an ERA of 4.51 and a WHIP of 1.47 in a hitter’s league. Hacker allowed 185 hits in 165 innings and struck out 129 while walking 62. His average start lasted less than 6 innings. After talking with some members of the Twins organization it seems that the Twins scouts like Eric Hacker a lot and the Twins management trusts their scouts and have full confidence in them to find players that will help to make the Twins a better team. Only time will tell if Eric Hacker is that diamond in the rough that everyone is looking for or another pitcher that is just hanging on.
Aerial view shows a jam-packed Dodger Stadium--record crowd of 55,934--at third game of World Series. Photograph dated: October 11, 1965.
November 7, 2010 – That prior to the advent of interleague play, the Twins were the only team in MLB history to play a regular season game and a World Series road game in the same ballpark. The American League Los Angeles Angels/California Angels played in Dodger Stadium from 1962 through 1965. In 1965, the Twins were 4-5 against the Angels at Dodgers Stadium but when they played the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers stadium in the 1965 World Series they lost all three games in that same stadium.
October 19, 2010 – Joseph Anthony Lis Sr., 64, passed away Sunday, October 17, 2010, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. Lis was born August 15, 1946, in Somerville, N.J.
Joe Lis signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964 and ended up playing in the major leagues with the Phillies 70-72, the Minnesota Twins in 73-74, and the Cleveland Indians in 74-76 and the Seattle Mariners in 1977. Lis also spent some time in the White Sox and Tigers minor league systems.
Lis played in the minors for all or parts of 12 season’s and put up some decent numbers in 1,337 games, getting 4,492 at bats, and hitting 236 home runs while getting 604 RBI’s to go along with a .277 batting average. Lis was really never able to land a full time starting job in the big leagues. Lis’s best season may have been with the Minnesota Twins in 1973 when he appeared in 103 games, getting 253 at bats and hitting .245 with 9 home runs, 25 RBI’s and 37 runs scored. When his major league career ended after the 1977 season, Joe had played in all or part of 8 big league seasons, appearing in 356 games with 780 at bats and hitting 32 home runs and knocking in 92 RBI’s while hitting for a .233 average.
After retiring from baseball, Lis coached youth baseball for over 30 years and in his spare time he enjoyed golf, fishing, and spending time with his grandchildren. Joe Lis owned and operated the Joe Lis Baseball School since 1991 and also worked in insurance since 1989. The obituary for Joe Lis can be found in the Evansville Courier & Press. You can also find a very nice SABR biography about Joe Lis by clicking here. We at Twinstrivia.com would like to pass on our condolences to the Joe Lis family in their time of sorrow.
October 15, 2010 – A nice article about Harmon Killebrew written by Barbara Heilman for Sports Illustrated’s Baseball issue back in April 8, 1963. A nice piece, it is well worth your time and you might even learn a few things about the Twins greatest slugger that you never knew before. Just click on the Sports Illustrated cover to read the article
October 11, 2010 – Don’t tell anybody but Minnesota’s home town hero Twins catcher Joe Mauer has lost each of the nine postseason games he’s played in his major-league career. Three other men have played on the losing team in at least nine postseason games without ever playing in a postseason win: Jody Reed (0-11), Don McMahon (0-10) and Leo Cardenas (0-9). Source: Elias
October 7, 2010 – Twins take the lead, Yankees come back and win – same old script. The Yankees have won seven consecutive postseason games against the Twins, despite the Twins owning a lead in all seven games. That’s the longest such winning streak in postseason history. The next best belongs to the Indians, who won five straight games in that fashion against the Red Sox from 1998 to 1999.
October 9, 2010 – The bad news for Twins fans is that the team extended its postseason losing streak to 11 games on Thursday; the good news is that they cannot, this year, equal the major league record of consecutive postseason losses. The Red Sox lost 13 consecutive postseason games from 1986 to 1995, a streak that started with the Bill Buckner game.
The Twins did match 1 major-league record on Thursday night. The team that won World Series in both 1987 and 1991 by going a combined 8-0 at home has now lost its last 10 postseason home games (a streak that began in 2002); that ties the record set by the Phillies in a streak that lasted from 1915 to 1978 (or from Woodrow Wilson to Jimmy Carter).
October 3, 2010 – After hitting his 20th home run Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, Delmon Young joins Justin Morneau (2008), Torii Hunter (2007), Michael Cuddyer (2006) and Kirby Puckett (1988) as the only players in club history to hit at least 20 home runs, collect at least 40 doubles and drive in at least 100 runs in a single season. Among those five, Morneau and Puckett are the only players to finish those seasons with a plus-.300 batting average. Source: Twins Press Pass
