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
Joe Mauer went 0-for-4 in the Twins’ rain-delayed loss to the Red Sox yesterday. It snapped a unique 15-game hitting streak for Mauer, who struck out at least once in each game during that streak. Mauer is the only player since 1910 (when the major leagues officially began keeping track of strikeouts by batters) to fashion a streak of more than 11 straight games in which he had both hits and strikeouts.
Rochester (AAA – International League) 1B Chris Colabello is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week In seven games Colabello hit .560 (14-for-25) with four doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored and three walks, posting a .607 on-base percentage and a 1.080 slugging. This season the right-handed hitting 1B is hitting .348 (57-for-164) with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 33 RBI in 43 games. The 29-year-old was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent February 2, 2012, after playing Independent ball for seven seasons in the Canadian-American Association. There is a nice story about Colabello here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Colabello in a Twins uniform sometime this year, the man has earned his shot.
5/17/1963 – Outfielder Bob Allison becomes the first Twin to ever hit 3 home runs in a single game when he bangs out 3 against the Indians in Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland.
5/17/1998 – David (Boomer) Wells pitched the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 at Yankee Stadium in front of nearly 50,000 fans on Beanie Baby Day.
5/17/2002 – In a game they would rather forget, the Twins score three times in the top of the 14th at Yankee stadium to take a 13-10 lead, Jason Giambi hits a one-out grand slam off reliever Mike Trombley to give the Bronx Bombers a one-run victory.
5/17/2011 – The face of the Minnesota Twins, the man that every baseball fan in Minnesota knew, the greatest slugger in Twins history, Hall of Famer, Harmon Clayton Killebrew passed away today in Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 74 after suffering from esophageal cancer. The Twins, who were in Seattle wore a number “3” on their right sleeve and will continue to do so for the rest of the season. The Twins players also announced that they will wear their 1961 throw back jerseys for all their remaining home games. The Twins grounds crew painted a large white number “3” behind second base and dug up home plate and placed a picture of Harmon Killebrew batting under home plate and then replaced home plate at Target Field. By the way, the Twins beat the Mariners 2-1 with Killebrew’s number “3” jersey hanging in the dugout. A sad day for sure.
On May 15, 1918 the Washington Senators’ pitcher Walter “Big Train” Johnson pitched a Major League Baseball record 18-inning complete game shutout, to defeat Claude “Lefty” T. Williams and the Chicago White Sox 1-0. The fans at Griffith Stadium were treated to one of the greatest pitching duels in baseball history. Check out the original posting at D.C. Baseball History and take note of the amazing time that it took to play this game.
Aaron Hicks, in Monday’s win against the White Sox, became the first Twins’ rookie in 14 years to hit a home run in each of back-to-back plate appearances of one game. Corey Koskie went deep in consecutive trips to the plate at Tiger Stadium on April 15, 1999.
But maybe even more important was his play in the field. Hicks reached over the center field fence in the sixth inning and snatched a potential game-tying home run by Adam Dunn to end the inning.
Rochester Red Wings (AAA – International League) right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Gibson pitched a 9 inning complete game shutout on May 8 at Toledo, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out eight on 114 pitches. The 25-year-old was selected by the Twins in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Missouri. Gibson, who is 6’6″ and goes about 210 pounds has been ranked in the top 10 of the Twins top prospects list by Baseball America in each of the last four years.
Gibson was limited to 28 innings in 2012 due to “Tommy John” surgery. This season in 7 starts with Rochester, Gibson is 2-4 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has allowed 36 hits in 40.2 innings while striking out 35 and walking 11.
Expectations are high for this Twins prospect and I would expect to see him in the Twins starting rotation no later then late June.
Current Twins minor league standings
Rochester (AAA) – 14-22 and 9 games out in 6th place in the International League North
New Britain (AA) – 20-16 and 2 games out in 2nd place in Easter League East
Ft. Myers (High A) – 27-8 and in first place in Florida State League South
Cedar Rapids (Low A) – 23-10 and in first place in Midwest league West
Combined records 84-56 (.600%)
Oswaldo Arcia celebrated his 22nd birthday with a home run and a triple, helping the Twins defeat the Red Sox in Boston, 5-3. Arcia joined Yogi Berra as the youngest players to homer at Fenway Park on their birthdays. Berra did so at age 22 in 1947, in a game the Yankees lost, 4-3, when Boston scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Ted Williams is next on that list; he marked his 23rd birthday with a home run at Fenway against the Philadelphia Athletics in 1941.
The Twins scored four runs in the top of the first inning last night at Fenway Park, the Red Sox countered with a five-run bottom of the first only to see the Twins raise them by scoring seven runs in the top of the second. This was only the second game in major-league history in which a team scored at least four runs in the top of the first, the home team then scored more runs in the bottom of the first, which was then topped by the road team in the top of the second. The only other game with such an odd line score was played on September 9, 1894 between the Brooklyn Grooms and St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader. Brooklyn scored four runs in the top of the first, St. Louis responded with five runs in the bottom of the first and then Brooklyn came up with six runs in the top of the second inning. The Twins ended up winning the game 15-8.
Cedar Rapids Kernels shortstop Jorge Polanco is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In seven games, Polanco batted .429 (12-for-28) with three doubles and 10 RBI. The switch-hitting 5-foot-11, 190-pound infielder was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in July of 2009 and is in his fourth season of pro ball even though he is only 19 years of age. This season in Cedar Rapids in 26 games (15 at 2B, 3 at SS and 8 as DH), Polanco is hitting .352 with 16 runs scored, one home run and 24 RBI’s. Polanco was named to the MiLB.com Twins organizational All-Star team in 2012.
Previous Twins minor league player of the week winners this season include right-handed pitcher Tyler Duffey, 3B Miguel Sano and outfielder Adam Walker.
Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Byron Buxton is the Twins Minor League Player of the Month for April. In 22 games for the Kernels, the 19-year-old batted .392 (31-for-79) with five doubles, four home runs, 25 RBI while scoring 25 times. Buxton reached base in every game last month, recorded 17 walks and posted a .510 on-base percentage. Buxton was drafted by the Twins in the first round (2nd overall) in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Appling County (Georgia) High School.
Ft. Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher D.J. Baxendale is the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April. Over a span of five starts for the Miracle, he went 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA (29.1 IP, 6 ER). Baxendale struck out 25 and walked just six batters while posting a 0.92 WHIP. Baxendale, 22, was drafted by the Twins in the 10th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arkansas.