Month: March 2014

TMR’s 2014 Fan Cost Index

Each year Team Marketing Report publishes their MLB Fan Cost index and here is what they have published for 2014.

The average Major League Baseball season ticket has increased by 2.0 percent to $27.93 for the 2014 season, according to the Team Marketing Report Fan Cost Index®.

This minor increase is part of a trend; last season, the average MLB ticket increased by 1.8 percent. The year before that, there was no percentage increase. In 2010-11, tickets rose by a combined 2.7 percent.

The Fan Cost Index (FCI) total, the average price to take a family of four to a game, increased by 2.3 percent to $212.46. The FCI is created by combining four non-premium season tickets, two beers, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking, two programs or scorecards, and two adult-size hats.

TMR uses season ticket pricing and the lowest full-size prices for the ancillary items, so if a team has an $8 beer and a $6 beer, TMR uses the latter to show how much, or how little, one can spend at a game.

The average “premium” season ticket is $93.41. TMR splits up premium and general seats in its methodology. The Yankees lead baseball with an average premium price of $305.39, while the Dodgers are second at $254.19.

The “premium” designation is supposed to be used for club seats or any section that has special features. According to TMR research, the MLB average for premium seats is 13.7 percent . The Yankees classify 16.2 percent of season ticket seats as premium, while the Dodgers classify 8.6 percent.

Some teams with newer stadiums have a heavy dose of premium seating. The New York Mets, for example, classify an “amazin’” 59.3 percent of seats as premium. Their premium average ticket is $83.78, compared to a general ticket of $25.30. The Washington Nationals are second-highest in premium percentage at 26 percent. Their premium average is $187.29, while their general ticket is $35.24.

This season, 17 teams showed increases of more than 1 percent in general average tickets, while only two teams lowered their average ticket by more than 1 percent. Eleven teams kept ticket prices essentially flat.

The two teams that dropped prices had the worst records in baseball. After a 111-loss season in its first season in the American League, Houston’s average ticket price fell 13.6 percent to $27.98. Miami, which lost 100 games, dropped ticket prices by 7.7 percent to $27.01.

Interestingly, many of these increases came from the lower-priced teams. Of the 10 lowest-priced tickets in baseball, nine had percentage increases this season, with only Toronto going down. Just four of the 10 highest-priced tickets increased.

Fresh off an unlikely World Series, the Boston Red Sox remain the most expensive average ticket at $52.32, still above the New York Yankees’ $51.55, whose season tickets remained flat. The Red Sox’s price deserves a minor explanation. We have the Red Sox listed with a 4.9 percent increase. But in the 2013 FCI, we show Boston has an average ticket price of $53.38. As it turns out, the Red Sox had been submitting single-game prices for a few years. We corrected it this season and did a retroactive change to last year’s price. So technically, the Yankees had the highest average ticket price last season.

The Chicago Cubs remain baseball’s third most-expensive ticket at $44.16, which is down 0.9 percent from last season.Their FCI of $303.64 is third, and includes a $25 parking fee for nearby lots. The Cubs are offering a free lot, with shuttle service, about 2 1/4 miles west of Wrigley this year. Speaking of the Cubs, after signing a big-money deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev they jettisoned longtime beer partner Old Style from the vendors to stands, while adding Goose Island beers to the vending options. The cheapest beer at Wrigley is $7.50 for a 16-ounce pour at several stands around the park.

The average MLB beer stayed flat, price-wise, at $6.09. The Marlins boast the most expensive, cheapest beer option at $8 for a 16-ounce beer.

The cheapest average ticket this year comes again from the San Diego Padres $16.37, which is a 2.4 percent increase from 2013. The Arizona Diamondbacks, with an average ticket of $17.98 (up 6.4 percent), has the cheapest FCI again at $126.89.

Of course, market size, and fan demographics, often determine prices. Certainly, many fans don’t get what they pay for in regard to winning teams.

Of the teams with the top 10 FCIs in 2014, only three – Boston, St, Louis and Detroit -made the playoffs last season.

Compare that to the bottom 10, where five teams – Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland – made the postseason.

Kansas City, fresh off its first winning season since 2003, bumped up prices by 24.7 percent, the biggest jump in baseball. The Royals’ average ticket price of $24.73 is still well below the league average. The Dodgers had the second-high percentage increase at 15.3 percent, with an average ticket of $25.80.

EDITOR’S NOTE: TMR reserves the right to make retroactive changes to the FCI and could update the official chart after the initial release. All information comes from teams, concessionaires, MLB and affiliated websites.

2014 MLB Fan Cost Index

Checking in at Hammond Stadium after Twins left town

I was going to head over to Hammond Stadium on Saturday but it was raining and the wind was blowing so I decided to wait until Sunday and catch the Rochester versus New Britain and Ft. Myers versus Cedar Rapids games. I got there a few minutes before the games started at Noon on a beautiful sunny Sunday in Ft. Myers. Hammond Stadium sat empty and the crowds at each minor league field were small and the players sitting in the stands that were not suited up for these games easily out numbered the fans.

 

Kyle Gibson
Kyle Gibson

The Twins left Kyle Gibson behind in Ft. Myers so he could pitch in one of these games and sure enough he was the starting pitcher for New Britain. The first two innings went smoothly for Gibson but in the third inning the Red Wings hit Gibson all over the field as he gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs. In that inning it appeared that everything he threw to the plate was hit hard and Gibson would throw the pitch and high-tail it over to back up third base. To me Gibson looked really frustrated  and appeared to have lost his composure. He calmed down after that but an inning or so later he took a hard shot off his left shin but chased the ball down only to throw it wildly to first base. After five innings it was decided that Gibson had enough and he left the game having given up 8 hits and 5 runs. Not exactly what Gibson or the Twins were looking for.

 

Jeremias Pineda
Jeremias Pineda

On the other field a player that caught my attention was outfielder Jeremias Pineda. Pineda who is scheduled to start the season with Cedar Rapids this year was acquired from the Boston Red Sox in August 2012 in the Danny Valencia trade. The 23-year-old Pineda is a 5-11, 175 pound switch-hitter from the Dominican Republic, signed by the Red Sox in 2011. I am not sure how much of a prospect Pineda really is but on this day he stood out because of his speed and hustle. I watched him hit a hard ground ball to third that he beat out easily because of speed and hustle although the third baseman might have made it a closer play had he not waited on the ball. Later in the game Pineda was on first base when the batter hit a routine double play ball just a few steps to the left of second. The shortstop decided to touch second and then complete the double play by throwing to first. Turns out that was easier said then done as Pineda beat the shortstop to the bag at second. Speed and hustle again and it brought a lot of comments and head shaking from both teams.

It was fun to watch these Twins minor league teams play and learn the game. One player who will remain nameless hit a grounder to third that he apparently thought was foul and he didn’t move out of the batters box, turns out it was fair and the third baseman made an easy throw to first for the out. As the batter sheepishly walked back to the dugout it was easy to hear his manager tell him, “it is Sunday today, we are running them all out today”.

I took a bunch of pictures again today and I hope to get them uploaded later today. Not sure if this is my last visit to Hammond Stadium this year or not but I have enjoyed every minute of spring training here in Ft. Myers., almost time to head for home.

This Day in Twins History – March 31

March 31, 1987 – Just before the Twins open their championship 1987 season they trade pitchers Bryan Hickerson, Ray Velasquez, and Jose Dominguez to the Giants for pitcher David Blakely and outfielder Dan Gladden.

March 31, 1999 – The Twins send pitcher Dan Serafini to the Cubs and get cash for their coffers.

March 31, 2003 – The earliest opening day in Minnesota Twins history takes place at the Twins beat the Tigers 3-1 in Detroit.

March 31, 2010 – Twins outfielder Denard Span struck his mother, Wanda Wilson, in the chest with a foul ball while batting in the first inning on Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa against the Yankees in a spring training game. Span was leading off the game against the Yankees’ Phil Hughes when he fouled a 3-2 pitch directly to the left of the visitors’ third-base dugout, where a group of friends and family members were settling in for the game. The ball struck his mother, who was sitting three rows from the field and wearing a Twins jersey with Span’s name on it, with a thud that was audible to the players on the Minnesota bench. Span immediately dashed into the seating bowl, consoling her as help arrived. Luckily, Span’s mother was not seriously hurt and after being checked out, watched the remainder of the game.

Make sure you stop by and check out our “Today in Twins History” page every day.

The Twins Trivia Magic 8-Ball comes into focus

The Twins are in Chicago by now having left Florida and their spring training record of 9-16-3 in their wake. Earlier today the Twins won their final 2014 Grapefruit League outing by a score of 7-4. The Twins scored more than five runs in just five exhibition games and scored two or fewer runs on 10 occasions. The Twins ended spring training with a .360% winning percentage, the worst in the American league. All that being said, the team along with every other team in the American League stands at 0-0. With the regular season just around the corner, some teams have high expectations and others are left with hope and a prayer. The Twins who finished last season at 66-96 and booked their third straight 90+ loss season are part of that latter group and strangely enough this team does not have a single player on their opening day roster that qualifies as a rookie. How strange is that?

So how many games will the Twins win in 2014? I see the Twins improving this year in spite of what has been a horrendous spring going back to when Terry Ryan announced he had cancer, to Miguel Sano‘s injured elbow that needs surgery, all the way through the spring training season where Twins players acted as if it was a crime to get more than two hits in an inning or that they would be sent to prison if they attempted to steal a base. The Twins can brag up the 2014 All-Star game all they want but many Twins fans have jumped off the band wagon and others are mystified as to how a team this bad for so long has no rookies on the roster while players like Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett grace the roster. How about  Chris Colabello who spent 2005-2011 playing in an independent league before the Twins gave him a shot? This team will improve as the season goes along but there are numerous players on this opening day roster that will not be wearing TWINS on their chest when the 2014 season comes to an end.  I have no doubt in my mind that Byron Buxton will be playing centerfield in Target Field some time this summer and Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia will be his wingmen. So without further ado, here is what the Twins will do….

According to Mr. Einstein there will be no fourth straight 90+ loss season for the Twins. Although not a SABR member, the man knows his numbers.
According to Mr. Einstein there will be no fourth straight 90+ loss season for the Twins and that there will actually be an 11 game improvement. Although not a SABR member, the man knows his numbers.

The 2014 MLB season should be exciting once again and Twins Trivia has consulted with the experts, reviewed all the stats and more importantly shaken the old  Magic 8-Ball and here is what will happen in 2014.

NL West

1. Dodgers
2. Giants (wild card)
3. Diamondbacks
4. Rockies
5. Padres

..

NL Central

1. Cardinals
2. Pirates (wild card)
3. Reds
4. Brewers
5. Cubs

..

NL East

1. Nationals
2. Braves
3. Mets
4. Phillies
5. Marlins

..

AL West

1. Rangers
2. A’s
3. Mariners
4. Angels
5. Astros

..

AL Central

1. Royals
2. Tigers (wild card)
3. Indians
4. Twins
5. White Sox

..

AL East

1. Rays
2. Red Sox (wild card)
3. Orioles
4. Yankees
5. Blue Jays

..

New blood in the Series folks! When the smoke and fog clears, the Magic 8-Ball and I see the Washington Nationals beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4 games to three in a very exciting World Series. (I know Twins fans don’t want to hear this but the 26-year-old Wilson Ramos will finally stay healthy all year and have a break-out season and become one of baseball’s top catchers)

 

Watching the Twins lose to the Pirates 2-1

We attended our final Twins spring training game yesterday as we watched the Twins lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a sunny day albeit only 60 degrees at game time with a stiff wind blowing to left field. Ricky Nolasco started for the home town nine and pitched a strong 4 innings giving up just one hit while striking out three in his tune-up for opening day against the White Sox in Chicago. It was a fast paced (2 hours and 24 minutes) game with little hitting but it still had some interest when a mini bean-ball war broke out. Pirates starter Brandon Cumpton threw a pitch that catcher Kurt Suzuki was just able to get his face out of the way of and that started the ball rolling. Not too longer after that Anthony Swarzak nailed Tony Sanchez and then Oswaldo Arcia took one in the back and both benches ended up with a warning.

Swarzak’s pitching line came to an end after two innings when a line drive off the bat of Travis Snider struck him in the forearm, but Swarzak grabbed the ricochet and threw the batter out. As he walked off the field, the Pirates were yelling something at Swarzak and he stopped to yell back. Things got a bit testy before Swarzak was pulled away. The Pirates who had brought a lot of players to Hammond Stadium were all on the top step of their dugout ready to mix it up with the Twins but it never came to that.

The old saying is that if you give the team a freebie like the Pirates did when catcher Tony Sanchez dropped Arcia’s easy pop up behind the plate it will come back to bite you and it certainly held true here when Arcia hit a rocket out to right-center field that just cleared the fence for a home run and gave the Twins a short-lived 1-0 lead. The lead did not last long however, as the Pirates loaded the bases with two-out and a ground ball was hit to first baseman Joe Mauer who knocked it down and then panicked trying to pick up the ball and by the time he had it under control the Pirates runner from second base was racing home with the winning run and Mauer’s throw to the plate was too late.

Shortstop Pedro Florimon who is just coming back from an appendectomy was his normal self, he made an error on an easy play and then made a very nice play later in the game. With the bat, Florimon seemed lost but that is really nothing new for Pedro. Manager Gardenhire said after the game that maybe Florimon’s bat is not ready yet and he may not be in the opening day line-up. On the plus side the Twins did turn two nice double plays.

There were 6,585 fans at the game but we had very little to cheer about and it was so quiet for most of the game that you could hear a pin drop. There is not a lot of excitement with this Twins team this spring and with an 8-14 record which is second worst in the AL there seems to be little hope for the up-coming season.

The Twins pitching is not that bad but their hitting this spring is a whole different story. Let’s take a quick look at the batting averages for the Twins starters –

C – Suzuki – .200
1B – Mauer – .300
2B – Dozier – .255
SS – Florimon – .150
3B – Plouffe – .239
LF – Willingham – .056
CF – Hicks – .318
RF – Arcia – .256
DH – Kubel – .195
 
Tom Brunansky
Tom Brunansky

Between them the leading home run hitter has 2 (Arcia) and the RBI leader has 6 (Arcia again). Both Eduardo Escobar (9) and Chris Colabello (8) have more RBI then any of the starters and they are not assured of even making this team. I just can’t see this current line-up staying intact for very deep into the season. If this team gets off to a bad start there will be changes galore in no time. Before spring training started I thought this team had a chance to finish at .500 with the improved pitching, now I am thinking they will still be better than last year but will fall short of the .500 mark. The hitting on this team this spring is just plain appalling, where is that great hitting coach Brunansky now when they need him. I have not heard Brunansky’s name mentioned in weeks, is he still part of the coaching staff? Then again the case could certainly be made that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear….

But in the end it is still spring training and no one but the Diamondbacks has lost a game yet so there is still hope that the hit fairy will bless the Twins bats and that they will come to life in Chicago. Come on Twins, give me a reason to watch you play ball every day this summer. Please!

Barely a week left in spring training and things are not looking good

Vance Worley
Vance Worley

The Twins announced yesterday that RHP Vance Worley, who posted a 13.50 ERA in spring training, was sent outright to Class AAA Rochester on Friday. In order to send Worley to AAA Rochester, Worley has to clear waivers, which he did. That means that every team in baseball passed on Worley, who finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 with the Phillies and was last year’s Opening Day starter for the Twins. Was does that tell you about the 26 year-old Worley if no team in baseball is willing to take a chance on the guy that was 3rd in ROY voting just a couple of years earlier when pitchers are in such demand? Are the Twins wasting a AAA roster spot and possibly delaying some others pitchers development by having Worley there? If I was the Twins I would have the “Vanimal” on a very short and tight leash.

Twins GM Bill Smith traded outfielder Ben Revere to the Phillies in order to acquire Worley and minor league pitcher Trevor May in December 2012. The only saving grace from this trade is if May becomes a decent starting pitcher for Minnesota in the near future.

We were at Tuesday’s game when Worley had his last start this spring for the Twins and it was a pitiful performance as the Tampa Rays pounded the Twins to a tune of 11-3. Worley lasted just 2 and 2/3 innings and gave up 11 hits (including 6 doubles) and walked 2 while giving up 7 earned runs. If I remember correctly there was not a blooper in the bunch, the Rays were crushing the ball. As I said earlier, the Twins lost that game 11-3 and we left after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 8-1 and we hardly ever leave games early. The Twins had 8 hits and 9 walks in that game and could only muster 3 runs, that is some bad baseball. When we attended a rained out game against the Cardinals earlier this month we were able to send in our $10 parking ticket for a refund, I wonder if I should send in my parking ticket for this game to Dave St. Peter and see if I can get a refund because of the Twins poor play that night? Maybe I will.

Rob Antony
Rob Antony

The other day acting GM Rob Antony made some strong comments about outfielders Aaron Hicks and Alex Presley not stepping up this spring to earn the centerfield starting job and the lack of hitting by free agent signees Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett. I applaud Mr. Antony for saying what is on his mind and being honest about the state of this ballclub and I wish more of the Twins organization were as honest. I really expected this team to play close to .500 ball this year (and I still think they can) but based on what I have seen todate the team and its fans could be in for a long season. We all know that spring training means next to nothing as far as team regular season wins are concerned but the Twins play does send a message to Twins fans on what they should expect this season. Spring training is winding down and has about a week to go, the Twins had better start playing some better baseball soon if they want to see fans butts in the Target field seats this year.

The team started off spring training full of optimism in spite of GM Terry Ryan’s cancer diagnosis but the Miguel Sano injury seemed to drain the life right out of this team and its staff. Now is the time for manager Ron Gardenhire to step up and show his stuff by playing what he thinks is his best line-up and getting this team ready for some real baseball. The Twins strategy should be simple, the best players get the jobs and if they don’t cut the mustard then it should be “next man up” until this team starts to show some life and energy. Twins fans deserve to watch a team that wants to play and to win!

Learn a bit about prospect Lewis Thorpe

Lewis Thorpe
Lewis Thorpe

Jake Seiner did a nice piece on MiLB.com a few days ago about Twins pitching prospect Lewis Thorpe that I thought you might enjoy reading and you can check out here. Thorpe pitched for the GLC Twins at the age of 17 last season and was 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA and a 0.864 WHIP. In 44 innings he allowed only 32 hits while striking out 64 batters. It will be interesting to see how Thorpe does as he moves up the Twins minor league ladder. Thorpe who was given $500,000 to sign is expected to start the season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

 

Top Twins rookie starting pitchers

The Twins have a reputation now days of bringing their young players, particularly their young pitchers along very slowly but that has not always been the case. In today’s game pitches are counted and innings are watched from year to year to make sure that pitchers do not have a huge jump in innings pitched from one year to the next. We fans sometimes complain about how long it takes a player to reach the majors but think what its like for the team itself. They draft the guy and then they have to pay him as he develops his skills, they get no return on their investment unless the player reaches the major leagues and becomes a successful player. The temptation must be huge to push the guy along to get a quick return on the money spent, but if you push him too quickly all kinds of bad things can happen.

Let’s take a look at the case of RHP Roger Erickson who the Twins drafted in round 3 of the 1977 June amateur draft. Erickson signed and was sent to “AA” Orlando where he pitched 109 innings in 16 games (14 starts) with 10 complete games. This is all after he pitched in college that spring. I was not able to locate any of Erickson’s college stats. The next year Erickson gets a spring training invite and makes the 1978 Twins starting rotation. The 21-year-old rookie makes his major league debut when he starts the second game of the season for the Twins and beats the Seattle Mariners 5-4 at the Kingdome. Erickson goes on to start a club leading 37 games for the Twins with 14 complete games and an amazing 265.2 innings pitched. Erickson finished the 1878 season with a 14-13 record with a 3.96 ERA , a WHIP of 1.306 and 121 strikeouts. Erickson was not a strikeout pitcher but more in the mold of a Brad Radke type of pitcher.  In 1979 Erickson went 3-10 with a 5.63 ERA in 21 starts (zero complete games) and 123 innings, in 1980 his record was 7-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 191.1 innings and in 1981 Erickson went 3-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 91.1 innings. In May of 1982 after a 4-3 start the Twins had seen enough and traded Erickson and catcher Butch Wynegar to the New York Yankees for pitchers Pete Filson and John Pacella and infielder Larry Milbourne and a suitcase full of cash. Roger Erickson pitched in a total of 21 games for the Yankees in 1982 and 1983 and at the age of 27 his big league playing days were behind him. Erickson tried to come back in 1984, again in 1987 and still again in 1989 in the minors with the Tigers and the Cardinals but he never again put on a big league uniform.

This is one of baseball classic cases of pitcher abuse, a situation where Twins manager Gene Mauch and pitching coach Camilo Pascual could not see the forest for the trees and killed a promising career before it really had a chance to get started. Erickson’s career ended prematurely at the age of 27 primarily because he pitched too many innings at too young an age. When he last pitched in the big leagues he was just 27 but he had already been in the majors for 6 seasons and he had already logged almost 800 innings with 265 of those in his first season. In the end the Twins lost a promising pitcher and Roger Erickson was robbed of his career. A loss-loss for both sides. Just a sad story all around.

Almost every day you hear about another big league pitcher having forearm or elbow tightness and the next thing you know they are off to see Dr. Andrews or someone like him to get a second opinion before undergoing “Tommy John” surgery. Are there more problems of this type now even with all the attention given to limiting innings and pitch counts. What are today’s pitchers doing differently that is causing these problems? Is it all about the fact that the pitchers today seem to throw harder than the pitchers of the past did? Are pitchers just not getting enough rest between seasons end and the start of the next season? Or maybe it is just the opposite, maybe the pitchers are not throwing enough? Is specialization of the athletes at much younger ages adding to the pitching arm woes? Or have these problems always been there and we just called it elbow tendonitis or a sore arm in the past and prescribed rest and/or retirement?

 

Roger Erickson
Roger Erickson

Here is a list of Twins pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings in their rookie seasons. *

Rk Player IP GS Year Age G CG SHO W L W-L% SV H BB SO ERA BA
1 Roger Erickson 265.2 37 1978 21 37 14 0 14 13 .519 0 268 79 121 3.96 .263
2 Jim Hughes 249.2 34 1975 23 37 12 2 16 14 .533 0 241 127 130 3.82 .255
3 Paul Thormodsgard 218.0 37 1977 23 37 8 1 11 15 .423 0 236 65 94 4.62 .280
4 Ken Schrom 196.1 28 1983 28 33 6 1 15 8 .652 0 196 80 80 3.71 .266
5 Nick Blackburn (RoY-8th) 193.1 33 2008 26 33 0 0 11 11 .500 0 224 39 96 4.05 .292
6 Gary Serum 184.1 23 1978 21 34 6 1 9 9 .500 1 188 44 80 4.10 .266
7 Brad Radke (RoY-9th) 181.0 28 1995 22 29 2 1 11 14 .440 0 195 47 75 5.32 .275
8 Scott Diamond 173.0 27 2012 25 27 1 1 12 9 .571 0 184 31 90 3.54 .274
9 Eric Milton 172.1 32 1998 22 32 1 0 8 14 .364 0 195 70 107 5.64 .282
10 Joe Mays 171.0 20 1999 23 49 2 1 6 11 .353 0 179 67 115 4.37 .270
11 Vic Albury 164.0 22 1974 27 32 4 1 8 9 .471 0 159 80 85 4.12 .259
12 Bert Blyleven 164.0 25 1970 19 27 5 1 10 9 .526 0 143 47 135 3.18 .232
13 Kevin Tapani (RoY-5th) 159.1 28 1990 26 28 1 1 12 8 .600 0 164 29 101 4.07 .264
14 Les Straker 154.1 26 1987 27 31 1 0 8 10 .444 0 150 59 76 4.37 .257
15 Mark Redman (RoY-6th) 151.1 24 2000 26 32 0 0 12 9 .571 0 168 45 117 4.76 .281
16 Glen Perkins 151.0 26 2008 25 26 0 0 12 4 .750 0 183 39 74 4.41 .301
17 Bill Zepp 151.0 20 1970 23 43 1 1 9 4 .692 2 154 51 64 3.22 .266
18 Frank Viola 126.0 22 1982 22 22 3 1 4 10 .286 0 152 38 84 5.21 .302
19 Pete Redfern 118.0 23 1976 21 23 1 1 8 8 .500 0 105 63 74 3.51 .241
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/12/2014.

* = From 1947 through 1956, each BBWAA voter used discretion as to who qualified as a rookie. In 1957, the term was first defined as someone with fewer than 75 at bats or 45 innings pitched in any previous Major League season. This guideline was later amended to 90 at bats, 45 innings pitched, or 45 days on a Major League roster before September 1 of the previous year. The current standard of 130 at bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club (excluding time in military service or on the disabled list) before September 1 was adopted in 1971.

Nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon

I spent Saturday afternoon at Hammond Stadium going back and forth between fields 2 and 3 where I watched the Twins Ft. Myers Miracle and Cedar Rapids Kernels take on the Orioles Frederick and Delmarva teams. I focused mainly on the Ft. Myers and Frederick game but I was also able to watch the other game because the fields are so close together.

Jose Berrios started for the Miracle and pitched 3 scoreless innings and was followed on the mound by Tyler Duffey and David Hurlbut. Duffey pitched well but Hurlbut got knocked around pretty good in his couple innings of work.  The Twins however; were up big by the time Hurlbut took the mound and the Twins ended up winning 7-3.  The starting line-up for the Miracle had Mitch Garver catching, Dalton Hicks at first, Logan Wade at second, Ryan Walker at short, Travis Harrison at third, Max Kepler in left, Zack Granite in center and Adam Walker in right. Catcher Bryan Santy hit the games only home run, a long blast well over the left field fence.

A couple of observations from the game. Right fielder Adam Walker is a big guy and he hit 27 home runs for Cedar Rapids last season but today his play in RF left something to be desired. There were several balls hit to right that he seemed to pull up on and let the ball drop in front of him for singles that could have been caught with a better jump on the ball. First baseman Dalton Hicks is listed at 6’5″ and 228 and I am not sure when they last had Hicks step on a scale because the man has to be at least 250 and a case could be made that he could have easily stretched his long single into a double had he hustled down the line a little more. Later in the game manager Doug Mientkiewicz moved Travis Harrison from 3B to left field and Joel Licon came in to play third. Harrison continues to struggle in the field (although not in this game) and the Twins are trying to find a position for Harrison because he has some pop in his bat. I think you will see more and more of Harrison playing a corner outfield spot rather than the “hot corner”.

Joel Licon being helped off the field
Joel Licon being helped off the field

I mentioned Joel Licon because an inning or so later he ended up getting beaned but fortunately the ball seemed to catch mostly helmet. Licon started heading to first base but stopped about half way there and dropped to one knee. After a couple of minutes Licon left the game but he looked dazed as he sat on the bench. Hopefully Licon will be OK and not suffer any concussion symptoms but when that ball hit his helmet the loud bang got everyone’s attention from both fields.

I took a number of pictures during the game and will try to get them posted on Monday.