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
Brian Dozier delivered a three-run homer to give the Twins the lead for good over the Mariners last night. It was Dozier’s 22nd home run from the leadoff spot since the start of the 2013 season, third most in the majors behind Coco Crisp and Shin-Soo Choo (each with 25).
Dozier has at least 10 home runs from the first slot in the lineup in each of the last two seasons (12 in 2013, 10 in 2014). The last Twins player to do so in consecutive seasons was Shannon Stewart in 2004 (11) and 2005 (10).
Dozier has 11 home runs through the Twins’ 41 games this season. Over the last 25 years, only one other Twins player has hit that many through the team’s first 41 games: Justin Morneau, who did so in 2007 (11), 2009 (12), and 2010 (11).
Brian Dozier hit his tenth home run of the season, his ninth from the first spot in the batting order, in the Twins’ win over the Mariners. Dozier is the second player in Twins franchise history to hit nine or more home runs from the #1 spot in the batting order in the team’s first 40 games of a season. The other to do it was Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett in 1986 (11).
Light-hitting Aaron Hicks delivered a game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Twins a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox. Hicks had a .185 batting average at the time of his game-winner, becoming the first player with a career mark below .190 to produce a walkoff hit since 1980 (minimum: 300 at-bats). The last player to do so was Joe Niekro, (former Twins pitcher) a career .159 hitter at the time of his 17th-inning single that gave the Astros a 1-0 win over the Cubs (Aug. 23, 1980).
Phil Hughes
Twins starter Phil Hughes struck out eight batters without issuing a walk over six innings. It was the first time in 140 major-league starts that Hughes recorded at least seven strikeouts and no walks. For the first time in his MLB career, Hughes has made four consecutive starts without walking a batter.
The Twins entered Thursday’s game against the Red Sox with an all-time record (since 1961) of 4,222-4,263 and needed just one win to match their win total when the franchise was the Washington Senators from 1901-1960, going 4,223-4,864 (46.47%). With their 4-3 victory over the boys from Boston the Minnesota Twins record now stands at 4,223-4,263 for a winning percentage of 49.76%.
May 16, 1928 – Alfred Manuel “Billy” Martin was born in Berkeley, California. Billy played in the majors for 11 seasons with the New York Yankees, Kansas City A’s, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Braves and finished his career with the Minnesota Twins in 1961. Martin managed the Twins in 1969, the Detroit Tigers in 1971-1973, the Texas Rangers in 1973-1975, the Oakland A’s from 1980-1982, the New York Yankees from 1975-1979, 1983, 1985 and again in 1988. Billy Martin died as the result of an automobile accident on December 25, 1989.
May 16, 1983 – The Twins enter the ninth inning at the Metrodome trailing the Oakland A’s 7-0. The Twins hit four home runs in the bottom of the ninth (Dave Engle, Bobby Mitchell, Gary Gaetti, and Mickey Hatcher and they score 6 runs. They have the tying run on first when Dave Engle who pinch-hit a home run to lead off the rally strikes out to end the game. Hatcher’s home run was also as a pinch-hitter marking the third time in Twins history they have pinch-hit two home runs in the same game. The attendance was only 7,056 and you wonder how many fans were actually still at the Dome to witness this amazing comeback that fell a run short. Boxscore
Harvey Mackay
May 16, 1984 – The Twins sell 51,863 tickets to their 8-7 loss to the Blue Jays, but only 6,346 fans show up for the game. The skewed numbers are the result of a massive ticket buyout plan organized by Minneapolis businessman Harvey Mackay to keep the Twins in Minnesota; if the club does not sell 2.41 million tickets this season it can break its lease with the Metrodome. Taking advantage of reduced prices on the Family Day promotion, Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets. Boxscore
May 16, 2010 – Jason Kubel hit a stunning grand slam off Mariano Rivera with two outs in the eighth inning Sunday, and the Twins snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Yankees with a 6-3 victory in Yankee Stadium. Kubel’s third homer of the season and sixth career slam snapped a string of 51 straight converted save opportunities for Rivera at home, tying the major league record set by Eric Gagne with the Dodgers. Nick Blackburn (4-1) allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings for Minnesota, which picked up its first win against New York since Aug. 13, 2008. The Twins had lost 12 straight overall against New York, counting the sweep in last year’s AL division series. Boxscore
As I was doing some historical research for this site the other day I was saddened to find out that former Twins catcher Bud Bulling had passed away this past March 8th in Salem, Oregon at the age of 61.
Terry Charles “Bud” Bulling was born on December 15, 1952 in Lynwood, California and was drafted as a catcher by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the June 1974 amateur draft. Ironically the only other player drafted by Minnesota that year that went on to play for the Twins was another catcher that the Twins drafted in the second round, Butch Wynegar.
Bulling worked his way up through the Twins farm system and got his first call to the big leagues at the age of 24 to back up the Twins starting catcher who was none other than Butch Wynegar. Bulling made his big league debut on July 3, 1977 in the Twins 6-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. In his only at bat that day Bud struck out against knuckleballer Wilbur Wood. Bud spent the remainder of the 1977 with Minnesota as the back-up catcher and appeared in 15 games hitting .156 in 32 at bats while knocking in 5 RBI with his 5 hits. Bulling spent the 1978 season with AA Orlando. In March of 1979 Bulling was purchased from the Twins by the Seattle Mariners.
Bulling spent the 1979 and 1980 seasons in the minors with the Spokane Indians before returning to the bigs in 1981. He caught Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry‘s 300th win in the Kingdome on May 6, 1982 going 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI in the 7-3 win over the New York Yankees. After spending all of 1981 and 1982 with the Seattle Mariners Bud started the 1983 season hitless in 5 at-bats and was sent down to the AAA Salt Lake City Gulls where he played out his final season in pro ball. After leaving pro ball Bulling enjoyed spending time and traveling with his mother Iada.
Bud Bulling with his Mom Iada.
Bud Bulling passed away on March 8, 2014 in Salem, Oregon at the age of 61 after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was survived by his mother Iada Bulling, his son’s Casey and Joshua and his three mullions (nieces) Sheri, Kandi, and Kerri.
Thank you for the memories Bud Bulling and may you rest in peace. We at Twins Trivia and Twins fans everywhere would like to pass on our condolences to the Bud Bulling family and their friends.
I spent a few minutes today talking with Bud’s teammate Mike Cubbage and he shared a story about Bud with me that you can listen to here.
Follow up – Mike Cubbage was kind enough to give his bat to the Bulling family so they can treasure it as a family keepsake. What a wonderful thing to do! Here is a nice photo after the family received the bat, the smiles tell you all you need to know.
Eduardo Nunez capped Minnesota’s three-run eighth inning with an RBI single that gave the Twins a 4-3 lead that they never relinquished yesterday in their victory at Detroit. The Tigers had won the last 53 regular-season home games in which they led in the eighth inning or later, which was the longest current streak of its kind in the majors before Sunday’s loss.
This weeks Twins Minor League Player of the Week is 19-year-old Cedar Rapids Kernels (A-Midwest League) infielder Engelb Vielma. Vielma played in seven games for the Kernels, hitting .423 (11-for-26) with two doubles, one triple, three RBI, one walk and a .444 on-base percentage.
It seems like everybody that comes from Venezuela is a shortstop and this scrawny looking 5’11” and 157 pound switch-hitting Maracaibo, Venezuela native that the Twins signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2011 fits that same mold. Vielma played in the Dominican Summer League in 2012 and moved up to the Gulf Coast Twins in 2013 and had a 6 game cup of coffee stay with Elizabethton Twins late in 2013. Certainly not a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination Vielma has no home runs and has hit .251 in 483 career plate appearances. It’s the glove they say that makes Vielma stand out but yet when you look at his stats he has 38 errors in 122 games.
We have a trivia question for you. Prior to the 2014 season only six players in big league history have gotten 1,000 or more hits in both the NL and AL, two of these players once wore Twins uniforms. Can you name them?
Kurt Suzuki‘s two-out single off Justin Verlander with the bases full in the seventh inning plated a pair of runs, and that was enough for the Twins to sneak off with a 2-1 victory at Detroit on Friday. Verlander’s nine-game winning streak against the Twins ended; it had been tied for the longest current streak by any major-leaguer starter against any opposing team. Felix Hernandez has won his last nine decisions as a starter against the Tigers, as have Edwin Jackson against the Indians, and Kyle Kendrick against the Marlins. It’s not easy to load the bases against Verlander, but if you do, you have a chance. With Suzuki’s hit on Friday night, opponents now have a .339 career batting average with the bases loaded against the Tigers ace (39 hits in 115 at-bats). Sourc
Kurt Suzuki is hitting .340 (16-for-47) with two doubles, 13 RBI and a .436
on-base percentage in 13 road games, his average and OBP both rank fifth best in the AL. Kurt has five multi-hit games on the road and has reached base in 11 of 13 games.
The Twins enter today’s game with an all-time record (since 1961) of 4220-4261 and need just three wins to match their win total when the franchise was the Washington Senators from 1901-1960, psting a 4223-4864 record. The Senators were one of the eight original franchises in the American League for sixty years. The Senators played baseball in our nation’s capital, winning one World Championship in 1924 and three AL pennants (1924, 1925, and 1933. After the 1960 season owner Calvin Griffith moved the Washington Senators from Washington, DC to Minnesota.
Don’t forget to stop by our “Today in Twins History” page and checked out what happened on this day in Minnesota Twins history.
Phil Hughes allowed two runs in 6.1 innings in the Twins’ 5-2 win over the Orioles. Hughes, who has defeated the Royals, Tigers and Orioles over his last three starts while posting a 2.79 ERA, has won three consecutive starts for the first time since he did so for the Yankees in September 2012. Hughes made 34 starts in the interim and registered a 4-16 record with a 5.24 ERA in those games.
New Britain (AA-Eastern League) first baseman Kennys Vargas is the Twins Minor
League Player of the Week. Vargas played in seven games for the Rock Cats, hitting .476 (10-for-21) with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and five walks. The 6′ 5″ 275-pounder is hitting .289 (26-for-90) with four doubles, six home runs, 17 RBI, 14 walks
and 11 runs scored in 26 games this season.
The 23-year-old Vargas who is from Canovanas, Puerto Rico drove in 93 RBI for Single-A Ft. Myers last season, the most in the Florida State League. Vargas was undrafted and signed by the Twins (scout Hector Otero) in February 2009 for a $125,000 signing bonus and was added to the Twins 40 man roster this past November. Vargas was suspended for 50 games by MLB for a drug policy violation in August 2011.
