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
Cedar Rapids (Low – A) first baseman/outfielder Trey Vavra is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Vavra, who bats and throws from the right-side played in six games, hitting .560 (10-for-19) with one double, two RBI, six walks and eight runs scored. Vavra has played in 27 games for the Kernels this season, hitting .319 (30-for-94) with six doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI and 19 runs scored. Trey was selected by the Twins in the 33rd round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Florida Southern College and is the son of Twins Bench Coach Joe Vavra. In 2014 Vavra played in 50 games for Elizabethton and hit .319 with one home run and had 34 RBI.
The Twins finished their 11-game home stand with an 8-3 record by coming from behind to record a 6-5 win over the Athletics on Thursday afternoon. Minnesota won only one of three games versus the Tigers to begin the homestand, but swept a four-game series against the White Sox and then beat Oakland in three of four games. This is the third time since Target Field opened in 2010 that the Twins have won eight games on one homestand. They posted 8-1 records on nine-game homestands in both 2010 (Aug. 31-Sept. 8) and 2011 (June 9-19). Source: ELIAS
Eddie Rosario found the first big league pitch he saw to his liking and he hammered it into the Target Field left-center field bleachers for a home run. The pitch was thrown by left-handed starter Scott Kazmir and put the Twins up 1-0 en-route to a 13-0 white-washing of the Oakland A’s. Rosario becomes the 115th player to hit a home run in his first major league at bat but only the 29th player in big league history to swing at the first pitch he saw in the major leagues and hit it for a home run.
Rosario goes into the Twins record books as the 10th Twin to hit a home run in his first game but the first to do it on the first pitch of his first plate appearance. Six of the 10 home runs in the first game came on the first at bat.
I have been waiting for the Twins to call up Rosario and it was nice to see him have a positive impact in his first major league game. Rosario’s parents were in the stands to witness their sons historic moment. Although Rosario’s stay in Minnesota is expected to be short, you never know, he might just be here to stay. Congratulations Eddie!
5/4/1974 – Less than 3 months after pitcher Dick Woodson wins MLB’s first salary arbitration case, the Twins exile him to the New York Yankees for pitcher Mike Pazik. Owner Calvin Griffith swore he would never pay Woodson the money and he held true to his word.
5/4/1975 – The Minnesota Twins retired their first number ever, HOF Harmon Killebrew’s number 3. Harmon, playing for the Kansas City Royals, hit his first ever home run against the Twins and it was at Met Stadium in a Twins 6-3 win over the Royals. Vic Albury gave up the long ball to Harmon in the first inning. Box score.
Stew Thornley wrote the following in the Halsey Hall chapter of SABR “Old-timers” may remember a promotion by Tootsie Rolls in 1975 to commemorate the one millionth run in major league history (with only the history of the American and National leagues being recognized). The countdown came down to Sunday, May 4, 1975. At Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota, the Twins held a pre-game ceremony to retire the number of Harmon Killebrew, who then homered in the first inning for the Kansas City Royals. In the bottom of the second, Rod Carew was on third for the Twins with no out. Teammates, monitoring the progress of runs that day, yelled at Carew that he was in line to score the millionth run. When Steve Brye hit a fly to right, Carew tagged and raced for home. However, the strong-arm of Al Cowens nailed Carew at the plate, taking away his chance for the millionth run. Soon after Bob Watson of the Astros, in the first game of a doubleheader in San Francisco, scored on a home run by Milt May and took the honor. The run came at 12:52 Pacific time. Watson was on second and ran as fast as he could to reach home. He reportedly crossed home plate at Candlestick Park four seconds before Dave Concepcion, who had homered in Cincinnati and also beat cheeks around the bases. Carew, by being thrown out by Cowens, missed out on the prize: $10,000 and 1 million Tootsie Rolls”.
5/4/1982 – Minnesota Twins’ rookie outfielder Jim Eisenreich, who suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome, removes himself from the game due to taunts from Boston Red Sox bleacher fans.
5/4/1984 – In the fourth inning of the Twins-A’s game, Oakland’s Dave Kingman hit a ball into one of the Metrodome roof’s drainage holes and the ball never came back down. Kingman’s pop-up had gone up 180 feet and into one of the seven-inch drainage holes in the inner layer of the roof. The umpires gathered to discuss the event that had never happened before in a major league game and awarded Kingman a ground rule double. In the ninth inning Kingman homered for Oakland’s only run and the Twins won 3-1. Before the game the next day, a Dome worker found the ball and let it fall on the field to a waiting Twins outfielder Mickey Hatcher, he dropped it. Box score.
Mike Lincoln Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
5/4/1999 – The Twins beat the Yankees 8-4 at the Metrodome as Mike Lincoln gets the win and the Twins get victory number 3,000. Box score.
Chattanooga (AA) outfielder Byron Buxton is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Buxton played in seven games, hitting .423 (11-for-26) with one double, one home run, six RBI, nine runs scored, six walks and four stolen bases. Buxton has played in 21 games for the Lookouts, hitting .284 (23-for-81) with three doubles, four triples, two home runs, 10 RBI, 15 runs scored, 10 walks and seven stolen bases. Buxton has been named as the Twins top prospect in each of the last two seasons by Baseball America as well as top prospect in baseball entering this season. Previous winners of Twins POW this season are right-handed pitcher Tyler Duffey and left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves.
What more is there to say about Buxton? Hopefully he stays hot and makes a strong case for Terry Ryan and the gang to bring him to Target Field sooner than later.
Torii’s career vs. White Sox: 200 games, 33 homers
Torii Hunter, playing against the White Sox yesterday for the 200th time in his big-league career, smashed a two-run, game-tying homer in the third inning and the Twins went on to earn a 5-3 victory. The home run was the 333rd of the 39-year-old outfielder’s major-league career: 300 against other teams and 33 against the White Sox. Since 1999, when Hunter first played against the Sox, he has both the most games played and the most home runs against the Pale Hose. Source: ELIAS
The Twins defeated the White Sox last night, 1-0, with the only run scoring on a wild pitch. Over the last 40 years, Minnesota has won only one other 1-0 game with the only run scoring on a wild pitch or passed ball. That was in Boston in 1985; Bruce Hurst‘s wild pitch allowed Dave Engle to score and Mike Smithson threw a shutout.
Most of us know that the Twins longest consecutive game hitting streak is 31 games and that record holder is Ken Landreaux but did you know who holds the Twins record for the longest multi-hit (two hits or more) game hitting streak? The record is 10 games and Chuck Knoblauch accomplished that feat in 1996.
It is baffling to me why Twins managers Ron Gardenhire and now Paul Molitor keep sending infielders out to play the outfield. Is that something that Twins managers have to agree to do?
J.R. Graham
I am a little concerned about the lack of patience that Paul Molitor is showing with his young players. I know that Danny Santana, Oswaldo Arcia, Kennys Vargas and J.R. Graham have struggled so far this season but you don’t improve your skills by sitting on the bench. I say play these guys day in and day out through May and then reevaluate the situation. It is not like the Twins are in the hunt for a playoff spot. Molitor should know that players need to know that their manager has their back and will keep their butts in the line-up as they improve their skills. Since Graham is a Rule 5 guy the Twins need to keep him on the 25 man roster all season or return him or maybe even work out a trade that will allow them to send him to the minors. Molitor should not have to manage a 24 man roster.
Is it just me or is Paul Molitor the second coming of Gene Mauch? It seems to me that Molitor seems to think that he is smarter than the average manager and the game revolves around him and not the players. Molly, just fill out the line-ups and let the boys play.
If you traveled to Florida to watch the Twins during spring training from 1961-1990 you had to go to Orlando and you watched the Twins play at Tinker Field. A couple of days ago the Target Field grandstand came crashing down as a demolition team took over the old historic ballpark where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and many other legends of the game once played. To read more about it and to see a couple of short video clips you will need to go here.
Alex Wimmers
Is former first round pick, 21st overall in 2010 Alex Wimmers going to be added to the long list of Twins pitchers that have been first round selections that have turned out to be duds? The 26 year-old right-handed Wimmers is in his sixth season with the Twins and thus far he has an 8-8 record with a 4.44 ERA in just 176+ innings. Although a starter, Wimmers has never pitched more than 84 innings in any season in the Twins system. Wimmers is in Chattanooga this season and in 3 starts has a 7.80 ERA in 15 innings.
That Shane Robinson guy kind of grows on you, I really like him as the fourth outfielder on this team. Jordan Schafer on the other hand I believe is on borrowed time here in Minnesota, if he is here another week I will be surprised, I think he needs to start looking for a “real” job. But who would the Twins bring up to replace him? No one in the Twins minor league system is beating down Terry Ryan’s door demanding a ticket to Minnesota. Best bet is probably Aaron Hicks who is hitting over .300 but I would like to see Eddie Rosario who is starting to hit in Chattanooga get a shot at the Twins center field job.
Another question for Terry Ryan, why are the Twins using Mark Hamburger as a starter in Rochester?
And finally, the Twins end the month of April with a 10-12 record, that is pretty good considering their horrendous start this season. Two games under .500 isn’t bad for this point in the season.
Two former Twins players excluding the previously mentioned Landreaux have had 30 game or longer hitting streaks in the majors during their professional careers, can you name the players and the length of their hitting streaks?
Cedar Rapids (Low – A) first baseman/outfielder Trey Vavra is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Vavra, who bats and throws from the right-side played in six games, hitting .560 (10-for-19) with one double, two RBI, six walks and eight runs scored. Vavra has played in 27 games for the Kernels this season, hitting .319 (30-for-94) with six doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI and 19 runs scored. Trey was selected by the Twins in the 33rd round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Florida Southern College and is the son of Twins Bench Coach Joe Vavra. In 2014 Vavra played in 50 games for Elizabethton and hit .319 with one home run and had 34 RBI.
