Rocco is the Man

Derek Falvey and Rocco Baldelli (credit MN Twins)

Everyone and their brother is reporting that the Minnesota Twins will introduce 37-year old Rocco Baldelli as their 14th manager in Twins history this afternoon at 3 pm at Target Field. Baldelli becomes the youngest manager in MLB.

Baldelli, a Rhode Island native has spent most of his baseball career (playing, front office ad coaching) with the Tampa Bay Rays organization but he did spend one season with the Boston Red Sox before returning to Tampa. Baldelli was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays first round selection (6th pick overall) in 2006. The Twins had the second overall pick that year and chose RHP Adam Johnson who pitched in a Twins uniform in just 9 games winning one and posing a 10.25 ERA. That turned out to be his total big league career.

When Rocco Baldelli emerged as a young star in the minor-league system of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he drew comparisons to Joe DiMaggio. Baldelli hit .278/.323/.443 with 60 home runs over parts of seven seasons before retiring at age 29 after dealing with a muscle disorder that often left him fatigued.

Now that the Falvey and Levine administration has all their own pieces in place there are no more excuses. The Minnesota Twins going forward are their team. I am excited about having a manager names that comes from outside the Twins organization but I am not sure I am as excited about hiring a manager with no previous managing experience. It will be interesting to see what kind of a coaching staff he surrounds himself with. 

Bottom line; I am excited about this hire and am willing to see where the Woonsocket Rocket can take this Twins team. Welcome to Minnesota Rocco and good luck!

SABR Bio about Rocco Baldelli by Eric Frost

 

 

German born Navy vet 65-68 and served aboard the Shangri La CVA-38. I run https://Twinstrivia.com, best MN Twins historical web site there is. Stop by daily and check out OTD in Twins history and much more. Live in Minnesota and Florida depending on what time of the year it is.