Walter Johnson Had No Idea: A Life with Baseball reviewed

A dirt farmer in Southern Indiana in the year 1924 chose to name his son after a famous baseball player who would someday enter the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Little did anyone know at the time, including that famous player, just how much that decision would mean to that son and the generations to follow. That was the beginning of a love affair with baseball that would identify this family, a love that would begin with the Washington Senators and move on to Minnesota in 1961. Now five generations in, this family allegiance is still very much alive today.

This is a story of the son of that son with the famous name and his love of baseball that was handed down to him. He in turn has passed that love on to his son, who now has a daughter who will hopefully understand this love of the game. Memories are made with the game of baseball, and so many are worth sharing.

As the pages of this book are turned, the reader will begin to recognize many of these memories and hopefully be reminded of memories that are part of their lives. Hopefully, the reader will have a better understanding of how generations of a family can be connected by the threads of a baseball.

Twins fun facts from Twins 3/5 ST notes

CoolToday Park in North Port

YESTERDAY’S RECAP: The Twins fell to the Atlanta Braves yesterday, 7-5, in North Port. Louie Varland was the starter and took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits (2 HR), with one walk and three strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work; became the first Twins starter to work in the third inning this spring. The Twins’ bench came through for the club, recording five of the club’s eight hits on the afternoon – all during a five-run, eighth-inning rally. Chris Williams went 1-for-1 with a two-run double, while Yoyner Fajardo, Jose Salas and Jake Rucker all had RBI singles.

GLOBAL GAME: The 2023 World Baseball Classic starts this week, with pool play in Taichung, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; Phoenix, Arizona; and Miami, Florida. The Twins will be well-represented, with 16 players and staffers from across the organization partaking. Here’s the full list: José De León (Puerto Rico), Edouard Julien (Canada), Jorge López (Puerto Rico), Pablo López (Venezuela), Jovani Moran (Puerto Rico), Emilio Pagán (Puerto Rico), Dereck Rodríguez (Puerto Rico), Christian Vázquez (Puerto Rico), Bert Blyleven (Kingdom of the Netherlands), Julio Borbón (Dominican Republic), Ramon Borrego (Venezuela), Tony Diaz (Dominican Republic), Rudy Hernandez (Venezuela), Dustin Morse
(Kingdom of the Netherlands), Luis Ramirez (Venezuela) and Martijn Verhoeven (Kingdom of the Netherlands).

Twins fun facts from Twins 3/4 ST notes

Louie Varland

THIS LAND IS VARLAND: Louie Varland is in his first career spring training, making his second start…tossed 2.0 scoreless inning with one hit allowed and one strikeout February 25 at Baltimore…went 8-5, 3.06 ERA (126.1 IP, 43 ER), 42 walks, 146 strikeouts, a 1.26 WHIP and a .242 (117-for-484) opponent batting average in 24 minor league games (23 starts)…named Jim Rantz Award winner as Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season, joining José Berríos (2014-15) as the only pitcher to win the award in back-to-back seasons…led all Twins minor leaguers in strikeouts (146) and innings pitched (126.1), was tied for first in games started (23) and was second in ERA (3.06), second in winning percentage (.615), fourth in opponent batting average (.242) and WHIP (1.26), and tied for fifth in wins (8)…made major league debut on September 7 at New York-AL, striking out seven in 5.2 innings pitched, fanning Aaron Judge in the first inning for his first career strikeout…went 1-2, 3.81 ERA (26.0 IP, 11 ER) in 5 starts with the Twins.

I was at CoolToday Park as the Atlanta Braves beat the Minnesota Twins today by a score of 7-5 and it was not as close as the score indicates. The Braves took Varland behind the woodshed and put a serious beating on him right from the get-go. The Twins trailed 7-0 before they scored all five of their runs in the top of the eighth inning with little to no help from the big leaguers (Christian Vazquez & Ryan Jeffers) that were in attendance. The game lasted 2 hour and 33 minutes but it seemed like it went on for four hours. We were supposed to check out CoolToday Park last Spring but the game we were going to attend was called off due to the lockout. It is a beautiful ballpark with lots of parking available. It is about 75 miles north of Fort Myers in North Port. The only complaint I would have is that it kind of a pain getting from one level to another primarily because the signage is non-existent telling you where the stairs are.

Sandy Valdespino a member of 1965 Twins team dies at age 84

Sandy Valdespino

Hilario “Sandy” Valdespino was born on January 24, 1939 at San Jose de las Lajas, Mayabeque (Cuba) and died on February 26, 2023 in Moultrie, Georgia at the age of 84. A Cuban native, Sandy Valdespino signed with the Washington Senators in 1957 and played in the Senators — and then Twins — farm system until 1965. He won the International League batting title in 1964 with the Atlanta Crackers, earning a promotion to the big leagues the following season.

Valdespino, a short but stocky 5’8″ and 170 pounder played for the Minnesota Twins for three seasons from 1965-1968 primarily in left field and as a pinch-hitter but never could earn a full-time role. During his time in Minnesota he appeared in 259 games but had only 450 AB’s hitting .220 with 4 home runs.

Valdespino is best remembered for a great catch he made on June 18, 1967 against the Cleveland Indians. You can read more about Valdespino’s great catch and his relationship with other Twins players here in SABR’s Bio on Valdespino.

Valdespino also played for Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee, Kansas City and the Seattle Pilots in his 382-game major-league career. He played 1,446 minor league games before finishing his career in the Mexican League in 1974.

Survivors include his wife, Esperanza Valdespino; his daughter, Esperanza Valdespino; and grandchildren, Hillary Williams, Norman Williams Jr., Ashley Valdespino, Terrance Valdespino and Bianka Valdespino. He was preceded in death by a son, Hilario Valdespino Jr. We here at Twinstrivia.com pass on our condolences to the Valdespino family, friend and all his fans. Thank you for the great memories.

Star Tribune Obituary

Twins fun facts from Twins ST notes

Credit – FOX 9

Since the Twins are publishing their Twins Notes for each Spring Training game I thought that I would pick out one item from each days notes and pass it along here. Today’s note is from March 2.

This season marks Rocco Baldelli’s fifth as the Twins’ manager, he will enter the regular season with a career managerial record of 288-258 and two division titles (2019 and ’20). Baldelli is one of eight managers in team history (since 1961) with 250 victories. Rocco’s coaching staff for 2023 includes: first base/catching coach Hank Conger, quality control coach Nate Dammann, assistant bench coach Tony Diaz, hitting coach Rudy Hernandez, pitching coach Pete Maki, bullpen coach Colby Suggs, hitting coach David Popkins, assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez, assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon, bench coach Jayce Tingler and third base/outfield coach Tommy Watkins.