Happy New Year
Month: December 2023
Twins switch-hitters from 1961-2023
Back in February 2016 I did a post about Twins switch-hitters that you can view here. I decided to update it with a another post that includes just eight more seasons but the results are dramatically different. The player that moved up significantly in home runs hit by a Twins switch-hitter is a player that many Twins fans want to see traded and that player is Jorge Polanco. At the time I did that posting, Polanco had zero home runs, look where he ranks now. By clicking on the various table headings you can re-sort the table to see the leader in any category you wish. I am a huge Polanco fan and I hope the Twins find a way to keep him for a whole slew of reasons.
Credit to Stathead by Baseball-Reference
Merry Christmas to all
I wish for all of you and your families a joyous, safe, and healthy Christmas.
Some Twins payroll poop
As I work on updating some payroll information on this website I thought I would put together some Minnesota Twins payroll information that I found interesting. As you might expect MLB team payroll information is pretty inconsistent depending on where you look. For the most part my sources are Forbes, Spotrac, Cot’s and Fangraphs. It is dang near impossible to compare apples to apples and as many of you know, you can pretty much get the numbers to show whatever you want them to show. So here are some interesting fun Twins Payroll fun facts.
- From 1991-2023 the Twins have spent $1,066,264,835 guaranteed money on 117 free agents.
- Since 2010 when Target Field opened through 2023 the Twins have ranked 10th, 9th, 11th, 21st, 18th, 19th, 18th, 21st, 18th, 18th, 18th, 16th, 18th and 17th.
- History above seems to indicate where ownership wants the Twins opening days payroll to rank, it will be interesting to see where it ends up when the 2024 season opens.
88-Year Old Dan Dobbek Passes Away
Dan Dobbek, one of the original 1961 Minnesota Twins died in his home in Portland, Oregon on November 28 just eight days short of 89th birthday, of congestive heart failure with dementia surrounded by his family. Dan was born December 6, 1934, in Ontonagon, Mich., to John and Marion (McKinnon) Dobbek. He had an older sister Dolores, who died at 26.
Dan was drafted and served in the U.S. Army in 1957-1958. He played professional baseball for the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Jim Kaat noted that he and Dan Dobbek were both signed by Twins scout Dick Wiencek. In his first year in pro ball in 1956 with the Class B Hobbs Sports, Dobbek played in 129 games hitting .340 with 23 home runs and had 144 RBI. Dan was drafted by Uncle Sam and served in the U.S. Army in 1957-1958. He made his MLB debut with the Washington Senators on September 9, 1959 going 1 for 4 against the Chicago White Sox at Griffith Stadium in a 5-1 loss. Dobbek spent the 1960 season with the Senators appearing in 110 games but had only 288 PA’s while hitting just .218 with 10 home runs.
Read more: 88-Year Old Dan Dobbek Passes Away
When the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins, Dan Dobbek became one of the original Twins. Although Dobbek did not start the Twins first game in 1961 against the New York Yankees he entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement for Jim Lemon and had the honor of being just one of ten Twins who played in that first Twins game, a 6-0 Twins shutout at Yankee Stadium I. Later that year on July 2 in a game at Municipal Stadium against the Kansas City Athletics Dobbek ran into a fence hurting his shoulder and cutting his head. It was later determined he would need surgery for the injured shoulder. After the 1961 season, the Twins traded Dobbek to the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Jerry Zimmerman.
Dan Dobbek never played in the major leagues again, finishing his pro career in the minors with the Reds and then again in the Twins minor league system and retired after the 1963 season. Dobbek also played for the Elefantes de Cienfuegos of the Cuban Winter League and was a member of the 1960 Caribbean Series champion team. After leaving baseball, Dobbek worked over 30 years for several different laundry companies in Portland.
Dan Dobbek leaves behind his wife, Helen Joan (Lingelbach) Dobbek; and sons, Thomas John and Patsy and Daniel Joseph and Johnita; as well as a granddaughter, Cecilia Palos; and a great-granddaughter, Athena of Georgetown, Ky.
Thank you for the memories Dan Dobbek. We at Twinstrivia.com pass on our condolences to the Dobbek family, friends and fans.
Top left-handed hitting Twins power hitters
The Minnesota Twins have been known as a home run hitting team over the years. It got me to thinking since I was a left-handed batter when I was young and played ball with the other kids, who makes up the top 10 of Twins left-handed hitting home run hitters over the years.
The Twins leading power lefty, is as many of you might suspect, native-Minnesotan first baseman Kent Hrbek with 293 home runs. Nine Twins left-handed batters have hit 100 or more home runs in a Twins uniform. Just as an aside, there are ten Twins right-handed batters with 100 or more home runs wearing Twins colors over the years. Since the Twins began play they have hit a total of 9,002 home runs. 3,564 have been hit left-handed and 5,438 right-handed.
Using dWAR to determine Twins best gloves over the years
What is dWAR? Defensive WAR (dWAR): this takes only the player’s defensive contributions and positional adjustment into account in a WAR calculation. dWAR was created by Baseball-Reference. I am using this tool to look at Minnesota Twins players from 1961 thru 2023 to see what it determines as the best defensive Twins players by position for their entire Twins career. A player has to have played at least 51% of his games at that position to qualify. According to dWAR, Greg Gagne is the best defensive player the Twins have ever had.
Catcher – Butch Wynegar 9.0 Glenn Borgmann 4.1
First Base – Ron Jackson -0.4 C.J. Cron -0.4
Second Base – Chuck Knoblauch 8.6 Steve Lombardozzi 3.7
Third Base – Gary Gaetti 11.3 Nick Punto 8.6
Shortstop – Greg Gagne 12.4 Zoilo Versalles 8.6
Left Field – Lew Ford 2.0 Gary Ward 1.2
Center Field – Byron Buxton 7.6 Torii Hunter 6.2
Right Field – Max Kepler 3.0 Tom Brunansky 1.2
Pitcher – Camilo Pascual -0.1 Mudcat Grant -0.1
So what do you all think? Is dWAR a fair way to help determine the best defensive players? Here is a B-R Stathead link to the best defensive players in all of MLB from 1961 thru 2023, does this list make you a believer?