Category: Do you remember

Do you remember

Walter Johnson (1887-1946)

  • Hall of Famer (member of the five-man inaugural class)
  • 21-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1907-1927, all with the Washington Senators
  • He had 20+ wins twelve times, including leading the AL in wins six times, with a career-best 36-7 record and a 1.14 ERA in 1913
  • .He led the AL in ERA five times and strikeouts twelve times, including a career-high 313 K in 1910
  • .He pitched a no-hitter on July 1, 1920
  • .He is the all-time MLB leader with 110 shutouts, is second in wins (417), third in innings pitched (5,914.1), and 11th in strikeouts (3,509)
  • .He was an above-average hitter for a pitcher, with a .235/.274/.341 slash line.
  • Overall, he had a 417-279 (.599) record, a 2.17 ERA, and a 147 ERA+. From 1907-1919, during the Deadball Era of his career, he had an amazing 1.65 ERA and 172 ERA+.
  • Career WAR was 155.4
  • He was also a major league manager for the Senators from 1929-32 and the Indians from 1933-35.

One of the greatest players ever, check out his stats at Walter Johnson and also at Walter Johnson HOF

Do you remember Paul Molitor

Paul Molitor
  • Paul Molitor (1956)
  • MLB Hall of Fame member
  • Minnesota native and star at the University of Minnesota
  • First-round draft pick (3rd overall) in 1977 by the Milwaukee Brewers
  • Finished second to the Detroit Tigers Lou Whitaker in ROY voting in 1978
  • 21-year major league career, spanning from 1978-1998, primarily with the Brewers, but also spending three seasons each with the Blue Jays and his hometown Twins.
  • He started out as a 2B, then shifted to 3B, and ultimately played the most games as a DH.
  • Seven-time All-Star
  • Molitor, nicknamed “The Ignitor” had only modest power, with a high of 22 HR coming late in his career in 1993. But he was a great baserunner and run scorer, with eight seasons of 30+ SB, and five with 100+ runs, including leading the AL in runs three times.
  • He never won a batting title, but led the AL in hits three times, and led the AL in doubles once and triples once.
  • Molitor did well in the post-season too, batting .368 with 6 HR in 117 AB in five series, including taking home World Series MVP honors in 1993 while with Toronto when he went 12-24 with 2 HR, 2 triples, 2 doubles, and 3 stolen bases.
  • Overall had 3,319 hits, 1,782 runs, 605 doubles, 234 HR, 504 SB, a .306/.369/.448 slash line, and a 122 OPS+
  • Career WAR is 75.7 (50th place all-time in position player WAR)

Do you remember Tony Oliva

Tony Oliva

Tony Oliva (1938)

  • MLB Hall of Fame and Twins Hall of Fame member.
  • 15-year major league career, spanning from 1962-1976, mostly as a RF and later a DH, entirely with the Minnesota Twins.
  • He was AL Rookie of the Year in 1964 after leading the AL in runs, hits, doubles, and batting average, and came in second in the AL MVP voting in both 1965 and 1970.
  • Eight-time All-Star consecutively from 1964-1971.
  • A good defender early in his career, Oliva took home a Gold Glove Award in 1966 before knee injuries slowed both his defense and his modest base-stealing abilities (six seasons with 10+ SB).
  • He was a great hitter, leading the AL in hits five times, doubles four times, and batting average three times. He also had some pop, with 25+ HR in five seasons.
  • Overall had 220 HR, a .304/.353/.476 slash line, and a 131 OPS+
  • WAR is 43.1

Do you remember Torii Hunter

Torii Hunter


Torii Hunter (1975)

  • First-round draft pick (20th overall) in 1993 by the Twins and debuted on 8/22/1997
  • 19-year major league career, spanning from 1997-2015 with the Twins, Angels and Tigers
  • Five-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger award winner
  • “Spider-Man” was an elite defensive CF, taking home nine Gold Glove Awards.
  • Had 20+ HR 11 times, and between 18-23 SB six times
  • Overall had 353 HR, 1,391 RBI, 195 SB, a .277/.331/.461 slash line, and a 110 OPS+
  • Finished career with a WAR of 50.6
  • Inducted into Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2016

Do you remember Bob Allison

Bob Allison
  • Bob Allison (1934-1995) – SABR BIO by Gregory H. Wolf
  • 13-year major league career, spanning from 1958-1970, entirely as a RF/LF with the Senators/Twins franchise
  • He won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1959, after leading the league with 9 triples to go with 30 HR, 85 RBI, and 13 SB. In the 1959 American League Rookie of the Year voting, Jim Perry finished in second place and Russ Snyder finished in third place.
  • Three-time All-Star
  • He was a power hitter with 20+ HR eight times
  • Overall had 256 HR, a .255/.358/.471 slash line, and a 127 OPS+
  • 1965 World Series Game 2 catch
  • Inducted in to the Minnesota Twins HOF in 2003
  • Finished with a career WAR of 34.1

Do you remember Chuck Knoblauch

Chuck Knoblauch – SABR BIO by Ralph Caola – (Born in Houston, Texas on July 7, 1968) – played 2B and a few games at SS for the Twins for seven seasons between 1991 and 1997 was elected and scheduled for induction in to the Twins Hall of Fame on August 23, 2014. However, another brush with the law in late July 2014 forced the Twins to cancel plans to add him to their HOF. There was no inductee into the Twins HOF in 2014. Knoblauch is the first and only player to be elected to the Twins Hall of Fame but not inducted.

  • First-round draft pick (25th overall) in 1989 by the Twins
  • “Knobby” had a 12-year major league career, spanning from 1991-2002, mostly as a 2B with the Twins, Yankees and Royals.
  • Won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1991 after batting .281 with 25 SB
  • Led the AL with 45 doubles in the shortened 1994 season, and then led the AL with 14 triples in 1996.
  • Had 25+ SB in 10 of his 12 major league seasons
  • Four-time All-Star, two-time silver slugger winner who scored 100+ runs six times, including a high of 140 runs in 1996
  • A good defender at 2B early in his career, Knoblauch won an AL Gold Glove award in 1997. After seven seasons with the Twins, he was traded to the Yankees for a package of four players. Soon after, he developed throwing troubles on defense, a condition often referred to as the “yips”. He tried to correct the issue, but ended his career mostly as a LF and DH.
  • Overall had 1,132 runs, 407 SB, a .289/.378/.406 slash line, and a 106 OPS+

Do you remember Cesar Tovar

Cesar Tovar is in the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame
  • César Tovar (1940-1994) – SABR BIO by Rory Costello
  • 12-year major league career, spanning from 1965-1976, spending his first eight seasons with the Twins, and rest spread across four other clubs
  • “Pepito” was perhaps best known for his versatility on the field, including once in 1968 becoming the second player in history to play all nine positions in a single game.
  • Over his career he played 200+ games at five different positions (2B, 3B, and all three OF spots).
  • He was also a capable batsman, leading the AL with 36 doubles and 13 triples in 1970, and then with 204 hits in 1971
  • He also had 20+ SB five times, with a high of 45 in 1969
  • Overall had 226 SB, 834 runs, a .278/.335/.368 slash line, and an even 100 OPS+
  • Elected and inducted into Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2022

Do you remember Todd Walker?

Todd Walker – credit Matthew Stockman /Allsport

Todd Walker was a Minnesota Twins first round pick (8th overall) in 1994 out of LSU and signed with the Twins for $815,000. That was a good draft for the Twins as they also got pitcher Travis Miller in round 2, catcher A.J. Pierzynski in round 4, and maybe the best of the group, third baseman Corey Koskie in round 26. 

Walker made his debut on August 30, 1996 at County Stadium against the Brewers and started at third base and then moved to second later in the game. TK had Walker hitting sixth in the line-up and ended the day going 1 for 5 with a run scored in a loss to the Brewers when Marc Newfield hit a walk-off home run off Twins reliever Jose Parra leading off the bottom of the 12th inning. 

Walker shuffled between the big leagues and minors in 96 and 97 but was a Twins starter in 1998-1999. On July 15, 2000 after a slow start and spending time in TK’s doghouse where Walker was a semi-regular resident, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies along with Butch Huskey for Todd Sears and cash. Walker was known for his hitting and not his glove and that didn’t sit well with skipper Tom Kelly. In addition it seemed like TK was not a fan of college players in general. Walker eventually on to the Reds, Red Sox, Cubs, Padres and spent his final season in the big leagues with the A’s in 2007.

All in all Todd Walker spent all or parts of 12 seasons in the big leagues and played in 1,288 games and ended his big league career with a .289 average and a 10.5 WAR.

Baseball America did a “where are you now” article on Todd Walker that you can read here.

 

Do you remember pitcher Joe Grzenda

Joe Grzenda

Joe Grzenda, a 31-year old right-handed pitcher was purchased from the New York Mets by the Minnesota Twins on November 29, 1967 and spent the 1968 season with the AAA Denver Bears who were managed by Billy Martin after he replaced the fired Johnny Goryl. Martin used Grzenda as a reliever and he used him often as Grzenda appeared in a team leading 56 games posting a 5-8 record and a 3.14 ERA. Grzenda threw 86 innings and struck out 60 batters.

When Billy Martin was named the Twins 1969 manager he obviously remembered Grzenda and Grzenda made the Twins team out of spring training. Strangely enough Grzenda was the losing pitcher in the 1969 season opener on April 8th as the Twins were walked off 4-3 by the new Kansas City Royals in 12 innings at Municipal Stadium and was the winning pitcher in the 1969 regular season finale on October 2nd when the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 at Met Stadium. Grzenda appeared in game 3  of the 1969 ALCS and retired Boog Powell and Frank Robinson, the only two batters he faced. On March 21, 1970 the Twins traded Grzenda along with pitcher Charlie Walters to the Washington Senators for outfielder Brant Alyea.

Continue reading Do you remember pitcher Joe Grzenda

Former Twins catcher Rob Bowen still wears a uniform

 

Rob Bowen and Boedha, a Belgian Malinois-German Shepherd mix. The two serve together on the K-9 unit for the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia. (Courtesy of Rob Bowen) Click on image to make it larger

There is a great article in “The Athletic” ($ site) today by Dan Hayes about former Minnesota Twins catcher Rob Bowen and his post-baseball career in law enforcement. It is a great story that I know you will enjoy if you can get to it.