Category: Do you remember

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. 

Do You Remember the Twins First All-Star Third Baseman

 

Rich Rollins

 

I recently ran across a blog about former Twins third baseman Rich Rollins that you all might enjoy. Rollins played in 888 games for the Twins from 1961-1968 and hit 71 home runs and had 369 RBI with a .272 batting average. 

After appearing in  just 13 games in 1961 Rollins had a break-out rookie season in 1962, so good as a matter of fact that he was named at the starting third baseman and lead-off hitter for the American League in the first of two All-Star games played that season. In his first at bat at D.C. Stadium he faced future Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale who welcomed him by hitting him with a pitch. Rollins played six innings going 1 for 2 with a hit off Bob Purkey and was replaced by Brooks Robinson. Catcher Earl Battey was also a starter in that game and pitcher Camilo Pascual took the loss with three innings in relief of Jim Bunning and allowed all three runs on four hits in a 3-1 loss to the National League.

In the second All-Star game in 1962 that was played at Wrigley Field, the American League prevailed 9-4. Rich Rollins and Earl Battey were again named starters and the AL lead-off hitter Rich Rollins singled in his first at bat off Johnny Podres. Camilo Pascual and Jim Kaat were also on that team but did not play in the game.

Rollins finished his 1962 rookie season with a .296 batting average, 16 home runs and 96 RBI but New York Yankee shortstop Tom Tresh received the AL ROY award that season. Rollins finished eighth in MVP voting that season with Mickey Mantle winning and Harmon Killebrew finishing third.

I never met Rich Rollins but was lucky enough to get a chance to do a phone interview with him back in July 2009 that is about an hour-long that you can listen to here. There are numerous other interviews with former Minnesota Twins that you can listen to on the Interview Archives page.

SABR Bio