Category: General Blogging

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Most games pitched for Twins without a start

Eddie Guardado

Starters no longer pitch the innings they used too and relievers are becoming more important in MLB every year. Yes, their are a few “Ace” starters in the game that make the big bucks but they too no longer pitch deep into games like the starters did in the past.

The role of relievers has changed

Relievers are critical pieces of any baseball team that hopes to contend and play late October baseball. The use of relievers and their value to the team has evolved over the years and today’s major league game requires the pitchers in the bullpen to fulfill certain roles. You have the “closer”, you have your set-up guys that pitch important innings, you have the long guy that comes in to pitch multiple innings, and you have relievers that are used to eat innings, probably when the team is losing. Each person in that bullpen knows their role and when they will probably be called upon to pitch. In the past it was not so clear, it was not unusual for starters to pitch some relief when the game situation called for it.

Another key part of relief pitching is your manager and pitching coach and how they plan out each game to see who is available to pitch and who isn’t based on previous usage. Then of course we have the analytics that comes into play. Back in the day, the manager monitored his starter and he called on the bullpen when he felt the time was right. We can’t forget about rule changes, MLB has changed numerous rules that have had an impact on the use of relievers, roster sizes, etc.

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Analyzing Starting Pitcher Trends: From Aces to Relievers

Walter Johnson

I have followed MLB since about 1956 by buying baseball cards, by listening to baseball games on the radio, by subscribing to The Sporting News and reading whatever box scores I could find. But how things have changed over the years, including pitching. One of the biggest changes has to do with starting pitching.

Starting pitchers used to pitch and hit back in the day. They would start every fourth day but over time the starting rotation changed to four to five. Recently some teams have gone to six day rotations and it is not that uncommon nowadays for games to be pitched totally by relief pitchers. Relief pitchers back then were “injured” starters or starters that for one reason or another had become ineffective.

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The charismatic Luis Tiant dies at the age of 83

Luis Clemente Tiant was born in Marianao, Cuba on November 23, 1940 the son of Luis and Isabel and passed away on October 8, 2024 at the age of 83. His father, Luis Eleuterio Tiant, was a legendary left-handed pitcher who starred in the Cuban Leagues and the American Negro Leagues for 20 years but the color barrier denied Luis E. the opportunity to play in the majors.

The colorful Luis Tiant played in the major leagues for 19 years between 1964 and 1982 for the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the California Angels. Tiant also played in Mexico for several seasons before and after his pro career in the states.

In his big league career Tiant had a 229-172 record with 20 or more wins four times and 20 losses once. He had his share of injuries but he started 484 games and pitched over 3,486 innings, threw 187 complete games with 49 shutouts and in his spare times he earned 15 Saves.

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1970 Twins infielder Minnie Mendoza passes away at 89

Cristobal Mendoza was born in Ceiba del Agua, Cuba on December 3, 1934 and passed away at the age of 89 on September 9, 2024 in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Mendoza was better known to Minnesota Twins fans as Minnie Mendoza who played for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins organization for 16 seasons between 1958 and 1972.

Mendoza was originally signed as a amateur free agent by the Cincinnati Reds but was released after two seasons and was signed by the Washington Senators as a free agent in 1958 at the age of 23. The Washington Senators had a long history of signing Latin American ballplayers, thanks largely to scout “Papa Joe” Cambria. Cambria convinced Mendoza to join the organization’s Missoula Timberjacks in the Class-C Pioneer League.

But it would be a long time before Mendoza would make his debut in the big leagues. Matter of fact it took 12 years and over 1,800 minor league games before a Rod Carew injury in 1970 resulted in Mendoza got his opportunity to put on a big league uniform. It was was not even the Senators team that he signed with since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins.

Mendoza made his major league debut at White Sox Park on April 9, 1970 when he entered the game as a defensive replacement for third baseman Harmon Killebrew in the ninth inning of a game that the Twins were leading 6-4 against the Chicago White Sox and won by the same score. He went hitless in his first eight games going 0 for 9 before getting his first big league hit and run scored in his ninth game when he singled as a PH against the Baltimore Orioles Mike Cueller at Memorial Stadium. Mendoza played in his 16th and final big league game on June 7 at Washington before being sent to the minors never to play in the big leagues again. His big league career was short, just 16 games, 16 PA’s, 3 hits, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. That said, he reached the big leagues, and that is something to be proud of.

In 1974-75, Mendoza embarked on his career as a minor league manager beginning in Mexico. He returned to organized baseball as a coach and scout for several teams, primarily the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians organizations. He served on the Orioles’ major league coaching staff as their first-base coach in 1988. Among his accomplishments with Cleveland, Mendoza is credited with scouting and signing a young Bartolo Colon, who went on to win 247 games and the 2005 American League Cy Young award.

Ripbaseball.com does a great job with baseball obituaries and as usual they did a great job on Minnie Mendoza’s obituary at https://ripbaseball.com/2024/09/29/obituary-minnie-mendoza-1934-2024/ and I urge you to stop by check it out, you won’t be sorry and you will learn how he impacted the careers of two MLB Hall of Fame players.

2024 Arizona Fall League

With the Minnesota Twins season probably about to come to a surprisingly quick ending, the Arizona Fall League is about to start their season on October 7. This fall league is always full of top baseball prospects and this year will probably be no exception.

If you happen to be in Arizona during this season I would urge you to stop by and catch some of the action. Watching AFL action is like no other, as attendance is usually very limited and the odds of you sitting next to a scout or a team FO person are high. I have been to a number of these games over the years and I find it to be a very enjoyable experience. In addition to talking to scouts I have spend an entire game talking with the pitchers in the bullpen as the game progressed.

The game are played in the same stadiums as AZ spring training so unlike Florida ST the games, AZ ballparks are all near-by and you can easily drive to any game that interests you so you can watch the prospect(s) you want to see.

Since the AFL began play in 1992, it has spawned more than 3,000 big leaguer’s, including Hall of Famers Roy Halladay, Todd Helton, Derek Jeter and Mike Piazza and current stars including Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Francisco Lindor.

This year the Twins will be part of the Salt River Rafters team which will be stocked by players from the Twins, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Rockies, and Nationals.

Twins (Salt River): Kala’i Rosario, OF (No. 20); Danny De Andrade, SS (No. 22); Kade Bragg, LHP; Jacob King, RHP; Devin Kirby, RHP; Jack Noble, RHP; Benjamin Ross, INF
Rosario played in the Fall League last year and won the league’s home run derby. He made it to Double-A this year, but missed nearly three months with an elbow injury so he’s returning to make up for some lost at-bats. The Twins signed De Andrade for $2.2 million in January 2021 and the 20-year old had moved to High-A this season, only to see his season end after 29 games with an ankle injury that required surgery.

Twins cut minor league catcher Derek Bender for tipping pitches

The Twins released their sixth-round draft pick from July after they learned he informed opposing hitters what pitches were coming as his minor league team competed for a playoff berth, the Minnesota Star Tribune confirmed. Derek Bender, a catcher from Coastal Carolina, lasted less than two months in the Twins organization after he received a $297,500 signing bonus. Sources indicate that Bender will get to keep the money.

After Fort Myers dropped the first three games, ESPN first reported Bender tipped off pitches to Lakeland Tigers hitters in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 6. Lakeland scored four runs in the second inning against lefty pitcher Ross Dunn, and Fort Myers was eliminated with a 6-0 loss. Fort Myers won its final two games.

Fort Myers coaches were notified by Lakeland coaches about Bender’s pitch tipping after the game, sources said. Bender’s willingness to tip pitches surprised Lakeland players, and there were no indications of wrongdoing from the Flying Tigers, sources said. Bender had told teammates he wanted the season to be over, according to sources. You have to wonder why the home plate umpire said nothing.

Bender spent the final two games of the season, which the Mussels won, in the team’s bullpen instead of his typical place in the dugout, sources said. Bender batted .200 in 19 games with two homers, two doubles and eight RBI.

Former Twin Mike ‘Cubby’ Cubbage dies at 74

Mike Cubbage

Michael Lee Cubbage, was born July 21, 1950, in Charlottesville, Virginia and passed away on August 10, 2024 after a near year-long battle with cancer, his wife, Jan, confirmed Sunday night, August 11. Cubbage was 74 years old.

Affectionately called “Cubby” by friends, family, players and coaches, Cubbage was a former Major League Baseball player and a pro baseball manager. He retired a couple of years ago after serving as one of the top scouts for the Washington Nationals.

He was a three-sport star at Charlottesville’s Lane High School, standing out in football, basketball and baseball before moving on to become a two-sport star at the University of Virginia, playing quarterback on the football team and becoming an All-ACC selection in baseball. Cubbage came from a baseball family that included cousins Larry Haney and Chris Haney, both major leaguer’s.

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1961 Twins pitcher Gary Dotter passes away

Gary Richard Dotter was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 7, 1942, to Florence Hassing Dotter and Richard N. Dotter and died on Saturday, July 27, 2024, from complications of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 81. 

Gary Dotter grew up playing sports, especially baseball. He graduated from Normandy High School and immediately signed with the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Club at the age of 17 for a sizable bonus. Dotter spent his first season of pro ball with class D Keokuk in the Midwest League. Control was not his strong suite during his first season as he struck out 50 in 45 innings but also walked 31.

According to the 1961 Minnesota Twins media guide the Washington Senators lost the bidding duel for this promising southpaw with a good fastball and curveball in June of 1960 but succeeded in nabbing him for the $25,000 draft price from the Cardinals chain in December. The Twins sent him to the class B Wilson Tobs in the Carolina League. There in 25 starts, Dotter was 14-8 with a 3.09 ERA in 180.2 innings after throwing just 45 innings in his first pro season. The Twins were so impressed that they called him up in September. In his major league debut on September 10, 1961, the 19 year-old Dotter was called on the relieve Jack Kralick at Municipal Stadium against the Kansas City Athletics. Dotter entered the game in the third inning and pitched well but ran out of gas in the seventh and his line on the day was 4 innings pitched, six earned runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts. He pitched one more time in 1961 throwing two scoreless innings at Met Stadium in a Twins 12-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Pedro Ramos started that game and lost his 20th game of the season.

Dotter spent 1962 with class A Charlotte Hornets in the South Atlantic League and pitched well enough for the Twins to send him to triple-A Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers as a 20-year old. There Dotter pitched in 42 games with 21 starts throwing 166 innings. That September he was called up again appearing in two games throwing two innings with no hits and no runs allowed. Dotter made great strides in 1963 but in January 1964 the United States Army came calling and he was inducted on January 28, 1964 and missed a good part of the baseball season serving in the Army’s 6-month program. Dotter served in the Army reserves for six years. He made three appearances for the Twins late in the season and it turned out to be the last time that he would pitch in the major leagues.

How Dotter ended up in the Houston Astros organization in 1965 is unknown but he spent the rest of his pro ball career with the Astros in the minor leagues before calling it a career after the 1967 season.

In his big league career Gary Dotter appeared in 7 games, all in relief and pitched a total of 12.1 innings allowing 9 hits while striking out 10 and walking 7 and posted a 5.11 ERA. After retiring from baseball Gary moved to Wichita Falls, Texas where he owned racehorses with Carter McGregor. He was a graduate of Midwestern State University from which he received a business degree.
On June 20, 1970, Gary married Christi White in Wichita Falls. Their marriage lasted 54 years.

Gary’s business career was in the computer/bookkeeping/accounting fields. In 2001 the couple moved to Trophy Club, Texas. Gary retired from Perot Systems in 2007. The couple then moved to Pecan Plantation south of Granbury, Texas. Through the years, Gary enjoyed cycling, working cattle on his land near Henrietta, Texas, and later, golfing after retirement. He also was a long-time member of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

Gary is survived by his wife, Christi Dotter, sons David (Vi) of Alpine, Texas, Will of Austin, Texas and grandchildren, Jessie, Liem, Danh, and surrogate granddaughter Trang Pham, his sister, Linda Kamler, nephew Brian Kamler (Suzanne), niece Tricia Palmer (Jason), and several great-nieces and nephews.

Twinstrivia.com would like to pass on our condolences to the Dotter family, friends and fans.

Gary Richard Dotter obituary

Twins retire Washington Senators ‘W’

The Twins retired the Washington Senators' "W" during a pregame ceremony honoring the Senators' 1924 World Series championship ahead of their series finale against the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, at Target Field in Minneapolis. / Nolan O'Hara / Bring Me The News
The Twins retired the Washington Senators’ “W” during a pregame ceremony honoring the Senators’ 1924 World Series championship ahead of their series finale against the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, at Target Field in Minneapolis. / Nolan O’Hara / Bring Me The News

The Twins retired the Washington Senators’ “W” during a pregame ceremony honoring the 100th anniversary of the 1924 World Series Senators team ahead of Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Here is what Wikipedia has about the Washington Senators 1924 World Series.

In 1924, Griffith named 27-year-old second baseman Bucky Harris player-manager. Led by the hitting of Goose Goslin and Sam Rice, and a solid pitching staff headlined by the 36-year-old Johnson, the Senators captured their first American League pennant, two games ahead of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees.

“The Senators faced John McGraw’s heavily favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series. Despite Johnson losing both of his starts, the Senators kept pace to tie the Series at three games apiece and force Game 7. The Senators trailed the Giants 3–1 in the eighth inning of Game 7, when Bucky Harris hit a routine ground ball to third which hit a pebble and took a bad hop over Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom. Two runners scored on the play, tying the score at three. In the ninth inning with the game tied, 3–3, Harris brought in an aging Johnson to pitch on just one day of rest – he had been the losing pitcher in Game 5. Johnson held the Giants scoreless into extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th inning, Muddy Ruel hit a high foul ball near home plate. The Giants’ catcher, Hank Gowdy, dropped his protective face mask to field the ball but, failing to toss the mask aside, stumbled over it and dropped the ball, thus giving Ruel another chance to bat. On the next pitch, Ruel hit a double and, then proceeded to score the winning run when Earl McNeely hit a ground ball that took another bad hop over Lindstrom’s head. It was the only World Series triumph for the franchise during their 60-year tenure in Washington.“

The “W” is the 10th number — or letter — retired by the Twins, joining Harmon Killebrew (No. 3), Rod Carew (No. 29), Tony Oliva (No. 6), Kent Hrbek (No. 14), Kirby Puckett (No. 34), Bert Blyleven (No. 28), Tom Kelly (No. 10), Joe Mauer (No. 7) and Jim Kaat (No. 36).

Twins Press Release 081124 _ _ MLB Pressbox

Pitcher Buzz Stephen passes away

Louis Roberts Stephen Jr. was born in Porterville, California on July 13, 1944 and recently passed away in the city in which he was born on May 9, 2024 at the age of 79. Stephen was better known as “Buzz Stephen” and he achieved his dream of pitching in the major leagues albeit in just two games.

In Porterville High school he was 6’4″ and was the center on the basketball team and a pitcher on the baseball team. Stephen graduated in 1962 and attended Porterville Junior College before transferring to Fresno State College. He had some success as a swingman for the Fresno State Bulldogs, even if his control was wild at times. Stephen was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 25th round of the 1965 MLB June Amateur Draft from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA), the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1966 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (6th) of the 1966 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA).

In 1968 Stephen had his best season in pro ball at Double-A Charlotte and the Twins called him up in September for that “cup of coffee” and he made his major league debut on September 20 at Met Stadium versus the Oakland A’s and Catfish Hunter. The game was rescheduled from a May 15th rain out and with neither team in a pennant chase, a small crowd of 1,710 showed up to watch the rookie’s debut. Stephen gave up a harmless single to Bert Campaneris to lead off the game but then a steal, a walk, a double steal, a ground out and a fly out led to two runs scoring. By the time the Oakland A’s finished batting in the first inning they had already posted a 2-0 lead. It was a 3-1 lead for the A’s after six innings but Oakland knocked Stephen out of the game in the seventh after he had pitched 6.1 innings giving up 8 hits and 5 walks allowing 5 runs, but only 4 were earned while striking out one. Oakland went on to a 7 to 1 win and Stephen (0-1) had his first loss while Catfish Hunter (13-13) pitched a complete game for the win.

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