Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Three or more innings saves

Earlier this week on April 5 the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park by a score of 15-6. Matt Shoemaker started his first game in a Twins uniform and went six innings throwing 92 pitches and allowing three hits and one run before manager Rocco Baldelli said that was enough. The Twins had a 15-1 lead at that point and Shoemaker was in line for the win.

Randy Dobnak

Baldelli brought in his long man Randy Dobnak to finish things off and Dobnak did just that going the final three innings. The first two innings were uneventful but the third and final inning was interesting. The ninth inning started as you would like to see with Dobnak retiring the first two batters. But the next hitter Victor Reyes took Dobnak deep. Then he gave up a single, then a double and then a walk to load the bases for former Twins minor league outfielder and Tigers Rule 5 pick-up Akil Baddoo who crushed a Dobnak pitch for a grand slam home run and all of a sudden it was a 15-6 ballgame. No worries, Dobnak retired JaCoby Jones on a groundout and the game was over and the Twins had the 15-6 win.

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Opening Day Complete Games

Bert Blyleven

As you watch the 2021 MLB Opening Day games tomorrow one of the things that you are unlikely to see is a complete game win by a starting pitcher. Back in the day, it was normal to see starting pitchers throw complete games in their final one or two spring training exhibition starts and complete games on OD were a normal occurrence. Not so in todays baseball.

Last year Chicago Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks pitched a complete game throwing 103 pitches as he shutout the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on July 24. It was the first complete game on OD (not counting a five inning effort by Gerrit Cole in 2020) since April 1, 2013 when Clayton Kershaw shutout the San Francisco Giants 4-0. The last complete game on OD in the American League goes back even farther, back to April 1, 2011 when Felix Hernandez got a CG 6-2 win against the Oakland A’s. The last pitcher to pitch a complete game against the Twins was Rick Rhoden when he was pitching for the New York Yankees on April 5, 1988 after the Minnesota Twins won the 1987 World Series.

The Minnesota Twins OD complete games are documented below.

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What’s in store behind the 2021 door

I will jump right in and say that I am very optimistic about the 2021 Minnesota Twins winning the American League Central title even though with the exception of the Cleveland Indians I see the rest of the Central Division teams improving.

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How concerned are the Twins about the FSN/Sinclair snafu

With many of the streaming options dropping Fox Sports North of late many Minnesota Twins fans like a number of other MLB fans are left in a lurch for a way to watch their favorite teams play ball in a couple of weeks when the 2021 season opens. I am still connected to my Xfinity cable box but I can certainly sympathize with the fans that have no way to watch Twins baseball.

In a recent Star Tribune article Chip Scoggins wrote that “Multiple people familiar with the situation told me local franchises with FSN ties are looking at viewership losses of between one-quarter and one-third of their audience. That’s big, and sobering.”

In that same article Dave St. Peter said he understands frustration of fans who can’t watch the Twins because they don’t have access to FSN. “People want to be able to watch their teams,” St. Peter said. “I don’t think that is an unrealistic or unfair expectation.”

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A historical look at Twins players & their strike outs

Today’s baseball is so different than the baseball I grew up watching over the years. In the old days you had better be a big time slugger if you were strikeout prone or you would find yourself looking for work in the real world. Today’s baseball seems to have no issue with players with high strikeout rates.

In the short 60-game season in 2020 the Minnesota Twins were tenth in runs scored in the American League but thanks to their good pitching (ranked second in the league) they were able to win the division title on the last day when the Chicago White Sox choked coughing up a three game lead with just eight to play by losing seven out of their last eight games.

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Twins to welcome back fans to Target Field in 2021

The last time that Twins fans were able to watch their home-town team play ball in-person at Target Field was back on October 7, 2019. That was the day their beloved Bomba Squad was sent packing from the American League playoffs when they were swept by the New York Yankees three games to zip in the ALDS. Their starting pitcher that day was Jake Odorizzi. Sergio Romo and Trevor May pitched in relief and the only run they scored in the 5-1 loss was a home run hit by right-fielder Eddie Rosario. When Twins fans sadly filed out of Target Field that day little did they know that they would not be able to watch another game in person at Target Field for another 548 days. It will not be until April 8, 2021 when the Twins host the Seattle Mariners in their Home Opener that Twins fans will again be able to cheer on their Twins. All the players named above will be playing for other teams.

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Former Twins reliever Stan Williams gone at 84

Stan Williams

Stan Wilson Williams was born in Enfield, New Hampshire on September 14, 1936 and passed away at the age of 84 on February 20, 2021 at his Laughlin, Nevada home. Williams had been hospitalized on February 11 and in hospice care due to the effects of cardio-pulmonary illness.

In 1954 the Brooklyn Dodgers signed the big fire-balling right-hander straight out of high school at the age of 17 and sent him to Shawnee of the Class-D Sooner State League and gave him an invite to spring training, primarily because he could throw over 90 miles per hour, but as you might expect was a bit on the wild side. In 1955 he pitched in class B Newport News where he posted an 18-7 record striking out 301 batters and walking 158 in 242 innings. On the fast track to the big leagues, in 1956 he split his time between AA Ft. Worth and for the AAA St. Paul Saints. In 1957 he spent the entire season with the AAA St. Paul Saints going 19-7 with a 3.04 ERA but he still walked over five batters a game.

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Are Twins games and baseball games really too long?

How about some fun facts about the length of Twins games?

  • During the Met Stadium era (1961-1981) Twins home and away games averaged 2 hours and 36 minutes.
  • During the Metrodome era (1982-2009) Twins home and away games averaged 2 hours and 49 minutes.
  • During the Target Field era (2010-current) Twins home and away games average 3 hours and 3 minutes.

For additional information on the length of Twins games year by year and how the Minnesota Twins compare to the the AL, NL and MLB in general you need to stop by our Length of games including longest Twins games page. There you will also find the longest games played by the Minnesota Twins in terms of time and innings.

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What will Twins fans experience at Spring Training in 2021?

Front entrance sign

Twins pitchers and catchers are due to report to Ft. Myers on Friday, February 19 to start preparations for the 2021 season with position players reporting the following Tuesday. Normally I would have been in Ft. Myers for almost two months and I would have been out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex numerous times checking on the early arrivals and getting a few pictures but life is still not back to normal and I don’t see it happening in the near future.

Instead I find myself back home in Minnesota where the temperatures are colder than Mitch Garver’s bat as I wait for my second COVID vaccine and then with a bit of luck we might head south to enjoy what beautiful SW Florida has to offer. The question is what will fans get to see when and if they do go down to Ft. Myers? The Twins spring training complex has historically been one of the best spring training sites to get up close and personal and watch the players get ready for another baseball season. Don’t count on that this year.

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