Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Category: General Blogging
This is a general blogging category.
Twins players with just one hit on their Minnesota Twins resume
The players listed below had just one hit while wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform. Most had more than one big league hit in their big league careers but for our purposes we are just looking for those players that had just one hit while wearing Minnesota Twins colors.
As you might suspect, since this list covers players that played for the Minnesota Twins from 1961 (when pitchers still batted) through 2019 the list has a lot of pitchers on it. The right-hand column on the list shows you the positions played by that player.
Back in 1961 you could outfit a new Twins player for $113
I ran across a newspaper special insert that the Star Tribune had put out with their Sunday edition on April 16, 1961 that was over 100 pages long and was intended to introduce professional baseball to folks in Minnesota and the upper Midwest. The 100+ pages of course included a lot of advertisements but they in themselves are cool to look at and see how prices have changed over the years.
I hope to work on it in the near future and see if I can put together a PDF and share it with you long time Twins fans who I am sure will really enjoy it and I think you younger Twins fans will enjoy it too for all the Twins history it has back in the days when life was a lot simpler and baseball was more fun.
I have no idea what the Minnesota Twins spend on outfitting a major league player now days, but back in 1961 when the club first moved to Minnesota from Washington D.C. the cost for getting a player ready to take the field was $113 according to the Twins equipment manager Ray Crump. The PDF below will show you the specifics.
Star_Tribune_Sun__Apr_16__1961_ (25)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Twinstrivia.com would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful time with your family and friends and stay safe if you need to travel.
Twins unveil baby blue alternate uniform for 2020
As part of the celebration of the 60th season of Major League Baseball in Minnesota, the Twins on Monday unveiled a throwback baby blue alternate uniform for the 2020 season. The uniform features baby blue tops and pants with “Twins” written in scarlet red cursive lettering as a replica of the club’s road uniform worn during the 1973-86 seasons.
“No uniform in the history of Minnesota Twins baseball drives more fan engagement than the old-school baby blues,” Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter said. “With that popularity in mind, we are excited to bring this uniform back as part of our 60th Season Celebration. It’s going to be fun to watch the 2020 Twins wearing the same look as Twins legends from the 1970s and 1980s.”
Play you best players, let them rest in the off-season
When I go to the ballpark or watch a baseball game on TV I always expect the teams best players to be on the field day in and day out during the baseball season. I am old school in that regard and it is disappointing to me when today’s managers rest players so frequently. I believe that players are paid to play and only an injury that does not physically allow them to play should keep them off the field and in the dugout.
Apparently that is not how the Twins play baseball. Coming to the ballpark and playing every day is not how it is done in Minnesota. The last player to play 160 or more games in a season for the Minnesota Twins was Justin Morneau back in 2008, that was 12 years ago. Morneau put together a 218 consecutive games played streak that started on June 28, 2007 and ended on June 20, 2009.
Over the years the Twins have had 21 instances when a player has appeared in 160 games or more. Eleven players have accomplished this feat with Zoilo Versalles leading the pack with four such seasons, Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett each did it three times, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas and Gary Gaetti did it twice while Tony Oliva, Roy Smalley, Paul Molitor, Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau each did it once. This past season the Twins “Ironman” was Jorge Polanco with 153 games played.
Looking at just the American League (due to no DH in the National League) this past season there were four players that appeared in 160 or more games and there have been no instances from 1961-2019 where there hasn’t been at least one players appearing in 160 games in a season, excluding strike shortened seasons.
Going back to 1961 the Twins have the third longest streak in the AL without a player appearing in 160 or more games. The last Cleveland Indians player to play in 160 or more games was Grady Sizemore in 2007 and the longest streak in the AL without a player playing in 160 games belongs to the Los Angeles Angels who had Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus qualify back in 2001. I found it interesting that the Texas Rangers who did not begin play until 1972 and play in the very hot Texas temperatures had 13 players play in 160 or more games between 1972-2019.
Recent Minnesota Twins news events
The first thing we do need to do is to congratulate catcher Mitch Garver and DH Nelson Cruz on being named 2019 American League Silver Slugger winners. Garver and Cruz are the first Minnesota Twins teammates to win Silver Sluggers since Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in 2008.
The last previous winner of a Silver Slugger award was outfielder Josh Willingham in 2012. Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer have each won the award five times. Garver and Cruz are the seventh and eighth Minnesota Twins players to be awarded Silver Slugger.
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. The award was started in 1980. A complete list of Twins award winners can be seen here.
Royce Lewis named 2019 Arizona Fall League MVP
After leading the 2019 Arizona Fall League with 30 hits and slashing .353/.411/.565 with three homers and 20 RBIs over 22 games, Royce Lewis the Minnesota Twins top prospect according to MLB Pipeline was chosen as the league’s most valuable player. MLB Pipeline has Lewis as the ninth best prospect in all of baseball and the second highest rated prospect playing in the AFL this season.
Lewis had a great AFL season as he also won the Fall Stars Game MVP Award with a two-run homer in the East’s 4-2 win over the West and was named the Championship Chains Hitter of the Week after going 6-for-10 in the fourth week of the AFL season.
You may have heard of the previous three winners of the AFL MVP award. They are Brewers 2B Keston Hiura in 2018 and debuted with the Brewers this past season, Braves OF Ronald Acuna Jr. in 2017 who debuted in Atlanta in 2018 and Yankees 2B/SS Gleyber Torres in 2016 who debuted in 2018. Some pretty nice players. I think I here Royce Lewis knocking at the Target Field door.
The strong AFL performance was huge for Lewis, who hit just .236/.290/.371 over 127 games with Class A Advanced Fort Myers and Double-A Pensacola during the regular season after suffering some injuries. The Twins claim they are still committed to keeping Lewis at shortstop but in the AFL this fall Lewis spent most of his time playing third base but did spend some time in centerfield and second base. I can’t help but wonder if the Twins see a time in the not too distant future when they can make Royce Lewis their third baseman and move Miguel Sano to first base full time.
Former Twins shortstop Jackie Hernandez losses his battle with cancer
Jackie Hernandez (Jacinto Hernández Zulueta) was born on September 11, 1940 in Central Tinguaro, Cuba and passed away on October 12, 2019 in Miami, Florida after a short battle with lung cancer. His given name (Hyacinth in English) was difficult for many people in the U.S. to pronounce, leading to his Anglicized nickname; he was also called simply “Jack or Jackie.”
Hernandez played pro ball from 1961 through 1974 and then spent some time playing ball in Mexico from 1975-1976 before retiring as an active player.
Trevor Larnach and Randy Dobnak named 2019 Twins Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year
The Minnesota Twins announced yesterday that outfielder Trevor Larnach has been named the 2019 Sherry Robertson Award winner as the Twins Minor League Player of the Year and right-handed pitcher Randy Dobnak has been named the 2019 Jim Rantz Award winner as the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Larnach and Dobnak, along with the other Twins 2019 award winners, will be recognized at the 15th Annual Diamond Awards dinner, which will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2020.