TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
Apparently back in 1964 the Twins were tougher on the players that they felt were no longer of service. The clipping on the left appeared in the May 25, 1964 Star Tribune and stated that former Twins pitcher Bill Fischer, just 33 years old, will be “disposed of” and I found that interesting so I looked up Mr. Fischer and come to find out, he never pitched in the big leagues again. What did “disposed of” really mean back then? The guy did have a bad leg. First thought in my mind was what they do to horses with bad legs. It is a good thing that MLB teams don’t let pitchers with 7.31 ERA’s bother them any more.
Turns out being disposed of was not as bad as I thought, Fischer pitched in AAA for the White Sox for the next four years before hanging up his spikes for good. What about Garland Shifflett you ask? He appeared in 10 games for Minnesota in June of 1964 and he too never pitched in the big leagues again spending his next 8 season in the minors waiting for his call-up that never came. Baseball can be a wicked game!
Congratulations to Johan Santana on his election to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame even though he is not officially retired. Santana’s induction will take place on August 4 at Target Field.
In the past 57 seasons the Minnesota Twins have walked off their opponents 403 times. Kirby Puckett leads the Minnesota Twins in career walk-off’s wins by delivering the winning run in some manner 11 times, it might have been on a hit, walk, HBP, error or a sacrifice. Second on the list is Harmon Killebrew. I guess that is why these guys are Hall of Fame players.
Jerry Kindall played major league baseball from 1956 through 1965 but it was not his baseball playing or coaching skills that he is most remembered for, it was his compassion for everyone off the field that brings back the best Jerry Kindall memories.
Gerald Donald Kindall was born in St. Paul Minnesota on May 27, 1935 and passed away in Tucson, Arizona on Christmas Eve 2017 after suffering a stroke on December 21st.
Kindall signed a $50,000 bonus contract with the Chicago Cubs soon after he led the Minnesota Gophers to the 1956 national championship. He did so, in part, because his parents needed the money. His stepmother, Isabel, incapacitated by multiple sclerosis, had been confined to a wheelchair since Jerry was 12. His father, Harold, drove a truck from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then worked a shift at the railroad five nights a week.
Kindall, known as “Slim” played for the Cubs from 1956 through 1961 and then was traded to the Cleveland Indians. On June 11, 1964 he was part of a three-team trade and ended up in Minnesota along with Frank Kostro from the LA Angels. The Angels sent Billy Moran to the Indians and the Twins traded Lenny Green and Vic Power to the Angels.
Jerry Kindall played 62 games for the Twins in 1964 and 125 games for the AL pennant winning Twins in 1965. Kindall played mainly as a second baseman but also filled in at third and at shortstop. Kindall hit under. 200 both seasons but it wasn’t his bat that the Twins liked, it was his glove and passion. The Minnesota Twins released Kindall in April 1966 and Kindall walked away from the game of baseball as an active player and moved to the coaching side where he excelled and managed Arizona to three National championships.
Kindall was elected to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1991, the University of Minnesota Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
I was lucky enough to interview Jerry Kindall in January 2011 and he spent over an hour on the phone with me. You can listen to his interview here.
Kindall is survived by his wife, Diane, and stepdaughter, Elise Sargent, as well as four children — Betsy, Doug, Bruce and Martha — from his first marriage to the late Georgia Kindall.
RIP Jerry Kindall and thank you for all the great memories.
I know that a few days ago I blogged that I wanted to see the Twins do something for the here and now versus the future and the Twins must have been listening because they rushed right out and signed 34-year-old left-handed reliever Zach Duke, another former Tommy John surgery survivor for their collection. The Twins must be big believers that you need TJ surgery on your resume to be a big league pitcher or that once you have TJ surgery you can avoid arm injuries for a few years.
Zach Duke in 2016
I can’t be critical of the Twins signing Duke for a song (slightly over $2 million plus a possible additional $1.5 million in incentives) and who knows, he might be helpful. Zach Duke was a 20th round selection by the Pirates in 2001 and made his big league debut in 2005. Duke spent 2005-2010 with the Pirates and was used strictly as a starter before being moved to the bullpen by Arizona in 2011. Since then Duke has pitched for the Nationals, Reds, Brewers, White Sox and the Cardinals. Since Duke became a full-time relief pitcher, he is 13-11 with a 3.18 ERA in 287 games while striking out 248 batters in 243.2 innings.
So it just goes to show that you have to be careful what you wish for because they just might come true. Now I am hoping to find that the Twins have signed a legit starting pitcher but in my heart I know they will go out and sign a Jason Vargas type of starter.
According to Twins Notes in todays Star Tribune Sports section the Minnesota Twins have contacted Mike Napoli‘s agent about signing with Minnesota. Napoli would be a bench player with power who can still play first base every now and then. The big reason for signing him according to the Twins is that he would be a clubhouse leader to replace Chris Gimenez who is a free agent.
Kennys Vargas
Clubhouse leadership is a job that is earned, not bought on the free agent market. Why the Twins want to waste their money and a roster spot on a 36 year-old player that hit .193 in 485 plate appearances and struck out 163 times in Texas is beyond me. Kennys Vargas can do what they want Napoli for and he is much younger and cheaper.
The Twins don’t need a clubhouse leader, the Twins need some pitching that can help them in 2018, signing Michael Pineda who is coming off TJ surgery and won’t pitch until 2019 does not help the team now. There have also been reports that the Twins were in on Drew Smyly before he signed with the Cubs and are nosing around Trevor Rosenthal. Both of these pitchers are coming off TJ surgery and likely won’t pitch in 2018 either. What the heck is up with that? Are we collecting injured players who can maybe pitch in 2019?
When does this organization quit talking about what they hope to have in the future and start adding pieces that can help them in 2018? The current group of players is young and talented and could use some help with their pitching staff. I know, I know, they just signed Fernando Rodney a few days to be their closer. The team still needs one or two good starters and another reliever and so far they have done nothing to help that problem.
I am not a huge free agent fan and wouldn’t pay the bucks to sign Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta but there are a number of pitchers like Gerrit Cole and Chris Archer out there that could be had in a trade for prospects. How about we trade some futures for some pitchers that can pitch now and won’t need to be salary dumps in a few years? I am not getting any younger…
Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have done a lot of talking but so far it has been just that, talk. You don’t get a “W” for talk, you need real live pitchers to get that. How much longer can the Minnesota Twins organization keep selling the future to Twins fans? The future is now Mr. Falvey and Mr. Levine, please act like it.
A sneak peak into the Twins war-room in the 2017 GM Winter meetings
The Winter GM meetings are almost over and the Minnesota Twins have done nothing to make me say “Wow” I didn’t think the Twins would do something like that. This years winter meeting were like most of the others that I have followed, high hopes going in and a snoozer coming out.
With the 20th selection in the Rule 5 draft the Twins selected soon to be 27 year-old right-handed pitcher Tyler Kinley from the Miami Marlins organization. Kinley has spent five seasons with the Marlins since being picked in round 16 of the 2013 amateur draft. In 2016 Kinley split his season between AA and AAA but this past season spent his time between high A and AA so he seems to be headed backwards. Kinley has been used almost exclusively as a reliever and I assume that the Twins will do the same.
The team did however; lose RHP Nick Burdi a Twins second round pick in 2014 when the Phillies picked him with the third pick in the Rule 5 draft and then traded him to the Pirates for international bonus space. The team also lost RHP Luke Bard to the Angels with the 17th pick in the Rule 5 draft. Bard was a Twins round 1 compensation pick 42nd overall in 2012.
The Twins did sign RHP Michael Pineda who is coming off of TJ surgery in 2017 and will miss most or all of 2018 to a two-year $10 million deal. Pineda will turn 29 years of age in a couple of weeks and has pitched for the Mariners and Yankees and has a career record of 40-41 with a 4.05 ERA. On the plus side he has only given up 652 hits in 680 innings and he has struck out 687. But he is a year away, another one of those “he will help us in the future” signings, how about signing some players to help us this year? The Twins are coming off a good year, how about making some moves to keep the fans interested?
WAIT, hot off the press, the Twins have apparently found their closer, MLBRumors reports that the Twins and Fernando Rodney have agreed on a deal, $4.5 million plus another $1.5 million in possible incentives. Rodney will be 41 in March and will bring his 300 career saves to Minnesota, his ninth major league team. Rodney has been an interesting closer for many years and he will bring the Fernando Rodney Experience to Target Field, hopefully the arrows will be flying. Having said that, I would rather see a starter coming to the Twins.
It is still a long time before spring training starts so there is always hope that the Twins will make some moves to help their team but unless they can sign or trade for a big time starter you have to say that Mr. Falvey and Mr. Levine have under-performed.
Apparently back in 1964 the Twins were tougher on the players that they felt were no longer of service. The clipping on the left appeared in the May 25, 1964 Star Tribune and stated that former Twins pitcher Bill Fischer, just 33 years old, will be “disposed of” and I found that interesting so I looked up Mr. Fischer and come to find out, he never pitched in the big leagues again. What did “disposed of” really mean back then? The guy did have a bad leg. First thought in my mind was what they do to horses with bad legs. It is a good thing that MLB teams don’t let pitchers with 7.31 ERA’s bother them any more.
