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
Three of the most accomplished hitters of their generation received baseball’s highest honor today. Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., where they will join former manager Jim Leyland — elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee — on the induction stage on July 21. Beltré and Mauer reached the Hall in their first appearance on the ballot, and Helton in his sixth.
Mauer received 76.1 percent of the vote after a 15-year career spent entirely with his hometown Minnesota Twins, who drafted him first overall from a St. Paul high school in 2001. Mauer, 40, is the only catcher to win three batting titles and the only member of this new Hall of Fame class to be a Most Valuable Player; he won the American League honor in 2009, one of four seasons in which he led the Twins to the postseason.
I get a number of emails each day and one of them pointed out the following about my favorite pitcher all-time, Warren Spahn.
“Today’s definition of a durable pitcher is more lenient than the guidelines in place between 1942 and 1965, when Warren Spahn totaled 382 complete games for the Braves, Mets, and Giants.
Managers are happy these days if a starter can work six innings, maybe seven. Complete games are very rare, indeed. Just 35 CG’s were registered in the American and National Leagues last season — and only 379 were posted over the past eight years combined. That latter total, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, was three fewer than the number of complete games that Spahn recorded himself.”
Only two Twins starters have over 100 complete games, Bert Blyleven with 141 and Jim Kaat with 133 and the nearest to them for CG’s in Minnesota is Dave Goltz with 80. By the way, the most starts by a Twins starter stands at 42 by Jim Kaat in 1965.
I have attached a B-R Stathead search link for Minnesota Twins pitchers that have had 100 or more starts. The list is relatively short since only 26 pitchers from 1961-2023 have started that many games wearing the Twins uniform. The nice thing about it is you can re-sort the list in any way you want to see who had the most strikeouts, wins, etc. Check it out, I’m sure you will find some things that will surprise you.
Billy Gardner passed away peacefully January 3, 2024, at the age of 96 at home surrounded by family. He was born July 19, 1927, in New London, CT to father Leslie Garder and mother Eva Maynard. He married the love of his life, Barbara Carnaroli, in 1952. They were married 71 years.
Gardner was signed at the age of 17 by the New York Giants in 1944 after graduating from Chapman Technical High School. After spending one year in the minors Gardner was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1946. He returned to baseball in 1947. He worked his way up to the big leagues and debuted with the NY Giants on April 22, 1954 in Forbes Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates and singled in his first big league at bat. Gardner played in the majors for 10 years between 1954-1963 with the Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Gardner was a part of two World Series teams, the 1954 Giants and the 1961 Yankees. Gardner’s nickname was “Slick” because he “could turn a double play in a phone booth”.
Gardner was traded from the Orioles to the Senators on April 3, 1960 for Clint Courtney and Ron Samford and then became one of the original Minnesota Twins when the Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season. Gardner was the Twins starting second baseman in the first game the Twins ever played going 1 for 3 with a sacrifice in the Twins 6-0 win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium I. On June 14, 1961 after playing in Minnesota in just 45 games he was traded to the New York Yankees for pitcher Danny McDevitt.
After his playing years, he spent more than 30 years scouting, coaching and managing in the Minors and Majors including managing the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals.
Billy Gardner
Calvin Griffith was looking for a third-base coach in 1981, an opening created when Gene Mauch abruptly resigned in August 1980 and Johnny Goryl moved from third base to the manager’s job. Gardner was hired to coach third but he didn’t keep that job for long as he was promoted to the Twins manager position on May 23, 1981 after Jonny Goryl was let go. He had a 268-353 record with the Twins, including a 60-102 mark in 1982, when many of the core players to the 1987 World Series championship team first came up to the major leagues. The Minnesota Twins, losers of 20 of their last 25 games in 1985, fired Manager Billy Gardner named pitching coach Ray Miller of the Baltimore Orioles to succeed him.
Gardner is survived by his wife Barbara: and four children, Thomas Gardner, Gwen (Bob) Lakowsky, Shelly (Rick) Kraetz and Billy Gardner Jr. (Kristie). He enjoyed spending time with his children, ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
We at Twinstrivia.com would like to pass on our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Billy Gardner. Thank you for the memories Billy Gardner.
Another trip around the Sun is behind us and it is time once again to to look back and remember Minnesota Twins players of yesteryear that have left us. They may be gone from this earth but their memories always stay with us.
Reliever Bill Campbell (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
Bill Cambell was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in September 1970 and debuted with the Twins against Cleveland on July 14, 1973. Campbell pitched for the Twins from 1973-1976 saving 51 games. After becoming a free agent after the 1976 season, “Soup” signed with the Boston Red Sox. After leaving the Red Sox, Campbell went on to pitch for the Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Tigers before he finished his big league career with Montreal in 1987. Campbell pitched in 455 games, all but nine in relief and had 126 Saves in his 15 season in the big leagues.
Alex Cole signed with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent in February of 1994 and left as a free agent after the 1995 season. Many fans remember Cole breaking his leg in a gruesome injury in May of 1995. Cole, an outfielder, played primarily in centerfield and appeared in 133 games hitting .304 with five home runs. Cole played in the majors from 1990-1996 with the Cleveland Indians, Twins, Rockies and the Red Sox.
Before the 1955 season, Dan Dobbek was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent. Scouts in the Washington organization were touting Dobbek as a potential power hitter in the mold of Harmon Killebrew when he came up to the Senators in 1959 after hitting 23 home runs for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Dobbek was one of the original Minnesota Twins when they moved from Washington and he played in the Twins first-ever game as a defensive replacement for outfielder Jim Lemon. A neck injury Dobbek incurred when he ran into a fence as a Twin in 1961 may have contributed to his short big league career that ended after the 1961 season. The Twins traded Dobbek to the Cincinnati Reds in January of 1962 for catcher Jerry Zimmerman but he never played in the major leagues again. Dobbek spent the remainder of his playing career in the minors, retiring after the 1963 season. Dobbek also played for the Elefantes de Cienfuegos of the Cuban Winter League and was a member of the 1960 Caribbean Series champion team. From 1959-1961 Dobbek played in 198 games hitting fifteen home runs while hitting .208.
George Frazier was traded by the Chicago Cubs with Julius McDougal (minors) and Ray Fontenot to the Minnesota Twins for Dewayne Coleman (minors) and Ron Davis on August 13, 1986. Frazier pitched in 69 games in Minnesota in his 1 and 1/2 year stay, posting a 6-6 record with 8 Saves and had a 4.83 ERA. Frazier was a member of the 1987 World Series winning team as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Frazier was sent to pitch for the Twins once in their postseason run. In Game 4 of the World Series, he was sent to pitch in the seventh inning. The Twins lost 7-2, but he pitched two effective innings in what ended up being his last major league appearance. Frazier became a free agent after the 1987 season and with no takers decided to retire. Over his ten-year career with five big league teams, Frazier appeared in 415 games and was credited with 35 wins, 29 saves, and a 4.20 ERA. Frazier served as a color analyst for the Twins in 1993 and for the Colorado Rockies from 1998 until 2015. Following that he did color commentary for Fox Sports during the Big 12 Baseball championship broadcasts while also serving as a color analyst for Oklahoma baseball on television from 2015 to 2023.
Roric Harrison was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a free agent on April 28, 1978 after spending time in the minor leagues since 1975. Harrison appeared in just nine games for Minnesota in 1978 going 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA and spent of his final season in pro ball with the Twins AAA Toledo team. Harrison was also a good hitting pitcher, and one of his most noteworthy accomplishments came with a bat in his hands. He made just 2 starts in his first big league season with the Baltimore Orioles, with the last one coming on October 3, the final game of the year. Harrison threw 6 innings of 1-run ball against Cleveland, and Grant Jackson pitched the final 3 innings in the 4-3 victory. Harrison also hit a sixth-inning home run off Cleveland starter Ray Lamb. Not only was it Harrison’s first major-league home run, it would be the last home run by an American League pitcher before the onset of the designated hitter rule. Almost 30 years would go by before another AL pitcher homered, thanks to the addition of interleague play. Bobby Witt Sr. of the Texas Rangers broke the dry spell when he hit a homer against Ismael Valdez of the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 30, 1997. Shortly after stepping away from the game, he began a career with Coldwell Banker, rising to the executive level for both the Residential Brokerage and Relocation Services divisions.
The Minnesota Twins beat out several clubs and signed fire-balling Danny Morris as an amateur free agent in June of 1964, for what Minnesota management called a five-figure bonus. Scout Ray Holton did the honors, and Morris was assigned to the Twins’ Cocoa Rookie League team in Melbourne, FL. Morris had his major league debut on September 10, 1968. Morris probably deserved more big league time with the Twins but the Twins excellent pitching staff kept Morris in the minors. Over parts of two seasons (1968-1969), Morris appeared in 6 games, including 3 starts, with the Twins. He had an 0-2 record, and in 16 innings, he allowed 16 hits and 5 earned runs for a 2.81 ERA. He walked 8 and fanned 7. After retiring from the MLB due to injuries–he moved to Oakland City, IN. to work along side his father, Clyde Morris, at Old Ben Coal. After Old Ben Coal closed, Danny opened Friends Bar Grill with his wife Donna in 1990. For 33 years he loved working at Friends and making lifelong friends that he cherished.
Cotton Nash, one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the University of Kentucky. He played in the NBA, the ABA as well as in MLB, as a first baseman and outfielder. When he graduated from college, Nash signed with a Los Angeles team — two of them, in fact. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA draft and also signed with the California Angels. In May of 1967 the California Angels traded Nash to the Chicago White Sox and Nash was called up for a cup of coffee at the tail end of 1967 and made his MLB debut at Fenway Park against the Red Sox going 0 of 2. Then in April 1969 the White Sox traded him to Pittsburgh for Ed Hobaugh but that trade was voided and in July of 1969 the White Sox traded Nash again, this time to the Minnesota Twins for a PTBNL that turned out to be Jerry Crider. Nash played in six games with the Twins in 1969 but he did get his first big league hit off of Steve Barber of the Seattle Pilots at Sick’s Stadium. In 1970 he played in four games with Minnesota so in his two seasons with the Twins he played in ten games and was 3 for 13 with a run scored and two RBI. That was it for Cotton Nash as a big leaguer although he continued to play minor league ball through 1972. His main sporting interest after retirement was breeding thoroughbred horses.
Juan Carlos Pulido
Carlos Pulido was signed at 18 in 1989 by Minnesota, the hard-throwing Pulido was a bright prospect in the Twins’ system, but a 1995 arm injury ruined his chances as a starter. After spending one season with the Twins in 1994, he spent the next decade in the minor leagues, as well as with the Orix BlueWave, before spending two more seasons with the Twins in 2003 and 2004. In his three-season MLB career, all with the Minnesota Twins, Pulido posted a 3–8 record with 47 strikeouts and a 5.98 ERA in 111.2 innings.
Sandy Valdespino was a Cuban outfielder who played for 7 seasons in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins (1965-67), Atlanta Braves (1968), Houston Astros (1969), Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers (1969-70) and Kansas City Royals (1971). Like many of the Cuban and other Latin American ballplayers who ended up in the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins organization, his journey into professional baseball started with scout “Papa Joe” Cambria when he signed with the Washington Senators in 1957 but did not make his MLB debut until April 12, 1965 with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins outfield was crowded, so Valdespino did not get much playing time but in spite of that was a huge fan favorite. Valdespino played in 5 of the 7 1965 World Series games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and their great pitching staff going 3 for 11 with a double and a run scored. The Atlanta Braves snapped up Valdespino after the 1967 season in the Rule 5 draft. Sadly when all was said and done, Valdespino came up two games short of qualifying for an MLB pension.
Back in February 2016 I did a post about Twins switch-hitters that you can view here. I decided to update it with a another post that includes just eight more seasons but the results are dramatically different. The player that moved up significantly in home runs hit by a Twins switch-hitter is a player that many Twins fans want to see traded and that player is Jorge Polanco. At the time I did that posting, Polanco had zero home runs, look where he ranks now. By clicking on the various table headings you can re-sort the table to see the leader in any category you wish. I am a huge Polanco fan and I hope the Twins find a way to keep him for a whole slew of reasons.
Dan Dobbek, one of the original 1961 Minnesota Twins died in his home in Portland, Oregon on November 28 just eight days short of 89th birthday, of congestive heart failure with dementia surrounded by his family. Dan was born December 6, 1934, in Ontonagon, Mich., to John and Marion (McKinnon) Dobbek. He had an older sister Dolores, who died at 26.
Dan was drafted and served in the U.S. Army in 1957-1958. He played professional baseball for the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Jim Kaat noted that he and Dan Dobbek were both signed by Twins scout Dick Wiencek. In his first year in pro ball in 1956 with the Class B Hobbs Sports, Dobbek played in 129 games hitting .340 with 23 home runs and had 144 RBI. Dan was drafted by Uncle Sam and served in the U.S. Army in 1957-1958. He made his MLB debut with the Washington Senators on September 9, 1959 going 1 for 4 against the Chicago White Sox at Griffith Stadium in a 5-1 loss. Dobbek spent the 1960 season with the Senators appearing in 110 games but had only 288 PA’s while hitting just .218 with 10 home runs.
When the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins, Dan Dobbek became one of the original Twins. Although Dobbek did not start the Twins first game in 1961 against the New York Yankees he entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement for Jim Lemon and had the honor of being just one of ten Twins who played in that first Twins game, a 6-0 Twins shutout at Yankee Stadium I. Later that year on July 2 in a game at Municipal Stadium against the Kansas City Athletics Dobbek ran into a fence hurting his shoulder and cutting his head. It was later determined he would need surgery for the injured shoulder. After the 1961 season, the Twins traded Dobbek to the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Jerry Zimmerman.
Dan Dobbek never played in the major leagues again, finishing his pro career in the minors with the Reds and then again in the Twins minor league system and retired after the 1963 season. Dobbek also played for the Elefantes de Cienfuegos of the Cuban Winter League and was a member of the 1960 Caribbean Series champion team. After leaving baseball, Dobbek worked over 30 years for several different laundry companies in Portland.
Dan Dobbek leaves behind his wife, Helen Joan (Lingelbach) Dobbek; and sons, Thomas John and Patsy and Daniel Joseph and Johnita; as well as a granddaughter, Cecilia Palos; and a great-granddaughter, Athena of Georgetown, Ky.
Thank you for the memories Dan Dobbek. We at Twinstrivia.com pass on our condolences to the Dobbek family, friends and fans.
What is dWAR? Defensive WAR (dWAR): this takes only the player’s defensive contributions and positional adjustment into account in a WAR calculation. dWAR was created by Baseball-Reference. I am using this tool to look at Minnesota Twins players from 1961 thru 2023 to see what it determines as the best defensive Twins players by position for their entire Twins career. A player has to have played at least 51% of his games at that position to qualify. According to dWAR, Greg Gagne is the best defensive player the Twins have ever had.
Minnesota Twins Greg Gagne (7) in action, 6/16/1991 CREDIT: Chuck Solomon (Photo by Chuck Solomon /Getty Images
Baseball was fun to watch at Metropolitan Stadium from 1961-1981 and a lot of MLB and Minnesota Twins “greats” played there. Here is a short list of some of the Twins leaders in some hitting and pitching categories. Keep in mind these are stats accumulated only while playing at Met Stadium.
Lee Health and the Minnesota Twins agreed to a 10-year partnership Thursday, November 16th that will rename the spring training stadium site in Fort Myers the Lee Health Sports Complex. The complex has been the Twins’ spring training home since 1991. Lee Health is now designated as the Twins’ official Florida healthcare provider. As you might expect, both sides are mum on the financial’s in this new partnership.
The Twins and the club’s six minor league affiliates have called the Lee Health Sports Complex their spring training home since 1991; the 2024 spring campaign will be the organization’s 34th in Fort Myers.
Lee Health Sports Complex, located at 14100 Six Mile Cypress Parkway in Fort Myers, is inclusive of the 8,730-seat Hammond Stadium in which the Twins play spring training home games and conduct select workouts (while also serving as the Mighty Mussels’ home ballpark); five full practice fields (including the home field for the FCL Twins) and two half-fields; a minor league building with locker rooms, training and video facilities; the Twins Player Development Academy, which features a 58-room residence hall for players and staff, dining facilities, recreational spaces, meeting rooms, educational classrooms and the 220-seat Champions Hall; and four community softball fields.
In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers, although there are some exceptions. Is it beneficial to be a switch hitter? Left-handed batters get a better jump out of the batter’s box to first base. This means the left-handed batter will get more infield hits. Hitting the ball to the first base side of the field has many built-in advantages for his team (such as hitting behind the runner), so he becomes a more valuable hitter.
If you look at position players only, then about 13% are switch hitters, 54% right-handed and 33% left-handed hitters. I believe that at last count there have been 20 switch hitters elected into the Hall of Fame. Many consider Mickey Mantle the greatest switch hitter of all time while others might tell you that it was Pete Rose but that is a whole different story. The switch hitter in the HOF with the most hits is Eddie Murray and the only HOF switch hitting player with more home runs than Murray (504) is Mickey Mantle with 536. So a case can certainly be made for Eddie Murray being the best switch hitter in MLB history.
The Minnesota Twins have had their fair share of switch hitters over the years. Who was their best switch hitter? That would depend on what you are looking for in a hitter but you have to start with Roy Smalley. Up until this past season Roy Smalley led Twins switch hitters with 110 career home runs in a Twins uniform but this past season in 2023 Jorge Polanco took over the team lead in switch hitter home runs with 112. Lets take a look at the Twins switch hitters from 1961 to 2023 at https://stathead.com/tiny/hYPg4. The list shows us the Twins have had 77 switch hitters (both position players and pitchers) over the years but only 68 of them had a plate appearance and 66 of them had at least one hit while 44 of them slugged at least one home run.
Cy Young winner Jim Perry was the Twins best switch hitting pitcher hitting 5 home runs and getting 46 RBI with 117 hits and hitting .191 in 613 AB’s over 380 games in his Twins career. Pitcher Pedro Ramos was no slouch with the stick for Minnesota as he hit three home runs in his one season (1961) pitching for Minnesota in just 93 AB’s. Ramos was the Minnesota Twins very first switch hitter to appear in a game and get a hit with two RBI off future Hall of Famer Whitey Ford when he batted on Opening Day in 1961 at Yankee Stadium. He also became the first Twins switch hitter to hit a home run when he hit one out on May 12 at Met Stadium against the Los Angeles Angels pitcher Eli Grba in a 5-4 Twins victory.
