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
Everyone is upset with the Twins poor play this season but at this stage of the season the 1982 Twins were worse. On this date in 1982 the Twins were in Chicago where they lost 5-4 to the White Sox when Harold Baines hit a double off reliever Terry Felton and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sounds just like 2016 doesn’t it? The Twins record dropped to 16-53 and 25 games behind the division leaders. Felton’s 1982 season wasn’t a good one, he finished 0-13. Box score.
The Twins of today stand at 21-48 and 18 games out of first as they prepare to take on the Phillies tonight.
I was updating the “Salaries” page with 2016 Forbes team valuation data and decided to see how some of the Minnesota Twins numbers stack up going back to 2010 when the team last made the playoffs. But first here is what the Forbes Twins profile states for 2016:
“Minnesota’s home attendance has fallen every season since the team moved into Target Field in 2010. During the ballpark’s inaugural season, average attendance was 34,287. Only 27,408 per game paid to come through the turnstiles last season. Likely reason: the Twins have the third-highest non-premium average ticket price ($33) in the American League, yet have posted only two winning seasons (2010, 2015) since moving into Target Field. Meanwhile, the team failed to win more than 70 games during each of the other four seasons at Target Field. The team’s relatively quiet off-season was highlighted by a four-year, $24.85 million investment in Korean slugger Byung Ho Park.”
(Team value, revenue and player expenses are in millions)
The Twins team value has gone up every year, more than doubling from 2010 when they moved into Target Field, team revenue has also gone up every year but one when it stayed stagnant. From 2010-2016 the team has brought in $1.486 billion in revenue and the player expense for that time period comes out to $766 million which means that over these seven years the Twins spent 51.55% on player expenses.
But what does that really mean? Not much in my opinion because it depends on how the money is spent, you can spent 75% of your revenue on player expenses but if you are not getting good value for your money and you are paying for players not longer with the team, or for pitchers that can’t pitch or $23 million for an average player than the numbers mean nothing. But yet lots of people are interested in what ownership is spending on player salaries and expenses. It is not totally clear in the Forbes report what all falls in the player expenses category other than player salaries.
Bottom line of course is how many games you win and if you get in the playoffs where anything can happen. Since 2010 the Twins have appeared in the playoffs just once and their record between 2010 and today stands at 460 wins and 572 losses for a winning percentage of 44.57%.
Team owner Jim Pohlad, President Dave St. Peter and GM Terry Ryan have each said over and over again that it is not about the money and I truly do believe that. Jim Pohlad wants a championship on his ownership resume badly but that doesn’t mean that he wants to spend money foolishly either. So the question is, if it is not about the money then what is left in the equation? There are always the players, the coaching staff, and of course the management. We have changed players over and over again trying the old and the young but no luck there. The manager and the coaching staff were changed and yet the Twins team is marching straight towards a record-breaking bad season. That leaves the management, the President and the GM, the glue that keeps the organization headed forward or are they? One problem solving technique used over the years by many of us is if all else fails than change out one part at a time until the engine starts. BUT, you can’t fix the problem until you admit that you have a problem. What a sorry situation we Twins fans find ourselves in, and it is only June 10.
The 2016 June amateur draft starts today and the Twins will have the number 15 selection. The Twins have picked 15th just once since the draft started in 1965 and that was way back in 1977 when they selected an outfielder from a high school in New Jersey by the name of Paul Croft. Croft spent four years in the Twins system and during that time advanced up to “A” ball before the Twins let him go.
Any player the Twins draft today or over the next few days has a small chance of ever wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform at any point but even the ones that do get to the top of Twins mountain won’t arrive until 2020 or later so don’t get too excited about these draft picks just yet.
Interest in this years draft seems really down this year here in Minnesota, probably because of the apathy in Twins baseball due to the Twins miserable play in 2016 and Twins management refusal to accept what is going on around them. Pat Reusse did a piece on the Twins in today’s Star Tribune called “Dancing after victories? These Twins have no shame“.
I am here to “second” what Reusse said and push it a step farther. The Twins should start running ads now that a “huge” surprise for Twins fans is coming at the All-Star break and when the break arrives the Minnesota Twins should announce that they understand how bad the team has been and to show appreciation to Twins fans for supporting this historically bad team the rest of this season that they will cut ticket prices in half for all remaining home games. People that have tickets in hand for future games should be credited for half their ticket price for tickets in 2017. Seems to me that is the least they can do for their fans. Twins ownership should appreciate that Twins fans are mad as hell, at least that shows the team that there is still interest in Twins baseball versus the apathy that could and is building around this franchise very quickly. Remember, it costs less to keep fans than it does to get new fans.
But let’s have a little fun here versus crying in our milk about the Twins poor play. How much do you know about the Twins and their adventures in the MLB June amateur draft? Give these questions a try.
Don’t forget, all the players we are talking about here have had to be drafted by the Twins.
What three Twins have the most extra-base-hits in a Twins uniform?
The best player the Twins drafted in the first draft (1965) but then traded him and he went on to become a six-time all-star.
I am the first player the Twins ever drafted to be named to the all-star team as a Minnesota Twin.
I am the first Twins player selected in round 1 to make his debut with the Twins.
I was a Twins first round pick but I chose not to sign with Minnesota and went on to win 123 big league games.
I was the Twins first round selection and eleventh overall and went straight to the majors to pitch for the Twins without going to the minors first.
No Minnesota Twins first round pick has played in more major league games than I, who am I?
The Twins have selected (not necessarily signed) a catcher in the first round three times, can you name them?
I was a Twins 3rd round pick in 1966 out of HS as a 3B but did not sign with Minnesota and I eventually became a 10 time all-star as a 1B.
Only Minnesota native to be drafted by the Twins and win 20 games or more.
I was a Twins 3rd round pick and am still active today.
I am the highest drafted (round 1 and fifth overall) player by the Twins to never get a sniff of the big leagues.
The 1989 draft netted the Twins two American league Rookie of the Year award winners, who were they?
Who is the first native Minnesotan to be selected by the Twins in round 1?
This Twins 2nd round selection won 176 big league games and a Cy Young award.
This Twins 3rd round pick was drafted as a catcher but did not play that position in the majors but was good enough to win an MVP award for the Twins.
I was a 7th round pick by the Twins but I pitched in 1,042 games over my 21 year big league career.
This Twins 8th round pick won 148 big league games, all for the Minnesota Twins.
A 10th round Twins pick and I was a wonderful utility man playing every position in the big leagues except as a pitcher during my 12 years in the bigs.
The 13th round was not unlucky for me, the Twins drafted me in round 13 as a second baseman and I went on to play in the majors as an outfielder for the Twins and six other teams for 12 years.
I will add the correct answers in a couple of days, feel free to put you answers in the comments.
Ronald Baxter Henry was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on August 7, 1936 and passed away on May 14, 2016 in Denver, Colorado at the age of 79 from cardiovascular disease and end stage renal disease. Ron Henry played professional baseball for 15 seasons between 1954 and 1968 but his only time in the big leagues was in 1961 and 1964 when he served as the teams third catcher.
In 1954 Henry was acquired by the Milwaukee Braves from the Boise Pilots in the Pioneer League in some fashion and played in their minor league system through the 1960 season but after that season ended he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1960 Rule 5 draft which required him to spend the 1961 season with the Twins or to be returned to Milwaukee. In 1961 Henry served as the teams third catcher behind Earl Battey and Hal Naragon and made his big league debut at the age of 24 on April 15 at Memorial Stadium against the Baltimore Orioles as a pinch-hitter for Ted Sadowski in the fifth inning with the Twins trailing 6-0. Henry faced Oriole starter Steve Barber and hit into a 1-6-3 double play. Henry only appeared in 20 games that season getting just 31 plate appearances and had 4 hits and 3 RBI. Henry spent the next two seasons learning his trade in the minors before he got another shot with the Twins in 1964 and again he was the third catcher behind Battey and Jerry Zimmerman. In 1964 Henry, who according to the 1964 Twins media guide was known as “Scratch” appeared in 22 games and in those 43 plate appearances he had a double, triple and two home runs.
Ron Henry
Although his short stints in the majors did not show it, Henry was a very good hitter in the minor leagues where he played in 1,119 games and hit .260 with 126 home runs and 41 triples. Behind the plate Henry was a good catcher and one of the reasons the Twins selected him in the Rule 5 draft was his strong throwing arm. Henry played in the Twins minor league system until he was sent to the Houston Astro’s in mid 1967 in an unknown transaction. Henry played in the Astro’s system until he walked away from baseball after the 1968 season at the age of 31.
After his baseball career ended, which had been interspersed by a short stint in the U. S. Army, Ron settled in Denver, Colorado where he became a well-known and respected local singer and actor. Ron packed Denver nightclubs for 35 years. During his career he appeared in many of Denver’s hot spots. His acting career encompassed various venues, including Armando’s, Rodney’s and a turn at the Country Dinner Playhouse in “Damn Yankees”.
Ron Henry
During his life journey, Ron was married to Diane Chalmus, of Sicklerville, NJ; Sarah Saunders of Denver, CO and Leslie Henry , Raleigh, NC. After moving to Raleigh, he received a heart transplant at Duke University Hospital more than 10 years ago. Ron returned to his beloved Denver in 2008 where he lived for the remaining years of his life among family and close friends.
Ron had a larger than life personality that attracted numerous friends and fans. He had a gift for gab that included storytelling, putting smiles on faces and making people laugh. He was a fan of TV and talk radio and developed strong opinions on many subjects which he would debate and defend until the end.
Thank you for the memories Ron Henry and rest in peace.
Calvin GriffithClick on the article to make it larger and easier to read.
After losing still another game on June 1, 1982 the Minnesota Twins found themselves with a 12-40 record and 20 games out of first place. How did Owner, President and GM all rolled into one Calvin Griffith react to the situation he found himself in? On May 28 he extended the contract of manager Billy Gardner when the Twins were 12-36 and had lost 9 games in a row and 14 out of the last 15. Here is what the June 7, 1982 Sporting News had to say. I’m pretty sure that owner Jim Pohlad will not take the same action 34 years later.
When the Minnesota Twins hired Hall of Famer Paul Molitor to manage the Twins starting with the 2015 season they had to know that they were swimming up-stream and that the baseball gods were against them. The list of “modern” MLB Hall of Fame players that tried their luck as managers is relatively short and none of them have turned out to be Hall of Fame managers.
Frank Robinson may have been the best of the skippers that had Hall of Fame on his resume. Robinson managed four different teams (Indians, Giants, Orioles, Expos/Nationals) over 16 seasons from 1975-2006. Robinson took over the Orioles manager duties in 1988 after they had an 0-6 record and he managed them to 15 more consecutive losses before they won their first game of the season after an 0-21 start. The next season (1989) Frank Robinson was selected as the AL Manager of the year after leading his team to a second place finish and a 87-75 record. Although he may have been the best manager of the Hall of Fame group, he finished his managing career with zero playoff appearances. His career mark as a manager was 1,065-1,176 (.475).
Yogi Berra managed for all or parts of five season with two New York clubs, the Yankees and the Mets. Although his career managing record was 484-444, he did take both the Mets and Yankees to a pennant.
Bob Lemon managed for all or parts of eight seasons between 1970-1982 and had a lifetime managing record of 430 and 403 with the Royals, White Sox and Yankees. He does have two pennants and a World Series championship on his resume but in both of these cases he took over the job during the season and never managed a team to a pennant from start to finish.
Ted Williams managed the Washington Senators from 1969 through 1972 when he called it quits. He led the Senators to a 86-76 record in his first season (1969) as the Senators skipper but in 1970 his team was 70-92, in 1971 the team was 63-96, and in 1972 he was 54-100. Do you see a trend here? His career mark as a manager was 273-364 (.429) and zero play-off appearances.
Ryne Sandberg took over as skipper of the Phillies 44 games into the 2013 season and left after a 26-48 start to the 2015 season. Sandberg had a 119-159 mark as a skipper during his Phillies tenure.
Paul Molitor
Paul Molitor
Paul Molitor was hired to be the Twins manager prior to the 2015 season and todate his record as a manager stands at 94-113 (.454). Molitor took over a team that had not won more games than it lost since 2010 and in 2015 he led them to a 83-79 record. At first glance does not seem that bad over all, but, there is always that but. In May of 2015 the Twins were 20-7, if you subtract that month Molitor managed the team to a 63-72 record. This year Molitor’s record is 15-35, the team is playing at a lousy .300 winning percentage but even that starts to look good when you look at their road record of 7-20 (.259). You want to see more? The Twins are 0-6 against the White Sox, 0-6 against the Tigers, and 1-5 against the Royals but on the positive side they are 4-2 against the Indians. A record of 5-19 in your own division does not cut it, it is totally unacceptable even if you are playing just for fun and the Twins are certainly not playing for the fun of it.
Twins pitching coach Neil Allen (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
The Twins announced yesterday afternoon that pitching coach Neil Allen has been suspended indefinitely with pay after being arrested Thursday and charged with driving while impaired.
According to the incident report, three officers for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office stopped Allen for visually impaired driving at 1:59 a.m. Thursday. The stop took place in downtown Minneapolis at 6th Street South and Park Avenue.
Eric Rasmussen
Allen refused a field sobriety test after being stopped in his 2009 Infiniti QX56 and was arrested for third-degree driving while impaired. He was taken into custody at 3:48 a.m. Thursday and released without bail at 10:32 a.m., pending a complaint.
Eric Rasmussen, in his eighth season as minor league pitching coordinator for the Twins, was named interim pitching coach.
STATEMENT REGARDING PITCHING COACH NEIL ALLEN
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Twins issued the following statement on today’s arrest of Pitching Coach Neil Allen:
“The Minnesota Twins are aware of the pending DWI charge against Pitching Coach Neil Allen. Mr. Allen has been suspended, with pay, indefinitely and the matter will be handled in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club.”
In addition, Twins have named Eric Rasmussen interim Pitching Coach. Rasmussen has spent the last eight-plus seasons as the Twins Minor League Pitching Coordinator.
There will be no further comment at this time.
UPDATE: Neil Allen was reinstated as the Twins pitching coach on Thursday July 7th as the Twins prepared to open a series in Texas against the Rangers. According to Allen, the Twins “probably saved my life” because the team rather than firing him signed him up for a six-week outpatient treatment program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Allen said that before May 26th he had not had a drink in 22 years. Legal charges against Allen are still pending.
The walk-off hit that gives your team the win is as exciting as it gets at your home ballpark and a walk-off loss on the road is frustrating and depressing. Let’s take a look at Minnesota Twins history from 1961-2015 and see how the Twins have fared.
The Twins had 150 walk-off wins at Met Stadium, 213 walk-off wins at the Metrodome and 37 walk-off wins at Target Field.
Between 1961-1981 the Twins were walked off 165 times, between 1982-2009 they were walked off 206 times, and between 2010-2015 they have been walked off 33 times.
Between 1961-2015 the Twins have 400 walk-off wins and 404 walk-off loses.
The Twins lost another game today by a score of 9-2 at Target Field to the Baltimore Orioles. That makes 7 losses in a row and 10 out of their last 11. Let’s look at some facts:
They have won twice in 17 games on the road.
They are 6-10 at their home park
In April they were 7-17
So far in May they are 1-8
They have been outscored 174-111 after 33 games
They are 2-13 against other Central Division teams
Starting pitchers are 3-15
The closer is 2-4 with 2 saves and a 5.40 ERA
Six relievers have appeared in 14 or more games
The pitching staff has the highest ERA in the league
Opponents are hitting .274 against Twins pitching
The Twins are hitting .236
Twins have made more errors than everyone except for Oakland
I could go on and on but what is the point, this team is playing horrendous baseball right now and they can’t catch any breaks either, that’s life. Believe me when I say that this team is not as bad as it is playing right now just like it was not as good as it played in 2015.
Do they miss Torii Hunter in the clubhouse? Sure they do but even Hunter couldn’t help this team play to the level that most people expected. So what is the problem? In 1982 the Twins lost 102 games and after 33 games they were 11-22, the Twins record this year after 33 games is 8-25.
owner Jim Pohlad
I don’t care what Jim Pohlad has said publicly, GM Terry Ryan and manager Paul Molitor have to be on the hot seat right now. Hitting coach Tom Brunansky and pitching coach Neil Allen should not be buying any green banana’s either. My prediction for what is it worth is this. The Twins have a day off on Thursday and then play three games in Cleveland and three more in Detroit after that. If the Twins don’t play .500 on the road this week, Paul Molitor will not return to Minnesota with the team as the Twins manager.
Paul Molitor
Twins players may respect Paul Molitor as a Hall of Fame player but they don’t know how to play for him. In my opinion Molitor is a poor handler of the pitching staff and is on pace once again to burn out his bullpen. I don’t see anything that Molitor has done to motivate these players or to help them win games, he writes out a line-up by going with the hot bats and just lets them play. That probably works great for a veteran team but not for a team this young and inexperienced. Sometimes a team and a manager just do not mesh. Maybe it is not Molitor’s fault but life isn’t fair.
This team needs someone to get mad bust up some things, call out some players for their brain farts and put the whip to them. These players are young but this isn’t their first rodeo, they have played the game before and they are better than this. It is about time someone tells them that and also tells them that if they can’t play like major leaguer’s then they won’t be playing in Minnesota. See ball, hit ball. Baseball is baseball no matter what level you are playing it, this isn’t rocket science or brain surgery. The bases are still the same distance apart, the mound is the same distance from home plate. Sure the major leagues are tough but if you can’t compete, then pack your bags and go home. Fans are paying good money to watch the Twins play baseball st a high level, if they wanted to watch a bunch of minor leaguers play they would buy tickets to watch the St. Paul Saints play.
I am surprised more Twins fans aren’t madder than hell and telling Twins management that they aren’t going to take this crap any more. Why no fans burning their tickets or fans in the stands with paper bags on their heads? I love baseball but the Twins are squeezing the fun out of the game. Call the Twins and tell them what you think and what you expect. The Twins have no excuses as far as I am concerned, don’t play the “this is a young team card”, all I care about is seeing the number in the “W” column increasing.
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced that Minnesota Twins Minor League right-handed pitcher Logan Lombana has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Ibutamoren, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Program. The suspension of Lombana, who is currently on the roster of the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League, is effective immediately.
Lombana a RHP was selected by the Minnesota Twins out of California State University, Long Beach in the 25th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. Lombana pitched for Elizabethton last season and started out 2016 in Cedar Rapids and has been used strictly in relief just as he was in college.
Everyone is upset with the Twins poor play this season but at this stage of the season the 1982 Twins were worse. On this date in 1982 the Twins were in Chicago where they lost 5-4 to the White Sox when Harold Baines hit a double off reliever Terry Felton and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sounds just like 2016 doesn’t it? The Twins record dropped to 16-53 and 25 games behind the division leaders. Felton’s 1982 season wasn’t a good one, he finished 0-13. Box score.
