Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

CenturyLink Sports Complex upgrades continue

CenturyLink Sports Complex sign 2I was a little surprised this morning when I was reading the Ft. Myers News-Press Sports section and saw the following headline: Upgrades Underway. Ace News-Press reporter David Dorsey wrote that there was still funding left over from the big 2014-2015 Century-Link Sports Complex remodel and the Twins decided to make use of some of that money for some additional updates.

The biggest change for the fans is the new shaded canopy that covers an area of the field facing concourse on the third-base side. In addition, a permanent serving area is being added to the sky deck as is some additional weather protection for the baseline concession areas. The cost for these changes is $346,531 and it is part of the original $48.5 million in funding so the Minnesota Twins won’t have to spend a dime.

The players get new infield grass but the money for this project comes out of the routine maintenance budget. You can see the entire story in the News-Press (with pictures) here.

Don’t forget that Twins spring training tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.

Some historical Twins pitch to contact pitchers

The pitchers on this list had to have pitched at least 25 innings during their stay in Minnesota and it is sorted in “on base %”  (OBP) order.

Johnson, Adam ML debut 07162001

Rk Player OBP IP From To G GS W L SV H BB SO ERA BA
1 Adam Johnson .450 26.1 2001 2003 9 4 1 3 0 40 14 17 10.25 .360
2 Brett Merriman .445 44.0 1993 1994 34 0 1 2 0 54 37 24 8.39 .314
3 Bryan Oelkers .437 34.1 1983 1983 10 8 0 5 0 56 17 13 8.65 .376
4 Sean Bergman .436 68.0 2000 2000 15 14 4 5 0 111 33 35 9.66 .374
5 Jason Marquis .434 34.0 2012 2012 7 7 2 4 0 52 14 12 8.47 .371
6 Vance Worley .427 48.2 2013 2013 10 10 1 5 0 82 15 25 7.21 .381
7 Greg Harris .415 32.2 1995 1995 7 6 0 5 0 50 16 21 8.82 .355
8 Steve Carlton .411 52.2 1987 1988 13 8 1 6 0 74 28 25 8.54 .332
9 Sidney Ponson .409 37.2 2007 2007 7 7 2 5 0 54 17 23 6.93 .335
10 Scott Klingenbeck .408 77.0 1995 1996 28 7 1 3 0 111 34 42 8.30 .339
11 Bob Gebhard .408 39.0 1971 1972 30 0 1 3 1 53 24 26 6.00 .317
12 Erik Bennett .402 27.1 1996 1996 24 0 2 0 1 33 16 13 7.90 .306
13 John Pacella .402 51.2 1982 1982 21 1 1 2 2 61 37 20 7.32 .299
14 Dan Perkins .401 86.2 1999 1999 29 12 1 7 0 117 43 44 6.54 .326
15 Jack Savage .397 26.0 1990 1990 17 0 0 2 1 37 11 12 8.31 .339
16 Pedro Hernandez .392 56.2 2013 2013 14 12 3 3 0 80 23 29 6.83 .338
17 Mike Lincoln .391 97.0 1999 2000 26 19 3 13 0 138 39 42 7.70 .335
18 Erik Schullstrom .387 60.0 1994 1995 46 0 0 0 1 79 27 34 6.00 .317
19 Dan Schatzeder .386 54.0 1987 1988 40 1 3 2 0 72 23 37 5.50 .321
20 Danny Fife .385 56.1 1973 1974 14 7 3 2 0 64 33 21 5.43 .286
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/30/2015.

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Looking back at the pace of play in 2015

Clock tickingOn February 20, 2015, MLB announced a series of initiatives aimed at quickening the pace of play in Major League games, the key changes were:

  • Umpires will enforce Rule 6.02(d), which requires hitters to keep one foot in the box during an at-bat, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Timers will be used to ensure that the game resumes promptly at the end of inning breaks.
  • Managers will no longer come out of the dugout to initiate a replay challenge. A manager will also keep his challenge after each call that is overturned. Last year, a challenge was retained only after the first overturned call.

So how did those changes pan out for you? Did you notice if the pace of play sped up? Did the pace of play speed up at all? I can’t say that I noticed if a game was any quicker or not, I did notice the new rule about stepping out of the batters box because the announcers kept harping on it. I also became aware of the clock between innings when I missed a home run because the game resumed before the television was back to the game from its barrage of commercials.

So I decided to dig in to the matter and see what Baseball-Reference could tell me. That is such a great site for research with a lot of great stuff out there but sometimes I just have trouble figuring out how to get what I want. I am an American League fan so I will spend more time looking at AL data then I will at the NL data. Having said that we will take a look at the National League first.

NL in 2015

RANK TEAM AVG GAME TIME GAMES OVER 3 H
1 Marlins 2h 51m 51
2 Nationals 2h 54m 64
3 Braves 2h 55m 65
4* Mets 2h 56m 59
5 Phillies 2h 58m 63
6* Cardinals 3h 00m 74
7 Padres 3h 01m 81
7 Brewers 3h 01m 82
9 Reds 3h 02m 69
9 Giants 3h 02m 78
9* Cubs 3h 02m 88
12* Dodgers 3h 04m 78
13* Pirates 3h 06m 79
13 Rockies 3h 06m 98
15 Diamondsbacks 3h 10m 91
 The Cardinals won the most games and the Phillies lost the most games. The * indicates a playoff team.

Only five of the twelve NL teams had an average game time of under three hours. If you wanted to take in a quick game you needed to make sure that the Marlins were involved and if you wanted to get more baseball for your buck than you need to make sure that you were watching the Diamondbacks. The difference between the quick pace of Marlins play versus the snail’s pace of the sidewinders from the desert was 19 minutes a game on average.

Comparing AL 2014 to 2015

RANK TEAM 2014 AVG GAME TIME 2014 GAMES > 3H 2015 AVG GAME TIME 2015 GAMES > 3H % IMPROVE IN GAME TIME
1 Blue Jays* 3h 01m 77 2h 53m 65 4.4%
2 Orioles 3h 08m 96 2h 55m 61 6.9%
3 Twins 3h 07m 94 2h 57m 65 5.3%
4 Indians 3h 12m 109 2h 59m 71 6.8%
4 Rays 3h 19m 119 2h 59m 78 10.05%
6 White Sox 3h 08m 95 3h 0m 68 4.3%
6 Angels 3h 15m 69 3h 0m 69 7.7%
6 Royals* 3h 02m 87 3h 0m 70 1.1%
9 A’s 3h 05m 88 3h 01m 71 2.2%
9 Mariners 2h 59m 68 3h 01m 73 -1.1%
11 Astros* 3h 10m 106 3h 03m 84 3.7%
12 Rangers* 3h 07m 97 3h 04m 89 1.6%
13 Red Sox 3h 17m 116 3h 06m 88 5.6%
14 Yankees* 3h 13m 110 3h 08m 92 2.3%
15 Tigers 3h 14m 113 3h 09m 94 2.6%

The Royals won the most games and the A’s lost the most games. The * indicates a playoff team.

Just like in the NL the AL had five teams in 2015 that averaged under 3 hours a game. The fastest pace games on average were played by the Bluejays and they were about two minutes longer than games by the speedy NL Marlins. The slow-paced Tigers had the longest on average games in the AL but they were a minute quicker than the NL Dbacks. The one team that stands out is the Seattle Mariners who are the only AL team to have played longer games on average in 2015 than they did in 2014. The Rays deserve mention for having been the slowest paced team in the AL in 2014 with games averaging 3h 19m with 119 games over 3 hours and in 2015 they took MLB game pace guidelines to heart and cut 20 minutes off an average game and reduced their games of over 3 hours from 119 to just 71.

When you compare averages for 2014 to 2015 for the entire AL the numbers show that in 2014 a game lasted about 3h 9m and teams played an average of 99 games over 3 hours. In 2015 the average game time dropped to 3h 1m and the number of games over 3 hours dropped to 72. The number of games over 3 hours dropped by a little over 27% but the pace of the game only dropped by just over 4%.

What about of you compare the pace of play in the NL to the AL you ask? The two leagues play a different style of baseball but when all the haze faded away both leagues averaged a 3h 1m pace of play.

I think it is ironic that the only sport that doesn’t use a clock is so worried about how long their games take to play.

Just for fun – The Twins Joe Mauer makes $23 million a year. Let’s say he plays 162 games at 3 hours a game, we come up with 486 hours during the season. But let’s say that with workouts and other things he works a total of 8 hours a day for 162 games, that comes out to 1296 hours. Divide $23 million by 1,296 hours and you get an hourly wage of $17,747 an hour. Oh my goodness! I know that is being over simplistic but still…… I like Joe Mauer but this was just too good to pass up.

I am working on a longer term project that will take a historical look at the Minnesota Twins and their game times over the years so stay tuned for that.

 

Merry Christmas

We at Twins Trivia want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas !!!

Merry Christmas 2015-animation980by300We hope that you get to enjoy this wonderful holiday with your family and friends and please don’t forget all those that are serving our country and can’t get home this holiday season.

These guys seldom hear “He gone” or “Grab some bench”

The other day I was having lunch and reading my newest Memories and Dreams magazine put out by the Hall of Fame. There are always good stories in this magazine and in this edition there was a short one page article by Marty Appel called A Second Look at Hall of Famer Nellie Fox.

Fox, NellieI am old enough to have seen Nellie play second base for the Chicago White Sox in early 60’s although by then he was on the down-hill side of his amazing career that started back in 1951. Not only was the man a twelve time all-star but he was the American League MVP in 1959.

Fox was one tough dude to strike out, in over 10,000 plate appearances he struck out just 216 times, that is incredible. He once had a record 98 straight games without being retired on strikes.

That got me to thinking about the Twins and how often they strike out. Now days players strike out more frequently then they once did and baseball and teams just kind of wink and say “yes, he strikes out but look at all those home runs”. If Nellie went 98 games with striking out what is the Twins longest streak of games without striking out.

Rk Name Strk Start End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB BA OBP OPS
1 Earl Battey 1965-08-02 1965-09-05 35 110 7 28 9 1 0 18 12 .255 .323 .677
2 Brian Harper 1989-04-11 1989-05-31 28 74 9 17 4 0 3 15 4 .230 .294 .700
3 Glenn Adams 1980-05-24 1980-07-04 27 71 8 23 5 0 0 13 5 .324 .354 .749
4 Sandy Valdespino 1965-07-07 1965-08-15 27 46 7 16 1 0 0 6 4 .348 .400 .770
5 Hal Naragon 1961-08-26 1962-06-05 27 55 1 15 1 0 0 3 5 .273 .328 .619
6 Rich Chiles 1977-07-08 1977-08-21 25 55 6 11 0 0 1 6 7 .200 .302 .556
7 Mickey Hatcher 1983-08-23 1983-09-19 24 90 11 32 4 0 3 15 2 .356 .366 .866
8 Vic Power 1962-04-15 1962-05-20 24 89 10 27 2 0 3 14 4 .303 .333 .760
9 Chip Hale 1996-04-02 1996-05-21 23 26 4 10 3 0 1 6 3 .385 .448 1.064
10 Frank Kostro 1967-06-22 1967-09-17 23 21 3 8 0 0 0 1 2 .381 .435 .816
11 Jerry Terrell 1976-07-25 1976-09-05 21 50 7 14 0 1 0 4 3 .280 .327 .647
12 Leo Cardenas 1971-04-27 1971-05-20 21 76 12 25 5 1 3 13 7 .329 .381 .920
13 Brian Harper 1988-07-03 1988-08-12 20 66 5 25 6 0 2 8 2 .379 .391 .952
14 Dave Meier 1984-08-23 1985-06-10 20 45 5 8 1 0 0 4 2 .178 .213 .413
15 Jose Morales 1979-09-25 1980-05-20 20 39 5 11 1 0 1 5 3 .282 .326 .710
16 Rod Carew 1974-09-29 1975-05-10 20 66 11 26 5 1 0 5 9 .394 .461 .961
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/11/2015.
Credit to Steve's Baseball Photography Pages
Credit to Steve’s Baseball Photography Pages

Are you kidding me, Earl Battey with a 35 game streak of no strike outs during the 1965 pennant race? Wowsers, that is amazing. I sure don’t remember Battey having such a good eye at the plate but when you look at his numbers you will find out he never struck out more than 75 times in a season. Brain Harper is on the list twice, with a 28 game streak and a 20 game streak. I used to love watching Harper bat, he always seemed to make contact and what I remember most about him was how he followed each and every pitch all the way to the catchers glove.

You will notice that the most recent Twins streak of at least 20 games with out striking out goes back to 1996 when Chip Hale had a 23 gamer, today Chip Hale manages the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

Aoki as a KC Royal in 2014
Aoki as a KC Royal in 2014

Who had the longest streak of this kind in 2015 you ask? That would be Nori Aoki from the San Francisco Giants with a 22 game streak from June 6 to August 5 and that was after he had a 20 game streak from May 5 to May 31. He must have had something in his eye because he struck out once a game on June 1, 2 and 3. That means from May 9 to August 5, Aoki had 187 plate appearances and struck out 3 times. Nice! Aoki just signed to play with Seattle a week or so ago.

How about the Minnesota Twins in 2015? The most games streak with out a strikeout was 10 by catcher Kurt Suzuki.

To me one of the oddest things about the above list is that catchers make up the top three streaks and Jose Morales is a bit further down the list and he played a handful of games behind the plate too. Now in 2015 Suzuki has the longest streak. Why is that?

Is it because catchers just naturally have a better eye for the strike zone? I doubt it. Do catchers learn as the game goes along how the umpire is calling balls and strikes and they can put that information to use? Are catchers skillful enough to do that? Or is it that maybe umpires have a certain degree of empathy for catchers and build friendships with them over time that causes them subconsciously not to call strikes on them as often? You gotta wonder… or is it just a quirk that three Twins catchers are on top of this list?

No-hitters and near no-hitters in Twins history

No-hitterSince the Twins started play in April of 1961 there have been 148 complete game no-hitters thrown in the majors, Minnesota Twins pitchers have thrown five of them.

Rk Player Date Opp Rslt App,Dec IP R BB SO Pit BF
1 Francisco Liriano 2011-05-03 CHW W 1-0 SHO9, W 9.0 0 6 2 123 30
2 Eric Milton 1999-09-11 ANA W 7-0 SHO9, W 9.0 0 2 13 122 28
3 Scott Erickson 1994-04-27 MIL W 6-0 SHO9, W 9.0 0 4 5 128 31
4 Dean Chance 1967-08-25 (2) CLE W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 1 5 8 31
6 Jack Kralick 1962-08-26 KCA W 1-0 SHO9, W 9.0 0 1 3 28

During that same time frame (1961-present) MLB pitchers have thrown 534 complete game one-hitters and came with-in spitting distance of getting their name on the no-hitter list. Eleven different Twins pitchers accomplished that feat and Bert Blyleven did it three times in a Twins uniform.

Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven
Rk Player Date Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R BB SO Pit BF
1 Scott Baker 2007-08-31 (2) KCR W 5-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 1 9 111 29
2 Scott Erickson 1992-07-24 (1) BOS W 5-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 2 3 106 30
3 Ken Schrom 1985-06-26 KCR W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 1 1 5 4 32
4 Geoff Zahn 1980-06-06 TOR W 5-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 3 6 32
5 Dave Goltz 1977-08-23 BOS W 7-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 3 10 32
6 Bert Blyleven 1974-07-04 TEX W 3-1 CG 9, W 9.0 1 1 4 6 32
7 Bert Blyleven 1973-09-26 OAK W 4-1 CG 9, W 9.0 1 1 1 8 29
8 Jim Kaat 1973-07-01 CAL W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 1 1 0 7 29
9 Bert Blyleven 1973-05-24 KCR W 2-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 2 7 30
10 Dean Chance 1967-05-11 KCA W 8-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 6 8 34
11 Dave Boswell 1966-07-30 BAL W 7-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 1 11 30
12 Mudcat Grant 1965-09-25 (1) WSA W 5-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 2 7 30
13 Gerry Arrigo 1964-06-26 (1) CHW W 2-0 SHO9, W 9.0 1 0 1 8 31

In 55 seasons of play the Twins have had one or fewer hits in a game 36 times and on five of those occasions they were not able to muster even a single hit. This past season the Twins had only a single hit in a game three times which tied them with 1980 when they also were one-hit three times.

Rk Date Opp Rslt PA R H BB SO LOB GmLen
1 2015-08-14 CLE L 1-6 28 1 1 1 7 0 146
2 2015-07-31 SEA L 1-6 30 1 1 1 11 2 143
3 2015-06-09 KCR L 0-2 31 0 1 4 5 4 170
4 2013-05-24 DET L 0-6 31 0 1 3 12 4 155
5 2012-05-05 SEA L 0-7 30 0 1 2 10 3 153
6 2012-05-02 LAA L 0-9 29 0 0 1 9 2 148
7 2011-09-05 (2) CHW L 0-4 28 0 1 0 9 1 146
8 2011-04-02 TOR L 1-6 30 1 1 4 7 2 150
9 2010-08-23 TEX L 0-4 32 0 1 6 9 5 160
10 2008-05-06 CHW L 1-7 32 1 1 3 5 4 147
11 2005-08-23 CHW W 1-0 27 1 1 2 3 2 128
12 2000-08-01 BAL L 0-10 32 0 1 2 15 5 173
13 1998-07-16 SEA L 0-3 31 0 1 3 11 4 151
14 1998-05-17 NYY L 0-4 27 0 0 0 11 0 160
15 1988-05-21 TEX L 0-3 30 0 1 2 2 3 139
16 1987-06-26 TEX L 0-1 31 0 1 6 7 4 146
17 1985-08-19 MIL L 1-4 29 1 1 0 8 1 138
18 1985-07-14 DET L 0-8 31 0 1 3 7 4 148
19 1982-09-28 (1) TOR L 0-3 28 0 1 1 2 1 93
20 1982-09-04 BAL L 0-3 30 0 1 2 7 3 123
21 1980-10-05 KCR L 0-4 32 0 1 3 2 5 125
22 1980-08-21 (2) DET L 2-4 31 2 1 3 6 2 127
23 1980-04-23 CAL L 0-17 33 0 1 4 1 6 161
24 1976-08-10 BAL L 0-2 29 0 1 1 5 2 127
25 1976-06-14 BOS L 0-5 30 0 1 4 2 3 140
26 1974-09-28 CAL L 0-4 35 0 0 8 15 8 142
27 1970-09-21 OAK L 0-6 28 0 0 1 9 1 141
28 1970-08-13 WSA L 0-1 28 0 1 1 7 1 122
29 1969-08-10 BAL L 0-2 31 0 1 3 8 4 118
30 1969-05-15 BAL L 0-5 29 0 1 2 6 2 141
31 1968-05-08 OAK L 0-4 27 0 0 0 11 0 148
32 1967-04-30 (2) WSA L 0-3 29 0 1 2 0 2 120
33 1964-09-06 BOS W 2-1 27 2 1 1 4 1 125
34 1964-09-02 BAL L 0-2 29 0 1 1 10 2 134
35 1962-09-10 LAA L 0-5 31 0 1 2 9 4 128
36 1961-09-24 WSA L 1-4 30 1 1 2 6 2 140
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/20/2015.

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A great summary of near no-hitters by Stew Thornley called Lost in the Ninth.

10th Annual Fall Stars Game to be televised and played on Saturday

AFL logoThe Arizona Fall League’s 10th annual Fall Stars Game presented by Bowman Baseball Cards will be played at 6:08 p.m. AZ (7:08 p.m. CT) this Saturday, November 7 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. MLB Network and MLB.com plan to televise the game.

Burdi, Nick 2Walker, Adam Brett 2015 AFLTwo players from the Twins system, outfielder Adam Brett Walker and pitcher Nick Burdi have been selected to represent the Minnesota Twins in 2015. Last year outfielder Eddie Rosario was the Twins representative.

 

2015 AFL Fall Stars Game Rosters

Birth of the Twins: Here’s the Real Story

The 2015 baseball season is over and the Kansas City Royals won the World Series over the New York Mets last night. The Minnesota Twins finished their 2015 season and 55th season in Minnesota with a 83-79 record and 12.5 games behind the AL Central Division champion Royals and missed getting in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Griffith, Calvin 5Just for fun let’s revisit October of 1960 and get the low down from Minneapolis Tribune writer and sports editor Charles O. Johnson (who was there and in the thick of things) on the demands that Senators owner Calvin Griffith put in place before the Washington Senators could move to Minnesota and become the Minnesota Twins.  According to his article in the October 30, 1965 Sporting News, here is what happened.

Sporting News Oct 30, 1965 P5

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all you ghosts and goblins out there. We hope you have a great day and don’t over indulge in all that candy. By the way, we switch back to standard time tonight so don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour tonight.

Pumpkin Twins 1

The “Old Fart” Twins

old fart hatWith all the discussion since the season ended about what to do with free agent outfielder Torii Hunter I thought it might be interesting to see who some of the “old farts” were that put on a Minnesota Twins uniforms over the years.

Torii Hunter 2015Hunter is on the list below because he turned 40 on July 18, 2015 and this kind of search only takes into account your age as of June 30th and Torii turned 40 on July 18, 2015. I heard that the Twins are interested in bring Hunter back but not as a full-time player and Torii has not made up his made as yet what he wants to do. Having said that, Hunter’s 2015 season looks pretty good stat wise on the list below.

Only two players on this list were actually signed by Minnesota to begin their professional careers, and they are Hunter and Jesse Orosco. The others were traded for, purchased, acquired on waivers or signed as free agents. Oddly enough Orosco was a second round selection in the 1978 draft and was traded by the Twins to the Mets as the PTBNL in the Jerry Koosman deal before he made his major league debut and did not pitch for Minnesota until his 24th and final season. Hunter as you all know was the Twins number one draft pick (20th overall) in 1993 and left as a free agent after the 2007 season only to return again in 2015 after stints with the Angels and Tigers.

Jesse Orosco
Jesse Orosco
Rk Name Year Age G PA R H HR RBI SB BA OPS Pos
1 Jesse Orosco 2003 46 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
2 Steve Carlton 1988 43 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
3 Joe Niekro 1988 43 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
4 Joe Niekro 1987 42 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
5 Terry Mulholland 2005 42 49 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
6 Dave Winfield 1994 42 77 328 35 74 10 43 2 .252 .746 *D/9
7 Steve Carlton 1987 42 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
8 Dave Winfield 1993 41 143 594 72 148 21 76 2 .271 .767 *D9/H3
9 Pat Borders 2004 41 19 44 3 12 0 5 2 .286 .683 *2/H
10 Terry Mulholland 2004 41 39 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 *1
11 Paul Molitor 1998 41 126 559 75 141 4 69 9 .281 .718 *D/3H
12 Paul Molitor 1997 40 135 597 63 164 10 89 11 .305 .786 *D3/H
13 Elmer Valo 1961 40 33 36 0 5 0 4 0 .156 .469 *H/7
14 Jim Thome 2011 40 71 242 21 50 12 40 0 .243 .827 *DH
15 Al Worthington 1969 40 46 6 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 *1
16 Ruben Sierra 2006 40 14 33 3 5 0 4 0 .179 .487 /*H*D
17 Jim Dwyer 1990 40 37 75 7 12 1 5 0 .190 .558 *H*D/79
18 Torii Hunter 2015 39 139 567 67 125 22 81 2 .240 .702 *9D/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/23/2015.