Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Twins Hodgepodge

The blog C70 at the Bat has an annual event where they check in with bloggers from other teams to talk about the past off-season and the up-coming season which they call Playing Pepper. This has been going on for a number of years and I have participated for the last few year. Here is what a number of Twins bloggers had to say in Playing Pepper 2015 – Minnesota Twins.

I know that spring training stats don’t mean squat but if you go by the numbers they have put up so far this spring the Twins bullpen is in for a long season and pitching coach Neil Allen and manager Paul Molitor will wear a path from the dugout to the pitching mound. Hopefully they are not nearly as bad as they have shown us so far this spring.

Chris Herrmann
Chris Herrmann

The Twins keep playing the 27-year-old Chris Herrmann this spring and the way I see it they are showcasing him and trying to do him a favor and move him. I have talked with Herrmann a number of time over the last few years and you could not meet a nicer guy. The Twins are using Herrmann in the outfield, first base, DH and at catcher. It is good to be able to play a variety of roles but it is the catchers gear that will prolong Herrmann’s career in the big leagues and he wants to be considered a catcher because he understands that ordinary utility players are a dime a dozen. I believe the Twins feel that Herrmann has no future with the Twins but they want to reward him for his loyalty but showcasing him and moving him this spring to a team that is looking for a back-up catcher that can also play several other positions. Herrmann is what he is and his skills are not going to change at this point in his career, he just needs to find a team looking for his skills. I wish Chris the best but baseball can be cruel.

I am disappointed in how little the Twins have run this spring under their new skipper. The team stolen base leaders so far are Aaron Hicks and Eduardo Nunez with two and the team has stolen a total of seven bases in 11 attempts. Oddly enough speedster Jordan Schafer has been caught three times in four attempts.

Tim Stauffer
Tim Stauffer

My biggest disappointment so far this spring? That would be reliever Tim Stauffer, I expected a lot more but it is still early.

I still have hope that the Twins will some how find a way to take a serious look at Eddie Rosario as the Twins center fielder in 2015.

One of Twins top prospects shut down

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

This past Wednesday I heard that one of the Twins top prospects, Max Kepler had injured his arm during a morning workout. The early diagnosis was a Flexor Pronator Strain and a MRI the following day confirmed the diagnosis. The good news is that there is no tear but the bad news is that Max had a similar arm injury last season. Kepler works very hard to stay in shape year round but has had some bad injury luck the last couple of years that have limited him to 61 games in 2013 and 102 games last season. When I asked Twins management about the injury to Kepler their comment was “just a tight forearm”.

Kepler, who turned 22 recently was signed by Minnesota in 2009 and can play all three outfield positions as well as first base has been in the Twins minor league system since 2010. Kepler was hoping to start this season with Chattanooga and is very disappointed with his latest injury. A lot of people including myself were expecting a breakout season from Max in 2015 and he may still have that but it will start later than he would have wanted. I understand that Kepler has been shut down and will start rehabbing his injury this coming week but expectations are that he could be out 3-4 weeks. A very tough break for one of my favorite players in the Minnesota Twins system.

Checking in with the Twins

When you visit the CenturyLink Sports complex when there are no games going on it can be kind of boring. I know, I know, I have nothing to complain about as I watch the Twins prepare for a new season in the 80 degree sunshine that SW Florida provides. When I got to the ballpark I ran into Seth Stohs from Twins Daily who had just arrived a day earlier and we chatted for a while. The Twins were playing the Pirates up in Bradenton so the remaining crew of Twins players back in Fort Myers was made up primarily of starting pitchers and a few position players that didn’t make the trip like Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter and Eduardo Nunez.

The minor league players hadn’t reported yet although I believe they are scheduled to report today. With the minor league group reporting it would mean that it is time for the Twins to announce their first group of cuts which I believe will be announced later today.

Ton Kelly
Ton Kelly

As I was leaving the minor league fields I happened to see former Twins skipper Tom Kelly sauntering back from the minor league complex to Hammond Stadium bat in hand. I said hello and asked about his health as we walked back. TK told me he was not 100% as yet but was getting stronger everyday. He told me about how his doctor had literally “gotten in his face” and told him to rest and do nothing after he was released from the hospital. Of course TK being who he is couldn’t sit still for long but he found out quickly that the doctor knew what he was talking about and since then TK has listened to the doctor and abided by his wishes. The doctor told him it would probably take about 6 months to get back to where he was before the stroke and the 6 month mark is coming up soon. As we got closer to the stadium more fans recognized TK and soon a group had gathered for pictures and autographs with the Twins legend. I continue to be amazed at how Tom Kelly has mellowed over the years. Good for you TK, stay healthy because the Twins and their fans need you.

As always I managed to get some pictures of the action for you down here and you can check them out on the right hand side of the page under the 2015 Spring Training link.

The most interesting man in baseball?

Daniel Norris
Daniel Norris

Is Toronto Blue Jays prospect Daniel Norris the most interesting man in baseball? Every now and then you run across a story that gets your attention and makes you wonder about a lot of things. This morning I ran across such a story on ESPN and it makes me wonder what if the Minnesota Twins had signed Norris. If the Twins drafted and signed Norris would they be OK with his life style? I really liked this story and wish Daniel Norris the best and I hope I get a chance to talk to him some day. You can read the story here. Maybe there still are “characters” in baseball after all.

Twins first exhibition game on deck

The Minnesota Twins open their 2015 exhibition season by playing the Minnesota Gophers on March 4 and they will play their final spring training game on Saturday April 4th at Hammond Stadium against the Boston Red Sox. When early April rolls around we will all have a pretty good idea who will make this years opening day roster. Having said that, I don’t think that Twins fans should get too attached to the players on the opening day roster because I have a feeling that the “roster will be a-changing” and I can’t wait to see some of that new blood when  it heads north to Minnesota and Target field.

Tinker Field 6The Minnesota Twins played their first ever exhibition game on March 11, 1961 at Tinker Field in Orlando. Cookie Lavagetto and his boys took on the Detroit Tigers and their first game turned out to be a 4-1 loss. Paul Giel started the game for Minnesota and took the loss and Bob Bruce who started for the Tigers was credited with the victory. You will notice in the box score that although this was the first game of spring training and players were not in the shape that they are in today that a number of the pitchers that pitched in this game logged three innings not the one inning that you will probably see tomorrow.

Paul Giel (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
Paul Giel (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

The box score below was provided courtesy of Stew Thornley, Thanks Stew, we appreciate it!

Twins first ST game boxscore 3-11-1961

Hammond Stadium Extreme Makeover

There was a special Hammond Stadium Commemorative Section in the Ft. Myers News-Press Sunday paper today and the headline was “Extreme Makeover”. David Dorsey did a number of the articles in the special section and he did a superb job. Maybe his best piece in the section has the following headline – “Ancient Rome inspires entrance.” It talks about the “grand vomitory” and how Dave St. Peter and the Twins had to be convinced to give up some of their best seats behind home plate that brought in about $5,400 in revenue per spring training game. Dorsey also discusses the “Witches Hat” towers with the Populous architect. I am not going to spoil the article for you by telling you what “grand vomitory” means and what “Witches Hat” towers have to do with the extreme makeover.

You can read it for yourself here –

New Twins grand entrance will spew forth fans

Improvements abound at Twins spring training home

Fields of Dreams for the Minnesota Twins

Q&A: Hammond Stadium architect discusses the details

There is a very nice panoramic view video of the stadium and the grand entrance in the article that you also want to see.

Looking at the best seat in the house spring training prices

2015 Grapefruit LeagueWhen I was out at the CenturyLink Sports Complex I picked a Minnesota Twins spring training schedule and I was also handed a brochure called “Spring Training Florida,” put out by the Florida Sports Foundation. Their web site can be found at www.floridagrapefruitleague.com and it is worth your time to check this site out before you head on down here to Florida to catch some spring baseball.

There are 15 teams that train in Florida (eight AL and seven NL) at this time and I thought that it would be fun to see how spring training ticket prices compare when you look at the best seat (most expensive) ticket in the house. Spring training tickets are priced all over the board and a number of teams break down their spring training games into various tiers like they do their regular season tickets. The Twins for example have two tiers and divide their games into “value” and “premium” pricing and this year they even have a lower price for their game against the Minnesota Gophers on  March 4th.

It is difficult to try to use logic to explain baseball spring training ticket prices here in the Grapefruit League. Some of the teams that you might say are going to be or have been less competitive have some of the highest ticket prices. I am not sure how things work out in Arizona where the spring training sites are closer together but here in Florida visiting teams seldom send very many, sometimes you wonder if they sent any of their regulars to away games. Not counting the game against the Gophers and any “B” games, the Twins will play 32 exhibition games, 16 at home and 16 on the road but five of those road games are at JetBlue Park just a couple of miles away so you really can’t count those as real away games.

So if you wanted to really splurge and buy a ticket for the best seat in the stadium, what will it cost you this year if you come down here to warm and sunny Florida.

TEAM LOCATION COST
1 Astros Kissimmee $58
2 Braves Lake Buena Vista $54
3 Red Sox Ft. Myers $48
4 Twins Ft. Myers $44
5 Marlins Jupiter $40
5 Cardinals Jupiter $40
7 Phillies Clearwater $39
8 Orioles Sarasota $35
8 Rays Port Charlotte $35
10 Yankees Tampa $33
11 Blue Jays Dunedin $32
12 Tigers Lakeland $30
12 Mets Port St. Lucie $30
12 Nationals Viera $30
15 Pirates Bradenton $27

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

Average price for the best seat in the house is $38.33

I can’t really speak for the other teams but one of the benefits of coming to a Twins game at the CenturyLink Sports Complex around mid-March or later is that you can go to the back fields and catch a couple of minor league games going on. I believe that the minor league players are scheduled to report on March 10 so a few days after that you should be able to start to see them playing some games. Sometimes these games are against each other but most of the time they will play a team from the same level from another organization. Watching these future stars doesn’t cost you a dime and if you get to the park early enough you might not have to pay for parking. I believe the Twins charge about $10 for parking on days when the Twins play at Hammond Stadium and I think they start collecting money sometime between 9:30 AM and 10 AM. So if you are an early bird you can save a ten spot but don’t tell the Twins I told you to do that.

If can swing a trip to Florida to enjoy the sun and the wonderful weather you should try to take in a Grapefruit League game, it is a great way to enjoy an afternoon or evening.

No red carpet but the uniforms were red

IMGP8441cI missed the Minnesota Twins open house this past Sunday because I was feeling under the weather but I was feeling fine again on Monday so I headed out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex to check out the Twins pitchers and catchers on their first day at training camp under new manager Paul Molitor.

I don’t know why but I was surprised to see the Twins wearing their red jerseys during their first 2015 workout. The workout was already underway when I arrived. I believe that the Twins workouts normally start about 08:30 AM and finish up around 11:30 AM.

The Twins pitchers were broken into several different groups as they went through a variety of drills and took their turn in the bullpen to get some throwing in under the watchful eye of their brand new pitching coach Neil Allen. The catchers in camp this year are Kurt Suzuki, Josmil Pinto, Chris Herrmann, Eric Fryer, Mitch Garver, Tyler Grimes, Dan Rohlfing, and Stuart Turner.

It is great to see the Twins out on the field again and getting ready for their first season under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor but all in all it was a pretty quiet day. There were a number of fans but not as many as I might have expected checking out the action getting pictures and a few autographs when the players work for the day was over. The one observation I would make after watching the first day is that it seemed much quieter and more business-like then what I remember from previous sessions under the Gardenhire regime. I didn’t see any horsing around or players standing around laughing and telling tall tales from their off-season exploits. Maybe it was just day one jitters and everyone getting acclimated but it seemed different.

Molitor was kind of what I expected him to be, standing around and observing the action and now and then taking a player aside and talking with him one on one. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see Molitor smile once during the morning work outs. It might be just his personality or maybe it struck him exactly what he had stepped into during his first venture in managing. It will be interesting to see how the Twins players react to a manager that I think is much more of a distant old school Tom Kelly type than a players manager like Ron Gardenhire who seemed to be more interested in being part of the gang. Time will tell.

I haven’t seen TK down here yet so I am not sure if he will report when the position players show up or if his health concerns will prevent him from taking part in spring training this season. It was kind of odd not seeing the long time Twins coaching staff and instead seeing Eddie Guardado out on the field helping with pitchers fielding practice.

Your fun fact for the day, Twins pitchers are “a tall glass of water”, at least ten of them are 6’4″ or taller.

I did get a few pictures that you can check out on the right hand side of the page under “2015 Spring Training”.

Twins have easy travel schedule in 2015

AirplaneUnless something unforeseen happens the Minnesota Twins will not be booking a lot of frequent flyer miles in 2015 as they will only have to fly 23,866 miles this coming season. Only seven teams, the Indians with 23,499, the Brewers with 23,429, the White Sox with 23,180, the Tigers with 22,508, the Cubs with 20,953, the Cardinals with 20,875 and the Reds with 20,612 will fly fewer miles than our home town boys. The Mariners on the other hand will be on the other end of the spectrum and will need to fly 43,281 miles to play out their schedule of games in 2015.

The site I used to look up this information has information going back to 2009. Based on their numbers the 2015 Minnesota Twins will fly fewer miles than any Twins team has flown from 2009 through 2014.

Miles flown by the Minnesota Twins

2014 – 29,532

2013 – 29,043

2012 – 25,546

2011 – 32,199

2010 – 27,398

2009 – 25,315

So when you hear those Minnesota Twins radio and television announcers talk about the teams grueling travel schedule you can say, “what a bunch of BS”, they got it easy.

Checking out the boys of summer

Hammond StadiumI went out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex on Monday to see what Twins have reported early and are enjoying the beautiful weather here in Ft. Myers.  Spring training hasn’t officially started yet but there are a couple dozen players here getting ready for the 2015 season. At this time of the year you see the players start their workouts about 8:30 AM and they are usually done between 11 AM and Noon. I was not willing to get up early and be at the park when the players first start working out so I left our condo in Cape Coral about 9:20 AM expecting to get to the park in 20-30 minutes. I don’t know what happened to the traffic but it took me 55 minutes to traverse the 12 miles. Traffic was just plain crazy, it has never taken me that long to get to the ballpark before. Then again traffic all over Cape Coral and Ft. Myers seems to be extra heavy this year, must be all those folks that are suffering from the cold and snow in the NE that must have decided they had enough and headed for SW Florida. When I finally arrived there were about 30 or so players spread over four fields. Two of the fields had batting practice taking place, a third had some infield drills going on and the fourth field was being used by some pitchers to get their running and stretching in. Since the players don’t wear uniforms it is hard to identify a lot of the players that are there. The big leaguers are easy to identify but the minor leaguers not so much. Torii Hunter was easily the most popular player out there on Monday and he had a group of fans following him and getting his autograph. Kennys Vargas was there and he appeared to be having fun both out on the field and with the fans that asked him for his autograph, the man always seems to have a smile on his face. It is amazing how much he reminds you of David Ortiz, now if he can just hit like Big Papi.

Miguel Sano
Miguel Sano

Even though has Miguel Sano has not played a game for the Twins he is well-known and loved here in Ft. Myers and everyone enjoys watching him take BP because you know he will park many a ball over the outfield fences. On this day I saw him hit one to dead center that hit the green batting out a long way out there. Sano is not getting any smaller and I really wonder how long he can stay at third base. I heard one of the coaches talking with Sano about running and Sano said he can’t run right now because he is having a problem with his foot. Hopefully that is not a serious issue because Sano needs to get as much playing time in spring training as possible. I saw Max Kepler and I almost didn’t recognize him, Max is a lot thinner this year but when I saw him in the batting cage he was hitting some nice line drives and even poked a few over the fence. I asked Max about his weight and he said that he had lost a few pounds and was eating healthier. Kepler looks ready for a big season.

There weren’t that many fans out at the ballpark but if you are hunting for an autograph and a chance to talk to some ball players then this is the place to be before the official grind of spring training begins. Hammond Stadium itself seems to have fewer and fewer construction workers around it and it is starting to take shape. The landscaping has a way to go but it is getting there. I think there is an open house slated for February 22 to show the fans the Twins updated new digs at Hammond Stadium.

I know that spring training is still a few days away but I want you to keep one player’s name in mind this spring. He might not make the Twins opening day roster but don’t forget the name Eddie Rosario.

I took a few pictures of what is going on down here and you can see them over on the right hand side of the page on the 2015 Spring Training link. They photo’s will make you wish you were down here in beautiful SW Florida in spite of the fact that by Friday morning the temps will be about 37 degrees when the sun appears over Hammond Stadium.