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
A couple of weeks ago while doing some research for this site I ran across an auction web site that was selling a 1965 American League championship ring so I had to stop and investigate.
“Hal Naragon used his skills behind the plate to craft a ten-year career in the major leagues, ending his playing days in 1962 as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Immediately after that he took a job as a Twins coach and was on-hand for the teams unforgettable run to the 1965 American League championship. Offered here is Hal’s actual AL Championship Ring awarded to him for his efforts in that season that came only inches away from producing a World Series championship when Sandy Koufax downed the Twins 2-0 in a Game 7 duel with Jim Kaat. Dazzling diamond is centered on the face of this Jostens 14K ring is a brilliant round stone set upon a deep-blue background. Encircling the stone is “American League Champions.” On one shank, “MINNESOTA” is engraved above a raised “TC” logo. The bottom of the shank bears a baseball and two crossed bats with “1965” engraved within the ball. The other shank is topped with the name “NARAGON.” An image of the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities logo is above another baseball and two crossed bats. It would seem that Hal has always appreciated how special this ring is and what it represents as he has clearly taken exceptional care of it over the past five decades. In comparing this to the one other 1965 Twins ring that we’ve seen, there is no question that this is a far superior example and it grades NM with spectacular visual qualities.
When the bidding closed, there were 14 bids and the final bid was $3,585. I am not sure why Hal Naragon who is now 86, chose to sell his 1965 AL Championship ring but to me it is always sad to see something personal like this get sold to anyone other than the person that earned it. I did an interview with Hal Naragon, who is one of the original Minnesota Twins back in September 2010 that you can listen to here.
Today we take a look through Minnesota Twins history and see what hitters were most likely to draw a walk during their Twins career. To make this list the player had to play in at least 162 games in a Twins uniform. IBB are included.
As 2014 is coming to an end it is a good time to look back on another Twins season, their fourth in a row without post season play. But you have to be a winner to make post season play and the Twins have been anything but a winner the last few years. It has been a toss-up when you try to determine who has been more inept, the Twins players on the field or the ownership and Twins executives that sit behind their desks and make the decisions that determine the experience that Twins fans will have to live with during the up-coming season.
The Twins have had many losing seasons over the years and the real core Twins fans complained but they accepted the team they had and they looked forward to the next season with renewed hope for more wins “next year”. But it is seems different now, I am not sure why, maybe the fans are more passionate, maybe it is social media that allows Twins fans to better express their frustrations but today’s Twins fans are just plain mad and disgusted with the caliber of play their home team has displayed since the 2010 ended. Hopefully the Minnesota Twins organization feels some of the passion that Twins fans have and will start to look at the product from the fans perspective and see what they can do to make the fans experience a little more fun and and not so tough on the wallet.
Since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins the team has played 8,617 regular season games, winning 4,274, losing 4,335 and playing to a tie on eight occasions in 54 seasons of play. Boy, how time flies by, I still remember that 1961 season.
Looking back at Twins history they have two World Series winners and a third World Series appearance in which they lost game seven to Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition to the 8,617 regular season games the team has played a total of 64 post season games winning 25 and losing 39. Their last post season appearance was in 2010 and that brief playoff run lasted just three games when they were swept by the New York Yankees 3 games to zip. The teams last post season win was back in 2004 (if I am not mistaken that is about 10 years ago, YIKES!) when they beat the Yankees in game 1 of the ALDS series before losing the next three games.
So let’s take a look at the hitting and pitching statistics of the Minnesota Twins in post season play. Let’s see who stood out under the bright lights of post season play and who couldn’t or didn’t deliver when the pressure was on. The names you will see below will bring back many memories, some good, some bad, some sad and in some cases you will say “who in the hell is so and so, I don’t remember him”. But it is fun looking back.
Since the Twins started play in 1961 through the 2014 season a total of 751 players have put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and appeared in a game either as a hitter or a pitcher. Only 162 of them or 21.57% have appeared in a Twins post season game over the 54 seasons the Twins have called Minnesota home.
The Twins today signed free agent pitcher Ervin Santana to a four-year $55 million deal. According to ESPN, the right-hander is guaranteed $54 million over the four years, with a conditional option worth $14 million in 2019 if he throws more than 200 innings. He will receive a $1 million buyout if the Twins don’t exercise the option. The contract sets a new Twins high water mark for a free agent spending, eclipsing the $49 million deal with Ricky Nolasco last year. Because he was tendered by the Braves, Santana will cost the Twins a draft choice, a second rounder since their first round selection was protected due to the Twins poor record last year. The most recent (2006) Twins second round pick to play for Minnesota was outfielder Joe Benson. To view a complete list of Minnesota Twins round two selections you need to click here.
Santana who just turned 32 yesterday is from the Dominican Republic and pitched for the Atlanta Braves this past season going 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA in his first and only season in the National League. Santana was originally signed by the Angels in 2000 and made his major league debut with them in 2005. 2015 will be Santana’s eleventh in the big leagues and he has a career 119-100 record with a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians in 2011 on his resume. In his 10 previous seasons Santana has averaged 188 innings per season and he has a career mark of 7.2 SO/9.
Over all this should be a very nice addition to the Twins starting pitching staff. I would expect Ricky Nolasco to pitch better than he did in 2014, Phil Hughes may not put up the same kind of numbers this season as he did last but he should still be a very good pitcher, Kyle Gibson should be improved with another season under his belt, and who ever fills out the rotation in the fifth spot should make this staff the best the Twins have had in many years. I like it!
Chris Colabello
During the just concluded baseball winter meetings the Twins lost Chris Colabello to the Toronto Blue Jays on a waiver claim.
J.R. Graham
The Twins picked up 24-year-old right-handed pitcher J.R. Graham from the Atlanta Braves via the Rule 5 draft this past Thursday. Graham must make the Twins 25 man roster in 2015 or be returned to Atlanta or a trade could be worked out with Atlanta for the Twins to keep Graham but not be forced to put him on the 25 man roster. The New York Mets selected Twins LHP Sean Gilmartin in the same Rule 5 draft.
Brayan Villarreal
MLBtradeRumors has reported that the Twins have also signed 26-year-old right-handed pitcher Brayan Villarreal to split contract with an invitation to spring training. Villarreal last pitched in the majors in 2013 and spent last season in AAA with the Red Sox organization. During spring training with the Detroit Tigers in 2013 Villarreal’s family was the victim of a kidnapping attempt in his native Venezuela. Armed robbers had broken into the family home and threatened his father and 14-year-old brother in an attempt to extort money. Police however, and were able to free the hostages without injury.
Juan Berenguer
Former Twins pitcher Juan Berenguer filed suit this week in U.S. District Court alleging that “personnel from various entities in Minnesota illegally obtained Berenguer’s private, personal and confidential driver’s license information without a legitimate or permissible law-enforcement purpose or any other lawful purpose.” The suit says his private information was viewed more than 125 times between 2005 and 2011, in violation of the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
I didn’t write alot about the Twins recent free agent signing of outfielder Torii Hunter and to be honest I am really torn by this. How can you not like that great smile and that bubbly personality but yet the man is 39 years old and he will bank about $10 million for his efforts. This former and now current Twin is one of my all-time favorite Minnesota Twins but I am not sure how much Hunter has left in the tank. The Twins plan to use him in right field and plan to move Oswaldo Arcia to left. I had really hoped that the Twins would give prospect Eddie Rosario a real shot at left field but now that looks like it won’t happen unless either Arcia or Hunter fails big time. Rosario is not really a center fielder but the Twins have had worse players out there the last few years, still, I don’t see the Twins giving Rosario a shot there. I think the biggest plus from adding Hunter will simply be his presence on the team, his will to win and professional attitude can’t help but rub off on the teams younger players and show them the path they need to take and the effort they need to put forth to once again make the Minnesota Twins winners.
Chris Parmelee
I just saw on MLBTradeRumors that the Twins have designated Chris Parmelee for assignment to make room on the roster for Ervin Santana. I didn’t see this move coming at this stage of the off-season. Parmelee was the Twins first round selection in 2006 (20th over all) and made his big league debut in September of 2011. Parmelee played sparingly for the Twins from 2011-2014 and just never lived up to what the Twins expected from this former first rounder.
The ever smiling Torii Hunter took over center from Puckett and played in the Dome from 1997 – 2007. He helped the Twins to four division titles and won seven gold gloves with the Twins. Torii hit .324 in 10 playoff games at the Metrodome.
The Twins announced their newest free agent signee on Wednesday and had an introductory press conference the same day but Torii Hunter needs no introduction here in Twins Territory. Hunter was the Twins first round pick in 1993 and he made his big league debut in a pinch-running role with the club at the age of 22 at Camden Yards. He became the Twins starting center fielder in 1999 and kept that job until he left as a free agent after the 2007 season to sign with the Angels. Torii played for the Angels from 2008-2012 before moving on to the Tigers where he spent the last two seasons.
Rumors have been circulating for some time now that the Twins and Hunter had a mutual interest in joining forces again and yesterday it became a reality when the Twins signed the 39 year-old Hunter to a one-year $10.5 million deal that supposedly includes a full no trade clause.
I had written a piece about the Twins/Hunter romance back on November 23 and it was a real head scratcher to me then and it still is today. I know the Twins outfield situation is a mess but I am not sure that throwing $10.5 million to Hunter is the answer. Hunter no longer can play center field and the Twins have stated that Hunter will play right field and Oswaldo Arcia will move to left field. Apparently center field will again be patrolled by Aaron Hicks if he shows anything at all with the bat. The fallback plan would be Danny Santana who apparently will be given a shot to win the shortstop job if Hicks holds on to center field but the Twins aren’t talking about shortstop too much right now. Terry Ryan did say that the focus will now turn to pitching so that means that the club will go with an in-house center fielder. Who ever plays center for a year or two is just a place-holder for Byron Buxton who hopefully can have a healthy and productive season in 2015 and maybe, just maybe get a September call-up for a taste of big league coffee.
If Twins fans are looking forward to seeing the Torii Hunter of old, they will be sorely disappointed. I have always liked Torii Hunter, who doesn’t? The man has a million dollar smile and a personality to match but he will be 40 in July and baseball skills start to erode pretty quickly when you get around the 40 mark. The man is a winner although the World Series has eluded him in his 18 years in the big leagues. The odds of him getting there with Minnesota, at least as a player are slim to none. Hunter said that he wanted to finish his career at home and he calls the Minnesota Twins home so maybe after he hangs up his spikes as a player the organization will have another role for him. Hunter knows how to play the game and hopefully he can teach some of the Twins players what it takes to get that done.
From the Twins perspective this deal fills a couple of needs. First of all it fills a corner outfield role that was in essence vacant. Although the Twins organization will not admit it the Twins team has a no leader and many times has looked like they are just going through the motions. The only players that the Twins have that show any passion at all are Brian Dozier, Casey Fien, and Glen Perkins. Hunter can help with that problem for sure. From the non-baseball side this helps the Twins organization sell some tickets. Hunter has always been a popular player and his coming back to Minnesota may help persuade a few season ticket-holders to re-up for one more season. The Twins are in desperate straits and anything they can do to stop the hemorrhaging of season ticket holders is worth a try. I think the team has a bright future but they need to find a way to hold on to their fan base because once that train leaves the station it takes lots of time and money to get it back
There are some good reasons to put Torii back in a Twins uniform, I just don’t think that signing him will do much for the Twins record in 2015. However, if you look at this signing as an investment for the future, bringing Torii home to Minnesota might make some sense. I hope so because I hate to see anyone waste $10.5 million and I want the Minnesota Twins to learn how to win and play good baseball again before I get too much older.
The Minnesota Twins announced yesterday that they would like to build a new “destination bar” and add a “skyline suite” by combining several existing suites down the left field line before the team begins play at Target field on April 13. The bar would replace retail space on the main concourse between Gate 6 and the left-field foul pole.
The cost for the renovation is expected to be about $2.5 million and no public funds will be requested for these improvements to the ballpark. The Twins need to get approval from the Minnesota Ballpark Authority (MBA) which operates Target Field. The MBA is expected to approve the plan. According to MBA executive director Dan Kenney “We like the fact that the team has continued to invest in a first-class facility,” adding that the team has spent at least $10 million to upgrade the facility since it opened in April 2010.
With attendance dropping from 3.2 million in 2010 to 2.2 million this past season the Twins are looking for ways to stop the attendance decline and improve their on the field product. I’m not sure these improvements fit the bill. My personal take on this years proposed renovations to Target Field is “are you serious?” Boring! Combining a couple of suites to make one larger suite doesn’t even constitute a renovation in my book and certainly adds nothing to improve the average fans experience at the ballpark.
But what about the new destination bar you say? The one that will also have a “video element” so that patrons can watch the action on the field? Maybe Twins fans are going to the bar so that they don’t have to watch the on the field product. Target Field needs another bar? They already have the Town Ball Tavern, Hrbek’s, and Twins Pub (which is actually two bars). It appears that the Twins organization must be thinking that they can make the on the field Twins look better after you have a few drinks. With the way the Twins have played since 2011 it probably takes several drinks to make the Twins team worth watching in person so the Twins may be on to something there. Maybe the Twins should invest that $2.5 million towards a pitcher that could help them win a few more games but then again if you look at it from a business perspective and you ask what will help my ROI more, a pitcher or a bar? Jim Pohlad, Dave St. Peter and the rest of the Twins gang said, let’s go with the sure thing and go with the bar. Same old play it safe don’t take any chances Minnesota Twins for you.
Adam Brett Walker. Lakeland Flying Tigers v. Ft. Myers Miracle. Aug. 2, 2014. Photo by Tom Hagerty.
This offseason, MiLB.com is honoring players — regardless of age or prospect status — who had the best season in their organization. Today, they covered the Minnesota Twins.
The Twins ranked sixth in baseball — and fourth in the American League — with a combined .536 winning percentage across its Minor League affiliates. You can read the article by going here. If you follow young players in the Twins system you might want to check this out.
Minnesota Twins pitchers allowed 147 home runs in 2014. The fewest home runs allowed by a Twins pitching staff in a full season of 162 games occurred in 1976 when that pitching staff gave up just 89 round trippers to the opponents and the Twins went on to finish with an 85-77 record. On the opposite end of the spectrum the 1996 Twins pitching staff allowed a franchise record 233 home runs and finished the season with a 78-84 record. It only took one season for Ricky Nolasco to make the list but he can pitch his way off this list, the others can’t.
Twins career HR/9 with minimum of 120 innings pitched
The list below show The Twins pitching staff leader board of home runs allowed. Bert Blyleven loves to talk about how many home runs he has allowed but he is only third best or worst, depending on how you want to look at it.
A pitcher gets credit for aquality start (QS) any time he allows three earned runs or less in a start that lasts at least six innings. John Lowe who was writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time developed and coined the term Quality Start back in 1985.
Most arguments against the QS begin with the statement that a QS equals a 4.50 ERA and an ERA of 4.50 is not seen as top-notch by anybody. If you look up QS on Wiki you can find some strange situations for and against the term QS, for example, in 2000 Mark Mulder goes 6 and 2/3 innings giving up 15 hits, nine runs but only two were earned and so he gets a QS, in 1982 Mike Scott goes the required 6 innings giving up 7 hits, 5 walks, zero strikeouts, allows 7 runs albeit only 3 earned and he get a QS, on the other side of the coin, back in 1974 Gaylord Perry goes 15 innings and allows 4 earned runs and get no QS, same with Randy Johnson who pitches a complete game while striking out 19 but gives up 4 earnies and gets no QS.
Since 1961, the most MLB QS in a single season record is held by White Sox knuckleballer Wilbur Wood who had 37 QS in 41 starts in 1971. Next on the list is Dodger great Sandy Koufax with 36 QS in 1966 (his final season) in 41 starts. The career leaders in QS from 1961-current are Don Sutton with 483, Nolan Ryan with 481, and Greg Maddux with 480.
But how close is the relationship of a QS to what really counts, a team victory. If you look at the list that I have provided below that shows the Minnesota Twins QS and the team record you can get a feel for how the two compare. Sure, there are outlier seasons like 1972 when the team had 114 QS and finished the season with a 77-77 record or when the opposite happened in 2006 when the Twins went to the play-offs with a 96-66 record but only had 73 QS. By the way, I don’t remember seeing any Rick Anderson for governor buttons back then.
The Twins historical QS numbers are kind of strange, almost a bell-shaped curve. The Twins have had 90 or more QS in a season 11 times and went to the playoffs zero times. No Twins team with 72 or less QS has sniffed the playoffs either. The Twins have advanced to the playoffs 11 times and their QS were always in the 73-89 range and if you exclude the 2006 season with just 73 QS, the other ten fall between 78-89. Having said all that, in the past 54 seasons the Twins have had 4,266 QS, the team record during that period is 4,274-4,335. 4,266 QS and 4,274 wins over 54 seasons, is that strange or what?
The chart below shows you in a pictorial fashion the relationship of QS and Twins victories. Click on the chart to make it larger.
Twins Quality Start History
YEAR
QS
RECORD
1972
114
77-77
1967
105
91-71
1968
100
79-83
1966
99
89-73
1963
95
91-70
1973
93
81-81
1978
92
73-89
1974
90
82-80
1984
90
81-81
1988
90
91-71
2005
90
83-79
1965*
89
102-60
1970*
89
98-64
1991*
89
95-67
1969*
88
97-65
1971
88
74-86
1989
88
80-82
1964
86
79-83
2008
86
88-75
2010*
86
94-68
1976
83
85-77
1992
83
90-72
2004*
83
92-70
1980
82
77-84
1987*
80
85-77
2001
80
85-77
2003*
80
90-72
2007
80
79-83
2011
80
63-99
1962
79
91-71
2009*
79
87-76
1998
78
70-92
2002*
78
94-67
1961
75
70-90
1990
75
74-88
1985
74
77-85
1979
73
82-80
2006*
73
96-66
1975
71
76-83
1986
71
71-91
2000
71
69-93
1977
70
84-77
1993
69
71-91
1996
69
78-84
1983
67
70-92
1982
66
60-102
2014
66
70-92
1999
63
63-97
2012
62
66-96
2013
62
66-96
1997
61
68-94
1981
56
41-68
1995
43
56-88
1994
37
53-60
TOTALS
4,266
4,274-4,335
* = went to playoffs
.
Twins QS data by decade
DECADE
QS
AVG. QS PER SEASON
1960’s
816
90.7
1970’s
863
86.3
1980’s
764
76.4
1990’s
667
66.7
2000’s
800
80.0
2010’s
356
71.2
Data provided by Baseball-Reference Play Index.
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I asked Jim Kaat if he would comment on Quality Starts and here is what Jim had to say-
Thanks John,
I’m happy to comment on “Quality Starts”. It’s one of my favorite subjects because it is misunderstood. My pitching stats person, Merrianna McCully, has compiled a 25 year profile on QS’s in her book ‘Three Up Three Down’. She kept all sorts of pitching stats for me from 1988-2006…
The MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENT,[ like a vitamin pill] is 6 ip. 3 er or less..the actual earned run averages in a Quality start is a little under 2 in the NL and about 2.05 in the American league..DH factor…The IP’s in a QS game will close to 8 innings pitched. The records show that if a team got just a minimum daily requirement for a QS they would win about 2/3 of their games unless they had an extremely ineffective bullpen.
A couple of weeks ago while doing some research for this site I ran across an auction web site that was selling a 1965 American League championship ring so I had to stop and investigate.
