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
GCL Twins outfielder Jeremias Pineda was named to the 2012 GCL All-Star team and earned League MVP. Pineda hit .365 (70-for-192) with nine doubles, four triples, one home run, 25 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 52 games between the GCL Red Sox and GCL Twins. Pineda was acquired from Boston for Danny Valencia on August 5. Pineda actually played all four infield positions for the GCL Twins this season. Pineda was joined on the GCL All-Star team by GCL Twins infielder Anderlin Mejia, who batted .324 with one home run and 20 RBI for the GCL Twins this season. Mejia was also the toughest player to strike out in the GCL, fanning just once every 14.77 plate appearances. The 20 year-old Mejia is in his third Twins minor league season. The GCL Twins finished the season out of the playoffs at 33-27.
Former Minnesota Twins catcher (2001-2003) Tom Prince guided the Pirates to their first GCL championship since they joined the league in 1968. After qualifying for the playoffs as the Wild-Card team, the Pirates shut out the Cardinals, 1-0, to advance to the Finals. Prince’s club then won two straight from the Red Sox to win the league title. Prince, who has piloted the Pirates since 2007, was also named the GCL Manager of the Year in 2008, after leading his club to a league-best 37-18 record and the South Division title. Prince has been managing in the minor leagues since 2005.
Jay Thomas Kelly will have his number 10 retired on Saturday and we here at Twins Trivia would like to add our congratulations for a well deserved honor. Kelly was originally drafted by the Seattle Pilots in round 8 of the 1968 amateur draft but the Seattle Pilots relocated after just one season in the Emerald city and moved to Milwaukee where they became the Brewers. Within days of being released by the Brewers in April of 1971, Kelly signed as a free agent with Minnesota. With the exception of 1976, Kelly has been in the Twins organization since 1971. Kelly has played for, coached and managed the Minnesota Twins and on occasion has even taken his turn at the microphone to describe Twins action on television.
Actually, over the years Tom Kelly has worn several different numbers with the Minnesota Twins. When he played 49 games for the Twins in 1975 he wore the number 16. When he coached the Twins from 1983-1986 he wore the number 41 and he wore that same number for the remainder of the 1986 season after being named as the Twins interim manager replacing Ray Miller who was relieved of his duties on September 12, 1986. Kelly then switched to the number 10 prior to the 1987 season and wore that number for the remainder of his Twins managing career through the 2001 season.
Who else has worn the Twins number 10 you ask? Here is the complete list now that no other Minnesota Twin will wear that number again.
1961-1967 – catcher Earl Battey
1968 – catcher John Roseboro
1868-1972 – 3B/OF Rick Renick
1973-1974 – 1B Joe Lis
1974 – 1B Pat Bourque
1975-1977 – OF Lyman Bostock
1978-1981 – OF Hosken Powell
1982-1983 – OF Bobby Mitchell
1984-1986 – catcher Jeff Reed
Since Tom Kelly last wore the number 10 in 2001, no other Twins have ever that number.
A story in the Fort Myers News-Press states that the Washington Nationals have extended negotiations with Lee County to relocate their spring training home from Viera to City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. I think it would be fun to see another big league team train in Fort Myers and you have to think the Minnesota Twins would also like to have another team training in the area if for no other reason then just having another team to play with little to no travel time. However, the implications of such a move of another big league team from the Florida east coast to the gulf coast might not be good for the Florida Grapefruit League circuit in general. If the Nats were to move their spring training site, the only team left on the east coast would be the Marlins, Mets, and the Cardinals. You can read the story here.
The Elizabethton E-Twins took 2 of 3 from the Burlington Royals and are once again the Appalachian League Champions. The E-Twins lost game one and were down 6-1 after 8 innings in game 3 but the E-Twins came back to win it all with an amazing come from behind victory. A big congratulations to all the team members along with manager Ray Smith and coaches Jeff Reed and Ivan Arteaga.
The Twins announced yesterday that they will have seven players going to the Arizona Fall League Peoria Javelinas this season. The players are catcher Chris Hermann, outfielders Evan Bigley and Nate Roberts along with pitchers Kyle Gibson, Caleb Thielbar, Logan Darnell and Michael Tonkin. Trainer Alan Rail will also be representing the Twins. 13 players on the current Twins roster have participated in the AFL in past years. The roots of the AFL go back to 1992 and that season the Twins participants were Derek Parks, Chip Hale, Jon Henry, Ray Ortiz, Rex Delanuez and Scott Ullger participated as a manager. The reason for the league was to have an easily accessible offseason league where players could be monitored closely and did not have to leave the country. The six clubs in the league are in close proximity to each other so not a lot of travel is required. The rules for participation have changed over the years but currently Major League clubs hold a position draft in August to determine the players who will go to Arizona, most are Double-A or Triple-A players but each club can also send one Single-A player if they wish.
A couple of days ago the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats announced that the team had three players named to the Eastern League Season Ending All-Star Team, first baseman/DH Chris Colabello, outfielder Aaron Hicks and third baseman Deibinson Romero were all named to the team which was announced from the Eastern League office. Congratulations to all three players.
Samuel Deduno
We went to the Twins /Mariners game yesterday and the Twins and Samuel Deduno won 10-0. It was a warm and muggy Wednesday evening game and my wife was playing Twingo and before the first inning was over all she needed was a “base on balls” to be a Twingo winner. With Jason Vargas pitching for Seattle with a 2.3 BB/9 and Samuel Deduno pitching for the Twins with a 7.9 BB/9 I thought that would be the least of her issues but it took her until the third inning before she finally got that BB when Vargas walked Trevor Plouffe in the bottom of the third and she became a Twingo winner for the second game in a row. Who would have thought it would be tough finding a walk with Deduno pitching? Samuel Deduno pitched a superb game last night going 7 innings only allowing 2 hits with no walks. 68 of his 98 pitches were strikes, an amazing number for Deduno. I enjoy watching Deduno pitch, he does not have the best command but he knows how to get out of trouble and I hope he keeps getting better.
Denard Span
Then there is outfielder Denard Span. I used to real enjoy watching Denard Span play baseball but now that Span has been in the big leagues for a couple of years I see him as a malingerer. Span is not making superstar money but he is making $3 million this year, and will make $4.75 million in 2013, $6.5 million in 2014, $9 million in 2015. For that kind of money I expect Span who is still only 28 years of age to play in at least 155 games per season and since he became the full-time center fielder in 2009 he has appeared in 145, 153, 70 games and so far this season in 108 games. That does not cut it for me, if you are my regular center fielder I expect your butt in the line-up day in and day out regardless if the team is winning or losing. You get paid to play, not to sit on the bench belly aching that you are not 100%. Who is ever feeling perfect day in and day out? No one. If you worked for me in a regular job Denard, you would have been put on notice a long time ago and if you didn’t starting showing up ready to work day after day you would find yourself on the unemployment line. If I was one of Span’s teammates I would be pretty unhappy with Span and his lack of desire to play. When he does play, I am not sure that Span is willing to do what it takes to win. In my opinion a player of Span’s ability and experience should be stealing at least 25-30 bases a year and yet when he is on base he stands there and waits for someone to knock him in. Is he afraid that he will get hurt if he tries to steal a base? If I was GM Terry Ryan I would trade Span in a heart beat. Now that I am reasonably sure that Ben Revere can play center field at the big league level I get what I can for Span. I trade Span before the rest of the baseball world realizes that Span only plays when he is feeling great and his team is winning. Denard Span is part of the problem on this Twins team, he is not part of the solution. If I am building a team I want players that want to play day after day, I don’t need someone with a low pain threshold that would rather sit than play if he is not feeling 100%. Now I see that the Twins have recalled Matt Carson and put Span on the DL and there is a chance Span is done for the season. What a shocker…..
Speaking of injuries, who is making the decisions for the Twins on who stays on the roster and who goes on the DL? For the second year in a row we have players that seem to be day-to-day for a week or more. Why should Gardy manage with one hand tied behind his back because he has players sitting on his bench that can’t play that day but claim they will be ready tomorrow? I am tired of tomorrow’s, either you play or you find yourself on the DL, it seems simple enough to me, what am I missing here.
With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the third at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with Ben Revere on second base, Twins catcher Joe Mauer worked the count to 3-0 when out of the clear blue, Texas Ranger pitcher Roy Oswalt plunks Mauer in the middle of his back just above the number 7. Gardy and the rest of the Twins seems a bit perturbed and had a few things to say to Oswalt from the dugout. Oswalt couldn’t have cared less and proceeded to strike out Ryan Doumit and Justin Morneau and was out of the inning. In the bottom of the third inning Scott Diamond retired the first batter and as Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton was stepping in the batters box he appeared to be saying something to Mauer. Diamond who was not particularly sharp and had already thrown 53 pitches to that point threw the first pitch to Hamilton behind his head to the backstop and home plate umpire Wally Bell immediately came out from behind the plate and tossed Scott Diamond from the game. By that time Twins skipper Gardenhire was already flying out of the Twins dugout yelling and screaming at Bell who then wasted no time giving Gardy the heave-ho for the 62nd time in his career.
I have no issue with Diamond and the Twins retaliating by hitting the Rangers best player and I would have been upset if they hadn’t but why be so obvious about it by doing it so quickly? I have watched baseball for a long time and I know that a Twins pitcher had to protect his teammate but the timing was just plain stupid. The Twins and Rangers were tied and still early in the game, why throw at Hamilton there when you already know what the end result is going to be? That makes no sense at all and it was an emotional rookie mistake by Diamond. Mauer and his teammates wouldn’t have had any problem if Twins pitchers had gotten even later in the game. Wally Bell had no choice but to eject Diamond. So what did the Twins and Diamond gain by making such a unproffesional move? Nothing, they lost their best pitcher and manager for the rest of the game and they didn’t even hit Hamilton. This is just another display of the Twins lack of discipline and not thinking and when the game was over the Twins added another notch to the loss column.
This event is not over and there is more action to come in this four game series but for now Roy Oswalt and the Texas Rangers had a good laugh and another win in their pocket. That is why the Rangers are 73-51 and in first place and the Twins are fighting for a high draft choice in 2013. Hopefully Scott Diamond and the rest of the Twins have learned something here that they can use in the future to help them become a better baseball team.
UPDATE – MLB announced that Diamond has been fined and suspended for 6 games. Diamond has filed an appeal.
According to milb.com, The Eastern League has announced that the New Britain Rock Cats will serve as the host of the 2013 Eastern League All-Star Game. The game will be played on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 and will feature teams representing the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The two-day All-Star festivities will also include additional community events beginning on July 9 and continuing through July 10.
“We are extremely honored that the Eastern League has chosen the Rock Cats to host the 2013 All-Star Game,” said Rock Cats owner Josh Solomon. “This is going to be a terrific event for baseball fans and families throughout the region and we look forward to showcasing the future stars of major league baseball right here at New Britain Stadium.”
“The Eastern League is very excited to be bringing our premier event back to New Britain after the city previously served as an outstanding host of the event in 2003,” said Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn. “The event will be returning to New Britain next season thanks in large part to the efforts of their new ownership group, led by Josh Solomon, to deliver this event for their fans. Connecticut’s longest continuous professional sports franchise is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in New Britain in 2012.
The Twins have had their share of injuries the last few years and it got me to wondering how often a Twins position player has participated in every game during a particular season and when was the last time this has happened. We all know that Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games over a span of 17 years. Think about that, every game over a span of 17 years! An amazing streak no matter how you look at it.
Since the Washington Senators packed their bags after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins in 1961 they have had only 5 position players in 51 seasons that have played in every regular season game in a particular season and one of those players accomplished that feat twice and the name might surprise you. Here is the list of Twins players that have played in every Twins regular season game in a particular season.
The Twins position player that led the team in games played the most seasons was outfielder Kirby Puckett. The “Puck” lead his teams in games played on seven occasions between 1985 and 1993 and averaged an amazing 156.66 games during that period. I think the Twins “Iron Man” has to be the great Kirby Puckett.
The 2012 Little League World Series began play in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania on August 16 and will culminate with the championship game on August 26. This year is the 66th playing of the Little League World Series. The sixteen-team tournament has eight International teams (Caribbean, Japan, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America) and eight U.S. teams (New England, Northwest, Southeast, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, West, Southwest, and Midwest). In 2011, the Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach, California defeated Hamamatsu Minami Little League of Hamamatsu City, Japan 2–1 in the World Championship game.
Three former Minnesota Twins players have participated in this grand event.
Minnesota Twins prospect Clete Thomas was a member of the 1996 Panama City, Florida club that advanced to United States final before losing to Cranston, Rhode Island.
Minnesota Twins infielder Sean Burroughs, who was the ninth overall pick in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft was a member of both the 1992 and 1993 Long Beach, California teams that won back-to-back Little League World Series titles.
Jason Marquis a Twins pitcher earlier this season and currently with the San Diego Padres was a member of the Staten Island, NY 1991 LLWS team.
Six Little League teams from Minnesota that have gone on to play in the Little League Baseball World Series. Players for each team are typically the “All Stars” from the geographic area of each league. The players are chosen after the Little League regular season has ended. The Minnesota teams that have participated are listed below. Most of these Minnesota teams have been able to get past the first round, but no Minnesota team has made it beyond round two of Little League Baseball World Series play.
1963 – Duluth Central LL team from the Duluth area1985 East Tonka LL from the Minnetonka area1994 Brooklyn Center American LL from the Brooklyn Center area1995 Little Lakes West LL from the Arden Hills area2007 Coon Rapids National LL from the Coon Rapids area2010 Plymouth-New Hope LL from the Plymouth area
The only two players to participate in a Little League World Series, a College World Series and a MLB World Series are Ed Vosberg and Jason Varitek.
MLB recently announced that San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera has received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Testosterone, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Cabrera responded by accepting the punishment, apologized to his team and his fans and admitted he did it.
What more needs to be said? Apparently the baseball media just can’t believe that there is still cheating in baseball and any sports station or blog you visit wants to know why Cabrera did it. Why would a guy leading the league in runs scored and in hits and plays for a team just one game or so out of the division lead do such a thing? To me the answer is simple, when you want something so badly, you do not spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences of getting caught because you think you are smart enough to avoid getting caught. This kind of thinking is human nature and we all do these kinds of things, just maybe not on the same level. When you drove in to work this morning did you speed, go faster than the speed limit? You know it is illegal to go faster than the speed limit but yet you went ahead and did it because the odds are that you won’t get caught and besides, everyone is doing it. You know that if you get caught there will be a fine and a probable increase in your insurance rates but you didn’t give those possible issues a second thought did you? What about people who rob a bank, they know there is a chance they will get caught but they do it anyway. What about the people who cheat on their spouses, they know the consequences will be severe if they get caught but in their mind they won’t be one of those that will get caught.
That is the way the life is, people are always looking to better their personal situation or satisfy their needs, it is not about the consequences. If consequences were upper most in our minds we would not be doing the things that society says are wrong or immoral. We as humans always want more, we want to be the best at everything we do. How much time do you think that Melky Cabrera or any other baseball player for that matter that has taken performance enhancing substance has spent thinking about the impacts that their actions will have on their teammates, family or friends? Not much I think, there are few among us who are in a position to cast stones. We do the best we can in our lives and life goes on, I am not defending Melky Cabrera or what Melky Cabrera did here, I am just saying that we all need to understand that we are all far from perfect and we need to understand that these kinds of things have been going on since the beginning of time and that they will go on long after we are gone. It is called life.
Former Minnesota Twins catcher (2001-2003) Tom Prince guided the Pirates to their first GCL championship since they joined the league in 1968. After qualifying for the playoffs as the Wild-Card team, the Pirates shut out the Cardinals, 1-0, to advance to the Finals. Prince’s club then won two straight from the Red Sox to win the league title. Prince, who has piloted the Pirates since 2007, was also named the GCL Manager of the Year in 2008, after leading his club to a league-best 37-18 record and the South Division title. Prince has been managing in the minor leagues since 2005.
