Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

My final trip to Hammond Stadium in 2012

I made my final trip to Hammond Stadium today and I had kind of an empty and sad feeling as I drove into the stadium parking area knowing this was my last trip here this season. Empty in more ways than one as it turns out because the fan parking area had very few cars and because many of the fields were sitting empty, void of the normal sights and sounds of baseball being played. Most of the Minnesota Twins had left for Port Charlotte to take on the Tampa Rays and the Rochester and New Britain teams had packed their stuff and headed out for the airport bright and early this morning to fly to their home cities to start their 2012 seasons. It is kind of weird to see the minor league teams break camp before the parent club does. The Beloit team will break camp on Tuesday morning and our own household will check out on Wednesday morning and begin the trek back to Minnesota. It has been a great spring here in southwest Florida and we have been blessed with great weather and the temperatures have been in mid 80’s for the past month and we have had hardly no rain, sure we had a few stray showers now and then, but that is about it. But all good things come to an end and Spring Training 2012 is just about history.

What did I see at the park today? I was lucky enough to be able to watch two games, on field 2 Beloit took on the Fort Myers club and on field 1 the extended players had another inner squad game. Before the Beloit/Fort Myers game both managers met with their respective clubs in the dugout and explained to their players what their expectations were this season both on the field and off the field. It was fun to eavesdrop on the two meetings and listen to Jake Mauer as he explained his signals and how the players should respond to a signal to let the coach know that they received it. It was also interesting to listen to Nelson Prada as he told his Beloit players exactly what their schedule was for the next two days and some housekeeping details like that he expected them to make sure their incidentals were paid up before they checked out and what kind of clothing they were expected to wear when they traveled. Once the games started, they were entertaining and fun to watch. The Beloit and Fort Myers game drew the most fans and maybe that was because Joe Mauer hit for his brothers Fort Myers club while Trevor Plouffe used his stick to help the Beloit team. Both Mauer and Plouffe batted each inning and both had their share of hits, Mauer in particular was really stinging the ball, on one at bat he almost took the pitchers head off.

On the other field I enjoyed watching Max Kepler and his friends do battle as they continue learning the game and fight to move to the next level. I am particularly interested in following Max’s career because Max is from Germany, the same country that I was born in. I first saw Max out on the back fields early in February, long before spring training started and he and a small band of players have been out on the field day in and day out working to improve their skills. We all look at the players in the big leagues and see how much money they make and how easy their life appears to us. We forget the blood, sweat, and hard work that it takes to get there and how many players never achieve that final step to the major leagues. The Twins have some nice young players and I will enjoy following them as their careers move forward.

 

Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez

I am not exactly shy and one of the things I enjoy doing is talking to the players when I can and even more so with the fans that are there to watch these young athletes as they do their best to learn and master the game of baseball the Twins way. Today I had a chance to talk to some wonderful folks from Illinois who were there to see Corey Kimes pitch. Corey must have a boat load of relatives following his career because I have run into some of Corey’s other relatives last week too. How cool is that to watch a member of your family work his butt off to reach the major leagues? I talked to a family of transplanted Minnesotan’s that now reside in South Carolina and still visit Fort Myers each spring to follow the Minnesota Twins. Then I saw a person talking on a cell phone that I recognized as future Hall of Fame catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. I took his picture of course and had a chance to ask Pudge if he would still play if someone came calling and he told me “no, I am done playing baseball, I am retired now”. Pudge was recognized by a handful of fans who asked and received autographs from this former All-Star catcher. Rodriguez was there to watch his son Dereck, a Twins 6th round pick in 2011 play in the extended game. Dereck is a 6’1″ 160 pound outfielder but if Dereck goes 160, it must be soaking wet with 10 pounds of rocks in each pocket. Pudge was watching both of the games and it was kind of funny listening to some of the fans as they talked amongst themselves and assumed that Beloit catcher Jairo Rodriguez was Pudge’s son. As Dereck batted, I tried to watch his Dad for a reaction to each pitch but I saw no reaction from Pudge what-so-ever, even after this swing and a miss for strike three.

Dereck Rodriguez swings at strike three

I also had an opportunity to run into JC from Knuckleballs.com and it was nice to chat with another Twins blogger far from home. It was sad though to think that I won’t see any more spring training until next year and I will miss that and the friends and acquaintances I have made at Hammond Stadium. See you again next year I hope! The 2012 baseball season is just about here, PLAY BALL!

As always I enjoy taking pictures and I have posted the ones I took today in my 2012 Spring Training pictures folder on the right hand side of this page. I will try to get the players identified tomorrow. There are over 700 pictures out there that I took this spring.

How they will finish in 2012

 

Mr. Einstein

With the 2012 baseball season just around the corner, if you don’t count that stupid two game series that the A’s and Mariners played and split in Japan, it is time for us here in Twins Trivia to look into the crystal ball and see what is in store for us this season. They say that baseball is a simple game, all you need to do is hit the ball, pitch the ball and pick-up the ball but I thought I would run it by Mr. Einstein just to be sure.

East

 1. Tampa Rays
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Baltimore Orioles
 

West

1. Los Angeles Angels 
2. Texas Rangers
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Oakland A’s
 

Central

1. Detroit Tigers (91-71)
2. Cleveland Indians (82-80)
3. Minnesota Twins (78-84)
4. Kansas City Royals (76-86)
5. Chicago White Sox (70-92)
 

The Detroit Tigers are far and way the best team in the division and should be up by 10 games at the All-Star break and have a cake walk the rest of the way. However; having picked the Tigers to win the AL Central, the team is certainly not without its problems. The Tigers defense if they continue to pursue going down the Miguel Cabrera at 3B path will be atrocious but I see manager Jim Leyland changing that plan before he gets out of April. But even after Leyland addresses the 3B situation, the Bengals still have defense problems at 1B, 2B, SS, and LF. It will be fun to watch the Tigers hit but when they are in the field it will be a totally different story. The Tiger bullpen is solid although there is no way in the world that closer Jose Valverde has another year in 2012 like he had in 2011. The Tigers other major issue is starting pitching where they have a reigning Cy Young award winner in Justin Verlander followed by Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and the Tigers just announced that Drew Smyly won the last starting spot.  Who is Drew Smyly? Fister, and Scherzer are workable starters on a pennant contender but Porcello and who ever the Tigers have slotted for number 5 will not cut the mustard and the Tigers are going to have to make some moves to fill those holes.

The Cleveland Indians continue to improve albeit very slowly and the team has worked hard to try to improve its starting rotation that includes Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jiminez, Derek Lowe, Jeanmar Gomez, and Josh Tomlin. Twins cast-off Kevin Slowey could not make this starting rotation. Not a great starting rotation, but I have seen a lot worse. The Indians offense lost Gardy Sizemore to injury once again but Sizemore’s best days are now behind him anyway so that is not as great a loss as some may think. On offense the Indians need outfielder Shin-Soo Choo to bounce back after an injury plagued 2011, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to continue to show improvement after a breakout season last year, 2B Jason Kipnis to show that he is for real, Michael Brantley needs to prove he is a legit lead-off hitter, Lonnie Chisenhall to hit to his potential and to earn his way back as the Indians starting 3B, and for 35-year-old Travis Hafner to stay healthy and hit like he can as the teams DH.

I like the Kansas City Royals a lot because of the nice young players they have like Eric Hosmer at 1B, former 3B and now outfielder Alex Gordon, Billy Butler as the DH, Alcides Escobar at SS, and 3B Mike Moustakas. The Royals took a serious blow to the gut when closer Jokaim Soria went down with an elbow issue and will require TJ surgery but maybe the Royals dodged a bullet if free agent signee Jonathan Broxton can bounce back and become a workable closer once again, a long shot to be sure but still, a chance. The Royals starting pitching is what really needs to take a step forward if this team is to become a contender. Luke Hochevar anchors the rotation but he still young and is slowly improving. Jonathan Sanchez who was acquired from the San Francisco Giants has some potential and could become their number 2 starter. Veteran Bruce Chen continues to get his 10-12 wins each year although I don’t know how and Felipe Paulino slides in as the fourth starter although he could miss the first part of the season. Paulino has control issues but he can also strikeout some hitters. The fifth spot is open and the Royals would like to see youngster Danny Duffy lock up that spot. The Royals need to find a way to improve their starting pitching before they can be considered a serious challenger.

I pick the Chicago White Sox to finish in the Central Division basement. The mighty whities are a high-priced team that has under performed and is old to boot. White Sox GM Ken Williams has shown over the last few years that he doesn’t have a clue on how to be a big league general manager and the sooner he is fired the sooner the White Sox can once again can become a contender. The White Sox let Ozzie Guillen go as manager and hired the totally inexperienced former 3B Robin Ventura to manage this motley crew. The Sox have some proven starting pitching in John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Jake Peavy but Peavy is always hurt and you can’t count on him to be a solid contributor. Former Twins pitcher Philip Humber was a pleasant surprise for the Sox last season but he remains unproven. The Sox have moved the young fireballing Chris Sale out of the pen and into a starters role so his transition will be closely watched. Since the whities traded their closer Sergio Santos to Toronto during the off-season they are in need of a closer and it appears that Matt Thornton will start the season in that role but indications are that Addison Reed will take over the closers role before the 2012 season comes to a merciful end for the Chicago White Sox.

That bring us to the Minnesota Twins who unfortunately will finish third in this weak AL Central with a 78-84 record. 78 wins does not sound like much but it is a nice 15 win improvement after last years dismal showing. The Twins fired GM Bill Smith and put former GM Terry Ryan back in the driver’s seat but Ryan is driving a Chevy and Twins management is selling it as a BMW and this past off-season instead of going into a rebuilding mode after losing Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan and several others, the team decided to try to plug some leaks, drop their payroll by $15 million and see if they can regain their 2010 form. They signed 38 career utility player Jamey Carroll to be their starting shortstop, they signed Josh Willingham to provide some power as a corner outfielder and catcher Ryan Doumit to provide some pop as the back-up catcher. Last season catcher Joe Mauer had a horrible season hitting .287 and playing in just 82 games due to some mysterious injuries that still have not been explained but Mauer has worked hard this spring and you have to think he is back to being the All-Star catcher he should be. 1B Justin Morneau was even worse, hitting .227 with four home runs and playing in 69 games due to a variety of injuries but his major issue was the concussion he suffered in Toronto the previous season. Morneau started spring training playing 1B but midway through spring training he was hitting under .100 and the team decided that Morneau would be the primary DH this season although he would still see time at 1B but I would expect him playing first base less than 30 times this season. Morneau caught fire with his bat but still seldom makes an appearance at 1B in Florida. The Twins need Morneau to hit like he can and to stay healthy but that might be asking a lot based on what Justin has shown the past few years. The second baseman, often injured Alexi Casilla is in a make it or break it season and he has to prove he can play 150+ games, something he has never done. He has already missing games in spring training due to a sore knee. The leader of the Twins “fun bunch” is 3B Danny Valencia who is coming off a “sophomore slump” season in 2011 both with his bat and in the field. Valencia has to start to field at 3B like he cares and to hit more for average versus trying to be that dead pull hitter that he showed in 2011. A little humility by Valencia wouldn’t hurt either, Danny is not God’s gift to baseball even though he seems to think he is. Denard Span has to prove that he is over his own concussion and neck woes and that the Twins can count on him to play day in and day out in centerfield because he has a lot of ground to cover when Willingham is in left and Trevor Plouffe or Ryan Doumit is playing in right. Right field is probably a platoon between Plouffe, Doumit and maybe even Ben Revere who has a throwing arm like a pop gun. The Twins starting pitching is shaky at best and that is kind of funny because going back just a few years the Twins thought their starting pitching was a strength and some bloggers thought we had too much starting pitching but that was just before Kyle Gibson was deemed to need TJ surgery and Alex Wimmers had no clue where home plate was. Francisco Liriano has had a super spring and he is in his contract year but no Twins starter has shown as much “Jekyll and Hyde” personality as Francisco has. One day the man pitches a no-hitter and the next time out he can’t string two good innings together. Scott Baker can be really good but you can also count on Scott Baker to hit the DL at least once each season and this year he will start the season on the DL. I find Baker an interesting pitcher because he makes his living pitching high in the strike zone. What drives me crazy with Baker is that the man never shows any emotion. Get mad, slam your glove down, anything, just show me you are alive Scott. Carl Pavano is one of those guys that goes out and throws 200 innings and gives up 2225 hits but keeps his team in the game. This coming from a guy that had a huge contract with the Yankees between 2005-2008 and was hurt year after year while pitching in just 26 games. Nick Blackburn owns the Twins number 4 starting spot and the sinkerballing right hander is starting his fifth season in the Twins starting rotation. Blackburn, a pitch to contact guy has started at least 26 games each season although his innings pitched have decreased the last two years from a career high of 205 in 2009. Blackburn is one of those guys that gives hitters a comfortable collar but then there are other games when he gives up hit after hit. Blackburn has pitched a few big games for the Twins and has seems to rise to the occasion. The last spot in the starting rotation belongs to newly acquired Jason Marquis a 33-year-old right hander beginning his 13 big league season and is a lot like Pavano, gives up a lot of hits but keeps his team deep into games. Not a stellar rotation by any means but when they pitch well, the Twins have a chance as Gardy might tell you. How about the relievers? Who knows, the Twins resigned Matt Capps to be their closer after Joe Nathan hit the trail for Texas. Capps is not one of the elite closers in the league but does a team that is destined to finish under .500 need an elite closer? I don’t think so and I think Capps can be a good character on this team. Minnesota native lefty Glen Perkins had a breakout season both on the pitching front and out of Gardy’s doghouse. Perkins was outstanding last season and was the Twins best pitcher most of the year. Brian Duensing moves to the bullpen after a disappointing year in the starting rotation in 2011 and he should do a good job there based on what he has shown there previously. Matt Maloney and Jared Burton, both former Redlegs appear to have earned bullpen jobs. Anthony Swarzak is the long guy in the pen and sometimes starter and that role seems to fit him well. The final bullpen spot is still to be determined with Jeff Gray and Alex Burnett still battling it out as spring training winds down. Kyle Waldrop was in the running for the final spot too but he ended up taking a spot on the DL bench.

Ryan did what he could to get more offense on the field but in the process he sacrificed his defense, particularly in the outfield. The fact that the Twins will not have Justin Morneau at 1B will also hurt the other infielders who are used to having Morneau scoop their bad throws out of the dirt. The Twins have numerous holes but they do have some young players that are knocking on the door like Chris Parmelee at 1B, Brian Dozier at SS, Joe Benson in the outfield, Liam Hendriks as a starter and Carlos Gutierrez in the pen. It is starting pitching that the Twins crave but outside of Kyle Gibson and Alex Wimmers, their does not appear to be a lot there. If the youngsters do indeed turn out to be big leaguers, Ryan will have a core to build on. Deeper in the minors they have some players that could turn out to be stars in a few years. We as fans sometimes fall in love with our teams players and hate to see them go but baseball is like life, you have to keep moving forward and change is necessary, if you stand still,  it means that someone is gaining on you. Change is good, we need to embrace change. Going into 2011 Gardy and Smith talked about the need to add speed, no one talks about speed this year….. I wrote all this and didn’t mention Tsuyoshi Nishioka until just now, see how easy it is to forget?

When the smoke clears, Twins fans should be dancing on Target Plaza if this team can somehow play .500 ball, I unfortunately don’t see it happening in 2012. I just hope that the Twins play some exciting baseball the way it should be played and hopefully fans will still keep coming to Target Field to watch them.

Division winners – Rays, Tigers, Angels

Wild Cards – Yankees, Rangers

Tampa Rays move on to represent the American League in the World Series

As the Twins world turns

Carl Pavano

With opening day just around the corner, numerous reports surfaced on Tuesday that the Minnesota Twins’ opening day starting pitcher Carl Pavano is facing a bizarre legal distraction. According to myrecordjournal.com, “police in Southington, Connecticut were investigating allegations that a high school classmate of Pavano’s, Christian Bedard, threatened to reveal an alleged homosexual relationship they had and to write a book about it unless Pavano apologized to him and bought him an SUV”. The site goes on to say that “Pavano, a 36-year-old married father of two, grew up in Southington and pitched the American Legion Post 72 baseball team to a state title in 1993 and helped deliver legendary Southington High coach John Fontana his first state championship in 1994.” Fontana, who retired in 2002 as the second winningest coach in Connecticut baseball history, said he does know Pavano very well. He doesn’t believe that Pavano and Bedard had an intimate relationship in their teens, as Bedard alleges. Carl was in my guidance office all the time,” Fontana said. “I saw him dating and going out with girls all over the place. I would say (Bedard’s claim) is highly unlikely. I doubt it.” Fontana pointed out that Pavano has had highly publicized relationships with actress Alyssa Milano and model Gia Allemand and is married to former model Alissa Zandy.

Pavano has had no comment to this point but eventually Pavano who has always been available to reporters for comment will step forward with his side of the story and hopefully clear up this strange story.

UPDATE as of May 31, 2012 according to the Associated Press –

HARTFORD, Conn. – Police in Connecticut have closed an investigation into allegations of a blackmail attempt against Twins pitcher Carl Pavano without making an arrest.  Southington police Lt. Lowell DePalma says the case was closed because Pavano and his family declined to provide statements. In March police said they were investigating allegations that Pavano’s former Southington High School classmate, Christian Bedard, threatened to reveal an alleged relationship they had unless Pavano bought him a Range Rover. Pavano’s sister, Michelle DeGennaro, complained to police in December that Bedard was making up a false story in an attempt to extort her family. Bedard said Thursday he is glad the investigation is over. He said “Carl and the Pavano family can thank his sister for bringing national attention to these false allegations and our relationship.”

Only in spring training

When the Twins play a team not too far from Fort Myers their minor league teams also play that same organizations teams at their level, usually the AA and AAA teams play at one of the host cities and the two A ball teams play at the other city. Yesterday the Twins were playing the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota so the Rochester team played Norfolk and the New Britain played Bowie in Sarasota while Fort Myers played Frederick and Beloit played Delmarva at Hammond Stadium. I stopped off at Hammond Stadium about 12:30 PM expecting to be a little early for the Fort Myers and Beloit games but when I parked my car I could see that the games were already underway, had I read my schedule correctly I would have seen that the games today started at Noon versus 1 PM. Oh well no biggie. I wandered over to the first field and saw Beloit taking on Delmarva and on another field I saw the extended group of players playing an inner squad game but Fort Myers and Frederick were nowhere to be seen. After watching the Beloit game for a while I asked what happened to Fort Myers and Frederick and I was told they were playing in the main stadium today.

Marty Popham

I entered the stadium and the game was underway and there were so few fans there that the players that were not in playing in the game that day outnumbered the fans as they sat in the stands and watched their teammates play. I didn’t recognize many of the players but I sat down next to a pitcher that was keeping the pitching chart and manning the radar gun for the game. After introducing myself I found out that the player was RHP Marty Popham, a 24-year-old AAA Rule 5 draft pick from the Cleveland Indians this past off-season. Marty said that the minor league Rule 5 draft is a bit different from the major league Rule 5 draft in that the Twins keep him regardless of the team he may be assigned to play for. The 6’6″ Popham was a 20th round pick for the Indians in 2008 and last season he pitched A ball in Kinston, AA ball in Akron and AAA ball in Columbus going 6-3 with a 4.58 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP with 106 strikeouts in 112 innings. He is pleased to be with the Minnesota organization and hopes to make his mark with the Twins. Marty throws a 4 seam and 2 seam fastball, curve, slider and periodically mixes in a knuckleball. Marty lives in Louisville, Kentucky where he and his fiancée just bought their first home this past off-season. I also ended up talking briefly with reliever Caleb Thielbar, 25, a Northfield, Minnesota native who was with the Brewers organization for a while and then was released and played for the St. Paul Saints last year before the Twins signed him for their Fort Myers ballclub. Both Thielbar and Popham mentioned that they were surprised how many players there were with the Twins organization with roots going back to the North Star state.

I really don’t know what the final score of the game was and there is no score being kept that I could see but I think that Fort Myers did win. The only home run of the game that I saw was a 3-run shot over the left field fence next to the foul pole by 2B Andy Leer. That ball left the park in a hurry. I almost forgot to mention that Carl Pavano pitched a couple of innings in the game and Ryan Doumit caught Pavano for Fort Myers. Pavano looked sharp but then again he was pitching against the A ball Frederick Keys. I ended up taking some pictures that I have uploaded to my 2012 spring training pictures site and then I called it a day. How often do yu get a chance to sit in the stands and talk with the players as you watch a game, only in spring training baby, only in spring training. You can’t beat it, but it is quickly coming to and end, only a week or so to go and I think I will stop by on Monday and watch Rochester takes on New Britain, Beloit take on Fort Myers and the GCL extended team will play an inner squad game. It is an early start on Monday, 10AM local time  as the boys of summer need to wrap things up and break camp the next day. I will be “breaking camp” and heading home to Minnesota myself just a few days later so I can be sure to be home by the time the Easter bunny shows up because who knows, he might bring me something good.

This morning I read that the Twins gave Joel Zumaya, 27, his release, baseball has been a “tough row to hoe” for the fire-balling reliever as he has suffered injury after injury. I would have enjoyed watching Zumaya in a Twins uniform.

When you get cut by the big league club you almost always get to report to one of the minor league teams but when you get caught by a minor league club all you get is “an opportunity to look for a job” and for many of the guys the Twins cut today, it could be a job in the real world. Baseball is tough and your career can be over at any point in time. Good luck to pitchers Matt Bashore, Ben Tootle, Jason Bulger, and Deinys Suarez, infielders Chris Cates, Steve Pearce, and Roy Larson, along with outfielders Dustin Martin and Tyler Koelling.

Twins Trivia 25 man roster

With the 2012 season less than two weeks away it is still very difficult to predict to will be on the Twins 25 man roster when the Twins take on the Orioles in Baltimore on April 6th. That is not normal for the Twins of recent years but when you lose a few veterans to free agency and the team is coming off a 63-99 record you should not be surprised that there are questions everywhere. I do think the Twins will make a trade or two before the season opens and who knows who might suffer an injury that could change everything. An injury could dramatically change the starting line-up and who makes the 25 man roster on opening day. Here is how I see the team starting the season, I don’t think it will stay that way for long but here is how I see the Twins coming out of the starting gate.

Catcher – The starting catcher will obviously be Joe Mauer who hopefully can catch 120-130 games and play some first base and DH. His primary back-up will be Ryan Doumit. I think the Twins need to carry a 3rd catcher because Mauer and Doumit are both injury prone and will play other positions. I would not be surprised to see all three of their catchers playing in the same game now and then. The Twins third catcher this year will be J.R Towles (an easy addition to the 40 man roster) because the Twins will trade Drew Butera before the season starts to a team that needs a back-up catcher. The Twins are loyal to a fault sometimes and since they have no room in the majors for Butera, they will try to find him a big league job somewhere. Josh Willingham was a catcher earlier in his career so he could be an emergency back stop for Gardy too.

1B – The Twins black hole, the huge unknown. Justin Morneau should be here but I’m afraid we won’t be seeing a lot of Justin at 1B. If Morneau could regain his health, play 1B and even be 90% of what he was in the past, this Twins team would be dramatically better and the team make-up would be much different. The Twins primary first baseman for now and the forseeable future is Chris Parmelee but you will also see Mauer here and Doumit will also show up at first for  a few games and even Luke Hughes can play here if needed.

2B – Belongs to Alexi Casilla but Alexi has played over 100 games in a season only once and that was back in 2006 in the minors. The switch hitting Casilla could really provide a big lift to the team if he can stay healthy and play 150+ games but I think we can count on Alexi taking a mini vacation on the DL this year too. Casilla is a streaky hitter but he has provided some key hits for the Twins over the years. Terry Ryan has always been a Casilla fan but I think he is looking at this year as a “make it or break it season” for Alexi, he either proves he can do it this year or he is history. The back-up second baseman is Luke Hughes but Jamey Carroll can play second too. In an emergency Trevor Plouffe can also play there.

SS – Free agent acquisition Jamey Carroll will start the season at short but I don’t see him holding on to this role for long. Carroll has had over 400 at bats only twice in ten big league seasons, why should things change at 38 years of age? I think by mid June we will see the Brian Dozier shortstop era begin and Carroll who was signed for two years will become the utility player the Twins are looking for, albeit a bit on the expensive side. Casilla will play some short in a back-up role and if the Twins are really in dire straights, they can slip Hughes or Plouffe over there for a game or two.

3B – Should belong to Danny Valencia but he needs to prove he is a big leaguer. Last year was a real downer for Valencia both in the field and at the bat. Hopefully Valencia gets his head screwed on straight and starts playing like he can. Valencia is not the .311 hitter he showed us in 2010 but he is also not the .246 hitter he forced us to watch in 2011 either. Danny needs to adjust his attitude too, he is not a super star so he had better quit acting like one because Minnesota fans will not tolerate it. Hughes is Valencia’s back-up but Carroll and Casilla could play third in a pinch too. In the unlikely event that Valencia is really the 2011 version, hopefully Sean Burroughs is still with the Twins and can be called up. Burroughs can hit, although not with a lot of power and I see him as the last player cut and the Twins 26th man.

LF – Will be manned by Josh Willingham just like I said all along since the Twins signed him. Gardy announced that Willingham is his left fielder after trying Willingham in right all spring. It will be interesting to see how Twins fans react to Willingham as the Twins have not had a hitter like Willingham in some time. Josh did hit a career high 29 home runs in Oakland last season but he also struck out 150 times and had a .246 average. Willingham was a catcher earlier in his career so speed is not his game and he is 33 years old and now there are reports that his arm is not as good as the Twins may have thought. Back-ups here would be Ben Revere, Denard Span, and Trevor Plouffe.

CF – Will be patrolled by Denard Span. The fly in the ointment here would be if Span is not totally recovered from his neck pain or his concussion from last season. Span needs to stay healthy, hit at least .285 steal 25 bases and score about 100 runs if he wants to meet Twins expectations of him in the lead-off spot. The only other outfielder the Twins have to play center is the speedy Ben Revere and he can cover center but his hitting is not all it could be and he throws like a grandmother. The Twins say that Span’s throwing is improved but you can’t make silk from a pigs ear. With Willingham in LF and who ever plays RF be it Doumit, Plouffe, Parmelee, Span and or Revere will have to cover a lot of ground in center because they are the only two outfielders with any speed what so ever.

RF – I think you will see a number of players out here but I think that Ryan Doumit and Trevor Plouffe will get the majority of the time in right. But who ever the Twins put in right other that Span or Revere has to be considered a defensive liability. I think Twins fans will be shocked at how many balls don’t get caught in left and right this season. Who ever plays right might just be keeping the position warm for when Joe Benson gets called up later this season. Benson’s call-up may even move Span to RF.

Bench – Luke Hughes is out of options and is a nice hitter to have coming off the bench. Luke can play all four infield positions, just not well enough to be a starter in any of them. The second bench player is catcher  J.R. Towles who I think beats out Drew Butera. I know that Towles is a .187 hitter as compared to Butera’s .178 but Towles at least has a chance to be a better hitter, I don’t think Butera does. Towles is a good catcher too and earlier this spring I saw him playing 3B and he wasn’t too shabby for a catcher. Butera gets traded. The third member of the Twins bench is Trevor Plouffe the former SS/2B and now an outfielder. Plouffe has some pop in his bat and hopefully he can learn to play the outfield just as Michael Cuddyer did many years earlier and he can still play 2B/SS  if things get hinky for Gardenhire. Ben Revere has my final bench spot simply because the Twins need someone like him to take over in LF or RF late in the game when the Twins have a lead or to come off the bench as a pinch-runner to steal a base.

SP – Is all locked up assuming there are no injuries. Francisco Liriano coming off his best spring ever is pitching like his Twins career depends on it and it is about time. I am not going to get too excited  just yet with Francisco because I know how quickly things can fall apart for him. What a treat it would be if Liriano finally pitched like the ace many predicted he would be. Having said that, if someone offers me an arm and a leg with potential, I trade Francisco so fast it would make your head spin. Scott Baker has the potential to be a very good pitcher but he has hit the 200 inning mark just once in his seven-year career but he is only 30. What frustrates me about Baker is that when he gets some runners on base he turns the game into slo-mo. One more thing, Scott never shows any emotion, some would say that is a good thing, I would say hogwash, I have no problem when a pitcher comes into the dugout after giving up a couple of runs and slams his glove to the bench, show me your care Scott Baker! Baker is like Camilo Pascual in that he likes to take a summer break to the DL list once a year or so, count on it. Carl Pavano is not a great pitcher but he is one of those inning eaters who wants to win. Pavano can pitch on my team any time. Nick Blackburn is my number 4 SP, but I gotta say I don’t understand him at all. Blackie is a sinkerballer who has some great games and others that he just stinks, you just don’t know who you are going to get on any given day. When Nick is healthy, he can throw some innings. The fifth starter is the newest addition, Jason Marquis. I think you will find Marquis to be Pavano like except he gives up fewer hits but walks more batters and when healthy he too will give you 200 innings. The next starter in line should one of the five get hurt or traded is probably Liam Hendriks who could be a lot like Brad Radke if all goes according to plan. Maybe late in the season there may even be a Kyle Gibson sighting, that would be cool.

Bullpen – The Twins bullpen is anchored by closer Matt Capps and I don’t have nearly the issues with Capps that many other bloggers and fans have. He is not the 3 up 3 down kind of closer but he will get the job done when the scoreboard shows the Twins leading late in the game. If former Orioles manager and Hall of Famer Earl Weaver was the Twins manager today he would call Capps a “two-pack closer”.  That meant that Weaver, a heavy smoker could go through two packs of cigarettes as he watched his closer finally shut down the opposition. The set-up guys are left hander and Minnesota native Glen Perkins who escaped the Twins doghouse last season and found his niche with the ballclub and was arguably the Twins top pitcher in 2011. The RH set-up guy appears to be Jared Burton a free agent from this past off-season. Burton is only 30 but he has some injury baggage but a few years ago he was touted to be the Reds closer of the future. Burton has a nice career 7.6 SO/9 but the down side is that he also has a 3.9 BB/9, kind of a more experienced Alex Burnett. The left-handed former starter Brian Duensing will spend the season in the bullpen this year where he is probably better suited. The big right-hander Anthony Swarzak has lost some weight this off-season and some say he has locked down a bullpen spot but I don’t think he has pitched all that well this spring but he has not pitched poorly enough not to earn a spot in the Twins bullpen either. Swarzak is versatile and can pitch several days in a row and that makes him a Twin in 2012. The 28 year-old left handed Matt Maloney is a surprise to me. The former Cincinnati Redleg is striking them out right and left this spring and he has good control, yes, I know, spring training stats mean squat but you have to base your decision on something and that is all I have to go on right now. Maloney seems too good to be true but the Twins “have caught lightning in a bottle” before when they went searching for relief pitchers, maybe they did it again. The final bullpen spot I think is still up in the air between Alex Burnett, Jeff Manship and Kyle Waldrop, all right handers and all with some Twins experience on their resume. If you go strictly by the numbers this spring, Waldrop is the guy for you but Burnett has the most experience and according to Twins management, has upside going for him so I gave the final bullpen spot to the Alex Burnett.

So that is it, that is how I see the Twins roster shaping up for the 2012 season. I would like to tell you that the Twins will contend for the AL Central title this year but I just don’t see that in the cards. I do see the Twins roster turning over as the season moves along and players like Chris Parmelee, Brian Dozier, Joe Benson, Liam Hendriks, Carlos Gutierrez, Kyle Waldrop, Lester Oliveros and maybe Kyle Gibson taking on bigger roles at Target field. A number of Twins players will be out to prove that they are still bonified big leaguers this season. 2012 will be a season of change in Minnesota and the July 30 trade deadline could keep GM Terry Ryan real busy. Never the less, I am ready to see the Minnesota Twins open the 2012 season. WIN TWINS!

How about the batting order on opening day? here is how I see it.

Span – CF – bats left
Carroll – SS – bats right
Mauer – C – bats left
Morneau – DH – bats left
Willingham – LF – bats right
Doumit – RF – switch hitter
Valencia – 3B – bats right
Parmelee – 1B – bats left
Casilla – 2B – switch hitter
 

Morneau hitting fourth and Willingham fifth is just Gardy’s loyalty to Justin and reward for his years of Twins service. Morneau and Willingham will switch spots in the batting order very soon.

 

Aaron Thompson suspended for 50 games

Aaron Thompson

Twins free agent signee LHP Aaron Thompson, 25,  was suspended by MLB for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance. GM Terry Ryan confirmed that it was a “recreational” substance that triggered the positive result. Ryan stated that he was disappointed in Thompson but that the team planned to keep him. A few years back the released and ended the baseball career of 2005 first round pick and power hitting prospect Hank Sanchez after his 50 game suspension ended. Thompson had been reassigned to the Twins minor league camp earlier this month. Thompson is the third member of the Twins organization to be suspended for 50 games for positive drug tests this spring, earlier this month Twins’ Dominican league players Yeison Florentino and Ezequiel Zarzuela were both suspended as well for positive tests.

Season opener in Tokyo? Just plain wrong

I don’t understand, why major league baseball is opening the 2012 baseball season in Japan? The Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners will open the season by playing two games in the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and because of the time difference if any A’s or Mariners fans want to watch their teams play the first two games of 2012 they have to tune in at Midnight on the west coast. Then, after playing a couple of games that count, both of these teams play several exhibition games in Japan and then come home and play more exhibition games before once again playing some games that count in the standings.

What is MLB thinking? Why deprive fans of Oakland or Seattle the right to open the season at home or for that matter why should baseball fans in general not get to watch the first games of the 2012 season unless they are willing to trade a nights sleep? Baseball is America’s pastime and opening the season after the long winter away from baseball in a foreign country is just plain wrong. This will be the fourth time that MLB has played the opener in Japan, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay (2004), and Boston and Oakland (2008) and I can’t for the life of me figure why. I am sure there is some financial benefit to somebody but I don’t know who. Why in Japan, why not in the Dominican, Puerto Rico, Australia, or even Cuba. Is MLB looking to put a big league team in Tokyo? That is years away at best.

What is the point of sending two teams over 6,000 miles one way to Japan to show off Americ’a great game by sending teams like the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners who last year lost 183 games between them. I know Ichiro plays for Seattle but MLB has a number of players that are better than Ichiro is right now. If MLB tried to send the some contending teams to Japan on a schedule like this there would be all kinds of h*^# raised. Then after playing two games in Japan the rest of the MLB season does not open until April 4th, a week after Oakland plays Seattle in game one, how dumb is that?

MLB should be ashamed of themselves for not playing the first games of 2012 in the United States, this is America’s pastime for God’s sake and not playing that first game here is a major error on the part of MLB. I have scored it as E-CS, error on Commissioner Selig.

Here is an article in the Daily Yomiuri on how they look at the up-coming Mariners-A’s series.

Tokyo Dome baseball

Three games in one day

It has been 11 days since I went out to the ballpark to watch spring training drills. I did take the family to a Twins/Pirates game a few days ago when the Twins got blown out but other that I have not been out to Hammond Stadium for 11 days because our son and his wife came down to Cape Coral for a visit and the time just wasn’t there.

I knew that the Twins were facing the New York Yankees in Tampa today and that I probably would see few if any of the actual Twins themselves but I wanted to see a little baseball on the minor league side. Not long after I arrived I watched as the Tampa Rays bus pulled up from Port Charlotte which is just 30-40 northwest of here and their advanced A Port Charlotte team and their A ball Bowling Green got off the bus and walked over to fields 2 and 3 for a 1:00 game against the Twins respective squads. At the same time, the Twins extended league players prepared for an inner squad game on field 1. The Twins New Britain and Rochester contingent had gone up to Port Charlotte to take on Tampa AA and AAA teams. As the Tampa teams took the field for warm-ups, the Twins teams were on their lunch break.

Mike Cubbage and one of Tampa's coaches

While I was waiting for the games to begin I was just sitting down jotting a few notes when who walks up but former Twins infielder and now Tampa Rays scout Mike Cubbage. I introduced myself and we chatted about the phone interview I had done with Mike back in February of 2010 and then we talked about the Twins and some of their players both in the majors and in the minors. I had a chance to chat with Mike off and on for over three hours and I really enjoyed it, he was both interesting, informative, and fun to talk with. I think our opinions of how the Twins will do this season are actually not that far apart and it was interesting to hear Mike tell me what the life of a scout is really like. Mike shared his schedule with me through the end of May and the man is on the road probably 25 days each month and it is not unusual for him to scout games in the afternoon and catch another one that same night. After Cubbage stepped away to talk with some of the Tampa players, I was joined at the table I was sitting at behind home plate of field 3 by Tampa pitcher Jeff Ames who was assigned chart duty on this day since he is scheduled to pitch tomorrow. Jeff was very nice and he told me what it was like to attend spring training for the first time since he was just drafted last year. I didn’t know it at the time and Jeff never mentioned it but my research indicates that Ames was drafted by Tampa last year in the 1st round as a compensatory pick (number 42 over-all) and according to scouting reports throws over 100 MPH on occasion. We talked a little about spring training and what the players do when they get some free time. According to Jeff, when he is not playing baseball or enjoying a little down time, you will find him and his friends at the local golf course. It just so happens that if you are a Rays ballplayer you get to golf free but that does not help me.  A little bit later we were joined at the table by a Twins player I did not recognize. I introduced myself and the player turned out to be catcher Phillip Chapman, a Twins 35th round pick in 2011. Phillip explained that he was on the DL and that he hurt his knee working out just before camp opened and had arthroscopic surgery on his knee just a week ago. I asked Phillip when he expected he would be back on the field and his reply was “I really don’t know, it has been a week since my surgery and I can’t run yet”. The man obviously has high expectations for a quick recovery, I am sure I would not be expecting to be able to run just a week after knee surgery. It has got to be extra tough to get back when you are a catcher, I wished Phillip a speedy recovery.

Once the game started I wandered between the three fields since they are so close in proximity and I was able to watch all 3 games and take a bunch of pictures that I have uploaded to my 2012 Spring Training pictures that you can find on the right side of this page. Enjoy the pictures and I will label them as soon as I can. In one of the games Jamey Carroll and Danny Valencia batted 2nd and 3rd in every inning trying to get more at bats against live pitching. Valencia hit a nice double down the line but I never saw Carroll get the ball out of the infield. Valencia hung around for a few innings before calling it a day but Carroll was still going at it when I left. Earlier I was standing just behind the screen getting ready to take some pictures as Valencia was walking up to get in the on deck circle and he glanced at me as he walked by and then turned around and said to me, “it will help if you take your lens cap off first”. We both got a chuckle out of that one and then he walked up and proceeded to hit that double down the line.

All toll I spent about 5 hours at the ballpark today and I had a great time. Just wandering around and talking baseball with everyone at the ballpark during spring training is more fun than you should be allowed to have. I saw a couple that sat and diligently watched the extended players playing their inter squad game and I stopped by and asked if they were enjoying the game. They said they were and that they were excited about watching their grandson play. Naturally I asked who their grandson was and they told me it was Corey Kimes, a LHP that the Twins drafted from Illinois last year. All they hope for Corey is that he does the best he can do. Is that cool or what? For all you baseball fans back there that have never attended spring training here in Fort Myers, I feel bad for you because you are missing out one of life’s great pleasures.

Former Twins executive charged with indecent exposure

Clark C. Griffith, 70, currently a Minneapolis lawyer at CCG, P.A. and sports-law expert and the son of former Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith has been charged with indecent exposure in Ramsey District Court. According to the charges, this past January Griffith allegedly unzipped his pants in front of a William Mitchell College of Law female student and asked her to touch his penis. At the time, Griffith was an adjunct professor at the school but has since resigned his position.

Before going into law, Clark Griffith was part owner and Treasurer of the Minnesota Twins with responsibilities for broadcasting, player development, scouting, and governmental relations. Griffith was also a lobbyist for the bill authorizing the building of the Metrodome and was instrumental in developing the agreements for the Twins use of the Metrodome and Met Stadium. Griffith also served as Chairman of the Board of Major League Baseball Properties, from 1975 to 1984.

Griffith has been summoned to appear in court June 12 for arraignment on the charge, a misdemeanor offense. He faces up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for the indecent exposure charge.

UPDATE as of June 13, 2012 – Clark Griffith entered an Alford plea of guilty on June 12th to an indecent-exposure charge stemming from an incident with a St. Paul law student earlier this year. Griffith’s attorney, Paul Engh, said that the plea deal negotiated with the city attorney’s office calls for no jail time and for the case to be dismissed in a year. The Alford plea to the misdemeanor charge came on the day of Griffith’s scheduled arraignment in Ramsey County District Court and allows him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging there was sufficient evidence to be found guilty.

UPDATE as of July 26, 2012 (Source – Minneapolis Star Tribune) – Clark Griffith, a Minneapolis attorney whose late father, Calvin, owned the Minnesota Twins, was ordered to undergo sex-offender counseling after exposing himself to a St. Paul law student who considered him a mentor. The Jan. 24 incident on St. Paul’s Victoria Street triggered panicked texts and phone calls from Griffith to the 24-year-old student imploring her to drop her complaints, the charges say. But on Thursday, Griffith, 70, stood for sentencing before Ramsey County District Judge George Stephenson, listening as prosecutor Steve Christie read a statement from the woman describing his actions as “one of the biggest betrayals of my young life.” Defense attorney Paul Engh told the judge that Griffith’s reputation had been damaged — that he had been “punished already.” He said that Griffith’s marriage was under stress and that his relationship with his two daughters — both about the same age as his accuser — now was strained. In his sentencing, Stephenson honored a plea deal calling for no jail time and for the potential dismissal of the case in a year. But he also criticized Griffith for a version of the events that the judge described as “ridiculous” and “possibly delusional.”

Update as of November 6, 2013 – Clark Griffith disciplined by Minnesota Supreme Court. You can read the Star Tribune story here.

Hamm’s beer and the Twins

As I listened to a Twins game on my PC the other day here in Cape Coral, Florida with Dan Gladden and Cory Provus announcing the action I was sitting out in the lanai next to the pool with a cold beer sitting next to me and my mind wandered back to my childhood when I first started following the Twins.  I was 13 at the time and every evening we were out in the barn milking the cows when Twins baseball came on the air. Back then, if you wanted to listen to a Minnesota Twins game when the team first moved here from Washington D.C. in 1961 you had to turn your radio dial to 830 on the AM dial and listen to WCCO radio where Ray Scott, Bob Wolff, and Halsey Hall described the action for you. We had an old beat up radio in the barn that was turned on as soon as the lights were turned on and the radio was always tuned to 830 WCCO, as a matter of fact you couldn’t tune it to anything else because the station dial was missing. Back then, one of the Minnesota Twins main sponsors on radio and TV was Hamm’s beer. I can still here that Hamm’s jingle to this day. Hamm’s also was a sponsor for other baseball teams including the Cubs, White Sox and the Orioles. Back then some of the announcers actually worked for and were hired by the sponsors themselves and were not working for the baseball teams that they broadcast for. If my information is correct, HOF Twins broadcaster Herb Carneal worked for Hamm’s when he joined the Twins.

Hamm’s was established in 1865 when Theodore Hamm a German immigrant inherited the Excelsior Brewery from his friend and business associate, A. F. Keller. Keller had constructed his brewery over artesian wells in a section of the Phalen Creek valley in St. Paul, Minnesota known as Swede Hollow. Hamm hired Christopher Figg to be his masterbrewer, and by the 1880’s the Theo. Hamm Brewing Company was reported to be the second largest in Minnesota. Hamm’s also had a brewery in San Francisco, California from 1954 to 1972. Since then, the Hamm’s brand had changed hands several times but is still produced today by MillerCoors. Hamm’s beer was always known as a low-cost blue-collar beer and the name Hamm’s is probably more famous for its jingle and its mascot Sascha, the Hamm’s beer bear than it is for its product. The original jingle, with lyrics by Nelle Richmond Eberhart originated from a 1909 song called “From The Land of Sky-Blue Water.” It started with tom-tom drums, then a chorus intoned:

From the Land of Sky Blue Waters, From the land of pines’ lofty balsams, Comes the beer refreshing, Hamm’s the beer refreshing. Brewed where nature works her wonders, Aged for many moons, gently mellowed, Hamm’s the beer refreshing, Hamm’s the beer refreshing. From across the rippling water, Through the whisp’ring pines and birches, Comes the beer refreshing, Hamm’s the beer refreshing. Comes a call to cool enchantment, Comes a call to cool refreshment, Hamm’s the beer refreshing, Hamm’s the beer refreshing. Hints of lakes and sunset breezes, Dance and sparkle in each glassful, Hamm’s the beer refreshing, Hamm’s the beer refreshing. Here is an example of one of the old Hamm’s beer TV spots. If this commercial brought back some fond memories, you can find a number of other old Hamm’s commercials by searching on YouTube.

Sascha, the Hamm’s beer mascot was created by Patrick DesJarlait, an Ojibwa, in 1952 for an advertising campaign produced by the Campbell-Mithun advertising agency but it was Ray Tollefson that actually drew the bear that Campbell-Mithun liked the best and the rest is history. Tollefson later he went on to create the little flame girl for Minnegasco and Albert & Stanley for Grain Belt Beer before passing away at the age of 91 in 2002. The Hamm’s Beer bear was featured in numerous signs and all kinds of merchandise including glasses, clocks, ashtrays and  it became so well-known and tied to its Minnesota roots that in 2000, the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper named Sascha the Hamm’s bear as a runner-up in its list of “150 Influential Minnesotans of the Past 150 Years”. Rumor has it that the current Twins mascot, T.C. was “modeled” after Sascha. What do you think, you see a resemblence?

Sascha the Hamm’s beer bear

Sascha the Hamm’s bear remains as one of the most memorable icons of all-time and Frank Kelly Rich did a neat piece on what he considered the top 10 alcohol icons for Modern Drunkard Magazine. Here is what Frank wrote about Sascha.

 

The Hamm’s Bear

Perhaps a Little Too Happy?

Hamm’s Beer

The joyous bear haunting baby-boomers dreams was conceived by Ojibwa Indian Patrick DesJarlait in 1952. Though his name was never revealed on air, around the brewery he was called Sascha, after the brewery founder’s wife. Which must have thrilled her no end — what woman wouldn’t want to be the namesake of an obese male bear?

Being saddled with a chick name didn’t seem to bother Sascha much. He spent most of his time dancing and getting into weird adventures with the other animals of the forest, to the point one wonders if there was something other than fish in the “Sky Blue Waters.”

The wildly popular commercials employed plot devices ranging from good old-fashioned fun like pie fights and log-rolling to more risqué activities, such as train robbery, gunplay, arson, and gleeful wolf-abuse. The spots would saturate the airwaves for over 30 years, which is especially impressive when you consider Spuds MacKenzie lasted less than three.

Why It Worked: Most beer commercials of the day involved some shill bragging about how good their product was, while the Hamm’s spots came equipped with humor, plot and punch line. The occasional interaction between cartoons and real actors was ground breaking—Sascha beat Roger Rabbit to the punch by 40 years.

Evolution: Sascha’s appearance didn’t vary a great deal, aside from slicker graphics and the transition from B&W to color. He sired a cub at one point and eventually learned to speak (his sole utterance: “It bears repeating”). The only major mutation was the occasional Pinocchio-esque transformation into a real bear.

Sascha was eventually and inevitably slain by do-gooders who claimed he was hustling beer to children. The monstrous amount of Sascha-related ephemera cranked out during his long reign has become quite collectable, and the lovable mammal is still celebrated by The Hamm’s Club, which throws a yearly convention.

Dark Secret: Was probably a stoner. All the signs are there: perpetually goofy grin, impromptu hippie-style dancing at the sound of drums, and militant veganism (his single attempt to break his diet with a little fish concluded with him shooting a hole through the bottom of the boat.)

Claim to Fame: Sascha eventually reached such heights of popularity-inspired hubris that he felt compelled to step into the ring with undefeated boxing legend Rocky Marciano (Rocky remained undefeated at the end of the commercial.)

If you are inclined to read the entire story called “Ten Greatest Alcohol Icons of All Time” you can find it here.

“Ten Greatest Alcohol Icons of All Time” Reprinted with written permission from Modern Drunkard Magazine
 

 

TwinCities.com did a nice piece on Hamms back in October 2009 called “Remembering: Theo. Hamm Brewing Co.” that you might enjoy reading.