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
December 1, 2010 – Let’s talk a little about the JJ Hardy dilemma. I just can’t see any way that the Twins will not tender shortstop JJ Hardy a contract for 2011. Here is my reasoning, first of all there is no guarantee the Twins will sign Tsuyoshi Nishioka and if that scenario should occur, they need Hardy to play short and unless they sign a free agent second baseman to replace Orlando Hudson they need Alexi Casilla to play second. But let’s assume that the Twins do sign Nishioka, so where do they play him? Shortstop is a key position; I just can’t see the Twins going into 2011 with such a huge unknown both in the field and with the stick as Nishioka without some insurance. So leave Hardy at short for at last another season and play Nishioka at 2B where he is probably better suited anyway. Casilla can be the main utility guy and he can play as needed, plus he is a switch hitter who can run, there are many ways to get playing time for Casilla. That buys you time and we can see what kind of a player Nishioka really is and what Casilla can do with more playing time then he had in 2010.
What I don’t understand is why the Twins seem to be so down on Hardy? Hardy is the same player today as he was a year ago when they traded Carlos Gomez their crown jewel from the Johan Santana trade to the Brewers to acquire him. Sure the man was hurt in 2010 but he played great in the field when he was healthy and he has always been a streaky hitter so that should be no surprise. Plus the man has some pop in his bat and they can always use that.
The Twins are a contending team, not an also-ran that can take huge risks and just hope that Nishioka, if he signs, is the player they think he is. Casilla is no sure thing either; he has been given numerous chances in the past and let them slip through his fingers. The safe way to go here is to keep Hardy at short and play Nishioka at 2B. You can always trade Hardy after 2011 and his trade value may be even higher if he can stay healthy and show more power than he did in 2010. It is all about risk here and why take unnecessary risk when you don’t need to. The logical bet here is to play it safe.
November 28, 2010 – I thought it would be interesting to see where the Twins managers stood in terms of games managed and to also take a look at the last fifty years in the American League to see how many managers the various teams have had since 1961.
The Twins have only had 12 managers in their entire history and only two since Tom Kelly took over from Ray Miller late in the 1986 season. Kelly is still far and away the longest tenured Twins manager and on the other end of the spectrum, Cookie Lavagetto only managed the Twins for 66 games in their inaugural season but it needs to be mentioned that he coached the Washington Senators from 1958-1960 before the team relocated to Minnesota. Kelly himself has managed almost 30% of the games the Twins have played and when you look at Kelly and Gardenhire together, these two men have managed 48.3% of all the Twins games since 1961.
Rank
Manager
Twins game managed
1
Tom Kelly
2,384
2
Ron Gardenhire
1,459
3
Sam Mele
953
4
Gene Mauch
772
5
Billy Gardner
621
6
Frank Quilici
567
7
Bill Rigney
392
8
Cal Ermer
274
9
Ray Miller
239
10
Billy Martin
162
11
John Goryl
72
12
Cookie Lavagetto
66
When you look at the rest of the AL Central Division between 1961 and 2010 the longest tenured managers were Tigers skipper Sparky Anderson with 2,473 games between 1980-1995, Indians skipper Mike Hargrove with 1,227 games between 1992-1999, current White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen with 1,135 games between 2004-Present, and Royals skipper Dick Howser with 769 games between 1981-1986.
Looking at the entire American League for the last fifty years, the Twins rank first, meaning they have had the least amount of managers per years played and thus have the highest average numbers of years managed per manager. I am not sure that means anything when you see the New York Yankees sitting at the bottom of the list with 25 managers in 50 years but it is still fun to look at. I didn’t count some interim managers that managed just a handful of games for their teams when the regular managers were away for a variety of reasons. It just shows that managers are hired to be fired and it is rare when a manager gets to walk away from the game by his own choosing.
November 25, 2010 – For me, baseball started back in 1957 when I followed the Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. My brother Stan (now deceased and probably talking baseball and watching some former greats strapping it on again in the big field in the sky) and I grew up like many other kids, collecting baseball cards and trading them, not thinking they would ever be worth anything. Back then, Topps were about the only card on the market in our small home town and they were a nickel a pack or six for a quarter and each pack had some awful tasting bubblegum that was hard as a rock, not to mention that the gum often ruined the card that was next to it. I always hated the Yankees so I always traded any Yankee card for any Twins card I could get my hands on. I wonder how many Mickey Mantle cards I got rid of. Of course I don’t have any of those cards today, my Mother saw to that while I was in the Navy.
But this story is getting off of its original intent and that is to talk about managers and ejections. Back then we had no TV so the only baseball action we could get was via the radio as I listened to Milwaukee Braves night games on my transistor radio and then when the Twins moved to Minnesota we finally had our own team on WCCO radio and I listened to as many games as I could. One of my favorite parts of listening to a game was when there was a disagreement on the field and one of the managers came out to argue his side of the play. I really enjoyed Halsey Hall or Herb Carneal telling me what was going on and then the big moment, the ump calls “you are outta here” and you could hear the fans cheer or boo depending on who was ejected. Those were the good old days for me, managers like Earl Weaver, Dick Williams or Billy Martin going toe to toe with the umps, the spit flying, kicking sand on home plate, flinging first base out into right field, slamming their cap to the ground before kicking it, and of course tossing a few bats and balls on the field as they exited the diamond on their way to the clubhouse for a cool and refreshing drink. You don’t see that manager passion that much anymore and one of the last of that breed left us when Lou Piniella retired from the game this year.
But maybe all is not lost, I recently checked with the Twins to see if they could tell me how many times each of the Twins managers had been ejected but all they could provide me with were the numbers for Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire as stats were not kept previous to that. We all know that Bobby Cox holds baseball’s career ejection mark with something like 158 but how is our own Gardy doing? He has been thumbed a number of times in his Twins managing career. According to the Twins, current manager Ron Gardenhire has been sent to the clubhouse on 52 occasions in his nine seasons as a Twins manager. Cox managed for 33 seasons and if you divide his 158 career ejections by the number of years he managed it comes out to about 4.79 ejections per season. Gardy has only managed for 9 seasons but he already has been thrown out 52 times and that averages out to 5.78 per season, almost one full ejection more per season managed than what Bobby Cox has accrued. Of course Gardy would have to manage many more years to beat the high ejection standard that Bobby Cox has established but Gardy could well be on his way, if Gardy managed for 33 years and kept up his current ejection rate and didn’t mellow, he could end up with 190+ ejections, is that something to look forward to or what? Go gettem Gardy! Oh by the way, Tom Kelly managed for 15+ season and was relieved of his managing duties only 5 times……….You gotta love baseball.
November 24, 2010 – Daniel Eugene McDevitt was born on November 18, 1932 in New York and passed away on November 20, 2010, just two days after his 78th birthday in Covington, Georgia. McDevitt was originally signed by the New York Yankees in 1951 as a free agent but the Yankees released him after the 1951 season. After he was released by the Yankees he served in the US Amy during the Korean War before being signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers after his tour ended in 1952. McDevitt, a lefty pitched in the big leagues for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, and the Kansas City A’s for all or parts of six seasons between 1957 and 1962. Danny McDevitt was a hard throwing left hander with control issues but he pitched in 155 big league games, starting 60 of them and had a career record of 21-27 with an ERA of 4.40. Danny only had 13 complete games and 4 shutouts in his career but one of them took place on September 24, 1957 when he and his Brooklyn Dodgers teammate’s shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 with 6,702 fans in attendance in what turned out to be the final game the Dodgers would play at Ebbets Field. Just two weeks later team owner Walter O’Malley announced that the team was moving to LA.
McDevitt had Minnesota ties going back to 1957 and 1958 when he pitched for the Dodgers AAA minor league team the St. Paul Saints where he went 15-8. On June 14, 1961 the New York Yankees traded McDevitt to the Minnesota Twins for infielder Billy Gardner who would later become a Twins manager. Danny’s stay in Minnesota was short as the Twins sold him to the Kansas City A’s on April 10th 1962. During his brief career as a Minnesota Twin, McDevitt pitched in 16 games, all but one in relief and finished his Twins career with a 1-0 record and an excellent ERA of 2.36. McDevitt’s big league career ended after the 1962 season although he did pitch in a couple of minor league games in 1963. After baseball he worked as a minor league umpire, held various government jobs in Mississippi and Alabama, then sold real estate in Georgia. We at Twins Trivia pass on our condolences to the McDevitt family and friends.
By Bill Young – In mid-summer I wrote about the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario, and the successful Induction Day ceremonies it held this past June. I mentioned that the new inductees included Canadian pitcher Paul Quantrill—his 14-season major league career took him to Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York (Yankees) San Diego and Florida—and Robbie Alomar, a Blue Jay forever, if Toronto fans have any say in the matter. Charles Bronfman made a significant donation to the Hall’s development fund and even Babe Ruth’s granddaughter took part.
And I also made mention of two other men—Calvin Griffith and Allan Roth—who were inducted posthumously. Both Griffith and Roth were Canadians by birth and while their contributions to the game took place in the United States, it was fitting that they be honored by the baseball community in their country of origin. At the induction ceremonies, both were represented by close family members; the ceremony meant a lot to them.
Calvin Griffith was born in Montreal on December 1, 1911 into difficult circumstances. While still very young he and his sister Thelma were dispatched to Washington, D.C., where they were subsequently adopted by Clark Griffith, the iconic owner of the Washington Senators, and given the Griffith name. When Calvin seemed interested in following the family’s baseball footsteps, Clark made him a Senators’ batboy. Following graduation from George Washington University where he played baseball, Calvin began his own life journey in the minors leagues, first in Chattanooga (home of the Lookouts, where his mentor was the legendary Joe Engle, a close associate of Clark’s and married to Clark’s niece) and later Charlotte. By the early 1950s Calvin was back in Washington, in charge of the Senators’ day-to-day-operations.
When Clark Griffith died in 1955, ownership of the club passed to Calvin and his sister Thelma. Calvin continued to oversee the running of the club, including salary negotiations, while Thelma managed the financial side. Together they formed an effective partnership.
Calvin was behind the decision to move to Minnesota in 1961. Under his tutelage, the newly named Twins enjoyed great success, winning one pennant and two divisional titles. However, by 1984 he and Thelma had run their course. They sold their 52 percent share to Carl Pohlad for $32 million, chump change by today’s standards.
Calvin was old-school when it came to wages, and in the days before agents it was his custom to discuss contracts with players, one-on-one, in his office. According to pitcher Bert Blyleven, “You would go into his office and he would sit in a high chair behind a high desk and you would sit on a couch that sank down, so it was like you were looking up about 10 feet at this big owner. He would then basically tell you what you were going to make the next year, because that’s what he thought you were worth, period.”
Jim (Mudcat) Grant, who is best remembered around these parts as the Montreal Expos opening day starting pitcher, April 8, 1969, at Shea Stadium, when Nos Amours became the first non U.S-based team ever to play a regularly scheduled major league game, had his own take on Griffith. Grant had toiled with the Twins in the mid-1960s. According to him, Griffith “threw around nickels like manhole covers.”
Calvin Griffith died on October 20, 1999 at the age of 87, bringing to an end a life rich in adventure and challenges – and light years removed from the hardships he and his mother and six siblings endured during those first years in Montreal. His early story reads like a tale pulled from the pages of Boy’s Own or a novel by Horatio Alger.
Calvin’s father was Jimmy Robertson, originally from the Shetland Islands. Something of a minor league ball player, he was offered a tryout with the International League Montreal Royals in the mid-1910s although failed to make the team. Among the reasons, as Calvin once explained to my colleague Danny Gallagher, was that Jimmy, the minor-league ball player, was a major-league alcoholic. What limited income he had came from a modest newspaper distribution/delivery business he operated in Mount-Royal, a newly-established model community in the suburbs of Montreal.
But Jimmy had a sister, Anne, and this is where the story takes its remarkable turn. For Anne Robertson lived in Washington, D.C. She was married to Clark Griffith.
When Jimmy died in 1922, his widow, Jane, desolate and impoverished, turned to her sister-in-law for help. Soon enough the whole family was bound for Washington and the bosom of the Griffith family. And, to borrow from that old SNL skit, baseball was about to become very, very good to them.
The Clark Griffiths, who had no children of their own, in addition to formally adopting Calvin and Thelma, informally, gathered all the Robertson children under their wing. In time, all children became involved in baseball, in one capacity of another. For example: Calvin’s younger brother Sherrod (Sherry) Robertson built his own major league baseball narrative as a major league player and executive, and, in 2007 was himself inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Thelma became Clark’s secretary and married Joe Haynes, a career pitcher with the Senators and White Sox. Upon Clark’s death in 1955, along with brother Calvin, she inherited part ownership of the Senators. And then there was sister Mildred. She married the legendary Hall-of-Famer Joe Cronin! According to The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, “Joe Cronin was introduced to his future wife, Clark Griffith’s daughter Mildred, by Joe Engle, who had purchased Cronin from Kansas City in the American Association.” When they met, Engle is supposed to have said, “Hey Millie, I brought you a husband over from Kansas City.”
The Griffith family was delighted with Calvin’s selection to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. His own son Clark, noting that the recognition came a full decade after Calvin’s death, called it “a true honor for my father,” adding, “all of us are very proud that his legacy remains strong and will carry forward in St. Mary’s.”
November 16, 2010 – Major League Baseball announced back in October that the 30 clubs drew 73,061,781 fans during the 2010 regular season, the sixth highest attendance total in history. Major League Baseball attendance for the regular season was off just four-tenths of one percent (.4%) from the 2009 total of 73,367,659.
The Minnesota Twins eclipsed three million fans for the second time in franchise history and set a new all-time franchise record with a 2010 home attendance of 3,223,640. The previous record of 3,030,672 was set in 1988, the year following the Twins first-ever World Series Championship. During the inaugural season at Target Field, the Twins sold out a franchise-record 79 games (including 78 consecutive). They also drew crowds of 40,000 or more in 22 consecutive games from July 3rd – August 31st, eclipsing the previous mark of seven consecutive games of 40,000 or more fans set from August 10-20, 1988.
The Twins finished with 3,223,640 fans going through the turnstile gates with the third highest attendance in the American League trailing only the New York Yankees with 3,765,807 and the Los Angeles Angels with 3,250,814. This places the Twins sixth overall all in the majors trailing the only Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals, and the Angels. On a percentage of capacity basis in the American League, only the Red Sox with 100.9% of capacity beat the Twins 100.7% of capacity.
On the road however; it was a different story as the Twins drew an average of 27,350 fans (62.6% of capacity) making the Twins the third worst draw in the American League just slightly ahead of the American League pennant winning Texas Rangers with 26,565 and the worst drawing team, the Chicago White Sox who only drew an average of 26,311 fans into opposing stadium seats. You have to wonder why two division winners like the Rangers and the Twins draw so poorly on the road.
November 13, 2010 – The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a great organization and one of the wonderful projects they have going on is the Baseball Biography Project. One of the many biographies they have completed is about former Minnesota Twins outfielder Lenny Green. Leonard Charles Green was born January 6, 1933 in Detroit, Michigan. Lenny signed with the Baltimore Orioles as a amateur free agent prior to the 1955 season and made his major league debut in August of 1957. Green was traded to the Washington Senators during the 1959 season and played for the Senators for two years before the team moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Green had good seasons for the Twins in 1961 and 1962 before losing his job to Jimmie Hall in 1963. Lenny was part of a big three team trade in 1964 and wound up with the Angels who gave him little playing time before selling him back to his original team in Baltimore. The next spring, 1965, he was again sold, this time to the Reds Sox. Green played for the Red Sox for two years and then finished his career with his home town Detroit Tigers in 1966 and 1967. Take a few minutes and read about one of the original Minnesota Twins by clicking here. I am not sure why right now but back in 1961 when the Twins played here in their first season, I was 13 years old and Lenny Green was my first “favorite” Twins player.
November 11, 2010 – The Twins have nine players (Jim Thome, Orlando Hudson, Carl Pavano, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Brian Fuentes, Jon Rauch, Randy Flores, and Ron Mahay) that became free agents and Nick Punto was added to the free agent list when the Twins passed on his $5 million option and let him walk for the $500K buy-out. They did however; pick up Jason Kubel’s $5.25 million option.
OK, so what do they do now? The Twins payroll was about $101 million last year and President Dave St. Peter has stated that the payroll will go up for 2011 but he did not say by how much. For the record, the Twins have stated that they usually spend 50% of their revenue on player payroll. Since we don’t know the true figure of the Twins revenue let’s assume that they will raise their payroll this year by about 10% and that the payroll number they will be shooting for is $110-$115 million.
The Twins have a number of issues as they go into the off-season. The bullpen is pretty much decimated by free agency so they have a huge rebuilding task there, Carl Pavano, although not a number 1 or 2 pitcher in my mind is still a valuable starter. They can probably fill their 2B hole from with-in and then there is always the question of what happens with Jim Thome who was the team leader in home runs but can’t play in the field and is 40 years old.
If those were the only problems that the Twins had they would be in good shape but they have two other huge black clouds off in the distance, will Joe Nathan bounce back from Tommy John surgery and if so, can he be ready to open the season as the Twins closer? What about Justin Morneau and his concussion, will Justin be healthy enough to start the season at 1B? Nathan and Morneau are huge question marks that have huge implications on how the Twins should spend their payroll dollars and what kinds of free agents they should go after and what kinds of trades they might pursue.
If I am Bill Smith I have to sit back and say WOW, where do we start? Strangely enough Smith started by signing free agent pitcher Eric Hacker, a career minor leaguer, with the exception of 3 big league relief appearances with the Pirates in 2009. Smith has also been quoted as saying they are in the Thome hunt but you have to wonder how long they will stay in that hunt. Thome put up some very nice numbers but only because he had the opportunity to play way more than was originally planned due to Morneau’s injury. If Morneau is healthy do you want a 40 year old with back problems as your DH? No, but then again he did hit 25 home runs and he will want more money and there are other teams, some in the Central Division that might just give it to him. Orlando Hudson is probably history, a luxury the Twins can no longer afford with Alexi Casilla once again showing he can probably do the job for less money.
So what to do with the bullpen free agents? Mahay and Flores are easy, let them go, no one is going to beat their doors down to sign them. Flores had a 4.91 ERA and pitched a total of 3 2/3 innings in 11 games, geez! Brian Fuentes I really like, but he wants to close and the Twins don’t have that opportunity open to him here so he is gone too. Jon Rauch is good insurance since he has closing experience but with him I am thinking it is all about the money, depending on what he wants determines if the Twins keep him. The two most important free agent relievers are Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier. Guerrier is three years older and has pitched in 70+ games in four consecutive years. Crain strikes out more batters but also walks more. There is also some talk floating around that Crain would like to be a closer somewhere and the Twins have no closer opening. Crain and Guerrier are two totally different pitchers but yet they both get the job done. If I am Mr. Smith, it is a priority for me to sign both of these guys to provide some stability for a bullpen that needs some help. And these moves just scratch the surface of the Twins moves this off season, you might need a scorecard to identify the players.
November 10, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins have signed 27 year old free agent pitcher Eric Hacker to a major league contract and placed him on the 40 man major league roster. The 6’1” right handed Hacker, a Texas native, was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 23rd round of the 2002 amateur draft. Hacker spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons in the Yankees minor league system and then sat out all of 2004 due to right elbow surgery. Hacker only pitched 10 games in 2005 in the Yankee system and then sat out 2006 with shoulder inflammation. Hacker was back with the Yankees system in 2007 and 2008 but was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in May of 2009. Hacker made his major league debut with the Pirates in September of 2009 but only pitched in relief in 3 games throwing 3 innings while giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs. At the end of the 2009 season Hacker was granted free agency and signed with the San Francisco Giants and he spent the entire 2010 season with Fresno in AAA where he started 29 games and was 16-8 with an ERA of 4.51 and a WHIP of 1.47 in a hitter’s league. Hacker allowed 185 hits in 165 innings and struck out 129 while walking 62. His average start lasted less than 6 innings. After talking with some members of the Twins organization it seems that the Twins scouts like Eric Hacker a lot and the Twins management trusts their scouts and have full confidence in them to find players that will help to make the Twins a better team. Only time will tell if Eric Hacker is that diamond in the rough that everyone is looking for or another pitcher that is just hanging on.
October 19, 2010 – Joseph Anthony Lis Sr., 64, passed away Sunday, October 17, 2010, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. Lis was born August 15, 1946, in Somerville, N.J.
Joe Lis signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964 and ended up playing in the major leagues with the Phillies 70-72, the Minnesota Twins in 73-74, and the Cleveland Indians in 74-76 and the Seattle Mariners in 1977. Lis also spent some time in the White Sox and Tigers minor league systems.
Lis played in the minors for all or parts of 12 season’s and put up some decent numbers in 1,337 games, getting 4,492 at bats, and hitting 236 home runs while getting 604 RBI’s to go along with a .277 batting average. Lis was really never able to land a full time starting job in the big leagues. Lis’s best season may have been with the Minnesota Twins in 1973 when he appeared in 103 games, getting 253 at bats and hitting .245 with 9 home runs, 25 RBI’s and 37 runs scored. When his major league career ended after the 1977 season, Joe had played in all or part of 8 big league seasons, appearing in 356 games with 780 at bats and hitting 32 home runs and knocking in 92 RBI’s while hitting for a .233 average.
After retiring from baseball, Lis coached youth baseball for over 30 years and in his spare time he enjoyed golf, fishing, and spending time with his grandchildren. Joe Lis owned and operated the Joe Lis Baseball School since 1991 and also worked in insurance since 1989. The obituary for Joe Lis can be found in the Evansville Courier & Press. You can also find a very nice SABR biography about Joe Lis by clicking here. We at Twinstrivia.com would like to pass on our condolences to the Joe Lis family in their time of sorrow.
