Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Just another day of practice

March 18, 2009 – I was out watching the Twins practice on Tuesday and to be honest there was not a lot of the regulars around, most of them had gone on down the road to City of Palms Park to play the Red Sox. But Gardy was around and he and Tom Kelly were out on one of the back fields hitting ground balls to Nick Punto who would field the ball and throw to Matt Tolbert who was learning to play 1B under the tutelage of TK. They worked Punto and Tolbert pretty hard and they were very positive with their comments but when it was all done, Tolbert mush have asked for an assessment of how he did at first and TK didn’t mince words when he said that he did OK but he still had a long ways to go to make all the plays and to play 1B the way it should be played, typical TK. I don’t think TK does it to be mean, he just tells it how it is.

I am surprised at how TK tries to interact with the fans that watch practice by joking with them and just talking to them. He asked one of the kids that were watching, maybe an 8 or 9 year old to join him on the field during the practice and when the boy walked up to him, TK asked how many of these baseballs laying here on the ground here at 1B can you pick up? The little boy was pretty shy and kind of indicated he didn’t know so TK said, pick up as many as you can and carry them over to Gardy over there. The little boy picked up about 6 balls and did as he was asked and when he got back to TK, he is told to grab another armful and again deliver them to Gardy. When the little boy comes back again, TK asks, are you good for one more trip? Again the little boy carries more baseballs over to Gardy. Apparently bored, the little boy then decides that he has had enough and walks off the field, without a baseball. I would have thought that for all that work he could have at least gotten a practice baseball; I guess you have to learn at a young age that life is not fair.

As Gardy walked off the field he stopped for some pictures and autographs and chatted with the fans, in no apparent rush. I got a good picture of Gardy that I will put on my picture site soon. After he finished up with everyone I walked with Gardy as he was leaving and I asked him if he could tell me who had surprised him with their play this spring. He said that Danny Valencia was hitting very well and had caught his eye and he said that outfielder Dustin Martin had played very well and was really running around out there before he hurt his shoulder here recently. Then Gardy said he had to hustle and get over to City of Palms to play the Sox.

Most of the AA and AAA players had gone to Port Charlotte to play Rays teams so there were not many high level minor leaguers around either. I did get a chance to watch Aaron Hicks, the Twins first round draft pick last year hit a little BP and he hit a few line drives but he is certainly not a power hitter, at least at this stage of his career. I also watched him running the bases a bit and he does appear to be very quick and pretty athletic.

Another visit to Hammond Stadium

February 26, 2009 – Yesterday I decided to go out to the stadium about 10 AM and catch the Twins practice before their home opener on Wednesday night against the Red Sox. When I got there I found a few fans and no players, none at all, not even anyone playing catch on the back fields. A lesson learned I guess, but without access to the Twins inside scoop like the regular press has it can be a hit and miss proposition sometimes.

But I don’t give up easy so I went out again this morning knowing that the Twins had an away game with Cincinnati so I was expecting to find a lot of the regulars left behind and that is exactly what happened. When I got there, Morneau, Young, Casilla, Cuddyer, Crede, Redmond and a number of others were taking batting practice. I guess these veterans had earned the right to skip some of the spring training bus rides. So there was no Gardy to run the show but TK was keeping things moving.

The Twins bring in some of their past stars to do a little spring training coaching and today I saw Rod Carew and Paul Molitor. When they players and coaches leave the field they usually have to walk through a gauntlet of fans looking for autographs and pictures. Most of the players and coaches stop, chat with the fans a little, sign some autographs, pose for some pictures and move on, but not Mr. Rod Carew the Hall of Famer. Today Carew just blew past everyone and his eyes never left his shoelaces and he didn’t utter a word. He reminded me of someone walking through a dairy barn barefoot making sure they didn’t step into a “cow pie”. Geez what a grump, Carew was a good player and maybe he is a good coach but he still lacks basic human relations skills that would make him one of the Twins fans favorites. Maybe I just caught him on a bad day….. Paul Molitor, who is not exactly as outgoing as Harmon Killebrew at least stopped, signed and posed for some pictures. Even TK who I always thought was a major grump as a Twins manager stopped and chatted with fans and posed for a picture with some kids. Believe it or not, he told the kids to smile, who would have “thunk” it? But you know who stayed out there the longest and signed until the last fan was satisfied? It was Justin Morneau; he must have been out there for a good half hour signing everything in sight and posing for anyone that asked. How cool is that? You know he was ready to call it a day and get in the clubhouse but he stayed out there until all the cards, balls, and bats were signed even when he knew that a number of them were for going to be put up for sale before the ink had dried. That is why Morneau is such a popular player; he knows how to treat his fans the right way. Thanks Justin, I was very impressed.

Former Twins outfielder Ted Uhlaender dead at the age of 68

February 15, 2009 – Former Minnesota Twins outfielder Ted Uhlaender passed away from a heart attack on Thursday at the age of 68. Ted Uhlaender was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois on October 21, 1940. Ted signed as a free agent with Minnesota in 1961 and was a September 1965 call-up and appeared in 13 games but was not eligible for the World Series against the Dodgers. Uhlaender became a starter the following season and was a regular through 1969 when he was traded to the Cleveland Indians after the season ended. Uhlaender played for the Indians for two seasons before he was once again traded, this time to the Cincinnati Redlegs where he finished his career when the 1972 season ended. Uhlaender was a very good defensive outfielder and had a career batting average of .263 with 36 home runs in 898 major league games.

Ted UhlaenderIn later years, he worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees. He spent two years with the Giants, became Cleveland’s first base coach in 2000-01 and then returned to San Francisco as a scout and has worked for them in that capacity since 2002.

Ted had a daughter (Katie), who races for the U.S. Olympic skeleton team and is eyeing her second Olympic berth in Vancouver next year. Uhlaender was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer last year. I would like to pass on my condolences and best wishes to the Uhlaender family.

The Twins Third Manager – Cal Ermer

Cal ErmerFebruary 6, 2009 – Calvin Coolidge Ermer was born on November 10, 1923 in Baltimore, Maryland and was known as much for his ability to play soccer as baseball. For seven years, he coached the College of Baltimore’s soccer team in which the team won four championships. He joined the U.S. Marines where he spent his time playing for their team and when his hitch was up, he went into professional baseball. Ermer recalls that his parents were concerned when he chose baseball because they didn’t think he could make a good living. Ermer’s career in baseball has spanned over 60 years but yet he played in only one major league game and that was on September 26, 1947 as a Washington Senator at the age of 23. Ermer played second base and was 0 for 3 that day. But Cal knew the game of baseball and his destiny was coaching and managing and not playing the game he loved. Ermer played and managed in the minors handling Senators/Twins farm clubs over five different decades: 1947; 1950-57; 1965-67; 1974-76; 1978-85.

Ermer as Denver Bears manager
Ermer as Denver Bears manager

On June 9, 1967 with the Twins playing uninspired .500 baseball, Calvin Griffith fired manager Sam Mele who had led the team to the World Series in 1965 and brought Ermer up from the Twins AAA affiliate Denver Bears of the Pacific Coast league where he had managed since 1965 to manage the major league team. Ermer still remembers to this day one of Calvin Griffiths questions before he gave him the job and that was “Do you play Pinochle”? You can’t manage the Twins if you can’t play Pinochle said Calvin. The Twins play improved and late in the season the Twins and Ermer found themselves in a four team pennant race with the Tigers, White Sox and the Red Sox that went into the final week-end of play. The Twins needed only one win in their final two games against the Red Sox at Fenway Park but the Twins lost both games to Boston and lost their chance to go to their second World Series in three years. Jim Kaat still says to this day that this was the best Twins team ever assembled and had he not hurt his arm early in the game against the Red Sox that the Twins would certainly have won the game and the pennant. Dave Boswell mentioned basically the same thing when I did my Q&A with him.

Ermer with his friend Jim Lemon
Ermer with his friend Jim Lemon

The 1968 season was a struggle even though the Twins started the season winning their first 6 games. The nail in the coffin so to speak occurred when Harmon Killebrew suffered a serious injury in the All-Star game at the Astrodome where his manager Cal Ermer happened to be coaching for the American League. Killebrew returned in September but only hit 4 home runs before the season came to an end and the Twins finished with a 79-83 record. The season was a disappointment to owner Calvin Griffith and the day after the 1968 season ended, he decided that a change was needed so Griffith hired Billy Martin to become the Twins fourth manager and fired Cal Ermer as manager and gave him another job in the organization.

 

Ermer with one of his former players, Sal Butera
Ermer with one of his former players, Sal Butera

Cal coached and managed minor league teams for the Pirates, Yankees, Phillies, and the Tigers. As a minor league pilot, Ermer won 1,906 games, losing 1,728 (.524) over 26 seasons. Along the way, Ermer had major league coaching stints with the Orioles, Brewers, and the Athletics. Ermer’s only stint as a major league manager was with the Minnesota Twins and he compiled a 145-129 record and is one of only five Twins managers to post a career winning records as a Twins manager. Ermer also scouted for the Twins and several other teams over his 60 year career. In August of 2008, the Chattanooga Lookouts dedicated the AT&T Field Press Box to their former Lookouts manager Cal Ermer.

I had an opportunity to spend about an hour talking with Cal on the phone about a week ago and we had a wonderful time talking baseball. Today, Cal Ermer is living in a senior living center in Chattanooga, Tennessee and is working on a book about his career in baseball. Now 85 years old, Cal is having some memory issues but he is looking forward to attending each and every home game of the Chattanooga Lookouts when their 2009 season begins.

Super Bowl is history, it is time for baseball

February 2, 2009 – I arrived in the Ft. Myers area yesterday and will stay here for the next two months soaking up the sun, playing a little golf, doing some fishing, and hanging out at Hammond Stadium watching the Twins as they go through yet another spring training. It is always fun to see baseball again after a long and cold winter and I hope to get some good pictures and maybe provide a little of my insight on how the Twins are doing.

Like many others, I watched the Super Bowl on TV last night and although I was disappointed that the Cardinals did not win, I thought that it was the best Super Bowl game that I can remember. Did you catch that new Twins ad that debuted during the Super Bowl? I did not see it here in Florida since it was local ad but if you missed it, you can see it right here. After the ad is complete it shows some of the “out-takes” that did not make the final ad.

Several days ago, KSTP the Twins radio home and the Minnesota Twins announced that the KSTP will broadcast 25 Twins spring training games this season beginning with the February 25th Twins Grapefruit opener against the Red Sox. Some of the games supposedly will have a unique format with possible interviews with uniformed personnel and others may take calls from the listeners. It is nice to hear that Twins fans will be able to listen to the boys of summer as they prepare for their final season at the Metrodome.

As far as I am concerned, baseball and radio go together but I don’t think that KSTP is the radio station that should be broadcasting the Twins games this year or any year for that matter. WCCO did a great job for the Twins for so many years and I am still disgusted that the Twins left the “Good Neighbor”. Why do I dislike KSTP? I have two main complaints about KSTP, first is the lack of range, I live less than 12 miles from the Metrodome and unless I point my radio in just the right direction I can’t get the game, when I do get it, the signal usually fades in and out. Dang, it is so irritating to hear Gordo say “and here comes the pitch, Morneau swings and it is a long fly ball to……………..static! How frustrating is that? I can usually be found walking and enjoying the Luce Line trail on summer evenings, before KSTP came along I could listen to the Twins on WCCO on my little arm band radio, but not since the Twins moved to KSTP. My second reason for my problem with KSTP is their pre-game show, up until the time they hand it off to the John Gordon and Dan Gladden team and their post game show. These shows are boring and so unprofessional I seldom if ever listen. The shows are more of a venting and a blood-letting then they are a good honest look at the team and its management. I can’t wait for the Twins/KSTP contract to run out and I hope that the Twins move Minnesota Twins baseball back to WCCO where it belongs. I am not the only Twins fans out here that feels this way, maybe it is time for the Twins to do a serious study and survey of their fans to determine where on the radio dial they want to find Twins baseball and if it should be returned to “830” where it rightfully belongs.

The Last of the Pure Baseball Men

January 16, 2009 – It was a sunny but cold day in January and I was researching some historical Minnesota Twins information on the Internet when I ran across a wonderful story about Calvin Griffith, the original owner of the Minnesota Twins and the man responsible for bringing professional baseball from Washington to the Midwest and to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It made no difference that Metropolitan Stadium the ballpark that the Twins would call home was actually miles away out by the airport and located somewhere out amongst the cow pastures in a suburb called Bloomington. Sadly, today that stadium is gone and now occupied by the Mall of America and the Twins are playing baseball on the concrete floor within the confines of the domed and climate controlled Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

The story “The Last of the Pure Baseball Men” was written by Michael Lenehan and published in the August 1981 Atlantic Monthly. Although a rather lengthy article, it is a fun and informative read as it looks at the life and times of the legendary Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith. The story covers Calvin’s life and to a great degree I think explains why Mr. Griffith ran the club as he did. The article mentions many of the Twins former players and talks about their relationships with Calvin. Calvin Griffith has been gone now for a number of years and Carl Pohlad who bought the Twins from Calvin also recently has passed away.

I think as you read the article you can’t help but go back in time and picture in your mind what baseball was like in the 50’s, the 60’s and the 70’s. Back when players played for fun and pride and not the almighty dollar. Back when you knew that the players you watched come up from the minors would play for the home team for years to come unless they were traded. Sure, you had spring training hold-outs, but you didn’t have arbitration and the constant talk of how much an up-and-coming star was going to take to sign or you will lose him to free agency and the larger market teams. I am not condoning some of the practices of the owners back then because they obviously were unfair and you could argue they got what they deserved but now I think the pendulum has swung a bit too far to the players side. From my perspective as a baseball fan, baseball is still the best sport but the greed from both the ownership and the player’s side is wearing my patience a bit thin.

As I look out the window, it is a beautiful sunny day albeit a -5 degrees here in Plymouth, Minnesota and I can’t wait to hear the crack of the bat as the baseball goes flying out of the ballpark when spring training opens for MLB in just a few short weeks. In the mean time, take a few minutes and check this story about Calvin, his family, and his Minnesota Twins. In a way this is really a fitting time for this story, the article was originally written in 1981 as the Twins prepared to open their final season at Met Stadium and today we find ourselves in the same position as the Twins are getting ready to open their final season, this time in the Metrodome before they move to Target Field and play out door baseball once again in 2010.

You can find “The Last of the Pure Baseball Men” written by Michael Lenehan on his web site by clicking on his name, I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did.

World Baseball Classic

January 7, 2009 – Once again it is almost time for the World Baseball Classic. This will be the second time this event has been held. The first World baseball Classic was held in 2006 and the Dominican Republic beat Australia 6-4 for the title. Sixteen teams including the USA will be battling for the championship this year. The first game is on March 5 in the Tokyo Dome between China and Japan. Games will also be played in Mexico City, Toronto, San Juan, San Diego, Miami, and the finals will be played in Los Angeles between March 21 -23.

A number of Twins including Justin Morneau and Jesse Crain (Canada) Joe Nathan (USA), Nick Punto (Italy), and Jose Mijares (Venezuela) may be competing. A number of Twins minor leaguers may also be found on some rosters. Bert Blyleven will be the pitching coach for the team from Netherlands. It should be fun to follow again this year. If you want to know more about the WBC, just click on the World Baseball Classic logo.

Twins owner Carl Pohlad passes away at the age of 93

January 5, 2009 – My condolences to the Pohlad family and to the entire Twins organization. I can’t say that I always agreed with Mr. Pohlad but then again what fun would life be if we all agreed on everything. Mr. Pohlad did come through and buy the Twins at a time that the Minnesota Twins needed to be saved and for that I thank him and his family. I think what I will remember most about Mr. Pohlad is his loyalty to the people that worked for him and the fact that he hired who he thought was the best person for the job and then he let them go about their tasks with little to no interference.

Pohlad, CarlBaseball is a business and Carl Pohlad knew how to make money but I think the Twins were more then that to him, I think he and Eloise really enjoyed the game and the characters that were part of baseball. It is sad really that Mr. Pohlad will never get to see the Twins play at Target Field, something that he worked so diligently for over the years.

So Carl, thanks for the memories, some good and others not so good, but you will be missed and for me you will always remain an important character in Twins lore for ever more.

Minneapolis Star Tribune Carl Pohlad obituary

A Difficult Opening Day

December 28, 2008 – Very heavy snowfall had piled up in early 1965 and the prolonged deep cold temperatures in March delayed the melt. When winter loosened its icy grip on the state, spring came with a vengeance. Rains in early April on the still frozen ground caused the water to pour into streams until they climbed out of their banks. Ice dams in several locations caused even more flooding in the Minneapolis area and throughout different parts of the state.

Jim KaatThe Twins opened their 1965 season against the American League defending champion New York Yankees at Met Stadium on April 12. The sunny but cool 44 degree temps and the difficult traveling conditions due to street flooding limited the opening day crowd to a disappointing 15,388 fans. Getting to the ballpark was not an easy task either for the players or the fans as Jim Kaat recalls: “I was living in Burnsville and was driving to the Met when I the traffic came to a standstill. I got out of my car and asked the driver ahead of me what the problem was. He said the highway, 35W was flooded over and you couldn’t get across the river. I went back home and called Paul Giel at WCCO radio and asked if they had access to a helicopter, they said to meet the copter at the Burnsville High School. Rich Rollins, Dick Stigman, Bill Bethea (who was staying at my house before reporting to AAA Charlotte) and I were flown in 2 at a time to the parking lot at the Met”. Paul Giel who assisted Kaat and the Twins in the helicopter episode was a pitcher for the Twins in 1961 and was now working for WCCO radio.

Cesar TovarJim Kaat started the game for the hometown Twins and Jim Bouton started for the Bronx Bombers. Kaat and the Twins thought they had the game won but with two out in the bottom of the ninth, 3B Cesar Tovar who was playing in his first game as a Minnesota Twin and had replaced an injured Rich Rollins earlier in the game, dropped an easy pop-up for the eighth error of the game (Yankees had five and the Twins had three) and the tying run scored. Here is how Kaat remembers what happened. “I had the game won 4-3 when Cesar Tovar dropped a little pop up that would have ended the game and the tying run scored. He felt terrible and I told him to forget about it and knock in the winning run, which he did in the 11th inning. We became good friends because of that incident, he was new to the team and fearful I’d be irritated that he cost me a W”.

For those of you that want to see the box score for the Twins 11 inning 5-4 win over the Yankees just click here.

 

The starting shortstop will be Nick Punto?

December 20, 2008 – It has been almost two weeks since the Twins resigned free agent infielder Nick Punto to a 2 year deal for $8.5 million with an option for a third year and I am just now beginning to accept what has happened. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire seems to already have anointed Nick Punto as his starting shortstop.

I am not a Nick Punto hater but let’s cut to the chase here, Nick Punto has proven he can not play regularly in the major leagues. The man can certainly play in the field and I have no problem at all with him being on the team as a utility player but a starter he is not. I know that the Twins are looking for someone that can play shortstop and hit a little but let’s look at Nick’s history.

YEAR G AB R H RBI SB AVG
2003 64 92 14 20 4 2 .217
2004 38 91 17 23 12 6 .253
2005 112 394 45 94 26 13 .239
2006 135 459 73 133 45 17 .290
2007 150 472 53 99 25 16 .210
2008 99 338 43 96 28 15 .284

 

In his favor Punto is a switch-hitter, can play multiple positions, has good speed, takes charge of the infield and he is an aggressive and fun player to watch even if he does seemingly stupid things like diving into first base on a regular basis. But I see two major drawbacks to Punto playing shortstop on a regular basis. Nick’s aggressiveness works to his disadvantage when he is diving and crashing into everything in site. These things are not bad in themselves but for Nick who is slight of build to begin with it, it leads to the DL list every now and then. Ability is important but so is durability and Nick has not proven that he can play for an entire season putting up decent hitting stats with out getting hurt.

Now let’s take a look at the season coming up, the 2009 season, an odd number. How is that important you say? Let us look at Punto’s batting averages, in 2007 he hit .210, in 2005 he hit .239, in 2003 he hit .217. In the even numbered years Nick hit .284 in 2008, .290 in 2006, and .253 in 2004. I would say there is reason to be concerned, very concerned. Punto wants to be the best player possible and who doesn’t but the bottom line is that (and I am trying to find a nice way to put this) he worries too much. When Nick goes a day or two with no hits he gets out of his normal rhythm and tries to make up for the bad days and this leads to more bad at bats which leads to long slumps. 2007 was a good indication of what happens to Punto when he gets on a bad roll.

If you look at Punto’s fielding stats you will find that Nick is a better 2B then he is a shortstop. So if Gardy has his mind already made up about playing Punto on a regular basis, maybe the Twins should look at moving Alexi Casilla to shortstop and playing Punto at 2B. Personally I think the Twins need to find a regular shortstop by hook or crook or they should try Casilla at shortstop and look for a 2B because I have no problem seeing Punto sitting on the bench waiting to come into the game for defense or to steal a base when it is called for but please don’t send him out there every day.