July 18, 2010 – The Society for American Baseball Research is a great organization and one of the wonderful projects they have going on is the Baseball Biography Project. One of the biographies they have completed is about Hall of Famer Richard Benjamin Ferrell who was born on October 12, 1905 and passed away on July 27, 1995. In 1947, after 18 major league seasons with the Browns, Senators, and Red Sox, Rick Ferrell retired as the longest playing catcher in the American League. His record 1,806 games would stand for more than 40 years, surpassed finally by another Hall of Famer, Carlton Fisk in August 1988. A stout defender and choosy batter, Ferrell was an eight-time All-Star who caught a rotation of four knuckleball pitchers for the 1945 Washington Senators team that lost the American League pennant in the final week of the season. Take a few minutes and enjoy a trip back in time and read about this baseball catching great by clicking here.
Category: Washington Senators 1901-1960
Tough to strike out
June 21, 2010 – Hall of Famer Sam Rice is way ahead of everyone in franchise history with the best strike out per at bat ratio going down swinging just once in every 33.6 at bats in 9,879 plate appearances. It seems as though the players in the past had much bat control or were more patient then the players of today. As you can see, the Twins best in this category is Brian Harper and he struck out once in every 19.6 at bats in 2,691 plate appearances. Where do Joe Mauer and Rod Carew stand you ask? To this point in his career Joe has 3,253 plate appearances and he strikes out once in every 8.8 at bats. Carew struck out once in every 8.7 at bats in his 6,980 Twins plate appearances. What I think is kind of weird is that Tony Oliva was known as a free swinger and he struck out once every 9.8 at bats in 6,879 at bats. Just for comparison, Harmon Killebrew struck out once every 5.81 at bats in 9,462 Twins plate appearances while Justin Morneau is currently at a strike out every 6.71 at bats in 3,889 plate appearances.
Toughest Twins to strike out
Rank | Name | At bats per strike out |
---|---|---|
1 | Brian Harper | 19.6 |
2 | Mickey Hatcher | 15.0 |
3 | Cesar Tovar | 13.5 |
4 | Lenny Green | 13.3 |
5 | Hosken Powell | 11.0 |
6 | Butch Wynegar | 10.6 |
7 | Lyman Bostock | 10.4 |
7 | Ted Uhlaender | 10.4 |
9 | Al Newman | 10.2 |
10 | Jim Holt | 10.0 |
Toughest Senators to strike out
Rank | Name | At bats per strike out |
---|---|---|
1 | Sam Rice | 33.6 |
2 | Sam Dente | 27.7 |
3 | Heinie Manush | 25.1 |
4 | Muddy Ruel | 23.4 |
5 | Clyde Milan | 23.1 |
6 | Rick Ferrell | 21.0 |
7 | Clint Courtney | 19.3 |
8 | Eddie Foster | 19.2 |
9 | Stan Spence | 18.5 |
10 | George Case | 17.5 |
Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame
May 18, 2010 – The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame began to induct members in 1939. It continued to do so even with all the political turmoil that has befallen Cuban Baseball. The Federacion de Peloteros Profesionales Cubanos en el Exilio continued elections of members after the end of professionalism in Cuba. For a complete list of members inducted, please go to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame pages.
The following one time Twins players are in the Cuban Hall of Fame.
Inducted in 1979 – Leo Cardenas – SS Inducted in 1980 = Zoilo Versalles – SS Inducted in 1981 – Pedro Ramos – P Inducted in 1982 – Tony Oliva – OF Inducted in 1983 – Camilo Pascual – P Inducted in 1985 – Mike Fornieles – P Inducted in 1997 – Julio Becquer – 1B Inducted in 1997 – Luis Tiant – P
Good Eye, Good Eye!
May 15, 2010 – The Twins preach to their pitchers that the batter should earn his way on base via a hit, just throw the ball over the plate and take your chances that the batter will hit it to one of your fielders. In recent years, the Twins pitching staff has always been one of the league leaders in fewest bases on balls allowed.
But the shoe is on the other foot when it comes to the Twins hitters where the coaching staff tries to teach patience at the plate, after all, a walk is just as good as a hit. Plus, the more pitches you see, the better the odds are of the batter getting a hit and the quicker the pitcher reaches their so called pitch limits. This year the Twins hitters have taken that advice to heart and after 32 games they have walked 147 times and are on pace for about 700 walks which would be the most not only in Twins history but in franchise history. The 1956 Senators walked 690 times and the most walks by a Twins team was the 1962 Twins when they walked to first base 649 times. Let’s take a look at the top 10 career Twins and Senators batters that believed that a walk was indeed as good as a hit.
Minnesota Twins
Rank | Player | Bases on Balls | Plate Appearances | Base on Ball % |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harmon Killebrew | 1,321 | 8,018 | 16.48% |
2 | Kent Hrbek | 838 | 7,137 | 11.74% |
3 | Bob Allison | 641 | 4,641 | 13.81% |
4 | Rod Carew | 613 | 6,980 | 8.78% |
5 | Roy Smalley | 549 | 4,675 | 11.74% |
6 | Chuck Knoblauch | 513 | 4,571 | 11.22% |
7 | Kirby Puckett | 450 | 7,831 | 5.75% |
8 | Tony Oliva | 448 | 6,879 | 6.61% |
9 | Matt Lawton | 408 | 3,150 | 12.95% |
10 | Tom Brunansky | 394 | 3,760 | 10.48% |
Washington Senators
Rank | Player | Bases on Balls | Plate Appearances | Base on Ball % |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Eddie Yost | 1,274 | 7,461 | 17.08% |
2 | Joe Judge | 943 | 8,906 | 10.59% |
3 | Buddy Myer | 864 | 7,028 | 12.29% |
4 | Mickey Vernon | 735 | 7,769 | 9.46% |
5 | Ossie Bluege | 723 | 7,452 | 9.70% |
6 | Clyde Milan | 685 | 8,312 | 8.24% |
7 | Sam Rice | 680 | 9.879 | 6.89% |
8 | Buddy Lewis | 573 | 5,937 | 9.65% |
9 | Joe Kuhel | 530 | 5,234 | 10.13% |
10 | Goose Goslin | 488 | 5,810 | 8.40% |
Know your franchise history
April 26, 2010 – The Society for American Baseball Research is a great organization and one of the wonderful projects they have going on is the Baseball Biography Project. One of the biographies they have completed is about the Old Fox, Clark Calvin Griffith who was born on November 20, 1869 and passed away on October 27, 1955. Griffith is the only man in major league history to serve as player, manager, and owner for at least 20 years each. Take a few minutes and read about this baseball legend here.
Harmon Killebrew – Harmonic History
April 13, 2010 – Harmon Killebrew, the long time Twins star power hitter in the 60’s and MLB Hall of Famer spent some time in 2009 with CTVNorthSuburbs and they did a YouTube video called Harmon Killebrew – Harmonic History. I found the two-part video video the other day and I thought that I would put a link out here so that you too can enjoy these two video clips. There are some cool vintage baseball shots of Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax and others that you will also enjoy as Harmon chats about his career and his journey through life. To view part one just click here and to view part two just click here.
Franchise Pitching Game Started leaders
Minnesota Twins
Names | Seasons | Games started | Complete games |
---|---|---|---|
Jim Kaat | 13 | 422 | 133 |
Brad Radke | 12 | 377 | 37 |
Bert Blyleven | 11 | 345 | 141 |
Frank Viola | 8 | 259 | 54 |
Jim Perry | 10 | 249 | 61 |
Dave Goltz | 8 | 215 | 80 |
Kevin Tapani | 7 | 180 | 19 |
Camilo Pascual | 6 | 179 | 70 |
Johan Santana | 8 | 175 | 6 |
Eric Milton | 6 | 165 | 10 |
Washington Senators
Name | Seasons | Games started | Complete games |
---|---|---|---|
Walter Johnson (HOF) | 21 | 666 | 531 |
Dutch Leonard | 9 | 251 | 130 |
Sid Hudson | 10 | 239 | 112 |
Casey Patten | 8 | 237 | 206 |
Camilo Pascual | 7 | 225 | 62 |
Tom Zachary | 9 | 210 | 93 |
Tom Hughes | 9 | 205 | 139 |
Jim Shaw | 9 | 194 | 96 |
Bob Groom | 5 | 169 | 104 |
Early Wynn (HOF) | 8 | 168 | 92 |
Did you know?
March 12, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators have held spring training in the following locations: Phoebus, Va. (1901); Washington, D.C. (1902-1904); Hampton, Va. (1905); Charlottesville, Va. (1906); Galveston, Texas (1907); Norfolk, Va. (1910); Atlanta (1911); Charlottesville, Va. (1912-1916); Atlanta (1917); Augusta, Ga. (1918-1919); Tampa (1920-1929); Biloxi, Miss. (1930-1935); Orlando (1936-1942); College Park, Md. (1943-1945); Orlando (1946-1990); Ft. Myers (1991-present).
STRIKE THREE!
March 4, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins preach putting the bat on the ball and getting it in play because you never know what can happen next, but the Twins have had a number of players over the years that have taken that long walk to the bench after flailing away and missing. Strangely enough, when you look at the franchise top fifty strike-out leaders from a hitting perspective, 46 out of 50 are Twins players and only 4 are Washington Senators and both of them, Jim Lemon and Harmon Killebrew played for the Twins. You would think with the old-time pitchers accumulating so many strike-outs that you would see more Washington Senators on this list. The top Twins strikeout team was the 1997 team (68-94) with 1,121 KO’s and the top Senators strike-out team was the 1960 team (73-81) with 883 KO’s. The top man on the list is Bobby Darwin who led the AL in strikeouts between 1972-1974. Here are the seasonal top ten strike-out performances by Twins/Senators hitters:
Rank | Name | Strike outs | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Bobby Darwin | 145 | 1972 |
2 (tie) | Carlos Gomez | 142 | 2008 |
2 (tie) | Harmon Killebrew | 142 | 1962 |
4 | Jim Lemon | 138 | 1956 |
5 | Bobby Darwin | 137 | 1973 |
6 | Harmon Killebrew | 135 | 1964 |
7 (tie) | Rich Becker | 130 | 1997 |
7 (tie) | Michael Cuddyer | 130 | 2006 |
9 | Jacques Jones | 129 | 2002 |
10 | Lary Hisle | 128 | 1973 |
Pitchers that hated to walk batters
February 22, 2010 – With Twins pitchers and catchers working out for the first time today, it is a good time to take a look at the top control pitchers in franchise history. The Twins always preach to their pitchers that walks will kill. If you want to pitch for the Minnesota Twins you need to get your pitches over the plate and force the hitter to put the ball in play. This strategy has worked for the Twins in the past and I don’t see it changing in the future. So let’s take a look and see what Twins pitchers gave up the fewest walks per inning pitched and at the same time compare how Washington Senators pitchers in the past compared to their modern day counterparts.
Minnesota Twins
Rank | Pitcher | BB/9 | Innings pitched |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlos Silva | 1.303 | 773 |
2 | Brad Radke | 1.634 | 2,451 |
3 | Jim Merritt | 1.769 | 686 |
4 | Jim “Mudcat” Grant | 1.879 | 780 |
5 | Kevin Tapani | 1.959 | 1,171 |
6 | Scott Baker | 2.054 | 653 |
7 | John Butcher | 2.148 | 502 |
8 | Jim Kaat | 2.177 | 3,014 |
9 | Dean Chance | 2.250 | 664 |
10 | Allan Anderson | 2.320 | 818 |
Washington Senators
Rank | Pitcher | BB/9 | Innings pitched |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Al Orth | 1.555 | 677 |
2 | Watty Lee | 1.794 | 526 |
3 | Dutch Leonard | 1.910 | 1,899 |
4 | Waletr Johnson | 2.074 | 5,914 |
5 | Garland Braxton | 2.115 | 583 |
6 | Doc Ayers | 2.301 | 1,122 |
7 | George Mogridge | 2.417 | 1,016 |
8 | Casey Patten | 2.430 | 2,059 |
9 | Charlie Smith | 2,240 | 822 |
10 | Roger Wolff | 2,442 | 527 |