Twins switch-hitters from 1961-2015

One of the more frequent questions I get pertains to switch-hitters that played for the Minnesota Twins so I thought I would put together the entire list of Twins players both position players and pitchers that swung from both sides of the plate. In this case I ranked then in order of home runs hit. The list includes Twins pitchers as well as position players.

Rk Player HR From To G PA AB H 2B 3B RBI BA OPS Pos
1 Roy Smalley 110 1976 1987 1148 4676 3997 1046 184 21 485 .262 .750 *6DH/53
2 Chili Davis 41 1991 1992 291 1163 978 276 61 3 159 .282 .862 *D/H793
3 Cristian Guzman 39 1999 2004 841 3538 3277 871 142 61 289 .266 .685 *6/HD
4 Butch Wynegar 37 1976 1982 794 3188 2746 697 112 9 325 .254 .682 *2/HD5
5 Gene Larkin 32 1987 1993 758 2670 2321 618 131 12 266 .266 .723 3D9H/754
6 Ryan Doumit 32 2012 2013 269 1066 969 253 62 2 130 .261 .745 2/D9H73
7 Denny Hocking 25 1993 2003 876 2455 2204 556 109 17 215 .252 .661 64H5/9738D
8 Bobby Kielty 23 2001 2003 224 750 631 170 35 3 92 .269 .818 9/8HD73
9 Eduardo Escobar 21 2012 2015 340 1139 1051 275 71 8 111 .262 .710 *6/574HD98
10 Aaron Hicks 20 2013 2015 247 928 819 184 30 6 78 .225 .655 *8/97HD
11 Kennys Vargas 14 2014 2015 111 418 390 101 14 1 55 .259 .707 /*D3H
12 Dave Hollins 13 1996 1996 121 503 422 102 26 0 53 .242 .760 *5/HD6
13 Nick Punto 12 2004 2010 747 2707 2365 587 102 21 194 .248 .648 564/HD879
14 Alexi Casilla 11 2006 2012 515 1764 1580 395 72 14 147 .250 .639 *4/6HD58
15 Pedro Florimon 10 2012 2014 210 682 616 126 23 3 55 .205 .567 *6/HD
16 Matt Walbeck 8 1994 1996 275 1008 946 218 40 1 103 .230 .571 *2/HD
17 Javier Valentin 8 1997 2002 141 435 391 90 19 2 46 .230 .638 *2/HD
18 Danny Santana 7 2014 2015 192 707 666 185 37 12 61 .278 .710 *6/8HD9
19 Brent Gates 6 1998 1999 217 723 639 161 28 2 80 .252 .656 *5/4H3D6
20 Luis Rodriguez 6 2005 2007 206 508 445 108 19 3 38 .243 .651 /54H6D3
21 Orlando Hudson 6 2010 2010 126 559 497 133 24 5 37 .268 .710 *4/D
22 Jim Perry 5 1963 1972 380 681 613 117 17 2 46 .191 .478 *1/H7
23 Terry Tiffee 5 2004 2006 91 256 239 54 13 1 29 .226 .625 /5H3D
24 Orlando Merced 5 1998 1998 63 223 204 59 12 0 33 .289 .767 /*39DH
25 John Moses 4 1988 1990 349 687 620 171 25 7 57 .276 .693 9H/78D31
26 Matt Tolbert 3 2008 2011 247 680 605 139 27 9 54 .230 .607 4/5H6D39
27 Luis Castillo 3 2006 2007 227 1036 933 279 33 9 67 .299 .720 *4
28 Pedro Ramos 3 1961 1961 53 100 93 16 1 0 11 .172 .484 /*1H
29 Marcus Jensen 3 2000 2000 52 164 139 29 7 1 14 .209 .663 /*2HD
30 Dave McKay 2 1975 1976 78 290 263 60 6 1 24 .228 .562 /*5H6D
31 Jose Offerman 2 2004 2004 77 202 172 44 14 2 22 .256 .759 /*DH34
32 Augie Ojeda 2 2004 2004 30 72 59 20 1 0 7 .339 .886 /*46H5
33 Darrell Brown 1 1983 1984 186 602 569 155 15 5 41 .272 .624 *8/H7D
34 Otis Nixon 1 1998 1998 110 500 448 133 6 6 20 .297 .705 *8/H
35 Wally Backman 1 1989 1989 87 337 299 69 9 2 26 .231 .591 /*4HD
36 Tom Herr 1 1988 1988 86 345 304 80 16 0 21 .263 .674 /*4HD6
37 Chris Latham 1 1997 1999 63 154 138 21 2 0 9 .152 .411 /8H79
38 Kendrys Morales 1 2014 2014 39 162 154 36 11 0 18 .234 .584 /*D3H
39 Rob Bowen 1 2003 2004 24 43 37 4 0 0 3 .108 .380 /*2HD
40 Al Newman 0 1987 1991 618 1876 1647 380 59 7 135 .231 .581 465H/D738
41 J.C. Romero 0 1999 2005 327 3 3 1 1 0 0 .333 1.000 *1
42 Joe Mays 0 1999 2005 193 21 15 4 1 0 0 .267 .722 *1
43 Pat Neshek 0 2006 2010 132 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
44 Pete Filson 0 1982 1986 130 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
45 Darrell Jackson 0 1978 1982 104 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1/HD
46 Jose Morales 0 2007 2010 74 181 158 47 9 0 14 .297 .725 /*2HD3
47 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0 2011 2012 71 254 233 50 5 0 20 .215 .503 /*64HD
48 Doug Baker 0 1988 1990 57 100 86 23 5 1 9 .267 .696 /*46HD5
49 Sergio Ferrer 0 1974 1975 56 157 138 36 3 3 2 .261 .648 /*6H4D
50 Nelson Liriano 0 1990 1990 53 211 185 47 5 7 13 .254 .688 /*4HD6
51 Marty Martinez 0 1962 1962 37 24 18 3 0 1 3 .167 .563 /*H65
52 Dan Serafini 0 1996 1998 35 1 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 /*1
53 Larry Milbourne 0 1982 1982 29 106 98 23 1 1 1 .235 .548 /*4H
54 Donnie Hill 0 1992 1992 25 59 51 15 3 0 2 .294 .721 /6H459
55 Chris Pittaro 0 1986 1987 25 34 33 6 0 0 0 .182 .388 /*4H6D
56 Quinton McCracken 0 2001 2001 24 70 64 14 2 2 3 .219 .588 /DH798
57 Jason Ryan 0 1999 2000 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
58 Tom Lundstedt 0 1975 1975 18 32 28 3 0 0 1 .107 .326 /*2HD
59 Ruben Sierra 0 2006 2006 14 33 28 5 1 0 4 .179 .487 /*H*D
60 Glenn Williams 0 2005 2005 13 43 40 17 1 0 3 .425 .902 /*5H
61 Stan Perzanowski 0 1978 1978 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
62 Cleatus Davidson 0 1999 1999 12 24 22 3 0 0 3 .136 .273 /*46HD
63 Jorge Polanco 0 2014 2015 9 20 16 5 1 1 4 .313 .950 /*6H
64 David Lamb 0 2002 2002 7 10 10 1 0 0 0 .100 .200 /*6H45
65 Mark Brown 0 1985 1985 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
66 Luis Quinones 0 1992 1992 3 6 5 1 0 0 1 .200 .367 /*H6D5
67 Eric Hacker 0 2011 2011 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/10/2016.

You can make a strong case that Mickey Mantle was the best switch-hitter in the AL as he hit .300 (with 500 or more PA’s) or more nine time and Victor Martinez who remains active today has hit. 300 eight times as has Bernie Williams. Roberto Alomar did it seven times.

Guzman, Cristian 3The Twins have not had as much luck with their switch-hitters, the only Twin to hit .300 (.302) or better with at least 500 plate appearances was Cristian Guzman in 2001. It kind of makes you wonder if switch hitting is worth the effort. From 1901 to 1960 the Washington Senators never had a switch-hitter that hit .300 or better with at least 500 PA’s.

Checking out to see who is at the ballpark

Last week I stopped off at the CenturyLink Sports Complex for a couple of hours to see what was going on if anything and to see what players may have already shown up to get a jump on spring training. I have not been out earlier this year because the weather here in SW Florida has been a bit strange this year. A couple of weeks ago we had a tornado about a mile from the condo in Cape Coral and a few days later they had another tornado touch down in Ft. Myers not too far from Page Field. Cape Coral which is just across the river from Ft. Myers has had almost 13″ of rain in January and they average under 2″ of rain, so it has been a wet January. February has started out cool and windy (for this area anyway) with temperatures in the low to mid 60’s and our average is 75 for this time of the year.

Adam Walker signs for a fan.
Adam Walker signs for a fan.

When I got to the ballpark there were a couple of people buying spring training game tickets as I headed towards the back fields where I would expect to find the action if there was going to be any. You couldn’t help but hear the music blaring from the minor league clubhouse and there was probably about a dozen players out on the fields, some running, some doing some infield and others were shagging some fly balls. I didn’t see any throwing but I heard that Glen Perkins had done some throwing before I arrived. As always it is hard for me to identify a lot of these guys because many are minor league players and others may be players from other organizations that live in the area and stop by  to work out. I did see Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia, Adam Walker doing some outfield work but I saw no hitting. I met Buck Britton who is a 29-year-old free agent minor leaguer the Twins signed and plays the infield and some outfield and he has spent most of his career in the Orioles organization but played in AAA for the Dodgers in 2015. Britton has no big league experience.

There was a handful of fans getting autographs and pictures and the players were more than willing to spend time with everyone. Miguel Sano was more than just patient when a couple approached him for pictures and the gentleman stood next to Sano and his wife was supposed to take their picture but she had no idea how to use the cell phone camera. She tried and tried and about five minutes later her significant other had enough and he had her pose with Sano while he took her picture. The entire time Miguel just smiled and tried to be helpful, he was more patient than I would have been. Other than that there was not much else to write home about. I will be back again later this week and see what’s up now that TwinsFest is done and training camp is just a couple of weeks away.

I took a few pictures that you can check out on the right hand side of this page under the title of 2016 spring training pictures. As I said earlier, I did not identify all the players so if you can help out feel free to do so.

Going to work or play every day

I seldom missed a day of school back in Taylors Falls and I continued that practice at work during my working career. The Navy of course reinforced the idea that going to work every day was the only way. I am old school and retired now but back in the day when I worked I took a lot of pride in the fact that I showed up for work day in and day out rain or shine.  I figured I was being paid to work so I showed up day after day. It used to drive me crazy when I knew that certain co-workers stayed home because they were hung-over or just plain didn’t feel like working. There were probably times when it would have been safer to stay home due to the snow or ice but not me, I was off to work.

Working every day carries over to my enjoyment of baseball, I like players that come to play ball each day and don’t take time off because they are tired or have a hang-nail. These players are being paid big bucks to play, not to sit on the bench and rest, they can rest on their own time like the rest of us.

"<strongSo where am I going with this? Today we are going to take a look at the Minnesota Twins players that came to play. Today’s players are playing fewer games then their compatriots did 50 or so years ago for a variety of reasons. The change however; is not as great as I expected to find. When was the last time that a Twins player played in every game that season? That would be Justin Morneau in 2008 when he appeared in all 163 regular season games. Since 1961 and 55 baseball seasons only six Twins players have played in every game and Harmon Killebrew is the only one to do it more than once.

 

Rk Player Year G Age PA AB H HR RBI SB BA OPS Pos
1 Justin Morneau 2008 163 27 712 623 187 23 129 0 .300 .873 *3/D
2 Gary Gaetti 1984 162 25 644 588 154 5 65 11 .262 .665 *5/76
3 Roy Smalley 1979 162 26 729 621 168 24 95 2 .271 .794 *6/3
4 Harmon Killebrew 1969 162 33 709 555 153 49 140 8 .276 1.011 *5*3
6 Cesar Tovar 1967 164 26 726 649 173 6 47 19 .267 .691 5847/69H
7 Harmon Killebrew 1966 162 30 677 569 160 39 110 0 .281 .929 *537/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/5/2016.

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Working or playing every day can be tough and everyone gets sick or hurt now and then

Continue reading Going to work or play every day

Twins to bring back the “red jersey” for another try

They say that “time heals all” but we will have to wait and see if that applies to Minnesota Twins baseball jerseys too. The Twins introduced their “new” red home alternate jersey that they play to wear on Friday nights during the 2016 MLB season.

2016 infographic redesign

Back in 1997 the Twins tried a red jersey for Sunday home games and that didn’t work out so good as the players deemed the uniforms as being unlucky. Over the years the Twins have worn red jerseys five times and they have won one of those games. In 2009 I did a piece about those 1997 red jersey’s that were called the DQ jersey by some due to their resemblance to a Dairy Queen ad that ran in the Metrodome and you can see that story here.

We will have to see how the new red jersey appeals to the players and the fans. Reading some of the comments about the red jersey on Facebook you can’t help but get the impression that a lot of fans feel that it is just another money grab by Jim Pohlad’s soldiers and that the Twins would be better off investing their money in additional pitching versus new uniforms. Personally I am not a big fan of the color red because when i see a lot of red in the seats I think of the Cardinals, Red Sox or the Angels. I just don’t think of red as a Twins color.

Minnesota Twins disabled list history

DLHow often have you heard MLB GM’s and managers say that if their team stays healthy and avoids the DL that they can be good, maybe really good and make a run at the playoffs? You would be rich if you got a nickel for every time that has been said. But how true is it? Truth be told it is not the number of injuries or days spent on the DL that will hurt you, it is WHO gets hurt. Lose a key player or two and your goose is cooked and it is wait until next year most of the time. Injuries to average players can be covered by an adequate bench or minor league players ready to move up to the next level, injured stars usually can not be replaced.

Off and on for the last couple of weeks I have worked on putting together some historical information on Twins injuries going back as far as I could and that turned out to be 1982. I have put this data on a new page on this site called Twins DL or just click on Twins DL in the site menu above.  If you get a few minutes check it out.

Published
Categorized as Injuries

Swing and a miss from 2000-2015

Strikeouts are up all across baseball the last few years so I thought it would be fun to see who the Minnesota Twins “King of the Whiff” is from 2000-2015. No real shockers on this list but I was a bit surprised to see Joe Mauer so high on the list even though he once had a reputation as a tough guy to strike out.

If you go all  the way back to the Twins start in 1961 you will see that Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew holds the Twins all-time strike out title with 1,314 whiffs and that equates to striking out once in every 6.10 plate appearances. However, the recently retired Hunter struck out once every 5.60 plate appearances if you look at his entire Twins career. At the rate Joe Mauer is striking out, he could replace Hunter as the 2000 to current Twins King of the Whiff this season.

 "<strong

Rk Player SO G PA R H HR RBI BA OPS
1 Torii Hunter 897 1231 5020 687 1241 205 755 .269 .792
2 Justin Morneau 839 1278 5350 669 1318 221 860 .278 .832
3 Michael Cuddyer 805 1139 4555 606 1106 141 580 .272 .794
4 Joe Mauer 772 1456 6244 817 1697 119 755 .313 .845
5 Jacque Jones 674 881 3439 438 881 123 432 .278 .781
6 Jason Kubel 591 798 3022 346 729 105 442 .269 .783
7 Corey Koskie 565 688 2834 394 671 89 377 .278 .838
8 Trevor Plouffe 522 639 2565 297 568 84 310 .245 .728
9 Brian Dozier 455 544 2374 318 503 75 247 .240 .726
10 Nick Punto 440 747 2707 311 587 12 194 .248 .648
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/19/2016.

During this same time period Adam Dunn went down swinging a total of 2,379 times or once every 3.50 PA’s. That’s 2,379 KO’s and 1,631 hits on the resume.

Books about the Minnesota Twins

LibraryI have read numerous books about the Minnesota Twins organization and their players over the years not to mention having many of these books in my personal library. That got me to wondering how many books are out there about the boys of summer from Minnesota. So after a little research here is what I have come up with, I am sure I have missed some.  There are over 90 books on this list, not bad for a team that has been around for only 56 years. For more info and to see the list of books go to https://twinstrivia.com/twins-books/ . You can also find the new page called ‘Books about the Minnesota Twins” in the menu on the home page.

CenturyLink Sports Complex upgrades continue

CenturyLink Sports Complex sign 2I was a little surprised this morning when I was reading the Ft. Myers News-Press Sports section and saw the following headline: Upgrades Underway. Ace News-Press reporter David Dorsey wrote that there was still funding left over from the big 2014-2015 Century-Link Sports Complex remodel and the Twins decided to make use of some of that money for some additional updates.

The biggest change for the fans is the new shaded canopy that covers an area of the field facing concourse on the third-base side. In addition, a permanent serving area is being added to the sky deck as is some additional weather protection for the baseline concession areas. The cost for these changes is $346,531 and it is part of the original $48.5 million in funding so the Minnesota Twins won’t have to spend a dime.

The players get new infield grass but the money for this project comes out of the routine maintenance budget. You can see the entire story in the News-Press (with pictures) here.

Don’t forget that Twins spring training tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.

Did you remember back to when Twins pitchers batted?

The Designated Hitter rule came into play in the American League for the first time in 1973 and pitchers in the AL had to put their bats into storage where they still sit today. Since 1973 very few AL pitchers have had to dust off  and apply pine tar to their bats before walking to home plate to try to get some wood on the ball.

Do you know what pitcher got the last hit for the Minnesota Twins before the DH cane into play? How about that last Twins pitcher to bat before the DH?

I guess it was fitting that a Minnesota native Dave Goltz would be the last Twins pitcher to bat at Met Stadium before pitchers were told not to bother to bring their bats to spring training the following season. But back to the last Twins pitcher to get a hit before the DH, it happened in the same game that Goltz had the last pitcher’s at bat in front of only 3,193 fans at Met Stadium. This pitcher finished his 1972 season with a .160 average which was a career best and six RBI. Two of those six RBI came in that last at bat when he hit a double and had two RBI off Chicago White Sox pitcher Dan Neumeier to make the score Twins 10 and the mighty whitey’s 0 in the top of the fifth inning. So who was this guy? You might be surprised. But if you can’t figure it out at least take a guess and then you can look it up in the box score.

Bobby Korecky
Bobby Korecky

After the 1972 season Twins pitchers never got a hit again outside of any post season action until 1997 when Interleague play was introduced. With Interleague play pitchers once again batted in NL parks but the DH was still in play in AL parks. There was one game since the DH started that a Twins pitcher came to bat in a home game and actually had a hit and that was Bobby Korecky back on May 19, 2008 in a four hour 12 inning marathon against the Texas Rangers.

Here is a list of Twins pitchers that have gotten hits since the DH came on the scene in 1973

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI
1 Kyle Gibson 2015-06-16 MIN STL L 2-3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
2 Mike Pelfrey 2015-05-20 MIN PIT W 4-3 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0
3 Kevin Correia 2014-07-12 MIN COL W 9-3 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 1
4 Kyle Gibson 2014-06-02 MIN MIL L 2-6 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
5 Scott Diamond 2013-06-26 MIN MIA L 3-5 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
6 Scott Diamond 2012-05-18 MIN MIL W 11-3 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0
7 Scott Baker 2011-06-24 MIN MIL L 3-4 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
8 Francisco Liriano 2011-05-22 MIN ARI L 2-3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1
9 Scott Baker 2011-05-21 MIN ARI L 6-9 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0
10 Carl Pavano 2010-06-26 MIN NYM W 6-0 4 3 0 2 0 0 0 0
11 Carl Pavano 2010-06-20 MIN PHI W 4-1 4 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
12 Scott Baker 2008-06-26 MIN SDP W 4-3 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
13 Kevin Slowey 2008-06-13 MIN MIL W 10-2 4 4 1 2 1 0 0 2
14 Bobby Korecky 2008-05-19 MIN TEX W 7-6 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
15 Livan Hernandez 2008-05-17 MIN COL L 2-3 3 2 0 1 0 0 0 1
16 Nick Blackburn 2008-05-16 MIN COL W 4-2 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
17 Johan Santana 2007-06-24 MIN FLA W 7-4 3 3 1 1 0 1 0 1
18 Johan Santana 2007-06-19 MIN NYM W 9-0 5 4 1 1 1 0 0 0
19 Carlos Silva 2006-06-21 MIN HOU L 3-5 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
20 Francisco Liriano 2006-05-19 MIN MIL W 7-1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1
21 Joe Mays 2005-06-10 MIN LAD L 5-6 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
22 Johan Santana 2005-06-08 MIN ARI W 10-0 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 0
23 Johan Santana 2004-06-20 MIN MIL W 4-2 4 4 0 2 0 0 0 1
24 Johan Santana 2004-06-15 MIN MON W 8-2 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 1
25 Kyle Lohse 2003-06-21 MIN MIL L 1-8 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
26 Brad Radke 2003-06-20 MIN MIL L 2-3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
27 Johan Santana 2003-06-07 MIN SDP W 6-2 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
28 Joe Mays 2003-06-03 MIN SFG W 6-4 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
29 Johan Santana 2002-06-23 MIN PHI W 5-1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
30 Kyle Lohse 2002-06-16 MIN MIL W 7-6 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
31 Eric Milton 2002-06-15 MIN MIL W 5-2 4 4 0 2 0 0 0 1
32 Rick Reed 2002-06-14 MIN MIL L 5-7 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
33 Brad Radke 2001-07-13 MIN MIL L 3-6 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
34 Kyle Lohse 2001-07-12 MIN MIL W 13-5 4 4 0 2 1 0 0 1
35 Brad Radke 2001-06-17 MIN CHC L 4-5 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
36 Juan Rincon 2001-06-16 MIN CHC L 4-11 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
37 J.C. Romero 2001-06-15 MIN CHC L 3-5 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0
38 Joe Mays 2000-07-07 MIN PIT L 6-8 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
39 Sean Bergman 2000-06-03 MIN CIN L 3-9 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0
40 Joe Mays 2000-06-02 MIN CIN L 3-4 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
41 Dan Perkins 1999-06-11 MIN MIL W 9-7 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
42 Eric Milton 1998-07-02 MIN CIN L 7-8 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
43 Eric Milton 1998-06-22 MIN HOU W 5-3 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 1
44 Eric Milton 1998-06-06 MIN PIT L 3-4 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0
45 Mike Morgan 1998-06-05 MIN PIT L 1-6 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
46 Bob Tewksbury 1997-09-02 MIN CHC L 3-9 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
47 Rich Robertson 1997-06-14 MIN HOU W 6-1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/2/2016.

Note that in 2009 Twins pitchers had no hits. Twins pitchers also had no hits between 1973 and 1996 although four pitchers had plate appearances, but sadly they all culminated with a strike out.