Odds and Ends

Most of us know that the Twins longest consecutive game hitting streak is 31 games and that record holder is Ken Landreaux but did you know who holds the Twins record for the longest multi-hit (two hits or more) game hitting streak? The record is 10 games and Chuck Knoblauch accomplished that feat in 1996.

It is baffling to me why Twins managers Ron Gardenhire and now Paul Molitor keep sending infielders out to play the outfield. Is that something that Twins managers have to agree to do?

J.R. Graham
J.R. Graham

I am a little concerned about the lack of patience that Paul Molitor is showing with his young players. I know that Danny Santana, Oswaldo Arcia, Kennys Vargas and J.R. Graham have struggled so far this season but you don’t improve your skills by sitting on the bench. I say play these guys day in and day out through May and then reevaluate the situation. It is not like the Twins are in the hunt for a playoff spot. Molitor should know that players need to know that their manager has their back and will keep their butts in the line-up as they improve their skills. Since Graham is a Rule 5 guy the Twins need to keep him on the 25 man roster all season or return him or maybe even work out a trade that will allow them to send him to the minors. Molitor should not have to manage a 24 man roster.

Is it just me or is Paul Molitor the second coming of Gene Mauch? It seems to me that Molitor seems to think that he is smarter than the average manager and the game revolves around him and not the players. Molly, just fill out the line-ups and let the boys play.

If you traveled to Florida to watch the Twins during spring training from 1961-1990 you had to go to Orlando and you watched the Twins play at Tinker Field. A couple of days ago the Target Field grandstand came crashing down as a demolition team took over the old historic ballpark where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and many other legends of the game once played. To read more about it and to see a couple of short video clips you will need to go here.

Alex Wimmers
Alex Wimmers

Is former first round pick, 21st overall in 2010 Alex Wimmers going to be added to the long list of Twins pitchers that have been first round selections that have turned out to be duds? The 26 year-old right-handed Wimmers is in his sixth season with the Twins and thus far he has an 8-8 record with a 4.44 ERA in just 176+ innings. Although a starter, Wimmers has never pitched more than 84 innings in any season in the Twins system. Wimmers is in Chattanooga this season and in 3 starts has a 7.80 ERA in 15 innings.

That Shane Robinson guy kind of grows on you, I really like him as the fourth outfielder on this team. Jordan Schafer on the other hand I believe is on borrowed time here in Minnesota, if he is here another week I will be surprised, I think he needs to start looking for a “real” job. But who would the Twins bring up to replace him? No one in the Twins minor league system is beating down Terry Ryan’s door demanding a ticket to Minnesota. Best bet is probably Aaron Hicks who is hitting over .300 but I would like to see Eddie Rosario who is starting to hit in Chattanooga get a shot at the Twins center field job.

Another question for Terry Ryan, why are the Twins using Mark Hamburger as a starter in Rochester?

And finally, the Twins end the month of April with a 10-12 record, that is pretty good considering their horrendous start this season. Two games under .500 isn’t bad for this point in the season.

Two former Twins players excluding the previously mentioned Landreaux have had 30 game or longer hitting streaks in the majors during their professional careers, can you name the players and the length of their hitting streaks?

Twins minor leaguer Adrian Salcedo suspended for 80 games

Adrian Salcedo 2015The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced yesterday that Minnesota Twins Minor League right-handed pitcher Adrian Salcedo has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Tamoxifen, a performance-enhancing substance, and Heptaminol, a stimulant, both of which are in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension of Salcedo, who is currently on the roster of the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League, is effective immediately.

MiLB story

GM Ryan disappointed in suspension

According to ELIAS

Tigers McCann hits his first career homer….and it doesn’t leave the park

James McCann‘s two-run inside the park home run, the first home run of his career, tied the game in the seventh innings in a contest the Tigers won, 10-7, over the Twins yesterday afternoon. McCann became just the third catcher in the last 36 years whose first career home run was an inside the parker, joining Minnesota’s Chad Moeller (July 29, 2000) and Pittsburgh’s Angelo Encarnacion (August 19, 1995).

McCann was the first Tigers player whose first career home run was an inside the park homer in over 59 years, since pitcher Frank Lary accounted for Detroit’s only run with a homer that didn’t leave the park in a season-opening loss to the Kansas City Athletics on April 17, 1956. Source: ELIAS

Remembering 1965 – Part 10 – Floods, Snow, Reese, Fosnow, Kindall

Native Minnesotan Jerry Kindall
Native Minnesotan Jerry Kindall

The spring of 1965 was challenging in Minnesota and some of the stories in the attached Sporting News will tell you about some of the difficulties the Twins encountered as they prepared for the 1965 season opener. The battle for the second base job seems to have been settled (Jerry Kindall) and you how often do you see high school teammates (Jerry Fosnow and Rich Reese) play for the same professional team? Check out the attached Sporting News pages and travel back in time to April 1965.

Sporting News April 24, 1965 P19

Sporting News April 24, 1965 P22

As of April 27th the Minnesota Twins were 7-2 and tied for the American league lead. For the Twins 1965 game-by-game schedule and results and an opportunity to view the box scores, stop by this Baseball-Reference page.

Camilo Pascual
Camilo Pascual

The April 27th grand slam home run by Camilo Pascual in the first inning remains the only grand slam home run to be hit by a Twins pitcher. It was however; Pascual’s second career grand slam.

Twins minor league player of the week

Gonsalves, Stephen 2015Single-A Cedar Rapids pitcher Stephen Gonsalves is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Gonsalves made one start for the Kernels on April 23 at Wisconsin, tossing 7 shutout innings with one hit, one walk and 11 strikeouts (a career high), earning the win; it was his second straight double-digit strikeout total. Gonsalves fanned 10 in 7 innings April 17 versus Peoria. He has made three starts for the Kernels this season, going 2-0, 0.90 ERA (20.0 IP, 2 ER) with two walks and 30 strikeouts. The San Diego native was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego.

Gonsalves was also the Twins minor league player of the week last August and you can read what I wrote about him at that time by going here. There is a nice link in that story explaining why Gonsalves dropped to the fourth round in the 2013 draft allowing the Twins to snap him up. Gonsalves just might be a diamond in the rough for Minnesota and I would look for Gonsalves to be moving up a rung on the Twins minor league ladder soon.

MiLB.com did a story on Gonsalves that you can view here. Stories about Twins and other teams prospects show up daily and you can read them by checking out our “Down on the Farm” links box on the right hand side of this home page.

Twins Minor League Report 042615

Shutouts – For and against the Twins

Twins shutout leaders (8 or more innings)

Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven
Rk Player #Matching W L GS IP H BB SO WHIP SB CS
1 Bert Blyleven 29 29 0 29 263.0 132 42 209 0.66 11 17
2 Jim Kaat 23 23 0 23 208.0 131 25 124 0.75 3 5
3 Camilo Pascual 18 18 0 18 162.0 78 33 144 0.69 5 1
4 Jim Perry 17 17 0 17 153.0 83 29 95 0.73 2 4
5 Frank Viola 10 10 0 10 90.0 49 16 59 0.72 2 8
6 Brad Radke 10 10 0 10 90.0 45 8 54 0.59 1 3
7 Mudcat Grant 10 10 0 10 90.0 52 17 43 0.77 1 4
8 Dave Goltz 10 10 0 10 90.0 37 19 67 0.62 3 3
9 Dean Chance 9 9 0 9 81.0 36 15 71 0.63 3 1
10 Geoff Zahn 7 7 0 7 63.0 37 10 38 0.75 0 2
11 Scott Erickson 7 7 0 7 63.0 18 15 31 0.52 1 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/25/2015.

A couple trivia questions for you today.

1. What two pitchers have shutout the Twins the most frequently and how many shutouts did they have against the boys from Minnesota?

2. What opposing pitcher threw the most shutouts against the Twins at Met Stadium and how many did he have?

3. What opposing pitcher threw the most shutouts against the Twins at the Metrodome and how many did he have?

 

The answers are:

1. Gaylord Perry and Steve Hargan each shut out the Twins five times.

2. Jim Bouton shut out Minnesota three times at the Met.

3. Scott Erickson shut out the Twins three times at the Metrodome.

According to ELIAS

All the scoring in the top of the first

The Twins scored three runs in the first inning at Kauffman Stadium and that was the extent of the scoring in their 3-0 victory over the Royals. It was the first major-league game this season in which neither team scored after the top of the first inning–there were five last year–and it was the Twins’ first win in a game of that kind since July 1994, when an RBI-groundout by Kirby Puckett in the opening frame held up in a 1-0 decision over the Rangers in Arlington.

This Day in Twins History – April 23 – Complete game with zero KO’s?

Kralick, Jack 24/23/1961 – The Twins play their first 1-0 game in history and come up winners at Met Stadium when Jack Kralick pitches a complete game 4 hit shutout of the Washington Senators. Kralick also knocks in the Twins lone run of the game with a fifth inning single. Box score

4/23/1980 – Angels pitcher Bruce Kison settles for a one-hitter when Minnesota’s Ken Landreaux rips a double with one out in the 9th inning of California’s 17-0 romp. For Landreaux, the hit marks the beginning of a 31-game hitting streak. Box scoreKen Landreaux

4/23/1982 – The Twins beat the Seattle Mariners 12-4 at the Kingdome. Twins pitcher Roger Erickson recovers after a rough first inning where he gives up 3 runs on 5 hits and proceeds to pitch a complete game. Erickson strikes out no one and gives up 13 hits and walks two more in this unusual game. It marks the only time that Erickson pitched a complete game with no strikeouts. Twins hitters were no slouches themselves as they had 18 hits and drew 6 walks. Ron Washington had 4 hits and Bobby Mitchell and Gary Ward had 3 hits apiece.

Roger Erickson
Roger Erickson

Box score . See the table below showing all Twins pitchers that have pitched a complete game with zero strikeouts.

4/23/2011 – The Twins beat the visiting Cleveland Indians 10-3 at Target Field and in the process score more than 5 runs in a game for the first time in 2011. The Twins have not scored more than five runs in any game this season (19 games), according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest such streak to start a season in Twins history, and the longest streak in franchise history (the 1909 Washington Senators failed to score more than five runs in their first 18 games).The Twins were the only team in Major League Baseball that hasn’t scored six-or-more runs in a game in 2011. Box score

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Twins pitchers that have pitched a complete game with zero KO’s

Rk Player Date ? Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit BF
1 Brad Radke 2002-05-08 KCR W 3-1 CG 9, W 9.0 5 1 1 3 0 0 106 32
2 Allan Anderson 1991-04-20 CAL L 1-2 CG 8, L 8.0 4 2 2 1 0 0 100 29
3 Allan Anderson 1988-08-04 TOR W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 4 1 1 0 0 1 102 29
4 Les Straker 1987-06-29 KCR L 2-3 CG 5, L 4.1 4 3 3 1 0 1 17
5 Ken Schrom 1985-04-12 SEA L 1-2 CG 8, L 8.0 3 2 2 3 0 1 31
6 Roger Erickson 1982-04-23 SEA W 12-4 CG 9, W 9.0 13 4 4 2 0 0 39
7 Paul Hartzell 1979-04-30 TOR W 6-3 CG 9, W 9.0 7 3 3 2 0 1 36
8 Dave Goltz 1978-06-23 CHW W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 5 1 1 1 0 0 32
9 Steve Luebber 1976-09-08 TEX W 3-1 CG 7, W 7.0 7 1 1 1 0 1 26
10 Danny Fife 1973-09-28 CAL W 7-1 CG 9, W 9.0 7 1 1 6 0 0 39
11 Jim Kaat 1965-04-17 CLE W 3-0 SHO9, W 9.0 7 0 0 1 0 0 32
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/23/2015.
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Remembering 1965 – Part 9 – Not all peaches and cream for Versalles or Mele

Zoilo Versalles
Zoilo Versalles

Zoilo Versalles the Minnesota Twins enigmatic shortstop of the early 60’s would go on to win the 1965 American League Most Valuable Player Award at the age of 25 and become the first player in franchise history (Senators or Twins) to win that award. Versalles however; was not the easiest player to manage and was a high maintenance player as this incident in the April 17, 1965 Sporting News describes. Manager Sam Mele and coach Billy Martin worked hard to keep Zoilo on the straight and narrow and it paid off in 1965.

I was fortunate enough to get to see Versalles play and he was a skilled shortstop but his focus was not always there and that weakness led to numerous errors on routine plays. If you want to know more about the man who Twins fans called “Zorro” you might want to check out his SABR Bio.

The Sporting News also covers Don Mincher‘s request to be traded and all the rookies that were fighting to make the Twins roster that season.

Sporting News April 17, 1965

By this date in 1965 the Twins had played five games, four of them at Met Stadium and had a 4-1 record putting them in a tie for first place. According to the “TWINS JOURNAL” (by John Snyder):

“A week before the Twins opener, Metropolitan Stadium was covered by five inches of snow. Rain and melting snow caused rivers to rise, turning the entire state into a disaster area. Twelve people died in Minnesota because of the floods. Due to a pair of postponements, the Twins opened the season by playing their first three games against three different teams, the Yankees, Tigers, and Indians”.

The temperature on opening day (April 12) at game-time was 44 degrees along with an 18 MPH wind. Flood waters forced Twins players Jim Kaat, Rich Rollins, Bill Bethea, and Dick Stigman to be brought to the stadium by helicopter due to rising flood waters of the Mississippi River. The Twins won their opener 5-4 in 11 innings in front of 15,388 shivering fans. The next three games at the Met due to the bad weather brought in “crowds” of 2,382, 4,492, and 3,273 fans. The Twins were happy to leave Minnesota behind and they went to New York where they beat the Yankees 7-2 on April 21. Due to the inclement weather the Twins played only five games during the first 10 days of the 1965 season.