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
The Twins announced after yesterday’s game in Chicago that they had traded infielder Jamey Carroll to the Kansas City Royals for a PTBNL or cash. The 39-year-old Carroll wasn’t have a great season in 2013 hitting just .230 in 59 games and 191 at bats and the Twins weren’t going to resign him after this season anyway. The Twins will not get much of a player if they get one at all from Kansas City but it is a nice move by the Twins to send Carroll to a winning team that needs some infield help for the stretch run for a playoff spot. The Royals are at best a fringe team in the hunt for the wildcard spot but it will still be more enjoyable for Carroll playing there then playing out the string in Minnesota in what may well be his last season as a player in the major leagues. But I would not be surprised at all if we see Carroll in the big leagues again in the years to come as a coach or manager. I was not a fan when Terry Ryan signed Carroll to be the Twins shortstop prior to the 2012 season at the age of 38 but I had no issue with Carroll filling a utility role with the Twins. I never met Carroll but he seemed like a true professional who went about his business every day and never had a bad thing to say about anyone and was always willing to help the Twins youngsters learn the tricks of the trade. Carroll’s 59 game appearances this season is the fewest he has had in the major leagues since his rookie season as a Montreal Expos player in 2002. When 2013 comes to an end, Carroll will have 12 big league years in the books, not a bad ride for someone who has 13 career home runs and never had 500 at bats in a big league uniform during any season. The Twins will save a couple of million dollars a season with Carroll moving on and someone like Doug Bernier taking his place.
As I write this I still have not heard what roster move the Twins will make to replace Carroll on the 25 na roster but it seems like Gardy could use another infielder but then again there outfield situation is not that great either. The Twins don’t have that much to pick from in Rochester as far as infield help is concerned with Eduardo Escobar probably the best candidate but maybe they want to take a look at someone like James Beresford.
By the way, did you know that Carroll scored the final run in Montreal Expos history, scoring on a Terrmel Sledge RBI single in the 1st inning of their final game on October 3, 2004? Good luck in Kansas City Jamey!
Rochester (AAA – International League) first baseman Jeff Clement is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In seven games for the Red Wings, Clement hit .375 (12-for-32) with two home runs (including a grand slam), 12 RBI, three doubles and three runs scored. In Rochester this season Clement has played 1B in 47 games and served as the DH in 53 games. In 104 games and 425 plate appearances the 29-year-old Clement is hitting just .218 but he does have 15 home runs and 62 RBI.
Clement is in his ninth season of pro ball and has appeared in 152 big leagues games, 75 with the Seattle Mariners in 2007-2008 and 77 with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010 and 2012. The Twins originally selected Clement in round 12 of the 2002 June amateur draft out of Marshalltown High School (Iowa) as a catcher but he chose not to sign and went on to attend USC. He was then drafted by the Mariners with the third overall pick in the 2005 First-Year Player draft. Although drafted as a catcher, Clement has only caught 35 big league games and he last caught in the majors in 2008. Clement signed as a minor league free agent with the Twins in November of 2012 and has spent all season in AAA – Rochester.
Justin Morneau hit two homers and drove in five runs in the Twins’ win over the White Sox in the day portion of the day/night doubleheader at U.S. Cellular Field. Morneau is the first Twins player in almost two years to hit two homers and drive in at least five runs in a game. Luke Hughes was the last Twins player to do it on Aug. 28, 2011. It’s the sixth time in his career that Morneau has accomplished this, five of them have come in road games. Only two other players in Minnesota Twins history had six games with at least two homers and five runs batted in: Harmon Killebrew and Gary Gaetti had six each.
Brian Duensing
Twins reliever Brian Duensing picked up the win in both games as the Twins swept their day/night doubleheader against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. Duensing is only the second pitcher in the history of the Twins franchise to win two games in one day. Walter Johnson won both games of a doubleheader against the Browns on September 17, 1923. “The Big Train” won the first game with three shutout innings in relief and then went out and threw a seven-inning complete game in the nightcap. Game 1 box score. Game 2 box score. The last major-league pitcher to win twice in one day was Luis Vizcaino for the Yankees against Tampa Bay in 2007.
However, I think a case could be made that Jim Perry was actually the first Twins pitcher to win two games in one day. According to MLB the Twins did not win two games on July 20 but if you are splitting hairs, here is what happened.
7/19/1969 – The Twins and the Seattle Pilots play for 16 innings and the game is deadlocked at 7-7 at Sick’s Stadium and the game is suspended by league curfew and resumed the next day (July 20). I believe there was also a 20 minute delay in the game for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Box score.
Jim Perry
7/20/1969 – The Twins and Seattle Pilots resume play in the 17th inning. The pitchers in the 17th inning are todays scheduled starting pitchers, Jim Perry for Minnesota and John Gelnar for Seattle. After a scoreless 17th inning, the Twins break through for 4 runs in the top of the 18th and win the game 11-7. The team’s end up stranding 44 base runners, the Twins had 16 hits and 18 walks in the game. Gelnar was pulled after pitching 1 1/3 innings and was the loser. In the regularly scheduled game, Jim Perry again faced off against John Gelnar and Perry pitched a complete game shutout with the Twins winning 4-0 and Gelnar took the defeat. So in reality, Jim Perry won two games on this date and John Gelnar lost both games on this date. Box score.
Winning and losing on the same day
Ray Moore
5/20/1962 – The Twins split a double-header at Yankee Stadium losing the first game 4-3 and winning the second game 4-2. Twins reliever Ray Moore becomes the first Twins pitcher to lose and win a game in the same day. Box score game 1. Box score game 2.
On the losing end twice in one day
5/27/1983 – Twins reliever Rick Lysander becomes the first Twins pitcher to lose both games of a double-header as the Tigers beat the Twins 7-4 and 2-1 at Tiger Stadium. Box score game 1. Box score game 2.
The Twins just can’t find a leadoff hitter this season. After trading both Denard Span and Ben Revere this past off-season, manager Gardenhire has been searching high and low to find someone who can fill that role. The Twins have tried 6 players leading off the game and they have all failed miserably but since someone has to hit first, Gardy has given that job to 2B Brain Dozier since July 2. During those 29 games Dozier has 135 PA’s and is hitting .258 with a .306 OBP. Not exactly all-star caliber production but it is what it is.
How does 2013 compare to how the Twins leadoff hitters has done over the years? I know this is not probably going to shock you but the 2013 team is on a historically bad pace and if thing don’t improve quickly, this will finish as the worst OBP for a leadoff hitter in their history, even worse than the 1982 Twins who finished 60-102. A good leadoff hitter is nice to have but it certainly does not guarantee that you will be in the playoffs or even play .500 ball for that matter.
Historical Twins teams leadoff hitters in the games first at bat
Let’s take a look at some of the Twins best ever leadoff hitters and see who had the best years and when they had them. I don’t think there is much question that Chuck Knoblauch was the best leadoff hitter the team has ever had.
Best Twins leadoff hitters in the games first at bat
Here we are looking at the Twins best players leading off in any inning. I know a good leadoff hitter is important but when you look at the numbers over an entire season and the number of times that the leadoff hitter actually leads off any inning, I think you will find that none of them even average two leadoff plate appearances a game. I think the best you will find on the list below is about 1.97 per game.
Steve Luebber‘s Twins pitching career was relatively short, just 58 games with 24 starts in parts of three seasons (71, 72, and 76). But on this day Luebber felt confident, he was facing the Rangers for the second time in a two-week period and he was coming off of a complete game shutout of the Oakland A’s. After 6 perfect innings, Luebber had faced 18 batters and retired everyone one of them and the Twins had staked him to a 3-0 lead. In the 7th the Rangers loaded the bases with 2 walks and an error but Luebber buckled down and retired Toby Harrah for the final out of the inning and the no-hitter was still in play. Luebber retired the Rangers 1-2-3 in the 8th inning and went on to retire the first two batters in the ninth inning and was one batter away from a no-no. Roy Howell was the Texas batter and Lubber had him 2-2 and threw what he thought was strike 3 but umpire Art Frantz didn’t see it that way and the count went full. Luebber tried a fastball again but this time Howell hit a sharp single to center and the normally slick fielding Lyman Bostock let the ball get past him and Howell ended up on third base. The next batter, Mike Hargrove followed with a single and Howell scored and Luebber had lost both his no-hitter and the shutout. At this point manager Gene Mauch had seen enough and brought in reliever Bill Campbell who struck out Jeff Burroughs to end the game, preserve the victory for Luebber and the Twins were 3-1 winners in Arlington Stadium.
Luebber is and has been the pitching coach for the Wilmington Blue Rocks since 2007. Wilmington is an “A” ball affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. He has also coached in the Padres, Orioles, Rangers and Marlins organizations.
Although several Twins pitchers have come close on a couple of occasions the Twins still have not had one of their pitchers throw a perfect game.
Andrew Albers threw 8 1/3 scoreless innings in his major-league debut in Minnesota’s win in Kansas City on Tuesday. No other Twins pitcher has thrown more than seven scoreless innings in his first game in the big leagues since the team arrived in Minnesota (from Washington) in 1961.
Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau each hit first-inning homers off James Shields on Tuesday. It was only the second time that Shields has allowed two homers in the first inning of a game. The first instance was at Coors Field on June 15, 2007, when Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe went back-to-back against Shields.
When I listened to the Twins radio broadcast of their game against the Astros on Sunday while waterproofing my deck I found it amusing that Dan Gladden and Cory Provus seemed to be making fun of the Astros high strikeout total this season. I guess they both forgot that the Twins batters are no slouches themselves when it comes to not making bat contact. As of this morning Astros batters have struck out 1,034 times in 110 games, that averages out to 9.4 KO’s per game. The White Sox follow with 925 strike outs, the Red Sox have 909 strike outs and the Twins are next with 902 strike outs for an average of 8.4 per game. Had Willingham not gotten injured and Hicks played a full season in Minnesota the Twins might put up a serious challenge to Houston. Even without Willingham and Hicks the Twins are on pace to strikeout 1,356 times this season and blow away their previous team strikeout record of 1,121 that the 68-94 Twins of 1997 set.
On the good news side we have the Twins grounding into a total of only 60 double plays, the fewest in the league. The Orioles have the next fewest with 68.
Although the Twins seldom hit into double plays, stealing bases is not one of their strength’s as they have pilfered just 36 bases, only the Tigers with 29 and the Mariners with 35 have less.
The Twins OBP this season is .312. The Tigers and the Red Sox at .345 have the best OBP and as you might guess the Astros .299 trail the pack. The league average is .320. The Twins best ever OBP was .357 in 1996 while a .299 OBP in 1968 is the lowest full season OBP in Twins history.
Opposing batters have found Twins pitchers to be their league favorites as they have compiled a .278 batting average against Minnesota’s chuckers. Oddly enough, Twins pitchers have only given up 102 long balls ranking second best in that category behind the 86 given up by the Tigers.
Drew Butera
There was a lot of speculation leading into the July 31 trading deadline that a number of Twins would be calling a new zip code home. When the trading deadline passed the Twins had made only one trade and he wasn’t even on the Twins 25 man roster at the time when GM Terry Ryan sent catcher Drew Butera to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash. The non-waiver Major League trading deadline has been July 31st since the 1986 season. Apparently that date is not necessarily circled in red on the Twins calendar of things to do. As a matter of fact, between 2000-2013 no team has made fewer trades in July then the Twins have. In the past 14 July’s the Minnesota Twins have consummated 15 trades.
Back on July 15 the Twins sent Oswaldo Arcia, Eduardo Escobar and Chris Parmelee down to Rochester and the next day called up catcher Chris Herrmann and infielder Doug Bernier. Herrmann has been with the Twins off and on but it was a long-awaited return to the big leagues for Bernier who saw action in just two games in a brief stay with the
Doug Bernier
Colorado Rockies back in 2008. Bernier has been in the minors since 2002 and has over a 1,000 minor league games under his belt. Though his primary position is shortstop, Bernier has played all over the diamond including pitching a couple of times but he has not ever squatted behind the plate. Bernier has spent time in the Yankee and Pirates organizations before hooking up with the Twins this past February. Todate Bernier has appeared in 10 games for the Twins and is hitting .261. It appears that the Twins will be letting Jamey Carroll go after this season or possibly trading him in a waiver deal this month and are auditioning for a new utility infielder. So far Bernier appears to be able to handle the role and I am sure he will be much cheaper than Carroll not to mention 6 years younger.
Andrew Albers
The Twins also recalled 27-year-old left-handed starter Andrew Albers from Rochester. Albers was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2008 but shortly thereafter injured his elbow and had to undergo Tommy John surgery missing all of 2009 and then was released by the Padres. Albers spent 2010 pitching in an independent league in Canada and showed enough promise to be signed by Minnesota prior to the 2011 season. This year Albers was 11-5 with a 2.68 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in Rochester. Albers has pitched 132.1 innings this year in 22 starts allowing 124 hits while striking out 116. Albers is expected to make his major league debut against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see what Albers can do in the big leagues, he has not had an ERA over 3.75 on any team he has pitched for. Albers will be wearing number 63.
Manager Ron Gardenhire needs 20 more Twins victories in the remaining 54 games to reach the 1,000 win plateau as the Twins skipper. With his position at risk, it would be a real shame if Gardy can’t get those 20 wins. I hope he gets those wins and many more as the Twins manager.
Twins Minor League Standings as of August 5
AAA Rochester is 63-54 and in 1st place
AA New Britain is 54-60 and in 5th place 16.5 games out
High A Fort Myers is 67-41 and won first half title but is currently in 4th place in the second half at 22-19 but only 1.5 games out
Low A Cedar Rapids is 67-43 and won the first half title and is leading the second half with a 27-15 record.
Rookie Elizabethton is 19-23 and in fourth place 8.5 games behind
Rookie GCL Twins are 19-19 and in third place 2 games behind
DSL Twins are 27-26 and in fourth place 7.5 games behind
New Britain (AA – Eastern League) outfielder Daniel Ortiz is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In five games for the Rock Cats, the left-handed hitting Ortiz hit .350 (7-for-20) with two home runs, nine RBI’s and three runs scored. Ortiz is hitting .272 (108-for-397) with 24 doubles in 108 games for the Rock Cats this season.
Ortiz, 23, was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Benjamin Harrison High School in Puerto Rico Ortiz has progressed through the Twins minor league system playing primarily corner outfield but he has seen duty in center as well. Ortiz has hit 10 or more home runs each season he has played pro ball except for his first season in 2008. Ortiz did not play in 2009, not sure why.
Four Twins relief pitchers (Anthony Swarzak, Brian Duensing, Casey Fien, Glen Perkins)combined for six shutout innings and 10 strikeouts in Minnesota’s win over Houston. It’s the first time since 1971 that the Twins bullpen combined for that many scoreless innings and strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The last time they had such a game was on September 16, 1971 at Milwaukee. The Twins relief pitchers in that game were Steve Luebber, Hal Haydel and Tom Hall.
Francisco Liriano
Francisco Liriano improved to 12-4 with a 2.02 earned-run average in 16 starts for the Pirates this season. Liriano is only the third Pirates pitcher since 1912 – the first year the National League began compiling earned runs – to win 12 or more games with an ERA under 2.25 in his first 16 starts of a season. Rip Sewell did it in 1943 (12-2, 2.22 ERA) and Dock Ellis in 1971 (12-3, 2.24).
Brian Dozier knocked in the tying run in the ninth inning and then ended the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the 13th in the Twins’ 4-3 win over the Astros on Friday night. Dozier entered the contest with 70 career RBIs, but only one had either tied the game or put his team ahead in the seventh inning or later (game-tying home run on May 6, 2013).
Dozier has not exactly been “Mr. Clutch” to this point in his young career but we can’t look a gift horse in the mouth can we? Not when your team is 46-60 and 15.5 games out of the division lead.
