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
January 31, 2011 – With the 2011 season about two months away I thought it would be fun to review where the 2010 Twins finished in comparison to the rest of the American league teams in various hitting, pitching and fielding categories. Here is what I found:
January 26, 2011 – A week or so ago Jim Caple of ESPN.com who I enjoy reading from time to time wrote a fun little article that he called “What happened to cartoon logo’s”? I found it to be a fun read and interesting too in the fact that he rated the Minnesota Twins Minnie and Paul logo as his second favorite in baseball today. Take a few minutes of your time and check out the story here.
January 25, 2011 – Yesterday the big Twins story was that GM Bill Smith has asked Justin Morneau not to attend TwinsFest this coming week-end so that he does not take 3-5 days away from his workouts as he prepares for the 2011 season.
I am not a believer in coincidences and to me a glass is more often half empty then it is half full so I have to ask, how healthy is Justin Morneau? Without Morneau at first base the Twins hope for another post season appearance is all but done before the first “play ball” echo dies at Target Field. Smith is a master at providing as little information as possible and playing his cards close to the vest. I take everything that Mr. Smith says with a grain of salt, no, I am not saying that Smith is not being truthful, I am just saying that he provides you with a bit of valid information but he never answers the question head on.
So what is the deal with Morneau? Morneau has a history of being an extremely hard worker and starting his baseball regiment early to prepare for the up-coming season. So much so, that in past years he has been asked to “back it down” and take it a bit easier early in the spring so that he can conserve some of his energy for the long and grueling season ahead. Morneau is famous for his bright and early workouts at Ft. Myers; he is like those Army ads “where he gets more done by 9AM than most people do in an entire day”. Now Smith is saying that he doesn’t want to tear Morneau away from his workouts for 3-5 days and get him out of his rhythm in late January? Come on now Mr. Smith, tell me how Justin taking a few days off in late January is going to hurt him. Justin is either healthy and ready to play for the Twins this season or he is not, attending TwinsFest or not attending makes absolutely no difference.
This is not about Morneau attending TwinsFest; it is about Morneau’s health. I really hope that I am wrong here but I am very concerned about Morneau’s health and if he is going to be able to answer the call come April 1 when the season gets underway. Without Morneau at first base the Twins hopes of getting into the playoffs are almost nonexistent and everyone knows that. So what is to be gained by keeping Morneau’s health status a secret? Ticket sales? No, they will sell out again this year no matter if Morneau is at first or not. Will Smith get the competitive advantage in some kind of a trade or free agent signing? Who knows, but I really have an uneasy feeling about all of this. I will feel a lot better when I see Justin working out like he normally does in early February at the ballpark.
January 22, 2011 – The 2006 Twins pitching staff holds the team record for strikeouts in a single season with 1,164. Johan Santana led the staff with 245 KO’s. On the other hand, the 1994 Twins pitching staff only struck out 602 opponents and the only pitcher on the Twins staff with over 100 KO’s was Scott Erickson and he had 104. The 1981 Twins pitchers only had 500 strikeouts but then again they only played 109 games that season.
The 2005 Twins pitching staff only walked 348 batters while the Twins 1982 staff allowed 634 batters to get a free base.
The 1996 pitching staff allowed 233 home runs led by Brad Radke’s 40 round trippers. The 1976 staff kept the ball in the ball park the best by only allowing 89 home runs. The 1981 team only allowed 79 home runs but as stated earlier, they only played 109 games that season.
The 1963 and 1967 Twins staffs tied for the most complete games in a single season with 58 and the team with the fewest complete games was the 2006 Twins who ended up with one complete game all season. Who was it you ask? Johan Santana lost 2-0 in Detroit that day so it was only an 8 inning complete game.
The 1972 Twins finished with a 77-77 record but the pitching staff put up an all-time team best seasonal ERA of 2.84. The 1995 team finished with a 56-88 record and posted an ERA of 5.76 and gave up an average of 6.17 runs per game.
In the Minnesota Twins first 50 years they have only had a 20 game winner on 15 occasions and only once have they had more than one pitcher on their staff win 20 or more games in the same season. Camilo Pascual did it in 1962 and 1963, Jim Grant in 1965, Jim Kaat in 1966, Dean Chance in 1967, Dave Boswell and Jim Perry in 1969, Jim Perry again in 1970, Bert Blyleven in 1973, Dave Goltz in 1977, Jerry Koosman in 1979, Frank Viola in 1988, Scott Erickson in 1991, Brad Radke in 1997, and Johan Santana in 2004.
January 17, 2011 – After just one season of calling Target Field home, the Twins brain trust has determined that they have a need for speed. The Twins are coming off of a season where they stole just 68 bases. The last time the Twins stole that few bases was 25 years ago, back in 1985. Since the Twins started playing in Minnesota they have stolen a total of 4,343 bases or an average of 87 “swipes” per season. The teams all-time high for SB’s was 151 in 1997 and their all-time low was 32 way back in 1963 but that year they also slugged a team all-time high of 225 home runs to make up for it.
There does not seem to be any consistency to where the Twins finish in the standing based on their stolen base totals. Back in 1997 when they stole 151 bases, they finished fourth with a 68-94 mark. In their World Series seasons, they had 92 SB’s in 1965, 113 SB’s in 1987 and 107 SB’s in 1991. Here is a table showing the Twins top base stealing teams:
Rank
Year
Won
Lost
Finish
SB
CS
1
1997
68
94
4th
151
52
2
2001
85
77
2nd
146
67
2
1976
85
77
3rd
146
75
4
1996
78
84
4th
143
53
5
1992
90
72
2nd
123
74
6
1999
63
97
5th
118
60
7
2004
92
70
1st
116
46
8
1969
97
65
1st
115
70
9
1987
85
77
1st
113
65
10
2007
79
83
3rd
112
30
10
1998
70
92
4th
112
54
But will Gardy use the speed tool if he has the chance? The numbers tell me that he will not. If we compare Gardenhire and Tom Kelly we see that in TK’s fifteen seasons his teams swiped 1,699 bases or an average of 113 per season with a high of 146 in 2001. When you look at Gardy’s 9 seasons you end up with 859 stolen bases for an average of 95 per year with a high of 116. In TK’s final season as manager in 2001, his team ended up with 146 steals, the following year with Gardy at the helm his boys stole just 79 bases with pretty much the same cast of characters. So it will be interesting to see if the Twins burn up the base paths in 2011.
December 25, 2010 – It has been 21 years since former Minnesota Twins player, coach and manager Billy Martin died in an automobile accident on Christmas Day 1989 near Binghamton, New York. Martin, the fiery, feisty and frequently combative player and baseball manager was 61 years old when he died.
According to the sheriff’s office in Broome County, Billy Martin was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by William Reedy, 53, a longtime friend of Martin from Detroit. The accident occurred at 5:45 P.M. near Martin’s home. The Associated Press quoted witnesses as having said the pickup truck skidded off the icy Potter Hill Road in Fenton, continued 300 feet down an embankment and stopped at the foot of Martin’s driveway. Martin was taken to Wilson Memorial Hospital in Johnson City, N.Y., where efforts to revive him failed, said Michael Doll, a hospital spokesman. Doll said that Alfred Manual “Billy” Martin, Jr., born on May 16, 1928, was pronounced dead at 6:56 P.M. of severe internal injuries and possible head injuries. The authorities said neither Martin nor Reedy was wearing a seat belt. William Reedy passed away from pancreatic cancer in July of 2009 at the age of 72.
Billy Martin played for the New York Yankees from 1950-1957 (where he made his only all-star appearance in 1956), the Kansas City A’s in 1957, The Detroit Tigers in 1958, the Cleveland Indians in 1959, The Cincinnati Reds in 1960 and the Milwaukee Braves early in 1961 before being traded to the Minnesota Twins on June 1, 1961 where he finished out the 1961 season appearing in 108 games. His playing career ended when the Twins released him prior to the 1962 season. Billy played 2B, SS, or 3B and participated in a total of 1.021 games major league games while hitting for a .257 average in 3,419 at bats. Although Billy liked his teams to run when he was managing, he himself only stole 34 bases while getting thrown out 29 times. Martin did hit 64 home runs while knocking in 333 during his 11 big league seasons.
Martin spent eight years (962-1969) in the Minnesota organization after his retirement as an active player. Billy served as a scout from 1962-1964 before becoming the Twins third-base coach from 1965 through mid-June 1968, before taking over as manager of their AAA affiliate, the Denver Bears for the last half of the 1968 campaign. He succeeded Cal Ermer as the Twins skipper following the ’68 season. In 1969, Martin’s only season as manager of the Twins, he won a division championship but lost the ALCS to the Orioles in 3 a three game sweep. He was fired after the season by owner Calvin Griffith and his firing caused a fire-storm of protest from Twins fans all over Twins territory for a number of years.
Billy Martin went on to manage the Detroit Tigers from 1971-1973, the Texas Rangers from 1973–1975, the New York Yankees from 1975-1978, and 1979, the Oakland A’s from 1980-1982, and then the New York Yankees again from 1983, 1985, and 1988. In his 16 years as a manager, Billy Martin finished with a 1,253-1,013 (.553) won-loss mark and led his teams to 2 pennants and 1 World Series championship.
Services for Billy Martin were held at St Patrick’s Cathedral before he was laid to rest at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. His grave is located about 150 feet from the grave of Babe Ruth.
Here a couple of short youTube video’s that you might enjoy watching:
December 23, 2010 – One of the fun things about going to baseball games for me is that you never know when a manager or player ejection will take place over a close play or a bad or missed call by an umpire. It is these kinds of calls that make baseball the game that it is and that is why I hope that MLB never goes “instant replay crazy”. It is always fun for the fans to see the players emotions get the best of him, right or wrong, and then watch as he has his say with the umpire. Sometimes it is just a few words, probably not nice ones, that force the ump to throw that player out of the game and at other times the player gets to go on and on for what seems an eternity before he gets the heave-ho. Actually, I think that this is a part of baseball that is slowing going by the way-side as umpires are just too dang quick with the thumb and their ejection buttons. Baseball is after all, entertainment, and what better way to give the fans their money’s worth then to let them watch a good old fashion debate between an upset player and an umpire. Come on now, what is more fun than seeing a player stick his nose right in the umpires face and call him an %#@-hole or a *^%$-up? Give the fans in the stands a chance to yell “kill the ump” and really get into the game. It really makes no difference if the player or the umpire is in the right, give the player a chance to have his say, maybe kick some dirt on the plate or the ump’s shoes, or throw his cap out to second base, or maybe run over to first base, jerk it off its foundation and send it flying half way out to an outfielder that is standing there with his glove up to his face to hide his laughter? Or listen to the fans cheer or boo as the player starts chucking bats and balls back onto the playing field from the dugout. It is just fun and will generate water cooler and Facebook talk for days. Maybe it adds 5 minutes to a game that would otherwise be forgotten but now you have a classic situation that may stick with a fan forever. Maybe 30 years from now some fan will tell his kids, I remember this one hot summer night back in August of 2010 I think it was, and the Twins were playing the Yankees at Target Field when Bobby Akens went ballistic after getting called out on a play at the plate or just a few days later in Boston when Joe Smith went nuts after getting called out on strikes for the third time in the game. Umpires need to realize that baseball is entertainment and that we fans did not put our good money down for tickets to watch them ump, we paid to see the players play so it is time for the umpires to play their part and show some patience and do their part in the production and continue to let baseball be the best entertainment sport there is. Let the players play, have their say, and if need be, if all else fails, throw their butt out.
Torii Hunter
The Twins have had their fair share of player ejections (105) over the years and the one that stands out for me is the Joe Niekro ejection, the one with the nail file falling out of his back pocket, a real classic and one of my favorite Twins moments. What about you? Do you have a favorite Twins player ejection story? Did you know that the Twins player with the most ejections has 5 and that it is none other than outfielder Torii Hunter? Hunter of all people, which surprised me when I looked at the numbers and saw that. So here is a complete list of all Minnesota Twins player ejections from 1961 through 2010 that will maybe jog your memory a bit. I am not including any coach or manager ejections here as that will be a story for another day.
(Ejection list updated through 2012 as of March 2013)
5 – Torii Hunter
4 – LaTroy Hawkins, Kent Hrbek
3 – Rod Carew, Dan Gladden, Eddie Guardado, Cristian Guzman, Jacque Jones, Chuck Knoblauch, Tony Oliva, Dave Ortiz, Vic Power, Denard Span
2 – Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Tom Brunansky, Brian Harper, Mickey Hatcher, Ron Jackson, Corey Koskie, Brad Radke, Rich Reese, JC Romero
1 – Allan Anderson, Wally Backman, Bert Blyleven, Orlando Cabrera, Jamey Carroll, John Castino, Jack Cressend, Mike Cubbage, Michael Cuddyer, Chili Davis, Ron Davis, Scott Diamond, Jim Dwyer, Terry Felton, Pete Filson, Greg Gagne, Johnny Goryl, Lenny Green, Dave Hollins, Butch Huskey, Craig Kusick, Ken Landreaux, Fred Manrique, Charlie Manual, Pat Mears, Doug Mientkiewicz, George Mitterwald, Joe Niekro, Camilo Pascual, Tom Prince, Kirby Puckett, Nick Punto, Mike Redmond, Kenny Rogers, Jim Roland, Phil Roof, Mark Salas, Carlos Silva, Mike Smithson, Rick Sofield, Shannon Stewart, Danny Thompson, Danny Valencia, Jesus Vega, Frank Viola, Mike Walters
December 16, 2010 – It has been reported that the Twins have reached an agreement with the switch-hitting 2B/SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka on a 3 year deal plus an option for a fourth year for about $10 million. According to http://www.fangraphs.com/ , Nishioka, who will be 27 in July, has had an injury plagued career so far and 2010 was his first season where he stayed healthy and played a full schedule of games. This past year Nishioka led his league in hitting with a .346 average (.387 from the right side and .329 from the left) and had a league leading 206 hits making him only the second player in the Pacific League to have over 200 hits in a season, Ichiro was the only other player to accomplish this feat. Prior to hitting .346 this past year, Nishioka had never hit over .300. Nishioka has little power but has some speed but still, he only swiped 22 bases in 33 attempts so I have to wonder if the Twins are really getting the speed that Gardy is craving.
Nishioka is a two time Gold Glove winner, winning once at 2B (2005) and once at shortstop in 2007. The word seems to be that he has good range but just an average arm so he may be better suited at 2B for Minnesota. In 2010 Nishioka led his Pacific League shortstops with 19 errors and had the lowest fielding average but he did have more put-outs and assists than any other SS, albeit on artificial turf. It will be interesting to see how Nishioka’s skills transfer to MLB and the Minnesota Twins.
Paul Bargas
The Twins also traded catcher Jose Morales to the Colorado Rockies for minor league left handed pitcher Paul Bargas. Bargas is 6’1” and goes about 205 pounds. Bargas was drafted by the Rockies in the 13th round of the 2009 draft and has pitched in organized ball in 2009 and 2010. This past year he pitched for Asheville in “A” ball and put up some very nice numbers, all of them in relief. Paul compiled a 5-4 won/loss record and had 5 saves in 58 games. Bargas pitched 67+ innings this year and struck out 64 while walking only 19 and held batters to a .227 average and only gave up 3 home runs and put up a 3.59 ERA to go along with a WHIP of 1.12, not too shabby at all. This was “A” ball but still not too bad a return for Morales.
The Twins were out of options on the left handed hitting Jose Morales and really had no spot for him on the big league roster with Drew Butera appearing to have a solid hold on the back-up catching job due to his catching and throwing skills. I think the Twins did Morales a favor by trading him and getting a young pitcher in return, a trade that might work out well for both the Rockies and the Twins. I am glad to see the Minnesota Twins organization take a chance and move some players that the organization feels have no future in Minnesota while they still have some potential versus letting them “rot on the vine” and then get nothing in return. I think this is also good for the players involved; sometimes a change of scenery is best for all concerned.
December 1, 2010 – Let’s talk a little about the JJ Hardy dilemma. I just can’t see any way that the Twins will not tender shortstop JJ Hardy a contract for 2011. Here is my reasoning, first of all there is no guarantee the Twins will sign Tsuyoshi Nishioka and if that scenario should occur, they need Hardy to play short and unless they sign a free agent second baseman to replace Orlando Hudson they need Alexi Casilla to play second. But let’s assume that the Twins do sign Nishioka, so where do they play him? Shortstop is a key position; I just can’t see the Twins going into 2011 with such a huge unknown both in the field and with the stick as Nishioka without some insurance. So leave Hardy at short for at last another season and play Nishioka at 2B where he is probably better suited anyway. Casilla can be the main utility guy and he can play as needed, plus he is a switch hitter who can run, there are many ways to get playing time for Casilla. That buys you time and we can see what kind of a player Nishioka really is and what Casilla can do with more playing time then he had in 2010.
What I don’t understand is why the Twins seem to be so down on Hardy? Hardy is the same player today as he was a year ago when they traded Carlos Gomez their crown jewel from the Johan Santana trade to the Brewers to acquire him. Sure the man was hurt in 2010 but he played great in the field when he was healthy and he has always been a streaky hitter so that should be no surprise. Plus the man has some pop in his bat and they can always use that.
The Twins are a contending team, not an also-ran that can take huge risks and just hope that Nishioka, if he signs, is the player they think he is. Casilla is no sure thing either; he has been given numerous chances in the past and let them slip through his fingers. The safe way to go here is to keep Hardy at short and play Nishioka at 2B. You can always trade Hardy after 2011 and his trade value may be even higher if he can stay healthy and show more power than he did in 2010. It is all about risk here and why take unnecessary risk when you don’t need to. The logical bet here is to play it safe.
