Know your franchise history

Clark Griffith - player, manager, and owner

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.

Twins first Father-Son combo

Drew Butera

April 20, 2010 – In the Twins 50th season they have their first Father-Son combo. Catcher Drew Butera made his major league debut this season and is serving as the back-up catcher to Joe Mauer. Back in 1980 Drew’s father Salvatore (Sal) Butera made his major league debut with Minnesota as the back-up catcher to Butch Wynegar. Drew is slightly bigger than his Dad and both are right handed batters. Both of the Butera’s are better known for their glove work then their stick work.

Drew’s career is just starting but his Dad played in the majors from 1980 through 1988 but never really attained a starter role and the most at bats he ever had in a single season was 194 in 1981. Sal played for the Minnesota Twins from 1980 to 1982 before being traded and again in 1987 where he had an opportunity for an at bat in the World Series. Sal also played for the Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds, and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Interestingly enough, yesterday Ike Davis made his major league debut for the New York Mets as a first baseman. Ike is the son of former Minnesota Twins closer Ron Davis.

Original Twins logo designer passes away

Ray Barton - original Twins logo designer

April 19, 2010 – Ray Barton the artist/designer who was commissioned by Twins team owner Calvin Griffith in 1961 to design a logo for the Minnesota Twins passed away at the age of 80 of cancer at his Little Canada home on April 18, 2010.

The logo (shown below) showed two baseball players (Minnie and Paul) shaking hands across the Mississippi River. Minnie who represents Minneapolis and the old Minneapolis Millers wears number 20 and Paul who represents St. Paul and the old St. Paul Saints wears number 10. The original logo had the letters “MT” for the Minnesota Twins on the players’ jerseys instead of the “M” for Minneapolis on one and “StP” for St. Paul on the other. The words “Win Twins” have been replaced with “Minnesota,” but the primary design of the logo featuring two players on opposite sides of a river shaking hands with a baseball in the background has remained virtually unchanged over the past five decades, said Clyde Doepner, the Twins’ team historian. The emblem has been part of almost every Twins uniform since the team began play. It was absent only on the 1972 road uniforms when only the faces of “Minnie” and “Paul” were shown, and on the 2009 gray pin-striped road jersey, which featured commemorative patches of the Metrodome and former owner Carl Pohlad. Barton was not that thrilled with his design, thinking it might only appear on paper cups but Calvin liked the logo and thought that it would show that the Twins ball club truly represented both cities and the state of Minnesota in spite of the fact that the Twins home park was located in Bloomington and made it the Twins signature logo that 50 years later stands proudly over the Twins new Target Field. Ray Barton was paid $15 for his original design back in 1961.

Barton original Twins logo

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

Jim Kaat - Twins pitcher from 1961 - 1973

 

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 

Walter Johnson
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?

April 12, 2010 – The average ticket price for a major league baseball game in 2010 is $26.74, an increase of 1.5% from last season. In Minnesota however; where the Twins are moving in to their new ballpark at Target Field, the average ticket price has jumped 45% to $31.47. The highest average ticket price is in Chicago where the going rate for a Cubs ticket is $52.56. On the other end of the spectrum the lowest average ticket price is the Arizona Diamondbacks $14.31. By the way, with the Twins moving into Target Field, the value of the team has jumped 14% to $405 million according to estimates by Forbes magazine.

Twins Opening Day pitchers

April 10, 2010 – In the Twins 50 years they are 24-26 on opening day. The Twins have had 25 different pitchers take the mound on opening day on their behalf and only four pitchers have had that honor more than twice. Brad Radke was the Twins opening day pitcher 9 times including seven consecutive opening day starts. Bert Blyleven started on opening day 6 times but oddly his only home opening day start was in 1987 in the Metrodome. The only other Twins pitchers with more than two opening day starts are Frank Viola with 4 and Dave Goltz with 3.

Year Pitcher Game result
1961 Pedro Ramos Twins 6 – Yankees 0
1962 Jack Kralick Kansas City A’s 4 – Twins 2
1963 Camilo Pascual Indians 4 – Twins 4
1964 Camilo Pascual Twins 7 – Indians 6
1965 Jim Kaat Twins 5 – Yankees 4
1966 Mudcat Grant Twins 2 – Kansas City A’s 1
1967 Jim Kaat Orioles 6 – Twins 3
1968 Dean Chance Twins 2 – Senators 0
1969 Tommy Hall Royals 4 – Twins 3
1970 Jim Perry Twins 12 – White Sox 0
1971 Jim Perry Brewers 7 – Twins 2
1972 Bert Blyleven A’s 4 – Twins 3
1973 Bert Blyleven Twins 8 – A’s 3
1974 Bert Blyleven Twins 6 – Royals 4
1975 Bert Blyleven Twins 11 – Rangers 4
1976 Bert Blyleven Rangers 2 – Twins 1
1977 Dave Goltz A’s 7 – Twins 4
1978 Dave Goltz Mariners 3 – Twins 2
1979 Dave Goltz Twins 5 – A’s 3
1980 Jerry Koosman Twins 9 – A’s 7
1981 Jerry Koosman A’s 5 – Twins 1
1982 Pete Redfern Mariners 11 – Twins 7
1983 Brad Havens Tigers 11 – Twins 3
1984 Al Williams Tigers 8 – Twins 1
1985 Frank Viola Twins 6 – Angels 2
1986 Frank Viola Twins 3 – A’s 2
1987 Bert Blyleven Twins 5 – A’s 4
1988 Frank Viola Yankees 8 – Twins 0
1989 Frank Viola Yankees 4 – Twins 2
1990 Allan Anderson A’s 8 – Twins 3
1991 Jack Morris A;s 7 – Twins 2
1992 Scott Erickson Twins 4 – Brewers 2
1993 Kevin Tapani White Sox 10 – Twins 5
1994 Kevin Tapani Angels 8 – Twins 2
1995 Scott Erickson Red Sox 9 – Twins 0
1996 Brad Radke Twins 8 – Tigers 6
1997 Brad Radke Twins 7 – Tigers 5
1998 Bob Tewksbury Blue Jays 3 – Twins 2
1999 Brad Radke Twins 6 – Blue Jays 1
2000 Brad Radke Devil Rays 7 – Twins 0
2001 Brad Radke Twins 3 – igers 2
2002 Brad Radke Twins 8 – Royals 6
2003 Brad Radke Twins 3 – Tigers 1
2004 Brad Radke Twins 7 – Indians 4
2005 Brad Radke Mariners 5 – Twins 1
2006 Johan Santana Blue Jays 6 – Twins 3
2007 Johan Santana Twins 7 – Orioles 4
2008 Livan Hernandez Twins 3 – Angels 2
2009 Francisco Liriano Mariners 6 – Twins 1
2010 Scott Baker Angels 6 – Twins 3

 

Rotation Spending By Team

April 1, 2010 – Compiled by Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com and reprinted with their permission.

1 – Yankees – $63,157,650

2 – Cubs – $50,775,000

3 – Red Sox – $42,263,500

4 – Mets – $38,087,500

5 – White Sox – $36,200,000

6 – Cardinals – $35,925,000

7 – Giants – $33,850,000

8 – Tigers – $32,670,000

9 – Phillies – $31,805,000

10 – Braves – $31,467,000

11 – Angels – $29,965,000

12 – Royals – $25,110,000

13 – Reds – $24,700,000

14 – Astros – $23,916,000

15 – Rockies – $23,500,000

16 – Diamondbacks – $22,008,925

17 – Dodgers – $21,679,000

18 – Mariners – $20,550,000

19 – Brewers – $18,565,000

20 – Indians – $17,115,500

21 – Padres – $15,355,000

22 – Rangers – $14,181,090

23 – Orioles – $13,668,125

24 – Athletics – $13,210,000

25 – Twins – $12,790,000

26 – Nationals – $10,224,000

27 – Pirates – $10,013,500

28 – Marlins – $9,645,000

29 – Rays – $9,473,333

30 – Blue Jays – $4,085,000

Approximately $736MM will be spent on the 2010 salaries of the 150 projected members of Opening Day rotations. That’s an average of $4.9MM per pitcher.

  • On average, a team will spend $24.5MM on its rotation in 2010. The median figure is $22.8MM.
  • The White Sox, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Rockies, and Giants don’t have any projected starters earning less than $1MM.
  • The Blue Jays will pay more to Halladay in 2010 than they will pay their entire rotation.

Closer by Committee? What a Joke!

April 1, 2010 – You have got to be kidding. A closer by committee has not worked to any degree for any team in a long time. The only time that teams go to closer by committee is when they have no closer. Ideally the Twins would invest some of their Nathan insurance money and get a legitimate closer but if they foolishly choose not to go down that path, then the Twins should just pick their best closer candidate and put him in the closer role and leave him there until he proves he cannot handle the job. How is that better than closer by committee? It is a better option because then everyone has a defined role day in and day out. The relievers will not come to the ballpark wondering if they will be pitching the sixth, seventh, eighth or closing on any given day. The Twins had an outfield by committee last year and it hurt all their outfielders, you would think Gardy and the Twins brain trust would learn from that experience. I say name Matt Guerrier as your closer and give the man a shot. If Guerrier can’t do the job, I would send Crain out there next. The season starts Monday Gardy, do your team a favor and name a closer. What have you got to lose? Best case you find a closer and worst case is you find out who can’t close.

UPDATE April 2 – Twins manager Gardenhire has named Jon Rauch as the Twins closer and the Twins plan to go closer by committee is dead before it even started. Smart move Gardy!

Joe and Joe

March 23, 2010 – First of all, congratulations to the Minnesota Twins and Joe Mauer for getting a deal done, and in the nick of time too, because both the fans and the writers were all confident that a deal would get done and Joe would resign with Minnesota but lately some ugly rumors and discussions had started surfacing that maybe Mauer should be traded if he is not interested in signing for the “big” money that the Twins were offering. These kinds of stories could only cause ill will between all parties concerned and it is a good thing that both sides were able to get together and get a deal done before the ‘mud slinging” had a chance to really get going and things were said that would not be easily forgotten.

Now that everyone has had a chance to relax and take a deep sigh of relief after Joe Mauer signed an eight year extension for $184MM it is time for the Twins brain trust to get back to solving the next big issue, what to do about the closer problem. When Joe Nathan hurt his elbow back on March 6, he decided to take two weeks and see if he could pitch through the pain and the other day he decided at he couldn’t and now will undergo the infamous TJ or “Tommy John” surgery which has a minimum recovery time of 12 months.

Internally the names that have been discussed have been Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares, Jesse Crain, Pat Neshek, Anthony Slama, and Francisco Liriano but I don’t see any of these names as the answer. Let’s take a look at each one of these guys.

Jon Rauch has the most experience of the bunch with 26 career saves on the books but Gardy says that he wants a closer that can punch out a hitter when needed and Rauch’s strikeouts have dropped from 86, to 71, to 66 and 49 in the last 4 years. In addition, Rauch has given up 37 home runs in the last 4 years, I am not sure that I would like to see Rauch as my everyday closer.

Jesse Crain is also not strikeout pitcher and seems to be too inconsistent from one outing to another in my eyes to be sent out to shut the door on a team day in and day out. Having said that, Crain can be very effective for short periods of time but I would never let Crain pitch more than one inning in whatever role he is in.

Jose Mijares is the lone lefty in the group but he just lacks the experience at this stage of his career to carry the load as the teams closer. He has the stuff to do the job but his lack of experience and his questionable attitude will keep him in his current role.

Matt Guerrier probably has the right mental attitude to be a closer but I am not sure he has the “stuff” to get the job done. Matt gives up about 10 home runs a year on average and his strikeouts have dropped for the last 3 years in a row. Matt is one of the best set-up guys in the business and I would hate to weaken that spot to put him in a closer role where he might be less effective.

Pat Neshek is coming off an injury and did not pitch at all in 2009. Neshek’s funky delivery has served him well in the past but I don’t think that the Twins can thrust him into a closer role after such a long layoff. He meets Gardy’s requirement of having the “punch-out” ability and he for the most part can keep the ball in the ballpark but the recent injury is just more risk then the Twins will want to take at this time.

Francisco Liriano probably has the stuff to be the closer but his mentality will not allow him to fill that role. You have to be a “cool customer” to be a closer and not allow a bad call or runners on base to get to you and there is no way that Liriano can over come these obstacles at this point in his career. Plus you have to ask yourself, is Liriano really ready to jump back into the starter role? If he is, he is probably more valuable there then in the closer role.

How about Anthony Slama? Would you put a rookie driver in your Corvette? I think not.

So, there you have it, the Twins have a good bullpen but they have a missing piece and it is a key missing piece. The Twins don’t have the right spare part to fix their engine without going outside the organization. It won’t be a cheap fix and you have to give up something to get something but the Twins have no choice. The Twins $90+ million car has headed full speed into 2010 and right now the brakes are not working, they need to find the missing link that can slam on the brakes on the opposing team in the 9th inning of those close games when the Twins have the lead. The Twins cannot afford NOT to find a closer, and soon.