March 16,2010 – Former Twins second baseman and 1991 AL Rookie of the Year Chuck Knoblauch has pled guilty to misdemeanor assault on his common-law wife. According to the original criminal complaint, Knoblauch’s wife stated to police that Knoblauch hit her in the face and choked her last September. According to court records, Knoblauch entered his plea today in exchange for a deferred- adjudication probation. If Knoblauch completes his one-year probation successfully the conviction on the assault of a family member would be expunged from the record. Knoblauch was also fined $1,000.
Did you know?
March 12, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators have held spring training in the following locations: Phoebus, Va. (1901); Washington, D.C. (1902-1904); Hampton, Va. (1905); Charlottesville, Va. (1906); Galveston, Texas (1907); Norfolk, Va. (1910); Atlanta (1911); Charlottesville, Va. (1912-1916); Atlanta (1917); Augusta, Ga. (1918-1919); Tampa (1920-1929); Biloxi, Miss. (1930-1935); Orlando (1936-1942); College Park, Md. (1943-1945); Orlando (1946-1990); Ft. Myers (1991-present).
Was the Twins Dome advantage just a fallacy?
March 12, 2010 – For years opposing players and managers and writers across the country have complained about the huge home advantage that the HHH Metrodome provided for the Minnesota Twins. But when you look at the actual numbers, you will see that the Twins actually had a better winning percentage when they played at Metropolitan Stadium than they had at the Metrodome. It is also interesting to me that the Twins appeared to be a better road team when they played at Met Stadium then when they played at the Metrodome. Maybe calling the Dome home was a disadvantage when they went on the road? Another fun fact is that the Twins best decade was the 60’s. It will be interesting to see what Target Field has in store for the Twins in 2010 and beyond.
Twins wins/losses by the decade
| Years | Wins | Losses | Winning % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961-1969 | 789 | 666 | .542 |
| 1970-1979 | 812 | 794 | .506 |
| 1980-1989 | 733 | 833 | .468 |
| 1990-1999 | 718 | 833 | .463 |
| 2000-2009 | 863 | 758 | .502 |
| Grand Total | 3,915 | 3,884 | .502 |
Twins wins/losses while playing at each stadium
| Stadium | Year | Wins | Losses | Winning % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Met Stadium | 1961-1981 | 1,719 | 1,612 | .516 |
| HHH Metrodome | 1982-2009 | 2,196 | 2,272 | .491 |
Twins wins/losses at home versus on the road by stadium
| Stadium | Years | Home wins | Home losses | Home win % | Road wins | Road losses | Road win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Met Stadium | 1961-1981 | 910 | 759 | .545 | 809 | 853 | .487 |
| HHH Metrodome | 1982-2009 | 1,214 | 1,028 | .541 | 982 | 1,244 | .441 |
Twins average wins/loses at home versus on the road by stadium
| Stadium | Years | AVG home wins | Avg home losses | Avg road wins | Avg road losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Met Stadium | 1961-1981 | 43.33 | 36.14 | 38.52 | 40.62 |
| HHH Metrodome | 1982-2009 | 43.36 | 36.71 | 35.07 | 44.43 |
Joe Nathan and the Twins
March 10, 2010 – It is all over the news, bad news for Joe Nathan, the Twins, and Twins fans everywhere. Joe Nathan has a torn ligament in his throwing elbow and right now the decision has been made to rest if for several weeks to see if that helps. No one seems to be holding out much hope that the rest will allow Nathan to pitch in 2010. You can understand the Twins point of view; they have a lot on the line so waiting two weeks or so seems a small price to pay in hoping for a miracle.
The Twins can pursue a trade for a proven closer or a closer in waiting. Word is that Jason Frasor who is currently with Toronto is available as are Heath Bell and Kerry Wood and all three have the necessary experience. Right now that seems like the best option but the price could be more than the Twins want to pay since everyone will be asking for the moon with the Twins in dire straits. If the Twins look internally to fill the void, that would present another problem because they would weaken another area to fill the closer role. But if the Twins choose that path, then I think that the pecking order for the closer role should be Rauch, Crain and Mijares. I think that Guerrier is too valuable in the role he is currently in to move to the closer position. Neshek is coming off TJ surgery himself and I can’t see the Twins putting him into the closer role at least during the first half of the season. The Twins don’t have anyone in the minors that they would trust in such a key role for a team expected to go deep in the playoffs. Whatever they do, the Twins must make a decision soon and get the bullpen calmed down with designated roles for everyone, and you don’t want the relievers to go day to day without knowing what their role will be on any given day.
I went to my first Twins spring training game of the season yesterday and saw the Twins beat the Cardinals 7-6 in an entertaining game. When we drove to the park it was crazy, traffic was backed up everywhere and I was sent driving all around the complex before they finally found a parking spot for me in right field of one of the complex’s softball fields. A five minute walk got me in the ballpark but it was the bottom of the first inning and the Twins were already down 2-0 and Adam Wainwright was starting for the Cardinals. It was a back and forth game and I think the Nathan situation was on some of the player’s minds. Nick Punto, playing 3B made two errors and just did not look like his head was in the game. There were some other fielding plays that could have been called errors but were not due to the generosity of the official scorer. Carl Pavano started for the Twins and looked OK but he did give up six hits in three innings. The big blow came in the bottom of the 8th inning with the score tied 6-6 and Danny Valencia came up to the plate for the first time and parked the ball over the left field fence for a home run. It was a nice ending to a fun day at the ballpark. Oh, why the traffic jam? I guess it was because the Twins drew their largest ever crowd to a spring training game at Hammond Stadium, 8,220 baseball starved fans got to see the Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals.
UPDATE March 21 – The Twins announced this morning that Joe Nathan will undergo “Tommy John” surgery sometime this week. The doctor and location are still to be determined.
Did you know?
March 6, 2010 – That the year 1977 marked the first time in their 17 year history that the Twins wore their names on the backs of their uniforms.
STRIKE THREE!
March 4, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins preach putting the bat on the ball and getting it in play because you never know what can happen next, but the Twins have had a number of players over the years that have taken that long walk to the bench after flailing away and missing. Strangely enough, when you look at the franchise top fifty strike-out leaders from a hitting perspective, 46 out of 50 are Twins players and only 4 are Washington Senators and both of them, Jim Lemon and Harmon Killebrew played for the Twins. You would think with the old-time pitchers accumulating so many strike-outs that you would see more Washington Senators on this list. The top Twins strikeout team was the 1997 team (68-94) with 1,121 KO’s and the top Senators strike-out team was the 1960 team (73-81) with 883 KO’s. The top man on the list is Bobby Darwin who led the AL in strikeouts between 1972-1974. Here are the seasonal top ten strike-out performances by Twins/Senators hitters:
| Rank | Name | Strike outs | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Darwin | 145 | 1972 |
| 2 (tie) | Carlos Gomez | 142 | 2008 |
| 2 (tie) | Harmon Killebrew | 142 | 1962 |
| 4 | Jim Lemon | 138 | 1956 |
| 5 | Bobby Darwin | 137 | 1973 |
| 6 | Harmon Killebrew | 135 | 1964 |
| 7 (tie) | Rich Becker | 130 | 1997 |
| 7 (tie) | Michael Cuddyer | 130 | 2006 |
| 9 | Jacques Jones | 129 | 2002 |
| 10 | Lary Hisle | 128 | 1973 |
Radio Baseball Cards Podcasts
February 28, 2010 – To listen to some cool baseball clips with numerous baseball greats, please click on the Radio Baseball Cards icon. The great Don Drysdale does a very nice job in these quick short but interesting radio interviews. Several of these clips are with former Minnesota Twins players.
Remembering Lyman Wesley Bostock
February 26, 2010 – Some knowledgeable baseball people will tell you that Lyman Bostock was “the best player that you never heard of”. Lyman’s career was cut tragically short, only playing four seasons (three with the Twins and one with the Angels) but he left a lasting memory for many of us. SABR has done a nice biography about Lyman and you can read it by clicking here. There are also some video clips that show Bostock in action and explain the tragic event that ended Bostock’s once promising career and you can watch them by clicking here for part I and here for part II. You have to wonder what kind of career this man might have had.
Lyman Bostock by Daniel Michael – a very nice tribute.
Fifth and Jackson, a great piece by Jeff Pearlman for ESPN. A must read
UPDATE AS OF September 19, 2013 – MLB Network to air the Lyman Bostock story.
Spring Training Report
February 24, 2010 – I went out to the ballpark on Monday morning to catch the first official work-out and had a good time. There were a number of people there but not a huge crowd by any means. It was easy to get around and view the different activities on the different practice fields. I saw Jose Mijares throwing so he obviously cleaned up his visa issues and he does look considerably thinner. Jon Rauch was throwing at the same time and boy is Rauch a physically imposing figure, he is what 6″11″? By the way, Joe Mauer was in there catching some of the pitchers.
I went over to the next field and there I saw Gardy and TK running a “pitcher cover first base drill”. That is kind of fun to watch as the pitcher throws the ball to a catcher. In the mean time a coach hits another ball to a 1B who then lobs the throw to the pitcher covering first. Over and over again the same old thing, but yet sometimes during the season it looks like they never practiced it before. Gardy and TK try to make it fun and you can hear some of the banter going on back and forth. One of the things they do also is to have the coach drop a ball somewhere next to the pitcher and the pitcher has to quickly find it, pick it up and get ready to throw to first, One time Deolis Guerra was the pitcher and all of a sudden all 10 or so of the pitchers threw their balls at Guerra at the same time, there were balls everywhere and everyone got a big kick out of it including Deolis who was laughing as he threw his glove in the air.
The next field had some batting practice for the catchers and other position players that had reported early. I watched Mauer and Cuddyer hit a couple of times and they were putting a good hurt on the balls.
I was in kind of a hurry due to other plans so I didn’t go over to the minor league fields to see what was going on there but obviously some of the boys had reported early and were doing some hitting and throwing the ball around.
It appears that the players come out for stretching about 9:30 AM and practice starts about 10:00 AM. They wrap up between 11:30 and Noon and that is the best time to get pictures and autographs. The players and coaches all seem very good about that. In the picture above you can see Cuddyer as he signs and signs and signs.
For more Twins spring traing coverage, please check out the Fort Myers NEWS-PRESS.COM site by clicking here.
Pitchers that hated to walk batters
February 22, 2010 – With Twins pitchers and catchers working out for the first time today, it is a good time to take a look at the top control pitchers in franchise history. The Twins always preach to their pitchers that walks will kill. If you want to pitch for the Minnesota Twins you need to get your pitches over the plate and force the hitter to put the ball in play. This strategy has worked for the Twins in the past and I don’t see it changing in the future. So let’s take a look and see what Twins pitchers gave up the fewest walks per inning pitched and at the same time compare how Washington Senators pitchers in the past compared to their modern day counterparts.
Minnesota Twins
| Rank | Pitcher | BB/9 | Innings pitched |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Silva | 1.303 | 773 |
| 2 | Brad Radke | 1.634 | 2,451 |
| 3 | Jim Merritt | 1.769 | 686 |
| 4 | Jim “Mudcat” Grant | 1.879 | 780 |
| 5 | Kevin Tapani | 1.959 | 1,171 |
| 6 | Scott Baker | 2.054 | 653 |
| 7 | John Butcher | 2.148 | 502 |
| 8 | Jim Kaat | 2.177 | 3,014 |
| 9 | Dean Chance | 2.250 | 664 |
| 10 | Allan Anderson | 2.320 | 818 |
Washington Senators
| Rank | Pitcher | BB/9 | Innings pitched |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Orth | 1.555 | 677 |
| 2 | Watty Lee | 1.794 | 526 |
| 3 | Dutch Leonard | 1.910 | 1,899 |
| 4 | Waletr Johnson | 2.074 | 5,914 |
| 5 | Garland Braxton | 2.115 | 583 |
| 6 | Doc Ayers | 2.301 | 1,122 |
| 7 | George Mogridge | 2.417 | 1,016 |
| 8 | Casey Patten | 2.430 | 2,059 |
| 9 | Charlie Smith | 2,240 | 822 |
| 10 | Roger Wolff | 2,442 | 527 |