Twins relievers as they leave the Metrodome

August 2, 2009 – Twinstrivia.com photographers were lucky enough to catch some Twins relief pitchers as they left the Metrodome as a group on Sunday afternoon after three straight losses to the Angels by scores of 11-5, 11-6, and 13-4. When asked by reporters why the bullpen pitched so poorly against the Angels they replied that they too, just like their GM, have been working very hard lately. Autograph seekers were disappointed when they looked at the autographs they had just collected to find that they all had been signed the same way, “Best Wishes, Ron Davis”. When the autograph seekers asked for their Sharpie’s back, the players threw them back to the fans but each and every pen landed way over the head of the fan and out in the street where they were quickly run over by TC as he was buzzing home on his 4-wheeler.

Twins trade for shortstop Orlando Cabrera

August 2, 2009 – The Twins traded for some middle infield help getting shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Oakland A’s for minor league shortstop Tyler Ladendorf who was a 2nd round pick in the 2008 Free Agent draft but was not rated as a top 10 prospect in the Twins organization. Ladendorf was in Elizabethton in 2008 and started there again this year but after hitting .410 in 61 at bats was promoted to Beloit. Ladendorf is an athletic player who the A’s see as a possible 3B down the line.

Orlando Cabrera, 34 years old is in his 13th season of major league ball having played for the Expos, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, and the A’s. Cabrera got off to a slow start with the A’s in 2009 but his numbers are still looking pretty good as he is hitting .280 with 4 home runs and 41 RBI’s to go along with 11 stolen bases for a team that is not a fan of the stolen base. The A’s usually batted Cabrera in the 2 spot and that is probably what the Twins will also do sliding Mauer and the rest of the boys down one slot. Cabrera has probably lost a step over the years but he should be an adequate shortstop for the Twins for the remainder of the season and the added stability of a consistent number 2 hitter to go with a consistent player at short should help the team. Cabrera has won two gold gloves in his career.

Now if the Twins could have just acquired Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh, but that is a whole different story and we won’t go there. I applaud GM Smith for making this deal because I think it will help the team on a number of fronts. It is easy to “fall in love” with your prospects and I often think that the Twins consider their prospects a lot more valuable than others may see them. But sometimes you have to sit back and say to yourself, why do we have prospects? The answer seems simple, it is so they can become major league players and help the Twins win, right? If so, then why is it so difficult to trade prospects for someone who is already a proven big league player? I am not saying you trade all your prospects, I am saying that when you have a shot at a division title, and that chance does not come around that often, then you go for it and make some deals if they can help your club over the hump. I am not saying that Cabrera will win the division for Minnesota but he will help the ball club.

This team still has holes to plug in the bullpen as we have seen recently. Hopefully Smith can swing some deals in August to remedy that situation but it is tougher when the players have to clear waivers. The starting pitching has also been atrocious lately but before we throw them all under a bus let’s see what happens after the sizzling hot Angels leave town. It will be interesting too what Mark Grudzielanek can do at 2B once he is ready to play and from what I hear, that is not far away. When that time comes, who gets sent down or moved, Casilla again?

So how would I rate GM Smith’s actions during this trading deadline? I will be generous and give him a “C” and remind myself that getting Orlando Cabrera to play short is better than getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick.

Know your Washington Senator History

July 31, 2009 – The Washington Senators had some bad teams over the years including 5 seasons with 100 or more losses and only 18 winning seasons between 1901 and 1960. That does not mean however; that they didn’t have some great players over the years, one of those great players was Mickey Vernon.

Born James Barton Vernon on April 22, 1918 in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, Vernon signed as a free agent with the Washington Senators in 1937. A left hander all the way, Mickey stood 6’2”, weighed 180 and played 1B. Mickey Vernon made his major league debut on July 8, 1939, the same year as Hall of Famers Hal Newhouser, Ted Williams, and Early Wynn. In addition to being a slick fielding first baseman, Vernon could also hit, winning batting titles in 1946 with a .353 batting average and again in 1953 hitting .337, winning the batting title by 1 percentage point over Cleveland’s Al Rosen and thus depriving Rosen of the Triple Crown. Mickey played for the Senators from 1939 through 1948 (taking 1944 and 1945 off to serve in the US Navy) before being traded to the Cleveland Indians where he played one full season and part of the second before he was traded back to the Washington Senators for whom he played through the 1955 season before again being traded, this time to the Boston Red Sox. After the 1957 season, Vernon was waived and picked up by the Cleveland Indians. After a 1 year stint in Cleveland, Vernon was traded to the Milwaukee Braves where he played out the 1959 season. In 1960, Vernon spent most of the season as a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates before being activated in September and finishing his career by playing in 9 games for the World Champion Pirates, giving him the rare achievement of playing in four separate decades.

Vernon was not a real power hitter but he did hit 172 home runs in his 20 major league seasons. Three times, Vernon lead the league in doubles, once hitting 51 two baggers. In his 20 seasons, Mickey Vernon played 2,409 games, had 9,834 plate appearances, 2,495 hits, scored 1,196 times, stole 137 bases, and had 1,311 RBI’s with a career .286 batting average. Twenty years as a player in the majors, seven times an All-Star, but never lucky enough to play in a World Series game.

Vernon like many other players from that era served his time in the service of his country by serving in the Navy in 1944 and 1945 in Hawaii, where his commander was Max Patkin, a onetime pitcher who became a comedian known as the Crown Prince of Baseball. Off the field, Mr. Vernon was affable and easygoing but was known for his stubborn contract negotiations. Team owner Clark Griffith, who often cut a player’s salary after a subpar year, called Mr. Vernon “the most difficult man I ever dealt with on the salary question.” After his stellar 1953 season, Mr. Vernon told The Washington Post: “If a ball player can’t cash in on the kind of a year I had, it’s a hopeless profession. . . . Last season was one they can’t take away from me. If the Washington club couldn’t show any profit, it wasn’t my fault. I gave it a pretty good try.”

In 1961, after the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins, Vernon was named the first manager of Washington’s new expansion franchise. He had little luck with a team of castoff players and unproven minor-leaguers before being fired in 1963 with a 135-227 won-loss record as the Washington Senators manager. After his managing stint with the Senators, Vernon became a coach with the Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. He also managed at the Triple-A and Double-A levels.

Many fans believe that seven times All-Star Mickey Vernon belongs in the Hall of Fame, but that honor eluded Vernon during his life time. Mickey Vernon, one of the all time Washington Senator greats passed away on September 24, 2008.

No Feud Like An Old Feud

July 27, 2009 – A short but interesting piece by Walter Bingham in the May 1, 1961 Sports Illustrated about the Twins and the traditional animosity between St. Paul and Minneapolis as they open their first season in Minnesota in 1961 . Click on the magazine cover to read the story.

Twins and GM Smith Must Make a Deal

July 27, 2009 – When you have a shot to win the division, you go for it. Don’t worry about how you will do in the playoffs; just find a way to get there. As the Twins prepare to play game number 100, the Twins find themselves in third place just 4 games out of the lead in a weak AL Central division, if they were in another division they would probably be double digit games out of first and looking towards 2010 and Target Field. The teams ahead of the Twins, the Tigers and White Sox are not great teams; they both have weakness that have kept them from jumping out to a commanding lead. I think any of the three teams can win; they just need to show some consistency, something all of them have been lacking.

Twins GM Bill Smith has said that he is working hard. I too am a believer in hard work but the bottom line here is results, just working hard does not cut it. I have seen Francisco Liriano, Jesse Crain, Nick Punto and many other Twins working hard but if the results are not there, then the player is not doing what he is paid to do. Smith has been working hard but where are the results? Smith made a big splash right after he got the job when he made the “big trade” with Tampa to get Delmon Young. Now that trade is not looking so great but we all need to remember that not every trade turns out to the winner, you hope it will be when the deal is done, but you win some and you lose some. To me, GM Smith appears to be gun shy, burnt once he is afraid to swing that deal for fear of being on the short end again. I know the Twins ownership in the past has been patient with team management but Carl Pohlad is no longer around and we don’t know how the younger Pohlads will react in the future. I see this as a defining year for Bill Smith and this week might just make or break Smith as a big league GM. It is time for Bill Smith to step up to the plate and at least swing at the pitch instead of watching it zip by for strike 3.

The Twins have been built from within and depend heavily on their own drafted players. Even though only 12 of the current 25 man roster is Minnesota signed and raised so to speak, it is the core of the team with players like Cuddyer, Kubel, Mauer, Morneau, Span, Perkins, Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, Mijares, Crain, and Duensing. The SP that will take Slowey’s place when he has season ending surgery is Anthony Swarzak, another home grown starter. Ok, that is all fine and good, but how many of those young players in the Twins farm system mature into full fledged major leaguers that eventually become core players that will help the Twins win some games? I am not talking guys that will play a year or two and move on, I am talking real honest to goodness everyday players that contribute. Let me ask this, why don’t the Twins trade Ben Revere? You can’t tell me that the Twins would ever consider an outfield of Span, Gomez, and Revere! Revere has to have some good trade value.

I myself am a conservative “glass is half empty” type of guy but as I grew up I was always taught that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. For me in baseball that translates to making a deal for a 2B like Freddie Sanchez even though I have to give up some potential. The way I see it, I can always draft another potential next year and in the mean time I have a 30 year old former batting champion, three times All-Star, and Gold Glove capable 2B hitting number 2 in my line-up. My God, this is a no brainer; get the deal done Mr. Smith. How much more can you hope to get from your minor leaguers then what Sanchez can give you right now? What are the odds you have a 2B in your system anywhere close to Sanchez? You need a reliever too and there are a number of them out there like Heath Bell, Mike Wuertz, Matt Capps, and George Sherrill that are waiting for a new home, Minnesota might be a great place for them. While you are at it Mr. Smith, how about trying to get Ian Snell from Pittsburgh, he is unhappy there and wants to be traded and he might just be a bit late maturing.

I can’t end this story without getting on Gardenhire a little. Gardy has always enjoyed micro-managing and his hunt for the hot hand is really frustrating and irritating. It is ironic to me that Gardy talks about letting the players play and yet he wants to control every aspect of every game. Looking for the hot hand is like timing the market, in the long run you will lose more then you win. The team shows no consistency because Gardy can’t come up with a consistent line-up or batting order. To some degree his hands are tied with the outfield situation as it is with Cuddyer, Span, Gomez, Young, and sometime outfielder Kubel. Gomez has not proven that he deserves to play full time but he is the crown jewel in the Johan Santana deal so he has a longer leash then he probably deserves. Cuddyer, Span, Young and Kubel all deserve full time positions. I know Young has not played up to his capabilities this year but some guys need to play every day if they are to contribute and I think Young is one of them. If you are not going to play Young, then get him out of the doghouse and trade his butt for what you can get. Sometimes you can improve a team through subtraction. Gardy is loyal to a fault, Nick Punto does not deserve to be an everyday player but yet Gardy moves him from SS to 2B hoping that Punto will finally find out what the bat should be used for. I think the Gardy is having a bad year at the helm.

Bottom line, the Twins and that includes Smith and Gardenhire need to make some changes if they hope to move into Target Field in 2010 as the AL Central Division (or maybe even better) defending champs.

July 29 Update – Ian Snell gets traded to Seattle Mariners and Freddie Sanchez gets traded to the San Francisco Giants today. The Twins? They have done zippo so far but they are working hard……….

10 run leads are just not enough

July 21, 2009 – A lot of Twins fans were already in bed confident of another Twins win when home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski called Mike Cuddyer out on a close call at the plate at about 12:38 AM local time on Tuesday morning. Cuddyer was trying to tie the score at 14-14 all the way from second base on a wild pitch by A’s reliever Michael Wuertz. Replays showed fairly clearly that Cuddyer was safe, having slid under the tag from Wuertz but the dirty deed had already been done, the A’s were already shaking hands for a great come from behind victory while Gardy “discussed” the play with Muchlinski.

It was an abrupt end to a game that dragged on for 3 hours and 32 in front of only 10,283 fans in Oakland in a game where each team hit 4 home runs with a grand slam for each side. Neither starter, or reliever for that matter, had anything, Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez lasted just 2 2/3 innings giving up 11 earned runs and Nick Blackburn pitched 5 innings for Minnesota and gave up 7 earned runs on 13 hits. Twins pitchers threw 155 pitches, allowed 22 hits and 3 walks and strangely enough, did not strike out a single A’s batter.

With the 14-13 loss the Twins tied their record for largest blown lead in Twins history. The Twins and Frank Viola had a 10-0 lead in the 3rd inning at Cleveland Stadium on September 28, 1984 and lost the game 11-10 but that was in the Ron Davis era and many would say that was not all that shocking. Sports Illustrated did a recap of the game in their October 4, 1984 issue and you can check it out here. If you want to see the actual box score of the 1984 game just click here.

According to Elias, Minnesota’s Justin Morneau had two home runs and seven RBIs and Oakland’s Matt Holliday had two homers and six RBIs in the A’s win over the Twins. It was only the fourth game in major-league history in which a player on each team hit at least two home runs and had at least six RBIs. The other pairs of opponents to do that were Rogers Hornsby (Cardinals) and Butch Henline (Phillies) in 1922, Lou Gehrig (Yankees) and Jimmie Foxx (A’s) in 1930, and Albert Belle (White Sox) and Rusty Greer (Rangers) in 1997.

A’s starter Gio Gonzalez gave up 11 runs in two and two-thirds innings Monday night but he did not get a loss as Oakland rallied from a ten-run deficit to beat the Twins, 14-13. Gonzalez is only the second starting pitcher in baseball’s modern era (i.e., since 1900) to avoid a loss in a game in which he pitched fewer than three innings and gave up at least 11 runs. You don’t have to search back very far to find the other instance: the Rangers’ Scott Feldman was charged with 12 runs in two and two-thirds innings in Boston on August 12, 2008 he too was not involved in the decision as Texas lost to the Red Sox, 19-17.

The Joe you don’t know

July 16, 2009 – For those of you that don’t get to read the Star Tribune, you missed a great story this past Sunday by Jim Souhan. The story is kind of a behind the scenes look at Joe Mauer. Take a few minutes and check it out here.

They Said It

July 4, 2009 – Here are some fun and interesting quotes pertaining to the Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators that I found in The Sports Illustrated archives.

Frank Kostro, Minnesota Twins utility man: “So far I’ve played right, left and first base and I’m Polish. Does that make me a utility pole?” – 4/29/1968

Mickey Mantle, injured Yankee, after batting practice at the Minnesota Twins’ Metropolitan Stadium: “This is the greatest home-run stadium I’ve ever seen. If this were my home park I’d hit 90 homers some year.” – 7/29/1963

Dick Erickson, head groundkeeper at Met Stadium in Bloomington, MN. asked what his job would be if the Twins and Vikings move into a domed stadium in 1981: “I guess I’ll just scrape the bubble gum off the field.” – 12/18/1978

Dave St. Peter, Twins president, on having real grass in the ballpark that Minnesota plans to open in 2010: “It will be a great joy to see somebody riding a mower instead of a vacuum cleaner.” – 9/24/2007

Sam Mele, to his family after he was fired by the Minnesota Twins: “What are you crying for? All these years you’ve been saying you’d like to have me home for the summer. Well, that’s where I’ll be now.” – 6/19/1967

Ellis Clary, Minnesota Twins scout, whose team is in the thick of its divisional race despite one of baseball’s lowest payrolls: “We’ve got the only players who’ll make more in their World Series shares than in salary.” – 8/6/1984

Calvin Griffith, 285-pound former owner of the Minnesota Twins upon running into equally hefty Craig Kusick, a onetime Twins first baseman who now teaches high school phys ed: “You and I should attend some of your classes.”

Ron Davis, former Minnesota Twin reliever who had a knack for giving up late-game homers, on the boos he still hears at appearances in the Twin Cities: “When it’s 10 years later and they still hate you, that’s what you call charisma.” – 2/20/1995

Mrs. Laura Quilici, hearing that her son Frank had been named manager of the Minnesota Twins: “Oh, the poor kid. He’s going to get an ulcer now.” – 7/17/1972

Jim DeShaies, Minnesota Twin pitcher on ignoring baseball tradition and changing his seat in the dugout during teammate Scott Erickson’s recent no-hitter: “I think everybody gets caught up in superstitions. But I don’t put much stock in them—knock on wood.” – 5/16/1994

Tony Perez, Cincinnati Reds coach, on wire-service reports that pitcher John Smiley was unhappy about his trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Minnesota Twins: ” John Smiley is going to change his name to John Frowny.” 4/6/1992

Don Baylor, Minnesota Twins DH, on why he would say no if George Steinbrenner offered him the Yankees’ managing job: “I came into this game sane, and I want to leave it sane.” – 10/19/1987

Cookie Lavagetto, manager of the likely last place Washington Senators, after reprimand by Commissioner Ford Frick for saying the Yankees would win pennant by 15 games: “I wanted to get them overconfident so we could beat them.” – 4/14/1958

Billy Gardner, Minnesota Twins manager, on outfielder Darrell (Downtown) Brown, who has hit one home run in 591 career at bats: “That must be an awful small town.”

Tom Kelly, Minnesota Twins manager, explaining why he made pitcher Pat Mahomes walk off the field with him after pulling him during a 17-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers: “Then we would have to take only half the boos each.” – 5/10/1993

Junior Oriz, Minnesota Twins catcher, after teammate Scott Erickson threw a two-hitter for his 12th straight win: “He’s unbelievable. He’s like that guy in Texas who’s 41, or 42, or 43.”

Sam Mele, ousted Minnesota Twins manager, asked what he had noticed most about the club this summer: “They got going right after I left.” – 9/25/1967

Gene Mauch, Minnesota Twins manager, on having a blood relative, Roy Smalley on his team: “Sometimes I look on Roy as my nephew, but sometimes only as my sister’s son.” – 5/26/1980

Hal Naragon, Minnesota Twins catcher, on whether Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski will turn out to be the Red Sox new Ted Williams: “He’s like Ted from the shoelaces down.” – 9/18/1961

Gene Mauch, of the Minnesota Twins, who is in his first year as an American League manager: “I’ve seen more inferior umpiring so far this season than I saw in 16 years as a manager in the National League.” – 7/19/1976

Calvin Griffith, president of the Washington Senators, who once promised to keep the club in Washington “as long as I live,” in an amendment: “As long as we make a living.” – 7/14/1958

Not Such a Tough Cookie

June 30, 2009 – A very enjoyable story about the Minnesota Twins first manager Attilo Harry “Cookie” Lavagetto, written by Walter Bingham for Sports Illustrated on May 15, 1961. Maybe there really is something to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx; Lavagetto was fired by owner Calvin Griffith on June 23 after piloting the first year Minnesota Twins to a 25-41 start to the 1961 season. Click on the magazine cover to read the story.

Twins 1997 Home Red Sunday Jersey

June 21, 2009 – In 1997 the Twins broke out a new home red Sunday jersey. The jersey was red with navy trim and the Twins logo, player’s name, and numbers were white with navy trim. The uniforms were used for the first time on Sunday, April 6. Brad Radke started the game for Minnesota and was the losing pitcher when the Kansas City Royals trounced the home team by a 12-2 score. The uniforms were again used on their very next Sunday home game on April 27 against the Texas Rangers and again Brad Radke was the starter. The Rangers scored 5 runs in the eighth inning and held on for a 7-3 win. ESPN announcers quickly nicknamed the Twins red uniforms as the Dairy Queen design because the colors closely matched the Dairy Queen advertising signs behind home plate. After just two games, both defeats, the uniforms were deemed to be bad luck by the players and were retired never to be worn by the Twins again. Since the jersey was used in 1997, it had the Jackie Robinson “Breaking Barriers” patch on the right sleeve. You can see what the uniforms looked like by clicking here.

Update – The Twins used the red jersey’s again on August 1, 2014 at US Cellular Field against the White Sox and came up on the short end of a 10-8 game.

Update – The Twins were in a funk and Twins starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey decided it was time once again (August 7, 2015) for the red jersey and this time the Twins beat Cleveland 10-9 with a home run in the ninth inning at Progressive Field. Their first win wearing the red jersey. The Twins tried them again the following day and got whipped 17-4.

The Twins record in red jersey’s stands at 1-4. When they will come out again, who knows?