Veterans committee finalist’s announced for Hall of Fame

December 1, 2008 – Ten former major league players whose careers started in 1943 or later have been named as finalists for election and entry into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2009. Three former Minnesota Twins players, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, and Luis Tiant are part of this select and talented group. In addition, Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Joe Torre, and Maury Wills make up the rest of the group. Boy, I must be getting old because with the exception of Hodges, I grew up watching all these guys play. How many if any of these former stars will make it is hard to say. The veterans group has not selected anyone for admission in years and the voting rules have changed since the last vote was taken. This year, candidates must garner 75% of the vote from living Hall of Famers. Since there are currently 64 living Hall of Famers, 48 votes will be required for entry.

From this group I sure would like to see Tony O, Jim Kaat, and Maury Wills get in. Voting results are scheduled to be announced on December 8 during baseballs’ winter meetings in Las Vegas. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

December 9 update – Disappointment….is how I would describe my feelings when I heard that for the fourth consecutive time no post 1942 players were selected to the Hall. How can this be, are you telling me none of these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? That is a bunch of Bull*&^%, a number of these players belong there, the problem is how to get them there. I have no problem with the 64 living Hall of Famers voting but it seems to me that they are all over the board, there is no leadership here, someone needs to stand up and take charge. To achieve the necessary 75% for election, a player must receive 48 votes. The results for the most recent voting were as follows: Ron Santo (39 votes, 60.9 percent), Jim Kaat (38, 59.4 percent), Tony Oliva (33, 51.6 percent), Gil Hodges (28, 43.8 percent), Joe Torre (19, 29.7 percent), Maury Wills (15, 23.4 percent), Luis Tiant (13, 20.3 percent), Vada Pinson (12, 18.8 percent), Al Oliver (nine, 14.1 percent), Dick Allen (seven, 10.9 percent). All 64 living HOF players cast ballots, the Hall of Fame stated that voters could choose up to four candidates, and an average of 3.33 votes per ballot was cast.

Something needs to change, it is not right that players that deserve to be in the HOF are left outside looking in and then years after they pass away, someone decides they do belong in the HOF, that is just not right. This year 256 votes could have been cast and only 213 were cast, that is 43 votes that went unused. Let’s change the rules for this finalist group; I have no problem with at least one player, the highest vote getter getting the call to the hall. If you don’t want to do that, then let’s make sure that each player cast 4 votes on each ballot. You will not cheapen the entry into the MLB Hall of Fame by doing this, you will only make it better for the players and the fans who want to see the stars they cheered for many years get the credit they deserve. All I can say now is “shame on you the living 64 Hall of Famers who have your noses so high in the air that you can’t see the ballot itself”, you guys really disappointed me.

The Twins First Manager

November 18, 2008 – Harry Arthur “Cookie” Lavagetto was born December 1, 1912 in Oakland, California. The tall, dark, and handsome Lavagetto was signed by the Oakland Oaks after a high school all-star game. He acquired his nick name from his Oakland teammates, who called him “Cookie’s boy,” because he had been hired by Oaks’ president Victor “Cookie” Devincenzi. Cookie played pro ball for 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1934-1936) and the Brooklyn Dodgers (1937-1941) and again from 1946-1947. Cookie missed four full seasons while he served in the military during WW II from 1942 to 1945. After being released by the Dodgers after the 1947 season, Cookie returned to play with the Oaks from 1948-1950.

Cookie played in 1,043 major league games, primarily at 3B although he also played 2B and made a couple of appearances at SS and 1B. Cookie threw and batted right handed and during his major league career he batted .269 with 40 home runs, 486 RBI’s while stealing 63 bases. Cookie was named to the National league All-Star team between 1938 and 1941 although he did not play in the 1938 and 1939 games. Cookie played in the 1941 World Series for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees in a losing cause and again in 1947 when the Dodgers again played the New York Yankees. But it was game 4 at Ebbets Field of the 1947 World Series that brought Cookie Lavagetto to the pinnacle of the baseball world. On October 3 the Yankees and pitcher Bill Bevens were ahead 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning with two out. Bevans had surrendered no hits, an unprecedented World Series feat at the time but two runners were on base from Bevens’ ninth and tenth walks of the game. Lavagetto was summoned by Dodger manager Burt Shotton to hit for Eddie Stanky and he cracked an opposite-field double to break up the no-hitter and score the two Dodger runners for a 3-2 Brooklyn win. It was Lavagetto’s only hit of the series (won by the Yankees in seven games) and his last as a big leaguer. An excellent write-up of this famous event can be found at http://www.users.qwest.net/~yarnspnr/baseball/bevans/bevans.htm .

After being released by the Dodgers, Cookie went back and played for the Oaks from 1948 to 1950. When Oakland manager Chuck Dressen was named to manage the Dodgers in 1951, Cookie was named as one of Dressen’s coaches and Lavagetto stayed with Dressen in Brooklyn (1951-53) and the PCL Oaks (1954) and followed him to the Washington Senators when Dressen became their skipper in 1955. On May 7, 1957, with the Senators floundering in last place, Dressen was fired and Lavagetto was named his successor. The team improved slightly, but finished last in 1957, 1958, and again 1959. In 1960 the Senators rose to fifth place in the eight team American League but it was too late as Senators owner Calvin Griffith had decided that he had had enough of Washington and received permission from the American League to move the team to greener pastures in Minnesota where they became the Minnesota Twins. Cookie Lavagetto was the first manager in Twins’ history, but he did not even get a chance to finish the 1961 season. With the Twins mired in ninth place in the new ten team American league, Calvin Griffith told Cookie to take a short fishing vacation to clear his head. Lavagetto took a seven-game leave of absence in early June, then returned to the helm. But he was fired June 23 with the club still in ninth place and replaced by coach Sam Mele. Cookie Lavagetto wore number 51 during his short tenure as the Twins manager. Cookie’s career as the Twins manager ended after only 66 games and a 25-41 record. Lavagetto’s major league managing record was 271 wins and 384 defeats (.414). Lavagetto rejoined the coaching ranks the next season with the New York Mets where he stayed from 1962-1963. He then joined the San Francisco Giants as a coach from 1964 through 1967 before retiring. Harry Arthur “Cookie” Lavagetto died in his sleep at his home in Orinda, California on August 10, 1990 at the age of 77.

Do you remember September 22, 1968?

September 7, 2008 – How is your memory? Do you remember what happened 40 years ago this coming September 22nd? If you don’t, you should be checking my “Today in Twins History” page. On that day Cesar “Pepe” Tovar played one inning at each position for the Minnesota Twins at the Met Stadium against the Oakland A’s becoming only the second major leaguer in history to accomplish the rare feat. Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A’s was the first. Tovar became the one and only Twins position player to be a starting pitcher in Twins history as he tossed a scoreless first inning and struck out future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson along the way. Cesar went on to play C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, and RF in that game. Tovar did not forget his offense either as he was 1 for 3 with a run scored and he sole a base for good measure. You can find the box score for this game on my “Twins Box Scores” page.

Tovar is regarded as the all-time AL leader in breaking up no-hit attempts with five. In April 17, 1967, Tovar’s single was the only hit against the Senator’s Barry Moore. On August 10, 1969, Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles was working on a streak of 35 consecutive batter retired before giving up a ninth inning single to Tovar and losing his no-hitter. Earlier in the same season (May 15), Tovar broke up the no-hit bid of another Baltimore pitcher, Dave McNally. Tovar was also responsible for spoiling two other no-hitters during his career: against the Washington Senators Dick Bosman on August 14, 1970 and against the Yankees Jim “Catfish” Hunter On May 31, 1975.

On May 18, 1969 Tovar and Rod Carew set a major league record for most steals by a club in one inning with 5 in the second inning against the Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich and catcher Bill Freehan. Carew stole 2nd, 3rd, and home while Tovar stole 3rd and home in front of Carew. The two base steals of home in the same inning also tied an existing record.

Cesar Tovar also became the first Twins player to hit for the cycle at Met Stadium when he accomplished that unusual feat on September 19, 1972 against the Texas Rangers in a Twins 5-3 victory.

Tovar was traded after the 1972 season to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ken Sanders, Ken Reynolds, and Joe Lis. Later in his career Tovar played for the Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, and finally the New York Yankees before retiring after the 1976 season. Cesar Tovar passed away of pancreatic cancer at the age of 54 in Caracas, Venezuela in 1994.

Senators Fun Facts

August 28, 2008 – Walter Johnson was the only pitcher elected to the MLB Hall of Fame at its inception. Johnson won 20 or more games 12 times in his career and 30 or more games twice. He started 666 games in his career and completed 531 of them.

Roy Sievers hit 42 home runs in 1957 and was the only Washing Senator to ever win the American league home run title outright.

Senator third baseman Eddie Yost set an American league record by hitting 28 homeruns as a leadoff batter.

One time Twins owner Calvin Griffith served as the Senators batboy on their 1924 World Series Championship team. Calvin’s father Clark owned the team.

Senator’s catcher Morris “Moe” Berg became a renowned author and master spy for the US government. Berg, a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School was known as the “brainiest man in baseball”, spoke several languages and reportedly read at least 10 newspapers a day.

On May 11, 1897, Senators catcher Duke Farrell set a Major League Baseball record that has stood for more than 100 years by catching eight of nine opposing players who attempted to steal a base.

Twins Send Out Post Season Invoices

August 27, 2008 – Being a Twins partial season ticket holder, I received my 2008 post season ticket invoice in the mail this past Saturday. In our case we have the “Gold Glove” season ticket holder package which gives us ¼ of the games in our seats and someone else owns the other ¼ and yet another buyer owns ½ of the games. We like our seats which are in the first row right next to the visitor’s bullpen and our row only has two seats, which means we never have to get up to let someone in or out and you can’t beat that. What is frustrating is that with our seats split between three parties as they are, we have no assurance of getting our normal seats for the playoffs because the first choice obviously goes to the party that has the tickets for the ½ season ticket plan. If they choose not to order the tickets then it comes down to the other ¼ season ticket holder or us, depending on who gets their payment in first. It is always a nice to attend playoff baseball games but the prices today are getting up there and with the economy the way it is, it really makes one think before they write that check for the big bucks that it takes, in our case $2,500+. First thing on Monday I went down to the Ridgedale Twins Pro Shop and ordered my tickets but it is anyone’s guess at this point where our seats will be. I am not sure there is a better way to do this but never the less it is frustrating not to sit in your normal season ticket seats.

It seems like the post season ticket invoices go out earlier and earlier each year. I can’t help but wonder, who benefits from all that post season ticket money sitting in those coffers, is it MLB or is it the individual teams? That is a lot of money that can be invested for a month or more before monies start to get returned when teams get eliminated from possible post season play and or when playoff teams get eliminated. What about the $35 non refundable processing and handling fee? That seems kind of steep to me particularly since they have had my money for an extended period of time earning interest.

But we are talking playoff baseball here, what Twins fan wants to pass on seeing his team play in a Division or League Championship game at the Dome? What if they get to the World Series and you didn’t get tickets, how would you feel then? But that day will surely come for some of us in the near future as the 2008 prices for a single ticket for a World Series game go for $200 in the lower reserved sections.

Are the Twins going to get in the playoffs? My heart says yes and my mind says no. So why did I order post season tickets? Because this team is just damn fun to watch and I LOVE baseball.

Fredrick “Firpo” Marberry – first prominent relief pitcher

August 9, 2008 – Frederick “Firpo” Marberry (November 30, 1898 – June 30, 1976), born in Streetman, Texas was a right-handed starter and relief pitcher from 1923 to 1936. Marberry spent most of his career with Washington but he also pitched for the Detroit Tigers and the New York Giants late in his career.

Early in his Washington career, Fred acquired the nickname “Firpo” because of his size (6’ 1” and 190 lbs.) and facial resemblance to Argentine boxer Luis Firpo. The fighter, dubbed “The Wild Bull of the Pampas,” knocked Jack Dempsey out of the ring in a 1923 title bout before losing in the second round. Marberry never liked the nickname, especially as Luis Firpo’s career fizzled out, but he would be “Firpo” Marberry for the remainder of his baseball years.

 Marberry was considered by many to be baseball’s first prominent reliever, he has been retroactively credited as having been the first pitcher to record 20 saves in a season, the first to earn 100 career saves, the first to make 50 relief appearances in a season or 300 in a career, and the only pitcher to lead the major leagues in saves five times.

The Senators won their first American League pennant in 1924, and the Browns’ George Sisler, among others, thought Marberry was Washington’s MVP. In the second game of the World Series, he came into a tie game with two outs in the ninth inning to strike out Travis Jackson, and then watched as the Senators won the game in the bottom of the ninth. By modern reckoning he would be awarded the victory, but the official scorer awarded the win to starting pitcher Tom Zachary. Marberry started and lost game three, but pitched well in games four and seven as the Senators captured their first and only World Series title.

After being released by the Tigers in mid season in 1935, Marberry, with no previous experience was offered an umpiring job by the American league and retired from the Tigers to umpire for the remainder of the year but never umpired any games involving his former teammates. His career as an umpire lasted only a short time because according to Marberry. “It’s too lonely for me. I like to be around the players and have companionship.” In 1936 he accepted a tryout with the New York Giants. Believing that the problem causing his sore arm was his teeth, he had 14 abscessed teeth extracted. Nonetheless, he pitched in only one game for the Giants before being released. He then returned briefly to the Washington Senators pitching in five games, before leaving the major leagues for good.

In a 14-season career, Marberry had a lifetime record of 148-88 with a 3.63 ERA in 551 games (187 starts). He accumulated 86 complete games and 7 shutouts, along with 101 saves. He struck out 822 batters in 2,067-1/3 innings pitched.

Marberry would not begin to gain true recognition for many of his accomplishments until the save was created as a pitching statistic in the 1960s. Firpo Marberry is quoted in John Thorn’s The Relief Pitcher: Baseball’s New Hero (1979) as saying that, “If the relief pitcher holds the opposing club in check, he gets no credit. The pitcher who preceded him and couldn’t stand the pace wins the game.

Since Firpo Marberry started and relieved so well, his managers were never able to stick him in one role and leave him there-he was too valuable to assume a consistent role. Had he started or relieved his entire career, he would likely have been one of the more famous players of his era. Either way, he was an outstanding pitcher, and the first of the great relievers.

After his baseball days, he operated a wholesale gas distributorship and, later, ran a recreation center in Waco. In October 1949, Fred was in a serious automobile accident in Mexia, Texas in which he lost his left arm. The injury did not noticeably slow him down-he even continued to pitch in old-timer’s games. He suffered a stroke and died on June 30, 1976.

Interesting piece with Terry Ryan

 

Terry Ryan (courtesy of SI.com)

 

August 1, 2008 – There is a very interesting piece and well worth your read at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/07/31/aschburner.ryan/index.html by Steve Aschburner as he talked with former Twins GM Terry Ryan about the trials and tribulations of a baseball GM at trade deadline time. It also makes note of a new Twins book that Aschburner has coming out soon called The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Minnesota Twins.

Twins Deadline Trade History

July 28, 2008 – If you look at the last 10 years, the Twins have not been real active at the trade deadlines in July and August but they have made a number of trades and more often than not, they have been a seller versus a buyer. None have been what you could call real blockbuster deals. The trade they made for outfielder Shannon Stewart in 2003 is probably their best acquisition at a trade deadline. Here is a quick look at the deals they have made:

7/31/98 – Traded Greg Swindell and Orlando Merced to the Red Sox for John Barnes, Matt Kinney, and Joe Thomas.

8/25/98 – Traded Mike Morgan to the Cubs for Scott Downs.

8/3/99 – Traded George Williams to Houston for Josh Dimmick.

7/16/00 – The Twins send Butch Huskey and Todd Walker to Colorado for Todd Sears.

8/31/00 – The Twins send Midre Cummings to the Red Sox for Hector De Los Santos.

7/28/01 – The Twins acquire Todd Jones from the Tigers for Mike Redman.

7/30/01 – The Twins acquire Rick Reed from the Mets for Matt Lawton.

7/12/02 – The Twins send Brian Buchanan to San Diego and acquire Jason Bartlett.

7/16/03 – The Twins acquire Shannon Stewart and Dave Gassner from Toronto and part ways with Bobby Kielty.

8/31/03 – The Twins acquire Jesse Orosco and send Juan Padilla to the Mets.

7/31/04 – The Twins send Doug Mientkiewicz to the Cubs and get Justin Jones in return.

7/11/05 – The Twins acquire Brett Boone and cash for a player to be named later.

7/31/06 – The Twins send Kyle Loshe to Cincinnati and get Zach Ward in return.

8/31/06 – The Twins acquire Phil Nevin and trade Adam Harben to the Cubs.

7/30/07 – The Twins trade Luis Castillo to the Mets and receive Drew Butera and Dustin Martin.

8/15/07 – The Twins send Ramon Ortiz to Colorado and receive Matt Macri.

Looking at this list it appears that very few of the trades that have made a huge difference either for the Twins or for the other teams. Maybe with Mr. Smith at the GM helm it will be different in 2008 but I am not holding my breath. The latest rumor has the Twins looking at bringing Latroy Hawkins back to town and I would not mind seeing him sitting in the Twins bullpen.

Twins Uniform Numbers

July 12, 2008 – Did you know that there are only two Minnesota Twin uniform numbers between 0 and 60 that have been worn by only one player each? Junior Ortiz, the sometimes “strange but like-able” catcher from Puerto Rico wore the number 0 in 1990 and 1991. During one of those seasons after a prolonged slump, Ortiz asked that his first name be changed to Joe but after a time he found that did not help so he went back to Junior. Ortiz also served as the designated catcher for Scott Erickson in the Twins 1991 World Series championship season. The only other number lower than 60 that has graced the uniform back of only one player is the famous number 3 worn by Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew.

How about number 13 you ask? The first Twin to wear the number 13 was outfielder Bill Tuttle from 1961 through 1962. Jerry White, the current Twins 1B coach has worn the number 13 since 1999 and has worn the number longer than any other Twin. Other Twins players to wear the number 13 were:

Rich Reese – 1964-1965

John Roseboro – 1968-1969

Dick Woodson – 1972-1974

Tom Lundstedt – 1975

Mike Pagliarulo – 1991-1993

Todd Walker – 1996

Lucky or unlucky, we will let you be the judge of that.

The number worn by more Twins players than any other? The number 21, currently worn by outfielder Delmon Young.

Should the Twins make a Deal?

July 9, 2008 – The Twins find themselves in Detroit this evening awaiting the start of a four game series just before the All-Star break after losing three in a row to the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Yes, the team did lose three games in Beantown but they had a chance to win the first two games of the series when Baker battled tooth and nail with Daisuke Matsuzaka before the Red Sox scored the one and only run in the eighth inning off Brian Bass for a 1-0 win. In the second game Nick Blackburn pitched the Twins to a 4-2 lead after 6 and 2/3 inning before turning it over to the bullpen that could not hold the lead and the Twins lost 6-5. Game 3 ended up 18-5 in favor of the Red Sox and again bullpen relief was nowhere in sight. Boy, do the Twins miss Pat Neshek.

The Twins find themselves at 50-41 at this point and 3.5 games out of the Central Division lead. Are the Twins really in the hunt? I don’t think so, the Twins are not as bad as they showed against the White Sox just a little over a month ago but they are not as good as they have played recently. The Twins are somewhere in between, they are a .500 ball club. Don’t get me wrong, I am not down on the Twins at all but remember that this is a team where the only regulars from last year are Mauer, Morneau, and Cuddyer. The starting pitching staff is totally new with Hernandez, Baker, Blackburn, Slowey and Perkins.

Their two stars Johan Santana and Torii Hunter moved on to other teams as did SP Carlos Silva. If someone would have told me before Spring Training started that this team would be 50-41 at this point in the season I would have asked you what you were smoking. This Twins team is young, exciting, enthusiastic, learning new things about themselves and their teammates every day and best of all, they are just a fun and exciting team to watch. But, they are not yet ready to contend for a division title, they need more experience and they still have a couple of holes to fill at 3B and at SS. Brian Buscher has been hot since he was called up and replaced Mike Lamb at 3B but for some reason Gardy is platooning him now. Nick Punto has returned from his most recent injury and is playing some great SS and is even hitting a bit. If the Twins had a top notch 3B then I think they could leave Punto at SS but they can’t afford to have weak hitter at both SS and 3B.

The Twins desperately need an everyday 3B with some pop but I don’t know where they can find one without giving up the farm. Some rumors out there have the Twins looking at Adrian Beltre from the Mariners but he has a big salary and has been very inconsistent, I don’t think he is the answer. Scott Rolen from Toronto might be available but he too is making big bucks and is well past his prime but the man can play some defense. Bill Hall is probably available in Milwaukee but he can’t play defense at all so he is not the kind of player that would make Gardy happy.

The Twins could also use a little help in the bullpen too what with Bass and Bonser getting kicked around here lately. But again, the price to get some reliable relief help will not come cheap.

Bottom line, I think the Twins should probably be sellers (Lamb, Hernandez, Bonser, and Monroe) and not buyers during this trading period. Francisco Liriano will probably be up soon and he can replace Hernandez. Danny Graves deserves a call up and a shot in the bullpen. As for 3B, it probably remains a platoon position for the rest of the season between Buscher and Harris.

The Twins do seem to be strong in the outfield and there are clubs out there that would “kill” for a Denard Span to play CF but I am not sure the Twins are ready to make that deal yet.