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
Second baseman Brian Dozier extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a lead-off double last night in a 10-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. The knock handed Dozier a share of the club record hitting streak to start the season, along with Kirby Puckett (1994) and Josh Willingham (2012). Dozier has now hit safely in 22 consecutive games, dating back to September 22. Dozier added a third-inning single to finish 2-for-4. He’s hitting .376 (35-for-93) during the streak.
The Twins minor league position player of the week is Fort Myers Miracles outfielder Jimmy Kerrigan. From April 8-14, Kerrigan was 11 for 26 for a .423 average with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI.
Kerrigan was playing in the Independent Frontier League when the Twins signed Kerrigan to a minor league contract on July 27, 2017 , sending him to the low A Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League and in 31 games, he batted .250, with four triples, five home runs and 20 RBIs. The 24 year-old Kerrigan who bats and throws right-handed started the 2018 with the Fort Myers Miracle.
The Twins minor League pitcher of the week is Kohl Stewart. The Twins 2013 first round selection (fourth overall) started the 2018 season with the Chattanooga Lookouts. In his first start of the season Stewart went five innings, allowed just three hits, one run, struck out nine with zero walks and threw 75 pitches and claimed his first win of the year. The 23 year-old Stewart now is in his sixth season and the Twins have been waiting for the 6’3″ right-handed Texan to show the promise that the Twins saw in him when they drafted and signed him out of high school for $4.544 million. Stewart needs to have a strong breakout season this year.
Minnesota Twins, No. 1 draft pick Kohl Stewart agree to terms
Don’t forget to check out our new and updated This Day in Twins History on the right hand side of the page.
Forbes magazine recently published their 2018 MLB team values for the 21st year. As you might guess, MLB teams and their owners are doing pretty well. The only team in MLB that is not yet worth at least $1 billion is the Tampa Bay Rays and their value is $900 million. The most valuable team is the New York Yankees who are worth $4 billion according to Forbes.
The Minnesota Twins are worth $1.15 billion, up 12% from last year and are the 22nd on the list. The Twins are shown with $261 million of revenue and that seems like a lot of money to most of us but only nine teams brought in less revenue last season.
The Forbes article can be found here and the list of team values can be found here. When looking at the list, if you click on the Minnesota Twins you will find more detailed financial data.
More historical information on Minnesota Twins values can be found on my “Salaries” page.
The Minnesota Twins opened the 2018 season on the road in Baltimore where first pitch temperatures were 65, 55 and 61, nothing to really complain about in late March. The Twins then moved on to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates and the weather there was a bit cooler with first pitch temps were 40 and 37 and it snowed almost the entire game when the Pirates had their home opener on April 2 At times the snow was coming down so hard it was difficult to see the ball.
The Twins then went home to host their own opening day against the Seattle Mariners on April 5th, the weather predictions were dire, temps for the first pitch could be in the low 30’s. After all, the Twins Cities had seen a freakish snowstorm on April 2-3 that dumped about 9 inches of snow on the Twins Cities and Target Field. Fans and players alike were grumbling about the opener being so cold. Logan Morrison a new Twins player in 2018 said that games shouldn’t be played when it is that cold and Minnesota’s stadium should have had a roof. Twins President Dave St.Peter said something to the effect that we live in the “Bold North” meaning that everyone should just suck it up and watch some baseball. Then again it is easy for him to say that because he is the team president and that is what we expect him to say, besides, he sits behind glass when he watches the games anyway. We need Mr. St. Peter and owner Jim Pohlad to lead by example and sit down with the fans and watch the game like Calvin Griffith used to do. Turns out the Twins Target Field Opening Day temperature at first pitch was 38 degrees, the home team won and everyone went home happy.
But enough about that, we are here to tell you about a time back in August, yes I said August, of 1965 when the Detroit Tigers complained about ice-cold frozen baseballs that the Chicago White Sox were supposedly providing when these two teams met in a double-header on August 1 at White Sox Park. Who knows, maybe it was pay back for a week earlier when The White Sox complained that the balls used in Detroit were all dried out and hitting them was like hitting a lively golf ball. American League President Joe Cronin ordered an investigation but I have no clue as to how things turned out. The article below seems to state that back then there were no rules for storing baseballs other than they had to be delivered one hour prior to the game. I’m sure that has changed since then….
Here I though that only the NFL had issues with it balls.
Kyle Gibson did not allow a hit, he did walk five in six innings of work in the Twins’ 6-2 win in Baltimore yesterday. Gibson became the first player in Twins/Senators history to throw more than two innings and not allow a hit in his first start of a season.
By the way, the Twins have played seven games on April 1 since 1961 and their record on April Fool’s Day is 3 wins and 4 losses, none of the games were against the Orioles.
Déjà vu all over again in Baltimore
Adam Jones hit a walk off home run in the 11th inning off Twins reliever Fernando Rodney on yesterday, a year after his teammate Mark Trumbo hit an 11th-inning walk off homer in the Orioles season opener. The Orioles are the first team in major-league history to hit a first-game walk off home run in consecutive seasons, let alone one in extra innings.
The Twins open the 2018 season with 13 players on their 25-man roster who were not on the Twins 2017 Opening Day roster: pitchers (9) – Jose Berrios, Zach Duke, Trevor Hildenberger, Tyler Kinley, Lance Lynn, Gabriel Moya, Jake Odorizzi, Addison Reed, and Fernando Rodney; catcher (1) – Mitch Garver; infielders (2) – Ehire Adrianza and Logan Morrison; outfielder (1) – Ryan LaMarre.
Of the 25 players on the Twins active roster, 11 began their professional careers in the Twins organization. Tyler Kinley is the only player looking to make his major league debut. The oldest on the club is Fernando Rodney (41 years, 11 days) and the youngest is Gabriel Moya (23 years, 2 months, 20 days).
Zach Duke was signed to a one-year contract December 28, Tyler Kinley was selected in the Rule 5 Draft, Lance Lynn was signed to a one-year contract March 12, Jake Odorizzi was acquired via trade with Tampa Bay on February 17, Addison Reed was signed to a two-year contract January 15, Fernando Rodney was signed to a one-year contract (club option in ’19) December 15, Logan Morrison was signed to a one-year contract February 25, Ryan LaMarre was signed to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training November 22. The Twins had just five new players on their 2017 Opening Day roster.
The Twins are returning to their original radio home for the 2018 season in 830 WCCO. The Twins were broadcast on ‘CCO for the first 46 years of their existence from 1961-2006, since then they have been on ESPN 1500 from 2007-12 and Go 96.3 from 2013-17. It is about time!
Source: March 29, 2018 Minnesota Twins Game Notes
Today we are going to look at the Twins starting pitchers that went to the mound to pitch and they didn’t let pitch counts and innings pitched stop them. Here we have a list of Twins starting pitchers that started a game and pitched a minimum of 11 innings, Jim Merritt is the top man on the list and will probably remain there forever.
Since 1961 starting pitchers have stayed in a game 11 or more innings on 430 occasions but the last pitcher to do so was Dave Stewart who went 11 very efficient innings throwing just 129 pitches in his start and complete game 1-0 shutout of the Seattle Mariners in August 1, 1990. Can it happen again? Sure, but the chances are slim to none with today’s coddled and pampered pitchers.
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Merritt | 1967-07-26 (2) | MIN | NYY | W 3-2 | GS-13 | 13.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 2 | Camilo Pascual | 1963-07-23 | MIN | CLE | L 2-3 | CG(13), L | 12.2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 | Dave Boswell | 1969-07-14 | MIN | CHW | W 4-3 | GS-12 | 12.0 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | Jim Kaat | 1969-05-20 | MIN | BAL | W 3-2 | GS-13, W | 12.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Camilo Pascual | 1964-10-01 | MIN | KCA | L 4-5 | CG(12), L | 12.0 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
| 6 | Jim Roland | 1964-05-19 | MIN | NYY | W 7-2 | GS-12, W | 12.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | Camilo Pascual | 1962-09-12 | MIN | CHW | L 1-2 | CG(12), L | 12.0 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Dave Goltz | 1977-07-25 | MIN | OAK | W 2-1 | CG(11), W | 11.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 9 | Bill Singer | 1976-09-01 | MIN | MIL | W 3-2 | GS-11 | 11.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Dave Goltz | 1976-05-18 | MIN | OAK | W 4-3 | CG(11), W | 11.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 11 | Bert Blyleven | 1975-08-27 | MIN | MIL | W 1-0 | SHO(11), W | 11.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 12 | Jim Kaat | 1973-06-23 | MIN | CAL | L 1-3 | CG(11), L | 11.0 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 13 | Jim Kaat | 1972-05-24 | MIN | KCR | W 1-0 | GS-11, W | 11.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 14 | Jim Perry | 1970-08-07 | MIN | OAK | W 2-1 | CG(11), W | 11.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 15 | Jim Kaat | 1969-04-09 | MIN | KCR | L 3-4 | GS-12 | 11.0 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 16 | Jim Kaat | 1964-04-26 | MIN | DET | W 3-2 | CG(11), W | 11.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 17 | Jim Kaat | 1962-08-01 | MIN | BAL | W 3-1 | CG(11), W | 11.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 18 | Pedro Ramos | 1961-04-28 | MIN | LAA | L 5-6 | GS-11 | 11.0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
Jim Kaat did it six times while wearing a Twins uniform and the all-time leader in these kinds of starts since 1961 is Gaylord Perry with 17 starts of 11 innings or more. Bill Singer (1973), Mickey Lolich (1971) and Mark Fidrych (1976) each did it four times in a single season.
Twins Opening Day in 2018 is just a couple of days away as the Minnesota Twins prepare to open season number 58 and take on the Baltimore Orioles. I can’t wait for the Twins and all the other teams to start playing baseball games that count for something.
Spring Training is fun after a long and cold off-season but the exhibition games start to wear on you and I am tired of hearing about all the complaining about the free agents and their problems getting contracts.
I think the Twins made some nice off-season moves that look good on paper but now we have to see if those moves translate into more wins, after all, wins are the only way to measure if the team is better than it was last year. You can say whatever you want but the bottom line is all about wins and losses and how deep the team goes in the playoffs.
The Twins have already suffered a couple set-backs and the season hasn’t even started. Their starting pitcher Ervin Santana, a 16 game winner in 2017 had surgery on a finger on his pitching hand and is out until probably sometime in May. Recently MLB suspended starting shortstop Jorge Polanco for 80 games after he tested positive for Stanozolol. Not exactly how the Minnesota Twins would like to start 2018 but it is what it is and we will have to see if Paul Molitor can get his team off to a good start, something I thing that is crucial to a young team.
I have put together a Twins Opening Day quiz to test your knowledge of the past 57 Opening Days so go ahead and give it a try over at my Twins Trivia Questions page and see how you do.
Japanese star Shohei Ohtani was the talk of this off-season before he agreed to sign as a free agent with the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani is supposedly a very good hitter and a very good pitcher and he wants to do both in MLB. Since he has not played in a regular season game in the majors yet we still have to wait and see if he can pull it off or if he can play in the majors at all for that matter. For all the talk of Shohei Ohtani being the best two-way prospect ever, Ken Brett came first. He was a phenom on the mound and in center field before he became a journeyman.
Ken Brett, the older brother of Hall of Fame Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett was at one time a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and nine other big league teams including the team that drafted him number one and fourth overall in the 1966 June amateur draft. The California Angels drafted and signed Ken Brett to pitch, almost every other team had they drafted Ken Brett would have made him a center fielder. The Twins took a chance on the free agent Ken Brett when he was released by the Angels and signed him on April 30, 1979, Brett appeared in just nine games as a Twins pitcher, all in relief and he was released on June 4, 1979 and his Twins career was over with no wins or losses and a 4.97 ERA. “Kemer” as Ken Brett was known to his friends was off to join his next team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This all leads into a great piece that Joe Posnanski wrote yesterday about Ken Brett called Before Ohtani, there was Ken Brett and I will let you read it for yourself. Posnanski is a wonderful writer and storyteller so don’t pass this one by. It will also help you to remember a one time Twins player who passed away from brain cancer just like his father before him. You can also read the SABR Bio on Ken Brett here.