According to ELIAS – Jose Berrios

Berrios wins again

 

Jose Berrios

Jose Berrios improved his record to 7-1 in eight starts with a solid eight inning performance in the Twins’ win over the White Sox. Berrios is the sixth pitcher in Senators/Twins history to win at least seven of his first eight starts of a season. The others were Walter Johnson, who did it in 1913 (7-1) and 1925 (7-1), Joe Boehling in 1913 (7-0), Jerry Koosman in 1979 (7-0), Geoff Zahn in 1979 (7-1) and Francisco Liriano in 2006 (7-1).

Home Runs and Strikeouts, Strikeouts and Home Runs

Major League Baseball seems odds-on to set single-season industry-wide records for both home runs and strikeouts. There were 238 home runs hit in 72 major-league games from Friday to Tuesday, an average of 3.31 homers per game. That was the most homer-happy five-day period in the 142-year history of Major League Baseball, whether reckoned by total homers or by average per game.

But strikeouts grabbed the Elias Says headlines on Wednesday night, as major-league teams struck out a total of 290 times over 15 games. That average of 19.33 strikeouts per game was the highest on any day with at least 12 games played in major-league history. The previous record was set on Sept. 14, 2015, when there was an average of 19.25 strikeouts over 12 games.

Twins minor league pitcher Cam Booser suspended for 50 games

Twins minor leaguer pitcher Cameron Booser will miss 50 games due to violations of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Minnesota Twins left-hander Cam Booser has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for a drug of abuse for the second time.

Cam Booser

Cam Booser was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a non-drafted free agent on Aug. 12, 2013. Booser, a 25-year-old on the Rookie-level Elizabethton Twins, had pitched 2 2/3 innings this season for Class A Advanced Fort Myers, allowing one run while walking seven and hitting two batters over three relief appearances. He went 0-4 with an 8.53 ERA, 34 strikeouts and 31 walks over 25 1/3 innings for Class A Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers in 2016.

Booser’s ban will begin with Elizabethtown’s season opener Thursday against Danville. These suspensions are the 43rd and 44th handed down for violations of the Minor League drug program in 2017.

The 1967 AL Pennant Race – Part 15 – Twins take a break to play an exhibition game – Billy Martin plays

The Minnesota Twins took a break for the rigors of a pennant race and flew from Baltimore to Indianapolis to play an exhibition game against the Indianapolis Indians before flying on to Detroit to play the Tigers the next day. Why the Twins were playing an exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox AAA team is beyond me. I am sure that the MLB players union of today wouldn’t allow such exhibition games in the middle of a season.

Billy Martin

The Twins ended up losing the game 11-10. The most interesting part of the game was the fact that Twins coach Billy Martin played in the game. Martin last played in the big leagues in 1961 with the Twins and then became a scout from 1962-1964 before joining the Twins coaching staff in 1965. Martin entered the game as a PH and promptly doubled and then had a bunt single ending his night 2 for 3.

Twins_Exib_06201967_P23_1

Twins_Exib_06201967_P23

The rest of the stories that I have done on the 1967 AL pennant race can be found here.

 

 

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Moeller & Davidson

A couple of players had their major league debuts on June 20th.

Chad Moeller (C) – June 20, 2000 –  Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 7th round of the 1996 amateur draft. Debut not too memorable, 0 for 3, hit into a double play and didn’t get the ball out of the infield in a Twins 5-2 loss in Arlington to the Rangers.

 

Mark Davidson (OF) – June 20, 1986 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 1982 amateur draft. His debut was as a defensive replacement for in the 7th inning of a 9-8 Twins win at the Dome over the Indians.

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins

Twins minor league player of the week – Zach Granite

Zach Granite

Rochester Red Wings (AAA) outfielder Zach Granite has been named has been named Twins minor league Player of the Week. Granite, 24,  appeared in five games for the Red Wings, hitting .526 (10-for-19) with five doubles, three RBI, five runs scored and six walks. Additionally, the left-handed hitting Zach Granite has hit in 16 straight games, batting .508 (33-for-65) with nine doubles, three triples, five RBI, 16 runs scored and seven stolen bases since June 1 while collecting multiple hits in 13 of the last 15 games. Granite now qualifies for league leaderboard, pacing the International League in batting average (.348) and on-base percentage (.401). Since June 2, he leads all minor leaguers in batting average (.525), hits (32) and OBP (.586). He also leads the league in runs scored (15), extra-base hits (11), total bases (46), stolen bases (7) and OPS (1.340) over that same period.

Zach Granite was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft from Seton Hall University. The Twins organization selected Zach Granite as the 2016 Minor League Player of the Year. Here is what manager Paul Molitor has to say about Granite:

“He’s aggressive, got a little moxie,” Molitor said of the Sherry Robertson Award winner. “Likes to get dirty, run the bases. Almost every day, the (reports) are fairly complimentary on how he gets after it. He’s finding a way to use what he can do in a game to make an impact. I know we don’t like facing those kind of guys.”

Mining the Minors: Is Zack Granite ready for a call-up to the Twins?

Twins Minor League Report 06172017

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Yohan Pino

Only the one player made his major league debut in a Twins uniform on June 19th.

Yohan Pino

Yohan Pino (P) – June 19, 2014 – Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins on December 12, 2013. Debut was a nice 7 inning start in a Twins 4-2 win over the White Sox allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 7.

 

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins

Twins sign first round pick Royce Lewis

Royce Lewis

The Minnesota Twins announced today the signing of their first overall selection, shortstop Royce Lewis from JSerra Catholic High School, whom they selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on June 12.

The Twins organization as normal did not release the amount that they spent to sign Lewis. According to Jon Heyman via MLBTradeRumors the Twins were able to get Lewis to sign for $6.725 million. MLBTradeRumors also said that:

Blayne Enlow

The first overall pick had a pool value of $7,770,700 this year, so it appears that when Lewis’ signing is complete, the Twins will save around $1M against their total draft pool of $14,156,800. Notably, they’ve already struck a deal with third-rounder Blayne Enlow for $2MM, a little over $1.2MM more than the value of the No. 76 pick. The Lewis and Enlow deals, then, will essentially balance one another out.

 

Twins sign 2017 first overall pick Royce Lewis.PDF

MLB Pension Injustice – Jeff Holly and many others

I wonder how many long-time baseball fans are aware that there are 500 or so former MLB players, being hosed out of pensions by the league and the players’ association.

San Pedro, California native Jeff Holly is among these men.  A former Minnesota Twins pitcher who spent his entire career with the team, the 64-year-old Holly played for them during parts of the 1977, 1978 and 1979 seasons. He appeared in 39 games, six of which were starts, hurled 90 innings and recorded three lifetime wins. A resident of Tustin, California, Mr. Holly attended Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, CA.
 
Mr. Holly doesn’t receive a traditional pension because the rules for receiving MLB pensions changed in 1980. Holly and the other men do not get pensions because they didn’t accrue four years of service credit. That was what ballplayers who played between 1947 – 1979  needed to be eligible for the pension plan. 

Instead, they all receive nonqualified retirement payments based on a complicated formula that had to have been calculated by an actuary. In brief, for every quarter of service a man had accrued, he’d get $625. Four quarters (one year) totaled $2,500. Sixteen quarters (four years) amounts to the maximum, $10,000. And that payment is before taxes were taken out.
 
By contrast, the maximum allowable pension a retired MLB player who is vested can make is $210,000.

The union doesn’t have to be the legal advocates for these men, the league doesn’t have to negotiate about this matter and the alumni association is too busy putting on golf outings.

Neither the league nor the union want to retroactively restore these men into pension coverage; instead, taxes are taken out of the non-qualified annuity payment, which cannot be passed on to a surviving spouse or designated beneficiary. They are also not eligible to be covered under the league’s umbrella health insurance plan.

Former pitcher Steve Rogers is a special assistant to Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. He is the players’ pension liaison; his email address is stever@mlbpa.org and his telephone number is 646-430-2112.

If you believe that these former big league ballplayers are being treated unfairly please give Steve Rogers a call or send him an e-mail and let him know that this is totally unfair. 

This article was submitted by Doug Gladstone, Author
“A Bitter Cup of Coffee; How MLB & The Players Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve”

Major League debuts as Minnesota Twins – Guerrier, Wiley and Whitby

Three major league debuts as Minnesota Twins on June 17 ranging from 1964 to 2004.

 

Twins reliever Matt Guerrier pitches during the seventh inning during Friday’s interleague game against the Houston Astros at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on June 20, 2009. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)

Matt Guerrier (P) – June 17, 2004 – Selected off waivers by the Minnesota Twins from the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 20, 2003. Guerrier’s debut was as the Twins starter at Olympique Park at Montreal in a Twins win but Guerrier received a ND for his efforts that day. Turns out that starting was not Guerrier’s forte.

 

Mark Wiley

 

Mark Wiley (P) – June 17, 1975 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1970 amateur draft. Wiley’s debut took place in the middle of an eight run outburst by the Oakland A’s at the Met.

 

Bill Whitby

Bill Whitby (P) – June 17, 1964 – Signed as an amateur free agent in 1961 and debuted in relief in a 5-0 loss at Cleveland Stadium pitching 1.1 innings and allowing 2 hits and 1 run (a home run by Pedro Ramos).

 

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Jackson & Rollins

Two players made their major league debuts as Twins on June 16, both a few years ago.

Darrell Jackson (P) – June 16, 1978 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 9th round of the 1977 amateur draft. Jackson was originally drafted by Minnesota as a sixth round selection in 1973 out of high school but chose to go to Arizona State University where he had the opportunity to play in three College World Series while he attended school there. Jackson debuted in pro ball with the Orlando Twins in 1978 and in his first professional game pitched nine innings of no-hit ball against the Jacksonville Suns. Unfortunately, the game was tied after nine innings, and Jackson was relieved by fellow future Twin Jeff Holly. Orlando won the game, 1–0, in 12 innings. After just 10 starts in the minors, Jackson was called up to the Twins. 

Rich Rollins – Twins 3B from 1961 – 1968

Rich Rollins (3B) – June 16, 1961 – Signed as amateur free agent in 1960. Rollins was the sixth player to make his major league debut as a Minnesota Twin. Rollins debuted against the White Sox going 1 for 4 off pitchers Don Larsen and Early Wynn. In his first full season with Minnesota in 1962 he was selected to both All-Star games and finished 8th in MVP voting behind winner Mickey Mantle.

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins