Tag: A. J. Hinch

Twins skipper Paul Molitor wins Manager of the Year award

Twins manager Paul Molitor

Paul Molitor, 61 year-old Minnesota native won the American League Manager of the Year award after his Minnesota Twins became the first team to make the playoffs following a 100-loss season. Molitor won the honor November 14 in voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Molitor joins Frank Robinson as the only Hall of Fame players to win a manager of the year award. Molitor finished ahead of Cleveland’s Terry Francona and Houston’s A.J. Hinch in the AL balloting. Torey Lovullo of the Arizona Diamondbacks won the NL award.

Molitor was rewarded with a three-year extension after the 2017 season ended.

 

Remembering 1965 – Part 34 – Game 7 recap and Sam Mele

Paul Molitor
Paul Molitor

A couple of days ago the Sporting News named Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor as their AL Manager of the Year in a vote from a panel of 27 MLB managers. The Sporting News award is not the “official” vote for AL Manager of the Year but it carries some weight in my eyes because the votes are cast by your peers. Astros skipper A.J. Hinch was the runner-up.

Sam MeleFifty years ago when the Twins won the pennant and advanced to the 1965 World Series, Twins manager Sam Mele won the same award that Molitor won. I am sure that Molitor earned a few dollars more than Mele did in 1965 as his (Mele’s) pay checks totaled about $30,000. Shortly after the 1965 season ended Mele signed a two-year deal for $48,000 a season. Here is a write-up that the Sporting News did on Mele and his award.

Sporting News Oct 23, 1965 P7

Sporting News Oct 23, 1965 P31 (Game 7 recap)

According to ELIAS

Twins score just enough to halt Astros streak

Torii Hunter 2015Eduardo Nunez homered and drove in a run with a groundout, the Twins scored another run when Torii Hunter was hit by a bases-loaded pitch, and five pitchers combined to blank the Astros in a 3-0 victory. Hunter gets hit by a pitch with the bases full every seven years, the two previous times that it happened were in 2001 with the Twins and 2008 with the Angels.

Getting as many as three runs hasn’t been easy against the Houston pitching staff; in fact, the Twins were the first team to do it in the Astros’ last 10 games, although A.J. Hinch‘s squad has now lost three of those 10 games (the other two losses came by a 1-0 score). Source: ELIAS