According to Elias

 

Kevin Correia
Kevin Correia

Kevin Correia allowed one run in six innings, and also drove in a run on a fourth-inning double in the Twins’ 9-3 win at Colorado. Correia is the first Minnesota pitcher to register an RBI in a game in which he also pitched at least six innings while allowing fewer than two runs since Bert Blyleven (9 IP, 1 run allowed, 1 RBI) against the Royals on September 16, 1972. In his 12th big league season Correia is hitting .115 with 33 hits in 288 at-bats with 13 RBI. Correia has also tried to steal twice but has been caught both times.

Did you know?

  • When Minnesota Twins pitcher Yohan Pino will made his Major League debut Thursday night at 30 years, 175 days old at Target Field against the Chicago White Sox. He became the oldest Twin (since 1961) to make his big league debut. Yohan became the 49th starting pitcher in Major League history since at least 1914 to make his Major League debut at age 30-or-older, and just the 14th since 1982. Starters making their Major League debut at age 30-or-older have won each of their last three starts and four of the last five. Since 1982, teams are 7-6 in the 13 occurrences. The 13 pitchers have combined to go 6-4 with a 3.36 ERA (27 earned runs in 72.1 innings) with
    26 walks and 52 strikeouts.
  • Twins second baseman Brian Dozier has hit 15 home runs while swiping 15 bases this
    season, stealing his 15th earlier this week. It marks the 15th time in Club history and 12th different player with the previous ?ve being Torii Hunter in 2007 (28 homers/18 steals), Lew Ford in 2004 (15 homers/20 steals), Hunter in 2004 (23 homers/21 steals), Hunter in 2002 (29 homers/23 steals) and Corey Koskie in 2001 (26 homers/27 steals). Dozier accomplished the feat in his 68th game which is the fastest ever by a Twin and fastest in baseball since Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers did it in his 68th game.
  • Upon Further Review – Through 1,073 games played this season (through
    Wednesday), Major League Baseball has had 541 replay reviews, which have taken an average of one minute and fifty-one seconds.

*541 Replay Reviews
*130 Confirmed
*153 Stands
*251 Overturned
*7 Record Keeping
*1:51 Average Time

  • Through June 18th the American League has a 79-68 record in Interleague play and is hitting .255 and their pitchers have a 3.80 ERA. National League batters are hitting .254 and their pitchers have a 3.78 ERA.
  • The CWS (College World Series) Legends Team includes former Twins Todd Walker, Eddie Bane, and Dave Winfield (former Minnesota Gopher as well).
  • In baseball, a quality start is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in 1985 while writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The most quality starts in a season for a Twins pitcher since 2003 is 25 by Johan Santana in 2004. If you use the QS formula going back to 1961, then Bert Blyleven‘s 31 QS in 1972 would be the leader.

Twins career QS leaders from 1961 to present day

Rk Player QS From To G GS CG SHO W L W-L% SV IP SO ERA HR BF BA
1 Jim Kaat 253 1961 1973 468 422 133 23 189 152 .554 6 2959.1 1824 3.28 270 12385 .256
2 Bert Blyleven 218 1970 1988 348 345 141 29 149 138 .519 0 2566.2 2035 3.28 243 10542 .246
3 Brad Radke 208 1995 2006 378 377 37 10 148 139 .516 0 2451.0 1467 4.22 326 10244 .276
4 Jim Perry 156 1963 1972 376 249 61 17 128 90 .587 5 1883.1 1025 3.15 166 7791 .242
5 Frank Viola 144 1982 1989 260 259 54 10 112 93 .546 0 1772.2 1214 3.86 213 7450 .260
6 Dave Goltz 129 1972 1979 247 215 80 11 96 79 .549 3 1638.0 887 3.48 119 6887 .264
7 Johan Santana 112 2000 2007 251 175 6 4 93 44 .679 1 1308.2 1381 3.22 144 5281 .221
8 Camilo Pascual 101 1961 1966 184 179 72 18 88 57 .607 0 1284.2 994 3.31 123 5362 .233
9 Kevin Tapani 98 1989 1995 181 180 19 6 75 63 .543 0 1171.1 724 4.06 109 4897 .270
10 Eric Milton 83 1998 2003 166 165 10 4 57 51 .528 0 987.1 715 4.76 149 4196 .259
11 Scott Baker 76 2005 2011 163 159 4 2 63 48 .568 0 958.0 770 4.15 123 4004 .266
12 Dave Boswell 76 1964 1970 187 150 37 6 67 54 .554 0 1036.1 865 3.49 106 4344 .217
13 Scott Erickson 73 1990 1995 155 153 14 7 61 60 .504 0 979.1 527 4.22 83 4244 .275
14 Geoff Zahn 71 1977 1980 133 126 36 7 53 53 .500 0 852.0 348 3.90 68 3621 .289
15 Nick Blackburn 69 2007 2012 145 137 5 0 43 55 .439 0 818.2 388 4.85 117 3577 .303
16 Allan Anderson 69 1986 1991 148 128 15 3 49 54 .476 0 818.2 339 4.11 87 3474 .282
17 Francisco Liriano 68 2005 2012 156 130 1 1 50 52 .490 1 783.1 788 4.33 76 3341 .247
18 Kyle Lohse 67 2001 2006 172 152 4 3 51 57 .472 0 908.1 561 4.88 128 3982 .285
19 Mudcat Grant 67 1964 1967 129 111 36 10 50 35 .588 1 780.2 377 3.35 88 3227 .260
20 Joe Mays 66 1999 2005 193 146 10 6 48 65 .425 0 946.1 487 4.85 127 4110 .282
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/22/2014.

If you took the list from above and looked at QS%, the Twins career leader is Johan Santana with .640% followed by Bert Blyleven at .632%. Nick Blackburn was not always a fan favorite but his career QS% is .504%, 14th best in team history. Who has the best career QS% in the AL since 1961? That would be Pedro Martinez at .751%. How about the NL you say? That is non other than Sandy Koufax at .782%.

Check out the BA column on the list above, the best is an amazing .217 career BA allowed by the late great Dave Boswell, the man has not gotten his due here in Minnesota and should be in the Twins Hall of Fame. Aren’t statistics fun?

Baseball is such an amazing game, you never know what you will see next and how many times have you watched a game and told yourself, Geez, I have never seen that happen before. How about this one, Brewers score three on one wild pitch.

History indicates Yohan Pino’s tenure as a Twins starter will be short

Yohan Pino
Yohan Pino

A two-hour and 6 minute rain delay before last nights Twins game at Target Field started was no biggie for Twins starter Yohan Pino. After all, he has toiled in the minors for 10 years and waited 30 years and 175 days before making his Major League debut against the White Sox on Thursday.

The right-hander went seven innings, giving up two runs and five hits and one walk while striking out seven, but was lifted after 7 innings with the score knotted at 2-2. His seven strikeouts were the second most in franchise history in a debut, tying him with Darrell Jackson and Bert Blyleven, and trailing only Boof Bonser‘s eight strikeouts set in 2006.

Andrew Albers
Andrew Albers
Alex McColl
Alex McColl

Pino also became the oldest starting pitcher to make a big league debut in Twins history, passing Andrew Albers, who was 27 years and 304 days old when he made his debut with the Twins just last season. The Twins released Albers this past January allowing him to sign with a South Korean team. Albers ended up signing with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. The oldest pitcher in franchise history to debut in the big leagues was Alex McColl who pitched in his first game for the Washington Senators in 1933 at the age of 39 years and 151 days.

Oldest Twins rookie pitchers to debut in big leagues and have at least one start

Rk Player G GS Year Age ? W L SV IP SO ERA
1 Yohan Pino 1 1 2014 30 0 0 0 7.0 7 2.57
2 Les Straker 31 26 1987 27 8 10 0 154.1 76 4.37
3 Jerry Crider 21 1 1969 27 1 0 1 28.2 16 4.71
4 Cole De Vries 17 16 2012 27 5 5 0 87.2 58 4.11
5 Mark Wiley 15 3 1975 27 1 3 2 38.2 15 6.05
6 Andrew Albers 10 10 2013 27 2 5 0 60.0 25 4.05
7 Tom Klawitter 7 2 1985 27 0 0 0 9.1 5 6.75
8 Dennis Burtt 5 2 1985 27 2 2 0 28.1 9 3.81
9 Matt Fox 1 1 2010 27 0 0 0 5.2 0 3.18
10 Ed Hodge 25 15 1984 26 4 3 0 100.0 59 4.77
11 Brian Duensing 24 9 2009 26 5 2 0 84.0 53 3.64
12 Albert Williams 18 9 1980 26 6 2 1 77.0 35 3.51
13 Francisco Oliveras 12 8 1989 26 3 4 0 55.2 24 4.53
14 Greg Brummett 5 5 1993 26 2 1 0 26.2 10 5.74
15 Jay Pettibone 4 4 1983 26 0 4 0 27.0 10 5.33
16 Dave Gassner 2 2 2005 26 1 0 0 7.2 2 5.87
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/20/2014.
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If you look at the list of pitchers on the list above you will see that none of them were a starter for the Minnesota Twins for very long and in most cases most of them did not pitch for the Twins or anyone else for any length o time. Les Straker did start two World Series games for the Twins in 1987. History seems to indicate that if you do not debut in the big leagues before your 26th birthday (at least with the Twins), the odds are very much against you. We can hope that Yohan Pino has better luck but don’t bet the farm on it. Kyle Gibson just missed being on this list because his big league debut occurred in 2013 at the age of 25 and 249 days.

Former Twins OF Revere finally gets off the home run schneid

Ben RevereBen Revere hit his first major-league home run in his 1466th at-bat in the Phillies’ home loss to the Rockies. That was the longest start-of-career homer-less streak by any player since the Pirates’ Frank Taveras connected for an inside-the park grand slam at Cincinnati on August 5, 1977 in his 1594th at-bat.

 

Twins batters with 100 or more at bats and zero home runs

Rk Player AB HR From To G PA H 2B 3B RBI BA
1 Al Newman 1647 0 1987 1991 618 1876 380 59 7 135 .231
2 Ben Revere 989 0 2010 2012 254 1064 275 22 11 64 .278
3 Houston Jimenez 384 0 1983 1984 144 409 75 16 2 28 .195
4 Luis Gomez 362 0 1974 1977 241 403 72 6 2 22 .199
5 Junior Ortiz 304 0 1990 1991 132 338 85 12 2 29 .280
6 Mudcat Grant 263 0 1964 1967 151 298 45 10 2 23 .171
7 Bert Blyleven 235 0 1970 1988 348 265 34 3 0 9 .145
8 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 233 0 2011 2012 71 254 50 5 0 20 .215
9 Dick Stigman 213 0 1962 1965 138 233 20 4 0 6 .094
10 Dean Chance 209 0 1967 1969 104 246 9 0 0 4 .043
11 Jim Merritt 206 0 1965 1968 122 236 27 6 0 7 .131
12 Nelson Liriano 185 0 1990 1990 53 211 47 5 7 13 .254
13 Jose Morales 158 0 2007 2010 74 181 47 9 0 14 .297
14 Sergio Ferrer 138 0 1974 1975 56 157 36 3 3 2 .261
15 Dan Monzon 131 0 1972 1973 94 154 32 2 1 9 .244
16 Tom Hall 130 0 1968 1971 145 146 25 2 0 2 .192
17 Bruce Look 118 0 1968 1968 59 139 29 4 0 9 .246
18 Dick Woodson 117 0 1969 1974 129 129 9 0 0 2 .077
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/28/2014.

Top Twins rookie starting pitchers

The Twins have a reputation now days of bringing their young players, particularly their young pitchers along very slowly but that has not always been the case. In today’s game pitches are counted and innings are watched from year to year to make sure that pitchers do not have a huge jump in innings pitched from one year to the next. We fans sometimes complain about how long it takes a player to reach the majors but think what its like for the team itself. They draft the guy and then they have to pay him as he develops his skills, they get no return on their investment unless the player reaches the major leagues and becomes a successful player. The temptation must be huge to push the guy along to get a quick return on the money spent, but if you push him too quickly all kinds of bad things can happen.

Let’s take a look at the case of RHP Roger Erickson who the Twins drafted in round 3 of the 1977 June amateur draft. Erickson signed and was sent to “AA” Orlando where he pitched 109 innings in 16 games (14 starts) with 10 complete games. This is all after he pitched in college that spring. I was not able to locate any of Erickson’s college stats. The next year Erickson gets a spring training invite and makes the 1978 Twins starting rotation. The 21-year-old rookie makes his major league debut when he starts the second game of the season for the Twins and beats the Seattle Mariners 5-4 at the Kingdome. Erickson goes on to start a club leading 37 games for the Twins with 14 complete games and an amazing 265.2 innings pitched. Erickson finished the 1878 season with a 14-13 record with a 3.96 ERA , a WHIP of 1.306 and 121 strikeouts. Erickson was not a strikeout pitcher but more in the mold of a Brad Radke type of pitcher.  In 1979 Erickson went 3-10 with a 5.63 ERA in 21 starts (zero complete games) and 123 innings, in 1980 his record was 7-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 191.1 innings and in 1981 Erickson went 3-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 91.1 innings. In May of 1982 after a 4-3 start the Twins had seen enough and traded Erickson and catcher Butch Wynegar to the New York Yankees for pitchers Pete Filson and John Pacella and infielder Larry Milbourne and a suitcase full of cash. Roger Erickson pitched in a total of 21 games for the Yankees in 1982 and 1983 and at the age of 27 his big league playing days were behind him. Erickson tried to come back in 1984, again in 1987 and still again in 1989 in the minors with the Tigers and the Cardinals but he never again put on a big league uniform.

This is one of baseball classic cases of pitcher abuse, a situation where Twins manager Gene Mauch and pitching coach Camilo Pascual could not see the forest for the trees and killed a promising career before it really had a chance to get started. Erickson’s career ended prematurely at the age of 27 primarily because he pitched too many innings at too young an age. When he last pitched in the big leagues he was just 27 but he had already been in the majors for 6 seasons and he had already logged almost 800 innings with 265 of those in his first season. In the end the Twins lost a promising pitcher and Roger Erickson was robbed of his career. A loss-loss for both sides. Just a sad story all around.

Almost every day you hear about another big league pitcher having forearm or elbow tightness and the next thing you know they are off to see Dr. Andrews or someone like him to get a second opinion before undergoing “Tommy John” surgery. Are there more problems of this type now even with all the attention given to limiting innings and pitch counts. What are today’s pitchers doing differently that is causing these problems? Is it all about the fact that the pitchers today seem to throw harder than the pitchers of the past did? Are pitchers just not getting enough rest between seasons end and the start of the next season? Or maybe it is just the opposite, maybe the pitchers are not throwing enough? Is specialization of the athletes at much younger ages adding to the pitching arm woes? Or have these problems always been there and we just called it elbow tendonitis or a sore arm in the past and prescribed rest and/or retirement?

 

Roger Erickson
Roger Erickson

Here is a list of Twins pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings in their rookie seasons. *

Rk Player IP GS Year Age G CG SHO W L W-L% SV H BB SO ERA BA
1 Roger Erickson 265.2 37 1978 21 37 14 0 14 13 .519 0 268 79 121 3.96 .263
2 Jim Hughes 249.2 34 1975 23 37 12 2 16 14 .533 0 241 127 130 3.82 .255
3 Paul Thormodsgard 218.0 37 1977 23 37 8 1 11 15 .423 0 236 65 94 4.62 .280
4 Ken Schrom 196.1 28 1983 28 33 6 1 15 8 .652 0 196 80 80 3.71 .266
5 Nick Blackburn (RoY-8th) 193.1 33 2008 26 33 0 0 11 11 .500 0 224 39 96 4.05 .292
6 Gary Serum 184.1 23 1978 21 34 6 1 9 9 .500 1 188 44 80 4.10 .266
7 Brad Radke (RoY-9th) 181.0 28 1995 22 29 2 1 11 14 .440 0 195 47 75 5.32 .275
8 Scott Diamond 173.0 27 2012 25 27 1 1 12 9 .571 0 184 31 90 3.54 .274
9 Eric Milton 172.1 32 1998 22 32 1 0 8 14 .364 0 195 70 107 5.64 .282
10 Joe Mays 171.0 20 1999 23 49 2 1 6 11 .353 0 179 67 115 4.37 .270
11 Vic Albury 164.0 22 1974 27 32 4 1 8 9 .471 0 159 80 85 4.12 .259
12 Bert Blyleven 164.0 25 1970 19 27 5 1 10 9 .526 0 143 47 135 3.18 .232
13 Kevin Tapani (RoY-5th) 159.1 28 1990 26 28 1 1 12 8 .600 0 164 29 101 4.07 .264
14 Les Straker 154.1 26 1987 27 31 1 0 8 10 .444 0 150 59 76 4.37 .257
15 Mark Redman (RoY-6th) 151.1 24 2000 26 32 0 0 12 9 .571 0 168 45 117 4.76 .281
16 Glen Perkins 151.0 26 2008 25 26 0 0 12 4 .750 0 183 39 74 4.41 .301
17 Bill Zepp 151.0 20 1970 23 43 1 1 9 4 .692 2 154 51 64 3.22 .266
18 Frank Viola 126.0 22 1982 22 22 3 1 4 10 .286 0 152 38 84 5.21 .302
19 Pete Redfern 118.0 23 1976 21 23 1 1 8 8 .500 0 105 63 74 3.51 .241
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/12/2014.

* = From 1947 through 1956, each BBWAA voter used discretion as to who qualified as a rookie. In 1957, the term was first defined as someone with fewer than 75 at bats or 45 innings pitched in any previous Major League season. This guideline was later amended to 90 at bats, 45 innings pitched, or 45 days on a Major League roster before September 1 of the previous year. The current standard of 130 at bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club (excluding time in military service or on the disabled list) before September 1 was adopted in 1971.

20 Game Winners

twentyOne of the most frequent requests that I receive on this web site is from folks that are looking to find the names of the Twins pitchers that have won 20 or more games in a season so I have decided to publish the list in a post for easy look-up.

Thirteen different Twins pitchers have won 20 or more games in a season on just 15 occasions and no pitcher has won 20 games since Johan Santana did it back in 2004. Two pitchers have done it twice, Camilo Pascual and Jim Perry. Camilo and Jim Perry are the only Minnesota pitchers to win 20 or more in back-to-back seasons. 1969 is the only season that the Twins had multiple 20 game winners when Boswell and Perry each had 20 victories. A big part of the reason for not winning 20 games no days is that with the five man rotation starters only get 32 to 34 starts and the other big reason is that managers today bring in relievers at the drop of a hat or the sight of a baserunner late in the game. 20 game winners are getting as rare as hens teeth, since 1980 the Twins have had four 20 game winners and three no-hitters.

Rk Player Year W Age G GS CG SHO L IP SO ERA BA
1 Johan Santana 2004 20 25 34 34 1 1 6 228.0 265 2.61 .192
2 Brad Radke 1997 20 24 35 35 4 1 10 239.2 174 3.87 .257
3 Scott Erickson 1991 20 23 32 32 5 3 8 204.0 108 3.18 .248
4 Frank Viola 1988 24 28 35 35 7 2 7 255.1 193 2.64 .245
5 Jerry Koosman 1979 20 36 37 36 10 2 13 263.2 157 3.38 .268
6 Dave Goltz 1977 20 28 39 39 19 2 11 303.0 186 3.36 .247
7 Bert Blyleven 1973 20 22 40 40 25 9 17 325.0 258 2.52 .242
8 Jim Perry 1970 24 34 40 40 13 4 12 278.2 168 3.04 .243
9 Dave Boswell 1969 20 24 39 38 10 0 12 256.1 190 3.23 .226
10 Jim Perry 1969 20 33 46 36 12 3 6 261.2 153 2.82 .247
11 Dean Chance 1967 20 26 41 39 18 5 14 283.2 220 2.73 .229
12 Jim Kaat 1966 25 27 41 41 19 3 13 304.2 205 2.75 .235
13 Mudcat Grant 1965 21 29 41 39 14 6 7 270.1 142 3.30 .247
14 Camilo Pascual 1963 21 29 31 31 18 3 9 248.1 202 2.46 .224
15 Camilo Pascual 1962 20 28 34 33 18 5 11 257.2 206 3.32 .241
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/16/2014.

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You would think that over the years there would have been a number of Twins pitchers that came up just short of joning the 20 game winners list by winning 19 games but that is not the case. Since 1961 the Twins have had one pitcher, Johan Santana in 2006 tht ended the season with 19 games in the win column.

Twins career ERA leaders

A list of Minnesota Twins pitchers with the best Twins career ERA’s with a requirement of having pitched at leat 500 innings in a Twins uniform. Only Dean Chance has an Twin career ERA of under 3.00 and only 18 Twins pitchers have thrown 500 or more innings and have an ERA under 4.00. It just goes to show the state of Twins pitching over the years. But how do the Twins compare to the rest of the American League?

Dean Chance
Dean Chance
Rk Player ERA IP G GS CG SHO W L SV SO BA
1 Dean Chance 2.67 664.0 104 93 34 11 41 34 2 504 .221
2 Jim Merritt 3.03 686.2 122 89 28 6 37 41 6 527 .228
3 Jim Perry 3.15 1883.1 376 249 61 17 128 90 5 1025 .242
4 Johan Santana 3.22 1308.2 251 175 6 4 93 44 1 1381 .221
5 Bert Blyleven 3.28 2566.2 348 345 141 29 149 138 0 2035 .246
6 Jim Kaat 3.28 2959.1 468 422 133 23 189 152 6 1824 .256
7 Camilo Pascual 3.31 1284.2 184 179 72 18 88 57 0 994 .233
8 Dick Woodson 3.35 561.0 129 73 15 5 33 30 2 303 .233
9 Mudcat Grant 3.35 780.2 129 111 36 10 50 35 1 377 .260
10 Dave Goltz 3.48 1638.0 247 215 80 11 96 79 3 887 .264
11 Dave Boswell 3.49 1036.1 187 150 37 6 67 54 0 865 .217
12 Rick Aguilera 3.50 694.0 490 30 5 0 40 47 254 586 .243
13 Dick Stigman 3.69 643.2 138 85 26 4 37 37 7 538 .229
14 Jack Kralick 3.74 510.1 77 75 19 4 26 26 0 289 .267
15 Jerry Koosman 3.77 601.1 94 83 20 3 39 35 7 361 .271
16 Ray Corbin 3.84 652.1 181 63 12 3 36 38 17 348 .258
17 Frank Viola 3.86 1772.2 260 259 54 10 112 93 0 1214 .260
18 Geoff Zahn 3.90 852.0 133 126 36 7 53 53 0 348 .289
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2014.

Let’s take a look at how the Twins compare to the rest of the American League from 1961 to current again with the requirement of 500 innings.

Team ERA under 2.00 ERA under 3.00 ERA under 4.00
Angels 0 3 30
Yankees 0 7 29
Orioles 0 6 26
Whie Sox 1 4 25
A’s 0 5 25
Red Sox 0 2 22
Tigers 0 1 20
Rangers 0 0 20
Indians 0 4 19
Royals 0 1 19
Twins 0 1 18
Blue Jays 0 1 11
Mariners 0 0 7
Rays 0 0 5

Historic Tinker Field to be demolished

Tinker FieldThe Minnesota Twins spring training home from 1961 – 1990 is scheduled for demolition some time in the next 60 days. The Twins left Orlando after the 1990 season and moved their spring training home to Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers prior to their 1991 championship season. Numerous teams including the Minnesota Twins had minor league teams that played in Tinker Field as part of the Florida State League and the Southern League.

The ballpark was built-in 1923 at a cost of $50,000 and named for former Chicago Cubs player and Hall of Famer Joe Tinker. It hosted the Cincinnati Reds for spring training in the 1920s, and the Brooklyn Dodgers for two seasons in the 1930s. The Washington Senators and later the Minnesota Twins held spring training camp there from the mid-’30s until 1990. Numerous Hall of Famers including Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson have played there. Tinker Field’s history isn’t limited to baseball, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at a civil-rights rally there in 1964.

On May 14, 2004, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places but now it is slated to be torn down in the name of progress. The main reason? The renovation of the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium, which abuts the baseball field, includes a larger enclosed concourse that will encroach onto Tinker Field. The ballpark will lose about 80 feet of its outfield, putting the outfield fence as close as 240 feet from home plate.

For me personally,it is sad that Tinker Field will soon be torn down as it is the first place that I ever attended spring training when I spend a few days there back in 1971 watching the Twins go through their spring paces.

Here is the story the Orlando Sentinel did on it today.

Twins leaders by the decade

Games Won

1961-1969Jim Kaat – 141

1970-1979Bert Blyleven – 99

1980-1989Frank Viola – 112

1990-1999  – Kevin Tapani – 73

2000-2009Johan Santana – 93

2010-currentBrian Duensing – 29

…..

Home Runs

1961-1969Harmon Killebrew – 362

1970-1979 – Harmon Killebrew – 113

1980-1989Kent Hrbek – 201

1990-1999  – Kirby Puckett – 111

2000-2009Torii Hunter – 183

2010-currentJustin Morneau – 58

…..

Stolen Bases

1961-1969Cesar Tovar – 117

1970-1979Rod Carew – 235

1980-1989 – Kirby Puckett – 84

1990-1999  – Chuck Knoblauch – 276

2000-2009 – Torii Hunter – 116

2010-currentBen Revere – 74

…..

10 years is a long, long time

 

RF Tony Oliva played for the  Twins from 1962-1976
RF Tony Oliva played for the Twins from 1962-1976

If the reports are true, the Colorado Rockies and long-time Twins first baseman Justin Morneau have agreed on a two-year $13 million deal. After signing Morneau the Rockies will have two players on their roster that spent all or parts of 10 or more season wearing a Twins uniform. Morneau will join Michael Cuddyer in Colorado. Former Twins LaTroy Hawkins who logged nine seasons with Minnesota and has played with 10 different major league teams will also call Colorado home this season .

Now days with arbitration and free agency players don’t stay with an organization that long and to play for a team for 10 years is getting to be a tougher and tougher task. Since the Twins started here in 1961 there have been 22 players that logged 10 or more season in a Twins uniform with Tony Oliva leading the pack with 15 notches in his belt. The only active player on the list is Joe Mauer and if he stays in Minnesota through 2018 when his current contract expires, he will also wear that Minnesota across his chest for 15 years.

Players that played in Minnesota for all or parts of 10 seasons

Rk Yrs From To Age
1 Tony Oliva 15 1962 1976 23-37 Ind. Seasons
2 Kent Hrbek 14 1981 1994 21-34 Ind. Seasons
3 Harmon Killebrew 14 1961 1974 25-38 Ind. Seasons
4 Jim Kaat 13 1961 1973 22-34 Ind. Seasons
5 Brad Radke 12 1995 2006 22-33 Ind. Seasons
6 Eddie Guardado 12 1993 2008 22-37 Ind. Seasons
7 Kirby Puckett 12 1984 1995 24-35 Ind. Seasons
8 Randy Bush 12 1982 1993 23-34 Ind. Seasons
9 Rod Carew 12 1967 1978 21-32 Ind. Seasons
10 Justin Morneau 11 2003 2013 22-32 Ind. Seasons
11 Michael Cuddyer 11 2001 2011 22-32 Ind. Seasons
12 Torii Hunter 11 1997 2007 21-31 Ind. Seasons
13 Denny Hocking 11 1993 2003 23-33 Ind. Seasons
14 Rick Aguilera 11 1989 1999 27-37 Ind. Seasons
15 Bert Blyleven 11 1970 1988 19-37 Ind. Seasons
16 Joe Mauer 10 2004 2013 21-30 Ind. Seasons
17 Greg Gagne 10 1983 1992 21-30 Ind. Seasons
18 Gary Gaetti 10 1981 1990 22-31 Ind. Seasons
19 Roy Smalley 10 1976 1987 23-34 Ind. Seasons
20 Rich Reese 10 1964 1973 22-31 Ind. Seasons
21 Jim Perry 10 1963 1972 27-36 Ind. Seasons
22 Bob Allison 10 1961 1970 26-35 Ind. Seasons
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/5/2013.