Tag: Bert Campaneris

Jim Holt gone at the age of 74

Jim Holt

James William Holt was born on May 27, 1944 in Graham, NC and passed away at the age of 74 on March 29, 2019 in Burlington, NC. The youngest of six children, Jim Holt learned to play baseball in high school and after graduation had tryouts with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians. When these tryouts didn’t attract any pro ball offers and opportunities in Graham pretty much limited to working in a flour or timber mill, Holt decided to join the Army in 1963 and intended to make it a career.

Continue reading Jim Holt gone at the age of 74

These guys beat up the Twins over the years

With the Minnesota Twins having 57 MLB seasons in the rear view mirror, the Houston Astros winning the World Series in 7 games, the temperatures in the mid 40’s and with no snow on the ground it is a good time to look back on and revisit the hitters that have found Twins pitching to their liking over the years. 

Today we are going to take a look at Twins opponents that have 200 or more hits against the Twins, there are 23 players who fit this criteria. 200 hits is a lot of hits. Six of the 23 hit from the left side, 13 were right-handed hitters and just four (Vizquel, Martinez, Wilson and Murray) of them were switch-hitters. Just missing out on this list were Frank Thomas with 194 hits, Al Kaline with 192 and Sal Bando with 190 hits.

200 or more hits against the Minnesota Twins

Carl Yastrzemski
Results
Rk Player #Matching AB H
?		 HR RBI SO BA OPS Tm
1 Carl Yastrzemski 297 1094 321 43 158 121 .293 .855 BOS
2 George Brett 228 869 275 23 128 74 .316 .869 KCR
3 Paul Konerko 257 926 265 50 136 139 .286 .845 CHW
4 Cal Ripken 207 788 242 26 119 87 .307 .849 BAL
5 Magglio Ordonez 195 739 240 37 145 80 .325 .906 CHW,DET
6 Wade Boggs 179 687 234 6 84 50 .341 .869 BOS,NYY,TBD
7 Bert Campaneris 232 913 229 7 54 115 .251 .633 KCA,OAK,TEX,CAL,NYY
8 Omar Vizquel 212 783 228 5 68 79 .291 .732 SEA,CLE,SFG,TEX,CHW,TOR
9 Victor Martinez 205 764 226 29 121 90 .296 .823 CLE,BOS,DET
10 Reggie Jackson 252 902 225 51 142 243 .249 .818 KCA,OAK,BAL,NYY,CAL
11 Brooks Robinson 230 861 223 20 115 91 .259 .711 BAL
12 Amos Otis 195 740 223 16 100 102 .301 .818 KCR
13 Jim Thome 196 695 218 61 156 221 .314 1.049 CLE,CHW,PHI,BAL
14 Paul Molitor 176 716 217 16 93 76 .303 .825 MIL,TOR
15 Willie Wilson 185 693 216 3 64 113 .312 .752 KCR,OAK
16 Rickey Henderson 198 721 215 23 85 90 .298 .869 OAK,NYY,TOR,ANA,SEA,BOS
17 Robin Yount 208 794 211 18 93 92 .266 .715 MIL
18 Harold Baines 213 716 209 32 127 101 .292 .851 CHW,TEX,OAK,BAL
19 Ivan Rodriguez 178 678 208 29 94 104 .307 .835 TEX,DET,NYY,HOU
20 Luis Aparicio 195 774 205 8 51 60 .265 .649 BAL,CHW,BOS
21 Miguel Cabrera 175 653 205 41 139 109 .314 .960 FLA,DET
22 Frank White 214 704 202 13 73 70 .287 .751 KCR
23 Eddie Murray 168 658 201 44 133 94 .305 .922 BAL,CLE,ANA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/29/2017.

One oddity that I noticed when looking over this data was that only two players got their 200 or more hits from one spot in the batting order. Ricky Henderson had 214 out of his 215 hits against Minnesota hitting lead-off while Carl Yastrzemski had 228 of his 321 hits out of the three-hole.

WOW! Look at the Hall of Famer’s on this list plus some of the others will be in shortly. Anyone on this list surprise you? How about players that you thought would be on the list but are not?

 

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Ryan, Gaetti, Stephen & Roland

September 20 major league debuts in a Minnesota Twins uniform.

Mike Ryan (OF) – September 20, 2002 –  Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Draft. Was in the starting line-up at Comiskey Park II hitting lead-off and playing left field and went o for 4 at the plate in a Twins 10-2 loss. See real story about the Mike Ryan debut.

Gary Gaetti (3B) – September 20, 1981 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1979 amateur draft (June Secondary). Signed June 21, 1979. Debut took place at Arlington Stadium hitting 7th and playing third base. In his first big league at bat Gaetti hit a two-run home run off Rangers pitcher Charlie Hough. For the day Gaetti was 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 RBI.

Buzz Stephen (P) – September 20, 1968 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1966 amateur draft (June Secondary). Twins starter at Met Stadium in a 7-1 loss to the Oakland A’s. Stephen pitched 6.1 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and 5 walks while fanning just one and his effort earned him the loss. Buzz also had an error and a wild pitch but on the plus side he did pick-off Bert Campaneris. 

Jim Roland (P) – September 20, 1962 – Signed as an amateur free agent in 1961, Debuted at Met Stadium in relief and tossed 2 innings of scoreless relief allowing just one hit and striking out one along the way. Unfortunately the Twins came up short and lost 5-1 to the Tigers.

You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.

According to Elias and a little extra

Zelous Wheeler, called up from the minors by the Yankees on Thursday when slumping Yangervis Solarte was sent down, made a big splash in his major-league debut when he hit a home run in the fifth inning against the Twins’ Phil Hughes. Wheeler is the eighth player to hit a home run for the Yankees is his first major-league game and the first since Marcus Thames in 2002. The most notable player to homer for the Yankees in his big-league debut is Yogi Berra, who did so against the Philadelphia A’s in the first game of a doubleheader in the Bronx on Sept. 22, 1946.

So how many Minnesota Twins players have hit a home run in their first game?

Rick Renick
Rick Renick
Rk Player Year ? PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI
1 Luke Hughes 2010 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 1
2 Andre David 1984 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 2
3 Gary Gaetti 1981 Ind. Games 3 3 1 0 0 1 2
4 Kent Hrbek 1981 Ind. Games 5 5 2 0 0 1 2
5 Tim Laudner 1981 Ind. Games 4 3 2 0 0 1 2
6 Dave McKay 1975 Ind. Games 3 3 1 0 0 1 1
7 Eric Soderholm 1971 Ind. Games 4 2 1 0 0 1 1
8 Hal Haydel 1970 Ind. Games 3 3 2 1 0 1 1
9 Rick Renick 1968 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/4/2014.

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How about if we look to see who has hit a home run in his first game when the opponent was the Minnesota Twins?

Rk Player Year ? PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI Tm
1 Zelous Wheeler 2014 Ind. Games 4 4 2 0 0 1 1 NYY
2 Chris Richard 2000 Ind. Games 5 4 1 0 0 1 1 STL
3 Jay Bell 1986 Ind. Games 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 CLE
4 Dave Machemer 1978 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 1 CAL
5 Bert Campaneris 1964 Ind. Games 5 4 3 0 0 2 3 KCA
6 John Kennedy 1962 Ind. Games 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 WSA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/4/2014.