Kevin Correia hurled eight shutout innings and earned the victory in the Twins’ 5-0 win over the Rangers yesterday afternoon. Correia has now pitched at least seven innings and allowed three or fewer runs in each of his five starts this season. Since the Twins moved to Minnesota in 1961, they have had only three other pitchers that have opened a season with five consecutive starts with at least seven innings pitched and three or fewer runs allowed: Jim Perry in 1965 (first five), Scott Erickson in 1991 (first seven) and Brad Radke in 2001 (first seven).
Tag: Brad Radke
How important are 30 or more starts in a season from each starting pitcher?
The Twins and Terry Ryan have put in a lot of time this off-season to try to round up some pitchers that they can put in the starting rotation so that manager Gardenhire can hopefully call on each of them to start 30-35 games each. That will be no easy task as last season the team leader in pitching starts was Scott Diamond with 27 and he didn’t even join the starting rotation until May 8th.
If you look back through franchise history you will find that the great Hall of Fame pitcher Walter (The Big Train) Johnson pitched for the Wasinhton Senators for 21 seasons from 1907-1927 and he started 666 games, that is an average of 31.71 starts each year for 21 years. He set the the franchise games started in a season record with 42 in 1910. Twins lefty Jim Kaat equalled that mark of 42 starts in the Twins 1965 AL Championship season and followed that up with 41 starts in 1966 making him the only pitcher in franchise history to have back-to-back 40+ starts seasons.
I thought it would be interesting to review the Gardenhire era from 2002 through 2012 to see how many pitchers he has had that have started 30 or more games in a season for the Twins.
2002 – Rick Reed and Kyle Lohse
2003 – Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Kenny Rogers, Joe Mays (and Rick Reed chipped in 27 starts)
2004 – Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Kyle Lohse
2005 – Johan Santana and Brad Radke
2006 – Johan Santana and Carlos Silva
2007 – Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser
2008 – Nick Blackburn
2009 – Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker
2010 – Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano
2011 – Carl Pavano
2012 – None, Scott Diamond led the pack with 27
In this 11 year time frame the Twins have had 12 different pitchers provide 30 or more starts in a single season and only three of them were actually drafted by the Twins, the rest were acquired in another manner. Radke was an 8th round pick in 1991, Blackburn was a 29th round pick in 2001, and Scott Baker was a 2nd round pick in 2003.
Chart showing numbers of pitchers with 30 or more starts
(Central Division champs marked with an *)| YEAR | Twins | Tigers | Indians | WSox | Royals | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2* | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 2003 | 4* | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
| 2004 | 4* | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| 2005 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4* | 2 | 16 |
| 2006 | 2* | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| 2007 | 3 | 2 | 3* | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| 2008 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4* | 3 | 11 |
| 2009 | 2* | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2010 | 2* | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 2011 | 1 | 4* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 2012 | 0 | 3* | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Totals | 23 | 31 | 22 | 35 | 17 | 128 |
How big a deal is it to get 30 or more starts out of your starting pitchers? I will let you be the judge of that but the chart seems to indicate that the numbers of pitchers you have starting on a consistent basis will determine where you finish in the standings. The Twins seem to buck the trend a bit as they are the only team to win the Central Division title with fewer than 3 starters taking the mound 30 or more times and they did it 3 times with just 2 starters taking the mound 30 or more times.
All this research made me curious as to who the Twins pitchers were over the years with the most starts in a Minnesota Twins uniform and here is what I dug up. There have only been 14 Twins pitchers that have toed the pitching rubber in the first inning in a Twins uniform 150 or more times. Some of these pitchers may have started a number of games in different uniforms including the Washington Senators prior to becoming the Twins but I am only looking for starts while wearing “Minnesota” on their chest. Of these 14 pitchers, only six (Blyleven, Viola, Goltz, Baker, Erickson, and Boswell) were actually drafted by the Minnesota Twins. The only pitcher on the list to spend his entire career as a Minnesota Twin? Brad Radke.
| Pitcher | # of starts | Years Pitched | Avg. # of starts per season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jim Kaat | 422 | 1961-1973 | 32.46 |
| 2. | Brad Radke | 377 | 1995-2006 | 31.42 |
| 3. | Bert Blyleven | 345 | 1970-1976 & 1985-1988 | 31.36 |
| 4. | Frank Viola | 259 | 1982-1989 | 32.38 |
| 5. | Jim Perry | 249 | 1963-1972 | 24.90 |
| 6. | Dave Goltz | 215 | 1972-1979 | 26.88 |
| 7. | Kevin Tapani | 180 | 1989-1995 | 25.71 |
| 8. | Camilo Pascual | 179 | 1961-1966 | 29.83 |
| 9. | Johan Santana | 175 | 2000-2007 | 21.88 |
| 10. | Eric Milton | 165 | 1998-2003 | 27.50 |
| 11. | Scot Baker | 159 | 2005-2011 | 22.71 |
| 12. | Scott Erickson | 153 | 1990-1995 | 25.50 |
| 13. | Kyle Lohse | 152 | 2001-2006 | 25.33 |
| 14. | Dave Boswell | 150 | 1964-1970 | 21.43 |
Twins put Liriano back in to starting rotation
The Twins have announced that Francisco Liriano is headed back in the starting rotation and will face the Oakland A’s at Target Field on Wednesday. So why do you move Francisco Liriano back in the starting rotation? Simply put, the Twins have no choice, they are out of ideas, they have tried everything they can think of to get Francisco back on track in his contract year and if anything, Liriano has gotten worse. I don’t know Liriano personally and according to what I have heard and seen in print, he is a nice guy, a quiet individual that works hard and goes about his business. I can only assume what they say about the man is true but when I look at Liriano I see a shy individual that can not handle pressure, not everyone is good in a pressure environment, some thrive under pressure and others find it impossible to deal with. I think Liriano sees himself falling into a deeper and deeper funk and doesn’t know how to stop from falling into the bottomless pit. He has no confidence, the team around him is playing poorly and he tries harder and harder to become the pitcher that everyone says he should be. But the harder you try the less successful you are going to be, pressure is a difficult thing to deal with and not everyone can handle the heat. The Twins coaching staff, the press and Twins blogs are all over Liriano and he can’t escape the negative things being said about him anywhere he goes. Everyone has an idea on how he should pitch in order for him to meet their lofty expectations, but sometimes you can not see the forest for the trees. The man has no place to go, everyone expects him to pitch like he did in 2006 when he went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 16 starts at the age of 22. But look at that 2006 team, that team finished the season 96-66 and won the AL Central. Look at their starters, Johan Santan was 19-6 in 34 starts, Carlos Silva was 11-15 in 31 starts, Brad Radke went 12-9 in 28 starts, Boof Bonser was 7-6 in 18 starts, Scott Baker had 16 starts and went 7-8, Matt Garza had 9 starts and Kyle Lohse had 8 starts. Garza and Liriano were the babies in the group, both 22 years of age, they had no pressure on them at all, they just took the mound and let their natural God-given gifts take over. After Santana left the Twins after the 2007 season and Liriano came back from TJ surgery in 2008 he was expected to take over as the Twins ace, but apparently that was not a role that Liriano could take on.
This year Francisco Liriano had a great spring training, Liriano threw a team leading 27 innings with 33 strikeouts,and 5 walks in 7 starts and posted a 2.33 ERA and batters only hit .250 against Francisco. Once the season started and games started to count, Liriano folded like a $5 umbrella in a hurricane. Liriano does not have the personality or temperament to be an ace in the big leagues, some are born to lead and others find that role too much to handle. But that does not mean that Liriano can not be a solid contributor to the pitching staff.,
To me the problem with Francisco is all about his control or lack there of. Since Liriano came back from TJ surgery in 2008 his bases on ball for 9 innings have gotten progressively worse going from 3.8 in 2008 to 6.9 in 2012. His hits per 9 innings have been in the 8.4 to 9.7 range with the exception of this year when they have jumped to 11.6. When you get as many suggestions as Liriano is probably getting now it gets very confusing and you get further and further away from what made you successful in the first place. The Twins are not going anywhere this year so they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting Frankie back in the starting rotation and just letting him pitch through this. He either does it or he doesn’t, but let him do it his way, he has earned that right. He is in the last year of his contract and there is no way the Twins will bring him back for any reason so the best the team can hope for is that Liriano can turn it around to some degree and that the Twins can move him for a prospect or two. The Twins have had their chances to move Liriano over the last few years but were not willing to pull the trigger on a deal because as is their history indicates, they hate to make a deal that could come back to haunt them. Some teams believe that it is better to trade a player a year or two too early rather than hold on to them and have their value decrease, the Twins are not one of those teams.
Is someone to blame for the situation that Liriano and the Twins find themselves in? I don’t know the answer to that and I am not sure anyone does but sometimes we all have to accept that things do not always go how we expect them to go and we just have to move on. Many years ago when I was a technology manager for Norwest Banks I had an employee that I managed that was a very good employee but never took the next step or training necessary to achieve what I though he was capable of achieving and it was frustrating to me. So during one of the annual review sessions I asked him what he didn’t put in the extra effort to move up the ladder and take on a bigger role and make more money. he looked at me and said, “why? I am perfectly happy with my current role and I have no interest in taking on more responsibility”. That answer surprised me but when I took the time to think over what he said, it made perfect sense. Sometimes we try to fit square pegs into round holes because we think it is the right thing to do but that is not how life should be.
How Twins have fared on Opening Day
When the Minnesota Twins open the 2012 season in Baltimore on Friday, April 6 it will mark the 32nd time in 52 season openers that the team has opened their baseball season as road warriors. As a cold weather team, the Twins have only played the seasons first game at Met Stadium five times (63,65,66,71,81) and fifteen times at the Metrodome. In their short history at Target Field the Twins have never opened the season at home. The Twins have not charged out of the gate on a winning note over the years winning only won 24 and losing 27 season opening games. You can make a strong case that their first ever game as Minnesota Twins on April 11, 1961 in Yankee Stadium when Pedro Ramos shut out the New Yorks Yankees 6-0 on just 3 hits was their greatest season opener ever. The most frequest opening day opponent for the Twins has been the Oakland A’s. The Twins have played the Oakland A’s on opening day ten times (the last time in 1990), eight times in Oakland and twice at home (at the Met in 1981 and at the Metrodome in 1987) and the opening day series between these two teams is tied at five game each. The Twins have drawn the Seattle Mariners as opening day opponents four times, twice at home and twice on the road and the Twins have yet to beat the Mariners on opening day.
Pitcher Brad Radke has taken the mound for the Twins on opening day nine times including seven in a row between 1999 and 2005. Radke’s record on opening day was 4 wins, 2 losses, and 3 no decisions. Kent Hrbek has started 12 games at 1B on opening day, the most games that any Twins player has played at any position on opening day. A number of players have started opening day at their position nine times but Hrbek is still the leader in that category.
The Twins have opened the season in Baltimore only once before and that was back on April 11, 1967 in Memorial Stadium when Jim Kaat took the mound for the Twins but before he retired a single batter, the Orioles plated four runs and held on for a 6-3 win. The Twins only other season opener against the Baltimore Orioles occurred on April 2, 2007 at the Metrodome when the Twins behind starter Johan Sanatana and home runs from Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau won 7-4.
Here is who the Twins have faced and how they have fared on opening day.
| TEAM | WON | LOST | HOME | AWAY | YEARS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankees | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 61,65,88,89 |
| Indians | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 63,64,04 |
| Orioles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 67,07 |
| Royals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 69,74,02 |
| White Sox | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 70,93 |
| Oakland A’s | 5 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 72,73,77,79,80,81,86,87,90,91 |
| Rangers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 75,76 |
| Mariners | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 78,82,05,09 |
| Tigers | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 83,84,96,97,01,03 |
| Red Sox | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 95 |
| Blue Jays | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 98,99,06,11 |
| Rays | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 00 |
| LA Angels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 08,10 |
| Cal. Angels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 85,94 |
| Brewers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 71,92 |
| Senators | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 68 |
| KC A’s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 62,66 |
| TOTALS | 24 | 27 | 20 | 31 |
Twins Trivia 25 man roster
With the 2012 season less than two weeks away it is still very difficult to predict to will be on the Twins 25 man roster when the Twins take on the Orioles in Baltimore on April 6th. That is not normal for the Twins of recent years but when you lose a few veterans to free agency and the team is coming off a 63-99 record you should not be surprised that there are questions everywhere. I do think the Twins will make a trade or two before the season opens and who knows who might suffer an injury that could change everything. An injury could dramatically change the starting line-up and who makes the 25 man roster on opening day. Here is how I see the team starting the season, I don’t think it will stay that way for long but here is how I see the Twins coming out of the starting gate.
Catcher – The starting catcher will obviously be Joe Mauer who hopefully can catch 120-130 games and play some first base and DH. His primary back-up will be Ryan Doumit. I think the Twins need to carry a 3rd catcher because Mauer and Doumit are both injury prone and will play other positions. I would not be surprised to see all three of their catchers playing in the same game now and then. The Twins third catcher this year will be J.R Towles (an easy addition to the 40 man roster) because the Twins will trade Drew Butera before the season starts to a team that needs a back-up catcher. The Twins are loyal to a fault sometimes and since they have no room in the majors for Butera, they will try to find him a big league job somewhere. Josh Willingham was a catcher earlier in his career so he could be an emergency back stop for Gardy too.
1B – The Twins black hole, the huge unknown. Justin Morneau should be here but I’m afraid we won’t be seeing a lot of Justin at 1B. If Morneau could regain his health, play 1B and even be 90% of what he was in the past, this Twins team would be dramatically better and the team make-up would be much different. The Twins primary first baseman for now and the forseeable future is Chris Parmelee but you will also see Mauer here and Doumit will also show up at first for a few games and even Luke Hughes can play here if needed.
2B – Belongs to Alexi Casilla but Alexi has played over 100 games in a season only once and that was back in 2006 in the minors. The switch hitting Casilla could really provide a big lift to the team if he can stay healthy and play 150+ games but I think we can count on Alexi taking a mini vacation on the DL this year too. Casilla is a streaky hitter but he has provided some key hits for the Twins over the years. Terry Ryan has always been a Casilla fan but I think he is looking at this year as a “make it or break it season” for Alexi, he either proves he can do it this year or he is history. The back-up second baseman is Luke Hughes but Jamey Carroll can play second too. In an emergency Trevor Plouffe can also play there.
SS – Free agent acquisition Jamey Carroll will start the season at short but I don’t see him holding on to this role for long. Carroll has had over 400 at bats only twice in ten big league seasons, why should things change at 38 years of age? I think by mid June we will see the Brian Dozier shortstop era begin and Carroll who was signed for two years will become the utility player the Twins are looking for, albeit a bit on the expensive side. Casilla will play some short in a back-up role and if the Twins are really in dire straights, they can slip Hughes or Plouffe over there for a game or two.
3B – Should belong to Danny Valencia but he needs to prove he is a big leaguer. Last year was a real downer for Valencia both in the field and at the bat. Hopefully Valencia gets his head screwed on straight and starts playing like he can. Valencia is not the .311 hitter he showed us in 2010 but he is also not the .246 hitter he forced us to watch in 2011 either. Danny needs to adjust his attitude too, he is not a super star so he had better quit acting like one because Minnesota fans will not tolerate it. Hughes is Valencia’s back-up but Carroll and Casilla could play third in a pinch too. In the unlikely event that Valencia is really the 2011 version, hopefully Sean Burroughs is still with the Twins and can be called up. Burroughs can hit, although not with a lot of power and I see him as the last player cut and the Twins 26th man.
LF – Will be manned by Josh Willingham just like I said all along since the Twins signed him. Gardy announced that Willingham is his left fielder after trying Willingham in right all spring. It will be interesting to see how Twins fans react to Willingham as the Twins have not had a hitter like Willingham in some time. Josh did hit a career high 29 home runs in Oakland last season but he also struck out 150 times and had a .246 average. Willingham was a catcher earlier in his career so speed is not his game and he is 33 years old and now there are reports that his arm is not as good as the Twins may have thought. Back-ups here would be Ben Revere, Denard Span, and Trevor Plouffe.
CF – Will be patrolled by Denard Span. The fly in the ointment here would be if Span is not totally recovered from his neck pain or his concussion from last season. Span needs to stay healthy, hit at least .285 steal 25 bases and score about 100 runs if he wants to meet Twins expectations of him in the lead-off spot. The only other outfielder the Twins have to play center is the speedy Ben Revere and he can cover center but his hitting is not all it could be and he throws like a grandmother. The Twins say that Span’s throwing is improved but you can’t make silk from a pigs ear. With Willingham in LF and who ever plays RF be it Doumit, Plouffe, Parmelee, Span and or Revere will have to cover a lot of ground in center because they are the only two outfielders with any speed what so ever.
RF – I think you will see a number of players out here but I think that Ryan Doumit and Trevor Plouffe will get the majority of the time in right. But who ever the Twins put in right other that Span or Revere has to be considered a defensive liability. I think Twins fans will be shocked at how many balls don’t get caught in left and right this season. Who ever plays right might just be keeping the position warm for when Joe Benson gets called up later this season. Benson’s call-up may even move Span to RF.
Bench – Luke Hughes is out of options and is a nice hitter to have coming off the bench. Luke can play all four infield positions, just not well enough to be a starter in any of them. The second bench player is catcher J.R. Towles who I think beats out Drew Butera. I know that Towles is a .187 hitter as compared to Butera’s .178 but Towles at least has a chance to be a better hitter, I don’t think Butera does. Towles is a good catcher too and earlier this spring I saw him playing 3B and he wasn’t too shabby for a catcher. Butera gets traded. The third member of the Twins bench is Trevor Plouffe the former SS/2B and now an outfielder. Plouffe has some pop in his bat and hopefully he can learn to play the outfield just as Michael Cuddyer did many years earlier and he can still play 2B/SS if things get hinky for Gardenhire. Ben Revere has my final bench spot simply because the Twins need someone like him to take over in LF or RF late in the game when the Twins have a lead or to come off the bench as a pinch-runner to steal a base.
SP – Is all locked up assuming there are no injuries. Francisco Liriano coming off his best spring ever is pitching like his Twins career depends on it and it is about time. I am not going to get too excited just yet with Francisco because I know how quickly things can fall apart for him. What a treat it would be if Liriano finally pitched like the ace many predicted he would be. Having said that, if someone offers me an arm and a leg with potential, I trade Francisco so fast it would make your head spin. Scott Baker has the potential to be a very good pitcher but he has hit the 200 inning mark just once in his seven-year career but he is only 30. What frustrates me about Baker is that when he gets some runners on base he turns the game into slo-mo. One more thing, Scott never shows any emotion, some would say that is a good thing, I would say hogwash, I have no problem when a pitcher comes into the dugout after giving up a couple of runs and slams his glove to the bench, show me your care Scott Baker! Baker is like Camilo Pascual in that he likes to take a summer break to the DL list once a year or so, count on it. Carl Pavano is not a great pitcher but he is one of those inning eaters who wants to win. Pavano can pitch on my team any time. Nick Blackburn is my number 4 SP, but I gotta say I don’t understand him at all. Blackie is a sinkerballer who has some great games and others that he just stinks, you just don’t know who you are going to get on any given day. When Nick is healthy, he can throw some innings. The fifth starter is the newest addition, Jason Marquis. I think you will find Marquis to be Pavano like except he gives up fewer hits but walks more batters and when healthy he too will give you 200 innings. The next starter in line should one of the five get hurt or traded is probably Liam Hendriks who could be a lot like Brad Radke if all goes according to plan. Maybe late in the season there may even be a Kyle Gibson sighting, that would be cool.
Bullpen – The Twins bullpen is anchored by closer Matt Capps and I don’t have nearly the issues with Capps that many other bloggers and fans have. He is not the 3 up 3 down kind of closer but he will get the job done when the scoreboard shows the Twins leading late in the game. If former Orioles manager and Hall of Famer Earl Weaver was the Twins manager today he would call Capps a “two-pack closer”. That meant that Weaver, a heavy smoker could go through two packs of cigarettes as he watched his closer finally shut down the opposition. The set-up guys are left hander and Minnesota native Glen Perkins who escaped the Twins doghouse last season and found his niche with the ballclub and was arguably the Twins top pitcher in 2011. The RH set-up guy appears to be Jared Burton a free agent from this past off-season. Burton is only 30 but he has some injury baggage but a few years ago he was touted to be the Reds closer of the future. Burton has a nice career 7.6 SO/9 but the down side is that he also has a 3.9 BB/9, kind of a more experienced Alex Burnett. The left-handed former starter Brian Duensing will spend the season in the bullpen this year where he is probably better suited. The big right-hander Anthony Swarzak has lost some weight this off-season and some say he has locked down a bullpen spot but I don’t think he has pitched all that well this spring but he has not pitched poorly enough not to earn a spot in the Twins bullpen either. Swarzak is versatile and can pitch several days in a row and that makes him a Twin in 2012. The 28 year-old left handed Matt Maloney is a surprise to me. The former Cincinnati Redleg is striking them out right and left this spring and he has good control, yes, I know, spring training stats mean squat but you have to base your decision on something and that is all I have to go on right now. Maloney seems too good to be true but the Twins “have caught lightning in a bottle” before when they went searching for relief pitchers, maybe they did it again. The final bullpen spot I think is still up in the air between Alex Burnett, Jeff Manship and Kyle Waldrop, all right handers and all with some Twins experience on their resume. If you go strictly by the numbers this spring, Waldrop is the guy for you but Burnett has the most experience and according to Twins management, has upside going for him so I gave the final bullpen spot to the Alex Burnett.
So that is it, that is how I see the Twins roster shaping up for the 2012 season. I would like to tell you that the Twins will contend for the AL Central title this year but I just don’t see that in the cards. I do see the Twins roster turning over as the season moves along and players like Chris Parmelee, Brian Dozier, Joe Benson, Liam Hendriks, Carlos Gutierrez, Kyle Waldrop, Lester Oliveros and maybe Kyle Gibson taking on bigger roles at Target field. A number of Twins players will be out to prove that they are still bonified big leaguers this season. 2012 will be a season of change in Minnesota and the July 30 trade deadline could keep GM Terry Ryan real busy. Never the less, I am ready to see the Minnesota Twins open the 2012 season. WIN TWINS!
How about the batting order on opening day? here is how I see it.
Span – CF – bats left Carroll – SS – bats right Mauer – C – bats left Morneau – DH – bats left Willingham – LF – bats right Doumit – RF – switch hitter Valencia – 3B – bats right Parmelee – 1B – bats left Casilla – 2B – switch hitterMorneau hitting fourth and Willingham fifth is just Gardy’s loyalty to Justin and reward for his years of Twins service. Morneau and Willingham will switch spots in the batting order very soon.
Did you know?
April 10, 2011 – That Brad Radke started out the 2005 season by walking just one of the first 247 hitters who stepped into the batters box? Maybe the 2011 Twins pitching staff should watch some of Brad Radke’s old video’s.
That the Twins moved in left field at Met Stadium from 346 feet to 330 feet prior to the 1975 season and Twins players started calling it Borgie’s Porch. Twins Catcher Glenn Borgmann was often accused by other Twins players of having “warning track power” and he was convinced that moving the wall in would help his power numbers. Unfortunately that was not the case, the year before, Glenn had hit three home runs and in 1975 he hit just two. As a matter of fact, Borgmann never hit more than three home runs in any of his nine big league seasons.
The great HOF Walter “Big Train” Johnson’s final major-league appearance came as a pinch hitter at Yankee Stadium I in the same game in which the Babe Ruth hit his then-record 60th home run on September 30, 1927. The New York Yankkes beat the Washington Senators that day by a 4-2 score.
67 years passed between World Series Game Sevens that went into extra innings. How odd that the same franchise produced victories in both; the 1924 Washington Senators when they beat the New York Giants and the 1991 Minnesota Twins that beat the Atlanta Braves.
Twins opening day tidbits
March 31, 2011 – I thought that it would be fun to look over the Twins 50 year history of Opening Days and see who has started the most games at each position. Through their first fifty years, the Twins record on Opening Day is 24-26 and they are currently on a two game losing streak.
The Minnesota Twins first Opening Day was at Yankee Stadium on April 11, 1961 in front of only 14,607 fans and the Twins played and won their first ever game by a score of 6-0. Their Opening Day line-up that day had Earl Battey catching, Harmon Killebrew at first, Billy Gardner at second, Zoilo Versalles was at short, Reno Bertoia played third, Jim Lemon was in left, Lenny Green was in center, Bob Allison was in right, and Pedro Ramos was the starting pitcher. Little did anyone know at the time that the Twins second baseman that day, Billy Gardner, would become the Twins manager twenty years later. The Twins have only fielded the same opening day line-up from one year to the next on one occasion in 50 years and that was in 1970 (won 12-0) and 1971 (lost 7-2) when the Twins had George Mitterwald catching, Rich Reese at first, Rod Carew at second, Leo Cardenas was at short, Harmon Killebrew was at third, Brant Alyea was in left, Cesar Tovar was the centerfielder, Tony Oliva was in right and Jim Perry was the starting pitcher. This goes to show how much things change from year to year.
I told you earlier that I was going to find out what Twins have started the most Opening Day games by position and here is what I have found.
| Total # of players that have played this position on opening day | Started most opening days at this position | |
|---|---|---|
| Catcher | 20 | Earl Battey, Butch Wynegar, Joe Mauer – 6 |
| 1B | 19 | Kent Hrbek – 12 |
| 2B | 20 | Rod Carew – 9 |
| SS | 16 | Zoilo Versalles, Roy Smalley, Greg Gagne – 7 |
| 3B | 23 | Gary Gaetti – 9 |
| LF | 25 | Mickey Hatcher, Dan Gladden, Marty Cordova, Jacques Jones – 4 |
| CF | 20 | Torii Hunter – 9 |
| RF | 19 | Tony Oliva – 8 |
| DH | 25 | Paul Molitor, Randy Bush, Glenn Adams – 3 |
| P | 25 | Brad Radke – 9 |
Do you know your Twins pitching history?
January 22, 2011 – The 2006 Twins pitching staff holds the team record for strikeouts in a single season with 1,164. Johan Santana led the staff with 245 KO’s. On the other hand, the 1994 Twins pitching staff only struck out 602 opponents and the only pitcher on the Twins staff with over 100 KO’s was Scott Erickson and he had 104. The 1981 Twins pitchers only had 500 strikeouts but then again they only played 109 games that season.
The 2005 Twins pitching staff only walked 348 batters while the Twins 1982 staff allowed 634 batters to get a free base.
The 1996 pitching staff allowed 233 home runs led by Brad Radke’s 40 round trippers. The 1976 staff kept the ball in the ball park the best by only allowing 89 home runs. The 1981 team only allowed 79 home runs but as stated earlier, they only played 109 games that season.
The 1963 and 1967 Twins staffs tied for the most complete games in a single season with 58 and the team with the fewest complete games was the 2006 Twins who ended up with one complete game all season. Who was it you ask? Johan Santana lost 2-0 in Detroit that day so it was only an 8 inning complete game.
The 1972 Twins finished with a 77-77 record but the pitching staff put up an all-time team best seasonal ERA of 2.84. The 1995 team finished with a 56-88 record and posted an ERA of 5.76 and gave up an average of 6.17 runs per game.
In the Minnesota Twins first 50 years they have only had a 20 game winner on 15 occasions and only once have they had more than one pitcher on their staff win 20 or more games in the same season. Camilo Pascual did it in 1962 and 1963, Jim Grant in 1965, Jim Kaat in 1966, Dean Chance in 1967, Dave Boswell and Jim Perry in 1969, Jim Perry again in 1970, Bert Blyleven in 1973, Dave Goltz in 1977, Jerry Koosman in 1979, Frank Viola in 1988, Scott Erickson in 1991, Brad Radke in 1997, and Johan Santana in 2004.
You’re outta here!
December 23, 2010 – One of the fun things about going to baseball games for me is that you never know when a manager or player ejection will take place over a close play or a bad or missed call by an umpire. It is these kinds of calls that make baseball the game that it is and that is why I hope that MLB never goes “instant replay crazy”. It is always fun for the fans to see the players emotions get the best of him, right or wrong, and then watch as he has his say with the umpire. Sometimes it is just a few words, probably not nice ones, that force the ump to throw that player out of the game and at other times the player gets to go on and on for what seems an eternity before he gets the heave-ho. Actually, I think that this is a part of baseball that is slowing going by the way-side as umpires are just too dang quick with the thumb and their ejection buttons. Baseball is after all, entertainment, and what better way to give the fans their money’s worth then to let them watch a good old fashion debate between an upset player and an umpire. Come on now, what is more fun than seeing a player stick his nose right in the umpires face and call him an %#@-hole or a *^%$-up? Give the fans in the stands a chance to yell “kill the ump” and really get into the game. It really makes no difference if the player or the umpire is in the right, give the player a chance to have his say, maybe kick some dirt on the plate or the ump’s shoes, or throw his cap out to second base, or maybe run over to first base, jerk it off its foundation and send it flying half way out to an outfielder that is standing there with his glove up to his face to hide his laughter? Or listen to the fans cheer or boo as the player starts chucking bats and balls back onto the playing field from the dugout. It is just fun and will generate water cooler and Facebook talk for days. Maybe it adds 5 minutes to a game that would otherwise be forgotten but now you have a classic situation that may stick with a fan forever. Maybe 30 years from now some fan will tell his kids, I remember this one hot summer night back in August of 2010 I think it was, and the Twins were playing the Yankees at Target Field when Bobby Akens went ballistic after getting called out on a play at the plate or just a few days later in Boston when Joe Smith went nuts after getting called out on strikes for the third time in the game. Umpires need to realize that baseball is entertainment and that we fans did not put our good money down for tickets to watch them ump, we paid to see the players play so it is time for the umpires to play their part and show some patience and do their part in the production and continue to let baseball be the best entertainment sport there is. Let the players play, have their say, and if need be, if all else fails, throw their butt out.
The Twins have had their fair share of player ejections (105) over the years and the one that stands out for me is the Joe Niekro ejection, the one with the nail file falling out of his back pocket, a real classic and one of my favorite Twins moments. What about you? Do you have a favorite Twins player ejection story? Did you know that the Twins player with the most ejections has 5 and that it is none other than outfielder Torii Hunter? Hunter of all people, which surprised me when I looked at the numbers and saw that. So here is a complete list of all Minnesota Twins player ejections from 1961 through 2010 that will maybe jog your memory a bit. I am not including any coach or manager ejections here as that will be a story for another day.
(Ejection list updated through 2012 as of March 2013)
5 – Torii Hunter
4 – LaTroy Hawkins, Kent Hrbek
3 – Rod Carew, Dan Gladden, Eddie Guardado, Cristian Guzman, Jacque Jones, Chuck Knoblauch, Tony Oliva, Dave Ortiz, Vic Power, Denard Span
2 – Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Tom Brunansky, Brian Harper, Mickey Hatcher, Ron Jackson, Corey Koskie, Brad Radke, Rich Reese, JC Romero
1 – Allan Anderson, Wally Backman, Bert Blyleven, Orlando Cabrera, Jamey Carroll, John Castino, Jack Cressend, Mike Cubbage, Michael Cuddyer, Chili Davis, Ron Davis, Scott Diamond, Jim Dwyer, Terry Felton, Pete Filson, Greg Gagne, Johnny Goryl, Lenny Green, Dave Hollins, Butch Huskey, Craig Kusick, Ken Landreaux, Fred Manrique, Charlie Manual, Pat Mears, Doug Mientkiewicz, George Mitterwald, Joe Niekro, Camilo Pascual, Tom Prince, Kirby Puckett, Nick Punto, Mike Redmond, Kenny Rogers, Jim Roland, Phil Roof, Mark Salas, Carlos Silva, Mike Smithson, Rick Sofield, Shannon Stewart, Danny Thompson, Danny Valencia, Jesus Vega, Frank Viola, Mike Walters
Franchise Pitching Game Started leaders
Minnesota Twins
| Names | Seasons | Games started | Complete games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Kaat | 13 | 422 | 133 |
| Brad Radke | 12 | 377 | 37 |
| Bert Blyleven | 11 | 345 | 141 |
| Frank Viola | 8 | 259 | 54 |
| Jim Perry | 10 | 249 | 61 |
| Dave Goltz | 8 | 215 | 80 |
| Kevin Tapani | 7 | 180 | 19 |
| Camilo Pascual | 6 | 179 | 70 |
| Johan Santana | 8 | 175 | 6 |
| Eric Milton | 6 | 165 | 10 |
Washington Senators
| Name | Seasons | Games started | Complete games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Johnson (HOF) | 21 | 666 | 531 |
| Dutch Leonard | 9 | 251 | 130 |
| Sid Hudson | 10 | 239 | 112 |
| Casey Patten | 8 | 237 | 206 |
| Camilo Pascual | 7 | 225 | 62 |
| Tom Zachary | 9 | 210 | 93 |
| Tom Hughes | 9 | 205 | 139 |
| Jim Shaw | 9 | 194 | 96 |
| Bob Groom | 5 | 169 | 104 |
| Early Wynn (HOF) | 8 | 168 | 92 |