Tag: Brent Brede

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Morales, Durbin, Brede, Sorrento & Kusick

Still more major league debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 8.

 

Jose G. Morales

Jose G. Morales (C) – September 8, 2007 –  Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2001 MLB June Amateur Draft. Morales had a pretty cool big league debut at U.S. Cellular Field albeit in a Twins 8-7 loss to the White Sox. Morales started behind the plate hitting eighth and had a single, a double and another single before being lifted for a pinch-runner.

J.D. Durbin

J.D. Durbin (P) – September 8, 2004 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 2000 MLB June Amateur Draft. The “Real Deal” as he liked to call himself saw his first big league action in Camden Yards in a Twins 9-0 blowout of the Orioles. Durbin pitched the ninth inning for the Twins and closed them out on one hit with 11 pitches.

Brent Brede (OF/1B) – September 8, 1996 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Brent got to wear his Twins uniform in a real game for the first time at The Metrodome but it was in a losing cause as the home team lost 4-2 to the California Angels. Brede appeared a s a PH in the ninth inning but Angels closer Troy Percival sent him back to the bench after swinging at strike 3.

 

Paul Sorrento

Paul Sorrento (1B) – September 8, 1989 – Traded by the California Angels with Rob Wassenaar (minors) and Mike Cook to the Minnesota Twins for Kevin Trudeau (minors) and Bert Blyleven on November 3, 1988. Sorrento played in the majors for the first time at Royals Stadium as a ninth inning PH and coaxed a walk from Royals closer Jeff Montgomery but it was in vain as the Twins lost 6-0.

Craig Kusick

Craig Kusick (1B) – September 8, 1973 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in June 1970. Kusick’s first taste of the big leagues took place at the Met but he went 0 for 4, but at least he got to shake hands on the field after a 6-2 Twins victory.

 

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

Miracle win it all!

Miracle are 2014 championsOn Monday, September 8, the Ft. Myers Miracle won the first Florida State League Championship in team history three games to one over the Daytona Cubs. Jason Kanzler‘s two-run homer in the eleventh inning propelled the Fort Myers Miracle to the Florida State League Championship in a 4-2, extra inning win over the Daytona Cubs at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in game four on Monday night. The Miracle under manager Doug Mientkiewicz finished the season with an 87-58 overall record and were 4-1 in the playoffs. Outfielder Adam Walker led the 2014 Miracle with 25 home runs and 94 RBI while hitting .246. The pitching staff was led by Matt Tomshaw, Brett Lee, and Jose Berrios who had a combined 30-14 record.

Minnesota’s longest-running Minor League full season affiliate, the Miracle began an association with the Twins in 1993. The 1993 team finished with a 55-79 record under manager Steve Liddle. Players on that team that went on to play in Minnesota were pitchers Brad Radke, Dan Naulty, Scott Watkins, catcher Damian Miller and outfielder Brent Brede.

The team has drawn nearly 120,000 fans in each of the last seven seasons. The Miracle have been top-four in the Florida State League for individual game average attendance every year since 2005. As expected, the Twins and single-A affiliate Ft. Myers Miracle have agreed to extend their Player Development Contract for four years, through the 2018 season.

This is the first league championship that a Twins minor league team has won since the Elizabethton Twins won the Appalachian League title in 2012 and also the first league championship that a minor league team has won under Brad Steil who became the Twins Farm Director after the 2012 season. The last Twins A-Ball team to win a league championship were the 1987 Kenosha Twins (82-58) who were managed by Don Leppert.

Twins minor league teams finished the 2014 season with a combined record of 409-354 for a .536 winning percentage. Of the Twins seven minor league clubs, only the 23-37 Gulf Coast League Twins posted a losing record. 2014 marked the third consecutive season that Twins farm teams have won more games than they lost.

You can learn more about the Twins minor league teams going back to 1961 on our Twins Minor League History page.

This Day in Twins History – November 18

Zoilo Versalles

11/18/1965 – Shortstop Zoilo Versalles is selected as the American League MVP getting 19 out of 20 first place votes. Versalles becomes the first Latin player and the first Minnesota Twins player to win a MVP award. Versalles led the AL in plate appearances (728), at-bats (666), runs scored (126), doubles (45), triples (12), extra-base hits (76) and total bases (308), was second in assists (487) and third in stolen bases (27). Todate Versalles is only one of three Twins (along with Rod Carew and Joe Mauer) to lead the league in WAR. Twins outfielder Tony Oliva finishes second in the MVP balloting receiving the only other first place vote.

11/18/1992 – The Twins and Mets swap outfielders when the Twins acquire Pat Howell and the Mets receive Darren Reed.

11/18/1997 – The Twins lose outfielder Brent Brede and catcher Damian Miller to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1997 expansion draft. The Tampa Devil Rays did not select any Minnesota Twins in that draft.

11/18/2001 – Approximately 4,000 Minnesota Twins fans (and I was one of them) gathered in the Metrodome’s parking lot on a rainy Sunday afternoon to voice their support for their team after MLB voted to contract two teams.