Tag: Calvin Griffith

The charismatic Luis Tiant dies at the age of 83

Luis Clemente Tiant was born in Marianao, Cuba on November 23, 1940 the son of Luis and Isabel and passed away on October 8, 2024 at the age of 83. His father, Luis Eleuterio Tiant, was a legendary left-handed pitcher who starred in the Cuban Leagues and the American Negro Leagues for 20 years but the color barrier denied Luis E. the opportunity to play in the majors.

The colorful Luis Tiant played in the major leagues for 19 years between 1964 and 1982 for the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the California Angels. Tiant also played in Mexico for several seasons before and after his pro career in the states.

In his big league career Tiant had a 229-172 record with 20 or more wins four times and 20 losses once. He had his share of injuries but he started 484 games and pitched over 3,486 innings, threw 187 complete games with 49 shutouts and in his spare times he earned 15 Saves.

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Pitcher Buzz Stephen passes away

Louis Roberts Stephen Jr. was born in Porterville, California on July 13, 1944 and recently passed away in the city in which he was born on May 9, 2024 at the age of 79. Stephen was better known as “Buzz Stephen” and he achieved his dream of pitching in the major leagues albeit in just two games.

In Porterville High school he was 6’4″ and was the center on the basketball team and a pitcher on the baseball team. Stephen graduated in 1962 and attended Porterville Junior College before transferring to Fresno State College. He had some success as a swingman for the Fresno State Bulldogs, even if his control was wild at times. Stephen was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 25th round of the 1965 MLB June Amateur Draft from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA), the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1966 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (6th) of the 1966 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA).

In 1968 Stephen had his best season in pro ball at Double-A Charlotte and the Twins called him up in September for that “cup of coffee” and he made his major league debut on September 20 at Met Stadium versus the Oakland A’s and Catfish Hunter. The game was rescheduled from a May 15th rain out and with neither team in a pennant chase, a small crowd of 1,710 showed up to watch the rookie’s debut. Stephen gave up a harmless single to Bert Campaneris to lead off the game but then a steal, a walk, a double steal, a ground out and a fly out led to two runs scoring. By the time the Oakland A’s finished batting in the first inning they had already posted a 2-0 lead. It was a 3-1 lead for the A’s after six innings but Oakland knocked Stephen out of the game in the seventh after he had pitched 6.1 innings giving up 8 hits and 5 walks allowing 5 runs, but only 4 were earned while striking out one. Oakland went on to a 7 to 1 win and Stephen (0-1) had his first loss while Catfish Hunter (13-13) pitched a complete game for the win.

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Former Twins pitcher Fred Lasher passes away at 80

Fred Lasher was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on August 19, 1941 and passed away in Altoona, Wisconsin at the age of 80 on February 27, 2022. Lasher grew up playing basketball and baseball for Poughkeepsie High School and the local Poughkeepsie YMCA. As a high school senior, Lasher had a 7-0 record and threw a no-hitter.

Lasher was invited to participate in a local All-Star game against some New York Yankee rookies that was attended by major league scouts. Joe Gall a scout for the Washington Senators liked what he saw and signed Lasher to his first pro contract in January of 1960 and Lasher was assigned to Wytheville Senators of the Appalachian League. He was known for a sidearm/submarine pitching delivery that earned him the nickname “The Whip,” and he picked up that delivery as a child by throwing rocks at his parents’ house.

Fred Lasher

Lasher attended his first big league spring training in 1963 as a talented but very raw pitcher, with a sidearm fastball but no curveball, and occasional control problems. The coaches taught him a three-quarters overhand delivery for his curve. After putting up good numbers in the spring, Lasher became a surprise addition to the Twins’ pitching staff.

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Was Calvin Griffith really a “cheap” owner?

There are a lot of opinions out there floating around about former Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith and the two most common ones are that he was cheap and that he was a racist. I am not going to get into the racist discussion here and now but I did want to share with you a piece of a column that Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Dick Cullum wrote on August 20, 1968.

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Former Twins pitcher Dwight Siebler gone at the age of 83

Dwight Siebler

Dwight Leroy Siebler was born in Columbus, Nebraska on August 5, 1937, as the third of four children of William and Viola Siebler. Dwight Siebler passed away on June 16, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 83.

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Twins 1965 World Series star Mudcat Grant passes away at 85

Mudcat Grant

Jim “Mudcat” Grant was born on August 13, 1935 in Lacoochee, Florida, a small town of about 500 people in central Florida. According to the Cleveland Indians, Mudcat Grant died peacefully in Los Angeles, California on June 11, 2021. Jim Grant was 85 years old.

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Pitcher “Iron Mike” Mike Marshall gone at the age of 78

Mike Marshall #28 of the Minnesota Twins looks on during an Major League Baseball game circa 1979. Marshall played for the Twins from 1978-80. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Mike Marshall, one of the most durable relievers in baseball history and the first reliever to win a Cy Young award has died at the age of 78 on May 31, 2021 exactly 54 years to day of when he made his MLB debut. Marshall passed away in his Zephyrhills, Florida home where he had been in hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. Michael Grant Marshall was born in Adrian, Michigan on January 15, 1943.

Marshall began his professional baseball career when he was signed as an infielder by the Philadelphia Phillies on September 13, 1960. Marshall made his MLB debut pitching for the Detroit Tigers at the age of 24 with an inning of relief in 9-0 blow-out loss to the Cleveland Indians.

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Chuck Schilling dead at 83

Chuck Schilling was born on October 25, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York and passed away on March 30, 2021 in West Chester, Pa. After graduating from high school Schilling attended Manhattan College, majoring in electrical engineering but then switched over to mechanical engineering. While still in college in 1958 Schilling signed a $25,000 bonus contract with the Boston Red Sox, eschewing the New York Yankees, a team he disliked even though they had actually started scouting him first.

Schilling played second base and started his pro career in 1959 playing in Class D ball and after 95 games was bumped up to class B and after just 15 game there was called up by the AAA Minneapolis Millers (managed by Gene Mauch and who also played in 8 games) to see if he could help them in the playoffs. He didn’t make that playoff roster but the next season he played for the Eddie Popowski managed 1960 Minneapolis Millers. Both of these Millers teams are full of names that played in the big leagues at one time or another.

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Julio Becquer a member of 1961 Minnesota Twins team passes away

Julio Becquer

Julio (Villegas) Becquer was born in Havana, Cuba on December 20, 1931. The 88 year-old Becquer passed away in Hopkins, Minnesota on November 1, 2020.

Becquer batted and threw left handed and was 5’11” and about 178 lbs. Julio attended the University of Havana and was signed to play for the Washington Senators as a free agent prior to the 1952 season by super scout Joe Cambria who was famous for signing numerous Cuban players. After spending 1952-1954 in the minors, Julio got his first call to the big leagues in late 1955 but in 1956 he was back in the minors.

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2019 was a great year for Twins ownership too

 

The Bomba Squad won 101 games in 2019, taking first place in the AL Central for the first time in nine years, only to get swept by the Yankees in the AL Division Series. The record breaking 2019 season brought about a 16% increase in average attendance at Target Field. More fans watched them on television, too. The Twins posted an average rating of 6.33 on FS North, fourth highest in baseball. The rating was 63% higher than 2018, the second-biggest year-over-year increase in baseball in 2019.

Forbes annually publishes what they perceive to be the values of all the major league baseball teams taking a number of things into consideration. You can find their most current list that was published by going here. Once you are at their site and you see their value ranking list, you can get more detailed information on what makes up a particulars teams value by clicking on the team name. The Minnesota Twins are ranked number 19, a nice jump up from number 23 in 2019 and you can see the detailed info that was collected by Forbes by clicking here. The 8% increase in the Minnesota Twins value from 2019 was only exceeded by the Orioles, Yankees and Nationals who all increased their value by 9%.  In the AL Central division the White Sox are ranked number 14, the Detroit Tigers are ranked number 23, the Cleveland Indians are number 25 and the Kansas City Royals are number 29. As you would expect, the New York Yankees are number one at a team valuation of $5 billion (up 9% for 2019) and the Miami Marlins have the lowest team valuation at $980 million, a drop from a billion dollars in 2019.

You can find historical Minnesota team valuations on my “Payroll page“.

Looks like the Pohlad’s are doing pretty well, Calvin Griffith is probably rolling over in his grave when numbers like this are published. When any team in baseball tells you that they can’t afford to sign one of their stars, send them the Forbes link.