TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
Twins pitchers and catchers are due to report to Ft. Myers on Friday, February 19 to start preparations for the 2021 season with position players reporting the following Tuesday. Normally I would have been in Ft. Myers for almost two months and I would have been out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex numerous times checking on the early arrivals and getting a few pictures but life is still not back to normal and I don’t see it happening in the near future.
Instead I find myself back home in Minnesota where the temperatures are colder than Mitch Garver’s bat as I wait for my second COVID vaccine and then with a bit of luck we might head south to enjoy what beautiful SW Florida has to offer. The question is what will fans get to see when and if they do go down to Ft. Myers? The Twins spring training complex has historically been one of the best spring training sites to get up close and personal and watch the players get ready for another baseball season. Don’t count on that this year.
I went out to the CenturyLink Sports complex yesterday to check out the pitchers and catchers and to see new Twins acquisition Kenta Maeda in his Twins spring training workout debut. I didn’t see anything extraordinary out there but no question there were more Japanese photographers out there then I have seen since Tsuyoshi Nishioka made his grand appearance back in 2011. I am expecting better results from Maeda then we got from Nishioka.
A lot of Minnesota Twins fans are frustrated that the Twins front office isn’t doing more to improve the Twins team. With Joe Mauer retired and his $23 million salary no longer on the books many fans figured the Twins would spend some money, and they have, but not much of it. If the 2019 season started tomorrow, the Twins payroll would sit at about $98 million after spending around $131 million in 2018.
But Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have told us they are busy laying ground work for rebuilding the Minnesota Twins organization from the ground up and it will take some time.
It wasn’t until I stopped by the CenturyLink Sports Complex this afternoon that I fully understood what they meant. At the rate it is going it will take some time, here is what I found when I got there.
I didn’t get close enough to tell for sure but I think that is Falvey in the red shirt and Levine with the green shirt.
Here I think we have Mr. Pohlad himself on the Bobcat leveling the playing field.
I was back out at the ballpark to check on the Twins yesterday to see what the rest of the team was up to when the Twins had a game in Jupiter, Florida scheduled for that afternoon. Jupiter is almost due east of Ft. Myers across the state and although it is only about 140 miles it takes almost three hours to get there. Lake Okeechobee is between Ft. Myers and Jupiter so you end up going around it to the north as you head towards the Atlantic ocean.
Apparently skipper Paul Molitor felt that drive is way too much for most of the Minnesota Twins regulars so he sent the following line-up to play the game at Roger Dean Stadium.
Granite – RF
Santana – LF
Paulsen – 1B
Hague – DH
Shuck – CF
Fields – 2B
Escobar – SS
Murphy – C
Adrianza – 3B
Gibson – P
Not exactly the 1965 Twins but they did manage to keep the game interesting until they allowed the Cards to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a 2-1 loss. Ticket prices for the game on the internet were between $46 and $180. Fans pay prices like this to see a spring training game and the Twins send zero starting position players. CRAZY! Both the Cardinals and the Twins should be embarrassed and MLB should start fining these teams for this kind of behavior.
Tuesday was a scheduled day off for the Minnesota Twins big league side of camp but the minor league side was just beginning to buzz with activity. Tuesday was reporting day for all Twins organization minor league players, Wednesday is physical and photo day. Players will then workout for three days before minor league games start being played on Sunday, March 12. This year the Twins minor league players will be playing their equivalent teams from the Orioles, Red Sox, and Rays.
Johan Quezada
When I was there on Tuesday there were minor league players working out on three different fields but without uniforms and numbers it is hard to identify them. I took a few pictures and will share them in my 2017 spring training photo link in the next day or two. One of the interesting players I did get to meet yesterday was 22 year-old 6’10” Johan Quezada, a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican.
Just a tip for those of you coming down to watch spring training at the CenturyLink Sports Complex, if you are interested in watching the minor league players go through their paces and you want to know who is who, the Twins have spring training work groups hand-out sheets and the 2017 minor league spring training schedule sheets available to be picked up for free next to the minor league complex on the back fields. These games are all free and fun to watch as you use your training work groups roster sheet to identify the players. The beauty of the layout of the fields makes it easy to wander from one game to another. Hope to see you down here.
Yesterday I paid another visit to the CenturyLink Sports complex the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins less than a week before pitchers and catchers report and both the players and fans were sparse in number but those in attendance appeared to be having fun.
The most recognizable player there was Korean first baseman Byung Ho Park who was recently DFA’d. The players didn’t do much, first they took some infield and then proceeded over to another diamond to take BP. Park blasted a number of balls over the outfield fence and and he certainly got your attention when his bat sent the ball flying over the fence. I think it would be a bad move if the Twins organization lets this guy go, they should show some patience and see what he can do.
Isaiah Aluko
Another player on the field seemed to stand out and appeared to be a man among boys, at least in size alone. Everyone kept asking each other who was this number 74? Larry Corrigan identified him as Isaiah Aluko. Accoring to B-R he is 6’4″ and goes 230 but he seems bigger than that. Last year Aluko appeared in just a handful of games for the GCL Twins and he is 23 years of age. I don’t know if Aluko will turn out to be a big leaguer some day but if you pictured a big league player in you mind, he might look like Aluko.
As always I took a few pictures and will get them loaded out to my 2017 Spring Training picture link that you can find on the right hand side of the page.
I will leave you with a quick trivia question, what player played the most games wearing a Twins uniform but never earned an ejection?
With a little extra time on my hands this morning I took a quick trip out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex to see what might be going on out there. I had low expectations of what I would see out there this early in January and those expectations were met.
I arrived about 10 A.M. and the parking lot was pretty much empty, maybe two dozen cars were parked in the hot sun. The spring training ticket window (yes, just one) was open but there was no one buying any tickets, as a matter of fact the entire time I was there I didn’t see anyone buy any tickets. As I walked past the ticket window I saw Pat Reusse head towards the Twins clubhouse and we exchanged pleasantries as we passed each other. The Twins maintenance crews were busy, a couple of guys were power-washing the sidewalk, others were raking, fertilizing the fields, and adjusting sprinklers.
I walked to the back fields and they were empty so I chatted briefly with a friend that was out there and finally I saw my first player as Glen Perkins came out to play long toss with rehab coordinator Lanning Tucker. He did that for about an hour and went inside. A couple of other players came out one or two at a time to throw the ball around but I didn’t recognize any of them. There were also a few players that I didn’t recognize starting to do some running on the agility field and I snapped a few photos. About 11:15 A.M. or so things quieted down and I headed back to the condo.
A pretty quiet day and things will pick up each day but I don’t expect to see a lot of players until after Twins Fest is over. I will get the few photos I did take posted in my 2017 Spring Training link in the next day or so.
When I left our Cape Coral condo yesterday morning it was overcast but no rain was predicted as I started the 12 mile drive to the CenturyLink Sports Complex but shortly after crossing over the bridge to Ft. Myers the sprinkles started and then it started to rain. By the the time I arrived it was raining pretty hard but not hard enough to stop the action on the practice fields. I could see some blue skies and before I knew it the rain had stopped and then it turned humid, Florida humid, perfect for baseball.
It was the second day of pitchers and catchers working out so I didn’t expect to see a lot, and I didn’t. The pitchers did some throwing and some PFP and then the catchers took some BP and practiced some ball blocking drills. The one thing that stood out to me was that there was no TK to be seen. I think that is the first time in a long time that I have been to spring training and not seen Tom Kelly on the short infield running PFP. Kinda sad really, I was not a TK fan when he was the skipper because I thought he was just a grumpy know it all that was rude to fans. Over the years he mellowed or I did and I grew to appreciate his sense of humor and love of the game. I hope to see him later this spring. Former Twins pitcher and recently retired LaTroy Hawkins was out there as a Twins guest instructor.
The number of players on the back fields is growing in leaps and bounds as more position players and minor league players show up and wait the start of their spring training. I took a bunch of pictures that I have not yet labeled but you can see them on my 2016 Spring Training Pictures link. In a few days the position players will report and the battles for spots on the Twins roster will begin. I can’t wait to see how Miguel Sano will do out in right field.
The weather has been cool, wet and windy here in SW Florida since the calendar rolled over to 2016 but the last few days have been sunny and in the mid 70’s here and the population of Twins players and Twins wannabees is growing by the day. I stopped by the CenturyLink Sports Complex again yesterday and was surprised at how many players had already shown up and how many fans were out watching the players go through their paces.
Max Kepler
The players that show up this early come and go, some show up every day and others show up now and then. Miguel Sano was out here on my first visit but I have not seen him the last two times I have been out here. Yesterday I saw Max Kepler for the first time this spring and he said that he just arrived the day before. I was shocked when I first saw Max because he was not the baby-faced player I had gotten used to seeing, he was sporting a beard and mustache or maybe I should say he was trying to grow a beard.
Byung Ho Park
Byung-ho Park is working out every day but he does not seem to have the same crowd of press members following him like Tsuyoshi Nishioka did when he first signed with Minnesota. Park and Nishioka appear to have taken totally different approaches to their integration into the Twins organization, when Nishioka was here and working out prior to spring training he worked out on his own with his interpreter and seldom if ever joined the rest of the players. Parker is just the opposite, he works out with the rest of the players and he is willing to spend time with the fans signing autographs, something Nishioka didn’t seem to be real excited about. I don’t know if Park will make the team but in my eyes he is already way ahead of Nishioka when he joined the Twins and spring training hasn’t even officially started.
I continue to be amazed at how many fans mention how great the CenturyLink Sports Complex and the Minnesota Twins organization is as compared to the Boston Red Sox and JetBlue Park, their spring training home. The Twins allow their fans to wander all over the grounds and inter-act with the players and the Red Sox are all about security and limit access to everything and everybody. It is not just the fans that have this opinion, it is members of the local press here also.
Pitchers and catchers report this week-end, I can’t wait. The Twins were much improved in 2015 so you would think that there would be fewer questions and fewer roster spots up for grabs this year but I don’t think that is the case and it all revolves around Miguel Sano. Can Sano play right field? If not, all kinds of options can come into play. I have all kinds of questions. Is Byung Ho Park ready for MLB? What if Byron Buxton does not win the CF spot? Do you buy he has to prove the job belongs to him or does he have to prove he can’t handle it? What about the bullpen? Are the Twins still looking for a proven left reliever? Is Glen Perkins healthy? Are Oswaldo Arcia, Danny Santana, and Kennys Vargas still in the Twins plans? Max Kepler and Adam Walker are coming fast, will they start to call Minneapolis home this summer? When will Jose Berrios join the Twins starting rotation? Did the Twins make a good move in giving up Aaron Hicks? So many questions and so little time to get them answered, you can bet that Twins spring training this year will be one of the most exiting ever.
When I was out at the ballpark I once again took some pictures that you view in the 2016 Spring Training pictures link on the right hand side of the page. I hope you enjoy them.
Last week I stopped off at the CenturyLink Sports Complex for a couple of hours to see what was going on if anything and to see what players may have already shown up to get a jump on spring training. I have not been out earlier this year because the weather here in SW Florida has been a bit strange this year. A couple of weeks ago we had a tornado about a mile from the condo in Cape Coral and a few days later they had another tornado touch down in Ft. Myers not too far from Page Field. Cape Coral which is just across the river from Ft. Myers has had almost 13″ of rain in January and they average under 2″ of rain, so it has been a wet January. February has started out cool and windy (for this area anyway) with temperatures in the low to mid 60’s and our average is 75 for this time of the year.
Adam Walker signs for a fan.
When I got to the ballpark there were a couple of people buying spring training game tickets as I headed towards the back fields where I would expect to find the action if there was going to be any. You couldn’t help but hear the music blaring from the minor league clubhouse and there was probably about a dozen players out on the fields, some running, some doing some infield and others were shagging some fly balls. I didn’t see any throwing but I heard that Glen Perkins had done some throwing before I arrived. As always it is hard for me to identify a lot of these guys because many are minor league players and others may be players from other organizations that live in the area and stop by to work out. I did see Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia, Adam Walker doing some outfield work but I saw no hitting. I met Buck Britton who is a 29-year-old free agent minor leaguer the Twins signed and plays the infield and some outfield and he has spent most of his career in the Orioles organization but played in AAA for the Dodgers in 2015. Britton has no big league experience.
There was a handful of fans getting autographs and pictures and the players were more than willing to spend time with everyone. Miguel Sano was more than just patient when a couple approached him for pictures and the gentleman stood next to Sano and his wife was supposed to take their picture but she had no idea how to use the cell phone camera. She tried and tried and about five minutes later her significant other had enough and he had her pose with Sano while he took her picture. The entire time Miguel just smiled and tried to be helpful, he was more patient than I would have been. Other than that there was not much else to write home about. I will be back again later this week and see what’s up now that TwinsFest is done and training camp is just a couple of weeks away.
I took a few pictures that you can check out on the right hand side of this page under the title of 2016 spring training pictures. As I said earlier, I did not identify all the players so if you can help out feel free to do so.
