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
Zoilo Versalles the Minnesota Twins enigmatic shortstop of the early 60’s would go on to win the 1965 American League Most Valuable Player Award at the age of 25 and become the first player in franchise history (Senators or Twins) to win that award. Versalles however; was not the easiest player to manage and was a high maintenance player as this incident in the April 17, 1965 Sporting News describes. Manager Sam Mele and coach Billy Martin worked hard to keep Zoilo on the straight and narrow and it paid off in 1965.
I was fortunate enough to get to see Versalles play and he was a skilled shortstop but his focus was not always there and that weakness led to numerous errors on routine plays. If you want to know more about the man who Twins fans called “Zorro” you might want to check out his SABR Bio.
The Sporting News also covers Don Mincher‘s request to be traded and all the rookies that were fighting to make the Twins roster that season.
By this date in 1965 the Twins had played five games, four of them at Met Stadium and had a 4-1 record putting them in a tie for first place. According to the “TWINS JOURNAL” (by John Snyder):
“A week before the Twins opener, Metropolitan Stadium was covered by five inches of snow. Rain and melting snow caused rivers to rise, turning the entire state into a disaster area. Twelve people died in Minnesota because of the floods. Due to a pair of postponements, the Twins opened the season by playing their first three games against three different teams, the Yankees, Tigers, and Indians”.
The temperature on opening day (April 12) at game-time was 44 degrees along with an 18 MPH wind. Flood waters forced Twins players Jim Kaat, Rich Rollins, Bill Bethea, and Dick Stigman to be brought to the stadium by helicopter due to rising flood waters of the Mississippi River. The Twins won their opener 5-4 in 11 innings in front of 15,388 shivering fans. The next three games at the Met due to the bad weather brought in “crowds” of 2,382, 4,492, and 3,273 fans. The Twins were happy to leave Minnesota behind and they went to New York where they beat the Yankees 7-2 on April 21. Due to the inclement weather the Twins played only five games during the first 10 days of the 1965 season.
Former Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers outfielder Riccardo Ingram passed away after a lengthy battle with brain cancer at the age of 48 on March 31. Ingram was born in Douglas, Georgia on September 10, 1966.
Riccardo Ingram was a fourth round selection by the Detroit Tigers in the 1987 June amateur draft and made his major league debut with the Tigers on June 26, 1994 in Oakland-Alameda County Stadium as a pinch-runner for Cecil Fielder as the Oakland A’s beat the Tigers 10-5. Ingram appeared in a dozen games for the Tigers that season and then left the Tigers organization as a free agent after the 1994 season and signed with the Minnesota Twins. Ingram’s time with the Minnesota Twins in July of 1995 was brief and he appeared in just four games and had one hit and one RBI in eight at bats. Ingram left Minnesota after the 1995 season and spent 1996 with the San Diego Padres AAA Las Vegas Stars team before retiring after the season ended.
Ingram was offered and accepted a minor league coaching position with the Twins organization after retiring as an active player and spent the next 18 seasons coaching and managing in the Twins system. Ingram managed the GCL Twins, Fort Myers Miracle, and the New Britain Rock Cats and was well liked by his players and members of the Twins organization. alike Ingram was apparently a great story-teller and fun to be around. In 2009 Ingram suffered from severe headaches and was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the prognosis was grim as doctors gave him just a year to live. Ingram battled the brain tumor for a year before returning to coaching in the Twins system. Ingram was a coach for the Fort Myers Miracle in 2014 but as the year progressed he learned that his cancer had returned.
“Every year, he used to meet with our pitchers,” said Eric Rasmussen, who was Ingram’s pitching coach with the Miracle in 2005 and is now the Twins minor league pitching coordinator. “He’d gather them all together, and he’d say: “You have got one job to do. Throw the ball over the plate.” “And then he’d leave.”
Before becoming a professional baseball player, Ingram was a star football and baseball player at Georgia Tech and is a member of the Georgia Tech’s Sports Hall of Fame. He was the first Georgia Tech player to be named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s male athlete of the year. He was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference defensive back in 1986 before leading the Yellow Jackets to the 1987 ACC baseball championship.
Riccardo Benay Ingram is survived by his wife, Allison, and their two children – Kacey and Kristen. RIP Riccardo Ingram, you will be missed.
The Minnesota Twins open their 2015 exhibition season by playing the Minnesota Gophers on March 4 and they will play their final spring training game on Saturday April 4th at Hammond Stadium against the Boston Red Sox. When early April rolls around we will all have a pretty good idea who will make this years opening day roster. Having said that, I don’t think that Twins fans should get too attached to the players on the opening day roster because I have a feeling that the “roster will be a-changing” and I can’t wait to see some of that new blood when it heads north to Minnesota and Target field.
The Minnesota Twins played their first ever exhibition game on March 11, 1961 at Tinker Field in Orlando. Cookie Lavagetto and his boys took on the Detroit Tigers and their first game turned out to be a 4-1 loss. Paul Giel started the game for Minnesota and took the loss and Bob Bruce who started for the Tigers was credited with the victory. You will notice in the box score that although this was the first game of spring training and players were not in the shape that they are in today that a number of the pitchers that pitched in this game logged three innings not the one inning that you will probably see tomorrow.
Paul Giel (courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)
The box score below was provided courtesy of Stew Thornley, Thanks Stew, we appreciate it!
Unless something unforeseen happens the Minnesota Twins will not be booking a lot of frequent flyer miles in 2015 as they will only have to fly 23,866 miles this coming season. Only seven teams, the Indians with 23,499, the Brewers with 23,429, the White Sox with 23,180, the Tigers with 22,508, the Cubs with 20,953, the Cardinals with 20,875 and the Reds with 20,612 will fly fewer miles than our home town boys. The Mariners on the other hand will be on the other end of the spectrum and will need to fly 43,281 miles to play out their schedule of games in 2015.
The site I used to look up this information has information going back to 2009. Based on their numbers the 2015 Minnesota Twins will fly fewer miles than any Twins team has flown from 2009 through 2014.
Miles flown by the Minnesota Twins
2014 – 29,532
2013 – 29,043
2012 – 25,546
2011 – 32,199
2010 – 27,398
2009 – 25,315
So when you hear those Minnesota Twins radio and television announcers talk about the teams grueling travel schedule you can say, “what a bunch of BS”, they got it easy.
I have followed baseball for a long time and it seems like the New York Yankees are always beating the Minnesota Twins. Truth or myth? I decided to check it out with an assist from baseball-reference.com .
It turns that the Yankees are indeed the toughest team to beat for our home town nine. Since 1961 they have played the Yankees 600 times and won just 252 of those match-ups for a .421 winning percentage. Actually I am surprised that the winning percentage is as high as it is because it seems like the Twins always lose to the Yankees.
Who do the Twins beat up on most frequently? That would be the Senators/Rangers franchise whom the Twins have played 696 times and whipped them on 366 occasions for a .527 winning percentage. I have left the Houston Astros off the list since their time in the American League just started last season and I have included the Brewers/Pilots franchise since the Twins play them every year even though they have been in the National League for many of these years.
Here is how the Minnesota Twins stack up against the rest of the American League since 1961.
It won’t be long before the MLB Hall of Fame announces its newest members so it is time once again for me to dream and pretend that I have a vote that counts. Heck, I have probably seen more games and follow baseball more closely than a lot of the clowns that have a vote but that is a whole different story. If I had a vote I still can’t find it in my heart to vote for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and that bunch. I am not going to waste my time and yours on my reasoning because we have heard all those pro’s and con’s before. Maybe some time in the future they will get my vote but it won’t be this year. Just to show how time can change your thinking I am just about ready, not quite there yet but very close to saying that Pete Rose has served enough time in purgatory to get elected to the Hall of Fame. I know he has been a jerk at times but he could play some baseball and who could argue his hustle? The rub is that “hustle” can have several meanings. I am not going to quote a bunch of stats here because if you want to see them then go to B-R and check them out for yourself.
Randy Johnson gets my first vote, simply because I think he was the most intimidating pitcher in my era. Johnson has to be the pitcher that most batters would hate to face and the man was just scary to watch but you couldn’t help but stay focused on the mound whenever he pitched.
Vote number two goes to Pedro Martinez, 5 foot 11 and 170 pounds and I think 170 may have been pushing it. Are you kidding me? The man could throw a baseball and he knew how to pitch. He never pitched for teams I liked so I was always hoping he would lose but the man seldom did, a career .687 winning percentage over 18 seasons. Hall of Fame in my book.
Tim Raines gets vote number three. Again, small in stature at 5 foot 8 and 160 pounds but the “Rock” could play some baseball. Not as well-known as some because he played in Montreal for so long but Raines had six straight seasons with 70 stolen bases or more to go with his .810 OPS.
Vote number four goes to Craig Biggio. The man was a catcher, second baseman and a center fielder and through out all those position moves he still found time to post a .281 career batting mark in over 10,800 at bats. Heck, playing for 20 years for the Houston Astros should get you a few bonus votes too.
My fifth vote goes to one of my favorite all-time players, John Smoltz. 213 wins and 154 saves to boot spread over 21 seasons. I still remember that fateful day in August 1987 when the Detroit Tigers traded him to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander. When someone mentions the word “winner”, I have an image of Smoltz in my mind. A great pitcher and a real gentleman.
My final vote this season goes to Jeff Bagwell. OMG, those Houston Astros sure cleaned the Boston Red Sox’s clock when they acquired Bagwell for Larry Andersen. Only 15 seasons but 449 home runs along with a .948 OPS is good enough for me.
How will my votes compare to the “real” votes? I am thinking I will be 4 for 6 with Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell coming up short of the 75% required. That will be a shame but we all know that life is not always fair and that there is no crying in baseball. Good luck to all the Hall of Fame candidates, you had to be a pretty special ballplayer just to make the ballot.
The Twins today signed free agent pitcher Ervin Santana to a four-year $55 million deal. According to ESPN, the right-hander is guaranteed $54 million over the four years, with a conditional option worth $14 million in 2019 if he throws more than 200 innings. He will receive a $1 million buyout if the Twins don’t exercise the option. The contract sets a new Twins high water mark for a free agent spending, eclipsing the $49 million deal with Ricky Nolasco last year. Because he was tendered by the Braves, Santana will cost the Twins a draft choice, a second rounder since their first round selection was protected due to the Twins poor record last year. The most recent (2006) Twins second round pick to play for Minnesota was outfielder Joe Benson. To view a complete list of Minnesota Twins round two selections you need to click here.
Santana who just turned 32 yesterday is from the Dominican Republic and pitched for the Atlanta Braves this past season going 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA in his first and only season in the National League. Santana was originally signed by the Angels in 2000 and made his major league debut with them in 2005. 2015 will be Santana’s eleventh in the big leagues and he has a career 119-100 record with a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians in 2011 on his resume. In his 10 previous seasons Santana has averaged 188 innings per season and he has a career mark of 7.2 SO/9.
Over all this should be a very nice addition to the Twins starting pitching staff. I would expect Ricky Nolasco to pitch better than he did in 2014, Phil Hughes may not put up the same kind of numbers this season as he did last but he should still be a very good pitcher, Kyle Gibson should be improved with another season under his belt, and who ever fills out the rotation in the fifth spot should make this staff the best the Twins have had in many years. I like it!
Chris Colabello
During the just concluded baseball winter meetings the Twins lost Chris Colabello to the Toronto Blue Jays on a waiver claim.
J.R. Graham
The Twins picked up 24-year-old right-handed pitcher J.R. Graham from the Atlanta Braves via the Rule 5 draft this past Thursday. Graham must make the Twins 25 man roster in 2015 or be returned to Atlanta or a trade could be worked out with Atlanta for the Twins to keep Graham but not be forced to put him on the 25 man roster. The New York Mets selected Twins LHP Sean Gilmartin in the same Rule 5 draft.
Brayan Villarreal
MLBtradeRumors has reported that the Twins have also signed 26-year-old right-handed pitcher Brayan Villarreal to split contract with an invitation to spring training. Villarreal last pitched in the majors in 2013 and spent last season in AAA with the Red Sox organization. During spring training with the Detroit Tigers in 2013 Villarreal’s family was the victim of a kidnapping attempt in his native Venezuela. Armed robbers had broken into the family home and threatened his father and 14-year-old brother in an attempt to extort money. Police however, and were able to free the hostages without injury.
Juan Berenguer
Former Twins pitcher Juan Berenguer filed suit this week in U.S. District Court alleging that “personnel from various entities in Minnesota illegally obtained Berenguer’s private, personal and confidential driver’s license information without a legitimate or permissible law-enforcement purpose or any other lawful purpose.” The suit says his private information was viewed more than 125 times between 2005 and 2011, in violation of the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
I didn’t write alot about the Twins recent free agent signing of outfielder Torii Hunter and to be honest I am really torn by this. How can you not like that great smile and that bubbly personality but yet the man is 39 years old and he will bank about $10 million for his efforts. This former and now current Twin is one of my all-time favorite Minnesota Twins but I am not sure how much Hunter has left in the tank. The Twins plan to use him in right field and plan to move Oswaldo Arcia to left. I had really hoped that the Twins would give prospect Eddie Rosario a real shot at left field but now that looks like it won’t happen unless either Arcia or Hunter fails big time. Rosario is not really a center fielder but the Twins have had worse players out there the last few years, still, I don’t see the Twins giving Rosario a shot there. I think the biggest plus from adding Hunter will simply be his presence on the team, his will to win and professional attitude can’t help but rub off on the teams younger players and show them the path they need to take and the effort they need to put forth to once again make the Minnesota Twins winners.
Chris Parmelee
I just saw on MLBTradeRumors that the Twins have designated Chris Parmelee for assignment to make room on the roster for Ervin Santana. I didn’t see this move coming at this stage of the off-season. Parmelee was the Twins first round selection in 2006 (20th over all) and made his big league debut in September of 2011. Parmelee played sparingly for the Twins from 2011-2014 and just never lived up to what the Twins expected from this former first rounder.
I do not profess to be some baseball expert by any means but I have followed major league baseball since the mid 50’s and I started becoming a serious follower of major league baseball when the Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees in the 1957 World Series in 7 games. To me, baseball is interesting because of its history, its characters and last and certainly not least the fact that on any given day at any given game that you might be lucky enough to attend, that you will see something that you have never seen before. I have been to a lot of games at numerous baseball parks but I still have never seen a no-hitter or a batter hit for the cycle at a game I attended but I have seen many other interesting and historic baseball feats over the years.
Baseball is a unique game for a whole bevy of reasons such as the fact that there is no clock in baseball, each playing field has its own peculiarities, there are 162 games to be played and that does not count playoffs or spring training, some extremely interesting characters both from the player’s side and the ownership/front-office side, cheating by players has been tolerated even encouraged unless it becomes too blatant, owners have no payroll limitations, free agency has given players the right to work/play where ever they wish for the most part and various other reasons that I haven’t listed here.
MLB players, its owners and baseball fans everywhere actually benefit from free agency. When the last out of the World Series is made and the off-season begins you would think that baseball would go on hiatus as far as the fans are concerned but that is not the case in modern-day baseball. When the playing season ends the free agency season begins and hot stove league baseball remains a hot topic of discussion for true baseball fans even if football, hockey, and basketball seasons are underway and the ballparks are covered with ice and snow. Fantasy baseball is almost a year round event now as its players follow the free agency moves and make their draft plans accordingly. Heck, there are already drafts going on for the 2015 season.
But I am getting side-tracked here, my intent was to do a short piece on “why are these things happening”? Real head scratcher as far as I am concerned. As I said earlier, I am no expert but some of the moves or more accurately stated “proposed moves and /or rumors” by our local Twins team or other MLB teams make me really wonder what the heck these people in baseball are thinking? First off, the average person has no concept of the dollars in play and that it is easy to spend someone else’s money, I realize that. No one really know for instance what the Twins revenue really is and the few people who do surely aren’t going to divulge those secrets. How often do you hear someone say or write “it’s only $5 million, we should do it”. Or what idiotic owner first brought options into baseball contracts where as they can sign a player for $10 million dollars or they can choose to pay him $1 million to walk away, what is up with that? What bozo pays someone a million dollars not to work for them? MLB does.
So here are a couple of real head scratcher’s for me –
Michael Cuddyer
Why would former Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer who will turn 36 before the 2015 season begins turn down a $15.3 million qualifying offer from the Colorado Rockies to sign a two-year deal with the New York Mets for $21 million. Cuddyer missed all but 49 games for the Rockies this season due to injury. Maybe I don’t understand this qualifying offer business as well as I thought I did. As I understand it this process has been in place for three years and 34 qualifying offers have been made and zero have been accepted. Hard for me to fathom turning down $12-$15 million for one year’s work.
Torii Hunter
Numerous stories are being written about the Twins pursuing outfielder Torii Hunter who played for Minnesota from 1997-2007 before leaving via free agency. Hunter will be 40 years old this coming July and he just put $14 million in the bank thanks to the Detroit Tigers in 2014. No argument here the Twins outfield is a mess with no center fielder, no left fielder, and Oswaldo Arcia in right is not exactly a gold glover. Still, having said that I don’t understand why the Twins would pay Hunter around $10 million to play for them in 2015. We are talking 15 home runs and 80 RBI and a .280 average but is that worth $10 million or so even now for a team that has little to no chance of achieving the .500 mark? I know that fans still love Torii and he was a good player here for many years but let it go for God’s sake. The man can’t play like he did back in his 20’s. Why do the Twins and their fans always want their former stars to come back home? Haven’t you folks heard the old saying “you can never go home again?”
Wily Mo Pena
Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets that there is interest between Wily Mo Pena and the Minnesota Twins. The soon to be 33-year-old Of/DH goes about 260 and has played in Japan for the last three season. Pena last appeared in the majors in 2011 with the Seattle Mariners and has never played in more than 110 games in the majors at any point in his career. I could care less that he hit 32 home runs in Japan in 2014, the last thing the Twins need to spend money on is a DH. Rumor or fact, this is just plain STUPID! If the Twins look they will find other positions that need more help then at DH.
Let’s move on from the Twins for a bit and see what else is going on in the AL Central. Last year the Chicago White Sox signed first baseman Jose Abreu from Cuba to a $68 million six-year deal and in 2014 the 27-year-old Abreu rewarded them with the American League Rookie of the Year award. Now the Sox go out and sign free agent 1B Adam LaRoche to a two-year deal for $25 million. I hate to repeat myself but what the heck are they thinking? They have numerous holes to fill and they chose to sign another first baseman. I sure hope the Sox know something we don’t because as first glance this is another dumb Sox move.
Raul Ibanez
Joe Maddon opted out of his manager gig in Tampa a couple of weeks ago because things were heading south in Tampa and the Chicago Cubs seem to have a future. That created an opening for a new Rays manager and the three finalist are Kevin Cash, Don Wakamatsu, and Raul Ibanez. RAUL IBANEZ? Where did he come from? Why is he qualified to manage a big league team? The last time I saw him he was playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2014 and now he is a finalist for the Tampa Rays manager job, how do things like this happen? Like I said, a real head scratcher for me.
You can’t make this stuff up but yet it happens in baseball day in and day out.
The Twins defeated the Tigers, 12-3 yesterday, preventing the Detroit from clinching the American League Central Division title. It was the last-place Twins’ 10th win in 18 games against the division-leading Tigers this season. Believe it or not, the Twins, despite a 26-41 record since the All-Star break, lead the American League with 4.67 runs per game over that same stretch. Similarly, the Rockies led the National League in scoring average before the break this year (4.76), despite reaching the intermission at 40-56. Since the first All-Star Game in 1933, only one other major-league team has led its league in runs per game either before or after the break, while having at least 15 more losses than wins over that span; the Rockies did it in the first half of the 2004 season.
According to Elias – Danny Santana was 3-for-5 with a double, triple, and stolen base in the Twins’ 8-4 home win over the Tigers. It was the second time this season that Santana delivered at least three hits, two extra-base hits, and a steal from the leadoff slot; he also did it against the White Sox on August 3. The only other Twins leadoff hitters to have more than one such game in a season since the team moved to Minnesota in 1961 were Dan Gladden (3 in 1988) and Jacque Jones (2 in 2002).
The Chattanooga Lookouts are pleased to announce that the organization has signed a four-year player development contract with the Minnesota Twins. Chattanooga is part of the 10 team Southern League which is split into the Northern and Southern Division. The Lookouts are in the Northern Division. The Lookouts who were affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past season will replace the previous Twins Double-A affiliate the New Britain Rock Cats (Eastern league) who had been the Twins Double-A home since 1995. New Britain has announced a new two-year player development agreement with the Colorado Rockies.
Glen Perkins
The Twins finally announced that Glen Perkins will be under-going an MRI, what took them so long? In his last eight games going back to August 26 Perkins has pitched 6.1 innings giving up 12 hits, two walks, five home runs, and 10 earned runs while striking out two batters. Did I mention that in those 6+ innings he has faced 32 batters and posted a 14.21 ERA? You think there is a problem here? Is this another case of a Twins player hiding an injury? Can’t be sure, but I am getting tired of players that keep playing when they are injured, they are no better in my eyes than the players that beg out of a game when they have a hang-nail. These players are professionals that are paid big money to play major league baseball, it is a shame a number of them don’t act like it. Just what the Twins need, another question mark heading into the 2015 season.
So what will happen with manager Ron Gardenhire? Will the Twins fire him or will Gardy announce that he has resigned? My guess is that Gardy will walk away after the 2014 season finally ends to recharge his batteries and spend more time with his family and take a job with MLB TV for the 2015 season and then take another managing job next season when a manager gets axed or after the 2015 season ends. Just think how much fun it will be to watch Gardy on MLB TV, they should give him his own show. The Twins still don’t like firing people and a Gardenhire resignation will work best for everyone involved. Everyone except the current Twins coaching staff, but they have all earned the right to become free agents and a clean sweep of the Twins coaching ranks is in order. The term “getting it right” has been used a lot in the Twin Cities the last week or so with another professional team that calls Minnesota home and the Twins can borrow that phrase and put it to good use. I have always liked Ron Gardenhire but the time has come when a change needs to be made, it is kind of like when we have to get rid of a car that we have had for a long time and we really liked. The car has served us well over the many years we owned it and we have gotten used to its many idiosyncracies and most of the time it got us to where we needed to go but now it has broken down again and it is time to call the tow truck and have it taken away. There is always someone out there that thinks another mans junk is another mans treasure and Gardy is too young to be sent to the manager scrap heap so you will see him managing again soon, maybe against our Minnesota Twins.
