Tag: Detroit Tigers

According to Elias

Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer‘s single was the only hit for the Twins last night in Detroit off starter Anibal Sanchez, marking the third time in his career that Mauer had one base hit and his teammates had none. That’s tied for the most such “one-hitters” among active players. Jerry Hairston Jr. and Michael Young also have played three games in which they got their team’s lone hit in a one-hitter. Mauer had previously broken up no-hitters in the ninth inning off Neftali Feliz on August 23, 2010 at Texas as he tried to finish off a combined no-hitter started by Rich Harden and again off Gavin Floyd of the White Sox in Chicago on May 6, 2008.

According to Elias

Justin Verlander
Justin Verlander

Detroit Tigers hurler Justin Verlander went seven innings and earned the victory in the Tigers’ 4-1 win over the Twins, marking his eighth win in his last eight starts against Minnesota. Verlander is the first pitcher to be credited with wins in each of eight straight starts against the Twins since David Wells put together a nine-wins-in-nine-starts stretch from 1996 to 2000. Only one other active major-league pitcher has won his last eight starts against one opponent: New York Yankees CC Sabathia against Seattle.

According to Elias

Oswaldo Arcia
Oswaldo Arcia

Oswaldo Arcia, a 21-year old rookie, hit the first home run of the season by a Twins designated hitter in Minnesota’s afternoon win over Miami yesterday at Target Field in game one of the doubleheader. Monday’s game at Target Field was postponed due to cold weather and expected snow and required the Twins and Marlins to play a doubleheader. It ended up snowing about 3 inches on Monday evening and through out the night. Additional info on the snow removal during the night to prepare the ballpark for play can be found here. That leaves Detroit as the only American League team without a home run by a designated hitter this season. Over the last 10 years, the only other player to hit a home run for the Twins before turning 22 is Joe Mauer (7 times). Source: Elias

Twins post first “W” of the season

What a nice win! The Twins posted their first “W” of the season this afternoon in a come from behind walk-off double by Eduardo Escobar that scored Jamey Carroll and Brian Dozier with two out in the ninth at Target Field. I know that the Tigers outfielders probably should have caught that ball for the third out but the fact is they did not. Kevin Correia started and pitched 7 innings allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out two. Correia did a great job against the Tigers and kept his team in the game. I know it is only one game but maybe this will help quiet all those Correia critics out there. I have to mention Wilkin Ramirez too and give him his props for the pinch-hit double that plated the Twins first run in the seventh inning. On the not so good side, the Twins had 8 more LOB today making 20 in their first two games, they have to do better than that if they want to win games. The Twins still have not started a single inning this season with a lead. I wonder what the Twins are going to do when they have to add Scott Diamond to the roster in a few days, there is no obvious candidate to ship out to Rochester at this point.

Torii Hunter as TigerFormer Twins and current Tiger outfielder Torii Hunter started the game with 1,988 hits and had a single in the top of the third inning and singled again in the top of the fifth for hit number 1,990 but was thrown out at third base by Chris Parmelee on Miguel Cabrera’s single that scored Omar Infante as Hunter tried to advance from first to third.

Thirteen years ago today the Twins introduced TC Bear as their mascot and last May he marked his consecutive 1,000 game. That bear is out there day in and day out, he never misses a game, he just grins and bears it I guess. You can read a nice piece about TC by going here.

Twins on short end of 4-2 season opener

I did not attend the Twins season opener at Target Field yesterday but I did watch it from the comfort of my home where it was nice and warm and the game came in crystal clear on Fox Sports North in HD via Comcast. The folks at the ballpark had to endure a windy 35 degrees with a wind chill in the 20’s at game time (3:10 PM) as they watched the Detroit Tigers beat the Twins 4-2. I thought I would take a few minutes and share my observations of the game.

Vance Worley
Vance Worley

Twins starter Vance Worley was out there in short sleeves while many players wore ski masks and winter hats to keep warm. Worley gave up 8 hits and a walk while striking out three in 6 innings. I have not seen Worley pitch very much prior to this game but I was impressed with his effort today. Yes, he gave up more hits than I would like but what I took away from this game was that Worley is fighter. He had a lot of guys on base early on but he kept pitching and kept his team in the game, which is more that most Twins starters have done in the last year or so. Take Francisco Liriano for example, as soon as he had a runner or two on base you could count on him folding like a $2 umbrella. The man could not pitch with runners on base. The weather was miserable and the Tigers are a top-notch team and it was the season opener with a lot of hype, I though Worley acquitted himself very well.

I felt bad for Aaron Hicks, a rookie that skipped AAA and in his major league debut he gets to face Jason Verlander on a 35 degree day at home. A tough task and those three strikeouts will hopefully just be a small speed bump in what promises to be a long and succesful career for Hicks. Hang in there Aaron.

The Twins lost but they had their chances multiple times but they let the Tigers off the hook by being over-anxious. The Tigers bullpen stinks and the Twins were just not patient enough and didn’t wait for good pitches. When you leave 12 on base you don’t deserve to win and the Twins didn’t. The Twins took 6 walks and they could have had several more in key situations but they swung at “balls” to often.

Although it is a game in the loss column we have to remember it is only one game, I am anxious to see the Twins next game.

Elias says: Justin Verlander improved his record to 7-0 with a 1.22 earned-run average over his last seven starts against the Twins. The last pitcher to win seven consecutive starts against the Twins was David Wells, who won nine in a row against them from 1996 to 2000.

Fun facts about Twins home openers

2013 opening dayThe Minnesota Twins are playing their final spring training game today and I am sure they are hoping for a quick non extra inning game so they can grab a quick shower and board the plane for their flight to Minneapolis where they look to get settled in before they open the season against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, April 1. It seems that the baseball gods are having a good laugh and are playing an April Fool’s joke on both the Twins and the Tigers by making them play ball on day that the weather prognosticators say will be a windy 31 degrees at game time with wind chills in the 20’s.

When the Twins first moved here from Washington they played outdoors in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 through the 1981 season. In-door baseball was just at the starting gate about this time as Roy Hofheinz was in the process of building the “Eighth Wonder of the World” in Houston in what would open in April 1965 as the Harris County Domed Stadium but was later called simply as the Astrodome.

Let’s take a look at some of the interesting facts about the Twins home openers.

  • The Twins called the “Met” home for 21 years and their record in their Met Stadium home openers was 21-9 including winning 10 out of 11 between 1964-1974.
  • The first Twins pitcher to get credited with a win in a Twins home opener was Bill Pleis in 1964.
  • Of those 21 Met home openers, only 5 of the games were actual season openers as the Twins started their season on the road most of the time. The Twins were 2-3 in season openers at the Met.
  • During the Met Stadium years the Twins opened the season 6 times against the A’s, five times as Oakland and once as Kansas City and they won four and lost two.
  • Between 1961 and 1981 they opened the home season as early as April 6 (1971) and as late as April 23 (1972).
  • The average temperature at the start of a Twins home opener at Met Stadium was 56.48 degrees.
  • The coldest start to a Twins home opener occurred on April 14, 1962 when it was 33 degrees at game time and the Twins ended up losing to the Los Angeles Angels 12-5 in front of 8,363 hardcore Twins fans. The coldest start ever to a game at Met Stadium took place against the New York Yankees in May 2, 1967 when the temperature stood at 32 degrees and the Twins trounced the Yankees 13-4.
  • The warmest start to a Twins home opener took place on April 22, 1980 when the California Angels and Rod Carew were in town to take a 8-1 pasting at the hands of the Twins who were as hot as the 89 degree temperature that day. Geoff Zahn pitched a complete game and Hosken Powell,  Ron Jackson and Roy Smalley all hit home runs.

The Twins moved indoors in 1982 and played in the HHH Metrodome through the 2009 season so the out-door temperatures mattered little as it was always between about 66-72 degrees inside.

  • Of the 28 seasons that the Twins played dome ball, they opened the season at home 15 times and their record in these season opening games was 7-8.
  • The Twins were 9-4 when their first game of the season at the Dome was not a season opener.
  • Many of the Twins openers at the Dome were night games, something not done at any out-door venue in Minnesota.
  • Between 1982 and 2009 they opened the home season as early as March 31 (2008) and as late as April 27 (1995).

Since the Twins have called Target Field home in 2010 they have never played a season opening game there until this year. The earliest game they have played there was April 8, 2011. The Twins are 2-1 in Target Field home openers. The average temperature at a Target field home opener so far has been 57.67 degrees but even if the temperature is only 31 degrees on Monday, the average temperature for a Target field home opener will still be about 51 degrees.

 Here is a chart showing the Twins outdoor home openers.

YEAR Date Temperature Result Season opener
1961 4/21 63 lost 5-3 no
1962 *4/14 33 lost 12-5 no
1963 4/9 49 lost 5-4 yes
1964 *4/22 56 won 7-6 no
1965 4/12 44 won 5-4 yes
1966 4/12 52 won 2-1 yes
1967 4/14 51 won 5-3 no
1968 4/17 62 won 13-1 no
1969 4/18 59 won 6-0 no
1970 4/11 49 won 8-2 no
1971 4/6 53 lost 7-2 yes
1972 *4/23 44 won 8-4 no
1973 4/13 51 won 8-4 no
1974 4/9 53 won 3-1 no
1975 4/15 48 lost 7-3 no
1976 4/13 75 lost 4-1 no
1977 4/15 77 lost 3-2 no
1978 4/14 50 won 14-5 no
1979 4/17 63 lost 6-0 no
1980 4/22 89 won 8-1 no
1981 4/9 65 lost 5-1 yes
2010 4/12 65 won 5-2 no
2011 4/8 63 won 2-1 no
2012 4/9 45 lost 5-1 no
2013 4/1 35 lost 4-2 yes

* = The Twins had home openers postponed in 1962 (April 13), 1964 (April 21), and 1972 (April 22).

This Day in Twins History – March 21

3/21/1970 – The Twins acquire outfielder Brant Alyea from Washington and part ways with pitcher Joe Grezenda and pitcher Charley Walters who will later become a St. Paul Pioneer Press sports writer.

Brant Alyea
Brant Alyea

Alyea was red-hot in his first month in Minnesota hitting .415 by going 22 for 53 with four doubles, five home runs and knocking in 23 RBI’s. Alyea was also involved in a bizarre strikeout that ended in a 7-6-7 put out (yes, that’s left fielder to shortstop to left fielder!). Here’s how it happened, according to the Project Retrosheet (www.retrosheet.org) newsletter of May 1997: “From Dave Smith: How about a strikeout with the batter being retired 767? In the game of April 25, 1970, Tigers pitcher Earl Wilson struck out to end the seventh inning in the Twin Cities. Or so it appeared to everyone except Detroit third base coach Grover Resinger. He saw that Twins catcher Paul Ratliff trapped the pitch in the dirt, did not tag Wilson and rolled the ball to the mound. Resinger told Wilson to start running as most of the Twins entered the dugout. Earl got to first easily and headed for second. Since no one interfered with him, he started for third. By this time, Brant Alyea, who was trotting in from left field, heard Resinger shouting at Wilson. Alyea hustled to the mound but had trouble picking up the ball. Wilson headed for home where Twins Leo Cardenas and Ratliff had returned. Alyea finally picked up the ball and threw to Cardenas. Wilson turned back to third but was tagged out by Alyea for a K767. Rookie catcher Ratliff was charged with an error. After the game, Detroit catcher Bill Freehan said “If Alyea had been hustling, Earl might have made it [home]. Tell him [Alyea] to start coming in and off the field a little quicker.” The aftermath of the story is that Wilson pulled a hamstring muscle running the bases and had to leave the game.”

3/21/1989 – 2B Steve Lombardozzi is sent packing to the Astros and the Twins acquire 2B Mica Lewis and outfielder Ramon Cedeno.

3/21/2010 – The Twins get some bad news as they learn that star closer Joe Nathan will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a tear in a ligament in his pitching elbow. Joe misses the entire 2010 season.

Twins career best K/9

I watched Clubhouse Confidential on MLB TV yesterday and in one of the segments host Brian Kenny talked about the climbing rate of the strikeout per 9 innings ratio (K/9) over the years. It was a very interesting piece and Kenny pointed out how last year the leader was Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel who had an amazing 16.66 strikeouts for every nine innings pitched, that is a truly crazy number and he accomplished that while throwing  14.9 pitches per inning. The top starter K/9 ratio belonged to Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg who had a mark of 11.13 and he was followed closely by Detroit Tiger starter Max Scherzer who posted a 11.08 mark. The best K/9 ratio for a Twins pitcher in 2012? That honor goes to closer Glen Perkins at 9.98.

The Twins top ten career K/9 leaders with a minimum of 500 innings pitched are:

Johan Santana pitched for Minnesota from 2000 -2007. Santana is tied for third most wins in Dome history (46) and second-most strikeouts (754). Johan was a three-time All-Star and won Cy Young Awards in 2004 and 2006. Won 17 consecutive games in the Dome from 2005-2007.
Johan Santana pitched for Minnesota from 2000 -2007. Santana is tied for third most wins in Dome history (46) and second-most strikeouts (754). Johan was a three-time All-Star and won Cy Young Awards in 2004 and 2006. Won 17 consecutive games in the Dome from 2005-2007.
Rank Name W/L Innings K/9
1. Johan Santana 93-44 1,308.2 9.50
2. Francisco Liriano 50-52 783.1 9.05
3. Eddie Guardado 37-48 704.2 7.79
4. Rick Aguilera 40-47 694 7.60
5. Dick Stigman 37-37 643.2 7.52
6. Dave Boswell 67-54 1,036.1 7.51
7. Mike Trombley 30-34 645.2 7.36
8. Scott Baker 63-48 958 7.23
9. Bert Blyleven 149-138 2,566.2 7.14
10. Jim Merritt 37-41 686.2 6.91

The players on the above list that were originally drafted or signed by Minnesota are Guardado, Boswell, Trombley, Baker and Blyleven, the remainder were acquired in some fashion.

How the AL Central is reacting to the Tigers

Today we have a guest post written by FanDuel.com.

After a somewhat slow start a season ago, the Detroit Tigers really hit their stride and put away the Chicago White Sox in a two-team race in the AL Central. The Royals, Indians and Twins all finished well below .500 and the due to that the division continues to be labeled as one of the weakest in baseball. With Detroit looking like the clear-cut favorites again in 2013, how have the other four teams tried to improve?

Both Cleveland and Kansas City have both made some moves to improve their 2013 squads, making some key free agent signings as well as some trades they felt confident about. The biggest names are James Shields and Wade Davis, who should both help the Royals pitching staff quite a bit this upcoming season. Most of their offensive firepower has been homegrown, but their luck with starting pitching has not worked out too well. Some criticized them for giving up Wil Meyers to get these guys, but it’s an interesting move by the Royals.

Cleveland has been busy as well, but most of their noise comes from the free agent market. Signing fantasy baseball favorites Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher will give them two guys to hit near the top of their lineup. They are also great veteran leaders who will fit in nicely with new manager Terry Francona. The Indians have also taken low risk, high reward flyers out on the likes of Jason Giambi, Mark Reynolds, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. They were able to pull all this off without sacrificing any of their top prospects. In fact, they picked up a good one along the way, getting Trevor Bauer to bolster their pitching staff.

Minnesota might not be making the type of noise fans were hoping for, but their more long-term approach could pay off in the upcoming seasons. The Twins have farm system rich with talent, headlined by the likes of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Kyle Gibson and Aaron Hicks. All of those guys project to be above-average MLB players, but for right now, the Twins might still be a year away from truly competing for the playoffs again. The health of Mauer and Morneau is always going to play a major role for them, but the talent they have in their farm system is reason enough to be optimistic about the future.

Finally, the White Sox were the only legitimate contenders with the Tigers a season ago, and they figure to be their biggest threat this year as well. The problem is, a lot of people feel as though they haven’t done enough to make their team better in the offseason. A few under the radar moves like signing Matt Lindstrom for the bullpen and Jeff Keppinger to play third base might be the little tweaks they need. If Alex Rios, Jake Peavy and Adam Dunn can all provide the same type of value as they did a year ago, the Tigers will not simply coast to the title. In fact, all four teams, albeit by different methods, are going after the current top team in the division.

Florida spring training ticket prices

money in walletDo you have plans to get away from the cold and snow and feel the sand between your toes, the sun on your back and hopefully catch some Twins spring training baseball in Florida? What better way to forget your problems and get away from it all. For the first time in many years I will not be attending spring training in Ft. Myers but that is a whole different story. Well, if you are going, you might want to raise your credit card limit and keep a tight grip on your wallet or purse because MLB and the Twins are looking to help themselves to your money.

The Detroit Tigers apparently have found a new way to gouge a few additional dollars from their fans. The Tigers normally open the gates to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida 2 hours prior to home games but by that time the Tigers have already completed their batting practice. Baseball fans enjoy watching the home team take batting practice so the Tigers have decided to allow fans to get in early for home batting practice but the fans will be limited to the left-field berm and will need to scratch up an extra $5 for the privilege. Tigers management take on it is that the fans requested it since they could not watch batting practice and now they will be able to do so, if they come up with the bucks. Way to push it on the fans Detroit Tigers management, if the Tigers were really just doing a good deed they would not charge for the privilege or if they did, any money they collect should go to charity or to the old-time baseball players with little or no pensions that baseball has neglected so badly. But it is not just the Tigers, other teams are also looking to take more money from the wallets of their fans. It seems to me that a fan should not be punished if he/she decides to go to a baseball on short notice but that is not the case if you want to take in an Atlanta Braves game in Lake Buena Vista as their web site states that “A $5 Walk-Up fee will apply to Day-Of-Game purchases”, what idiot came up with that idea? Punish walk-up ticket sales? Calvin Griffith is rolling over in his grave this very moment. Other teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates (who have not played .500 ball for 20 years) for example have come up with this plan “Prior to the individual ticket on-sale, fans will have the opportunity to take part in an “Early Bird” online only pre-sale from January 23-25. “Early Bird” pricing is different than regular single game pricing and is an alternative purchase opportunity for fans who want to be guaranteed seats to high-demand games.” This means that for 3 days the Pirates allow you to pay more for a spring training ticket that you normally would. Where the heck do these idiots come up with these ideas and why is the general public falling for these shenanigans?

I see this as just another way that baseball is looking at additional fees to take in more money from their fans. I sure hope this is not something that spreads like wildfire through out baseball as spring training is one of the few places where fans get a chance to get close to their team and now it just seems like baseball is going to make them pay. Fans that attend spring training are the true fan base of any team, they spend their hard earned money to travel to a destination to observe their favorite teams and they should be rewarded by their teams and not punished with extra fees.

The Minnesota Twins have made it tougher to get close to some of the fields in spring training themselves and that is a trend that I see getting worse over the years. Probably won’t be long before they start charging fans for watching the minor leaguers play their games on the back fields. Baseball should be looking for ways to encourage fans to go to spring training by making it affordable but that apparently is not the case.

Look at the Twins spring training ticket prices for example, this is year 2 of “Value” and “Premium” pricing and the tickets range from $13 for a “value” lawn ticket to $43 for a “premium” Dugout Box seat. Last year 3 of the 16 (18.8%) home games were designated as “premium”, this year 6 of the 18 (33.3%) of the home games are classified as “premium” games.  2013 is the first time in a number of years that the Twins have not raised their spring training ticket prices at Hammond Stadium from the previous season but they doubled the number of their “premium” games so yes, they will make more money off ticket sales. YES, $43. How in the world can the Twins who are coming off of back-to-back 90+ loss seasons, dropping payroll, charge $43 to watch a team that will not even have big leaguers playing most of the time? The Twins average spring trainng attendance in 2012 was 7,344 which was a drop of a little over 9% from 8,091 in 2011.

If you are going to have variable pricing why not come up with a plan that is more fair to the fans, charge less for these early spring training exhibition games than you do for games played later in March because for most of March it is mostly minor league players playing most of the game with major league players making cameo appearances. Let’s take a look at the Twins spring training ticket prices since 2008.

Ticket type 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012* 2013**
Dugout Box $38 n/a $39 $39 $40/$43 $40/$43
Box $22 $23 $24 $25 $26/$29 $26/$29
Reserved $20 $21 $22 $23 $24/$27 $24/$27
Drink Rail $20 $21 $22 $25 $26/$29 $26/$29
Lawn $12 $12 $12 $13 $13/$16 $13/$16
* – 3 premium games
** – 6 premium games