Tag: Eric Hacker

Twins switch-hitters from 1961-2015

One of the more frequent questions I get pertains to switch-hitters that played for the Minnesota Twins so I thought I would put together the entire list of Twins players both position players and pitchers that swung from both sides of the plate. In this case I ranked then in order of home runs hit. The list includes Twins pitchers as well as position players.

Rk Player HR From To G PA AB H 2B 3B RBI BA OPS Pos
1 Roy Smalley 110 1976 1987 1148 4676 3997 1046 184 21 485 .262 .750 *6DH/53
2 Chili Davis 41 1991 1992 291 1163 978 276 61 3 159 .282 .862 *D/H793
3 Cristian Guzman 39 1999 2004 841 3538 3277 871 142 61 289 .266 .685 *6/HD
4 Butch Wynegar 37 1976 1982 794 3188 2746 697 112 9 325 .254 .682 *2/HD5
5 Gene Larkin 32 1987 1993 758 2670 2321 618 131 12 266 .266 .723 3D9H/754
6 Ryan Doumit 32 2012 2013 269 1066 969 253 62 2 130 .261 .745 2/D9H73
7 Denny Hocking 25 1993 2003 876 2455 2204 556 109 17 215 .252 .661 64H5/9738D
8 Bobby Kielty 23 2001 2003 224 750 631 170 35 3 92 .269 .818 9/8HD73
9 Eduardo Escobar 21 2012 2015 340 1139 1051 275 71 8 111 .262 .710 *6/574HD98
10 Aaron Hicks 20 2013 2015 247 928 819 184 30 6 78 .225 .655 *8/97HD
11 Kennys Vargas 14 2014 2015 111 418 390 101 14 1 55 .259 .707 /*D3H
12 Dave Hollins 13 1996 1996 121 503 422 102 26 0 53 .242 .760 *5/HD6
13 Nick Punto 12 2004 2010 747 2707 2365 587 102 21 194 .248 .648 564/HD879
14 Alexi Casilla 11 2006 2012 515 1764 1580 395 72 14 147 .250 .639 *4/6HD58
15 Pedro Florimon 10 2012 2014 210 682 616 126 23 3 55 .205 .567 *6/HD
16 Matt Walbeck 8 1994 1996 275 1008 946 218 40 1 103 .230 .571 *2/HD
17 Javier Valentin 8 1997 2002 141 435 391 90 19 2 46 .230 .638 *2/HD
18 Danny Santana 7 2014 2015 192 707 666 185 37 12 61 .278 .710 *6/8HD9
19 Brent Gates 6 1998 1999 217 723 639 161 28 2 80 .252 .656 *5/4H3D6
20 Luis Rodriguez 6 2005 2007 206 508 445 108 19 3 38 .243 .651 /54H6D3
21 Orlando Hudson 6 2010 2010 126 559 497 133 24 5 37 .268 .710 *4/D
22 Jim Perry 5 1963 1972 380 681 613 117 17 2 46 .191 .478 *1/H7
23 Terry Tiffee 5 2004 2006 91 256 239 54 13 1 29 .226 .625 /5H3D
24 Orlando Merced 5 1998 1998 63 223 204 59 12 0 33 .289 .767 /*39DH
25 John Moses 4 1988 1990 349 687 620 171 25 7 57 .276 .693 9H/78D31
26 Matt Tolbert 3 2008 2011 247 680 605 139 27 9 54 .230 .607 4/5H6D39
27 Luis Castillo 3 2006 2007 227 1036 933 279 33 9 67 .299 .720 *4
28 Pedro Ramos 3 1961 1961 53 100 93 16 1 0 11 .172 .484 /*1H
29 Marcus Jensen 3 2000 2000 52 164 139 29 7 1 14 .209 .663 /*2HD
30 Dave McKay 2 1975 1976 78 290 263 60 6 1 24 .228 .562 /*5H6D
31 Jose Offerman 2 2004 2004 77 202 172 44 14 2 22 .256 .759 /*DH34
32 Augie Ojeda 2 2004 2004 30 72 59 20 1 0 7 .339 .886 /*46H5
33 Darrell Brown 1 1983 1984 186 602 569 155 15 5 41 .272 .624 *8/H7D
34 Otis Nixon 1 1998 1998 110 500 448 133 6 6 20 .297 .705 *8/H
35 Wally Backman 1 1989 1989 87 337 299 69 9 2 26 .231 .591 /*4HD
36 Tom Herr 1 1988 1988 86 345 304 80 16 0 21 .263 .674 /*4HD6
37 Chris Latham 1 1997 1999 63 154 138 21 2 0 9 .152 .411 /8H79
38 Kendrys Morales 1 2014 2014 39 162 154 36 11 0 18 .234 .584 /*D3H
39 Rob Bowen 1 2003 2004 24 43 37 4 0 0 3 .108 .380 /*2HD
40 Al Newman 0 1987 1991 618 1876 1647 380 59 7 135 .231 .581 465H/D738
41 J.C. Romero 0 1999 2005 327 3 3 1 1 0 0 .333 1.000 *1
42 Joe Mays 0 1999 2005 193 21 15 4 1 0 0 .267 .722 *1
43 Pat Neshek 0 2006 2010 132 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
44 Pete Filson 0 1982 1986 130 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
45 Darrell Jackson 0 1978 1982 104 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1/HD
46 Jose Morales 0 2007 2010 74 181 158 47 9 0 14 .297 .725 /*2HD3
47 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0 2011 2012 71 254 233 50 5 0 20 .215 .503 /*64HD
48 Doug Baker 0 1988 1990 57 100 86 23 5 1 9 .267 .696 /*46HD5
49 Sergio Ferrer 0 1974 1975 56 157 138 36 3 3 2 .261 .648 /*6H4D
50 Nelson Liriano 0 1990 1990 53 211 185 47 5 7 13 .254 .688 /*4HD6
51 Marty Martinez 0 1962 1962 37 24 18 3 0 1 3 .167 .563 /*H65
52 Dan Serafini 0 1996 1998 35 1 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 /*1
53 Larry Milbourne 0 1982 1982 29 106 98 23 1 1 1 .235 .548 /*4H
54 Donnie Hill 0 1992 1992 25 59 51 15 3 0 2 .294 .721 /6H459
55 Chris Pittaro 0 1986 1987 25 34 33 6 0 0 0 .182 .388 /*4H6D
56 Quinton McCracken 0 2001 2001 24 70 64 14 2 2 3 .219 .588 /DH798
57 Jason Ryan 0 1999 2000 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
58 Tom Lundstedt 0 1975 1975 18 32 28 3 0 0 1 .107 .326 /*2HD
59 Ruben Sierra 0 2006 2006 14 33 28 5 1 0 4 .179 .487 /*H*D
60 Glenn Williams 0 2005 2005 13 43 40 17 1 0 3 .425 .902 /*5H
61 Stan Perzanowski 0 1978 1978 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
62 Cleatus Davidson 0 1999 1999 12 24 22 3 0 0 3 .136 .273 /*46HD
63 Jorge Polanco 0 2014 2015 9 20 16 5 1 1 4 .313 .950 /*6H
64 David Lamb 0 2002 2002 7 10 10 1 0 0 0 .100 .200 /*6H45
65 Mark Brown 0 1985 1985 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
66 Luis Quinones 0 1992 1992 3 6 5 1 0 0 1 .200 .367 /*H6D5
67 Eric Hacker 0 2011 2011 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/10/2016.

You can make a strong case that Mickey Mantle was the best switch-hitter in the AL as he hit .300 (with 500 or more PA’s) or more nine time and Victor Martinez who remains active today has hit. 300 eight times as has Bernie Williams. Roberto Alomar did it seven times.

Guzman, Cristian 3The Twins have not had as much luck with their switch-hitters, the only Twin to hit .300 (.302) or better with at least 500 plate appearances was Cristian Guzman in 2001. It kind of makes you wonder if switch hitting is worth the effort. From 1901 to 1960 the Washington Senators never had a switch-hitter that hit .300 or better with at least 500 PA’s.

These guys were Twins players too

CoffeeAccording to Wikipedia, a “cup of coffee” is a North American sports idiom for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before being returned to the minors, or simply to describe a brief stint served with a professional team. The term originated in baseball and is extensively used in ice hockey,

The 52 players listed below appeared in five or fewer games wearing a Twins uniform. Some of them ended up playing for other major league teams and had long big league careers and others did not. Those that did not play in major league games other than the games mentioned here still achieved their dream of playing in a major league game, a wish that most of us reading this can only dream about. Some of these players had very short big league careers but they climbed the ladder and reached the top, their stay may not have been long but they touched the star they fought so long and hard to achieve.

The reasons that their stays in ‘the show” were not as long as they had hoped were many, some careers ended due to injury, others due to rumors and or politics, personal reasons, maybe they couldn’t stay sober or drug free, some heard the call from their country and other just were not good enough to play in the major leagues. But the bottom line is that they were one of the 758 players that appeared in a Minnesota Twins game so they should not be forgotten.

Although the list below has all the positions covered, most of the players on this list are pitchers. Some of the players on this list like Max Kepler and Alex Meyer will probably drop off this list in the near future but for now they find their names on this list of Twins players that many Minnesota Twins fans have never heard of.

Bruckbauer, Fred 2Probably the most famous or infamous player on this list is the now deceased pitcher Fred Bruckbauer. Born in New Ulm, Minnesota Bruckbauer pitched for the University of Minnesota and appeared in one game for the Minnesota Twins on April 25, 1961. The Twins were trailing the Kansas City A’s 7-2 at Municipal Stadium when Fred took the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning. A double by Dick Howser, a single by Jay Hankins, a walk to Jerry Lumpe and a double by Lou Klimchock and Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto had seen enough and brought in Chuck Stobbs, and Bruckbauer’s big league pitching career ended then and there. Fred Bruckbauer’s pitching line for the game and his career was three hits, one walk and four earned runs in zero innings pitched giving him an ERA of infinity. Bruckbauer never again pitched in a major league game, but remember, he pitched in a big league game.

 Players who appeared in five or fewer Twins games in their career

Rk Player G From To Age PA AB H BA Pos
1 Corky Miller 5 2005 2005 29-29 12 12 0 .000 /*2HD
2 Mike Fetters 5 2003 2003 38-38 0 0 0 /*1
3 Gary Rath 5 1999 1999 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
4 Shane Bowers 5 1997 1997 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
5 Greg Brummett 5 1993 1993 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
6 Mike Maksudian 5 1993 1993 27-27 17 12 2 .167 /*3H5
7 Rich Yett 5 1985 1990 22-27 0 0 0 /*1
8 Mike Mason 5 1988 1988 29-29 0 0 0 /*1
9 Tack Wilson 5 1983 1983 27-27 4 4 1 .250 /*HD8
10 Jim Shellenback 5 1977 1977 33-33 0 0 0 /*1
11 Jim Manning 5 1962 1962 18-18 1 1 0 .000 /*1
12 Howie Clark 4 2008 2008 34-34 8 8 2 .250 /*345
13 Darnell McDonald 4 2007 2007 28-28 11 10 1 .100 /*9HD
14 Jason Miller 4 2007 2007 24-24 0 0 0 /*1
15 J.D. Durbin 4 2004 2004 22-22 0 0 0 /*1
16 Warren Morris 4 2002 2002 28-28 7 7 0 .000 /*4H
17 Jose Rodriguez 4 2002 2002 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
18 Danny Mota 4 2000 2000 24-24 0 0 0 /*1
19 Tom Quinlan 4 1996 1996 28-28 6 6 0 .000 /*5H
20 Riccardo Ingram 4 1995 1995 28-28 10 8 1 .125 /*D*H
21 Keith Comstock 4 1984 1984 28-28 0 0 0 /*1
22 Jay Pettibone 4 1983 1983 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
23 John Hobbs 4 1981 1981 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
24 Bill Whitby 4 1964 1964 20-20 1 1 0 .000 /*1
25 Jake Jacobs 4 1961 1961 24-24 8 8 2 .250 /*8H
26 Max Kepler 3 2015 2015 22-22 7 7 1 .143 /*H*9
27 Kris Johnson 3 2014 2014 29-29 1 1 0 .000 /*1
28 Juan Morillo 3 2009 2009 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
29 Joe Beimel 3 2004 2004 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
30 Luis Quinones 3 1992 1992 30-30 6 5 1 .200 /*H6D5
31 Greg Olson 3 1989 1989 28-28 2 2 1 .500 /*2
32 Tippy Martinez 3 1988 1988 38-38 0 0 0 /*1
33 Jeff Bittiger 3 1987 1987 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
34 Kevin Stanfield 3 1979 1979 23-23 0 0 0 /*1
35 Bucky Guth 3 1972 1972 24-24 3 3 0 .000 /*H6
36 Bucky Brandon 3 1969 1969 28-28 2 1 0 .000 /*1
37 Don Williams 3 1963 1963 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
38 Alex Meyer 2 2015 2015 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
39 Eric Hacker 2 2011 2011 28-28 0 0 0 /*1
40 Armando Gabino 2 2009 2009 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
41 Kevin Mulvey 2 2009 2009 24-24 0 0 0 /*1
42 Ryan Jorgensen 2 2008 2008 29-29 1 1 0 .000 /*2
43 Dave Gassner 2 2005 2005 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
44 Mauro Gozzo 2 1992 1992 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
45 Dan Graham 2 1979 1979 24-24 4 4 0 .000 /*H*D
46 Buzz Stephen 2 1968 1968 23-23 4 3 0 .000 /*1
47 Chuck Nieson 2 1964 1964 21-21 0 0 0 /*1
48 Rob Delaney 1 2010 2010 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
49 Matt Fox 1 2010 2010 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
50 Justin Huber 1 2009 2009 26-26 2 2 1 .500 /*3
51 Mike Smith 1 2006 2006 28-28 0 0 0 /*1
52 Fred Bruckbauer 1 1961 1961 23-23 0 0 0 /*1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/1/2015.

Did you know that 355 (or 46.8%) of the 758 players that wore a Twins uniform played in 49 or fewer games as a Minnesota Twin? Don’t get too attached to that player because he will probably not be around for long.

Do any of these guys bring back a special memory for you? Do you remember seeing them play? Feel free to leave a comment.

Twins switch-hitters

In baseball, a switch-hitter is a batter that bats either from the right side or the left side depending on if the pitcher is right or left-handed. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher making such pitches often harder to hit than those from the other side. History tells us that most right-handed batters hit better against lefty pitchers and left-handed batters hit better against right-handers. This so-called platoon benefit is why managers use pinch hitters and LOOGY’s and why some players want to become switch-hitters.

Switch-hitting at its best

Switch-hitters have been around for ever it seems and yet according to sources that I have researched, only about 6% of baseball batters have been switch-hitters. You have to wonder if switch-hitting is such an advantage, why haven’t more of baseball best hitters been switch-hitters? The best career batting average for a switch-hitter is .316 by Frankie Frisch and he currently ranks 71st all-time. Some of the best switch-hitters in our era have been  Chipper Jones at .306 and Pete Rose at .303. Detroit Tigers DH Victor Martinez has a career average of .302 making him the highest currently active switch-hitter. Switch-hitters have been around for a long time and there have been some pretty good ones over the years, in addition to the players I just mentioned, you have to add players like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams, George Davis, Lance Berkman, Tim Raines and Chili Davis to the list of switch-hitting greats.

Switch-hitting and the rules

A question often asked is can a batter switch for right to left or left to right during an at bat. The only rule that I can find that seemingly applies is 6.06(b) which states that “A batter is out for illegal action when he steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch.” Based on that, it appears you can switch from one batters box to the other as often as you want as long as you do it before the pitcher gets in his pitching position.

Twins switch-hitting history

The Twins currently have four switch-hitters on their 25 man playing roster, C Ryan Doumit, SS Pedro Florimon, OF Aaron Hicks, and utility man Eduardo Escobar.

Roy Smalley III
Roy Smalley III

In the Twins 53 years of existence the team has had 62 players that were switch-hitters but not all of them actually batted and we will touch more on that later. The Twins very first switch-hitter was actually a pitcher, Pedro Ramos. Ramos pitched and batted (1 for 4 with 2 RBI) in the Twins very first game when Ramos and the Twins shut out the New York Yankees 6-0 on April 11, 1961 at Yankee Stadium. The first Twins switch-hitting position player to appear in a game was SS Marty Martinez when he had an at bat against the Yankees at Met Stadium on May 30, 1962 in game 2 of a doubleheader. Martinez actually appeared in 3 earlier games as a Twins but was used strictly as a pinch-runner by manager Sam Mele. It wasn’t until 1976 however; that the Twins actually had a regular position player switch-hitting and that year they had two, rookie catcher Butch Wynegar and SS Roy Smalley. The Twins are playing their 53rd season and there has only been one year, 1973 that they have not had a switch-hitter step into the batters box wearing a Twins uniform. On the other hand, they had nine switch-hitters (Cristian Guzman was the only starter) at one time or another on their 1999 team that finished 63-97.

Twins switch-hitting pitchers

Looking at the Twins 62 switch-hitters, eleven of them were pitchers and claimed to be switch-hitters but only Pedro Ramos, Jim Perry, Dan Serafini, JC Romero, and Joe Mays actually set foot in the batters box. The other six, Stan Perzanowski, Darrell Jackson, Pete Filson, Jason Ryan, Pat Neshek, and Eric Hacker were switch-hitters only on the back of their baseball cards because they never batted in a Twins game. Jim Perry actually hit five home runs as a Twin.

Home runs from each side of the plate club

The Twins switch-hitter with the most home runs is Roy Smalley and he hit 163 career home runs and 110 of them were when he was a Minnesota Twin. The “home runs from each side of the plate” club is relatively exclusive but three of the members were Twins. Roy Smalley accomplished that rare feat twice, once against the Boston Red Sox at the Metrodome on  May 30, 1986 and once earlier in his career as a New York Yankee in 1982. Chili Davis became the second Twin to join the club when he did it against the Royals on October 2, 1992.  Ryan Doumit became the third Twin to do so when too joined the exclusive fraternity against the Royals on July 22, 2012. Chili Davis hit a home run from each side of the plate 11 times in his illustrious 19 year career. Just for comparisons sake, Mickey Mantle did it on 10 occasions.

One oddity that seems to stand out to me is how few of the switch-hitters employed by the Twins over the years actually threw left-handed. If you exclude the 11 switch-hitting pitchers from the list you are left with 51 switch-hitters and only one of the 51 threw left-handed, the other fifty were right-handed. Kind of strange. The lone left-handed position player was John Moses. But keep in mind that John Moses an outfielder by trade, actually pitched in 3 games for the Twins and it gets even stranger.

Twins best switch-hitters

So let’s take a look at the Twins top switch-hitters, there is no good way to rank them so I will list here all the Twins switch-hitters that have 1,000 or more plate appearances in a Twins uniform. The chart also shows positions played, games played, home runs and batting average. All the numbers on this chart are their Twins career numbers. Many of these players played for other teams but those numbers are not included here, I am only interested in their numbers as Minnesota Twins for this story.

Name Positions PA Games HR AVG
1 Roy Smalley 6,5,3 4676 1148 110 .262
2 Cristian Guzman 6 3538 841 39 .266
3 Butch Wynegar 2,5 3188 794 37 .254
4 Nick Punto 5,4,6,8,3 2707 747 12 .248
5 Gene Larkin 3.9.5.4 2670 758 32 .266
6 Denny Hocking 4,6,8,5,3 2455 876 25 .252
7 Al Newman 6,4,5,8 1876 618 0 .231
8 Alexi Casilla 4,6,5,8 1764 515 11 .250
9 Chili Davis DH,9,3 1163 291 41 .282
10 Luis Castillo 4 1036 227 3 .299
11 Matt Walbeck 2 1008 275 8 .230

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

Some interesting numbers and players on this chart, about half the players were starters and half were utility players. No surprise that Smalley is the leader in home runs or that Chili Davis is second on that list but finding that Cristian Guzman is number 3 in the Twins switch-hitter home run list really surprised me.

A bonus question for you, this Twins switch-hitter had a career .425 batting average albeit in just 43 plate appearances, do you know who he is?

Not much going on at the ballpark today

March 9, 2011 – Today’s visit to Hammond Stadium was pretty boring. The Twins had an away game against the Orioles and they lost their third game in a row and today it wasn’t even close as the Orioles blew them out 11-2. Francisco Liriano started and lasted just 1 2/3 innings against many Baltimore regulars while giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks and getting one strike-out. Granted Liriano got a slow start this year but he looks like he forgot how to pitch since last fall. You have to wonder if he is hiding some injury and is headed for the DL in the near future.

On the bright side, Justin Morneau did not go to Sarasota and I watched him hit a couple of very nice pokes that would have been home runs most everywhere. He looked comfortable and was talking and joking with teammates. Nishioka, Thome, and Young all were in the group taking BP with Morneau under the watchful eye of Rod Carew. It is not as much fun going to watch practice right now as the Twins have tighter security which limits access to some of the practice fields. The minor leaguers still have not officially reported but a number of them are out there on the back fields anyway. I think the minor leaguers are due to report Thursday or Friday and then the action will pick up a bit more.

Some thoughts on what I have seen so far? Jim Hoey better pick it up soon or he won’t make the Twins bullpen and the Hardy deal will look even worse. Scott Diamond just walks too many batters and is slower than molasses on the mound. David Bromberg has been unimpressive and Jeff Manship needs to turn things around quick or he is Rochester bound. Eric Hacker who Bill Smith really likes has pitched 3 innings and given up 8 runs on 9 hits and a walk. Pavano, Blackburn and Duensing have all looked sharp and Baker and Slowey are OK. Luke Hughes is hitting the cover off the ball going 9 for 24 with 3 HR’s and 8 RBI’s. No other Twins player has more than one HR, matter of fact, the rest of the Twins hitters have a total of 3 home runs.

Twins sign pitcher Eric Hacker

Eric Hacker

November 10, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins have signed 27 year old free agent pitcher Eric Hacker to a major league contract and placed him on the 40 man major league roster. The 6’1” right handed Hacker, a Texas native, was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 23rd round of the 2002 amateur draft. Hacker spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons in the Yankees minor league system and then sat out all of 2004 due to right elbow surgery. Hacker only pitched 10 games in 2005 in the Yankee system and then sat out 2006 with shoulder inflammation. Hacker was back with the Yankees system in 2007 and 2008 but was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in May of 2009. Hacker made his major league debut with the Pirates in September of 2009 but only pitched in relief in 3 games throwing 3 innings while giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs. At the end of the 2009 season Hacker was granted free agency and signed with the San Francisco Giants and he spent the entire 2010 season with Fresno in AAA where he started 29 games and was 16-8 with an ERA of 4.51 and a WHIP of 1.47 in a hitter’s league. Hacker allowed 185 hits in 165 innings and struck out 129 while walking 62. His average start lasted less than 6 innings. After talking with some members of the Twins organization it seems that the Twins scouts like Eric Hacker a lot and the Twins management trusts their scouts and have full confidence in them to find players that will help to make the Twins a better team. Only time will tell if Eric Hacker is that diamond in the rough that everyone is looking for or another pitcher that is just hanging on.