Tag: Gary Gaetti

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Ryan, Gaetti, Stephen & Roland

September 20 major league debuts in a Minnesota Twins uniform.

Mike Ryan (OF) – September 20, 2002 –  Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Draft. Was in the starting line-up at Comiskey Park II hitting lead-off and playing left field and went o for 4 at the plate in a Twins 10-2 loss. See real story about the Mike Ryan debut.

Gary Gaetti (3B) – September 20, 1981 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1979 amateur draft (June Secondary). Signed June 21, 1979. Debut took place at Arlington Stadium hitting 7th and playing third base. In his first big league at bat Gaetti hit a two-run home run off Rangers pitcher Charlie Hough. For the day Gaetti was 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 RBI.

Buzz Stephen (P) – September 20, 1968 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1966 amateur draft (June Secondary). Twins starter at Met Stadium in a 7-1 loss to the Oakland A’s. Stephen pitched 6.1 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and 5 walks while fanning just one and his effort earned him the loss. Buzz also had an error and a wild pitch but on the plus side he did pick-off Bert Campaneris. 

Jim Roland (P) – September 20, 1962 – Signed as an amateur free agent in 1961, Debuted at Met Stadium in relief and tossed 2 innings of scoreless relief allowing just one hit and striking out one along the way. Unfortunately the Twins came up short and lost 5-1 to the Tigers.

You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.

Minnesota Twins top third basemen

Third base is known as the “hot corner”, because the third baseman is relatively close to the batter and most right-handed hitters tend to hit the ball hard in this direction. Now days the third base position is expected to provide power. There are fewer third basemen in the Baseball Hall of Fame than there are Hall of Famers’ of any other position.

The Twins have had their share of good players at that position and the list below shows Twins players that have played in at least 200 games and played at least 51% of their games at third base from 1961 through 2016. Current Twins third sacker Miguel Sano will be moving up this list very quickly.

Gary Gaetti has always been one of my all-time favorite Minnesota Twins. I enjoyed watching him play third base and the man got his uniform dirty, he went all out all the time. Plus, he was a very good hitter. If I was asked for my Twins top 10 list, he would be near the top.

Gaetti played in the Metrodome from 1982 – 1990. Gary took a “liking” to the Dome the first time he played there by going 4-4 and hitting 2 home runs. Gaetti was an All-Star in 1988 and 1989 and was the 3B on the 1987 World Championship team.
Results
WAR/pos G From To AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB 1 Gary Gaetti 27.1 1361 1981 1990 4989 646 1276 252 25 201 758 74 .256 .744
2 Corey Koskie 22.1 816 1998 2004 2788 438 781 180 13 101 437 66 .280 .836
3 John Castino 15.1 666 1979 1984 2320 293 646 86 34 41 249 22 .278 .727
4 Rich Rollins 11.8 888 1961 1968 3048 395 830 117 20 71 369 15 .272 .727
5 Eric Soderholm 10.2 407 1971 1975 1345 184 345 56 7 36 161 14 .257 .725
6 Trevor Plouffe 8.1 723 2010 2016 2638 332 651 148 10 96 357 11 .247 .727
7 Mike Cubbage 6.9 555 1976 1980 1681 195 447 66 18 29 226 6 .266 .715
8 Scott Leius 4.9 476 1990 1995 1373 201 346 58 10 26 155 15 .252 .693
9 Mike Pagliarulo 4.0 246 1991 1993 723 79 197 40 4 9 68 8 .272 .693
10 Danny Valencia 0.8 273 2010 2012 989 106 257 52 4 24 129 4 .260 .695
11 Brent Gates 0.8 217 1998 1999 639 71 161 28 2 6 80 4 .252 .656
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/25/2017.

 

Minnesota Twins who have received Hall of Fame votes over the years

We all know about the Minnesota Twins players who have been enshrined in the MLB Hall of Fame and it is a great and rare honor to get voted in. Over the years a number of outstanding and I think “hall worthy” Minnesota Twins players have received votes but never enough to get that call they have waited for, I would put players like Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Jack Morris in that category.

Oliva
Kaat
Morris

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a list of other one-time Twins players who received at least one vote in HOF balloting through 2017 voting, some deserved it and others I have to wonder what the voter was thinking.

 Jacque Jones, Kenny Rogers, Brad Radke, Bret Boone, Jesse Orosco, Chuck Knoblauch, Gary Gaetti, Rick Aguilera, Chili Davis, Terry Steinbach, Jim Eisenreich, Luis Tiant, Frank Viola, Steve Bedrosian, Jim Deshaies, Jeff Reardon, Kent Hrbek, John Candelaria, Rick Dempsey, Graig Nettles, Don Baylor, Chris Speier, Joe Niekro, Bill Campbell, Jerry Koosman, Mike Marshall, Leo Cardenas, Jim Perry, Ron Perranoski, Vic Wertz, Camilo Pascual, Vic Power, Elmer Valo, and Billy Martin.

Twins inside-the-park home runs are a rarity

From the time the Twins started play in 1961 through yesterday June 14 (2016) the Minnesota Twins have hit 7,462 home runs, 3,746 have been hit on the road and 3,716 have been hit at home. The Twins hit 1,872 home runs at the Metrodome, 1,424 at Met Stadium and 420 at Target Field. The most home runs the Twins have hit on the road have been at the Angels home park where they have hit 257.

Eduardo Nunez 2016Of the Twins 7,462 round-trippers only 50 of them have been inside-the-park home runs. Inside-the-park home runs are relatively rare so I am a bit surprised that when Eduardo Nunez hit the latest one back on June 2 that no one mentioned that it was number 50 in Minnesota Twins history. How rare are they? Only .0067% of Twins home runs are of the inside-the-park variety. So what Twins have hit IPHR’s? We have put together a complete list here for you with the help of Baseball-Reference.

 

Twins inside-the-park home runs from 1961-June 2, 2016

Date Batter Opp Pitcher Play Description
1961-07-04 (2) Harmon Killebrew CHW Cal McLish Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1962-04-27 Zoilo Versalles @CLE Dick Donovan Home Run
1963-09-22 Jimmie Hall @BOS Bob Heffner Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1963-09-28 Vic Power @NYY Whitey Ford Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1964-07-04 (1) Tony Oliva @NYY Jim Bouton Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1964-08-04 Rich Rollins BOS Bill Monbouquette Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1964-09-04 Tony Oliva BOS Dave Gray Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1965-04-22 Zoilo Versalles @NYY Pedro Ramos Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1965-06-04 Jimmie Hall WSA Howie Koplitz Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1965-06-18 Rich Rollins @NYY Bill Stafford Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1966-06-04 Tony Oliva CLE Tom Kelley Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1967-05-08 Ted Uhlaender WSA Phil Ortega Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1969-05-13 Rod Carew BAL Mike Cuellar Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1971-07-22 Jim Nettles @NYY Fritz Peterson Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1972-10-04 Eric Soderholm CHW Ken Frailing Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1974-06-24 Danny Thompson @TEX David Clyde Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1975-06-17 (1) Dan Ford OAK Vida Blue Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1975-09-07 Steve Brye @CHW Claude Osteen Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1979-05-08 Ken Landreaux TOR Balor Moore Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1979-05-15 John Castino TEX Sparky Lyle Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1980-07-11 Rick Sofield @SEA Glenn Abbott Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1980-08-20 Mike Cubbage TOR Jackson Todd Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1982-05-28 Tom Brunansky NYY Ron Guidry Home Run
1982-07-19 Tom Brunansky MIL Jerry Augustine Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1982-09-10 Gary Ward @KCR Larry Gura Home Run
1982-09-30 Kent Hrbek @TOR Luis Leal Home Run
1983-09-25 Tom Brunansky @KCR Keith Creel Inside-the-park Home Run
1984-06-23 Randy Bush CHW Tom Seaver Home Run
1984-06-24 Tim Teufel CHW Richard Dotson *WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run
1984-09-11 Kent Hrbek KCR Charlie Leibrandt Home Run
1985-07-03 Dave Engle CLE Neal Heaton Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1986-07-03 Ron Washington BAL Mike Boddicker Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1986-10-04 Greg Gagne CHW Floyd Bannister Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1986-10-04 Greg Gagne CHW Floyd Bannister Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1987-05-31 (1) Gary Gaetti @DET Jeff Robinson Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1987-09-24 Greg Gagne TEX Charlie Hough Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1988-07-08 Steve Lombardozzi MIL Bill Wegman Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1988-09-28 Steve Lombardozzi OAK Todd Burns Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1990-05-26 Gene Larkin BOS Mike Boddicker Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1991-05-19 Mike Pagliarulo @DET Dan Petry Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
1994-05-17 Shane Mack NYY Jimmy Key Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
1997-04-26 Rich Becker TEX Bobby Witt Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1997-05-25 Pat Meares OAK Ariel Prieto Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1997-08-08 Roberto Kelly NYY Dwight Gooden Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
1999-09-05 Todd Walker @TBD Ryan Rupe Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
2000-07-29 Chad Moeller NYY Ramiro Mendoza Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
2001-07-26 Torii Hunter @OAK Mark Guthrie Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
2007-07-21 Joe Mauer LAA Scot Shields Inside-the-park Home Run to LF
2014-05-20 Kurt Suzuki @SDP Nick Vincent Inside-the-park Home Run to CF
2016-06-02 Eduardo Nunez TBR Matt Moore Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/14/2016.

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According to ELIAS

Nunez and Dozier go back to back in the first inning

Lenny Green
Lenny Green
Vic Power
Vic Power

Eduardo Nunez led off the bottom of the first with a home run and Brian Dozier followed with a home run of his own staking the Twins to a 2-0 lead en route to the team’s 7-5 win over the Royals yesterday afternoon. It marked the fifth time that the first two hitters in the Twins’ lineup hit consecutive home runs in the first inning since the franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961. That also happened on May 10, 1962 (Lenny Green and Vic Power), July 18, 1986 (Kirby Puckett and Gary Gaetti), August 19, 2002 (Jacque Jones and Cristian Guzman) and June 9, 2014 (Danny Santana and Dozier).

Back when players played 160 games or more

The players today seem to need more rest today than the players did years ago. Sure, they play eight more games then teams did in the past but still you have to wonder what the cause really is and does it pay off in the long run? The last Twins player to play in 160 or more games in a season was Justin Morneau in 2008. If you look at the list you can’t help but notice that three of the 10 names are shortstops, not exactly an easy position. Paul Molitor did it at the age of 39 but then again he was strictly a DH. Zoilo Versalles played 160 or more games four times and also had a season with 159 games and the man weighed 146 dripping wet with rocks in his pockets. You wonder how he did it.

Zoilo Versalles

Rk Name Yrs From To Age
1 Zoilo Versalles 4 1962 1967 22-27 Ind. Seasons
2 Kirby Puckett 3 1985 1992 25-32 Ind. Seasons
3 Harmon Killebrew 3 1966 1969 30-33 Ind. Seasons
4 Gary Gaetti 2 1984 1985 25-26 Ind. Seasons
5 Leo Cardenas 2 1969 1970 30-31 Ind. Seasons
6 Cesar Tovar 2 1967 1970 26-29 Ind. Seasons
7 Justin Morneau 1 2008 2008 27-27 Ind. Seasons
8 Torii Hunter 1 2007 2007 31-31 Ind. Seasons
9 Paul Molitor 1 1996 1996 39-39 Ind. Seasons
10 Roy Smalley 1 1979 1979 26-26 Ind. Seasons
11 Tony Oliva 1 1964 1964 25-25 Ind. Seasons
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/27/2016.

In the American League this past season Manny Machado played in a league leading 162 games and Kyle Seager and Elvis Andrus played in 160 or more. The only National Leaguer to play in 160 or more games was Anthony Rizzo.

Just a single short of the cycle

Hitting for the cycle is a rare occurrence and only ten Twins players can say that they have one on their resume. The only Twin to hit for the so-called natural cycle (1B, 2B, 3B, and HR in that order) was Carlos Gomez in 2008. The first Twins cycle was hit by Rod Carew in 1970 and the Minnesota Twins as you know started play back in 1961. Two Twins players hit for the cycle at Met Stadium and two Twins players hit for the cycle at the Metrodome, so far the only cycle at Target Field is by Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers.

Eddie Rosario
Eddie Rosario

Many players came up just a hit short, 119 came up a home run short, 288 came up a triple short, 44 players came up a double short. Twelve different Twins players had the misfortune of just missing the cycle by coming up a single short, missed it by just this much…… Eddie Rosario is in this group and he missed his last year at Target Field.

 

Rk Player Date Rslt PA AB 1B R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB
1 Eddie Rosario 2015-07-30 W 9-5 5 5 0 3 3 1 1 1 3 0
2 Luis Rivas 2004-08-25 W 8-5 5 5 0 2 3 1 1 1 1 0
3 Corey Koskie 2001-07-05 W 12-2 5 5 0 2 3 1 1 1 5 0
4 Marty Cordova 1999-08-28 W 4-3 5 4 0 1 3 1 1 1 2 1
5 Javier Valentin 1999-06-06 W 13-6 5 5 0 2 3 1 1 1 2 0
6 Rich Becker 1996-07-13 L 11-19 6 6 0 3 4 1 1 2 6 0
7 Pat Meares 1996-04-02 L 6-10 5 5 0 1 3 1 1 1 4 0
8 Gary Gaetti 1983-07-27 L 9-13 5 5 0 3 3 1 1 1 4 0
9 Ken Landreaux 1979-08-20 W 10-5 5 5 0 3 3 1 1 1 6 0
10 Mike Cubbage 1977-08-07 W 11-1 5 5 0 2 3 1 1 1 5 0
11 George Mitterwald 1970-05-24 L 5-6 4 4 0 1 3 1 1 1 2 0
12 Bob Allison 1968-07-21 (2) W 10-0 3 3 0 3 3 1 1 1 3 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/26/2016.

 

 

Going to work or play every day

I seldom missed a day of school back in Taylors Falls and I continued that practice at work during my working career. The Navy of course reinforced the idea that going to work every day was the only way. I am old school and retired now but back in the day when I worked I took a lot of pride in the fact that I showed up for work day in and day out rain or shine.  I figured I was being paid to work so I showed up day after day. It used to drive me crazy when I knew that certain co-workers stayed home because they were hung-over or just plain didn’t feel like working. There were probably times when it would have been safer to stay home due to the snow or ice but not me, I was off to work.

Working every day carries over to my enjoyment of baseball, I like players that come to play ball each day and don’t take time off because they are tired or have a hang-nail. These players are being paid big bucks to play, not to sit on the bench and rest, they can rest on their own time like the rest of us.

"<strongSo where am I going with this? Today we are going to take a look at the Minnesota Twins players that came to play. Today’s players are playing fewer games then their compatriots did 50 or so years ago for a variety of reasons. The change however; is not as great as I expected to find. When was the last time that a Twins player played in every game that season? That would be Justin Morneau in 2008 when he appeared in all 163 regular season games. Since 1961 and 55 baseball seasons only six Twins players have played in every game and Harmon Killebrew is the only one to do it more than once.

 

Rk Player Year G Age PA AB H HR RBI SB BA OPS Pos
1 Justin Morneau 2008 163 27 712 623 187 23 129 0 .300 .873 *3/D
2 Gary Gaetti 1984 162 25 644 588 154 5 65 11 .262 .665 *5/76
3 Roy Smalley 1979 162 26 729 621 168 24 95 2 .271 .794 *6/3
4 Harmon Killebrew 1969 162 33 709 555 153 49 140 8 .276 1.011 *5*3
6 Cesar Tovar 1967 164 26 726 649 173 6 47 19 .267 .691 5847/69H
7 Harmon Killebrew 1966 162 30 677 569 160 39 110 0 .281 .929 *537/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/5/2016.

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Working or playing every day can be tough and everyone gets sick or hurt now and then

Continue reading Going to work or play every day

According to ELIAS

MLB – Ventura avenges loss to Twins by eliminating them

Yesterday, Yordano Ventura earned his ninth win in his last 10 decisions as the Royals snapped a 1-1 tie with four runs in the seventh inning and went on to defeat the Twins, 5-1, eliminating the Twins from postseason eligibility. Ventura avenged a loss to the Twins on September 7, which had been the only blemish in his last 10 decisions. Jake Arrieta has won his last 11 decisions, but other than him, Ventura stands among eight other active pitchers who have won nine of their last ten.

Trevor Plouffe
Trevor Plouffe

The loss had a bitter tinge for the Twins, who committed two errors on one play during Kansas City’s winning rally. The usually reliable Trevor Plouffe committed one of those miscues, just his 11th error in 140 games at third base this season. Until that play, he was on the verge of breaking the franchise record for the fewest errors in one season by a third baseman playing 140-or-more games; now, at best he will tie Gary Gaetti‘s record of 11 errors in 150 games in 1987.

Plouffe has shot at setting a franchise GIDP record

Trevor Plouffe
Trevor Plouffe

With two more GIDP’s (ground in to double play) on his resume after last night’s loss to Kansas City, Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe has the franchise record of 28 GIDP by Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in 1970 well in his sights. Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett had 27 GIDP in 1991. With his pace of a GIDP once every five games, Plouffe should be able to set a new mark easily. Actually this list of Twins GIDP leaders has some pretty good hitters on it so Plouffe shouldn’t feel too bad. It is kind of an odd year for Plouffe from a GIDP perspective as he has 26 so far this season and in his five previous seasons combined be had only 38.

 Twins GIDP leaders

Rk Player GDP Year Age G PA AB R H HR RBI BA OBP
1 Harmon Killebrew 28 1970 34 157 665 527 96 143 41 113 .271 .411
2 Kirby Puckett 27 1991 31 152 661 611 92 195 15 89 .319 .352
3 Trevor Plouffe 26 2015 29 130 542 491 63 118 18 73 .240 .303
4 Michael Cuddyer 26 2010 31 157 675 609 93 165 14 81 .271 .336
5 Ron Coomer 25 2000 33 140 589 544 64 147 16 82 .270 .317
6 Gary Gaetti 25 1987 28 154 628 584 95 150 31 109 .257 .303
7 Joe Mauer 24 2006 23 140 608 521 86 181 13 84 .347 .429
8 Gary Ward 24 1983 29 157 676 623 76 173 19 88 .278 .326
9 Bobby Darwin 24 1972 29 145 562 513 48 137 22 80 .267 .326
10 Joe Mauer 23 2012 29 147 641 545 81 174 10 85 .319 .416
11 Torii Hunter 23 2004 28 138 569 520 79 141 23 81 .271 .330
12 Rod Carew 23 1971 25 147 632 577 88 177 2 48 .307 .356
13 Earl Battey 23 1964 29 131 471 405 33 110 12 52 .272 .348
14 Michael Cuddyer 22 2009 30 153 650 588 93 162 32 94 .276 .342
15 Marty Cordova 22 1999 29 124 488 425 62 121 14 70 .285 .365
16 Ron Coomer 22 1998 31 137 555 529 54 146 15 72 .276 .295
17 Gary Gaetti 22 1990 31 154 625 577 61 132 16 85 .229 .274
18 Bobby Darwin 22 1973 30 145 614 560 69 141 18 90 .252 .309
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/9/2015.

UPDATE: By hitting into his 28th double play on October 1 against the Royals in his home park, Plouffe tied the Twins record which was held by Harmon Killebrew for 28 double plays in a season. Plouffe was the league leader in hitting into double plays in 2015.