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
Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 14th.
Alvaro Espinoza (SS) – September 14, 1984 – Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins on March 18, 1982. Entered the game late as a replacement shortstop and had no PA’s in his big league debut at Arlington Stadium in a Rangers 9-2 win over Minnesota.
Kevin Stanfield (P) – September 14, 1979 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 7th round of the 1976 amateur draft (January). Debut was a relief appearance in the first inning that lasted just one batter after Twins starter Dave Goltz got off to a rough start. Stanfield retired the batter on an infield fly at Arlington Stadium in a Twins 5-3 loss to Texas.
Jim Hughes (P) – September 14, 1974 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round of the 1969 amateur draft. Hughes debuted as the Twins starter in the second game of a DH at Met Stadium against the Kansas City Royals and was pinned with the 13-3 defeat. He lasted just 1.1 innings allowing 6 run (4 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. He never actually recorded an out himself as the first batter he faced, Hal McRae walked and was caught stealing. Tough start indeed.
The franchise leader in complete games pitched for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins is Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson who had 38 complete games in 1910 in 42 starts for the Washington Senators. Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, also in the Hall of Fame is the Twins leader in complete games in a single season with 25 complete games in 40 starts back in 1973. The last Twins pitcher to lead the AL in complete games was Carl Pavano with seven in 2010.
But who holds the Minnesota Twins record for the most complete games in a row? That record of course belongs to Twins curve-ball ace Camilo Pascual who had 8 complete games in a row between May 10, 1964 and June 17, 1964. Bert Blyleven is second on the Twins list below but he pitched 10 complete games in a row in 1985 for the Cleveland Indians.
Back in 1980 Oakland A’s starter Rick Langford as a 28 year-old pitched an amazing 22 complete games in a row between May 23 and September 12 and that included a 14 inning win against the Cleveland Indians. The A’s starting staff had an work-man like 94 complete games in 1980. The starting five made up of Rick Langford, Mike Norris, Matt Keough, Steve McCatty and Brian Kingman started all but three A’s games that season. The team finished with a 83-79 record under skipper Billy Martin and pitching coach Art Fowler.
Nolan Ryan who was pitching for the California Angels at the time had a streak of 10 complete games in a row against the Minnesota Twins from September 30, 1972 through September 28, 1974 but the Twins did manage to win 3 of those 10 games. About the time Ryan’s streak was ending, teammate Frank Tanana started a streak of his own pitching 7 complete games in a row against the Twins from September 27, 1974 through June 15 1977.
I went through the history of the Minnesota Twins June Amateur draft choices to see who the best players were that the club drafted, signed and the player debuted with Minnesota across his chest. The player may or may not have played his entire career with the Twins but the WAR numbers are for their entire careers. Why are they ranked by WAR you may ask? Simple, I know of no other way to rank them, so right or wrong, I have chosen B-R WAR.
Twenty five of the 61 rounds shown have no players that qualified meaning that no one ever drafted in that round has made it to the majors with Minnesota. So if the Twins draft you in one of those rounds in the future, the odds are very much against you. Unless you have followed the Twins since day one, you might not recognize or remember some of these players.
For many years now the Minnesota Twins organization has always looked unfavorably at pitchers that issue too many bases on balls. If you eliminate 2011 and 2012 the Twins have been in the top three teams in the American League in fewest walks allowed since 1996. During that same time frame the Twins have led the American League in strikeouts just once and that was in 2006.
But today we are going to look at the other end of the spectrum, we are going to see what Twins pitchers wouldn’t exactly be considered control artists. The pitchers that would be regulars in former Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson‘s doghouse. It is surprising to me to see how many “good” pitchers there are on this list of most walks allowed in a single season by a Twins pitcher. Check out the records of some of these pitchers, two pitchers on this list won 20 games while issuing 90 or more walks during the season. Two pitchers on this list had more walks then they had strikeouts. Three pitchers made this list twice.
I can’t help but be amazed by the season that Rich Robertson had in 1996. But first let’s take a look at that team, the first year after Kirby Puckett‘s career came to an abrupt end. Tom Kelly‘s 1996 team finished fourth with a 78-84 record. The starting staff that season under pitching coach Dick Such was made up of Brad Radke, Frankie Rodriguez, Rich Robertson, Scott Aldred, and Rick Aguilera. Current Twins skipper Paul Molitor should remember that season, he was the teams DH that year and he hit .341 and had 113 RBI.
Robertson who the Twins picked up on waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates in November 1994 was a left-hander who pitched for Minnesota from 1995-1997 and won a job in the Twins starting rotation in 1996 after having started a total of four games in his brief big league career. In 1996 at the age of 27 he started 31 games for the Twins and posted a 7-17 record with a 5.12 ERA. In his 186+ innings pitched he struck out 114 batters and walked 116 and yet he had three shutouts which tied him for the American league lead. He is the only Twins pitcher to ever lead the American League in walks allowed in a single season.
Twins pitchers with 90 or more walks allowed in a single season
This past season California native and former New York Yankee first round pick (2004) Phil Hughes, 28, pitching for a team that finished 70-92 had a 16-10 record and an amazing and record-breaking 11.63 SO/W ratio. That comes out to 16 bases on balls issues in 209.1 innings with 186 KO’s. Another Hughes who was also from California, Jim, pitched for Minnesota from 1974-1977 and in 1975 at the age of 25 he had a 16-14 record with a 3.82 ERA for a 76-83 team. Jim, a Twins 33rd round pick in 1969 walked 127 and struck out 130 batters for a 1.02 SO/W ratio in 249.2 innings.
Jim Hughes
Strangely enough both of these right-handed pitchers won 16 games for their sub .500 teams. Phil had record-breaking control and finished the 2014 season with one complete game and Jim with not so much control had 12 complete games in 1975. Jim won a total of 25 games in his brief four-year big league career and Phil has 72 wins and counting on his resume.
Bottom line? I guess a pitcher can win at the big league level no matter what his SO/W ratio is and once again it just goes to show that it isn’t all about the numbers. But it is interesting never the less.
The Twins have a reputation now days of bringing their young players, particularly their young pitchers along very slowly but that has not always been the case. In today’s game pitches are counted and innings are watched from year to year to make sure that pitchers do not have a huge jump in innings pitched from one year to the next. We fans sometimes complain about how long it takes a player to reach the majors but think what its like for the team itself. They draft the guy and then they have to pay him as he develops his skills, they get no return on their investment unless the player reaches the major leagues and becomes a successful player. The temptation must be huge to push the guy along to get a quick return on the money spent, but if you push him too quickly all kinds of bad things can happen.
Let’s take a look at the case of RHP Roger Erickson who the Twins drafted in round 3 of the 1977 June amateur draft. Erickson signed and was sent to “AA” Orlando where he pitched 109 innings in 16 games (14 starts) with 10 complete games. This is all after he pitched in college that spring. I was not able to locate any of Erickson’s college stats. The next year Erickson gets a spring training invite and makes the 1978 Twins starting rotation. The 21-year-old rookie makes his major league debut when he starts the second game of the season for the Twins and beats the Seattle Mariners 5-4 at the Kingdome. Erickson goes on to start a club leading 37 games for the Twins with 14 complete games and an amazing 265.2 innings pitched. Erickson finished the 1878 season with a 14-13 record with a 3.96 ERA , a WHIP of 1.306 and 121 strikeouts. Erickson was not a strikeout pitcher but more in the mold of a Brad Radke type of pitcher. In 1979 Erickson went 3-10 with a 5.63 ERA in 21 starts (zero complete games) and 123 innings, in 1980 his record was 7-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 191.1 innings and in 1981 Erickson went 3-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 91.1 innings. In May of 1982 after a 4-3 start the Twins had seen enough and traded Erickson and catcher Butch Wynegar to the New York Yankees for pitchers Pete Filson and John Pacella and infielder Larry Milbourne and a suitcase full of cash. Roger Erickson pitched in a total of 21 games for the Yankees in 1982 and 1983 and at the age of 27 his big league playing days were behind him. Erickson tried to come back in 1984, again in 1987 and still again in 1989 in the minors with the Tigers and the Cardinals but he never again put on a big league uniform.
This is one of baseball classic cases of pitcher abuse, a situation where Twins manager Gene Mauch and pitching coach Camilo Pascual could not see the forest for the trees and killed a promising career before it really had a chance to get started. Erickson’s career ended prematurely at the age of 27 primarily because he pitched too many innings at too young an age. When he last pitched in the big leagues he was just 27 but he had already been in the majors for 6 seasons and he had already logged almost 800 innings with 265 of those in his first season. In the end the Twins lost a promising pitcher and Roger Erickson was robbed of his career. A loss-loss for both sides. Just a sad story all around.
Almost every day you hear about another big league pitcher having forearm or elbow tightness and the next thing you know they are off to see Dr. Andrews or someone like him to get a second opinion before undergoing “Tommy John” surgery. Are there more problems of this type now even with all the attention given to limiting innings and pitch counts. What are today’s pitchers doing differently that is causing these problems? Is it all about the fact that the pitchers today seem to throw harder than the pitchers of the past did? Are pitchers just not getting enough rest between seasons end and the start of the next season? Or maybe it is just the opposite, maybe the pitchers are not throwing enough? Is specialization of the athletes at much younger ages adding to the pitching arm woes? Or have these problems always been there and we just called it elbow tendonitis or a sore arm in the past and prescribed rest and/or retirement?
Roger Erickson
Here is a list of Twins pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings in their rookie seasons. *
* = From 1947 through 1956, each BBWAA voter used discretion as to who qualified as a rookie. In 1957, the term was first defined as someone with fewer than 75 at bats or 45 innings pitched in any previous Major League season. This guideline was later amended to 90 at bats, 45 innings pitched, or 45 days on a Major League roster before September 1 of the previous year. The current standard of 130 at bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club (excluding time in military service or on the disabled list) before September 1 was adopted in 1971.
The Twins have been in Minnesota for 53 years and have played 8,455 games winning 4,204 and losing 4,243. (just a FYI, the Angels who also started play in 1961 have won 4,220 games). Over the 53 years and 8,455 games Twins starters have pitched 9 innings or more in a start exactly 300 times (3.55%). Keep in mind that I am talking 9 innings or more pitched in a start, not complete games.
But sometimes just going 9 innings does not get the job done as you can see in the table below. In these 71 games the Twins starter took the mound in inning number 10 and sometimes even innings 11 and 12. The last Twins starter to hurl more than 9 innings in a start was Brad Radke in 1997.
But only one starting pitcher for the Twins, Jim Merritt has gone 13 innings and that remains a team record that in today’s pitch count world will probably never be broken. The franchise record is 18 innings held by Hall of Famer Walter Johnson who went the distance in a 1-0 Washington Senators win over the Chicago White Sox at Griffith Stadium in just 2 hours and 50 minutes on May 15, 1918.
But it is not just starting pitchers that have toiled long and hard to win a game. Here I look at relievers who have pitched 7 or more innings of relief in a game and Ray Corbin holds the team record for pitching 10.1 innings of relief against the Tigers in 1975. Corbin who was a starter/reliever during his five years in Minnesota pitched in just 11 more big league games after this long relief outing allowing at least one earned run in each appearance and never again pitched in a big league game.
The Twins will have three starters that will start 20 or more games during this 2013 season. Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey, and Scott Diamond have all passed that mark and there is no chance of anyone else joining that group. Samuel Deduno had 18 starts but he is done for the season. In 2012 the Twins had just one starter with 20 or more starts and that was Scott Diamond. 2012 was the first time in Twins history that they had only one starter with 20 or more starts. The Twins had only two starters with 20 or more starts only twice and those were the strike shortened 1981 and 1995 seasons. The Twins have had three starters start 20 or more games 12 times, four starters with 20 or more starts 17 times and five starters with 20 or more starts on eight occasions with the last two being 2010 and 2011. Only 6 teams in AL history have had 6 starters with 20 or more starts in a season and they were the 1937 White Sox, the 1942 Tigers, the 1944 Philadelphia A’s, the 1962 Senators, and the 2001 Rays. The Rays will be joining that group again on Monday when Alex Cobb makes his 20th start of 2013.
Some days home plate seems the size of a postage stamp to Twins pitchers and here are some of those days. The most walks a Twins pitcher has issued in one game stands at nine and five Twins pitchers have met that fate. The last time it happened was back in 1987, I can just see TK and pitching coach Dick Such in the dugout now. Maybe that is when the Twins implemented their pitch to contact plan. What I think is odd is that in four of the five instances the Twins ended up winning the game. The only time it happened in a home game was Jim Hughes effort in 1975 at the Met. One of the games, the Jim Roland effort was a shutout. Baseball is a strange game!
On the other hand, the Twins record for most consecutive games without issuing a free pass belongs to Joe Nathan who did not issue a base on balls for 27 consecutive games (25.1 innings) between 9/2/2004 – 5/7/2005. The record holders for this feat within a single season belongs to Casey Fien who went 20 games (18.2 innings) without a walk from May 28th through July 13th earlier this season and Rick Aguilera who went 20 games (19 innings) from 4/25/1994 – 6/24/1994. The major league record holder in this category is Dennis Eckersley who went 41 games and 50 innings without a free pass from 8/17/1989 – 6/10/1990.
Scott Diamond allowed three runs, all unearned, in the Twins’ victory at Cleveland to improve his record to 4-1 and lower his ERA to 1.86. Diamond is the third Twins rookie since the franchise relocated to Minnesota in 1961 to win at least four of his first six starts of a season while posting such a low ERA. The others were Jim Hughes in 1975 (5-1, 1.62 ERA) and Francisco Liriano in 2006 (5-1, 1.50 ERA).
Alvaro Espinoza (SS) – September 14, 1984 – Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins on March 18, 1982. Entered the game late as a replacement shortstop and had no PA’s in his big league debut at Arlington Stadium in a Rangers 9-2 win over Minnesota.
Kevin Stanfield (P) – September 14, 1979 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 7th round of the 1976 amateur draft (January). Debut was a relief appearance in the first inning that lasted just one batter after Twins starter Dave Goltz got off to a rough start. Stanfield retired the batter on an infield fly at Arlington Stadium in a Twins 5-3 loss to Texas.
Jim Hughes (P) – September 14, 1974 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round of the 1969 amateur draft. Hughes debuted as the Twins starter in the second game of a DH at Met Stadium against the Kansas City Royals and was pinned with the 13-3 defeat. He lasted just 1.1 innings allowing 6 run (4 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. He never actually recorded an out himself as the first batter he faced, Hal McRae walked and was caught stealing. Tough start indeed.
