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
February 22, 2010 – With Twins pitchers and catchers working out for the first time today, it is a good time to take a look at the top control pitchers in franchise history. The Twins always preach to their pitchers that walks will kill. If you want to pitch for the Minnesota Twins you need to get your pitches over the plate and force the hitter to put the ball in play. This strategy has worked for the Twins in the past and I don’t see it changing in the future. So let’s take a look and see what Twins pitchers gave up the fewest walks per inning pitched and at the same time compare how Washington Senators pitchers in the past compared to their modern day counterparts.
October 21, 2009 – I thought that it would be fun to take a look back over the Twins history just to see who the Twins leaders are in home runs at each position. Some of the numbers that I found from the Twins 49 seasons in Minnesota were really a surprise to me and I have followed the Twins since their inception in 1961.
POSITION
PLAYER
HOME RUNS
AT BATS PER HOME RUN
Catcher
Tim Laudner
77
26.46
1B
Kent Hrbek
293
21.13
2B
Rod Carew
46
96.74
SS
Zoilo Versalles
86
48.23
3B
Gary Gaetti
201
24.82
OF
Kirby Puckett
207
35.00
DH
Matt LeCroy
53
21.40
P
Jim Kaat
14
71.00
You have to be thinking, this can’t be right, where is Twins all-time home run slugger Harmon Killebrew? But when you look at the numbers you will see that Harmon played 14 seasons with the Twins but he split his time playing four positions, he played 881 games at 1B, 481 games at 3B, 455 games in the OF, and 122 games as a DH. Killebrew smashed 191 home runs as a first baseman, 142 as an outfielder, 129 while playing the hot corner, and 13 more when he was the DH. The Twins currently have some players on the roster like Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, and Joe Mauer that could be slugging their way on to this list very soon.
When you look at the Washington Sentaors/Nationals numbers from 1901 to 1960 to get a franchise perspective you see how much different baseball is today from its earlier years. I think the one interesting number that jumped out at me here was Roy Sievers and the fact that he hit a home run in every 16.95 at bats when he played the outfield.It is always fun to look at historical numbers and to do comparisons.
December 28, 2008 – Very heavy snowfall had piled up in early 1965 and the prolonged deep cold temperatures in March delayed the melt. When winter loosened its icy grip on the state, spring came with a vengeance. Rains in early April on the still frozen ground caused the water to pour into streams until they climbed out of their banks. Ice dams in several locations caused even more flooding in the Minneapolis area and throughout different parts of the state.
The Twins opened their 1965 season against the American League defending champion New York Yankees at Met Stadium on April 12. The sunny but cool 44 degree temps and the difficult traveling conditions due to street flooding limited the opening day crowd to a disappointing 15,388 fans. Getting to the ballpark was not an easy task either for the players or the fans as Jim Kaat recalls: “I was living in Burnsville and was driving to the Met when I the traffic came to a standstill. I got out of my car and asked the driver ahead of me what the problem was. He said the highway, 35W was flooded over and you couldn’t get across the river. I went back home and called Paul Giel at WCCO radio and asked if they had access to a helicopter, they said to meet the copter at the Burnsville High School. Rich Rollins, Dick Stigman, Bill Bethea (who was staying at my house before reporting to AAA Charlotte) and I were flown in 2 at a time to the parking lot at the Met”. Paul Giel who assisted Kaat and the Twins in the helicopter episode was a pitcher for the Twins in 1961 and was now working for WCCO radio.
Jim Kaat started the game for the hometown Twins and Jim Bouton started for the Bronx Bombers. Kaat and the Twins thought they had the game won but with two out in the bottom of the ninth, 3B Cesar Tovar who was playing in his first game as a Minnesota Twin and had replaced an injured Rich Rollins earlier in the game, dropped an easy pop-up for the eighth error of the game (Yankees had five and the Twins had three) and the tying run scored. Here is how Kaat remembers what happened. “I had the game won 4-3 when Cesar Tovar dropped a little pop up that would have ended the game and the tying run scored. He felt terrible and I told him to forget about it and knock in the winning run, which he did in the 11th inning. We became good friends because of that incident, he was new to the team and fearful I’d be irritated that he cost me a W”.
For those of you that want to see the box score for the Twins 11 inning 5-4 win over the Yankees just click here.
December 1, 2008 – Ten former major league players whose careers started in 1943 or later have been named as finalists for election and entry into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2009. Three former Minnesota Twins players, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, and Luis Tiant are part of this select and talented group. In addition, Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Joe Torre, and Maury Wills make up the rest of the group. Boy, I must be getting old because with the exception of Hodges, I grew up watching all these guys play. How many if any of these former stars will make it is hard to say. The veterans group has not selected anyone for admission in years and the voting rules have changed since the last vote was taken. This year, candidates must garner 75% of the vote from living Hall of Famers. Since there are currently 64 living Hall of Famers, 48 votes will be required for entry.
From this group I sure would like to see Tony O, Jim Kaat, and Maury Wills get in. Voting results are scheduled to be announced on December 8 during baseballs’ winter meetings in Las Vegas. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
December 9 update – Disappointment….is how I would describe my feelings when I heard that for the fourth consecutive time no post 1942 players were selected to the Hall. How can this be, are you telling me none of these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? That is a bunch of Bull*&^%, a number of these players belong there, the problem is how to get them there. I have no problem with the 64 living Hall of Famers voting but it seems to me that they are all over the board, there is no leadership here, someone needs to stand up and take charge. To achieve the necessary 75% for election, a player must receive 48 votes. The results for the most recent voting were as follows: Ron Santo (39 votes, 60.9 percent), Jim Kaat (38, 59.4 percent), Tony Oliva (33, 51.6 percent), Gil Hodges (28, 43.8 percent), Joe Torre (19, 29.7 percent), Maury Wills (15, 23.4 percent), Luis Tiant (13, 20.3 percent), Vada Pinson (12, 18.8 percent), Al Oliver (nine, 14.1 percent), Dick Allen (seven, 10.9 percent). All 64 living HOF players cast ballots, the Hall of Fame stated that voters could choose up to four candidates, and an average of 3.33 votes per ballot was cast.
Something needs to change, it is not right that players that deserve to be in the HOF are left outside looking in and then years after they pass away, someone decides they do belong in the HOF, that is just not right. This year 256 votes could have been cast and only 213 were cast, that is 43 votes that went unused. Let’s change the rules for this finalist group; I have no problem with at least one player, the highest vote getter getting the call to the hall. If you don’t want to do that, then let’s make sure that each player cast 4 votes on each ballot. You will not cheapen the entry into the MLB Hall of Fame by doing this, you will only make it better for the players and the fans who want to see the stars they cheered for many years get the credit they deserve. All I can say now is “shame on you the living 64 Hall of Famers who have your noses so high in the air that you can’t see the ballot itself”, you guys really disappointed me.
To be a good pitcher they say, you need to keep the hitters off-balance and you can’t let the hitters get comfortable at the plate. If you look at the Twins pitching history, you will see that some of the Twins top pitchers were not afraid to plunk a hitter now and then. I can’t tell you for sure if these pitchers threw at batters on purpose or if they just felt that they owned the plate and they were not afraid to pitch inside, but either way, the pitchers on this list hit their share of batters and a number of these pitchers pitched in the days when they themselves had to step up to the plate to hit. Jim Kaat hit the most batters when he pitched for the Twins, hitting 89 batters (plus 7 more as a Washington Senator before he became a Minnesota Twin) but he also pitched just under 3,000 innings and he averaged a hit batter once every 33.25 innings. Mike Smithson, who certainly was not afraid to pitch inside hit 46 batters in his time with the Twins and he did this in just 816 innings so he hit a batter every 17.74 innings, far and away the most hit batters per innings pitched. Let’s take a look at the Twins top ten.
Name
Batters hit
Innings
Innings per hit batter
1
Jim Kaat
89
2,959
33.25
2
Bert Blyleven
80
2,566
32.08
3
Brad Radke
62
2,451
39.53
4
Jim Perry
50
1,883
37.66
5
Mike Smithson
46
816
17.74
6
Kyle Lohse
44
908
20.64
7
Scott Erickson
42
979
23.31
8
Dave Boswell
34
1,036
30.47
9
Frank Viola
29
1,772
61.10
10
Johan Santana
27
1,308
48.44
Now let’s take a look at the Twins current starters and see how they compare.
Friday, May 28, 2010 was kind of an odd day in baseball in the fact that two different games had position players pitching, utility player Bill Hall pitched a scoreless inning for the Red Sox in their 12-5 loss to the Royals in Fenway and catcher Kevin Cash pitched the final inning for the Astros in their 15-6 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati, giving up one run. In Minnesota we have to look all the way back to 1990 to see a position player (John Moses) take the mound. A total of four Twins position players have toed the pitching rubber for Minnesota and they have pitched in a total of 7 games. One of these pitching appearances was unusual in that Cesar Tovar started the game on the mound and played each position in sequence as the game progressed. Let’s take a look at how these guys fared.
Julio Becquer (first baseman) – September 10, 1961 at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City in a 13-1 loss to the A’s. Julio pitched 1.1 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 walk and 3 runs. Click here for the box score. Julio also pitched in a game as a Washington Senator in 1960.
2. Cesar Tovar (infielder/outfielder) – September 22, 1968 at Met Stadium in a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City A’s. Cesar started the game and pitched one scoreless inning giving up a walk and striking out future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the process. Cesar went on to play C-1B-2B-SS-3B-LF-CF-RF. This was the only occurrence of a Twins position player pitching at Met Stadium. This is the only instance where a Twins position player pitched and the Twins won the game. Click here to see the box score.
3.Dan Gladden (outfielder) – June 27, 1988 at Anaheim Stadium in a 16-7 Twins defeat. Dan pitched a scoreless 8th inning facing just three batters and throwing 9 pitches. Click here to see the box score.
4. Dan Gladden (outfielder) – May 7, 1989 at Cleveland Stadium in a 12-1 loss to the Indians. Gladden pitched one inning giving up a walk, two hits and one run. Click here for the box score.
5. John Moses (outfielder) – June 24, 1989 at Fenway Park in an 11-2 loss to the Red Sox. John pitched one scoreless inning giving up a walk but only faced 3 batters with the team turned a double play behind him. Click here for the box score.
6. John Moses (outfielder) – May 19, 1990 at Fenway Park in a 13-1 loss to the Red Sox. John pitched one inning allowing two hits and one run. Click here for the box score.
7. John Moses (outfielder) – July 31, 1990 at the Metrodome in a 13-2 loss to the California Angels. John pitched one inning walking 2, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs. Click here for the box score. This was the only occurrence of a Twins position player pitching in the Metrodome. This pitching appearance makes Moses the all-time Minnesota Twins leader in games and innings pitched by a position player with a total of 3 innings in 3 games. To this point Moses is also the only position player in Twins history to appear on the mound twice in the same season but that record does not hold.
8.Michael Cuddyer (outfielder) – July 25, 2011 at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with the Twins trailing the Texas Rangers 20-3 and having burned through five pitchers, Cuddyer was brought in to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning. Cuddy threw 16 pitches and retired the Rangers on 2 hits and a walk but kept Texas from scoring. Click here for the box score.
9. Drew Butera catcher) – Trailing the Brewers 16-2 on May 20, 2012 catcher Drew Butera was asked to pitch for the Twins in the 8th inning. Butera kept the Brewers from scoring while throwing 17 pitches and only allowed one walk and in the process struck out former Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez. The Twins ended up losing the game 16-4. Butera is only the second Twins position player to pitch and strike out an opposing batter. Click here for the box score. Drew’s father Sal Butera who was also a Twins catcher in 1980-1982 and again in 1987 also took the mound but not when he was with the Twins. Sal Butera pitched a scoreless inning for the Montreal Expos in 1985 and another scoreless inning for the Cincinnati Reds in 1986.
10. On August 5, 2013, the same day that MLB announced that 13 players were suspended for a total of 811 days for violating drug protocols, the Twins found themselves down 13-0 to the Royals at Kauffman in game one of a three game series. In the eighth inning Twins skipper Gardenhire decided to bring in utility infielder Jamey Carroll to pitch. Carroll threw just 9 pitches, seven for strikes and retired the side with no hits, walks, or runs. Carroll became only the seventh position player to pitch for the Twins but it was the 10th time this kind of situation has occurred. John Moses pitched 3 times and Dan Gladden did it twice. Box score.
11. On August 8, 2015 Shane Robinson (outfielder) became the first Twins position player to pitch since Jamey Carroll did it on August 5, 2013 at Kansas City. Robinson came in with the bases loaded and faced four batters – he walked the first batter and retired the next three hitters the last out was a strikeout on Robinson’s infamous knuckle all. Box Score.
Minnesota Twins infielder Eduardo Escobar throws against the Houston Astros in the ninth inning after he was called to pitch in a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016 in Minneapolis. The Astros won 15-7. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
12. On August 11, 2016 infielder Eduardo Escobar moved from shortstop to the mound at Target Field in the ninth inning with the Twins trailing the Houston Astros 15-6 and allowed just one hit but no runs as he retired the Astros on 16 pitches. Escobar was the sixth pitcher used by the Twins in the first game of a doubleheader. Box Score.
Catcher Chris Gimenez pitching to the Tigers on April 23, 2017 at Target Field.
13. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, April 23, 2017 The Twins were losing 13-4 to the Detroit Tigers in the top of the ninth inning at Target Field and Twins reliever Ryan Pressly just could not get the final out so manager Paul Molitor turned to catcher/utility man Chris Gimenez to finish it off. Gimenez took the mound and retired Andrew Romine on four pitches. Over the course of a nine-year career and before Sunday, the backup catcher had taken the hill three times. Catcher Chris Gimenez kept it ‘slow, slow, and slower’ in his fourth career pitching appearance. Some of Gimenez’s pitches might have registered on Gameday as knuckleballs, but keeping the pitches simple was merely part of his strategy. “I just try to locate about 68 to 79 mph and go from there. Let them supply the power. They were all heaters. Just slow and slower. That’s my game. Box score
14. With the Twins being pounded 11-1 at Target Field on Saturday, May 6, 2017 Twins skipper Paul Molitor was once again forced to bring catcher Chris Gimenez to the mound with one out and runners at first and second. Gimenez retired Xander Bogaerts and Nick Benintendi for the final two out of the inning on just four pitches. Box score
15. The Astros showed no mercy and routed the Twins on May 31, 2017, 17–6, completing a three-game sweep in which they scored 40 runs (16, 7 and 17). That is a franchise record for runs scored in a regular-season series of any length. Twins C/1B Chris Gimenez was called upon (moving from 1B to the mound) for the third time this season to pitch and the season is just ending its second month. Gimenez pitched the ninth inning but gave up two runs on a two-run home run to Marwin Gonzalez. Box Score
16. Manager Paul Molitor calls on catcher/1B Chris Gimenez again as the Twins get thrashed at Safeco Field 12-3 and Gimenez delivers a scoreless inning. Box Score 17. Twins fans get to see their back-up catcher Chris Gimenez make his fifth pitching appearance of the 2017 season and fourth appearance in front of the home town crowd as Gimenez pitches 1 inning and gives up 2 runs on 3 hits in a Twins 14-3 loss to the Mariners. Box Score
18. Make that six pitching appearances in 2017 for C/1B Chris Gimenez. Gimenez pitched 1 inning allowing 2 hits but he kept the White Sox off the board which is relatively rare for Twins relievers this season. Box Score
Ryan LaMarre pitching on April 23, 2018 in Yankee Stadium. Credit: Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
19. The visiting Twins get pummeled by the New York Yankees 14-1 forcing manager Paul Molitor to use outfielder Ryan LaMarre as a relief pitcher. LaMarre went 2/3 of an inning facing three batters, one of which, Tyler Austin hit a home run. LaMarre need just five pitches to get his two outs. This is the second pitching appearance for Ryan who also appeared as a pitcher for the Red Sox in July 2016. Box Score
20. Catcher Willians Astudillo became the Twins fifth pitcher of the day at Target Field when he took the mound on July 14, 2018 to pitch the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays with the Twins trailing 14-6. It took 35 pitches but Astudillo finally retired the Rays but not until they scored five times on five hits, two of which were home runs. Box Score
21. Catcher Mitch Garver made his maiden big league pitching appearance on August 6, 2018 at Progressive Field when he toed the rubber in the eighth inning of a 10-0 shellacking of the Twins by the Cleveland Indians. Garver was the Twins third pitcher of the day and the only one to keep Cleveland off the scoreboard. Garver threw 14 pitches in one scoreless inning allowing just one hit, no walks and not striking out anyone. Box Score
22. On September 2, 2018 shortly after being acquired from the Cubs, manager Paul Molitor again calls on catcher Chris Gimenez to take the mound. With the Twins down 13-2 at Globe Life Park in Arlington to the Texas Rangers. Gimenez has a rough go of it allowing five runs on six hits including two home runs in one inning of pitching in which he throws 29 pitches. Gimenez however; bats in the top of the ninth inning and hits a two-run home run making him the first Twins pitcher to hit a home run since Jim Kaat hit one in 1972. Box Score
23. Twins utility player Willians Astudillo gets a chance to redeem himself on April 16, 2021 when he gets to toe the pitching rubber for the second time in his career. In his last pitching appearance back in 2018 he got roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays for five runs on five hits but today at Angel Stadium of Anaheim Astudillo was on his game. Throwing just seven pitches Astudillo retired the Angels 1-2-3 in the ninth inning. Box Score
24. La Tortuga (Willians Astudillo) is called on for mound mop-up duty again, his third career pitching appearance on May 17, 2021 at Target Field to help out the Twins who are being pounded by the league leading Chicago White Sox 16-3. Astudillo gives up a home run to rookie Yermin Mercedes on a 3-0 count with two out in the ninth inning to make the final score 16-4. It was the only hit that Astudillo gave up but Twins players were not happy with Mercedes. After the game White Sox skipper Tony LaRussa criticized Mercedes for breaking an unwritten rule and said that it would be taken care of in-house. The next day Twins reliever Tyler Duffey enters the game in the seventh inning to face Yermin Mercedes and his first pitch sails behind Mercedes and the umpires quickly confer and send Duffey to the showers. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli quickly follows Duffey to the clubhouse after he too is ejected. Box Score
25. The Twins are down 14-5 to the Kansas City Royals after eight innings at Kauffman Stadium so Willians Astudillo is asked to slide over to the mound from his third base duties and help out the Twins pitching staff that has already burned through four pitchers after starter Matt Shoemaker retires just one batter out of the ten he faced. Astudillo needs just 12 pitches to retire the side even though he walked a batter and another reached base on an error. This is the third time La Tortuga has taken the mound in 2021 (and it is early June) for the Twins and that kind of tells you how the Twins 2021 season is going. Box Score
26. The Twins are at Fenway Park and the Twins are trailing 12-2 when manager Baldelli calls on Willians Astudillo to take the mound for the fourth time this season. Astudillo throws 20 pitches during his scoreless inning on the mound, he did walk one batter. Video of his pitching appearance can be seen on August 26 OTD in Twins history. Astudillo hit a home run earlier in the game accounting for all the Twins runs. Box Score
27. Trailing the Houston Astros 11-3 after eight innings at Target Field on May 11, 2022 Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli bring in UT player Nick Gordon to make his maiden appearance on the mound. Gordon pitches one scoreless inning (16 pitches) giving up just one harmless single. Box Score
28. Nick Gordon returns to the mound for the second time this season in a White Sox rout over the Twins at Target Field on July 14, 2022. This time Gordon gets roughed up a bit in his one inning (19 pitches) on the mound as he gives up three runs on a walk and four hits one of which was a three-run home run. Box Score
29. Gordon takes the mound for his third career appearance on July 29th against the San Diego Padres and pitches one scoreless inning in San Diego in a 10-1 blowout loss. Box Score
30. On 9/3/22 it is the fourth time that Rocco Baldelli calls on Nick Gordon to do a bit of pitching but this time Gordon lasts just 2/3 of an inning as he gives up 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks to the White Sox in Chicago and has to be relieved by Jermaine Palacios, another position player. This is the first time that the Twins have ever used two position players to pitch in one game. Box Score
31. Jermaine Palacios takes the mound to relieve position player Nick Gordon on 9/3/22 and strikes out Adam Haseley for the final out in a 10-0 shellacking by the White Sox in Chicago. Box Score
32. Rocco calls on Jermaine Palacios to toe the rubber one more time on 9/19/22 and Palacios again gets the final out in relief of closer Jorge Lopez as the Guardians whip the Twins 11-4. VideoBox Score
33. Rocco Baldelli calls on Willie Castro to get the final out at Fenway Park in a 11-5 blowout loss to the Boston Red Sox on April 20, 2023. Castro came through by retiring Enrique Hernandez the only batter he faced on a ground out to second. Castro becomes the sixteen different Twins position player to take the bump for Minnesota. Box Score
34. MLB blowout rules were applicable when the Twins were getting blown out at Target Field by the Boston Red Sox on June 20, 2023 so Twins manager called for utility man Willie Castro to make his second appearance on a mound in 2023. Castro peaked out at 54 MPH pitching a scoreless ninth inning allowing just one hit and getting the side out on just nine pitches. Box Score
35. Twins outfielder Jordan Luplow, who had joined Minnesota just one week earlier after being claimed off waivers was asked to take the mound by Rocco Baldelli at Philly on August 11, 2023 in a 13-2 blowout loss. You can watch him pitch here. This is not Luplow first rodeo, it is actually his third pitching appearance and they have all been with different teams. One of his appearances was against the Twins and he gave up a home run to Ron Jeffers. On this day he also gave up a home run to Johan Rojas, his first big league long ball. Luplow threw 11 pitches in his one inning giving up one hit, hit a batter and two runs. Box Score
36. The Twins vs Guardians game on September 4, 2023 was an odd one for sure. In the sixth inning with the Twins up 11-1 and two runners on with no outs at Progressive Field the Guardians brought in catcher David Fry to pitch. Fry ended up pitching the last four innings throwing 64 pitches in a game in which he gave up 10 hits and seven runs. But there is more to the story, the Twins brought in utility man Willi Castro from third base to pitch the ninth inning with a 20-3 lead. Castro in his third pitching appearance of 2023 for the Twins gives up 3 runs on 2 hits. Castro has never had a strikeout in his three pitching appearances. But what is unique about this appearance is that Castro become the first Twins position player to pitch in a game in which the Twins win.
37. Twins utility player Willi Castro slides over from playing shortstop to the mound to get the final out in the Twins 8-2 loss at Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers. It is Castro’s fourth career pitching appearance.
Seventeen different Twins position players have now pitched on 37 different occasions for the Minnesota Twins.
