This Day in History – April 21

April 21, 1961 – The Minnesota Twins played their inaugural home game at Metropolitan stadium but came away with a loss against Joe McClain and the Washington Senators. The Senators score 2 in the top of the ninth off reliever Ray Moore and pin a 5-3 defeat on the Twins. 24,606 fans attended the Twins first home game and team ownership was disappointed that the game was not a sell-out with about 6,000 seats sitting empty. Temperature at game time was 63 degrees. There were no line-up cards available so Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto and Senators manager Mickey Vernon had to scribble their line-ups on pieces of scrap paper.

April 21, 1967 – Tony Oliva of Minnesota lost a home run due to a base running blunder. Playing in Detroit in the third inning, Cesar Tovar was the runner at first base. Oliva hit the ball out of the park off Denny McLain, but then passed Tovar between first and second. He was credited with a single and one RBI for scoring Tovar. In the ninth inning Oliva hit another home run and this one counted.

April 21, 1985 – The Twins had won the first two games of the 1985 season under manager Billy Gardner but then proceeded to lose nine in a row before John Butcher took the mound for the Twins against the Oakland A’s at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium on this day and shut out the A’s on just 3 hits facing only 28 batters and threw just 81 pitches. The game lasted just 1 hour and 55 minutes and Kirby Puckett went 3 for 5 and knocked in both runs.

April 21, 1994 – Eddie Murray set a major league record with his 11th switch-hit home run (home run from each side of the plate) game as the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 10-6 at the Metrodome.

April 21, 2004 – The Twins sell pitcher Brad Thomas to the Boston Red Sox.

April 21, 2007 – The Twins had started the 2007 season with 19 consecutive stolen bases before Torii Hunter gets caught in the 8th inning of their 17th game of the season. However; the Twins beat the Royals at Kauffman Stadium 7-5 and Joe Nathan performs a rarity during his 6th save of the season when he retires the Royals 1-2-3 in the ninth getting Esteban German, Tony Pena, and David DeJesus all looking at 3rd strikes. Getting the side out 1-2-3 for a save, all on called third strikes is rare feat and was last done in 2003 by Jose Valverde.

April 21, 2012 – With his leadoff single in the ninth inning, Josh Willingham extended his season-opening hitting streak to 15 games. He improved upon the record he set Friday night, the longest hitting streak by a player to start his Twins career. And he tied Kirby Puckett’s 1994 Twins record for the longest season-opening hitting streak. His streaks ended as he went hitless on April 22nd.

Twins pitchers that went the extra mile

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.

Rk	Player	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	App,Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	BF
1	Jim Merritt	1967-07-26 (2)	MIN	NYY	W 3-2	GS-13	13.0	7	2	2	1	7	46
2	Camilo Pascual	1963-07-23	MIN	CLE	L 2-3	CG 13 ,L	12.2	7	3	3	2	11	46
3	Dave Boswell	1969-07-14	MIN	CHW	W 4-3	GS-12	12.0	10	3	2	0	7	46
4	Jim Kaat	1969-05-20	MIN	BAL	W 3-2	GS-13 ,W	12.0	8	2	1	4	4	47
5	Camilo Pascual	1964-10-01	MIN	KCA	L 4-5	CG 12 ,L	12.0	12	5	1	3	14	52
6	Jim Roland	1964-05-19	MIN	NYY	W 7-2	GS-12 ,W	12.0	7	2	2	6	8	50
7	Camilo Pascual	1962-09-12	MIN	CHW	L 1-2	CG 12 ,L	12.0	12	2	2	2	7	47
8	Dave Goltz	1977-07-25	MIN	OAK	W 2-1	CG 11 ,W	11.0	8	1	1	1	14	41
9	Bill Singer	1976-09-01	MIN	MIL	W 3-2	GS-11	11.0	6	2	2	6	3	43
10	Dave Goltz	1976-05-18	MIN	OAK	W 4-3	CG 11 ,W	11.0	7	3	3	3	7	43
11	Bert Blyleven	1975-08-27	MIN	MIL	W 1-0	SHO11 ,W	11.0	6	0	0	1	13	39
12	Jim Kaat	1973-06-23	MIN	CAL	L 1-3	CG 11 ,L	11.0	11	3	3	4	6	46
13	Jim Kaat	1972-05-24	MIN	KCR	W 1-0	GS-11 ,W	11.0	5	0	0	3	7	40
14	Jim Perry	1970-08-07	MIN	OAK	W 2-1	CG 11 ,W	11.0	5	1	1	3	7	41
15	Jim Kaat	1969-04-09	MIN	KCR	L 3-4	GS-12	11.0	8	3	2	5	4	42
16	Jim Kaat	1964-04-26	MIN	DET	W 3-2	CG 11 ,W	11.0	7	2	2	3	11	43
17	Jim Kaat	1962-08-01	MIN	BAL	W 3-1	CG 11 ,W	11.0	9	1	1	4	12	47
18	Pedro Ramos	1961-04-28	MIN	LAA	L 5-6	GS-11	11.0	6	4	4	4	10	43
19	Mudcat Grant	1966-08-28 (1)	MIN	CHW	L 3-4	GS-11	10.2	9	3	3	4	2	44
20	Jack Kralick	1961-04-30	MIN	CHW	L 3-5	GS-11 ,L	10.2	12	5	5	6	6	50
21	Bert Blyleven	1972-09-27 (1)	MIN	OAK	L 0-1	CG 11 ,L	10.1	7	1	1	2	9	39
22	Jim Kaat	1962-08-10	MIN	LAA	L 0-1	CG 11 ,L	10.1	6	1	1	4	8	42
23	Brad Radke	1997-09-21	MIN	MIL	W 2-1	CG 10 ,W	10.0	6	1	1	0	9	36
24	Allan Anderson	1986-06-11	MIN	TEX	L 2-6	GS-10	10.0	8	2	2	4	3	37
25	John Butcher	1985-05-15	MIN	DET	W 5-4	GS-10	10.0	12	4	4	2	7	45
26	Frank Viola	1984-09-20	MIN	CHW	W 5-4	GS-10	10.0	4	4	4	2	6	36
27	Darrell Jackson	1980-08-14	MIN	OAK	L 1-2	GS-10	10.0	6	1	1	3	4	38
28	Jerry Koosman	1980-07-30	MIN	NYY	W 2-1	CG 10 ,W	10.0	3	1	1	5	4	38
29	Darrell Jackson	1980-05-10	MIN	NYY	W 1-0	GS-10 ,W	10.0	5	0	0	1	2	35
30	Dave Goltz	1979-09-27	MIN	CHW	L 2-4	CG 10 ,L	10.0	12	4	4	1	5	42
31	Paul Hartzell	1979-07-01	MIN	CHW	W 2-1	CG 10 ,W	10.0	8	1	1	2	1	38
32	Dave Goltz	1978-08-24	MIN	TEX	L 1-4	CG 10 ,L	10.0	6	4	4	1	4	36
33	Roger Erickson	1978-08-17	MIN	KCR	W 6-5	CG 10 ,W	10.0	8	5	5	4	3	41
34	Dave Goltz	1976-06-29	MIN	KCR	L 0-1	CG 10 ,L	10.0	3	1	0	4	2	36
35	Bert Blyleven	1975-09-15	MIN	CAL	W 7-6	GS-10	10.0	12	6	5	3	12	42
36	Bert Blyleven	1975-07-17	MIN	BAL	L 3-6	GS-10	10.0	8	3	3	5	7	42
37	Vic Albury	1974-06-22	MIN	CHW	L 1-3	CG 10 ,L	10.0	5	3	3	4	5	40
38	Ray Corbin	1973-09-29	MIN	CAL	L 3-4	GS-10	10.0	7	3	3	3	5	39
39	Bert Blyleven	1973-08-30	MIN	TEX	W 5-2	GS-11 ,W	10.0	12	2	2	2	7	43
40	Dick Woodson	1973-07-17 (1)	MIN	NYY	L 3-4	GS-10	10.0	5	3	2	4	2	37
41	Ray Corbin	1972-08-27 (2)	MIN	DET	L 0-1	GS-10	10.0	5	0	0	3	2	36
42	Ray Corbin	1972-08-06 (1)	MIN	OAK	L 3-6	GS-10	10.0	8	3	1	2	4	43
43	Bert Blyleven	1972-07-08	MIN	NYY	L 0-1	GS-10	10.0	7	0	0	6	10	41
44	Bert Blyleven	1971-09-01	MIN	CHW	L 0-2	GS-10	10.0	5	0	0	1	6	36
45	Jim Perry	1971-07-15	MIN	BOS	L 0-3	GS-10	10.0	3	0	0	4	5	36
46	Jim Perry	1968-09-11	MIN	CLE	L 0-1	GS-10	10.0	8	0	0	0	5	37
47	Jim Merritt	1968-04-22	MIN	BAL	L 1-2	CG 10 ,L	10.0	6	2	2	2	6	36
48	Jim Kaat	1967-09-18	MIN	KCA	W 2-0	SHO10 ,W	10.0	6	0	0	0	12	36
49	Dean Chance	1967-08-30	MIN	BAL	L 2-4	CG 10 ,L	10.0	9	4	3	1	7	41
50	Jim Kaat	1964-09-10	MIN	CHW	L 1-2	CG 10 ,L	10.0	8	2	2	2	5	40
51	Dick Stigman	1964-07-03	MIN	NYY	W 1-0	SHO10 ,W	10.0	4	0	0	2	5	32
52	Camilo Pascual	1963-08-25	MIN	BAL	W 5-3	CG 10 ,W	10.0	10	3	1	7	8	45
53	Dick Stigman	1963-05-03	MIN	NYY	L 3-4	CG 10 ,L	10.0	8	4	4	2	8	39
54	Jim Kaat	1962-08-05 (1)	MIN	DET	W 8-3	GS-10 ,W	10.0	7	2	2	1	5	37
55	Camilo Pascual	1961-09-06 (2)	MIN	CHW	L 2-4	CG 10 ,L	10.0	10	4	2	4	3	47
56	Jim Hughes	1975-06-19	MIN	OAK	L 2-5	GS-10 ,L	9.2	9	5	5	6	5	43
57	Jim Kaat	1971-06-09	MIN	BAL	L 1-2	CG 10 ,L	9.2	11	2	1	0	6	40
58	Jim Merritt	1968-05-20	MIN	DET	L 3-4	GS-10 ,L	9.2	6	4	1	2	6	39
59	Camilo Pascual	1961-05-02	MIN	NYY	L 4-6	GS-10 ,L	9.2	7	6	6	5	7	41
60	Kevin Tapani	1992-08-20	MIN	CLE	L 1-2	CG 10 ,L	9.1	3	2	2	2	4	32
61	Neal Heaton	1986-10-02	MIN	CHW	L 4-8	GS-10 ,L	9.1	7	6	5	1	6	35
62	Brad Havens	1982-09-22	MIN	TOR	L 2-3	GS-10 ,L	9.1	6	3	2	1	8	33
63	Roger Erickson	1981-05-23	MIN	KCR	L 0-1	GS-10	9.1	7	0	0	1	7	34
64	Pete Redfern	1981-05-09	MIN	CLE	L 1-2	GS-10 ,L	9.1	10	2	1	3	7	39
65	Jerry Koosman	1981-05-04	MIN	BAL	L 3-4	GS-10 ,L	9.1	10	4	3	4	6	41
66	Roger Erickson	1980-07-18	MIN	BOS	L 0-1	CG 10 ,L	9.1	8	1	1	2	3	38
67	Jerry Koosman	1980-07-02	MIN	KCR	L 3-4	GS-10 ,L	9.1	10	4	4	2	5	38
68	Dave Goltz	1976-06-21	MIN	CAL	L 1-2	CG 10 ,L	9.1	8	2	2	2	1	36
69	Ray Corbin	1972-09-27 (2)	MIN	OAK	L 1-2	CG 10 ,L	9.1	9	2	2	1	5	39
70	Jim Kaat	1962-05-20 (2)	MIN	NYY	W 4-2	GS-10	9.1	4	2	1	7	7	38
71	Camilo Pascual	1961-09-29	MIN	DET	L 4-6	GS-10 ,L	9.1	12	6	6	4	7	43

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/25/2013.

What about the relievers?

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.

Rk	Player	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	App,Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	BF
1	Ray Corbin	1975-05-21	MIN	DET	W 6-5	1-11f,W	10.1	7	2	1	4	4	42
2	Jim Kaat	1969-09-06	MIN	OAK	W 8-6	9-18 ,W	9.1	8	1	1	5	10	44
3	John Sutton	1978-08-07	MIN	SEA	L 5-6	5-13	9.0	5	0	0	3	4	34
4	Vic Albury	1975-06-30	MIN	CAL	L 3-10	1-9f	9.0	6	4	1	7	4	38
5	John Verhoeven	1980-07-21 (1)	MIN	BAL	W 8-7	3-11f,W	8.2	7	2	2	2	2	34
6	Tom Burgmeier	1976-08-30	MIN	MIL	W 10-3	1-9f ,W	8.2	3	1	1	0	4	29
7	Tom Burgmeier	1976-04-25	MIN	BAL	W 7-2	1-9f ,W	8.2	5	1	1	1	1	30
8	Al Worthington	1967-08-09	MIN	WSA	L 7-9	8-16	8.2	2	0	0	2	8	30
9	Tom Johnson	1976-09-02	MIN	MIL	W 8-4	1-9f ,W	8.1	6	1	1	0	6	31
10	Bill Campbell	1975-06-10	MIN	CLE	W 5-3	1-10	8.1	7	1	1	1	3	32
11	Tom Hall	1969-08-17	MIN	WSA	W 4-3	3-11	8.0	2	1	1	3	5	30
12	Pedro Ramos	1961-06-16	MIN	CHW	W 6-1	2-9f ,W	8.0	4	0	0	1	4	28
13	Dennis Burtt	1985-10-04	MIN	CLE	L 6-8	1-8 ,L	7.2	6	3	3	0	2	28
14	Pete Filson	1985-05-19	MIN	TOR	W 8-2	2-9f ,W	7.2	3	1	1	1	2	27
15	Mac Scarce	1978-06-07	MIN	CHW	L 3-8	2-9f	7.2	6	1	1	2	4	27
16	Tom Burgmeier	1976-08-25	MIN	NYY	L 4-5	12-19f,L	7.2	3	1	1	2	1	25
17	Vic Albury	1975-06-24	MIN	OAK	L 4-6	1-8f	7.2	6	2	2	7	4	34
18	Bill Butler	1974-09-13	MIN	KCR	W 6-5	2-9	7.2	2	0	0	4	3	28
19	Jim Kaat	1962-05-12	MIN	KCA	W 5-4	2-9f ,W	7.2	2	0	0	1	4	25
20	Dave Goltz	1974-07-19	MIN	DET	W 7-5	1-8 ,W	7.1	7	2	2	1	4	29
21	Danny Fife	1973-08-22	MIN	BAL	L 3-4	1-8f ,L	7.1	3	1	1	4	3	28
22	Dave Boswell	1965-05-11	MIN	CAL	W 3-2	1-8	7.1	4	1	0	2	9	28
23	Lee Stange	1962-08-04	MIN	DET	W 4-3	2-9f ,W	7.1	6	0	0	1	3	27
24	Bill Pleis	1962-07-04 (1)	MIN	BOS	W 8-4	2-9f ,W	7.1	5	2	2	1	2	28
25	Jack O’Connor	1982-06-26	MIN	TOR	W 4-3	1-8	7.0	6	1	1	0	5	27
26	Jeff Holly	1977-05-01	MIN	DET	W 6-5	3-9f ,W	7.0	2	0	0	1	6	23
27	Tom Johnson	1975-08-11	MIN	MIL	W 8-7	3-9f ,W	7.0	5	1	1	2	4	28
28	Ray Corbin	1975-07-24	MIN	BOS	L 2-6	3-9f	7.0	5	3	2	4	1	29
29	Jim Hughes	1975-05-04	MIN	KCR	W 6-3	3-9f ,W	7.0	4	0	0	4	5	30
30	Bill Campbell	1974-08-08	MIN	KCR	W 3-2	8-14f,W	7.0	5	1	0	6	2	31
31	Bill Hands	1973-09-01	MIN	TEX	W 10-7	3-9f ,W	7.0	6	1	0	1	6	28
32	Ray Corbin	1971-07-17	MIN	WSA	W 5-3	3-9f ,W	7.0	4	0	0	1	4	25
33	Jim Perry	1964-08-06	MIN	BOS	W 6-5	1-7 ,W	7.0	7	1	1	4	6	31

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/25/2013.

Twins “games started” history

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.

Twins starters with 20 or more starts

Year	Tm	#Matching
2011	Minnesota Twins	5	Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Brian Duensing / Francisco Liriano / Carl Pavano
2010	Minnesota Twins	5	Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Francisco Liriano / Carl Pavano / Kevin Slowey
2008	Minnesota Twins	5	Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Livan Hernandez / Glen Perkins / Kevin Slowey
2005	Minnesota Twins	5	Kyle Lohse / Joe Mays / Brad Radke / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2003	Minnesota Twins	5	Kyle Lohse / Joe Mays / Brad Radke / Rick Reed / Kenny Rogers
1990	Minnesota Twins	5	Allan Anderson / Mark Guthrie / Roy Smith / Kevin Tapani / David West
1979	Minnesota Twins	5	Roger Erickson / Dave Goltz / Paul Hartzell / Jerry Koosman / Geoff Zahn
1963	Minnesota Twins	5	Jim Kaat / Camilo Pascual / Jim Perry / Lee Stange / Dick Stigman
2007	Minnesota Twins	4	Scott Baker / Boof Bonser / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2004	Minnesota Twins	4	Kyle Lohse / Brad Radke / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2002	Minnesota Twins	4	Kyle Lohse / Eric Milton / Brad Radke / Rick Reed
2000	Minnesota Twins	4	Joe Mays / Eric Milton / Brad Radke / Mark Redman
1999	Minnesota Twins	4	LaTroy Hawkins / Joe Mays / Eric Milton / Brad Radke
1998	Minnesota Twins	4	LaTroy Hawkins / Eric Milton / Brad Radke / Bob Tewksbury
1997	Minnesota Twins	4	LaTroy Hawkins / Brad Radke / Rich Robertson / Bob Tewksbury
1994	Minnesota Twins	4	Jim Deshaies / Scott Erickson / Pat Mahomes / Kevin Tapani
1993	Minnesota Twins	4	Willie Banks / Jim Deshaies / Scott Erickson / Kevin Tapani
1992	Minnesota Twins	4	Scott Erickson / Bill Krueger / John Smiley / Kevin Tapani
1991	Minnesota Twins	4	Allan Anderson / Scott Erickson / Jack Morris / Kevin Tapani
1989	Minnesota Twins	4	Allan Anderson / Shane Rawley / Roy Smith / Frank Viola
1988	Minnesota Twins	4	Allan Anderson / Bert Blyleven / Charlie Lea / Frank Viola
1987	Minnesota Twins	4	Bert Blyleven / Mike Smithson / Les Straker / Frank Viola
1985	Minnesota Twins	4	John Butcher / Ken Schrom / Mike Smithson / Frank Viola
1984	Minnesota Twins	4	John Butcher / Ken Schrom / Mike Smithson / Frank Viola
1983	Minnesota Twins	4	Bobby Castillo / Ken Schrom / Frank Viola / Albert Williams
1982	Minnesota Twins	4	Bobby Castillo / Brad Havens / Frank Viola / Albert Williams
1980	Minnesota Twins	4	Roger Erickson / Darrell Jackson / Jerry Koosman / Geoff Zahn
1978	Minnesota Twins	4	Roger Erickson / Dave Goltz / Gary Serum / Geoff Zahn
1977	Minnesota Twins	4	Dave Goltz / Pete Redfern / Paul Thormodsgard / Geoff Zahn
1976	Minnesota Twins	4	Dave Goltz / Jim Hughes / Pete Redfern / Bill Singer
1974	Minnesota Twins	4	Vic Albury / Bert Blyleven / Joe Decker / Dave Goltz
1973	Minnesota Twins	4	Bert Blyleven / Joe Decker / Jim Kaat / Dick Woodson
1970	Minnesota Twins	4	Bert Blyleven / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry / Bill Zepp
1968	Minnesota Twins	4	Dave Boswell / Dean Chance / Jim Kaat / Jim Merritt
1967	Minnesota Twins	4	Dave Boswell / Dean Chance / Jim Kaat / Jim Merritt
1966	Minnesota Twins	4	Dave Boswell / Mudcat Grant / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry
1964	Minnesota Twins	4	Mudcat Grant / Jim Kaat / Camilo Pascual / Dick Stigman
1961	Minnesota Twins	4	Jim Kaat / Jack Kralick / Camilo Pascual / Pedro Ramos
2013	Minnesota Twins	3	Kevin Correia / Scott Diamond / Mike Pelfrey
2009	Minnesota Twins	3	Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Francisco Liriano
2006	Minnesota Twins	3	Brad Radke / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2001	Minnesota Twins	3	Joe Mays / Eric Milton / Brad Radke
1996	Minnesota Twins	3	Brad Radke / Rich Robertson / Frankie Rodriguez
1986	Minnesota Twins	3	Bert Blyleven / Mike Smithson / Frank Viola
1975	Minnesota Twins	3	Bert Blyleven / Dave Goltz / Jim Hughes
1972	Minnesota Twins	3	Bert Blyleven / Jim Perry / Dick Woodson
1971	Minnesota Twins	3	Bert Blyleven / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry
1969	Minnesota Twins	3	Dave Boswell / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry
1965	Minnesota Twins	3	Mudcat Grant / Jim Kaat / Camilo Pascual
1962	Minnesota Twins	3	Jim Kaat / Jack Kralick / Camilo Pascual
1995	Minnesota Twins	2	Brad Radke / Kevin Tapani
1981	Minnesota Twins	2	Pete Redfern / Albert Williams
2012	Minnesota Twins	1	Scott Diamond

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/15/2013.

Seasons with 20 or more starts

Rk		Yrs	From	To	Age
1	Brad Radke	12	1995	2006	22-33	Ind. Seasons
2	Jim Kaat	12	1961	1973	22-34	Ind. Seasons
3	Bert Blyleven	9	1970	1988	19-37	Ind. Seasons
4	Frank Viola	8	1982	1989	22-29	Ind. Seasons
5	Kevin Tapani	6	1990	1995	26-31	Ind. Seasons
6	Dave Goltz	6	1974	1979	25-30	Ind. Seasons
7	Jim Perry	6	1963	1972	27-36	Ind. Seasons
8	Scott Baker	5	2007	2011	25-29	Ind. Seasons
9	Joe Mays	5	1999	2005	23-29	Ind. Seasons
10	Eric Milton	5	1998	2002	22-26	Ind. Seasons
11	Camilo Pascual	5	1961	1965	27-31	Ind. Seasons
12	Nick Blackburn	4	2008	2011	26-29	Ind. Seasons
13	Carlos Silva	4	2004	2007	25-28	Ind. Seasons
14	Johan Santana	4	2004	2007	25-28	Ind. Seasons
15	Kyle Lohse	4	2002	2005	23-26	Ind. Seasons
16	Scott Erickson	4	1991	1994	23-26	Ind. Seasons
17	Allan Anderson	4	1988	1991	24-27	Ind. Seasons
18	Mike Smithson	4	1984	1987	29-32	Ind. Seasons
19	Geoff Zahn	4	1977	1980	31-34	Ind. Seasons
20	Dave Boswell	4	1966	1969	21-24	Ind. Seasons
21	Francisco Liriano	3	2009	2011	25-27	Ind. Seasons
22	LaTroy Hawkins	3	1997	1999	24-26	Ind. Seasons
23	Ken Schrom	3	1983	1985	28-30	Ind. Seasons
24	Albert Williams	3	1981	1983	27-29	Ind. Seasons
25	Roger Erickson	3	1978	1980	21-23	Ind. Seasons
Rk		Yrs	From	To	Age
26	Pete Redfern	3	1976	1981	21-26	Ind. Seasons
27	Mudcat Grant	3	1964	1966	28-30	Ind. Seasons
28	Scott Diamond	2	2012	2013	25-26	Ind. Seasons
29	Carl Pavano	2	2010	2011	34-35	Ind. Seasons
30	Kevin Slowey	2	2008	2010	24-26	Ind. Seasons
31	Rick Reed	2	2002	2003	37-38	Ind. Seasons
32	Bob Tewksbury	2	1997	1998	36-37	Ind. Seasons
33	Rich Robertson	2	1996	1997	27-28	Ind. Seasons
34	Jim Deshaies	2	1993	1994	33-34	Ind. Seasons
35	Roy Smith	2	1989	1990	27-28	Ind. Seasons
36	John Butcher	2	1984	1985	27-28	Ind. Seasons
37	Bobby Castillo	2	1982	1983	27-28	Ind. Seasons
38	Jerry Koosman	2	1979	1980	36-37	Ind. Seasons
39	Jim Hughes	2	1975	1976	23-24	Ind. Seasons
40	Joe Decker	2	1973	1974	26-27	Ind. Seasons
41	Dick Woodson	2	1972	1973	27-28	Ind. Seasons
42	Jim Merritt	2	1967	1968	23-24	Ind. Seasons
43	Dean Chance	2	1967	1968	26-27	Ind. Seasons
44	Dick Stigman	2	1963	1964	27-28	Ind. Seasons
45	Jack Kralick	2	1961	1962	26-27	Ind. Seasons
46	Mike Pelfrey	1	2013	2013	29-29	Ind. Seasons
47	Kevin Correia	1	2013	2013	32-32	Ind. Seasons
48	Brian Duensing	1	2011	2011	28-28	Ind. Seasons
49	Glen Perkins	1	2008	2008	25-25	Ind. Seasons
50	Livan Hernandez	1	2008	2008	33-33	Ind. Seasons
Rk		Yrs	From	To	Age
51	Boof Bonser	1	2007	2007	25-25	Ind. Seasons
52	Kenny Rogers	1	2003	2003	38-38	Ind. Seasons
53	Mark Redman	1	2000	2000	26-26	Ind. Seasons
54	Frankie Rodriguez	1	1996	1996	23-23	Ind. Seasons
55	Pat Mahomes	1	1994	1994	23-23	Ind. Seasons
56	Willie Banks	1	1993	1993	24-24	Ind. Seasons
57	John Smiley	1	1992	1992	27-27	Ind. Seasons
58	Bill Krueger	1	1992	1992	34-34	Ind. Seasons
59	Jack Morris	1	1991	1991	36-36	Ind. Seasons
60	David West	1	1990	1990	25-25	Ind. Seasons
61	Mark Guthrie	1	1990	1990	24-24	Ind. Seasons
62	Shane Rawley	1	1989	1989	33-33	Ind. Seasons
63	Charlie Lea	1	1988	1988	31-31	Ind. Seasons
64	Les Straker	1	1987	1987	27-27	Ind. Seasons
65	Brad Havens	1	1982	1982	22-22	Ind. Seasons
66	Darrell Jackson	1	1980	1980	24-24	Ind. Seasons
67	Paul Hartzell	1	1979	1979	25-25	Ind. Seasons
68	Gary Serum	1	1978	1978	21-21	Ind. Seasons
69	Paul Thormodsgard	1	1977	1977	23-23	Ind. Seasons
70	Bill Singer	1	1976	1976	32-32	Ind. Seasons
71	Vic Albury	1	1974	1974	27-27	Ind. Seasons
72	Bill Zepp	1	1970	1970	23-23	Ind. Seasons
73	Lee Stange	1	1963	1963	26-26	Ind. Seasons
74	Pedro Ramos	1	1961	1961	26-26	Ind. Seasons

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/15/2013.

Bonus tidbit

Trivia question for you. How many different Twins pitchers have started at least one game since the Twins came into existence?

Pitchers that hated to walk batters

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.

Minnesota Twins

Rank	Pitcher	BB/9	Innings pitched
1	Carlos Silva	1.303	773
2	Brad Radke	1.634	2,451
3	Jim Merritt	1.769	686
4	Jim “Mudcat” Grant	1.879	780
5	Kevin Tapani	1.959	1,171
6	Scott Baker	2.054	653
7	John Butcher	2.148	502
8	Jim Kaat	2.177	3,014
9	Dean Chance	2.250	664
10	Allan Anderson	2.320	818

Washington Senators

Rank	Pitcher	BB/9	Innings pitched
1	Al Orth	1.555	677
2	Watty Lee	1.794	526
3	Dutch Leonard	1.910	1,899
4	Waletr Johnson	2.074	5,914
5	Garland Braxton	2.115	583
6	Doc Ayers	2.301	1,122
7	George Mogridge	2.417	1,016
8	Casey Patten	2.430	2,059
9	Charlie Smith	2,240	822
10	Roger Wolff	2,442	527

Tag: John Butcher