Tag: Ken Landreaux

This Day in Twins History – April 23 – Complete game with zero KO’s?

Kralick, Jack 24/23/1961 – The Twins play their first 1-0 game in history and come up winners at Met Stadium when Jack Kralick pitches a complete game 4 hit shutout of the Washington Senators. Kralick also knocks in the Twins lone run of the game with a fifth inning single. Box score

4/23/1980 – Angels pitcher Bruce Kison settles for a one-hitter when Minnesota’s Ken Landreaux rips a double with one out in the 9th inning of California’s 17-0 romp. For Landreaux, the hit marks the beginning of a 31-game hitting streak. Box scoreKen Landreaux

4/23/1982 – The Twins beat the Seattle Mariners 12-4 at the Kingdome. Twins pitcher Roger Erickson recovers after a rough first inning where he gives up 3 runs on 5 hits and proceeds to pitch a complete game. Erickson strikes out no one and gives up 13 hits and walks two more in this unusual game. It marks the only time that Erickson pitched a complete game with no strikeouts. Twins hitters were no slouches themselves as they had 18 hits and drew 6 walks. Ron Washington had 4 hits and Bobby Mitchell and Gary Ward had 3 hits apiece.

Roger Erickson
Roger Erickson

Box score . See the table below showing all Twins pitchers that have pitched a complete game with zero strikeouts.

4/23/2011 – The Twins beat the visiting Cleveland Indians 10-3 at Target Field and in the process score more than 5 runs in a game for the first time in 2011. The Twins have not scored more than five runs in any game this season (19 games), according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest such streak to start a season in Twins history, and the longest streak in franchise history (the 1909 Washington Senators failed to score more than five runs in their first 18 games).The Twins were the only team in Major League Baseball that hasn’t scored six-or-more runs in a game in 2011. Box score

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Twins pitchers that have pitched a complete game with zero KO’s

Rk Player Date ? Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit BF
1 Brad Radke 2002-05-08 KCR W 3-1 CG 9, W 9.0 5 1 1 3 0 0 106 32
2 Allan Anderson 1991-04-20 CAL L 1-2 CG 8, L 8.0 4 2 2 1 0 0 100 29
3 Allan Anderson 1988-08-04 TOR W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 4 1 1 0 0 1 102 29
4 Les Straker 1987-06-29 KCR L 2-3 CG 5, L 4.1 4 3 3 1 0 1 17
5 Ken Schrom 1985-04-12 SEA L 1-2 CG 8, L 8.0 3 2 2 3 0 1 31
6 Roger Erickson 1982-04-23 SEA W 12-4 CG 9, W 9.0 13 4 4 2 0 0 39
7 Paul Hartzell 1979-04-30 TOR W 6-3 CG 9, W 9.0 7 3 3 2 0 1 36
8 Dave Goltz 1978-06-23 CHW W 2-1 CG 9, W 9.0 5 1 1 1 0 0 32
9 Steve Luebber 1976-09-08 TEX W 3-1 CG 7, W 7.0 7 1 1 1 0 1 26
10 Danny Fife 1973-09-28 CAL W 7-1 CG 9, W 9.0 7 1 1 6 0 0 39
11 Jim Kaat 1965-04-17 CLE W 3-0 SHO9, W 9.0 7 0 0 1 0 0 32
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/23/2015.
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On this Day in Twins History – June 2, 1986

2B Rod Carew played for the Twins from 1967-1978
2B Rod Carew played for the Twins from 1967-1978

Officially ending his Hall of Fame career about six months after MLB owners did it for him, Rod Carew announced his retirement. A victim of collusion after the 1985 season, Carew failed to get any suitable offers for what would have been his age-40 campaign. Nine years later, he’d be awarded $782,000 in damages for his lost wages. Carew finished his career with the Angels in 1985 hitting .280 in 127 games. It was the only one of his 19 seasons in which he wasn’t named to the AL All-Star team.

Carew who signed with Minnesota on June 24, 1964 as an amateur free agent ended his career with 3,053 hits. Carew hit .328 with 92 homers and 1,015 RBI in 12 seasons with the Twins and seven with the Angels. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1967 and its MVP in 1977, when he hit .388 and drove in 100 runs for the only time in his career. He ended up winning seven batting titles and finishing first in the AL in the OBP four times. Both the Twins and the Angels retired his number 29.

Carew was born to a Panamanian mother on a train in the town of Gatún, which, at that time, was in the Panama Canal Zone. The train was racially segregated; white passengers were given the better forward cars, while non-whites, like Carew’s mother, were forced to ride in the rearward cars. When she went into labor, a physician traveling on the train, Dr. Rodney Cline, delivered the baby. In appreciation for this, Mrs. Carew named the boy Rodney Cline Carew.

During the 1960s, Carew served a six-year commitment in the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a combat engineer. Carew later said that his military experience helped him in his baseball career, explaining that “When I joined the Marine Corps, it was a life-changing event for me because I learned about discipline. When I first came up to the big leagues in 1967, I was a little bit of a hot-head. But after two weeks of war games every summer, I realized that baseball was not do-or-die. That kind of discipline made me the player I became.”

Frustrated by the Twins’ inability to keep young talent, some racist comments by owner Calvin Griffith, and the Twins’ overall penny-pinching negotiating style, Carew announced his intention to leave the Twins. On February 3, 1979 the Twins traded Carew to the California Angels for outfielder Ken Landreaux, catcher/1B Dave Engle, RHP Paul Hartzell, and LHP Brad Havens. Rumors circulated that the Twins completed this trade with the Angels only after a potentially better deal with the New York Yankees in January in which Carew would have moved to the Yankees in exchange for Chris Chambliss, Juan Beniquez, Damaso Garcia, and Dave Righetti fell through at the last-minute. I wonder how baseball history in Minnesota and New York might have changed had that deal gone down?

MLB Network to air “The Lyman Bostock Story”

This is a Press Release from MLB Network yesterday. Lyman Bostock was a great baseball player and a wonderful human being. I know I am looking forward to watching it. Here is a link to a post I did on Bostock in 2010.

Lyman Bostock
Lyman Bostock

 

MLB Network Press Release

9/18/2013 12:01 P.M. ET

MLB Network to air “The Lyman Bostock Story” this Sunday, September 22

Bob Costas narrates special 35 years after the Major League outfielder’s murder; Bostock’s widow, Yuovene Whistler, speaks on-camera for the first time since her husband’s death

MLB Network will televise the The Lyman Bostock Story this Sunday, September 22 at 10:00 p.m. ET, an original program looking back on the star Minnesota Twins and California Angels outfielder who was murdered four seasons into his career at the age of 27. Narrated by MLB Network’s Bob Costas, the special marks the 35th anniversary of Bostock’s death on Monday, September 23 and features the first on-camera interview with Bostock’s widow, Yuovene Whistler, since the night she lost her husband.

Through interviews with Bostock’s former agent Abdul-Jalil al-Hakim, Jim Fregosi, Bostock’s manager with the Angels, and several of Bostock’s former teammates including Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, 1979 American League MVP Don Baylor, Kenny Landreaux, Roy Smalley and Ron Jackson, The Lyman Bostock Story recalls Bostock’s rise to prominence as a hitter with the second-best batting average in the American League in 1977, and his free agency after the 1977 season, which brought him to the Angels. His contract made Bostock one of the highest paid players in baseball at the time of his death.

In what former prosecutor Jack Crawford describes as “the classic instance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Bostock was shot and killed in Gary, Indiana during a September 1978 road trip with the Angels to play the Chicago White Sox. The gunman, Leonard Smith, plead insanity and was spared jail time by being confined to a mental facility, only to be declared sane and released six months later. The controversial verdict ultimately led to a change in Indiana state law. At a time before the Internet, social media and 24-hour news networks, many people first learned of Bostock’s death when broadcaster Dick Enberg, who was the play-by-play voice of the Angels at the time, broke the news on the air before the Angels played the White Sox the next afternoon.

Quotes from The Lyman Bostock Story are included below, and additional quotes and advance copies of the program are available via MLB Network PR.

Yuovene Whistler on seeing Bostock after he died: The worst ever was just seeing his lifeless body lying there and thinking, “What a waste.” It didn’t get any worse than that.

Whistler on her emotions following Bostock’s death: I couldn’t even say that he was murdered. The words would not come off. He just “died.” Just admitting that he was murdered was very traumatic. Once I was able to work through my own personal pain and get clarity on that, it really was about Lyman and just his legacy.

Jim Fregosi on being in the Angels’ clubhouse the day after Bostock passed away: I’ve been in this game 54 years and it’s probably the most difficult day I’ve ever spent. To be surrounded by that type of atmosphere, it is something I would never want to go through again.

Don Baylor on the day after Bostock’s death: There was a photographer inside the locker room wanting to take pictures of [Bostock’s] locker, and somehow I picked him up and threw him out of the locker room.

Dick Enberg on calling the Angels at White Sox game following Bostock’s death: It was horrific. I mean, who expects to go on the air having to announce that one of your ballplayers, someone that everyone cares about is dead suddenly? I mean, you came on the air and you started with, “We begin today’s broadcast telecast with terrible news,” and then just bluntly saying, “Lyman Bostock was murdered last night in Gary, Indiana.” We are not trained to handle a tragedy like that, are we? You think in all of baseball history how many times has that happened? Where a ballplayer plays one day and the next day he’s expected to appear, but he’s gone.

Abdul-Jalil al-Hakim on Bostock’s passing: Lyman was instrumental in having the rules and the laws change in Indiana, so I guess in some ways Lyman still lives. But to me, that’s too great a cost.

About MLB Network: MLB Network is the ultimate television destination for baseball fans, featuring the multiple Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight, live regular season and Postseason game telecasts, original programming, highlights, and insights and analysis from the best in the business, including Bob Costas, Peter Gammons, Jim Kaat, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds. MLB Network debuted on January 1, 2009 in a record-setting 50 million homes and is currently distributed in 71 million homes throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more information and to find MLB Network in your area, go to www.MLBNetwork.com.

Taking a look at hitting streaks

Former Twins outfielder Micheal Cuddyer set a Colorado Rockies team record recently when he had a 27 game hitting streak from May 28 through June 30 for the Colorado Rockies. During his streak Cuddyer hit .372 with 6 home runs, 19 RBI and 17 runs scored. The longest Twins hitting streaks this season belong to Joe Mauer with 15 gamer and a 10 gamer, Trevor Plouffe with a 12 gamer and Justin Morneau with an 11 game hitting streak. The Twins have had some pretty good hitting streaks over the years but the longest streak of 31 games goes way back to 1980 and belongs to Ken Landreaux.

 Twins hitting streaks over 15 games

Ken Landreaux

Rk Strk Start End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OPS
1 Ken Landreaux 1980-04-23 1980-05-30 31 125 13 49 5 1 2 19 .392 .937
2 Brian Harper 1990-07-06 1990-08-04 25 99 14 38 12 0 2 16 .384 .981
3 Lenny Green 1961-05-01 1961-05-28 24 94 14 34 9 2 0 11 .362 .955
4 Torii Hunter 2007-04-11 2007-05-09 23 94 17 35 12 0 5 19 .372 1.054
5 Cristian Guzman 2002-08-01 2002-08-25 23 97 16 35 5 0 2 12 .361 .841
6 Marty Cordova 1996-06-05 1996-06-29 23 91 16 35 10 0 2 18 .385 1.007
7 Kirby Puckett 1993-09-26 1994-04-20 23 97 16 34 8 0 2 21 .351 .895
8 Kent Hrbek 1982-04-17 1982-05-13 23 91 14 28 6 2 5 17 .308 .949
9 Shane Mack 1992-07-26 1992-08-18 22 88 13 40 4 1 1 9 .455 1.057
10 Ben Revere 2012-07-16 2012-08-07 21 90 17 34 5 1 0 13 .378 .862
11 Chuck Knoblauch 1991-09-02 1991-09-25 20 80 10 32 4 1 0 7 .400 .923
12 Ted Uhlaender 1969-08-16 1969-09-07 20 88 16 27 5 0 1 16 .307 .748
13 Nick Punto 2006-07-04 2006-07-28 19 75 12 30 6 2 0 12 .400 .979
14 David Ortiz 2002-07-17 2002-08-06 19 74 17 31 5 0 7 18 .419 1.258
15 Brian Harper 1993-07-20 1993-08-12 19 74 9 29 7 0 1 11 .392 .971
16 Roy Smalley 1979-04-29 1979-05-20 19 81 19 36 3 1 6 16 .444 1.234
17 Bob Allison 1964-06-12 1964-06-28 19 64 14 31 8 0 7 11 .484 1.530
18 Bobby Kielty 2002-09-18 2003-04-21 18 62 10 22 6 1 5 13 .355 1.132
19 Chuck Knoblauch 1997-08-07 1997-08-26 18 79 8 28 2 1 2 6 .354 .867
20 Gary Gaetti 1983-05-06 1983-05-27 18 76 9 25 5 0 3 8 .329 .887
21 Rod Carew 1974-09-07 1974-09-27 18 70 12 26 4 1 1 5 .371 .988
22 Rod Carew 1973-05-30 1973-06-19 18 77 17 31 3 4 3 8 .403 1.122
23 Trevor Plouffe 2012-06-30 2012-07-19 17 67 13 22 4 0 4 11 .328 .951
24 Jacque Jones 2001-09-30 2002-04-12 17 63 16 26 2 0 6 13 .413 1.230
25 Cristian Guzman 2001-06-08 2001-06-26 17 74 16 29 3 1 3 12 .392 1.004
Rk Strk Start End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OPS
26 Paul Molitor 1998-08-31 1998-09-19 17 75 12 25 3 2 3 12 .333 .909
27 Chuck Knoblauch 1993-07-29 1993-08-18 17 69 12 27 5 1 1 4 .391 .978
28 Kent Hrbek 1991-08-11 1991-08-30 17 62 13 26 6 0 4 16 .419 1.203
29 Kent Hrbek 1990-08-21 1990-09-07 17 68 10 23 2 0 3 15 .338 .900
30 Kirby Puckett 1988-09-15 1988-10-02 17 72 17 33 8 0 2 19 .458 1.126
31 Kent Hrbek 1982-05-25 1982-06-13 17 69 12 28 1 2 5 19 .406 1.120
32 Tony Oliva 1970-05-13 1970-06-02 17 73 9 23 5 0 1 13 .315 .775
33 Tony Oliva 1964-07-16 1964-08-01 17 77 11 28 5 1 2 4 .364 .935
34 Orlando Cabrera 2009-09-19 2009-10-06 16 73 21 30 5 1 2 16 .411 1.010
35 Joe Mauer 2008-08-04 2008-08-24 16 63 13 22 0 1 1 10 .349 .870
36 Justin Morneau 2006-06-22 2006-07-09 16 59 13 26 5 0 6 16 .441 1.308
37 A.J. Pierzynski 2002-05-26 2002-06-14 16 60 12 24 7 2 2 7 .400 1.096
38 Matt Lawton 2000-04-13 2000-04-30 16 59 11 26 6 0 1 11 .441 1.121
39 Chili Davis 1991-07-21 1991-08-07 16 61 13 25 7 0 6 17 .410 1.313
40 Kirby Puckett 1991-07-06 1991-07-26 16 64 10 28 3 1 1 13 .438 1.033
41 Kirby Puckett 1986-04-16 1986-05-03 16 74 23 32 5 1 10 20 .432 1.394
42 Gary Gaetti 1984-08-05 1984-08-19 16 65 9 22 4 0 1 9 .338 .814
43 Mickey Hatcher 1983-07-20 1983-08-27 16 62 11 25 5 0 1 12 .403 .948
44 Dave McKay 1975-08-29 1975-09-17 16 60 4 20 3 0 0 10 .333 .743
45 Danny Thompson 1973-04-28 1973-05-17 16 65 7 22 4 1 1 11 .338 .810
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2013.

Some pretty exceptional hitters on this list. Who appears on this list the most often? Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett each had four streaks of 16 games or longer. The biggest surprise on this list has to be Nick Punto with his 19 gamer back in 2006, the eighth longest hitting streak in Twins history.

Just for fun let’s take a look at what opposing hitters have the longest hitting streak when they face Twins pitchers over the years.

Twins opponent hitting streaks of 20 games or more

Ron LeFlore

Rk Strk Start End Games AB R H HR RBI BA OPS Tm
1 Ron LeFlore 1977-08-03 1981-09-11 26 108 29 43 2 13 .398 1.010 DET-CHW
2 David DeJesus 2008-09-11 2011-04-10 25 105 16 40 2 15 .381 1.027 KCR-OAK
3 Magglio Ordonez 2002-08-19 2003-09-10 23 90 19 32 10 20 .356 1.112 CHW
4 Jim Thome 1994-07-08 1996-07-18 22 90 20 36 7 16 .400 1.210 CLE
5 Ichiro Suzuki 2006-05-01 2008-08-06 20 89 17 40 2 3 .449 1.046 SEA
6 Paul Konerko 2006-07-26 2007-07-08 20 75 15 29 6 16 .387 1.180 CHW
7 Carlos Lee 2003-07-02 2004-07-27 20 82 14 31 4 17 .378 1.010 CHW
8 Rey Sanchez 1999-04-21 2001-04-07 20 74 13 33 0 12 .446 1.090 KCR
9 Rocky Colavito 1963-07-03 1964-07-22 20 78 17 34 9 25 .436 1.403 DET-KCA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2013.

Those of you that remember Ron LeFlore should take a few minutes to read this story published earlier this year. Even if you never heard of LeFlore, check it out.

This Day in Twins History – May 31

 

Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven

5/31/1976 – With trade rumors running rampant due to how poorly salary negotiations had progressed, Bert Blyleven walked off the mound after pitching a complete game at the Met in front of 8,379 fans trailing the California Angels 3-1. A number of fans were on Blylevens’ case shouting and singing “bye-bye Bertie” and Blyleven angrily looked up at the hecklers and flashed them the “one finger salute”. That was the final straw for Twins management and Bert along with shortstop Danny Thompson was traded to Texas the next day for pitchers Bill Singer and Jim Gideon, shortstop Roy Smalley, 3B Mike Cubbage and $250,000.

Here is what Blyleven had to say about that trade in a piece he penned for NBC Sports in July 2010 – “In 1976, I could see my first trade coming. I was going to become a free agent at the end of the year, and Twins owner Calvin Griffith didn’t have any interest in negotiating a new contract with me. In fact, at the start of the year, he sent me a contract for the exact same amount I had made the previous year. I rejected it, hoping to get a raise, but his next offer was for 20 percent less, which was allowed as I was under team control. Obviously that was a sign that the Twins weren’t going to keep me around. When the trade to the Rangers came down on June 1 that year, I didn’t handle it very well. When I got my last out in a 3-2, complete-game defeat the night before, I gave the fans a one-finger salute as I left the field. It was a mistake on my part, but I was young and upset at how ownership had treated me. But despite my initial unhappiness, things worked out in the end, and Texas gave me a three-year contract for three times as much as I was making in Minnesota. When the Rangers needed hitting a year and a half later, they dealt me to Pittsburgh as part of a four-team deal. The Pirates added three more years to my contract, which was nice, and also gave me a chance to win my first championship, as we took the World Series in 1979.”

Ken Landreaux5/31/1980 – Outfielder Ken Landreaux goes 0-for-4 in Minnesota’s 11-1 loss to the Orioles Scott McGregor, ending his hitting streak at 31 consecutive games. It is the longest streak in the AL since Dom DiMaggio’s 34-game streak in 1949. Ken’s streak started on April 23rd. Landreaux had 49 hits in 125 at bats during the streak for a .392 batting average. This streak still remains the team record.

 

This Day in Twins History

Bert Blyleven

5/31/1976 – With trade rumors running rampant due to how poorly salary negotiations had progressed, Bert Blyleven walked off the mound at the Met in front of 8,379 fans trailing the California Angels 3-1. A number of fans were on Blylevens’ case shouting and singing “bye-bye Bertie” and Blyleven angrily looked up at the hecklers and flashed them the “one finger salute”. That was the final straw for Twins management and Bert along with shortstop Danny Thompson was traded to Texas the next day for pitchers Bill Singer and Jim Gideon, shortstop Roy Smalley III, 3B Mike Cubbage and $250,000.

5/31/1980 – Outfielder Ken Landreaux goes 0-for-4 in Minnesota’s 11-1 loss to the Orioles Scott McGregor, ending his hitting streak at 31 consecutive games. It is the longest streak in the AL since Dom DiMaggio’s 34-game streak in 1949. Ken’s streak started on April 23rd. Landreaux had 49 hits in 125 at bats during the streak for a .392 batting average. This streak remains the team record to this date.

Make sure you check out the “Today in Twins History” page every day.

This Day in Twins History – February 3, 1979

Rod Carew

The Twins traded 7-time batting champion 2B Rod Carew to the California Angels for outfielder Ken Landreaux, catcher Dave Engle, and pitchers Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens. A trade was demanded by Carew after team owner Calvin Griffith made his infamous speech to the Lions Club in Waseca, Minnesota back in September of 1978. According to some reports, Griffith first agreed to trade Carew to the San Francisco Giants but Carew had veto power and nixed that deal. At the time of the trade to California, Carew had been a fixture in the Twins line-up for 12 seasons hitting .334 with 2,085 hits and being named an All-Star each of those 12 seasons. Carew went on to play for the Angels for seven more seasons making post season play in 1979 and 1982  but Rodney never won a batting title as an Angel.

Outfielder Ken Landreaux only played in Minnesota for two years before the Twins traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 30, 1981 for Mickey Hatcher and minor leaguers Kelly Snider and Matt Reeves, neither of whom ever played in a big league game. Landreaux hit .294 with 22 home runs and 145 RBI’s and had 19 stolen bases but what Ken Landreaux is best remembered for is his 31 game hitting streak early in 1980 which is still a Minnesota Twins record. Landreaux was an All-Star in 1980 while a Minnesota Twin. Landreaux played for the Dodgers from 1981-1987 and won a World Series ring there in 1981.

Dave Engle began his career with the Twins as an outfielder but was converted to a catcher in 1982 when his hitting was not considered up to par for an outfielder. Engle played for the Twins from 1981 through 1985 making the All-Star team in 1984 but he did not get a chance to appear in the game at Candlestick Park. In 1985 Engle started having throwing issues and his troubles appeared to have begun during batting practice one day when one of his throws glanced off the top of the protective screen and broke his pitcher’s nose. Engle then began lobbing his throws with a pronounced arc. Engle had the misfortune of having a base runner (Alfredo Griffin) stealing a base on one of his tosses back to the mound. Engle caught jst 17 games for Minnesota in 1985 and the Twins traded him to the Detroit Tigers in January of 1986. Dave went on to play for the Montreal Expos in 1987-1988 and closed out his big league career with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1989 but he only caught 18 games after he left Minnesota. Dave is the brother-in-law of another former Minnesota Twin, Tom Brunansky.

Right-handed pitcher Paul Hartzell only pitched in Minnesota during the 1979 season putting up a 6-10 record with a 5.36 ERA in 26 starts. The 6’5″ Hartzell was one of those pitch-to-contact pitchers who gave up 193 hits in 163 innings while striking out just 44 batters which was also the number of batters he walked that season. The Twins released Hartzell in April of 1980. Hartzell appeared in a handful of games with the Orioles in 1980 and the Brewers in 1984.

 

Lefty Brad Havens pitched for the Twins from 1981-1983 posting an 18-28 mark with a 5.00 ERA in 58 starts. The Twins sent Havens to Toledo in 1984 and he spent the entire season there before the team traded him to Baltimore in the spring of 1985 for pitcher Mark Brown. Havens pitched for the Orioles in 1985-1986 before moving on to the Dodgers in 1987-1988, the Indians in 1988-1989 and Havens closed out his big league career with the Tigers in 1989. Havens put in the big leagues for all or parts of eight seasons and finished his career with a 4.81 ERA and a 24-37 record.

The same day, the Twins make another deal when the Red Sox shipped outfielder Dave Coleman to Minnesota and the Twins give up 3B Larry Wolfe. Coleman spent the 1979 in AAA Toledo and never put on a Minnesota Twins uniform. In 1980-1981 Coleman played for the Yankees AAA team in Columbus but there is no information on how he ended up there.

This Day in Twins History – January 8, 1991

Hall of Famer Rod Carew

Rodney Cline Carew, who was born in Gatun in the Panama Canal Zone on October 1, 1945 becomes only the 22nd player in MLB history to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot, garnering 90.5% of the votes.

The left-handed hitting Carew made the Twins team as the starting 2B in the spring of 1967 and went on to win the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1967 and was selected to his first All-Star game that season. Who would know at the time that Carew would be an All-Star for 18 consecutive years, missing out on the All-Star team in only his last season (1985) as an active player. Although Rodney started out as a 2B, a serious knee injury in 1970 started the process of Carew moving to 1B. By the time Carew’s 19 year big league career was over, Carew actually played at more games at 1B than he did at 2B. Carew had a magical season for the Twins in 1977 making a serious run at hitting .400 but finished the season at .388 and won the AL MVP award.

Rod Carew and owner Calvin Griffith frequently disagreed about the salary that Carew was earning with Griffith arguing that Carew was nothing but a singles hitter and Carew arguing that if he wanted to hit for power he could. But it was the ill-fated Lion’s Club speech in Waseca, Minnesota that Griffith made on September 28, 1978 that was the final nail in the coffin as far as Carew was concerned and owner Griffith had no choice but to trade his best player. According to some reports, Griffith first had a trade worked out with the San Francisco Giants but Carew had veto power and nixed that deal so on February 3, 1979 the Twins owner and GM sent Carew to the California Angels for catcher Dave Engle, outfielder Ken Landreaux, and pitchers Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens. Carew finished his career as an Angel playing there from 1979 to 1985.

Rod Carew played in the big leagues for 19 season appearing in 2,469 games finishing with 3,053 hits (2,085 as a Minnesota Twin) and putting up a lifetime .328 average to go along with his 353 stolen bases. Carew stole home seven times in the 1969 season to lead the majors, just missing Ty Cobb’s Major League record of eight and the most in the major leagues since Pete Reiser stole seven for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. His seven batting titles are surpassed only by Ty Cobb, Tony Gwynn and Honus Wagner, and equaled only by Rogers Hornsby and Stan Musial.

Carew’s number is retired by both the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and he is a member of the Twins and Angels Hall of Fame. Today Carew is a part of the Twins organization making special appearances and taking part in the Twins Spring training as a coach each season.

Another look at Griffith’s Waseca speech can be found here in the Waseca County News.

Make sure you check out my Today in Twins History page to see all the Twins news for this day in history because I only blog about some of the items you can find there.

You’re outta here!

December 23, 2010 – One of the fun things about going to baseball games for me is that you never know when a manager or player ejection will take place over a close play or a bad or missed call by an umpire. It is these kinds of calls that make baseball the game that it is and that is why I hope that MLB never goes “instant replay crazy”. It is always fun for the fans to see the players emotions get the best of him, right or wrong, and then watch as he has his say with the umpire. Sometimes it is just a few words, probably not nice ones, that force the ump to throw that player out of the game and at other times the player gets to go on and on for what seems an eternity before he gets the heave-ho. Actually, I think that this is a part of baseball that is slowing going by the way-side as umpires are just too dang quick with the thumb and their ejection buttons. Baseball is after all, entertainment, and what better way to give the fans their money’s worth then to let them watch a good old fashion debate between an upset player and an umpire. Come on now, what is more fun than seeing a player stick his nose right in the umpires face and call him an %#@-hole or a *^%$-up? Give the fans in the stands a chance to yell “kill the ump” and really get into the game. It really makes no difference if the player or the umpire is in the right, give the player a chance to have his say, maybe kick some dirt on the plate or the ump’s shoes, or throw his cap out to second base, or maybe run over to first base, jerk it off its foundation and send it flying half way out to an outfielder that is standing there with his glove up to his face to hide his laughter? Or listen to the fans cheer or boo as the player starts chucking bats and balls back onto the playing field from the dugout. It is just fun and will generate water cooler and Facebook talk for days. Maybe it adds 5 minutes to a game that would otherwise be forgotten but now you have a classic situation that may stick with a fan forever. Maybe 30 years from now some fan will tell his kids, I remember this one hot summer night back in August of 2010 I think it was, and the Twins were playing the Yankees at Target Field when Bobby Akens went ballistic after getting called out on a play at the plate or just a few days later in Boston when Joe Smith went nuts after getting called out on strikes for the third time in the game. Umpires need to realize that baseball is entertainment and that we fans did not put our good money down for tickets to watch them ump, we paid to see the players play so it is time for the umpires to play their part and show some patience and do their part in the production and continue to let baseball be the best entertainment sport there is. Let the players play, have their say, and if need be, if all else fails, throw their butt out.

Torii Hunter
Torii Hunter

The Twins have had their fair share of player ejections (105) over the years and the one that stands out for me is the Joe Niekro ejection, the one with the nail file falling out of his back pocket, a real classic and one of my favorite Twins moments. What about you? Do you have a favorite Twins player ejection story? Did you know that the Twins player with the most ejections has 5 and that it is none other than outfielder Torii Hunter? Hunter of all people, which surprised me when I looked at the numbers and saw that. So here is a complete list of all Minnesota Twins player ejections from 1961 through 2010 that will maybe jog your memory a bit. I am not including any coach or manager ejections here as that will be a story for another day.

(Ejection list updated through 2012 as of March 2013)

5 – Torii Hunter

4 – LaTroy Hawkins, Kent Hrbek

3 – Rod Carew, Dan Gladden, Eddie Guardado, Cristian Guzman, Jacque Jones, Chuck Knoblauch, Tony Oliva, Dave Ortiz, Vic Power, Denard Span

2 – Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Tom Brunansky, Brian Harper, Mickey Hatcher, Ron Jackson, Corey Koskie, Brad Radke, Rich Reese, JC Romero

1 – Allan Anderson, Wally Backman, Bert Blyleven, Orlando Cabrera, Jamey Carroll, John Castino, Jack Cressend, Mike Cubbage, Michael Cuddyer, Chili Davis, Ron Davis, Scott Diamond, Jim Dwyer, Terry Felton, Pete Filson, Greg Gagne, Johnny Goryl, Lenny Green, Dave Hollins, Butch Huskey, Craig Kusick, Ken Landreaux, Fred Manrique, Charlie Manual, Pat Mears, Doug Mientkiewicz, George Mitterwald, Joe Niekro, Camilo Pascual, Tom Prince, Kirby Puckett, Nick Punto, Mike Redmond, Kenny Rogers, Jim Roland, Phil Roof, Mark Salas, Carlos Silva, Mike Smithson, Rick Sofield, Shannon Stewart, Danny Thompson, Danny Valencia, Jesus Vega, Frank Viola, Mike Walters