Tag: Larry Hisle

Does Brian Dozier have a 20/20 vision?

Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, 27, hit his 19th home run yesterday and he has 16 stolen bases giving him a real shot at becoming just the sixth Twins player (Torii Hunter did it twice) to join the exclusive 20/20 club with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases. With about a third of the season left to play, he has an outside shot at becoming the Twins first 30/30 player. No Washington Senators player between 1901-1960 ever accomplished a 20/20 season.

Previous Twins players with 20/20 seasons

Rk Player HR SB Year Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB SO BA OPS Pos
1 Kirby Puckett 31 20 1986 26 161 723 680 119 223 37 6 96 34 99 .328 .903 *8/H
2 Torii Hunter 29 23 2002 26 148 604 561 89 162 37 4 94 35 118 .289 .859 *8/HD
3 Larry Hisle 28 21 1977 30 141 620 546 95 165 36 3 119 56 106 .302 .902 *78/D9H
4 Corey Koskie 26 27 2001 28 153 649 562 100 155 37 2 103 68 118 .276 .850 *5/HD
5 Marty Cordova 24 20 1995 25 137 579 512 81 142 27 4 84 52 111 .277 .839 *78
6 Torii Hunter 23 21 2004 28 138 569 520 79 141 37 0 81 40 101 .271 .805 *8D/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/23/2014.

A 20/20 season does not seem that difficult but in the last 10 seasons in the American League  only 17 players have accomplished this feat (Grady Sizemore did it four times) and there are some pretty good players on this list. Hopefully the slick fielding Twins second baseman Brian Dozier can join this list this season, it would be a pretty nice feather in his hat. I have no clue why the Twins haven’t signed Dozier to an extension as yet, the price keeps going up.

AL players with 20/20 or better seasons between 2005-2014

Rk Player HR SB Year ? Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB SO BA OPS Pos
1 Mike Trout 27 33 2013 21 LAA 157 716 589 109 190 39 9 97 110 136 .323 .988 *87/D
2 Coco Crisp 22 21 2013 33 OAK 131 584 513 93 134 22 3 66 61 65 .261 .779 *8D/H
3 Mike Trout 30 49 2012 20 LAA 139 639 559 129 182 27 8 83 67 139 .326 .963 *87/9H
4 Alex Rios 25 23 2012 31 CHW 157 640 605 93 184 37 8 91 26 92 .304 .850 *9/H
5 B.J. Upton 28 31 2012 27 TBR 146 633 573 79 141 29 3 78 45 169 .246 .752 *8/DH
6 Jacoby Ellsbury 32 39 2011 27 BOS 158 732 660 119 212 46 5 105 52 98 .321 .928 *8/HD
7 Dustin Pedroia 21 26 2011 27 BOS 159 731 635 102 195 37 3 91 86 85 .307 .861 *4/H
8 Jeff Francoeur 20 22 2011 27 KCR 153 656 601 77 171 47 4 87 37 123 .285 .805 *9/H
9 Curtis Granderson 41 25 2011 30 NYY 156 691 583 136 153 26 10 119 85 169 .262 .916 *8/HD
10 Ian Kinsler 32 30 2011 29 TEX 155 723 620 121 158 34 4 77 89 71 .255 .832 *4D/H
11 B.J. Upton 23 36 2011 26 TBR 153 640 560 82 136 27 4 81 71 161 .243 .759 *8/H
12 Shin-Soo Choo 22 22 2010 27 CLE 144 646 550 81 165 31 2 90 83 118 .300 .885 *9/D
13 Alex Rios 21 34 2010 29 CHW 147 617 567 89 161 29 3 88 38 93 .284 .791 *8/HD7
14 Bobby Abreu 20 24 2010 36 LAA 154 667 573 88 146 41 1 78 87 132 .255 .787 *97D/H
15 Shin-Soo Choo 20 21 2009 26 CLE 156 685 583 87 175 38 6 86 78 151 .300 .883 *97D/H8
16 Nelson Cruz 33 20 2009 28 TEX 128 515 462 75 120 21 1 76 49 118 .260 .856 *9/DH7
17 Ian Kinsler 31 31 2009 27 TEX 144 640 566 101 143 32 4 86 59 77 .253 .814 *4
18 Curtis Granderson 30 20 2009 28 DET 160 710 631 91 157 23 8 71 72 141 .249 .780 *8/H
19 Bobby Abreu 20 22 2008 34 NYY 156 684 609 100 180 39 4 100 73 109 .296 .843 *9/HD
20 Grady Sizemore 33 38 2008 25 CLE 157 745 634 101 170 39 5 90 98 130 .268 .876 *8/D
21 Alex Rodriguez 54 24 2007 31 NYY 158 708 583 143 183 31 0 156 95 120 .314 1.067 *5/D
22 Curtis Granderson 23 26 2007 26 DET 158 676 612 122 185 38 23 74 52 141 .302 .913 *8/H7
23 B.J. Upton 24 22 2007 22 TBD 129 548 474 86 142 25 1 82 65 154 .300 .894 *84/DH
24 Grady Sizemore 24 33 2007 24 CLE 162 748 628 118 174 34 5 78 101 155 .277 .852 *8/HD
25 Gary Sheffield 25 22 2007 38 DET 133 593 494 107 131 20 1 75 84 71 .265 .839 *D/79H
26 Ian Kinsler 20 23 2007 25 TEX 130 566 483 96 127 22 2 61 62 83 .263 .796 *4/H
27 Grady Sizemore 28 22 2006 23 CLE 162 751 655 134 190 53 11 76 78 153 .290 .907 *8/HD
28 Johnny Damon 24 25 2006 32 NYY 149 671 593 115 169 35 5 80 67 85 .285 .841 *8D/H3
29 Alex Rodriguez 48 21 2005 29 NYY 162 715 605 124 194 29 1 130 91 139 .321 1.031 *5/6D
30 Grady Sizemore 22 22 2005 22 CLE 158 706 640 111 185 37 11 81 52 132 .289 .832 *8/H
31 Alfonso Soriano 36 30 2005 29 TEX 156 682 637 102 171 43 2 104 33 125 .268 .821 *4/DH
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/23/2014.

UPDATE as of August 21, 2014 – Brian Dozier became just the sixth Twins player to record a 20/20 season of at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases with his 20th stolen base of the season on Wednesday against the Indians at Target Field.

According to Elias

 

Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier

 

Larry Hisle
Larry Hisle

Brian Dozier went 3-for-6 with two home runs, his 17th and 18th of the season, in the Twins’ 13-5 win at Colorado yesterday. Dozier, who has stolen 16 bases this season, is the first second baseman with at least 15 homers and 15 steals at the All-Star break since Ian Kinsler five years ago. But more impressive: Only other Twins player, regardless of position, ever accumulated at least 15 HR and 15 SB by the break: Larry Hisle in 1977.

Dozier, although not an All-Star will be part of the American League contingent participating in the All-Star Home Run Derby tonight at Target field.

Baseball Triple Doubles

Triple Double StarsThe other day SABR member Clem Comly who also follows basketball wondered who the  “triple doubles” leader might be in baseball history. His search defined a “baseball triple double” as a player that had 2 or more runs, 2 or more hits, and 2 or more RBI in a single game. His used Retrosheet (1913-2014) in his calculations and determined that the all-time baseball leader in triple doubles was Babe Ruth with 247. Lou Gehrig was second with 204, Willie Mays and Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez were tied for third with 191 and Hank Aaron was fifth with 188.

I though it might be fun to run a similar search for all of baseball during the time period of 1961 through 2014 since 1961 is the year the Minnesota Twins came into existence. I cut the list off at 100 meaning that you had to have at least 100 “triple double” games to make the list. It turns out to be a Whose Who of baseball hitting. You can almost use this list to see who might deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, assuming of course you excluded things like position played, fielding and the whole steroid situation.

Rk Player #Matching
1 Alex Rodriguez 191
2 Barry Bonds 184
3 Sammy Sosa 158
4 Manny Ramirez 157
5 Albert Pujols 152
6 Ken Griffey 143
7 Jim Thome 142
8 Chipper Jones 137
9 Gary Sheffield 134
10 Vladimir Guerrero 134
11 Frank Thomas 127
12 Jeff Bagwell 127
13 Hank Aaron 124
14 Jim Rice 123
15 Frank Robinson 122
16 Eddie Murray 122
17 Willie Stargell 121
18 Carl Yastrzemski 120
19 Mike Schmidt 119
20 Carlos Beltran 118
21 Billy Williams 117
22 Jason Giambi 117
23 Rafael Palmeiro 116
24 Carlos Delgado 115
25 Dave Winfield 114
26 Juan Gonzalez 113
27 Jose Canseco 113
28 Larry Walker 112
29 David Ortiz 111
30 Mark McGwire 111
31 Albert Belle 111
32 Todd Helton 109
33 Andre Dawson 109
34 Mike Piazza 107
35 Willie Mays 107
36 Reggie Jackson 107
37 Joe Carter 107
38 Willie McCovey 103
39 Jeff Kent 103
40 Andres Galarraga 102
41 Jim Edmonds 102
42 Cal Ripken 101
43 Alfonso Soriano 100
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/29/2014.

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The top five highest active players are Albert Pujols with 152, Carlos Beltran with 118, Jason Giambi with 117, David Ortiz with 111 and Alfonso Soriano with 100. Future Hall of Famers? We will have to wait and see.

2006 - present script logo for BP

I also used the same “triple double” criteria to determine who the Minnesota Twins “triple double” leaders are and I used a cutoff of 30 games.

Rk Player #Matching
1 Harmon Killebrew 83 Ind. Games
2 Kirby Puckett 82 Ind. Games
3 Tony Oliva 71 Ind. Games
4 Kent Hrbek 57 Ind. Games
5 Justin Morneau 53 Ind. Games
6 Joe Mauer 45 Ind. Games
7 Bob Allison 44 Ind. Games
8 Gary Gaetti 43 Ind. Games
9 Torii Hunter 36 Ind. Games
10 Jacque Jones 35 Ind. Games
11 Larry Hisle 31 Ind. Games
12 Michael Cuddyer 31 Ind. Games
13 Rod Carew 30 Ind. Games
14 Tom Brunansky 30 Ind. Games
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/29/2014.

I am surprised to see Jacques Jones on this list. Larry Hisle only played in Minnesota for five seasons but he put up some nice numbers during his stay here and a lot of Twins fans have no idea who he is.

This Day in Twins History – July 25, 1977

Native Minnesotan Dave Goltz - Twins pitcher from 1972 - 1979
Native Minnesotan Dave Goltz – Twins pitcher from 1972 – 1979

Coming off a double-header sweep (with the 2nd game going 12 innings) of the A’s the day before, the Twins are again going up against the boys from Oakland at Met Stadium. The game goes 11 innings before the Twins prevail 2-1 on a bases loaded single by Larry Hisle. But, the real story of the game is Twins starter Dave Goltz who pitches all 11 innings throwing 180 pitches. Goltz improves his record to 12-6 as he faces 41 batters giving up 8 hits and walking 1 while striking out 14 Oakland A’s. Rick Langford also pitched a complete game for the A’s that day but only gets credit for 10 innings pitched because the Twins scored the winning run before he retired any batters in the 11th inning. In spite of all of this, the game is over in 2 hours and 39 minutes.

This Day in Twins History – March 6

Kirby PuckettMarch 6, 2006 – Twins star outfielder and MLB Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett passed away at the age of 45 from a stroke he suffered a day earlier.

Hisle, Larry 2March 6, 1973 – In an exhibition game against the Pirates, the Twins Larry Hisle becomes the first designated hitter in ML history. It was that spring, the first with the designated hitter rule in place in the American League, when he made history. Hisle was horsing around with his son, Larry Jr., when he tripped over a chair and seriously injured his big toe. The pain was so bad that Hisle couldn’t take his normal spot in the outfield, so he started the March 6 exhibition against the Pirates at Tinker Field in Orlando as the designated hitter. Hisle made the new AL rule look good by collecting 2 homeruns and 7 RBI. For the record, the Yankees’ Ron Blomberg was the first official designated hitter on Opening Day 1973 — April 6. Baseball fans have been arguing for and against the DH rule since it started 40 years ago. What do you think?

This Day in Twins History – June 4

outfielder Larry Hisle

1976 – Larry Hisle becomes the third Twins player ever to hit for the cycle as he does so in Baltimore in a 10 inning Twins 8-6 victory.

1982 – Brad Havens and Terry Felton combined to shut out Baltimore 6-0 at the Metrodome, snapping the Twins’ club-record 14-game losing streak. The last-place Twins were 3-26 in the month of May. To boost attendance, Twins president Calvin Griffith promised fans that they could purchase tickets for a future game for a buck if the Twins won the game and broke their losing streak.

2002 – In its 23-2 win over Cleveland at the Metrodome, Minnesota had four players with four hits, four players with at least three RBIs and four players with at least three runs scored. In the seventh inning, the Twins set a franchise record with 10 runs in the frame — Minnesota batted around before making an out. The Twins had a franchise-record 25 hits. The Twins also set a team mark for their largest margin of victory at 21 which broke the mark of 19 set May 20, 1994 in a 21-2 victory over the Red Sox. The Indians matched their most lopsided loss in history — 21-0 to Detroit on Sept. 15, 1901.

STRIKE THREE!

March 4, 2010 – The Minnesota Twins preach putting the bat on the ball and getting it in play because you never know what can happen next, but the Twins have had a number of players over the years that have taken that long walk to the bench after flailing away and missing. Strangely enough, when you look at the franchise top fifty strike-out leaders from a hitting perspective, 46 out of 50 are Twins players and only 4 are Washington Senators and both of them, Jim Lemon and Harmon Killebrew played for the Twins. You would think with the old-time pitchers accumulating so many strike-outs that you would see more Washington Senators on this list. The top Twins strikeout team was the 1997 team (68-94) with 1,121 KO’s and the top Senators strike-out team was the 1960 team (73-81) with 883 KO’s. The top man on the list is Bobby Darwin who led the AL in strikeouts between 1972-1974. Here are the seasonal top ten strike-out performances by Twins/Senators hitters:

Rank Name Strike outs Year
1 Bobby Darwin 145 1972
2 (tie) Carlos Gomez 142 2008
2 (tie) Harmon Killebrew 142 1962
4 Jim Lemon 138 1956
5 Bobby Darwin 137 1973
6 Harmon Killebrew 135 1964
7 (tie) Rich Becker 130 1997
7 (tie) Michael Cuddyer 130 2006
9 Jacques Jones 129 2002
10 Lary Hisle 128 1973