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
Baseball was fun to watch at Metropolitan Stadium from 1961-1981 and a lot of MLB and Minnesota Twins “greats” played there. Here is a short list of some of the Twins leaders in some hitting and pitching categories. Keep in mind these are stats accumulated only while playing at Met Stadium.
The Minnesota Twins have had a strong history of good center field play and when you look at this list you can certainly see why. The rankings are in Baseball-Reference WAR order and the player needed to have played center field in at least 50% of his games.
How many of these guys did you get to see play? An old fossil like me gets to say he saw them all play and one of my favorites although he did not play here very long was Lenny Green. I am not saying that Green was in Puckett’s or Hunter’s class as a center fielder but I enjoyed watching him play.
Todays Twins center fielder is still tying to prove he belongs on this list and he just might but he is going to have to show us his stuff. Can he prove to be even better than hall of famer Kirby Puckett? That is a tall order, we will just have to wait and see and it should be fun. I am expecting a HUGE breakout season from Buxton in 2017.
The players on the list below had 400 or more plate appearances in a season as Minnesota Twins but hit no home runs. That didn’t necessarily mean they had a bad season, as you can see that second baseman Rod Carew led the American League in batting that year. Al Newman and Ben Revere make the list twice each.
Everyday is a good day to thank a Veteran for his service but Veterans Day is even more meaningful. With the national election behind us and a new President waiting his turn to sit in the Oval office we should all be thankful to the Veterans who have made this possible. It makes no difference if you voted for the President-elect or not, it is now time to respect the wishes of the people and the laws of this country and to roll up our sleeves and move on to make it even better than what is already is.
Here is a list of former Minnesota Twins players that have served their country. Please take a few moments to thank them for their service.
Juan Centeno‘s first career home run, a two-run shot in the fifth inning off Corey Kluber, gave the Twins a lead they never relinquished in their win over the Indians yesterday. Centeno is the third player this season whose first career home run in the majors came off a former Cy Young Award winner. Colorado’s Trevor Story hit his first off Zack Greinke and Arizona’s Socrates Brito hit his off Jake Arrieta.
Centeno is the ninth player in Minnesota Twins history whose first career homer came off a former Cy Young Award winner. Some of the names on that list include Butch Wynegar, Lyman Bostock, John Castino and Steve Lombardozzi.
Baseball draft are so different from all the other sports in many ways but the two main differences that stand out is that baseball drafts are more international than other sports and if you get drafted in baseball you can look forward to spend a number of years in the minor leagues before you have the experience and necessary skill sets to play in the major leagues. Sure there have been some players that went directly to the major leagues but they are rare and the last player to do so I believe is RHP Mike Leake who was drafted eighth overall in 2010 by the Cincinnati Reds from Arizona State and now pitches for the Cardinals. The last Twins player to be drafted and go straight to a big league mound was LHP Eddie Bane who also was from Arizona State.
The June amateur draft is exciting for the fans but it is serious business for the MLB teams that have spent lots of time and money watching these young prospects as they try to determine who is the best player available when it comes time to make their selection. Mistakes in a draft can and do haunt teams for many years. There are many ways to mess up a draft choice, the player may not turn out to be as good as you thought, you might have bypassed a star player, you might not be able to sign the player, the player and/or his agent may state they don’t want to play for you, and of course an injury may cut his career short. If everything goes your way you have yourself a baseball player but the odds are stacked against you.
Today we have a guest post by Treavor Lenz who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first Twins game which he saw at Met Stadium. I enjoy the stories and thoughts that readers of this site share either through comments, messages or e-mails. If I can, I try to share them with other Twins fans. In this case Treavor talks about many different Twins historical events that he has had the pleasure to witness in person over the last 40 years. That is one of the cool things about baseball, it seems like certain games or events stay with you for a life time.
The young Twins fans of today haven’t had the opportunity to witness some of the wonderful events that have taken place over the years. What is cooler than reading about a Twins historical event from a person that actually was there when it took place? Thanks for taking the time to share your memories with us Treavor!
Hi Twins fans!
This August 16th marks a famous day in Twins history…. Well, for me, at least. It’s the 40th anniversary of my first Twins game I ever attended at the Old Met. I had just turned 7 and my Dad and I joined a Knothole Gang bus tour out of Eagle Lake, MN (I grew up in Waseca, MN.). The sights and sounds of the ballpark were awesome for me and the game had a few historical significance’s, too. The Indians were managed by Frank Robinson, a future HOFer and the first African-American to lead an MLB team. As noted in the Twins Trivia “This Day In Twins History” page, the Twins set an MLB record as all 9 players in the starting lineup had at least 2 hits, 20 total on the day. Phil Roof’s home run landed just a section away from where we were sitting! Tony Oliva and Rod Carew were definite favorites. It’s too bad… I had missed out on seeing Harmon Killebrew by one season.
I was hooked; I wanted to see the Twins play each year and on or around my birthday, for sure. I made it back to the Old Met, Metrodome and Target Field at least once each summer until 2011, 37 straight years! After college at Iowa State, getting married and starting a family, my career took me to Wisconsin in 1999, so getting back for a game became wasn’t as easy as just picking up one evening and going to the Twin Cities from southern MN, but my desire spurred by that 7 year old’s memories kept it going for a while.
I wanted to share a few favorite memories of Twins games I attended with you today.
Other “This Day In Twins History” games I saw were:
Dave Goltz’s 180 (!) pitch, 11 inning, complete game 2-1 win over the A’s on July 25, 1977. I only realized a few years ago researching games I’d been to how high his pitch count was.
The only double-header in Metrodome history on August 1, 1983 (my 15th birthday) vs. the Angels, caused by the April 14, 1983 snowstorm that deflated the Metrodome roof. On that April day when they announced when the double-header would be, I simply told my folks, “We’re going!” Two games and a return trip of Rod Carew! Reggie Jackson had two doubles in the first game. The Twins split, with Rick Lysander winning the second game with an amazing complete game, 11-hit shutout. Darrell Brown went 4-4, too.
Dave Kingman’s pop up that got stuck in the Metrodome roof on May 4, 1984, that, after much deliberation, the umpires ruled a ground rule double.
Steve Carlton’s last MLB win (329) vs. the A’s in an important 1987 AL West division game. He went 8 and 2/3’s innings. Also, Don Baylor was an underrated pickup for the 1987 Champs!
Casey Blake was on fire on July 5, 2003! The Indians’ slugger was 5-5, with two doubles and two HRs, adding 7 RBIs in Cleveland’s 13-2 win. My brother “became an Indians fan” in the seventh, “since they were the only ones hitting that day.”
Other memories include:
In 1976 vs. the Yankees, my Dad almost broke his hand on a Mickey Rivers’ foul liner that just kept climbing into the second deck, 3rd base side.
A 1977 tilt, when Lyman Bostock had a go-ahead, 8th inning homer, the White Sox and Twins seventh of the day, to win it 7-6 and the whole 1977 season when Carew, Bostock, Hisle and Ford were key hitters in a fun season. (Reminds me a little of the current 2015 Twins!)
A great stab by Rob Wilfong going towards first, starting a 4-6-3 DP, of a line one hop smash by Jim Rice. My section was right in front of it! You’ve got to give Rice credit; he hustled and almost beat it out. The Twins beat a star-studded Red Sox team 5-2 on July 25, 1978 that featured Fred Lynn, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, George “Boomer” Scott and Jim Rice.
Waiting out a 2 hour rain delay to see Detroit bet the Twins 8-3 in 1979. Willie Norwood would always have a good game at the plate when I went.
Jerry Koosman pitched a 10 inning complete game 2-1 win over the 2 time defending World Champ Yankees the day before my 12th birthday, July 31, 1980. John Castino doubled in Ken Landreaux all the way from first off of future HOF closer Goose Gossage. Even Reggie’s strikeouts were majestic!
My first game in the Metrodome in 1982. First (full) year phenom Kent Hrbek was intentionally walked with no one on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th as Texas preserved a 3-2 win.
The arrival of a dynamo named Kirby Puckett, who swung at anything and hit line drives and ran everything down in center. KIRRR-BY PUCKETT!!!!—never got tired of the PA announcer’s call!
A fan a few rows in front of me made a great bare handed catch of a foul liner off of the bat of Orioles’ first baseman Eddie Murray. If it had skipped through, I was ready!
A fan a few rows behind me by the cement aisle steps dropped a foul pop from Randy Bush. As I got my hand on it after judging the one hop, my brother informs me that another fan pushed me squarely in the back trying to reach over me for it, too. The ball skittered away from both of us. I never got any closer to a ball than that!
Oakland CF Dave Henderson losing the ball in the white Metrodome ceiling and LF Rickey Henderson’s mad dash (to no avail) to try to catch it behind him!
Seeing 12 games in 1987, including Game 2 of the 1987 World Series! My Dad’s brother, Uncle Fred got 2 sets of 2 tickets to it. My brother, Aaron, and I sat in one and Dad and Fred in the other. Gary Gaetti’s HR (inside the foul pole right in front of us), Randy Bush’s RBI double, Bert Blyleven going 7 innings and the loudest atmosphere I’d ever been in stand out. A Tom Brunansky bottom of the 9th HR vs. the Brewers for a 2-1 win was key that year. KC Royals Danny Tartabull’s 9th inning 3 run HR off of Jeff Reardon was not. Oddly, the Twins were 5 wins and 6 losses in the 11 regular season games I attended—the year they had such a great home record!
Boston’s Roger Clemens outdueled Scott Erickson 1-0 in about 1990. Clemens finished with a complete game 2 hitter and Scotty went about 7 and 2/3’s. Leadoff batter Billy Hatcher cueballed a spinning double past Kent Hrbek down the first base line, Wade Boggs singled him in and that was it for the scoring after the top of the first!
Seattle’s Ken Griffey, Jr and Ken Griffey, Sr playing together. Junior homered, naturally…
The last game I saw at the Metrodome was in July 2009 vs. Detroit. Each time Detroit would score so would the Twins until their one run in the 16th inning could not match the three the Tigers had scored. Longest game I’ve ever attended!
The two games at Target Field in 2010 and 2011, both against the Rays. Jim Thome’s shot off the wall only resulted in an RBI single (a few feet short of a home run) as they lost in ’10, but Michael Cuddyer’s bloop RBI single was the winning margin in ’11.
I’ve probably left off a few deserving entries, but what I enjoyed the most about going to a Twins game was attending WITH MY FAMILY! My Dad Ken, Mom Kathy, sister Kelli, brother Aaron, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and later, my wife Becky, my kids Trey, Kylie, and the twins (of course!) Mikayla and Mackenzie, her folks Arlin and Carol, brother Brian, and sister Deb’s family are the people with whom I enjoyed Twins games!
I hope you enjoyed a look at the last 40 years of Twins baseball as I saw it! Go Twins!!!
Treavor Lenz
As I was prepping this post by tagging all the players that Treavor mentioned it dawned on me that some of these players had slipped into the archives of my own memory banks as I age but seeing their name in print again brought back many memories, some funny, some exciting, some good, some bad, some historic, and some that are just plain sad. That’s a good thing, damn I love baseball. Thanks again Treavor.
To qualify for this Twins career OBP leaders list the player had to have a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Minnesota Twin and have a OBP equal to or greater than .350 . The players above made the cut, anyone on this list surprise you? Joe Mauer is the Twins career OBP leader and yet he still takes a lot of abuse for his hitting. I think we need to appreciate Joe Mauer for the hitter he is. Just missing the cut, Lew Ford
To qualify for this Twins career OPS leaders list the player had to have a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Minnesota Twin and have a OPS equal to or greater than .790 . AJ Pierzynski just missed the cut at .788 . Number three on this list is Joe Mauer and we continue to bash him for not hitting more home runs.
Last Wednesday Houston Astros 2B Jose Altuve went two for five in the Astros 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. His single in the seventh inning was his 200th hit of the season. As of today, Altuve, a 2014 All-Star has 206 hits and the hitter closest to him in hits is Indians outfielder Michael Brantley with 180 hits. The 24 year-old five foot six inch second sacker who is in his fourth season with the Astro’s is showing everyone that he is a real good baseball player. In the last 10 seasons MLB hitters have had 200 or more hits on 36 occasions but last year there were none and this season Altuve may well be the only one. Is pitching taking over baseball?
So when was the last time the Minnesota Twins had a hitter with 200 or more hits in a season? Can’t remember? Maybe that is because it hasn’t happened for many a year. The last Twins hitter to have 200 or more hits in a season was 39 year-old DH Paul Molitor back in 1996. The amazing Kirby Puckett did it a total of five times including four in a row from 1986-1989 and he came up just short in 1985 with 199 hits. The Twins now in their 54th season have had only 13 hitters that have gotten 200 or more hits in a single season. The Twins have never had more than one hitter in a season get 200 or more hits but in 1977 Rod Carew had 239 hits and Lyman Bostock came up just short with 199 hits.
When Twins second baseman Brian Dozier scores his next run he will cross home plate for the 100th time this season and become just the 13th player in Twins history to score 100 or more runs in a single season. Twins players have scored 100 runs or more in a single season 19 times. Our old buddy Chuck Knoblauch did it four times (1992, 1995-1997) and in 1996 he scored an amazing 140 runs. The last player to score 100 or more runs for Minnesota was Michael Cuddyer when he scored 102 runs in 2006. Here is the complete list through September 5, 2014.