Tag: Met Stadium

Did you know?

April 10, 2011 – That Brad Radke started out the 2005 season by walking just one of the first 247 hitters who stepped into the batters box? Maybe the 2011 Twins pitching staff should watch some of Brad Radke’s old video’s.

That the Twins moved in left field at Met Stadium from 346 feet to 330 feet prior to the 1975 season and Twins players started calling it Borgie’s Porch. Twins Catcher Glenn Borgmann was often accused by other Twins players of having “warning track power” and he was convinced that moving the wall in would help his power numbers. Unfortunately that was not the case, the year before, Glenn had hit three home runs and in 1975 he hit just two. As a matter of fact, Borgmann never hit more than three home runs in any of his nine big league seasons.

The great HOF Walter “Big Train” Johnson’s final major-league appearance came as a pinch hitter at Yankee Stadium I in the same game in which the Babe Ruth hit his then-record 60th home run on September 30, 1927. The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators that day by a 4-2 score.

67 years passed between World Series Game Sevens that went into extra innings. How odd that the same franchise produced victories in both; the 1924 Washington Senators when they beat the New York Giants and the 1991 Minnesota Twins that beat the Atlanta Braves.

Was the Twins Dome advantage just a fallacy?

 

Metrodome aerial view from what was considered the back (East side) of the Dome.

March 12, 2010 – For years opposing players and managers and writers across the country have complained about the huge home advantage that the HHH Metrodome provided for the Minnesota Twins. But when you look at the actual numbers, you will see that the Twins actually had a better winning percentage when they played at Metropolitan Stadium than they had at the Metrodome. It is also interesting to me that the Twins appeared to be a better road team when they played at Met Stadium then when they played at the Metrodome. Maybe calling the Dome home was a disadvantage when they went on the road? Another fun fact is that the Twins best decade was the 60’s. It will be interesting to see what Target Field has in store for the Twins in 2010 and beyond.

Twins wins/losses by the decade

Years Wins Losses Winning %
1961-1969 789 666 .542
1970-1979 812 794 .506
1980-1989 733 833 .468
1990-1999 718 833 .463
2000-2009 863 758 .502
Grand Total 3,915 3,884 .502

Twins wins/losses while playing at each stadium  

Stadium Year Wins Losses Winning %
Met Stadium 1961-1981 1,719 1,612 .516
HHH Metrodome 1982-2009 2,196 2,272 .491

Twins wins/losses at home versus on the road by stadium

Stadium Years Home wins Home losses Home win % Road wins Road losses Road win %
Met Stadium 1961-1981 910 759 .545 809 853 .487
HHH Metrodome 1982-2009 1,214 1,028 .541 982 1,244 .441

 Twins average wins/loses at home versus on the road by stadium

Stadium Years AVG home wins Avg home losses Avg road wins Avg road losses
Met Stadium 1961-1981 43.33 36.14 38.52 40.62
HHH Metrodome 1982-2009 43.36 36.71 35.07 44.43

 

Did you know?

October 29, 2009 – That the Minnesota Twins were the first team in history to start measuring the distance of home runs? The practice started at Met Stadium in 1963.

or that

Harmon Killbrew hit his first major league home run in a Washington Senator uniform off Detroit Tiger pitcher Billy Hoeft at Griffith Stadium on June 24, 1955 in front of 4,188 fans and hit his last home run off Minnesota Twins pitcher Eddie Bane in a Kansas City Royal uniform at Met Stadium on September 18, 1975 in front on only 3,201 fans.

or that

Harmon Killebrew hit more home runs off former Red Sox and Tigers pitcher Earl Wilson than any other pitcher? The Killer hit 9 out of the park against against Wilson.

or that

Harmon hit 4 walk-off home runs in his career and that 3 of them were against the New York Yankees?

or that

Harmon blasted more home runs (393) in the 1960’s than any other player. He led the American League in home runs 5 times during the decade, and almost certainly would have been the 4th player in major league history to hit 400 or more home runs in a single decade had an injury not cost him more than 50 games in 1968. (The 3 players who have hit 400 home runs in a decade are Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Mark McGwire.) Killebrew ranked second in RBIs for the decade (1,013) and fifth in slugging percentage (.546).