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
Miguel Sano hit a home run on his birthday last year and did it again last night against the White Sox. Six other active players homered on their birthday in consecutive seasons: Dustin Pedroia (2007–08), Mark Reynolds (2009–10), Mike Trout (2012–13), Trevor Plouffe (2012–13), Brandon Phillips (2014–15) and Nelson Cruz (2014–15).
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.
| Rk | Player | HR | SB | Year | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | RBI | BB | SO | 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 |
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.
| Rk | Player | HR | SB | Year ? | Age | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | RBI | BB | SO | 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 |
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.
Jeter flourishes in his final All-Star appearance
Derek Jeter, as usual, rose to the occasion in his final All-Star game appearance, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored in the American League’s 5-3 win. Jeter finishes his career with a .481 (13-for-27) batting average in the All-Star game, which currently stands as the second highest for any of the 100 players with at least 15 All-Star at bats in major-league history, behind Charlie Gehringer, who went 10-for-20 (.500) in six appearances in the Mid Summer Classic.
Jeter became the second player in major-league history with multiple hits in the All-Star game in his final major-league season, joining George McQuinn, who had two hits representing the Yankees in the 1948 game. Jeter, at 40 years and 19 days old, also became the oldest player with at least two hits in an All-Star game. Only one player over the age of 38 had done that prior to Jeter: Carl Yastrzemski, who had two hits in the 1979 contest at age 39 years, 329 days.
Jeter’s first-inning double was his fifth career All-Star hit in the opening frame, tied with Wade Boggs and Stan Musial for the second most first-inning hits in All-Star history, behind Willie Mays (6).
Trout is the All-Star MVP
Mike Trout had two hits and two RBIs and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 All-Star game on Tuesday night. Trout, 22 years and 342 days old, became the second youngest player to win the All-Star game MVP, behind Ken Griffey Jr., who captured the award in the 1992 game at 22 years, 236 days old.
Trout became the fourth Angels player to win the All-Star game MVP, joining Leon Wagner (1962), Fred Lynn (1983) and Garret Anderson (2003).
American League jumps on Wainwright in the first
The American League jumped on Adam Wainwright for three runs in the first inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday night. Derek Jeter led off with a double, Mike Trout followed with a triple and after Robinson Cano struck out, Miguel Cabrera unloaded a two run home run. It’s only the second time in major-league history that three of the first four batters had an extra-base hit for a team in the All-Star game. The only other time that happened in the Mid Summer Classic was in 2004, when Ichiro Suzuki led off the first inning with a double, Ivan Rodriguez followed with a triple, and then after a Vladimir Guerrero ground out, Manny Ramirez hit a two-run homer.
Wainwright allowed only four extra base hits (three doubles and a homer) in the first inning in the 19 starts he made prior to the All-Star break this season.
Cabrera goes deep out of the cleanup spot
Miguel Cabrera – the American League’s cleanup hitter – hit a two-run home run in the first inning to stake the A.L. to a 3-0 lead in their 5-3 win over the N.L. in Tuesday’s All-Star game. Cabrera’s 14 home runs this season are the fewest for the American League’s cleanup hitter in an All-Star Game since 1990, when Cal Ripken batted fourth for the A.L. with nine homers to that point.
Perkins saves it for the A.L. in his home ballpark
Minnesota’s Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth inning to record a save in the American League’s 5-3 win in the All-Star game at Target Field. Prior to Perkins, only two pitchers registered a save in the All-Star game in their home ballpark: Detroit’s Mickey Lolich (1971 at Tiger Stadium) and Seattle’s Kazuhiro Sasaki (2001 at Safeco Field).
A rough All-Star debut for Puig
Yasiel Puig had a rough night in his first All-Star appearance, striking out in each of his three trips to the plate. Only three other players in major-league history struck out in each of their plate appearances with at least three trips to the plate in an All-Star game: Jim Hegan (1950), John Roseboro (1961) and Johnny Bench (1970).
Brian Dozier‘s two-out single in the bottom of the ninth on Friday plated Eduardo Escobar with the winning run as the Twins pulled out a 5-4 win over the White Sox in walk-off manner. Even with his game-winning hit, Dozier carries the lowest batting average in the majors among the 117 players who had accumulated at least 40 plate appearances in Late-Inning Pressure Situations-those trips to the plate in the seventh inning or later with the score tied or the team at bat trailing by up to three runs (or, with two or more runners on base, by up to four runs). With his game-winning hit, Dozier raised his LIPS batting average from .081 to .105. (The highest such average among that group? Mike Trout‘s .447.)
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally. As of this writing, the organization consists of 232 blogs spanning all 30 major league squads as well as general baseball writing.
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance holds annual award voting in various categories. The first of those awards, The Connie Mack Award, is given to the best manager in each league.
The Red Sox skipper won the closest of all the votes held by the BBA this year. Garnering 38% of the vote, Farrell held off the Cleveland Indians’ Terry Francona by less than 3%.
Farrell took over a Red Sox team that was in shambles and had just traded away a good portion of the roster to free up payroll. Expectations entering 2013 were low but the team wouldn’t be held down. Farrell, fresh from his work in Toronto, stepped in and helped right the ship. His leadership led the team to the American League’s best record at 97-65. He would continue that success into the postseason and help the team capture the eighth championship in team history.
The Pirates have steadily improved over the last few seasons but were left just short of a winning record each time. Still, the writing was on the wall and many felt this was the year Pittsburgh would compete late into the season. Those that believed in the Pirates were rewarded by a team that not only produced a winning record but nearly won their division and found themselves in the postseason. They defeated the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Wild Card Game in Pittsburgh to the delight of the home town crowd. Hurdle was the recipient of 79% of the vote from the BBA membership.
The Willie Mays Award is given by the Alliance to the top rookie in each league every year.
The center piece of the trade that sent James Shields to the Kansas City Royals, Myers was one of baseball’s top overall prospects going into the 2013 season. He would arrive on the scene in June and immediately show that the hype was worthy of his presence. Myers would finish the season hitting .293 with 13 home runs and 53 runs batted in while playing highlight reel defense. The Rays will feature Myers in the outfield for some time to come and his production will help fans accept the departure of Shields. Myers earned 95% of the BBA vote this year.
The National League winner had to withstand a late-season surge from Dodgers’ outfielder Yasiel Puig. Fernandez produced a season that could withstand Puig-mania and earned the BBA’s respect along the way with 71% of the vote.
Fernandez worked hard for an underwhelming group in Miami and often took things into his own hands to produce victory. His 12 wins and 2.19 earned run average over 28 starts was enough to garner a lot of attention for the youngster this year. Add his 187 strikeouts and a late-season no-hitter to the list and it became evident who the top rookie was in the National League in 2013.
The Goose Gossage Award honors the best relief pitchers in Major League Baseball. The award is the only award given by the BBA to have been awarded to the same player in consecutive years. This year, that player adds a third consecutive award to his virtual trophy case.
In 2011, Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel was awarded both the Goose Gossage and Willie Mays awards. Last season, Kimbrel received 87% of the vote to claim his second consecutive award as the National League’s premier relief pitcher. Kimbrel received an astonishing 90% of the vote from the Alliance to claim his third straight Goose Gossage Award. He would lead the National League in saves again this year, reaching the magical mark of 50 saves.
Uehara joined the Red Sox this season and became one of the most polarizing figures on the team. His 21 saves were a key part of the Red Sox success this year and his continued success throughout the postseason made him a star. His 52% of the BBA vote was good enough to hold off Greg Holland of the Kansas City Royals, who garnered 36% of the BBA support for his fine season.
The Walter Johnson Award honors the pitcher in each league that excelled far beyond anyone else. This year’s award was a dominant choice in both leagues for the Alliance.
Scherzer’s sixth year in the league would easily be his most dominant. He led the American League with 21 wins as well as with a .875 winning percentage and 0.970 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched). He kept base runners off the base paths and away from scoring. A 2.90 earned run average would be backed up by 240 strikeouts over 214.1 innings. The Tigers’ pitcher was dominant throughout most of the season and the Alliance recognized that with 95% of their vote.
Not to be outdone, Kershaw garnered 98% of the vote on the National League side of the BBA. While Kershaw would not win many games this season, he would not yield many runs, either. He would lead the league with a 1.83 earned run average. He would also lead the league in strikeouts with 232 and 0.915 WHIP. Kershaw proved once again to be dominant and the BBA recognized that by making him the first two-time winner of the Johnson award.
The Stan Musial Award, is given every year to the premier player in each league.
The Angels’ outfielder would garner his second-consecutive Musial Award by holding off the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera once again in 2013. His .323 batting average, 27 home runs, 97 runs batted in, and league leading 109 runs and 110 walks were enough to convince the Alliance that he deserved the award once again. Trout earned 65% of the Alliance vote while Cabrera would take the other 35%, marking the second straight year that the two players would receive the only votes.
The Pirates phenomenal season comes to fruition for one of the team’s most consistent stars. McCutchen was the team’s leader on and off the field and the Alliance recognized his importance to the great run the Pirates produced. He would hit .317 with 21 home runs, 84 runs batted in, 97 runs, 38 doubles and 27 stolen bases for the Bucs. Cutch received 69% of the BBA vote to earn his first Musial award.
At the conclusion of every season the members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) are asked to submit their ballots for the top awards across baseball. Each of these awards is named in honor of a player that epitomized a similar role in Major League Baseball. When the BBA voting is completed, I will post the official announcements from the BBA.
My vote goes to John Farrell for leading the Boston Red Sox to the AL East title with a 97-65 record after the team finished dead last in that division in 2012 with 93 losses. An improvement of 28 games.
My second place vote goes to Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona for taking his team from 68 wins in 2012 to 92 wins in 2013 and finishing just one game behind the division winning Detroit Tigers.
My bronze vote goes to Oakland A’s skipper Bob Melvin. Nobody does more with less than Oakland does.
Easy choice for me here, Clint Hurdle leads the Pittsburgh Pirates to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years with 94 wins after finishing 79-83 in 2012. He is my NL Manager of the Year.
Second place vote stays in the same division with St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny right on Hurdle’s heels in this race after taking the division title over the second place Pirates.
The bronze vote might be a surprise to some but I am giving it to Florida Marlins skipper Mike Redmond for leading that motley crew to 62 wins. That is an amazing achievement!
My AL Rookie of the Year is outfielder Wil Myers of the Tampa Bay Rays. This mid June call-up sparked the Rays offense and put up some very good numbers for roughly half a seasons work. Although he struck out 91 times, he did hit 13 home runs and had a .354 OBP.
My ROY runner-up is also with Tampa Bay, RHP Chris Archer. The 25-year-old Archer had a 9-7 record with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 128+ innings.
The third place vote goes to another outfielder, J.B. Shuck of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I am not sure his potential is as good as some other rookies since he is already 26 but never the less he had a good rookie season getting more at bats than any other AL rookie.
My NL Rookie of the Year is Florida Marlins RHP Jose Fernandez. The 2011 first round pick (14th overall) went an astounding 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP in 172+ innings for a team that lost 100 games. A true Ace for years to come if he can stay healthy. I know he only plays every fifth day but what a pitcher he is.
My runner-up choice for the NL ROY is Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. The 22-year-old Cuban was called up in early June and took the league by storm by putting up a .925 OPS. He did strikeout 97 times but that is nitpicking.
The third place vote goes to power hitting 2B Jedd Gyorko of the San Diego Padres. Gyorko hit 23 home runs and knocked in 63 while hitting for a .249 average. I would expect Gyorko to cut down on his strikeouts and improve his average as his average in the minors was .301.
The top closer award in the AL this year goes Greg Holland of the Kansas City Royals. Holland had 47 saves in 50 chances with a 1.21 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. In 67 innings he struck out 103 while batters hit him at a .170 clip.
The runner-up this year is Joe Nathan of the Texas Rangers who had 43 saves in 46 chances. Batters hit only .162 and he posted an ERA of 1.39 and a 0.90 WHIP.
Mariano Rivera is third this year in his final season as he awaits induction into the Hall of Fame as the greatest closer in MLB history. The 43-year-old Rivera had 44 saves while putting up a 2.11 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP.
The top closer in the NL is an easy choice, just say Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel and you said it all. The man is a machine, a league leading 50 saves in 54 chances with a 1.21 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP in 67 innings with 98 strikeouts. Batting average against was .166
The silver goes to Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman. In 63+ innings Chapman had 38 saves while striking out 112 and kept opposing batters to a .164 average. ERA was 2.54 and WHIP was 1.04.
I will give my third place vote to San Francisco Giants closer Sergio Romo who put 38 saves on the board to go along with his 2.54 ERA and his 1.08 WHIP.
My AL top pitcher award goes to the Detroit Tigers starter Max Scherzer who went 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP with 240 strikeouts in 217+ innings. Opposing batters hit a measly .198 off him this season.
Second place vote goes to Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma who managed to post a 14-6 record with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP for a team that won 67 games. Iwakuma threw 219+ innings and held opposing hitters to a .220 average while striking out 185.
My third place vote goes to Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish who threw 209+ innings and struck out 277 batters while holding opposing batters to a .194 average. Darvish had a slick 2.83 ERA to go along with a 1.07 WHIP.
My vote for the best pitcher in the NL goes to Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw who posted a 16-9 record with a league leading 1.83 ERA and a league leading 0.92 WHIP. For good measure he led the league in KO’s with 232 in 236 innings. The league managed to hit him at a .195 pace.
My second place vote goes Florida Marlins HP Jose Fernandez who in just his third year of pro ball goes 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA for a 62-100 team.
My third place vote goes to the big right hander from St. Louis, Adam Wainwright. Wainwright was 19-9 with a 2.94 ERA with starting a league leading 34 games and throwing a league leading 241.2 innings.
Once again this year my vote for the top player in the AL goes to Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. I am not going to list a bunch of his stats here, if you want to see them just look them up. The 2012 Triple Crown winner won his third straight batting title in 2013 and finished second in home run and RBI’s. Cabrera has played for 11 years in the big leagues and is just 30 years old….
The runner-up again is the LA Angels outfielder Mike Trout. If there was no Cabrera in the AL this guy might be the winner two years running.
The third place vote goes to the surprising Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles who had a league leading 54 home runs and 138 RBI. An amazing season for a guy that only hit more than 21 home runs once and had 60 or more RBI just once.
Although it was a tight race, the top player in the NL in 2013 should be Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Playing for a .500 team this first sacker appeared in 160 games hitting at a .302 clip while finishing first in RBI with 125, tied for first in home runs with 36 and scored 103 runs, good for third most in the NL.
Finishing a close second is outfielder Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although this talented player led his team to the playoffs for the first time in many years, he did not lead the NL in any of the hitting categories,
The third place vote goes to Atlanta Braves 1B Freddie Freeman. The 24-year-old had a very nice season with 23 home runs, 109 RBI and a .319 batting average.
There you have, the Twin Trivia 2013 MLB award winners. Congratulations to all the winners.
Eddie Bane was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1952 but grew up in southern California not too far from Disneyland. Bane was offered a scholarship by coach Bobby Winkles and before he knew it he was pitching for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973) Bane became a pitching legend. The left-handed Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA and is still regarded as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time. Bane pitched the only perfect game in Sun Devil baseball history on March 2, 1973 against Cal State Northridge and led the nation in strikeouts in 1972 and 1973 and still holds the ASU career strikeout mark. Bane was named first team All-American in 1973.
The Minnesota Twins selected Bane with their first pick, eleventh overall in the 1973 amateur draft and a short time later Bane joined a very select group of only 20 players that were drafted and went on to play pro ball directly out of high school or college with no minor league experience. Bane made his major league debut as a starter against the Kansas City Royals on July 4, 1973 at Met Stadium in front of 45,890 fans that couldn’t wait to see their first round pick pitch. Bane didn’t disappoint the Twins faithful going 7 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3 but manager Frank Quilici took Bane out after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 1-0. The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning but couldn’t hold on to the lead and ended up losing the game 5-4. Eddie stayed with the Twins for the rest of the season going 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 23 games that included 6 starts. Bane spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 in AAA Tacoma before getting a September call up by the Twins where he went 3-1 in 4 starts and posted a nifty 2.86 ERA. Bane found himself in Tacoma once again as the 1976 season opened but the Twins brought him back to Minnesota in late June and Bane started 15 games and put up a 4-7 record with a 5.11 ERA and that was the last time that Eddie Bane pitched in a Twins uniform. Bane pitched in Tacoma in 1977 but became a free agent after that season and signed with the Chicago White Sox but never pitched for them in the majors and then in January of 1980 he was traded to the Kansas City Royals but never pitched in the majors again. Bane went on to spend some time in the Cubs minor league system later in 1980 and pitched in Mexico in 1981 and Alaska in 1982 but then his career as an active player was over.
After Bane’s playing career was over he became a pitching coach in the LA Dodgers minor league system in 1983 and then managed the Batavia Trojans in 1984-1985 in the Cleveland Indians system. Bane also scouted for the Indians from 1984-1987 before moving on to the Dodgers as a scout from 1988-1998. Bane then joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as an assistant to the GM from 1999-2003 before joining the Los Angeles Angels as their Scouting Director from 2004 to 2010 where he drafted players like Jered Weaver in 2004, Nick Adenhart in 2004, Jordan Walden in 2006, Hank Conger in 2006, Mark Trumbo in 2004 and Mike Trout in 2009 and in 4 of those 7 years the Angels didn’t even have a 1st round pick. Inexplicably, the Angels let Bane go after the 2010 season and Bane became a scout for the Detroit Tigers in 2011-2012. Later in 2012 Bane took the position of Assistant to Player Personnel with the Boston Red Sox where his son Jaymie who also attended ASU and pitched in the Angels minor league system has been a scout since 2006.
In 1994 Baseball America named Eddie Bane to their All-Time college all-star team and in 2008 Bane was selected to the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.
I also wanted to share with you what Eddie Bane had to say about Tony Oliva. “By the way one additional thought on some of the old time baseball guys from the 60’s and 70’s. I have asked a lot of former major league pitchers who the best hitter they ever faced was. Of the more then 20 pitchers I asked at least half of them said Tony Oliva. Tony never gets his due as far as the Hall of Fame goes, but those pitchers all remember that swing that I can still picture in my mind. Without those lousy knees that he had Tony O would certainly be a Hall of Fame player”.
You can find the interview with Eddie Bane here. This interview is just one of the 39 interviews that we have done with former Twins players that you can find on our Interviews Archives page.
The 2012 baseball season was not a great season for the Minnesota Twins or their fans but there are teams, players and managers that had a great year and one that they will remember for a long time. Now that the regular season is complete, members of the Baseball Bloggers Association are voting for their post season award winners by picking who they feel deserved to bring home the hardware for their efforts. Here is how I see it.
The Connie Mack (Top Manager) award goes to Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics for leading the A’s to a division championship (94-68) after the team finished with a 74-88 mark in 2011. On June 30th the A’s were 13 games out of first and had a 37-52 record after three consecutive losses to the Texas Rangers. From that point on the A’s went 57-26 and won the division title on the last day of the season. My runner-up award goes to the Baltimore Orioles Buck Showalter who took his team to a wild-card playoff spot and a second place finish in a tough division. My third place finisher was a true rookie manager, Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox who had never managed before and piloted his team to a second place finish when I had the White Sox picked to finish dead last in the AL Central.
The Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) award is the easiest pick of all, the award goes to outfielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Trout started the season in AAA and was called up at the end of April. Even with the late start Trout led the league in runs scored (129) and stolen bases (49) while finishing second in batting average hitting .320. Trout lead all AL rookies in every hitting category and even had the two longest rookie hitting streaks this past season. What an amazing season! My runner-up was the Oakland A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes who finished second to Trout in every AL hitting category except stolen bases (finishing fourth) and in any other season would have easily won the award. I have three pitchers rounding out the top 5 with the Oakland A’s Tommy Milone and Yu Darvish finishing in a tie for third and the Minnesota Twins Scott Diamond rounding out the top five.
The Goose Gossage (Top Reliver) award goes to closer Fernando Rodney of the Tampa Bay Rays. The 35 year-old Rodney had a career year in his 10th season in the big leagues with 48 saves in 50 opportunities with 76 strikeouts in 74.2 innings and posting a 0.60 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP. Talk about lights out and to think he never had an ERA of under 2.68 any other season. The Rays signed Rodney as a free agent on January 4, 2012 for $1.75 million, what a bargain. The runner -up is the Baltimore Orioles Jim Johnson who led the league in saves with 51 in 54 chances. I have Rafael Soriano of the New York Yankees finishing third, Joe Nathan from the Texas Rangers in fourth and my fifth place vote goes to Tommy Wilhelmsen of the Seattle Mariners.
The Walter Johnson (Top Pitcher) award goes again this season to the Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander who pitched 238.1 innings in 33 starts and went 17-8 with an ERA of 2.64 and a 1.06 WHIP and a .217 batting average against to go with his 239 strikeouts. Tampa Bay Rays David Price was my runner-up by an eye lash, Price had a great season going 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA but I gave the nod to Verlander for innings pitched and strikeouts. My third place vote goes to the Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez, fourth goes to Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox and fifth goes to Jeff Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The Stan Musial (Top Player) award goes to the American League’s first triple crown winner since 1967, the Detroit Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera. This was a very tough choice over my runner-up, outfielder Mike Trout of the Angels but in the end I think Cabrera earned it because of his triple crown and because he volunteered to move to 3B to make room for the recently acquired Prince Fielder. Both players had amazing seasons but I had to go with Cabrera this year. My third place vote goes to the Texas Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre, Twins catcher Joe Mauer gets my fourth place vote and my fifth place vote went to the shortstop from the New York Yankees because he played in 159 games and led the league in hits, and at bats at the age of 38.
The Connie Mack (Top Manager) award goes to the Washington Nationals skipper Davey Johnson who took over the manager reigns late in 2011 and took the Nats to their first division championship and 98 wins this past season. Previous to taking over the Nationals manager role in 2011, Johnson last manged the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2000. My runner-up for NL skipper of the year goes to rookie manager Mike Matheny of the St. Louis Cardinals. In his first job as a manager the former catcher Matheny took his team to a wild card playoff spot and 88 victories after losing his best player (Albert Pujols) to free agency and losing one of his best pitchers (Chris Carpenter) for all but 3 games in 2012. The third place vote goes to the Cincinnati Reds skipper Dusty Baker for leading that team to a 97 win division winning season in his fifth year on the job.
The Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) award goes to the Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. The Nationals rookie also started his big league career in late April after starting the season in AAA and hit .270 with 22 home runs, 59 RBI’s, scored 98 runs and stole 18 bases. My runner-up may surprise some people but I think catcher Wilin Rosario of the Colorado Rockies had a fantastic rookie season hitting .270 with 28 home runs, 67 runs scored and 71 RBI’s while playing in just 117 games with just 396 at bats. My third place vote goes to lefty Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks who was 16-11 in 29 starts and 194.2 innings with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP for a team that went 81-81. Fourth place goes to 1B Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs and my fifth place vote goes to 27 year-old rookie pitcher Lucas Harrell who won 11 games for the worst team in baseball, the Houston Astros who won a total of 55 games this year.
The Goose Gossage (Top Reliever) award easily goes to the 24 year-old Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel who had 42 saves in 45 opportunities and posted a 3-1 record with a 1.06 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP. In 62.2 innings Kimbrel struck out 116 batters allowing only 27 hits and 14 walks and allowed opposing hitters a .126 batting average. The man is a machine. My runner-up is Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds who also had 42 saves and struck out 122 batters in 71.2 innings while posting a 1.51 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. Hitters hit .141 against Chapman. Third place goes to Jason Motte of the St., Louis Cardinals, fourth goes to Jonathan Papelbon of the Philadelphia Phillies and my fifth place vote goes to Joel Hanrahan of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Walter Johnson (Top Pitcher) award is a tough call but I am going with the New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey as my choice. Dickey pitched a league leading 233.2 innings and struck out a league leading 230 batters. The 37-year-old Dickey was 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP for a team that won a total of 74 games. My runner-up is Gio Gonzalez of the division winning Washington Nationals who was 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA and an amazing 0.4/9 home runs allowed. My third place vote goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, fourth place goes to the Atlanta Braves Craig Kimbrel and my fifth place vote is for Cincinnati Reds Johnny Cueto.
The Stan Musial (Top Player) award goes to Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun again this year. Yes, I know all about last years fiasco with Braun but what can I say, the man puts up the numbers and without him the Brewers are nothing. Look at the numbers, a league leading 41 home runs to go with a league leading 108 runs scored, second in RBI’s (112) and a .319 batting average. Top that off with 356 total bases and you have the best player in the NL this season. The runner-up this year is Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen who had a wonderful season. My third place vote goes to San Francisco catcher and part-time first baseman Buster Posey. Posey almost single handedly led the Giants to the NL Western Division title and if he had played as well the entire year as he did in the second half of the season he might have been my choice to win this award. Posey hit .385 and knocked in 60 runs during the last half of 2012 coming off a horrific injury in 2011. I will go with New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey fourth in the voting here because without Dickey the Mets would have been not worth watching. Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel gets my fifth place vote.
So there you have it, the players that I think deserve to bring home the hardware after another great season of baseball in 2012. You may agree or disagree with my choices but that is what makes baseball such a great game and so much fun for us as fans to enjoy. When the BBA announces their winners in the near future I will share them with you.