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
Jim Grant was generally considered an easy going likable person, but as the 1960 season drew to a close, his refusal to tolerate bigotry, more than a decade after Jackie Robinson had reintegrated the major leagues, had costly consequences as written about in the September, 28 1960 issue of The Sporting News by Hal Lebovitz who covered the Cleveland Indians for the baseball’s bible at the time.
The Indians held their minor-league camp in Daytona Beach and offered Grant a tryout. It was here that Mudcat became his name. “A guy named Leroy Bartow Irby saw me, decided I was from Mississippi and called me ‘Mudcat,’” recalled Grant. The nickname stuck and Grant came to embrace the name. Jim Grant signed with the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent prior to the 1954 season and started his career in C ball with the Fargo-Moorhead Twins (an omen?) at the age of 18. In his first four minor league seasons from 1954-1957 he started 95 games, pitched 828 innings, had 63 complete games and posted a record of 70-28 earning him a trip to Cleveland in 1958. Grant pitched for the Indians into the 1964 season, then spent 3-1/2 years with the Twins including posting two of Minnesota’s three wins over the Dodgers in losing the 1965 World Series. In the last four years of his major league career he pitched for the Dodgers, Expos, Cardinals, Pirates and A’s, leaving the big leagues after the 1971 season.
After his playing days, Mudcat was a television broadcaster for the Indians, Dodgers and A’s. Grant also wrote a book called The Black Aces: Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners. He has given back to baseball by serving on the board of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, on the Baseball Assistance Team and on the Major League Baseball Alumni Association. Jim Grant passed away on June 11, 2021 in Los Angeles at the age of 85.
Dave Engle was drafted in 1978 by the California Angels in the third round (66 over all) as a third baseman out of USC. His stay in his home state however; was short-lived as he was traded on February 3, 1979 with pitchers Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens and outfielder Ken Landreaux to the Minnesota Twins for Rod Carew who wanted out of Calvin Griffiths Minnesota Twins organization.
Engle spent 1979 in AAA Toledo as a third baseman and in 1980 he again found himself in Toledo but that year he played in the outfield. Engle made the 1981 Twins team out of spring training and debuted on April 14, 1981. Engle was always first a hitter and finding a position for him was a struggle for Minnesota and they decided to turn him into a catcher. Engle must have been a quick study because by 1983 he was catching for Minnesota. In 1984 he was the Twins lone representative to the All-Star game but did not get a chance to play in the game at Candlestick Park. In 1984 Engle started having more issues throwing the ball back to the pitcher although he had no problems throwing to second or third base if needed. The problem continued to plague him in 1985 and he soon found himself a part-time player. In January of 1986 he was traded by the Twins to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Pittaro and Alejandro Sanchez in one of those “I’ll take yours if you take mine” trades.
Dave Engle stay in Minnesota lasted 439 games, 176 of them behind the plate. Engle hit .268 as a Twin with 28 home runs and 13 triples which is not too shabby for a catcher. The Tigers released Engle in August of 1986. Engle went on to play for Montreal in 1987-1988 and finished out his big league career in 1989 with Milwaukee.
Did you know that Dave Engle hit the first home run at the Metrodome and that he is Tom Brunansky‘s brother-in-law?
The Braves and Twins both lost Thursday, dropping their records to 0-9. It’s only the third time in major-league history that two teams started 0-9 or worse in the same season. It also happened in 1884 when Detroit of the National League and Altoona of the Union Association did it; and in 1988 when Baltimore and Atlanta did it.
The Twins scored only one run in their loss to the White Sox yesterday and have scored only 14 runs in nine games this season. That matches the fewest runs scored over the first nine games of a season in Twins franchise history. The 1949 Washington Senators also scored only nine runs over the first nine games of the season. That team finished with a 50-104 record. The last major-league team to have that offensive futility over its first nine games of a season was the 2004 Expos (10 runs), the last American League team was the 2003 Tigers (14).
The Twins are the second team in major-league history to lose each of their first nine games, and score three or fewer runs in each. The other was the 1988 Orioles, who lost a record 21-straight games to start the season. Baltimore failed to score as many as four runs in any of the first 12 games that season.
11/6/1970 – Minnesota Twins pitcher Jim Perry wins the American League Cy Young award in a close race. Perry receives 55 points to edge out Dave McNally (47), Sam McDowell (45), and Mike Cuellar (44). Perry is the first Twins Cy Young award winner.
11/6/1976 – After having a career year with the Twins, reliever Bill Campbell becomes one of the first players to cash in on the new free-agent system. The reliever signs with the Red Sox for big money, a four-year, one-million dollar contract with an option for a fifth season.
11/6/2001 – MLB owners vote 28-2 to contract two teams before the 2002 season. They tell the players’ association that the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos are the targeted teams. It was determined later that Carl Pohlad, the Twins owner voted for contraction.
11/6/2009 – The Twins trade outfielder Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy.
It won’t be long before the MLB Hall of Fame announces its newest members so it is time once again for me to dream and pretend that I have a vote that counts. Heck, I have probably seen more games and follow baseball more closely than a lot of the clowns that have a vote but that is a whole different story. If I had a vote I still can’t find it in my heart to vote for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and that bunch. I am not going to waste my time and yours on my reasoning because we have heard all those pro’s and con’s before. Maybe some time in the future they will get my vote but it won’t be this year. Just to show how time can change your thinking I am just about ready, not quite there yet but very close to saying that Pete Rose has served enough time in purgatory to get elected to the Hall of Fame. I know he has been a jerk at times but he could play some baseball and who could argue his hustle? The rub is that “hustle” can have several meanings. I am not going to quote a bunch of stats here because if you want to see them then go to B-R and check them out for yourself.
Randy Johnson gets my first vote, simply because I think he was the most intimidating pitcher in my era. Johnson has to be the pitcher that most batters would hate to face and the man was just scary to watch but you couldn’t help but stay focused on the mound whenever he pitched.
Vote number two goes to Pedro Martinez, 5 foot 11 and 170 pounds and I think 170 may have been pushing it. Are you kidding me? The man could throw a baseball and he knew how to pitch. He never pitched for teams I liked so I was always hoping he would lose but the man seldom did, a career .687 winning percentage over 18 seasons. Hall of Fame in my book.
Tim Raines gets vote number three. Again, small in stature at 5 foot 8 and 160 pounds but the “Rock” could play some baseball. Not as well-known as some because he played in Montreal for so long but Raines had six straight seasons with 70 stolen bases or more to go with his .810 OPS.
Vote number four goes to Craig Biggio. The man was a catcher, second baseman and a center fielder and through out all those position moves he still found time to post a .281 career batting mark in over 10,800 at bats. Heck, playing for 20 years for the Houston Astros should get you a few bonus votes too.
My fifth vote goes to one of my favorite all-time players, John Smoltz. 213 wins and 154 saves to boot spread over 21 seasons. I still remember that fateful day in August 1987 when the Detroit Tigers traded him to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander. When someone mentions the word “winner”, I have an image of Smoltz in my mind. A great pitcher and a real gentleman.
My final vote this season goes to Jeff Bagwell. OMG, those Houston Astros sure cleaned the Boston Red Sox’s clock when they acquired Bagwell for Larry Andersen. Only 15 seasons but 449 home runs along with a .948 OPS is good enough for me.
How will my votes compare to the “real” votes? I am thinking I will be 4 for 6 with Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell coming up short of the 75% required. That will be a shame but we all know that life is not always fair and that there is no crying in baseball. Good luck to all the Hall of Fame candidates, you had to be a pretty special ballplayer just to make the ballot.
According to ESPNBoston.com, Boston Red Sox hitting coach Greg Colbrunn who is just 44 was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain, a potentially life-threatening condition, after being taken to the Cleveland Clinic before Wednesday’s game with the Cleveland Indians. You can read the rest of the story here.
Greg Colbrunn
Greg Colbrunn, just 44, played in the majors for 13 years between 1992-2004. Colbrunn played for the Expos, Marlins, Twins, Braves, Rockies, Mariners and Diamondbacks. Colbrunn signed with the Twins as a free agent in january 1997 and appeared in 70 games for Minnesota in 1997 hitting .281 with 5 home runs and 26 RBI before the Twins traded him to the Atlanta Braves on August 14, 1997 for a PTBNL who turned out to be outfielder Marc Lewis. Lewis spent two years in the Twins minor league system but never reached the major leagues.
We at Twins Trivia hope that Greg Colbrunn gets well soon and has a quick and complete recovery.
The Twins announced after yesterday’s game in Chicago that they had traded infielder Jamey Carroll to the Kansas City Royals for a PTBNL or cash. The 39-year-old Carroll wasn’t have a great season in 2013 hitting just .230 in 59 games and 191 at bats and the Twins weren’t going to resign him after this season anyway. The Twins will not get much of a player if they get one at all from Kansas City but it is a nice move by the Twins to send Carroll to a winning team that needs some infield help for the stretch run for a playoff spot. The Royals are at best a fringe team in the hunt for the wildcard spot but it will still be more enjoyable for Carroll playing there then playing out the string in Minnesota in what may well be his last season as a player in the major leagues. But I would not be surprised at all if we see Carroll in the big leagues again in the years to come as a coach or manager. I was not a fan when Terry Ryan signed Carroll to be the Twins shortstop prior to the 2012 season at the age of 38 but I had no issue with Carroll filling a utility role with the Twins. I never met Carroll but he seemed like a true professional who went about his business every day and never had a bad thing to say about anyone and was always willing to help the Twins youngsters learn the tricks of the trade. Carroll’s 59 game appearances this season is the fewest he has had in the major leagues since his rookie season as a Montreal Expos player in 2002. When 2013 comes to an end, Carroll will have 12 big league years in the books, not a bad ride for someone who has 13 career home runs and never had 500 at bats in a big league uniform during any season. The Twins will save a couple of million dollars a season with Carroll moving on and someone like Doug Bernier taking his place.
As I write this I still have not heard what roster move the Twins will make to replace Carroll on the 25 na roster but it seems like Gardy could use another infielder but then again there outfield situation is not that great either. The Twins don’t have that much to pick from in Rochester as far as infield help is concerned with Eduardo Escobar probably the best candidate but maybe they want to take a look at someone like James Beresford.
By the way, did you know that Carroll scored the final run in Montreal Expos history, scoring on a Terrmel Sledge RBI single in the 1st inning of their final game on October 3, 2004? Good luck in Kansas City Jamey!
William Richard Campbell (Soup) was born in Highland Park, Michigan on August 9, 1948 but grew up in the Panoma, California area. Campbell attended junior college after graduating from high school but left school in order to earn some money for a 4 year program. But sometimes the best laid plans change, Uncle Sam called and before he knew it Campbell was in the Army (1968-1970)and on his way to Viet Nam. As far as I can determine, Campbell is the only player in Minnesota Twins history to have actual combat experience when he served as a radio operator in Viet Nam in 1968-1969. After leaving the service, Bill was signed as an amateur free agent pitcher by the Twins in September of 1970 and started his professional career in “A” ball in 1971 with Wisconsin Rapids. In 1972 the 6’3″ right-hander was moved up to “AA” Charlotte and in 1973 he started the season in AAA Tacoma going 10-5 before being called up by the Minnesota Twins in July. In his three minor league seasons Campbell was used strictly as starter (with just one exception in 1971) but the Twins had different plans for Campbell. Bill made his major league debut in relief of Jim Kaat at Met Stadium on July 14, 1973 throwing one scoreless inning allowing one hit and striking out two Cleveland Indian batters. Once Campbell reached the big leagues with the Twins he never pitched in the minor leagues again. “Soup” pitched in 28 games for the Twins in 1973 posting a 3-3 mark and a nice 3.18 ERA. Campbell started two games that season but neither start was much to write home about. In 1974 Campbell pitched in relief in all 63 games that he appeared in and had a slick 2.62 ERA in 120.1 innings while winning 8, losing 7, and saving 19 games. In 1975 Campbell got off to a slow start after tweaking his arm in spring training and the Twins shuffled Bill between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Campbell started 7 games that season pitching two complete games and one of those was an 8-0 shutout of Billy Martin’s Texas Rangers in game 1 of a doubleheader at Met Stadium on the 4th of July. In 1976 Gene Mauch took over as the Twins skipper and told Campbell that he would be his closer. What a phenomenal year Campbell had, he led the league in pitching appearances with 78 and winning percentage (.773) while pitching 167.2 innings as he notched 20 saves and had a 17-5 won/lost record. When the season ended and the awards were handed out, Campbell finished 7th in the Cy Young voting and 8th in MVP voting. On November 1, 1976 Campbell became a free agent and a few days later (November 6) became the first free agent to sign with a new team under the new 1976 collective bargaining agreement which for the first time gave players the right to become free agents. Campbell signed what was then a huge four-year contract with the Boston Red Sox for $1 million.
In his first year with the Red Sox in 1977 Campbell went 13-9 with a 2.96 ERA and led the league in saves with 31 and made the All-Star team. Campbell pitched for the Red Sox from 1977-1981 before he again became a free agent and this time he signed with the Chicago Cubs where he pitched in 1982-1983 before the Cubs traded him to the Phillies in March of 1984. The following spring Campbell was again traded, this time to the St. Louis Cardinals where Campbell in his 13th big league season finally got a chance to pitch in the playoffs and the 1985 World Series. Campbell pitched for Detroit Tigers in 1986 and briefly for the Montreal Expos in 1987 before calling it a career. Bill also pitched in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989 and 1990 before the league folded.
In his 15 big league seasons and 700 games Bill Campbell had a 3.54 ERA with 126 Saves and a won/lost record of 83-68. Campbell threw a fastball and a curve but his screwball was his out pitch. You could make a case that Campbell was a bit on the wild side as he had a 3.6 BB/9 ratio but he also had a 6.3 SO/9 ratio and he only gave up 1,139 hits in 1229.1 innings. Campbell was a real work horse out of the bullpen, out of his 700 games he started just 9 times and yet he pitched 100 or more innings in 6 of his 15 big league seasons. Bill Campbell is 9th on the Twins all-time save’s list with 51. Campbell was the first winner of the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award in the American League that was started in 1976 and he also won the award in 1977. Campbell also won the Sporting News Reliever of the Year award in 1976 and 1977. Campbell is the only pitcher in MLB history to record at least 17 wins and 17 saves in the same season when he won 17 and saved 20 in 1976 wearing a Twins uniform. Only Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Roy Face had a season with more wins without a start when he had 18-1 record in 1959. Campbell also served on the Milwaukee Brewers coaching staff in 1999.
Today Bill Campbell is retired and enjoying life with his family in the Chicago, Illinois area.
After having a season for the ages (still holds AL record for most wins and saves in the same season) with the Minnesota Twins going 17-5 with 20 saves and a 3.01 ERA in 167.2 innings, reliever Bill Campbell (Soup) becomes the first player in MLB to cash in on the new free-agent system. The reliever signs with the Red Sox for big money, a four-year deal for one-million dollars after being paid $23,000 by the Twins for the 1976 season. How did free agency come into play anyway?
The Reserve Clause, it doesn’t sound that bad, right? But what it really did was to tie a player to the ballclub that originally signed him for as long as the team wished to pay him for his services. It was a paragraph in each player’s contract that allowed a baseball team to keep him indefinitely until he was sold, traded or released. It was part of baseball’s antitrust exemption and allowed the team to renew his contract the following year even if the player refused to sign. The players insisted the renewal was good for one year; owners said it could be invoked indefinitely.
Curt Flood
After the 1969 season, 14-year outfielder Curt Flood was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood appealed in vain to commissioner Bowie Kuhn to be declared a free agent, then sued for it, writing that he was not property to be bought and sold regardless of his wishes and that “any system that produces that result violates my basic right as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States.” On June 19, 1972, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 against him.
After the 1974 season Oakland A’s pitcher Catfish Hunter claimed that the Oakland A’s owner Charles O. Finley had violated a portion of his contract and an arbitrator agreed allowing Hunter to sign with any team of his choice and on December 31, 1974 signed a five-year $3.75 million contract with the New York Yankees. Those damn Yankees spent big money even back then.
Unhappy with their contracts, pitchers Andy Messersmith, 30, of the Dodgers and Dave McNally, 33, of the Expos played the 1975 without signing contracts and when the season ended they declared themselves free to sign with whom they pleased. A three-man panel made up of an owners representative, a players representative and an independent arbitrator, Peter Seitz heard the case. You can guess how the owners rep and players rep voted and then Seitz cast his vote in favor of the players making them free agents. The baseball owners quickly fired Peter Seitz and appealed their case in Federal Court but in February of 1976 they lost their appeal. In the spring of 1976 after instituting a spring training player lock-out the owners and players finally agreed on a free agency system. McNally never benefited from the system retiring from baseball before the 1976 season began but Messersmith signed a 3-year, $1.75 million contract that contained “renewal clauses after each season” and Braves owner Ted Turner stated that “Messersmith will never be traded, he will be a Brave as long as I am”. However; after two seasons in Atlanta where Messersmith put up a 16-15 record the Braves sold him to the New York Yankees who kept him for one year before releasing him, Messersmith with his tail between his legs returned to the Dodgers in 1979 but in August the Dodgers said they had seen enough and Messersmith’s big league career was history. I guess you can make a case that paying big bucks for multi-years to free agent pitchers didn’t work back then and seldom works now. Keep this in mind when you get after the Twins brain-trust to pay big money for a free agent pitcher.
Sports Illustrated did a rather lengthy piece about the 1976 MLB free agent class back in their April 16, 1990 issue called “the first to be free“.
That going into Sunday’s finale against the Boston Red Sox that the Minnesota Twins are 24-28 on the road this season?
That in their last 9 games the Twins starters have posted a 2.20 ERA while allowing just three home runs and holding opponents to a .204 (46-for-225) batting average against? Starters have pitched 6 or more innings in eight of their last nine starts while getting 8 quality starts. The team has gone 7-2 over that stretch.
That Ben Revere has hit safely in a career-high 18 straight games since July 16, batting .364 (28-for-77) with five doubles, one triple, 10 RBI’s, 13 runs scored and just seven strikeouts? The 18-game streak is the longest since Torii Hunter hit in 23 straight games in 2007.
That the Twins have had four different 15-game hitting streaks this season: Josh Willingham has had two 15-game streaks and Trevor Plouffe had a 17-game streak. The four streaks of 15-plus are the most in baseball so far this season.
That Nick Blackburn is 17-34 in 70 career road starts with a 5.66 ERA in 402 innings?
That catchers Sal and Drew Butera are the first father-son position players to pitch in a major league game? Sal Butera pitched a scoreless inning for Montreal in 1985 and again for Cincinnati in 1986 while Drew Butera tossed a scoreless inning in Milwaukee earlier this season.
That Joe Mauer played in his 1,000th career game earlier this season becoming 17th member of the Twins to accomplish the feat?
That the Twins have not had complete game back to back victories since Joe Mays and Carlos Silva accomplished that feat back on May 19-20, 2005?
That the last Twins player to steal Home was Torii Hunter in Detroit back on May 4, 2002?
That Joe Mauer’s three-run ninth-inning home run off Alfredo Aceves yesterday was Mauer’s first career game-winning homer in the ninth inning or later? The last Minnesota player to hit such a blast at Fenway Park was Ron Washington on May 22, 1983.
