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
The Minnesota Twins have selected AA-Wichita Wind Surge outfielder BJ Boyd and AAA-St. Paul Saints pitcher Joe Ryan as their minor league players of the week for week 16.
BJ Boyd was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 4th round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft from Palo Alto HS (Palo Alto, CA). On May 27, 2021 the Twins signed him as a free agent to a minor league deal and assigned him to Wichita. Boyd who turned 28 in July last played pro ball in 2018 at the AAA level in the A’s system.
This past week Boyd, a left-handed hitting outfielder appeared in 7 games and slashed .343/.343/.771 with 5 home runs, 12 RBI and 9 runs scored in 35 AB’s. For the season so far Boyd is hitting .313 with 15 home runs, 60 RBI and 8 steals in 256 AB.
A couple of hours before the Twins were to take on the Los Angeles Angels at Target Field yesterday afternoon the Twins front office announced that they had struck a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Twins were sending arguably their best hitter 41-year-old DH Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay along with minor league right-handed relief pitcher Calvin Faucher and in return Tampa sends Minnesota two minor league right-handed pitchers, Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman.
Minnesota Twins fans and the team itself had such high expectations going into 2021 and yet as we approach the midway point in the season we find the team floundering badly at 31-42. The season opened on April 1 and the team reached their high-water mark for the season on April 8 when they were three games over .500 with a 5-2 record. Since then it has been one step forward and two steps back.
Derek Falvey
So how do you explain this? How does a team that everyone expected to be a serious contender and pretty much a playoff lock in 2021 play such terrible baseball that it is basically unwatchable? Where do you start? Like in most businesses you have to start at the top.
Josh Donaldson while with the Atlanta Braves in 2019. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
I was watching the MLB channel last night when they interrupted their programming with breaking news that the Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora had mutually agreed to part ways after the previous days bombshell of the “caught stealing” penalties dropped on the Houston Astros by MLB. Then just a few minutes into that, they had more breaking news, this time the report was that a source (turned out to be MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand) had reported that third baseman Josh Donaldson had agreed to accept a four-year deal with Minnesota for $92 million guaranteed, including an $8 million buyout of a $16 million club option for a fifth year.
The first thing we do need to do is to congratulate catcher Mitch Garver and DH Nelson Cruz on being named 2019 American League Silver Slugger winners. Garver and Cruz are the first Minnesota Twins teammates to win Silver Sluggers since Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in 2008.
The last previous winner of a Silver Slugger award was outfielder Josh Willingham in 2012. Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer have each won the award five times. Garver and Cruz are the seventh and eighth Minnesota Twins players to be awarded Silver Slugger.
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. The award was started in 1980. A complete list of Twins award winners can be seen here.
From 1961 when the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Twins through the 2018 season, there have been 33 instances of Twins hitters having 100 or more RBI in a single season. There have only been 17 players during that time period that were members of this select club and the leader of the pack is Harmon Killebrew who accomplished this feat eight times between 1961-1971 and on three occasions he lead the American League in RBI. Killebrew also holds the Twins team record with 140 RBI in 1969.
This year Eddie Rosario joined that select club and it is the first time since 2012 when Josh Willingham had 110 RBI that a Twins player has crossed the 100 RBI threshold. Nelson Cruz is currently sitting with 97 RBI and Max Kepler is at 90 and they could both end up with 100 or more RBI but the injured Kepler is more of a long shot. The Twins have never had more than two players with 100 RBI in a single season. Eight different AL teams have had as many as four players with 100 or more RBI in a single season since 1961. This is a record breaking season for the Twins, maybe they can add another as they wind down the 2018 season.
Brian Dozier just missed joining the club in 2016 with 99 RBI and Kirby Puckett had 99 in 1987 and again in 1995.
Stolen from today’s MN Twins GameNotes. This is just crazy, the man is 39 years old. We are lucky to have watched him this year.
ALL ABOUT THE BOOMSTICK: Historic night in Nellyville:
Nelson Cruz has 30 home runs on the season, tied for second most in the AL.
He now has 30 for the sixth straight season. Active players with 30+ homer streaks include Albert Pujols (12) from 2001-12, Edwin Encarnacion (8) from 2012-19, and Miguel Cabrera (7) from 2007-13.
Cruz’s 30 home runs pass Chili Davis‘ 1991 total (29) for the most by a DH in club history, (MLB all-time record is 54 by David Ortiz in 2006).
Current .652 slugging percentage is the highest in club history (next: Killebrew, .606 in 1961).
Becomes the 23rd player in baseball history with multiple three-homer games in a season (first in Twins history). The first in MLB history with multiple after turning 39.
After Cruz’s three-homer game July 25 at CWS, he joins Doug DeCinces (8/3 & 8, 1982) and Johnny Mize (7/13 & 20, 1938) as the only players to homer three times within 10 days.
Leads baseball in home runs since ASG (14), next players, Max Kepler and Mancini have nine. Also leads baseball in RBI since ASG (26)
Joins Jason Kubel (2009) as the only two players in club history with four five+ RBI games in a season.
Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Carson Fulmer in game two of the twinbill in the South Side of Chicago. The Twins managed a split in the doubleheader, winning game two 10-2. Dozier hit 28 home runs after the All-Star break last season and has already hit 13 post-break home runs in 2017. Dozier’s 13 post-break homers this season are the fourth-most in the majors, trailing Giancarlo Stanton (19), Nelson Cruz (14), and Joey Gallo (14). His 41 overall home runs after the midsummer classic over the last two seasons are by far the most in the majors; Nelson Cruz (34), Justin Upton (33), Khris Davis (32), and Gary Sanchez (30) are the only other players with at least 30.
Brian Dozier led off Sunday’s game at Comerica Park with a homer off Matt Boyd, and the Twins went on to win, 6-4, to take the rubber game of the series. It was Dozier’s 25th home run leading off the first inning over the last five seasons, second-most in the majors behind Charlie Blackmon (27). Dozier now has 10 home runs since the All-Star break; only two other American League players have as many: Joey Gallo (11) and Nelson Cruz (11). Over the past two seasons, Dozier has 38 post-All-Star break homers; no other player has more than 31.
