Tag: New York Yankees

Tom Nieto, Steady Hand Behind the Plate for the 1987 Twins, Dies at 65

Former Minnesota Twins catcher Tom Nieto, a member of the franchise’s unforgettable 1987 World Series championship team, passed away on March 27 at the age of 65. His family shared that he died in Florida following a heart attack, leaving behind a long baseball life that touched clubhouses across the majors and minors alike.

Nieto’s career wound through several organizations, but in Minnesota he found the role that Twins fans remember best: a reliable, defense first catcher who helped stabilize a pitching staff during one of the most pivotal seasons in franchise history.

From California to the Big Leagues

Born in Downey, California, Nieto played his college ball at Oral Roberts University before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round in 1981. He reached the majors in 1984 and served as Darrell Porter’s backup during the Cardinals’ 1985 pennant run.

After a stop in Montreal, the Expos dealt him to Minnesota — a move that would place him squarely in the middle of one of the most improbable championship seasons in modern baseball.

A Quiet Contributor to a Loud Season

The 1987 Twins were a team built on personality, power, and the Metrodome’s peculiar magic. But every championship club needs its glue pieces, and Nieto was one of them. Working behind the plate with a staff that included Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven, Les Straker, and a bullpen full of characters, Nieto provided the steady defensive presence that managers covet in a backup catcher. He appeared in 47 games that season, and while his offensive numbers were modest, his value came in the trust the staff placed in him and the professionalism he brought to the job.

He earned a World Series ring that fall as the Twins stunned the baseball world by beating the Cardinals — the very team that drafted him — in seven games. For Twins fans, his name sits comfortably in that long list of role players whose contributions don’t always show up in the box score but are woven into the fabric of a championship.

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Bill White, hired 50 years ago by the Yanks, was the first ever Black play-by-player for a pro team

Phil Rizzuto and Bill White calling a Yankees game

I ran across this article on the Sports Broadcast Journal and thought it was something that needed to be shared. It was written by David J. Halberstam on 07/28/2021 and the title of the article is “Bill White, hired 50 years ago by the Yanks, was the first ever Black play-by-player for a pro team“.

I know this is not about the Minnesota Twins in any way, shape or form but if you or I can learn something about baseball history, that is a good thing.

Remembering Wayne Granger and His 1972 Season in Minnesota

Wayne Granger

A Durable Bullpen Workhorse Whose Lone Minnesota Season Still Resonates

Wayne Allan Granger, one of baseball’s earliest true relief specialists and a model of late 1960s durability, passed away on February 25, 2026, at age 81. A veteran of nine big-league seasons and 451 appearances, Granger pitched for seven organizations, but his single season with the Minnesota Twins remains a compelling chapter in both his career and the franchise’s early 1970s story.

Early Life and Rise to the Majors

Born March 15, 1944, in Springfield, Massachusetts, Granger grew up in the small town of Huntington, where he became a multi-sport standout and a dominant high-school pitcher. After attending Springfield College, he signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 and converted to relief shortly afterward. His low three-quarters delivery and heavy sinker became his signature.

Granger broke into the majors in 1968 with St. Louis and quickly became one of the most heavily used relievers in baseball. His 1969 season with Cincinnati—90 appearances, setting a major-league record—cemented his reputation as a durable, trusted bullpen arm. He followed that with a league leading 35 saves in 1970, earning back-to-back Sporting News NL Fireman of the Year awards.

Minnesota Twins: A Promising Start and a Tumultuous Summer (1972)

The Twins acquired Granger from Cincinnati on December 3, 1971, sending left-hander Tom Hall to the Reds. Minnesota believed it was adding a proven late-inning stabilizer to pair with Dave LaRoche. For the first two months of 1972, Granger looked like the All-Star caliber reliever he had been in Cincinnati. He retired 19 of the first 22 left-handed batters he faced and posted a 0.85 ERA through the end of June, collecting five saves in his first seven appearances. His sinker was crisp, and his command sharp.

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Jose Valdivielso – a member of 1961 Twins passes away

Jose Valdivielso

One of the few remaining members, Jose Valdivielso, of the 1961 Minnesota Twins passed away on March 4, 2025 at the age of 90. José Martinez de Valdivielso Lopez was born on May 22, 1934 in Matanzas, Cuba.

Valdivielso started his professional baseball career as a shortstop with the Class C 1953 Lubbock Hubbers in the West Texas-New Mexico League. During the 1954 season Valdivielso was assigned to the Washington Nationals in an unknown transaction and was sent from Lubbock to the Class B Rock Hill Chiefs and then on to the Class A Charlotte Hornets. He started the 1955 season with Charlotte but was called up by the Washington Nationals and made his MLB debut on June 21, 1955 at Griffith Stadium against the Chicago White Sox in a 6-1 Nats loss in which Valdivielso went 0 for 3. Valdivielso split his time with the Nats and their minor league teams in 1955-1956.

Valdivielso with Minneapolis Millers in 1958

Somehow he ended up playing for the Chicago White Sox AAA Indianapolis Indians in 1957 and in 1958 he split his time with the AAA Boston Red Sox Minneapolis Millers and the AAA San Francisco Giants Phoenix Giants. He started the 1959 season with the AAA Baltimore Orioles Miami Marlins and then low and behold he showed back up with the Washington Nationals where he played in the rest of the 1959 and the 1960 season.

In 1960, the team’s sixtieth and last season in Washington, Valdivielso was the Senators’ most-used shortstop, starting in 92 games and playing a career-high 117 contests. But by late September he had lost his starting job to Zoilo Versalles, a 20-year-old fellow countryman.

Valdivielso spent the 1961 season with the Minnesota Twins but only played in 76 games mainly as a defensive replacement and had just 158 PA’s in which he hit .195 with 29 hits and 9 RBI. One of those 29 hits was his lone Twins home run a long blast to left field that took place on June 4, 1961 at Tiger Stadium off Frank Lary in a 10-4 Twins loss to the Detroit Tigers. Jose played his final major league game at Met Stadium against the Detroit Tigers and went 2 for 3 with an RBI on the 1961 season’s final game, which was called in the top of the sixth inning on account of rain.

Valdivielso never played in the major leagues again and finished his career with the Minnesota Twins AAA Vancouver Mounties in 1962, and the Chicago White Sox AAA Indianapolis Indians in 1963-1964. In total, Jose Valdivielso collected 213 hits in the majors, with 26 doubles and eight triples to go along with his nine home runs.

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The charismatic Luis Tiant dies at the age of 83

Luis Clemente Tiant was born in Marianao, Cuba on November 23, 1940 the son of Luis and Isabel and passed away on October 8, 2024 at the age of 83. His father, Luis Eleuterio Tiant, was a legendary left-handed pitcher who starred in the Cuban Leagues and the American Negro Leagues for 20 years but the color barrier denied Luis E. the opportunity to play in the majors.

The colorful Luis Tiant played in the major leagues for 19 years between 1964 and 1982 for the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the California Angels. Tiant also played in Mexico for several seasons before and after his pro career in the states.

In his big league career Tiant had a 229-172 record with 20 or more wins four times and 20 losses once. He had his share of injuries but he started 484 games and pitched over 3,486 innings, threw 187 complete games with 49 shutouts and in his spare times he earned 15 Saves.

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Former Twins pitcher George Frazier passes away at the age of 68

George Frazier

George Frazier was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on October 13, 1954 and passed away on June 19, 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 68 from an undisclosed illness.

The lanky, 6-foot-5 right-hander, Frazier was a star at Hillcrest High School in Springfield, Missouri where he played alongside two other future major leaguers in Bob Detherage and Keith Drumright. before attending the University of Oklahoma from 1973-76. 

Frazier was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 13th round of the 1972 June free agent draft but turned that offer down to attend the University of Oklahoma. George Frazier, who was a member of two College World Series teams in the 1970s playing at Oklahoma in 1975 and ’76 for legendary coach Enos Semore and was a member of the final two of five straight CWS appearances from 1972-76. After completing his college career Frazier was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 9th round of the 1976 MLB June Amateur Draft.

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Twins fun facts from Twins 3/13 & 3/14 ST notes

SPRING FLING: Today the Twins will play the 18th and 19th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games. The Twins also played one World Baseball Classic exhibition against Team Dominican Republic March 9. After today, seven more games will be played at Hammond Stadium and six more games will be played on the road. The Twins will enjoy their second scheduled off-day of the spring tomorrow before hosting the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon at Hammond Stadium.

WE DO TALK ABOUT JOSE: Jose Miranda is batting .429 (6-for-14) with two doubles, three home runs, five RBI, four walks, a .556 on-base percentage and a 1.770 OPS in six games this spring. Miranda is in his second major league spring training with the Twins after making his major league
debut on May 2, 2022 at Baltimore. He became one of four rookies in club history (since 1961) with at least 100 hits, 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 60 RBI and 25 walks in rookie season, joining Tony Oliva (1964), Gary Gaetti (1982) and Marty Cordova (1995).

OBER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS: Bailey Ober is making his third spring start today. He tossed 1.0 scoreless inning, with one walk and three strikeouts, in his first outing March 1 vs. Philadelphia and worked 2.0 perfect innings, with two strikeouts, in his last start March 8 at Toronto. Ober is in his third spring training with the Twins (also 2021-22). He re-claimed the jersey number 17 in the offseason, when Chris Archer departed via free agency; Ober debuted wearing uniform number 82, switched to 17 prior to 2022 spring training and had it for about a month until the Twins signed Archer, moving Ober to 16. Ober likes the number 17 because his dad wore it in college, playing
Division III basketball at Champlain College. Ober made the Twins Opening Day roster for first time in career in 2022 going 2-3, 3.21 ERA (56.0 IP, 20 ER) with 11 walks and 51 strikeouts in 11 starts. Missed time on the 15-day Injured List with a right groin strain from April 30-May 21 and went back
on the IL with the same injury from June 6-September 16.

The Twins had a sellout crowd of 8,568 at Hammond Stadium yesterday to watch the visiting New York Yankees. I’m always amazed at big crowds like that here in Florida for Spring Training games when everyone knows that visiting teams seldom if ever bring any “starters” to play. Yesterday’s Yankee visit was no exception with their starting line-up being Peraza, Volpe, Cabrera, Calhoun, Hicks, Ortega, Chaparro, Florial, and Narvaez. No exactly a “Murders Row”.

Minnesota Twins and the playoffs

The Twins have been playing baseball in Minnesota for 62 seasons and have played 9,803 games, winning 4,867 games and losing 4,936 games for a winning percentage of .496 and have advanced to the playoffs 14 times or 22.6% of the time.

Maybe we should not be that surprised, the Washington Senators who moved from Washington D.C. after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins had a .465 winning percentage. Year after year, the Senators were a laughingly bad team, prompting famed sportswriter Charley Dryden to joke: “Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” The Senators played in Washington for 60 seasons and won 3 pennants (1924, 1925, & 1933) and won one World Series title in 1924. In that regard the Twins it seems are not much better having played for 62 seasons and won 3 pennants (1965, 1987, & 1991) but they have won two World Series titles, in 1987 and again 1991.

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Twins & Yankees agree on a blockbuster

Less than two days ago the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees agreed on a blockbuster trade but Twins and Yankee fans are in a quandary about what to think of the deal. Social sites for both teams seem to be up in arms about the deal with both sides thinking they got the short end of the stick.

The trade in question calls for the New Yorker’s sending 29-year old catcher Gary Sanchez and 30-year old third baseman Gio Urshela to Minnesota for 36 year-old third baseman Josh Donaldson, 27-year old shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and 24-year old catcher Ben Rortvedt.

It appears that there were multiple reasons to make the trade. The Twins seem to be looking to get out from under the $50 million the team owes Donaldson over the next two seasons and the Yankees have wanted to move Sanchez for some time. It is one of those situations where you swap my problems for your problems. The Yankees were in desperate need of a shortstop and the Twins had just acquired Kiner-Falefa from Texas earlier in the day. So in order for the Yankees to take Donaldson and pay him what he is owed the Yankees needed to get Kiner-Falefa in the deal and they wanted Rortvedt to replace Sanchez. Getting Donaldson and Kiner-Falefa made Urshela expendable and he was on his way to Minnesota.

Gary Sanchez
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2021 Twins Turkey of the Year

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Time seems to have gotten away from me and it was only in the last few days that I realized it was that time again, time to pick another Twins Turkey of the Year. This years winner will be number 13. So far we have only had one repeat winner and that was President and CEO Dave St. Peter who took the honors in 2013 and again in 2019.

With the 2021 Minnesota Twins expected to do well and go deep in the playoffs by their fans and the so called baseball experts and then to see the team finish 73-89 and in last place in the American League Central Division you would have to think that there were more turkeys then you could shake a stick at. You would be right.

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