Pittsburgh Pirates Archives

Rick Renick, Twins Player and Coach gone at 81

Warren Richard “Rick” Renick, a Minnesota Twins player, coach, and longtime baseball teacher whose career spanned more than five decades, passed away on January 31, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. He was 81.

Born March 16, 1944, in London, Ohio, Renick graduated from Madison South High School and continued his education at The Ohio State University before signing with the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 1965. His combination of athleticism, baseball intelligence, and quiet steadiness would define his career both on and off the field.

A Historic Debut and Five Seasons in Minnesota

Rick Renick made one of the most memorable first impressions in Twins history. On July 11, 1968, in his very first major-league at-bat, he became the first player in Minnesota Twins history to homer in his first MLB plate appearance — taking Detroit Tigers left-hander Mickey Lolich deep. It remains one of the franchise’s great debut moments. Oddly enough, Mickey Lolich passed away just four days after Renick did.

Across five seasons with Minnesota (1968–72), Renick appeared in 276 games and provided invaluable versatility, logging time at third base, shortstop, left field, right field, and first base. He finished his Twins career with:

122 hits
20 home runs
71 RBI
.221 batting average
276 games

His best season came in 1970, when he posted a 1.0 WAR and helped the Twins capture the AL West title. He also appeared in both the 1969 and 1970 American League Championship Series, contributing to one of the most competitive eras in team history.

A Championship Coach and a Lifelong Teacher of the Game

After his playing days, Renick transitioned naturally into coaching and managing — roles in which he became widely respected for his preparation, clarity, and ability to connect with players.

He served as an aggressive third base coach for the 1987 Minnesota Twins, helping guide the club to its first World Series championship. His coaching career also included time with the Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Florida Marlins, as well as extensive work throughout the minor leagues for several teams.

One of his proudest achievements came in 1999, when he managed the Edmonton Trappers (then a Twins affiliate) to the Pacific Coast League championship. Players consistently described him as steady, fair, and deeply committed to teaching the game the right way.

A Life Beyond Baseball

Though baseball shaped much of his professional life, Renick found equal joy in a quieter pursuit: farming. His love for working the land was a lifelong passion, grounding him and bringing him peace away from the ballpark.

Remembering Rick Renick

From homering in his first major-league at-bat to coaching third base during a World Series run, from managing championship teams to tending the fields he loved, Rick Renick lived a life defined by devotion — to baseball, to family, and to the simple joys that grounded him. The Twins community remembers him with gratitude, admiration, and affection.

Family and Legacy

Rick was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Libby Renick, his sister, Mary Kelly, and his parents. He leaves to cherish his memory, his children, Ty Renick, daughter in law, Katherine Garcia-Renick, Shad Renick, daughter in law, Kelly Renick, and Joshua Renick, as well as his grandchildren, Arianna, Elijah, and Aiden. Rick is also survived by his sister Charlotte Sifrit and her children as well as his sister Mary’s children.

Twinstrivia.com would like to pass on our condolences to the Renick family, friend and fans. Thank you for the memories.

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Former Twins pitcher Dan Serafini found guilty of murder

Dan Serafini was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (26th) of the 1992 MLB June Amateur Draft from Junipero Serra HS (San Mateo, CA). Serafini debuted with the Twins on June 25, 1996 in the second game of a DH at the Metrodome against the New York Yankees.

Serafini was the Twins starter and pitched 4.1 innings (80 pitches) allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits, 2 hits while striking out one Yankee batter. Serafini was the losing pitcher in a Yankee 6-2 win. That was the only game Serafini pitched for the Twins in 1997 and he appeared in 6 games in 1997. He 1998 he made the Twins starting rotation starting 28 games with a 7-4 record with a 6.48 ERA. Serafini was a hit-to-contact pitcher with questionable control as he struck out 46 and walked 29 in 75 innings. On March 31, 1999 he was purchased by the Chicago Cubs. Serafini finished his career with the Twins with a 9-6 record and a 5.88 ERA in 35 games. Serafini pitched 105.2 innings allowing 129 hits while striking out 62 and walking 42.

Serafini went on to pitch for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and finished his big league career with the Colorado Rockies in 2007 appearing in 3 games. That same year, he was suspended for 50 games for using performance-enhancing drugs. Serafini apparently still had hopes of pitching in the majors and hung around in the minors through 2013 and pitching in Mexico, China and Japan.

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.

The Twins at the World Series

The franchise has a 3-3 record in World Series history

The start of a new baseball season is always a glorious time. Fans across the country all have high hopes and dreams that they will be celebrating a Fall Classic win later in the year. Obviously, most of those dreams will be dashed over the next few months but, just for a little while, all 30 teams are still in with a chance.

Five clubs have never tasted victory, of course, with the Seattle Mariners never even making it to the World Series. There may be a few Twins fans that can’t remember a victory of our own but we have come out on top on no less than three occasions – with another three agonizing finals defeats in franchise history.

After winning the AL Central last season, there will be some of the best MLB betting sites looking at the Twins as a long shot for a championship this year. But, while we settle into the new campaign, let’s take a look back at all the times the franchise made it to the World Series.

Mudcat Grant didn’t put up with racial bigotry

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.

Mudcat Grant SN 092860.pdf

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.

Former manager Ray Miller dead at 76

Raymond Roger Miller was born on April 30, 1945 in Takoma Park, Maryland and passed away on May 5, 2021 in Weirton, West Virginia.

Ray Miller attended Suitland High School where he played baseball, basketball and soccer earning All-State honors in basketball. MLB.com shows that Ray Miller served with the US Army’s First Armored Division after graduating from Suitland High School in 1963. According to Miller, he signed a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants in 1962 but he did not pitch professionally until 1964. Miller toiled in the minor leagues for ten season (1864-1974) but never got a chance to show his stuff as a major league pitcher and he retired as an active player at the relatively young age of 28. Why did he retire so young? Check out “Obituary: Ray Miller (1945-2021)” on the RIP Baseball site, a wonderful write-up you should not miss about a man that seemed to avoid publicity.

Former Twins shortstop Jackie Hernandez losses his battle with cancer

Jackie Hernandez (Jacinto Hernández Zulueta) was born on September 11, 1940 in Central Tinguaro, Cuba and passed away on October 12, 2019 in Miami, Florida after a short battle with lung cancer. His given name (Hyacinth in English) was difficult for many people in the U.S. to pronounce, leading to his Anglicized nickname; he was also called simply “Jack or Jackie.”

Hernandez played pro ball from 1961 through 1974 and then spent some time playing ball in Mexico from 1975-1976 before retiring as an active player.

This Day in Twins History – March 6, 1973 – DH comes into play

In an exhibition game with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twin Larry Hisle becomes the first designated hitter in ML history. Hisle makes the new AL rule look good by collecting 2 HR’s and 7 RBI.

The story on why Hisle became the first DH is interesting in itself. The first Spring Training game in the AL in 1973 fell to the Twins. But Minnesota had plans for the recently acquired Cardinals prospect Hisle in the outfield, and he was penciled in as the center fielder as camp got under way. At least, until the morning of the first game, when Hisle injured his toe after tripping over a chair while horsing around with his son. Twins skipper Frank Quilici still wanted to get his new player some swings so he decided to leave him in the lineup at this newfangled DH spot. And while there had been designated “pinch” hitters used in Spring Training games as a trial since 1969, this was the first time a player batted as a DH under the new rule.

When the 1973 season began, 34 year-old Tony Oliva was the Twins primary DH and started 138 games in that role. Larry Hisle as it turns out didn’t appear in a big league regular season game as a DH until July 18, 1975.

Baseball’s 10th man – Pioneer or Pigeon is a interesting write-up on the DH from the Saturday Evening Post July/August 1973 edition that is worth your read.

Saturday Evening Post July_August 1973

According to ELIAS

Finally some Mauer power

Joe Mauer was homerless in 154 at-bats this season before his game-winning round-tripper against the Pirates in the 13th inning at PNC Park last night. Mauer is the first major-league player since Jim Gantner in 1992 to connect for a game-winning homer in the 13th inning or later after having not hit a four-bagger in 150 or more at-bats to that point in the season. Gantner had not gone deep for the Brewers in 209 at-bats that year when he hit a walkoff home run in the 13th inning off Boston’s Jeff Reardon at Milwaukee County Stadium. Source: ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Tigers McCann hits his first career homer….and it doesn’t leave the park

James McCann‘s two-run inside the park home run, the first home run of his career, tied the game in the seventh innings in a contest the Tigers won, 10-7, over the Twins yesterday afternoon. McCann became just the third catcher in the last 36 years whose first career home run was an inside the parker, joining Minnesota’s Chad Moeller (July 29, 2000) and Pittsburgh’s Angelo Encarnacion (August 19, 1995).

McCann was the first Tigers player whose first career home run was an inside the park homer in over 59 years, since pitcher Frank Lary accounted for Detroit’s only run with a homer that didn’t leave the park in a season-opening loss to the Kansas City Athletics on April 17, 1956. Source: ELIAS

Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates