There is a great article in “The Athletic” ($ site) today by Dan Hayes about former Minnesota Twins catcher Rob Bowen and his post-baseball career in law enforcement. It is a great story that I know you will enjoy if you can get to it.
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
There is a great article in “The Athletic” ($ site) today by Dan Hayes about former Minnesota Twins catcher Rob Bowen and his post-baseball career in law enforcement. It is a great story that I know you will enjoy if you can get to it.
As you would expect, a fair number of big league debuts as Twins on September 1, three of them were catchers.
Josmil Pinto (C) – September 1, 2013 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on February 14, 2006. Debuted at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in a 4-2 Twins win. Pinto was the starting catcher hitting 8th in the batting order and was 2 for 4 with a double, also scoring once and knocking in a run.
Alexi Casilla (2B/SS) – September 1, 2006 – Traded by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the Minnesota Twins for J.C. Romero on December 9, 2005. First game took place in Yankee Stadium II in a Twins 8-1 loss to New York. Casilla entered the game as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk.
Terry Tiffee (3B/1B) – September 1, 2004 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 26th round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Debuted in the Dome in a 4-2 Twins win over the Rangers. Tiffee entered the game in the sixth inning to play 3B and he had 2 at bats and he had a single and a double which knocked in two runs (tieing and winning).
Rob Bowen (C) – September 1, 2003 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Bowen debuted as a sub for A.J. Pierzynski in the 9th inning of a 10-2 Twins loss at the Metrodome going 0 for 1.
Pedro Munoz (OF) – September 1, 1990 – Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Nelson Liriano to the Minnesota Twins for John Candelaria on July 27, 1990. Debuted at the Dome in the Tigers 9-5 win over Minnesota as the DH hitting in the seven hole. Tough debut going 0 for 4 with 2 strike outs.
Lenny Webster (C) – September 1, 1989 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 21st round of the 1985 amateur draft. Webster debuted in the 9th inning in the Skydome as a defensive replacement at catcher in a Twins 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays.
You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.
One of the more frequent questions I get pertains to switch-hitters that played for the Minnesota Twins so I thought I would put together the entire list of Twins players both position players and pitchers that swung from both sides of the plate. In this case I ranked then in order of home runs hit. The list includes Twins pitchers as well as position players.
Rk | Player | HR | From | To | G | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | RBI | Pos | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Roy Smalley | 110 | 1976 | 1987 | 1148 | 4676 | 3997 | 1046 | 184 | 21 | 485 | .262 | .750 | *6DH/53 |
2 | Chili Davis | 41 | 1991 | 1992 | 291 | 1163 | 978 | 276 | 61 | 3 | 159 | .282 | .862 | *D/H793 |
3 | Cristian Guzman | 39 | 1999 | 2004 | 841 | 3538 | 3277 | 871 | 142 | 61 | 289 | .266 | .685 | *6/HD |
4 | Butch Wynegar | 37 | 1976 | 1982 | 794 | 3188 | 2746 | 697 | 112 | 9 | 325 | .254 | .682 | *2/HD5 |
5 | Gene Larkin | 32 | 1987 | 1993 | 758 | 2670 | 2321 | 618 | 131 | 12 | 266 | .266 | .723 | 3D9H/754 |
6 | Ryan Doumit | 32 | 2012 | 2013 | 269 | 1066 | 969 | 253 | 62 | 2 | 130 | .261 | .745 | 2/D9H73 |
7 | Denny Hocking | 25 | 1993 | 2003 | 876 | 2455 | 2204 | 556 | 109 | 17 | 215 | .252 | .661 | 64H5/9738D |
8 | Bobby Kielty | 23 | 2001 | 2003 | 224 | 750 | 631 | 170 | 35 | 3 | 92 | .269 | .818 | 9/8HD73 |
9 | Eduardo Escobar | 21 | 2012 | 2015 | 340 | 1139 | 1051 | 275 | 71 | 8 | 111 | .262 | .710 | *6/574HD98 |
10 | Aaron Hicks | 20 | 2013 | 2015 | 247 | 928 | 819 | 184 | 30 | 6 | 78 | .225 | .655 | *8/97HD |
11 | Kennys Vargas | 14 | 2014 | 2015 | 111 | 418 | 390 | 101 | 14 | 1 | 55 | .259 | .707 | /*D3H |
12 | Dave Hollins | 13 | 1996 | 1996 | 121 | 503 | 422 | 102 | 26 | 0 | 53 | .242 | .760 | *5/HD6 |
13 | Nick Punto | 12 | 2004 | 2010 | 747 | 2707 | 2365 | 587 | 102 | 21 | 194 | .248 | .648 | 564/HD879 |
14 | Alexi Casilla | 11 | 2006 | 2012 | 515 | 1764 | 1580 | 395 | 72 | 14 | 147 | .250 | .639 | *4/6HD58 |
15 | Pedro Florimon | 10 | 2012 | 2014 | 210 | 682 | 616 | 126 | 23 | 3 | 55 | .205 | .567 | *6/HD |
16 | Matt Walbeck | 8 | 1994 | 1996 | 275 | 1008 | 946 | 218 | 40 | 1 | 103 | .230 | .571 | *2/HD |
17 | Javier Valentin | 8 | 1997 | 2002 | 141 | 435 | 391 | 90 | 19 | 2 | 46 | .230 | .638 | *2/HD |
18 | Danny Santana | 7 | 2014 | 2015 | 192 | 707 | 666 | 185 | 37 | 12 | 61 | .278 | .710 | *6/8HD9 |
19 | Brent Gates | 6 | 1998 | 1999 | 217 | 723 | 639 | 161 | 28 | 2 | 80 | .252 | .656 | *5/4H3D6 |
20 | Luis Rodriguez | 6 | 2005 | 2007 | 206 | 508 | 445 | 108 | 19 | 3 | 38 | .243 | .651 | /54H6D3 |
21 | Orlando Hudson | 6 | 2010 | 2010 | 126 | 559 | 497 | 133 | 24 | 5 | 37 | .268 | .710 | *4/D |
22 | Jim Perry | 5 | 1963 | 1972 | 380 | 681 | 613 | 117 | 17 | 2 | 46 | .191 | .478 | *1/H7 |
23 | Terry Tiffee | 5 | 2004 | 2006 | 91 | 256 | 239 | 54 | 13 | 1 | 29 | .226 | .625 | /5H3D |
24 | Orlando Merced | 5 | 1998 | 1998 | 63 | 223 | 204 | 59 | 12 | 0 | 33 | .289 | .767 | /*39DH |
25 | John Moses | 4 | 1988 | 1990 | 349 | 687 | 620 | 171 | 25 | 7 | 57 | .276 | .693 | 9H/78D31 |
26 | Matt Tolbert | 3 | 2008 | 2011 | 247 | 680 | 605 | 139 | 27 | 9 | 54 | .230 | .607 | 4/5H6D39 |
27 | Luis Castillo | 3 | 2006 | 2007 | 227 | 1036 | 933 | 279 | 33 | 9 | 67 | .299 | .720 | *4 |
28 | Pedro Ramos | 3 | 1961 | 1961 | 53 | 100 | 93 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 11 | .172 | .484 | /*1H |
29 | Marcus Jensen | 3 | 2000 | 2000 | 52 | 164 | 139 | 29 | 7 | 1 | 14 | .209 | .663 | /*2HD |
30 | Dave McKay | 2 | 1975 | 1976 | 78 | 290 | 263 | 60 | 6 | 1 | 24 | .228 | .562 | /*5H6D |
31 | Jose Offerman | 2 | 2004 | 2004 | 77 | 202 | 172 | 44 | 14 | 2 | 22 | .256 | .759 | /*DH34 |
32 | Augie Ojeda | 2 | 2004 | 2004 | 30 | 72 | 59 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 7 | .339 | .886 | /*46H5 |
33 | Darrell Brown | 1 | 1983 | 1984 | 186 | 602 | 569 | 155 | 15 | 5 | 41 | .272 | .624 | *8/H7D |
34 | Otis Nixon | 1 | 1998 | 1998 | 110 | 500 | 448 | 133 | 6 | 6 | 20 | .297 | .705 | *8/H |
35 | Wally Backman | 1 | 1989 | 1989 | 87 | 337 | 299 | 69 | 9 | 2 | 26 | .231 | .591 | /*4HD |
36 | Tom Herr | 1 | 1988 | 1988 | 86 | 345 | 304 | 80 | 16 | 0 | 21 | .263 | .674 | /*4HD6 |
37 | Chris Latham | 1 | 1997 | 1999 | 63 | 154 | 138 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 9 | .152 | .411 | /8H79 |
38 | Kendrys Morales | 1 | 2014 | 2014 | 39 | 162 | 154 | 36 | 11 | 0 | 18 | .234 | .584 | /*D3H |
39 | Rob Bowen | 1 | 2003 | 2004 | 24 | 43 | 37 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .108 | .380 | /*2HD |
40 | Al Newman | 0 | 1987 | 1991 | 618 | 1876 | 1647 | 380 | 59 | 7 | 135 | .231 | .581 | 465H/D738 |
41 | J.C. Romero | 0 | 1999 | 2005 | 327 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | 1.000 | *1 |
42 | Joe Mays | 0 | 1999 | 2005 | 193 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .267 | .722 | *1 |
43 | Pat Neshek | 0 | 2006 | 2010 | 132 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | *1 | ||
44 | Pete Filson | 0 | 1982 | 1986 | 130 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | *1 | ||
45 | Darrell Jackson | 0 | 1978 | 1982 | 104 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | *1/HD | ||
46 | Jose Morales | 0 | 2007 | 2010 | 74 | 181 | 158 | 47 | 9 | 0 | 14 | .297 | .725 | /*2HD3 |
47 | Tsuyoshi Nishioka | 0 | 2011 | 2012 | 71 | 254 | 233 | 50 | 5 | 0 | 20 | .215 | .503 | /*64HD |
48 | Doug Baker | 0 | 1988 | 1990 | 57 | 100 | 86 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 9 | .267 | .696 | /*46HD5 |
49 | Sergio Ferrer | 0 | 1974 | 1975 | 56 | 157 | 138 | 36 | 3 | 3 | 2 | .261 | .648 | /*6H4D |
50 | Nelson Liriano | 0 | 1990 | 1990 | 53 | 211 | 185 | 47 | 5 | 7 | 13 | .254 | .688 | /*4HD6 |
51 | Marty Martinez | 0 | 1962 | 1962 | 37 | 24 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .167 | .563 | /*H65 |
52 | Dan Serafini | 0 | 1996 | 1998 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | /*1 |
53 | Larry Milbourne | 0 | 1982 | 1982 | 29 | 106 | 98 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .235 | .548 | /*4H |
54 | Donnie Hill | 0 | 1992 | 1992 | 25 | 59 | 51 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .294 | .721 | /6H459 |
55 | Chris Pittaro | 0 | 1986 | 1987 | 25 | 34 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .388 | /*4H6D |
56 | Quinton McCracken | 0 | 2001 | 2001 | 24 | 70 | 64 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 3 | .219 | .588 | /DH798 |
57 | Jason Ryan | 0 | 1999 | 2000 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /*1 | ||
58 | Tom Lundstedt | 0 | 1975 | 1975 | 18 | 32 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .107 | .326 | /*2HD |
59 | Ruben Sierra | 0 | 2006 | 2006 | 14 | 33 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .179 | .487 | /*H*D |
60 | Glenn Williams | 0 | 2005 | 2005 | 13 | 43 | 40 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .425 | .902 | /*5H |
61 | Stan Perzanowski | 0 | 1978 | 1978 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /*1 | ||
62 | Cleatus Davidson | 0 | 1999 | 1999 | 12 | 24 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .136 | .273 | /*46HD |
63 | Jorge Polanco | 0 | 2014 | 2015 | 9 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .313 | .950 | /*6H |
64 | David Lamb | 0 | 2002 | 2002 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 | .200 | /*6H45 |
65 | Mark Brown | 0 | 1985 | 1985 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /*1 | ||
66 | Luis Quinones | 0 | 1992 | 1992 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .367 | /*H6D5 |
67 | Eric Hacker | 0 | 2011 | 2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /*1 |
You can make a strong case that Mickey Mantle was the best switch-hitter in the AL as he hit .300 (with 500 or more PA’s) or more nine time and Victor Martinez who remains active today has hit. 300 eight times as has Bernie Williams. Roberto Alomar did it seven times.
The Twins have not had as much luck with their switch-hitters, the only Twin to hit .300 (.302) or better with at least 500 plate appearances was Cristian Guzman in 2001. It kind of makes you wonder if switch hitting is worth the effort. From 1901 to 1960 the Washington Senators never had a switch-hitter that hit .300 or better with at least 500 PA’s.