Tag: Rod Carew

The 1975 Minnesota Twins and a seven year old boy

Today we have a guest post by Treavor Lenz who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first Twins game which he saw at Met Stadium. I enjoy the stories and thoughts that readers of this site share either through comments, messages or e-mails. If I can, I try to share them with other Twins fans. In this case Treavor talks about many different Twins historical events that he has had the pleasure to witness in person over the last 40 years. That is one of the cool things about baseball, it seems like certain games or events stay with you for a life time.

The young Twins fans of today haven’t had the opportunity to witness some of the wonderful events that have taken place over the years. What is cooler than reading about a Twins historical event from a person that actually was there when it took place? Thanks for taking the time to share your memories with us Treavor!

 

Hi Twins fans!

This August 16th marks a famous day in Twins history…. Well, for me, at least.  It’s the 40th anniversary of my first Twins game I ever attended at the Old Met.  I had just turned 7 and my Dad and I joined a Knothole Gang bus tour out of Eagle Lake, MN (I grew up in Waseca, MN.).  The sights and sounds of the ballpark were awesome for me and the game had a few historical significance’s, too. The Indians were managed by Frank Robinson, a future HOFer and the first African-American to lead an MLB team.  As noted in the Twins Trivia “This Day In Twins History” page, the Twins set an MLB record as all 9 players in the starting lineup had at least 2 hits, 20 total on the day.  Phil Roof’s home run landed just a section away from where we were sitting!  Tony Oliva and Rod Carew were definite favorites.  It’s too bad… I had missed out on seeing Harmon Killebrew by one season.

I was hooked; I wanted to see the Twins play each year and on or around my birthday, for sure.  I made it back to the Old Met, Metrodome and Target Field at least once each summer until 2011, 37 straight years!  After college at Iowa State, getting married and starting a family, my career took me to Wisconsin in 1999, so getting back for a game became wasn’t as easy as just picking up one evening and going to the Twin Cities from southern MN, but my desire spurred by that 7 year old’s memories kept it going for a while.

I wanted to share a few favorite memories of Twins games I attended with you today.

Other “This Day In Twins History” games I saw were:

  • Dave Goltz’s 180 (!) pitch, 11 inning, complete game 2-1 win over the A’s on July 25, 1977. I only realized a few years ago researching games I’d been to how high his pitch count was.
  • The only double-header in Metrodome history on August 1, 1983 (my 15th birthday) vs. the Angels, caused by the April 14, 1983 snowstorm that deflated the Metrodome roof. On that April day when they announced when the double-header would be, I simply told my folks, “We’re going!”  Two games and a return trip of Rod Carew!  Reggie Jackson had two doubles in the first game.  The Twins split, with Rick Lysander winning the second game with an amazing complete game, 11-hit shutout.  Darrell Brown went 4-4, too.
  • Dave Kingman’s pop up that got stuck in the Metrodome roof on May 4, 1984, that, after much deliberation, the umpires ruled a ground rule double.
  • Steve Carlton’s last MLB win (329) vs. the A’s in an important 1987 AL West division game. He went 8 and 2/3’s innings.  Also, Don Baylor was an underrated pickup for the 1987 Champs!
  • Casey Blake was on fire on July 5, 2003! The Indians’ slugger was 5-5, with two doubles and two HRs, adding 7 RBIs in Cleveland’s 13-2 win.  My brother “became an Indians fan” in the seventh, “since they were the only ones hitting that day.”

Other memories include:

  • In 1976 vs. the Yankees, my Dad almost broke his hand on a Mickey Rivers’ foul liner that just kept climbing into the second deck, 3rd base side.
  • A 1977 tilt, when Lyman Bostock had a go-ahead, 8th inning homer, the White Sox and Twins seventh of the day, to win it 7-6 and the whole 1977 season when Carew, Bostock, Hisle and Ford were key hitters in a fun season. (Reminds me a little of the current 2015 Twins!)
  • A great stab by Rob Wilfong going towards first, starting a 4-6-3 DP, of a line one hop smash by Jim Rice. My section was right in front of it!  You’ve got to give Rice credit; he hustled and almost beat it out.  The Twins beat a star-studded Red Sox team 5-2 on July 25, 1978 that featured Fred Lynn, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, George “Boomer” Scott and Jim Rice.
  • Waiting out a 2 hour rain delay to see Detroit bet the Twins 8-3 in 1979. Willie Norwood would always have a good game at the plate when I went.
  • Jerry Koosman pitched a 10 inning complete game 2-1 win over the 2 time defending World Champ Yankees the day before my 12th birthday, July 31, 1980. John Castino doubled in Ken Landreaux all the way from first off of future HOF closer Goose Gossage.  Even Reggie’s strikeouts were majestic!
  • Seeing Harvey Kuenn’s Wallbangers with Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Ben Oglivie, and Gorman Thomas in the last game I saw at Met Stadium in September 1981.  They did in the overmatched Twins 16-5.  Mark Funderburk hit a towering sacrifice fly in his Twins’ debut at-bat.
  • My first game in the Metrodome in 1982. First (full) year phenom Kent Hrbek was intentionally walked with no one on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th as Texas preserved a 3-2 win.
  • The arrival of a dynamo named Kirby Puckett, who swung at anything and hit line drives and ran everything down in center. KIRRR-BY PUCKETT!!!!—never got tired of the PA announcer’s call!
  • A fan a few rows in front of me made a great bare handed catch of a foul liner off of the bat of Orioles’ first baseman Eddie Murray. If it had skipped through, I was ready!
  • A fan a few rows behind me by the cement aisle steps dropped a foul pop from Randy Bush. As I got my hand on it after judging the one hop, my brother informs me that another fan pushed me squarely in the back trying to reach over me for it, too.  The ball skittered away from both of us.  I never got any closer to a ball than that!
  • Oakland CF Dave Henderson losing the ball in the white Metrodome ceiling and LF Rickey Henderson’s mad dash (to no avail) to try to catch it behind him!
  • Seeing 12 games in 1987, including Game 2 of the 1987 World Series! My Dad’s brother, Uncle Fred got 2 sets of 2 tickets to it.  My brother, Aaron, and I sat in one and Dad and Fred in the other.  Gary Gaetti’s HR (inside the foul pole right in front of us), Randy Bush’s RBI double, Bert Blyleven going 7 innings and the loudest atmosphere I’d ever been in stand out.  A Tom Brunansky bottom of the 9th HR vs. the Brewers for a 2-1 win was key that year.  KC Royals Danny Tartabull’s 9th inning 3 run HR off of Jeff Reardon was not.  Oddly, the Twins were 5 wins and 6 losses in the 11 regular season games I attended—the year they had such a great home record!
  • Boston’s Roger Clemens outdueled Scott Erickson 1-0 in about 1990. Clemens finished with a complete game 2 hitter and Scotty went about 7 and 2/3’s.  Leadoff batter Billy Hatcher cueballed a spinning double past Kent Hrbek down the first base line, Wade Boggs singled him in and that was it for the scoring after the top of the first!
  • Seattle’s Ken Griffey, Jr and Ken Griffey, Sr playing together. Junior homered, naturally…
  • The M & M boys (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau) hit line drives all over the place.
  • The last game I saw at the Metrodome was in July 2009 vs. Detroit. Each time Detroit would score so would the Twins until their one run in the 16th inning could not match the three the Tigers had scored.  Longest game I’ve ever attended!
  • The two games at Target Field in 2010 and 2011, both against the Rays. Jim Thome’s shot off the wall only resulted in an RBI single (a few feet short of a home run) as they lost in ’10, but Michael Cuddyer’s bloop RBI single was the winning margin in ’11.

I’ve probably left off a few deserving entries, but what I enjoyed the most about going to a Twins game was attending WITH MY FAMILY!  My Dad Ken, Mom Kathy, sister Kelli, brother Aaron, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and later, my wife Becky, my kids Trey, Kylie, and the twins (of course!) Mikayla and Mackenzie, her folks Arlin and Carol, brother Brian, and sister Deb’s family are the people with whom I enjoyed Twins games!

Left to right: Me (Treavor), Mackenzie, Trey, Mikayla, Kylie, and my wife, Becky
Left to right: Me (Treavor), Mackenzie, Trey, Mikayla, Kylie, and my wife, Becky

I hope you enjoyed a look at the last 40 years of Twins baseball as I saw it!  Go Twins!!!

Treavor Lenz

As I was prepping this post by tagging all the players that Treavor mentioned it dawned on me that some of these players had slipped into the archives of my own memory banks as I age but seeing their name in print again brought back many memories, some funny, some exciting, some good, some bad, some historic, and some that are just plain sad. That’s a good thing, damn I love baseball. Thanks again Treavor.

This Day in Twins History – July 16, 1969

Shown here is Carew sliding past White Sox catcher Don Pavletich, the umpire is Bob Stewart, and the batter (number 13) is John Roseboro.
Carew sliding past White Sox catcher Don Pavletich, the umpire is Bob Stewart, and the batter (number 13) is John Roseboro.

July 16, 1969 – Rod Carew steals home for the 7th time, as the AL-West leading Twins sweep a twin bill, winning 9-8 and 6-3 from the White Sox. Carew ties Pete Reiser’s 1946 record for steals of home in a season. Here you can read some excerpts from Carew’s autobiography “Carew.”

Please stop by our Today in Twins History page to see all the other Twins events that occurred on July 16 over the years.

This Day in Twins History – June 22

Carew, Rod 166/22/1970 – In the fourth inning of the Twins game against the Milwaukee Brewers in County Stadium Rod Carew suffers a serious knee injury with torn cartilage and torn ligaments when Brewers 1B Mike Hegan rolls in to Carew at 2B trying to break up a double play. According to Rod Carew in his book “Carew”, my leg snapped back and went crack! He goes on to say that 2B umpire Jake O’Donnell had heard the crack and vomited. Carew was hitting .376 at the time underwent surgery and ended up in essence missing the rest of the season. Rod did return for 5 at bats late in September but did not get a hit. Carew had only 2 plate appearances against the Orioles in the ALCS with no hits.

6/22/1984 – In a teary home plate ceremony before the Twins-White Sox game at the Metrodome, Calvin Griffith and his sister, Thelma Haynes, sign a letter of intent to sell their 52 percent ownership of the Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad for $32 million (some reports state it was $36 million) ending the longest family ownership of a team in baseball history. Griffith and his sister had been involved with the franchise since 1922, when they were adopted by owner Clark Griffith when the team was the Washington Senators.

Did you know?

Rod Carew Only six players in MLB history have more than 3,000 hits, 100 triples, walked over 1,000 times and stole over 300 bases. Not surprisingly, they are all in the HOF: Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Paul Molitor, Eddie Collins, Willie Mays, and from Panama, the great Rod Carew, who had 3,053 hits (the most of any Latino player), 112 triples, 1,018 walks, and 353 steals. Carew achieved all this in 10,550 plate appearances, more than a thousand fewer than any of the other five. Source: Summer 2015 “Memories and Dreams” magazine.

This Day in Twins History – May 4

Dick Woodson - Twins pitcher from 1969 - 1974
Dick Woodson – Twins pitcher from 1969 – 1974

5/4/1974 – Less than 3 months after pitcher Dick Woodson wins MLB’s first salary arbitration case, the Twins exile him to the New York Yankees for pitcher Mike Pazik. Owner Calvin Griffith swore he would never pay Woodson the money and he held true to his word.

Vic Albury5/4/1975 – The Minnesota Twins retired their first number ever, HOF Harmon Killebrew’s number 3. Harmon, playing for the Kansas City Royals, hit his first ever home run against the Twins and it was at Met Stadium in a Twins 6-3 win over the Royals. Vic Albury gave up the long ball to Harmon in the first inning. Box score.

Stew Thornley wrote the following in the Halsey Hall chapter of SABR “Old-timers” may remember a promotion by Tootsie Rolls in 1975 to commemorate the one millionth run in major league history (with only the history of the American and National leagues being recognized). The countdown came down to Sunday, May 4, 1975. At Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota, the Twins held a pre-game ceremony to retire the number of Harmon Killebrew, who then homered in the first inning for the Kansas City Royals. In the bottom of the second, Rod Carew was on third for the Twins with no out. Teammates, monitoring the progress of runs that day, yelled at Carew that he was in line to score the millionth run. When Steve Brye hit a fly to right, Carew tagged and raced for home. However, the strong-arm of Al Cowens nailed Carew at the plate, taking away his chance for the millionth run. Soon after Bob Watson of the Astros, in the first game of a doubleheader in San Francisco, scored on a home run by Milt May and took the honor. The run came at 12:52 Pacific time. Watson was on second and ran as fast as he could to reach home. He reportedly crossed home plate at Candlestick Park four seconds before Dave Concepcion, who had homered in Cincinnati and also beat cheeks around the bases. Carew, by being thrown out by Cowens, missed out on the prize: $10,000 and 1 million Tootsie Rolls”.

Eisenreich, Jim 35/4/1982 – Minnesota Twins’ rookie outfielder Jim Eisenreich, who suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome, removes himself from the game due to taunts from Boston Red Sox bleacher fans.

Kingman, Dave5/4/1984 – In the fourth inning of the Twins-A’s game, Oakland’s Dave Kingman hit a ball into one of the Metrodome roof’s drainage holes and the ball never came back down.  Kingman’s pop-up had gone up 180 feet and into one of the seven-inch drainage holes in the inner layer of the roof. The umpires gathered to discuss the event that had never happened before in a major league game and awarded Kingman a ground rule double.  In the ninth inning Kingman homered for Oakland’s only run and the Twins won 3-1. Before the game the next day, a Dome worker found the ball and let it fall on the field to a waiting Twins outfielder Mickey Hatcher, he dropped it. Box score.

Mike Lincoln Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
Mike Lincoln Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport

5/4/1999 – The Twins beat the Yankees 8-4 at the Metrodome as Mike Lincoln gets the win and the Twins get victory number 3,000. Box score.

Odds and Ends

Most of us know that the Twins longest consecutive game hitting streak is 31 games and that record holder is Ken Landreaux but did you know who holds the Twins record for the longest multi-hit (two hits or more) game hitting streak? The record is 10 games and Chuck Knoblauch accomplished that feat in 1996.

It is baffling to me why Twins managers Ron Gardenhire and now Paul Molitor keep sending infielders out to play the outfield. Is that something that Twins managers have to agree to do?

J.R. Graham
J.R. Graham

I am a little concerned about the lack of patience that Paul Molitor is showing with his young players. I know that Danny Santana, Oswaldo Arcia, Kennys Vargas and J.R. Graham have struggled so far this season but you don’t improve your skills by sitting on the bench. I say play these guys day in and day out through May and then reevaluate the situation. It is not like the Twins are in the hunt for a playoff spot. Molitor should know that players need to know that their manager has their back and will keep their butts in the line-up as they improve their skills. Since Graham is a Rule 5 guy the Twins need to keep him on the 25 man roster all season or return him or maybe even work out a trade that will allow them to send him to the minors. Molitor should not have to manage a 24 man roster.

Is it just me or is Paul Molitor the second coming of Gene Mauch? It seems to me that Molitor seems to think that he is smarter than the average manager and the game revolves around him and not the players. Molly, just fill out the line-ups and let the boys play.

If you traveled to Florida to watch the Twins during spring training from 1961-1990 you had to go to Orlando and you watched the Twins play at Tinker Field. A couple of days ago the Target Field grandstand came crashing down as a demolition team took over the old historic ballpark where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and many other legends of the game once played. To read more about it and to see a couple of short video clips you will need to go here.

Alex Wimmers
Alex Wimmers

Is former first round pick, 21st overall in 2010 Alex Wimmers going to be added to the long list of Twins pitchers that have been first round selections that have turned out to be duds? The 26 year-old right-handed Wimmers is in his sixth season with the Twins and thus far he has an 8-8 record with a 4.44 ERA in just 176+ innings. Although a starter, Wimmers has never pitched more than 84 innings in any season in the Twins system. Wimmers is in Chattanooga this season and in 3 starts has a 7.80 ERA in 15 innings.

That Shane Robinson guy kind of grows on you, I really like him as the fourth outfielder on this team. Jordan Schafer on the other hand I believe is on borrowed time here in Minnesota, if he is here another week I will be surprised, I think he needs to start looking for a “real” job. But who would the Twins bring up to replace him? No one in the Twins minor league system is beating down Terry Ryan’s door demanding a ticket to Minnesota. Best bet is probably Aaron Hicks who is hitting over .300 but I would like to see Eddie Rosario who is starting to hit in Chattanooga get a shot at the Twins center field job.

Another question for Terry Ryan, why are the Twins using Mark Hamburger as a starter in Rochester?

And finally, the Twins end the month of April with a 10-12 record, that is pretty good considering their horrendous start this season. Two games under .500 isn’t bad for this point in the season.

Two former Twins players excluding the previously mentioned Landreaux have had 30 game or longer hitting streaks in the majors during their professional careers, can you name the players and the length of their hitting streaks?

Twins career OBP and OPS leaders

Twins Career OBP Leaders

Joe Mauer

Rk Player OBP PA From To G AB H HR BB IBB SO BA OPS
1 Joe Mauer .401 5578 2004 2014 1298 4833 1540 109 676 115 660 .319 .860
2 Rod Carew .393 6980 1967 1978 1635 6235 2085 74 613 99 716 .334 .841
3 Chuck Knoblauch .391 4573 1991 1997 1013 3939 1197 43 513 19 453 .304 .807
4 Chili Davis .385 1163 1991 1992 291 978 276 41 168 24 193 .282 .862
5 Harmon Killebrew .383 8018 1961 1974 1939 6593 1713 475 1321 152 1314 .260 .901
6 Matt Lawton .379 3150 1995 2001 771 2672 739 72 408 31 335 .277 .808
7 Steve Braun .376 2830 1971 1976 751 2429 689 35 356 24 285 .284 .757
8 Shane Mack .375 2434 1990 1994 633 2161 668 67 200 5 381 .309 .854
9 Corey Koskie .373 3257 1998 2004 816 2788 781 101 385 39 647 .280 .836
10 Doug Mientkiewicz .367 2505 1998 2004 643 2147 590 43 300 23 308 .275 .776
11 Kent Hrbek .367 7137 1981 1994 1747 6192 1749 293 838 110 798 .282 .848
12 Lyman Bostock .366 1577 1975 1977 379 1436 456 18 112 12 138 .318 .812
13 Paul Molitor .362 1885 1996 1998 422 1700 530 23 146 23 186 .312 .794
14 Bob Allison .361 4643 1961 1970 1236 3926 999 211 641 25 842 .254 .840
15 Kirby Puckett .360 7831 1984 1995 1783 7244 2304 207 450 85 965 .318 .837
16 Lenny Green .359 1754 1961 1964 485 1514 406 27 204 5 113 .268 .742
17 Denard Span .357 2671 2008 2012 589 2354 669 23 254 6 321 .284 .746
18 Luis Castillo .357 1036 2006 2007 227 933 279 3 85 0 86 .299 .720
19 Earl Battey .356 3161 1961 1967 853 2762 768 76 328 35 315 .278 .765
20 Shannon Stewart .354 1523 2003 2006 333 1373 404 29 120 7 172 .294 .772
21 Larry Hisle .354 2764 1973 1977 662 2437 697 87 251 19 478 .286 .811
22 Josh Willingham .353 1364 2012 2014 324 1132 263 61 184 9 347 .232 .799
23 Tony Oliva .353 6880 1962 1976 1676 6301 1917 220 448 131 645 .304 .830
24 Roy Smalley .350 4676 1976 1987 1148 3997 1046 110 549 31 606 .262 .750
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2015.

To qualify for this Twins career OBP leaders list the player had to have a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Minnesota Twin and have a OBP equal to or greater than .350 . The players above made the cut, anyone on this list surprise you? Joe Mauer is the Twins career OBP leader and yet he still takes a lot of abuse for his hitting. I think we need to appreciate Joe Mauer for the hitter he is. Just missing the cut, Lew Ford

 

Twins Career OPS Leaders

Harmon Killebrew

Rk Player OPS PA From To G AB H 2B 3B HR BB BA OBP SLG
1 Harmon Killebrew .901 8018 1961 1974 1939 6593 1713 232 21 475 1321 .260 .383 .518
2 Chili Davis .862 1163 1991 1992 291 978 276 61 3 41 168 .282 .385 .476
3 Joe Mauer .860 5578 2004 2014 1298 4833 1540 309 22 109 676 .319 .401 .459
4 Shane Mack .854 2434 1990 1994 633 2161 668 119 24 67 200 .309 .375 .479
5 Kent Hrbek .848 7137 1981 1994 1747 6192 1749 312 18 293 838 .282 .367 .481
6 Rod Carew .841 6980 1967 1978 1635 6235 2085 305 90 74 613 .334 .393 .448
7 Bob Allison .840 4643 1961 1970 1236 3926 999 167 41 211 641 .254 .361 .479
8 Kirby Puckett .837 7831 1984 1995 1783 7244 2304 414 57 207 450 .318 .360 .477
9 Corey Koskie .836 3257 1998 2004 816 2788 781 180 13 101 385 .280 .373 .463
10 Justin Morneau .832 5350 2003 2013 1278 4749 1318 289 16 221 501 .278 .347 .485
11 Tony Oliva .830 6880 1962 1976 1676 6301 1917 329 48 220 448 .304 .353 .476
12 Don Mincher .824 1762 1961 1966 590 1511 369 73 9 90 220 .244 .341 .483
13 Jimmie Hall .815 2102 1963 1966 573 1885 507 73 16 98 191 .269 .334 .481
14 Lyman Bostock .812 1577 1975 1977 379 1436 456 78 26 18 112 .318 .366 .446
15 Larry Hisle .811 2764 1973 1977 662 2437 697 109 23 87 251 .286 .354 .457
16 David Ortiz .809 1693 1997 2002 455 1477 393 108 3 58 186 .266 .348 .461
17 Matt Lawton .808 3150 1995 2001 771 2672 739 163 13 72 408 .277 .379 .428
18 Chuck Knoblauch .807 4573 1991 1997 1013 3939 1197 210 51 43 513 .304 .391 .416
19 Josh Willingham .799 1364 2012 2014 324 1132 263 55 2 61 184 .232 .353 .446
20 Marty Cordova .799 2620 1995 1999 628 2322 643 139 14 79 233 .277 .348 .451
21 Michael Cuddyer .794 4555 2001 2011 1139 4072 1106 239 35 141 411 .272 .343 .451
22 Paul Molitor .794 1885 1996 1998 422 1700 530 102 17 23 146 .312 .362 .432
23 Gary Ward .794 1681 1979 1983 417 1543 439 80 20 51 115 .285 .333 .461
24 Torii Hunter .793 4894 1997 2007 1234 4492 1218 259 26 192 319 .271 .324 .469
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2015.

To qualify for this Twins career OPS leaders list the player had to have a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Minnesota Twin and have a OPS equal to or greater than .790 . AJ Pierzynski just missed the cut at .788 . Number three on this list is Joe Mauer and we continue to bash him for not hitting more home runs.

Remembering 1965 – the manager – Part 3

 Sabath Anthony “Sam” Mele 

 Sam Mele

Sabath Anthony “Sam” Mele was born in Astoria, New York on January 21, 1922. Sam Mele‘s parents were born in Avellino, Italy although they met in America. Mele’s mother was sister to big league brothers Al and Tony Cuccinello. Mele, a natural all-around athlete and a Queens Park baseball legend attended New York University where he lettered in both baseball and basketball but he excelled in basketball. After his time at NYU Mele   served his country by joining the Marines during World War II. Mele however; wanted to play pro baseball and was signed as a free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1946. In his first year of organized ball, Mele played 119 games for Scranton (A ball in the Easter League) hitting .342 with 18 home runs before being moved up to Louisville in the AAA American Association where he played all of 15 games. Mele made his major league debut with the Red Sox the following year against the Washington Senators on April 15, 1947. His rookie season may have been one of the best of his career as Sam hit 12 home runs and knocked in 73 runs in 123 games while hitting .302. Mele would never hit over .300 again in his 10 year major league career. During his playing career spanning 1947 to 1956, Mele, who batted and threw right-handed, saw duty with six major league clubs: the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, batting .267 with 80 home runs in 1,046 games. Sam Mele played his final major league game as a Cleveland Indian on September 16, 1956. Mele played AAA ball with for the White Sox and Athletics in 1957 and 1958 but never returned to the majors as a player.

Sam Mele in his playing days
Sam Mele in his playing days

Mele turned to coaching and served under manager Cookie Lavagetto in 1959 and 1960 for the Washington Senators before the team moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became known as the Twins. With the ‘61 Twins struggling, Calvin Griffith asked Lavagetto to take a week off to go fishing and clear his head in early June and during this period Mele filled in as manager. When Cookie Lavagetto was fired on June 23, 1961, Sam Mele who was 39 with no managerial experience stepped in as manager full-time and became the Minnesota Twins second manager. The Twins moved up two places in the standings under Mele, finishing seventh.

But the Twins, building with young home-grown players like future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, Jim Kaat, Zoilo Versalles and Bob Allison, challenged the powerful New York Yankees in 1962 before finishing second. After finishing third in 1963, the team suffered through a poor season in 1964, leading to speculation that Mele would be replaced by his new third base coach, Billy Martin.

Finally, in 1965 the Twins broke the Yankees’ string of five World Series appearances by winning their first ever American League pennant and sent the Bronx Bombers on a tailspin where the New York Yankees would not appear in another World Series for 12 years. Led by Versalles, who was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player, batting champion Tony Oliva, and pitcher Mudcat Grant, who won 21 games, Minnesota won 102 games and coasted to the league title. The Yankees finished sixth, 25 games out. No Twins team has ever won 102 games since and Mele was named as the 1965 Sporting News Manager of the Year and back then there was only one manager of the year named for both the AL and NL. Minnesota took a two-game lead in the 1965 World Series, but the superior pitching of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen took its toll, and Los Angeles won in seven games. During the 1965 season Mele was involved in a an incident with home plate umpire Bill Valentine. The usually mild-mannered Mele’s hand apparently hit Valentine’s jaw and he was fined $500 and suspended five days.

The 1966 Twins won 13 fewer games, and ended up as runners-up to the Baltimore Orioles. Mele had clashed publicly with two of his coaches, Hal Naragon and pitching tutor Johnny Sain and both were fired after the 1966 season much to the dismay of star pitcher Jim Kaat who wrote an “open letter” to Twins fans voicing his displeasure on the Sain firing. The “letter” made national news and caused a ruckus during the 1966 World Series when major league baseball wanted the World Series front and center. The club swung a major trade for pitcher Dean Chance during the offseason and unveiled star rookie Rod Carew in 1967. Hopes and expectations were high in Minnesota, but when the Twins were only .500 after 50 games, Mele was fired. His successor was not Martin, as had been anticipated, but long time minor league manager Cal Ermer. Mele’s record as a manager was 524-436 (.546). He never managed again, but returned to the Red Sox as a scout for 25 years.

Now days Sam Mele is retired and is living in Quincy, Massachusetts. I was lucky enough to interview Sam Mele back in May of 2009 and the interview is about a 1/2 hour-long so grab the beverage of your choice, sit back, relax and listen to Sam tell you a little about himself and what it was like to manage the Minnesota Twins.

The interview with Sam Mele was done in May 2009 and is about 35 minutes long.

The Sam Mele SABR Baseball Biography is available here.

Piece by centerfieldmaz on Sam Mele

Twins and post season play

As 2014 is coming to an end it is a good time to look back on another Twins season, their fourth in a row without post season play. But you have to be a winner to make post season play and the Twins have been anything but a winner the last few years. It has been a toss-up when you try to determine who has been more inept, the Twins players on the field or the ownership and Twins executives that sit behind their desks and make the decisions that determine the experience that Twins fans will have to live with during the up-coming season.

The Twins have had many losing seasons over the years and the real core Twins fans complained but they accepted the team they had and they looked forward to the next season with renewed hope for more wins “next year”. But it is seems different now, I am not sure why, maybe the fans are more passionate, maybe it is social media that allows Twins fans to better express their frustrations but today’s Twins fans are just plain mad and disgusted with the caliber of play their home team has displayed since the 2010 ended. Hopefully the Minnesota Twins organization feels some of the passion that Twins fans have and will start to look at the product from the fans perspective and see what they can do to make the fans experience a little more fun and and not so tough on the wallet.

Since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins the team has played 8,617 regular season games, winning 4,274, losing 4,335 and playing to a tie on eight occasions in 54 seasons of play. Boy, how time flies by, I still remember that 1961 season.

Looking back at Twins history they have two World Series winners and a third World Series appearance in which they lost game seven to Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition to the 8,617 regular season games the team has played a total of 64 post season games winning 25 and losing 39. Their last post season appearance was in 2010 and that brief playoff run lasted just three games when they were swept by the New York Yankees 3 games to zip. The teams last post season win was back in 2004 (if I am not mistaken that is about 10 years ago, YIKES!) when they beat the Yankees in game 1 of the ALDS series before losing the next three games.

So let’s take a look at the hitting and pitching statistics of the Minnesota Twins in post season play. Let’s see who stood out under the bright lights of post season play and who couldn’t or didn’t deliver when the pressure was on. The names you will see below will bring back many memories, some good, some bad, some sad and in some cases you will say “who in the hell is so and so, I don’t remember him”. But it is fun looking back.

 Hitting in Post Season (had at least one PA)

Rk Player #Matching PA ? AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP OPS SB
1 Dan Gladden 24 115 104 17 29 6 3 1 15 9 12 .279 .348 .771 7
2 Kirby Puckett 24 109 97 16 30 3 2 5 15 8 17 .309 .361 .897 3
3 Kent Hrbek 24 103 91 10 14 1 0 3 12 11 12 .154 .252 .516 0
4 Greg Gagne 24 96 89 12 19 5 0 4 10 5 22 .213 .271 .675 0
5 Torii Hunter 21 88 80 15 24 8 1 3 8 5 11 .300 .337 .875 2
6 Jacque Jones 18 79 76 6 15 5 0 2 5 1 23 .197 .215 .557 0
7 Michael Cuddyer 21 78 74 5 25 2 1 2 8 4 18 .338 .372 .845 0
8 Corey Koskie 18 78 67 8 15 4 1 1 9 7 21 .224 .321 .679 0
9 Cristian Guzman 18 75 67 9 16 3 0 1 2 5 12 .239 .301 .630 3
10 Doug Mientkiewicz 14 56 53 4 12 1 0 2 6 3 5 .226 .268 .626 0
11 Chuck Knoblauch 12 55 46 8 15 3 0 0 5 7 5 .326 .407 .799 6
12 Harmon Killebrew 13 54 40 6 10 1 0 3 6 14 10 .250 .444 .944 0
13 Tony Oliva 13 53 51 7 16 5 0 3 5 2 10 .314 .340 .928 1
14 Gary Gaetti 12 53 47 9 13 3 1 3 9 3 8 .277 .340 .914 2
15 A.J. Pierzynski 14 50 45 6 14 0 1 2 7 4 4 .311 .360 .849 0
16 Tom Brunansky 12 50 42 10 12 4 0 2 11 8 7 .286 .400 .924 1
17 Shane Mack 11 44 41 4 9 2 1 0 4 2 11 .220 .250 .567 2
18 Luis Rivas 14 43 38 3 6 1 0 0 1 2 9 .158 .195 .379 0
19 Tim Laudner 12 43 36 5 8 2 0 1 6 7 9 .222 .349 .710 0
20 Chili Davis 11 42 35 7 9 2 0 2 6 7 11 .257 .381 .867 1
21 Brian Harper 11 41 39 3 13 4 0 0 2 2 4 .333 .366 .802 0
22 Joe Mauer 9 39 35 1 10 1 0 0 1 4 7 .286 .359 .673 0
23 Shannon Stewart 8 38 35 1 10 2 0 0 2 2 6 .286 .316 .659 1
24 Steve Lombardozzi 11 37 32 5 11 1 0 1 5 4 4 .344 .417 .885 0
25 Jason Kubel 8 32 29 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 13 .069 .156 .260 0
26 Bob Allison 10 30 26 3 2 1 0 1 3 3 10 .077 .167 .397 1
27 Zoilo Versalles 7 30 28 3 8 1 1 1 4 2 7 .286 .333 .833 1
28 David Ortiz 9 29 29 0 8 3 0 0 4 0 10 .276 .276 .655 0
29 Justin Morneau 7 29 29 4 9 3 0 2 4 0 3 .310 .310 .931 0
30 Mike Pagliarulo 11 28 26 5 8 1 0 2 5 1 4 .308 .333 .910 0
31 Matt LeCroy 10 28 26 2 7 0 0 0 1 2 9 .269 .321 .591 0
32 Denard Span 6 28 28 1 10 1 0 0 1 0 2 .357 .357 .750 1
33 Delmon Young 6 27 24 2 5 1 1 0 0 2 6 .208 .296 .630 1
34 Cesar Tovar 6 27 26 2 6 0 1 0 1 1 2 .231 .259 .567 1
35 Randy Bush 11 26 22 5 5 1 1 0 4 3 4 .227 .308 .671 3
36 Frank Quilici 9 26 22 2 4 2 0 0 1 4 4 .182 .308 .580 0
37 Leo Cardenas 6 26 24 1 4 0 1 0 1 1 8 .167 .200 .450 0
38 Don Mincher 7 25 23 3 3 0 0 1 1 2 7 .130 .200 .461 0
39 Earl Battey 7 25 25 1 3 0 1 0 2 0 5 .120 .120 .320 0
40 Nick Punto 6 25 21 0 6 1 0 0 1 3 2 .286 .375 .708 0
41 Don Baylor 7 21 18 3 7 0 0 1 4 1 1 .389 .476 1.032 0
42 Joe Nossek 6 21 20 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .400 0
43 Rich Reese 5 21 19 0 3 0 0 0 2 2 2 .158 .238 .396 0
44 Scott Leius 9 20 18 2 5 0 0 1 2 2 3 .278 .350 .794 0
45 Rod Carew 5 17 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .063 .118 .180 0
46 George Mitterwald 4 16 15 2 5 1 0 0 2 1 5 .333 .375 .775 0
47 Dustan Mohr 7 15 14 4 7 2 0 0 0 1 4 .500 .533 1.176 1
48 Orlando Cabrera 3 15 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 .154 .267 .421 1
49 Lew Ford 4 14 12 1 3 1 0 0 2 0 3 .250 .357 .690 1
50 Luis Castillo 3 14 11 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 .273 .429 .701 0
51 Jim Thome 3 13 10 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 .100 .308 .408 0
52 Orlando Hudson 3 13 12 2 4 0 0 1 2 0 2 .333 .333 .917 0
53 Gene Larkin 12 12 11 1 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 .273 .333 .697 0
54 Rondell White 3 12 12 1 5 1 0 1 2 0 0 .417 .417 1.167 0
55 Brendan Harris 3 12 12 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 .250 .250 .667 0
56 Al Newman 6 11 9 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 .222 .300 .744 0
57 Sandy Valdespino 5 11 11 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 .273 .273 .636 0
58 Danny Valencia 3 11 9 1 2 1 0 0 2 1 3 .222 .273 .606 0
59 Jason Bartlett 3 11 11 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 .273 .273 .636 0
60 Henry Blanco 4 10 8 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 .250 .222 .847 0
61 J.J. Hardy 3 10 10 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .100 .100 .300 0
62 Danny Thompson 3 9 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .125 .222 .472 0
63 Mudcat Grant 3 9 8 3 2 1 0 1 3 0 1 .250 .250 1.000 0
64 Brant Alyea 3 9 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 .222 .222 0
65 Bobby Kielty 7 8 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 .000 .125 .125 0
66 Junior Ortiz 4 8 8 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .125 .125 .250 0
67 Jason Tyner 2 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .000 .250 .250 1
68 Jimmie Hall 2 8 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .143 .250 .393 0
69 Jim Kaat 4 7 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 6 .143 .143 .286 0
70 Rick Renick 3 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .333 0
71 Denny Hocking 3 6 6 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .500 .500 1.167 0
72 Ted Uhlaender 2 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .167 .333 0
73 Matt Tolbert 2 6 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .333 .533 0
74 Carlos Gomez 1 6 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 .333 .333 0
75 John Roseboro 2 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .400 0
76 Jim Holt 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
77 Paul Sorrento 4 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 .250 .250 0
78 Roy Smalley 4 4 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 .500 .750 1.750 0
79 Jim Perry 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
80 Paul Ratliff 1 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .500 0
81 Dave Boswell 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 .000 .000 0
82 Rich Rollins 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .333 .333 0
83 Jose Offerman 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
84 Tom Prince 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
85 Phil Nevin 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
86 Jose Morales 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
87 Sal Butera 1 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 .667 1.333 0
88 Charlie Manuel 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .500 .500 0
89 Les Straker 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
90 Jack Morris 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
91 Jarvis Brown 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
92 Pat Borders 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
93 Bert Blyleven 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
94 Jerry Zimmerman 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
95 Dick Woodson 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0
96 Stan Williams 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0
97 Frank Viola 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
98 Kevin Tapani 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
99 Mike Ryan 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
100 Ron Perranoski 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
101 Camilo Pascual 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
102 Graig Nettles 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0
103 Tom Hall 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
104 Scott Erickson 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
105 Mark Davidson 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
106 Rick Aguilera 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2014.

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Pitching in Post Season (faced at least one batter)

Rk Player #Matching W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO SV IP ? H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Jack Morris 5 4 0 1.000 2.23 5 1 1 0 36.1 35 9 1 10 22 1.24
2 Brad Radke 6 2 3 .400 3.60 6 0 0 0 35.0 37 14 6 8 17 1.29
3 Johan Santana 11 1 3 .250 3.97 5 0 0 0 34.0 35 15 2 10 32 1.32
4 Frank Viola 5 3 1 .750 4.31 5 0 0 0 31.1 31 15 3 8 25 1.24
5 Bert Blyleven 5 3 1 .750 3.18 4 0 0 0 28.1 27 10 3 5 23 1.13
6 Mudcat Grant 3 2 1 .667 2.74 3 2 0 0 23.0 22 7 3 2 12 1.04
7 Kevin Tapani 4 1 2 .333 6.04 4 0 0 0 22.1 29 15 1 5 16 1.52
8 Jim Perry 5 0 1 .000 6.75 2 0 0 0 17.1 21 13 6 6 10 1.56
9 Joe Mays 3 1 1 .500 4.76 3 0 0 0 17.0 21 9 4 2 4 1.35
10 Jim Kaat 4 1 3 .250 4.41 4 1 0 0 16.1 24 8 1 4 7 1.71
11 Eric Milton 3 1 0 1.000 1.65 2 0 0 0 16.1 13 3 2 3 9 0.98
12 Scott Erickson 3 0 0 4.91 3 0 0 0 14.2 13 8 4 9 7 1.50
13 Dave Boswell 2 0 1 .000 1.35 1 0 0 0 13.1 10 2 0 9 7 1.43
14 Carl Pavano 2 0 2 .000 4.15 2 0 0 0 13.0 15 6 3 1 12 1.23
15 Carl Willis 7 0 0 2.92 0 0 0 0 12.1 8 4 2 2 5 0.81
16 Kyle Lohse 5 0 2 .000 3.00 1 0 0 0 12.0 9 4 1 2 14 0.92
17 Les Straker 3 0 0 6.94 3 0 0 0 11.2 12 9 1 7 7 1.63
18 Rick Reed 3 0 2 .000 8.18 2 0 0 0 11.0 15 10 6 2 8 1.55
19 Juan Berenguer 7 0 1 .000 5.23 0 0 0 1 10.1 11 6 1 3 7 1.35
20 Jeff Reardon 8 1 1 .500 2.70 0 0 0 3 10.0 12 3 1 3 8 1.50
21 J.C. Romero 12 0 1 .000 5.59 0 0 0 0 9.2 10 6 1 6 7 1.66
22 Juan Rincon 8 0 0 5.19 0 0 0 0 8.2 6 5 1 6 9 1.38
23 Dan Schatzeder 5 1 0 1.000 3.12 0 0 0 0 8.2 6 3 0 3 8 1.04
24 Rick Aguilera 7 1 1 .500 1.08 0 0 0 5 8.1 7 1 0 1 6 0.96
25 Brian Duensing 2 0 2 .000 11.25 2 0 0 0 8.0 14 10 2 2 4 2.00
26 Joe Nathan 6 0 1 .000 4.70 0 0 0 1 7.2 8 4 1 6 9 1.83
27 Francisco Liriano 2 0 0 5.87 1 0 0 0 7.2 7 5 1 4 8 1.43
28 Ron Perranoski 5 0 1 .000 10.29 0 0 0 0 7.0 13 8 0 1 5 2.00
29 LaTroy Hawkins 10 1 0 1.000 6.75 0 0 0 0 6.2 9 5 0 1 11 1.50
30 Mark Guthrie 6 1 1 .500 1.35 0 0 0 0 6.2 3 1 0 4 3 1.05
31 Tom Hall 3 0 1 .000 6.00 1 0 0 0 6.0 6 4 1 4 6 1.67
32 Stan Williams 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 6.0 2 0 0 1 2 0.50
33 Boof Bonser 1 0 0 3.00 1 0 0 0 6.0 7 2 0 1 3 1.33
34 David West 4 1 0 1.000 6.35 0 0 0 0 5.2 3 4 1 8 4 1.94
35 Nick Blackburn 1 0 0 1.59 1 0 0 0 5.2 3 1 0 2 3 0.88
36 Al Worthington 3 0 0 1.69 0 0 0 0 5.1 5 1 0 2 3 1.31
37 Eddie Guardado 5 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 3 5.0 10 5 2 2 5 2.40
38 Carlos Silva 1 0 1 .000 10.80 1 0 0 0 5.0 10 6 1 0 1 2.00
39 Camilo Pascual 1 0 1 .000 5.40 1 0 0 0 5.0 8 3 0 1 0 1.80
40 Matt Guerrier 5 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 4.2 1 0 0 1 4 0.43
41 Steve Bedrosian 5 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 4.2 6 2 0 2 4 1.71
42 Jim Merritt 2 0 0 2.70 0 0 0 0 3.1 2 1 0 0 1 0.60
43 Jon Rauch 5 0 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 3.0 1 1 0 2 1 1.00
44 Terry Mulholland 1 0 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 3.0 3 1 1 0 0 1.00
45 Dick Woodson 2 0 0 10.12 0 0 0 0 2.2 5 3 0 4 2 3.38
46 Johnny Klippstein 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 2 0 0 2 3 1.50
47 Brian Fuentes 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 1 0 0 0 2 0.38
48 Grant Balfour 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 0 0 0 0 2 0.00
49 Terry Leach 2 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 2.1 2 1 0 0 2 0.86
50 Scott Baker 1 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 2.1 3 1 1 0 2 1.29
51 Jose Mijares 5 0 1 .000 4.50 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 1 1 2 0 1.50
52 Joe Niekro 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 1.00
53 George Frazier 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0.50
54 Dean Chance 1 0 0 13.50 0 0 0 0 2.0 4 3 1 0 2 2.00
55 Michael Jackson 4 0 0 16.20 0 0 0 0 1.2 6 3 0 2 2 4.80
56 Jesse Crain 4 0 1 .000 16.20 0 0 0 0 1.2 7 3 2 1 1 4.80
57 Ron Mahay 3 0 0 5.40 0 0 0 0 1.2 0 1 0 1 2 0.60
58 Keith Atherton 3 0 0 5.40 0 0 0 0 1.2 1 1 0 1 0 1.20
59 Bob Miller 1 0 1 .000 5.40 1 0 0 0 1.2 5 1 0 0 0 3.00
60 Bill Zepp 2 0 0 6.75 0 0 0 0 1.1 2 1 1 2 2 3.00
61 Kenny Rogers 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 1 3 1.50
62 Tony Fiore 1 0 0 20.25 0 0 0 0 1.1 4 3 0 2 0 4.50
63 Bob Wells 2 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 2 2.00
64 Dennys Reyes 2 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 3.00
65 Pat Neshek 2 0 1 .000 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 0 0 1 1.00
66 Bill Pleis 1 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 2.00
67 Matt Capps 1 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 0 2.00
68 Luis Tiant 1 0 0 13.50 0 0 0 0 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 1.50
69 Joe Grzenda 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
70 Glen Perkins 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 6.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2014.

Since the Twins started play in 1961 through the 2014 season a total of 751 players have put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and appeared in a game either as a hitter or a pitcher. Only 162 of them or 21.57% have appeared in a Twins post season game over the 54 seasons the Twins have called Minnesota home.