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
A quick look at Twins rookies over the years and how many hits they had in their rookie season. To make the list they had to have 100 or more hits in their first season in the big leagues.
Acting GM Rob Antony verified this morning that Miguel Sano, one of the Twins top prospects is out for the 2014 season and will be under-going “Tommy John” surgery sometime next week. Sano has had elbow issues off and on since late last season and had been shut down this past winter but was given the green light in late January to resume baseball activities. Sano made a strong throw on a slow roller during an inter-squad game on Thursday and felt something in his elbow. Sano was removed from the game shortly thereafter and had an MRI on Friday afternoon. This morning Sano learned the results and nows faces surgery and a long and difficult recovery.
Miguel Sano
This is such a tough break in so many ways for both Sano and the Twins but at least it is a definitive diagnosis and steps can now be taken to get the issue remedied. The moaning has already started among some Twins fans that surgery should have been done right away last fall and that rest seldom corrects these kinds of issues but to me it just makes no sense to have any kind of surgery unless there are no alternatives. All lesser invasive options needs to be exhausted before surgery is selected and I think that the Twins and Sano went about this the right way. For a player that loves playing baseball as much as Sano does, this has to be heart breaking and particularly disheartening when this was probably going to be the year that he first put on a big league uniform. For the Twins who come off three consecutive 90+ losing seasons it hurts when a young up and coming slugger has to lose a year of development. I know I was expecting to see Miguel Sano playing 3B for the Twins at Target Field at some point this season and it just seems like another kick in the gut to many Twins fans that were hoping to see one of the Twins prospects arrive in Minnesota. But many times what appears to be a door closing may actually lead to another opening so now we just have to wait and see what is behind door number two. Good luck Miguel and here is to a swift recovery.
Most of the Twins players had already left for JetBlue to play the Red Sox in the first exhibition game of the season by the time I arrived at Hammond Stadium yesterday so it was a relatively quiet day. I watched players like Aaron Hicks, Josh Willingham, Joe Mauer and numerous others taking batting practice. It was interesting watching BP as Rod Carew and other coaches looked on and gave the hitters situations such as “bases loaded” and then told the hitters where they wanted them to hit the ball. I was amazed at how often these guys put the ball exactly where they were asked to hit it. But thn again this was BP and not a game situation. Later I watched Rod Carew as he had a number of players work on their bunting skills. Some of these hitters looked like they had never been asked to bunt in their life. I can’t help but wonder how players in a big league ST camp can be such poor bunters.
I had a chace to spend a few minutes talking with Bill Springman the Twins minor league hitting coordinator who has had the job since 2007. Springman was fun to talk with about his job, travel and all the former Twins players that he has tutored over the years. Springman loves the Twins organization for many reasons and feels it is one of the best organizations that you can possible work for. One of those reasons is GM Terry Ryan and Springman has great respect for Ryan and how he runs his operation. I am hoping to hook up with Bill again this summer and get his view-point on how the future Twins are doing in the system.
There was just a few players on one of the minor league fields getting in some early workouts but the entire minor league contingent will be arriving in the next few days and soon those fields will be buzzing with activity. It is always fun watching those groups when they start playing games in the next week or so.
The Twins have 64 players in camp, 29 pitchers, 8 catchers, 15 infielders and 12 outfielders. It won’t be long before those numbers start to dwindle.
The Minnesota Twins spring training home from 1961 – 1990 is scheduled for demolition some time in the next 60 days. The Twins left Orlando after the 1990 season and moved their spring training home to Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers prior to their 1991 championship season. Numerous teams including the Minnesota Twins had minor league teams that played in Tinker Field as part of the Florida State League and the Southern League.
The ballpark was built-in 1923 at a cost of $50,000 and named for former Chicago Cubs player and Hall of Famer Joe Tinker. It hosted the Cincinnati Reds for spring training in the 1920s, and the Brooklyn Dodgers for two seasons in the 1930s. The Washington Senators and later the Minnesota Twins held spring training camp there from the mid-’30s until 1990. Numerous Hall of Famers including Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson have played there. Tinker Field’s history isn’t limited to baseball, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at a civil-rights rally there in 1964.
On May 14, 2004, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places but now it is slated to be torn down in the name of progress. The main reason? The renovation of the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium, which abuts the baseball field, includes a larger enclosed concourse that will encroach onto Tinker Field. The ballpark will lose about 80 feet of its outfield, putting the outfield fence as close as 240 feet from home plate.
For me personally,it is sad that Tinker Field will soon be torn down as it is the first place that I ever attended spring training when I spend a few days there back in 1971 watching the Twins go through their spring paces.
If the reports are true, the Colorado Rockies and long-time Twins first baseman Justin Morneau have agreed on a two-year $13 million deal. After signing Morneau the Rockies will have two players on their roster that spent all or parts of 10 or more season wearing a Twins uniform. Morneau will join Michael Cuddyer in Colorado. Former Twins LaTroy Hawkins who logged nine seasons with Minnesota and has played with 10 different major league teams will also call Colorado home this season .
Now days with arbitration and free agency players don’t stay with an organization that long and to play for a team for 10 years is getting to be a tougher and tougher task. Since the Twins started here in 1961 there have been 22 players that logged 10 or more season in a Twins uniform with Tony Oliva leading the pack with 15 notches in his belt. The only active player on the list is Joe Mauer and if he stays in Minnesota through 2018 when his current contract expires, he will also wear that Minnesota across his chest for 15 years.
Players that played in Minnesota for all or parts of 10 seasons
The Twins off-season got started with bang yesterday when the Twins announced that six-time All-Star and former AL MVP catcher Joe Mauer was leaving the tools of ignorance behind and moving to first base full-time. The Twins having been saying all along that Mauer was free of his concussion symptoms and that he was their catcher unless they heard differently. But yet GM Terry Ryan needed to know for sure where Mauer was going to play in 2014. Mauer is a foundation player the team needs to build around and they need to know what building blocks they need and the sooner that Mauer made a decision on his future, the sooner Ryan can begin to assemble his team. So I can’t help but wonder how much pressure the Twins applied to Mauer to get him to make a decision on what position he wanted to call home in 2014 and beyond. I know that Mauer is a great player but how many baseball teams have waited on one of their players to tell them where he wants to play?
Mauer said the decision was both difficult but yet easy, I think I can understand what he is saying. Mauer had to be thinking he had a shot at being the Twins catcher for as long as he wanted and that down the line the Hall of Fame would be calling. But then Joe’s life changed when he got married after the 2012 season and before he knew it, he was the father of twins himself. Later in the 2013 season he suffered through a serious concussion and his season ended 6 week earlier then he had planned. Mauer is a proud man and giving up catching, something he has done his entire life had to be hard. But Mauer is also a smart man and he understands that family and health always comes first. Money will never be an issue for Joe and his family but his health could become a problem if he continued to catch. Mix in what his good friend Justin Morneau went through, all the other catcher concussion issues in 2013 and all the recent reports of football players and their problems and Joe really had no choice. Joe Mauer, always the team player and being the good guy he is stepped up and informed the Twins that his decision was made.
The griping is rampant that first base is a power position and it normally is but there have been a number of very good first basemen since 1960 that hit 15 or fewer home runs, knocked in 90 to 111 RBI and hit for a high average. Players like Rod Carew, Keith Hernandez, Mark Grace, and Pete Rose come to mind and they were pretty good players. It will be interesting also to see if moving from a tough position like catcher to an easier position to play like first base actually makes Mauer an even better hitter. Something akin to a pitcher moving from starting to relief and picking up a few MPH on his fastball.
Mauer moving to first base has huge implications on numerous players. I doubt that Justin Morneau entertained thoughts of returning to Minnesota anyway but this move puts an end to that possibility. Chris Colabello might as well call his agent and ask him to pursue a trade. Chris Parmelee instantly became an outfielder and sometimes first baseman. But who is going to replace Mauer behind home plate? The Twins have four catchers on the roster at the present time, Josmil Pinto, Chris Herrmann, Eric Fryer and Ryan Doumit. Each and every one of these guys has some warts, Doumit is a decent hitter but a poor catcher plus he had his own bout with a concussion last season, you have to wonder if he wants to catch any more. Herrmann seems like he has been around for ever but he is only 25 but I don’t think the Twins envision him as a full-time catcher. The 28 year-old Fryer can’t hit a lick and the Twins are the fourth organization that he has played with. That leaves us with Josmil Pinto, 24, who was a September call-up and appeared in 21 games hitting .342 with four home runs. With just 21 big league games under his belt and just 19 AAA games you have to wonder if he is ready to make the jump to the big leagues as a full-time catcher. Mauer only caught 5 games in AAA but Pinto is not Joe Mauer. You also keep hearing that Pinto’s catching skills still need work but you can use that excuse on most any catcher. The Twins could go out and sign a free agent veteran but does a team that lost 96 games two years in a row want to spend money on a veteran catcher? I am not sure I would but there is one catcher that I would sign if the price was right and if he was willing to come back to Minnesota. A.J. Pierzynski would be the one catcher I would be willing to spend a few dollars to sign. Why? Because the man comes to play every day, he can hit, he is a decent catcher that would help the Twins pitching staff, he can teach Pinto what it takes to be a big league catcher and most of all Pierzynski will teach the entire team what it takes to win. The Twins could do a lot worse than signing A.J. for a year or two.
Jason Bartlett
Almost lost in all the Joe Mauer news is the fact that the Twins signed former Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett to a minor league deal. The Twins originally acquired Bartlett from the San Diego Padres in a trade for Brian Buchanan in July 2002. Bartlett played short for the Twins from 2004-2007 but did not earn a full-time gig at short until 2007. Then after the 2007 season then GM Bill Smith sent him, Matt Garza, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie. Bartlett spent 2008-2010 in Tampa before being traded back to the Padres who had originally drafted and signed him in 2001. Bartlett spent 2011 as the Padres shortstop but injured his knee early in 2012 and missed the remainder of the season and didn’t play at all in 2013. Now that Bartlett feels that his knee is healthy again he wants to play again and the Twins are going to give him that chance.
What I find interesting about the Twins signing the 34 year-old Bartlett is that he only plays short. Bartlett has played ever inning of his big league carer at short except for one inning back in 2004 when he moved over to second base for the Twins. This does not Bartlett much of a candidate for the utility man role. That means that the Twins are bringing Bartlett to push Pedro Florimon for the starting shortstop job. Florimon was rated one of the leagues better fielding shortstops but hitting .221 in 134 games has left a lot to be desired. Every team including the Twins claims to value defense, particularly up the middle, but in reality offense trumps defense. Particularly with a team like the Twins who had trouble scoring runs, you sacrifice some defense to score some runs. If Bartlett is healthy and shows that he can still hit, he could well be the starting shortstop when the Twins open the 2014 season.
An interesting 5 minute 11 second video clip by WTCN (KARE 11) Jeff Passolt done in 1984 about the life and times of the Minnesota Twins first owner. There is a short but nice aerial shot of Met Stadium that you might also enjoy as well as a peek at a young Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and several other players.
I did a piece about Calvin Griffith when he was inducted in to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 that you can view at http://wp.me/p1YQUj-Ce .
The Twins have hit three gand slam home runs so far this year. Five Twins players (Allison, Carew, Hrbek, Puckett and Hunter) have each hit three grand slam home runs in a single season. Eighty one different Twins players have hit home runs in a Twins uni with the bases loaded but only 33 players have done it more then once. But who is the Twins king of the grand salami? What Twins player has hit the most career grand slam home runs wearing a Twins uniform?
Who has hit the most grand slam home runs since 1961 you ask? None other then Alex Rodriguez who has 23. But then again how many would have he had hit if he had not juiced…. Manny Ramirez is next with 21.
Twins second baseman Brian Dozier has put on a nice power display this season while playing a position that is not expected to hit for power, at least not for the Minnesota Twins. The most home runs hit by a keystone position player was back in 1973 when Davey Johnson hit 43 long balls for the Atlanta Braves. The only other 2B to hit 40 or more home runs in a single season is Ryne Sandberg who hit 40 for Chicago’s Cubbies in 1990. The most home runs hit by an AL 2B was 39 by Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees back in 2002. No Twins 2B has come close to those kind of power numbers and the Twins top long ball hitting 2B is Tim Teufel who hit 14 in 1984. Here is a list of Twins second baseman that have hit 10 or more home runs in a single season while playing at least 75% of their games at second base.
It will be very interesting to see what happens next with Brian Dozier. Dozier has been playing great on defense and showing signs of becoming a better hitter. Hitting lead-off is not Dozier’s strong suit due to his poor OBP but since Gardy has no one else to fill the role, Dozier has been doing his best. Dozier is only 26 and in only his first full big league season so he still has a lot to learn but in my eyes he has earned the position. The question is if he can keep it since the Twins having been grooming Eddie Rosario for that role ever since they moved Rosario from the outfield a couple of years ago. Rosario may well be the better hitter long-term but you need a good defender at 2B and right now Dozier seems to fit the bill.
By the way, did you ever wonder why 2B is called the keystone position? Here is a nice explanation I found – It’s because first, second and third base can be connected to form an arch (think of the curved cut of the grass around the infield, for example) 2nd base is at the middle or top of the arch, and the stone that is put into the top of the arch is called a keystone. Ergo, the keystone position.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez ranks 2nd in the AL with 158 strikeouts this season, but did you know that he has recorded at least 150 strikeouts in each of his last 8 seasons, all in his age 27 season or younger? Hernandez joins Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (1971-78) and Walter Johnson (1908-1915) as the only pitchers to accomplish this.
Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier hit his 9th home run of the season yesterday. Did you know the last Twin 2B to hit double-digit home runs was Luis Rivas who hit 10 in 2004? The most home runs hit by a Twins player that played 2B at least 75% of the time is 14, a first accomplished by Rod Carew in 1975 and duplicated by Tim Teufel in 1984. Dozier has a shot at breaking that record this season. It will be very interesting to see what happens with Dozier who has Twins prospect Eddie Rosario right on his tail. Dozier is playing good defense and showing some power with the bat and his 37 RBI are not too shabby either but his .303 OBP works against him.
It is all over but the shouting if the scoreboard shows the Twins trailing after 7 innings this season. Their record? 3-46.
We will close with a couple of trivia questions for you. Only one Twins player has hit a home run in his first two major league games, name him.
One more, this former Twins player was the batter who hit the foul ball in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS at Wrigley Field that Cubs fan Steve Bartman prevented Cubs left fielder Moises Alou from catching with the Cubs leading 3-0 and five outs away from clinching the pennant. He eventually walked and scored as part of the Marlins’ eight-run inning. Who was he?
