Tag: Texas Rangers

Former Twin Mike ‘Cubby’ Cubbage dies at 74

Mike Cubbage

Michael Lee Cubbage, was born July 21, 1950, in Charlottesville, Virginia and passed away on August 10, 2024 after a near year-long battle with cancer, his wife, Jan, confirmed Sunday night, August 11. Cubbage was 74 years old.

Affectionately called “Cubby” by friends, family, players and coaches, Cubbage was a former Major League Baseball player and a pro baseball manager. He retired a couple of years ago after serving as one of the top scouts for the Washington Nationals.

He was a three-sport star at Charlottesville’s Lane High School, standing out in football, basketball and baseball before moving on to become a two-sport star at the University of Virginia, playing quarterback on the football team and becoming an All-ACC selection in baseball. Cubbage came from a baseball family that included cousins Larry Haney and Chris Haney, both major leaguer’s.

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The Minnesota Twins and Two Longstanding Streaks That Ended in 2023 – And Two More That May End in 2024

The year 2023 was a landmark year for breaking long-standing streaks in the world of American sports. Two of the most talked-about streaks that ended were the Minnesota Twins’ 18-game MLB playoffs losing streak and the Detroit Lions’ 32-year drought without an NFL postseason victory. As we look forward to the 2024 baseball season and beyond, fans are wondering which long-standing records may yet tumble.

When it comes to the Twins and the MLB in particular, expectations have already reached a fever pitch ahead of the new season getting underway. The Texas Rangers head into the season as the reigning champions after their fairytale campaign last year culminated with a first World Series in franchise history. The Lone Star State side headed into the postseason as rank outsiders after securing a mere fifth seeding in the American League. However, victories against the Tampa Bay Rays, the top seed Baltimore Orioles and the heavyweight Houston Astros secured a trip to the championship series for the first time since they lost back-to-back World Series in 2010 and 2011.

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The best bookies for betting on the MLB

Sports betting has taken America by storm over the last half-decade, but it has ramped up significantly over the last 18 months. More gambling companies have opened up to serve millions of new American bettors. Primarily, this is thanks to a combination of relaxed legislation and improved accessibility. As more sports fans seek out a greater range of markets, we’ve taken a look at the platforms that are best for baseball fans who are looking to bet on Major League games, and some of the components to keep an eye out for so that you can choose the betting platform that best suits your needs.

Accessing MLB betting welcome bonuses and promotions

No matter which sport you enjoy betting on, searching for welcome bonuses and promotions can often pay dividends. Ultimately, the whole purpose of a promotion is to give you free credits you can bet with so that you don’t have to dig too deep into your pocket. As the multibillion-dollar industry heats up in America, the most popular sports, such as MLB, become a key battleground for platforms seeking your patronage.

Although many sports betting companies have been trying to dominate individual sports betting markets for over a decade, household names like BetRivers Sportsbook have used their considerable size and capital to get ahead of everybody else. Betting on MLB might not involve the same sort of volume that the NFL or even the NBA attracts, but it’s still worth billions of dollars annually in the US.

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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 minor league players of the week are Henriquez & Palacios

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez and infielder Jermaine Palacios and both are with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints.

Ronny Henriquez was signed as international free agent by the Texas Rangers on July 3, 2017. Barely 5-10 and 150 pounds when he signed in 2017, he received just $10,000. But as a 17-year old he could already hit 93 with his fastball. Henriquez was acquired by the Minnesota Twins over the 2021 offseason in a trade with Texas, along with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, in exchange for catcher Mitch Garver. At the time of the trade Henriquez was rated the Rangers 15th best prospect. He is currently rated as the Twins 11th best prospect. This is the second time ths season Ronny Henriquez has won this award.

Henriquez, 22, appeared in one game in relief for the Saints this week versus Iowa, pitching 4 shutout innings, allowing five hits, no walks and four strikeouts. The Bonao, Dominican Republic native has gone 1-1, 3.12 ERA (26.0 IP, 9 ER) with eight walks and 29 strikeouts in his last six games (4 starts) for the Saints. Henriquez is currently on the Twins 40-man roster.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Henriquez & Wallner

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez and Double-A Wichita outfielder Matt Wallner.

Ronny Henriquez was signed as international free agent by the Texas Rangers on July 3, 2017. Barely 5-10 and 150 pounds when he signed in 2017, he received just $10,000. But as a 17-year old he could already hit 93 with his fastball. Henriquez was acquired by the Minnesota Twins over the 2021 offseason in a trade with Texas, along with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, in exchange for catcher Mitch Garver. At the time of the trade Henriquez was rated the Rangers 15th best prospect.

Henriquez, 22, appeared in one game in relief this week for the Saints on Thursday at Louisville, pitching 4 shutout innings with four hits allowed, no walks and four strikeouts. Henriquez is 1-1, 3.80 ERA (23.2 IP, 10 ER) with eight walks, 27 strikeouts and a .236 opponent batting average in his last five games (3 starts) for the Saints. Henriquez’s numbers on the season are not nearly as good as he is 1-3 in 9 starts (13 appearances) with a 6.15 ERA and a 1.500 WHIP and his SO/W ratio is 2.71. Henriquez is on the Twins 40 man roster and according to MLB Pipeline he is the Twins 11th best prospect.

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Twins and Rangers make a deal

It didn’t take long for the Minnesota Twins to make their first post lockout deal when they traded 31-year old catcher Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for soon to be 27-year old shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and minor league right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez who pitched in AA ball after starting at High A.

Mitch Garver – Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY

Garver was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 9th round of the 2013 amateur draft and for all practical purposes was the best player the Twins selected in that draft. In addition, Garver was the best catcher drafted that year if you rank them by WAR and they got him for a measly $40K signing bonus.

Garver made his big league debut on August 19, 2017 at Target Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks as a pinch-hitter for Miguel Sano and struck out in his lone appearance in that game. Garver had a breakout season in 2019 as part of the Bomba Squad when he hit 31 home runs and was awarded the Silver Slugger award as the best hitting AL catcher. 2020 and 2021 were seasons that Garver would just as soon forget as injuries limited him to 23 and 68 games respectively.

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Minnesota Twins now best home run hitting team in MLB history

The Minnesota Twins are now the best home run hitting team in MLB history. With six home runs yesterday in a 10-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers the Twins now have 268 home runs on the season,  the best in baseball history. Mitch Garver hit number 268 and his second Bomba of the day in the ninth inning at Comerica Park off Tiger pitcher Joe Jimenez. Garver now has 26 home runs on the season and September is still to be played. Jorge Polanco also hit his 20th home run of the season giving the Twins eight players with 20 or more homers in a season, also a new major league record.

The New York Yankees previously held baseball’s all-time single-season home run with 267 in 2018, followed by the Mariners with 264 in 1997 and the Rangers with 260 in 2005.

This is what baseball has come down to? Oh My!

Credit to Stew Thornley

This is the Twins shift in the game against the Texas Rangers Joey Gallo yesterday. A catcher (Mitch Garver) and pitcher (Devin Smeltzer) and first baseman (Miguel Sano) in their normal positions but no one else is on the dirt. Five outfielders and yet Gallo hits a double off the right field wall, he also had a bunt single. My friend Wayne Hattaway would tell you “this isn’t real baseball”. Everytime you go to a baseball game you have a chance to see something you have never seen before.

 

Fireworks night at Target Field last night

 

The Twins beat the Texas Rangers last night by a score of 15-6 at Target Field. Martín Pérez (8-3) was the starter and winner, allowing four runs on seven hits in 6 innings pitched. The offense recorded 20 hits as each starter in the lineup recorded one hit and at least eight starters had multiple hits.

  • 13 extra-base hits tied a Twins single-game record set earlier this season in game two
    of a doubleheader on April 20 at Baltimore.
  • 20 hits marked a season-high, their most since June 13, 2017 vs. Seattle when they
    set a club-record with 28, it marked the 57th time in club history for the Twins to reach
    20 hits in a game.
  • Nine doubles tied for the most in Senators/Twins history (since 1901), tying the Senators’ nine back on June 9, 1934 (box score) at Boston and Hall of Fame pitcher Left Grove.

Credit to Twins GameNotes

Twins Win!