And he goes down swinging!

Harmon Killebrew

We all know that strikeout rates are up all across baseball for the last few years but today we will look at Minnesota Twins batters and their strikeout rates going back to 1961. We used B-R’s amazing Play Index to find what we were looking for.

The top two all time Twins leader in strikeouts are Harmon Killebrew with 1,314 and Joe Mauer with 1,034. Mauer? What the heck? Longevity can do strange things to numbers and the devil is in the details.

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Tim Laudner

One big league debut as a Minnesota Twin on August 28.

Tim Laudner (C) – August 28, 1981 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1979 amateur draft. Debuted as the starting catcher at the Met against the Tigers and hit in the 8 spot. Laudner must have thought that the big leagues were easy when he had a single in his first at bat, then a walk and then a home run before fouling out in his final at bat. 

You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.

Minnesota Twins Top 10 Catchers

In their 56 seasons of baseball in Minnesota the Twins have had 71 different players don the tools of ignorance and squat down behind the plate to catch a major league pitcher. Two those 71 players only caught in one inning of one game. Cesar Tovar did it when owner Calvin Griffith had him play every position in a game in 1968 as a gimmick and  manager Tom Kelly had Jeff Reboulet catch the ninth inning in a 1995 game against the Royals in the Metrodome. It wasn’t an easy inning for Reboulet either, as he caught two different pitchers as the Royals sent 12 men to the plate and scored 6 runs on 6 hits not to mention 2 walks and a wild pitch.

With the Minnesota 2017 TwinsFest going on I thought it would be a good time to rank the Twins catchers. The Twins have been looking for an everyday catcher ever since Joe Mauer hung up his catcher’s mitt after the 1993 season due to a variety of injuries the most serious of which were his concussion problems. Kurt Suzuki filled in since then but he too has moved on. The Twins Top 10 Catchers list ranks the catchers by B-R WAR statistics. Player must have appeared in at least 51% of his games as a catcher to qualify for this list.

Joe Mauer
Rk Player WAR/pos G From To Age AB H HR RBI SB BA OPS
1 Joe Mauer 50.0 1590 2004 2016 21-33 5919 1826 130 804 50 .308 .837
2 Butch Wynegar 15.2 794 1976 1982 20-26 2746 697 37 325 8 .254 .682
3 Earl Battey 14.3 853 1961 1967 26-32 2762 768 76 350 8 .278 .765
4 Brian Harper 13.4 730 1988 1993 28-33 2503 767 48 346 7 .306 .773
5 A.J. Pierzynski 9.4 430 1998 2003 21-26 1428 430 26 193 6 .301 .788
6 George Mitterwald 6.0 514 1966 1973 21-28 1578 377 50 176 9 .239 .676
7 Glenn Borgmann 5.0 442 1972 1979 22-29 1207 277 14 137 4 .229 .630
8 Tim Laudner 3.2 734 1981 1989 23-31 2038 458 77 263 3 .225 .682
9 Terry Steinbach 3.1 347 1997 1999 35-37 1207 309 30 150 8 .256 .719
10 Kurt Suzuki 3.0 368 2014 2016 30-32 1230 323 16 160 0 .263 .680
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/28/2017.
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Anybody on this list surprise you? 

Twins Top 10 Catchers

Twins Top 10 First Baseman

Twins Top 10 Second Basemen

Twins Top 10 Third Baseman

Twins Top 10 Shortstops

Twins Top 10 Center Fielders

Twins Top 10 Left Fielders

Twins Top 10 Right Fielders

Top Twins DH

The pinch-hit grand slam, it has been awhile

Dwyer, JimOdds are that you will not recognize the player in this picture but he is still in the Twins organization and has been on the Fort Myers Miracle coaching staff since 2006. He played in the big leagues for 18 seasons for seven different teams but never had more than 260 at bats in any single season and played for the Minnesota Twins in 1998, 1999 and 1990.

It has been over 25 years since a Minnesota Twins batter pinch-hit a grand slam for the Minnesota Twins. This Twins were ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when “Pig Pen” stepped into the left-handed batters box to hit pinch-hit for Twins catcher Tim Laudner who was hitting in the 7-hole on that day. Right-hander Donn Pall was the third pitcher used by the mighty whitey’s that inning and he gave up the grand salami to Jim Dwyer and the Twins were up 7-2 and would eventually win the game by a score of 10-3 as Frank Viola won his 22nd game of the season. No one has pinch-hit a grand slam home run for the Twins since September 15, 1988.

Pinch-hit grand slam home runs in Twins history

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI
1 Jim Dwyer 1988-09-15 MIN CHW W 10-3 1 1 1 1 1 4
2 Mike Cubbage 1978-08-08 MIN SEA W 10-2 1 1 1 1 1 4
3 Rod Carew 1976-09-09 MIN TEX W 6-0 1 1 1 1 1 4
4 Tony Oliva 1975-06-29 MIN TEX L 7-9 1 1 1 1 1 4
5 Rich Reese 1972-07-09 MIN NYY L 6-9 1 1 1 1 1 4
6 Harmon Killebrew 1971-09-03 (1) MIN OAK W 9-4 1 1 1 1 1 4
7 Rick Renick 1970-06-30 MIN KCR W 8-5 1 1 1 1 1 4
8 Rich Reese 1969-08-03 MIN BAL W 5-2 1 1 1 1 1 4
9 Julio Becquer 1961-07-04 (1) MIN CHW W 6-4 1 1 1 1 1 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/5/2016.

ERROR, ERROR, RECOMPUTE: A bit of a technical glitch with my search, it turns out that the last player to pinch-hit a home run for the Twins was not Jim Dwyer but our old friend Matt LeCroy in 2004. Here is the corrected list.

LeCroy, Matt 4

here
Rk Player Date ? Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI Pos Summary
1 Matt LeCroy 2004-05-19 MIN TOR W 6-5 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH 1B
2 Greg Colbrunn 1997-08-04 MIN TOR W 9-3 3 3 1 1 1 4 PH 1B
3 Jim Dwyer 1989-06-10 MIN CHW W 11-8 2 2 1 1 1 4 PH DH
4 Carmelo Castillo 1989-04-11 MIN DET W 14-0 2 1 1 1 1 4 PH RF
5 Jim Dwyer 1988-09-15 MIN CHW W 10-3 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
6 Ron Washington 1986-07-03 MIN BAL W 11-7 2 2 2 2 1 4 PH 2B
7 Dave Engle 1982-07-06 MIN DET L 6-11 4 4 1 3 1 4 PH RF
8 Mike Cubbage 1978-08-08 MIN SEA W 10-2 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
9 Rod Carew 1976-09-09 MIN TEX W 6-0 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
10 Tony Oliva 1975-06-29 MIN TEX L 7-9 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
11 Danny Walton 1973-04-17 MIN CAL W 10-5 2 2 2 2 1 4 PH DH
12 Rich Reese 1972-07-09 MIN NYY L 6-9 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
13 Harmon Killebrew 1971-09-03 (1) MIN OAK W 9-4 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
14 Rick Renick 1970-06-30 MIN KCR W 8-5 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
15 Rich Reese 1970-06-07 MIN WSA W 10-9 3 3 1 1 1 4 PH 1B
16 Rich Reese 1969-08-03 MIN BAL W 5-2 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
17 Julio Becquer 1961-07-04 (1) MIN CHW W 6-4 1 1 1 1 1 4 PH
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/20/2016.

The MLB June amateur draft is far from a science

2016 DraftThe 2016 MLB will take place June 9, 2016 in Secacus, New Jersey and the Minnesota Twins will have the 17th selection this year. There are already numerous mock drafts being published but as normal they are all over the board, so what else is new. Here is a list (with pictures) on MLB.com of their proposed top 100 2016 prospects.

Baseball draft are so different from all the other sports in many ways but the two main differences that stand out is that baseball drafts are more international than other sports and if you get drafted in baseball you can look forward to spend a number of years in the minor leagues before you have the experience and necessary skill sets to play in the major leagues. Sure there have been some players that went directly to the major leagues but they are rare and the last player to do so I believe is RHP Mike Leake who was drafted eighth overall in 2010 by the Cincinnati Reds from Arizona State and now pitches for the Cardinals. The last Twins player to be drafted and go straight to a big league mound was LHP Eddie Bane who also was from Arizona State.

The June amateur draft is exciting for the fans but it is serious business for the MLB teams that have spent lots of time and money watching these young prospects as they try to determine who is the best player available when it comes time to make their selection. Mistakes in a draft can and do haunt teams for many years. There are many ways to mess up a draft choice, the player may not turn out to be as good as you thought, you might have bypassed a star player, you might not be able to sign the player, the player and/or his agent may state they don’t want to play for you, and of course an injury may cut his career short. If everything goes your way you have yourself a baseball player but the odds are stacked against you.

Looking at consecutive games strike out streaks

Byron Buxton 2015The 2015 Twins struck out 1,254 times, their third highest total in team history but well short of their 1,430 strike outs in 2013 which was an all time franchise high. I wanted to find out what Twins batter holds the record for striking out in the most consecutive games when looking over the entire 55 years that the Twins have called Minnesota home. So I checked with B-R play index and was surprised to find out that it was Byron Buxton and second on the list was Miguel Sano. Buxton struck out in 21 consecutive games between June 16 and September 2. Number 2 on the list is Sano with an 18 consecutive game strike out streak. So here is the top ten list of Twins batters with strike outs in the most consecutive games ranging from 21 to 15. Oddly enough four Twins players made the list this year. Joining Buxton and Sano we have Brian Dozier with a 16 game and Eddie Rosario with a 15 game streak. The name on this list that jumps out at me is Joe Mauer, the young Mauer hardly ever struck out and the older Mauer, well, that’s another story.

Rk Name Strk Start End Games AB SO BA
1 Byron Buxton 2015-06-16 2015-09-02 21 80 32 .200
2 Miguel Sano 2015-08-13 2015-09-02 18 67 32 .299
3 Chris Colabello 2014-04-25 2014-05-15 17 64 27 .125
4 George Mitterwald 1971-08-23 1971-09-26 17 60 26 .300
5 Brian Dozier 2015-07-19 2015-08-06 16 65 25 .185
6 Joe Mauer 2013-04-30 2013-05-19 16 65 23 .415
7 Tim Laudner 1984-04-27 1984-06-17 16 58 22 .190
8 Eddie Rosario 2015-08-16 2015-09-02 15 58 24 .259
9 Chris Colabello 2013-08-15 2013-09-09 15 51 23 .157
10 Dustan Mohr 2003-06-01 2003-06-22 15 47 21 .170
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/12/2015.

 

Congratulations to Eddie Rosario

Rosario, Eddie 2015Eddie Rosario found the first big league pitch he saw to his liking and he hammered it into the Target Field left-center field bleachers for a home run. The pitch was thrown by left-handed starter Scott Kazmir and put the Twins up 1-0 en-route to a 13-0 white-washing of the Oakland A’s. Rosario becomes the 115th player to hit a home run in his first major league at bat but only the 29th player in big league history to swing at the first pitch he saw in the major leagues and hit it for a home run.

Rosario goes into the Twins record books as the 10th Twin to hit a home run in his first game but the first to do it on the first pitch of his first plate appearance. Six of the 10 home runs in the first game came on the first at bat.

I have been waiting for the Twins to call up Rosario and it was nice to see him have a positive impact in his first major league game. Rosario’s parents were in the stands to witness their sons historic moment. Although Rosario’s stay in Minnesota is expected to be short, you never know, he might just be here to stay. Congratulations Eddie!

BOX SCORE

Twins players that have hit a home run in their first major league game

Rk Player Date Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BOP Pos Summary
1 Eddie Rosario 2015-05-06 OAK W 13-0 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 8 RF
2 Luke Hughes 2010-04-28 DET L 6-11 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 9 3B
3 Andre David 1984-06-29 (1) DET W 5-3 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 7 RF
4 Gary Gaetti 1981-09-20 TEX L 3-4 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 7 3B
5 Tim Laudner 1981-08-28 DET W 6-0 4 3 1 2 0 0 1 2 8 C
6 Kent Hrbek 1981-08-24 NYY W 3-2 5 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 8 1B
7 Dave McKay 1975-08-22 DET W 8-4 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 8 3B
8 Eric Soderholm 1971-09-03 (1) OAK W 9-4 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 7 3B
9 Hal Haydel 1970-09-07 (2) MIL W 8-3 3 3 2 2 1 0 1 1 9 P
10 Rick Renick 1968-07-11 DET W 5-4 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 7 SS
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/7/2015.

I find it kind of interesting that all the players on the above list were slotted 7-9 in the batting order.

A visit to the Twins Fantasy Camp at the CenturyLink Sports Complex

I have been out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex several times this week primarily to watch some baseball as about 107 men and women participate in the annual Twins Fantasy Camp which runs from January 10-17. This year there are eight teams playing each other on four fields all day long.

Stan Dickman
Stan Dickman

Stan Dickman who owns and runs the camp does a fantastic job and he has a staff of former Twins greats that coach the teams, give the players hitting and pitch tips, tell stories and just plain have fun with the fantasy campers. It is not cheap, rookies pay about $4,295 but returning veterans get by with paying $3,795. Having said that it is not cheap, I also need to say that you do get a lot for your money and you won’t get treated any better any place. Stan treats his campers like family and the fact that over 70% of his campers return year after year proves it. I am not going to list all the benefits that campers have but you can check them out on the Twins Fantasy camp website.

I mentioned that the staff is made up of former Twins greats. Here are some of the former Twins greats that I have run into this week, Bert Blyleven is the Fantasy camp commissioner and you see him going from field to field looking for players he can bring up on charges and fine at the daily Kangaroo court. Wouldn’t that be fun to sit in on? When he is not busy writing notes in his ever-present tablet he is interacting with the family members and fans that hang out at the ballpark to watch the games. Others Twins greats that I have run into this week were Tony Oliva, Tom Brunansky, Kent Hrbek, Greg Gagne, Frank Viola, Rick Aguilera, Tim Laudner, Juan Berenguer, Mickey Hatcher, Frank Quilici, Bill Campbell, Steve Braun, Phil Roof, Julio Becquer, Gene Larkin and I am sure there are others that I have not seen. These Twins greats are all willing to spend time talking with fans and family members, have their pictures taken and sign all kinds of autographs. It is like a huge family reunion where everyone knows everyone and the players and the Twins greats are all on a first name basis.

One of the Twins Fantasy Campers, Father Stan Mader watches the ball all the way to the catchers mitt as he bats in one of the games.
One of the Twins Fantasy Campers, Father Stan Mader watches the ball all the way to the catchers mitt as he bats in one of the games.

I noticed right off the bat that the fantasy games are a bit different then the normal games that I watch out here in the spring at Hammond Stadium and on the adjoining fields. The action is a tad slower, each of the games has two umpires, the players may not be as athletic as they would like to be, catchers have trouble getting the ball back to the pitchers sometimes, there are 10 players on the field as the teams utilize four outfielders, courtesy runners are utilized when needed, in one game I watched I noticed that both shortstops were left-handed, I saw a left-handed third basemen, and even a left-handed catcher, I wonder where he got the left-handed catchers mitt? The play is entertaining, sometimes you can’t help but laugh at a play that may or may not have been made, but you know what, the players cheer for each other and they are playing as hard as they can because they want to win, just like the Twins do. They all want to get to that championship game on Saturday that will be played in Hammond Stadium.

But you know what I didn’t see? I didn’t see pitchers stepping off the mound and adjusting their cups, I didn’t see batters stepping out to walk around and adjust their batting gloves after each pitch, I didn’t see the catchers walk out to the pitcher’s mound every few pitches, there wasn’t as much spitting as you see at a normal baseball game and only once did I see a batter complain to the home plate umpire about a call and he was a pitcher that said “I hope I get the same call when I am pitching.”

But the action isn’t always on the field, today former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee stopped by for a visit and he held court with the fans, fantasy campers, and former Twins players alike with his story-telling. The man is 68 plus years old and he looks like he could take the mound for the Twins in 2015 and win 10 games or so. Matter of fact, according to the “Spaceman” himself, he still plays ball all over the world and last year he claims to have pitched over 340 innings including a couple of one-hitters. Wish I would have taken my camera out there today so I cold have taken his picture but I didn’t. I should know better than to go out to the ballpark without my camera.

I was talking with Bert Blyleven the other day behind the home plate screen at one of the fields when Twins TV announcer Dick Bremer stepped up to the plate and of course Blyleven gave him “an easy out coming” call that got Bremer to look around and smile. Bremer ended up popping out to the third baseman this time but Bert told me that Bremer can get ahold of one now and then. He told me a story about how Bremer a few years back pulled a home run over the left field fence that was a grand slam and the ball darned near hit Bert’s car that was parked near by.

I also wandered over to Hammond Stadium to see what progress was being made on all the work being done there. Even the workers there were friendly and stopped and chatted with me about their work and didn’t yell at me to watch out for all the wet concrete that seemed to be everywhere. According to the workers that I talked with, everything is on schedule and that fans are in for a treat when they come out to watch the Minnesota Twins play their spring training schedule in the not too distant future. The landscaping has not really started but according to one of the workers that will get started in February. I took some pictures of the stadium exterior and you can see them here. Workers have been busy installing the new sign out front at the entrance and that is still not complete but it is not too far away from the looks of things.

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.

According to Elias and a little extra

Zelous Wheeler, called up from the minors by the Yankees on Thursday when slumping Yangervis Solarte was sent down, made a big splash in his major-league debut when he hit a home run in the fifth inning against the Twins’ Phil Hughes. Wheeler is the eighth player to hit a home run for the Yankees is his first major-league game and the first since Marcus Thames in 2002. The most notable player to homer for the Yankees in his big-league debut is Yogi Berra, who did so against the Philadelphia A’s in the first game of a doubleheader in the Bronx on Sept. 22, 1946.

So how many Minnesota Twins players have hit a home run in their first game?

Rick Renick
Rick Renick
Rk Player Year ? PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI
1 Luke Hughes 2010 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 1
2 Andre David 1984 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 2
3 Gary Gaetti 1981 Ind. Games 3 3 1 0 0 1 2
4 Kent Hrbek 1981 Ind. Games 5 5 2 0 0 1 2
5 Tim Laudner 1981 Ind. Games 4 3 2 0 0 1 2
6 Dave McKay 1975 Ind. Games 3 3 1 0 0 1 1
7 Eric Soderholm 1971 Ind. Games 4 2 1 0 0 1 1
8 Hal Haydel 1970 Ind. Games 3 3 2 1 0 1 1
9 Rick Renick 1968 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/4/2014.

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How about if we look to see who has hit a home run in his first game when the opponent was the Minnesota Twins?

Rk Player Year ? PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI Tm
1 Zelous Wheeler 2014 Ind. Games 4 4 2 0 0 1 1 NYY
2 Chris Richard 2000 Ind. Games 5 4 1 0 0 1 1 STL
3 Jay Bell 1986 Ind. Games 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 CLE
4 Dave Machemer 1978 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 1 1 CAL
5 Bert Campaneris 1964 Ind. Games 5 4 3 0 0 2 3 KCA
6 John Kennedy 1962 Ind. Games 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 WSA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/4/2014.