Tag: Tippy Martinez

Twins masters of the pickoff

In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base.

Twins career leaders in pickoffs

Frank Viola

Rk Player PO G W L W-L% SV IP ERA BF
1 Frank Viola 27 260 112 93 .546 0 1772.2 3.86 7450
2 Jerry Koosman 24 94 39 35 .527 7 601.1 3.77 2527
3 Mark Guthrie 20 240 29 27 .518 8 489.2 4.19 2101
4 Francisco Liriano 17 156 50 52 .490 1 783.1 4.33 3341
5 Roger Erickson 17 114 31 47 .397 0 712.0 4.10 3074
6 Allan Anderson 15 148 49 54 .476 0 818.2 4.11 3474
7 Dave Goltz 15 247 96 79 .549 3 1638.0 3.48 6887
8 Johan Santana 14 251 93 44 .679 1 1308.2 3.22 5281
9 Geoff Zahn 14 133 53 53 .500 0 852.0 3.90 3621
10 Jim Kaat 14 468 189 152 .554 5 2959.1 3.28 12385
11 Bert Blyleven 11 348 149 138 .519 0 2566.2 3.28 10542
12 Vic Albury 11 101 18 17 .514 1 372.2 4.11 1630
13 Jim Merritt 11 122 37 41 .474 6 686.2 3.03 2760
14 Jim Perry 10 376 128 90 .587 5 1883.1 3.15 7791
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/13/2016.
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Some interesting pickoff tidbits

Four time Cy Young award winner and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton pitched for the Minnesota Twins in a total of just eight games in his short stint in Minnesota in 1987-1988 and he had one pickoff and that was the last one in his illustrious career in which he picked off a MLB career leading 144 runners.

Tippy Martinez pitched for Minnesota in his final season in the big leagues in 1988 after pitching for the Yankees in 1974-1976 and the Orioles in 1976-1986. According to Wikipedia:

“Martinez may be best known for picking off three Toronto Blue Jays at first base in one inning during an August 24, 1983 game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The Orioles, having replaced both their starting catcher and his backup while rallying to tie the game in the ninth inning, entered the tenth with reserve infielder Lenn Sakata in the game at catcher. Three consecutive Blue Jays hitters reached first base and each one, thinking it would be easy to steal a base on Sakata, took a big lead. Martinez picked off all three baserunners, then became the winning pitcher when the Orioles won the game on Sakata’s home run in the bottom of the tenth.”

Korean pitcher ordered to do community service for firing a pickoff throw at opponent’s head.

In 2014 Jon Lester of the Red Sox finishes his year having faced 346 batters with at least one runner on base, yet without having attempted a single pickoff throw.

These guys were Twins players too

CoffeeAccording to Wikipedia, a “cup of coffee” is a North American sports idiom for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before being returned to the minors, or simply to describe a brief stint served with a professional team. The term originated in baseball and is extensively used in ice hockey,

The 52 players listed below appeared in five or fewer games wearing a Twins uniform. Some of them ended up playing for other major league teams and had long big league careers and others did not. Those that did not play in major league games other than the games mentioned here still achieved their dream of playing in a major league game, a wish that most of us reading this can only dream about. Some of these players had very short big league careers but they climbed the ladder and reached the top, their stay may not have been long but they touched the star they fought so long and hard to achieve.

The reasons that their stays in ‘the show” were not as long as they had hoped were many, some careers ended due to injury, others due to rumors and or politics, personal reasons, maybe they couldn’t stay sober or drug free, some heard the call from their country and other just were not good enough to play in the major leagues. But the bottom line is that they were one of the 758 players that appeared in a Minnesota Twins game so they should not be forgotten.

Although the list below has all the positions covered, most of the players on this list are pitchers. Some of the players on this list like Max Kepler and Alex Meyer will probably drop off this list in the near future but for now they find their names on this list of Twins players that many Minnesota Twins fans have never heard of.

Bruckbauer, Fred 2Probably the most famous or infamous player on this list is the now deceased pitcher Fred Bruckbauer. Born in New Ulm, Minnesota Bruckbauer pitched for the University of Minnesota and appeared in one game for the Minnesota Twins on April 25, 1961. The Twins were trailing the Kansas City A’s 7-2 at Municipal Stadium when Fred took the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning. A double by Dick Howser, a single by Jay Hankins, a walk to Jerry Lumpe and a double by Lou Klimchock and Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto had seen enough and brought in Chuck Stobbs, and Bruckbauer’s big league pitching career ended then and there. Fred Bruckbauer’s pitching line for the game and his career was three hits, one walk and four earned runs in zero innings pitched giving him an ERA of infinity. Bruckbauer never again pitched in a major league game, but remember, he pitched in a big league game.

 Players who appeared in five or fewer Twins games in their career

Rk Player G From To Age PA AB H BA Pos
1 Corky Miller 5 2005 2005 29-29 12 12 0 .000 /*2HD
2 Mike Fetters 5 2003 2003 38-38 0 0 0 /*1
3 Gary Rath 5 1999 1999 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
4 Shane Bowers 5 1997 1997 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
5 Greg Brummett 5 1993 1993 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
6 Mike Maksudian 5 1993 1993 27-27 17 12 2 .167 /*3H5
7 Rich Yett 5 1985 1990 22-27 0 0 0 /*1
8 Mike Mason 5 1988 1988 29-29 0 0 0 /*1
9 Tack Wilson 5 1983 1983 27-27 4 4 1 .250 /*HD8
10 Jim Shellenback 5 1977 1977 33-33 0 0 0 /*1
11 Jim Manning 5 1962 1962 18-18 1 1 0 .000 /*1
12 Howie Clark 4 2008 2008 34-34 8 8 2 .250 /*345
13 Darnell McDonald 4 2007 2007 28-28 11 10 1 .100 /*9HD
14 Jason Miller 4 2007 2007 24-24 0 0 0 /*1
15 J.D. Durbin 4 2004 2004 22-22 0 0 0 /*1
16 Warren Morris 4 2002 2002 28-28 7 7 0 .000 /*4H
17 Jose Rodriguez 4 2002 2002 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
18 Danny Mota 4 2000 2000 24-24 0 0 0 /*1
19 Tom Quinlan 4 1996 1996 28-28 6 6 0 .000 /*5H
20 Riccardo Ingram 4 1995 1995 28-28 10 8 1 .125 /*D*H
21 Keith Comstock 4 1984 1984 28-28 0 0 0 /*1
22 Jay Pettibone 4 1983 1983 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
23 John Hobbs 4 1981 1981 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
24 Bill Whitby 4 1964 1964 20-20 1 1 0 .000 /*1
25 Jake Jacobs 4 1961 1961 24-24 8 8 2 .250 /*8H
26 Max Kepler 3 2015 2015 22-22 7 7 1 .143 /*H*9
27 Kris Johnson 3 2014 2014 29-29 1 1 0 .000 /*1
28 Juan Morillo 3 2009 2009 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
29 Joe Beimel 3 2004 2004 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
30 Luis Quinones 3 1992 1992 30-30 6 5 1 .200 /*H6D5
31 Greg Olson 3 1989 1989 28-28 2 2 1 .500 /*2
32 Tippy Martinez 3 1988 1988 38-38 0 0 0 /*1
33 Jeff Bittiger 3 1987 1987 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
34 Kevin Stanfield 3 1979 1979 23-23 0 0 0 /*1
35 Bucky Guth 3 1972 1972 24-24 3 3 0 .000 /*H6
36 Bucky Brandon 3 1969 1969 28-28 2 1 0 .000 /*1
37 Don Williams 3 1963 1963 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
38 Alex Meyer 2 2015 2015 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
39 Eric Hacker 2 2011 2011 28-28 0 0 0 /*1
40 Armando Gabino 2 2009 2009 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
41 Kevin Mulvey 2 2009 2009 24-24 0 0 0 /*1
42 Ryan Jorgensen 2 2008 2008 29-29 1 1 0 .000 /*2
43 Dave Gassner 2 2005 2005 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
44 Mauro Gozzo 2 1992 1992 26-26 0 0 0 /*1
45 Dan Graham 2 1979 1979 24-24 4 4 0 .000 /*H*D
46 Buzz Stephen 2 1968 1968 23-23 4 3 0 .000 /*1
47 Chuck Nieson 2 1964 1964 21-21 0 0 0 /*1
48 Rob Delaney 1 2010 2010 25-25 0 0 0 /*1
49 Matt Fox 1 2010 2010 27-27 0 0 0 /*1
50 Justin Huber 1 2009 2009 26-26 2 2 1 .500 /*3
51 Mike Smith 1 2006 2006 28-28 0 0 0 /*1
52 Fred Bruckbauer 1 1961 1961 23-23 0 0 0 /*1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/1/2015.

Did you know that 355 (or 46.8%) of the 758 players that wore a Twins uniform played in 49 or fewer games as a Minnesota Twin? Don’t get too attached to that player because he will probably not be around for long.

Do any of these guys bring back a special memory for you? Do you remember seeing them play? Feel free to leave a comment.