Tag: Tom Kelly

Checking on those pitchers and catchers

Today was my first opportunity to observe all those pitchers and catchers since they started official workouts yesterday and I will tell you, there are a lot of guys out there fighting for a few open slots. Lots of pitchers were getting there throwing in and Joe Mauer was among the catchers on the receiving end. Nice to see Joe getting after it this early in camp, something he has not done for several years. There are so many pitchers out there that the Twins were even using Hammond Field as a workout area which is not something they do very often. It was nice to see Eddie Guardado out there as a spring training instructor. It was pretty much the normal stuff this morning with pitchers fielding practice taking place on several fields and some infield practice going on for some of the early reporting position players. Heck, even Tsuyoshi Nishioka was out there taking ground balls but he wasn’t getting the special attention he received from Gardy and TK last year. Last year there were so much Japanese press coverage they out numbered the Twins players, but this year, not hardly any at all.

TK giving instruction at 1B to Max Kepler (in red) and another player that I have not identified.

I wandered over to the minor league fields where coaches Steve Liddle, Scott Ullger, Tommy Watkins, and Tom Kelly were doing some infield work with Jairo Perez, Nick Lockwood, Max Kepler, Steven Liddle and a couple of others. It was interesting to watch as TK gave some of the finer points of playing 1B to a young Max Kepler who is an outfielder by trade but has been learning to play 1B too. The Twins value flexibility and the more positions you can play, the better chance you have to move up in the Twins organization.

One of the things I noticed now that spring training is officially underway is that the barricades are a few feet further away from some of the practice fields than  they have been in past years. The rosters that the Twins used to give away to the fans to track the players are now $1, but that money goes to the Twins Community Fund. Although I have not seen anything official as yet, the rumor has it that parking will now be $10 versus $5 for all Twins spring training games. Wow! with the price of gas shooting up, that is all we Twins fans need now is to pay double for parking from last year.

I have always liked and respected former Twin pitcher Jim Kaat and I follow his blog called Kaat’s Korner and I was both surprised and a bit disappointed that he said that he would be helping out his buddy and neighbor, Boston pitching coach Bob McClure of the Boston Red Sox at their spring training camp this year. I am not disappointed he is helping his friend, I am disappointed that it is those dang Red Sox he is helping when he could be lending a helping hand to his old team the Minnesota Twins. Come on over Jim, we could use your help.

I took some new pictures today that you can view by checking out my 2012 spring training pictures on the right side of the page.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka – where are you?

Will Nishioka be smiling in a Twins uniform in 2012? (Courtesy of MinnPost)

Leading into the 2011 season the Twins big news was the signing of Japanese star shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka. The man was going to solidify the infield and lead the Twins to the promised land of getting past round one of the playoffs. When I showed up in Fort Myers before spring training started all I heard from everyone I met was “have you seen Nishioka”?

When the smoke cleared, the Twins and Nishioka decided that 2B was really the position that Nishioka felt the most comfortable playing. Unfortunately for the Twins and Nishioka, a take-out slide by Yankee outfielder Nick Swisher at Yankee Stadium broke Nishioka’s fibula on April 7th in Nishioka’s sixth Twins game and Nishioka would not return again until June 16. Nishioka ended up playing shortstop when he returned but he looked like a fish out water, he just did not look like nor play like a big league shortstop. When the Twins season finally came to merciful end, Nishioka had played in 66 games and he hit .226, had a .278 OBP, stole 2 out of 6 bases and committed 10 errors. This was hardly what the Twins expected for $3 million a season. Then again, when you play for a team that wins just 63 games, there is plenty of bad play from everyone.

But now a year has gone by and you have to wonder what the future holds for Tsuyoshi Nishioka. The Twins have acquired Jamey Carroll to be their everyday shortstop and Alexi Casilla is penciled in as the starting 2B. Twins management hardly ever mentions Nishioka and it is almost like the man does not even exist or that they hope he just disappears. The Twins will be paying Nishioka $3 million in 2012 and again in 2013 and then there is the 2014 option for $250K. The Twins do not pay that kind of money for a Rochester Red Wing.

I think you have to give Nishioka a mulligan for 2011 because he can not possibly be as bad a player as he showed us last year. The man was a star in Japan and I know that major league ball is something totally different, but still, he was a very good player in Japan. He had to have shown something to the Twins scouts and management to have gotten the deal he did.

What do I think will happen? I think Nishioka will start 2012 as a Twins bench player but when Carroll proves to the Twins why he has always been a utility player by the middle of May, Nishioka will start to see some playing time and maybe then we will find out once and for all if the man can play in the big leagues or if the Twins simply were snookered. If Nishioka turns out to be a dud, this signing should go down in Twins lore as the worst acquisition in Twins history and over the years they have made some bad ones.

I think Nishioka is a player worth watching as spring training unfolds. Will Nishioka be handled with kid gloves like he was last year or will Gardy and TK get after Nishioka when he makes a bad play? How much games will Nishioka play here in Fort Myers? Will he be off by himself and his interpreter like he was frequently last year or will he try to be part of the team? Yep, I think it will be an interesting spring training for Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

This Day in Twins History – January 4, 2002

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire

In spite of the Minnesota Twins franchise uncertain future due to possible contraction, Ron Gardenhire is named as the Minnesota Twins 12th manager. Gardenhire, 44, replaces the Twins winningest manager, Tom Kelly who had resigned earlier saying that it was time for him to move on.

Ron Gardenhire was originally a New York Mets sixth round pick in 1979 and debuted with the Mets on September 1, 1981. Gardenhire played in 285 games for the Mets between 1981 – 1985, primarily at shortstop although he also played some 2B and 3B too. The Mets traded Gardenhire to the Twins on November 12, 1966 for the PTBNL and that turned out to be Dominic Iasparro. While the Twins were winning the World Series in 1987, Gardenhire spent the entire season at AAA Portland playing all four infield positions and even taking the pitching mound in two games.

Gardenhire retired as an active player after the 1987 season and started his managing career in 1988 with the A ball Kenosha Twins who finished fourth but had a 81-59 record. Gardenhire then moved up the ladder to the AA Orlando Twins affiliate where he managed for two seasons. Gardy’s teams finished third in 1989 with an 79-65 mark and first the next season, 1990 with an 85-59 record. The Twins then moved Gardenhire up to the big league team where he coached from 1991 – 2001.

Gardenhire has managed the Twins since 2002 and in his 10 big league seasons and 1,621 games as the Twins skipper, Gardy has posted a record of 866-755 (.534) and had led his team to six first place finishes, one second place, two third place and one last place finish (2011).

Some old newspaper clips about the Twins

The Minnesota Twins have had their ups and downs over the years and I ran across a variety of press clippings that pertained to the home-town nine and I thought that I would share them with you. Some are sad, some stupid, some funny and some historical but they are all part of Twins lore and history. Some will bring back some bad memories and other will cause you to to say, oh yes, I remember that. The clipping come from a variety of newspapers including the Boston Globe, Orlando Sentinel, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

April 12, 1985 – There will be no more spitting on the Minnesota Twins’ clubhouse floor. Nor will there be any more gum wrappers lying around or cramped dressing areas. The Twins Thursday unveiled the remodeled Metrodome clubhouse, done in the team’s colors of red, white and blue, with ash wood trim — the same color as baseball bats.”Some of these players make $800,000 a year, and they come in five or six hours before a game,” said architect David Shea, who was the principal designer for the remodeling.

June 30, 1985 (Peter Gammons – Boston Globe) – Billy Gardner got fired because (1) the Twins’ pitching fell apart, and (2) he simply is not in the mold of owner Carl Pohlad and GM Howard Fox. What can one say about a staff on which the only pitcher with an ERA under 4.20 was Frank Euefemia? Or when Ron Davis became so afraid of pitching that he hyperventilated in the bullpen and created excuses to beg out of games? Ray Miller was brought in to straighten out the pitching, and he is a man who deserves the chance. He needed to leave Baltimore, where his rapport with writers and his ambition had turned off pitchers and alienated fellow coaches.

September 20, 1985 – Baseball, as a business, is not for those with weak stomachs, says Carl Pohlad, who is completing his first full season as owner of the Minnesota Twins. Pohlad: ”I live and die every game. When I bought the team, I knew sports had more ups and downs than other businesses, and I thought I could cope. In my other enterprises, I can cope. But I have difficulty coping with a tough loss on the ball field.” Pohlad bought the Twins from long-time owner Calvin Griffith a little over a year ago. ”I used to think I was pretty good at managing stress,” the 69-year-old banking magnate told the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce.

July 29, 1986 – Amid rumors of his firing, Minnesota Twins Manager Ray Miller met Monday with top club officials to discuss the team’s poor performance and how to solve the problem. ”I’m not satisfied with the way the team’s been playing,” Twins President Howard Fox said in New York, where Minnesota faced the Yankees. ”I thought we’d be better than we’ve been. We’re re-evaluating the whole thing.” Fox said Twins owner Carl Pohlad has given him the authority to make any managerial change.

July 4, 1986 – Former Minnesota Twins’ farm director George Brophy, who resigned last January because of illness, will become a special assistant scout for the Houston Astros Aug. 1, he said. Brophy, 59, was struck in June 1985 by aplastic anemia, a life-threatening blood disorder. When Brophy still wasn’t back to work in January, Twins president Howard Fox asked him to take early retirement as part of a program established by owner Carl Pohlad for longtime employees. Brophy said he began to respond to a new form of treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

July 31, 1986 – Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad says he’s ”disappointed” with his struggling American League club but says he won’t comment on the future of Manager Ray Miller. Pohlad said ”we’re all disappointed” at the team’s record, which stood Wednesday morning at 43 and 57. ”I don’t like it, the fans don’t like it and neither does anybody else. We’re doing the best we can.”

September 13, 1986 – Tom Kelly, who guided the Orlando Twins to the Class AA Southern League pennant in 1981, was named manager of the Minnesota Twins on Friday for the remaining 23 games after Manager Ray Miller was fired. Kelly, 36, took over Friday night as interim manager after Minnesota President Howard Fox announced, ”It would be in the best interest of everyone concerned that the termination of Ray Miller’s position would take place at this time.””Our record games behind is exactly three games worse than it was last year at this time without a bullpen,” Miller said.

October 23, 1986 – The Minnesota Twins, who have said they hope to name a new manager by next week at the latest, have interviewed former Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs manager Jim Frey. Frey met for almost three hours Tuesday with Twins owner Carl Pohlad, said Pohlad’s son, Jim, a team director who was also in on the meeting. Jim Pohlad said the only candidates who have been recommended by Twins Vice President Andy MacPhail are Frey and Tom Kelly. Kelly, the Twins’ third-base coach for the last three years and former Orlando Twins manager, served as interim manager for the final three weeks of the 1986 season after Ray Miller was fired.

May 19, 1988 (Brian Schmitz, Orlando Sentinel) – The way I understand it, the Minnesota Twins will honor Orlando with their presence each spring only if the city gives them some choice property, presumably a chunk with a lakefront view. The Twins want freebie land to develop for economic opportunities outside of baseball, and if they don’t get it they’ll leave for Fort Myers in 1990.To the Twins, I say so long, goodbye and don’t let the door hit you in your pinstriped behinds. Baseball fans, calm yourselves. City fathers want the Twins to stay.

November 1, 1988 (Tim Povtak, Orlando Sentinel) – The ”privatization” of Tinker Field, which would give the Minnesota Twins almost total control of the baseball complex, is key to an arrangement that has brought Orlando and the major-league team close to signing a 10-year contract for spring training.Twins owner Carl Pohlad and much of his administrative staff met for an hour with city officials Monday in Mayor Bill Frederick’s office, discussing major points in the agreement.The Twins, who have one more year on their contract, and the city have been negotiating for more than a year.

January 10, 1989 – The Minnesota Twins will continue making Orlando their spring training base, at least for the next 10 years, if the professional baseball team agrees to a settlement offered Monday by the Orlando City Council.The council offered to pay $3 million over the next three years for the Twins to build new major and minor-league clubhouses, batting tunnels and a grandstand at Tinker Field. The city also relinquished its rights to concession and parking revenues associated with Tinker Field and agreed to provide 6,000 square feet in office space for team officials at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

January 26, 1989 (Larry Guest, Orlando Sentinel) – Spring baseball long has been a time of charm and grace, a respite of innocence when reality gave way to fantasy. It was six weeks of green grass and a warming sun, a genteel preamble of wind sprints and good will before the hard competition and grim business of the regular season took over.It was a ritual for the romantics, a flashback to the simpler times.Never has the passing of that poppycock been made more crystal clear than by the hard capitalists in charge of today’s Minnesota Twins.

February 3, 1989 – Minnesota Twins General Manager Andy MacPhail says the Twins should not be portrayed as ”Northern carpetbaggers” in their negotiations with the city of Orlando. MacPhail says the Twins simply are keeping up with the business of modern baseball.Orlando has been the spring-training home of the Twins for 53 years, but that relationship is in jeopardy. The Twins want the city, which is asking for a 10-year commitment, to upgrade facilities at Tinker Field to accommodate both their minor and major-league players.

October 8, 1991 – He says his job is tougher because he works in one of the smallest baseball cities, but Vice President/General Manager Andy MacPhail has excelled, and Monday he was given a new 3-year contract that will carry through the 1994 season.The contract is the first MacPhail has had with the Twins, having worked the past six years on 1-year agreements.”I’m very grateful to owner Carl Pohlad,” MacPhail said. ”There is no one I would rather work for than Carl Pohlad or nowhere that I would rather live and work than where I am.’MacPhail, 38, said the difference between making decisions in Minnesota rather than in New York or Los Angeles is that ”we have to balance everything in terms of affordability”.

October 16, 1995 – Thelma Griffith Haynes, the former co-owner and executive of the Minnesota Twins baseball club, died Sunday, Oct. 15. She was 82. Haynes of Lexington Parkway, Orlando, who co-owned the team with her brother, Calvin Griffith of Melbourne, sold it to Carl Pohlad in 1984. Her father, Clark Griffith Sr., founded the Washington Senators in the early 1920s. The family moved the ball club to Minnesota in 1961. Orlando was the team’s spring training site from the 1930s until 1990. Born in Montreal, Canada, she moved to Central Florida in 1982.

May 28, 1997 – Angered that the Minnesota Legislature took no action on their stadium proposal during this year’s regular session, the Minnesota Twins reiterated Tuesday that they will ask for permission to sell or move the team.The club hopes to get that approval at the June 10-12 owners meetings in Philadelphia and immediately would begin taking offers. ”We set out to get an answer from the people of Minnesota. We were told that answer was to be given through the Legislature,” said Bob Pohlad, son of Twins owner Carl Pohlad.

October 7, 1997 – Major league baseball would allow the Twins to leave Minnesota, Gov. Arne Carlson said after meeting Monday in Milwaukee with acting commissioner Bud Selig. Carlson made the comment after he and a group of legislators flew to Milwaukee to ask Selig how Twins owner Carl Pohlad’s deal to sell the Twins to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver would fare with team owners. Pohlad has said he can’t afford to lose any more money in the Metrodome, and that the team must have a baseball-only stadium with revenue from suites, club seating, and other amenities.

November 19, 1997 – The Twins moved a step closer to North Carolina when baseball appointed a five-man committee Tuesday to guide the team through the sport’s relocation rules. The Minnesota Legislature last week defeated a proposal to finance a new ballpark, and Pohlad has an agreement with North Carolina businessman Don Beaver to negotiate a sale unless stadium financing is approved by Nov. 30. Beaver has said he would apply to move the team to North Carolina following the 1998 season.

December 4, 1997 – Paul Molitor, who returned home to the Twins in 1996 and became the 21st player in history to top 3,000 hits, is expected to play elsewhere in 1998, which could be his final season. Ron Simon, Molitor’s agent, said Molitor probably will sign with Toronto or Baltimore by Monday because he is unwilling to play for the Twins in what could be a lame-duck season in Minnesota. Owner Carl Pohlad has an agreement to sell the team to a North Carolina businessman, and the team could move after ’98 unless it gets a new stadium.

July 20, 1998 – Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad plans to work out a lease that will keep his team playing at the Metrodome for the next two years, according to a published report. The Minneapolis Star Tribune cited an unnamed source close to Pohlad, who said Pohlad would work out the lease in the hope of finding a way to build a new baseball stadium.The Twins and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission are scheduled for a settlement hearing today. The commission has filed a lawsuit trying to block the Twins from exercising an escape clause that would let them out of their Metrodome lease after this season.

November 7, 2001 (Phil Rogers) – In a move almost certain to eliminate the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos, Major League Baseball owners voted Tuesday to authorize Commissioner Bud Selig to fold two teams before the 2002 season. If the plan goes through, it will mark the first time since 1899 that Major League Baseball has closed an existing franchise. “We’re plowing historic ground here,” Selig said. Selig said the teams to be dissolved were not identified specifically during a meeting of owners and that there are more than two under consideration.

November 17, 2001 – JUDGE: TWINS MUST PLAY – Baseball was barred from eliminating the Minnesota Twins next season when a judge Friday ordered the team to play its 2002 home schedule in the Metrodome. Twins owner Carl Pohlad also was ordered not to sell the team unless the new owner agrees to have the team play its 2002 home schedule in the ballpark. The decision by Hennepin County District Judge Harry Seymour Crump throws into question last week’s vote by baseball owners to eliminate two major-league teams next season.

December 23, 2001 – Alabama businessman Donald Watkins, who wants to buy the Twins, shook hands with nearly 200 avid fans Saturday at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. “The weather may be cold up here, but the reception is warm,” said Watkins, who hopes to meet with officials of the commissioner’s office on Jan. 10 to discuss a possible purchase of the team. Current owner Carl Pohlad wants out after failing to gain approval of government financing for a new ballpark.

March 31, 2002 – An enjoyable summer could follow the lousy winter. After dealing with Commissioner Bud Selig, Carl Pohlad and other embarrassments to the grand old game during the offseason, it’s the fans who needed to hit the showers. They wanted to feel clean again. Along the way, the Twins became America’s Team, gamely fighting off contraction and vowing to contend. Everyone loves the underdog, so people from all over will be pulling for the plucky Twins. Pulling for the Minnesota ball club feels good because it’s like casting a vote against big, corrupt business — as represented by the owners who tried to make the franchise disappear.

August 17, 2002 – The axe is now hovering over Cinderella’s head, ready to ruin baseball’s best story. But for what it’s worth, sports fans, the executioners feel your pain. “It’s not the players who are hurting,” Denny Hocking said. “It’s not the owners who are hurting. It’s the fans.” If fans were paid by the lip service they receive, they’d all be Alex Rodriguez. For all the supposed angst, players started the Doomsday Clock. T-minus two weeks until the ninth work stoppage since 1972.

 

Untitled

February 25, 2011 – Another day and another trip to the ballpark today to watch the Twins as they prepare for their spring training opener just two days away. On a beautiful albeit a windy late February day the fans were out in droves to watch the Twins as they prepare for the 2011 season. Most of the fans watched as TK put a number of players including Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Alexi Casilla through infield drills on two different fields today. During the first infield session people were actually 4-6 deep and that is the first time I have ever seen that at the Hammond Field. TK doesn’t just run drills; he seems to hold court out on the practice fields and actually seems to put on a show for the spectators, sometimes even interacting with the fans. TK isn’t ready for his own stand-up comedy routine just yet but he can be funny at times. In the past I have even seen him out there with his cigar but I have not seen that so far this year. He runs his practice like a drill sergeant but make no mistake, not much slips pass TK. If he doesn’t like what he sees on the field he has no problem stopping the drill right then and there and telling or showing the offending player the error of his ways. With TK, you get a lot of arm gestures and a loud gruff sounding voice, but never to a veteran player. If a veteran makes a mistake TK usually just walks up to him, puts his arm on him and they turn away from the fans and the message is passed on and then TK walks away having gotten his point across with no one being embarrassed. With TK in spring training it is not about the results, it is all about the process and doing it the right way, the Twins way.

In the past I have not been a fan of TK due to how poorly he treated fans that questioned or second guessed his managerial moves on call in radio shows but in spring training these days he seems to be a totally different person, maybe it is the fact that he no longer wears the reins or bears the stresses of being a big league skipper. After practice he does a great job of signing autographs, talks to the fans, particularly the kids and just seems to enjoy his time in the sun. On the practice fields he catches all the mistakes but he is also the biggest cheerleader on the field, always telling players how nice that play looked and how they made a professional big league play. TK even pokes fun at himself whenever he himself makes a mistake.

Today TK seemed to focus on Nishioka and his interpreter. I don’t know how many times TK strolled out to second or short where Nishioka had just completed a play and the three of them would have a little chat. Sometimes you could see a smile cross Nishioka’s face and other time you could see him just nod his head before TK walked away to observe the next play. It is very strange to see Nishioka’s interpreter out at second base or shortstop behind Nishioka during fielding drills but it is a way of life for the Twins these days. With spring training games slated to start on Sunday I will be limiting my visits to probably once a week or so because workouts change so dramatically when the games begin.

Fast and furious or slow and steady?

January 17, 2011 – After just one season of calling Target Field home, the Twins brain trust has determined that they have a need for speed. The Twins are coming off of a season where they stole just 68 bases. The last time the Twins stole that few bases was 25 years ago, back in 1985. Since the Twins started playing in Minnesota they have stolen a total of 4,343 bases or an average of 87 “swipes” per season. The teams all-time high for SB’s was 151 in 1997 and their all-time low was 32 way back in 1963 but that year they also slugged a team all-time high of 225 home runs to make up for it.

There does not seem to be any consistency to where the Twins finish in the standing based on their stolen base totals. Back in 1997 when they stole 151 bases, they finished fourth with a 68-94 mark. In their World Series seasons, they had 92 SB’s in 1965, 113 SB’s in 1987 and 107 SB’s in 1991. Here is a table showing the Twins top base stealing teams:

Rank Year Won Lost Finish SB CS
1 1997 68 94 4th 151 52
2 2001 85 77 2nd 146 67
2 1976 85 77 3rd 146 75
4 1996 78 84 4th 143 53
5 1992 90 72 2nd 123 74
6 1999 63 97 5th 118 60
7 2004 92 70 1st 116 46
8 1969 97 65 1st 115 70
9 1987 85 77 1st 113 65
10 2007 79 83 3rd 112 30
10 1998 70 92 4th 112 54

But will Gardy use the speed tool if he has the chance? The numbers tell me that he will not. If we compare Gardenhire and Tom Kelly we see that in TK’s fifteen seasons his teams swiped 1,699 bases or an average of 113 per season with a high of 146 in 2001. When you look at Gardy’s 9 seasons you end up with 859 stolen bases for an average of 95 per year with a high of 116. In TK’s final season as manager in 2001, his team ended up with 146 steals, the following year with Gardy at the helm his boys stole just 79 bases with pretty much the same cast of characters. So it will be interesting to see if the Twins burn up the base paths in 2011.

Manager longevity

November 28, 2010 – I thought it would be interesting to see where the Twins managers stood in terms of games managed and to also take a look at the last fifty years in the American League to see how many managers the various teams have had since 1961.

The Twins have only had 12 managers in their entire history and only two since Tom Kelly took over from Ray Miller late in the 1986 season. Kelly is still far and away the longest tenured Twins manager and on the other end of the spectrum, Cookie Lavagetto only managed the Twins for 66 games in their inaugural season but it needs to be mentioned that he coached the Washington Senators from 1958-1960 before the team relocated to Minnesota. Kelly himself has managed almost 30% of the games the Twins have played and when you look at Kelly and Gardenhire together, these two men have managed 48.3% of all the Twins games since 1961.

Rank Manager Twins game managed
1 Tom Kelly 2,384
2 Ron Gardenhire 1,459
3 Sam Mele 953
4 Gene Mauch 772
5 Billy Gardner 621
6 Frank Quilici 567
7 Bill Rigney 392
8 Cal Ermer 274
9 Ray Miller 239
10 Billy Martin 162
11 John Goryl 72
12 Cookie Lavagetto 66

When you look at the rest of the AL Central Division between 1961 and 2010 the longest tenured managers were Tigers skipper Sparky Anderson with 2,473 games between 1980-1995, Indians skipper Mike Hargrove with 1,227 games between 1992-1999, current White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen with 1,135 games between 2004-Present, and Royals skipper Dick Howser with 769 games between 1981-1986.

Looking at the entire American League for the last fifty years, the Twins rank first, meaning they have had the least amount of managers per years played and thus have the highest average numbers of years managed per manager. I am not sure that means anything when you see the New York Yankees sitting at the bottom of the list with 25 managers in 50 years but it is still fun to look at. I didn’t count some interim managers that managed just a handful of games for their teams when the regular managers were away for a variety of reasons. It just shows that managers are hired to be fired and it is rare when a manager gets to walk away from the game by his own choosing. 

Rank Team # of managers Average years per manager Comments
1 Minnesota Twins 12 4.17  
2 Tampa Rays 4 3.25 Joined league in 1998
3 Detroit Tigers 17 2.94  
4 Toronto Blue Jays 12 2.83 Joined league in 1977
5 Boston Red Sox 18 2.77  
5 Chicago White Sox 18 2.77  
5 Baltimore Orioles 18 2.77  
8 Los Angeles Angels 22 2.27  
9 Kansas City Royals 19 2.21 Joined league in 1969
10 Cleveland Indians 23 2.17  
11 Seattle Mariners 16 2.13 Joined league in 1977
12 Texas Rangers 19 2.05 Joined league in 1972
13 Oakland A’s 25 2.00  
13 New York Yankees 25 2.00  

 

Thanksgiving recollections

November 25, 2010 – For me, baseball started back in 1957 when I followed the Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. My brother Stan (now deceased and probably talking baseball and watching some former greats strapping it on again in the big field in the sky) and I grew up like many other kids, collecting baseball cards and trading them, not thinking they would ever be worth anything. Back then, Topps were about the only card on the market in our small home town and they were a nickel a pack or six for a quarter and each pack had some awful tasting bubblegum that was hard as a rock, not to mention that the gum often ruined the card that was next to it. I always hated the Yankees so I always traded any Yankee card for any Twins card I could get my hands on. I wonder how many Mickey Mantle cards I got rid of. Of course I don’t have any of those cards today, my Mother saw to that while I was in the Navy.

But this story is getting off of its original intent and that is to talk about managers and ejections. Back then we had no TV so the only baseball action we could get was via the radio as I listened to Milwaukee Braves night games on my transistor radio and then when the Twins moved to Minnesota we finally had our own team on WCCO radio and I listened to as many games as I could. One of my favorite parts of listening to a game was when there was a disagreement on the field and one of the managers came out to argue his side of the play. I really enjoyed Halsey Hall or Herb Carneal telling me what was going on and then the big moment, the ump calls “you are outta here” and you could hear the fans cheer or boo depending on who was ejected. Those were the good old days for me, managers like Earl Weaver, Dick Williams or Billy Martin going toe to toe with the umps, the spit flying, kicking sand on home plate, flinging first base out into right field, slamming their cap to the ground before kicking it, and of course tossing a few bats and balls on the field as they exited the diamond on their way to the clubhouse for a cool and refreshing drink. You don’t see that manager passion that much anymore and one of the last of that breed left us when Lou Piniella retired from the game this year.

But maybe all is not lost, I recently checked with the Twins to see if they could tell me how many times each of the Twins managers had been ejected but all they could provide me with were the numbers for Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire as stats were not kept previous to that. We all know that Bobby Cox holds baseball’s career ejection mark with something like 158 but how is our own Gardy doing? He has been thumbed a number of times in his Twins managing career. According to the Twins, current manager Ron Gardenhire has been sent to the clubhouse on 52 occasions in his nine seasons as a Twins manager. Cox managed for 33 seasons and if you divide his 158 career ejections by the number of years he managed it comes out to about 4.79 ejections per season. Gardy has only managed for 9 seasons but he already has been thrown out 52 times and that averages out to 5.78 per season, almost one full ejection more per season managed than what Bobby Cox has accrued. Of course Gardy would have to manage many more years to beat the high ejection standard that Bobby Cox has established but Gardy could well be on his way, if Gardy managed for 33 years and kept up his current ejection rate and didn’t mellow, he could end up with 190+ ejections, is that something to look forward to or what? Go gettem Gardy! Oh by the way, Tom Kelly managed for 15+ season and was relieved of his managing duties only 5 times……….You gotta love baseball.

Would Tom Kelly take Orioles job?

June 4, 2010 – I have to wonder, what would happen if Andy MacPhail the Orioles president of baseball operations would offer the Orioles manager job to Tom Kelly. The history obviously goes back a long ways and MacPhail gave TK his first opportunity to manage in the big leagues. The word seems to be that the Orioles need a “kick-ass” manager; I think TK fits that role to a “T”. The team has some good young players but to date they have not performed. Maybe an old east coast guy like TK would take the helm once again to help an old friend in Baltimore.

Another rumor circulating now connects Minnesota and Baltimore and supposedly the Orioles are interested in a shortstop and rumor has it that Trevor Plouffe is one of their targets. The Orioles are looking to unload starting pitcher Kevin Millwood who is 0-6 I think but has not pitched that badly. Would the Twins pull the trigger on a deal like that? Then again, how serious is Hardy’s injury? I can’t help but be a bit worried about what is going on with Hardy.

Spring Training Report

February 24, 2010 – I went out to the ballpark on Monday morning to catch the first official work-out and had a good time. There were a number of people there but not a huge crowd by any means. It was easy to get around and view the different activities on the different practice fields. I saw Jose Mijares throwing so he obviously cleaned up his visa issues and he does look considerably thinner. Jon Rauch was throwing at the same time and boy is Rauch a physically imposing figure, he is what 6″11″? By the way, Joe Mauer was in there catching some of the pitchers.

I went over to the next field and there I saw Gardy and TK running a “pitcher cover first base drill”. That is kind of fun to watch as the pitcher throws the ball to a catcher. In the mean time a coach hits another ball to a 1B who then lobs the throw to the pitcher covering first. Over and over again the same old thing, but yet sometimes during the season it looks like they never practiced it before. Gardy and TK try to make it fun and you can hear some of the banter going on back and forth. One of the things they do also is to have the coach drop a ball somewhere next to the pitcher and the pitcher has to quickly find it, pick it up and get ready to throw to first, One time Deolis Guerra was the pitcher and all of a sudden all 10 or so of the pitchers threw their balls at Guerra at the same time, there were balls everywhere and everyone got a big kick out of it including Deolis who was laughing as he threw his glove in the air.

The next field had some batting practice for the catchers and other position players that had reported early. I watched Mauer and Cuddyer hit a couple of times and they were putting a good hurt on the balls.

I was in kind of a hurry due to other plans so I didn’t go over to the minor league fields to see what was going on there but obviously some of the boys had reported early and were doing some hitting and throwing the ball around.

It appears that the players come out for stretching about 9:30 AM and practice starts about 10:00 AM. They wrap up between 11:30 and Noon and that is the best time to get pictures and autographs. The players and coaches all seem very good about that. In the picture above you can see Cuddyer as he signs and signs and signs.

For more Twins spring traing coverage, please check out the Fort Myers NEWS-PRESS.COM site by clicking here.