Tag: Tony Oliva

Most games played by position in franchise history

Native Minnesotan Kent Hrbek

July 31, 2010 – I just wanted to take a look and see who the leaders for games played at each position by the Minnesota Twins and the Washington Senators. With the way things are in baseball today and players on the move through free agency it is hard to keep the same players for any length of time. The only current player that might have a shot at moving on to the list below in the near future is Joe Mauer and if all goes well that might happen late in 2011 or early 2012.

Position Games Name Games Name
Catcher 831 Earl Battey 874 Muddy Ruel
1B 1,609 Kent Hrbek 2,025 Joe Judge
2B 1,128 Rod Carew 1,339 Buddy Myer
SS 1,112 Greg Gagne 1,445 George McBride
3B 1,311 Gary Gaetti 1,625 Eddie Yost
LF 620 Dan Gladden 1,093 Goose Goslin
CF 1,432 Kirby Puckett 1,635 Clyde Milan
RF 1,138 Tony Oliva 1,592 Sam Rice
DH 406 Tony Oliva — —

 

Most Games Played in a Twins Uniform

Rank Name Games played Plate appearances
1 Harmon Killebrew 2,329 9,462
2 Kirby Puckett 1,783 7,831
3 Kent Hrbek 1,747 7,137
4 Tony Oliva 1,676 6,879
5 Rod Carew 1,635 6,980
6 Bob Allison 1,541 5,921
7 Gary Gaetti 1,361 5,459
8 Torii Hunter 1,234 4,894
9 Randy Bush 1,219 3,480
10 Roy Smalley 1,148 4,675

 

Tough to strike out

June 21, 2010 – Hall of Famer Sam Rice is way ahead of everyone in franchise history with the best strike out per at bat ratio going down swinging just once in every 33.6 at bats in 9,879 plate appearances. It seems as though the players in the past had much bat control or were more patient then the players of today. As you can see, the Twins best in this category is Brian Harper and he struck out once in every 19.6 at bats in 2,691 plate appearances. Where do Joe Mauer and Rod Carew stand you ask? To this point in his career Joe has 3,253 plate appearances and he strikes out once in every 8.8 at bats. Carew struck out once in every 8.7 at bats in his 6,980 Twins plate appearances. What I think is kind of weird is that Tony Oliva was known as a free swinger and he struck out once every 9.8 at bats in 6,879 at bats. Just for comparison, Harmon Killebrew struck out once every 5.81 at bats in 9,462 Twins plate appearances while Justin Morneau is currently at a strike out every 6.71 at bats in 3,889 plate appearances.

Toughest Twins to strike out

Catcher Brian Harper
Rank Name At bats per strike out
1 Brian Harper 19.6
2 Mickey Hatcher 15.0
3 Cesar Tovar 13.5
4 Lenny Green 13.3
5 Hosken Powell 11.0
6 Butch Wynegar 10.6
7 Lyman Bostock 10.4
7 Ted Uhlaender 10.4
9 Al Newman 10.2
10 Jim Holt 10.0

 Toughest Senators to strike out

outfielder Sam Rice

 

Rank Name At bats per strike out
1 Sam Rice 33.6
2 Sam Dente 27.7
3 Heinie Manush 25.1
4 Muddy Ruel 23.4
5 Clyde Milan 23.1
6 Rick Ferrell 21.0
7 Clint Courtney 19.3
8 Eddie Foster 19.2
9 Stan Spence 18.5
10 George Case 17.5

 

Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame

May 18, 2010 – The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame began to induct members in 1939. It continued to do so even with all the political turmoil that has befallen Cuban Baseball. The Federacion de Peloteros Profesionales Cubanos en el Exilio continued elections of members after the end of professionalism in Cuba. For a complete list of members inducted, please go to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame pages.

The following one time Twins players are in the Cuban Hall of Fame.

Inducted in 1979 – Leo Cardenas – SS
Inducted in 1980 = Zoilo Versalles – SS
Inducted in 1981 – Pedro Ramos – P
Inducted in 1982 – Tony Oliva – OF
Inducted in 1983 – Camilo Pascual – P
Inducted in 1985 – Mike Fornieles – P
Inducted in 1997 – Julio Becquer – 1B
Inducted in 1997 – Luis Tiant – P

 

Good Eye, Good Eye!

May 15, 2010 – The Twins preach to their pitchers that the batter should earn his way on base via a hit, just throw the ball over the plate and take your chances that the batter will hit it to one of your fielders. In recent years, the Twins pitching staff has always been one of the league leaders in fewest bases on balls allowed.

But the shoe is on the other foot when it comes to the Twins hitters where the coaching staff tries to teach patience at the plate, after all, a walk is just as good as a hit. Plus, the more pitches you see, the better the odds are of the batter getting a hit and the quicker the pitcher reaches their so called pitch limits. This year the Twins hitters have taken that advice to heart and after 32 games they have walked 147 times and are on pace for about 700 walks which would be the most not only in Twins history but in franchise history. The 1956 Senators walked 690 times and the most walks by a Twins team was the 1962 Twins when they walked to first base 649 times. Let’s take a look at the top 10 career Twins and Senators batters that believed that a walk was indeed as good as a hit.

Minnesota Twins

HOF Harmon Killebrew played for the Senators/Twins from 1954-1974
HOF Harmon Killebrew played for the Senators/Twins from 1954-1974
Rank Player Bases on Balls Plate Appearances Base on Ball %
1 Harmon Killebrew 1,321 8,018 16.48%
2 Kent Hrbek 838 7,137 11.74%
3 Bob Allison 641 4,641 13.81%
4 Rod Carew 613 6,980 8.78%
5 Roy Smalley 549 4,675 11.74%
6 Chuck Knoblauch 513 4,571 11.22%
7 Kirby Puckett 450 7,831 5.75%
8 Tony Oliva 448 6,879 6.61%
9 Matt Lawton 408 3,150 12.95%
10 Tom Brunansky 394 3,760 10.48%

 Washington Senators

Eddie Yost
Eddie Yost
Rank Player Bases on Balls Plate Appearances Base on Ball %
1 Eddie Yost 1,274 7,461 17.08%
2 Joe Judge 943 8,906 10.59%
3 Buddy Myer 864 7,028 12.29%
4 Mickey Vernon 735 7,769 9.46%
5 Ossie Bluege 723 7,452 9.70%
6 Clyde Milan 685 8,312 8.24%
7 Sam Rice 680 9.879 6.89%
8 Buddy Lewis 573 5,937 9.65%
9 Joe Kuhel 530 5,234 10.13%
10 Goose Goslin 488 5,810 8.40%

The Cuban Senators

June 9, 2009 – A nice story written by Matt Welch a number of years ago for ESPN.com that I think is worth your read. The story is about the Washington Senators ties to Cuban ballplayers such as Julio Becquer, Pedro Ramos, Camilo Pascual, Tony Oliva and numerous others. The relationship of super Cuban scout Papa Joe Cambria and the numerous players he signed to major league contracts is also looked at. The story ends with a “feel good” moment that shows once again that Calvin Griffith was not the ogre that many made him out to be. Click here for the story.

Veterans committee finalist’s announced for Hall of Fame

December 1, 2008 – Ten former major league players whose careers started in 1943 or later have been named as finalists for election and entry into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2009. Three former Minnesota Twins players, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, and Luis Tiant are part of this select and talented group. In addition, Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Joe Torre, and Maury Wills make up the rest of the group. Boy, I must be getting old because with the exception of Hodges, I grew up watching all these guys play. How many if any of these former stars will make it is hard to say. The veterans group has not selected anyone for admission in years and the voting rules have changed since the last vote was taken. This year, candidates must garner 75% of the vote from living Hall of Famers. Since there are currently 64 living Hall of Famers, 48 votes will be required for entry.

From this group I sure would like to see Tony O, Jim Kaat, and Maury Wills get in. Voting results are scheduled to be announced on December 8 during baseballs’ winter meetings in Las Vegas. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

December 9 update – Disappointment….is how I would describe my feelings when I heard that for the fourth consecutive time no post 1942 players were selected to the Hall. How can this be, are you telling me none of these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? That is a bunch of Bull*&^%, a number of these players belong there, the problem is how to get them there. I have no problem with the 64 living Hall of Famers voting but it seems to me that they are all over the board, there is no leadership here, someone needs to stand up and take charge. To achieve the necessary 75% for election, a player must receive 48 votes. The results for the most recent voting were as follows: Ron Santo (39 votes, 60.9 percent), Jim Kaat (38, 59.4 percent), Tony Oliva (33, 51.6 percent), Gil Hodges (28, 43.8 percent), Joe Torre (19, 29.7 percent), Maury Wills (15, 23.4 percent), Luis Tiant (13, 20.3 percent), Vada Pinson (12, 18.8 percent), Al Oliver (nine, 14.1 percent), Dick Allen (seven, 10.9 percent). All 64 living HOF players cast ballots, the Hall of Fame stated that voters could choose up to four candidates, and an average of 3.33 votes per ballot was cast.

Something needs to change, it is not right that players that deserve to be in the HOF are left outside looking in and then years after they pass away, someone decides they do belong in the HOF, that is just not right. This year 256 votes could have been cast and only 213 were cast, that is 43 votes that went unused. Let’s change the rules for this finalist group; I have no problem with at least one player, the highest vote getter getting the call to the hall. If you don’t want to do that, then let’s make sure that each player cast 4 votes on each ballot. You will not cheapen the entry into the MLB Hall of Fame by doing this, you will only make it better for the players and the fans who want to see the stars they cheered for many years get the credit they deserve. All I can say now is “shame on you the living 64 Hall of Famers who have your noses so high in the air that you can’t see the ballot itself”, you guys really disappointed me.