Tag: Wade Boggs

These guys beat up the Twins over the years

With the Minnesota Twins having 57 MLB seasons in the rear view mirror, the Houston Astros winning the World Series in 7 games, the temperatures in the mid 40’s and with no snow on the ground it is a good time to look back on and revisit the hitters that have found Twins pitching to their liking over the years. 

Today we are going to take a look at Twins opponents that have 200 or more hits against the Twins, there are 23 players who fit this criteria. 200 hits is a lot of hits. Six of the 23 hit from the left side, 13 were right-handed hitters and just four (Vizquel, Martinez, Wilson and Murray) of them were switch-hitters. Just missing out on this list were Frank Thomas with 194 hits, Al Kaline with 192 and Sal Bando with 190 hits.

200 or more hits against the Minnesota Twins

Carl Yastrzemski
Results
Rk Player #Matching AB H
?		 HR RBI SO BA OPS Tm
1 Carl Yastrzemski 297 1094 321 43 158 121 .293 .855 BOS
2 George Brett 228 869 275 23 128 74 .316 .869 KCR
3 Paul Konerko 257 926 265 50 136 139 .286 .845 CHW
4 Cal Ripken 207 788 242 26 119 87 .307 .849 BAL
5 Magglio Ordonez 195 739 240 37 145 80 .325 .906 CHW,DET
6 Wade Boggs 179 687 234 6 84 50 .341 .869 BOS,NYY,TBD
7 Bert Campaneris 232 913 229 7 54 115 .251 .633 KCA,OAK,TEX,CAL,NYY
8 Omar Vizquel 212 783 228 5 68 79 .291 .732 SEA,CLE,SFG,TEX,CHW,TOR
9 Victor Martinez 205 764 226 29 121 90 .296 .823 CLE,BOS,DET
10 Reggie Jackson 252 902 225 51 142 243 .249 .818 KCA,OAK,BAL,NYY,CAL
11 Brooks Robinson 230 861 223 20 115 91 .259 .711 BAL
12 Amos Otis 195 740 223 16 100 102 .301 .818 KCR
13 Jim Thome 196 695 218 61 156 221 .314 1.049 CLE,CHW,PHI,BAL
14 Paul Molitor 176 716 217 16 93 76 .303 .825 MIL,TOR
15 Willie Wilson 185 693 216 3 64 113 .312 .752 KCR,OAK
16 Rickey Henderson 198 721 215 23 85 90 .298 .869 OAK,NYY,TOR,ANA,SEA,BOS
17 Robin Yount 208 794 211 18 93 92 .266 .715 MIL
18 Harold Baines 213 716 209 32 127 101 .292 .851 CHW,TEX,OAK,BAL
19 Ivan Rodriguez 178 678 208 29 94 104 .307 .835 TEX,DET,NYY,HOU
20 Luis Aparicio 195 774 205 8 51 60 .265 .649 BAL,CHW,BOS
21 Miguel Cabrera 175 653 205 41 139 109 .314 .960 FLA,DET
22 Frank White 214 704 202 13 73 70 .287 .751 KCR
23 Eddie Murray 168 658 201 44 133 94 .305 .922 BAL,CLE,ANA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/29/2017.

One oddity that I noticed when looking over this data was that only two players got their 200 or more hits from one spot in the batting order. Ricky Henderson had 214 out of his 215 hits against Minnesota hitting lead-off while Carl Yastrzemski had 228 of his 321 hits out of the three-hole.

WOW! Look at the Hall of Famer’s on this list plus some of the others will be in shortly. Anyone on this list surprise you? How about players that you thought would be on the list but are not?

 

Twins all-opponent team shortstop

Shortstop – Cal Ripken was the Orioles second round selection (48th overall) in the 1978 June amateur draft. With the Twins first round pick (16th overall) in that same draft the Twins chose shortstop Lenny Faedo. But don’t feel bad because in the first round the Orioles chose infielder Robert Boyce who only reached as high as “A” ball.

You might think that picking the shortstop for this team would be easy but you would be wrong, it was difficult and I almost selected Omar Vizquel but finally decided on Ripken primarily because of his power and ability to show up and play every day. The numbers that Ripken and Vizquel put up against Minnesota were almost identical except in power and speed. They were both great players.

Ripken a Hall of Famer was the 1982 ROY award winner beating out Kent Hrbek and Wade Boggs. During his 21 year career he was a two-time MVP, 19 time All-Star (every year except his rookie season), 8 time Silver Slugger, and a 2 time Gold Glove winner not to mention a host of other awards.

But what did Ripken do against Minnesota that earns him the right to be a part of the Twins all-opponent team? Well, he went to the plate 725 times and had a .307 average with 197 hits, 47 doubles, 24 home runs, 105 RBI, with an OPS of .874. Not too shabby for a shortstop, plus the Twins decided to give him 15 IBB to make sure he didn’t do even more damage.

Looks like it is time to look at the outfielders.

 

Our previous selections for the Twins all-opponent team

Catcher – Ivan Rodriguez

First Baseman – Paul Konerko

Second Baseman – Lou Whitaker

Third Baseman – Wade Boggs

 

The Twins all-opponent team third baseman

Third Base – Wade Boggs is my pick today but when you have to choose among players like Brooks Robinson, George Brett, Sal Bando, Graig Nettles, Buddy Bell, Doug DeCinces, Carney Lansford, Adrian Beltre, and Josh Donaldson it is no easy task and on another day it might have been one of the others. It is tough to go wrong here.

Boggs who many knew as the chicken man played in the big leagues for 18 season with the Red Sox (1982-1992), the Yankees (1993-1997) and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-1999). Boggs was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005, selected as an All-Star 12 times, won five batting titles, eight Silver Slugger awards, and was a two-time Gold Glove winner.

He showed the Minnesota Twins no mercy in the 162 games he played against them hitting .344 with an OPS of .870. In his 730 PA’s against Minnesota he had 220 hits of which 42 were doubles, 7 triples, 5 were home runs and he walked 82 times to boot. In his 162 games against the Twins he went hitless just 24 times and on May 20 and May 31 of 1986 he had five hits in each game.

Wade Boggs is an interesting person and was a very good baseball player, if you would like to learn more about him, check out his SABR Bio.

 

Our previous selections for the Twins all-opponent team

Catcher – Ivan Rodriguez

First Baseman – Paul Konerko

Second Baseman – Lou Whitaker

The 1975 Minnesota Twins and a seven year old boy

Today we have a guest post by Treavor Lenz who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first Twins game which he saw at Met Stadium. I enjoy the stories and thoughts that readers of this site share either through comments, messages or e-mails. If I can, I try to share them with other Twins fans. In this case Treavor talks about many different Twins historical events that he has had the pleasure to witness in person over the last 40 years. That is one of the cool things about baseball, it seems like certain games or events stay with you for a life time.

The young Twins fans of today haven’t had the opportunity to witness some of the wonderful events that have taken place over the years. What is cooler than reading about a Twins historical event from a person that actually was there when it took place? Thanks for taking the time to share your memories with us Treavor!

 

Hi Twins fans!

This August 16th marks a famous day in Twins history…. Well, for me, at least.  It’s the 40th anniversary of my first Twins game I ever attended at the Old Met.  I had just turned 7 and my Dad and I joined a Knothole Gang bus tour out of Eagle Lake, MN (I grew up in Waseca, MN.).  The sights and sounds of the ballpark were awesome for me and the game had a few historical significance’s, too. The Indians were managed by Frank Robinson, a future HOFer and the first African-American to lead an MLB team.  As noted in the Twins Trivia “This Day In Twins History” page, the Twins set an MLB record as all 9 players in the starting lineup had at least 2 hits, 20 total on the day.  Phil Roof’s home run landed just a section away from where we were sitting!  Tony Oliva and Rod Carew were definite favorites.  It’s too bad… I had missed out on seeing Harmon Killebrew by one season.

I was hooked; I wanted to see the Twins play each year and on or around my birthday, for sure.  I made it back to the Old Met, Metrodome and Target Field at least once each summer until 2011, 37 straight years!  After college at Iowa State, getting married and starting a family, my career took me to Wisconsin in 1999, so getting back for a game became wasn’t as easy as just picking up one evening and going to the Twin Cities from southern MN, but my desire spurred by that 7 year old’s memories kept it going for a while.

I wanted to share a few favorite memories of Twins games I attended with you today.

Other “This Day In Twins History” games I saw were:

  • Dave Goltz’s 180 (!) pitch, 11 inning, complete game 2-1 win over the A’s on July 25, 1977. I only realized a few years ago researching games I’d been to how high his pitch count was.
  • The only double-header in Metrodome history on August 1, 1983 (my 15th birthday) vs. the Angels, caused by the April 14, 1983 snowstorm that deflated the Metrodome roof. On that April day when they announced when the double-header would be, I simply told my folks, “We’re going!”  Two games and a return trip of Rod Carew!  Reggie Jackson had two doubles in the first game.  The Twins split, with Rick Lysander winning the second game with an amazing complete game, 11-hit shutout.  Darrell Brown went 4-4, too.
  • Dave Kingman’s pop up that got stuck in the Metrodome roof on May 4, 1984, that, after much deliberation, the umpires ruled a ground rule double.
  • Steve Carlton’s last MLB win (329) vs. the A’s in an important 1987 AL West division game. He went 8 and 2/3’s innings.  Also, Don Baylor was an underrated pickup for the 1987 Champs!
  • Casey Blake was on fire on July 5, 2003! The Indians’ slugger was 5-5, with two doubles and two HRs, adding 7 RBIs in Cleveland’s 13-2 win.  My brother “became an Indians fan” in the seventh, “since they were the only ones hitting that day.”

Other memories include:

  • In 1976 vs. the Yankees, my Dad almost broke his hand on a Mickey Rivers’ foul liner that just kept climbing into the second deck, 3rd base side.
  • A 1977 tilt, when Lyman Bostock had a go-ahead, 8th inning homer, the White Sox and Twins seventh of the day, to win it 7-6 and the whole 1977 season when Carew, Bostock, Hisle and Ford were key hitters in a fun season. (Reminds me a little of the current 2015 Twins!)
  • A great stab by Rob Wilfong going towards first, starting a 4-6-3 DP, of a line one hop smash by Jim Rice. My section was right in front of it!  You’ve got to give Rice credit; he hustled and almost beat it out.  The Twins beat a star-studded Red Sox team 5-2 on July 25, 1978 that featured Fred Lynn, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, George “Boomer” Scott and Jim Rice.
  • Waiting out a 2 hour rain delay to see Detroit bet the Twins 8-3 in 1979. Willie Norwood would always have a good game at the plate when I went.
  • Jerry Koosman pitched a 10 inning complete game 2-1 win over the 2 time defending World Champ Yankees the day before my 12th birthday, July 31, 1980. John Castino doubled in Ken Landreaux all the way from first off of future HOF closer Goose Gossage.  Even Reggie’s strikeouts were majestic!
  • Seeing Harvey Kuenn’s Wallbangers with Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Ben Oglivie, and Gorman Thomas in the last game I saw at Met Stadium in September 1981.  They did in the overmatched Twins 16-5.  Mark Funderburk hit a towering sacrifice fly in his Twins’ debut at-bat.
  • My first game in the Metrodome in 1982. First (full) year phenom Kent Hrbek was intentionally walked with no one on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th as Texas preserved a 3-2 win.
  • The arrival of a dynamo named Kirby Puckett, who swung at anything and hit line drives and ran everything down in center. KIRRR-BY PUCKETT!!!!—never got tired of the PA announcer’s call!
  • A fan a few rows in front of me made a great bare handed catch of a foul liner off of the bat of Orioles’ first baseman Eddie Murray. If it had skipped through, I was ready!
  • A fan a few rows behind me by the cement aisle steps dropped a foul pop from Randy Bush. As I got my hand on it after judging the one hop, my brother informs me that another fan pushed me squarely in the back trying to reach over me for it, too.  The ball skittered away from both of us.  I never got any closer to a ball than that!
  • Oakland CF Dave Henderson losing the ball in the white Metrodome ceiling and LF Rickey Henderson’s mad dash (to no avail) to try to catch it behind him!
  • Seeing 12 games in 1987, including Game 2 of the 1987 World Series! My Dad’s brother, Uncle Fred got 2 sets of 2 tickets to it.  My brother, Aaron, and I sat in one and Dad and Fred in the other.  Gary Gaetti’s HR (inside the foul pole right in front of us), Randy Bush’s RBI double, Bert Blyleven going 7 innings and the loudest atmosphere I’d ever been in stand out.  A Tom Brunansky bottom of the 9th HR vs. the Brewers for a 2-1 win was key that year.  KC Royals Danny Tartabull’s 9th inning 3 run HR off of Jeff Reardon was not.  Oddly, the Twins were 5 wins and 6 losses in the 11 regular season games I attended—the year they had such a great home record!
  • Boston’s Roger Clemens outdueled Scott Erickson 1-0 in about 1990. Clemens finished with a complete game 2 hitter and Scotty went about 7 and 2/3’s.  Leadoff batter Billy Hatcher cueballed a spinning double past Kent Hrbek down the first base line, Wade Boggs singled him in and that was it for the scoring after the top of the first!
  • Seattle’s Ken Griffey, Jr and Ken Griffey, Sr playing together. Junior homered, naturally…
  • The M & M boys (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau) hit line drives all over the place.
  • The last game I saw at the Metrodome was in July 2009 vs. Detroit. Each time Detroit would score so would the Twins until their one run in the 16th inning could not match the three the Tigers had scored.  Longest game I’ve ever attended!
  • The two games at Target Field in 2010 and 2011, both against the Rays. Jim Thome’s shot off the wall only resulted in an RBI single (a few feet short of a home run) as they lost in ’10, but Michael Cuddyer’s bloop RBI single was the winning margin in ’11.

I’ve probably left off a few deserving entries, but what I enjoyed the most about going to a Twins game was attending WITH MY FAMILY!  My Dad Ken, Mom Kathy, sister Kelli, brother Aaron, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and later, my wife Becky, my kids Trey, Kylie, and the twins (of course!) Mikayla and Mackenzie, her folks Arlin and Carol, brother Brian, and sister Deb’s family are the people with whom I enjoyed Twins games!

Left to right: Me (Treavor), Mackenzie, Trey, Mikayla, Kylie, and my wife, Becky
Left to right: Me (Treavor), Mackenzie, Trey, Mikayla, Kylie, and my wife, Becky

I hope you enjoyed a look at the last 40 years of Twins baseball as I saw it!  Go Twins!!!

Treavor Lenz

As I was prepping this post by tagging all the players that Treavor mentioned it dawned on me that some of these players had slipped into the archives of my own memory banks as I age but seeing their name in print again brought back many memories, some funny, some exciting, some good, some bad, some historic, and some that are just plain sad. That’s a good thing, damn I love baseball. Thanks again Treavor.

According to Elias – All-Star edition

Jeter flourishes in his final All-Star appearance

Derek jeter
Derek Jeter

 

Derek Jeter, as usual, rose to the occasion in his final All-Star game appearance, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored in the American League’s 5-3 win. Jeter finishes his career with a .481 (13-for-27) batting average in the All-Star game, which currently stands as the second highest for any of the 100 players with at least 15 All-Star at bats in major-league history, behind Charlie Gehringer, who went 10-for-20 (.500) in six appearances in the Mid Summer Classic.

Jeter became the second player in major-league history with multiple hits in the All-Star game in his final major-league season, joining George McQuinn, who had two hits representing the Yankees in the 1948 game. Jeter, at 40 years and 19 days old, also became the oldest player with at least two hits in an All-Star game. Only one player over the age of 38 had done that prior to Jeter: Carl Yastrzemski, who had two hits in the 1979 contest at age 39 years, 329 days.

Jeter’s first-inning double was his fifth career All-Star hit in the opening frame, tied with Wade Boggs and Stan Musial for the second most first-inning hits in All-Star history, behind Willie Mays (6).

Trout is the All-Star MVP

 

Mike Trout
Mike Trout

Mike Trout had two hits and two RBIs and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 All-Star game on Tuesday night. Trout, 22 years and 342 days old, became the second youngest player to win the All-Star game MVP, behind Ken Griffey Jr., who captured the award in the 1992 game at 22 years, 236 days old.

Trout became the fourth Angels player to win the All-Star game MVP, joining Leon Wagner (1962), Fred Lynn (1983) and Garret Anderson (2003).

 

American League jumps on Wainwright in the first

The American League jumped on Adam Wainwright for three runs in the first inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday night. Derek Jeter led off with a double, Mike Trout followed with a triple and after Robinson Cano struck out, Miguel Cabrera unloaded a two run home run. It’s only the second time in major-league history that three of the first four batters had an extra-base hit for a team in the All-Star game. The only other time that happened in the Mid Summer Classic was in 2004, when Ichiro Suzuki led off the first inning with a double, Ivan Rodriguez followed with a triple, and then after a Vladimir Guerrero ground out, Manny Ramirez hit a two-run homer.

Wainwright allowed only four extra base hits (three doubles and a homer) in the first inning in the 19 starts he made prior to the All-Star break this season.

Cabrera goes deep out of the cleanup spot

Miguel Cabrera – the American League’s cleanup hitter – hit a two-run home run in the first inning to stake the A.L. to a 3-0 lead in their 5-3 win over the N.L. in Tuesday’s All-Star game. Cabrera’s 14 home runs this season are the fewest for the American League’s cleanup hitter in an All-Star Game since 1990, when Cal Ripken batted fourth for the A.L. with nine homers to that point.

Perkins saves it for the A.L. in his home ballpark

Glen Perkins
Glen Perkins

Minnesota’s Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth inning to record a save in the American League’s 5-3 win in the All-Star game at Target Field. Prior to Perkins, only two pitchers registered a save in the All-Star game in their home ballpark: Detroit’s Mickey Lolich (1971 at Tiger Stadium) and Seattle’s Kazuhiro Sasaki (2001 at Safeco Field).

A rough All-Star debut for Puig

Yasiel Puig had a rough night in his first All-Star appearance, striking out in each of his three trips to the plate. Only three other players in major-league history struck out in each of their plate appearances with at least three trips to the plate in an All-Star game: Jim Hegan (1950), John Roseboro (1961) and Johnny Bench (1970).

A few odds and ends about the draft

2013 draftThe 2013 MLB first-year player draft day has finally arrived and later this evening we will learn who the Twins have selected in a draft that many of the “talking head” experts claim has three sure-fire stars, but the Twins draft fourth.

There have been 61,666 players drafted since the draft was instituted in 1965 when the Kansas City Athletics selected Arizona State outfielder Rick Monday with the very first pick. So far, 24 of these players have gone on to become Hall of Fame players. Of these 24 HOF players, eight were selected in round 1 and no first pick overall is on this list. Not to build up hope and put too much pressure on the Twins selection tonight but three HOF players (Carlton Fisk, Dave Winfield, Barry Larkin) have been selected as the fourth pick overall. The Boston Red Sox (Carlton Fisk, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice) and the San Diego Padres (Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, Tony Gwynn) lead the list of HOF players drafted with three each, the Minnesota Twins have selected two Hall of Fame players in Bert Blyleven in 1969 and Kirby Puckett in 1982. The latest round that a HOF has been picked? That would be the Philadelphia Phillies 20th round pick in 1978, Ryne Sandberg.

Just because a player is drafted does not mean that he will be signed. In 2012, 73.74% of the players drafted were signed, between 2000 and 2011 the percentages varied between 56.56% and 64.85%, so why the huge jump in 2012? Probably due to the fact that the draft was reduced from 50 rounds to 40 rounds for the first time. But percentages can be deceiving, in 2012 there were 913 players signed, the lowest number since there were 895 draftees signed in 2006.

Over the years first round picks were often signed to huge ridiculous contracts but now that a slotting system was implemented in 2012, that has changed the landscape for everyone. In addition a bonus pool is assigned to each team limiting them to what they can spend on their first 10 picks. These limits however are only “strong recommendations” and teams can spend more but they have to be prepared to pay a luxury tax and possibly even give up their first rounds selection for next year and/or the year after depending on how much they exceed the slot amount. The Twins bonus pool number for their top 10 picks for this year is $8,264,500 and their fourth overall pick has a slot limit of $4,544,400.

It has been reported that some teams are looking to limit what they pay to their top selections so that they have more pool money to spend on their lower top 10 picks. I find that an interesting concept but not one that I think I would pursue if I was the GM. For me, it is all about quality versus quantity. According to MLB, they looked at how the 2012 opening day rosters were structured and here is what they found.

23.36% were round 1 picks
11.37% were round 2 picks
9.03% were round 3 picks
7.76% were round 4 picks
9.35% were round 5 picks
14.80% were selected in rounds 6-10

It will be interesting to see if the Twins find diamonds with their picks or if their picks turns out to be no more than lumps of coal, but either way the Twins will pay big money to add these new prospects to their organization. Draft picks are no different than baseball in general, you never know what you will get each year. I think someone said some thing like this about a box of chocolates once upon a time…

UPDATE – The Twins selected right-handed pitcher Kohl Stewart who also was a star quarterback at St. Pius X High School in Houston, Texas with their first selection. Stewart throws about 95 MPH and has touched 97 MPH and is widely regarded as having a “high ceiling” but first, the Twins have to sign the high school star so he does not accept his football scholarship to Texas A&M. Stewart is a type 1 diabetic but that should be a non-issue. The Twins then selected right-hander Ryan Eades from LSU with their second pick. Eades is reported to throw a fastball between 90-95 and has a hard breaking ball as part of his arsenal. The down side with Eades is his injury history which reportedly includes a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder in high school.

Albert Pujols becomes an Angel, but not in my eyes

It is all but official the way I see it, 1B Albert Pujols, soon be 32, has left the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals to sign a 10 year deal worth in excess of $250 million with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. As a long time fan of baseball I find this signing disgusting, I hate what baseball and baseball players have become, money hungry mercenaries. I know, I know that this is baseball in 2011 but that does not mean that I have to like it and as a baseball fan I have a right to express my feelings.

Pujols has been a Cardinal icon for 11 years and to see him forget his roots and take the Angels deal for a few million dollars more than the Cardinals were supposedly offering makes me sick. The man has banked over $104 million dollars in career earnings with the Cards and now he drops his allegiance like a hot potato. We have all heard it before, but how much money does a person really need? I have seen where Albert Pujols has done a lot of community work but actions speak louder than words and his decision to leave St. Louis, a great baseball city for a few dollars more shows me nothing but greed, straight out-and-out greed. How else can you explain it to me?

When you think of the Cardinals of the current era you think of Pujols, same as you think of Jeter or Mantle  with the Yankees, Puckett with the Twins, Banks as a Cub, or Ripken with the Orioles, that is the way it should be. It killed me to see Harmon Killebrew as a Royal, Carew as an Angel, Wade Boggs as a Devil Ray or Steve Carlton as a Twin, that is just plain wrong and to me Pujols should have stayed a Cardinal. This is not a new problem, it has been going on for a long time but it seems to be getting worse.

Baseball should come up with something like a “franchise icon” label that will allow teams to keep a true icon player as a member of their organization during their entire playing career. I am not saying they should not be fairly compensated, I am sure something could be worked out that would be fair for everyone but come up with a plan that will allow teams to keep their icons where they belong. There are a lot of smart baseball people out there, come up with a plan that will allow fans to once again be allowed to grow old with their baseball heroes.