Tag: Wayne Hattaway

The sorry state of baseball today

Ever since I started following baseball almost 65 years ago, I have been led to believe that you need to have great starting pitching to win it all. Is it true or is this been a falsity all along? I have been fortunate to watch some great starting pitching over the years and I still wish I could have seen the great Walter Johnson pitch in person but those kinds of starters are disappearing. Ace starters are getting paid big bucks but at the same time they are quickly becoming as extinct as dinosaurs.

Here is my problem. Baseball pitching today is about throwing less than 100 pitches, don’t face the line-up a third time around, openers, and bullpen games and God knows what else they will dream up. You pay the starters huge dollars and then you don’t let them pitch. Aren’t starter’s supposed to be your best pitchers? Starters have been throwing over 100 pitches and going through the opposing lineup multiple times in games since baseball started and now all of a sudden that is not a good idea?

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Twins players that left us in 2020

As we start a new year in 2021 and hope to get the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and head out to Target Field to watch the Twins play ball I wanted to share a list of former Minnesota Twins players and people associated with the Twins that passed away in 2020. We lost some great ones.

Pinch-hitter extraordinaire Julio Becquer was born in La Habana, Cuba on December 20, 1931 and passed away on November 1 at the age of 88. Originally signed by the Washington Senators he appeared in 419 games for them between 1955-1960 before playing in 57 games for the Twins in 1961 and in one game in 1963. Becquer goes down in Twins history for hitting the Twins first pinch-hit grand slam home run and as the first “position” player to pitch in a Twins game.

Carroll Hardy was born in Sturgis, South Dakota on May 18, 1933 and passed away at the age of 87 on August 9th. An amazing athlete, he earned ten letters as a Colorado Buffalo in football, baseball and track. While in the Cleveland Indians farm system he played in the NFL with the San Francisco 49’ers in 1955. He played major league baseball as an outfielder with the Indians, Red Sox, Colt .45s and finished his career with the Twins in 1967 primarily as a pinch hitter appearing in eleven games. In 1960 he became a trivia question for the ages when he became the only player to ever pinch-hit for Ted Williams.

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Minnesota Twins legend Wayne Hattaway gone, just like the game he loved

Wayne Hattaway and Ron Gardenhire in 2014.

A Minnesota Twins legend Wayne Hattaway passed away on April 30, 2020 in Mobile, Alabama after a battle with cancer. Wayne was born in Mobile on February 24, 1940 to Fred and Margaret Hattaway and was the first of the five children, four of which were girls.

Wayne enjoyed baseball as a youngster growing up Mobile and often snuck away from school to catch a baseball game at Hartwell Field, the home park for the Mobile Bears who at that time were in the Southern Association as a AA affiliate of the the Brooklyn Dodgers. One thing led to another and in 1952 the team asked Wayne Hattaway (he was 12 at the time) if he wanted to be their batboy and of course he jumped at the opportunity. Little did Wayne know at the time that his career in baseball had begun.

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This is what baseball has come down to? Oh My!

Credit to Stew Thornley

This is the Twins shift in the game against the Texas Rangers Joey Gallo yesterday. A catcher (Mitch Garver) and pitcher (Devin Smeltzer) and first baseman (Miguel Sano) in their normal positions but no one else is on the dirt. Five outfielders and yet Gallo hits a double off the right field wall, he also had a bunt single. My friend Wayne Hattaway would tell you “this isn’t real baseball”. Everytime you go to a baseball game you have a chance to see something you have never seen before.

 

Trip to Hammond Stadium a washout today

I took my first trip of the year out to Hammond Stadium today to see what might be going on out there. The temperature was in the low 70’s, the sky was overcast, and the threat of rain hung in the air as I arrived at the ballpark about 10:15 AM. I didn’t waste my time stopping at the Twins main workout fields but instead drove straight back to the minor league fields and parked my car. A short walk by the clubhouse and minor league fields told me that not much was happening. There were 4 other fans there when I arrived and the only player I saw working out turned out to be Fort Myers native minor league RHP Hudson Boyd. Boyd was a Twins 1st round supplemental pick, 55th overall in 2011. I had no idea who he was and introduced myself and we chatted briefly before he headed into the clubhouse. A little while later Steve Liddle came out and we exchanged pleasantries he was oon followed out by Scott Diamond, Kyle Waldrop and I believe the other player was Jeff Manship. There was a couple of other Twins minor leaguers that were also there that I did not recognize. Without uniforms this early in the spring it is often hard to know who is who, at least it is for me. I was told that Liam Hendricks was also there but I did not recognize him. I saw pitching coach Rick Anderson stop by the minor league complex but he only stayed for about 30 minutes and he left. Wayne “Big Fella” Hattaway was around and helping out where he could. About 45 minutes after I arrived the clouds darkened and a slow drizzle started and the few players that were out running were headed for the clubhouse. Not 5 minutes later, the clouds opened up and it poured down for a good 15 minutes, so I took advantage of a break in the “Florida shower” and headed for the car. That was it for today, all I saw was some conditioning and there was not even a bat, bat, or glove to be seen today. We will see what I find the next time I stop out there in a day or two. Now days, every passing day will bring more and more Twins and future Twins to the ballpark. I did manage to get a few pictures and you can see them on the right hand side of my home page along with spring training pictures from previous years.