Thread: Article: The Next in a Long Line

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Cool retrospective, Seth. My Twins fandom started with Kirby and was reignited by Torii. Fun to read about the previous torch-holders. Always good to remember there have been a lot of pretty good major leaguers over the years that I absolutely have never heard of. Puts things in perspective--it's tough to be really great for an extended period of time.

I hope the best for Hicks--I was kind of surprised that he didn't get more time with Span or Revere before the torch was passed to him.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Hicks struggle a bit in his first taste of the majors, but he seems to adapt a little slowly to each new level. He does adapt though, and that's the important part. It may not happen on April 1, but I think Hicks establishes himself in center field.

Best case scenario, he becomes an all-star caliber player and when Buxton becomes 2017's version of Mike Trout, he slides to whichever corner the all-star named Arcia isn't in and continues to whack the hell out of the ball. Hey, a guy can dream.

What, no Bombo Rivera?

Good retro. Hopefully Hicks will establish himself as a player with Span's patience and Hunter's range, arm, and power. That's a pretty good combination.

I can't remember why, but for some reason Ted Uhlaender struck an immediate chord with me when he joined the Twins. In fact, somewhere buried in an old family album is a polaroid picture of a pre-teen "Jim Crikket" standing with Uhlaender during one of the annual "Camera Day" promotions the Twins held back in the Met Stadium days. This, despite the fact that the "rule" was that you took the players' pictures but didn't leave the warning track to actually go near them or pose with them. Fortunately, my dad was one of those fathers far more interested in laying down rules than following them himself, and he talked Uhlaender in to posing with me.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Seth.

Originally Posted by cmathewson

What, no Bombo Rivera?

Good retro. Hopefully Hicks will establish himself as a player with Span's patience and Hunter's range, arm, and power. That's a pretty good combination.

I thought Bombo play some CF as well, but (according to Baseball Reference) in his three years with the Twins, he played just one game in centerfield. That was just before my time. I started collecting cards in 1981 (brown paper bag full), so I knew some of the names, but it wasn't until Kirby Puckett that I really got into it.

Alex Cole. LOL

I've always wondered if Lawton was taking steroids meant for other species when he was a Twin.

What a blast from the past! I have recollections of most everyone beginning with Ted Uhlaender. However, I had forgotten (or never knew) that a few of them played as much center field as they did (Steve Brye, for example).

He did got from slap hitter to power hitter in a Palmeiro kind of way. A few years later, of course, he got caught. So you have to wonder when he started taking them. There's nothing in his numbers that stands out like a Brady Anderson year.

Willie Norwood (Dr. Strangeglove) played some CF in each of his four seasons with the Twins. I remember someone (Mauch?) burning his glove in a pre-game ceremony to try to rid Willie of his fielding demons.

One thing I've already noticed about Aaron Hicks at the plate: He really battles. There is no 1, 2, 3 and yer out with this guy. You can see Hicks studying the pitcher, looking for a weakness, some little hint what the next pitch will be. The approach Hicks uses puts maximum pressure on the pitcher.

That Aaron Hicks guy is going to be one helluva ballplayer.

That was a fun read Seth! I've seen them all, from Lenny Green on. A buddy of mine was at the game when Jim Eisenrich had his meltdown in the outfield, and he said it was just hard to watch.

I remember my early years in Ft Myers, and the first time I got here way before spring training, and seeing a bunch of guys out playing on one of the fields. They just looked like a bunch of guys out having fun playing baseball. I even thought of getting my glove and joining them. One kid seemed pretty fast in the outfield. Turns out to be Rich Becker. It was a perfect storm for him, as the Twins were weak at that position and he did get a few years in.

Later, when local guys from Twins and other teams would work out early, I turned into the shagger. Buck Buchanan would come and unload a couple of 5 gallon buckets of balls out of his ride, and they'd go play. I would retrieve the balls hit over the fence for them. I did that for a number of years. I remember one year doing that, and spring training officially opened that day. I'm retrievng balls hit over the left field fence and Al Newman started hollering at me. AJ said "it's okay, Al, he throws them back". Of course a few clean, new balls always seemed to end up under some foilage, only to be gathered up a few hours later, lol.