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MNTwins Trade Trees -- Luis Castillo Before the 2005 season, the Twins traded a pair of prospects for Luis Castillo. Castillo was a veteran second baseman coming from the Florida Marlins. For a team that was looking to make a deep run in the postseason, Castillo was a welcomed addition. Hitting at or near the top of the order and filling a void at second base. For one and half seasons Castillo batted a line of .299/.357/.363. At the deadline in 2007, with the Twins failing to meet expect
After being recalled following a two-start stint at Triple-A, Kyle Gibson was back in the Twins rotation. Against the Orioles on May 22, Gibson surrendered six earned runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out five. He got the win (pitcher wins are stupid), but there was a clear picture of a pitcher in over his head. For now, he'll remain in the rotation, but during the game, it was worth wondering what would happen next for Minnesota? In an ideal world, Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando
It's a writer's clinic. Or, at least, one make-believe writer (that would be me) taking time out from the "Sano Show" to chat with a real writer, formerly of Bloomington, MN, on his views on some classic Twins players, good baseball books, and his disdain of Derek Jeter worship at "The Tovar Of Bloggers: A Chat With Erik Lundegaard" at Classic Minnesota Twins!
May 23, 1991 Kirby Puckett Has Second 6-Hit Game Kirby Puckett collected six hits for the second time in his career, going 6-for-7 with five singles and a triple, scoring two runs in an eleven-inning loss to Texas at the Metrodome. His sixth hit, a single, came in the eleventh inning. The game was tied 5-5 entering the eleventh, but the Rangers were able to score five off of Steve Bedrosian. Kent Hrbek drove in Shane Mack in the bottom of the inning, but the Rangers hung on to win 10-6. Ther
http://www.the3rdmanin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2017-MLB-Draft.png A lot has changed on the draft scene since my last mock. I will do a new version with notes next week. #1 Minnesota Twins – Kyle Wright – rhp - Vanderbilt #2 Cincinnati Reds – Brendan McKay – lhp - Louisville #3 San Diego Padres – Hunter Greene – rhp – CA High School #4 Tampa Bay Rays – J.B. Bukauskas – rhp – UNC #5 Atlanta Braves – MacKenzie Gore – lhp – NC High School #6 Oakland Athletics – Pavin Smith –
We saw Kent Hrbek's debut, August 24, 1981 on local TV, and it was about as good as it gets. Go ahead and click on The Sporting News link, and you'll learn how the scout that signed him (Angelo Guiliani), http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w-Z_5CuiNmw/TWqJbUHlJ8I/AAAAAAAAHVw/4MRb7-4BHl4/s400/1982ToppsTraded044T.jpganother Minneapolitan, was also beside himself. Good times!
Right now, Sam Carlson is a senior at Burnsville High School. In a matter of a couple weeks, he'll very likely be able to call himself a professional baseball player. On top of being tabbed as a first round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft, Carlson is expected to be the first prep pitcher ever taken that high from the state of Minnesota. That level of hype comes with big shoes to fill, but Carlson appears ready. I had the privilege of speaking with Carlson as his final high sch
May 22 Happy 77th Birthday, Mick Tingelhoff It's the birthday of longtime Vikings center (1962-'78) and 2015 Hall of Fame inductee Mick Tingelhoff, born in Lexington, Nebraska in 1940. May 22 Happy 74th Birthday, Tommy John It's the birthday of 26-year major league pitcher and 1994 Minnesota Twins broadcaster Tommy John, born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1943. Consider this: with 21 major league seasons under his belt, LaTroy Hawkins is only the fourth-longest-tenured pitche
May 20, 1970 Carew Hits for First Cycle in Twins History Rod Carew hit for the first cycle in Twins history in a 10-5 win in Kansas City. He completed the cycle with an eighth-inning triple, driving in Cesar Tovar. Carew was 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored on the day. After Carew’s triple, St. Cloud Cathedral High School graduate and future-Twin Tom Burgmeier came in to finish the game for KC. Ten Twins have hit for the cycle: Carew (1970), Cesar Tovar (‘72), Larry Hisle (‘76), Ly
In his second start of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, Jose Berrios looked like some sort of well tested veteran for the Minnesota Twins. Not only was he taking on one of baseball's best teams in the Colorado Rockies, but he thoroughly and completely dominated them. Sure, there was the 11 strikeouts. Yeah, he lasted into the 8th inning, working 7.2 IP. And economical, definitely, as he needed just 106 pitches to get that work in. More than the surface numbers though, Berrios' results we
Image courtesy of Peter Aiken Kyle Wright is a right-handed pitcher for the Vanderbilt Commodores who is one of the top players available in the draft. Wright is 6’4” and weighs 220 pounds, with the prototypical build that scouts love in pitchers. Due to his strong commitment to Vanderbilt, he went undrafted as an Alabama high schooler and has since physically matured and added five miles per hour to his velocity. He got off to a slow start this spring, but he has turned that around in the l
May 18, 1969 Rod Carew Steals Second, Third, and Home With the Billy Martin-managed Twins trailing 2-0 in Detroit, Cesar Tovar led off the bottom of third with a single off of Mickey Lolich. Then, with Rod Carew at the plate, Tovar was balked to second and stole third. Perhaps distracted by Tovar, Lolich walked Carew. Then, with Harmon Killebrew at the plate, the Twins executed a double steal, with Carew swiping second as Tovar stole home. With Killebrew still at bat, Carew stole third and h
Selected 5th overall by the Minnesota Twins in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, Nick Gordon was immediately among the organizations best prospects. With a strong family pedigree, and plenty of talent on his own, the expectations were sky high for the high school shortstop. Now, fast forward four seasons, and he's proving himself at Double-A with the Chattanooga Lookouts. In 2016, Gordon got his first taste of High-A ball. Spending the whole season in Fort Myers, after making a compelling
May 17, 1963 Allison Has Twins' First 3-HR Game Bob Allison became the first Minnesota Twin to hit three home runs in a game in an 11-4 Twins win in Cleveland. He was 3-for-5 on the day with six RBI. His batting average at the end of the day was .330. He would finish his All-Star ‘63 season with a .271 AVG, 35 HRs, and 91 RBI. Harmon Killebrew and Zoilo Versalles also hit home runs in the game. Pitcher Jim Perry, who had played for Cleveland the previous season, was 2-for-3 with a walk and
http://www.the3rdmanin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2017-MLB-Draft.png Sam Carlson is a right-handed pitcher out of Burnsville High School in Minnesota who is committed to the Florida Gators. Carlson is listed at 6’4” and 195 pounds, with a projectable body that will add a lot of strength as he gets older. Because his season started later than most, scouts have gotten a later look at him than some of the other top prep pitchers. Nevertheless, they have come away impressed with his calm prese
Coming into the 2017 Major League Baseball season, the Minnesota Twins biggest question mark was exactly how their pitching staff would respond. After being at the bottom of the big leagues a year prior, Minnesota needed a turnaround to return to competitiveness. They've seen a good enough start through the first 30 games or so, but staving of regression will be best accomplished by continuing to raise the water level. As things stand on May 16, the Twins own the 9th best starting ERA in MLB.
May 16 Happy 62nd Birthday, Jack Morris It’s the birthday of 1973 Highland Park High School graduate Jack Morris, born in St. Paul in 1951. Morris was selected in the Fifth Round of the '76 Draft out of Brigham Young. The Tigers had drafted Alan Trammell in the 2nd Round, and Lou Whitaker in the 5th Round a year earlier. All three would make their major league debuts in 1977, with Trammell and Whitaker debuting in the same game. Morris was the Tigers’ Opening Day starter in 1980, beginning a
The Minnesota Twins hold the number one overall pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball amateur draft. That much has been true since the conclusion of the 2016 season. What remains up in the air, is exactly who will hear their name called first on June 12. While we've heard about high school phenom Hunter Greene, and Louisville star Brendan McKay, it could be Vandy pitcher Kyle Wright that was the correct choice all along. Much has been made about both Hunter Greene and Brendan McKay in the
May 15 Happy 36th Birthday, Justin Morneau! It’s the birthday of 2006 American League Most Valuable Player Justin Morneau, born in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1981. The Twins drafted the 6’4” Canadian in the 3rd round in 1999, behind B.J. Garbe and Rob Bowen, neither of whom made it to the majors. Morneau hit cleanup in his MLB debut on June 10, 2003, hitting a two-strike line drive single to center in his first at-bat, and going 2-for-4 on the day. He hit 19 home runs in just 74 ma
May 13, 1989 Kirby Puckett Hits Four Doubles Kirby Puckett hit a team record four doubles as the Twins beat the Blue Jays 10-8 at the Metrodome. Kirby, who was 4-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, hit two doubles each off of 7x All-Star Dave Stieb and '87 AL saves leader Tom Henke. May 13, 2009 Crede Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam Down 7-9 to Detroit in the eighth with Mike Redmond on first, Jason Kubel, pinch-hitting for Carlos Gomez, hit a game-tying home run. The teams we
Last season was anything but glorious for the Minnesota Twins' Phil Hughes. He broken a bone on a comebacker, and ultimately watched his season end after just 59.0 IP. While shelved, he had a rib removed (undergoing Thoracic Outlet surgery), and the 2016 campaign turned into a giant recovery stint. Fast forward a year and the Twins hurler is learning to embrace his new reality. It's fair to suggest that Hughes has never been much of a burner. Even at his best with the Twins in 2014, he threw j
NOTE: View the images and breakdowns included in this article at it's original source here. The date is April 20, 2017, and Byron Buxton has just played in his 15th game for the Minnesota Twins this season. To show for his efforts, he's compiled a .082/.135/.122 slash line across 49 at bats, and nothing looks to be going right for the one-time uber-prospect. If there was a rock bottom for the Georgia native in the early going this season, that was most definitely it. Since however, the Twins c
http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.dth/28424_0412_baseballvsncstate_gargan196p.jpg J.B. Bukauskas is a right-handed pitcher for the University of North Carolina who has the best pitching repertoire available in this year’s draft. Bukauskas is listed at 6’0” and 195 pounds, and with his delivery and pitch mix he reminds me of a smaller Matt Cain. A native of Virginia, Bukauskas played high school baseball for the Stone Bridge Bulldogs, where he quickly ascended draft boards during his senior year. I
On Saturday, Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. The 19-year-old is hitting .219 with 17 doubles and 15 home runs at High-A Cedar Rapids.
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