Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Blogs from our Community

1986 Topps and the Minnesota Twins

Too many Topps sets lack character and are rather bland, hard to differentiate year over year. That’s my problem with the sets from the late 1970s. At least to me, those designs are difficult to set apart in my head, and I have a tough time remembering which design is which year. Let’s take a closer look at the distinct, easily recognizable 1986 Topps and Topps Traded sets. The top of the 1986 cards features a black box background and the team’s name in block lettering. In the case of the T

Seriously with the pinch hitting???

SO yet again  Baldelli pinch hits  for the lead off batter and the#2 batter in the 5th inning!!!????   you have your starting lineup for 4 out of 9 innings. you pinch hit a guy hitting under .200 and an OPS under .500 for your leadoff guy, and you pinch  another guy under .200 BA and under .500 OPS for a guy hitting .354 &.928!!   Thsi SHi....  This CRA....  This STUFF  has to stop!!!!

Doc Munson

Doc Munson in Twins

1983 Fleer and the Minnesota Twins

Today I’m talking about the first non-Topps set in my blog series about baseball cards. Topps had a baseball card monopoly from 1956 to 1980. In the early 80s competitors were allowed into the baseball card world and Donruss and Fleer were the first two to jump in. This post is about a set I originally dismissed but have come to appreciate – 1983 Fleer. The design of 1983 Fleer baseball is better than I originally thought in 1983. I have come to like the gray borders, the straightforward de

Another Day Another Opportunity for Wallner, Saints and Bats Split Series

Saint Paul, Minnesota – The Saints entered play on Sunday with an opportunity to win a series for the first time since opening weekend; however, the Louisville Bats had other plans and pounded out 14 hits. The Saints lost 7-6 to Louisville on Sunday afternoon in front of 5,614. The Saints and Bats split the six-game series. The loss dropped the Saints to 13-18 on the season. David Festa was strong early as he had been in all six of his previous starts. In all his previous starts he had take

Is the Twins' sausage magical?

Is Twins' sausage magical? Short answer, No. So why the Twins' turnaround? Let's look at what led up to the winning streak. Shortly after the '23 season, Falvey credited the "all or nothing" approach for the team's success. BTW it has been the Twins' hitting approach since '19. During the off-season, Baldelli was questioned about their hitters' SO record. He responded with "SOs are not important and they weren't changing anything". Spring training, "all or nothing" was implemented again wit

1982 Topps and the Minnesota Twins

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this

Al from SoDak

Al from SoDak in Baseball Cards

Saints and Red Wings Postponed, Will be Played in Rochester Later this Season

Saint Paul, Minnesota – This was the second time in this series mother nature did not want to cooperate with the Saint Paul Saints. The Saints and Red Wings were rained out on Friday which forced a doubleheader on Saturday. On Sunday rain struck again and the Saints and Red Wings were postponed. This game will be made up when the Saints visit Rochester, and the date will be announced later. If fans purchased tickets online or over the phone, they will receive a voucher within 72 hours. Fans

1980 Topps and the Minnesota Twins

The 1980 Topps baseball card set is better than the average set of that era. To me it’s not great, but better than average. The design consists of a banner in the upper left corner with the player’s position. The upper right corner has the player’s name. The bottom right has another, larger banner with the team’s name. Each card also has a facsimile autograph of the player. The pictures are rather bland in my opinion with a mix of portraits and action shots. Some of the action shots are not well

Al from SoDak

Al from SoDak in Baseball Cards

The St Paul Saints/Apostles

The note in the MLB Power Rankings for the Twins included mention of the 1884 St Paul White Caps, a team that hit below .200 for a season.    Further research showed that “White Caps”, “Saints” and “Apostles” were all used for the St Paul franchise.  Some standardization to “Saints” came in 1915.     But, hey.. who doesn’t want to be a baseball sicko and refer to the Saints as the Apostles or even the White Caps? (Every 140 years, our area gets blessed with a sub .200 batting

Boswell

Boswell in Baseball History

Review of “Hi Everybody!” by Herb Carneal

Hi again everyone. I hope you all are well. I just finished reading Herb Carneal’s book titled “Hi Everybody!” Here are my thoughts: This book is about one of, if not the man, I wanted to be growing up, “The Voice of the Minnesota Twins” on the radio. This was a good book, I just wish he had told more behind the scenes stories rather than talking about individual games that we can read about in other publications. I wish I had read this when it actually came out instead of now since so much

BigJoeGun

BigJoeGun in Book reviews

1979 Topps and the Minnesota Twins

Welcome to my review of the 1979 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins player cards in that set. Once again, Rod Carew is the Twins lone superstar from that era. Mr. Carew will make an appearance later in this post. When it comes to my review of any of the late 1970s Topps cards, I have come to the realization that I am not a fan of the design of most years. Some years are better than others, of course. But I have also come to recognize that my opinion is probably clouded by two t

Al from SoDak

Al from SoDak in Baseball Cards

Balazovic and Thielbar lift Saints past Cubs

Saint Paul, Minnesota – It was not pretty but the Saints got it done. With assistance from a breakthrough moment from Diego Castillo and strong performances from Jordan Balazovic and Caleb Thielbar, the Saints got past the Iowa Cubs 5-2 in front of 3,028. The Saints improved to 6-5 on the season. David Festa took the ball for the Saints. This was his third start of the season, and the Cubs got to him early. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Next, Crow-Armst

Iowa Cubs Keep Camargo and Saints in Check, Iowa Defeated Saints 4-1

Saint Paul, Minnesota - Thomas Pannone vs Randy Dobnak headlined the game. Entering play tonight neither pitcher had taken a loss this season. On top of a solid performance from Cubs starter Thomas Pannone, the Saints had to face one of the best relief pitchers in the MiLB so far this season, Riley Thompson. Pannone, Thompson, and the Cubs defeated the Saints 4-1 at CHS Field in front of 3,145. The Saints fell to 5-5 on the season.  Randy Dobnak was on his third start of the season for the

50th Anniversary of 715

Unless I missed it, no one on Twins Daily posted anything about the significance of this past Monday in baseball history. Here is an adaptation of something I posted on Facebook that day. There's no Twins connection here, but hopefully this is okay, given the historical significance. ---------------------------------------------------- The eclipse was amazing. But between that and the place the Iowa Women's Basketball team has had in my brain space lately, it nearly snuck by me that to

IndianaTwin

IndianaTwin in Odds & Ends

The Twins Almanac for April 9th

April 9 Happy Birthday, Luis Arráez Happy birthday to 2022 American League and 2023 National League Batting Champion Luis Arráez. The legend of Luis Arráez began back in 2019, when the rookie entered for the injured Jonathan Schoop down 0-2 in the count to Edwin Diaz—who was throwing 98–100 miles per hour. Arráez fouled off four pitches and took four for balls to work an electrifying walk. (If you don’t get how a walk could be epic, look up the video and I think you’ll understand.)

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson in Twins Almanac

1978 Topps and the Minnesota Twins

Welcome to my review of the 1978 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins. There really are not any Twins superstars in this set other than Rod Carew. It’s easy to see how the Twins weren’t world beaters in the late 1970s. In my judgment, the 1978 Topps baseball card design is one of their better designs during the late 1970s. I like the script team name in the lower left corner, the small baseball in the upper right corner listing the player’s position, and the player’s name at the

The Twins Almanac for April 8th

And here is the Twins Almanac for April 8th, featuring: • Paul Molitor • Will Clark • Dan Gladden • Kirby Puckett • Byron Buxton April 8, 1978 Molitor’s Career Off to a Hot Start The day after hitting an RBI-single in his major league debut, St. Paul native Paul Molitor went 3-for-6 with a three run homer, five RBI, and two runs scored in his second major league game. Guess he was Cooperstown-bound right out of the gate. April 8, 1986 Bonus Fun Fact This one

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson in Twins Almanac

The Twins Almanac for April 7th

Here is the Twins Almanac for April 7th, featuring: • Harmon Killebrew • Brant Alyea • Jack Morris • Dwight Evans • Kent Hrbek • David Ortiz • Tsuyoshi Nishioka April 7–13, 1962 Killebrew on Cover of TV Times If you were wondering what was on channels 2, 4, 5, 9, and 11 the week of April 7–13, 1962, you could look it up in this issue of TV Times with Harmon Killebrew, Ray Scott, Frank Be

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson in Twins Almanac

The Twins Almanac for April 6th

TABLE OF CONTENTS: • Happy Birthday, Bert Blyleven and Joe Barbeln • Twins Trade Stigman • Oliva Hits First HR by DH • First Regular Season Game at Dome • Puckett and Winfield Thrill the Home Fans • Offerman's Memorable Twins Debut  April 6 Happy Birthday, Bert Blyleven It’s the birthday of two-time World Series Champion and noted flatulence enthusiast Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven, born in Zeist, Holland in 1951. He grew up in Garden Grove, CA, and was drafted by the Tw

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson in Twins Almanac

Byron Buxton vs Bratwurst, Luck Is On Our Side For Once

So we've all seen the video by now of the Bratwurst almost plowing over Byron Buxton in Milwaukee. Let's face it, if the guy HAD bowled him over and Buck had gotten injured, not a single one of us would have been surprised. It would be just another day in the Life of Byron. Like, of course he's out for two months now.  But the fact that he DIDN'T get bowled over signals a change of luck. It's a good omen. This is the year he's going to play injury free!! All hail Lord Byron!!

The Mad King

The Mad King in Twins

Uneducated Analytics Guy Questions pathetic Managing decisions

OK, first off, yes I am old school.  I HATE platooning, and what I hate even more is strictly pinch hitting RH for LH, especially young players.  How the heck is a lefty gonna learn how to hit a lefty if never given the chance???  And what makes no sense to me even MORE is pinch hitting in the 6th inning or earlier!!! I wish there was some smart analytics guy out there who coudl run stats and prove me either right or wrong.  even if proven right I HATE managing purely by analytics.  

Doc Munson

Doc Munson in Twins

The Twins Almanac for April 5th

TABLE OF CONTENTS: • Longest HR to CF in Metrodome History • Molitor’s Three-Year SB Streak Snapped • Big Comeback in 2000 • Two Minnesotans Make MLB Debuts • Manager Wins 1,000th Game • Eleventh Cycle in Team History April 5, 1994 Muñoz Hits Epic Blast Pedro Muñoz hit a 473-foot bomb to center field at the Metrodome on this date in 1994. It was the longest homer ever hit to center at the Dome. The longest homer at the Dome overall was 481 feet to right field by M

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson in Twins Almanac

×
×
  • Create New...