The Twins Almanac: Corey Koskie Leaves, Josh Willingham Arrives

[Matt Johnson]

Read up on this weekend in Minnesota baseball history with notes on Corey Koskie, Josh Willingham, Austin native Michael Wuertz, the first Black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in MLB history, and the oldest living major leaguer. 

 

Dec. 14: After seven seasons with the Twins, Manitoba native Corey Koskie signed with the Blue Jays on this date in 2004. The Star Tribune published a lengthy thank-you letter from Koskie to the fans.

He was one of the top 10 players in the American League in 2001. These days, the 51-year-old is back playing in Minnesota, delivering clutch postseason home runs for the townball Loretto Larks, for whom he plays alongside three of his sons.

---

Dec. 14: Twenty-year pro pitcher Sam Jones was born in Ohio on this date in 1925. He threw the first no-hitter by a black pitcher in AL/NL history pitching for the Cubs in 1955. Six years earlier, he played for the townball Rochester Royals, no-hitting Owatonna and the powerhouse Austin Packers over the course of the season. 

In 1959, Jones led the National League with 21 wins, a 2.83 ERA, and four shutouts, and came in second to Chicago White Sox hurler Early Wynn in Cy Young balloting, back before there were separate awards from the AL and NL. If you want to retroactively apply WAR to the situation, Baseball Reference calculates 5.7 for Jones and 2.8 for Wynn. (Wynn, a 300-game winner, was the Twins pitching coach from 1967 to ’69.) 

Worth noting that Jones wasn't the only former Negro Leaguer playing townball in Minnesota in 1949. That was the same season former Kansas City Monarch Hilton Smith played for Dick Reusse’s Fulda Giants. Smith, however, was on the opposite end of his career than Jones. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001, the same class as Dave Winfield, Kirby Puckett, and Bill Mazeroski. 

---

Dec. 15: Happy 46th birthday to 1997 Austin High School graduate Michael Wuertz. He pitched in 426 major league games for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics between 2004 and 2011.

He struck out the first two batters he faced in his major league debut on April 5, 2004, pitching a 1-2-3 sixth inning in a Cubs win.

---

Dec. 15: Twins signed outfielder Josh Willingham to a three-year, $21 million contract on this date in 2011. 

Willingham's first season in Minnesota was the best of his career, hitting 35 home runs, 30 doubles, driving in 110 runs, and scoring 85 en route to a Silver Slugger Award. 

---

Dec. 15: The oldest living major leaguer, Paul "Bill" Otis, passed away in a Duluth nursing home on this date in 1990, just nine days shy of his 101st birthday. He got his only big-league hit off Walter Johnson playing for the New York Highlanders in 1912. 

When he turned 100 on Christmas Eve 1989, his well-wishers included Commissioner of Baseball Fay Vincent and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. 

Otis's family goes back to the 1600s in Massachusetts. He moved to Duluth with his wife in 1914 after his brief baseball career. 

 

View full article

[Doctor Wu]

Happy 46th birthday to 1997 Austin High School graduate Michael Wuertz. He pitched in 426 major league games for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics between 2004 and 2011.

Pretty long career for Wuertz, at least it seems long to me, mainly because I have zero memory of him playing in MLB at all!