Twins Almanac: Joe Mauer's Contract, Hall of Fame Managers

[Matt Johnson]

This weekend's Almanac features two first-round draft picks and one of only two Hall of Fame players to win Manager of the Year. Plus I manage to work-in mentions of Ted Williams and Harmon Killebrew.

March 22, 2010: Three-time batting champion and reigning AL MVP Joe Mauer signed an eight-year, $184 million extension during a press conference at the Twins' spring training facility in Fort Myers on this date in 2010. The contract—which locked up the hometown hero through 2018—was the fourth-richest in MLB history at the time. 

I know this news will trigger strong emotions in some Twins fans. We're opening up the comments section at the bottom of the page for everyone to express their feelings. 

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March 22: Happy 73rd birthday to 1973 Twins first-round draft pick Eddie Bane, who made his MLB debut in front of a sellout crowd on the Fourth of July without ever pitching in the minors. The Twins were struggling to put butts in the seats, so Calvin Griffth got the idea to bring their first-round pick straight to the majors after wrapping up his stellar collegiate career at Arizona State. The 45,890 tickets sold far exceeded the Twins' expectations and the start of the game had to delayed 15 minutes. He pitched a heckuva game, too, holding Kansas City to just one run over seven innings. (The Twins gave up four runs in the ninth for a 5-4 loss.)

Despite the auspicious start, Bane's numbers were lackluster the rest of the season. He spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 at triple-A Tacoma and played his final major league game in 1976 at the age of 24. 

Here's a Fun Fact: Bane gave up Royals DH Harmon Killebrew's 573rd and final career home run at Met Stadium on September 18, 1975. 

Eddie began working as a scout in 1984. He was Angels scouting director when they drafted Mike Trout 25th-overall in 2009. Eddie's brother, Dan Bane, was CEO of Trader Joe's from 2001 until his retirement in 2023. 

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March 23, 2015: The Paul Molitor-managed Twins lost 3-0 to Ryne Sandberg’s Phillies in Florida on this date in 2015. It is believed to be the first time that current Hall of Famers had managed against each other. Such an occurrence has never happened during the regular season (last I checked).

Speaking of Hall of Fame players as managers, did anyone in the audience see Ted Williams as manager of the Senators and then Rangers when they'd come to Met Stadium between 1969 and '72? Of course the Splendid Splinter had a lot of friends in Minnesota dating back to his season with the Minneapolis Millers in 1938. He wound up marrying a woman from Princeton, MN and frequently returned to the area during the offseason into the 1950s. 

Paul Molitor is one of just two Hall of Fame players to be named Manager of the Year. Can you name the other one? Flex your baseball knowledge in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

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[djvang]

Mauer was one of the best players in MLB when he signed the contract. After that, he wasn't.

[Rick Blaine]

Paul Molitor is one of just two Hall of Fame players to be named Manager of the Year. Can you name the other one?

Frank Robinson won MVP with Reds and Orioles.  Manager of the year with Orioles in '89

[Matt Johnson]

1 hour ago, Rick Blaine said:

Paul Molitor is one of just two Hall of Fame players to be named Manager of the Year. Can you name the other one?

Frank Robinson won MVP with Reds and Orioles.  Manager of the year with Orioles in '89

Nailed it

[Kirby Killebrew]

4 hours ago, djvang said:

Mauer was one of the best players in MLB when he signed the contract. After that, he wasn't.

I strongly disagree

2010   batted .327, 9 HR, 75 RBI, OPS .871, all-star

2011    injured, played half the season, batted .287, 3 HR, 30 RBI, OPS .729

2012   batted .319, 10 HR, 85 RBI, led league in OBP at .416, OPS .861, all-star

2013   batted .324, 11 HR, 47 RBI, .880 OPS, all-star

last five seasons his batting averages ranged from .261 to .305; his OPS ranged from .718 to .801

I'll take that out of anybody!

[minman1982]

48 minutes ago, Kirby Killebrew said:

I strongly disagree

2010   batted .327, 9 HR, 75 RBI, OPS .871, all-star

2011    injured, played half the season, batted .287, 3 HR, 30 RBI, OPS .729

2012   batted .319, 10 HR, 85 RBI, led league in OBP at .416, OPS .861, all-star

2013   batted .324, 11 HR, 47 RBI, .880 OPS, all-star

last five seasons his batting averages ranged from .261 to .305; his OPS ranged from .718 to .801

I'll take that out of anybody!

Plus, you have to add the impact of signing Mauer to the fan base. I remember when I heard that Mauer had signed. I totally expected him to sign somewhere else since the Twins would never put up the kind of money he could attract on the free agent market. I was shocked, surprised, and excited because the Twins actually kept a star player. After watching guys like Santana and Hunter go elsewhere, the Mauer signing gave me faith in the organization. The deal was good for Mauer, good for the Twins, and good for fans.

Now, the 2010s were not exactly a bright spot in Twins history but I may have given up watching if Mauer had ended up in pinstripes.

[Matt Johnson]

3 minutes ago, minman1982 said:

Plus, you have to add the impact of signing Mauer to the fan base. I remember when I heard that Mauer had signed. I totally expected him to sign somewhere else since the Twins would never put up the kind of money he could attract on the free agent market. I was shocked, surprised, and excited because the Twins actually kept a star player. After watching guys like Santana and Hunter go elsewhere, the Mauer signing gave me faith in the organization. The deal was good for Mauer, good for the Twins, and good for fans.

Now, the 2010s were not exactly a bright spot in Twins history but I may have given up watching if Mauer had ended up in pinstripes.

Extended Mauer definitely paid financial dividends for the Twins.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins made so much money off of Joe Mauer that it makes any discussion of his contract superfluous. Mauer was the best bargain of the Pohlad era from a financial point of view. 

[Aerodeliria]

I was listening on WCCO to catch the Eddie Bane fantasy game. He really was a flash in the pan though.

Another flash in the pan was Jim Hughes. He managed to have a winning record that first year in the majors (16-14), but it was a smoke and mirrors thing really.

He started out with a 6-0 record throwing that palm ball and his ERA was something like 0.87 for May in 1975, but in the next outing, he couldn't get out of the second inning against the Red Sox as they lit him up like a cheap box of fireworks. They started waiting on the palm ball and his fastball wasn't that impressive. I was really hooked as a believer in Hughes by that time though.

He wasn't horrible that first season, but at times he couldn't throw a strike to save his life. The next season, he wasn't very good. I had his APBA card for 1975 and he was considered a "C" grade pitcher. (Oddly, that was the year Tom Kelly was at first base for the Twins.)

[big dog]

4 hours ago, Aerodeliria said:

I was listening on WCCO to catch the Eddie Bane fantasy game. He really was a flash in the pan though.

Another flash in the pan was Jim Hughes. He managed to have a winning record that first year in the majors (16-14), but it was a smoke and mirrors thing really.

He started out with a 6-0 record throwing that palm ball and his ERA was something like 0.87 for May in 1975, but in the next outing, he couldn't get out of the second inning against the Red Sox as they lit him up like a cheap box of fireworks. They started waiting on the palm ball and his fastball wasn't that impressive. I was really hooked as a believer in Hughes by that time though.

He wasn't horrible that first season, but at times he couldn't throw a strike to save his life. The next season, he wasn't very good. I had his APBA card for 1975 and he was considered a "C" grade pitcher. (Oddly, that was the year Tom Kelly was at first base for the Twins.)

The Twins started calling him "Bluegill" Hughes during that hot start, after Catfish Hunter. DIdn't end well, but it was a fun start.

[big dog]

14 hours ago, Kirby Killebrew said:

I strongly disagree

2010   batted .327, 9 HR, 75 RBI, OPS .871, all-star

2011    injured, played half the season, batted .287, 3 HR, 30 RBI, OPS .729

2012   batted .319, 10 HR, 85 RBI, led league in OBP at .416, OPS .861, all-star

2013   batted .324, 11 HR, 47 RBI, .880 OPS, all-star

last five seasons his batting averages ranged from .261 to .305; his OPS ranged from .718 to .801

I'll take that out of anybody!

Last year's first baseman had an OPS of .749 and people were excited.  We might get that this year, but with a lot less defense than either Joe or Santana.