Greglw3

That’s so off!!! The 1977 Twins had no pitching except their ace Dave Goltz. Look it up! With the 2024 Twins pitching staff, that 1977 team would have won 100 games or more.

Disagree. Show me 3 seasons of accomplishment from Tovar, Versalles or Cuddyer that equal the very lofty .318 batting average that Bostock had in his 3 seasons, punctuated by 62 extra base hits in a season. You’re basically penalizing Lyman for getting killed or being forced out of Minnesota by a super cheap owner paying him $20,000 for one of the best offensive seasons in Twins history. With the talent he had, he likely would have put up several more great seasons for the Twins if not for the (Corey Provus) aforementioned super-cheap owner who made no attempt to pay or retain any of his stars after the reserve clause died.

Maybe, but he was as a hitter what he was. It might be instructive to find the list of other players that averaged .318 over 3 consecutive years with one team and had over 600 plate appearances in 2 of them in the decade of the 1970s. Did the assassins bullet that killed him do anything to diminish the immense talent he had? And he had no choice to leave via free agency considering he played for an owner that, after the reserve clause was nullified, never, ever made any attempt to re-sign any player of value including Dave Goltz, Danny Ford, Rod Carew, Lyman Bostock, Larry Hisle, Tom Burgmeier, Bill Campbell, Gary Ward, Bert Blyleven.

I think it was really up to the all time king of cheapskates, Calvin Griffith. Had he retained Carew, Bostock (for only 500K for gosh sakes), Hisle, Bill Campbell, Tom Burgmeier, Adams, Cubbage, Dave Goltz and continued to build pitching, he would have made up those modest salaries in attendance and concessions, parking etc. To be paying Bostock $20,000 in one of the finest offensive seasons of the 1970s puts the onus on Calvin, not Lyman.

I don’t think Luis Arraez was ever a defensive wizard, or had a line like 36 doubles, 12 triples and 14 Hr = 62 extra base hits. Nor had 90 RBIs. Nor did he ever hit for Bostock’s averages of .323 and .336 in his two prime years. The unfortunate part is we’ll never know if the career trajectory that Lyman had established from 24-27 would have carried through. I think it would have but there we have it. Keep in mind that Kirby Puckett was cut a lot of slack in being elected to Cooperstown with an involuntary shortened career. For me, Lyman Bostock was one of the best hitters in Twins history. Yes, I love high batting averages (just look at the current Twins .198, .198, .220, .160, .218, .241, .245, etc. and you’ll understand why). The Twins current batting averages just listed can never, ever yield a winning team in any era. The 1977 Twins with Carew .388, Bostock .336, Adams .338, Hisle .302 by definition leads to runs in droves and winning, even with a sorry pitching staff. That team had a .282 team average. That’s fun!!! The other 70s Twins teams that I grew up on always hit with guys like Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Steve Braun, Steve Brye, Roy Smalley, Mickey Hatcher, Glenn Adams, Ken Landreaux, Jim Holt, Bobby Darwin. I truly believe that Lyman Bostock, for the 4 years and, if he had lived, was a better hitter than Michael Cuddyer, Versalles and Tovar. And they all deserve their HOF status.

He was a gem! Oh, if I could go back, take the pen from Calvin and sign those two guys Carew and Bostock and Hisle, Bill Campbell, Danny Ford and Glenn Adams!

Just a comparison of lifetime batting average for players who are in the Twins Hall of Fame. Cesar Tovar: Twins lifetime batting average = .281 Michael Cuddyer: Twins lifetime batting average = .272 Zolio Versalles: Twins lifetime batting average = .250 Lyman Bostock: Twins lifetime batting average = .318 Bostock outhit 3 bona fide Twins Hall of Famers by 37, 46, 68 points respectively, an average of 50.33 batting average points per player for 3 existing THOFers!

In my opinion, Lyman Bostock deserves to be in the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. I just became aware that he isn’t and felt a wave of incredulity come over me when I first thought about it. The only reason I can think of is that his career with the Twins was cut short by Calvin Griffith’s mind boggling penuriousness (he paid Bostock $20,000 in 1977 for what might had been an MVP season but for Rod Carew’s actual .388 MVP season). And another owner, Gene Autry, of the Angels signed him to a contract of around $500,000/yr for 5 years, 25 times what Griffith was paying him. One way to evaluate Bostock might be to conclude that he only played 4 seasons and to use SABR stats to evaluate him, which wouldn’t be fair. One thing I know, was that if Bostock could bring that 1977 season to the Twins now, they’d be a much better team! Bostock averaged .318 (.31755) for his Twins career. He lead off his Twins career with a .282 batting average, which wasn’t suggestive of the explosive hitter to come in the next two years in which he average, .323 and .336. I can’t prove it but I would ask other Twins fans who saw him play to chime in. I believe Bostock was very likely headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown before being tragically murdered after his 4th season. Imagine, this hitter, in the 3 hole for the 2025 Twins: .336 average with 36 doubles, 12 triples and 14 HRs with 90 RBIs. Add 660 plate appearances, 16 stolen bases, a .389 on base percentage and a .508 slugging percentage and you have one of the finest offensive seasons I’ve ever seen! I’m attaching the article I wrote for the Twins player project, which shows the very famous 19-12 win over the White Sox, which I listened to on the radio from my birthplace in Toledo, Ohio. Notice Bostock batted leadoff. in this days obviating the need for gaudy power stats. Bostock average 605 plate appearances for the last 3 years of his career, 2 with the Twins, 1 with the Angels. The mind blowing thing to consider is that Bostock put up that career .318 Twins average at the ages of 24, 25, and 26, before the advent of what is generally considered a baseball players prime year of 27. Bostock’s life was ended at 27 years old and he finished his career with a .311 average. This is the Google AI overview commenting on Lyman Bostock’s defensive ability: "Lyman Bostock was known for his exceptional defensive skills, particularly in center field, being described as one of the finest defensive outfielders in baseball. He was a multi-faceted player with speed and strong defensive abilities" It’s time to put Lyman Bostock into the Twins baseball Hall of Fame, post haste! Greg Allen

Alliterate brother!

Put quite simply, we’re getting Nootbarred! Time to let DaShawn play and see if his speed can remind us why it’s not OK for one team to have the Cardinals speed and their opponent very little.

I've experienced a 99% decline in dustups since leaving Twitter. Very refreshing! Surprised to see a little dustup but no comment, I haven’t read all the posts!

I was fine with the lineup but not necessarily the order. Wasn’t sure if it would be Gasper or Castro at 2B. Now if Pablo can avoid that one bad inning!

I had it too, then noticed all my data was gone, email, phone, etc. Re-filled that and restarted the computer and now have the honor of a rain delay screen. That’s progress!

Oooh! That’s a baseball nightmare!

Rain! A radar site said 61 minutes of rain which would put it about 4:30 CT? Does this match what anybody else is hearing

So home run hitting is more important now (I say it isn’t) because you could smoke cigarettes on the field? Same game. Twins need to, and, to Rocco’s credit, are changing their approach. A team needs about 3 power hitters, ideally, then higher average, higher on base guys, perhaps with moderate power sprinkled in to the other 6 slots. Stolen base ability a bonus. Twins got run of the field in the late innings last year by teams like Tampa Bay, Royals, Guardians.

DaShawn Keirsey has won the final spot over Austin Martin.

The greatest Twins hitter of all time was not a home run hitter but hit .388 with 38 doubles 14 triples 14 hr and 100 rbi in 1977 and won the map on a 4th place of 7 team and also hit .350, .359, .364 in the mid 70s to go with the .388. That is far more valuable than exit velocity, he needs to develop power and all this nonsense attached to prospects. Lyman Bostock, a top 5 hitter in Twins history was also the same way. His 1977 was 36 doubles 12 triples 14 hr and 90 rbi. Lord, I wish we had hitters like that now!!! May Walker Jenkins please be like Lyman Bostock and NOT Max Kepler!!!!

Agree, the emergence of the Brooks Lee we’ve heard about would be huge. Julien, at least in spring training, looks to be resurgent. I like all 3 of Lee, Julien and Gasper. Gasper is my kind of player, a Billy Beane, OBP machine!

Neither guy was much good last year. Give me Earl Battey or Brian Harper or Butch Wynegar, Mitch Garver or of course, Joe Mauer. Optimistically, Vazquez could move back a bit to his former offensive self and Jeffers maybe could take a step up toward Mitch Garver status.

I’d prefer subtracting one of Julien, Lee or possibly Varland and keeping DaShawn Keirsey Jr who has had a very good spring, hitting .290 over .400 OBP and is regarded by the Twins as aa very talented defender per the first spring training broadcast.

I read yesterday that when a player has an ACL injury, it makes lower half leg injuries more likely, not to mention he has had 2 ACL surgeries. Look what happened to Derrick Rose after his 1st ACL This is in response to the last couple of posts just as an FYI.

Jim Perry, Dean Chance, Camilo Pascual, Frank Viola, Luis Tiant, Bert Blyleven #1, Al Worthington who dominated in the pen for 5 years age 35-39, Dave Goltz. I wonder about retiring the number of a guy that broke Twins fans hearts by leaving as a free agent. The Twins offered him the same 20 MM/yr as the Mets but couldn’t match the years.

John, I wonder if DaShawn Keirsey, Jr.’s ability to hit lefties comes into play. He hit .279 vs lefties with a .798 OPS in 2024 in his big season with the Saints.

Mickey Gasper spring training .375/.429/.542/.970 Mickey Gasper 2024 Worcester (204 PA) .367/.471/.592/1.062 With those combined numbers and what sounds like they are saying his defense is at least adequate, and the Twins desperately needing some offensive help, I think he’s worth keeping. I’d certainly keep him over Kody Funderburk.