ashbury

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

We all know Rocco is costing the Twins a chance for a win, every time he fills out the lineup card or comes out to make a pitching change.  And don't get me started on his pinch-hitting choices.  So, put a number on it. How many needless losses are on Rocco, so far this season?

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

You bet your sweet bippy they do.  They do platoon.  A lot.  My apologies for the click-bait subject line.  (It's fun.  Almost went with "One Weird Trick Your 2024 Twins Use To Platoon")
How do the Twins rank versus the other 29 teams, in plate appearances by batters in same-arm matchups?
LHB-vs-LHP:   29th  (64 PA, OPS of .759 which is 5th in the majors)
RHB-vs-RHP: 23rd  (752 PA, OPS of .680 which is 15th in the majors)
They try their darndest not to let it happen, especially with their lefty bats.  And here is how they do in opposite arm matchups:
RHB-vs-LHP:  7th  (520 PA, OPS of .707 which is 16th in the majors)
LHB-vs-RHP:  6th  (920 PA, OPS of .693 which is 18th in the majors)
What is the point of these numbers?  One, in case you wondered whether they go to great lengths to set up favorable hitting matchups, yes, yes they do.  Two, they aren't notably effective at exploiting these matchups.  Three, an oddity is that their unfavorable lefty matchups rank better in OPS versus their competitors than their favorable ones do.
Maybe the modest level of success at bat this season (they rank 16th overall in OPS) would be worse if they weren't doing things as they are.  Plus in addition also too, because the manager chooses which batter hits when, there is bias to all these statistics that is outside my control to account for.  The better results for left-handed batters against lefty pitchers than righties, in absolute terms, suggests Rocco is careful which bats to play in that matchup.
But mostly what I see is that they go to extremes, and reap little to no overall reward for their efforts.  The lefty bats don't clobber righties, and the righty bats don't crush lefties.  Why, again, are we even doing this?
I can't help having flashbacks to the old quote from the dugout: "I managed good, but they sure played bad."  (ChatGPT 3.5 attributes this to Casey Stengel; therefore I feel 99% confident that it must have been someone else.  Rocco Baldelli may become the source of the quote, going forward.)  But at some point, that guy who "managed good" needs to stop and ask if it's worth the trouble, and what better thing might be tried.

With the 2024 season starting today, I thought I'd start up the old Almanac blog again. You think I can keep this up every day all season long? Stay tuned!
With no further ado, here it is—the Twins Almanac for March 28th:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Some Unsettling News About Kirby
• Berríos Historically Good on Opening Day
• Brainerd Grad Makes MLB Debut
March 28, 1996
Puckett Wakes Up with Vision Problem
36-year-old superstar Kirby Puckett appeared poised for a big year, hitting .344 in spring training, when on the last day of camp he woke up unable to see out of his right eye. He would be diagnosed with glaucoma and one day later placed on the 15-day disabled list (or injured list) for the first time in his career.
Quoting directly from a New York Times article from March 31, 1996:
“Kirby Puckett’s blurry vision is being caused by a partial blockage of a blood vessel in his right eye, and the Minnesota outfielder will miss the season opener, the Twins said Friday after placing him on the 15-day disabled list … retroactive to Thursday, making him eligible to return April 12. During that time, he will undergo treatment and will be able to work out with the club. Matt Lawton, who went 2 for 4 with a run batted in in Puckett’s place Friday, will start against the Tigers tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, four surgeries did nothing to improve Puckett’s vision, and he officially retired on July 12.
March 28, 2019
Berríos’s Historically Good Opening Day Start
José Berríos was historically good on Opening Day 2019, giving up just two hits and a walk while striking out 10 over 7.2 innings. He was the first pitcher in franchise history to pitch at least seven scoreless innings and strike out 10 on Opening Day since Walter Johnson did so in 1917. 
Worth noting that Brainerd native Bullet Joe Bush took the loss for the Philadelphia Athletics in that 1917 game. And since we’re talking about 1917, Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth beat the Yankees on Opening Day that year. 
Taylor Rogers retired the final four batters, striking out three, to secure the 2-0 Twins win over Cleveland at Target Field. The Twins’ only runs came on a Marwin Gonázlez double off Corey Kluber in the seventh, knocking in Nelson Cruz and C.J. Cron. (All three players were making their Twins debuts, providing plenty of optimism to start the season.) Chaska native Brad Hand came in to get the final out for Cleveland in the bottom of the eighth. 
 
Berríos’s 10 Opening Day strikeouts set a new Twins record, breaking Brad Radke’s previous record of eight K’s over six innings in 1996 (Radke’s second season). 
Berríos’s gem was the fourth Opening Day shutout in Twins history, and the first since Jim Perry’s complete-game shutout in Chicago in 1970.
The second Opening Day shutout in Twins history was by Dean Chance in Washington in 1968, with the Twins’ two runs coming on Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison home runs off Senators pitcher Camilo Pascual. 
And the first Opening Day shutout came in the very first regular season game in Twins history, with Pedro Ramos spinning a three-hitter opposing Whitey Ford at Yankee Stadium in 1961. After Bob Allison put the Twins on the board with the first home run in team history leading off the top of the seventh, Ramos himself knocked Ford out of the game with a two-run single to center, driving in Earl Battey and Reno Bertoia en route to a 6-0 Twins win. 
March 28, 2019
Nick Anderson Makes MLB Debut
Brainerd High School graduate Nick Anderson made his major league debut with the Marlins on this date in 2019, retiring the only batter he faced, stranding a runner on second to end the inning.
Two days later, he came in and struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning of a 7-3 Marlins win over the Rockies. 
Anderson was striking out batters at a pretty impressive rate right out of the gate, K’ing 27 of the first 51 batters he faced to begin his MLB career. (There were two home runs mixed in there.)

Worth noting that the Twins had Anderson in their system, but they traded him for an infielder nobody has ever heard of prior to the 2019 season. 
Anderson will be pitching out of the Kansas City Royals bullpen this season. 
He is the third Brainerd alumnus to pitch in the majors, following three-time World Series Champion Bullet Joe Bush and Todd Revenig (0.00 MLB ERA). And of course Hall of Famer Charles Albert Bender was born near Brainerd in 1884. 
Please join the conservation in the comments section below.
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* a definition of prayer- an earnest hope or wish.
- Blessings & thanks to all TD writers, who continue to give us great articles to discuss even amidst some opposition.
- Blessings to my friends at TD.
- Blessings & thanks to the moderators who keep the baseball forum civil & open
- Wisdom & insight to our FO so they can evaluate our needs & make the right decisions.
- Uplift the lowly & humble the proud.
- Health, soundness of mind & body to all our players so they can achieve their full potential.
- Qualify our coaches to help train our players
- Happy New Year to all & a prosperous season! Go Twins! 

Growing up in the 1950’s was so different for those of us who loved to play baseball. Today you can drive past a ball field during the summer and find it empty. With us we needed to rise early in the morning, have a quick breakfast and ride our bikes to the closest field hoping to be there before another group staked its claim. And besides bringing your baseball equipment, you needed to have a lunch with you. If you didn’t eat lunch at the field you took a chance that the field wouldn't be empty when you returned.
Of course our equipment was different. My glove was a Rawlings John Groth model (outfielder for the Tigers). The glove was small and the web was barely large enough to contain the ball. Only the catcher and first baseman had the "big gloves."
The ball we used was probably coming unstitched and was dark and dirty. If the stitching was too far gone, the ball was covered in electrical tape, normally the shiny kind.
Lastly, we probably only had one or two bats between us and in most cases the bat was probably broken and was held together with either a nail in the bat, or more electrical tape (the non-shiny type acted as a nice grip).  Batting gloves were not thought of at this time, and would have been perceived as unmanly.
We didn’t need adults to organize us, and we didn’t need rides to get to the field.
Most of us played Little League, but usually we were all on different teams. The good players make the “majors” at 10 years old, the lesser at 11 or 12 (12 year olds were not allowed to play in the “minors”).
Our Little League uniforms had been used for a number of years and the knees on our pants probably had a patch or two on them. The shirt and pants were made of flannel, so they lasted for many years, but during the heat of the summer, they were really hot. Our hats and stirrups were made of wool and the stirrups usually needed an elastic at the top of them to stop them from drooping every time you ran.
We had batting helmets, but they were not really helmets, but earmuffs. They were made of leather and came in a couple of sizes.
But baseball was king. There was no organized football for us and very few options for playing basketball. Most football was one or two hand touch and played in the street. Living on a quiet street was a huge plus because you wouldn’t have to keep stopping the game to let cars pass. Basketball rims were at the playground, but many of us hung a basket from our garage and played in our driveway.
Most of us collected and traded baseball cards.
Buying cards was convenient. During the school year, we would walk past two stores near our school that sold baseball cards and penny candy. During the summer our neighborhood was serviced by a traveling store. The vehicle was about the size of a self-contained RV and was like a convenience store on wheels. It came by 3 days a week, and always stopped in our neighborhood, because most of our families were Italian and we had to have Italian bread with our supper.
You could buy cards two ways, for one cent you could buy a pack with one card in it, and for five cents the pack would contain 6 cards.
There was no such strategy of collecting stars. Your goal was to have a complete set, and if you needed to trade a star for one of your missing commons, you’d do it.
Of course we all had a favorite team. Living in Rhode Island there were two options: you rooted for the Red Sox and hated the Yankees, or you rooted for the Yankees and hated the Red Sox. A lot of friends started out as Red Sox fans, but changed their allegiance because the Yankees always won and the Red Sox never did. I would collect and hoard Red Sox players and draw beards and mustaches on Yankee players. I can’t image how many Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra cards I had were ruined because of beards.
Cards were for collecting and making complete sets.
Doubles and triples were used for pitching. Pitching cards was a school yard activity. You would take your extras to school and either at recess or after lunch you’d find an empty area with a wall. Because you were pitching these cards against a wall, there were no cards in mint condition. They all had rounded edges from colliding with a wall, or have creases because you bent the card as you were picking them up off the ground (usually cement or asphalt).
We played three different games and who ever won the previous game would pick the game. The first game was “farzees (pronounced far zees)”. The game was not limited to one player against another, you could put together as large a group as you could find. With farzees you would pitch your card (one toss per player) and the person who’s card stopped closest to the wall would win all the cards. On occasion the card would stand up. A standing card would beat any other card that was tossed.
The second game was “standeez (pronouced stand eez)”. With standeez the person choosing the game would stand a card up against the wall. It would be at about a 30 degree angle. The game would end when someone tossed their card and it knocked the standing card down to the ground. If you knocked the card down, you would win all of the cards that had been tossed up to that point.  Baseball cards were severely damaged in this game. You never wanted to hit the standing card and not knock it down because you didn't toss your card hard enough.
The last game was “topzees (pronouced top zees)”. With topzees the person choosing the game would pitch a card out in the playing area, trying to keep it away from any wall. The winner of the game was the person who would toss their card and it would land on top of any of the cards already on the ground. It didn’t have to cover a lot of the card, just some part of it. The winner would pick up all of the cards that had already been tossed.
Because most of us “pitched” cards, finding cards from the 50’s or early 60’s rarely came in mint or excellent condition. We never anticipated that our cards would ever be worth anything and that the stars would be worth more than the common.  We loved our cards because they were play things, never investments.
Please feel free to leave comments on this article, especially if you are at an age where you may have pitched cards also.
My blog will try to recreate loving the game of baseball and what it was like playing and watching the game in the 50’s and 60’s.
 
 

Awhile back, I was working on a post (still working on it) to identify the greatest season by a Twins starting pitcher. I still haven't entirely decided on that one, but after going through the starting pitching stats for every year since the Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins (in other words, since 1961) there were a couple of fascinating finds - stats that I doubt will ever be surpassed.
Combined Wins and Losses in a Season
The Twins record for most wins in a season was Jim Kaat's 25 in 1965. Back then, there was only one Cy Young for all of MLB, and Sandy Koufax was the unanimous winner after compiling a phenomenal set of stats: 26-8 record, 2.04 ERA, 160 ERA+, 9 shutouts, and 382 strikeouts in 335.2 innings pitched. Wow. Kaat also set another mark that I doubt will be surpassed, particularly in today's baseball: along with the 25 wins, he also accumulated 13 losses, and those 38 combined results should stand the test of time. It's notable that close behind was Bert Blyleven, with 37, and Jim Perry with 36.
Innings Pitched and Shutouts in a Season
These records are also safe, given the specialized nature of pitching these days. For innings pitched, these days 200 is considered a full season - but the Twins have had three pitchers surpass 300 innings - Bert Blyleven had 325 in the 1973 season, Jim Kaat had 304.2 in 1966, and Dave Goltz had 303 in 1977. Nowadays, pitchers get huzzahs for just a handful of complete games, let alone shutouts, but in that 1973 season, Blyleven had 9 shutouts, far and away the best ever for a Twins pitcher. 
Workhorse Pitcher Season for the Ages
Bert's 1973 season was phenomenal in many respects. On a 81-81 team, he went 20-17, but the other stats are eye openers (including innings pitched and shutouts, already mentioned). His 2.52 season ERA was third best ever among Twins starting pitchers (and those who knew that Camilo Pascual is first with 2.46 take a bow. Yes, Jim Kaat was 2.06 in 1972, but he only started 15 games so that doesn't count - same with strike or pandemic-shortened seasons). Speaking of complete games, Bert also had 25 that year, which is also far and away the best by a Twins pitcher. His 258 strikeouts are also the second most, trailing only Johan Santana's 265 in 2004. On top of that, his ERA+ of 156 was fifth best all time for a Twins starting pitcher. Quite a year!
Best Two Combined Seasons
This one could someday be overcome (give it your best shot, Pablo) but I doubt it. It is also debatable, as Frank Viola and Jim Perry both won a Cy Young and also put together another strong year. Still, this one belongs to Johan Santana. Not only did he win the Cy Young in both 2004 and 2006, he also had the two best ERA+ years, at 182(!) in 2004 and 162 in 2006. As previously mentioned, he put up the biggest strikeout total in 2004 and had an ERA of 2.61 and 2.71 in 2004 and 2006 respectively. Besides that, 20-6 and 19-6 win-loss records weren't too shabby either.

Thanks, folks. 
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog inviting feedback for some paint schemes for the wall in a room that has transitioned from our youngest son's bedroom to our office. Alas, he got married and moved to North Carolina -- we like the married part, just wish he didn't live so far from northern Indiana. That post is here: https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/23701-help-design-my-man-cave/ 
The goal was to combine a Fathead with some shelving to create a space to display the set of Tony Oliva baseball cards I've gathered, along with some others. I invited feedback to the following ideas: 
 
And the one I chose was...
No. 6. 
So, next up was using a friend's table saw to rip some MDF board into 5/8" x 5/8" strips, followed by cutting a quarter-inch angled groove to hold the cards. Then Mrs. IT took over, handling the priming and painting. Finally, my brother-in-law, much more adept at such projects than me, helped me stick the Fathead and place and mount the strips. 
Here's what I got: 

 
I'm pretty pleased. Mrs. IT needs to do a little touch-up painting, touching up the screw holes and a few more spots. What you see here are a complete set of Topps, Kelloggs and Hostess Oliva cards on the left, plus a couple extra odds and ends. On the upper right are my Killebrew cards, with Carews underneath. Neither of those are complete.
Eventually, I'll tighten them up so I can add some other favorites from over the years -- Hrbek, Puckett, Gaetti, etc. Probably need to get a Wynegar and some others. It may not take long for Lewis to make an appearance on the IT Wall of Fame. And depending on how full I want to make the space, I may also include a few non-Twin favorites and/or legends from over the years, namely Brock, Aaron, Clemente, etc. I don't have any that are particular valuable (and none graded), but on the wall will at least bring more enjoyment than in boxes under the bed. The total space is about 84 inches by 40 inches.
Thanks to @Cornholio, @Rod Carews Birthday, @Wyotwinsfan, @davidborton, @DocBauer, @gil4, @nclahammer, @Original_JB, @dcswede, @Khaddie and @Puckett34 for great insights and suggestions.
I was originally thinking I'd go with No. 8, but after coming up with a number of mockups, I was starting to lean toward No. 6 by the time I posted. So to get a couple early affirmations of that option helped firm up that decision. Some other comments:
There were some good suggestions that would have given it a much more professional feel (and would have been beyond my capability or cost more than I was prepared to spend. A couple folks cautioned about covering up too much of the Fathead. With that encouragement, I did move the strips out a bit. They end up overlapping by about three inches, rather than the six inches I originally planned. I think that was an improvement, so thanks for those suggestions. If I was to do anything different with the layout, I'd give each row another quarter to half inch of space (starting at the bottom) to push the top row up to have even less overlap with the letters.  A few people had ideas for some additions, suggesting some autographed photos, Homer Hankies, etc. (And speaking of, I need to track down one of this year's.) I do plan some of those things with the next steps. The exterior wall of the room has about 43 inches on each side of a window, so I'm thinking of putting in a relatively high shelf for the four Wheaties/Kelloggs boxes (still full) from 1987 and 1991. I may do a second shelf with some autographed balls, but I really don't have any significant ones. I do have some other things, however, such as a Rod Carew RC Cola can and an Oliva-signed cap, etc. I'm only a few years from retirement, so I'll need to consider where to go with two jerseys. I'm perhaps the only person on TD with a game-used Travis Miller jersey. I never thought I'd buy a gamer of anyone, but when you're in the team store and see one with your last name on it, it's tough to resist. My congregation gifted me another jersey when transitioned from pastoring there to another ministry opportunity. In total, I have another 10 or so linear feet of wall space on this half the room to use for such things. Mrs. IT gets the other side of the room. So again, thanks. If anyone heads through northern Indiana on the toll road and wants to stop off for a visit, I'd be glad to show it in person! 😃
 

And while I'm at it, I do have another spot in the house that folks might find interesting. I've been fortunate enough to have been able to combine some work-related travel with vacations and have been to all 30 current stadiums (plus a dozen or so that have been closed)*. I spent some time to create some collages from photos I've taken along the way (plus a handful from the Web of stadiums that I went to before I started taking pictures). Here's what we have in our entry hallway. Each frame is a division, with the teams in alphabetical order from top to bottom.
 
 
*Lest you think that's impressive, what's more impressive is the amazing Mrs. IT. She's been to 24, even though she's not a baseball fan. When someone asked her about it, her response, "I don't like baseball, but I like some people who like baseball." 
 
 

So much was packed into two games!  A day later, I've put together a Top Ten list of moments, with no particular metric except my own sense of drama in the moment.  Ranking is influenced by impact on the game's outcome, but there is an "Oh No He Didn't!" factor that counts for a lot.  You will argue with some choices I am sure - I would probably have ranked them slightly differently yesterday and might change my mind tomorrow.
 
 
 
 
 
Game 1 Inning 4: Carlos Correa bails out Polanco, throws out Bichette at home Game 2 Inning 5: Carlos Correa pickoff of Guerrero at second Game 1 Inning 1: Royce Lewis HR #1 Game 1 Inning 3: Royce Lewis HR #2 Game 1 Inning 6: Michael A Taylor at wall for catch of flyball by Chapman Game 2 Inning 8: Griffin Jax unassisted putout like a blocking fullback on Biggio Game 1 Inning 9: Jhoan Duran taking throw to put out Springer and end 18 game losing streak Game 2 Inning 6: Caleb Theilbar 643 DP on Chapman after close foul ball Game 2 Inning 4: Carlos Correa RBI single for first run against Kikuchi Game 2 Inning 9: Jhoan Duran third out swinging strikeout of Varsho for the sweep Here also are my ten honorable mentions, ranked merely in sequential order of when they happened.
Game 1 Inning 2 Michael A Taylor coming in hard for the catch against Chapman
Game 1 Inning 4 Max Kepler with difficult grab of Guerrero smash
Game 1 Inning 5 Pablo Lopez strikes out Belt swinging with Chapman on third
Game 1 Inning 8 Griffin Jax two big strikeouts after Guerrero leadoff double
Game 1 Inning 8 Donovan Solano with unassisted putout of Kirk to end inning
Game 2 Inning 1 Sonny Gray strikes out Biggio to strand two baserunners
Game 2 Inning 4 Max Kepler single against Kikuchi in relief of Berrios
Game 2 Inning 8 Michael A Taylor with grab on tricky fly by Guerrero
Game 2 Inning 8 Carlos Correa hit on hand by pitch but stays in game
Game 2 Inning 9 Jhoan Duran finger cut, 2 bad pitches, then he locks in
Some may say this was the Royce Lewis Series, and obviously Game 1 is his to own forever, but Carlos Correa gets my series MVP vote, with that key RBI in Game 2 tipping the scales.
Notice how frequently Guerrero figured into the proceedings.  Chapman too.  We dodged some bullets, didn't we.
I also can't emphasize enough just how big the moment was when Kepler singled against Kikuchi.  They bring in the lefty, Kepler had his work cut out for him, and he finds a way.  None of the balls put in play that inning were things of beauty really, but conversely the moment was not too big for our hitters.  No moment was more key than Max's, and yet he can't even crack the Top Ten for me.  Wow, what a series!
 

So much was packed into two games!  A day later, I've put together a Top Ten list of moments, with no particular metric except my own sense of drama in the moment.  Ranking is influenced by impact on the game's outcome, but there is an "Oh No He Didn't!" factor that counts for a lot.  You will argue with some choices I am sure - I would probably have ranked them slightly differently yesterday and might change my mind tomorrow.
 
 
 
 
 
Game 1 Inning 4: Carlos Correa bails out Polanco, throws out Bichette at home Game 2 Inning 5: Carlos Correa pickoff of Guerrero at second Game 1 Inning 1: Royce Lewis HR #1 Game 1 Inning 3: Royce Lewis HR #2 Game 1 Inning 6: Michael A Taylor at wall for catch of flyball by Chapman Game 2 Inning 8: Griffin Jax unassisted putout like a blocking fullback on Biggio Game 1 Inning 9: Jhoan Duran taking throw to put out Springer and end 18 game losing streak Game 2 Inning 6: Caleb Theilbar 643 DP on Chapman after close foul ball Game 2 Inning 4: Carlos Correa RBI single for first run against Kikuchi Game 2 Inning 9: Jhoan Duran third out swinging strikeout of Varsho for the sweep Here also are my ten honorable mentions, ranked merely in sequential order of when they happened.
Game 1 Inning 2 Michael A Taylor coming in hard for the catch against Chapman
Game 1 Inning 4 Max Kepler with difficult grab of Guerrero smash
Game 1 Inning 5 Pablo Lopez strikes out Belt swinging with Chapman on third
Game 1 Inning 8 Griffin Jax two big strikeouts after Guerrero leadoff double
Game 1 Inning 8 Donovan Solano with unassisted putout of Kirk to end inning
Game 2 Inning 1 Sonny Gray strikes out Biggio to strand two baserunners
Game 2 Inning 4 Max Kepler single against Kikuchi in relief of Berrios
Game 2 Inning 8 Michael A Taylor with grab on tricky fly by Guerrero
Game 2 Inning 8 Carlos Correa hit on hand by pitch but stays in game
Game 2 Inning 9 Jhoan Duran finger cut, 2 bad pitches, then he locks in
Some may say this was the Royce Lewis Series, and obviously Game 1 is his to own forever, but Carlos Correa gets my series MVP vote, with that key RBI in Game 2 tipping the scales.
Notice how frequently Guerrero figured into the proceedings.  Chapman too.  We dodged some bullets, didn't we.
I also can't emphasize enough just how big the moment was when Kepler singled against Kikuchi.  They bring in the lefty, Kepler had his work cut out for him, and he finds a way.  None of the balls put in play that inning were things of beauty really, but conversely the moment was not too big for our hitters.  No moment was more key than Max's, and yet he can't even crack the Top Ten for me.  Wow, what a series!