Seth Stohs

Thirty years ago, a pitcher arrived at Tinker Field in Orlando for Minnesota Twins spring training as a non-roster invitee. He was left-handed. He had a last name conducive to a classic nickname. He took advantage of his opportunities, and he made the 1985 Twins Opening Day roster. Tom Klawitter lived a dream held by anyone who has ever picked up a bat and a ball.Anything can happen. Dreams can come true. Tom Klawitter’s big league career may not have been real long. Many Twins die-hards may not even remember it. However, his story is one worth telling. It’s worth telling to Minnesota Twins fans. It’s worth telling to Minnesota Twins minor leaguers, and minor leaguers across baseball. It’s also worth telling to kids who dream of getting to the big leagues. Klawitter was born in 1958 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Asked if he was a Twins fan, Klawitter said, “It’s kind of funny. As a kid, I was kind of a front-runner. Back in the late-60s, I was an Orioles fan, and then I became a Dodgers fan after I got drafted. I did have a connection to the Twins with (former Twins 3B) Craig Kusick being from LaCrosse.” He wasn’t drafted out of high school, and then he stayed home for college. He spent four years at the University of Wisconsin, in LaCrosse. It was there that, despite being a northern school, he started to get the attention of area scouts. “I got to my senior year. I was 5-0, and the guys down south were 15-and-whatever, so I didn’t expect (to get drafted).” In June of 1980, Klawitter was the 19th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the time, the Dodgers were one of the most popular teams in baseball. They had players such as Steve Garvey, Fernando Valenzuela, Ron Cey and more household names. Klawitter said, “It was obviously a great opportunity for me. That was quite an experience being around all those great ballplayers. When I got up there early, it was Ron Cey and Valenzuela and those guys that were in the majors at the time. Garvey. Tommy Lasorda. In ’81 I went to camp there. It was quite an experience to see those guys. I was pretty spoiled at the time. The Dodgers were a first-class, top-of-the-line organization. Vero Beach was the place to be. You got treated pretty well down there.” In 1980, he had the second most starts for a Lethbridge (Rookie League) team that went 52-18. In 1981, he won 11 games for Lodi of the California League. In 1982, he made the jump to AA San Antonio. The then-24-year-old went 9-14 with a 5.30 ERA that year. The next spring he returned to San Antonio, but his stay there was short. After just seven games, he was released by the Dodgers. It was a tough time for Klawitter, but good came from it. “That’s a tough thing. It’s like being let go from your job. Obviously it’s pretty tough on you. Fortunately, I was able to come back pretty close to home and got picked up by the Twins.” The Twins signed him and sent him to Low Class A Wisconsin Rapids, a town less than a two-hour drive from his hometown of LaCrosse. “That was just what the doctor ordered. I was back in my old stomping grounds, where I had a lot of success. It seemed to pump in a lot of confidence, and I pitched pretty well. So that was kind of the start of it.” Over 23 appearances (21 starts) with Wisconsin Rapids, Klawitter went 10-5 with a 2.99 ERA in 156.1 innings. The next season, 1984, he jumped all the way up to AAA Toledo. “Being in AAA with the Mudhens is another great experience, and I had a pretty good year there too.” He made 26 starts and went 10-6 with a 3.59 ERA for the Mudhens. The roster was made up of several of the players who would become big pieces of the Minnesota Twins 1987 championship team. Playing for manager Cal Ermer, the team went 74-63. The Minnesota Twins 1984 team went late into the season before falling out of playoff contention, but prior to the age of social media, most of the players in Toledo weren’t really keeping tabs on the big league club, including Klawitter. “For me, I was so happy to be there that I didn’t even notice that some of the guys were really pressing to get to the big leagues or back to the big leagues or whatever. It was a really good time, and I was pitching well. When you’re playing well, it’s a lot more fun. I was right in the rotation, and Cal Ermer had a lot of confidence in me. The dynamics of the team were, I mean, we had a pretty close group of guys. I think that’s why we were successful. We did pretty well right up to the end. We had a good mix of guys that had had a taste of it and guys that were just trying to get a part of it. It was pretty neat.” Klawitter continued, “I’m not even sure we had anyone called up that year from our team. Brad Havens might have been. We were kind of in the thick of what we were doing. Scott Ullger was one of our outfielders. Bobby Mitchell, who came over from the Dodgers, I knew. It was just a bunch of great guys who, I mean, I really felt that we played for our team and not so much for ourselves. You don’t find that a lot in pro ball.” He truly enjoyed the opportunity. “It was a phenomenal opportunity at the time. That’s when I first started my friendship with Kirby. He was in AAA for a month and then he got called up right after that.” Klawitter performed, and because of it, he received a non-roster invitation to major league spring training with the Twins. He was excited about the news and another opportunity. “I was surprised and obviously very thankful. I took whatever I could get. I wasn’t disappointed that I wasn’t on the 40-man roster. I was thankful for the opportunity to get that chance. They sent me my contract, and it said this, but you’re a non-roster player, and come down with the big club in Orlando. We did pretty much what everyone was doing, just the fact that we were not on the roster. We went about our business and just hoped for an opportunity. I got down there and made the best of it.” He was also realistic about his chances of making the big league club out of spring training. “I thought I could have gone back to Toledo, and I would have been fine with that. I was playing pro ball, and I guess you can look at it any way you want to. It was a lot of us non-roster guys throwing batting practice and doing this or that and that’s part of everything.” In fact, his first spring training outing wasn’t really even supposed to happen, or at least not likely. “I believe somebody was looking out for me,” Klawitter explained. “The coaches told me to go warm up, that I had the ninth. We were on the road and down by I don’t know how many runs. The chances of me getting in the game were not good. Sure enough, we came back and went ahead. I went out there and shut them down in the ninth.” He believes that the coaches thought to themselves, “Wow! Maybe this guy can pitch.” One outing became two, and then three, and so on. “I didn’t really watch who else was pitching, but a couple of other guys weren’t getting the job done. I had a pretty good spring.” With the last name of Klawitter, it was clear that his nickname since his young years was The Klaw. As spring went along, and he was experiencing success, his nickname became a big part of his story At the same time, Baron von Raschke was very popular among pro wrestling fans. His signature move was The Claw. The match only made too much sense, and it just took off, with the help of one of his teammates. “(Twins Hall of Famer Kent) Hrbek was fun-loving, and he was kind of into this wrestling with Baron von Raschke, and it was just perfect timing for me.” “It was absolutely a blast. It took some of the pressure off. It just kind of kept building. You get Hrbek feeding off it, and (Gary) Gaetti started saying stuff. Then all of a sudden (manager Billy) Gardner, I don’t know why, stuck his hand out and started doing The Claw and it worked on its own,” Klawitter continued, “Like I said, someone was looking after me and it was a perfect opportunity for me. In the right place at the right time. It was definitely a high spot in my career, I’ll tell you that.” Instead of pitching when the games were out of hand, Klawitter started pitching in the seventh inning or in more important game situations. That’s when he figured he had a chance to make the team. Even toward the end of spring training, he was pretty certain that he would head back to Toledo. It wasn’t until very late in camp that somebody told him that he had made the Twins opening day roster. Klawitter recalled, “That was such an honor. I can’t even remember how it happened.” The first phone calls he made were to his family. “You’d like to call everybody. It’s more of a conversation like, ‘you won’t believe this, but I’m breaking with the big club.’” Tom Klawitter was the story of Twins spring training thirty years ago. His story did not end when he was called up to the Twins. In Part 2 of this Tom Klawitter story, we discuss his brief time in a Twins uniform. We will also tell you what has kept him busy, competitive and successful since his retirement. Please feel free to leave your questions and comments below. Click here to view the article

Good point! I love this stuff, the memories, good and bad and the life. DeVries had a very solid, unexpectedly good career for a non-drafted free agent from Minnesota!

I think this is the lineup I would go with (obviously Suzuki most of the time over Pinto. I'd keep Santana at the top of the order for a couple of months to start the season and see how it goes. I like Mauer in the #2 spot a lot for many reasons. I'd start Dozier hitting third due to his OBP skills and power. I might flip-flop Vargas and Arcia versus lefties. If Plouffe's a 7-hitter, you definitely have a chance to score some runs. And yeah, if Hicks can hit for any average, he should be able to keep that OBP where it is. Keep him at 9 until he's had a couple of really good months.

I tend to agree with that...

I think Harrison's advancement to AA to start the season completely depends on whether Eddie Rosario starts in AA or AAA. I also think that the atmosphere in Chattanooga will help many of those doubles to become home runs.

DUDE!!

We played flip before every game and every practice in college. It got pretty intense. That was so fun!

I'd move him up to AAA... If he were hitting .270/.360/.570, I'd probably call him straight up to the Twins.

Ironically, there are three examples listed in the article, and a link to almost all of the Tommy John surgeries in history with date of surgery and date of return. His weight has been listed on this site and in the Prospect Handbook and other places several times in the last year, including in the article.

One thing I'm curious for reader thoughts on... what do you think is a fair, reasonable timeline for "shaking off rust?" I asked the question in the article, and the obvious/correct answer is that there is no way to know for any one individual, but what do people think? Do we think he'll shake it off in spring training? It took Rosario months to shake off his rust from missing 50 games, and Sano missed a full season. What are you thinking/hoping/expecting?

260 is Vargas small... Last year at Twins Fest, Sano weighed in at about 260, and he was about the same this year, I believe. In spring training, he'll get to between 250 and 255 which is what he played at in 2013.

I really think people will enjoy this series. It's fun to look at in these smaller chunks. Killebrew is such a fascinating figure in Twins history. I wish I would have known more about him when he was still alive. I wish I would have had the chance to meet him.

He's the kind of guy that they will find a place for and others will be moved.

I don't know... you'll just have to check back tomorrow to find out!

Despite missing the entire 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery, Miguel Sano retains his status as the Twins #2 prospect. In fact, reviewing most of the national prospect rankings, he has remained a Top 20 overall prospect. That is what happens when you have the elite talent and power potential that Sano has. 2015 will be an interesting year for the slugger as he returns to action. How long will it take for him to shake off the rust? More important, how long will we have to wait before we see him in a Minnesota Twins uniform?Age: 21 (DOB: 5/11/93) 2014 Stats: Did Not Play ETA: late-2015 2014 Ranking: #2 What’s To Like When we talk about Miguel Sano, the natural lead topic has to be his power. Few throughout minor league baseball have the kind of power potential that Miguel Sano has. In the organization, Adam Brett Walker and Kennys Vargas come close. At 6-4 and 260 pounds, Sano presents an intimidating presence in the batter’s box. Fortunately, he has been able to back up that power potential with real, effective power. In 2012 in Beloit, he hit 28 homers. In 2013, he hit a combined 35 home runs at Ft. Myers and New Britain. Along with the homers, he added 28 doubles in 2012 and 30 in 2013. In his time in the rookie leagues, Sano was known to swing at a lot of sliders down and away. He has continued to improve his plate discipline each year, and with this power, that has translated into more walks. In Beloit, he walked in 14.5% of his plate appearances. In 2013, he walked 11.9% in Ft. Myers and then 13.0% of the time in New Britain. Miguel Sano is a supremely confident young man. He knows he has huge potential and talent, and he wants to be great. He doesn’t just want to be a major league ballplayer. He wants to win home run titles and set records, and he wants to win baseball games. He is fun-loving, and he will be a media and fan favorite, but he will also work hard to achieve these types of goals. It is my opinion that he will play even better as a major leaguer since he has worlds of talent and he has that drive to excellence. He has an ability to raise his game to the level of competition. That’s not to say there won't be struggles and adjustments, but I have little doubt that he will be able to make the adjustments to get through the struggles. What’s Left To Work On Despite the home run power and the walks, one concern with Sano is his strikeout rate. In the two rookie leagues, he struck out in over 26% of his plate appearances. In 2012 in Beloit, he struck out in 26% of his plate appearances. In the first half of the 2013 season in Ft. Myers, Sano struck out 25.1% of the time. After his promotion to Double-A, he struck out 29.3% of the time. Few players are successful with these kinds of strikeout rates, and yet, those who have been successful have generally been power hitters. However, I think that if Sano can, after a couple of seasons in the big leagues, reduce his strikeout rate to below 25%, he can be elite. There have always been those who question whether or not Sano can play adequate third base defense in the big leagues. The Tommy John surgery doesn’t change that in any way. Before surgery, Sano was able to throw across the diamond as hard as anyone, well into the 90s. If the velocity on his throws is reduced by even 5 mph, he’s still got plenty of arm for the throws. Will he be able to make the plays? Well, in 2012 at Beloit, he made 43 errors at third base, though most were in the first half. In 2013, between Ft. Myers and New Britain, he had 23 errors. Sano is a very good athlete for his size. He started out as a shortstop so he does have some pretty good instincts at the hot corner. He is able to play deep because of his arm. Often, his errors in 2013 were on more routine plays, and he made a lot of highlight reel plays. That said, the question of whether or not he can be an adequate third baseman remains very fair and this is an issue that will need to be monitored. What’s Next The Sano situation is certainly interesting. Trying to predict what he will do in 2015 is very difficult. Obviously, fewer position players have gone through Tommy John surgery. Shin-Soo Choo had the surgery in late September, 2007 and returned to the lineup the final day of May in 2008. Carl Crawford had the surgery in late August, 2012, and he returned to the lineup on Opening Day 2013. Shortstop Zack Cozart had the surgery in August, 2011 and returned Opening Day 2012. In reviewing Jon Roegele’s terrific and thorough Tommy John Surgery List, it appears that most position players who have had the surgery before August were able to return by opening day the next season. The question for the Twins, Sano and the fans has to be, How long will it take him to shake off the rust of not playing competitively for 14 to 15 months? I assume that he will return to Double-A to start the season since he last played at that level in 2013. That said, if the Twins were to decide that they would like him to spend the month of April in Ft. Myers to keep him a closer eye on him and put him in a place where he should experience quick success, I would have no problem with that. I think that, as fans, we need to be a little patient with this situation. It isn’t common. There is no Best Practice for handling this yet. When talking about a 21-year-old who is still believed to be a future cornerstone, doing the right thing is very important. That said, once he gets to Double-A and begins experiencing success, it will then just be a matter of time and opportunity. That could be as early as June, if there were an injury or as late as September. Unless things go very wrong, we should see Miguel Sano in 2015. TD Top Prospect #10: Nick Burdi TD Top Prospect #9: Trevor May TD Top Prospect #8: Eddie Rosario TD Top Prospect #7: Jorge Polanco TD Top Prospect #6: Nick Gordon TD Top Prospect #5: Alex Meyer TD Top Prospect #4: Kohl Stewart TD Top Prospect #3: Jose Berrios TD Top Prospect #2: Miguel Sano TD Top Prospect #1: (You’ll just have to check back tomorrow to find out!) Click here to view the article

Big picture, all three of them have a chance to be upper-half-of-the-rotation starters. Not sure if they can be true #1s, but all three can be guys that you'd feel pretty good about making starts in the playoffs. My personal ranking was: Berrios 3, Gordon 4, Stewart 5, and Meyer 6, but any ranking having those four in any order would be hard to argue against.

You may have to translate for me... does that show how many 3-ball counts there were, or pitches per at bat?

They all were good picks at the time. There's no possible way to know how draft picks will turn out. The Willie Banks pick was considered tremendous at the time. Loewen certainly has had an interesting career. I think last year he went back to pitching for the first time in several years.

Lightfoot, you know that I like Walker and am higher on him than most... but I have to admit that I can't get into this argument. The league championships don't matter much to me in prospect rankings. They're a team thing and he was one of 24 on the team. He was one of the starting 9. It's awesome that they win, but doesn't affect prospect status for me. That said, it was his 3-run-homer in the 9th of the Appy League championship game that sent it to extra innings and then Dalton Hicks' grand slam won it a couple innings later. FSL All Star Game MVP is a nice honor, but one game. A home run derby championship alone doesn't mean a lot. Chris Parmelee won that same championship several years ago. It speaks to his power, but the 25+ regular season homers mean more to me than a HR derby. Walker is a good prospect on his own based on power and potential. Intangibles to me are his personality, humility, work ethic, etc. Those matter to me.

Well said! I like homers too, but I'm probably just as big a fan of doubles, and if the guy is fast enough, some of them become triples.

We know that Arcia will be in LF and Hunter will be in RF, so it really comes down to who will be in CF, and that is subject to change throughout the season.

This is also correct. I think the odds of him pitching in the big leagues this year is pretty low. I hope I'm wrong and I know he's worked very hard to get there. He just might. At this point, I wouldn't put much past him. however, things would have to go really poorly in the starting rotation (certainly possible) and I also think it would need to happen before September. It makes no sense to call him up for September when he doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster for another year. Same with Buxton. If they're up in July or August, great! If not, might as well wait until next May and protect the 40 man roster. That all said, I would LOVE to see him get to Target Field in 2015.

It was a crazy thing! I don't know how to explain it, and probably shouldn't (dont want to) overthink it as Bill James did. Ha! I remember as an 8-year-old when he was called up liking him, probably just because of his name. I remember as a 9-year-old, getting ready for school, and my mom coming into the room and telling me that Puckett had homered the night before. But to go from 4 to 31 is crazy. He did alter his approach. I think he also did a better job of laying off of certain pitches (outside slider, for example). He didn't like to walk at all, but he definitely had a better approach at the plate and better eye for what was a strike.