John Bonnes

Following Harmon Killebrew's historic home run versus the Yankees in 1965, the Twins competed for postseason spots annually for the next half dozen years. But they didn't return to the postseason until 1969 when they won the AL West under new and controversial manager Billy Martin, a former Yankee. Martin only managed the Twins that one year, as he was fired after several internal disagreements with the team and organization that included once incident in which he punched out his own starting pitcher.The Yankees, meanwhile struggled for a decade. They returned to relevance in the late 1970s thanks to a new economic development in Major League Baseball: free agency. Fueled by free agents like Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson, they returned to the postseason under argumentative manager, Billy Martin, winning two World Series. However, their window was shutting in the early 80s, just as the core of the next competitive Twins team was coming together. The Twins also won two World Series over the next decade - just in time to fade for another Yankees dynasty. That dynasty began May 29, 1995 when a rookie shortstop named Derek Jeter was called up to play with the Yankees. He joined a bumper crop of other homegrown talent such as Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera to form the core of championship teams for almost two decades. The Yankees made the playoffs for thirteen straight years and seventeen of the next eighteen seasons. From 1996 through 2000, they won the World Series four times in five years and one more time the next decade. The Twins, meanwhile, had lost their mojo when Kirby Pucket lost the vision in his right eye. The losing became too much for star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch. Despite having recently signed a five-year, $30 million deal with the Twins, Knoblauch demanded a trade to a more competitive team. Terry Ryan accommodated him, sending him to the Yankees for a package of four prospects. Knoblauch led off for the Yankees and helped them win three of those championships from 1998-2000. Soon after, the Twins started their own return to relevance, helped in part by the package of prospects that they had received from the Yankees, which included shortstop Cristian Guzman and pitcher Eric Milton. Along with a their own homegrown talent such as Doug Mientiewicz, Corey Koskie, Jacque Jones, AJ Pierzynski and Torii Hunter, they stormed to the top of the AL Central in 2001. Fans started returning to the Metrodome, especially on nights where they Twins had deep discounts for students or sold hot dogs for $1. Ever since he had left the Twins, Knoblauch had endured boos in the Metrodome. However, late in his Yankees career, he was also enduring a case of "the yips" - he suddenly couldn't throw accurately to first base from his position at second base. Still valuable as a leadoff presence for the Yankees, Knoblauch was moved to left field in 2001. All those ingredients came together on May 2nd of 2001 to put Knoblauch in the proximity of the young, raucous Metrodome party crowd, loaded with beer and dollar dogs. In the fifth inning, Knoblauch was greeted with a handful hot dogs thrown from the bleachers but all hell broke loose in the sixth. Dogs, plastic beer bottles and coins rained down on left field towards the Damn Yankee. Yankees coach Joe Torre responded by pulling his team from the field. The Twins responded by having legendary public announcer Bob Casey scold the fans. "If this trouble does not stop in left field, this game will be forfeited and the Yankees will win," chided Casey. "NOW QUIT THAT." The possibility of forfeiting a game to the Damn Yankees helped to restore sanity. So did Twins manager Tom Kelley walking Knoblauch out to left field. During the game, 40 fans were evicted, and although there was a small recurrence in the 8th inning, order was restored. The "Knoblauch Hot Dog Game" coincided with the end of the Yankees series of World Championships, although they would continue to challenge for that title annually. It also coincided with the rise of the Twins after a decade's worth of dismal results, and ushered in a decade of division championships. But it also may have jinxed that next decade, as the Damn Yankees became the bane of the Twins - and especially new manager Ron Gardenhire's - existence. Next: A New Manager And The Damn Yankees Previously: Twins vs Yankees (Part 1): The Rise Of The Damn Yankees Twins vs Yankees (Part 2): How Killebrew Killed The Damn Yankees Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about BYRON BUXTON (and some other stuff). You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

I wonder if this means Hicks is hurt bad enough to go on the DL. I also wonder if it means he got hurt sometime between last night's game and today's game. The Twins seemed surprised by the injury.

I'm really excited by this. But boy, the timing of this is weird. When was something like this announced during a game? Was it leaked and they needed to respond? First I saw of it was the Twins official announcement.

I'll beg you to excuse the caps. Seems appropriate. In the middle of today's game versus the Texas Rangers, the Minnesota Twins announced that they are promoting Byron Buxton from AA-Chattanooga to join the team Sunday in Texas. They have not announced a corresponding move, but Buxton won’t be here as insurance or to sit on the bench. He will almost assuredly be handed a full time role, likely in center field, so the corresponding roster move will likely involve Aaron Hicks, who was a last minute scratch from the lineup before today’s game due to a sore elbow.Buxton was the consensus #1 rated prospect in all of baseball entering the 2014 season, but suffered wrist injuries and a concussion that cost him almost all of the 2014 season. Maybe more impressively, he was still ranked one of the top prospects in all of baseball entering the 2015 season. Even after the lost year, he’s just 21 years old. He started the season slowly at AA-Chattanooga; in his first 12 games he hit just .180 with 14 strikeouts. But since then, he has hit .313, got on base at a .380 clip and slugged .536(!). His speed is fast approaching the status of "legendary," fueled by videos like this, where he beat out an infield single on a routine, cleanly-fielded, ground ball last night. Click here to view the article

From the moment Tim Stauffer took the mound in spring training, Twins fans (and probably the Twins) have been concerned and wondering what is wrong with him. The concern stopped last night. The wondering - not so much.The Twins announced they had designated Stauffer for assignment after Wednesday night's loss to the Royals. The move was inevitable due to his struggles in the bullpen throughout the year. Stauffer was rocked in his first spring training outing and never really regained any credibility or velocity. His $2.2M signing (plus quite a bit more in incentives) was logical enough if one looked at his numbers as a reliever: 57K in 56.1 IP with 19 BB. Critics might point out that his numbers were also considerably better in spacious Petco Park, and that's true. But Target Field can hide some flaws, too, and a comparison to Glen Perkins did not seem outlandish at the time of his signing. Until, of course, his velocity and strikeout numbers fell off a cliff. For the Twins this year, that 1:1 ratio for strikeouts and innings pitched fell to 6:15 - with more walks than strikeouts. That suggests something was wrong. He acquiesced to a month on the disabled list, but came back to the majors after having almost no success in AAA-Rochester, despite having additional time he could spend in AAA. His return went about as well as one would think of a pitcher who has shown zero credibility as a reliever. He got a single out in his first outing. Was shelled in his second. His next three he gave up hits in short outings, but nothing disastrous. And then, after not pitching for three days AND having an off-day the next day, he was replaced with (a far more deserving) Michael Tonkin. So what happened? Your guess is as good as mine. It's not like the Twins bullpen is in IMMEDIATE need of help; the whole bullpen other than mop-up guy JR Graham had Wednesday night off and Thursday is an off-day. On Friday, most of the bullpen should be fresh. And Stauffer should be at the top of that fresh list. The Twins have used Stauffer in extremely low leverage situations all year, put him on the disabled list for a very dubious injury, recalled him long before they needed to and then put him back into low-leverage situations the rest of the year. Instead, the Twins are moving to Tonkin. They have been yo-yo-ing reliever Michael Tonkin between AAA and the majors all season, despite his superior performances. So if you're looking for good news, you have it. If you're looking for a good explanation, I'm afraid I'm coming up short. The wondering is going to need to continue. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John have a special midweek podcast-only episode to discuss the Twins 2015 MLB draft picks, Aaron's experience with a Casper mattress and answer a few mailbag questions. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

There is nothing humble in that humblebrag. Nor should there be.

I was hoping for Dillon Tate, and I think the Twins were too, but I like picking college pitchers and the Twins are far from the only team that thinks he can be converted to a starter.

Jeremy Nygaard and Seth Stohs joined John Bonnes on KFAN 100.3 Monday night for an immediate reaction to the Twins 1st round choice of left-handed pitcher Tyler Jay. They covered Jay's strengths and weaknesses, debated how appropriate it is to draft a college reliever with the sixth overall pick, profiled his pitches and control, wondered at Jay starting the biggest game of his life on the day of the draft, shook off the last-second Daz Cameron rumors, talked about the pick with Minnesota Twins West Coast Regional Supervisor Scout Sean Johnson and previewed the other picks that might happen on Tuesday. (Whew.) You can listen to the pick on KFAN.com here.. Click here to view the article

The 2015 MLB Draft is tonight, and while we know a lot of Twins Daily readers have been following our coverage for weeks, we know some of you are looking for a cheat sheet. So here it is: Who will the Twins take? Oh, c’mon, skipping right to dessert? Actually, I kind of respect that. The answer is we don’t know, and we don’t think they know. So let’s see if we can figure it out together…Where/when do the Twins draft? They have the sixth overall pick and the draft starts about 7:00 and takes about five minutes per pick, so they should choose about 7:40 (Eastern, 6:37 Central, to be exact). You can follow along in the comments section below or tune into KFAN 100.3 where Jeremy Nygaard, Seth Stohs and John Bonnes will be covering the pick live from 7:00 - 8:00. What else happens on Monday night? The Twins forfeited their second-round draft pick when they signed Ervin Santana to a free agent contract. However, they did receive a bonus compensation pick, #73 overall. They will make that selection later in the evening. How is this draft class? It’s a little weak. There are no clear, stand-alone top picks, which makes it a very interesting draft. Every mock draft has a slightly different order for the picks before the Twins, which makes it nearly impossible to predict who the Twins will be able to pick, let alone who they prefer to pick. So who do the mock drafts say the Twins will take? Baseball America says Kyle Tucker, a toolsy prep outfielder, that Parker profiled here. ESPN’s Keith Law thinks it will be Kolby Allard, a left-handed prep pitcher who might be injured and whom Jeremy Nygaard profiled here. MLB.com went with Tyler Jay, a left-handed college pitcher who profiles as a starter but has been working as a reliever, profiled by Steve Lein here. FanGraphs' Kiley McDaniels thinks the Twins will draft RHP Dillon Tate, who Jeremy Nygaard said would likely not fall to the Twins. Who else is in play? The draft is strong in shortstops and they might all be gone before the Twins get to pick. Their Twins Daily profiles are here: Dansby Swanson Brendan Rodgers Alex Bregman There are a few other pitchers that the Twins could choose over Jay or Allard Dillon Tate Carson Fulmer Brady Aiken Walker Buehler Kyle Funkhouser Jon Harris And finally, a few outfielders who could be in play. Andrew Benintendi Daz Cameron So who will the Twins take? You're just not going to let that go, are you? Here is Jeremy's Final Mock Draft. There is nobody who is more plugged in to the Twins final thoughts on this pick than he - at least not outside of the organization. So, who do you think the Twins will select when their turn on the clock rolls around? Do you have a personal favorite? This is what comment sections are for.... Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins demoting Danny Santana to Triple-A and bringing back Kennys Vargas, the latest shockingly good start from Mike Pelfrey, the Twins 6thoverall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft, the closing window of opportunity for Oswaldo Arcia, appreciating Carlos Gomez and his flaws, Ricky Nolasco's ankle injury and Tommy Milone's role, the No. 1 sellers at Target Field, and whether or not to pay $120 for a Lil Wayne concert. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

It isn’t often one can define, to the moment, the end of an era, but such was the end of the Yankees three decade long domination of the American League. The moment was on Sunday, July 11th, 1965. And Twins slugger Harmon “Killer” Killebrew ended it on one symbolic swing.Killebrew was signed by the Washington Senators in 1954, a year before “Damn Yankees” musical opened on Broadway, but MLB contract rules delayed him from playing full time with the club until 1959. The 22-year-old made up for lost time, hitting a league-leading 42 home runs. After the Senators became the Twins in 1961, he led the league five more times before his career was over, and finished in the top five an astounding 12 times. He won the American League MVP in 1969 and received votes ten of the Twins first eleven years of existence. He retired with 573 home runs and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. But the first half dozen years of his career were in the shadow of a very long Yankees dynasty. From 1936 through 1964, the Yankees failed to win the American League pennant just seven times, meaning they were in the World Series twenty-two times. And they had won the AL nine of the last 10 years. But there were indications that the end was near. Entering a series with the first place Twins immediately prior to the All-Star Game, the Yankees were in sixth place, 12.5 games back. And in front of packed stadiums, the Twins won the first two games. However, the Yankees won the third game, and the fourth game was a tight affair, tied 4-4 going into the ninth. That last inning, it turned out, had everything. In the top of the frame, the Yankees had runners on first and third base with two outs but failed to score when their batter hit a soft ground ball up the first base line. The Twins pitcher wasn’t able to field it cleanly, but that was because the Yankees batter interfered with him while running to first base. So the batter was out, and the runner from third that had crossed home plate didn’t count. Or did it? Yankees manager Johnny Keane came out and disputed the call, telling the umpire that he thought the Twins pitcher fielded the ball and tried to tag the Yankees batter, but then dropped it. If that’s the case, the runner would be safe and the run that crossed the plate on the play would count. Any Yankee detractor can see how this is going to end: the umpires reversed the call. Twins manager Sam Mele charged out of the dugout, but his team was told to retake the field even as he told the umpires the rest of the game would be played under protest. The Twins got the last out, but the damage had been done and the extremely agitated crowd knew it. Didn’t the Yankees get breaks like this all the time? Like in the musical, it was not hard to picture the Devil on the Yankees side. Nor was it hard to picture the AL slipping away yet again. But the ’65 Twins had proved their resiliency throughout the year. Rich Rollins coaxed a walk, but it was sandwiched between two outs. Still, that gave Killebrew a chance to bat. He worked a full count before Yankees reliever Pete Mikkelsen challenged him with a fastball. In his book about the 1965 Twins, Cool Of The Evening, author Jim Thielman describes what happened next: “The ball jetted towards the stands, almost as if Killebrew had lit a short fuse on a Fourth of July pop bottle rocket. It was not the typical “Killebrew Fly” that featured a majestic parabolic arch. The ball was still rising when it crashed into the left-field pavilion. Silence. Had this happened? Had Killbrew hit a two-out, two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch to beat the Yankees heading into the All-Star Break? Was this team going to the World Series? The crowd erupted, screaming, applauding and stamping its feet on the stands, as had become the custom when the Met Stadium regulars wanted to display their appreciation enthusiastically. The cantilevered triple deck behind home plate shook from the thunderous pounding.” That home run was recognized as the biggest home run in Twins history until Kirby Puckett’s walkoff shot in 1991’s Game 6. The Twins did go on to the World Series that year, though they lost to the Dodgers and Sandy Koufax in seven games. The Yankees not only did not with the pennant, but they finished with a losing record for the first time since 1925 – the same year the Washington Senators (the Twins predecessors) won their only World Series. And the Yankees would not make the playoffs again for the next eleven years. The Damn Yankees deal with the Devil was finally over. Part 3: A Twin Becomes A Damn Yankee Previously: Twins vs Yankees (Part 1): The Rise Of The Damn Yankees Click here to view the article

Bring 'em!

I'm exactly the opposite. I LOVE that they went a slightly different direction and made it a bit less cookie-cutter retro.