jjswol

Posted earlier at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. In baseball, a switch-hitter is a batter that bats either from the right side or the left side depending on if the pitcher is right or left-handed. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher making such pitches often harder to hit than those from the other side. History tells us that most right-handed batters hit better against lefty pitchers and left-handed batters hit better against right handers. This so-called platoon benefit is why managers use pinch-hitters and LOOGY's and why some players want to become switch-hitters. Switch-hitting at its best Switch-hitters have been around for ever it seems and yet according to sources that I have researched, only about 6% of baseball batters have been switch-hitters. You have to wonder if switch-hitting is such an advantage, why haven't more of baseball best hitters been switch-hitters? The best career batting average for a switch-hitter is .316 by Frankie Frisch, who currently ranks 71st all-time. Some of the best switch-hitters in our times like Chipper Jones, hit at .306 and Pete Rose hit .303. Detroit Tigers DH Victor Martinez has a career average of .302 making him the highest currently active switch-hitter. Switch-hitters have been around for a long time and there have been some pretty good ones over the years, in addition to the players I just mentioned, you have to add players like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams, George Davis, Lance Berkman, Tim Raines and Chili Davis to the list of switch-hitting greats. Switch-hitting and the rules A question often asked is can a batter switch for right to left or left to right during an at bat. The only rule that I can find that seemingly applies is 6.06( which states that "A batter is out for illegal action when he steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch." Based on that, it appears you can switch from one batters box to the other as often as you want as long as you do it before the pitcher gets in his pitching position. Twins switch-hitting history The Twins currently have four switch-hitters on their 25 man playing roster, C Ryan Doumit, SS Pedro Florimon, OF Aaron Hicks, and utility man Eduardo Escobar. In the Twins 53 years of existence they had 62 players that were switch-hitters but not all of them actually batted and we will touch more on that later. The Twins very first switch-hitter was actually a pitcher, Pedro Ramos. Ramos pitched and batted (1 for 4 with 2 RBI) in the Twins very first game when Ramos and the Twins shut out the New York Yankees 6-0 on April 11, 1961 at Yankee Stadium. The first Twins switch-hitting position player to appear in a game was SS Marty Martinez when he had an at bat against the Yankees at Met Stadium on May 30, 1962 in game 2 of a doubleheader. Martinez actually appeared in 3 earlier games as a Twins but was used strictly as a pinch-runner by manager Sam Mele. It wasn't until 1976 however; that the Twins actually had a regular position player switch-hitting and that year they had two, rookie catcher Butch Wynegar and SS Roy Smalley. The Twins are playing their 53rd season and there has only been one year, 1973 that they have not had a switch-hitter step into the batters box wearing a Twins uniform. On the other hand, they had nine switch-hitters (Cristian Guzman was the only starter) at one time or another on their 1999 team that finished 63-97. Twins switch-hitting pitchers Looking at the Twins 62 switch-hitters, eleven of them were pitchers and claimed to be switch hitters but only Pedro Ramos, Jim Perry, Dan Serafini, JC Romero, and Joe Mays actually set foot in the batters box. The other six, Stan Perzanowski, Darrell Jackson, Pete Filson, Jason Ryan, Pat Neshek, and Eric Hacker were switch-hitters only on the back of their baseball cards because they never batted in a Twins game. Jim Perry actually hit five home runs as a Twin. Home runs from each side of the plate club The Twins switch-hitter with the most home runs is Roy Smalley and he hit 163 career home runs and 110 of them were when he was a Minnesota Twin. The "home runs from each side of the plate" club is relatively exclusive but three of the members were Twins. Roy Smalley accomplished that rare feat twice, once against the Boston Red Sox at the Metrodome on May 30, 1986 and once earlier in his career as a New York Yankee in 1982. Chili Davis became the second Twin to join the club when he did it against the Royals on October 2, 1992. Ryan Doumit became the third Twin to do so when too joined the exclusive fraternity against the Royals on July 22, 2012. Chili Davis hit a home run from each side of the plate 11 times in his illustrious 19 year playing career. Just for comparisons sake, Mickey Mantle did it on 10 occasions. One oddity that seems to stand out to me is how few of the switch-hitters employed by the Twins over the years actually threw left-handed. If you exclude the 11 switch-hitting pitchers from the list you are left with 51 switch-hitters and only one of the 51 threw left-handed, the other fifty were right-handed. Kind of strange. The lone left-handed position player was John Moses. But keep in mind that John Moses, an outfielder by trade actually pitched in 3 games for the Twins and it gets even stranger. Twins best switch-hitters So let's take a look at the Twins top switch-hitters, there is no good way to rank them so I will list all the Twins switch-hitters that have 1,000 or more plate appearances in a Twins uniform. The chart also shows positions played, games played, home runs and batting average. All the numbers on this chart are their Twins career numbers. Many of these players played for other teams but those numbers are not included here, I am only interested in their numbers as Minnesota Twins for this story. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [/TH][TH=align: center]Name [TH=align: center]Positions[/TH] [TH=align: center]PA[/TH] [TH=align: center]Games[/TH] [TH=align: center]HR[/TH] [TH=align: center]AVG[/TH] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]Roy Smalley[/TD] [TD=align: center]6,5,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]4676[/TD] [TD=align: center]1148[/TD] [TD=align: center]110[/TD] [TD=align: center].262[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]Cristian Guzman[/TD] [TD=align: center]6[/TD] [TD=align: center]3538[/TD] [TD=align: center]841[/TD] [TD=align: center]39[/TD] [TD=align: center].266[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]Butch Wynegar[/TD] [TD=align: center]2,5[/TD] [TD=align: center]3188[/TD] [TD=align: center]794[/TD] [TD=align: center]37[/TD] [TD=align: center].254[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]Nick Punto[/TD] [TD=align: center]5,4,6,8,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2707[/TD] [TD=align: center]747[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center].248[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]Gene Larkin[/TD] [TD=align: center]3.9.5.4[/TD] [TD=align: center]2670[/TD] [TD=align: center]758[/TD] [TD=align: center]32[/TD] [TD=align: center].266[/TD] [TD=align: center]6[/TD] [TD=align: center]Denny Hocking[/TD] [TD=align: center]4,6,8,5,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2455[/TD] [TD=align: center]876[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center].252[/TD] [TD=align: center]7[/TD] [TD=align: center]Al Newman[/TD] [TD=align: center]6,4,5,8[/TD] [TD=align: center]1876[/TD] [TD=align: center]618[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center].231[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center]Alexi Casilla[/TD] [TD=align: center]4,6,5,8[/TD] [TD=align: center]1764[/TD] [TD=align: center]515[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center].250[/TD] [TD=align: center]9[/TD] [TD=align: center]Chili Davis[/TD] [TD=align: center]DH,9,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]1163[/TD] [TD=align: center]291[/TD] [TD=align: center]41[/TD] [TD=align: center].282[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]Luis Castillo[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]1036[/TD] [TD=align: center]227[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center].299[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]Matt Walbeck[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1008[/TD] [TD=align: center]275[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center].230[/TD] [/TABLE] Some interesting numbers and players on this chart, about half the players were starters and half were utility players. No surprise that Smalley is the leader in home runs or that Chili Davis is second on that list but finding that Cristian Guzman is number 3 in the Twins switch-hitter home run list really surprised me.

Posted earlier at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. In baseball, a switch-hitter is a batter that bats either from the right side or the left side depending on if the pitcher is right or left-handed. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher making such pitches often harder to hit than those from the other side. History tells us that most right-handed batters hit better against lefty pitchers and left-handed batters hit better against right handers. This so-called platoon benefit is why managers use pinch-hitters and LOOGY's and why some players want to become switch-hitters. Switch-hitting at its best Switch-hitters have been around for ever it seems and yet according to sources that I have researched, only about 6% of baseball batters have been switch-hitters. You have to wonder if switch-hitting is such an advantage, why haven't more of baseball best hitters been switch-hitters? The best career batting average for a switch-hitter is .316 by Frankie Frisch, who currently ranks 71st all-time. Some of the best switch-hitters in our times like Chipper Jones, hit at .306 and Pete Rose hit .303. Detroit Tigers DH Victor Martinez has a career average of .302 making him the highest currently active switch-hitter. Switch-hitters have been around for a long time and there have been some pretty good ones over the years, in addition to the players I just mentioned, you have to add players like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams, George Davis, Lance Berkman, Tim Raines and Chili Davis to the list of switch-hitting greats. Switch-hitting and the rules A question often asked is can a batter switch for right to left or left to right during an at bat. The only rule that I can find that seemingly applies is 6.06( which states that "A batter is out for illegal action when he steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch." Based on that, it appears you can switch from one batters box to the other as often as you want as long as you do it before the pitcher gets in his pitching position. Twins switch-hitting history The Twins currently have four switch-hitters on their 25 man playing roster, C Ryan Doumit, SS Pedro Florimon, OF Aaron Hicks, and utility man Eduardo Escobar. In the Twins 53 years of existence they had 62 players that were switch-hitters but not all of them actually batted and we will touch more on that later. The Twins very first switch-hitter was actually a pitcher, Pedro Ramos. Ramos pitched and batted (1 for 4 with 2 RBI) in the Twins very first game when Ramos and the Twins shut out the New York Yankees 6-0 on April 11, 1961 at Yankee Stadium. The first Twins switch-hitting position player to appear in a game was SS Marty Martinez when he had an at bat against the Yankees at Met Stadium on May 30, 1962 in game 2 of a doubleheader. Martinez actually appeared in 3 earlier games as a Twins but was used strictly as a pinch-runner by manager Sam Mele. It wasn't until 1976 however; that the Twins actually had a regular position player switch-hitting and that year they had two, rookie catcher Butch Wynegar and SS Roy Smalley. The Twins are playing their 53rd season and there has only been one year, 1973 that they have not had a switch-hitter step into the batters box wearing a Twins uniform. On the other hand, they had nine switch-hitters (Cristian Guzman was the only starter) at one time or another on their 1999 team that finished 63-97. Twins switch-hitting pitchers Looking at the Twins 62 switch-hitters, eleven of them were pitchers and claimed to be switch hitters but only Pedro Ramos, Jim Perry, Dan Serafini, JC Romero, and Joe Mays actually set foot in the batters box. The other six, Stan Perzanowski, Darrell Jackson, Pete Filson, Jason Ryan, Pat Neshek, and Eric Hacker were switch-hitters only on the back of their baseball cards because they never batted in a Twins game. Jim Perry actually hit five home runs as a Twin. Home runs from each side of the plate club The Twins switch-hitter with the most home runs is Roy Smalley and he hit 163 career home runs and 110 of them were when he was a Minnesota Twin. The "home runs from each side of the plate" club is relatively exclusive but three of the members were Twins. Roy Smalley accomplished that rare feat twice, once against the Boston Red Sox at the Metrodome on May 30, 1986 and once earlier in his career as a New York Yankee in 1982. Chili Davis became the second Twin to join the club when he did it against the Royals on October 2, 1992. Ryan Doumit became the third Twin to do so when too joined the exclusive fraternity against the Royals on July 22, 2012. Chili Davis hit a home run from each side of the plate 11 times in his illustrious 19 year playing career. Just for comparisons sake, Mickey Mantle did it on 10 occasions. One oddity that seems to stand out to me is how few of the switch-hitters employed by the Twins over the years actually threw left-handed. If you exclude the 11 switch-hitting pitchers from the list you are left with 51 switch-hitters and only one of the 51 threw left-handed, the other fifty were right-handed. Kind of strange. The lone left-handed position player was John Moses. But keep in mind that John Moses, an outfielder by trade actually pitched in 3 games for the Twins and it gets even stranger. Twins best switch-hitters So let's take a look at the Twins top switch-hitters, there is no good way to rank them so I will list all the Twins switch-hitters that have 1,000 or more plate appearances in a Twins uniform. The chart also shows positions played, games played, home runs and batting average. All the numbers on this chart are their Twins career numbers. Many of these players played for other teams but those numbers are not included here, I am only interested in their numbers as Minnesota Twins for this story. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [/TH][TH=align: center]Name [TH=align: center]Positions[/TH] [TH=align: center]PA[/TH] [TH=align: center]Games[/TH] [TH=align: center]HR[/TH] [TH=align: center]AVG[/TH] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]Roy Smalley[/TD] [TD=align: center]6,5,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]4676[/TD] [TD=align: center]1148[/TD] [TD=align: center]110[/TD] [TD=align: center].262[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]Cristian Guzman[/TD] [TD=align: center]6[/TD] [TD=align: center]3538[/TD] [TD=align: center]841[/TD] [TD=align: center]39[/TD] [TD=align: center].266[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]Butch Wynegar[/TD] [TD=align: center]2,5[/TD] [TD=align: center]3188[/TD] [TD=align: center]794[/TD] [TD=align: center]37[/TD] [TD=align: center].254[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]Nick Punto[/TD] [TD=align: center]5,4,6,8,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2707[/TD] [TD=align: center]747[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center].248[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]Gene Larkin[/TD] [TD=align: center]3.9.5.4[/TD] [TD=align: center]2670[/TD] [TD=align: center]758[/TD] [TD=align: center]32[/TD] [TD=align: center].266[/TD] [TD=align: center]6[/TD] [TD=align: center]Denny Hocking[/TD] [TD=align: center]4,6,8,5,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2455[/TD] [TD=align: center]876[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center].252[/TD] [TD=align: center]7[/TD] [TD=align: center]Al Newman[/TD] [TD=align: center]6,4,5,8[/TD] [TD=align: center]1876[/TD] [TD=align: center]618[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center].231[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center]Alexi Casilla[/TD] [TD=align: center]4,6,5,8[/TD] [TD=align: center]1764[/TD] [TD=align: center]515[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center].250[/TD] [TD=align: center]9[/TD] [TD=align: center]Chili Davis[/TD] [TD=align: center]DH,9,3[/TD] [TD=align: center]1163[/TD] [TD=align: center]291[/TD] [TD=align: center]41[/TD] [TD=align: center].282[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]Luis Castillo[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]1036[/TD] [TD=align: center]227[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center].299[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]Matt Walbeck[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1008[/TD] [TD=align: center]275[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center].230[/TD] [/TABLE] Some interesting numbers and players on this chart, about half the players were starters and half were utility players. No surprise that Smalley is the leader in home runs or that Chili Davis is second on that list but finding that Cristian Guzman is number 3 in the Twins switch-hitter home run list really surprised me.

Originally posted at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. It is too early to tell what kind of team the Twins have for 2013 but from what I have seen in the nine games they have played so far, it is a team that is playing better than what it has the last two seasons. I am not saying they are playoff bound but the team is at least entertaining to watch and I hope they can start to gel as a team over time. Yes, the Twins are 4-5 but you could argue that two of those wins were gifts when outfielders from the Tigers and Orioles let a ball drop between them and gave the Twins gift runs. Everybody was worried about the starting pitching going in to 2013 but it is the hitting so far that has been missing. Hicks has been terrible with the bat but he is not the total reason this team is not hitting well. So far this year the 3-5 hitters have scored 11 runs, hit 2 home runs, and have 9 RBI's. That is just plain terrible, Gardy needs to do something to shake-up this line-up. What scares me is that they are not playing all that well in the field either and they keep making mistakes on the base paths that are just plain embarrassing. The Twins have played just 9 games so the sample size is very small but here are some stats comparing the Twins to the rest of the league in various categories. The Twins are 4-5 and in fourth place in the AL Central 2 games behind the division leading Kansas City Royals. The Twins have lost 3 games in a row. The team is hitting .232 (13th place) and have scored 33 runs. Only the White Sox with 31 and the Rays with 32 have scored less. The Twins and the Oakland A's hitters lead the league in walks with 35. Only the Houston Astros with 101 have struck out more frequently than the Twins 79 strikeouts. Twins pitchers have a 4.09 ERA, good for 6th best and have given up only 4 home runs, the fewest in the league. Who would have thought that could happen, even after just 9 games? Twins pitchers have the fewest strikeouts in the league and opponents are hitting .284 off Twins and Blue Jays pitchers, only the Yankees pitchers who are getting hit at a .306 clip are worse. Twins relievers have a 2.73 ERA (3rd best) and are holding opposing hitters to a .231 average. The Twins and the Indians each have 7 errors and only the Angels, Blue Jays, and White Sox with 8 have committed more miscues. Everyone knows that Aaron Hicks is striking out at a frightening pace of 16 KO's in 35 at bats in the leadoff position. But have you noticed that Josh Willingham has struck out 13 times in 29 at bats and that Joe Mauer has struck out 10 times in 40 at bats. In Willingham's defense he also has 9 walks but Mauer and Hicks have 2 walks apiece. You have to wonder what might be bothering Mauer, his catching seems sub par this year too. Mauer has let a number of balls get by him and his throws to second base shouldn't scare any opposing baserunners. We will get a better feel for how good or bad the Twins really are very soon as they will play at home over the next 2 weeks or so as 12 of their next 15 games will be played at Target Field. We should also know by the time April is over if Aaron Hicks can catch his breath and turn things around before he finds himself in Gardy's doghouse and on his way to Rochester. I sure hope so because the Twins don't currently have a good plan B for center field unless Joe Benson catches fire. Hicks not running out his pop-up on Wednesday was obvious to anyone who watched the game but I didn't like Gardy being so public about how upset he was about the rookie's mistake. The Twins veterans like Morneau, Mauer, or Willingham should be taking care of issues like this, Gardy should have not gone public with his thoughts. The Twins starting pitching is still a huge question mark and it will be interesting to see what Scott Diamond looks like in 2013. Mike Pelfrey has shown less than what most people expected, Hendriks has pitched like.........Hendriks, I think you need to keep sending him out there every five days for a while and see what you get. I have liked Kevin Correia since they signed him but I know he can't keep pitching like he has. Hopefully Cole De Vries can get healthy and fight for a spot again. The biggest disappointment to me so far has been Vance Worley but it is still way too early to determine anything. The Twins drew the short straw from MLB this year from a schedule perspective with all those April home games and Mother Nature has not been as kind to the Twins as it has in the past but it is what it is. Now Dave St. Peter and the Twins find themselves having to make a hard decision in a no win situation today trying to determine if they should play the New York Mets tonight when temperatures are expected to be in the low 30's with snow flurries predicted. It sounds like the Twins had all the 6 inches or so of snow removed from the ballpark yesterday and last night. It is a tough call because the Mets will only make one trip to Minnesota this year and the weather prediction for the rest of the week-end is bad with possible rain on Sunday too. As a matter of fact the temps are not scheduled to get out of the 40's for the next week. So it makes sense to try to get the game in tonight but what about the fans comfort? Heaters or not, it will be miserable at Target Field and today's game is scheduled to be a night game. The Twins are having trouble drawing fans as it is and when you add in cold and or snowy and wet weather you have a perfect scenario for Twins fans staying home and watching the game on TV. No matter what choice the Twins make, lots of Twins fans will be unhappy. It is kind of perfect storm and the Twins seemed doomed to come out on the losing end. As I stated earlier, predicted temperatures for the next week are in the 40's and this entire Twins home stand will not see a temperature above 50 and all three games against the Angels after the Mets leave town are night games. OUCH! You add in the little dust-up the other day about the Twins charging $15 for a group of 60 fans to watch Twins take batting practice and then withdrawing the offer later in the day and you have a rough start to the 2013 season for the Minnesota Twins and their fans.

Originally posted at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. It is too early to tell what kind of team the Twins have for 2013 but from what I have seen in the nine games they have played so far, it is a team that is playing better than what it has the last two seasons. I am not saying they are playoff bound but the team is at least entertaining to watch and I hope they can start to gel as a team over time. Yes, the Twins are 4-5 but you could argue that two of those wins were gifts when outfielders from the Tigers and Orioles let a ball drop between them and gave the Twins gift runs. Everybody was worried about the starting pitching going in to 2013 but it is the hitting so far that has been missing. Hicks has been terrible with the bat but he is not the total reason this team is not hitting well. So far this year the 3-5 hitters have scored 11 runs, hit 2 home runs, and have 9 RBI's. That is just plain terrible, Gardy needs to do something to shake-up this line-up. What scares me is that they are not playing all that well in the field either and they keep making mistakes on the base paths that are just plain embarrassing. The Twins have played just 9 games so the sample size is very small but here are some stats comparing the Twins to the rest of the league in various categories. The Twins are 4-5 and in fourth place in the AL Central 2 games behind the division leading Kansas City Royals. The Twins have lost 3 games in a row. The team is hitting .232 (13th place) and have scored 33 runs. Only the White Sox with 31 and the Rays with 32 have scored less. The Twins and the Oakland A's hitters lead the league in walks with 35. Only the Houston Astros with 101 have struck out more frequently than the Twins 79 strikeouts. Twins pitchers have a 4.09 ERA, good for 6th best and have given up only 4 home runs, the fewest in the league. Who would have thought that could happen, even after just 9 games? Twins pitchers have the fewest strikeouts in the league and opponents are hitting .284 off Twins and Blue Jays pitchers, only the Yankees pitchers who are getting hit at a .306 clip are worse. Twins relievers have a 2.73 ERA (3rd best) and are holding opposing hitters to a .231 average. The Twins and the Indians each have 7 errors and only the Angels, Blue Jays, and White Sox with 8 have committed more miscues. Everyone knows that Aaron Hicks is striking out at a frightening pace of 16 KO's in 35 at bats in the leadoff position. But have you noticed that Josh Willingham has struck out 13 times in 29 at bats and that Joe Mauer has struck out 10 times in 40 at bats. In Willingham's defense he also has 9 walks but Mauer and Hicks have 2 walks apiece. You have to wonder what might be bothering Mauer, his catching seems sub par this year too. Mauer has let a number of balls get by him and his throws to second base shouldn't scare any opposing baserunners. We will get a better feel for how good or bad the Twins really are very soon as they will play at home over the next 2 weeks or so as 12 of their next 15 games will be played at Target Field. We should also know by the time April is over if Aaron Hicks can catch his breath and turn things around before he finds himself in Gardy's doghouse and on his way to Rochester. I sure hope so because the Twins don't currently have a good plan B for center field unless Joe Benson catches fire. Hicks not running out his pop-up on Wednesday was obvious to anyone who watched the game but I didn't like Gardy being so public about how upset he was about the rookie's mistake. The Twins veterans like Morneau, Mauer, or Willingham should be taking care of issues like this, Gardy should have not gone public with his thoughts. The Twins starting pitching is still a huge question mark and it will be interesting to see what Scott Diamond looks like in 2013. Mike Pelfrey has shown less than what most people expected, Hendriks has pitched like.........Hendriks, I think you need to keep sending him out there every five days for a while and see what you get. I have liked Kevin Correia since they signed him but I know he can't keep pitching like he has. Hopefully Cole De Vries can get healthy and fight for a spot again. The biggest disappointment to me so far has been Vance Worley but it is still way too early to determine anything. The Twins drew the short straw from MLB this year from a schedule perspective with all those April home games and Mother Nature has not been as kind to the Twins as it has in the past but it is what it is. Now Dave St. Peter and the Twins find themselves having to make a hard decision in a no win situation today trying to determine if they should play the New York Mets tonight when temperatures are expected to be in the low 30's with snow flurries predicted. It sounds like the Twins had all the 6 inches or so of snow removed from the ballpark yesterday and last night. It is a tough call because the Mets will only make one trip to Minnesota this year and the weather prediction for the rest of the week-end is bad with possible rain on Sunday too. As a matter of fact the temps are not scheduled to get out of the 40's for the next week. So it makes sense to try to get the game in tonight but what about the fans comfort? Heaters or not, it will be miserable at Target Field and today's game is scheduled to be a night game. The Twins are having trouble drawing fans as it is and when you add in cold and or snowy and wet weather you have a perfect scenario for Twins fans staying home and watching the game on TV. No matter what choice the Twins make, lots of Twins fans will be unhappy. It is kind of perfect storm and the Twins seemed doomed to come out on the losing end. As I stated earlier, predicted temperatures for the next week are in the 40's and this entire Twins home stand will not see a temperature above 50 and all three games against the Angels after the Mets leave town are night games. OUCH! You add in the little dust-up the other day about the Twins charging $15 for a group of 60 fans to watch Twins take batting practice and then withdrawing the offer later in the day and you have a rough start to the 2013 season for the Minnesota Twins and their fans.

Here is a Press Release the Minnesota Twins sent out yesterday - Early Entry Program Coming to Target Field Early entry tickets permit entry into the ballpark 45 minutes before gates open allowing fans to watch Twins batting practice MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Twins today announced they will offer fans the opportunity to purchase early entry tickets that will allow them into Target Field 45 minutes before gates open to the general public. Only available before evening games, early entry will begin at 4:45 p.m. (Mondays - Thursdays), at 4:15 p.m. (Fridays) and 3:15 p.m. (Saturdays). Those times are designed to allow early entry fans to watch a majority of Twins batting practice. Early entry tickets will be sold on a walk-up basis at the main Target Field Box Office beginning 30 minutes before the early entry time for that game. Tickets will cost $15 dollars, and sales will be limited to the first 60 fans. Fans will also be required to have a normal entry ticket to the game, and will not be allowed to exit and reenter the ballpark after batting practice. In the case of batting practice being canceled, fans will be offered a tour of the Metropolitan Club, Legends Club and Champions Club as a substitute. ........................................Can you believe this? Back on January 16th I did a blog posting on Florida spring training and I wrote about what I thought was a stupid idea by the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers implemented a plan this spring to charge their fans $5 for the privilege of entering Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland early so that you could watch the Tigers take batting practice. Now our Minnesota Twins have proudly announced they have out done the Tigers with a similar plan but they are going to charge $15 for the right to watch Twins batting practice which is held before the gates open to the general public. Holy crap! What mental genius came up with this idea? I have read some comments from Twins fans and every comment thinks it is a greedy and stupid idea. Some of the fans are blaming the Pohlad family for their greed but there is no way in the world that the business savvy Pohlad family is responsible for an idea as silly as this. This Twins boner falls right in the lap of Twins President Dave St. Peter and the Twins wonderful marketing department. How the Twins could come up with a ludicrous plan like this when they have lost 90+ games two years in a row with attendance dropping like a rock and yet some marketing genius thinks they can bring some extra money in with this plan? Don't tell me the Twins are doing this as a favor to the fans because if that had any validity what so ever, they would just open the gates sooner and not charge extra for the privilege. This plan is supposedly in effect only during evening games but even if they did it for every one of their 81 home games they would bring in a whopping $72,900 in revenue. Mr. St. Peter, what the heck are you thinking to approve something like this? The Minnesota Twins have done a number of stupid things over the years both on and off the field but to me this qualifies as the dumbest and most stupid move that the Twins have made since they moved here in 1961. If the Twins need the $72K that badly, maybe we should take up a collection and help them to raise the funds. The idea might be slightly palatable if they said that the money that they collected would go to a charity or something but to charge $15 to watch the Twins take batting practice and pocket the money is just plain wrong and is a sin against baseball in general. I thought the Twins were interested in attracting fans but with moves like this they just shoot themselves in the foot. First off, it has always been stupid not to let fans watch the home team take batting practice but now to say that they are going to charge fans $15 to do this is just plain wrong. Has common sense lost its way at Target Field? Shame on the Minnesota Twins and Dave St. Peter for this ill-advised, nonsensical and shortsighted idea. I love baseball and the Minnesota Twins but ideas like this are what chase people away from the game and keep them from enjoying America's pastime. The Twins should immediately come out with an apology and rescind this moronic blunder stating that the recent cold snap and unusually cold spring has temporarily dulled their thinking and that common sense has prevailed over at Target field after thinking the plan through. I would urge all of you to drop Dave St. Peter a quick e-mail at davestpeter@twinsbaseball.com and let him know what you think of this Twins announcement. If you want to call the Twins instead, you can reach the team at 612-659-3400. It wouldn't hurt to also drop a note to Bud Selig and let him know what you think of MLB teams making moves like this. The baseball commissioner can be reached at bud.selig@mlb.com . UNBELIEVABLE!

Here is a Press Release the Minnesota Twins sent out yesterday - Early Entry Program Coming to Target Field Early entry tickets permit entry into the ballpark 45 minutes before gates open allowing fans to watch Twins batting practice MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Twins today announced they will offer fans the opportunity to purchase early entry tickets that will allow them into Target Field 45 minutes before gates open to the general public. Only available before evening games, early entry will begin at 4:45 p.m. (Mondays - Thursdays), at 4:15 p.m. (Fridays) and 3:15 p.m. (Saturdays). Those times are designed to allow early entry fans to watch a majority of Twins batting practice. Early entry tickets will be sold on a walk-up basis at the main Target Field Box Office beginning 30 minutes before the early entry time for that game. Tickets will cost $15 dollars, and sales will be limited to the first 60 fans. Fans will also be required to have a normal entry ticket to the game, and will not be allowed to exit and reenter the ballpark after batting practice. In the case of batting practice being canceled, fans will be offered a tour of the Metropolitan Club, Legends Club and Champions Club as a substitute. ........................................Can you believe this? Back on January 16th I did a blog posting on Florida spring training and I wrote about what I thought was a stupid idea by the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers implemented a plan this spring to charge their fans $5 for the privilege of entering Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland early so that you could watch the Tigers take batting practice. Now our Minnesota Twins have proudly announced they have out done the Tigers with a similar plan but they are going to charge $15 for the right to watch Twins batting practice which is held before the gates open to the general public. Holy crap! What mental genius came up with this idea? I have read some comments from Twins fans and every comment thinks it is a greedy and stupid idea. Some of the fans are blaming the Pohlad family for their greed but there is no way in the world that the business savvy Pohlad family is responsible for an idea as silly as this. This Twins boner falls right in the lap of Twins President Dave St. Peter and the Twins wonderful marketing department. How the Twins could come up with a ludicrous plan like this when they have lost 90+ games two years in a row with attendance dropping like a rock and yet some marketing genius thinks they can bring some extra money in with this plan? Don't tell me the Twins are doing this as a favor to the fans because if that had any validity what so ever, they would just open the gates sooner and not charge extra for the privilege. This plan is supposedly in effect only during evening games but even if they did it for every one of their 81 home games they would bring in a whopping $72,900 in revenue. Mr. St. Peter, what the heck are you thinking to approve something like this? The Minnesota Twins have done a number of stupid things over the years both on and off the field but to me this qualifies as the dumbest and most stupid move that the Twins have made since they moved here in 1961. If the Twins need the $72K that badly, maybe we should take up a collection and help them to raise the funds. The idea might be slightly palatable if they said that the money that they collected would go to a charity or something but to charge $15 to watch the Twins take batting practice and pocket the money is just plain wrong and is a sin against baseball in general. I thought the Twins were interested in attracting fans but with moves like this they just shoot themselves in the foot. First off, it has always been stupid not to let fans watch the home team take batting practice but now to say that they are going to charge fans $15 to do this is just plain wrong. Has common sense lost its way at Target Field? Shame on the Minnesota Twins and Dave St. Peter for this ill-advised, nonsensical and shortsighted idea. I love baseball and the Minnesota Twins but ideas like this are what chase people away from the game and keep them from enjoying America's pastime. The Twins should immediately come out with an apology and rescind this moronic blunder stating that the recent cold snap and unusually cold spring has temporarily dulled their thinking and that common sense has prevailed over at Target field after thinking the plan through. I would urge all of you to drop Dave St. Peter a quick e-mail at davestpeter@twinsbaseball.com and let him know what you think of this Twins announcement. If you want to call the Twins instead, you can reach the team at 612-659-3400. It wouldn't hurt to also drop a note to Bud Selig and let him know what you think of MLB teams making moves like this. The baseball commissioner can be reached at bud.selig@mlb.com . UNBELIEVABLE!

Originally posted at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. 4/6/1951 - Twins pitching great and MLB Hall of Famer Rik Aalbert "Bert" Blyleven was born on this day in Zeist, Netherlands. Blyleven, now a Twins TV color commentator makes a big deal about his birthday and seems to mention his birthday on every Twins telecast and can tell you on any day of the year how many days it is until his next birthday. Bert is famous for using his "telestrator" for circling Twins fans in the crowd who have brought their "Circle me Bert" signs to the ball game. 4/6/1966 - The Twins swing a deal with the Red Sox and acquire catcher Russ Nixon and 2B Chuck Schilling and give up pitcher Dick Stigman and 1B Jose Calero. 4/6/1972 - For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and 86 games were lost before the strike was settled. 4/6/1973 - Tony Oliva hits the first home run ever by a designated hitter in AL history when he cranks one out against "Catfish" Hunter in Oakland in the Twins 8-3 victory. 4/6/1978 - In only the second game of the season while playing in the Kingdome, Twins 2B Rob Wilfong is hit by a pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Shane Rawley in the sixth inning and suffers a broken bone in his hand which sidelines him for a month. 4/6/1982 - A huge crowd of 52,279 turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie 3B Gary Gaetti goes 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins 11-7. By the way, the temperature outside that day was 28 degrees. 4/6/2004 - Playing in just his second major league game, Twins star rookie catcher Joe Mauer hears something "pop" as he slides and tries to catch a foul pop-up in a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins actually ended up winning the game 7-6 in 15 innings. A few days later, April 8th, Joe ends up having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Mauer returns to the line-up on June 2 but continues to have trouble off and on with the knee swelling and he plays in his final 2004 game on July 15 and his first season as a Twin ends after just 35 games but in that short period he showed all of us what kind of bat he had as he hit .308 in 107 at bats. 4/6/2005 - The Twins are leading the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning at Safeco Field when Ron Villone is brought in to face Twins 1B Justin Morneau. Villone beans Morneau and in the process Morneau suffers a mild concussion. According to a Star Tribune article in 2005, "Contributing to the concern is Morneau's history of concussions. This was his fifth, although the first involving baseball. He suffered others playing basketball and hockey and, in the worst one, running backward in 2000 during a workout. He fell and hit the back of his head on the ground." Morneau saw the pitch coming toward his head - a frightening recollection. "A heat-seeking missile," Morneau called it. After a 2 week stint on the DL, Morneau returned to the line-up on April 22. 4/6/2009 - The Twins open their 28th and final season at the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Twins opponent in the first regular season game at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 was also the Mariners and the Twins lost that game 11-7. By the way, I just set up a new page that I call Twins Audio and Video clips, check it out if you have a few minutes.

Originally posted at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. 4/6/1951 - Twins pitching great and MLB Hall of Famer Rik Aalbert "Bert" Blyleven was born on this day in Zeist, Netherlands. Blyleven, now a Twins TV color commentator makes a big deal about his birthday and seems to mention his birthday on every Twins telecast and can tell you on any day of the year how many days it is until his next birthday. Bert is famous for using his "telestrator" for circling Twins fans in the crowd who have brought their "Circle me Bert" signs to the ball game. 4/6/1966 - The Twins swing a deal with the Red Sox and acquire catcher Russ Nixon and 2B Chuck Schilling and give up pitcher Dick Stigman and 1B Jose Calero. 4/6/1972 - For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and 86 games were lost before the strike was settled. 4/6/1973 - Tony Oliva hits the first home run ever by a designated hitter in AL history when he cranks one out against "Catfish" Hunter in Oakland in the Twins 8-3 victory. 4/6/1978 - In only the second game of the season while playing in the Kingdome, Twins 2B Rob Wilfong is hit by a pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Shane Rawley in the sixth inning and suffers a broken bone in his hand which sidelines him for a month. 4/6/1982 - A huge crowd of 52,279 turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie 3B Gary Gaetti goes 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins 11-7. By the way, the temperature outside that day was 28 degrees. 4/6/2004 - Playing in just his second major league game, Twins star rookie catcher Joe Mauer hears something "pop" as he slides and tries to catch a foul pop-up in a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins actually ended up winning the game 7-6 in 15 innings. A few days later, April 8th, Joe ends up having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Mauer returns to the line-up on June 2 but continues to have trouble off and on with the knee swelling and he plays in his final 2004 game on July 15 and his first season as a Twin ends after just 35 games but in that short period he showed all of us what kind of bat he had as he hit .308 in 107 at bats. 4/6/2005 - The Twins are leading the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning at Safeco Field when Ron Villone is brought in to face Twins 1B Justin Morneau. Villone beans Morneau and in the process Morneau suffers a mild concussion. According to a Star Tribune article in 2005, "Contributing to the concern is Morneau's history of concussions. This was his fifth, although the first involving baseball. He suffered others playing basketball and hockey and, in the worst one, running backward in 2000 during a workout. He fell and hit the back of his head on the ground." Morneau saw the pitch coming toward his head - a frightening recollection. "A heat-seeking missile," Morneau called it. After a 2 week stint on the DL, Morneau returned to the line-up on April 22. 4/6/2009 - The Twins open their 28th and final season at the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Twins opponent in the first regular season game at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 was also the Mariners and the Twins lost that game 11-7. By the way, I just set up a new page that I call Twins Audio and Video clips, check it out if you have a few minutes.

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com [ATTACH=CONFIG]3635[/ATTACH] The long cold winter still has a hold on the area as most of the grassy areas are still covered with snow, you can still walk across most of the lakes in Minnesota because ice still covers the shimmering blue waters, there is still snow and ice on the roof of our home and the wind blowing from Canada can still take your breath away but according to the calendar, spring arrived a week or so ago. We heard a robin the other day and until the recent cold spell the snow was starting to give way to the grass that is showing signs of turning green while puddles were forming in the yard and I had hopes of the ice actually leaving our backyard pond later in the week. All signs of spring but there is no better sign of spring than baseball. The Minnesota Twins arrived at Target field yesterday and an umpire will officially announce that spring has arrived when he yells out "Play Ball" this afternoon about 3:10 P.M. at Target Field with Joe Mauer behind the plate and Vance Worley on the mound. Everyone is off to a fresh start, the memories of lost games and bad seasons have faded in our minds as we all look forward to the promises a new season of baseball can bring. You don't believe that? You better check todays sports page and the baseball box scores because even the Houston Astros won last night. We are all excited to see players like Aaron Hicks begin what we all hope are All-Star careers in a Twins uniform and a sparkling new starting pitching staff that hopefully leads the Twins to more wins than they were able to muster last year or the year before for that matter. Some Minnesota Twins may be participating in their last Twins opening day while others that missed making the team look forward to having the opportunity to participate in a Target Field opening day. I won't be at today's opening day but I have attended a number of opening days over the years and no matter how many times you have witnessed it, it is always something special. Even though I don't expect the Twins to make the playoffs, heck, I don't even think they can play .500 ball, but I am hoping that the team is competitive, fun to watch and keeps improving as the season progresses. Twins fans are a hardy bunch and they have supported the team when it good and when it was bad and so it begins one more time. Enjoy the good days and file the bad days away as learning experiences and cheer for your Minnesota Twins. April 1st has arrived and the cold weather is a cruel April Fool's joke with the game time temperature expected to be about 33 degrees and the cold beer may be replaced with a hot cup of chocolate or coffee but it is time for the Minnesota Twins to play ball. I will finish with a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time, the Field of Dreams. "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come. "

Originally posted at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3619[/ATTACH] The Minnesota Twins are playing their final spring training game today and I am sure they are hoping for a quick non extra inning game so they can grab a quick shower and board the plane for their flight to Minneapolis where they look to get settled in before they open the season against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, April 1. It seems that the baseball gods are having a good laugh and are playing an April Fool's joke on both the Twins and the Tigers by making them play ball on day that the weather prognosticators say will be a windy 31 degrees at game time with wind chills in the 20's. When the Twins first moved here from Washington they played outdoors in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 through the 1981 season. In-door baseball was just at the starting gate about this time as Roy Hofheinz was in the process of building the "Eighth Wonder of the World" in Houston in what would open in April 1965 as the Harris County Domed Stadium but was later called simply as the Astrodome. Let's take a look at some of the interesting facts about the Twins home openers. The Twins called the "Met" home for 21 years and their record in their Met Stadium home openers was 21-9 including winning 10 out of 11 between 1964-1974. The first Twins pitcher to get credited with a win in a Twins home opener was Bill Pleis in 1964. Of those 21 Met home openers, only 5 of the games were actual season openers as the Twins started their season on the road most of the time. The Twins were 2-3 in season openers at the Met. During the Met Stadium years the Twins opened the season 6 times against the A's, five times as Oakland and once as Kansas City and they won four and lost two. Between 1961 and 1981 they opened the home season as early as April 6 (1971) and as late as April 23 (1972). The average temperature at the start of a Twins home opener at Met Stadium was 56.48 degrees. The coldest start to a Twins home opener occurred on April 14, 1962 when it was 33 degrees at game time and the Twins ended up losing to the Los Angeles Angels 12-5 in front of 8,363 hardcore Twins fans. The coldest start ever to a game at Met Stadium took place against the New York Yankees in May 2, 1967 when the temperature stood at 32 degrees and the Twins trounced the Yankees 13-4. The warmest start to a Twins home opener took place on April 22, 1980 when the California Angels and Rod Carew were in town to take a 8-1 pasting at the hands of the Twins who were as hot as the 89 degree temperature that day. Geoff Zahn pitched a complete game and Hosken Powell, Ron Jackson and Roy Smalley all hit home runs. The Twins moved indoors in 1982 and played in the HHH Metrodome through the 2009 season so the out-door temperatures mattered little as it was always between about 66-72 degrees inside. Of the 28 seasons that the Twins played dome ball, they opened the season at home 15 times and their record in these season opening games was 7-8. The Twins were 9-4 when their first game of the season at the Dome was not a season opener. Many of the Twins openers at the Dome were night games, something not done at any out-door venue in Minnesota. Between 1982 and 2009 they opened the home season as early as March 31 (2008) and as late as April 27 (1995). Since the Twins have called Target Field home in 2010 they have never played a season opening game there until this year. The earliest game they have played there was April 8, 2011. The Twins are 2-1 in Target Field home openers. The average temperature at a Target field home opener so far has been 57.67 degrees but even if the temperature is only 31 degrees on Monday, the average temperature for a Target field home opener will still be about 51 degrees. Here is a chart showing the Twins outdoor home openers. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]YEAR [/TH] [TH=align: center]Date [/TH] [TH=align: center]Temperature [/TH] [TH=align: center]Result [/TH] [TH=align: center]Season opener [/TH] [TD=align: center]1961 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/21 [/TD] [TD=align: center]63 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 5-3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1962 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]33 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 12-5 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1963 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/9 [/TD] [TD=align: center]49 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 5-4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]yes [/TD] [TD=align: center]1964 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/22 [/TD] [TD=align: center]56 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 7-6 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1965 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/12 [/TD] [TD=align: center]44 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 5-4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]yes [/TD] [TD=align: center]1966 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/12 [/TD] [TD=align: center]52 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 2-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]yes [/TD] [TD=align: center]1967 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]51 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 5-3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1968 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/17 [/TD] [TD=align: center]62 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 13-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1969 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/18 [/TD] [TD=align: center]59 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 6-0 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1970 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/11 [/TD] [TD=align: center]49 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 8-2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1971 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/6 [/TD] [TD=align: center]53 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 7-2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]yes [/TD] [TD=align: center]1972 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/23 [/TD] [TD=align: center]44 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 8-4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1973 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/13 [/TD] [TD=align: center]51 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 8-4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1974 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/9 [/TD] [TD=align: center]53 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 3-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1975 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/15 [/TD] [TD=align: center]48 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 7-3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1976 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/13 [/TD] [TD=align: center]75 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 4-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1977 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/15 [/TD] [TD=align: center]77 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 3-2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1978 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 14-5 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1979 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/17 [/TD] [TD=align: center]63 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 6-0 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1980 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/22 [/TD] [TD=align: center]89 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 8-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]1981 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/9 [/TD] [TD=align: center]65 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 5-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]yes [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]2010 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/12 [/TD] [TD=align: center]65 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 5-2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]2011 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/8 [/TD] [TD=align: center]63 [/TD] [TD=align: center]won 2-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]2012 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/9 [/TD] [TD=align: center]45 [/TD] [TD=align: center]lost 5-1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]no [/TD] [TD=align: center]2013 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4/1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]? [/TD] [TD=align: center]? [/TD] [TD=align: center]yes [/TD] [/TABLE]

Originally posted at Twinstrivia.com | TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history.. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3617[/ATTACH] One of the Minnesota Twins top prospects, Max Kepler hurt his elbow during pre-game warm-ups on March 16th in Sarasota and was shut down for a week to allow the swelling to recede. An MRI performed a week after the injury fortunately only showed a muscle strain. Kepler has been rehabbing since and faced live pitching yesterday for the first time since the injury but again experienced pain and has been shut down for 3 additional weeks. The injury and rehab is a huge disappointment and frustration to Kepler who had participted in an intense workout program this past off-season in San Francisco and was in great shape. Max was expected to be assigned to the Cedar Rapids Kernels "A" ball team and play in his first full season league this year. Instead, Max will stay in Ft. Myers for the next 3 weeks and rehab. The Twins aren't going to let Kepler go anywhere until they are sure that Kepler is 100% again. Kepler is one of my favorite Twins prospects and I hope that Max is able to recover quickly and resume his climb up the big league ladder.

Posted earlier today at www.twinstrivia.com [ATTACH=CONFIG]3573[/ATTACH] The 2013 season is just around the corner so it is time to make my annual predictions on who will finish where and who the 2013 World Series champion will be. AL East Toronto Blue Jays Tampa Bay Rays (wild card) Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox New York Yankees AL Central Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals (wild card) Cleveland Indians Chicago White Sox Minnesota Twins AL West Los Angeles Angels Oakland A's Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers Houston Astros NL East Washington Nationals Atlanta Braves (wild card) Philadelphia Phillies New York Mets Miami Marlins NL Central Cincinnati Reds Pittsburgh Pirates (wild card) St. Louis Cardinals Milwaukee Brewers Chicago Cubs NL West Los Angeles Dodgers San Francisco Giants Arizona Diamondbacks Colorado Rockies San Diego Padres The Detroit Tigers and the Washington Nationals play in the World Series with the Washington Nationals winning it all in 6 games. .......................................... The Minnesota Twins 2013 season opener at Target Field against the Detroit Tigers is just over a week away so after watching and listening to Twins in spring training and consulting with some of the worlds foremost baseball experts, here is what I see happening in 2013. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Einstein-2013.jpg Josh Willingham will be traded and Oswaldo Arcia will be called up to take over a starting outfield position. Arcia will fill the role nicely. Trevor Plouffe will not be able to hang on to the starting job due to injuries and inconsistent hitting and fielding and third base will be a black hole all season with Jamey Carroll, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Sobolewski all getting a shot to win the job and none of these guys turns out to be the answer. The Twins will make a deal to fill the 3B hole but it will just be a stop-gap as they wait for Miguel Sano to finally fill the hole late in 2014. Anthony Swarzak and Tyler Robertson will lose their bullpen jobs and will be replaced by PJ Walters and Ryan Pressly. Jeff Clement will win a roster spot and be the Twins third catcher leaving Drew Butera out in the cold but not for long because the Twins will do him right by trading him to a team that will give him the back-up catching job. Pedro Florimon and Brian Dozier give the Twins their first decent infield combo in some time playing well in the field and hitting better than expected. The Twins will open the season with a starting staff of Vance Worley, Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Correia, Cole De Vries, with Scott Diamond joining the staff in early April. Kyle Gibson will be called up by June 1 and will replace..... Mike Pelfrey in the rotation. Manager Ron Gardenhire not only makes it through the season but gets a new two-year deal. Justin Morneau will be resigned to a multi-year deal before the All-Star game and will continue to call Minnesota home. Tickets to watch the Twins will be easy to get as attendance at Target Field plummets by about 20% and the Twins will be lucky to hit 2.2 million in attendance with attendance dropping by over a half million.

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com with additional photo's. Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto [ATTACH=CONFIG]3442[/ATTACH] Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto was born December 1, 1912 in Oakland, California and died in his sleep on August 10, 1990 in Orinda, California at the age of 77. He acquired his nickname from his Oakland Oaks teammates, who called him "Cookie's boy," because he had been hired by Oaks' president Victor "Cookie" Devincenzi. Lavagetto played 3B and 2B in the major leagues for 10 seasons and played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1934-1936 and was a four-time All-Star while with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1937 -1947. Cookie did not play ball in the majors from 1942-1945 due to serving his country in the military during World War II. Cookie enlisted in the US Navy in February 1942 even though he was classified 3-A and was sworn in as Aviation Machinist Mate 1st class. He is most widely known as the pinch hitter whose double with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning ruined Bill Bevens' bid for the first World Series no-hitter in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series and gave his Brooklyn Dodgers a breathtaking victory over the New York Yankees, a game known as The Cookie Game. You can listen to a broadcast clip of that play here. The Dodgers went on to lose the 1947 World Series to the New York Yankees 4 games to 3. After being released by the Dodgers following the 1947 Series, Lavagetto returned to Oakland to finish his playing career with the Oaks (1948–50). When Oakland manager Chuck Dressen was named leader of the Dodgers in 1951, Lavagetto accompanied him as one of his coaches. He was a loyal aide to Dressen with Brooklyn (1951–53) and the PCL Oaks (1954) and followed him to the Washington Senators when Dressen became their manager in 1955. But on May 7, 1957, with the Senators languishing in last place, Dressen was fired and Lavagetto was named his successor. Little changed under Lavagetto's reign and the Senators finished last in 1957, 1958 and 1959. Finally, in 1960, Lavagetto's Senators rose to fifth place in the eight-team American League, but the Senators' promising 1960 season was too little and too late to keep the franchise in Washington; owner Calvin Griffith moved the club to Minnesota where it became the Minnesota Twins in 1961. Lavagetto was the first manager in Twins' history, but he did not finish the 1961 season. With the Twins mired in ninth place having lost 11 in a row and 16 out of their last 17 games in the new ten-team AL, owner Calvin Griffith asked Lavagetto to take a vacation and go fishing to get away from the everyday pressure of major league baseball. Cookie took a seven-game leave of absence starting on June 6th while coach Sam Mele took over as the Twins skipper and then returned to the helm on June 13th but he was fired June 23 with the club still in ninth place. He was replaced by Sam Mele, under whom the Twins became pennant contenders the following season. Lavagetto's major league managing record was 271 wins and 384 defeats (.414) and he was 25-41 as the Twins first skipper. Cookie Lavagetto then returned to the coaching ranks with the New York Mets form 1962-1963 and then back home in the Bay area with the San Francisco Giants from 1964-1967 before stepping away from baseball. There are a couple of nice stories about Cookie Lavagetto in the Baseball in Wartime Blog and you can read the stories by clicking here and here. There are some nice photo's of Lavagetto at this New York Mets blog called Centerfield Maz. Tom Verducci wrote a piece called A Game for Unlikely Heroes for Sports Illustrated back on November 29, 1999 that you might enjoy reading. Lavagetto made the cover of Sports Illustrated as the Twins skipper on May 15, 1961 and Walter Bingham did a nice article about Cookie in that issue he called "Not Such a Tough Cookie."

Posted at www.twinstrivia.com [ATTACH=CONFIG]3386[/ATTACH] There is still plenty of snow on the ground here in Minnesota and the temperatures are below freezing but Spring Training is underway and the Twins are playing exhibition games down in Ft. Myers where it is nice and warm. The home season opener at Target field against the Detroit Tigers is less than a month away and a few days ago I saw a video clip of the Twins grounds crew removing the snow from Target Field as they prepare for baseball to be played in Minnesota once again. The Twins spring training games are broadcast on KTWN and todays game has just started so as you listen to the game you might want to try your hand at this crossword puzzle that I put together to test your knowledge about the Twins pitchers of today and years past. Once you have brough the puzzle up and are ready to print the puzzle, do a right-click with your mouse and you might want to do a print preview first to get the puzzle the right size to fit on a single page. The clues for the puzzle will print on page 2. Know your Twins pitchers puzzle Answers? You want answers? Probably just to double-check your work because if you are checking out this site you are probably a big Twins fan and will not need any research to complete the puzzle. If you do need help answering some, the answer might be found else where on this site. If you must see the answers, you can find them on the link below but only do so as a last resort. Thanks, I hope you enjoy it. Know your Twins pitchers puzzle answers

Posted at www.twinstrivia.com earlier. I watched Clubhouse Confidential on MLB TV yesterday and in one of the show segments host Brian Kenny talked about the climbing rate of the strikeout per 9 innings ratio (K/9) over the years. It was a very interesting piece and Kenny pointed out how last year the leader was Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel who had an amazing 16.66 strikeouts for every nine innings pitched, that is a truly crazy number and he accomplished that while throwing 14.9 pitches per inning. The top starter K/9 ratio belonged to Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg who had a mark of 11.13 and he was followed closely by Detroit Tiger starter Max Scherzer who posted a 11.08 mark. The best K/9 ratio for a Twins pitcher in 2012? That honor goes to closer Glen Perkins at 9.98. The Twins top ten career K/9 leaders with a minimum of 500 innings pitched are: http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Santana-Johan1.jpgJohan Santana pitched for Minnesota from 2000 -2007. Santana is tied for third most wins in Dome history (46) and second-most strikeouts (754). Johan was a three-time All-Star and won Cy Young Awards in 2004 and 2006. Won 17 consecutive games in the Dome from 2005-2007. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]Rank [/TH] [TH=align: center]Name [/TH] [TH=align: center]W/L [/TH] [TH=align: center]Innings [/TH] [TH=align: center]K/9 [/TH] [TD=align: center]1. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Johan Santana [/TD] [TD=align: center]93-44 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1,308.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9.50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Francisco Liriano [/TD] [TD=align: center]50-52 [/TD] [TD=align: center]783.1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9.05 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Eddie Guardado [/TD] [TD=align: center]37-48 [/TD] [TD=align: center]704.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.79 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Rick Aguilera [/TD] [TD=align: center]40-47 [/TD] [TD=align: center]694 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.60 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dick Stigman [/TD] [TD=align: center]37-37 [/TD] [TD=align: center]643.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.52 [/TD] [TD=align: center]6. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Boswell [/TD] [TD=align: center]67-54 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1,036.1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.51 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Mike Trombley [/TD] [TD=align: center]30-34 [/TD] [TD=align: center]645.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.36 [/TD] [TD=align: center]8. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Scott Baker [/TD] [TD=align: center]63-48 [/TD] [TD=align: center]958 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.23 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Bert Blyleven [/TD] [TD=align: center]149-138 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2,566.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Merritt [/TD] [TD=align: center]37-41 [/TD] [TD=align: center]686.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]6.91 [/TD] [/TABLE] The players on the above list that were originally drafted or signed by Minnesota are Guardado, Boswell, Trombley, Baker and Blyleven, the remainder were acquired in some fashion.

Posted at www.twinstrivia.com earlier. I watched Clubhouse Confidential on MLB TV yesterday and in one of the show segments host Brian Kenny talked about the climbing rate of the strikeout per 9 innings ratio (K/9) over the years. It was a very interesting piece and Kenny pointed out how last year the leader was Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel who had an amazing 16.66 strikeouts for every nine innings pitched, that is a truly crazy number and he accomplished that while throwing 14.9 pitches per inning. The top starter K/9 ratio belonged to Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg who had a mark of 11.13 and he was followed closely by Detroit Tiger starter Max Scherzer who posted a 11.08 mark. The best K/9 ratio for a Twins pitcher in 2012? That honor goes to closer Glen Perkins at 9.98. The Twins top ten career K/9 leaders with a minimum of 500 innings pitched are: http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Santana-Johan1.jpgJohan Santana pitched for Minnesota from 2000 -2007. Santana is tied for third most wins in Dome history (46) and second-most strikeouts (754). Johan was a three-time All-Star and won Cy Young Awards in 2004 and 2006. Won 17 consecutive games in the Dome from 2005-2007. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]Rank [/TH] [TH=align: center]Name [/TH] [TH=align: center]W/L [/TH] [TH=align: center]Innings [/TH] [TH=align: center]K/9 [/TH] [TD=align: center]1. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Johan Santana [/TD] [TD=align: center]93-44 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1,308.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9.50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Francisco Liriano [/TD] [TD=align: center]50-52 [/TD] [TD=align: center]783.1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9.05 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Eddie Guardado [/TD] [TD=align: center]37-48 [/TD] [TD=align: center]704.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.79 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Rick Aguilera [/TD] [TD=align: center]40-47 [/TD] [TD=align: center]694 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.60 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dick Stigman [/TD] [TD=align: center]37-37 [/TD] [TD=align: center]643.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.52 [/TD] [TD=align: center]6. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Boswell [/TD] [TD=align: center]67-54 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1,036.1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.51 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Mike Trombley [/TD] [TD=align: center]30-34 [/TD] [TD=align: center]645.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.36 [/TD] [TD=align: center]8. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Scott Baker [/TD] [TD=align: center]63-48 [/TD] [TD=align: center]958 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.23 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Bert Blyleven [/TD] [TD=align: center]149-138 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2,566.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7.14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Merritt [/TD] [TD=align: center]37-41 [/TD] [TD=align: center]686.2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]6.91 [/TD] [/TABLE] The players on the above list that were originally drafted or signed by Minnesota are Guardado, Boswell, Trombley, Baker and Blyleven, the remainder were acquired in some fashion.

Originally posted on www.twinstrivia.com [ATTACH=CONFIG]3308[/ATTACH] On August 23, 1965 the Twins were in their fifth season in Minnesota ready to take on the New York Yankees in a 3:10 start at Met Stadium in front of 37,787 fans that wanted another Twins win over the hated Yankees. The Twins had a 7.5 game lead and were well on their way to their first World Series. That same day Tony Oliva became the first Twins player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. I would urge you to take a few minutes and read a story about the Twins in that SI issue called "Everybody Pick up a Drum" by William Leggett. It is a nice piece of writing about the Minnesota Twins and it mentions a huge trade that owner Calvin Griffith had cooked up with the New York Mets that was all but signed sealed and delivered prior to the 1965 season but the Mets backed out at the last-minute. The rest is history, as they say. Had that trade gone through, you can bet your bippy that the Twins history would show the Minnesota Twins appearing in only two World Series (1987 and 1991) versus three. It just goes to show that some of the best trades are the ones that you don't make. I can attest to that with my experiences with trades in fantasy baseball over the years. If you care at all about Twins history you will check out this story.