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Posted at www.twinstrivia.com earlier. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3267[/ATTACH] Target Field still has a layer of snow and the temperature will reach only 17 degrees today here in Minnesota but in Ft. Myers the Twins pitchers and catchers have already started daily workouts and the position players will be reporting soon. On Saturday, February 16th the Twins will begin selling single-game tickets. The last couple of years when the Twins opened single-game ticket sales the phone lines and web site got over-run and there were sometimes long delays in getting your tickets purchased. Based on the Twins poor showing the last two seasons and low expectations for 2013 I would not expect long waits to purchase your tickets this year. To me, the question is should you buy your single-game tickets when they go on sale on Saturday or do you wait? The current quoted price for single-game tickets is only good from February 16 through February 22 because on February 23 demand-based pricing kicks in. Haven't heard about demand-based pricing? The Twins actually started that policy in 2012 and here is how it plays out in 2013. Beginning February 23, single game ticket prices in all seating sections will be determined on a daily basis according to current market demand. Prices may fluctuate upward or downward based on real-time market conditions. So the question is, will I get better value by purchasing my tickets now or will I be able to get a better price once the season begins. I guess it all depends on how well the Twins play and what the weather is like. Personally; I just find it irritating that the published single-game ticket price is only good for 1 week before the first spring training game is even played. I guess I am old school. On the other side of the coin you can certainly argue that it is better to sell more tickets even if you have to sell them at a discount than to not sell them at all at full price. The customer benefits because he gets to see the baseball game and the team benefits because they get the fan in the ballpark where it is likely he will spend additional dollars on food and possibly merchandise. Where the rub comes in is that going to a baseball game is getting to be like buying an airline ticket, each person on that flight is going to go to the same destination on that particular flight but each of them may have paid a different fare to get there. I have a problem with that. The other issue I see is that in order to keep the season ticket holder base happy the team has to sell the demand-based tickets at a higher price than what the season ticket holders pay or that becomes a huge issue in itself. Thus the demand-based tickets can only be lowered to a certain price base level but on the other side if all is going great, the team can jack up the price of the ticket to whatever the market will pay. I see little risk and high reward for the team with demand-base pricing and to me it is another gimmick that costs the fans. The Minnesota Twins have been here since 1961 and over 81 million fans (through 2012)have come through the turnstiles at the Met, the Metrodome and now Target Field to watch the Twins play ball and most of them have bought tickets. I thought it would be fun to take a look at Twins ticket prices going back to 1961 when the ballclub played their first game at Metropolitan Stadium. I did a lot of research on Twins ticket prices and here are some interesting nuggets that I found. In 1961 the Twins had 3 price categories, a box seat went for $3, reserved grandstand went for $2.50 and general admission was $1.50. In spite of owner Calvin Griffith's miserly reputation he did not raise ticket prices until 1968, his eighth season here and he only increased box seats by 50 cents and reserved grandstand by a quarter. Keep in mind that the Twins played in the 1965 World Series during this period and still did not raise ticket prices. Think that would happen in todays world? Not a chance. By the time the Twins were getting ready to move into the brand new Metrodome in 1982 they had completed 21 years at Met Stadium and the team had implemented ticket price increases just 8 times with the cheapest ticket going from $1.50 to $3.00 and the highest priced ticket jumped from $3 to $7. In the 23 full seasons that Griffith owned the Twins from 1961 to 1983 (1984 does not count as the team was sold mid-season) he raised ticket prices 9 times (39%) and kept ticket prices at the previous rate on 14 (61%) occasions. During Griffith's reign the average ticket price went from $2.33 to $6.00, an increase of 157.51%. The Twins were sold to the Pohlad family in mid-season in 1984. Pohlad's first full year as team owner was 1985 and his teams played in the Metrodome for 25 years from 1985 through 2009. During the Pohlad era in the Metrodome the Twins raised ticket prices 18 times or 72% of the time. They made no change to the ticket price 4 times, 16% of the time and they lowered ticket prices on 3 occasions or 12% of the time. The first drop took place in 1987 when the ticket price dropped 4% as the average ticket price went from $6.25 to $6.00 based on a $1.00 drop in lower left field seats. The second average ticket price drop occurred as the team entered the 1996 season when the average ticket went from $10.86 to $8.67 but this is kind of deceiving because the Twins added one new ticket category and dropped two high-priced categories and sold them as season tickets only and these category changes dropped the average ticket price when the ticket prices never actually changed. The third drop in average ticket price occurred as the Twins went into the 2002 season fresh off the "contraction" fiasco. The contraction business may have played a role in the ticket price reduction but what about the outrageous 53.58% average ticket price increase that took place prior to the 2001 season? Maybe the Twins realized that they over did it the year before, who knows? Bottom line, from 1985 through the 2009 season in the Metrodome under the Pohlad umbrella the average Twins ticket price went from $5.50 in 1985 to $30.25 which is an increase of 450%. Between 1961 and 2005 the Twins had anywhere from 2 to 7 different pricing categories each season. Dynamic/variable pricing showed up in 2006 and the price categories jumped to 16, in 2009 it jumped to 24, in 2010 with the move to Target Field it more than doubled to 57 , in 2011 it crept up to 60 and in 2013 it jumps to 95. I set up a new page on my site called Twins Ticket Price History so if you want to see a year by year look at Twins ticket prices, some charts and tables showing ticketing information, and some ticket images including some interesting "phantom" tickets, stop by and check it out.

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com earlier today. Do you have plans to get away from the cold and snow and feel the sand between your toes, the sun on your back and hopefully catch some Twins spring training baseball in Florida? What better way to forget your problems and get away from it all. For the first time in many years I will not be attending spring training in Ft. Myers but that is a whole different story. Well, if you are going, you might want to raise your credit card limit and keep a tight grip on your wallet or purse because MLB and the Twins are looking to help themselves to your money. The Detroit Tigers apparently have found a new way to gouge a few additional dollars from their fans. The Tigers normally open the gates to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida 2 hours prior to home games but by that time the Tigers have already completed their batting practice. Baseball fans enjoy watching the home team take batting practice so the Tigers have decided to allow fans to get in early for home batting practice but the fans will be limited to the left-field berm and will need to scratch up an extra $5 for the privilege. Tigers management take on it is that the fans requested it since they could not watch batting practice and now they will be able to do so, if they come up with the bucks. Way to push it on the fans Detroit Tigers management, if the Tigers were really just doing a good deed they would not charge for the privilege or if they did, any money they collect should go to charity or to the old-time baseball players with little or no pensions that baseball has neglected so badly. But it is not just the Tigers, other teams are also looking to take more money from the wallets of their fans. It seems to me that a fan should not be punished if he/she decides to go to a baseball on short notice but that is not the case if you want to take in an Atlanta Braves game in Lake Buena Vista as their web site states that "A $5 Walk-Up fee will apply to Day-Of-Game purchases", what idiot came up with that idea? Punish walk-up ticket sales? Calvin Griffith is rolling over in his grave this very moment. Other teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates (who have not played .500 ball for 20 years) for example have come up with this plan "Prior to the individual ticket on-sale, fans will have the opportunity to take part in an "Early Bird" online only pre-sale from January 23-25. "Early Bird" pricing is different than regular single game pricing and is an alternative purchase opportunity for fans who want to be guaranteed seats to high-demand games." This means that for 3 days the Pirates allow you to pay more for a spring training ticket that you normally would. Where the heck do these idiots come up with these ideas and why is the general public falling for these shenanigans? I see this as just another way that baseball is looking at additional fees to take in more money from their fans. I sure hope this is not something that spreads like wildfire through out baseball as spring training is one of the few places where fans get a chance to get close to their team and now it just seems like baseball is going to make them pay. Fans that attend spring training are the true fan base of any team, they spend their hard earned money to travel to a destination to observe their favorite teams and they should be rewarded by their teams and not punished with extra fees. The Minnesota Twins have made it tougher to get close to some of the fields in spring training themselves and that is a trend that I see getting worse over the years. Probably won't be long before they start charging fans for watching the minor leaguers play their games on the back fields. Baseball should be looking for ways to encourage fans to go to spring training by making it affordable but that apparently is not the case. Look at the Twins spring training ticket prices for example, this is year 2 of "Value" and "Premium" pricing and the tickets range from $13 for a "value" lawn ticket to $43 for a "premium" Dugout Box seat. Last year 3 of the 16 (18.8%) home games were designated as "premium", this year 6 of the 18 (33.3%) of the home games are classified as "premium" games. 2013 is the first time in a number of years that the Twins have not raised their spring training ticket prices at Hammond Stadium from the previous season but they doubled the number of their "premium" games so yes, they will make more money off ticket sales. YES, $43. How in the world can the Twins who are coming off of back-to-back 90+ loss seasons, dropping payroll, charge $43 to watch a team that will not even have big leaguers playing most of the time? The Twins average spring trainng attendance in 2012 was 7,344 which was a drop of a little over 9% from 8,091 in 2011. If you are going to have variable pricing why not come up with a plan that is more fair to the fans, charge less for these early spring training exhibition games than you do for games played later in March because for most of March it is mostly minor league players playing most of the game with major league players making cameo appearances. Let's take a look at the Twins spring training ticket prices since 2008. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]Ticket type[/TH] [TH=align: center]2008[/TH] [TH=align: center]2009[/TH] [TH=align: center]2010[/TH] [TH=align: center]2011[/TH] [TH=align: center]2012*[/TH] [TH=align: center]2013**[/TH] [TD=align: center]Dugout Box[/TD] [TD=align: center]$38[/TD] [TD=align: center]n/a[/TD] [TD=align: center]$39[/TD] [TD=align: center]$39[/TD] [TD=align: center]$40/$43[/TD] [TD=align: center]$40/$43[/TD] [TD=align: center]Box[/TD] [TD=align: center]$22[/TD] [TD=align: center]$23[/TD] [TD=align: center]$24[/TD] [TD=align: center]$25[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]Reserved[/TD] [TD=align: center]$20[/TD] [TD=align: center]$21[/TD] [TD=align: center]$22[/TD] [TD=align: center]$23[/TD] [TD=align: center]$24/$27[/TD] [TD=align: center]$24/$27[/TD] [TD=align: center]Drink Rail[/TD] [TD=align: center]$20[/TD] [TD=align: center]$21[/TD] [TD=align: center]$22[/TD] [TD=align: center]$25[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]Lawn[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12[/TD] [TD=align: center]$13[/TD] [TD=align: center]$13/$16[/TD] [TD=align: center]$13/$16[/TD] [/TABLE] * - 3 premium games ** - 6 premium games

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com earlier today. Do you have plans to get away from the cold and snow and feel the sand between your toes, the sun on your back and hopefully catch some Twins spring training baseball in Florida? What better way to forget your problems and get away from it all. For the first time in many years I will not be attending spring training in Ft. Myers but that is a whole different story. Well, if you are going, you might want to raise your credit card limit and keep a tight grip on your wallet or purse because MLB and the Twins are looking to help themselves to your money. The Detroit Tigers apparently have found a new way to gouge a few additional dollars from their fans. The Tigers normally open the gates to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida 2 hours prior to home games but by that time the Tigers have already completed their batting practice. Baseball fans enjoy watching the home team take batting practice so the Tigers have decided to allow fans to get in early for home batting practice but the fans will be limited to the left-field berm and will need to scratch up an extra $5 for the privilege. Tigers management take on it is that the fans requested it since they could not watch batting practice and now they will be able to do so, if they come up with the bucks. Way to push it on the fans Detroit Tigers management, if the Tigers were really just doing a good deed they would not charge for the privilege or if they did, any money they collect should go to charity or to the old-time baseball players with little or no pensions that baseball has neglected so badly. But it is not just the Tigers, other teams are also looking to take more money from the wallets of their fans. It seems to me that a fan should not be punished if he/she decides to go to a baseball on short notice but that is not the case if you want to take in an Atlanta Braves game in Lake Buena Vista as their web site states that "A $5 Walk-Up fee will apply to Day-Of-Game purchases", what idiot came up with that idea? Punish walk-up ticket sales? Calvin Griffith is rolling over in his grave this very moment. Other teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates (who have not played .500 ball for 20 years) for example have come up with this plan "Prior to the individual ticket on-sale, fans will have the opportunity to take part in an "Early Bird" online only pre-sale from January 23-25. "Early Bird" pricing is different than regular single game pricing and is an alternative purchase opportunity for fans who want to be guaranteed seats to high-demand games." This means that for 3 days the Pirates allow you to pay more for a spring training ticket that you normally would. Where the heck do these idiots come up with these ideas and why is the general public falling for these shenanigans? I see this as just another way that baseball is looking at additional fees to take in more money from their fans. I sure hope this is not something that spreads like wildfire through out baseball as spring training is one of the few places where fans get a chance to get close to their team and now it just seems like baseball is going to make them pay. Fans that attend spring training are the true fan base of any team, they spend their hard earned money to travel to a destination to observe their favorite teams and they should be rewarded by their teams and not punished with extra fees. The Minnesota Twins have made it tougher to get close to some of the fields in spring training themselves and that is a trend that I see getting worse over the years. Probably won't be long before they start charging fans for watching the minor leaguers play their games on the back fields. Baseball should be looking for ways to encourage fans to go to spring training by making it affordable but that apparently is not the case. Look at the Twins spring training ticket prices for example, this is year 2 of "Value" and "Premium" pricing and the tickets range from $13 for a "value" lawn ticket to $43 for a "premium" Dugout Box seat. Last year 3 of the 16 (18.8%) home games were designated as "premium", this year 6 of the 18 (33.3%) of the home games are classified as "premium" games. 2013 is the first time in a number of years that the Twins have not raised their spring training ticket prices at Hammond Stadium from the previous season but they doubled the number of their "premium" games so yes, they will make more money off ticket sales. YES, $43. How in the world can the Twins who are coming off of back-to-back 90+ loss seasons, dropping payroll, charge $43 to watch a team that will not even have big leaguers playing most of the time? The Twins average spring trainng attendance in 2012 was 7,344 which was a drop of a little over 9% from 8,091 in 2011. If you are going to have variable pricing why not come up with a plan that is more fair to the fans, charge less for these early spring training exhibition games than you do for games played later in March because for most of March it is mostly minor league players playing most of the game with major league players making cameo appearances. Let's take a look at the Twins spring training ticket prices since 2008. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]Ticket type[/TH] [TH=align: center]2008[/TH] [TH=align: center]2009[/TH] [TH=align: center]2010[/TH] [TH=align: center]2011[/TH] [TH=align: center]2012*[/TH] [TH=align: center]2013**[/TH] [TD=align: center]Dugout Box[/TD] [TD=align: center]$38[/TD] [TD=align: center]n/a[/TD] [TD=align: center]$39[/TD] [TD=align: center]$39[/TD] [TD=align: center]$40/$43[/TD] [TD=align: center]$40/$43[/TD] [TD=align: center]Box[/TD] [TD=align: center]$22[/TD] [TD=align: center]$23[/TD] [TD=align: center]$24[/TD] [TD=align: center]$25[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]Reserved[/TD] [TD=align: center]$20[/TD] [TD=align: center]$21[/TD] [TD=align: center]$22[/TD] [TD=align: center]$23[/TD] [TD=align: center]$24/$27[/TD] [TD=align: center]$24/$27[/TD] [TD=align: center]Drink Rail[/TD] [TD=align: center]$20[/TD] [TD=align: center]$21[/TD] [TD=align: center]$22[/TD] [TD=align: center]$25[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]$26/$29[/TD] [TD=align: center]Lawn[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12[/TD] [TD=align: center]$13[/TD] [TD=align: center]$13/$16[/TD] [TD=align: center]$13/$16[/TD] [/TABLE] * - 3 premium games ** - 6 premium games

Posted at www.twinstrivia.com on Sunday January 13, 2013 The major league baseball season is a real grind, you are scheduled to play 162 games in about 185 days give or take and that includes travel time. I am not even going to mention spring training and the post season. Many of us go to work Monday through Friday but we usually have week-ends off and a few holiday scattered in to re-charge our batteries. Once the baseball season starts the player's life is totally baseball, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that playing baseball is tougher than a normal job that we all do, I am just saying that it is not as easy as many of us would like to think. I know, I know, we would all still gladly trade places with any player out there. Baseball is a marathon, you need to keep chugging along, working through illness and injury while you strive for peak performance and you do this in front of the general public and all the writers and reporters that are out there every day looking for something they can put on TV or in the paper. Ability is critical but if your team doesn't also have durability you are probably headed for a long season. The Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. holds the major league record for consecutive games played with 2,632 in a streak that started on May 30, 1982 and ended on September 19, 1998. Think about that, every game from 1982 to 1998, an amazing streak and a record I am sure will never be broken. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Morneau-Justin-3-206x300.jpgSo that takes me to why I am writing this post, what is the Minnesota Twins record for most consecutive games played and who holds the record? The Twins have played in Minnesota for 52 years and yet the Twins record for consecutive games played stands at 319, a far cry from 2,632. I think many of you will be surprised to learn that the Minnesota Twins consecutive games played record holder is still playing for the Twins today and is none other than Justin Morneau, yes the same guy that has not played more than 135 games since 2008. Let's take a look at the Twins six longest consecutive games played streaks and see who owns them. Some of the "gamers" on this list will probably surprise you. 319 games - Justin Morneau (1B/DH) - Streak started on June 29, 2007 and ended on June 20, 2009. 249 games - Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B, and OF) - Streak started on September 21, 1965 and ended on July 4, 1967. 245 games - Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B) - Streak started on September 23, 1968 and ended on July 7, 1970. 230 games - Gary Gaetti (3B/OF) - Streak started on September 29, 1983 and ended on June 22, 1985. 210 games - Roy Smalley (Shortstop) - Streak started on April 6, 1979 and ended on June 2, 1980. Smalley's streak would actually have stood at 254 and in second place on this list had he not chose to sit out the last day of the 1978 season. 203 games - Cesar Tovar (played all over) - Streak started on September 4, 1966 and ended on May 4, 1968. In the Twins 52 year history only 5 players have appeared in every game that the Twins played that particular season so it is a fairly rare occurrence with only one player accomplishing this feat twice. The most recent occurrence was Justin Morneau appearing in all 163 games in 2008 and that was 24 years after Gary Gaetti appeared in all 162 games in 1984. In 1979 Roy Smalley played in all 162 games, Harmon Killebrew did it twice playing in 162 games in 1966 and again in 1969 and Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games in 1967. The list of players that have led the Twins in games played over the years is an interesting list indeed. Who has led the Twins in games played the most frequently? That would be Kirby Puckett who did it eight times including five years in a row. 2012 - Joe Mauer played in 147 of a possible 162 games. 2011 - Danny Valencia played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 2010 - Michael Cuddyer played in 157 of a possible 162 games. 2009 - Michael Cuddyer played in 153 of a possible 163 games. 2008 - Justin Morneau played in all 163 games. 2007 - Torii Hunter played in 160 of a possible 162 games. 2006 - Justin Morneau played in 157 of a possible 162 games. 2005 - Lew Ford played in 147 of a possible 162 games. 2004 - Lew Ford played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 2003 - Torii Hunter played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 2002 - Jacque Jones played in 149 of a possible 161 games. 2001 - Luis Rivas & Corey Koskie played in 153 of a possible 162 games. 2000 - Cristian Guzman & Matt Lawton played in 156 o fa possible 162 games. 1999 - Todd Walker played in 143 of a possible 161 games. 1998 - Matt Lawton played in 152 of a possible 162 games. 1997 - Chuck Knoblauch played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1996 - Paul Molitor played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1995 - Karby Puckett & Marty Cordova played in 137 of a possible 144 games. 1994 - Chuck Knoblauch played in 109 of a possible 113 games. 1993 - Kirby Puckett played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1992 - Kirby Puckett played in 160 of a possible 162 games. 1991 - Chili Davis played in 153 of a possible 162 games. 1990 - Gary Gaetti played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 1989 - Kirby Puckett played in 159 of a possible 162 games. 1988 - Kirby Puckett played in 158 of a possible 162 games. 1987 - Kirby Puckett played in 157 of a possible 162 games. 1986 - Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1985 - Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1984 - Gary Gaetti played in all 162 games. 1983 - Gary Gaettti and Gary Ward played in 157 of a possible 1962 games. 1982 - Gary Ward played in 152 of a possible 162 games. 1981 - John Castino played in 101 of a possible 110 games. 1980 - John Castino played in 150 of a possible 161 games. 1979 - Roy Smalley played in all 162 games. 1978 - Roy Smalley played in 158 of a possible 162 games. 1977 - Rod Carew played in 155 of a possible 161 games. 1976 - Rod Carew played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1975 - Rod Carew played in 143 of a possible 159 games. 1974 - Rod Carew played in 153 of a possible 163 games. 1973 - Rod Carew played in 149 of a possible 162 games. 1972 - Bobby Darwin played in 145 of a possible 154 games. 1971 - Cesar Tovar played in 157 of a possible 160 games. 1970 - Cesar Tovar played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1969 - Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games. 1968 - Cesar Tovar played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1967 - Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games. 1966 - Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games. 1965 - Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 162 games. 1964 - Tony Oliva played in 161 of a possible 163 games. 1963 - Zoilo Versalles played in 159 of a possible 161 games. 1962 - Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 163 games. 1961 - Bob Allison played in 156 of a possible 162 games. When I looked back over the entire franchise history going back to 1901 for the Washington Senators I found that there was a true "iron man" who currently stands number 9 on the MLB all-time consecutive games played list with 829 games. Senators 3B Eddie Yost started his streak on August 30, 1949 and he played in every game through May 11, 1955. That is a lot of games. The current active MLB consecutive game streak is in the firm grasp of Detroit Tiger 1B Prince Fielder who stands at 343 and counting. Actually Fielder has missed just 1 game (September 13, 2010) since September 3, 2008 and if he had not skipped that game due to a stomach virus his streak would be at 669 today. The man has been in the big leagues since 2005 and full time since 2006. Since 2006 he has played in 157, 158, 159, 162, 161, 162, and 162 games. An amazing streak for a man his size.

Posted at www.twinstrivia.com on Sunday January 13, 2013 The major league baseball season is a real grind, you are scheduled to play 162 games in about 185 days give or take and that includes travel time. I am not even going to mention spring training and the post season. Many of us go to work Monday through Friday but we usually have week-ends off and a few holiday scattered in to re-charge our batteries. Once the baseball season starts the player's life is totally baseball, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that playing baseball is tougher than a normal job that we all do, I am just saying that it is not as easy as many of us would like to think. I know, I know, we would all still gladly trade places with any player out there. Baseball is a marathon, you need to keep chugging along, working through illness and injury while you strive for peak performance and you do this in front of the general public and all the writers and reporters that are out there every day looking for something they can put on TV or in the paper. Ability is critical but if your team doesn't also have durability you are probably headed for a long season. The Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. holds the major league record for consecutive games played with 2,632 in a streak that started on May 30, 1982 and ended on September 19, 1998. Think about that, every game from 1982 to 1998, an amazing streak and a record I am sure will never be broken. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Morneau-Justin-3-206x300.jpgSo that takes me to why I am writing this post, what is the Minnesota Twins record for most consecutive games played and who holds the record? The Twins have played in Minnesota for 52 years and yet the Twins record for consecutive games played stands at 319, a far cry from 2,632. I think many of you will be surprised to learn that the Minnesota Twins consecutive games played record holder is still playing for the Twins today and is none other than Justin Morneau, yes the same guy that has not played more than 135 games since 2008. Let's take a look at the Twins six longest consecutive games played streaks and see who owns them. Some of the "gamers" on this list will probably surprise you. 319 games - Justin Morneau (1B/DH) - Streak started on June 29, 2007 and ended on June 20, 2009. 249 games - Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B, and OF) - Streak started on September 21, 1965 and ended on July 4, 1967. 245 games - Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B) - Streak started on September 23, 1968 and ended on July 7, 1970. 230 games - Gary Gaetti (3B/OF) - Streak started on September 29, 1983 and ended on June 22, 1985. 210 games - Roy Smalley (Shortstop) - Streak started on April 6, 1979 and ended on June 2, 1980. Smalley's streak would actually have stood at 254 and in second place on this list had he not chose to sit out the last day of the 1978 season. 203 games - Cesar Tovar (played all over) - Streak started on September 4, 1966 and ended on May 4, 1968. In the Twins 52 year history only 5 players have appeared in every game that the Twins played that particular season so it is a fairly rare occurrence with only one player accomplishing this feat twice. The most recent occurrence was Justin Morneau appearing in all 163 games in 2008 and that was 24 years after Gary Gaetti appeared in all 162 games in 1984. In 1979 Roy Smalley played in all 162 games, Harmon Killebrew did it twice playing in 162 games in 1966 and again in 1969 and Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games in 1967. The list of players that have led the Twins in games played over the years is an interesting list indeed. Who has led the Twins in games played the most frequently? That would be Kirby Puckett who did it eight times including five years in a row. 2012 - Joe Mauer played in 147 of a possible 162 games. 2011 - Danny Valencia played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 2010 - Michael Cuddyer played in 157 of a possible 162 games. 2009 - Michael Cuddyer played in 153 of a possible 163 games. 2008 - Justin Morneau played in all 163 games. 2007 - Torii Hunter played in 160 of a possible 162 games. 2006 - Justin Morneau played in 157 of a possible 162 games. 2005 - Lew Ford played in 147 of a possible 162 games. 2004 - Lew Ford played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 2003 - Torii Hunter played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 2002 - Jacque Jones played in 149 of a possible 161 games. 2001 - Luis Rivas & Corey Koskie played in 153 of a possible 162 games. 2000 - Cristian Guzman & Matt Lawton played in 156 o fa possible 162 games. 1999 - Todd Walker played in 143 of a possible 161 games. 1998 - Matt Lawton played in 152 of a possible 162 games. 1997 - Chuck Knoblauch played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1996 - Paul Molitor played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1995 - Karby Puckett & Marty Cordova played in 137 of a possible 144 games. 1994 - Chuck Knoblauch played in 109 of a possible 113 games. 1993 - Kirby Puckett played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1992 - Kirby Puckett played in 160 of a possible 162 games. 1991 - Chili Davis played in 153 of a possible 162 games. 1990 - Gary Gaetti played in 154 of a possible 162 games. 1989 - Kirby Puckett played in 159 of a possible 162 games. 1988 - Kirby Puckett played in 158 of a possible 162 games. 1987 - Kirby Puckett played in 157 of a possible 162 games. 1986 - Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1985 - Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1984 - Gary Gaetti played in all 162 games. 1983 - Gary Gaettti and Gary Ward played in 157 of a possible 1962 games. 1982 - Gary Ward played in 152 of a possible 162 games. 1981 - John Castino played in 101 of a possible 110 games. 1980 - John Castino played in 150 of a possible 161 games. 1979 - Roy Smalley played in all 162 games. 1978 - Roy Smalley played in 158 of a possible 162 games. 1977 - Rod Carew played in 155 of a possible 161 games. 1976 - Rod Carew played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1975 - Rod Carew played in 143 of a possible 159 games. 1974 - Rod Carew played in 153 of a possible 163 games. 1973 - Rod Carew played in 149 of a possible 162 games. 1972 - Bobby Darwin played in 145 of a possible 154 games. 1971 - Cesar Tovar played in 157 of a possible 160 games. 1970 - Cesar Tovar played in 161 of a possible 162 games. 1969 - Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games. 1968 - Cesar Tovar played in 156 of a possible 162 games. 1967 - Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games. 1966 - Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games. 1965 - Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 162 games. 1964 - Tony Oliva played in 161 of a possible 163 games. 1963 - Zoilo Versalles played in 159 of a possible 161 games. 1962 - Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 163 games. 1961 - Bob Allison played in 156 of a possible 162 games. When I looked back over the entire franchise history going back to 1901 for the Washington Senators I found that there was a true "iron man" who currently stands number 9 on the MLB all-time consecutive games played list with 829 games. Senators 3B Eddie Yost started his streak on August 30, 1949 and he played in every game through May 11, 1955. That is a lot of games. The current active MLB consecutive game streak is in the firm grasp of Detroit Tiger 1B Prince Fielder who stands at 343 and counting. Actually Fielder has missed just 1 game (September 13, 2010) since September 3, 2008 and if he had not skipped that game due to a stomach virus his streak would be at 669 today. The man has been in the big leagues since 2005 and full time since 2006. Since 2006 he has played in 157, 158, 159, 162, 161, 162, and 162 games. An amazing streak for a man his size.

I originally posted this on www.twinstrivia.com on 1/10/2013 The Twins and Terry Ryan have put in a lot of time this off-season to try to round up some pitchers that they can put in the starting rotation so that manager Gardenhire can hopefully call on each of them to start 30-35 games each. That will be no easy task as last season the team leader in pitching starts was Scott Diamond with 27 and he didn't even join the starting rotation until May 8th. If you look back through franchise history you will find that the great Hall of Fame pitcher Walter (The Big Train) Johnson pitched for the Wasinhton Senators for 21 seasons from 1907-1927 and he started 666 games, that is an average of 31.71 starts each year for 21 years. He set the the franchise games started in a season record with 42 in 1910. Twins lefty Jim Kaat equalled that mark of 42 starts in the Twins 1965 AL Championship season and followed that up with 41 starts in 1966 making him the only pitcher in franchise history to have back-to-back 40+ starts seasons. I thought it would be interesting to review the Gardenhire era from 2002 through 2012 to see how many pitchers he has had that have started 30 or more games in a season for the Twins. 2002 - Rick Reed and Kyle Lohse 2003 - Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Kenny Rogers, Joe Mays (and Rick Reed chipped in 27 starts) 2004 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Kyle Lohse 2005 - Johan Santana and Brad Radke 2006 - Johan Santana and Carlos Silva 2007 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser 2008 - Nick Blackburn 2009 - Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker 2010 - Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano 2011 - Carl Pavano 2012 - None, Scott Diamond led the pack with 27 In this 11 year time frame the Twins have had 12 different pitchers provide 30 or more starts in a single season and only three of them were actually drafted by the Twins, the rest were acquired in another manner. Radke was an 8th round pick in 1991, Blackburn was a 29th round pick in 2001, and Scott Baker was a 2nd round pick in 2003. Chart showing numbers of pitchers with 30 or more starts (Central Division champs marked with an *)[TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]YEAR [/TH] [TH=align: center]Twins [/TH] [TH=align: center]Tigers [/TH] [TH=align: center]Indians [/TH] [TH=align: center]WSox [/TH] [TH=align: center]Royals [/TH] [TH=align: center]Totals [/TH] [TD=align: center]2002 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2003 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]12 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2004 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2005 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]16 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2006 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5 [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2007 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3* [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]13 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2008 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]11 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2009 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2010 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2011 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]11 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2012 [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]3* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]8 [/TD] [TD=align: center]Totals [/TD] [TD=align: center]23 [/TD] [TD=align: center]31 [/TD] [TD=align: center]22 [/TD] [TD=align: center]35 [/TD] [TD=align: center]17 [/TD] [TD=align: center]128 [/TD] [/TABLE] How big a deal is it to get 30 or more starts out of your starting pitchers? I will let you be the judge of that but the chart seems to indicate that the numbers of pitchers you have starting on a consistent basis will determine where you finish in the standings. The Twins seem to buck the trend a bit as they are the only team to win the Central Division title with fewer than 3 starters taking the mound 30 or more times and they did it 3 times with just 2 starters taking the mound 30 or more times. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Kaat-Jim-2-235x300.jpg All this research made me curious as to who the Twins pitchers were over the years with the most starts in a Minnesota Twins uniform and here is what I dug up. There have only been 14 Twins pitchers that have toed the pitching rubber in the first inning in a Twins uniform 150 or more times. Some of these pitchers may have started a number of games in different uniforms including the Washington Senators prior to becoming the Twins but I am only looking for starts while wearing "Minnesota" on their chest. Of these 14 pitchers, only six (Blyleven, Viola, Goltz, Baker, Erickson, and Boswell) were actually drafted by the Minnesota Twins. The only pitcher on the list to spend his entire career as a Minnesota Twin? Brad Radke. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [/TH][TH=align: center]Pitcher [TH=align: center]# of starts [/TH] [TH=align: center]Years Pitched [/TH] [TH=align: center]Avg. # of starts per season [/TH] [TD=align: center]1. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Kaat [/TD] [TD=align: center]422 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1973 [/TD] [TD=align: center]32.46 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Brad Radke [/TD] [TD=align: center]377 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1995-2006 [/TD] [TD=align: center]31.42 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Bert Blyleven [/TD] [TD=align: center]345 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1970-1976 & 1985-1988 [/TD] [TD=align: center]31.36 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Frank Viola [/TD] [TD=align: center]259 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1982-1989 [/TD] [TD=align: center]32.38 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Perry [/TD] [TD=align: center]249 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1963-1972 [/TD] [TD=align: center]24.90 [/TD] [TD=align: center]6. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Goltz [/TD] [TD=align: center]215 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1972-1979 [/TD] [TD=align: center]26.88 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Kevin Tapani [/TD] [TD=align: center]180 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1989-1995 [/TD] [TD=align: center]25.71 [/TD] [TD=align: center]8. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Camilo Pascual [/TD] [TD=align: center]179 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1966 [/TD] [TD=align: center]29.83 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Johan Santana [/TD] [TD=align: center]175 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2000-2007 [/TD] [TD=align: center]21.88 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Eric Milton [/TD] [TD=align: center]165 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1998-2003 [/TD] [TD=align: center]27.50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]11. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Scot Baker [/TD] [TD=align: center]159 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2005-2011 [/TD] [TD=align: center]22.71 [/TD] [TD=align: center]12. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Scott Erickson [/TD] [TD=align: center]153 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1990-1995 [/TD] [TD=align: center]25.50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]13. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Kyle Lohse [/TD] [TD=align: center]152 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2001-2006 [/TD] [TD=align: center]25.33 [/TD] [TD=align: center]14. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Boswell [/TD] [TD=align: center]150 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1964-1970 [/TD] [TD=align: center]21.43 [/TD] [/TABLE]

I originally posted this on www.twinstrivia.com on 1/10/2013 The Twins and Terry Ryan have put in a lot of time this off-season to try to round up some pitchers that they can put in the starting rotation so that manager Gardenhire can hopefully call on each of them to start 30-35 games each. That will be no easy task as last season the team leader in pitching starts was Scott Diamond with 27 and he didn't even join the starting rotation until May 8th. If you look back through franchise history you will find that the great Hall of Fame pitcher Walter (The Big Train) Johnson pitched for the Wasinhton Senators for 21 seasons from 1907-1927 and he started 666 games, that is an average of 31.71 starts each year for 21 years. He set the the franchise games started in a season record with 42 in 1910. Twins lefty Jim Kaat equalled that mark of 42 starts in the Twins 1965 AL Championship season and followed that up with 41 starts in 1966 making him the only pitcher in franchise history to have back-to-back 40+ starts seasons. I thought it would be interesting to review the Gardenhire era from 2002 through 2012 to see how many pitchers he has had that have started 30 or more games in a season for the Twins. 2002 - Rick Reed and Kyle Lohse 2003 - Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Kenny Rogers, Joe Mays (and Rick Reed chipped in 27 starts) 2004 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Kyle Lohse 2005 - Johan Santana and Brad Radke 2006 - Johan Santana and Carlos Silva 2007 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser 2008 - Nick Blackburn 2009 - Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker 2010 - Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano 2011 - Carl Pavano 2012 - None, Scott Diamond led the pack with 27 In this 11 year time frame the Twins have had 12 different pitchers provide 30 or more starts in a single season and only three of them were actually drafted by the Twins, the rest were acquired in another manner. Radke was an 8th round pick in 1991, Blackburn was a 29th round pick in 2001, and Scott Baker was a 2nd round pick in 2003. Chart showing numbers of pitchers with 30 or more starts (Central Division champs marked with an *)[TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]YEAR [/TH] [TH=align: center]Twins [/TH] [TH=align: center]Tigers [/TH] [TH=align: center]Indians [/TH] [TH=align: center]WSox [/TH] [TH=align: center]Royals [/TH] [TH=align: center]Totals [/TH] [TD=align: center]2002 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2003 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]12 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2004 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2005 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]16 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2006 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5 [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]14 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2007 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3* [/TD] [TD=align: center]4 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]13 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2008 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]11 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2009 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2010 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2011 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]11 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2012 [/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center]3* [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2 [/TD] [TD=align: center]8 [/TD] [TD=align: center]Totals [/TD] [TD=align: center]23 [/TD] [TD=align: center]31 [/TD] [TD=align: center]22 [/TD] [TD=align: center]35 [/TD] [TD=align: center]17 [/TD] [TD=align: center]128 [/TD] [/TABLE] How big a deal is it to get 30 or more starts out of your starting pitchers? I will let you be the judge of that but the chart seems to indicate that the numbers of pitchers you have starting on a consistent basis will determine where you finish in the standings. The Twins seem to buck the trend a bit as they are the only team to win the Central Division title with fewer than 3 starters taking the mound 30 or more times and they did it 3 times with just 2 starters taking the mound 30 or more times. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Kaat-Jim-2-235x300.jpg All this research made me curious as to who the Twins pitchers were over the years with the most starts in a Minnesota Twins uniform and here is what I dug up. There have only been 14 Twins pitchers that have toed the pitching rubber in the first inning in a Twins uniform 150 or more times. Some of these pitchers may have started a number of games in different uniforms including the Washington Senators prior to becoming the Twins but I am only looking for starts while wearing "Minnesota" on their chest. Of these 14 pitchers, only six (Blyleven, Viola, Goltz, Baker, Erickson, and Boswell) were actually drafted by the Minnesota Twins. The only pitcher on the list to spend his entire career as a Minnesota Twin? Brad Radke. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [/TH][TH=align: center]Pitcher [TH=align: center]# of starts [/TH] [TH=align: center]Years Pitched [/TH] [TH=align: center]Avg. # of starts per season [/TH] [TD=align: center]1. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Kaat [/TD] [TD=align: center]422 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1973 [/TD] [TD=align: center]32.46 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Brad Radke [/TD] [TD=align: center]377 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1995-2006 [/TD] [TD=align: center]31.42 [/TD] [TD=align: center]3. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Bert Blyleven [/TD] [TD=align: center]345 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1970-1976 & 1985-1988 [/TD] [TD=align: center]31.36 [/TD] [TD=align: center]4. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Frank Viola [/TD] [TD=align: center]259 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1982-1989 [/TD] [TD=align: center]32.38 [/TD] [TD=align: center]5. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Perry [/TD] [TD=align: center]249 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1963-1972 [/TD] [TD=align: center]24.90 [/TD] [TD=align: center]6. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Goltz [/TD] [TD=align: center]215 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1972-1979 [/TD] [TD=align: center]26.88 [/TD] [TD=align: center]7. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Kevin Tapani [/TD] [TD=align: center]180 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1989-1995 [/TD] [TD=align: center]25.71 [/TD] [TD=align: center]8. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Camilo Pascual [/TD] [TD=align: center]179 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1966 [/TD] [TD=align: center]29.83 [/TD] [TD=align: center]9. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Johan Santana [/TD] [TD=align: center]175 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2000-2007 [/TD] [TD=align: center]21.88 [/TD] [TD=align: center]10. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Eric Milton [/TD] [TD=align: center]165 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1998-2003 [/TD] [TD=align: center]27.50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]11. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Scot Baker [/TD] [TD=align: center]159 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2005-2011 [/TD] [TD=align: center]22.71 [/TD] [TD=align: center]12. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Scott Erickson [/TD] [TD=align: center]153 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1990-1995 [/TD] [TD=align: center]25.50 [/TD] [TD=align: center]13. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Kyle Lohse [/TD] [TD=align: center]152 [/TD] [TD=align: center]2001-2006 [/TD] [TD=align: center]25.33 [/TD] [TD=align: center]14. [/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Boswell [/TD] [TD=align: center]150 [/TD] [TD=align: center]1964-1970 [/TD] [TD=align: center]21.43 [/TD] [/TABLE]

The Twins and Terry Ryan have put in a lot of time this off-season to try to round up some pitchers that they can put in the starting rotation so that manager Gardenhire can hopefully call on each of them to start 30-35 games each. That will be no easy task as last season the team leader in pitching starts was Scott Diamond with 27 and he didn't even join the starting rotation until May 8th. If you look back through franchise history you will find that the great Hall of Fame pitcher Walter (The Big Train) Johnson pitched for the Wasinhton Senators for 21 seasons from 1907-1927 and he started 666 games, that is an average of 31.71 starts each year for 21 years. He set the the franchise games started in a season record with 42 in 1910. Twins lefty Jim Kaat equalled that mark of 42 starts in the Twins 1965 AL Championship season and followed that up with 41 starts in 1966 making him the only pitcher in franchise history to have back-to-back 40+ starts seasons. I thought it would be interesting to review the Gardenhire era from 2002 through 2012 to see how many pitchers he has had that have started 30 or more games in a season for the Twins. 2002 - Rick Reed and Kyle Lohse 2003 - Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Kenny Rogers, Joe Mays (and Rick Reed chipped in 27 starts) 2004 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Kyle Lohse 2005 - Johan Santana and Brad Radke 2006 - Johan Santana and Carlos Silva 2007 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser 2008 - Nick Blackburn 2009 - Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker 2010 - Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano 2011 - Carl Pavano 2012 - None, Scott Diamond led the pack with 27 In this 11 year time frame the Twins have had 12 different pitchers provide 30 or more starts in a single season and only three of them were actually drafted by the Twins, the rest were acquired in another manner. Radke was an 8th round pick in 1991, Blackburn was a 29th round pick in 2001, and Scott Baker was a 2nd round pick in 2003. Chart showing numbers of pitchers with 30 or more starts (Central Division champs marked with an *)[TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]YEAR[/TH] [TH=align: center]Twins[/TH] [TH=align: center]Tigers[/TH] [TH=align: center]Indians[/TH] [TH=align: center]WSox[/TH] [TH=align: center]Royals[/TH] [TH=align: center]Totals[/TH] [TD=align: center]2002[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]2003[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center]2004[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]2005[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]16[/TD] [TD=align: center]2006[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]2007[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]3*[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]13[/TD] [TD=align: center]2008[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]2009[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]9[/TD] [TD=align: center]2010[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]2011[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]2012[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]3*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center]Totals[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]31[/TD] [TD=align: center]22[/TD] [TD=align: center]35[/TD] [TD=align: center]17[/TD] [TD=align: center]128[/TD] [/TABLE] How big a deal is it to get 30 or more starts out of your starting pitchers? I will let you be the judge of that but the chart seems to indicate that the numbers of pitchers you have starting on a consistent basis will determine where you finish in the standings. The Twins seem to buck the trend a bit as they are the only team to win the Central Division title with fewer than 3 starters taking the mound 30 or more times and they did it 3 times with just 2 starters taking the mound 30 or more times. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Kaat-Jim-2-235x300.jpgLHP Jim Kaat All this research made me curious as to who the Twins pitchers were over the years with the most starts in a Minnesota Twins uniform and here is what I dug up. There have only been 14 Twins pitchers that have toed the pitching rubber in the first inning in a Twins uniform 150 or more times. Some of these pitchers may have started a number of games in different uniforms including the Washington Senators prior to becoming the Twins but I am only looking for starts while wearing "Minnesota" on their chest. Of these 14 pitchers, only six (Blyleven, Viola, Goltz, Baker, Erickson, and Boswell) were actually drafted by the Minnesota Twins. The only pitcher on the list to spend his entire career as a Minnesota Twin? Brad Radke. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]Pitcher[/TH] [TH=align: center]# of starts[/TH] [TH=align: center]Years Pitched[/TH] [TH=align: center]Avg. # of starts per season[/TH] [TD=align: center]1.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Kaat[/TD] [TD=align: center]422[/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1973[/TD] [TD=align: center]32.46[/TD] [TD=align: center]2.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Brad Radke[/TD] [TD=align: center]377[/TD] [TD=align: center]1995-2006[/TD] [TD=align: center]31.42[/TD] [TD=align: center]3.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Bert Blyleven[/TD] [TD=align: center]345[/TD] [TD=align: center]1970-1976 & 1985-1988[/TD] [TD=align: center]31.36[/TD] [TD=align: center]4.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Frank Viola[/TD] [TD=align: center]259[/TD] [TD=align: center]1982-1989[/TD] [TD=align: center]32.38[/TD] [TD=align: center]5.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Perry[/TD] [TD=align: center]249[/TD] [TD=align: center]1963-1972[/TD] [TD=align: center]24.90[/TD] [TD=align: center]6.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Goltz[/TD] [TD=align: center]215[/TD] [TD=align: center]1972-1979[/TD] [TD=align: center]26.88[/TD] [TD=align: center]7.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Kevin Tapani[/TD] [TD=align: center]180[/TD] [TD=align: center]1989-1995[/TD] [TD=align: center]25.71[/TD] [TD=align: center]8.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Camilo Pascual[/TD] [TD=align: center]179[/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1966[/TD] [TD=align: center]29.83[/TD] [TD=align: center]9.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Johan Santana[/TD] [TD=align: center]175[/TD] [TD=align: center]2000-2007[/TD] [TD=align: center]21.88[/TD] [TD=align: center]10.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Eric Milton[/TD] [TD=align: center]165[/TD] [TD=align: center]1998-2003[/TD] [TD=align: center]27.50[/TD] [TD=align: center]11.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Scot Baker[/TD] [TD=align: center]159[/TD] [TD=align: center]2005-2011[/TD] [TD=align: center]22.71[/TD] [TD=align: center]12.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Scott Erickson[/TD] [TD=align: center]153[/TD] [TD=align: center]1990-1995[/TD] [TD=align: center]25.50[/TD] [TD=align: center]13.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Kyle Lohse[/TD] [TD=align: center]152[/TD] [TD=align: center]2001-2006[/TD] [TD=align: center]25.33[/TD] [TD=align: center]14.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Boswell[/TD] [TD=align: center]150[/TD] [TD=align: center]1964-1970[/TD] [TD=align: center]21.43[/TD] [/TABLE]

The Twins and Terry Ryan have put in a lot of time this off-season to try to round up some pitchers that they can put in the starting rotation so that manager Gardenhire can hopefully call on each of them to start 30-35 games each. That will be no easy task as last season the team leader in pitching starts was Scott Diamond with 27 and he didn't even join the starting rotation until May 8th. If you look back through franchise history you will find that the great Hall of Fame pitcher Walter (The Big Train) Johnson pitched for the Wasinhton Senators for 21 seasons from 1907-1927 and he started 666 games, that is an average of 31.71 starts each year for 21 years. He set the the franchise games started in a season record with 42 in 1910. Twins lefty Jim Kaat equalled that mark of 42 starts in the Twins 1965 AL Championship season and followed that up with 41 starts in 1966 making him the only pitcher in franchise history to have back-to-back 40+ starts seasons. I thought it would be interesting to review the Gardenhire era from 2002 through 2012 to see how many pitchers he has had that have started 30 or more games in a season for the Twins. 2002 - Rick Reed and Kyle Lohse 2003 - Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Kenny Rogers, Joe Mays (and Rick Reed chipped in 27 starts) 2004 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Kyle Lohse 2005 - Johan Santana and Brad Radke 2006 - Johan Santana and Carlos Silva 2007 - Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser 2008 - Nick Blackburn 2009 - Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker 2010 - Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano 2011 - Carl Pavano 2012 - None, Scott Diamond led the pack with 27 In this 11 year time frame the Twins have had 12 different pitchers provide 30 or more starts in a single season and only three of them were actually drafted by the Twins, the rest were acquired in another manner. Radke was an 8th round pick in 1991, Blackburn was a 29th round pick in 2001, and Scott Baker was a 2nd round pick in 2003. Chart showing numbers of pitchers with 30 or more starts (Central Division champs marked with an *)[TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]YEAR[/TH] [TH=align: center]Twins[/TH] [TH=align: center]Tigers[/TH] [TH=align: center]Indians[/TH] [TH=align: center]WSox[/TH] [TH=align: center]Royals[/TH] [TH=align: center]Totals[/TH] [TD=align: center]2002[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]2003[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center]2004[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]2005[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]16[/TD] [TD=align: center]2006[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]2007[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]3*[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]13[/TD] [TD=align: center]2008[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]2009[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]9[/TD] [TD=align: center]2010[/TD] [TD=align: center]2*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]2011[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]4*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]2012[/TD] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]3*[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]1[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center]Totals[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]31[/TD] [TD=align: center]22[/TD] [TD=align: center]35[/TD] [TD=align: center]17[/TD] [TD=align: center]128[/TD] [/TABLE] How big a deal is it to get 30 or more starts out of your starting pitchers? I will let you be the judge of that but the chart seems to indicate that the numbers of pitchers you have starting on a consistent basis will determine where you finish in the standings. The Twins seem to buck the trend a bit as they are the only team to win the Central Division title with fewer than 3 starters taking the mound 30 or more times and they did it 3 times with just 2 starters taking the mound 30 or more times. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Kaat-Jim-2-235x300.jpgLHP Jim Kaat All this research made me curious as to who the Twins pitchers were over the years with the most starts in a Minnesota Twins uniform and here is what I dug up. There have only been 14 Twins pitchers that have toed the pitching rubber in the first inning in a Twins uniform 150 or more times. Some of these pitchers may have started a number of games in different uniforms including the Washington Senators prior to becoming the Twins but I am only looking for starts while wearing "Minnesota" on their chest. Of these 14 pitchers, only six (Blyleven, Viola, Goltz, Baker, Erickson, and Boswell) were actually drafted by the Minnesota Twins. The only pitcher on the list to spend his entire career as a Minnesota Twin? Brad Radke. [TABLE=class: easy-table-creator tablesorter mceItemTable, width: 100%] [TH=align: center]Pitcher[/TH] [TH=align: center]# of starts[/TH] [TH=align: center]Years Pitched[/TH] [TH=align: center]Avg. # of starts per season[/TH] [TD=align: center]1.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Kaat[/TD] [TD=align: center]422[/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1973[/TD] [TD=align: center]32.46[/TD] [TD=align: center]2.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Brad Radke[/TD] [TD=align: center]377[/TD] [TD=align: center]1995-2006[/TD] [TD=align: center]31.42[/TD] [TD=align: center]3.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Bert Blyleven[/TD] [TD=align: center]345[/TD] [TD=align: center]1970-1976 & 1985-1988[/TD] [TD=align: center]31.36[/TD] [TD=align: center]4.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Frank Viola[/TD] [TD=align: center]259[/TD] [TD=align: center]1982-1989[/TD] [TD=align: center]32.38[/TD] [TD=align: center]5.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Jim Perry[/TD] [TD=align: center]249[/TD] [TD=align: center]1963-1972[/TD] [TD=align: center]24.90[/TD] [TD=align: center]6.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Goltz[/TD] [TD=align: center]215[/TD] [TD=align: center]1972-1979[/TD] [TD=align: center]26.88[/TD] [TD=align: center]7.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Kevin Tapani[/TD] [TD=align: center]180[/TD] [TD=align: center]1989-1995[/TD] [TD=align: center]25.71[/TD] [TD=align: center]8.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Camilo Pascual[/TD] [TD=align: center]179[/TD] [TD=align: center]1961-1966[/TD] [TD=align: center]29.83[/TD] [TD=align: center]9.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Johan Santana[/TD] [TD=align: center]175[/TD] [TD=align: center]2000-2007[/TD] [TD=align: center]21.88[/TD] [TD=align: center]10.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Eric Milton[/TD] [TD=align: center]165[/TD] [TD=align: center]1998-2003[/TD] [TD=align: center]27.50[/TD] [TD=align: center]11.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Scot Baker[/TD] [TD=align: center]159[/TD] [TD=align: center]2005-2011[/TD] [TD=align: center]22.71[/TD] [TD=align: center]12.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Scott Erickson[/TD] [TD=align: center]153[/TD] [TD=align: center]1990-1995[/TD] [TD=align: center]25.50[/TD] [TD=align: center]13.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Kyle Lohse[/TD] [TD=align: center]152[/TD] [TD=align: center]2001-2006[/TD] [TD=align: center]25.33[/TD] [TD=align: center]14.[/TD] [TD=align: center]Dave Boswell[/TD] [TD=align: center]150[/TD] [TD=align: center]1964-1970[/TD] [TD=align: center]21.43[/TD] [/TABLE]

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com . As I wait for another Minnesota Twins season to to get underway and no new Twins "news" to write about, I find myself continuing to do research and look for more information that I can share with todays Twins fans. I started this site as a Minnesota Twins historical web site to help fans learn more about the wonderful history of the Minnesota Twins and I do write about current Twins events but I don't spend a lot of time pondering "what if" events such as possible trades or free agent signings as that is not my cup of tea and there are plenty of other Twins blogs that cover that aspect of the Twins and many of them do it very well. That does not mean I won't share my thoughts about these kinds of things now and then but it will not happen too often. Today I was just doing some web surfing when I ran across what I think is the best slide show that I have even seen put together about Metropolitan Stadium, the home of the Minnesota Twins from 1961 until 1982 when the boys packed their bats, balls and gloves and moved into the HHH Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. I found this slide show on a site called Ballparks, Arenas and Stadiums, a cool site that has a collection of over a 100 slideshows of demolished stadiums and arena. One of these slideshows covers Met Stadium from its early pre-Twins era to its final demise. It is not just about the Minnesota Twins either as there is some coverage of the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota North Stars home at Met Center and even the Beetles appearance at the Met. The slideshow is about 23 minutes in length so make yourself comfortable and click on the Met Stadium thumbnail below, put it on full screen and relieve some Twins history. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Met-stadium-7-150x150.jpg

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com . As I wait for another Minnesota Twins season to to get underway and no new Twins "news" to write about, I find myself continuing to do research and look for more information that I can share with todays Twins fans. I started this site as a Minnesota Twins historical web site to help fans learn more about the wonderful history of the Minnesota Twins and I do write about current Twins events but I don't spend a lot of time pondering "what if" events such as possible trades or free agent signings as that is not my cup of tea and there are plenty of other Twins blogs that cover that aspect of the Twins and many of them do it very well. That does not mean I won't share my thoughts about these kinds of things now and then but it will not happen too often. Today I was just doing some web surfing when I ran across what I think is the best slide show that I have even seen put together about Metropolitan Stadium, the home of the Minnesota Twins from 1961 until 1982 when the boys packed their bats, balls and gloves and moved into the HHH Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. I found this slide show on a site called Ballparks, Arenas and Stadiums, a cool site that has a collection of over a 100 slideshows of demolished stadiums and arena. One of these slideshows covers Met Stadium from its early pre-Twins era to its final demise. It is not just about the Minnesota Twins either as there is some coverage of the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota North Stars home at Met Center and even the Beetles appearance at the Met. The slideshow is about 23 minutes in length so make yourself comfortable and click on the Met Stadium thumbnail below, put it on full screen and relieve some Twins history. http://twinstrivia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Met-stadium-7-150x150.jpg

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com Eddie Bane was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1952 but grew up in southern California not too far from Disneyland. Bane was offered a scholarship by coach Bobby Winkles and before he knew it he was pitching for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973) Bane became a pitching legend. The left-handed Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA and is still regarded as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time. Bane pitched the only perfect game in Sun Devil baseball history on March 2, 1973 against Cal State Northridge and led the nation in strikeouts in 1972 and 1973 and still holds the ASU career strikeout mark. Bane was named first team All-American in 1973. The Minnesota Twins selected Bane with their first pick, eleventh overall in the 1973 amateur draft and a short time later Bane joined a very select group of only 20 players that were drafted and went on to play pro ball directly out of high school or college with no minor league experience. Bane made his major league debut as a starter against the Kansas City Royals on July 4, 1973 at Met Stadium in front of 45,890 fans that couldn’t wait to see their first round pick pitch. Bane didn’t disappoint the Twins faithful going 7 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3 but manager Frank Quilici took Bane out after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 1-0. The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning but couldn’t hold on to the lead and ended up losing the game 5-4. Eddie stayed with the Twins for the rest of the season going 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 23 games that included 6 starts. Bane spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 in AAA Tacoma before getting a September call up by the Twins where he went 3-1 in 4 starts and posted a nifty 2.86 ERA. Bane found himself in Tacoma once again as the 1976 season opened but the Twins brought him back to Minnesota in late June and Bane started 15 games and put up a 4-7 record with a 5.11 ERA and that was the last time that Eddie Bane pitched in a Twins uniform. Bane pitched in Tacoma in 1977 but became a free agent after that season and signed with the Chicago White Sox but never pitched for them in the majors and then in January of 1980 he was traded to the Kansas City Royals but never pitched in the majors again. Bane went on to spend some time in the Cubs minor league system later in 1980 and pitched in Mexico in 1981 and Alaska in 1982 but then his career as an active player was over. After Bane’s playing career was over he became a pitching coach in the LA Dodgers minor league system in 1983 and then managed the Batavia Trojans in 1984-1985 in the Cleveland Indians system. Bane also scouted for the Indians from 1984-1987 before moving on to the Dodgers as a scout from 1988-1998. Bane then joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as an assistant to the GM from 1999-2003 before joining the Los Angeles Angels as their Scouting Director from 2004 to 2010 where he drafted players like Jered Weaver in 2004, Nick Adenhart in 2004, Jordan Walden in 2006, Hank Conger in 2006, Mark Trumbo in 2004 and Mike Trout in 2009 and in 4 of those 7 years the Angels didn’t even have a 1st round pick. Inexplicably, the Angels let Bane go after the 2010 season and Bane became a scout for the Detroit Tigers in 2011-2012. Later in 2012 Bane took the position of Assistant to Player Personnel with the Boston Red Sox where his son Jaymie who also attended ASU and pitched in the Angels minor league system has been a scout since 2006. In 1994 Baseball America named Eddie Bane to their All-Time college all-star team and in 2008 Bane was selected to the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame. I also wanted to share with you what Eddie Bane had to say about Tony Oliva. "By the way one additional thought on some of the old time baseball guys from the 60's and 70's. I have asked a lot of former major league pitchers who the best hitter they ever faced was. Of the more then 20 pitchers I asked at least half of them said Tony Oliva. Tony never gets his due as far as the Hall of Fame goes, but those pitchers all remember that swing that I can still picture in my mind. Without those lousy knees that he had Tony O would certainly be a Hall of Fame player". You can find the interview with Eddie Bane here. This interview is just one of the 39 interviews that we have done with former Twins players that you can find on our Interviews Archives page.

Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com Eddie Bane was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1952 but grew up in southern California not too far from Disneyland. Bane was offered a scholarship by coach Bobby Winkles and before he knew it he was pitching for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973) Bane became a pitching legend. The left-handed Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA and is still regarded as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time. Bane pitched the only perfect game in Sun Devil baseball history on March 2, 1973 against Cal State Northridge and led the nation in strikeouts in 1972 and 1973 and still holds the ASU career strikeout mark. Bane was named first team All-American in 1973. The Minnesota Twins selected Bane with their first pick, eleventh overall in the 1973 amateur draft and a short time later Bane joined a very select group of only 20 players that were drafted and went on to play pro ball directly out of high school or college with no minor league experience. Bane made his major league debut as a starter against the Kansas City Royals on July 4, 1973 at Met Stadium in front of 45,890 fans that couldn’t wait to see their first round pick pitch. Bane didn’t disappoint the Twins faithful going 7 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3 but manager Frank Quilici took Bane out after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 1-0. The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning but couldn’t hold on to the lead and ended up losing the game 5-4. Eddie stayed with the Twins for the rest of the season going 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 23 games that included 6 starts. Bane spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 in AAA Tacoma before getting a September call up by the Twins where he went 3-1 in 4 starts and posted a nifty 2.86 ERA. Bane found himself in Tacoma once again as the 1976 season opened but the Twins brought him back to Minnesota in late June and Bane started 15 games and put up a 4-7 record with a 5.11 ERA and that was the last time that Eddie Bane pitched in a Twins uniform. Bane pitched in Tacoma in 1977 but became a free agent after that season and signed with the Chicago White Sox but never pitched for them in the majors and then in January of 1980 he was traded to the Kansas City Royals but never pitched in the majors again. Bane went on to spend some time in the Cubs minor league system later in 1980 and pitched in Mexico in 1981 and Alaska in 1982 but then his career as an active player was over. After Bane’s playing career was over he became a pitching coach in the LA Dodgers minor league system in 1983 and then managed the Batavia Trojans in 1984-1985 in the Cleveland Indians system. Bane also scouted for the Indians from 1984-1987 before moving on to the Dodgers as a scout from 1988-1998. Bane then joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as an assistant to the GM from 1999-2003 before joining the Los Angeles Angels as their Scouting Director from 2004 to 2010 where he drafted players like Jered Weaver in 2004, Nick Adenhart in 2004, Jordan Walden in 2006, Hank Conger in 2006, Mark Trumbo in 2004 and Mike Trout in 2009 and in 4 of those 7 years the Angels didn’t even have a 1st round pick. Inexplicably, the Angels let Bane go after the 2010 season and Bane became a scout for the Detroit Tigers in 2011-2012. Later in 2012 Bane took the position of Assistant to Player Personnel with the Boston Red Sox where his son Jaymie who also attended ASU and pitched in the Angels minor league system has been a scout since 2006. In 1994 Baseball America named Eddie Bane to their All-Time college all-star team and in 2008 Bane was selected to the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame. I also wanted to share with you what Eddie Bane had to say about Tony Oliva. "By the way one additional thought on some of the old time baseball guys from the 60's and 70's. I have asked a lot of former major league pitchers who the best hitter they ever faced was. Of the more then 20 pitchers I asked at least half of them said Tony Oliva. Tony never gets his due as far as the Hall of Fame goes, but those pitchers all remember that swing that I can still picture in my mind. Without those lousy knees that he had Tony O would certainly be a Hall of Fame player". You can find the interview with Eddie Bane here. This interview is just one of the 39 interviews that we have done with former Twins players that you can find on our Interviews Archives page.

originally posted at http://www.twinstrivia.com [ATTACH=CONFIG]2922[/ATTACH]Former Cincinnati Reds (1979-1985) and Minnesota Twins (1986) pitcher Frank Pastore passed away yesterday at the age of 55 after spending the last four weeks in a coma. Pastore had been riding his motorcycle home from his job as a radio host at KKLA 99.5 FM in Glendale, California when he was hit by a car near his home and suffered critical head injuries when he was thrown from his Honda Shadow motorcycle on November 19th. Frank Enrico Pastore was born in Alhambra, California on August 21, 1957. Pastore was the Reds 2nd round pick in the 1975 amateur draft and made his big league debut with the Reds at Riverfront Stadium on April 4, 1979. The Reds used Pastore both as a starter and a reliever where he posted a 45-57 won/lost record with a 4.30 ERA. Pastore was hit by a Steve Sax (Dodgers) line drive off his pitching elbow in June of 1984 and he was never the same pitcher again. The Reds released Pastore in April 1986 and the Twins signed him shortly there after and he finished the 1986 as a Minnesota Twin. The right-handed Pastore appeared in 33 games for the Twins starting once and finishing the season with a 4.01 ERA and a 3-1 record. Pastore left the Twins as a free agent after the 1986 season and signed with the Texas Rangers but never pitched for them in a big league game. After his baseball career ended Pastore became a born again Christian and returned to school where he earned degrees in political science and theology. In 2004 Pastore went to work for KKLA 99.5 as a Christian drive-time radio talk-show host and his show reportedly was the most listened to Christian talk show in the country. On his final radio show and just hours before his accident Pastore talked about his own mortality in a short timebyte that you can listen to here. Frank Pastore was survived his wife of 27 years, Gina; two adult children, Frank and Christina; and one grandchild. Los Angeles Times obituary

Originally published on www.twinstrivia.com . With the recent trades of former first round pick (2002) outfielder Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for 2011 Nats first round pick RHP Alex Meyer and just a few days later sending another former Twins first round pick (2007) outfielder Ben Revere to the Phillies for RHP's Vance Worley and Trevor May the Twins and GM Terry Ryan have held true to their word that changes were coming and that they were going to snag as many pitchers as they could. These trades should also clear up any confusion that some Twins fans may still have had that the Twins were going to be "reload" and try to become a playoff team once again after suffering through two dismal seasons. The Twins are in a full-scale rebuilding mode but not the kind of rebuilding mode that we may have seen from the Twins in the past. In the past they would get rid of all their high salaried players and start from scratch but that is a much harder sell now days with the Twins just having moved into their new digs at Target Field in 2010. The Twins aren't stupid, they know they can't afford to totally alienate their fan base that they have built up with a with a new ballpark and a nice run since 2002 but they also know that they let their starting pitching fall into disrepair the last few years and in the process have lost 90+ games two years in a row. The team grew stale, changes were few and far between on the player, coaching and management sides and their "smoke and mirrors" approach to their pitching staff caught up with the team so quickly it seemed to catch the entire Twins organization off guard. The Twins are not a huge market team but they can not plead poverty as they have in the past. The team has a decent fan base, a relatively new ballpark and ownership that has money to spend but I am not sure that they are willing to spend it. The Twins like to brag that they are one of the top organizations in baseball but when it comes to taking out their wallet to bring in some high-priced talent the team claims it is not all about the money. I understand if they can't put Zack Greinke in a Twins uniform but I can't get a handle on why you can't get Joe Blanton for example if the Angels can get him for 2 years for $15 million. This team has just two starting pitchers going into 2013 and I surely don't grasp why the team would supposedly make an offer to Francisco Liriano after his history with the team between 2005-2012. I think Terry Ryan is a very good GM but I sure don't know what his logic is for this move. At least throw us a bone Mr. Pohlad, give us some new blood and something to at least give us some hope instead of having us pay to watch that same old crap. I understand loyalty but you can only keep hitting your head against the same old wall for so long before someone shows up to haul you away in a white coat. Show us some loyalty and a reason why we should pay big league prices to watch the Twins in 2013. This Twins team has more holes than my fishing net but I still love baseball and every year teams come for nowhere to play winning baseball and I can only hope that the Twins will do so sooner than later. There are still serviceable pitchers out there on the FA market and I hope that Jim Pohlad lets Dave St. Peter and Terry Ryan know that his checkbook is there and he is willing to carack it open long enough to sign at least one if not two more starting pitchers. It all starts at the top. The recent splash the Twins have made in the trade market should be just the beginning of what the Twins need to do to become competitive again and not the final chapter. Josh Hamilton is still a free agent and if Texas doesn't resign him they could use a power hitting outfielder and if I were the Twins I would be happy to send Josh Willingham to Texas for a shortstop like Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar that could fill that shortstop hole at Target Field for many years to come. The Twins recently announced that they had signed 35-year-old pitcher Jason Lane who played the outfield for the Astros and Padres from 2002-2007 and turned to pitching in 2009. The team also signed 1B/C Jeff Clement who has played in the big leagues with the Mariner and the Pirates for parts of 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 and hit .218 in 385 at bats. Why in %#@* do you spend the money on players like this? You don't win with quantity, you win with quality, I am not sure the Twins look at it that way. In the recent major league portion of the Rule 5 draft the Twins selected 23 year-old RHP Ryan Pressly from the Boston Red Sox. After starting since 2008 Pressly was turned into a reliever late in 2012 and pitched well in that role in the AFL over the last month or so. It is still early in December and the 2013 season is several months away but the Twins brain trust needs to keep their nose to the grindstone if this team is going to break their two-year death grip on last place. If I was Ron Gardenhire, the way things looks right now, I would be signing on to the PC and updating my resume.

Originally published on www.twinstrivia.com . With the recent trades of former first round pick (2002) outfielder Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for 2011 Nats first round pick RHP Alex Meyer and just a few days later sending another former Twins first round pick (2007) outfielder Ben Revere to the Phillies for RHP's Vance Worley and Trevor May the Twins and GM Terry Ryan have held true to their word that changes were coming and that they were going to snag as many pitchers as they could. These trades should also clear up any confusion that some Twins fans may still have had that the Twins were going to be "reload" and try to become a playoff team once again after suffering through two dismal seasons. The Twins are in a full-scale rebuilding mode but not the kind of rebuilding mode that we may have seen from the Twins in the past. In the past they would get rid of all their high salaried players and start from scratch but that is a much harder sell now days with the Twins just having moved into their new digs at Target Field in 2010. The Twins aren't stupid, they know they can't afford to totally alienate their fan base that they have built up with a with a new ballpark and a nice run since 2002 but they also know that they let their starting pitching fall into disrepair the last few years and in the process have lost 90+ games two years in a row. The team grew stale, changes were few and far between on the player, coaching and management sides and their "smoke and mirrors" approach to their pitching staff caught up with the team so quickly it seemed to catch the entire Twins organization off guard. The Twins are not a huge market team but they can not plead poverty as they have in the past. The team has a decent fan base, a relatively new ballpark and ownership that has money to spend but I am not sure that they are willing to spend it. The Twins like to brag that they are one of the top organizations in baseball but when it comes to taking out their wallet to bring in some high-priced talent the team claims it is not all about the money. I understand if they can't put Zack Greinke in a Twins uniform but I can't get a handle on why you can't get Joe Blanton for example if the Angels can get him for 2 years for $15 million. This team has just two starting pitchers going into 2013 and I surely don't grasp why the team would supposedly make an offer to Francisco Liriano after his history with the team between 2005-2012. I think Terry Ryan is a very good GM but I sure don't know what his logic is for this move. At least throw us a bone Mr. Pohlad, give us some new blood and something to at least give us some hope instead of having us pay to watch that same old crap. I understand loyalty but you can only keep hitting your head against the same old wall for so long before someone shows up to haul you away in a white coat. Show us some loyalty and a reason why we should pay big league prices to watch the Twins in 2013. This Twins team has more holes than my fishing net but I still love baseball and every year teams come for nowhere to play winning baseball and I can only hope that the Twins will do so sooner than later. There are still serviceable pitchers out there on the FA market and I hope that Jim Pohlad lets Dave St. Peter and Terry Ryan know that his checkbook is there and he is willing to carack it open long enough to sign at least one if not two more starting pitchers. It all starts at the top. The recent splash the Twins have made in the trade market should be just the beginning of what the Twins need to do to become competitive again and not the final chapter. Josh Hamilton is still a free agent and if Texas doesn't resign him they could use a power hitting outfielder and if I were the Twins I would be happy to send Josh Willingham to Texas for a shortstop like Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar that could fill that shortstop hole at Target Field for many years to come. The Twins recently announced that they had signed 35-year-old pitcher Jason Lane who played the outfield for the Astros and Padres from 2002-2007 and turned to pitching in 2009. The team also signed 1B/C Jeff Clement who has played in the big leagues with the Mariner and the Pirates for parts of 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 and hit .218 in 385 at bats. Why in %#@* do you spend the money on players like this? You don't win with quantity, you win with quality, I am not sure the Twins look at it that way. In the recent major league portion of the Rule 5 draft the Twins selected 23 year-old RHP Ryan Pressly from the Boston Red Sox. After starting since 2008 Pressly was turned into a reliever late in 2012 and pitched well in that role in the AFL over the last month or so. It is still early in December and the 2013 season is several months away but the Twins brain trust needs to keep their nose to the grindstone if this team is going to break their two-year death grip on last place. If I was Ron Gardenhire, the way things looks right now, I would be signing on to the PC and updating my resume.

Posted earlier today at [URL="http://wp.me/p1YQUj-2sL"]Calling Mr. Pohlad? | Twinstrivia.com[/URL] [CENTER][attachment=6527:3423.attach][/CENTER] Due to the extended rain delay of four hours and 23 minutes, the Chicago White Sox are offering fans with tickets to Sunday’s game a complimentary ticket to a home game in April 2014 (excludes Opening Day and Boston series). Once 2014 tickets go on sale, fans can bring their ticket stub or mail it to the U.S. Cellular Field box office to redeem it for a best available outfield reserved or upper level seat. This past Saturday night the Twins and Tampa Rays game at Target Field was delayed by seven minutes at the start due to rain and delayed again after four innings for two hours and four minutes again due to rain. Down 4-0 and on their way to being shut out for the second day in a row and well on their way to their third straight 90 loss season maybe the Twins should have done a little something for the 1,000 or so fans that stayed for the duration of a 7-0 loss. Many Twins players have long ago given up on this season and started to plan their off-season get-aways and it appears that the Twins front office seems to have forgotten this years ticket buyers also. I wasn't at that game on Saturday night so I don't know for a fact that the Twins did nothing but todate I have not seen or read anything anywhere that the Twins threw those fans any kind of bone to thank them for staying to watch the remainder of a dismal game in crappy weather. I did hear that closer Glen Perkins bought some Twins fans a round of beers during the delay. Thanks Glen, very cool. Over 2.2 million fans have paid to see the Twins play this year and that is pretty darn good attendance for a team that is playing terrible baseball. In full disclosure, I should mention that I have been a Minnesota Twins 20-game plan season ticket holder for many years but did not buy them this year. Why? Because we had seats in the top row of section 103 on the aisle next to section 104. There was an aisle to our left so as we looked towards home plate to watch the action all the people constantly walking up and down the aisle throughout the game blocked our view of play. The seats across the aisle in 104 were seldom used in 2012 so when the 2013 ticket renewal package arrived we asked to see if we could move to section 104 with our 20-game plan. The Twins said no way they want to sell 20 game plans in that section and after chatting with the Twins about this situation about once a month throughout the off-season we could not arrive at an agreement so we have ended up with no season tickets in 2013. We have attended fewer Twins games this season because of this but with the Twins poor play for the third year in a row this has actually been a blessing and has saved us a bunch of money on parking and concessions while we watched the games on TV. It now looks like nothing has changed for 2014 either, the Twins called the other day and asked if we wanted to get our 20-game plan again and I asked them if they were going to allow us to sit in section 104 and they said NO, they still don't want to sell 20 game plans in that section. To my way of thinking this is unbelievably arrogant (and stupid) to not sell tickets to fans that want to attend Twins games when the team stinks and attendance is falling all around them. The Twins used to be a fan friendly team but since Target Field was built it seems like the organization has found numerous ways to stick it to the fans. Heck, even the players seem to have that attitude. Over the years you could send a baseball card to a Twins player and 90% of the time you could expect to get your signed card back in the mail a couple of weeks later. This year I have sent about a half-dozen cards to various Twins players and not one card has come back. Trivial? Yes, but it still sends a message. Maybe the Minnesota Twins organization has gotten too stale and set in their jobs. The Twins try to sell themselves as one of the top fan friendly organizations in baseball when it fits their needs but at times there are members of the Twins organization that come across as arrogant stuck up snobs that refuse to bend their so-called policies and keep doing things the same old way. I am not sure what it is going to take for change to take place in this organization, the Pohlad's need to take a hard look at the entire structure of this organization and see what they can do to shake it up. That means from President Dave St. Peter on down to GM Terry Ryan, manager Ron Gardenhire, the coaching staff, the medical staff and yes, the Marketing staff that has done nothing since Target field was opened in 2010. Don't get me wrong, the Twins have many great employees doing what they think is best for the organization with great passion but sometimes you can be in a position so long that you close your mind to new ways of doing things. The time has come for a big shake-up at Target Field both on the playing field and in all the Twins offices. I personally value loyalty a lot but you can't keep surrounding yourself with "yes" men and hope to get new ideas and new ways of doing things. Executives, Front office personnel, managers, and coaches, are really no different then the players themselves, they may have done a great job over the years but the time comes when you have to part ways like you did with Voila, Santana, Knoblauch, Cuddyer or a Morneau. The Twins have players on the field that just plain don't belong in the big leagues and they have off the field personnel that don't belong in their jobs either. The Minnesota Twins like any other business need new blood now and then and that time is now. The Twins recently announced that there will be no ticket price increase for 2014, I will believe that when I see it in black and white and do a comparison between the ticket prices [B]and[/B] plans for 2013 and 2014. I want to belive the Twins but..... Twins fans are and will continue to watch through this off-season what the Twins organization does to improve this team from top to bottom. The Twins can brag about the 2014 All-Star game at Target Field all they want but it isn't going to put butts in the Target Field seats and a better product on the field. Come on Mr. Pohlad, do something about this mess and do it quick because Twins fans are jumping off the band wagon left and right! If you need some help, give me a call. View full article