David HK

The Reds DFA'd former Twin Christian Encarnacion-Strand (aka CES) for assignment today, His overall MLB stats are not great, but not horrible, and he is a RH hitting 1B. Probably as good as or better than Wagaman, and with more power potential. What does everyone think about bringing him back? It looks like he has one option remaining for 2026 and is in AAA now., although it's a little unclear. He's available on waivers and would need a 40 man spot if called up but not now. I say why not? Wagaman wasn't that impressive in ST and isn't hitting in AAA, so I say bring CES back. 
 

How about a sports movie where a bunch of misfits are put together on one team and they somehow come together to win it all? *Yawn!* We've seen that already at least a dozen times.
What if they don't band together for the love of the game or each other, but out of pure spite for their money-grubbing boss? 
Now you have something. Major League!
Major League came out in 1989, which is right in the golden era of baseball movies. It doesn't hang its hat on nostalgia or pure love of baseball, but on comedy and it does it very well. There are so many great one-liners in this movie that I call it the Caddyshack of baseball. 

The plot for Major League is pretty simple. The owner of the Cleveland Indians dies and his "Vegas beauty" of a young wife, Rachel Phelps played by Margaret Whitton, inherits the team. She isn't a Cleveland kind of gal so she tries to put together the worst team imaginable so attendance will drop to the point where she can move the team to Miami. Here's the lineup:
Pedro Cerrano (played by Dennis Haysbert) - A power-hitting outfielder from from Cuba that practices Voodoo and can't hit a curveball.
Jake Taylor (played by Tom Berenger) - A former star catcher with bad knees but a good head for the game. 
Willie Mays Hayes (played by Wesley Snipes) - A dude no one has heard of who shows up and can run like the wind. Base stealer that can't really hit.
Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) - A fireball-throwing pitcher straight out of the California penal league. The bad boy of the team.
Eddie Harris (played by Chelcie Ross) - The aging junkball pitcher who will put anything, including snot or KY, on the ball to get an edge. Big fan of Jesus.
Roger Dorn (played by Corbin Bernsen) - A big-contract 3rd baseman who cares more about his paycheck and lifestyle than the game or the team.
Lou Brown (played by James Gammon) - A first time manager that gave up his job selling tires to take the helm, but he had to think about it for awhile.
Once these guys get wind of their owner's plan, they grind it out and start winning just to prove her wrong and aggravate her. Maybe the current Twins team should watch this one.
On the field, the baseball is fairly good. Harris, the junk-baller, doesn't look super-legit, but it's good enough. Berenger looks pretty good throwing, Haysbert looks like he could play for real, and Charlie Sheen was a stud high-school pitcher and shortstop who looks legit on the mound. Reports say that Snipes had zero baseball skills outside of running fast and sliding, so they had to do some fancy editing whenever he had to catch or throw the ball. It works well enough that I never questioned it. But, seriously, we're not here for the baseball. 
The cast is fantastic. I'm not sure how they could have done better at just about any of the spots. They're all likable, funny, and disturbing in their own way. Plus, Rene Russo as Jake Taylor's love interest and Stacy Carroll as Susan Dorn fit right in. Gammon, as manager Lou Brown, steals a few scenes in an understated way. In fact, he's one of the best characters on the screen. But, as if this wasn't all the makings for a great baseball comedy, they brought in a ringer. In the radio booth for the Cleveland Indians is Harry Doyle, played by none other than Mr. Bob Uecker...and it might be the best thing he ever did in his legendary career (sorry Brewers fans). Throughout the movie, he fires one-liners as he calls the game that are absolutely epic. Who hasn't watched a wild pitch and said, "Juuusst a bit outside!"
When people ask the question, "What's your favorite baseball movie?" many, many people immediately say Major League, and for good reason. It is funny as hell while sneaking in one of the more exhilarating moments in baseball movie history, If you don't get tingles when they call in Ricky Vaughn to face his nemesis on the Yankees and he comes out of the bullpen while the crowd roars along to "Wild Thing" (The Troggs, not Tone Loc), you're a little dead inside. It's a great moment that made kids in 1989 immediately think, "What would my entrance song be?" For the record, mine would be "Blood of Heroes" by Megadeth. 
All in all, Major League, is a baseball classic that keeps you laughing and has enough baseball legitimacy to work. It's definitely in my top five.
Run Time: 1 hr 47 min
Scorecard: Homerun to the second deck!
IMDB Score: 7.2
Best line: Yikes. There are so many! My personal favorite is when Hayes makes a showboating basket catch and returns to the dugout, the manager greets him at the step and says, "Nice catch, Hayes. Don't ever f#$%ing do it again!"

On may 9, 2025 I was in Greensboro, NC watching my grandson's team play in the North Carolina High School Baseball Playoffs.  I met Luke Napleton from Chicago. He had been playing for a semi-pro team in High Point, NC, called The Rockers. (High Point used to manufacture a lot of furniture and has furniture markets every year.) Frank Viola is the pitching coach for the Rockers. Luke told me he had just been signed by the Twins and was going to Ft. Myers this weekend. He expected to either play at Ft. Myers or at Cedar Rapids. He was with the Rockers only a short time, but was hitting .571 (12 for 21) with 2 doubles and 2 home runs. I told him I was the biggest Twins' fan in North Carolina. He played at the University of Louisville in 2024 and hit .320 with 11 HR. 

Card Collecting in the Early 1900’s
Card collecting in the early 1900’s was before my time and my dad’s, but not my grandfather’s. He arrived in Ellis Island in 1907 but did not acquire a taste for baseball or card collecting in his lifetime. If he had it would have been great because the T206 cards (1909-1911) common cards are worth at least $50 each in the 520 card set.
Unlike later baseball cards the T206 cards came in packs of cigarettes, issued by the American Tobacco Company. And because of that, the most sought after card ever is the Honus Wagner card that was card number 500 in the set. For those unfamiliar, the card was part of the original issue but Wagner refused to allow production of his card. Most publications list his objections to the cards because it encouraged people, especially youngsters, to buy cigarettes to obtain cards. I have also seen where he objected because he had not received adequate compensation to appear on the cards. The American Tobacco Company halted production of the card when it received notification of Wagner’s objections, but there had already been a few of his cards printed and inserted into packs. The number of Wagner cards that escaped is impossible to verify, but the estimates range from 50 to 200.
In August of 2021 a Wagner was sold at auction for $6.6 million and was rated a SGC 3 (an independent appraiser rating where a perfect card is a SGC 10). In August 2022 a SGC 2 (lesser condition) sold for $7.25 million.
Being a long time collector myself, I bought a T206 a number of years ago, it was a Frank “Home Run” Baker card. Not sure how much I paid for it, but currently it is valued by Beckett from $250 to $400 depending on condition. I certainly didn’t pay that much at purchase time, but I would guess a card that is over 115 years old of a Hall of Famer should have decent value.
In addition to the T206 set, there was also a T205 set from 1911, also by the American Tobacco Company, a 1914 and 1915 issue by Cracker Jack and 1916 by The Sporting News.
Card Collecting in the 1930’s
Card collecting in the 1930’s was before my time, but not my dads. The main focus on cards in the 1930’s was the Goudey set. The cards were the first to contain gum and many of the cards had a Big League Gum banner on the front of the card. The card was square in shape and smaller than today’s cards. Rather than a photo of the player, it seemed like more of a painting. The 1933 Goudey set was the first issue since the 1916 Sporting News set.
Fortunately for me, my dad loved baseball and collected baseball cards, and unlike most kids, he or my grandmother never threw his cards away.
The highlight of the set were multiple versions of some of the greats. There were 4 different Babe Ruth card. One of the cards had a double run (had twice as many printed as the normal card), but still is a very valuable card. Two of the other three cards, however, are worth more. There were also multiple cards of players like Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Mel Ott, Goose Goslin, Rogers Hornsby, Lefty O’Doul, Bill Terry, Carl Hubbell and 3 of Joe Cronin.
There was one card issued in 1934. It was card number 106. There was no #106 in the original set and to handle complaints from collectors they issued a card of a retired superstar, Napolean “Nap” Lajoie and sent this card numbered 106 to those that complained and offered the card through a mail in offer. Even though the Lajoie is more scarce, one of the Ruth’s is of equal value. Beckett places a value of $25,000 to $60,000 for both the Lajoie and the #53 Ruth, $20,000 to $50,000 for the Ruth #181, and $15,000 to $40,000 for Ruth #144 and #149. A Jimmy Foxx (2) is valued at $1,000 to $2,500 and Lou Gehrig # 160 at $800 to $2,000 and #92 from $6,000 to $15,000.
There is one card of high value for a player who had an average career. That player was Morris (Moe) Berg. Moe Berg would be a spy for the US during World War II and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions during the war. Moe’s card #158 is valued from $400 to $1,000.
In all, there were 240 cards in the set and it was full of Hall of Famers. Included were: Dazzy Vance, Ted Lyons, Bill Dickey, Pie Traynor, Kiki Cuyler, Paul Waner, Jimmy Foxx (2), Tony Lazzeri, Al Simmons, Heinie Manush (4), Frankie Frisch, Babe Ruth (4), Red Ruffing, Waite Hoyt, Joe Cronin (3), Burleigh Grimes, Eppa Rixey, Mickey Cochrane, Red Faber, Tris Speaker, Lou Gehrig (2), Travis Jackson, Earle Combs, Nap Lajoie, Goose Goslin (2), Rabbitt Maranville, Rogers Hornsby (2), Bill Terry, Mel Ott (2), Chuck Klein, Sam Rice, Herb Pennock, Leo Durocher, Joe Sewell, Lloyd Waner, Earl Averill, Rick Ferrell, Gabby Hartnett, Hack Wilson, Lefty Grove, Charlie Gehringer, Dizzy Dean, Billy Herman, and Carl Hubbell (2). That’s 58 Hall of Famer cards in the set, almost 25% of the cards. And to add value to this series, it would be their rookie card also.
There would be other card sets from the 1930’s such as 1934 Goudey, 1935 Goudey (4 in 1), 1936 Goudey, 1933 Tattoo Orbit, 1934-36 Diamond Stars, 1935 Schutter-Johnson Candy, 1936 National Chicle and 1939 Play Ball, but none that would have the value of the 1933 Goudey set.
Card Collecting in the 1950’s
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s was so different than growing up in later years, especially when it came to baseball card collecting.
If I could find a Delorian and go back in time, my first trip would be back to 1952 so I could spend my money hoping to open a pack or two or three to get the Mantle rookie. Next I would wait a couple of year and take all of my 1955 and 1956 Topps cards and store them in a hard case rather than “pitching” them at school with my friends or putting them into the spokes of the front wheel of my bike to get that awesome sound.
The 1955 and 1956 Topps were iconic sets. Both were set in landscape (horizontal) view rather than the more common portrait view. The 1955 set had some awesome rookie cards, namely Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, and future Twin, Harmon Killebrew. Clemente is valued from $3,000 to $8,000, Koufax $2,000 to $5,000 and Killebrew $300 to $800. Non-rookies Mays and Robinson are $1,000 to $2,500, Aaron $750 to $2,000 and Williams is $500 to $1,200.
The 1956 set had no major rookie. However the 1956 had more cards in the set (340 vs. 206) and some major stars, especially Mickey Mantle, who was not in the 1956 set ($2,000-$5,000), Jackie Robinson ($600-$1,500)(his last card), Ted Williams ($300-$500), and Roberto Clemente ($750-$2,000).
But cards were not investments back then, they were sports toys. It was my first exposure to gambling where it was me against him in trying to win as many of his baseball cards as possible by pitching them.
It was called pitching and there was little regard for which card you chose to pitch at that moment. You would pitch your doubles because the collecting part of the hobby was getting the entire set of cards, not the stars or rookies. Maybe you would put your favorite player or team’s cards at the bottom of the stack, but for the most part you played with little regard for the players you may lose to your opponent.
Being from Rhode Island, I was a huge Red Sox fan, and naturally that would almost certainly mean that I was a Yankee-hater. Possibly the Yankee players were the first to be “pitched” since I had no issues with losing any of them in the competition. God knows how many Mantle, Ford and Berra’s I may have had in my stack and ended up losing.
But really what it boiled down to was that no card was handled with kid gloves, and every card was eligible to be altered by “pitching” them in a contest. To have a card with ideal corners was close to impossible since a corner was the most vulnerable part of a card when being tossed. Then the gloss on the top was next to take the brunt of damage because we played many games in the school yard and the cards would be sliding along on cement or asphalt.
The cards were also subject to the dreaded elastic band. There were no see-through cases back then. Cards were kept in shoe boxes, but kept together with elastic bands. And organizing cards was done by sorting in numerical order so you could quickly see whether you already had a player when opening up a pack of cards. Number 1 was always on the top and that is why when you go to a price guide and look up cards in the 1950’s, card number 1 was always worth more than many other cards even if that card was not a superstar. The top and bottom card would always have indentations that detracted from their value.
The first set I remember collection was the 1954 Topps set. I was 5 years old at the time, so it would have been my dad who bought the cards for me. Number 1 in 1954 was Ted Williams, a superstar. His card is only outvalued by the Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks rookie cards. Ted would have been in that select company even if he were not card #1. In 1955 the Topps set had Dusty Rhodes as #1. Hardly a superstar, and surely a common if he had any other number. His card is 5 times the value of any other common card because of its card number. Two other examples would be the 1956 Topps with American League President Will Harridge as #1. That was the last card you wanted to see in your pack. A league president?, seriously! Card #2 was Warren Giles, the National League President. Currently the Harridge card is 20 times the value of a common, while Giles is 4 times the value. Practically the same card, the number 1 card was valued 5 times higher because it would be exposed to abuse by being in the front of the number sorted stack.
Finding places that sold baseball cards was never a problem. On my way to school (there was no such this as a school bus for us) we would walk past 2 variety stores that sold penny candy and baseball cards. My easiest way of buying cards, especially with no school during the summer, was a traveling store that came through my neighborhood every weekday. This was the size of a self-contained RV and had shelves built into the vehicle that contained canned goods and other grocery items. God knows what would have happened if there were “sell by” dates back then. He was my main source of cards and would usually have cards on the truck except when he would sell out that day. Cards were usually 5 cents for a pack of 6 cards, but some places would sell a pack for 1 cent, but it only contained 1 card. There would be a rectangle piece of gum in each pack and the gum would normally stain the back of the last card in the pack. But the gum was great for sticking multiple pieces in your mouth and looking like you were chewing tobacco.
When it came to pitching cards, there were 3 different games you could choose from. If you played at someone’s house, that kid would pick the game. You could change games, so if you were not having luck with one of the options, you could pick another to try and change the outcome.
The most common games were “farzees”, “topzees” and “standeez”. Farzees would be one card pitched by every player (you could have an unlimited number of players competing against each other). You would toss against a wall (indoors or outdoors), and the person whose card came to rest closest to the wall would win all the cards. Topzees had an unlimited number of rounds and space. The winner would be the person who was able to get his (I use his because my experience with pitching cards never included a girl who participated) card on top of one of the cards already tossed. The winner just needed a very small overlap on the cards to win. The player who “topped” would win all the cards and if you were not confined to an area, you could win quite a stash. Standeez was the other contest and this was the game that caused the most abuse to the card. The first “pitcher” would place a card against a wall standing up at an angle of about 30 degrees. The game was won when you “pitched” a card that knocked the standing card from upright to flat on the ground (floor). The winner would collect all the cards already tossed. Because you were throwing against a wall and you would toss with greater speed than the other games, no card was unscathed from corner damage.
So, when you look at baseball cards from the 1950’s and see the value for premium condition, you’ll know that the likelihood of having a card in great condition was extremely unlikely. It was truly a game and not an investment.
I am eternally grateful that while I was away in the Army my mom never got the boxes of my cards and got rid of them just as my grandmother never did with my dad’s.
Many days and nights were spent reading and digesting the back of a card. Statistics were always part of the card, but other features would vary from year to year.
I can’t imagine growing up without the thrill of opening up a pack of cards or pitching them in a game with friends or classmates.

The Athletic just published an article about "FIve Trades I'd Like To See" before the MLB trade deadline. One of them involved the Twins trading for Pete Alonso:
Twins get: Pete Alonso
Mets get: Alex Kirilloff, David Festa, Luke Keaschall
I for one would be very irritated if the Twins made this trade. Let's start with what we get. Pete Alonso is a great hitter and would be a great fit in the middle of our lineup for the next two or three months. After that, he is going to a high revenue team for 2025 and beyond, most likely returning to the Mets. He likes it there, he likes New York, and it's only a matter of whether they will pony up the money. If the Mets won't pony up the money, another East Coast team will. I have to think the Yankees are looking for a first basemen for next season given Anthony Rizzo's struggles. Alonso is the very definition of a short term one season rental. And that's before we think about whether ownership would be willing to part with the about $8 million he still owed for the rest of the 2024 season.
Now let's think about what we would give up. I am down on Kirilloff as are many others, but he still has high end upside. I wouldn't mind using him as part of a trade given his redundancy with Larnach and Wallner (I think Miranda has won the first base job starting next season unless he falls off the table), but not when you have to give up two quality pieces to go with him. Festa is probably our best starting pitching prospect and certainly the one closest to the Majors. Keaschall is only 21 and looks to have some real upside in the middle infield. That's important when we remember that Correa is only going to be the starting SS for another 3-4 years, when he will age out. Lewis' knee injuries probably leave him at 3B for the foreseeable future. Lee or Keaschall may be the Shortstop starting in 2026 or 2027. Way too big a package for two or three months of Pete Alonso, way too much. I might give up one of the three as long as it wasn't Festa plus a less heralded prospect or two like Schobel or Rosario, but not the three listed. 
My conclusion is this is classic clickbait from a New York homer wanting to improve his team. What say each of you?

Generally speaking, I traditionally buy-in to the theory that the AL Central is historically, and remains the worst division in baseball. The typical format we centralites live by is 3-teams who are so incredibly mediocre (often fighting for an 87-win division title), then two teams who routinely battle for the crown of worst team in baseball. Miraculously, that is not the case in 2024. 
This year, though we still have a team fighting for the worst team in baseball (Sorry ChiSox), we have something else as well. We are the only team in baseball right now with 3-teams with 40+ wins. In fact, only one other division (the AL East) has two teams with 40+ wins. 
Is it time to reevaluate the Central? 

Today in Fort Myers there was a big-league game as well as some minor league intrasquad action. Across the entire landscape though, it was the fallout of Coronavirus that was being felt. Major League implications were now in place, and minor league changes had come as well.
 
With the Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, placing a ban on public gatherings in an attempt to cease the spread of COVID-19 the Minnesota Twins had officially felt their first 2020 impact. Scheduled to play the Seattle Mariners for their second series of the season, those games must now be relocated. Talk has been that they could happen in Arizona, where the Mariners hold their Spring Training, but the situation remains fluid.
 
This isn’t a one city ordeal either. San Francisco has limited public gatherings of more than 1,000 people, and with Oakland just across the bay, a disruption of Minnesota’s Opening Day affairs could soon follow. The NCAA has determined a fan less March Madness will take place, and many individual conferences have followed suit. In response to the newly discovered health scare, many are erring on the side of caution.
 
It wasn’t until today that the Twins decided things would translate to the minor leagues as well. I talked with a couple of players earlier in the week, and they’d noted having been given instruction and direction relating to Coronavirus. On Wednesday however, the Twins had roped off significant portions of the minor league fields at the Lee Country Sports Complex, and ushers were put in place to interrupt the flow of foot traffic. A full-on quarantine of the athletes from bystanders had now been instituted.
 

 
I’m not old enough to understand what the SARS outbreak looked like, and regardless of any research, living this is bordering on interesting to say the least. It feels akin to something like a video-game-esque zombie apocalypse and I feel as though we’re just beginning to see the total fallout. Having had discussions with those more in the know, I’d be greatly surprised to see Major League Baseball play a full 162-game slate in 2020. The logistical hurdles ahead are going to be immense, and without clarification on what could be yet to come, a simple delay could be more straightforward that the nightmare of reactive decisions.
 
We likely won’t know the overall societal impact of this situation for years to come, and it’s almost assuredly going to be a benchmark in history books. While sports play a very small part of the overall social landscape, they are front and center when determining what many citizens gravitate towards.
 
Unfortunately, I think this gets worse before it gets better, and the fallout we see from that could be unprecedented.
 
For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

Ken Rosenthal said on Twitter this morning (I can't figure out how to embed on here):
 
"Expectation within the industry is Ryu will exceed Bumgarner's $17m aav in deal of at least four years. Two industry people with knowledge of starting pitching market predict minimum 4 years/$80 million. Teams still in need of starter include Blue Jays, Angels, Twins."
 
Darren Wolfson via Twitter:
 
"Hear that the MNTwins aren't sure yet if 4-year offer makes sense. His injury history and age suggest it doesn't. But, realistically, the only chance you have to make him think about coming to Minnesota is to go there. Personally, I'd keep exploring the trade market."
 
Sigh.

Given the depth of discussion about the differences in remaining schedule between Cleveland and the Twins, thought a visual snapshot might help put things into focus.
 
Through the games on 8/20, each team has 36 games left. This chart highlights how those games stack up by opponent while also showing how each team has performed so far.
 


 
A few notes & takeaways:
As this community is well aware, the teams have 6 games left head to head (the top row of the chart)
Similarly, both have 7 left against the White Sox going into today's game
The big advantage of course is the 17 games the Twins have vs. KC and Detroit, contrasted with just 9 for Cleveland
Both teams have a 3-gamer against Washington left, in addition to similar-ish matchups in the AL East (Boston for the Twins, Rays for Cleveland)
Cleveland makes up the 8 games the Twins have against the Central with the rest of their series with the Mets plus matchups with the Phillies and Angels

 
The Twins still have to play well, of course, but its nice to have a leg up the rest of the way home.

I could not resist putting up this Home Run Derby between Harmon Killebrew and Rocky Colavito. In this contest the two who had tied for the HR championship of the AL faced off.
 
It is preceded by Harmon taking the crown from Mickey Mantle -
 
And followed by a contest Harmon lost to Ken Boyer - a third baseman who belongs in the
Ken did not last long - his next challenge was Hank Aaron who took over the program.  
It is so amazing to see these greats playing for $2000 - chump change today.
 
It is also fun to see Harmon, pre-Twins days in his Senator's uniform.
 
These are great players without the science of today. I love watching them.
 
Nostalgia - enjoy.

This is an excerpt of an article originating at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full.
 
On the surface, it was just a home run. In a year where 4,588 of them have been hit already, that hardly seems like
a real headline-grabber.
 
MLB hitters have been hitting home runs at a rate of 1.39 per game -- by far the most in a season in history. It's not even really close; the 2017 season ranks second at 1.27 long balls per nine, and no other season is over 1.20.
 
The homer also came late in a game that ended 18-7. That type of score is more commonplace in today's game with balls flying out of the park at an unprecedented rate.
 
Also more commonplace in today's game is position players pitching, and in this case, it was a position player serving up the hitter's second home run of the game.
 
Alright, that's enough of that cryptic business.
 
The home run was in Phoenix, and it came off the bat of Eduardo Escobar.
 
That pitch was thrown by perhaps his best friend in all of baseball -- Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier. If Dozier isn't his closest friend in the game, it's possible the guy catching is -- Nationals backstop Kurt Suzuki.
 
So when Dozier -- a right-handed thrower -- attempted to sneak a 69 mph floater past Escobar -- a switch hitter batting from the right side -- the Diamondbacks' jack-of-all-trades crushed it into oblivion, well into the left-field seats.
 
All three guys did a fairly good job of letting the moment play itself out, until Escobar did his customary home run celebration after rounding third.
 
That's when Suzuki had to get involved, as he playfully told Escobar to get back into the dugout while Dozier simply smiled as he watched his former teammate round the bases.
 
The trio was like mismatched socks -- a Hawaiian, a Mississippi boy and a guy from Venezuela -- who drew glee during their Twins days from bouncing around each other like said socks in a dryer.

If he continues on the path he was on, he will be one of the best players in baseball I know you have to give something to get something,I think this was NOT having to give up Lewis and Kiriloff, I was just getting ready to slam Twins FO, but they have indeed added valuable assets.

Ted wrote "Arguably the most exciting game the Minnesota Twins have played in nearly a decade, the home team dropped a 14-12 affair last night (err this morning) at Target Field." In his recent post - Yankees blog. So I got to thinking - what are the best games the Twins have played - win or lose?
 
Do the two extra innings affairs with the Oakland A's count?
 
Certainly the game seven Jack Morris game is number one. I was there and will never forget it. (Don't tell me Jack isn't a hall of famer.)
 
And I would put game six with Puckett's HR in the twelfth right behind it ( I was there too - so bias is showing).
 
How about game seven of the 1987 World Series, the 500th world series game played, with the Vikings having to postpone their game for a day, where miscue after miscue by umps, teams, runners ended up with the Twins winning on Roy Smalley's 35th birthday and in his last game. He would appear four times in the WS and get on base four times. But this was more about Hrbek and first base and hitting a grand slam.
 
Or maybe game one in 1987 which was not a great game except we won behind Viola, it was the first WS game ever played in a dome, and Dan Gladden hit a grand slam?
 
In the 1965 World Series Jim Kaat out pitched Sandy Koufax to win game two and then lost in the best game - number 7 by a score of 2 - 0 with Koufax taking the series title for the Dodgers.
 
In 1962 Jack Kralick won a no-hitter 1 - 0. How is that for nail biting? May 11, 2011 Francisco Liriano won a no-hitter 1 - 0 to tie Jack Kralick's margin of victory. Dean Chance also had a one run margin for a no-hitter 2 -1.
 
When I looked up the Twins longest games I came up with the Tampa Bay Rays beating us in extra innings in 5 hours and 42 minutes this year, and then the Twins winning in 17 on a Kepler hit June 19. I would keep that on the list. Then June 27 we lost in 18 innings!
 
I have to have the 2009, 163rd game on my list - 6 -5, 12 innings, loser goes home final to the season! Bob Kneppel won for us - I cannot even remember him and Fernando Rodney lost for the Tigers! And we came back from a 3 - 0 deficit. Carlos Gomez scores on a Luis Castillo hit!
 
Then there are the Johan games -8/15/2006 - 8 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 10 Ks (when Ks were harder to get) and we won 3 - 2 against Cleveland. 9/17/2005 seven innings against KC. No runs,1h, 1BB. 8in, 4H, 2BB, 13 K against White Sox on June 28, 2002. Poor Texas played against Johan in 2007 in what is arguably his best game with 83 of his 112 pitches for strikes, 8 innings no runs 2H 0 BB 17 K Twins won 1-0.
 
 
 
My ranking:
Game 7 1991
Game 6 1991
Game 163 2009
Johan Santana 2 hitter versus Texas 2007.
1962 Kralick No-hitter
2011 Liriano No-hitter
Johan Santana wins
Game 1 - 1987 WS
Game 7 - 1965 WS (the only loss I can put on the list)
Game 7 - 1987 WS
Game 2 - Yankee Series this week for tension and drama
June 19th - Kepler wins for us in 17

Fill it up with your favorites.

6/18/19 - Red Sox at Twins - David Price vs Michael Pineda
Box Score:
 

 
Game Summary
The Twins struck first in the second inning with Sano notching a one-out double, followed by a Jake Cave two run homer. It was a no-doubter, as I had a 6-12 roll, which meant that unless the pitcher is very good at preventing HRs, this one was gone. Price is good at preventing homers, but not great, so the Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
The Sox chipped away at the lead as Betts hit a RBI single in the 3rd inning, but the bats exploded in the 4th inning. What followed was an error to get Martinez on 1st, a Devers double, Chavis double, Bradley Jr. single, Betts single, and a Benintendi single. The Red Sox took a strong 5-2 lead that they later strengthened to a 6th run.
The Twins fired back in the bottom of the 5th, though, as Cave lead the inning off with a triple. Schoop singled him in, followed by Garver singling him to second. We then saw Rosario hit a double and Cron hit a single to make the game 6-5 by the end of the 5th.
 
And then in the 6th, the Twins struck again! Cave hit a double (this dude is on a tear!), followed by a Schoop single that moved him to 3rd. David Price was pulled for Mike Shawaryn, who immediately gave up a game-tying single to Polanco. Garver then hit a double that scored Schoop, which gave the Twins a 7-6 lead.
 
But then the bullpen struck - Littell gave up a single, and I pulled him and placed Morin in with one out already recorded. Then Michael Chavis, the young Boston 1st baseman, nailed a 2 run homer to give them a 8-7 lead. This one seems like a game of tug-of-rope.Trevor May then came out to pitch the 8th and gave up 3 singles and a 2 run homer to Mookie Betts, making it 10-7. This is getting real ugly!
 
However, in the 9th, Cruz lead off with a single and Cron walked to get the tying run up to the plate. But Gonzalez and Sano both struck out and Brasier got the save. We are now 1-2 in Strat-O-Land.
 
Another one went down the drain today... but at least this one didn't go 17 innings. I think my record for my longest Strat-O-Matic game went 13 innings. I'd like to see if I could ever break that number.
Here's hoping we can win one next time out!

Blogging about the Twins is something I have been wanting to do for a long time but life has just gotten in the way too much. Over the past five years or so I have been wanting to get into doing this but have never seen a good time to commit. I am finally at the point where I have time to start doing this and I’ve decided to just jump in. Over these past five years I have been preparing to do this by keeping a list of topics I would like to write about so I have a good inventory of subjects I am ready to cover. I hope my writing will prove to be good content for Twins fans who, like me simply can’t get enough coverage of our favorite team.
 
This first topic is going to sound like a bit of a wine piece but I am not intending it to be that way. This topic will have a lot of content so I decided to divide it into 10 parts. In my first 10 editions of of this blog I will be looking at what could have been. I know this is a topic that would have probably played better in the previous years but also think it will be fun in light of the upcoming draft and will help highlight what a crap-shoot drafting amateur baseball players truly can be.
 
In the first 10 editions of my blog I will be looking at each of the Twins’ first round draft selections over the past 10 years. I will be analyzing who the Twins drafted, how they did, and what they could have had instead.
To keep this a realistic exercise, I am going to highlight the guy the Twins actually drafted with their pick in the respective year and then will take a look at the five guys that were drafted immediately after them. I feel like this is a way to say “here are the guys we could have taken” while still keeping it realistic and avoiding saying we should have taken a certain player that all teams missed on. So without further ado here is my first blog post, I hope you enjoy.
 
2009
Twins Selection: Kyle Gibson
With the 22nd overall pick the the 2009 MLB draft, the Twins selected Kyle Gibson out of the University of Missouri. Gibson took five years to get to the major leagues which seems like too long for a college pitcher. He did have some injuries in the minor leagues that required Tommy John Surgery which we all know really takes at least two years to get right. So when this is taken into consideration taking three productive seasons to break into the big leagues is not that bad. Gibson has a career 9.3 WAR and is a nice piece for the current Twins rotation. He finally broke out last season and after starting slow this year, likely because of E.coli suffered during the off-season, he has come around a looked like a nice 3/4 starting pitcher. With the 22nd overall pick this might not be exactly what you want, but as you will soon see is not anywhere close to the worst of the group.
The next five picks:
OF Jared Mitchell- CWS
OF Randal Grichuk- LAA
OF Michael Trout- LAA
RHP Eric Arnett- MIL
SS Nick Franklin- SEA
 
As soon as you look at this list you immediately know the Twins messed it up. The best player of the generation and maybe ever was drafted three spots behind Kyle Gibson. The only thing that can be said in the Twins’ credit is that 23 other teams also missed out on the man who nine years into his career owns a 67.4 WAR and is a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer. Heck, even the Angels weren’t sold on Trout as they took another outfielder right before selecting Trout out of Millville, NJ. So yes, the Twins missed out on the best player in baseball, but they could have done worse in selecting someone who never made it to the big leagues like a some of the group mentioned above.
Jared Mitchell made it to AAA but never to the big leagues. He was actually drafted by the Twins in the 10th round of the 2006 draft but decided to attend LSU instead. He bounced around in the minor league systems of the White Sox, Angels and Yankees for a few years and is currently playing in the Independent League as a member of the Sugar Land Skeeters. He is a career .227 hitter in the minor leagues and never got to trot onto a major league field.
 
Randal Grichuk is the only player on this list besides Mike Trout to have a higher career WAR than Gibson. His career WAR is at 10.1 and has been a good but not great MLB player for six seasons now. Although he was drafted by the Angels, he was traded as part of the David Freese trade to the Cardinals in November of 2013. He is currently a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and is signed there through the 2023 season.
 
Eric Arnett out of the University of Indiana played his entire professional career with the Milwaukee Brewers organization but never made it past high-A. Be has not played since 2013. This is likely due to his bum knee that required surgery in 2013 or the fact that he posted a 5.18 career MiLB ERA.
 
Nick Franklin made it to the big leagues but only has 301 more career games played than I do. He hit .214 across six seasons with Seattle, Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, and LAA. The last MLB game he played came in his only appearance of the season in 2018 with the Brewers. He owns a career WAR of 1.3 with is actually better than I would have expected for a guy who only played in 301 career games.
 
In conclusion, yes the Twins missed on Mike Trout, the MIKE TROUT! However it could have been much worse and they picked a decent player who is still helping them win games in 2019. Even though Grichuk has a better WAR, I feel like the Twins made the second best choice of the group as Grichuk would not be much use on the current Twins roster.
 
Up next,
2010 Draft
Twins Selection: Alex Wimmers

Even though I'm not a Minnesotan, nor do I live in this beautiful state, I've been observing you guys for years. I see a lot of pessimism when it comes to sports. And who can blame you? Few fans in America love their teams as much as you do and, at the same time, have endured such traumatic playoff moments with the Vikings and Wild or such long playoff draughts with the Twins and Timberwolves. You have the right to be – in the words of our Twins Daily own Parker Hageman – dead inside when it comes to sports. Well, maybe it's time to believe again.
I don't live in the US and I haven't set foot there since May 2013. I'm from a country where most people literally have no clue of what baseball is. I met the game of baseball in 2008, at age 16. So, it's nearly impossible for me to have access to any publication (or clothing items, memorabilia, sports gear...) about the sport. But, miraculously, one of my students gave me a very special gift some weeks ago.
Having taken an exchange programme to the USA in 2015, he was hosted by a Kansas City family during his time there. He knows nothing about baseball himself, but his family did and they gave him a Sports Illustrated 2015 World Series Commemorative Issue. He kept that, only to, almost four years later, give that as a present to his all-time favorite teacher. I was thrilled. I almost didn't even care about the fact that the Royals are a Twins division rival. Afterall, it was the first baseball publication I ever laid hands on.
The magazine sat on my desk at home for some days. In the meantime, the Twins flourished as the team with the best record in baseball. I would be lying if I said I saw that coming, but I can't say I'm shocked by that either. But a lot of people are, indeed, shocked. I lost count of how many people on social media are doubting the Twins. “Enjoy 'em while you can, 'cause they won't last”. And that's not even from people outside of Minnesota only. Like I explained on the first paragraph, many Minnesotans don't believe their Twins are for real. That made me a little mad. And then, the magazine spoke to me.
In the midst of so much pessimism and disbelief coming from every which way, I started browsing through that $12.99 SI issue from November of 2015 and I thought to myself: why can't the Twins be this year's version of the 2015 Royals? And believe me or not, I found a lot of similarities between the two teams. I'm not saying here that Minnesota will win the World Series. All I'm saying is that it's OK to believe in it – like I do right now.
Even though we've had our hearts broken by the Brett Favre interception, the Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh missed field goals, the Jimmy Butler fiasco, the Joe Nathan blown save in the '09 ALDS and, well, the whole Wild playoff history, you might not be a fool to let your guard down for this Twins team. If you don't believe me, let us go through some of the things these two great ball clubs have in common.
 
A couple of underdogs
When experts started predicting what would happen that season, almost none of them believed the 2015 Royals would even make the playoffs. Which, in retrospect, is kind of odd, considering they had just been to the World Series less than six months earlier. In his opening piece, Jay Jaffe wrote about how the Royals were picked by specialists to make it to the postseason in only 13 of 149 predictions.
Maybe this year’s Twins are not as much discredited as the Royals were then. Per that year’s PECOTA, Kansas City was expected to have a 72-90 record. Instead, they had a 95-67 one. This year’s PECOTA, at first, predicted an 81-81 record for the Twins, but a number of specialists considered them when predicting which team would win the AL Central.
A month and a half into the season, with over 25% of games played, Minnesota has the second best in baseball, after holding the best one overall for over a week. The Twins are on pace to win almost 105 games. I don’t actually believe they will reach triple digits in wins, but at this point it’s plausible to believe that they will surpass the 90-win mark. Curiously enough, after 43 games, the 2015 Royals and the current Twins owned an identical record of 28-15.
Another aspect that those teams have in common is the small Opening Day payroll. On that same Jaffe opening piece, he wrote that the Royals were the first team since the 2003 Marlins to win a World Series, even though they were at the bottom half of all MLB payrolls (17th, at $112.9 million). Per Spotrac, the Twins had the 18th payroll in the league on Opening Day, at $122.1 million, almost $12 million below league average.
Even their track record leading up to their World Series success is somewhat similar to the Twins. Between 2004 and 2012, Kansas City had nine losing records, never winning more than 75 games and with an average of 66 wins per season on that span. Then, they won 86 and 89 games in the two seasons before their championship year. In the six seasons that follow their last division title, the Twins won an average of 67 games each season, including a 59-103 record in 2016, the worst one in club history. They went on to win 85 and make the playoffs for the first time in seven years in 2017 and came close to an eighty win season again last year, finishing with 78.
I don’t believe in coincidences nor am I saying that all of these will have any effect on the outcome of this season. They won’t. But it’s fun to look at those facts, especially when basically no one believes smaller market teams can actually win a title. Let’s not buy into the notion that a team can only win a ring with a $200 million payroll.
A steamroller offense
Tom Verducci wrote, on that same SI issue, a piece entitled ‘Postmodern Swing’, which broke down the main strengths of that Royal offense. According to him, one of the most important features of that offense was its aggressiveness. The Royals saw the fewest pitches per plate appearance that year, with 3.71. Their philosophy was to chase after hittable pitches early and not give up easy strikes. Still, they were the team that struck out the least in MLB that year, with a 15.9% strikeout rate. They also average an MLB 7th best 4.4 runs per game. Which team has done something similar this year?
Some weeks ago, Aaron Gleeman wrote this great piece explaining how the Twins have added power and, at the same time, have been striking out much less. They have been the team that struck out the third least in MLB, currently with a 19.5% strikeout rate. In comparison with the ‘15 Royals, Minnesota is also scoring more, with a 5.4 runs per game average, and has much more power, as they lead the MLB with .236 ISO, against .144 of those Royals. In terms of pitches per plate appearance, Minnesota also doesn’t see a lot of pitches, with an average of 3.78.
Both these Twins and those Royals have something else in common. They both swing a lot and get good contact. Here is how they rank:
2015 Royals
Contact% - 81.9% (1st in MLB)
O-Contact% - 68.8% (2nd)
Swing% - 47.6% (9th)
O-Swing% - 32.5% (5th)
 
2019 Twins
Contact% - 77.5% (6th in MLB)
O-Contact% - 63.2% (7th)
Swing% - 48.1% (4th)
O-Swing% - 32.3% (6th)
And one last nice coincidence that these two offenses have. In 2015, the Royals had Alcides Escobar as their leadoff man, even though he had a low OBP, contradicting modern tendencies. Escobar finished the season with a .293 OBP. He also saw very few pitches, with an average of 3.49 per plate appearance and swung at 51.3% of pitches and managed to make contact in 83.8% of them. Looking at Minnesota’s current leadoff man, Max Kepler, we also have an aggressive hitter (51.5 % Swing% and 82.2% Contact%), who sees fez pitches (3.56 per PA) and has a not so high base occupation (.308). According to Verducci’s piece, Escobar ‘set the tone’ for the rest of the Royal lineup, making opposing pitchers aware of the fact that they wouldn’t get any easy strikes.
Quality pitching
When we talk about the Royals pitching from that World Series campaign, the first thing that comes to our minds is their extraordinary bullpen. Then, one might think that here would lie the biggest difference between the two teams. Yes, that Wade Davis led group of relievers was no match for this current Minnesota ‘pen, but when comparing the two pitching staffs overall, we can find more identical features.
Believe it or not, but the two pitching staffs have virtually the same numbers, with an inversion. Kansas City had a lights-out bullpen and a below average rotation, resulting in the 10th best ERA in the MLB. The Twins on the other hand, don’t have a stellar rotation nor bullpen, but both those groups are among the ten best in baseball.
2015 Royals
Overall: 3.74 ERA (10th), 4.04 FIP (15th)
Starters: 4.34 ERA (22nd), 4.32 FIP (21st)
Relievers: 2.72 ERA (2nd), 3.56 FIP (10th)
 
2019 Twins
Overall: 3.88 ERA (9th), 4.13 FIP (13th)
Starters: 3.66 ERA (6th), 4.23 FIP (13th)
Relievers: 4.31 ERA (19th), 3.96 FIP (9th)
Davis was out of this world that season. If there has been a reliever more deserving than him of winning the first Cy Young award in the AL since 1992, I really believe he was the best candidate. Not only did he finish the regular season with a 0.94 ERA in 61 ⅓ innings pitched, but he also neared perfection during the postseason, posting a 0.00 ERA in eight games.
I don’t see anyone within this Twins pitching staff (so far) with the ability to be what Davis was for that Royals team - but there’s no need for it. Up until now, Minnesota’s pitchers have done a decent job. The overall bullpen numbers are a bit tainted because of bad outings from young arms tested out of Rochester and because of slumps from, mainly, Trevor Hildenberger and Adalberto Mejía. But, as of this moment, six of the eight bullpen arms in the 25-man roster have an ERA of 2.76 or lower. Newcomer Austin Adams hasn’t pitched this season yet.
Their rotations can’t be compared. At least until this moment, Twins starters have done an outstanding job. Maybe we’ve set the bar too low after years of bad rotations, but things have looked extremely nice. Which, with this whole exercise of comparing these two teams can be very exciting. The Royals were world champions even though the four starters they’ve used in the postseason combined for a 4.96 ERA in 16 starts.
Deadline additions: a blueprint for the Twins
To help end the 30-year World Series drought, the Royals traded for two key-pieces near the trade deadline. They traded Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed for Reds’ superstar starter Johnny Cueto and sent Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea to Oakland in exchange for veteran super utility player Ben Zobrist. Those proved to be vital additions to their goals.
Zobrist had a solid last portion of the regular season with the Royals, slashing .284/.364/.453 (.816). During the postseason, he performed even better, hitting .303/.365/.515 (.880) and with five multi-hit games. But he also provided a much needed boost that might have made a big difference.
Before his arrival, Royals second basemen slashed .231/.251/.319 (.570). In 35 games starting at that position in the remainder of the regular season, Zobrist hit .275/.348/.457 (.805). He also played 18 games as a LF, a position in which Kansas City had a good production, with .273/.383/.467 (.850). But Zobrist managed to top even that, hitting .299/.392/.463 (.855).
 
Cueto on the other hand wasn’t as dominant as Zobrist, but he was still essential to the Kansas City success. He had a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts for the Royals during the regular season and a 5.40 ERA in the postseason, but those numbers alone can be very misleading. In four playoff starts, he had a mediocre outing (6.0 innings, 4 ER) in game 2 of the ALDS, a terrible one (2.0 IP, 8 ER) in game 3 of the ALCS, but two amazingly good ones to compensate. He pitched a on run complete game in the World Series, helping the Royals to open a 2-0 lead in the series.
So what’s the lesson the Twins can learn out of the Royals shopping in the 2015 trade deadline? It’s hard to imagine, at least based on this first quarter of the season, that Minnesota is going after big names to help their offense. I mean, all help is welcomed, but if they had to invest top prospects in one area, I don’t believe the offense would be their priority.
But when we look at their pitching staff, you can see a lot of room for improvement. As well as the rotation has pitched so far, the Twins would benefit a lot from a better arm to fill the gap Michael Pineda has been leaving until this moment. He currently has a 5.85 ERA, the worst among starters. The bullpen also could use some help - even more than the rotation. Bottomline is, it doesn’t matter how well the arms might be doing, with their clear exceptions, of course, shopping for one or two dominant arms could make a difference between a World Series victory and a quick visit to the postseason.
And who could be the best candidates? Well, if you’re talking about bringing in a starter and a reliever, one can only consider signing the two biggest unsigned names in the last offseason: former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel and superstar closer Craig Kimbrel. But this would also represent a great risk, given the fact we don’t know in what shape they would show up. Also, there’s very little, if any, indications that Minnesota would be willing to pay them. I mean, if there’s any interest, why didn’t they pull the trigger yet?
Since that’s the most unlikely option, we should look at what possible options they could go after via trade. For rotation help, I believe the best choices that they would have would be Madison Bumgarner or Stephen Strasburg, MadBum being my favorite. For the bullpen, my favorite candidate would be old friend Liam Hendriks. But there are many more options around and I’m sure the Twins front office has a keen eye for that job.
In conclusion, smaller market teams will always raise more suspiscions than inspire confidence among non-fans. They will always doubt those teams. But the 2015 Royals are the closest example we have that this dream is doable. And, as shown during this article, they have a long list of common features with this year’s Twins. So, it’s OK to believe.

With the announcement that Nelson Cruz suffered a wrist injury yesterday, my immediate thought was who would replace him in the lineup and on the roster if he had to go on the injured list. It would appear to me that the answer is the much-discussed Miguel Sanó, who is on his third and last stop in his rehab program.
 
Much has been written about Sanó. I wish to confine this discussion to the ballplayer between the lines. The other stuff has been beaten to death IMHO. What will the Twins get when a healthy Sanó is on the active roster?
 
Sanó came up to the big leagues with much hype in 2015. He was going to be the power hitter the Twins hadn't had since Harmon Killebrew. Another comparison, because of size, was Frank Thomas. Sanó's rookie year was excellent. Despite being called up only at midseason, he was a contender for Rookie-of-the-Year. His traditional state line--.269 BA, 18 homers, 52 RBI was very good. Double the homers and RBIs for a full season, and there is a perennial All-Star, future Hall of Famer. Plus, he was only 22 years of age. A deeper look at his rookie stats was probably even more encouraging, while Miguel struck out over 100 times (in a half season), he also walked more than 50 times, giving him a solid OBP of .385. His OPS was a stellar .916 which yielded an OPS+ of 149. After a minor injury, Miguel only played 11 games in the field, so we couldn't be sure about his defense. For his superior half-season of work, Miguel Sanó was voted the Twins' Player of the Year.
 
2016 started with Sanó installed as the new right fielder. He was never competent or comfortable there and it seemed to affect his hitting. After a month and a half of futility in right field, Miguel moved back to third to demonstrate a rocket arm, but less-than-soft hands. His metrics at third came in below average, but at least he could hit. Well, the hitting didn't go as well either. Sanó ended up playing in 116 game, having an OPS of .781 with 19 homers and 51 RBI as the Twins flailed and failed and lost over 100 games. Sanó missed over 30 games due to injuries. Again, a deeper look into Sanó's numbers is a mixed bag. In 160 additional plate appearances, Sanó only hit one more homer than 2015, his walk rate plummeted while his strikeout rate stayed basically steady. The batting average ended at .236 and his OBP fell to.319.
 
Sanó was a deserved All-Star in 2017. He came to camp as the third baseman, healthy and came out of the gate on fire. His first-half stats were outstanding--.276, 21 homers, 62 RBI and his defense at third was satisfactory. The strikeout rate remained about the same (35%), but he also walked 44 times, a big improvement over 2016 and the OBP was .368 at the break.
 
Since the 2017 All-Star break, Miguel Sanó hasn't been very good. The combined numbers from the second half of '17 and 2018 are .211 BA, 20 homers, 56 RBI. OBP at .292, slugging .408, with an OPS of .700. The walk rate is below 10% and the strikeout rate is 38%. These are not future Hall-of-Fame numbers. They aren't even starter numbers. In addition, according to metrics (and my eyes) Sanó remains a below-average third baseman, despite a plus-plus arm.
 
To summarize this rather elongated prologue, Sanó's on-field performance has been a roller coaster. He started looking like one of the brightest stars, faded, came back to that level again and faded again. Does this up-and-down have to do with injuries? Certainly. The point here is to suggest that the Twins shouldn't be counting on Sanófor too much. Expectations of another Frank Thomas or Miguel Cabrera should be tempered by now. I think they should expect more than they gotten since the All-Star break of 2017. They should get more than Mark Reynolds-like production. If the strikeouts keep coming and the homers are too infrequent, he can still be optioned. This club looks like at least a contender for postseason. If that is the case, they shouldn't be playing guys based on potential or upside.
 
Miguel Sanó is at a crossroads in his career (in my opinion). He soon will have a chance to step on stage with a good team and help them make postseason, and maybe have success there. He's now 26 and shouldn't be judged on what he might do, he should be judged by how he is actually performing on the field.As a Twins fan and a baseball fan, I hope he can find his earlier success. As someone who has seen a lot of hyped players come and go, I am a bit skeptical.

Last full time position – Right Field – who fills out the rosters. For me Clemente epitomizes RF, the arm, the bat, the range so who do the Twins have?
 
In 1961 Bob Allison was there 150 games. He was written about in LF so I will not go into details here. Allison dominated 1962 as well with Tuttle and George Banks getting the other games. In 1963 it was Allison, Jimmie Hall and Wally Post. 1964 Tony Oliva sent Allison to 1B.
 
Tony Oliva was a dream. I loved to watch him. He was almost perfect in my eyes so my prejudice is showing. In 1965 he was backed up by Sandy Valdespino and Andy Kosco. In 1966 Hall and Allison picked up the games Oliva did not cover. 1967 Oliva still dominated. In 1968 Oliva had 126 games, Holt, Craig Nettles, Tovar and Kostro all had double figure appearances. Oliva was injured and missed 34 games. In 1969 he again joined the greats in the game leading the league in hits and doubles. Healthy in 1970 he played 154 games in RF and finished third for the batting title. He hit 325, with 23 home runs and 107 RBIs. He also led the AL in hits (204) for the fifth time, in doubles (36) for the fourth time, and finished second in MVP voting for the second time, this time to Baltimore's Boog Powell. In 1971, Oliva won his third AL batting title with a .337 average and led the league in slugging percentage (.546), but his knees began to ache and force him out of many games. Surgery took him off the field and Tovar took over RF in 1972 with Bobby Darwin. From there to the end he was DH.
 
Oliva 15 years .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR 1138 games out of 1676 in RF.
 
Bobby Darwin had the most starts in RF in 1973, Jim Holt had 21. Darwin had 142, Hisle 27 in 1974.
In 1975 Lyman Bostock was there 55 games, Steve Brye 51, Bobby Darwin 27, John Briggs 16, Mike Poepping 13! Dan Ford was there 139 games in 1976 with Brye and Hisle getting 18 each. Dan was there 135 in 1977 with Glenn Adams and Rich Chiles getting 20+ each. In the 1978 season Ford switched to center and Hosken Powell took over right. Then in 1979 it was Powell, Bombo Rivera, Willie Norwood, Dave Edwards, Rick Sofield and Glenn Adams, obviously an unsettled position. After a career year in 1979, Powell spiraled down in BA. Powell held on to RF in 1980 on the strength of 1979. And Dave Engle got the most starts in an Engle/Powell tandem in 1981.
 
Tom Brunansky was the number one RF starter in 1982 – 97 games, Engle and Gary Ward and Mickey Hatcher were all in more than 20 games. 1983 Brunansky 120, Hatcher 47. It was nearly all Brunansky in 1984, 1985, 1986, and in 1987 Brunansky was there 107 games, Randy Bush 73, Mark Davidson 33. In 1988 Brunansky was traded to the Cardinals for Tommy Herr. Big Mistake! Randy Bush took over right with Mark Davidson behind him
 
.
Tom Brunansky 7 years 163 HRs .250/.330/.452/.782 16.1 WAR
 
Randy Bush had the most games in RF in 1989 – 88, john Moses 63, Carmelo Castillo 61, and Gene Larkin 31. It was an unsettled position. 1990 had six players with 19 or more games in RF – John Moses, Shane Mack, Gene Larkin, Randy Bush, Carmelo Castillo and Pedro Munoz. Shane Mack was equally in all three OF positions in 1991 with Gene Larkin, Pedro Munoz, Randy Bush, Jarvis Brown and Kirby Puckett having 19 or more games there and still we won the WS.
 
1992 saw Pedro Munoz in RF 117 games and Larkin, JT Bruett, Randy Bush and Jarvis Brown having 18 or more. 1993 was another of those years I call a scrum. Puckett moved over from CF for 47, Pedro Munoz 41, Dave McCarty 34, DAVE WINFIELD 31, and Gene Larkin 25. In 1994 Puckett was in RF 95 games, but I have to put him in CF for this exercise. Munoz 19. Kirby kept RF in 1995 and it was Pedro Munoz last year.
 
 
Pedro Munoz 6 years .275/.316/.444/.760 minus -0.4 – I cannot rank him.
 
1996 saw four with more than 20 games starting with Matt Lawton and 60, Roberto Kelly, Denny Hocking, Ron Coomer. 1997 another mix – Lawton playing all three positions had 66 in RF, Roberto Kelly 57, Brent Brede 40, Rich Beckerr 14. 1998 Matt Lawton gave us a 100 game starter. Alex Ochoa and Orland Merced were next. Matt Lawton had 103 in 1999 and a big mix of 13+ by Marty Cordova, Coery Koskie, Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter, Denny Hocking. 2000 had Lawton bounce back and forth LF/RF with 83 games in RF, Midre Cummings 33, Brian Buchanan 24, Denny Hocking 19, Butch Huskey 15, and Chad Allen 13. Lawton continued was RF only 94 games in 2001 with Brian Buchanan and Bobby Kielty behind him. In conflict with the Twins over arbitration – “In February 2001, Twins general manager Terry Ryan stated that he did not plan on trading Lawton, contrary to other reports.[36] Furthermore, Twins manager Tom Kelley stated that he did not expect Lawton would be traded under any circumstances.[36] It was noted in spring training in 2001 that Lawton had gained 14 pounds (6.4 kg).[37] Lawton was taken out of the Twins starting lineup in May, due to lack of production.[38] As a member of the Twins that year, he batted .293 with 71 runs scored, 110 hits, 25 doubles, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 103 games played.” Wiki. In 2001 he was a Met.
 
Matt Lawton 7 years .277/.379/.428/.808 11.3 WAR
 
Dustin Mohr led in appearances in 2002 with Bobby Kielty, a Minnesota legend having 50, Cuddyer 25, Buchanan 24. Mohr and Kielty again in 2003 and Jacque Jones with Lew Ford in 2004. Jones, Cuddyer, and Ford – 2005, Cuddyer 142 in 2006 with Lew Ford 22. Cuddyer and Tyner in 2007. In 2008 Span had the most games in RF followed by Cuddyer and Kubel. Cuddyer was in 117 in 2009, Span 39 (playing mostly CF) and Kubel 30. Kubel then had 83 in 2010, Cuddyer 66, Repko 39. Cuddyer 77 in 2011, Kubel 50, Repko 27.
 
Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR 903/1427 appearances in RF.
 
Ben Revere started 84 games in RF in 2012 which blows the great arm qualification. Mastroianni 34, Parmelee 18, Plouffe 15. Parmelee had 68 in RF in 2013 and Ryan Doumit 32 and Oswaldo Arcia 20 with Chris Herrmann 21. Looking at that group I can see why we were 66 – 96. Oswaldo Arcia had 100 games backed by Parmelee and Chris Colbello and Chris Herrmann in 2014 – yikes. Torii Hunter was the primary starter in 123 RF games in 2015, but he is in the CF rankings.
 
Now we have Kepler and he does not fit in this ranking.
 
In fact most of the names above do not; the best I can come up with is:
1. Oliva 15 years .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR 1138 games out of 1676 in RF. 220 HR.
2. Tom Brunansky 7 years 163 HRs .250/.330/.452/.782 16.1 WAR
3. Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR 903/1427 appearances in RF.
4. Matt Lawton 7 years .277/.379/.428/.808 11.3 WAR

I have been following ESPN’s look at positions and comparing the position’s historically by statistics and currently by ranking the players and putting them in tiers. So of course, since I have been watching the Twins since their Minnesota debut I thought we should do the same things. Like ESPN I will start with the Catchers.
 
 
Earl Battey was our first catcher and in many ways was under rated. He was our catcher for 8 of his 13 years in the big leagues – starting with the White Sox and ending with the Twins. His slash line for those 8 years is .277/.354/.412 – OPS .766 – OPS + 109 and WAR 17.5 (an average for the 8 years of 2.2 per year). Now wouldn’t those lines be great today?
 
George Mitterwald was the next catcher – He started with the Twins and was in Minnesota for 7 years before playing four years for the cubs. 239/.304 /.373 OPS .676 was a come down from Battey. He had a WAR of 6 (0.85 per year). Phil Roof was his second, but George played 120 games.
 
In 1974 Roof stayed as the backup along with Randy Hundley and Glenn Borgmann played 128 games. Glenn played for the Twins for 8 years and then, like the previous three had a stint (1 year) in Chicago. 229/.325/.304/.630 lowered the standards again. His WAR was 5 for the 8 years (.6 average). You have to discount the WAR because he lost his starting role in 1976 so he had only two full seasons to create this WAR total.
 
Randy Hundley was replaced by the forgettable Tom Lundstedt as third catcher in 1975 and was gone in 1976 as Butch Wynegar (Griffiths – Love that Kid) took charge, Borgmann dropped to two and Roof to three. Butch had a good press but his .254/.340 /.342/.682 means he was somewhat overrated. He did acquire a WAR total of 15.3 for those seven years because his defense was very good. (2.2 average WAR).
 
In 1977 Bud Bulling replaced Roof as number three. Do you remember those days when rosters had number three catchers? Wow! After Bulling left – one year – we really just kept Wynegar and Borgmann for a few years.
 
In 1980 Borgmann went to the Cubs and we brought in, as backup, Sal Butera who started 32 games. Then in 1981 Butera played 59 games, Wynegar 37, Ray Smith 15 and Tim Laudner 12. Butera was with the Twins for four years and his slash line was .233/.303 /.274/.577 with a Total WAR for the four years of -0.8 or an average of -0.2.
 
In 1982 Tim Laudner took over, Butera was number 2, Wynegar number 3. Tim played nine years – all for the Twins and of course is a local Icon now. His line was 225/.292/.391/.682 and total WAR 3.2 an average of 0.3 per year.
 
In 1983 Laudner dropped to number 3 with 57 games behind Ray Smith 59 games and Dave Engle 72! Dave Engle played for Minnesota for five years with a line of .268/.316/.400/.716 and a low WAR of 3.4 which would have been okay for a catcher but in reality he played more OF/DH/3B. In 1984 he was still catcher number one, with Tim Laudner 2 and Jeff Reed as number three.
 
Then Engle dropped to number three in 1985 with only 17 games behind the plate, Laudner had 68, and a man I had forgotten – Mark Salas was number one with 115 games! Salas was with us three years and had a respectable line - .279/.320/.440/.760 He had a 2.7 WAR of .9 per year and he went on to play 8 years – with the Yankees, White Sox, Cleveland and Detroit.
 
In 1986 Salas had 69 games, Laudner 68, and Reed 64! In 1987 Laudner took over the position again with 101 games and Sal Butera was back as number 2 with Tom Nieto number 3 and Mark Salas number 4. And in 1987 Laudner kept the number one position for 109 games and Tom Nieto played in 24 and a guy by the name of Harper came in and played 48. Harper took over in 1988 and Laudner was second again. Behind Laudner for games at catcher that year were Orlando Mercado, Lenny Webster, and Greg Olson.
 
Harper took over for sure in 1988 and was backed up by Junior Ortiz and Lenny Webster. Harper played 16 years, 6 with Minnesota. In those six years he was .306/.342/.431/.773 with a WAR total of 13.4 or 2.3 per year. The same threesome was there in 1991 and in 1992/1993 Ortiz was replaced with Derek Parks.
 
In 1994 Derek Parks was the only hold over, but Matt Walbeck took over the starting position. In three years with the Twins his line was .230/.271/.300 /.571 and a WAR of (-1.5) giving him an average of -0.5 per year. He ended up playing in the majors for 11 years. In 1995 Parks was gone and Matt Merulo and Jeff Reboulet played back up.
Greg Myers took over in 1996 (and I cannot remember him at all) and Walbeck was second with Mike Durant Catching 34 games. Despite my amnesia, he played in the majors for 18 years! His two years with MN he had a line of .279/.323/.429 /.752 which looks really good and he had a WAR of 1.2 or .6 per year.
 
Myers became expendable when Terry Steinbach took over in 1997 and caught 116 games. Myers caught 38, Damian Miller 20 and Javier Valentin caught 4. In 1998 Valentin took over backup with 53 games, Terry caught 119 and a new guy – A J Pierzynski caught 6. Steinbach had a line of .256/.321/.399/ .719 for three years and WAR of 3.2 and average of 1.1.
 
In all Terry caught for 14 years in the big leagues with Oakland and Minnesota.
Steinbach was still number one in 1999 with 96 games and number two was not AJ – it was Valentin with 76 games. AJ caught 9. Then in 2000 we had a catcher mess! Marcus Jensen (who?) caught 49 games, Matt LeCroy caught 49 games, Chad Moeller (double who?) caught 48, AJ caught 32, and Danny (triple who???) Ardoin caught 15. Marcus was in the majors seven years. In his one with us he was .209/.325/.338/ .663 and WAR was 0.0.
 
In 2001 we cleared the field and AJ took over and caught 110 games with Tom Prince catching 64 and LeCroy catching 3. AJ has a 19 year career – amazing for a catcher. Based on rumors he has 19 friends too, but all we care about are his catching credentials. .301/.341/.447/.788 are fine numbers and his WAR 9.5 for six years needs to be factored with two of those being non-playing years so he really averaged 2.38 for the four years he was starter! Pretty damn good numbers.
 
In 2002 he was backed up by the same two plus Valentin. In 2003 Valentin was replaced by Rob Bowen. And in 2004 AJ was gone and we had another logjam. Henry Blanco caught the most games – 114 with a line of .206/.260/.368/ .628 and (-0.2) WAR which makes him forgettable as a Twin, but he had a 16 year career. His backup were Joe Mauer 32 games, Matt LeCroy 26, Pat Borders 19, Rob Bowen 15.
 
2005 began the Joe Mauer era and his back ups were Mike Redmond, Chris Heintz, Corky Miller, and Matt LeCroy for 1. LeCroy and Miller were gone in 2006. But LeCroy caught 4 again in 2007 and Jose Morales caught 1. Ryan Jorgenson caught 2 games in 2008 and the rest were Redmond and Mauer (139). 2009 Redmond and Mauer had Morales as the number 3. In 2010 Redmond was gone. Redmond was here for five years and had a line that read .297/.339/.359/.699 with a total of 1.3 WAR. Not bad for a back up.
 
The 2010 backups were Drew Butera – Sal’s son – and Jose Morales, plus a catcher by the name of Wilson Ramos got in 7 games. In 2011 we had a pivotal year and Mauer could catch only 52 games and Drew Butera caught 93. Mauer and Butera had Rene Rivera start 44 games and Steve Holm six. I do not have the ability to sort our all of Mauer’s Catcher stats from his 1B stats, but I did find that he hit .308/.391/.444 as a Catcher! And his legacy is affected by his .280/.359/.396 line at 1B. My best guess in 31.9 WAR as a catcher. BR has him with 11 seasons at a catcher which gives him an average WAR of 2.9.
 
In 2012 Mauer still caught 74 games, the famous Ryan Doumit caught 59, Drew Butera caught 41 and Chris Herrmann caught 3. This stayed about the same in 2013 with Mauer getting in 75 games, Doumit 43, Herrmann 27 and Josmil Pinto an exciting 20. But that is not all. Eric Fryer caught 5 and Drew Butera 2. It was Doumits last year with the Twins before going to Atlanta. Doumit in his two years was .261/.317/.428/.745 1.6 WAR which was really good as a part time player.
 
2014 We turned to Kurt Suzuki who is now with the Nationals and had a good run with Atlanta after leaving us. Josmil Pinto started 25 games, Eric Fryer 24, and Chris Herrmann 1. In 2015 Suzuki started 130 games, Pinto started 38 and Eric Fryer 15. Suzuki continued to be the number one in 2016 when he started 99 games, Juan Centeno started 53 and John Ryan Murphy was in 25. Suzuki had a three year run with .263/.316/.364/.680 and 3.3 WAR or 1.1 average.
 
Then we move in to Castro/Giminez/Garver/Wilson/Astudillo and even Graterol. These are not in my measures of the best. With time they may be, but lets look at what this long exercise has produced.
 
So how do we rate them?
Most years
1. Mauer 11
2. Battey 8
3. Borgmann 8
4. Mitterwald 7
5. Wynegar 7
 
Batting average
1. Mauer 308
2. Harper 306
3. Pierzynski 301
4. Redmond 297
5. Battey 277
 
OBP
1. Mauer 391
2. Battey 354
3. Harper 342
4. Pierzynski 341
5. Wynegar 340
 
Slugging
1. Pierzynski 447
2. Mauer 444
3. Salas 440
4. Harper 431
5. Myers 429
 
OPS
1. Mauer 835
2. Pierzynski 788
3. Harper 773
4. Battey 766
5. Salas 760
 
Total WAR
1. Mauer 31.9
2. Battey 17.5
3. Wynegar 15.3
4. Harper 13.4
5. Pierzynski 9.5
 
Average WAR per Twin Season
1. Mauer 2.9
2. Harper 2.3
3. Battey 2.2
4. Wynegar 2.2
5. Pierzynski 1.6 (2.4 as starter)
 
Mauer is obvious number 1 – then? Harper, Battey, Pierzynski, and Wynegar seem to show up the most.

Today we have turned to the Dominican Republic like we used to look to Cuba. Nelson Cruz, Miguel Sano, Alaberto Mejia, Michael Pineda, Jorge Polanco, Fernando Romero, and Ervin Santana. We also have three from Venezuela. Perhaps the best way to get past the border wall is to hit a ball over it. In the past it was Cuba that was the birthplace of ballplayers.
 
In the 1930s, Cuba like the rest of the world was trying to fight the depression and Cuban baseball, a main stay of their nation and a feeder system for baseball elsewhere was hurting. President Gerardo was overthrown and the dictator Bautista came in to power. The Cuban League was hurting but this winter league had talent - Cuban native Martín Dihigo and Negro League stars Ray Brown, Ray Dandridge, Josh Gibson and Willie Wells. Then after a 1947 agreement with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues American clubs sent their top prospects across the Gulf of Mexico for more seasoning in winter ball.
 
Minnie Miñoso, Camilo Pascual and Zoilo Versailes, Negro League stars like Monte Irvin and Don Newcombe and fresh-faced American prospects Jim Bunning, Tommy Lasorda and Brooks Robinson created one of the most stacked collections of baseball talent anywhere in the world. This was Cuban baseball and to Cuba, it was not the winter league, it was the major league with four teams all playing in the same stadium and competing for the national championship.
 
But, of course, history and politics intervened, and a different dynamic took place. Our most important Cuban connections were probably in our very first years as a Twins team when Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, Zoilo Versalles and Tony Oliva made our Cuban Connection. They were lucky to get out of Cuba before the two countries became such enemies that a player could not sign and leave. Lucky for the Twins or the 1965 World Series would not have happened.
 
Tony's father was a cigar roller in Cuba who promoted his sons movement to the US to play ball. On his immigration papers he was listed as his 18 year old bother Pedro instead of the 21 year old Tony. He came over and changed his middle name to Pedro. He came to the US during 1961 spring training and had 7 hits in 10 at bats in the final three games of the spring, but the Twins decided their rosters were full and let him go. Luckily he went to Charlotte to train with a friend and the Charlotte GM, Phil Howser, called and convinced the Twins to sign him. He led the league with a 410 average.
 
Versalles was signed in 1958 – before the Cuban revolution. Camilo Pascual was in US Professional Baseball in 1951 and Ramos by 1955. All of them missed our hatred of Cuba and the communist government.
 
Cuba has also contributed to the HOF with Cepeda and Perez, but has great stars like Canseco, Pascual, Campenaris, Palmeiro, Luque, Cuellar, Minoso, and Tiant ( a Twin in 1969).
 
In 2014 a Twins Daily post looked at all the Minnesota Twins Cuban players –
”Once upon a time, when I was young, the Twins were a team that had a lot of Cuban players. In 1961, six Cuban natives saw time on the Twins' roster, including All-Star Camilo Pascual and future MVP Zoilo Versalles. In 1962, two more Cubanos played for the Twins, one of them being Twins Hall-of-Famer Tony Oliva. All of these players left Cuba before Cuba was closed off to the US by Castro.
In recent years, the Twins have had only one Cuban-born player, Livan Hernandez, who lasted less than a year as a member of the Twins' rotation.
Here is a list of all Cuban-born (169) major league ballplayers:\
http://www.baseball-...ce.php?loc=Cuba
Here is my unofficial list of Cuban-born Twins: Julio Becquer, Leo Cardenas, Bert Cueto, Livan Hernandez, Hank Izquierdo, Marty Martinez, Tony Oliva, Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, Jose Valdivielso, Sandy Valdespino, and Zoilo Versalles.
All of this brings us to the Twins' newest acquisition, Kendrys Morales. He had been in the US long enough that I had forgotten that he was a Cuban defector. He would be the first position player from Cuba to play for the Twins in almost 40 years.” By stringer bell

The revolution was understandable – Bautista was a terrible man and a terrible dictator and Castro was an unknown. “We heard bombs going off and we knew (Fidel) Castro was in the mountains, and Bautista was there,” said Brooks Robinson, a member of Cienfuegos in the winter of 1957, in an interview with the Hall of Fame, “but we would have a bomb go off in the city and then one went off behind the ballpark one time, so we knew there were some things happening.” https://baseballhall.org/discover/hall-of-famers-played-in-cuban-winter-league
 
The Hall of Fame website recounts an part of Lasorta’s memoirs – THE ARTFUL DODGER, “When Castro took over the city on the first of January, me, Art Fowler and Bob Allison came out of a New Year's party with our wives, and it was 3:30 in the morning and I look up and three planes were flying overhead,” said Lasorda. “I said ‘Geez who in the world is flying at this time at night?’”
 
The planes were carrying Batista and his cabinet as they fled the country. Then, Lasorda ended up having his own brush with Castro, when the new leader – a noted baseball aficionado – asked for a meeting with Almendares' star pitcher.
 
“Howie Haak, the scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was with me at the time,” Lasorda recalled in a 2008 interview with Newsday, “So I said, ‘Come on Howie, you come with me.’ When we went into the Havana Hilton into his suite, Howie couldn't believe it. Castro was waiting to talk to me. We talked baseball. And Howie enjoyed that, as I did too. Everybody thought that he was the savior of the country.
 
“When Castro came in, the people were celebrating because they thought he would be good for the country, and so did I,” Lasorda continued. “I found out I was wrong. I wanted to get out of there, but we continued playing baseball after the strike was over. It was a gorgeous country, until Castro took over.”
 
 
Yes,, that was our Bob Allison, the muscular and talented outfielder of the Minnesota Twins.
 
Following the revolution we found out that we could support a terrible dictator – Bautista, but not a communist – Castro, and so we entered a time when good players in Cuba had to turn to shady characters to get out of one country and into another.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_baseball_players_who_defected_from_Cuba - many of them are still active and thankfully may be the last to have to go through this political nightmare.
 
The Twins have not had as many defectors as other teams, but Livan Hernandez and Kendry Morales both had a brief time with the team.
 
Now MLB has a new accord with Cuban baseball and hopefully the flow of great players can escape the wall and politics and we can again enjoy the best in the world in our own leagues.

Here we are December 6, 2018. We are almost a week after my birthday and what a week. I waited 73 years for all this to happen.
 
We fired Molitor - he mishandled the bullpen which had all of three good relievers and we needed 4 per game. We let go the pitching coach even though Gibson and others out performed the past. We kept the hitting coaches even though our superstar, can't miss projects continued to flail at the plate. We fired Pickler the guy the front office said would provide new age stat information to the manager. We kept the bench coach who obviously shoulders no blame for the season that got Molitor fired.
 
Then we lost Johnny Field to the cubs and Oliver Drake to the Rays even though they were good enough to prevent minor leaguers from auditioning in September. Great move. We showed other teams how good the players we did not want were. Then to show that we cared about pitching we signed Erasmo Moreno and Preston Guilmet to be our new right hander pitchers. Some real action to get November warming up.
 
Randy Cesar was signed to give 3B depth, Zack Weiss signed to give even more right handed depth, and LaMonte Wade was put on the 40 man even though he was not good enough to come up in September. And Nick Gordon was added to the same 40 man even though he too was not good enough for September - glad we kept Field and Oliver on that roster.
 
We traded Nick Anderson to the Rays and got another 3B Brian Schales, to push Sano. He must be worried that is two 3B players in one month.
 
Having a strong BP we released Alan Busenitz. Then we added Luis Arreaz to the 40 man because we did not know Schoop would be there for the next season and we signed C J Cron and released Robbie Grossman making a completing unremarkable change in our batting talent.
 
Then December came and we though that Ronald Torreyes should challenge Ehire - thereby pushing our talent level on more notch towards the championships we dream of.
 
Is anyone else excited?

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
---------
 
12/13/1988: The MLB transactions for the Minnesota Twins had one line: The Twins signed free agent catcher Brian Harper to an one year contract worth $90,000. The Twins were the sixth franchise for Harper who was drafted by the California Angels in the 4th round of the 1977 MLB June Amateur Draft, traded to the Pirates and then the Cardinals who released him on April Fool's 1986, and then signed and released by the Tigers and A's in single year assignments.
 
Harper was an intriguing guy. He hit .353/.403/.653 as a 28 year old in AAA Portland before the Twins brought him up to finish the season with the big club, hitting .295/.344/.428 with 10 walks and 12 strikeouts in 184 plate appearances. Harper became the Twins starting catcher in 1989 and held that post until 1993. His tenure with the Twins included an otherworldly .381/.435/.476 slash line in 26 World Series plate appearances in 1991, the best World Series ever.
 
Fast forward about 30 years: November 25, 2017: The Twins sign 26 year old Willians Astrudillo as a minor league free agent. After a stint in AAA, like Harper, Astrudillo made it to the bigs, where there were a lot of accolades, regarding his low walking and strikeout percentage, and about his lack of being a "three outcome guy". Astudillo's line last season ended up being .355/.371/.516 with a 2.1 BB% and a 3.1 K%. In 1991 Brian Harper ended the season with a 3.0 BB % and a 4.7 K%. Both were about his career average for the Twins.
 
After 1993 strike Harper moved on and ended up his career with a .295/.329/.419 major league line with a 3.9 BB% and a 5.6 K%. Both Harper and Astudillo have had questions about their defensive ability, and like Astudillo Harper had to play other positions (OF, 1B and 3B) before he was established.
 
Harper was an integral part of the Twins 1991 team. Might be the time to let Astudillo be the "Harp" for these Twins...

With our new manager comes a lot of new stories and expectations, but his arrival actually got me thinking about Italian heritage and the game of baseball. Like the earlier essay regarding the American Indian and another essay looking at the black pioneers who crossed that large barrier of prejudice I know that other ethnic groups also had a lot of challenges. To discover more I found a superb book – Beyond Dimaggio by Lawrence Baldassaro to guide my search.
 
In our age where we see so much racism raising its very ugly head again and so much angst about immigration, it might be hard to remember that these stories are not new and that the Italians were the focus of such issues and sentiments at one time.
 
From 1881 – 1890 307,000 Italians (approximately) came to America, in the next two decades the numbers went to 625,000 and then 2,136,000. To the many of the already existing Americans they posed a threat that was both economic and moral – threats to their jobs and their families. They had darker skin, were Catholic, spoke a different language and brought their customs and beliefs with them. They were judged guilty of being poor, uneducated, and certainly brought crime with them. The press said they were criminals and radicals and hatred exploded into incidents like New Orleans – 1891- lynching of 11 Italians after they had been acquitted. Is it any secret why Italians lived, worked, and socialized in their own neighborhoods? Or is it any secret why one of the first three Italians to become Professional baseball players would choose to go by the name – Ping Bodie – instead of Francesco Pezzolo?
 
It took time for the Italian to be established in MLB – the first was – Ed Abbatichhio who played with Honus Wagner, and made it through 9 seasons as an average ball player. The fact that he was first was significant. The fact that Ping Bodie would follow, then Babe Pinelli would complete the triumvirate as the only Italians in MLB until Tony Lazzeri in 1926. Pinelli was essential for taking on one of the biggest generalizations – Italians are hot heads! Actually he was, but he learned to control his emotion and went on to two decades as an umpire after leaving the bat and glove behind.
 
 
It was Tony Lazzeri who led the way in the 1920’s filling a role that the Yankees were searching for – an Italian who could bring in the fans from the large Italian boroughs. He did that and more as a member of the murderer’s row and eventually was elected a hall of fame 2B. But even his effectiveness in drawing fans did not stop the press from calling him a WOP – in the headlines. He was soon joined by Frank Crosetti – SS, who went on to hold the position until he groomed his replacement – Phil Rizzuto. In fact, he was so good at grooming he became a coach and his last stint was with the Minnesota Twins in 1970 – 71!
 
 
And all of this without talking about DiMaggio – all three brothers, Lombardi, Berra, Rizzuto, and all the other great Hall of Fame contributors to our favorite game.
 
 
The first Italian Manager would be Oscar “Spinach” Melillo in a short stint with the Browns, but that would change. Phil Cavarretta in 1951 was the first Italian to manage a full season. The Twins would have Sabath Anthony “Sam” Mele, Billy Martin, Frank Quilici, and Cookie Lavagetto who came with the Senators to the Twin Cities. Now we move into the new age of analytics, player/manager relations, and hopes and I welcome Rocco from our long list of Italian baseball legends.

I know that RP refers to relief pitching – for me it amounts to Really Poor baseball. KC won a series and did damage to the rest of baseball just like the jerk with the bomb that makes me take off my shoes at the airport. We have always had some relief pitchers, but now we have a stat head jamboree of pitchers. No longer is half the team pitchers and half batters, now we have 2 -3 on the bench and a bullpen that has to add folding chairs. Does this help the game? No.
 
Do any of you enjoy the visits to the mound, the time it takes to run in, the 8 pitches from an already warmed up pitcher who might throw one pitch to one batter and then we repeat this exciting or should I say dramatic spectacle again.
 
We are now in an era when wins do not count any more, starting pitchers are actually one inning relievers – how exciting is that. The starting pitcher is saved from facing the strongest part of the lineup! Why is he starting? Openers are used for beer and other necessary boredom relieving beverages.
 
Pitchers per game is now 4.24 per team, in our World Series Years of 1991 (3.13), 1987 (2.89) and 1965 (2.69). Wins counted then because pitchers were in the game long enough to actually dominate the game – I love the Marichal and Spahn complete game 16 inning affair won by the giants (even though Spahn was my pitching hero and the Braves (Milwaukee – not Atlanta) were my favorite team). By the way Spahn started 665 games and completed 382.
 
How about Robin Roberts throwing 28 straight complete games for the Phillies? Or Nolan Ryan throws 235 pitches, strikes out 19, during an 13 inning effort. Right now Berrios is tied for the lead in complete games with 2. Going back to our Series years – McDowell (WS) – 15 in 1991, Roger Clemens (Bos) 18 in 1987, and Sandy Koufax (Dodgers) 27 in 1965.
 
It should be noted that neither Spahn nor Ryan had their arms fall off after those feats.
 
A Koufax/Marichal game was must see. Great pitchers were the draw. Who goes to the park to watch the pitching match up now? Oh boy I wonder who the Opener is today? Yuck, I had to pause to let my stomach settle and to take another shot of whiskey. Oh wait I might miss Astudillo throwing melons to the plate.
 
I do not even know these players – Boxberger from AZ is in 85% of fantasy leagues – who is he? Who is Matthew Strahm? Do I care? Fantasy Pros lists 301 relief pitchers. Who will pay to see them pitch? Yawn. I leave after 7 – I don’t care anymore – Jim Kaat was right, but the thing is I am moving that to 6 innings and if there is an Opener I come in the second inning.
 
Give me back baseball. In fact give me starters who throw complete games, batters that bunt when the shift is on, players who steal bases and do hit and run. Limit the team to three pitchers per game. And please some team challenge this nonsense and open up the game with action, not just strikeouts and home runs.

on Eduardo Escobar, the best and most important Twin in the last several years. As a latin player he can probably be effective to his late 30 s , His dugout presence is worth a majority of the money, I heard a player say, that when he was traded from the White Sox, it was the first time he had seen MLB players cry. Thats how I felt too...but on the flip side, if you can get 3 respectable prospects AND resign him, what a coup that would be huh?
 
Anyway Falvine, overspend on him bring him home and let his career end in the Cities, Agree?