Matt Johnson

March 19 Nothing happened today, except for the births of Paul Powell in San Angelo, Texas in 1948, and Tim Corcoran in Glendale, California in 1953. The two hit a combined .171 in 42 total games as Twins. Powell went 5-for-31 as a Twins rookie in 1971. Corcoran, who played parts of nine season in the majors, went 9-for-51 for the Twins in 1981. March 20 Happy 27th Birthday to Brad Hand It’s the birthday of 2008 Chaska High School graduate and current Padres pitcher Brad Hand. Nobody pitched in more major league games last season than Hand who made 82 relief appearances for San Diego. His senior season at Chaska the lefty went 8-2 with two saves, allowing only six earned runs in 68 innings for a 0.61 ERA. At the plate he hit .352 with eight home runs and 24 RBI. He was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2nd round (52nd overall) out of high school. Brad Hand made his major league debut on June 27th, 2011 in Miami vs. the Atlanta Braves. He walked the first big league batter he faced, Jordan Schafer, who would play for the Twins in 2014 and ‘15. The second batter he faced was Adrian Gonzalez, who struck out swinging. Hand would allow only one hit over six innings. That one hit, however, was a solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez to lead off the fourth in a 1-0 Braves win. Hand's first major league win came in his fifth start, on July 7th at home vs. Houston as he held the Astros scoreless, giving up two hits and three walks over seven innings in a 5-0 Marlins victory. Hand only pitched in one game in 2012, starting the first game of a doubleheader in Washington on August 3rd. He allowed seven runs on six hits and six walks over 3 ⅔ innings in a 7-4 loss. He appeared in only seven games in 2013. Between 2014 and ‘15, Hand pitched in a combined 70 major league games, starting 28, compiling a 7-15 record. He was 9-25 over parts of five big league seasons entering 2016 when he was claimed off waivers during the first week of the season by the San Diego Padres. Hand went 4-4 with a save and 2.92 ERA in his aforementioned major league-leadeing 82 appearances last season. As a batter, Hand has five major league hits, one each off of Johnny Cueto and Stephen Strasburg. He hit three home runs as a minor leaguer. March 21 Happy 52nd Birthday to Tim McIntosh It’s the birthday of 1983 Hopkins High School graduate Tim McIntosh. He played three seasons at the University of Minnesota before being selected in the 3rd round of the ‘86 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He played in 71 major league games over the course of five seasons, primarily at catcher and in the outfield. His first major league hit was a home run. McIntosh got into five games with the Brewers in 1990, making his major league debut on September 3rd in Milwaukee vs. the Minnesota Twins. He went 0-3 as the Twins’ Mark Guthrie hurled a complete game shutout. Paul Molitor (Cretin High School class of ‘74) went 0-4. On September 28th, with the Yankees leading the Brewers 6-1, McIntosh entered the game in the 7th as a defensive replacement for catcher B.J. Surhoff. McIntosh led off the bottom of the 8th, hitting a home run for his first major league hit and his only hit of the 1990 season. McIntosh was a September call-up in 1991, going 4-9 with a HR in his first two games. He played only as a defensive replacement, however, in five subsequent games, making only two plate appearances. McIntosh, in fact, only started 25 of the 71 major league games that he played in, and 20 of those starts came in 1992 when he played in a total of 35 games, collecting 14 of his 21 career hits while batting .182. McIntosh appeared in one game as a late-inning defensive replacement for Milwaukee in ‘93 before being claimed off waivers by the Montreal Expos on April 14th. He played in 20 games for the Expos, collecting two hits and zero walks in 21 plate appearances for an .095 batting average. He became a free agent after the season and was signed by the Minnesota Twins. He spent the 1994 season with Triple-A Salt Lake, hitting .338 with 18 HRs. After the ‘94 season, his contract was purchased by the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan where he hit only .220. In February of ‘96, McIntosh signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. He played in three games for the big league club that season. Tim McIntosh appeared in his last major league game on June 12, 1996, entering in the ninth as a defensive replacement at third in a 7-4 Yankee loss in Toronto. March 21, 1970 Twins Trade Gzrenda & Charley Walters for Brant Alyea The Twins trade pitchers Joe Grzenda and 1965 Minneapolis Edison High School graduate Charley Walters to the Washington Senators for outfielder Brant Alyea. Alyea’s career had gotten off to an Eddie Rosario-esque start, homering on the first big league pitch he saw on September 11, 1965. His Twins career also got off to a hot start, driving in a Twins record seven runs to back Jim Perry on Opening Day. He will go on to drive in 21 runs in the Twins’ first 12 games. Quite remarkably, 19 of those 21 RBI come in Jim Perry’s first four starts. Alyea matched his own record, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and driving in all seven Twins runs in a 7-6 win on September 7, 1970. Glenn Adams broke Alyea’s record with 8 RBI on June 26, 1977. Randy Bush matched that on May 20, 1989. Though Walters didn’t make the same splash in the major as Alyea, his story is nonetheless interesting. The Twins signed Walters out of their annual open tryout at Met Stadium in 1965. He went 7-2 with a 1.94 ERA for the 1967 Northern League Champion St. Cloud Rox. Walters broke camp with the Twins in ‘69 and pitched 6.2 innings over six games between April 11-May 14. He did not allow a run in his first five outings. He allowed four, however, in his sixth and final major league appearance. Walters has been a sportswriter for the Pioneer Press since well before I was born. March 21 Happy 39th Birthday to Cristian Guzman It’s the birthday of former Twins shortstop Cristian Guzman, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1978. The Twins acquired Guzman along with Eric Milton, Brian Buchanan, Danny Mota and three millions dollars of George Steinbrenner’s cold hard cash in exchange for Chuck Knoblauch on February 6, 1998. Guzman was the Twins’ starting shortstop for six seasons, leading the league in triples three times. He never realized his full potential, but Twins fans sure saw some sparks from the exciting speedster. March 21, 2010 Nathan Needs Tommy John Surgery The defending Central Division Champion Minnesota Twins announce that 4x All-Star closer Joe Nathan needs Tommy John surgery. He had saved a career-high 47 games the previous season. Nathan would make two more All-Star teams post-surgery in 2012 and '13 as a Texas Ranger. March 22, 2010 Joe Mauer’s Big Payday 2001 Cretin-Derham Hall graduate and 2009 American League Most Valuable Player Joe Mauer officially signs his eight-year, $184 million extension during a press conference at the Twins’ Spring Training facility in Ft. Myers, Florida. The contract, which locks the hometown kid up through 2018, is the fourth-fattest in major league history at the time. March 23, 2015 Molitor and Sanberg Face-Off The Paul Molitor-managed Twins lose 3-0 to Ryne Sandberg’s Phillies. It is believed to be the first time that current Hall of Famers have managed against each other. Such an occurrence has never happened in the regular season. On a side note, who in the audience saw Hall of Fame player Ted Williams manage the Senators and Rangers when they'd come to Bloomington to play the Twins? The Splendid Splinter had a lot of friends in Minnesota dating back to his 1938 season with the Minneapolis Millers. Williams famously spent his first major league off season in Minnesota rather than return home to see his mom in sunny San Diego. Obviously there was a girl involved. Ted's first wife was Doris Soule from Princeton, MN. My grandma, for the record, thought Ted was a vile man. I, however, was more interested in grandpa's stories of fishing with the Kid. March 24, 1988 Twins Trade Billy Beane The Twins trade outfielder Billy Beane to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Balvino Galvez. Beane, who was the Mets’ first-round draft choice in 1980, played 80 games for the 1986 Twins, and 12 games for the ‘87 World Series Championship team. Galvez, who pitched 10 games for the Dodgers in ‘86, never made it back to the majors. The Twins had originally acquired Beane from the Mets on January 16, 1986 in a five-player trade featuring Tim Teufel. Billy Beane was the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics from 1998 until after the 2015 season when he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. March 25, 1983 Twins Trade Sal Butera The Twins and Tigers swap catchers, with Minnesota sending Salvatore Butera to Detroit for minor leaguer Stine Coole and straight cash, homie. Sal had made Minnesota Twins history on May 29, 1982 by throwing out four baserunners in a 6-4 loss to the Yankees at him in the Dome. Sal and Drew Butera are the only father-son combination to play for the Twins. They have pretty impressive big league pitching resumes, too. Sal did not allow a hit in his two major league pitching appearances. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning in his big league pitching debut for Montreal in 1985. In 1986 he pitched a scoreless ninth for the Cincinnati Reds, walking one and striking out one. Drew, meanwhile, pitched a hitless bottom of the eighth for the Twins on May 20, 2012, walking one Brewer and striking out Carlos Gomez. While playing with the Dodgers in 2014, Drew pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning versus the Miami Marlins. He pitched again for Los Angeles just three days later, this time giving up a 2-run HR to Paul Goldschmidt as he recorded the final two outs of the game. The Twins re-signed Sal Butera as a free agent on May 22, 1987. They would go on to win the World Series... Keep in touch with @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter, and on Facebook.

March 12, 2006 Kirby Puckett Memorial Service 15,000 fans, family, and friends including Cal Ripken Jr., Dave Winfield, Kent Hrbek, Harmon Killebrew, Dan Gladden, Al Newman, Gardy, TK and more pay tribute to Kirby Puckett in a moving memorial service at the Metrodome. Mudcat Grant sang “What a Wonderful World.” March 12, 2014 Sano Goes Under the Knife Mets team physician Dr. David Altchek performs Tommy John surgery on 20-year-old Twins prospect Miguel Sano at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Dr. Altchek performed the same surgery on 2016 Twins First-Round Draft Choice Alex Kirilloff last Wednesday (March 8). March 13 Happy 38th Birthday to Johan Santana It’s the birthday of former Twins ace Johan Santana, born in Tovar, Venezuela in 1979. Santana pitched for the Twins for eight seasons, winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2004 and ‘06, the latter unanimously. In 2004 he became the first Venezuelan 20-game winner. He also set Twins records with 13 consecutive victories and 265 strikeouts that season. On August 19, 2007 Santana set a Twins single-game record with 17 strikeouts vs. Texas at home in the Dome. March 14 Happy 61st Birthday to Butch Wynegar It’s the birthday of 2x Twins All-Star catcher Butch Wynegar, born in York, Pennsylvania in 1956. The 20-year-old rookie became the youngest Twin to appear in an All-Star on July 13, 1976, pinch-hitting for Luis Tiant. He drew a walk in the 7-1 American League loss. Wynegar finished second to Detroit’s Mark Fidrych in 1976 AL Rookie of the Year balloting. The Twins traded Wynegar to the Yankees for diddly squat on May 12, 1982 as part of a string of cost-cutting measures. March 14 Kirby Puckett Born 57 Years Ago It’s the birthdate of Kirby Puckett, born in Chicago, Illinois in 1960. Kirby and Mr. T grew up in the same Chicago public housing project, Robert Taylor Homes. Puckett played twelve seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He was a 10-time All-Star, six-time Gold Glove winner, 1988 AL Batting Champ (.339), and 1991 American League Championship Series and 1993 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. Puckett retired as the Twins' all-time leader in hits (2,304), doubles (414), total bases (3,453), at-bats (7,244) and runs (1,071). At the time of his retirement his .318 career average was the highest for a right-handed batter since Joe DiMaggio. Obviously Puckett’s name is all over the Twins record book. He is one of four players in major league history with two 6-hit games, and only one since 1935. Kirby’s 6-hit games, incidentally, came in 1987 and 1991. The ‘91 game went extra-innings. Kirby’s sixth hit came in the bottom of the eleventh, advancing Shane Mack to third. Kent Hrbek drove Mack in with a walk-off infield hit (a line drive to deep shortstop according to Baseball Reference). His eight 4-hit games in 1988 tied Rod Carew (1977) for the Twins record. The following season he set a Twins record with 74 multi-hit games. On May 13, 1989 he set a Twins record with four doubles. In 1992 he became the fourth Twin to hit three grand slams in a season. The first three were Bob Allison (1961), Rod Carew (1976), and Kent Hrbek (1985). Torii Hunter hit three grand slams in 2007. Kirby Puckett is one of 11 players in major league history with three 215+ hit seasons. Only four players including Kirby have had three such seasons since Stan "the Man" Musial. Puckett and Tony Oliva are two of only seven players to lead their league in hits for three consecutive seasons. Kirby Puckett was inducted into the Hall of Fame on August 5, 2001 alongside St. Paul Central High School graduate and Golden Gopher great Dave Winfield, Bill Mazeroski, and Negro Leaguer Hilton Smith. March 15 Happy 62nd Birthday to Mickey Hatcher It’s the birthday of Mickey Hatcher, born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1955. The Twins acquired Hatcher from the Dodgers along with a pair of minor leaguers for Ken Landreaux in a trade near the end of Spring Training on March 30, 1981. On April 28, 1985 Hatcher went 4-for-5 in a 10-1 Twins win over Oakland at the Metrodome. He had gone 5-for-5 the previous day, giving him nine consecutive hits, tying Tony Oliva’s 1967 club record. Todd Walker matched the feat in 1998. The Twins released fan-favorite Hatcher on March 31, 1987 to make room for Dan Gladden who they had acquired in a trade with the Giants for two minor league pitchers and a player to be named later, who would turn out to be Bemidji native and 2x Gophers Dave Winfield Pitcher of the Year Bryan Hickerson. Hatcher was still owed $650,000 for 1987 and a $100,000 buyout clause for the ‘88 season. It was the most expensive contract the Twins had to eat up to that point. Hatcher returned to Los Angeles where he played four more major league seasons. March 16 Happy 73rd Birthday to Rick Renick It’s the birthday of Rick Renick, born in London, Ohio in 1944. Renick was the first of six Twins to homer in their first major league at-bat, doing so on July 11, 1968. It was a second-inning solo shot off of Mickey Lolich in a 5-4 Twins home win over Detroit. The five Twins to homer in their first major league at-bats since Renick are Dave McKay, Gary Gaetti, Andre David, Luke Hughes, and Eddie Rosario who homered on his first major league pitch. Renick also hit one of the twelve pinch-hit grand slams in Twins history on June 30, 1970. Rich Reese had also hit one on June 7. Reese, in fact, hit 25% of the pinch-hit grand slams in Twins history, one each in 1969, 1970 and ‘72. Rick Renick was the third base coach for the Twins’ 1987 World Series Championship team. March 17, 1906 Hy Vandenberg Born 111 Years Ago It’s the birthdate of Minneapolis Roosevelt and South High Schools alumnus and major league pitcher Harold "Hy" Vandenberg, born in 1906. He made his big league debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1935 at age 29, though he wouldn't win his first game until 1940 with the New York Giants, and his second not until 1944 with the Chicago Cubs. The 6'4" right-hander, who got his professional start with the Minneapolis Millers, appeared in 90 major league games, going 15-10 with five saves during seven seasons over an 11-year period. Additionally, he pitched in at least 435 minor league games, compiling a record of 139-128. Hy Vandenberg was born in Abilene, Kansas. When Vandenberg was four years old his father died from tuberculosis and his mother moved the surviving members of the family to Minneapolis. Vandenberg began playing professional baseball with the Minneapolis Millers right out of high school, though he does not appear in the statistical record until age 24, when, in 1930, he pitched for the Bloomington, Illinois Cubs. He bounced around minor league baseball, going back and forth between Bloomington, Minneapolis and elsewhere before finally ending up in Syracuse in 1935 where he caught the attention of the Boston Red Sox. Vandenberg, however, didn't exactly think he was given a fair trial with Boston. He made only three relief appearances over a six week period, giving up 12 runs in 5 1/3 innings before heading back to Syracuse. Vandeberg next appeared in the majors in 1937, getting one start for the New York Giants versus the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He allowed seven runs over eight innings in a 7-4 loss. He appeared in six games for Giants in '38, and two in '39, spending most of his time with the Jersey City farm club. He finally got his first major league win in 1940 in a 5-2 Giants win against the Phillies in Philadelphia. The New York Times described the five-hit complete game victory as an "elegant mound triumph." After 1940, Vandenberg would not pitch in the majors again until 1944 when he re-emerged with the Chicago Cubs, appearing in 35 games, more than the 25 appearances he had accumulated in his previous five stints in the majors combined. He finished 1944 with a 7-4 record, two saves and a 3.63 ERA. Vandenberg held out into the 1945 season, training at the University of Minnesota. Once he did report to the Cubs, however, he matched his success from the year before, compiling a 7-3 record and 3.49 ERA in 30 games. The Cubs played the Detroit Tigers in the 1945 World Series. Though the Cubs lost in seven games, Vandenberg provided solid relief pitching in Games 4, 5 and 7. Despite coming off of his two most successful seasons, the Cubs released Vandenberg during spring training in 1946. Possibly dispirited, he performed poorly in the minors with Oakland and Milwaukee. In 1947 his contract was purchased by Oklahoma City, but he chose instead to leave professional baseball and pitched for the Springfield, Minnesota team in the amateur Western Minor League. Following his playing career, Vandenberg worked as an engineering technician for the Hennepin County Highway Administration. Hy Vandenberg died from cancer at his home in Bloomington, Minnesota in 1994. He was 88 years old. March 17 Happy 40th Birthday to Robb Quinlan It’s the birthday of 1995 Hill-Murray graduate and 3x Gophers MVP Robb Quinlan. As a junior at Hill-Murray High School in 1994 Quinlan set a state record by reaching base in 86 consecutive plate appearances, attracting attention from newspapers across the country. After high school Quinlan went to the University of Minnesota where he hit .325 as a freshman in ‘96. His batting average went up each season from there, hitting .363 as a sophomore, .408 as a junior, and .413 as a senior. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was named the Gophers’ Richard "Chief" Siebert Most Valuable Player each season from 1997 to ‘99. He was the Big Ten player of the year his senior season in 1999. Quinlan graduated as the Big Ten Conference's career leader in hits and Minnesota's career leader in hits, home runs, doubles, runs scored, RBI, total bases, and at-bats. As of last check (March 2016) he was still the Big Ten single season leader in total bases (92 in '98), and Gophers career leader in RBI, doubles, hits, runs scored, total bases, and tied for the career lead with 12 triples. The summer after his junior year Quinlan played for the St. Cloud River Bats of the Northwoods League. He hit .353 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI en route to being named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Quinlan was drafted by Angels in 10th round of 1999 Amateur Draft. Robb was a stud in 2002, his fourth professional season, being named the Angels’ Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .333 with 31 doubles, 13 triples, 20 home runs, and a league-leading 112 RBI for Triple-A Salt Lake. From May 29 to June 20 he went on a 21-game hitting streak in which he hit .440. He also had two five-hit games on the season. On May 12 he went 5-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBI vs. Edmonton. On July 28 he went 5-for-6, hitting for the cycle with two home runs and eight RBI vs. Colorado Springs. The Angels won the World Series in 2002. Quinlan, however, would not make his major league debut until July 25, 2003. He would spend eight seasons in the majors, all with the Angels. Despite being a career .276 hitter, he never appeared in more than 86 games in a single season. Robb’s older brother Tom was drafted in 1995. He played nine pro seasons, but had only three brief stints in the majors totalling 58 at-bats. March 17, 1992 Twins Trade for John Smiley Having lost 1991 World Series MVP Jack Morris to Toronto, the Twins trade former Gopher Denny Neagle, and Midre Cummings to Pittsburgh for ‘91 NL All-Star John Smiley. I was in second grade at the time and remember being very excited about the Twins picking up Smiley, whose 20 wins in 1991 matched Tom Glavine, Scott Erickson, and Marshall, MN native Bill Gullickson for the major league lead. Smiley, who had finished third in National League Cy Young balloting in 1991, was solid for the Twins in ‘92, going 16-9 with a 3.21 ERA. But after just the one season he was off to Cincinnati where he would make a second All-Star team in 1995. Denny Neagle, meanwhile, put together a respectable thirteen-year major league career, making All-Star teams in 1995 as a Pirate, and 1997 as a Brave. He led the National League with 20 wins in 1997, and finished third in Cy Young balloting to the winner Pedro Martinez, and teammate Greg Maddux. March 18 Nothing happened today, unless you count the birth of former major league catcher Corky Miller 41 years ago in Yucaipa, California. Corky went 0-for-12 in five games with the 2005 Twins. Keep in touch with @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter, and on Facebook.

This sounds like such a cool evening.