Matt Johnson

The TC is elitist. Just kidding. Unless anyone agrees.

It's the hat they win World Championships in. Also, I wear an "M" cap over the "TC" because I'm from Minnesota, not the Twin Cities. Fun fact, the Twins were the first major professional sports team to use the state name instead of the city name.

Eduardo Escobar pretty much undressed my wife with his eyes during warm-ups in Seattle, so he's alright with me.

Can we all agree that the classic home pinstripes (modeled here by Denard Span) look damn good? That's a championship look. Hashtag bring back the "M" hats.

I'm not sure if you mean that there is a dearth of exciting base runners on this team, or if you mean that Darin Mastroianni is so seldom on base.

Good catch, ChiTown. Cuddy was born in 1979.

Wow. He's only 4 years older than me. Sh*t just got real.

Good catch! Thank you very much. You see, this is why I put up the inaugural edition well in advance.

And here is The Twins Almanac for the week of March 27th to April 2nd, 2016. 3/27 is the birthday of Michael Cuddyer, born in 1979 in Norfolk, VA. He was the Twins’ 1st round draft pick out of high school in 1997. In 2009 he hit for the cycle (5/22), and homered twice in the same inning (8/23). He was an All-Star in his final season in Minnesota (‘11), and again with Colorado in 2013 when he was the National League batting champ (.331).3/27/73: 37 year old future Twins HOFer, Jim Perry, okays trade to Detroit. 3/27/05: Iconic Twins public address announcer of 44 years, Bob Casey, passes away at age 79. Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Dan Gladden and Jack Morris would serve as pallbearers at his funeral. 3/28/96: On the final day of spring training, Kirby Puckett wakes up unable to see out of his right eye. He would be diagnosed with career-ending glaucoma. 3/30/81: Ken Landreaux is traded to the Dodgers for Mickey Hatcher and 2 others. 3/31/87: Just before opening their championship season, the Twins release fan-favorite Mickey Hatcher, and trade 2 minor league pitchers and a player to be named later to San Francisco for Dan Gladden and others. The Twins would send Bemidji-native, Bryan Hickerson, to the Giants in June to complete the trade. 3/31/10: Leading off a spring training game vs. the Yankees and future-Twins pitcher, Phil Hughes, Denard Span fouls off a 3-2 pitch that hits his mother, sitting behind the third base dugout and wearing a Span Twins jersey, square in the chest. It is a scary moment at the ballpark, but she is not seriously hurt. 4/1/07: Herb Carneal, the radio play-by-play voice of the Twins from 1962-2006 (44 years), passes away at age 83. 4/2/62: The Twins trade pitcherPedro Ramos to Cleveland for Vic Power, and Nimrod, MN-native, Dick Stigman. 4/2/02: The Twins open the regular season with 5 HRs in an 8-6 win vs. KC. Jacque Jones hits solo and 3-run HRs. David Ortiz, Brian Buchanan, and Torii Hunter hit solo HRs. 4/2/10: The Twins play the first MLB game at new Target Field, an exhibition vs. St. Louis. Denard Span collects the stadium’s first hit, a triple, and the first HR and run scored. Jacque Jones, attempting a comeback with the club, pinch-hits and receives a moving standing ovation from Twins fans. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160320_153544_zpswn6qfgcj.jpg For the history of the Minnesota Twins, told one day at a time, follow @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter. For the stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter, and like Major Minnesotans on Facebook. Click here to view the article

And here is The Twins Almanac for the week of March 27th to April 2nd, 2016. 3/27 is the birthday of Michael Cuddyer, born in 1979 in Norfolk, VA. He was the Twins’ 1st round draft pick out of high school in 1997. In 2009 he hit for the cycle (5/22), and homered twice in the same inning (8/23). He was an All-Star in his final season in Minnesota (‘11), and again with Colorado in 2013 when he was the National League batting champ (.331). 3/27/73: 37 year old future Twins HOFer, Jim Perry, okays trade to Detroit. 3/27/05: Iconic Twins public address announcer of 44 years, Bob Casey, passes away at age 79. Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Dan Gladden and Jack Morris would serve as pallbearers at his funeral. 3/28/96: On the final day of spring training, Kirby Puckett wakes up unable to see out of his right eye. He would be diagnosed with career-ending glaucoma. 3/30/81: Ken Landreaux is traded to the Dodgers for Mickey Hatcher and 2 others. 3/31/87: Just before opening their championship season, the Twins release fan-favorite Mickey Hatcher, and trade 2 minor league pitchers and a player to be named later to San Francisco for Dan Gladden and others. The Twins would send Bemidji-native, Bryan Hickerson, to the Giants in June to complete the trade. 3/31/10: Leading off a spring training game vs. the Yankees and future-Twins pitcher, Phil Hughes, Denard Span fouls off a 3-2 pitch that hits his mother, sitting behind the third base dugout and wearing a Span Twins jersey, square in the chest. It is a scary moment at the ballpark, but she is not seriously hurt. 4/1/07: Herb Carneal, the radio play-by-play voice of the Twins from 1962-2006 (44 years), passes away at age 83. 4/2/62: The Twins trade pitcher Pedro Ramos to Cleveland for Vic Power, and Nimrod, MN-native, Dick Stigman. 4/2/02: The Twins open the regular season with 5 HRs in an 8-6 win vs. KC. Jacque Jones hits solo and 3-run HRs. David Ortiz, Brian Buchanan, and Torii Hunter hit solo HRs. 4/2/10: The Twins play the first MLB game at new Target Field, an exhibition vs. St. Louis. Denard Span collects the stadium’s first hit, a triple, and the first HR and run scored. Jacque Jones, attempting a comeback with the club, pinch-hits and receives a moving standing ovation from Twins fans. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160320_153544_zpswn6qfgcj.jpg For the history of the Minnesota Twins, told one day at a time, follow @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter. For the stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter, and like Major Minnesotans on Facebook.

Oh I'll be addressing Dave Goltz. He's even on my Twitter header pic: https://twitter.com/MajorMinnesota

I love watching Mastroianni on the bases. I saw an interesting study awhile back, though, suggesting that clubs may be wise to sacrifice a significant amount of range in center field in favor of a power bat...

March 17th is the birthday of Washburn High School (Mpls) alumnus and Major League pitcher, Harold "Hy" Vandenberg, born in 1906. He made his Major 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 2nd 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 5 saves during seven seasons over an eleven 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 4 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 major leagues in 1937, getting one start for the New York Giants versus the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He allowed 7 runs over 8 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 5-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, 2 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. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/hy_vandenberg_autograph.jpg For more stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @MajorMinnesota. Click here to view the article

Yeah, I can see that. I believe that Dave Goltz currently lives in Fergus Falls. I coached a fair amount of baseball games at the high school that Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) went to last season.

That's awesome! Minnesota townball culture in general is awesome. I assume you saw my post on Hy Vandenberg? https://www.facebook.com/MajorMinnesotans/posts/193610294347162 If you have any stories, I'd love to hear them to incorporate in future writing. Literally all I know is that he played a season in Springfield after his pro career. The first few years of hs pro career appear to be a bit of a mystery, too

3/21: It’s the birthday of 1983 Hopkins High School graduate and former Major Leaguer, Tim McIntosh. McIntosh played three seasons at the University of Minnesota before being selected in the 3rd round of the ‘86 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. McIntosh played in 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. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/McIntosh_zpso0a5yh9r.jpg McIntosh was a September call-up in 1991, going 4-9 with a HR in his first 2 games. He played only as a defensive replacement, however, in 5 subsequent games, making only 2 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 1 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 2 hits and 0 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 AAA 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 3 games for the big league club that season. Tim McIntosh appeared in his last Major League game on June 12th, 1996, playing the final inning as a defensive replacement at third in a 7-4 Yankee loss in Toronto. For more stories about the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook and follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160316_173242_zpsw33tqxhy.jpg

Stay tuned. If you have any insights on Kingery, get in touch at Facebook.com/MajorMinnesotans or @MajorMinnesota on Twitter. I'll have something ready in time for his birthday on the 29th. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/Kingery_zpsd1sb7kma.jpg

As a 15 year old? I threw a fork ball. I don't think I was doing it right, though. It kind of knuckled up there. My fastball had good velocity for my age and level of competition, so my fork ball was a very effective off-speed pitch. That 10 inning game was pretty much the end of pitching for me. I've had a sore shoulder ever since. I could go a few innings here and there. I became a very good catcher in high school. I could still throw very, very hard a few times per game and I had a quick release. When I got to college the added workload was just too much, even to play catcher, and I just quit. Townball suits me, having 5 days off between games.

I am a 32-year-old student of the game and aspiring baseball writer, born and raised in Zimmerman, MN. I am a ‘02 graduate of the Elk River Area High School. Yes, I was there in 2000, albeit as the backup catcher, when Paul Feiner dealt Joe Mauer the one and only strikeout of his high school career.I recently began a project called Major Minnesotans, telling the stories of the major leaguers who grew up in Minnesota. From the time I was a kindergartener learning to read by studying the backs of 1990 Topps cards, I have been fascinated by the few Minnesotans who have made it to the majors. The genesis of this project, I suppose, is an album of baseball cards of major league Minnesotans that I began putting together about a year ago. As I researched the cards that I would need to assemble to make this album as comprehensive as possible, I stumbled upon one fascinating story after another. Furthermore, I realized that these are stories that hadn't already been rehashed every which way. I don’t have many original insights to offer by way of prognostication or parsing sabermetrics. These stories though, they are that elusive niche I’d been looking for since giving up my Reader Weekly column years ago. The details available in 2016 are mind-boggling. For instance, you can look up Dan Smith (Apple Valley class of ‘87) on Baseball Reference, click “Debut,” scroll down to play by play and see that the first big league batter he faced, Devon White, dropped down a bunt single, promptly stole second, was moved to third by a Roberto Alomar sacrifice bunt, and scored on a Joe Carter sac fly. Welcome to the big leagues, am I right? Incidentally, you will also notice that Smith was opposed in his MLB debut by St. Paul-native, Jack Morris. Does anyone else remember digging through the library basement to do the kind of research you can now do on your phone from anywhere? Another fun fact gleaned from the play-by-play on Baseball Reference is that Greg Olson (Edina East class of ‘79) made his major league debut with Minnesota in 1989, pinch-hitting for Kent Hrbek (Bloomington Kennedy class of ‘78) and replacing Tim Laudner (Park Center class of ‘76) behind the plate. Laudner took over at first. The fact that Greg Olson was playing catcher in the first place is another interesting story. Olson was a third baseman in high school. The Gophers converted him to catcher to make room for third baseman, Terry Steinbach (New Ulm class of 1980). Steinbach was in turn converted to catcher while in the Oakland organization to make room for up-and-coming third baseman, Mark McGwire. Olson went on to become an NL All-Star catcher in 1990, while Terry Steinbach was a 3x All-Star catcher in the American League. McGwire, of course, moved across the diamond and became a 12x All-Star first baseman. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160131_092041_zpswgeabeti.jpg Briefly a resident of Duluth, like myself, Jerry Ujdur is another major league Minnesotan who caught my attention. Second in career wins at the University of Minnesota, Ujdur went on to a brief, wholly unremarkable major league career. A deeper look at his Baseball Reference page, though, shows that he was peculiarly successful against several Hall of Famers: Major Minnesotans will publish its first article on March 17th, the birthday of Washburn High School graduate, Hy Vandenberg, who pitched in the major leagues from 1935 to 1945. For a more succinct look at the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook (Facebook.com/MajorMinnesotans), and follow me on Twitter @MajorMinnesota. In addition to Major Minnesotans, I have also started The Twins Almanac, telling the story of the Minnesota Twins one day at a time. The Twins Almanac will revolve around a weekly compendium of Twins history, and also include occasional pieces on specific items of Twins history. Here is a foretaste of The Twins Almanac for the week of April 3rd-9th: 4/3/82: The Twins beat the Phillies 5-0 in an exhibition game, the first major league game played at the Metrodome. Pete Rose collects the first hit, and Bloomington-native Kent Hrbek hits the Dome’s first two homers. 4/4/90: The Twins trade future-KARE 11 anchor, Mike Pomeranz, to Pittsburgh in exchange for Junior Ortiz and a minor league pitcher. Ortiz, who wore #0, is best-remembered as Scott Erickson’s personal catcher during the Twins’ 1991 World Championship season. 4/5/14: The Twins beat Cleveland 7-3 for Ron Gardenhire’s 1,000th managerial win. 4/6 is the birthday of Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven... A little more about myself: my baseball career peaked in 1998 when, at age 15. I threw 18 strikeouts over 10 innings in an 11 inning loss. I majored in English at Gustavus Adolphus College where I took all the classes I could from Minnesota’s current Poet Laureate, Joyce Sutphen. The first piece I ever wrote outside of school, an interview with and profile of the poet Louis Jenkins, made the cover of Duluth's Reader Weekly. My second piece, on the musician Charlie Parr, was also the cover. Nearly a decade later I started Major Minnesotans and The Twins Almanac. For two sample Major Minnesotans articles and The Twins Almanac for the week of April 3rd to the 9th, visit my WordPress site at MajorMinnesotans.WordPress.com. Thank you, Matt http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160316_173242_zpsw33tqxhy.jpg Click here to view the article

Miami Marlins pitcher, Brad Hand, was born on March 20th, 1990. The Marlins drafted Hand in 2008 in the 2nd round (52nd overall) out of Chaska High School. In his senior season at Chaska, the lefty went 8-2 with 2 saves, allowing only 6 earned runs in 68 innings for an 0.61 ERA. At the plate, Hand hit .352 with 8 HRs and 24 RBI. 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 Minnesota Twins in 2014 and ‘15. The second batter he faced was Adrian Gonzalez, who struck out swinging. Hand would allow only 1 hit over 6 innings. That one hit, however, was a solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez to lead off the fourth in a 1-0 Braves win. http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/two0604hand.jpg Hand's first Major League win came in his 5th start, on July 7th at home vs. Houston as he held the Astros scoreless, giving up 2 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings in a 5-0 Marlins victory. Hand only pitched in 1 game in 2012, starting the first game of a doubleheader in Washington on August 3rd. He allowed 7 runs on 6 hits and 6 walks over 3 ⅔ innings in a 7-4 loss. He appeared in only 7 games in 2013. Between 2014 and ‘15, Hand pitched in a combined 70 Major League games, starting 28, compiling a 7-15 record. He is 9-25 over parts of five big league seasons. As a batter, Hand has 5 Major League hits, one each off of Johnny Cueto and Stephen Strasburg. He hit 3 HRs as a minor leaguer. Brad Hand, who is out of options, is fighting to earn a spot on the Marlins’ 2016 roster. For more stories about the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook and follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160316_173242_zpsw33tqxhy.jpg

March 17th is the birthday of Washburn High School (Mpls) alumnus and Major League pitcher, Harold "Hy" Vandenberg, born in 1906. He made his Major 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 2nd 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 5 saves during seven seasons over an eleven 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 4 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 Major Leagues in 1937, getting one start for the New York Giants versus the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He allowed 7 runs over 8 innings in a 7-4 loss. He appeared in 6 games for Giants in '38, and 2 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 5 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 5 stints in the Majors combined. He finished 1944 with a 7-4 record, 2 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 7 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. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/hy_vandenberg_autograph.jpg For more stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @MajorMinnesota. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160316_173242_zpsw33tqxhy.jpg