Matt Johnson

Read today's Twins Almanac, featuring notes on Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Bert Blyleven, Dave Winfield, Dick Stigman, José Offerman, St. Michael-Albertville grad Joe Barbeln, and more. On This Date in 1993: After stressing everyone in Minnesota out by testing the free-agent market the previous winter, Kirby Puckett electrified the Metrodome fans by homering on his very first swing of the 1993 season off White Sox ace Jack McDowell, (who went on to win 22 games and the AL Cy Young Award that season). Kirby homered in three of the first four games of the season. In addition to Kirby being back, Opening Day 1993 was also the Twins debut of St. Paul native Dave Winfield (age 41). Winny hit a go-ahead home run off McDowell in the third, driving in fellow Minnesota native Kent Hrbek. The Winfield signing was exciting for Twins fans. In addition to being a local legend destined for Cooperstown, he was coming off a very good season in Toronto in which he came in fifth in AL MVP balloting and had several highlight hits in the ALCS and World Series. Kirby Puckett finished runner-up to Dennis Eckersley for the MVP in 1993, so between him and Winfield there was certainly cause for enthusiasm in Minnesota. Happy 74th birthday to two-time World Series Champion and noted flatulence enthusiast Rik Aalbert “Bert" Blyleven , born in Zeist, Holland in 1951. He grew up in Garden Grove, CA, and was drafted by the Twins out of high school in the third round in 1969. Bert recorded 3,701 strikeouts during his 22-year Hall of Fame career, which ranked third-most in MLB history at the time he retired, and is still good for fifth all-time behind Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, and 1987 teammate Steve Carlton. A FEW FUN FACTS: Bert earned both the 1,000th and 2,000th wins in Twins history—in 1972 and 1985, in between which he played for Texas, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, and won a World Series with the Pirates in 1979. In 1973, Bert set team records that will likely never be broken with 25 complete games, nine shutouts, and 325 innings pitched. His 258 strikeouts that season stood as the team record for 31 years until Johan Santana K’ed 265 in 2004. (For a little perspective, Nolan Ryan led the majors with 383 strikeouts in 1973 . . . 125 more than Bert’s longtime team record.) He pitched a two-hit shutout at Met Stadium in his very first start against the Twins after being traded to the Rangers prior to the 1976 season. He was in spring training with the Twins in 1993, attempting to return for a third stint with the team, but was beat out for a spot in the rotation by Willie Banks and Pat Mahomes. (Mike Trombley made the team out of the bullpen.) Happy 55th birthday to 1988 St. Michael-Albertville graduate Joe Barbeln . He pitched 4.1 innings of pro ball with single-A Yakima in the Dodgers organization in 1992. Nice 21-year townball career with the St. Michael Saints. Who can share some interesting stories or fun facts about the North Star League Hall of Famer? Tell me what you know in the comments below. On This Date in 1966: The Twins traded Nimrod, MN native Dick Stigman to the Red Sox for Russ Nixon and Chuck Schilling on this date in 1966. Fun Fact: Schilling (along with teammate Carl Yastrzemski) starred for the Minneapolis Millers in 1960—the Millers final season at Met Stadium before the Twins came to town and took over. On May 7 the following year, Schilling was back at Met Stadium with the Red Sox, and hit a grand slam off Camilo Pascual for his first major league home run. Schilling never played at Met Stadium as a member of the Twins, though. After the trade, the Twins wanted to assign him to the minors, but he opted to retire and put his college degree to use instead. On This Date in 1973: With Rod Carew aboard in the top of the first on Opening Day in Oakland, Tony Oliva hit the first regular season home run by a designated hitter in major league history off Catfish Hunter. Coincidentally, it was Oakland owner Charlie Finley who spearheaded the movement for the AL to adopt the DH. Blyleven pitched the first of his team-record 25 complete games of the season as the Twins beat the A’s 8-3. On This Date in 1982: St. Cloud legend Jim Eisenreich was batting leadoff and playing center field when the Twins hosted the Mariners for the first regular season game in the Metrodome on Opening Day 1982. Right fielder Dave Engle hit the first home run that counted* in the new ballpark in the first inning. *Kent Hrbek hit two homers in an exhibition game against the Phillies three days earlier. Gary Gaetti was thrown out at home trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park home run in his first at-bat, but then homered the old-fashioned way in each of his next two at-bats, going 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored in an 11-7 Twins win. Gaetti’s performance in his first regular season game at the Dome reminds me of his first postseason game at the Dome, when he homered in his first two at-bats off Detroit’s Doyle Alexander. On This Date in 2004: José Offerman made his Twins debut on this date in 2004, entering as a pinch runner for Matthew LeCroy in the bottom of the 12th inning. (He was stranded on third.) Then, in the bottom of the 14th, he came to the plate for his first Twins at-bat and doubled, moving Jacque Jones over to third with nobody out . . . but Cleveland again escaped the jam. Offerman came up again in the 15th inning with two out and the bases loaded and hit a ground-ball single to center, bringing home Doug Mientkiewicz with the walk-off run. Offerman had an extra-base hit in each of his first five games to start the season, tying Mientkiewicz’s team record established in 1999. Byron Buxton broke their record with extra-base hits in his first six games of the 2021 season. View full article

Today's Almanac features notes on Pedro Muñoz, Joe Mauer, Paul Molitor, Ron Gardenire, Jorge Polanco, Matt Lawton, Minnesota native Michael Wuertz, and more. On This Date in 1994: Pedro Muñoz hit a 473-foot bomb to center field at the Metrodome. It was the longest homer ever hit to center at the Dome. The longest homer at the Dome overall was 481 feet to right field by Milwaukee’s Ben Oglivie in 1983. Kent Hrbek crushed a Charlie Hough knuckleball 480 feet to right the following season. As imprecise of a science as home run measurements are, they couldn’t find an extra foot or two for the hometown kid?! Mark McGwire hit a 475-foot homer to left field in 1996. On This Date in 1996: 39-year-old designated hitter Paul Molitor was caught attempting to swipe third in his first stolen base attempt with the Twins, snapping a streak of 36-straight successful attempts dating back to 1993. The Twins were trailing the Orioles 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth when Molitor connected for his second double of the game (third hit overall). With one out and Roberto Kelly at the plate, Molly was nabbed attempting to swipe third. It may seem ill-advised to risk being caught stealing when you’re already in scoring position representing the tying run, but Molly had previously scored the Twins’ only run of the game on a Roberto Kelly sac fly. Molly began his first season in Minnesota with an eight-game hitting streak, over which he went 14-for-33 (.424). He had 39 hits in the team’s first 25 games, ending the month of April with a .386 average. He only went 0-fer three times all month. He finished the season batting .341. He had 22 games with 3+ hits and SEVENTY-TWO games with 2+ hits. On This Date in 2000: The Twins trailed the Devil Rays 7-1 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth before tying it up with a six-run rally. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Matt Lawton hit a three-run walk-off homer for a 10-7 Twins win. Remarkably, nine of the last 11 Twins to come to the plate scored. The only out in the last 11 batters was a David Ortiz strikeout pinch-hitting for nine-batter Torii Hunter to end the eighth. It was the Twins’ second straight walk-off. They blew a ninth-inning lead the next afternoon to split the four-game series to start the season. On This Date in 2004: 1997 Austin High School graduate Michael Wuertz struck out the first two batters he faced in his major league debut, pitching a 1-2-3 sixth in a 7-4 Cubs win on Opening Day in Cincinnati. 2001 Cretin-Derham Hall graduate Joe Mauer also made his major league debut on this date in 2004, going 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored, including on Shannon Stewart‘s walk-off home run in the 11th inning giving the Twins a 7-4 Opening Day win over Cleveland. Mauer also tagged out Cleveland’s Matt Lawton trying to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th. Jacque Jones made the throw from right field, hitting the relay man, second baseman Michael Cuddyer. On This Date in 2014: Brian Dozier homered on the second pitch of the game, leading the Twins to a 7-3 victory in Cleveland for Ron Gardenhire’s 1,000th managerial win. The milestone victory didn’t come without a few new gray hairs. 2001 Stillwater grad Glen Perkins gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth before securing the Kyle Gibson win. On This Date in 2019: Using Eddie Rosario‘s bat, Jorge Polanco went 5-for-5, hitting for the 11th cycle in Twins history in Philadelphia. He finished a double shy of the cycle just four days later. Fun Fact: Ehire Adrianza used Rosario’s bat to hit a big pinch-hit double when both were playing for Atlanta in the 2021 NLCS. Got memories of these players? Share them in the comments! View full article

Today's Twins Almanac features Bob Casey, Jake Odorizzi, Ken Landreaux, Mickey Hatcher, and Minnesota native Nick Anderson. Image courtesy of © David Berding-Imagn Images On This Date in 2019: After José Berríos struck out 10 on Opening Day, Jake Odorizzi struck out 11 over six innings, making Berríos and Odorizzi just the second duo in MLB history with 10+ strikeouts in the first two games of the season. The first pair were Arizona’s Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001. Unfortunately, the Twins fell to Cleveland 2-1. Odorozzi and Trevor Bauer allowed just one run each—both coming in the fourth inning—but Cleveland pushed a run across off reliever Blake Parker in the top of the ninth. Chaska native Brad Hand came in to secure the save for Cleveland in the bottom of the ninth, but not without some drama. He gave up a leadoff double to Byron Buxton and eventually loaded the bases, before inducing a game-ending fly ball to shallow right field from C.J. Cron. On This Date in 2005: The inimitable Bob Casey was laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, with Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris, John Gordon, and Dave St. Peter serving as pallbearers. Others in attendance included fellow WWII veteran Carl Pohlad, Roy Smalley, Juan Berenguer, Tim Laudner, and Scott Leius. On This Date in 1981: The Twins traded Ken Landreaux to the Dodgers for Mickey Hatcher and a pair of prospects. Calvin Griffith had acquired Landreaux and a trio of prospects from the Angels two years earlier in exchange for Rod Carew. Landreaux made Twins history twice during the 1980 season. He compiled a Twins-record 31-game hitting streak from April 23 to May 30. Then, on July 3, he tied the modern MLB record (since 1900) with three triples in a 10-3 home win over Texas. (Denard Span matched that record on June 29, 2010.) Hatcher made Twins history on Apr. 28, 1985, going 4-for-5 in a 10-1 Twins win over Oakland at home in the Dome. He had gone 5-for-5 the previous day, giving him nine consecutive hits, tying the team record established by Tony Oliva in 1967. (Todd Walker matched the feat in 1998.) Hatcher, who had become a real fan favorite, was released near the end of spring training in 1987, when the Twins acquired Gladden in a trade with San Francisco. Hatcher signed with the Dodgers, with whom he won a World Series ring in 1988, hitting .368 with two home runs in the four-games-to-one victory over the Oakland A’s. On This Date in 2019: Two days after retiring the only batter he faced in his major league debut, 28-year-old Brainerd grad Nick Anderson pitched a Snapper Mow 'Em Down eighth inning of a 7-3 Marlins win. Through the end of April, Anderson had fanned 27 of the first 51 batters he faced. The St. Cloud State alumnus spent four seasons in the Twins farm system before being traded for infielder Brian Schales. (No, I've never heard of him either.) Anderson is currently at Triple-A Memphis in the Cardinals organization. View full article

Today's Almanac features notes on Kirby Puckett, Billy Beane, Jose Morales, and Minnesota native Mike Kingery. 1996: 36-year-old superstar Kirby Puckett appeared poised for a big year, batting .344 heading into the final day of spring training when he woke up unable to see out of his right eye. After doctors determined his blurry vision was caused by a partial blockage of a blood vessel in his right eye, the Twins placed Kirby on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career on this date in 1996. Happy 64th birthday to Atwater High School graduate Mike Kingery, born in Saint James, MN in 1961. When he was six months old, the Kingerys moved to Atwater where Mike’s father was proprietor of the Atwater Bowling Center. Kingery signed with the Royals as an amateur free agent in August 1979. He made it to the majors seven years later, going 2-for-4 in his MLB debut on July 7, 1986 (age 25). He went on to play 819 major league games over 10 seasons with the Royals, Mariners, Giants, A's, Rockies, and Pirates. A career .268 hitter, Kingery’s best season by far came at age 33 in Colorado during the strike-shortened 1994 season when he hit .349 over 105 games. The Rockies GM at the time was Lamberton, MN native and former Twins pitcher and front office executive Bob Gebhard, and the manager was 1987 World Series hero Don Baylor. (Dan Gladden later joined the Rockies as a scout from 1996 to 1998.) Curious how Kingery did against the Twins? He hit .290 in 24 career games versus Minnesota, including a home run off Les Straker on July 29, 1987. That same season he hit two home runs off fellow Minnesota native Jack Morris. Kingery and Blix Donnelly headlined the seven-member inaugural class of the West Central Baseball Hall of Fame in Willmar in 2014. Happy 63rd birthday to 1980 Mets first-round draft pick and longtime A’s general manager Billy Beane. He came to the Twins as part of a January 1986 trade that sent Tim Teufel to the Mets. He had a heckuva game at Yankee Stadium on April 29, 1986. Entering the game with just three hits in 17 major league games dating back to 1984 (zero in his first four games with the Twins), Beane went 5-for-5 with a walk and his first career home run. (Twins lost 14-11.) Those five hits accounted for 7.6% of the just 66 hits Beane collected over parts of six major league seasons. He had fewer than five hits total in four of his six seasons. He was a September call-up in 1987 and came up clutch in his first MLB plate appearance of the season. He entered as a defensive replacement in right field in the top of the 11th of a 1-1 game against the Brewers on September 4. He came to the plate with two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th and connected for a walk-off single to center off Dan Plesac, driving in Gary Gaetti. (Plesac made his first of three-straight All-Star appearances that season.) The win gave the Twins a three-game lead over Oakland in the AL West. 1978: The Twins purchased the contract of José Morales from the Expos on this date in 1978. He had set a major league record with 25 pinch hits in 1976 (since broken). In his first season with the Twins, he led all DH’s with a .323 average and set a team record with 14 pinch hits (since broken by Chip Hale). His 36 pinch hits in a Twins uniform are fourth-most in team history. He tied Jerry Terrell‘s team record by grounding into three double plays on May 17, 1980. Check back tomorrow for the Twins Almanac for March 30, featuring Ken Landreaux, Mickey Hatcher, Bob Casey, Jake Odorizzi, Nick Anderson, and more View full article

Extended Mauer definitely paid financial dividends for the Twins.

Nailed it

This weekend's Almanac features two first-round draft picks and one of only two Hall of Fame players to win Manager of the Year. Plus I manage to work-in mentions of Ted Williams and Harmon Killebrew. March 22, 2010: Three-time batting champion and reigning AL MVP Joe Mauer signed an eight-year, $184 million extension during a press conference at the Twins' spring training facility in Fort Myers on this date in 2010. The contract—which locked up the hometown hero through 2018—was the fourth-richest in MLB history at the time. I know this news will trigger strong emotions in some Twins fans. We're opening up the comments section at the bottom of the page for everyone to express their feelings. March 22: Happy 73rd birthday to 1973 Twins first-round draft pick Eddie Bane, who made his MLB debut in front of a sellout crowd on the Fourth of July without ever pitching in the minors. The Twins were struggling to put butts in the seats, so Calvin Griffth got the idea to bring their first-round pick straight to the majors after wrapping up his stellar collegiate career at Arizona State. The 45,890 tickets sold far exceeded the Twins' expectations and the start of the game had to delayed 15 minutes. He pitched a heckuva game, too, holding Kansas City to just one run over seven innings. (The Twins gave up four runs in the ninth for a 5-4 loss.) Despite the auspicious start, Bane's numbers were lackluster the rest of the season. He spent all of 1974 and most of 1975 at triple-A Tacoma and played his final major league game in 1976 at the age of 24. Here's a Fun Fact: Bane gave up Royals DH Harmon Killebrew's 573rd and final career home run at Met Stadium on September 18, 1975. Eddie began working as a scout in 1984. He was Angels scouting director when they drafted Mike Trout 25th-overall in 2009. Eddie's brother, Dan Bane, was CEO of Trader Joe's from 2001 until his retirement in 2023. March 23, 2015: The Paul Molitor-managed Twins lost 3-0 to Ryne Sandberg’s Phillies in Florida on this date in 2015. It is believed to be the first time that current Hall of Famers had managed against each other. Such an occurrence has never happened during the regular season (last I checked). Speaking of Hall of Fame players as managers, did anyone in the audience see Ted Williams as manager of the Senators and then Rangers when they'd come to Met Stadium between 1969 and '72? Of course the Splendid Splinter had a lot of friends in Minnesota dating back to his season with the Minneapolis Millers in 1938. He wound up marrying a woman from Princeton, MN and frequently returned to the area during the offseason into the 1950s. Paul Molitor is one of just two Hall of Fame players to be named Manager of the Year. Can you name the other one? Flex your baseball knowledge in the comments section at the bottom of the page. View full article

The Goltz one is unofficial (because MLB didn't officially keep track of pitch count at the time) but the official scorer at that game was keeping track anyway. The writing is kind of chaotic, but a number of years ago I attempted a blog post about interesting shutout trivia: https://twinsalmanac.com/high-hit-shutouts/

I totally forgot that Mulholland threw a no-hitter. I was surprised to see he only made one All-Star team. I was at peak impressionability in 1993, so to this day any player who was an All-Star that year I just assume must have been a perennial All-Star [laughing emoji].

That is pretty crazy that he won three-straight batting titles with three different teams. Hard to imagine that happening in the '80s.

This weekend's Almanac features notes on Terry Mulholland, Mark Salas, and John Butcher, plus a bonus trivia question. March 8: Happy 68th birthday to former Twins pitcher John Butcher. He pitched a remarkable one-hour and 55-minute complete-game shutout on April 21, 1985. The Twins were on a nine-game losing streak, falling to 2-9 on the season entering the Sunday series finale in Oakland when Butcher hurled the 81-pitch gem, allowing three hits, but facing just 28 batters. Leadoff hitter Kirby Puckett went 3-for-5, driving in the Twins' only two runs. It was the beginning of a 10-game winning streak. Speaking of efficient pitcher performances, Carlos Silva needed just 74 pitches to beat the Brewers at the Metrodome on May 20, 2005, allowing just five hits including a solo home run. That game, however, lingered on for 2 hours and 27 minutes as the Twins put up seven runs, with Nick Punto going 4-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Minnesota native Dave Goltz threw a 70-pitch two-hit shutout on October 1, 1974. March 8: Happy 64th birthday to former Twins catcher Mark Salas. After being acquired from the Cardinals in the December ‘84 Rule 5 Draft, Salas had one of the better rookie seasons in Twins history in 1985, batting an even .300. (It wound up being the best season of his eight-year MLB career.) The Twins traded Salas to the Yankees for knuckleballer Joe Niekro in June 1987. He served as White Sox bullpen catcher from 1995 to '99, and 2008 to 2018 (age 57!). That's pretty cool if you ask me. March 9: Happy 62nd birthday to 20-year major leaguer Terry Mulholland. When I hear his name, I instantly flash back to Kirby Puckett's home run off him in the 1993 All-Star Game en route to being named the game's MVP. Mulholland pitched for the Twins in 2004 and 2005 (ages 41 and 42). In 2005, he became just the third pitcher in MLB history to beat all 30 teams. (Of course, there was no interleague play prior to 1997. As of today, 23 pitchers have accomplished the feat, including Bartolo Colón, who also joined the club while playing for the Twins.) BONUS TRIVIA: Can you name the only player to lead the American League in hits with three different teams? Leave your answers in the comments section at the bottom of the page. View full article

It's the birthday of four Minnesotan major leaguers, hailing from New Ulm, Stillwater, Faribault, and St. Paul Central high schools. Happy Birthday, Terry Steinbach: Happy 63rd birthday 1980 New Ulm High School graduate, Golden Gophers all-time great, and three-time American League All-Star Terry Steinbach. Here’s a fun story: the Gophers moved hotshot Edina third baseman Greg Olson to catcher to make room for up-and-coming New Ulm third baseman Terry Steinbach. Steinbach was later converted to catcher in the Oakland A’s organization to make room for third baseman Mark McGwire. McGwire, of course, ultimately wound up at first base while Olson and Steinbach each developed into All-Star major-league catchers. Steinbach made his major-league debut as a 24-year-old September call-up in 1986 and homered off future Twins teammate Greg Swindell in his very first at-bat. He wasn't the first Minnesota-raised catcher to homer in his major league debut—1976 Park Center graduate Tim Laudner had done it in August 1981. After being maligned by the press as an unworthy starter in 1988, Steinbach homered in his first All-Star at-bat en route to being named the game's MVP. He also drove in the AL's only other run in the 2-1 win with a sac fly. The AL only carried two catchers in the game, with the other being fellow Minnesota high school graduate Tim Laudner. Steinbach played in three-straight World Series with the A's, winning a ring in 1989. In 1996, he hit 35 home runs, which still stands as the A's single-season record for a catcher. That offseason he signed with Minnesota, where he played his final three seasons at a hometown-discounted rate. In his final few weeks in major league baseball, he caught a no-hitter by Eric Milton. (He had previously caught Dave Stewart's no-hitter while playing for Oakland in 1990.) The final at-bat of his 14-year major league career was an RBI double driving in Matt Lawton. Fun Fact: The Oakland A's scout responsible for drafting and signing Terry was none other than 1970 AL Cy Young Award winner Jim Perry. (On a related note, Camilo Pascual was the scout who signed Jose Canseco for Oakland). There were actually three Steinbach's selected in the 1983 draft: Terry, his big brother Tom (also a Golden Gopher), and believe it or not, another Tom Steinbach from New York. Terry and his brother Tom were both assigned to the Northwest League that season and their teams actually faced each other in the league championship game, with Terry hitting a 16th-inning RBI single for a 1-0 Medford win over Bellingham. How storybook is that?! If anybody has any fun facts or interesting stories about Terry's townball career, please share them in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Happy Birthday, Glen Perkins: Happy 42nd birthday to 2001 Stillwater Area High School graduate, Golden Gophers all-time great, and former Twins closer Glen Perkins. He played 12 seasons with the Twins, peaking with three-straight All-Star seasons from 2013 to 2015 (age 30 to 33) when he averaged 34 saves per season. Unfortunately, a torn labrum limited him to just 10 appearances over the next two seasons and he retired in January 2018. His 120 saves rank third in Twins history behind Joe Nathan and Rick Aguilera, and four saves ahead of Eddie Guardado. In two season at the University of Minnesota, he struck out 230 batters in 216 1/3 innings. His 117 strikeouts in 2003 and 113 in 2004 are still the top two totals in Golden Gophers history. Dave Winfield is fifth on the list with 109 strikeouts in just 82 innings in 1973. (Perkins averaged 108 1/3 innings in his two seasons.) Perk was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2004. Happy Birthday, Mike Johnson: Happy 74th birthday to 1969 Faribault High School graduate and former San Diego Padres pitcher Mike Johnson. He was signed by Cincinnati Reds scout Bill Clark out of his annual tryout camp at Bell Field in Faribault. After six seasons in the minors, he made his major league debut in a pretty pressure-packed situation in July 1974, entering with the bases loaded (Hank Aaron on second base) and two out in the bottom of the ninth of a scoreless game and induced an inning-ending groundout from Atlanta first baseman Davey Johnson. He walked Darrell Evans leading off the bottom of the tenth, and Dusty Baker bunted Evans up to second. He then intentionally walked Mike Lum to set up a potential inning-ending double play. It was not to be, however, as Rowland Office came through with a walk-off single, saddling Johnson with the loss in his MLB debut. After pitching a 1-2-3 top of the tenth, Tom House—throwing guru to the stars, including Nolan Ryan and Tom Brady—earned the win for Atlanta. In total, Johnson made 18 relief appearances with the Padres in 1974—his final season of professional baseball. (Worth noting fellow Minnesotan Dave Winfield was in his second season in San Diego.) Johnson returned to Faribault where he pitched for the Lakers townball team. Birthdate of Mickey Rocco: Former major-league first baseman Mickey Rocco was born in St. Paul on this date in 1916. In addition to baseball, Rocco also played basketball and was a violinist in the St. Paul Central school orchestra according to biographer Gregg Omoth. After spending time in the Pirates, Braves, White Sox, Dodgers, and Tigers farm systems, Rocco made his major league debut with Cleveland in June 1943 at age 27. He went 2-for-4 with a triple, double, RBI, and run scored in his MLB debut (a 6-5 loss in Philadelphia). He started 107 of Cleveland's remaining 114 games that season. The following season, he led the American League and tied for the MLB lead with 653 at-bats. If you ask me, being able to say you got more at-bats than anybody else in the American League is pretty frickin' cool. In total, Rocco played 440 games over four seasons with Cleveland, with his final major league game coming in June 1946 at age 30. He stuck it out in the minors through 1952. He remained active in baseball, coaching various Twin Cities teams throughout the 1950s and '60s. According to biographer Gregg Omoth, "a Rosetown team he coached won the Minnesota Legion championship in 1965." Rocco passed away in 1997 at age 81. View full article

Three guys with the ability to play the catcher position at the major league level each hit 20+ home runs :) Or another way of looking at it: Three guys remembered primarily as catchers each hit 20+ homers. (Although I see that Blanchard actually wound up playing a few more games in the outfield over the course of his career. Still, though, I bet if you asked 10 fans what position Blanchard played, a majority would say catcher first.) And we could quibble about whether Berra was a viable catcher in 1961, but still, three bona fide members of the catcher fraternity. Also, there wasn't much Almanac material for this weekend, and when I saw it was Howard's birthdate, the 20-HR nugget and the Minneapolis connection immediately came to mind :)

Yeah, of course they didn't actually have three everyday catchers, but still pretty cool. (Of course I'm a catcher.)

This weekend's Almanac features Brian Duensing, an Apple Valley graduate who pitched in the majors, and a tertiary connection to one of the best baseball players ever from Minneapolis. Feb. 22: Happy 42nd birthday to former Twins pitcher Brian Duensing. He is the only pitcher in Minnesota Twins history to win two games in one day—at least on paper. Duensing came in out of the bullpen in both games of a doubleheader in Chicago on August 9, 2013, retiring all four White Sox he faced. What doesn't show up in the record book, however, is that back in 1969 Jim Perry earned two wins for the Twins on the same day. He pitched two hitless innings, doubled, and scored the winning run in a game resumed from the night before, and then pitched a complete-game shutout in the day’s regularly scheduled game. Officially, however, the first win shows up as the day before—when the game began. (Going back to Washington Senators days, Walter Johnson also once won two games in one day.) Duensing pitched a three-hit shutout as the first-place Twins beat the Oakland A’s 2-0 on August 14, 2010. He gave up one hit in each of the first three innings before completely shutting down the Oakland offense for the final six innings. Reigning AL MVP Joe Mauer went 3-for-4 in the game. The Twins went on to win the Central for the sixth time in nine years that season, with a remarkable SIX pitchers notching at least 10 wins each: Carl Pavano (17), Francisco Liriano (14), Kevin Slowey (13), Scott Baker (12), Nick Blackburn (10), and Brian Duensing (10). Feb. 23: Happy 50th birthday to Apple Valley graduate Dave Maurer, who made 22 relief appearances over four seasons with San Diego, Cleveland, and Toronto. His only MLB loss came pitching for Cleveland at the Metrodome on September 25, 2002, giving up a 12th-inning walk-off home run to David Ortiz (didn’t need him). Cleveland first baseman Jim Thome, incidentally, hit two home runs in the game, both off Rick Reed (naturally). Dave’s brother Mike pitched six seasons in the A’s organization, making it as high as Double A. The Twins drafted their dad Thomas out of the University of St. Thomas in 1966 and he pitched four seasons in their farm system. During those four years in the minors, Thomas Maurer was teammates with fellow Minnesotans Charley Walters, Dave Goltz, and Mike Sadek. If anybody has any interesting stories or fun facts about any of the Maurers, please share them in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Feb. 23, 1929: Former AL MVP Elston Howard was born in St. Louis on this date in 1929. It's a slow day in Minnesota baseball history, but here's the connection: In 1961, Howard was one of THREE Yankees catchers to hit over 20 home runs, along with Minneapolis native Johnny Blanchard, and Yogi Berra (who played mostly left field that season). How many teams in baseball history have had three catchers hit 20+ home runs in a season? Blanchard hit two home runs in the World Series that season. He played in five-straight World Series, winning rings in 1961 and '62. Of course Hibbing-born, Fargo-raised Roger Maris also put up respectable power numbers in 1961. View full article

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