Tony, the Killer, and Carew

Twins who have worn the uniform number “4″

Bob Allison, 1961-70
Steve Braun, 1971-75
Gene Mauch, 1976-80 (Manager)
Mark Funderburk, 1981
Jim Eisenreich, 1982-84
Chris Speier, 1984
Steve Lombardozzi, 1985-88
Orlando Mercado, 1989
Chip Hale, 1990-95
Paul Molitor, 1996-98
Paul Molitor, 2000-01, 2003 (Coach)
Augie Ojeda, 2004

Other fours (award winners & great games edition):

Cy Young Awards in Twins History: 4

Jim Perry (1970)
Frank Viola (1988)
Johan Santana (2004, 2006)

MVP Awards in Twins History: 4

Zoilo Versalles (1965)
Harmon Killebrew (1969)
Rod Carew (1977)
Justin Morneau (2006)

No-Hitters in Twins History: 4

8/26/1962: Jack Kralick
8/25/1967: Dean Chance
4/27/1994: Scott Erickson
9/11/1999: Eric Milton

A little bit of a quiet week for birthdays…

April 27, 1975 - Benj Sampson

April 28, 1935
Pedro Ramos - Here’s my take on Ramos’ only season as a Twin (from Coffeyville Whirlwind):

SP Pedro Ramos 11-20 3.95 ERA 1.30 WHIP 0.8 PW 15 WS 7.1 WARP3
Ramos led the AL in losses for the fourth consecutive year, this time with his own personal record of 20. As with the previous four, he really didn’t pitch that poorly, at the very least certainly not poorly enough to join the 20 game loser club.

1958 14-18 90 ERA+
1959 13-19 95 ERA+
1960 11-18 115 ERA+
1961 11-20 108 ERA+

One area in which Ramos didn’t help himself was with the home run ball. He led the AL with 39 home runs allowed, another career high. In the end it was all a little too much for Griffith, who put Ramos on the trade block right after the season, and finally made a deal with the Indians in the spring of 1962. Thus ended Ramos’ tenure with the organization. In seven years he posted the following line: 78-112 4.19 ERA (95 ERA+) with 37.6 WARP3. Ramos stayed in the majors until 1970. His record caught up to his performance a bit during his time with Cleveland, and he had only the second winning season of his career in 1963.

April 28, 1962 - Luis Quinones

April 29, 1952
Ron Washington - Played five seasons with the Twins, mainly in the utility infielder role. Washington’s busiest season was 1982, when he batted .271/.291/.368 in 470 PA’s and essentially split time with Lenny Faedo at short stop. He is currently managing the Texas Rangers, though his hold on the job isn’t as firm as he might like after a losing season in his major league managerial debut last year.

April 30, 1964 - Jeff Reboulet
May 1, 1954 - Roy Lee Jackson

There is only one player in Twins’ history who has worn the number three.

The number three was retired on August 11, 1974, so Harmon Killebrew is also the last Twin who will ever wear that number as well.

Harmon Killebrew was discovered by Washington Senators scout Ossie Bluege when he was playing an impromptu baseball game in his hometown of Payette, Idaho. Interestingly, it was about 50 years earlier that another Senators scout happened upon Walter Johnson while he was playing in Idaho. Like Johnson, the Senators snatched up the 17-year-old Killebrew before other teams had a chance. Unlike Johnson, however, Killebrew received a signing bonus of $30,000.

Because of the “bonus baby” rules at the time, Killebrew had to be on the major league roster for two years. For Killebrew, it meant a lot of sitting and watching games from his signing to June of 1956. When the two years expired, he was finally able to play on a regular basis in the minor leagues. After two full seasons in the minors, Killebrew was ready to join the major league team again. He played his first full season in 1959.

It didn’t take long for Harmon to catch on. His easy going way was well liked by fans, and the fact that he hit 42 home runs in his first season with a team that was historically short on power didn’t hurt matters. By the middle of 1959, Washington fans were already sure they had found the player that was going to turn things around.

Killebrew had exhibited Mickey Mantle-like power from the time he first donned a Washington uniform at the age of 17. But he was prone to swipe at bad balls, he seemed to heavy around the hips, and to have bad hands and a scatter arm.

 

After four earlier trials with the Senators and three fair seasons at Charlotte (Sally) and Chattanooga (Southern), Harm has become and assured, relaxed performer… Some of the more romantic Senator fans were looking to Harm as the “Joe Hardy” of “Damnyankees” fame, come to deliver the Senators, at last, from the depths of the second division.

 

-Herb Heft, The Sporting News, May 1959

 

Washington baseball fans were never able to see Killebrew deliver the Senators from the depths because the team moved west to Minnesota prior to Killebrew’s third full season. “Killer” responded to the new setting with his best season to date in 1961. In the Twins’ first decade, Killebrew slugged 40+ home runs seven times. Though he missed a good chunk of the 1965 season due to injuries, Killebrew was a key factor in the team’s first American League pennant victory. His greatest season, however, was probably 1969 when he batted .276/.427/.584 with 49 HR and a team record 140 RBI.

While it is certainly true that Killebrew was more than comfortable at the plate, he never really found a home in the field. His very early years with the Senators found him playing mostly second base, but by the time he became a regular Killebrew had moved to third base. In his second full season, however, he was moved to first base, the position at which he played more games than any other. During his career, Killebrew also played in the outfield. Towards the end of his career, he was primarily a designated hitter.

When Killebrew retired after the 1975 season, he left with 573 home runs, 559 of which were hit while he was wearing a Washington/Minnesota uniform. That total is still a franchise record, and Killebrew currently sits in ninth place on the career home run list, sandwiched between Mark McGwire (583) and Rafael Palmeiro (569). Killebrew remains the only Twin to have ever hit more than 40 home runs in a season.

In what is one of the most ridiculous moments in Hall of Fame history, Harmon Killebrew missed induction on three ballots before he was finally elected in 1984. He was the first Minnesota Twin to be inducted.

Other “3’s” in Twins history:

To answer the trivia question from a few weeks back, the three players who played for both Washington and Minnesota that were not with the team at the time of the move were listed in TheJaw’s comment below the post:

Bill Fischer - Played with Washington from 1958 to 1960. Traded to Detroit in July 1960. Played with Minnesota Twins in 1964.

 

Mike Fornieles - Played with Washington in 1952 and Minnesota in 1963.

 

Garland Shifflett - Played with Washington in 1957 and Minnesota in 1964.

 

Technicality - Julio Becquer - Played with Washington from 1955 to 1960. Taken by Angels in expansion draft in December 1960. Purchased from Philadelphia by Minnesota in June 1961. Played with Minnesota from 1961 to 1963.

 

Well played, TheJaw.

There are three managers who have lasted longer than five seasons with the Twins: Sam Mele, Tom Kelly, and Ron Gardenhire. Two of the three have been able to take the team to a World Series.

By this time in 2010, the Twins will have played their home games in three different ballparks: Metropolitan Stadium, HHH Metrodome, and “The Ballpark to be named later.”

There are three occasions on which a Twins batter was intentionally walked 20 or more times in a single season. Harmon Killebrew did it twice, in 1969 (20) and 1970 (23). The third time it happened was in 2006, when Joe Mauer received 21 intentional passes.

Trivia: there are six pitchers with 500+ innings pitched in a Twins’ uniform who have a strikeout to walk ratio greater than 3.00 in their Twins career. Name them.

April 20, 1967 - Greg Brummett

April 21, 1957
Jesse Orosco - Quick, how old was Jesse Orosco when he joined the Twins as part of a trade in August of 2003? Answer: 46. Though he was originally drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 1978 amateur draft, the relief pitcher did not actually play with the major league Twins until three decades later. That might sound like one long minor league career, but in actuality Orosco played in 24 major league seasons. His best year was probably 1983, when he finished third in the NL Cy Young voting as a member of the New York Mets. Though he only appeared in eight games with the Twins, Orosco’s professional playing career began and ended in the Twins organization.

April 21, 1979 - Terry Tiffee
April 22, 1964 - Jack Savage

April 23, 1977
Jason Tyner - Tyner had 1,464 PA’s in his major league career from 2000-2007, but had just one career major league home run, hit against the Indians on July 28, 2007. I would have to think that he would be in the running for weakest-hitting designated hitter in history.

April 23, 1979
Carlos Silva - The architect of one of the most remarkable games in recent Twins’ history (check out the pitch count), Silva is getting paid and paid well to pitch in Seattle.

April 24, 1944
Bill Singer - Though Singer had a very good pitching career (his stop in Minnesota was brief and towards the end of his career), he will probably be remembered best for the remarks that led to his dismissal from a front office job with the New York Mets.

April 24, 1958
Bill Krueger - Though I don’t have any particular reason, Bill Krueger was one of my favorite Twins when I was an eighth grader following the Twins. He didn’t last long, and was traded to the Expos at the August trade deadline for Darren Reed.

April 24, 1968
Todd Jones - The most famous deadline deal made by the Twins in 2001 was the Matt Lawton for Rick Reed trade. Somewhat lost in the shuffle was the trade in which the Twins sent Mark Redman to the Tigers for reliever Todd Jones. At the time, the Twins were giving up on the Hawkins-as-closer plan, and brought Jones on to provide the all-important veteran leadership in the bullpen. Jones pitched fairly well in his two months with the Twins, but became a free agent after the season and took his game to Coors Field where he was actually able to pitch pretty well. He is currently the Tigers’ closer.

April 24, 1976 - John Barnes
April 25, 1954 - Greg Wells
April 25, 1956 - Larry Pashnick

April 25, 1975
Jacque Jones - When used properly, Jones is a very effective left-handed bat, and a decent fielder. Unfortunately, he can’t hit left-handed pitching to save his life. In his career to date, he has hit .293/.341/.480 against right-handed pitchers and just .233/.281/.354 against southpaws. The Tigers seem to be using him properly this year. Through his first 10 games this season, he has just two plate appearances against left-handed pitching.

April 26, 1950 - Tom Norton

April 26, 1960
Steve Lombardozzi - Lombo was a very likeable player and a member of the 1987 Minnesota Twins World Series team. He was basically your prototypical no-hit middle infielder (career .233/.307/.345), the kind of player that gets praised by the Twins’ organization and generally has a pretty easy time endearing himself to the fan base. It is possible that Lombo was even more well liked after his career in Minnesota was over due to the fact that his replacement was Tom Herr.

November 28, 1960

Almost immediately following the announcement that the former Washington Senators would be moving to the Twin Cities and the American League would be expanding with a new teams in Washington and Los Angeles, Commissioner Ford Frick temporarily froze major league rosters. None of the clubs were allowed to make any moves, so the first few months of the off season were quiet for the junior circuit.

The first allowance for any player movement came on November 28 in the Flag Room of the Kentucky Hotel in Louisville. All of the teams gathered for an event that combined the Rule 5 draft, first-year minor league player draft, and a special draft for the new Washington club that just became officially recognized at the meeting. After a few opening announcements by Frick, and a challenge to his authority by White Sox owner Bill Veeck, who attempted to sell a player despite the roster freeze, the draft was underway. The first order of business was the Rule 5 draft.

The teams chose in reverse order of the standing alternated by league. Calvin Griffith’s team had finished fifth in the American League, so were scheduled to draft eighth. It became clear that it was going to be an uphill battle for Griffith to make the name “Minnesota Twins” stick when Secretary Charley Sager called out “Minneapolis-St. Paul” when it was Griffith’s turn to draft. Whether the mistake was intentional or not, Griffith made the first official move for the Minnesota Twins when he selected catcher Ron Henry from Toronto of the International League, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves.

Henry did not have a particularly distinguished career for the Twins. He appeared in 20 games in 1961, making just 31 plate appearances. He spent the next two years in the minor leagues before his second and final stint with the team during the latter half of the 1964 season. In all, Henry played in 42 major league games and batted just .130/.176/.261.

Later in the day, Griffith selected pitchers Gerry Arrigo and Gary Dotter as part of the first-year player portion of the draft, but Ron Henry holds the distinction as the original Twin.

Twins who have worn the number “2″ (the all-number two team would include a lot of second basemen)

Zoilo Versalles, 1961-67
Frank Kostro, 1968-69
Graig Nettles, 1969
Frank Crosetti, 1970-71 (Coach)
Bobby Darwin, 1972-75
John Briggs, 1975
Craig Kusick, 1975
Steve Braun, 1976
Randy Bass, 1977
John Castino, 1979-84
Chris Pittaro, 1986-87
Wally Backman, 1989
Nelson Liriano, 1990
Donnie Hill, 1992
Pat Meares, 1993-98
Luis Rivas, 2000-05
Denard Span, 2008

The Twins have won two World Series (1987, 1991).

The original (and best) team logo featured two guys shaking hands over the Mississippi River.

On July 17, 1990, the Twins turned two triple plays in the same game.

Among the players who have hit exactly two home runs in their Twins career: Mark Davidson, Jeff Cirillo, Jason Maxwell, and Mike Redmond (still active).

Minnesota is 4-8 in post season Game 2’s, but is 3-0 in World Series Game 2’s. They have not won a Game 2 since the 1991 World Series.

The Twins have hosted two All Star Games (1965, 1985)

There have been two Ford C. Frick award winners among the broadcasters that regularly covered the Twins: Bob Wolf and Herb Carneal.

April 19 may be an early candidate for “most significant date in Twins’ history” in terms of birthdays.

April 13, 1962
Jeff Bittiger - Probably one of the more obscure members of the 1987 championship team, Bittiger was a September call up who appeared in three games for the Twins. I don’t believe that he appeared at the reunion.

April 14, 1966 - Greg Myers

April 14, 1967
Mike Trombley - I would have guessed that Trombley’s Twins career spanned about three seasons, but I guess that shows how much I paid attention to the Twins in the mid-90’s. He spent nine seasons with the organization, including a short stint in 2002. I was also somewhat surprised to be reminded that Trombley had some very good seasons as a relief pitcher, his best probably being 1996 or 1998 when he had decent numbers in the midst of the hitting explosion that characterized that time period.

April 16, 1938
Rich Rollins - From the Cool of the Evening website, the companion to Jim Theilman’s excellent account of the 1965 season:

When the Twins swept the White Sox in a doubleheader at Metropolitan Stadium early in June of 1962 to spark pennant fever in Minnesota, the Twins were in a virtual deadlock with New York. Rollins reached base six straight times in that twinbill.

The Chicago Tribune writer in Bloomington that day wrote that Rollins “has become the baseball pin-up boy here ahead of such sluggers as Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison.” He was 24, and finished that rookie season with 16 home runs, 96 RBI and a .298 batting average.

There were two All-Star games that summer, and Rollins started both after receiving more votes from fellow players — who voted for the teams at the time — than Mickey Mantle received.

April 16, 1939
Bernie Allen - Will Young covered Bernie Allen’s career well in a post from a couple of years ago. I would only add that Allen took the job at second base that had been vacated by Billy Martin.
April 16, 1940 - Garry Roggenburk
April 18, 1948 - Ron Schueler
April 18, 1955 - Bobby Castillo

April 18, 1959
Jim Eisenreich - The St. Cloud native’s story is one of my favorites. He came up with the Twins in 1982 and immediately began to struggle with what was considered at the time a case of the nerves. After several incidents over the course of three seasons Eisenreich retired and seemed to be gone from baseball for good. While back home in St. Cloud, he was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, a neurological disorder that had caused the symptoms that forced him out of major league baseball. He was able to make a comeback after three years away, and ended up having a very successful career that included two World Series appearances (1993, 1997). Eisenreich retired from baseball in 1998. He and his wife founded the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome in 1996. An interesting side note is that when Eisenreich left the Twins for the last time in 1984, it made room for a young Kirby Puckett to break into the lineup.

April 18, 1970 - Steve Dunn
April 19, 1958 - Ed Hodge

April 19, 1960
Frank Viola - “Sweet Music” (Wikipedia helpfully tells me that the nickname is a play on the fact that his last name is also the name of an instrument) was the second member of the Minnesota Twins to win a Cy Young award when he did so in 1988. His out pitch was a slow curve that tended to make hitters look foolish on the third strike - I vividly remember Dave Winfield spinning and losing his bat on at least one occasion against Viola. After being the ace of a World Series team and a Cy Young award winner, Viola also has the distinction of being part of a blockbuster trade with the Mets that helped to lay the groundwork for the Twins second World Series win in 1991.
April 19, 1977 - Joe Beimel
April 19, 1977 - Dennys Reyes

April 19, 1983
Joe Mauer - I’ll have to do more research on this kid, I’m not sure I know who that is.

First let me say that I have no prizes, so this is only for pride.

There are 28 players who played for both Washington (original AL version) and Minnesota at some points in their careers. Three of the 28 were not with the franchise during the move. Name them. (For the purpose of this question I count the 1960 expansion draft as having taken place after the move - if you want to get technical you could add a fourth player to the list.)

Feel free to show off in the comments. Answers will be included with the “Twins History by the Numbers” when I get around to the number three.

It is probably not a coincidence that my interest in baseball really took off during and after the Twins’ World Series win in 1987. That was the same year that my family moved to the Twin Cities and I discovered Shinders. I had collected baseball cards in bubble gum packs before, but it was Shinders where I discovered that I could buy entire season sets if I saved my money. The first full set I purchased was the 1988 Topps set.

About the same time, I discovered a board game called Big League Baseball, which was basically a poor man’s version of Strat-o-matic. Dice were used to determine outcomes, but the only stats one needed to know in order to play the game was batting average and home runs. According to the game, there were six kinds of hitters: AVG <.250 with <20 HR, AVG <.250 with >20 HR, AVG between .250 and .300 with <20 HR, AVG between .250 and .300 with >20 HR, AVG > .300 with < 20 HR, and AVG > .300 with > 20 HR. Kirby Puckett fit into the last category. Pitchers were irrelevant in the game, though I chose starting pitchers anyways (and made pitching changes when appropriate).

The game came with cardboard racks where you placed the player cards in the order in which they were to bat. I probably made the entire circuit with the Twins, including many seven game series with the Mets (my favorite NL team at the time). Needless to say, my 1988 Topps set is well used, that is to say probably worth very little at this point due to wear and tear on the cards. Still, I’m pretty sure I got my $30 worth out of the set.