Article: Twins Celebrate Diamond Awards, Support Disease Research

[Seth Stohs]

On Thursday night at Target Field, the Minnesota Twins hosted the 2015 Diamond Awards at Target Field. It was a good night to look back at the positives from the 2014 Twins season while at the same time raising a lot of money for the University of Minnesota’s innovative research and patient care for ALS, ataxia, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s diseaseThe night began with a social hour or two during which people were able to bid on a ton of incredible memorabilia from baseball history, but also from the other local professional teams such as the Vikings, the Wild and the Timberwolves.

Walking to the banquet room, I ran into Twins minor league director Brad Steil and Twins General Manager Terry Ryan. The last time I had seen Ryan was one year ago at the Diamond Awards. He is thin, but says he is back closer to 100% and excited to get down to Ft. Myers.

 

At 7:00, the program began with a welcome from Fox Sports North’s Dick Bremer. The dinner was a garden salad, followed by an entrée that I didn’t know how to interpret. I mean, it was a “Manhattan cut filet of beef with caramelized cauliflower, chianti braised cippollini onions, butter poached baby red potatoes, and a demi-glace.” I’m not sure what that all means, but it sure tasted good. There was a little dessert after that as well.

 

As the meal concluded, Brian Dozier walked by and came over to the table to say hi. I asked him how the Twins Caravan went, and he said it was great. He really enjoys it, but he had just returned to Minneapolis a couple of hours before he needed to be at the Diamond Awards. I asked him how much time he got back at home in Mississippi between his time in Nicaragua (more on this later) and his flight to Minnesota for the Caravan. He said it was less than 24 hours. It’s been a whirlwind.

 

 

The first award of the evening was the Jim Rantz Award for Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Although Rantz was at the event, Terry Ryan presented the award to JO Berrios. Ryan spoke for quite some time about all of what Berrios accomplished during the season, from not walking anyone, to striking out guys and pitching at three levels. But he spoke with great pride about how far his English has come along. Berrios was happy about winning the award. He also said, “One thing I learned is respect for the game. Veteran players, I learned that from them.”

 

 

Next up was the Sherry Robertson Award for the Minor League Player of the Year. Brad Steil presented the award to Kennys Vargas. Dick Bremer asked Vargas about his 2014 bet with David Ortiz. Ortiz told Vargas in spring training that if he hit 25 home runs during the season, he would bling him out. Will Ortiz pay up? Vargas doesn’t know. “We’ll see at spring traning. Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t. He is a good friend.”

 

Twins President Dave St. Peter presented the Kirby Puckett Alumni Community Service Award. Jim Kaat was the recipient which was very appropriate. The Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota was founded by Allison, along with Kaat and Frank Quilici. Kaat has remained involved in the game, and also in the community, since his playing days. He was unable to attend the event.

 

Jim Pohlad presented the Carl R. Pohlad Award to Brian Duensing. Well, kind of. He said that, “Since we are in arbitration with Brian, I can’t say much good about him.” Obviously he was joking. The list of charitable groups and activities that Brian, along with his wife Lisa, are involved in was a long and impressive one. Bremer asked Duensing one question (and Duensing said he was glad Pohlad brought up the elephant in the room), but then he asked Lisa a question. She clearly didn’t want to speak and be given that much attention, but when she spoke, she was great, eloquent and spoke from the heart.

 

Larry Gallagher was a long-time umpire at all of the various levels of amateur baseball starting in 1955. He was a long-time umpire in the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), and as Paul Molitor said when he introduced him as the Play Ball! Minnesota Terry Ryan Award as a Friend of the Game, he said he even “somehow he even umpired in seven major league games.”

 

The Bill Boni Award was presented to Danny Santana for his terrific, surprising 2014 season with the Twins. He put up terrific numbers while learning a new position. He also did his interview in English and was very proud of his season.

Ron Gardenhire was named the Mike Augustin Media Good Guy Award. “Thank you to the local writers for this award. Good guy award. That’s a first. I certainly appreciate it.” He concluded his video acceptance by saying, “Good luck to the ball club this season. I’ll be watching. I’ll be rooting. Go get ‘em, Moli, it’s on your shoulders buddy.”

 

The Charles O. Johnson Award for most improved went to Eduardo Escobar. In English, he said, “I’m so nervous. I’m so happy. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” However, he also made it clear that he intends to get regular playing time at shortstop. “I’m going to come into spring training, ready to compete. I love it when I play every day.”

 

The Bob Allison Award for Team Leadership went to Kurt Suzuki. He credited his former teammates Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi and Mark Kotsay as being leaders of his teams when he was young. He is excited to play with Torii Hunter because of his leadership skills. He hopes that the younger players will watch how he plays the game and can learn from him.

 

He was asked about getting to catch Ervin Santana after trying to hit against him when he was a member of the A’s and Santana was with the Angels. “I wasn’t lucky enough to get days off against him. Look at my stats against him. That should tell you how good he is. He’s a winner.”

 

Brian Dozier was given the Jim Kaat Award for top defensive player. He gave credit to a lot of people who helped him, particularly in his move from shortstop to second base. He especially talked about Molitor’s help with that transition. He was also asked about what he and his wife Renee were doing in Nicaragua. They were helping to build a school, laying cement and putting up the framing. They were there for about a week. It’s the second straight year that they have made that trip.

 

Phil Miller announced that Pat Neshek was the Dick Siebert Award recipient as the Upper Midwest Player of the Year. Miller spoke of Neshek’s amazing 2014 in which he signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals, made the team, gave up three runs in his first three months, made the All-Star team, pitched in Target Field in that game, and fathered a son. Miller said that Neshek was very happy to have won the award, something he reiterated in a pre-recorded video because he was unable to make it. Miller joked that that Twins offered to fly him to Minneapolis and give him an award, but the Astros gave him $12.5 million so he chose to go to Astros Fest this weekend.

 

Finally, Mike Berardino announced that Phil Hughes was awarded the Joseph W. Haynes Award as the Twins Pitcher of the Year and the Calvin R. Griffith Award for the Most Valuable Twin. Hughes was very thankful to the Twins for the opportunity that the Twins gave him a year ago. When asked about his decision not to get one more out on that final weekend, he said Gardy called him into his office and made the offer, but after some thought, it was an easy decision to decline. He said it would have been a very selfish move. He said he doesn’t regret that decision, and then he thanked Terry Ryan and the Pohlads for giving him a lot of money this offseason.

 

Throughout the awards, there were some other segments. Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor were brought up for some State of the Organization types of questions. Molitor said that he can’t wait for February 23^rd to get here so that spring training can get started. He said he doesn’t want to change the groundwork of spring training established by Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire, but that they would tweak a few things. Ryan said he was tired of worry about the other teams in the division. He only cares about making the Twins better and he believes that they are improved. They will certainly need some guys to take steps forward. He pointed out Oswaldo Arcia, who came to the event, and is at Twins Fest for the first time.

 

Later, they called out a couple of the new players, Ervin Santana and Torii Hunter. It became a great standup comedy show. The two were teammates with the Angels for several seasons. Torii calls Santana “Magic”, as in Ervin Magic (but not Johnson). The two spoke glowingly of each other.

 

Hunter was always a big fan of Paul Molitor and said he learned a lot from him. Bremer asked him, now that Molitor is his manager, is he still a big fan? Hunter joked, “That depends.” He went on to tell a couple of stories about some little things that he learned from Molitor over the years, but then he focused his attention on the young players that were in the audience. He basically told them that they need to continue working hard, and learn from Molitor and learn from the veterans that are being brought in, and that they’re going to have some fun, but they’re going to work. And then he pointed at the players and said, “And… we’re going to win.”

 

Listening to that speech, it’s clear that Hunter will be a very good leader for this organization. I know many, especially those who solely look at the numbers (and sometimes I’m guilty of that too), but the other things do matter. If he can hit like he did, even last year, and find ways to get the most out of other players (hopefully positive ones, not punching-related ones), it’ll be worth it. I tweeted after hearing him that I wish I could play and be his teammate!

 

Finally, it was the 10^th annual Diamond Awards. A lot of great research has been done over the years and these events have helped raise a lot of money for that. The goal, obviously, is to someday find cures. As that research is done, some of the proceeds are being used to help with patient care and treatments. There is still a lot of work ahead and a lot of hope that eventually there will be a cure.

 

If you would like to contribute, you can. Go to give.umn.edu/neuro to learn more about the research on brain, nerve and muscle disorders and to find out how you can help.

 

Twins Fest begins tonight at Target Field. It is another charitable event from the Minnesota Twins. Many players (former, current and future) will be in attendance to sign autographs, take pictures and spend time with the fans. If you have a chance, it’s a great event. And hey, spending time at Target Field is always a good thing!

 

Click here to view the article

[Han Joelo]

Thanks, Seth. Love to see the human side of players, not just their triple slash.

[JB_Iowa]

Really nice summary, Seth.  Thanks.

 

Hoping that the optimism proves realistic this summer. 

[Squirrel]

Great read, Seth!  You do such a good job at showing the 'human interest' side of players ... hope to see, er read, more of it!

[jimmer]

'Listening to that speech, it’s clear that Hunter will be a very good leader for this organization. I know many, especially those who solely look at the numbers (and sometimes I’m guilty of that too), but the other things do matter.'

 

How many people solely look at numbers? I don't think that people have to just look at numbers to be down on him.  They could just watch how far his defense has fallen the last two years with their own eyes and then say, 'he's about to be 40, so he isn't likely to be any better. ' One might see that with the really bad OF defense we've had lately, getting him was a bad move. In fact, IMO, one SHOULD see that

 

I'm also not sure if being loud and getting in people's faces means he's a good leader. When things get bad, it will be interesting to see how he is, because he has a rep for picking some of the most talented players on his team, ones getting more press than him, and getting in their faces when things go bad. Also, let's make sure the rest of the team doesn't follow his lead on how to do press conferences.

 

I think it was a very bad signing from a competitive standpoint, a move to put behinds in the seats for a team still. at best, a couple years away from being in contention.

Edited January 23, 2015 by jimmer

[jimmer]

BTW, and sorry not to say this earlier, but I overall loved the article.  I liked the tidbit about Dozier coming over and chatting with you, and just the overall firsthand info you gave on the awards banquet in general. Thanks for that.

Edited January 23, 2015 by jimmer

[Steven Buhr]

Great post, Seth. Thank you. Wish I could have been up there for the event.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Overheard, but not confirmed, when we walked by Terry Ryan and Brad Steil, "Hey, Seth, we're thinking about making a move. There are some guys we want to ask you about..."

 

(I'm obviously kidding... or am I?)

[ashbury]

Overheard, but not confirmed, when we walked by Terry Ryan and Brad Steil, "Hey, Seth, we're thinking about making a move.

I'm very doubtful they would consider putting the franchise in Warroad.