Melissa

Thanks so much for this, Squirrel! Fun. Brings me back a bit to when my sister lived in Lakeland, FL, and we would visit in March for spring break. I’m a Twins fan, of course, but I love watching all sorts of baseball. Tigertown, with the Red Sox nearby in Winter Haven were our main spots to visit then (1980s & 1990s). Lakeland is stuck in the hot and humid middle of the state. Quite a ride from the Twins in Ft, Meyers, as Aaron G. and John B. complain about on their podcasts. Now my sister lives in Stuart, FL, in the vicinity (less than a one hour drive) mostly of NL teams like the Cardinals and Marlins in Jupiter, the Mets in Port St. Lucie, and both the Nationals and Astros in West Palm Beach.. Three years ago it was a thrill for me to watch Don Mattingly as manager of a (woeful) Marlins crew in their opening spring training game against a powerful Cardinals team. I’ve long admired Donnie Baseball, despite him playing for the hated Yankees.

Interesting article, Matt, with lots of depth. Thanks!

Billy Bruton! Yes, I was struggling to remember his name. Bruton was the second Braves player to live in my town of Mequon, after Mr. Aaron and his family broke that particular color barrier. The Aarons lived down the road from us, and Mrs. Barbara Aaron and my mom were friends. Gaile Aaron and I were classmates. It was both an “interesting” and an amazing time.

What a list! And thanks to Greggory for this story.

Apart from definitions, mention of Mathews brought back such good memories for me as young fan in Milwaukee: Eddie Mathews, Joe Alcock, Del Crandall, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Felipe Alou … and of course the inestimable Henry Aaron!

I admit it can be fun to guess / figure out which Twin is shown in the photos st the top of TD news postings, but it frustrates me (and maybe others?) at least as much. Would it really be difficult to add labels? I note that each photo has a credit listed for its source. Sure, some players or coaches are easily recognizable, but others are not. It’s not so bad of course when the whole post is about Player X Y or Z, or usually when the uniform number is visible, but this longstanding lack of very relevant information puzzles me. Thanks for any consideration! I love the site.

Welcome to Twins Daily!

Welcome to Twins Daily!

Nice article! It seems that the team is emphasizing defense this year, so Solano’s versatility and skill with the glove fits that pattern. Defensive metrics for infielders have been all over the map in recent years with the proliferation of extreme shifts, so I see why you did the comparison with offensive stats. He’s also said to be a really fine teammate, not an irrelevant aspect.

Good to have all this in one place, but also sobering to see all the injuries stacked up.

Wow, that's kind of surprising! Wouldn't happen these days ... though maybe the word Cracker didn't yet carry the same connotations then, especially in the South?

Great analysis, Dr. Bauer!

Thanks, Greggory - fascinating stuff! Were University of Minnesota athletes called Golden Gophers at the time? I think so.

Do's tweet quotes Falvey as saying "there aren't any starters converting to short relief this spring (like Jax did this time last year)." The man speaks very precisely. I think he's definitely left open the scenario Blyleven2011 (hi Bert!) wants.

I don't know ... when I watch MLB caliber baseball players they are far from being semi-athletic. Things like golf, bowling, or god help us pickleball fit that dismissal ... but baseball? It's not beer-league slow-pitch softball out there, right?

Oh, my! I hope to see him in the high minors this year! Worth a trip to Cedar Rapids, or even better a 5- mile trip to watch the Saints!

Indubitably.

Fun topic and savvy analysis - thanks, Hunter! If you (and I) do have a home team bias, maybe that just balances out the not infrequent commentary that suggests other people have a built-in pessimistic take on the Twins and their management?

This is a very fair point based on recent years, when I think we can all think of way too many instances of the team sticking with players who are flailing or clearly have run out their string. Why else does the name Pagán still make my blood pressure shoot up so high! I’ve seen the question posed here and elsewhere whether it’s Rocco or the front office that have this frustrating tendency to give people so long a hang rope …

Admittedly, I’m an optimist about baseball when it comes round to February - in contrast to what I often see as pessimism and angst and anticipation of disappointment in comments on this site. Plenty of time for those emotions when the season’s well underway! As this applies to the Gallo - Sano comparisons, where Sano is claimed to be as good or better a player - please call to mind Miguel’s boneheaded base running and iffy defense. Joey is by all accounts a savvy and opportunistic runner, an excellent defender, and in general not someone I’m prepared to bemoan and dismiss before he’s played a single game for the home team.

Very helpful, thanks!

Thank you!

Really cool, thanks! I bit on a couple of the $4 no-fee SRO games in April and May and wonder where the ushers will actually allow us to sit. I used to take the #3 bus to games, which ran from downtown St Paul along Como Ave, through the U of M campus, ending right at the ballpark. But last year they altered the route so that no longer works. It was very convenient! I live in St. Paul so now I drive. I don’t use the direct entries into the A-B-C lots from 394. The signage on entering A or B from side streets is poor or nonexistent. I have wandered around several times looking for the entrance. Does anyone have a tip as to which specific street leads to an entrance?

I’ve heard similarly that hitting stats in the Arizona Fall League can be misleadingly high. This is because teams tend to send some really good position players to AFL for additional work, but that they tend to withhold most promising pitching prospects due to limits on innings and the like. If a pitcher hadn’t much game time that summer due to injury or the like it can be different.

I’ve seen this too - the original publication is classic clickbait. I wish we had a fuller context for this remark. Could be what it feels like to us, or could be misleading without seeing the whole quote.