Devereaux

I started a Tony Oliva fan as a small kid, but when Puckett came up he moved to #1 and no other baseball player has come close since. I used to love the way Puckett talked about being fortunate and understanding hard work. In my memory he used to always be the anti-Rickey, which leads to my favorite Puckett story which I have shared on-line before. I was living in A's territory at the time and watched it on t.v.: Monday, August 19, 1991 (Coffeyville Whirlwind summary) Last game of a four game series at the Dome between the Twins and the Oakland A’s. Twins faced them twice that month. The A’s were only three games back when we played at the Coliseum on August 2. The Twins took two of three. The A’s were 5 games behind when they came to the Metrodome for the long series. They still sounded confident. Why not, they had been to the three previous World Series, and of course they were very juiced. The Dome was packed all four games – 52,080 for the Saturday game. The Twins took the first three games – all come from behind victories. Could the Twins sweep? In the first inning, Kirby hit a solo homer to match Canseco’s. The A’s went up 6-1 in the fourth, but the Twins battled back and tied the game at 7-7 when Hrbek homered in the fifth. That’s when – for me – the fun started. Top of 6th, Rickey Henderson walked and stole second and third. Dave Henderson hit a fly ball into short center field, Rickey Henderson tagged up, and Kirby Puckett nailed Henderson at the plate on a hop. Kirby didn’t just nail Henderson. He made the great Rickey fall on his ass in front of home plate. Never touched it. Bottom of 7 now. Two outs Twins, Kirby hit a single right to Henderson in left field. Kirby went for two! It looked for a moment like Henderson was napping but he fired it to second to barely get Kirby. The difference between the greats: Kirby was poker-faced after he schooled Henderson. When Henderson nipped Kirby, he ran past him braying like a donkey – like they were even, as Tom Kelly said in his book about that season. Those were the moments. As for the game, Steinbach got the game-winning hit when Kirby’s throw to home – which looked accurate – bounced straight up off the mound, allowing Dave Henderson to score. Larkin’s would-be tying home run was about six feet foul in the bottom of the inning. The Twins were 3.5 games in first and 6 games ahead of the A’s after that game. And looking set to win their second world championship. Thanks for the baseball memories, Kirby.

The photo of him working out with his strength and conditioning coach doesn't get me optimistic. http://i1.wp.com/www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mauer-workout-001A.jpg?fit=800%2C450px

But PECOTA is a PROJECTION. Just mocking.

I agree with you about his swing. But I was hoping you were going to say he might start throwing people out at second again.

Show Gleeman this: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-unusually-compelling-kyle-gibson-just-a-tweak-away/

It's not more game. It's the same amount of game, but slower. Like if they changed the pianist between every movement in a Mozart concerto - accompanied by a long Treasure Island commercial break while the new pianist warmed up and adjusted himself.

Whew. From the headline I was afraid Rick Aguilera was in trouble.

Twins Hall of Fame? His place in franchise history (including Senators): 28th - games played (14th of Twins) 12 - HR 22 - total bases 24 - slugging 25 - OPS 26 - runs scored 27 - offensive WAR (BR) 28 - hits

Darn. My buddies and I are going to the DR on New Years for a week and I was hoping to see Sano in the Winter League playoffs.

In 1977 I was 16 and I could finally drive to Met Stadium with my buddies. I remember being super happy that Bombo Rivera tossed a beach ball back to us in the bleachers. I remember a double header that I kept score where it seemed like Carew made a ton of 1B unassisted. I was guessing it was 1978 because the stands weren't too full, but I can't locate the date for sure on BR. (Maybe July 24 against Boston?) Looks like the Twins played 7 home double headers that season!

Love your podcast. I think you have the wrong hyperlink.

This should be submitted as evidence the next time there's a vote for Twins Hall of Fame. It's not Hall of OPS+. I mentioned earlier that I was living in the Bay Area in 1987. I remember well the Jeffrey Leonard malarkey. I also remember the local press disparaging the All Midwest World Series. If I heard it once, I heard the Twin Cities and St. Louis a dozen times called "cow towns."

I'm genuinely curious if you could/would write the same article about re-signing Torii Hunter to another one-year $10 million ($6 million, whatever) contract. it seems like there's an odd but hard "love-to-hate-them" divide out there.

Excellent read. Great to go back. In 1987 I was just back from the Peace Corps and living in near-poverty in the East Bay with my to-be wife. All the Twins games I saw that season were in the Coliseum. I had to listen to the ALCS on the radio, and, being in A's territory, I had to watch the WS quietly in bars.

Funny and nicely written, thanks. And, yeah, may as well meditate or check Twitter while it comes around, because convincing a Twins Daily reader or two will not stop the Wave. King Canute can attest.

Loved this. Thank you.

Jolly good reading.

The June 17, 2007 Morneau walk off: https://youtu.be/rvU5B3EAx98 Didn't Justin also hit the longest home run in Miller Park in 2003?

I have been taking baseball trips annually since 2003. I started because I hated the Metrodome, but I keep taking them because they're fun and I like to see other stadiums. On Sunday, June 14 my dad, my brother and his 13-year old son and I are heading to Cedar Rapids and St. Louis. Nice thing is, even more than the many games I've seen at home, the baseball vacation games stay vivid in my memory. Here are memories from my first road trip... 2003 Kansas City. To remind you, 2003 was the year after the Twins let David Ortiz walk. The season of Shannon Stewart for Bobby Kielty - Soul Patrol II. The last year of A.J. Pierzynski as the Twins catcher, who led the Twins in WAR. (Joe Mauer was tearing it up in Fort Meyers and New Britain.) The year the Twins finally left Johan Santana in the starting rotation (and he won his last 8 decisions). The first year of getting thumped by the Yankees in the ALDS. The Twins were 7.5 games behind first, 44-49 when they traded for Stewart at the All-Star break, but by mid-August they had climbed back over .500 and were making a run at the first-place Royals. Two friends and I decided to get on I-35 and drive to Missouri to tailgate and watch Twins baseball played outside on grass. Friday, August 15. We met Bob Feller that morning in his museum in Van Meter, Iowa, on the way to KC. We got there when the museum was supposed to open, but had to wait to get in because we were told that Feller was telling stories to a reporter about Satchel Paige. Feller talked to us for about 15 minutes. He made sure we knew he was more proud to have served in the military than he was being a Hall of Famer. I learned that Feller was a flamethrowing teenager when he hit the bigs. I still remember reading in one of the old newspapers on display, "You didn't take a toehold with Bob Feller." Friday evening: First-year Twin Kenny Rogers and the third-place Twins beat rookie Jimmy "Gobble" Gobble and the Royals, 9-2. Hunter and Rivas homered. I can still see Rivas's home run go past me (near third base) over the left field wall. I remember there were loads of other excited Twins fans. The stadium was at capacity because of the buzz about the Royals being in first place. Also, as I recall, there were fireworks scheduled for after the game. Saturday afternoon, August 16. In 94 degree heat, Kyle Lohse and the second-place Twins beat the Royals 14-5. We were in right field. I was trying to keep score, but the pencil and my sweat made it impossible. I seem to recall our right fielder (Mohr?) ended up in the hospital after the game from heat exhaustion. I specifically recall Torii Hunter scoring after he crashed into the Royals catcher, Mike DeFelice, at home. The catcher went ballistic and ended up throwing things out of the dugout. (Ah, the weird old days.) I am pretty sure the game was broadcast nationally as the the Game of the Week. I remember calling my dad from the stands to ask if Torii was safe, and my dad saying maybe not. We tailgated before and after the game and met dozens of friendly KC fans. After the game, the parking lot turned into a sea of banners and tents, because it was also the first preseason football game for the Chiefs, who play right next door to Kauffmann Stadium. They were facing, of all teams, Denny Green's Vikings. I said I would go if we could scalp cheap seats, which turned out to be no problem. We were in the nosebleed section, it was still damn hot that evening, and the Vikings lost. Postscript: The Royals faded badly after the series, and the Twins ended up battling the White Sox for the division, winning by 4 games with a 90-72 record. And I got hooked on road trips.

This is excellent - one to bookmark. Thanks.

Yup. This stat from Peter Gammons' site caught my eye: Joe Mauer has the lowest BA in baseball on 0-2 pitches going 2-for-48, hitting .049.

The Twins would have had a wonderful life.

Sir: First, I was impressed how you singlehandedly fended off the Maueristas on the Hunter post on Twinkietown. Kudos. That said, why wish bad on Joe? He was the Twins top player as recently as 2013, his concussion season (5.3 WAR). He said himself he couldn't work out properly last off-season, and he was still the 4th best position player (by WAR), after another injury-shortened year. He's risen from the ashes before (2006, 2008, 2012), and I think he may have some elite value yet.

This is very well argued. I'm pretty sure I remember Dan Gladden say he learned almost no Japanese during the year he played in the NPB.

Agree with this. Joe's too good not to adjust. Reminds me of a stat I read on Peter Gammon's site a few days before the season ended: "Joe Mauer has [as of 9/26] the lowest BA in baseball on 0-2 pitches going 2-for-48, hitting .049."