Michael (ClassicMNTwins)

I use "Eddie Rosario, Glory Hog" as if it's a bad thing. Far from it.
 
Consider me your friendly, neighborhood baseball barber, if they still exist. I coat and lather you with Baseball Ref homer and hit charts until your head spins (if anyone cares, I'm going into the 12-step process for souls imbibing on the play index search).
 
Classic Minnesota Twins will get back to posting vintage Twins photos like there's nobody's business again soon, dispense with all this new-fangled hullaballoo.
 

It was a sunshiny, spring day like today in Minnesota in 1978 when the California Angels hitter and second baseman Bobby Grich bullrushed Twins pitcher Roger Erickson. What better time for grown men to engage in fisticuffs and flying sucker punches than when Mr. Blue Sky is shining on their labors?
 
I definitely remembered doing this post lately, like after Miguel Sano was brushed back by the Tigers, and when Bryce Harper and his flowing locks charged Hunter Strickland. I think Bobby Grich saw a young, defenseless fawn in the person of young Roger Erickson, who always looked as if he was 12 years old. His mother never should have allowed him out of the house to play ball with those big, bad grownups.
 
In retrospect, I'm certain Grich felt that Twins manager Gene Mauch had ordered the brushback, and felt it was time to send him and the Twins a message. The same Mauch, that is, who would be his manager in a couple of years after resigning as Twins manager! Whatever was the case, please go to my blog and take a look at the most popular trending post of the week.
 

Your dose of history from my vat of Twins facts / folklore.
 
It's the Mickey Mantle Homerun Video, from the game of August 22, 1968.
 
The Bomber Bully deposited Twins lefty Jim Merritt's curve into the lower, leftfield stands at Metropolitan Stadium, in Bloomington.
 
More importantly, it was his swan song, his arrivederci to Minnesota fans. Check it out.
 

If you've paid any attention to one of the most criticized parts of the Minnesota Twins over the past handful of years, you've been made aware of the large contingent of fans upset over Joe Mauer's $184 million contract. Despite being the fourth-largest deal in MLB history at the time, and the largest ever for a catcher, it seemed to make perfect sense from the get go. Now more than six years later however, there's still plenty wondering (and even wishing), what if it never happened?
 
Let's set the stage. At the time he signed his contract, Joe Mauer was a soon to be 27 year old coming off of a second straight All Star appearance (third overall), and having won his first MVP award. He was a three time batting champion, Mauer owned a career .327/.408/.483 slash line, and he had collected two Gold Gloves to go with his three Silver Sluggers. Maybe the cherry on top of it all, the former first overall pick, was a St. Paul native and accomplishing it all for his hometown team.
 
Then on March 21, 2010 it happened. Prior to his final arbitration season, and headed into free agency, Minnesota locked up Mauer. He was given an eight-year, $184 million deal with a full no trade clause. Effectively, Joe Mauer was made a Twin for life.
 
So what if Minnesota never went down that road? What if Mauer simply played through his final arbitration year, making $12.5 million, and was dealt to a new organization? You have been refreshed on the production and the awards, but what did the external landscape for the Twins look like?
 
Taking a speculative approach for the purpose of this piece, lets assume the Yankees would have had significant interest, as would've the Red Sox given how well Fenway Park would play to Joe's strengths.
 
Heading into 2016, the top 10 prospects in baseball as decided by Baseball America included Jason Heyward (braves), Stephen Strasburg (Nationals), Mike Stanton (now, Giancarlo Marlins), Jesus Montero (Yankees), Briant Matusz (Orioles), Desmond Jennings (Rays), Buster Posey (Giants), Pedro Alvarez (Pirates), Neftali Feliz (Rangers), and Carlos Santana (Indians). There's some big names in that list, and there's some relatively big misses as well.
Let's hone in on the Yankees and Red Sox though. Starting in New York, their top two prospects in 2010 were both catchers: Montero, and a guy named Gary Sanchez. Behind them was Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, and further down the line, Eduardo Nunez. The top 10 prospects for Boston at the time included names like Casey Kelly, Jose Iglesias, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Reddick, and Garin Cecchini.
 
At this point, it's pretty easy to check off which of those prospects have amounted to something, and which haven't. Trying to be as fair as possible, the expectation that two top 10 prospects would head to the Twins seems like a good bet. Asking the Yankees for something like Sanchez and Betances, or the Red Sox for Iglesias and Rizzo seems like it could be fair.
 
So, let's assume that there wouldn't be any backlash for the Twins trading Mauer in the first place (a showstopper and a fool's errand, but whatever). From the Yankees side, Sanchez is just debuting so it's far to early to evaluate. Betances is one of the game's best late inning relievers, but he didn't become a dominant star until 2014, at the age of 26. Now 28, he'd be a nice piece to have in Minnesota, but hardly the missing link pushing the club into contention.
 
In terms of the Red Sox, Iglesias has been a defense first shortstop that owns just a 4.9 career fWAR since his 2011 debut. Still only 26, he's got time on his side, but expecting a peak to be much high probably isn't likely. Anthony Rizzo is easily the biggest name from above, and was moved from Boston, to San Diego, and eventually to Chicago. Making his debut with the Padres in 2011, he's since gone on to be an MVP candidate for the Cubbies, and own a career 18.4 fWAR at 27 years old.
 
Whether or not the trajectories and outputs of the aforementioned players would remain the same is far too much to assume. Regardless, a best case scenario looks like a set of players producing roughly 25 fWAR combined since 2010. So what has Joe Mauer been up to since his deal?
 
Having been worth 32 fWAR through the 2010 season, Mauer has now been worth 14.4 fWAR since signing his deal. After an injury shortened 2011 season (playing just 82 games), Mauer rebounded to become an All Star again in 2012 (4.5 fWAR), and 2013 (5.2 fWAR). Concussions forced him out from behind the plate (a premium position) and into his new role at first base. He's been far from the same player, despite having a solid 2016 season.
 
In trying to equate some financial equivalence to Mauer's production, we have to look no further than Fangraphs (again). From 2004-10 Mauer was worth $182 million while being paid $34.025 million. After 2011, Mauer has earned $138 million (by season's end), and has been worth $104.7 million (currently). Added together, Mauer has been paid $172.025 million to date, while being valued at $286.7 million.
 
At the end of the day, Joe Mauer isn't going anywhere for the Twins. His contract isn't an issue, and the fact that he doesn't hit a zillion homers isn't a massive downfall. What is reality though is that Minnesota is likely better off having hung onto their superstar (the backlash had they not likely would've been even worse), and both parties were dealt an unfortunate blow when brain injuries became an issue.
 
Trying to retroactively dictate the past is an interesting premise. This is one though that the Twins appear to have put the right foot forward.
 
For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

http://www.vintagecardprices.com/pics/1830/166907.jpg
 
After making his debut as an 18 year-old for the Baltimore Orioles in the final game of 1963, right-handed pitcher Wally Bunker earned a spot in the Orioles starting rotation in May of 1964 and pitched a 1-hitter in his first start of the season. The teenager from San Bruno, California surrendered no earned runs in his next start and a single run in the next (all complete games) eventually extending his winning streak to six consecutive starts before losing to Camilo Pasqual and the Twins on June 7th.
 
Blessed with outstanding run support on the season, (The O’s scored 5.11 per game in Bunker’s starts, 3.99 in all others), Bunker’s tidy 2.69 ERA translated to 19 wins and only 6 losses in 29 starts, pacing the American League in win percentage. While not an overpowering thrower, (4.0 K’s per 9) Bunker still limited opponents to only 161 hits over 214 innings in 1964, translating to a .207 batting average against.
 
Unfortunately for Bunker, the Twins' Tony Oliva was also a rookie in 1964 and Wally finished a distant second in Rookie of the Year voting to Oliva, the American League batting champion that year.
 
Bunker also received votes in the MVP balloting, finishing 12th behind teammate Brooks Robinson. Bunker became (and remains) the youngest player to ever receive MVP votes.

LAST UPDATED: APRIL 6, 2015 - Originally published 4/2/13 as "
A Maestro At First: Trading For Vic Power, April 2, 1962" at Classic Minnesota Twins blog 
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YoHhzlKb28Q/VSMxIizyL5I/AAAAAAAAIQQ/fLocM3tj--w/s1600/IMG_4802.JPG


 

In-season trades are rare occurrences for the Minnesota Twins. And even rarer are those that actually impacted the fortunes positively for the home nine. For Twins fans born around and after 1987, used to low-risk / low-dollar acquisitions* that numb the mind (see
Chris Speier, 1984, Bret Boone, 2005), the in-season pickups of ShannonStewart (2003) and Kendrys Morales (2014) stood out as the exceptions. They captured the imaginations of Twins fans in terms of their audacity and potential, even if their outcome didn't exactly live up to the hype.


*Trade, waiver, and free-agent acquisitions are thrown into the same kettle for the purposes of this post
 
But rarities like these haven't always been the case in Twins Territory.
 
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HoIgxU5n1w0/VSMw5UD_1FI/AAAAAAAAIQI/qnmpdzpZzx8/s1600/Vic%2BPower%2BOn%2BBench.jpg
 
"Hey there!"
 
The Twins in the 1960s had at their disposal an astute gaggle of bird dog scouts, and long-time employees like Director of Minor League Operations man Sherry Robertson to assist President Calvin Griffith and his merry band of nepotists and drinking cronies in upgrading the Major League roster. They did this nearly every season in those early years. Which brings us to today's subject, the first major trade in Twins history.
 
Vic Power was traded along with young reliever Dick Stigman to the Twins from the Cleveland Indians for right hander Pedro Ramos 53 years ago this week, on April 2, 1962. This happened as the team was winding down the '62 spring training schedule, and seemed to address the needs of both teams. At the time, parting with the talented Ramos, a fixture in the '61 starting rotation, was a significant event. He was their second starter, after staff ace Camilo Pascual, and is the trivia answer to "What Twins pitcher is credited with the first regular season win in team history?" Jim Kaat was just coming into his own that season, and would win 18 games. They also had the enigmatic lefty Jack Kralick in house. In Stigman, the Twins were glad to get a promising, young arm. But the "sexy" part of this transaction was obvious...
 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2C6hQ8aIKhI/UVtmoMJMt6I/AAAAAAAAD7Y/Ln_a8Niakx0/s320/Power+and+Stigman+after+trade.jpg
 
The news piece below from the 4/3/62 Jefferson City Daily summed up the trade, besides giving a very detailed, honest set of responses from Power himself (born Victor Felipe Pellot Pove). Power was the key acquisition for the Twins, and at age 33, was joining his third organization. In another lifetime, as a Yankee in the early 1950s, he was in line to become the first black player for that organization. But the Bronx Bombers instead tapped Elston Howard for that role, for reasons that are now obvious.
 
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ggLa-UGwRek/UVuYF5LKd2I/AAAAAAAAD7k/gVfjCQvhFF8/s200/Color+Twins+photo.jpg


A confident, smiling countenance loved by his mother- and perhaps
many unattached young women in the 1950s and 60s.
 
He had a reputation for marching to the beat of his own drummer, and was not necessarily the "company man" preferred by management. He was flashy in his dress, as well as the automobiles he drove. He was glib and candid, much to the consternation of his employers. He was conspicuous for enjoying the company of white women. And, maybe worst of all, he [GASP] made putouts at first with a sweeping, one-handed stab - unorthodoxy and panache frowned upon by the baseball lords of the day.
 
Each of the above infractions were decided liabilities for dark-skinned players who desired stable employment before Civil Rights legislation came into effect.
 



Twins Manager Sam Mele, on the other hand, stated the case for acquiring Power (to whom I devoted a "Remembering Vic Power" post some time back) in this piece:
 





There was a youth movement (Brainerd Daily Dispatch, 4/2/62) underway at The Met. Besides now having the green-as-a-pea kids third baseman Rich Rollins and second baseman Bernie Allen on the roster to start the season, Minnesota also had the mercurial Zoilo Versalles returning at short. Manager Sam Mele went on in the article to say "Power should be a steadying influence on the kids. They won't have to worry about making perfect throws. If it's within Power's reach, he'll come up with the ball." Griffith's concerns about his infield defense were legit, as the team ranked 8th (ten team AL) in defense in 1961; in Power, he now had his "Mother Hen" to corral those youthful slings to first.
 
Power himself had a little extra to add in this account, showing he was not shy in expressing pride and inner confidence for his talents:
 

 

The Brainerd Daily Dispatch revealed the Twins new mindset for what would constitute their daily lineup to begin the 1962 season. Anybody surprised at who's slotted for left field, replacing Jim Lemon? Some big, ox-strong kid, name of Harmon Killebrew:
 


 
The trade would indeed benefit the Twins in their infield defense that year, besides elevating their place in the standings. They went on to post a 91-71 record, second in the league, moving them a step closer to respectability. Power would win his fifth Gold Glove Award, and rate 21st in the 1962 MVP voting. He would also play a pivotal role in the first Twins no-hitter by Jack Kralick (story at link) on August 26 that year.
 
But that was just another day at the office for Victor Felipe Pellot Povet.
 
More insight about Power and his role as a trailblazer can be gleaned at this very cool Baseball Hall Of Fame article.
 
As the old professional at the mic, Herb Carneal, would end his broadcasts, I also say:
"So long, everybody!"
 
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYhaX6bxP-E/UVw4Z9xu_kI/AAAAAAAAD8M/AYVpGOisYjk/s640/Vic+Power+pickin+it.jpg
 
....and is there a fellow who wouldn't be proud of that assertion?