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August 22, 2012

Minnesota verging on unwanted franchise history

Here’s an odd franchise milestone to note: The Minnesota Twins are on the verge of some history for themselves, and not the kind of history that they want to make.

With the Twins' loss yesterday in Oakland, the franchise’s all-time cumulative since moving to Minnesota now stands exactly one game over .500: 4,123-4,122. So if the Twins lose tonight, their all-time Minnesota record will no longer be over .500.

Of course, this doesn’t cover the franchise’s entire existence. They were the Washington Senators for 60 years, but from Opening Day 1961 onward have been the Twins.

They’ve typically been over .500. They had a rough first year in Minnesota but in their second season, behind young stars like Harmon Killebrew, had a good season. They reached their all-time franchise zenith with a win on Aug. 12, 1977 that put them 167 games over .500 (1,429-1,262).

Then the team became bad, and sunk under .500 in 1997. The Twins' all-time Minnesota record hit .500 a bunch of times that season, but a 12-inning loss on July 26 dropped them to 2,897-2,898, and they stayed .500 for several years. They bottomed out on the last day of the 2000 season 98 games under .500 (3,121-3,219), and then returned to prominence in 2001.

It took a while to dig out of a 98-game hole, but they did it with a win on Aug. 15, 2006 that gave them an all-time Minnesota Twins record of 3,634-3,633. They’ve been over .500 for the six years ever since.

Now, they’re on the verge of falling back under water. Maybe it won’t happen this week. Maybe the Twins will have a bit of a winning record. It could happen. But it looks wildly unlikely that they’ll avoid their all-time cumulative Minnesota record falling under .500 this year. They’re just not a very good team.
Posted by: Chris Jaffe

June 12, 2012

Remembering Dave Boswell

Dave Boswell was an important part of the first division-winning team in the history of the Twins, but then faded into forgetfulness. A onetime workhorse for the Twins, Boswell died on Monday at the age of 67. His name is likely unknown to many younger fans, but he made news on at least two fronts during his 1960s hey day.

As a young follower of the game, I had my own trouble keeping Boswell’s name straight. I used to confuse him with Ken Boswell, but they were completely different players. Ken was a second baseman/third baseman who hit line drives for the Mets and Astros, while Dave emerged as an important part of the Twins’ rotation in 1966. At the age of 21, the electric right-hander put up a 3.14 ERA and led the American League in winning percentage.

He continued to win in double figures for the rest of the 1960s, but then he hurt his back, an injury that may have resulted from him pitching over 900 innings before his 25th birthday. Before his body gave out and ended his career at the age of 26, Boswell enjoyed a career season in 1969. Boswell logged 256 innings in winning 20 games and helping the Twins claim the inaugural American League West title. Teaming with Jim Perry, Jim Kaat, Tom Hall and Dean Chance, Boswell helped form one of the league’s deepest and most talented rotations.

Boswell’s 1969 season became even more impressive considering that he missed several starts because of injuries suffered in a fight. That August, Boswell tangled with his manager, Billy Martin, in an alley behind a Detroit bar. (Yes, Billy Martin was actually in a bar. Imagine that.) The incident’s roots might have been planted earlier in the day at Tiger Stadium, when Boswell refused Billy’s order to run 20 warm-up laps along with the rest of the Twins’ pitchers.

Outside of the bar, Boswell began fighting with veteran Twins outfielder Bob Allison for reasons that remain unknown. When Martin heard about the fight, he ran outside, apparently with the intent of breaking up the fisticuffs. Pitching coach Art Fowler, Martin’s ever-present drinking buddy, joined Martin to offer moral support. Rather than break up the fight, Martin hit Boswell repeatedly in the face. If it were a boxing decision, Martin would have been declared a winner by knockout.

The pummeling left Boswell unconscious, and in need of 20 stitches. Yet, Boswell held no grudges. Many years later, when asked about Martin for a 1988 magazine article, Boswell said: “I love Billy.”

There’s something impressive about a man willing to forgive his own manager for essentially beating him up. It would have been easy for Boswell to hold a grudge, to answer a question about Martin with a grimace and a terse “no comment.” But Boswell was better than that. If only for that reason, Dave Boswell deserves something more than a place in baseball obscurity.

Posted by: Bruce Markusen

March 06, 2012

Don Mincher career highlights

The other day, the baseball world lost another one of its veterans, as Don Mincher passed away at age 73. The first baseman enjoyed a 13-year career mainly with the Twins, but he also played with the Angels, Pilots, Rangers and A’s, and he played with both Senators squads—he was on the clubs that moved out of Washington to both Minnesota and Texas.

After his playing days, he became general manager of the Huntsville (Ala.) Stars, the Double-A affiliate of first the A's, then (and now) the Milwaukee Brewers. And he served as president of the Southern League from 2000 to last October..

When a player dies, it’s time to look back on his life and career. Others can do a better job looking at the man himself. Below are his career highlights. These include his personal highest and lowest moments, the greatest and most important games he participated in, and some of the oddities he was personally on hand for. Also, because he was a Pilot, we’ll also include one or two of the better Mincher-related anecdotes from Jim Bouton’s book, Ball Four.

Here they are, in order and divided by team he played for:

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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

January 23, 2012

Career highlights: Orlando Cabrera

A fewdays ago, longtime shortstop Orlando Cabrera announced he’s retiring from baseball after 15 seasons.

When news like this happens, it’s natural to look back on a player’s career, and for me that means putting together a list of career highlights. This list includes the greatest and most memorable games Cabrera played in, his personal bests (and some worsts), as well as some oddities he was on hand for and great moments by other players that occurred in games in which he participated.


Cabrera in his element - fielding the ball.

Basically, it’s a list of Orlando Cabrera’s best “I was there for that game.” Here they are, in order:

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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

November 14, 2011

Charlie Lea career highlights

Over the weekend, former Expos/Twins pitcher Charlie Lea died at the rather young age of 54. This is jolting news, largely because the former Expos hurler was so young. It’s extra jolting on a personal note. For me, Lea was the first young pitcher I can remember who flamed out.

Oh, technically there were others, but Lea was the guy that stuck out in my mind. I remember he was really good when young, played in an All-Star Game, and then crashed. Others who crashed back then didn’t register with me. For example, I remember when Richard Dotson was really good, and then remember when he fell apart, but I didn’t realize he was that young. I knew Lea was young.

Now Lea is gone.

I can’t speak to what sort of person he was, but I can go over his career a little bit. Below are his career highlights. It’s something I often do here at THT when a player retires, dies, or goes into Cooperstown. (Basically, it’s what I do when it’s time for a retrospective of an individual).

Below are Lea’s highlights, lowlights, and memorable moments.
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Posted by: Chris Jaffe


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