May 25, 2012

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Twins Articles


Following are the one hundred most recent articles for the category Twins .

05/25/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/25/2012: NL Waiver Wire: Week 7

by Nick Fleder

05/25/2012: AL Waiver Wire:  Week 7

by Josh Shepardson

05/25/2012: Roger and the Babe

by Frank Jackson

05/25/2012: 75th anniversary: Mickey Cochrane gets beaned

by Chris Jaffe

05/25/2012: Card Corner: 1972 Topps: Duke Sims

by Bruce Markusen

05/24/2012: Visualization: Vertical spray chart

by Dan Lependorf

05/24/2012: Trader’s corner: reader’s choice edition

by Mark Himmelstein

05/24/2012: Which starters have lost the most velocity since 2011?

by Jason Dunbar

05/24/2012: Don Drysdale’s two-for-one special

by Shane Tourtellotte

05/23/2012: The daily grind 5-23

by Brad Johnson

05/23/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/23/2012: The tragedy of expectations in baseball

by Chris Lund

05/23/2012: BOB:  Athletics stadium limbo

by Brian Borawski

05/23/2012: 10th anniversary: Shawn Green’s big day

by Chris Jaffe

05/23/2012: The real replacement level of starting pitching

by Derek Ambrosino

05/22/2012: The daily grind 5-21

by Brad Johnson

05/22/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/22/2012: Which lineups should be feared?

by Paul Singman

05/22/2012: 10th anniversary: Giambi-Mabry trade

by Chris Jaffe

05/22/2012: THT Awards

by John Barten

05/22/2012: The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 3:  1970-71)

by Steve Treder

05/22/2012: The Verdict: Collusion - if it quacks like a duck…

by Michael Stein

05/22/2012: Has Daniel Bard been squeezed?

by Troy Patterson

05/21/2012: The daily grind 5-21

by Brad Johnson

05/21/2012: AL West: Oh, the storylines

by David Wade

05/21/2012: The fall of Mickey Hatcher

by Steven Booth

05/21/2012: Default hero

by Chris Jaffe

05/21/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball 5/14-5/20

by Karl de Vries

05/21/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/21/2012: 20th anniversary: Angels bus crash

by Chris Jaffe

05/21/2012: Closer watch

by Paul Singman

05/20/2012: The daily grind 5-20

by Brad Johnson

05/18/2012: Kerry Wood career highlights

by Chris Jaffe

05/18/2012: The daily grind 5-18

by Brad Johnson

05/18/2012: NL Waiver Wire: Week 6

by Nick Fleder

05/18/2012: AL Waiver Wire:  Week 6

by Josh Shepardson

05/18/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/18/2012: Lopsided batter/pitcher match-ups of the 1990s and 2000s

by Chad Evely

05/18/2012: Cooperstown Confidential: The tale of Charley Lau

by Bruce Markusen

05/17/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/17/2012: The daily grind 5-17

by Brad Johnson

05/17/2012: The Oklahoma territorial imperative

by Frank Jackson

05/17/2012: The (baseball) power of the Oval Office

by Richard Barbieri

05/17/2012: 10th anniversary: Giambi’s walk-off slam

by Chris Jaffe

05/16/2012: The daily grind 5-16

by Brad Johnson

05/16/2012: Brett Lawrie, the ump and the human element

by Chris Lund

05/16/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/16/2012: BOB: Braun arbitrator gets the sack

by Brian Borawski

05/15/2012: The daily grind 5-15

by Brad Johnson

05/15/2012: Save tonight

by Paul Singman

05/15/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/15/2012: The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 2:  1969-70)

by Steve Treder

05/15/2012: Mythbusting - closer edition

by Derek Ambrosino

05/15/2012: THT Awards

by John Barten

05/15/2012: Centennial anniversary: Ty Cobb beats up a cripple

by Chris Jaffe

05/15/2012: Bryan LaHair is Cubs’ silver lining so far

by Troy Patterson

05/15/2012: Battling through injuries

by Dave Shovein

05/14/2012: Chris Sale and his faulty elbow

by Kyle Boddy

05/14/2012: The daily grind 5-14

by Brad Johnson

05/14/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball 5/7-5/13

by Karl de Vries

05/14/2012: The state of the NL Central

by Jason Linden

05/14/2012: 50 years from the Mets junk drawer

by Chris Jaffe

05/14/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/14/2012: 90th anniversary: Last time the Phillies franchise at sea level

by Chris Jaffe

05/11/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/11/2012: NL Waiver Wire: Week 5

by Nick Fleder

05/11/2012: AL Waiver Wire:  Week 5

by Josh Shepardson

05/11/2012: What is the best swing-and-miss pitch in baseball right now?

by Jason Dunbar

05/11/2012: 20,000 days since Dodgers announce their move to LA

by Chris Jaffe

05/11/2012: Lopsided batter/pitcher match-ups of the 1980s

by Chad Evely

05/11/2012: Picking up pitchers

by Paul Singman

05/11/2012: Card Corner: 1972 Topps: Jim “Mudcat” Grant

by Bruce Markusen

05/10/2012: Mo’s wins

by Dave Studeman

05/10/2012: No two games alike?  Sure, but these are the closest.

by Jonathan Falk

05/10/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/10/2012: The daily grind 5-10

by Brad Johnson

05/10/2012: THT review: Great Hitting Pitchers

by David Wade

05/10/2012: The pre-Angelic Autry

by Frank Jackson

05/10/2012: Did Matt Kemp just have one of the best Aprils ever?

by Dan Lependorf

05/10/2012: Ranking the new closers

by Mike Silver

05/09/2012: A job with your name on it

by Dave Studeman

05/09/2012: The daily grind 5-9

by Brad Johnson

05/09/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/09/2012: Trader’s corner: week six

by Mark Himmelstein

05/09/2012: Day for night

by Shane Tourtellotte

05/09/2012: Last week’s record

by Jonathan Falk

05/09/2012: BOB:  MLB looks at alliance with NCAA

by Brian Borawski

05/09/2012: Make them notice: Andy Dirks

by Paul Singman

05/08/2012: The daily grind 5-8

by Brad Johnson

05/08/2012: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/08/2012: Long view

by Derek Ambrosino

05/08/2012: THT Awards

by John Barten

05/08/2012: The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 1: 1968-69)

by Steve Treder

05/08/2012: 10,000 days ago: Marge Schott becomes Reds owner

by Chris Jaffe

05/08/2012: How to be in first in Tout Wars

by Paul Singman

05/08/2012: The Verdict: the court rejects a disputed fantasy baseball trade

by Michael Stein

05/07/2012: Ubaldo Jimenez: A quick mechanics review

by Kyle Boddy

05/07/2012: The daily grind 5-7

by Brad Johnson

05/07/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball 4/30-5/6

by Karl de Vries

<< Click here to return to the category list.



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:

Click for more...

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.

image
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:

Click for more...

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.
Click for more...

Posted by: Chris Jaffe


September 20, 2011

Comparing Curtis Granderson

After his 41st home run on Monday afternoon in a 6-4 win over Minnesota, Yankees slugger Curtis Granderson has seemingly furthered his case for the American League MVP award. However, sabermetricians and the stats of past prolific Yankees home run hitters over the 21st century would show that Granderson is not worthy of the award.

Granderson, with his 7.0 WAR, doesn't even have the best WAR on his own team—CC Sabathia bests him with a 7.1—and Granderson is well behind Jacoby Ellsbury's 8.5 and Jose Bautista's 8.2. Even Dustin Pedroia edges Granderson with his 7.3, and 24-game winner Justin Verlander matches his former Detroit teammate with his 7.0 WAR.
AL MVP candidates	        PA        Slash Line    HR	RBI	 R	WAR	SB	   
Curtis Granderson, OF, NYY	659	.268/.371/.568	41	115	133	7.0	24	   
Jose Bautista, 3B/OF, TOR	612	.304/.448/.623	42	100	102	8.2	 8	   
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, BOS	681	.319/.376/.539	27	 96	111	8.5	37	   
Dustin Pedroia, 2B, BOS	        684	.297/.380/.463	20	 83	 96	7.3     26	 

Granderson's team has fared better than the other candidates', which still may be a factor in the minds of some of the voters, but many of his numbers don't stack up compared with other MVP candidates and previous Yankees home run hitters.

	                PA        Slash Line    HR      RBI      R      WAR     SB	 Awards
C. Granderson, 2011	659	.268/.371/.568	41	115	133	7.0	24	??
Alex Rodriguez, 2007	708	.314/.422/.645	54	156	143	9.8	24	MVP (1), SS
Alex Rodriguez, 2005	715	.321/.421/.610	48	130	124	9.1	21	MVP (1), SS
Jason Giambi, 2003	690	.250/.412/.527	41	107	 97	5.0	 2	MVP (13)
Jason Giambi, 2002	689	.314/.435/.598	41	122	120	7.0	 2	MVP (5), SS

When Rodriguez won the MVP in 2007 and 2005, his numbers were better than Granderson's across the board except Granderson's runs, which lead the AL. That total is the best stat he has going for him besides the home runs. Giambi did not play the field in 43 percent of his games in 2002 and 2003, which impacted his WAR numbers and MVP chances.

The average WAR of the last five AL MVPs is 7.4, and that number is weighed down by Justin Morneau's 4.0 WAR in 2006 (Derek Jeter and David Ortiz each had a 6.3 and finished second and third, respectively). Pedroia's 6.8 in 2008 was oddly the best WAR among the top five vote-getters. But I digress...
 
	                  PA	  Slash Line 	HR	RBI	 R	WAR	SB	   
Josh Hamilton, 2010	  571	.359/.411/.633	32	100	 95	8.7	 8	   
Joe Mauer, 2009	          606	.365/.444/.587	28	 96	 94	7.9	 4	   
Dustin Pedroia, 2008	  726	.326/.376/.493	17	 83	118	6.8	20	   
Alex Rodriguez, 2007	  708	.314/.422/.645	54	156	143	9.8	24	   
Justin Morneau, 2006	  661	.321/.375/.559	34	130	 97	4.0	 3	 

You could make a decent case that Granderson should win the MVP this season (and some people certainly could speculate that performance-enhancing drugs has to do with past inflated WAR numbers), but he would certainly be a below-average MVP candidate from a historical and, in my view, a current perspective.
Posted by: Shlomo Sprung


July 20, 2011

Bert Blyleven career highlights

This weekend, Bert Blyleven celebrates his induction into Cooperstown. In honor of that, here’s a look back at his career—some highlights, lowlights, key moments, and random stories about games in which he appeared.

Going team-by-team throughout his lengthy career...

image
Blyleven has quite a career to look back on.


Click for more...

Posted by: Chris Jaffe


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