Goodbye Gardy

Ron Gardenhire became manager of the Minnesota Twins in 2002. I started rooting for the Twins with greater passion in 2002 because of the spunky team he lead back to the playoffs. Since 2002 the Twins have won 6 division titles, but only advanced once in the playoffs (2002). Under Gardenhire the Twins won more often than not, and gave fans plenty to root for.  At least till 2011-2014 when 4 straight 90 loss seasons did Ron Gardenhire in. Now the Twins have to find a new manager who hopefully can turn the Twins back around.

Gardenhire lead teams that employed 2 MVP’s in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, a 2x Cy Young Award winner in Johan Santana, and 2 other players (Torii Hunter and Joe Nathan) who were considered amongst the best at their position. Yet many fans felt Gardenhire lead teams underachieved. Others feel he got more out of the Twins than others would have.

I remember my interactions with him. I got 5 cards, 1 ball, 1 photo, and Twins banner signed by him. He was always pleasant with me. I even freaked him out at Twinsfest 2007 when I congratulated him on the new truck he had just bought (a guy in line who worked at the dealership Gardenhire bought truck from told me).

I liked Ron Gardenhire, but it was time for him to go. I will remember his successes more than his failures. I am not sure his successor will right the ship, but Gardenhire was no longer getting through to the players and a new voice was needed. Hopefully the new manager will be a person who is kind to fans like Ron Gardenhire was. Best of luck in your future Gardy!

Twins Year End Review

I wrote in a post earlier this year that the fate of the Twins season rode upon the health and performance of superstar Joe Mauer. Mauer managed to only play in 82 of the 162 games the Twins and was never really fully healthy in any of the games he played. Promptly, the Twins lost and lost and lost.

2011 marks the worst Twins season in over a decade. With a payroll of over $100 million dollars this Twins team is the biggest debacle in franchise history. So much was expected, so little achieved. This was a record year for Twins players getting hurt, but it was also a year where everyone on the team underperformed.

There is much work to be done in the off-season, but this much is painfulyl obvious – the Twins need a healthy and productive Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

Mauer is more likely to come back to form than Morneau. Morneau’s concussion issues have many people worried he may have to retire. At best, Morneau may end up a full-time DH with Mauer and youngster Chris Parmelee sharing time at first base.

The Twins made two disastrous moves before the start of the 2011 season that help doomed them. Correcting these errors could be costly, but it must be done.

First move was trading promising catching prospect Wilson Ramos to Washington for reliever Matt Capps during the 2010 season. I wrote at the time that I felt the Twins made the trade because they thought they had a chance to advance to the World Series. They were wrong. Capps has proved to be an ordinary reliever who is not worth even half of the $7 million he was making let alone Wilson Ramos.

Ramos is now a promising young major league catcher who hits solidly and fields well. With Joe Mauer status at catcher uncertain, the Twins need a solid hitting, good fielding catcher. They had one in Wilson Ramos, and basically gave him away for an overrated reliever in Matt Capps. They only good thing about Capps is he is leaving as a free agent and the Twins can use that $7 million he got paid for something more useful like a shortstop.

Move two was trading starting shortstop J.J. Hardy and reserve infielder Brendan Harris to Baltimore for 2 minor league relievers (Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson) who have little potential to help the Twins. The Twins said they dealt Hardy and Harris to save money and because they wanted more speed in the infield.

Hardy had a great year and was signed by Baltimore to a long-term contract extension. His replacements in Minnesota - Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Trevor Plouffe – were abysmal. Alexi Casilla can play short, but he is looks better at second base which is where the Twins say he will play next year. That leaves minor leaguer Brian Dozier, who has shown some promise, or the Twins need to go outside the organization to find a replacement and that is likely to cost them.

With a group of young outfielders in Ben Revere, Rene Tosoni, Joe Benson, Brian Dinkleman, and its possible Plouffe might switch to being an outfielder, the Twins will likely have options to replace the likely the departing Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel. Therefore, most of the Twins efforts to fix the everyday lineup will center on finding a shortstop and a backup catcher.

The Twins pitching in 2011 was not any better than the play of the position players. Numerous injuries and poor performances led to a near complete meltdown of the staff.

Only Carl Pavano made every start he was scheduled to make, and only Glen Perkins performed well in the bullpen. Those two will return in 2012. Who else is anyone’s guess, but Scott Baker pitched well when he was not hurt (he missed at least 10 starts), and Nick Blackburn has a long-term contract that likely makes him untradeable.

Pavano, Baker, Blackburn, and Perkins are 4 out of a needed 12 pitchers. Where are the other 8 going to come from? Good question, but while working on finding a shortstop and backup catcher, the Twins will also be looking for as much good pitching as the can find.

I hope things go better for the Twins in 2012, but a lot is riding on the health of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau plus the Twins ability to solve their problems at shortstop, backup catcher and the pitching staff.

Twinsfest 2011

This winter it has either been me driving in miserable snow and ice conditions or me being sick. It sounds like it has been a rough winter for many people, so here’s hoping spring will be here soon.

Twinsfest, the annual gathering of Twins fans during the dreary winter months, was held on January 28-30. If you are into the Twins and especially if you are into collecting autographs of Twins players this is the place to me.

Normally Twinsfest is held at the Metrodome, but when the Metrodome roof collapsed this winter they had to move the event to the National Sports Center in Blaine, MN.

The NSC bills itself the largest amateur sport complex in America. Whether it is or not, it is closer to my home than the Metrodome and it has free parking.

I went on Friday the 28th and found the line for Joe Mauer autographs shorter than usual. I assume I would get his autograph, but fate worked against me. It seems they were holding the event in two different buildings on the NSC campus, and the one Mauer was signing in had a strict limit for how many people could be in it at one time. Well, guess who was right at the cut-off line.

At least I was not stuck outside waiting in the cold, wondering why the line was not moving like some folks were. It seems a lot people had assume the Mauer line was also the line to get into the other building, so they stood out there and waited even though they did not want Mauer’s autograph.

I quickly found where the other building was and promptly got the autographs of 20 different current and former Twins.

Delmon Young, Anothony Swarzek, Dusty Hughes, Nick Blackburn, Jason Repko, Jason Kubel, Eric Hacker, Pat Neshek, Alex Burnett, Brian Dunesing, Scott Diamond, Jeff Manship, Antony Slama, Denard Span, Glen Perkins, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Michael Cuddyer, Juan Berenguer and Brian Raabe, may not be as sexy of names as Joe Mauer and Jim Thome, but I collect autographs of all current and former Twins, not just he big stars.

Current players Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Matt Capps, Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, Jose Mijares, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka choose not to attend Twinsfest this year. Morneau was ordered to stay home and continue recovering from his concussion. Nishioka choose to remain in Japan and celebrate his former team’s Japanesse World Series win.

I was disappointed that Capps, Pavano, and Liriano were not in attendance. I would think those three should have made the effort to get up here and show the fans some love. Matt Capps especially should have made an effort as he not been with the team long, and has made no effort to appear at any public event in his time with the Twins.

I was going to go Saturday, but the crowds were incredible, and there was no one signing that day that I really wanted to get, so I arrived bright and early on Sunday morning instead.

With no “big” stars signing on Sunday, the crowds were lighter and I was able get Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and former manager Tom Kelly.

I also got former Jim “Mudcat” Grant was singing on behalf of the Fergie Jenkins foundation.

There seems to be a growing trend at Twinsfest of outside groups bringing in former players to sign for money. The Fergie Jenkins Foundation brought in Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins, Phil Niekro, and Rollie Fingers along with former Twin Jim Mudcat Grant. Meanwhile the Bob Feller Museum brought in Hall of Famer Robin Yount, former Dodger great Steve Garvey, and former Twins Jim Kaat and Jeff Reardon. Former Twins icon Frank Viola was also suppose to be there, but became ill.

I expect these outside groups to continue to bring in outside players as the Twins basically bring back only former players who live in the area. Several former Twins have not been back in years. I also think a lot of Twinsfest attendees are into getting good players from other teams

Also on Sunday I visited the Twins minor league autograph corner. The major advantage of this group is the autographs are free! The lines are also shorter, though I noticed the lines for #1 prospect Aaron Hicks and #2 prospect Kyle Gibson were longer than the others. I guess other people were thinking like me – get these guy’s autograph now before they gets up to the big club because then the lines for them will be really long, and it will cost money.

I found out the second time through the line that you could get 2 items signed from each player (normally it is only 1 autograph per player). I wish known this the first time through the line as Hicks was signing, and I would have gotten him on ball as well as a card. As it was I got signed items by Hicks, David Bromberg, Rene Tonsi, Chris Parmelee, Kyle Gibson (card & ball), Kyle Waldrop, Joe Benson, and last year 1st round draft choice Alex Wimmers.

Hopefully some if not all those guys will work their way up to the big leagues. If not, their autograph did not cost me a thing.

Finally, I bought an autographed Kirby Puckett ball. Granted it was signed on the sign panel, not the favored sweet spot, but it was much cheaper then other Puckett signed balls I have seen. I don’t have a ball signed by Puckett, but always wanted one. Since Puckett’s death has created more demand all Puckett signed items are getting more and more expensive, so I think this was a good buy.

Upon getting home on Sunday, I got a bad sore throat which turned into a bad cold from which I am still recovering. Nonetheless I had a real good time, and got to meet several interesting fellow Twins fans. I look forward to next year’s Twinsfest whatever it is held.

For Postseason Success the Twins Need Better Starting Pitching

Frank Viola has shown firsthand what 

what great starting pitching can for a

team's post season run.

(By the way this is best Frank Viola card of

all-time. I own multiple copies of it, one

of which was autographed by the man himself.)

Tom Kelly managed the Twins to a 16-8 post season record. The Twins won World Championships in 1987 and 1991 under his command winning all four post season series they played in. Rod Gardenhire has managed the Twins to a post season record of 6-21. His teams are 1-6 in post season series. Both men have managed roughly the same amount post season games yet the have almost totally opposite win-lost records. Why?

It comes down to elite starting pitching. In his 24 post season games Tom Kelly had a starting pitcher who pitched seven or more innings in a game 9 times. The Twins won all nine of those games. In his 27 post season games Ron Gardenhire has a starting pitcher who pitched seven or more innings in game 5 times. The Twins won only 3 of those games.

What if Gardenhire’s Twins could have got just 4 more starts of 7 innings or more? It might have turned a couple of those lost series (four of which were best of 5 ALDS’s) into series wins. Then again Gardenhire’s teams did a poor job of winning the 7 + inning outings they did get. Still it likely would have lead to at least a couple more wins and a series or two going the Twins way.

What Kelly had that it seems Gardenhire does not is elite pitchers to toss those 7 + inning games. Below is the list of all the pitchers to pitch 7 + innings in a postseason game:

Tom Kelly’s Twins:

Frank Voila (87 ALCS Game 1, 87 WS Game1, 87 WS Game 7)

Bert Blyleven (87 ALCS Game 2, 87 WS Game 2)

Jack Morris (91 ALCS Game 4, 91 WS Game 1, 91 WS Game 7)

Kevin Tapani (91 WS Game 2)

Ron Gardenhire’s Twins:

Eric Milton (2002 ALDS Game 4)

Joe Mays (2002 ALCS Game 1)

Johan Santana (2004 ALDS Game 1, 2006 ALDS Game 1 which was a loss)

Carl Pavano (2009 ALDS Game 3 which was a loss)

Three pitchers (Viola, Blyleven, and Morris) accounted for 8 of Kelly's Twins 9 7+ plus inning games. It was by no accident that they did. Bert Blyleven is likely going to be a Hall of Famer. Jack Morris might make the Hall of Fame as well, and he has a history of pitching well in big games. Frank Voila was regarded as one of the best pitchers in baseball during his time with the Twins, and rightfully won the Cy Young Award in 1988. Viola and Morris were the World Series MVP in 87 and 91 respectfully.

You can rightly point out that the Twins again exited the playoffs again in 2010 because they did not hit, but they lead Game 1 3-0 at one point. A strong pitching performance would have made that lead hold up against any lineup. The Twins failed to get that pitching performance and they are out of the playoffs again because of it.

The Twins pitching rotation for 2011 likely looks to be Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn & Kevin Slowey. Liriano has the potential to be a Viola, Blyleven, and Morris, but the Twins need more. Baker has always had the talent, but has not delivered the results. Herald prospect Kyle Gibson is showing promise, but has yet to see action in the big leagues.

The Twins need some starting pitchers to step up. If not, the Twins are likely to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs again in 2011 if they make the playoffs at all.

No Hitter Chance Wrongly Taken From Twins Pitcher Kevin Slowey

Kevin Slowey was pulled from last Sunday’s game against the Oakland A’s after pitching 7 innings of no-hit baseball. I know all the excuses for why he was pulled – he missed his last start due to elbow soreness; he was at 106 pitches at a time when 100 pitches is considered the limit for today’s pitchers; the Twins are in a pennant race and need him healthy. I also know he should never have been pulled.

Kevin Slowey had a chance at greatness snatched away from him. Slowey is a marginal, fly ball, pitcher who has been lucky enough to pitch in pitcher friendly home ballparks. Slowey has never made it through a whole season unjured. Slowey will not be a in the Twins post-season rotation. Had Slowey been hurt, Nick Blackburn would easily have replaced him. Soon prospects Kyle Gibosn and Dave Bromberg will be ready to replace Slowey permanently.

The last pitcher to be pulled after 7 innings of no-hit pitching was Atlanta Brave Damian Moss in 2002. His manager, Bobby Cox, said that he pulled Moss because Moss was over 100 pitches and he, Cox wanted to protect Moss’ arm. Cox said roughly the same thing Ron Gardenhire said about Slowey – “this young man has a bright future ahead of him, I won’t ruin it by letting him go 120-130 pitches.” Cox like Gardenhire was wrong. Moss had no bright future and after 2004, Moss was out of the majors having accomplished little or nothing.

Most major pitchers don’t last long in the big leagues. For every Greg Maddux who lasts 15-20 years there are hundreds of Damian Moss’s who seem to have bright futures only to disappear quickly and not be remembered.

Maybe Kevin Slowey gives up a hit in the eight or ninth inning, maybe he does not. Kevin Slowey deserved the right to try. Years from now Kevin Slowey will look back at August 15, 2010 and realize he had a chance at being immortalized. Instead he will be nothing more than a minor footnote rarely if ever mentioned.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have been in alumni autograph line at Twinsfest or the Twins Autograph party and some younger individual (and more people are getting younger than me all the time) asks me who the alumni player is. Most the time all I can answer was that the individual was a former Twin who played between such and such a year. The person almost always asks if that player ever doing anything great. My answer is usually no because most players were just average players, not Hall of Famers, MVP’s, CY Young winners, or people who achieved great feats.

On September 1999 another pitcher with a bright future threw 125 pitches in 9 inning game. His manager Tom Kelly did not pull him when he hit 100 pitches. Eric Milton’s career never panned out the way it was suppose to, but he did pitch a no-hitter for the Twins that day. Whenever he goes now Eric Milton can say when asked about his career – “I pitched a no-hitter in 1999” and people will likely respond – “Wow! That’s amazing! What was it like to be able to do something remembered for all-time?”

Kevin Slowey will never be able to answer that question. He had the chance to do something that will be remembered for all-time. It was snatched away from him in the name of protecting a bright future he likely does not have.

Twinsfest 2010

Twinsfest 2010 was held last weekend and I was in attendance on Friday and Saturday. One of my goals this year was to get Joe Mauer to autograph one of his Allen & Ginter cards. Another goal was to get new Twin Jim Thome to sign an Allen & Ginter card as well.

Friday is usually the best day to get player autographs because it is the least attended day. I got there 2 ½ hours before the event started and waited in the bitter cold wearing three layers of cloths. Upon getting into the event I ran so hard I almost fainted from exhaustion, and I still did not get a spot in line that would enable me to get an autograph from Joe Mauer.

One problem was that the people ahead of me outside the event held places in line for others. Therefore the 40 people ahead of me grew to be 100 people. There are two gates that they let people into the event which are both equal distances from the spot on the concourse where Joe Mauer was going to sign. Well, they opened the other gate up first meaning some of those folks had the jump on me.

This was frustrating but I have I learned over the years of attending these events that where one door closes another opens. There would be no Joe Mauer autograph this year (the line on Saturday was even worse), but there would be some surprise successes.

With a Mauer autograph out of the question, I moved down to field level where the vendors were and where also some of the other players were signing autographs. I found Brian Dunesing, along with coaches Rick Anderson, Rick Stelmaszek, and Scott Ullger signing with virtually no line. I needed Dunesing, Ullger, and Stelmaszek for my collection so I went through their line. I even had the chance to have a brief discussion with Dunesing about the quality of Allen & Ginter cards. For the record he thinks they are great cards too.

While waiting in that line I heard an announcement over the P.A. system that Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, former Twin Jim “Mudcat” Grant, former NL MVP George Foster, and former MVP and CY Young winner Vida Blue were there signing autographs for $20 each with the money going to charity. Jim “Mudcat” Grant has eluded me for years, so I was more than willing to donate $20 for him to sign a card for me. He even signed it Jim “Mudcat” Grant. While there I also got Rollie Fingers and Ferguson Jenkins to sign baseballs for me.

With these surprise successes under my belt, I moved to the J.J. Hardy, Nick Blackburn, and Jose Mijares line. One thing I always try to remember about Twinsfest is that just because the schedule says a player will be there does not mean he will be. Sure enough Blackburn was stranded in Oklahoma because a snowstorm and Mijares is was stuck in his native Venezuela with a visa issue. Luckily the person I really wanted (Hardy) was there and he signed an Allen & Ginter card for me.

I moved back up to concourse and got a baseball signed by Rod Carew which I got certified by Major League Baseball. Now when my heirs try to sell the ball the autograph will be guaranteed authentic making it more valuable.

I went and check out the Jim Thome line, and it was as bad as the Mauer line had been. My 2 goals were now out of reach. I decided not to fret the situation and was able to get a ball signed by Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire, a photo signed by Joe Nathan, a ball signed by Michael Cuddyer (the man has one of the nicest signatures), and a card by Jon Rauch (another player I needed).

I must admit I was exhausted, but on the drive home I got another surprise when I realized my route home let me see the Twins new stadium Target Field which was all lit up. I pulled over and take a brief look at what looks like a beautiful stadium.

I did not sleep well that night, it was bitterly cold Saturday morning, and the lines outside to get in were really long. I decided Mauer and Thome, who were signing in the first autograph sessions, were unobtainable. I waited to get in and went down to the field where Denard Span was signing. I got him to sign a ball for me. With that I moved back up to the concourse where Dan Gladden was going be signing. I needed to get him to sign a poster I have showing the 1991 World Series Game 7 winning hit. I already have the poster signed by the guy who got the hit (Gene Larkin), now I was wanted to get the guy who scored the run (Gladden).

Gladden was going to be signing at the station where Thome was still signing. I arrived to find the Thome line still going and it seemed short enough for me to have a shot at getting him. I hustled to the end of the line and found some of those people were already waiting for Gladden. I was able to move past them and with roughly 3-4 minutes left in his signing time, I got Jim Thome to sign an Allen & Ginter card for me. What luck!

On rare occasions in the past I have been able to arrive at the end of a signing period and get a popular player unexpectedly. In fact that is how I got a Joe Mauer signed baseball. Of course that was back when Mauer drew only 400 people in his line unlike the 1000 – 1500 people he draws now.

I did get Dan Gladden to sign my poster. Roy Smalley (did not need him, but he was signing with Gladden and I feel it would be rude to not have something for him to sign) signed a card for me.

Most the other lines were now insanely long as Saturday is busiest of the three days. Worse was the fact that up in the concourse it was unbearably hot due to the large crowds there.

One line down on the field was not busy at all. Former Tim Laudner, current coach Jerry White, and Jeff Manship were not exactly drawing big crowds. I had a photo for Launder, a card for White, but nothing for Manship who I needed for my collection. Luckily I found a vendor who had a Jeff Manship card. I now have signed cards from 213 different current or former Twins.

I had a ticket for Sunday too, but I was pretty sore from standing in line and running up and down the Metrodome steps all day. Also there was really no one signing on Sunday that I needed, so I decided to use Sunday to sleep and rest. Turned out to be wise decision was I was more sore and tired than I knew.

In all I got 20 different current and former players to sign for me which is 3 short of my record achieved at Twinsfest 2009 in which I attended all three days. I read that this year’s Twinsfest was the 2nd most attended ever. I could believe that.

I find that sometimes during an event you don’t realized how good of time it really was. This was such an event. I was not sure it was as successful as I was hoping while the event was going on, but after looking at my successes I realized it turned out to be successful venture.

Ron Gardenhire - My Minnesota Twin of the Decade

No one person has done more for the Minnesota Twins this decade than Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire. In his 9 years as Twins manager, Gardenhire has guided the Twins to 5 division titles and only 1 losing season. More than that Ron Gardenhire has created a culture of winning and dignity within the Twins organization that is noticed by players, the media, and fans alike.

You only have to look at the rosters of the 2002, 2003, and 2004 division championship teams and then check out what happen to most those players after they left the Twins to see how much Ron Gardenhire got out of them. Ron Gardenhire sees things in players most people do not. Ron Gardenhire had the vision to see that a long time setup man – Eddie Guardado – could be a top level closer, and a failed closer – LaTroy Hawkins – could be an elite setup man. Ron Gardenhire saw in Joe Nathan the makings of an elite closer, and gave Nathan the chance when others thought he should not. When others called for Brad Radke’s departure, Gardenhire stuck with him and was rewarded. No one believed Jacquie Jones could succeed as a lead off leader, but Ron Gardenhire did.

Most people look at the 2006 division champs and see super-stars Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Johan Santana, and Joe Nathan. What they do not see is Ron Gardenhire had to manage a team whose starting pitching staff was Johan Santana, Boof Bosner, and whoever was healthy. Had Ron Gardenhire not trusted a mid-season call-up name Pat Neshek, the 06 team would not have had a setup man for Joe Nathan.

Gardenhire’s work in 2008 and 2009 is perhaps even more impressive as the Twins weathered the losses of Torii Hunter and Johan Santana and still contended often with patched work pitching and players at key positions who really should not have been there. Credit Ron Gardenhire for establishing culture that accepts nothing less than full effort and winning.

Gardenhire has his faults. His obsession with playing Nick Punto brothers me, so too does some of his pitching moves. However Gardenhire’s strengths far outweigh his weaknesses.

I have meet Ron Gardenhire twice in person; he always takes the time to talk people and make the feel at ease. He insisted his players treat Twins fans with dignity. Many Twins players are great at signing autographs through the mail. Player attendance at Twinsfest is always great, and players make many appearances around town, and do a lot of charity work. At these events the players almost without fail treat people well and don’t displaying any prima donna attitudes. This class attitude starts at the top with their manager.

Joe Mauer is the best player in baseball, and will go down in baseball and Minnesota sports history as an icon. Joe Mauer may well be the most loved Twin of all-time. Justin Morneau has re-introduced Twins fans to what having a power hitter on their team is like. Morneau was an MVP on the field and a good guy off it. Torii Hunter gave the Twins 7 strong seasons and helped lead the revival of Twins this decade. Hunter is also a class human being.

Johan Santana won 2 Cy Young Awards as a Twin, and was baseball’s best pitcher from 2004-2007. Joe Nathan may well have been the best closer in baseball the last 5 years. Former Twins General Manager Terry Ryan rebuilt the Twins into a winner this decade, and one cannot forget Judge Harry Crump whose ruling that the Twins had to honor their Metrodome lease saved the Twins from contradiction in 2002.

However, Ron Gardenhire had more an affect than any of these gentlemen. Great managers are rarely truly appreciated till they have left. Ron Gardenhire led the Minnesota Twins back into relevance, and back into the hearts of Twins fans anywhere. For that Ron Gardenhire is my Minnesota Twin of the decade.