Minnesota Twins: Difference between revisions
Killervogel5 (talk | contribs) m reverting instances of OR and semi-vandalism |
|||
| Line 316: | Line 316: | ||
The party atmosphere of the Twins clubhouse after a win is well-known,{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} the team's players unwinding with loud [[Rock and roll|rock music]] (usually the choice of the winning [[pitcher]]) and [[video game]]s.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} |
The party atmosphere of the Twins clubhouse after a win is well-known,{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} the team's players unwinding with loud [[Rock and roll|rock music]] (usually the choice of the winning [[pitcher]]) and [[video game]]s.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} |
||
The club has several [[hazing]] rituals, such as requiring the most junior relief pitcher on the team to carry water and snacks to the bullpen in a brightly-colored small child's backpack ([[Barbie]] in 2005, [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob SquarePants]] in 2006, [[Hello Kitty]] in 2007, [[Tinkerbell]] in 2009, [[Chewbacca]] in 2010),{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} and many of its players, both past and present, are notorious [[prank]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}. For example, Bert Blyleven earned the nickname "The Frying Dutchman" for his ability to pull the "hotfoot" – which entails crawling under the bench in the dugout and lighting a teammate's shoelaces on fire. |
The club has several [[hazing]] rituals, such as requiring the most junior relief pitcher on the team to carry water and snacks to the bullpen in a brightly-colored small child's backpack ([[Barbie]] in 2005, [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob SquarePants]] in 2006, [[Hello Kitty]] in 2007, [[Tinkerbell]] in 2009, [[Chewbacca]] in 2010),{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} and many of its players, both past and present, are notorious [[prank]]sters{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}. For example, Bert Blyleven earned the nickname "The Frying Dutchman" for his ability to pull the "hotfoot" – which entails crawling under the bench in the dugout and lighting a teammate's shoelaces on fire. |
||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
Revision as of 06:39, 24 April 2010
| Minnesota Twins | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2024 Minnesota Twins season | |||||
| |||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| |||||
| Current uniform | |||||
 | |||||
| Retired numbers | 3, 6, 14, 29, 34, 42 | ||||
| Colors | |||||
| |||||
| Name | |||||
Washington Nationals/Senators (1901–1960)
| |||||
| Other nicknames | |||||
| |||||
| Ballpark | |||||
| Major league titles | |||||
| World Series titles (3) | 1991 • 1987 • 1924 | ||||
| AL Pennants (6) | 1991 • 1987 • 1965 • 1933 • 1925 • 1924 | ||||
| Central Division titles (5) | 2009 • 2006 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 | ||||
| West Division titles (4) | 1991 • 1987 • 1970 • 1969 | ||||
| Wild card berths (0) | None | ||||
| Front office | |||||
| Principal owner(s) | Jim Pohlad | ||||
| General manager | Bill Smith | ||||
| Manager | Ron Gardenhire | ||||
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from 1982 to 2009, and moved into Target Field on December 22, 2009.[1]
One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1901 as the Washington Senators. In 1905, the team changed its official name to the Washington Nationals.[2] The name "Nationals" appeared on uniforms for only 2 seasons, and was then replaced with the "W" logo for the next 52 years. The media often shortened the nickname to "Nats". Many fans and newspapers (especially out-of-town papers) persisted in using the "Senators" nickname. Over time, "Nationals" faded as a nickname, and "Senators" became dominant. Baseball guides listed the club's nickname as "Nationals or Senators", acknowledging the dual-nickname situation.
The team name was officially changed to Washington Senators around the time that long-time team president Clark Griffith died and his son Calvin took over the team. It was not until 1959 that the word "Senators" first appeared on team shirts. "Nats" continued to be used by space-saving headline writers, even for the 1961 expansion team, which was never officially known as "Nationals".
In 1960, Major League Baseball granted the city of Minneapolis an expansion team. Calvin Griffith requested that he be allowed to move his team to Minneapolis and instead grant Washington the expansion team. MLB granted his request, and the team moved to Bloomington, Minnesota after the 1960 season, setting up shop in Metropolitan Stadium, while Washington fielded a brand new "Washington Senators" that would also end up moving—to Arlington, Texas to become the Texas Rangers prior to the 1972 season.
Through the 2009 season, the franchise has won 3 World Series Championships (1924, 1987, and 1991) and has fielded 17 American League Batting Champions.
Team history
Washington Nationals/Senators: 1901–1960
For a time, from 1911 to 1933, the Washington Senators were one of the more successful franchises in major-league baseball. The team's rosters included Hall of Famers Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, Bucky Harris, Heinie Manush and one of the greatest pitchers of all time, Walter Johnson.
In the 1924 World Series, the Senators defeated the New York Giants in seven games. The following season, they repeated as American League champions but ultimately lost the 1925 World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After Walter Johnson’s retirement in 1927, he was hired as manager of the Senators. After enduring a few losing seasons, the team returned to contention in 1930. In 1933, Senators owner Clark Griffith returned to the formula that worked for him nine years before, and 26-year-old shortstop Joe Cronin became player-manager. The Senators posted a 99–53 record and cruised to the pennant seven games ahead of the New York Yankees, but in the 1933 World Series the Giants exacted their revenge, winning in five games. Following the loss, the Senators sank all the way to seventh place in 1934, and attendance began to fall. Despite the return of Harris as manager from 1935–42 and again from 1950–54, Washington was mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years, contending for the pennant only during World War II. Washington came to be known as "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League",[3] with their hard luck being crucial to the plot of the musical and film Damn Yankees. In 1954, the Senators signed future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. By 1959, he was the Senators’ regular third baseman, leading the league with 42 home runs and earning a starting spot on the American League All-Star team.
After Griffith's death in 1955, his nephew and adopted son Calvin took over the team presidency. He sold Griffith Stadium to the city of Washington and leased it back, leading to speculation that the team was planning to move, as the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Athletics had all done in the early 1950s. By 1957, after an early flirtation with San Francisco, Griffith began courting Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, a prolonged process that resulted in his rejecting the Twin Cities' first offer[4] before agreeing to relocate. The American League opposed the move at first, but in 1960 a deal was reached: The Senators would move and would be replaced with an expansion Senators team for 1961. Thus, the old Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins.
Minnesota Twins: 1961 to present
The name "Twins" was derived from the popular name of the region, the Twin Cities. The NBA's Minneapolis Lakers had re-located to Los Angeles in 1960 due to poor attendance which was believed to have been caused in part by the reluctance of fans in St. Paul to support the team. Griffith was determined not to alienate fans in either city by naming the team after one city or the other, so the team became known as the Minnesota Twins. However, the original "Twin Cities Twins" TC logo was kept, and the team logo showed two men, one in a Minneapolis Millers uniform and one in a St. Paul Saints uniform, shaking hands across the Mississippi River. This remained the team's primary logo until 1987, when the team felt it was established enough to put an "M" on its cap without having St. Paul fans think it stood for Minneapolis.
1960s
The Twins were eagerly greeted in Minnesota when they arrived in 1961. They brought a nucleus of talented players: Killebrew, Bob Allison, Camilo Pascual, Zoilo Versalles, Jim Kaat, Earl Battey, and Lenny Green. The Twins won 91 games in 1962, the most by the franchise since 1933. The Twins won 102 games and the American League pennant in 1965, but were defeated in the 1965 World Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. Heading into the final weekend of the 1967 season, the Twins, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers all had a shot at clinching the American League championship. The Twins and the Red Sox started the weekend tied for 1st place and played against each other in Boston for the final three games of the season. The Red Sox won two out of the three games, clinching their first pennant since 1946 with a 92–70 record. The Twins and Tigers both finished a game behind, at 91–71, while the White Sox were three games out, at 89–73. In 1969, new manager Billy Martin pushed aggressive base running, with Rod Carew stealing home seven times;[5] the Twins won the American League West, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the first American League Championship Series.
1970s
After winning the division again in 1970, the team entered an eight-year dry spell, finishing around the .500 mark. Killebrew departed after 1974. Owner Calvin Griffith faced financial difficulty with the start of free agency, costing the Twins the services of Lyman Bostock and Larry Hisle, who left as free agents after the 1977 season, and Carew, who was traded after the 1978 season.
1980s/90s
In the early 1980s, the Twins moved into the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which they shared with the Minnesota Vikings. The team continued to struggle. In 1984, Griffith sold the Twins to Carl Pohlad. The Metrodome hosted the 1985 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. After several losing seasons, the team, led by Kent Hrbek, Bert Blyleven, and rising star Kirby Puckett, returned to the World Series, defeating the Tigers in the ALCS. Tom Kelly led the team to World Series victories over the Cardinals in 1987 and the Braves in 1991.[6] 1991 marked the first time that a team that finished last the previous year advanced to the World Series.
After a winning season in 1992, the Twins fell into an extended slump, posting a losing record each year for the next eight years: 71–91 in 1993, 50–63 in 1994, 56–88 in 1995, 78–84 in 1996, 68–94 in 1997, 70–92 in 1998, 63–97 in 1999 and 69–93 in 2000. From 1994 to 1997, a long sequence of retirements and injuries hurt the team badly, and Tom Kelly spent the remainder of his managerial career attempting to rebuild the Twins. In 1997, owner Carl Pohlad almost sold the Twins to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver, who would have moved the team to the Piedmont Triad area.[citation needed]
2000s
The Twins dominated the Central Division in the first decade of the new century, winning the division in five of those ten years ('02, '03, '04, '06, & '09). From 2001 to 2006, the Twins compiled the longest streak of consecutive winning seasons since moving to Minnesota.
Threatened with closure by league contraction in 2002,[citation needed] the team battled back to reach the American League Championship Series before being eliminated 4–1 by that year's World Series champion Anaheim Angels.
2006
In 2006, the Twins won the division on the last day of the regular season (the only day all season they held sole possession of first place) but lost to the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS. Ozzie Guillén coined a nickname for this squad, calling the Twins "little piranhas". The Twins players embraced the label, and in response, the Twins Front office started a "Piranha Night", with pirhana finger puppets given out to the first 10000 fans. Scoreboard operators sometimes played an animated sequence of piranhas munching under that caption in situations where the Twins were scoring runs playing "small ball", and the stadium vendors sold tee-shirts and hats advertising "The Little Piranhas".
2008
In 2008, the Twins finished the regular season tied with the White Sox, forcing a one-game playoff in Chicago to determine the division champion. The Twins lost that game and missed the playoffs. The game location was determined by rule of a coin flip that was conducted in mid-September. This rule was changed for the start of the 2009 season, making the site for any tiebreaker game to be determined by the winner of the regular season head-to-head record between the teams involved.
2009
In 2009, the Twins were able to use this rule change to their advantage when they won the AL Central in 2009 after tying the Detroit Tigers at the end of the regular season and winning a 12-inning tiebreaker on a walk-off hit by Alexi Casilla. However, they failed to advance to the American League Championship Series as they lost the American League Divisional Series in three straight games to the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees. That year Joe Mauer became only the second catcher in 33 years to win the AL MVP award.
Threatened contraction or re-location of the team
The quirks of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, including the turf floor and the white roof, gave the Twins a significant home-field advantage that played into their winning the World Series in both 1987 and 1991.[7] These were the first two World Series in professional baseball history in which a team won the championship by winning all four home games.[8] (The feat has since been repeated once, by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.) Nevertheless, the Twins argued that the Metrodome was obsolete and that the lack of a dedicated baseball-only ballpark limited team revenue and made it difficult to sustain a top-notch, competitive team. The team was rumored to contemplate moving to such places as New Jersey, Las Vegas, Portland, Oregon, the Raleigh–Durham area, and elsewhere in search of a more financially competitive market. In 2002, the team was nearly disbanded when Major League Baseball selected the the Twins and the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals franchise) for elimination due to their financial weakness relative to other franchises in the league. The impetus for league contraction diminished after a court decision forced the Twins to play out their lease on the Metrodome. However, the Twins continued their efforts to relocate, pursuing litigation against the Metropolitan Stadium Commission and obtaining a state court ruling that they were not obligated to play in the Metrodome after the 2006 season. This cleared the way for the Twins to either be relocated or disbanded prior to the 2007 season if a new deal was not reached.
Target Field and the future
In response to the threatened loss of the Twins, the Minnesota private and public sector negotiated and approved a controversial financing package for a replacement stadium—a baseball-only outdoor, natural turf ballpark in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis—owned by a new entity known as the Minnesota Ballpark Authority. Target Field was constructed at a cost of $544.4 million (including site acquisition and infrastructure), utilizing the proceeds of a $392 million public bond offering based on a 0.15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County and private financing of $152.4 million provided by the Twins. As part of the deal, the Twins also signed a 30-year lease of the new stadium, effectively guaranteeing the continuation of the team in Minnesota for a long time to come. Construction of the new field began in 2007, and was completed in December 2009, in time for the 2010 season. Commissioner Bud Selig, who earlier had threatend to disband the team, observed that without the new stadium the Twins could not have committed to sign their star player, catcher Joe Mauer, to an unprecedented 8-year, $184 million contract extension. The first regular season game in Target Field was played against the Boston Red Sox on April 12, 2010, with Mauer driving in two runs and going 3-for-5 to help the Twins defeat the Red Sox, 5–2.
Current roster
| Active roster | Inactive roster | Coaches/Other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pitchers
Bullpen
Closer(s)
|
Catchers Infielders
Outfielders
|
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
|
Manager Coaches
60-day injured list
| |||
Minnesota Twins all-time roster: A complete list of players who played in at least one game for the Twins franchise.
Minor league affiliates
- AAA: Rochester Red Wings, International League
- AA: New Britain Rock Cats, Eastern League
- Advanced A: Fort Myers Miracle, Florida State League
- A: Beloit Snappers, Midwest League
- Rookie: Elizabethton Twins, Appalachian League
- Rookie: GCL Twins, Gulf Coast League
- Rookie: DSL Twins, Dominican Summer League
Baseball Hall of Famers
| Minnesota Twins Hall of Famers | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Molitor and Winfield, St. Paul natives and University of Minnesota graduates, came to the team late in their careers and were warmly received as "hometown heroes," but were elected to the Hall on the basis of their tenures with other teams. Both swatted their 3,000th hit with the Twins.
Cronin, Goslin, Griffith, Harris, Johnson, Killebrew and Wynn are listed on the Washington Hall of Stars display at Nationals Park (previously they were listed at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium). So are Ossie Bluege, George Case, Joe Judge, George Selkirk, Roy Sievers, Cecil Travis, Mickey Vernon and Eddie Yost.
Ford C. Frick Award recipients
| Minnesota Twins Ford C. Frick Award recipients | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum | |||||||||
|
Twins Hall of Fame
| Class of 2000 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
|---|---|---|
| Harmon Killebrew | First Baseman | 1961–74 |
| Rod Carew | Second Baseman | 1967–78 |
| Tony Oliva | Outfielder | 1962–76 |
| Kent Hrbek | First Baseman | 1981–94 |
| Kirby Puckett | Outfielder | 1984–95 |
| Calvin Griffith | President and Owner | 1961–83 |
| Class of 2001 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Herb Carneal | Radio Broadcaster | 1962–2007 |
| Jim Kaat | Left-handed Pitcher | 1961–73 |
| Class of 2002 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Bert Blyleven | Right-handed Pitcher | 1970–76, 1985–88 |
| Tom Kelly | Manager | 1986–2001 |
| Class of 2003 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Bob Allison | Outfielder | 1961–70 |
| Bob Casey | Public Address Announcer | 1961–2004 |
| Class of 2004 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Earl Battey | Catcher | 1961–67 |
| Class of 2005 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Frank Viola | Left-handed Pitcher | 1982–89 |
| Carl Pohlad | Owner | 1984–2009 |
| Class of 2006 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Zoilo Versalles | Shortstop | 1961–67 |
| Class of 2007 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Gary Gaetti | Third Baseman | 1981–90 |
| Jim Rantz | Director of Minor Leagues | 1986–Present |
| Class of 2008 | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Rick Aguilera | Right-handed Pitcher | 1989–95, 1996–99 |
| Class of 2009[9] | Affiliation | Years w/ Twins |
| Brad Radke | Right-handed Pitcher | 1995–2006 |
| George Brophy | Front office executive | 1961–85 |
Retired numbers
The Metrodome's upper deck in center and right fields was partly covered by a curtain containing banners of various titles won, and retired numbers. There was no acknowledgment of the Twins prior championships in Washington, and several Senators Hall of Famers such as Walter Johnson played in the days prior to numbers being used on uniforms. Killebrew did play seven seasons as a Senator, including two full seasons as a regular prior to the move to Minnesota in 1961.
 Harmon Killebrew OF-1B-3B: 1954–60 (WAS) |
 Tony Oliva OF: 1962–76 (MIN) |
 Kent Hrbek 1B: 1981–94 (MIN) |
 Rod Carew 1B-2B: 1967–78 (MIN) |
 Kirby Puckett OF: 1984–95 (MIN) |
 Jackie Robinson Retired by |
The retired numbers (save for Jackie Robinson) also serve as entry points at Target Field, where Kilebrew's #3 is the Plaza Gate, Oliva's #6 is the Left Field gate, Hrbek's #14 is the Home Plate gate, Carew's #29 is the Right Field gate and Puckett's #34 fittingly serves as the Center Field gate. The numbers that have been retired will hang within Target Field in front of the tower that serves as the Twins' executive offices in left field foul territory.
Radio and television
As of 2007, the Twins took the rights to the broadcasts in-house and created the Twins Radio Network (TRN). With that new network in place the Twins secured a new Metro Affiliate flagship radio station in KSTP, 1500 kHz AM. It replaced WCCO, which held broadcast rights for the Twins since the team moved to Minneapolis in 1961. The original radio voices of the Twins in 1961 were Ray Scott, Halsey Hall and Bob Wolff. After the first season, Herb Carneal replaced Wolff. Twins TV and radio broadcasts were originally sponsored by the Hamm's Brewing Company. In 2006, John Gordon, Herb Carneal, Dan Gladden, and Jack Morris provided radio commentary.
TRN broadcasts are originated from the studios at Minnesota News Network and Minnesota Farm Networks. Kris Atteberry hosts the pre-game show, the "Lineup Card" and the "Post-game Download" from those studios except when filling in for John Gordon or Dan Gladden doing play-by-play while they are on vacation.
The television rights are held by Fox Sports North with Dick Bremer as the play-by-play announcer and former Twin Bert Blyleven as color analyst. They are sometimes joined by Ron Coomer and Roy Smalley. Blyleven was suspended by the team briefly in 2006 for inadvertently saying obscene words on a live telecast; he did not realize the broadcast was live and assumed a second take of the segment could be taped.
Fox Sports North also produces Sunday game telecasts on WFTC, "My 29" in the Twin Cities. A few of these Sunday games may air nationally on TBS. Some Twins games may also air on Fox or ESPN.
On April 1, 2007, Herb Carneal, the radio voice of the Twins for all but one year of their existence, died at his home in Minnetonka, Minnesota after a long battle with a list of illnesses. Carneal is in the broadcasters wing of the Hall of Fame.
Bob Casey was the Twins first public-address announcer starting in 1961 and continuing until his death in 2005. He was well known for his unique delivery and his signature announcements of "NOOO Smoking in the Metrodome, either go outside or quit!", "Batting 3rd, #34, the center-fielder KIRRBYYYYYYY PUCKETTTTTT!!!" and asking fans not to 'throw anything or anybody' onto the field.
Team and franchise traditions
Fans wave a Homer Hanky to rally the team during play-offs and other crucial games.
The party atmosphere of the Twins clubhouse after a win is well-known,[citation needed] the team's players unwinding with loud rock music (usually the choice of the winning pitcher) and video games.[citation needed]
The club has several hazing rituals, such as requiring the most junior relief pitcher on the team to carry water and snacks to the bullpen in a brightly-colored small child's backpack (Barbie in 2005, SpongeBob SquarePants in 2006, Hello Kitty in 2007, Tinkerbell in 2009, Chewbacca in 2010),[citation needed] and many of its players, both past and present, are notorious pranksters[citation needed]. For example, Bert Blyleven earned the nickname "The Frying Dutchman" for his ability to pull the "hotfoot" – which entails crawling under the bench in the dugout and lighting a teammate's shoelaces on fire.
See also
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- List of Minnesota Twins seasons
- Minnesota Twins award winners and league leaders
- Minnesota Twins team records
- List of Minnesota Twins broadcasters
- List of Minnesota Twins managers
References
- ^ http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100104&content_id=7870938&vkey=pr_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min
- ^ "Minnesota Twins Team History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- ^
Washington Senators, BaseballLibrary.com, retrieved 2009-08-07
{{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Senators Reject Bids to Move to Minneapolis or St. Paul, New York Times, 1957-10-27, retrieved 2008-05-02
{{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Rod Carew Baseball Hall of Fame
- ^ 1991 World Series had it all By Jim Caple ESPN.com
- ^ http://www.sportsnewsandscores.com/minnesota-twins-organization-world-series-dreams-trashed-by-target-field.html
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=eUe37F9gN00C&pg=PT1679&lpg=PT1679&dq=only+World+Series+in+which+home+team+won+every+game&source=bl&ots=FXvzTUWA5-&sig=JqC616rbH97s8eovZnacs0XAu9E&hl=en&ei=iMy7S9eeMY_K8wTe-PCCCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=only%20World%20Series%20in%20which%20home%20team%20won%20every%20game&f=false
- ^ Thesier, Kelly (2009-01-23). "Radke, Brophy join Twins Hall of Fame". Minnesota Twins. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
Further reading
- Povich, Shirley (1954). The Washington Senators. New York: Putnam.
