Twins Jerseys On The Red Carpet: A Pictorial Time Capsule

2 above photos: Billy Gardner models prototype 1/17/61
He was the first player ever seen in the uniform of the Minnesota Twins.
This model was scrapped in favor of a modified script before spring 
training (see press photo with Don Lee, below).

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING (POWDER) BLUE!

Clean, economical, and razor-sharp detail grace the Twins 1960's throwback home jersey and new road 2010 version.  Our fine, young diamond gladiators Denard Span and Scott "Joe Don" Baker did the new duds proud on Nov. 9, 2009, at the Mall Of America in Bloomington. One complaint...would it kill ya to show just a bit of old school stirrup?? This aint bedtime, fellas.

Starsky and Hutch, revisited. Kent Hrbek and Tom Brunansky were the "Men about town" one fine, spring day in '87. The jog to the top of a Minneapolis apartment building, capturing the lovely vistas of Minneapolis' skyline and HHH Muffindome , looks as if it's turned Kent (aka: "Shamu") a mite dewy with perspiration. Bruno's apparently gone misty in memory over his victorious '85 Homerun Derby. Perhaps a Butch and Sundance comparison would have been more fitting!

Of course, it's easy to forget we Twins fans first spied young Kirby Puckett in the powder blue road uni, in a televised game at "The Big A" in Anaheim (as it was called then) versus the Angels on May 8, 1984. Actually, some of us preferred to have the image of those threads erased from our memory, to be honest. There is also this nice, candid of him sporting the home batting practice jersey, in about that same year.


Cesar Tovar (right, below)looks downright apprehensive in the 1972 road uni. Maybe he's not relishing a batting duel against knuckleballin' Wilbur Wood of the Chicago Stinking White Sox, as this photo was shot at old Comiskey Park (photo link). The Topps '72 card of Harmon in handsome pinstripes, the last of him in that model, captures him in a typical threatening-but-strangely-benign pose. That was just before Topps' photographers descended on spring training camp in Orlando to capture the Twins new prisoners of polyester. Perhaps Cesar just felt clownish, especially with that ridiculously large Minnie & Paul sleeve patch!

     Lotsa stirrups and shoe polish! Harmon Killebrew in 

polyester double knits was never as imposing OR 

    stately as he was in the 1960's original retro jersey. 

     Lithe and lean Tony Oliva cut a dashing cover model

when the Twins ditched  the pinstripes in ''72.

Justin Morneau models the 1980's throwback with joyous aplomb in

November, 2008. It was to be worn during various home dates during 

the Metrodome's final season in '09.The original had an expandable

waistband, and was a pullover jersey (well, beginning in '73 anyhow). 

  102 losses in '82? You'd be bummed being associated in any way with that too.

And now for some actual, Paleozoic Twins history: before the first season in '61, new Twins pitcher Don Lee has just been given the very first world-release sneak peak at the Twins road jersey on Feb. 18, 1961(for the "Minneapolis Twins," (as described in the photo caption-see link "Naming Of The Twins"). Team owner Calvin Griffith: "Repeat after me...it's a $2 laundering fee!" Go to this Google Docs link to see another similar photo, with a group of Twins admiring the new togs.

Go to link at Google Docs to up size for below:

 

As Herb Carneal concluded every Twins broadcast: "So long everybody!" - TT

Ben Revere Wins Gibby Award: Defensive Play of The Year!

What a fine touch to end the year for our Ben Revere!

Nice interview by the suits at MLB with a nice, young guy. Check out my story link to Ben's catch from last summer! And don't miss the hilarious gif post of Ben's tumble versus Kansas City in July!

As Herb Carneal would say, "So long everybody!" - TT

Twins Shortstop RX: 2011 And 1968 In Focus

[Leo Cardenas profiled in earlier post in 2010 at this site]

The 1968 and 2011 seasons were pivotal and comparable in Minnesota Twins history. Most significantly, both were massively disappointing years in which the teams underachieved following a near-miss pennant ( defeated on last weekend of '67) by the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox and a Central Division championship in 2010. Both squads were hit by crippling injuries (Harmon Killebrew, Oliva in '68, and Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, et. al. in '11). Lastly, both editions saw the Twins employing legions of middle infielders to fill the most important defensive position on the diamond. By 1967's end, the play of Zoilo Versalles at shortstop had regressed* so much that the club determined to replace him come hell or high water for Twins 1968 season. The former, with a generous helping of chaos is what they got...extrapolate Jackie Hernandez' errors out to a full season of drudgery, and you get an idea of the team's quandary.

*Specifically, from offensive standpoint. BA had fallen to .200, few extra basehits (29 in 626 plate 

appearances), and k'd 113 times. He did contribute 50 RBI, scored 63 runs, and played 160 games.

The 1968 Twins shortstop platoon...

	Age	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Rtot	RF/G
Jackie Hernandez	27	79	66	48	571.1	341	119	197	25	43	.927	2	4.00
Ron Clark	25	43	38	33	348.2	173	56	106	11	14	.936	-1	3.77
Rick Renick	24	40	30	23	262.2	149	50	91	8	13	.946	-7	3.53
Cesar Tovar	27	35	20	9	185.2	95	31	59	5	9	.947	-0	2.57
Frank Quilici	29	6	5	5	43.0	21	8	11	2	3	.905	-2	3.17
Rod Carew	22	4	3	1	22.0	9	4	5	0	2	1.000	0	2.25
League Average											.962		4.81
Team Total		162	162	119	1433.1	788	268	469	51	84	.935	-8	4.77

The sick part of me wishes they had kept running Hernandez out to short for the entire season.

Just to see what horrors he could have wrought.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 12/17/2011.

The remedy was to bring in a ringer. And his name was Leo Cardenas. The Winona Daily News of Nov. 24, 1968 had some great takes by Billy Martin as well as...

Calvin Griffith and his generals in the Twins front office were the benefactors of the Cincinnati Red's philosophy of trading players before they turned 30. Only 3 seasons previous, the Redlegs had dispatched the "Old At 29" Frank Robinson to Baltimore for Milt Pappas (and we know how that worked out for Cincy, what with the "old man" taking home the Triple Crown for batting in 1966). The three time All-Star Cardenas had become a favorite bullseye for Red's Manager Dave Bristol. Thus, from the Queen City of Johnny Bench and Pete Rose was he sent packing for the North Star State of Killebrew, Carew and Oliva:

Leo, looking pleased as can be
 in his early Cincy days

LEO CARDENAS: his defensive line in '69...

Year	Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Rtot	RF/G	lgFld%	lgRFG	Awards
1969	MIN	AL	30	SS	160	159	155	1455.0	912	310	570	32	126	.965	17	5.50	.966	4.96	MVP-12

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/16/2011.

Cardenas simply made the Zoilo Versalles era a distant memory, turning in a sparkling year offensively and defensively. Calvin & Co. looked like geniuses, despite their forking over the crafty Jim Merritt for the man known as "Mr. Automatic " (link to classic Topps card "Marvin Miller post).

Cardenas (left) congratulates Rich Reese (scoring), with

Frank Quilici and Rick Renick." Mr. Automatic" turned in the all-time

best Twins shortstop year in the field in 1969, all things considered.

The 2011 season for the Twins was similarly vexing, and not only for the multiple players they shifted in and out of the starters role at short. This modern edition was also painted into a corner by injuries, poor performance, and the twin terrors of quiet dissension and malingering. Tsuyoshi Nishioka achieved a level of notoriety not seen in Minnesota with his unorthodoxy, not covering second base for putouts, and just the way he'd field hard-hit grounders ("He looks like he's getting paved," quipped Minneapolis Star Trib columnist Jim Souhan). Then there's Trevor Plouffe - one could never be sure if his throws to first would arrive in the first sackers numbers, in the family jewel box, or in a fan's beer in Row A. Here were the Twins' choices at short - contributors to arguably the worst record in club history:

2011 TWINS SHORTSTOPS - boots, bombs and busts to the max!

	Age	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Rtot	RF/G
Tsuyoshi Nishioka	26	60	59	57	508.1	278	96	172	10	34	.964	-11	4.47
Trevor Plouffe	25	45	45	44	396.2	195	73	111	11	33	.944	-20	4.09
Alexi Casilla	26	36	36	30	306.2	162	56	101	5	23	.969	-2	4.36
Matt Tolbert	29	31	22	21	210.0	110	41	66	3	19	.973	-3	3.45
League Average											.973		3.98
Team Total		162	162	152	1421.2	745	266	450	29	109	.961	-36	4.16

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2011.

No, Trevor. We didn't like
watching this mess either.

2007 Topps Heritage card

It doesn't take much number crunching, or the scouring of modern metrics like total zone fielding metrics (i.e, "Rtot," see my sabermetrics page for definitions), to see the patient was bleeding on the table (like so many grounders through the 5-hole) with the docs apparently off shooting 18-holes somewhere. Some horrid, ugly numbers in that chart above! This time, the Twins have resolved to replace their woes with competency, if not flash and hardware. The 2012 shortstop trade equivalent to Leo Cardenas would be Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies. The pipes we're smoking would have to be pretty big indeed for us to think that the Twins would shell out for his booty (pardon the phrase). The recent acquisition of Josh Willingham slammed the Twins money vault shut. Wishful thinkers, don't even go there! Instead, we give you...[drum roll]...Jamey Carroll, acquired by the Twins on November 16th:

 

JAMEY CARROLL

Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Rtot	RF/G	lgFld%	lgRFG
LAD	NL	37	SS	66	54	48	504.2	214	78	132	4	27	.981	-5	3.18	.971	4.40

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/16/2011.

While definitely not blowing you away with numbers and hype, Carroll looks to be a guy who can make all the routine plays, if not being a great range guy (3.18 as compared to the National League average of 4.40 for 2011). It is legit to view him with some reserve. It took him until age 29 to become a full-time player, and he never played as many as 120 games in any one season until 2010. I'm viewing him as a super utility man in the Nick Punto mold. He doesn't have Punto's track record as a fielder, but he hits for a better average. Yes, I am aware of that RBI thing (17 in 146 games in '11). He has never played as many as 70 games at short in any of his 10 seasons, but does possess a .987 fielding percentage at the position, lifetime. My gut reaction is that he may yet wind up as the Twins everyday second baseman, and that Alexi Casilla will finally remain healthy and nail down short for a whole season. Then, too, there's some likeable minor league kid named Brian Dozier, winner of the 2011 Twins Minor League Player of the Year award. He very likely will get an opportunity to show his stuff in the 2012 Spring Training camp.

 As it's doubtful they Twins will be able to crow as they did in acquiring Cardenas 43 years ago, they will hopefully recoup some satisfaction in knowing order has been restored at short. By SOMEBODY out there!

As our old friend Herb Carneal would conclude his broadcasts:

"So long everybody!" - TT