A season after the Twins went to the World Series in 1965, they got off to a slow start and played mostly .500 ball. But there were signs the second half of the season might be different, particularly on June 9, 1966, when the Twins hosted the Kansas City A’s before only 9,600 fans. Curveballer... Continue Reading »

A season before the Washington Senators picked up stakes and moved to Minnesota, the Washington team kicked off its final season in D.C. in style, courtesy of a 26-year-old Cuban curveballer named, Camilo Pascual. Pascual’s pitching that day was good enough for inclusion on Baseball-Reference.com’s top opening day pitching performances. He won 17 games the... Continue Reading »

The Twins lost again Saturday to the Oakland A’s, so let’s forget about the 2019 team for the moment and turn back the clock. During the recent Twins/Mets series, Strib columnist, Patrick Reusse, tweeted about seeing Mets pitching coach, Phil Regan, visit the mound at Target Field. And yet nobody booed him, which led Reusse... Continue Reading »

A decade after Cookie Lavagetto suspected the New York Giants were up to no good during the 1951 season — and was later famously captured on film sitting next to a bawling Ralph Branca after that history-making October loss — Lavagetto found himself in Minnesota, manager of a newly relocated team called the Twins. During... Continue Reading »

Sam Mele, who won 524 games as manager of the Twins from 1961 to 1967, will celebrate his 94th birthday on Thursday. Mele’s tenure with the Twins wasn’t long, but after the Washington Senators relocated to Minnesota for the 1961 season, it also wasn’t long before the Twins showed improvement. Under Mele, the Twins won... Continue Reading »