Hall of Fame pitcher and knuckleballer, Phil Niekro, is no longer with us, joining a long and sad list of Hall of Fame baseball players who died in 2020. I guess you could say his death, to quote a Bloomberg news headline, “capped a hellish 2020.” Niekro, who spent most of his career in the... Continue Reading »

After I became a Twins fan (yes, there was a beginning), I suffered through a 102-loss season in 1982, another down year in ’83 and then, incredibly it seemed, the Twins began to show signs of life in 1984. They were helped by a young nucleus of rising stars, including Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Frank... Continue Reading »

I hope you read Strib columnist Patrick Reusse’s recent blog post/column about Dick Allen, the fearsome slugger, best known for his years with the Philadelphia Phillies, who recently passed away. Reusse not only touched on his contributions as a player, but also about a unique game against the Twins. Very sad to hear of Dick... Continue Reading »

In 1987, the Twins were nearly unbeatable at home, compiling a record of 56-25 at the friendly, but strange confines of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. They didn’t play nearly as well on the road, so when the season was over, the Twins inched over the finish line, a mere eight games over .500. That... Continue Reading »

The Twins dropped three of four games to the Toronto Blue Jays, making it the club’s second series loss of the young season. And each loss to the Jays shows the team couldn’t escape the big inning. In Game 1, it was a four-run eighth; in Game 2, it was a four-run sixth; in Game... Continue Reading »

For years I had heard about it: A story called “The Web of the Game” by celebrated baseball writer Roger Angell, who wrote about a college pitchers’ duel in May of 1981 between future Met Ron Darling and future Twin Frank Viola. The story is included in a collection of Angell’s writing called “Game Time,”... Continue Reading »

The Twins took two of three games from the Detroit Tigers but were denied the sweep on Wednesday after Tiger pitching silenced the Twins in a 4-1 victory. Despite the two wins, it was a lackluster series. The Twins scored 11 runs in three games, or about four runs per game (which is right around... Continue Reading »

Twins rookie Fernando Romero, who made an impressive major league debut last week, took it a step further Monday after he silenced 40,000 fans at Busch Stadium by striking out nine over six innings. The team backed him with 11 hits and the Twins cruised to a 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. First... Continue Reading »

Cleveland Indians pitcher Hans Kluber, also known as Corey, struck out nine over six innings and the No. 9 hitter in the lineup smashed two home runs to beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-0, in Game 1 of the 2016 World Series. Both teams feature outstanding pitching, but it was the Indians who showed off those winning... Continue Reading »