Joe Ryan pitched six innings of scoreless baseball, earned his 13th win of the season and set a new single-season strikeout record for a Twins rookie with 151 strikeouts, eight of them in Friday’s 7-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. It appears this was Ryan’s last start of the season so he finishes the 2022... Continue Reading »

With manager Billy Martin at the helm, the Twins won the American League West Division in 1969 and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the postseason, the first year of AL Championship Series play. The Twins battled the O’s in the first two games and were blown out in the last to be swept 3-0 in... Continue Reading »

Utility man Cesar Tovar, former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and Dan Gladden, a key fixture on the Twins’ two World Series winning teams, have been elected to the club’s Hall of Fame. Cesar Tovar avoids a Thurman Munson tag while getting the slide sign from Tony Oliva. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/kBYQXginyI — Jeff (@MNTwinsZealot) February 2, 2022... Continue Reading »

It never fails: A current or former Twins player is in the news and before long I have stumbled across something online that is entirely new to me. Who has been in the news? Former Twins Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva, both of whom were recently elected to the Class of 2022 of the National... Continue Reading »

Calvin Griffith’s tenure as owner of the Minnesota Twins came to an end in 1984, the year he sold the team. But for all intents and purposes it really ended on Sept. 28, 1978, a date which will live in infamy for Twins fans. That’s when the old cherub shot off his mouth in the... Continue Reading »

Luis Tiant, the beloved Boston Red Sox pitcher, forever immortalized for a pitching motion that had him looking at second base before he whirled home, spent a season with the Twins in 1970. The #MNTwins released Luis Tiant 50 years ago today. Over seven seasons from 1972 to '78, Tiant averaged 243 innings pitched, 17... Continue Reading »

Julio Becquer, a former pinch hitter for the Twins, died this month, generating remembrances from Minnesota-based sports media. He was 88. Becquer also was Cuban, and one of a long line of Cuban ballplayers who made their way to the Washington Senators and Twins. You know the names: Pedro Ramos, Tony Oliva, Camilo Pascual and... Continue Reading »

The previous headline referenced a service club luncheon, but this apparently happened at night. In late September 1978, Calvin Griffith, the former longtime owner of the Twins, found himself at a Lions Club dinner in the town of Waseca, south of the Twin Cities. That afternoon would become Griffith’s undoing after he made disparaging comments... Continue Reading »

Nick Coleman, a former reporter and columnist for the Pioneer Press and Star-Tribune, died this week, and the only reason I know that is because I was catching up on my Twins news when I came across his obituary in both papers. And then I learned that it was Coleman, who had attended a service... Continue Reading »