Inspiration for this blog comes in many forms. This time, of all things, I ordered some stationery via eBay and it arrived wrapped in the front page of the Sept. 16, 1998, edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Who was on the front page? Who else? Mark McGwire after he connected for his 63rd home... Continue Reading »

The recent two-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers is looking less and less impressive these days, particularly after the Twins played, lost and were eventually swept by the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Twins certainly have enough quality pitching to beat the worst teams in baseball, but that’s clearly not the case when... Continue Reading »

The team that dropped two of three games to the Arizona Diamondbacks returned home to Target Field Tuesday night. Unfortunately, the Twins played like they were still stuck in Phoenix. The Twins were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, struck out 15 times as a team and finally fell in 11 innings to the Cleveland... Continue Reading »

Ever since Houston pitcher Framber Valdez pitched five innings of scoreless relief to beat the Twins in Game 1 of the 2020 American League Wild Card Series, the Twins seem to wilt in the presence of the Astros. And the wilting continued Tuesday night after Justin Verlander and a reliever three-hit the Twins to win... Continue Reading »

After a 1-5 start to spring training, the Twins have gone 8-4, including their 2-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday. Max Kepler and Miguel Sano hit solo home runs and that was enough because Twins pitching limited the Sox to three hits. Twins pitcher Bailey Ober pitched four scoreless innings with three... Continue Reading »

As the baseball lockout rolls on, I guess it’s as good a time as any to revisit a classic Twins tale — when former Twins manager Billy Martin and pitcher Dave Boswell drained a few pops at a Detroit bar and later slugged it out in a nearby alley.   Author Bill Pennington captured the... Continue Reading »

The Minnesota Twins of the 1960s were a good team, some might even call them a great one. And this much was certain: they had left their sad-sack ways behind in Washington, D.C., and now won with regularity after their move to the upper Midwest. Although the team won only 70 games in its inaugural... Continue Reading »

After Ted Williams retired, and before Carl Yastrzemski rose to prominence, the Boston Red Sox were not very good. They lost often during the early 1960s and finally hit bottom with 100 losses in 1965, including to the Twins, who pushed them around in 17 of 18 meetings that season. That’s right: the Twins were... Continue Reading »

I’m not positive that major league baseball and its players truly settled their COVID-19 differences, but no matter: baseball is back. Summer training begins soon, followed by a 60-game season that gets underway later this month. At first glance, the shorter and geographically condensed season would appear to work in the Twins favor. Or does... Continue Reading »