As the postseason came to its conclusion, what did we learn? Ex-Twin and reliever Louis Varland set a major league record with 15 appearances in the playoffs and fellow former Twins Paul Molitor and Jack Morris threw out first pitches before the start of Game 7. And just before the completion of the World Series,... Continue Reading »

It’s clear the Twins could use a little offense — the kind provided by injured players such as Byron Buxton and Matt Wallner — because the club has a grand total of eight hits over two games, both losses. They had all of three hits in Sunday’s loss to the Royals and five more in... Continue Reading »

Bob Veale, a hard-throwing lefty for the Pittsburgh Pirates who led the majors in strikeouts in 1964 and finished second to Sandy Koufax in whiffs the following season, died last week. He was 89, the New York Times reported. When a major leaguer dies, particularly a pitcher, I usually check to see whether they ever... Continue Reading »

The Twins have produced their share of players who have won the Rookie of the Year award. There’s Tony Oliva, of course, and his incredible 1964 debut. It was so amazing (look it up, newbies) that he also finished fourth in the AL MVP vote that season. He was followed by Rod Carew (no surprise)... Continue Reading »

You never know when you’re going to have a Minnesota Twins moment. There I was, watching episodes of Lou Grant on You Tube when it happened: Reporter Joe Rossi, played by actor Robert Walden, perhaps best known for playing Donald Segretti in “All the President’s Men,” is assigned to write what the newspaper biz used... Continue Reading »

Two-thirds of the game of baseball is devoted to pitching and hitting, but when 66 percent of your effort is on the fritz you are not going to win many games. Such was the case Monday: Starter David Festa couldn’t find the strike zone, reliever Ronny Henriquez served up a painful sixth-inning home run and... Continue Reading »

Two Twins rookies had two completely different games on Wednesday. Starter David Festa struck out six batters with no walks over five innings. The only problem is he allowed seven runs on nine hits, including a solo home run, a two-run shot and a grand slam that ultimately handed the Detroit Tigers a 9-2 win.... Continue Reading »

The Twins made it three wins in a row Friday night after they rallied from a 4-0 deficit to a 6-5 walk-off win in 10 innings over the Oakland A’s. The Twins earned a series win over the Rockies earlier in the week, including the 17-9 rout on Wednesday, and now they have won the... Continue Reading »

Another addition to my growing collection of Twins memorabilia is a Rod Carew baseball card from 1970, which appears to show him on the road at Yankee Stadium, if I’m not mistaken. Carew’s career numbers versus the Yankees, like most teams he faced, were sensational. He slashed .331/.396/.447 against the Pinstripers with 222 hits. But... Continue Reading »