The Twins were barely competitive in 1979, finishing the season with a record of 82-80. It also was manager Gene Mauch’s final full season with the club, and star infielder, Rod Carew, who hit .388 in 1977, was no longer with the Twins after he was traded during the offseason. His departure was almost a... Continue Reading »

I wasn’t sure I was going to come up with a Twins-related nugget to write about this week as baseball sits on the sidelines, waiting, like we all are, for the curve of the coronavirus to flatten. But then the Baseball-Reference.com newsletter landed in my inbox and there it was: a little item about top... Continue Reading »

Despite losing two more players to other teams, the Twins appeared unfazed in their return to Target Field and beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4, in Game 1 of their three-game series. The Twins might be 3-6 versus the Kansas City Royals this season, but they are 7-3 against the Tribe. Ervin Santana continues to work... Continue Reading »

Johnny Goryl was a player, base coach and manager for the Twins, but before he was connected to the Twins organization, Goryl played for the Chicago Cubs, according to “The Long Season,” a book by Jim Brosnan, a former reliever for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. My interest in typewriters led me to... Continue Reading »

The Twins lost in walk-off fashion for the seventh time this season after Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino hit his eighth home run in the bottom of the 12th to beat the Twins, 4-3. Other than the home run, Zunino struck out three times and is hitting .198. The Twins also fell to 3-10 in... Continue Reading »

Fernando Romero struck out seven in seven innings and limited the Seattle Mariners to two runs Friday night, but M’s starter James Paxton was just a little better after he struck out 11 batters in a 2-1 victory. The Twins mustered four hits and Max Kepler had two of them, including his seventh home run... Continue Reading »

Forget that the Twins were shutout on four hits Monday night and consider this: The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians and are now 18-22 this season. I know you’re thinking: So what? Well, the Tigers were picked by many to finish dead last in the American League Central with 90 or more losses in... Continue Reading »

It was a wild four-game series with the Seattle Mariners. A blowout loss, followed by a blowout win — the Twins scored 20 runs on 28 hits — followed by a disappointing outing from Ervin Santana. But the series ended well Thursday after pitcher Jose Berrios went eight innings and limited the M’s to two... Continue Reading »

Pitchers Kyle Gibson, Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios all looked good in their respective wins last week, but things didn’t look so good on Sunday and Monday. The bullpen was hammered in a 13-8 loss to the San Francisco Giants — Matt Belisle and Craig Breslow gave up nine runs in the 7th and 8th... Continue Reading »