Category: Wes Johnson

October 16, 2022

What does a good pitching coach mean to a baseball team? The world, apparently

In “Facing Nolan,” a relatively new documentary about the Hall of Fame pitcher, Ryan, wild but effective in the early days of his career with the New York Mets, eventually was traded to the California Angels. When Ryan first learned that he was going to California, he thought he was on his way to the... Continue Reading »

July 4, 2022

Twins drop finale to Orioles

Remember the back-to-back walk-off wins, Twins fans? The good vibrations created by those two late-inning victories quickly ebbed away on Sunday after the Twins mustered only four hits in a 3-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Despite the loss, the Twins still won the series, although it’s pretty clear that when Byron Buxton gets a... Continue Reading »

June 29, 2022

Twins win first 2 of 3 games against Guardians

The Twins have outscored the Cleveland Guardians 19-4 over the first three games of the five-game series between the two clubs. The Twins won 11-1 Monday and split a doubleheader on Tuesday, losing 3-2 and then winning again 6-0. In the second game, the Twins scored six runs on 13 hits, including three home runs... Continue Reading »

June 27, 2022

Twins get series win over Rockies, plus items about Arrigo, Carew, Clyde, Johnson and Smalley

Byron Buxton singled, doubled and tripled and starter Joe Ryan did just enough to rise above the Colorado Rockies on Sunday for a 6-3 win. With the win, combined with a Cleveland loss, the Twins now have a two-game cushion in the AL Central ahead of their upcoming five-game series with the Guardians. It all... Continue Reading »

April 28, 2021

You can’t make this stuff up: Twins lose in spectacular fashion — again

Sixty-nine years ago Red Smith, the Dean of all American sportswriters, went to his typewriter (or so I presume) and tapped out the most famous sports lede of all time after the New York Giants’ Bobby Thomson hit a ball into the left field stands at the Polo Grounds off the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ralph Branca.... Continue Reading »

April 27, 2021

Twins fall to 0-5 when playing free baseball

The Twins fell to 7-14 on Monday after another all-too familiar loss. So far this season that has meant not enough hits, not enough runs, mental mistakes and just plain bad luck. Once the Twins play extra innings, it’s like entering Death Valley for some reason, and once closer Alex Colome is handed the ball…... Continue Reading »

January 24, 2021

How do you like the Twins now?

A recent check of social media showed that all was not well in Twins Territory. Twins fans, at least on Twitter, appeared to be coming unglued due to the lack of deal-making so far this offseason. As top free agents continued to come off the board and go elsewhere, such as reliever Kirby Yates and... Continue Reading »

January 6, 2020

What do pitchers Homer Bailey and Rich Hill bring to the Twins? Well…

Like most of Twins Territory, I’m feeling underwhelmed after the Twins added starting pitchers Homer Bailey and Rich Hill. Bailey, in particular, doesn’t move the needle very much, and is already being compared to former Twins pitcher Martin Perez. Perez showed up last season with some lackluster numbers as well, but after working with innovative... Continue Reading »

November 18, 2018

More unfamiliar names join Twins’ coaching staff

If you’re still trying to figure out who Rocco Baldelli is — former player, Twins manager — here’s a new group of names to ponder after the Twins on Friday rounded out the coaching staff with new hires for pitching, bullpen, first base and third base. They will join existing coaches Derek Shelton (bench coach),... Continue Reading »

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.