Category: Zoilo Versalles

September 26, 2022

Twins end 5-game losing streak, but fail to start winning streak

The Twins may have snapped their five-game losing streak, but they went right back to their losing ways with another defeat to the Los Angeles Angels, 10-3, on Sunday. The Twins also dropped the weekend series to the Halos and the season series as well. Starter Dylan Bundy did nothing special, although he wasn’t helped... Continue Reading »

August 3, 2022

The Twins have no business losing to the Detroit Tigers

One would think that after a walk-off win on Monday, followed by some pre-game wheeling and dealing to bolster the lineup, that the Twins would emerge from the dugout inspired, a team ready to take on the New York Yankees, let alone the Detroit Tigers. Instead, the Twins took a 2-0 lead over the Tigers... Continue Reading »

February 13, 2022

A troubling discovery about a former member of the Twins

There I was again: All set to write about a new Twins discovery (at least for me) when I came across another Twins item that was equally new but also deeply disconcerting. The initial discovery was about Twins Hall of Fame player Kirby Puckett and the two times he played in the infield. Puckett was... Continue Reading »

December 13, 2021

A stroll down memory lane with Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Kaat

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 »

September 27, 2021

Twins split series with Toronto after clutch hitting disappears

The Twins had to settle with a four-game split in their series against the Toronto Blue Jays. After wins Thursday and Friday, the Twins lost 6-1 on Saturday and 5-2 on Sunday. Contributing to the two losses was a serious lack of situational hitting. Over the weekend, the Twins went 1-for-16 with runners in scoring... Continue Reading »

November 8, 2020

A magnanimous Calvin Griffith? Maybe

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 »

July 18, 2020

The year the Boston Red Sox had no answer, and I mean no answer, for the Minnesota Twins

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 »

July 21, 2019

The day Tony Oliva hit the deck, then hit a triple

The Twins lost again Saturday to the Oakland A’s, so let’s forget about the 2019 team for the moment and turn back the clock. During the recent Twins/Mets series, Strib columnist, Patrick Reusse, tweeted about seeing Mets pitching coach, Phil Regan, visit the mound at Target Field. And yet nobody booed him, which led Reusse... Continue Reading »

January 20, 2019

The day a Twins rookie took the mound opposite Don Larsen, Harvey Haddix and Jim Palmer

As July turned to August, the 1965 Twins found themselves with a five-game lead in the American League heading into an Aug. 2 matchup against a good Baltimore Orioles team, according to Cool Of The Evening, a book by Jim Thielman about that pennant-winning season for the Twins. But rather than wait and let a rookie pitcher... 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.