Friday Fungoes: The Other Walker

While I was looking around for information on Shane Mack for Will's post the other day, I found this tidbit from The Globe and Mail, published 25 September 1993:

Walker may land with the Twins; Expo star will seek $4-million, which makes him trade bait

BY DANNY GALLAGHER
Special to The Globe and Mail
MONTREAL

The Montreal Expos' Larry Walker could be playing for the Minnesota Twins next season.

Rumours have Walker involved in a three-way trade between the Expos, Twins and another team. Outfielder Shane Mack would apparently leave the Twins but it's not known what other players are involved.

"From what I hear, Minnesota is going to get Larry," said Pat Rooney, Walker's agent. "There have been a lot of rumblings about that."

Larry Walker in a Twins uniform would have truly been awesome. But how would those mid-1990s teams have changed with him on the roster? What if, by acquiring Walker, the Twins committed themselves to reloading in the wake of 1993's disappointment, and not to rebuilding?

First, there's the question of who the Twins might have traded to acquire Walker. Beyond that, however, do the Twins keep Walker beyond 1994, when he became a free agent? Where do you play Kirby Puckett in 1994 (and 1995)? Absent the grind of managing awful teams, does Tom Kelly keep managing beyond 2001? What do your 1994-2001 Twins look like?

FMD: 2-24-2012

I'm almost always checking out new music and cycling music onto and off of my player. But right now I've got a backlog of stuff downloaded but not imported or uploaded. The new baby and the need to finish Downton Abbey before my MiL takes it back with her to Glenwood has kept me from fixing that.

Also, my good friend from High School, West, is the primary member of A Whisper in the Noise (like Reznor in NIN or David Tibet in C93). I've probably seen him less than a dozen times since graduation and maybe only once since 2003. Apparently they're big in Germany. His Their new video just showed up on my FB. The video itself isn't that great, but I find the song quite cool. It reminds me less of Sigur Ros and more like Cinematic Orchestra, which is a good thing for me.

Happy Birthday–February 24

Honus Wagner (1874)
Wilbur Cooper (1892)
Del Wilber (1919)
Bubba Phillips (1928)
Dave Edwards (1954)
Eddie Murray (1956)
Nick Esasky (1960)
Stubby Clapp (1973)
Mike Lowell (1974)
Randy Keisler (1976)
Bronson Arroyo (1977)
Rob Bowen (1981)
Nick Blackburn (1982)
J. D. Durbin (1982)
Chris Parmelee (1988)

Today is also the birthday of Twins' farm director Jim Rantz (1938), who was the winning pitcher in the deciding game of the 1960 College World Series.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 24

Happy Birthday–February 23

Barney Dreyfuss (1865)
Paul Cobb (1888)
Roy Johnson (1903)
Ray Brown (1908)
Mike Tresh (1914)
Elston Howard (1929)
Ron Hunt (1941)
Ken Boswell (1946)
John Shelby (1958)
Juan Agosto (1958)
Bobby Bonilla (1963)
Rondell White (1972)
Scott Elarton (1976)

The brother of Ty Cobb, John Paul Cobb (known by his middle name), played in over a thousand minor league games over ten years, batting .283. 

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 23