Two franchises bound by a common former home. Frank Howard was easily the star of the old new Washington Senators. Howard totaled 26.6 rWAR during his time in the District of Columbia; only Ken McMullen, a third baseman imported from the Dodgers along with Howard in December 1964, joined Hondo above 20 rWAR (21.3). Meanwhile, six Twins posted at least that much during the same period: Killebrew (50.4), Oliva (42.7), Allison (30.4), Kaat (29.3), Perry (25.8), and one other player.
Who was the sixth Twin to top 20 rWAR between 1961-1971, when those old new Senators left nine-year-old RFK Stadium for a minor league ballpark in Texas with no covered seating?
Pregame jersey/shirsey count:
Kintzler
Puckett 2
Mauer 14
Brennan Boesch(?!)
Fien(!)
Sano 5
Carew
Dozier
Hunter 2
Beltre
Prince Fielder
Killebrew
Span
Gomez (Brewers)
Morneau
Ivan Rodriguez
Darvish
Mientkiewicz
Bartolo Colón in a Dairy Queen jersey: the Kool-Aid Man in a pitcher.
A good guess. He totaled 18.4 rWAR during that period.
Another good guess. He racked up 14.4 rWAR.
Dang, this is a good one. The better ones have been guessed
sean Niekro'd.
Yep, saw that
So much for going with the red jerseys.
Now I've seen 23 different Twins pitch in person this season.
76.666666666666666...%
I can't stress enough how enormous Joey Gallo is.
Twins are 7-18 when trailing after the first inning, so that's a good start by Dozier. Now they need at least one more.
Twins are 30-29 when tied after the first inning and 14-8 when ahead after the first inning.
That will work!
That's a Twins record for leadoff homers.
Beltre is so weird. He took his glove off as soon as Mauer bunted and pretended to throw it at the ball.
The guy is hilarious. Just don't touch his head.
Dicks' cure for bad bunting? More bunting, of course!
Two days in a row with a check swing by Mauer. Very unusual.
Groß!
The .296 SLG from the right side with a homer. He does have a .419 OBP from that side. Batting as a lefty, he's .248/.361/.396.
His career from the right side show him much better from that side.
That's what I thought. It's a weird split to have a great OBP combined with a poor SLG.
Nice take by Buxton to get the walk.
Pérez just threw his 40th pitch of the inning (and game). Naturally, Polanco swings at it & GiDPs to end the inning.
On the first pitch of the at bat, too. He's really scuffling.
Do you make Polanco take, knowing Pérez is tiring? Or do you let him swing away knowing he needs all three strikes?
If I'm Molitor, Polanco's going up there with an imaginary bat for the first two pitches.
If it was later in the game or if the Twins were tied or behind, Molitor would probably do that. In that situation, I think he just lets the players have their normal at-bat and doesn't try to overmanage.
I don't mind players having the green light on situations like that (or with a 3-0 count), but I hate when they make weak contact. If you swing with the green line, you better make sure you're going to hit it really hard.
I'm going to predict another four runs this inning.
Dozier just tied Mauer for most homeruns in games I've attended with 9.
Dick says Mauer's the only Twin who still uses an ash bat; he prefers the flex of ash over stiffer maple. Huh.
I wonder how much of it is familiarity. Mauer is the second-oldest position player on the team, and he's only a bit younger than Gimenez. Next oldest are Dozier and Castro at 30.
Großman mit dem schneekonus.
Gallo has an inch or two on Mauer at least.
Where it counts?
With a stick!
Well played
Nice of Beltré to hit strike four to Grossman.
Someone two sections over from me is wearing a number seven Twins jersey with "Baby Jesus" as the name.
Guessing it's not Poultry Man.
Sanó way out of the batters circle there. Better not get the attention of the umpire.
Ouch
And Sano has to come out. Dang
Looked like it hit his hand. Would not be surprised is something got cracked.
Holy Gallo cannon arm
Yeah, that was a bullet
Preliminary x-rays negative for Sanó. So far it's a contusion.
Well, this start ought to keep him going for a while.
Did not think Colón would make it through eight after the first inning.
Colón just extended his own mark for deepest start by the oldest Twins pitcher.
And they're Bringing Sexy Back for the ninth
Heh, and they play "Sexy and I Know It" for Colón as he warms up for the ninth.
Veteran Presence with 2 runs and an RBI on a no-hit evening
A complete game by the oldest starter in franchise history.
Way to go, Bartolo.
He is the first Twins pitcher to pitch a complete game after his 40th birthday. Who was previously the oldest pitcher to pitch a complete game for the Twins?
I love complete games.
What the heck?
A few other Twins platers with 1 complete game: PJ Walters, Fransisco Liriano, Dan Serafini, Ricky Nolasco, Jason Ryan (!), (also Senator HoF outfielder Sam Rice )
Don't forget Andrew Albers
First name I thought of. SO close to a second.
Byron Buxton was 3 and a half years old when Bartolo Colón threw his first major league complete game.