23 thoughts on “2002 Rewind: Game One”

1. Coaching staff: Ron Gardenhire (MGR, 1st year), Steve Liddle (bench, 1st year), Rick Anderson (pitching, 1st year), Scott Ullger, (hitting, 4th year), Al Newman (third base, 1st year), Jerry White (first base, 4th year), Rick Stelmaszek (bullpen, 22nd year)

   Gardy taking over for TK resulted in some shakeup in what had been a pretty stable corps of Twins coaches. He obviously had longstanding relationships with these guys, and I assume he had full latitude in assembling his staff.

   Ullger was something of an organizational soldier, having managed in the minors, then eventually coaching both first & third base, hitting, and bench in Minnesota.

   Steve Liddle took over for Paul Molitor, who has the distinction of being both TK's & Gardy's last bench coach. I wonder: if Molitor could do it all over again with the benefit of hindsight on contraction & the era opening in front of the Twins, would he prefer to have interviewed for the open managerial job, or not?

   Dick Martin, who had been with the Twins since at least 1972 (and head trainer since 1973), was apparently fired by Terry Ryan prior to the season. (I've seen suggestions that Martin sold his World Series rings in the fallout, but don't know if that's true or not.) Jim Kahmann was the first new head trainer the Twins had in a long time. How many trainers have they gone through since him?

   1. I loved Dick Martin's cartoons in MAD Magazine

2. I was in my last year of undergrad in Winona and could only listen to games on the radio. I remember being super psyched for this season given how 2001 ended and many were predicting the Twins to be competitive with Cleveland. I decided I was going to keep score in a scorebook the entire season. That admittedly only lasted about a month (and I've since lost them), but I vividly remember this game, with Jacque leading off the season with a homer and then taking the lead later with another one.

   1. KWNO!

      I was in town for part of the year, just biding time in between finishing culinary school & shipping out. I watched the ends of many of the games in the bar where I worked treaded water.

      1. which bar?

         1. The one named after a bygone downtown burdelmama. It was a job, and that’s about it.

            1. If I'm guessing the right one (it's still there, right?), it's strange how little I went in there despite working across the alley from it.

               1. I managed 2 years in Winona without once entering a bar.

                  1. Strange, I think I managed 2 years in Winona without once leaving the bar.

               2. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s still there. The only establishments I regularly visit when I’m in town anymore are Bloedow’s & the Lakeview, particularly now that Downtown Book & Video is gone. (I kid about that one.) The beer’s cheaper when I bring it from the People’s Republic.

                  But yes, if both these establishments overlook the parking lot of the cinema, then we’re probably talking the same place.

                  1. Heh, yup. Pretty sure yours is still there. I visited my former establishment over the summer. It is literally exactly the same as it was when I left 10 years ago. Like, exactly. That includes a lot of the staff too.

                     One cool bit of news: the co-op bought their entire building, including the bar space next store (whichever incarnation of it it was shut down due to stabbings) and are expanding into it. Might already be complete by now.

                     1. Hey, that’s cool! I believe that building was originally a grocery store, so it’s good to see it returned to that state.

                        I seem to recall hearing some news about some less-than-great management issues there, but that was several years back, and I only have a dim memory of what had been communicated to me. So if the co-op’s doing that well, I’m hoping that means things have been sorted.

                  2. #300,000.

                     1. This one? Or the the one you're replying to?

                        1. Or did I do that to induce the next person to reply with LTE id 300,000?

                           1. Clever!

                     2. That's going to take up a lot of space on the plaque.

   2. Keeping score of each game even for a month is pretty good. Were you actually able to do that live, or did you record them somehow?

      1. Live. I just did it while doing homework each night. Then finals happened

3. I have zero memory of this entire season. I watched the Twins more in the mid-'90s but got lost in the lure of the Vikings in the late '90s. I remember following the Twins in 2000 but that's it until at least 2004, if not 2006. I'm pretty sure I followed the season to some extent and I think I remember the opening but that's it.

4. When did The Basement That Was begin?

   1. Midway through 2004.

5. I remember that everyone made a huge deal about Jacque Jones leading off the game with a HR. It was a big middle finger to Pohlad and Selig and contraction.

Comments are closed.