The WGOM

This Week In Ex-Twins

Jeff A — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:33:06 +0000

Recent transactions involving former Minnesota Twins players:

Arizona agrees to terms with Kevin Mulvey on a one-year contract. Baltimore assigns Armando Gabino to minor league camp. Cincinnati assigns Alexander Smit to minor league camp. Houston gives Alex Romero his unconditional release. Dodgers assign Michael Restovich to minor league camp. Mets assign R. A. Dickey to minor league camp. Toronto outrights Sean Henn [...]

Nightmares at WGOMville

SBG — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:38:30 +0000

Perhaps it's the complete lay down by the Wolves that has me in a pissy mood today, but I want to explore the unthinkable with you. Let's suppose that the Twins put out a great offer for Joe Mauer on top of everything that they've done to improve the club: 8 years $180 million. [...]

Happy Birthday–March 18

Jeff A — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:34:07 +0000

Nixey Callahan (1874) Johnny Cooney (1901) Al Benton (1911) Elbie Fletcher (1916) Hi Bithorn (1916) Eddie Lake (1916) Hal White (1919) George Plimpton (1927) Charley Pride (1938) Pat Jarvis (1941) Dwayne Murphy (1955) Geronimo Berroa (1965) Tomo Ohka (1976) Scott Podsednik (1976) Corky Miller (1976) Fernando Rodney (1977)

One of the finest fourth-string catchers in the history of baseball, Abraham Philip "Corky" Miller played for the Twins at the beginning of [...]

Happy Birthday–March 17

Jeff A — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:34:58 +0000

Fred Pfeffer (1860) Oscar Stanage (1883) Charlie Root (1899) Hank Sauer (1917) Pete Reiser (1919) Cito Gaston (1944) Tim Lollar (1956) Danny Ainge (1959) John Smiley (1965) Dan Masteller (1968) Bill Mueller (1971) Raul Chavez (1973) Robb Quinlan (1977)

Left-hander John Smiley pitched for the Twins in 1992. He was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania and went to high school in Graterford, Pennsylvania. He was drafted by Pittsburgh in [...]

Brought Along, Kicking and Screaming, Into the 21st Century

SBG — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:22:53 +0000

I have a 19" HDTV in my bedroom, but until this weekend, that was the extent of my HDTVness. I bought a 36" TV back in 1998 ($1200!) and I've been living with that for the last 12 years. Truth be told, it was a heckuva TV when I bought it, but good [...]

Happy Birthday–March 16

Jeff A — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:03:51 +0000

Blondie Purcell (1854) Jerry Denny (1859) Patsy Donovan (1865) Jake Flowers (1902) Buddy Myer (1904) Lloyd Waner (1906) Ken O'Dea (1913) Tom Gorman (1919) Clint Courtney (1927) Hobie Landrith (1930) Don Blasingame (1932) Rick Reichardt (1943) Rick Renick (1944) Charles Hudson (1959) Curtis Granderson (1981)

Infielder/outfielder Warren Richard Renick played for the Twins from 1968-1972. Born and raised in London, Ohio, he attende Ohio State and was signed by Minnesota as [...]

So, There’s Grass Out There After All

SBG — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:30:25 +0000

Okay, there's a little snow left, but at 65 degree day in the Minneapolis area all but ended the snow cover around here. My daughter informed me on Saturday that she was watching the snow melt and I laughed and said, well, it is melting fast or slow. "Fast," she replied. Well, [...]

Happy Birthday–March 15

Jeff A — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:33:50 +0000

Arlie "The Freshest Man on Earth" Latham (1860) Doc Casey (1870) Rosy Ryan (1898) Bob Locker (1938) Wayne Granger (1944) Bobby Bonds (1946) Jim Kern (1949) Mickey Hatcher (1955) Harold Baines (1959) Mike Pagliarulo (1960) Kim Batiste (1968) Robert Fick (1974) Dan Perkins (1975) Vladimir Nunez (1975) Kevin Youkilis (1979)

Right-handed reliever Wayne Granger was co-closer with Dave LaRoche in 1972. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, went to high [...]

Happy Birthday–March 14

Jeff A — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:47:04 +0000

Candy Nelson (1849) Bill Holbert (1855) Marty McManus (1900) Jack Rothrock (1905) Dave McKay (1950) Butch Wynegar (1956) Steve Lake (1957) Jerry Willard (1960) Kirby Puckett (1960) Kevin Brown (1965) Brent Gates (1970)

Infielder Dave McKay played for the Twins for two seasons in the mid-1970s. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, attended Creighton University, and signed with the Twins as a free agent in [...]

Happy Birthday–March 13

Jeff A — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:25:42 +0000

Frank "Home Run" Baker (1886) Patsy Gharrity (1892) Doug Harvey (1930) Bill Dailey (1935) Steve Barber (1948) Terry Leach (1954) Randy Bass (1954) Luis Aguayo (1959) Mariano Duncan (1963) Will Clark (1964) Jorge Fabregas (1970) Scott Sullivan (1971) Johan Santana (1979)

Right-handed reliever Bill Dailey was with the Twins for two years in the 1960s. Born in Arlington, Virginia, he signed with Cleveland as a free agent in [...]

Music Day

SBG — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:54:00 +0000

Does anyone buy stereo equipment anymore? Or is our music experience almost completely limited to the iPod experience? I have some old stereo equipment collecting dust, but I also don't use an MP3 player.

Drop your lists.

Happy Birthday–March 12

Jeff A — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:45:59 +0000

Denny Lyons (1866) Vern Law (1930) Johnny Callison (1939) Jimmy Wynn (1942) Bill Butler (1947) Larry Rothschild (1954) Ruppert Jones (1955) Dale Murphy (1956) Darryl Strawberry (1962) Shawn Gilbert (1965) Steve Finley (1965) Raul Mondesi (1971) Greg Hansell (1971)

Left-hander Bill Butler pitched for the Twins in parts of three seasons in the mid-1970s. He was born in Hyattsville, Maryland and went to high school in Herndon, Virginia. [...]

This Week In Ex-Twins

Jeff A — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:17:41 +0000

Two weeks, actually, since I was gone much of last week. Here are recent transactions involving former Minnesota Twins players.

Baltimore signs Armando Gabino. Mets agreed to terms with Jason Pridie on a one-year contract. Oakland agrees to terms with Steve Tolleson on a one-year contract. Pittsburgh agrees to terms with Garrett Jones on a one-year contract. San Diego signs Eric [...]

Your Second Chance to Predict the Number of Twins Wins in 2010

SBG — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:34:30 +0000

Last week, you made predictions about how many games the Twins will win in 2010. Just for the heck of it, let's check that out again.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

And since we're all in a good mood, how about this [...]

Happy Birthday–March 11

Jeff A — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:23 +0000

Bobby Winkles (1930) Dock Ellis (1945) Cesar Geronimo (1948) Phil Bradley (1959) Bryan Oelkers (1961) Steve Reed (1965) Salomon Torres (1972)

Left-hander Bryan Oelkers made ten appearances for the Twins in 1983. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Oelkers was the first player born in Spain to reach the major leagues. He attended high school in Maryland Heights, Missouri and then attended Wichita State. After being named [...]

Post-Oscar Review

SBG — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:45:06 +0000

Well, Sandy has her Oscar and her millions and I'm still just me, plodding along during an interminable Minnesota winter. I guess she showed me who is boss.

Some friends invited us over for dinner on Sunday night and to watch the Oscars. Yep, I was forced to watch them in polite company, [...]

Happy Birthday–March 10

Jeff A — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:30:13 +0000

Gene DeMontreville (1873) Art Herring (1906) John Briggs (1944) Wayne Twitchell (1948) Steve Howe (1958) John Cangelosi (1963) Mike Timlin (1966)

First baseman/outfielder John Briggs played with the Twins for about half of the 1975 season. Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, he attended Seton Hall and signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1962. He spent only one year [...]

Pat Neshek is the Greatest Thing since Sliced Bread!

Rhubarb_Runner — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:48:35 +0000

(Okay, this post is partly to fulfill a promise to Pat...)

Our seats were GREAT; if I reached over the row in front of us, I could have touched the back corner of the Twins' dugout. When I heard that Pat Neshek was signing autos over near us, I wandered over and hung out [...]

Happy Birthday–March 9

Jeff A — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:01:49 +0000

Billy Southworth (1893) Myril Hoag (1908) Arky Vaughan (1912) Jackie Jensen (1927) Ron Kline (1932) Jim Landis (1934) Bert Campaneris (1942) John Curtis (1948) Darrel Chaney (1948) Terry Mulholland (1963) Benito Santiago (1965) Vince Horsman (1967) Aaron Boone (1973) C. J. Nitkowski (1973)

Right-hander Ron Kline had a solid year for the Twins in 1967. A native of Callery, Pennsylvania, Kline signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in [...]

WGOM Fantasy Baseball

socaltwinsfan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:21 +0000

The WGOM Fantasy Baseball league is up and running. All those who said they would like to play can go ahead and go to this link.

League ID: 412347

League Password: Dudeabides

I believe there were 12 citizens who said they would like to join. I set it up for 16 spots, so that leaves about [...]

Happy Birthday–March 8

Jeff A — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:42:58 +0000

Pete Fox (1909) Ray Mueller (1912) Al Gionfriddo (1922) Carl Furillo (1922) Jim Bouton (1939) Jacques Doucet (1940) Dick Allen (1942) Jim Rice (1953) John Butcher (1957) Mark Salas (1961) Mike Moriarty (1974) Juan Encarnacion (1976)

Right-hander John Butcher pitched for the Twins from 1984 through mid-1986. A native of Glendale, California, he attended Yavapai Community College and was drafted by Texas in the first round of [...]

Happy Birthday–March 7

Jeff A — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:33:27 +0000

Ed Willett (1884) Dave Danforth (1890) Bobo Holloman (1923) Red Wilson (1929) Galen Cisco (1936) Jimmie Hall (1938) J. R. Richard (1950) Jeff Burroughs (1951) Albert Hall (1958) Joe Carter (1960) German Gonzalez (1962) Mauro Gozzo (1966) Jeff Kent (1968)

Outfielder Jimmie Hall played for the Twins for four years in the mid-1960s. He was born in Mount Holly, North Carolina and went to high school in Belmont, [...]

Happy Birthday–March 6

Jeff A — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:45:45 +0000

Ring Lardner (1885) Lefty Grove (1900) Bob Swift (1915) Pete Gray (1915) Ted Abernathy (1933) Cookie Rojas (1939) Willie Stargell (1940) Karl Best (1959) Scott Stahoviak (1970) Terry Adams (1973) Marcus Thames (1977)

Right-hander Karl Best made eleven relief appearances in 1988. He was born in Aberdeen, Washington and went to high school in Kent, Washington. He was drafted in the twelfth round in 1977. His [...]

Happy Birthday–March 5

Jeff A — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:16:54 +0000

Sam Thompson (1860) Jeff Tesreau (1888) Lu Blue (1897) Elmer Valo (1921) Del Crandall (1930) Phil Roof (1941) Kent Tekulve (1947) Doug Bird (1950) Mike Squires (1952) Steve Ontiveros (1960) Brian Hunter (1971) Ryan Franklin (1973) Paul Konerko (1976) Mike MacDougal (1977) Erik Bedard (1979)

Outfielder Elmer Valo was one of the original Minnesota Twins, and may have the earliest birthdate of anyone to play for the team. He was [...]

Radio WGOM Pushes On

SBG — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:33:11 +0000

I've added some new seeds to the Radio WGOM channel on Pandora and it spit out a list of songs for your review.

Seeds List "Strawberry Wine" - Deana Carter (Beau) "It's Me" - Dinosaur, Jr. "Baby I Need Your Loving" - The Four Tops (frightwig) "Poetically Pathetic" - Amber Pacific "Cocaine Blues" - John Cash (meat) "How Do I Get [...]

Fantasy Fever

socaltwinsfan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:05:09 +0000

It's getting to be that time and since I haven't read about anyone else stepping up, I figured I'd throw in my hat and say I'd be willing to run a WGOM fantasy baseball league if no one else wants to do it. I figure there will be plenty of citizens that want to do [...]

Happy Birthday–March 4

Jeff A — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:15:34 +0000

Red Murray (1884) Jeff Pfeffer (1888) Dazzy Vance (1891) Lefty O'Doul (1897) Clyde McCullough (1913) Mel Queen (1918) Cass Michaels (1926) Bob Johnson (1936) Jack Fischer (1939) Danny Frisella (1946) Tom Grieve (1948) Sam Perlozzo (1951) Jeff Dedmon (1960) Tom Lampkin (1964) Giovanni Carrera (1968) Dave Stevens (1970)

Infielder Sam Perlozzo got a September call-up with the Twins in 1977. Born in Cumberland, Maryland, he attended George Washington University. Perlozzo then [...]

Your First Chance to Predict the 2010 Twins Win Total

SBG — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:50:07 +0000

The Twins play their first spring training game tonight, so what better time to start predicting how the club will do in 2010? I'm pretty optimistic about this season -- I think the Twins have done a lot since the All-Star break last year to shore up some weak spots and get ready to [...]

Even Ebert Is Giving In

SBG — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:08:38 +0000

He's predicting that Sandy will win an Oscar. But, the frail movie critic points out that "Oscar loves a comeback", meaning that Sandy's first two movies of the year were bombs (his word exactly) and so she'll probably win because, in effect, this movie is a lot better than most of the unwatchable dreck [...]

Happy Birthday–March 3

Jeff A — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:01:15 +0000

John Montgomery Ward (1860) Willie Keeler (1872) Ed Phelps (1879) Paul Schaal (1943) Chuck Cary (1960) Neal Heaton (1960) Scott Radinsky (1968)

Left-hander Neal Heaton pitched for the Twins for part of 1986. He was born in South Ozone Park, New York, went to high school in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, and attended the University of Miami. He was drafted by Cleveland in [...]

The WGOM is Awakening

SBG — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:30:40 +0000

It's been a long, long winter, but I'm starting to feel spring coming on. I realize that March can be quite snowy, but there's the undeniable melting going on. The driveway is black, my sidewalk is icy, due to the poor downspout arrangement (really, I'm going to change that sidewalk some day). [...]

2003 Homer Hanky

Rhubarb_Runner — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:10:42 +0000

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

2003 Homer Hanky

Personal notes:

The design of the 2003 Homer Hanky was a big divergence from the previous homer hankies: it was the first printed in blue ink instead of red, and the main symbology (a baseball in this case) is far less prominent. I'm not sure if it's just the ones [...]

Happy Birthday–March 2

Jeff A — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:15:48 +0000

Moe Berg (1902) Woody English (1906) Jack Knott (1907) Mel Ott (1909) Mort Cooper (1913) Jim Konstanty (1917) Jim Nettles (1947) Pete Broberg (1950) Larry Wolfe (1953) Terry Steinbach (1962) Ron Gant (1965) Glen Perkins (1983)

The brother of Graig Nettles, outfielder Jim Nettles played for the Twins in the early 1970s. Born in San Diego, he attended high school there and then went to San Diego [...]

Happy Birthday–March 1

Jeff A — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:15:36 +0000

Paul Hines (1855) Farmer Vaughn (1864) Pepper Martin (1904)* Harry Caray (1914) Al Rosen (1924)* Larry Brown (1940) Steve Mingori (1944)* Vern Fuller (1944) Jeff Holly (1953) Johnny Ray (1957) Mark Gardner (1962) Rich Rodriguez (1963) Omar Daal (1972) Ramon Castro (1976) Ken Harvey (1978)

*Indicates a birthday of February 29

Left-hander Jeff Holly pitched for the Twins for parts of three seasons in the 1970s. He was born in San Pedro, [...]

Happy Birthday–February 28

Jeff A — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:17:36 +0000

Terry Turner (1881) Jud Wilson (1897) Frank Malzone (1930) Marty Perez (1946) Mark Wiley (1948) Tom Gamboa (1948) Jim Wohlford (1951) Mike Milchin (1968) Trent Oeltjen (1983)

Right-hander Mark Wiley appeared in fifteen games for the Twins in 1975. He was born in National City, California, went to high school in La Mesa, California, and attended Cal Poly-Pomona. He was drafted by Minnesota in the [...]

Happy Birthday–February 27

Jeff A — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:50:15 +0000

Cy Perkins (1896) Hilton Smith (1907) Connie Ryan (1920) John Wockenfuss (1949) Ron Hassey (1953) Greg Cadaret (1962) Pete Smith (1966) Matt Stairs (1968) Willie Banks (1969) Craig Monroe (1977) Denard Span (1984)

Right-hander Willie Banks pitched for the Twins in the early 1990s. He was born in Jersey City and attended high school there. He was drafted by Minnesota with the third pick of the [...]

Happy Birthday–February 26

Jeff A — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:20:44 +0000

Rip Collins (1896) Preacher Roe (1916) Johnny Blanchard (1933) Don Lee (1934) Jack Brohamer (1950) Kelly Gruber (1962) Scott Service (1967) J. T. Snow (1968) Mark DeRosa (1975)

Right-hander Don Lee pitched for Minnesota in 1961 and the first part of 1962. His father, Thornton Lee, was also a major league pitcher (both Lees surrendered home runs to Ted Williams). Don Lee was born in Globe, Arizona, attended [...]

Radio Station WGOM

SBG — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:03:51 +0000

I hit the WGOM channel that I set up at pandora.com. I set this up by selecting songs from random from people's lists a while back. Here's the first ten songs that came up on Thursday night.

Rag and Bone -- The White Stripes Pep Talk -- The Wildhearts Let Me Go -- Good Charlotte Let [...]

How Much Would You Want Those Tickets?

SBG — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:50:54 +0000

So, you run into a benefactor. He's going to give you a choice: two really good Twins season tickets, right behind the plate. Cool! But, he give you another option. Ten days for two in Hawaii in the middle of the winter. Flying first class, staying in luxury hotels, [...]

This Week In Ex-Twins

Jeff A — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:47:40 +0000

Recent transactions involving former Minnesota Twins players:

Detroit names Glenn Williams area scout for Australia. Florida signs Mike Lamb to a minor league contract. Washington agrees to terms with Livan Hernandez on a minor league contract.

That seems to be it for this week. Please place any additions or corrections in the comments.

Happy Birthday–February 25

Jeff A — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:48:27 +0000

Bob Bescher (1884) Al Hollingsworth (1908) Roy Weatherly (1915) Syd Thrift (1919) Monte Irvin (1919) Andy Pafko (1921) Jerry Reinsdorf (1936) Denny Lemaster (1939) Danny Cater (1940) Ron Santo (1940) Stump Merrill (1944) Cesar Cedeno (1951) Bob Brenly (1954) Ken Dayley (1959) Paul O'Neill (1963) Shannon Stewart (1974)

Outfielder Shannon Stewart played for Minnesota from mid-2003 through 2006. He was born in Cincinnati but attended high school in Miami, Florida. He [...]

This Might Be the Worst Maintained Feature in the History of Badly Maintained Features

SBG — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:28:09 +0000

The one night that is good for movies -- Saturday night -- was ruined (in terms of movies, anyway) by my sister, who graciously invited us over to her house for a turkey dinner. She's a day or two away from a three plus week business trip to India and Australia and tomorrow is [...]

Happy Birthday–February 24

Jeff A — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:47:55 +0000

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)

Today is also the birthday of Twins' farm director Jim Rantz (1938) and minor league player Chris Parmelee (1988).

Left-hander Randy Keisler did not play for the [...]

Better Only Than the Nets

SBG — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:22:16 +0000

I remember back on opening night of this NBA season, when the Wolves came back from a huge 2nd half deficit and won on a buzzer beater, sinking the Nets. It was fun to watch my favorite club win and I figured that the Nets weren't an awful club, so it looked like a [...]

Happy Birthday–February 23

Jeff A — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:21:31 +0000

Barney Dreyfuss (1865) Roy Johnson (1903) 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)

Reliever Juan Agosto was a member of the Twins for a couple of months in 1986. Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, he attended high school there and signed as a free agent [...]

WGOM Caucus — No Originality on My Part

SBG — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:20:17 +0000

We're going to have it at the same place, Chatterbox, again. Sorry to suggest otherwise. This Wednesday. 5:30ish! Hope you can make it.

A new breed of Twins shortstop

socaltwinsfan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:30:49 +0000

A few weeks ago, I read or heard somewhere that the Twins' record for home runs by a shortstop was 24 by Roy Smalley in 1979.

This got me thinking about the Twins' new shortstop, J.J. Hardy, who has managed to hit that many HRs twice in his career already (24 in 2007 and 26 in [...]

Beckett Baseball Preview cover (2010) – (Joe Mauer)

Rhubarb_Runner — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:10:26 +0000

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Beckett Baseball Preview cover - 2010

(Joe Mauer)

photographed by Kathy Willens

- - - - - - - - - -

The section covering the Twins, pages 60-63, doesn't break any new ground; Twins play in a new stadium, they need to sign Mauer, yadda yadda yadda. They [...]

Happy Birthday–February 22

Jeff A — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:19:43 +0000

Bill Klem (1874) Clarence Mitchell (1891) Roy Spencer (1900) Charles O. Finley (1918) Ryne Duren (1929) Sparky Anderson (1934) Steve Barber (1938) Tom Griffin (1948) John Halama (1972) Brian Duensing (1983)

It should be noted that Sparky Anderson was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota.

Left-hander Brian Duensing made his major league debut with the Twins last year. He was born in Marysville, Kansas, went to high [...]

Happy Birthday–February 21

Jeff A — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:49:29 +0000

This day marks the one-year anniversary of when I started putting the birthday list in the Cup of Coffee.

Jouett Meekin (1867) Dummy Taylor (1875) John Titus (1876) Tom Yawkey (1903) Joe Foy (1943) Jack Billingham (1943) Tom Shopay (1945) Charley Walters (1947) Rick Lysander (1953) Alan Trammell (1958) Oscar Azocar (1975

Third baseman Joe Foy did not play for the Twins, but was originally signed by [...]