Twins hire unknown to lead team (1969)

[majesty95]

Monday, September 30, 1968

A man approached Minnesota Twins' owner Calvin Griffith in a hotel lobby in Baltimore back in August. The Twins had just lost back-to-back games to the Orioles and were in a stretch where they had lost 8-of-11.

"Mr. Griffith. Hello. I'm John Wacker. My friends call me Jack. Soon enough you will too." he began.

"Your team is in trouble." he continued, "You've got a good core but you're 1-2 seasons away from a decade of mediocrity. You want to get ahead of the curve. The Orioles are what you're chasing and Oakland is closing ground on both of you. You don't want to look back in 15 years after a decade of playing .500 ball and wonder what happened. I can help you.

I've developed a system for analyzing players and trends. You could liken it to what Wall Street uses but I've adapted it for baseball. I think we could turn this Twins team around. In 10 years you could be the talk of baseball with multiple world championships.

Someone is going to take this this route Mr. Griffith. The question you need to be asking is will the Twins be on the route with them or reading about them in the newspaper?"

Mr. Wacker handed Mr. Griffith a card with his room number on it and disappeared out the main entrance into the lobby.

The encounter caught Mr. Griffith off-guard. This certainly wasn't the first time he had been approached by a fan to offer suggestions or remind him of his failures. This was different though. He paused for moment, then stuffed the card in his jacket pocket and left to attend game three of the Twins' series with Baltimore.

The Twins fell behind 6-1 early. They appeared to be on their way to a sweep by the Orioles. The conversation in the lobby had been in Mr. Griffith's head since he left the hotel. He dug around in his jacket pocket and found the card he had been given. He called Mr. Wacker and told him to meet him in the lobby after the game and to pack for a trip to New York. Mr. Wacker had the length of the plane ride to New York to sell him on his idea.

[majesty95]

The Flight

Mr. Wacker had anticipated Mr. Griffith's call and was prepared to meet with him. During the flight, Mr. Wacker broke down the depth, or lack thereof, throughout the Twins' minor league system. He showed Mr. Griffith charts plotting degradation, by age, of players during the past 20 years. He projected out the Twins' current players and how it intersected with the team's lack of depth in their minor league system. He projected out the financial model major league baseball was moving to and how they were competing with pro football and how the landscape they had been competing under was changing.

Mr. Griffith was intrigued by what Mr. Wacker had to say. Mr. Griffith wasn't beholden to the establishment. He moved the Twins from Washington to D.C., in part, because he wanted to control concession profits, and angering congress along the way. Mr. Griffith got the deal he wanted in Minnesota and negotiated a deal to get an expansion team in Washington to replace the Senators after the move to the Midwest.

Mr. Wacker had gotten Mr. Griffith's attention. The season still had about a month-and-a-half left and Mr. Griffith wasn't ready to make any major moves yet. However, he told Mr. Wacker he would be in touch.

The Twins would go on to sweep the Yankees in New York but then lose nine of their next 14. Mr. Griffith called Mr. Wacker and asked him to fly, at his own expense, to Minnesota for a meeting. Mr. Wacker agreed.

Mr. Wacker went through his analysis again with the Twins' owner including any new trends he saw over the past three weeks. Mr. Griffith asked what kind of position Mr. Wacker was seeking.

"General Manager." he proclaimed.

Calvin Griffith had been the only GM the team had known since 1950. He continued that role even after inheriting the team from his uncle in 1955. Would he give up that role to this person he just met in the lobby of a hotel three weeks before?

The two agreed to talk again before the end of the season. Once again, the meeting with Mr. Wacker pre-empted another three-game winning streak by the Twins. However, that was quickly followed by a 3-8 stretch that led into mid-September. Mr. Griffith set up another meeting.

The Twins' GM for the past 19 seasons was willing to discuss a change.

Mr. Griffith agreed to turn over baseball operations to Mr. Wacker, allowing more time for Mr. Griffith to focus on the business aspect of the organization, including the burgeoning concessions business. Both men agreed that they would withhold the announcement until after the season. Then Mr. Wacker could take over and start to implement his data into the club's decision making.

"There's just one more thing." said Mr. Wacker, "I need complete control over who runs the team. I have to be able to hire the manager."

[majesty95]

Editor's note: Contrary to what you might have thought reading through the first two posts, Jack Wacker wasn't born about from my junior high maturity level. I actually really liked Jim Wacker a lot at the University of Minnesota and wanted to use that name as an ode to him. Jack was the first named that popped in my head. I decided on it even after realizing the pun. There will be a new character unveiling soon that will, however, knowingly play on the name while also being befitting of the time.

[majesty95]

The Takeover

The announcement that Calvin Griffith was stepping down as General Manager of the Twins and replacing himself with an unknown data analyst from the private sector was, expectedly, met with some resistance. The media, especially, was having a field day with questions. The announcement that this new unknown was also appointing his twin brother, Bum, as the team's new manager provided more fodder.

"How can a team be lead by a manager with no previous experience?" one reporter asked.

"More easily than you'd expect." Mr. Wacker answered. "The game of baseball is a statistical game. We laude over the numbers of our favorite stars yet, completely ignore the more important numbers behind the scenes. It's true that the most experienced managers in baseball can make gut decisions. Decisions based around feelings they get earned during years of experience playing and being a part of the game.

However, there is also a statistically correct action for many of the decisions managers make. While there are only a few managers with the experience derived from years in the game to make those decisions correctly, we believe, we can use mathematics to enhance the overall efficiency of those decisions. And, what we may lose in certain game situations that are best managed by "gut", we will make up for by correcting inefficiencies in the multitude of decisions that happen throughout a game and a season that are often clouded by "feelings" rather than data.

It's a new approach and you all have the right to be skeptical. We appreciate the Twins' organization and Mr. Griffith specifically, for being forward thinking in their approach to the game. All we ask is that you give us a chance to show you what we can do."

And so it was born. A new age of data analysis from the front office down to the field manager. The questions were tempered for the time being. But how will this all play out when the players actually have to be on the field abiding by these decisions in the spring?

[majesty95]

A New Beginning

The Twins spent the off-season talking to players and staff and preparing them for what was to come. Gone were the days of stolen bases and bunts. In was a philosophy built around seeing more pitches, getting on bases and driving in runs.

The Twins shifted their focus from giving away outs and base runners to pitch sequencing, weight conditioning, alignment shifts and mathematical efficiency. Mr. Wacker was very convincing. It also didn't hurt that his brother, Bum, was gifted at interpersonal communication. He didn't come across as "smart" or as "educated" as his brother but got along with people well. He was very relatable, to the players, to the fans, and even the media, on the occasion that his brother wasn't handling that for him.

The Twins hit spring training with mostly everyone on board with their new plan. Or, at least they were open minded to it.

There was some learning to be done early in the spring but the team was finding it's footing as Spring Training was coming to a close.

The regular season began and everything all seemed to come together for the Twins. They came out of the gate on fire winning their first nine games. Just over a month into the 1969 season, the Twins were sitting at 27-4 and had a six-game lead in the newly formed AL West.

Twinning was the term that fans and media used to describe the Twins' new approach. Data science was in it's infancy and the Twins were at the forefront of the movement, using advanced research to gain an edge over their contemporaries.

There was one thing, though, that science couldn't account for. At least not yet. And that was injuries.

[majesty95]

Battered and Bruised

Minnesota suffered quite a few injuries during the 1969 season. First it was stopper Ron Perranoski, who was injured twice in Spring Training, and missed five weeks of the season. Then it was young relievers Dick Woodson and Jose Paredes who were each lost for the season in early April. However, as May hit, the injuries continued to mount.

Starting pitcher Dean Chance was injured and missed two weeks right as the Twins' 27-4 start was coming to an end. Just as he was about to return, starting center fielder Cesar Tovar went down for two weeks. Then they lost starting pitcher Tom Hall for the season. Then star right fielder Tony Oliva missed five weeks. By the time the season ended, the Twins had lost more than 1,700 days due to injury.

Somehow, the Twins continued to battle and continued to win (though not at the same pace as early in the season). Their one time 8-game lead over the second place Athletics had dwindled to two games late in September.

The Twins had mostly remained injury free during the latter part of summer minus a few day-to-day injuries. And their stars were shining late in the season.

Cleanup hitter Harmon Killebrew had improved his walk totals from 70 to 126 and scored 56 more runs than the previous season. Young second baseman Rod Carew lead the league with 28 doubles and 201 hits while also hitting .342, all career highs. Starting first baseman Rich Reese had also come into his own, leading the league in bating average (.364) while also posting career highs in runs, doubles, home runs and walks entering mid-September.

Then he came out of a game with numbness in his arm. There was only three weeks left in the season and the Twins were in a bitter fight for the division with Oakland. They couldn't afford to lose their newest star.

The injury prognosis was a pinched nerve in his neck. The team tried to treat it but the injury lingered and Reese went on to miss the rest of the season. How would the Twins respond? Could they hold off the surging Athletics after losing the league's leading hitter? Could they avoid even more injuries as the season wound down?

[majormet]

This is a pretty interesting concept, are you using the 1969 Twins and strictly working with their roster moves or will Mike Schmidt end up on the Twins one day. Just seeing if you are doing a manager strategy change employing modern methods to the 1969 world, or you will be creating alternate Twins player history.

[majesty95]

Season's End

Bob Allison's skills had eroded from that of the three-time All-Star he was in the early 60's. He went from the starting left fielder of the Twins to a utility player, spending time in both left field and first base. However, once Reese was injured, he was thrust back into the starting lineup.

Allison couldn't capture the magic that had made him a 20 home run hitter just the season before. He also didn't take to the "new world" approach the Twins' were implementing. He didn't complain as much as he more or less continued to do things the way he had always done them.

Not surprisingly, Allison was one of the few Twins that didn't have career years during the '69 season. He did, however, provide veteran leadership in the lineup late in the season and played well at first base.

Allison and the Twins went into the final week of the season owning just a one game lead over the hard charging A's. That lead twice dwindled to one-half game in the final week. The Twins', though, were able to hold off the A's with a three-game sweep of the White Sox in the season's final series.

The Twins were back in the playoffs. The last time they were there, in 1965, they lost the World Series in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting beat in Game 7 by future Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. This time around, they would need to win the new American League Championship Series before earning a spot in the World Series.

Minnesota would have to face Baltimore in the ALCS. Baltimore was where Mr. Wacker and Mr. Griffith first met. They were also the team that had swept the Twins leading to the eventual call that would set this entire plan in motion. Oh, they also had won the World Series in 1966 and had won at least 90 games six times in the last seven years. The Orioles were stacked and many projected them to once again win the World Series. Could the Twins overcome the Baltimore juggernaut in the most important series of the season?

The Twins trotted out Jim Kaat, Dave Boswell and Steve Barber for their playoff rotation. Barber was acquired in late July with a couple of minor leaguers for 20-year-old shortstop Eric Soderholm. Barber went 9-2 down the stretch posting a 2.62 ERA. Kaat and Boswell both won 16 games posting 2.60 and 3.60 ERAs, respectively.

Kaat would get game one followed by Boswell and Barber. The result? A three-game sweep of the powerful Orioles and a date with the Pittsburg Pirates in the World Series.

The Pirates were lead by stars Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Al Oliver. They featured three 16-plus-game winners in Bob Moose, Steve Blass and Jim Shellenback. They finished the season with 91 wins, two less than the Twins.

Clemente and Oliver were great but Stargell and the rest of the Pirates lineup struggled against the Twins starters. The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the series before losing game three in Pittsburgh.

Jim Kaat was back on the mound for game four and the Twins took an early lead behind his efficient pitching. Ron Perranoski was able to close it out and the Twins were one game away from a World Series title. Game five saw Dave Boswell dazzle the Pirates hitters and, for the first time in Minnesota history, and for the first time for the franchise since 1924, the Twins were World Champions.

They had done it. Jack Wacker and his brother Bum had lifted a team who won only 79 games the season before and guided them to a world championship. Not with lengthy resumes in baseball, but with stats and data. It was a magical season. Not without its struggles to be sure, but the Twins lead the American League West nearly every day of the season and finished it with a 7-1 playoff record and wins over two teams loaded with local heroes and future Hall of Famers.

Now what? They've done it all in their first season. Could they continue that success or was the only way to go from here down?

[majesty95]

@majormet I started in 1969 and am doing a redo of what could have come for the Twins using modern philosophies. I'm not quite sure where Wacker came from yet and his back story (so stay tuned). But he was definitely ahead of his time. Calvin had kind of lead the team into mediocrity in the 70's and I wanted to find a way that maybe we could erase that while not waiting until 1987 to get a win. Also, the Twins being more in control over their revenue back then made them much more dangerous than they ultimately became in '87 and '91.

Oh, also, its entirely possible to see Mike Schmidt in Minnesota. Or even Graig Nettles. Who knows.

[majormet]

Originally Posted by majesty95

@majormet I started in 1969 and am doing a redo of what could have come for the Twins using modern philosophies. I'm not quite sure where Wacker came from yet and his back story (so stay tuned). But he was definitely ahead of his time. Calvin had kind of lead the team into mediocrity in the 70's and I wanted to find a way that maybe we could erase that while not waiting until 1987 to get a win. Also, the Twins being more in control over their revenue back then made them much more dangerous than they ultimately became in '87 and '91.

Oh, also, its entirely possible to see Mike Schmidt in Minnesota. Or even Graig Nettles. Who knows.

Twins are a fascinating franchise, the 1987 team was peculiar to say the least, I grew up with the Violas, and remember well when asking his younger brother why is he getting married in October, he said "like the Twins will be playing then". This was a year after the Mets 1986 juggernaut team won it... You could see the Twins bubbling under in the 80's with so much homegrown talent. Will be reading it... I think the Twins had Jim Nettles I think.

[majesty95]

Originally Posted by majormet

Twins are a fascinating franchise, the 1987 team was peculiar to say the least, I grew up with the Violas, and remember well when asking his younger brother why is he getting married in October, he said "like the Twins will be playing then". This was a year after the Mets 1986 juggernaut team won it... You could see the Twins bubbling under in the 80's with so much homegrown talent. Will be reading it... I think the Twins had Jim Nettles I think.

We actually had both Jim and Graig

Frank was one of my favorite players. I think I actually remember hearing the story about the October wedding in some look back on the '87 team haha

[majesty95]

Planning for the Future

The scent of champagne still lingered in the air as Mr. Wacker began to plan for the season ahead. The Twins had won the World Series in his first season as GM. Now he had to follow that up with a successful winning season. He also needed to rebuild a depleted farm system.

Mr. Wacker knew he had a small window with his current team. Four of the team's top starters (Jim Kaat, JIm Perry, Steve Barber and Dean Chance) were all going to be at least 29 by season's end. Their top two relievers (Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller) would be 34 and 31, respectively. On offense, Harmon Killebrew (33), Tony Oliva (31), Leo Cardenas (31) and Cesar Tovar (29) were all, statistically, either approaching or on the downside of their careers.

Teams have two options when building a farm system: trades and the draft. Mr. Wacker analyzed the team and felt like he had at least one more good year out of them, collectively. He did not want to tear down a championship club to build for the future even though, internally, he struggled with that decision. So he decided to be patient with his organizational rebuild and focus on this season's draft along with adding a few key pieces to the big league club.

The Twins searched through the league looking for potential value to add to their club. They really wanted a defensive outfielder with speed to use in late game situations. Especially with their plan to move All-Star first baseman Rich Reese to left field. That would allow the Twins to move Killebrew to first base and make room for 25-year-old rookie Graig Nettles at third.

They approached numerous teams about acquiring a player or two here and there. However, the realization struck that they just did not have enough assets in the minor league system that they were willing to move. So, instead, they shifted their focus to the Rule 5 Draft.

The Rule 5 draft allows teams to draft any player who has spent at least three years in pro ball and who was not currently on a team's 40-man roster. Mr. Wacker and his team knew the quality of talent that could help at the Major League level would be slim. Their hope was to grab a player or two that had not yet played in the major leagues but was maybe was undervalued by their current organization.

The Twins, fresh off of their World Series win, would have the 23rd pick in the draft. Fortunately, not many teams were looking to the Rule 5 draft to help them and a pitcher from the Kansas City organization was there in the first round. Al Fitzmorris had spent the 1969 season at AAA and posted a 1.51 ERA and 22 saves. He had been a starter prior to that and the Twins felt he could provide relief help and maybe an emergency starter option. So Mr. Wacker made him his first official Rule 5 draft selection.

Then they waited for their pick in round two. Mr. Wacker liked a young third baseman in the Dodgers' organization named Bill Russell. Russell had spent the '69 season between A ball and AA for the Dodgers. He hit .406 in 64 at bats in Single A but struggled at AA hitting only .256. Mr. Wacker knew he probably wasn't ready for Major League Baseball but he thought, if he was still there, he would take a shot on him. Sure enough, Russell was still there when the Twins selected in the second round and they claimed him.

Neither Fitzmorris nor Russell were likely to make a huge impact for the Twins this season. However, the Twins found trading to be difficult. They had just won the World Series and teams weren't willing to give up anything they wanted without asking for a mountain in return. So Mr. Wacker and the Twins waited.

On the eve of Opening Day, with teams trying to cut down their roster and make room for players they liked in Spring Training, Mr. Wacker found an opening. Not surprisingly, it was with the two organizations they had found talent from in the Rule 5 Draft.

In his first trade as Minnesota Twins GM, Mr. Wacker sent 36-year-old catcher John Roseboro to Kansas City for 25-year-old pitcher Don O'Reilly. O'Reilly had gone 6-6 with a 2.83 ERA at AAA for the Royals before getting a cup of coffee in the big leagues at the end of the season. His numbers were good in the minors and Roseboro no longer had a place on the team with the emergence of George Mitterwald and Rick Dempsey at catcher.

Later on that day, Mr. Wacker, still in search of a utility outfielder, struck a deal with the Dodgers to acquire 23-year-old outfielder Guy Rose for promising minor league first baseman Jim Obradovich. Rose had only played two games at the big league level but showed good patience at the plate in his minor league career, was a good defensive center fielder and had great speed. Rose didn't have the experience Mr. Wacker was hoping for but he did have the skills and he hoped that would translate.

So, here they were, six months after winning their first World Series in Minnesota, ready to begin season two. Their only acquisitions were a handful of minor league guys that they hoped could contribute. But, they had a veteran laden team and every significant piece of the championship winning club returning. Could the Twins extract another magical season from their core of aging stars?

[majesty95]

The Long Road

The Twins hoped they could repeat their success of the previous season but knew they would need a lot of things to go right. Their first obstacle came late in Spring Training. 1969 AL batting champ Rich Reese collided with Baltimore second baseman Davey Johnson late in the final week of the spring and broke his index finger on his throwing hand. He was expected to miss 5-6 weeks but ended up missing almost eight weeks. In his first game back, he sprained his thumb and went down for another six weeks.

Tony Oliva, showing his age, spent two stints on the disabled list, missing over a month of the season. The start was auspicious for the Twins early on they could not find the magic they had the previous season. After 31 games, the Twins were a modest 16-15 but 11 games behind their pace of their championship winning season. Things weren't great but they were still manageable.

In the middle of May, with the team hovering around .500, Mr. Wacker decided to try and shake things up. First, he traded 23-year-old second baseman Danny Thompson to the Mets for 24-year-old closing prospect Gerald Hebert. Thompson was a key utility infielder for the Twins in '69 but had become disgruntled by his lack of play, especially while the Twins were barely floating above mediocrity.

Then, later the same day, Mr. Wacker sent 22-year-old right hander Joe Burrow to the Braves for 36-year-old reliever Ken Johnson. The Twins had just lost starter Dave Boswell to a shoulder injury, and he was expected to miss several months. They hoped Johnson could eat some of those innings while also providing some veteran leadership to the club.

The trades paid dividends right away as the Twins went on a 10-4 run. The hot streak was interrupted though when starter Tom Hall went down for a month with an elbow strain. The Twins were now down two of their five starting pitchers and their star left fielder.

Minnesota continued to play respectable ball but were still hovering around .500 as June ended. Then July hit and things started to click again. The Twins started the month losing four of their first five. However, they then put together winning streaks of four, two, five and five games and closed the month with a 17-11 record. For the season, they were 55-46 and sat just one-half game behind the division leading Royals.

The trade deadline had arrived, and it was time for Mr. Wacker to decide if he was going to make any moves to help the team better contend late in the season. The deadline is a challenging time for general managers. There is pressure to do something to help your team win. But you also must weigh the risks of upsetting the team chemistry and the deal backfiring. On the other hand, if you stand pat and do not make a move and your team does not make the playoffs, you will be criticized for your inaction.

Mr. Wacker looked at his team and around the league. The Royals had made a couple of moves to bolster their pitching staff bringing in veteran relievers Wilbur Wood and Mike McCormick along with up-and-coming starter Steve Stone. Mr. Wacker searched his team, searched the league, and just could not find anything he thought would improve his team. The Twins had gone 16-7 in their last 23 games and finally seemed to be hitting their stride. He decided it was in the team's best interest to not upset their balance and hope they could continue their ascent in the division.

The Twins went 9-7 to open the month of August. They were still just two games back of the Royals. Then the injury bug bit. First, it was infielder Bill Russell with an ankle injury followed a week later by staff ace Jim Kaat with a hamstring injury. The Twins remained respectable but finished 21-23 down the stretch and ended the season in third place, seven games behind the division winning Royals and four games behind second place Oakland.

The season did not go how the Twins had hoped. There was going to be no repeat. The critics were back in force and many started to wonder if the '69 season was just a flash in the pan for the outsiders that thought they could change baseball.

[majesty95]

1970 Season Recap

[majesty95]

I took a little break from this bc I got frustrated at trying to improve without free agency. I think I had trading too hard and I was kinda stuck. Wasnt going to be a good story. So I have mediocre talent and cant trade anything. Lol. So hard to find a reasonable trade setting in this game.