Dugout Wizards - Saving the Twins

[DD Martin]

The call to me came from Mr. Griffith (Twins owner Calvin Griffith) right after the just completed 1979 regular season. The Twins who in 1978 won the AL West and advanced to the World Series (losing a 7 game series to the Giants) had inexplicably fallen off the map in 1979 plummeting 26 games in the win/loss column to a record of 76-86 and finishing in 6th in the AL West, only ahead of the 53 win Seattle Mariners. Mr Griffith didn't go into details about the now former GM other than stating "We need more attention to detail." We set up a several meetingsduring the playoffs and after the World Series was completed, he offered me the job. While he only offered a 2 year commitment he was clear that we would address that quickly if he felt that I was moving the club back in the right direction. We shook hands and I moved into the Twins offices.

My first order of business was assessing the Major League team and the 40 man roster. We had free agent decisions to make, arbitration cases to discuss and we needed to see just what exactly happened with the in one short year to see why this team fall flat on its face.

Arbitration -
First off we decided to not offer arbitration to the following players and let them become free agents. 3B Dave Cripe (29) who did not play on the big league team in 79 was released. RF Stephen Cooley (33) played mostly at AAA but did manage 24 AB's with the big league club was also non-tendered. Finally RHP Guadalupe Hernandez (30), who is a toxic poison in the clubhouse had a decent year, but I will not tolerate that kind of presence on this team, therefore he was non-tendered as well.

We went to arbitration with the following players and here are there 1980 salaries.

CF Leron Lee (32) $51,450 256/326/698 1-11
CL Chuck Seelbach (32) $57,500 4-10 18 saves 4.58
RF Dave Stegman (26) $29,000 253/398/807 12-65
RP John French (34) $29,000 4-5 5.51
SP Clarence Burgy (27) $32,000 9-14 5.62
RP Jorge Carty (22) $25,000 3-8 4 saves 8.90

Finally we addressed several players contracts to avoid arbitration.

SP Lamar Hoyt (25) signed 3yr-$235,600 extension 14-16 4.15
SP Michael McFalls (31) signed a 3yr-$142,600 16-11 4.05
SP Henry Moore (28) signed a 3 yr-$124,600 11-5 4.80
RF Barry Bonnell (26) signed a 3yr-$118,500 235/313/730 10-38

And finally we signed superstar 3B Chet Lemon (25) to a 3 year contract worth $480,400. Lemon is a 2 time AL all-star and has won the Silver Slugger in 1978 and 1979. Lemon hit 336/423/1050 38-143 54 doubles and 14 SB's. This was a huge signing for us to keep Chet in the fold through the 1982 season.

The one player that we would have loved to sign but we were not able to come to a contract agreement with, was OF Sixto Lezcano. We tried to offer a 3 yr contract worth more than $250,000 per year, but unfortunately his agent said he was not going to pass up free agency and that we could discuss a long term deal with him at that time. (Note - Toronto signed Sixto to a 4 yr deal worth $2.475 million with a 1983 player option of $750,000. Since Lezcano was a Type A free agent, we will receive a supplemental pick and Toronto's 2nd round pick since their 1st round pick was protected.


ooc: This story is about the Minnesota Twins (circa 1980) in the Dugout Wizards online simulation. I took over the Twins as the new GM after the 1979 World Series.

[DD Martin]

Free Agency and the Winter Meetings

I had some high hopes and ambitions for the Hot Stove League. Those were quickly dosed as with our budget of $2.64 million we were somewhat limited on salaries that we could offer. I had some discussions with Mr. Griffith about giving some raise but he was so disappointed in the 79 season that he said no. Seeing that it was not going to prove fruitful to continue discussing it further we set off to do what we could with what we had.

I am a big believer in developing our own players, so I mandated 2 things. 1.) We would not enter discussions with any Type A free agents this year. The cost would likely in most cases be too high and we would lose a top draft pick. 2.) We invested in our minor league system. Something that my processor seemed to ignore (more on that later).

We have a good young core of players coming up in our system and I decided that under no circumstances were we going to trade any of those players as they are our future.

Our top minor league players are as follows
1.) RF Harold Baines (21) #22nd prospect in MLB
2.) RP Alejandro Pena (20) #34th prospect
3.) LF Mel Hall (19) #37 prospect
4.) SP Floyd Bannister (24) #84 prospect
5.) SP Dave Stieb (22) #93 prospect
6.) 1B George Bjorkman (23) #105 prospect
7.) C Bob E Johnson (23) #143 prospect
8.) SP Jim Gott (20) #166 prospect
9.) SP David Mendoza (25) #173 prospect
10.) SP Mike C Jones (20) #180 prospect
11.) LF Jim Tracy (24) #182 prospect

Others to watch
SP Pete Filson (21)
C Dave Hogg (23) * recent minor league signing
SP David Grier (21)
C Kurt Kingsolver (21)
SS Paul Runge (21)
SP Paul Mirabella (26)
1B Harry Spillman (25)
SP Tony Torres (20)
3B Jose Castro (21)

We will watch our minor leaguers very closely this season and report monthly.

Trades

We had some conversations in regards to player trades as we had some areas to explore, but we were not able to strike any meaningful trade discussions without discussing our top 7-8 players. We again decided to hold tight and move forward with the young core and try and find some bargains to plug the holes this season.

Free Agency

We were in protracted discussions with the agents of 1B Andre Thornton and C Charlie Moore. These were two areas that we felt very strongly about trying to improve for next season. While very competitive for those players we were unable to acquire either player. 1B Andre Thornton (30) a 4 yr deal worth over $890,000. We offered a 4 yr deal worth $800,000. C Charlie Moore (26) was even more frustrating as we made a solid 2 year deal worth more than double what his initial asking price was, but his agent crafted a 3 yr to a deal with an annual value of $10k less than our offer. Charlie because of his age was really one we wanted to get. We really felt getting both Moore and Thornton would have moved our offense where we needed to go for 1980.

We were also involved in discussions with

• SSToby Harrah (2yr $150,000 total) signed with Atlanta.
• SS Juan Benequiz choose to sign with Philadelphia a 2 yr deal worth $65,000 per season.
• C Tim Blackwell was offered a minor league deal with a 30 day MLB window worth $40,000 but he signed for an MLB contract with KC at $38,000.
• RP Craig Fellows was really our #3 target as we felt we needed to shore up our bullpen. His price skyrocketed along with that of fellow RP Rawley Eastwick (also on our list). Fellows signed a 3 year at $141,000 per season. Eastwick ended up being the bargain of the two signing a 3 year $100,000 per year deal with the Giants.

So as you can see we struggled with signing our top targets. There were a lot of people we passed on including:

• 1B Steve Garvey - NY Yankees signed 4 yr $320,800 per season
• 2B/SS Rick Burleson - signed Cleveland 3 year $255,000 per season
• RF George Foster - signed Toronto 4yr $297,500 per season
• C Gene Tenace (we did pursue discussions) Boston 2yr $102,500 per season
• 1B John Mayberry - Signed NY Mets 2 years $170,000
• SP Ken Holtzman - Signed with NY Yankees 3 years $771,200

Finally who did we actually sign?

RF Larry Hisle (32) - Larry hit two areas where we were seriously looking for to improve. First his bat as he can be a force in the middle or our lineup and play either a corner OF spot or DH. Secondly he is extremely popular here in the great state of Minnesota and we needed that boost after losing Sixto. Last year Larry hit 235/332/709 17-71 RBI's in 1979 and 292/306/783 with 25-103 in 78. We expect a return to the 78 form. 2 yr $78,500

SS Ron Washington (27) - We needed help at SS as our players there last season hit below 200 (I don't think the Mendoza line was a thing back in 1979). Ron is a steady influence in the clubhouse and can play a good SS and fill in at several other positions and in a pinch can play catcher. Ron's bat cooled off drastically in 1979. He hit 287 for the Reds in 78 but then fell to 219 in a part time role in 79. 1 yr $35,000

1B/3B Enos Cabell (30) - Enos will be a good #2 hitter for us as he has good contact while not being a big power hitter associated with those positions. What he does do well is hit and get on base as he has hit over 330 the last 2 seasons and big hitters need base runners on in front of them to be effective. 1yr $45,000

1B/LF Joe Rudi - More power than Enos but less on the on base front. Joe will be player at both 1st base or in the corner OF. 1yr $45,000

We signed the following players to minor league deals with invites to spring training.

C Ted Sizemore - minor league contract with 30 day option $40,000
C Charles Johnson - Minor league contract with 30 day option $40,000
RP Robert Lain - Minor league contract with 30 day option $37,000
RP David Paynter - Minor league contract with 30 day option $37,000
C Greg Goossen - Minor league contract with 30 day option $47,000
OF Al Bumbry - Minor League contract with 30 day option $48,000
C Steve Swisher - minor league deal

We are likely done with our off-season. We will be looking closely at the waiver wire as we turn to spring training and the start of the season.

[DD Martin]

While we were knee deep in the free agent market during the off-season we were also going through the more than 350 players in our organization. We had 200 players assigned to our rookie league team. One of the biggest things we had to do was weed out some of those players.

One area that we had an over abundance of was 1-pitch (primarily fastball) pitchers. Over the course of the off-season we developed an internal minor league pitching instructor that was primarily reviewing these pitchers, reaching out to them to see if we could teach them another pitch and see if there was any benefit to have them continue in our organization.

We have released over 100 relief pitchers so far up to date. There are about 15 more left in the organization that at least are at an higher level or bring some intangible to the table.

We are working very hard to continue to upgrade the talent level in the organization. While I am very much invested in young players in many roles in the minors, there are roles for seasoned veteran players. I believe very strongly in putting the most competitive team we can in the minors while also training and developing our future players.

As we go forward this organization which was largely ignored in the last year or so, will spend a lot of time getting into the character of the players that is playing for it. That doesn't mean that there will all saints playing in the Twins organization. But unless you are an elite player, you better be 1.) Hard working, 2.) Motivated and 3.) not a disruptive force.

Next - Meeting the Management Team and Front Office

[DD Martin]

Meeting the team management and coaches

One of the first things that I did upon getting this job was to fill in the blanks of the field staff. We had many positions in our minor league system that were open. We are not going to go over all of those here but we will look at the front office and the Major League staff.

Manager - Johnny Pesky (60) Rep-Great $129,500 through 1981
With our budget I will be honest that I was concerned that almost 5% of our total budget was assigned our manager. The fact that he took over in 79 and saw a 26 game fall in games won was not in his favor either. There were rumors that I even floated the idea of "trading our manager" at the winter meetings, but of course those rumors were not true. In meeting with Johnny I realized that all of this mess was not his fault since he had little support from the front office. I told Johnny that he was our manager and that barring a total collapse he would remain our manager. He has my full support. He has decent relationships with players but his temperament is normal and his style is conventional. Will he be manager in 1982? That is a question that remains to be seen.

Bench Coach - Ed Fitzgerald has bridged the two different managers and their staffs. He was one of the first people that I resigned in an effort to stabilize the staff since we had turnover in our hitting coach. Ed could be a manager, he has the ability and if things don't work out he will be considered.

Pitching Coach - Bob Smith has 3 years left on his contract. His focus is neutral and while we are not a match there philosophically, he is a good coach. Depending on how the season goes and where our team moves in the future in regards to pitching will determine how long he will be with us. Our pitching staff did regress last season from a 4.33 ERA to a 4.94 ERA. That needs to improve going forward.

Hitting Coach - We made a change here because I strongly believe in a hitting coach that promotes power hitting. This team has more power in its minor league system and it is being built with a new ballpark coming that will likely be a more homer friendly stadium. With that we signed Willie Acosta. He is the former hitting coach of the Expos and we are happy to have him with us. I was very involved with Johnny in this hire as he fits in with the vision that I see going with this team. He signed a 2 year deal.

Trainer - We signed a new team trainer in Dr. David Don. While he hasn't had experience with any pro sports teams, he was on the coach staff at the University of Minnesota. His focus is Excellent in both healing arms and legs and his methods are legendary with backs. He is also excellent in preventing arm injuries. Good in preventing leg injuries and average in healing/prevent "Other" and also at back injuries. His overall rating is great and he is a huge upgrade for us.

Next up - Spring Training

ooc - I have posted a lot tonight since I was behind on my plan to start this. We are in spring training now and will finish it so I will post on that next and the 25 man opening day roster.

[DD Martin]

As we get ready to head down to Orlando Florida for spring training 1980 we will review the team and any position battles that are looming for the new season. The spring training home is Tinker Field which was built in 1914 and has been the Twins (and before them the old Senators) spring home since 1936. The ballpark seats just over 5000 fans and has dimensions of 340 to left, 425 to center and a cozy 320 to right.

ooc - A little history here, the Twins would call Tinker Field home until 1990. For the 91 season they moved into their new spring home of Hammond Stadium in South Fort Myers where they continue to hold spring training still today.

I have neglected to mention my meeting with Mr. Griffith before the Winter Meetings in December. When we met, he gave me a list of things that he would like to see accomplished.

Mr. Griffith's desires

• He would like to see the team finish with a winning record. (1980 season)
• He would like to see the team upgrade 1st base, which is why I was so hot after Andre Thornton. I don't believe we accomplished this goal with the signing of Enos Cabell and Joe Rudi (1980).
• He wanted me to sign a nationally popular player. (between now and 1983). While we had some time to do this, we did look to try and fill this request and fill some spots on the team. We were aggressive in the pursuit of Craig Fellows, marginally in on Rawley Eastwick, and were in active trade for Leroy Stanton. We did sign Larry Hisle who is "popular" but not as high up on the list as some of the others. We will continue to work on this.
• He would like to see an increase in attendance (so would I which is why we pursued some popular players as well) to 19,800 per game by 1984. I don't believe we will achieve that currently this season but he has given us a fairly long window to achieve this goal. Moving into the new ballpark in 1982 should certainly help and bringing up some of the young kids we have by then should also spark some excitement.
• Lastly, he would like to see us make the playoffs by the 1982 season (so would I). So that seems like a reasonable goal.

Mr Griffith is certainly characterized by "controlling" financial personality. I call it cheap, but he is the boss. He likes to get involved (read as interfering) to make sure things are running smoothly (I wonder where he was last season when the team seemed to be on autopilot and crashing). Besides interfering and controlling, he is very lenient. So the old boy is kind of a mixed bag, but I enjoyed our meetings so far....

We invited 57 players to our Major League Camp with a breakdown of 23 pitchers and 34 position players. The pitching numbers are probably a little low, but that shows the lack of quality depth in our organization of pitchers who have more than 1 pitch. Improving our pitcher depth with players that could feasibly have a shot at The Show is going to be a priority in the draft and any possible waiver transactions. The 34 position players are inflated by the 7 catchers that we have reporting to camp in what we have deemed a very "open" competition.

Next - Spring Training the results and the Opening Day Roster.

Extra - News of the times - February 1980
Something I figured I'd thrown in here is a real world news events of the time. We will start with February 1980.

• For soap opera fans the series Love for Life ends a 28 year run on CBS(Feb 1, 1980)
• The music group Blondie releases the hit single "Call Me" which will go onto to become Billboard Magazines #1 song for 1980.
• Mexican boxer Salvador Sánchez dethrones Danny “Little Red” Lopez as WBC world featherweight champion with a 13th-round TKO in Phoenix, AZ; Lopez champion since November 1976, 8th defense (Feb 2nd)
• On February 4th, Studio 54 holds its grand closing party on its last night in business.
• On February 13th XIII Winter Olympic Games open in Lake Placid, New York.
• Bad traffic day in France as on February 15th has a continuous traffic jam that extends 176 km north of Lyons, France
• February 16th American speed skater Eric Heiden wins 5,000m in Olympic record 7:02.29; second of record 5 gold medal sweep of events at Lake Placid
• Bon Scott [Ronald Belford Scott], Australian rock musician (lead singer and lyricist of AC/DC), dies at 33 on February 19th
• 22nd Daytona 500: Buddy Baker wins ahead of Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnett (February 17th)
• Feb 22 The "Miracle on Ice" as Al Michaels called it ("Do you believe in Miracles") as the USA hockey team defeated the mighty Soviet Union 4-3. The US team completes the Gold Medal quest we are tight victory over Finland several days later.
• Feb 23 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
• Feb 23 Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes 37-mil-gallon spillage
• Feb 27th Israel & Egypt exchange ambassadors
• Average price for a gallon of gas (US) in 1980 $1.19 (2018 equivalent $3.82)

[DD Martin]

Spring Training - 1980 Part 2 - The Results

To say the on field performance of the Twins left little to be desired would probably be an understatement. We finished the spring with a less than spectacular record of 11-19 which was equaled by the Seattle Mariners. Only the Brewers (9-21), Astros (8-22) and Cardinals (7-23) have worse records. I probably should have spent more time at Disneyworld than at the ballpark as it wasn't pleasant.

Ok there were a few bright spots to the spring

• 2B Mark Naehring hit 439/548/1123 2-16 in 83 PA's obviously solidifying that the 2nd base job was his. I hadn't brought any real competition in for him as middle infield is an organizational weakness, so we were hoping that he did well.
• SS Ron Washington surprised a little with the bat and hit 298. He will start the season at SS winning the "battle" with Tim Johnson who hit 244.
• The kids group of Harold Baines (414), Dave Henderson (306) Mel Hall (242) and even Barry Bonnell (344) all had decent to outstanding springs. Their reward in a surprising move at least with Hendu and Bonnell, was they were all sent to the minors as part of my master plan. With Hendu playing CF I needed to get the others proficient defensively at the corner spots and someone at 1B.
• The battle for the catching spot yielded somewhat surprising results and an even more surprising decision. Manager Pesky seems to be thinking that journeyman Ted Sizemore (34) had nice spring with a 293 average and would be his starter. I was more in favor of Cliff Johnson (33) who hit 370 and might be a slightly better defender. Last year's starter Pete Varney didn't get much of an opportunity. Young but overmatched C/1B George Bjorkman needs more seasoning in AAA. Steve Swisher, Mike Bordner and Greg Goossen were optioned to the minors as well. The battle for the 2 spots since I had a little flexibility went down to giving Sizemore the job, and having already on the 40 man roster Denny Haines getting the backup job. That meant sending (at least to start the year) Cliff Johnson to AAA Toledo. We have 30 days on whether we will guarantee his 1980 MLB salary. My guess is he will get called up shortly after the start of the season.
• All-Star 3B Chet Lemon had a steady spring hitting 292 with 3 HR's and 17 RBI's (2nd to Bonnell's 19).

Unfortunately the pitching side of the equation was a little more depressing. Finding 11 players to fill out the pitching staff was not going to be easy. Without getting into specifics on individual performances the team stats are as follows for the spring.

11-19 3 saves 6.96 ERA 11.25 h/9 5.26 bb/9 4.84 k/9 0.96 HR/9 WHIP 1.8346

Scary numbers even for spring training. We are going to have our work cut out for us here with this staff.

I sat down with Pitching Coach Bob Smith and was pretty blunt about the disastrous performance that had unfolded on the field. It was completely unacceptable to be that bad. I let him know in no uncertain terms that I needed to see fast improvement once we left Florida and that I would be watching closely.

So who made the team....
Next - The 25 man opening day roster

[DD Martin]

Minnesota Twins 1980 25 man Opening Day Roster

Starting Pitchers (last season then career) How acquired Contract
SP Lamar Hoyt R 25 14-16 4.15 43-40 4.37 1973 1st Rd #7 Signed 3 year Ext $65,200
SP Henry Moore L 28 11-5 4.80 50-31 4.01 1968 15th Rd #320 Signed 3 year Ext $36,100
SP Michael McFalls R 31 16-11 4.05 42-37 4.85 1966 33rd Rd #657 Signed 3 year Ext $34,200
SP Ed Whitson R 24 4-5 5.03 6-6 5.26 1974 1st Rd #10 $19,000
SP Daniel Hatchell R 31 1-0-1 6.35 26-23-3 5.14 Minor league FA $40,000

Starting Pitchers Summary
The top 3 starters are locked into 3 year deals. Hoyt needs to return to form for the Twins to be competitive and the others need to step up their game. McFalls had a nice season a year ago so if he can step into the #3 role that would leave Whitson and Moore at the #4-#5. Daniel Hatchell was a minor league signing who pitched with Boston last year and fell into the roster spot when SP Clarence Burgy ended up on the shelf for most of spring training. He will return hopefully 3 weeks into the season and then go to Toledo on a rehab assignment. Hopefully by mid-late May he will be up with the Twins. Ed Whitson returned from a season ending injury and didn’t get a full spring training under his belt. We have opted to let him work it out with the big club to start the year.

There is help on the way in future seasons with youngsters Floyd Bannister, David Stieb, Jim Gott and maybe Paul Mirabella down on the farm.

The Bullpen
CL Chuck Seelbach R 32 4-10-18 4.58 30-46-63 4.91 1969 Rd 2nd #53 $57,500 FA81
SU Jorge Carty R 22 3-8-4 8.90 11-18-12 6.01 Minor league FA 1975 $25,000 Arb Elig
SU Gilberto Rivera R 29 10-0-4 2.85 AAA 14-9-9 3.84 Waiver claim 3/18/80 LAD $19,000
MR Jim Vosk R 27 13-11 5.51 AA rookie Waiver claim 2/13/80 SF $19,000
LR John French L 34 4-5-0 5.51 6-8-0 4.86 Minor League FA signed by Twins 1970 $29,000
LR Doug Heinold R 25 2-6-0 7.71 4-8-0 8.49 1973 Rd 3rd #55 $19,000

Bullpen Summary
This is definitely the weakest part of the team and there is not a lot of quality help in the farm system. Seelbach will be the closer but is a free agent at the end of the season. Securing more relief options through, waivers, draft and even trade are going to be a priority for the Twins in the coming months. The Twins have signed Luis Fiore to a minor league deal and also Vaughn Kovach and Robert Lain as well. So there are a few options that might be available to them to try. These signings are all minor league deals though so they would have to be placed on the 40 man roster. What little budget space we have will likely be used to try and acquire better arms in the pen.

Position Players
Catcher
Ted Sizemore R 34 288/384/808 2-20 (Tor) 262/3515/684 16-369 Minor Lg FA 2/17/80 $40,000
Denny Haines L 28 188/298/592 10-58 219/319/641 20-134 1976 9th Rd #200

Summary
Sizemore “won” the catching battle in spring training when there were 7 total catchers in camp. While Cliff Johnson had a better spring, Manager Pesky wanted to go with Sizemore as the starter. That meant either bringing Johnson, another righty and $40,000 up as well or sending to the AAA to start the year and see where things go. Since we were in the budget crunch and desperate for relief help, we elected to save the money and bring Haines back as a lefty option. Sizemore will likely get the bulk of the opportunities. Whether Johnson comes up to the big league club or elects FA will be a decision that comes in 30 days. If we need more help we already have C/!B George Bjorkman on the 40 man roster who is at AAA Toledo working out at 1B and working on gaining confidence on his swing after a rough 1979 with the big club.

Infielders
1B Enos Cabell 30 R 333/360/760 (Tor/Pit) 314/345/771 51-404 FA signing 2/4/80 $45,000 FA81
2B Mark Naehring 24 R 275/383/803 15-71 281/372/795 31-157 1977 3rd Rd #89 $19,000 Poss Arb 81
SS Ron Washington 27 R 219/306/688 2-18 280/323/772 31-230 FA signing 12/13/79 $35,000
3B Chet Lemon 25 R 336/423/1050 38-143 291/376/908 157-610 Signed 3 yr ext $116,800
1B Joe Rudi 33 R 235/279/616 1-6 257/307/709 112-519 FA signing 2/5/80 $45,000
1B Carlos SaGredo 26 R 224/333/695 9-49 223/332/694 9-49 1973 13th Rd #295 $19,000
SS Tim Johnson 30 L 188/219/481 0-4 188/225/471 1-23 Minor lg FA 3/10/75 $19,000

Infield Summary
Well there is Superstar Chet Lemon who is signed to a nice new 3 year extension and is the face of the franchise. We wanted to secure him so that when we bring up the younger kids in 81 and 82 that he was here at the new ballpark. Then we will hope that we can further extend him. 1B/3B Enos Cabell while not a typical power hitter for a corner infielder is a professional hitter and should fill in nicely in the #2 slot in the order. He is also a player that could be a trade candidate at the deadline for a contending team that might need an experience hitter that isn’t too costly. The surprise of the group is unheralded 2B Mark Naehring who has had 2 very nice seasons in 1978/79 and we hope he continues to build on that. If he does it is one less position to worry about in the near future as we do not have much middle infield quality in the minors. SS Ron Washington was brought in as a free agent after we missed on several other targets and I felt we really needed to improve over the combo of Anderson and Bruno last season. Anderson remains because he is inexpensive and a solid glove. Joe Rudi was brought in as a 1B/DH/LF bench bat to help if we move any players as the season goes on. He struggled last year but has some power and ability. Finally, Carlos SaGredo is our team captain. While not a great player he is the glue that holds the clubhouse together and he should have been paid hazard pay last season. He will remain with the team until such time as we find another Captain.

Outfield/DH
LF Mickey Rivers 31 L 292/333/720 5-46 309/364/785 53-383 FA signing 11/29/79 $45,000 FA81
CF Leron Lee 32 L 256/326/698 1-11 242/283/659 46-277 Waiver claim (Cin) 4/6/75 $51,450 FA81
RF Larry Hisle 32 R 235/332/709 17-71 273/340/797 337-1104 FA signing 12/13/79 $72,000 thru 81
DH/LF Dave Stegman 26 R 253/398/907 12-65 254/381/794 41-211 1976 2nd Rd #32 $29,000
OF Arturo Defreites 26 R 315/390/1075 7-22 249/298/724 30-145 Waiver claim LAD 3/18/80 $24,000

Outfield Summary
CF Lee is a FA at the end of the season and we are hoping he will have Type B attached to him if he has a good season. Defreites though could overtake him with his power and can play all 3 OF spots. RF Larry Hisle was our big splash FA as he is popular with the Twin fans and we lost out on several others more popular players. He is signed to a 2 yr deal which should allow all the time we need for our quartet of young OF (Harold Baines, Barry Bonnell, Mel Hall, and Dave Henderson) time to get ready. All are 22 or younger except Bonnell who is going down to AAA after a rough injury and hitting season last year and to hopefully learn 1B. Telling Barry he was going down for those reasons was tough as he had a solid spring. Honestly, I am trying to control his FA clock a bit, but didn’t mention that to him. DH Dave Stegman is a solid bat and could be an available player at the trade deadline to a contending team that could you as young, inexpensive bat off the bench.

Season Outlook –
Smith and Street has predicted that the Twins finish at 71-91 and in 6th place in the AL West over the Mariners. That unfortunately sounds about right for this team barring some major moves or improvements in the pitching staff. While it might not please Mr. Griffith, we are a team that is rebuilding and this year is being spent to give our young players another year of season. The belief here is that 1981 and especially 1982 with the youngsters we have coming up that we will be a very competitive team in the AL West.

[Argonaut]

I guess you just missed out on having Rod Carew on your team? Man, that guy is a full-fledged monster in OOTP. I am at 1979 in my current dynasty too (started in 1972), and also just signed Chet Lemon. But in my game he's one of the best centerfielders in all of MLB. I wonder why he's listed as a 3B for you.. maybe check if he can train up nicely in CF?

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by Argonaut

I guess you just missed out on having Rod Carew on your team? Man, that guy is a full-fledged monster in OOTP. I am at 1979 in my current dynasty too (started in 1972), and also just signed Chet Lemon. But in my game he's one of the best centerfielders in all of MLB. I wonder why he's listed as a 3B for you.. maybe check if he can train up nicely in CF?

When I took over the team (Dugout Wizards is a well run online leaguethat has played at least 10+ seasons before I jumped in with the Twins. It uses the regular players but they have been drafted and signed in the ensuing seasons all over the place) at the end of the 79 season. Lemon had been drafted by the Twins and had a solid run at 3B. At least in this world his current defense in the OF is not as good as his 3B defense. With CF Dave Henderson (age 22), RF Harold Baines (21) and LF Mel Hall (20) all progressing rapidly in the minors and Barry Bonnell who we might try and convert to 1B, we are in pretty good shape. Bonnell was injured in 79 so his stats really suffered but I’m hoping that he is ok. At worst he is a decent 4th OF.

Rod Carew was one of my favorite players back in the day. The Twins AAA minor league team was in my hometown of Tacoma and I can remember the Twins over that period (1972-77) at least the last 4 years (guess I’m showing my age). I often listened on the radio to the games, went to games with my dad and friends. My mom taught first grade and was the teacher to future manager Tom Kelly’s son (I believe it was a son) during his time in Tacoma.

So I have a soft spot for the Twins even though they are division rivals of the Mariners. Hopefully I can guide this version to the playoffs. I’ll have to look and see where Carew is in our league. I would love to have Rod at 2B for this team, just like I’d love to have Hrbek in the system.

Edit - I just looked and Carew is playing for the Tigers

[DD Martin]

1980 Minnesota Twins Season starts now!

Twins open season on the road for 12 games

The scheduling gods were not showing us any favors after being in Florida for 6 weeks we start the season on the road for 12 straight games. We go to the defending AL West, AL Champ, World Series champion Oakland for 4 games. Then head south to Anaheim against the California Angels for 3 games before jumping back up I-5 to land in Seattle for 5 games. The interesting twist to the 5 game Seattle series is a play a Friday double header. That could be a bit taxing on our staff to open up with 12 games in 11 days. The following week when we finally come home we will have off days on Monday and Thursday and only 5 games that week.

So the schedule is set, the team is flying out to Oakland but I am making stops on my way to the West Coast in Toledo, Wisconsin Rapids and Orlando. The teams that our organization put out in the minor leagues was terrible in almost all cases except in Visalia where we won 103 but missed the playoffs by 1 game. I am attending these cities and baseball fan club meetings to address the Twins organization and promise that we will do our best to put out a quality on field product while working on our player development.

The Twins 1979 Minor League standings
Toledo Mudhens (AAA International League) 57-83 .407 36GB 7th place (8)
Orlando Twins (AA Southern League) 67-77 .465 17GB 3rd place (5)
Visalia Oaks (Hi-A Class California League) 103-59 .636 1GB 2nd place
Wisconsin Rapids Twins (Class A Midwest League) 56-84 .400 33GB 4th place (last)
Elizabethton Twins (Appalachian League) 33-37 .471 7GB 5th place (6)
Minor league totals 316-340 .481
The winning percentage without Visalia was only .431

We vowed in those cities that we would do better to give them some watchable and enjoyable baseball.

Before I flew out to join the team in Oakland I also met with Mr. Griffith who continues to remind me that he would like to see a winning team on the field. I have a feeling this meetings are going to continue.....

Now onto the new season.
April 10-13 Minnesota Twins vs Oakland A’s (Defending World Series Champions)
Last season 76-86 6th 100-62 1st
1980 Prediction 71-91 6th 95-67 (tie for 1st with Texas)

Pitching matchups
Game #1 Lamar Hoyt (14-16 4.15) Danny Darwin (17-10 4.07)
Game #2 Henry Moore (11-5 4.80) Dave LaPoint (17-6 2.91)
Game #3 Michael McFalls 16-11 4.05) Mario Soto (3-1 2.97)
Game #4 Ed Whitson (4-5 5.03) Frank DiPino (0-1 4.61)

Game#1 Loss 2-1 – Both pitchers threw blanks in the first 4 innings. We managed to get on the board with a run in the 5th when Mark Naehring got on via an error by 3B Dan Driessen. Two grounds outs later, Naehring came home from 3rd on C Ted Sizemore single 1-0. Score stay that way with Hoyt breezing through 8 innings with a 3 hitter. Hoyt got the 1st out but then gave up a single to Jerry Remy. RF Jerry Turner tried to bunt unsuccessfully on the first 2 pitches, but then after 3 balls hit a walk off HR to win the game 2-1.

W – Pedro Borbon 1-0 L – Lamar Hoyt 0-1

Game #2 Win 2-0 – More exceptional pitching on both sides in this one. We scratched a run in the 3rd with 2 outs on back to back doubles by C Haines and DH Stegman. Then in the 7th 3B Chet Lemon doubles, moves up on a groundout and then scores on Joe Rudi Sac Fly. The real story was Henry Moore’s 7.1 no run, 4 hit, 2 walk with 4 K’s performance.

W – Henry Moore 1-0 L- Dave LaPoint 0-1 S – Jorge Carty 1

Game #3 Loss 8-1 - Mario Soto was the beneficiary of a group of angry A’s batters as pounded both Michael McFalls and Doug Heinold for 8 runs with home runs by Reggie Jackson and Clint Hurdle. Soto breezed through 7.1 innings giving up just 4 hits, 1 run with 3 walks and 6 K’s.

W – Mario Soto 1-0 L- Michael McFalls 0-1

Game #4 Win 7-5 – Nice to see the offense finally show up after scoring only 3 runs in the first 3 games. Chet Lemon was a single short of the cycle going 3-3 with 2 walks driving in 2. The homer was his first of the year. Whitson hung in for 8 innings falling behind 3-0 in the 2nd before the offense rallied him to victory. The game was tied entering the 9th the game was tied at 5-5, but Lemon led off with a double, Hisle singled him in and then later scored on a Ron Washington single. Chuck Seelbach pitched a scoreless 9th to get the save.

W – Ed Whitson 1-0 L – Pedro Borbon 1-1 S- Chuck Seelbach 1

For us to start the season with a 12-game West Coast road trip and to get a split against the defending World Series Champs. To say I am surprised and happy is an understatement.

On the front office news front, while the team was in Oakland, I was scouring the waiver wire. While there was nothing out there that was going to be earth shattering in acquisitions, we did make waiver claims on 3 players. We will see if we acquire any of these guys but the guys we did claim are
RHP Rob Dressler (Cle)
LHP Stephen Foran (Bos)
SS Billy E Smith (Cin)

We also designated the following players (and released) prior to the season
CF Cleo Smith (attitude problem)
LF David Coon (lacks ability and smarts)
RP Cam Bonifay (1 pitch wonder)

We also DFA the following but hope to keep them in the organization if not picked up
C Pete Varney
CF Larry Murphy

Next up - The rest of the Season Opening Road Trip, Waiver Claim decisions and a few minor league signings.

[DD Martin]

ooc - With this post we will now be caught up to the Dugout Wizards online league play. I know I have posted a lot over the last few days but I wanted to get caught up to the in season play. Most likely the posts will be 3 a week on this basically with every other sim (The league sims M-F). Now on with the Minnesota Twins 1980 season.


As the Twins continue on their season opening 12 game road trip, the first stop in Oakland has to be rated a success. Splitting our 4 game set against the AL West favorite on the road is definitely better than I was expecting. Now we face the California Angels for a 3-game set at the Big A in Anaheim. The Angels started out the season winning 2 out of 3 at home against the Cleveland Indians.

The Angels are led by a pair of good catchers in 26 year old Bob Brenly and DH Terry Kennedy. Kennedy is the better received between the two, but manager Earl Weaver seems to like Brenly behind the dish to open the season. Weaver is starting his 3rd season in Anaheim as the Angels skipper (174-150 in first 2 seasons) after stops in San Diego (parts of 3 years 87-207 YIKES!) and then managing the Expos from 74 until midway through the 77 season (261-304).

On the mound for the Angels you have strikeout artist Nolan Ryan, lefty Geoff Zahn, and Larry Christenson leading the way. Like us the bullpen maybe the Achilles heel for the Angels lead by closer? Paul Reuschel. We will hope to get to the bullpen early in often, I think.

The pre-season prediction had the Angels finishing in 3rd place in the AL West with an 87-75 record, 8 games behind the A’s and Rangers. Nolan Ryan and Larry Christenson are #3-#4 in the pitcher predictions

Pitching Match-ups
Game #1 Daniel Hatchell (1-0 6.35 last season) vs Larry Christenson (9-10 3.93 last season)
Game #2 Lamar Hoyt 0-1 2.16 vs Bruce Raible (1-2 3saves 1.45 last season)
Game #3 Henry Moore 1-0 0.00 vs Nolan Ryan 1-0 3.86

Game #5 @California Angels – Loss 8-2 Not a lot went right for the Twins today as Larry Christenson threw a masterful 2 hit gem in getting the shutout victory. Larry Hisle and Leron Lee were the only Twins to manage a hit.

W – Larry Christenson 1-0 L – Daniel Hatchell 0-1

Game #6 @ California Angels Win 6-0 Today it was our turn to have the pitcher throw the masterful gem as Lamar Hoyt threw a 2 hit shutout. Hoyt has started the year well after struggling in spring training with an ERA around 7. Enos Cabell went 3-5 and hit a HR today while driving in 3 runs. Mickey Rivers was 2-5 and scored twice.

W – Lamar Hoyt 1-1 1.04 L- Bruce Raible 0-1 10.80

Game #7 @ California Angels – Loss 4-1 The game was tied at 1-1 through 7 innings as both Nolan Ryan and Henry Moore pitched well. For Ryan though he didn’t get the benefit of his team’s 8th inning offense as he was done after 6.1 giving up only 3 hits and a run. 6 Walks though did in Ryan to go along with 6 k’s and he left with a 117 pitch count. In the 8th Glenn Hubbard reached on an error by SS Ron Washington throw and ended up at 2nd. Jorge Carty came in to relieve and promptly threw 2 wild pitches to move and Hubbard scored. The Angels tacked on 2 more against Carty and we went down quietly in the 9th. Henry Moore deserved a better fate and we blew a chance to beat the Angels with Ryan on the hill.

W – Kevin McNichol 1-1 9.82 L – Henry Moore 1-1 0.63

We headed up to Seattle for the 5 game set with the Mariners. The M’s went to Toronto as the 2 expansion brothers played each other to open the season. The Blue Jays spent a lot of money in the off-season so we will see if it helps. It didn’t help the Jays in this series as they dropped 3 out of 4 at home to the Mariners. Then the M’s followed us into Oakland and lost 2 out of 3 against the A’s. So the M’s coming into this series with us are 4-3 on the season and 1 game out of first, while we are in last at 3-4 on the season. We hope our fortunes change here or it could be a long year in the tough AL West.

The Mariners are led by 2B Julio Cruz (360), 1B Butch Alberts? (333) and RF Ellis Valentine (222). On the pitching side of things the M’s have Mike Norris 1-1 3.68 who was Smith and Streets #7 AL Pitcher on the pre-season. They also have setup man Bert Blyleven and SP Pascual Perez who didn’t need a map to find the Kingdome.

Thursday’s Game Michael McFalls 0-1 12.46 vs Jerry Don Gleaton (Season debut)
Friday Game #1 DH Ed Whitson 1-0 5.63 vs Pascual Perez 0-1 6.30
Friday Game #2 DH Daniel Hatchell 0-1 11.57 vs Burt Blylevin 0-0 0.00
Saturday’s Game Lamar Hoyt 1-1 1.04 vs Ron Musselman 0-1 5.63
Sunday’s Game Henry Moore 1-1 0.63 vs Mike Norris 1-1 3.68

Game #8 @ Mariners – Win 11-0 Boy did the bats come alive today as the Twins struck early and often. Twins had 14 hits lead by Ron Washington’s 3 hits and 2 homers. Joe Rudi (Solo) and Arturo DeFreites (3-run) also hit home runs. The beneficiary of the offensive onslaught was Michael McFalls who didn’t need all the support as he threw a 4 hit shutout striking out 4.

W- Michael McFalls 1-1 4.05 L – Jerry Don Gleaton 0-1 7.50

Game #9 @ Mariners Win 5-4
Game #10 @ Mariners Win 11-1
The Twins swept the doubleheader today against the M’s. Winning in 10 innings on a HBP, Single, another HBP and then Larry Hisle’s 2 run single scoring Rudi and Cabell. The M’s tried to rally in the bottom of the 10th but only managed a HR by Richard Bradley.

W – Jorge Carty 1-0 5.40 L- Pete Hamm 1-1 5.40 S – Chuck Seelbach 2 3.00

The 2nd game of the DH was a laugher as the Twins again scored 11 runs and blasted the Mariners 11-1. Ron Washington continued his hot start to this series hitting his 3rd homer and driving in 5….count them 5 runs. Daniel Hatchell was the beneficiary of all the offense provided by Mr. Washington and crew but pitched an outstanding game throwing a complete game 7 hitter with no walks.

W – Daniel Hatchell 1-1 3.95 L- Burt Blyelevn 0-1 9.64

Game #11 @ Mariners Win 5-1 More torrid pitching by the Twins. Who would have believe it after that spring training. Once again it is Lamar Hoyt flashing that 1978 form when he went 21-4. This time he goes 7.1 giving up only 6 single, a walk, and 1 run. Chet Lemon hit his 2nd home run of the season in support of Hoyt.

W – Lamar Hoyt 2-1 1.09 L – Ron Musselman 0-2 4.40

Game #12 @ Mariners Win 3-1 And the Twins did it. They went out on the road and completed a very rare 5 game sweep in winning 3-1 Sunday at the Kingdome. The Twins did all their damage in the 1st inning today as Chet Lemon singled in Rivers and Cabell and then scored himself on a Larry Hisle hit after Lemon stole 2nd (SB #4). The Twins first 4 batters got hits against Mike Norris who then settled down and no hit the Twins the rest of the way. Thankfully another great pitching performance by Henry Moore goes 6.1 giving up 5 hits and just 1 run.

W – Henry Moore 2-1 0.87 L – Mike Norris 1-2 3.24 S – Chuck Seelbach 3 2.25

GM’s comment after the 12 game road trip to reporters - What an absolutely great way to start the season. I never thought that we would start the year on the 12 game marathon on the West Coast with an 8-4 record and a share of the AL West lead. We are going to fly back to Minnesota tonight, enjoy the success that we have had so far, enjoy a well deserved off-day on Monday and then get back to work on Tuesday and welcome our fans and the California Angels in.

GM Office moves – We did successfully execute the waiver claims so we now welcome aboard the following players.

LHP Stephan Foran (30)
SS Billy Smith (26)
RHP Rob Dressler (26)

To make room for the 3 players we optioned SS Tim Johnson to Orlando (AA). Placed LHRP John French on the DL (Back Spasms) and optioned RHP Doug Heinold to Toledo. French’s injury isn’t serious, but I got the trainer to go along with me on advising a DL visit. I want to see what Foran in that lefty reliever spot in the pen. I am also really happy to welcome Billy Smith to the team. Billy gives us some more flexibility than Tim Johnson although they are both pretty much the same hitter, which isn’t much.

Dressler and Heinold are somewhat similar but Dressler has a bit more control (and I am still worried about control after that spring training). Dressler doesn’t throw as many pitches as Heinold does but has better command and stuff with the 3 he does throw. I just feel better with Dressler in a spot start than I do Heinold.

Minor league signings – We signed some more (3) pitchers to fill out our minor leagues with more than 1 pitch fastball guys. One of the pitchers was Jim Beattie who just hasn’t been able to break out at all. He’s 25 and hasn’t pitched above A ball after being signed by the Reds as their 2nd round draft pick in 1975. Hopefully a change of scenery will help him although we are not counting on him so anything would be a surprise.

[DD Martin]

One of the things that I knew would be tough about this season was going to be trying and getting the fan base re-engaged with the Twins. Since 1967 the Twins have had just 2 winning seasons in the last 13 previous seasons. Despite the 1978 Twins going to the World Series the fans remained skeptical of the organization. That skepticism proved to be correct in 1979 when the Twins plummeted to 76 wins and a 6th place finish. The newspapers covering the team have really turned on the organization with the absentee front office and Mr. Griffith being considered miserly. We had a lot of work to do out in front of us in turning the general perception around. The team has drawn over 2 million fans since 1965. Even in 1978 with a 104 win club we only drew 1.35 million fans. Part of me wanted to go do the quick fix and overspend in free agency, but we are not a team that is just 1 or 2 players away even despite the 78 season results. Part of me wanted to rush back up the kids, who some of the fans really want to see, but rushing them when they are not ready would yes give us a small spike, but potentially could derail our whole 5-year plan. I was determined to stay the course even despite the 8-4 start that had me wanting to pull the trigger on bringing up Harold Baines, Mel Hall, Barry Bonnell and Dave Henderson. I needed to be sure they are ready to come up or return in some cases because a quick start doesn’t mean we are suddenly contenders now.

Facing the media for the home opener was not something I was really looking forward to doing. The media really wanted us to make a splash and wanted it even more with the successful season opening road trip. This 11 game homestand had a lot riding on it for us. I would be happy with a 6-5 record because we are bringing in the Angels for 2, A’s for 3 this week. Those are 2 of the 3 best teams in the AL West. Against those teams to start were went 3-4, so I was really hoping for a 3-2 record against them. If we play 500 ball against those 2 clubs, then we might be a team that could hang around awhile and draw some excitement. The 2nd week of the homestand was the Seattle Mariners for 3 games. That is a team that will likely be gunning for us after we swept them at the Kingdome. After the Mariner’s come in, we get 3 with the hated New York Yankees. Never an easy task even if they are not the same team that won 10 straight AL East crowns from 67-76 along with 7 World Series during that time. They are still a team to be very much feared.

The morning of the game I looked at the advance ticket sales for the opening game. It was pegged around 19,000. We might not even break 20,000 to see us open our season with an 8-4 record against one of the AL West contenders. Apathy had really set in here in the Twin Cities. Oh well we will see what happens, beating Nolan Ryan today would really be a big boost.

The White Sox entered the day in 1st place in the AL West but they were going against the 1st place team in the AL East, the Boston Red Sox. The game was in Boston so they were into the 6th inning when our game started. A quick glance at the scoreboard showed the Red Sox up 4-0 after 6 innings. If we won and the Red Sox held on, the Twins would be on a 6-game winning streak and be all alone in 1st place in the AL West on April 22nd. It could be the high point of the season, but yeah the Angels are starting Nolan Ryan.

California Angels 5-5 4th in the AL West vs Minnesota Twins 8-4 2nd in the AL West (2 game series at Metropolitan Stadium).

Pitching Matchups
Game #1 Nolan Ryan 1-0 2.70 vs Michael McFalls 1-1 4.05
Game #2 Craig Swan 1-0 0.00 vs Ed Whitson 1-0 4.70

Game #13 vs California Angels Win 11-7 The Twins did it! The won their 6th straight game and are now 9-4 on the season and in sole possession of first in the AL West. The Twins got to Nolan Ryan early by scoring 5 runs in the first 2 innings. Ryan didn’t last 5 as the Twins knocked him around for 10 hits and 6 earned runs. SS Ron Washington continued his hot start with the Twins as he went 3-5 with a double, stolen base (4), an RBI (12) and 3 runs scored.

W – Michael McFalls 2-1 4.34 L- Nolan Ryan 1-1 5.00 S – Chuck Seelbach (4) 1.93

Game #14 vs California Angels Loss 10-4 The Angels were obviously upset and took it out on Ed Whitson today as they scored 7 runs in the first 3 innings, which is all Whitson would go today. Jerry Mumphrey hit 2 homers, and RF Jim Beswick added another in the rout. The Angels hit 5 home runs in the short 2 game series while the Twins managed none. The Twins did manage to plate 3 runs on Craig Swan who had pitched 14 innings of shutout baseball in his first 2 starts.

W – Craig Swan 2-0 1.31 L- Ed Whitson 1-1 7.36

Defending World Series Champion Oakland A’s 8-6 3rd place AL West vs
Minnesota Twins 9-5 2nd place in the AL West ½GB

Pitching Matchups
Mike Torrez 2-0 1.69 vs Daniel Hatchell 1-1 3.95
Danny Darwin 2-0 1.13 vs Lamar Hoyt 2-1 1.09
Dave LaPointe 0-3 3.80 vs Henry Moore 2-1 0.87

Game #15 vs Oakland A’s Loss 5-1 Mike Torrez was sharp in this one as he pitched a complete game 1 hitter. The only hit was Ron Washington’s 4th HR of the season in the 2nd inning. Other than that, the Twins just managed 4 walks.

W – Mike Torrez 3-0 1.44 L – Daniel Hatchell 1-2 4.50

Game #16 vs Oakland A’s Win 5-3 Trailing the A’s 3-2 going into the bottom of the 7th, Larry Hisle hit a 3-run homer to left and gave the Twins the victory. Hoyt earned the win going 8 innings and giving up 3 runs in a quality start. Chuck Seelbach picked up his 5th save in the 9th but did give up 2 hits.

W – Lamar Hoyt 3-1 1.65 L – Danny Darwin 2-1 2.25 S – Chuck Seelbach (5) 1.59

Game #16 vs Oakland A’s Loss 10-3 Henry Moore had his first rough start of the season in his 4th game as he went 5 innings against the A’s giving up 8H, 7R, 7ER, 3BB 6K and 3 HR’s. Reggie Jackson hit 2 (4) and Claudell Washington hit his AL leading 7th against Moore. In the 5 games at home this week the Twins were out homered 9-2. Gregory Motter notched his first save of the season with 3.1 innings in mop up duty.

W – Dave LaPointe 1-3 3.68 L – Henry Moore 2-2 3.16 S – Gregory Motter (1) 3.52

. GM Notes – Well a somewhat disappointing week going 2-3 in our 1980 home debut. More disappointing to me was the attendance. In the home opener we managed to crack 20,000 fans by having 20,734 march through the turnstiles. After that the 2nd game against the Angels was 10,255 and then we averaged 12,978 in the 3 games against the A’s. The defending World Series champions, on a weekend no less and we only averaged less than 13,000 fans a game. I am horrified to think what Monday’s attendance against the Mariners will be.

Our hitting really hasn’t shown up yet. Overall were hitting .231 (13th in the AL), the OBP is a little better at .311 (9th), but our slugging % is a rather uninspiring .347 (12th) so the OBP is .658 (11th). We have managed 4.65 runs per game on 11 HR’s (8th) and 11 SB’s (5th).

On the pitching side, things slide down a bit but still if you told me we would be where we are pitching wise, I would have taken it. Team ERA is 3.83 (7th), Starters ERA (3.84 T-5th) and Bullpen ERA 3.82 (5th). We have scored more runs than we have given up +10, Home runs allowed though is a bit of a concern as we have given up 18 long balls which is tied for 12th. Our overall defensive efficiency and zone rating are 6th in the AL.

Right now after 3 weeks of the 1980 season we are 10-7, tied for 2nd with the A’s and trailing the division leading White Sox by ½ game.

Front Office Moves – Well we made another waiver claim as we brought on board 2B Rob Wilfong who was DFA’d by the Giants. With Mark Naehring d-t-d with a slight hamstring, Wilfong will fill in for him during the Seattle series. We didn’t have to make a move on the 40-man roster with Wilfong coming on board since we had room, but we would have to clear a space on the 25-man roster. Since Rob isn’t going to be activated until Monday before the Seattle game, we have time on our side to make that decision.

[DD Martin]

End of April 1980 Report

Seattle Mariners 7-11 7th place AL West vs Minnesota Twins 10-7 T-2nd place AL West
Season Series – Minnesota leads 5-0

Pitching Matchups
Game #1 Roric Harrison 0-0 2.16 (1st start of season) vs Michael McFalls 2-1 4.34
Game #2 Ron Musselman 0-2 7.50 vs Ed Whitson 1-1 7.36
Game #3 Mike Norris 2-2 2.65 vs Daniel Hatchell 1-2 4.50

Game #18 – Twins Win 8-3 Enos Cabell led an 11 hit attack for the Twins with 3 hits, including a 2 run homer (2) to back up the complete game by SP Michael McFalls. McFalls gave up 8 hits, 4 BB, and 3 runs while striking out 3. Arturo DeFreites hit his 2nd homer of the season as well.

W – Michael McFalls 3-1 3.90 L- Roric Harrison 0-1 4.20

Game #19 – Twins win 5-1 – In a battle of pitchers with less than inspiring ERA’s. Ed Whitson wasn’t at his best but it was good enough on this day. He scattered 6 hits along with 5 walks during 6 busy innings, but only gave up 1 run. The Twins bullpen of Rivera and Seelbach pitched 3 innings of 1 hit ball to close out the win. DeFreites continued his hot hitting driving in 2 more runs giving him 13 on the season. The Twins have won all 7 games so far against the Mariners this season, will it continue?

W – Ed Whitson 2-1 5.92 L – Ron Musselman 0-3 6.92

Game #20 – Twins Lose 8-6 The Mariner’s finally have broken through and beat the Twins for the first time in 8 games this season. Ellis Valentine hit a grand slam (6) in the 3rd inning to break a scoreless tie and then the M’s hung on for dear life as the Twins rally fell short. Mike Norris did enough to get the win giving up all 6 runs and Pete Hamm pitched the 9th to get his 3rd save of the season.

W- Mike Norris 3-2 3.43 L- Daniel Hatchell 1-3 5.40 S- Pete Hamm (3) 6.00

GM Thoughts – Overall a surprising good start to the season with our 12-8 record. I am a little concerned if I take that 7-1 record against the Mariner’s off the board that we are only 5-7? Yes and no, but the other teams we played (Angels and A’s) should be the front runners in the division this season. I am particular impressed with the work of SS Ron Washington. Ron was really an afterthought when I was looking this off-season for a SS to replace the Bruno/Johnson tandem of the prior year. He is making me look good with his start to the season. The pitching staff has been better than I thought overall but there are plenty of red flags going up their as well. The numbers are so much better in April than Spring Training that I am just happy they are doing what they can. The bullpen has been a bit of a game of musical chairs with some injuries and ineffectiveness, but we are looking to get SP Clarence Burgy back sometime in the later half of May as he begins a rehab assignment. LHRP John French is also going out on a rehab assignment but he future with the club is less clear. While I would like another lefty in the pen, he needs to earn his spot.

American League Player of the Month – Leon Durham of the Texas Rangers. The 22 year old LF won the AL Batter of the Month Award hitting 429 with 4 home runs, 19 RBI’s and 17 Runs scored. The Rangers went 9-9 on the month despite Durham’s heroics.

American League Pitcher of the Month – Clinton Burr defied his career numbers as in April he went 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA in 32.1 innings of work. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays Burr’s career month didn’t lead them to a winning record as they stumbled to 8-10 to start the season.

American League Rookie of the Month – Brewers SP Dave Beard was 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in April. While the Brew Crew went just 8-10, the 20-year-old Beard who came up for a cup of coffee in 1978 was exceptional striking out 24 batters in 25.1 innings and holding opposing hitters to a .161 batting average.

National League Player of the Month – San Diego’s LF Dale Murphy takes the season opening prize hitting 397 with 4 home runs, 11 RBI’s and 13 runs scored. The Padres were glad to have Murph on their side as without him they might have stumbled out of the gates even worse than the 8-12 record they had.

National League Pitcher of the Month – Goes to Cincinnati Reds RHSP Burt Hooton (30). Hooton was unbeaten in April in 4 starts leading the front running Reds to a 13-6 1st place showing in the season’s first month. Hooton logged 34.1 innings with a 2.36 ERA whiling striking out 13.

National League Rookie of the Month – The winner this month is Cubs rookie LHSP Bryan Hardy (22) who went 2-0 in 3 GS for 8-9 Cubbies. He struck out 14 in his 23 innings while giving up an ERA of 2.35. Hopefully Hardy can keep up his hot start to the season.

Twins Players of the Month
Twins Player of the Month – Ron Washington lead the Twins with a teaming 324 BA while driving in 18 RBI’s on 4 HR’s. He also stole 6 bases without being caught.

Twins Pitcher of the Month – Can it be anyone other than SP Lamar Hoyt? Hoyt returned to form for the Twins which was critical to their success in the 1st month of the season. Striking out 20 batters while walking only 2 lead to a 0.67 WHIP and a 1.65 ERA to go along with a 3-1 record

The Twins really only have 1 “rookie” on their roster in April and RHRP Rob Dressler’s work doesn’t merit consideration for the award.

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...1&d=1571775081

[DD Martin]

Twins Farm Report – April 1980

Huge area of concern when I took over. We had almost 400 guys in the system on 5 teams. Probably 3 times as many than what is needed. The job of weeding out isn’t completed, but we will hold off anymore pruning until likely after the MLB draft. That said there is a lot to be excited about with the young OF’s that we have in the system. Dave Henderson and Barry Bonnell have both been in the big leagues, although a bit premature in Hendu’s case. Bonnell has had some success but with the glut of OF’s we had, I wanted to make sure he got plenty of quality at-bats in his return from injury. Harold Baines and Mel Hall have not been up to the bigs yet, but they are closing in rapidly. Honestly my target date is for all 4 to hopefully break spring camp next year with us and be starting. To that end Bonnell has been working out at 1B for us at Toledo to see if that could be a fit for the future.

Our young pitching isn’t quite as far along as some of the hitters. But our target date for this team is the 1982 season in the new stadium that we hope is completed then. The youngsters that we are watching very closely are SP’s LH Floyd Bannister (24) and RH Dave Stieb (22). Both projected to be up sometime next year and Bannister if he does well could possibly make it up this year before the end of the year. But he will have to continue to improve to make that happen. RHRP Alejandro Pena is another one that we are excited about, but he ETA in Minnesota is likely to be 1982. Another pitcher of promise is LHSP Mike Jones who was a 6th round pick back in the 77 draft. He throws extremely hard 99 mph on his fastball but is working on his control. And before I forget, we also have RHSP Jim Gott (age 20) who is likely a few years away, and has reached up to AA at a very young age. We shall see how he does in May and make a decision on whether he stays in AA or goes to High Class A+ Visalia.

Twins Organization Standings
Toledo Mudhens Class AAA International League 10-9 T-3rd Place 1.5 GB
Orlando Twins Class AA Southern League 15-5 1st place
Visalia Oaks Class A+ California League 7-10 T-2nd Place 2 GB
Wisconsin Rapids Twins Class A Midwest League 10-10 2nd Place 3 GB
Elizabethon Twins Appalachian Rookie League has not started its season yet.

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[DD Martin]

Early May

May 2-4 1980 vs New York Yankees 3 game series

Expectations were running high as the team geared up for a series with the dreaded Yankees (9-10) While they had stumbled out of the blocks a bit they still had some top flight hitters including newly signed FA 3B Steve Garvey (313 0-6) who was still looking for his first Yankee’s home run. 1B Greg Luzinski had also gotten out of the starting blocks slow hitting 230 1-8. We hoped that we could keep these two off the HR board at least for a few more games.

Pitching Matches
Game #1 Ken Holtzman 2-1 3.66 vs Lamar Hoyt 3-1 1.65
Game #2 Bob Forsch 1-2 4.06 vs Henry Moore 2-2 3.16
Game #3 Chuck Dobson 1-3 5.23 vs Michael McFalls 3-1 3.90

Game #21 – Loss vs Yankees 3-2 (11) Pretty good pitchers duel between Hoyt and Holtzman as the score was tied 2-2 at the end of 9 innings. Both the starters went 8 inning and the bullpens kept it at bay for the 9th and 10th innings. In the 11th, Jose Carty then gave up a bomb to Ken Oberkfell, his first of the season. That pretty much did us in as Kent Tekulve slammed the door shut in the bottom of the 11th for a Yankee’s 3-2 win.

W – Bill Campbell 1-0 0.00 L – Jose Carty 1-1 4.76 S- Kent Tekulve (1) 0.00

Game #22 Win vs Yankees 7-6 (11) This one again went extra innings as we gave up 2 in the 7th and 4 in the 8th before rallying ourselves for 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to tie it. This time in the 11th Rob Wilfong double home Enos Cabell with the winning run and the Twins win the game to tie the series at 1 apiece. Again Jose Carty pitched and again he gave up a some runs. We were going to have to do something about 1-pitch Jose.

W – Gilberto Rivera 1-0 0.00 L – Ken Tekulve 1-1 2.70

Game #23 Win vs Yankees 7-6 No extras need today thank fully but after jumping out to a 5-0 lead we gave up 5 in the 6th and another in the 6th. A clutch hit in the 7th by CF Arturo DeFreites scored both Denny Haines and Mark Naehring and we hang on to win. Dressler got the win despite blowing the save in the 6th.

W – Rob Dressler 1-0 5.19 L - Chuck Dobson 1-4 5.79

Notes – So we managed to take 2 out of 3 at home against the Yankees to move to 14-9 on the season. We were about to embark on a very difficult road trip that would see us play 3 in Baltimore, 3 in New York and then 3 in Boston before coming home to face the Brewers. While not setting the box office on fire we did manage to get over 13,000 a game in against the Bronx Bombers.

Minnesota 14-9 vs Baltimore Orioles 8-14
While the Orioles were 8-14 to start the season primarily because of their pitching staff which was last in the AL. Hopefully it will stay that way but our staff isn’t exactly the A’s either.

Pitching Matchups
Game #1 Ed Whitson 2-1 5.92 vs Kevin Kobel 1-2 3.77
Game #2 Lamar Hoyt 3-1 1.77 vs Don Carmen 1-0 2.25
Game #3 Henry Moore 2-2 3.82 vs Don Cooper 0-1 11-12

Game #24 Loss @ Baltimore 9-8 (19) - Yep they decided to play 2 in Baltimore on this day. The first game ended in a 4-4 tie after 9. Then in the 10th both teams scored a run to make it 5-5. The bullpen’s then hunkered down until the 14th when the Twins scored 3 with the big hit being Joe Rudi 2 run double. But the Twins gave it right back between Gilberto Rivera and Rob Dressler. So we are tied after 14 innings 8-8. Going to the 19th inning Craig Cacek decided it was well past everyone’s bed time and ended it with a solo home run (4) off Stephan Foran.

W – Tommy Toms 1-1 11.12 L – Stephan Foran 0-1 4.26

Game #25 @ Baltimore Win 5-4 - The Twins string a bunch of singles and a few walks for 4 runs in the 6th and take game #2 of this series.

W – Lamar Hoyt 4-1 2.12 L – Don Carmen 1-1 4.72

Game #26 @ Baltimore Loss 6-5 Kirk Gibson (6) hit a homer in the 1st, and then John Hale (1) and Gary Holle (3) hit shots in the 3rd against Henry Moore. Moore has been struggling his last few starts after starting the season with pretty close to matching stats with Lamar Hoyt. Enos Cabell made it close hitting a bases clearing double but the Twins couldn’t score the extra run needed.

W – Don Cooper 1-1 9.00 L – Henry Moore 2-3 4.74 S – Jim Harrison (1) 3.75

Notes – So we drop 2 out of 3 close 1 run games against the Birds here in Baltimore. That is 6 straight 1 run games on the season for us. We move onto New York next to take on the Yankees for middle games of this 9 game east coast trip.

Minnesota Twins 15-11 vs New York Yankees 10-14
Having just meet last week in Minnesota where the Twins took 2 out of 3, we are hoping to do it again here in the Bronx.

Pitching Matchups
Game #1 Michael McFalls 3-1 3.90 vs Ken Holtzman 2-1 3.25
Game #2 Daniel Hatchell 1-3 5.40 vs Bob Forsch 1-2 4.15
Game #3 Ed Whitson 2-1 5.74 vs Chuck Dobson 1-4 5.79

Game #27 @ NY Yankees Loss 10-12 – The two teams combined for 34 hits and 11 walks in a wild game at Yankee Stadium. The Twins hit 3 homers (Chet Lemon 4, Arturo DeFreites 4, and Carlos Segredo 1) but the Yankees kept putting runners on (18 hits and 7 walks is just too much traffic on the basepaths) and score 12 without the benefit of the long ball. Rob Dressler blew his 3rd game in about 10 days…..

W - Jim Todd 1-0 3.00 L – Rob Dressler 1-1 8.31

Game #28 - @ NY Yankees Loss 5-3 DeFreites hit his 5th of the season, but the Bombers came out swinging and Willie Horton hit 2 (4) and Steve Garvey hit his first as a Yankee in his 110th at-bat of the season.

W – Bob Forsch 2-2 4.02 L – Daniel Hatchell 1-4 5.45 S – Bill Campbell (4) 2.31

Game #29 - @ NY Yankees Win 6-5 – An 5 run 8th inning rally led the Twins to salvaging the final game of the 3 game series here in New York. Again it was DeFreites with the big hit as he hit a 2-run double to put the Twins ahead by 2 runs. C Denny Haines also hit his 2nd of the season in the 5th. Whitson (3-1) pitched well going 7 innings of 3 run ball to get the win.

W – Ed Whitson 3-1 5.40 L – Chuck Dobson 1-5 5.96 S – Chuck Seelbach (6) 1.46

Minnesota Twins 16-13 vs Boston Red Sox 19-9
We head to face the AL East leading Red Sox for 3 games and the team is looking a little tired. So far we are 2-4 on our 9 game East Coast Trip. Getting 2 here would be a really nice present.

Pitching Matchups
Game #1 Lamar Hoyt 4-1 2.12 vs Robert Richmond 2-0 4.76
Game #2 Henry Moore 2-3 4.74 vs Greg Jaycox 1-2 5.40
Game #3 Michael McFalls 3-1 4.46vs Tom Bradley 5-1

Game # 30 - @ Boston Loss 2-10 – In by far his worst outing of the season the Red Sox blasted Twins ace Lamar Hoyt for 8 runs (6 earned) over 6 innings. Unheralded SP Rob Richmond scattered 8 hits in 8 innings and held the Twins in check. SS Walt Weiss hit a homer (1) against Stephan Foran in the 8th for the final margin.

W - Robert Richmond 3-0 3.96 L – Lamar Hoyt 4-2 2.91

Game #31 @ Boston Win 10-5 (13) - You guess it another marathon game on this trip and the Twins bullpen is simply worn out. The Twins erupt for 5 in the 13th against Jim Ray and Steve Blass and thankfully David Paynter and Stephan Foran didn’t give up any more runs.

W – David Paynter 1-0 1.42 L – Jim Ray 0-1 7.20

Game #32 - @ Boston Loss 1-0 – The exhausted Twins bats didn’t put up much offense today as they managed just 4 hits as Tom Bradley went the distance in the shutout win. Randy Bass hit a 6th inning home run that stood up and the Twins finish this East Coast trek at 3-6 and head home to face the Brewers.

W – Tom Bradley 6-1 2.09 L- Michael McFalls 3-2 4.06 2.49

GM Notes - Well we are bobbing along at a 500 clip going against the top teams in the AL East. So far we have split the 12 games over the last two weeks going 6-6, but it has come at a cost. First Mickey “Mick the Quick” Rivers who was hitting quite well for us, finally had enough pain and had to go on the DL. Our trainer Dr. Don said that he was having back spasms that and only rest and treatment would get Mick back on the field. So we reluctantly shut him down for 7 weeks. It is a painful loss for us as he was playing well until the last week after he tweaked his back running into the wall at the Met against the M’s catching a fly ball. He gave it a go, but it was not meant to be. So we will see Mickey again around the end of June. With is injury the Minneapolis press and fans went into calls for one of the youngsters, preferably OF Harold Baines. But Baines wasn’t tearing up the International League and again it wasn’t in my plan to bring him up so soon. But we did need another OF, so we recalled (much to the fans chagrin) Alfredo Edmead who was on the 40-man roster and had been playing at AAA Toledo and was hitting 363. He had been up in previous years and while not a power bat could be a capable hitter. Edmead was hitting better than the others that the fans were so wanting to see. So he will replace Rivers on the roster.

I also decided that it was not enough, so we optioned RP Jim Vosk to AAA Toledo to give us another position player to bring up. That left the pitching staff at 10 pitchers and we would see how that would go. Again, I was tempted to call up Harold Baines but decided to bring up OF/1B Barry Bonnell who again was on the 40-man roster and had done gotten his work in at AAA. He wasn’t tearing the cover off the ball 233/281/645 but was hitting in the clutch with 22 RBI’s in the first month. I was hoping that he had found his stroke enough to bring some offense with him and regain his 1978 form 304/349/837 30-112.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of our bad news concerning injuries. Our Twins Player of the Month for April, FA signing Ron Washington was diagnosed with an intercostal strain by Dr. Don and would miss 2 weeks. While 2 weeks is not the end of the world, when you lose someone who has been doing the work at the plate as Washington had, it’s a blow. Washington was hitting an unbelievable 310/346/846 4-20 through 28 games. I didn’t have a lot of options when it came to players capable of backing up the middle infield so it came down to Tim Johnson and well there was no and. It was Tim Johnson who was hitting 250/241/634 1-6 at AA Orlando since being sent down. Hopefully we will not need him to get in the games much.

The roster shake continued as after 3 rehab starts in Toledo, I decided it was time to bring up SP Clarence Burgy for big league season debut. To make room for Burgy on the 25-man roster we designated Rob Dressler who was out of options and hadn’t shown a tremendous ability to get anyone out at the big-league level. In 1978 Burgy was 18-10 with a 4.68 ERA. Not great numbers, but he could eat up inning and keep a team in the game. Bringing him backup will move Daniel Hatchell to the bullpen.
A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Manager Johnny Pesky to discuss the catching. Ted Sizemore had caught most of the first 10-15 games and was hitting below 200 before the end of the month. We had Cliff Johnson down at AAA, but he had an opt-out option if we did not bring him up. Since we had went with Sizemore after Spring Training, I really wasn’t looking forward to spending the money to also bring up Cliff but I also knew that he would opt-out and go back on the free agent market (which he did May 9th). I suggested to Johnny that we should so to a straight platoon with the lefty Haines getting the starts against right-handers and the righty Sizemore going strict against leftys. At the plate it seems to be working as Haines is hitting 292/407/851 2-8 and Sizemore has gotten his average over 200 at 238.347/656.

Rob Wilfong has been a surprising pickup for us and he is actually hitting the ball quite well. Since being pickup off waivers he is hitting 394/417/1053 in 10 games with a HR, 8 RBI’s and 8 runs scored. He has moved Mark Naehring over to 1B as well. With Bonnell coming up and playing RF mainly to start, that has moved Larry Hisle to DH as well. I obviously don’t expect Wilfong to continue to hit anywhere near that level the rest of the season, but anything over 270 would be a plus.

Finally, I had instructed my lead scout to look over the minor league free agents. My eyes lit up once I came across one name. I called Tim into the office with delight and he sat down.

GM Martin – Boy Timmy I don’t know how you did it, but what a great signing!
Scout Tim – Well Boss it really wasn’t that big of a deal I just knew we needed some relief pitching since the purge and while he isn’t ready to go this year, he could help out Orlando or Toledo towards the end of the season (looking a bit confused at his Boss over-excitement).
GM Martin – I’m not talking about any pitcher you might have signed; I’m talking about The Dream. How did you get him?
Scout Tim – The Dream sir, what dream?
GM Martin – Tim don’t play coy with me, it says right here that you signed the American Dream.
Scout Tim – It does???? Feeling just stunned.
GM Martin – You thinking DH with him? That signing would be a huge boost to attendance, and you got him on a minor league deal. When we bring him up that will be the best $19,000 contract I have ever spent. Old Man Griffith will be thrilled at the gate.
Scout Tim – Sir, I don’t think that he will be coming up anytime soon, I mean he is just a minor league guy with little chance to make an impact. Let alone at the ticket booth.
GM Martin – Tell me, how did you get him. Did Eddie Graham put up a fuss?
Scout Tim - Sir his agents name isn’t Eddie Graham, it someone small time agent named Boras. Although he did think of himself as a big deal. Sir who are we talking about?
GM Martin – Come on kid, you signed Dusty Rhodes, the NWA World Champion. He is the American Dream.
Scout Tim – (looking scared now) No, Mr. Martin that is not that Dusty Rhodes. This is a minor league relief pitcher that is 24 and likely won’t see much action at Elizabethon.
GM Martin – (looking heartbroken) Not the American Dream
Scout Tim – No sir
GM Martin – That is all Tim you can leave. Send in my secretary Amy.
Scout Tim – Yes sir right away.
Secretary Amy (Amy comes in) – yes Mr. Martin?
GM Martin – Close the door Amy. (Amy complies with his request). That scout that was just in here.
Amy – Yes Tim, he is a very funny guy.
GM Martin – He is also officially unemployed now.
Amy – (picks up the phone and tells the person on the other end) Scout Tim, code 9

It really had been a long exhausting road trip....poor Timmy

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