First, as I’ve mentioned once or twice, Kaat and Tony Oliva are up for election by the Veterans Committee. The Committee will meet December 5th, the first day of the Winter Meetings, to give one more chance to Kaat, Oliva, and eight other previously-snubbed greats of the game. Ron Santo won our mock Veterans Committee vote, and I’d wager even money that he will be elected by the real veterans as well. Santo died last year at the age of 70, and for millions of fans that sad event served as an exclamation point on the injustice of his exclusion. Judging by their stats and careers, Kaat and Oliva would appear to be as deserving or more so than the other candidates on the ballot, but that certainly does not guarantee that anyone will vote for them. Kaat, at least, consoles himself by being the founding member of the Hall of Enjoyment. His positive attitude and admirable modesty further prove that the Twins need to retire his jersey number. (more…)

Believe it or not, the Twins have been pretty successful in free agency when they’ve actually gone out and made deals. The team has had a long list of failures on the free agent market over the years, but almost all of them have been low-cost, low risk guys like Livan Hernandez, Joe Crede, or Rondell White. Sure, they didn’t produce, but they didn’t cost much money or really hurt the team that either. On those rare occasions where they went out and spent some bucks for a top tier player, it has worked out pretty well. As an added bonus, the Twins have managed to find a few players who became stars despite a miniscule price tag.

Here, in my humble opinion, are the Top 6 Free Agent signings in Twins history:

#6: Jim Thome, DH

This was originally going to be a Top 5 list, but I couldn’t leave Thome off. He was brought partly as a low-cost, late-inning pinch hitting option and partly as a sideshow attraction, in the theory that fans would pay to see a future Hall of Famer chase 600 home runs. Not only did he succeed on both counts, he actually because the team’s most productive hitter in 2010, with a .283/.412/.610 line and 25 homers. After Justin Morneau went down with a concussion, Thome became a major presence in the lineup that helped the team to the playoffs. He earned $1.5 million in 2010, and he was brought back for $3 million in 2011 (though the Indians ended up paying a portion of that money). (more…)

20 years ago today, this game happened. It was awesome.

Jack Morris was a grizzled veteran, one of the most succesful pitchers in the game. He faced off against a green youngster named John Smoltz, who would one day have an even better career than Morris. But neither pitcher was ever more brilliant than they were that night. They matched zeroes through seven innings, knowing full well that the World Series would be lost by whichever team blinked first.

Of course, the first seven innings were just a warmup act for the 8th. Baseball fans talk about greatest players, greatest games, greatest World Series, and greatest home runs, but I’ve never seen a list of greatest innings before. If there was (and my hat is off to anyone who attempts to compile such a list), that 8th inning might be at the very top. Both teams loaded the bases with less than two outs, and both teams failed to score. But Morris survived the 8th, and Smoltz didn’t. (more…)