I wrote a little ‘where are they now’ post on former Twin Brian Buchanan yesterday: he retired at age 35 and began managing in the minors the next season. A quick glance at his numbers suggest he could have extended his playing career as a power bat off the bench while providing mop-up pitching duties for a young minor-league club, so why didn’t Buck become a player-manager in the minors? There’s a big difference between managing while playing almost daily, like Pete Rose did in 1995, and occasionally saving a young bullpen arm to help foster the development of the prospects the player-manager is charged with.

In 1977, 1979 and 1980, former Twins manager Tom Kelly pitched the first four games of his career career while acting as a minor league manager in the Twins organization. After his first season as player-manager, he only had one plate appearance combined between 1979-80, and played a grand total of one game in the field. In the right circumstances, that sort of arrangement makes sense to me.

The last player-manager in the majors was Rose from 1984-86, although the White Sox toyed with the idea of using Paul Konerko in that role a couple of years ago, before ultimately going with Robin Ventura as manager.

In my spring training preview of the Twins catchers, staff writer Paula Minell opined that catcher Drew Butera should consider converting to pitcher and start prepping for a career as a coach. Butera is a great defensive catcher and calls an outstanding game. By all accounts, the guy is a brilliant baseball mind, is well liked within the organization from the GM down to the bat boys, and we saw last season that he can pitch an emergency inning when called upon.

I’m not saying that Butera should become a minor league player-manager in the next couple of years; contrary to the opinions of some, I believe he provides great value to the Twins as a defensive third catcher, as long as his plate appearances are minimized. But a few years down the line, I would love to have an affable young guy with a brilliant baseball mind working with our young pitchers coming through the minor league pipeline, a guy who could pitch mop-up innings if needed and pinch hit in an emergency. And imagine the value for young, developing pitchers of Drew Butera, manager, catching them for a couple of inning here and there in a game, rather than the bullpen.

Macho Man Randy Savage Played Baseball

Randy Poffo was a catcher signed out of high school by the Cardinals, but played mostly in the outfield over the course of the next four years in the St. Louis, Cincinnati and Chicago White Sox systems. Macho Man hit .344 in rookie ball at age 20, but never rose above Class A. During the baseball offseason in 1973, Poffo began wrestling professionally as The Spider, but returned for a final summer of baseball for the 1974 Tampa Tarpons. After that, he dedicated himself to wrestling full time, and the rest is history. He passed away in 2011 at age 58. The photo at the top of this article is of a young Macho Man.

Antonio Alfonseca, Six-Fingered Pitcher

Known as El Pulpo, or ‘The Octopus,’ because counting is really hard, Antonio Alfonseca was born with six digits on each hand and foot, a hereditary condition shared by his grandfather. Alfonseca was signed by the Montreal Expos in 1989 as a 17-year-old amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic, and last pitched in the Majors in 2007 for the Phillies. Since then, he’s played for teams in Mexico and the independent Atlantic League, and most recently pitched in 2010-11 for the Bridgeport, Conneticut Blufish where he was teammates with former Twin Dan ‘The Man’ Serafini. Alfonseca’s best season came in 2000 with the Marlins, when he led the National League with 45 saves. If you look closely at the image at right, you can see the small, underdeveloped extra digits on Alfonseca’s hands.

This Week’s Number: 34

That’s the number of pitchers scheduled to be in camp Tuesday, one more than last year.

This Week’s Fact: Pitchers and catchers for four teams report today, making this the official start of MLB spring training. The Phillies report on Wednesday, later than any other team in baseball.

What I did this week: I fell on the ice twice again, although on nonconsecutive days this time; one of the times I was throwing a snowball at a second-story window, so I probably had it coming. I also worked on a 3D puzzle, which was really tough, and picked up Renegade for the NES. If you missed it, my article on Kevin Correia got picked up by a national site that picks out the best baseball blogging of the week; if you want to stay inside today and read some more baseball stuff, it’s a pretty solid collection of articles.

With MLB spring training officially underway today, here’s a visual representation of my emotional state:

Later this week, I’ll continue my position-by-position spring training preview, and we’ll take a look at a well-known NFL quarterback who was drafted by the Twins out of high school, but never signed with the team.

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Growing up, there were two pictures hanging in my younger brother’s room that my Dad had painstakingly crafted.  They featured matted and framed baseball card sets of the Twins’ active roster from each of their two World Series years.  I used to sneak into my brother’s room and study those cards.  At first, it was to try to figure out who was still playing for the Minnesota Twins.  Eventually, it was to revisit the Greats and remember the ones who were a part of a something big before they faded away.  The pictures had the rosters laid out in a 5×5 pattern, so the official 24-man roster of the 1987 team had an extra spot.  In that place, Dad included Tom Kelly, manager for the Twins.

In 1991, I was nine years old, old enough to be aware of the excitement of a pennant race and World Series run.  So, when I’d steal a look at those picture frames, I was more familiar with the players on that set of baseball cards.  But I always thought the 1987 picture was something special because it included “TK”.  Even when I was really young, the name Tom Kelly was almost mystical.  He was, after all, the manager of the Twins.  In my young mind, he was the boss of guys like Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek.  They were almost more than human (they were my two favorite players), but they couldn’t be as great as the man in charge, Tom Kelly.

Over the years, I’ve revisited some of my favorite Twins memories.  In the process, I’ve seen that there might be a little tarnish on some of my childhood favorites, and that my fellow Twins fans have been less-than-Minnesota-nice at times.  My teenage years coincided with the Twins’ difficult seasons in the 1990s, and my interest faded away for a long time.  When I moved back to the Twin Cities I began to watch more Twins games, largely because I had cable access to games once again.  Soon, my favorite games to watch were the days that Tom Kelly subbed on the TV broadcast.  Hearing his name, let alone hearing his voice and seeing him on TV, brought me back to the Glory Days of the Minnesota Twins.  But what was different about my perception of TK now that I was an adult, in comparison to some of my grownup perceptions of the Twins players and Twins fans, was that I wasn’t disappointed.

Tom Kelly was the real deal.  He earned the recognition he had as the leader of two World Series Champion teams, and he started when he was young.  His first World Series victory came when he was 37.

TK continues to have the respect of Twins players, and deservedly so.  Once in awhile, I’ll hear a sports guru or read an online fan commentator who expresses that Kelly is too boring to be a part of TV broadcasts, interviews, or articles.  Sure, he can be a bit monotone, but have you actually listened to him?  The man is an incredible wealth of knowledge, whether your baseball knowledge is shallow or extensive.  I’ve never listened to him without learning something new.  Every time one of TK’s former players talk about him, he speaks with the innate reverence that a Catholic reserves for the Pope.  Currently, TK continues to be a valuable part of Spring Training with the Twins and is a very respected “Special Assistant to the General Manager”, tallying 41 years in the Twins organization.

41 years in one organization.  Incredible.

The Minnesota Twins are honoring his years and quality of service by retiring his number this weekend.  My guess is that the only person in the organization who balked was Tom Kelly himself.  He probably downplayed his lasting contribution to the Twins organization, quoting his own words from Game 7 of the 1991 World Series:  ”What the hell, it’s just a game.”  And TK, what a game you’ve made it for the Minnesota Twins and all the fans in Twins Territory.

Congratulations, Tom Kelly, as the Twins retire your #10 jersey.  Thank you for the memories.  Thank you for the victories.  Thank you for the hope.  Thank you for your legacy.

*Not that you couldn’t have thought about something besides baseball.  I spent one sleepless night earlier this week pondering the loss in lifetime earnings potential that could be created by not receiving an annual raise in salary.  Numbers, combined with time, are scary things.  This has been the first installment of “Things that Keep Me Up at Night”.

Anyways, on with the links:

The Common Man was so taken by the anticipation of seeing Brad Radke at TwinsFest that he wrote the script for a pretty entertaining Twins commercial, in the style of SNL’s Bill Brasky skit.

While I guess this is technically ANOTHER TwinsFest story, this one, even more than the others, really embodies what TwinsFest is all about: making connections with your favorite baseball players, and creating memories that last a lifetime.  Lindsey Seavery from CBS Minnesota reports on a Missing Jersey that was reunited with Twins great Tony Oliva, 25 years after he lost it.

The Twins have expanded their Hall of Fame to 24 members, electing Camilo Pascual.  If there is a man that looks like a MLB pitcher, Pascual is that guy.  (more…)