Potential Immaculate Grid answers, June 27th

When the clock strikes midnight we don’t simply roll into a new day. A brand new Immaculate Grid is formed, and either can be filled out right then and there or saved for the morning.

Some folks do crosswords in the morning or read the paper, but others sip their coffee and get a boost of serotonin from getting as close to perfect on that day’s Immculate Grid.

Once again we have a grid that doesn’t actively involve the Minnesota Twins, but does have plenty of space for former players to serve as answers. Some of them are obvious, others are deeper cuts, and a few are guys who you might have forgot played for a team.

Use these as answers to cheat, or to see where you missed on getting a perfect score.

Possible Immaculate Grid answers, July 27th

Red Sox and Royals Players

There aren’t a ton of obvious choices here, outside of Andrew Benintendi, who was traded from Boston to Kansas City a few years ago. Of course, the obvious choice is Johnny Damon, who played for the Royals before becoming part of the Red Sox famous World Series team in 2003.

A former Twins player who fits into this category is Doug Mientkiewicz, who played on that World Series team in Boston and also in Kansas City for a season in 2006.

• Johnny Damon
• Bill Buckner
• Jackie Bradley Jr.
• Andrew Benintendi
• Doug Mientkiewicz

Red Sox and Mariners Players

This one is a bit tougher since there isn’t any obvious crossover between the two teams. No massive franchise icons have swapped coasts to go from Boston to Seattle, or vice versa, but there are some notable names and deeper cuts you can roll with:

• Aaron Sele
• Mike Cameron
• Dave Henderson
• John Marzano
• Mike Timlin

Red Sox and Rangers Players

Here’s another one where we have a former Twins player who can be used as one of the possible answers. A.J. Pierzynski played for Texas during the 2013 season, and then went to Boston a year later to play for the Red Sox.

• Jose Canseco
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia
• Nathan Eovaldi
• Mitch Moreland
• Robbie Ross
• A.J. Pierzynski

Royals and Guardians Players

How about a little AL Central player swapping? You’d think there would be some more obvious crossover but the Guardians and Royals didn’t really exchange fan favorites over the years.

• Jeremy Guthrie
• Jason Grimsley
• Coco Crisp
• Brian Anderson
• Bud Black

Royals 200-plus strikeouts

Baseball fans of this generation will instantly think of one name when prompted with ‘Royals’ and ‘Good Pitcher’.

Greinke was one of the brightest spots on an otherwise terrible Royals team for most of his career. Twins fans will remember the many battles spent against him, as he seemed to be the one guy the Royals had who always made it tough to play them. It’s no surprise that he finds himself among the group of pitchers who have turned in 200-plus strikeout seasons.

Mariners 200-plus strikeouts

Don’t overthink this one.

Those Seattle Mariners teams in the 90s were something special, and Randy Johnson was one of the faces of that success. He’s a Hall of Famer who owns over 3,000 strikeouts in his career, and should be one of the first players who come to mind not only when thinking about 200-plus strikeouts pitchers for the Mariners but when thinking of the greatest players in franchise history.

Mariners and Guardians Players

This one could fall under the category of players you forgot played for both franchises. The biggest name that comes to mind is Omar Vizquel, who played in both Seattle and Cleveland in his career — although Twins fans know him best from his days with those annoyingly good early 2000s teams.

Once again we have a former Twins player who can fit as an answer. Pitcher Anthony Swarzak was with the Mariners in 2019 and pitched in Cleveland back in 2015.

• Omar Vizquel
• Mike Stanton
• Shin-Soo Choo
• Carlos Santana
• David Bell
• Anthony Swarzak

Rangers and Guardians Players

Here’s one of the most famous former Twins players who can fit into this box as an answer. Circle Bert Blyleven as a pitcher who played for both Texas (from 1976-1977) and Cleveland (from 1981-1985).

As for other players, there’s some more notable crossover than you might initially guess. Juan Gonzalez sticks out, as does Gaylord Perry.

• Bert Blyleven
• Shin-Soo Choo
• Gaylord Perry
• Juan Gonzalez

Rangers 200-plus strikeouts

Just like the Mariners answer for this one, there’s no reason to overthink it. Nolan Ryan is one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and he’s very closely associated with the Texas Rangers. Even fans unsure of his career stats can feel comfortable guessing that he pitched at least one season of 200-plus strikeouts, and is an easy answer to fill in.