Gardenhire: Goal with Mauer is Opening Day
Posted on January 23rd, 2009 – 2:40 PMBy Joe Christensen
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said today that the goal is to have catcher Joe Mauer ready for Opening Day, but the skipper hinted that Mauer might not play exhibition games until the middle of spring training.
Mauer had surgery to remove a kidney obstruction on Dec. 22 and hasn’t been cleared to do serious lifting or conditioning exercises.
“Obviously we’re going to take it easy with him,” Gardenhire said after the team’s annual media luncheon in Minneapolis. “The goal is Opening Day.”
“Catchers get a lot of work in spring training,” Gardenhire added. “We’re going to have to protect him early. All the bullpen sessions and all those things. We’ll just take it easy on him and see how he feels, and hopefully by mid spring training we’ll get him in there playing and go from there.”
Radke, Brophy honored
The Twins announced today that former pitcher Brad Radke and former farm and scouting director George Brophy have been elected to the team’s Hall of Fame.
Radke was elected in a vote by a 55-member committee, consisting of local media members, club officials, fans and other members of the team’s Hall of Fame. Brophy was elected by a 15-member veteran’s committee.
Both will be inducted on July 11, before the Twins play the White Sox at the Metrodome.
113 Responses to "Gardenhire: Goal with Mauer is Opening Day"
first
I miss Radke…
Why is Gladden not in the Twins HOF?
I can’t believe I’ve never heard of Brophy before. I thought I knew all there was to know about Twins history.
fifth
Good for Radke i think he deserves it.
I wonder if Radke will give up any runs in the first part of the ceremony…
Joe, was Mauer recently “not cleared”? I heard that all players get physicals when they report for Twinsfest, so are you saying he can’t get into his training routine that was brought up in a previous article?
What a joke. Radke? What a joke. Guy pitches with a bum arm for a few months in 2006 and he turns into some kind of folk hero. Mediocre best sums up Radke. Totally mediocre.
Radke’s contribution to the team can be distilled to “Guy pitches with a bum arm for a few months in 2006 and he turns into some kind of folk hero”? You must be a newly minted Twins fan, if that’s your take on Radke. I’ll always remember Radke for the swift pace he set. In an inning, the time he took between pitches was always very brief. Often briefer than even the ump would prefer. I wish more pitchers did that.
Mauer will be rested Opening Day.
Red Dog will bat third.
Mauer needs a day off after catching a night game seven months ago.
If anyone could afford to miss spring training i think it would be Mauer unless he just lets himself go in the offseason which i doubt.
he can have Mauer being ready by opening day the goal all he wants. I am sure it would always be the goal to have Mauer in the lineup on opening day, but hes ready or hes not. Gardenhire saying its the goal is not going to make it so.
I guess I think more highly of Radke than some. As far as the franchise goes, he is defnitely among the best. He was pretty good, and pretty important to the team, for a decade. How many guys can say that? I say congratualtions, the honor is well-earned.
Oh Kevin, knock it off!
BC of ND,
Mauer needs to learn the pitch characteristics of any new pitchers who make the MLB roster.
He may be able to do that, without actually catching them, by watching them pitch and talking to them at ST.
Johnrambo- Go troll somewhere else. You clearly understand little of baseball and know even less about Radke if that is your take on him. In Radke’s early years, he was basically the team.
He is in the top five all time for Twins innings and wins. He was consistantly a quiet team leader, and personifies the Twins ethic.
so they are going to baby baby jesus?
look at gladdens #’s not hof’r.
Add to that top five all time in strikeouts- despite not being a strikeout pitcher.
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/stats/historical/player_stats.jsp?teamPosCode=all&statType=2&timeFrame=3&Submit=Submit&c_id=min&sitSplit=&timeSubFrame2=0&venueID=&baseballScope=WS1&timeSubFrame=0&&sortByStat=SO
johnrambo has never posted a positive comment on any subject on the blog.
Just be grateful that you can see something good in life which must be invisible to him.
Bert Blyleven is #2 in most Twins career stats (behind Jim Kaat). Brad Radke is #3. Here are the games started - wins - losses: Blyleven: 345 - 149 - 138. Radke: 378 - 148 - 139. Virtually identical wins & losses (while in a Twins uniform). It Radke a few more starts to attain those numbers, but then again relief pitchers were not used as early or as often when Blyleven pitched.
Is there any way Star Trib can take down the scoreboard of the Twins’ last game of the season against the White Sox? Hate seeing it everyday…2 hits all game was ridiculous with the playoffs on the line. At least post a blank scoreboard with our 1st game of 2009 or something…
In 1997 the Twins won 68 games. Radke won 20 & won 12 games in 12 starts at one point. That in itself is a HOF achievemnet.
twenty-third
Matt E that’s just motivation for next year they should put that boxscore in the Twins clubhouse or have Cuddy make shirts with it on them.
“Why is Gladden not in the Twins HOF?”
Because you have to have been good.
I realize this is a late response… but ds your asinine comments in RE: to Radke giving up runs are so typical of low knowledge, bandwagon fans that I had to point out your ignorance. Please go away and do not bore us with your lack of insight or intellect again
Gladden isn’t in the Twins HOF because he is a HORRENDOUS announcer. The absolute worst.
How can a true Twins fan bash Brad Radke? Think about the Twins teams he pitched on. The mid to late 90’s…. We were terrible but he still was successful. In 97 he won 20 games in the majors playing on a glorified AAA team. He’s a class act and had he played on a stronger team in the early years he’d have much better numbers in the W column.
Very well said Smithers,
and I could not agree more. Go Twins and their true fans
Radke?? Wow, a career .500 pitcher. He may be a nice clubhouse guy but how in the world do we lower our standards like this? Do we have to let career .260 hitter in just because they played 10 years for the Twins?
Wow, I’m speechless…
Radke was a stud on some very mediocre teams.
Brasky..What was the Twins overall winning percentage during his career? I bet you were cheering him on when he was pitching with a broken shoulder, but now he’s not good enough…Please stay speechless!
Everyone’s a winner!! It’s a sign of the times. Everyone gets in the Twins HOF if they ask because we don’t need any lawsuits and lawyer fees cutting into our payroll…LOL!!!
OMG Brasky you are an idiot. I can’t read anymore will log back on later
When will Ron Coomer or Matt Lawton make the Twins HOF? I liked them just as much as Radke.
Brasky - You throw Radke on the Yankees roster in the Mid 90’s and he wins 20 games for 3-4 years and has 3 rings. Then do you think he’s good?
Bill, maybe you should be in the hall of fame because of your stupid comments.
I never said he wasn’t good, he’s just not HOF material. Bert Blyleven can’t even get into the real HOF yet Radke gets in the Twins HOF almost immediately after he retires because he was a “nice guy” and pitched with a sore arm the last couple months. Give him a purple heart or something but his career is not HOF worthy. I don’t care how good or bad the Twins were during his early years, he played most of his career for a contending team and was barely .500. Again, he’s probably a great guy, but we’re really lowering the bar for him.
Who really cares who gets into the TWINS Hall of Fame? It’s for fan favorites more than anything. It’s not like Cooperstown.
I’m one of the fans who voted for Radke.
I’m just wondering what the criteria some of you are using to get into the team’s HOF. Granted, Radke is not a MLB HOF pitcher, but how many pitchers has the club had better than Radke? Not a lot. Oh, and the broken shoulder thing, that counts in my book. For one thing, it shortened his career. For another, it was, as far as baseball can be, heroic.
I had the privilege of sitting with Mr. Brophy several years ago (maybe mid-90s) in those seats right behind the net. He was willing to talk to a casual fan like me, and it was quite an experience. I think I know baseball pretty well, but he was a pro, and a really nice gentleman. I’m glad he’s being honored this many years after his death.
BTW, I agree with the above contributors - Radke deserves this too. He pitched for some terrible teams, but always performed well. If his shoulder hadn’t given out so young, he would have racked up substantial numbers once the team went back on the upswing in the early part of this decade. He was also a decent guy, which never hurts.
Alec
In 1997 I was only 13 years old, but I remember Radke’s 12 game streak like it was yesterday. I was looking for anything positive as a young fan that season and it was nice knowing that every fifth day we had a pretty good chance of winning. He gave true Twins fans something to cheer about during those dark years and he deserves to be a member of the Twins HOF. Plus, he is a pretty good fisherman and a pretty good clubhouse guy…that goes a long way with this franchise.
I love the 3rd grade insults around here. I guess you’re not entitled to your own opinion on this board.
My bad everyone. I guess Punto will be the next HOF inductee because he got to play in the WBC and he’s a “really nice guy” too.
LOL!!!
No, probably because he is Italian
From Baseball Prospectus 2007:
“[Radke] pitched 200 or more innings in nine of the last eleven years, had an ERA better than the league average in ten of them, and his career walk rate of 1.63 ranks ninth all-time among pitchers with at least 1,500 innings pitched and is the second-best of the last 75 years.”
“Radke?? Wow, a career .500 pitcher. He may be a nice clubhouse guy but how in the world do we lower our standards like this? Do we have to let career .260 hitter in just because they played 10 years for the Twins?”
Except being on a horrible team doesn’t cause you to hit .260, while it does hurt your won-loss record.
Nolan Ryan was a .500 pitcher also, for anyone so stupid as to think W-L indicates anything.
I’d like to see you stand in the batters box telling him that he was just a .500 pitcher.
Then I’d like to see him crush your melon with a fastball.
You don’t get it at all Bill…go “laugh out loud” somewhere else…anyone that uses “LOL” should not be accusing other people of being in third grade…
Jay Ferguson - You are correct! He would have won a lot of games had he come along five or six years later. Never really dominant (except for that period in 97, which was so sweet), but a very nice pitcher.
Alec
“mike says:
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
You don’t get it at all Bill…go “laugh out loud” somewhere else…anyone that uses “LOL” should not be accusing other people of being in third grade…
”
LOL…oops…I mean, good one mike!
In Bill’s defense, I agree he is entitled to his opinion (even though I really, really disagree with it).
It’s the fact that you just put Radke in the same category as Punto. If you think Radke was awful and didn’t mean anything to this team, you are sorely mistaken.
Gladden should be in the Twins HOF just for stretching his single into a double in the bottom of the 10th in game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
Boneyard,
Everyone is entitled to his opinion.
And everyone else is entitled to their opinion of his opinion.
And everyone else is entitled to their opinion of their opinion of his opinion.
And everyone else is entitled to their opinion of ……….
I vote for Les Straker for the Twins HOF! Just kidding.
Congrats, Brad and George, it’s an honor well-deserved for the both of you.
56th
Wow? A .500 career record and a 4.22 career ERA get you in a Hall Of Fame? It will be the only one he gets into.
Is Wally the Beer Man in the Twins HOF?
Wow, Sid, that was very well put. But does someone’s opinion of someone else’s opinion have to degenerate into name-calling or can the discourse remain on an adult level?
Walkshaunt,
So Radke should be ashamed that he won’t get into the National HOF?
Just like Blyleven, Oliva, Morris and Gil Hodges.
I think he can live with that!
Radke was a good to very pitcher consistently for years.
Any opinion to the contrary indicates a lack of baseball acumen
Boneyard,
“Bill Brasky says:
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Radke?? Wow……..
how in the world do we lower our standards like this?”
Let he who casts the first insult….
Sid, I guess my skin isn’t quite that thin. He was talking about standards, but a blogger called him (not even his statement, but him) “stupid.” Now that’s an insult. At least you and I agree Radke belongs in the Twins HOF.
Radke belongs there. And ds? I loved your comment. I did laugh out loud at it. I love Radke, but man that guy gave up a lot of first inning runs.
Would anyone argue against Torii Hunter for the Twins HOF? He is definately not Cooperstown material.
brasky, your a moron, check the twins all time leader boards again.
Walter Johnson, I think Hunter probably belongs. Feelings toward him may have to cool a bit, but I think he belongs. I wouldn’t say he’s “definitely not Cooperstown material,” though. I would say “probably not Cooperstown material.” You never know until he’s actually done playing.
Boneyard,
I guess if I got an award; and someone said “how in the world do we lower our standards like this?”; I might take it as an insult.
He has the right to say it, but IMO, my supporters (if I have any) have the right of retaliatory insult.
Probably not in the Bill of Rights.
Boneyard, I meant his duty with the Twins was not Cooperstown material. If he has four or five more seasons like his last three…..
There are still those who actually believe Radke had a fractured shoulder? That so called “fractured” shoulder was nothing more than an attempt by the Twins organization to cover for Radke once he started taking criticism for failing to get his torn labrum fixed in the offseason BEFORE the 2006 season. He knew he had a problem late in the 2005 season but chose to do nothing about it. I guess he figured it would go away by itself.
sid, I still don’t see that as insulting toward anyone on the blog (which is what would give rise to the retaliatory insult principle), but I see your point.
Thanks for the “inside scoop”, Geraldo!
Boneyard,
Is Radke going to come on the blog to defend himself?
No, but his supporters can defend him, in my opinion.
Boneyard,
BTW, my 5:09 post was directed at johnrambo, not you.
Boneyard,
Fair enough.
I’m surprised that Radke has so many detractors. They are all wrong. First of all, the criteria for the Twins Hall of Fame are a lot lower than the criteria for the baseball Hall of Fame. Some people seem to have mixed the two up. More importantly, Radke is one of only 4 Twins pitchers in the last 30 years to win 20 games in a season. He was the anchor of the staff for almost a decade, and for most of that time he was the only reliable pitcher on the team. I think that he is definitely worthy of the Twins Hall of Fame.
Radke wasn’t personally attacked now, was he? Calling someone stupid, now that’s personal. It’s a valid distinction in my mind, but hey, I’m not the Grand Poohbah. Anyhoo, back to baseball . . .
Twins leaders all-time
VORP
1. Carew
2. Killer
3. Puckett
4. Radke
5. Blyleven
6. Hrbek
7. Johan
8. TonyO
9. Knoblauch
10. Kaat
WARP3
1. Carew
2. Puckett
3. Killer
4. Blyleven
5. Rakde
6. Hrbek
7. Oliva
8. Kaat
9. Knoblauch
10. Johan
OPS+ or ERA+ (minimum 1000 IP, 3500 PA)
1. Killer
2. Johan
3. Carew
4. Oliva
5. Allison
6. Hrbek
7. Puckett
8. Blyleven
9. Knoblauch
10. Perry
11. Radke/Goltz
Anybody who doesn’t think Brad Radke belongs in the Twins Hall of Fame has no clue what they are talking about. Jim Perry hopefully will join him next year as he’s most qualified of the next group. Will Twins fans ever forgive Chuck Knoblauch. His resume is impressive.
I immediately voted for Radke seeing his name on that list. He was the ace of teh staff for almost a decade and was still starting home openers when Santana was here. “Quality starts” are a statistic counted because of guys like Radke. Pitchers today that can throw over 200 inings (and get the ball over the plate) are worth $10 million dollars per year.
I hope that Mauer is ok, otherwise the team will have a big problem with Redmond as the every day catcher. Hopefully Ramos or Morales will step up in the spring training.
Here is another concern even if Mauer is fine for opening day: If Dickey makes the roster or if the Twins get a pitcher who habitually throws balls on the dirt (Springer), Mauer better be doing some extra bullpens once healthy, otherwise passed balls and wild pitches will be rising…
About this Twins’ HOF think and whether Radke deserved it:
* it’s not like his number is retired or something
* I think that he deserved it more than the other inductee (Brophy) this year
I just had to do this… I forgot something at the office and had to drive all the way back… I couldn’t resist…
I am not sure that Brad Radke belongs in the hall of fame. The Twins had to have 20-25 other players in history that belong there over Radke.
BC,
Earl Battey is in the Twins HOF… give it a break 
85th yeah!!
thrylos
Earl Battey was more important to this team winning than Radke, but I don’t believe that Radke should be in… it’s too easy to put players that just retired in. Everyone should have to wait a certain period of time except for Roberto Clemente. I wish all baseball teams would do that as well. Next we will put Scott Erickson in the Twins hall of fame because he won a WS title and had a No hitter… heck… he is more deserving than Radke… ugh.
echo… I hear you. that FIRST crap is about the lamest crap on the internet. It’s just ahead of spam.
BC Beneke-I Thought you were gone for the weekend!
BC,
Radke spent all of his 12 years of MLB ball with the Twins. In this span he won 148 games in mostly horrid teams.
Here are the rest Twins’ HOF starting pitchers:
Frankie (sweet music) Viola, spent 7.5 years with the Twins. In this span he won 130 games with better teams, including a world series champion team
Bert (the flying dutchman) Blyleven spent 10 years with the Twins. In this span he won 149 games with the Twins with better teams, including a world series champion team and a division championship team
Jim (kitty) Kaat spent 11.5 seasons with the Twins. In that span he won 189 games for the Twins.
Radke is the pitcher with the longest span of service with the Twins for any all star pitcher the Twins had. He won more games for the Twins than Frank Viola. He won one less game than Blyleven for the Twins.
An individual teams’ hall of fame is not about the overall production of a player in his career, but the production of a player with a particular team. If it were about the best players to ever wear a particular team’s uniform, then Steve Carlton should have been in the Twins’ HOF long time ago…
The only thing that the Twins should rethink about their HOF, their history and the numbers they retire is that they are one of the 8 founding franchises of the American League and they got to embrace the Senator years and got to include at least Walter Johnson, Goose Goslin and Early Wynn in their HOF (no need to retire their numbers because they didn’t have numbers back then). The Griffith’s had bad blood with DC but this was then and this is now and it will benefit this franchise to embrace and publicize its history…
Punto was not voted in????????
Radke pitched on many poor Twins teams during his career. If he had pitched for the Yankees or Redsox he would have easily had 225 career wins or more. Plus, he was a big game pitcher once the Twins reached the playoffs later in his career. He could have had a longer career if he would have had shoulder surgery in 2005/2006, but instead he gutted it out and pitched. He was the epitomy of leading by example, which had a great influence on the Twins younger arms. There are so many factors other than stat sheets that the casual fan doesn’t understand.
T98, well said, thank you.
The only thing I would like to add, is that Brad Radke was loyal to the Twins organization. He signed on with the Twins as a FA at reasonable saleries, at the some of the worst times in Twins history, he easily could have signed for other teams, for more money and padded his career numbers.
Thank you Mr. Radke for all your contributions to the Twins, not only on the field but off.
[…] Around the Majors – […]
The Twins wouldn’t even exist anymore if not for Radke.
In the 11 years Radke pitched for the Twins the team won less than 80 games 6 times; two of those were seasons with less than 70 wins; and one season with 57 wins. In only one of those 11 years did the Twins win 90 or more games and that was 2006 - his last season with the team. Yep, those were miserable teams, yet he maintained very respectable stats anyway.
Thrylos,
I remember the name Brophy, back in the day. Of course at that time, NO internet, AND a lot less information readily available.
In that time frame, under Calvin Griffith the Twins scouting was very good. Back in the late 70’s, I believe, there were 6/7 former Twins playing or starting in an All Star game. I tried to confirm that memory last year, but as unsuccessful in finding the lineups.
Regards,
Ryan and Radke did in deed stay with a sinking ship. Speaks volumes about character in todays greed in sports meaning more to athletes then the history and integrity of the sport itself.
Question for anyone/everyone: Who was your favorite “underdog/underrated” Twin of all time? Who should make the Twin’s Underdog Hall of Fame?
Anyone who is a true (not fair weather) Twins fan would see why Brad Radke is in the Twins HOF. People went to the dome on nights he pitched because he gave the club a chance to win. He had Rich Becker in CF and Tom Prince catching. Oh wait…he did have an all-star third baseman (no offense Coom-Dawg I love you). Maybe he is getting in because he is a good guy, but if you are a true Twins fan you would celebrate it…not look for reasons to trash it.
Radke deserves Twins HOF status. He was exactly what the Twins organization preaches about pitching (which came from the Tom Kelley era): work quickly, throw strikes, change speeds, and get your team off the field and into the dugout. It’s that simple. He rarely walked anyone (I think he led the league several times in walks allowed), he used his changeup to get outs (way before Santana became successful doing the same thing), and he anchored the Twins pitching staff for years (he had 7 or more consecutive Opening day starts for the Twins). There is no doubt that he deserves the Twins HOF. He was a pleasure to watch and his attitude was perfect. He had the Tom Kelley attitude down: Don’t get too high or too low….His pitching performance in the 2002 playoffs was amazing.
I think Mauer’s gay.
dang. how funny are these three blogs?
Radke absolutely deserves to be in the Twins HoF.
He did yeoman’s work on some very bad teams, and helped lead the Twins into their new winning era.
chicago twins fan says:
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:02 pm
“I think Mauer’s gay.”
Even if he is, I should care why?
mike-Your 10:46 post last night,in my view,defines what a true Twins is(vs a fair weather is,as you put it).GREAT POST!!!
Punto will make the Twins HoF for sure. He’s already the all time leader in head first slides into 1st base.
oh yeah he’s also the most over paid Twin in history.
Camilo Pascual belongs in the Twins HOF.
As a Twin he won 20+ games twice, led the American League in strikeouts three times, in shutouts twice (3 times counting a year as a Senator) and complete games twice (three times counting a year as a Senator).
He won 145 games as a Senator/Twin (88 as a Twin) And he was on SEVEN different All Star teams. Back in the early 60’s there were two All Star games a year and he was a part of both the games in 1960 and 1962.
I think the argument could be made.
One more note—In 1970 when Bert Blyleven came up, they compared his curve ball to Camilo Pascual’s.
Yes, Camilo Pascual should be in the Twins HoF as well.
In fact, I’m surprised he’s not!
Dragon– this is a stretch
“Back in the late 70’s, I believe, there were 6/7 former Twins playing or starting in an All Star game.” You can find the line ups at http://www.baseball-reference.com.
I checked 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. 1977 there were six current or past Twins at the game. Carew, Hisle, and Wynegar as Twins, LaRoche (Cle), Nettles (NY) and Campbell (Bos) as former Twins. LaRoche was a Twin just one year and Nettles success began until after he left the Twins. That year the NL had two future Twins– Dave Winfield and John Candelaria.
The next best year was 1976– Two Twins (Carew and Wynegar) and two ex-Twins (LaRoche and Tiant -just one year with the Twins mostly on the DL)
1979 there was one Twin (Smalley) two ex Twins (Carew and Nettles) and four future Twins (Baylor, Carlton, Winfield and Joe Niekro)
to find this info: Go to http://www.baseball-reference.com– search any player– in the states click the League column for the year you want. It will give you all the league leaders for that year plus the All Star team.
“states” should be “stats”
His best postseason series was his first, against Oakland. He started 2 games out of the 5, winning both with a 1.54 ERA. Radke only gave up 1 run in the deciding game of the series before the 5-1 Twins lead was almost squandered in the 9th, when Eddie Guardado gave up 3 runs. But the Twins won 5-4 and advanced to the 2002 American League Championship Series. He would go on to lose the only game he pitched against the Angels, but shut them out for the first 6 innings of that game. In the end, the Twins bullpen and offense failed and they lost 7-1 and lost the series 4-1. (Wikipedia)
I’d almost give it to him based on that postseason, but as others have said, he was also a workhorse on a bad team and a great control pitcher. The main knock is 1st inning HRs!
