The absolute all-time worst Twins?
Posted on July 10th, 2009 – 7:26 AMBy Howard
(Howard’s Note: Today’s guest poster is law student Josh Borken, who took a break from studying for the bar exam to come up with a list that’s open for debate and revision — the worst players to wear Twins colors during the Metrodome years. If you need to see the numbers of some of these baseball miscreants, go to baseball-reference.com. I decided against linking to each of these guys because it could do bad things to your computer. I hope this’ll keep you from dwelling too much on the Yankees series. Have a good weekend — and, again, thanks to the guest posters who are keeping things going through the All-Star break.)
As you know, the Twins are running a promotion to select the all-time best
Metrodome team — another way to honor Santana, Puckett and some of the others who have played for them since 1982.
I found it a lot easier, and a lot more enjoyable, to come
up with an all-time worst Metrodome team. Every position is subject to
debate, except Dave Stevens as the closer.
1B — Scott Stahoviak. He was seriously compared to Kent Hrbek in a preseason preview in this newspaper. Not quite.
2B — Brent Gates. Gator Gates. Rivas had 1 good year. Gates didn’t.
3B — Dave Hollins. A jerk. Sulked his way into a trade netting David Ortiz,
who never amounted to anything.
SS — Jason Maxwell. The toughest selection to come up with for this team. He
gets the nod over Juan Castro based on team record.
LF — Butch Huskey. He didn’t see the wall while chasing a home run that landed
at least 6 rows back. It was turn ahead the clock night. A bad display of
judgment that occurred while wearing a silver Twins jersey. The chalk
outline on the wall the next day has to be the most bittersweet Dome moment
ever.
CF — Alex Cole. Alex Cole never showed any emotion, mainly because he always wore sunglasses.
RF — Rich Becker. Remember when he was a single shy of the cycle and had 2 chances to get it? The worst defender on this team.
Bench — Michael Restovich. But he has so much potential.
C (the year of 5: 2000) — Danny Ardois, Chad Moeller, Matthew LeCroy, Marcus Jensen. Rather than go through each one of these guys separately, it’s enough to say that if you don’t remember the year 2000 as the year of 5 catchers (A.J. Pierzynski being the fifth, and exempt from this list), then
you never experienced true agony.
Rotation:
Dan Serafini. I saw his first start, and it was abysmal. A sentimental #1
Frankie Rodriguez. He pitched way too long for this team.
Scott Aldred. The worst part was how much money he got paid.
Adam Johnson. Not a very large sample size to draw from, but the combination
of high draft pick and never amounting to anything gets him the nod.
Sean Bergman. Nobody remembers Sean Bergman. There’s a reason.
Bullpen
Bob Wells. A set-up guy who just made things worse.
Hector Carrasco. I used to always stress a certain syllable from his name
whenever he entered.
Scott Klingenbeck. More terrible as a reliever than a starter.
Seth Gresinger. Bad numbers plus longevity.
Willie Eyre. The worst of the garbage men.
Ramon Ortiz. A tough call, but he had more relief appearances then starts. A
rare bad player on a good Twins team.
Closer
Dave Stevens He blew 5 saves in 16 chances. I’ll never forget the
game when he blew a save, got pulled, went into the dugout, and punched a
phone with his pitching hand. Had he never watched Bull Durham?
Can you top those — or add to the bench?
106 Responses to "The absolute all-time worst Twins?"
How does Tony Bautista not make this list?
Joe Mays 2.0 (post surgery) probably should be on here.
Todd Walkers defense probably deserved a mention too.
Fun topic, and the discussion will be great!
I have a couple of better picks…How about Dave Engle at catcher? He couldn’t make a decent throw back to the pitcher. I think opposing teams took advantage of this and stole a base on him at least once because of his poor throws. And the all-tinme worst Twins 2nd baseman during the Metrodome years (maybe all-time worst Twin period) has to be Tommy (Iron Man) Herr. He didn’t want to be here and he didn’t want to play. We traded Brunansky for this bum!
“At shortstop, number 12, Lenny Faedo…”
“Number 1…Houston Jimenez…”
“Number 4…Chris Speier.”
Even though Jesse Crain started his career out pretty good, he has done so much damage to Twins playoff chances (and when we were in the playoffs vs Oakland in ‘06).
What about Punto, Tolbert, Redmond, Crain, Buscher, Baker, Liriano, Delmon, annnnnnnnnnnd. Ah geez, those are all current guys. Depressing.
Also, who is managing this bunch? Only a couple to pick from….
Brett Boone
Butch Huskey ran into the wall while playing for the Mariners, not the Twins. Still, probably my favorite Dome moment of all time. I was watching that game at home by myself, and I had tears running down my face as they showed replay after replay of him crashing into the wall. I think what got me was that you could hear an audible “OOHHH” from the crowd at the Dome each time they showed the reply on the big screen. Simply awesome (can anyone find a link to that highlight? it’d be a great Friday video to watch at work!)
Willie Norwood-CF
You know you are bad when your hometown fans drape a “Dr. Strangeglove” banner behind you over the center field fence.
Hands down - Chad Allen is a must for this list. I refuse to accept this list until he is added. Might be the worst player to ever wear a Twins uniform. I may have given a little smirk when he blew out his knee…
How about that slick fielding SS from 1984, Houston Jimenez. Only 18 errors in 107 games, and a whopping .201 batting average!
Mike Smith?
Infielder Cleatus Davidson
Outfielder and world champion Jarvis Brown
Jesse Crain started his career out pretty good, he has done so much damage to Twins playoff chances
The guy I remember in that regard is Eddie Guardado (who almost blew the save in that final game)
I wish the author would have added the years that these players played…….
Can’t have this team without a shout out to Ron Davis, who not only pitched poorly, he crushed the morale of the whole team.
I remember Gates. Tolbert is worse.
you left jason tyner, DH, off of your list. As a LF, he’d look pretty good compared to one player right now, but as a DH, ugh. Ben Revere might get more XBH than Tyner.
Seriously, you need to add some of the horrible attempts at DH this decade to your list….
Not Terry Felton in the pen?
0-16 lifetime record (0-13 in 82)
Sam Mele has to be the manager.
I 2nd the additions of Bret Boone and Tony Bautista to the bench. Add Phil Nevin to that group as well.
I posted a similar blog on this topic a few days ago, except it was more along of the washed up players the Twins get outside of our organization…check it out if you’re really bored.
Tolbert. That was easy.
How about Mr. 0-16, Terry Felton?
I meant Billy Gardner as manager…wow thats a bad slip putting Mele in there…
Terry Felton needs to be added to the bullpen solely on his 0-13 record in 1982..
Why does everyone harp on Alex Cole? Sure, the defense was sketchy at best (and the sunglasses were silly) but the man did hit .304/.381/.415 while in Minnesota.
Try this pair of centerfielders on:
Bobby Mitchell (’82-’83) - .244/.337/.310
Darrell Brown (’83) - .272/.297/.304
No mention of Terry Felton and his 0-13 record in 1982?
The outfield trefecta of Willie Norwood (a.k.a Dr. StrangeGlove), Hosken Powell and Bombo Rivera in the same outfield. Legend has it that Gene Mauch was so frustrated with Norwood’s fielding that he took Norwood’s glove and set it on fire in the clubhouse after one particular brutal game. Mauch resigned about two weeks later because he couldn’t take watching this pathetic group.
Bob Gorinski at first base would give Stahoviak a run for his money, as would David McCarty.
Got to go with Ray Miller as the worst manager.
Pat Putnum
Butch Husky
Huston Himanez
Tommy Herr
Brett Boone
Old School Met
Bombo Rivera
Willy Norwood
Hoskin Powell
Ron Davis
Nick Punto
Worst defensive outfield of all-time:
-Willie Norwood
-Delmon Young
-Mickey Hatcher
These guys could get killed playing catch together ~
Worst defensive outfield of all-time:
-Delmon Young
-Delmon Young
-Delmon Young
No one will play catch with him…
I also forgot about David McCarthy. (ithink that was his name) what a bust
I would think Ray Miller over Billy Gardner as the worst manager by a nose.
Ron Davis would be my closer and Herr as my second baseman on the basis that, it’s one thing to be awful (as everyone on this list was), but when you’re actually SUPPOSED to be good and you perform so poorly that grown men cry at the mention of your name, you deserve a spot on this list.
MICHAEL RYAN
Who will ever forget his pinch-hit appearance in the playoffs against the Yankees where he swung at strike 3 and the ball probably could have landed in the 2nd row.
Sincerely:
Lew Ford
*************************************
Is there going to be a vote for the worst broadcasters to ever set foot behind a radio or television microphone too?
Felton was better than 0-13 but he was still 0-13. Only 0-14 is worse than that and no one in baseball history has done that.
I would vote Ron Davis also. He was supposed to be good. I don’t even remember Dave Stevens but I don’t think expectations were very high either.
I have occassionally defended Punto but his 2007 season definitely deserves mention.
JC, Didn’t see your post but obviously we were on the same wavelength with regards to the only position not subject to debate.
Wow. Worst Metrodome Twins team of all time. I like most of the picks this guy had however I thought of a few more:
Pitchers:
Starters:
Pat Mahomes
Willie Banks
Kyle Lohse
Rich Robertson
Position Players:
First Base Steve Dunn
Utility Infield Denny Hocking (at least when trying to hit)
Outfield Otis Nixon
Any third baseman between Gary Gaetti and Corey Koskie. Except Ron Coomer was alright.
Other than that, I think you guys nailed it!
David McCarty (former 1st overall pick)
Nick Punto
1B- David McCarty
2B - Fred Manrique
SS - Lenny Faedo
3B - Ron Coomer
LF - John Moses
CF - Bombo Rivera
RF - Marty Cordova
DH - Butch Huskey
RHP - Willie Banks
LHP - Rich Robertson
R - Ron Davis
All of the guys on this list were bad, but to me there should be a minimum # of at-bats/innings pitched to qualify. Basically they should have been the primary starter at that position for at least a season or made a certain # of starts. Adam Johnson was certainly one of the all-time draft busts, but to put him on an all-time Worst Metrodome team when he probably pitched less then 5 games there is disingenuous. My team:
1B-Stahoviak, no doubt there
2B-Jay Canizaro- primary 2B in 2000. Brent Gates never started more then a handful of games there.
SS-Houston Jiminez. I’m not old enough to have seen him play, but his 1983 #’s look awful. Again Jason Maxwell never started more then a few games at SS for the Twins.
3B-Nick Punto 2007. Hands down. Give me Dave Hollins any day
LF-Lew Ford 2006-that was brutal. There aren’t a lot of great candidates
CF-Rich Becker, no explanation needed
RF-Dustan Mohr-beats out Pedro Munoz by a hair
C-I have to go with Matt Walbeck here, though it’s hard to argue with the 2000 mess.
Starters:
Frankie Rodriguez
Pat Mahomes
Jose Parra
Rich Robertson
LaTroy Hawkins-he was awful as a starter
Bullpen: (Carrasco and Wells were much better then these stiffs)
Stevens
Ron Davis
Klingenbeck
Greg Hansell
Travis Miller
Dan Perkins
Bench:
Sal Butera
Paul Sorrento
Jeff Rebolet
1B- Ron Jackson
Ron Jackson? I don’t think Pappa Up played in the Dome. I thought his last season with the Twins was in 81.
This is a fun list…..How about for the next list, there is a discussion about the All-Time Tail Busters in Twin history. I mean guys who really got out there and busted their tails more than anyone else.
This relates more to the stats topic of a couple days ago, but it made me chuckle. It’s from Bob Collins’ Newscut Blog at MPR.ORG.
“New technology in baseball, says the New York Times:
A new camera and software system in its final testing phases will record the exact speed and location of the ball and every player on the field, allowing the most digitized of sports to be overrun anew by hundreds of innovative statistics that will rate players more accurately, almost certainly affect their compensation and perhaps alter how the game itself is played.
The new gizmo will reveal that the Twins need a secondbaseman who can hit.”
One more vote for Ron Davis. When I saw the title of the post, the first name I thought of was Ron Davis.
If he doesn’t fit the criteria for the list, the criteria needs to be changed. In terms of gut-wrenching, trembling, pit-in-your stomach memories, he’s got to be on top. There isnt’ anyone that followed this team in the mid-80s who wasn’t scarred by him.
Honestly, if you put this to a survey, and you put his name up there, it might be a landslide. The only other possible contender might be the other name that’s coming up, Tommy Herr. IMHO McCarthy finishes third, just because of his huge bustness.
I will try to respond to comments as often as I can. I do have to study criminal law/criminal procedure and tax today.Joe G: congratulations on being the first person to mention Pat Mahomes. Due to his serviceable bullpen career in Texas and my sentimental attachment to him as a kid, he was pardoned from this list. The reason why there is no DH, is because I have a 25 man roster and any one of them could DH. Plus, I don’t really consider DH a position, and neither did the Twins after Molitor left. The only possible choice is Ortiz, and I think he’s in Boston now.Rich Robertson doesn’t make it because he won a fair amount of games (double digits at least once)
If there was a consensus on how to spell Houston Jiminez’s name, I’d have thought about him
I like the idea of a manager, but we haven’t exactly had many during the Dome years. It would almost have to be Ray Miller by default, right?
As a general rule, only 0 good seasons (for any team) got you into consideration for this team. Which is why Punto, Herr, Todd Walker, Otis Nixon, and Brett Boone were omitted. Also, we made Boone cry when we put him in a position to end his career something like 2-25.
Why hasn’t anyone made a case for Matt Kinney yet? C’mon people. As for Willie Banks and Jose Parra, I’m thinking about it
What about “Downtown” Darrell Brown, the centerfielder who got benched for Kirby?
SP - Matt Kinney
SP - Mike Morgan
SP - Shane Rawley
SP - Carlos Pulido
SP - Sidney Ponson
RP - Erik Schullstrom
RP - Travis Miller
RP - Lee Tunnell
RP - Julio DePaula
RP - Sean Henn
RP - Ramon Ortiz
1B - Dan Masteller
SS - Cleatus Davidson
DH - Matt LeCroy
2B - Jay Canizaro
3B - Tony Batista
OF - Rick Becker
OF - Craig Monroe
OF - Otis Nixon
C - Derek Parks
Utility - Matt Tolbert
OF - Jason Tyner
I think Ron Davis was single-handedly the most responsible for the 1987 Twins world title. Because his relief pitching was so pathetic, we traded for Jeff Reardon and the rest is history!
Sean: Your list is pretty good, although I think you need some time to cool off before you can put Tolbert and Henn on the list. Otis Nixon had a great career, and it’s not his fault the Twins let him extend it. Craig Monroe has also been productive at different points in his career. Plus he reminds me of Rondell White, in that they’re exactly the same person.
Travis Miller wasn’t bad at all, except when he started. His overall numbers are pretty average, not all-time worst.
Canizaro played sparingly for the Twins, and did pretty well when he got to play.
Mike Morgan had a long career, mostly non-Twins aided, and he made an All-Star team. Inelligible.
Lee Tunnell only pitched in 10 games as a Twin and apparently played major league baseball, which was news to me.
And Mastellar was Stahoviak’s backup for 1 year, I’d rather have the guy who fooled the Twins for multiple seasons
I like Schullstrom for this team, and would be willing to give Ortiz’s spot to him.
Still nobody has mentioned the SP and 26th man for this list that I spent 15 minutes debating on his ultimate exclusion.
How about our fellow blogger, Terry (0-16) Felton?
Rondell White
Sy, 0-13 as a domer but I made the case earlier. How can you be worse than 0-13? There is no 0-14. I remember him being better than that having loast a couple low scoring games and having good stuff, but still, 0-13.
Chad, White had a pretty good 2nd half of 2006 but agree overall he was a bust. I think the Twins get a bad rap here though. Everyone calls him another retread signing. I thought it was a great move at the time. There was nothing to suggest otherwise. Good power and average. Only 34 and coming off a good year with Detroit. This was probably one of their better moves that simply went wrong.
The case against Ron Davis:
Another former All-Star. Hard to put an All-Star on an all-worst team.
Top 5 in saves 3x while with the Twins.
We got him and Gagne for Roy Smalley. And we eventually got Roy Smalley’s hair back as an anouncer.
Ron Davis was atrocious. He was abysmal. Blown Saves are the worst. Aguilera killed me on several occasions, to the point my mom had to restrain me when walking past him in the airport. LaTroy Hawkins was equally terrible leading up to his exit, and nothing infuriated me more than the blind allegiance of the LaTroy Hawkins fan club down the right field line in the cheap seats. But Dave Stevens was never once competent. Never once reliabe. Never once had talent.
Ron Davis was capable at one point in his career and at infrequent points while he was a Twin. But the guy saved people’s lives during a walkway collapse (check out Wikipedia) and his son was a first round pick. An all-star once and 11 seasons played in the majors. He was a closer for the Twins, and that position on this team is filled.
Yo, Josh…Nice to see a fellow 2009 Hamline law grad contributing to the world!
We have to eliminate Alex Cole from your list. Bobby Mitchell, in 1982, had about 400 AB’s as the Twins’ centerfielder. He hit .249 with 2 HR’s and just 28 RBI. Truly horrific stuff. CF if a tough one to find in the dome years simply because so many of those years were eaten up by Kirby and Torii, but I think that Bobby is just the man for the job.
There also has to be a special place on this team for Juan Rincon. I know he had a couple good years for the Twins, but the fact that he got caught with performance enhancers, told a story about how it was a misunderstanding, and then never threw a decent inning the rest of his career has to garner him some sort of honorable mention role on this squad.
Keep up the good work, Josh, and good luck on the Bar.
I vote for “Downtown” Darrell Brown.
Josh,
Great idea & fun stuff. As is evidenced by all the previous comments it’s probably a tougher and more fun debate this way than voting for the best Dome-Twins of all-time. Good luck at school.
pat mears and chip hale anyone?
NICK PUNTO! TERRY MULLHOLAND. ADAM EVERETT. Just to name a few
those of you who voted for ron coomer are idiots. he was one of the lone decent players on those later 90’s teams.
oh, and i didn’t see brian buchanan in anyone’s outfield
LEW FORD. He had one good month, the rest was terrible. He was so bad that he had to leave to play in Japan. Then he got cut by that team.
You can’t skip Terry Felton (0-16 career) our Ron Davis.
Rick Reed (bad trade)
Eddie G is a border liner in my opinion.
Horrible for many years, had a couple decent years but choked it in the playoffs or in close meaningfull games (Could save a 3 run lead sometimes)
Mauer to participate in HR derby!?!?
Brodie-
If Bobby Mitchell wore sunglasses in over 75% of the team’s games that year (including night games), he should totally be on the team. I’m not too attached the SS on this team either. Pretty strong positions for the Twins over the Dome years.
As for Juan Rincon, he gets an honorable mention with all of the other unlikely Twins that have been found to be steroid users. Dan Naulty, Chad Allen, Chuck Knoblauch (somebody just threw a battery) and Matt Lawton, congratulations on at least trying to get better.
And how hasn’t anyone suggested Mike Lincoln yet?
Hands down - Chad Allen is a must for this list. I refuse to accept this list until he is added. Might be the worst player to ever wear a Twins uniform. I may have given a little smirk when he blew out his knee…
That’s just wrong.
Chad Allen wasn’t a good major league baseball player, but watching him crawl after the ball to try and prevent an inside-the-park homer when he shredded his knee is not something to smirk at.
Dude gave his heart on that play.
Sheesh.
Can you be a guest poster and claim to be attempting a law degree when you can’t spell “inelligible?”
Also, don’t preface a potential lack of posting with a snarky comment about having “to study criminal law/criminal procedure and tax today.”
Sorry I thought this was a roast.
Maybe someone mentioned these, but I’ll add Ron Davis and Tommy Herr.
When we unloaded Davis to the Cubs for blowing so many saves, Harry Carey said, “Oh no, he’s doing the same thing in Cub’s Territory as he did in Twin’s Territory!” Tommy Herr has three strikes against him. We traded Tom Brunansky for him, he turned Gary Gaetti into a weirdo, and HE DIDN’T DO SQUAT ON THE FIELD!
Oh, one more thing. This is funny, check it out!
Come on! One person on this board says RonDL should be on this team? Have all of you forgotten the agony of having this pansy in the line-up? Or, worse yet, in left field? RonDL was back then what Nick Punto is now. Come on, boys. This is the same guy that would sneeze in the dugout and break three ribs!
Shaun, what was funny about that video??? I mean, if you’re a four-year-old girl you might giggle and the M & Ms, but it doesn’t come across as all that humorous to a sane adult.
I submit Mike Trombley for the bullpen. He didn’t put up horrendous statistics across his career, though he certainly could have never been called even a “good” player. But what will always be remembered of him was he was the reliever who gave up the grand slam to Jason Giambi and the Yankees in 2002 in the bottom of the 14th inning, after the Twins had pulled to a three-run lead in the top of that inning. That game haunts me to this day.
In 5 years this list will include Liriano’s name. The comment will be wasted talent that led to the dismantling of a promising rotation.
did ramon ortiz make the list because he lasted longer than sir sidney? i would think sir sidney was very deserving of a start for this team.
I can think of some horrendous catchers growin’ up as a twins fan in the 80s, tom nieto, sal butera, and junior ortiz to name a few. i always heard stories of the twins closer ron davis blowin’ saves.
As an “old time” Twins fan, (Since the early Sixties.) my top five worst Twins players are:
1. Denny Hocking. (Watching him laying in the dirt beating his mitt on the ground after missing an easy grounder hit right to him…ARGH!)
2. Nick Punto. (Denny’s reincarnation but with even less power!)
3. Brian “Ironhands” Buchanan. (Popups bounced right out of his mitt!)
4. Tommy Herr. (’Nuff said.)
5. David McCarty. (Biggest bust of all time.)
Footnote: No, I didn’t like Ron Davis either.
As a kid, I couldn’t watch Ron Davis close out a game, even when the Twins weren’t supposed to win.
Mark Portugal and hometown boy Denny Neagle should be on here.
As for Mike Morgan, Terry Mulholland and Jesse Orosco - they simply didn’t know when to ‘hang it up’; yet, the Pohlads were always willing to pay for near-pensioners simply due to numbers they put up in the “formative years” of their (not so) respectable careers.
How can you leave me off the list? I’m hurt.
Regards,
Tommy Herr
Tommy Herr was HoF material compared to Steve Lombardozzi, who comapares evenly with Punto.
I’m in %100 agreement on Dave Stevens whenever i hear his name i get the urge to turn of the radio or TV and leave the room.
C- Todd Prince
1B- Todd Sears
2B- Brett Boone
3B- Jay Canizaro
SS- Jason Maxwell
OF- Casey Blake
OF- Quinton McCracken
OF- Chad Allen
Rotation
Joe Mays
Kyle Lohse
Rick Reed
Adam Johnson
Matt Guerrier- He was a terrible starter I remember that he had a spot start in Montreal and was out in 3.
Bullpen
Seth Gresinger
Carlos Pulido
Brad Thomas
Matt Kinney
Jack Cressend
Static21-
Can you be a knowledgeable commenter when you don’t know the difference between a graduate who has a law degree and is studying for the bar exam and a student attempting to finish law school? I’m studying for the bar exam, not a spelling bee. Also, isn’t it snarky when you post passive-aggressive apologies in your posts? I spend 10 hours a day studying for this exam. You spend your Friday nights commenting on blogs. Did you suggest a player for this team? Or don’t you have anything positive to contribute?
I’ll defend Tommy Herr while I’m here. .263/.349/.326 during the half-season of games he played here. That’s a little better than Gates’ numbers over a larger sample size of two seasons (.252/.326/.330). Herr also went to an All-Star game and finished in the top 5 of MVP voting once. Gates went to the U of M! Support the locals.
steve brye was no gem…i always swore i was better than him….
Rotation:
Name W-L ERA GS YRS
Deshais 17-25 5.71 52 2
Rodriguez 25-32 5.20 75 4
Bonser 18-25 5.12 60 3
Havens 18-28 5.00 58 3
Hawkins 26-44 6.16 78 5
Robertson 17-29 5.17 61 3
Hawkins numbers are as starter only.
SS Luiz Gomez-he hit .139 (with ZERO extra-base hits) in 1975. That would be a Slugging % of .139 as well. Between 1974 and 1976 he hit a grand total of 2 extra-base hits (both doubles) in 3 seasons (197 ABs). He makes Punto look like Babe Ruth.
Bobby Randall of the Randall / Tuefel platoon. Randall had one of the strangest swings around, he actually swung down on every ball and choked up about 1-2 inches off the knob of the bat. Pat Putnum was one of the all time worst mid season acquisitions ever. Catcher, LeCroy was the worst defensive catcher ever and to think we got rid of Ortiz so LeCroy could have the DH spot all by himself. Bombo Rivera, Willie Norwood and Hosken Powell as all time worst outfield. Agree with Stahoviak at first but David McCarty is a close second. Eric Soderholm ring a bell at third?
JOSH:
Whitey Herzog was simply amazed Tommy Herr stunk so bad for the Twins. He said he couldn’t figure it out, he’s a “dam good player.” But he was traded for Brunansky, a key player for our beloved ‘87 World Champs. Bruno went on to play hard and put up numbers for a few other teams. Tommy Herr quit on us.
Livan Hernandez has to be on this list.
LALA:
I don’t think you fully realize how hard it is to create something like this:
http://www.jocklife.com/sites/default/files/images/mm_ad.jpg
Shaun:
Doesn’t turning Tommy Herr into Tom Brunansky count for a lot? I used the same rationale when I omitted Roberto Kelly.
But you make a great point about his attitude, and I used the same argument to include Dave Hollins. You can even go so far as to use the inverse logic to omit someone who would certainly make the team if he wasn’t so likeable.
I’m talking of course, about Al Newman.
First and foremost, I love Newmie. He won 2 titles. He smiled every day. He probably kept Kirby here. I absolutely, positively, think he doesn’t belong on the all-time worst Metrodome team.
But his numbers are horrendous. Over 1600 at bats with the Twins and he hit.231/.306/.275 with 0 homeruns and only 135 RBI. That’s Tyner-esque.
He’s not on the team because people knew his role, he hustled like crazy, and he’s tied for the team lead in smiles with Jacque Jones. Plus, is there anyone out there who groaned when Al Newman was up (besides Static21)?
So I think the better argument for Herr’s inclusion isn’t so much his ability, but his attitude while he was here.
Or we could both just agree to pretend Orlando Merced played second base.
1b: Scott Stahoviak
2b: “The Boone” and his one hit a month hitting pace!
3b: Tony Bautista
SS: Jason Maxwell never started so his futility never hurt the team, so it’s got to be Nick Punto and his .190 avg.
of: Chad Allan and his amazing ability to get picked off everytime he was on base
of: Rich Becker
of: Otis Nixon, like Bautista wish we had him 10 years earlier
C:Matt LeCroy later in his career his incompetence drove Frank Robinson to tears.
Rotation:
Sidney Ponson, Benji Sampson, Mike Lincoln and Sean Bergeman, a loss was always guarenteed eery 5th day with these guys. Also Pat Maholmes, more DWI’s then wins.
Bullpen: Dave Stevens, Ron Davis, Luis Ayala, and Brian Bass gets the nod over Willie Eyre for mop up duty
Definitely not going to argue with you, I know how hard you work. But some on the blog said he was an influence on Gaetti also. So that’s two heroes he was connected with, and I hold a grudge. So sue me.
No don’t, I take that bakc,lol!
Probably not completely fair, in as much as the human condition always offers potential for change but:
Delmon (I never saw a pitch I couldn’t swing at)Young; Delmon (my fielding skills decline inversely with proximity to the fence) Young.
Turning Tommy Herr into Tom Brunansky? I’m sorry, Josh, but it was the other way around, and it was a disaster. I applaud your effort, but it appears that your list, instead of being representative of the 1982-2009 seasons at the Dome, only really covers 1993-2000. There were some very ugly regulars of the ’80s that you simply need on this team to give it legitimacy. Houston Jimenez, Darrell Brown, Terry Felton, and Ron Davis need to be on the list. I’d also throw an honorable mention Steve Carlton’s way.
You have to put Latrpy Hawkins as a Starter on this list, AND Delmon Young!
By the way, Butch Husky was on the Mariners when he hit the wall. His stellar Twins career had not started yet.
I KNOW ONE THING; BILL SMITH WOULD BE THIS TEAMS GM!!!!1
Ron (boom boom there goes another one) Davis stands out in my mind.
When the 61 twins came to town, they had some double A players on the field. I’m trying to remember—How was Dan Dobbeck, Julio Becquar?
I’d rather remember the good ones, there’s been a lot of them.
HAVE FUN !!! GO TWINS !!!
3B: Tony Batista, Mike Lamb (tie)
C: Henry Blanco
SS: Cleatus Davidson
OF: Chris Latham
P: Sidney Ponson
Nick Punto because he sucks offensively and he gets paid around $5mil, and also Gardy keeps starting this bum every game.
I’m not sure Rick Becker has anything on JT Bruett and Mike Maksudian probably belongs in the first base discussion. I don’t care what Felton’s record was, you’ll have a tough time convincing me that Klingenbeck wasn’t the worst Twins pitcher I’ve ever seen. Felton’s ERA was under 5.00 in 1982 and we’ve probably had numerous pitchers who’ve won 10 games in a season with higher ERA’s than that. Ron Davis was a sure-fire blown save every time he took the ball as well and should easily beat out Dave Stevens in that race. Here are some names that have no business being in the discussion: Bob Wells (at least one decent year), Alex Cole (see previous), Willie Eyre (he was terrible, but there are far worse), Jeff Reboulet (didn’t hit much, but could play anywhere), Pat Mears (better than almost every shorstop we’ve had not named Gagne or Guzman) and Chip Hale (one of the best pinch hitters we’ve ever had). Whoever it was that suggested Kyle Lohse is also way off if you think he’s even in the top 20 of worst pitchers we’ve had and the same goes for Rich Robertson. I would also like to add that Jacque Jones is by far the most overrated player in team history (he did hit some HR’s, but nobody stranded more base runners by striking out on three pitches that didn’t scare the strike zone more than Jones). He couldn’t touch the ball with a tennis racket most of the time and he makes Delmon look like Mauer up there.
I read the blog and scrolled through the comments and maybe I missed it but I am somewhat stunned that I have not seen the name David West. Was he so bad that we have blocked him completely from our collective memories?
Two more for some lovely fun:
DH: Kevin Maas, wow was he bad.
Closer: Curt Wardle, supposed to be the next great thing, instead managed 1 career save.
