If the Twins’ starting pitchers continue to struggle and right-hander Kyle Gibson makes more progress at AAA Rochester, he seems a cinch to be promoted to Minnesota this year. Gibson, 23, has a record of 2-3 with a 3.80 ERA. He’s impressed with 49 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.
Another highly publicized Twins’ prospect, switch hitting outfielder Aaron Hicks, is only batting .224 against right-handed pitching but hitting .290 versus lefties. Overall, Hicks, 21, is batting .250 for the Fort Myers Class A team.
Former Twins’ pitcher Jim Perry, elected this year to the Twins Hall of Fame, will be honored during a ceremony at Target Field on June 11. Perry is fourth in career wins for the franchise with 128, trailing Jim Kaat (189), Bert Blyleven (149) and Brad Radke (148).
The recently adjourned legislative session didn’t result in approval for allowing the Gophers to serve alcohol in premium seating areas at TCF Bank Stadium, Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena. Some legislators want alcohol available to all fans or none at all, but common practice at college venues is to restrict alcoholic beverages to premium areas such as suites and thereby eliminate access by students. The no-alcohol policy has cost the Gophers’ athletic department millions of dollars.
Richard “Pinky” McNamara, who played football for the Gophers in the mid-1950s, was a great supporter of that sport including at Hastings High School and the Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game. McNamara, who passed away this week after a long battle with Alzheimer’s, was part of a group including Bud Grant, Verne Gagne, Paul Giel, Billy Bye and Bobby Cox that for years had a summer get-together at Bay Lake.
Author Jim Holden emailed that not only is the Rochester Mayo tennis team going to the State Tournament but team member Ingrid Neel will become only the third girl ever to play in the Minnesota boys’ tournament, according to his research. He wrote that Neel is the No. 1 ranked 12-year-old girl in the country. Holden is the author of Tennis in the Northland, a comprehensive history of boys’ high school tennis in Minnesota.
Junior third baseman Bryan Lippincott from Concordia University, St. Paul leads the Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball Teams selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Lippincott won the Academic All-America® of the Year award in the College Division comprised of NCAA Division II, III and the NAIA. A Finance major with a 4.00 GPA, Lippincott ranks among the NCAA Division II leaders through 34 games with a .434 batting average. His career college average is .406.