Enjoy a Monday notes column.
Michael Busch, the Simley High School alum, will be in town starting tomorrow night with his Cub teammates for a three-game series at Target Field against the Twins. Busch, 27, is having a career year in his third MLB season and is on a torrid pace at the plate.
He recently finished fourth in All-Star Game balloting among NL first basemen, and he has nine hits in his last 12 at bats, raising his season average to .297 to go along with 18 home runs and 56 RBI. Among the MLB leaders in slugging percentage and OPS, he hit four home runs in a two-game span last week. In his last 30 games, he is hitting .365 with 11 home runs and 26 RBI.
Born in Inver Grove Heights, the 6-1, 210-pound left-handed hitter was drafted out of the University of North Carolina in 2019 by the Dodgers in the first round. The Dodgers sent Busch to the Cubs in a January 2024 trade after a rookie season in which he had only 72 at bats and hit .167.
The Cubs struck it right with the acquisition of Busch who last season hit .248 with 21 home runs. Manager Craig Counsell told the Cubs official website last week that Busch has “turned into a great offensive player.”
Busch, who has seven siblings and is the son of Mike and Judy Busch, captained baseball, hockey and football teams at Simley. The Interleague matchup means a rare road visit to Minneapolis by the Cubs who lead the NL Central Division with a 54-36 record.
July 7 Twins birthday club: former World Series outfielder Dan Gladden is 68; TV broadcaster Cory Provus is 47; and ex-broadcast voice John Gordon is 85.
A Sports Headliners reader offered this documentation on how bad Gopher men’s basketball has been compared to neighboring rivals Wisconsin and Iowa.
In the past 20 seasons:
Minnesota
Winning conference seasons: 1
NCAA Tournament wins: 2
Wisconsin
Winning conference seasons: 17
NCAA Tournament wins: 25
Iowa
Winning conference seasons: 9
NCAA Tournament wins: 4
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers July 17. Golf’s Zach Johnson, winner of two majors and captain of the 2023 American Ryder Cup team, addresses the group July 22 while in town for the annual 3M Open.
The 3M field includes defending champion Jhonattan Luis Vegas and 2022 titlist Tony Finau who has four top 10 career finishes in the tournament. Local names playing at the July 21-27 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine are Frankie Capan III (Stillwater), former Gopher Erik van Rooyen and PGA veteran Tom Hoge who is a Fargo native.
Looks like Wild GM Bill Guerin pulled off a savvy move by acquiring veteran winger and Russian native Vladimir Tarasenko from the Red Wings for future considerations. He turns 34 in December but is expected to help the Minnesota offense with his experience, playmaking and scoring. It doesn’t hurt that Tarasenko adds a second Russian teammate (along with Yakov Trenin) for Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov who the Wild hope will sign a contract extension this offseason.
Koi Perich, Anthony Smith and Darius Taylor, all underclassmen and receiving preseason recognition for honor teams from college football authorities, will represent the Golden Gophers at Big Ten Football Media Days later this month in Las Vegas, along with head coach P.J. Fleck. The Gophers will receive the media focus on July 23. The Big Ten Network will have live coverage of all 18 conference teams July 22, 23 and 24.
A belated happy birthday to former Golden Gophers trainer Jim Marshall who turned 95 on July 3.
Congratulations to legendary Minnesota prep coaches Brian Cosgriff and Larry McKenzie on their respective selections as National Coach of the Year for girls and boys basketball as recognized in June by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.