Media – Page 45 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Look for Miguel Sano Return Friday

Posted on May 24, 2018May 26, 2018 by David Shama

A Thursday notes column that includes medical news:

Sports Headliners is told by a club source Miguel Sano is expected to be available for the Twins tomorrow night in Seattle against the Mariners after being out of the lineup almost a month since being diagnosed with a hamstring strain. He has successfully been on a rehab assignment earlier this week with Minnesota’s Rochester Triple-A team.

There is lingering concern the 6-4, 260-pound Sano needs a more dedicated approach to his conditioning. It’s more than a good guess Twins management is hopeful the 25-year-old third baseman will develop a better conditioning approach to his body.

The Twins, 21-24, have played 45 games this season but Sano has participated in only 20. He is hitting .213 with four doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI and nine walks.

Sano has a history of injuries and weight issues during his professional career. He has never played in more than 116 MLB games in a single season. He has the potential to be among American League leaders in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage. After joining the Twins in the summer of 2015 he even told Sports Headliners he welcomed a comparison with future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera.

Sano considered the Tigers’ star the best hitter he had seen. “I can be better than Cabrera, I think,” Sano said then.

Sano’s best of two-plus seasons in the big leagues came last year when he hit .264 with 28 homers and 77 RBI, but he is capable of better numbers and is a key to whether the Twins can qualify for the playoffs.

Joe Mauer, who replaced A.J. Pierzynski as the Twins catcher in 2004, is 19 base hits away from passing the now retired Pierzynski on the MLB all-time career hits list. Mauer has 2,025 hits and ranks No. 269, while Pierzynksi is No. 259 with his career total of 2,043.

Pierzynski, who was with the Twins from 1998-2003, was traded to the Giants (along with cash) for Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan. Although it was one of the Twins’ better trades, Pierzynski had an outstanding career with seven other MLB clubs before retiring in 2016.

Cretin-Derham Hall is promoting to its alumni a “CDH Day at Wrigley” on July 1 when the Cubs host the Twins.

Paul Allen didn’t do his KFAN morning show yesterday because of a colonoscopy. Allen, 52, tweeted, “I do not have colon cancer,” and the Vikings’ radio play-by-play man expressed no concern about the procedure’s results.

After hosting the Super Bowl here this year and having a successful experience, it seems likely the NFL will eventually host its annual draft of college players in Minnesota. The league announced yesterday Nashville will be the draft host in 2019, making that the fifth consecutive year the event has been in a different city.

Gophers’ football loyalists are talking five to eight wins on the 12-game schedule this fall. The nonconference schedule with New Mexico State, Fresno and Miami (Ohio) coming to Minneapolis is among the easiest for Big Ten teams. The conference schedule, though, is demanding including only one likely “gimme game”—at Illinois on November 3.

League road games also include Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Sports Headliners is told the Minnesota marching band will perform at the Nebraska game.

Minnesota plays four conference home games: Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern and Purdue.

Who is counting but the Badgers have won 14 consecutive games in the rivalry with Minnesota. Wisconsin figures to be included in numerous preseason national top 10 polls, and might have America’s best offensive line.

John Williams will be honored posthumously June 23 by the African American Legacy Project of Northwest Ohio. He will be inducted into the organization’s Sports Hall of Fame. The Toledo, Ohio native was an All-Big Ten offensive tackle on the Gophers’ 1967 conference championship team and first round draft choice of the Colts who won the Super Bowl with Williams. After football, Williams was a practicing dentist for 34 years in Minneapolis. He was a kind and generous man loved by former teammates and others. He passed away in 2012 and is still missed by family and his many friends.

Canterbury Park will offer more than horse racing on Memorial Day when the Shakopee racetrack entertains with the fifth annual Running of the Bulldogs, plus a lineup of Twin Cities barbeque vendors. There will be 72 bulldogs competing in six heats between live horse races on Monday afternoon. Fans can also vote for their favorite barbeque vendor.

Dave Mona is looking for auction items for the ninth annual Camden’s Concert on August 2 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Restaurant dinners, rounds of golf, specialty dinners in homes, wine/spirits and concert tickets are among the ideas for auction items. Suggestions can be sent to: Davemona6328@gmail.com.The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation benefit event is named after Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson Camden. The guest artist in August will be Jimmy Fortune, the former tenor of the Statler Brothers.

Comments Welcome

Age in Footrace with CB Newman

Posted on May 1, 2018May 1, 2018 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column including a former teammate’s perspective on ageless Terence Newman, and speculation about who the state’s most coveted 2019 prep football recruit will choose for college tonight.

That was no golden parachute the Vikings gave the 39-year-old cornerback Newman by re-signing him. He started seven of 16 regular season games last year, and could even be a regular again.

“Oh, for sure,” said Ben Leber. “There’s definitely a little bit of a step that he’s lost, but he’s still better than 80 percent of the rookies and the young guys out there.”

Leber, the retired Vikings’ linebacker who provides analysis during team radio broadcasts, played with Newman at Kansas State where the former Wildcat was also a track star. Leber estimates his former teammate still has “90 percent” of his top football speed.

Newman’s 15 years of experience allows him to mentor other defensive backs, and to use his knowledge most effectively for his own benefit. “His mind is invaluable as far as leadership…(he also) puts himself in the right position,” Leber said. “You watch the way he plays the game now. He’s so precise with his angles. He knows exactly where the receivers are going to end up.”

Newman is returning for his fourth season with Minnesota. He has the most career interceptions (42) among active NFL players and is the oldest active defensive player in the league. He has participated in 47 games with the Vikings, making 33 starts.

It wouldn’t surprise Leber if the Vikings and Newman agree on another contract a year from now. He describes Newman as “a machine,” while acknowledging people may kid the veteran about playing at such an advanced age.

“If you’re 39 going on 40 and you still have sweet hips like he does, no, you’re not old,” Leber said. “It’s fun to rib him about it because it just doesn’t happen in our league. But he’s definitely put himself in position to earn that, keep doing it and to keep collecting checks—and to keep chasing that (first Super Bowl) championship.”

Sounds like Edina’s Quinn Carroll will announce Notre Dame as his college choice tonight on KARE 11. The offensive tackle is among the most sought after prep players in the country for the class of 2019 and he has shown considerable interest in the Golden Gophers, but I will be surprised if Carroll doesn’t verbally commit to the Fighting Irish during the 10 p.m. newscast of the Minneapolis NBC affiliate.

“I would be absolutely flabbergasted if it’s not the Notre Dame Fighting Irish,” said Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com. “They’ve been the consensus favorite here for many months.”

Burns believes Notre Dame’s football prestige and the Catholic focus of the school favors an ultimate commitment for the Irish. “It also doesn’t hurt that Notre Dame just had two offensive linemen go in the top nine picks of the NFL Draft, while Minnesota hasn’t had an offensive lineman drafted since 2006,” Burns said.

Carroll’s dad, Jay, was a tight end for the Gophers and named the team’s Outstanding Offensive Player in 1983. Burns estimates the younger Carroll has visited the Minnesota campus more than 10 times since Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck was hired in January of 2017. “It’s not every day you see a guy keep coming back to campus…and not end up choosing the University of Minnesota,” Burns said about so many unofficial visits.

Burns predicts the Gophers will finish as Carroll’s No. 2 choice. As of late the Gophers have been “bridesmaids” on high profile recruits including Council Bluffs, Iowa quarterback Max Duggan who chose TCU.

Fleck received good news recently when the NCAA granted medical redshirts to two of his more promising young players. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and wide receiver Demetrius Douglas, both 19, have been given additional eligibility following injuries last season. Winfield will be a redshirt sophomore next season, and Douglas a redshirt freshman.

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said at Sunday’s Minnesota Football Honors Awards that coach Mike Zimmer wanted to use the team’s first round draft choice on an offensive tackle but Spielman and the scouting department opted for cornerback Mike Hughes.

Jake Wieneke, the free agent wide receiver from Maple Grove signed after the NFL Draft by the Vikings, prompts comparisons with Adam Thielen but Wieneke had a much more impressive college career. Wieneke was named to All-America teams all four seasons at South Dakota State and is the Missouri Valley Conference’s all-time leader in career receptions and receiving yards. Detroit Lakes native Thielen, who was signed as a free agent by the Vikings in 2013, has become one of the NFL’s better wide receivers but in college at Minnesota State his highest honor was being named All-Northern Sun Conference South Division as a senior.

A source close to the Wild told Sports Headliners there probably isn’t anyone within the organization that will fit the candidate pool to possibly become owner Craig Leipold’s next general manager.

Former North Star and ex-Tampa Bay GM Brian Lawton is interested in the position. He said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” on Sunday that he has spoken with Leipold.

Former Sharks and Kings executive Dean Lombardi, with ties to the old North Stars, might be another name to follow.

While Wild GM Chuck Fletcher was let go last week, it appears head coach Bruce Boudreau will return for a third season. No NHL coaches were fired during the regular season for the first time since the 1960s.

Kevin Gorg, the Fox Sports North reporter on Wild and Twins games, will be sharing his wagering expertise again this year at Canterbury Park which opens for live racing Friday. He’s sold a $2 tip sheet at the Shakopee racetrack for years.

Not a good start for new Twins pitching coach Garvin Alston whose staff has an American League second worst ERA of 5.29. Dating back to last Friday’s first game of the homestand, the Twins have given up 30 runs in four games.

The inaugural Cretin-Derham Hall Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet will be May 17 at the University of St. Thomas. Matt Birk, Joe Mauer and Chris Weinke are among those who will be inducted.

Early birthday wishes: Lynx point guard and Gopher women’s basketball coach Lindsay Whalen turns 36 on May 9.

Comments Welcome

Gotta Love Twins Opening Day

Posted on March 29, 2018March 29, 2018 by David Shama

Today I make peace with baseball.

It’s Opening Day and I don’t care if the Twins-Orioles game lasts until midnight. Each team can parade most of its pitchers to the mound, sometimes making two or three changes per inning. Batters can constantly step out of the box to adjust their underwear, or whatever it is they do.

Advertisers can toss in extra commercials between innings. The game can go 15 innings, or more. Nothing is going to lessen my enthusiasm for Opening Day.

Pace of play is an issue for 161 games a year but not today in Baltimore when our favorite MLB club begins another season.

On Opening Day I put aside the scandal that long ago stained many love affairs with baseball. The use of steroids by players has changed performances, altered the record books and cast suspicion over Major League Baseball. The purity of the National Pastime was erased a couple decades ago, and I am still in recovery.

But today anyone who cares a Cracker Jack box about the game of Ruth, Mantle, Mays, Puckett and Mauer can come together under one big tent of forgiveness. Opening Day in Major League Baseball is Americana—a time honored ritual of U.S. Presidents throwing out first pitches, kids skipping school and business people leaving work early for “appointments” not on their calendars.

If the Twins are on the road Opening Day, you watch. If they open at home, you watch.

The weather? Who cares? Today in Baltimore it’s supposed to be about 70 degrees at game time. That sounds heavenly compared to the 33 degree temps at a Twins home opener in the 1960s when snow bordered the outfield fence at Met Stadium.

Back then I actually welcomed inclement weather, particularly rain delays. The Twins broadcast team included Halsey Hall, a master storyteller who delighted listeners with tales about baseball while thunder crackled in the background.

Hall was a beloved character who was heard on Gophers football broadcasts and read in the Minneapolis Star before the Twins came to town in 1960. He joined with Herb Carneal and Ray Scott to give the franchise the best broadcasting trio in its history.

Listening to Halsey’s tales and infectious laugh made listeners forget about rainy weather. And just looking at him even made you feel good. He had the appearance of a kindly, overweight grandfather. He often had a smile on his face, a cigar or green onion in his mouth, and greeted you with, “Hi, kid.”

Carneal, who passed away in 2007, had many Halsey stories. A favorite happened in Chicago when Halsey was smoking a cigar in the press box and flicking ashes on the floor. The ashes ignited paper on the floor, setting off a small fire. Halsey’s sport coat, hanging on a chair, caught fire.

Twins catcher Jerry Zimmer quipped, “Halsey Hall is quite a guy. He can turn an ordinary sport coat into a blazer in nothing flat.’”

I doubt we will see any press box developments like that today in Baltimore but the game will be an opportunity to form first impressions about the Twins like these:

How does new pitcher Jake Odorizzi perform in his first ever major league start?

Can newcomer Logan Morrison flash the uppercut swing that made him a home run hitter last season?

Byron Buxton closed so impressively last season he drew comparisons—gulp—to Willie Mays. Buxton didn’t fast-track the start of his career like Mays. Which Buxton will we see early this year?

What if Joe Mauer actually swings at the first pitch during one of his at bats today?

Can Miguel Sano play nine innings without injuring himself?

Could Ryan LaMarre, who surprised the Twins by leading the club in batting average at .475 during spring training, come off the bench with a big pinch hit against the Orioles?

Today’s game might prompt Twins GM Thad Levine to think about his dad. Growing up in Virginia, a five-year-old Levine attended an Orioles game in Baltimore. He fell in love with baseball and it forever impacted the relationship with his father.

“It’s the bond that has tied me to my dad,” Levine said last year.

Opening Day makes us all kids again. “It’s like Christmas, except it’s warmer,” Pete Rose once said.

It doesn’t matter that much whether the Twins win or lose today. They can blow a lead, or Sano can homer in extra innings for a win. The Twins can commit five errors and give the game away, or replacement shortstop Eduardo Escobar (he of limited range) can make a play for the ages to save a run and provide Minnesota a dramatic victory. The point is, it’s Opening Day and nothing can ruin the party.

And it doesn’t hurt the hopes for a winning season that there are 161 more games to be played.

Play ball!

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