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Twins Rookie Sano Talks Besting Cabrera

Posted on July 9, 2015July 9, 2015 by David Shama

The Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, 32, is probably the greatest hitter of his generation with a .321 lifetime average and 405 home runs but Twins rookie Miguel Sano said yesterday he expects a lot of success, too. “I can be better than Cabrera, I think,” Sano said.

Sano spoke unemotionally when he said those words. He wasn’t trying to be cocky as he talked about the Tigers star who is 10 years older. “He’s one of my favorite players, and I follow Cabrera a lot,” Sano said. “He’s the best hitter I’ve seen in my life.”

Sano has only 22 at bats since the Twins called him up from Double-A Chattanooga but he’s been impressive with a .455 batting average, one home run and five RBI. He has shown not only raw power but plate discipline that helps explain why he hasn’t been troubled with breaking ball pitchers like many young players who struggle. He has hits in all seven games with the Twins.

Used mostly as a designated hitter so far, Sano made his big league debut at third base yesterday and didn’t have an error. Cabrera has also been a third baseman, although as of late he’s been assigned to first base, a position the Twins have also had Sano practice.

The comparisons between the two Hispanic players don’t stop there, of course. Both are right-handed hitters and large men, with Sano listed at 6-4, 260 and Cabrera at 6-4, 240.

Wolves Owner Expects Garnett to Start

Kevin Garnett, the Timberwolves 39-year-old power forward, has played reduced minutes in recent seasons but team owner Glen Taylor still expects him to be a starter next fall. “Our thoughts today are that he will start every game, and then limit his minutes during the game, depending on how he feels,” Taylor told Sports Headliners. “I think we want to see him as a starter to set the tone on defense for the player that comes in behind him.”

Garnett is accepting a new contract with the Timberwolves after joining the team last winter via a trade with the Nets. Taylor and the Wolves had traded Garnett to the Celtics in 2007 where he later helped Boston win the NBA title. But with the Nets and then the Wolves last season it’s not been uncommon for Garnett to play less than half of a game.

Next season his role will include mentoring a roster dominated by young players. Garnett has enjoyed a storied pro career since the Wolves drafted him out of high school in 1995. He has strong opinions about how to play and doesn’t hesitate to voice them.

Players who will be on the receiving end of advice will include 2015 No. 1 draft choice Karl-Anthony Towns who might sub for Garnett off the bench. Does Taylor worry that the opinionated Garnett can be too hard on young players including rookies?

“I don’t worry about it, but I think that’s just one of the things that Flip will be close enough, and around enough, that he can communicate with K.G. if he felt that way,” Taylor said. “K.G. is a good person and he would understand that too. But I think you gotta give him a little flexibility, and K.G. really believes in what he believes. It’s going to be a little bit hard to hold him back some of the times.”

Are Taylor and basketball president/coach Flip Saunders trying to trade often-injured center Nikola Pekovic and the reported $60 million contract he signed in 2013? “Nope, we need to get Pek to get injury free and see how well he does,” Taylor answered.

Pekovic is among the league’s best low-post scorers and the skill is unique on the Wolves roster. Taylor values that attribute and said Pekovic is feeling healthy. He added that Pekovic is “ahead of schedule” following Achilles tendon surgery earlier this year.

Taylor’s franchise has had its ups and downs over the years, including losing millions of dollars and not making the playoffs since 2004. But now there is a buzz about the Wolves with both attendance and wins almost certain to jump in 2015-2016 because of a promising and athletic roster that includes Towns and last season’s NBA Rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins.

Taylor is pleased. “I am happy. I am enjoying it,” he said.

Worth Noting

The Vikings and the Minnesota Football Coaches Association will sponsor the annual Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game next year in U.S. Bank Stadium on a date in December yet to be determined, according to game manager Dave Fritze. For years the game has been in late June but Fritze said by moving the date it’s expected players going on to major college football careers will participate. The June date conflicts with early enrollment in college for many potential All-Star Game players who are recently graduated high school seniors. Not a single major college-bound player played in the 2015 All-Star Game, Fritze said.

The 2016 game, like past contests, will be played with a North versus South format. Fritze, who has been the game director for 16 years, said the first-year stadium will be an attraction to fans, and the MFCA is appreciative of the Vikings and U.S. Bank for allowing the facility to be the All-Star Game site. The 2016 game will be one week after the Prep Bowl and no agreement is yet in place to stage the game at U.S. Bank Stadium beyond next year.

This year’s 42nd annual game was played at Husky Stadium on the St. Cloud State campus. Players and coaches representing 77 schools and 27 conferences participated. It has long been speculated the game might some day have Minnesota all-stars playing against a neighboring state.

Fritze is the defensive coordinator at East Ridge High School where his players include JoJo Garcia, the 6-4, 285-pound senior tackle who has verbally committed to the Gophers for 2016. Fritze praised Garcia’s upper body strength, agility and toughness. “He has a real great nose of how to play defensive tackle,” Fritze said.

As of July 1, the Gophers had sold 27,523 football season tickets—down a couple hundred from that same date in 2014 and 2013 when totals were 27,786 and 27,741. Those totals don’t include student ticket sales. During the offseason season ticket holders had to either increase—or for the first time—pay scholarship donations for their seats. Because of that factor the Athletic Department is likely pleased with the number of season tickets sold to date.

Single game tickets were still available last week for the Gophers’ much anticipated September 3 game at TCF Bank Stadium against national power TCU. The Horned Frogs will likely be a consensus top-five team in preseason polls.

Former Gophers football player Jim Brunzell has self-published a book with colorful stories about his career in pro wrestling. “Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell” wrestled from 1972-1999 and was a favorite of American Wrestling Association fans. His book MatLands is loaded with photos of wrestling characters ranging from Andre the Giant to Chief Peter Maivia. www.blurb.com/b/6298514-matlands.

Condolences to the family of former Gophers tight end Charlie Sanders who died several days ago. Sanders, 68, became a pro football hall of famer after his career with the Lions. He was a celebrity but also known for his friendly personality.

Although there is a lengthy list of ex-Twins playing in the majors, none of them has been selected so far for next week’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati. Relief pitcher Glen Perkins is the Twins’ only representative to date but the club is pushing fan voting for second baseman Brian Dozier. This will be Perkins’ third consecutive All-Star Game. He has a club record 28 consecutive saves this season.

It will be interesting to watch the continued career development of Minnesota State men’s hockey coach Mike Hastings who the Mavericks recently awarded a new eight-year contract. In three years of coaching in Mankato his record is 79-36-7. No hockey school in the nation can match the Mavericks’ win total in that time period.

Forty-six players are scheduled to attend the Wild’s Development Camp that starts July 9 and continues through July 14 at Xcel Energy Center. Players expected include Brady Brassart, Brody Hoffman, Mario Lucia, Zack Mitchell, Zach Palmquist, Avery Peterson, Mike Reilly and Alex Tuch, plus six selected in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Free scrimmages open to the public will be on July 11 starting at 2:30 p.m. and July 14 at 6:30 p.m. Gates open on those dates at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Canterbury Park hosts Extreme Race Day presented by the Minnesota State Lottery on July 18. The afternoon’s lineup of entertainment will include exhibition racing with camels and zebras, plus The Battle of the Surfaces—a pari-mutuel race with thoroughbreds competing against each other simultaneously at one mile and 70 yards on the turf, and one mile on the dirt. A lineup of traditional horse races will also be part of the entertainment at the Shakopee race track.

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‘Sky’s the Limit’ for Vikings Defense

Posted on June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 by David Shama

Notes on the Gophers, Twins and Vikings.

The Vikings ranked No. 14 in total NFL defense last season. Minnesota was No. 25 among 32 teams in rushing defense and No. 7 in pass defense. This week the team is finishing mini-camp for the spring and veteran defensive end Brian Robison likes what he sees.

“I think the sky’s the limit for us (defensively),” Robison said yesterday. “I think we’ve got an opportunity to do some really special things around here.

“I think our DBs are playing tremendous right now. I think they’re even better than what they were last year. Defensive line wise, I think we’re rushing very well. Linebackers, having Chad (Greenway) back and having a few of those guys back in there doing the things they’re doing. Fifty-four (rookie Eric Kendricks) is doing some great things out here.

“Yeah, we’ve got very high expectations for our defense and now it’s just about going out there and doing it. We can always have high expectations but if you don’t put it on tape then it doesn’t matter.”

Contrary to a published report earlier this spring, J.D. Spielman hasn’t verbally committed to the Gophers. Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told Sports Headliners yesterday the Gophers remain on the list of possible college destinations for his son who will be a senior football player at Eden Prairie High School next season.

Spielman said he and his son visited Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh two weeks ago. Additional college visits are planned later this month but Spielman declined to identify the schools. J.D., who just finished his lacrosse season for Eden Prairie, has football offers from Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Nebraska. Spielman said his son is being recruited as an “athlete,” meaning he could play collegiately on offense, defense or special teams.

Zac Epping, the former Gophers guard, is working with Minneapolis-based agent James Selmer and drawing interest from several NFL teams including the Titans. Epping, who has lost weight since his Gophers days and feels quicker, now weighs 310 pounds and hopes to have a deal soon with an NFL club.

Teams are looking at Epping as either a guard or center. The 6-2 Kenosha, Wisconsin native impressed during his Gophers career with his work ethic and passion for competition. As a young college player, former Gopher offensive lineman Matt Carufel made an impact on Epping. “He kind of taught me, don’t take any crap from anybody,” Epping said.

The Vikings and U.S. Bank officially announced a 20-year naming rights deal on Monday for the new downtown domed stadium. U.S. Bank Stadium has long been rumored to be the name for the facility that opens next year. Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported Monday the deal is for $220 million.

If an $11 million per year figure is accurate, the deal is by far the largest of its kind for a Minnesota sports venue. Target Field naming rights have been estimated in the $5 to $6 million range annually with Xcel Energy Center perhaps worth half that, and Target Center and TCF Bank Stadium under $2 million each.

Dave Mona is looking for auction items for the sixth annual Camden’s Concert on July 13 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Among items already secured are prime seats at Lambeau Field for the Packers and Vikings game. The concert features the Wright Brothers and is named after Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson Camden Mona. The event raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Anyone with ideas for auction items can call Dave Mona at 952-944-5344.

Phil Steele’s College Football Preview and Athlon Sports have named Gophers punter Peter Mortell first team preseason All-Big Ten, according to a June 1 Gophersports.com story. Both Steele and Athlon included Minnesota defensive backs Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray on their All-Big Ten second teams. Defensive end Theiren Cockran made Steele’s second team and offensive tackle Josh Campion was on Athlon’s second unit.

Former Gophers associate athletics director Tom Wistrcill has resigned as Akron athletics director to become an executive with Learfield Sports, the national company that works with colleges and conferences developing sports related revenues including for broadcasting.

Whether 21-year-old rookie center fielder Byron Buxton goes back to the minor leagues will have a lot to do with if he can hit breaking ball pitches. Buxton debuted on Sunday, struck out twice and was hitless in four at bats. He saw plenty of breaking balls. He is hitting .200 in three games with the Twins.

Breaking balls are a challenge to most young hitters, and whatever the reasons the Twins organization is working on a string of promising prospects who have floundered early in their MLB careers. The list includes Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas. All but Hicks impressed with early hitting only to stumble later.

Part of hitting success is confidence and the Twins didn’t allow Arcia, Buxton, Hicks, Santana and Vargas to play and excel for a full season in Triple-A, baseball’s highest level in the minors. The suspicion here is Buxton will be dispatched back to the farm system in a couple of weeks if he doesn’t impress at the plate. No doubt that would be a good move for this highly scrutinized athlete who is rated among the top prospects in baseball.

Buxton is a social media hit with over 24,000 Twitter followers. Decades ago Buxton’s rookie trading card would have been a hot item but now sports memorabilia, including card collecting, has much less interest. The value of old baseball cards for the bigger names is still impressive, though. Harmon Killebrew’s rookie card could command $250, with Rod Carew’s at $150. Mickey Mantle’s rookie card still is the gold standard with a price that might exceed $25,000.

St. Thomas men’s basketball coach John Tauer has authored a book on youth sports and parents. “It’s a combination of psychology, motivation research, anecdotes from the playgrounds to the pros on how and why kids excel or get burned out on sports,” Tauer wrote in an e-mail to Sports Headliners. The book is titled Why LESS is MORE for WOSPS (Well-Intentioned, Overinvolved Sports Parents) and more information is available at Amazon.com. Dr.Tauer, a St. Paul native, has his doctorate in social psychology.

The Warriors likely wouldn’t have earned an NBA title if high scoring guard Klay Thompson had been traded last summer to the Timberwolves. There was interest inside the Warriors organization in sending Thompson—the son of former Gophers All-American center Mychal Thompson—to the Wolves in a deal involving disgruntled power forward Kevin Love who was later traded to the Cavs. But Warriors consultant Jerry West insisted Thompson not be traded and was ready to resign if the deal was made, according to a SI.com story last Thursday by Chris Ballard.

West is a brilliant talent evaluator, perhaps the best in NBA history. He played a major administrative role in the Lakers winning eight world titles in Los Angeles and more recently helped turn around both the Grizzlies and Warriors. The legendary West was drafted as an All-American guard out of West Virginia in 1960, the same year the Lakers left Minneapolis, so he never played here. Ballard wrote that West’s drive for perfection is still present and he can shoot his age, 77, on the golf course.

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Team More ‘Upbeat’ with Peterson Back

Posted on June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 by David Shama

Covering various topics in today’s column including Adrian Peterson’s first week back with the Vikings, news about the Gophers and prep basketball, and a lot more.

Peterson returned to the team this week and Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph believes the impact of the All-Pro running back is evident. Rudolph said Peterson’s work ethic can make others more dedicated. “It always seems to make guys around him work harder. Just in the three days that he’s been here our practices have been pretty crisp, a little bit more upbeat, and that’s what great players do. Great players come in and they elevate the game of not only themselves but the guys around him.”

Peterson, 30, didn’t play at all in the team’s four preseason games last year. Head coach Mike Zimmer decided not to risk injury to the veteran running back. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner was asked if he sees more of the same in 2015.

“That’s coach Zimmer’s call,” Turner said. “To me, if you’re getting everything you need to get done in practices, then you’d probably shy away from doing that. If you feel like you haven’t gotten done what you need to get in practice, I am sure coach Zimmer would consider giving him a few carries. But based on what we did a year ago, I would think that’s probably more of what we do (not using him in preseason).”

Blake Weber, an outstanding football player at Prior Lake High School in 2013 and at Rochester Community and Technical College last fall, is enrolled at Minnesota and will participate next week in the Gophers’ strength and conditioning program as a preferred walk-on playing linebacker. Weber played multiple positions for RCTC including safety and outside linebacker. He wanted to join the Gophers as a preferred walk-on out of high school but had to improve his academic work. He will be a sophomore in eligibility next season.

Jim Dutcher said former Gophers basketball player Tommy Davis needs 19 credits to graduate from Minnesota and is enrolled in summer school. Davis, who played for Dutcher from 1981-1985, is utilizing a program by the Gophers Athletic Department that pays tuition for former athletes who want to complete their school work and earn degrees.

Davis, a shooting guard, still holds the Gophers’ record for consecutive field goals made in one game with 15. He played and coached in France for many years but now is living here. The former All-Big Ten player speaks six languages including French, Dutcher said.

Both Davis and Darryl Mitchell, another former Gophers All-Big Ten guard, have recently relocated to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Dutcher now has 10 former players from his 1982 Big Ten championship living in this community. “We could have a reunion of the ’82 championship team and make all local (phone) calls,” Dutcher said.

Minnesota prep basketball made history this week with the announcement Apple Valley High School players Gary Trent Jr. and Tre Jones are on the USA Basketball Men’s Under-16 roster. It’s the first time two Minnesotans have been selected for the team at the same time, and with Trent and Jones being from the same high school the achievement is more distinct.

Trent, the son of former Timberwolves player Gary Trent, is a shooting guard or wing who will be a junior at Apple Valley next season. He’s a key recruiting target of the Gophers but the competition will be intense with Trent’s long list of offers including national power Kansas, according to Rivals.com.

Jones, the younger brother of former Duke star Tyus Jones, is a point guard who will be a sophomore at Apple Valley next season where the Eagles return the key players from their 2015 Class 4A title team. Jones, at 6-2, is already taller than 6-1 Tyus and like his older brother is on a clear path to be nationally coveted by colleges. His skills include exceptional on-ball defense.

The Under-16 roster includes players from various parts of the country but Trent and Jones are the only twosome from the same high school. The team is practicing this week in Colorado Springs before playing next week in the FIBA Americas U16 Championship tournament in Argentina. USA’s first game is next Wednesday against Puerto Rico.

Prior to this year Tyus Jones was the only Minnesotan to play for the Under-16 team. He played in 2011.

Former Gophers Nick Bjugstad, Ricky Foggie, Seth Helgeson and Darrell Thompson will be among those participating in the Bruce Smith Golf Classic at Faribault Golf Club on June 15. The fundraising event benefits three Faribault schools and honors Bruce Smith who won the 1941 Heisman Trophy playing for the Gophers. More information about participating in the golf event and attending the dinner is available by e-mailing Bruce Krinke, contact@fctv10.org.

The opening of the new St. Paul Saints ballpark this spring prompts discussion about an ongoing topic involving the Twins. Local baseball fans have long wondered if the Saints could some day be a Twins minor league affiliate. It’s an attractive possibility to die-hard fans from the metro area who like the idea of being able to “scout” Twins prospects without driving long distances.

The Saints have been an ongoing popular attraction in the Twin Cities and perhaps more so now with their state-of-the-art minor league ballpark seating about 7,000 fans. The Saints’ independent league status, though, is an obstacle to something happening with the Twins. The Saints are members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball and those teams have no affiliation with major league franchises. MLB teams operate affiliated clubs at various levels of competition in towns throughout the minor leagues.

Establishing an affiliated team in St. Paul at CHS Field isn’t on the Twins to-do list right now. “It’s not something we’re working on,” Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “It’s not something that there is a master plan for. Could it happen some day? Yes, I think it probably could. But it’s many, many years down the road.”

While St. Peter sees the possibility of a Twins team in St. Paul as “intriguing” (including from a marketing perspective), the only way it could happen, he said, would be for an affiliated minor league team (like a Triple-A or Class A club) to move to St. Paul and for the Saints’ independent league franchise to relocate. There are challenges with that scenario including determination of what class of baseball the club would be in and how expensive travel costs would be.

“The other thing is, I can’t imagine the Twins would ever pursue that without ownership of the team,” St. Peter said. “At the end of the day the Twins would need to own the team in St. Paul. I can’t imagine that we would provide affiliation to another group of owners.”

With this being boom times for the Saints owners in their new ballpark, it’s also difficult to foresee them having interest in selling or operating the ballclub elsewhere.

The Lynx, who open the WNBA regular season tonight at home against Tulsa, are the most likely team to win the league championship. That is according to a survey of the WNBA’s general managers who also voted Maya Moore of the Lynx most likely to be the 2015 league MVP. The Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve received the most votes as best coach and Target Center was the winner of “best home-court advantage.”

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