Twins – Page 106 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins’ Cruz, Berrios on Top 100 List

Posted on March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Friday notes column with a focus on the Minnesota Twins and Target Field.

Sports Illustrated ranks two Twins players among its top 100 players in Major League Baseball. The February 25 issue of the magazine lists the game’s best, and the publication has newly acquired outfielder and designated hitter Nelson Cruz at No. 65 and starting pitcher Jose Berrios at 95.

The Twins could come out of spring training as a consensus choice among oddsmakers and media to finish second in the American League Central Division behind the Cleveland Indians. Despite some offseason payroll trimming, the Indians may win a fourth consecutive division championship because their talent is still impressive.

Three Indians made the magazine’s top 10—shortstop Francisco Lindor at No. 4, third baseman Jose Ramirez, No. 5, and starting pitcher Corey Kluber, No. 9. The club’s starting staff also includes Trevor Bauer, No. 35, and Mike Clevinger, No. 73.

The Twins can’t match that pitching but if their staff produces some pleasant surprises, Minnesota looks like a run-scoring club. Bleacherreport.com said in an article this week that the Twins averaged a solid 4.6 runs per game last season, and additions like Cruz figure to make the offense even better.

Bleacherreport’s story focused on the playoff chances of all 30 MLB teams. The Indians came in at 70 percent, while the Twins were next among Central Division clubs with a 40 percent chance of qualifying for the postseason.

Sports Illlustrated’s rankings had Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout as the best player in the game. Aaron Hicks, the center fielder Twins GM Terry Ryan traded to the New York Yankees in 2015 for catcher John Ryan Murphy, is the No. 78 player in the game, per S.I.

The Twins have been trying to fill their center field void for years. Murphy has become an obscure player, most recently signing a reported one-year, $900,000 deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hicks reportedly has a new seven year, $70 million contract with the Yankees.

In a telephone interview yesterday from spring training in Florida, Twins president Dave St. Peter predicted Cruz will become a “fan favorite,” perhaps similar to former Minnesota slugger Jim Thome. “He (Cruz) has been great,” St. Peter said about the six-time MLB All-Star who is known for his hitting and clubhouse leadership.

Berrios, 24, is a potential staff ace for the Twins who St. Peter admires for his talent and work ethic. “He works harder than any player on our team,” St. Peter said.

Regarding the Sports Illustrated article, St. Peter said Marwin Gonzalez “should be on the list.” The Twins signed the multi-positional free agent earlier this week after the switch-hitter hit 16 home runs and drove in 68 runs last season for the Astros while playing 76 games in the outfield, 39 at shortstop, 32 at second base, 24 at first base and three at third.

The Twins’ regular season opener, March 28 at Target Field, is close to a sellout, with a few thousand tickets remaining. The early opener was prompted by the presence of the April 6-8 Final Four in Minneapolis. Extensive field preparation begins in a couple weeks. “I will take 50 (degrees) and sunshine (for opening day),” St. Peter said.

About 28,000 tickets have been sold for the August 31 North Dakota State-Butler football game at Target Field, with capacity at over 38,000. NDSU is the defending Division I FCS national champion.

Target Field hosted a record Division III crowd of 37,355 in 2017 for the St. Thomas-Saint John’s football game. St. Peter said there are discussions about playing the November of 2021 Tommies-Johnnies football game at Target Field. Talks are ongoing, too, with the Minnesota Wild regarding an NHL Winter Classic at the downtown Minneapolis stadium.

Construction on the Minnesota United’s Allianz Field is complete, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for March 18 at the St. Paul stadium. The club reports the project generated more than 650,000 work hours, totaling over $46 million in wages, and that $167 million was awarded to companies located within 150 miles of Allianz Field.

Minnesota’s MLS team opens its regular season on Saturday (5 p.m. Twin Cities time) on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The club has five new starters counting Slovakian Jan Gregus, 2017 MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara, 2016 MLS Cup Champion Ozzie Alonso, Premier League goalie Vito Mannone and the only player from Madagascar in the league, Romain Metanire.

Coffey photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications

Amir Coffey is one of the Big Ten’s most versatile and skilled players. He will need to produce like he did last night (31 points, 12 rebounds in a must-win over lowly Northwestern) if the Gophers are to earn an NCAA Tournament invite. Minnesota entered the game as a projected last team entry in the tourney field of ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Men’s regular season MIAC basketball champion St. Thomas is in the Division III NCAA Tournament and so, too, is the conference’s playoff title winner, Saint John’s. The Tommies (22-4) have a tourney opening game tonight in Lincoln, Nebraska versus Wisconsin-La Crosse (17-9). The Johnnies (23-3) are at home tonight against Northwestern-St. Paul (21-6).

Pat McKenzie, only the 15th head men’s basketball coach in 113 years at Saint John’s, speaks to the CORES lunch group Thursday, March 14 at the Bloomington Event Center (formerly the Knights of Columbus building), 1114 American Blvd. For reservations and other information, contact Jim Dotseth by Monday, March 11, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Maybe Timberwolves starting point guard Jeff Teague has some Jimmy Butler in him. That was the view expressed yesterday by Mike Max on WCCO Radio who said it appears Teague plays in games when he wants to.

Butler, traded to the 76ers after his infamous start to the season with the Timberwolves, is one of the NBA’s better closers when his team creates isolation situations for him to score. The 76ers are among the NBA’s best clubs, partly because of Butler who will be a free agent after this season. He reportedly has given no assurances he will return to his new club.

New to major college hockey and ranked No. 12 nationally in the latest USCHO poll, Arizona State is in Minneapolis to play the Golden Gophers tonight and tomorrow evening at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Gophers aren’t ranked in the 20-team poll but three schools from the state of Minnesota occupy top spots—St. Cloud State, No. 1; UMD, No. 3; and Minnesota State, No. 4.

Condolences to family and friends of “Bucky” Zimmerman, the former Gophers tennis player and Minneapolis attorney who died late last month. I knew “Bucky” and enjoyed his intellect, curiosity and easy-going manner. He was married to former WCCO TV anchor Pat Miles.

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Leipold Says Boudreau Top 5 Coach

Posted on February 3, 2019February 3, 2019 by David Shama

Wild owner Craig Leipold told Sports Headliners coach Bruce Boudreau’s job is secure even if the Minnesota NHL team doesn’t make the playoffs. Fans and media have speculated about Boudreau’s future for multiple reasons including the presence of new general manager Paul Fenton.

General managers often prefer to hire their own coaches. Leipold replaced Chuck Fletcher with Fenton after last season with the intent of making the Wild a better performing playoff team. The franchise has earned its way into six consecutive playoffs but is known for early exits.

Boudreau was hired as the Wild’s coach in 2016. His first two Minnesota teams exited the playoffs in the first rounds. As of today, the Wild has played well enough to be fourth in the Western Conference standings with 56 points. The team has won four more games than it has lost, reflecting inconsistent results but enough success to make the playoffs if the season ended now.

Boudreau had previous head NHL coaching jobs with the Capitals and Ducks. His teams had some playoff struggles and never made the Stanley Cup finals. That, too, was part of the reason Leipold was asked late last week if his coach’s job is safe if Minnesota doesn’t earn its way into the playoffs this spring.

“The answer is absolutely his job is safe,” Leipold said. “To be honest, we plan on making the playoffs, but there’s a lot of competition for those playoff spots, and I think Bruce has done a great job. (Defenseman Matt) Dumba going down for the season has hurt us obviously, so there are a lot of other issues if we don’t make the playoffs.

“Bruce is a spectacular coach. I still regard him as a top five in the league, as do most people. I look at it occasionally where I see a comment where a writer might say, ‘Is Bruce’s job on the line?’ Absolutely not.

“I don’t see that happening, although honestly, Paul and I have not even spoken about it. I feel certain Paul has the same feeling that I do about it.”

Leipold isn’t second-guessing his coach and general manager, nor is he doing that about the mega contracts he gave to forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter in 2012. The two free agents signed 13-year, $98 million deals.

“It was a game changer at that time,” Leipold said. “They are two special players. They continue to perform at very high levels. So the answer is unequivocally, if I had to make that decision over again, I would have made it even quicker than I did at that time. “

Parise leads the Wild in goals with 20 and in points with 45. Suter is fourth on the team in points with 34. Their skills, experience and leadership have not only paid off on the ice, Leipold said, but also financially for a franchise that regularly sells out its home games.

“They’re two players that are not lazy players,” Leipold said. “They give 100 percent all the time. The leadership that they have on the team is priceless. I wouldn’t be surprised if Suter, the way he is playing, he can play until he is 45. I am not going to be surprised if he wants another contract after this one expires.”

Parise is 35 years old, Suter 34. With several years remaining on their contracts does Leipold feel boxed in on payroll flexibility to improve his roster?

“You know I think at some point it might (be a factor), but it’s not right now,” Leipold said. “Because the average of their contract(s) is now really right on par with what top teams are paying their top players. The players now that are coming out to unrestricted free agency are making a lot more money than these two players did at that time.

“So, sure it takes $15 million (on the payroll) that we’re paying two players but the contributions that they make are well worth that money that we’re paying every year. So I have no regrets. None at all about that signing.”

Worth Noting

Although the sale began just last Friday, about 10,000 tickets have already been sold to the public for the October 19 Saint John’s-St. Thomas football game at Allianz Field in St. Paul. A source involved with the game said about 4,000 tickets remain in the 19,500 seat facility that opens later this year as the home of soccer’s Minnesota United. Almost 5,000 seats are being held for a sale later in the year to students from both schools.

More than 1,000 VIP and ringside seats at an average price of $85 have been sold for the February 23 boxing card at the Minneapolis Armory. The card includes Minneapolis welterweight Jamal James, ranked No. 3 in the world by the World Boxing Association, against Janer Gonzalez of Colombia, winner of 19 bouts with only one loss and a draw. The main event matches Andre Dirrell (32-1-1) against once-beaten Avni Yildirim (21-1) for the vacant WBC World Super Middleweight title.

Coincidences: former Vikings quarterback Wade Wilson and ex-Twins center fielder Lenny Green both died this year on their birthdays. Wilson, 60, died on February 1, while Green, 86, passed away on January 6.

A player Vikings fans can look at with envy tonight in the Super Bowl is Rams offensive left tackle Andrew Whitworth. During the 2017 offseason he was a free agent after playing for 11 seasons with the Bengals, where Mike Zimmer once was the team’s longtime defensive coordinator. It’s believed the Vikings and their head coach were among the courters for Whitworth, trying to patch up a still to this day leaky offensive line. Whitworth, 37, is a force on the Rams offensive line and a high character guy.

The NFL had a 29 percent decrease in reported player concussions during the 2018 regular season, according to the January 25 issue of USA Today.

Augsburg hockey forward Alex Rodriguez is having a news making senior season while leading the MIAC in goals. Among the nation’s top Division III goal scorers, the Miami transplant has three hat tricks this season and is featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” section of the early February issue.

Dick Jonckowski has ordered another 500 copies to be printed of his book, It’s All About Me, Dick Jonckowski: A Minnesota Treasure. The Shakopee-based emcee and public address announcer originally had 1,500 copies printed. Jonckowski autographed 200 copies of the book at a Twins event last week at Target Field.

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Don’t Get Down on a Road Trip

Posted on January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 by David Shama

Never get discouraged while preparing for a road trip.

I followed my own advice late last week. Prior to leaving for Madison, Wisconsin, a friend texted that the Golden Gophers were 10 point underdogs for Thursday night’s game against the Badgers. This didn’t put a frown on my face—perhaps because a few days earlier Jim Dutcher (the ex-Gopher coach) predicted a Minnesota win over Wisconsin in Sports Headliners.

If I was searching for discouragement I needed to go no further than the Gophers basketball record book. A Gopher team hadn’t won in Madison since 2009, although Minnesota prompted cardiac arrest among the most emotional U fans last year by taking the Badgers into overtime at the Kohl Center.

I wasn’t that concerned about history when I set out for Madison with a friend last Thursday morning. Nope, and I didn’t get upset when traffic on interstates 90 and 94 resembled Crosstown 62 in Minneapolis. “Left lane hogs” clogging traffic on the interstates in Wisconsin would have fit right in back home.

During the drive my friend and I dissected the Minnesota sports scene, commenting at length on the Gophers, Timberwolves, Twins, Vikings and Wild. We covered enough detail for three or four Sports Headliners columns, but here’s a tease of minutia:

· Disagreement about what team holds the most promise in 2019, with my vote going to the Vikings and my friend leaning toward (gasp!) Gophers football.

· Consensus that the five greatest all-time Twins are (in order): Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Joe Mauer.

· Lamenting the length of baseball games and how the duration and tediousness is eating at the interest among even the most passionate MLB fans. One possible solution (multiple are needed) is declaring a batter out after a half dozen or so pitches are fouled off.

A first clue that happiness awaited in Madison could have been the balmy and sunny early January weather. It was warm enough to wear a light jacket and a Madisonian was spotted wearing shorts. (Not sure if beer was involved but word is it does powerful things to the mind and body.)

A first time visit to the Kohl Center was part of the fun in making the trip. I am forever curious about stadiums and arenas. I try to visit as many as possible when travelling—regardless of whether there are games going on.

The Kohl Center was built in 1998, making it one of the newer arenas in major college basketball. It’s a comfortable and impressive place. Think of Target Center on a budget.

The building seats 17,287 for basketball, more for concerts and less for Wisconsin hockey. The Badgers had 143 consecutive basketball sellouts from 2003-2011, and UW has been leading the Big Ten in basketball attendance this winter.

“Bucky” does a great job of paying tribute to past UW sports heroes in the building. The concourses are filled with display cases where you might read about football immortal Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch, or Bud Foster who coached the Badgers to their only NCAA men’s basketball title in 1941. Frank “the Tank” Kaminsky, who led the Badgers to consecutive Final Four appearances, has his No. 44 enshrined in the rafters.

Want more name-dropping? Well, what’s a Badger game—in Minneapolis or Madison—without an Andy North sighting. The silver-haired golf guru is still offering his words of wisdom on TV, and showing up to support his beloved Badgers.

Before tipoff a University of Minnesota employee approached us at our seats (provided by a good friend and UW alum). “I still like Williams Arena more,” he said.

His opinion about Minnesota’s iconic building nearing a 100th anniversary certainly didn’t surprise, but he offered something else that I quickly categorized as a good omen about the game’s possible outcome. The Gophers, he said, travelled to Madison by bus—the same mode of transportation the football team used in late November when they won at Wisconsin for the first time since 1994.

The basketball Gophers not only hadn’t won in Madison for nine years but had also lost eight consecutive games to Wisconsin going into Thursday’s get together. I was looking for signs of better things to come, and I received encouragement early in the game.

Minnesota’s players looked prepared from the beginning, mentally focused and playing better defense than sometimes executed by Pitino teams. The Badgers, because of Minnesota’s defense and their own poor shooting, got stuck on six points for a long stretch in the first half in front of a reported crowd of 16,687.

By halftime the Gophers held a 29-14 lead. Junior guard-forward Amir Coffey had been terrific, making field goals, slashing to the basket for scores and playmaking. He looked, as Dutcher said earlier in the week, like one of the Big Ten’s most versatile players.

During halftime I turned to my friend and predicted the first several minutes after intermission would tell a lot about whether the Badgers came back in the game. Well, once in awhile I am right. Within a few minutes the Gophers put themselves in foul trouble and the Badgers reduced the lead to single digits.

Minnesota, though, never let Wisconsin get closer than four points while earning a significant 59-52 road win that made the Gophers 2-1 in the Big Ten, and left the top 25 ranked Badgers with the same record. While Coffey scored just six points in the second half, and season leading rebounder and scorer Jordan Murphy fouled out of the game, the Gophers got some heroics from guards Brock Stull and Dupree McBrayer.

Stull, a senior transfer who has mostly played limited minutes this season with minimal production, made consecutive three pointers in the second half. Those unexpected six points had Pitino exhilarated on the sidelines and helped turn back a Badger run.

McBrayer, also a senior, turned two consecutive loose balls by the Badgers into points for the Gophers near the game’s end. Those points pretty much did in “Bucky,” although the Badgers still had a chance to tie or win even with 25 seconds to play.

In the closing minutes a lot of Badgers fans vacated their seats and headed for the exits. That was surprising, and so, too, were the boos that reined down on the Badger players and coaches during parts of the game. Maybe some Wisconsin fans are spoiled after so many Big Ten titles and trips to the NCAA Tournament during the last 20 years.

I am not encouraging booing college athletes but the frustration of Badger fans was understandable. Their Badgers made only seven of 17 free throws during a night their fans could have pleaded, “Is their shot doctor in the house?”

The Gophers held Wisconsin to an uncharacteristically low 22.7 percent on three pointers. The Badgers made just five of 22 attempts. D’Mitrik Trice, who entered the game converting more than 50 percent of his three point shots, made two of seven. Badgers star center Ethan Happ bedeviled Gophers defenders with his low post moves and shots but made just one of seven free throws on a night when he scored 17 points.

Guard Brad Davison and forward Nate Reuvers, both Minnesota natives, played 30 and 32 minutes respectively. Davison, whose image was on the game tickets, had an off night, scoring four points with two assists. Reuvers, whose photo was on the game program, helped lead the Wisconsin second half comeback. He scored 12 points with five rebounds.

Badgers fan don’t like losing to their “border rival” but none uttered a negative word to us as we made our way out of the Kohl Center and to the parking ramp. Not even my companion’s Gopher jacket could prompt a look of disdain or curt remark from our border neighbors.

In return I offer my red outfitted friends the following advice: Don’t get discouraged either at home or on the road. “Bucky” will be back.

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