Twins – Page 117 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

PGA to Take Over Tapemark Tourney

Posted on May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 by David Shama

The Klas family is ending its 47-year commitment to the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am in June. Sports Headliners has learned the Minnesota PGA will take over the golf tournament in 2019 and beyond.

The inspiration for the tournament was Frances Klas, who was born mentally retarded in 1951. Her dad and mom, Bob and Sandy Klas, learned about organizations available to assist children like Frances, and they wanted to help raise awareness and funds for them. To accomplish those goals, Bob started the tournament with Tapemark company partner Tom Cody.

Bob Klas Jr., who is CEO of the nonprofit Pro-Am, said after the 2018 tournament more than $8 million will have been raised through the years to assist agencies serving Minnesotans with developmental disabilities. That total will include revenues from bingo operations in West St. Paul.

Bob Jr. said the tournament that attracts many of Minnesota’s best professional golfers has through its funding and publicity made many lives better for people with disabilities. “I find it fulfilling to know the time, energy and effort allowed us to support the agencies in a very tangible way,” he said.

With his executive position at the West St. Paul based Tapemark company, and work on behalf of the Pro-Am, Bob Jr. has been busy over the years. The last couple of years he began to question whether he had the energy to continue his leadership of the golf tournament. He had his 65th birthday earlier this year, and his dad is 91 and unable to help much with the tournament now. “The odds of me getting younger are less than 50-50,” Bob Jr. joked.

Conversations started awhile ago to transition the tournament over to the Minnesota PGA. “There is never a perfect time to walk away, but this seems right,” Bob Jr. said. “It feels good to know it will be taken over by an organization that wants to do a first class golf tournament.”

Plans are for the Minnesota PGA to keep the tournament at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul. As the only tournament that section pros participate in, it is important to the PGA to see the tournament continue. The PGA will direct revenues to causes important to that organization including junior golf and college scholarships, Bob Jr. said.

Among the successful pros who have won the tournament multiple times are Don Berry and George Shortridge. Then there is a fellow named Tom Lehman who was starting his pro career in 1990 when he won the Tapemark. He went on to become the only golfer ever claiming title to the British Open, Scottish Open and Tapemark championships.

This year’s men’s tournament will be June 8-10, with the women’s event June 10.

Worth Noting

Bill Fitch, the former Gopher coach who went on to win an NBA title with the Celtics, is retired and living in the Houston area. He follows the NBA closely and was asked about the Timberwolves. “I’d let them know they’re better than what they’ve shown,” he said to Sports Headliners.

The Wolves were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and there is speculation team unity might be an issue. Fitch said if he were coaching a group with chemistry problems there would be an offseason team party at his house, a planned wake-up call. The message: if the players aren’t on the same page in training camp, they will wear out the court from all the running ordered by the coach. “You can’t win without it (unity),” Fitch said.

How do the Timberwolves improve their personnel? Add another big player to push center Karl-Anthony Towns in practice and help him in games, Fitch suggested. “You never have enough strong big men,” he said.

Former Timberwolf Mike Miller, the South Dakota native, is an assistant coach on the Memphis Tigers staff. Ex-Wolf player and coach Sam Mitchell might also join new head coach Penny Hardaway with the Tigers.

It’s been whispered for months Oklahoma State will be the Gophers opponent in a December men’s basketball game at U.S. Bank Stadium. Media reports Tuesday confirmed that information. The Tulsaworld.com also reported Minnesota will play a game with OSU during the 2019-20 season at Tulsa’s BOK Center.

Although no date has been given, it’s believed the Gophers-Cowboys game at U.S. Bank Stadium will be on Saturday, December 1. A second game involving Division I teams is expected to be played on the same date.

The St. Thomas and Wisconsin-River Falls men’s basketball teams will play a Division III game at the stadium Friday, November 30.

The Tommies’ incoming freshmen next season will include Sam Vascellaro, a 6-4 forward who is the son of WCCO TV’s Frank Vascellaro and Amelia Santaniello.

The Gopher women’s basketball team’s incoming group of five scholarship players includes no one from the state of Minnesota. Look for that to change for sure in future years under new head coach Lindsay Whalen who will have strong relationships with state prep coaches. Whalen recently added Utah native and point guard Mercedes Staples to the incoming class.

The Twins are on a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season, and all the wins have come on the road. Their 10-game, 11-day road trip continues tonight in Anaheim against the Angels with Jose Berrios, 3-3 with a 3.98 ERA, starting for Minnesota. See if Berrios relies a lot on his fastball and avoids too many breaking pitches.

The Cardinals, who the Twins swept earlier this week, drafted Paul Molitor as a high school player at Cretin-Derham Hall but he chose to attend the University of Minnesota before eventually joining the Brewers organization.

Molitor and Derek Falvey, the Twins chief baseball officer, speak to the Twin Cities Dunkers group on May 23.

The Dunkers recently awarded more than $120,000 to Minneapolis and St. Paul high school athletic programs, according to the Dunkers website. Over eight years close to $600,000 has been given to help supplement athletic budgets.

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Jack Morris to Twins: Get It Right Now

Posted on May 6, 2018May 6, 2018 by David Shama

The Twins are 8-15 in their last 23 games. They are 4-12 since April 20 and have an overall record of 12-17.

Jack Morris, the former Twins pitcher who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, is concerned about his old team. Talking to Sports Headliners last week before the Twins went to Chicago for their weekend series against the White Sox, he spoke about the danger of losing too many games too early in the season.

“You remember two years ago, they lost the season in April,” Morris said. “They were out. They were so far behind (in the division standings) they lost their season in April.

“You don’t win a season in April but you can lose one. If they continue this (tailspin) for another week or two, it’s going to be another lost season. They’ve got to get out of it right now.”

The 2016 Twins finished with a 59-103 record. Minnesota’s April record that year was 7-17, followed by 8-19 and 10-17 the next two months. The first winning month of the season came in July with a 15-11 record.

Morris acknowledged how losing can impact players psychologically. “I think you start thinking about it. It’s human nature to start dwelling on what’s wrong instead of what can work. …”

The Twins finish a four-game series with the White Sox today. Minnesota needs a win to avoid a series split in the games that are part of a 10-game, 11-day road trip.

Morris hopes the Twins are getting ready to start a long winning streak. He reminded an interviewer that during a 162-game season, teams experience weeks of both winning and losing streaks, while the rest of the time “they grind it out.”

“There’s an old saying,” Morris said. “You’re going to win 50 (games and) you’re going to lose 50. What you do with the other 62 is what matters.”

Miguel Sano (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

It’s been the Twins’ misfortune to have injuries sideline their best pitcher, Ervin Santana, center fielder Byron Buxton, catcher Jason Castro and third baseman Miguel Sano. Jorge Polanco, the team’s starting shortstop in 2017, is missing the first 80 games of the season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

Being without core players is a challenge but so, too, is lack of consistency from the pitching staff. That inconsistency is exemplified by 23-year-old potential ace Jose Berrios who managed a win Friday night by lasting six innings and giving up four runs. In an April 12 start against the White Sox Berrios was sharper, throwing seven shutout innings while allowing only three hits and striking out 11 batters.

Morris offered this evaluation of Berrios prior to the right hander’s latest start: “Well, you know, it’s funny. He’s been two different guys so far this year. He was a dominant guy. He came out like a lion the first couple games. Then the last two games he hasn’t had his velocity. He has been tailing his breaking ball, which hasn’t been very consistent, and hasn’t been able to locate it, and so that puts him in a hole again.

“I don’t know if he has the strength to be that lion that he was the first time throughout the whole year or not. But he certainly seems to be going with more breaking balls that aren’t as effective the last couple times.”

In the first inning of Berrios’ Friday night start he gave up three hits including a two-run home run to Jose Abreu. Twins TV analyst Roy Smalley echoed Morris’ comments saying he believes Berrios sometimes“gets away from his fast ball way too soon.”

Morris pitched in 549 big league games, most of them for the Tigers. He knows that even the top pitchers don’t always have their best stuff but that’s where they need to be creative and determined enough to still win.

When Morris looks at Berrios, he sees a pitcher trending upward in his third big league season. Perhaps a pitcher that some day could be in the conversation for the Cy Young Award. “Well, you know the way he pitched the first couple games he was almost unhittable,” Morris said. “His stuff is way above average when he is on.

“The more he wins, the confidence level and the focus gets sharper. You cannot tell anybody that until they have experienced it themselves. …Then you can be creative on the days when you don’t have your stuff.”

Morris had confidence and grit including his memorable Game Seven that carried the Twins to their World Series championship in 1991 against the Braves. It was a highlight experience for the St. Paul native who won 254 big league games pitching for the Tigers, Twins, Blue Jays and Indians.

Morris receives the ultimate personal award this summer with his induction into the Hall of Fame. The ceremony will culminate a baseball life that goes back to being a six-year-old with big dreams. Morris recalled riding home from a Twins game at Met Stadium and saying this to his mom:

“Some day I am going to play in the big leagues for the Minnesota Twins.

“She grabbed my arm and kind of hugged me and squeezed me, and said, ‘Well you just keep dreaming.’

“I said, ‘No, mom, I am serious. I am going to.’ ”

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Vikings Expectations Still on Rise

Posted on April 26, 2018April 26, 2018 by David Shama

Offseason optimism about the Vikings ranks with the highest in franchise history and tonight’s NFL Draft will only add to the hype. After last season’s 13-3 season and near Super Bowl, the Vikings can add a first round draft choice tonight at No. 30 and eight total selections over the next two days of the draft.

Count 16-year Vikings radio play-by-play man Paul Allen among those passionate about the 2018 team. He believes this is a franchise that can play with and defeat the NFL’s best. “Given that they upgraded at the quarterback spot and they’re going to get the return of Dalvin Cook, yeah, I believe it’s a better team already, and I really like some things I think they’re going to do in the draft,” he told Sports Headliners.

Allen agrees with the prevailing prediction the Vikings are likely to focus on offensive line prospects in the draft but adds that because general manager Rick Spielman has such a talented team he doesn’t have to be “desperate” and can select the best player available regardless of position. There certainly is no road map for NFL teams drafting over the next three days and that’s why general managers may have 50 scenarios of what can play out on their selection boards.

“…I’ve hammered so many different scenarios over the last three days,” Spielman said on Tuesday. “I can’t tell you all weekend how much film we watched and how many scenarios we have put ourselves in. Not only at 30, but if we trade back (later rounds) these players are available. Are we just as happy getting one of these players and another pick?

“We went through scenarios through to the bottom of the second and bottom of the third round right now. That’s the exciting part because you don’t know what you’re going to experience because it seems like you experience something new every year.”

Spielman made Kirk Cousins the NFL’s highest paid quarterback during the offseason, replacing Case Keenum who went to Denver. Cousins has never played on successful playoff teams but aspirations are for that to change in Minneapolis. What’s it like to be on a team with such high expectations?

“It is what it is,” Cousins said. “I don’t want to be on a team with low expectations, do I? I think that it’s part of being in this league. There is pressure on everybody. It would be immature for us to focus on the expectations.

“I am just focused on being the best quarterback I can be today. …The rest will take care of itself, and if we do our job each and every day, and having the best OTAs we can have, then the results that everyone is looking to see and care about in the fall, those will take care of themselves.”

Cousins and his teammates and coaches have been getting acquainted at the Vikings’ practice facility. What are first impressions about them and the organization? “It’s the real deal,” he said. “I wasn’t fooled on the free agency visit; what I saw then has been the truth. There’s no aloof personalities in the locker room, everybody has been very down to earth, there’s humility there.

“There’s a formula here for success. I sit in the team meetings and I see the organization. I see the attention to detail. I see the professionalism and it’s no surprise why they were successful last year, and it’s no surprise why I wanted to be here. I’m very, very impressed with what I’ve seen, but at the same time was expecting all along.”

The Vikings had an NFL Rookie of the Year candidate last season in running back Dalvin Cook but he tore his ACL in week four. In a smart move in last year’s draft, Spielman moved up in the second round selection process to secure Cook who veteran pro football writer Peter King predicted would be one of the NFL’s five best running backs by late October.

Cook is expected to make a full recovery from surgery, participate in summer training camp and be ready for the opening game in September against the 49ers. Vikings head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman has been working with Cook through the rehab process, just as he did several years ago with Adrian Peterson when he recovered from a torn ACL.

“Yes, we took some of that stuff that we did with Adrian and transferred it right to Dalvin who really has attacked his rehab with the same approach that Adrian did, and hopefully he will have the same success at the end of the day,” Sugarman told Sports Headliners.

Peterson wowed observers with his determination during rehab and Sugarman sees a similar attitude with Cook. “He (Cook) does have unbelievable spark. The thing to me is that ACL rehab is tough because it’s nine months. It gets boring. It’s tedious.

“There’s not a day that he didn’t walk in this building, or Winter Park, with a without a smile on his face. Just a pleasure to work with. Been fun to watch him go from injury to rehab, to now on the field, and hopefully scoring touchdowns in the future.”

Worth Noting

Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph said teammate and wide receiver Michael Floyd is still living with Rudolph and his family in Minnesota, but also spends time in Scottsdale, Arizona. “He’s back and forth,” Rudolph said.

High school football games will be played at the Vikings’ newly opened Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center in Eagan. Would Eden Prairie, the defending Class 6A champions and coached by Mike Grant, be a target for the first game there ever? Grant, son of legendary Vikings head coach Bud Grant, said he hasn’t been contacted.

Because the Eagles play only four home games, Grant said it’s difficult to give one up. The games are important, he explained, to “so many people” at the school and in the community. The home games also impact revenues through the booster club and ticket sales.

Condolences to the family and friends of Twin Cities native Mark Merrill who died earlier this month. The former Kellogg High School athlete was a second team All-Big Ten tackle for the Gophers in 1977.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners tickets remain for all Twins’ home games including the anticipated series with the Angels June 8, 9 and 10 when rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani may pitch.

Media reports are that a signed Ohtani rookie collector card is valued at over $6,000. The Japanese phenom has impressed this spring as both a pitcher and designated hitter.

St. Peter said among similar size cities, only Mobile, Alabama will have more National Baseball Hall of Famers than St. Paul when Jack Morris is inducted this summer. Morris joins St. Paulites Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield in the hall. Mobile has five enshrined in Cooperstown including all-time home run leader Hank Aaron.

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