The Twins start the regular season today and insiders will watch to see who fills the leadership void left by the retirement of Torii Hunter. A source close to the club told Sports Headliners he thinks it will be second baseman Brian Dozier.
Dozier begins his fifth season with the Twins this afternoon in Baltimore against the Orioles. To be a leader, a player has to be a success on the field. Last season was a breakthrough year for the second baseman who played in his first All-Star Game. He led the Twins in home runs with 28 and runs scored, 101.
The source described the 28-year-old Dozier as someone who plays hard and is a potential leader in part because he produces on the field and at the plate. “He is the kind of guy that cares,” the source said. “To be a leader you have to care.”
Hunter could be confrontational with underachieving teammates. While Dozier isn’t an in-your-face guy, he is willing to speak out when something is wrong, the source said.
The Twins had lost 90-plus games for four consecutive seasons when Hunter joined the team as a free agent for 2015. He found a dreary clubhouse where players weren’t enjoying the experience of playing baseball. “Losing a game isn’t life and death,” the source said.
Hunter focused on winning games but also wanted a locker room atmosphere that was fun. His clubhouse dance parties following games symbolized the new attitude of the Twins, who earned an 83-79 final record and second place finish in the AL Central.
“You’ve got to have some life in the locker room,” the source said. “If you treat everything so serious, it takes away a lot of the enjoyment of playing the game.”
Worth Noting
The Orioles project to be among the mediocre teams in the American League. Last season the Orioles’ record was 81-81 and the Twins were 7-0 against them.
The Twins tried for years to fill their shortstop position after trading J.J. Hardy to the Orioles during the 2010 offseason for a pair of minor league pitchers who never contributed. Hardy is still the Orioles’ shortstop, and hit .265 with three home runs and six RBI in spring training.
Former Twin Vance Worley was fourth on the Orioles in innings pitched during spring training and had a 1-1 record with a 4.32 ERA.
Temperatures could reach the low 70s with some precipitation for this afternoon’s game in Baltimore, according to Accuweather.com.
Twins’ TV analyst Bert Blyleven, who likes to talk about his birthdays, could well reference it on today’s Fox North telecast. Blyleven will be 65 Wednesday.
Jim Dutcher, the former Gophers coach who correctly predicted North Carolina would be a Final Four team, told Sports Headliners yesterday he believes Villanova’s defensive pressure will be too much for Carolina’s guards and the Wildcats will win tonight’s NCAA championship game 82-80.
Former Gophers football coach Jerry Kill received a standing ovation Friday night at the Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic at the Doubletree Hotel in St. Louis Park. Kill was presented with the MFCA’s Power of Influence Award that has been renamed the Jerry Kill Power of Influence Award.
Author Jim Bruton said the book he and Kill are writing is complete, and it’s now ready for editing. As part of researching the book, Bruton travelled to places Kill has coached and saw how much he is revered. “He is a god,” Bruton said. “Chasing Dreams, Living My Life One Yard at a Time” will be released next fall.
The MFCA’s Tackle Cancer initiative has raised $774,000 for research in four years. Prep football coaches in various parts of the state designate a home game as a fundraiser. Proceeds go to the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund.
Players from the Gophers’ 1967 Big Ten championship football team will be in town for a reunion April 22. They will gather at J.D. Hoyt’s Supper Club starting at 2 p.m.
WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson will meet with Arizona State officials at the Frozen Four in Tampa later this week to discuss the future conference affiliation of the Sun Devils. ASU may announce this summer which college hockey league its program will join and what the first year of participation will be. The Sun Devils are currently an independent.
Robertson has been talking to the Big Ten about preseason and postseason games involving that league and his WCHA. Plans might become finalized next fall. Robertson has proposed schools from the two leagues match up teams in the preseason similar to basketball’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge. In the postseason a single site would host separate WCHA and Big Ten tournaments.