1. Joe Mauer signed a letter of intent to play college football for Florida State.

2. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was born in West Germany (answer courtesy of “Minnesota Twins Trivia” author Jim Hoey).

3. Cesar Tovar pitched and played eight other positions during a late season Twins game in 1968.

4. Harmon Killebrew played in more games (1,939) than any player in franchise history (answer courtesy of Jim Hoey).

5. J.J. stands for James Jerry (Hardy).

6. Rick Anderson became the Twins pitching coach in 2002.

7. Tony Oliva won batting championships his first two seasons in the big leagues, the only player ever to do so.

8. Metropolitan Stadium opened in 1956 and was home to the Minneapolis Millers until the Twins began playing there in 1961.

9. Joe Nathan owns the franchise single season saves record at 47 while Eddie Guardado is second with 45.

10. With 22 home runs, Justin Morneau won the 2008 Home Run Derby, played as part of baseball’s All-Star game activities.

11. Harold Wynegar, former Twins catcher, known to the baseball world as “Butch.” (Answer courtesy of Jim Hoey).

12. None.  There’s never been a Twins hitter who led the American League in batting average, home runs and RBI in the same season.

13. Manager Gene Mauch’s nephew, shortstop Roy Smalley, played for him in the late 1970’s. (Answer courtesy of Jim Hoey).

14. The Twins record last season when they won their fifth Central Division title since 2000 was 87 wins, 76 losses.

15. I know you will groan but the answer is: the organist.

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Last week’s announcement by Cory Joseph that he won’t be coming to the University of Minnesota to play for the Gophers answered one major off-season question about coach Tubby Smith’s program, but several others remain.  How those questions are answered will determine the success of the 2010-11 season.

Joseph is one of the elite prep guards in the country and chose Texas.  Although the Gophers were on his final list of potential college programs, recruiting sources weren’t surprised he didn’t choose Minnesota.  What raises concerns is that since being hired at Minnesota in 2007, Smith and his assistants have yet to convince an elite out of state player to become a Gopher.

Joseph has scoring and play making skills that the Gophers need, particularly at the point guard position.  His brother Devoe, a junior next season, will likely play that position if Al Nolen doesn’t return.  Nolen is another question in need of an answer.  If he can become academically eligible and return for his senior season, the Gophers will have an experienced point guard who is among the best defenders in the Big Ten Conference.

This spring, reserve point guard Justin Cobbs has put the program and news media on alert.  He’s made it known transferring to another school is a possibility, perhaps closer to his California home.

While the Gophers await the answer to Cobbs’ future, they can also ponder their front court questions.  Paul Carter transferred to be closer to his ill sister but even prior to that announcement the Gophers were stuck in the Trevor Mbakwe and Royce White marathons.

Mbakwe’s basketball eligibility is tied to resolution of an alleged crime in Florida.  He missed all of last season because of that situation.  White dropped out of school earlier this year after not playing in any games because of off court incidents.  White and the Gophers reportedly have interest in a White return, but guess what? There’s no answer yet.

The Gophers have a partial start on developing a competitive Big Ten team for next season with a backcourt of Devoe Joseph and Blake Hoffarber, and a center tandem of Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson.  But this roster has unanswered depth questions in the backcourt and it’s speculation as to who will start at the power and small forward positions.

Mbakwe or White will likely be the starting power forward, if either is available.  Carter’s absence opens the small forward position to a few players, but Rodney Willliams, a freshman last season who averaged 4.2 points per game, is the most likely candidate.

There are so many uncertainties about the program that fans are entitled to wonder “What’s next?”  Another transfer or ineligibility?  Perhaps the biggest question of all is why so many questions?

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Minnesota’s professional golf heroes are few but another one has emerged in 24-year-old Troy Merritt who has boosted his PGA earnings to nearly $600,000 already this year and might make THE PLAYERS Championship next week.

The former Spring Lake Park High School golfer finished third last weekend in the Zurich Classic and hopes to build upon that success at this week’s Quail Hollow Championship.  The third place was Merritt’s first top 10 finish on the PGA Tour, according to PGA.com.

Merritt has only been on the PGA circuit since January.  His biggest payday, $435,200, came at the Zurich where he finished 14 and under, and was at one point the tournament leader.

Although Merritt had a strong start on the PGA tour, more recently he had been missing tournament cuts.  Merritt learned how challenging the tour can be, and prior to the Zurich Classic he made an adjustment, according to a story by PGAtour.com contributing writer Craig Dolch.

Merritt told Dolch: “I thought about what was going on, what I wasn’t doing right. And basically, what it came down to was it was all in my head.  Not committing to the shots that I wanted to hit.  I was half committing to the shots that people were expecting me to hit.  So I came out this week really focused on playing my game how I always played it.”  https://www.pgatour.com/2010/r/04/26/troy-merritt/index.html

Merritt needs another outstanding performance (including his newly found short game) at Quail Hollow to qualify for the prestigious PLAYERS next week.  Dolch points out that Merritt’s hopes rest on making it on the FedExCup rankings of top 10 players.

Merritt won the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in December to make the 2010 tour.  That’s part of a success story that began at Spring Lake Park, continued at Winona State and Boise State, and then on to pro golf in 2008.

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