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A luxury problem: Twins’ four-man outfield
By
Gordy Jones
Although having four
outfielders capable of being starters is a luxury problem for the Twins, I hope
manager Ron Gardenhire usually starts – from left to
right: Denard Span, Carlos Gomez and Michael Cuddyer.
We have high hopes
for some pop in Delmon Young’s bat – but his fielding
is just adequate, and watching him chase a ball hit to his right can be
painful. It looks like he’s not taking full strides as he runs. They are more
like baby steps. Meantime, speedy Carlos Gomez can run all the way from deep
center field, catch up with Delmon, and be there for
back-up if Young finally hauls it in.
Both Gomez and Denard Span can fly around the outfield, and they play very
aggressively. They were both very influenced by Torii Hunter. Carlos knows
Torii, and told me that he watched Torii play ball on TV as a child. He wanted
to play center field just like him. He’s still learning to do so…but what a
great student!
Span told me that
when he was very young, Torii took him under his wing and mentored him on the
game and the life around it. To this day he stays in contact with his friend,
who is now an Angel.
In right field, a
healthy Cuddyer is a reliable glove. He gets a jump
on the ball and runs well, and has a killer arm – strong and accurate.
All four outfielders
have the potential to hit with power.
After Gomez hit
several balls over the fence during batting practice the other day, I asked him
if he had changed his swing over the winter. He replied: “I just try to play. I
played a little ball to get ready for this season. I was in the Dominican. Only
took 40 at-bats. You know, I don’t change anything. I try to do the same thing.
But every year I play, every year I get better.”
Carlos is a complex
fellow. He can be quiet with anticipation in the pregame
clubhouse. But as he walks through the tunnel and down the stairs that lead to
the field, you can see him getting excited. Sometimes he may start dancing or
singing. As he steps onto the field he laughs and tells funny stories to his
teammates in a childlike voice which is natural, but almost cartoon-like. When
he gives an interview, his voice reverts to a more serious tone. He loves to
laugh and loves to joke with the fans.
I asked him about
his extreme happiness on the field. “You know, baseball is a game that you have
to be happy to play it. Baseball can be up and down, but you have to take it on
this level all of the time. I come here every day and have fun.”
I mentioned how he
seems to bring joy to those around him, too. “You know, that’s the kind of
person I am. When I get here, sometimes I see that some teammates don’t look
happy. So I start playing around here, and start laughing and make them happy.
The Twins know how to have fun. My manager just says: ‘Play ball and have
fun!’”
One thing that is
not fun is getting hit by a pitch. And that was one of the few times I saw
Carlos frown last season. He was hit by a pitch and took first base. The next
batter popped up for the third out. Carlos walked slowly towards the dugout to
retrieve his glove, and as he did, he looked as if he were a child ready to
cry. He looked at the photographers’ well at the edge of the dugout where I sat
and said in a very sad voice: “Carlos does not like getting hit by pitch.”
Seconds later he had his glove on his hand and a smile back on his face, and
was running like lightning to center field.
Last season Carlos
was always full of surprises. I think he surprised his manager at times, too. I
asked Carlos if we can expect more of the same this year. He just grinned,
saying: “Many more surprises this year. I gotta give
surprises! And this year we win championship!”
Putting
a little spring into your game
One of my favorite
times of year is baseball’s spring training in
It’s fun to watch
the new season develop right before your eyes – to see the veterans reunite and
the new players meet and greet while trying to fit in on the team. You look at
those kids in Twins uniforms and wonder if someday they may be in
This may be the last
shot for some guys, and they may be packing for home in a few weeks. But even
for them, this is a memorable time. They are on the field with greatness.
When Dave St. Peter
took over as president of the Twins, he thought it was odd that we have such
classic ballplayers among our alumni, yet we had literally no relationship with
them. So he immediately reestablished a friendship with them, which opened the
doors to some wonderful possibilities. As a result, we now have spring training
coaches in Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew,
Paul Molitor, Tony Oliva
and Tom Kelly. They are fully uniformed and on the field, sharing their vast
knowledge and experience of baseball.
Looking at them,
you’d think you’ve gone back in time. In their pinstriped Twins uniforms, they
all look as if they’re in playing condition. They are here for a week or two,
and their weeks are staggered throughout the duration of camp. If you are a fan
going to a game, you should be able to see one or two of them mentoring the
guys no matter when you are here.
If you come to a
game, make a day of it. Arrive in the morning and watch the workouts. You can
walk over to the minor league camp and watch Joe Mauer’s
brother, Jake, manage the rookies. Players, rookies and veterans are very close
and accessible to fans during spring training. They may walk from infield
practice to the clubhouse right through the crowd of fans, giving autographs
along the way.
Veterans generally
play only a few innings of an exhibition game because there are many young
players who must be evaluated. After leaving the game and running their laps,
they may walk around the warning track, chatting with fans and signing
autographs.
Even when the team
is on the road, half of the guys stay behind and have a morning workout. That’s
a good time for fans to get close to their team. You can walk around the
complex with no admission charge and see and hear their training. They are
usually finished by
It’s a
pain in the back!
You could see the
frustration on Joe Mauer’s face as I talked to him
and asked him how he felt. He looked at me sadly and said, “It’s just more of
the same.” He is very tired of having ailments. Although it’s very painful,
thankfully the inflammation on his right sacroiliac joint, which connects the
spine to the pelvis, is probably not serious. But because of his setback, Joe
will not be ready for the season opener. In December, Joe had surgery to clear
an obstruction to the kidney.
Competing
factors
Michael Cuddyer is excited to be healthy after his bad luck in the
injury department last year. “It was definitely an unfortunate season last
year. But I’m really proud of how this team played. I’m really proud how they
progressed. And now I’m able to come back, and maybe I can help this team get
to where we ultimately want to go.”
He said that the
Twins’ four starting-caliber outfielders will make this team better.
But when I referred to it as healthy competition, he corrected me, “I really
wouldn’t call it competing. We all have the same frame of mind: that’s to win
and help our team.”
It is interesting to
see how a young player with his role not so defined as Cuddyer’s
thinks about a similar situation. Here are Brian Buscher’s
comments about trying to land an infield job: “I’d like to see myself in the
lineup. I’ll probably be a bench player. Hopefully I’m just on this ball club.
It’s a competition now. But after everyone’s set and we know where we’re going,
it’s all about working together. It doesn’t matter where I have to play or
where anyone has to play. The goal on day one is to get to the playoffs.”
That is one thing
that’s unanimous; everyone I’ve talked to feels there will be postseason play
for the Twins this year.
Great
fans
The Minnesota Twins’
2008 total attendance of 2,302,431 was the third-highest single-season total in
team history — trailing only 1988 and 1992. Those were the years which followed
the World Series, when the Twins were World Series Champions. It also marked
the first time in Twins history that the team drew more than two million fans
for four consecutive years. As Bert Blyleven says,
the fans were the 10th man on the field as
they showed their tremendous support at all home games. They really made a
difference in the incredible season.
Carlos Gomez had
this to say about the fans: “You know, it’s amazing!
It’s amazing! We’ve got good fans in
Check out Gordy’s book at http://www.baseballguy.org.
Gordy can be reached at gejones1@aol.com.