Wednesday August 13, 2003
Discussion Question of the Week
SPECIAL CAUSES
First, I need to say Hi to members of the Perham High School Class of 1993. We had our 10 year reunion about 6 weeks ago, and yesterday, I received a memory book, full of what is going on in our lives and our thoughts and more. This website is mentioned in there, so if any classmates read this posting, please feel free to e-mail me and say hi! Kristi, if you look at this, the book looks great, the reunion was lots of fun, and it was great to see everyone again! Thanks!
To today’s posting:
Did you watch the Twins game last night? I did, or at least most of it. Sure, I turned it to Big Brother 4 from 7-8, and I watched The Real World: Paris from 9-9:30, but that’s why I have two TVs in my living room! I am so glad for The Real World because I only had to watch all those home runs that James Baldwin and JC Romero gave up to the Indians hitters on a 13 inch TV!
But, for me, the highlight of watching last night’s game was seeing Jodi Mientkiewicz, Doug’s wife, spend a full inning in the broadcaster’s booth with Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven. First, I have to say that she is a very attractive individual. Interesting choice of shirts, but it works on her.
But, I figured that seeing Jodi Mientkiewicz should inspire me, should make me want to be a better man! So, I’m going to write today about the charities that Doug and Jodi Mientkiewicz help out with, and a couple others that are out there. I’m not going to ask anyone to donate any money, but if you want to, I’m sure that the agencies would be very appreciative.
And, if Jodi Mientkiewicz reads this, and decides to like me, or even e-mail me (Jodi, please click here to do so), that would just be an added bonus.
Last night, she was in the booth to discuss an event that she and Doug have set up for the evening of Wednesday, September 3. It is called a “Night of 1,000 Heroes”. It will be a dinner which will be attended by Doug and Jodi Mientkiewicz and other Twins players and coaches. The auction will include memorabilia gathered by Mientkiewicz himself. The purpose of the event is to raise money for the Parker Hughes Cancer Center in Roseville, MN. The mission of the center is: to eradicate cancer through outstanding integrated programs in patient care, research and education.
The Parker Hughes Cancer Center is a part of the Parker Hughes Institute, and organization meant to eradicate cancer, AIDS, and other diseases of the immune system.
If you are interested in attending the Night of 1,000 Heroes event, you should call (651) 796-5400.
Doug Mientkiewicz also hosts a fishing tournament for charity earlier in the season.
The impressive thing about the Mientkiewicz’s is that they truly seem to enjoy helping out in the community. It is apparent that they not only lend their names to organizations, but take the time and efforts and energy to help those causes.
Jodi Mientkiewicz is also a board member of the Twins Community Fund. The Twins Community Fund is a group of community people and people directly related to the Twins, including Jodi Mientkiewicz, Corey Koskie, and former Twins SS Roy Smalley. Their role is setting up programs and initiatives to help in the community, primarily for kids.
Here are just a few of the organizations that are funded via the Twins Community Fund:
Gotta Read 'Em - program to encourage reading for kids.
Fields for Kids - provides grants for communities to build or renovate youth baseball fields.
Rookie League and R.B.I. - Twins provide funding for youth baseball in inner cities.
Twins Care - Twins provide free tickets to kids and families.
2003 TwinsFest - Current and former Twins come to the Dome in February to sign autographs and promote the Twins.
Autograph Party - Check out this link and see their photos of the event, then be sure to check out my photo album for pictures of when I went to this event this year.
So, as you can see, the Twins Community Fund, the players, coaches and management all are quite active in the community in different ways. But there are other baseball related funds that are worth looking into. Players hold golf tournaments (as former Twin Kent Hrbek does for ALS) and play in softball tournaments (as Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones did this winter - Jones was the game’s MVP!). They do a lot of good within a community that many times goes unnoticed, probably intentionally.
Not to give too much information today, but I got an e-mail from my cousin, Chris, yesterday with his lineup for the Discussion Question of the Week. In his lineup, his 9th hitter was a shortstop named John Henry Lloyd. I have to admit, not even I had heard of him, so I did a little research. It ends up the John Henry “Pop” Lloyd is a Hall of Famer. Tomorrow, I will go further into depth about this man’s career. His numbers are truly astonishing!
I would encourage everyone to take a look at the Negro League Baseball Player’s Association website. This organization has set up a fund to assist former Negro League players. These people paved the way for a lot of black ballplayers before the time when Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby helped integrate Major League Baseball. Check out how you can help this organization by sending a charitable contribution to the NLBPA.
If you know of any other Twins, or baseball-related charities that you would like to mention, send me an e-mail, and I’ll be sure to promote it.
Rick Reed, hurt again. What’s new? I guess he doesn’t want to get traded, huh? The Twins put him on waivers, and no other major league team claimed him, so he could be traded by August 31. By this injury, he’s lowering his (already low) trade status even more.
Joe Mays got the start in Reed’s place. He really didn’t do terribly, but certainly not spectacularly.
James Baldwin came in, and gave up 3 homers in just over an inning. I’m sorry, but is it just me, or does his stuff look incredibly hittable? The motion is awkward, the fastball is straight and not overpowering, the offspeed stuff is easy to pick up. Somehow he has had success in his career. I just wonder how he’s a better option than Michael Nakamura, Grant Balfour, or even Brad Thomas?
JC Romero continued his terrible season, giving up another homer, and showing a lack of control.
It just wasn’t a good game, and it’s really unfortunate, because the Yankees came back and beat the Royals 6-0, so the Twins lost a chance to pick up a game on them. The White Sox defeated the Angels 10-4 to pick up a game on the Royals. So, the Royals have a half game lead on the White Sox and remain 2 ½ games up on the Twins. I realize the Twins aren’t going to ‘win them all’, but you would like to think that the effort would be there.
Speaking of effort, how about that AJ Pierzynski, pinch-hit, 14 pitch at bat which ended in a strikeout? That was just a great at bat for AJ. The end result wasn’t what he or the Twins hoped for, but that type of battle is really all you can ask for. I just wish that more Twins would put up that type of at bat throughout a game, not just in the 9th!
Tonight’s game will be a match-up of the Twins Johan Santana versus the Indians Jason Davis. We all remember when Jason Davis threw at Torii Hunter a couple of months back. Maybe this will be a game where the Twins will be ready to hit!
Twins 6th round draft pick this year, Errol Simonitsch improved to 4-0 with a 7 1/3 inning outing on Monday night for Rookie League Elizabethton. He struck out 9 and walked 0! His season totals are really remarkable. He has pitched 37 innings, struck out 45, and walked just 4. (Nice K/BB Ratio, huh?) His ERA is just 0.97.
The incredible Barry Bonds hit his 36th and 37th homers of the season last night. The second was his 650th career home run! He’s good. How good? Check this out!
In April, I went to the Twins home opener at the Metrodome. Before the game against the Blue Jays, the national anthem was sung by former Twins pitcher, Jim “Mudcat” Grant. Today, Mudcat turns 68! Grant played a total of 14 seasons in the big leagues, but arguably his best stretch of success came during his 3+ seasons with the Minnesota Twins.
Grant came to the Twins on June 15, 1964 from the Cleveland Indians for P Lee Strange and 3B/OF George Banks. In 1965, he was an All-Star and started three games in the World Series. On November 28, 1967, Grant was then traded from the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for C John Roseboro, P Bob Miller and P Ron Perranoski. Perranoski ended up being an important piece in the Twins success for a few years after that. So, in both cases, the Twins got the better of the deals!
Check out Mudcat Grant’s stats with the Twins, compared to the rest of his career:
|
|
G |
GS |
IP |
W |
L |
ERA |
BB |
K |
|
1964 |
26 |
23 |
166.0 |
11 |
9 |
2.82 |
36 |
75 |
|
1965 |
41 |
39 |
270.3 |
21 |
7 |
3.30 |
61 |
142 |
|
1966 |
35 |
35 |
249.0 |
13 |
13 |
3.25 |
49 |
110 |
|
1967 |
27 |
14 |
95.3 |
5 |
6 |
4.72 |
17 |
50 |
|
Twins Totals |
129 |
11 |
780.7 |
50 |
35 |
3.35 |
163 |
377 |
|
Career Totals |
571 |
293 |
2,441.7 |
145 |
119 |
3.62 |
849 |
1,267 |
For his career, Grant’s ERA is 3.62 and his ERA+ was 100. ERA+ of 100 means average, so Grant’s overall career was very average. The league ERA for that time was 3.63, so he was under that by a very small margin.
But 1965 was a special year for Jim “Mudcat” Grant and the Minnesota Twins. Grant made the All-Star team, was 6th in the MVP voting. Led the league in wins with 21, shutouts with 6 (and Home Runs Allowed, with 34, but that’s OK!). He finished second in the league with 14 complete games, and 3rd in Innings Pitched.
The Twins faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Mudcat Grant pitched three games in the series, all against Don Drysdale. In Game 1, Grant and the Twins got the better of the Dodgers with an 8-2 win. In Game 4, Drysdale got the better of the Twins and the Dodgers won 7-2. Both pitchers came back for Game 6, and Mudcat Grant was the hero. He not only pitched a complete game, but he hit a 3-run homer, in the 5-2 win! That led to the exciting Game 7, which pitted Sandy Koufax against the Twins Jim Kaat (Check out my review of the Jim Kaat autobiography).
Before coming to the Twins, Grant pitched from 1958-1963 with the Cleveland Indians. After leaving the Twins, he went to the Dodgers, but in the remainder of his career, Grant pitched for the Expos, Cardinals, A’s, and Pirates.
So, Happy Birthday Mudcat Grant!
DISCUSSION QUESTION OF THE WEEK
I’ve had a few really good responses to the below question already, so be sure to e-mail me your thoughts! Check out last week’s Discussion Question report to see the type of report that I am talking about.
Again, here are the rules:
1.) Take a look at the below question and think about how you would answer it.
2.) Send me an e-mail letting me know how you would answer the question.
3.) Check back every day, and if you have further ideas, e-mail me again!
4.) For sure, check back on Friday and see what other responses I received.
Without further ado, this week’s Question of the Week:
If you ran a baseball team, and had all of the players ever to have played the game at your disposal (in their primes, not at the current age or living status), what lineup would you put on the field?
Have a Great Wednesday!