Let's Visit Minnesota

In 1951, Willie Howard Mays, Jr., played centerfield for the Minneapolis Millers. Hoyt Wilhelm and Tookie Gilbert were a couple of his teammates. In 35-games Mays put up the kind of numbers that caught the attention of the big club. It was time to be in the big leagues!

G-35 AB-149 R-38 H-71 HR-8 RBI-30 SB-5 AVE-.477.

Fifty-nine years later, the major league franchise Minnesota Twins open a new park. The Sporting News had a survey of former Twins about the new park.

Building a field without a dome in frigid Minnesota: good idea or bad? "I caught many games with pouring rain hitting the roof. The dome had a leak that dropped right behind the plate." Brian Harper

Should Joe Mauer stay at catcher or eventually move?
"Stay-and break every record in baseball at that position." Sandy Valdespino

Will the Twins win another World Series in the next 10 years, or are they doomed as a small-market team?

"The starting pitching needs to go deeper into games. The 100-pitch count sucks." - Bert Blyleven

The greatest Twin of any era is...

"Killebrew first, Puckett second, Carew third, (Jim) Kaat fourth. The greatest Twin of all, though, would have been Tony Oliva. Before the knee problems, he was the most feared hitter in the A.L." Eddie Bane

"Tony Oliva was my idol." Kent Hrbek

(thanks to the Sporting News the 2/1/2010 edition)

Kevin Marquez