The Minnesota Twins kicked off their annual TwinsFest weekend — as well as the conclusion of their Winter Caravan — with the annual media luncheon. The gathering allows the media which covers the team to come together a few hours before TwinsFest opens to break bread and hear some updates about what the team has been up to since the end of the 2016 season.
Frankly, it’s quite a lot. The primary change, of course, is that the meeting was run by new Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey this season — as one might expect. Falvey briefed the media on the opening of the new training facility in the Dominican Republic with the Phillies as well as a hitting summit he held in Fort Myers recently over a two-day span with James Rowson and other cohorts. He also noted that a pitching version will be happening in the coming days, as the team looks to collaborate across the board to maximize communication in the organization.
Team President Dave St. Peter spoke after Falvey, and announced no new stadium additions like “Catch” or “Minnie and Paul’s” from last year, but that the team was continuing to find ways to improve the stadium’s food situation. He concluded his remarks with the induction of the newest members of the Twins Hall of Fame: Michael Cuddyer and Andy MacPhail.
Cuddyer played virtually every position on the diamond in his time with the Twins after the team spent its first-round pick (ninth overall) in 1997 on him. Cuddyer, who was selected as a shortstop, came up briefly in 2001 but didn’t cement his place on the Twins as a full-time player until the 2004 season, when he got into 115 games with nearly 400 plate appearances while playing first, second and third base and both corner outfield spots. Cuddyer went on to spend 11 years in the majors with the Twins, hitting .272/.343/.451 while playing everywhere but shortstop and catcher.
Yes, in 2011, he even pitched an inning.
Cuddyer departed via free agency after that season and won a batting title and Silver Slugger with the Rockies in 2013 before injuries waylaid the rest of his career. Cuddyer retired with one year left on his deal with the Mets as he finished his career by seeing time in 15 big league seasons. He made the All-Star team with the Twins in 2011 and the Rockies in 2013, and finished in the top-25 in MVP balloting in 2009 and 2013. He played on six Twins teams which won the AL Central crown.
Cuddyer returned to the organization in late November, when the team hired him, LaTroy Hawkins and Torii Hunter as Special Assistants.
Cuddyer also performed countless charitable works during his time with the Twins, and as a result was up for the Roberto Clemente Award in 2011. The award is given to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team,” and is voted on by media as well as fans.
While with the Twins, Cuddyer founded a community ticket program called “Cuddy’s Buddies” and also did a Celebrity Dinner which raised money for the Twin Cities chapters of the Boys and Girls Clubs.
Cuddyer was said to have found out of his election during an emotional phone call with Rod Carew, who is still recuperating from a heart transplant. Carew, who St. Peter said is slated to get out of the hospital soon, was reportedly elated to tell Cuddyer the news.
MacPhail was elected on the non-player ballot, and was the architect of the two World Series championship teams since the team’s move from Washington, D.C. MacPhail joined the Twins after the 1985 season as general manager, and remained at that post through the 1994 season until he left for a job with the Chicago Cubs and turned the role over to Terry Ryan. Since leaving the Twins, MacPhail has been CEO of the Cubs (1994-2006) and President of Baseball Operations of the Orioles (2007-11) in addition to his current role as President of the Philadelphia Phillies, which he has done since June 2015.
In fact, one of his most recent moves was to bring Ryan back as a special assignment scout. He’ll remain local to the Twin Cities and do a fair amount of his work at Target Field in addition to whatever the Phillies find for him work-wise.
MacPhail was the third GM in club history, and was the boy wonder who told reporters on Friday he’s still not sure exactly who vouched for him to get the job in the first place. “I’m sure they interviewed some other people because of how long it took,” he said. “But I never did find out who vouched for me.”
It’s fairly likely the last name MacPhail carried significant weight in getting the then-32-year-old his first big break in baseball. Like Falvey, MacPhail had never run a department prior to his hiring, but his named carried significant weight in the game. His father was the late Lee MacPhail and his grandfather Larry MacPhail — both of whom are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for their work as baseball executives. Larry, who passed away in 1975, worked with the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees most notably, while Lee, who passed in 2012, worked with the Yankees and Orioles as well as holding significant standing in the Commissioner’s office as well as being the American League president from 1973-1984.
MacPhail chatted with reporters via conference call following the luncheon, and reminisced about his time in the organization. He said he hasn’t seen Ryan in person since the hiring — and joked that Terry is no fun to watch a game with — but is excited to have him on board. One thing he wished he’d done in the moment was realized just how much talent those teams had — he specifically focused on the 1987 bunch that broke a long Twin Cities title drought — and also joked that after that season, all he could say to a college was “Man, we won the whole thing. All we were trying to do was get organized!”
Maybe that bodes well for Falvey and Thad Levine? Only time will tell. The pair will be officially inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame on Aug. 19-20, when the Arizona Diamondbacks are in town. Don’t forget, Ron Gardenhire is the new bench coach for Arizona. It should make for a fun, festive weekend to wrap up the summer.
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On Friday night during TwinsFest, the club also announced plans for the next bronze statue outside the stadium. It’ll be of former manager Tom Kelly, who led the team from late 1986 until retiring after the 2001 season — including both the 1987 and 1991 World Series clubs. Kelly had a 1,140-1,244 record as a major-league manager, and at the time of his retirement was the longest-tenured coach or manager in major pro sports. The Twins inducted Kelly into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2002 and retired his No. 10 in 2012.
The Graceville, Minn. native played 49 games in his lone MLB season in 1975 — with the Minnesota Twins. He was a member of the short-lived Seattle Pilots organization, and on May 26, 1975 against Detroit at Tiger Stadium hit the only home run of his career in a 6-2 loss against the late righty Vern Ruhle.
“The Minnesota Twins are excited to have this opportunity to further celebrate and recognize the incredible career of the one-and-only Tom Kelly,” Twins President & CEO Dave St. Peter said in a team release. “Tom’s contributions to the Twins organization and Upper Midwest baseball community are quite significant. This statue will help memorialize Tom’s greatness and ensure future generations are aware of the T.K. story.”
Kelly’s statue will be the eighth at Target Field, with Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Kent Hrbek, Tony Oliva, Kirby Puckett, Calvin Griffith and Carl and Eloise Pohlad the previous seven. The date of the unveiling will be announced in the near future, the team said.
