Four Twins Hall of Famers Delight SABR Audience in Minneapolis

By Dan Schlossberg

The best part of Hall of Fame Induction Weekend is the Monday Roundtable that closes festivities for the new members.

An informal discussion held at Doubleday Field, just off Main Street, the event gives spectators a chance to see the stars close-up and to ask questions submitted through a moderator.

It’s even better when the stars on the panel played for the same team, lived in the same city, or both.

That’s why the opening events of this year’s Society for American Baseball Research convention in Minneapolis were so enjoyable.

Separate but consecutive panels featured hitters Tony Oliva and Rod Carew and pitchers Bert Blyleven and Jim Kaat.

Former Twins star Jim Kaat was a big hit at the SABR convention in Minneapolis.Photo byTom Zocco

Together, they combined for 31 All-Star selections, 17 Gold Gloves, 10 batting titles, three World Series rings, two Rookie of the Year trophies, and an MVP award.

Carew, born on a train in Panama, grew up in the Bronx and played ball outside Yanke Stadium.

“I wanted to play inside but my (George Washington High School) coach told me I wasn’t good enough,” he revealed. “I weighed 140 pounds and they said they didn’t have a uniform that would fit me.”

Carew’s savior was Minnesota manager Billy Martin, better known for running the Yankees on multiple occasions. “He wanted to stick with me while everybody else wanted to send me down,” said the former infielder.

Oliva and Carew were roommates on the road for 11 years. “He taught me how to bunt,” Carew said of Oliva, who preceded him to the big leagues.

Bunting is now a lost art, he lamented. “The game is not played the way we played it,” said Carew. “A lot of young players don’t know how to okay the game because they weren’t taught.

“Everybody wants to be the hero. A lot of kids are not using their sixth tool: their brain.”

Oliva’s career was curtailed by persistent knee problems; he said he needed seven surgeries during his career.

He also lacked experience. “I never played Little League, high school, or college ball,” said the Cuban native. “And I never played a night game before signing.”

Oliva said he was on the wrong end of a Vida Blue no-hitter. “It doesn’t matter how good you are or how bad you are. You have to be lucky to pitch a no-hitter.”

Blyleven threw one, thanks to his roundhouse curve, but Kaat never did — even though he and the Dutch-born right-hander combined for 570 victories.

A teenager when he reached the Twins, Blyleven followed teammates Jim Perry, Luis Tiant, and Kaat “like a puppy-dog,” he said. Apparently, he picked up some pointers.

“My analytics were picking up the newspaper and seeing how Don Mattingly was doing,” said Blyleven, who signed in 1969. “I never liked a goddam hitter. Cleveland had a second baseman named Jack Brohamer and I couldn’t get that guy out.”

Kaat’s nemesis was Lu Clinton, a Red Sox outfielder. But he had Reggie Jackson’s number.

“He came up at the end of ‘67,” Kaat said. “I fanned him 25 times in 57 at-bats.”

Like Blyleven, who yielded a record 50 home runs in 1986, Kaat was a control artist who was always around the plate.

“I gave up three home runs in a row twice,” he said. “We wanted to save the bullpen. There are more damaging hits on breaking balls than fastballs.”

Kaat faced Sandy Koufax three times in the 1965 World Series, in Games 2, 5, and 7. “He threw shutouts in the fifth and seventh games and never walked anyone,” Kaat recalled. A year later, though, the Minnesota southpaw won a career-peak 25 games.

“Sometimes the numbers can be deceptive if you win a lot of one-run games,” he said with a touch of modesty.

Blyleven could relate; he finished on the wrong end of a slew of 1-0 games. The Dutch Master finished with 242 complete games, 60 of them shutouts. He went 15-9 in 1-0 games.

More than 600 rabid baseball fans attended the Minneapolis SABR convention, which also included major and minor-league games, research presentations, poster and trivia contests, and a vendors room where publishers not only sold books but solicited new projects.

Former AP newsman Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has been a SABR member since 1981 and is vice chairman of the Elysian Fields (Northern New Jersey) chapter. Email him at ballauthor@gmail.com.