All Things Immaculate Grid-related (MLB, NBA, NFL)

[Ope3]

I done got got by D-Backs/30 SB's too--IMO, it was a category of sadism by the Grid proprietors. I took a stab with Steve Finley but it wasn't to be. Surprised to see Paul Goldschmidt among the 7(!) D-Backs who have eclipsed the mark of 30 SB's.

For your Rangers today, I did not go with my guy Dan Smith. Went with the SS who was later a Twins All Star (.05%).

 

[Ope3]

Twins Alert on the Grid with Nationals / MVP and CF (1 game)

Went with:

- Married a Women's Ice Hockey Silver Medalist (6%)
- 18 Time AL All Star (9%)
- Dr Strangeglove (0.1%)

 

[coolhandgopher]

Twins Alert on the Grid with Nationals / MVP and CF (1 game)

Went with:

- Married a Women's Ice Hockey Silver Medalist (6%)
- 18 Time AL All Star (9%)
- Dr Strangeglove (0.1%)

A trifecta today-Twins, T-Wolves, and Vikings.

For the Twins, I went with:
Pete Mackanin (.3%), an early, inexplicable favorite of my Twins fandom

The first Twins MVP (10%)

Had the unenviable task of following Puckett in CF (.3%)

 

[Ope3]

Looking at the A's/30 Save category, rather interesting to discover Rollie Fingers never accomplished that feat in Oakland.

Former Twin Grant Balfour did. He saved 38 in his 2013 All Star season for the Athletics. Go figure.

With the Brewers, the other franchise he is known for as their stopper, Fingers also never got to the 30 save plateau. Didn't keep Rollie out of Cooperstown though. Also he did get there with the Padres, twice.

 

[coolhandgopher]

30+ Saves is one of my least favorite "special" categories. As evidenced by Fingers, the really good/great closers from the '70s/80s often didn't reach 30 saves--Goose Gossage, another HOF'er, only hit the mark twice and even in Willie Hernandez's Cy Young/MVP season he only attained 32 saves. (fun fact though--Hernandez pitched 140 innings that season, which Blake Snell has only exceeded in two MLB seasons w/180 innings each year).

I was able to get through the category unscathed, but all three of my choices were between 12-17%, which really messed up my rarity score.

 

[coolhandgopher]

I've professed my crush for the Rangers as my non-Twins IG team before, but the Angels have made inroads over the time, particularly in relation to the shared history of Twins-Angels. It's pretty incredible--3 HOF'ers (Blyleven, Carew, and Winfield), some all-time Twins (Gaetti, Brunansky, Torii Hunter, LaTroy Hawkins), many All-Stars (Doug Corbett, Dave Engle, Ervin Santana, Miguel Sano), the one-time record holder for HR's hit by a rookie (Jimmie Hall), a future star whose life was tragically cut short (Lyman Bostock) the Twins record holder for longest hitting streak (Ken Landreaux), and on the Angels side, a MVP (Don Baylor) and 2 Cy Young winners (Dean Chance and Bartolo Colon).

If I put together a Starting 9, plus a rotation, here's what it'd look like:
C Wynegar/Brian Harper platoon
1B Sano w/Vic Power as a defensive replacement
2B Carew
SS Andrelton Simmons (hope we get the Angels version)
3B Gaetti
LF Brunansky/Bostock platoon
CF Hunter
RF Hall and Landreaux platoon
DH Chili Davis/Don Baylor
PH Don Mincher

Rotation
Blyleven
Chance
Colon
Ervin Santana
Geoff Zahn/Dave Goltz

Quite a bit of talent flowing between the two franchises.

 

[Ope3]

30+ Saves is one of my least favorite "special" categories. As evidenced by Fingers, the really good/great closers from the '70s/80s often didn't reach 30 saves--Goose Gossage, another HOF'er, only hit the mark twice and even in Willie Hernandez's Cy Young/MVP season he only attained 32 saves. (fun fact though--Hernandez pitched 140 innings that season, which Blake Snell has only exceeded in two MLB seasons w/180 innings each year).

I was able to get through the category unscathed, but all three of my choices were between 12-17%, which really messed up my rarity score.

Yes, the save categories are heavily weighted for Firemen 90s - current. I look fondly on the Rolaids Relief Man baseball cards though. RIP the award (d 2012 per Wiki).

I went with Todd Jones (15%) / Rod Beck (17%) & Jason Isringhausen (11%).

 

[coolhandgopher]

Yes, the save categories are heavily weighted for Firemen 90s - current. I look fondly on the Rolaids Relief Man baseball cards though. RIP the award (d 2012 per Wiki).

I went with Todd Jones (15%) / Rod Beck (17%) & Jason Isringhausen (11%).

Our only difference was I chose Huston Street for the Athletics (12%). And yes, the Roland’s Relief Man was the pinnacle.

 

[Ope3]

A day late with the Twins Alert on the Grid with Mets / Jays / 20Ws - Season:

- '87 Closer / 0.7%
- Knuckleballer / 2%
- '94 No No / 3%

After the fact, I did not realize Scott Erickson would also be a sneaky qualifier in the Mets cube.

 

[Ope3]

A day late with the Twins Alert on the Grid with Mets / Jays / 20Ws - Season:

- '87 Closer / 0.7%
- Knuckleballer / 2%
- '94 No No / 3%

After the fact, I did not realize Scott Erickson would also be a sneaky qualifier in the Mets cube.

 

[coolhandgopher]

A day late with the Twins Alert on the Grid with Mets / Jays / 20Ws - Season:

- '87 Closer / 0.7%
- Knuckleballer / 2%
- '94 No No / 3%

After the fact, I did not realize Scott Erickson would also be a sneaky qualifier in the Mets cube.

I went with the following:
--obscure pitcher John Pacella (.05%--the reason I recall are the two baseball cards attached-the '81 Mets is an all time favorite action card for me)
--pencil thin mustache man, Hosken Powell (.4%)
--1st Twins 20 gamer, Camilo Pascual (1%)

 

[Ope3]

I went with the following:
--obscure pitcher John Pacella (.05%--the reason I recall are the two baseball cards attached-the '81 Mets is an all time favorite action card for me)
--pencil thin mustache man, Hosken Powell (.4%)
--1st Twins 20 gamer, Camilo Pascual (1%)

I greatly admire the John Pacella call.

What I found interesting is that for the Reds they have 34 qualifiers for 20G winners, but only 3 were post-Big Red Machine 70s era (T Browning, D Jackson & J Cueto). Only Jim Merritt did it at the dawn of their NL Pennant/World Champion run in 1970.

The other 30 did it prior to 1970, with most pre-WWII.

 

[coolhandgopher]

I greatly admire the John Pacella call.

What I found interesting is that for the Reds they have 34 qualifiers for 20G winners, but only 3 were post-Big Red Machine 70s era (T Browning, D Jackson & J Cueto). Only Jim Merritt did it at the dawn of their NL Pennant/World Champion run in 1970.

The other 30 did it prior to 1970, with most pre-WWII.

I marveled at that too-no Seaver, Mario Soto, Jose Rijo among the bunch-Johnny Vander Meer same story. I have come to realize that pre-Big Red Machine, the Reds history is very vague for me. Frank Robinson, Ted Klusewski, Vander Meer, Joe Nuxhall and…crickets.

 

[Ope3]

I marveled at that too-no Seaver, Mario Soto, Jose Rijo among the bunch-Johnny Vander Meer same story. I have come to realize that pre-Big Red Machine, the Reds history is very vague for me. Frank Robinson, Ted Klusewski, Vander Meer, Joe Nuxhall and…crickets.

Seaver's most dominating season in Cincinnati was 1981. It was strike shortened, so that reduced his starts, and he went a gaudy 14-2.

The Reds had the most wins in all of MLB that year. They still failed to qualify for the Post Season though. Bizarre, but true.

 

[Ope3]

Twins Alert & worlds collide for coolhand with Twins/Rangers on the menu.

I went:

John Butcher/Rangers 0.2%
Michael Tonkin/Yanks 0.9%
Harmon Killebrew/30 HRs 22%

Interesting, Tonkin started 0.5% when I played during breakfast but increased throughout the day.

 

[coolhandgopher]

Twins Alert & worlds collide for coolhand with Twins/Rangers on the menu.

I went:

John Butcher/Rangers 0.2%
Michael Tonkin/Yanks 0.9%
Harmon Killebrew/30 HRs 22%

Interesting, Tonkin started 0.5% when I played during breakfast but increased throughout the day.

Damn straight--I also like when the Yankees pop up, there's a lot of cross pollination with the Evil Empire.

I went:
Mike Bacsik (.005%--one of the more anonymous Twins I can imagine, but he had a beauty of a 1980 Topps card--as shown here)

John Ryan Murphy (1%)

Jimmie Hall (.6%)

Funny enough, I also used Butcher for the Guardians/Rangers (also .2%) as I thought I recalled that he went to Cleveland after his time with the Twins. As is my one rule with IG, when I can utilize Kirby Puckett I do, and he was my CF/30 HR square for a lovely 1%.

 

[Ope3]

Damn straight--I also like when the Yankees pop up, there's a lot of cross pollination with the Evil Empire.

I went:
Mike Bacsik (.005%--one of the more anonymous Twins I can imagine, but he had a beauty of a 1980 Topps card--as shown here)

John Ryan Murphy (1%)

Jimmie Hall (.6%)

Funny enough, I also used Butcher for the Guardians/Rangers (also .2%) as I thought I recalled that he went to Cleveland after his time with the Twins. As is my one rule with IG, when I can utilize Kirby Puckett I do, and he was my CF/30 HR square for a lovely 1%.

In the CF/HR Box I wasn't really Rarity Score hunting (Killer was already 22% on my Twins line), but I was surprised that George Herman Ruth was a stealth 0.5%.

The Babe wound up playing more than 80 games combined during his time with the Red Sox & Yankees.

 

[Ope3]

Twins Alert on the Grid paired with:

Cards - Gaetti / 16%
Guards - Rosario / 3%
Only 1 Team - Redfern / 0.8%

I wasn't exactly shooting for Rarity when I went with G-Man but was stunned by was the Most Common answer when I played this morning at 17%. Since then he dropped 1% and was surpassed by Sonny Gray.

 

[coolhandgopher]

In playing yesterday's Grid, I realized Robbie Grossman is developing into an IG All-Star, particularly with the AL Central and AL West teams. He has played for every franchise in the AL West except Seattle and every franchise in the AL Central except for Cleveland (although he was with the franchise right before his stint with the Twins--he had signed as a free agent over the winter, didn't make the cut in spring training, and was picked up by the Twins in '16). Outside of those six franchises, he has played one season in the senior circuit with the Braves.

This season has been particularly fruitful in Grossman's campaign for IG All-Star status, playing for three teams, adding the White Sox and Royals to his uniform collection (and of course, the Rangers are involved--after being a member of the WS champs last season, he signed in the off-season with the ChiSox, was traded back to Texas in May, and then picked up from waivers in late August by the Royals for the stretch run).

 

[Ope3]

Today's Grid quirk is pitching great Dick Mountain (3%) qualifies in the Halos/Red Sox box, despite never recording an out with Anaheim.

2 appearances. ERA = Infinity

The brief stint with the Angels was in 2014. On the other hand he's recorded lots of outs for Boston having been acquired 4 different times in his career including 2024.

 

[Ope3]

Twins Alert on the Grid today along.

Marlins - Mark Redman / 0.7%
Giants - Señor Smoke / 0.8%
40+WAR - Knobby / 0.8%

Also used Eisenreich for Royals-Marlins & Killer for Royals-40+WAR. Both were 4%, which is higher than I would have guessed.

 

[coolhandgopher]

Twins Alert on the Grid today along.

Marlins - Mark Redman / 0.7%
Giants - Señor Smoke / 0.8%
40+WAR - Knobby / 0.8%

Also used Eisenreich for Royals-Marlins & Killer for Royals-40+WAR. Both were 4%, which is higher than I would have guessed.

I thought my perfect May was in the toilet until I remembered Eisenreich for the Marlins/Royals square--as with you, couldn't fathom how that garnered 4%.

My Twins were:
Luis Castillo (7%)
Steve Carlton (5%)
Jim Perry (.3%)

Instead of Harmon, I used another HOF'er at the tail end of their career (Gaylord Perry--notice the symmetry with his brother?) which was a 1%. The Royals have a few fun names whose careers tailed off as the franchise was getting going--Vada Pinson and Orlando Cepeda amongst them and Cha Cha came in handy yesterday also. (One of my pet projects, inspired by IG, is to put together a Top 10 "Really, they played for that team?" list for each franchise--when time allows, you'll be the first to know Ope).

 

[Ope3]

I thought my perfect May was in the toilet until I remembered Eisenreich for the Marlins/Royals square--as with you, couldn't fathom how that garnered 4%.

My Twins were:
Luis Castillo (7%)
Steve Carlton (5%)
Jim Perry (.3%)

Instead of Harmon, I used another HOF'er at the tail end of their career (Gaylord Perry--notice the symmetry with his brother?) which was a 1%. The Royals have a few fun names whose careers tailed off as the franchise was getting going--Vada Pinson and Orlando Cepeda amongst them and Cha Cha came in handy yesterday also. (One of my pet projects, inspired by IG, is to put together a Top 10 "Really, they played for that team?" list for each franchise--when time allows, you'll be the first to know Ope).

The Top 10 Can't Believe they really played for has to include Carlton. I still can't believe it, even though I saw him throw for the Twins at the HHH Dome.

I didn't recall until playing the Grid but one of your other choices, Jim Perry wrapped up playing for Oakland. Probably slipped by my radar because being released in Aug '75, there was no Topps card for him the following year.

 

[coolhandgopher]

The Top 10 Can't Believe they really played for has to include Carlton. I still can't believe it, even though I saw him throw for the Twins at the HHH Dome.

I didn't recall until playing the Grid but one of your other choices, Jim Perry wrapped up playing for Oakland. Probably slipped by my radar because being released in Aug '75, there was no Topps card for him the following year.

It’s a big reason I never can remember that Ken Brett was with the Twins—no Topps card cause he ended the season somewhere else.

 

[Ope3]

It’s a big reason I never can remember that Ken Brett was with the Twins—no Topps card cause he ended the season somewhere else.

The reason why Ken Brett pitching for the Twins sticks out for me, is that at I was at the Met for this one, and being intrigued that a Ken vs George showdown could happen, which it did.

Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins Box Score: May 26, 1979 | Baseball-Reference.com

Kansas City Royals beat Minnesota Twins (7-4). May 26, 1979, Attendance: 9023, Time of Game: 2:41. Visit Baseball-Reference.com for the complete box score, play-by-play, and win probability

www.baseball-reference.com

Also memorable was Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrbosky. One of the few, maybe only, times I saw his antics in person.

 

[coolhandgopher]

My perfect September went down the tubes today, when I figured it was a lock that Julio Cruz was born out of country--turns out he's a NYC product. It stings to lose out on such an easy category.

So, time to turn my attention to my promised featured, "Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" with the first team up, the San Francisco Giants (there will be no rhyme nor reason for how the teams are presented, except to expect the Twins at slot #30).

A few things to note as we get started:
* The time period is from 1961 (the Twins debut) to 2003 (Rickey Henderson's last season in MLB seemed like a good cut-off). I've chosen these years because that's generally when I can go back in history and recognize many of the notable names to the point where MLB players beyond the Twins were still familiar to me.
* I'll shoot for a Top 10 for each team (with honorable mentions noted and a former Twin for each team who surprised me, so they may surprise you too).

SF Giants
#1: Duke Snider--as you'll see throughout this list, special favor is given to notable ex-Dodgers who ended up with their hated ex-rivals at the end of their career, with the most notable being The Duke. His swan song season was 1964, at the age of 37, hitting .210 to cap his career.

#2: Warren Spahn--At the ripe age of 44 in 1965, Spahn joined the Giants after being waived by the Mets in July and finished his MLB career in the bay with a 3-4 record and 3.39 ERA. He also pitched 197.2 innings that season, which would have placed him at #7 among pitchers in 2023.

#3: George Foster--Most of the time the names on this list will be former standouts in the waning days of their career (such as #1 and #2 on this list), but on occasion you will see a young upstart whose days of stardom come with another franchise, such as Foster. Through the 1969-71 seasons, when Foster was ages 20-22, he would receive cups of coffee with the Giants, but the outfield access was blocked by the likes of Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays. He was shuttled off to the Reds in '71 for peanuts and of course went on to become a prime time player for the Big Red Machine.

#4: Reggie Smith--The underrated slugger of the '70s makes this list largely because a) he was a stalwart of the Dodgers through the late '70s and b) in the 1981 season, he was taunted by a Giants fan who threw a batting helmet at him, causing Smith to jump into the stands and go after the fan (who was subsequently arrested). You wouldn't think Smith would find himself playing his final season in San Francisco after that incident, but in 1982 at the age of 37 he put together a decent year before heading over to Japan.

#5: Steve Carlton--Spoiler alert, you're going to see a lot of Lefty on these lists. 1986 was a particularly active year, as he played for three teams with the Giants squeezed into the middle before he was waived in August.

#6: Gary Carter--"The Kid" was feeling his age by the time he made it to the Giants in 1990 at the age of 36, but he had a decent bounce back season as a back-up catcher after being released by the Mets following the '89 season.

#7: Orel Hershiser--He's right beside Snider in my mind as a surprise to see on a Giants roster, but there he was in 1998, at the age of 39 hurling 202 pretty effective innings and leading the Giants in games started with 34.

#8: Daryl Strawberry--Straw liked the bright lights and the coasts, and in addition to his time with the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers (and St. Paul, of course), he was with the Giants in 1994 for a brief spell of 29 largely forgettable games.

#9: Eric Davis--outside of Kirby Puckett, no player tantalized me with their talent like Davis in the late '80s but injuries curtailed what felt like a certain HOF trajectory for Eric the Red. He was able to stick in the league until 2001, when he wrapped up his career at age 39, playing 74 games for the Giants.

#10: Joe Carter--The hero of the 1993 World Series for the Blue Jays quietly wrapped up his career five years later when he was traded to the Giants from the Orioles at mid-season, 1998.

Honorable mentions: Dick Groat, Sam McDowell, Al Oliver, Phil Garner, Goose Gossage, Deion Sanders, and Andres Galarraga

Local Team Angle: Rob Wilfong, he of the spectacular mustache and part of the trade to the Angels that netted Tom Brunansky in return, capped his career with the Giants in 1987, playing two games before getting released in May.

 

[Ope3]

So, time to turn my attention to my promised featured, "Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" with the first team up, the San Francisco Giants (there will be no rhyme nor reason for how the teams are presented, except to expect the Twins at slot #30).

A few things to note as we get started:
* The time period is from 1961 (the Twins debut) to 2003 (Rickey Henderson's last season in MLB seemed like a good cut-off). I've chosen these years because that's generally when I can go back in history and recognize many of the notable names to the point where MLB players beyond the Twins were still familiar to me.
* I'll shoot for a Top 10 for each team (with honorable mentions noted and a former Twin for each team who surprised me, so they may surprise you too).

SF Giants
#1: Duke Snider--as you'll see throughout this list, special favor is given to notable ex-Dodgers who ended up with their hated ex-rivals at the end of their career, with the most notable being The Duke. His swan song season was 1964, at the age of 37, hitting .210 to cap his career.

A bit of irony for the Giants and your reference to Ricky Henderson is that San Fran is the only West Coast franchise he did NOT play for.

Snider was my father's idol, and when we met him at a Baseball Card show (circa mid 80s) I had him sign a postcard with his Cooperstown HOF plaque. It lists all the teams he played for.

My Dad looked at it and in disbelief he said to Snider, "You really played for the GIANTS?!?"

Duke was sheepish about it and said he would stand in the OF looking at his jersey and be incredulous about the orange & black color with Giants across his chest.

 

[Ope3]

Just estimating that having done the Grid for about a year and half now, would would be roughly 500 entries, I have had to use Darrell Porter on more than 200 of them.

Others appear to be joining me, as his Rarity Score in the Brewers-Royals Cube has crept up to 5%.

 

[coolhandgopher]

Just estimating that having done the Grid for about a year and half now, would would be roughly 500 entries, I have had to use Darrell Porter on more than 200 of them.

Others appear to be joining me, as his Rarity Score in the Brewers-Royals Cube has crept up to 5%.

I almost pulled the trigger on Porter myself, but then remembered Tommy Lasorda's favorite utility infielder, Kurt $#%'in Bevacqua played for both the Royals & Brewers so I went with him at a cool .4%. I was headed towards a real fine overall score, but couldn't think of anyone other than Cesar Tovar for the catcher/shortstop combo, which was 7% (about half of my overall score).

 

[Ope3]

I almost pulled the trigger on Porter myself, but then remembered Tommy Lasorda's favorite utility infielder, Kurt $#%'in Bevacqua played for both the Royals & Brewers so I went with him at a cool .4%. I was headed towards a real fine overall score, but couldn't think of anyone other than Cesar Tovar for the catcher/shortstop combo, which was 7% (about half of my overall score).

Bert Campaneris is the other easy mark on the C/SS combo. BJ Surhoff, a little more stealth.