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Giving more than RBI’s
By
Gordy Jones
Twins first baseman
Justin Morneau and his wife, Krista, got a new hobby
last year. They find worn-out and bumpy amateur ball fields, then
spearhead the task of refurbishing them.
It began when Justin
was visiting Krista’s hometown of Winthrop, Minn. Fans in the area have told me
that Justin pulled over, unannounced, to watch some kids play ball, and began
giving autographs and just hanging out with them. He noticed that the field was
in rough shape and ended up donating money to spruce up their ball field.
Since then, he has
done the same for the Northeast Ballpark in
Last fall, Justin
donated $11,000 to renovate the Northeast Ballpark in
I asked Justin why
he made the donation. He said, “I may have been raised in
The other night, as
Justin finished his batting practice, he approached me with a proud smile and
said, “The park in
He seemed as jazzed
about it as the neighborhood kids will be.
It’s not unusual to find Justin spending time
with children, giving autographs and posing for photographs. But more
importantly, whenever it’s possible, he gives them one-on-one time.
No matter who the
nation’s baseball writers vote for, Justin will always be an MVP to the kids of
Cool and Content Kubel
Everyone, including me,
has been talking about the depth of the Twins’ outfield with four possible
starters: Delmon Young, Denard
Span, Carlos Gomez and Michael Cuddyer.
People forget that
we are even deeper than that. We have a fifth outfielder, Jason Kubel, who’s fully capable of being an above-average left
fielder. Sure, he is listed on the Twins’ roster as a designated hitter, but
for my money, he can play leftfield better than Delmon
Young. He sees the ball right off of the bat, gets a good jump on it, runs well
and catches what’s catchable.
A couple of years
ago, Kubel had sore knees – which earned him a bad
rap as a slow runner. He actually runs fairly well. In fact, he had five
triples last year, trailing only speedsters Gomez and Span, who each had seven.
Jason is a very
threatening lefthanded hitter, who had 20 homers last
year. That was second-highest in the Twins’ lineup – just behind Justin Morneau, who had 23. And I know Jason can hit a lot more.
Having Jason’s bat behind Morneau is good for Justin,
too. At times, it saves the big first basemen from being walked intentionally.
Always cool and
low-key, Kubel is very content at DH. One year ago,
he and I chatted about his role with the Twins, and he had this to say: “I want
to be part of the game any way that I can. I really like playing the outfield,
but DH’ing is fine. It’s still playing the game and
is actually more relaxing for me now. Last year I got a little more comfortable
doing it. It gave me a new confidence level. I’m looking forward to putting up
some big numbers.”
A year later, I
asked him the same question. “Right now I’m a DH and I’m not concerned with the
outfield situation. I’m concentrating at getting a good feel for hitting, and
we’ll go from there. I feel really good so far.”
I commented on how
happy he appeared. “Playing baseball’s something I’ve done my whole life,” he
said. “It’s something I love doing. I feel happy, I feel really fortunate to
play ball.”
I asked him if he
changed anything in his swing over the winter. “Not really,” he said. “I’m just
trying to get my bat on the ball. Maybe I’m trying to spray it around the field
a little more.”
I was wondering what
he had done all winter. “A lot of family time,” the papa of a 1-year-old boy
said with a proud smile. “And I live in the hills [near
Backup Backstops
The Twins played
.500 baseball for the first 22 games of the season
without their all-star catcher, Joe Mauer. That is
not too bad, considering the contributions Joe brings to the ballpark every
day. He is a two-time batting champion, and the spark of his bat can ignite his
teammates’ bats, too.
Defensively, he is
one of the best catchers ever. Joe has a great arm to second base, he handles
pitches cleanly and he has full control of his fielders. It’s almost as if he
were manager Ron Gardenhire’s sixth sense. He sees
things happening on the field and can maneuver the fielders around. And the way
he handles his pitchers…they all seem to have a bit more confidence and an
inner calmness when he is behind the plate.
Mike Redmond and
Jose Morales did a fine job in Joe’s absence.
In Jose Morales you
have a talented kid who is still learning how to play catcher. I asked Jose
what his experience with the Twins has been like. “Man! It’s a dream come true.
Since I started playing baseball in
Were the Twins his
favorite team? “I watched them, but I also loved to watch Michael Jordan and
the Bulls,” he said with an ear-to-ear grin. “In 2001 I signed as a shortstop.
When they first told me they were going to convert me to a catcher, I didn’t
like the idea at all. But then Twins batting coach Joe Vavra
told me this could be my quickest route to the big leagues. It paid off! And,
you know what? The Twins fans are great!”
I asked
The
Lumber Doctor
When a team’s bats
are sleeping, it is easy for folks to point fingers and blame the coaches or
the manager. Twins batting coach Joe Vavra is a
peaceful and caring man. He tends to his players like a holy man tends to his
flock. He is always there for them. I see him at the ballpark early, and I see
him there late. I have often heard him volunteering to come in on his own time
to work with a player who may need special attention.
I asked Joe if he
changes his routine when the team’s slumping. “No, it doesn’t really change,”
he said. “We try to be consistent with our routine. You might start analyzing
swings a little bit more. You might have a little more video time. I try to see
a difference from when they were going good versus when they went bad. If I
notice a difference, I’ll try to present that to the player. I try to get them
feeling good about handling the bat. I try to not let them leave the cage on a
negative. The coaches are in the business to try and help people succeed. I
love to teach. I love to help people. I love to try to help others find
success. I can’t achieve that as a player anymore. I’m never going to go up to
the plate again holding a bat.”
Joe was drafted by
the Dodgers in 1982 and played in the minors for several years. He was about to
be called up to the majors when he broke his thumb, then came down with desert
fever — which took him two years to recuperate from. When he did, the Dodgers
took him on as a minor league coach. He managed and coached at various levels
before coming to the Twins’ organization in 2002.
In 2005 he became
the Twins’ major-league batting coach. He loves it. “If I can help others to
succeed, I’m happy. I’ve always considered whatever my job is, as the best job
in the world. When I take that kind of passion towards my work, I never have a
bad day.”
Who’s at Third?
Joe Crede says he is enjoying being a Twin. “Yeah, I’ve always
enjoyed
The Meat of the Order
Michael Cuddyer was eager to tell me that August 17 has been set as
the date for his 3rd Annual Celebrity Waiter Fundraiser at Morton’s
Steakhouse in
Check out Gordy’s book at http://www.baseballguy.org.
Gordy can be reached at gejones1@aol.com.