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Joe Nathan is on the air
By
Gordy Jones
That was Joe Nathan
calling the Twins game on Fox Sports a couple of weeks ago. I was with him
before his telecast, and I asked him if announcing baseball was something he
had always wanted to do. He answered, “No. I never gave it much thought. But
they came to me and asked me if I’d like to give it a shot, and I said ‘Why
not?’”
Joe has been hanging
around the team quite a bit even though he is out for the season while he
rehabs from Tommy John elbow surgery. There is something to be said for that,
because oftentimes a player on rehab will stay in his hometown, or at his home
in
I asked Joe if
broadcasting might be something he’d like to do after baseball. “Nah…the travel
is just as grueling as being a ballplayer,” replied Nathan, who is a happy
family man. But then he looked over at his teammates, who were having some fun
at the time, and said, “You know, I might consider it if they’d give me some
kind of a deal where I could do it part-time.”
Fans say that he did
a great job…I think you’ll see a repeat performance soon.
A
Brave job, but someone has to do it!
When the Atlanta
Braves recently visited
But I’m sure the
people who are writing this stuff don’t know about Scotty Ullger’s
experience, and the fact that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire
has made phone calls recommending him, and the weight that Gardy’s
opinion carries in baseball. However, I remember the look in Ullger’s eyes as he mentioned to me that this would be a
tough job to land, because a lot of good baseball people were interested in it.
If he were not to get Cox’s job, that would put a damper on my theory that Ullger will leave, and that Jake Mauer
will be promoted from his minor league assignment and eventually take over Gardy’s job (only when Gardy’s
good and ready). It could still happen; Ullger will
manage somewhere, someday, but maybe not as quickly as he would like.
He was
only being Frank!
Frank Quilici is the only person who has been a Twins player,
coach, manager and broadcaster. He was at a charity event with his friend and
former teammate Harmon Killebrew not long ago when I
asked him about this feat. He laughed and said, “Yeah — they didn’t know what
to do with me, Gordy.”
Suddenly his facial
expression turned serious. “But do you know what? It was a wonderful career. I
was in the same organization for 22 years. Not too many guys will get that
opportunity. Calvin (
“I became Killebrew’s caddy, going into third base every once in a
while. Then Carew was going into the service at the
time, and when he did, I took over at second base.
“I love the Twins
organization. I signed when we were the Washington Senators, and we became the
Twins that winter while we were down playing winter ball. Nobody knew what to
expect.”
He ended up in the
minors for five years, then was promoted when Jerry Kindall
and Bernie Allen were on the D.L. “Yeah, I got lucky and played in the World
Series my first year in the majors.”
Today Frank sits on
the board for the Killebrew Foundation, he’s
president of a company called Commerce Solutions, was on the Minneapolis Park
Board for the last 10 years, is the inventor of a tennis racket-type item used
to hit baseballs to fielders at practice, and attends nearly every charity
fundraiser affiliated with the Twins, but he calls himself retired. At the age
of 71, Frank looks fit — like he could still suit up today and play. With the
shape that our infield is in, we might need him.
More
than three million sold
The Twins have
announced they have already sold more than 3 million tickets for 2010. This is
the first time since 1988 they have sold so many. In 1988 the Twins were
defending World Champions.
Available tickets
are limited for the next couple of months, but the Twins encourage fans to
continue checking back, even though it may show that a game is sold out. The
single-game inventory does become available for various reasons, and you can
also choose your games for late August and September while tickets are still
available. Go to: www.twinsbaseball.com.
Check out Gordy’s book at http://www.baseballguy.org.
Gordy can be reached at gejones1@aol.com.