Former Minnesota Twins/Fan Favorites: Where Are They Now?
Former Minnesota Twins/Fan Favorites:
Where Are They Now?
Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B
Doug M. was the first baseman for the Twins for several years of the great Twinkie turnaround during the first part of this decade. For a solid three seasons (2001-2003), he was the everyday first baseman, and he put up solid offensive numbers during those years. Mientkiewicz batted .300 or better for two of those years, and had 60 or more RBIs each year as well. He also went deep; he hit 10 or more homers each season from 2001-2003. (He's only done that once since.)
As a fielder, he was superb. He won a Gold Glove in 2001. Over his career, Mientkiewicz fielding percentage is quite high. In 1000 games, Mientkiewicz has a .995 FP. Compare that to Don Mattingly, the AL career record holder, who mantained a .996 average over 1714 games, and Mientkiewicz is in pretty good company.
During the 2004 season, Mientkiewicz was traded to the Boston Red Sox in a four-way deal. (Justin Morneau had just emerged and Mientkiewicz didn't bat particularly well in the 74 games he played in for the Twins; he batted only .246.) Luckily for Mientkiewicz, that was the year the Red Sox broke the curse and won the World Series; in fact, Mientkiewicz helped record the final out of that World Series, as he was at first base and caught the ball when pitcher Keith Foulke tossed it to first after fielding Edgar Renteria's ground out with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.
The only problem was, Mientkiewicz wanted to keep the ball. All hell broke lose, and coincidence or not, Mientkiewicz was soon no longer with the Red Sox, as he was traded to the Mets. Since then, Mientkiewicz has bounced around; he's been with a new team each of the last five years. (He's been with the Mets, the Yankees, the Royals, the Pirates, and is now with the Dodgers in 2009.)
He hasn't been a starting first baseman since 2003, though his offensive production, when he's played, has been fairly good for the last two years. In both 2007 and 2008, he batted .277, though in neither season did he get more than 280 at bats. As usual, his fielding was superb. Mientkiewicz has never had more than 7 errors in a season.
(Photo used under the GNU Free Documentation License.)
Where Are They Now?
Doug Mientkiewicz, 1BDoug M. was the first baseman for the Twins for several years of the great Twinkie turnaround during the first part of this decade. For a solid three seasons (2001-2003), he was the everyday first baseman, and he put up solid offensive numbers during those years. Mientkiewicz batted .300 or better for two of those years, and had 60 or more RBIs each year as well. He also went deep; he hit 10 or more homers each season from 2001-2003. (He's only done that once since.)
As a fielder, he was superb. He won a Gold Glove in 2001. Over his career, Mientkiewicz fielding percentage is quite high. In 1000 games, Mientkiewicz has a .995 FP. Compare that to Don Mattingly, the AL career record holder, who mantained a .996 average over 1714 games, and Mientkiewicz is in pretty good company.
During the 2004 season, Mientkiewicz was traded to the Boston Red Sox in a four-way deal. (Justin Morneau had just emerged and Mientkiewicz didn't bat particularly well in the 74 games he played in for the Twins; he batted only .246.) Luckily for Mientkiewicz, that was the year the Red Sox broke the curse and won the World Series; in fact, Mientkiewicz helped record the final out of that World Series, as he was at first base and caught the ball when pitcher Keith Foulke tossed it to first after fielding Edgar Renteria's ground out with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.
The only problem was, Mientkiewicz wanted to keep the ball. All hell broke lose, and coincidence or not, Mientkiewicz was soon no longer with the Red Sox, as he was traded to the Mets. Since then, Mientkiewicz has bounced around; he's been with a new team each of the last five years. (He's been with the Mets, the Yankees, the Royals, the Pirates, and is now with the Dodgers in 2009.)
He hasn't been a starting first baseman since 2003, though his offensive production, when he's played, has been fairly good for the last two years. In both 2007 and 2008, he batted .277, though in neither season did he get more than 280 at bats. As usual, his fielding was superb. Mientkiewicz has never had more than 7 errors in a season.
(Photo used under the GNU Free Documentation License.)
Labels: doug, fan, favorites, mientkiewicz, twins, where are they now
posted by brett at
3:49 PM
1 Comments:
Minnesota Twins should be always competitive enough to keep pace with the others. I really like them; they’ve always been my favourite teams in MLB. Just read about them here:
http://www.twinsportal.com
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