Tag Archives: minnesota twins

Name Origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams

Cincinnati Red Stockings.  1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings. 1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings Photo Courtesy “www.todayifoundout.com” Daven Hiskey.

I “Stumbled” on this great post that lists the origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams.  It appears the Boston Red Sox hold the oldest named team dating back to the 1860’s, popularized by the Cincinnati Red Stockings from 1867-1870 and used by Boston’s National League franchise from 1871-1876.

But the actual team name origin that’s  with the same team is the San Francisco Giants, formerly the New York Giants, that dates back to 1885.    

Read the original Post  Stumbleupon.com, written by Scott Allen. 

 

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2012 MLB Team and Player Salaries

2012 All Star Game Photo

Here’s the 2012 update to our 2011 listing published August 27, 2011.  This comes to us compliments of USA Today.  If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries.  It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs;  in other words, did they get what they paid for?  For example; the Washington Nationals have the best record in the Majors this year, but have the 11th Lowest Salary out of 30 Teams.   Salary Chart Linked Here

2012 MLB Salaries  
 

TEAM

TOTAL PAYROLL
New York Yankees $ 197,962,289
Philadelphia Phillies $ 174,538,938
Boston Red Sox $ 173,186,617
Los Angeles Angels $ 154,485,166
Detroit Tigers $ 132,300,000
Texas Rangers $ 120,510,974
Miami Marlins $ 118,078,000
San Francisco Giants $ 117,620,683
St. Louis Cardinals $ 110,300,862
Milwaukee Brewers $ 97,653,944
Chicago White Sox $ 96,919,500
Los Angeles Dodgers $ 95,143,575
Minnesota Twins $ 94,085,000
New York Mets $ 93,353,983
Chicago Cubs $ 88,197,033
Atlanta Braves $ 83,309,942
Cincinnati Reds $ 82,203,616
Seattle Mariners $ 81,978,100
Baltimore Orioles $ 81,428,999
Washington Nationals $ 81,336,143
Cleveland Indians $ 78,430,300
Colorado Rockies $ 78,069,571
Toronto Blue Jays $ 75,489,200
Arizona Diamondbacks $ 74,284,833
Tampa Bay Rays $ 64,173,500
Pittsburgh Pirates $ 63,431,999
Kansas City Royals $ 60,916,225
Houston Astros $ 60,651,000
Oakland Athletics $ 55,372,500
San Diego Padres $ 55,244,700

               

Update: 2011 MLB Payrolls & Individual Salaries.

Courtesy TTF Baseball

Here’s the 2011 update to our 2010 Major League Baseball listing published November 22, 2010.  This comes to us compliments of USA Today.  If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries.  It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs;  in other words, did they get what they paid for?

 TEAM                          TOTAL P/R             AVG SALARY       MEDIAN

New York Yankees

$ 202,689,028

$ 6,756,300

$ 2,100,000

Philadelphia Phillies

$ 172,976,379

$ 5,765,879

$ 2,625,000

Boston Red Sox

$ 161,762,475

$ 5,991,202

$ 5,500,000

Los Angeles Angels

$ 138,543,166

$ 4,469,134

$ 2,000,000

Chicago White Sox

$ 127,789,000

$ 4,732,925

$ 2,750,000

Chicago Cubs

$ 125,047,329

$ 5,001,893

$ 1,600,000

New York Mets

$ 118,847,309

$ 4,401,752

$ 900,000

San Francisco Giants

$ 118,198,333

$ 4,377,716

$ 2,200,000

Minnesota Twins

$ 112,737,000

$ 4,509,480

$ 3,000,000

Detroit Tigers

$ 105,700,231

$ 3,914,823

$ 1,300,000

St. Louis Cardinals

$ 105,433,572

$ 3,904,947

$ 1,000,000

Los Angeles Dodgers

$ 104,188,999

$ 3,472,966

$ 2,142,838

Texas Rangers

$ 92,299,264

$ 3,182,733

$ 1,251,000

Colorado Rockies

$ 88,148,071

$ 3,390,310

$ 2,318,750

Atlanta Braves

$ 87,002,692

$ 3,346,257

$ 1,275,000

Seattle Mariners

$ 86,524,600

$ 2,884,153

$ 825,000

Milwaukee Brewers

$ 85,497,333

$ 2,849,911

$ 1,050,000

Baltimore Orioles

$ 85,304,038

$ 3,280,924

$ 1,425,000

Cincinnati Reds

$ 75,947,134

$ 2,531,571

$ 825,000

Houston Astros

$ 70,694,000

$ 2,437,724

$ 467,000

Oakland Athletics

$ 66,536,500

$ 2,376,303

$ 1,400,000

Washington Nationals

$ 63,856,928

$ 2,201,963

$ 1,050,000

Toronto Blue Jays

$ 62,567,800

$ 2,018,316

$ 1,200,000

Florida Marlins

$ 56,944,000

$ 2,190,153

$ 545,000

Arizona Diamondbacks

$ 53,639,833

$ 1,986,660

$ 1,000,000

Cleveland Indians

$ 49,190,566

$ 1,639,685

$ 484,200

San Diego Padres

$ 45,869,140

$ 1,479,649

$ 468,800

Pittsburgh Pirates

$ 45,047,000

$ 1,553,344

$ 450,000

Tampa Bay Rays

$ 41,053,571

$ 1,578,983

$ 907,750

Kansas City Royals

$ 36,126,000

$ 1,338,000

$ 850,000

Mad Bum and Glory ….. Pretty Cool!

Madison Bumgarner, the ultimate Pitcher!

Remember that old  “thrill of victory,  agony of defeat” thing?  It was an ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” theme  back in the 60’s and it’s been going through my head as I’m writing about Madison Bumgarner’s performance tonight.  Last Tuesday, for those of you who’ve been in solitary confinement or otherwise unable to know what’s going on in the baseball world this past week,   Madison Bumgarner broke some records.  Well not actually broke them, but matched those that

Discussing the Cy Young?

hadn’t been touched since the early 1900’s.  It was the most unbelievable first inning I’ve ever watched in baseball….any baseball, including T-ball and Little League.  The Bum lasted exactly 1/3 inning in which time he  allowed nine hits and eight runs, and recorded only one out in the first third of the first inning.  It was an inter-league game between the Giants and Minnesota Twins.  I could hardly breathe watching Bumgarner leave the game and head towards the dugout to sit and watch the remaining 8 2/3 innings in shame and embarrassment.  After the game he somehow managed to hold his head high, speak  intelligently with reporters and answer each question thoughtfully, speaking softly in a monotone, and promised to learn from his mistakes and do penance and say one our father and three hail mary’s.   I really felt for this kid and all day I was going through some sort of anxiety wondering how he, and I, would make it through tonight’s game after the first “ball” was called, probably on the first pitch.  

So tonight when the 5:05 game between the Giants and the Cleveland Indians started right on time, on ESPN, in front of the entire world to see,  Madison Bumgarner threw his first pitch.  And then another, and another.  And he proceeded throwing precision pitches culminating with 11 strike-outs through the seventh inning!   OMG!  It’s what we  live for in baseball…..our local hero just did the impossible and the crowd’s giving him a standing ovation and I’m giving him hoots and  hollers jumping around the living room telly.   

Just another usual ordinary game for the Giants, ending with a final score 3-1.  Same old stuff.  But as far as the SF Giants 21 year old pitcher Madison Bumgarner goes?   He’s back!   Mad Bum and all his glory and I’m back there to watch him do it all over again.  Tuesday – total disgrace; Sunday – en route to the Cy Young!   Don’t you just love it?  Baseball, I mean.  Pretty darn cool.

 

Joe Mauer and Head and Shoulders. Why?

“The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that’s it, not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it.” Ty Cobb

I was intrigued by the video this morning,  posted by one of my favorite blogs, “Babes Love Baseball“.  Okay, it’s no secret the girls love Joey Mauer, as noted in one of their recent blogs which, in effect,  proclaimed Joey Mauer one of the sexiest men in Major league baseball.

Personally, I have trouble linking the personal looks (sexiness if you prefer) of  baseball players, or any athlete for that matter, to the actual sport they play.  I don’t know.  Maybe that’s just me.  I mean, what difference does it make?

The point I’m trying to make is why would Joe Mauer feel a need to do a shampoo commercial?    It’s certainly not about the money, and it can’t be about the media exposure.  Is this one of those pesky tasks MLB assigns to the players each year?  Or maybe it’s a requirement of the  Minnesota Twins, you know, part of his contract.  Doubtful.

“Joe Mauer’s lucrative new deal  kicks in this year, and he’ll make $23 Million this season.  According to Charley Waters, the Twins’ catcher is doing so well with off-the-field endorsements, he won’t even have to touch his MLB paychecks, which are supposed to come in bi-weekly to the tune of $1.92 million. If you’re wondering, Mauer’s $23 million this year is only $11 Million less than the Pittsburgh Pirates (entire) payroll in 2010.”   Big Lead Sports 3/7/11

According to the article quoted above, Mauer’s making so much from his endorsements he doesn’t even have to touch his regular paychecks, which will  total a cool  $23 Million this year.   Okay, I’m starting to get  it.  It’s not about playing for love of the game.  It is about the money.  And Joe Mauer’s not the only one.  A lot of guys are doing it.  But “Head and Shoulders”?  Isn’t anything sacred anymore?

Ho Hum……Yankees Won. Care for a cup of tea?

Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings, Marcus Thames and Nick Swisher homered and the Yankees beat the Twins 6-1 Saturday night to complete yet another three-game sweep of Minnesota and return to the AL championship series.    Once again,  New York Yankees 6 and Minnesota Twins-1.   Take a look at this video and you’ll see the reason behind the Header’s obvious sarcasm:  (Be patient, it takes a minute to load)

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=12795971

Yankees Advance to ALCS

 I watched it live as it happened and thought how utterly bizarre ~ the players are walking off the field, chatting to each other, an occasional smile and wave to the crowd.  In the first few scenes some of the managers are immediately walking down the steps to the clubhouse.   I envision white tablecloths set out with tea and crumpets being served.  Okay, so I think the Yankees are spoiled.   Or maybe they’ve just won so many times they expect to win again.  No big deal.   Well, you know what?   This is a big deal!  Four more wins and they’ve won the Pennant.  And another four wins they win the World Series!  Ye Gods man!  This is serious business!    I searched for some photos of individual players and found the same thing.  Might as well been wearing their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes and bowing to the crowds.   I’m

Jeter the Gentleman

pretty darn sure of one thing though.   If the tables were turned and this were the Minnesota Twins with a 6-1 win over the Yankees, or over anyone as far as that goes, at the end of the game, when that last out was made,   there would have been 25 Twins out on that field acting like a bunch of 10 year olds and caps would have been flying all over the place.  And I would have been cheering right along with them.   It’s not that I’m unhappy the Yankees won.  It’s just that a little enthusiasm would have been nice, you know?   Kinda of like it might have been a surprise to them too and then trying to engage the crowd into their little celebration would have been really, really nice!

Okay, I’ll be honest, there’s another way you can look at this.  Could it be those dang Yankees were so sure they were going to win, it didn’t even cross their minds they should look and act like complete fools to pretend they were ecstatic about

Here we go again!

something they knew was going to happen anyway.  And could it be this is the way “professionals” are supposed to act?   I’m just saying,  no one’s had more experience at being winners than the New York Yankees.  Perhaps that’s the way it’s supposed to be.   Tea and crumpets anyone?

Day 2. Minnesota Twins vs. New York Mets!

Sunday, 6/27/2010.    Got up early and trudged to the bus after a hurried continental breakfast this morning!   Our drive this morning took us to downtown New York City,  Queens to be exact, and to the beautiful Citifield Ballpark .  It was hot!  Don’t really know what the weather reports will read in the AM because hot is hot and no matter how I try to describe it, you won’t be able to feel the soaking wet shirts, swollen, puffy feet,  and wet hair and no place to escape from the heat.  Actually, it wasn’t even sunny most of the time, just a big overcast, but it doesn’t matter.  It’s that crazy humidity!   For those of you who’ve experienced this, no need to say anything, and for those of you who haven’t,  anything I say won’t be adequate.

But the game was great.  At least for the Mets fans!  Final score 6-0.  So for the first two games we’ve attended the home teams have won.  I want to comment on the Mets fans, and the Oriole fans too for

Mets & Twins Game

that matter, but especially the Mets.   They’re intense!   Part of the fun of being a baseball fan is people watching!   Watching the players, the coaches, the managers, ballpark staff and the fans.    Maybe it’s because this was a Sunday afternoon game, but I was touched by the number of families with young children.  And these kids were all decked out in caps, shirts, shoes and even some mitts, proudly showing their loyalty to their beloved Mets!   I think maybe the intensity is because they’ve lived in the shadow of the Yankees for so long

Best Mets Food? Nathan's Hotdogs!

and are always having to prove themselves worthy opponents.  But whatever reason, they’re sincere and they truly love their team.  It was fun to watch and I was caught up in the atmosphere of it all!

Probably the highlight of Day 2 for me was the group trip on the New York MTA Subway system to Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant, downtown Manhattan!   Loud, noisy, scary and adventuresome!    That’s how I’d describe my subway experience!  I can’t imagine daily commuting in this mannerand have a whole new respect for the average New Yorker who does.  Dan herded us like a bunch of cats and we finally got it, taking sometimes three tries to get thru the turnstiles.  Sounds simple enough but if you didn’t time it just right you had to go back, repurchase another ticket and start over again.   The system seems archaic in comparison to Boston and London’s, just my personal observation.

The food at Mickey Mantle’s was good.  Not great, but good, and you’d still have to give it at least a 3* rating  for the ambiance and great sports pictures and autographs that grace the entire facility.  Probably seats around 300 – but not nearly as full for a Sunday afternoon as I would have expected.  It was a real treat and I would have liked to spend at least a few hours just looking at all the pictures.    A lot of history and memories in this place!

It’s taken me longer than usual to write tonight.  I was caught up in the final innings of the Yankees/Dodgers game, which was Dodgers 6-2 when I turned it on and now find at the bottom of the 9th Mariano Rivera fanned 3 in a row and the score is tied 6-6 putting it into  overtime!    Yankees then go ahead and score 2 runs in the 10th and once again Rivera fanned 3 in a row to end the game with Yankees over Dodgers 8-6.    Fans were  loud and wild!   Don’t you just love baseball?  Down to the last pitch!   Sorry, I had to digress.  I’d written off the game as a Dodger win and I should have known better!      Tomorrow ……. Hall of Fame @ Cooperstown!